newsmakers

newsmakers

School shooting postpones premiere of Cruise movie

NEW YORK

The U.S. premiere of the Tom Cruise action movie “Jack Reacher” has been postponed after the deadly Connecticut school shooting.

Paramount Pictures said “out of honor and respect for the families of the victims,” the premiere would not take place Saturday in Pittsburgh, where “Jack Reacher” was filmed.

The premiere would’ve been Cruise’s first U.S. media appearance since his split from Katie Holmes over the summer. It was to be more contained with select outlets covering and a location away from Hollywood or New York.

A proclamation ceremony for Cruise had been planned with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

No new date for the premiere has been set. The movie opens Friday.

The massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school killed 20 children and several adults.

Chicano rock pioneers marking 40 years

LOS ANGELES

They are seen as the progenitors of Chicano rock ‘n’ roll, the first band that had the boldness, and some might even say the naivete, to fuse punk rock with Mexican folk tunes.

But when Los Lobos formed in the hallways of an East LA barrio high school, all they wanted to do was play rock ‘n’ roll.

Later, when the group’s members decided to pick up some obscure Mexican instruments, it was just to perform a few songs for their mothers.

When they put their electric guitars and twin reverb amps back in the mix, however, a new sound was born — one that endures into this, the band’s 40th anniversary year; one that also has been credited with opening doors for every crossover Latin fusion band that followed.

Nashville drummer Ackerman dead at 73

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Nashville drummer Willie Ackerman, who played with artists such as Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and Louis Armstrong, has died. He was 73.

According to an obituary from the Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home, Ackerman passed away peacefully Thursday.

The obituary states that Ackerman was a professional musician from the age of 17. He was a staff drummer for such country music institutions as the Grand Ole Opry, RCA Studios and “Hee Haw.”

He played with numerous country stars, including Patsy Cline, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Chet Atkins. He recorded classic hits such as “El Paso,” and “Wings of a Dove.”

Funeral services are at 10 a.m. Monday at Marshall-Donnelly-Combs to be followed by burial at Springhill Cemetery. Memorials may be made in Ackerman’s honor to the Opry Trust Fund.

Associated Press