Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician, Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison, was honoured with the prestigious "Johnny Mercer Award" at the 46th annual gala of the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony in New York on Thursday night.
If you are surprised by the “Sir” preceding the veteran musician’s name, news is, Van Morrison was knighted for services to music in the Birthday Honours list of Britain's Queen Elizabeth just a week earlier.
In the ceremony at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, legendary Grateful Dead guitarist and songwriter Jerry Garcia was honoured posthumously alongside the band's lyricist Robert Hunter. "Hoochie Coochie Man" songwriter Willie Dixon, Cindy Lauper and Lady Gaga were also on the honouree list, among others.
When multi-billionaire businessmen and Republican Donald Trump announced that he will run for president of the US in 2016 at Trump Tower on Tuesday, he did it in style. Trump launched his campaign to a track by iconic musician Neil Young from his 1989 album Freedom - "Rockin' in the Free World".
Donald Trump, who announced that he is taking his first run at the White House on the promise that he will 'bring back' the American dream, reportedly chose Young's anthemic song to kick-start this huge moment in his life and career.
"Rockin' in the Free World" seemed to be an odd choice, given the fact that the song is supposedly a criticism of George HW Bush's presidency and his free-market economic policies upon which Trump is said to have built his empire. The song also 'slams' the Republicans for their 'disregard toward the lower-class.'
Naturally, the Canadian singer-songwriter and musician was not too pleased with Trump using his tune without any authorization. Young is also said to be a supporter of Democrat Bernie Sanders for president of the US.
"Donald Trump was not authorized to use 'Rockin' in the Free World' in his presidential candidacy announcement," a spokesperson for Young's Lookout Management told Rolling Stone.
However, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said that the entrepreneur was a fan of Young's music, although their political views differed, and that the track was played legally. "Through a license agreement with [performance-rights organization] ASCAP, Mr. Trump's campaign paid for and obtained the legal right to use Neil Young's recording of 'Rockin' in the Free World' at today's event," the spokesperson told Rolling Stone. "Nevertheless, we won't be using it again - there are plenty of songs to choose from."
Incidentally, Trump and Booker Prize-winning author Salman Rushdie reportedly stood up and sang along to another Neil Young's song "Let's Impeach the President," at a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young concert at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2006.
Watch Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" video:
Former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi made some startling remarks on Tuesday night in an exclusive interview to India Today TV's Rajdeep Sardesai about the ongoing visa controversy involving External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The former IPL chief, what one can understand from his tweets, was waiting for the interview to drop some "bombshells".
The former IPL chief is at the heart of a controversy which has engulfed Sushma Swaraj over accusations that she put diplomatic pressure on UK authorities to secure travel papers for Modi to visit Portugal, purportedly for his wife's cancer treatment. Modi had come to London in 2010 amid claims that the IPL cricket tournament was embroiled in alleged match-fixing and illegal betting. His Indian passport was later revoked, leaving him grounded in the UK.
Like any Opposition who never lose an opportunity to crucify the party in power, the Congress went after the BJP-led NDA government hammer and tongs over the issue. Accusations flew with demands for Swaraj's resignation. A resurgent Congress vice president, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday continued his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre: "Lalit Modi is a symbol of black money. Mr Modi is standing behind Mr Modi. Who's Sushma Swarajji? She means nothing in this government." Gandhi demanded that PM Modi should sack Sushma Swaraj from the government.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday backed Swaraj, saying the external affairs minister "acted in good faith and all charges against her are baseless." However, in the last four days since the controversy broke, Swaraj has not spoken yet on her relations with Lalit Modi or her role in helping his wife Minal Modi get treatment for cancer in Portugal.
Lalit Modi, on the other hand, told Rajdeep Sardesai before the no holds barred interview that he was "in holiday a mood and is completely oblivious to the controversy." But his tweets said otherwise. On Monday, he had declared 'war' against his critics on Twitter, and had warned: "Now finally it's my turn to get everything out. There are many bombshells."
We trawled through his tweets to find a 'battle-ready' Lalit Modi all set to take up the challenge head on. "The battle has begun. Watch the fun now," he had said.
No interviews I am giving till I break the story live and exclusive with @sardesairajdeep who is flying all the way to beautiful montenegro??
Glimpses of the Golden Temple at different hours of the day. The Golden Temple is a prominent Sikh Gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It was built in the 16th century - a place of worship intended for men and women from all walks of life and all religions to come and worship God equally.
"...He will find it hard to shake her From his memory And she's so busy being free ...Her heart is full and hollow Like a cactus tree While she's so busy being free Like a cactus tree..." - Joni Mitchell
