Prince Recalls Childhood Epilepsy, Seizures

He performed for National Press Club in 1971

(NEWSER) - One of the final live performances by Louis Armstrong will be released to the public for the first time. The recording is of a concert on January 28, 1971, at the National Press Club in Washington. The legendary trumpeter was a featured act at the concert, held less than six months before his death, reports AP . The new album will be titled Red Beans and Rice-ly Yours: Satchmo at the National Press Club. You can hear a snippet of him performing "Hello Dolly" via this Washington Post link. Details on the CD or digital download are here . More»

Birthing scene too intense for epileptics

(NEWSER) - Twilight, Breaking Dawn: Part One might be just a bit too sparkly for epilepsy sufferers. Several people have reportedly developed seizures during the film’s infamous birthing scene, as red, black, and white flash across the screen, ABC News reports. In one case, a Sacramento-area man convulsed so violently that paramedics were called in, and the rest of the screening was canceled. More»

Composer saw creatures emerging from piano

(NEWSER) - The 19th-century composer Frédéric Chopin suffered frightening hallucinations, ranging from ghosts to creatures coming out of his piano. Now, researchers believe the visions may have been prompted by temporal lobe epilepsy, the Daily Telegraph reports. The disease can cause short, detailed hallucinations, and “could easily have been overlooked by Chopin’s doctors,” researchers note in Medical Humanities . More»

We all love Norah Jones, but she's still on this list

(NEWSER) - You would never guess, but Jimi Hendrix was technically a one-hit wonder. Yep, the definition of the term is “an artist or band who only has one song make the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart,” regardless of album sales or performance on other charts, writes Sam Greenspan. He goes on to list 10 more very surprising one-hit wonders on 11points.com :

• Grateful Dead, “Touch of Grey”: “Go figure—an eternally loyal army of hippies doesn't translate into huge financial returns.”
• Garth Brooks, “Lost in You”: His “only top 40 single was from that rock album he made under the pseudonym ‘Chris Gaines.’ No song actually attributed to Garth Brooks has ever made the top 40. Ouch.”

Prince, Julie Andrews, Francis Ford Coppola deserve another chance

(NEWSER) - Whether they're clearly taking anything just for the money or out-and-out slumming, numerous pop culture icons are mired in a rut of underachievement. The Onion A.V. Club staff fields a question from a Sylvester Stallone loyalist and lists more artists deserving of a second chance:

• Sam Adams can't quit Nicolas Cage: "The near-unremitting river of shit that is his recent output would be disheartening even if it weren’t clear that the main source of his troubles is Cage himself."