Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 20th, 2022

In a video shared on YouTube on July 20, Elton John announced he plans on extending his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour of Australia and New Zealand by adding five new "encore" shows to the Australasian leg of his final trek in early 2023. John will return to Aotearoa in January 2023 to perform two rescheduled Auckland shows on Jan. 27 and 28 as part of his farewell GYBR tour, which was cut short when the British pop legend fell ill with pneumonia near the end of its domestic run in Feb. 2020, just weeks before the pandemic was declared. But Elton promised to return and fulfill his commitments to the Kiwis, which he's doing with dates added for Newcastle (1/10), Melbourne (1/13), Sydney (1/18), Brisbane (1/21) and Christchurch (1/24). The Rocket Man's connection to Australia dates back to 1983, when he married recording engineer Renate Blauel in Sydney, a moment that was beamed out live on national TV. He last played the region in Nov. 2019, with 34 dates in Australia and six in New Zealand, and over 705,000 tickets sold across a three-month period. Currently on the road in North America, Elton will perform his final stateside concert on Nov. 20 at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium. His exhaustive, five-year GYBR tour is set to wrap in Stockholm, Sweden on July 8, 2023 after more than 350 shows. - Billboard, 7/19/22...... In related news, John's former touring partner Billy Joel has announced he'll play a one-off show in Australia at the imposing Melbourne Cricket Ground on Dec. 10. Frontier Touring, which also manages the above-mentioned Elton John shows, described the concert as a "history-making performance" on Instagram. "It is incredibly rare to have stadium level artists travel all the way to Australia to play one off shows," said Frontier Touring CEO Dion Brant. "To announce Billy Joel for one night only at the MCG after the success of the Foo Fighters early this year is a great coup for Victoria and something that our team at Frontier are proud to be able to deliver," Brant added. Australia is the only international date on Joel's touring itinerary for 2022, which is, as usual, stacked with shows at New York's Madison Square Garden. He remains a popular concert draw despite not releasing an album of new music for more than two decades. - Billboard, 6/21/22...... Queen's 1981 Greatest Hits album has become the first album to pass seven million in chart sales in the U.K., after hitting the six million threshold back in 2014. In an acceptance video posted to YouTube, surviving original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor said they were "humbled and honored" by the accolade. Queen - Greatest Hits also recently celebrated its 1,000th week on the U.K.'s Official Albums Chart, with Queen becoming the first British act ever to reach the mark, and third overall after ABBA and Bob Marley. It's also one of the art-rockers' ten U.K. No. 1 LP's. The album originally enjoyed four weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. and includes the Freddie Mercury-led hits "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Flash," "Killer Queen," "You're My Best Friend," "Somebody To Love," "We Are The Champions," "We Will Rock You," and "Under Pressure," their collaboration with David Bowie. Its most-streamed track, according to the OCC, is "Bohemian Rhapsody" with upwards of 240 million U.K. plays. The album's record-setting feat is made through a combination of physical sales, downloads and 1.26 billion total streams in the U.K. - Billboard, 7/19/22...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Wolfgang Van Halen said a tribute concert for his late father Eddie Van Halen couldn't "get off the ground" because "some people" are "difficult" to work with. Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted had recently let slip that guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Alex Van Halen were in talks to put on a special show in honor of the late guitar great, but Wolfgang, 31, says it was "in such an early stage that it never even got off the ground." Without giving any names, Van Halen -- who ended up playing bass for his dad's band after the departure of Michael Anthony -- alleged that there are some people in the Van Halen camp that make it hard to plan anything. "What I can say is that there was an attempt at doing something. I don't like to speak negatively about people, but there are some people that make it very difficult to do anything when it comes to Van Halen," Wolfgang said. When the magazine asked if "a certain singer with three initials" is "the main problem" -- referring to original VH vocalist David Lee Roth -- Wolfgang replied: "I would say, 'Do your research on the history of Van Halen, and come to your [own] conclusions.'" Roth, 67, quit the heavy rock group in 1984 to pursue a solo career, despite them being one of the most successful bands of the time, and Sammy Hagar, 74, was hired by the group in a bid to reinvent their career. Roth reunited with his bandmates in 2007, and appeared on the 2012 LP A Different Kind of Truth. Eddie passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer in October 2020 at the age of 65. Hagar had confirmed that he had been in talks about joining a Van Halen reunion tour with Eddie, Alex and David before his passing. He said: "Eddie and Al and Irving Azoff, their manager [and] my dear friend, we were looking at doing the reunion tour with everybody, which is the way it had to be. I've been pushing for that for 10 years. I was ready to put [any differences] aside. Let's go give the fans the biggest band in the world, you know what I mean? You don't get bigger than Van Halen, and the fans deserve to see it all, hear every song." - Music-News.com, 7/19/22...... As she continues to speak out of the the U.S. Supreme Court's June 24 decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion law, Cher sent out a personal post on Twitter on July 18 recalling that she had suffered multiple miscarriages. "When I was young I had 3 miscarriages.1st at 18. I was alone in our house. son came home & I was sobbing, & rocking on our floor," she wrote, explaining that Sonny Bono -- whom she met at 16 and married in 1967 -- was the one who found her. "When I got2 dr I was screaming in pain. couldn't even stop in elevator. dr sent me straight 2 hopsital, &in2 operating rm." She concluded, "WHAT WOULD HAPPEN 2 ME TODAY [crying emoji]." As medical professionals have repeatedly pointed out since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, abortions are a medical procedure that is sometimes required to remove fetal tissue that the body is not naturally passing after a miscarriage. When the Supreme Court first announced its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and thus, reverse nearly 50 years of precedent, Cher immediately shared her outrage. "WHEN I HEARD ROE V WADE WAS REPEALED, I COULDN'T CONTAIN MY ANGER," she tweeted June 24. "STILL ANGRY, SAD AFRAID 4 WOMEN OF [U.S. flag emoji]." She followed up with another tweet the following day. "If Every time Men Had Sex, They Risked Death, Physical Disability,A Life Altering Interruption In Their Education, Or Career, & The Sudden Life Long Responsibility For Another Human Being,I Think They'd Expect A Choice In The Matter," she wrote. The "Believe" singer then urged women to take action. "We Must VOTE EVERY REPUB. OUT!!" she tweeted June 27. She has also since warned her followers to be careful about their online searches for abortion information, birth control, menstrual cycles and more. She wrote, "there is talk about tech companies being able to sell your info." - Billboard, 7/19/22...... Garth Brooks and Brian Wilson are among the musicians who have shared their tributes to Don McLean's iconic 1971 song "American Pie" in a new documentary titled The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean's 'American Pie," which premiered on the Paramount+ streaming channel on July 19. The song, which Garth Brooks says he has sung since his days performing in clubs in the mid-'80s, has been covered by the likes of Madonna, Josh Groban, Drake and even parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic, and helped earn McLean a spot in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. As most fans of the song know, the lyrics "the day the music died" reference the Feb. 3, 1959 plane crash that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. The accident affected the then 13-year-old McLean deeply, leaving him almost obsessed with finding out more. Writing the song was the easy part, McLean says in the documentary, as he looked at a country roiled by Vietnam and still reeling from the 1968 assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. "I've got to have a big song about America," he recalls thinking. "One day it all came out like a genie out of a bottle." "No one's ever written anything like it since," says Brooks, and even McLean knew he had something special. "I just knew that I had something that was incredibly great and fun but that nobody else might dig at all," says McLean over home movies of his original lyrics. "American Pie" was nominated for Grammys for record of the year and song of the year at the Grammys held in 1973, losing to Roberta Flack's "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" in both categories. - Billboard, 7/18/22...... Lou Reed's earliest known demo of the Velvet Underground track "Heroin" has been released on YouTube ahead of the forthcoming Words & Music, May 1965 archival Reed collection which will drop Aug. 26 via Light In The Attic Records. The rare demo finds Reed accompanying himself on guitar and structurally, it is the same as the album version but it is more than three minutes shorter. It follows an early demo of "I'm Waiting For The Man," which was shared in June. The songs on Words & Music were written by Reed and recorded to tape by his future VU bandmate John Cale. Reed posted the tape to himself as a "poor man's copyright" and it remained sealed in its original envelope for nearly 50 years. Elsewhere on the LP's tracklist are previously unreleased demos including "Buttercup Song," "Buzz Buzz Buzz" and "Stockpile." A deluxe 45-RPM double LP edition of the album will be limited to 7,500 copies worldwide and will include two 12-inch LPs, a bonus 7-inch including six previously-unreleased bonus tracks. A six-song digital EP "Gee Whiz, 1958-1964" will arrive on Oct. 7 and will feature the bonus content from the aforementioned 7-inch. - New Musical Express, 7/18/22...... As box office receipts continue to pile up for the new Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis Presley biopic Elvis, the movie has just passed the 2019 Elton John biopic Rocket Man to become the fourth-highest-grossing music biopic since the 1970s. To date, Elvis has a domestic gross of $106,200,000 and a worldwide gross of $170,400,000. So far, it only trails in popularity in the music biopic category behind Bohemian Rhapsody (Domestic gross: $216,668,042; Worldwide gross: $910,809,311), Straight Outta Compton (Domestic gross: $161,197,785; Worldwide gross: $201,634,991), and Walk The Line (Domestic gross: $119,519,402; Worldwide gross: $186,797,986). Although Elvis is off to a fast start, it's not even halfway to matching the "domestic" (meaning U.S. and Canada) grosses of the leader, Bohemian Rhapsody. - Billboard, 7/18/22...... Pink Floyd, with their recent single "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!," is on track for a rare U.K. Top 40 appearance after the song blasted to No. 18 on the U.K.'s First Look survey, which ranks singles based on sales and streaming activity in the early phases of the chart week. If it keeps its momentum, Pink Floyd will have their first Top 20 appearance since "Brick In The Wall" led the chart in 1979, their only U.K. No. 1. The last time the prog-rock legends cracked the U.K. Top 40 was in 1994 with "High Hopes/Keep Talking," which reached No. 26. "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" was recorded in support of the people of Ukraine in the midst of the ongoing unprovoked war launched in February by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. It features Floyd's David Gilmour (guitar/vocals) and Nick Mason (drums), joined by longtime bass player Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney on keyboards, as well as guest vocals by Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band Boombox. "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!," the band's first new original material since 1994's Division Bell album, peaked at No. 49 in April following its digital-only release. - Billboard, 7/18/22...... In other Pink Floyd-related news, former member Roger Waters has said he's "far, far, far more important" than such artists as Drake and The Weeknd after a Canadian newspaper reporter told Waters that he was assigned to review The Weeknd's show at Toronto's Rogers Centre on July 8 (which was ultimately postponed) rather than Waters' back-to-back concerts at the nearby Scotiabank Arena on July 8-9. "But the Weeknd was canceled, and my show was for two nights," Rogers told Toronto's The Globe and Mail, referencing a nationwide power outage that caused The Weeknd's show to be postponed. "I have no idea what or who The Weeknd is, because I don't listen to much music. People have told me he's a big act. Well, good luck to him. I've got nothing against him. Would it not have been possible to review his show one night and my show another night? By the way, with all due respect to The Weeknd or Drake, or any of them, I am far, far, far more important than any of them will ever be, however many billions of streams they've got. There is stuff going on here that is fundamentally important to all of our lives," Waters said without elaborating. Waters is currently on the road as part of his This Is Not a Drill tour, which visits North American arenas through mid-October. - Music-News.com, 7/15/22...... Ozzy Osbourne is reportedly walking with a cane after undergoing "life-altering" surgery in June. Osbourne, 73, was photographed on July 17 using the gold-handled walking stick as he was joined by his wife, Sharon Osbourne, and their children, Kelly and Jack Osbourne, for a family gathering at Jack's Los Angeles home. Ozzy was seen wearing a black T-shirt and matching trousers as he made his way outside to leave the gathering. The former Black Sabbath frontman, diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019, appeared to rely heavily on the walking stick. It comes after Ozzy was recently discharged from a Los Angeles hospital after undergoing what 69-year-old Sharon called "a major operation" that would "determine the rest of his life." Along with Parkinson's and a bout of Covid, the musician has been dealing with the fallout from a brutal 2003 quad biking accident. He suffered neck injuries, which were later worsened by a 2019 fall that resulted in 15 screws being inserted into his back. Ozzy said after undergoing the operation in June: "I am now home from the hospital recuperating comfortably. I am definitely feeling the love and support from all my fans and send everyone a big thank you for their thoughts, prayers and well wishes during my recovery." Sharon reassured fans that her husband was on the road to recovery, adding: "Our family would like to express so much gratitude for the overwhelming amount of love and support leading up to Ozzy's surgery." She also tweeted he was "doing well and on the road to recovery," telling fans: "Your love means the world to him." - Bang Showbiz, 7/19/22...... In other Black Sabbath-related news, co-founding Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi will be among the musical guests helping to open the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Birmingham's Opening and Closing ceremonies will be staged at the newly-redeveloped Alexander Stadium in front of a live audience of over 30,000 people and a television audience of over a billion. Birmingham's own Iommi and acclaimed saxophonist Soweto Kinch will lead a dream sequence, "Hear my Voice," based on the title track from 2020 film Trial of the Chicago Seven. Also among the many acts appearing will be '80s hitmakers Duran Duran, whose frontman Simon Le Bon said: "The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games is a momentous event for the great city of Birmingham. And we in Duran Duran are honoured to be a part of it in our home town." The line up of the Closing Ceremony, which occurs on Aug. 8, will be announced in the coming weeks. - Music-News.com, 7/20/22...... The Rolling Stones invited a Ukrainian choir on stage to perform their classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want" at a gig at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria, on July 15. The Stones saved a special surprise for the audience for their encore, telling the crowd, "They came a long way to be here tonight," before introducing the Dzvinochok boys choir and Vognyk girls choir, revealing that they drove 15 hours from Kyiv to Vienna to be at the show. Choirmaster Ruben Tolmachov then told the crowd: "This is a very special night for the two choirs and a chance of a lifetime not to be missed. I'm so glad we made it here to Vienna a night to remember for all of us." Footage of the performance has been shared on YouTube. The Ukranian boys and girls choirs are one of several Ukrainian creatives who have been invited to perform at global events and with world-famous bands since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February. Meanwhile in other Rolling Stones news, guitarist Ronnie Wood has recalled the first time he ever saw the Stones performing during an interview with host Matt Wilkinson for a The Rolling Stones: 60th Anniversary Special on Apple Music Hits. "I saw them in 1963 at the Richmond Jazz and Blues Festival, along with one of my favourite bands at the time, Cyril Davies All Stars, and my brother Art was singing was Cyril," Wood said. "[Long] John Baldry was in that band with Alexis Korner, and all that. The extension of the Blues, and the crossover from Jazz into Blues, and Rock and Roll, was just at the pivotal point where I saw the band. I saw the band that I wanted to be a part of, and I thought they are doing what I want to hear, what I want to do. Look at the presence of these guys and look at the girls. I said, that looks like a good job, and it was fantastic," he added. Wood also described how Stones frontman Mick Jagger can adapt to new audiences: "He adapts very much to the audiences, wherever we are playing, and speaks a little bit of their language and they kind of lap that up, and it's kind of... Oh, I can't wait till we get to Paris, for instance. Mick speaks very fluent French, and it's a natural thing for him to fall into French, to be saturated with the French genre again." - NME/Music-News.com, 7/17/22...... Sylvester Stallone has slammed Rocky producer Irwin Winkler over film ownership and urged him to hand back the rights to hugely successful the film franchise. Stallone wrote and starred in the hit 1976 boxing movie as well as its sequels, but he claims the film rights have been controlled by Winkler for 46 years and he wants them handed over to him so he can pass them on to his son and three daughters. Sly made the plea in a candid post on Instagram which he shared alongside a portrait of Winkler depicting him as a snake with a knife for a tongue. Stallone wrote: "A VERY Flattering portrait of The Great Rocky/ Creed Producer, Irwin Winkler, from one of the country's greatest artist (sic)." He then added: "After IRWIN controlling ROCKY for over 47 years , and now CREED, I really would like have at least a little WHAT's LEFT of my RIGHTS back, before passing it on to ONLY YOUR CHILDREN - I believe that would be a FAIR gesture from this 93 year old gentleman? ... " Stallone went on to admit the dispute over the film rights is "painful" but he wants to leave something for his kids. He wrote: "This is a painful subject That eats at my soul , because I wanted to leave something of Rocky for my children, but it's always great hearing from the loyal fans ... Keep Punching." The post came after a previous message from Sly which slammed a book called The Arrangement: A Love Story by Winkler's son David. Stallone called the novel "unbearable worthless dreck" and added further fuel to his feud with the senior Winkler, claiming there would have been "at least three" more Rocky movies if it wasn't for him. The actor previously opened up about missing out on an equity stake in the movie franchise, admitting his inexperience in the early days of his career led him to make a big mistake. Speaking to Variety in 2019, he explained: "I have zero ownership of Rocky. Every word, every syllable, every grammatical error was all my fault. It was shocking that it never came to be, but I was told, 'Hey, you got paid, so what are you complaining about?' I was furious." Rocky was a huge hit after its release in 1976 -- scoring big at the box office and winning three Oscars including the coveted Best Picture statue. Stallone was nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of boxer Rocky Balboa and for Best Screenplay for his writing. - Bang Showbiz, 7/18/22...... Mickey Rooney Jr., the eldest son of late Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney died at his home on July 16 in Glendale, Ariz. He was 77. One of the original Mouseketeers in the The Mickey Mouse Club, Rooney Jr. and his brother Tim were hired as backup cast members on ABC's The Mickey Mouse Club in 1955. He worked on several shows before they were fired after mischief in the Disney paint department. He later appeared in the 1975 television film Beyond the Bermuda Triangle and 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose. He also recorded songs including 'The Wandering Wind', 'The Choice is Yours' and 'It Certainly Ain't a Nice Thing', and worked with Willie Nelson. His first marriage was in 1972 to ex-Playboy Playmate Merci Montello, now 72. He met Laura Hollander in 1986 and they married that year, before he settled down with singer Chrissie Brown in 2004. The actor's dad was the top box-office draw from 1939 to 1941, and one of the best-paid actors of the period's silent-film era. Best-known for his role in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Mickey Sr. died in 2014 aged 93. - Bang Showbiz, 7/19/22...... Mark Fleischman, the former owner of the famous Studio 54 club in New York City, has died by assisted suicide in Switzerland. It comes after the 82-year-old had been suffering from an unknown degenerative illness since 2016, that had seen him recently confined to a wheelchair. In June, Mr. Fleischman revealed his plans to travel to the non-profit Dignitas clinic near Zurich with his wife to end his life. "There is no shame in what I am doing," Mr. Fleischman told the New York Post at the time. "It is proper and reasonable at my age. I have done everything and been everywhere and met everyone I want to meet." Mr. Fleischman purchased Studio 54 in New York in 1980 from the original owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, after they were convicted of evading more than $700,000 (£591,430) in taxes. He reopened it in 1981 and ran it until 1986. "I was the ringleader for nearly four years and I became intoxicated with the scene," he wrote in a 2017 memoir. "Every night, celebrities and stunning women made their way through the crowd to sip champagne and share lines of cocaine with my golden straw or rolled up one-hundred-dollar bills." The legendary nightclub originally opened in 1977 and soon became the hottest venue in the US, with the likes of The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards and David Bowie passing through its doors. - NME, 7/15/22...... William "Poogie" Hart, lead singer of Philly soul greats The Delfonics who scored hits with "La - La - Means I Love You," "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" and "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)," passed away on July 14 after complications stemming from surgery after he was taken to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia due to breathing difficulties. He was 77. The Delfonics were one of the leading lights of Philadelphia's surging soul scene of the late '60s and early '70s, scoring classic hits like the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 smashes "La - La - Means I Love You" (No. 5, 1968) and "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" (No. 10, 1970). Working with legendary local writer-producer Thom Bell, the group's lush, dreamy harmonies matched Bell's symphonic mini-soundscapes to create a smoother, more blissed-out soul sound than usually heard in the poppier, snappier hits from the Motown assembly line in Detroit, or the grittier, funkier singles emerging from Stax/Volt in Memphis. Hart co-founded the Delfonics (then known as the Orphonics) in Philadelphia with his brother Wilbert Hart, eventually fleshing out the group's classic lineup with Randy Cain and Major Harris. They signed with famed local label Cameo-Parkway, where they first linked up with Bell, though they were shuffled over to Philly Groove Records shortly after Cameo-Parkway folded in 1967. Their debut album La La Means I Love You was released in 1968, spawning a trio of hits in the title track, "I'm Sorry" (No. 42) and "Break Your Promise" (No. 35). As the group's lead singer, Hart's falsetto-heavy vocals were an immediate difference maker, both entrancing and powerful -- and the way he leaned into certain words ("Many guys have come to you with a line that wasn't true") with his signature sharpness made them unforgettable on first listen. The Delfonics' popularity continued throughout the early '70s, likely peaking with their self-titled album in 1970, their highest-charting entry on the Billboard 200 albums chart (No. 61), with the album's "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" even winning a Grammy for best R&B vocal performance by a duo or group in 1971. But with the rise of higher-energy Philly soul in the decade's middle (which paved the way for disco's takeover in the late '70s), the group sputtered commercially and splintered in two in 1975, following Harris' solo breakthrough with the Hot 100 No. 5 hit "Love Won't Let Me Wait" in 1974. Both versions of the group continued to tour in the decades that followed, though original recordings were spare and relatively unsuccessful. The legacy of The Delfonics was secured in the mid-'90s, however, as the group's hits were revived by a generation of rappers, including The Fugees and Missy Elliott. Director Quentin Tarantino featured The Delfonics heavily in the plot to his 1997 crime drama Jackie Brown, with Robert Forster's aging bail bondsman sharing a moment with Pam Grier's flight attendant title character while listening to "Didn't I," then later buying a Delfonics cassette to listen to in his own car. - Billboard, 7/15/22.

Tom Jones has taken to Twitter to address the reasons he postponed a concert in Budapest, Hungary at the last second. "Hello to all concerned," Jones began his tweet on July 12, explaining that he had woken up with "an uncomfortable throat" the morning after traveling from the U.K. to Hungary. "A specialist came to visit and diagnosed 'viral laryngitis.' He strongly advised postponing this evening's show and prescribed medication and vocal rest," Jones wrote. However, the Welsh crooner also directly refuted reports and gossip over-exaggerating his illness, adding, "I did NOT 'collapse' anywhere at any time, that is pure rumour. Hopefully the inflammation will calm down soon as I am looking forward to continuing my wonderful summer tour. Unfortunately the show had to be cancelled at the last minute, and for that I am very sorry. However, the show in Budapest has been rescheduled and will take place on August 16. Thanks again for all your kind concern. TJ." After he recuperates, the "She's A Lady" singer is set to continue the European and U.K. leg of his ongoing tour with stops in Fulda and Cologne, Germany as well as a co-headlining slot at Sunset Live in Carlisle, England. Eventually, he'll cross the pond for another run of U.S. shows starting in September. - Billboard, 7/13/22...... Queen guitarist Brian May has teamed up with Graham Gouldman of 10cc on a new space-themed track called "Floating in Heaven" to mark the historic and breathtaking images from the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Launched in Dec. 2021 and put into orbit the following month, JWST is the most powerful to be launched into space. May is a long-time astronomer and has a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College, London. Gouldman is a fellow space enthusiast and the pair decided to work together on a song to mark the historic moment when the first images from the telescope were shared. Shared on YouTube, "Floating in Heaven," written and performed by Gouldman, features May on guitar and vocals and was released on July 12 to coincide with the first pics from JWST. Meanwhile in other Brian May-related news, Queen + Adam Lambert performed an impromptu cover of Giacomo Puccini's operatic track "Nessun Dorma" during a show in Bologna, Italy, on July 9. "Nessun Dorma" is the aria from the last act of Puccini's "Turandot" and reached new audiences in 1990 when Luciana Pavarotti performed it during the World Cup, which was held in Italy that year. Sharing footage on Instagram after the show, May wrote: "A spontaneous gift to Bologna last night. So proud of Adam. I can see our dear departed friend Luciano smiling. Let's Rock tonight." Queen and Adam Lambert have also announced a new online concert film called Rhapsody Over London. The performance was shot at one of the legendary band's 10 sold-out shows at The O2 Arena in London last month as part of their 2022 "Rhapsody Tour." Fans will be able to watch the two-and-half-hour, 28-song gig via an online Kiswe live-stream on July 24 (4:00 pm BST) and July 25 (8:00 pm BST). The film will then be available to view on-demand until July 31. Meanwhile, Graham Gouldman has said 10cc were were offered the legends slot at the UK's Glastonbury festival this summer. "We've had an offer to play the legends slot at Glastonbury. But they want the original line-up to reform. I don't think that's likely," Gouldman, 76, recently told the Daily Mail paper. In 2012, 10cc embarked on a 40th anniversary tour, however, the only original member to hit the road was Graham. The touring line-up currently comprises Graham, Paul Burgess, Rick Fenn, Keith Hayman and Iain Hornal. 10cc formed in Stockport in 1972, and between 1972 to 1978, the band charted five consecutive UK Top 10 albums. 10cc will kick off a 20-city UK tour on Sept. 1 in Belfast that will run through an Oct. 22 gig in Cumbria. - New Musical Express/Music-News.com, 7/13/22...... A remixed version of Journey's 1983 single "Separate Ways" has reach Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts (dated July 16), after the 1983 single scored an appearance in the fourth season of Netflix's Stranger Things. The edition recorded for the show's new season, credited as "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (Bryce Miller/Alloy Tracks Remix)," starts at Nos. 9 and 13 on Hot Rock Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, respectively, while the 1983 original enters at Nos. 11 and 15 on the lists. Journey's original "Separate Ways" soared to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. It's one of six top 10s for the San Francisco-based band, which reached a No. 2 best with "Open Arms" in 1982. Journey's newest album, Freedom, was released July 8. - Billboard, 7/13/22...... Bob Dylan's "Rough and Rowdy Ways" tour will cross the Atlantic in October for the rock legend's first UK dates in more than five years. The tour is slated to kick off with an intimate, four-night run at the London Palladium on Oct. 19, 20, 23 and 24, later hitting Cardiff (10/26), Hull (10/27) and Nottingham (10/28) before wrapping with a two-night stand at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow on Oct. 30-31. Dylan, 81, also announced that the UK gig will be phone-free, with attendees expected to place their mobile devices in Yondr cases during the shows. Tickets for the shows go on sale on July 15. Dylan last played the UK in 2019, a co-headlining show with Neil Young at London's BST Hyde Park, which was preceded by his "Never Ending Tour" swinging through in the spring of 2017. - Billboard, 7/13/22...... Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger said that avatar shows like the recent high profile "ABBA Voyage" virtual live concert offer up endless opportunities for veteran acts like the Stones, who have been touring for 60 years. Although Sir Mick told host Matt Wilkinson of Apple Music Hits that the band hasn't yet considered their own digital hologram concert in the future, he is intrigued by the "technology breakthrough." "The ABBA thing gives you this kind of technology breakthrough, which, I haven't actually seen it yet," Jagger, 78, said. "I was supposed to go and see it, but there was a train strike. So I didn't get to go... I can't really answer that. Obviously technology is going to give you some of the answers to this, and who knows what technology lies in store down the road? We're already in an AI world of doing this stuff, and you can do a lot of musical stuff with not very complicated computerisation, as well," he added. In May, ABBA launched "ABBA Voyage" featuring their "Abba-tars" (holograms) at a purpose-built arena in Stratford, east London. The 90-minute show features pre-recorded classics mixed with the band's new numbers such as "Don't Shut Me Down." - Music-News.com, 7/14/22...... Decades after Eagles principal Don Henley had his handwritten notes and lyrics for the band's Hotel California album stolen, prosecutors in Manhattan have indicted three men who they say tried to profit from the illicit materials. On July 12, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. said he had charged Glenn Horowitz, 66, Craig Inciardi, 58, and Edward Kosinski, 59, with conspiracy over their efforts to resell and hide the origin of the stolen notes, which include material from Hotel California and other iconic songs from the band and are worth more than $1 million. DA Bragg said that Horowitz even stooped so low as to exploit the 2016 death of co-founding Eagles member Glenn Frey by claiming that Frey was the source of the artifacts -- a claim he allegedly hoped could not be refuted by the late co-frontman. "These defendants attempted to keep and sell these unique and valuable manuscripts, despite knowing they had no right to do so," Bragg said. "They made up stories about the origin of the documents and their right to possess them so they could turn a profit." In a joint statement, attorneys for the three defendants refuted the charges and vowed to clear their clients' names."The DA's office alleges criminality where none exists and unfairly tarnishes the reputations of well-respected professionals. We will fight these unjustified charges vigorously. These men are innocent," they said. In a statement to Billboard, Henley's manager Irving Azoff praised the filing of the charges, saying the case "exposes the truth" about memorabilia sales of stolen goods. "No one has the right to sell illegally obtained property or profit from the outright theft of irreplaceable pieces of musical history," Azoff said. "These handwritten lyrics are an integral part of the legacy Don Henley has created over the course of his 50-plus-year career. We look forward to the return of Don's property, for him and his family to enjoy and preserve for posterity." According to prosecutors, Henley's notes were originally stolen in the late 1970s by an author who had been hired to write a biography of the Eagles. The thief then sold them to Horowitz, a rare book dealer, who in turn sold them along to Inciardi and Kosinski. Authorities say that Henley filed a police report and demanded the return of his property when he learned that Inciardi and Kosinski were attempting to sell the manuscripts, but that the duo responded with a "years-long campaign" to avoid giving them back. After the pair worked to "fabricate" the origins of Henley's notes, they allegedly tried to both sell them back to Henley and auction them off through Christie's and Sotheby's auction houses, Bragg claims. As part of the auction process, prosecutors say the two lied about the materials and attempted to persuade Sotheby's to do the same when dealing with prospective buyers. The dragnet began to close in 2016, when prosecutors say they executed search warrants and recovered the stolen documents. Around this time, authorities say Horowitz gave false statements to cover the theft, including one that cited the recently-deceased Frey. - Billboard, 7/12/22...... Dionne Warwick and Elvis Presley will be among the honorees at the Fashion Group International's Night of Stars gala and awards ceremony in New York on Oct. 13. Warwick will receive the trailblazer award, while Presley will posthumously receive the fashion oracle award. Warwick received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2019 and this year was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. Presley received a trustees award from the Recording Academy in 1971 and was among the first class of inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. For nearly four decades, Fashion Group International has welcomed celebrities and luminaries of the fashion and entertainment worlds to walk the red carpet for the annual FGI Night of Stars event, complete with cocktail hour, seated dinner, and awards ceremony. - Billboard, 7/13/22...... On July 12 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band announced the dates for a 31-date 2023 U.S. tour set to kick off on Feb. 1 in Tampa, Fla., and run through a gig in Newark, N.J., on Apr. 14. Along the way the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees will hit Atlanta (2/3), Orlando (2/5), Dallas (2/10), Houston (2/14), Portland (2/25), Seattle (2/27), Denver (3/2), Milwaukee (3/7), Philadelphia (3/16), Boston (3/20), Detroit (3/29), New York (4/1), Cleveland (4/5) and Baltimore (4/7). The shows will be The Boss' first North American dates with the E Street Band since Sept. 2016. Springsteen announced the dates for his 2023 European tour in May, explaining on SiriusXM's E Street Radio that after nearly five years off the road it was time for him to get the band back together: " I've got the Jones to play live very badly at this point," Springsteen said of getting back at it with the band for the first time since they recorded 2020's Letter to You album. "So, I'm deeply looking forward to getting out there in front of our fans." The group is gearing up to hit the road for the first time since the conclusion of their 14-month global "River Tour," which kicked off in 2016. After the end of the European run -- scheduled for April-July 2023 -- the band will begin a second as-yet-unannounced string of North American shows in August; tour dates in the UK are also slated for next year, with the details to be announced soon. - Billboard, 7/12/22...... Moonage Daydream, an all-new David Bowie documentary touted as "the definitive David Bowie film" has an official release date -- a global release in cinemas and IMAX on Sept. 16, 2022. "Moonage Daydream film& It's a date," reads a tweet posted by Bowie social accounts, including Twitter. "It was a day in that blue month September," the message continues, lifting a lyric from Bowie's "Remembering Marie A." Five years in the making, Moonage Daydream is the first film to be officially sanctioned by Bowie's estate and was written, directed, edited and produced by Brett Morgen, best known to music fans as the creator of the 2015 doc Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. Morgan was given "unfiltered" access to Bowie's personal archives, including all master recordings, according to a press release, for a "cinematic odyssey" exploring the Brit's "creative and musical journey." Bowie's long-time collaborator Tony Visconti is the music producer. The film is slated to premiere on HBO and HBO Max in spring 2023 via HBO Documentary Films. An official trailer for the film was shared on YouTube in May. In other Bowie news, an upgraded version of the late rocker's 1972 performance of "Starman" on the UK program Top Of The Pops has been shared on YouTube to mark its 50th anniversary. On July 6, 1972, Bowie made his debut on the legendary TV show, performing his early single and putting in one of the most lauded TV performances ever. After audio of "Starman (Top Of The Pops Version, 2022 Mix)," a version of the song recorded for the performance, was shared in June to mark the 50th anniversary of the late icon's fifth studio album, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, the upgraded video has now also been shared on YouTube. In still more Bowie news, a photo of the artist being arrested in 1976 after landing a drug charge with Iggy Pop is going up for auction .The mugshot, which can be viewed on the ewbankauctions.co.uk site, was taken in Rochester, N.Y., and it is estimated to be worth up to £1,500. According to the listing the seller's "cousin's husband was a gentleman called Scott" who "was the officer who fingerprinted and photographed David Bowie." He apparently "gave it to the seller personally as a wedding present as he knew he was a Bowie fan." The seller has been in possession of the photo for "46 years and has safely kept it hidden away." According to a local paper, Bowie was arrested after a performance at 2:25am local time on March 21, 1976, after a performance in Rochester. About half a pound of marijuana was confiscated by the police. He was held with three others including Iggy Pop, for three hours and then released on bail for $2,000. He later pleaded not guilty and a grand jury decided to pass on the case. - Billboard/NME, 7/12/22...... The Grateful Dead spinoff band Dead & Company have expressed their support for abortion rights during a recent show in Bristow, Va. Performing at Jiffy Lube Live on July 8, Dead & Company played footage of abortion and reproductive rights activists during their song 'Throwing Stones'. At one point, the message "save our rights" was also emblazoned onscreen. Fan-shot footage of the moment has been shared on Twitter. The band, who are the latest in a string of musicians, including Olivia Rodrigo, Lily Allen and Billie Joe Armstrong, to voice their support for abortion rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a 1973 US Supreme Court ruling that deemed abortion a Constitutional right, are currently on their North American summer tour, which will wrap up on July 16 in New York. - NME, 7/11/22...... Aerosmith's Joe Perry has weighed in on KISS bassist Gene Simmons' longstanding opinion that "rock is dead." Simmons, 72, first made his opinion that rock is dead public in 2014, when he pronounced the genre deceased, but now Perry, 71, counters there are plenty of new rock 'n' roll bands "carrying the flag" and headlining big stages, despite not having chart success. Speaking with Andrew Daly of VWMusic, Perry said: "No, not at all... There are some great rock 'n' roll bands carrying the flag too, and one example is [Aerosmith guitarist] Brad [Whitford]'s son Graham, who plays with Tyler Bryant and The Shakedown. "I think they're like kicking ass, and the thing is, there's a lot of guys who want to get out there and play rock 'n' roll guitar and play that kind of music. The issue is that there aren't enough fans to hear it, so it's only going to go so far, but there are still people there for them to build a following. These new bands, they still headline places, they open up for other bands, and it's the same thing. It's not like they're at the top of the Billboard charts or like the top of the pop charts, but that's kind of how it was in the late '60s, too. All the rock 'n' roll that I liked, they didn't even have a place at the Grammys for it, and there was nothing overly commercial about it." Perry is set to play two concerts in July -- a July 22 gig at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom and a July 23 concert at The Theater at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. - Music-News.com, 7/6/22...... Monty Norman, the British composer who wrote the propulsive theme for the James Bond films, died on July 11 after a short illness, according to a post on his official website. He was 94. In 1962, producer Cubby Broccoli, who had worked with Norman by backing the stage musical "Belle," hired Mr. Norman to come up with the score for the first Bond film, Dr. No, after he and Harry Saltzman had acquired the rights to author Ian Fleming's spy. The deal was sealed when the producers offered to fly Norman and his then-wife, actress-singer Diana Coupland, to Jamaica, where the movie was being filmed, all expenses paid. "Well, that was the clincher for me!" Mr. Norman said in a story posted on his website. "I thought, even if Dr. No turns out to be a stinker, at least we'd have sun, sea and sand to show for it!" Mr. Norman said he drew on a piece he had written for a proposed musical adaptation of V.S. Naipaul's "A House for Mr. Biswas," shifting the key riff from sitar to electric guitar. The result has been used in all 25 Bond thrillers. Burt Rhodes served as the original orchestrator of the Dr. No score before composer John Barry was hired to rearrange the theme. Years later, Mr. Norman went to court to assert his authorship, suing the Sunday Times newspaper for libel over a 1997 article asserting the theme was composed by Barry. He won in 2001 and was awarded £30,000 in damages. His music for the first film also includes the song "Underneath the Mango Tree," which he taught to Sean Connery and Ursula Andress, and a theme that accompanies the opening scene with the three blind assassins. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/11/22...... Don Graham, the music promotion pioneer who worked at Warner Bros. Records, A&M Records and Blue Thumb Records with the likes of Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, Connie Stevens, The Everly Brothers and Ike & Tina Turner, died on July 7 in Las Angeles of stomach cancer. He was 87. After high school, Mr. Graham was introduced to Russ Solomon, whose father owned a store in Sacramento called Tower Drugs. Solomon wanted to stop selling drugs and start selling records, so they changed one word on the sign, and Tower Records was formed in 1960. In 1958, Mr. Graham learned that Warner Bros. was about to start a record label and soon became head of its San Francisco operations. In 1962, Mr. Graham moved to Los Angeles and joined Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss' A&M Records as its first national promotion manager. Three years later, he left for Blue Thumb Records, which sported a roster that included Ike & Tina Turner, Dave Mason and Sérgio Mendes. He moved to United Artists in 1968 and enjoyed success with Bobby Goldsboro, Jay & the Americans, War, Johnny Rivers and Don McLean, then worked for Midget Productions under Joe Smith and Cream Records. He started his own company, Don Graham Promotions, in 1980. Mr. Graham's survivors include his wife of 48 years, Robin, and children Mark (and his wife, Sherry, and son, Gavin), Chris (wife Lisa, sons Nicholas and Mark) and Jennifer. In lieu of flowers, his wife said, "Greet each day and person with a positive attitude just like Don." - Billboard, 7/12/22...... Colorful character actor L.Q. Jones, a veteran of dozens of Westerns including the Sam Peckinpah classics The Wild Bunch and Ride the High Country, died on July 9 of natural causes at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 94. Mr. Jones portrayed ranch hand Andy Belden on 25 episodes of NBC's The Virginian over an eight-year span, was one of the bad guys who slipped a noose over Clint Eastwood's neck in Hang 'Em High (1968) and played a sheriff on the 1983-84 NBC primetime soap The Yellow Rose, starring Sam Elliott, Cybill Shepherd and Chuck Connors. The Texas native also portrayed Clark County Commissioner Pat Webb, Robert De Niro's nemesis, in Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995) and country singer Chuck Akers in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion (2006), his final credit. In a career that spanned more than five decades, Mr. Jones is perhaps best known for his turn as the bounty hunter T.C. in The Wild Bunch (1969). Mr. Jones first worked with Peckinpah in 1960 on the short-lived NBC Western Klondike. He portrayed one of the four ruthless brothers who fight it out with Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott in Ride the High Country (1962) and was a Confederate soldier in Major Dundee (1965). Mr. Jones' TV credits include Cheyenne, Gunsmoke, Laramie, Wagon Train, Lassie, Rawhide, Johnny Ringo, The Big Valley and Perry Mason -- sometimes doing two or three series a week. Other film credits include Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender (1956) and Flaming Star (1960), Don Siegel's Hell Is for Heroes (1962) and The Naked and the Dead (1958). On the other side of the camera, Mr. Jones directed, co-wrote and produced A Boy and His Dog (1975), a cult black comedy set in the post-apocalyptic year of 2024 that starred Don Johnson and Jason Robards and was based on a novella by sci-fi legend Harlan Ellison. Survivors also include his children, Randy, Steve and Mindy. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/9/22.