Aretha Franklin Slams Dionne Warwick for Saying She Was Whitney Houston’s Godmother Five Years Ago

Some people think that ARETHA FRANKLIN was WHITNEY HOUSTON’s godmother . . . but according to Aretha, that’s FAKE NEWS.

DIONNE WARWICK was Whitney’s cousin . . . and even she called Aretha Whitney’s godmother at Whitney’s funeral.  It’s unclear whether she misspoke, or if she was under that assumption like a lot of other people . . .

But Aretha thinks it was intentional, and she’s still FUMING about it.

She said, quote, “She blatantly lied on me . . . fully well knowing what she was doing.”

For some reason, Aretha held her anger inside all this time, but she finally set the record straight this week with a fax to the Associated Press.  And she thinks what Dionne said is somehow LIBELOUS.

Yes, it’s been five years since Whitney’s funeral . . . and 15 years since fax machines were used . . . but that didn’t stop her.

To be clear, DARLENE LOVE was Whitney’s godmother, and Aretha was her “honorary aunt.”  It’s unclear why Aretha is so upset about this . . . but it sounds like the beef between her and Dionne goes WAY back.

Ringo Starr will host one charitable fan at his 77th birthday brunch on July 7th in Los Angeles to benefit the David Lynch Foundation. By making a minimum $10 donation through Omaze, participants will be entered into a giveaway; the winner (and a guest) will be flown to the event, where they’ll join Starr and his friends at brunch, say “peace and love” alongside VIP guests in front of Capitol Records and stay at a four-star hotel.

In a video announcing the campaign, Starr promoted his yearly birthday tradition, encouraging everyone to spread “peace and love” on July 7th noon local time. “Wherever you are: on the bus, in the factory, having dinner, having lunch,” he says. “No matter what part of the world you’re in.”

Filmmaker David Lynch founded his titular organization in 2005 to help “prevent and eradicate the all-pervasive epidemic of trauma and toxic stress among at-risk population” through promoting the implementation of Transcendental Meditation.

Elton John Is Recovering from a “Rare and Potentially Deadly” Infection

ELTON JOHN canceled nine upcoming shows, including his remaining dates at Caesar’s Palace in Vegas.  And he has a good excuse:  He almost DIED.

He recently performed a series of shows in South America, and he became “violently ill” on the flight back.  As it turned out, he’d contracted a “harmful and unusual” bacterial infection.

His rep says, quote, “Upon returning to the U.K., his doctors admitted him to hospital, where he underwent immediate treatment to remove the infection . . . Infections of this nature are rare and potentially deadly.”

Fortunately, it sounds like Elton will be all right.  He was discharged on Saturday, and is now resting at home, where he’s expected to make a full recovery.

At this point, he’s planning on being able to perform again in June, when he launches a European tour.  Refunds are available for all the canceled shows. 

The Original Bananarama is Back Together for the First Time in 30 Years!

BANANARAMA: They were the ’80s band whose name you could spell for DAYS if you weren’t careful.  And now they’re back in their original form for their first tour in almost 30 YEARS.

After hitting the charts with songs like “Cruel Summer“ and “Venus“, SIOBHAN FAHEY left the group in 1998 to form Shakespears Sister.  Their biggest hit was “Stay“.

The two remaining Banarama members, SARAH DALLIN and KEREN WOODWARD, kept going with a replacement for a few years . . . but they’ve been a duo ever since.

So far, the only activity announced for the reunited Bananarama is a brief U.K. tour in November and December.  But hopefully, there’ll be more.

Kenny G Played Smooth Jazz on a Flight from Tampa to L.A.

Today, we have a story of a NEW kind of airline torture to share with you . . . Passengers on a Delta flight from Tampa to Los Angeles were treated to a live KENNY G performance on Saturday. 

The flight crew was raising money for the American Cancer Society, and he promised to play his saxophone if passengers helped hit their goal of $2,000.  Apparently, there were enough smooth jazz fans on board to get it done.

Kendrick Lamar Is #1 After Scoring the Best Sales Week of the Year

KENDRICK LAMAR just landed his third #1 album.  His latest, “Damn”, sold 603,000 copies in its first week, which is the best sales week for ANY album so far this year.  

In fact, it’s the biggest week since DRAKE sold over a million copies of “Views” in its first week back in May of last year.

JOHN MAYER came in second.  His new album sold 132,000 copies in its first week out. 

Here are this week’s Top 10 albums . . .

1.  NEW:  “Damn”, Kendrick Lamar . . . 603,000 copies

2.  NEW:  “The Search for Everything”, John Mayer . . . 132,000 copies

3.  “More Life”, Drake . . . 87,000 copies

4.  “Divide”, Ed Sheeran . . . 66,000 copies

5.  “Memories . . . Do Not Open”, The Chainsmokers . . . 61,000 copies

6.  The “Moana” soundtrack . . . 50,000 copies

7.  “24K Magic”, Bruno Mars . . . 44,000 copies

8.  “Future”, Future . . . 38,000 copies

9.  The “Beauty and the Beast” soundtrack . . . more than 37,000 copies

10.  NEW:  The “Fate of the Furious” soundtrack . . . 37,000 copies

Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. Has Died

Soul singer CUBA GOODING SR. was found dead in a parked car in the L.A. area yesterday.  He was 72.

Cuba is the father of actor CUBA GOODING JR., but he was a big deal himself back in the ’70s.  He was the lead singer of the group THE MAIN INGREDIENT, and they had hits with “Everybody Plays the Fool“ and “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely“.

He also did some solo stuff, and had a few minor acting roles.

There’s no cause of death yet.  There were no signs of foul play.  He was found slumped over the wheel . . . and officials say there were empty alcohol bottles and drug paraphernalia in the car.

So, there’s some talk that it might have been an overdose.  Surveillance video shows his car pulling up to the area around 3:30 in the morning.  A witness saw him sitting in the car at 10:00 A.M. wiping his brow.

And it was around 1:00 P.M. that the police were called to the scene.  They tried to revive him, but unfortunately, it was too late.

Prince Sold More Albums in 2016 Than Anyone Else

Today is the one-year anniversary of PRINCE’s death.  And I don’t want to say anything good came of it, but whoever’s collecting his royalties sure made some bank.

In the year since his death, Prince has sold 7.7 million albums and songs.  Most of that happened in the MONTH after his death.

In all of 2016, Prince sold 2.23 million albums.  That’s more than ANY OTHER ARTIST.  Even ADELE couldn’t match him.  She sold 2.21 million.  His best-selling albums were “The Very Best of Prince”, “Purple Rain”, and “1999”.  (Billboard)

Bill Murray is Working on a Musical Stage Show

BILL MURRAY is working on a musical stage show called “New Worlds”.   He’ll sing songs, including selections from “West Side Story” . . .  and also read stuff like Walt Whitman and Ernest Hemingway.

He’ll be backed by a trio that performs classical music and standards.  In one segment, Bill will read from “Huckleberry Finn” while the trio plays “Moon River”.

The show will make its debut on July 20th at an event called Festival Napa Valley.  There will be a North American tour after that, but dates haven’t been announced.  (Rolling Stone)

“Deliverance”, that new EP of unreleased PRINCE music, might not see the light of day after all.  It turns out his estate had nothing to do with it, and they had it yanked from streaming services.

It was supposed to be available for download tomorrow, with a physical copy going on sale June 2nd.  But now that’s not happening, either.  Prince’s estate is suing the producer for control of the songs.

They say he signed an agreement that any recordings he made with Prince would remain Prince’s sole property.

Friday is the one-year anniversary of PRINCE’s death, and we might be able to celebrate his legacy with some new music.  There’s a new EP called “Deliverance” hitting iTunes on Friday, for $3.99.

According to “Spin”, the songs were recorded between 2006 and 2008.  And the “majority of sales will benefit Prince’s estate.”  So, it sounds like they approved the release.  You can listen to the title track on Soundcloud.

By the way “Billboard” says that Prince left behind a “treasure trove” of things to see at his Paisley Park compound.  There are more than 7,000 artifacts, including costumes and shoes, and more than 121 guitars and instruments.  Apparently, Prince would “hang onto everything.”

RADIOHEAD had some technical glitches during their headlining set on the first night of Coachella Friday.  Just a few songs in, their speakers cut out at the end of “Ful Stop”.

They finished the song . . . because they didn’t know the audience couldn’t hear them . . . but then left the stage while the problem was fixed.  But it happened again during “15 Step”, and the band left the stage again.  They came back four minutes later, only to have it happen one more time, during “Let Down”.

But the issue finally got sorted out. The rest of the show went off without a hitch.

During her headlining set on Saturday, LADY GAGA debuted a new song called “The Cure”.  She also paid tribute to BEYONCÉ by doing their duet, “Telephone”.  Remember, Gaga is subbing for Beyoncé, who had to back out due to her pregnancy.