Describing his latest visit to his surgeon as "very depressing," Barry Manilow announced on Feb. 20 that he's postponing more shows on his rescheduled arena tour which had been set to launch in Tampa, Fla. on Feb. 27. Manilow, 82, posted on Instagram that he's taking additional time off as he continues recovering from cancer surgery in mid-January relating to a stage one lung cancer diagnosed late in 2025. "I was sure that I would be able to do the Arena shows in a few weeks," the "Mandy" singer wrote. But he says his doctor "shook his head" and told him, "Barry, you won't be ready to do a 90 minute show. Your lungs aren't ready yet. You're in great shape considering what you've been through, but your body isn't ready. You shouldn't do the first Arena shows. You won't make it through." Manilow admitted that he had "a feeling" the surgeon would respond that way. "Deep down, I wanted to go back -- but my body knew what my heart didn't want to admit: I wasn't ready," he wrote. Although Manilow is rescheduling his first 13 arena shows, his doctor said it was still "likely" he could still perform shows on his Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino residency on March 26-28 and April 2-4. "Deep down, I wanted to go back -- but my body knew what my heart didn't want to admit: I wasn't ready," the singer wrote. "I'm SO, SO sorry I have to reschedule some of these first Arena shows. Again!" His official website is still listing sold-out U.S. concert dates for mid- through late April. - Billboard, 2/22/26...... 
Rush fans across the word received good news on Feb. 23 as founding members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson announced on Instagram that they will be touring across the UK, Europe and South America in 2027. The new run of shows, set to kick off in June, following an announcement by the duo earlier that they would be returning to the stage this year for a "Fifty Something Tour" across the US, Canada and Mexico. The legendary Canadian prog-rockers last performed together for a farewell tour in 2015, playing 35 headline shows across North America, five years before drummer/lyricist Neal Peart died from brain cancer in early 2020, aged 67. The new tour will mark their first live shows without Peart. All 22 North American live shows planned immediately sold-out, leading to more dates being added -- bringing the total shows of the 2026 leg to 58. So far, 24 shows in 13 countries have been confirmed, marking the first time the band has played in Europe since 2013, as well as 17 years since visiting South America. They are pegged as an "Evening With Rush" event, and will see the band play two sets each night. Joining Lee and Lifeson will be German drummer, composer, and producer Anika Nilles, who has performed as Jeff Beck's drummer and has released four solo albums. Also joining them will be The Who's keyboard player, Loren Gold. Dates for the 2027 tour kick off in Buenos Aires on Jan. 15, and continue with stops in So Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and more, before heading over to Europe the following month. Those shows include stops in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and more in February, before four UK dates in March. UK shows include a stop at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Mar. 8, a show at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Mar. 12, and two gigs at The O2 in London on Mar. 16 and 18. From there, seven more dates are planned for Europe, closing with a show at the Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki on Apr. 10. "We can't wait to get back to all these cities we haven't played in so long, as well as hitting some new places we've yet to play," Lee said in a statement. "Both Alex and I are loving the hours of rehearsal time we're spending with Anika and now Loren, learning around 40 songs which will enable us to keep the shows evolving, playing some different songs on different nights." In January, Rush released RUSH 50, a 50-track super deluxe anthology, and on Mar. 13, they'll drop an expanded boxset of their 10th studio album originally released in 1984, Grace Under Pressure. - New Musical Express, 2/23/26...... In the new Paul McCartney and Wings documentary Man on the Run, Sean Ono Lennon comes to McCartney's defense over Paul's surprisingly terse response when interviewed shortly after John Lennon's murder in December 1980. Sir Paul ended the minute-long interview about his lifelong friend and Beatles bandmate by saying, "Drag isn't it? OK, cheers. Bye-bye." Nearly half a century later, the son of Lennon and Yoko Ono has responded to McCartney's "robotic" reaction in the new documentary. "I always notice the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice. Really felt like someone who was unable to process what was going on," Sean, 50, says in Man on the Run. "He just seemed almost robotic, which I think some people took possibly as coldness, but I never took it as that, 'cause I understood even then what it was like when something that terrible happens," he added. In a later TV interview, Macca explained his cold remarks. "I had plenty of sort of personal grief, but I'm not very good at kind of public grief," he said. "All I could muster was like, 'It's a drag,' and it was like I couldn't say anything else, I just couldn't." In the documentary, Paul's daughter Stella McCartney recalled the exact moment her dad got the phone call notifying him of Lennon's death. "I remember that moment. I remember the phone ringing. I remember some, the biggest reaction I'd ever seen, and him leaving the kitchen and going outside," the fashion designer, 54, says. "That was heartbreaking, like truly heartbreaking." Man on the Run is in theaters on Feb. 19 and Feb. 22. The film features archival footage from the decade leading up to Lennon's death, along with interviews with McCartney, Lennon, and others. It will stream on Amazon Prime starting Feb. 27. An official trailer has been shared on YouTube. - The Daily Beast, 2/19/26...... 
Longtime Journey fans were predictably excited when the band co-founder keyboardist Jonathan Cain hinted that he and bandmate guitarist Neal Schon had asked original singer Steve Perry to rejoin the group for their 60-show "Final Frontier" goodbye North American tour. "Neal already asked," Cain told UltimateClassicRock.com earlier in February, "and he [Perry] says he's thinking about it. I hope he comes out. It's never too late. We've got 100 shows, so he's welcome at any one of them." However their hopes were dashed when Perry definitively shut the door on a final tour with his old mates in an X/Twitter post on Feb. 20. "I've been hearing these recent rumors, and I wanted to speak to you all directly," Perry wrote. "While I'm always grateful for the love people still have for Journey, the rumors about me rejoining the band are simply not true, and I want to gently put them to rest. I completely understand why people would hope for that. The music we created together means a great deal to me too." Perry added that he plans to continue working on "new creative work" and focusing on music that reflects where he is today. "Thank you for your continued support throughout the years," he added. "Your loyalty has never gone unnoticed, and I am forever humbly grateful." Since leaving the band he had fronted since 1978 in 1987, Perry has released the 2018 solo album Traces and the 2021 Christmas album The Season, as well as dueting with Dolly Parton on a cover of Journey's "Open Arms" on her 2023 Rockstar album and singing backing vocals on songs by Robert Cray, Mindi Abair and a number of others. Journey's lineup for what is being billed as their farewell tour will include Cain, guitarist Neal Schon and vocalist Arnel Pineda, as well as drummer/singer Dean Castronovo, keyboardist/singer Jason Derlatka and bassist Todd Jensen. - Billboard, 2/20/26...... Sharon Osbourne has said that her late husband Ozzy Osbourne "knew" he was nearing the end of his life around the time of the "Back To The Beginning" final show in the summer of 2025, but powered through because "he wanted to do it so bad." Speaking about Ozzy's health in the run-up to the epic gig during an appearance on the Dumb Blonde podcast, Sharon said that the Prince Of Darkness was aware of his ill health around the time of the show, but was determined to make it to the event. "Two weeks before the show, they said he could probably die, and he did. But he wanted to do it so bad," she said. "He needed it. And [he was] like, 'Whether I die in two weeks or I die in six months, I'm still dying. And I want to go my way.' And he did. He went like a rock star." She also opened up about how the Heavy Metal pioneer had fought off sepsis earlier that year, and as a result "knew it was time" to start thinking realistically about the limited time he had left. "When he came out [of hospital], they said, 'You know, Ozzy, this could kill you.' And he said, 'I'm doing my show.' He went out like a king," she shared. "The thing is when you've lived your life that way, it was, like, 'OK, six months more to go out the way I want to go out'," she added. "It's like when you get really old who is still smoking and they're 78 years of age, you're like 'Just let him smoke. Leave him alone. He's 78.' He went the way he wanted to go. He knew." Sharon also went on to say that his death, aged 76, happened "so quick," and described him as "a king." "He loved people. He loved his audience. He loved them so much. And even if you didn't like his music, you couldn't dislike him," she added, also saying that she is still finding it "hard" to come to terms with the loss. "I'm getting there. It's hard," she said. "I'm gonna keep working and I'm going to keep doing what I do in my life. And that's it." Sharon's full Dumb Blonde interview can be streamed on YouTube. - NME, 2/24/26...... 
The estate of "Shaft" icon Isaac Hayes has reached a private settlement with Donald Trump after suing the president and his campaign. The case was launched over the unauthorized use of the 1966 soul classic "Hold On, I'm Comin'," co-penned by Hayes and R&B duo Sam & Dave who made the song famous, at Trump's campaign rallies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the estate had previously demanded $3 million (£2.22 million), Rolling Stone reports. In court filings, the estate accused Trump of personally selecting the song and playing it at least 133 times without permission. The lawsuit, filed in 2024, also alleged the campaign recorded and distributed videos containing the song despite objections from Hayes' heirs. "Donald Trump represents the worst in integrity and class with his disrespect and sexual abuse of women and racist rhetoric," the musician's son, Isaac Hayes III, wrote on social media in an X post that has since been deleted. On Feb. 23, the estate filed a voluntary dismissal in federal court. In a statement, representatives for the estate said the lawsuit had been "mutually resolved" and that the family was "satisfied with the outcome." "This resolution represents more than the conclusion of a legal matter," the statement read. Isaac Hayes died in 2008, and his estate is one of several artists who have taken action over unauthorized use of their music at Trump rallies, including The White Stripes, Eddy Grant, Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, Tom Petty, Village People and Celine Dion. - Music-News.com, - 2/24/26...... In related news, just hours after Donald Trump White House communications director Steven Cheung referred to Bruce Springsteen as a "loser" in a pun-filled statement denigrating the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's announcement of an upcoming U.S. arena tour, Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin had his own spicy retort. Cheung, in a statement to Politico.com, said: "When this loser Springsteen comes back home to his own City of Ruins in his head, he'll realize his Glory Days are behind him and his fans have left him Out in the Street, putting him in a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out because he has a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his brain. Now Rep. Raskin, a frequent critic of the president, has responded, writing on X/Twitter on Feb. 18: "America has no kings, but we've got one Boss and his name is Bruce Springsteen. Unlike our faux-King, the Boss fights for freedom and democracy for everyone. I cannot wait to hear him sing "Streets of Minneapolis' loud enough to rattle the walls of what's left of the White House." The latter was a pointed reference both to Trump's dismantling of the historic East Wing of the White House in October to make way for the president's long-dreamed-of gilded ballroom, as well as the ire provoked by Springsteen's powerful anthem memorializing the killing of American citizen and mother of three Renee Good, 37, by an ICE agent Jonathan Ross in January. Raskin then took another swipe at Trump by doubling-down on conservative group Turning Point USA's attempt to counter Bad Bunny's historic halftime show with a pre-taped Kid Rock livestream by making a salacious suggestion. "Maybe the President will counter-program when Springsteen comes to town by singing a love song to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the Trump-Kennedy Center, another American institution Trump is bulldozing," he wrote, in reference to the late convicted child sex offender and trafficker (and his imprisoned accomplice), who was close friends with Trump, who reportedly has been mentioned in the Epstein files over 1,000 times, for many years. Raskin, who said he's seen The Boss 13 times, added that he can "feel it in my bones -- Bruce and the band are going to bring a Rock-and-Roll Resurrection to America and a Rock-and-Roll Exorcism to Washington, D.C. This may be the hottest ticket on the planet. I will be very much out in the street when they come to town." - Billboard, 2/19/26...... 
"Boldly going" where even he hasn't gone before, legendary Star Trek actor William Shatner has announced he's planning a new Heavy Metal album featuring covers of the likes of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and others. In an Instagram post on Feb. 19, the 94-year-old actor best known for playing the irascible James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek series and movies as well as police sergeant T.J. Hooker in the 1980s, said that "I have explored space. I have explored time. Now... I explore distortion. Yes. You read that correctly. I am releasing a HEAVY METAL album." He continued: "Thirty-five metal virtuosos. Thunderous guitars. Chaos with purpose. Covers of legends like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest -- and a few originals forged in the same cosmic fire." "This project is, quite literally, a gathering of forces. Loud imagination. Honest intensity. Unapologetic exploration," the articulate Shatner closed. Although Shatner didn't reveal the album title, which classic metal songs he's covering, or who those virtuoso players will be, according to Blabbermouth.com he promised that the collection will be "a gathering of forces -- each artist bringing their fire, their precision, their chaos. I chose them because they have something to say, and because metal demands honesty." Shatner first made his musical debut back in 1968 with the beyond bizarre The Transformed Man LP featuring his florid readings of The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and Elton John's "Rocket Man." An author, civilian astronaut, equestrian and pitchman -- Shatner is currently appearing in a cheeky Kellogg's Raisin Bran commercial as "Will Shat," and has recorded with a number of hard rock icons in the past. Among the legends he's rocked with are Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore, the MC5's Wayne Kramer and punk icon Henry Rollins, among many others. "At 94, one does not slow down. One turns the volume up," he said in his post. "So prepare yourselves. We are about to boldly headbang where no one has headbanged before. Stay tuned. The metal voyage begins this year." - Billboard, 2/20/26.
As hundreds of Ozzy Osbourne fans dressed in honor of the late Prince of Darkness during the 2026 edition of the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Ozzy's widow Sharon Osbourne shared her approval. A video on Instagram shows a group called the Dead Rock Stars marching through the city during the Krewe Of Muses parade on Feb. 12 wearing Ozzy's iconic round glasses, and donning long dark wigs, crucifix jewellery and black clothing. There is also a flame-emblazoned float in tribute to Osbourne, as well as some banners, as Ozzy's 1991 ballad "Mama, I'm Coming Home" plays over a sound system in the street. The Grand Marshall was someone dressed as Sharon on board the float. Sharon then showed her appreciation of the nod by sharing a video from the event on her Instagram Stories feed. According to BBC News, more than 200 people took part in the Ozzy homage. Meanwhile, Sharon has reportedly been offered an ABBA Voyage style hologram show for Ozzy's final "Back To The Beginning" charity concert held in his hometown of Birmingham, UK in July 2025, just weeks before he passed away at the age of 76. "The plan was always to put the concert out in some form, but naturally, after Ozzy died, everything stopped," a source close to the Osbournes told the UK paper The Sun. "Sharon is now in a place where she is able to think about work again and is considering the options on the table. Talks are ongoing and the offers range from a simple concert film to an ABBA Voyage-style show," he added. - New Musical Express, 2/18/26...... 
Proclaiming "the cavalry is coming," Bruce Springsteen announced on Feb. 17 that he and his E Street Band will launch a 2026 "Land of Hope & Dreams Tour" in Minneapolis' Target Center on Mar. 31 for a 20-city run that will wrap in Washington, D.C. on May 27. "We are living through dark, disturbing and dangerous times, but do not despair -- the cavalry is coming!" said Springsteen in a YouTube video. "Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will be taking the stage this spring from Minneapolis to California to Texas to Washington, D.C., for the Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour. We will be rocking your town in celebration and in defense of America -- American democracy, American freedom, our American Constitution and our sacred American dream -- all of which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington, D.C. Everyone, regardless of where you stand or what you believe in, is welcome -- so come on out and join the United Free Republic of E Street Nation for an American spring of Rock n' Rebellion! I'll see you there!" Springsteen has relentlessly attacked Pres. Donald Trump and his immigration enforcement policies, including the actions of the ICE agency under his administration, both before and after the controversial shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officers in Minneapolis. His latest tour will mark the first E Street Band shows in North America since 2024. The European leg of "The Land of Hope and Dreams Tour" played to more than 700,000 fans across Europe last spring and summer before concluding in Milan. Other dates on the tour include Portland, Ore. (4/3), Inglewood, Calif. (4/7, 9), San Francisco (4/13), Phoenix (4/16), Newark, N.J. (4/20), Sunrise, Fla. (4/23), Austin, Tex. (4/26), Chicago (4/29), Atlanta (5/2), Belmont Park, N.Y. (5/5), Philadelphia (5/8), New York City (5/11), Brooklyn, N.Y. (5/14), Pittsburgh (5/19), Cleveland, Oh. (5/22) and Boston (5/24) before wrapping at the Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. on May 27. Not surprisingly, a spokesman for Pres. Trump hit back at the Boss's tour announcement, calling the New Jersey rocker a "loser" whose tour will flop. "When this loser Springsteen comes back home to his own City of Ruins in his head, he'll realize his Glory Days are behind him and his fans have left him Out in the Street, putting him in a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out because he has a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his brain," Steven Cheung told Politico.com. "Bruce Springsteen has long made clear he's no Trump fan -- a message he's doubling down on with his new tour," he added. Recently, Springsteen has criticized Trump's deployment of ICE across the country, calling for ICE to "get the f--- out of Minneapolis" and lent his classic 1984 hit "Born In The U.S.A." to soundtrack a new anti-ICE video. - Billboard/NME, 2/17/26...... Baz Luhrmann, the Australian filmmaker behind the 2022 ELVIS biopic and the new EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert documentary, has revealed he's working on a stage musical centred around the life and career of Presley. During an interview with Dan Morrissey for the Magic Radio podcast (available for streaming on Instagram), Luhrmann was asked about rumors he was considering future projects about the iconic singer, and said that he's thinking of doing a stage production next. "It's being worked on, it's happening," he replied. "I don't know if I was supposed to announce it but, hey, I just did." He added that while he is behind the project, he isn't heavily involved this time around -- likening it to how he enlisted writer/director Alex Timbers to take the reins on the 2001 film adaptation of Moulin Rouge. "I'm not doing it because I have this thing I've learned I can never go backwards," he said. "I can't be me when I was 28 doing Romeo + Juliet [1996], but I love handing it on. I'm not precious. I'm like 'Take my baby!'." Luhrmann has also teased multiple times that a four-hour "director's assembly" version of his 2022 ELVIS film could be on the way, and has also created the latest documentary and concert film about the "Burning Love" singer. Meanwhile, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in Sept. 2025. It focuses on the singer's 1970 Las Vegas residency, features narration from Elvis himself from rediscovered audio recordings, and also utilizes over 50-hours of never-before-seen footage that Luhrmann uncovered while working on the 2022 biopic. It will be released in IMAX theatres on Feb. 20 before a general cinematic release the following week. Sony and RCA Records recently confirmed the full tracklist for the soundtrack, which includes remixes of classic live recordings and new mixes. - New Musical Express, 2/16/26...... Public Enemy's Chuck D has responded to KISS's Gene Simmons' recent comments that hip-hop shouldn't belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Earlier in February, Simmons appeared on the Legends and Leaders podcast and hit out at the inclusion of hip-hop in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During the episode, Simmons lamented "the fact that Iron Maiden is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, when they can sell out stadiums, and Grandmaster Flash is." The fire-breathing rocker also hit out at the hip-hop/rap genre itself in a racially veiled comment. "It's not my music. I don't come from the ghetto. It doesn't speak my language." Simmons faced an onslaught of backlash for his "tone deaf" comments, including from Chuck D, who took to social media to reiterate that rock and roll as a term was more inclusive than he made out. Talking to TMZ.com, the rapper said Simmons had wilfully forgotten about the "roll" part of the Hall's name, which spans several genres. "Everything else other than rock, when rock 'n' roll splintered in the '60s, is the roll," he said. "Soul music, reggae, hip-hop, which is rap music. Hip-hop is a culture, so it embodies sight, sound, story, and style. But music, the vocal on top of the music, has already been determined. So that's the roll, that's flow, that's the soul in it. KISS are rock gods, but they don't have a lot of roll to them." Simmons made similar waves in 2016 following NWA's induction into the Rock Hall Of Fame, telling Rolling Stone at the time he was "looking forward to the death of rap." At that year's ceremony, hip-hop artist MC Ren responded to his comments and pointedly told him: "Hip-hop is here forever. We're supposed to be here." - NME, 2/15/26...... 
Rare and high-quality footage of Led Zepplin performing in Amsterdam in the early '70s has surfaced online. The "Stairway To Heaven" rock icons played in the Dutch capital in May 1972, just six months after the release of their classic fourth album Led Zeppelin ("IV"), at one of two warm-up shows for their US tour later that year. Footage of the show was captured for the Dutch music TV show Popzien but has only previously appeared online in low quality -- but now a high-resolution four-minute clip has surfaced. It shows the band arriving at the airport in Amsterdam, where they are greeted by the rock promoter Lou Van Rees, and then shows the opening of their show at the 10,000-capacity Oude RAI Amsterdam, including the first song of the gig, "Immigrant Song." After the Amsterdam show on May 27, they played in Brussels the following night, before kicking off the US tour in Detroit on June 6. The rare footage can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 2/14/26...... In related news, Alex Van Halen has revealed his intentions to perform unheard Van Halen, and is in search of a lead singer. The 72-year-old co-founding VH drummer has teamed up with hard-rock/AOR multi-instrumentalist Steve Lukather to help complete what had originally been intended as the band's next studio album before iconic guitarist Eddie Van Halen's death in 2020. Speaking to Brazilian YouTube channel KazaGasto, Van Halen explained that fans have long asked about unheard tracks, but he's determined not to release anything that feels incomplete. "We're not putting anything out in its early, unfinished state -- that wouldn't make sense," he said. "I'm lucky to have Steve Lukather, who was very close to Ed, and we're working on shaping a record that meets the standard we left off at. It can't just be, 'Here's some music we found.' It has to be up to our expectations." The musician went on to clarify that the core of the album was already in motion before Eddie's passing."These recordings were meant to become the next Van Halen record, but everything stopped when Ed died," he noted. "The drums, guitar and bass are already there. What we never got to was the vocals -- and all the subtle touches, the glue that holds it together." Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen's original bass parts remain part of the sessions, and now Alex and Lukather are focused on finding the perfect singer. Their first choice, Free/Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers, was unable to take part due to health issues, and Alex says the singer, like Rodgers, needs to come from their generation to truly connect with the material. "Music is about shared experience. I'm 72 -- we need someone who lived through the same musical era we did. Otherwise, it won't have the same depth," Alex shared. Past lead vocalists of VH include David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone. - Music-News.com, 2/19/26...... Members of Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario will be able to preview Paul McCartney's "Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm" photo exhibit during it's only Canadian stop beginning on Feb. 26. The exhibit, spread over 10,000 square feet on the AGO's fifth floor, is made up of 250 pictures taken by the Beatles' singer-bassist-songwriter over three months between Dec. 1963 and Feb. 1964 as the Fab Four travelled from Liverpool to London, Paris, New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami. "It's very much a show about memory," Flavia Frigeri, Curatorial and Collections Director at the National Portrait Gallery, London, said during a media preview on Feb. 18. "It's also very much about collective memory. It's almost like a time capsule. And during this time, it was really the whirlwind of Beatlemania and it all started with a Pentax camera that Paul McCartney took along with him on this journey." Frigeri said it wasn't until 2020 that the photos, part of a 1,000-picture collection, were unearthed from the McCartney Productions archive and the exhibit debuted first in London in 2023 and has since travelled the world, now landing in Toronto. McCartney first was introduced to photography through his younger brother Mike McCartney and would go on to marry accomplished photographer Linda Eastman. His daughter Mary McCartney is also a photographer. Among the exhibit's photo highlights in black and white and color are backstage shots at concerts and TV studios, and videos of them at a news conference in America and on The Ed Sullivan Show. "Paul McCartney - Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm" is open to AGO Members' until Feb 26, then passholders until Mar. 22, and then the public from Mar. 24-June 7. - Canoe.com, 2/18/26...... 
In the latest episode of the acclaimed podcast Rock & Roll High School, legendary guitarist/songwriter Richard Thompson joins two-time Grammy-winning producer Pete Ganbarg to chronicle a five-decade career that redefined British folk-rock. Thompson, a founding member of Fairport Convention, offers an intimate look at a legacy built on what he calls the delicate balance of "tradition and innovation." Reflecting on his formative years in London, Thompson recalls witnessing the birth of British rock at the Marquee Club, specifically the early residency of The Who. "It was quite extraordinary," Thompson says. "The Who in the early days were writing great short pop songs before it became bombastic, anthemic, stadium-sized -- it was really wonderful, tight, well-constructed music." Thompson's journey took a pivotal turn when he met producer Joe Boyd, a figure he credits with the survival of his creative circle. "I don't know what would have happened without Joe on the scene," Thompson explains. "I'm not sure anybody else had the ears to take someone like Nick Drake and allow him to express himself... He is so important to us." The episode dives deep into the highs and lows of the Fairport era, including the "deeply traumatic" van accident that claimed the lives of his drummer and girlfriend, as well as the origins of the anthem "Meet on the Ledge." Thompson notes with a sense of wonder that the song has now "become public property." A songwriter's songwriter, Thompson has seen his work covered by everyone from R.E.M. to Bonnie Raitt. However, one specific interpretation stands above the rest. "Tom Jones is the one that would absolutely knock my socks off," he says of the Welsh legend's cover of "Dimming Of The Day." "In terms of what a great guy, what a great singer -- and how flattering to have Tom do your song." From his iconic duo with Linda Thompson to his enduring solo career, Richard Thompson remains a master of his craft. Thompson will kick off a 5-date US tour at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse on Mar. 26, then visit Solana Beach, Calif. (4/1), Santa Barbara, Calif. (4/5), Napa, Calif. (4/11) and Seattle (4/17). - Music-News.com, 2/13/26...... A video of John Travolta speaking about his private plane use has sparked outrage online, and this comes after a photo of Travolta's Florida mansion that some called "disgusting" showed a couple of his jets casually parked in the back. In a YouTube Short from 10X Studios shared on Sept. 28, Grant Cardone asked him in an interview, "Why do you have three planes?... I got one plane. I barely can handle it." "It's a practical reason. I'm a pilot myself. ... If I have one jet that's inoperable, I have one to back it up," the Saturday Night Fever icon responded. The interview was originally taped in front of a live audience as part of the 10X Growth Conference 2021 on building wealth. The lavish setup at his home, which includes a runway almost leading straight to his door as part of the Jumbolair Aviation & Equestrian Estates community he lives in, received backlash online just several months ago. The property sits in an aviation-themed community in Ocala, Fla., designed for residents who prefer to taxi their planes straight to their homes. Travolta clarified that he holds 12 jet ratings, including the Boeing 747, 707, Gulfstream, and Learjet, and he prefers to fly himself instead of chartering. For Travolta, it's just a part of the lifestyle he's built, and it was perhaps more understandable during a time when jet pollution and the effects of rising global temperatures were not as well understood -- under the mentality of if you have the good fortune to hit it rich, you go ahead and spend the money however you want. However when the planet is experiencing extreme weather events due to human-caused rising global temperatures, indulgence to this degree may be less practical and more harmful. "How much money could he have pissed away just to get rated on 12 jets?" one commenter under the YouTube Short frustratedly asked. "It's no different than anybody else with a hobby. ... So I guess it depends upon how much money you have to spend on what you like," another added in defense of Travolta. - TheCoolDown.com, 2/16/26...... Donny Osmond is being sued by a concertgoer who attended a show during Osmond's residency at Harrah's Las Vegas in 2025, alleging she was struck by an inflatable lit-up ball in the audience. Illinois resident Joanne Julkowski is suing the 68-year-old Osmond, his production company, and Harrah's, alleging she was injured by an oversized prop during his show, and seeking $15,000 in damages. Julkowski, who filed her lawsuit in Nevada's Clark County District Court on Feb. 10, claims she experienced "severe emotional distress, including psychological trauma, fear, anxiety, PTSD, and loss of enjoyment of life," from the incident, according to the lawsuit. The suit additionally seeks unspecified punitive damages, lost wages, and payment of attorney's fees, per the filing. Julkowski claims that she suffered a "traumatic" retinal injury and retinal detachment in her right eye, requiring surgical intervention and resulting in visual impairment, as well as concussion-related head, and neck injuries. The woman claims that the injuries required "extensive medical care, services, and treatment for her injuries, and may, in the future, be required to obtain additional future medical care" due to the defendants' alleged negligence. Reps for Osmond and Caesar's Entertainment, which owns Harrah's, have yet to comment. - People, 2/17/26...... 
Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two Godfather movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in Tender Mercies, died "peacefully" at his home in Middleburg, Va, on Feb. 15. He was 95. "To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything," his wife Luciana Duvall wrote on Facebook. "His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented." The bald, wiry Mr. Duvall didn't have leading man looks, but few "character actors" enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin. Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in To Kill a Mockingbird, Mr. Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals. They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for Tender Mercies, which came out in 1983. He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove, a role he often cited as his favorite. Mr. Duvall had been acting for some 20 years when The Godfather, released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood. He had made a previous film, The Rain People, with Francis Ford Coppola, and the director chose him to play Tom Hagen in the Godfather mafia epic that featured Al Pacino and Marlon Brando among others. Mr. Duvall was a master of subtlety as an Irishman among Italians, rarely at the center of a scene, but often listening and advising in the background, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family. Mr. Duvall was awarded an Oscar in 1984 for his leading role as the troubled singer and songwriter Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies, a prize he accepted while clad in a cowboy tuxedo with Western tie. Among other notable roles: the outlaw gang leader who gets ambushed by John Wayne in True Grit; Jesse James in The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid; the pious and beleaguered Frank Burns in M-A-S-H; the TV hatchet man in Network; Dr. Watson in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution; and the sadistic father in The Great Santini. Robert Selden Duvall grew up in the Navy towns of Annapolis and the San Diego area, where he was born in 1931. He spent time in other cities as his father, who rose to be an admiral, was assigned to various duties. After two years in the Army, he used the G.I. Bill to finance his studies at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, hanging out with such other young hopefuls as Robert Morse, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. After a one-night performance in "A View From the Bridge," Mr. Duvall began getting offers for work in TV series, among them The Naked City and The Defenders, before landing his first movie role in To Kill a Mockinbird. "It was an honor to have worked with Robert Duvall. He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him," his Godfather co-star Al Pacino told the AP, while Robert De Niro said "God bless Bobby. I hope i can live till I'm 95. May he Rest in Peace." He is survived by his fourth wife, Luciana Pedraza, 42 years his junior and with whom he starred in Assassination Tango. - Billboard, 2/16/26...... Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg, co-writer of such pop classics as Madonna's "Like A Virgin," Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" and the Bangles' "Eternal Flame," died of cancer in Los Angeles on Feb. 16, 10 days away from his 76th birthday. The lyricist, who landed chart hits for more than 30 years, also penned such tunes as the Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You," the Bangles' "In Your Room" and the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself." Taylor Dayne, Tina Turner, Pat Benatar, Bette Midler, Cheap Trick, Belinda Carlisle and many other artists also recorded his songs. A 2011 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Fresno, Calif., native grew up in Palm Springs, Calif. After attending Bard College in New York's Hudson Valley, he pursued a career as an artist with his band Billy Thermal. While they may not have flourished, Steinberg's career took off after the group's guitarist played "How Do I Make You," penned solely by Steinberg, for Linda Rondstadt, who recorded it for her Mad Love album in 1980. The song reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. After his longtime writing partner Tom Kelly retired, Steinberg continued to write, often with Rick Nowels, including penning Dion's "Falling Into You," the title track for Dion's 1996 album, which won album of the year for the 39th Grammy Awards and for which both Steinberg and Nowels took home a Grammy. He is survived by his wife, Trina; his sons, Ezra and Max; his sisters, Barbara and Mary; and his stepchildren, Raul and Carolina. - Billboard, 2/16/26...... 
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the famed civil rights leader who marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and later ran for president, died peacefully surrounded by his family on the morning of Feb. 17. He was 84. Rev. Jackson was hospitalized for observation in Nov. 2025, and doctors said he'd been diagnosed with a degenerative condition called progressive supranuclear palsy. He revealed in 2017 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which affects the nervous system and slowly restricts movement and daily activities. Rev. Jackson called it a "physical challenge," but he refused to let it prevent him from continuing his civil rights advocacy. His father, Noah Lewis Robinson Sr., also had Parkinson's and died of the disease in 1997 at the age of 88. Long known for his activism and political influence, Rev. Jackson spent his life dedicated to pursuing civil rights for disenfranchised groups both in the United States and abroad. His "unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity," his family said. "A tireless change agent, he elevated the voices of the voiceless ... leaving an indelible mark on history," they added. As a young man, he became a member of Dr. King's circle and was with Dr. King when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968. That same year, Rev. Jackson was ordained by the Rev. Clay Evans, though he had dropped out of Chicago Theological Seminary three credits shy of a degree in order to work in the civil rights movement with Dr. King. He was later awarded a Master of Divinity degree in 2000 from the seminary, based on his life's work and experience. Over the years, he received over 40 honorary doctorate degrees from top universities across the country, according to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Chicago-based organization he led for decades. Rev. Jackson was born in Greenville, S.C., on Oct. 8, 1941. His mother, Helen Burns Struggs, was 16 and unmarried and gave him the name Jesse Burns. In his teenage years, his mother married Charles Jackson, and Rev. Jackson took his new stepfather's surname. In high school, Rev. Jackson was an honors student, according to Stanford's King Institute, which helped him win a football scholarship to the University of Illinois. He studied there before transferring to the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina, where he graduated in 1964. As the civil rights movement grew, Rev. Jackson became involved in local activism. In 1960, a push to desegregate a local public library led Rev. Jackson down the road to become a leader in student-led sit-ins. After his graduation, he left his studies at the Chicago Theological Seminary to join Dr. King in Selma. There, he asked for a position with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a group of religious leaders led by Dr. King that focused on nonviolent protests and demonstrations, according to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Rev. Jackson, with the support and trust of Dr. King, helped lead SCLC's Chicago chapter and spearheaded Operation Breadbasket, a community empowerment campaign. His age and ambition led to numerous fights with leadership, including several arguments with King himself, according to Stanford's King Institute. The pair reconciled in 1968 in Memphis as they gathered for another civil rights protest. In a now-famous photograph from that fateful time, Rev. Jackson stands to the right of Dr. King and fellow leaders Hosea Williams and Ralph Abernathy on the balcony of Memphis' Lorraine Motel. The next day, at almost the exact same spot, Dr. King was assassinated by a gunman. Following Dr. King's death, Rev. Jackson was unable to reconcile with the SCLC. Instead, he founded PUSH, a Chicago organization whose name stands for People United to Save Humanity. In 1984, he also founded The Rainbow Coalition, which focused on social justice through voter engagement and representation. The two organizations merged in 1996. The same ambition that chafed SCLC leaders also led Rev. Jackson to make a run for the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 1984 and 1988. He received 18% of the primary vote in 1984, placing third overall and winning several states. But his campaign was marred by controversy over an antisemitic remark he made about New York's Jewish community in a Washington Post story. Former Vice Pres. Walter Mondale ultimately went on to win the nomination and lose to Republican incumbent Pres. Ronald Reagan. Yet even without holding office, Rev. Jackson continued to stand as a major political figure, championing the release of foreign nationals held in Kuwait in the lead-up to the Gulf War, becoming a "shadow senator" to lobby for statehood for Washington, D.C., and working as a special envoy under Pres. Bill Clinton. In 2000, Pres. Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. He is survived by five children with his wife of more than 60 years, Jacqueline, another daughter, and countless figures who were inspired by his leadership. Public observances will be held in Chicago, according to his family. Final arrangements for celebration of life services, including all public events, will be announced by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, they say. - CBS News, 2/17/26.
One of the more sensational rumors in rock music lore is that "Mama Cass" Elliot of The Mamas and the Papas died choking on a ham sandwich. Now a new Mama Cass biopic that aims to dispel that rumor and tell the "California Dreamin'" singer's story has cast its titular role. Baby Reindeer phenom Jessica Gunning is set to play Mama Cass in the movie which will be based on the memoir of Elliot's daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugell, called My Mama, Cass. According to a press release, the biopic "is not a Mamas & the Papas biopic" and will focus on Cass, who died in her sleep in 1974 in London at the age of 32, with the cause of her death being ruled as a heart attack. According to her autopsy, the singer died in her sleep after feeling unwell the previous evening, and there were no drugs in her system. "I can't believe we're still talking about the sandwich after all these years," Elliot-Kugell told Rolling Stone. "I started running my mom's estate when I was 18. One of the first things I remember thinking is, 'We've got to stop that ham sandwich rumor thing,' because it was so painful. It wasn't enough that we had lost her, to then be [made into] a joke." In the years before, the "California Dreamin'" singer's home in Laurel Canyon, Calif., became a hub for the talented and beautiful in the prelude to the storied 1967 "Summer of Love," welcoming guests from Joni Mitchell to Eric Clapton. Cass was a founding member of the Mamas and Papas vocal group and went on to embark on a solo career after they disbanded. She released her final album, the live album Don't Call Me Mama Anymore, and died a year later. The biopic hasn't yet got a director, although the screenplay is being written by Emma Forrest and is planned to use Cass's voice in songs. Jessica Gunning, who had previously starred on the Outlaws, shot to fame for her portrayal of Martha Scott, a woman obsessed with a struggling comedian, in Baby Reindeer. She's also set to appear in the upcoming The Magic Faraway Tree movie, out on Mar. 27. - The Daily Beast, 2/13/26...... In related news, actress Bijou Phillips, the daughter of Mamas and Papas members, the late John Phillips and Michelle Phillips, is still in urgent need of a kidney, even after receiving hundreds of donor offers from fans after posting about her search online. According to sources close to Phillips, the situation is "touch and go by the minute," and the offers have been "incredible outpouring of support," but "doctors haven't found a match yet," according to TMZ.com. Bijou is seeking kidney donors with blood types B negative, B positive, O negative, or O positive. The model/actress was born with underdeveloped kidneys and had to undergo a kidney transplant nine years ago to manage the medical issue. She has since suffered from serious complications following the initial surgery in 2017, including a serious case of the BK virus. Her original organ transplant failed, leaving her in the life-threatening state she is in now. Bijou is currently hospitalized at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Phillips divorced That '70s Show star Danny Masteron in 2023, after the actor was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for two convictions of forcible rape from two separate 2003 incidents. - The Daily Beast, 2/12/26...... 
Interviewed on the LegendsNLeaders podcast, KISS's Gene Simmons reiterated his belief that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shouldn't induct hip-hop stars, saying the genre "doesn't speak [his] language." During the interview Simmons was explaining that he thinks critics and official musical institutions can't be trusted to determine a band or artist's relevance when he brought up the Rock Hall as an example. "The fact that, for instance, Iron Maiden is not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when they can sell out stadiums, and Grandmaster Flash is," he began. "Ice Cube and I had a back and forth -- he's a bright guy, and I respect what he's done. [But] It's not my music. I don't come from the ghetto. It doesn't speak my language. I said in print many times: Hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, nor does opera, symphony orchestras & -- it's called the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame." Simmons continued: "But [Ice] shot back and said, 'No, it's the spirit of rock n' roll.' OK, fine & I just want to know when Led Zeppelin's gonna be in the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. Music has labels, because it describes an approach." KISS was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2014, two years after which Ice Cube earned a spot in the institution's hallowed halls as part of pioneering gangsta rap group N.W.A. The latter is one of several hip-hop stars the Hall has welcomed, along with rap icons such as Jay-Z, LL Cool J and Missy Elliott. In the same interview, Simmons also compared Taylor Swift's fame to the Beatles' heyday, calling it "almost cultish." The bassist spoke about how powerful it is as a musician to see fans connect with your music in real time -- something he says is more validating of an artist's dominance than anything else. "The only analogy I can point to is the Swifties of today," he said. "Yes, the songs are cool, and [Taylor's] wonderful, we know her, but it's more than that," he continued. "It's almost a gathering of the tribes & The Beatles had that. It was called Beatlemania. It's almost cultish. You're a member of that, and there's a connection." Simmons' full LegendsNLeaders interview can be viewed on 
Officials in New York City have announced plans to co-name the Greenwich Village's West 8th Street after guitar god Jimi Hendrix as part of a national education initiative. The ceremony, set for Feb. 24, will take place at the doorstep of Electric Lady Studios, the hallowed recording facility Hendrix founded in 1970 and which remains a premier, operational hub for musical innovation today. Led by District 2 Council Member Harvey Epstein, the street naming serves as the high-profile launch for a national education partnership between Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. and Stevie Van Zandt's TeachRock. This collaboration introduces a new multimedia curriculum, "Jimi Hendrix: Rock's Trailblazing Innovator and Influential Guitarist," designed for middle and high school students. The curriculum utilizes exclusive archival footage from Hendrix's iconic 1967 Monterey Pop performance. Through a partnership with NYU's MusEdLab, students can even use interactive digital tools to experiment with the guitar effects and sonic breakthroughs that defined Hendrix's signature sound. The event brings together Van Zandt, Janie Hendrix (President/CEO of Experience Hendrix), and local educators to bridge the gap between rock history and modern classrooms. "Jimi Hendrix wasn't just a legendary musician; he was a fierce advocate for peace, racial equity, and social justice," noted Epstein. Van Zandt added, Hendrix's story reminds young people that "creativity has no limits." The two add that by connecting one of rock's most historic landmarks to a national network of schools, "Jimi Hendrix Way" ensures that the artist's journey will continue to inspire the next generation of creative thinkers. - Music-News.com, 2/12/26...... A new immersive David Bowie show, "David Bowie: You're Not Alone," is coming to London in April, showcasing some of the iconic musician's most famous performances as well as rarely seen material. The show contains a mixture of rarely seen and never-before-exhibited material selected from thousands of hours of film from the David Bowie Archive in New York, from Space Oddity to "Heroes" to Blackstar. The 360 immersive experience is produced by Lightroom, which has previously collaborated with the likes of David Hockney and Tom Hanks, and written and designed by Mark Grimmer of 59, the creative director for the V&A's "David Bowie Is" exhibition, as well as Tom Wexler. Performance footage is combined with photography, drawings, lyrics, personal notes and audio recordings, with the film structured in thematic chapters in a looping presentation. Among the footage included is a somewhat awkward transatlantic TV interview with Russell Harty in 1975 and the reconstructed set of the "Diamond Dogs" tour. As with previous Lightroom exhibitions, the footage will be projected all around the cube-shaped room, placing visitors at the centre of his live performances. As for the music, each track has been newly reconfigured to work with Lightroom's specialised spatial audio system to guide guests through Bowie's illustrious career. One of Bowie's most famous songs, "Heroes," has seen a huge streaming surge in recent weeks after being featured in the final episode of Netflix's Stranger Things. According to Luminate data, the track saw a boost of almost 500% on streaming services. - NME, 2/10/26...... 
John Fogerty is set to receive the Johnny Mercer Award, the Songwriters Hall of Fame's top honor, at the annual SHOF Induction and Awards Gala on June 11 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York. The Mercer Award is reserved for a songwriter or songwriting team who has already been inducted into the SHOF and whose body of work is of such high quality and impact that it upholds the high standards set by Johnny Mercer, the lyricist on such standards as "Moon River" and "The Days of Wine and Roses." Fogerty was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of Creedence Clearwater Revival. He's the 12th person to be inducted into the Rock Hall as a performer and also receive the Mercer Award from the SHOF. He follows Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Dolly Parton, Phil Collins (inducted into the Rock Hall as a member of Genesis), Elton John, Van Morrison, Lionel Richie and Neil Diamond. SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers praised Fogerty as "one of those rare talents who is unmistakably himself." "His style of composition is rock and roll mastery," Rodgers said. "It's what I've always personally believed in, something I call 'The art of complex simplicity.' He's done what I believe all great songwriters do. He makes us feel. He deserves this award as much as anyone who's ever received it, or will receive it, in the future. I send my congratulations to John Fogerty." - Billboard, 2/10/26...... Catalog company ABKCO, owner of the Rolling Stones music catalog, says its recent court victory over unlicensed music in classic rock documentaries provides key clarity on the limits of "fair use," a hot-button issue in the AI-focused copyright conversation of 2026. On Feb. 4, a New York federal judge held filmmaker Robert Carruthers and his company Coda Publishing liable for infringing 80 songs owned by ABKCO and Universal Music Group (UMG) in documentaries about the Rolling Stones, ABBA, U2, Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Carruthers had argued that the critical commentary included in the documentaries renders them fair use -- a tenet of copyright law that allows unlicensed works to repurposed for "transformative" creations. But Judge Katherine Polk Failla said simply getting a few critics to juxtapose "hot takes" next to reproduced videos does not "in any way transform the songs about which they are speaking." Fair use is a big deal in current copyright law ecause of artificial intelligence. Across dozens of lawsuits across the country, technology developers have argued that the "transformative" nature of AI makes it fair use for them to train models on existing work without paying for licenses. Now that the judge has rejected Carruthers' fair use defense and granted judgment in favor of ABKCO and UMPG further litigation will ensue to determine what kind of financial damages are owed. Judge Failla has ruled that Carruthers' infringement was willful, which could entitle the music companies to enhanced damages. - Billboard, 2/9/26...... 
In other Rolling Stones-related news, Mick Jagger's fiance Melanie Hamrick has been left "shaken" and "heartbroken" after being attacked outside a London club. The former ballerina revealed on her Instagram Stories on Feb. 10 that she was grabbed from behind outside the private members' club Annabel's in London's Mayfair district. "This is incredibly hard to share, but I was physically attacked at Annabels Mayfair tonight (sic)," Hamrick wrote in a since-deleted post. "I'm so thankful to my friends for protecting me. Two people grabbed me from behind and thank god for good people who stepped in to help me." Melanie added, "I'm shaken, sad and heartbroken that people can treat each other this way." According to The Sun, the attack was an opportunistic mugging attempt outside the upscale venue. Hamrick, 38, has been in a relationship with the Stones frontman since 2014. After two years of dating, they welcomed their first child together -- a son named Deveraux -- in 2016. The boy is Jagger's eighth child. Hamrick confirmed speculation that she and Jagger were engaged in an interview with Paris Match in Apr. 2025, revealing that she and the 82-year-old had been engaged "two or three years," but were in no rush to get married. "Maybe one day we'll marry, maybe not," she said. "We are so happy in our current life that I would be too afraid to change anything. We try to support each other, be there for each other, and make sure everyone is happy. That's all that matters to me and all I strive for." Jagger was previously married to Bianca Jagger from 1971 to 1978 and has been in long-term relationships with Marianne Faithfull, Jerry Hall and L'Wren Scott. - Music-News.com, 2/11/26...... A cassette recording of Ozzy Osbourne rehearsing in 1980 has been unearthed in an attic. Labelled "Ozzie Last Day," the cassette is an early listen at what would go on to become the heavy metal legend's first work with his solo band. The 12-minute bluesy jam session captures Ozzy alongside his beloved guitarist Randy Rhoads, as well as bassist Bob Daisley, ahead of the recording of the Blizzard of Ozz album. As reported by Sky News earlier in February, the recording was discovered in the attic of David Jolly, who befriended Ozzy after a turbulent period saw him fired by Black Sabbath and had started to put together his solo band. Daisley, now the only surviving member of that era, confirmed the authenticity of the tape to Sky News, telling them the recording took place prior to the trio aligning with drummer Lee Kerslake. "As soon as I heard it, I thought, 'Yes, that's us, that's Ozzy's voice,'" Kerslake said. "I don't know if we were auditioning a drummer and just loosening up a bit, or we're just clowning about but it wasn't a song we were working on because we had definite songs by then, we had several songs." In June 2025, it was announced that a compilation of demos that Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward recorded in 1969, back when they still went by the name Earth, was to be released under the title Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes. That release didn't wind up happening, and Ozzy's wife/manager Sharon Osbourne spoke out against the project in November, issuing a detailed social media post outlining Black Sabbath's legal position, which disputes the legal ownership of the recordings. The "Ozzie Last Day" cassette can be checked out on 
Interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning on Feb. 8, Eagles co-founder Don Henley said his Grammy-winning California rock band will disband after it completes its residency at the Sphere venue in Las Vegas at the end of February. Asked if the Eagles are finally going to quit, Henley said, "You know, I think this year will probably be it. And I've said things like that before, but I feel like we're getting toward the end... And that will be fine too." When asked if it's definitely the end for the band, which formed in 1971, he added: "I think so, yeah. And I'm OK with that." Henley went on to reveal he is hoping to spend more time with his family and tending to his garden as well as travelling when he no longer has to consider his responsibilities with the group. "I would like to spend more time with my family and I would like to spend more time growing vegetables and I'd like to... I've traveled all over the world, but I haven't seen much of it because we see the airports and the hotel room and the venue, and we don't get out much, you know," he said. "And so I'd like to go back to some of the same places I've been and see more of those places, you know, before it all disappears or it gets vaporized or whatever." The Eagles, who have been playing shows on their lengthy "The Long Goodbye" tour, recently became the first group with an album certified quadruple diamond platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for their 1976 hits collection 
Don McLean has marked his 10-year relationship with reality star Paris Dylan in an Instagram tribute of a photo of the couple together in May 2024 when they attended a state dinner at the White House. "Happy anniversary, Paris," McLean wrote in his caption. "We've been together for more than 10 years, and you are the love of my life." Dylan, who turns 32 in February, commented, "Love of my life," with a red heart emoji. The 80-year-old 
KISS has joined the elite club of a billion YouTube views with their hit "I Was Made For Lovin' You," hitting the 10-digit milestone with 
Appearing in London's High Court during his breach of privacy suit against the UK tabloid Daily Mail on Feb. 6, Elton John condemned what he called a "sickening" press intrusion into his family's private life. John, 78, described how the Daily Mail allegedly breached his family's privacy after the birth of his eldest son, Zachary, in 2010 and reported on his own health in a manner he found deeply distressing. Elton noted that 10 Daily Mail articles published between 2002 and 2015 were based on information obtained unlawfully, and said the intrusion was "truly sickening" and "outside even the most basic standards of human decency." The Rocketman added he felt "passionately" about "how wrong it is that such gross invasions could have been inflicted upon us and our family and friends without us ever knowing." During the hearing, Catrin Evans KC, representing Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers Limited, asked the singer whether he had complained at the time the articles were published, to which he responded, "I can't remember." "We did not know the extent of the seriousness of what had gone on," he continued. "When we knew the seriousness of what had gone on, we took action, because we were outraged." Elton told the court that while he accepts being in the public eye, that does not mean forfeiting his right to privacy, stating that "deeply personal things which I have a right to deal with in private are fair game." John's husband, David Furnish, testified the previous day and told the court that a 2010 article included details from their son Zachary's birth certificate before they had received it themselves. Lawyers for ANL have maintained that the article was sourced "entirely legitimately." - Music-News.com, 2/6/26...... Fred Smith, bass player for the New Wave bands Television and an original member of Blondie, died on Feb. 5 after battling an unspecified "illness long and hard these last few years," his bandmates revealed. He was 77. Smith got his start as the original bassist for Angel and the Snake, which would later become Blondie, in 1974. He left the band the following year to join Television, replacing frontman Richard Hell. He stayed with Television as a core member until their split in 1978, playing on 1977's seminal hit "Marquee Moon" from their 
LaMonte McLemore, a co-founder of the '60s/'70s Grammy-winning soul/pop group The 5th Dimension, died of natural causes on Feb. 3 at his home in Las Vegas. Mr. McLemore, who suffered a stroke several years ago, was 90. Born Sept. 17, 1935, in St. Louis, Mo., Mr. McLemore enlisted in the Navy early in life and worked as an aerial photographer. Before setting his sights on dual careers as a music artist and as a professional entertainment and sports photographer for Jet magazine and other publications, the multi-faceted Mr. McLemore sought a baseball career in the Los Angeles Dodgers' farm system. An author as well, Mr. McLemore co-authored the 2014 autobiography From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography, and Music with Robert-Allan Arno. A popular crossover fixture in the late '60s and early '70s music scene, The 5th Dimension formed in Los Angeles and was originally comprised of McLemore, Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo and Ron Townson (who died in 2001). Known for its signature silky harmonies and sophisticated fusion of R&B, soul and pop, the group cemented its success through hits such as "Up, Up and Away," "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)," "Wedding Bell Blues," "Stoned Soul Picnic" and 
In other Grammy-related news, Sharon Osbourne is calling the 2026 show's tribute to her late husband Ozzy Osbourne "a moment carved into musical history." "Last night was bigger than a performance," Sharon posted on Instagram on Feb. 2. "It was a moment carved into musical history. Reminding everyone that rock isn't nostalgia -- it's alive, evolving, and still the heartbeat of music." Her praise was for a performance during the In Memoriam section of the Grammys in which Post Malone and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash led a group that also included Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, GNR bassist Duff McKagan and producer Andrew Watt , who was behind the boards for Osbourne's final two studio albums, 2020's Ordinary Man and 2022's Patient Number 9. The band thundered through the 1970 Black Sabbath anti-war song "War Pigs," and Sharon re-posted a shot from the performance that included footage of her getting emotional alongside the couple's adult children Jack and Kelly Osbourne. Sharon was also honored for her monumental impact on the music industry at Billboard's Power 100 event over the Grammys weekend, receiving the Visionary Award. Meanwhile, Sharon has revealed that she is "seriously thinking" about running for mayor of Birmingham, the UK home city of Ozzy, in a brief interview with Billboard while on the red carpet for this year's Grammys. Sharon was told by host Leila Cobo that she was getting praise for how well she spoke at one of the Grammy-related events ahead of the Feb. 1 ceremony. In response, Sharon thanked the host for her compliment and suggested that the skill may come in handy soon as she is "seriously thinking about running for mayor of Birmingham." Due to the quick pace of the interview, there was little time for Sharon to expand on why she wanted to run, or how far along she was into looking at the process. Sharon has previously said that she was thinking of getting involved in politics in Birmingham after learning that someone with a terrorism conviction was allegedly seeking a seat on Birmingham's City Council. "This has nothing to do with racism. I think I'm gonna move to Birmingham and put my name down for the ballot to be on the council. I'm serious," she said. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 2/3/26...... David Byrne has added fresh UK and Ireland shows to his "Who Is The Sky?" world tour. The former Talking Heads frontman will now be heading to Dublin (June 7), (July 18), Edinburgh (July 21), and Cardiff (July 26) alongside his already announced headline slot at Latitude Festival in Suffolk on July 24. Byrne toured Australia and New Zealand in January and is set for his first UK and European leg in 2026 across February and March, before heading to North America in the spring -- including slots at both Coachella Festival weekends. His European shows include a mix of headline gigs and festival slots, with the musician set to appear at the likes of Open'er Festival in Poland (July 1) and Bilbao BBK Live in Spain. Byrne is touring behind his his first solo album in over six years, also titled Who Is The Sky?. - NME, 2/3/26...... In other UK touring news, Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton have added more UK and European dates to their "Radio Soul!: The Early Songs of Elvis Costello" tour in June and July. Due to demand, eight dates have been added to bring the total to 13, including a new show at London's O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on June 20 and others in cities including Brighton, Stockholm, Hamburg and Oslo. Costello first announced a five-date tour in December, taking in Birmingham, London, Portsmouth, Newcastle and the TW Classic festival in Werchter, Belgium. He's joined by his band The Imposters, as well as guitarist Sexton, best known for his time in Bob Dylan's band. Sexton joined Costello for the 2021 "Hello Again" tour and has continued to hit the road with him in the time since. Two of The Imposters, keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas, were members of his band The Attractions, which formed in 1977. As the tour's name suggests, the shows will see Costello concentrate on playing material from his earlier discography, including the 1977 debut album 
The years long legal feud between Linda Cummings Ramone, the widow of Johnny Ramone and the late Joey Ramone's brother Mickey Leigh (real name Mitchel Hyman) over the Ramones' legacy has finally reached a resolution. According to a Feb. 2 court filing from music manager Dave Frey, a former board member of Ramones Productions Inc. (RPI), a settlement in an estate dispute has been reached with Hyman, who was previously the other 50% owner of RPI, transferring his share to Linda Ramone per a binding term sheet agreement dated Nov. 18, 2025. Linda Ramone now owns 100% of the shares of RPI and has free rein to fully control RPI. Joey Ramone (born Jeffrey Hyman) and Johnny Ramone (John Cummings), who were not actual brothers, both died in the early 2000s. A 2005 shareholder agreement split the Ramones' legacy exactly 50-50 between each family, an arrangement that spurred years of bitter infighting between Cummings-Ramone and Leigh. - Billboard, 2/3/26...... As The Guess Who frontman Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman recently returned to the stage for the first time in decades, the other half of the band, Guess Who founding drummer Garry Peterson and founding bassist James Kale, has launched a new lawsuit. In a new complaint against performing rights management firm BMI, Peterson and Kale claim they suffered millions of dollars in losses when lead singer/songwriter Cummings terminated his entire performing rights agreement with BMI. Cummings owns the publishing rights to the band's biggest hits, including 
In a new interview with the UK paper Daily Mail, Queen's Brian May has said his band is ruling out a tour in the US anytime soon as America has become a "dangerous place." Queen last hit the road in North America in 2023, as part of their ambitious "Rhapsody Tour" with Adam Lambert. However, May now says that "America is a dangerous place at the moment, so you have to take that into account." Reflecting on how the US had changed since Queen first visited in their early days, May continued: "It's very sad because I feel like Queen grew up in America and we love it, but it's not what it was. Everyone is thinking twice about going there at the moment." The guitarist's comments come amid a troubling period in the US under the administration of Pres. Donald Trump. Many artists and figures from the entertainment world have spoken out recently, as protests continue against the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE agents, in particular, have triggered outrage across the States. ICE has described its highly controversial actions in Minnesota as "the largest mass deportation operation in American history." Celebrities who have condemned ICE and Pres. Trump include Neil Young, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Green Day, Moby, Duran Duran, Dave Matthews, Stranger Things star Joe Keery and Spider-Man actor Yuri Lowenthal. - NME, 1/30/26...... In related news, Bruce Springsteen's anti-ICE song "Streets of Minneapolis" has made a No. 1 sales debut on Billboard Digital Song Sales chart dated Feb. 7. The song, which can be streamed on 
The first trailer for the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, dropped on Feb. 2 for the new movie that tracks the late King of Pop's growth from child singer to international superstar. "You're confident. You're strong. You're beautiful. You're the greatest of all time," we hear star Jaafar Jackson -- MJ's real-life nephew -- say in a confident pump-up speech to himself at the top of the two-minute preview. Director Antoine Fuqua (Stans, Bullet Train) then zooms out from the period just before Jackson's solo career went meteoric to footage of MJ at his moon-walking, stadium sell-out peak, with the singer's kin effortlessly pulling off the tricky dance moves and Jackson's signature vocal yelps. Fuqua then rewinds all the way back to the beginning, with imperious family patriarch Joe Jackson (Colman Domingo), explaining how things are, and are going to be, to his musically talented family around their Gary, In., dining room table. "Let me tell you somethin'," Joe Jackson says as MJ's 1979 "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" solo hit bubbles up and we see the singer and his brothers in the Jackson Five refining their soon-to-be-chart-topping act. "In this life, you're either a winner or a loser. Y'all want to work in a steel mill like me for the rest of your days?" The $155 million film, two years in the making and originally slated for an Oct. 2025 release, is due out in the US on Apr. 24. The trailer can be watched on 
The home security company Ring is aiming to reunite lost dogs with families in a new ad for the upcoming Super Bowl game on Feb. 7 soundtracked by a No. 1 '70s hit ballad, Harry Nilsson's 
Chuck Negron, a founding member and lead vocalist of Three Dog Night, died at his home in Studio City, Calif., on Feb. 2. He was 83. Mr. Negron died surrounded by family, according to a statement shared with Billboard. No immediate cause of death was announced, though the singer had been living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for decades and had recently battled heart failure. Born Charles Negron II on June 8, 1942, Mr. Negron grew up in the Bronx, where he sang in doo-wop groups before earning a basketball scholarship that brought him to Los Angeles. In 1967, he joined Danny Hutton and the late Cory Wells to form Three Dog Night, a vocal trio built around harmony-driven arrangements and carefully selected songs from outside writers -- a strategy that helped make the group one of the most commercially successful acts of the late 1960s and early '70s. Negron's unmistakable lead vocals powered many of the band's biggest hits, including 
Prolific actress Catherine O'Hara, known for her roles in Home Alone, Schitt's Creek and Best in Show, died on Jan. 30 following a brief illness. She was 71. Over a career that spanned more than 50 years, O'Hara left an indelible impression on audiences with her searing wit, subtle eccentricity and fearless pursuit of a good laugh. Born on Mar. 4, 1954, in Toronto, O'Hara's career in Hollywood began with the Canadian sketch comedy series Second City Television. That show earned the beloved actress her first PrimeTime Emmy Award, an accolade that she'd again win in 2020 for her performance in Schitt's Creek. O'Hara's first credited Hollywood movie is 1980's Nothing Personal, she then went on to star in 1980's Double Negative and 1983's Rock & Rule before playing the memorable role of Gail in Martin Scorsese's After Hours, which was released in 1985. Her stardom continued to rise after playing Delia Deetz in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, released in 1988. Just two years later, she starred as Kevin McCallister's mom, Kate McCallister, in Home Alone. She reprised this role again in the sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Following that, O'Hara voiced Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas and appeared in movies such as 1994's Wyatt Earp, 1996's Waiting for Huffman, 1997's Pippi Longstocking, 2000's Best in Show, and 2004's Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, among many other titles. Her career had a major renaissance in her 60s when she starred as Moira Rose in the popular Schitt's Creek sitcom alongside Eugene Levy, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy. She recently played Patty Leigh in the first season of Seth Rogen's Hollywood sendup The Studio, and Gail Lynden in Season 2 of HBO's zombie apocalypse drama The Last of Us, both of which earned her 2025 Emmy nominations. Additionally, O'Hara reprised her Delia Deetz character in the Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and voiced a character in the award-winning The Wild Robot movie released in 2024. "Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more," her Home Alone costar Macaulay Culkin poignantly posted after her death. "I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say." - ComingSoon.net, 1/31/26.
As Minneapolis and other locations in America are struggling with the controversial arrest and deportation tactics of the US immigration agency ICE under Pres. Donald Trump's administration, Neil Young has declared he is done with the "fascist Trump regime" -- and all the companies he claims are financially backing it. On Jan. 29, the Canadian-American singer-songwriter took to his Neil Young Archives site to post a 
Deceased Seventies artists Ozzy Osbourne and Roberta Flack are among the musicians set to be honored at the 2026 Grammy Awards. In honor of late heavy metal pioneer and Black Sabbath frontman Osbourne, Post Malone will join forces with Guns N' Roses members Slash and Duff McKagan, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith for a performance. They will also be joined on stage by renowned producer Andrew WattThey will also be joined on stage by renowned producer Andrew Watt, who worked with the Prince Of Darkness on his last two solo albums: 2020's Ordinary Man and 2022's Patient Number 9. Osbourne died in his family home in Buckinghamshire following a heart attack last July, aged 76. Lauryn Hill will take to the stage to honor R&B/jazz star Flack, who died in Feb. 2025 after battling ALS for the past few years. The Recording Academy announced that there will be special tribute performances held for the late artists, which also include neo-soul icon D'Angelo, during the ceremony. Lifetime Achievement awards will be presented to Carlos Santana and Elton John's lyricist Bernie Taupin will also be honored with the Trustees Award. The 68th annual Grammys are set for Feb. 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and will be broadcast live on CBS at 8 p.m. ET and run until 11:30 p.m. ET. Those without cable subscriptions can watch through services like YouTubeTV and FuboTV. - New Musical Express, 1/29/26...... In other Ozzy Osbourne-related news, Ozzy's widow Sharon Osbourne revealed in a recent interview that she is considering bringing OzzFest back, and it could return as soon as 2027. Speaking to Billboard, Sharon said that she had been "talking to [concert promoter] Live Nation" about having the live music event return. "It was something Ozzy was very passionate about: giving young talent a stage in front of a lot of people," she said. "We really started metal festivals in this country. It was [replicated but] never done with the spirit of what ours was, because ours was a place for new talent. It was like summer camp for kids," she added. Sharon went on to say that while nothing had been set in stone yet, the festival could be launching as soon as 2027. However, the event would now be centering on multiple different music genres, rather than just rock and metal. Ozzy and Sharon began the hard rock and metal festival 30 years ago, with its inaugural edition taking place in Oct. 1996 and spanning two days. The following year it expanded into a full-blown tour rather than a one-time event, and then continued annually almost every year up until 2018 (although it reverted to a single-day event from 2008). - NME, 1/29/26...... 
Leo Sayer has announced plans for what will be his final full UK tour, confirming a major 23-date run for autumn 2026. The 
Legendary Jamaican musician Lowell "Sly" Dunbar, one-half of the prolific reggae songwriting/producing duo Sly & Robbie, reportedly died at his home in Kingston, Jamaica on Jan. 26. He was 73. Working with longtime partner bassist Robbie Shakespeare (who died in 2021), Dunbar was one half of the dynamic duo that provided the thrumming backbeat to reggae classics from the likes of Black Uhuru, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, Gregory Isaacs and countless others. Born Lowell Fillmore Dunbar on May 10, 1952 in Kingston, Jamaica, Dunbar got his start playing in a group called the Yardbrooms at age 15, before moving on to the group Skin Flesh and Bones and his first recording session with Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Upsetters' on the 1969 single "Night Doctor." That same year he also played on Dave and Ansel Collins' Double Barrel album, with the title track hitting the top of the U.K. singles chart. His life and career would change forever when he met Shakespeare in 1972, with the pair who shared similar musical sensibilities ranging from homegrown Jamaican riddims to Motown and soul music developing a close relationship with Tosh, with whom they recorded five albums. Sly and Robbie appeared on late great Tosh's beloved 1977 LP Equal Rights, as well as 1978's Bush Doctor and 1983's Mama Africa, which became Tosh's highest-charting album in the U.S. when it hit No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. The hard-working pair -- who are believed to have appeared on more than 200,000 tracks, including remixes and songs that sampled their work -- also had a long and fruitful working relationship with rock icon Dennis Brown, performing on more than a dozen albums by the "Money In My Pocket" singer and serving time in the Revolutionaries, the house band at Jamaica's legendary Channel One studio. Known as the Riddim Twins, the duo developed a number of signature grooves over their four-plus decade career, including the "rockers" rhythm, which helped them inject some energy into the popular 1970s and 80s "one drop" reggae rhythm. Working with Shakespeare, Dunbar carved a wide path through music, performing on a trio of Bob Dylan albums in the 1980s, as well as playing on albums by Joan Armatrading, Jackson Browne, The Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, Grace Jones, Yoko Ono, Sinead O'Connor and Carly Simon, among many others. "As one half of Sly & Robbie, Sly helped shape the sound of reggae and Jamaican music for generations," read a statement from his family posted on TMZ.com. "His extraordinary talent, innovation, and lasting contributions will never be forgotten. Sly's music, spirit, and legacy touched people around the world, and we are deeply grateful for the love and support during this difficult time." - Billboard, 1/26/26.