Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on April 16th, 2017

The husband of Heart singer Ann Wilson was sentenced to 364 days in jail, with all time suspended, on Mar. 9 for assaulting two of Wilson's teen nephews who wanted to look inside her tour bus in Aug. 2016 as she played a concert in suburban Seattle. Dean Wetter pleaded guilty to the two counts of assault, who the 16-year-olds say started yelling at them after they left the door open, then allegedly punching one of them in the head and grabbing him by the throat. When the other teen stepped in, Wetter allegedly grabbed his throat "and squeezed to the point he could not breathe." - Billboard/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 4/15/17...... Todd Rundgren joined the New York duo the Lemon Twigs onstage as the act performed at the Coachella festival in California. Michael D'Addario of the Lemon Twigs called Rundgren "one of our favourite guitarists of all time" as he walked on to the stage, where they performed Rundgren's "Couldn't I Just Tell You" from his 1972 album Something/Anything? - New Musical Express, 4/15/17...... Glen Campbell is scheduled to release a new studio album, Adiós, on June 9. The LP is the "second half" of Campbell's "final album," the first part being 2015's I'll Be Me which was recorded shortly after the country/pop star's Alzheimer's diagnosis a few years ago. Campbell's abilities to play, sing and remember songs began to rapidly decline after his diagnosis in 2011, and he hasn't toured since 2012. Adiós, features songs written by longtime collaborator Jimmy Webb and guest appearances from Willie Nelson, Vince Gill and Roger Miller, and features covers of songs from the likes of Bob Dylan, George Jones, Jerry Reed and Dicky Lee as well as a rendition of Harry Nilsson's Fred Neil-penned hit, "Everybody's Talkin'." - Billboard/Stereogum.com, 4/14/17...... Researchers at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History have named a newly discovered species of shrimp that uses a bright pink claw to create a sound loud enough to kill small fish after prog-rock icons Pink Floyd. Synalpheus pinkfloydi is found on Panama's Pacific Coast and researcher Sammy De Grave says the description of the shrimp was "the perfect opportunity to finally give a nod to my favorite band." Pink Floyd has been previously honored in nature with a damselfly named after its 1969 album Ummagumma. - AP, 4/14/17...... A taped screening of David Bowie's "Lazarus" musical will be presented on Apr. 30 during the V&A 2017 Performance Festival in London. Written by Bowie and Enda Walsh, "Lazarus" wrapped up its run in London in January, but footage of the production shot in VR at King's Cross in January will screen at the Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre during a special screening. A panel of filmmakers from the V&A and the RSC [Royal Shakespeare Company] will also deliver a lecture during the event. - Billboard, 4/13/17...... Hall & Oates announced on Apr. 13 that they'll kick off a 30-city summer tour of North America on May 4 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. The soulful duo will also visit such markets as St. Louis (5/6), Milwaukee (5/13), Chicago (5/15), Detroit (5/17), Cleveland, Oh. (5/20) and Columbus, Oh. (5/22) on the jaunt before it wraps with a two-night stand at L.A.'s Staples Center on July 28-29. - Billboard, 4/13/17...... In a recent interview with the UK paper The Daily Star, Queen guitarist Brian May revealed that the long-awaited biopic of late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury will be coming out in 2018. "The Freddie film is coming sooner than you might think, next year," May said. He also hinted that Queen may tour the UK and Europe soon with vocalist Adam Lambert: "We will be in America most of the summer and then probably be back around these parts at the end of the year." The Mercury biopic has been subject to many rumors and stumbling blocks since it was first announced over four years ago, with both Daniel Radcliffe and Sacha Baron Cohen believed to be portraying Mercury at different points before Mr Robot star Rami Malek landed the lead role. Meanwhile, Queen recently unveiled a new special "Queen edition" of Monopoly. - NME, 4/13/17...... In an interview with ABC Radio, former Journey frontman Steve Perry says he's working on a "cathartic" new collection of songs due later in 2017 inspired by a difficult period in his life. "I met someone and I feel in love with this person. And I lost this person to breast cancer four years ago," said Perry, who's last solo album, Strange Medicine, was released back in 1994. As for not performing with Journey when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier in April, Perry said he "kind of went my 'Separate Way'," in a not-so-subtle reference to his old band's 1983 hit. "And I had all kinds of reasons that were important to me to do so. [And] though I've been gone... the fans have always been in my heart." Perry has not announced a firm release date, or title, for the new album. - Billboard, 4/11/17...... Speaking to NBC News, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi revealed that Black Sabbath is planning a new documentary as well as a live album from recordings of their final shows. "I'm in the process of mixing the sound from the final Sabbath shows in Birmingham for a possible live album," Iommi said. "We'll actually be doing a documentary. My job at the moment is to have a listen to what we've done," he added. Iommi, who previously said Sabbath's "The End" tour only marked the end of the band as a live group, also says he has "bags" of riffs he came up with for Black Sabbath that might one day wind up on a solo album. - New Musical Express, 4/10/17...... Willie Nelson has organized an Outlaw Music Festival Tour this summer that will kick off on July 1 at New Orleans' Shrine on Airline with an A-list group of pals including The Avett Brothers, Sheryl Crow, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, plus other performers. Other stops on Nelson's tour include July 2 in Dallas (with Sheryl Crow and the Avett Brothers); July 6 in Rogers, Ark. (with Crow and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit); July 8 in Detroit (with Crow, Isbell and Bob Dylan and His Band); July 9 in Milwaukee (with Crow, Isbell and Dylan); and July 16 in Syracuse, N.Y. (with Crow and My Morning Jacket). "We had such a blast launching and playing last year's Outlaw Music Festival in Scranton, we had to take it out on the road this summer," Nelson said a statement. - Billboard, 4/11/17...... Talking to the podcast Thunder Underground on Apr. 13, Gene Simmons of Kiss slammed free streaming sites for "killing" the music business by taking money away from aspiring musicians. "Good luck to 'em. I am not a supporter," Simmons quipped of such sites Spotify. "If you wanna earn a living, you can't get the music out there. So you're living in your mother's basement, you have to have a day job and the kids get your music for free. And the people that killed all the new bands are the fans themselves. It wasn't corporate America, it wasn't aliens from space. The people that killed the music they love are the people who love the music." Simmons, 67, also doesn't agree with the idea of fans paying however much they like for music, a scheme tested out by such bands as Radiohead. "It doesn't work. Charge people. Make them pay," he stated. "Make a cross, draw a line in the sand. This is commerce, and that's charity." - WENN.com, 4/14/17...... Fleetwood Mac members Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham have shared a track with Spotify users called "In My World" from their upcoming collaborative LP Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie, an album of duets that will be released on June 9 via Atlantic. Buckingham and McVie will also embark on a short North American tour behind the new album this summer, beginning on June 21 in Atlanta. They'll also play Nashville, Raleigh, Vienna, Va., Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Toronto, Woodinville, Wash., Murphys, Calif., Las Vegas and Phoenix before wrapping on July 27 in Denver. - NME, 4/14/17...... Iggy Pop will release a new song called "Asshole Blues" as part of the Jacuzzi Boys' Mag Mag label's flexi disc series on Apr. 21. "I wrote a blues song about an asshole who's out to get me. It's full of negative energy. Listen at you own risk. It's fun to play the blues," Pop told Rolling Stone magazine. The track is a stripped-back song, with Pop singing over a simple acoustic guitar. The rest of the artists set to appear on the flexi disc series are yet to be announced. - NME, 4/14/17...... Guitarist J. Geils, the longtime leader of the J. Geils Band, was found dead in his Groton, Mass., home on Apr. 11. He was 71. Geils was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene, and police say a preliminary investigation indicates that he died of natural causes. Born John Warren Geils, Jr. on Feb. 20, 1946, in New York City, Geils formed The J. Geils Band in Boston in 1967 with Danny Klein, Magic Dick Salwitz, Stephen Jo Bladd and Peter Wolf (later Seth Justman joined) while studying mechanical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The J. Geils Band released 11 studio albums before breaking up in 1985, and the group would reunite on and off over the years following. The J. Geils Band had 17 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including 10 top 40-charting hits. The band's biggest single, "Centerfold," spent six weeks at No. 1 and "Freeze-Frame" peaked at No. 4. Their other charting singles include "Love Stinks" (No. 38), "Give It To Me" (No. 30), "Must of Got Lost" (No. 12) and "I Do" (No. 24). They also had 15 charting albums on the Billboard Hot 200 LP chart, including 1972's Full House "Live," a million-seller, and the No. 1 set Freeze-Frame, which spent four weeks atop the list in 1982 and finished at No. 5 on Billboard's year-end Top Pop Albums chart (while "Centerfold" was the year's No. 5 Top Pop Single). In 2012, the J. Geils Band toured without Geils' involvement, leading the Geils to file an unsuccessful lawsuit against group members Salwitz, Klein, Wolf and Justman over use of the band's name for a tour without him. Geils left the band permanently following this incident. The J. Geils Band, sans Geils and with Duke Levine and Kevin Barry on guitar, continued touring despite the legalities. No details on a settlement have ever been revealed. - Billboard, 4/11/17...... Bassist Banner Thomas, a member of Molly Hatchet's lineup during the band's earliest and most commercially successful years as a recording act, died in Jacksonville, Fla., on Apr. 10. He was 63. Thomas also co-wrote a number of Molly Hatchet songs -- including the group's signature hit, the title track to 1979's Flirtin' With Disaster LP. After leaving Molly Hatchet in 1983, Thomas remained in the Jacksonville area, where he went on to co-found the group Big Engine, moving in and out of that band's lineup at various points over the years. - 1/13/17...... Bob Wooten, a longtime guitarist in Johnny Cash's band for 30 years in his egendary backing band The Tennessee Three, died on Apr. 9 in Tennessee. He was 75. Wooten, who often worked as a double for Cash in television shows and movies, became Cash's brother in law when he married Anita Carter. After Cash's death, Wootton devoted much of his time to keeping the memory of Johnny Cash alive. He is also a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. - 4/13/17....... Actor Peter Hansen, best known for his long run as lawyer and volunteer addiction counselor Lee Baldwin on the ABC soap opera General Hospital, died on Apr. 9 in Santa Clarita, Calif. He was 95. Mr. Hansen's first run on General Hospital spanned from 1965-1976, followed by a second between 1977 and 1986. He re-joined the show briefly in 1990, and then again from 1992-2004. His work won him a Daytime Emmy for best supporting actor in 1979. - Variety.com, 4/11/17.

Some of the biggest Classic Rock stars of the '70s including Don Henley of the Eagles, Roger Daltrey of The Who, Santana, Steve Miller Band, Bad Company, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick and Pat Benatar will headline a "Rock Getaway" festival in Mexico this fall at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. Set for Oct. 26-Nov. 5, the event is modeled after the successful 2016 Desert Trip festival in California and is offering attendees "stunning tropical views, a private white sand beach, and exclusive saltwater snorkeling areas." Fans can choose from three packages, including 4-, 7- and 11-day options, and all three include accommodations at the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel or Unico Resort and admission to all concerts. Concerts will take place on oceanfront stages and be accompanied by pool parties, after partiers and late night jam sessions. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... Gene Simmons of Kiss made an impromptu, tearful speech at the funeral of rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry at The Pageant club, where Berry often performed, in the musician's hometown of St. Louis, Mo., on Apr. 9. After spending most of the service at the back of the concert hall, Simmons was urged to speak and, with his voice breaking confessing that there were "real tears" behind his dark sunglasses, commended Berry for "(breaking) down the barriers, made all kinds of peoples' hearts and minds open up to the idea that we all belong to the same people." Simmons admitted that he had never had the opportunity to meet Berry in life, but felt he could not let the day go by without "coming here and honouring him," before going on to add that, without Berry, "I wouldn't be here." Simmons later posted on Facebook that "the open casket was on view, but I couldn't bear looking. It would break my heart." Letters from Paul McCartney and Bill Clinton were also read during the event. Fans began gathering before dawn to pay their respects during the four-hour public viewing for Berry, who lay in an open casket with his cherry red Gibson ES-335 electric guitar bolted to the inside of its lid. Flower arrangements were displayed in the room, including one in the shape of a guitar sent by the Rolling Stones. A private memorial service took place after the public viewing, with only Berry's friends and family permitted entry. Berry, who won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 1984 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1986, passed away on the afternoon of Mar. 18 after being found unresponsive in his Missouri home. His first single, "Maybellene," was one of the first songs to be classified as a rock 'n' roll hit. - New Musical Express/AP, 4/10/17...... Daryl's House, the upstate New York eatery owned by Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates, is suing the village of Pawling, N.Y., over a dispute involving the venue, which features live music. Lawyers for Hall are seeking $3.2 million in compensation and claim the town illegally held up his plans to expand the venue to include an outdoor amphitheater, in an effort to force him to reduce capacity at the club. Hall says that if he has to do that, he'll be forced to close the venue, which has hosted acts from Todd Rundgren to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Residents of Pawling claim Daryl's House threatens to disrupt the area's beloved peace and quiet. - PageSix.com, 4/6/17...... The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its Class of 2017 on Apr. 7 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, with Electric Light Orchestra, Journey, Yes, Joan Baez, Pearl Jam and Tupac Shakur entering the Cleveland-based Hall and Museum's ranks. ELO took charge of an homage to recently deceased rock pioneer Chuck Berry, delivering their cheeky cover of Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven." ELO was inducted by Dhani Harrison, whose late father George Harrison was a close friend and Traveling Wilburys bandmate of ELO frontman Jeff Lynne's. Not surprisingly, Joan Baez was the sharpest of the Rock Hall inductees, singing about deportees and talking social activism, and joked that a good portion of the audience probably "don't know who I am." After Rush's Geddy Lee helped "right a wrong" by inducting Yes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Lee joined his prog-rock heroes onstage for a crushingly loud run-through of "Roundabout. To the dismay of Journey fans, classic vocalist Steve Perry didn't reunite with his bandmates for their performance, but Perry did offer up a touching speech that included a nod to his high school R&B band, and the "magic fingers" of Journey guitarist Neal Schon. Journey played what has become their signature tune, "Don't Stop Believin'," to a wildly enthusiastic audience. As per tradition, the night was closed with an all-star jam, this time a cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." Also during the ceremony, disco pioneer and super producer Nile Rodgers received the Award for Musical Excellence. The show was taped and will air on HBO on Apr. 29. - Billboard, 4/8/17...... Diana Ross will open the 2017 Essence Festival in New Orleans on June 30. Other headliners at the three-night event include Mary J. Blige and Chance the Rapper. - Billboard, 4/6/17...... Iggy Pop will be among the headliners at the fourth annual Project Pabst festival, set for Portland, Ore., on Aug. 26-27. The lineup also includes Beck, Spoon and Father John Misty. - Billboard, 4/5/17...... Several jazz luminaries including Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding and Cassandra Wilson will take part in the sixth annual International Jazz Festival in Havana, Cuba, on Apr. 30. Previous host cities for the event, which is coordinated by UNESCO and the Washington, D.C.-based Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, have included Osaka, Paris, Istanbul and Washington, D.C. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... Rush will be honored with the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award for the Canadian power trio's social activism and support of humanitarian causes during the annual Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards gala dinner in Toronto on Apr. 20, an event during Canadian Music Week. "They're giving us an award for doing what everyone should do," says Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee. "It should be a part of everyone's upbringing and routine of life: You share when you've been blessed with good fortune. The world needs a lot of work, and there are not enough workers. We try to help where we can." Beginning with its 2010 Time Machine Tour, Rush has donated $1 from every concert ticket to various organizations, including Doctors Without Borders. They also contributed $100,000 to Hurricane Katrina relief in 2008. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... The estate of renowned pop artist Andy Warhol filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on Apr. 7 against a photographer who is claiming that Warhol copied her photo of Prince. In 1984, Warhol painted a series of portraits of Prince and, according to the suit, he "drew inspiration from and transformed a publicity photograph" of the artist that was in circulation at the time. Now, three decades later, the estate claims photographer Lynn Goldsmith is complaining that the works, a sample from which is below, violate her copyright in the original 1981 photo. In a pre-emptive move, Warhol's estate is seeking a declaration that the Prince series does not infringe on Goldsmith's work, that the works in the series are transformative and protected by fair use and that any potential copyright claims are barred by the statute of limitations and the doctrine of laches. Meanwhile, a recent New York Times report says that many open questions remain about the 57-year-old musician's death on Apr. 21, 2016. Investigators still don't know how Prince came into possession of the powerful opioid fentanyl, which has been the cause of a rash of overdoses and death over the past few years. If Prince's fentanyl came from the black market -- which appears to be the case -- it will be difficult, if not impossible to track down the source without a paper trail. The Times report says that given the series of dead ends investigators have encountered so far, it's possible the true story of Prince's death may never be known. Prince's ex-wife, Mayte Garcia, has released a new memoir covering her 11 years with Prince, but says it's "no 'tell-all'." Garcia's The Most Beautiful Girl in the World takes its name from a Prince song he wrote about her. - The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard/AP, 4/7/17...... Late country singer Jerry Reed, "The Gambler" songwriter Don Schlitz, and current country sensation Alan Jackson will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later in 2017, it was announced on Apr. 5. Reed, who died in 2008 at age 71, released a string of country/pop hits including Grammy-winning "When You're Hot, You're Hot" and "Amos Moses." After regularly appearing on Glen Campbell's TV show, he started a successful career in Hollywood. He starred opposite Burt Reynolds in the Smokey and the Bandit films and appeared in Adam Sandler's The Waterboy. - AP, 4/6/17...... Stevie Wonder will be presented with the inaugural Key of Life Award, named in his honor, at ASCAP's "I Create Music" Expo, set for Apr. 13-15 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. The Key of Life Award, which recognizes songwriters who demonstrate their commitment to the art form, will be accepted by Wonder during his keynote interview, which will close the event. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... A trailer featuring Led Zepplin's "Immigrant Song" for the upcoming Marvel movie Thor: Ragnarok was released on Apr. 10. Thor: Ragnarok stars Cate Blanchett and is the third movie in the Thor franchise. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... Carole King's 1971 mega-selling album Tapestry has just had its record for the most weeks on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart by a woman broken by Adele's second album 21. The 2011 21 LP has notched its 319th week on the roundup, beating Tapestry's 318 weeks. - Jezebel.com, 4/7/17...... A new study from the website McGamez.com has found the most expensive vinyl records on the market today include the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" ($10,578), the Beatles' UK debut album Please Please Me ($8,323) and the Beatles' Introducing the Beatles ($7,573). The full list can be found on the MrGamez site. - Billboard, 4/6/17...... Two time Grammy-award nominated guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa will launch his upcoming April 2017 UK Tour on Apr. 18 at Edinburgh Usher Hall. Bonamassa's other dates include two sold-out performances at Royal Albert Hall on Apr. 20 and 21, a sold-out show at the Blackpool Opera House on Apr. 22, and a date at the Sheffield Arena on Apr. 24. The tour follows hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed Salute to the British Blues Explosion tour that saw the American guitarist paying homage to the music of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. - Noble PR, 4/11/17...... Legendary comedian Don Rickles, the honorary Rat Pack member and celebrity roast guest whose career spanned six decades, passed away on the morning of Apr. 6 at his home in Los Angeles from kidney failure, his longtime publicist Paul Shefrin confirmed. He was 90. Sarcastically nicknamed "Mr. Warmth," Mr. Rickles had mock disdain for stars, major public figures and all those who paid to see him, tweaking TV audiences and Las Vegas showroom crowds with his acerbic brand of takedown comedy. Mr. Rickles honed his reputation in numerous appearances on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts that ran on NBC from the mid-1970s to the mid-80s. In the 1960s and 1970s, Johnny Carson provided Mr. Rickles a late-night stage by making him one of The Tonight Show's most-frequent guests. On one memorable moment in 1968, Mr. Rickles cozied up to a half-naked Carson during a sketch with two Japanese female masseuses and said, "I'm so lonely, Johnny!" Carson threw him in a bathtub. More recently, he was a regular guest on Late Show With David Letterman, in which the CBS host treated Mr. Rickles like royalty. Born Donald Jay Rickles in the New York borough of Queens on May 8, 1926, Mr. Rickles studied acting and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. At age 32, Mr. Rickles landed a small part in Robert Wise's submarine drama Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), starring Clark Gable. Two years later, he was cast in The Rat Race with Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds. Both during his TV and Las Vegas nightclub entrances, Mr. Rickles would ome onstage accompanied by the old Spanish bullfight song "La Virgen de la Macarena," a subtle signal that someone was about to be metaphorically gored. His numerous TV guest appearances include episodes of The Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, Burke's Law, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., I Dream of Jeannie, I Spy, Get Smart (alongside his buddy, Don Adams), Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Sanford and Son, The Bernie Mac Show and Hot in Cleveland. He also appeared in his own series, NBC's CPO Sharkey, from 1976-78. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Barbara Sklar, and their two children, Mindy and Larry. - Variety.com, 4/6/17...... David Peel, the anti-establishment New York street singer and political activist known for his songs about marijuana and John Lennon, died on Apr. 6 after suffering a massive heart attack on Mar. 31. He was 73. Peel, real name David Rosario, released his first two albums, The American Revolution and Have a Marijuana, on Elektra Records in 1968 and 1970, respectively. Peel met up with Lennon and Yoko Ono when they were being shown around Greenwich Village in 1972. He was signed to the Beatles' Apple Records label and recorded an album produced by Lennon and Ono called The Pope Smokes Dope that was released in 1972 and immediately caused controversy because of its title. Peel also made a guest appearance on the Lennon-produced, self-titled Elephant's Memory album for the band that backed Lennon. Two of his eclectic albums made the Billboard 200 albums chart: Have a Marijuana peaked at No. 186 in 1969, while The Pope Smokes Dope peaked at No 191 in 1972. His later solo albums included tributes to Lennon: John Lennon for President and John Lennon Forever, plus Bring Back The Beatles and Long Live The Grateful Dead. - Billboard, 4/7/17.