Zack O'Malley Greenburg's Blog, page 31

Forbes Under 30 Summit Music Festival Rocks Jerusalem’s Tower Of David

Keane for Change: British up-and-comer Hatty Keane was joined by Israeli singer-songwriter Tal Ramon, Palestinian rapper Saz, U.K. singer Hatty Keane and the interfaith YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus; supermodel Ashley Graham hosted.

The drums of peace were beating in Jerusalem last night, both literally and figuratively. He was joined by Palestinian rapper Saz, U.K. singer Hatty Keane and the interfaith YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus; supermodel Ashley Graham hosted

Eyal Davidoff, the Israeli foun...

In The Holy Land, Resolving Conflict Through Creativity

Power Rangers: Discussing the ability of musicians to enact social change, onstage in Tel Aviv at the Forbes Under 30 Summit EMEA. (right to left: Sameh “Saz” Zakout, Hatty Keane, Micah Hendler, Zack O’Malley Greenburg)

On stage in front of scores of young entrepreneurs from six continents in Tel Aviv, Jewish Jerusalem resident Micah Hendler dropped a beat, and Palestinian rapper Sameh “Saz” Zakout delivered a few bars.

“Far away from New York and L.A. and hip-hop, got lost in music,” he rapp...

Playing Oud In The Age Of Trump: The Story Of An Iraqi-American Virtuoso

Oud In The Open: Rahim AlHaj has made a career in America playing an ancient Middle Eastern instrument. (Photo: Michael G. Stewart)

Iraqi-American instrumentalist Rahim AlHaj was imprisoned and tortured for two years by Saddam Hussein’s forces in the early 1990s, but if you ask him about the most difficult time in his life, he’ll cite something else: having his oud confiscated by government officials.

AlHaj received the instrument, which resembles a pear-shaped guitar, as a gift from his firs...

Flying High With The Red Rocker: Sammy Hagar Talks Jets, Booze And Buffett

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Sammy Hagar is known to many as the Red Rocker, the onetime frontman of Van Halen and cofounder of rock supergroup Chickenfoot–but some of his most notable accomplishments have come in the business world.

In the 1980s, Hagar started traveling to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and opened his own restaurant there the following decade. His house tequila, Cabo Wabo, soon grew into a national sensation; he sold 80% of his company to Gruppo Campari for $80 million in 200...

Chuck Berry And The Curse Of The Founders

Chuck Berry performs during the 2012 Awards for Lyrics of Literary Excellence at The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library And Museum on February 26, 2012, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Marc Andrew Deley/Getty Images)

When Chuck Berry passed away at age 90 this past Saturday, the world reacted with the reverence reserved for the loss of a true legend. The news of the departure of the man known as the Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll quickly soared to the virtual front pages of publications from Rolling St...

Why Garth Brooks Went To SXSW–And Amazon Music

Garth Brooks: Amazon’s self-proclaimed ‘bridesmaid’ onstage in Austin, Tex. Photo by Zack O’Malley Greenburg

On a stage in front of a group of reporters at the Austin Convention Center this morning, Garth Brooks listened to his new single “Ask Me How I Know” for the first time.

“It sounds a hell of a lot better than it does in my truck,” he cracked, sporting a new beard and a trucker cap in lieu of his usual cowboy hat.

The world’s highest-paid country singer came to Texas not just to hear hi...

Grunge And Government: Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic Wants To Save U.S. Democracy

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Nirvana was touring in Germany when the Berlin Wall fell—and Krist Novoselic, the supergroup’s bassist, vividly remembers the line of Trabant cars 27 kilometers long that queued up to enter the west. Shortly thereafter, he saw scores of them parked along the Reeperbahn, Hamburg’s equivalent of the Las Vegas strip. East Germans wanted to be part of the west, and everything that went along with it.

Back home, though, Novoselic found that the American...

Kesha Talks Bullying, Recovery And Recording 70-80 New Songs

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 14: Kesha attends the Empathy Lab Anti-Bullying Workshop, hosted by Refinery29 and Columbia University School of the Arts Digital Storytelling Lab on March 14, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Refinery29)

Nearly a full hour before Kesha’s keynote conversation with Refinery 29’s Amy Emmerich at South By Southwest this afternoon, the line to enter the Austin Convention Center’s Ballroom D stretched from the door past the information both, past th...

Driving Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road: The Business Of The World’s Most Eclectic Band

Piping Up: Galician bagpiper Cristina Pato of the The Silk Road Ensemble performs at Grand Central Terminal in New York. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for HBO)

If you’d been standing at the southern entrance to Grand Central Terminal this past Tuesday morning at just the right time, you might have noticed a green-haired Galician bagpiper marching through a crowd of onlookers, her instrument’s notes soaring toward the rafters as she ascended a makeshift stage to perform alongside a...

Desiigner Brand: A Snapshot From The Rise Of A Hip-Hop Cash Prince

Desiigner performs onstage at the Ace Hotel on February 11, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo: Timothy Norris/WireImage)

High above the streets of downtown Los Angeles on the eve of the Grammys, a crowd of musicians and executives mingles at the Ace Hotel ahead of Universal Music Group’s Grammy showcase–and though proud label chief Lucian Grainge is in the house, 19-year-old rapper Desiigner is in perhaps the highest of spirits of all.

“I feel like I’m on top,” he explains.

From a physi...