APOLLO THEATER CONCERT TO BE BROADCAST LIVE ON SIRIUS XM DECEMBER 13
RECEIVING KENNEDY CENTER HONOR DECEMBER 5
Paul McCartney continues to wind down yet another banner year in the most distinguished career in modern music with yet another in his cavalcade of Grammy nominations: The live version of “Helter Skelter” from last year’s gold-certified Good Evening New York City (Hear Music/Concord Music Group) will be up for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Paul’s schedule will be anything but idle leading up to the February 13, 2011 Grammy ceremony. Having just wrapped the sold out Up & Coming 2010 tour with two shows for over 130,000 fans at Sao Paolo’s Morumbi Stadium, Macca heads to the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington DC this weekend to receive a Kennedy Center Honor on Sunday, December 5. Kennedy Center Honors, now in their 33rd year, are awarded to five special recipients annually for their lifetime contribution to American culture through the performing arts. Honorees are received by the President of the United States and the First Lady at a reception at the White House, then proceed to the Opera House for a Gala featuring surprise performances and tributes. The Kennedy Center Honors medallions are presented on Saturday 4th December, the night before the gala, at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
The following week, Paul and his ace band of Paul “Wix” Wickens, Rusty Anderson, Brian Ray and Abe Laboriel Jr. will appear on Saturday Night Live, marking the first time in some 17 years that Paul has graced the famed music stage of 30 Rockefeller’s Studio 8H.
Barely 48 hours later, Macca will play Harlem’s world famous Apollo Theater for the first time. The intimate show will celebrate Sirius XM’s reaching the 20 million subscriber mark and launching a month-long “Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run Radio” channel. The concert, which will be held on Monday, December 13 at 8:00 pm ET, will feature McCartney performing songs from his unrivalled back catalog, including many Beatles, Wings and solo classics. The concert will air nationwide live on six channels including “Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run Radio,” Howard 101, one of Howard Stern’s two exclusive SIRIUS XM channels, Underground Garage, Classic Vinyl, The Coffee House and ‘70s on 7.
The last leg of Up & Coming, the SNL appearance, the Apollo show and the Sirius XM channel’s launch all coincide with the recent re-issue of Paul McCartney & Wings’ number one album from 1973, Band on the Run, the first title to be released as part of an extensive overhaul of McCartney’s complete catalog of solo recordings. The month-long “Band on the Run Radio” channel will also feature a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this landmark album, hosted by McCartney himself, as well as newly-discovered live performances of Wings tracks recorded at Abbey Road Studios from The Paul McCartney Archive.