In a new interview with the UK paper The Guardian, Ozzy Osbourne says he sometimes has a hard time remembering his age. "The hardest thing about getting old is all my good friends are dead," said Osbourne. "My problem, really, is I don't remember I'm 70. I don't really know what 70-year-old people are supposed to do. So I just do my own thing," he added. However, Ozzy is actually 69 and doesn't turn 70 until Dec. 3 -- a good six months away. The Black Sabbath frontman, a resident of Los Angeles since 1997, also said he'd "like to move back to England someday." "The weather is great here, but it's so easy to fall into the LA bulls--t," he said. "All the newspapers say I'm ill. F--- off! I'm on the front of the National Enquirer, like: 'Ozzy is dying, his last words were 'Eugh'." Osbourne will return to his native UK in June to headline the Downfold Festival, where he'll be headlining (on June 10) with Guns N' Roses and Avenged Sevenfold. - New Musical Express, 5/26/18...... 
After the success of its Jesus Christ Superstar - Live In Concert musical on Apr. 1, NBC has announced on May 22 that its next live production will be another hippie generation favorite -- the Broadway musical "Hair." "I'm overjoyed that James Rado and Galt MacDermot are trusting us with their masterpiece 'Hair', one of the most original shows ever conceived for Broadway with one of the greatest scores," said NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt at a presser. "These songs are part of the vocabulary of popular music, and this rebellious story of young people protesting and standing up for what they believe in is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. This will be the perfect live event, and I'm looking forward to seeing Craig and Neil, along with our partners at MGM and the original creators bring the audience to their feet as they experience these beloved songs and recognizable young characters." "Hair" has been revived several times since its original 1968 Broadway run, most recently with a celebrity-studded staging at the Hollywood Bowl and earned a film adaptation from Milos Forman in 1979. It tackled the Vietnam War, drugs, race, gender and sexual identity in a manner few mainstream musicals did at the time. The brief nudity in most stagings was also rather revolutionary when it first debuted, however don't expect that to make its way onto broadcast TV even in the spring of 2019, when Hair - Live In Concert is set to air. - The Hollywood Reporter, 5/24/18...... Also celebrating an anniversary in 2018, its 20th, is the 1998 glam-rock tribute Velvet Goldmine. Director Todd Haynes' film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1998 and tells the story (loosely based on David Bowie, Iggy Pop and their fellow '70s-era glam rockers) of the rise and fall of a dazzling fictional rock star Brian Slade (stage persona Maxwell Demon). Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ewan McGregor, Toni Collette, Christian Bale and Eddie Izzard, the movie's soundtrack itself served as the ideal beginner's guide for anyone looking to explore everything the '70s glam era had to offer, featuring music from the likes of Brian Eno, T. Rex, New York Dolls, Roxy Music, Lou Reed and Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. - Billboard, 5/23/18...... An all-star lineup of actors, comedians, and musicians including Laurie Anderson and Steve Buscemi celebrated Bob Dylan's 77th birthday on May 24 with a reimagination of Dylan's 1963 Town Hall Concert at the same NYC venue where the concert was originally held. "Tomorrow is a Long Time: Songs From Bob Dylan's 1963 Town Hall Concert" featured former Rolling Stones backup singer Lisa Fischer ripping through "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and Bill Murray showing up unnannounced for a reading of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right." The event paid tribute to Dylan's April 23, 1963, show when a 21-year-old Dylan performed in front of one thousand people at Town Hall. - Billboard, 5/25/18...... The Rolling Stones played their first hometown gig in London in five years on May 22, delivering "Start Me Up," "Gimme Shelter," "Sympathy for the Devil" and other big hits. Five songs into the show, frontman Mick Jagger stressed how good it was for the Stones to be playing a proper show in the city that bred them, a sentiment he'd repeat several times throughout the evening. Opening for the Stones was Liam Gallagher, who plowed through a brief set featuring the occasional Oasis cut and tracks off his 2017 solo LP As You Were. But the concert was not without its hitches -- a great number of fans took to Twitter to voice their frustration at being refused entry due to the size of their bags at London Stadium. Many complained about the queues, being turned away, having to pay to store their bags, or simply abandoning their bags altogether, even though a statement on London Stadium's website reads: "The Rolling Stones along with its touring partners and host venues strongly encourages fans to not bring any type of bags to our live performances. For ALL of the upcoming European performances, fans will be able to carry the following style and size bag, package, or container when approaching queue lines of fans awaiting entry into the venue." - Billboard/New Musical Express, 5/23/18...... 
John Fogerty has enlisted ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons to record a gritty new rocker called "Holy Grail" that will be released digitally on June 8 and is the first track from Fogerty's next album, which he's currently writing and hopes to enter the studio to begin recording this fall. Fogerty says that the song was the result of a short session he and Gibbons did during late February and posted on Facebook to promote his coheadlinging summer tour with Gibbons, which kicked off on May 25 in Atlantic City. "We played short versions of a few of each of our songs," Fogerty recalls, "and even before that, as the (tour announcement) was going to happen I began to think, 'Y'know, we ought to write a song and record it kind of in honor of this tour.'" The two met up at Fogerty's house not long after that, though he wound up doing the heavy lifting due to Gibbons' busy schedule. "I got a track recorded and then Billy came in and put his voice and guitar on it. I probably would've had this thing come out two months ago, but we haven't quite started the tour yet. So by this Friday we'll start to really groove on the song," says Fogerty, who adds the song's title comes from what he thought it would be like standing on the stage playing guitar with Gibbons. For his part, Gibbons says "it's not an overstatement to say that writing a song with John Fogerty is a genuine bonus" and the song "begs a shout of, 'Turn it up!'" Fogerty says he expects the joint tour to be "a lot of fun" and plans to play "Holy Grail" with Gibbons, and hopefully more. - Billboard, 5/24/18...... Peter Frampton is among the artists paying tribute to the Small Faces' 1968 LP Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, which hit stores on May 24, 1968. "Ogdens' was the best Small Faces album for me," Frampton tells Billboard. "It was just after its release that I first met Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, and there was talk of me joining the band as the fifth member as well. They were always one of my most favourite bands from, "Whatcha Gonna Do About It," onwards. This album's great material and concept are what made it their finest work. Its eye catching round cover made it unique before you even heard the music. Love this record!!," Frampton added. Bassist Lane, keyboardist Ian McLagan and drummer Kenney Jones would eventually form the Faces in 1970 with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, and Marriott became the frontman for Frampton's former band, Humble Pie, in 1969. - Billboard, 5/24/18...... The estate of Michael Jackson is slamming the ABC special The Last Days of Michael Jackson, which aired on the network on May 24. The estate says the special is not sponsored or approved by Jackson's heirs, and will most likely violate their intellectual property rights. "We believe the special to be another crass and unauthorized attempt to exploit the life, music and image of Michael Jackson without respect for Michael's legacy, intellectual property rights or his children," the estate said in a statement. The estate said ABC used a copyrighted silhouette and photo to promote the special, but stopped after demands from Jackson attorneys, and also used other other intellectual property without permission, including music, photos and artwork. "It is particularly disheartening that (ABC owner) Disney, a company known to strongly believe in protecting its own IP rights, would choose to ignore these rights belonging to the Estate," the statement added. Representatives for ABC owner Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. - AP, 5/23/18...... As the trailer for the upcoming Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was shared on the Internet in late May and criticized by some fans for leaving out any mention of frontman Freddie Mercury's alleged bisexuality, Queen's latest frontman Adam Lambert says he doesn't know how "in the closet" Freddie actually was. "I mean it was like another time where it was just taboo to even discuss it in the media," Lambert says. "I think it might have been interpreted as him being tongue-in-cheek, but he sort of owned it from the get-go." Lambert, who was the openly first gay man to have a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, is currently on a summer tour with Queen throughout Europe, before the group comes to Las Vegas for a limited three-week residency at the Park Theater. - Billboard, 5/23/18...... 
Banjo player extraordinaire and producer John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fame has just released a new memoir, The Life I've Picked: A Banjo Player's Nitty Gritty Journey. The comprehensively illustrated 328-page tome, with more than 70 photos, details the 72-year-old California native's rich musical career, from becoming a teenage banjoist to his longtime membership in the NGDB to his work with high school pal Steve Martin on "King Tut" and Martin's Grammy Award-winning LP The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo. McEuen says the Eagles have always been respectful of him and the Dirt Band for helping to forge a path they followed to their success. "I think we helped open that road a bit for them. Glenn Frey and the other guy, (Don) Henley, both gave credit to the Dirt Band. Actually, (Frey's) Longbranch Pennywhistle opened for us for a week at the Troubadour. That scene in southern California was the most overlooked scene in the country.... It was an exciting time." After leaving the NGDB for a second time late last year, McEuen is still active as a solo artist leading his own band. - Billboard, 5/23/18...... Fifty years after the Beatles' psychedelic animated movie classic, Yellow Submarine, hit theaters, Titan Comics is prepping a graphic novel take on the trippy adventure. In this Apple-approved version, The Simpsons comics artist Bill Morrison re-tells the story of the cheerful, music-loving underwater world Pepperland's invasion by the marauding, music-hating Blue Meanies, who turn the citizens into statues by shooting arrows that drop green apples on their heads while imprisoning Pepperland's guardians, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in a soundproof globe. The Beatles Yellow Submarine will be released Aug. 28, and its trailer can be viewed on EW.com. - Billboard, 5/23/18...... Roger Clark, a drummer who contributed to the legendary "Muscle Shoals sound" by contributing to albums by the likes of Tom Jones, Paul Anka, Lou Rawls and others died of a heart attack on May 24 at home. He was 67. Clark played his first paying gig at 14, going on to work in studios in Muscle Shoals and Nashville, and worked at FAME Recording Studios and Wishbone Recording Studio in the 1970s and '80s. Clark was also an inductee into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, which says he drummed on more than 30 gold and platinum albums and toured with the Steve Miller Band, Journey and the Pointer Sisters, among others. - AP, 5/25/18...... Glenn Snoddy, a Nashville recording engineer who is credited with inventing the guitar fuzz pedal, died on May 21 at age 96. Mr. Snoddy was one of Nashville's top engineers beginning in the 1940s, and in the 1960s he constructed a guitar pedal that was housed in a structure that was similar to a box in an attempt to recreate a distorted sound that occured during a Marty Robbins recording session for the song "Don't Worry." All musicians would have to do was to push a button to distort the sound. The Gibson Company heard it, bought the rights to it and manufactured the Maestro Fuzz-Tone. Mr. Snoddy was also responsible for hiring a newcomer to town from Texas to be a janitor at Quonset Hut Studios in Nashville, where he was employed. His name was Kris Kristofferson. Mr. Snoddy, a U.S. Army veteran who served his country during World War II and earned three bronze stars, will be buried with full military honors. - Billboard, 5/23/18...... 
Author Philip Roth, the prize-winning novelist and fearless narrator of sex, death, assimilation and fate, from the comic madness of Portnoy's Complaint to the elegiac lyricism of American Pastoral, died of congestive heart failure in a New York City hospital on May 22. He was 85. Author of more than 25 books, Mr. Roth was a fierce satirist and uncompromising realist, and among the greatest writers never to win the Nobel Prize. But he received virtually every other literary honor, including two National Book Awards, two National Book Critics Circle prizes and, in 1998, the Pulitzer for American Pastoral. He was in his 20s when he won his first award and awed critics and fellow writers by producing some of his most acclaimed novels in his 60s and 70s, including The Human Stain and Sabbath's Theater, a savage narrative of lust and mortality he considered his finest work. Mr. Roth identified himself as an American writer, not a Jewish one, but for Mr. Roth the American experience and the Jewish experience were often the same. After receiving a master's degree in English from the University of Chicago, he began publishing stories in The Paris Review and elsewhere. As narrated by Alexander Portnoy, from a psychiatrist's couch, Roth's novel Portnoy's Complaint satirized the dull expectations heaped upon "nice Jewish boys" and immortalized the most ribald manifestations of sexual obsession. Although Portnoy's Complaint was banned in Australia, many critics welcomed the novel as a declaration of creative freedom. The novel sold millions, making Mr. Roth wealthy and famous, and it was later turned into a movie adaptation, along with his novella Goodbye, Columbus. After his disastrous second marriage to British actress Claire Bloom ended, Mr. Roth threw himself back into writing. Now in his 60s, he wrote three of his better novels, American Pastoral, I Married a Communist, and The Human Stain, focusing on American cultural history and several traumatic moments. - The New York Times/AP, 5/23/18.
The Rolling Stones kicked off their European tour on May 17 at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland with the classic "Sympathy for the Devil," the first in a 19-song setlist that also included "Tumbling Dice," "Paint It Black," and an audience request, "Wild Horses." The band also performed its 1981 track "Neighbours" for the first time since 2003, and encored with "Gimme Shelter" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." The Stones' "No Filter Tour" hits their native England in the last week of May, playing two shows at the London Stadium where they'll be respectively supported by Liam Gallagher and Florence & The Machine. - New Musical Express, 5/18/18...... 
The Jacksons have been confirmed to headline the Detroit Music Weekend on June 14-17, where they will also be honored with a key to the city and Michael Jackson will have a street renamed in his honor. The city announced on May 17 that a downtown block will be renamed Michael Jackson Ave., however Marlon Jackson says it was his understanding the street was "supposed to be" renamed for the entire group and "I think it is going to be that. There was a mistake." While Detroit has a city ordinance that requires any honorary street naming to be for an individual only, sources said that talks were underway to allow for an exception to that. Detroit Music Weekend founder and producer Vince Paul says he wanted to start with Michael and "if I had my druthers there'll be [streets named for] Tito, Jackie, Marlon... That's where I'm going with it." In 2017, Aretha Franklin was the recipient of a street naming during the festival, and there are also plans to rename street after other legendary Detroit acts including The Tempations, The Four Tops and The Supremes. In addition to the Jacksons' free public performance on June 16, a Jacksons tribute concert to the group will take place on June 15. More than 500 performers are expected to play during the festival, including former Grand Funk Railroad frontman Mark Farner. - Billboard, 5/17/18...... In other Jacksons-related news, ABC has announced it will broadcast a two-hour Michael Jackson special dedicated to his live and legacy on May 24, ahead of next year's 10th anniversary of his death. The Last Days of Michael Jackson will feature never-before-seen interviews he did with Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer, as well as conversations with his friends and family. The special airs on ABC on May 24 at 8:00 p.m. EST. - Billboard, 5/17/18...... In related news, NBC announced on May 17 it will broadcast a 50th anniversary tribute to Elvis Presley's iconic "1968 comeback" special sometime in 2019. The special is set to feature some of today's biggest music artists recreating the spectacle and the staging of the original Singer Presents... ELVIS show. Additionally, the two-hour broadcast will include rare footage of the superstar and interviews from those who were involved in the event 50 years ago. - Billboard, 5/17/18...... The George Clinton-fronted '70s funk band Parliament has released Medicaid Fraud Dogg, its first LP in 38 years. The first single from the lengthy 23-track album, "I'm Gon Make U Sick of Me" featuring Scarface, was released earlier in 2018. Clinton says Parliament's twin band Funkadelic had the last release, First Ya Gotta Shake The Gate, and now "it's Parliament's turn." Clinton recently announced his intention to retire from touring in 2019, saying that the decision had been coming for "a long time," but due to P-Funk's legacy, "They'll still be funkin' long after I stop." - Billboard, 5/22/18...... 
The Who frontman Roger Daltrey had some harsh words for UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during a recent interview with Britain's Event magazine. "Jeremy Corbyn is not a socialist. He's a communist," Daltrey said. "Be honest about that and see how many votes you get, Jeremy, because otherwise, you're going to be moving in to Downing Street under a false premise." Daltrey also weighed in on Brexit, saying "what I'm against is Brussels, not the EU. I can't live with that because we lost people in my family fighting for our right to be democratic." About the #MeToo movement, Daltrey argued that rock stars don't sexually harass women because they don't "need" to. "Why would any rock star need to push themselves on women?" he said. "Usually, it's the other way around. I'd like to have £1 for every woman that screws my ass. Mick Jagger would be a billionaire out of it. If it was going to be in the rock business, it would've been out by now. It would've been out a long time ago. I find this whole thing so obnoxious. It's always allegations and it's just salacious crap." Daltrey will release his first solo LP in 25 years, As Long As I Have You, on June 1. - New Musical Express, 5/20/18...... Elton John performed for guests at the wedding reception of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19. Sir Elton was among 600 people invited to the reception, and according to Kensington Palace, "performed for the newly married couple in recognition of the close connection he has with Prince Harry and his family." The palace did not disclose which songs that John, who was made a knight in 1998 by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998, chose for the occasion. Elton was a close friend of Harry's late mother, Princess Diana, and performed the song "Candle in the Wind" with recast lyrics at her funeral in 1997. In other Elton John news, the singer has joined the Swedish startup company Auddly co-owned by songwriters Max Martin and ABBA's Bjrn Ulvaeus as an official ambassador for the company. "It's time to realize that we need to manage our metadata more efficiently to overcome the challenges preventing creators from getting paid correctly, and I support Auddly in its efforts towards a more sustainable music industry," said John in a press release. Auddly aims to solve the problem of accurately identifying and paying songwriters for streamed compositions, and in the past year has entered into partnerships with some of the world's most powerful music companies and organizations, including Universal Music Publishing Group, ASCAP, PRS and STIM. - AP/Billboard, 5/19/18...... Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band have announced the first 13 rescheduled dates from their 2017 Runaway Train tour after frontman Seger was forced to postpone the tour halfway through due to spinal surgery in October. The first rescheduled show takes place Nov. 24 in Kansas City, with the remaining dates rolling into late February. Seger is reportedly feeling good and fully recovered from cervical laminectomy surger to repair a ruptured disc. The remaining 7 dates that were also postponed are expected to be announced soon. Seger will continue to promote his latest album, I Knew You When, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Current Rock Albums chart and No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 200. - Billboard, 5/21/18...... 
The state of Florida has just erected a historical marker at the Jacksonville home of Southern rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd and .38 Special. The house is located at 5419 Woodcrest Road, one block off Lake Shore Boulevard, in a blue-collar neighborhood that Ronnie, Donnie and Johnnie Van Zant grew up in before forming Lynyrd Skynyrd, the reformed Skynyrd, and .38 Special, respectively. Jacksonville Beach entrepreneur Todd Smith bought the property and worked with the state to get the marker, which was officially unveiled to the public May 12. Smith says he found the house while looking for property in the area, learned about its history and decided something needed to be done to officially acknowledge it. He says he has plans to restore the house to look like a time capsule from the '70s, complete with an avocado-green rotary-dial phone and a wooden console stereo with an eight-track player and several Skynyrd eight-tracks that still sound just fine. Those touches fit in with the acoustical tile ceilings and the wood paneling on the walls, where Smith will place Skynyrd memorabilia where once the Van Zant parents hung gold records. - AP, 5/21/18...... Steven Tyler admitted he's spent "about $2 million" on drugs throughout his life during a game of "Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts" on CBS's The Late Late Show with James Corden on May 17. The premise of the game is that host James Corden gets to pick a disgusting item for the celeb to eat if they refuse to answer a juicy question, and Tyler opted for honesty when having to eat head cheese or answer a question about how much he'd spent on drugs throughout his life. After saying he'd spent "about $2 million," the Aerosmith frontman joked that he'd "snorted half of Peru." Later, Tyler also admitted to having hit on his actress daughter Liv Tyler's friend, Cameron Diaz, rather than eat a dried out caterpillar. - JustJared.com, 5/18/18...... Founding Judas Priest member KK Downing's share of the royalty rights to over 130 Judas Priest tracks, including metal hits "Breaking The Law," "Living After Midnight" and "Painkiller," are being put for sale following the demise of a luxury golf resort in Shropshire, UK, that Downing invested in. In late 2017, the resort business fell into administration (similar to Chapter 11 insolvency in the U.S.) and the 320-acre estate was put up for immediate sale with an asking price of more than £10 million ($13.5 million). At the time, administrators blamed "tougher economic times within the wider corporate hospitality market" for placing "unsustainable pressure" on the business. Astbury Hall and its golf course has since been acquired by new owners. The next part of the bankruptcy process involves the sale of Downing's share of the royalty rights to 136 Judas Priest songs, which administrators FRP Advisory LLP say generates between $340,000 and $400,000 per year. Downing hasn't been a member of Judas Priest since 2011, when he left the band citing a breakdown in relationships between members and dissatisfaction with the group's live performances. Judas Priest is set to kick off a 25-city co-headlining North American tour behind its latest LP Firepower with Deep Purple that's slated to kick off on Aug. 21 in Cincinnati, Oh. - Billboard, 5/17/18...... 
The Doobie Brothers kicked off a 32-city coheadlining summer tour with Steely Dan on May 19 in Atlanta, and Doobies frontman Tom Johnston says the veteran rock band still feels adrenaline from the audience every night. "It's pretty much the interacting with the crowd, that is still the pinnacle right there," Johnston says. "That's why we keep doing what we do, because we love playing for people live. And the more action you get out of the crowd, I guess you could call it reciprocal, action back from the crowd, the better the gig is. And that's something that we always strive for every night." Johnston added that his touring partners Steely Dan "sounds as good or better than they ever did" despite the loss of Steely Dan guitarist Walter Becker. "It's basically all about Donald (Fagen) right now," Johnston says. "And he's got a band assembled with really great players. A couple of gals singing background, horn section, and they nail the stuff. I mean it sounds like a record. It's just incredible." Johnston says he's particularly looking forward to a Sep. 22 date at Petco Park in San Diego when his group and the Zac Brown Band will be the openers for the Eagles. "They sound great, they've got a great visual show going, but if they didn't have the visual show, it wouldn't matter. They're sounding really good. We played with them last year at Dodgers Stadium, and then in New York at Citi Field." The Doobies have also been spending some time in the recording studio, working on a new album, says the band's John McFee. "That's our plan. We do want to make some new music. As a matter of fact, we have gone in and already cut four songs." - Billboard, 5/18/18...... Reggie Lucas, the Grammy-winning musician who played with Miles Davis in the 1970s and produced the bulk of Madonna's debut album, died on May 19 from complications with his heart in New York City. He was 65. After playing with Davis in the '70s, Lucas began a musical partnership with percussionist James Mtume. Together they wrote hits like Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's "The Closer I Get to You" -- later covered by Beyonce and Luther Vandross -- and Stephanie Mills' "Never Knew Love Like This Before," which won the duo the Grammy for best R&B song. Lucas went on to produce the majority of Madonna's 1983 self-titled debut album, which sold more than 5 million units and included the hits "Borderline" and "Lucky Star." In addition to his daughter, Lucas is survived by his wife Leslie Lucas; his son Julian Lucas; his mother Annie Wolinsky; and his brother Greg Lucas. - AP, 5/19/18...... Actor Clint Walker, best known for his role as cowboy hero Cheyenne Bodie on the hit 1950's western series Cheyenne, died suddenly on May 21, apparently after a heart problem. He was 90. Mr. Walker first made his mark on Hollywood by landing a role in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, and also starred in such films as None But the Brave, Small Soldiers, The White Buffalo, Pancho Villa, Yellowstone Kelly and The Great Bank Robbery, as well as as the TV series Kodiak. His last credit was 1998's Small Soldiers, in which he voiced the character Nick Nitro. Mr. Walker cheated death in 1971 when the tip of a ski pole pierced his heart during a vacation in Mammoth, Calif. The hulking actor made an amazing recovery and was back at work filming in Spain two months later. - WENN.com, 5/22/18...... 
Interview magazine, the publication founded by British journalist John Wilcock and pop art icon Andy Warhol in 1969, announced on May 21 that it is ending both its print and web publications after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In 1989, billionaire art collector and Warhol admirer Peter Brant purchased the glossy art and culture magazine from Warhol's estate. According to the New York Post, the magazine was evicted from its Soho office in February after Brant Publications apparently stopped paying the landlord. Interview was once dubbed "The Crystal Ball of Pop Culture" because of its iconic covers and lengthy, often freewheeling interviews with artists and people of note conducted by their celebrity peers. - Spin.com, 5/22/18...... Legendary movie poster artist Bill Gold, whose artworks included Casablanca, A Clockwork Orange, The Exorcist, Dog Day Afternoon and decades' worth of Clint Eastwood films, died of natural causes at his home on Old Greenwich, Conn., on May 20. He was 97. Mr. Gold revolutionized the art of the movie poster over a seven-decade career that began at Warner Bros. in the early 1940s, and he had a hand in more than 2,000 posters during his iconic career, working on films for everyone from Alfred Hitchcock (1954's Dial M for Murder), Elia Kazan (1955's East of Eden) and Federico Fellini (1963's 8 1/2) to Sam Peckinpah (1969's The Wild Bunch), Robert Altman (1971's McCabe & Mrs. Miller) and Martin Scorsese (1990's GoodFellas). The Brooklyn native received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Hollywood Reporter during its 1994 Key Art Awards ceremony. - The Hollywood Reporter, 5/21/18.
Jeff Beck is the subject of an upcoming documentary of his life called Still on the Run: The Jeff Beck Story which covers the guitar legend's life from his days in The Yardbirds through his solo career, with rock legends including his rival Eric Clapton paying tribute. Beck has told Rolling Stone magazine that he was surprised Clapton agreed to take part in the doc. "I must admit there was a tear -- especially with Eric," Beck says. "I never expected him to bother to be in it. I studied his face over and over, just to make sure there wasn't something else going on [laughs]. But no, it was just overwhelming." Beck added that he learned from Clapton's former wife, Patti Boyd, that "there definitely was [rivalry]" between the two, "especially with the Stevie Wonder stuff. He was not too amused about me doing something successful with Stevie. I think that maybe got under his skin a bit." - New Musical Express, 5/17/18...... Speaking of Stevie Wonder, the Motown legend has announced he will play five shows in Las Vegas this summer at the Park Theater starting Aug. 3. The 5,300-seat venue is located at the Park MGM casino-resort, formerly known as the Monte Carlo. It previously hosted the residencies of Cher and Ricky Martin. - AP, 5/16/18...... A two day Julien's auction featuring memorabilia from the likes of Prince, Bob Dylan and George Harrison will be held at the Hard Rock Cafe New York and online during the third weekend in May. The first auction day, on May 18, is dedicated to Prince, the musical legend who died in April 2016. The items include a guitar the artist had commissioned, as well as a number of outfits he wore at different performances, and handwritten lyrics. The second day's items on May 19 include guitars played by Dylan and Harrison, as well as costumes and jewelry. - AP, 5/15/18...... Iggy Pop will be among the headliners at the 2018 Cal Jam festival, set for Oct. 6 at Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino, Calif. In 2017, alternative band Foo Fighters helped revive the long-forgotten festival that took place in the '70. Its 1974 concert boasted such rock giants as Deep Purple, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and the Eagles. In addition to Pop, the Foo Fighters will also be headlining the upcoming Cal Jam, along with Tenacious D, Garbage, Silversun Pickups and Manchester Orchestra. Pop will be reuniting with his former backing band Post Pop Depression during his performance. - Billboard, 5/14/18...... Bob Dylan has announced he will kick off his 2018 summer tour in Asia at the Fuji Rock Festival on July 29, 40 years since his first tour of Japan. The festival, held at Naeba Ski Resort, marks Dylan's 101st performance in Japan. After Japan, his tour travels to Hong Kong on Aug. 4 and Singapore on Aug. 6. - Billboard, 5/15/18...... 
Power pop artist Nick Lowe will release a new EP with Los Straightjackets entitled 
The first trailer for the long-awaited Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was released on May 15. It opens with Freddie Mercury, played by actor Rami Malek, wearing a fluttering white cape, engaging in the familiar call-and-response with an audience that was one of Queen's signature live concert staple moves, before cutting to snippets of Malek as Mercury in a gold lame jumpsuit, a black leather outfit and shirtless while wielding the late singer's iconic half microphone stand as the instantly recognizable strains of "Another One Bites the Dust" kick in. The trailer then depicts Mercury's first meeting with guitarist Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and drummer Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy), and then to a scene in which Brian May plays the central "Rhapsody" riff in the studio and Mercury informs him from the mixing board "this is where the operatic section comes in." The trailer peaks with a glimpse of the massive crowd at Wembley Stadium in 1985 when Queen leaped into history with their unforgettable set at Live Aid. Bohemian Rhapsody will hit theaters on Nov. 2. - Billboard, 5/15/18...... Def Leppard has announced it is teaming up with Seattle's Elysian Brewing Company to craft "Def Leppard Pale," a brand new brew that will make its debut on May 23, the second date of Def Leppard's upcoming coheadlining summer tour with Journey. The potent 6% ABV beer will be available at most stops on their tour, as well as select bars and restaurants. "The best of British beer is the malt body and that beautiful malt balance. And the best thing about American beer is the citrus, piney hops," says Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott. "So we've taken those two aspects, put them together and come up with a beer you can actually drink a few of -- 6% ABV you can drink all night long." The Def Leppard/Journey tour kicks off May 21 and runs through Oct. 7. - Billboard, 5/14/18...... Metallica performed a funky cover of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" when their current world tour hit Stockholm, Sweden, in early May. Metallica are currently covering tunes relevant to the city they're playing in each night, and when in Norway they offered up a version of A-Ha's "Take On Me." - New Musical Express, 5/9/18...... In a new post on his official Facebook page, Neil Young says he's leaving the popular social media site to focus on expanding his NeilYoungArchives.com site, which he describes as "a giant time machine cabinet filled with "albums and tracks, bits and pieces, manuscripts and art, film and video." "Each song is being backed up with the archival material that relates to it and to the creation of it, from song writing, to band jams, the history of this music is there," Young continues. "It's never finished, it is huge and growing. We work night and day expanding the window you can see this archival stuff through. The musician added that as of June 1, he plans to charge $1.99 a month, or $19.99 a year for access to NeilYoungArchives.com. "If you want to hear my music and would like to have the option to listen to it with all the depth and glory of high resolution, it will be there," he says. "All my new records can be heard there first, before they get released anywhere else. New unreleased albums from the archives, old unreleased albums from the archives. Will always be heard there first." Young will kick off a 2018 summer tour on June 28 in St. Louis, also visiting Chicago (6/30, 7/1), Detroit (7/3) and Detroit (7/11, 7/12). - Spin.com, 5/14/18...... 
During a show in Los Feliz, Calif., on May 11, former Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham addressed his departure from the iconic rock band. "I have sadly taken leave of my band of 43 years, Fleetwood Mac. This was not something that was really my doing or my choice," Buckingham said. "I think what you would say is that there were factions within the band that had lost their perspective. It harmed the 43-year legacy that we had worked so hard to build," he said of the group's decision, "and that legacy was really about rising above difficulties in order to fulfill one's higher truth and one's higher destiny." Buckingham refrained from commenting when one audience member yelled "F--- Stevie Nicks." Buckingham was performing at a campaign fundraiser for Mike Levin, a California Democratic congressional candidate. On Apr. 9, Fleetwood Mac issued a statement saying that Buckingham "will not be performing with the band" on its upcoming tour, and "wishes Lindsey the best."I t was also revealed that he would be replaced by former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House's Neil Finn on tour. - Billboard, 5/12/18...... A Prince symphony concert series was announced on May 16, with the funk/rock icon's hits performed by a full symphony orchestra. "4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince" will be co-curated by Questlove of The Roots and feature guest vocalists as well as videos and photos provided by Prince's estate. The 32 concert run will get underway on Sept. 6 in New Brunswick, N.J., and wrap on Oct. 19 in San Antonio, Tex. - New Musical Express, 5/16/18...... A new Robin Williams autobiography dubbed 
Actress Margot Kidder, perhaps best known for her role as Lois Lane on 1978's 
A new career-spanning box set from late Eagles member Glenn Frey, 
Iconic pop singer/songwriter Paul Anka has revealed that he and current singing sensation Drake will be teaming up for a new project that will drop in June 2018. "I'm working with a brilliant young artist who is as hot as you can get right now, a fellow young Canadian and his name is Drake," Anka said on May 10 during the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards, where he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from his friend Michael Bublé. "We recorded something that will be released, out in June. That's all I can tell you," he added. Anka, 76, wrote his first No. 1 hit "Diana" at age 15 and went on to pen such classics as "My Way," "Puppy Love," Lonely Boy," "Put Your Head On My Shoulder," "She's a Lady" and "(You're) Having My Baby," as well as the theme to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. - Billboard, 5/11/18...... Michael Jackson will appear on a new Pepsi can as part of the soft drink company's #PepsiGenerations campaign this summer, it was announced on May 11. Jackson will appear alongside similar retro designs featuring Pepsi-affiliated artists including Ray Charles and Britney Spears. #PepsiGenerations highlights Pepsi's biggest pop culture moments over the years, starting with February's "This is the Pepsi" Super Bowl commercial narrated by Jimmy Fallon. Jackson began appearing in Pepsi spots in 1984, when his hair famously caught fire during one shoot. He also appeared posthumously in a series of 2012 Pepsi ads to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his album Bad. The Jackson Pepsi can will also be available in select other countries around the world. - Billboard, 5/11/18...... The Beach Boys have announced they'll make their own foray into orchestral music with a new LP dubbed 
Stevie Wonder hinted that his next project could be a collaboration with Donald Glover and Childish Gambino during an intimate two-hour set at the Peppermint Club in Los Angeles on May 9. Billed as "The Stevie Wonder Song Party: A Celebration of Life, Love and Music," the show was attended by such celebrities as Motown founder Berry Gordy, actress Angela Bassett, actor/comedian Craig Robinson, T.I., Nick Cannon and actor/activist Jesse Williams. During the evening, Wonder also referenced his forthcoming album, Through the Eyes of Wonder, telling the audience that he wanted to play some of the new material, "but unfortunately, the players don't know it." Wonder, who turns 68 on May 13, also revealed he intends to mount a new national tour behind his new album, although he did not mention a specific start date or itinerary. - Billboard, 5/10/18...... Neil Young has announced he's planning to produce and release a 35-minute film he conceived to go along with his 1982 album Trans some 16 years after it was first conceived. Young says the film was never actually created because his then record company Geffen "pulled the funding for the videos because they didn't like the record," which featured him singing through a vocoder over stiff synth grooves and earned him a lawsuit from the record company. Young says the backstory of Trans is poignant: he created it as a statement about the difficulty of communicating with his son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy and unable to speak. (Hence the chilly, difficult-to-understand vocals.) The planned film would elucidate this concept more explicitly, featuring "electronic-voice people who were working in a hospital, and the one thing they were trying to do is teach this little baby to push a button," according to the Neil Young bio Shakey. Young also says he plans on releasing "four or five" previously unheard collaborations with his band Crazy Horse via his Neil Young Archives digital library project. - Spin.com/Yahoo News, 5/8/18...... Country music icon Dolly Parton was on hand at a senior center dedication ceremony in her hometown of Sevierville, Tenn., on May 7 to give the facility a new name: the My People Senior Activity Center, in honor of her parents, Robert and Avie Lee Parton. The 72-year-old Parton joked that she's a senior, too, and made fun of her plastic surgery, shouting "girl power" when she saw more women doing woodworking at the center than men. At the event, Parton gave her own secret to staying young: "Be busy, stay active and get involved." - AP, 5/8/18...... 
Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance at the 2018 New Jersey Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Asbury Park Convention Center om Asbury Park, NJ, on May 6 to introduce his longtime friend and guitarist Steven Van Zandt into the hall. The two joined forces onstage and played "I Don't Want To Go Home," trading vocals and eventually welcoming the entire class of inductees -- and many of their family members -- onstage to close the show. "We did the impossible: We made New Jersey hip," said Van Zandt, who is from Middletown, NJ. Other performers getting the nod included Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry, of Hawthorne, NJ. Disco queen Gloria Gaynor, who is from Newark, turned the hall into a giant dance party as audience members leapt from their seats and boogied to her hit 
Phil Collins announced on May 7 that he'll mount his first major North American tour in 12 years beginning on Oct. 5 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Entitled the "Phil Collins Not Dead Yet, Live!" tour after his recent autobiography Not Dead Yet: The Memoir, the trek will be a limited engagement of 15 shows also visiting Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Newark, NJ, Brooklyn, NY, Montreal, Cleveland, Oh., Columbus, Oh., Minneapolis, Chicago, Oakland, Calif., and Las Vegas before wrapping in Los Angeles on Oct. 28. Collins will be accompanied by musicians including his longtime guitarist Daryl Stuermer and his 16-year-old son Nicolas Collins on drums. - Billboard, 5/7/18...... Redmond O'Neal, the troubled 33-year-old son of Ryan O'Neal and the late Farrah Fawcett, was arrested on May 8 at 3:00 a.m. by the Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Division for robbing a convenient store with a knife. According to an LAPD spokesperson, Redmond "entered the store with a knife and approached the clerk and demanded money from the register. The clerk, who was in fear for his life, gave him the money." Though he fled on foot, O'Neal was caught by officers after matching the description of the suspect. "O'Neal was detained and identified as suspect from the robbery," the spokesperson continued. "Officers found the knife and cash in his possession." O'Neal was taken to jail, and is currently being held with a $50,000 bail. In recent years O'Neal has had multiple arrests, and spent a year in prison after being found guilty of drug charges. He had originally been sentenced to three years in prison for violating his probation in an ongoing drug possession case. He struggled for years with his sobriety, and was released from prison in 2016. - RadarOnline.com, 5/10/18...... German-Israeli singer Abi Ofarim, who had hits including "Cinderella Rockefella" in the '60s with his wife in the musical duo Esther & Abi Ofarim, has died in Munich after a long illness. He was 80. Born Abraham Reichstadt in what is today Israel, Ofarim started performing there with Esther Zaled in 1959, and the two married in 1961. After hits in Germany, their greatest success came with "Cinderella Rockefella," which reached No. 1 in Britain in 1968 and led to appearances in London and New York. After the pair separated in 1970, Ofarim worked as a producer and manager but had little success with a solo career. In recent years he'd been working with a Munich organization to help seniors. - 5/4/18.
Meanwhile another 70-year-old rocker, Alice Cooper, told New York's Q103 radio station on May 4 that he'll only consider retiring "If we do a tour and nobody shows up, then I'm retired... That's never happened." Cooper continued: "In fact, we're doing better business now than we've ever done. More people are coming to the show now, and I've never felt better, so I don't see any reason to retire at all. I know a lot of guys are quitting, but a lot of guys still smoke and drink. They're probably tired. I'm not tired. People always say, 'Well, you could just play golf every day,' and I say, 'I play golf every day anyway!'" Cooper is currently involved in a range of projects, including the "supergroup" Hollywood Vampires, and there are rumours he may also open for KISS on their 2019 tour. He released his most recent album, Paranormal, in July 2017. - New Musical Express, 5/5/18...... AC/DC's classic 1980 album Back in Black has re-entered the Billboard Hot 200 album chart at No. 152, thanks in part to sales generated from a limited-edition cassette reissue of the album for Record Store Day. Its cassette has been out of print since 2006. Of the album's 6,000 units, 3,000 were in traditional album sales, with cassettes accounting for 45% of the set's total sales for the week ending May 5. Meanwhile, Sting has added another No. 1 to his impressive array of genre chart leaders as his new collaboration with reggae superstar Shaggy, 
NBC announced on May 4 that an ambitious, star-studded two-hour special dedicated to Sweden's ABBA, Thank You for the Music, An All-Star Tribute, will air in December. The network says the special will be broadcast around the world, with the BBC handling international distribution, and feature a variety of "specially invited artists" performing ABBA hits like 
Paul McCartney was made a Companion of Honor by the Royal Family on May 4 during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. King George V founded the Order of the Companions Honour in 1917, which is given as a reward for outstanding achievements to citizens of the Commonwealth realms. Sir Paul receives the honor 20 years after he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. "Congratulations Sir @PaulMcCartney who has been made a #CompanionofHonour at Buckingham Palace today for his lasting contribution to music in the UK and Worldwide," read the caption of the Royal Family's official Twitter account. McCartney was accompanied by his wife, Nancy Shevell, during the ceremony. - Billboard, 5/4/18...... In other Beatles-related news, Julien's Auctions announced on May 3 that Geroge Harrison's first first electric guitar will be auctioned at New York's Hard Rock Cafe on May 19. Harrison played the Hoffner Club 40 electric model when the Beatles played around Liverpool, England, as The Quarrymen. He traded his acoustic guitar for the electric model with Ray Ennis, who was a member of The Swinging Blue Jeans. Julien's estimates the guitar will sell for between $200,000 and $300,000. A 1965 Fender Telecaster owned by The Band's Robbie Robertson played by Harrison, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan is also on the block and estimated to sell between $400,000 and $600,000. - AP, 5/3/18...... Neil Young and Crazy Horse reunited for a concert at Fresno, California's Warnors Theatre on May 1, their first show since 2014. Their completely unrehearsed gig was the first of a three-night stint that Young said "will be the beginning of another beautiful chapter" in the band's nearly 50-year history. The 15-song setlist included covers of such Young solo material as "Winterlong," "World on a String," "Too Far Gone," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," "Walk On," "Like a Hurricane" and the encore, "Roll Another Number (For the Road)." When recently asked about the future of Crazy Horse, Young said: "Well, we have an incredible album that's in the can that's a recent album. Alchemy. Then we have a 2001 album, Toast. We have a 1969/70 album, early days, which is a lot of stuff nobody's heard." - New Musical Express, 5/2/18............ 
Brian Wilson announced on Twitter on May 1 that he has been forced to cancel his May Pet Sounds performances due to a back problem requiring a medical procedure. Wilson, who underwent back surgery at least once before in 2012, said his condition "runs in the family... [brother] Carl had back problems as well," and apologized to his fans. The nine dates affected include shows in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Tenn., Richmond, Va., Augusta, Ga., Clearwater, Fla., Viera, Fla. and Pampano Beach, Fla. The canceled shows are expected to be rescheduled. Meanwhile, Wilson's former Beach Boys bandmate Mike Love posted a photo of the two performing together on his Facebook page, and wished Brian well: "I hope one day we'll be able to do this again," he said, adding that he was "looking forward to perhaps one day throwing some hoops." - Billboard, 5/1/18...... Paul McCartney and Metallica will be among the headliners at the 2018 Austin City Music Festival, set for the city's Zilker Park over the weekends of Oct. 5-7 and Oct. 12-14. The event will serve as McCartney and Metallica's sole North American festival dates for 2018, and other headlining acts include David Byrne, Shawn Mendes, Childish Gambino, Arctic Monkeys and Travis Scott. - Billboard, 5/1/18...... Speaking of David Byrne, the former Talking Heads frontman made his first appearance ever at the 2018 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Apr. 29. Actor and part-time New Orleanian John Goodman cheered Byrne on from side stage during his minimalist set, with no amplifier or monitor visible. Goodman's an old pal of Byrne's going back to the 1986 cult favorite True Stories, starring Goodman, which Byrne directed, co-wrote and narrated. Byrne's setlist was largely focused on his new American Utopia LP, however he also performed crowd-pleasing Heads classics including "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)," "Once In A Lifetime" and "Burning Down the House." - Billboard, 4/30/18...... 
The committee responsible for the Tony Awards announced on May 1 that Bruce Springsteen will receive a special award for his blockbuster solo show "Springsteen on Broadway," which has become the top-grossing new production of the 2017-18 season. The honor, which had been widely anticipated in the theater community, was announced along with nominations in the competitive categories of the 72nd Annual Tony Awards. "Springsteen on Broadway" opened officially on Oct. 12 to rave reviews from both theater and music press, and was initially was scheduled to run through Nov. 26, but has been extended multiple times. The show, with average ticket prices around $500 (higher than "Hamilton"), is now scheduled to run through Dec. 15, 2018. The 72nd Annual Tony Awards are scheduled for June 10, and Springsteen will likely perform live on the CBS telecast before receiving his honor. - Billboard, 5/1/18...... In other Springsteen-related news, a red vinyl edition of the Boss' Greatest Hits LP helped the 11th annual Record Store Day on Apr. 21 become the biggest one yet. 580,000 vinyl albums were sold at independent retailers -- the single largest week for the format at the retail sector in Nielsen Music history. Holding the No. 2 position was David Bowie's live set Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78), followed by Neil Young's Tonight's the Night Live at the Roxy. Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead's Dylan & The Dead came in at No. 5, followed by a mono version of Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Total album sales were up by 23 percent at independent record stores, as compared to Record Store Day week last year (799,000 vs. 649,000). - Billboard, 4/30/18...... The Who's Roger Daltrey was honored at the We Are Family Foundation gala at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom during a nostalgia-filled concert that also featured Chic's Nile Rodgers and LL Cool J. Named after Sister Sledge's 1979 classic "We Are Family" -- which was written and produced by Rodgers -- the non-profit We Are Family Foundation was launched following the 9/11 tragedy that struck New York in 2001 and creates programs for youth that encourages cultural diversity. Daltrey was awarded the Mattie J.T Stepanek Peacemaker Award for his organization, Teen Cancer America, and other charitable efforts. - Billboard, 4/28/18...... 
Bob Dylan has announced that he's starting his own whiskey company, dubbed "Heaven's Door" after his famous 1973 track. Including a straight rye, a Tennessee bourbon, and a double barrel whiskey, the collection represents a partnership with Marc Bushala -- co-founder of Angel's Envy bourbon. "I've been traveling for decades and I've been able to try some of the best spirits that the world of whiskey has to offer. This is great whiskey," Dylan said in an interview with the New York Times. - Spin.com, 4/28/18...... On Apr. 30 a spokesman for ABBA squashed rumours that the quartet could headline the 2019 Glastonbury Festival in the UK, and also dismissed chances of a renunion tour. "No, - definitely not. We should remember them how they were in the 1970s, and listen to how they sing today," ABBA spokeswoman and manager Gorel Hanser told the UK paper The Mirror. In late April, ABBA announced that they'd be releasing their first new material in 35 years, having recorded two new songs together. The band is currently plotting a "virtual" tour for 2019 using hologram technology, and UK bookies began offering 33/1 odds that the pop icons could headline Glasto in 2019. - New Musical Express, 4/30/18...... Alternative rock faves Foo Fighters were joined by Grease star John Travolta on stage for a cover of the 1978 movie's tune 
On Apr. 30 a California court denied parole for former Derek and the Dominos drummer Jim Gordon, who is serving a life sentence for killing his mother in 1983. The California Board of Parole determined that the 72-year-old Gordon could be a risk of violence if released from the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, where Gordon is jailed. Gordon, who played on such iconic 1960's and 1970's tracks as Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'," Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" and, most famously, "Layla," as a member of Eric Clapton's band Derek and the Dominos, was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the height of his career. Beginning in 1978, he sought medical treatment at least 15 times, court records show, but he could not escape his mother's voice, which he claimed had tormented him for years. To confront the voices, Gordon drove to his mother's house, where he struck her head with a hammer and also stabbed her. In 1984 he was sentenced to 16 years to life, and "remains an unreasonable risk of threat to public safety," according to the parole board's decision. Today he reportedly refuses contact with lawyers and declines to attend parole hearings. He is said to rarely leave his cell, and often resists medication. A 2005 document shows he was collecting $4,000 a month in royalties at that time, and was disciplined for giving some of that money to fellow inmates. Gordon has served 34 years of his life term, has been denied parole 10 times now and will next be eligible for parole in 2021. - Billboard, 4/30/18...... A Massachusetts church building that was immortalized in Arlo Guthrie's classic 1967 track 
Funk icon George Clinton has announced he will retire from touring in May 2019. "This has been coming a long time," Clinton says in a statement announcing his retirement. "Anyone who has been to the shows over the past couple of years has noticed that I've been out front less and less." The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Parliament/Funkadelic frontman/producer, who turns 77 in July, recently underwent pacemaker surgery, but says that the procedure wasn't a factor in his decision. "Truth be told, it's never really been about me," Clinton says. "It's always been about the music and the band. That's the real P-Funk legacy. They'll still be funkin' long after I stop." Clinton and P-Funk have 50 dates scheduled through the end of 2018, including performances in Europe and Japan. He released a new single, "I'm Gon Make You Sick O'Me," in January featuring Scarface. - Billboard, 4/27/18...... Actress and painter Kris Nelson, the ex-wife of Ricky Nelson and mother of actress Tracy Nelson, musicians Matthew and Gunnar Nelson ,and Sam Nelson, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Apr. 26. She was 72. She was the daughter of football star Tom Harmon and the sister of actor Mark Harmon and actress-model Kelly Harmon. Kris had a recurring role on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1963-66) and Adam-12 (1975), and with Ricky headlined the film Love and Kisses (1965). "My mother, Kristin Harmon Nelson, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last night," Tracy Nelson posted on her Facebook page on Apr. 27. "Love and light are welcome." - 4/28/18.