Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on August 28th, 2025

Neil Young performed his 1987 track "Long Walk Home," first recorded with Crazy Horse on their album Life, live for the first time since 1989 during an Aug. 23 concert in Wantagh, N.Y. The protest song deals with the experience of living in a country that prides itself on personal liberty, while still engaging in systemic violence. With these themes remaining relevant in current times, Young made a change to some of the lyrics -- switching the line "from Vietnam to old Beirut" from the studio version to "from Canada to old Ukraine" for the 2025 live performance. Fan-shot footage of the performance can be viewed on YouTube. In July, Young and the Chrome Hearts dusted off the rarity "Ambulance Blues" at a concert in the Netherlands -- marking its first live appearance in over 50 years. He released his first studio album with the Chrome Hearts, Talkin' to the Trees, in June. - NME, 8/23/25...... A source close to Paul McCartney claims Sir Paul is not only nearing completion on his follow-up to 2020's McCartney III album, but the 83-year-old musician is said to be plotting a return to his homeland for a UK tour in 2026. "Paul has been working on the album all year and initially hoped it would be out by the end of this year but as with most things plans change," according to the source. "It's not quite finished but the majority of the album is done and Paul is really proud of it." The source added that Macca also wants to tour behind the new LP: "As for live shows he's told his team he wants to tour the UK again, so live gigs next year are also happening." Until then, McCartney will be busy with a fall US tour which launches on Sept. 29 in Palm Desert, Calif., and run through a Nov. 25 gig in Chicago. - Music-News.com, 8/26/25...... The UK's BBC One channel abruptly pulled a new Ozzy Osbourne documentary titled Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home from its schedule on Aug. 18 just hours before it was slated to air with no explanation. According to a BBC report, the network had been expected to air the doc on that evening, it "has postponed the screening without giving reasons or a new transmission date." However a BBC spokesperson told US Weekly that "the film has moved in the schedules and we'll confirm new [transmission] details in due course." Described as a "moving and inspirational account" of the final chapter of Osbourne's life, Coming Home was filmed over three years with participation from his wife/manager Sharon Osbourne, and two of the couple's children, Jack and Kelly. The doc was originally pitched as a chronicle of the Osbourne's return to England after years of living in Los Angeles, serving as a kind of bookend to the family' beloved 2002-2005 MTV reality show, The Osbournes. Osbourne died on July 22 at age 76, two weeks after performing his final show at his home soccer stadium, Villa Park, in Birmingham, England. - Billboard, 8/18/25...... In other Ozzy-related news, his daughter Kelly Osbourne is firing back at professional womens wrestler Becky Lynch for making "disrespectful" comments about Ozzy just a month after his death. On Aug. 25, Lynch insulted the late Black Sabbath frontman's home city while appearing on Netflix's WWE RAW, which aired live from Birmingham, England. During a round of on-camera trash talk between Lynch and her soon-to-be opponent Nikki Bella ahead of their upcoming Women's Intercontinental Championship match in Paris, the former had a harsh response to the latter's request that they fight right then and there. "I'm not wrestling in Birmingham," Lynch goaded. "The only good thing that came out of here died a month ago. But in fairness to Ozzy Osbourne, he had the good sense to move to L.A., a proper city," she added as the surrounding crowd booed. "Because if I lived in Birmingham, I'd die too." The following day, Kelly posted on her Instagram Stories page that Lynch was a "disrespectful dirtbag" and quipped, "Birmingham would not piss on you if you were on fire. Shame on the WWE for allowing such things to be said about my father and his home!!!" Born in the Aston area of his beloved Birmingham, UK on Dec. 3, 1948, Osbourne was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. - Billboard, 8/26/25...... Legendary author Stephen King revealed that he "never liked" Black Sabbath in a recent Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session as he promoted the latest movie adaptation of one of his novels, The Long Walk. Set in a dystopian US and ruled by a totalitarian regime, the movie focuses on a group of young men who enter an annual walking contest in which they must maintain a speed of at least three miles per hour or be killed, with the remaining walker declared the winner. When asked in the AMA session what playlist he would have for the fictional walk. He replied with two selections, one reflecting his taste at the time of the novel's publishing (1979) and his tastes now. "Back then I would have picked 'Get Together,' by the Youngbloods, 'Eve of Destruction,' by Barry Maguire (sic), 'Carol,' by the Rolling Stones, 'Subterranean Homesick Blues,' by (Bob) Dylan, maybe 'Summertime Blues,' by Eddie Cochran, 'Rock and Roll is Here to Stay,' by Danny and the Juniors." He continued: "Now I'd load my playlist with AC/DC, Rancid, Metallica, Stones, (Bruce) Springsteen. Not Black Sabbath, I never liked them. Music has often featured in King's books as a cultural indicator for the period in which they are set. In turn, his work has inspired several artists, including "Ride The Lightning" by Metallica (the title is a phrase from King's book The Stand) and "Pet Sematary" by Ramones, which borrowed its title from his 1983 novel. In 2007, he compiled a list of "The 24 Greatest Rock Songs Ever Made" for Entertainment Weekly. Several Stephen King adaptations have been scheduled for 2025, with The Long Walk hitting cinemas in September, and a new version of The Running Man arriving in November. The Life Of Chuck, based on a short story by King, is now playing in cinemas, while The Monkey came out in February. Meanwhile, the bard of horror recently described Pres. Donald Trump's second term in office as a "horror story," and called for his impeachment. - New Musical Express, 8/28/25...... Musician/producer Steve Wilson of The Porcupine Tree, who began remixing classic albums in 2009 by the likes of Black Sabbath, The Who, Van Morrison, Chic, Tears For Fears and others, has explained why he only decided to remix Sabbath's 1972 set Volume 4 from the band's catalog. "The tapes were lost," Wilson admitted in an interview with Noise 11 (available on YouTube). "So, that's a classic example. And this has happened a few times over the years with me. The will to do it was there. The record company wanted to do it, the manager wanted to do it, I wanted to do it, and then they couldn't find the tapes." Wilson however said they found outtake reels of the band running through different takes of Volume 4 songs, and "we did what we could... which [is] fascinating if you're a fan of that record." Wilson then explained some more of the background information about the status of master multi-track tapes of Sabbath's other albums. He said: "Unfortunately, I wasn't able to mix the actual album, because the multi-track tapes have, as with the whole Sabbath catalog, they've pretty much disappeared, sadly." - NME, 8/24/25...... Shortly after giving an interview with AARP magazine to promote the American leg of The Who's "The Song Is Over" farewell tour, guitarist Pete Townshend and Who frontman Roger Daltrey sat down with The New York Times on Aug. 25 to open up about if The Who may play more live shows after their current farewell tour comes to an end (The Who's 1982 tour was also billed as their final dates, and was captured in a live album titled Who's Last). When asked if these 2025 U.S. dates actually do mark the definitive end of The Who, Townshend cheekily responded: "Are you suggesting we're swindling the public? The fact is, we are willing to swindle them. That's what we've done our entire life. Why stop?" Townshend continued, "It's in Roger's hands. If we don't extend, would we be in breach of contract? Would we be in swindle-land if we came back and played all those important venues we've left off the list, like Duluth," he added. "I'm 80, I don't like being away from my family, my studios, my dogs and my friends. I'm not looking to spend the next five years of my life waiting to drop dead on the stage The end of the tour could give Roger and I permission never to call each other again. I hope that doesn't happen." Daltrey continued, saying that there will likely be some upcoming shows added in the future, but perhaps not a full tour. "We're not giving up as a band. We might do a couple of residencies. Hopefully, Pete and I won't stop making music." - Billboard, 8/26/25...... Fans of Judas Priest could soon be treated to the unlikely pairing of Priest frontman Rob Halford and the late popular music crooner Tony Bennett. Although best known for his piercing screams and iconic vocal chops with Judas Priest, Halford has long been vocal about his affinity for non-metal genres, like country and jazz music -- in 2022, he even teamed up with Dolly Parton for a special rendition of Parton's "Jolene" as the musicians were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They later teamed up again on her album Rockstar. Now, Halford has revealed that he's also a big fan of the late Tony Bennett. Speaking to UltimateClassicRock.com , Halford shared: "There's so many musical things I want to do I was singing Tony Bennett in the shower the other day and I listened to my voice and I'm going, 'Do I dare to consider something like this?'" He continued: "And then I go, 'I'm an old man; I can do what I f---ing want!' And I love Tony Bennett; I was sad, like a lot of us where, when he passed. He as an icon and a beacon. I love all kinds of singers. My love for what the voice can do is always so attractive to me the ideas, the imagination, like [Lady] Gaga doing her thing in Vegas when she does the jazz side of stuff." However Halford added that he doesn't have concrete plans on putting that album together just yet: "So, yeah, I'd love to do that. I don't know how I would go about it, but I better get a move on if I'm going to do something like that. I wouldn't have dared to have done this back in the day." In other news, it was announced earlier this year that Judas Priest are due to get their own documentary film soon, and it's being co-directed by Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello. - NME, 8/26/25...... KISS' Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have reunited for a World Of Tanks Modern Armor collaboration following the band's 2023 farewell tour. Running from Aug. 26 through Sept. 15, this year's annual Metal Fest is a celebration of KISS. "The in-game music event delivers an electrifying KISS-themed experience," promises developers. "Players can take on two thrilling challenges loaded with exclusive KISS-inspired rewards, try an all-new PvE mode on a specially designed map, enjoy daily gifts, and more." The Metal Fest features four premium tanks, with each one inspired by a classic KISS character -- The Demon, The Starchild, The Spaceman, and The Catman. Each one will also blast their 1975 hit 'Rock And Roll All Nite' when it's selected by players from their garage. "All four KISS personas come alive as fully animated 3D Hero Commanders, complete with custom voiceover," continued the press release on X/Twitter, with KISS icons Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley recording custom audio for the collab. KISS wrapped up the final scheduled date of their extensive Farewell Tour back in Dec. 2023 at Madison Square Garden. Just after they left the stage, the band announced that they were about to move into their "new era"' and were planning on doing some shows using virtual avatars -- similar to that of the hit ABBA Voyage shows. No virtual KISS concert has been announced yet but Stanley and Simmons will be performing together in Las Vegas in November as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for the KISS Army fanclub. - NME, 8/27/25...... The UK tabloid The Sun is reporting that former The Police frontman Sting is being sued by his former Police bandmates over lost royalties. Sting (real name Gordon Sumner) was the ex-frontman/primary songwriter of the best-selling late '70s/'80s London trio, and he's reportedly being taken to court for "substantial" damages by guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland. It follows years of legal disputes between the group. "Lawyers tried repeatedly to reach an out-of-court settlement but hit a stalemate," The Sun reported. "Andy and Stewart decided there was no alternative than court so pressed the button. They say they are owed millions in lost royalties." The case is said to have been listed at London's High Court under "general commercial contracts and arrangements." Sting appears as a defendant along with his company, Magnetic Publishing Limited. Formed back in 1977, The Police charted such smash singles as 1983's "Every Breath You Take" before breaking up in the mid-'80s. Sting, who is credited as the sole songwriter on the track, reportedly earns £550,000 a year in royalties from that song alone. A spokesman for Sting denied the legal action was related to "Every Breath You Take," per the article. However, they did not elaborate on the case. The Police have reunited on numerous occasions in the past, with their most recent shows taking place in 2008. In 2021, Sting said that he regretted reforming the trio in 2007, calling the tour that followed "an exercise in nostalgia". He explained at the time that he preferred being a solo artist due to the "total freedom" it offered. "It's not a power thing, at all; it's just about producing exactly the brand and style of music that feels right for you," he said. Sting's hugely successful post-Police solo career includes headlining the Isle Of Wight Festival and Latitude festivals, and will embark on his "Sting 3.0" tour in Europe in the fall. - NME, 8/25/25.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on August 23rd, 2025

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of the western US has overturned a previous verdict that it was reasonable for Supertramp co-founder Roger Hodgson to terminate a 1977 revenue-splitting agreement with his former bandmates, bassist Dougie Thomson, saxophonist John Helliwell and drummer Bob Siebenberg. The decision caps off a years-long legal battle between Hodgson and the other band members that began in 2018 when Hodgson decided to stop stop sharing Supertramp's publishing royalties with his bandmates. Hodgson won the case at trial in 2024, when a Los Angeles jury held that it was reasonable for him to terminate the 1977 revenue-splitting agreement after more than 40 years. But the new ruling wipes that verdict, holding that the case should never have gone to a jury at all. Lawyers for Thomson, Helliwell and Siebenberg praised the verdict, saying it "preserves our clients' legacy for themselves and their heirs while restating common sense California law that will continue to govern similar matters going forward." Supertramp's catalog includes their chart-topping 1979 album Breakfast in America, and the LPs Crime of the Century, Crisis? What Crisis?, Even in the Quietest Moments, Paris and Famous Last Words. - Music-News.com, 8/22/25...... Legacy Recordings has announced Patti Smith's landmark 1975 debut album Horses will get a deluxe 50th anniversary treatment on Oct. 10 in an expanded edition in a 2-LP and 2-CD format. In addition to the original John Cale-produced eight-track LP that introduced Smith's signature poetry-meets-punk style to the world, now remastered from the original 1/43 master tapes, the refresh will also feature a number of previously unreleased outtakes and rarities, including Smith's 1975 RCA audition tape. In addition to such favorites as "Gloria," "Redondo Beach," "Birdland" and the multi-part "Land," the re-release will feature the previously unreleased songs, including the skittering, frenetic jazz rocker "Snowball" (which has been shared on Spotify.com), "Birdland (alternate take)," "Distant Fingers," "The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game" and "We Three." The anniversary edition will also feature RCA demos of the thrilling "Gloria" and "Redondo Beach," as well as alternate takes on "Kimberly" and "Break It Up." Horses peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart in Feb. 1976, and was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2009 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021. The updated Horses comes days before Smith will publish her long-awaited memoir Bread of Angels, which is described by publisher Random House Publishing as the singer's "most intimate and visionary work." - Billboard, 8/22/25...... Speaking of 50th anniversaries, Bruce Springsteen has shared an outtake from his iconic 1975 set Born To Run to mark the album's 50th anniversary. The never-before-released "Lonely Night In The Park" was recorded during the Born To Run sessions in New York City's Record Plant with producer Jon Landau, but was left off the final album's tracklist at the last minute. As reported the book Down Thunder Road: The Making Of Bruce Springsteen by producer/journalist Mike Appel, who also worked on the album, Landau fought to include the song on the album in place of "Meeting Across The River," but was unsuccessful. "Lonely Night In The Park" can be streamed on YouTube. In June, the Boss released seven near-heard-before records as part of a new compilation dubbed Tracks II: The Lost Albums, comprising 83 songs from across his career. - NME, 8/22/25...... On Aug. 22 Sammy Hagar announced a new live album that will capture his band's Las Vegas residency from earlier in 2025. The 19-track live set Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band - The Residency is due on Oct. 10, and will feature Hagar and his former Van Halen bandmate Michael Anthony along with guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Kenny Aronoff. The quartet played nine shows at the Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas in April and May. To promote the new release, Hagar has shared his band's performance of the 1986 VH track "Summer Nights" on YouTube. "Eddie [Van Halen] played me that guitar riff and I just started singing 'summer nights and my radio', and the rest of the lyrics just came out like a river of consciousness. I don't think there's a better theme song for a beautiful summer night," Hagar has said. Hagar was also part of a supergroup that performed at Black Sabbath's poignant final show in July, singing Ozzy Osbourne's "Flying High Again" and the Montrose track "Rock Candy." - New Musical Express, 8/23/25...... The estate of Prince has responded to Prince associate Apollonia Kotero's recent lawsuit that the Prince's estate, Paisley Park Enterprises, is "attempting to steal her name" when it tried to claim ownership of the Apollonia trademark in June. Kotero claims in the 14-page suit that, after appearing in the hit Prince movie Purple Rain, Prince never asked her to stop going by the name Apollonia, and did not "contend that the name did not belong to her either personally or professionally." On the contrary, Appolonia alleges that "Prince himself consented to and encouraged her in her professional endeavors" under that name. Kotero has now used the name for over four decades and released numerous projects using the alias. Her legal team claims that Prince's estate was out of line when it tried to claim ownership of the Apollonia trademark in June. She alleges that the estate filed an "intent-to-use" application that would allow it to use the name in connection with clothing and entertainment services. Additionally, the filing states that she and Prince were "lifelong friends," and she both co-wrote The Bangles' hit "Manic Monday"' with him and provided vocals on his song "Take Me With U" using the stage name. Now, the estate has responded via a written statement posted on Prince's official social media channels. "Regrettably, Ms. Patty Kotero a/k/a 'Apollonia' filed a frivolous lawsuit," it began. "As she acknowledges, Apollonia is the name Prince gave to the character played by Ms. Kotero in Prince's movie, Purple Rain, over forty years ago. We never instructed her to cease using her adopted professional name, nor did we object to her business activities. In fact, we repeatedly offered her opportunities to perform at Paisley Park using this professional name." The statement concluded: "We look forward to the rulings in the pending trademark proceedings and a dismissal of Ms. Kotero's recent federal action. As is our duty, we will continue to protect and preserve Prince's assets and legacy." - NME, 8/22/25...... A celebration honoring the life of late renowned lyricist Alan Bergman featuring the likes of Kenny Loggins, Jackson Browne and Patti Austin will go forward as planned. Mr. Bergman died on July 17 just one week before his 100th birthday, and the event was originally planned as a birthday party. The event will be held at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Calif. and will benefit the Jazz Bakery, of which Mr. Bergman was a founding board member. Tickets, priced at $100, $200 and $300, can be bought at events.humanitix.com. Mr. Bergman's work includes penning the words for such iconic songs as "The Way We Were," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life," "It Might Be You," and lyrics for such TV shows as Maude, Good Times and Alice. - Billboard, 8/21/25...... After Paul McCartney shared a cryptic new post online on Aug. 19 suggesting the return of the epic Beatles' Anthology project of the 1990s, the Beatles' Apple Corps announced on Aug. 21 that the landmark collection will get a major refresh this fall with the re-release of the original eight-part series, the Anthology music collection, and a new Beatles Anthology book in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the project. The Anthology TV series, which debuted in Nov. 1995, tells the story of the Fab Four in their own words and through archival footage and performances that has now been restored, remastered and expanded with a new ninth Anthology episode featuring previously unseen, behind-the-scenes footage of McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr coming together in 1994-1995 (minus the late John Lennon) to work on the project, as well as reflecting on their lives in the band. According to a press release, the expanded documentary series will stream exclusively on Disney+ beginning on Nov. 26. The restoration was overseen by the Apple Corps' production team, along with filmmaker Peter Jackson's Wingnut Films and Park Road Post teams, as well as producer Giles Martin, who created a new audio mix for most of the featured music. The Anthology 25 music collection will also be restored and expanded to four volumes spread across eight CDs and 12 vinyl LPs. The collection originally curated by "fifth Beatle" longtime producer/arranger George Martin -- and remastered by his son, producer Giles -- will add Anthology 4, which includes 13 previously unreleased demos and session recordings and other rarities overseen by Giles. In addition, it will add new mixes of the Anthology-related "new" singles "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love," refreshed by original producer Jeff Lynne of ELO using "de-mixed" Lennon vocals. Both new mixes will appear alongside the band's 2023 Grammy-winning U.K. No. 1 single "Now and Then," which has been described as the last-ever Beatles song. The full Anthology project, due out Nov. 21, will feature 191 songs available for digital purchase and streaming, as well as in physical formats. Both physical box sets will include the original sleeve notes for Anthology 1, 2 and 3, with Anthology 4 featuring track notes by BBC producer and author Kevin Howlett and an introduction compiled from 1996 interviews recorded with Beatles close friend and advisor Derek Taylor. In addition, the "Free As a Bird" music video has been restored as part of the effort. A 25th anniversary edition Anthology book featuring more than 1,300 photos, documents, artwork and other memorabilia from the band's archives is also due out on Oct. 14. A trailer for the Anthology 25 project can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 8/21/25...... Brian Wilson's former lawyer has said that the late musician "felt really bad" about not working on The Beach Boys' 1988 hit "Kokomo" after his doctor at the time, controversial psychotherapist Eugene Landy prevented him from participating. In an interview with Fox News Digital, John Mason spoke about how Landy convinced Wilson not to participate in "'Kokomo," which was featured in the 1988 film Cocktail. "Mike [Love] and Carl [Wilson] came into my office and said to Brian, 'Hey, we have the opportunity to write a song for this movie, Cocktail. It's going to be starring Tom Cruise. It's really great. We'd love you to join us. And Brian was really excited. He said, 'Oh, I'd love to do that.' But later in the evening, Brian called and said, 'I shouldn't do that. Dr. Landy said I shouldn't do that.' Well, that turned out to be 'Kokomo,' the biggest hit the Beach Boys had had probably forever. And Brian felt really badly about not working on 'Kokomo.'" Mason went on to say that Landy refused to let Wilson participate unless he, too, was listed as a writer on the song. The band refused and went on to write 'Kokomo' without Wilson's input, which Mason says Wilson lived to regret. "Brian is truly a giant teddy bear and genius who regrets bad decisions and lives for better ones," he said. However the group later recorded a Spanish-language version of "Kokomo" with participation from Brian. Landy first began working with Wilson between 1975 and 1976 when the musician entered his intensive 24-hour therapy program in an attempt to improve his declining health from drug use, and again between 1982 and 1992. Landy's methods were controversial, with him demanding complete control over Wilson's affairs in order to rehabilitate him. A conservatorship case was eventually triggered by the redrafting of Wilson's will in 1989, in which Landy was named as chief beneficiary, standing to inherit up to 70 per cent of his estate. By 1992, the Superior Court of Santa Monica ruled that Landy must remove himself from Wilson's life, and appointed an independent conservator with "specific and limited powers over the artist's affairs." Wilson died in June from respiratory arrest at the age of 82. - NME, 8/21/25...... In a new interview with AARP magazine, The Who's Pete Townshend said he plans to embark on what he referred to as "one-man" solo outings after he and singer Roger Daltrey finish their current run of Who shows. "We reserve the right to pop up again," Townshend said of The Who, who announced their first "final tour" in 1982. "But I think one thing is very clear: that at our age, we will not." Townshend, now 80, is not retiring, though, saying that he's planning to finish his long-gestating solo album The Age of Anxiety, which he's been working on since 2007, and possibly taking that show on the road. "I've got songs in all kinds of development, 140 tracks ready to go," he said. "On The Age of Anxiety, [based on his 2019 first novel], I've got 26 songs. It's not not autobiographical, but the scope of my own mental journey through addiction and recovery has led me to a place where I feel that I can write a character, a genuine, realistic character -- youngish, who, rather than be depressed, has an acuity, a kind of instant, psychic feeling, and he decides that he wants to really dig in to make his audience as happy as they possibly can be." He described the main character as a good-looking harmonica player who plays small clubs with his "very, very popular" band, but is beginning to sense an anxiety from some of the "young mums" in the crowd who are "escaping something." Townshend hopes the album can start a conversation about depression and the struggle for artists to manage their sometimes selfish, self-obsessed inclinations. Despite suffering from tinnitus, Townshend said his brain is "sharp as a razor," he's feeling "very, very creative" and generally healthy, speculating that he's got maybe "another five years" in show business left in him. The guitarist plans to experiment touring his solo material by going out on the road for some one-man shows, while keeping open the possibility that he and Daltrey might work together again some day. "Roger and I certainly [will] work together for charity and possibly for special projects," he predicted of the vocalist with whom he admitted he doesn't communicate with "very well." Regardless, he added, "together we represent all aspects of The Who legacy. You know, I'm the songwriter and creator, but Roger's been the driving force, meaning keeping The Who band and his brand on track. Even with his solo work, we'll continue to work together, even if we rarely socialize." The Who kicked off 16 North American tour dates on Aug. 16, and it will continue into September. On Aug. 16, the band performed its 1971 classic "Going Mobile" live for the first time ever at the Amerant Bank Arena in Florida. Fan-shot footage of the moment can be seen on YouTube. - Billboard, 8/21/25..... Billboard.com is conducting a poll asking readers to choose their favorite song associated with this year's Kennedy Center Honorees -- Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor, KISS, Sylvester Stallone and George Strait. For example, KISS fans can choose between their rock anthem "Rock and Roll All Nite" and their image-broadening ballad "Beth," the band's first top 10 hit in 1976. For Stallone, you can choose between Hot 100-topping hits from two of his Rocky movies: Bill Conti's "Gonna Fly Now" and Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger." Both songs were Oscar-nominated for best original song. At a press conference announcing the honorees, Pres. Donald Trump said he was "98% involved" in the selections and that he'll host the televised ceremony on which these artists are saluted. - Billboard, 8/18/25...... Supermodel Kate Moss is set to present a new podcast for BBC Radio 6 Music on the "artistic evolution" of David Bowie. The eight part Music Uncovered, David Bowie: Changeling podcast will explore the late artist in the period from 1970-1975. "David Bowie was a very special person. Someone who was much more than a friend -- he was an enigma," Moss said a statement. "So, when the chance came to dive into this extraordinary five-year chapter of Bowie's life for 6 Music and BBC Sounds, hearing from those who joined him on his creative journey and those he continues to inspire, I was excited to help share the story of such an incredible transformation. This podcast is a real celebration of my friend, a true British icon," she added. Available on BBC Sounds from 6:00 am on Wednesday, Sept. 10 and broadcast on 6 Music on Monday, Sept. 22 (12:00-2:00 am), the podcast will feature rare and unheard archive interviews with Bowie -- including an exclusive interview from 2001 with podcast creator Des Shaw, and recently unearthed audio from the BBC Archive. It also includes new interviews with those who knew Bowie, and who continue to be inspired by his legacy, including Boy George, Chrissie Hynde, Elton John, Iggy Pop and Robbie Williams. Each episode will explore Bowie's early performances with The Hype, his fascination with Andy Warhol, the creation of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars and the legacy of his iconic Ziggy Stardust image. In other Bowie-related news, Oscar-winning British actor Gary Oldman Gary Oldman has looked back at his friendship with the late Thin White Duke, saying that the "world's gone to shit" since his death. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Oldman revealed one thing that he took from their time together. "To push the boat out," he said. "David always said, 'When you're wading out into the water and you can feel the sand beneath your feet, you feel safe and calm. But if you just go a little bit farther where your feet don't quite touch the bottom, you'll be in a place where you can do your best work.'" Adding that Bowie was "very, very, very funny," Oldman said that the two of them bonded initially as they had "similar kinds of backgrounds [and] grew up in similar neighbourhoods" in London in the 50s and 60s. He also added that Bowie was a great source of inspiration to him throughout the years because of his ability to evolve artistically. "He was always pushing the envelope. He reinvented himself and his music many times," the Harry Potter star explained. "He was inspiring because he was a great innovator and not afraid to try things. It's nothing conscious, but that rubs off." Looking back at the time since his passing, Oldman said: "Don't you feel that since he died, the world's gone to shit? It was like he was cosmic glue or something. When he died, everything fell apart. I miss him. Occasionally, I'll see something, it'll make me laugh, and I'll think, 'God, I wonder what Dave would have made of this', or 'Oh, that would have made him laugh." In 2017 to celebrate what would have been Bowie's 70th birthday, Oldman performed alongside numerous special guests at a special tribute concert at Brixton Academy. He also opened the evening by breaking out a cover of the 1997 Bowie track "Dead Man Walking." - NME, 8/17/25.

In an interview with Britain's The Independent, Gladys Knight says she is "healthy and happy" after her son accused her current husband of elder abuse. Knight's son Shanga Hankerson, 49, recently alleged that the soul legend's husband William McDowell, who is 33 years her junior, was mentally and financially abusing her with a "detrimental" touring schedule. In response, Knight says that her "health and performances have been misrepresented." "I want my fans and those concerned to rest assured I am doing very well for someone who has been on stage for three quarters of a century, hard to believe, right?" she added. "I'm healthy and happy and visiting friends and family these last few months. I'm excited to get back on the road with my sisters and on stage with The Queens Tour. See you soon." The "Midnight Train To Georgia" singer, 81, is heading on tour in September, and in an interview with TheShadeRoom.com, Hankerson said: "I don't want my mom out on a tour bus wondering where she's at," and said he has now filed a complaint with North Carolina's Department of Human Services. He added that Knight has had memory struggles in recent years, but Knight's publicist told People magazine that she is "greatly saddened by Shanga's unfounded allegations," adding that he "has had no substantial contact with her." "She has not been on tour since June 1 and can't wait to begin touring again in September," the statement added. "At this time our lawyers have no choice but to explore any and all legal remedies due to Shanga's defamatory comments." Gladys Knight is a seven-time Grammy winner, both solo and with her backing band The Pips. In 2024 she was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a year earlier was awarded with the Kennedy Center Honors. - New Musical Express, 8/16/25...... Speaking of the Kennedy Center Honors, US Pres. Donald Trump announced on Aug. 13 that '70s stars KISS, Gloria Gaynor and Sylvester Stallone will be among five new honorees during a gala later in 2025, with the show airing on CBS in December. First presented in 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors originally focused on fine arts -- heavy on classical and opera -- over the decades, but has broadened to also include more popular forms of music. In 1987, B.B. King became the first blues artist to be inducted. Other performers who were the first in their genres to be honored include Aretha Franklin for R&B in 1994, Pete Seeger for folk in 1994, and Bob Dylan for rock in 1997. In a statement, KISS co-founder Gene Simmons said that his band is "the embodiment of the American dream" and that "we are deeply honored to receive the Kennedy Center Honor." Bandmate Paul Stanley added that "the prestige of the Kennedy Center Honors cannot be overstated and I accept this on behalf of the long legacy of KISS and all of the band members who helped create our iconic band." Although Gene Simmons, who was fired by Donald Trump during the first season of The Celebrity Apprentice in 2008 -- initially praised Donald Trump before he first won the White House by calling him the "truest political animal I've ever seen onstage" and "good for the political system," by 2020 he had a different view. "I knew him before he entered politics," he told Spin magazine in 2022. "Look what that gentleman did to this country and the polarization -- got all the cockroaches to rise to the top. Once upon a time, you were embarrassed to be publicly racist and out there with conspiracy theories. Now it's all out in the open because he allowed it." Similarly, Paul Stanley tweeted in Jan. 2021 that Trump's refusal to accept the results of the previous year's election loss was "ABHORRENT. A true danger to our democracy. The issue isn't that it WON'T work. It's Mob Boss behavior and politicians putting party over audits, investigations, court rulings & COUNTRY in an effort to overrule the will of American voters." In his first term, Trump never once attended the annual Kennedy Center Honors gala, making him the first president to never attend the event during his term. Trump took over the Kennedy Center in February, firing trustees who had been appointed by Pres. Joe Biden and replaced them with his own picks. He also revealed that he will host this year's show, which will also honor Broadway star Michael Crawford and country singer George Strait. - Billboard, 8/13/25...... In light of reports that Facebook's parent company Meta has allegedly enabled AI chatbots to engage with minors in "romantic" and "sensual" ways, Neil Young has declared he's leaving the platform for good. "At Neil Young's request, we are no longer using Facebook for any Neil Young related activities," reads Young's last-ever Facebook post. "Meta's use of chatbots with children is unconscionable. Mr. Young does not want a further connection with FACEBOOK," the statement added. It did not mention whether the musician would also be leaving Instagram, which is also owned by Meta. The announcement comes on the same day Reuters released a report exposing questionable findings in an internal Meta Platforms document compiling the company's AI and chatbot policies. Included in those policies were permissions for chatbots to "engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual." Reuters also reported Meta's chatbots were free to generate false medical information as well as help users build arguments for overtly racist statements such as Black people are "dumber than white people." When pressed for comment, a spokesperson for Meta said that the document has undergone revisions to remove the policies allowing for inappropriate dialogue with kids. Young's statement is far from the first time he's spoken out about his beliefs, nor is it the first time he's called out major tech companies. He has previously voiced concerns over the direction of the United States under Pres. Donald Trump and called on Tesla and other auto makers to build clean-energy vehicles that "won't kill our kids." - Billboard, 8/15/25...... In a new interview with the UK's Mojo music mag, Robert Plant jokes that he will become an "Elvis impersonator" if he finds himself in an uncertain period of his career. "Well, at the end of my first formative period, I was in what you'd loosely call the biggest band in the world," he said of his tenure in Led Zeppelin. "The fervor that surrounded that, it was an unearthly condition and because of its terrible finales, I got suddenly launched into that post-Zeppelin thing where I went, I'm never gonna play any Zeppelin stuff again." Plant continued: "But I was on my own, and Atlantic, [president] Ahmet (Ertegun) and people like that, were saying: 'Why don't you put the band back together?' I said, 'Look, I've made a record called Shaken 'n' Stirred. Nobody likes it, but I like it. F*** it. Nobody liked Zeppelin, but we liked it. F*** it. And if it ever gets to another point where it's not like that in my quantifying of it, then I'm lost. I'll just be an Elvis impersonator. I'm really good at doing Elvis!" Plant also revealed that he turned down the chance to attend Black Sabbath's Back to the Beginning concert at Birmingham's Villa Park in July as he has "found other places," despite being invited by Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. "I don't know anything about what's going on in that world now, at all," Plant said he told Iommi. "I don't decry it, I've got nothing against it. It's just I found these other places that are so rich." Plant and his new band Saving Grace are set to play play dates across New York, Vancouver, Chicago, Los Angeles and more later beginning in late October, with four intimate shows in London set for September. - Music-News.com, 8/16/25...... John Lennon and Yoko Ono's NYC era and political activism is set to be explored in a new release called Power To The People. On Aug. 30, 1972, John, Yoko, and the Plastic Ono Band with Elephant's Memory headlined two historic "One to One" concerts at Madison Square Garden, NYC. The benefit shows played to a combined audience of 40,000 people and helped raise over $1.5 million to support children with disabilities. They were his only full-length concerts after leaving the Beatles and the last shows John and Yoko performed together. Produced by the couple's son Sean Ono Lennon and his Grammy-winning team, Power to the People, along with a massive 12-disc "Super Deluxe Edition" box set compiling 123 songs including 90 never-before-heard and previously unreleased tracks, is set for release on Oct. 10 (one day after what would have been John's 85th birthday) via Capitol/UMe. To celebrate the announcement of Power To The People, a previously unreleased, newly mixed performance of John's Beatles track "Come Together" has been shared from the "One To One" evening show on Spotify.com. - NME, 8/14/25...... In an interview with Rolling Stone, David Byrne has insisted that Talking Heads won't be touring again, saying that they cannot recapture the magic of their younger days and also don't wish to become a "legacy act." Fans' hopes of a reunion were raised when the band teased a huge announcement back in June, which ended up being the first ever music video for their iconic hit "Psycho Killer," starring rising actor Saoirse Ronan, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their first live performance at New York City club CBGB. Talking Heads haven't performed together since 1984 and until they came together in 2023, they hadn't had a full reunion in 20 years. Meanwhile, Byrne is gearing up to release his first new solo album in seven years, Who Is The Sky, which is due for release on Sept. 5 via Matador Records. The album is said to "build upon the optimistic themes" presented in Byrne's successful American Utopia album, tour and Broadway show in 2018. - NME, 8/13/25...... In related news, Aerosmith's Joe Perry has put a dampener on hopes of a new Aerosmith tour, saying that frontman Steven Tyler both "can't" and "doesn't want to." The band's final live show was held as part of their "Peace Out"' tour, which began in 2023, but only saw the band play three shows. While touring has been confirmed as off the cards for the band now, they have managed to play the odd show in the time since. In February, Tyler returned to the live stage for a charity event that saw him sing a number of Aerosmith classics, including "Walk This Way," "Dream On" and "Sweet Emotion." That was followed by a similar event in April that saw Tyler and Perry reunite on stage for the first time in two years. Tyler then appeared at the Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath farewell show, which was held in Birmingham, UK on July 5 as part of a star-studded line-up of heavy metal and rock stars. Perry did say however that an odd Aerosmith gig could still be in the cards: "I would bet that there's an Aerosmith show left," he told Boston radio station WBUR. "There's been talk about doing a documentary; that might be part of it. I've been spending a lot of time with Steven and he just doesn't want to tour, and he can't tour. It's tough. I'm not sure I would want to go out and book another 40-city tour. It's a long way to the top and staying there takes it out of you, especially an Aerosmith tour." - NME, 8/13/25...... A spokesperson for Billy Joel has announced he'll be closing down his beloved Oyster Bay motorcycle shop 20th Century Cycles in September following the musician's brain disorder diagnosis. Earlier in 2025, Joel revealed that he had been diagnosed with the brain disorder normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), and later had to cancel all of his upcoming tour dates in the US and UK. The shop first opened in 2010, with avid motorcyclist Joel wanting a place to maintain, repair, restore and customize his own bikes. The shop also serves as a museum of his own collection, which the public can visit for free. The shop is still open for now, and is in the process of moving out its bikes -- but is selling parts to the public, as listed by their Instagram page. Joel recently gave an update on his health and said that the disorder "sounds a lot worse than what I'm feeling", sharing that he currently feels "fine" but his "balance sucks," likening it to "being on a boat." "It's not fixed, it's still being worked on," he added of the condition. When asked what causes the disorder, Joel shared: "Nobody knows. They don't know. I thought it must be from drinking. I don't anymore, but I used to like a fish." - NME, 8/15/25...... Handwritten lyrics by late Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green are headed to auction in September and are expected to sell for thousands of pounds. The document is a composition sheet made by Green, and also includes instrumentation notes for Fleetwood Mac's single "Man Of The World," which was written in 1969. The lyrics are made in a blue ballpoint pen and contain corrections written by the guitarist in black ink. They show that the guitarist and songwriter amended three lines of lyrics in the song, and ticked off the finalized lines of lyrics that he was happy with. "Man Of The World," which can be streamed on YouTube, was the band's only single to be shared from their original label Immediate Records, and also appeared on an early greatest hits album in 1971. After Green left the band in 1970, it was not played live until nearly 50 years later -- when the band broke out a rendition on their 2019 tour in Australia. Green died the following year. Auctioned by EwbankAuctions.co.uk later in August, the document is expected to fetch between £12,000 and £15,000. - NME, 8/13/25...... In other auction news, Eddie Van Halen's iconic "Frankenstrat" guitar is headed to a Sotheby's auction. The late musician's custom-built 1982 Kramer electric guitar is set to be auctioned by Sotheby's New York during the house's inaugural "Grails Week" from Oct. 21, and is expected to fetch between $2-$3 million. Its design was based on his original "Frankenstrat" axe, with the black and white-striped guitar making its first live outing during Van Halen's "Hide Your Sheep Tour" which kicked off in 1982. As detailed by the auction house, Van Halen had visited Kramer's New Jersey factory to customize the instrument, with photos said to show him wielding an electric drill while working on it. Later, the guitar was featured in one of the brand's most famous print ads, where Eddie can be seen clutching it with pride, with text telling readers: "It's very simply the best guitar you can buy today." The axe made another iconic on-screen appearance in Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" video, with the guitar from that shoot sold for $3,932,000 to an unnamed bidder in 2023. Eddie later gave it away as a gift to close friend and longtime guitar technician Robin "Rudy" Leiren, writing a message for him on the instrument that read: "Rude - Its Been a Great Ten Years - Lets Do Another Ten. Eddie Van Halen." Leiren, in turn, sold it to Mötley Crüe's Mick Mars, who used it throughout the recording of 1984's Dr. Feelgood album. The instrument also comes with a letter of authenticity signed by Mars, who wrote: "Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Also it's a great piece of history." Eddie Van Halen passed away in 2020 at the age of 65 following a battle with cancer, and VH disbanded in 2020 following his passing. - NME, 8/13/25...... A federal appeals court has upheld legal fines against two lawyers who filed -- and then dropped -- a lawsuit accusing Bob Dylan of sexually abusing a child in the 1960s. Filed in 2021, the sensational case featured salacious allegations about Dylan, but music historians quickly said it wasn't even chronologically plausible. The unnamed accuser abruptly dismissed the case after the star's lawyers accused her of destroying key evidence. In the recent decision, a federal appeals court upheld monetary penalties against the woman's lawyers, whom Dylan's attorneys have accused of making "heinous and false allegations." Dylan's lawyers argued that they only found out the accuser had failed to turn over crucial emails after sending subpoenas -- an argument that the appeals court called "particularly telling" in the new ruling. The penalties against the lawyers are relatively modest: $5000 against one and $3000 against the other. Dylan's lawyers called them "essentially symbolic" and a "fraction" of the money he had spent defeating the case. The accuser, identified in court documents only as "JC," filed her case in Aug. 2021, claiming the music legend had abused her multiple times at Manhattan's Chelsea Hotel in April and May 1965. The lawsuit said he provided her with drugs and alcohol and "exploited" his status as part of a plan to "sexually molest her." Dylan vehemently denied the allegations, and rock historians quickly cast doubt on them, saying the folk star was on tour in California and overseas during the months in question. Less than a year after the case was filed, it was dropped without a settlement. Elsewhere, Dylan recently performed his politically charged track "Masters Of War" for the first time in almost a decade. Dylan opened his set with the anti-war anthem on Aug. 8) at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien Center, N.Y. Fan-shot footage of the performance has been shared on YouTube. He also opened his next two shows in Hershey (Aug. 9) and Syracuse (Aug. 10) with the same song. Dylan is currently performing on Willie Nelson's "Outlaw Music Festival Tour," which kicked off in May and is set to run until September. - Music-News.com, 8/15/25...... As Elvis Presley fans prepare to make the annual pilgrimage to Memphis in August to honor what would have been the King of Rock & Roll's 90th birthday in January, his ex-wife Priscilla Presley is being accused of exploiting their late daughter Lisa Marie Presley's health crisis to gain control of the Elvis Presley Estate. In a $50 million lawsuit, Priscilla is being sued by her former business partners Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko, who are laying out some serious allegations -- claiming "Priscilla pulled the plug within hours of Lisa being admitted" to the hospital in Jan. 2023 after suffering cardiac arrest. The suit says Priscilla calculated that Lisa Marie's death would end her daughter's efforts to remove Priscilla as the sole trustee of Lisa Marie's irrevocable life insurance trust, alleging Priscilla wanted to control the trust, and ultimately, Graceland. Furthermore, they are claiming Lisa Marie was noticeably ill and complained to Priscilla about her health when they attended the 2023 Golden Globes together -- but, "Priscilla ignored the warning signs despite being only a short drive from the world-renowned Cedars-Sinai Medical Center." Instead, the suit says, Priscilla "clasped to the spotlight, going out to the Chateau Marmont for drinks with Lisa Marie, and then sent Lisa on a long drive to her Calabasas home." A little over 24 hours later, Lisa Marie suffered what would be fatal cardiac arrest. In the docs obtained by TMZ.com, Kruse and Fialko allege the next week -- prior to Lisa Marie's funeral -- Priscilla exclaimed, "I'm the queen. I'm in charge of Graceland." Priscilla's attorney Marty Singer has responded that the allegations are "fabricated, malicious lies." In the wake of Lisa Marie's death, a trust battle broke out with Priscilla challenging an amendment to Lisa Marie's trust, which eliminated both Priscilla and Lisa's former business manager, Barry Siegel, as trustees and left Lisa Marie's daughter actress Riley Keogh as the sole trustee. Keogh paid Priscilla millions to back off that legal challenge, and now she is in charge of Lisa Marie's estate, and a substantial owner of the Presley's Graceland Estate. - TMZ.com, 8/13/25...... Veteran Hollywood stuntman Ronnie Rondell Jr., best known for being set on fire for the cover of Pink Floyd's 1975 Wish You Were Here album, passed away on Aug. 12 at a senior living facility in Osage Beach, Mo., his family announced. He was 88. Throughout his decades-long career, Mr. Rondell appeared in numerous iconic films, including How the West Was Won (1962), Lethal Weapon (1987) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003). To music fans, however, he is most famously remembered as the man engulfed in flames on the cover of Wish You Were Here. The striking image was shot on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Calif., and features a half-burning Rondell Jr. shaking hands with fellow stuntman Danny Rogers, both dressed in business suits. "I'd been doing a lot of fire work in those days, and I had the special suits and all this stuff for fully enveloped fire," Mr. Rondell recalled in the documentary Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here. "It was pretty easy to do, not too life-threatening, and paid well." The iconic photo, created by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell of the English art design group Hipgnosis, took around 15 attempts to shoot due to wind and other factors -- and even resulted in Mr. Rondell having part of his eyebrow and mustache burned off. "We repeated the process 14 times, took the shot, and then on the 15th a gust of wind blew up and wrapped the fire around his face and burnt him," Powell told The Guardian in 2020. "He threw himself to the ground and his whole team piled on blankets to put him out." He added, "I knew I had got a special picture. It took a long time to persuade Ronnie to stand exactly as I wanted but in the end he was very brave and it was a perfect composition." Mr. Rondell's extensive list of film and TV credits also includes Shenandoah, Grand Prix, Diamonds Are Forever, Blazing Saddles, Thelma & Louise, The Rookies, S.W.A.T., Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, Dynasty, Vegas, Hart to Hart and T.J. Hooker. He retired in 2000 but returned to perform in a chase scene for The Matrix Reloaded (2003), where his son R.A. Rondell was the supervising stunt coordinator. - Billboard, 8/17/25...... British actor Terence Stamp, best known for roles in the Superman films and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, died on the morning of Aug. 17 at age 87. Born July 22, 1938 in Stepney, London, Mr. Stamp attended Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art before he began performing onstage in plays like "The Long the Short and the Tall," "Alfie!," "Dracula" and "The Lady from the Sea." Mr. Stamp made his onscreen debut in the titular role of Peter Ustinov's 1962 historical drama Billy Budd, earning him a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year -- Actor and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In addition to playing General Zod in Superman: The Movie (1978) and Superman II (1980), Mr. Stamp has starred in such films as Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), Wall Street (1987), Young Guns (1988), Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace (1999), Valkyrie (2008) and Last Night in Soho (2021). "He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work, both as an actor and as a writer that will continue to touch and inspire people for years to come," Mr. Stamp's family told Reuters. "We ask for privacy at this sad time." His Priscilla co-star Guy Pearce also paid tribute to the actor on social media. "Fairwell dear Tel. You were a true inspiration, both in & out of heels. We'll always have Kings Canyon, Kings road & F'ing ABBA. Wishing you well on your way 'Ralph'! xxxx," he wrote on X. - Deadline.com, 8/17/25.

According to a court filing in Nashville on Aug. 11, Daryl Hall and John Oates have resolved their dispute over a Hall & Oates business partnership through arbitration, reaching a private ending after details of their feud went public in court documents filed in a 2023 lawsuit by Hall against Oates. In the status report, attorneys for Hall noted the case received a final judgment in arbitration and they filed a proposed order for Nashville Chancellor Russell Perkins to dismiss the case. In mid-July, Judge Perkins ordered Hall's attorneys to offer an update in the case, which had last seen a public filing in Dec. 2023. In 2023 filings in the case, Hall accused Oates of blindsiding and betraying him, saying their relationship and his trust in Oates have deteriorated. Oates replied that he was "deeply hurt" that Hall was making "inflammatory, outlandish, and inaccurate statements" about him. The judge had paused the sale of Oates' stake in Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to the investment management firm Primary Wave. Whole Oats includes valuable Hall & Oates materials such as trademarks, personal name and likeness rights, record royalty income and website and social media assets, a court declaration says. The dispute went public in Nov. 2023, when Hall filed the lawsuit asking the judge to stop the sale by Oates so private arbitration could begin. Details were not revealed about the arbitration outcome between the duo who made music together for more than a half-century, including hits in the 1970s and '80s such as "Maneater," "Rich Girl" "Kiss on My List" and "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)." In 2024, Oates told the AP that he's had "no communication" with Hall and declined to discuss the legal proceedings, but he did not see a Hall & Oates reunion in his future. "I personally don't see it happening. It's not in my plans at all. You can ask Daryl Hall what he thinks. But for me personally, no," he said. - AP, 8/11/25...... Alice Cooper says he "absolutely" wants to voice a character on the long-running animated series The Simpsons. In a new interview with Grammys.com Cooper, who has already made a cameo on the rival show Family Guy, as well as starring alongside Mike Myers in Wayne's World, guesting on Amy Poehler's animated series Duncanville, and an appearing on The Muppett Show back in 1978, said he would be up for a slot on creator Matt Groening's Fox sitcom. "Oh yeah, absolutely. When The Simpsons came out, they were totally unique. It was really, really funny. I really admired what they were doing. I showed up on Family Guy. They used my music a lot. I thought Family Guy was probably more pointed, but I couldn't say [it was] more clever. They were both really very clever." Cooper, 77, then reflected on his now-iconic cameo on The Muppet Show. "My favorite thing in the world was being on The Muppet Show," he said. "I loved the show -- it was a very funny show, very clever. I asked them, 'Who's done the show recently?' They said, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price, and I went, 'I'm in!' If those guys can do The Muppets.... I haven't earned the pedigree that those guys have, so I will definitely do it." Speaking of the aftermath, he added: "That ended up being the reference point to an entire generation, me doing The Muppet Show. It's amazing, to this day people go, 'I discovered you on The Muppet Show, and after that I went and got all your albums.'" - New Musical Express, 8/11/25...... In the forthcoming Freddie Mercury biography Love, Freddie: Freddie Mercury's Secret Life and Love a woman who claims she is Mercury's "secret daughter" has spoken out for the first time, amid scepticism from Mercury's best friend. The book, due out in September and co-written by the daughter and Lesley-Ann Jones, includes claims that Freddie fathered a child in 1976 after having an affair with the wife of a close friend. The daughter, who is only referred to as "B" and is now 48 years old, says she has based the book on 17 handwritten diaries that Mercury gave her shortly before his death in 1991. However when the details of the book were announced in May, several of Mercury's closest friends said they were sceptical about B's claims. Mary Austin, who was Mercury's former girlfriend and close friend and was living with him at the time of B's alleged birth, said: "Freddie had a glorious openness and I cannot imagine he would have wanted to, or been able to, keep such a joyful event a secret, either from me or other people closest to him." Austin added she is "simply not the guardian of such a secret" and that "I've never known of any child, or of any diaries. If Freddie had indeed had a child without me knowing anything about it, that would be astonishing to me." Queen guitarist Brian May has said he wanted to remain "neutral" on the subject, but his wife Anita Dobson described B's claims as "fake news." B responded by telling London's Daily Mail that she was "devastated" by Austin's comments. "She has not yet read the book, yet she apparently makes this statement. I don't understand why," she said. B adds she had a "very close and loving" relationship with her father, who she says treated her "like a treasured possession." "I didn't want to share my dad with the whole world. After his death, I had to learn to live with the attacks against him, the misrepresentations of him, and with the feeling that my dad now belonged to everyone." Co-author Jones has suggested that they have DNA evidence for the claims. "Please rest assured that the requisite verification was obtained, legal teams have been involved, but that such measures are private and not shared publicy." Mercury died in 1991 aged 45 of bronchial pneumonia caused by Aids. - NME, 8/10/25...... A press release has announced that Bob Dylan is back in the studio. Dylan, currently performing on Willie Nelson's summer "Outlaw Music Festival Tour" from May-September, reportedly spent two days at a studio in New York with "members of his band" on Aug. 5 and 6 before his performance at Buffalo's Darien Lake Ampitheater on Aug. 8. "We want every artist and guest to feel relaxed and at home," said David Bourgeois, CEO of White Lake Studios in Albany. "We've had the privilege of working with many remarkable talents over the years, but this visit was truly special. I'm incredibly proud of our team." It hasn't been revealed what he was recording. The 10th leg of his "Rough and Rowdy Ways" tour ran across North America in March and April this year and saw him dipping into his back catalog, including the first performance of "The Times They Are A-Changin" in 15 years. He recently announced a UK and Ireland leg of the tour, which sprung from his 2020 studio album of the same name and has been running since Nov. 2021. Meanwhile, a book of Dylan's drawings, Point Blank (Quick Studies), is set to drop on Nov. 18. - NME, 8/9/25...... Ozzy Osbourne's widow Sharon Osbourne is pushing back against what she calls the "ridiculous" claim that the farewell Black Sabbath concert in Birmingham, UK on July 5 raised $190 million for charity. In the days after the star-studded "Back To The Beginning" show which took place less than three weeks before Ozzy's death on July 22, its musical director Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine announced on Instagram that it had raised "more than $190 million," which would be split equally between Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice. Now in a new interview with Pollstar.com, which was conducted a few days before Ozzy's death, Sharon Osbourne has distanced herself from the reported numbers. "I'm really happy that we are talking, because one of the things that's frightening me is all this false press about [how] we've made $140 million and all of this, and I'm like, 'God, I wish we could have, for one gig,'" she said. "It's just ridiculous, the different stories. I went on the internet the next morning and it was like, $140 million, $160 million. And I'm like, 'Where does this stuff come from?' And people like Billboard have printed it," she told Pollstar. "It takes a really long time [to calculate], because we've had all of the bands that we had come in and their expenses, and it'll take a good six weeks to get the final number. Because we're selling merch for another two weeks from the gig. So, we've got another two weeks of sales yet to add to it. It'll be another four weeks and it'll be done," she added. - NME, 8/8/25...... Elijah Blue Allman, the son of Cher and the late Gregg Allman, has been ordered to pay his estranged wife, Marieangela King, temporary spousal support. A judge made the decision after Allman missed a court hearing following an alleged drug overdose. According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, the hearing was held as part of King's divorce petition filed against Allman. The court order noted that Allman failed to respond to the petition, which demanded monthly support. The judge said the hearing could proceed without Allman present. King was in court with her lawyer for the Aug. 11 hearing, in which the judge heard testimony from King's side before issuing his ruling. He then ordered Allman to pay his estranged wife $6500 per month in spousal support. King had filed documents in June that revealed she desperately needed support from Allman, claiming she was unemployed and had not worked since 2009. In court documents, King said she was unsure of Allman's income or assets. She said she needed to hire a forensic accountant to determine his sources of income and net worth. In June, the troubled Allman was released after being hospitalized following a reported overdose in Joshua Tree, Calif. The situation came several months after Cher dropped her attempt to place him under a conservatorship. - Music-News.com, 8/12/25...... Director George Lucas' Lucasfilm studios has officially announced the classic original Star Wars film, now known as Star Wars: A New Hope, will get a theatrical rerelease in special limited screenings of the epic space opera. The 1977 movie served as the first installment to Lucas' long-running sci-fi franchise, and comes after Disney \recently re-released Revenge of the Sith in theaters last April for a special week-long screening. Star Wars: A New Hope will be heading back to theaters on Apr. 30, 2027, in celebration of its 50th anniversary. - ComingSoon.net, 8/1/25...... Keyboardist, singer-songwriter and Derek and the Dominos co-founder Bobby Whitlock passed away on Aug. 10 at his home in Texas following a brief battle with cancer. He was 77. Born on March 18, 1948, in Memphis, Tenn., Whitlock made history as the first white artist signed to Stax Records when he was still a teenager in the mid-1960s. During his time with the legendary label, he performed alongside soul greats including Booker T. & the MG's and Sam & Dave. In 1968, he joined Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, a group whose collaborators included future Derek and the Dominos members Eric Clapton, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon. During this period, he also contributed to Clapton's 1970 self-titled debut album and played organ and piano on George Harrison's landmark 1970 release, All Things Must Pass. Later that same year, Clapton, Whitlock, Radle and Gordon formed Derek and the Dominos. Whitlock co-wrote half the tracks on the band's first and only studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, including "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Tell the Truth." Derek and the Dominos embarked on a U.S. tour in support of the album, with Elton John serving as their opening act. Elton later wrote in his autobiography that he "watched Whitlock like a hawk... He was from Memphis, learned his craft hanging around Stax Studios and played with that soulful, deep Southern gospel feel." Amid escalating drug use and growing personal tensions within the group, Derek and the Dominos split in 1971 while in the midst of recording their sophomore album. Whitlock went on to release a string of solo albums in the 1970s, beginning with his self-titled debut, which featured contributions from all the members of Derek and the Dominos, as well as Harrison. He followed it later that same year with Raw Velvet. As an in-demand session musician, Whitlock also appeared on the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St., Dr. John's The Sun, Moon & Herbs, and Stephen Stills & Manassas' Down the Road. Whitlock released additional solo music throughout the 1970s and returned in the 1990s, often collaborating with his musical partner and future wife, CoCo Carmel, whom he married in Dec. 2005. "How do you express in but a few words the grandness of one man who came from abject poverty in the south to heights unimagined in such a short time?" CoCo told TMZ.com. "My love Bobby looked at life as an adventure taking me by the hand leading me through a world of wonderment from music to poetry and painting. I feel his hands that were so intensely expressive and warm on my face and the small of my back whenever I close my eyes, he is there." Whitlock is survived by CoCo, and his children Ashley Faye Brown, Beau Elijah Whitlock, and Tim Whitlock Kelly. - Billboard, 8/10/25.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on August 8th, 2025

Brian Wilson's daughter Carnie Wilson has paid tribute to her dad after he was laid to rest in a family ceremony on Aug. 7, almost two months after the Beach Boys co-founder's passing on June 11 at age 82. "Today we laid my Daddy to rest. It was incredibly difficult to see that happen, but at the same time it gave more closure and more of a feeling of restful peace," Carnie wrote in her lengthy post. "The last eight weeks have been extremely challenging and like nothing I've ever experienced. I love and miss him so much and I wish he could come back. There's so many signs that he gives me every day and I know that he's around he can hear me and he can see me. He makes that apparent. I'm so grateful for this," she added. Brian's eldest daughter, Carnie performed in the 1990s pop trio Wilson Phillips with her sister Wendy Wilson and Chynna Phillips -- daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas. The full tribute can be viewed on Instagram. - Billboard, 8/8/25...... Major League Baseball's New York Mets have announced they'll celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Beatles' landmark performance at Shea Stadium in 1965 with a "Beatles Night" at their current Citi Field home on Aug. 15. The old Shea Stadium -- which opened a year before in 1964 -- was home to the Mets and the New York Jets before being torn down in 2009 to make way for Citi Field. The landmark show by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr -- with the screams of 55,000 fans more prevelant than the band's music -- was chronicled in the 50-minute documentary The Beatles at Shea Stadium. During the Aug. 15 game against the Seattle Mariners, the team will honor the historic event, which at the time was the first rock show at a major U.S. stadium. The celebration will kick off with a performance by the band 1964 the Tribute in front of the Shea Bridge at 6:15 p.m. ET, with the first 15,000 fans entering Citi Field getting an exclusive mini Shea Stadium replica. In addition, there will be a fireworks display cued to the Beatles' music after the game and the first pitch will be thrown out by members of the gameday staff who worked the Aug. 15, 1965 concert. A promo for the event has been posted on X/Twitter. - Billboard, 8/8/25...... After playing three sold-out nights on Aug. 1-3 at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to mark the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary, the band's drummer Mickey Hart has shared a poignant reflection with fans. "I saw 60,000 people sparking light, in love, entrained big time and coming our way," Hart posted on Instagram. "Different than applause after a song, it sounded more like an ahhhhhh. All the peace and love in proximity generated a collective energy that was shared by all. Very rare stuff indeed," he added. Hart then gave a nod to the GD's late members, including Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, Phil Lesh and their longtime roadie Laurence Shurtliff, aka Ramrod. "I saw Jerry and Phil and Pigpen hovering over the crowd smiling like Cheshire cats," he said. "I saw Hunter and Ramrod through the beauty of the fog and lights." Each night featured unique setlists and saw a rotating cast of special guests -- including Grahame Lesh, Billy Strings, Sturgill Simpson (as Johnny Blue Skies) and Anastasio -- join surviving members of the psychedelic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band. - New Musical Express, 8/7/25...... Roger Daltrey has shared that he is "nervous" about making it to the end of The Who's farewell tour, as he has "the potential to get really ill." Speaking to London's The Times, he shared how "gruelling" the live shows can be, and said that he hopes no voice issues arise, nor that struggles from a previous battle with meningitis will get in the way of him completing the gigs. "It's gruelling. In the days when I was singing Who songs for three hours a night, six nights a week, I was working harder than most footballers," he shared. "I'm going to be 82 next year. Fortunately, my voice is still as good as ever. I'm still singing in the same keys, and it's still bloody loud, but I can't tell you if it will still be there in October. There's a big part of me that's going: I just hope I make it through." Daltrey added that his battle with meningitis nine years ago left him with long-term effects, which still make it difficult for him to regulate his body temperature and perform in warmer conditions. Dubbed "The Song Is Over North America Farewell Tour," The Who's 16 tour dates are set to kick off in Florida on Aug. 16, and include follow-up shows in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Los Angeles, Illinois, Washington, Nevada and more across September. - NME, 8/4/25...... The cause of death of Ozzy Osbourne have been revealed in a death certificate filed in London on Aug. 5. According to The New York Times, a death certificate filed at a registry in London submitted by Osbourne's daughter, Aime Osbourne, cites cardiac arrest and coronary artery disease among the causes of a heart attack that felled the 76-year-old music legend. The death certificate also noted that Osbourne had Parkinson's disease. Specifically, the certificate, which listed Osbourne's occupation as "songwriter, performer and rock legend," noted that Osbourne died of "(a) Out of hospital cardiac arrest (b) Acute myocardial infarction (c) Coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease with autonomic dysfunction (Joint Causes)." Osbourne died on July 22, with the certificate revealing that an air ambulance flew to his home near the village of Chalfont St. Giles in Buckinghamshire, England that day to provide "advanced critical care." According to the Times, after stopping near Osbourne's home, the ambulance flew approximately eight miles to Harefield Hospital in the London suburb of Uxbridge, where it spent "about an hour" at the hospital with its engines running. Ozzy's family did not reveal his cause of death when they announced his passing, though the star had been open in the years before about treatment for Parkinson's and spinal damage -- and subsequent surgeries -- he'd undergone on his spine and neck. Unable to stand or walk, he performed what as billed as his, and his former band Black Sabbath's, final show on July 5 in their hometown of Birmingham, England. The all-star "Back to the Beginning" concert, which reportedly raised more than $190 million for charities, included the metal icon playing five songs from his solo career and four more with his original Sabbath bandmates while seated on a black throne. Fans flocked to the streets of Birmingham on July 30 for a funeral procession for Osbourne, who was later laid to rest in a private family ceremony in the city. Meanwhile, it has been announced that the final chapter of Ozzy's life will be shown in an intimate documentary, just weeks after his death. The new BBC documentary Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home features footage from the final three years of his life, up to and including his farewell concert. First announced in 2022 as a three-part series, it became a one-hour special as Osbourne's health deteriorated over the years. The film will be broadcast on BBC One at 9 p.m. BST on Aug. 18, and will also be available on the iPlayer service. An international broadcast has not yet been confirmed, nor has a trailer been shared. A biopic based on Osbourne and his relationship with his wife/manager Sharon Osbourne is also in the works. According to Variety, Polygram Entertainment has confirmed that the legendary rock couple's film, first announced in 2021, is still being worked on at Sony Pictures. The film was first announced in 2021, though with no director or cast attached. According to the Polygram, they're "currently in negotiations with a director, which could be confirmed very soon." The rep has also seemingly confirmed that screenwriter Lee Hall (Rocketman, Billy Elliott) is slated to pen the film's script. While a cast has yet to be announced for the biopic, Ozzy said in 2022 that he would like to see an "unknown" actor in the role: "I don't want to have anyone like Johnny Depp act as me. I rather have someone who is relatively unknown." Lastly in Ozzy news, Rod Stewart is under fire for a strange "Forever Young" Ozzy tribute using AI. What was clearly intended as a loving tribute to Stewart's fellow English music legend turned sour when his homage to Osbourne drew rebuke from some commenters. As seen in fan video of the moment, during Stewart's show in Charlotte, N.C. on July 29, the 80-year-old singer posted a bizarre AI-generated video on Instagram of Osbourne mugging for selfies in heaven with a variety of fellow deceased pop, rock and hip-hop stars including: Prince, Tina Turner, Bob Marley, Kurt Cobain, Tupac Shakur, Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury and George Michael, among others. Comments ranged from "We are truly in the end times," to "I've seen some s-tty AI visuals in concerts but this is a new low" and "This is bizarre for many reasons, not the least of which being the fact that Rod Stewart has performed with Ozzy Osbourne. Instead of blasting AI images of Ozzy in heaven, they could show this real & quite lovely picture of Rod Stewart with his arm around the actual Ozzy Osbourne." - Billboard/NME, 8/5/25...... Joan Baez, Graham Nash and Sean Ono Lennon are among dozens of notables from the worlds of film, television, music and related industries who have signed an open letter warning about the rising nuclear threat. Under the headline "No More Hiroshimas, No More Nagasakis: Cultural Leaders for a Future Without Nuclear Weapons," the letter published in The New York Times and Variety on Aug. 6 begins: "Eighty years ago, atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killed hundreds of thousands of people, and changed the course of history. Today, experts believe the risk that a nuclear weapon will be used again -- by accident or on purpose -- is as high as it has ever been. Conflicts are raging in regions with nuclear weapons -- even over nuclear weapons. The only remaining treaty limiting the number of nuclear weapons in the world expires in six months. Emerging technologies and AI pose new unknown risks to already complex systems. We're sliding into a costly and dangerous new arms race under the absurd premise that threatening annihilation keeps us safe. But the ending isn't written yet, and the creative community has a leading role to play in pulling us back from the nuclear brink." Many of the signees -- also including Michael Douglas, James Cameron, Rosanna Arquette, Martin Sheen, George Takei, Julianne Moore and Lily Tomlin -- have been anti-nuclear activists for decades. Nash performed at and helped organize No Nukes: The MUSE Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future at Madison Square Garden in 1979. Douglas produced and starred in The China Syndrome, a nuclear-themed thriller that was released that same year. - Billboard, 8/6/25...... And now for something completely different: Britain's Royal Mail has issued stamps celebrating the absurdist comedy of Monty Python. Announced on Aug. 7, the 10-stamp series celebrates some of the troupe's most iconic characters and catchphrases, from "Nudge, nudge" to "The Lumberjack Song." Six stamps depict scenes from the sketch-comedy TV series Monty Python's Flying Circus, including "The Spanish Inquisition," "The Ministry of Silly Walks," "Dead Parrot" and "The Nude Organist." Another four mark the 50th anniversary of the cult classic 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, including one showing the limb-losing Black Knight insisting, "'Tis but a scratch." The stamps can be pre-ordered now and go on sale Aug. 14. - AP, 8/7/25...... Col Joye, an Australian rock & roll pioneer renowned for his bringing rock and roll to the top of the local Aussie charts for the first time, has passed away at the age of 89. Born in Sydney in 1936 as Colin Jacobsen, Mr. Joye first began his journey into the world of music in 1957, performing as part of his brother Kevin Jacobsen's group, the KJ Quintet. After being invited to perform at the Jazzorama in the Sydney suburb of Manly, the group's plans to change the name to Col Jay and the Playboys were swiftly nixed in favor of the soon-to-be-famous moniker of Col Joye and the Joy Boys. Though later regretting this name change, the group forged on, and in 1959 Joye and his bandmates hit No. 1 on the Sydney charts with "Bye Bye Baby." That same year, they became the first Australian artist to hit No. 1 on the national charts with "Oh Yeah Uh Huh," which enjoyed four weeks at the top down under. Further top ten hits followed, with the group becoming staples of television program Bandstand throughout the '60s, ahead of Joye's final chart-topper, 1973's "Heaven Is My Woman's Love." Alongside his work on the performance side, Joye and brother Kevin were noted entrepreneurs, setting up their Joye Enterprises and Joye Music companies, alongside their label and talent agency ATA. One of the biggest successes in this field came by way of their signing of The Bee Gees, who came to their attention following a 1961 performance in Queensland. The Bee Gees would later become the first Australian act to have a song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the release of "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" in 1971. The group would repeat that feat a further eight times over the following decade, while the members' younger brother Andy Gibb (himself an ATA signee) would hit number one three times on his own. In 1988, Joye was one of the inaugural inductees into the ARIA Hall of Fame. - Billboard, 8/6/25...... Pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter brought out '70s funk and soul legends Earth, Wind and Fire during her show-stopping set at the Lollapalooza Chicago fest on Aug. 3. The rising singer was joined mid-set by EW&F at Grant Park to perform two of their most beloved tracks: the Grammy-nominated "Let's Groove" and timeless anthem "September." The collaboration marked a cross-generational fusion of pop and soul, with Carpenter trading vocals and dancing alongside the group's founding members. Fans lit up social media within seconds of the surprise appearance, praising the chemistry between the acts and calling the performance "electric," "unexpected," and "pure joy." Footage of the Carpenter/EW&F jam has been shared on Instagram. - Music-News.com, 8/4/25...... British singer-songwriter musician Terry Reid, who was once eyed by Led Zeppelin as their lead singer, died on Aug. 5 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 75. Considered a "musician's musician," Reid's soulful voice earned him the nickname "Superlungs," as well as offers to front Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, but he declined both offers to pursue a solo career. Reid performed from his early teens, first joining local Cambridgeshire group the Redbeats, and then Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers. By the time he was 16, he was supporting the Rolling Stones on tour along with Ike & Tina Turner and The Yardbirds, and caught the attention of their guitarist Jimmy Page. Page asked Reid if he'd be willing to join a new band he was putting together, but Reid ultimately turned him down -- instead recommending Band of Joy singer Robert Plant, as well as that band's drummer, John Bonham. Reflecting on turning down Led Zep, Reid said he was intent on doing his own thing, telling The Guardian in 2024: "I contributed half the band -- that's enough on my part!" Plant was among those paying tribute, taking to his official Instagram page to write: "He was all of everything such charisma. His voice, his range. His songs, capturing that carefree era... He catapulted me into an intense new world he chose to decline. I listen now to his album The River and shed a tear for my brother in arms." Reid's debut album featured a song he wrote at age 14,"Without Expression," which went on to be covered by the likes of John Mellencamp, REO Speedwagon, The Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. His immersion in the burgeoning psychedelic rock scene saw more support slots come in later years, and in 1969, he joined Fleetwood Mac and Cream on tour and became a close friend of Jimi . By 1973, he was signed by Atlantic boss Ahmet Ertegun and released cult critical success The River, but eventually left for ABC Records to record follow-up Seed of Memory (1976), after which he did session work with Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley and Jackson Browne. In the early '90s, he released the Trevor Horn-produced comeback record The Drive, and released his final album The Other Side of the River in 2016. A recent GoFundMe page set up to help with the medical costs of Reid, who had been battling various health issues as well as cancer, said he had been "in and out of the hospital, enduring rounds of treatment and uncertainty," which subsequently forced him to cancel a six-week tour set for the autumn. An update later shared on the page said that on Aug. 4, Reid "transitioned peacefully surrounded by those who meant the most to him, his loving wife Annette and his adoring daughters Kelly and Holly." - NME, 8/6/25...... Astronaut Jim Lovell, the commander of the Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 missions, passed away Aug. 7, in Lake Forest, Ill. He was 97 years old. "NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades," acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy posted on nasa.gov on Aug. 8. "Jim's character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount. We mourn his passing even as we celebrate his achievements. From a pair of pioneering Gemini missions to the successes of Apollo, Jim helped our nation forge a historic path in space that carries us forward to upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. As the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 8, Jim and his crewmates became the first to lift off on a Saturn V rocket and orbit the Moon, proving that the lunar landing was within our reach. As commander of the Apollo 13 mission, his calm strength under pressure helped return the crew safely to Earth and demonstrated the quick thinking and innovation that informed future NASA missions. Known for his wit, this unforgettable astronaut was nicknamed Smilin' Jim by his fellow astronauts because he was quick with a grin when he had a particularly funny comeback. Jim also served our country in the military, and the Navy has lost a proud academy graduate and test pilot. Jim Lovell embodied the bold resolve and optimism of both past and future explorers, and we will remember him always." Mr. Lovell was portrayed by Tom Hanks in Apollo 13, the Ron Howard-directed feature about the nearly disastrous mission. He was also a veteran of the earlier Gemini VII and Gemini XII missions. - nasa.gov, 8/8/25.

Dave Edmunds, veteran British solo rocker as well as a former member of the New Wave band Rockpile, is in hospital after reportedly suffering a "major cardiac arrest." Edmunds' wife, Cici, shared the news in a Facebook post on July 29, saying he had briefly "died in my arms," before medics managed to revive him with "heavy CPR." He remains in critical condition in hospital, with Cici adding that he "very clearly has brain damage and severe memory loss" and that the risk of "another major cardiac arrest is high." She added that she believes she has "PTSD from the horrific experience" and asked for fans to send their "prayers and good wishes, and concluded her post by saying: "Dave will have a very long journey ahead of him if he survives. We both have. But knowing that there are kind-hearted people such as you all. Makes this tremendously difficult journey a little easier. Bless you all." - NME, 8/2/25...... A few hundred people gathered at 710 Ashbury St. in San Francisco on Aug. 1 to name the tiny street after legendary Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia on what would have been his 83rd birthday, and as part of a citywide celebration to mark the band's 60th anniversary. Fans in rainbow tie-dye and Grateful Dead T-shirts whooped and cheered as the sign was unveiled, later posing for photos in front of Garcia's childhood home. Harrington Street, which is one block long, will also be called "Jerry Garcia Street." Garcia spent part of his childhood in a modest home in the city's diverse Excelsior neighborhood, living with his grandparents after the death of his father, Jose Ramon "Joe" Garcia. "I hope that you all get a chance to enjoy the music, dance, hug, smile," said daughter Trixie Garcia, growing emotional during her brief remarks. "Cherish what's valuable, what's significant in life." Although Garcia died in 1995, the band's popularity has only grown as younger generations discover the GD's improvisational music, which blended rock, blues, folk and other styles. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of fans are Frisco to commemorate the GD's 60th anniversary with concerts and other activities throughout the city. The latest iteration of the band, Dead & Company, with original GD members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, play Golden Gate Park's Polo Field for three days beginning on Aug. 1, with an estimated 60,000 attendees expected each day. - Billboard, 8/2/25...... Ozzy Osbourne was laid to rest on July 31 at the grounds of his mansion in Buckinghamshire, UK, with approximately 110 close family and friends in attendance at the 250-acre estate. Joining his family were his Black Sabbath bandmates, and other musicians including Elton John, Marilyn Manson, Corey Taylor, Rob Zombie, Zakk Wylde and members of Metallica. Both Wylde and Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo had formerly performed with the heavy metal legend as part of his solo career. A huge floral arrangement was made in the grounds, situated near a lake and spelling out "Ozzy F---ing Osbourne." Yungblud reportedly gave a reading at the funeral. He and Ozzy had remained close since Ozzy and his wife Sharon appeared in the music video for his 2022 song "The Funeral," and a touching moment between them at the final live show recently went viral. After the funeral, Marilyn Manson took to X/Twitter and shared: "Today we laid to rest a beloved friend. I am eternally grateful that you let me into your life, Ozzy. Your inspiration and love will always be with me. "Thank you, Sharon and family for a reverent, beautiful ceremony. Your legacy lives on." The burial took place after thousands of Ozzy fans lined the streets of Birmingham, UK for a funeral procession earlier that day, also leaving flowers and written emotional tributes. Osbourne, 76, died on July 22, just weeks after playing his final live show in his hometown, and raising "a ton" of money for charity along the way. On Aug. 1, Ozzy's 40-year-old TV personality daughter Kelly Osbourne shared a "Not Safe For Work" photo on her Instagram Story in memory of her dad. The outdoor image featured a beautiful display of purple flowers arranged to spell out "Ozzy F---ing Osbourne," set beside a serene pond surrounded by a rolling hill and trees. Also King Charles' Army Band has paid tribute to Ozzy during a Changing of the Guards ceremony outside of Buckingham Palace. With a conductor keeping time, the brass and woodwind instrumentalists play the melody of "Paranoid" over the sound of brash snare drums. Footage of the event has been shared on TikTok. - NME, 8/1/25...... Stevie Nicks announced on Instagram and her other social media on Aug. 1 that her next two months of shows will be postponed as she heals from a recent shoulder injury. "Due to a recent injury resulting in a fractured shoulder that will require recovery time, Stevie Nicks' scheduled concerts in August and September will be rescheduled," the announcement from her team read. Noting that the star will proceed with her shows in October as scheduled, the message concludes, "Stevie looks forward to seeing everyone soon and apologizes to the fans for this inconvenience." The former Fleetwood Mac frontwoman had been slated to perform in a handful of cities across the US and Canada across August and September, including Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Cincinnati and Brooklyn, N.Y. All of the postponed shows have already been rescheduled to new dates in late October, November and the first couple of weeks in December, as listed in the singer's post and on her website. The news of Nicks' injury comes more than three months after she first announced her solo tour in April, writing at the time that she couldn't "wait to share these nights with you." Stevie had also been supposed to tour with Billy Joel in 2025, but the Piano Man similarly had to cancel all of his 2025 and 2026 performances as he battles a condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus. - Billboard, 8/1/25...... Elton John has made an hilarious pop-in for an updated version of Spinal Tap's iconic tribute to Stonehenge, the place where demons dwell, banshees wail and children dance to the pipes of pan in a just-released video for the Spinal Tap song of the same name. "Stonehenge" appears on the new soundtrack album, The End Continues, a companion to the upcoming sequel to the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. The 13-track LP, due out alongside the film, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, on Sept. 12, features a return to some of the farcical band's most beloved tracks with help from John ("Flower People"), Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood ("Big Bottom") and Sir Paul McCartney ("Cups and Cakes"). Elton totally got into the spirit of the "Stonehenge" bit on Instagram, writing, "This was a blast, rocking out with @spinaltap for their new movie, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, and re-recording their epic 'Stonehenge' - this one is best played at volume 11!" The "Stonehenge" clip can be viewed on YouTube. Meanwhile, John has taken to Instagram to commemorate his 35 years of sobriety with a heartfelt message to fans and family. On July 29, he commemorated the anniversary with a photo of handmade cards from his sons, Elijah and Zachary, alongside a bouquet of flowers. "Grateful for all the love on my sobriety birthday," he captioned the post, which drew thousands of comments from fans and friends. John, 78, has long been open about his past struggles with addiction and the transformative power of recovery. His battle with alcohol, marijuana and what he once called his "worst best friend" -- cocaine -- was dramatized in the 2019 biopic Rocketman. In interviews, he has spoken candidly about the extremes of his life during the height of his fame. "It nearly destroyed my soul," he told CBS News in Oct. 2019 of his addiction. "My soul was black, like a charred piece of steak, until I said, 'I need help.' And suddenly, a little pilot light in my soul came along going, 'Yes, I'm still here. I'm still here. I'm still here. I can still be rescued.'" - Billboard, 7/31/25...... On July 31 Brian Eno announced on his Instagram and other social media that he'll play a one-off show at London's Wembley on Sept. 17, which will see artists come "together for Palestine." Titled "Together For Palestine," the event will see Eno, Khaled Ziada, Khalid Abdalla and Tracey Seaward work as executive producers and enlist performances from "artists, musicians and people for whom silence feels impossible." Explaining why he is organising the event, Eno said: "I've had the good fortune to work with some of the world's most remarkable artists for over 50 years. But one of my biggest regrets is that during that time so many of us have remained silent about Palestine. "Often that silence has come from fear, real fear -- that speaking out could provoke a backlash, close doors or end a career. But that's now changing -- partly because some artists and activists have lit the path, but mostly because the truth of what's going on has become impossible to ignore." Earlier in 2025, Eno urged Microsoft Corp. to cut ties with Israel in an open letter, and shared that he would be donating his fee from the Windows 95 chime (which he composed for them) to aid Palestine. - NME, 7/31/25...... David Gilmour has announced a new concert film that will showcase his "Live At Circus Maximus, Rome" shows. The forthcoming film follows on from the Pink Floyd legend heading out on his "The Luck And Strange" tour dates in 2024. Those shows came in celebration of his fifth solo album of the same title, which topped the charts in the UK, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Portugal and Austria, and made the Top 10 in the US. Gilmour kicked off the tour dates with two warm-up shows at the Brighton Centre, before heading over to the historic Circus Maximus in Rome for six sold-out nights. He followed this up with shows at London's Royal Albert Hall, LA's Hollywood Bowl, and New York's Madison Square Garden. Set alongside the backdrop of the ancient ruins of Rome, the footage of the shows was captured by long-time Gilmour collaborator Gavin Elder. Live At The Circus Maximus will be released on Blu-ray and DVD via Sony Music Vision and Trafalgar Releasing, and shown in cinemas & IMAX worldwide for a limited time beginning Sept. 17. - NME, 7/30/25...... If there was ever any doubt that Zak Starkey's tenure as The Who's drummer was over, Who frontman Roger Daltrey has confirmed it in a new interview. Starkey's time with The Who came to an end in May after a confusing period of contradictory reports, with Pete Townshend finally confirming that "the time has come for a change." Starkey -- who is the son of Ringo Starr -- had been the The Who's drummer since 1996, but after a series of four shows at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust in March, frictions between him and the rest of the band appeared to emerge as Daltrey and Townshend informed Starkey that they wanted him to "tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line-up," which he said at the time the drummer had "readily agreed" to do. After he was let go, however, Starkey disputed Daltrey's assertion that he had not been fired but had instead been "retired" as "total bollox." Now, in an interview with London's The Times, Daltrey has addressed the situation. "It was kind of a character assassination and it was incredibly upsetting," he said. Explaining what happened at the Royal Albert Hall, he added: "It is controlled by a guy on the side, and we had so much sub-bass on the sound of the drums that I couldn't pitch. I was pointing to the bass drum and screaming at [Starkey] because it was like flying a plane without seeing the horizon. So when Zak thought I was having a go at him, I wasn't. That's all that happened. Pete and I retain the right to be The Who. Everyone else is a session player." The Who's farewell tour, now with Scott Devours sitting in behind the kit, is set to begin in Florida on Aug.16, and other shows across the month include stops in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York. - New Musical Express, 8/2/25...... Country music trailblazer and Grand Ole Opry star Jeannie Seely died on Aug. 1 at Summit Medical Center in Hermitage, Tenn., due to complications from an intestinal infection. She was 85. Ms. Seely had been battling health issues since last fall and underwent multiple back surgeries this spring, as well as two emergency abdominal surgeries. Ms. Seely was known as a pioneering country music artist, with songs such as "Can I Sleep in Your Arms" and the Grammy-winning "Don't Touch Me," and was also known as a fierce advocate for women artists and performers. Born in Titusville, Penn., on July 6, 1940, Ms. Seely was singing on a Saturday morning radio show on WMGW by age 11, and by 16 she was performing on TV station WICU in Erie, Penn. At 21, she moved California and eventually landed a job at Liberty and Imperial Records in Hollywood. She began writing songs for Four Star Music and was a regular alongside Glen Campbell on the TV series Hollywood Jamboree. She also earned a recording deal with Challenge Records. In 1964, Ms. Seely earned the most promising female artist honor from the Country and Western Academy (now the Academy of Country Music). She then moved to Nashville and inked a deal with Monument Records, which released her signature song, "Don't Touch Me," in 1966. Inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on Sept. 16, 1967, Ms. Seely soon became the first woman to regularly host Opry segments. She was also a trailblazer when it came to the image of women country entertainers, as she was the first to wear a miniskirt onstage at the Opry. She played her most recent Grand Ole Opry show on Feb. 22 and made more Grand Ole Opry appearances than any other artist in the show's 100-year history, with 5,397 appearances. In 2022, she was honored when she reached her 5,000th Opry appearance milestone. Ms. Seely also recorded several hit duets with Jack Greene, including "Wish I Didn't Have to Miss You," which reached No. 2 on the country singles chart in 1970. "Jeannie Seely was one-of-a-kind across the board: as an entertainer, friend, and human being," said Dan Rogers, Sr., an exec with the Grand Ole Opry and one of Ms. Seely's longtime friends in a statement. "She gave it her all with every single Opry performance. All 5,397 of them. She is loved so much and will never be forgotten." - Billboard, 8/1/25...... Loni Anderson, who played the savvy, high-heeled receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the late '70s/early '80s sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, died on Aug. 3. She was 79. Anderson died at a hospital in Los Angeles after a battle with a "prolonged illness," according to her publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan. "We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother," Anderson's family told the Associated Press in a statement. Airing on CBS for four seasons from 1978 to 1982, WKRP in Cincinnati followed a has-been Ohio radio station attempting a desperate image change by swapping their typical fare of low-impact jams to chart-topping rock and roll. Anderson starred as Jennifer Marlowe, WKRP's empowered, quick-witted receptionist. Known for using her womanly charms to dismiss her boss, Mr. Carlson (Gordon Jump), she often served as a reliable anchor for the station, getting things done despite her incompetent co-workers. She earned two Emmy nods and three Golden Globe nominations for the role. Other cast members included Gary Sandy, Howard Hesseman, Richard Sanders, Frank Bonner, Tim Reid and Jan Smithers. The series made Anderson a household name, although she struggled to escape her typecast as the buxom blonde. She went on to star in the 1983 film Stroker Ace with Burt Reynolds, whom she famously married in 1988. The pair were together until 1994, when their messy divorce became the subject of tabloid fixation. She then went on to appear in dozens of TV movies, including Country Gold, The Lonely Guy A Letter to Three Wives, Stranded, Blondie & Dagwood and Blown Away. She is survived by her husband of 17 years, Bob Flick, as well as her daughter Deidra, son-in-law Charlie Hoffan and son Quinton Anderson Reynolds. - Variety, 8/3/25.