The Beatles Full Collection. Jared Leto's latest movie role landed him in a wheelchair.
Jared, who plays John Lennon's killer Mark Chapman in 'Chapter 27', revealed gaining 60lbs to play Chapman left him unable to walk.
He said: "My body was in shock from the amount of weight I gained.
"I don't know if it was gout - but I had a definite problem with my feet. I couldn't walk for long distances. I had a wheelchair because it was so painful."
The 36-year-old star insists the weight gain was essential to the role and was shocked by people's reactions to his enlarged body.
Jared explained: "It was important to make that transformation. It changed everything about who I was - the way I walked, talked, how I felt about myself and the way people treated me. It was interesting to see what people thought - some obviously thought I'd let myself go."
The 'Lord of War' star insists he will never resort to such drastic measures for a movie role in the future because his body still hasn't recovered.
Jared added: "I'd never do it again, it definitely gave me some problems.
"It took about a year to feel semi-normal. I don't know if I'll ever be back to the place I was physically."
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Playing John Lennon's killer landed Jared in wheelchair
Bootleg Beatles to play indigO2
The Bootleg Beatles have established themselves as the world’s number one Beatles tribute band. Highly regarded and respected by their musical peers, they have played to hundreds of thousands of fans, in some of the world’s most legendary venues including the Royal Albert Hall, London Palladium and Wembley Stadium.
For two nights only, they come to the indigO2 to kick off Christmas in style. The show is a collaboration of all the classic Beatles hits, with many songs featuring multi-media scene setting visuals and archive footage from the time. There are also orchestral collaborations with backing musicians, where the band performs many songs that were never actually played live on stage such as Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields Forever and A Day In The Life.
This fantastic show for Beatles fans and new comers alike is a musical experience that will take you on a Magical Mystery Tour back to the 60’s, and the guides on this tour are, Neil Harrison (John), Andre Barreau (George), David Catlin-Birch (Paul), Hugo Degenhardt (Ringo).
Monday, March 24, 2008
Beatles' friend Neil Aspinall dies at 66
Neil Aspinall, a longtime friend of the Beatles who managed their business enterprises and helped make the group a moneymaking phenomenon decades after they split up, has died. He was 66.
Aspinall's death was announced Monday in a statement from surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, and the band's Apple Corps Ltd. company.
Aspinall died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where he had been receiving treatment for lung cancer, Sunday night, according to Geoff Baker, who formerly represented both Aspinall and Apple Corps.
Aspinall's wife and five children were by his side; McCartney visited him before his death.
He was a childhood friend of McCartney and Harrison in Liverpool, England. While he didn't contribute musically, he played several key roles in support of the Beatles, most notably as the head of their Apple Corps business, which oversaw the commercial concerns of the group, including licensing.
"I've known Neil many years and he was a good friend. We were blessed to have him in our lives and he will be missed," Starr said in a statement Monday.
Aspinall was the Beatles' first road manager and would drive them to gigs in his van. He later became their personal assistant, and in 1968, he took over the management of Apple Corps and continued to oversee the growth of the Beatles, even after they broke up in 1970.
As head of Apple Corps, Aspinall was executive producer of the hugely successful "Beatles Anthology" album and was behind other successes, including the "Beatles One" album and the recent Cirque du Soleil production "Love," which has been a hit in Las Vegas.
"As a loyal friend, confidant and chief executive, Neil's trusting stewardship and guidance has left a far-reaching legacy for generations to come," the band's statement said.
Aspinall stepped down from Apple Corps last year.
From news.yahoo.com
Apple Corps Sues To Stop Beatles Release
Apple Corps and Apple Records have just filed a federal lawsuit in Miami in an attempt to stop bootleg recordings from the Star-Club in Germany from being released to the public, Billboard has learned.
One of the defendants, Jeffrey Collins, tried to release the recordings several years ago before he was sentenced to probation for violating sound recording piracy law in connection with non-Beatles recordings, Apple claims.
The suit, filed in the federal District Court in Miami, names as defendants Fuego Entertainment, Fuego-Echo Music Group, Echo Vista, Fuego CEO Hugo Cancio and Collins.
In a January press release, Fuego announced it had acquired 15 tracks of previously unreleased performances of the Beatles at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, that were made just before the group signed its record deal with EMI's Parlophone in 1962, the suit claims.
The Beatles did perform at the club just one month before the band signed its record deal. But the contract with the club did not permit any recording, the complaint says, and no one with the band ever gave permission to record their performances.
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Apple says the recordings have already proven to be bootlegs. In 1991, Apple sued Sony Music Entertainment in New York to stop release of some Star-Club recordings. Sony agreed to a consent order not to release certain recordings after hearing testimony from band members.
One of Apple's attorneys in the current suit recalls George Harrison's deposition testimony in that Sony suit.
Paul LiCalsi, a partner with Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp in New York, tells Billboard, "George said it best." Harrison testified that "'the recordings were a rip-off of the Beatles. No one asked us or paid us any royalties. Kids walk into record stores thinking they're getting something of quality, but it's unlistenable'," LiCalsi recalls.
Apple claims this is not the first time that Collins tried to release Beatles recordings without permission. He was sentenced to three years' probation in 1996 on a criminal plea of violating New Jersey's sound recording piracy law in connection with non-Beatles recordings, the complaint alleges.
Shortly before that criminal sentencing in 1995, Collins tried to manufacture and distribute 15 Beatles performances at the Star-Club, the suit says. In response to Apple's cease-and-desist letters, Collins acknowledged that he could not release the album without their permission, the complaint says.
"Apple does not own the rights to the tape," Collins tells Billboard. "They're trying to bully us into giving up the masters, which they have no right to. The group is called the Beatles. We haven't used the trade name -- we haven't released it. We just made it known to the public that this tape is available."
The Fuego press release claims it acquired rights through an association with Collins, the suit says.
Several years after the Sony suit, Apple again stopped release of Star-Club recordings after bringing a lawsuit in England's High Court of Justice against Lingasong Music.
Apple is suing for infringement of various common law copyright, trademark, unfair competition name and likeness, and performance rights. They seek an injunction and damages of at least $10 million.
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