Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA made a surprise appearance at the ABBA Voyage show in east London on Sept. 15. Following the finale, an announcer made an unexpected revelation over the PA: "You have been in the presence this evening of Frida, who sends her best wishes to you all." The crowd then began cheering as they spotted the singer waving from her seat. Photos and reactions of Anni-Frid's appearance can be seen on Twitter. All four members of ABBA attended the opening night of ABBA Voyage earlier in 2022, marking their first group appearance in public in 36 years. The "revolutionary" concert series began in May at the purpose-built ABBA Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It sees digital versions of the Swedish pop icons perform a hits-filled set, backed by a 10-piece live band. In November 2021, ABBA released their first new album in 40 years, which is also called Voyage. - NME, 9/16/22...... 
Ozzy Osbourne is currently enjoying his strongest album opening of his six-decade career in music. Osbourne's critically acclaimed new set Patient Number 9 has debuted at No. 1 on multiple Billboard charts: Top Album Sales (Ozzy's first #1 ever on this chart), Top Current Album Sales (another first), Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Vinyl Albums and Tastemaker Albums charts; and at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. Globally, the album charted at #1 in Canada (Ozzy's first-ever #1 there); career high #2 entries in the UK, Australia, Finland and Italy; #6 in the Netherlands and New Zealand; #8 in Belgium; and #14 France. Other highlights include #2 Austria, Germany and Sweden; #3 in Switzerland; and #4 in Norway. Working with producer Andrew Watt for the second time, Osbourne welcomed a dynamic A-list featured guests on the album. For the first time ever, his Black Sabbath bandmate and co-founder, guitarist Tony Iommi, appears on an Ozzy solo album, while the record also boasts contributions from the likes of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam. For the bulk of the album, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers held down drums, while the late Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters appears on three songs: "Parasite," "Mr Darkness," and "God Only Knows." Meanwhile, producer Watt has told Rolling Stone magazine that Osbourne recorded additional tracks with Taylor Hawkins that didn't make the new LP. "There's a bunch of other stuff with Ozzy and Taylor, as well, that's going to be used for another thing," Watt said. - Music-News.com, 9/22/22...... Neil Young made a surprise appearance during a recent interview between musician Jack White and producer Rick Rubin at Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu. Available for listening on YouTube, the podcast interview was well in progress when Young -- who'd been recording new music in the same Malibu studio -- gatecrashed the proceedings and joined in on the pair's conversation. White commended the 76-year-old Young's ability to maintain a decades-long career in the music industry and likened the singer to the Rolling Stones' longevity. "I remember when I was 12 and the Rolling Stones were 40 and everyone was like, 'Oh my god,' and it's so nice that you guys are able to sort of prove that," White said. In reply, Young credited his career stamina to his "spirit," saying that "if they got the spirit, they'll be cranking something out, because what else can we do?." The folk/rock icon went on to reveal that he'd spent three weeks at the Shangri-La studio, which is owned by Rubin. The singer said that he's been working on new music with Rubin, whose studio was also used to record Young's 2016 album Peace Trail. Young explained that his upcoming album with his backing band Crazy Horse will feature "unheard of combinations of instruments." He also discussed the songwriting process for the new album as well as its tracklist and melodies. - Billboard, 9/22/22...... 
As the new David Bowie film Moonage Daydream is released exclusively in IMAX on Sept. 16 and hits U.K. cinemas on Sept. 23, the late rock legend was honoured with a stone on London's Music Walk of Fame on Camden High Street on Sept. 22. "Enjoyed being at Camden Town today for the unveiling of the David Bowie 'music walk of fame'," reads a post on the DavidBowiePinUp Twitter page, while host Phil Alexander tweeted: "Thrilled to have hosted @davidbowie's induction onto @musicwalkoffame in sunny Camden yesterday. Good to be back after an enforced absence of two and a half years and to see so many familiar faces. Roll on the next stone!" Among those paying tribute and unveiling the stone was Spiders From Mars drummer Woody Woodmansey, who helped unveil the stone and told Reuters: "It's another landmark for his legacy basically music, the films, the videos, and everything he did for the culture. He was just an amazing artist - 24/7 he was on the job and it always showed in the products. To be able to move through all the different characters and the musical genres that he did and pull it off, I don't think anybody's achieved that ever, [he was] one of a kind, unique." Lee Bennett, the founder of the Walk Of Fame, said the release of new Bowie film Moonage Daydream was the "catalyst" for the series to "come back with David and unlock the rest of the schedule" after Covid-related delays to new stones being laid. One English critic described the film as "an avant garde portrait of an artist that scratches away at the surface paint to reveal the many layers beneath. You should seek it out, immediately." The ceremony was originally set for Sept. 15 but delayed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8. - New Musical Express, 9/23/22...... The Grateful Dead has teamed up with winemaker Gnarly Head for a boozy collaboration for wine-loving Deadheads. The collaboration -- which includes the brand's Cabernet Sauvignon and Old Vine Zinfandel, is sourced from 35- to 80-year-old vines in Gnarly Head's home base of Lodi, Calif. -- -- pays tribute to the band's classic iconography. The wine hit shelves in September. A label showcasing the band's signature skull and roses in twisted vines covers the Cabernet Sauvignon bottle, while the band's lightning-bolt skull, made famous on the album art for their 1976 double LP Steal Your Face, covers the Zinfandel. "Gnarly Head wines and the music of the Grateful Dead are both rooted in Northern California, and both are expressive, bold and true to their roots--so this partnership is a natural fit," Andrew Blok, brand director for Gnarly Head said in a statement. "They happen to be fantastic when enjoyed together." The limited-edition wines retail for $12 a bottle and are available at major U.S. retailers including Albertsons, Safeway, Publix, Kroger, Harris Teeter, Winn-Dixie, Total Wine & More, Total Food Lion, Market Basket, HEB and Fred Meyer, while supplies last. - Billboard, 9/21/22...... Puerto Rican-born pop legend José Feliciano will receive the first-ever Billboard Legend Award at the 2022 Billboard Latin Music Awards. The special award was created to honor artists with a career and personality that are "larger than life... A person whose contribution to music makes them a household name and who maintains a career that has withstood the test of time," according to a press release. Feliciano, known for his bilingual Christmas classic "Feliz Navidad" and his cover of the Doors' hit "Light My Fire," will be recognized during the awards show, which will take place on Sept. 29 at the Watsco Canter in Miami and be broadcast live on Telemundo beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The Billboard Latin Music Awards will be simulcast on Telemundo, Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional. Feliciano's award coincides with the Sept. 29 release of his documentary José Feliciano - Behind This Guitar on Peacock in the U.S. The documentary, which chronicles the artist's 60-year career, is executive produced by Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Carlos Santana and Rudy Perez. Feliciano recorded his first album in 1964 when he was 19 and since, the virtuoso performer has recorded more than 60 albums. - Billboard, 9/21/22...... 
Stevie Nicks is set to release a new song on Sept. 23 -- a cover of the Stephen Stills-penned Buffalo Springfield hit "For What It's Worth." "I am so excited to release my new song this Friday," Nicks wrote in a handwritten letter posted to Twitter. "It's called 'For What It's Worth' and it was written by Stephen Stills in 1966. It meant something to me then, and it means something to me now... I always wanted to interpret it through the eyes of a woman -- and it seems like today, in the times we live in, it has a lot to say." Nicks' last solo album was 2014's 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault, a collection of re-recorded demos written between 1969 and 1987. Her last album of new original material was 2011's In Your Dreams. The Fleetwood Mac member is currently on a solo tour of the US, and on Sept. 24 will headline the Sound on Sound Festival in Bridgeport, Conn., before appearing at the Ohana Festival in Dana Point, Calif. on Sept. 30. October dates include L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl (10/3), Phoenix (10/6), The Woodlands, Tex. (10/9), Alpharetta, Ga. (10/12), Nashville, Tenn. (10/16), Charleston, S.C. (10/19), Charlotte, N.C. (10/22) and Tampa, Fla. (10/25) before wrapping in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Oct. 28. - New Musical Express, 9/21/22...... Chuck Leavell, who has served as the principal touring keyboardist and musical director of The Rolling Stones since 1982, says in a new interview with Goldmine magazine that not a day goes by when the surviving members of the band don't think of the late Charlie Watts, who died aged 80 on Aug. 24, 2021. Leavell, 70, says he along with Sir Mick Jagger, 79, Keith Richards, 78, Ronnie Wood, 75, and even replacement sticksman Steve Jordan, 65, are still devastated by the loss but continue to honour his memory. "Well, the obvious is the loss of Charlie. It still stings, and we all think of him all the time. Steve Jordan as well, who is doing a fine job for the band," said Leavell, who added that Watts would have wanted his bandmates to continue his legacy by continuing to perform for fans. He said: "It was so sad and tragic to lose Charlie last year, but he would never want to be the reason the band would stop, so we honour him in part by carrying on." And the "Satisfaction" rockers apparently plan to keep rocking until they can't rock any longer. "How much longer can it go on? I don't think any of us know, really," Leavell says. 'I say that as long as it makes sense, as long as we are able to perform at this level, as long as we stay healthy, as long as the fans will come." - Music-News.com, 9/18/22...... Elton John is scheduled to appear at the White House in Washington on Sept. 23 for a special evening and performance in collaboration with A&E Networks and The History Channel titled "A Night When Hope and History Rhyme." The performance and corresponding event -- which will see John singing to Pres. Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden and an audience of 2,000 invited guests at the White House's South Lawn -- is meant to "celebrate the unifying and healing power of music, commend the life and work of Sir Elton John, and honor the everyday history-makers in the audience, including teachers, nurses, frontline workers, mental health advocates, students, LGBTQ+ advocates and more," according to a White House press release. A representative for the White House reportedly explained that John and his team "expressed an interest on his behalf in playing again at the White House." The event is not the first time the singer has been invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In 1998, the Rocket Man secured an invitation from Pres. Bill Clinton to perform at a dinner for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The president and his wife are also scheduled to make comments during the evening, though as of press time it is unclear what their address will be about. The following evening, Elton is scheduled to play at the ball park of the Washington, D.C. Nationals on his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour. Meanwhile, Sir Elton has posted a fond memory of late Queen Elizabeth II on Instagram. "Today I'll be joining the rest of the world in remembering Her Majesty The Queen. My own memories of her are filled with joy and admiration. The Queen honoured me with a CBE, a knighthood and the Companion of Honour," John wrote on Sept. 19 alongside a 1970s photo in which he is meeting the queen, as well a as a more recent shot of them shaking hands. - Billboard 9/20/22...... 
Former Journey frontman Steve Perry is taking legal action to stop his former bandmates from owning merchandise trademarks on the names of many of the band's biggest hits. In a petition filed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Sept. 11, Perry asked the agency to invalidate 20 trademark registrations held by a company called Freedom JN LLC an entity that he says is controlled by former bandmates Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon. The disputed trademarks include "Anyway You Want It," "Wheel In The Sky, "Open Arms" and the titles of many of the band's other most successful songs. They cover the use of the names on T-shirts, hoodies and other forms of apparel, making it easier for the band to sue someone selling those items. Perry, who left Journey in 1998, says Cain and Schon were not allowed to unilaterally register trademarks for the song names because the trio signed a partnership agreement requiring unanimous consent for any use of the tracks, for merchandise or anything else. By applying to register the names, Perry says Cain and Schon committed "fraud on the trademark office, supplying the agency with inaccurate information about the true ownership rights. He also says that the use of the names as trademarks will "falsely suggest that he's connected to the products. "Perry was lead singer for all 20 songs when each was first released and through to the height [their] success and popularity," Perry's petition reads. "Their respective titles have become uniquely and unmistakably associated with and point to petitioner Perry." The case isn't the first trademark battle among Journey members. In 2020, Schon and Cain filed a lawsuit against former drummer Steven Smith and former bassist Ross Valory, accusing them of engaging in an "attempted corporate coup d'tat to improperly use the Journey band name." That case settled amicably with Smith and Valory departing the band. In July, Journey released a new album, Freedom, with Narada Michael Walden on drums and ex-Journey member and former American Idol judge Randy Jackson on bass. - Billboard, 9/20/22...... A Van Halen stage has been opened in late VH co-founder Eddie Van Halen's hometown of Pasedena, Calif. A ceremony was held over the third weekend in September for the new park which will allow informal recreation and community gatherings and includes a children's playground, public toilets a 48-space parking plaza and a dog park. The stage in the park was initially set to be named after the late guitarist but it was named after the entire band at the request of the Van Halen family. Footage of the ribbon cutting ceremony can be viewed on Twitter. A memorial plaque to Eddie was previously unveiled in Pasadena close to the city's Convention Center in 2021 after he died from throat cancer on Oct. 6, 2020. - NME, 9/19/22...... Roxy Music's 2022 UK and North American tour kicked off on Sept. 7 at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena, marking the first time that bandmembers Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera and Paul Thompson have been together on stage since the band's "For Your Pleasure"' tour in 2011. The tour also recognizes the 50th anniversary of the band's debut album, which they will be celebrating throughout 2022 with a vinyl reissue series that sees reissues of all eight of their studio albums. On Sept. 19, the art-rockers played Chicago's United Center, and two songs from the show, "Oh Yeah" and "In Every Dream a Heartache," have been shared on YouTube. Roxy will play San Francisco's Chase Center on Sept. 26 and The Forum in L.A. on Sept. 28 before playing the UK leg of the tour, which includes dates in Glasgow (10/10), Manchester (10/12) and London (10/14). - NME, 10/20/22...... 
Vancouver BC, Canada's Rio Theatre is facing a backlash over its screening of controversial 1972 X-rated film Deep Throat. The one-time screening on Sept. 14 is part of the film's 50th anniversary celebration and includes a panel discussion afterwards. But it has drawn outrage and criticism from people who say the Rio should not be celebrating a film that depicts what the female lead, Linda Lovelace, herself had called rape. "We want to offer a counter-narrative to the fact that it's a celebration," said Karla Gjini, a member of Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter, which plans to protest outside the Commercial Drive theatre before the screening. Lovelace, whose real name was Linda Boreman and died in a Denver car accident in 2002 at age 53, had testified before a U.S. Senate committee investigating the pornography industry, saying: "Virtually every time someone watches that movie, they're watching me being raped." Her autobiography Ordeal also detailed the abuse she experienced behind the scenes of the film by her ex-husband Chuck Traynor, who she says forced her into appearing in porn films, including Deep Throat. "To frame it as a celebration is not the message we want to be sending to women," said Gjini. Corinne Lea, owner of the Rio, is standing behind the screening, despite receiving death threats and threats of violence, calling the film "historically significant." "It was the first porn film that focused on having a narrative, and it also focused on the female satisfying her own sexual pleasure." Lovelace had made many contradictory statements, said Lea, including saying filming the movie was a liberating and positive experience. Looking into the whole of Lovelace's statements, "it's not a black-and-white response." Despite the controversy surrounding the main actor, the film isn't the Linda Lovelace show, Lea added. "This is a film that was significant in the history of sex and pornography in film and we are all adults and we should be able to look at controversial things and discuss them calmly," she said. Lea said she organized the moderated panel in order to have a "safe space" to discuss the film afterwards. The panel includes the Damianos, local sex work activists Velvet Steele and Susan Davis, and film studies expert Dr. Tom Waugh. - Canoe.com, 9/15/22.
Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has announced the 2023 European leg of his "This Is Not A Drill Tour" will kick off on Mar. 17 in Lisbon, Portugal. Other confirmed cities include Barcelona, Madrid, Milan and Krakow, before the European leg wraps in Prague on May 24. On Sept. 17, Waters continued the US leg in Tacoma, Wash., and it's set to wind down in Mexico City on Oct. 15. The tour had been originally set to begin in 2020, however it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. In an April Facebook post, he described it as "a groundbreaking new rock & roll/cinematic extravaganza, performed in the round" and a "stunning indictment of the corporate dystopia in which we all struggle to survive"..... "the show includes a dozen great songs from Pink Floyd's Golden Era alongside several new ones." He went on to tease it as "My first farewell tour! Don't miss it." - New Musical Express, 9/16/22...... 
In late 1980, Creedence Clearwater Revival's record label Fantasy released The Royal Albert Hall Concert, the first official live album by the original quarted lineup that purported to be a document of its historic Apr. 14, 1970 gig at the celebrated British venue. The problem was, the disc in question turned out to be from CCR's New Year's Eve concert that same year in Oakland, Calif. The album was retitled The Concert, and the Royal Albert Hall show remained the province of bootleggers. Until now. On Sept. 16, Craft Recordings released Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall. An accompanying documentary, streaming on Netflix, shows the concert was every bit as exciting as its legend. Narrated by Jeff Bridges, it also includes about a half-hour of interviews and footage from CCR's entire European tour. The band members -- brothers John and Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford -- appear fresh-faced and wide-eyed as they tour the sites, and there's little of the rancor that would subsequently mark the band's breakup a few years later. In a recent interview with Billboard, John Fogerty explains how Fantasy and its president Saul Zaents released the original album: "They had gotten a master copy of this Oakland Coliseum tape, and I think they were trying to pull the wool over people's eyes and use that contractual commitment to try to get away with it. But everybody understood right away it wasn't done at Albert Hall, it was done in Oakland. So after that they just called it The Concert." Fogerty added that the band felt the Royal Albert Hall show was "a high-water mark because Albert Hall is so legendary in terms of rock n' roll. First and foremost the Beatles played there, I think a few times. I imagine other British bands that rose to the top, too. I think the (Rolling) Stones and maybe the Kinks by then had played Albert Hall. It was seen as the thing to do in rock n' roll, especially when you went to England." As for new music, Fogerty says "now that "I finally have my studio running as I want it" [I have] "a lot of ideas and a few completed songs. Mostly ideas. It's the kind of swampy music that I love to do. That's what I'm feeling." - Billboard, 9/16/22...... The vinyl LP subscription service VinylMePlease.com is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen's haunting, unique entirely solo 1982 album Nebraska with a special new pressing of the album on the Black Smoke label which is half-speed mastered by engineer Barry Grint, whose previous credits include The Beatles and Madonna. Fans can sign up to Vinyl Me, Please and order a copy of the October-reissued Nebraska at vinylmeplease.com, and get a taste of the reissue on Instagram. 
Meanwhile, Springsteen friend and former Rolling Stone magazine cofounder Jann S. Wenner has let it slip that the Boss has a new album in the pipeline during an interview with the magazine for Wenner's new book Like a Rolling Stone. When asked about current pop and hip-hop music, Wenner said: "There's a lot of good stuff, and there's a lot of trash and trivial stuff. Honestly, I don't think it's as good as [rock 'n' roll].... There's a new Bruce [Springsteen] record coming out this fall, which is stunning. I'm listening to that." Elsewhere in his book, Wenner opens up about his life at the red-hot center of late 20th century pop culture, sharing tales about everyone from John Lennon to Angelina Jolie. The book offers readers an intimate portrait of Wenner's life and times as the driving force behind the one of the most respected and widely read magazines in America -- and examines its many ups and downs over the past five decades. He also goes into frank detail for the first time about the dire health issues that plagued him in recent years and his difficult decision to sell Rolling Stone to Penske Media Corp. in 2017. - New Musical Express/People, 9/16/22...... Director Baz Luhrmann revealed an industry publication on Sept. 14 he plans to release a four-hour cut of his hit Elvis Presley biopic Elvis some day in the future. "Not now and probably not next year," the Australian director said. "But I don't close my mind to the idea that in the future, there might be a way of exploring another [cut]. I've got to be really careful here, because the moment I put it out there... I tell you what, all my tweets are nothing but, 'We want the four-hour version! We want the four-hour version!' I think people are at my gates with pitchforks saying, 'We want the four-hour version!'" Luhrmann continued: "Because it isn't just like I've got it, and you put it out there. Every minute in post-production, you have to do visual effects, grading, cutting, refining and ADR sound. It's not like it's just sitting there finished, and I can just push a button and it comes out. You'd have to get back in and work on it. To do an extended cut, you'd be working on it for another four or six months, something." Elvis recently took the title as the third-highest grossing biopic of all time since the 1970s, and has become the most successful film of Luhrmann's career. - Billboard, 9/15/22...... In other Elvis-related news, Presley's 1969 track "Suspicious Minds" has returned to Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart at No. 20 and to the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs at No. 23 after the Sept. 2 HBO release of Elvis, which initially premiered in theaters June 24. "Suspicious Minds" previously appeared on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs at No. 17 dated July 9 following the film's premiere. The song became Presley's final No. 1 on the Hot 100 pop chart in Nov. 1969. Presley's catalog drew 28.1 million on-demand streams in the U.S. Sept. 2-8, up 23% from 22.8 million in the previous tracking week. - Billboard, 9/15/22...... 
Gene Simmons of KISS has told Goldmine magazine that he doesn't have "friends" and prefers his own company. Simmons says his closest kinship is with his longtime bandmate Paul Stanley, and they only get together when they have band things to do. "How do I say this without sounding inhuman?," Simmons said. "I don't have friends. Yeah, if friends means, 'Gee, I don't know what I'm going to do this afternoon. Hey, you want to come over and hang out?' I'm more interested in what I want to do, and I don't want to pretend that I'm interested in what you want to do because I am not," he added. KISS are on their "End of the Road" farewell tour, with founding members Simmons and Stanley now joined by Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, who replaced Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, respectively. - Music-News.com, 9/17/22...... In a new interview with People, Ozzy Osbourne said his bouts with health emergencies over recent years isn't going to stop him from performing for fans. "It's where I belong," he said. "The relationship I have with my audience is the biggest love affair of my life." Between surgeries to treat a staph infection in 2018, the reveal of his Parkinson's disease diagnosis in 2019, a pneumonia battle that was followed by a fall at home in 2020 as well as a major neck surgery in June and a positive Covid-19 diagnosis this year, Ozzy has been dealing with continuous health issues. "That's the only thing that reminds me I'm getting older: things going wrong and not working anymore," he told the magazine. "But I still feel young at heart." Osbourne however added he's not going to "retire" any time soon. "I am determined to get back on stage even if I have to be nailed to a board and wheeled on," he said. "Survival is my legacy." Meanwhile, the Blizzard of Ozz has shared his entire seven-minute halftime performance at the Sept. 8 Rams and Bills NFL season opener available on YouTube. Fans watching the game on NBC at home were able to watch only about 10 seconds of Ozzy's performance before the cameras cut away for moderators' analysis of the first half of the game. Ozzy has been promoting his Sept. 9-released studio album Patient Number 9, which features an all-star contributors' list that includes Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde, Chad Smith, Mike McCready, Duff McKagan and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, among others. - Billboard, 9/14/22...... 
Two songs by '70s acts included in the hit AMC series Beter Call Saul have made it onto Billboard's Top TV Songs chart for August 2022. Looking Glass's 1972 No. 1 hit "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)", which can be heard in the 11th episode of the sixth season of Saul, earned 12.2 million official U.S. streams and 2,000 downloads, according to Luminate (the song also previously received a bump in notoriety due to its inclusion in the 2017 film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2). Meanwhile, Blondie's 1981 hit "The Tide Is High," which was featured in Saul's penultimate episode the next week (Aug. 8), earned 2 million streams and 2,000 downloads in Aug. 2022. Rankings for the Top TV Songs chart are based on song and show data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of August 2022. Better Call Saul concluded its six-season run on Aug. 13. - Billboard, 9/14/22...... In other trending chart news, songs with a "queen" theme are ruling on the streaming charts following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. After the death of Britain's longest reigning monarch, many fans headed to streaming services to play related rock songs, resulting in huge bumps for a number of "queenly" tracks. The alternative band The Smiths' "The Queen Is Dead," a commonly cited track on social media, saw one of the biggest gains, jumping from over 6,000 official on-demand U.S. streams on Sept. 7 to over 114,000 on Sept. 8, the day of the Queen's passing -- a 1,687% jump, according to Luminate. Also spiking day-to-day were the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" (under 11,000 to over 81,000, a 650% gain), The Beatles' "Her Majesty" (under 1,000 to nearly 3,000, 269%) and The Stone Roses' "Elizabeth My Dear" (under 500 to nearly 1,500, 224%). Less profound, however, was the impact on streaming consumption for the famous English band Queen, whose catalog only saw a small uptick, from just under 3.3 million on-demand U.S. audio streams on Sept. 7 to just over 3.4 million on Sept. 8 about a 4% gain. - Billboard, 9/14/22...... In related news, the Sex Pistols' former frontman John Lydon has distanced himself from his old band after accusing them of aiming to "cash in" on Elizabeth II's death. In a thread shared on Twitter, Lydon's band Public Image Ltd explained that Lydon (née "Johnny Rotten") disavows any alleged activity linked to the band's 1977 single "'God Save The Queen" which has gone ahead. "John Lydon wishes to distance himself from any Sex Pistols activity which aims to cash in on Queen Elizabeth II's death," the statement began. "The musicians in the band and their management have approved a number of requests against John's wishes on the basis of the majority court-ruling agreement." Acknowledging the recent passing of Elizabeth and the potential connection to the controversial song, they continued: "In John's view, the timing for endorsing any Sex Pistols requests for commercial gain in connection with 'God Save The Queen' in particular is tasteless and disrespectful to the Queen and her family at this moment in time. John wrote the lyrics to this historical song, and while he has never supported the monarchy, he feels that the family deserves some respect in this difficult time, as would be expected for any other person or family when someone close to them has died." Lydon initially paid his respects to the late monarch with a post that read, "Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth II. Send her victorious. From all at johnlydon.com." - NME, 9/15/22...... 
After seeing two videos of an elephant in India named Jeymalyatha being beaten by handlers, Paul McCartney has teamed up with the animal rights organization PETA India to send a letter to the Indian government requesting help for the animal. "I have considered India a spiritual place ever since I travelled there in the 1960s. I was impressed by India's cultural love for animals," Sir Paul wrote in the letter. "I know India reveres elephants, its national heritage animal, but cruelty to animals happens everywhere, even in India. What reflects on a country's values is how that cruelty is addressed. I trust you agree that Jeymalyatha has suffered more than enough, and that she deserves to spend the rest of her time on this Earth away from her abusive trainers, rehabilitating, and with others of her kind," the letter added. McCartney, who has a long history of promoting a vegan lifestyle and advocating for animal safety, and PETA are urging officials to move the elephant to a reputable rescue center immediately. PETA India also submitted a veterinary inspection report to Indian officials, pointing out that Jeymalyatha's current handler used pliers on her skin right in front of inspectors. - Billboard, 9/13/22...... Veteran pop songstress Dionne Warwick is calling out Hollywood A-Lister Leonardo DiCaprio for his alleged "relationship rule" about refusing to date women under the age of 25. Speculation that The Wolf of Wall Street actor dumps women when they reach the "ripe old age" of 25 began to circulate online earlier in September after it was reported that Leo had split from actress Camila Morrone, who turned 25 in June, following a four-year relationship. While Leo remains tight-lipped about his personal life, Warwick took to Twitter on Sept. 13 to offer the Hollywood hunk some advice. "I just heard about Leonardo DiCaprio's 25-year rule. His loss. You don't know what you're missing," the 81-year-old "Heartbreaker" singer wrote. Previously, Leonardo has had high-profile relationships with the likes of Gisele Bündchen, Bar Refaeli and Toni Garrn, though he has most recently been linked to 27-year-old model Gigi Hadid. DiCaprio, 47, has not yet responded to the rumours. Meanwhile, Warwick fans can catch the singer's show at the E Center - Edgewater Hotel in Laughlin, Nev., on Sept. 25, and UK fans in London, Cardiff, Hull, Nottingham, Glasgow and Manchester can catch the Grammy-winner on tour from Oct. 19 through Nov. 2. - Music-News.com, 9/13/22...... On July 27, iconic television producer Norman Lear turned 100 and, no retirement in sight, he's slowing down only long enough to host Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter, a two-hour special premiering on ABC on Sept. 22 at 9/8c celebrating his life and career. Details are secret as to who will be showing up, but expect tributes to his sitcom hits -- such as All in the Family and The Jeffersons -- that changed the face of TV. "In terms of how I feel, I'm just getting started," says the eternally optimistic centenarian. "Next is tomorrow!" - TV Guide, 9/11/22...... Former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw died of pneumonia at age 82 on Sept. 7 in Washington, D.C. On June 1, 1980, Mr. Shaw became one of television's first Black anchors, at the helm for the launch of CNN, the 24-hour cable news network that redefined how TV covered national and world events. He stayed there for nearly 21 years. "More important than how I sound or how I look is how I think, how I write, how I communicate," he once said. "Anything else is BS. Using my initials in vain." - People, 9/26/22...... 
Film director Jean-Luc Godard, the godfather of France's New Wave cinema who pushed cinematic boundaries and inspired iconoclastic directors decades after his 1960s heyday, died at his home in Switzerland on Sept. 13 aged 91, his family and producers said. Mr. Godard was among the world's most acclaimed directors, known for such classics as Breathless and Contempt, which broke with convention and helped kickstart a new way of filmmaking, with handheld camera work, jump cuts and existential dialog. The French daily Liberation, which first reported the news, said Mr. Godard chose to end his life through assisted suicide, a practice allowed under Swiss law, citing a person close to the family as saying that "it was his decision and it was important to him that people know about it." Quentin Tarantino, director of 1990s cult films Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, is among a more recent generation of filmmakers who took up the mantle of the boundary-bending tradition initiated by Mr. Godard and his Paris Left Bank cohorts, which included Francois Truffaut and Eric Rohmer. Earlier came Martin Scorsese in 1976 with Taxi Driver, the disturbing neon-lit psychological thriller of a Vietnam veteran turned cabbie who steers through the streets all night with a growing obsession for the need to clean up seedy New York City. "Jean-Luc Godard, the most iconoclastic filmmaker of the New Wave, had invented a resolutely modern, intensely free art. We are losing a national treasure, a look of genius," French Pres. Emmanuel Macron tweeted. Mr. Godard's wife Anne-Marie Mieville said her husband will be cremated and there will be no official ceremony. - Reuters, 9/13/22.
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