An L.A.-based fashion brand called Chrome Hearts has dropped a lawsuit against Neil Young over his use of his latest backing band which he created in 2024 and has played with ever since, The Chrome Hearts. First filed in 2025, the case claims that the name infringed on the name the company had used since 1988 for apparel, jewelry and accessories. However in a court filing on May 14, Chrome Hearts said it would voluntarily dismiss the case against Young and the other members of the band. The filing did not indicate whether the case had ended in a settlement agreement or had simply been dropped. Neither side has yet commented on the suit being dropped. For decades, Young toured and recorded off and on with the band Crazy Horse, often under the name Neil Young and Crazy Horse. In Sept. 2024, Young debuted The Chrome Hearts at FarmAid. The group released its debut album, Talkin to the Trees, in June 2025 and later went on a world tour. Young and The Chrome Hearts are set to release a live album later in May, and recently finished recording the band's second studio album -- both under the full "Chrome Hearts" name. - Billboard, 5/14/26...... 
The Beatles are getting back to where they once belonged with the world's first official Beatles fan experience is set to open at London's Savile Row, home to the band's famous 1969 rooftop concert, in 2027. On May 11, Apple Corps Ltd announced that they will be returning to 3 Savile Row in the heart of London's Mayfair district for a new fan experience and museum. The seven floors of the Georgian townhouse will include "never-seen-before material from Apple Corps' extensive archives, rotating exhibitions, fan store, and the recreation of the original studio where Let it Be (1970) was recorded," according to a press release. While a number of unofficial experiences exist in London, Liverpool and other key locations around the globe (including Hamburg, Germany), this is the first official experience managed by the band. The experience will open in 2027, with fans able to register for upcoming announcements at the museum's website. Since its inception in 1968, Apple Corps Ltd. has managed the group's business affairs and was originally based on Savile Row. In 1969, the group played their final-ever concert on the rooftop of the building, as captured in the Let It Be film and revisited in Peter Jackson's epic Get Back documentary. Apple Corps Ltd. is currently headquartered out of South Kensington, London. - Billboard, 5/11/26...... The estate of late Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick and music giant Universal Music Group are engaged in a legal battle in a Los Angeles court over a long-lost Beatles demo tape that was found in Emerick's house after his 2018 death. In June 1962 Emerick, just a teenager then, was employed as an apprentice sound engineer at EMI Studios (later renamed Abbey Road), when a then-little-known English rock band recorded a demo in the studio. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and drummer Pete Best laid down four tracks that day -- "Bsame Mucho," "Love Me Do," "PS, I Love You," and "Ask Me Why" -- on a magnetic recording tape, which was then shuttled over to record producer George Martin at EMI's headquarters on Manchester Square. After ditching Best for Ringo Starr, The Beatles broke out with "Love Me Do," launched Beatlemania, and became the most famous band of all time. Emerick rose with them, serving as chief engineer on iconic records like Abbey Road and becoming what Variety once called the "behind-the-scenes brains that helped shape the Beatles sound." Emerick held onto the demo tape, which had been sent to a nearby squash court where "tapes went to die." He kept it in his possession for decades, all the way until his 2018 death, when it was discovered among his possessions in his Laurel Canyon home. Now, six decades after it was first recorded, UMG say they want it back. Lawyers for Emerick's estate claim that they are the rightful owner of the tape and that was essentially thrown away, and that only Emerick saved it from destruction. UMG's attorneys contend it was always company property -- and that it wasn't his to save. "At issue in this action," the company's lawyers wrote in recent court filings, "is a highly valuable artifact of rock and roll history that was stolen." After a key court hearing earlier in May, the two sides are now finally headed for a showdown after a series of legal complications involving statute of limitations and paperwork. First, they'll submit briefs to the judge on key issues in the case, then head to trial in early 2027 if the dispute is still not resolved. Emerick passed away suddenly of a heart attack in 2018 at the age of 72, with Martin's son Giles Martin calling him one of the "finest and most innovative engineers to have graced a recording studio." McCartney himself eulogized him as someone who had been "always open to the many new ideas that we threw at him" during the later Beatles albums: "I'll always remember him with great fondness, and I know his work will be long remembered by connoisseurs of sound." While the 1962 Beatles demo tape is a rare and sought after item, another piece of Beatles history is apparently set to be sold off for scrap after there was "no interest" to re-home it. The mast of the ship the Salvor, used on the Mersey docks in the UK for decades, was used as the backdrop to the first ever official photograph of the Fab Four after Ringo Starr joined in 1962. The mast stayed at a central spot in Liverpool city centre for several decades after the photo, near the iconic Liver Buildings, but in 2020, it was moved due to roadworks and now faces the threat of being broken up and sold off as spare metal after Liverpool City Council said it had not been able to find any new home for it. The Council had previously said it had been open to offers for the mast, and some local campaigners, including former Liverpool Echo reporter Peter Elson, are working to find it a new home, but as it stands no suitable option has come forward. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 5/14/26...... In a new interview with the The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, Paul McCartney revealed that he is still baffled by "a lot of this influencer stuff" he sees online and doesn't "get" the appeal of it. Asked about his thoughts on modern-day trends and the rise of influencer culture that dominates social media, the 83-year-old rock icon revealed that it is something he doesn't get the hype around. "I think a lot of this influencer stuff I just don't really get it because I'm not that generation," he said. "But you can't help seeing it. My wife will be looking at Instagram and showing me something, and then one of those will come on. I think it's funny -- and I suppose it always happened -- but people who don't seem to be particularly talented are incredibly famous. Billions of hits and views." Sir Paul then quipped that he feels like he has "got to be careful about saying that" because he knows it makes him "sound very old-fashioned...Which I am." Macca's full interview can be viewed on YouTube. He'll release his new studio album The Boys of Dungeon Lane on May 29. - New Musical Express, 5/14/26...... John Lennon's eldest son Julian Lennon took to social media on May 10 to reveal that he has been diagnosed with coronary heart disease and told he is a pre-diabetic, and urged people to get checked for the disease "sooner rather than later." Julian, 63, posted a carousel of images on Instagram, and shared his hopes to raise awareness for the illness and wrote: "I urge you all to get checked out sooner rather than later. You never know what hidden health issues you may have, even after exercising and eating as much 'good/healthy' food as possible." The health update comes around six years after Lennon revealed that he underwent emergency surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his head, following a dermatologist noticing it and urging him to book a biopsy. The "Too Late For Goodbyes" was then given the all-clear and revealed that the incident came after a "very trying year" for him, and just five years after his mother died in 2015. In 2024, he announced another cancer scare, revealing that he underwent emergency surgery after being diagnosed with skin cancer. "The operation was a success," he told fans. "First of all, I'm very thankful to Dr Tess and Dr Tim for being able to coordinate this surgery at such short notice, but for once again, hopefully saving my life. One can never be too confident in circumstances like this, but we all believe that Dr Tim has saved the day So finger's crossed for now. He went in for the operation after it was discovered to be "cancerous", and later told his fans: "Hopefully we managed to remove all that was cancerous, but the mole is being sent off again, for a further/deeper analysis, and I'll have those results next week." - NME, 5/14/26...... 
Accepting the prestigious Glenn Gould Prize at the Great Canadian Casino Resort in Toronto on May 13, Elton John revealed that he has just finished recording a new album which is "so different" to all of his previous albums and, "so happy." John, 80, described the new LP as completely different to his more-than-30 previous albums, and said he began working on the record after retiring from touring in 2023 -- having played over 300 shows on the 'Farewell Yellow Brick Road' tour -- and dropping the collaborative album with Brandi Carlile Who Believes In Angels? in 2025. Work on the new material also followed on from the music icon contracting a serious eye infection in 2024 and revealing that he has "only limited vision in one eye." Sir Elton acknowledged how his recent struggles helped fuel the new album and discover a new approach to songwriting: "I've had eye trouble recently and I always make records by looking at lyrics and writing to lyrics, and so I'm kind of f---ed at the moment. "What my eye has given me is a chance of, at 80 years of age, completely reversing how I write. I'm writing melodies first, and lyrics coming second. I've never done that. And I've just done it. And I've just done an album, which is so different to anything I've ever done before, but it's so happy." He continued: "I'm so thrilled with it because it's given me another chance to make music. If don't listen to music, I'm dead. Music is my soul, my driving force. It is everything and has been everything to me all my life." The Glenn Gould Prize honours people who have made "a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts." Recipients are awarded $100,000, and the "Tiny Dancer" singer donated the sum back to the Glenn Gould Foundation. Meanwhile, John has just been named as one of the famous charitable individuals included in Time magazine's new Top 100 Philanthropists list. The magazine recognized Sir Elton and his husband, David Furnish, for their decades-long work fighting for a cure for HIV/AIDS via the Elton John AIDS Foundation, as well as Willie Nelson who made the list for cofounding the annual benefit concert Farm Aid and raising millions over the course of his career for disaster relief, veterans and those affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. - NME/Billboard, 5/14/26...... Speaking of Willie Nelson, the veteran country/pop superstar has joined Dolly Parton with a song on Billboard's Hot Country chart in each decade since the 1960's. Nelson, now 93, reached the milestone through his collaborations with Kacey Musgraves on her new single "Uncertain, TX." Willie's latest chart acheivement comes 64 years and two months after he first reached the Hot Country Songs chart with "Willingly," which hit No. 10 in 1962. He tallied two top 10s that decade, along with 13 in the '70s, 24 in the '80s and one each in the '90s and 2000s. Of those, 21 hit No. 1. He most recently charted with a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," featuring Paula Nelson, his daughter (No. 36 peak, 2019). - Billboard, 5/12/26...... Michael Jackson's daughter Paris Jackson has won a major court ruling in a bitter legal battle with the executors of her late dad's estate. In a decision handed down in April, a Los Angeles judge sided with Paris and ruled that $625,000 in bonuses paid to three outside law firms by executors John Branca and John McClain were improper and must be "returned to the estate." The executors had argued that the payments, made in 2018, were fair compensation for "extraordinary success" and that they "incentivize hard work" by lawyers. But the judge said a more detailed explanation was necessary to support more than half a million dollars in bonuses. "On the evidence presented, the bonus amounts paid appear arbitrary -- what Mr. Branca determined was appropriate," Judge Mitchell Beckloff wrote in the ruling. However the judge praised Branca and McClain's success running the Jackson estate, saying they had "provided exceptional services" to Jackson's heirs: "There can be no dispute that under the expertise of the executors, this estate has transformed from teetering on the brink of bankruptcy to the financial powerhouse that it is today." In a statement to Billboard, the executors highlighted the judge's praise of their work and stressed that the judge "did not in any way say that the executors had made any inappropriate payments to themselves." "Ultimately, while we disagree with the decision, we fully respect it and plan to move forward accordingly," the executors wrote. A spokesperson for Paris, meanwhile, called the ruling a "massive win" for the Jackson family that would allow them to "finally get transparency and accountability measures Paris has fought for." Meanwhile, MJ now has a Billboard Hot 200 Top 10 album in each decade with his greatest hits album, Number Ones. One the Billboard 200 chart dated May 16, the album climbed seven spots to No. 6, becoming Jackson's 11th top 10 and his first new top 10 of the 2020s. Number Ones was first released in 2003 and jumped into the top 10 on the latest chart following the continued buzz generated by the Jackson biopic Michael. - Billboard, 5/13/26...... Journey have added 40 more dates to their 2026 "Final Frontier" North American tour. With the tour slated to ramp up again after a brief break on May 15 in Tampa, Fla., the veteran classic rockers announced the addition of 40 more shows on May 12, which will come on top of a previously announced run of 28 gigs. The new gigs will start with a Sept. 12 gig at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and are currently slated to wind down with a Nov. 28 show in the long-running group's hometown of San Francisco at the Chase Center. The news comes several days after a Rolling Stone magazine report on the band that featured quotes from current frontman Arnel Pineda -- who joined the group in 2007, replacing original lead singer Steve Perry -- saying he almost didn't join Journey on their farewell tour and that they didn't consult him before booking the 60-date outing. They appeared to settle things and have been on the road this spring, with the final go-round slated to keep the "Don't Stop Believin'" rockers touring through the end of the year. - Billboard, 5/13/26...... 
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's son Jack Osbourne has revealed that a biopic about his parents "will absolutely happen" and should be released sometime in 2028. An Ozzy/Sharon film was first announced in 2021, and is set to tell the story of the Prince Of Darkness and his wife/manager, Sharon. It is being written by Oscar-nominee Lee Hall (Rocketman, Billy Elliott), and developed by Sony Pictures and Polygram Entertainment. In Aug. 2025, it was reported that the project was still in the works after Ozzy died the previous month, aged 76. Jack then confirmed in January that a "phenomenal" lead actor was attached. Taking to his YouTube channel, Jack said: "I can tell you this: we are moving ahead. I was on calls today about it. The script is right there. We are good. This movie will absolutely happen." Regarding the release date, he added: "Realistically -- I mean, look, we're already halfway through '26 -- it probably won't come out until '28. But you never know. But, yeah, we're full steam ahead. We're about to start going out and getting a director attached. So, fingers crossed. I'm really excited. It's very much been a labour of love, of course. But, yeah, I'm excited -- I'm excited for everyone to see this film." The Ozzy and Sharon movie project comes in the wake of another music biopic, Michael, based on Michael Jackson, which has broken box office records upon its release, with a sequel already being planned. - NME, 5/14/26...... Blondie's Debbie Harry has signed on to play the mother of Pamela Anderson's character in a new movie comedy called Maitreya. The film follows a rising star (Anderson) in the New Age Healing community who is about to head off to a conference in India when she receives a call from her estranged sister, Monica: their father is dying. Rather than stay home with him, Maitreya decides to bring her entire family -- including her mother Barbara (Harry) -- to the conference and put her New Age healing theories to the test (all while surreptitiously gathering material for her next book)." The movie will be directed by Emmy-nominee and Portlandia co-creator Jonathan Krisel, with shooting scheduled to begin at the end of 2026. Although known primarily as the singer of one of New Wave/Punk's most famous bands, Harry is no stranger to the silver screen -- from her cameo in the iconic 1982 hip-hop film Wild Style, to a role in director David Cronenberg's sci-fi horror classic Videodrome (1983), as well as acting gigs in John Waters' Hairspray (1988), Cop Land (1997), Deuces Wild (2002) and Elegy (2008), among many others. She recently made a cameo on TV's Saturday Night Live, where she introduced host/musical guest Olivia Rodrigo's performance. - Billboard, 5/11/26...... Deep Purple released "Arrogant Boy," the first single from their upcoming album SPLAT!, on May 13. The chunky, supercharged track sees the band attempt to capture the speed and power of their early years. Frontman Ian Gillan has said: "This is the story of Billy who couldn't read or write. He is unhappy with things, so he speaks up, and finds a way of irritating, one way or another, the elite. And I can't think of anything more fun than irritating the elite. It would be a joyous exercise for me every morning after coffee." SPLAT! will drop on July 3, and "Arrogant Boy" can be previewed on YouTube. - NME, 5/13/26...... Keith Richards has confirmed The Rolling Stones will not tour in 2026 but hinted that the band could hit the road next year. When asked now about a potential tour this year as Richards and the other Stones promote their upcoming album Foreign Tongues, Richards told the Associated Press: "We can talk next year. At the moment, we're just sort of saying, we've finished the record [and we're] considering what to do after. Pretty soon, but not this year." In late 2025, the Stones scrapped plans for a UK and European stadium tour in 2026 because Richards was unable to "commit" to it. The Stones officially announced their new record Foreign Tongues earlier in May, which is set to feature guest appearances from Paul McCartney, Robert Smith, Steve Winwood and the band's late drummer Charlie Watts. The 14-track Foreign Tongues will include he lead single "In The Stars" and the raw, bluesy "Rough And Twisted," and it will be released on July 10 via Polydor/Universal Music. NME, 5/12/26...... 
Rod Stewart has told King Charles that he "put that little ratbag" Donald Trump "in his place." Speaking to the monarch at an event which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) on May 11, Sir Rod praised the King for his recent visit to the US and the summit with US president Trump. "You were superb. Absolutely superb. You put that little ratbag in his place," Stewart said, to which the King appeared to laugh. The comments from Stewart come just months after the "Maggie Mae" singer hit out at Trump over his false claims about British troops in Afghanistan, and urged for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to force the President to apologise. At the time, Trump questioned whether NATO allies would come to America's aid, and claimed some nations avoided serving on the front line in Afghanistan. "It hurts me badly, deeply, when I read that draft dodger Trump has criticised our troops in Afghanistan for not being on the front line," Stewart said in a video shared to social media afterwards, going on to highlight the scale of British deaths during the conflict, where 457 UK service personnel were killed. "We lost over 400 of our guys Think of their parents. Think about it. And Trump calls them almost like cowards. It's unbearable," he said. Before then, Stewart spoke about his relationship with Trump, who is his former neighbour, and said that while they used to be close, "since he became President, he became another guy. Somebody I didn't know." He added that Trump's role in Israel's war in Gaza made a potential reconnection difficult: "No, I can't anymore. As long as he's selling arms to the Israelis -- and he still is. How's that war ever gonna stop?" In Mar. 2025, Stewart also weighed in on a confrontational meeting between Trump and Ukranian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington, D.C., stressing that "we must keep supporting the Ukrainians." - NME, 5/12/26...... Van Morrison has announced he'll play a five-night residency at the brand new British Airways ARC venue at Olympia, London, on Sept. 23, 24, 27, 28 and 29. All the Van Morrison gigs will be fully seated, with tickets going on sale on May 15. The shows will mark the first residency at the venue after it opens its doors on June 16. "We are thrilled to welcome Van Morrison as the very first artist to have a residency at our brand-new venue," said Lucy Noble, SVP UK venues AEG Presents in a new statement. "The shows are set to be incredible." The London gigs come following the singer-songwriter recently dropping the new album Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge, which sees him make a return to blues and cover tracks from huge names of the genre like B.B.King and Buddy Guy. In April, the "Moondance" singer took home the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Jazz FM Awards, and later this summer he is set to play at multiple festivals including the iconic Montreux Jazz Festival alongside Nick Cave, Lewis Capaldi and others. - NME, 5/11/26...... Blues and soul musician Clarence Carter, best known for the 1970's hits "Patches" and "Strokin'," died on May 14 of natural causes, according to a Bill Carpenter, a spokesman for his former wife and fellow singer, Candi Staton. He was 90. Mr. Carter, a self-taught guitarist who was born blind in Montgomery, Ala., and majored in music at Alabama State College, had his biggest hit in 1970 with "Patches," a plaintive tale about a poor country boy who must become a man and run his family's farm after his father dies that peaked at No. 4 on the hit parade. His 1970 Patches album was also his highest-charting on the Billboard Hot 200, peaking at No. 44. But he specialized in exuberantly raunchy songs like "Strokin'," a funky, talking ode to sex ("Have you ever made love just before breakfast?" he asks) that was too explicit for commercial radio but became a standard on nightclub jukeboxes and was featured in Eddie Murphy's 1996 remake of The Nutty Professor. Another favorite was "Making Love on the Dark End of the Street," in which Mr. Carter narrates a long, cheerful account of how humans and other creatures will go to extremes in the pursuit of passion. His other songs about illicit love included "Slip Away," a No. 6 Hot 100 hit in 1968, and "Back Door Santa." Mr. Carter recorded some of his biggest hits at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala., where Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and other soul greats recorded. In later years, he recorded for the now-defunct Ichiban Records and his own Cee Gee Entertainment. Mr. Carter and Staton were married briefly the 1970s before they divorced. They had a son, Clarence Carter Jr. In a 2012 interview with The Montgomery Advertiser, the elder Mr. Carter said, "I don't know how much longer I'm going to be going, but I'm going to keep going until something tells me it's time to quit or Old Man Death comes to run me down." - Billboard, 5/14/26...... 
Jack Douglas, one of the hardest working rock producers of the 1970s and 1980s best known for working with the likes of John Lennon, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and many others, died on May 11 from complications from lymphoma. He was 80. "As many of you who follow him know, he produced great music, and lived a colorful life," Mr. Douglas's family wrote in a Facebook post. "We know that he touched many of your lives; we would love to hear more about that in the comments. He will be missed," they added. Born in the Bronx on Nov. 6, 1945, Mr. Douglas began his music career as a folk musician in the early 1960s and spent time as a songwriter working on Robert F. Kennedy's 1964 senatorial campaign before pivoting to studio work at the then-new Record Plant in Manhattan. He quickly rose from janitor to working behind the boards and engineering albums by everyone from the New York Dolls to Alice Cooper, Miles Davis, Montrose, Mountain and the Who. Mr. Douglas became friendly with former Beatle John Lennon during the recording of his Imagine solo album in 1971, a relationship that would bear fruit a decade later in 1980 when Mr. Douglas produced Lennon and wife Yoko Ono's fifth album, Double Fantasy, the former Fab's final album before his murder in December of that year. Carving a wide, impressive swath through rock in his prime, he worked on a number of Aerosmith's most beloved, multi-platinum 1970s LPs, including 1974's Get Your Wings, 1975's Toys in the Attic (which featured signature hits "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk This Way") and 1976's Rocks. In addition to his long relationship with Aerosmith, Mr. Douglas also had a lengthy association with Cheap Trick, helming some of their most beloved albums, including their 1977 debut, their landmark 1978 Live At Budokan album (and Budokan II), as well as 1980's Found All the Parts, 1985's Standing on the Edge, 2003's Special One and 2006's Rockford. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Mr. Douglas worked on albums by Cooper, Patti Smith, Blue Öyster Cult, Starz, the Joe Perry Project, The Knack, Graham Parker and, infamously, the Bee Gees/Peter Frampton soundtrack to the disastrous 1978 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie musical. Mr. Douglas kept working throughout the 80s and into the new millennium, helming projects by Zebra, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash's side project, Snake Pit, as well as grunge bands Local H and Clutch. He also reunited with Aerosmith in 2004 for their blues covers album, Honkin' on Bobo, and then again on their most recent album of originals, 2012's Music From Another Dimension! - Billboard, 5/13/26...... Actress Jennifer Harmon, who had the lead role in the 1960s/70s NBC soap opera How to Survive a Marriage, and who also appeared on One Live to Live, died May 9 in New York City. She was 82. A native of Pasadena, Calif., Ms. Harmon originally began her career onstage with the Broadway production of "You Can't Take It With You" in 1965, and later landed the lead actress role in How to Survive a Marriage, which she maintained during its entire 335 episode run in 1974 and 1975. Next, the actress played the antagonist Cathy Craig in the ABC soap "One Life to Live," from 1976 to 1978. Ms. Harmon received a Daytime Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actress in a drama seriesfor her performance on the show in 1978. Her other soap opera roles included brief arcs on Guiding Light, Another World and Loving. A longtime New York resident, Ms. Harmon appeared in 21 Broadway productions during her career, with her last appearance taking place in 2011's "Other Desert Cities," in which she was an understudy for actress Stockard Channing, before later taking over as a replacement. - Variety, 5/12/26
Ringo Starr's new country-themed album Long Long Road has debuted in the top 10 of Billboard's Album Sales Chart dated May 9 after its Apr. 24 release. Long Long Road becomes the former Beatle's second top 10 on the Album Sales Chart, which launched in 1991, following last year's Look Up. Long Long Road debuted on a total of five Billboard charts, including Top Album Sales (No. 9), Indie Store Album Sales (No. 11), Americana/Folk Albums (No. 15), Vinyl Albums (No. 15) and Top Country Albums (No. 40). Starr's new album marks his 22nd solo album and his second co-written and produced by T Bone Burnett, following Look Up, with collaborations from the likes of Sheryl Crow, Sarah Jarosz, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle and St. Vincent. - Billboard, 5/8/26...... In related news, Ringo's first ever debut with Paul McCartney, "Home To Us," has been shared on YouTube. The track is the second to be shared from Macca's new album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which arrives on May 29, following on from the powerful nostalgic lead single "Days We Left Behind." After that lead single dropped, reports started to emerge that Ringo would appear on the record as a guest drummer, and at a special fan album playback event at Abbey Road Studios on May 5, Sir Paul confirmed that rumours were true. He played the full album exclusively for the 50 lucky fans in attendance, and confirmed that the song with Starr was called "Home To Us" and set for release on May 8. "Home To Us" is the first music the two Beatles icons have made together as a duet, and also features Sharleen Spiteri and The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde on guest vocals. McCartney plays the majority of instruments on the song -- much like in his 1970 solo debut album, McCartney -- and it is produced by Andrew Watt. McCartney will take the stage on the season finale of NBC's Saturday Night Live on May 16 to perform selections from The Boys of Dungeon Lane, his fifth appearance as SNL's musical guest, with Emmy winner and former SNL player Will Ferrell hosting. - NME, 5/6/26...... 
Eric Clapton decided to end his gig early at Madrid's Movistar Arena on May 7 after a fan in one of the front rows hurled a vinyl LP at the veteran rocker which hit him in the chest. The guitarist, playing the Spanish capital as part of his current European tour, had just finished a rendition of his U.S. 1980 hit "Cocaine," and had been scheduled to return for an encore of the blues standard "Before You Accuse Me" in his 13-song set, but in the end he chose not to retake the stage. "Very sad indeed. What kind of idiot does that?," one fan posted on X/Twitter along with footage of Clapton's show. Clapton, who released his latest album Meanwhile in 2024, is set to play a huge one-off show in the UK this summer, at the Sandringham Estate on Aug. 23. He will be joined on the bill by Ronnie Wood and His Band, as well as Andy Fairweather Low and The Low Riders. More fan-shot footage of the Madrid show can be streamed on YouTube. - New Musical Express, 5/9/26...... Michael Jackson's classic 1982 LP Thriller has zoomed from 48-7 following the release of the Michael biopic in movie theaters on Apr. 24, with the Michael soundtrack debuting at No. 8 on Billboard's Album Sales Chart dated May 9. The King of Pop's solo song catalog registered a collective 137.5 million official on-demand streams for the week of Apr. 24-30 in the US, according to Luminate, up 146% and more than doubling his previous career high. Thriller's No. 7 debut marks the album's best showing since reaching the same position in Dec. 2022 after a 40th anniversary reissue. Excluding that celebration, Thriller last ranked higher on the chart dated June 2, 1984, at No. 6. Just weeks before, the blockbuster, wrapped 37 weeks at No. 1 across 1983-1984, still the most weeks at No. 1 by an album by a singular artist in the chart's history. It also charted a total of seven Top 40 singles from 1983-84. Prior to the Michael era, the late icon, who died in 2009, recorded a high of 53.7 million for the week of Oct. 25-31, 2019, spurred by the now-annual Halloween resurgence for "Thriller." Michael covers Jackson's life from 1966 to 1988, including time with both The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons groups with his brothers. As such, those acts' catalogs experience massive increases too, with the former's songs pulling 10.1 million streams in the tracking week, up 135% from the previous week's 4.3 million. The Jacksons, meanwhile, surge to 4.9 million clicks for their tracks, up 57% from 2.1 million last week. At the box office, Michael has also generated a huge commercial response. The film, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jackson's nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role, grossed $97 million in its first weekend in the U.S. and Canada and $218.8 million worldwide, both the highest ever opening figures for a biopic. - Billboard, 5/6/26...... Ronnie Wood has revealed that he has a tribute to Beach Boys' Brian Wilson on the new Rolling Stones album, Foreign Tongues. Speaking on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Wood revealed that he learned of Wilson's passing while in the studio working on Foreign Tongues, and wanted to play something from the heart that expressed how he felt after hearing the news. "I was so moved that day, and disappointed and sad, I had so much feeling because Brian Wilson died. I'll never forget," he said, going on to reveal that he wrote a nine-minute guitar solo which helped him channel his emotions. That solo was later cut down to around five-minutes, and now features in a song called "Back In Your Life." "That week Sly Stone died too, I thought, 'Oh, no. It's so sad'. It came out through my guitar, the feeling, in just one take. I didn't do that, the guitar played itself," he added. The 14-track Foreign Tongues is set for release on July 10 via Polydor/Universal Music. Wood's Tonight Show interview can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 5/8/26...... 
Cher and her frequent songwriting collaborator Diane Warren have scored a number of chart hits over the years, including such classics as "If I Could Turn Back Time," "Just Like Jesse James" and "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," and on May 8 Warren reposted an Instagram post which Cher made earlier: "You're annoying but U write great songs." The post included a seemingly recent smiling pic of the duo hanging out, along with Warren's reaction to the star's backhanded praise: "haha thnx Cher." The singer's Warren-penned and co-produced massive 1989 hit "If I Could Turn Back Time" rose to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and they've teamed up for more than a dozen other classics, including the Golden Globe-winning Burlesque soundtrack hit "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," the country-leaning 1989 song "Just Like Jesse James," as well as 1991's "Save Up All Your Tears," 1987's "Perfection," "Does Anybody Really Fall in Love Anymore?," "Love and Understanding" and several others. Cher's last album of original material was 2013's dance-heavy Closer to the Truth, and her most recent project was her 2023 Christmas album, which debuted atop the Top Holiday Albums chart in 2023. Meanwhile, the family drama between Cher and her son, Elijah Blue Allman, continues as Allman filed a court document in the Superior Court of Los Angeles on May 5 asking a judge to slash the spousal support payments he makes to his estranged wife, Marieangela King. Elijah claims the reason is his mother stopped supporting him financially. Allman, 49, said he used to receive $10,000 a month from Cher, but that money allegedly stopped coming in Aug. 2021, according to PageSix.com. He told the court he now only receives $10,000 monthly from a trust tied to his late father, Gregg Allman. After taxes, he says his income works out to about $6,790 a month. Right now, Allman is required to pay King $6,500 a month in spousal support. His lawyers are asking the court to cut that amount down to $1,651 monthly. In the filing, Allman also accused King, 38, of making "no efforts to become self-supporting" since the couple split in 2021. The pair married in 2013. Allman first filed for divorce in 2021, but the case was later dismissed after the couple reconciled. King then filed for divorce herself in Apr. 2025. Their next court hearing is set for July 17. The latest legal battle comes as Cher continues trying to gain conservatorship over her son due to ongoing addiction and mental health struggles. - Billboard/Canoe.com, 5/8/26...... Barry Manilow shared a new version of his 1992 album track "Another Life" on YouTube on May 8. Co-written by Andrew Hill and Preston Sturges, "Another Life - 2026" explores the distance between former lovers, as one struggles to come to terms with the relationship's end. Arranged by Manilow and longtime collaborator Michael Lloyd, the new 2026 recording retains the song's wistful core while deepening its sense of nostalgia. Manilow was in his late 40s when he first recorded the song. He's now in his 80s and has had to confront a serious health challenge, giving the song added meaning. Manilow first recorded the song for his 1992 box set The Complete Collection and Then Some... The song wasn't officially released as a single, but as an album track, it reached No. 33 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The new single follows Manilow's first public appearance since undergoing surgery for lung cancer. On Apr. 23, Manilow appeared at the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Fame gala in New York City to accept the President's Award, recognizing his iconic work in advertising, including writing famous jingles for McDonalds and other companies, before he launched his recording career in the early 1970s. "Another Life - 2026" is the final preview from Barry's forthcoming album What a Time, his first collection of nearly all-original material in almost 15 years. The album is due June 5. After his recovery is complete, the singer says he plans to tour throughout 2026. - Billboard, 5/8/26...... 
A new Ian Curtis exhibition will open in New York this summer and will feature rare archival material, including handwritten Joy Division lyrics. Held at the Voltz Clarke Gallery between June 25 and July 22, "Ian Curtis: Insight" will bring pieces from the late singer's archive to the United States for the first time and offer a new perspective on the UK's iconic Manchester artist. On display will be an "intimate and revealing" selection of handwritten lyrics, photographs, personal letters, ephemera and artefacts. They are being brought over from the The John Rylands Library at The University of Manchester, where they are housed as part of the British Pop Archive. Many of the pieces from the archive have never come to the US before, and organizers say that bringing them across the pond now, 46 years after Curtis' death, proves how his music continues to resonate with people across the globe. "This exhibition is part of The University of Manchester's remit to share our Special Collections globally," said Professor Christopher Pressler, University Librarian and Director of The John Rylands Library. Curtis and his bandmates first founded Joy Division in Salford, England back in 1976 under the name Warsaw. They changed their name to Joy Division in early 1978, and stayed together until the frontman took his own life in May 1980, after battling depression and epilepsy. Bandmates Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris went on to form New Order after his death, and have made numerous tributes to the late singer over the years. Both Joy Division and New Order will enter the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as a single act during a ceremony in Los Angeles in November, following previous nominations in 2023 and 2025. - NME, 5/8/26...... During a recent interview on CBS Sunday Morning on May 3, Sting praised the "extraordinary work ethic" of his six children, and doubled-down on not passing his fortune down to them. Sting has two children with his first wife, son Joe Sumner and daughter Fuschia Sumner, as well as four kids with his second wife, Trudie Styler, Mickey, Jake, Eliot and Giacomo Sumner. "I think that's a form of abuse that I hope I'm never guilty of," Sting said, adding that all of his kids have been blessed with an "extraordinary work ethic," whether from their famous dad's DNA or from him simply being very frank about his financial planning. "Guys, you got to work," Sting says he told his kids. "I'm spending our money. I'm paying for your education. You've got shoes on your feet. Go to work. That's not cruel. I think there's a kindness there and a trust that they will make their own way. They're tough, my kids." Speaking about his stage musical," The Last Ship," in which he pays tribute to the hard-working shipbuilders fallen upon hard times in his home city of Newcastle, the 74-year-old musician said he took to heart the values of those working-class folks. "The working class works and wants to work. I'm one of those people, I love to work," he said. Sting's "3.0" US tour kicked off at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla. on May 6. His CBS Sunday Morning interview can be streamed on YouTube. - Billboard, 5/6/26...... Stanley Simmons, the group comprised of the sons of KISS' Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, have announced their debut album. Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons first revealed in early 2025 that they were working together on the project, saying at that time that they had written and recorded 10 songs together. Now, they have revealed that their album Dancing While The World Is Ending will be released on Aug. 28, and they have given a taste of it with the singles "Body Down" and the title track on YouTube. Stanley Simmons played their first ever live show on May 4 in San Diego, Calif., with followed by three further shows in the Golden State. As for KISS, the launch date for their Las Vegas avatar shows has been tentatively scheduled for 2028. Production will be overseen by Pophouse Entertainment, the founding investor behind ABBA's Voyage show. - NME, 5/4/26...... 
Deep Purple have confirmed their new studio album SPLAT! will arrive via EarMusic Records on July 3. Rather than leaning on their legacy, the group say the new material captures the same energy that defined their classic era. Frontman Ian Gillan said the current line-up feels like a modern reflection of the band's 1970s peak. He said: "Where we are now with this incarnation of Deep Purple feels very much like a very 'now' version of Deep Purple as it was in the seventies." For SPLAT!, he band once again worked with legendary producer Bob Ezrin -- known for his work with Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, KISS and Lou Reed -- crafting what they describe as "their heaviest album in years," recorded live together in the studio. Gillan says the new songs sit comfortably alongside some of their most iconic work. "I have to say, now we are very much back in with material that is compatible with 'Highway Star', 'Smoke on the Water', 'Lazy' -- the dynamics, the balance, and the fun of the music we made from '69 to '73," he said. At the center of SPLAT! is a concept developed by Gillan, exploring the end of humanity not as destruction but as transformation -- a shift beyond physical existence. SPLAT! marks the latest chapter in a career that has seen the band sell more than 120 million albums since forming in 1968. The band will support the album with an extensive 2026 touring schedule, including 86 shows across 28 countries on three continents. Gillan said the group are thriving as they enter this next phase, adding: "Deep Purple is in a great place right now." SPLAT! will be released in multiple formats, including CD, digital, standard 2LP, limited purple and limited transparent yellow vinyl editions, along with a Limited Vinyl Box Set with 2LP+CD+3x10inch and 7inch formats. Deep Purple will mount an 8-date UK tour behind the new record in November. - Music-News.com, 5/6/26...... Veteran rock drummer Carmine Appice has spoken out about the rumours that Led Zeppelin asked him to join after John Bonham's death in 1980. Speaking on the Talk Louder podcast, Appice confirmed that he was aware of the rumours at the time that he was aware of the speculation he would replace Bonham, but says he was never approached by the band in any formal capacity. Appice recalled that he had heard that it might come down to a choice between himself and Cozy Powell of The Jeff Beck Group, but that even if he had been asked, he would have been unable to accept, as he was on tour with Rod Stewart at the time. "I would've, but I was with Rod," Appice explained. "It's not like I was with nobody, we'd just finished doing six nights at the Forum [in Los Angeles]." "So, Rod said to me, 'Are you gonna join Led Zeppelin?' I said, 'Not that I know of.' I said, 'I know there's rumours, but I never got a call or nothing.' He said, 'Oh, that's good. Let's keep [the rumours] going. There's rumours that I'm gonna retire, so let's keep it going. We'll just sell more tickets.' I said, 'OK.' So that's what we did. But I was never asked." Bonham passed away on Sept. 25, 1980 at the age of 32 after aspirating vomit following heavy alcohol consumption. In the end, Zeppelin chose not to replace him, feeling he was irreplaceable, and they disbanded the group shortly afterward. Phil Collins filled in on drums for the metal icons' appearance at Live Aid in 1985, while Bonham's son Jason Bonham has played at the few subsequent Led Zep shows, including their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1995 and at the huge Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert in London's O2 in 2007. In addition to his time with Stewart, Appice has also sat behind the kit for Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and Beck, Bogert & Appice. Appice's full Talk Louder interview can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 5/4/26...... 
Police were called to the Los Angeles home of The Four Seasons lead singer Franki Valli on the evening of May 3, according to TMZ.com. A report claimed that someone had violated a restraining order related to a domestic dispute, an LAPD spokesperson told People magazine. The "My Eyes Adored You" singer was granted a three-year restraining order against his son Francesco Valli in Apr. 2024. According to dispatch audio obtained by People, a 38-year-old man was "banging on the door demanding entry." L.A. police officers, including a police helicopter, responded to the home and found no evidence of a crime. The air unit then cleared the scene. Then less than a minute later, another call was generated from the address for a "family dispute - restraining order violation." "This is a private family matter, and it was resolved before the authorities arrived," a rep for Valli told People. The restraining order was granted after Francesco attempted to break into his father's property in 2024. Valli's younger son Emilio claimed that Francesco "repeatedly physically threatened to harm or kill" him and his father. In the filing, he noted that threats like this had been happening for "several months" but had escalated since Valli financially cut off Francesco. Francesco was ordered to have no contact with Emilio or Valli and to stay at least 100 yards away from their homes, cars and workplaces. The restraining order is set to expire on Apr. 29, 2027. Valli shares Francesco and twins Emilio and Brando with his third wife, Randy Clohessy. Valli had three daughters, Celia, Antonia and Francine, with his first wife, Mary Mandel. Celia and Francine died in separate incidents in 1980. - Music-News.com, 5/7/26...... Alex Ligertwood, the Scottish singer best known for his work with Santana, died at his Santa Monica, Calif. home on Apr. 30. He was 79. "It's with great sadness and heartache to announce the passing of my sweet dear Alex Ligertwood," his wife Shawn Brogan wrote in a statement. "Alex died peacefully in his sleep with his doggy Bobo by his side. [He] was loved by so many. If you knew him, you loved him. He touched so many with his extraordinary voice. He was all heart and soul." Ligertwood played with a wide range of artists, but is best remembered for his stints as lead vocalist with Santana between 1979 and 1994. His soulful voice helped to define that era of the Latin rock band, featuring on albums including Marathon (1979), Zebop! (1981) and Sacred Fire: Live In South America (1993). He sang on some of the band's most beloved tracks, including "Winning," "Hold On" and "You Know That I Love You," during a period when Santana pivoted to more of an AOR style. Born in Glasgow on Dec. 18, 1946, Ligertwood began playing skiffle in the 1950s and joined the band The Senate, and prior to joining Santana, he also worked alongside The Jeff Beck Group and Average White Band, building a reputation as a standout vocalist. In recent years, he continued to perform live and he released a solo album Outside The Box in 2019, and had performed his final show just a few weeks before his passing, capping a career that spanned six decades. - NME, 5/4/26...... 
Media mogul Ted Turner, who pioneered the modern 24-hour news culture when he launched the CNN channel in 1980, died on May 6. He was 87. Mr. Turner launched Cable News Network as the first dedicated rolling news channel, which soon became a central part of the media landscape. The network initially faced scepticism and struggles, being mocked as the "Chicken Noodle Network" in its early years by those who thought it would not succeed. But the channel proved its worth by providing speedy and continuous updates of stories like the assassination attempt on US Pres. Ronald Reagan in 1981, and the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986. Then it truly came of age with its live rolling coverage from Iraq during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. But CNN was far from Turner's only outlet. He began his career by taking over the successful family billboard company when his father took his own life, then bought a radio station in Atlanta, Ga. Within a decade, that station had become the foundation of the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) and its boss was one of the biggest media moguls in the US. He was also known for his brash personality, which earned him the nicknames "the Mouth of the South" and "Captain Outrageous." He even lived in CNN's headquarters for a number of years, often walking around the newsroom in his bath robe, "eager to debate the day's news," according to current CNN CEO/chairman Mark Thompson. Born Robert Edward Turner III was in Cincinnati on Nov. 19, 1938, Mr. Turner grew up mostly in Savannah, Ga. The foundation of his broadcasting empire was a money-bleeding UHF station, then WTCG, in Atlanta, which he bought in 1970 for $2.5 million. Beyond the media, Mr. Turner was a world-class yachtsman, winning the America's Cup in 1977. In 1983, a Rupert Murdoch-sponsored yacht collided with Mr. Turner's boat in an Australian race, which led Mr. Turner to challenge Murdoch to a fist fight. Mr. Turner also owned sport properties including the Atlanta Braves baseball team, Atlanta Hawks basketball team and Atlanta Thrashers ice hockey team. Mr. Turner's television empire also included the TBS and TNT channels, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network. He made a short-lived, ill-fated $1.5 billion acquisition of the MGM film studios in 1985. He went on to buy film and TV companies Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema in the 1990s, before his company merged with Time Warner. He eventually sold his company to Time Warner in a fateful deal that wiped out a lot of his fortune and was seen as something that took his power away in the media. He then became a major philanthropist, donating $1 billion to the United Nations and millions more to environmental causes, and promoted and invested in clean energy. He was married to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 until 2001. In 2018, Mr. Turner revealed he had Lewy body dementia, a degenerative nerve disease. In an Instagram post on May 7, Jane Fonda paid tribute to Mr. Turner: "He swept into my life, a gloriously handsome, deeply romantic, swashbuckling pirate and I've never been the same," the 88-year-old actress wrote. "He needed me. No one had ever let me know they needed me, and this wasn't your average human being that needed me, this was the creator of CNN, and Turner Classic Movies, who had won the America's Cup as the world's greatest sailor. He had a big life, a brilliant mind and a soaring sense of humor." Survivors include two children from his first marriage, Laura and Teddy; three children from his second marriage, Rhett, Beau and Jennie; 14 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. - BBC.com, 5/6/26.
On May 4 the Eagles added more 2026 dates to their Sphere residency in Las Vegas, extending their run as the artist with the most dates overall at the innovative immersive venue to 64 shows. The legendary California country rock band kicked off their latest Sphere stint in Sept. 2024, adding dates a handful at a time and setting the record for the most shows with the announcement of the February dates in Oct. 2025 at 52. The previous record belonged to Dead & Co. at 48 shows. They began their 2026 Sphere residency on Jan. 23, playing a total of 14 shows in January, February, March and April. The new dates will extend their run into the fall: Sept. 18-19, Nov. 13-14 and Nov. 27-28. The current lineup includes sole remaining original member Don Henley along with bassist Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh, Vince Gill and the late Glenn Frey's son Deacon Frey. Meanwhile, Henley remarked about how "very different" the band's recent show at the 55th Annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 2 was from performing in the Sphere. "This is very different from the Sphere," Henley quipped to laughs and cheers from the daytime NO crowd, who were very grateful to be under blue skies and sunshine on that day versus the two previous days of rain and muddy fields at Jazz Fest. "We got some sunshine up in here," he added. In a pivot from their Sphere set, the Eagles returned to their traditional opening number of "Seven Bridges Road" instead of the bombastic Vegas opener of "Hotel California," which instead kicked off the final three songs of the robust 19-song setlist. The most notable omission of the final songs from the setlist was "Desperado," the title track from their 1973 album, and when the band wrapped up about 25 minutes earlier than the schedule had promised, fans were hopeful they might return for the Henley ballad -- but the stage gear being broken down behind them proved otherwise. "We've been playing these songs for you for about 53 years now, and we hope to continue to do that," Henley said onstage. And most importantly, the sold-out crowd in the Crescent City got sunshine. - Billboard, 5/4/26...... Great news for Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers fans has turned out to be not so great for Bruce Springsteen fans in the City of Brotherly Love. After the Sixers advanced to the second round of the NBA finals by beating the Boston Celtics in a playoff series for the first time in 44 years -- besting their rivals 109-100 in game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series on May 2 and becoming just the 14th team in league history to come back from a 3-1 deficit -- The Boss and the E Street Band have reshuffled their "Land of Hope & Dreams" North American tour. The original E Street Band date was squeezed in between a run of New York shows, including a show on May 5 in Elmont, N.Y. bookended by the first of two shows at Madison Square Garden on May 11 (with a second one on May 16) and a stop at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on May 14. The Philly show will now come after what was supposed to be the E Street Band's May 27 finale at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. "Due to the NBA and NHL playoff schedule, the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert at Xfinity Mobile Arena has been rescheduled for May 30," the band wrote on 
Pres. Donald Trump is claiming that his dance moves to the Village People's 
On May 1 Barry Manilow postponed the latest in a series of delays of his Las Vegas residency at the Westgate Resort & Casino since revealing his Stage 1 lung cancer diagnosis in Dec. 2025. But Manilow, 82, says he is making great progress and expects to return to the Westgate stage in July. In an Instagram Story posted on May 1, Manilow opened with, "Good news! I went to the doctor yesterday and he said I'm making great progress and look great! All the training and exercising I've put in is paying off. He did say, however, that I'm not quite ready for Vegas. This means I won't be able to return for our May shows at Westgate Las Vegas." The "Copacabana" singer also confirmed he will be ready for his June arena shows in the U.K. "The Westgate Las Vegas is my home away from home and I'll see you all in July," he said. In Dec. 2025, Manilow underwent surgery to remove a cancerous spot from his left lung and has not performed since. The singer's February Las Vegas residency dates were the first to be pushed back, followed by his arena tour launch dates from late February through March, and then his April arena shows -- each time on his doctor's advice that his body needed more time to recover. Despite the setbacks, Manilow has remained determined to return to the stage. His Las Vegas residency at Westgate is scheduled to run through Dec. 2026, and his farewell arena tour -- billed as "The Last Concerts" -- has rescheduled dates still on the books. In March, his latest single "Once Before I Go" became a top 10 hit on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, making him the only artist in history to score an AC hit in six consecutive decades -- a run stretching from the 1970s through the 2020s. His new album 
Peter Gabriel has shared an uplifting, politically charged new single, "Won't Stand Down," which he says hopes to "encourage some sort of activism." The track is the latest to be shared from the English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist as part of his new album O\I. Set to be his 11th studio album, the record is the follow-up to 2023's 'I/O' and the two records were written around the same time. Each song on the forthcoming album will receive both "Bright-Side" and "Dark-Side" mixes and will be released to align with this month's full moon and new moon. Singles so far have dropped steadily each month, and included January's "Been Undone," February's "Put the Bucket Down," March's "What Lies Ahead" and April's "Till Your Mind Is Shining." Speaking about "Won't Stand Down," Gabriel posted on 
Queen guitarist Brian May has gone from local hero to a bit of a frustrated gardener in his quiet English village. In 2025, May made headlines in Elstead after donating 3,000 daffodil bulbs to brighten the church green. The gesture struck a chord with locals, and May regularly shared updates online as the flowers grew. By his own account, the response was overwhelmingly positive, according to CNN.com. May planned to donate more bulbs to expand the display across the main village green, but that plan has now been scrapped after local officials stepped in and shut it down. In a recent Instagram post, May said he was "quite thrilled" by the "happy comments" about this year's blooms and gave a shoutout to "Team Daffodil," the group of volunteers who helped plant them. The tone shifted, however, when he revealed that Elstead Parish Council had rejected his latest offer due to safety concerns. The council argued the daffodils could interfere with sightlines for traffic and make it harder for people to cross the green, reports the UK paper The Sun. Officials said they have "a responsibility to balance community initiatives with safety," ultimately deciding the risks outweighed the benefits. May didn't buy that explanation. Telling his 3.6 million followers he was "reluctantly" cancelling the order, he questioned how flowers with "18-inch stalks could (obstruct) anyone's view" -- especially when the green is often surrounded by parked cars, including what he joked is a "7-foot-high ice cream van!!!" Now 78, May has been navigating health concerns and career decisions as the same time. In Sept. 2024, he revealed he had suffered a "minor stroke" that briefly left him unable to control his arm, according to the AP. He later confirmed he had recovered and could still play guitar. On the touring front, May has also hit pause on U.S. plans. In a January interview, he described the country as "a dangerous place at the moment" following the deaths of two U.S. citizens involving immigration officials in Minnesota. The comment rules out near-term projects like a potential Las Vegas residency -- something he had previously been excited about. In fact, during a Rolling Stone interview marking the 50th anniversary of "Bohemian Rhapsody," May had been enthusiastic about performing at the Sphere in Vegas, saying the band could create something "stupendous." - Canoe.com, 5/1/26...... Appearing on CBS Sunday Morning on May 3, Sting revealed that he has no plans to retire anytime soon. Asked whether he ever considers taking a vacation or slowing down from his busy schedule, the 74-year-old Sting (real name Gordon Sumner) -- joked that he didn't understand the concept. "I like to work," he smiled. "Could I retire? I'm not sure I could do it. I haven't developed that skill to just sit and do nothing. Perhaps I'm afraid of it. I haven't prepared myself for it. But while I'm still fit enough to do my work, I will continue. At some point, I hope I have the objectivity to say, 'OK, you've done enough. Go and sit on the farm.'" Reflecting on his pivot from pop music to working in the theatre, Sting emphasized that he has no regrets. "I'm very grateful for the pop career, and it was a certain time in my life when I was of a certain age and looked a certain way and made a certain kind of music. But it can't be my entire life. I don't want to be just defined from how I was at the age of 25. I'm 74 now," the "Roxanne" hitmaker continued. The former The Police frontman and Shaggy are currently promoting the 2026 tour of Sting's original musical "The Last Ship," in which he plays shipyard foreman Jackie White. "I immediately knew Shaggy was the perfect man for the job. He has a great sense of mischief, a great sense of joy, but he's also a natural actor," he praised, while Shaggy interjected: "He knows me better than me! I was like, 'I can't really,' and he was like, 'No, you can do that.' And then I'm doing it, and I was like, 'I hate admitting that he was right!'" "The Last Ship" opens at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York on June 9. - Music-News.com, 5/4/26...... Beau Starr, the American actor best known for playing Sheriff Ben Meeker in the Halloween 4 and Halloween 5 horror films, has died of natural causes at his Vancouver home, according to TMZ.com. He was 81 years old. He also had a supporting role in Martin Scorsese's 1990 mob classic Goodfellas as the abusive father of Ray Liotta's Henry Hill. His other film credits include Fletch, Speed, Cinderella Man, Devil in a Blue Dress and Born on the Fourth of July. Mr. Starr got his start playing various characters on the Canadian sketch show Bizarre. He went on to have small roles in other popular series like Psych, Knight Rider, The A-Team, MacGyver, TJ Hooker, Three's Company, Remington Steele, The Fall Guy, Night Court, Matlock, Moonlighting, Murder She Wrote and NYPD Blue. - Variety.com, 5/3/26.
A judge in London has ruled that former Jimi Hendrix Experience members, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, signed away their copyrights in "clear and unequivocal" terms in their lawsuit over UK royalties against Sony Music. Following a seven-day trial this past December, U.K. High Court Justice Edwin Johnson released a lengthy decision on Apr. 28 dismissing the claims brought against Sony by the families of Redding and Mitchell. In the long-running suit that began in 2021, the pair's estates have claimed they're being unfairly deprived of royalties from three classic Jimi Hendrix Experience albums, including the 1968 chart-topper Electric Ladyland. Sony, which has distributed Hendrix's music since 2009 under an exclusive license with Hendrix's heirs, maintains that it owes nothing to the two families. Justice Johnson ultimately sided with Sony after determining that Redding and Mitchell signed away future royalties as part of the band's 1966 recording agreement. According to the judge, this contract gave full copyright ownership to producers Michael Jeffrey and Chas Chandler in "clear and unequivocal" language. Moreover, the judge said that even without these copyright ownership issues, all claims would be barred by settlements signed by both Redding and Mitchell with the Hendrix estate during probate proceedings in the early 1970s. A spokesperson for both Sony Music and the Hendrix estate, which is run through the business entity Hendrix Experience, said in a statement that they are "thankful that this litigation, which has lasted over four years, has come to an end." Janie Hendrix, Jimi's sister and the CEO of his estate, also said in her own statement, "I have nothing but positive memories of Noel and Mitch. Experience Hendrix's longstanding relationships with both reflect a consistent commitment to honouring and supporting the musicians who were part of Jimi Hendrix's history." - Billboard, 4/28/26...... Talking to People magazine, Ringo Starr revealed he refused to sing "one of the saddest lines" in a song written by his current collaborator T-Bone Burnett for his new country album 
David Lee Roth made a surprise appearance at the Stagecoach country music festival in Indio, Calif., on Apr. 25, joining Teddy Swims onstage for a performance of "Jump," Van Halen's 1984 single. During their set, Swims brought Roth onstage after performing his recent single "Mr. Know It All" and "Some Things I'll Never Know," both from his debut studio album I've Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1), released in Sept. 2023. The recent performance took place amid a turbulent evening at this year's Stagecoach, where high winds earlier in the night had forced a temporary evacuation of the festival grounds and prompted a series of schedule changes, including the removal of several artists, including Journey and Riley Green, from the lineup. The evacuation was triggered by high winds that intensified across Indio's Empire Polo Club. An "emergency evacuation" message appeared on screens across the site, instructing attendees to "move quickly and calmly to the nearest exit," while alerts sent via the festival's official app directed festivalgoers to leave the area. Despite the weather, Swims' set went ahead, with Roth's appearance providing one of the night's most high-profile moments as fans gathered following the festival's reopening. Stagecoach, one of the largest country music festivals in the United States, is held annually at the same site as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and draws tens of thousands of attendees each year. - Billboard, 4/27/26...... Even though he died in 2009, Michael Jackson-mania is still in full force as the new MJ biopic Michael earned a record-breaking $97 million domestic opening and a global launch of $217.4 million after opening on Apr. 24. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Antoine Fuqua-directed film delivered the biggest opening ever for a music biopic, surpassing Universal's rap doc Straight Outta Compton, which debuted to $60.1 million in 2015. Fox's Queen/Freddie Mercury film Bohemian Rhapsody opened to $51 million in 2018, ranking as the second-biggest debut for a music biopic. Michael now also holds the biggest domestic opening of all time for a biopic, surpassing Oppenheimer ($80 million), not adjusted for inflation, according to THR. Michael grossed $38.5 million domestically on opening day and was off to a strong start overseas, with an international launch in the $114 million range, THR reports. "This record-breaking performance is a testament to the incredible filmmaking team of producer Graham King and director Antoine Fuqua, an amazing cast led by Jaafar Jackson's singular performance, our world-class partners at Universal, the cooperation and support of the Michael Jackson Estate, and our tireless and exceptionally talented Lionsgate team," Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson said in a statement. "Above all, it reflects the tremendous outpouring of love and affection from moviegoers around the world, underscoring the strength and vitality of the theatrical box office. If you give audiences what they want, they will come." Michael, which charts the superstar's rise from fronting The Jackson 5 in the 1970s to launching a solo career that reached historic heights, is the first installment of a planned two-part biopic, with the the second installment possibly starting to shoot as early as this year. Meanwhile, in the spirit of fans acting out the iconic 1975 comedy The Rocky Horror Picture show, a new dance trend is taking place at screenings of Michael, which is annoying some cinema-goers. Many have taken to social media to hit out at those wanting to dance at the theater instead of watching the film. "I was thinking about going to see Michael tomorrow in the theater, but stuff like this makes me want to watch it at home instead," one person wrote, sharing footage on 
Nedra Talley Ross, the last surviving member of the 1960s girl group The Ronettes, died on Apr. 26 at the age of 80. Her passing was announced by her daughter, Nedra K Ross, in a Facebook post. "At approximately 8:30 this morning, our mother, Nedra Talley Ross, went home to be with the Lord," she wrote. "She was safe in her own bed at home with her family close, knowing she was loved. Thank you, Lord." Ms. Talley Ross, Estelle Bennett and Ronnie Spector rose to prominence while working with Ronnie's husband, legendary record producer Phil Spector, in 1963. Together, The Ronettes recorded songs including "Be My Baby," "Baby, I Love You" and "Walking in the Rain." The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. A tribute posted on the group's official Instagram page noted, "It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Nedra Talley Ross' passing. She was a light to those who knew and loved her... [The Ronnettes'] voice, style and spirit helped define a sound that would change music. Her contribution to the group's story and their defining influence will live forever. Rest peacefully dear Nedra. Thanks for the magic." Estelle Bennett died in 2009 at age 67 due to colon cancer. Her sister, Veronica Bennett, known as Ronnie Spector after marrying Phil Spector in 1968, died in January 2022 at age 78 after a battle with cancer. - Music-News.com, 4/28/26...... Tony Wilson, the bassist, songwriter and co-founder of the '70s British disco/soul troupe Hot Chocolate, died on Apr. 24 in his native Trinidad of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 78. Wilson's daughter shared the news in an emotional Facebook post, writing that her father "left us today, April 24th 2026," and adding that he "left a lot of music behind forever and ever." She described their final conversations as deeply meaningful, saying he had recently asked for prayers and expressed a sense of peace about his passing, writing "The peace that I have is knowing that his soul escaped. He is in and at peace." Born in Trinidad, Wilson moved to the UK as a young man and began pursuing music in the early 1960s, first as a solo act in 1964, when he released his debut single "Yes I Do" on Decca Records. His life changed in 1969 when he teamed up with vocalist Errol Brown to form Hot Chocolate. The band went on to break new ground for Black British artists on the US charts, carving out a distinctive place in pop and soul history. Hot Chocolate scored global success with a string of hits between 1975-78, most famously the 1975 classic 
Controversial outlaw country music singer/songwriter David Allan Coe, best known for his '70s songs "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" and "Longhaired Redneck" as well as the '80s tracks "The Ride" and "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile," died on Apr. 29, his widow Kimberly confirmed to Rolling Stone. He was 86. "One of the best singers, songwriters, and performers of our time (and) never to be forgotten," she wrote to the outlet. "My husband, my friend, my confidant and my life for many years. I'll never forget him and I don't want anyone else to ever forget him either." Mr. Coe also composed hits for several other artists, including "Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)" for Tanya Tucker and "Take This Job and Shove It," popularized by Johnny Paycheck. The latter earned Mr. Coe a Grammy nomination. Over the course of his career, the musician released over 40 albums, including the controversial LP's Nothing Sacred and Underground Album in the late '70s and '80s. While he had used racist language before, Mr. Coe sparked outrage over the use of racial slurs, hate speech and homophobic and misogynistic lyrics in those two albums. He denied he was a racist at the time. In addition, the musician also got into legal trouble in the 2010s. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to obstructing America's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from collecting taxes and was ordered to pay nearly $1 million he following year. Mr. Coe was married six times, most recently to Kimberly in 2010. He is survived by his wife and his five children: Tyler, Tanya, Shyanne, Carson and Shelli. - Music-News.com, 4/30/26.