Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features pedal-steel guitarist Greg Leisz.
Greg Leisz’s list of credits is so incredibly long and varied that it’s almost hard to believe it...
Greg Leisz’s list of credits is so incredibly long and varied that it’s almost hard to believe it...
- 6/16/2021
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Bob Dylan fans woke up this morning to the stunning news that the songwriter had released a 17-minute epic titled “Murder Most Foul.” “Greetings to my fans and followers, with gratitude for all your support and loyalty over the years,” Dylan wrote. “This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant, and may God be with you.”
It’s his first original song since 2012’s Tempest, though he has released three albums of cover songs associated with Frank Sinatra since then.
It’s his first original song since 2012’s Tempest, though he has released three albums of cover songs associated with Frank Sinatra since then.
- 3/27/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
In the middle of January, with temperatures hovering around zero degrees, John Smith and his colleagues at Smithsonian Folkways drove a truck up to a 19th century homestead in Sharon, Connecticut to pick up a record label. For over 50 years, the remolded barn and carriage house had been the headquarters of Folk-Legacy and the home of two of its founders, Sandy and Caroline Paton. The Patons, along with their business partner Lee Haggerty, founded Folk-Legacy in 1961 and dedicated their lives to recording, preserving and releasing traditional folk songs and ballads...
- 8/1/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: A permanent replacement for Les Moonves may have to wait until CBS and Viacom become one company again.
The quest to find a full-time CEO has lost some of its intensity over the holidays as a consensus is emerging among CBS board members and power players to take a renewed look into melding the media outlet with its former parent company, I hear.
“It’s simply not as important now who runs CBS when you consider that a newly constructed leadership team will be required down the line if talks are successful,” one insider told Deadline of the impetus towards renewing merger discussions.
That may be good news as well as providing some additional leg room for acting CEO Joe Ianniello. If preliminary merger talks were to begin in the coming weeks, ex-cfo Ianniello is well positioned to put his financial expertise to use in settling terms and potentially shine in the process,...
The quest to find a full-time CEO has lost some of its intensity over the holidays as a consensus is emerging among CBS board members and power players to take a renewed look into melding the media outlet with its former parent company, I hear.
“It’s simply not as important now who runs CBS when you consider that a newly constructed leadership team will be required down the line if talks are successful,” one insider told Deadline of the impetus towards renewing merger discussions.
That may be good news as well as providing some additional leg room for acting CEO Joe Ianniello. If preliminary merger talks were to begin in the coming weeks, ex-cfo Ianniello is well positioned to put his financial expertise to use in settling terms and potentially shine in the process,...
- 1/8/2019
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Talks remain fluid on ending the legal battle between CBS and top shareholder National Amusements as well as the decades-long reign of Les Moonves at the media company, but already a new corporate structure is coming into focus.
As Moonves and his advisors including lawyer Daniel Petrocelli field exit offers from CBS’ independent board members understood to be in the $100 million-$125 million range, a united front has developed between the likes of the board’s Bruce Gordon and the Redstone family-dominated Nai to reach what is being called an “all-encompassing settlement.”
That deal, which Deadline first revealed exclusively yesterday was being discussed, would include a “refreshment” of the CBS board with exits and additions of those loyal to both Team Redstone and Team Moonves, we’ve learned.
Unlike the “Red Wedding” house-clearing that occurred at Viacom in 2016 when Sumner Redstone, at least in name, ordered the ouster of soon-to-be...
As Moonves and his advisors including lawyer Daniel Petrocelli field exit offers from CBS’ independent board members understood to be in the $100 million-$125 million range, a united front has developed between the likes of the board’s Bruce Gordon and the Redstone family-dominated Nai to reach what is being called an “all-encompassing settlement.”
That deal, which Deadline first revealed exclusively yesterday was being discussed, would include a “refreshment” of the CBS board with exits and additions of those loyal to both Team Redstone and Team Moonves, we’ve learned.
Unlike the “Red Wedding” house-clearing that occurred at Viacom in 2016 when Sumner Redstone, at least in name, ordered the ouster of soon-to-be...
- 9/6/2018
- by Dominic Patten and Dawn C. Chmielewski
- Deadline Film + TV
Unreleased cover songs by Bruce Springsteen, Tom Morello, Donovan and Tim Robbins highlight the massive compilation celebrating the 21st anniversary of protest music label Appleseed Recordings.
In addition to Springsteen’s take on “We Shall Overcome,” Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots and Branches exclusively features the rocker’s rendition of the Pete Seeger folk classic “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song).” Morello contributes his version of AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” while Donovan covers Joan Baez’s “Wild Mountain Thyme.”
John Wesley Harding, John Stewart,...
In addition to Springsteen’s take on “We Shall Overcome,” Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots and Branches exclusively features the rocker’s rendition of the Pete Seeger folk classic “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song).” Morello contributes his version of AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” while Donovan covers Joan Baez’s “Wild Mountain Thyme.”
John Wesley Harding, John Stewart,...
- 8/20/2018
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Shari Redstone has urged for the recombination of CBS and Viacom — the two media empires her family owns — for the better part of two years.
Redstone’s on-again, off-again desire for a merger took another turn on Tuesday, with National Amusements, her family’s holding company, saying in a court filing she “no longer supported” the recombination.
This came after Redstone snatched back control of Viacom in 2016, following a messy year-long trench war with former CEO Philippe Dauman, and almost immediately turned her attention to protecting the company from an uncertain future.
The courting has been tumultuous, to say the least, and in recent weeks Moonves’ opposition to the deal has seemingly strained relationships and possibly changed the direction of the two companies.
Also Read: CBS Amends Lawsuit in New Attempt to Dilute Shari Redstone's Voting Power
Here’s an in-depth look back at how CBS, Viacom and the Redstone empire got here.
Redstone’s on-again, off-again desire for a merger took another turn on Tuesday, with National Amusements, her family’s holding company, saying in a court filing she “no longer supported” the recombination.
This came after Redstone snatched back control of Viacom in 2016, following a messy year-long trench war with former CEO Philippe Dauman, and almost immediately turned her attention to protecting the company from an uncertain future.
The courting has been tumultuous, to say the least, and in recent weeks Moonves’ opposition to the deal has seemingly strained relationships and possibly changed the direction of the two companies.
Also Read: CBS Amends Lawsuit in New Attempt to Dilute Shari Redstone's Voting Power
Here’s an in-depth look back at how CBS, Viacom and the Redstone empire got here.
- 5/29/2018
- by Trey Williams and Sean Burch
- The Wrap
Bob Bakish, a longtime international exec at Viacom who moved up to CEO in December 2016, made $20.3M in salary and bonus money in fiscal 2017, the company disclosed today in a proxy filing with the SEC. In a residue of the pre-Bakish era, when ousted CEO Philippe Dauman was among the highest-paid CEOs in America, the statement showed that former COO and interim CEO Tom Dooley took home $53.6M in severance pay. The other key element in the Viacom proxy was the revelation…...
- 1/19/2018
- Deadline
Bob Bakish, a longtime international exec at Viacom who moved up to CEO in December 2016, made $20.3M in salary and bonus money in fiscal 2017, the company disclosed today in a proxy filing with the SEC. In a residue of the pre-Bakish era, when ousted CEO Philippe Dauman was among the highest-paid CEOs in America, the statement showed that former COO and interim CEO Tom Dooley took home $53.6M in severance pay. The other key element in the Viacom proxy was the revelation…...
- 1/19/2018
- Deadline TV
Plus Elisabeth Hasselbeck tries to have it both ways, Kevin Jennings speaks up, and you can go "At Home with John Barrowman."
I want to be the guy who applies the blood.
The True Blood trio graces the cover of this week's Rolling Stone. While most quotes have been about Stephen Moyer's naughty discussion of penetration ... of fangs, I think creator Alan Ball is much more interesting: To me, vampires are sex. I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed. Blastr.com decided to write 20 Gay Characters We Love from Sci-Fi Movies and TV, which we've done before. But my biggest amusement was the slap they took at parent company SyFy over Eureka's Vincent, the only gay in the village. Vincent is Eureka's friendly chef and owner of the fabulous Café Diem. When he's not in his restaurant,...
I want to be the guy who applies the blood.
The True Blood trio graces the cover of this week's Rolling Stone. While most quotes have been about Stephen Moyer's naughty discussion of penetration ... of fangs, I think creator Alan Ball is much more interesting: To me, vampires are sex. I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed. Blastr.com decided to write 20 Gay Characters We Love from Sci-Fi Movies and TV, which we've done before. But my biggest amusement was the slap they took at parent company SyFy over Eureka's Vincent, the only gay in the village. Vincent is Eureka's friendly chef and owner of the fabulous Café Diem. When he's not in his restaurant,...
- 8/17/2010
- by michael
- The Backlot
Update: Viacom took on $400 million in net debt and bought back a 51% majority stake in the DreamWorks Skg film library from billionaire investor George Soros in order to regain rights to 59 titles, including movies like Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan. Jeez, that sounds like Viacom overpaid ridiculously. But not when you realize that Viacom in March 2006 agreed to sell the library to Soros for $900 million and retained a 49% stake. The purchase was completed on February 8th, but not disclosed until today by Viacom COO Tom Dooley on an earnings call. Also it wasn't voluntary: [...]...
- 2/12/2010
- by Nikki Finke
- Deadline Hollywood
New York -- Viacom management on Thursday joined other sector giants in highlighting improving advertising market trends, while remaining more cautious than some peers.
The company reported an improved and better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit thanks to a strong performance from its film unit, which has been in turnaround mode, and TV ad declines that were less bad than some had feared.
"Viacom beat ours and the Street's bottom line estimates significantly on film, as home video surpassed expectations," said Barclays Capital analyst Anthony Diclemente.
"The tone is clearly more positive" in the ad market, Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said on a conference call. But he also emphasized: "We are not out of the economic woods yet," especially given high U.S. unemployment and weaker economic trends overseas.
First-quarter ad trends should be up over the fourth quarter, Dauman said without mentioning the likely comparison with the year-ago quarter. He...
The company reported an improved and better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit thanks to a strong performance from its film unit, which has been in turnaround mode, and TV ad declines that were less bad than some had feared.
"Viacom beat ours and the Street's bottom line estimates significantly on film, as home video surpassed expectations," said Barclays Capital analyst Anthony Diclemente.
"The tone is clearly more positive" in the ad market, Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said on a conference call. But he also emphasized: "We are not out of the economic woods yet," especially given high U.S. unemployment and weaker economic trends overseas.
First-quarter ad trends should be up over the fourth quarter, Dauman said without mentioning the likely comparison with the year-ago quarter. He...
- 2/11/2010
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When the Bond Street Theatre was founded in the late 1970s, the company's mission was to offer solace through performance to audiences in international hot spots. "We are an artistic humanitarian organization," says Joanna Sherman, the company's artistic director. Over the years, Bond Street set up shop in such strife-torn regions as Colombia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, among many others. Their next stop is Myanmar, formally known as Burma, where it will collaborate with a local theater company.Thanks to globalization and the Internet, Sherman believes, a burgeoning number of theater and film artists will want to make political/social/cultural differences in regions around the world. They will use theater, film, and the classroom as their vehicles. Back Stage talked with seven such artists to find out why and how they went abroad, the challenges they faced, and how their experiences forced them to redefine their aesthetic and ambitions.
- 11/18/2009
- backstage.com
The CEOs and CFOs at the big publicly traded entertainment conglomerates remain well paid despite negative effects of the recession and sector stock declines, and their compensation isn't always based on objective and quantifiable factors.
Those are among the key conclusions reached by analyst Michael Nathanson in Sanford C. Bernstein's second annual review of compensation policies at the sector biggies based on pay information disclosed during recent months.
In a report Tuesday, he called Disney the industry giant with "the best compensation and incentive structure." He lauded the firm for paying top executives a relatively low base salary and using a bonus system "based on meaningful, quantifiable factors," including earnings-per-share targets, growth in operating income, after-tax free cash flow and return on invested capital.
"On the flip side, CBS Corp. and News Corp. have compensation systems that are less-aligned with shareholder concerns," Nathanson said. He pointed to News Corp.
Those are among the key conclusions reached by analyst Michael Nathanson in Sanford C. Bernstein's second annual review of compensation policies at the sector biggies based on pay information disclosed during recent months.
In a report Tuesday, he called Disney the industry giant with "the best compensation and incentive structure." He lauded the firm for paying top executives a relatively low base salary and using a bonus system "based on meaningful, quantifiable factors," including earnings-per-share targets, growth in operating income, after-tax free cash flow and return on invested capital.
"On the flip side, CBS Corp. and News Corp. have compensation systems that are less-aligned with shareholder concerns," Nathanson said. He pointed to News Corp.
- 7/21/2009
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Viacom's stock is undervalued, but should move higher during the next year if management continues its turnaround of key businesses, chairman Sumner Redstone and CEO Philippe Dauman said at the firm's annual shareholder meeting Thursday.
In that regard, one of the industry's final events of the annual meeting season echoed a key theme heard in other sector biggie's shareholder gatherings.
"Over the long run -- we're in a bad market now -- it will go up," Redstone said. "Next year, we'll see where the stock is. I think it will be higher."
"The fundamentals of our business have not changed," Dauman said in discussing his recent lowering of second-quarter cable network advertising revenue guidance. "The market will appropriately value our shares" if management continues to execute well.
Among the about 100 guests at Midtown Manhattan's Hudson Theatre just across the street from Viacom's Times Square headquarters were CFO Tom Dooley, board member and Redstone's daughter Shari, Paramount Pictures chairman and CEO Brad Grey, MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath and BET Networks chairman and CEO Debra Lee.
In that regard, one of the industry's final events of the annual meeting season echoed a key theme heard in other sector biggie's shareholder gatherings.
"Over the long run -- we're in a bad market now -- it will go up," Redstone said. "Next year, we'll see where the stock is. I think it will be higher."
"The fundamentals of our business have not changed," Dauman said in discussing his recent lowering of second-quarter cable network advertising revenue guidance. "The market will appropriately value our shares" if management continues to execute well.
Among the about 100 guests at Midtown Manhattan's Hudson Theatre just across the street from Viacom's Times Square headquarters were CFO Tom Dooley, board member and Redstone's daughter Shari, Paramount Pictures chairman and CEO Brad Grey, MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath and BET Networks chairman and CEO Debra Lee.
NEW YORK -- Shares of Viacom Inc. hit a 52-week high Wednesday as the company unveiled a $4 billion stock-buyback program, announced the sale of its Famous Music Llc. music publishing unit, and president and CEO Philippe Dauman said at its annual shareholder meeting here that he is bullish on the future of Paramount Pictures and the overall company.
Chairman and controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone lauded his management team's track record to-date and the 29% stock increase it has overseen in less than a year. The stock went as high as $44.59 before closing up 1.5% at $44.53. The stock's previous year-high stood at $44.16.
Shareholders at the meeting defeated a proposal by three investors that Viacom sell the Paramount studio, with the plan only attracting 0.4% approval.
The event started just after Viacom announced an agreement to sell Famous Music -- for an estimated and better-than-expected $370 million -- to Sony/ATV, which is co-owned by Sony and trusts formed by singer Michael Jackson.
Top Viacom brass had a strong presence at the meeting, with Dauman welcoming Paramount Motion Picture Group chairman and CEO Brad Grey, MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath, BET Networks chairman and CEO Debra Lee and Tom Dooley, Viacom's senior executive vp and CFO.
Dauman lauded these executives' combined Viacom experience of nearly a century, earning laughs when starting to add: "And if you throw in Sumner ... ."
Redstone on Wednesday lauded Dauman and his team for their strategic vision, financial discipline and creative excellence, saying it was "one of the wisest decisions I've ever made" to make Dauman CEO.
Overall, the chairman said he is "really confident" about the company's long-term outlook.
More specifically, Redstone added that the firm is "truly hitting its stride in the digital world."
Viacom's continued push into the digital space indeed was one key theme of the investor gathering.
Chairman and controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone lauded his management team's track record to-date and the 29% stock increase it has overseen in less than a year. The stock went as high as $44.59 before closing up 1.5% at $44.53. The stock's previous year-high stood at $44.16.
Shareholders at the meeting defeated a proposal by three investors that Viacom sell the Paramount studio, with the plan only attracting 0.4% approval.
The event started just after Viacom announced an agreement to sell Famous Music -- for an estimated and better-than-expected $370 million -- to Sony/ATV, which is co-owned by Sony and trusts formed by singer Michael Jackson.
Top Viacom brass had a strong presence at the meeting, with Dauman welcoming Paramount Motion Picture Group chairman and CEO Brad Grey, MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath, BET Networks chairman and CEO Debra Lee and Tom Dooley, Viacom's senior executive vp and CFO.
Dauman lauded these executives' combined Viacom experience of nearly a century, earning laughs when starting to add: "And if you throw in Sumner ... ."
Redstone on Wednesday lauded Dauman and his team for their strategic vision, financial discipline and creative excellence, saying it was "one of the wisest decisions I've ever made" to make Dauman CEO.
Overall, the chairman said he is "really confident" about the company's long-term outlook.
More specifically, Redstone added that the firm is "truly hitting its stride in the digital world."
Viacom's continued push into the digital space indeed was one key theme of the investor gathering.
- 5/31/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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