It was 34 years ago Sunday (May 19th, 1979) that a select group of party-goers witnessed the closest thing to a live Beatles reunion when Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr reunited to jam at Eric Clapton‘s wedding reception at his English estate. The impromptu performance marked the one-and-only time that the three former-Beatles had played in public together since the group’s final performance on the Apple Rooftop on January 30th, 1969.

Clapton had married Harrison’s ex-wife Pattie Boyd, and set up an outdoor stage for a mammoth jam session which featured the three ex-Beatles, a reformed Cream, the Rolling Stones‘ Mick Jagger and Bill Wyman, Elton John, David Bowie, and many more. John Lennon was living in the U.S. at the time, and was not present.

Although the three former “Fabs” also took part in a makeshift sing-a-long jam at Starr’s wedding in 1981, the Clapton wedding reception marks the only time that the former Beatles made music onstage in a somewhat professional manner. Among the many songs reported to have been performed that day were the Beatles’ 1967 classic “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

Following Angelina Jolie’s huge announcement on Tuesday (May14th) that she underwent a double mastectomy, her beau Brad Pitt has been chatting with the media about his future wife’s brave decision to go public about her fight to avoid becoming a cancer victim.

Brad told USA Today that it has been “an emotional and beautifully inspiring few months.” He added, “It’s such a wonderful relief to come through this and not have a spectre hanging over our heads…that that’s not going to be something that’s going to affect us. My most proudest thing is our family. This isn’t going to get that.”

• He explained, “She could have stayed absolutely private about it and I don’t think anyone would have been none the wiser with such good results. But it was really important to her to share the story and that others would understand it doesn’t have to be a scary thing. In fact, it can be an empowering thing, and something that makes you stronger and us stronger.”
• According to People, Angelina is also planning to have her ovaries removed to lower her cancer risk.

John Fogerty will celebrate his 68th birthday and the release of his latest album Wrote A Song For Everyone with a special one-off gig at L.A.’s El Rey Theatre. A limited amount of pre-sale tickets for the show are available to members of Fogerty’s fan club through his website (JohnFogerty.com). The show, which starts at 8:30 PM PST, will be filmed and broadcast live on AXS TV.

Wrote A Song For Everyone, which has been several years in the making, features high profile collaborations on Fogerty’s classic songs — including many of his Creedence Clearwater Revival standards. Highlights on the set include Bob Seger on “Who’ll Stop The Rain,” “Fortunate Son” with Foo Fighters, “Lodi” with Fogerty’s sons Shane and Tyler — along with “Born On The Bayou” with Kid Rock. Other contributors include My Morning Jacket, Keith Urban, Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert, Tom Morello, Jennifer Hudson, and Allen Toussaint.

Barbara Walters confirmed the widely speculated rumors that she will be retiring from television next year. The 83-year-old made the announcement during Monday’s (May 13th) episode of The View in a heartfelt speech which ended with her thanking the loyal viewers who have been watching her on television over her 50 year career.

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The Rolling Stones welcomed pop star Katy Perry onstage during their Saturday night (May 11th) appearance at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. Perry — who was still a year away from being born when the Stones released 1983′s Undercover collection — duetted with Mick Jagger on the 1978 Some Girls classic, “Beast Of Burden.” Perry joins a growing cast of cameo players sitting in on the Stones’ 2013 50 & Counting dates, which now include Gwen Stefani, Keith Urban, Tom Waits, John Fogerty, and Bonnie Raitt. Once again Mick Taylor, in addition to his star turn during “Midnight Rambler,” joined the band for the final encore of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

Also appearing in Saturday night’s setlist was the Exile On Main Street rocker, “All Down The Line,” the Voodoo Lounge favorite “You’ve Got Me Rocking,” and the Green Valley High School Choir guesting on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

Happy Birthday to Billy Joel, who turns 64 today (May 9th). With two recent festival shows under his belt at Australia’s Stone Music Festival and the New Orleans Jazz Fest, Billy Joel fans are waiting to see what his next move will be. Billy, who hasn’t toured since 2010, went on record as stating that he’s considering a series of full-album shows in major U.S. cities in the near future. August 10th will mark the 20th anniversary since the “Piano Man” released his last studio rock album, River Of Dreams. The album, which peaked at Number One on the Billboard 200, featured the Top Three hit — and Billy’s last Top Ten hit to date — “The River Of Dreams.”

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Mariah Carey may be ending her American Idol judging career. According to Perez Hilton, Mariah is disliking her experience so much — she might even try to leave before the end of the season.

• A source said, “Mariah doesn’t want to come back, Nicki is really disrespecting her and she’s tired of trying to bite her tongue all the time… One night Nicki tried to be kind of nice, but Mariah didn’t bite.  She’s done with it all. She doesn’t need the platform, and all the drama isn’t healthy for her… She’s also under fire with the producers for not being critical enough of the contestants.”

Barry Manilow is heading back out on the road this week. Manilow kicks off his 16-date run on Thursday (May 9th) at Manchester, New Hampshire’s Verizon Wireless Arena and eventually winds things down on July 29th at Atlanta, Georgia’s Chastain Park Amphitheatre.

Last January and February, Manilow returned to Broadway at the St. James Theatre for his first extended run in nearly 25 years.

• Barry Manilow told us that there’s a discernible difference between the Las Vegas crowds and his die-hard audience who follows him out on the road: [“The audiences that come here, they wanna hear the hits. I’ve tried periodically to throw in a couple of album cuts and they’re polite, but when I hit ‘Ready To Take A Chance Again’ the roof caves in. And I get it. Now, that’s Vegas. Y’know, Vegas is, y’know, not my fans every night, but when I go out I really might put back some of these album cuts that people haven’t heard in a long time.”

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