NEW YORK (AP) — Graham Nash blames bad colors for Crosby, Stills and Nash’s off-key performance during the National Christmas Tree lighting in Washington last month. Nash says all the musicians involved in the show used color-coded microphones in sound check, but the microphones were mixed up when it came time for the show. Nash says the technicians at the sound board couldn’t figure out who had which microphone, and the members of CSN couldn’t hear each other. Nash says CSN weren’t at their best anyway. He says the producers of the show apologized to them, and “if we did one lousy show in our lives, so be it.”

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s biggest music awards show is planning to pay respects to David Bowie. Max Lousada of the Brit Awards says Bowie was “a visionary and ground-breaking pioneer” and the show will put on a fitting tribute at the February 24 show in London. Bowie had his moments at the Brit Awards. When he won best male artist in 2014, he sent supermodel Kate Moss dressed as Ziggy Stardust to accept the award.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Among the people around the world paying tribute to David Bowie are the drinkers at a pub in the Australian Outback in a town of fewer than 200 people — but they have a special connection to him. The only pub in the town of Carinda, a 400-mile drive from Sydney in New South Wales, was the setting for Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” video in 1983. The pub’s current owner, Malcolm George, says no one knew Bowie was coming that day. He says business has been nonstop since Bowie died on Sunday. Bartender Marie Draper says tourists gravitate to the wall with the brown and green tiles where Bowie plays his guitar in the video. George says when he bought the bar, the tiles had fallen from the wall, so he stripped tiles from elsewhere to restore it.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — David Bowie wasn’t just creating new music with his “Blackstar” album. He was telling the world he was dying. Bowie released “Blackstar” on Friday, and he died Sunday. Most of his close musician friends did not know he was dealing with cancer for the past 18 months. The “Blackstar” album discusses life, death and the afterlife. The video for the single “Lazarus” shows Bowie in a hospital bed with his eyes bandaged, singing, “Look up here, I’m in heaven/I’ve got scars that can’t be seen.” Yesterday, “Blackstar” hit number-one on the U.S. iTunes albums chart. “Best of Bowie” was second and two other Bowie albums have reached the Top 10.

NEW YORK (AP) — Even frequent David Bowie collaborators Nile Rodgers and Brian Eno had no idea he was sick. Rodgers says he suspected something was up with Bowie a few years ago when Bowie presented Rodgers with an award but had to give it by film. Rodgers says Bowie was charming and big-hearted but Rodgers could see he was not well. Rodgers says he didn’t want to pry because everyone deals with their health in their own way. Eno tells Rolling Stone magazine Bowie sent him an email just a week ago that was full of inside jokes. He says it ended with Bowie saying, “Thank you for our good times, Brian. They will never rot.” Eno says he realizes now Bowie was saying goodbye.

LONDON (AP) — How big was David Bowie’s influence? He’s getting tributes from major world leaders. The White House is saluting Bowie’s contribution to the arts, and spokesman Josh Earnest says people across the world are talking about how Bowie inspired them. British Prime Minister David Cameron calls Bowie’s death “a huge loss” and says Bowie was a “master of reinvention.” Germany’s Foreign Ministry tweeted a video for Bowie’s song “Heroes” with a thank you for Bowie’s help in bringing down the Berlin Wall. Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller says “Heroes” was the hymn for a once-divided city longing for freedom. The Vatican’s culture minister, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, tweeted the lyrics to “Space Oddity” and ended with, “May God’s love be with you.”

NEW YORK (AP) — What was planned as a tribute concert to David Bowie has now become a memorial concert. New York’s Carnegie Hall had planned to host a concert featuring Bowie’s music with acts like Cyndi Lauper, Perry Farrell, Ann Wilson of Heart and The Roots on March 31. The concert’s website says the timing of the tickets going on sale is “bizarre” and the show is taking on many more emotions now.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Natalie Cole was remembered as a loyal friend and a worthy successor to her famous father’s legacy. A music-filled funeral was held yesterday in Los Angeles. The daughter of Nat King Cole had carved out her own Grammy Award-winning legacy during a 40-year career. Among the several hundred mourners were singers Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. Natalie Cole died New Year’s Eve at age 65 of pulmonary arterial hypertension, which led to heart failure.

NEW YORK (AP) — David Bowie was a lot of things during a musical career that spanned five decades. But one thing he never was: boring. The singer has died. His rep says Bowie has lost his battle with cancer — and at the end, he died “peacefully” and surrounded by his family. He had been ill for 18 months. Bowie changed his musical style as often and drastically as he would change his look. He turned 69 on Friday — the same day he released a new album called “Blackstar.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — One of the big players in the Chicago blues scene has died. Otis Clay died suddenly of a heart attack on Friday at the age of 73, according to his daughter. Clay’s best-known song is “Trying To Live My Life Without You” from 1972, which Bob Seger later turned into a hit. Clay first released a string of gospel-tinged soul records in the 1960s. He never stopped recording and touring and he was nominated for two awards at the Blues Music Awards in May. Clay was also an active player in charity projects in Chicago.