A 69 cent price discount promotion on iTunes has sparked a surge of downloads of several Classic Rock hits including "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac and "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams. The promotion caused sizable gains in many of iTunes' featured songs listed on its front page a category dubbed "69 Cent Rock Hits." In all, 12 titles from the 1970s-2000s reached Billboard's sales-, airplay- and streaming-based Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart aided by the week's pricing. - Billboard, 4/8/21...... 
Roger Waters, Brian Eno and Tom Morello were among the artists performing a special livestream fundraiser on Apr. 10 for musicians in the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Proceeds from the "Live for Gaza" gig will go to the Delia Arts Center, a Gaza-based organization that helps local musicians with training, equipment and community. Waters performed his 1992 track "The Bravery of Being Out of Range," while Eno has created a special audiovisual piece specifically for the concert. The piece, titled "Celeste," was created with his brother Roger. "For decades now, in my bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and in my solo work and as a radio broadcaster, I've been promoting freedom and justice through music," Tom Morello said in a statement. "A way to connect people across the globe, a way to have a shared, common experience of enjoying music and playing music together like we're gonna do," he added. Meanwhile, Roger Waters has revealed his rescheduled dates for his "This Is Not a Drill" summer 2022 tour, which was originally set to launch in July 2020 but postponed due to the global pandemic. Waters will launch the 36-date trek on July 6, 2022, in Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena. The 36-date/31-city show will tour throughout North America, hitting major markets such as Toronto (7-8, 9), Chicago (7-26), Atlanta (8-20), Nashville (8-27), Denver (9-6) and Los Angeles (9-27, 28). Dates are currently scheduled to close out on Oct. 8, 2022, at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Waters said in a Twitter post that the show will be a "stunning indictment of the corporate dystopia in which we all struggle to survive" and include "a dozen great songs from PINK FLOYD'S GOLDEN ERA alongside several new ones" which could be his "last hurrah." Tickets purchased in 2020 will be valid for 2022 shows. - Billboard/NME, 4/8/21...... Dylan Revisited, a 14-track CD of cover versions of Bob Dylan choicest cuts, will be included in the June issue of the UK's Uncut magazine to help celebrate the rock bard turning 80 on May 24. Flaming Lips, Cowboy Junkies, Low, Weyes Blood and Richard Thompson are among the names contributing to the release, which also features a previously unreleased track from Dylan himself. Dylan Revisited and the June issue of Uncut will drop on Apr. 15. Dylan's birthday will also be celebrated in May with a special tribute concert in New York City led by Patti Smith. - Billboard, 4/9/21...... 
In a new interview with Guitar Player magazine, Queen guitarist Brian May revealed that Queen have been in the studio working on new music -- although so far nothing good has come out of the sessions. May says he, Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert have actually tried to lay a few things down but that so far it hasn't gone quite according to plan. When asked if the band had any plans to release new music, May responded: "I always say, 'I don't know.' It would have to be a very spontaneous moment. Actually, Adam, Roger and myself have been in the studio trying things out, just because things came up. But up to this point we haven't felt that anything we've done has hit the button in the right way. So it's not like we're closed to the idea, it's just that it hasn't happened yet." May added that the cooronavirus pandemic has also made it a lot harder to think about making a record. "And to be honest, life has now taken a turn in which it's very difficult to explore an avenue like that," he said. "Things may change, but I don't think they're going to change very fast." - NME, 4/10/21...... The '70s L.A. pop-rock duo Sparks has revealed that they're working on new music in the studio in a new Instagram post. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael shared a picture from the studio with the caption "#newsparksalbum", an in an accompanying picture they can be seen inside the studio wearing masks whilst Russell can be seen holding up a sign that reads: "SHHH! SPARKS RECORDING!" Russell Mael said in 2020 about the duo's last album, A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, that "the only battle plan was to try to do something that would sounds as compelling and urgent and provocative as anything we've ever done, even to someone who had never heard Sparks before. We don't want people saying, 'Oh you should have heard the band during this period in the past'. We don't want to sound like a band that has 24 albums -- what we're doing doesn't sound like it's a band that has that long a history. That it stands on its own today is the most important thing." A new Sparks documentary from director Edgar Wright, The Sparks Brothers, will be released in North America on June 18 and in the UK on July 30. - NME, 4/10/21...... Motörhead have shared a live clip from their archive on YouTube which shows the group playing "Rock It" live in 2012 ahead of the release of a new Motörhead concert film. The clip is from their Dec. 5, 2012 concert at the Berlin Velodrom. Motörhead - Louder Than Noise... Live in Berlin, will be released on CD/DVD, vinyl and digital formats on Apr. 23. - NME, 4/10/21...... 
In conjunction with the announcement of a new box set collating four of her iconic albums from the late 1960s and early '70s, Joni Mitchell has shared a 2021 remastered version of one of her album Blue's most beloved tracks, "A Case of You," on YouTube. Joni Mitchell - The Reprise Albums, due on June 25, will include 1968's Song to a Seagull,1969's Clouds, 1970's Ladies of the Canyon, and 1971's Blue -- and all have received full remasters for the release, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the acclaimed Blue LP. Speaking in a statement of her work to remaster Song to a Seagull, Mitchell said: "The original mix was atrocious. It sounded like it was recorded under a jello bowl, so I fixed it!" The Reprise Albums is limited to 10,000 copies, and also comes in vinyl and digital versions. It will also include previously unseen self-portrait Mitchell drew during the time period and includes an essay by Grammy winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile. In 2020, Mitchel released Vol. 1 of her current archive series, The Early Years (1963-1967), which is composed of material before her 1968 debut Song to a Seagull. The second volume of that series will arrive later in 2021. - NME, 4/10/21...... Cher says she's prepared to reprise her role in the Mamma Mia! movie series after being encouraged by Mama Mia! stage and cinematic series producer Judy Cramer. According to Cramer, the 74-year-old music legend told her "No one wants to see us old people on the screen," to which Cramer responded she wanted Cher to star in Mamma Mia! 3 and that she would love to see Cher singing "Slipping Through My Fingers" with her on-screen daughter Donna Sheridan-Carmichael (Meryl Streep). Cramer says this prompted a change of heart from Cher, who told her "I'm there! When do we start shooting?" Cramer admits that the scene would have to be in the form of a flashback after Meryl's character was killed off in Mamma Mia! 2. "Oh well, you can do anything these days in a film," she told the UK's Daily Mail newspaper. Meanwhile, a clip of Cher's new Paramount+ documentary, Cher & the Loneliest Elephant, has been shared on YouTube. The film will debut on the streaming channel on Apr. 22. - Music-News.com, 4/9/21...... 
Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has been honored with a Freedom of the City award by the city of London. Wood confirmed the award in a handwritten note that he shared on his website on Apr. 7, in which he said that he was "humbled and honoured" to receive the award, before going on to reminisce about his London upbringing: "As a child, I saw the city from the canals and over the years I've seen it from many different perspectives. Despite my career in music and art taking me all over the world, I am never happier than when coming home to this great city where I was born. It is a lovely surprise to be recognised with this award and it has made me, Sally [Humphreys, his wife] and my twin girls Alice and Gracie very proud." The Rolling Stones offered their congrats to Wood on their official Twitter feed on Apr. 7. - NME, 4/7/21...... Tom Jones has announced he'll perform a one-off concert of his upcoming covers album Surrounded By Time at London's O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on July 27. Jones has re-imagined tracks by the likes of Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Michael Kiwanuka for the collection, which hits stores on Apr. 23. "Super excited to announce a very special intimate 'Surrounded By Time' album show @o2sbe...," Sir Tom tweeted ahead of the release. According to a press release, he was particularly moved by Todd Snider's "Talking Reality Television Blues," which he released as the lead single. Commenting on the song, he said: "I was there when TV started -- didn't know I'd become part of it -- but it could be that its power is to remind us how wonderful, crazy and inventive we are, but also how scary the reality it reflects can be." Tickets for the Surrounded by Time show will go on sale Apr. 16 at LiveNation.co.uk.- Music-News.com, 4/9/21...... Ozzy Osbourne was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on Apr. 6 during a ceremony broadcast on the streaming channel Peacock and the WWE Network channel. The event was filmed the previous week, with Osbourne appearing via a video message to accept the accolade. While the Prince of Darkness's induction had not been announced prior to the ceremony, he does feature on the WWE Hall Of Fame T-shirt for 2020/2021. Osbourne has made a number of cameos on WWE over the years, most notably at "WrestleMania 2" in 1986 when he appeared alongside Captain Lou Albano, an image of which can be viewed on his official Instagram page. He also performed during 2007's "Smackdown" before featuring as a guest host for Raw in 2009. - NME, 4/6/21...... Rod Stewart has gifted his wife Penny Lancaster with a new narroboat for her 50th birthday. Lancaster developed a love for the boats that float past the pair's country estate during coronavirus lockdown and started researching them, giving Rod the idea to treat the photographer to her own river barge for her special day. "In the first (Covid) lockdown, I enjoyed slowing down and having a more simple life," Penny told Loose Women. "Second lockdown was a little tougher and I thought I need to think of a hobby. There's a lovely river near us and there's narrowboats," Lancaster said of the waterway. "I thought, 'My dream would be to get an old narrowboat to do it up'. And that's what Rod got me," she shared. Stewart also helped organise a surprise Zoom party for Penny, inviting all her best friends. Lancaster is Stewart's third wife. The pair have been married since 2007. - Music-News.com, 4/9/21...... 
It was announced on Prince's official Twitter page on Apr. 8 that the late pop/funk legend's notorious "lost" album Welcome 2 America will finally be released on July 30 via Legacy Recordings. Recorded in 2010, the album which ruminates on race relations, political division and social justice, was due to be released the following year alongside Prince's US tour of the same name, which went ahead even without the album. In 2010, Prince said of the album that "the world is fraught with misin4mation. George Orwell's vision of the future is here. We need 2 remain steadfast in faith in the trying times ahead." Welcome 2 America's title track, first performed live in December 2010 during a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, has been shared on Spotify.com. The release of Welcome 2 America is set to be previewed on Apr. 11 in a segment on the top-rated CBS show 60 Minutes, chronicling its creation and the decade-long wait for its release. The deluxe box set version of the new album is set to feature the regular 12-track album on vinyl and CD, alongside a previously unreleased full-length concert film from Prince's show at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. on Apr. 28, 2011. - NME, 4/8/21...... Prince Philip, who was Queen Elizabeth II's husband for more than seven decades and helped to modernize the British monarchy and steer the Royal Family through repeated crises, died on Apr. 9. He was 99. The Duke of Edinburgh, as he was officially known, had been by his wife's side throughout her 69-year reign, the longest in British history. During that time he earned a reputation for a tough, no-nonsense attitude and a propensity for occasional gaffes. "It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the palace said in a statement. "His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss." Flags at Buckingham Palace and at government buildings across Britain were lowered to half-mast and members of the public laid flowers outside Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. A Greek prince, Philip married Elizabeth in 1947. He went on to play a key role helping the monarchy adapt to a changing world in the post-World War Two period, and behind the walls of Buckingham Palace was the one key figure the queen could trust and turn to, knowing he could tell her exactly what he thought. "He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years," Elizabeth, 94, said in a rare personal tribute to Philip in a speech marking their 50th wedding anniversary in 1997. "I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know." Buckingham Palace said modified funeral and ceremonial arrangements were being considered by the queen in light of Covid-19 restrictions in England which put a limit of 30 on the number of mourners. - Reuters, 4/9/21.
In an interview with the UK's The Guardian on Apr. 5, Michael Jackson's brother Marlon Jackson and other Jackson brothers revealed that the late king of pop would deploy a plethora of unusual disguises to avoid being recognized in public, even dressing as a homeless man sometimes. "Michael had painted himself into a box. And it was difficult for him," said Marlon, who noted superstardom made it "very difficult" for his brother to lead a public life. " It's mind-boggling. If Michael just stepped outside, in a couple of seconds people would stop doing what they are doing. That's why he started wearing disguises." Marlon recalled the time he spotted Michael in a record store, "dressed as a bum. "His clothes were dirty, he had bucked teeth, he had an afro, his shoes were dirty, his shirt was torn, but he's buying all these excellent records." However according to Marlon, Michael still wore the same loafers he wore on stage," something that "gave him away." The Jackson brothers also opened up about Jackson's death aged 50 in 2009 from cardiac arrest after a drug overdose. "Every time I go into Vegas on the bus I see Michael next to me," Jackie Jackson recalled. "His whole face is parked next to me on a billboard. I stop at a light and I say: 'What's going on, brother?'" - New Musical Express, 4/6/21...... 
Cher is apologizing for a tweet she made about Minneapolis native George Floyd on Apr. 2 in which she suggested she could have prevented his death. Cher posted a tweet about a conversation she'd had with her mother about the legal proceedings. "Was talking with Mom & She Said 'I Watched Trial Of Policeman Who Killed George Floyd, & Cried," she wrote in the now-deleted tweet. "I Said 'Mom, I Know This Is Gonna Sound CRAZY, But.. I Kept Thinking .....Maybe If I'd Been There,...I Could've Helped." Cher was immediately criticized by Twitter users for making Floyd's death about her and having a "white saviour complex." "If the fire fighter EMS who tried to intervene didn't succeed, you sure had no chance," one Twitter user said. "What a post!! Mindboggling. Do you think you have some kind of magical power? Police would not allow anyone to interfere in their business." Responding on her Twitter page on Apr. 3, Cher initially addressed the controversy around the tweet, but did not immediately apologize. "Wrestled With This Twt, Because I Thought some ppl wouldn't understand, Or Believe an Entertainer Could have Honest emotions about a human Being, suffering & Dying, even if It's Only Shown On tv," she wrote, adding "You Don't Know What I've Done,Who I Am,Or What I Believe. I CAN, I HAVE, & I WILL..HELP." Later, Cher tweeted again, apologizing for her earlier words. "I Just got off phone With Friend Karen," she posted. "Told her what Happened,& Realized,You Can Piss Ppl Off,& Hurt Them By Not Knowing Everything That's "NOT Appropriate" To Say.I know Ppl Apologize When They're In a Jam,BUT TO GOD,IM TRULY SORRY If I Upset AnyOne In Blk Community.I Know My [heart]." Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis last May when one officer pinned him to the ground by placing his knee on his neck for over nine minutes. Derek Chauvin, the former officer accused of killing Floyd, is currently on trial for his murder. Meanwhile, Cher's legion of fans can catch the diva in the new documentary Cher & the Loneliest Elephant, streaming on Paramount+ beginning Apr. 22. Cameras follow the do-gooding singer and actress to Pakistan as she helps free a malnourished captive pachyderm named Kaavan. - NME/TV Guide, 4/4/21...... According to the former tour manager of late Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott, Rod Stewart used mayonnaise to create his iconic spiky hairstyle. Stewart, 76, is known for his iconic barnet and according to former tour manage Elliot Saltzman, he shared its secret to Marriott prior to Marriott's death in 1991. In an interview with Britain's The Sun paper, Saltzman said Marriott's own hair "...was created by putting mayonnaise on his hair and rubbing a towel on his head really fast. And he said he got this from Rod Stewart." The oily condiment has long been used as a DIY hair mask as it's packed with nourishing properties. Rod has yet to confirm his apparent beauty secret. - WENN/Canoe.com, 4/5/21...... Speaking with Ralph Sutton and Big Jay Oakerson on their The SDR Show, Alice Cooper revealed that his first experience using drugs was alongside Jimi Hendrix. "Weed was the first drug, and it was [with] Jimi Hendrix," Cooper says in the interview which has been shared on YouTube. "I'm sitting there after the show. I went to see them. And we were just a little high school band. But they said, 'Hey, come on up to the hotel room.' And we were sitting on his bed, and Jimi goes, 'Here, man,' [and he passed me the joint]. And I went, 'Okay.' And then he goes and puts a quarter in the bed -- you know, the vibrating bed. There was, like, eight people sitting on the bed. And he goes, 'We're on a spaceship.' And I went, 'Okay.'" Cooper, who has been sober since 1983 when he was diagnosed with cirrhosis, also recalled his worst drug experience. "It was Detroit, and I think it was crystal THC," he said. "It was, like, four in the morning. I regained consciousness. And I thought it [was] a Jim Jones thing. And I got up. I remember it was about 20 degrees below outside. And I walked outside just in my shirt on, just to wake up. And when I came back in, everybody was just kind of coming up. It was weird; it was like a [Federico] Fellini thing. It was so strange that I really did believe that everybody was dead, and I was the only one that survived it." Cooper released his latest album, Detroit Stories, on Feb. 26. - NME, 4/4/21...... A new graphic novel featuring Elvis Presley covering his career from his Memphis roots to the triumphs and tribulations later in his career is set to be released later in 2021 by Z2 Comics. Written by Chris Miskiewicz and illustrated by Michael Shelfer, Elvis: The Graphic Novel can be pre-ordered on Z2 Comics' website or on Amazon.com. It will be released in August and be available in both softcover and hardcover editions. Z2 Comics has shared an excerpt from the novel on their Twitter page which focuses on King's adolescence, starting with a scene in a record store where he and a friend listen to the song "Rocket '88," written by Ike Turner and widely regarded as the first rock & roll song ever recorded. - NME, 4/4/21...... 
Speaking of Elvis, Tom Jones has said he picked up tips from both Elvis and Frank Sinatra early in his career, however they contradicted each other. "Elvis was always buying my records and he would pass comment on them. I did an album called 'From The Heart' that was all old standards and he said, 'Tom, we don't do that. You leave that to Frank Sinatra...'" Sir Tom continued in his interview with Music Week: "But then at the same time, I'd go to a bar and Frank Sinatra would be there and I'd have a drink with him and he'd go, 'Tom, you need to do more standards, f--- that rock and roll stuff... So I had Elvis Presley pulling on me to do more rock and roll tunes and Sinatra telling me to do 'Fly Me To The Moon'! As a singer it's not a bad position to be in, is it?" Jones also described Elvis, Sinatra and others including Sammy Davis Jr. as "real people." "All the people I've met, the bigger they are the nicer they are. Elvis Presley was one of the nicest fellas you could ever wish to meet... You'd meet these people like Jerry Lee Lewis, he was crazy but he was great. We had a night out together and became really great friends," Jones added. - Music-News.com, 4/5/21...... The Sex Pistols co-founding bassist Glen Matlock has said he thinks his former iconic punk band would've made more than one album if they had stayed together. Matlock, 64, who formed the Sex Pistols with Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones and Paul Cook -- left in 1977 and was replaced by Sid Vicious before the release of their one and only album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. Appearing on Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt's Rockonteurs podcast, Matlock said: "I think we would never have done 10 albums... It was never gonna happen, but we could have made another two or three albums I think." Opening up on his departure, Glen has discussed his issues with the band's manager Malcolm McLaren, and suggested he never realized the musicians were actually talented. "...I don't think Malcolm ever understood that we were any good," Matlock said. "He really thought we was rubbish and he thought he was the bloke who was selling London Bridge -- but we could play." - Music-News.com, 4/5/21...... Late AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young can be seem slamming the original AC/DC singer who was replaced by the late Bon Scott. In the interview which is included on The Coda Collection, Young spoke about the reaction to when their first singer left in the context of Scott joining the group. "Bon basically took charge... He was older and he'd been around in another band. He was the man of experience. We'd written one or two songs, and he encouraged us to write more...When he came in, we had the voice of experience. We kept our ears wide open. He pushed us a little further. The first singer [Dave Evans], people cheered when he left, so we could jam. He was so bad. Bon was in a week later. He had songs, ideas, motivation. He's serious. We were happy to be with someone like that. We were just happy to be playing. He had bigger plans." - NME, 4/1/21...... Iggy Pop is set to star in Canadian director Jeremy LaLonde's upcoming dark comedy film Blue Iguana. Pop, whose first band happened to be called The Iguanas (which led to his nickname "Iggy"), will star as Edward, the wealthy patriarch whose death kicks off a chain of unfortunate events for son Daniel whose plan to reconnect with his siblings hits a snag when he discovers they all want to kill him for his inheritance. Other names set to star in the film include Bob Saget, Joel David Moore, Jason Jones, Carly Chaikin and Mary Lynn Rajskub. The dark comedy is currently being shot in the Cayman Islands. "We are beyond ecstatic to have the legendary Iggy Pop join the cast of Blue Iguana," co-producer Productivity Media said in a statement. "While purely coincidental to his casting, his name is derived from the word iguana so it couldn't be more fitting that Iggy joins our already stellar cast. We can't wait to work with him in the beautiful Cayman Islands." - NME, 4/2/21...... 
Letters and memorabilia from the storied days the Beatles spent in Hamburg, Germany before rising to international fame in 1963 are set to go up for auction in London in May. The Fab Four played over 250 shows in Hamburg between Aug. 1960-Dec. 1962, with the heavy experience they gained gigging and some of the relationships they formed there helping to propel them to fame the following year. The new auction lot will include previously unseen letters, work permits, photos, drawings, poems and more. Some of the items were sent by the band to late photographer Astrid Kirchherr, who was engaged to former Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe after meeting them in Hamburg. The Beatles remained close to Kirchherr and wrote her after they returned to the UK. In one letter that is going up for auction, George Harrison invited her to visit him and Ringo Starr in their new flat and instructed her not to put his name on the envelope when she wrote back. In another, John Lennon told her: "I'm really sorry you are so sad and uncertain about yourself. You must know that Cyn [Lennon's first wife Cynthia], I and the other Beatles will always feel the same about you. You will always be Stuart's Astrid to us." In that letter, John also shared the news that Cynthia was pregnant with "this little John inside her" -- aka his first son Julian. The items will go under the hammer at Bonhams auction house in London on May 5. "The Beatles' time in Hamburg was absolutely crucial to them," Bonham's head of entertainment memorabilia Katherine Schofield told the UK paper The Guardian. "It's fair to say that they came to Germany as boys and left as men." Astrid Kirchherr died in May 2020, a few days before her 82nd birthday. She had taken the Beatles' first-ever known photograph when they were still a five-piece. She also was the person who first suggested the band cut their hair into their iconic mop-top style. - NME, 4/4/21...... In other Beatles-related news, a new video for John Lennon's 1970 song "Look at Me" from his LP John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band has been released ahead of a 50th anniversary Ultimate Collection edition of the album dropping on Apr. 23. Shared on YouTube by the John Lennon Estate, the black and white and colour video, shot on 8 mm film, features never-before-seen footage of Lennon and wife Yoko Ono Lennon from 1968, captured in their home in Weybridge, Surrey. Yoko Ono personally oversaw the production and creative direction of the new reissue, which includes rare demos, rehearsals, outtakes, jams and studio conversations as well as 87 never-before-heard recordings. The full live recording session of her 1970 companion LP, Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, is also included, presenting the songs in their full, unedited lengths and speed for the first time. Originally released in Dec. 1970, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was recorded shortly after the demise of the Beatles and once described by Lennon as "the best thing I've ever done." - NME, 4/2/21...... After performing a virtual concert on Apr. 4 to celebrate Easter Sunday, Dionne Warwick has announced she will perform another one on Mother's Day (May 9). Dubbed "Dionne At Home With You," Warwick is performing her first-ever virtual concerts via live-streaming platform Mandolin.com. Warwick has promised to perform "all the hits" for both performances, with a matinee and evening show available to watch on each date. A 48-hour replay of the shows will also be available. "During the pandemic Dionne experienced many new ways of communicating with her fanbase and audience either via Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or Twitter," a statement on Mandolin's website reads. "The next natural step was to stream Dionne in concert and make it available across the globe." Tickets can be purchased at Mandolin.com's official site. - NME, 4/3/21...... 
Morris "B.B." Dickerson, a founding member of War, died peacefully at a Long Beach, Calif., hospital on Apr. 2 after a long, undisclosed illness. He was 71. Dickerson, who was born in 1949 in Torrance, Calif., and got his start on the bass guitar at the age of 12, helped develop War's signature sound co-writing and playing on tunes like "Low Rider", "The Cisco Kid," "Why Can't We Be Friends," "Summer" and more. He also sang for the band, and his lead vocal can be heard on War's hit "The World Is a Ghetto." War peaked on the charts in 1973 with the No. 1 Billboard album The World Is a Ghetto and the single "The Cisco Kid" (No. 2). Before forming War, Dickerson had performed in a group called The Creators along with his uncle Howard E. Scott. That group split during the Vietnam War, and while Dickerson was away in Hawaii, his uncle played with a band that became known as
"Enter Rocketman"? Elton John teased during his latest Apple Music "Rocket Hour" podcast that he's "just done something with Metallica during this lockdown period" as well as other artists including "Gorillaz and people like that." "I haven't been doing any Elton stuff, I've been doing great stuff with other people. So I'll get you my email, email me and let's get together and do something, okay?," the pop/rock icon added. It is unknown what project Elton is working on with Metallica, though Miley Cyrus recently told England's Capital FM that John will appear on her planned Metallica covers album, revealing that he will play piano on her version of "Nothing Else Matters." "I did a Metallica cover of 'Nothing Else Matters' featuring Elton John on the piano," Cyrus said in a January interview. "I've got Yo-Yo Ma, Chad Smith. So many all-stars [are] in this band," she added. - Billboard, 3/29/21...... 
Sony Music Publishing, the publishing arm of music label giant Sony, announced on Mar. 31 they have acquired Paul Simon's entire song catalog for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition give SMP the rights to six decades of Paul Simon classics including "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Graceland," "The Boxer" and "The Sound of Silence." Covering his work with Simon & Garfunkel as well as his solo material, the deal follows several recent similar agreements by such other established artists as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, David Crosby, Stevie Nicks, Lindsay Buckingham and Blondie -- all of whom have sold rights to their catalogues, in part or full, to various labels' publishing arms and companies. SMP president Jon Platt noted in a statement that Simon's "remarkable body of work has generated an enduring influence on our culture and consciousness [whose] music resonates deeply as a cultural touchstone for people all over the world" and that it was an "incredible honor" to represent him. Before the deal, the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter had an administration deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, in which an artist still retains ownership over copyright. His recorded music contract remains with Sony Music Entertainment. It has been estimated that Simon's recorded music catalog generated $945,000 in 2020 in music publishing performance and mechanical revenue from streams, sales and radio play. Simon performed the last concert of his career in 2018 in Queens, playing a 26-song set close to his childhood home. - Billboard/NME, 3/31/21...... A federal judge has once again dismissed a class action lawsuit against Universal Music Group filed by Tom Petty's widow Jane Petty over a June 1, 2008, warehouse fire on the Universal City backlot in L.A. that destroyed up to 500,000 master recordings in the record company's archive vaults. On Mar. 29, U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt tossed out Jane Petty's amended lawsuit against UMG and barred her from refiling the case. Her second lawsuit hinged on her late husband's 1984 exclusive artist recording agreement signed with MCA, a predecessor in interest to UMG, and whether that contract required the label to share the insurance settlement funds. UMG had previously argued that Tom Petty's artist contract only required the company to share money generated when the artist's works were licensed. The judge's latest decision hinged on a marital settlement agreement signed in 1998 by Tom and Jane Petty, the chief plaintiff in the case. - Billboard, 3/29/21...... Elvis Costello has shared a new six-track EP of French-speaking tracks featuring Iggy Pop and more on Spotify.com. La Face de Pendule Coucou features French adaptations of songs from Costello's 2020 album Hey Clockface. The EP was first previewed back in December with Iggy Pop's version of "No Flag." Speaking on the difficulty of translating the lyrics into French, Iggy said: "There's a uniqueness to the French language. No other language has vowels that sound like that. Learning a song that's as quick as 'No Flag' took a month of practice because my lips weren't used to those combinations... I [worked on it] for 40 minutes a day for about five weeks. You don't want to do too much work on it at once or it's not fun anymore." - NME, 3/28/21...... Speaking of Elvises, the flaming red Hagstrom Viking II guitar famously played by Elvis Presley during his iconic 1968 comeback special has sold for $450,000 at auction. US-based GWS Auctions said the guitar had been sold after not being seen in public for the past 52 years. Presley reportedly "fell in love" with the instrument, which belonged to his session musician Al Casey at the time, and borrowed it for his TV concert broadcast in Dec. 1968, marking the King of Rock & Roll's comeback after 7 years of moviemaking in Hollywood. The special relaunched his career and he played the guitar for live performances in Las Vegas the following year. It is also the guitar Elvis is seen holding on the front cover of his 1969 studio album From Elvis in Memphis, and it was returned to Mr Casey who later sold it to a collector of music memorabilia. Apart from a 12-month period in the 1990s when it was exhibited at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the guitar had not been seen in public for 52 years prior to its sale. - DailyMail.co.uk, 3/30/21...... 
The Grateful Dead announced on Mar. 30 they're honoring their 1977 album Terrapin Station with an officially licensed Grateful Dead Dancing Terrapin Bobblehead. To make it particularly appealing to the Dead fans, the band is releasing a limited number of 1,977 bobbleheads worldwide to represent the year the album was released, and each item is individually numbered. The hand-painted bobbleheads from Kollectico, which feature two terrapin turtles playing instruments on a red stand, are currently available on Amazon.com or the arts & crafts site Etsy.com. The GD's ninth studio LP, Terrapin Station featured such songs as "Estimated Prophet" and "Samson and Delilah." - Billboard, 3/30/21...... In a new interview with Naomi Campbell for her "No Filter" YouTube series, Michael Jackson's daughter Paris Jackson spoke about the time she spent growing up with her late dad during her childhood. Paris, who was 11 when Michael died in 2009, praised how he shaped her and her siblings' worldview from an early age. "My dad was really good about making sure we were cultured, making sure we were educated and not just showing us, like, the glitz and glam -- like hotel-hopping, five-star places," she said. "It was also like we saw everything: we saw third world countries. We saw every part of the spectrum." Paris added that, looking back, it was "a blessing and a privilege to be able to experience so much at a young age." Paris Jackson released her debut solo album, Wilted, in Nov. 2020. Other topics touched on during the interview were her activity in acting, modelling, activism and work in global sustainability. - New Musical Express, 4/1/21...... Ozzy Osbourne has taken to Instagram to share his support for his wife Sharon Osbourne after the latter left her job as co-host of the US chat show The Talk after 11 years amid a controversy over alleged racism. Ozzy shared a photo of the pair on the social media site with his hand cupped to his ear, along with the caption: "I can't f---ing hear you! #TeamSharon." According to The Talk's network CBS, Sharon decided to leave the show after a review into the Mar. 10 episode, which found in part that her behavior towards her co-hosts "did not align with our values for a respectful workplace." Her co-host Sheryl Underwood accused her of giving "validation" to "racist views" in her support of Piers Morgan after the former Good Morning Britain host said he did not believe Meghan Markle's revelation in a recent high-profile Oprah Winfrey interview that she once had suicidal thoughts. Osbourne reacted strongly to Underwood's accusations, saying that she felt she was "about to be put in the electric chair." - NME, 4/1/21...... In other Ozzy-related news, the guitarist of his former heavy metal band Black Sabbath has waded into the "rock is dead" argument first kicked off by KISS bassist Gene Simmons and also drawing criticism from Alice Cooper. Sabbath guitarist Toni Iommi has told ConsequenceOfSound.com that "I don't think rock is going to die. That's been said for years. I mean, how many times I've heard that statement over the past 50-odd years? It's quite a lot, really." He continued: "I think good music is not going to go. There's always going to be a market for it. There are going to be an amount of bands that fall by the wayside -- as there always is, there always will be. But there are certain bands that are going to stick out and going to be there. You've got Metallica, up there -- they're not going to go away. They've got a lot of fans and they've got a great fanbase. There are a lot of bands out there. No, the music is not going to go away." - NME, 3/31/21...... Patti Smith has announced on Instagram that she's launching a new online newsletter to be distributed through email subscription platform Substack.com. The punk poetess said her new project will be sent to inboxes weekly and contain original musings, poetry, music, commentary and more. "Writing is what I do, and have since twelve, imagining myself Jo March. Meditations, crime novels, and poetry, hidden in stacks of notebooks, written in every stage of life. Now, in the time of the pandemic, isolated from family, friends, and fellow workers, we are reinventing our processes," she said on her newsletter on Substack. "Through Substack I plan to form an inter-connective body of work for a responsive community," Smith added. "Each week I will post my weekly ruminations, shards of poetry, music, and musings on whatever subject finds its way from thought to pen, news of the mind, pieces of this world, free to all." A paid tier will also be available, titled "The Melting," an unpublished serial started on Apr. 7 last year and written over the course of the pandemic. Instalments of "The Melting" will be delivered to paid subscribers on Tuesdays. Smith recently announced she'll perform alongside her long-time bandmate Tony Shanahan in New York's outdoor Spring Festival to celebrate Bob Dylan's 80th birthday at the Kaatsbaan Cultural Park on May 22. - NME, 4/1/21...... 
Akron, Oh. Mayor Dan Horrigan has proclamed Apr. 1 "DEVO Day" in the New Wave icons' hometown in an to whip Mark Mothersbaugh & co.'s fans into shape and vote for them in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame race. "The City of Akron has an unbelievable sense of pride, especially when it involves the success of our people," Mayor Horrigan posted on Mar. 31 on Instagram. "We are, and will continue to be, immensely proud to be the home of DEVO and will be rallying this great community to help them achieve the recognition they deserve," he added. To help with the campaign, the mayor says there will be 50 DEVO-themed sculptures "mysteriously appearing" throughout Akron, made out of tiered tyres and painted red to resemble the band's iconic headwear. Each sculpture will feature a QR code that fans can scan which will lead to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's voting website. In addition, according to the city's website, the "Downtown Akron corridor will become a location for fans to interact with life-size cutouts of DEVO." DEVO are currently coming eighth in the race in fan voting, with Tina Turner and Fela Kuti sitting in the top two spots. The deadline for fan voting is on Apr. 30. Other nominees eligible for this year's class include Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Kate Bush, Chaka Khan and more. - NME, 4/1/21...... Fender Guitars has announced two new Joe Strummer signature guitar models, the Joe Strummer Campfire and the Joe Strummer Esquire, are being released on Mar. 30 "as a tribute to the diversity" of the late The Clash frontman. "The Joe Strummer Campfire acoustic guitar (£449) is named after the series of campfires he regularly hosted at Glastonbury Festival, a tradition continued in his wake with its popular Strummerville section," Fender said in a press statemen. "The Joe Strummer Esquire (£14,149)," they added, "is a "faithful reincarnation" of the guitar Strummer used in The Clash, during the eras in which 'London Calling' and 'Combat Rock' were released. This edition of the Esquire was crafted by Fender's boutique manufacturing brand, Fender Custom Shop. Only 70 units have been made available globally." Alongside the guitars, Fender has released a line of Joe Strummer accessories, including a replica of his favourite guitar strap, a signature cable, a "Know Your Rights" strap, and a "Know Your Rights" pick tin. Strummer's solo works were recently compiled in the greatest hits album Assembly released on Mar. 26, which was a curated collection of singles, fan favourites, and rarities. - NME, 3/31/21...... Queen's Brian May has teamed up with his regular collaborator Kerry Ellis once again for a new track called "Panic Attack 2021 (It's Gonna Be All Right)," a pandemic-inspired "bold reimagining" of the two artists' 2017 collaboration "It's Gonna Be All Right (The Panic Attack Song)." "Panic Attack 2021," which has been shared on YouTube, is described as a "relentlessly positive new track" that May says he and Ellis hope will give "a whole new meaning [of the song] to literally millions of people around the world who felt a growing sense of panic. In the UK, there was definitely a feeling that we had all been cheated of our Happy New Year. So we wanted to mark the occasion in a completely real and transparent way." "I hope this song and video gives people as much hope and joy as it did for me and Brian making it," Ellis said in a statement. "We have all had quite a tough year but remember: 'It's gonna be all right!'" May and Ellis have worked together on music on a number of occasions over the years, such as their Apr. 2017 joint album Golden Days. - NME, 3/29/21...... 
Paul McCartney's Twitter account announced on Mar. 31 that a deluxe 50th anniversary version of his and wife Linda McCartney's 1971 LP Ram will be reissued on May 14 as a limited edition, half-speed mastered vinyl pressing via UMe. "Happy RAM-iversary!," reads the message. "To celebrate 50 years since the release of Paul and Lina McCartney's 1971 fan-favourite album, 'RAM' will be reissued on 14th May 2021 as a limited edition half-speed mastered vinyl pressing." The 50th anniversary edition can be pre-ordered at PMC.lnk.to/Ram50EditionVinyl, and its release comes one week before a "reimagined" Ram 50th tribute by original session musicians Dave Spinozza and Marvin Stamm, Ram On: 50th Anniversary Tribute To Paul & Linda McCartney's Ram, hits stores. Originally released in May 1971, Ram served as the follow-up Paul's 1970 debut solo album McCartney, and was also the only McCartney album to be credited to both Paul and his late wife Linda. - NME, 3/31/21...... In other McCartney-related news, a letter handwritten by the former Beatle in 1959 that jovially settled a long-standing "debt" over a blanket is going up for auction. The letter was written by Paul in Sept. 1989 in response to Irene Brierley, whose farmhouse in Harlech, north Wales, McCartney and his late Beatles bandmate George Harrison stayed in during two occasions in 1958 and 1959 when they went on a pair of hitchhiking holidays. McCartney and Harrison became friendly with Irene's son John during their first stay in 1958, with John recalling, as the Beatles memorabilia auction site Tracks notes, how he and the Beatles musicians played snooker and listened to Elvis Presley during their time together. The following summer, McCartney and Harrison returned to the Brierley farmhouse to spend more time with the family. At the end of their 1959 stay, the pair surreptitiously made off with one of the Brierleys' blankets. Some years later, Irene wrote to McCartney to remind him of the blanket "debt" and she received a handwritten reply from McCartney in Sept. 1989. "Dear Mrs Brierley (Irene)," McCartney's letter reads. "Your letter reached me, eventually, and I was sorry to hear about my 'debt'! I remember well the time we had in Harlech, and hope the enclosed cheque will settle our money differences! Excuse the scrawl as I'm trying to write this on a bouncing express train!! I was very sorry to hear about your hubby -- he was a very nice man. Please give my best to your boys. Kindest Regards, Paul McCartney." Tracks has set an opening bid of £3,000 for the letter, with more info available on their website. - NME, 3/30/21...... In still more Macca news, the Beatles legend has teamed up with his daughters Mary and Stella McCartney to launch Linda McCartney's Family Kitchen: Over 90 Plant-Based Recipes to Save the Planet and Nourish the Soul. The trio has updated singer Linda's best-loved vegetarian meals, such as shepherd's pie, chili non-carne, "sausage" rolls, and "American-style" pancakes, and has shared stories and personal photos from the family kitchen alongside the recipes. In a press release, Paul notes: "Years ago, before anyone had woken up to the idea of environmental and health and animal welfare issues, Linda was blazing the trail with vegetarianism, telling people about it and promoting it. At home, she would cook for the family and these recipes have been now brought up to date for a modern audience, so they're all now plant-based and fabulous... I hope this book inspires conversations about sustainability and about modern living amongst people besides also just giving them some great recipes to eat." - Music-News.com, 3/28/21...... Sylvester Stallone says he's planning to take his Rocky franchise to TV by writing a treatment for a potential prequel series. Stallone gave fans a glimpse at his latest project on Mar. 29 by sharing pages of his handwritten notes for the show, which he is eager to pitch to online platform bosses. "I started out this morning by writing a treatment for a Rocky prequel for streaming. Ideally 10 episodes for a few seasons to really get to the heart of the Characters in there younger years," Stallone captioned the image. "Here is a small portion of how my creative writing Process starts... Hope it happens." The notes, titled "Treatment for Rocky prequel series," begin with the scenario set-up: "Imagine a time machine that will simply transport us back to the origins of Rocky, a cinematic world brimming with characters that have been beloved by people around the world for nearly five decades!" Stallone explains the origin story would take fans back to the 1960s and "the most transformative generation in modern history," citing the events of the moon landing, the civil rights movement, the assassinations of U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Cold War, among many other milestones. "Needless to say the 60s was a dynamic time," he wrote. "Yet among all this Social Seismic Activity, we drop in on the rather plain life of 17-year-old Robert 'Rocky' Balboa. When we first met Rocky in 1976, he was a very lost soul... We now see this young man struggling like all young people trying to find their place." The original Oscar-nominated Rocky, written by and starred in by Stallone in 1976, has since spawned five franchise sequels, as well as a spin-off movie series in Creed, starring Michael B. Jordan as the son of Rocky's old rival, Apollo Creed. Stallone reprised his role as Rocky in 2015's Creed, which earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod. - WENN/Canoe.com, 3/30/21...... 
G. Gordon Liddy, the undercover operative whose bungling of the Watergate break-in triggered one of the gravest constitutional crises in American history and led to the resignation of Pres. Richard M. Nixon in 1974, died Mar. 30 at his daughter's home in Fairfax County, Va. He was 90. His son Thomas P. Liddy confirmed the death but did not give a cause, saying only that it was unrelated to the coronavirus. Mr. Liddy, a former FBI agent and Army veteran, was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate burglary, and spent four years and four months in prison, including more than 100 days in solitary confinement. "I'd do it again for my president," the loyal Nixon operative said years later. After his release, Mr. Liddy became a popular, often provocative radio talk show host. He also worked as a security consultant, writer and actor. The Hoboken, N.J.-born Mr. Liddy was outspoken and controversial, both as a political operative under Nixon and as a radio personality. Mr. Liddy recommended assassinating political enemies, bombing a left-leaning think tank and kidnapping war protesters, however his White House colleagues ignored such suggestions. After his release, Liddy -- with his piercing dark eyes, bushy moustache and shaved head -- became a popular, provocative and controversial radio talk show host. He also worked as a security consultant, writer and actor. On air, he offered tips on how to kill federal firearms agents, rode around with car tags saying "H20GATE" (Watergate) and scorned people who cooperated with prosecutors. Mr. Liddy learned to market his reputation as a fearless, if sometimes overzealous, advocate of conservative causes. His syndicated radio talk show, broadcast from Virginia-based WJFK, was long one of the most popular in the country. He wrote best-selling books, acted in TV shows like Miami Vice, was a frequent guest lecturer on college campuses, started a private eye franchise and worked as a security consultant. For a time, he teamed on the lecture circuit with an unlikely partner, 1960s LSD guru Timothy Leary. In the mid-1990s, Mr. Liddy told gun-toting radio listeners to aim for the head when encountered by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. "Head shots, head shots," he stressed, explaining that most agents wear bullet-resistant vests under their jackets. Mr. Liddy said later he wasn't encouraging people to hunt agents, but added that if an agent comes at someone with deadly force, "you should defend yourself and your rights with deadly force." Mr. Liddy, who always took pride in his role in Watergate, once said: "I am proud of the fact that I am the guy who did not talk." His wife Frances, whom he wed in 1957, died in 2010. Survivors include five children and a sister. - USA Today, 3/30/21.
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