Ellen DeGeneres and other stars are set to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor.
The medal recognizes people who have made “especially meritorious contributions” to the United States, the White House said.
President Barack Obama will honor the 21 people at a ceremony on November 22.
The president said the medal was a “tribute to the idea that all of us, no matter where we come from, have the opportunity to change this country for the better”.
“From scientists, philanthropists, and public servants to activists, athletes, and artists, these 21 individuals have helped push America forward, inspiring millions of people around the world along the way.”
Bruce Springsteen, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Diana Ross and Robert Redford are among the other honorees from the entertainment world.
Bill and Melinda Gates and SNL producer Lorne Michaels will also be recognized.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to people who have contributed to the security or national interests of the US, the White House said.
It also rewards people who have contributed to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
Honorees from the sports world include basketball players Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, along with veteran sports broadcaster Vin Scully.
Architect Frank Gehry, attorney Newt Minow, designer Maya Lin, polymath physicist Richard Garwin, mathematician and computer scientist Margaret H. Hamilton and Eduardo Padron, and president of Miami Dade College in Florida will also receive the medal.
Posthumous honors will go to Native American advocate Elouise Cobell and Rear Admiral Grace Hopper.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign has drawn upon considerable star power in recent days to boost its appeal.
Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z, Katy Perry, Jon Bon Jovi and Chance the Rapper have all turned out at rallies.
Image source Flickr
On November 6, in Cleveland, it was basketball superstar LeBron James.
Bruce Springsteen will appear with Hillary Clinton on November 7 at her final campaign rally in Philadelphia.
The star will join Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama and the First Lady and Jon Bon Jovi at a rally in Philadelphia, the night before Election Day.
Both Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi will perform at the Independence Hall event in the crucial swing state.
Hillary Clinton will also deliver her last speech to the American people before the Election Day.
Bruce Springsteen has mocked New Jersey’s embattled governor Chris Christie on the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon show.
Bruce Springsteen joined show host Jimmy Fallon for a duet sending up a scandal embroiling the governor.
It has recently been revealed Chris Christie’s senior staff orchestrated a traffic jam at the foot of a major bridge in an act of apparent political payback.
Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Fallon sang a parody duet to the tune of Born to Run.
“You got Wall Street masters stuck cheek-to-cheek with blue collar truckers/ and man I really got to take a leak, but I can’t, I’m stuck in Governor Chris Christie’s Fort Lee, New Jersey, traffic jam,” Bruce Springsteen sang.
“Some day governor, I don’t know when, this will all end. But ’til then you’re killing the working man who’s stuck in the Governor Chris Christie Fort Lee, New Jersey, traffic jam,” the two sang in duet.
Bruce Springsteen joined show host Jimmy Fallon for a duet sending up a scandal embroiling Governor Chris Christie
Chris Christie is an avowed Bruce Springsteen fan – he has admitted weeping after receiving a hug from Springsteen, one of the state’s most famous sons, at a 2012 concert.
The parody came just hours after Chris Christie pledged to co-operate with inquiries into the scandal, which has threatened his political future.
“We let down the people we are entrusted to serve,” he said in a major speech on Tuesday, referring obliquely to the row known as “Bridgegate”.
Chris Christie had previously been seen as a top early contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
“I am the governor and I am ultimately responsible for all that happens on my watch – both good and bad,” he said.
Investigations by the New York and New Jersey news media and by Chris Christie’s Democratic political opponents indicate the governor’s top aides ordered the closure of two local lanes from the town of Fort Lee on to the George Washington Bridge, which connects New Jersey to Manhattan, last summer.
Bruce Springsteen’s most recent album, High Hopes, has briefly appeared for download on Amazon, two weeks ahead of its scheduled release date.
According to Billboard magazine, High Hopes appeared online for several hours on Saturday.
Although the album was subsequently removed from sale, the record has now appeared on several file-sharing sites.
Bruce Springsteen has described High Hopes as the best of his “unreleased material from the past decade”.
The new album features contributions from Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici – two members of the E Street Band who have died in recent years.
Bruce Springsteen’s High Hopes has briefly appeared for download on Amazon, two weeks ahead of its scheduled release date
Tom Morello, best known for his work with Rage Against The Machine, also joins the line-up for eight tracks, after standing in for regular guitarist Steve Van Zandt on several dates of Bruce Springsteen’s recent Wrecking Ball tour.
The title track is a cover of Tim Scott McConnell’s folk song, which Bruce Springsteen originally recorded for an EP in 1996.
The record also includes re-worked versions of Down In The Hole and The Ghost Of Tom Joad, alongside a cover of punk band Suicide’s Dream Baby Dream.
“The best way to describe this record is that it’s a bit of an anomaly,” Bruce Springsteen recently told Rolling Stone magazine.
Amazon has yet to make a comment on the incident, in which individual songs were available to download via its mobile site.
The tracks have since been removed from sale, and the album’s official release is still listed as January 14.
Bruce Springsteen resumes his world tour in South Africa next month, while the E Street Band are due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April.
Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band will perform in South Africa for the first time, almost three decades after the group campaigned against apartheid.
Two shows are scheduled for Cape Town on January 28 and 29, 2014, with a third in Johannesburg on February 1st.
“Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity,” said a message on Bruce Springsteen’s website.
Guitarist Steven Van Zandt founded the protest movement Artists United Against Apartheid in 1985.
As part of the campaign, Steven Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis and various other influential musicians recorded the protest song Sun City.
Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band will perform in South Africa for the first time, almost three decades after the group campaigned against apartheid
Its target was the gambling resort in the nominally independent homeland of Bophuthatswana, which attracted less politically minded acts to perform there by paying them large sums of money.
Apartheid ended in 1994 following Nelson Mandela’s election as the country’s first black president.
The three concerts in South Africa are part of Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball tour, which began in 2012.
The tour has seen the veteran rocker play a series of gigs in the US, Europe and Latin America over the past 18 months.
“After 24 years it’s a dream come true to promote Bruce Springsteen in South Africa,” South Africa’s Channel 24 entertainment website quoted Attie Van Wyk, chief executive of promoter Big Concerts, as saying.
“It’s definitely a personal highlight to confirm The Boss.”
Bruce Springsteen last toured in 2009 with his Working on a Dream tour.
E Street Band will move on to Australia and New Zealand after their South African dates.
Madonna has been named the highest-paid musician in 2012 by trade publication Billboard, beating Bruce Springsteen and Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters.
Madonna, 54, has topped the annual rundown of the top money-makers for the second time in five years.
The singer’s 88-date MDNA world tour, 2012’s most successful, helped her take home $34.6 million, Billboard said.
Concerts account for 68.9% of the total revenues for the 40 artists on the list, which estimates annual earnings.
According to the figures, compiled using Boxscore concert data and Nielsen SoundScan sales information, Bruce Springsteen came a close second.
Bruce Springsteen earned $33.4 million after touring to sold-out stadiums and arenas on the back of his number one album Wrecking Ball.
Strong merchandise sales helped with his earnings, with Bruce Springsteen’s live shows making up 92% of his overall revenue.
Roger Waters came third with earnings from his large scale The Wall Live tour estimated at $21 million.
Van Halen were in fourth position with $20 million after touring in support of their album A Different Kind of Truth.
Speaking about the list, Billboard editorial analyst Glenn Peoples said the most money “always comes from high-paying live performances”.
He said: “Ironically, the most popular touring artists are usually well past their peaks on the album sales charts.”
The rest of the top 10 included country music veteran Kenny Chesney in fifth, followed by the Dave Matthews Band, country’s Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean, and British band Coldplay.
Madonna has been named the highest-paid musician in 2012 by trade publication Billboard
Canadian teen star Justin Bieber completed the top 10, earning up to $16 million, of which $10 million came from his sold-out Believe tour.
“The entire top 10 averaged 84.2% of their income from concerts, and the number would have been higher, if not for Justin Bieber’s mere 60.1% share at number 10 dragging down the average,” said Glenn Peoples.
Madonna is the only woman in the top 10 after last year’s victor Taylor Swift fell to 15th place because she did not tour last year.
Taylor Swift still did well, earning $12.7 million from more than three million digital albums and 15.6 million digital songs.
Meanwhile, Adele, who had the biggest-selling album of the year in the US in 2011 and 2012, came in 11th place, earning $14 million.
Adele did not tour last year but took the year out to have a baby while her second album 21 continued to sell well in physical and digital formats.
Artists were so anxious to help out residents of the New York region hit by Superstorm Sandy, they almost didn’t let their concert at Madison Square Garden end.
The final notes of Alicia Keys Empire State of Mind brought the star-filled show to an end at 1:19 a.m. Thursday, nearly six hours after Bruce Springsteen opened the show with Land of Hope and Dreams.
Paul McCartney’s set found him playing the role of Kurt Cobain in a Nirvana reunion, performing a new song with the band’s former members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic.
Through television, live streams, the radio and theater simulcasts, an estimated 2 billion people around the world were given the chance to experience it live.
Heavy on classic rock royalty, it also featured the Rolling Stones, the Who, Roger Waters and Eric Clapton.
Music and comedy royalty struck a defiant tone throughout the event, asking for help to rebuild a New York metropolitan area most of them know well.
“When are you going to learn,” comic and New Jersey native Jon Stewart said at the sold-out show.
“You can throw anything at us – terrorists, hurricanes. You can take away our giant sodas. It doesn’t matter. Were coming back stronger every time.”
Artists were so anxious to help out residents of the New York region hit by Superstorm Sandy, they almost didn’t let their concert at Madison Square Garden end
Jersey shore hero Bruce Springsteen set a roaring tone, opening the concert with Land of Hope and Dreams and Wrecking Ball.
He addressed the rebuilding process in introducing his song My City of Ruins, noting it was written about the decline of Asbury Park, New Jersey, before that city’s renaissance over the past decade.
What made the Jersey shore special was its inclusiveness, a place where people of all incomes and backgrounds could find a place, he said.
“I pray that that characteristic remains along the Jersey shore because that’s what makes it special,” Bruce Springsteen said.
He mixed a verse of Jersey Girl into the song before calling New Jersey neighbor Jon Bon Jovi to join him in a rousing Born to Run. Springsteen later returned the favor by joining Bon Jovi on Who Says You Can’t Go Home.
Adam Sandler hearkened back to his Saturday Night Live days with a ribald rewrite of the oft-sung Hallelujah that composer Leonard Cohen never would have dreamed.
The rewritten chorus says: “Sandy, screw ya, well get through ya, because were New Yawkers.”
Adam Sandler wore a New York Jets T-shirt and mined Donald Trump, Michael Bloomberg, the New York Knicks, Times Square porn and Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez for laugh lines.
The music lineup was heavily weighted toward classic rock, which has the type of fans able to afford a show for which ticket prices ranged from $150 to $2,500.
Even with those prices, people with tickets have been offering them for more on broker sites such as StubHub, an attempt at profiteering that producers fumed was “despicable”.
Barack Obama is counting on former President Bill Clinton and Bruce Springsteen, top surrogates for his campaign, to carry his message.
But he also has enlisted an army of A-list performers and public figures – from Lady Gaga to Billie Jean King, from Jay-Z to Crosby, Stills and Nash – to promote his re-election.
The Obama campaign provided a who’s-who of 181 actors, musicians, authors, athletes, mayors, Congress members, and more that fit any and all demographic groups in the president’s target zone.
All are being deployed to carry his message to television and radio in the waning days of a nip-and-tuck campaign.
On Saturday, Stevie Wonder played an unannounced concert for voters waiting in line to vote early in Cleveland.
Stevie Wonder opened a rally for Barack Obama by rocking the arena at the University of Cincinnati with a rendition of Keep on Running.
Stevie Wonder opened a rally for Barack Obama by rocking the arena at the University of Cincinnati with a rendition of Keep on Running
Songwriter John Legend, actor Laurence Fishburne, and congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis from Georgia were among those who went to Ohio to lead a Souls to the Polls effort with local churches.
The list includes some of Hollywood’s big names – Samuel L. Jackson, Anne Hathaway, and Scarlett Johansson – who were talking to Top 40 radio stations.
Samuel L. Jackson and comedian Chris Rock were on stations with primarily African American audiences urging voters to go to the polls Tuesday.
Danny DeVito and members of the FX sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia have canvassed neighborhoods in Wisconsin, made phone calls and visited colleges in the state.
Catherine Zeta Jones showed off her long legs, yesterday, as she stepped out for a rare public appearance with Michael Douglas at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.
Catherine Zeta Jones, 42, was in New York to watch Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performance, and was dressed to impress.
The actress dazzled the crowds in a short, dark blue lace dress which she teamed with a pair of gold colored heels.
Catherine Zeta Jones showed off her legs in the revealing outfit as she joined her husband Michael Douglas at the VIP entrance to the concert.
Michael Douglas, 67, also looked good in a black suit, which had red lining, and a matching shirt and shoes.
The silver-haired actor appeared to be in good health and he even stopped to pose for a few pictures.
Catherine Zeta Jones showed off her long legs, yesterday, as she stepped out for a rare public appearance with Michael Douglas at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York
Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas were not the only stars at the gig as heavyweight names Tom Hanks, Bette Midler, and Michael J. Fox were among the other celebrities in attendance.
The event was the E Street Band’s debut concert at the venue, and it was sponsored by SiriusXM.
The night marked the 10-year anniversary of satellite radio and the show also raised funds for WhyHunger, a New York City anti-poverty group.
It was also the first public performance by the band without late saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who died in June 2011.
After beating throat cancer, last year, Michael Douglas has started to make his way back to work.
Earlier this month it was announced that Michael Douglas had agreed to appear in an FBI commercial against financial crime.
He warns that Wall Street was fiction but that the problem of insider trading is real and cannot be allowed to continue.
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