Eddie Money has '2 tickets to reality' with Palace Theatre show and new TV series
It seems mighty early (8 a.m.!) for a rock star, but here is Eddie Money on the other end of the phone line, chipper and alert as can be.
“What's happening with the Pirates?” he asks as he begins the interview from his North Malibu home with his own questions. “And who was that guy who hit that home run?”
Bill Mazeroski, he is told. “Maybe the greatest moment in baseball,” the singer says as he launches into a few minutes of serious nostalgia, including his early admiration for the Bucs, though he is a Brooklyn native, and stories of his dad ushering at Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he got to watch Jackie Robinson play.
“I'm very partial to Pittsburgh. I've had more fun in that town than I can ever tell you,” says the mega-hit maker. “I used to come through the old Pittsburgh airport to see my girlfriend.”
He is no stranger to the new airport either, as Money finds himself always a welcome guest in Pittsburgh.
Having performed a free show in the Arts on the Allegheny series on the river in Kittanning only last August, he returns March 22 to headline a Palace Theatre concert in Greensburg.
“I have 14 to 16 really important songs in the Top 100 and to see people light up when I sing them feels good,” he says. “It's great to have so many songs which made a lot of people really happy.”
Now he hopes to touch people in a new way with a reality series, “Real Money,” about the entertainer and his family, launching a 10-episode season at 9:30 p.m. April 8 on AXS TV.
He is executive producer and is joined on the show by his wife of 30-plus years, Laurie, as well as his children, including singer-songwriter son Dez, who fronts the family act with his band The Faze and plays guitar in his father's band; son Julian, who plays the drums; and daughter Jesse, a singer in the Janis Joplin mode. Rounding out the cast is Eddie's guitarist son Joe and eldest child Zach, who helps run the family business.
“We may not be the typical cookie-cutter family, but we have a strong sense of love and loyalty for each other that really shines through,” Money says.
He admits he never thought he would be doing a reality show.
“But this one is really different. The people who shot it are really very good,” he says. “They got me playing golf and I'm not a great golfer. They have me horseback riding, which I hate. They gave me a really big horse. There are a lot of funny episodes. Every time I woke up, they threw a mike on me.”
He thinks the show can win new fans, but he most appreciates that it puts his children and their talents in the spotlight.
“I've been blessed with good kids. It gets the kids on TV. Nobody sells records anymore. I sold 42 million records. Now, all the big record stores are closed. The world is a different place,” he says.
Rex Rutkoski is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
