Rod Stewart surprised a British couple with a serenade during their wedding in Las Vegas on Oct. 2 after they became stranded in the city when the British tour agency Thomas Cook abruptly announced its bankruptcy in late September. Sharon Cook and Andrew Aitchison of Liverpool and their 14 guests were left high and dry in Vegas until Delta Air Lines and Caesars Palace stepped in to throw them a party in the hotel's Venus Garden Chapel. At the end of the ceremony, Sir Rod surprised the pair with an acoustic version of his hist "Have I Told You Lately" accompanied by a string trio. Stewart then invited the whole gang to cap off the blessed event with a visit that night to his "Rod Stewart: The Hits" show at the Colosseum. "Thank you Rod you've absolutely made our dream wedding you absolute legend," Andy Aitchison tweeted after the wedding. - Billboard, 10/3/19...... On Oct. 3 Fleetwood Mac announced they'll close out their 2018-19 world tour with one last blowout gig at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Nov. 16. The band, with Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie joined by new members Mike Campbell and Neil Finn, kicked off the tour in October 2018 and have visited eight countries for over 80 shows. In a statement, Mick Fleetwood said, "Mike and Neil and the overall band chemistry really worked and let the band realize that this is the right combination to go forward with in Fleetwood Mac style. It's got the unmistakable Mac sound." - Billboard, 10/3/19...... 
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons is reportedlyr esting comfortably after undergoing surgery to remove kidney stones in late September. Tweeting on Oct. 1, Simmons' wife Shannon Tweed-Simmons wrote, "Well, now that the cats out of the bag, this is Gene's second of three procedures that will remove these large kidney stones so he can move on with Rockin' & Rollin'," she wrote and included a link to an Instagram shot of an ultrasound of what appeared to be one of the stones. KISS postponed a concert in Salt Lake City in September after Simmons said he had to fly home for an unspecified medical procedure, calling it "nothing serious... but it must be taken care of now." The gig was the final scheduled performance of the band's "End of the Road" world tour before they are slated to move begin an Australian leg in November. KISS also postponed shows in Los Angeles and Oakland last month due to "unforeseen scheduling issues," with the gigs re-scheduled, respectively. - Billboard, 10/3/19...... Reggae legend Bob Marley's former home in west London has been honored with a rare English Heritage blue plaque that was unveiled on Oct. 1 at 42 Oakley Street in Chelsea. The house was the headquarters of Marley and his The Wailers and Marley's primary address in 1977, during their recording of the Exodus album. The plaque was unveiled by Rastafarian writer Benjamin Zephaniah and broadcaster David Olusoga, who called Marley "a cultural icon who blazed a trail for other black artists." John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and Mozart are among the other cultural icons who have been honored with the blue plaque. Marley died in 1981 at the height of his fame. - AP, 10/3/19...... On Oct. 2 Elton John announced further European shows on his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" in 2020 that includes two additional nights at London's 02 Arena on Dec. 16 and 20. Sir Elton will also perform farewell gigs in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Leeds before kicking off the European leg in London on Nov. 2. In a statement, John said, "...these UK shows will be incredibly special... The UK is home, and where my heart will always be... These homecoming shows will be very emotional, and a lot of fun." Elton first announced his 3-year farewell tour in 2018 after deciding to retire from touring, telling his fans that he wanted to focus on his family. He and husband David Furnish are parents to two young sons who are now at school age. John will perform more than 300 shows in North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Australasia before its conclusion in 2021. - New Musical Express, 10/8/19...... The family of Cream drummer Ginger Baker is asking fans to keep the 80-year-old musician in their prayers after he was admitted to hospital in a critical condition on Sept. 25. "Ginger is holding his own & thank you for all your good wishes. He is receiving visits from close family & very special friends," the family tweeted. No further details about Baker's illness have been disclosed as of yet. In 2013, Baker announced that he suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by smoking, and chronic back pain as a result of degenerative osteoarthritis. In July 2016, he underwent open-heart surgery after being diagnosed with a "major" heart condition. He suffered a fall at his home four months earlier, which forced him to cancel shows with his band Air Force 3. Baker founded Cream in 1966 with Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce, the trio released four albums including the influential Disraeli Gears before splitting in 1968. Baker and Clapton went on to play in Blind Faith with Steve Winwood of Traffic. - New Musical Express, 9/30/19...... 
On Sept. 30, Roger Waters shared a trailer for his upcoming concert documentary Us + Them, which was filmed across four nights at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome on the European leg of his 2017-18 "Us + Them" tour. In the trailer, Waters performs Pink Floyd's seminal track "Dogs" as a hologram of London's Battersea Power Station is seen floating in the middle of the crowd, a reference to the band's 1977 album Animals. As well as showcasing the titular album and its message of "human rights, liberty and love," the film also features songs from Waters' legendary Pink Floyd albums, including Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here and Waters' latest solo album, Is This The Life We Really Want? Us + Them was screened in select cinemas in the UK on Oct. 2, and another night of screenings is scheduled for Oct. 6. - NME, 9/30/19...... Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has tweeted out a message of support for his fellow rocker and friend James Hetfield of Metallica after Metallica recently announced that they will be postponing their Australian and New Zealand tour as Hetfield has re-entered substance abuse rehabilitation treatment. "My best out to James Hetfield," Iommi wrote on Twitter on Oct. 2 alongside a throwback photo of the duo. "You've done the right thing seeking help -- I'm thinking of you my friend and wishing you all the very best on your recovery. Looking forward to seeing you back at your best very soon. Your pal Tony," he added. - Billboard, 10/2/19...... Iggy Pop announced on Oct. 2 he will perform an exclusive London live show in November. The iconic punk rocker, who released his latest album Free in September, will make a one-off appearance as part of The EFG London Jazz Festival. Pop will perform his new record in its entirety at The Barbican Centre on Nov. 21, and it will be his only UK date of the year. On Oct. 1, Pop shared the official video for his new single, "Love's Missing," on YouTube. "Loves screaming/ So quietly and in pain/ Loves absent it's failing her once again/ Loves screaming," croons Pop in the track, his raw lyrics matched with close-up shots of him on the mic. Speaking about Free earlier in 2019, Pop described his 18th solo LP as "an album in which other artists speak for me, but I lend my voice." - New Musical Express, 10/2/19...... On Oct. 1, Barbra Streisand celebrated 57 years as an artist on the Columbia Records label by sharing a throwback picture on Instagram of the budding star, grinning ear to ear, signing her contract in 1962 while Columbia Records president Goddard Lieberson, her manager Marty Erlichman, and Columbia A&R man David Kapralik look on. The diva's 57th anniversary with Columbia easily makes her the label's longest-running continuous artist. Over the course of her storied career, Streisand has become the first artist to score a No. 1 album on the Billboard Hot 200 in six consecutive decades, as well as charting 11 albums to the top of the Hot 200, starting with People hitting No. 1 in 1964. - Billboard, 10/2/19...... 
Foreigner announced on Oct. 1 that lead singer Lou Gramm has been forced to sit out the group's "Double Vision: Then & Now" tour due to serious medical issues. The band tweeted that 69-year-old Gramm was hosptialized in Rochester, N.Y., in late September with a "severe respiratory infection, dehydration and fatigue." Though he'd prepared for the 40th anniversary tour, a doctor reportedly told Gramm that he would be unable to perform on the shows. In a note to fans, he wrote, "I'm very disappointed about not being able to perform at the FOREIGNER Double Vision: Then & Now shows for all the fans. My doctor insists if I pushed myself to perform, I would be in big trouble. So doctor's orders, I ride the bench. Rock on." Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones added that "We will all miss Lou at our upcoming shows and we join all his family, friends, and fans in wishing him a speedy recovery." A spokesperson for the group noted that requests for refunds can be addressed at point of purchase before the concert date. The Mick Jones-led Foreigner announced the tour in September, which will feature the current lineup performing with the classic one to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Original members Gramm, drummer Dennis Elliott, guitarist Ian McDonald, keyboardist Al Greenwood and bassist Rick Wills are slated to take the stage with Jones and the current Foreigner lineup of guitarist Tom Gimbel, bassist Jeff Pilson, singer Kelly Hansen, keyboardist Michael Bluestein, guitarist Bruce Watson and drummer Chris Frazier. - Billboard, 10/2/19...... The Beatles' special 50th anniversary reissue of Abbey Road is on track to top the album chart in the U.K. after dropping on Sept. 27. Abbey Road is No. 1 on the midweek chart with a lead of 12,000 chart sales over the reigning chart-leader, Liam Gallagher's Why Me? Why Not, according to the Official Charts Company reports. Widely regarded as the Beatles' greatest LP, Abbey Road is the final studio album recorded by the Fab Four. - Billboard, 10/2/19...... The estate of Prince announced on Oct. 1 that it has new leadership and development partners for the late artist's famed Paisley Park complex located 30 minutes outside of Minneapolis in Chanhassen, Minn. Alan Seiffert will serve as executive director of Paisley Park, while entertainment development companies MR-ProFun and Mycotoo will come on board to "enhance the overall experience" for guests of the facility -- Prince's former home and recording studio in Minnesota, which is now a public museum. "Just as it was for Prince, Paisley Park is more than a building or place -- it is a creative laboratory, performance studio, and innovative space offering future generations the chance to create and share their work," Seiffert said in a statement. "I am honored to help bring Prince's vision to life." The 65,000 square-foot Paisley Park, where Prince recorded many of his most famous albums, opened to the public as a museum just months after Prince's death at the complex in April 2016. - Billboard, 10/1/19...... 
In an interview with Detroit radio station WRIF on Oct. 1, Van Halen singer David Lee Roth said that Van Halen is "finished" and that his upcoming Las Vegas residency "is the next phase" of the band. "I've inherited the band de facto -- whatever that means," the 64-year-old singer said. "I think it means if you inherit it, carry this proudly. Van Halen isn't gonna be coming back in the fashion that you know." Roth went on to explain that he was now "the face of Van Halen" as he's "not sure what's happening with Ed (VH guitarist Eddie Van Halen)." Pressed on whether Eddie had been facing any health issues, Roth responded: "I hear all the same rumours that you do and it's not my place to guess." Earlier in 2019, fans speculated that Van Halen's rumoured reunion had been shelved due to Eddie's ill health. Van Halen haven't performed a live show since their appearance at Hollywood Bowl in October 2015. The date formed part of the band's extensive North American tour that summer. - New Musical Express, 10/1/19...... A trailer for the new 90-minute Johnny Cash documentary The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash was shared on YouTube on Oct. 1. The Gift was created with the full cooperation of the Cash estate and uses his legendary 1968 gig at Folsom Prison as a central motif for the deep dive into Cash's life. Directed by Emmy- and Grammy-winning filmmaker Thom Zimmy (Springsteen on Broadway), it has been given a Nov. 11 premiere date. - Billboard, 10/1/19...... Speaking of Bruce Springsteen, the NJ rocker has been nominated for a best music film Grammy at the upcoming 62nd annual Grammy Awards for his Springsteen on Broadway film. Springsteen won in this category in 2006 with Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run. Springsteen's 14-month run at the Walter Kerr Theatre in 2017-18 has proven to be an awards magnet. He received a special Tony Award prior to the Emmy nom. Also nominated in the same category is Bob Dylan, for his Martin Scorsese-directed concert film Rolling Thunder Revue. Scorsese also directed Dylan's No Direction Home, the 2005 winner in this category. - Billboard, 10/1/19...... Speaking with CBS morning host Gayle King recently, Olivia Newton-John talked being positive and staying present despite battling breast cancer for the third time. "...I need to enjoy my life," Newton-John said. "So, I'm going to eat a cookie if I want it. And I'm gonna have a cup of tea if I want it. And if I wanna have a little bit of wine, I'm gonna do that.' Because the joy of life and everyday living has to be a part of that healing process as well." Olivia was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 at the age of 43, and returned in 2013. In May, she revealed that her recent struggles with the disease had spread to her back. "It's almost like, I think I know what the statistics are. And if, and, but I put them away. But I'm gonna live longer than that. I've made that decision. And I don't buy into the statistics 'cause I think they can make you really nervous," she said. "It's a decision how you choose to feel about something. So, I've chosen that path," she continued in a positive light. "I'm happy. I'm lucky. I'm grateful. I have much to live for. And I intend to keep on livin' it." - Billboard, 9/30/19...... 
In her new memoir Face It, Blondie's Debbie Harry reveals that David Bowie once exposed his penis to her as a thank you for getting him cocaine. "One time David and Iggy (Pop) were looking for some blow," Harry writes. "Their connection in New York had suddenly died and they were out... After they did the blow, David pulled out his c---, as if I were the official c--- checker or something. Since I was in an all-male band, maybe they figured I really was the c--- -check lady." Harry writes she was not offended by Bowie exposing himself: "David's size was notorious, and he loved to pull it out with both men and women. It was so funny, adorable and sexy." Face It was published on Oct. 1 via Dey Street Books. - WENN/Canoe.com, 9/30/19...... Mott the Hoople announced on Sept. 30 they have been forced to cancel their upcoming fall "Mott the Hoople '74" reunion tour that was to feature original members frontman Ian Hunter, keyboardist Morgan Fischer and guitarist Ariel Bender due to Hunter's illness. "The group's singer and guitarist Ian Hunter has recently developed a severe case of tinnitus and has been advised by his doctors to discontinue performing until this condition subsides," according to a press release. The fall tour was set to kick off on Oct. 21 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, N.Y. and run through Nov. 6 when they closed out the 11-date trek at The Moore Theatre in Seattle. The upcoming run followed the reunited group's dates earlier this year that kicked off in April. The eight-stop tour played Chicago, Detroit, Boston and closed out in New York on April 10. - Billboard, 9/30/19...... Blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa will return to the UK in April 2020 to perform six concerts. Dates include the Brighton Centre (Apr. 25), Edinburgh Playhouse (Apr. 27), Liverpool M&S Bank Arena (Apr. 28), Gateshead Sage (Apr. 30), Leeds First Direct Arena (May 1) and Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (May 2). Joe Bonamassawill release his new live album Live at The Sydney Opera House on Oct. 25 via Provogue/Mascot Label Group in the UK and Europe and J&R Adventures throughout North America. - Noble PR, 9/30/19.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse shared a "love letter from us to planet Earth" video on YouTube on Sept. 27 paired with messages of all the reasons why earth is such a sacred place. In April, Young and the band announced their new studio album Colorado would arrive in October and feature "10 new songs ranging from around 3 minutes to over 13 minutes." A documentary chronicling the making of Colorado will premiere in more than a hundred theaters worldwide the same week Colorado is released, Young wrote on his Neil Young Archives website in August. - New Musical Express, 9/29/19...... 
The Eagles performed their seminal 1976 platinum LP Hotel California in its entirety for the very first time on Sept. 27 during at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena. In an amusing nod to the album era, the Eagles opened the show with a mysterious, caped man striding across the stage and placing a Hotel California disc onto a turntable. When it came time to flip the album, a woman dressed in a cigarette girl costume came and did the honors. Also notable was the show being the first time the Eagles had played "Try and Love Again" since Randy Meisner, who sang lead on the track, left the band in 1977, and original Hotel California arranger/conductor Jim Ed Norman being on hand to lead a 46-piece orchestra and 22-member choir from UNLV. The show was the first of three that evening that also included a blazing greatest hits set that had the sold-out audience of 13,000 constantly on its feet. "We're going to take a 20-minute break, put our heads back together and play you everything we know," Eagles drummer/vocalist Don Henley told the audience after the Hotel California show. What followed was a 23-song set of solid hits (including guitarist Joe Walsh's solo and James Gang hits) with valuable contributions from the newest Eagles, Vince Gill and the late Glenn Frey's son, Deacon Frey. The two encores included "Rocky Mountain Way," "Desperado," "The Long Run," and the "Hotel California" reprise. - Billboard, 9/28/19...... Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr recently reunited at London's Abbey Road studios to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' classic 1969 album Abbey Road. McCartney and Starr attended a party at the studios in St John's Wood, North London with their respective wives, Nancy Shevell and Barbara Bach. Other guests included Nile Rodgers of Chic and Taron Egerton, the star of the recent Elton John biopic, Rocketman. On Sept. 26, an Abbey Road 50th anniversary release was released featuring a new mix by Giles Martin and 23 demos and alternative recordings of songs produced for Abbey Road. To mark the reissue, the Beatles recently released the first official video of one of the album's classic songs, "Here Comes The Sun." The new stereo mix of the George Harrison composition captures a gorgeous sunrise illuminating Abbey Road Studios' Studio Two, where the Fab Four recorded most of the legendary album. In related news, Alex Lacamoire, the musical director of the hit Broadway show "Hamilton," has shared a new video of himself playing the entire Abbey Road album in just 50 seconds. Lacamoire performed his condensed Abbey Road on a piano originally used by the Beatles, which is kept at Abbey Road Studios where they made the album in 1969. "Abbey Road is in my head. I just needed to make sure that the way I remembered these songs from when I was six-years-old is the way they are," Lacamoire told Rolling Stone. Lacamoire has previously played Billy Joel's 1977 album The Stranger in the same manner. - NME, 9/27/19...... In other Beatles-related news, Ringo Starr performed a rendition of the Beatles' classic "Yellow Submarine" with classroom instruments on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with the show's house band, The Roots, on Sept. 24. Ringo also sang some of the Beatles' best-known songs, including "With a Little Help from My Friends." Ringo led from the top on vocals and playing a tiny three-piece drum kit while the late-night show's host, Jimmy Fallon, took duties on a Casio keyboard, wooden block and kazoo, as the Root's leader Questlove showed his talents on clappers and a shaker fashioned as a submarine. - Billboard, 9/25/19...... 
A new anthology TV series based on Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Billy Joel is in the works. MGM Television, the same studio behind the recent Elton John and Queen biopic movies, is teaming with Universal Music Publishing Group to bring Joel's music to life as a scripted "arc-thology" called Scenes From an Italian Restaurant. The show, which takes its title from Joel's favorite song from his sizable catalog, will see each episode based on lyrics of his hits and populated by characters from his songs, including "The Stranger," "Piano Man" and "Moving Out." The tracks will be reimagined and rearranged by Joel's music team -- with his input -- and take his tunes in new directions. Kevin Fox (Law & Order: SVU) is creating the series, which will be shopped to networks, and will exec produce alongside Joel and his longtime producing partner, Steve Cohen (with whom he collaborated on the Billy Joel: New York State of Mind documentary). - The Hollywood Reporter, 9/25/19..... After premiering in London at the Old Vic Theatre in July 2017, Irish playwright/director Conor McPherson's Bob Dylan-inspired musical, "Girl From The North Country," will return to New York at the Belasco Theater on Mar. 5, 2020, with preview shows kicking off on Feb. 7. After its successful Old Vic run, the show moved to London's West End, New York at The Public Theater and Toronto at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Set in 1934 in Dylan's hometown of Duluth, Minn., the 20-song musical weaves songs from the rock bard's expansive catalog into a story about a family who runs a boardinghouse, which results in various characters coming in and out of their lives. Tickets are already on sale for the roughly eight-month show, which features Tony Award nominees Marc Kudisch and David Pittu along with Oscar-winning actress Mare Winningham, that concludes in Sept. 2020. - Billboard, 9/27/19...... Songs by Eddie Money and The Cars' Ric Ocasek continue to sell briskly following their deaths on Sept. 13 and Sept. 15, respectively. Money's 1986 top five hit "Take Me Home Tonight" entered the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart at No. 3 for the week ending Sept. 28, while The Cars' 1984 top five hit "Drive" (sung by bassist Benjamin Orr, who died in 2000), bowed at No. 6. Other songs charting by the two late artists include "Two Tickets To Paradise," "Shakin'," "Baby Hold On," "Just What I Needed" and "My Best Friend's Girl." - Billboard, 9/27/19...... Aerosmith were forced to cancel their Sept. 26 show of their "Deuces Are Wild" Las Vegas residency after frontman Steven Tyler lost his voice. "I lost my voice... but I can't talk about it," Tyler wrote in a tweet about the canceled gig. Tyler added that refunds for the gig will be available at the point of purchase. Accompanying the post was an amusing photo of Tyler pointing to a hand-scribbled "OUT OF ORDER" sign underneath his throat. - Billboard, 9/27/19...... In related news, the Who cut their Houston concert short on Sept. 25 after lead singer Roger Daltrey lost his voice midway through the show. The British rock legends were eight songs into the concert when Daltrey, 75, told the audience, "I think I should quit while I'm ahead." Lead guitarist Pete Townshend then apologized to the crowd, saying Daltrey "cannot speak now" and promised the crowd that the band would honor their tickets at a make-good concert still to be scheduled. The Who also postponed concerts on their "Moving On! Tour" scheduled for Sept. 27 in Dallas and Sept. 29 in Denver. - AP, 9/26/19...... On Sept. 25, Queen + Adam Lambert announced they'll bring their "Rhapsody Tour" to the UK in June 2020 after a successful run across North America this year. Kicking off with five shows at the London O2 Arena on June 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9, the band will play the Manchester Arena on June 11 and 12, the second Manchester show added after phenomenal demand. On Sept. 28, Queen and Adam Lambert were the headliners of a Global Citizen free concert in New York City's Central Park before 60,000 people. - New Musical Express, 9/25/19...... Sales of such iconic country music artists as Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Patsy Cline and Vince Gill have soared following the premiere of the 8-part Ken Burns-directed Country Music documentary series on PBS on Sept. 15. The Haggard/Nelson duet "Pancho and Lefty" sold 2,000 downloads in the day of the premiere of the episode in which it was featured (episode seven) and the following day (Sept. 23-24) vs. the previous two days (Sept. 21-22), a 700% gain, according to initial sales reports to Nielsen Music. Cline's Nelson-penned hit "Crazy" and Gill's "Go Rest High on That Mountain" also saw huge gains after their respective episodes were aired. As for the largest percentage gains, that distinction belongs to Kris Kristofferson's "Why Me," which moved 1,000 downloads in the day of the episode's airing and the day following alone (episode 6, Sept. 23-24), a 2,589% boost. - Billboard, 9/26/19...... 
On Sept. 26, Jeff Lynne announced his Jeff Lynne's ELO will release the follow-up to his 2015 album Alone In the Universe on Nov. 1 on Columbia Records. Entitled From Out of Nowhere, the 10-track LP's title will continue the ELO branding of a spaceship. "From Out of Nowhere -- that's exactly where it came from," Lynne said in a press release. "That's the first one I wrote for this album and it's kind of like that." Lynne says the title track, "From Out of Nowhere," is a song about hope and salvation, with Lynne often finding himself turning to a sense of optimism, a recurring theme on the album. "Everybody's got to have a bit of hope," he says. In the song, Lynne sings, "Let me go, let me fly/ To a place where I love/ Let me fly away and start again." Lynne played nearly every note on the album (guitars, bass, piano, drums, keyboards, vibes) as well as singing all the lead and harmony vocals, with some added percussion from engineer Steve Jay. - Billboard, 9/26/19...... A soundtrack album from Bruce Springsteen's Western Stars movie, Western Stars - Songs From the Film, will be released on Oct. 25, Columbia Records announced on Sept. 27. The 14-track LP will feature live performances of all the songs from the Western Stars album, as well as a cover of Glen Campbell's beloved 1975 single "Rhinestone Cowboy." The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig, the team behind Springsteen's Springsteen on Broadway album from his successful show of the same name. The Western Stars movie premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival earlier in 2019, with Springsteen performing the songs from his first studio album in five years backed by a band and full orchestra at Stone Hill Farm in Colts Neck, N.J. - Billboard, 9/27/19...... In other Springsteen-related news, E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt has announced he's been forced cancel most of his "Summer of Sorcery Tour" of North America due to sinusitis on doctor's orders. "I thought I could shake this sinusitis, but it doesn't seem to be going away," Van Zandt said in a statement on Instagram on Sept. 24. "I've never canceled shows before. I feel terrible about this, but my doctors are telling me there's just no way to continue right now. We were really looking forward to continuing this 90-show tour around the world. We want to thank the fans for all of their support. I really hope we can make up these dates someday somehow." The only two shows remaining are a Nov. 2 one in Boston and the Nov. 6 date in New York City. The New York show will be filmed for a future live DVD and album release. - Billboard, 9/24/19...... Patti Smith released her latest book, Year of the Monkey, on Sept. 24 via book publisher Knopf. "I would say this is my most informal book, and I like that," Smith says. "I mean, it has its formal passages, but it's really just, like, me. If anybody was wonderin' what I'm like, it's just what I'm like. When I was done, I wished it wasn't. [Laughs.] But I'll write another one." Unlike her 2010 book Just Kids, her memoir reflecting on her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe and her life in New York in the '70s, or 2015's M Train, the most vivid scenes of Year of the Monkey aren't necessarily pulled from reality. "I live a lot in my imagination," Smith says. "It's a book written in real time merged with imagination, and that's how I maneuver the world. That's how I navigate all the difficult things we have to navigate. We lose the people we love, but we have to be receptive that they will be by our side. They will speak to us in certain ways." - Billboard, 9/25/19...... Jann Wenner, the Rolling Stone magazine co-founder and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation chairman, announced on Sept. 25 that he will be retiring as the RRHOF chairman in 2020. Taking over as chairman in the new year will be John Sykes, president of entertainment enterprises for iHeartMedia and a co-founder of MTV. "Jann Wenner is a cultural legend," Sykes said. "It's an honor to serve the foundation in this new capacity, and to build on Jann's legacy." Wenner, 73, will remain on the board of directors. Wenner produced the RRHOF's 25th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden in 2009, which was headlined by U2, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder and Sting, and is credited with recruiting late famed architect I.M. Pei to create the RRHOF headquarters in Cleveland, Oh. - AP/Billboard, 9/25/19...... 
King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp has spoken about his ongoing dispute with David Bowie's estate over his contributions to the classic Bowie albums "Heroes" and Scary Monsters. Fripp famously leant his efforts to the seminal 1977 "Heroes" of the Berlin trilogy, performing the iconic sustained guitar part on the title track. Bowie then invited Fripp back to add his distinctive guitar sounds to 1980's Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) album. Posting on Facebook, Fripp claims that rules of "historic injustice" are blocking the recognition of his contributions to the records, where he argues he should be recognized under the modern term of "Featured Player." He is currently in dispute with Bowie's estate and the UK's PPL over the correct payment of royalties. "The dispute centres on the refusal of PPL and the David Bowie estate to acknowledge that RF's contribution to the "Heroes" and Scary Monsters albums is that of a Featured Player," wrote Fripp. "This accreditation as a Featured Player is supported by Brian Eno, Tony Visconti [and] David Bowie himself (although the terminology was not then in use), and the Court Of Public Opinion over four decades. Essentially, the DB Estate argues that RF's Featured Performer Status is not acknowledged by PPL rules; and PPL argues that as the DB Estate does not accept RF as a Featured Performer, RF is therefore not a Featured Player - and their rules confirm this. Anyone read Catch 22?," he continued. Fripp went on to slam the music industry itself as being run by "self-serving" individuals. "This, a microcosm in our larger societal turmoil, as a new paradigm seeks to be welcomed into our suffering world," he added. Meanwhile, a new version of Bowie's "Heroes" song recorded live at Earl's Court video has been released to mark the track's 42nd anniversary. - New Musical Express, 9/25/19...... A previously unreleased Aretha Franklin recording, "Big Band Holidays II," will be featured on a new Christmas album from The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Franklin performed the song as she played the piano at a 2015 holiday concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center; her performance of the classic, in both English and German, was a surprise. It will be featured on the Big Band Holidays II album, which is being digitally released on Oct. 25 and will be in stores on Nov. 8. Few songs have been released from Franklin since her death in August 2018. - AP, 9/24/19.
Paul McCartney reacted to such topics as the recent BTS Beatles cover of "Hey Jude," his admiration of Elvis Presley, and his dreams about John Lennon during an appearance on CBS's 
In other Motown-related news, Berry Gordy Jr., the founder of the Hitsville U.S.A. studios, announced his retirement during a Hitsville Honors ceremony on Sept. 22 at Orchestra Hall in his home town of Detroit, where he started Motown 60 years ago with an $800 loan from his family trust. Gordy, who turns 90 in November, made the surprise reveal during a good-naturedly rambling 35-and-a-half-minute speech that caused Lee Daniels, who presented a Motown Legacy Award to Berry, to put the weighty trophy he was holding on the floor after Gordy hit the half-hour mark. Gordy saved the "important announcement" until the end, telling the audience that "As I stand here I'm back where I started. I have come full circle, so it is only appropriate that... I should announce my retirement." After a response of laughter and then a warm ovation, Gordy -- who started the label in 1959 -- continued that, "For years I have dreamt about it, talked about it, threatened it and tried to do it. In fact, this has gone on for so many years that those trying to help me retire (have) retired themselves. It is time for me to spend my next 60 years reflection on how fortunate I am, how much I appreciate and love all of you and how wonderful my life has been, and will continue to be." Though Gordy sold Motown in 1988, he's remained active in creative and business concerns, including produced the Tony Award-nominated "Motown: The Musical" in 2013 and staying involved with management of the Jobete publishing catalog, now administered by Sony/ATV. Meanwhile on Sept. 22, a ceremonial groundbreaking to expand the Detroit Hitsville U.S.A. building was conducted during a weekend of events marking the company's 60th anniversary. Gordy recently announced plans to donate $4 million toward the project incorporating interactive exhibits, a performance theater and recording studios. - Billboard/AP, 9/23/19...... A guitar given to late blues guitar legend B.B. King for his 80th birthday sold for $280,000 at an auction of more than 550 items from King's estate in Los Angeles on Sept. 21. Julien's Auctions says King, who died in 2015 in Las Vegas at age 89, often used the black Gibson ES-345 prototype that was one of several guitars he called "Lucille." A spokeswoman for Juliens said that the buyer wants to remain anonymous. The auction house said the estate sale brought in $1.3 million. It included awards, photographs, King's passports, luggage, jewelry, clothing, audio equipment and other guitars. A ring that King wore in photos sold for $16,250. It is 18-karat gold and has "BB" encrusted with 22 diamonds, and its initial estimated value was $6,000 to $8,000. A collection of King's 78 rpm blues records sold for $51,200, after an estimated value of $500 to $700. - AP, 9/23/19...... A 
A tribute tour to the Beatles' 1968 album The Beatles (aka "The White Album") headed by Todd Rundgren and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees kicked off on Sept. 21 in Atlantic City, N.J. "There was actually a very good relationship between (the Beatles) and us," says Dolenz, a member of the famed Hollywood Vampires "softball team/drinking club" which also included John Lennon and Ringo Starr. "I put that (relationship) down to the fact that the Beatles got it. They got what the Monkees was about, which was not a group but a TV show about a group that wanted to be the Monkees. They related to us as other creative people, not as another band -- the 'Prefab Four' or anything like that," he added. Rundgren acknowledges that, like many, he viewed the Monkees as "essentially a synthesized product" back in the '60s. But he's equally certain it won't have much bearing on the show, which will feature "The White Album" album in its entirety. "Whenever you get an opportunity to play classic music, you usually take it -- especially if you've spent a lot of your life being a Beatles fan," says Rundgren, who was part of the "A Walk Down Abbey Road" tour also produced by the New York-based Flower Power Concerts Inc. The pair's "It Was Fifty Years Ago Today" tour has two legs, a 17-city east coast run that wraps Oct. 20 and another week of 5 dates during December which wraps on Dec. 11 in Los Angeles. - Billboard, 9/20/19...... On Sept. 20 a judge ruled that the lawsuit brought against HBO by Michael Jackson's estate must be moved to arbitration, after the network aired controversial documentary Leaving Neverland earlier in the year. U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu granted a request made by Jackson's estate that HBO must adhere to a 1992 arbitration agreement that stated the network could not make disparaging remarks about the singer or "do any act that may harm or disparage or cause to lower in esteem the reputation of [Jackson]." Leaving Neverland focuses on testimony by Wade Robson, 36, and James Safechuck, 41, who both claim that Jackson sexually abused them when they were children. In the wake of the film being shown, Jackson's songs were subsequently banned on numerous radio stations around the world. Meanwhile in other MJ news, the late King of Pop's estate has reportedly earned almost $2 billion since the singer's death a decade ago. New documents obtained by TheBlast.com reveal that the late singer's estate has pulled in $1.7 billion in profits since he died in 2009. In documents submitted to the Los Angeles County Court, the Jackson estate's executor and lawyers explain how they are garnering "significant revenues." In 2018, it was revealed that Jackson had topped the list of the highest paid dead celebrities for the sixth year in the row. - NME, 9/21/19...... A new posthumous album from Leonard Cohen, 
Robert Hunter, the esteemed poet, writer and lyricist for the Grateful Dead, passed away at his home on the evening of Sept. 23 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 78. After joining the Grateful Dead in 1967, Hunter wrote the lyrics for such classic Dead songs as "Dark Star," "Box of Rain" and "Touch of Gray." Born Robert Burns on June 23, 1941, in Arroyo Grande, Calif., Hunter was one of the key figures in the burgeoning West Coast psychedelic rock movement, and was already friends with the late GD frontman Jerry Garcia before he joined, with the two having met for the first time in 1961. His lyrics often read like mysical poetry, telling ambitious tales of mythical American figures -- miners, gamblers, pioneers -- searching for an elusive truth behind the mystery of life. Hunter was inducted along with the Grateful Dead into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, becoming the first ever non-performer of a band to be inducted as a band member. As well as releasing a number of solo records and poetry collections over the years, Hunter also worked with the likes of Elvis Costello, Bruce Hornsby and Bob Dylan. He memorably worked on songs for the Dylan albums Down in the Groove (1988), Together Through Life (2009) and Tempest (2012). Hunter is said to have died peacefuly with his wife Maureen holding his hand. "For his fans that have loved and supported him all these years, take comfort in knowing that his words are all around us, and in that way his is never truly gone. In this time of grief please celebrate him the way you all know how, by being together and listening to the music," Hunter's family said in a statement, which concluded with one of his most memorable lines from the Dead ballad "Ripple," "Let there be songs to fill the air." - Billboard, 9/24/19.
A new play featuring a Japanese re-telling of Queen's classic 1975 album 
After completing 11 sold out shows in the same market this spring, Elton John has added seven new concert dates to his sold out "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour in New York and New Jersey. The new tour dates hit all four major arenas in the New York area with shows April 6-7 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan; Apr. 10-11 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn; April 15 at Prudential Center in Newark; and Apr. 17-18 at NYCB LIVE's Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. John's tour kicked off to a sold-out crowd on Sept. 8, 2018, in Allentown, Penn., where he treated fans to such hits as "Bennie and the Jets," "Rocket Man," "Tiny Dancer," and "Philadelphia Freedom." Meanwhile, Elton is confirmed to play 40 combined dates in Australia and New Zealand this winter beginning with back-to-back shows at Perth's HBF Park on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. The 72-year-old rock legend is set to crisscross Oz playing a mix of arenas and open-air shows, including Mount Cotton, a town of less than 7,000 people in Queensland with chicken farms that's a koala conservation area. In other Elton-related news, it was announced on Sept. 18 that a musical adaptation of "The Devil Wears Prada" featuring music written by John will make its pre-Broadway world debut in Chicago on July 14, 2020 and play through Aug. 16, 2020. The musical will feature all-new music by John, whose Broadway bona fides include "The Lion King" and "Billy Elliot the Musical," and lyrics by singer-songwriter Shaina Taub. "The Devil Wears Prada" follows protagonist Andy, a young writer who starts a job at a prestigious publication in New York City under a "stylish yet terrifying boss." - Billboard/New Musical Express/Deadline.com, 9/18/19...... Michael Jackson's estate has responded to the recent Emmy Award win by the controversial Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland. "For a film that is a complete fiction to be honored in a nonfiction Emmy category is a complete farce," the estate told The Hollywood Reporter on Sept. 16. "Not one shred of proof supports this completely one-sided, so-called documentary which was made in secrecy and for which not one person outside of the two subjects and their families were interviewed." Leaving Neverland earned a total of five noms heading into the Sept. 15 Emmy Awards ceremony, including: outstanding directing for a documentary/nonfiction program; outstanding documentary or nonfiction special; outstanding picture editing for a nonfiction program; outstanding sound editing for a nonfiction program; and outstanding sound mixing for a nonfiction program. It won for best documentary or nonfiction special. After Leaving Neverland's debut in January at the Sundance Film Festival, Jackson's estate called the project "a tabloid character assassination" and insisted it "isn't a documentary," while his family called director Dan Reed and the pic's two accusers, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, "opportunists." The Jackson estate and and HBO are currently locked in a fierce legal battle over a contract that allegedly bars the company from disparaging MJ. - The Hollywood Reporter, 9/16/19...... The Cook Islands, a nation in the South Pacific, has released a pair of commemorative coins in honor of two classic AC/DC albums, For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) and Razor's Edge. 1981's For Those About To Rock is honored on a two dollar coin while 1990's The Razors Edge can be found on a ten dollar coin. Both feature a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the reverse side. Both coins are minted in .999 silver, the two dollar coin has a mintage of 5000 while the ten dollar coin has a mintage of 999. The coins are the third and fourth in a series released by Liechtenstein's CIT Coin Invest AG. - New Musical Express, 9/15/19...... 
Attending a fundraiser in Surrey, England on Sept. 14 for the Prostate Project and European Tour Foundation charities, Rod Stewart revealed he's been given an all clear from his doctors on his 2-year battle with cancer. "Two years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. No one knows this, but I thought it was about time I told everybody," the 74-year-old Stewart said to whoops from the crowd. "I'm in the clear now because... I caught it early. But I have so many tests and things... Guys, you've got to really go to the doctor... finger up the bum, no harm done... I've worked for two years and just been happy and the good lord looked after me," he added. Former Faces bandmates Ron Wood and Kenney Jones supported Stewart at the event, where they jammed with him on some of Stewart's most beloved hits, including "Maggie May." - Billboard, 9/18/19...... The Rolling Stones announced on Sept. 19 they will release a live album and concert film entitled Bridges to Buenos Aires on Nov. 8. The release captures the band's triumphant show on Apr. 5, 1998 in the Argentinian capital on the band's Bridges to Babylon tour. The two-hour concert was the last of a five-night, sold-out run at Buenos Aires' River Plate Stadium. Bob Dylan, who had played an opening set, later returned to the stage to perform his composition "Like A Rolling Stone" with the band. Bridges to Buenos Aires comes just months after the Stones announced the release of Bridges to Bremen, which captures a stop in the German city on the same tour behind Bridges to Babylon. Like its Bremen counterpart, the Buenos Aires concert film was restored from original footage, and the audio remixed and remastered from live multi-track recordings. Bridges to Buenos Aires will be released in DVD, Blu-Ray and digital video formats, while the live album will be available on CD, limited-edition blue translucent triple vinyl and digital audio. - NME, 9/19/19...... Fans of the late Eddie Money have streamed his 1986 hit "Take Me Home Tonight" over three million times since his passing on Sept. 4 after a battle with stage 4 esophageal cancer. On-demand streams of the song, which features The Ronettes' Ronnie Spector providing backing vocals, increased by 349% in the U.S. to 3.1 million in the three days after his passing (Sept. 13-16) as compared to the three previous days, according to Nielsen Music. "Take Me Home Tonight" was Money's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 4 on the Nov. 15, 1986-dated chart. The track additionally spent more time on the list than any other Eddie Money hit, racking up 23 weeks on the tally. The single also spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart. Money's entire catalog of songs also saw a 931% gain in on-demand streams on Sept. 13-16 versus Sept. 10-12. - Billboard, 9/17/19...... KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons announced on Sept. 13 that the band's scheduled show at the USANA Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City the next evening would be postponed due to a medical emergency. "Apologies to the fans in Salt Lake City. We will come back and do the show at a later date," wrote Simmons of the show that was to be their final U.S. gig before the start of a November swing in Australia. "The truth is, I have to fly to LA to do a medical procedure. Nothing serious. But it must be taken care of now. Thank you for your good wishes. All is well." KISS is currently in the midst of its End of the Road world tour, which it says will likely be its final outing. KISS postponed shows in Oakland and Los Angeles earlier in September, moving the original Sept. 16 Oakland Arena date to March 6 and the Sept. 20 Staples Center date in Los Angeles to March 4 after what were described as "unforeseen scheduling issues." - Billboard, 9/16/19...... 
In related news, sales of The Cars' albums and songs have surged by 2,662% in the wake of the Sept. 15 death of the band's mastermind, Ric Ocasek. Nielsen Music reports The Cars' combined albums and songs sold 27,000 copies on Sept. 16 and in the late hours of Sept. 15 (following news of Ocasek's passing that evening). In the two previous days, The Cars' music and sold just 1,000. The bulk of the sales came via the band's Complete Greatest Hits album, which features 16 of the band's 18 Billboard Hot 100 hits. In terms of individual song sales, "Drive" was by far the act's biggest seller, with nearly 4,000 downloads sold. Rounding out their top five sellers: "Just What I Needed" (2,000), "Magic" (a little under 2,000), "My Best Friend's Girl" (a little under 2,000) and "You Might Think" (1,000). Ocasek's solo catalog of material also posted gains. Meanwhile, the New York City medical examiner revealed that Ocasek's death was due to heart disease, worsened by emphysema. The 75-year-old musician's wife, model/actress Paulina Porizkova, posted on Instagram that she went to bring him his Sunday morning coffee and "realized that during the night he had peacefully passed on." Porizkova said her husband had been "recuperating very well after surgery" and that their two sons were making sure he was comfortable. Porizkova, who announced she was separating from Ocasek in 2018, did not say what type of surgery Ocasek was recovering from. On Sept. 16, Porizkova thanked Cars fans for tokens left outside the couple's Manhattan home after his death. "Thank you... We appreciate the great outpouring of love," she wrote on Instagram alongside the photo of some flower bouquets, tiny metal race cars and candles left near the gate. The couple met in 1984 on the shoot for the Cars' "Drive" video shoot and and have two sons, Jonathan and Oliver, together. Also paying tribute to the late Cars frontman was Patti Smith, dedicated a performance of her 2012 song "Tarkovsy (The Second Stop Is Jupiter)" to Ocasek during her Sept. 17 concert in Detroit. - Billboard/AP, 9/18/19...... Steve Martin says his annual Bluegrass Award, which he and his wife Anne Stringfield dreamed up in 2010 after Martin noticed that some master musicians were still paying off their banjos, is in danger of disappearing due to the sheer number of qualified musicians as bluegrass music goes through a flowering. "It became very difficult to keep pace, even with all our great board members, of so many great players. In the '60s, when I was first learning, great players were rare," says Martin. "Now, if you listen to a bluegrass channel, you listen to the banjo player and go, 'Who's that?' And you've never even heard of him and they're playing incredibly sophisticated stuff I couldn't even pretend to do." Martin says he hopes some entity might take over administrating his Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, which comes with a $50,000 prize and a sculpture. The 2019 recipient was recently awarded to 19-year-old Victor Furtado of Boston, a student at the Berklee College of Music. - AP, 9/17/19...... Appearing on the British TV show Good Morning Britain on Sept. 16, Irish singer Sinead O'Connor claimed that Prince, who penned her seminal hit "Nothing Compares 2 U," once tried to "beat her up" and left a female band member with broken ribs. "Prince tried to beat me up," O'Connor said. "It was a very frightening experience. He summoned me to his house one night and I foolishly went alone. He was uncomfortable with the fact I wasn't a protege of his and that I'd just recorded the song." She added: "He was wanting me to be a protegé of his and ordered that I don't swear in my interviews. I told him where he could go and he went for me. He went upstairs and got a pillow and he had something hard in the pillow. I ran out of his house, hiding behind a tree. We meet on the highway in Malibu at five in the morning -- I'm spitting at him, he's trying to punch me. I had to go ring someone's doorbell, which my father always told me to do if I was in a situation like that." O'Connor also claimed that the late singer was "into some pretty dark drugs at the time" and said, "I'm not the only one he went at. One of the girls in his band was in the hospital with broken ribs at the time." - NME, 9/16/19...... 
A new documentary on the legendary music industry mogul Clive Davis, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, premiered on Netflix on Sept. 17. The film presents the visionary exec's five-decade career, during which he founded Arista Records and J Records, and shaped the careers of icons including Santana; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Chicago; Earth, Wind & Fire; Boz Scaggs; Billy Joel; Bruce Springsteen; Aretha Franklin; Aerosmith; Whitney Houston; Alicia Keys; and many more. In the film, Davis recalls the time he signed Janis Joplin to Columbia Records. "[Janis] came to my office privately. She graciously said that the mere signing of a contract in a corporate building was not adequate to represent our linkage. She wanted to commemorate it [by sleeping together]. I told her that it was a great compliment but would not be fitting to complicate our professional relationship." - Billboard, 9/17/19......Cokie Roberts, a legendary journalist who won countless awards, including three Emmys, throughout her decades-long career, died on Sept. 17 due to complications from breast cancer. She was 75. Ms. Roberts was perhaps best known as a commentator for ABC News, starting as a contributor for This Week with David Brinkley, and as the network's chief congressional analyst and anchor on This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts. Known for her savvy insight and analysis of politics, government and Washington D.C., Ms. Roberts continued to appear on This Week after George Stephanopoulos and Martha Raddatz took over hosting duties. Born in New Orleans, Ms. Roberts grew up surrounded by politics. Her father, Hale Boggs, was a longtime Democratic congressman from Louisiana who served as House majority leader. "I knew Congress in a way that nobody knew Congress," Ms. Roberts recalled in the TV Academy interview. "It was very.very helpful." Ms. Roberts started in radio as a foreign correspondent for CBS in Athens, Greece, and then moved to NPR to cover Capitol Hill in 1978. "Cokie Roberts will be dearly missed," said James Goldston, president of ABC News. "Cokie's kindness, generosity, sharp intellect and thoughtful take on the big issues of the day made ABC a better place and all of us better journalists." She is survived by her husband, fellow journalist Steven Roberts, her children, Lee and Rebecca and her six grandchildren. - Deadline.com, 9/17/19.
Singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer Ric Ocasek, the frontman of the legendary New Wave band The Cars, died on Sept. 15 after being discovered unconscious and unresponsive in his Manhattan townhouse at around 4:14 p.m. EDT by his estranged supermodel wife, Paulina Porizkova. He was 75 and the primary cause of death is not yet known. Born Richard Otcasek on Mar. 23, 1949, in Baltimore, Md., Ocasek took up guitar at age 10 and immediately began to write songs. After dropping out of Antioch College and Bowling Green State University, he began making a living as a musician. He met future Cars bassist Benjamin Orr (who died in 2000) in Cleveland, Oh., where Orr worked as a studio producer and session musician. After working in various bands in the northeast, the pair settled in Cambridge, Mass., in the late Seventies. After recruiting guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes, and drummer David Robinson, the quintet had intensive rehearsals in Ocasek's basement and made some demo tapes, including "Just What I Needed," which became popular with locals after it was played on Boston radio station WBCN. The band was signed by Elektra Records and released their 
The Cars' 1981 album, Shake It Up, went platinum on the strength of the No. 4 title track and another hit, "Since You're Gone." In 1983, Ocasek released the first of his seven solo albums, Beatitude, and around this time also did production for Bad Brains. In 1984, The Cars staged a major comeback on the charts with their Heartbeat City LP, which launched four hit singles that year: "You Might Think" (#7), "Magic" (#12), "Drive" (#3) and "Hello Again" (#20). The video for the song starred model Porizkova, whom Ocasek would wed in 1989. The Cars would chart two more Top 20 hits in the Eighties -- "Tonight She Comes" (#7, 1985) and "You Are The Girl" (#17, 1987) -- however by the time of 1987's Door To Door album, the band began to unravel due to personal conflicts and called it quits. Ocasek would have a #15 solo hit, "Emotions In Motion," in 1986, but found his biggest post-Cars success as a producer, helming Weezer's landmark self-titled debut ("the Blue Album"). The proper lineup of The Cars (after once touring with Todd Rundgren fronting the band) would reunite for 2011's well-received Move Like This album. Ocasek released a book of poetry, Negative Theatre, in 1992, and in 2017 revealed he was working on an album that would compile "the best picks of the solo albums" as well as "another 10 or 15 songs that nobody's ever heard. Some are finished, some are demos. It's stuff I've always liked but never put it on things." Several of Ocasek's contemporaries, including Peter Frampton, Billy Idol and Bryan Adams, paid tribute to the late musician on Twitter upon learning of his death. "So sad. Such a great writer, singer, player, producer. My thoughts are with his family. Rest in peace," Frampton wrote. The band Weezer posted: "The Weezer family is devastated by the loss of our friend and mentor Ric Ocasek." - Billboard, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock, 9/16/19.
To help celebrate Motown's 60th anniversary, on Sept. 13 the Detroit-based label released a video of Marvin Gaye performing his classic 1971 track 
On Sept. 13 Ringo Starr announced details of his 20th studio album, What's My Name, and posted a video of the album's title track on 
Fred Schneider of the B-52's has confirmed that his band is "scheduled to do two more songs" soon to accompany "a deluxe package of all our records" that's expected out sometime during 2020. They're releasing deluxe this, deluxe that every year," Schneider says, "so we're planning to record two more songs." Schneider adds that Keith Strickland, who's retired from touring with the B-52's, will be writing the music for the songs, with Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson adding lyrics. The B-52's are currently on a North American tour (with opening acts OMD and Berlin) celebrating the 40th anniversary of their first eponymous album. "We won't be doing any major tours anymore, but we'll be doing gigs and festivals and things like that," Schneider explains. The group does have a one-off show booked for Nov. 16 in Mexico City and will be part of the "80s Cruise" setting sail next March 8 from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Schneider says the B-52's "still kick ass" and "it's 40 years of friendship -- more, really -- and still going strong. We didn't know what we were doing back when we started and it just kind of snowballed. I'm ready to relax, a little, but we're not going to just stop cold." - Billboard, 9/10/19...... ABCKO Records announced on Sept. 11 that they will release a massive 50th anniversary Rolling Stones 
After performing a surprise 4-song set on the sixth story rooftop at the Pace Gallery's massive new Chelsea headquarters in New York City on Sept. 12, The Who announced they'll release their first album in 13 years in November. WHO (for those keeping track, this is the fifth Who studio album with 'who' in the title) will be released on Nov. 22 and according to an interview with frontman Roger Daltrey in July, "it's typical [Pete] Townshend." "He's still got the bite and that knack of creating songs with the earworm that climbs into you. How it fits in the modern market I don't know, but I don't care. I know inside me it's good stuff." WHO will include a studio version of "Ball and Chain," a classic Who rocker in the vein of Quadrophenia that references the U.S.'s controversial detention camp in Cuba: "Down in Guantanamo / we still got the ball and chain," Daltrey growls. "There's a long road to travel for justice to make its claim / so let's bring down the gavel / let the prisoner say his name." Daltrey and Townshend are joined on the album by drummer Zak Starkey and bassist Pino Palladino. The Who/Pace connection wasn't entirely random -- within the new gallery was the cover art to the band's new LP, courtesy of Sir Peter Blake, the renowned U.K. artist best known for crafting the cover imagery for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with then-wife Jann Haworth. - Billboard, 9/13/19...... Neil Young and Crazy Horse shared a new song called 
Having decided to do a "tip of the hat" to his hometown of Detroit, Alice Cooper has recorded a new vinyl EP of Detroit songs with some of the Motor City's most famous players including Bob Seger. Cooper's