Perennial worries about Keith Richards' health have never been enough to sideline the Rolling Stones for long. After postponing a planned 50th anniversary tour to 2013, the band posted a video to announce its long-rumored concert dates celebrating the occasion in London and the New York area.
The small run of shows start on Nov. 25 and 29 at London's O2 Arena, followed by Dec. 13 and 15 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The dates will be the band's first shows as a complete act -- with Richards, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood -- in five years.
The dates come at the heels of "GRRR!," a greatest hits collection due next month featuring two new songs, "Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot," that find the band in an unexpectedly ferocious mood.
The Stones' last full tour for "A Bigger Bang" in 2005-2007 was one of the highest-grossing in recent music history, netting $500 million.
Israel honors Zubin Mehta Israel's president has recognized Indian-born conductor Zubin Mehta for his contributions to Israeli society. Mehta, music director for life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, on Monday received Israel's Presidential Medal of Distinction. Other winners have included Henry Kissinger. Mehta has been the philharmonic's director since 1977. He also was the longest-serving director of the New York Philharmonic. In 2009, he started a music education program, Mifneh, which is Hebrew for "turning point," for Israel's Arab citizens. Mehta said at Monday's ceremony that "if you can sing together, you can live together." President Shimon Peres, a Nobel peace laureate, praised Mehta for his message of peace.
AND JAMAICA HONORS TOSH: Jamaica's government is honoring firebrand reggae star Peter Tosh 25 years after his murder. Tosh's daughter Niambe received the posthumous "order of merit" on Monday for her father's musical contributions during a national awards ceremony. Tosh is one of Jamaica's musical giants. He was a founding member of the Wailers, along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. Tosh left the band in 1973.
MEMPHIS SHOOTOUT: B.B. Cunningham Jr., a member of Jerry Lee Lewis' band, was killed in a Memphis shootout Sunday. Police said Cunningham was working as a security guard at an apartment complex on Memphis' southeast side, when he heard a gunshot at the neighboring Cherry Crest apartments and went to investigate. Police didn't provide details, but they said when officers arrived, both the 70-year-old Cunningham and a 16-year-old boy were found dead from gunshot wounds.
