Harrison Ford credits Jimmy Buffett’s “infectious” coolness for inspiring him to get his left ear pierced. After a boozy lunch with Jimmy and Ed Bradley, he spontaneously got it done to be like them.
Jelly Roll is down almost 70 pounds. And on top of that, he just said he is quote, “planning on losing another 100-something pounds.” It’s going to be crazy when he debuts his new skinnier self. Back in February, he was challenged to compete in a race called the “Two Bears 5K” that takes place in May with comedians Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura. And he took the challenge seriously. Jelly talked about it in a feature with “People” magazine. He said, “I’m doing two to three miles a day, four to six days a week. I’m doing 20-30 minutes in the sauna, and six minutes in the cold plunge every day. I’m eating healthy right now.” And Jelly feels awesome about his progress so far. He said, “If I feel this good down this weight, man . . . I can only imagine what I’m going to feel like by the time I go on tour. (Jelly’s “Beautifully Broken” tour kicks off in August.) Regarding his pace for the 5K race next month, he said, “I don’t know if ‘running’ is going to be the word, but I’m definitely going to get the 3.1 miles done . . . probably a brisk power walk. My goal is to be able to do a 15-minute mile.”
Did you know Elvis Presley almost recorded “I Will Always Love You”? He was in town ready to do it, then Dolly Parton NIXED it. She’d already had a hit song with it. Elvis loved it and sang it to Priscilla when they got DIVORCED. The problem was his manager demanded half of the publishing rights. Dolly talked about it in an interview a while back. Quote, “I said, I can’t do that. This song’s already been a hit for me, and this song is in my publishing company. And obviously this is going to be one of my most important copyrights, and I can’t give you half the publishing. That’s stuff I’m leaving for my family.” That killed the deal, so Elvis never recorded it. But it was a smart business move for Dolly. Years later, she didn’t give Whitney Houston rights either. Another smart move. It’s in the news because Dolly also just got sole songwriting credit on Beyoncé’s reworked version of “Jolene”. Dolly and her husband Carl never had kids, but whoever’s in her will stands to be very rich someday. (Maybe her goddaughter Miley Cyrus?)
Slash cold-called Chris Stapleton to get him to sing on his cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well”. He says, “I think it was one of the best ideas I’ve had in recent memory, was to have him sing that song.” The song is on Slash’s upcoming album “Orgy of the Damned”, which also features collaborations with Billy Gibbons, Iggy Pop, Demi Lovato, AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. By the way, Chris posted the cover of Slash’s album on his Instagram, and it caused a stir in the comments. Some people think it’s RACIST, and others think it’s off-brand for Chris. But it’s Slash’s album, not his.
Last Thursday at the Hollywood Bowl, Jimmy Buffett was honored with a tribute show called “Keep the Party Going”. It included performances from Paul McCartney, the Eagles, Snoop Dogg, Kenny Chesney, and Zac Brown. To end the night, Eric Church led all the performers onstage with a rendition of “Margaritaville”. He took on the first verse, and Sheryl Crow handled the second.
Martin Lawrence is 59
Jon Cryer is 59. Lex Luthor on the CW’s “Supergirl”, and Alan Harper on “Two and a Half Men”, and Duckie in “Pretty in Pink”.
Jimmy Osmond is 61.
Ellen Barkin is 70. “The Big Easy”, “Sea of Love”, “Ocean’s 13”.
Bill Belichick is 72. Coach of the New England Patriots.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 77.
Bobby Vinton is 89. Biggest hit: “Blue Velvet”.
