Patrick Carney’s Karen Elson Connection
Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney and Jack White have tweeted that their flash feud after a run-in at an East Village New York bar on Sept. 13 is over, but an industry insider notes a little-known connection between the two artists may be tinder for a future flare-up. The source says Nashville is abuzz that White’s ex-wife, model/singer-songwriter Karen Elson, dated Carney’s good friend Alex Levy, who produces the Best Fest tribute concerts. Beef between White and the Keys dates back to 2013 when details of the former White Stripe’s divorce negotiations with Elson leaked, in which White claimed the Keys “ripped off” his sound and demanded Elson pull their kids from the Nashville school where Carney’s bandmate Dan Auerbach’s children also attended. White apologized to the Keys in 2014, but, according to Carney, nonetheless wanted to “fight” him at the Cabin Down Below bar. (White disputed this.) Elson declined to comment, and Levy responds, “Karen and I are not dating.”
Alan Bergman’s Birthday Bash
Venerable songwriter-lyricist Alan Bergman celebrated his 90th birthday on Sept. 11 at a star-studded dinner thrown by his wife, songwriter Marilyn Bergman, in the garden of their Beverly Hills home. Alan, who will play Birdland in New York on Oct. 12, was feted by a group that included Barbra Streisand and James Brolin; Quincy Jones; and TV pioneers Norman Lear and Steven Bochco. He, in turn, serenaded his guests with two of his songs, “Love Like Ours” and “What Matters Most.”