Luke Bryan Celebrates His Son’s Birthday in New York City, Iron Maiden Lawyer Publishes Hot Novel And More Inside Scoop
Luke Bryan’s Birthday Boy
Country star Luke Bryan took advantage of his recent sojourn to New York to promote the release of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy Note 5. On Aug. 13, Bryan gave an acoustic performance at the Samsung Gallery in Soho, and showed off a new guitar backstage that he bought in the city. A source tells Overheard that Bryan, who had his family in tow, celebrated his son Tate’s fifth birthday on Aug. 11 with a trip to the Statue of Liberty.
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The following day, Bryan serenaded fans at the T-Mobile Times Square store with hits from his recent album, ?Kill the Lights, , including “Kick the Dust Up” and “Strip it Down.” He also elicited screams from the audience when he broke out some of his signature dance moves during a performance of his hit “Country Girl (Shake it for Me).”?
Bill Leibowitz’s ‘Miracle’ Novel
Within the music industry, Bill Leibowitz is an entertainment attorney who represents such metal bands as Iron Maiden, Atreyu and Of Mice and Men, among other clients. (His firm, Roberts Leibowitz & Hafitz also represents Robin Thicke, American Authors and Magic!.) But in January, he self-published his first novel, the medical conspiracy thriller Miracle Man, which, he tells Overheard, has been selling 100 to 150 copies a day since February — 20,000 total to date, he claims — with minimal promotion.
Miracle Man is the tale of an infant boy who, after being discarded in a trash dumpster, grows up to become an extraordinary but troubled genius. “After he decides to use his intelligence to cure disease, he becomes Public Enemy No. 1 to Big Pharma,” says Leibowitz, and runs afoul of the government, which has developed his intelligence and wants him devoting his time to other kinds of scientific research. It’s also about corrupt forces, such as Big Pharma, that attempt to destroy him because his cures render their highly profitable symptom treatments obsolete. “The book is about the sanctity of every single human life,” he tells Billboard.
The novel has ranked as high as No. 5 in Amazon’s medical thriller category and No. 12 among conspiracy thrillers. At press time, it also had a 4.2 rating (out of 5) from 349 reviewers. Leibowitz recently signed a deal with the Spanish-language publisher Grupo Planeta which will translate and distribute the novel globally. He has also discovered that the book is popular enough to have been offered for illegal download by more than 10 BitTorrent sites, and is in the process of sending them cease-and-desist letters.
Keyshia Cole Collects Third No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Keyshia Cole’s Manager’s New Hot Spot
Keyshia Cole‘s manager Manny Halley (Imani Entertainment Group) is busy fast-tracking House of Macau, his latest eatery, into a Hollywood hotspot. The View co-host Raven-Symone, Bystorm Entertainment president Wayne Barrow (Miguel, Mali Music), TV/film writing/producing/directing husband/wife duo Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood (Beyond the Lights), and actress Golden Brooks (Girlfriends) were among the celebrities in the House on Aug. 13, when the venue hosted a tribute to Michael Brown — the teen fatally shot last Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri. House of Macau opened officially July 6 on Vine Street between Sunset and Hollywood Blvd. Halley also owns the Beverly Hills restaurant Philippe Chow.
This story originally appeared in the Aug. 29 issue of Billboard.
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