Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on August 24th, 2022

Ozzy Osbourne says he attempted to change a lyric to his new song "One of Those Days" after Eric Clapton took issue with what he thought was an anti-Jesus stance. Ozzy, 73, told Classic Rock magazine that it's not a song opposing Christ after Clapton, 77, who features on the song, questioned it. "It's not an 'I Am An Anti-Christ' song. It's about those days where everything goes f------ wrong, and you're going nuts trying to fix everything up," Ozzy said. On Clapton's query, he went on: "He said, 'Oh, I'm not sure about that lyric.' So we tried to replace it with some alternatives. We did 'One of those days where I don't believe in Christmas' but it didn't sound right. 'Losing faith in Jesus' makes much more sense when the world is turning to s---." "One Of Those Days" is featured on Patient Number 9, Ozzy's new studio album, which drops on Sept. 9. "I think that song and the whole album turned out great," Osbourne said. "I still want to have a No.1 record in England. And this album is worthy of being the one," he added. Ozzy's last LP, 2020's Ordinary Man, only reached No. 3 in the UK and US. - Music-News.com, 8/24/22...... Mick Jagger has paid a fresh tribute to the late Charlie Watts on the first anniversary of the death of the Rolling Stones drummer, who passed on Aug. 24, 2021 at age 80. Posting on Twitter, Jagger shared a montage of images of Watts from over the years. Soundtracked by the Stones' 1974 song "Till The Next Goodbye," the moving clip also includes a voiceover from Jagger. "I miss Charlie because he had a great sense of humour," the Stones frontman began. "And we also were, outside of the band... we used to hang out quite a lot and have interesting times. We loved sports: we'd go to football, we'd go to cricket games, and we had other interests apart from music," he added, captioning the post "Thinking of Charlie today" with a blue love heart emoji. The Rolling Stones recently wrapped up their 60th anniversary UK and European headline tour, and guitarist Keith Richards said in March that he "hopes that The Rolling Stones will have some new material recorded by the end of this year." - New Musical Express, 8/24/22...... Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band says it was Bruce Springsteen who inspired him to stay healthy out on the road, as Brown's band takes a tractor trailer that houses an Iron Paradise gym, outfitted with machines, free weights and more, while they crisscross America on the group's current tour. Brown, 44, says that much has changed since his early days on the road, when he says the band's workout regimen consisted of "a bottle of Jäger before the show, during the show, and after the show." "One thing I noticed, just bouncing down the road on a bus for days and days in a row, you get hunched over," he told Men's Health magazine. "I had L5 issues, a bulging disc, and I couldn't move my leg. I had to have a surgery last year to take some of the trash out." Brown says it was Springsteen who inspired his fitness transformation, with a piece of simple advice. "When I met Springsteen, I said, 'Tell me something that's helped you to stay feeling good.' He was like, 'Man, you need to sweat for an hour a day. I don't care what you do, doesn't matter. You need to sweat for an hour a day.' I was like, 'You're the Boss. Let's do it.'" Zac Brown Band is also gearing up for the Sept. 30 release of the deluxe edition of their The Comeback album, and recently released a collaboration with Cody Johnson titled "Wild Palomino." - Billboard, 8/23/22...... Since its release in June, the new Elvis Presley biopic Elvis has risen to become the third-highest-grossing music biopic since the 1970s and also the most successful movie ever from director Baz Luhrmann. After two months in theaters, Elvis has grossed nearly $145 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to boxofficemojo.com. With a $144,821,000 domestic gross (to date) and a $269,821,000 worldwide gross (to date), Elvis is the third-highest-grossing music biopic in terms of domestic box-office (which the site defines as the U.S. and Canada) since the mid-1970s, eclipsed only by the 2015 N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton (Domestic gross: $161,197,785; Worldwide gross: $201,634,991) and the 2018 Queen/Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (Domestic gross: $216,668,042; Worldwide gross: $910,809,311). - Billboard, 8/22/22...... Elton John unveiled a short snippet of "Hold Me Closer," his highly anticipated new song with Britney Spears that was inspired by his 1971 hit "Tiny Dancer," on Aug. 22. In a TikTok post, Spears' voice can be heard alongside John's as the pair sing the lyrics and melody, with the music updated with a small clapping pop beat, accompanied by some high-octave synths and a rhythmic guitar, all leading right up to a drop & until the clip cuts itself off. The 14-second snippet's style will sound familiar to anyone who was listening to modern radio, and seems to fall in with John's mega-successful 2021 release "Cold Heart" with Dua Lipa and PNAU, in which John interpolated the chorus of his 1972 track "Rocket Man," as well as a few lesser known songs throughout. A few days earlier, it was revealed on Instagram that "Hold Me Closer" would officially debut on Aug. 26, alongside what appears to be the cover art. A recent article in the New York Post's Page Six column quoted an unnamed source who called the rumored track "incredible", adding: "Britney was in the studio in Beverly Hills last week with Elton for the super-secret recording session overseen by uber-producer Andrew Watt." - Billboard/NME, 8/22/22...... In a recent interview with Mojo magazine, Joni Mitchell's ex-husband Larry Klein says the iconic pop/folk singer is hoping to return to the studio to record new music. Mitchell, 78, suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015 which left her unable to talk or walk for some time but in July she returned to the stage for her first full show since 2000 at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. Klein says his former spouse is keen to return to music: "She's been working her way to regain all sorts of things, and she's been wanting to sing again, she just hadn't gotten to the point where she had the confidence to go into the studio." When asked if Joni will ever record any new music, he replied: "I wouldn't be surprised (if she records new music). She's a hard worker. She's working at regaining the ability to play guitar, and what that means is that she'll start experimenting, and who knows what's going to come with that?" Mitchell and session guitarist Klein met while Joni was working on her 1982 record Wild Things Run Fast and they became romantically involved during their time together and married by the end of the year. They split while putting together Mitchell's 1984 album Turbulent Indigo but continued to work together after the divorce. After her Newport Festival appearance, Joni revealed to CBS News she retaught herself how to play guitar by watching online tutorials. She said: "I'm learning. I'm looking at videos that are on the net to see where I put my fingers. It's amazing what an aneurysm knocks out-- how to get out of a chair, you don't know how to get out of a bed.... Going back to infancy, almost. You have to relearn everything." - Music-News.com, 8/21/22...... Blondie will be among the participants of the inaugural edition of the UK's Band Shirt Day on Sept. 16. Band Shirt Day aims to bring artists together to donate proceeds from their merchandise sales to charities of their choice. Other artists taking part include King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, with charities chosen including Children of Ukraine, MusiCares and Planned Parenthood. A full list of participating artists and their charities can be viewed on Instagram. - NME, 8/21/22...... In an emotional message posted on her Facebook page on Aug. 19, "The Morning After" singer Maureen McGovern revealed that she's been diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of dementia. "I've been diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy with symptoms of Alzheimer's and/or dementia," the 73-year-old songstress says in a sentimental video clip after recounting her career highlights. "What I do, or what I am still able to accomplish, has changed," she continues. "I can no longer travel or perform in live concerts. In fact, I can no longer drive -- how's that for a kick in the butt?" The Mayo Clinic describes posterior cortical atrophy as a "degenerative brain and nervous system (neurological) syndrome that results in difficulty with eyesight and processing visual information." Common signs and symptoms include hallucinations, anxiety, confusion, and changes in behavior and personality. McGovern is well known for recording two Oscar-winning songs written by the team of Al Kasha & Joel Hirschhorn -- her cover version of "The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure that topped the pop chart for two weeks in the summer of 1973, and the version of "We May Never Love Like This Again" that was featured in The Towering Inferno, but her single stalled at No. 83 on the chart in early 1975. She received two Grammy nominations -- best new artist of 1973 (she lost to Bette Midler) and best traditional pop vocal performance of 1998 for The Pleasure of His Company, a voice/piano album. In her announcement, McGovern noted that the diagnosis "is not going to keep me from living my life" and that her "passion for music, for singing, remains profoundly robust." The singer also plans to bring more awareness to music therapy. "We are all patients and caregivers at some time in our lives," McGovern says, noting that she has spent time performing hospitals, hospices, women's prison, senior facilities and schools. "I have experienced how music and the arts free our spirits and opens our hearts to our common humanity," she said. - Billboard, 8/20/22...... On Aug. 18, Elvis Costello unveiled details of a huge 10-night residency in New York City in Feb. 2023. Appearing on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Costello said: "I'm gonna play a 10-night stand in New York City next February. But here's the thing -- I'm going to print a list of 10 songs a night that's gonna give you a clue to what the night's gonna be like. And the other 10 songs that I might play are a secret." Elvis went on to say that fans will "never hear the same song twice" and that the setlists would add up to "200 songs [played] over 10 nights." He also revealed that for fans wanting to go to all 10 nights of the residency, a "special price" would be set. The residency will take place at Gramercy Theatre in Feb. 2023. Further dates and details are expected to be announced soon. Costello's interview with host Jimmy Fallon can be seen on YouTube. - NME, 8/18/22...... Actor Gary Busey, who portrayed rock legend Buddy Holly in the 1978 biopic The Buddy Holly Story, is denying allegations he groped two women at a "Monster Mania" convention in New Jersey earlier in August. Busey, 78, has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact, one count of criminal attempt/criminal sexual contact and one count of harassment over claims he touched two fans inappropriately at the event. Speaking to TMZ on Aug. 22, Busey said "nothing happened" with his accusers and that he doesn't have "any regrets" over the way he acted at the convention. Asked if the allegations are true, he added: "It was all false. I don't care because there are no accusations." He insisted his interaction with the "two girls" took "less than 10 seconds," and claimed they then left. "Then they made their story," he said. He also alleged his "partner and the camerawoman" were witnesses, before adding again that "nothing happened." According to a release from the Cherry Hill, N.J., police force the actor was charged on Aug. 19 with two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, a single count of fourth-degree attempted sexual assault and a single count of harassment. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cherry Hill Police Lt Robert Scheunemann said: "It was about contact, it was about touching." Few details about the alleged crimes have been given, other than claiming they took place at the Doubletree Hotel on Route 70 during the semi-annual convention between Aug. 12 to 14. A spokesperson for the Camden County prosecutor's office declined to answer questions about the charges, saying: "We're not commenting." In addition to his Oscar-nominated performance in The Buddy Holly Story, Busey's other film credits include his major movie debut, 1974's Thunderbolt and Lightfoot with Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges, and as FBI agent Angelo Pappas in Point Break alongside Keanu Reeves. - Reuters, 8/23/22...... In related news, drummer Jerry Allison, who drummed as part of Buddy Holly's The Crickets, has died at age 82. Mr. Allison's death was confirmed on Aug. 22 in a statement shared to Holly's official Facebook page, which expressed "sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the drummer." In the statement, Mr. Allison is described as "one of buddy's very closest friends, and the inspiration to drummers for decades since.... Buddy is often heralded as the original singer-songwriter, but [Mr. Allison], too, wrote and inspired so many of the songs that would go on to be eternal classics. There's more to be said and posted here in the coming days. For today, we think about his family and friends and wish [Mr. Allison] to rest in peace." A cause of death has not been disclosed. Born in Hillsboro, Tex. in 1939, Allison was one of the original four members of The Crickets, which was formed in 1957 and also included bassist Joe B. Mauldin and guitarist Niki Sullivan. The latter would leave the group shortly afterwards, leading them to continue as a trio. Following Holly's untimely death in 1959, Mr. Allison and Mauldin continued to tour and record under the Crickets banner, with a revolving cast of guests and collaborators throughout -- Mr. Allison being the only constant member. Mr. Allison played a significant role in the composition of many of Holly's most well-known songs. The pair co-wrote 1956's "That'll Be The Day," and 1957's "Peggy Sue" alongside Norman Petty. Mauldin died in 2015 from cancer, and a year later, Mr. Allison -- joined by a wide array of The Crickets' former members -- performed at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, the site of Holly's final performance. Shortly after, Mr. Allison announced that the special show marked The Crickets' final performance. - NME, 8/23/22...... Entertainment lawyer John Eastman, who represented his brother-in-law Paul McCartney through Beatles power struggles and for decades afterward, died on Aug. 10 in East Hampton, N.Y., of pancreatic cancer. He was 93. - People, 9/5/22.

Billy Joel has sold more than 150 million records and received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress. In the new special Extraordinary with Fareed Zakaria, CNN host Fareed Zakaria and Joel talk about the inspiration behind the Piano Man's mega hits, and more, from Joel's home in southern Florida. Extraordinary with Fareed Zakaria premieres on CNN on Aug. 20 at 9:00 pm EDT, 8 Central. - CNN, 8/19/22...... A return of the 1978 Olivia Newton-John-starred musical comedy Grease to 135 theaters across America in the third weekend of August is AMC Theatres' way of paying tribute to the late beloved singer and actor. In making the announcement on Aug. 18, AMC said the cost per moviegoer will be $5, with $1 of every ticket sold going to AMC's charitable fund, AMC Cares. The proceeds will be donated to breast cancer research. Newton-John died Aug. 15 at her ranch in Southern California at the age of 73 after a decades-long battle with cancer. "Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer," Newton-John's husband wrote on Facebook as he announced her passing. "Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer," he added. First released in 1978 and also starring John Travolta, Grease is still considered one of the most enduring film musicals of all time and was the top-grossing film of that year. Meanwhile, Olivia's music has made significant streaming gains since her death, with 12 of her songs currently ranking on Billboard's latest Digital Song Sales chart, dated Aug. 20. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" leads her total, new at No. 5 on the Digital Song Sales chart with 5,000 downloads sold in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 11, up from a nominal sum, according to Luminate. The ballad reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. Following "Hopelessly" are "Magic" (No. 11), "You're the One That I Want" (17), "Have You Never Been Mellow" (29), "Physical" (30), "Let Me Be There" (31) and "I Honestly Love You" (39). Newton-John achieved five Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s, among 15 top 10s, between 1974 and 1984. She also scored two No. 1's, among five top 10s, on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart: If You Love Me Let Me Know (1974) and Have You Never Been Mellow (1975). Olivia's Grease soundtrack has re-entered Billboard's Soundtracks chart at No. 5 (9,000 equivalent album units, up 1,286%) and the Xanadu soundtrack has debuted at No. 18 (4,000, up 7,863%). - The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard, 8/18/22...... The New York Times is reporting that Willie Nelson was temporarily sidelined after testing positive for Covid-19 back in early May, less than a week after the Country Music Hall of Fame member's 89th birthday. At the time, the iconic performer had shared on social media that he was canceling his May 8 performance and postponing other shows "due to a positive Covid case in the Willie Nelson Family band, but did not indicate who in the group had contracted the coronavirus. According to the Times, Nelson, who had been sleeping on his tour bus while making a stop in Nashville, woke up in the middle of the night struggling to breathe. He tested positive for Covid-19 after taking a rapid PCR test. "I had a nebulizer on the bus," his wife Annie Nelson told the paper. "I started everything I could at that point, including Paxlovid. He had the monoclonal antibodies. He had steroids." After returning to their ranch home in Spicewood, Tex., the couple brought a mobile medical unit to his ranch. "We turned the house into a hospital," she said. "There were a couple of times when I wasn't sure he was going to make it." It took six days before Nelson was on the road to recovery. "I had a pretty rough time with it, the "On the Road Again" singer added. "Covid ain't nothing to laugh at, that's for sure. Two weeks later, Nelson was back to performing, playing two shows in New Braunfels, Tex. In Jan. 2021, Willie shared photos of himself receiving a Covid-19 vaccine. Nelson is currently on the road for his Outlaw Music Festival tour. On Sept. 24, he and the band will be in Raleigh, N.C., to once again take the stage at Farm Aid, the nonprofit and benefit concert Nelson launched in 1985 alongside Neil Young and John Mellencamp to raise awareness of the loss of family farms, and to raise money to help keep farm families on their land. - Billboard, 8/18/22...... Elvis Presley's widow Priscilla Presley appeared on NBC's Today on Aug. 16, the 45th anniversary of the music legend's death, and opened up about Elvis's plans to expand into film and her thoughts about the new hit Elvis movie. "He wanted to do movies, serious movies, and [his manager] Colonel Parker probably should have stayed a publicist," Priscilla explained. "He didn't take Elvis where he wanted to be, and that was hard because I lived it. I lived the arguments that they had. I lived Elvis trying to explain he didn't want to do the movies with all the girls and the beaches and everything, that he really wanted to do serious things," she continued. "So living that, with him, and watching the [new] movie, it brought back a lot of memories." Director Baz Luhrmann's glitzy Elvis biopic was released on VOD on Aug. 8. Viewers have the option to rent the film for $19.99 or buy the Blu-ray at stores including Amazon for $24.99. - Billboard, 8/16/22...... BMG and Trafalgar Releasing announced on Aug. 18 that a new Ronnie James Dio documentary, Dio: Dreamers Never Die, will be shown in theaters worldwide for two days only -- Sept. 28 and Oct. 2. The documentary follows Dio's unlikely rise from a '50s doo-wop crooner to frontman of some of the most formidable and influential outfits in metal, including Rainbow, Black Sabbath (where he replaced Ozzy Osbourne) and his namesake Dio. Executive produced by his widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio, Dreamers Never Die includes never-before-seen footage, as well as interviews with bandmates and colleagues Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Glenn Hughes, Vinny Appice, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, Sebastian Bach, Eddie Trunk and Jack Black. Premieres will be held in Los Angeles and London, and the two-day cinema run will also include outtakes available only to the theatrical audience. Tickets for the documentary go on sale Aug. 24 at 10 a.m. ET at DioDreamersNeverDie.com. A post-theatrical run is also being planned and Rhino/WMG will release the soundtrack from Dio: Dreamers Never Die in the fall. Dio died of stomach cancer in 2010 at age 67. - Billboard, 8/18/22...... In related news, it has been revealed that Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler missed the reunion of Sabbath at the recent U.K. Commonwealth Games after getting Covid-19 and a boating accident that left him with injured ribs. In an interview with Birmingham Live, Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi explained Geezer's absence was due to health issues. "I don't think he wanted to come over as he hadn't been well with Covid. He'd been on holiday to Kenya and to Italy and had had an accident on a boat, cracking or breaking a rib about three weeks ago, so he was not quite in fine fettle to come over to play." Iommi added: "It's a shame because we'd talked for a long time about the possibility of playing at the Commonwealth Games." Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, 73, and guitarist Iommi -- as well as bassist Adam Wakeman and drummer Tommy Clufetos -- returned to the stage earlier in August to perform a rendition of "Paranoid" at the multi-sport event. The performance came over four years after the final night of Sabbath's "The End"' tour, while Ozzy, who has been recovering from a major operation at home in Los Angeles, hadn't been on stage since joining Post Malone for a rendition of their "Take What You Want" collaboration at the American Music Awards in 2019. Ozzy also made headlines recently when he told The Sun newspaper that he wishes he'd made "more varied" music throughout his career. "You know what, I would have liked to have been a little more varied. Black Sabbath music is very aggressive even if some of it is foot-tapping," Osbourne said. "But we fought the f---ing world to make it big. But mind you, it's a good thing we didn't get our royalties when we were 23 because I would have f---ed myself into another planet." - Music-News.com, 8/16/22...... REO Speedwagon lead singer Kevin Cronin has expressed his gratitude to a "super-friendly family" in Toronto after they lent a hand when he experienced trouble renting a bicycle to take in some of the local sights. Cronin was in the city as part of REO's current tour with Styx and Loverboy, which was to hit Budweiser Stage on Aug. 16. But while he was enjoying some free time to take in the sights, he ran into some issues trying to rent a Bike Share bicycle, and posted his predicament to Twitter: "Hi friends, while I was attempting (unsuccessfully) to rent a bicycle from a kiosk here in Toronto this afternoon, a super-friendly family went out of their way, and offered me one of their rental bikes!," Cronin chronicled in a blog post titled "Biking in Toronto" on the band's website. "They refused to take no for an answer, nor would they accept any token of my appreciation... including free concert tickets for Tuesday night at the Budweiser Stage," Cronin continued. "They didn't recognize me, and had no selfish motives... they were simply being nice. We all need reaffirmation of the intrinsic kindness in human nature, and I got my daily reminder today in Toronto," he added. - Canoe.com, 8/16/22...... At the start of his North American tour and again at Glastonbury, Paul McCartney performed a virtual duet with his former Beatles bandmate John Lennon courtesy of technology created by The Lord Of The Rings and The Beatles: Get Back director Peter Jackson. At the shows, McCartney and Lennon traded verses on the Let It Be track "I've Got A Feeling," with Jackson having isolated Lennon's vocal for the team-up. "I've got a special little thing here," McCartney said when introducing that track. "One day, Peter Jackson rings me up and says he can take John's vocals and isolate them so that you can play live with John on tour. He said, 'Do you fancy that?' That's so special for me man. I know it's virtual, but come on -- it's John. We're back together." In a new interview with Mojo, John's son Julian Lennon has now admitted that he was "shocked" when he first saw the duet, but by the time of the Glastonbury performance he "actually enjoyed it." "I watched it on YouTube -- and I kind of went: 'Errrr... I don't know if I'm comfortable with that," he said, adding: "It shocked me." Julian went on to add that it was tough seeing his father "brought to life" through the performance, but grew to appreciate the spectacle at Glastonbury. Peter Jackson's three-part film, which premiered on the Disney+ streaming platform in Nov. 2021, focuses on the making of the band's penultimate studio album Let It Be and showcases their final concert as a band, on London's Savile Row rooftop, in its entirety. Beatles drummer Ringo Starr went viral over the second weekend of August after posting a picture of his feet along with a Blu-ray copy of the film on Twitter. The Beatles: Get Back won for Best Streaming Docuseries Non-fiction at the Hollywood Critic's Association's HCA TV Awards on Aug. 14.- New Musical Express/Billboard, 8/17/22...... In an interview with Dean Delray on the Let There Be Talk podcast, KISS bassist Gene Simmons says he anticipates the band continuing "in ways even I haven't thought of" after the current line-up stops touring. KISS announced back in 2018 that they would embark on one massive final tour, before hanging up their iconic costumes, with Simmons saying they were retiring out of "self-respect" and because of the "love" for their fans. In the interview, Simmons hinted at a significant extension to the farewell tour, promising that KISS will take the show to 100 more cities before they finally retire. Simmons also discussed where their last ever show might take place. "We don't know if it's [going to be in] New York. I have good reasons why it should be, but the important thing is when it's the last show, it'll be the last show," Simmons said. "KISS the touring band will stop. But the touring band. KISS will continue in other ways. I have no problems with four deserving 20-year-olds sticking the makeup back on and hiding their identity," he added. "KISS will continue in ways that even I haven't thought of," Gene predicted. "But I can conceive of... You know, the Blue Man Group and 'Phantom Of The Opera' tours around the world with different personnel. There could and should be a KISS show, kind of live on stage with effects and everything else, but also semi-autobiographical thing about four knuckleheads off the streets of New York that ends with the last third as a full-blown celebration, a full-on performance. Not with us. Although not a problem stepping in every once in a while." After slots in Europe and Australia this summer -- including a headline slot at this year's Download Festival -- the band will return to North America at the end of 2022 for a few more festivals, which is everything they have officially left on the schedule. KISS also plan to reschedule their Las Vegas residency, which was cancelled in 2021. - New Musical Express, 8/15/22.