Darlene Love is one of the most talented voices of the past several decades. Sadly, she was not always credited as being the voice on some classic songs (case in point, "He's a Rebel" is credited to The Crystals, but it's Love manning the lead singer slot). A gem in the Phil Spector stable of acts where she sang on a myriad of his sessions and lead vocalist with the Spector-created trio, The Blossoms. In addition to all the artists and songs she sang with (too lengthy to list), she was a standout on the iconic holiday disc, "A Christmas Gift from Phil Spector".
Not to mention that she also played Danny Glover's charming wife in the four "Lethal Weapon" films.
Love performed a phenomenal show at The Cabot (the premier concert venue on the North Shore) in Beverly, Massachusetts on December 16, 2024.
The concert was a Christmas-themed show labeled as "Love for The Holidays 2024", and began with "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and a bouncy interpretation of "A Marshmallow World".
Love spoke of her friendship with Elvis Presley and their shared love of Gospel music. She reminded all that The Blossoms had performed with Presley on his massively successful television program, the "'68 Comeback Special" and Love then recreated the Gospel medley from the special with, "Where Could I Go But To The Lord"/"Up Above My Head"/"Saved".
After a sharp cover of Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", Love moved away from the Christmas theme for a spell. She then did a quintet of 60's-Spector related classics including: "He's a Rebel"; "Wait 'Til My Bobby Gets Home"; "He's Sure The Boy I Love" (which was brilliantly used in the 1990 film, "Goodfellas"; "(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry"; and "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)".
Tales of Spector filled the night. At one point, Love said that while he chose her stage name, she eventually changed her name to Darlene Love.
"Grown-Up Christmas List", a David Foster composition, and "All Alone on Christmas" (penned for Love by Steven Van Zandt and used in the film "Home Alone 2: Lost In New York" in 1992) ended the first set.
Returning for a second run, Love focused mostly on Christmas-related tunes.
Serious standouts were Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", an epic "Winter Wonderland" and a cover of Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" (which was used as the opening song in the original "Lethal Weapon" film in 1987).
A great moment during the night was when a precocious eight-year-old girl in the front row, whose infectious dancing and energy caught Love's attention, and caused her to lightheartedly sing a snippet of Carl Carlton's, "She's a Bad Mama Jama," to the thrilled young lady.
Another epic moment came when Love revealed the range of her pipes on a powerful Gospel cut, "Marvelous", bringing the packed Cabot crowd to their feet in appreciation.
Love ended the night with the iconic "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)". While this has been covered by such diverse acts as U2 and Mariah Carey (and penned by Spector and Brill Building greats, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry), Love did the original and has not lost a step in her voice all these many Decembers later.
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Ronnie Radke has claimed that Max Georgiev was dismissed from Falling In Reverse due to allegations of sexual misconduct, accusations that Georgiev has firmly rejected.
Georgiev exited the Las Vegas metalcore group in 2024. Last week, the band’s frontman Ronnie Radke shared an Instagram post stating that the guitarist was removed after allegedly admitting to a sexual relationship with an underage girl.
“For those that are wondering why I fired the guitarist,” Radke wrote, according to Lambgoat, “it’s because he admitted to sleeping with a minor ten years before he [was] in my band [when] he was 27 years old. Have fun with that.”
Georgiev, who joined Falling In Reverse in 2018 and now performs with metal outfit Vio-lence, responded shortly after, denying the allegations. “To the fans, I have never done anything illegal with a minor,” said Max Georgiev. “Fifteen years ago, when I was 23, I still lived in Quebec, Canada.”
“Since then, I have played for several bands who never mentioned inappropriate behavior on my part,” he continued. “I have always had great respect for the fans. I have strived to play my heart out for you.”
Radke’s Instagram account has since appeared to be removed, something he addressed during a livestream. “Maybe me talking about my old guitar player getting fired for finding out he was hooking up with minors, I think that AI might’ve caught that and was like, ‘You gotta go’,” he suggested, as reported by Loudwire".
“This man not only did that, [but] the parents of the minor ten years before he was in my band found out, they confronted him, he lied about his age so he could continue doing that with her. He wasn’t 23, he was older. He’s lying about that,” Radke went on to claim.
In a subsequent statement shared on Thursday January 8, Georgiev again rejected Radke’s accusations, calling them “delusional”. “I met someone who turned eighteen a few months later while I occasionally dated her,” he said. “This was fifteen years ago, when I was 23 in Quebec, Canada.”
“Her parents never confronted me because the girl only had a mother. I never lied to her or her daughter about anything.”
Georgiev later suggested that his departure from Falling In Reverse may instead have been linked to him “taking the initiative to learn nine songs of another band”, which he identified as Disturbed.
Elsewhere, Radke has reportedly filed a temporary restraining order against Brittany Furlan, citing alleged harassment connected to a catfish controversy from last year.
He has repeatedly alleged that Furlan, the estranged wife of Tommy Lee, was involved with someone impersonating him online. The filing asks that she be required to remain at least 100 yards away from him. Representatives for Furlan have said they are “aware” of the request and maintain that the allegations are “not accurate”.
Radke also saw his defamation lawsuit against Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop dismissed last year.
