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This March 29, 2019 file photo shows Sheryl Crow attending the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York.
This March 29, 2019 file photo shows Sheryl Crow attending the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York.

Sheryl Crow has released a political and spiritual song about war, featuring vocals from the late Johnny Cash, that will be featured on what she says is her last full-length album. Crow's "Redemption Day" was originally included on her Grammy-winning 1996 self-titled album and later recorded by Cash and released after his death in 2003. Neither song was released as a single, but Crow would sometimes play her version alongside Cash's when she performed live. Crow recorded a new version of the song, trading her guitar for a piano and adding his vocals for a duet that was released Friday along with a music video featuring archival footage of Cash. During a visit to the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tenn., where Cash's vocals were recorded, Crow said she wrote the song after visiting troops during the war in Bosnia. "I was so emotional about what I'd seen and what I was seeing at home and trying to put everything together as to why we go into some places and other places we don't," she said. Crow, who later sang at the funerals of both June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash, said she knew the lyrics spoke to him because of his anti-war stance. "To hear him singing that right now is just extremely powerful and profound," Crow said. The song will be on Crow's upcoming album for Valory Music Co., which will also include duets with Keith Richards, Stevie Nicks and Eagles members Don Henley and Joe Walsh, among others.

• Two brothers who say they helped Jussie Smollett stage a racist and homophobic attack against himself filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Empire actor's attorneys, alleging that they repeatedly asserted publicly that the brothers carried out a real, bigoted attack on Smollett despite knowing that wasn't true. A lawyer for Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of the brothers. It names Mark Geragos, Tina Glandian and their law firm as defendants. The suit contends that even after police and prosecutors said the Jan. 29 attack was staged and after all charges were dropped against Smollett, Geragos and his firm continue to say publicly that the brothers "led a criminally homophobic, racist and violent attack against Mr. Smollett," who is black and gay. In a statement, the brothers said: "We have sat back and watched lie after lie being fabricated about us in the media only so one big lie can continue to have life. These lies are destroying our character and reputation in our personal and professional lives." Geragos and Glandian said they view the suit as "comical" and "lawyer driven nonsense," adding they "look forward to exposing the fraud the Osundairo brothers and their attorneys have committed on the public."

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AP file photo

This Sept. 2, 2016 file photo shows attorney Mark Geragos talking to the media during a news conference in downtown Los Angeles.

A Section on 04/24/2019

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