ANOTHER LONG NIGHT, another chronic sinus headache. So I'll return tomorrow.  Also it was a slow news day, but I do note:

GEORGE MARTIN, the “Fifth Beatle” and British treasure who signed the Fab Four to a label contract when no one else would, produced virtually all their songs and introduced lavish arrangements into “Yesterday” and “A Day in the Life,” has died, according to Ringo Starr's Twitter feed. He was 90. Here is the maestro talking about making "Please Please Me," and "Strawberry Fields Forever."  1n 1976, he discussed a variety of Beatles productions with Rolling Stone. The epitome of the English gentleman, he got an ovation while paying tribute to one of his chief competitors, Brian Wilson at Radio City Music Hall in 2002. He was also the subject of a  Beatle-free 1980 episode of This Is Your Life (Parts One, Two, Three).

BILL WYMAN, the Rolling Stones' bassist at their peak, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but is expected to make a full recovery.

Also:

THE WACHOWSKIS, who made The Matrix trilogy as brothers, are now sisters.

THE HIGH LLAMAS drop a video for "McKain James." More Village Green Kinks than Steely Dan.

INTO IT. OVER IT. is streaming Standards.

PARQUET COURTS stopped by WFUV's Studio A for a chat and mini-set, including new songs.

SUNFLOWER BEAN also stopped by WFUV's Studio A for a chat and mini-set.

ROBIN PECKHOLD (Fleet Foxes) & JOANNA NEWSOM team up for "On a Good Day."

SONNY & THE SUNSETS drops “Well But Strangely Hung Man."

COLIN STETSON drops “SORROW – III (Extract II)."

DRAMARAMA give you "Anything, Anything" and a "Last Cigarette" for Twofer Tuesday.

M WARD talks to PopMatters about thee volution of More Rain.

VULGAR BOATMEN co-leader Dale Lawrence (the Indiana half) is guest editing MAGNET’s website this week.

RANDY MEISNER's wife is reported to have died of a gunshot wound on Sunday.

DAUGHTER is profiled by BeatRoute.

ERIN ANDREWS won 55MM in damages from a jury for the nude peephole video a serial stalker took at the Nashville Marriott in 2008.

J.K. SIMMONS wil play Commissioner Gordon in Justice League.

STEVEN TYLER's latest companion appears to be his 28-year-old assistant.

JIMMY KIMMEL locks down the 2016 Emmys hosting gig.

J.K. ROWLING will be exploring The History of Magic in North America.

THE NEXT JAMES BOND? Brits make book.

MARIA SHARAPOVA announced she failed a drugs test at the Australian Open.

IRAN: A former top official of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency wrote on Friday that the organization’s most recent report on Iran’s nuclear program is “incomplete” and “lacks relevant details” to explain how it concluded that Iran is following the terms of the nuclear deal signed last year. This appears to be by design.

AN OSTRICH chases cyclists in South Africa.

THE CAT-MAYOR of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. “One time he somehow got into my apartment,” said Tommy Mulvoy. “I turn around and this freaking cat is on the back of my couch. How my cat didn’t see him, I don’t know. He’s a sneaky dude.”

A GATOR stops traffic, because Florida.

A GANG OF FERAL GOATS overrun a New Zealand town.

THE WHO -- or who's left of them -- played "Who Are You?" for Fallon, their first such US TV performance since 2006, or 1967, depending how you count it.

RA RA RIOT stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

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

JULIA HOLTER stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

JULIANA HATFIELD covers "Needle In The Hay" for an Elliott Smith tribute LP.

MODERN BASEBALL dropped two new songs.

GAYLE McCORMCK, a big-voiced singer who scored a top five hit in the late 1960s covering "Baby, It's You" with the soul/psych rock band Smith before going solo, died on March1 following a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 67.

THE REPLACEMENTS: Bob Mehr (Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements) talks to Pitchfork about why it took decades for the band to get its due.

THE UNDERTONES: The Guardian excerpst Michael Bradley's book, Teenage Kicks: My Life As an Undertone.

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS: Alejandra Deheza talks to GQ about completing an album after her bandmate's death.

UNLOVED pays a bit of tribute to the vintage pop of the mid-Sixties.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Zootopia tops the chart with a smashing 73MM, which is more than any other non-Pixar Disney opening (I tend to doubt it will have the legs Frozen did, but who knows?). London Has Fallen placed with 21.7MM (Olympus Has Fallen opened with 30MM, but maybe the global scale here boosts overseas receipts).  Former champ Deadpool shows with another 16.4MM and closes in on 650MM worldwide. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot opened in fouth with just 7.6 MM; fortunately, the budget was only 35MM. Gods of Egypt skid 65 percent to round out the Top Five with 5MM, affirming this is an atomic-level bomb.

LENA DUNHAM was taken to the hospital on Saturday and will undergo surgery following a ruptured ovarian cyst.

GHOSTBUSTERS: The reboot has a trailer online.

O.J. SIMPSON: A knfe found on his property appears to be inconsistent with the 1994 murders of the former football star's wife and her friend.

COURTNEY STODDEN's husband wanted a relationship including her mother. Least surprising thing ever?

NANCY REAGAN, former first lady, died of congestive heart failure at 94.

JIMMY CARTER revealed Sunday that he no longer needs to receive treatment for cancer.

NORTH KOREA test-fired six short-range missiles.

CHIMPANZEES may engage in secret rituals and believe in a god. It begins.

SEALS on an isolated island have provided new insight into how to be a good mother.

SCIENTISTS attempt to clone Ice Age lion cubs.  They spared no expense.

MALE NURSERY WEB SPIDERS tie their partners up during sex to prevent themselves from being eaten.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

... with THE MINUTEMEN! San Pedro, California's greatest musical export took apart rock, jazz and funk and put the pieces back together in a jagged collage. They are caught here in an acoustic session for a cable-access show from Hollywood, circa 1985. Your setlist includes "The Meter Man," "Corona," "Themselves," "The Red And The Black" (Blue Öyster Cult), "Badges, "I Felt Like Gringo," "Time" (Richard Hell), "Green River" (Creedence Clearwater Revival), "Lost" (Meat Puppets), "Ack Ack Ack," "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" "History Lesson Part II," "Tour Spiel" and "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand."

JEFF BUCKLEY's You And I is posthumously streaming at NPR.

MIND SPIDERS advance stream Prosthesis

LUCIUS advance streams Good Grief.

JASON ISBELL stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

THE DANDY WARHOLS drop “STYGGO" ahead of Distortland.

TROGGS: "With a Girl Like You," live.

PRIX: Big Star fans will want to read this Aquarium Drunkard interview with Jon Tive, who recorded a soon-to-be-reissued record with Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, and Jim Dickinson.

ROB CROW (Pinback)  talks to PopMatters about ditching destructive things and returning to music.

FIELD MUSIC is profiled by Drowned In Sound.

THE 40 GREATEST EMO ALBUMS, according to Rolling Stone.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are Zootopia, currently scoring 100 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; London Has Fallen, which is scoring 22 percent; and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, scoring 60 percent.

KALEY CUOCO discusses her views on love, marriage, and independence with Cosmo.

CAITLYN JENNER hopes to become “trans ambassador” for Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz.

AMANDA SEYFRIED has started dating her Last Word co-star, Thomas Sadoski.

BOBBI KRISTINA BROWN's autopsy will be made public.

MORGAN FREEMAN is skeptical of Batman v Superman.

SYRIA: The US set up a hotline for Syrians to report cease-fire violations, but employed operators not fluent in Arabic.

LION and TIGER and BEAR... Oh My!

RARE DRAGONS may be born in Slovenia.

DUCK THROWING FESTIVAL Banned In Spain.

A THIRSTY KOALA approached a cyclist for water.

FRIGHTENED RABBIT drops a video for "Get Out."

WILCO plays a Tiny Desk Concert.

THE AUSTIN 100: NPR's six-hour playlist or download of SXSW bands.

CAN: The Peel Sessions, 1973-75.

KEEPS advance streams Brief Spirit.

BETH ORTON drops "Moon" ahead of Kidsticks.

GIRL RAY drops “I’ll Make This Fun.”

JIMMY WEBB, one of America's master songwriters, plays "Elvis and Me" on Steve Dahl's 1991 NYE PPV event.

BOB DYLAN'S SECRET ARCHIVE has recently been acquired by a group of institutions in Oklahoma for an estimated 15-20MM, and is set to become a resource for academic study.

FOO FIGHTERS dnied break-up rumors, but a major announcement was coming. And then they goofed on the rumors in a 7-minute video.

LOU REED would have turned 74 yesterday; here are 20 essential tracks.

A MINNESOTA RECORD STORE OWNER discovered 100K virgin LPs in a basement.

ZOE SALDANA is under fire after being cast as Nina Simone in an upcoming biopic. The trailer is online.

KATY PERRY & ORLANDO BLOOM's romance continues to heat up. 

MADONNA & GUY RITCHIE were chewed out by the judge in their child custody fight.

PRES. BARACK & MICHELLE OBAMA will keynote at SXSW.

MISCHA BARTON will be Dancing With The Stars.

THE TERROR is finally moving forward at AMC.

SYRIAN rebels said on Wednesday they were under fierce government attack near the Turkish border despite a cessation of hostilities agreement and a representative cast doubt on whether U.N.-backed peace talks would go ahead on March 9 as planned.

MAN'S BEST FRIEND: Are you gonna finish that?

AN ORPHANED WALLABY finds comfort in his teddy bear. (Thx, Zoey.)

A SUSPECTED CARPET PYTHON was brought to a family swimming area in Queensland by its owner for a little fun.

MONARCH BUTTERFLIES are exploding in Mexico...population-wise.