Ringo Starr confirmed on Nov. 27 he'll be selling statues of his iconic "peace" hand gesture, to raise money for the Lotus Foundation. Starr will sell 250 stainless steel versions of the "peace & love" statue for £4,200, while 250 bronze pieces will also be available, costing £1,600. According to Julien's Auctions (who are selling the statues) "each life-sized artwork features Ringo Starr's hand forming his iconic peace symbol, mounted upon a square black base that reads 'Peace & Love.' Each hand artwork is housed in a Ringo Peace & Love box and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity hand signed by Ringo Starr. The listing goes on to describe "Starr's iconic peace symbol" as his "signature greeting and enduring message to the world for the last five decades." The money raised will go towards lotus-foundation.org, which supports charitable projects aimed at helping people deal with substance abuse, domestic abuse, homelessness, cancer as well as animals in need. In November, Ringo was forced to cancel the last five dates of his current North American tour, after contracting Covid-19 for a second time in two weeks. - NME, 11/27/22...... 
Britain's Royal Mint is celebrating The Rolling Stones' 60th anniversary with a new collectible coin. The new £5 ($6.04) coin features a silhouette image of the iconic band performing -- frontman Mick Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, and the late drummer Charlie Watts -- as well as the band's name in what is described as "their classic 1973 font." The Royal Mint notes in its Instagram announcement that the coin is one of the last of 2022 to be released bearing the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II. In a statement included in the Royal Mint's announcement, the Stones said they "are delighted to be honored by way of an official UK coin... Even more significant that the release coincides with our 60th anniversary." The new coin is the fifth in the Royal Mint's "Music Legends'" series, which celebrates legendary British artists including Queen, Elton John, David Bowie and The Who. Similar coins on the mint's website from the Music Legends series range from £15 ($18.12) to £465 pounds ($561.92). Meanwhile, the band announced on Nov. 30 that it's prepping a definitive collection of live music. The 24-track GRRR Live! is due Feb. 10 via Mercury Studios and features live performances of some of their biggest hits, including "Honky Tonk Women," "Start Me Up," "Get Off of My Cloud," "Paint it Black" and "Miss You," and feature duets with the likes of Lady Gaga, John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr., The Black Keys, Bruce Springsteen and former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor. GRRR Live! will be available in a variety of formats -- 3LP black, 3LP colored white, 3LP red, 2CD, DVD + 2CD, BluRay + 2CD -- with the BluRay and digital versions including Dolby Atmos. In still more Stones-related news, rising singer Dua Lipa is hinting at a possible collaboration with Mick Jagger. On Nov. 26, Lipa shared shared a photo on Instagram of her posing in the studio next to Jagger. "Sweeeet weeeek," the pop star captioned a carousel of pictures of her smiling with Mick, including one with a pair of Polaroids of the two sitting atop a music studio's soundboard controls. Lipa previously worked with Elton John for their "Cold Heart" collaboration, which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, and spent 36 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. - Billboard, 12/2/22...... Musicians and other luminaries including a past US president are reacting to the passing of Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie on Nov. 30 at age 79. McVie's former bandmate and longtime creative collaborator Lindsey Buckingham shared a touching, handwritten note on Instagram calling her death "profoundly heartbreaking." "Not only were she and I part of the magical family of Fleetwood Mac, to me Christine was a musical comrade, a friend, a soul mate and a sister," Buckingham wrote. "For over four decades, we helped each other create a beautiful body of work and a lasting legacy that continues to resonate today. I feel very lucky to have known her. Though she will be deeply missed, her spirit will live on through that body of work and that legacy." Fleetwood Mac founding drummer Mick Fleetwood tweeted that "Part of my heart has flown away today.. I will miss everything about you Christine McVie. Former US Pres. Bill Clinton, posted to Twitter that he was "saddened by the passing of Christine McVie. "'Don't Stop' was my '92 campaign theme song -- it perfectly captured the mood of a nation eager for better days," Pres. Clinton wrote. He included a short video with his message, in which the one of Mac's most beloved singles -- co-written by McVie, who also sang it alongside guitarist Lindsey Buckingham -- unspools amid footage of the Clinton family on the campaign trail. The video notes that the tradition of presidential campaign songs dates back to 1800, when Pres. John Adams supporters sang "Liberty and Adams." McVie was also mourned on Twitter by fellow musicians Sheryl Crow, Duran Duran, Susanna Hoffs and Diane Warren, among others. - Billboard, 11/30/22...... 
In a new interview with The New Yorker magazine, Neil Young says that he will only go on tour again in the future if it can be done in a completely sustainable environmental manner. Young said that he's "not sure I want to" mount a full tour again but if he were to change his mind it would have to be a with a completely environmentally sustainable plan. "I have a plan. I've been working on it with a couple of my friends for about seven or eight months. We're trying to figure out how to do a self-sustaining, renewable tour. Everything that moves our vehicles around, the stage, the lights, the sound, everything that powers it is clean. Nothing dirty with us. We set it up; we do this everywhere we go." Young added that "this is something that's very important to me, if I'm ever going to go out again... and I'm not sure I want to, I'm still feeling that out. But if I'm ever going to do it, I want to make sure that everything is clean." And once his own tour is sustainable, he says it "can keep on going with another headliner." "It's about sustainability and renewability in the future, loving Earth for what it is. We want to do the right thing. That's kind of the idea." Young has not performed in public since 2019. His latest comments echo ones made in December of last year, when he said he wouldn't be returning to touring until Covid-19 was "beat" and the pandemic was over. "I don't care if I'm the only one who doesn't do it," he said during an interview with Howard Stern. 2022 saw the world's first high-profile eco-friendly stadium tour in the form of Coldplay's world tour for its new album Music For The Spheres. The measures included cutting direct emissions by 50% compared to the band's last tour in 2016 and 2017, using 100% renewable energy and having solar installations at every venue. - New Musical Express, 11/30/22...... The B-52s announced on Nov. 30 that they'll cap off their "Farewell Tour" which kicked off last summer on May 5, 2023 with a residency at Las Vegas' Venetian Resort's Venetian Theatre. After that, the following dates are: May 6, May 10, May 12, May 13, Aug. 25, Aug. 26, Aug. 30, Sept. 2 and Sept. 3. In 2019 they played a summer farewell tour in the UK after celebrating their 40th anniversary the year prior by co-headlining a North American tour with Boy George & Culture Club and Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey. The US new wave band released their last studio album, Funplex, in 2008. - NME, 11/30/22...... Elton John has been confirmed as the first headliner for the UK's legendary Glastonbury Festival in 2023. The Rocket Man will play a headlining slot on the Pyramid Stage on June 25, 2023, it was announced by the festival on Twitter on Dec. 2. "We are incredibly excited to announce that the one and only @EltonOfficial will headline the Pyramid Stage on Sunday night at Glastonbury 2023, for what will be the final UK show of his last ever tour," organisers tweeted. "This will be the final UK show of Elton's last ever tour, so we will be closing the Festival and marking this huge moment in both of our histories with the mother of all send-offs. We are so very happy to finally bring the Rocket Man to Worthy Farm!," Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis said in a separate statement. Posting on Instagram, John said that he "couldn't be more excited" to be headlining "the greatest festival in the world" next summer. "Every week I speak to new artists on my radio show and Glastonbury is often cited as a pivotal moment in launching their careers -- the festival's genuine, enthusiastic support for the best emerging talent is something I've long admired. Thank you for having me Emily Eavis for my final UK show -- it's going to be emotional." The Glasonbury announcement comes after John teased that he had "one final date" to announce for his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, which he's vowed will be his last ever live concerts. The pop icon is due to embark on a run of UK and Ireland gigs next spring. No other acts have yet been confirmed for Glastonbury '23. Meanwhile, Elton commemorated World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 by looking at the road ahead in HIV/AIDS research in a new interview with E! News. "We need to keep up the energy, momentum and conversation around HIV so it doesn't feel like something in the past," he said. "At the Elton John AIDS Foundation, we're committed to advocating with local partners and governments and big campaigns to draw attention and end AIDS by 2030." John founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 as a means of funding medical research into eradicating HIV and AIDS. In the 30 years since, the organization has grown to become one of the largest independent AIDS charity organizations in the world. In honor of World AIDS Day, luxury fashion brand Saks Fifth Avenue announced their new partnership with John's foundation. Along with producing live events and a merchandise collection for the new venture, Saks also donated $1 million to the Rocket Fund, one of the foundation's campaigns to spread resources and awareness around the globe. - NME/Billboard, 11/30/22...... 
An immersive experience celebrating '70s reggae legend Bob Marley is heading for its U.S. premiere in early 2023, complete with photographs, lots of music and even a pair of the reggae giant's footwear. The multi-room exhibit "Bob Marley: One Love Experience" will open in Los Angeles on Jan. 27 at Ovation Hollywood, following runs in London and Toronto. The 15,000-square foot experience includes previously unseen photographs, concert videos, lyric sheets, rare memorabilia like guitars, a soccer jersey, sneakers and art that highlight Marley's influence. There are also a Marley-branded jukebox and a few foosball tables. One area celebrates the Marley family's legacy and philanthropy. Inside, a 2,000-square foot "One Love Forest "promises to take visitors on a trip to Jamaica in a multi-sensory environment, which also features a cannabis garden. Fans are greeted with headphones at the Soul Shakedown studio to groove out to the curated playlist in the silent disco. Tickets are available exclusively via Fever on Dec. 7. Born in rural Jamaica in 1945, Marley rose from the gritty Kingston slum of Trench Town to global stardom in the 1970s with hits like "No Woman, No Cry," "3 Get Up, Stand Up," and "I Shot the Sheriff." His lyrics promoting social justice and African unity made him an icon in Jamaica and other countries. He died from cancer in 1981 at age 36. - Billboard, 12/1/22...... Dolly Parton has achieved her 48th top 10 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart (dated Dec. 3) with the debut of her new hits collection, Diamonds & Rhinestones: The Greatest Hits Collection. The album, released Nov. 18, earned 19,000 equivalent album units, with 15,000 in album sales, according to Luminate. The 23-track album includes songs released between 1971 and 2019, including 10 No. 1's on the Hot Country Songs chart in 1974-89, from "Jolene" to "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That." Among those leaders are her two No. 1's on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100: "9 to 5" (1981) and "Islands in the Stream," with Kenny Rogers (1983). Parton extends her record for the most Top Country Albums top 10s among women, pushing six ahead of Loretta Lynn's 42. She also remains the only woman with top 10's in every decade since the list began in Jan. 1964. Her top 10 totals by decade: 1960s -- four; '70s -- 18; '80s -- 11; '90s -- five; 2000s -- three; '10s -- four; and '20s -- three. Parton has netted eight Top Country Albums No. 1s, most recently A Holly Dolly Christmas, which bowed on top in Oct. 2020. In between that set and her latest, Run, Rose, Run debuted at its No. 4 best this March. Meanwhile, Dolly revealed during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Nov. 30 that she will title her new rock-themed album Rock Star and it will drop next autumn. After the country superstar was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November, she announced that she was working on her first-ever rock record. She promised covers of Prince's "Purple Rain," The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird," and also noted that she is currently approaching artists regarding guest appearances. - Billboard, 11/29/22...... German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk have announced two shows in Ireland in the summer of 2023. The group will play Limerick's King John's Castle on June 28, followed by a show at Dublin's Trinity College on June 29 as part of the Trinity Summer Series. The newly-announced Ireland shows are just two of four dates Kraftwerk have scheduled for 2023, in addition to Italy shows in Firenze on July 7 and Genova July 8. The current tour dates fall shortly after Glastonbury Festival 2023, which runs from June 21-25, raising the possibility Kraftwerk featuring on the '23 line-up. Kraftwerk has performed at a number of festivals in 2022, including MEO Kalorama and Field Day 2022. - NME, 11/28/22...... 
Nov. 30, 2022 marked the exact 40th anniversary of Michael Jackson's 1982 landmark album Thriller. The LP helped usher in the music business' comeback from massive layoffs and a worldwide recession, along with the explosive growth of MTV and the adoption of the CD. Jackson's follow-up to 1979's Off the Wall took off instantly, beginning with the opening single, "The Girl Is Mine," a duet with Paul McCartney designed to cross the album over to a white radio audience. All seven of Thriller's singles would land in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, and the album would spend 37 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Thriller coaxed fans back into record stores to buy multiple copies, thus providing labels with resources to market Madonna, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper and, later, hair-metal bands. At the end of 1981, CBS Records, which owned Epic at the time, took in $1 billion in revenue, its worst earnings since 1971; by the end of 1983, its net income increased 26% to $187 million. Famously, Thriller's sales run kept going and going -- it spiked after every new single and video, and surged after Jackson did the moonwalk during NBC's Motown 25 anniversary special in May 1983. Today, Jackson's label, Sony, claims Thriller as the best-selling global album of all time; in the U.S., according to the Recording Industry Association of America, it is 34 times platinum, behind the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, at 38 times platinum. Even as Jackson's legacy is tainted with allegations of child sexual abuse in HBO's 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, the album has generated 3.87 million U.S. album-equivalent units in the past 10 years, including 1.2 million in physical album sales, according to Luminate. - Billboard, 11/30/22...... Bob Dylan has apologized to his fans following the controversy over "hand-signed" copies of his latest book, The Philosophy Of Modern Song, which were inscribed using an "autopen" for a nearly $600 special edition. Dylan explained on his Facebook page on Nov. 25 that his "error in judgement" was partly due to a "bad case of vertigo" that made signing his new Simon & Schuster-published book difficult during the Covid-19 pandemic. "I've been made aware that there's some controversy about signatures on some of my recent artwork prints and on a limited-edition of Philosophy of Modern Song," Dylan wrote. "I've hand-signed each and every art print over the years, and there's never been a problem. However, in 2019 I had a bad case of vertigo and it continued into the pandemic years. It takes a crew of five working in close quarters with me to help enable these signing sessions, and we could not find a safe and workable way to complete what I needed to do while the virus was raging. So, during the pandemic, it was impossible to sign anything and the vertigo didn't help. With contractual deadlines looming, the idea of using an auto-pen was suggested to me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done 'all the time' in the art and literary worlds. Using a machine was an error in judgment and I want to rectify it immediately. I'm working with Simon & Schuster and my gallery partners to do just that." Following the early November release of the book, fans who spent $599 on a limited-edition run of 900 copies -- which came with a letter of authenticity from Simon & Schuster -- began sharing images of their autographs through social media, only to find that they were exactly alike with no variation. Buyers quickly came to the conclusion that the special edition had been inscribed using an autopen, which prompted the publisher to issue an apology and offer refunds. On Nov. 20, Simon & Schuster announced it would provide each purchaser with an immediate refund. - Billboard, 11/27/22...... Motörhead have shared a previously-unreleased track called "Bullet In Your Brain" on YouTube. The stomping song was recorded during the sessions for the iconic rock band's 22nd and final studio album, Black Magic, which came out back in 2015. On Nov. 30, an expanded reissue of the album will be released on Feb. 24. Titled Seriously Bad Magic, the collection boasts two previously unreleased cuts: "Greedy Bastards" and "Bullet In Your Brain." The latter track is now available to stream as a preview. It arrived with an official music video featuring exclusive, never-before-seen footage of Motörhead recording Black Magic in the studio. - NME, 12/1/22...... 
Gene Cipriano, the always busy woodwind player who soloed on tenor sax for Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot and recorded with everyone from Miles Davis, Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra to Glen Campbell, Paul McCartney and Olivia Newton-John, died Nov. 12 of natural causes at his home in Studio City, Calif. He was 94. Perhaps the most recorded woodwind player in show business history, Mr. Cipriano played soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophones, all the clarinets and flutes, the oboe and bass oboe, the piccolo and the English horn. Affectionally known as "Cip," the session musician performed as a member of the Academy Awards Orchestra in the neighborhood of 60 times since 1958. (At the 1977 show, he exchanged "yo's" with Barbra Streisand, who had just arrived at the podium after having won for "Evergreen.") Mr. Cipriano on oboe is heard at the start of Sinatra's melancholy "It Was a Very Good Year," and he performed on several of Campbell's early hits, including "Wichita Lineman" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." Like Campbell, he was an occasional member of The Wrecking Crew, the fabled set of studio musicians who recorded with the likes of The Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra and Sonny & Cher. After he relocated to California, composer Henry Mancini gave him his big break on "Peter Gunn." "That got me started because it became such a hot item and then all the other leaders said, 'Well, get me those guys who played with Henry Mancini,'" he noted in another 2019 interview. Mr. Cipriano also performed on Elvis Presley's NBC comeback special in 1968. Over the years, he recorded with Shorty Rogers, Harry Nilsson, Neil Diamond, Thelonious Monk, Elton John, Frank Zappa, Gerry Mulligan, Helen Reddy, Barry Manilow and Seth MacFarlane. He also played on many Emmy and Grammy telecasts. In 2006, he recorded his own CD, First Time Out, a collection of jazz tunes. In addition to his son Paul, survivors include his other children, Genie, Suzanne and Fred; grandchildren Grant and Alicia; great-grandchildren Natalie and Emily; and sister Marie. His wife of 43 years, Frances, died in 1996. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/27/22.
Christine McVie, the beloved Fleetwood Mac singer, songwriter and keyboardist who contributed some of the band's biggest hits including "You Make Loving Fun," "Don't Stop" and "Everywhere," died on the morning of Nov. 30. She was 79. According to a statement from her family posted to Facebook, McVie "passed away peacefully at hospital this morning" with family around her after a "short illness." "She was in the company of her family," the statement continued. "We kindly ask that you respect the family's privacy at this extremely painful time, and we would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally." The British-born McVie was a steady presence and personality in a band known for its frequent lineup changes and volatile personalities -- notably fellow singer-songwriters Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Christine's death is the first among the most famous incarnation of the veteran band, which also included her ex-husband John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. In recent years, the band had toured without Buckingham, who was kicked out in 2018 and replaced on stage by Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. Fleetwood Mac started out as a London blues band in the 1960s, and evolved into one of the defining makers of 1970s California pop-rock, with the talents of McVie, Nicks and Buckingham anchored by the rhythm section of Fleetwood and John McVie. During its peak commercial years, from 1975-80, the band sold tens of millions of records and fascinated fans as it transformed personal battles into melodic, compelling songs. The McVies' breakup -- along with the split of Nicks and Buckingham -- was famously documented on the 1977 release Rumours, among the bestselling albums of all time. McVie, born Christine Anne Perfect in Bouth, Lancashire, on July 12, 1943, came from a musical family. Her father was a violinist and music teacher and her grandfather played organ at Westminster Abbey. She had been playing piano since childhood, but set aside her classical training once she heard early rock records by Fats Domino and others. While studying at the Moseley School of Art, she befriended various members of Britain's emerging blues scene and, in her 20s, joined the band Chicken Shack as a singer and piano player. Among the rival bands she admired was Fleetwood Mac, which then featured the talents of blues guitarist Peter Green along with the rhythm section of Fleetwood and John McVie. 
By 1970, she had joined the group and married John McVie. Few bands succeeded so well as Fleetwood Mac, which has sold well over 100 million records, against such long odds. Green was among the many musicians who left the group, and at various times Fleetwood Mac seemed on the verge of ending, or fading away. It was rescued by unexpected returns and interventions and one of rock's most fortuitous and lucrative hunches. While spending time in Los Angeles, drummer Fleetwood learned of a young duo from California, Buckingham and Nicks, that had recorded the little known album Buckingham Nicks. Impressed by their sound, he initially planned to ask just Buckingham to join, but the guitarist insisted the band also include Nicks, his girlfriend at the time. The new lineup proved almost instantly magical. Nicks and Christine McVie formed a lasting friendship, agreeing that as two of the rare women in rock they would always stand up for each other. And the harmonies and music making of Nicks, Buckingham and Christine McVie insured that such albums as Fleetwood Mac, Rumours and Tusk had an enviable quality and variety of songwriting and vocal styles. But the group's overwhelming success also led to inevitable conflicts and the desire for solo work. Over the following decades, Nicks became a star in her own right. McVie released solo albums, including Christine McVie and Christine Perfect, as well as a 2017 collaboration with Buckingham, Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie. Fleetwood and John McVie were there at the founding of Fleetwood Mac and were the only ones to remain all the way through. McVie departed in the 1990s, when she was seemingly done forever with the rock star life. By 2014, she had changed her mind. "I just wanted to embrace being in the English countryside and not have to troop around on the road. I moved to Kent, and I loved being able to walk around the streets, nobody knowing who I was," she said of her hiatus during a 2022 interview with the UK's The Guardian. "Then of course I started to miss it. I called Mick and asked: 'How would you feel about me coming back to the band?"' she said. "He got in touch with everybody and we had a band meeting over the phone and they all went: 'Come baaaack!!' I felt regenerated and I felt like writing again." Following the sad news, McVie's bandmates shared a joint statement to the official Fleetwood Mac Twitter page. "There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie," the message read. "She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure. She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life. We were so lucky to have a life with her." 
The statement concluded, "Individually and together, we cherished Christine deeply and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. She will be so very missed." Nicks also mourned her "best friend in the whole world" with Haim lyrics on Twitter. "A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away," she shared in a handwritten letter, alongside a tender photo of the duo. "I didn't even know she was ill... until late Saturday night. I wanted to be in London; I wanted to get to London - but we were told to wait. So, since Saturday, one song has been swirling around me in my head, over and over and over. I thought I might possibly get to sing it to her, and so, I'm singing it to her now. I always know I would need these words one day." Nicks then wrote out the lyrics to a verse and the chorus from Haim's "Women in Music" Pt. III track, "Hallelujah," in which Alana Haim details the feeling of finding out that her own best friend had died. "I had a best friend but she has come to pass / One I wish I could see now / You always remind me that memories will last / These arms reach out / You were there to protect me like a shield / Long hair, running with me through the field / Everywhere, you've been with me all along / Why me? How'd I get this hallelujah?" Nicks signed off her poignant note by writing, "See you on the other side, my love. Don't forget me." - Billboard/AP, 11/30/22.
During their '70s and '80s heyday, mainstream rock stars Journey produced some of the sweetest rock sounds of the era, however the relationships between band members has been tumultuous to say the least. In 2020, Journey guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan 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 ended in 2021 with an "amicable settlement that saw Smith and Valory depart the band. In September, former lead singer Steve Perry took legal action to stop Schon and Cain from registering federal trademarks on the names of many of the band's biggest hits, including "Anyway You Want It" and "Wheel In The Sky." Perry, who left Journey in 1998, says his ex-mates cannot unilaterally use the song names because the trio signed a partnership agreement requiring unanimous consent in the suit, which remains pending. Now, Neal Schon is suing Jonathan Cain over allegations that he's blocking access to "critical financial records." In a lawsuit filed in October in California state court, Schon accused Cain -- the only other core band member remaining from Journey's heyday -- of refusing to give him access to records from an American Express account, through which he claims that "millions in Journey funds have flowed." As 50/50 co-owners of the band's corporate entity, Schon says each of them has a right to inspect all financial records, but claims that Cain has "improperly restricted and blocked him from seeing the Amex records for months." "This action is brought to turn the lights on, so to speak, and obtain critical financial information Schon has been trying to obtain but has been denied," his lawyers wrote in an Oct. 31 complaint. "Schon has tried to avoid legal action, repeatedly requesting that Cain grant him access to the AMEX account [but] Cain has not been forthcoming and cooperative, making this action necessary." In a response statement, Cain called Schon's accusations "malicious lies" and said the lawsuit had "absolutely no merit." Cain said his bandmate had always had access to the Journey credit card, but had become angered when limits were placed on his spending. "Neal has been under tremendous financial pressure as a result of his excessive spending and extravagant lifestyle, which led to him running up enormous personal charges on the band's credit card account," Cain wrote in the statement. "When efforts were made to limit his use of the card to legitimate band expenses, Neal unfortunately decided to attack me rather than trying to get his reckless spending under control." "Schon's complaint is the classic example of desperate people doing desperate things," Cain's attorney Alan Gutman said. "It's very unfortunate that Neal -- and Neal alone -- has created such difficulties for himself and his family through his profligate spending." - Billboard, 11/21/22...... Elton John and Britney Spears' "Hold Me Closer" has climbed to No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Pop Airplay chart. His previous team-up modernizing his catalog, "Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)" with Dua Lipa, also ruled this chart for a week this March. The Adult Pop Airplay chart reflects weekly plays, as monitored by Luminate, on reporting adult Top 40 stations. The collab previously topped the Digital Song Sales, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs, Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales and Dance/Mix Show Airplay charts. Meanwhile, Sir Elton, his husband David Furnish and children Zachary (11) and Elijah (9) helped unveil the Saks Fifth Avenue holiday display on Nov. 22 at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. A police barricade stopped traffic on (the rather busy) Fifth Avenue at 49th Street in Manhattan while a grand piano was wheeled into the middle of Fifth Avenue around 7:00 p.m. EST as onlookers -- who were expecting a holiday display reveal but not a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer -- marveled. After some introductory remarks from Saks CEO Marc J. Metrick, who announced that Saks was giving a $1 million donation to the Elton John AIDS Foundation's Rocket Fund, Sir Elton took his rightful place behind the ivories. After the performance, Elton joined his family in a seated section of the crowd to watch the lights show. The window extravaganza included a fitting nod to John via a several rocket ships on pistons while seasonally shaded lights tripped the light fantastic on the building's façade. A medley of Sir Elton's hits accompanied the display, which found John and Furnish bobbing their heads to "Step Into Christmas" and "Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)." - Billboard, 11/23/22...... Cher has acknowledged that her relationship with 36-year-old music exec Alexander Edwards "looks strange on paper" after confirming the budding romance on social media earlier in November. On Nov. 23 the 76-year-old diva topless picture of Edwards on Twitter. Besides the snap, in which Alexander simply wears boxer shorts, she wrote, "A.E. Hanging Ot (Out)." When a few users responded with criticism of their 40-year age difference, she replied, "We're Happy" and "We're Grown ups." She then noted that their relationship looks odd on the surface, tweeting, "On paper This Looks strange (Even 2 ME) A.E Says (love) Doesn't Know Math." When asked for Alexander's best qualities, she responded, "He's Kind ,Smart, Hilarious...& We (kiss) Like Teenagers." Cher also shared that Alexander pursued her and she was "skittish" at first. "He's 36 & In End He Came after me, Till we met in the middle. He's Consistent one, I'm The Skittish one. We love each other.... LADIES NEVER GIVE UP," she wrote. Celebrity gossip site TMZ.com recently reported that Cher and Alexander met at Rick Owens' show at Paris Fashion Week in September, and the "Believe" hitmaker seemingly confirmed it by telling a user: "PARIS WAS MAGIC." Cher was previously married to Sonny Bono from 1964 to 1975 and Gregg Allman from 1975 to 1979, while Alexander previously dated model Amber Rose. The pair share a three-year-old son named Slash. - Music-News.com, 11/24/22...... 
David Bowie's movie director son Duncan Jones is among the latest celebrities to share his frustration at former Pres. Donald Trump for playing unauthorized music at campaign events. On Nov. 15, Trump announced he's running for president in 2024 at the Mar-a-Lago hotel in Florida, where his exit music from the stage was 'Heroes' by Bowie -- a track he'd previously used during his first bid for the White House back in 2016. After Twitter users highlighted the track's use to Jones, he 
Some doctors are now making the claim that iconic '70s martial arts star Bruce Lee died from drinking too much water, almost 50 years after Lee died at age 32 in the summer of 1973 in Hong Kong. An autopsy from the time showed the 
Singer-actor Irene Cara, an Oscar, Golden Globe and two-time Grammy winning singer-actress, has died at her home in Florida. She was 63 and the exact date of her death was not disclosed. Cara is best known for starring in and singing the title song from the 1980 hit movie Fame and then belted out the era-defining hit "Flashdance & What a Feeling" from 1983's Flashdance. Her publicist, Judith A. Moose, announced the news on social media, writing that a cause of death was "currently unknown." During her career, Cara had three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 -- "Fame," "Flashdance & What a Feeling" and "Breakdance." "Flashdance & What A Feeling" spent six consecutive weeks at No. 1. The exuberant track also led the Dance Club Songs chart for three weeks and hit No. 2 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 4 on Adult Contemporary. Cara, who was behind some of the most joyful, high-energy pop anthems of the early '80s, first came to prominence among the young actors playing performing arts high school students in Alan Parker's Fame, with co-stars including Debbie Allen and Paul McCrane. Cara played Coco Hernandez, a striving dancer who endures all manner of deprivations, including a creepy nude photo shoot. Three years later, she and the songwriting team of Flashdance -- music by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Keith Forsey and Cara -- was accepting the Oscar for best original song for "Flashdance & What a Feeling." The movie starred Jennifer Beals as a steel-town girl who dances in a bar at night and hopes to attend a prestigious dance conservatory. It also included Michael Sembello's hit song "Maniac," featuring Beals' character leaping, spinning, stomping her feet and the slow-burning theme song. "There aren't enough words to express my love and my gratitude, Cara told the Oscar crowd in her thanks. "And last but not least, a very special gentlemen who I guess started it all for me many years ago. To Alan Parker, wherever you may be tonight, I thank him. "Flashdance & What a Feeling" and "Maniac" both received Grammy nominations for record of the year. The Flashdance soundtrack received an album of the year nod. Cara won two Grammys that year -- best pop vocal performance, female and best album of original score written for a motion picture or a television special as one of many songwriters who contributed to the album. The New York-born Cara began her career on Broadway, with small parts in short-lived shows, although a musical called "The Me Nobody Knows" ran over 300 performances. She toured in the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" as Mary Magdalene in the mid-1990s and a tour of the musical Flashdance toured 2012-14 with her songs. She also created the all-female band Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel and put out a double CD with the single "How Can I Make You Luv Me." Her movie credits include Sparkle and D.C. Cab. - Billboard, 11/26/22...... Geoff Wonfor, a Grammy-winning British filmmaker who directed the Beatles' acclaimed Anthology documentary series and worked on the 1980s music program "The Tube" as well as several projects with Paul McCartney, died on Nov. 22 in his home city of Newcastle. He was 73. Prominent in British entertainment since the 1980s, when he directed a handful of episodes of The Tube, Wonfor also made a documentary about Shanghai Surprise, a feature film produced by George Harrison and starring Madonna and Sean Penn. His work with Harrison would unexpectedly lead to the biggest undertaking of his career. Released in the mid-1990s, The Beatles Anthology was an authorized, multimedia project that included an eight-part documentary, three double albums and a coffee table book. Wonfor spent 4 1/2 years on the film, which combined archival footage with new interviews with the then-three surviving Beatles (McCartney, Harrison and Ringo Starr). Wonfor's challenges included weaving in commentary from John Lennon, who had been murdered in 1980. Wonfor also directed the McCartney videos "In the World Tonight" and "Young Boy" and a McCartney concert video from the Cavern Club, the Liverpool venue where the Beatles played many of their early shows. He was on hand, too, for a Beatles "reunion" from the 1990s -- a video of "Real Love," a song left unfinished by Lennon that the remaining Beatles completed and recorded. His other credits included Band Aid 20, a documentary about the anniversary re-recording of the British charity song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and "Sunday for Sammy," a tribute to the late British actor Sammy Johnson. - Billboard, 11/23/22.
Elton John completed the final U.S. show of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour on Nov. 20 at L.A.'s Dodger Stadium, the last of three at the venue that saw the Rocket Man team up with Dua Lipa, Kiki Dee and Brandi Carlile. The three-hour, 24-song concert saw John team up with Lipa for their No. 1 collaboration "Cold Heart" (
On Nov. 19 Sony Music announced the upcoming release of a dark version of Roger Waters' 1979 Pink Floyd track, "Comfortably Numb." "Comfortably Numb 2022" was recorded during Waters "This Is Not A Drill" North American tour and was produced by Waters and Gus Seyffert. Waters commented: "During Lockdown I made a demo of a new version of 'Comfortably Numb' as an opener for our new show This Is Not A Drill. I pitched it a whole step down, in A Minor, to make it darker and arranged it with no solos, except over the outro chord sequence, where there is a heartrendingly beautiful female vocal solo from Shanay Johnson, one of our new singers." The song was made available on all streaming platforms on Nov. 18. Waters' "This Is Not A Drill" will tour Europe in 2023 with 40 shows across 14 European countries, starting in Lisbon on 17 Mar. 2023 at the Altice Arena. - Music-News.com, 11/20/22...... A collection of touching and sometimes prescient personal letters written by a young Bob Dylan to a high school girlfriend has been sold at auction to a renowned Portuguese bookshop for nearly $670,000. The Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal, which bills itself as "the World's Most Beautiful Bookshop," says it plans to keep the archive of 42 handwritten letters totaling 150 pages complete and available for Dylan fans and scholars to study, auctioneer RR Auction said in a statement on Nov. 18. Dylan, a native of Hibbing, Minn., wrote the letters to Barbara Ann Hewitt between 1957 and 1959 when he was still known as Bob Zimmerman. They provide an insight into a period of his life of which not much is known. Remarkably, in some of the letters Dylan writes about changing his name and hoping to sell a million records. Decades later, the now 81-year-old Dylan and 2016 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature has sold about 125 million records. The young Dylan also expresses his affection for Hewitt, invites her to a Buddy Holly concert, includes little fragments of poetry, and talks about the sorts of things that generations of high school students have been concerned about, such as cars, clothes and music. Barbara Hewitt's daughter found the letters after her mother died in 2020. The original envelopes addressed in Dylan's handwriting were sent to the Hewitt family's new home in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of New Brighton. Several other items of Dylan memorabilia were also sold at the auction, including an archive of 24 "Poems Without Titles" written when he attened the Univ. of Minnesota ($250,000), and one of the earliest known signed photographs of Dylan that went for more than $24,000. Meanwhile, publisher Simon & Schuster have conceded that "hand-signed" copies of Dylan's new book, 
Days after the estate of Isaac Hayes threatened legal action against former Pres. Donald Trump for using the Hayes-composed song "Hold On, I'm Coming," which was made famous by R&B duo Sam & Dave, during his Nov. 15 campaign launch, the estate of Tom Petty has filed a cease and desist letter over unsuccessful Arizona gubenatorial candidate Kari Lake's use of "I Won't Back Down" following her defeat in the U.S. midterm elections. Lake, a Trump-endorsed Republican, lost the race to become Arizona governor in the US midterm elections on Nov. 8, but has spent much time since the result was announced talking about the "broken election system" and sharing reports that many votes weren't counted. Trump has echoed those claims, saying that "there were a lot of broken voting machines" in Arizona. On Nov. 16, Lake shared a series of campaign highlights set to Petty's iconic 1989 track "I Won't Back Down," seemingly suggesting she was going to contest the election results. However, the following day the late artist's estate released a statement on 
Actor Robert Clary, who played Cpl. Louis Lebeau in the classic sitcom Hogan's Heroes, died on Nov. 17 of natural causes at his home in the Los Angeles area. He was 98. After surviving real German concentration camps as a youth, Mr. Clary went on to star on the hit 1960s sitcom set in a German prisoner-of-war camp. Hogan's Heroes, in which Allied soldiers in a POW camp bested their clownish German army captors with espionage schemes, played the war strictly for laughs during its 1965-71 run. The 5-foot-1 Mr. Clary sported a beret and a sardonic smile as Cpl. Louis LeBeau. Mr. Clary was the last surviving original star of the sitcom that included Bob Crane, Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis and Ivan Dixon as the prisoners. Werner Klemperer and John Banner, who played their captors, both were European Jews who fled Nazi persecution before the war. Mr. Clary was born Robert Widerman in Paris in March 1926, the youngest of 14 children in the Jewish family. He was 16 when he and most of his family were taken by the Nazis. Mr. Clary began his career as a nightclub singer and appeared on stage in musicals including "Irma La Douce" and "Cabaret." After Hogan's Heroes, Mr. Clary's TV work included the soap operas The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful. Mr. Clary remained publicly silent about his wartime experience until 1980 when, he said, he was provoked to speak out by those who denied or diminished the orchestrated effort by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews. A documentary about Mr. Clary's childhood and years of horror at Nazi hands, Robert Clary, A5714: A Memoir of Liberation, was released in 1985. The forearms of concentration camp prisoners were tattooed with identification numbers, with A5714 to be Mr. Clary's lifelong mark. Retired from acting, Mr. Clary remained busy with his family, friends and his painting. His memoir, From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary, was published in 2001. Mr. Clary married Natalie Cantor, the daughter of singer-actor Eddie Cantor, in 1965. She died in 1997. - AP, 11/17/22.
Avowed Donald Trump foe Bette Midler had no shortage of words as the 45th president announced his third bid for the U.S. presidency in 7 years on Nov. 15. Watching the one-term president give his speech at Mar-A-Lago, Midler didn't exactly mince words while live-tweeting her thoughts, starting with, "Ugh. Piggy is speaking." "He's giving the same speech he gave in 2016. After a two year pandemic, and a million American lives lost, the rest of us have moved on. He is ossified. May he rot," the Hocus Pocus 2 star continued, adding minutes later, "Excuse me. I'm going to be sick." After Trump finished his hour-long announcement, Midler gave her assessment of the remarks, writing, "He just handed us two more years of his #delusions and #drivel. #unbearable." She also poked fun at the twice-impeached president's new campaign slogan "Make America Glorious and Great Again," tweeting, "IT'S OFFICIAL! The new name for its campaign is #MAGAGA! Congratulations to whoever got there first, let's take it all the way!! #MAGAGA." Midler's Trump tweetstorm can be followed on her 
As the 
A rep for Roberta Flack revealed on Nov. 14 that the Grammy-winning songstress has ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and can no longer sing. Due to her diagnosis, it is now "impossible to sing and not easy to speak" for the star, per a press release, "but it will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon." Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, impacts the muscles that control eating, walking, speaking and more. Approximately 5,000 people are diagnosed with ALS each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The announcement comes just days before the release of the Flack documentary Roberta, which will premiere at DOC NYC film festival on Nov. 17. The film explores the complexity of Flack's lyrical and thematic choices as well as the classical and soul influences that helped her develop her musical style and subsequently inspired many others. Flack is known for hits like 
Foreigner has announced it will kick off a farewell tour in 2023. Forty-five years after it "felt like the first time" for the veteran hard rock band, Foreigner will launch its "Historic Farewell Tour on July 6 in Alpharetta, Ga., with 32 U.S dates running through Sept. 3 in Holmdel, N.J., with Loverboy as openers. More legs, both domestic and overseas, are on tap through the end of 2024. Foreigner was formed during 1976 by British guitarist Mick Jones, and Jones says the band is "completely revitalized band with a whole new energy that has won the hearts of our fans all over the world, and I want to go out while the band is still at the top of its game." "I had the idea that was to become Foreigner back in 1974, and I was 30 years old at the time. By the end of our farewell tour, over 50 years will have passed, and that's a long time to be on the road," adds the 77-year-old guitarist. "We're at an era in life where a lot of bands from the '70s are right on the ragged edge of still being able to do shows," says Jones. "I see other musicians sometimes that I go, 'Wow, that was disappointing,' and I don't want to be someone that other people say that about. I want to do this band the way it's supposed to be, and when it's not like that I don't want to be doing it." Since its formation, Foreigner has released nine studio albums -- five of them multi-platinum, plus the 1982 hits set Records -- and sold more than 50 million records worldwide. It's also notched nine top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including rock radio staples such as "Feels Like the First Time," "Hot Blooded," "Double Vision," "Urgent" and the chart-topping power ballad "I Want to Know What Love Is." More than two dozen members have been part of the roster over the years, and members of the first two lineups made a series of guest appearances with the current lineup during 2017 and 2018. Jones, the last original member still active with Foreigner, has become something of a special guest at the band's concerts, not attending every show due to health reasons and playing during the latter portion of the set. "Mick does all the shows he can do with us as his health allows, and we're cognizant of that," says current Foreigner frontman Kelly Hansen. "I can't say that doesn't have an effect" on the farewell tour decision, "but that's also a reality of life and time, so you take what you're given and you make your decisions based on that." Foreigner has a number of concerts scheduled in November 2022 and also in the spring, prior to the farewell tour launch -- including March and April residencies at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Hansen adds that while Foreigner is calling a halt to touring it may not go away entirely. "I'm sure there might be the odd or occasional things we do," the frontman says. "You can never say never about things. But for me this (tour) is it. It's not like one of these, like we've seen, ploys to get people out to shows." 32 dates have been announced for the first leg of the tour, which wraps on Sept. 3 in Holmdel, N.J. - Billboard, 11/14/22...... Dolly Parton has received $100 million from Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos' Courage & Civility philanthropic award for her philanthropic work. The award recognizes "leaders who aim high, find solutions and who always do it with civility," comments journalist and Bezos' partner Lauren Sanchez. Each awardee is expected to direct the sum to "the charities that they see fit," adds Sanchez during a presentation, posted to social channels on Nov. 13. Parton, notes Bezos, "embodies these ideas so thoroughly. She gives with her heart, what she's done for kids, and literacy and so many other things, is just incredible." She will "put this $100 million award to great use helping so many people," he continues. Parton was typically modest of her fine work. "When people are in a position to help, you should help. And I know that I've always said, I try to put my money where my heart is," she said as she took the podium to receive the award in front of music industry luminaries, including Clive Davis. "I will do my best to do good things with this money." - Billboard, 11/14/22...... Joni Mitchell has announced plans to release her comeback Newport Folk Festival performance as a live album. Earlier this summer, Mitchell performed a surprise set at the legendary music festival -- which she last appeared at in 1969 -- delivering a 13-song "Joni Mam" set that featured Brandi Carlile on the tracks "Carey," "A Case Of You" and "Big Yellow Taxi." In a new rare interview with Elton John on his Rocket Hour radio show for Apple Music, Mitchell revealed that plans are in place to release the performance as an album. John said: "I've seen you through music, and of course your incredible rehabilitation, but music has helped you so much and it's beautiful to watch you evolve. And people out there, you haven't heard things from the Newport Folk Festival yet, but I think there's going to be an album coming out of that one?" Mitchell then replied: "Yeah, we're trying to put that out." Going on to reveal that she "didn't have any" rehearsals ahead of the performance, Mitchell then spoke about standing up to play the guitar during the performance. "Yeah, that I had to figure out what I did," she said. "And I couldn't sing the key, I've become an alto, I'm not a soprano anymore, so I couldn't sing the song. And I thought people might feel lighted that if I just played the guitar part but I like the guitar part to that song. So anyway, it was very well received, much to my delight." In 2023, Mitchell is set to continue her return to the stage, playing her first headline show in 23 years according to Carlile. - NME, 11/12/22...... Sting has announced a string of new UK dates as part of his "My Songs 2023" world tour. The former Police star will play Bedford Park in Bedfordshire, East England, on June 24, before heading up north to Scarborough to rock the Open Air Theatre on June 25. He's then due to play Lytham Festival in Lancashire on June 30. The following month, he play Cardiff (7/2) and Halifax (7/4). Tickets go on sale on Nov. 18. - Music-News.com, 11/15/22...... 
Innovative guitarist Keith Levene, co-founder of The Clash and Public Image, Ltd, died on Nov. 12 after a battle with liver cancer. He was 65. Levene's death was announced through social media by former PIL bandmates Martin Atkins and Jah Wobble. "A sad time to learn of the passing of guitar giant Keith Levene," Atkins wrote on Twitter. "We had our ups and downs that had mellowed over time. My respect for his unique talent never will. RIP KEITH LEVENE," Wobble said. Levene, who was born in London in 1957 and as a teenager was a roadie for Yes, was a co-founder of the Clash but left the band before their first album was even released. He teamed up with guitarist Mick Jones in the mid-1970s to form an early version of the Clash. Along with the band's manager Bernard Rhodes, Levene convinced Joe Strummer to join the group. Levene departed before the act started recording, but co-wrote the song "What's My Name," which appears on the Clash's 1977 debut album. After leaving the Clash, Levene briefly formed the band Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious, who later left to join the Sex Pistols. When the Sex Pistols disbanded in 1978, Levene and singer John Lydon joined forces with bass player John Wardle (aka Jah Wobble) and drummer Jim Walker to form Public Image Ltd. Levene contributed to Public Image Ltd's earliest albums -- First Issue (1978), Metal Box (1979) and Flowers of Romance (1981) -- and left the group in the mid-1983. Later in his career, Levene worked on a handful of solo projects, including 1989's Violent Opposition, featuring members of Red Hot Chili Peppers. - Billboard, 11/12/22...... Joe Tarsia, founder of Sigma Sound Studios and chief engineer for Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records, died on Nov. 1 in Lancaster, Penn. The cause of death of the 88-year-old, known as the architect of the "Sound of Philadelphia," was not disclosed. In collaboration with songwriter/producers Gamble, Huff, and Thom Bell, Tarsia played an instrumental role in crafting PIR's distinctive brand of sophisticated soul, dubbed the Sound of Philadelphia. He left his imprint on a host of classic hits such as Jerry Butler's "Only the Strong Survive," The O'Jays' "Love Train" and "Back Stabbers," Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me by Now," Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones" and The Spinners' "I'll Be Around." Tarsia also amassed credits on recordings by Teddy Pendergrass, the Stylistics, Patti LaBelle, the Delfonics and Lou Rawls. Beyond the stable of PIR acts, Sigma Sound in Philadelphia also attracted the likes of Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and The Jacksons. Tarsia also operated a Sigma Sound branch in New York from 1977-1988, booking sessions for Madonna, Whitney Houston and Elton John, among others. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sigma Sound's founding in 2018, Tarsia told The Philadelphia Inquirer, "If I made a contribution, it was that Philadelphia had a unique sound. I was able to attract the best technicians, the best engineers. And the history speaks for itself. Sigma -- not me -- has 200 gold and platinum records... There was the Motown sound. The Memphis sound. The Muscle Shoals sound. And there was the Sigma sound." - Billboard, 11/12/22.
Between 1957 and 1959, a young Hibbing, Minn. boy named Bob Zimmerman wrote a deeply personal collection of love letters to a high school sweetheart in which he envisioned changing his name and selling a million records. Now those 42 letters totaling 150 pages by the future Bob Dylan to his girlfriend Barbara Ann Hewitt are being auctioned by Boston's RR Auction house through Nov. 17. The missives, never before made public, shed a shed light on a period in the folk-rock icon's life for which not much firsthand information is known. "This archive is one of the most culturally important of the 20th century we have ever offered," said RR Auction Executive Vice President Bobby Livingston, who is also a big Dylan fan. The collection, including a lavish Valentine's Day card, is a "first-person account of Dylan's formative years," he said. Hewitt's daughter found the letters after her mother died in 2020. They, along with the original envelopes addressed in Dylan's handwriting, are being offered as a single lot with a starting bid of $250,000. In one letter, he asks Hewitt for feedback about changing his name ("Little Willie" and "Elston" are mentioned in the letters), and writes about selling a million records (he's actually sold about 125 million) and appearing on American Bandstand in front of throngs of screaming girls. Alas, like most teenage romances, it came to an end. In one of the last letters, the future Nobel laureate asks Hewitt to return the photographs he sent her. But it seems likely Dylan did not forget her. Hewitt's daughter told RR Auction that Dylan called her mother sometime in the late 1960s after he'd hit the big time and asked her to come to California. She turned him down. Hewitt was a redhead, and Livingston speculates that Dylan's references to redheaded or auburn-haired women in some songs were inspired by Hewitt, including "Tangled Up in Blue" where in one line he wonders "if her hair was still red." Hewitt moved on, apparently. She married another Hibbing man, but divorced in the late 1970s after seven years and never remarried, her daughter told the auction house. - AP, 11/20/22...... Bruce Springsteen released his 21st studio album 
Paul McCartney announced on Nov. 10 he will release The 73 Singles, a career-spanning box set that will feature 80 singles personally chosen by the singer from throughout his solo career, on Dec. 2. With a total of 163 tracks totaling more than 10 hours of music, the set -- which will also be released digitally -- is limited to 3,000 copies and will feature such beloved singles as "My Love," "Live and Let Die," "Band on the Run," "Silly Love Songs," "Coming Up," "Ebony and Ivory," "Say Say Say" and "No More Lonely Lights," among many others, and come in a wooden art crate. "I hope the songs in this box set bring back fun memories for you too. They do for me, and there will be more to come," Sir Paul said in a statement announcing the set. The box spans the time from 1971's "Another Day" to a 73 version of McCartney's 2022 Record Store Day song of the year, "Women and Wives" from 2020's McCartney III. The collection brings together 65 singles with their original B-sides -- using restored artwork from 11 different countries -- in addition to 15 singles never before released on 73 -- collected from previously released 123 , picture discs, CD singles and promos, digital downloads, music videos and two previously unheard demos and a previously unheard 73 single edit. In addition to the singles, the wooden box will also include a 148-page book with a personal foreword by McCartney, an essay from Rolling Stone music writer Rob Sheffield and chart information, liner notes and single artwork. Each box will also include a randomly selected, exclusive test pressing of one of the singles. Macca celebrated the announcement by sharing a rare 1971 mono recording from the set of "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey [Mono]" and "Too Many People [Mono]" on 
Jimi, a new Jimi Hendrix book celebrating what would have been the late guitar god's 80th birthday on Nov. 27, hit stores on Nov. 8. Jimi was authored by Hendrix's stepsister Janie Hendrix and John McDermott of Experience Hendrix L.L.C., and is described as a visual ode to "the greatest guitar player in rock n' roll history." The 320-page book features rare and never-before-published photographs of Hendrix, personal memorabilia, lyrics, and more. Quotes from Paul McCartney, Ron Wood, Jeff Beck, Lenny Kravitz, Drake, Dave Grohl and others who have spoken about Hendrix's lasting musical impact are included in the book, which is available at 
Eagles member Joe Walsh has announced a VetsAid 2022 concert for Nov. 13 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Oh. Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl is billed as a special guest on the lineup, which also includes Nine Inch Nails, the Black Keys and the Breeders, with comedian/actor Drew Carey hosting. Although Walsh says Grohl told him "I don't know (what I'm gonna do), but I'm coming," Walsh says Grohl "can do anything he wants." "He's gonna play a couple James Gang songs. I'm sure he'll play 'Rocky Mountain Way' with me, probably help sing it." Grohl performed Walsh's early band The James Gang's "Funk #49" with a new incarnation of the band at both of the tribute concerts in memory of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. Walsh -- whose father was a military flight instructor who died while on active duty in Okinawa, Japan, when Walsh was just 20 months old -- founded VetsAid in 2017 to raise funds and awareness for the needs of veterans and their families, distributing funds to grassroots organizations in the communities where the concerts are held and beyond. VetsAid, in partnership with the Combined Arms Institute, has so far distributed more than $2 million in grants from the benefits and other fundraising efforts. For those unable to attend the show, VetsAid will be livestreamed via veeps.com, with tickets on sale via vetsaid.veeps.com. Net proceeds will go to the charity, while Fandiem and Bandsintown are also participating in helping to raise additional money. This year's grant recipients include Paralyzed Veterans of America -- Buckeye Chapter, Hire Heroes USA, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, the Resurrecting Lives Foundation, Back the Heroes Rumble and more. Updates and other information can be found at vetsaid.org. - Billboard, 11/8/22...... After announcing his intention to relocate his family back to his native UK in early September, Ozzy Osbourne says he's having second thoughts about leaving the US. The metal icon had seemed poised to bounce back to his native England after it was announced that the BBC had green-lit a revival of the beloved Osbournes series starring the First Family of Metal, and after he said he was "fed up" with America because of the relentless string of mass shootings in the U.S. "Everything's f----ing ridiculous there. I'm fed up with people getting killed every day. God knows how many people have been shot in school shootings," Osbourne said in a an interview with The Observer. But in a new cover story for Consequence of Sound, Ozzy said after decades of living in Los Angeles he's on the fence about making the move permanent. "I'm getting a bit of flak from people," Ozzy said about the reaction to news of the planned pack-up that will set the stage for the BBC reality series Home to Roost. "To be honest with you, if I had my way, I'd stay in America. I'm American now. To be honest with you, I don't want to go back [to England]. F--k that." According to the BBC, producers expect to film 10 30-minute episodes for BBC One and iPlayer of Home to Roost, which will find the clan -- Ozzy and wife Sharon Osbourne, son Jack and daughter Kelly Osbourne -- living their new life at their 350-acre Welders House estate in Buckinghamshire. Producers promised to chronicle everything from Sharon's recent 70th birthday party to daughter Kelly's soon-to-be-born baby, Ozzy's upcoming tour to the big move itself. Osbourne also told the publication that he wants an "unknown" actor to play him in the forthcoming biopic about he and his wife Sharon's life. The Osbournes confirmed that the film was in the works in 2020, with an official announcement following in Oct. 2021. It'll focus on Ozzy and Sharon's whirlwind relationship between 1979 and 1996. "I don't want to have anyone like Johnny Depp act as me. I rather have someone who is relatively unknown," Ozzy said. - Billboard, 11/7/22...... Iggy Pop announced details of his new album Every Loser on Nov. 10. Iggy previewed the new record in October with a raw, energetic first single called "Frenzy." "Frenzy" features an all-star band including producer Andrew Watt, Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith, and is the opening track from the 11-song album. Every Loser will land on Jan. 6 via Atlantic and Gold Tooth Records, the label of Watt. Pop has shared "Frenzy" on 
In the weekend before the 2022 US midterm elections on Nov. 8 which saw Democrats perform much better than the pundits and pollsters predicted, Cher used her her social media reach to encourage her four million Twitter followers to vote in the election. In a pair of Twitter videos for NY 
Dan McCafferty, original lead singer for Scottish hard rockers Nazareth, has died at age 76. The vocalist's passing was announced by co-founding bassist/backing vocalist Pete Agnew, who revealed in an