America's "1 Percent" need a voice in the music world, and James Dolan is here to provide it.
The New York-based billionaire has a band, JD & The Straight Shot, and he has an arena, Madison Square Garden.
Recently, he decided that he could combine these two commodities into a rock show. But how to get the public interested?
Oh, right. Just book The Eagles.
The New York Post reports that, on Saturday night, JD & The Straight Shot will open for what is perhaps America's finest rock band.
"The artist in me needs to be free," Dolan explained. "I'm entitled to my opinion. I am not the chairman, CEO, etc., standing up there on that stage. I am the singer-songwriter."
Dolan's tunes are intriguing, to say the least. In "Governor's Song," he attacks Mayor Bill de Blasio for his policies against NYC's elite.
"If you dare to call the mayor, taxes got your goat, well he don't care," he sings. "Cause you're a millionaire, and he didn't get your vote."
He also takes on ex-governor Eliot Spitzer in "Fall From Grace" and offers his opinion on the Trayvon Martin situation in "Under the Hood."
The NBA owner just wants his art to be heard.
"I worry about the other ways that people know me," he said. "I worry that they aren't going to listen to the music. Are they going to look at the music and go, 'I don't like how the Knicks are doing this year?'
"You are definitely putting it out there and making yourself vulnerable and susceptible to criticism, and since it's so personal, you run the risk of being hurt."
For the record, Dolan has already opened for The Eagles on other occasions (Joe Walsh is his producer), and has music-oriented team that includes manager Irving Azoff and publicist Leslie Sloane.
"This is all me," he said. "Those are my words. That's my voice. And this is my product."
