AP Entertainment

Entertainment:

WILLIE NELSON AND WIFE HAD TROUBLE VOTING ABSENTEE IN TEXAS
AUSTIN, Tex. (AP) – Willie Nelson almost didn’t get to vote by absentee in the Texas primary because of the state’s new election laws, according to his wife. Annie D’Angelo-Nelson tells the Austin American-Statesman that she and her husband made two attempts before they successfully got absentee ballots for the March 1 primary. She says their first applications were rejected because of inconsistent identification information provided on the forms. D’Angelo-Nelson says she’s concerned that some people who are not as tech-savvy as her and her husband were not able to get absentee ballots. Roughly 13 percent of the mailed ballots returned for the primary were discarded across 187 counties in Texas. Experts say anything around two percent generally draws attention.

QUESTLOVE ALMOST DID NOT MAKE “SUMMER OF SOUL”
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Questlove is up for an Oscar, which amazes him because he wasn’t sure he should make a film in the first place. His movie “Summer of Soul” is up for best documentary. Questlove says when he was offered it, he was hesitant to take it because he’s never been to film school. He says he had to get to a point where he’d stop saying “Am I? and start saying, “I am.” “Summer of Soul” is about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival.

NEW ORLEANS SEEKS TO REVERSE 1922 BAN ON JAZZ IN SCHOOLS
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – New Orleans public school students have been breaking a school board rule for an entire century by playing jazz. City school board officials tell The Times Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate they are working on reversing a 1922 rule which bans jazz music and dancing in public schools. Jazz is taught in some schools, and marching bands with dance teams are a fixture of Carnival season parades. The rule was discovered during research done by Ken Ducote, executive director of the Greater New Orleans Collaborative of Charter Schools. He describes it as “if Colorado passed a rule banning students from looking at the Rocky Mountains.” Board member Katherine Baudouin says, “In this instance and in this instance only, we’re glad that the policy was ignored by our students, by our schools.”

INTERACTIVE PRINCE EXHIBIT WILL PREMIERE IN CHICAGO
CHICAGO (AP) – Among the things visitors to the new Prince interactive exhibit can do is step inside the “Purple Rain” album cover. “Prince: The Immersive Experience” will premiere in Chicago on June 9, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The exhibit includes Prince’s clothes and instruments, as well as a working mock-up of Paisley Park’s Studio A and an audiovisual dance party. The Prince Estate is one of the exhibit’s producers.

MORE GRAMMY PERFORMERS ADDED
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The entertainment for the Grammys is a little more packed now. Jon Batiste, Foo Fighters, H.E.R. (HER), Nas (NAHS) and Chris Stapleton have been added to the lineup. Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Ben Platt and Rachel Zegler will perform an “In Memoriam” segment dedicated to composer Stephen Sondheim. Previously announced performers include Brothers Osborne, BTS, Brandi Carlile, Billie Eilish (EYE’-lish), Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow and Olivia Rodrigo. The Grammys will be April 3 in Las Vegas and shown on CBS.

PAUL SIMON TRIBUTE CONCERT SPECIAL WILL BE FILMED APRIL 6
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Brandi Carlile, Shaggy and Dave Matthews are among the acts who will pay tribute to Paul Simon in a Grammy salute to his career. The concert is set for April 6 in Los Angeles. The lineup also includes Rhiannon Giddens, Angelique Kidjo, Little Big Town, Brad Paisley, Billy Porter, Take 6, Irma Thomas and Trombone Shorty. Simon himself will make a special appearance. The concert will be filmed and broadcast on CBS later this year.