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Musicians give chilling performance

In this May 16 photo released by Music4Children, a musician performs atop a Himalayan peak. (Associated Press)
In this May 16 photo released by Music4Children, a musician performs atop a Himalayan peak. (Associated Press)

Their fingers were stiff from the cold, and two musicians got altitude sickness. But the music atop a Himalayan peak in Nepal on May 16 was inspired by a sensational view as the group laid claim to the record for highest musical performance.

They even had an audience – 15 other trekkers paid $10 each to watch the musicians perform for 40 minutes at the summit of 21,825-foot-high Mera Peak, which is close to Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse.

“My fingers were freezing. It was difficult to play the guitar after a few minutes, but I kept playing,” group leader Oz Bayldon said in the capital, Katmandu, on Thursday. “I felt like a 90-year-old with asthma.”

Only eight of the 10 musicians from various countries reached the top, while the two with altitude sickness did not. The musicians took turns performing.

Guiness is awaiting the evidence before verifying if the new performance set a new record.

Queen begins jubilee at the racecourse

It was a royal day at the races, as Queen Elizabeth II watched a horse with the courtly name of Camelot win the Epsom Derby on Saturday – the kickoff to a four-day celebration of the British monarch’s 60 years on the throne.

The 86-year-old monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, visited Epsom racecourse south of London for the Derby, one of the year’s biggest horse-racing meetings, accompanied by members of the royal family including their sons Prince Andrew and Prince Edward and Andrew’s daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

The queen is a racing fan and horse breeder who has attended the Derby for decades and reads the Racing Post each day over breakfast, although she does not gamble.

The birthday bunch

Game-show host Chuck Barris (“The Gong Show”) is 83. Singer Ian Hunter is 73. Bassist Too Slim (Riders in the Sky) is 64. Singer Deniece Williams is 61. Singer Dan Hill is 58. Actor Scott Valentine (“Family Ties”) is 54. Singer Mike Gordon (Phish) is 47. Newsman Anderson Cooper is 45. Country singer Jamie O’Neal is 44. Actor Vik Sahay (“Chuck”) is 41.