Topic: Karl

GEORGE MICHAEL, one of pop’s reigning stars in the 1980s and 1990s, in the duo Wham! and on his own, died on Sunday at his home in Goring in Oxfordshire, England. He was 53. Some of his notable songs include: "Young Guns (Go For It)," (which seemingly was one influence on the Ronson/Mars "Uptown Funk"); "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," "Careless Whisper," the then-controversial "I Want Your Sex," which proved too risque to crack the No. 1 spot in the US or UK; the Bo Diddling figurative flip side, "Faith"; "Father Figure," and the self-referential "Freedom '90," the supermodel-laden video for which was directed by David Fincher.

HOLIDAY CHEER: Amos Lee, Lucinda Williams, Corinne Bailey Rae, The Record Company and Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive are among those playing for WFUV's annual event.

THE NEW STANDARDS -- Chan Poling (the Suburbs), John Munson (Semisonic), and Steve Roehm play a holiday set, incl The Jayhawks' Gary Louris covering Bowie's "Starman," and Jeremy Messersmith covering "Pure Imagination."

NINE INCH NAILS streams their Not The Actual Events EP.

THE 1975 plays a full concert at the O2 Arena.

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD share "Nuclear Fusion."

CAR SEAT HEADREST & NAKED GIANTS cover the Talking Heads' "Naive Melody (This Must be The Place)" and it sounds like it was.

THE STATUS QUO guitarist Rick Parfitt has died at the age of 68 after suffering from a severe infection. The band's first hit was the psychedelic "Pictures of Matchstick Men" though they later embraced the more blue-collar sound of songs like "Whatever You Want."

THE BEATLES' SOLO LPs -- Reviewed circa 1970.

THE SELMER MARK VI: The Most Legendary Sax Ever?

MOGWAI: Ten of Their Best.

FRANK MURRAY, the former manager of The Pogues, has died at the age of 66.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Studios gave the bean-estimators the day off, so we should have those numbers tomorrow.

CARRIE FISHER was in critical condition following a massive heart attack aboard an 11-hour flight from London to Los Angeles on Friday.  She is now in stable condition, according to her mother, Debbie Reynolds.

JOHN WILLIAMS admits he's never seen the Star Wars franchise he helped make with his iconic scores.

ALIEN: COVENANT has a red band trailer online.

JUSTICE LEAGUE confirmed additional characters.

MILES TELLER went upside down Thursday night when his truck hit another car and flipped over.

THE MOVIE THAT DOESN'T EXIST -- And The People Who Think It Does. This is freaky.

THE SOVIET UNION ended 25 years ago: read Gorbachev's speech.

THIS CAT doesn't quite get ice fishing.

A VET caught bird flu from a cat.

CATS: The "ecological axis of evil"?

DOG TREATS laced with cannabis is a big business.

TEGAN & SARA shared a vdeo for “That Girl.”

GILLIAN WELCH & DAVID RAWLINGS play an 8-song Nashville Session for World Cafe.

BOB WEIR played WFUV Live at the King's Theatre.

JULY TALK visted the WNYC Soundcheck studios.

WILD PINK shared “Wizards Of Loneliness,” the latest advance single from the band's self-titled LP.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, SLY STONE & NINA SIMONE will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Grammy Special Merit Awards.

THE BEST UNDERGROUND GARAGE PUNK LPs of 2016, according to Pitchfork.

FOLK ALLEY's 10 Favorite Albums of 2016.

BIG THIEF's Top 10 Breakfasts of 2016.

NOW SHOWING: Wednesday's wide releases are Sing, which is currently scoring 69 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Passengers, which is currently scoring 29 percent; and Assassin's Creed, scoring 18 percent.  Why Him? opens on friday and is currently scoring 33 percent.

THE KARDASHIANS continue to freeze out Blac Chyna, who has reconciled with fiancé Rob Kardashian.

EMMA STONE is the cover of the Rolling Stone.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR put out a casting call listing a very large cast. (potential spoilers, obvsly)

MISCHA BARTON: A Teen Star Looks at 30.

ALAN THICKE died of a “ruptured aorta”, according to his death certificate.

WES ANDERSON announced his next film, Isle of the Dogs, a stop-motion animation about a group of dogs living on an island.

THE 15 BEST HORROR MOVIES of 2016, according to Paste.

THE 20 BEST MOVIES of 2016, according to The A.V. Club.

SYRIA: The Russian government and state media describe the situation in Aleppo as “liberation,” and Russian state TV last week interviewed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who praised Moscow for its support.

GERMANY: A manhunt is underway for a 24-year-old Tunisia native in connection with this week's Christmas market attack in Berlin. The suspect was arrested in August with forged documents en route to Italy, but a judge released him, an official says.

A BASSET HOUND protects her pups from Grandpa.

A NEGLECTED CAT is freed from pounds of matted fur.

A SAVAGE ELEPHANT farted on a friend's head.

RAMBO THE GATOR will be staying with his owner, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials ruled.

CHICANO BATMAN shared a video for "Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)."

NICK WATERHOUSE and his band stopped by KUTX for a chat and mini-set, include a cover of The Seeds' "Pushin' Too Hard."

DOYLE BRAMHALL II, who was the rhythm guitarist in The Fabulous Thunderbirds at 18, stopped by World Cafe for chat and mini-set.

HONEYBLOOD stopped by WFUV Live for a chat and mini-set.

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS released a posthumous Claymation video for "Please Come Home For Christmas."

THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME 2017 inductees are announced, but what's up with giving Nile Rodgers an award while snubbing Chic again?

R.E.M.: Peter Buck talked about Out of Time at Salon.

DAVID BOWIE's Final, Imaginative, Awesome Year.

THOM YORKE's former partner, Rachel Owen, died Sunday (Dec. 18) at 48 following a battle with cancer.

MARGOT ROBBIE's wedding photos.

RICHARD MARX heroically fought off and restrained an out-of-control passenger during a flight from Vietnam to South Korea ... and his wife, Daisy Fuentes, captured the whole ordeal.

MICHAEL FASSBENDER is taking some "downtime" from acting.

JAMES FRANCO has been added to the cast of Alien: Covenant.

DRAKE & JENNIFER LOPEZ  have been spending a lot of time together lately, and sources who are around both of them tell TMZ it's only a matter of time.

AZEALIA BANKS said she suffered a miscarriage in a now-deleted Facebook post.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: First pic of the movie Flash (tho didn't we kind of see him in Batman v Superman?)

JERRY LEWIS knows how to give a difficult interview.

THE ISLAMIC STATE claimed responsibility for a truck attack on a crowded Berlin Christmas market that German authorities said came right out of the extremist group's playbook.

RUSSIA: The official line from President Vladimir Putin on  the assassination of the ambassador in Turkey in Ankara was a "provocation" meant to derail talks between the two nations aimed at replacing the United States as the indispensable power in the Middle East.

TIGERS, caught by drone cameras.

A DOG can be shot by police if it barks or moves after police enter a home, according to a federal appeals court.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A militant rodent escaped near death in Wales by jumping into the engine compartment of a passing car that nearly ran it over.

A RARE ASIAN ELEPHANT was born at Chester Zoo.

KINGS OF LEON shared a video for "Find Me."

REGINA SPEKTOR stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

THE OH HELLOS played a holiday Tiny Desk Concert.

TRUE VISION is streaming their new 7″ EP Against The Grain.

KIM WILDE drunkenly warbles "Kids In America" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" on the subway.

MAVIS STAPLES talked to CBS about her storied acreer and a marriage proposal from Bob Dylan.

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: Kevin Drew talked to Pitchfork about putting the band back together and more...

SOUL-SIDES: Oliver Wang's favorite old recordings and new recordings of 2016.

THE 2016 PITCHFORK READERS' POLL results are online.

MARGOT ROBBIE has reportedly married boyfriend Tom Ackerley at a secret location in Byron Bay, Australia.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 has a trailer online.

BLADE RUNNER 2049 has a trailer online.

TWIN PEAKS dropped a teaser trailer with a very minor spoiler.

BELLA THORNE & CHARLIE PUTH were caught on camera after months of online flirting.

ALAN TUDYK talks about improvising on the set of Rogue One.

IRAQ: After two months, the battle to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State has settled into a grinding war of attrition.

GERMANY: A truck slammed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin on Monday night, killing at least 12 people and wounding 48, in what authorities are investigating as a possible terrorist attack.

TURKEY: Russia's ambassador to Turkey was assassinated at an Ankara art exhibit on Monday evening by a lone Turkish gunman shouting "God is great!" and "don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!" in what Russia called a terrorist attack. The gunman, described by Ankara’s mayor as a policeman, also wounded at least three others in the assault on the envoy.

A DEER crashed Gold's Gym of Anderson, South Carolina, for a workout.

A BLACK GOAT was sacrificed as Pakistan's national airline retook to the air following a crash earlier this month.

A BEAVER in Minnesota caused thousands of dollars in damage after deciding to chow down on a utility pole.

CAR-LICKING MOOSE prompt a warning in southern Alberta.

THE FLAMING LIPS debut "There Should Be Unicorns" in Oklahoma City.

THE PRETENDERS stopped by World Cafe Live, including this bonus video of "Tattooed Love Boys."

SPENCER TWEEDY streams his debut solo EP, Geezer Love.

1980, playlisted by World Cafe via Spotify.

SLOAN shared a pair of holiday tacks, "Kids Come Back Again At Christmas" and "December 25."

DROPKICK MURPHYS share "Paying My Way."

JOHN LYDON, a/k/a Johnny Rotten, shared the soundtrack of his life with Pitchfork.

DAVID BOWIE: Rolling Stone surveyed the making of Hunky Dory.

SHEARWATER: Jonathan Meiburg explains why music should not be Grape Nuts or whipped cream.

THE CALM AMID THE CHAOS: 2016’s Best New Music, according to Kevin Madden. I could live with this list as easily as my faves.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Rogue One topped the chart with a massive 155MM haul, the second-biggest December debut ever, behind The Force Awakens.  It's also the 12th biggest domest debut ever, while raking in almost as much again overseas, where the international cast will help it play big.  Not too shabby for a spin-off.  Moana placed with 11.7MM on a 37 percent drop; it faces even more competition from the debut of Sing over the holidays.  Office Christmas Party showed with 8.5MM on a 50 percent drop the first big victim of the Death Star moving into your cineplex's prime real estate. Taking that big a hit with the Christmas theme is a big red flag.  But Rogue One's biggest victim may be the 7MM debut of Collateral Beauty in the fourth slot, placing it in the Top 25 worst openings for a film opening on 3000+ screens.  The 36MM budget may be the only thing saving it from bomb status (I'd guess the stars took a gamble on backend deals and lost). Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them also took a sizable 51 percent drop to round out the Top Five with 5MM, but the Potterverse spin-off is in its 5th weekend and has grossed over 700MM worldwide, so no lumps in their stockings.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY is reportedly returning to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

JULIA ROBERTS has signed on to star in her first-ever (limited) TV series.

KATIE HOLMES & JAMIE FOXX lew to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for a private weekend getaway to celebrate her birthday.

MICHAEL SHEEN reassured fans he was misquoted and is probably not leaving acting for activism.

CEE-LO GREEN reassured fans a video showing his phone exploding was staged for a project.

ROB KARDASHIAN says Blac Chyna left him ... and she took their baby with her.

BROOKE MUELLER is in rehab.

MARGARET CHO & TILDA SWINTON had a fight about the latter's casting in Doctor Strange...and Swinton released the emails.

ZSA ZSA GABOR,  the Hungarian actress whose self-parodying glamour and revolving-door marriages to millionaires put a luster of American celebrity on a long but only modestly successful career in movies and television, died of heart failure on Sunday in Los Angeles. She was 99.

DR HENRY HEIMLICH, the thoracic surgeon and medical maverick who developed and crusaded for the antichoking technique that has been credited with saving an estimated 100K lives, died on Saturday at a hospital in Cincinnati after suffering a heart attack at his home there last Monday, his family said. He was 96.

RUSSIA: A well-known Russian journalist and critic of President Vladimir Putin has been found dead in his Kiev apartment with a gunshot wound to the head.

A BLACK LABRADOR shows off his sledding technique. (Thx, Zoey.)

THE INCREDIBLY RARE "GHOST SHARK," which has its genitals in its head, was caught on camera for the first time.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT:  A pack of furry, pint-sized grinches have stolen the Christmas spirit from Toronto's Mel Lastman Square.

SNAKE vs WALLABY: Who You Got?