Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on February 27th, 2026

Legendary singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka, known for hits such as "Bad Blood," "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Laughter in the Rain," died in Los Angeles on Feb. 27, after being rushed to a local hospital earlier in the day when he said he was feeling unwell. He was 86. "Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka," a family statement posted to the singer's Instagram account said. "A true rock n' roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed." Born on Mar. 13, 1939, in Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Mr. Sedaka began his career while he was still a teen in the 1950s, becoming one of the world's first teen pop stars. He would go on to form The Tokens, a doo-wop group which later had a hit of its own with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," before meeting his neighbor Howard Greenfield, who would become his songwriting partner, with their partnership going on to sell 40 million records in just the four years between 1959 and 1964. While on a two-year scholarship to the Julliard School in New York City, he sold his first tune, "Stupid Cupid," a hit for Connie Francis in 1958, as was his "Where The Boys Are" (which Francis sang in the hit teen movie of the same name) in 1961. On the advice of fellow songwriter Doc Pomus, he signed with Al Nevins and Don Kirshner's Aldon Publishing, which got him signed with RCA Records as a singer. In 1959 he had two hits: "The Diary" (#14) and "I Go Ape" (#42). More Sedaka-Greenfield hits followed between 1959-1962: "Oh! Carol" (#9), "Stairway to Heaven" (#9), "Calendar Girl" (#4), "Little Devil" (#11) and "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen" (#6), "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" (#1) and "Next Door to an Angel" (#5). After his performing career slowed in 1963, Mr. Sedaka and Greenfield continued to write hits for others, including "Workin' on a Groovy Thing" and "Puppet Man" for the Fifth Dimension and "Rainy Jane" for Davy Jones. After Mr. Sedaka began a performing comeback in England in 1973 he split up with Greenfield, and made three LPs in Britain with Graham Gouldman of 10cc coproducing. Elton John then helped him resume his U.S. performing and recording career, first by reissuing cuts from the three British LPs on one U.S. package, Sedaka's Back, then by signing him to his Rocket Records label. Sedaka's Back (#23, 1974) and The Hungry Years (#16, 1975) both went gold. "Laughter In the Rain" was a No. 1 hit for Mr. Sedaka in 1974, and his "Love Will Keep Us Together" (cowritten with Greenfield) was a No. 1 hit for the Captain and Tennille, winning a 1975 Grammy as Record of the Year. His second recording streak culminated in 1975 with another No. 1 smash, "Bad Blood," which featured Elton on backing vocals. He followed it with a bluesy reworking of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (#8, 1976), and "Love in the Shadows" (#8, 1976). He then resumed his songwriting collaboration with Greenfield, and became a successful MOR ballad singer and made numerous concert and TV appearances, including being one of Saturday Night Live's first musical guests, and also appearing as a guest judge on American Idol. In all, he had 30 songs reach the Billboard pop chart, with nine of them becoming top 10 hits, and 11 of his albums making the all-genre Billboard Hot 200 album chart. In 1980 he and his daughter Dara Sedaka recorded "Should've Never Let You Go," which reached No. 19 on the pop chart. In addition to his five Grammy nods, Mr. Sedaka was also celebrated and recognized for his work throughout his career. He was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award and Special International Award from the British professional songwriters association The Ivors, and more. Although his fans mounted a sustained campaign to have him inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame over the years, he was never inducted or nominated. In 2024, Mr. Sedaka partnered with Primary Wave to acquire a stake to the masters and publishing rights of his catalog. He is survived by his wife, Leba -- whom he married in 1962 -- daughter Dara, son Marc, and three grandchildren. - Billboard/The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock, 2/27/26.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on February 24th, 2026

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.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on February 14th, 2026

The estate of Michael Jackson has slammed an explicit flip of the King of Pop's classic 1982 hit "Beat It" by Sexyy Red after a clip of the St. Louis rapper's edition went viral on social media earlier in February. "We were totally unaware of this," a spokesman for MJ's estate said on Feb. 12. The viral craze began when rapper Lil Yachty posted the clip of Sexxy Red rapping along to her version of Jackson's hit in the studio. After quickly spreading across social media, the clip drew an angry backlash from Jackson fans after Lil Yachty joked in his caption that Sexxy Red's spicy remix was set to appear on the soundtrack for the upcoming Michael biopic. Rap pioneer Monie Love condemned the sample flip, calling the move "beyond disrespectful." "Whoever cleared the Beat It sample for Sexyy Red, I hope they know they not seeing heaven," she wrote on X. "Playing with MJ name and discography like that is beyond disrespectful!" Sexyy Red has proven to be a fan of Michael Jackson in the past, bringing out MJ impersonator Rico Hampton to perform "Billie Jean" for the crowd at her hometown show in St. Louis in 2025. "Beat It" was the second single from MJ's 1982 classic Thriller LP, following "Billie Jean" to the top of the pop chart in early 1983. - Music-News.com, 2/12/26...... 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 YouTube. - Billboard, 2/11/26...... On Feb. 11 The Eagles added more dates to their 2026 residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, extending their run as the artist with the most dates at the unique immersive venue to 58. The new shows will take place April 10 and 11. The Eagles had previously announced 12 shows for this year: Jan. 23-24, Jan. 30-31, Feb. 20-21, Feb. 27-28, March 20-21 and March 27-28. The band's stint at the Sphere started in Sept. 2024, and they've since added dates a handful at a time, setting the record for the most shows with the announcement of the February dates in October at 52. The previous record belonged to Dead & Co. at 48 shows. - Billboard, 2/11/26...... 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 YouTube - NME, 2/8/26.

Seventies artists Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Nile Rodgers & Chic and ZZ Top guitarist/vocalist Billy Gibbons will be among the headliners at the upcoming 2026 Love Rocks NYC Benefit concert that supports the delivery of nutritious meals for people affected by serious illness in the NY area. The 10th annual charity show will also feature performances by the likes of Mary J. Blige, Hozier, Goo Goo Dolls, Jon Batiste and Susanna Hoffs, among others. Since its founding in 1985 in the midst of the AIDS epidemic, God's Love We Deliver has served more than 40 million meals to those in need, with 2026 marking the organization's 40th anniversary. In 2025, according to a press release, the organization's cooked, packaged and home-delivered four million medically tailored meals to 15,000 New Yorkers living with and affected by severe illness. Since 2017, the Love Rocks NYC concerts have raised $65 million, funding 6.5 million meals to New Yorker affected by illness. A trailer for the show has been shared on YouTube. - Billboard, 2/9/26...... 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 Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975. Henley said he now feels more comfortable playing the band's classic hits because they are what the fans want to hear at the shows. "After a while, you learn to make friends with the songs. It's not about us. It's about what they mean to the people we're playing them for," he said. "You have to play every night with your heart in it. Music is medicine. And people need some medicine right now." - Music-News.com, 2/9/26...... In an apologetic message to his fans on his Neil Young Archives website on Feb. 6, Neil Young revealed he is canceling his planned 2026 tour dates with his Chrome Hearts band in the U.K. and Europe, saying "this is not the time." "I have decided to take a break and will not be touring Europe this time," the message begins. "Thanks to everyone who bought tickets. I'm sorry to let you down, but this is not the time. I do love playing LIVE and being with you and the Chrome Hearts." He signed the note: "LOVE Neil" and "be well." Young and the Chrome Hearts had been set to kick off the European jaunt on June 17 in Bodelva, England, and were scheduled to perform through July 26 in Udine, Italy, with Elvis Costello and the Imposters set to open on select dates. Young's Chrome Hearts band includes guitarist Micah Nelson, bassist Corey McCormick, drummer Anthony Logerfo and organist Spooner Oldham. Young recently made headlines when he pledged to give his music to anyone in Greenland after Pres. Donald Trump's administration announced plans to seek U.S. control of the island nation, and spoke out against big corporations such as Apple, Verizon and T-Mobile for supporting the "fascist Trump regime." - Billboard, 2/6/26...... 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 "American Pie" singer and Dylan, who gained notoriety on the MTV reality show Catfish, met in 2016 when Dylan was hired to run McLean's social media accounts. They went public with their relationship shortly before Thanksgiving that year. Dylan later made their romance Instagram official with a birthday tribute to McLean in May 2018. "Happy birthday my baby, my beauty, love of my life, my everything," she wrote alongside the photo of them smiling and hugging. During a 2021 interview with People magazine, McLean called Dylan "the most wonderful person that I have ever known." "I think of her when I sing a lot of my songs. But I especially think of her when I sing that song," McLean said of his 1970 hit "And I Love You So." McLean was previously married to Carol Sauvion from 1969 to 1972, and Patrisha Shnier from 1987 to 2016. He shares two children with his second wife. His marriage to Shnier imploded when he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence in 2016. He pleaded guilty to four of six charges as part of a plea agreement and did not receive any jail time. - Music-News.com, 2/8/26...... Posting on Instagram on Feb. 4, Barry Manilow announced that he's postponing his upcoming Las Vegas residency dates as he recovers from his recent cancer surgery. The 82-year-old "Copacabana" hitmaker was forced to postpone his January arena shows to allow him to recover from surgery to remove a "cancerous spot" on his left lung in December, but assured his fans that he would be back performing at his "home away from home" at the Westgate Las Vegas on Valentine's Day weekend. However, now Manilow says that he had to reschedule his February residency shows to ensure he was well enough for his upcoming arena tour. "I'm doing great and recovering very well after my surgery. I've been getting exercise and spending some time in the studio, which has been fantastic," he wrote on Instagram. "With my doctor's guidance and recommendation, however, we have decided to postpone my residency dates at Westgate Las Vegas from February 12-21 so I can stay focused on healing and getting ready for the tour that's kicking off at the end of February. Having a few weeks to rest and prepare is what the doctor ordered!," he added. Manilow's rescheduled arena tour is set to launch in Tampa, Fla. on Feb. 27 and run through to his show in Duluth, Ga. on Apr. 29. Manilow is slated to perform his residency at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on selected weekends throughout 2026. His next shows at that venue are scheduled for Mar. 27 and 28. - Music-News.com, 2/5/26...... The BRIT Awards, the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards, will honor Ozzy Osbourne during its 2026 ceremony on Feb. 28 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester. A source told the UK tabloid The Sun that a new "large-scale In Memoriam section of the Brits is being planned" that will not only remember Osbourne and the late Stone Roses musician Gary "Mani" Mounfield, but also "several artists we have lost in the past 12 months." The BRIT Awards, first staged in 1977, are the UK's highest profile music awards show and recognize the best in British and international music. Ozzy died from "acute myocardial infarction" and "out of hospital cardiac arrest," with coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease with autonomic dysfunction as "joint causes" of his death on July 22, 2025. - Music-News.com, 2/7/26...... 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 the video since it was first uploaded in 2019. Though filmed in 1979 (according to IMDb), the video was posted to YouTube less than six years ago. It features the members of the iconic rock band all dressed up in their signature black-and-white hair, makeup and outfits, performing the classic hit on a stage beneath flashing lights. Long before its triumph on YouTube, "I Was Made For Lovin' You" was a success on the Billboard, peaking at No. 11 on the Hot 100, while the album it hails from, Dynasty, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. The song is KISS's first entry on YouTube's Billion Views Club. - Billboard, 2/4/26...... Diana Ross has been tapped to headline the UK's Brighton & Hove Pride 2026 on Aug. 3. "Welcoming the incomparable Diana Ross as our Sunday headliner as a UK live show exclusive is a dream come true," festival managing director Paul Kemp said in a statement. "Her legendary voice and catalogue of hits will be an unforgettable moment in Brighton Pride history." Kickstarting Brighton & Hove Pride this year will be its annual LGBTQ+ Community Parade. The theme the 2026 event is "The Power Of Love" -- which will bring attendees "together in solidarity, resistance and community" as they "strive for equality for all." London-born singer RAYE will headline the opening night of the Pride festival on Aug. 2. More information can be found at www.brighton-pride.org. - New Musical Express, 2/4/26...... In the newly uploaded official trailer for his forthcoming Wings documenary Man on the Run, Paul McCartney wonders "how can I ever do anything that's anywhere as good as the Beatles?" After the Fab Four's contentious break-up in Apr. 1970, the then-27-year-old McCartney was suddenly faced what was perhaps the most daunting second act in pop culture history, and in the film describes that worrisome time and his determination to punch through the fear. "The Beatles had broken up and I was thinking, 'what do I do now?," McCartney says over the strains of the Paul McCartney and Wings' 1974 No. 1 hit "Band on the Run." In voiceover, he continues, " How can I ever do anything that's anywhere near as good as the Beatles?'" But the superstar needn't have worried, as evidenced by the tireless touring and successful recordings he's done in the half-century since. Directed by Oscar-winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom, Won't You Be My Neighbor), Man on the Run follows McCartney's rebirth after the Beatles' messy dissolution. The movie will be released into theaters for one-night-only by Trafalgar Releasing on Feb. 1. Each screening will also include a bonus conversation between McCartney and Neville. - Billboard, 2/4/26...... 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 debut LP of the same name and 1978's Adventure. After the group's breakup, Smith featured on solo albums for bandmates Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, as well as for other artists including the Roches, Willie Nile, Peregrins and the Revelons. Smith was also part of Television's reunion in 1992, which coincided with the release of their third, self-titled album, and would join them onstage throughout the 2000s. In the Instagram post announcing news of Smith's death, Television member Jimmy Rip remembered the musician as "not only my bandmate for 46 years -- he was my true friend." Rip went on to say that Smith was "the guy you wanted around when road life got wearisome," adding, "His sense of humor, much like his musical voice, was dry, subtle, to the point, hilarious and always left you wanting a more." Rip said they had plans to play music by frontman Verlaine, who died in Jan. 2023, this year, but that it "wasn't meant to be." - NME, 2/7/26...... 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 "One Less Bell to Answer." During Mr. McLemore's tenure with The 5th Dimension, the group twice won record of the year Grammy Awards for "Up, Up and Away" and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)," the latter of which spent six weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. Both songs have since been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. All told, the group received seven gold albums and six RIAA-certified platinum singles. Additional achievements include embarking on a State Department cultural tour in 1973 that brought American music behind the Iron Curtain and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991. In remembering Mr. McLemore, the group's bass singer LaRue commented in a press release that Mr. McLemore's "cheerfulness and laughter often brought strength and refreshment to me in difficult times... We were more like brother and sister than singing partners." In a joint statement, McCoo and Davis Jr. said of Mr. McLemore, "All of us who knew and loved him will definitely miss his energy and wonderful sense of humor." Surrounded by family when he died, McLemore is survived by Mieko McLemore, his wife of 30 years, daughter Ciara, (adopted) son Darin, sister Joan and three grandchildren. A memorial service and celebration of life will be announced at a later date. - Billboard, 2/4/26.