newsmakers

newsmakers

Van Halen postpones summer concert dates

LOS ANGELES

Van Halen is postponing some dates on its summer concert tour.

A source familiar with the tour who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to The Associated Press that some of the band’s long-scheduled performances this summer are being postponed. The group’s website lists active tour dates through June 26.

Dozens of additional shows had been planned and there was no immediate reason given for the postponements. Representatives of the band and AEG, which is promoting the concerts in some regions, did not respond to messages from the AP.

Private family funeral planned for Summer

NEW YORK

Donna Summer’s funeral will be a private one for family and close friends.

Publicist Brian Edwards said in a statement Friday that Summer’s family is overwhelmed and appreciates the outreach from fans and friends but that her funeral services will remain private.

He didn’t provide details on when and where services would take place.

Summer died Thursday morning of lung cancer at age 63 in Naples, Fla. Edwards also said that the singer did not smoke.

Summer earned the title of Queen of Disco after releasing a string of dance hits in the 1970s, including “I Feel Love,” “Love to Love You Baby” and “Last Dance.”

Chaka Khan to sing at Houston tribute

NEW YORK

Grammy award-winning singer Chaka Khan will perform a tribute to the late Whitney Houston at the Apollo Theater’s gala and awards ceremony.

The historic Harlem theater confirmed Friday that the “I Feel for You” singer will perform in her friend’s memory.

Lionel Richie and the late Etta James will be inducted into the theater’s hall of fame during the June 4 gala. Soul Train creator Don Cornelius and songwriter Nick Ashford also will be honored posthumously.

Richie’s first Apollo appearance was in the early 1970s. The “Hello” singer says he’s thrilled to be chosen for the hall of fame.

James was known for ballads such as “At Last.” She performed at the Apollo in 1957 and again in the 1960s.

Past inductees include Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin.

German opera singer Fischer-Dieskau dies

BERLIN

A German opera house says renowned baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died. He was 86.

Berlin’s Deutsche Oper said the singer of opera and artistic songs died Friday at his home in Bavaria in southern Germany.

Culture Minister Bernd Neumann says Fischer-Dieskau “deeply moved countless people around the world for more than half a century through hundreds of concerts and recordings.”

He said Fischer-Dieskau’s recordings of works by composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert and Richard Strauss set benchmarks for generations of singers to come, especially through his famous representation of Schubert’s “Winter Journey.”

Klaus Staeck, president of the German Academy of Arts, said Fischer-Dieskau’s “performances of some of the great roles in operatic history shaped the culture of singing.”

Associated Press