Virgin Group founder Richard Branson announced Friday that his partnership in Virgin Hotels had snapped up the Hard Rock Hotel.
Kats
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily on Page 3A. Email jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow him at @johnnykats on Twitter and @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram. Listen to the latest episodes of his PodKats! podcast here.
On Friday, I remembered Marty Allen, along with hundreds more of his friends at a celebration of life at Rampart Casino’s Marquis Ballroom. Those who spoke knew the comic performer well, beginning with the afternoon’s emcee, his widow, Karon Kate Blackwell.
The opening of “The Voice — Neon Dreams” at Hard Rock Hotel has been moved back to Sept. 17. The September date is in line with the debut of the TV show’s 15th season.
Nearly three years after it was originally announced, the new Burlesque Hall of Fame exhibit is being unveiled at April 17 at its new, permanent location at 1027 S. Main Street No. 110.
Wynn Resorts spokesman Michael Weaver says, “ I have not heard that there is any announcement planned on any name change … (there is) certainly no truth whatsoever to changing any names in Las Vegas.”
Marty Allen, the beguiling, bug-eyed comic legend whose “Hello, Dere!” was his lifetime catcphrase, will be honored with a celebration of life Friday at Rampart Casino’s Marquis Ballroom.
Jon Bon Jovi shouted it from the stage at T-Mobile Arena: “What could be better than a St. Patrick’s Day party in Las Vegas on a Saturday night?”
On his first day on the job, Rossi Ralenkotter had lunch with then-ABC sportscaster and ex-NFL great Frank Gifford.
In an extensive interview for the Buffalo News, O.J. Simpson calls Las Vegas, “The No Hate Zone of America.”
Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has said he’ll bet on anything — including a pair of cockroaches scrambling across a tile floor (let’s set up a tournament for that, eh?).
Roger Daltrey says of a return of The Who to the Strip: “We’ve got offers. If Pete wanted to do it, I would do it; let’s put it that way.”
The Moody Blues, who issued that masterpiece in 1967, are returning to Encore Theater for an engagement past their four-show spree in January.
Piff the Magic Dragon, the costumed comic-magician headliner at Flamingo Las Vegas, shaved the head of John Katsilometes during the St. Baldrick’s Foundation shave-a-thon at New York-New York’s Brooklyn Bridge.
More than half of the stars embedded along Las Vegas Boulevard have been wiped out as part of Clark County’s project to install security bollards on the Strip.
“One Night For One Drop” featured songs by Jewel, appearances by her family, and a soaring dragon.
