Nat King Cole Recordings Sold to Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group quietly acquired about 200 recordings by Nat King Cole from the iconic singer’s estate in January 2021, the company revealed Thursday (March 17), bringing all of his recordings under UMG ownership.

The songs, recorded between 1961 and 1964, were previously licensed to Capitol Records — now owned by UMG — under a deal Cole negotiated following his rise to fame. His earlier recordings, also of about 200 songs, were all originally released on Capitol Records as well.

The agreement was first reported by Forbes to be in the range of $10 to $20 million – a price range Billboard confirmed with a source familiar with the deal. Recordings included in the acquisition include such iconic songs as “Nature Boy,” “Mona Lisa,” “Unforgettable,” “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You),” “L-O-V-E,” “Smile” and “When I Fall In Love.”

Also on Thursday, UMG revealed that on Friday (March 18) it will release Capitol Rarities (Vol. 1), a collection of 14 tracks by Cole. The set includes five Cole recordings that were previously unavailable on streaming platforms: “The Magic Tree,” “Early American,” “The Day Isn’t Long Enough,” “My First and My Last Love” and “Easter Sunday Morning.”

The UMG deal follows last week’s announcement that Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group purchased rights to all assets from Cole’s estate, including his recorded music, publishing, TV shows and name and likeness. That deal and the UMG acquisition are being billed as part of an effort to expand Cole’s legacy to new generations. Last year, UMG released an album of the singer’s classic Christmas songs featuring “duets” with contemporary artists including John Legend, Kristin Chenoweth and Gloria Estefan.

Cole started his career as a jazz and classical piano player and signed his first record deal with Capitol in 1943. His debut album with The King Cole Trio was released in 1945 and hit No. 1 on Billboard’s very first album chart. His success helped lead to the construction of the iconic Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, which became colloquially known as “The House That Nat Built.” His other hits include “The Very Thought of You,” “Straighten Up and Fly Right” and “Stardust.”

In 1959, Cole won the Grammy for best performance by a “Top 40” Artist for the song “Midnight Flyer.” Following his death in 1965 at age 45, he was posthumously honored with a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Other recent catalog purchases by UMG include the entirety of Neil Diamond’s song and master recording catalogs and Sting’s song catalog, both in February. In December 2020, in what is widely believed to be the biggest deal ever for a single songwriter, the company purchased Bob Dylan’s entire song catalog, including both publishing rights and Dylan’s writer’s share.

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Want Showtime? This Special Promo Gets You 30 Days Free for a Limited Time Only

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Everyone likes to save money. As big-league streamers like Netflix continue with price hikes, those monthly subscriptions that were supposed to be cheaper than a cable bill are really starting to add up. No need to panic though, if you’re looking for an affordable streaming option, Showtime offers groundbreaking movies, addictive original series and sports content that you can watch for free.

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Some of the movies and documentaries and other content streaming on Showtime include The Green Knight, Outcry, Zola, Queenpins, Outcry, Passion Play: Russell Westbrook, Shut Up and Dribble and Below the Belt With Brendan Schaub.

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Justin Bieber Speaks Out After Hailey’s Medical Scare: ‘She’s Strong, But It’s Been Scary’

Justin Bieber spoke out about life’s curveballs during his Justice World Tour stop in Denver, Colorado on Wednesday (Mar. 16).

The speech came after an electrical fire caused the power to go out in the middle of JB’s show and days after his wife, Hailey Bieber, revealed that she was hospitalized after experiencing stroke-like symptoms caused by a “very small blood clot” to her brain.

“You know, it’s kind of crazy how life randomly throws you curveballs,” the “Peaches” singer told the crowd once the show resumed, per a video shared by social media user @angiebeebs. “You know, we can’t really control much. You know, tonight the power cutting out. Obviously, you guys know, most of you probably know or seen the news about my wife.”

He assured that she’s doing better, adding, “But she’s OK, she’s good, she’s strong. But it’s been scary, you know? Like, it’s been really scary. But I know for a fact that God has her in the palm of his hands and that’s a good thing.”

Hailey took to her Instagram Stories on Saturday (Mar. 12) to share the news of her hospitalization with her fans. “On Thursday morning, I was sitting at breakfast with my husband when I started having stroke like symptoms and was taken to the hospital,” the 25-year-old model wrote. “They found I had suffered a very small blood clot to my brain, which caused a small lack of oxygen, but my body had passed it on its own and I recovered completely within a few hours.”

She added, “Although this was definitely one of the scariest moments I’ve ever been through, I’m home now and doing well, and I’m so grateful and thankful to all the amazing doctors and nurses who took care of me!”

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Episode 2: Into the wreckage. How search-and-rescue teams tried to save Surfside victims

Episode 2: Feet from Death — Collapse: Disaster in Surfside For many residents of Champlain Towers South, life or death hinged on where their apartments were located. A few feet … Click to Continue »
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Video shows fatal hit and run crash in Broward. Police need your help finding the driver.

A man crossing a Fort Lauderdale street over the weekend was killed after a minivan slammed into him and never stopped, video shows. On Thursday, Fort Lauderdale police released the … Click to Continue »
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St. Thomas school in Glenvar Heights wants to expand. Neighbors worried about traffic

Expansion plans by the St. Thomas the Apostle School face a county vote on Thursday, with some neighbors warning of increased traffic and others supporting the zoning request. The private … Click to Continue »
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3 Florida Hungry Howie’s pizza joints shorted drivers $2,800. One had child labor issues

Three Hungry Howie’s pizza franchises in Jacksonville have paid delivery drivers $2,895 in earned back wages as well as $7,839 in civil money penalties after child labor violations were found, … Click to Continue »
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Ex-Congressman Victor Fazio of California dies at 79

Victor Fazio, a Democratic congressman from California who served for 20 years and rose to become an influential party leader in the House, has died. He was 79. Fazio’s death … Click to Continue »
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Kanye West Suspended From Instagram for 24 Hours

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been suspended from Instagram for 24 hours, Billboard can confirm.

The rapper’s recent posts violated Instagram’s policies on hate speech, bullying and harassment, a rep from Meta (formerly Facebook, Inc., which is the parent organization of Instagram) told TMZ, which first reported the news on Wednesday (March 16). The @kanyewest account has been restricted for 24 hours, which means Ye is unable to post, comment and send messages, among other actions, on the social media platform.

While his account remains active, certain posts have been deleted, including repeated racial slurs underneath a screenshot of Daily Show host Trevor Noah’s Google page. Half of the page is dedicated to the numerous shots Ye has taken at Pete Davidson, the current beau of West’s estranged wife Kim Kardashian. He wrote that the Saturday Night Live comedian, whom he refers to as “Skete,” “will get my kids mom hooked on drugs He’s in rehab every 2 months” and pleaded with SNL writer Dave Sirus to “please help write some more culturally irrelevant jokes for SKETE” while referencing Davidson’s tattoo of Hillary Clinton, which Ye had previously posted (and has since deleted) with the caption, “Tramp Stamp. Pete the tramp. Here’s the stamp.”

Ye also criticized comedian D. L. Hughley’s style by writing, “This grown a– man picked this outfit out himself Is he influential or under the influence???” underneath his picture. Ye additionally posted a screenshot of Hughley’s June 2021 interview on The Wendy Williams Show, where the 59-year-old actor discussed his latest book How to Survive America. “Funny thing is we’ll probably end up being friends… I used to defend this n—a back when he had work…. Like nah he funny … you just gotta watch it 1 trillion more times to get it,” Ye wrote. 

Hughley took to Twitter to defend himself in a series of tweets, starting with, “Now #Kanye! When you say you had to explain my jokes to people, are these real people, or the ones you keep in your head?” He later teased the rapper about Kardashian moving on from their marriage of six-plus years and dating Davidson. “At least I wasn’t crying on the phone about how big Pete’s Peter is! If you want her back instead acting up why don’t you try doing some d–k ups!” the D. L. Hughley Breaks the News host wrote in one tweet, while adding in another, “#Kanye do you know how horrible you gotta be to make a #Kardashian date a white man!”

The Instagram suspension follows Ye and Kardashian’s ongoing divorce case, which the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star first filed a little over a year ago. A Los Angeles judge declared her legally single earlier this month after she had requested a quick separation in December, which he had filed objections to in February. She complained to Judge Steve Cochran that Ye has been spreading “misinformation” about family matters with his social media outbursts, which she claims have caused her “emotional distress.” Yet he fired back by filing documents saying that his estranged wife couldn’t prove he wrote since-deleted posts that bashed her parenting style and trashed Davidson.

According to Meta, the platform will take additional steps if it sees Ye’s account continue to violate its policies on hate speech and bullying and harassment once the initial 24-hour restriction is up.

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Jussie Smollett Released From Jail During Appeal

Jussie Smollett was released from jail Wednesday following six nights behind bars after an appeals court agreed with his lawyers that he should be free pending the appeal of his conviction for lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack.

The former Empire actor walked out of the Cook County Jail surrounded by security. He did not comment as he got into an awaiting SUV, but his attorneys said he was the target of a racist justice system and people playing politics.

The appeals court ruling came after a Cook County judge sentenced Smollett last week to immediately begin serving 150 days in jail for his conviction on five felony counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police. In an outburst immediately after the sentence was handed down, Smollett proclaimed his innocence and said “I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that.”

The appeals court said Smollett could be released after posting a personal recognizance bond of $150,000, meaning he didn’t have to put down money but agrees to come to court as required.

Smollett defense attorney Nenye Uche, speaking to reporters outside the jail after Smollett left, said the Smollett family is “very very happy with today’s developments.” Uche said during his time at the jail, Smollett had not eaten and drank only water, though he did not say why.

He criticized the special prosecutor’s decision to charge Smollett again after the initial charges were dropped by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and he paid a fine. He also called Judge James Linn’s sentence excessive for a low-level felony, adding that the appellate court doesn’t “play politics.”

“The real question is: Should Black men be walked into jail for a class 4 felony? Shame on you if you think they should,” Uche said.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb recommended that Smollett serve “an appropriate amount of prison time” during sentencing.

“His conduct denigrated hate crimes,” Webb said after the hearing. “His conduct will discourage others who are victims of hate crimes from coming forward and reporting those crimes to law enforcement.”

Smollett’s attorneys had argued that he would have completed the sentence by the time the appeal process was completed and that Smollett could be in danger of physical harm if he remained locked up in Cook County Jail.

The office of the special prosecutor called the claim that Smollett’s health and safety were at risk “factually incorrect,” in a response to his motion, noting that Smollett was being held in protective custody at the jail.

The court’s decision marks the latest chapter in a strange story that began in January 2019 when Smollett, who is Black and gay, reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks. The manhunt for the attackers soon turned into an investigation of Smollett himself and his arrest on charges that he’d orchestrated the attack and lied to police about it.

The investigation revealed Smollett paid two men he knew from work on the TV show “Empire” to stage the attack.

A jury convicted Smollett in December on five felony counts of disorderly conduct — the charge filed when a person lies to police. He was acquitted on a sixth count. Judge James Linn sentenced Smollett last week to 150 days in jail — with good behavior he could have been released in as little as 75 days.

Smollett maintained his innocence during the trial. During sentencing he shouted at the judge that he was innocent, warning the judge that he was not suicidal and if he died in custody it was somebody else, and not him, who would have taken his life.

Uche said the first thing Jussie did when learning the news was push his hands on the glass between them and said he nearly lost hope in the U.S. constitutional system. “I think he had nearly given up,” Uche said.

He said the next step will be to file an appeal of the verdict.

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