Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on February 15th, 2021

Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett says his latest album Under a Mediterranean Sky is a "travelogue" and an "imaginary journey that recalls all the other actual journeys that I had made." "It's a travelogue, a musical diary perhaps, but it's also a dream til we're able to fully engage with the world again," the 70-year-old English musician recently told Prog magazine, adding Mediterranean locales he's often toured include Italy, France, Spain and Greece where he's travelled to more in recent years. "I haven't played there, but I've shot a video or two there. It's a hugely mystical place. Pompeii, which I've visited many times, was the inspiration for the track 'Casa Del Fauno'," Hackett says. - Music-News.com, 2/13/21...... As Todd Rundgren kicks off his "Clearly Human Virtual Tour" on Feb. 14, the pop star and studio wizard says he doesn't care as to whether his third time being nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be a charm. "It's no secret that I don't care about it," Rundgren told Billboard during a break from rehearsals in Chicago, where the tour concerts will be emanating from. "It doesn't matter how many times they nominate me. It's not gonna make me care." Rundgren says the RRHOF is an "industry invention" and that "true halls of fame are for retirees and dead people, because your legacy has been established... I'm too busy working to worry about my legacy -- and plan to continue working until whenever." Todd adds that he finds the makeup of the nominee list and inductee classes veering too far from what he considers appropriate. "I'm a big Dionne Warwick fan, but name me one Dionne Warwick rock 'n' roll song," he explains. "While I'm aware of Fela Kuti, I can't name a single musician who's ever cited him as a principal influence." His chief complaint, however, stems from how he feels his own fans were "duped" when he was first nominated during 2019. "They run this scam called the fan pool... but most fans don't realize that their votes count for absolutely nothing," Rundgren said. The top five nominees from the fan votes are turned into one additional ballot that's counted in addition to the 1,000-plus by artists and music industry professionals. "So the first time I got nominated all my fans, who all these years have been like, 'Geez, you've got to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!," they all stepped up and bumped me up to No. 3 in the fan pool -- by a pretty wide margin. And then when the actual inductees were 1, 2, 4, 5, 6... they essentially hosed my fans. So that made me angry, and I had to tell them that it was pointless casting votes, 'cause it really doesn't count for anything." Tickets for Rundgren's virtual concerts start at $35 via nocapshows.com. Meanwhile, the artist has also been releasing singles from his next album, Space Force -- a collaborative set similar to 2017's White Knight -- with the full set expected to be released some time later in 2021. - Billboard, 2/12/21...... Speaking of Dionne Warwick, a new TV series based on the pop songstress's life is reportedly in the works with rising singer Teyana Taylor in the title role. Warwick revealed to Entertainment Weekly magazine that the project is "in the works," adding that Taylor may also direct. "Teyana is certainly a talented young lady with whom I've had the pleasure of interfacing," said Warwick, who also noted that Taylor is "very excited about the prospect of being involved and she's also going to be very, very much involved in directing it and putting together parts and parcel of how we see this going." Warwick first teased the project via Twitter in December, asking fans if they'd "really watch" a series about her life, adding: "This is a case for @netflix. Please don't ask who I would cast to play me as it would obviously be @TEYANATAYLOR. - Music-News.com, 2/11/21...... Alice Cooper has joined the list of rock stars who have rolled up their sleeves for the Covid-19 vaccine. The Coop visited the Abrazo West Campus hospital in Goodyear, Ariz., a suburb of his hometown of Phoenix, on Feb. 11 for his vaccination, after being admitted to the hospital several weeks ago with a case of Covid. In a video message, Alice admitted he and his wife Sheryl have recovered from the novel coronavirus, but they're now covered against another bout. "We're out here getting vaccinated," he says. "We've already had COVID but we got vaccinated anyways... if you haven't been vaccinated come on out." During his visit to the hospital, Cooper signed autographs and thanked the volunteers and hospital staff for their good work, AZ Central reports. Meanwhile, in an interview with Britain's The Independent Cooper says the shock rock schtick that propelled him to fame wouldn't work today because modern audiences are "shockproof." "You could cut off your arm and eat it on stage and it wouldn't matter... The audience is shockproof," Alice says of how his act would go down in 2021. Alice will release his latest album, Detroit Stories, on Feb. 26. It's the follow-up to his 2017 LP Paranormal and features a cover of Velvet Underground's "Rock n' Roll" and the recently-released "Social Debris." - Billboard/NME, 2/11/21...... In related news, Ozzy Osbourne has followed up on his intent to receive a coronavirus vaccine, admitting it was a "relief" to get the jab. Appearing on the UK's Loose Women show with wife Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy replied "of course" when asked if he had finally received the jab. "It was like being stabbed. No, my arm was a bit sore yesterday but I'm glad I got it, you know," Osbourne said. Asked if he was relieved to receive the vaccine, he replied: "Absolutely. As soon as I got it I felt relieved." The rock icon, who confirmed his Parkinson's diagnosis in 2020, previously said he feared he would die if he was to contract the virus before he received the vaccination. He had previously explained how he suffers from the lung condition emphysema -- which puts him at a heightened risk of death if he was to develop Covid-19. Meanwhile, Ozzy recently shared the animated video for "It's A Raid," his collaboration with Post Malone. The track originally featured on Osbourne's 2020 album Ordinary Man, which also included the two artists' 2019 collaboration with Travis Scott, "Take What You Want." - New Musical Express, 2/12/21...... Further details of the November arrest of Bruce Springsteen for driving while intoxicated were released on Feb. 11. Instead of the one shot of tequila the rock icon was alleged to have taken from a fan while posing for pictures in New Jersey's sprawling Gateway National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook, during his arrest The Boss told an officer he had taken two shots in a 20-minute period before getting on his motorcycle, but refused to take a breath test. The officer also wrote that the rocker "smelt strongly of alcohol" and had "glassy eyes" and that there was a bottle of Patron brand tequila that was "completely empty" at the scene. The report described the 71-year-old as "visibly swaying back and forth" during a field sobriety test and said he declined to provide a sample on an initial in-field breath test. Additionally, the report said Springsteen "took 45 total steps during the walk and turn instead of the instructed 18," and caused the officer to deliver a statement of probable cause. Although Springsteen reportedly blew a .02 on the breathalyzer test, which is one-quarter of New Jersey's .08 legal limit for driving while intoxicated, one local legal expert says that unlike other states -- unless there was an injury or fatality -- a DWI is typically a motor vehicle offense, not a crime in Jersey. That quirk results in the driver being taken into custody, but no official arrest record because no fingerprints are taken. Springsteen was cited for DWI, reckless driving and consuming alcohol in a closed area, and will appear in court sometime in the coming weeks. A DWI in a national park is a misdemeanor federal offense, carrying a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a fines up to $5,000. Probation can also be up to five years, according to Freeburg Law. It's not immediately clear why Springsteen's first known arrest for DWI took almost three months to come to light. In the aftermath of his arrest Jeep has pulled its "The Middle ft Bruce Springsteen" Super Bowl ad from YouTube which was viewed during the game by some 96.4 million viewers. "It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate," a spokesperson for Jeep told Rolling Stone. The commercial has also been pulled from Jeep's Twitter account. - Billboard/NME, 2/12/21...... The Who announced on Twitter on Feb. 15 that they have decided to cancel their UK and Ireland tour which had been set to launch on March 5 in Dublin due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. In a statement, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend said: "We are very sorry that we have to cancel our planned March 2021 UK and Ireland shows. Please excuse the delay but we wanted to wait as long as possible to see if we could indeed play them. However, as you can see the current situation makes this impossible. Thanks for all your wonderful support and we hope to see you in the future when conditions allow." The band has already postponed the original tour from last March to March 2021 when the pandemic originally caused hundreds of acts to cancel their shows. Customers can contact their point of purchase for refunds to The Who's UK and Ireland tour, which currently has no rescheduled dates. Also being cancelled due to the pandemic are The Who's 2021 Teenage Cancer Trust gigs. Two Teenage Cancer Trust performances, also featuring headliners Nile Rodgers & Chic, were rescheduled for March 2021 after the pandemic forced the charity to previously cancel their annual week of charity performances at London's Royal Albert Hall in 2020. "We're sad to announce that due to the ongoing coronavirus situation the Teenage Cancer Trust gigs at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2021 are not able to go ahead," a statement on Twitter from a Teenage Cancer Trust exec says. "Both The Who and Nile Rodgers & CHIC kindly rescheduled their 2020 performances for 2021, but regrettably these are now cancelled. Your ticket provider will be in touch directly regarding the refund process soon," the statement added. - NME, 2/15/21...... Legendary songwriter Diane Warren has told Rolling Stone that she originally intended her song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" to be sung by a woman for the 1998 natural disaster film Armageddon, but changed her mind when she heard Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler in the studio. "I was shown the end of the movie. So I went back and wrote the song... and never in a million years thought Aerosmith would do it," she said. "I kind of thought a female vocalist would end up doing it, but it's so much more powerful with Steven Tyler -- him being that vulnerable in the song really worked." Warren adds she remembers hearing Aerosmith's version for the first time and was "knocked off my chair with how great that was." "That should have won Record of the Year (at the Grammys). That was a great record," she said of the song, which is the band's sole US No. 1 record to date. Meanwhile, Aerosmith is prepping a UK and European tour for summer 2021. - NME, 2/15/21...... Fleetwood Mac have announced details of a new deluxe edition of their classic 1980 live album Fleetwood Mac Live, which is comprised of live recordings that were largely made during a number of the band's live shows between 1979 and 1980. Rhino Records will re-release Fleetwood Mac Live in a 14-track "super deluxe" format on Apr. 9. The album is set to be presented in a new 3xCD/2xLP collection, featuring a remastered version of the original release on both 180-gram vinyl and CD and more than an hour of unreleased Fleetwood Mac live music on the third CD that was recorded between 1977 and 1982. The set also includes a bonus 7-inch single which features previously unreleased demos for "Fireflies" and "One More Night." To accompany the announcement, the band has shared a previously unreleased live recording of "The Chain" that was recorded in Cleveland in 1980 on YouTube. - NME, 2/11/21...... In an interview on Howard Stern SiriusXM radio show on Feb. 12, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl revealed that he turned down the chance to become Tom Petty's drummer because it would have been too "sad" to sit behind the kit so soon after his late Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain's death. Recalling his performance with Petty and his band The Heartbreakers on an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1994 -- just months after Cobain died -- Grohl said: "We had so much fun and we all got along so well" and said he was confused as to why he'd been asked to join Petty's ground as as Petty "could get a world-class drummer -- like any dude." However, Grohl explained that he had just started out with Foo Fighters at that time, "and I just felt weird about going right back to the drums, because it would have just reminded me of being in Nirvana." He added: "It would have been sad, for me personally. It would have been an emotional thing to be behind the drumset every night and not have Kurt there." - NME, 2/14/21...... Neil Young announced on Feb. 12 that he plans on releasing a "lost" live album and its accompanying concert film Young Shakespeare on Mar. 26. The gig took place at the Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Conn. on Jan. 22, 1971, with Young's setlist containing early versions of songs that would go on to appear on his acclaimed 1972 album Harvest. The footage, the earliest known to exist of Young performing onstage solo, was originally filmed for a German television broadcast but was never made publicly available. Both the film and audio have been painstakingly restored by Young's team. "'Young Shakespeare' is a very special event [...] Personal and emotional, for me, it defines that time," Young said of the new release, which was recorded just days after his performance at Massey Hall in Toronto, also released as a live album in 2007. On Feb. 26, Young will release another live album and film, Way Down in the Rust Bucket, with his band Crazy Horse. - NME, 2/12/21...... Appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show, former Commodores member and '80s solo star Lionel Richie recalled the time he was a "nervous wreck" when writing charity hit "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson because the King of Pop had misplaced his pet python somewhere in his bedroom. "We're writing the lyrics, and all of a sudden the albums fall over, 'cause he put his albums against the wall, and I'm lying on the floor and I hear this little sound," Richie recalled. "I look over my shoulder, and there's this albino python head looking at me... I was screaming like the last horror movie that you've ever seen in your whole life (sic)! And (Michael) kept saying, 'Lionel, he loves you, he just wants to say he loves you!'," he added. "So, to make a long story short, right after that, we put the snake away, I'm a nervous wreck, and we write the lyrics to 'We Are the World'," he smiled, adding: "writing the song was just glorious, but that (snake scare) was the thing that was happening while we were writing the song." - Music-News.com, 2/11/21...... Chick Corea, a legendary Grammy-winning jazz fusion musician who played in Miles Davis' band, passed away on Feb. 9 after suffering from "a rare form of cancer which was only discovered very recently." He was 79. Born in Massachusetts in 1941, Corea joined Davis' band in the late 1960s and contributed to a number of his albums, including A Tribute To Jack Johnson, On The Corner, In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew. Corea left Davis' group in 1970 to form his own band. He won 23 Grammy awards over the course of his career, receiving a total of 67 nominations from the Recording Academy. "Throughout his life and career, Chick relished in the freedom and the fun to be had in creating something new, and in playing the games that artists do," a post on Corea's offical Facebook page said. "He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather, and a great mentor and friend to so many. Through his body of work and the decades he spent touring the world, he touched and inspired the lives of millions." - NME, 2/11/21...... Elliot Mazer, a producer and engineer who worked on albums including Neil Young's 1972 classic Harvest, died after suffering a heart attack on Feb. 10. He was 79. Mazer began his career after being hired by his neighbor Bob Weinstock, owner of the jazz label Prestige Records, to organize tapes and deliver records to radio stations. After producing Harvest, for which he also assembled the band of session players, Mazer went on to work with Young on a number of subsequent records including Tonight's The Night, American Stars And Bars, Hawks And Doves, and the "lost" album Homegrown which was recorded in 1975 but released in 2020. Mazer's daughter, Allison, said her father had also been battling dementia for several years. Mazer's sister, Bonnie Murray, said that Elliot "loved music... He loved what he did; he was a perfectionist. Everybody has so much respect for him, and he's been suffering for a couple years." Mazer's family have asked that donations in his memory be made to MusicCares, a charity run by The Grammys in aid of artists affected by the pandemic. - NME, 2/10/21...... Legendary audio equipment inventor Rupert Neve, whose mixing consoles and preamplifiers shaped the sound of recorded music in the 20th century, has died at age 94. Mr. Neve's mixing boards defined the sound of classic rock in the 1970s, and his Neve 8028 console was used on recordings by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, the Grateful Dead, Santana, Tom Petty and many more. His Neve 1073 preamplifier is arguably the most influential of his inventions. Used to shape the gain and sound of microphones during the recording, it is regarded by many audio engineers as one of the best preamps of all time. His death was confirmed in a statement posted to his official website, with the cause of death being "non-Covid pneumonia and heart failure." "He remained in great spirits to the end, enjoying his life in Wimberley, Texas, where he and his wife Evelyn have lived for 27 years," the statement noted. - NME, 2/14/21...... Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, the self-described "smut peddler" who used his pornography empire and flair for the outrageous to push the limits of free speech and good taste, died on Feb. 10. He was 78. Flynt, suffering from a variety of health problems since a 1978 assassination attempt that left him a paraplegic, died "from the recent onset of a sudden illness," according to Minda Gowen, spokeswoman for Larry Flynt Publications, which runs the adult entertainment business he founded. Celebrated by some as a free-speech provocateur and reviled by others as a profiteer of sexual exploitation and misogyny, Flynt was renowned for taunting critics with such outlandish stunts as appearing in court wearing a diaper made from an American flag. In the most famous of numerous legal battles in which he was embroiled, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a landmark ruling in favor of Flynt in a libel lawsuit brought against him by evangelist Jerry Falwell. Flynt had published a fake ad in Hustler which depicted Falwell saying his first sexual encounter had been with his mother in an outhouse. Falwell sued for $50 million and won a lower-court ruling, but in 1988 the Supreme Court held that the ad was a parody and protected by the First Amendment. In his heyday, Flynt lived a lifestyle that could have made Caligula blush. He wrote in his autobiography that his first sexual experience was with a chicken and told of having sex every four or five hours during a workday. Flynt was convicted in 1977 in Cincinnati on obscenity and organized crime charges, but the verdict was overturned. After he was paralyzed from the waist down in 1978 after being shot by a white supremacist named Joseph Paul Franklin who upset by Hustler's photographs of interracial sex, Flynt had penile implant surgery so he could continue to have sex. Flynt created a business with an estimated turnover of $150 million at one point. As Hustler's circulation slipped, he stayed ahead of trends by investing in adult-oriented television channels, a casino, film distribution and merchandise. Flynt said he never objected to being labeled a smut peddler as long as he was considered a First Amendment crusader, too. "Just because I publish pornography does not mean that I am not concerned about the social ills that all of us are," he once told an interviewer. Flynt's life was the basis of the 1996 movie The People vs. Larry Flynt, starring Woody Harrelson and focused in part on Flynt's Supreme Court case. In 1977, he converted to evangelical Christianity at the urging of Ruth Carter Stapleton, sister of then-President Jimmy Carter, but renounced those beliefs the following year after the Georgia shooting. Flynt's 1996 autobiography was titled An Unseemly Man: My Life as a Pornographer, Pundit and Social Outcast. Flynt, who died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, with his wife, Liz, and daughter, Theresa, at his bedside, was married five times and had four surviving children. - Reuters, 2/11/21.

Universal announced on Feb. 10 that a new Tina Turner documentary, Tina, will debut in March in the U.S. exclusively on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max, and the studio plans a theatrical release in multiple territories in early summer before it hits home entertainment platforms. First announced at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Tina comes from Oscar-winning directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin (Undefeated, LA 92), Oscar-winning producer Simon Chinn (Man on Wire, Searching for Sugar Man, Whitney), and Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn (LA 92, Whitney), together with Emmy-nominated producer Diane Becker (The Final Year, Belushi). Billed as a revealing and intimate look at the life and career of a music icon from her improbable rise to early fame, personal and professional struggles throughout her life and her even more improbable resurgence as a global phenomenon in the 1980s, Tina will feature interviews with Turner herself, conducted in her hometown of Zurich, Switzerland, and with those closest to her, along with never-before-seen footage, audio tapes and personal photos. - The Hollywood Reporter, 2/10/21...... The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its ballot for its class of 2021 inductions into the Cleveland-based hall and museum, with one of its most gender-inclusive ballots in its 35-year history. Seventies artists Tina Turner, Carole King, Dionne Warwick and Chaka Khan are among the seven female acts of 16 total nominations, which also include Todd Rundgren, Devo, New York Dolls, Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Foo Fighters, The Go-Go's, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J and Rage Against The Machine. King's '70s era-defining songwriting already earned her Rock Hall entry in the non-performer category, and Turner was previously inducted as part of the duo Ike & Tina Turner. Chaka Khan sees her seventh nomination to the Rock Hall in some form (this is her third solo nom; she was also nominated as part of Rufus & Chaka Khan four times). Fans can cast their votes at RockHall.com which contribute to the induction process, but don't guarantee entry. In 2020, the Rock Hall inducted Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, the Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, T. Rex and the Doobie Brothers into its ranks during a virtual ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic. - Billboard, 2/10/21...... In a new interview with SiriusXM radio, Ozzy Osbourne says he's planning on getting the Covid-19 vaccine because "If I don't get the shot, there's a good chance I ain't going to be here." Osbourne, who has battled his fair share of health issues in recent years, didn't elaborate further but has previously explained how he suffers from the lung condition emphysema -- which puts him at a heightened risk of death if he was to develop Covid-19. Asked how his health is more generally at the moment, the heavy metal icon responded: "The surgery I had knocked the crap out of me. But I broke my neck in a quad bike accident [in 2003] and when that healed it squeezed my spinal column, so I was getting all kinds of weird things happening to me. I'd be on stage and I'd suddenly get a sharp shock down one side of my body." Ozzy also said he's hard at work on the follow-up to his 2020 album Ordinary Man, with contributions from the likes of members of Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica. In October, Osbourne announced details of the newly rescheduled UK and European live dates of his "No More Tours 2" tour, which has already been postponed a number of times due to his ill health and, more recently, the pandemic. - New Musical Express, 2/10/21...... A virtual tribute to late New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, who died on Jan. 13 following a battle with cancer, will be held on Valentine's Day with headliners including his former band mate David Johansen, Blondie's Debbie Harry, Henry Rollins and more. The "Celebration of the Musical Life" of Sylvain will kick off from 7:00 pm EST on Feb. 14, with tickets available from RollingLiveStudios.com and TheBoweryElectric.com. Also announced for the online-stream are Earl Slick, Mara Hennessey, Thurston Moore and Glen Matlock, among many more. - Billboard, 2/10/21...... Former Crosby, Stills and Nash member David Crosby has found himself in the midst of another controversy after he called rising singer Phoebe Bridgers' guitar-smashing performance on the Feb. 6 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live "pathetic." It all started when someone asked the outspoken 79-year-old rock icon what he thought of the thrashing Bridgers gave her Danelectro Dano '56 guitar after her primal scream performance of "I Know the End" on the show, which included her repeatedly smashing the instrument onto a spark-throwing stage monitor. "Pathetic," tweeted Crosby, who recently caused another online row after referring to late Eddie Van Halen's music as not for him, but "good." After a swell of commenters noted that plenty of Crosby's fellow 1960s-70s male contemporaries such as The Who's Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix -- not to mention Nirvana's Kurt Cobain -- made a habit of busting up, burning and otherwise trashing guitars on stage, Cros responded on his Twitter account, "Guitars are for playing... making music... not stupidly bashing them on a fake monitor for childish stage drama... I really do NOT give a flying F if others have done it before. It's still... STUPID." Crosby still wasn't through, posting other Tweets that included, "I am told that wasn't a very good night for her and she's really quite good ...I could not see it or hear it then ...the skeleton costumes were kind of distracting as well ....the guitar thing was old , wrong , copy cat, looks angry , destructive , wasteful , pointless." Bridgers, who later revealed that the destruction was totally premeditated stagecraft, took the criticism in stride, tagging Crosby and writing simply, "little b--ch." - Billboard, 2/9/21...... Bruce Springsteen appeared in his first ever product commercial during the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 for Jeep vehicles. According to his manager Jon Landau, Springsteen agreed to become the subject of a TV ad after being chased by Jeep's head of marketing Olivier Francois for a decade. The commercial, named "The Middle," is soundtracked by an ambient score created by Springsteen and his producer Rob Aniello, and tackles the theme of a need for unity, similar to that which Pres. Joe Biden preached in his inauguration speech when becoming US president in January. "Fear has never been the best of who we are," Springsteen says in the ad, which is created at a Kansas chapel that, in a symbolic move, claims to be in the very center of the United States. "When [Francois] showed us the outline for 'The Middle', our immediate reaction was, 'Let's do it'," Landau said, adding "the excellent original script was by Mike Stelmaszek and substantially revised by Bruce." Meanwhile, celebrity gossip site TMZ.com is reporting that Springsteen was cited for a DUI, reckless driving and consuming alcohol in a closed area in November 2020. The Boss was reportedly arrested at the Gateway National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook, N.J., and will have a court appearance in the coming weeks. "Springsteen was cooperative throughout the process," a National Park Service spokesperson told People magazine. - NME/WENN/Canoe.com, 2/7/21...... Keith Richards teased new Rolling Stones material with his latest Stones-in-the-studio update on Twitter on Feb. 5. Richards revealed that he is back working in the studio with a picture on Twitter of him playing his guitar. "About last night!" he captioned the in-the-studio pic. "New music on the horizon!" The Rolling Stones then retweeted the post on their official Twitter account, fuelling speculation that Richards is currently working on new music for the band. The Stones released a standalone single in the form of "Living In A Ghost Town" in 2020, and frontman Mick Jagger said in September that the band wanted to record more but would only do so "in safe circumstances." - NME, 2/9/21...... Queen + Adam Lambert have rescheduled their forthcoming UK tour yet again and added new dates. Queen had been scheduled to kick off a huge UK and European tour in summer 2020, but the trek was rescheduled to May-July 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The dates have now been rescheduled to 2022 kicking off with two shows at the AO Arena Manchester on May 30 and 31. They have also added two extra UK shows at The SSE Hydro, Glasgow on June 2 and 3. "Under continuing Europe-wide Covid restrictions there's no possible way the tour can go ahead as planned for this year," the band said in a statement on Feb. 10. "The prospect of again not being able to look forward to performingand getting to experience those wonderful audiences is just heartbreaking," they added. All previously purchased tickets continue to be valid for the corresponding rescheduled shows. The band's new 16-date tour will commence May 30, 2022 with the first of two nights in Manchester, then play Glasgow on June 2 and 3, London's O2 on June 5, 6, 8 and 9, Birmingham on June 11 and 12, then return to London's O2 for dates on June 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20 and 21. In other Queen news, guitarist Brian May says the band is considering releasing a recording of one of their first gigs at Imperial College London after he recently heard a recording he didn't know existed. "We're debating what to do with it. A few years ago we'd have felt very protective and thought, 'Nobody should hear this because we're very rough'," May said, adding "But now, in the position that we are in our lives, we feel forgiving. We're not ashamed of where we were at that time. It was us against the world." May noted he is reluctant to release the recording because he feels protective over late frontman Freddie Mercury and the fact the singer's voice wasn't as powerful as it was in his prime. "But strangely, if he were alive and sitting here at this moment, he'd probably be the same as me, 'Oh darling, we were kids'," May explained. - NME/Music-News.com, 2/10/21...... Elton John and veteran actor Michael Caine have teamed up to star in a new UK commercial for the government's NHS to help persuade people to get their Covid-19 vaccination. In the 90-second clip which can be viewed on YouTube, 73-year-old John and 87-year-old Caine reassure the public that the vaccines are perfectly safe, while also providing a comic edge. John is seen pretending to audition for a part to promote the vaccination, and acts out having a jab before he eventually sings his seminal 1983 hit "I'm Still Standing." But after several takes, an unimpressed casting director tells him: "Thanks, Elton, we will let you know." Elton replies: "Well at this short notice you won't find anyone bigger." The video then shows Caine having the vaccine, telling fans that it "didn't hurt." Elton then says: "I wanted to take part in this film to help show people the benefits of getting vaccinated and how it helps protect ourselves and the people we love. The more people in society who get vaccinated, the more chance there is of eradicating the national Covid pandemic. It's really important to know that the vaccines have all been thorough and met the necessary safety and quality standards." Meanwhile, Elton recently called for the government to implement a "short-term fix" as the post-Brexit touring debacle continues. In an opinion piece for The Guardian, John spoke of his own experiences playing shows on the continent when he was starting out. "Getting your music across to crowds from a different culture to your own, who don't necessarily speak the same language as you, just makes you a better musician.... You have to have that visual contact with other human beings," then went on to call the current situation "ridiculous." - NME, 2/10/21...... In a new interview with BBC Radio 2, Fleetwood Mac keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie said that she doesn't expect the band will tour with Stevie Nicks again in the near future. "If we do, it will be without John [McVie] and without Stevie, I think," McVie said. "I think I'm getting a bit too old for it now, especially having had a year off. I don't know if I can get myself back into it again. I know Mick [Fleetwood] would do it in a lightning strike," the 77-year-old musician added. "But I couldn't possibly say. We're certainly not touring this year either." Christine also said that John McVie is feeling "frail" after he battled cancer. "He's fine, but he just hasn't got the heart for it any more," she said. The group last toured from 2018-2019 with their "An Evening with Fleetwood Mac" shows with a lineup that included new members Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. - NME, 2/9/21...... Assembly, a new greatest hits album by late The Clash member Joe Strummer, will be released in March, featuring three previously unreleased versions of classic Clash tracks. Made up of carefully curated singles, fan favorites and rarities, Assembly will drop Mar. 26 via George Harrison's Dark Horse Records, which is now run by Harrison's son Dhani Harrison and manager David Zonshine. The 15-track best of collection will contain live performances of "Rudie Can't Fail" and "'I Fought The Law," which were recorded by Strummer and his later backing band the Mescaleros at London's Brixton Academy on Nov. 24, 2001, among other tracks including three unreleased versions of classic Clash tracks. - NME, 2/5/21...... The new cable TV channel Paramount+ has announced it will stream a new series based on a new and different character made famous by David Bowie's film The Man Who Fell To Earth. The original cult 1976 sci-fi film, directed by Nicholas Roeg, follows an alien (David Bowie) called Thomas Jerome Newton who poses as a human on Earth and tries to save his home planet -- and is itself based on a 1963 novel by Walter Tevis. The new series will star Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) in the lead extraterrestrial role, a new and different character from that made famous by Bowie. - NME, 2/8/21...... Actor Christopher Plummer, the sophisticated star who in 2012 became the oldest actor to ever win a competitive Oscar, died on the morning of Feb. 5 at his home in Connecticut. He was 91. An imposing theatrical presence with a well-cultivated, resonant voice, Mr. Plummer was best known for playing Captain von Trapp in the Oscar-winning musical The Sound of Music. He also won an Oscar in 2012 for his supporting turn in the film Beginners, becoming the oldest actor ever to win the Academy Award for supporting actor. Mr. Plummer had a long and acclaimed career on stage, with two Tony Awards. In films, he was also known for The Insider, 12 Monkeys, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and A Beautiful Mind, and he contributed voices for the animated films Up and An American Tale and the Madeline TV series. The Toronto-born and Montreal-raised Mr. Plummer won his first Tony Award in 1974 for the musical "Cyrano" and a second in 1996 for "Barrymore," based on the life of actor John Barrymore. In his later years, he scored in character and supporting roles, including his well-regarded portrayal of 60 Minutes newsman Mike Wallace in Michael Mann's film The Insider and as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in HBO telepic Winchell, directed by Paul Mazursky. He picked up an Emmy for miniseries The Moneychangers and another for his narration of the children's special Madeline. Mr. Plummer most recently appeared in Rian Johnson's 2019 whodunit Knives Out and Peacock's Canadian import series Departure. He was married three times, the first to actress Tammy Grimes, the second to journalist Patricia Audrey Lewis. - Variety, 2/5/21...... Mary Wilson, a co-founder of the iconic '60s Motown girl group The Supremes, died suddenly at her home in Henderson, Nev., on Feb. 8. She was 76. Her death was confirmed by her longtime publicist Jay Schwartz, who did not elaborate on a cause. Wilson was among the original members of The Supremes alongside Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Barbara Martin when they assumed the Supremes name in 1961 after forming in Detroit as The Primettes in 1959. After signing with Motown Records on Jan. 21, 1961, The Supremes went on to become one of the biggest-selling groups of all time, releasing such hit songs as "You Can t Hurry Love," "Baby Love" and "Come See About Me." Wilson remained with the group, who became a trio following Martin's departure in 1962, until their split in 1977. In a statement, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. said that he was "extremely shocked and saddened to hear of Wilson's death." In a post on its official Twitter account, Motown Records honored "a female trailblazer and forever Sweetheart of Motown, who brought many timeless records for generations to come - Thank You. Your art and your legacy will forever live on in the Motown story. From our Motown family, rest in paradise." Wilson had uploaded a video to YouTube on Feb. 6 in which she spoke about releasing new solo material, including the unreleased album Red Hot which she recorded with Elton John's producer Gus Dudgeon in the 1970s. The singer released two solo albums during her career, her self-titled 1979 debut and 1992's Walk The Line. Her final single, "Time to Move On," was released in 2015, and her 1986 autobiography, Dreamgirl: My Life As a Supreme, became a New York Times best-seller. "I just woke up to the news, my condolences to you, Mary's family," Diana Ross wrote on her Twitter account after learning of Wilson's passing. "I have so many wonderful memories of our time together. 'The Supremes' will live on in our hearts." - NME, 2/9/21...... Former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks Jr. died on the evening of Feb. 5 after battling prostate and other cancers. He was 67. Spinks won gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. But he rose in prominence when he beat Muhammed Ali for the heavyweight title in 1978. Spinks had only seven professional fights under his belt when he got into the ring with Ali. His wife, Brenda Glur Spinks, and a few close friends and other family members were reportedly by his side when he passed away. - NY Daily News, 2/6/21.