Aerosmith to disband, plan farewell tour
Aerosmith will be taking a bow for the last time next year. The band's frontman Steven Tyler confirmed they are planning a farewell tour for 2017. "I love this band, I really do, and I want to squash every thought that anybody might have about this: the band's over. We're doing a farewell tour, but it's only because it's time," the 68-year-old told radio host Howard Stern. When Stern made Tyler confirm it by asking if he meant "farewell" as in the band would be gone for good, he said: "Yeah", but that they would bow out with one last tour next year. Aerosmith formed in 1970 and released their last studio album Music from Another Dimension! in 2012. – The National staff
Freida Pinto: Strong women roles more vital than being lead
Freida Pinto says that strong female characters are more important than female stars in Indian cinema. The actress, who starred in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire (2008), was speaking during a session with director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and actor Anil Kapoor at the 17th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) extravaganza in Madrid last weekend. "Since I don't necessarily work in Bollywood, I can give you my views as a spectator about Indian films," she said. "It is not just about female characters taking the lead in a film, but strong female characters also matter. My dad loved Shabana Azmi's work and Smita Patil's films – these are strong women. I feel the 1990s had a slight lack of [strong] female characters. I see resurgence of it now. Acceptance from audience makes it easier to make change at grass-roots level. Definitely the change is happening." – IANS
Tribute band treated to a Billy Joel experience
Fans watching a Billy Joel tribute band in New York were treated to a surprise appearance by the Piano Man himself. Joel was in the audience on Friday night with his wife, Alexis Roderick, at a show in Huntington, when he decided to join the band Big Shot for a three-song set. Newsday reports that Joel jammed on covers of The Beatles' With a Little Help From My Friends, done Joe Cocker-style, and the Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Woman. Joel wrapped up with one of his biggest hits, You May Be Right, which Big Shot bandleader Michael DelGuidice blended with Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll. The native Long Islander told the crowd he lives "down the road" from Paramount Theater in Huntington. – AP
Finding Dory in line for highest box-office collection
Finding Dory, Disney/Pixar's animated sequel to Finding Nemo, is dominating the United States box office despite being in its second week. The film, featuring Ellen DeGeneres voicing the forgetful fish, will wind up the weekend with US$289 million (Dh1.06 billion) after 10 days, reports Variety magazine. Its high-grossing figures are predicted to rise even further and Forbes.com reports that it looks set to end up overtaking Shrek 2 to become the biggest domestic animated box-office champion of all time. – The National Staff
Fashion photographer Bill Cunningham dies at 87
Bill Cunningham, a long-time fashion photographer for The New York Times known for taking pictures of everyday people on the streets of New York, has died at the age of 87. Cunningham was the subject of a 2010 film titled Bill Cunningham New York, which won best documentary film at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Film Festival. He was best known for visiting several high-profile events every night on his bicycle to capture countless images, later to be printed in the newspaper. His work was so comprehensive that it can be seen as a historic archive of fashion across the decades, and he donated several of his prints to the New-York Historical Society. "To see a Bill Cunningham street spread was to see all of New York," said Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, in a tweet posted to the newspaper's account on Saturday afternoon after Cunningham's death was announced. – AP
