REPORT: GRAMMYS, CBS SCRAP Q SPECIAL

A Grammy-branded special to celebrate Quincy Jones’ 85th birthday has been scrapped, according to a report on Deadline.com. Separately, will there be a salute to Aretha show?

CBS, The Recording Academy and Ken Ehrlich pulled the plug on the Q special, similar in scope to earlier programs on The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and The Bee Gees, after the show had trouble attracting major stars, Deadline reported, quoting sources.

Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith and Eddie Murphy are among the artists who had committed to the special.

It is possible, however, that Jones will produce the event himself. Don Mischer has reportedly been brought on and the event is being shopped to network and cable outlets.

Intended for the fourth quarter, it would follow the 9/21 premiere of the doc Quincy on Netflix. Directed by his daughter Rashida Jones, the film will also receive a short theatrical run to make it Oscar-eligible.

On the Aretha front, Deadline reports that a Madison Square Garden concert orchestrated under the aegis of Clive Davis Presents is being expanded into a television that is being shopped. Stay tuned.