Styx, Foreigner tour buses catch on fire ahead of next week’s CMAC concert
It’s not 1977 anymore, but Styx and Foreigner are still two of the hottest bands in the game — literally.
Two tour buses for the ’70s and ’80s rockers’ joint tour caught on fire Wednesday in Philadelphia, TMZ reports. Video shows firefighters putting out huge flames as clouds of dark smoke billows out of a parking lot.
Word is both vehicles were parked and unoccupied when one “crew bus” ended up on fire and it spread to a second bus. No one was injured, but it’s unclear whether any equipment was damaged that may affect the bands’s schedule.
Styx and Foreigner’s next tour date is scheduled for Thursday night at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey. According to TMZ, the show is still expected to go on.
The bands head to Upstate New York next week for a July 9 performance at Constellation Brands – Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center (CMAC) in Canandaigua. Upcoming shows also include an Aug. 19 stop at Lewiston Artpark near Buffalo.
The “Come Sail Away” and “Hot Blooded” hitmakers performed at Turning Stone and Big Flats last month with Don Felder (of the Eagles) for the 2014 Soundtrack of Summer tour. The three acts teamed up for a tour companion CD released in May exclusively at Walmart, featuring a new version of “Hotel California” with vocals by Felder, Styx’s Tommy Shaw and Foreigner’s Kelly Hansen.
* * * * *
BRUNO MARS SERENADES GIRL WHO LOST FAMILY IN CAR ACCIDENT
Singer Bruno Mars gave one special fan a moment she will always remember.
At his Cleveland concert on Saturday, Mars serenaded Zumyah Thorpe, an 11-year-old who lost her pregnant mother and two younger sisters in 2013 when a drunk driver hit their car. Though she survived, Zumyah suffered severe physical injuries including brain damage.
The crooner sang Thorpe’s favorite song, “Just the Way You Are” and dedicated the concert to the brave little girl and gifted her his guitar and signature fedora.
Local Cleveland radio station WKYC reports the nurses in the hospital where Thorpe was recovering continually played Mars’ songs and her doctor believes his music had a healing power.
Zumyah’s doctor told the station, “I am absolutely convinced that singing those Bruno Mars songs and being able to say ‘Bruno Mars’ is in itself a miracle… knowing all the words to the songs has helped her recover. I asked her who her favorite singer was and she said ‘Bruno Mars’ as quick as anyone would say any singer, and she just started singing every single word.”
Bruno also posted a sweet pic on Instagram, writing, “Zumyah tonight you gave my band and I something we’ve never felt before. you’re an inspiration to the world! #WeLoveYouZumyah.”
* * * * *
CONGRATULATIONS, KUDOS, PATS-ON-THE-BACKS TO . . .
From Josie Quick on Facebook:
Tom [Carleno] got a royalty statement today, and his song “Meet Me In Maui” is being played on XM radio, and on Frontier, AirTran, Continental, and JetBlue airlines! So for any of you who have asked me if you heard Tom on an airplane, the answer is maybe!
Annette Cannon will now be doing Project Management for Artists and Bands through Bendiksen Productions. Anyone interested in this service, please contact Annette at annette2006@msn.com or 303-829-7706.