Fame and success are fleeting, we know that. Sadly, 21 year old New Zealand pop star Lorde is learning that the hard way. Her American tour, going on right now, is a royal bust.

I say royal because Lorde’s only big hit was called “Royals.” Remember how everyone was so gaga for her?

Tonight she’s playing the Gila River Arena in Arizona. There are huge chunks of seats empty. You can buy whole rows almost anywhere in the building.

Things get worse as you go through her tour schedule, particularly in the New York area. You don’t have to go to StubHub, either. Just check Ticketmaster. For the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 4th, I was able to locate blocks of 24 seats together in almost every section. For other dates, it was possible to buy 8 seats together in dozens of locations.

What turned everyone off to Lorde? I do think it’s tied to her boycott of Israel. She decided not to play Tel Aviv on the advice of Roger Waters, who also boycotts Israel without realizing he’s instigating anti-Semitism.

Lorde’s decision was a  direct factor in her not being invited to sing solo on the Grammy Awards. She was the only nominee for Album of the Year who was snubbed. She tried to turn it into an anti-woman thing, which was ridiculous. When I saw her at the Universal Music after party I asked one of their people what they thought of her Israel decision. The exec said, “Why don’t you go there and ask her?” (I only didn’t because I didn’t want to cause a scene in a small space.)

But clearly, Lorde’s position on Israel has killed her tour. Do I blame her? Well, she’s young, she’s in an isolated place (NZ) and maybe doesn’t have the sophistication to understand the consequences of her actions. Now, I guess, she will.

What can I do about Don McLean? He is very talented. “American Pie” and “Vincent” are just a fraction of his career.

But listen, he’s a bad guy. So as he readies a new album, a single, a tour the bad PR is coming whether he likes it or not. This afternoon, Page Six “revealed” his 24 year old girlfriend, “Paris Dylan” (come on, that cannot be her name). Her Instagram account is filled with stuff about newly divorced 72 year old McLean. She’s younger than his children. He doesn’t care. Paris likes celebrities, especially older ones. Two weeks she was hanging out with Quentin Tarantino.

I wrote about Don’s daughter Jackie a couple of years ago when she published an online memoir piece about growing up with Don. It wasn’t a pretty story.

Plus Don’s wife of 27 years, Patrisha, divorced him (and scored $10 mil for time served) accusing him of domestic violence.

It’s stunning that Don McLean could write such nice songs and be so awful. Even his new song, “Botanical Gardens,” is good. Of course, the lyrics about hitting on girls.

I always say, if we’d known Picasso, we wouldn’t have liked him. This is where you have to decide– does the artist’s life influence how you feel about him? Is that a consideration? Or are artists exempt from judgment and normal behavior?

No matter how wonderful McLean’s new album is, his recent history will haunt him. The Page Six item was obviously planted to thwart a public ceremony next Wednesday in New Rochelle designed to honor him. All of next week he’s doing publicity– will those who interview him not ask about all this? (I would, so I probably won’t get an interview.)

But what the heck? Enjoy the new song.

Hanging with Quentin Tarantino tonight … and he loves David Cassidy!!! 😏😁

A post shared by 🌻Paris (@parisdylan550) on Mar 3, 2018 at 10:46pm PST

Rolling Stone Keith Richards. age 74, looked fine and dandy Thursday night at the Beacon Theater. He took the stage at Love Rocks 2, the brainchild of John Varvatos and Greg Williamson, and stole the four hour long all-star concert to raise money for Gods Love We Deliver.

Bill Murray, the de facto emcee, joked that the audience was raising money not to feed people in need around New York City, but to keep Keith Richards alive another day. But really, there’s no fear of Richards expiring from the looks of things. He’s in great shape. With Gary Clark Jr.–who soared on guitar despite a cast on a broken wrist–plus Robert Cray, Norah Jones, and backed by Will Lee, Paul Shaffer and a mesmerizing band of heavy hitters, Keef performed his Rolling Stones signature song, “Happy,” and a standout solo track from two decades ago called “Make No Mistake.”

The latter song was performed as a duet with Jones singing, but also with legendary Memphis musicians whose sound Richards used on his original recording — Charles and Leroy Hodges who’d just performed with Robert Cray.

The whole night was one of highs, with ovation after ovation for the likes of Mavis Staples, Donald Fagen, a trio of Emmylou Harris-Lucinda Williams-Norah Jones, Ann Wilson of Heart, Nona Hendryx, Jimmie Vaughn, Trombone Shorty, Valerie Simpson with Anthony Hamilton, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top with John McEnroe, McEnroe’s rock star wife Patty Smyth, Andra Day, the Bacon Brothers, and so on.

At one point, Murray — who was sent on stage a few times to fund raise– started taking cash from people near the stage. It was surprising how much he got– certainly a couple thousand dollars in what he said were 20s, 50s, and 100 dollar bills. It was hilarious but we’ll see how the charity deals with it. It reminded me of Soupy Sales sending his child viewers to their mother’s pocketbooks.

These charity shows in New York with dozens of acts are often the only way to see real rock, blues, soul, country all come together anymore  in the hands of superstars. This show was no exception, with star and bit players sharing the stage and producing phenomenal, historic moments. Kudos to Varvatos and Williamson.

Keep refreshing Friday for video…