Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 21st, 2023

On July 19 The Eagles once again added more dates their "The Long Goodbye" farewell tour. Two additional dates, on Sept. 17 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. and Oct. 15 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, were added "due to overwhelming demand" according to an Instagram post by the band. Presale tickets go on sale on July 26, with regular sale tickets available two days later. Tickets for the rest of the tour dates are currently on sale, and can be purchased through Ticketmaster and resale sites including Vivid Seats, Seat Geek and Stub Hub. Prices range from around $175 and up depending on the date. - Billboard, 7/20/23...... The Grateful Dead spin-off band Dead & Company performed a final triumphant three-gig run in front of more than 120,000 hometown fans in San Francisco's Oracle Park from Sept. 14-16. The band -- comprised of former GD members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti -- also have posted the best grosses and attendance numbers in 2023 in the group's eight-year history. The final run of dates played to more than 840,000 fans and grossed almost $115 million, with the San Francisco Chronicle reporting that the trio of San Francisco dates were projected to have a a nearly $31 million economic impact on the city. "The Final Tour" kicked off on May 19 with the first of two dates as Los Angeles' Kia Forum. It capped a 10-tour run that began in 2015 that was attended by more than four million fans at 235 shows. Along the way, the tour broke several records for attendance, including the all-time record for shows played at Chicago's venerable Wrigley Field (10) along with all-time paid attendance mark with 360,000 tickets sold, and the all-time attendance record at Boston's Fenway Park for most tickets sold in a single night, which was previously held by hometown heroes Aerosmith. "The Final Tour" found the band playing 112 unique songs; since their 2015 launch, Dead & Co. played 145 unique songs during 235 shows. Meanwhile, Dead & Company has been selling some of its greatest possessions, all for a noble cause. Auctions from the group's Participation Row -- the charity social action village which has traveled with the band on tour over the past eight years -- has raised $2 million in new funding from selling memorabilia, bringing its cumulative sum to $4,000,984 in proceeds raised for charities since 2015. In addition to the Participation Row auctions, Dead & Co. donated $2 from each ticket sale to HeadCount and various charities, and ran multiple promotions through their official website to further get DeadHeads involved. - Billboard, 7/20/23...... On July 18 Paul McCartney announced a new podcast on the iheart.com site, McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, will be released on Sept. 20, 2023. Each episode will see Sir Paul focusing on a single song from his work in the Beatles and Wings as well as his solo career. Tracks included in the first season of the podcast series include "Eleanor Rigby," "Let It Be" and "Live and Let Die," among others. The series, which superfans can binge the entire first season of immediately through a subscription at Pushkin+, will also provide listeners an unrivaled opportunity to sit in on conversations between Macca and poet Paul Muldoon, who wrote the foreword to McCartney's bestselling book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. "When we listened back to the tapes, we realized there was something very special happening in these conversations," explained Muldoon in the prologue episode which is out now. "It was McCartney unfiltered. It was like going back to an old snapshot album, looking back on work I haven't thought much about for quite a few years," McCartney added. Regular fans can start listening to the first episode via iHeartRadio, Apple, Spotify, and other podcast platforms on Sept. 20, with a new episode coming out every week. Season one will feature 12 episodes and Season 2 will follow with an additional 12 episodes set for release in Feb. 2024. - NME, 7/18/23....... Actor Jacob Elordi has been announced as the latest thespian to portray Elvis Presley in Priscilla, the forthcoming Sophia Coppola-directed biopic about The King's surviving ex-wife, Priscilla Presley. The movie will detail Priscilla's life from her own point of view, from meeting Elvis at 14 to their eventual divorce. The movie, based on Priscilla and Sandra Harmon's book Elvis and Me, will star Cailee Spaeny as the titular character. - Billboard, 7/18/23...... In a new interview with Reader's Digest, Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has recalled the time that his former bandmate Tony Iommiwas nearly "sacrificed" onstage by a "lunatic." Butler reflected on growing up in a strict Catholic home in England, the band's "satanic" imagery, and how that resulted in several weird experiences for the metal pioneers. "My dad wasn't very pleased when he saw the inverted cross on the sleeve of our first album," he said. "But, generally, nobody in the UK or Europe cared that much about our Satanic imagery. In the US, though, people would threaten us and turn up at our gigs with crosses and bibles. In Nashville, someone jumped on stage and went for Tony with a knife. Fortunately, Tony had turned around to kick his faulty amp at that point, saw the attacker and got out of the way. The police arrested the attacker, though we don't know what happened to him. But he wanted to sacrifice Tony. Lunatic." Butler also recalled the band's final gig and how he celebrated: "In 2017, we broke up for good. Tony had been diagnosed with lymphoma and was absolutely knackered after each gig, and it just felt like the right time. Our final concert was in Birmingham, where it all started. I'd been sober since 2015, so I celebrated afterwards with, I think, a lemonade." On June 6, Butler released his autobiography, Into The Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath - and Beyond. It traces the heavy metal bassist's personal and professional life, including a recount of Black Sabbath's multiple line-up changes and internal struggles, as well as the band's "beginnings as a scrappy blues quartet." - NME, 7/18/23...... On July 17 Elton John appeared briefly via video link in a London court to testify on behalf of American actor Kevin Spacey, who has been charged in the UK with sexual and indecent assault counts and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. John testified from Monaco after his husband, David Furnish testified that Spacey did not attend an annual gala ball at their Windsor home at the time that the accuser said he was attacked in a car. Sir Elton was the final witness for the defense and was followed by character testimonials from colleagues, friends and family that had Spacey in tears in the dock when they were read aloud by his lawyer in Southwark Crown Court. One of the alleged victims said he was driving Spacey to the White Tie & Tiara Ball in 2004 or 2005 when the actor grabbed his crotch so forcefully that he almost ran off the road. Furnish supported Spacey's own testimony that the only year the actor had attended the event was 2001. Furnish said he had reviewed photographs taken at the party from 2001 to 2005, and Spacey only appeared in images that one year. He said all guests were photographed each year. John, who was wearing yellow-tinted glasses, a dark jacket and light blue open-collar shirt, said the actor attended the party once in the early 2000s and arrived after flying to England on a private jet. - Billboard, 7/17/23...... Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2023 tour hit the Volksparkstadion venue in Hamburg, Germany, on July 15, and proved that The Boss may not be that young anymore, but his glory days aren't over. He played four songs from Letter to You during the show, which (along with his spoken introduction to "Last Man Standing") were presented with German subtitles onscreen. Some songs went by fast ("Working on the Highway"), while Springsteen stretched others into extended jams, including "Out in the Street," during which he showcased the horn section; "Kitty's Back"; and "Backstreets." Video segments during "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" honor late band members Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici but the band tours on. A six-song encore included "Born to Run," a Born in the U.S.A. triple-header of "Bobby Jean," "Glory Days" and "Dancing in the Dark," and then a joyous, extended "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." His final song was more subdued: "I'll See You in my Dreams," a goodbye about goodbyes, "For death is not the end." - Billboard, 7/17/23...... Speaking to the UK's The Guardian, Brian May said that the band's former bassist John Deacon is still "very much part of" Queen, and "we have to respect the fact that John needs his privacy now." May answered a series of questions put to him by fans in the interview, with one asking he had any "inkling" that Deacon would exit Queen for good, and why he thought the reclusive bassist walked away. The guitarist replied: "All I can say is that, historically, John was quite sensitive to stress. We all found it hard, losing Freddie (Mercury), but I think John particularly struggled." He continued: "We did do a couple of things together, in 1996: the recording of "No One But You" -- the song I wrote about Freddie when we were putting up the statue to commemorate him in Montreux (Switzerland) -- and one show in Paris. "It was to open the ballet season with an amazing new work by Maurice Bjart, about Mozart and Queen. We played with John on bass, and Elton John sang with us. "At that moment, John just looked at us and said, 'I can't do this any more'. We knew that he at least needed a break, but as it turned out he never came back." May then added that Deacon is still involved in Queen: "I don't think that I can go into much more detail -- we have to respect the fact that John needs his privacy now -- but he's still part of the machinery of the band. If we have any major decision, business wise, it's always run past John. It doesn't mean he talks to us -- generally he doesn't -- but he will communicate in some way. He's still very much part of Queen." In other Queen news, the band has received the Brit Billion Award for surpassing the landmark of 1 billion career streams in the U.K. The award -- sponsored by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the industry body for U.K. record labels and music companies and the organisers of the Brit Awards -- was honored to mark their achievement in surpassing the landmark of one billion career streams in the U.K., as calculated by the Official Charts Company. The achievement coincides with the 50th anniversary of the band's self-titled debut album, which was released in July 1973. "Thank you for presenting Queen with a Brit Billion Award," Brian May said on behalf of himself, late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, and surviving founding Queen members Roger Taylor and John Deacon. "We're grateful to all our fans that support us and continue to enjoy our music. Rock on BPI." Queen was one of the first musical acts to appear at the Brit Awards in 1977, where they tied for Best British Single for "Bohemian Rhapsody." Launched in 2023, the Brit Billion Award has also been presented to ABBA, Coldplay, Mariah Carey, and the late Whitney Houston. - NME/Music-News.com, 7/17/23...... An extensive collection of books owned by late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts is set to go under the hammer on Sept. 28-29, and be presented in London, New York and Los Angeles prior to the Christies auction sale. The extensive collection features a host of first editions of some of the world's most iconic books, including F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound Of The Baskervilles. The signed copy of Gatsby is set to fetch between 200-300,000, while Watts' collection of jazz memorabilia will also be sold. Discussing the items, Watts' authorized biography author Paul Sexton said: "He took great pleasure in owning these things. He valued his time at home and he would read on the road, so literature was a very important part of his make-up." He added: "I don't think he acquired them because he knew they would become valuable, he just took a huge satisfaction in owning these great works and tracking down, with the help of experts, original first editions." The full collection can be viewed on the Christies website. - NME, 7/16/23...... Music executive and Country Music Hall of Fame member Jerry Bradley died on July 17 in the Nashville area city of Mt. Juliet, Tenn. He was 83. Mr. Bradley was part of the illustrious Bradley family, who played an indelible role in creating and shaping Nashville's music industry and Music Row area. Mr. Bradley's father was music producer Owen Bradley while his uncle was studio musician Harold Bradley, who together shaped Nashville's Music Row as a music business town and architected the "Nashville Sound." Mr. Bradley's wife of 42 years, Connie Bradley, died in 2021 at age 75; she had served as the head of ASCAP Nashville for more than three decades. Mr. Bradley's sister, Patsy Bradley, previously served as assistant VP at BMI. While at RCA, Mr. Bradley worked with artists and on albums that shaped the fabric of country music. Inspired by the success of albums including Willie Nelson's groundbreaking 1975 set Red Headed Stranger, Mr. Bradley began developing a compilation project using the "Outlaw" moniker that included music from Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser, resulting in the platinum-selling 1976 LP The Outlaws: Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, Tompall Glaser. After Mr. Bradley left RCA in 1983, the Gaylord Corporation (which had acquired Opryland) bought the Acuff-Rose music publishing company and named Mr. Bradley VP of Opryland USA and GM of the Opryland Music Group, which owned the Acuff-Rose publishing catalogs. During his tenure, Mr. Bradley brought in new staffers and song pluggers as well as hit writers and artists including Dean Dillon, Casey Beathard and Kenny Chesney, whom Mr. Bradley brought to Acuff-Rose in 1992. A celebration of his life is scheduled at Cedar Creek Yacht Club in Mt. Juliet on Sept. 10. - Billboard, 7/17/23...... Actress and singer Jane Birkin, who made France her home and charmed the country with her English grace, natural style and social activism, died on July 16 at her home in Paris. She was 76. The London-born star and fashion icon was known for her musical and romantic relationship with French singer Serge Gainsbourg. Their songs notably included the steamy "Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus" ("I Love You, Me Neither"). Birkin's ethereal, British-accented singing voice interlaced with his gruff baritone in the 1969 duet that helped make her famous and was forbidden in Italy after being denounced in the Vatican newspaper. The style Birkin displayed in the 1960s and early 1970s -- long hair with bangs, jeans paired with white tops, knit mini dresses and basket bags -- still epitomizes the height of French chic for many women around the world. Birkin was also synonymous with a Hermes bag that bore her name. Created by the Paris fashion house in 1984 in her honor, the Birkin bag became one of the world's most exclusive luxury items, with a stratospheric price tag and years-long waiting list to buy it. In her adopted France, Birkin was also celebrated for her political activism and campaigning for Amnesty International, Myanmar's pro-democracy movement, the fight against AIDS and other causes. French President Emmanuel Macron hailed Birkin as a "complete artist, noting that her soft voice went hand-in-hand with her "ardent activism." "Jane Birkin was a French icon because she was the incarnation of freedom, sang the most beautiful words of our language," he tweeted. - Billboard, 7/16/23...... After 53 years in prison, Leslie Van Houten, one of the youngest of Charles Manson's followers, was released on July 11. Van Houten, who was 19 when she took part in the infamous 1969 murders of Rosemary and Leno LaBianca in the Los Feliz neighborhood of L.A., was initially sentenced to death, before the state of California aobolished capital punishment in 1972. "Is she an animal? I think she was then," Debra Tate -- the sister of actress Sharon Tate, who was also murdered by Manson cult members -- told Nightline. "And I fear that she still is." - People, 7/31/23.

In 2019, Queen's Brian May insisted his band would "never" play the UK's Glastonbury festival after Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis called May a "danger to farming" and criticized the guitarist's opposition to England's controversial badger cull -- arguing that the process is a fight against the impact that bovine TB can cause when cattle become infected. Although May doubled down on his comments earlier in 2023, he has now said that it's "not impossible" that the band could discuss playing the legendary festival. Speaking to The Guardian, May was asked once again about Glastonbury and whether he and Eavis could settle their differences. "You can never say never, but it's a very big matter of principle to me," May said. "I am convinced, more than ever, that the badger cull is the greatest crime this country has ever committed against wildlife. It's completely pointless and the tragedy is immense: you're talking about nearly half a million native animals killed and it's not benefited farmers one bit. The fact that Michael Eavis supports badger-culling is difficult for me to swallow. I don't really want to endorse his festival, but it's not impossible that we could sit down and talk. I'll talk to anyone -- that's the way we go forward. This year's festival, which wrapped on June 25, was headlined by Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Blondie, Rick Astley, Lizzo and Lana Del Ray, among others. - New Musical Express, 7/15/23...... A previously-unreleased song by late Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie has been shared on YouTube on what would have been McVie's 80th birthday on July 12. The track, courtesy of Rhino Records, was recorded by McVie during the sessions for her 2004 solo album In The Meantime. Rhino has also confirmed that it will share reissues of both In The Meantime and McVie's self-titled 1984 debut album later in 2023, with the project being overseen by the singer's nephew, Dan Perfect. Perfect described the 2004 album as being "perhaps her most personal and intimate project," and added that he wishes his aunt was around to see the LP reemerge in 2023. "When my aunt Christine McVie died unexpectedly last year, plans were already afoot for the re-release of this solo album, which is perhaps her most personal and intimate project," he said. Meanwhile, McVie's Fleetwood Mac bandmate Mick Fleetwood also paid tribute to the singer/keyboardist on what would have been her 80th birthday, posting an instrumental and spoken word adaptation of Christine's track "Songbird"" on YouTube. "As the songbird sings, now from the heavens, to you Christine, I wish you all the love in the world. But, most of all, I wish it from myself," he says on the track. McVie died in Nov. 2022 after suffering from a brief illness. She was 79. - NME, 7/14/23...... The final tally is in for Elton John's record-breaking "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" world tour as its final show was played on July 8 at Sweden's Tele2 Arena. After almost five years, the tour has grossed $939.1 million and sold 6 million tickets according to figures reported to the concert industry publication Billboard Boxscore. After claiming the title of the highest-grossing tour in Boxscore history earlier in 2023, Elton extended his lead with 49 arena dates in Europe, following an arena run in the Spring of 2019 and a sweep of stadiums in 2022. There were four North American stints, alternating between arenas and stadiums, plus two blocks of shows in Australia and New Zealand. After completing the tour, John posted on social media that he is still "trying to process" the end of his farewell tour. "And every step the way, my fans have been there. You have stuck with me, you have supported me, you have been patient and you have kept turning out for every single last show," he wrote on Instagram. In another Instagram post, the Rocket man thanked the huge team who worked on the tour around the world. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making every performance an unforgettable experience and filling the last five years of the farewell tour with memories I will never forget," he wrote. - Billboard/NME, 7/13/23...... Organizers of the Big Red Bash, held in Birdsville, Australia -- a remote Queensland town 1,000 miles west of the state capital, Brisbane -- have announced their July 4-6 event has broken a Guinness World Record when 5,838 dancers showed up to dance to the late Tina Turner's 1973 classic "Nutbush City Limits." That figure easily eclipses the old mark of 4,084 people, set at the same site in 2022, and the 1,719 people recorded by Guinness World Records in 2018. "It's a military operation trying to get them lined up in rows and dancing for five minutes," Greg Donovan, founder of the Big Red Bash, posted on Instagram. The record-setting effort also raised more than A$100,000 for charitable causes. The land Down Under has a deep, lasting connection with Turner -- her extraordinary solo comeback in 1984 was engineered by Roger Davies, the great Australian artist manager who has guided the careers of Pink, Olivia Newton-John, Janet Jackson, Cher and many others. - Billboard, 7/11/23...... The Beach Boys issued a press release on July 13 announcing their first-ever official anthology book. The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys will be a 400-page, 60,000-word tome covering the "Endless Summer" band's rise from a Hawthorne, CA garage in 1961 to international fame thanks to such indelible sand-and-surf hits as "Surfin' U.S.A.," "I Get Around," "California Girls," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Little Surfer Girl," "Kokomo" and many more. The limited-edition, 500-copies run will tell the band's story through the words of members Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston, with rare and classic photographs and rarities. "I think it's the heart that you put into what you're doing that's important. Each member of the Beach Boys puts their whole heart and soul into what they do, and that is probably the saving grace of the group," Brian Wilson said in a statement shared by publisher Genesis Publications. "Few families are together spiritually and emotionally over art," he added. The book will also feature photos from the Capitol Records archive, the band's archive and members' personal archives, including outtakes from album sessions for such landmark releases as Pet Sounds and Smile, live shots from their first European tour and the rehearsals for their first live performance of 'Good Vibrations." It will also include other rare objects, including photos of tape boxes, tour posters and programs, handwritten lyrics and notes, newspaper clippings, album ads and studio documents. Other contributors include Lindsey Buckingham, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Ray Davies, Bob Dylan, Def Leppard, David Lee Roth, Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend, among others. A hardcover edition for bookstores will be issued in 2024, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the ocean conservation group the Surfrider.org. - Billboard, 7/13/23...... On July 12 Tom Waits announced on Twitter that his label Island Records will reissue five of his albums he recorded between the 1980s and 1990s. The reissues, which were personally overseen by Waits himself along with his wife Kathleen Brennan, consist of 1983's Swordfishtrombones, 1985's Rain Dogs, 1987's Frank's Wild Years, 1992's Bone Machine and 1993's The Black Rider. The catalog has been newly remastered from the original tapes by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering under the guidance of Waits' longtime audio engineer, Karl Derfle and prepped for release on vinyl, CD and digital for the first time. Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Franks Wild Years are set for release on Sept. 1, while Bone Machine and The Black Rider will follow on Oct. 6. All of the reissues will be available on CD, 180-gram black vinyl, and color variant vinyl. - NME, 7/12/23...... A document handwritten by Aretha Franklin and found in her couch after her 2018 death is a valid Michigan will, a Detroit jury decided on July 11, a critical turn in a dispute that has turned her sons against each other. The decision is a victory for Franklin's sons Kecalf and Edward Franklin whose lawyers had argued that papers dated 2014 should override a 2010 will that was discovered around the same time in a locked cabinet at the Queen of Soul's home in suburban Detroit. The jury deliberated less than an hour after a brief trial that started the day before. After the verdict was read, Aretha's grandchildren stepped forward from the first row to hug Kecalf and Edward. "I'm very, very happy. I just wanted my mother's wishes to be adhered to," Kecalf Franklin said. "'We just want to exhale right now. It's been a long five years for my family, my children." Kecalf and Edward had teamed up against brother Ted White II, who favored the 2010 will. White's attorney, Kurt Olson, noted the earlier will was under lock and key. He said it was much more important than papers found in a couch. "We were here to see what the jury would rule. We'll live with it," Olson said after the verdict. Aretha did not leave behind a formal, typewritten will when she died five years ago at age 76. - AP, 7/11/23...... When Led Zeppelin's late manager Peter Grant died in 1995, the band's longtime manager who owned a 20% stake in their music apparently left his children Helen and Warren grant a 10% share in their music. Now that Helen is selling her 10% share of the band's music assets, as reported by Music Week and The Times, she's in for a very nice payout. The Music Week article reports that Helen has hired Ian Penman of New Media Law to shop her share of the Zeppelin assets. With the band's master recordings catalog still generating an estimated $24 million in revenue annually in the US alone, that would give the Led Zepp recorded masters catalog a nearly $420 million valuation -- 10% of which would be $42 million. After likeness and trademarks are thrown in (excluding publishing), Helen could reap close to $45 million. It's unclear if Led Zeppelin still owns the rest of the Swan Song catalog, which includes albums by Bad Company, the Pretty Things and Maggie Bell -- and, if it does, whether Helen Grant has a stake in that and is offering it up for sale, too. It's unclear if that interest is a part of any contemplated sale. - Billboard, 7/11/23...... As AC/DC celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023, the hard rocking Aussies are helping to ring in the milestone with an exclusive AC/DC Collector's Edition Monopoly Set. The classic game gets an AC/DC makeover with pieces and labels inspired by all of the band's major moments throughout the years, including AC/DC Lane, "For Those About to Rock," "TNT" and more. Take on the board with one of the tokens inspired by the band, including a "bundle of dynamite," "bell on fire," "lightning bolt," "Angus School Boy Hat" and "stack of cash." The game will have players journeying around the board in an attempt upgrade properties with Gold Records (Houses) and Platinum Records (Hotels). You'll also want to stack your cash like amps and use the profitable Bonfire (Community Chest) and Backtracks (Chance) cards to be the last fan with Angus-printed currency to land yourself the win. The game is now available at Walmart.com. - Billboard, 7/11/23...... Judas Priest has been announced as the replacement act for Ozzy Osbourne at the upcoming Power Trip festival in Indio, Calif., in October after the Black Sabbath frontman recently announced "my body is telling me that I'm just not ready yet" for a concert performance and he "didn't want his first show in five years to be half-assed." Ozzy had been scheduled to perform alongside AC/DC, Guns N Roses, Tool, Metallica and Iron Maiden on Oct. 6-8. Power Trip is taking place at the Empire Polo Field, the same site used to host the annual Coachella music festival, as well as the annual Stagecoach country music festival. Judas Priest toured extensively in 2022 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that year, but does not currently have any shows on the books for 2023. The band is booked to play a European tour in spring 2024. Led by vocalist Rob Halford, Judas Priest has toured extensively with Osbourne and had been scheduled to tour with him in 2022 before that tour had to be postponed for health reasons. - Billboard, 7/11/23...... Farm Aid concert co-founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp announced on July 10 that the 2023 Farm Aid will return to the Indianapolis, Ind. area on Sept. 23 for the third time in the event's 38-year history. The forthcoming show at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville will mark Young's first in-person attendance since 2019. In addition to the principals, other performers this year include: Farm Aid board member Margo Price, fellow board member Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds, the Grateful Dead's Bobby Weir, the Wolf Bros. featuring the Wolfpack, Lukas Nelson, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Allison Russell, The String Cheese Incident and Particle Kid, with more acts to be announced later. Young did not attend in in 2021 or 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic; the 2020 event was presented online. Since launching in 1985, the benefit concert series has raised more than $64 million to support programs that help family farmers. According to a release on Instagram, this year's event "will honor Indiana family farmers and others who are taking on climate change using regenerative, organic and sustainable farming practices." - Billboard, 7/11/23...... In an interview with Total Guitar magazine, Wolfgang Van Halen said he doesn't think a Van Halen reunion or tribute show for his late father Eddie Van Halen is "possible." Wolfgang, 32, said there is too much politics between bandmembers that they aren't willing to put aside to honor his legendary axeman dad, who lost his lengthy battle with cancer in Oct. 2020 at the age of 65. "Unfortunately, with the way Van Halen operates and has operated, I don't think it's possible," he said. "With Foo Fighters and what they pulled off with the Taylor Hawkins tributes, the whole organization from the ground up is very rooted in not too much personnel. With Van Halen and all of the history behind it, there may be a bit too much of that to be put aside for what should happen." Wolfgang -- who had a stint performing alongside his father as bassist in Van Halen -- said he got his "closure" when he performed at the Hawkins tribute concerts in London and Los Angeles. "Personally, I feel like I got my closure when I played the Taylor Hawkins tributes, because -- at least just for me -- they were just as much about my dad as they were Taylor," he said. "I was very grateful for the opportunity to be part of those celebrations -- it meant a lot! I got a lot of my feelings out when we did those shows. That's what I've come to terms with." Meanwhile, Wolfgang's band Mammoth WVH will release their second studio album, Mammoth II, on Aug. 4. - Music-News.com, 7/15/23...... The cause of the Jan. 12 death of Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley at age 54 was due to complications from bariatric surgery she had several years ago, authorities announced on July 13. The death was ruled as being from natural causes due to effects of a small bowel obstruction. According to an autopsy report released by the office of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, the complication that Presley experienced is a common one from bariatric surgery, which is a weight loss procedure. According to The Mayo Clinic, the procedure is often done when other weight loss methods haven't worked or if a person has a serious medical condition. The autopsy report added that Lisa Marie had been complaining of stomach pain earlier in the day. She was buried at a Jan. 22 funeral at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., the home where she lived with her father as a child that has become a museum, tourist attraction and shrine for Elvis fans. She left behind three daughters, 34-year-old Daisy Jones & the Six actor Riley Keough and 15-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood. A son, Benjamin Keough, died in 2020. Riley was nominated for her first Emmy on July 12, for best actress in a limited series or TV movie, for Daisy Jones & the Six. - AP, 7/13/23.