While not celebrated in his native England, the American Thanksgiving holiday is being observed by longtime L.A. transplant Ozzy Osbourne in the form of a 32-song Turkey Day playlist posted on Spotify.com. Osbourne's eclectic collection includes not only several of his famous Black Sabbath and solo tracks ("Dreamer," "Thank God for the Bomb," "In My Life," "Sweet Leaf," "After Forever," "Thank God For the Bomb," "Rat Salad" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home"), but also includes some holiday-appropriate songs including Adam Sandler's "The Thanksgiving Song," the Ramones' "We're a Happy Family," Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," ZZ Top's "I Thank You," REO Speedwagon's "Flying Turkey Trot" and John Lennon's "Cold Turkey." Ozzy will release his latest solo LP, Ordinary Man, in January. Meanwhile, Ozzy and his latest collaborator Post Malone have shared an official live video for Malone's song "Take What You Want" on YouTube. "Take What You Want" is featured on Malone's latest album Hollywood's Bleeding and reportedly inspired Ozzy to begin working on new music. The video shows the pair erforming at the track at the LA Forum during Malone's final show of his "Runaway" tour. - Billboard, 11/28/19...... 
In memorial to his late Cream and Blind Faith former bandmate Ginger Baker wo passed way in October at age 80, Eric Clapton has announced a 2020 charity tribute concert for Baker at London's Hammersmith Apollo on Feb. 17. "Eric Clapton & Friends: A Tribute to Ginger Baker" will focus on the pair's work together in those two bands, with proceeds going to Leonard Cheshire, the health and welfare charity that aids people living with disabilities. Ginger Baker's social media accounts, which are overseen by his daughter Nettie, announced the event with the message: "Very pleased to share this news. Big thank you to @EricClapton." With bassist Jack Bruce, Cream released four albums including the influential Disraeli Gears before splitting in 1968. Baker and Clapton went on to play in Blind Faith with vocalist Steve Winwood of Traffic and Family bassist Ric Grech, who released only one self-titled album. - New Musical Express, 11/25/19...... The ex-wife of Elton John's lyricist Bernie Taupin has announced she will offer handwritten lyrics to some of Elton's biggest songs, including "Your Song," "Candle in the Wind," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Bennie and the Jets," for auction through Bonhams Auction House in Los Angeles on Dec. 9, where individual items have estimates of between $30,000 - $250,000. Maxine Taupin, who was married to Taupin from 1971 to 1976 and the inspiration for the John classic "Tiny Dancer," is also set to auction off the lyrics for "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" and "Border Song." In an interview with Rolling Stone, Maxine said she couldn't recall how she wound up with the valuable lyrics after her divorce. "You don't just normally sit in a room and divide things up, but it might have happened like that. I don't really remember the moment. But some of them were framed on a wall in my home and other ones were in a bank vault, perfectly preserved," she said, adding "When I heard the finished songs, I was instantly transported to that magical place these two creative forces have been taking us all to for so many years." Maxine, who last saw Elton perform in 2004, said that she decided to cash in on the lyrics in the wake of the Elton biopic Rocketman's success. Meanwhile, Rod Stewart has told a Scottish radio station that he's currently in the midst of a spat with his good friend Elton after criticising John's decision to head out on an extensive farewell world tour. "I do love Elton, only we're not talking at the moment. We've had a spat because I criticized his tour as being money-grabbing," Stewart said. In March, Stewart slammed John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour," telling Andy Cohen "I did email her [Sir Elton] and said, 'What, again dear?' And, I didn't hear anything back. I don't think this is a big deal, it stinks of selling tickets." - NME, 11/25/19...... Neil Young posted on his Neil Young Archives website on Nov. 23 that he plans to rlease his long-awaited album Homegrown in 2020, 45 years after the album was originally shelved. "'Homegrown' will be our first release in 2020, sounding great in vinyl -- as it was meant to be Made in the mid-nineteen seventies!," he wrote. Young called the album "the unheard bridge between Harvest and Comes a Time, and suggested that the mostly-acoustic LP, which focused on his difficult relationship at the time with actress Carrie Snodgress, didn't originally see the light of day because it was too intensely emotional. He described it as a "record full of love lost and explorations," and one "that has been hidden for decades... too personal and revealing to expose in the freshness of those times." Young added that Homegrown had taken longer than usual to restore because he refused to complete the process digitally, with the accompanying video showing his longtime producer John Hanlon working on the album. "Mr. J. Hanlon is seen here mastering 'Homegrown' in an all analog chain," he explained. "This is the way records were made when we started out. This is the way we made them sound great. We were told that this was impossible now, the 'Homegrown' tapes were too damaged to use; we had to use Digital." - NME, 11/23/19...... 
Chicago released a Christmas album, Chicago Christmas 2019, in October, and the brassy rock troupe says that's only the beginning of its holiday festivities. Chicago is being featured in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on Nov. 28 riding the Hallmark float, and will appear on NBC's Today show when they will announce the itinerary of its 2020 summer tour. They'll also be on hand for a co-headlining performance at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting, filming Dec. 3 and airing the following night on NBC ."I usually try to check in with what's going on with the holidays and try to get into the festivities with the family," trumpeter Lee Loughnane, who produced Chicago Christmas 2019, says. "If there's a football game on I'll usually watch that, but it's good to feel a part of everything this year." Chicago Christmas, which features eight new original songs and three seasonal staples, recently hit No. 1 on the Billboard Holiday Album Sales chart. Singer Robert Lamm says "Each song has its own personality, and that's one of the things I love about (Chicago Christmas 2019) the most; It's really where we are, creatively, at this point." Lamm added that the group is "open to (recording) new material... now that we have the ability to record while we're touring, it's that much easier. So we'll see." Chicago will begin a residency at the Venetian Theater in Las Vegas on Feb. 28, and is also planning an extensive summer tour in 2020. - Billboard, 11/27/19...... Robbie Robertson of The Band has worked with director Martin Scorsese for more than 40 years (they were even roommates in the '70s when Robertson moved into Scorsese's L.A. house on Mulholland Drive), and now Robertson has scored the soundtrack of Scorsese's new Netflix film The Irishman. Robertson says Scorsese wanted him to create music that fit the tone of the new film, probably best described as a character drama more than a traditional mobster movie. "It's a very strong mood, and I've never seen a gangster movie with this kind of tonality before," says Robertson. "It was tricky." It was made trickier by the fact that The Irishman, which stars Robert De Niro as a truck driver who becomes a hitman for an Italian crime family and crosses paths with infamous Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), spans multiple decades. This meant that Scorsese used de-aging technology to make septuagenarian actors De Niro, Pacino and Joe Pesci look, at some points, as young as 30. "I thought, 'as long as it works,'" says Robertson of his first impression when he was told about the de-aging concept. "As long as it isn't distracting. All we know from the past is people that are younger playing older, not too much the other way around. They give these tests and the tests looked really encouraging and it was like, if you can do that and if you can pull it off, this is historic." Robertson, who previously worked with Scorsese on several of his films including Raging Bull, Casino, The Departed and The Wolf of Wall Street, released his latest solo album, Sinematic, on Sept. 20. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/28/19...... Newly discovered letters written by Paul McCartney's late first wife Linda McCartney about Paul will be auctioned through Chiswick Auctions in London on Jan. 29, 2020. Discovered by Linda's friend and former male housemate Miki Antony, the letters were written before Linda married the Beatle in 1969. They reveal her excitement about dating the star and how she was commissioned to photograph "groovy" bands of the day. In June 1967, weeks after she had begun dating McCartney, Linda (then Linda Eastman) photocopied an American gossip column that featured a sentence about her. She sent it to Antony with a passage underlined that read: "They say Beatle Paul McCartney's latest favourite femme is Linda Eastman, a Yankee Doodle fan-mag [photographer]." Linda wrote on the back: "Thought you'd get a big laugh over the enclosed clipping. Have no idea where they picked up that lie, but it just shows how truthful newspapers are." Linda and Paul met at the Bag O' Nails nightclub in London's Soho in May 1967. They married in March 1969 and McCartney "cried for a year" after his wife's death from cancer in 1998, aged just 56. aul and Linda McCartney. Antony says she met Linda while she was studying at the University of Arizona. He said: "She was a good friend for a year and a half. But then, of course, she went off into the Beatles world and that was it. She was lovely." - New Musical Express, 11/24/19...... 
Cher paid homage to her late first husband Sonny Bono on the Season 28 finale of ABC's Dancing With the Stars on Nov. 25 with a performance of the Sonny & Cher classic "The Beat Goes On." Dressed in a hippie outfit straight out of the 1960s with a sparkly magenta top, striped bell bottoms and teal faux fur vest, the 73-year-old icon duetted with Sonny on the 1967 hit using old video footage of the pair. "Charleston was once the rage, uh huh/ History has turned the page, uh huh/ Miniskirt's the current thing, uh huh/ Teenybopper is our newborn king, uh huh," Cher belted out, trading lines with Sonny as she launched into some serious arm-ography with the backup dancers. A clip of the performance has been shared on YouTube. - Billboard, 11/26/19...... The Who's Pete Townshend is apologizing for his recent controversial interview with Rolling Stone in which said that he "thanks God" that his bandmates Keith Moon and John Entwistle are no longer around. "They were f---ing difficult to play with," Townshend said in the interview, sparking criticism. "They never, ever managed to create bands for themselves. I think my musical discipline, my musical efficiency as a rhythm player, held the band together." Now Townshend has posted a message to himself on his Facebook page. "PETE! FOR F---'S SAKE PUT A LID ON IT!," he wrote. "No one can ever know how much I miss Keith and John, as people, as friends and as musicians. The alchemy we used to share in the studio is missing from the new album, and it always feels wrong to try to summon it up without them, but I suppose we will always be tempted to try. To this day I am angry at Keith and John for dying. Sometimes it shows. It's selfish, but it's how I feel." The guitarist and singer went on to apologize to the late musician's children, Chris Entwistle and Mandy Moon, as well as to the Who's fans. "I understand that a lot of long-time Who fans will be hurt by the way it comes across as a headline. I only hope that they know me well enough that I tell the truth as much as I can, but I also tell both sides and the upside is missing in the headlines," he said. - Billboard, 11/27/19...... Tina Turner shared a rare video message with her fans on Nov. 26, her milestone 80th birthday. "Yes, I'm 80. How did I think I would be at 80? Not like this," she said. "How is this?" she continued. "Well, I look great, I feel good, I've gone through some very serious sicknesses that I'm overcoming. So it's like having a second chance at life. I'm happy to be an 80-year-old woman." Turner's video montage also featured birthday messages from the likes of Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, Nile Rodgers and others. - New Musical Express, 11/26/19...... Dolly Parton has delivered big ratings for NBC with her Nov. 26 special Dolly Parton: 50 Years at the Opry. The two-hour show outdrew the same-day season averages for competing series on other networks, and averaged 7 million viewers, along with a 0.8 rating among adults 18-49. The total-viewer count was the best for the NBC from 9 to 11 p.m. on Tuesday during the fall 2019 season. The show also outdrew ABC's Nov. 12 Parton interview special, Dolly Parton: Here She Comes Again, which had a little under 4 million viewers. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/27/19...... Prince will release a Super Deluxe Edition of his classic 1982 album 1999 on Nov. 29. In addition to a remastered version of the 1999 double LP, the release also features 35 alternate versions, remixes, previously unreleased tracks and live cuts, including a Special Dance Mix of "Little Red Corvette." It also features the guitar-pop gem "Money Don't Grow on Trees" from his 1979 self-titled debut, and the Dirty Mind outtake "Vagina." - Billboard, 11/27/19...... The rock supergroup Hollywood Vampires featuring Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp has announced a fall 2020 UK tour in support of their latest album, Rise. The group will play Leeds on Sept. 2, Glasgow on Sept. 3, London on Sept. 5, and Birmingham on Sept. 6. "This show has something for everyone," Cooper says. "I like to joke that The Vampires are the world's most expensive bar band, but what a lot of people don't realise is that this is a real rock band, not just some novelty. I wouldn't keep doing it if it weren't such a great band... I never get tired of playing with these guys!" - New Musical Express, 11/26/19...... 
Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley has been slapped with a restraining order by his longtime girlfriend Rachael Gordon after a bizarre incident when he stormed into his home and grabbed his belongings. According to the celebrity gossip site TMZ.com, Gordon claims in court documents that Frehley, 68, returned home from a business trip unannounced and barged into the couple's home with a male and a female bodyguard, as well as his adult daughter, Monique, and gathered up items including guitars and gold records. Gordon also alleges that Monique threatened her with physical violence and screamed at her, "You are a skank. My family will kill you." According to her filings, the tumultuous visit and verbal abuse left Gordon "in shock, afraid, filled with anxiety" and "paralyzed with fear." A friend of Gordon's also claims to have witnessed the incident and stated Frehley's entorage "looked like they were on drugs." Gordon also alleges Frehley has displayed troubling behaviour with her in the past, alleging he once threw a knife on their bed and told her words to the effect of "you know what that can do to you." Gordon says she's also planning to move out after the altercation, claiming the home ambush happened just as their lease ended and she needs the cash to find a new home as she does not work and he controls their finances. She is asking for $20,000 for moving expenses, $11,000 for rent and $25,000 in legal fees. - WENN/Canoe.com, 11/28/19...... Doug Lubahn, a studio bassist for The Doors, died on Nov. 24 of as yet undisclosed causes. While The Doors never had a full-time bass player, Lubahn appeared on three of the group's most acclaimed albums including Strange Days, Waiting for the Sun and The Soft Parade. After his work with The Doors, Lubahn went on to play in several other bands including Dreams, Pierce Arrow and Riff Raff. "Words could never express the sorrow. He was the love of my life. I'll miss the laughter more than anything," wrote his wife Pat Devanny. On The Doors' official Twitter page, a note read: "Our condolences go out to the family, friends and fans of Doug Lubahn. Doug made indelible contributions to rock and roll, and especially to The Doors. He played bass on Stage Days, Waiting for the Sun and Soft Parade. #RIP, Doug." - NME, 11/26/19...... Ron Oberman, a senior record executive and former publicist to David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen, died on Nov. 21 in his Spanish Springs, Nev., home after battling FTD (Frontal Temporal Degeneration) disease, a family spokesperson confirmed. He was 76. Oberman was best known for developing and furthering the careers of international music artists such as Bowie, Springsteen, The Bangles, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Warrant, Wilderness Road, Martika and more. He also worked with the Beatles and Mick Jagger. Oberman began his career with a Washington, D.C. newspaper as the writer of a weekly teen column, and later worked in the A&R department of Mercury Records, where he developed and introduced the then-unknown Bowie, and subsequently served as Bowie's North American publicist. Columbia Records eventually signed Oberman as head of its A&R department. Apart from Bowie, Oberman helped save Springsteen from being dropped by Columbia after writing a letter to the head of the label, pleading to give the singer-songwriter another chance. Oberman stayed with Columbia for 25 years, and then moved to become the head of MCA Records' A&R department, where he discovered and signed the Bangles. He is survived by his wife, Amber DiLena. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/24/19...... Cartoonist Gahan Wilson, whose illustrations in such iconic magazines as Playboy, The New Yorker and National Lampoon earned him the nicknames "the Michelangelo of the Macabre" and "the Wizard of Weird," has died at 89. Mr. Wilson gained fame with such offbeat drawings as a man deliriously happy as he is being strapped into the electric chair and saying, "Gee, it's just like in the movies." Another showed an eye doctor with a knife about to attack a patient who is reading an exam chart that says, "I am an insane eye doctor and I am going to kill you now..." Mr. Wilson told David Letterman in 1982 that he was always attracted to circus sideshows and freaks. "They're fun," he said. "They're nice people." Mr. Wilson's stepson wrote on Facebook that Wilson, born Feb. 18, 1930, died peacefully surrounded by loved ones on Nov. 21. - CNN.com, 11/23/19.
Carole King will present the American Music Awards' "Artist of the Decade" honor to pop sensation Taylor Swift during the 2019 AMA Awards on Nov. 24 in Los Angeles, it was announced by ABC and Dick Clark Productions on Nov. 21. "I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to present Taylor with the Artist of the Decade honor," said King in a statement. "She is an extraordinary songwriter who has cultivated a unique and personal relationship with her audience. As a woman songwriter who also got into the music world at a young age, I know the kind of determination, struggle and single-minded perseverance it has taken for her to reach such heights." The award show will be broadcast live on ABC from L.A.'s Microsoft Theater beginning at 8 p.m. EST. In addition to Swift, among the many performers will be Post Malone featuring Travis Scott and Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy recently collaborated with Malone on Malone's single "Take What You Want." - Billboard, 11/21/19...... 
Neil Young has declared that Facebook "is toast" on his Neil Young Archives website and that he's "no longer interested" in linking to the popular social media platform due to its "support of right wing groups." In the NYA posting entitled "Facebook is toast at NYA", Young wrote: "Facebook is facing criticism for sponsoring the annual gala of the Federalist Society, the powerful right wing organisation behind the nomination of the conservative supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh. This turn of events, in addition to the false information regularly supplied to the public on Facebook, with its knowledge, has caused us to re-evaluate and change our use policy. I don't feel that a social site should be making obvious commitments to one side of politics or the other. It further confuses readers regarding truthfulness in coverage and message. NYA, is no longer interested in further links with FACEBOOK and will be discontinuing use. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to you." Young's move comes just a month after he threatened to pull all Facebook posts from his archive site, when he wrote: "It's a problem we face together. FB gives you more than you want and it's not all good. A lot of it is very bad misinformation about political campaigns and ads that are outright falsehoods... If we continue to be on Facebook, we are conflicted about who we are. With that in mind, don't be surprised if we drop all references and contacts with the platform." - New Musical Express, 11/21/19...... As the annual Record Store Day approaches on Black Friday (Nov. 29), Paul McCartney has shared two new songs on YouTube that he'll release on that day as a double A-side, 7-inch picture disc single. "Home Tonight" and "In a Hurry" are upbeat and fun, featuring the former Beatle's characteristically melodic vocals, and were recorded during Paul's sessions for his 2018 album, Egypt Station. The limited edition single will feature album artwork based on the old-time parlour game "Exquisite Corpse." - Billboard, 11/22/19...... Speaking of the Beatles, the late George Harrison is given credit by Elton John for helping him during his long battle with drug addiction in an interview Elton recently gave with DJ Chris Evans on the UK's Virgin Radio Breakfast Show. When asked by Evans what the "best piece of advice" was that Harrison gave him, John replied "stop putting that marching powder up your nose." "Twenty-nine-years it's been. The nose is still here!," the 72-year-old Elton added. In another recent interview, Elton also revealed how he had to learn to walk again after contracting a serious infection following surgery for prostate cancer. Speaking to Graham Norton for new BBC programme Elton John: Uncensored, he revealed: "I had to learn to walk again. I was extremely sick. All I could think about when I was lying in my hospital bed was 'please don't let me die, I want to see my children', and luckily I survived it." The music icon then compared himself to the Bionic Woman. "Now I'm fine but there's very few bits of me left. There's no hair, there's a pacemaker, there's no tonsils, there's no prostate, there's no appendix, I've had kidney stones. I'm like the Bionic Woman." - New Musical Express, 11/22/19...... 
It has been revealed that a movie about the life and career of Michael Jackson is in the works from Graham King, the producer of the smash Queen and Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. King and his GK Films will work on the project with the Jackson estate, which has granted him the rights to the late singer's music. Bohemian Rhapsody earned over $900 million at the global box office and six Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. GK Films is also developing a new Bee Gees movie for Paramount. In other MJ news, the lead role for an upcoming Michael Jackson Broadway musical set to open in the summer of 2020 was revealed on Nov. 21 by its producer, Lia Vollack, and the Jackson estate. Tony nominee Ephraim Sykes, currently on Broadway in "Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations" portraying Motown recording artist David Ruffin, will take on the role of the late King of Pop. The production -- previously titled "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," after Jackson's 1979 single -- will begin preview performances July 6 with an official opening set for Aug. 13 at New York's Neil Simon Theatre. Sykes' other Broadway credits include "Hamilton: An American Musical," "Memphis," "Newsies," "Motown the Musical" and "The Little Mermaid." - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/22/19...... In other Broadway news, Tina Turner made a surprise appearance on the opening night of the "Tina: The Tina Turner Musical," which debuted at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Nov. 7. Turner suprised the audience by joining the cast onstage with other members of the musical's team after the show and gave an emotional speech, noting that "This musical is my life but it's like poison that turned to medicine. I can never be as happy as I am now." "Tina" follows the Grammy-winning singer, played by Adrienne Warren, as she moved from Tennessee to St. Louis, detailing her abusive relationship with ex-husband Ike Turner, but ultimately launching her 50-year global career as the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll. Other celebrities in attendance on opening night included Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Martha Stewart and Spike Lee. - Billboard, 11/8/19...... Ozzy Osbourne released his new single, the thrashing new track "Straight to Hell," on Nov. 22 and has shared it on YouTube. Kicking it off with his signature "Alright now!" phrase, the veteran shock rocker chants, "You're flying higher than a kite tonight / You took the hit and now you feel alright. You're deadbeat's dead so we must celebrate / I'll make you scream, I'll make you defecate." Then none other than Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash shows up to deliver some devlish riffs. "Straight to Hell" follows Ozzy's previous single, "Under the Graveyard," which was his first new single in almost a decade. Osbourne is gearing up to release his forthcoming album Ordinary Man in early 2020, which will coincide with his "No More Tours 2" tour featuring special guest Marilyn Manson. - Billboard, 11/22/19...... 
The Who became the first act to be honored on London's new Music Walk of Fame on Camden High Street on Nov. 19 in what organizers hope will become a must-see Hollywood Boulevard-style tourist attraction for visitors to the city. Founding Who members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were on hand at the inaugural presentation and spoke of their pride at being immortalized on the permanent walk, located in the north London borough of Camden. "This will be great for Camden. It'll be great for London," Townshend said. "It'll be great for the neighbourhood and it will be great for our business, one of the biggest exports that we have in the U.K. We've all contributed. We're all still contributing and we will go on contributing," he added. Townshend went on to say, joking that he would have preferred the commemorative paving slab to be on Goldhawk Road in West London, where The Who started their career, "but those f---ers have got no money." Roger Daltrey spoke of Camden's rich musical heritage and said the area remains "a great place to come for the best of the music that's out there at the moment." "May it long reign and may this avenue of stars grow and grow because we have got the best music industry in the world," Daltrey told the audience, made up of invited guests, media and hundreds of curious bystanders lining the opposite side of the street. London's Music Walk Of Fame is the brainchild of music promoter Lee Bennett, who first came up with the idea when he was living in California and noticed the U.K. had no equivalent to Hollywood's world famous tourist attraction. Bennett says he plans to lay around 20 special paving stones recognizing iconic music artists and ground-breaking innovators each year. Future inductees will be selected by an international panel of artists, executives and journalists. The next act to be honored will be Camden band Madness in early 2020. - Billboard, 11/19/19...... In other Who news, the band has just shared the third single, "I Don't Wanna Get Wise," from their upcoming album WHO. The upbeat new song extolls the virtues of not wanting to "get wise" because life will work itself out. It will be featured on the band's twelfth studio album, which hits stores on Dec. 6. The band has also shared information about four bonus tracks that will be found on the deluxe edition of WHO. "This Gun Will Misfire" and "Danny & His Ponies" were written and recorded specifically for WHO, while "Got Nothing to Prove" and "Sand" are demos from the mid-'60s that the group finally completed. Townshend says the latter two songs "would not have been rejected by the bandmembers but rather by my then-creative mentor, Who manager Kit Lambert." - New Musical Express, 11/22/19...... Lynyrd Skynyrd will be among the headliners at the Epicenter 2020 Music Festival, set for Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. from May 1-3. Other headliners include Metallica, David Lee Roth, Staind, Papa Roach, Anthrax and Dropkick Murphys. Camping at Epicenter will begin on Apr. 30 with campgrounds open until May 4. VIP, 3-day passes and more are available now. - Billboard, 11/19/19...... 
The Doobie Brothers have announced they'll reunite for a special North American tour in 2020 to celebrate 50 years since the band's formation. Kicking off on June 9 at the Coral Sky Ampitheatre in West Palm Beach, Fla., the 30-date run will mark the first time four of its members -- Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, John McFee and Michael McDonald -- will tour together in nearly a quarter century. Other cities on the tour include Nashville (6/17), Toronto (7/19), Denver (8/30), Seattle (9/5) and Los Angeles (9/18), before it wraps on Oct. 10 at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in Houston, Tex. Pat Simmons recently teased a 50th anniversary Doobies tour during a set on Nov. 18 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., part of a short outing that includes performances of its albums Toulouse Street and The Captain and Me. After hitting "Takin' It To the Streets," Simmons told the audience, "that's really good, maybe we should go on the road." In a press release announcing the tour, Tom Johnston said, "We're truly excited about our 50th Anniversary Tour as it's a celebration of the band's entire history. We'll be performing songs from our full catalog, as well as new music." - Billboard, 11/19/19...... A coin commemorating what would have been the 70th birthday Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott has been announced by the Central Bank in Lynott's native Ireland. Bank president Michael Higgins will unveil the special coin, of which 3,000 will be minted at a face falue of 15, on Nov. 26 at St Kevin's College, Crumlin, Dublin, which is Lynott's former school. Lynott, who played bass and sang lead vocals in the celebrated Dublin band from 1969 until his death in 1986, died at the age of 36 after contracting pneumonia and suffering organ failure. Other tributes to Lynott over the years include a statue erected in Dublin city centre, just off Grafton Street, in 2005 which was organized by his mother, Philomena. Thin Lizzy are among the nominees for the class of 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. - New Musical Express, 11/20/19...... Three members of KISS -- Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer -- performed for eight lucky fans during a boat cruise off the coast of southern Australia on Nov. 18. KISS had also planned to perform for great white sharks during the cruise, with the fans in another boat separated from them by a small submarine, but unfortunately the sharks never showed up. As part of a promotion by Airbnb, the concert was planned to entice sharks using the low-frequency sounds of rock and roll, and the fans on glass-bottomed boats would be able to get a close look. "I would say it's one of the most unusual, eclectic things we ever did, that's for sure," Singer told an Australian TV station. The station's segment of the event can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 11/20/19...... 
Actor Michael J. Pollard, who became a familiar face to movie audiences in 1967 with his supporting role as C. W. Moss in the acclaimed Arthur Penn-directed movie Bonnie and Clyde, passed away on Nov. 22 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 80. Rob Zombie, who directed the 2003 horror movie House of 1000 Corpses which featured Pollard in the role of Stucky, broke the news on his Facebook page with a touching message for the late actor. "We have lost another member of our House Of 1000 Corpses family. I woke up to the news that Michael J. Pollard had died. I have always loved his work and his truly unique on screen presence. He was one of the first actors I knew I had to work with as soon as I got my first film off the ground. He will be missed." Born in New Jersey in 1939, Mr. Pollard attended Montclair Academy and Actors Studio in New York. By the late '50s, he had appeared in such television programs as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Andy Griffith Show. On The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, he took over for future Gilligan's Island star Bob Denver, with Jerome Krebs replacing Denver's iconic Maynard G. Krebs for a short period of time. This started what would become a decades-long career as a character actor performing in dozens of roles. In 1966, he took on one of his most memorable roles on an episode of the original Star Trek series as Jahn, the teenage-leader of an all-child planet. But Mr. Pollard is perhaps best known for his supporting role as C. W. Moss in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, which starred him alongside Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons. For his performance, Mr. Pollard scored Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and was won a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. The movie's success also led to Mr. Pollard staging a mock presidential campaign where he created the joke campaign song "Michael J. Pollard for President." Following Bonnie and Clyde, the character actor would continue to appear in dozens of movie and TV roles over the years, including Scrooged, Melvin and Howard, Dick Tracy and the Superboy TV series. For horror fans, he is also very fondly remembered for his part as Stucky in House of 1000 Corpses, which serves as one of his final acting roles. - MovieWeb.com, 11/22/19.
In a new interview with Billboard, Paul McCartney revealed he and his wife Nancy Shevell snook into a cinema near their home in the Hamptons over the summer for a screening of the recent Beatles-themed movie Yesterday. Sir Paul said he politely declined an offer to see the film at an official screening, but decided to see the movie after he heard Danny Boyle would direct it. "I thought, 'They must think they can pull it off.' And I thought nothing more of it until they asked if I wanted to see a screening," Paul said. "I asked Nancy, and we said, 'Let's go, you and me, on a date to the cinema'. We were in the Hamptons in the summer and there it was, so we got two tickets and walked in when the cinema went dark. Only a couple of people saw us. We were in the back row, giggling away, especially at all the mentions of Paul McCartney. A couple of people in front of us spotted us, but everyone else was watching the film. We loved it.'" Yesterday stars Himesh Patel as singer/songwriter Jack Malik, who lives in a world where nobody knows that the iconic Liverpool band ever existed. McCartney also gave an update on his forthcoming musical adaptation of the movie It's a Wonderful Life, which is due out in 2020. "The reason I never wanted to do a musical is I couldn't think of a strong enough story," he said. "But a guy I've known since school in Liverpool became a theatrical impresario in London [Bill Kenwright], and he rang me up and said, 'I've got the musical rights to It's a Wonderful Life. That's a strong story. So I met with the writer, Lee Hall, and I asked him to write the first 20 minutes of how he sees this as a play. So I was on holiday in the Hamptons, and I had lots of free time. So I read it and thought, 'That's a good opening, I like this', and I sat at the piano and threw this melody at these dummy lyrics he had written. This was August. I sent it to them, and they said, 'You've nailed it'. So it's going well." Macca was interviewed by Billboard after the magazine named the Beatles as topping their list of the "Top 125 Artists of All Time" on the occasion of its 125th anniversary. The Rolling Stones claimed the No. 2 spot on the list, with Elton John named the No. 3 act and top solo artist.- Billboard, 11/14/19...... In other McCartney news, Glastonbury UK festival organizer Emily Eavis has announced that the Beatles icon will headline the legendary festival in 2020 just hours after Paul shared an image of American composer Philip Glass, actress Emma Stone and rock legend Chuck Berry. When the surnames of all three are combined, the not-so-subtle clue of "Glass-Stone-Bury" is provided. Eavis wrote on Twitter: "IT'S REAL!! So excited.. Having Paul McCartney coming back to headline the Pyramid next year is an absolute dream come true. There really was no one that we wanted more for the 50th anniversary." McCartney also confirmed the news, posting: "Hey Glasto - excited to be part of your Anniversary celebrations. See ya next summer!" The announcement ends months of speculation surrounding a headline slot for Macca at Glastonbury's fiftieth anniversary in 2020. Paul last headlined the festival in 2004, alongside Muse and Oasis. Meanwhile McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and Jeff Lynne are among some of the names who have signed a guitar to help raise money for former Fairport Convention guitarist Jerry Donahue, who suffered a severe stroke in 2016 and has been disabled since. The guitar -- a signature Jerry Donahue Fender Telecaster -- is expected to sell for in the region of between £10,000 and £20,000. Other big names who have signed the guitar include The Who's Pete Townshend, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, Dire Straits's Mark Knopfler and The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. - New Musical Express, 11/18/19...... German artist TrippieSteff has reimagined the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album with 21st century celebrities as part of a remake of several classic album covers, including Blondie's Parallel Lines and Nirvana's Nevermind, by a team of graphic designers and artists. TrippieSteff's new Sgt. Pepper's artwork features Taylor Swift, Kanye West, Drake and Lil Nas X in place of the original Fab Four at the center, and the artwork also depicts a range of other contemporary figures including Elon Musk, Kylie Jenner, Bernie Sanders and BoJack Horseman. "The original cover was a blend of high and low cultural figures that depicted the zeitgeist mindset of the late 60s," TrippieSteff explained. "It was also a group of influential figures that were 'heroes' to the Beatles. With a desire to keep the same theme, I chose to feature the most iconic and influential figures of the past decade. These are people that have been controversial figures in music, politics, television, human rights and more. By putting them together in the same image, I wanted to show that they are all equally important." - NME, 11/15/19...... 
Randy Newman has been nominated in both the Best Original Song and Best Score categories at the upcoming Oscars for his contribution to the Toy Story 4 soundtrack. Newman, 75, has two eligible titles in the song category: "The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy" and "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away." Newman, a 20-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner, is the only songwriter in Academy Awards history to receive a nomination for Best Original Song for three films from the same franchise. His tunes have been nominated for each of the first three Toy Story films -- "You've Got a Friend in Me" (1995), "When She Loved Me" (1999) and 2010 winner "We Belong Together," and he could extend his streak come Jan. 13, 2020, with the two new titles. While Newman is the only songwriter to receive a nod for best original song for three films in the same franchise, legendary composer John Williams has equaled or surpassed this feat in the Best Original Score category with two franchises: He was nominated for best original score for five Star Wars films (he won for scoring the 1977 original) and three Indiana Jones movies. He may land his sixth Star Wars nom for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, out Dec. 20. - Billboard, 11/15/19...... Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the two men who accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them as children, could bring their lawsuits to trial thanks to an update in California's child sexual abuse law. The pair, whose accusations were featured in the documentary Leaving Neverland as well as in a 2013 lawsuit that was dismissed four years later, could find themselves back in court as the new law comes into force. Both men had appealed the 2017 decision to discharge their cases, which was due to a statute of limitations, but these appeals have since been on hold in the appellate court. But the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases has since been extended in Californian law, and the California Court of Appeal has issued a tentative ruling that could overturn the 2017 dismissals. Should a trial be granted, Robson and Safechuck would be able to sue the Jackson estate for millions of dollars like they attempted to do so six years ago. The estate, his family, and Jackson himself before he died in 2009 have denied all accusations of sexual misconduct levelled against him. In other MJ news, the famous episode of The Simpsons featuring Michael Jackson has been excluded from the show's catalog available on the newly launched Disney+ streaming service. In the wake of the increased controversy surrounding the allegations made in Leaving Neverland, it was announced earlier in 2019 that the 1991 episode would be pulled from broadcast rotation, with Simpson showrunner Al Jean recently going as far to say that the late singer used his cameo "to groom young boys." The episode, titled "Stark Raving Dad," featured Jackson as the voice of Leon Kompowsky, a psychiatric hospital patient who ends up sharing a room with Homer Simpson. The white, overweight Kompowsky tries to convince Homer that he is the late King of Pop, and is even seen singing "Billie Jean" and showing off his legendary moonwalk dance moves. The episode ends with Kompowsky helping Bart compose a song as a birthday present to Lisa, before admitting that he knows he isn't really Michael Jackson. - New Musical Express, 11/18/19...... In a new interview with People, Ozzy Osbourne's daughter Kelly Osbourne revealed the Osbourne family are the "closest" they've ever been to reviving their hit MTV reality series, The Osbournes. "I'm not joking, every single year about every three months or so someone else gives us another offer and we keep saying no," Kelly said. "It keeps coming 'round. Right now there's another offer on the table and I think this is the closest we've ever come to accepting one. But whether that will happen or not, I don't know." The 35-year-old singer/actress/fashion designer added that it would be more difficult to shoot a new series of the show now that the Osbourne clan has expanded. "We've got other people to think about. My brother [Jack Osbourne] has three kids. Do we want that life for them without them being old enough to choose if they want to do it or not like my brother and I were?" Meanwhile, father Ozzy has just announced that he's going on a joint tour with Marilyn Manson after Ozzy previously postponed world tour dates after a long spate of illness. Osbourne's "No More Tours 2" trek will begin with Manson on May 27 in Atlanta and conclude July 31 in Las Vegas. October and November will then see the Black Sabbath legend embark of rescheduled UK and European dates with Judas Priest. Ozzy also recently announced his first solo album in 10 years, Ordinary Man, with the launch single "Under The Graveyeard." It is expected to drop in January. - NME, 11/15/19...... KISS added some dates to their 2020 schedule, which kicks off with a Feb. 1 show at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H., and sees the shock rockers on the road for 44 dates through an Oct. 2 show at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Tex. The band says their "End Of the Road Tour" will end on July 21, 2021, at an as-yet-unannounced venue in their home turf of New York after a half century of giving their best to the KISS Army. The news of the new dates came just hours after the band canceled a planned Australia/New Zealand tour after singer Paul Stanley fell ill with the flu and was advised by a doctor to rest. The opening date was recently pushed back due to Stanley's illness, and now the singer says he's suffered an additional infection in his throat. "Words cannot begin to convey our massive disappointment in having to cancel our 'End Of The Road' tour of your incredible country," Stanley said in a message to the band's Australia/NZ fans. "Our connection to you is unparalleled and decades deep." - Billboard, 11/14/19...... To mark the 40th anniversary of its seminal 1979 album London Calling, The Clash has opened a new exhibition at the Museum of London which should prove to be a near-essential pilgrimage for fans of the punk icons across the globe. Upon entering, fans will immediately notice Paul Simonon's broken bass guitar, after he famously smashed the instrument on stage at The Palladium in New York City. The moment went on to become immortalized on the cover of London Calling. Other items on display include Joe Strummer's note book with early lyrics to London Calling and Topper Headon's drum sticks -- the only item of Headon's that remains from this time. The exhibition will run through Apr. 19, 2020. - NME, 11/15/19...... 
A previously unseen interview with the late drummer Buddy Miles, a member of Jimi Hendrix's band Band of Gypsys, has just been shared online and sees Miles discussing how he worked with Hendrix to create the now legendary song "Machine Gun." In the new clip posted to 
Terry O'Neill, an iconic British photographer known for capturing the 1960s culture through his work with such famous music and film celebrities as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John and Frank Sinatra, died at his home on Nov. 16 after battling prostate cancer. He was 81. Recognized as one of the world's most collected photographers, Mr. O'Neill began his career at the birth of the 1960s, as he chronicled the emerging faces of film, fashion and music that would go on to define the Swinging Sixties era. He famously captured images of figures such as Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Elvis Presley and Audrey Hepburn and was also one of the first photographers to work with then new 007 franchise starring Sean Connery as James Bond. He also photographed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, as well as photographed backstage reportage with David Bowie, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Chuck Berry. Elton John paid tribute to Mr. O'Neill on Twitter, where he praised the late photographer. "Terry O'Neill took the most iconic photographs of me throughout the years, completely capturing my moods," Elton wrote. "He was brilliant, funny and I absolutely loved his company. A real character who has now passed on. RIP you wonderful man. Love, Elton," the singer posted alongside a photo Mr. O'Neill took of him. Mr. O'Neill was awarded the Royal Photographic Society Centenary Medal in 2011 in recognition of his significant contribution to the art of photography and an Honorary Fellowship of the Society. Earlier this year, he was also awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Photography in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours list. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/17/19.
Edgar Winter has announced he's prepping a star-studded tribute album to his late rocker older brother Johnny Winter that he hopes to release sometime in 2020. "It's really turned out to be a wonderful blessing in my life, doing this," says Edgar, who received early encouragement and support from Johnny including having Edgar as part of his band when it played the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival. "Johnny's my all-time musical hero. If it weren't for him I wouldn't be where I am now. I just feel like I need to acknowledge that and put out a record he would love." Edgar says the 16-song set will include a mix of Johnny Winter originals as well as some of his signature covers, such as Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash," Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" and Rick Derringer's "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo," which Johnny Winter recorded first, in 1970. Contributors to the project include Joe Walsh, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Joe Bonamassa, Robben Ford and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, with more guests to be announced soon. Meanwhile, Edgar is among the contributors of Ringo Starr's new album 
In a new interview with the toy railroad hobby magazine Railway Modeller, Rod Stewart revealed that he has spent almost 26-years building a huge, 124-ft-long intricate model of a city influenced by both New York and Chicago. Later, after the interview was shared, Stewart rang BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show to refute accusations that he hadn't made the model railway himself. "I would say 90% of it I built myself," Sir Rod declared. "The only thing I wasn't very good at and still am not is the electricals, so I had someone else do that. A lot of people laugh at it being a silly hobby, but it's a wonderful hobby," he added. Stewart also told the magazine that he often worked on the model while on tour, sometimes requesting an extra room for his constructions in hotels. "We would tell them in advance and they were really accommodating, taking out the beds and providing fans to improve air circulation and ventilation," the musician said. "When I take on something creative like this, I have to give it 110%," he added. "For me it's addictive. I started, so I just had to finish. I'm lucky I had the room. If I'd have realised at the start it would have taken so long, I'd have probably said, 'No! No! Nah!'" Stewart also revealed that he works on the railway in the attic of his Los Angeles home. - New Musical Express, 11/13/19...... Documentaries about such diverse music figures as Linda Ronstadt, Miles Davis, Luciano Pavarotti, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash are among the 159 feature films that have been submitted in the Best Documentary Feature category for the 92nd Academy Awards, set for Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. At least seven of the 159 films were also entered for best music film in the upcoming 62nd annual Grammy Awards process. Those films that are vying for both Oscar and Grammy noms are: Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes; David Crosby: Remember My Name; Echo in the Canyon; Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles; Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool; Pavarotti and Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese. Other music docs that are entered in the Oscar process include The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash; Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice; Western Stars (starring Bruce Springsteen) and Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation. A shortlist of the 15 films that are advancing in the category will be revealed on Dec. 16. Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 13, 2020. - Billboard, 11/12/19...... On Nov. 12 Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters was announced as a keynote speaker for the 2020 South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Tex. "Roger Waters is a true creative visionary, and we're pleased to have him participate for 2020," said Hugh Forrest, the event's chief programming officer. "SXSW continues to be a unique destination for innovation and discovery, and we're excited about the addition of the many groundbreaking pioneers, influential voices and business leaders that we've added to this year's lineup." Other keynotes include artist and former Sonic Youth basist Kim Gordon and director/producer/writer Erin Lee Carr. Previously announced featured speakers include Chic legend Nile Rodgers and comedic actor Cheech Marin. The 2020 edition of SXSW runs from Mar. 13-22 in Austin, Tex. - Billboard, 11/12/19...... Punk poetess Patti Smith will be among the headliners at the 2020 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tenn., set for next spring. Smith will play with her band and participate in the literary program. The three-day fest (March 26-29), which focuses on "the avant garde, unexpected and surprising," will pay tribute to the 100th anniversary of the invention of the Theremin, with Rob Schwimmer, a master of the eerie instrument leading a trio featuring pianist Uri Caine and violinist Mark Feldman in a 20th anniversary celebration of their album Theremin Noir. - Billboard, 11/12/19...... Singer/songwriter legend Joni Mitchell and jazz great Wayne Shorter were honored by the likes of Quincy Jones, Chaka Khan, Ray Parker, Jr. and Rita Wilson during a fundraiser for the Jazz Foundation on Nov. 10, 2019 in Los Angeles. Heralding Mitchell and Shorter's "transcendent art and boundless imagination" in his opening remarks, JFA executive director Joseph Petrucelli introduced Quincy Jones, who noted that "jazz means freedom." A top-notch crew of session musicians then backed the aforementioned performers in paying homage to Shorter and Mitchell. The Joni Mitchell tribute concluded with a special performance by Chaka Khan of Mitchell's "Man from Mars" and "Hissing of Summer Lawns." Noted Khan as she came onstage, "Wherever Joni goes, there I am." - Billboard, 11/11/19...... In a new interview with the UK's Yorkshire Post, the Who's Pete Townshend said that his "increasingly affectionate relationship" with singer Roger Daltrey is a major reason for the Who's impressive longevity. "I still perform partly because of my ongoing, developing and increasingly affectionate relationship with Roger," said Townshend, who formed the Who with Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon in 1964. "When you look back at where we started, I wouldn't say we despised each other but we had very little in common. Now, we have very little in common but we really care about each other deeply." Townshend continued: "We are really comfortable with each other. He says, 'You've got your guitar and your pen, I've got my voice'. We meet in the middle and it just happens to be performing." - NME, 11/13/19...... Billy Joel will participate in a special SiriusXM event at the Faena Theater in Miami Beach, Fla. on Dec. 5. "Billy Joel: An Evening of Questions and Answers" will feature the legendary musician sitting in front of a piano taking questions from SiriusXM subscribers in the audience. SiriusXM subscribers will be able to call in to the live event at (844)-365-BILLY (2455) and ask Billy Joel a question. Joel will also be sharing stories behind his music as well as performing portions of songs in between conversation. The exclusive event will broadcast live on Joel's SiriusXM channel, The Billy Joel Channel, at 8pm ET on Dec. 5. The limited-run channel that features the works of the iconic superstar including music spanning his 5 decades-long career along with exclusive stories from Joel will run through Dec. 6 at 3am ET. - Billboard, 11/11/19...... 
On Nov. 11, Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood announced an all-star tribute to the early years of Fleetwood Mac and the band's original co-founder, Peter Green, that will take place on Feb. 25 at the London Palladium. "The concert is a celebration of those early blues days where we all began, and it's important to recognize the profound impact Peter and the early Fleetwood Mac had on the world of music," Mick Fleetwood said in a statement. Among the killer lineup of musicians pitching in will be Mick's Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie, along with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Jonny Lang, John Mayall, Andy Fairweather Low, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler and former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. The show will be filmed for later broadcast, and some of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust. Green, 73, and Fleetwood co-founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967 with John McVie, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer. - Billboard, 11/11/19...... KISS announced on Nov. 11 that they have pushed back the kick off of the Australian leg of their "End of the Road" tour due to singer/guitarist Paul Stanley becoming ill. "Due to a bad case of Influenza, doctors have advised Paul Stanley to rest for the next few days and not to undertake the long trip from Los Angeles to Perth," read the note from the group, which had been slated to leave the U.S. on Nov. 12 for the Perth launch of the outing on Nov. 16. "With the expectation of Australian audiences high, KISS don't want to not give 100% and so have made changes to the Australian and New Zealand dates," the note added. As a result, the gig at Perth's RAC Arena has been moved from Nov. 16 to the end of the Australian tour on Dec. 3. - Billboard, 11/11/19...... In related news, Ozzy Osbourne has rescheduled the postponed UK and European dates on his "No More Tours 2" tour after being forced to push them back following a series of illnesses and a fall at home earlier in 2019 that re-aggravated an old injury. According to a roster of dates, the tour is now slated to kick off on Oct. 23 at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle. The dates are currently scheduled to last through a Dec. 2 show at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. Fellow British metal icons Judas Priest will open the dates. The six-week tour was originally scheduled for January. The outing includes a return to Ozzy's hometown of Birmingham for a Halloween show, as well as gigs in Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and Italy. Osbourne's upcoming solo album, Ordinary Man, is due out in January and his first solo single in nearly a decade, "Under the Graveyard," dropped earlier in November, and its video has been shared on 
Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has announced plans for an immersive new theatre production entitled "Theater of the Mind." The production is inspired by historical and recent lab research, according to Byrne. "It will be in a warehouse, where it's divided into a bunch of different rooms," Byrne told Rolling Stone. "A group of 16 audience members will go from room to room and experience these perceptual things. When they leave one room, another group goes in there. That way, you can get 400 people in from 6 pm to 10. You get the same number as if it were a theatre show, but you get more in small groups." The production is set to open in Denver in August 2020. Byrne recently took his "American Utopia" tour to Broadway. The residency will run until Jan. 20, 2020. - NME, 11/8/19...... Robert "Bob" Norris, who played the iconic "Marlboro Man" in cigarette ads for more than a decade beginning in the 1960s, has died at his Colorado ranch at 90. According to multiple sources, Mr. Norris was never a smoker. Mr. Norris landed the high-profile ad campaign for the Philip Morris cigarette brand by happenstance, after advertising executives sought him out after spotting him in a newspaper photo alongside a famous actor friend, John Wayne. Mr. Norris's son Bobby Noris said his father stepped away from playing the company mascot conceived in the '60s, just as consumers were learning how cigarettes affected their health. "He always told us kids, 'I don't ever want to see you smoking," the younger Norris said, "so one of us finally asked, 'If you don't want us smoking, why are you doing cigarette commercials? He called up Phillip Morris and quit that day." The company stopped using the Marlboro Man in its advertisements only after other men who starred in its campaign died of lung cancer, NPR reported in October 2002. Marlboro aside, Mr. Norris, whose ranch in Colorado eventually covered more than 100,000 acres, was vital to his community. Not only was he held roles in local rodeo organizations, but he was an ardent philanthropist, and a local venue is named after him. His family remembered him in a public service held on Nov. 8. - MSN.com, 11/9/19.
The Band's 1969 seminal self-titled album, which will be released as a deluxe 50th anniversary edition on Nov. 15, will feature their entire 11-song performance at the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival, including a cover of The Four Tops' "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever." 
Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh will headline his third annual VetsAid benefit concert on Nov. 10 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Tex. Walsh -- the son of a Gold Star veteran who died while on active duty when Walsh was just 20 months old -- launched VetsAid in 2016 to help fund local, grassroots veterans aid agencies. So far the charity has distributed nearly $1.2 million in grants. The 2019 VetsAid benefit will also feature the Doobie Brothers, ZZ Top, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit. "I aimed it at the little vet-run organizations in the Midwest and stuff that didn't have a budget," Walsh explains. "If a vet gets home and he's pretty alone and not a lot of people understand him, that's the beginning of the depression and the isolation, and that's the seed of the suicides. So it's so important to keep those organizations going, and that's what we've been able to do." Walsh says VetsAid will continue to play different cities each year rather than settle into one city. Meanwhile he's also touring with the Eagles, which kicked off a tour in October in Las Vegas, playing Hotel California in its entirety, accompanied by orchestras and choirs. "There's stuff on that album we never played," notes Walsh. We had to go back and figure 'em out, and it was a lot of work. I had to go back and really study, so playing the whole thing live really took some focus, and somehow we tamed the orchestra so it doesn't overwhelm the show -- it enhances it. When I got a chance to finally just sit back and be part of it and hear the orchestra behind us, I got emotional." - Billboard, 11/6/19...... Speaking of performing classic '70s albums in their entirety, Neil Young says he "turned down millions of dollars" to perform his chart-topping 1972 album Harvest in a new interview with AARP magazine. "I was just offered millions of dollars for a tour to do Harvest," says Young, who halted his seven-year hiatus from music to release his 13th studio album 
KISS reportedly announced via television screens on their KISS Kruise, which ran from Oct. 30 to Nov. 4 on the luxury cruise ship the Norwegian Pearl, that they are extending their "End Of The Road" world tour with 75 new dates for 2020, including a slate of summer shows in Europe surrounding their previously announced headlining slot at the UK's Download Festival. The new batch of tour dates begins with a North American tour leg that runs from Feb. 1, 2020 in Manchester, N.H. to March 15 in Biloxi, Miss. KISS will then perform in South America from Apr. 24 to May 19, covering El Salvador, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and more. The band then heads to Europe, kicking things off in Paris on June 9 before headlining Download Festival alongside Iron Maiden and System Of A Down. After Europe and a stop in Johannesburg, South Africa, KISS will return to the US for more tour dates until Oct. 3. During the KISS Kruise, KISS vocalist/guitarist Paul Stanley also announced that the "End Of The Road" tour will come to an end on July 17, 2021 in New York City, and that original KISS members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss have been approached about performing with the group at their final concert. Criss was replaced by drummer Eric Carr in 1980, while Frehley was replaced by Vinnie Vincent two years later. Both Frehley and Criss have returned to KISS for short periods since their departures. - NME/Canoe.com, 11/4/19...... In a new interview in the British heavy metal mag Heavy Consequence, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford revealed that he once dreamed of forming the UK's "Big Four" metal bands with Black Sabbath, Motörhead and Iron Maiden. "My dream had always been to have like 'The Big Four of the UK', without turning this into a kind of depressing way," Halford said, but acknowledged that the death of Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister and the retirement of Black Sabbath would make that difficult to accomplish: "Sadly, two-fourths of that has gone, but the music lives forever. That's the main thing." Halford also expressed his enthusiasm for a Judas Priest and Iron Maiden joint tour, which his bandmate Ian Hill had previously supported. "I think both bands would look to do that," Halford said. "It's all about the timing of doing such a thing. We're good friends." In October, both Motörhead and Judas Priest were announced as nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2020. - New Musical Express, 11/6/19...... On Nov. 4, Ringo Starr announced upcoming 2020 North American tour dates for his Ringo and his All Starr Band. Starr and the band's 20-show run will kick off May 29 with back-to-back nights at Casino Rama in Rama, Ont., before hitting major U.S. cities like Pittsburgh (6/20), Philadelphia (6/21) and Atlanta (6/23, 24) and wrapping up June 28 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Fla. The tour will also include three shows at New York City's iconic Beacon Theatre on June 2, 3 and 5, with support from the Avett Brothers on three of the tour's dates, and Edgar Winter on two dates. Ringo released his 20th solo album, 
In a new interview with the UK's The Big Issue magazine, the Who's Pete Townshend said his past behaviour in which he smashed up his instruments on stage was "a waste of time" despite it helping to get people to listen to his band. "I was always pretty snobby about rock and roll," said Townshend, who added that he was "in it for the art." "Getting into auto-destruction was straight out of art college. People still say that I should never have smashed instruments," he said, before concluding: "F--- off. It is how I got you to listen to me." Elsewhere in the interview Townshend said that his generation of "the hippy era" of the '60s "misused the power" for social change. "My generation felt disenfranchised," he said. "That is a complex word for feeling like we had nothing to live for. It made us not so much angry as loose. We were loose-living. And when psychedelic drugs and more importantly the pill came along, away we went. Then we took power. But I think we misused the power to a great extent. The hippy era could have turned into something much better than it did." - NME, 11/4/19...... Olivia Newton-John's iconic Grease leather jacket and skintight pants fetched $405,700 during an auction on Nov. 2 in Beverly Hills. According to Julien's Auctions, the leather jacket sold for $243,200 and the pants, which Newton-John famously had to be sewn into, went for $162,500. Other Grease memorabilia included a Pink Ladies jacket that went for $50,000 and a poster signed by Newton-John, John Travolta, director Randal Kleiser and producer and songwriter John Farrar, which sold for $64,000. The proceeds from the jacket and pants, as well as a portion of the other items sold, will go the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre in Australia. Meanwhile, a pair of Michael Jackson's sparkly socks worn during his first ever "moonwalk" as he performed "Billie Jean" during the 1983 Motown 25th anniversary are expected to command up to $1 million (or £776,000) during an auction organised by GottaHaveRockandRoll.com which begins on Nov. 13. In Chippenham, U.K., a rare copy of the Sex Pistols' single "God Save the Queen" fetched £13K. One of the rarest and most sought after records in the world, it was expected to fetch between £12,000-£15,000. - AP/NME, 11/4/19.
The entertainment site Deadline.com reported on Oct. 31 that Paramount Pictures, a new producer and financier company named Sister, Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King, and Steven Spielberg's production company Amblin are teaming up to develop a biopic on the eight-time Grammy winning pop group the Bee Gees. Paramount purchased the life rights to the Gibbs family estate, which includes deceased Bee Gees members Maurice and Robin Gibb and sole surviving member Barry Gibb, with the help of King, which ensures original Bee Gees music will be featured in the biopic. A Bee Gees project would mark a return to the rock biopic world for both Paramount and King, with the studio still enjoying critical acclaim and modest financial success from its Elton John biopic Rocketman, which has the possibility of Academy Award success similar to Bohemian Rhapsody's 5 Oscar nods and 4 wins, including Best Actor for Rami Malek and Freddie Mercury. The Bee Gees film has not been written yet, and no roles have been assigned. The Gibb brothers formed their pop trio in their native Australia in 1958, rising to popularity in the late '60s to early '70s with the rise of the disco era and selling over 220 million records worldwide. The were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. - Deadline.com/Billboard/Hollywood Reporter, 10/31/19...... Michael Jackson has once again been named the highest earning dead celebrity after the late King of Pop topped the latest list for 2019 compiled by Forbes magazine. The news comes after the estate of Jackson, who died in 2009 aged 50 following an overdose of the anaesthetic propofol, earned over £46 million in the last 12 months, with his streaming numbers "surging" according to Forbes despite the controversy that followed the release of the controversial MJ documentary Leaving Neverland earlier in 2019. "With proceeds flowing from his Mijac Music catalogue, a Las Vegas show and a long-term deal with Sony, he retains his post mortem cash crown for the seventh consecutive year," Forbes reports. Coming in right behind Jackson on the list was Elvis Presley, whose estate made over £30 million in the past year. - New Musical Express, 11/1/19...... The three-year stretch when Bob Dylan laid low after his 1966 world tour which, although considered his creative peak, saw him living behind dark glasses and flying on amphetamines while in the throes of drug abuse and paranoia is captured on Dylan's latest Columbia release, 
Electric Light Orchestra mastermind Jeff Lynne says he wasn't particularly focused on making an album to follow up 2015's Alone in the Universe under his Jeff Lynne's ELO banner, but inspiration for his just released JLE album 
In conjunction with the Nov. 22 release of the new Harry Nilsson box set 
The sexy outfit worn by Olivia Newton-John in one of the final scenes of her 1978 movie