Blues Brothers Tribute Ruffles Belushi's Widow
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) -- Not everyone is happy about a tribute to the Blues Brothers that's coming to the Chicago this summer.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's John Hultman reports, the unauthorized Blues Brothers show is coming to the Auditorium Theater in July.
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The show is "The All New Original Tribute to the Blues Brothers," which premiered at an English pub in 1991, and made it to the theaters of London's West End, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
John Belushi's widow, Judy Belushi Pisano, knows about the show. But says British laws make it hard to stop, the Sun-Times reported.
Pisano says she and her late husband's partner, Dan Aykroyd, own the rights to "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, but she says but trying to stop such infractions are expensive. Pursuing a recent infringement case cost $60,000, Pisano told the Sun-Times.
The new show's North American agent, Margaret Selby, says no laws are being broken, any more than a show based on Sinatra, the Beatles or Elvis Presley.
The Blues Brothers began as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1978, and released the album "Briefcase Full of Blues." The legendary movie "The Blues Brothers" was filmed on location in Chicago in 1979, and released the following year.
Belushi passed away in 1982.
