HOT: Sam Smith Changes Pronouns
After coming out as non-binary in an interview earlier this year, Pop star Sam Smith recently announced that they were officially changing their pronouns from “he/him” to “they/them,” becoming one of the highest-profile artists to make such a change public. Smith wrote on Instagram, “after a lifetime of being at war with my gender I’ve decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out.” Smith thanked high-profile LGBTQ activists like Laverne Cox and Munroe Bergdorf for giving them the “clarity and understanding” to recognize their gender identity and what it means to be non-binary. Weirdly, style-guide-specialists The Associated Press repeatedly misgendered Smith in a story… about the pronoun change.
WARM: Kanye G?
Kanye West’s “collaboration” with Donald Trump is probably the most baffling of the 21st century, but a just announced Kanye pairing (this one musical) may soon rival it. Apparently on a mission to work with the most maligned representatives in their respective fields, West has allegedly done some recording with saxophonist Kenny G. The Easy Listening superstar told The Dallas Observer he had been in a recording studio with West, but wouldn’t specify the project, saying “he doesn’t really want anyone to talk about music before he releases it” Maybe it’s a new Watch the Throne album with Mr. G replacing Mr. Z?
COLD: Accidental Swan Song?
Though they’re the biggest Rock & Roll band ever and some of the most well-documented artists in the history of the world, the mythology of The Beatles apparently isn’t completely set in stone. It has been long believed that The Beatles reconvened to record Abbey Road knowing it was their last hurrah. But Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn recently shared a tape with The Guardian from 1969 recorded after the Abbey Road sessions in which the group members are heard plotting another album. John Lennon is heard on the tape proposing that the album feature four songs each from him, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, plus two from Ringo Starr. The album never materialized; the cobbled-together Let It Be (recorded before Abbey Road) was released in 1970, a month after the group’s break-up was announced. Lewisohn is using the tape (and others he’s collected, along with rare video, photos and music) to create the forthcoming stage show Hornsey Road, which chronicles the band's final stage.
