Joe Jackson, patriarch of pop’s most famous family, has died aged 89, US media reports.
Michael Jackson’s father had been in hospital with cancer, according to TMZ, who reported his death on Wednesday, citing a family source.
He died at 3.30am, in Los Angeles.
Image: Joe Jackson and Michael Jackson during Michael’s trial
Jackson had suffered poor health in recent years, having a stroke and three heart attacks in 2015, and spending time in hospital the year after.
He was separated from his wife Katherine but it is understood she had frequently been at his bedside during his most recent hospital stay.
Image: The Jackson Five were one of the biggest pop bands of all time
Jackson stood by his son during his molestation trial.
He was criticised after Michael’s death for what some people said was trying to monetise his memory.
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Jackson and his wife had 10 children and were married for 60 years.
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Marisa Tomei, Melissa George for Galway Film Fleadh
Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei is among the guests for this year’s Galway Film Fleadh.
The star of My Cousin Vinny and The Wrestler will be the special guest at the world premiere of her new film Behold My Heart, in which she plays a woman falling apart after the unexpected loss of her husband, who is played by Timothy Olyphant.
The 30th annual film fleadh features twenty-one international movie premieres, with a total of 107 feature films being screened during the festival’s July 10 to 15 run.
Australian-American actress Melissa George will also be in attendance at the festival for the premiere of David Gleeson’s West of Ireland-set film Don’t Go, in which she plays a woman escaping her grief with her husband, played by Stephen Dorff.
Melissa George attending premiere of Don’t Go
Actor Hugh O’Conor’s feature directorial debut Metal Heart will also debut at the festival. It stars Jordanne Jones (Heartbreak, I Used to Live Here) in a sure to be breakthrough role alongside Moe Dunford.
Jones plays a self-conscious young woman stuck at home with her estranged sister, while Dunford plays a mysterious older man who moves in next door.
Dunford also stars in the Northern Irish thriller The Dig, in which he plays a man who has served fifteen years for murder and returns home to find the victim’s grieving father still searching his land for the missing body.
Jordanne Jones in Metal Heart
Director Viko Nicki, whose film Coming Home won best Irish documentary at the fleadh in 2013, returns with the premiere of his new feature Cellar Door, which stars Karen Hassan, Catherine Walker and Mark O’Halloran in a Magdalene laundry-inspired mystery drama.
Martin Beirne makes his debut with the rural coming-of-age tale Around Here, produced entirely independently in the director’s native Roscommon.
Martin Beirne’s Around Here to debut at Galway Film Fleadh
Also at this year’s Fleadh, Irish Olympian and champion professional boxer Katie Taylor will present Ross Whitaker’s documentary Katie, which charts her comeback from her 2016 loss in Rio to conquering the world of professional women’s boxing.
The Galway Film Fleadh takes place from July 10 to 15 in the Town Hall Theatre and Pálás cinema, Galway.
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Graham Norton set to visit Cork and Dublin on book tour
Graham Norton is coming to Dublin and Cork to promote his second novel A Keeper, the follow-up to his acclaimed 2016 debut Holding.
The Cork native’s new book will be published on October 4 and is described as “a twisted tale of secrets and ill-fated loves that once again demonstrates Norton’s understanding of human nature and all its darkest flaws.”
Excited to announce I’ll be hitting the road in the autumn with my new novel #AKeeper For tickets and details go to https://t.co/ehQs5Nj6G2 Can’t wait – seriously!! pic.twitter.com/oix3NnlMLA
— graham norton (@grahnort) June 29, 2018
The chat show host and novelist will tour Ireland and the UK, and will give public interviews at The Helix in Dublin on October 13 and The Cork Opera House on October 14.
“I’m excited to announce I’ll be hitting the road in the autumn with my new novel A Keeper.” Norton said.
RTÉ broadcaster and book club curator Rick O’Shea will talk to Norton about A Keeper, followed by an audience Q&A.
It was reported in late 2016 that Holding, which was about a murder in the fictional Co. Cork town, Duneen, will be produced for television by the former boss of EastEnders, Dominic Treadwell-Collins.
At the time, Norton confirmed that it has bought the rights to the novel to turn it into a TV series.
Holding won impressive reviews and made it to No 1 on the UK and Ireland’s best sellers lists.
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RTÉjr to premiere new original Irish animated series
RTÉjr will debut a brand new Irish animated series this summer, called Mya Go, as well as welcome back the popular series The Day Henry Met.
Mya Go is the first pre-school animated series from Dublin-based production company Piranha Bar. The series is devised and directed by Irish director Alan Foley and co-produced with the Spanish studio Motion Pictures Entertainment.
The series, which totals 104 episodes, follows central character Mya Go who lives in the bustling town of Everyday with her family – Mama Go, Dada Go, little brother Sammy Go and their bouncy pet Doggy Go. With her fearless sense of adventure and go-get-it attitude, Mya Go embraces any task at hand and with the help of her friends, she is always ready for fun.
The Day Henry Met kicking off third season on Monday, July 2
The popular pre-school animation series The Day Henry Met will kick off its third season with a whole raft of new adventures for lovable four-year-old Henry. The Day Henry Met is produced by Dublin studio Wiggleywoo and directed by Gilly. It’s all action for him this summer as he meets everything from a surfboard to a BMX bike, an elephant to a cactus plant.
Pauline Macnamara, Executive Producer at RTÉ’s Young Peoples Programmes said: “It’s a thrill to have a gigantic splash of beautiful colour in both Mya Go and The Day Henry Met on RTÉjr this summer.
“In their individual ways, both Mya and Henry encapsulate everything that’s exciting about being a small child! Congratulations to their wonderful producers – Irish animation just goes from strength to strength.”
Mya Go will air Monday to Friday at 7.40am and is repeated at 11.30am from Monday 2nd July on RTÉjr.
The Day Henry Met will air Monday to Friday at 8.10am and is repeated at 14.45pm from Monday 2nd July on RTÉjr.
Click here for more television news.
Entertainment
Daniel O’Donnell to be given humanitarian award
Daniel O’Donnell is to receive a humanitarian award in North Dakota for his charity work, most notably his concerts for the Romanian Challenge Appeal, which has raised over €700,000.
O’Donnell has been chosen for his work as a performer at Høstfest, the annual Scandinavian festival held every Autumn in Minot, North Dakota.
The Scandinavian-America Hall of Fame will present the Donegal star with the Humanitarian Award. Recent inductees include singer Kris Kristofferson and Transformers star Josh Duhamel.
O’Donnell will be honoured with the award as at a banquet on September 25, hosted by North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
The Hall of Fame was established in 1984 as a permanent component of Norsk Høstfest, a festival that Daniel has performed at since 2008.
Whilst it is an award that recognises notable persons of Nordic decent who have achieved greatness in their fields of endeavour, it also recognises people special to Norsk Høstfest, whose efforts have contributed significantly to the betterment of humanity.
the Romanian Challenge Appeal builds houses for disabled and abandoned children and this charity work has also seen Daniel receive Romania’s second highest honour, Officer of the National Order of Loyal Service, which he received in 2000 by the then president of Romania.
O’Donnell performs at the INEC Killarney on August 14, 15, 17, 18 and 19 and will also tour the UK in October followed by the US in November and December.
Entertainment
Drake reveals he has secret child on new album
Rapper Drake has subtly revealed that he is a father on his much-anticipated new album.
The hip-hop star, from Toronto, drops the bombshell that he has a child in a track called Emotionless on his new album Scorpion.
He raps: “I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world, I was hiding the world from my kid.”
Later in the track he hints that he regrets seeing the youngster only once and draws comparisons to his own broken home.
“Always promised the family unit, I wanted it to be different because I’ve been through it, but this is the harsh truth now.”
Scorpion, the fifth studio album by the triple Grammy Award winner, also sees him resurrect the voice of the original King of Pop Micheal Jackson.
Nearly a decade after his death, Jackson makes a guest appearance in Don’t Matter To Me, a track which compliments the vocal styles of the two, and features Jackson’s distinct voice on the chorus.
Image: Drake has revealed he is a father
“All of a sudden you say you don’t want me no more, all of a sudden you say that I closed the door, it don’t matter to me,” Jackson sings.
Drake revealed nothing about the song’s genesis, but Jackson is known to have left a series of unfinished tracks when he died in 2009. A previous posthumous duet, Love Never Felt So Good, came out in 2014 between Jackson and pop star Justin Timberlake.
Like Don’t Matter To Me, the Timberlake collaboration was credited in part to the legendary crooner Paul Anka.
Jackson had been working on an album of duets with Anka, the voice behind such classic pop hits as Put Your Head On My Shoulder, in 1983.
The song comes out little more than a day after the death of Joe Jackson, the King of Pop’s father and manager.
Jackson is not the only special guest on Scorpion. Rap mega-star Jay-Z lends rhymes on Talk Up that denounce President Donald Trump – a rare political reference for Drake who, despite making clear his disdain for Mr Trump, has largely stuck to apolitical, crowd-pleasing rhythms.
