Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on May 1st, 2023

In a new interview, Elton John has revealed that he is likely to take to the stage even after completing his marathon "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour" in Stockholm, Sweden on July 8. "Touring is exhausting for me now, and it takes me away from my family and my children [but] there may be the odd show," the 76-year-old music legend said. John explained that he was ready for "a little bit of freedom" after spending so much time away from his husband David Furnish and their sons Zachary, 12, and Elijah, 10. He'll occasionally play gigs such as the Emmy promotion evening in Los Angeles to promote the Disney+ show Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium. His farewell tour began back in 2018 and is already the most lucrative in music history, earning 678 million with two months of performances still remaining. It is estimated that it will earn an astonishing $1 billion by the 330th and final gig. Meanwhile, it was recently revealed by his husband that Elton wants to celebrate his retirement with a holiday to the Antarctic. "There are places I'd like to travel and take the boys," Elton's husband Furnish said in a chat with Your Money Map. "I have a real fascination and love of India... and our sons both want to go to the Antarctic, and Elton wants to go as well. I have no idea how to get there. Or what you do when you get there. But it's something that we can all do together, which is great." - Music-News.com, 5/1/23...... Aerosmith announced on May 1 that they'll launch a 40-date farewell "Peace Out" tour on Sept. 2 in Philadelphia. Aerosmith -- frontman Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer -- are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their 1973 eponymous debut album with a jaunt that includes a stop in the band's hometown of Boston on New Year's Eve and wrap on Jan. 26, 2024 in Montreal. Perry tells the AP "I think it's about time" for Aerosmith to say goodbye now, especially with every founding band member over the age of 70. Tyler, 75, is the oldest in the group. "It's kind of a chance to celebrate the 50 years we've been out here," Perry said. "You never know how much longer everybody's going to be healthy to do this. It's been a while since we've actually done a real tour. We did that run in Vegas, which was great. It was fun, but (we're) kind of anxious to get back on the road," he adds. During the tour Aerosmith will be digging into their lengthy catalog of the group's rock classics including "Crazy," "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Livin' on the Edge." Formed in 1970, Aerosmith has collected four Grammys and broke boundaries intersecting rock and hip-hop with their epic collaboration with Run-DMC for "Walk This Way." Their resume includes a 2001 Super Bowl halftime performance, and even a theme park attraction named in their honor in 1999 at Disney World in Florida and later in Paris with the launch of the "Rock n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith" ride. Before the 40-date tour wraps, Perry said other cities domestically and internationally could be added. "It's the final farewell tour, but I have a feeling it will go on for a while," he said. "But I don't know how many times we'll be coming back to the same cities. It could very possibly be the last time." - AP, 5/1/23...... KISS singer/guitarist Paul Stanley has been criticized by some of his fellow musicians including Steve Albini and The Offspring's Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman for a statement in which he labelled children's gender reassignment surgery "a sad and dangerous fad." Posting on Twitter on May 1, Stanley shared a seemingly unprompted statement titled "my thoughts on what I'm seeing" in which he said "normalizing" gender reassignment surgery in children has made it "a sad and dangerous fad," claiming a "big difference" between "teaching acceptance" and advocating for such surgeries. "There is a BIG difference between teaching acceptance and normalizing and even encouraging participation in a lifestyle that confuses young children into questioning their sexual identification as though some sort of game and then parents in some cases allow it," Stanley said. "There ARE individuals who as adults may decide reassignment is their needed choice but turning this into a game or parents normalizing it as some sort of natural alternative or believing that because a little boy likes to play dress up in his sister's clothes or a girl in her brother's, we should lead them steps further down a path that's far from the innocence of what they are doing," he added. Albini then responded "I remember when punk rock came along and made you irrelevant the first time," while Wasserman tweeted Stanley's attitude was "a very disappointing take, especially from someone who wore high-heels, makeup, & teased up hair his whole career.... As a young kid your band helped teach me that I could be whatever I wanted to be. I guess it was just gimmickry after all." In 2022, Stanley joined many in the music and entertainment world by speaking out against rapper Kanye West after he shared a string of antisemitic and racially insensitive comments. - New Musical Express, 5/1/23...... As he released his seductive new album Gasms on Apr. 28, Smokey Robinson has revealed to the UK paper The Guardian that he once had a year-long affair with his fellow Motown legend Diana Ross. Asked if there was anything to the rumours that he and Ross are the real parents of Michael Jackson, Robinson said: "They say I'm the baby daddy? Oh my God! I never heard that one, man! That's pretty good. That's funny! That's funny!" But while he denied that rumour, he did say that he and Ross had an affair for a whole year, all while Robinson was still married to his ex-wife, Claudette Rogers. "I was married at the time. We were working together and it just happened," he explained. "But it was beautiful. She's a beautiful lady, and I love her right till today. She's one of my closest people. She was young and trying to get her career together. I was trying to help her. I brought her to Motown, in fact. I wasn't going after her and she wasn't going after me. It just happened." Smokey said that Ross soon cut off the romance: "After we'd been seeing each other for a while, Diana said to me she couldn't do that because she knew Claudette, and she knew I still loved my wife. And I did. I loved my wife very much." Robinson, speaking to Billboard in another interview, said that Gasms was a laborious journey that took between five and six years to make. "'Orgasm' is the first word I think people think about. That's probably the most important one," he quips. "I thought it would cause controversy, and people would say, 'What is he talking about?' and it did. People say, 'What is it about?' I say, 'I want you to listen, and you tell me what it's about. It's about whatever you want it to be about. I left it like that." - Billboard, 4/28/23...... Speaking of Michael Jackson, the late pop superstar's "They Don't Care About Us" music video has hit a major milestone by surpassing one billion views on YouTube. The defiant protest anthem was originally released in 1996 as a single off the King of Pop's ninth studio album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I from the year prior. Filmed on location in Brazil, the accompanying visual was one of two directed by Spike Lee for the song, and features Jackson marching through the streets with a massive drum line of Brazilian kids and teenagers. The making of the video was rife with controversy, as the Brazilian government attempted to ban Jackson from filming in both Rio de Janeiro and the Historic Center of the city of Salvador, known as the Pelourinho. While "They Don't Care About Us" only peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, it sparked renewed interest decades later when it was used during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2014, 2015 and 2020. It follows Michael's "Billie Jean" video into the elite one billion YouTube views club. - Billboard, 4/26/23...... Bonnie Raitt announced on Twitter on Apr. 28 that she's canceling a handful of upcoming tour dates for an undisclosed "medical situation." "Bonnie has a medical situation that requires surgery to address. The doctors say that in order for her to heal properly, they recommend she not perform for a couple of weeks," the post reads. An update continued: "Unfortunately, this overlaps our five tour dates in May, and we are very sorry to have to cancel our performance at @brandicarlile 's Mothership Weekend on May 14th and postpone our shows in Athens, Louisville, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Please see below for more information about the rescheduled appearances. We deeply apologize for this delay and inconvenience. It's always upsetting to have to disappoint her fans, band, crew and our promoters, but sometimes unforeseen things just happen." The statement addressed her health, noting that "thankfully, Bonnie's in great hands," and thanked fans for their well wishes. "We very much appreciate your respecting her request for privacy at this healing time," it read. - Billboard, 4/29/23...... At the 44th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 27, 2002, Patti LaBelle, Pink, Mya, Lil' Kim and Christina Aguilera performed a memorable rendition of LaBelle's 1974 hit "Lady Marmalade." In a recent appearance on Sherri Shepherd's syndicated daytime TV talk show, Patti revealed she had absolutely no idea what she was saying when she sang those sweet French nothings "Gitchie, gitchie, ya-ya, da-da (hey, hey, hey)/ Gitchie, gitchie, ya-ya, here (here)" half a century ago. "I said, 'We [LaBelle and her bandmates Sarah Dash and Nona Hendryx] have to record this because it's a hit,' and it was," she recalled telling late producer Allen Toussaint as the group headed to New Orleans to record with the legendary singer/writer/producer. "I had no clue it meant 'will you sleep with me tonight.' I didn't know no French. I knew it was a hit... Yeah, that's what that song was all about. And it was a hit," she added about not knowing at the time that the refrain had such a saucy translation. In addition to it being a smash for Labelle, the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 again in 2001 when Pink, Mya, Christina Aguilera and Lil Kim re-recorded it for the soundtrack to director Baz Luhrmann's movie musical Moulin Rouge! - Billboard, 4/28/23...... In a chat with Jim Axelrod on CBS Sunday Morning on Apr. 30, Bruce Springsteen revealed that if he had to pick his "most definitive work" it would be one of his sparest, most personal LPs, 1982's Nebraska. Intended to be his and backing band The E Street Band's next rock album, Nebraska instead evolved into an unadorned, unleashing a series of stark story songs about serial killers ("Nebraska"), conflicted cops ("Highway Patrolman") and dead-enders spiraling their way into life sentences ("Johnny 99"). "If I had to pick out one album and say, 'This is going to represent you 50 years from now' I'd pick Nebraska," he said. "I think in your 20s, a lot of things work for you. But in your 30s, your 30s is where you be -- where you start to become an adult. And suddenly I looked around and said, 'Where is everything? Where is my home? Where is my partner? Where are the sons and daughters that I thought I might have someday?,'" he adds about the period 41 years ago when he recorded the album by himself in a farmhouse in Colts Neck, N.J. at at time when he'd achieved his rock and roll fantasy but was still in search of meaning in his life. Springsteen returned to the Colts Neck farmhouse where he worked on the album with Alexrod to take a look at the room where he recorded it, which the current owners have left as it was. "Things are going so well here, you know, that you just assumed, like, 'Oh yeah, well the rest of your life is going to fall into place.' No, that's not how it works," Springsteen says in a preview of the piece, adding, "You cannot succeed your way outta that pain." Springsteen and the E Street Band are in the midst of a world tour, and played the first of two gigs in Barcelona, Spain on Apr. 28. - Billboard, 4/28/23...... Carlos Santana and Gloria Gaynor will be among the artists who are the subjects of new documentaries set to premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Festival on June 7-18 in New York. Santana is scheduled to perform after his documentary, Carlos, premieres. It will also feature new documentaries about Alicia Keys, Gogol Bordello, Milli Vanilli, Biz Markie, the Indigo Girls and Tierra Whack. - Billboard, 4/27/23...... Speaking of documentaries, the trailer for Love To Love You, an upcoming documentary film about Donna Summer's reign as the "Queen of Disco," has been shared on YouTube. Love To Love You is described as a "deeply personal portrait" of the late star and her rise to fame with hits including as "I Feel Love," "Love To Love You Baby," "MacArthur Park," "Bad Girls" and "Hot Stuff." It will be released on HBO and HBO Max on May 20. The film, directed by Roger Ross Williams and Summer's daughter Brooklyn Sudano, goes behind-the-screens with Summer on and off stage, with previously unseen photographs and video footage, much of which was shot by Summer herself. In the trailer, those close to Summer remember an intensely private person who struggled with the attention fame brought. Often, they would first learn details about the artist's life through newspaper articles. The doc is packed with Summer's songs including the early hits that she made with legendary music producer Giorgio Moroder. Summer's music gained prominence again recently when Beyoncé sampled "I Feel Love" on her album Summer Renaissance. - NME, 4/29/23...... Dolly Parton is teaming up with Amazon.com for the two-day Pet Day Extravaganza sale event launching on May 2. Parton and her "god-dog", Billy the Kid, will join Amazon Live both days to share their Pet Day favorites with audiences. "We're gonna celebrate the pets that we all love," Parton says. Amazon Prime members will be able to shop "two wonderful days" of sales, which includes 20% off Parton's pet products line, Doggy Parton. "We've gotten such wonderful responses [from] people," Parton said of the pet line, consisting of clothes, hats, scarves, toys, leashes, collars and harnesses. Parton plans to expand the pet line to feature clothes for larger dogs and eventually items for cats. Amazon's 48-hour sale, which coincides with National Pet Month, will feature deals on treats, toys and supplies, along with home, electronics and personal care products to pamper your beloved pets. Pet Day is open to all Amazon shoppers, but Prime members get fast and free shipping on pet supply orders over $25 (visit Amazon's Pet Day page to shop early deals). Meanwhile, Dolly says although she was able to attract such A-list stars as Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty and Steven Tyler to contribute to her upcoming rock album Rock Star, there is one rock music icon she couldn't quite wrangle to be part of the project: Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. "I never got him!" Parton recently told ET Online, quickly adding, "But I love Mick Jagger no matter what. I'll still be runnin' after him all through the years, because I've always had a crush on [him]." Rock Star is set to be released this November. - Billboard, 4/28/23...... In other Country music news, Willie Nelson's 90th birthday concert at L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl took place on the last weekend in April, with such stars as Woody Harrelson, Chelsea Handler, Ethan Hawke, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Owen Wilson and Gabriel Iglesias among the big-name presenters who helped Nelson celebrate his milestone. The presenters joined a diverse artist lineup for the two-day event that included George Strait, Snoop Dogg, Miranda Lambert, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews, Tom Jones, The Chicks, Chris Stapleton and more who saluted the "On the Road Again" singer, who also performed. - Billboard, 4/27/23...... In Oct. 1976, The Damned were the first punk band to release a single ("New Rose") in and tour the U.S. Now the iconic punk band has released Darkadelic, its 12th studio album and first in five years. Frontman Dave Vanian says Darkadelic is "perhaps a box of deluxe chocolates full of delicious and surprisingly delightful flavors, a journey to the id, self-expression or discovery.... A dark tale of intrigue heavily laced with noir, romantic Gothic melodrama, a first kiss, a dangerous drug, dark love.... Truly it will represent a myriad of things to the individual and is, as it should be, defining but also undefined." After a European tour earlier in 2023, the Damned come across the pond for a half-dozen U.S. west coast dates starting May 20 in San Francisco before playing New Zealand and Australia during June and the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, England, in early August. - Billboard, 4/27/23...... Apparently not wanting to make any rash decisions, Leo Sayer has finally tied the knot with his longtime partner, Donatella Piccinetti. After nearly 40 years of dating, the 74-year-old "When I Need You" singer married Piccinetti on Apr. 15 in their garden in Australia's Southern Highlands. - People, 5/8/23...... Billy Joel performed his 1974 track "Los Angelenos" live for the first time in over four decades during a show at New York's Madison Square Garden on Apr. 25. The Piano Man brought the track out of its unofficial retirement, playing it live for the first times since 1981. "We never do this song, we haven't done this since the '80s, I think. Let's give it a shot," Joel said after speaking about living in Los Angeles. Fan-shot footage of the performance has been shared on YouTube. During the show, Joel also played hits like "My Life," "Summer, Highland Falls," "The Entertainer," "New York State of Mind," "We Didn't Start The Fire," "Uptown Girl," "You May Be Right," and a cover of The Rolling Stones "Start Me Up." - NME, 4/27/23...... Neil Young and Stephen Stills reunited for the first time in four years on Apr. 23 in Los Angeles for a tribute to their late Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate David Crosby.Y oung came on to perform with Stills at the latter's "Light Up The Blues" charity event that he puts on every year in aid of Autism Speaks. Young performed solo renditions of "From Hank To Hendrix" and "Comes A Time" before he was joined by house band Promise Of The Real for "Heart Of Gold." Stills then joined in for the CSNY number "Helpless" and remained for a series of Buffalo Springfield tunes, including "For What It's Worth," "Bluebird" and "Mr. Soul" with help from Joe Walsh. They then finished with "Long May You Run" from the pair's joint 1976 album of the same name. Earlier in the night, Stills paid tribute to Crosby, who died in January aged 81, with a performance of CSNY's "Wooden Ships" that featured his son Chris and Crosby's son James Raymond. The event fell short of bringing together all of CSNY's members, as Graham Nash couldn't make it due to a scheduling conflict. He did, however, appear in a pre-taped video to introduce a 2013 performance of "Guinnevere" by Crosby/Nash, and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. "Enjoy the music, and please rejoice," Nash said. "I'm going to miss him every day of my life." Videos of the performances can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 4/24/23...... John Travolta has paid tribute to Harry Belafonte on social media after Belafonte's death on Apr. 25 of congestive heart failure at age 96. "I had the great pleasure of working with Harry Belafonte in 1995. He was the definition of grace, poise, and generosity of spirit," Travolta wrote on his Instagram Story on Apr. 26. "We will miss you Harry." Travolta and Belafonte co-starred in the 1995 film White Man's Burden, of which John shared a screencap alongside his social media tribute. Also paying tribute to Belafonte was Barbra Streisand: "Harry was fighting the good fight from the beginning. He was so articulate, brilliant and beautiful," she wrote in her own Instagram tribute, featuring images of the pair together. "He was a wonderful friend and lived a prolific life. May his memory be a blessing." - Music-News.com, 5/26/23...... R Reach Music has acquired master and publishing rights to Judas Priest's first two records, Rocka Rolla and Sad Wings of Destiny from Gull Entertainments. As part of their new purchase, Reach will work alongside the British metal legends to release a 50th anniversary edition of Rocka Rolla in 2024 as well as other special projects. In 2021, Reach acquired a 50% copyright interest and the administration rights to Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton's song catalog, beginning with songs released in 1977. - Billboard, 4/27/23...... Former The Four Seasons frontman and solo star Frankie Valli returned to his boyhood home at Newark, N.J.'s Stephen Crane Village public housing project on Apr. 27 to have a street named in his honor. "I remember growing up as a kid, and how tough things were," Valli, 88, said in front of dozens from the old neighborhood who grew up nearby. "A lot of the enthusiasm that came to me came out of the fact that I had people here who loved and supported me... This is something that I'll remember for the rest of my life," the visibly moved "Grease" singer added. His comments came after the street sign showng Frankie Valli Way was unveiled at the corner of Stephen Crane Plaza and Franklin Avenue. Valli, born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio, grew up initially in Newark's old First Ward, then the North Ward at a time when the neighborhoods were Italian-American working-class enclaves. For those who came back to see Valli honored on the streets where they were all raised together, it means a lot that he didn't forget where he came from. "The guys from The Four Seasons were heroes to us. What Bruce Springsteen is for Freehold, Frankie Valli is for us," said Dominick Maglio, who grew up blocks away from Valli in Belleville, N.J., explaining why he made the trip from Central Jersey. "We appreciate what he's done for the community. I've never been this close to him, and I've got goose bumps," he added. Valli's signature falsetto voice powered a series of The Four Seasons hits in the 1960s and 70s, including "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," "Rag Doll," and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)," "Working My Way Back to You," and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." His work was later immortalized in the musical "Jersey Boys," which was later adapted into a feature film directed by Clint Eastwood. Actor Dominic Scaglione Jr., a Belleville native who played Valli for years on Broadway, was also on hand to pay his respects on Valli's street-naming day. "This is a long-overdue thing," Scaglione Jr. said. "When you have a boyhood star that makes good out of this area, it makes people feel good. For me, he lived his life, and it gave me a life. For others, they see a rags-to-riches story, and it gives them a little bit of hope when they get up in the morning." - TAPinto.net, 4/28/23...... Former First Lady Michelle Obama and Steven Spielberg's actress wife Kate Capshaw took the stage at the Bruce Springsteen concert in Barcelona, Spain on Apr. 28 to sing along with Bruce and his E Street Band on a rendition of "Glory Days." The previous evening the Obamas, Spielberg and Springsteen dined at the Amar restaurant in the Palace Hotel, and posed for a photo with the restaurant staff. Springsteen was one of Pres. Obama's biggest supporters in the latter's 2008 campaign, and performed "The Rising" at his inaugural. Springsteen received both the Kennedy Center Honors and the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the Obama administration. - Rolling Stone, 4/28/23...... Jerry Springer, an iconic if controversial TV personality best known for hosting the syndicated talk show The Jerry Springer Show for 27 years, died on Apr. 27 after a brief illness at his home in the Chicago area. He was 79 and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier in 2023. Springer was involved in politics before he became a TV sensation. He lost a bid for Congress in 1970, but then was elected to Cincinnati's City Council in 1971. He went on to serve one term as mayor of Cincinnati in 1977. The Jerry Springer Show, which debuted in 1991, originally focused on political issues, but later exploded in popularity after making the switch to lurid topics that included adultery, nudity, racism and other shocking scandals. Springer presented himself as the voice of reason who would frequently try to sooth guests tempers and diffuse tense situations. The series was known for violence and profanity, and would often erupt into "chair throwing" scenarios by the two opposing sides. The daytime show was a huge hit despite getting slammed by critics, who called it the worst TV show of all time, however Springer embraced the title. The British-born TV host last appeared on the reality talent series The Masked Singer in 2018. He is survived by his daughter Katie Springer and his sister Evelyn. - TMZ.com, 4/27/23...... Tim Bachman, a former member of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, died on Apr. 28 as a result of complications with cancer "throughout his brain," according to his son Paxton Bachman. He was 71. "My Dad passed this afternoon. Thank You Everyone for the kind words," Paxton posted on his Facebook page on Apr. 28. "Grateful I got to spend some time with him at the end. Grab yer loved ones and hug em close, ya never know how long you have," he added. BTO leader Randy Bachman, 79, also announced the news on Twitter, calling the loss "another sad departure," and adding: "The pounding beat behind BTO, my little brother Robbie has joined Mum, Dad and brother Gary on the other side. Maybe Jeff Beck needs a drummer! He was an integral cog in our rock 'n' roll machine and we rocked the world together." Tim, Randy and Robbie Bachman, who died in January aged 69, formed BTO in 1973 in Winnipeg after Randy left the Canadian band The Guess Who. Tim played with BTO from 1973 until 1974, when he was replaced by Blair Thornton, now 72, but came back to the band for a 1984 reunion tour and stayed until the late 1980s. He featured on two of the group's albums, 1973's Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Bachman-Turner Overdrive II for which he wrote the songs "Down and Out Man, Blown" and "I Don't Have to Hide." The band's third album included "Roll on Down the Highway," a hit single co-written by Robbie Bachman and Fred Turner that was originally produced for a car commercial. After 1979, BTO briefly split before regrouping in 1983, but without Robbie, who sued the new band for trademark infringement for its continued use of the name, resulting in a royalties pay out. obbie briefly rejoined the band for a 1988 reunion and in 2014, Bachman-Turner Overdrive were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. - Bang Showbiz, 4/30/23.

The Grateful Dead "unrolled" their first post on TikTok on Apr. 20, which also happens to a universally beloved smoker holiday. The GD celebrated the occasion with a compilation video of archival footage set to a live, remastered take of "St. Stephen" recorded at the legendary Fillmore West in San Francisco in 1969. The band launched their @gratefuldead TikTok account in conjunction withe Rhino Entertainment and, according to a press release, they promise that it will "serve as an outlet to celebrate the decades of music, generations of community, and endless array of creativity that has woven the band and its fans into every new era of the world's counterculture and consciousness." The first 30-second clip pulls together archival concert footage, candid scenes from Shakedown Street, handmade fan artwork and snippets of Deadheads spinning and showing off their customized vans. They also promise "much more exclusive content" in the offing on a near-daily basis in the future a month after the debut of the band's music on TikTok in March, which allowed users to used the group's recordings in their videos for the first time. - Billboard, 4/21/23...... "Oh my God!" Eddie Van Halen's iconic red, white and black-striped Kramer guitar from Van Halen's 1984 "Hot For Teacher" video has been sold to an unnamed bidder during a Sotheby's auction on Apr. 25 for $3,932,000. "The legendary 'Hot for Teacher' stage used and filmed guitar, custom made by Paul Unkert of Kramer Guitars for Eddie Van Halen, included important innovations customized for Eddie's evolving guitar technique," the Sotheby's listing read in describing the instrument they dubbed "one of the most iconic guitars of the MTV era." As a bonus, the winning bidder also took home the white straitjacket and white gloves worn by EVH in the video. Bidding for the Kramer was initially estimated to land between $2-$3 million. Van Halen died at 65 in Oct. 2020 after a long battle with cancer. Meanwhile, former VH bassist Michael Anthony revealed on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk show that there is a "ton of stuff" the band could release from Eddie's 5150 music archives. Anthony said there is a trove of tracks that the guitar god left behind and his son Wolfgang Van Halen and brother Alex Van Halen have the mammoth task of going through it. As well as the Right Here, Right Now live album from 1992, the band are also working on some re-issues from the Sammy Hagar years. Hagar was VH's frontman from 1985 to 1996, before returning in 2003 until 2005. Anthony, who was in the group from 1974 to 2006 and replaced by Wolfgang, said: "We're starting a bunch of the re-issue stuff with the Sammy years, with all his albums, and the first one that will come out will be the Right Here, Right Now live album that we did in 1992. We're digging back into stuff. There's a lot more stuff at Ed's 5150 studio; Wolfie or Alex will start going through stuff there and see what there is. There's a ton of stuff." Hagar previously claimed he's no longer on talking terms with Alex when asked about the possibility of a reunion tour or show in tribute to the rock legend. He says Alex has a problem with him that he believes he's gonna "take to his grave." - Billboard/Music-News.com, 4/21/23...... After an administrative court in Frankfurt ruled in his favor, Roger Waters has won a legal battle to play a forthcoming concert in the German city after it was initially cancelled over claims of antisemitism. The Pink Floyd co-founder had been scheduled to play the pubicly owned Festhalle on May 28, but Frankfurt City Council called off the performance over the musician's controversial views on Israel. They later described him as "one of the world's most widely-known antisemites." Despite the cancellation, Waters recently suggested that he was "coming anyway" in an Instagram post alongside a photo of the grave of Sophie Scholl, a German student and anti-Nazi activist who was beheaded via guillotine in 1943 for distributing anti-war leaflets around the University of Munich. His post also suggested that he had filed an injunction against the council due to their "unjustifiable" effort "to silence me" but has not had a response. On Apr. 24, Frankfurt's administrative court gave him the go ahead for the show in the name of "artistic freedom," while acknowledging that aspects of his show were "tasteless" and obviously lent on symbolism inspired by the Nazi regime. The city has the right to appeal the decision, although there is no indication as yet they plan to do so. Meanwhile, Waters has announced a release date for his new The Lockdown Sessions album of songs recorded at his home in England during the Covid-19 lockdown. Due on June 2, The Lockdown Sessions features the 1978 The Wall track "Comfortably Numb" as the final track on the record. "Our 'Us and Them Tour' lasted three years... At every gig we did an encore after the main show closed with 'Comfortably Numb'... the encore was always 'Mother' ... I can't remember why I decided to start doing other songs?," the 79-year-old musician said. He continued: "Anyway, at some point after the end of the tour... I started thinking, 'It could make an interesting album, all those encores ... 'The Encores'. 'Yeah, has a nice ring to it!' Then... I'm in England doing the Ginger Baker tribute gig one Tuesday night at the Hammersmith Odeon with Eric Clapton and... the following Saturday marching from The Australian Embassy to Parliament Square to make a speech in support of Julian Assange, when bloody me, Covid ...Schlummmm! For me it was Friday March 13th, 2020. Lockdown! So much for the 'Encores' project. Unless... We've tacked 'Comfortably Numb' on the end of the collection, as an appropriate exclamation point in closing this circle of love." Waters will kick off a 12-date tour of the UK on May 31. - New Musical Express/Music-News.com, 4/25/23...... Mariah Carey, Tony Bennett and Jennifer Hudson were among the artists sending happy birthday wishes to Barbra Streisand on her 81st birthday on Apr. 24. 'Living like Babs cause it's evergreen," Mariah Carey tweeted, referencing the lyrical shout-out about Streisand in her 2019 deep cut "Giving Me Life" before adding, "I love you Ms. Streisand!!!!! Happy anniversary @BarbraStreisand." Tony Bennett, who memorably duetted with the Broadway legend on their joint cover of "Smile," started his birthday tribute tweet with a quote by Babs herself. 'Life's too short. Start with dessert!' @BarbraStreisand," the crooner wrote alongside a smiling photo of the pair. "Wishing the fabulous Barbra Streisand a Happy Birthday! May your day overflow with joy, love, and an abundance of sweet treats!" Jennifer Hudson also used social media to honor Streisand on her big day with a tweet, calling her "one of the greatest to ever do it ! As a singer, songwriter, actress, director, producer, author and so much more, Barbra Streisand has paved the way for women everywhere. We celebrate you, @BarbraStreisand!!!" Coincidentally, on the same day Barbra turned 81, Adele and James Corden paid tribute to the Funny Girl star by belting out her rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade" in the very last segment of Carpool Karaoke before Corden exits The Late Late Show after eight years as host in late April. - Billboard, 4/23/23...... Meanwhile, Congress' karaoke night just got a lot more interesting. Such famous classic rock standards as Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," and John Lennon's "Imagine" have recently been included in the 2022 list of the Library of Congress' National Registry. The three beloved songs, along with 22 others, were selected by the Library of Congress based on their "cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation's recorded sound heritage." The Library of Congress has worked with the National Recording Preservation Board since 2002 to archive iconic recordings for future generations. Other selections include Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You," Wu-Tang Clan's "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)," and songs by Ricky Martin, A Tribe Called Quest and Daddy Yankee. - Jack FM/People, 4/15/23...... '70s No. 1 hitmaker Roberta Flack and current pop sensation Usher will receive honorary doctorates from the prestigious Berklee College of Music on May 13 during this year's commencement ceremony, it was announced on Apr. 20. The 2023 honorees, which also include multi-instrumentalist Sona Jorbarteh, will have the chance to address the 2023 class of graduates at the ceremony, and each will be further celebrated with a reception and concert on the eve of commencement, featuring more than 200 student vocalists, musicians, dancers, arrangers and producers from the graduating class performing a musical tribute to their work. The three join an impressive and diverse list of musicians who've received honorary degrees from Berklee in years past, including Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, B.B. King, Joni Mitchell, Chaka Khan, Willie Nelson, Ringo Starr, Gloria Estefan and John Legend. Flack, a four-time Grammy winner, has topped the hit parade three times: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in 1972, "Killing Me Softly With His Song" in 1973 and "Feel Like Makin' Love" in 1974. She was also the first artist to win back-to-back Grammys for Record of the Year, for "Face" and "Killing Me Softly." In all the years since, only U2 and Billie Eilish have equaled that achievement. In addition, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys' Recording Academy in 2020. - Billboard, 4/20/23...... The new Little Richard documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything began streaming on Prime Video, Apple TV and several other platforms on Apr. 21 after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January. The story of the late rock and roll legend, who died on May 9, 2020 of bone cancer is told through archival footage of his performances and interviews, as well as by those who knew and worked with him. The film follows the musician from his childhood in Macon, Ga., through the many ups and downs of a long and storied career, and adeptly reveals the layers that influenced the person who became the performer no one could ignore. It is also the story of rock and roll's birth, queer culture, and being a Black gay man in America. A companion album, Little Richard: I Am Everything - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released on Varese Sarabande Records digitally on June 16, with CD & LP releases to follow. - Billboard, 4/20/23...... In a new interview with the UK music mag Uncut, Graham Nash says his late bandmate David Crosby's death hit him "like an earthquake." Although he said he had been expecting Crosby to pass for the past decade, due to the sheer number of health issues he battled over the years, Nash, 81, said he "went into shock" when he found out that "Croz" died on Jan. 18, aged 81, following a long illness. "I mean, he had so much wrong with him. Holy Toledo, he had five or six stents in his veins. Obviously, he didn't take very good care of himself. But his death was still like an earthquake. The initial shock was just terrifying," Nash explained. Luckily, he says he and Neil Young, 77, had made amends with their Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate before he died. Graham said: "Fortunately, yes. We did. We were emailing and he called me and left a voicemail about how he feels that he needs to apologise for shooting his mouth off, particularly about Neil and I. We set up an appointment to FaceTime. Unfortunately, he never called. Then, a couple of days later, he was dead." Nash is releasing his first solo album in seven years, Now, on May 19, which he describes as his "most personal" collection of his career. He's currently touring behind the new album on his "Sixty Years of Songs and Stories" US tour to mark the 60th anniversary of his first single with The Hollies. - Music-News.com, 4/23/23...... On Apr. 21 the '70s English pop and ska band Madness announced a new UK arena tour taking place this winter, where they will be joined by special guests The Lightning Seeds. Launching in Aberdeen on Nov. 30, the "C'est La Vie" tour hit arenas across the UK, before closing with a performance in Birmingham on Dec. 16. It will feature appearances in cities including Glasgow (1/12), Nottingham (5/12), Liverpool (7/12) and Manchester (9/12), as well as a penultimate slot at London's O2 arena on Dec. 15. Frontman Graham "Suggs" McPherson and co announced that they were working on a new release on twitter back in November. Sharing footage taken in a recording studio, the twitter caption read: "Please allow us to introduce ourselves... We're back in the studio recording the new album... This one sounds about finished?!?" The "Our House" hitmakers will also be playing more UK shows in 2023 before kicking off their arena dates. Announced in Nov. 2022, the band will play in cities including Halifax and Middlesborough this summer. - NME, 4/21/23...... English singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran took the stand in Manhattan Federal Court on Apr. 25 in a high-profile copyright trial about whether his smash single "Thinking Out Loud" copied Marvin Gaye's classic 1973 song "Let's Get It On." Ben Crump, a lawyer representing the family of Ed Townsend, the co-writer for "Let's Get It On," said in his opening statement that Sheeran played his ballad and Gaye's song back-to-back in a medley during a concert, and called the moment a "smoking gun." Sheeran is accused of copying "Let's Get It On" by the heirs of Townsend. Townsend's daughter Kathryn Townsend Griffin, sister Helen McDonald and the estate of his former wife, Cherrigale Townsend, are the listed plaintiffs on the "Thinking Out Loud" case. Gaye died in 1984 and Townsend died in 2003. During Sheeran's testimony, the musician said the idea of creating the medley was "probably mine." He said if he had, indeed, copied "Let's Get It On," then he "would've been an idiot to stand on stage in front of 20,000 people." Sheeran's legal team declined to cross examine the musician on Rice's questions, and said they want to ask him their own questions as they present their case at a later time. Earlier in the court proceedings, Crump attempted to portray Sheeran as someone who recognized the "magic" of Gaye's soul song and then used it to catapult his career. "Thinking Out Loud" would go on to win the 2016 Grammy award for Song of the Year. "if you remember nothing else about this trial, about this case, it is about giving credit where credit is due," Crump told the jury, which was selected the previous day. Sheeran's legal team argued that the sounds used in both songs are common in pop music. "No one owns basic musical building blocks," Ilene Farkas, Sheeran's lawyer, told the jury in opening remarks. In 2022, Sheeran faced a previous legal battle over his music and won. Taylor Swift and Led Zeppelin have also been subject to claims of lifting their hit songs from other artists in recent years. - CNN, 4/25/23...... Barry Humphries, the Australian actor and creator of the comedic personality Dame Edna Everage, died on Apr. 22 in a Sydney hospital due to complications following hip surgery in March. He was 89. Mr. Humphries, who was born in Melbourne in 1934, rose to fame in the 1950s after originating the drag-character housewife Edna Everage. Sporting lilac hair and funky glasses, the act served as a form of social satire. The creation hit the London stage in the 1970s and gained a fanbase that landed the entertainer appearances in the worlds of theater, film, and TV for the next few decades. Before becoming a notable personality, Mr. Humphries was a fixture on the West End stage, appearing in shows such as "Oliver." The star expanded his act to the U.S. in 2000 with the Broadway production "Dame Edna, The Royal Tour," for which he was presented with a special Tony award. His other honors included being made Officer of the Order of Australia (OA) in 1982 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), which Queen Elizabeth presented to him for his contribution to the arts in 2007. Mr. Humphries also appeared in a number of films, including Bedazzled (1967), Spice World (1997), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), and Finding Nemo (2003). Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was one of many public figures to pay tribute to the star. For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone," he tweeted, referring to the melancholic and rambling latter character, another of Mr. Humphries' most enduring. "But the brightest star in that galaxy was always Barry. A great wit, satirist, writer, and an absolute one of kind, he was both gifted and a gift." Married four times, he is survived by his wife Lizzie Spender, four children and 10 grandchildren. - Entertainment Weekly, 4/22/23...... Ginnie Newhart, wife of comedy legend Bob Newhart and who inspired the classic ending of Newhart's Newhart series, died on Apr. 23 in Los Angeles after a long illness. She was 82. Ginnie Newhart, who met her husband on a blind date arranged by comedian-actor Buddy Hackett, is credited with providing the idea for the 1990 Newhart finale that included a clever callback to her husband's The Bob Newhart Show. The later show, which featured Newhart as a Vermont innkeeper, ended with him waking up in Chicago next to his on-screen wife from The Bob Newhart Show, revealing the second series to be dream. Ginnie once said she suggested the idea to her husband at a Christmas party that was also attended by Suzanne Pleshette, his on-screen wife in The Bob Newhart Show. That series ran for six seasons from 1972 to 1978 and helped cement Bob Newhart's status as a legend of TV comedies. Born Virginia Lillian Quinn, Ginnie was the daughter of character actor Bill Quinn, who appeared in The Birds, Twilight Zone: The Movie and had more than 230 other film and television credits. The Newharts were close friends with comedian Don Rickles and his wife Barbara, frequently traveling together. In interviews, the Newharts said laughter was the secret of the longevity of their marriage. She is survived by Bob, 93, their four children, and 10 grandchildren. - AP, 4/24/23...... Harry Belafonte, a towering figure in entertainment and civil rights who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, died on Apr. 25 of congestive heart failure at his New York home, according to his publicist Ken Sunshine. He was 96. With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, the Harlem-born and Jamaican-raised Mr. Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit "Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," and its call of "Day-O! Daaaaay-O." But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson's decree that artists are "gatekeepers of truth." Mr. Belafonte stands as the model and the epitome of the celebrity activist. Few kept up with his time and commitment and none his stature as a meeting point among Hollywood, Washington and the Civil Rights Movement. Mr. Belafonte not only participated in protest marches and benefit concerts, but helped organize and raise support for them. He worked closely with his friend and generational peer the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., often intervening on his behalf with both politicians and fellow entertainers and helping him financially. He risked his life and livelihood and set high standards for younger Black celebrities, scolding Jay-Z and Beyoncé for failing to meet their "social responsibilities," and mentoring Usher, Common, Danny Glover and many others. In Spike Lee's 2018 film "BlacKkKlansman," he was fittingly cast as an elder statesman schooling young activists about the country's past. A master at blending pop, jazz and traditional West Indian rhythms, Mr. Belafonte released more than 30 albums during his career and received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy from the Recording Academy in 2000. One of his three albums that charted in the top three in 1956, Calypso, which featured "Day-O" and another hit, "Jamaica Farewell," topped the hit parade for an incredible 31 weeks and is credited as the first LP to sell 1 million copies. In the late 1950s, Mr. Belafonte also made news as a rare non-white sex symbol and matinee idol. In the Darryl F. Zanuck-produced Island in the Sun (1957), his politician character is romantically pursued by a rich white woman (Joan Fontaine), a storyline that created much controversy (and big box office) at the time. And in two films released in 1959, he played a bank robber opposite a racist partner (Robert Ryan) in Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow and survived a nuclear disaster -- and then battled Jose Ferrer over Swedish actress Inger Stevens -- in The World, the Flesh and the Devil. Both movies were financed by his own company, HarBel Productions. Following an acclaimed Carnegie Hall two-night stand in Apr. 1959, Mr. Belafonte became the first African-American performer to win an Emmy (in 1960) for his Revlon Revue TV special, Tonight With Belafonte. He published a memoir, My Song, in 2011. Mr. Belafonte was married three times -- to nurse Marguerite Byrd, dancer Julie Robinson and photographer Pamela Frank, who survives him and was by his side at his death, as do his daughters Shari, Gina (both actresses) and Adrienne and son David (a producer). - AP/The Hollywood Reporter, 4/25/23.