After the failure of a last gasp effort to stage the Woodstock 50 festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., organizers of the event announced on July 31 that the festival is officially over. "We are saddened that a series of unforeseen setbacks has made it impossible to put on the Festival we imagined with the great line-up we had booked and the social engagement we were anticipating," said Michael Lang, co-founder of Woodstock, in a statement. "When we lost the [Watkins] Glen and then Vernon Downs we looked for a way to do some good rather than just cancel. We formed a collaboration with HeadCount to do a smaller event at the Merriweather Pavilion to raise funds for them to get out the vote and for certain NGOs involved in fighting climate change." Lang continued: "We released all the talent so any involvement on their part would be voluntary.... We thank the artists, fans and partners who stood by us even in the face of adversity. My thoughts turn to Bethel and its celebration of our 50th Anniversary to reinforce the values of compassion, human dignity and the beauty of our differences embraced by Woodstock." In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine the day after the announcement, Lang expanded on those statements, citing its choice of investor as the main issue. "We just frankly picked the wrong partner in Dentsu," he said. "They didn't really understand the business. When the agreement went at the last minute of just being a backer to a co-producer, they had input into everything that we did." Lang added that working with an investor that wasn't in the business of music festivals had a detrimental effect in terms of delivering an event in a certain timeframe. "It just pretty much went off the rails from the beginning. [Dentsu] weren't cognizant of the timeframe for how these things have to get done and how much work has to get done.... Then when [Dentsu] pulled the plug, everything sort of stopped. The government agencies stopped. Everything stopped for six weeks. We were still focused on putting it together. We got new funding. But we ran out of time there as well," he said. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 7/31/19...... 
In her first concert at New York's Madison Square Garden since 2006, Barbra Streisand took aim at Pres. Donald Trump durng her Aug. 3 show at the famed venue with a revamped version of the Steven Sonheim-composed song "Send In the Clowns." Her lyrics called on the president to release his hidden tax returns and questioned his deal-making skill, wrapping with a final verse that labeled him a "fraudulent twit" and stopped just short of saying he's "full of shit" (she let the audience shout out the final word -- "I can't say it," she insisted). "Some people say I talk too much about politics. Well, I'm a New Yorker and we have big mouths," the diva said. Streisand also gave a shout out to former president Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both in attendance. "Over the last 50 years, one president has balanced the budget and left us with a surplus," she noted of the former. Of the latter, she said, "Needless to say, three years ago I was greatly hoping to sing at your inauguration." In her first encore, she covered a much less divisive offering, the 1965 Jackie DeShannon hit "What the World Needs Now Is Love," which is also featured on her latest album of covers, Walls. Lauding the crowd for singing along in tune, she also marveled at the beauty of MSG lighting up with waving lights from hundreds of cell phones in the air. - Billboard, 8/4/19...... An ultra-rare Prince album named The Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold) will be amoung three new albums released by late funk/rock icon on Sept. 13. Versace Experience previously only available as a numbered cassette, and given out to people who attended the Versace display at Paris Fashion Week in July 1995. Also being reissued are Chaos And Disorder and Emancipation. 1996's Chaos And Disorder was the final album of new music Prince released as part of his contract with Warner. It has long been unavailable, with Prince having previously refused to reissue it.Emancipation includes four cover versions of Joan Osbourne's then-current hit "One Of Us"; Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me"; and the soul classics "Betcha By Golly Wow" and "La La La Means I Love You." The reissues come alongside the first releases of Prince's previously-unheard music. Released in June, Originals is a 15-track album featuring Prince's original versions of songs he gave to other artists, including the Bangles' "Manic Monday" and Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2U." - NME, 8/2/19...... Founding The Byrds members David Crosby and Roger McGuinn cleared up some tension with a series of tweets on Aug. 3. In Remember My Name, the new Cameron Crowe-directed documentary about Crosby's life and music, Crosby mentioned that McGuinn as one of the people who "really dislike" him (along with his former collaborators Neil Young and Graham Nash). After seeing the movie which premiered on July 19, McGuinn reached out to Crosby on Aug. 3, saying he doesn't feel that way toward him at all. Crosby then responded to McGuinn quickly, who took positive development and ran with it by going so far as to suggesting he and McGuinn team up on stage in the future. Remember My Name is currently in select cinemas across the U.S. - Billboard, 8/3/19...... As Queen's popularity soars in Japan on the strength of the hit biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and the band set to visit the country on its 2020 Queen + Adam Lambert world tour, a grand display of thousands of fireworks are scheduled to light up the sky of the Land of the Rising Sun in November. "Queen Super Fireworks: Yozora no Rhapsody" will feature 13,000 fireworks synchronized to the band's iconic catalog, a mesmerizing hour-long extravaganza to be held for the first time in the world. The has given its nod of approval for the use of its music in the display, with original members Brian May and Roger Taylor sharing their excitement in a statement on Aug. 3. "Japan is a special place for Queen," May said. "We are very excited to hear that the Japanese traditional fireworks will light up the sky with our music. In 2020, we will be coming back to Japan for a tour, so it's great that there are many opportunities for the fans to enjoy our music. I wish I can be there to see it!" The display is set for Nov. 3 in Osaka; Nov. 16 in Urayasu, Chiba; and Nov. 30 in Miyazaki, Japan. - Billboard, 8/3/19...... 
Ringo Starr kicked off his latest All-Starr Band tour on Aug. 1 at Caesars Windsor on the south shore of the Detroit River. It was Ringo's 15th outing with his band since launching his first ASB tour on July 23, 1989. The 2019 lineup includes guitarist Steve Lukather and keyboardist Gregg Rolie, who shined on hits by their former bands, Toto and Santana, respectively. Colin Hay and Hamish Stuart also were given a showcase with hits from their former bands, Men at Work and Average White Band. Ringo kept the peace signs flashing and a smile on his face as he ran through the Beatles's cover of Carl Perkins' "Matchbox" and his first solo hit, "It Don't Come Easy." "Yellow Submarine" was its usual singalong favorite, while "Photograph," "Act Naturally" and "With a Little Help From My Friends" sent the crowd home on a high note. "I never sit and think, 'Oh, man, we'll be doing this in 30 years...' It's not a thought you have," Ringo told Billboard prior to the show. "But it's still going and it's still popular and I'm still having fun and I love playing, so I've got all the reasons I need to do it year after year. It worked 30 years ago, and it's still working today," he added. The ASB will tour throughout August and wrap on Sept. 1 the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Starr's fall will be busy as well. He'll be publishing a third photo book, Another Day in the Life, and he'll be finishing up his next album, the follow up to 2017's Give More Love, with guest appearances by Joe Walsh and Paul McCartney. - Billboard, 8/2/19...... The Rolling Stones' "No Filter Tour" hit MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Aug. 1 for the 10th stop on the rescheduled tour after Mick Jagger's recovery from heart surgery earlier in 2019. Jagger, 76, seemed no worse for the wear as he pranced, peacocked and gesticulated with as much flair as he's brought to any show in recent memory. The setlist included a marathon "Midnight Rambler" with effortlessly nasty guitar licks from Keith Richards and a stripped-down section of country-tinged classics like "Sweet Virginia" and "Dead Flowers." The evening's "by request" song (one of four that fans could vote for online) turned out to be the psych-pop gem "She's a Rainbow," a song that SetList.fm says the band has only played 18 times in concert. Jagger quipped that the song was chosen "because it's been in loads of commercials lately -- that's how it works!" - Billboard, 8/2/19...... Neil Young made a surprise announcement on his Neil Young Archives website on July 31 that he will postpone a planned 2019 tour with his backing band Crazy Horse in support of their upcoming album Colorado so he can work on a whopping 15 career-spanning film projects. A post titled "Archives Film Projects Take Precedent" announced that Young "will be devoting the rest of this year to Shakey Pictures projects that deserve our focused attention to complete and deliver at their highest level... bringing you all of the footage Shakey Pictures has collected through the years is a pleasure to us. We are combing through and completing." The full list of films was not made available, and none of the projects has received an official release date yet, though Archives teased that they will be screened at the Hearse Theater on the Archives site. The projects include seven Crazy Horse-related documentaries and eight solo-focused films. Young is still expected to perform on Sept. 14 at the "Harvest Moon -- A Gathering" benefit show in Lake Hughes, Calif. and at Farm Aid in East Troy, Wisc. on Sept. 21. - Billboard, 8/2/19...... Warner Bros. has given an Oct. 1, 2021, release date to the untitled Elvis Presley biopic directed by Baz Lurhrmann. The studio says the drama will "delve into [the] complex dynamic between Elvis (played by Austin Butler) and Col. Tom Parker (played by Tom Hanks) from Presley's rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and the loss of innocence in America." - The Hollywood Reporter, 8/2/19...... 
Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders says he's "just really grateful" that he and his former band are prominently featured in the new Quentin Tarantino movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. "I'm, obviously, extremely honored that he would include three of our songs," says Lindsay, who once roomed with music producer Terry Melcher in the same house where actress Sharon Tate, her unborn child, and four other adults would be slain at the residence on Aug. 9, 1969 by members of the Charles Manson cult. "I'm a big fan of Tarantino's. It's a good feeling and I've been getting a lot of calls about it." The Raiders' "Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon," as well as "Hungry" and "Good Thing," are included in Tarantino's film, which blends fact and fiction about the era, with the latter song grimly tied to the tragedy of the Manson murders. "We wrote 'Good Thing' under the beam where the rope was apparently thrown over Sharon and Jay [Sebring]'s necks.... that was the last place that I could ever think something bad could have happened," he said. Lindsay remembered that after the murders, "everybody was locking their doors, hiring bodyguards and getting guard dogs. It just changed the atmosphere overnight." Lindsay also reflected on the sad time when his band's namesake, with whom he had a falling out with in 1975, passed away in 2014. "When I heard Paul had gotten a brain tumor I reassessed our relationship," says Lindsay, who revealed last fall that he had a pacemaker installed. "I called him and said, 'Let's sit down and have a beer or a cup of coffee,' but it never came together. I wanted to talk about how great it was that our dreams became much more magnified than we ever thought they could be and celebrate our luck." - Billboard, 8/1/19...... An excerpt from Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry's upcoming memoir Face It has been acquired by the British paper The Sun and reveals a harrowing incident. Harry, 74, has written that she was a New York resident who had been living with her boyfriend and bandmate Chris Stein when a thief broke into their home in search of valuables. He then proceeded to undress her and rape her. "He piled up the guitars and Chris's camera and then he untied my hands and told me to take off my pants," Harry recalled. But she added that "the stolen guitars hurt me more." Details on when the sexual assault occurred have not yet been disclosed but are likely in Face It, which will also touch on her experience with bisexuality and heroin use. Harry told the paper that parts of her life were funny and warm and others chilling "to the bone." She says she discovered by writing the book that she had led "a very full life." Face It will arrive on Oct. 1 via Dey Street Books. - American Media Inc./Canoe.com, 8/3/19...... A nine-part podcast showcasing country music icon Dolly Parton will launch in the fall. Dolly Parton's America will be run by Jad Abumrad, a former Nashville resident and co-host of the Radiolab series. An official launch date will be announced at a later date. Parton is set to star in the upcoming Hallmark film Christmas at Dollywood as well as select episodes of Heartstrings, an anthology series coming to Netflix based around her songs. - Billboard, 8/2/19...... 
The classic 1976 sci-fi film The Man Who Fell To Earth starring David Bowie as an alien posing as a human in an attempt to save his home planet is being turned into a TV series, it was announced on Aug. 2. A cast for the new show, which is being adapted by CBS All Access, has not yet been announced but Alex Kurtzman who has previously worked on Star Trek, and Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married) are slated as writers, executive producers, and co-showrunners. Kurtzman, who says the series will explore "the next chapter" of alien Thomas Jerome Newton's story, is also set to direct. "Some strings will connect to both the novel and the film but if you haven't seen the film or haven't read the novel, it's fine," Kurtzman said. "You'll get to have an experience that's entirely singular. If you have, you'll have the benefit of understanding the history of the world that both of those things set up." "We loved the emotional moments in the book and we loved the visual spectacle of the movie," Lumet added. "We're taking it forward." - New Musical Express, 8/2/19...... Foreigner has announced it will join the long list of legacy rock acts bringing their music to a Las Vegas residency. The band has signed on for 10 dates at The Venetian Theatre, inside The Venetian Resort, starting in January 2020. Foreigner's current lineup includes founding member and guitarist Mick Jones, longtime multi-instrumentalist Thom Gimbel, lead singer Kelly Hansen, bassist Jeff Pilson, keyboardist Michael Bluestein, guitarist Bruce Watson, and drummer Chris Frazier. The dates include Jan. 24, 25, 29 and 31; Feb. 1; and Apr. 17, 18, 22, 24 and 25. Foreigner plays around 110 shows every year and just came back from a European tour. - Billboard, 8/1/19...... After successful live appearances all over the world, lately opening for KISS, and the invitation to tour with the legendary Scorpions this summer, German hard rockers The New Roses released the music video for their second single, "Glory Road," on Aug. 1. The single is taken from their fourth studio album, Nothing But Wild, which was released the following day. "On Nothing But Wild, we fully concentrated on catchy songs with big melodies," says singer Timmy Rough. "Our goal was to record a strong and energetic Rock'n'Roll album without any frills and fillers. Simply true, simply loud, simply wild!" - Noble PR, 8/1/19...... Ian Gibbons, a former keyboardist for The Kinks, died on Aug. 1 at his home in England of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 67. Gibbons was a member of The Kinks from 1979-1996, joining the bnd after they merged into the pop mainstream. He stayed with the group for 10 years, while also working alongside the likes of Dr. Feelgood and The Kursaal Flyers. He rejoined The Kinks in 1993 and remained in the band until their split in 1996. In 2008, he joined the Kast Off Kinks, a group comprised of former band members Mick Avory, Jim Rodford, John Dalton, John Gosling and Dave Clarke. To simply say Ian will be missed would be an understatement," Kinks frontman Ray Davies said in a statement. "My first thoughts are for his family and loved ones." - NME, 8/2/19...... 
Legendary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, best known for directing films on such rock stars as Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, David Bowie as well as the concert film Montery Pop, died on Aug. 1 of natural causes. He was 94. In 1965, Mr. Pennebaker joined Dylan on his final acoustic tour in England, filming the much celebrated documentary Don't Look Back. Released in 1967, the film is often considered one of the greatest music documentaries of the past 60 years, as well as an early example of cinema verit filmmaking. Mr. Pennebaker also filmed Bowie for his final concert with the Spiders From Mars at the London Hammersmith Odeon, 1973's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. Born Donn Alan Pennebaker on July 15, 1925, he had his start as a filmmaker in 1953 when he filmed his first short Daybreak Express, which offered a vivid look into the daily routine of commuters in New York City. He was later nominated for an Oscar for his work on The War Room, a documentary that chronicled the minds behind Pres. Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. In 2013, Mr. Pennebaker received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar for his filmography of over 65+ years. - New Musical Express, 8/4/19.
A British accountant has just released a new book, Hunky Dory (Who Knew?), in which he reveals that Mick Jagger was already planning a pension fund when he was in his mid-20s. Lawrence Myers, who served as the Rolling Stones frontman's accountant, described Jagger as a "very bright" client who studied at the London School of Economics and was fascinated by business, and even once considered a career in insurance. "We started chatting, started talking about pensions," Myers recalls in the book. "[Mick] said, 'after all, Lawrence, I'm not going to be singing rock 'n' roll when I'm 60.' We roared. It was just a ridiculous thought that a young man would be singing rock 'n' roll when he was 60. Needless to say, he carried on beyond 60 and he reated his own pension." Jagger, now 76 and showing no signs of stopping despite a recent heart surgery, has amassed a fortune estimated to be £260 million. - DailyMail.co.uk, 7/28/19...... 
Prog-rockers Yes, who just wrapped up their summer "Royal Affair Tour," will release a concert album, Yes 50 Live, on Aug. 2. The 2-disc release features 13 tracks recorded during the band's 2018 50th anniversary tour, including a Philadelphia reunion show that featured 10 Yes members, past and present. Although guitarist Steve Howe, the group's longest-serving member in the current line-up, says he's "not one to revel in nostalgia," he says the past couple of years have given him a bit of pause to appreciate the group's enduring legacy and longevity." There's something about it that connects with certain people, and with certain other people it won't," Howe says. "But the people who get it understand, and they keep coming back." Drummer Alan White, a Yes member since 1972, adds that, "It seems kind of unrealistic in a sense, like, 'Wow, how did we reach this milestone?' It's kind of hard to look at it, and I would never really have anticipated this 47 years ago, but there it is, you know?" In June, the band released an online documentary, Yes 50: Yesterday Today, Tomorrow, and Howe says he expects the band to tour in 2020, but he's less definitive about a follow-up to the group's last studio album, 2014's Heaven & Earth. "Well, we'll see -- that is the most honest and best answer I can give," he says. "We certainly still write music. I have a new solo album in progress, so I'm obviously writing. But to get the right team writing together (for Yes) is something we hope for. So let's put it this way -- I hope so." Meanwhile, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who toured in a different incarnation of Yes with Jon Anderson and Trevor Rabin in 2016 and 2017, will be mounting his first North American solo tour in 13 years starting Sept. 21 in Annapolis, Md., and is also recording a Christmas album of solo piano holiday songs called Christmas Portraits for a fall release." I think we'll thoroughly enjoy another (tour) and then I think we can sort of proudly close the lid on it, very happy in our belief that we've done it proud," he says. - Billboard, 7/31/19...... In a new interview with the UK paper The Mirror, Paul McCartney revealed he sometimes has trouble remembering how to play some Beatles songs as the Fab Four's back catalogue now dates back some 55 years. "I have to re-learn everything," the 77-year-old Sir Paul says. "I've written an awful lot, you can't retain them all. We go in rehearsal and I'm, 'Oh yeah, that's how it goes.'" Macca, who has worked on over 1,000 songs, added that he believes most of them have stood the test of time when asked if he thinks his songs are "pretty good." "I do, I really do," he said. "Some of the old songs you say, 'Oh, that's clever, I wouldn't have done that'. It's exciting to think that still works. We were a little rock and roll group from Liverpool, it just kept going." McCartney also made headlines recently when he hinted that he may release an album of outtakes in the future after amassing "millions" of them during studio recordings, and music legend is also currently working on his first musical -- an adaptation of the classic Christmas movie It's A Wonderful Life. - New Musical Express, 7/31/19...... 
'70s artists Don Henley of the Eagles and Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire are among a group of artists banding together to form the Music Artists Coalition (MAC), a new organization established to advocate for and protect artists' rights. "Artists decide their musical fate every time they write a song or step on stage. Their true fate -- the ability to protect their music -- is being decided by others... bureaucrats, government legislators, and the powerful digital gatekeepers," longtime artists' rights advocate Don Henley said in a statement. "We are forming the Music Artists Coalition to ensure that there is an organization whose sole mission is to protect the rights of music artists -- performers and songwriters." A main goal of the coalition will be to educate and give artists, songwriters and other creators a voice in the many issues that determine how they are compensated in the complex digital landscape. Also onboard are Dave Matthews, Meghan Trainor and a number of high level artists managers including Irving Azoff, Coran Capshaw and John Silva. - Billboard, 7/29/19...... Elton John, whose struggles with addiction were laid out extensively in his recent biopic Rocketman, took to Twitter on July 29 to celebrate 29 years of sobriety, a battle he began back in 1990. "29 years ago today, I was a broken man," Elton's tweet begins. "I finally summoned up the courage to say 3 words that would change my life: 'I need help.' Thank you to all the selfless people who have helped me on my journey through sobriety. I am eternally grateful," he added. In June, Elton was awarded the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest civilian award. French President Emmanuel Macron called the superstar a "melodic genius", and praised his efforts at representing the LGBT+ community. - NME, 7/29/19...... A new documentary on the original Woodstock festival, Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation, will debut on many PBS stations across the country on Aug. 6 as part of the network's American Experience series. Joel Rosenman, one of the producers of the 1969 festival, called the event a "lesson in community" during a screening of the new Barack Goodman-directed documentary during the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour on July 30, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. "Adversity itself is not what gets in the way of community," Rosenman said. "In fact, from Barack's film I saw clearly that adversity can create a community." Rosenman said he isn't involved in a planned 50th anniversary concert, other than licensing the use of the Woodstock name. Meanwhile, if Woodstock 50 actually takes place fans will now be able to attend the event free of charge, according to reports. According to TMZ.com, all the artists booked for the event have been released from their contract, and organizer Michael Lang will be giving tickets away for free. Attendees will be encouraged to donate to their favorite charities, but a vast majority of tickets will be available free of charge. Instructions on how to obtain tickets will reportedly be announced soon. On July 26, it was revealed that Jay-Z and John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival had both pulled out of Woodstock 50, with the Raconteurs, Miley Cyrus and Santana also canceling their appearances. Woodstock 50 organizers are now trying to book new artists for a possible event at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Although the Woodstock 50 event may be bust, on July 30 a U.S. District Judge ruled that the Woodstock music festival name's can be licensed to create a marijuana brand marking the 50th anniversary of the famed gathering. Judge Paul Gardephe rejected a claim that the deal would infringe on the name of another company, Woodstock Roots. Woodstock Ventures, which produced the 1969 Woodstock festival, and Woodstock Roots sued each other in 2018, with Woodstock Ventures arguing recreational marijuana falls within its "natural zone of expansion" under federal trademark law. It is working on a deal with a major marijuana dispensary. - AP/Billboard/NME, 7/31/19...... 
As The Commodores celebrate their 50th (actually 52nd) anniversary in 2019, the group says what it wants most is to make some new music. William "Wak" King, the sole founding member left in the lineup, says he is working on some fresh Commodores tracks. "It's very exciting right now. Everybody's kinda pumped," King says. "It's taken awhile to get everybody in the frame of mind to get back in the studio, but we've been cutting four tracks and we want to get them completed and figure out what to do with them." King blames the long gap between Commodores' releases -- its last album, No Tricks, came out during 1993 -- on the success the group has on the road. "We've been working a bunch lately within the last number of years," he explains. "And when everyone comes back home again they're tired and they just want to rest and not see each other for a while. And just when you're getting a little comfortable you get a phone call that we need to push the tour dates up a bit and get back on the road. We've had to make time to get in the studio." King has a wish list of producers he'd like to work with, including Usher, and he's open to the idea of letting them guide what the new material will sound like. While he's planning the future, King and Commodores veterans Walter "Clyde" Orange (since 1972) and James Dean "J.D." Nicholas (since 1984) stay on the road celebrating the group's august past. Founded at Tuskegee University, the group signed with Motown during 1972 and opened for the Jackson 5, and along the way scored four platinum albums, a Grammy Award and 10 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 along with a Vocal Group Hall of Fame induction. Tuskegee, whose Commodore Museum housed the group's former rehearsal and recording studio, held a Commodores Day back in March, when the trio also received the keys to the city of Montgomery, Ala. - Billboard, 7/29/19...... German electronic pop pioneers Kraftwerk have won a long-running legal battle over their song "Metal On Metal." The 20-year case surrounds the sampling of the track, which appears on their 1997 album Trans Europe Express, by hip-hop producers Moses Pelham and Martin Haas in a 1999 Sabrina Setlur track, "Nur Mir (Only Me)." On July 30, the European Court of Justice ruled that any sample taken from an existing recording cannot be used without the permission of the original producer. Kraftwerk's Ralf Htter and Florian Schneider-Esleben are credited as producers on "Metal On Metal." - New Musical Express, 7/30/19...... Fresh evidence on Brian Jones' murder will be presented in a new Netflix documentary on the death of founding Rolling Stones guitarist called Who Killed Christopher Robin? Jones died 50 years ago, when he was found dead in the swimming pool of his home at Cotchford Farm in Sussex. Now, Jones' manager Tom Keylock has claimed the guitarist was "out of his mind" on the night of his death on July 3, 1969. Keylock makes the claim in a previously-unseen interview which will be shown in a new Netflix documentary about the conspiracy theories surrounding Jones' death. Keylock was interviewed by investigative journalist Terry Rawlings, whose book Who Killed Christopher Robin? is the basis for the Netflix documentary. Its title is a reference to Cotchford Farm having been the inspiration for author AA Milne when he created the Winnie The Pooh character. Rawlings interviewed Keylock in 2009, but his interview has remained unseen until now. Jones' death was reopened by Sussex Police in 2009, following further fresh evidence from investigative journalist Scott Jones. But the 2009 report concluded that Jones' death would not be reopened. Sussex Police said: "There is no new evidence to suggest that the coroner's original verdict of 'death by misadventure' is incorrect." Netflix has not yet announced a transmission date for Who Killed Christopher Robin? - NME, 7/29/19...... 
Journey has added four December shows on Dec. 27, 28, 30 and 31 to its previously announced nine October shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. "We don't usually play a New Year's Eve show," keyboardist Jonathan Cain told Billboard. "How quick the [other] shows sold sealed the idea and this year it made sense for all of us." Cain and founding Journey members Neal Schon and Ross Valory will be joined by newer Journey members Arnel Pineda and Steve Smith for their first ever residency at the legendary Caesars Palace venue. Journey's 2018 co-headlining tour with Def Leppard was the band's most successful, landing them in the top 10 year-end touring chart with more than 1 million tickets sold, and Cain says the band is "looking forward to getting back out there... We built a really good machine that travels well, and has lasted." - Billboard, 7/29/19...... Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley has reportedly inked a million-dollar deal to pen a book which will include "shocking" revelations about her late ex, Michael Jackson. Presley, 51, was married to Jackson from 1994 to 1996, and is said to be ready to tell all about her life with the King of Pop in a bombshell tome which she has reportedly sold to Gallery Books for a sum of between $3-4 million. "(The book) promises shocking revelations about Michael Jackson and a completely new understanding of (Lisa's father) Elvis," according to a source quoted in The New York Post. Lisa Marie has never commented on the continuing rumors of child abuse by Jackson, and it is unclear if she plans on doing so in the book, however she is likely to also touch on her other marriages to Danny Keough, Nicolas Cage and Michael Lockwood, as well as her former addiction to painkillers. - WENN/Canoe.com, 7/31/19.
As ZZ Top prepares to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a band with a North American tour in August, the band shared 
Elton John hosted his inaugural "Midsummer Night's Dream Party" on July 24 in Antibes, France, with his husband David Furnish to raise funds for the Elton John Aids Foundation. Sir Elton said he's traditionally thrown a party during Wimbledon week at his home in Windsor, but was on tour this year, so decided to move the fete to France. "We thought a lot of people we know are here on holiday and it would be nice to invite our local friends. It's always great to mix things up and surprise people," he said. Also on hand was Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, who took to the stage to play the band's hits "Something Just Like This," "Yellow" and "Viva la Vida" in a relaxed set before joining John for duets of Elton's own "Rocketman" and "I'm Still Standing." John Lennon's son Julian Lennon was also among the celebrities present, and it was Julian's first time seeing John perform live, despite the fact the two are neighbors on the Cote d'Azur. "We have a lot of the same friends and we bump into each other, but I'm busy, he's busy," Lennon said. "I don't know why but it's just never happened so far," he added. But the two have also discussed the idea of a musical collaboration. "We have talked about it so maybe that will happen this year," Julian said. In an auction fundraiser, guests paid $90,000 for tickets to John's annual Oscar party, and Elton himself bid $280,000 on a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to add to his art collection. The evening overall raised $6.1 million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which is earmarked for testing and treatment programs in Kenya. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/25/19...... In a new interview on his official website, Paul McCartney has hinted that he may release an album of outtakes in the future after amassing "millions" of them during studio recordings. Sir Paul described the outtakes as a "treasure trove" of material taken from various ab-libbed sound checks and rehearsals. "Thankfully our stuff is captured because these days you can record just about anything that moves!," Macca noted. "It's a little treasure trove. And one day we will have to put together an album, or something, with a selection of these songs that we've gathered. Because they are from all around the world!" - New Musical Express, 7/24/19...... The Rolling Stones have unveiled a limited-edition line of merchandise intended to coincide with the second half of the band's "No Filter" world tour. Robbie Owens-Russo, global vp creative director of the Universal Music Group's Bravado, worked alongside creative director Sarah Andelman and also designed the installation for the collection, which is centered around two giant pieces with the Stones' tongue-and-lip motifs, one in the colors of the American flag. "The tongue is almost like the Nike of the music industry," says Owens-Russo. "It is this iconic thing that doesn't even need the word Rolling Stones next to it." Indeed, the original John Pasche design has resonated far and wide since 1969, when it was created for the band. The items, which just hit shelves at Bergdorf Goodman's in New York, coincide with the band's New Jersey dates in early August. The collection will next travel to Los Angeles, where it will be available at Maxfield during the band's August stops at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara and the Rosebowl in Pasadena; then it will head to Miami, where the tour wraps on Aug. 31. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/24/19...... In other Rolling Stones news, Mick Jagger is set to make his silver screen comeback in The Burnt Orange Heresy, a new art heist thriller by Italian director Giuseppe Capotondi, that will premiere at the upcoming Venice Film Festival. An adaptation of American novelist Charles Willeford's book of the same title, the film stars Jagger opposite Donald Sutherland, Claes Bang and Elizabeth Debicki. Jagger plays Joseph Cassidy, a wealthy art collector who recruits a couple (Bang and Debicki) to steal a piece of artwork from a famous artist (Sutherland). Described as an "erotic neo-noir thriller," the movie will close out the 11-day Venice Film Festival on Sept. 7. It was filmed prior to Jagger's heart operation in April, when he underwent a heart valve replacement surgery after doctors told him he could not perform, forcing the postponement of the band's North American tour. - NME, 7/23/19...... 
Former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, who has had stints in Them Crooked Vultures and performed with the likes of Seasick Steve and Butthole Surfers, is set to make his live return with a new band called Sons of Chipotle. Jones will be playing piano and electronics, with Finnish musician Anssi Karttunen on cello and electronics. "It is incredibly rare to find two of the finest musicians in the world performing in such an intimate setting for what will be a series of remarkable concerts," wrote Jones on his website. "Both musicians are known to be curious minds, always ready to learn and to discover. When they improvise, borders disappear, they are free to migrate beyond prejudices, across continents. They'll be joined by guest musicians Otomo Yoshihide of Ground Zero and Jim O'Rourke of Sonic Youth. They'll be making their debut with a series of gigs in Japan in early September, beginning with the Pit Inn in Shinjuku on Sept. 3 and 5. - NME, 7/24/19...... On July 22 Alice Cooper announced he'll release a six-song EP drawn from recent sessions with his longtime producer Bob Ezrin called Breadcrumbs. It will feature covers of Bob Seger's "East Side Story," the MC5's "Sister Anne," Suzi Quatro's "Your Mama Won't Like Me" and Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' "Devil With a Blue Dress On," plus a rework of "Detroit City" from 2003's The Eyes of Alice Cooper album titled "Detroit City 2020," and a new song co-written with MC5's Wayne Kramer, "Go Man Go." Cooper says he started recording the songs, which pay homage to his Motor City hometown, in Detroit during March and continued in Los Angeles. The EP will be released digitally and on limited 10-inch vinyl. No release date or title have been announced for Cooper's next full-length album, which will be the follow-up to his 2017 set Paranormal, but Alice says that he and Ezrin have finished seven songs so far and will be doing more during August after he wraps up a summer North American tour with Halestorm and Motionless In White. Meanwhile, Cooper also released another album, Rise, in June, with the Hollywood Vampires, his all-star band with Johnny Depp and Aerosmith's Joe Perry. - Billboard, 7/22/19...... On July 23 Bruce Springsteen announced that a companion film to his recent hit album 
Meanwhile, Queen's 
As '70s TV icon Valerie Harper continues to struggle with cancer, her devoted husband of 32 years, actor Tony Cacciotti (The Longest Yard), says he refuses to put her in hospice care. On July 23, Cacciotti wrote an emotional Facebook message about his wife's health and their current situation. "I have been told by doctors to put Val in Hospice care and I can't (because of our 40 years of shared commitment to each other) and I won't because of the amazing good deeds she has graced us with while she's been here on earth," he wrote. Harper, best known for her award-winning role on 
Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers says the band has been recording in the studio with producer John Shanks, who has worked with the likes of Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow and the Goo Goo Dolls, for a 5-song EP that the Doobies plan to release sometime in 2020. "We got these done and everybody's pretty excited about them," Johnston told Billboard. "It's rock n' roll, basically. There's one that's kind of a ballad, but the rest of them are rock, with a little modern edge to it. It's totally different from anything we've ever done before... things I've never tried before vocally, musically. Everything is kind of different from what you expect to hear from normal Doobies, but it's still recognizable. It's a cross-matching of the two things -- (Shanks') input, which is strong, and ours," he added. The band has yet to give the new EP a name or set a release date, however it would be the group's first studio release since 2014's collaborative Southbound album and its first set of original material since 2010's World Gone Crazy. Meanwhile, the Doobies are on the road with Santana this summer, then mount a solo tour in the fall. It will include a stop at the Masonic Auditorium in the band's native San Francisco on Sept. 12 where it will perform their classic LP's 
Creedence Clearwater Revival's performance at the 1969 Woodstock festival has been glaringly absent from all music and video documents about the legendary festival including the Oscar-winning documentary in 1970, but now the band plans to correct that with the upcoming 
A new Foreigner concert documentary entitled Double Vision: Then and Now premiered on the digital cable channels AT&T AUDIENCE Network (Channel 239), DIRECTV Ultra 4k (104 and 105), AT&T U-verse (1114) on July 19, and is curently streaming on DIRECTV NOW and the DIRECTV App. The film, whose trailer is currently being shared on 
On July 18 '70s pop/soul hitmakers Earth, Wind & Fire became the first R&B group in history to receive the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors, and just the fourth group overall to receive this acknowledgement, following three rock groups: The Who in 2008, Led Zeppelin in 2012, and the Eagles in 2016. The Kennedy Center Honors tend to go to individuals. As a result, they have generally chosen to honor lead singers and/or principal songwriters from groups, rather than the groups themselves. Maurice White, the lead songwriter for EWF, died in 2016. The Kennedy Center Honors program doesn't give posthumous awards, which led to them recognizing the group. Maurice's brother Verdine White, the group's longtime bassist, said he was proud of how their songs have become part of the soundtrack of American music. "We're part of the culture. We're part of people's lives," he said. "The music makes people happy. When you come to a show you leave happier than when you came." This year's other honorees include Linda Ronstadt (who in 2019 released her first ever live album 
Barring the intervention of some kind of miracle, it appears there will be no Woodstock 50 concert at the Vernon Downs racetrack and casino in upstate New York in August 2019 after the Vernon town council voted unanimously on July 16 to uphold its permit application denial. Organizers released a statement after the decision, thanking everyone who supported them in recent weeks as it pushed to have the anniversary event moved to the upstate race track. "Woodstock 50 is disappointed that the Town of Vernon has passed up the opportunity to hold the historic 50th Anniversary Festival by denying our robust and thoughtful proposal," the statement said. "We regret that those in Vernon who supported Woodstock have been deprived of the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of the rebirth of a cultural peace movement that changed the world in 1969 and is what the world needs now. We want to thank the artists who stood by us. We are grateful for the support of Vernon Downs and its generous owner Jeffrey Gural." Also after the decision, Virgin Produced, who has been advising with the Woodstock 50 team, "officially concluded its consulting role with respect to the company and the proposed festival," according to a statement from Virgin Produced's publicist. The Woodstock 50 event had been originally planned for Aug. 16 to 18 at Watkins Glen International racetrack, but those plans also fell through. An estimated 65,000 people were expected to attend. - PageSix.com, 7/17/19...... A California judge has told the parties in the Michael Jackson estate/HBO lawsuit to deliver a briefing on whether a bid to force HBO to settle the case in arbitration violates the First Amendment. Jackson's estate filed suit against HBO in February, days before the Leaving Neverland documentary, which detailed allegations from Wade Robson and James Safechuck, premiered on HBO. The estate claims the film is a violation of a non-disparagement clause in a 1992 contract that once gave HBO the right to air a first-ever televised concert after the release of Jackson's album Dangerous, however instead of a judge determining that issue the estate to compel arbitration pursuant to that same contract. Once that happens, an arbitrator would look at the contract and the documentary and settle the dispute. In his decision on July 19, U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu said, "While the Court agrees that attempting to enforce an arbitration agreement in a contract that includes a non-disparagement clause through the filing of a lawsuit does not initially suggest the presence of state action, the initiation of the litigation itself can trigger First Amendment concerns." A hearing to consider those concerns is now set for Sept. 16. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/19/19...... Meanwhile, Prince's estate has won a $7 million judgement against a record label it claims is bootlegging the star's music. Court documents reveal that the estate sued Eye Records in Aug. 2018, claiming it was a "bootleg label dedicated to Prince," for allegedly releasing 18 Prince compilations since his death. These included live performances and unreleased tracks, and were allegedly released without the sufficient rights. The label used the online store newlovesigne.com to sell the music, according to the lawsuit. Prince's estate had requested $2 million per trademark violation, but they have now been awarded $7 million. - TMZ.com/NME, 6/20/19.
Three years after playing his final Bridge School Benefit concert in 2016, Neil Young has announced he'll be headlining a new charity show called the Harvest Moon Benefit concert on Sept. 14 at the Painted Turtle Camp, about an hour north of Los Angeles. Performances by Young, Father John Misty and Norah Jones will be set against the backdrop of the Los Angeles National Forest, with fans siting on a grassy hillside just a stones throw from the picturesque Lake Hughes. Harvest Moon will also raise money for the Painted Turtle, a non-profit providing children living with serious medical conditions a traditional camp experience, free of charge. From 1986-2016, Young's Bridge School Benefit concert series at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Calif., hosted more than 100 artists annually, including Paul McCartney, Elton John and Metallica to provide free education to children with severe speech and physical impediments. More info can be found at the HarvestMoonGathering.com website. - Billboard, 7/16/19...... In other Neil Young news, Young and his fellow iconic folk/rock superstar Bob Dylan 
Paul McCartney got by with a little help from his friend Ringo Starr on the final night of his "Freshen Up" US tour in at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on July 13 when the former Beatle 
After an intense search that included such high profile names as Harry Styles and Ansel Elgort, the producers of an upcoming Elvis Presley biopic have selected Austin Butler (TV's The Carrie Diaries and Arrow) to portray the King of Rock & Roll in the new project from Warner Bros. The movie, to be directed by Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, The Great Gatsby), is described as focusing on Elvis's rise and zenith, with a major aspect being his relationship with Col. Tom Parker. Tom Hanks is set to play Parker, the manager who controlled every aspect of Elvis' life. Luhrmann is also co-producing the feature with wife Catherine Martin. The two have been developing the project since the director wrapped up The Great Gatsby. "I knew I couldn't make this film if the casting wasn't absolutely right, and we searched thoroughly for an actor with the ability to evoke the singular natural movement and vocal qualities of this peerless star, but also the inner vulnerability of the artist," said Luhrmann in a statement. "Throughout the casting process, it was an honor for me to encounter such a vast array of talent. I had heard about Austin Butler from his stand-out role opposite Denzel Washington in 'The Iceman Cometh' on Broadway, and through a journey of extensive screen testing and music and performance workshops, I knew unequivocally that I had found someone who could embody the spirit of one of the world's most iconic musical figures." Austin Butler will also be seen in this summer's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood from director Quentin Tarantino. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/15/19...... Jerry Lawson, the original lead singer of the a cappella group The Persuasions, died on July 10 "after a long illness" at a hospice in Phoenix. He was 75 years old. Lawson co-founded the group in Brooklyn in 1962. Six years later, they signed a record deal with Frank Zappa's Straight Records label and released their debut album Acapella in 1970. They released 24 more albums before Lawson left in 2002, although a further three records featuring his voice were released after his departure. Lawson released his first and only solo album Just A Mortal Man in 2015. After quitting The Persuasions, he had moved to Arizona and begun working with disabled adults. A documentary about Lawson was already in the works before his death and is expected to be released later in 2019. Rod Stewart is among those who have paid tribute to the late singer. "After working together at the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Concert, I admired the undeniable depth in Jerry's big voice," he said in a statement. "A true soul singer." - New Musical Express, 7/12/19.
On July 10 former Pink Floyd principal Roger Waters announced a new Us + Them concert film which will be screened in select cinemas in the UK on Oct. 2 and Oct. 6. Waters wrapped his mammoth tour in Dec. 2018, performing for over two million people across 150 shows which spanned 18 months. The Us + Them film is co-directed by Waters and Sean Evans, who directed Waters' 2014 film Roger Waters: The Wall. Us + Them is comprised of footage from the four nights Waters and his band played at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome in June 2018, the film will also showcase the "state-of-the-art visual production and breath-taking sound" from the tour. - New Musical Express, 7/10/19...... Stage times for Bob Dylan and Neil Young's headlining sets at the Hyde Park Festival in London were announced on July 11. Young will be taking the main Great Oak stage on July 12 at 6 p.m. GMT, while Dylan will follow at 8:30 p.m. GMT. 65,000 people are expected to attend the mammoth event, which will also feature performances from the Doors, Sam Fender, Cat Power and Laura Marling Meanwhile, Young treated fans to a rare performance of his 1974 track "On the Beach" during a concert in Antwerp, Belgium on July 9. It was the first time Young had performed the track live in over 16 years, and the first time since the '70s that he performed it while backed by a full band. He also played a series of some of his biggest hits during the gig, including "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)" and "Rockin' In The Free World" alongside the likes of "Mansion On The Hill" and "F---in' Up." - New Musical Express, 7/11/19...... Aerosmith was featured in the History Channel series American Pickers on July 8 as hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz spotted the band's old tour van, a 1964 International Harvester Metro, on a property in Massachusetts. In the episode, Wolfe and Fritz drive the van to Las Vegas to show the legendary rock band their former travelling haunt. "I have some of my fondest memories in this van," Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer said in the episode, which is now available to watch online. Aerosmith are currently in the midst of their "Deuces Are Wild" residency in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry said in a new interview with Consequence of Sound that Aerosmith will be recording a new album "when the time is right." "I had just finished working on my last solo album [before the new Hollywood Vampires album], so I had been in the studio for the three or four months before we started on the Vampires record," Perry said. "So I was already rolling in the studio. It doesn't take much to get me going -- I love to record. So, when the time is right, Aerosmith will come around to do another record." Perry also weighed in on Aerosmith's Vegas residency. "We started talking about [the residency] a year ago, so it was a big production. So far, it seems to be working. I'm pretty surprised, if you wanna know the truth." - Billboard, 7/9/19...... Willie Nelson announced on July 9 his 34th annual Farm Aid benefit concert will be staged on Sept. 21 at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. Bonnie Raitt, Margo Price and Tanya Tucker will be headlining along Willie and his fellow Farm Aid co-founders, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews. LiveNation.com will place tickets for Farm Aid 2019 on sale at 10 a.m. CT on July 12. A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available at 10 a.m. CT on July 10 at FarmAid.org/festival. Farm Aid, the longest-running concert for a cause, was first staged by Nelson and his fellow musicians at a time when a wave of foreclosures were pushing family farmers off their land. Since 1985, Farm Aid has raised $53 million for programs to benefit family farmers and to support a family farm-centered food system in the U.S. - Billboard, 7/9/19...... 
The beleaguered Woodstock 50 festival co-organized by original Woodstock promoter Michael Lang could be about to make its last stand as they appeal a denial by an inspector in Vernon, N.Y. of their application to stage the festival. On July 11, organizers refiled their application for a temporary event permit after city officials denied the permit without comment or opportunity, other than saying it was "incomplete and filed too late." According to one source, local laws in Vernon say the application needed to be filed 120 days before the start of the event, which would mean it was due on Apr. 18 when Woodstock 50 was still a sketchy idea but still had its original financial backers, a venue in Watkins Glen New York and Superfly as a producer. Lang has been instructed by the team now trying to pull off the event to stop making statements to the press and city officials. Vernon Downs is the second location Woodstock 50 has tried to secure as a venue. Its original venue, Watkins Glen International, rescinded the event's permit application on June 10 with less than 70 days to go. That followed a number of setbacks for the festival, which started in late April when its investor Dentsu pulled out from the festival and then Lang and Peck lost a string of court hearings aimed at retaining the financer's promised funds. - Billboard, 7/10/19...... David Crosby's new biopic, David Crosby: Remember My Name' Is a Bittersweet, hits theaters on July 19, but don't expect to see new footage of Crosby's closest collaborators in the film. All of Crosby's Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmates appear in individual archival audio and video footage to comment on him. As of 2000, Neil Young wants nothing to do with him because of a misunderstanding gone awry. Graham Nash matter-of-factly tells Paul Shaffer in a 2018 interview that his 40-year friendship with Crosby is over for good, and Stephen Stills is never heard from. Crosby reveals with palpable twinges of hurt that none of his former bandmates want to talk to him, and the feelings will never change. "Music is the only thing I have to offer," Crosby says in the documentary. He's bothered by the present, haunted by the past. He doesn't have an answer as to why he made it to old age and many of his contemporaries did not. "Time is the final currency," he muses. "How do you spend it?" So Crosby continues to grind it out on the road with backup musicians half his age, tweets like a millennial and recently completed a new album. Cocaine has been replaced by prescription medication that he must take in nondescript hotel rooms. End or no, you have to admire that Crosby's still determined to teach the children well. - Billboard, 7/10/19...... Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson recreated their A Star Is Born magic at the British Summer Time Hyde Park festival on July 7 in London when they duetted on their 1976 tear-jerker 
The Mattel toy company announced on July 11 that their iconic Barbie doll will honor David Bowie's legacy with a new collectible 
Jackson Browne has teamed up with Leslie Mendelson for a new song called "A Human Touch" that appears in the end credits of 5B, a new documentary about the San Francisco General Hospital AIDS ward during the early '80s and how nurses and doctors there learned how to best treat patients during the burgeoning epidemic. Browne says "A Human Touch" was "an assignment offered to me that I didn't want to take." But now he says he's glad he did. "It was an interesting thing to collaborate on a subject like this," explains Browne, who first met with Mendelson and her regular collaborator Steve McEwan last December. "In very few cases and very few times have I gotten into a discussion with anybody about a line and what it's supposed to mean. Some of these songs can be indistinct in their meaning. We really got into every line and nearly every word in depth to make sure it was what we wanted to say and convey in the song, because (5B) is such a human movie and really shows the courage and humanity of these nurses and the hospital staff and the population of people who were just suddenly struck by this epidemic and were devastated by it." Meanwhile, a new "A Human Touch" video has been released that intersperses scenes from the movie with Browne and Mendelson performing the song in Santa Fe, N.M., while Browne was visiting one of his sons and his family there. Browne, who's back on the road in August including three dates at the Venetian in Las Vegas, says he's hoping to write more with Mendelson and McEwan in the future. - Billboard, 7/9/19...... The very first managment contract signed by the Beatles on Jan. 24, 1962, has sold for $347,875 at a Sotheby's auction benefitting the Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation. The document was signed by principal members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and original drummer Pete Best for the services of manager Brian Epstein. The contract guaranteed Epstein -- who died of a drug overdose in Aug. 1967 -- a 10% fee that would rise to 15% if the band's income exceeded $150 a week; McCartney had negotiated the fee down from 20%. "This contract was a transformative document not only for The Beatles, but also for the 1960s and popular culture of the time," said Sotheby's Books and Manuscripts specialist Gabriel Heaton. In other Beatles-related news, five of the Fab Four's songs have re-entered the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart for the week ending July 13 following the theatrical release of the Beatles-themed movie Yesterday, which premiered on June 28 and features many of the band's iconic tracks. The songs include "Here Comes the Sun," "Let It Be," "Hey Jude" and "Come Together." Yesterday actor Himesh Patel version of "Yesterday" from the film has also bowed on the chart at No. 37. - Billboard, 7/10/19...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, Paul McCartney's fashion designer daughter Stella McCartney has drawn directly on the Beatles' musical messages of peace, love and understanding for her fall 2019 menswear and pre-fall 2019 womenswear collections. On July 8, Stella released an 85-piece "All Together Now" collection of apparel and accessories for men, women and children. Her website refers to the collection as "a fun, uplifting and hopeful statement of unity at a time when it feels more important than ever." The line, ranging from $295 to $6,840, features the film s psychedelic graphics including yellow submarines and Lucy (in the sky with diamonds, natch) as well as song lyrics such as "All You Need Is Love" on a sweater and "All Together Now" embroidered on a jean jacket. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/9/19...... 
Steve Miller has shared an alternate version of his 1977 hit "Swingtown" as he prepares to release his upcoming rarities box set 
During a concert at London's BST Festival on July 6, Stevie Wonder took a moment to reveal that he's taking a break from performing to undergo a kidney transplant this September. "I'm all good, I'm all good, all good, I have a donor and it's all good," the Motown legend assured fans after informing them of the upcoming surgery. "I want you to know, I came here to give you my love and thank you for your love. You ain't got to hear no rumors. I told you what's up. I am good. I love you and God bless you." Wonder, 69, said he'll be performing three more shows before going on hiatus to receive the procedure. - Billboard, 7/6/19...... Rock & roll pioneer Dave Bartholomew was laid to rest at a New Orleans funeral on July 8 after passing away at age 100 on June 23 at a suburban New Orleans hospital. Along with Fats Domino, Bartholomew co-wrote and produced such Domino classics as "Ain't That a Shame," "I'm Walkin'" and "Let the Four Winds Blow." Bartholomew was a trumpet player since childhood and a bandleader and arranger before World War II. He befriended Domino in the late 1940s and they collaborated on dozens of hits that captured Domino s good-natured appeal, made him one of rock s earliest stars and made New Orleans a popular music center. - AP, 7/8/19...... James Henke, the first curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, died on July 8 after a long battle with dementia. He was 65. Henke joined the Rock Hall before the groundbreaking on the repository of musical treasures designed by famed architect I.M. Pei had even taken place, following a 16-year run at Rolling Stone magazine, where he was credited with helping to write landmark stories on everyone from U2 -- penning the first major profile of the group in the U.S. before the release of their 1981 debut, Boy -- to Bruce Springsteen and The Clash. "Jim was a friend for many years and I owe him for his stewardship of the Rolling Stone music section for many years and then taking the responsibility of helping to found the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner said in a statement. "He will be missed by all of us." - Billboard, 7/9/19...... Legendary actor Rip Torn passed away on July 9 at his home in Lakeville, Conn. He was 88. Mr. Torn won an Emmy for his portrayal of the deliciously devious producer Artie on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show and is also known for his work on Broadway, being a Tony-nominated actor who appeared on the Great White Way ten times. He is survived by his wife Amy Wright, their daughter Katie Torn, and his daughter with former wife and actress Geraldine Page, Angelica Page. - JustJared.com, 7/9/19...... Robert Rackstraw, the lead suspect in the notorious 1971 DB Cooper