The date of Robin Thicke's upcoming Dubai club gig has been moved due to "popular demand", organisers say. The Blurred Lines singer will now grace the stage at Eden Beach Club on Friday – a day later than previously announced. The Rixos, Palm Jumeirah, venue has also announced the event will be its final party before the summer break. Doors open at 7pm, with tickets priced at Dh250 for men, and free for ladies. The venue also offers a brunch package from noon until 5pm. This club gig comes little more than a year after Thicke's last concert in the Emirates and is a markedly more intimate option than his headline slot at Blended. For more details, visit www.edenbeachclub.com – The National
Founding member of the Beastie Boys dies
John Berry, a founding member of hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, has died in Massachusetts. He was 52. Berry's father told Rolling Stone magazine that his son had been suffering from dementia, which recently worsened. Berry came up with the Beastie Boys name and was one of the group's first members when it formed in 1981. He played guitar on the band's first seven-inch EP, Polly Wog Stew, recorded in 1982, but left shortly after, before the group shifted from punk to hip-hop. – Reuters
Metal and rap groups form supergroup
Rage Against the Machine’s guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk are teaming up with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Cypress Hill’s B-Real to create Prophets of Rage, a supergroup that will perform songs by all three bands. At www.ProphetsofRage.com, a ticker is counting down to June 1 and, Billboard magazine reports, that the band will debut at Hollywood Palladium on June 3. A show at the venue Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles also is also planned. Zack de la Rocha, the former RATM vocalist, is not involved – the band broke up in 2011. – The National
Elton John hints at retirement
British singer Elton John has hinted that he may soon stop touring to spend more time with his children. John revealed the news when he appeared on The Graham Norton Show, saying that he was keen to remain close to his sons, Zachary and Elijah. John is due to go on tour with friend Rod Thomas, a musician who goes by the stage name Bright Light Bright Light. When asked if this was to be a farewell tour, John said: "Not necessarily. I like playing and I'm a working musician and I love to do it. If you're feeling fresh and energetic do it while you can. I'm not going to do it forever because I want to see my boys grow up." – IANS
Tisca Chopra ventures into comedy
Actress Tisca Chopra, who is best known for her work in dramatic films, will surprise fans with her upcoming role in the comedy 3 Dev, which is due out next month. “I’ve been wanting to do a comedy for a long time, as you do one film where people really like a type of role of yours and then everybody thinks that you can do only that,” she says. Known for roles in films including Taare Zameen Par, Firaaq and Rahasya, 42-year-old Chopra says she has been waiting for the right project to allow her to show off her comedy skills. Meaty acting roles, however, remain her first love. “I’d like to play Indira Gandhi” she says “I’d like to play Amrita Sher-Gil; I’d like to play a killer, a cop, a spy, so many different roles.” – IANS
Bill Cosby’s wife answers few questions
Bill Cosby's wife of 52 years bickered with lawyers and cited marital privilege as she refused to answer questions about the torrent of sexual-abuse allegations her husband faces, according to a transcript of a sworn deposition she gave in February. Camille Cosby, 72, repeatedly cited her legal right to keep spousal communications private when she was questioned in Massachusetts by lawyers for seven women who are suing her husband for defamation. The session was punctuated with frequent squabbles, as Cosby's attorneys objected to the line of questioning, according to the newly unsealed transcript, posted online by The Hollywood Reporter. Taken from the first of two depositions she has submitted to, under court order, the transcript shed little light on a scandal that has shattered the comedian's career, even as Camille Cosby has stood by her husband. Her attorneys said in a court filing in February that questions posed during the deposition were designed to "annoy" and "embarrass" Cosby's wife. The 78-year-old comedian, who personified the model American family man in his long-running hit sitcom The Cosby Show, has denied engaging in any non-consensual sexual behaviour, though he has acknowledged marital infidelity. – Reuters
Mister Ed star Alan Young dies
Emmy award-winning actor Alan Young, who rose to enduring TV fame alongside a talking horse on the popular 1960s American TV sitcom Mister Ed, and co-starred in the classic sci-fi film The Time Machine, has died at age 96. Young, who also provided the voice of cartoon characters, including Disney’s Scrooge McDuck, died from natural causes last week at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, a Los Angeles retirement facility for those in the movie and TV industry, according to his manager, Gene Yusem. The English-born actor was best known for his role as Wilbur Post, an amiable architect with a loquacious palomino horse living in his backyard barn, during six seasons on Mister Ed, which is still broadcast in reruns half a century after its original run on CBS ended. The series involved a horse called Mister Ed that could talk, but only to Wilbur. For decades after the show ended, Young said he was often saddled with questions by fans about how the horse’s lips were made to move to look like Mister Ed was talking. He said the show’s producers did not want the secret revealed, so he made up an explanation, saying that peanut butter was put in the horse’s mouth. “So I made up the peanut butter story, and everyone bought it,” Young said in 2009. “It was initially done by putting a piece of nylon thread in his mouth. But Ed actually learnt to move his lips on cue when the trainer touched his hoof. In fact, he soon learnt to do it when I stopped talking during a scene. Ed was very smart.” – Reuters
