SamboraBlog

B.B. King, the B-52s, the Flaming Lips, T.I. and Clint Black are among the musical acts NBC has invited to create their own take on the three-note chime for the Peacock network.

The artists will appear in on-air promotions for NBC's "Chime In" branding campaign.

King will be seen, for example, adding a twist to the G-E-C notes on his guitar, while the B-52s have come up with a more dance-oriented take on the chimes.

Other artists taking part are Richie Sambora and the Airborne Toxic Event.

The chime spots will air between shows at the top and the bottom of the hour. The musicians weren't paid, but reportedly were given a "modest gift honorarium." NBC launched "Chime In" earlier this year to re-emphasize its 75-year-old audio cue. All promos now end with the notes; in recent spots, the chimes have been tailored to fit the show being promoted.

Heather & Richie -- Blood Brings Them Together
Posted Oct 20th 2008 6:00PM by TMZ Staff
Heather Locklear and Richie Sambora have something in common other than his and hers DUIs -- their love for daughter Ava.

The ex-couple (plus Richie's new GF) reunited Saturday night at a hotel in Westlake Village, California to celebrate Ava's 11th b-day -- and though their Denise Richards-riddled split was rough, everything surprisingly looked A-O.K.

SEEN ON THE SCENE: ''Deal or No Deal'' star Howie Mandel bunked at the Hotel Monaco this past weekend, while in the area performing at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond. Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora hung out with Chicago's own Billy Zane and music impresario Tom Lipnick at Prosecco, where (separately) WMAQ-Channel 5 anchor Marion Brooks was dining. A source says Sambora expressed concern for ex-wife Heather Locklear -- worried she may be heading for a breakdown. ... Among the celeb guests at the opening of the Vertigo Sky Lounge at the Dana Hotel was Ami James of ''Miami Ink,'' chatting up the special door hangers he created for the hotel's guest rooms and the tattooed images suspended from the new lounge's ceiling.

Slash of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top are among the musical luminaries lined up for a Les Paul tribute concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at PlayhouseSquare's State Theatre in Cleveland. The show is the climax of a weeklong American Music Masters salute to electric-guitar pioneer Paul, presented by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Case Western Reserve University and Gibson Guitar Corp.
"I have tremendous respect for Les Paul," Slash said. "He's such an icon in the guitar-playing world, let alone the recording world."
Also on the bill: the Ventures, Alannah Myles (best known for her 1990 hit "Black Velvet") and various hotshot guitarists, including former Elvis Presley sideman James Burton, Dennis Coffey of Motown's Funk Brothers, the Patti Smith Group's Lenny Kaye, Steve Lukather of Toto, Barbara Lynn and Jennifer Batten.
Paul, 93, is expected to attend, too. His name has graced a line of Gibson guitars since 1952.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Slash (real name: Saul Hudson), reached by phone Wednesday at home in Los Angeles.
Yes, he played a Les Paul guitar on Guns N' Roses' immortal "Sweet Child o' Mine" -- and on countless other songs in Slash's repertoire.
"A lot of great guitar players played a Les Paul, so I identified with the sound of it," Slash said. "It's an extension of what I'm trying to communicate as a musician."
Concert tickets -- $30, $40 and $50 -- are on sale at the PlayhouseSquare box office and at PlayhouseSquare.org, or charge by phone, 216-241-6000. VIP packages, $250 (including admission to a pre-show cocktail reception) and $500 (cocktail reception and after-party), can be purchased by calling 216-515-1207.
Paul designed and built one of the first solid-body electric guitars in the early 1940s. He also developed the first eight-track tape recorder and enjoyed success as a chart-topping recording artist.
Paul became a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer in 1988, enshrined in the early influence category. He is the subject of a permanent exhibit at the museum.