Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on March 12th, 2024

Sting announced on Mar. 11 that he'll return to the stripped down three-man configuration for his "Sting 3.0" tour of 2024, which kicks off Sept. 17 at the Fillmore Detroit. The tour includes multiple theater dates in most cities, including two nights at Toronto's Massey Hall (9/20, 21), and three nights at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, NY (10/7, 9, 10). Sting, a 17-time Grammy winner, and his band will perform songs from his solo career, as well as his time as the Police frontman. The tour will wrap in Los Angeles on Nov. 13, after also visiting Philadelphia, Boston, Brooklyn, NY, Port Chester, NY, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco. Sting's busy 2024 schedule also includes an Apr. 13 date in San Diego with Billy Joel, as well as continue on a European arena tour for much of the summer before the kick-off of this fall's theater tour. - Billboard, 3/11/24...... Elton John's AIDS Foundation has announced it raised $10.8 million dollars for AIDS research at its 32nd Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on Mar. 10, 2024 in West Hollywood, Calif. The money from the event will go toward the organization's Rocket Fund, a fundraising initiative meant to "redouble the fight against AIDS everywhere," according to the organization's website. "So far, this has been an extraordinary year beyond my wildest dreams, including the honor of achieving the EGOT, but it's tonight's gathering that is the ultimate highlight," John said in a statement following the event. "I'm so grateful to everyone who comes out each year to have a lot of fun and do a whole lot of good together. We've been loud and proud about showing compassion and ending the dreadful stigma that follows HIV, and we won't stop until we achieve our mission." Hosted by John, his husband David Furnish, Neil Patrick Harris and others, featured a star-studded guest list that included Sharon Stone, Donatella Versace, Danny DeVito, and more. During the evening, a multimillion-dollar live auction saw the organization sell off a number of luxury items, including a bedazzled Yamaha piano signed by Elton, two pinball machines, two pairs of Chopard earrings and a custom-made Rolex for his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour." At the night's close, John performed alongside the evening's musical guests, R&B-pop trio Gabriels, to his 1989 hit "Are You Ready for Love," recreating an iconic moment from the UK's Glastonbury 2023 when Gabriels lead singer Jacob Lusk joined John onstage for the track. In still more Elton news, country star Kacey Musgraves has claimed the Rocket Man used to have a cardboard cut-out of his husband and sons in his dressing room. "I'll never forget Elton playing in Nashville and getting to catch up with him in his dressing room after with all the Gucci and sunglasses lying around," Musgraves, 35, told The Times newspaper. "And a big cardboard cut-out of his husband and kids." Insiders in John's camp recently revealed that the "Candle in the Wind" singer has been working on a "top secret" new album that could be released later in 2024. A source told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column: "It's all been very top secret, but Elton is back in the studio working on a new album. Time frames are always movable, but the fourth quarter has been pencilled in terms of a release date." - Billboard/Music-News.com, 3/11/24...... John Lennon and Yoko Ono's son Sean Lennon wished his mom Yoko a happy Mothers Day during the Mar. 10 Academy Awards show. Mar. 10 was not only the date of the Oscars ceremony, but it's also Mother's Day in the U.K. During filmmakers Dave Mullins and Brad Booker's emotional Best Animated Short win for "WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, Sean Ono Lennon" -- Sean made sure to give his mom an extra special shout-out -- even though the "wrap-it-up" music was already playing. "My mother turned 91 this February," he told the audience. "Can everyone say 'happy Mother's Day to Yoko'?" At his request, the audience in front of him wished Ono a happy holiday in unison. Ono and John collaborated a number of times before Lennon was fatally shot in 1980, notably on "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." The track has gone down in history as a classic Christmas tune, reaching its latest peak of No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022 -- more than 50 years after it was first released. - Billboard, 3/10/24...... In other Beatles-related news, Paul McCartney will be among the artists paying tribute to the late Jimmy Buffet with a "Keep the Party Going" concert on Apr. 11 during an all-star concert at the Hollywood Bowl. The Live Nation/Hewitt Silva presents show will also feature performances from the Eagles, Jon Bon Jovi, Zac Brown, Jackson Browne, Brandi Carlile, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, Mac McAnally, Pitbull, The Coral Reefer Band and more special guests to be announced later. Tickets for the celebration of life event will go on sale to the general public on Mar. 15. Buffett died at his home in Sag Harbor on Long Island, N.Y., on Sept. 1, 2023 from skin cancer. He was 76 years old. Earlier in Marh, the video for his single "The University of Bourbon Street" -- from his final studio album, November's Equal Strain on All Parts -- was released. On the album Buffett performs a tribute to his favorite city with help from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. - Billboard, 3/11/24...... The upcoming Michael Jackson biopic Michael will reportedly address the allegations of child sexual abuse against the singer. Given that Michael has the approval of the Jackson estate, it had been unclear whether the film would explore the most controversial aspects of his life, but a new report suggests it will. Puck News' Matthew Belloni has obtained an early draft of the script, and says that the film "wants very much to convince you Michael is innocent," adding that it goes to "great lengths to minimise and downplay the actual claims and eviscerate the Chandlers." In 1993, Evan Chandler, a dentist and screenwriter based in Los Angeles, accused Jackson of sexually abusing his 13-year-old son Jordan Chandler. The case was concluded when the two parties reached a financial settlement in 1994. In 2013, four years after Jackson's death, the choreographer Wade Robson filed a lawsuit against the Jackson estate, saying the King of Pop had sexually abused him between the ages of seven and 14. Another man, the former child actor James Safechuck, also came forward with allegations. The director of the documentary Leaving Neverland, which documented Robson and Safechuck's allegations, recently criticized the making of the new biopic, saying it "will glorify a man who raped children". Robson and Safechuck have requested that their joint trial starts before the release of Michael. The film has been set for an Apr. 18, 2025, per production house Lionsgate. A UK release date is yet to be announced. It was announced in Jan. 2023 that Michael's own nephew, Jaafar Jackson, will play the late pop superstar in the film. Jaafar is the son of Michael's brother Jermaine Jackson. This will be the 27-year-old's film debut, although he has appeared in the Lifetime reality show The Jacksons: Next Generation. - New Musical Express, 3/9/24...... As Chicago reaches its 57th year of existence in 2024 after being formed by trombonist Jim Pankow, keyboardist/singer Robert Lamm, trumpeter Lee Loughnan and saxophonist Walt Parazaider in 1967, Pankow looks ahead at the band's future, while sharing stories of rock and roll excess from the past, in a new interiew with Billboard. "It was eternity, not being able to work for a year and a half," says Pankow. "So here we are. This is our 57th year and, gosh, it just keeps getting better. I have to pinch myself because this phenomenon is never ending. And, man, we're going to do this as long as we can." Earlier in March, the band hit another milestone: on Mar. 6, Chicago played its 50th show at Las Vegas' Venetian Theater, the first act to reach that landmark. The 1,815-seat venue at the Venetian allows fans to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band in a much smaller setting than its other 80-to-90 annual shows. Pankow says the current lineup, in his opinion, is the strongest lineup in the history of the band. "The band is firing on all cylinders. There's no weak spots in the personnel. We have trimmed the fat and we are just slamming. Being on stage with my fellow bandmates is a joy every night that I will never tire of. Who would have thought more than a half century later that it's still an amazing experience? More amazing than ever." Pankow said each era of Chicago is "defined in a unique way -- you can't really compare because it's a completely different time." But the recording of the band's first album Chicago Transit Authority will always be the most special to him. "I'll never forget walking into Columbia Recording Studios in New York City, standing in front of a mic and knowing that this is going on tape forever," he says. "We were very frightened young men. And that music was the embodiment of the idea of what this band is all about." Pankow said if asked to choose which Chicago song to put in a time capsule, it would be "Beginnings" from the first album. "It's one of the songs in the repertoire that I get to stretch out on and solo on. So, I always like that." Although Parazaider retired from touring in 1967, Pankow says he, Lamm and Loughnan are "going to do this until we cannot be believable anymore." "As long as we can get up there and we can kill it every night, I pray to God that we can do that. At this point there is no end in sight. We're at the top of our game. I say, 'Retire to what?'." Chicago will head out on a co-headlining tour with Earth Wind & Fire this summer for the sixth time. - Billboard, 3/8/24...... The Stone Pony, the Asbury Park, N.J. club brought to national fame by local superstar Bruce Springsteen, is celebrating its 50th birthday in 2024. In Feb. 1974, New York native Jack Roig opened the Ocean Avenue club, situated across from the Asbury Park boardwalk, and it also became the birthplace of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. The Jukes started playing regularly at the Pony in 1974 as one of the venue's first house bands -- and early incarnations included future E Street Band member Little Steven Van Zandt. The Boss began to hang around soon after. The 1976 record release party for the Jukes' debut, I Don't Want To Go Home, helped put the club on the map. Springsteen, members of the E Street Band and legendary singers Ronnie Spector and Lee Dorsey made guest appearances at the concert, which was simulcast across the region including on major Philadelphia rock station WMMR-FM. The sound of Asbury Park -- a merging of rock'n'roll and horn-fueled R&B and soul -- was a hit. The modest-looking venue also helped drive the revitalization of Asbury Park, and its 4,500-capacity outdoor Summer Stage has hosted stars from Elvis Costello to Blondie, Green Day to Demi Lovato, as well as local favorites like Springsteen over its 50-year history. The modest building, painted white stucco on the outside with a simple rectangular floor plan, will continue its storied legacy with anniversary shows throughout the year. The Jukes played there Feb. 16 and Feb. 17 (although Southside Johnny left the second show early and was briefly hospitalized for dehydration, according to a band spokesman). Roig says that "the future of the community has gotten so much brighter with new things coming through." "The Pony is a symbol that we don't have to let go of our past to embrace our future. The Pony is a symbol of both those things." - Billboard, 3/8/24...... The Wolfgang Van Halen/David Lee Roth feud continues as Van Halen has fired back at Roth after the Van Halen frontman blasted him in a viral rant earlier in 2024. "I guess I'm honored (Roth) even thinks about me as much as he seems to," Wolfgang, 32, said during a recent interview with Atlanta radio show The Morning X. "I seem to have been born into this Van Halen drama that has come way before me," he continued. "And now that my dad isn't here to be a target, I guess he went to the next best thing." Roth, one of the founding members and lead singers of VH, went off on the band's bass player and son of the late Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli in a scathing rant posted to his YouTube channel in January. The segment began with Roth doing a spoof interview with "our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" as the fake personality tells listeners he was hired "because of my talent," in what many perceived was a thinly veiled swipe at Wolfgang taking over as the band's bassist in 2006. "I would have this job anyway, even if my dad wasn't God. I know you agree. I'm on every church wall, and I would be on that church wall if my dad wasn't God I just want people to know I got this job because of my talent," the Jesus impersonator continued. Roth then started to rant about Wolfgang -- who replaced original VH bassist Michael Anthony -- claiming that the youngster complained that the singer didn't pay attention to him onstage. "This f---in' kid! He's complaining the entire tour like I'm not paying enough attention to him on stage," Roth says. "Like Santa Claus on Christmas coming down the chimney and popping out on Christmas and saying, 'Nobody is paying attention'. I'm giving him the best, everything I've got, in front of twenty, thirty thousand people at a clip, and he's complaining to everybody around me -- the business manager, the security guy, the clothing lady -- 'Dave's not paying enough attention to me.'" But in his conversation with The Morning X, Wolfgang said, "You have to take what he says with a grain of salt." "He also said that he wrote 'Eruption" and came up with (Eddie's custom guitar) the Frankenstein Strat," Wolfgang added. Wolfgang added that he's not planning on participating in a summer VH tribute tour featuring former VH vocalist Sammy Hagar and Anthony. "No way. I don't want to play that music without my dad," he said. - Canoe.com, 3/8/24...... The Australian film production company HALO Films announced on Mar. 8 that a "loose biopic" based on the life of late AC/DC frontman Bon Scott is currently in the works. The film -- titled The Kid From Harvest Road -- will not be a faithful retelling of Scott's life, but rather a "fictionalised narrative set in the 1960s," according to HALO. The company explains that by working around a loose retelling, the movie "can offer a more imaginative exploration of Scott's character and experiences". The studio continued: "Focusing on his formative years in Fremantle allows for a deeper dive into the influences and events that shaped him as a person and ultimately as the iconic frontman of AC/DC. It also provides an opportunity to explore the cultural landscape of the time, including the burgeoning music scene and social dynamics of the era." Young Australian actor Lee Tiger Halley, who stars in Netflix's Boy Swallows Universe, will play Scott in the film. A release date for The Kid From Harvest Road has yet to be announced, as the film is expected to begin shooting in earl 2025.Scott fronted AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. He sang on the band's first six albums, spanning from their debut High Voltage, through 1979's Highway To Hell. Brian Johnson was tapped to replace Scott just weeks after the latter's death, and went on to record the smash LP Back in Black and has been with the band ever since. In celebration of their 50th anniversary as a band, AC/DC are set to release limited edition gold vinyl pressings of their entire album catalogue. Each of the limited edition albums come with an album-specific 12"x12" print featuring new AC/DC 50 artwork suitable for framing. All nine albums are available for pre-order now and are set for release on Mar. 15. The band recently announced a huge UK and European stadium tour for 2024 as well as a new drummer and bassist for said shows. The Australian rock legends will perform 21 dates in 10 countries this summer, which will mark their first tour in Europe for eight years. - NME, 3/8/24...... Cher and her son Elijah Blue Allman have been asked to reach an agreement over bid for Allman's conservatorship. Cher's bid for a conservatorship over Allman's finances, which began in Dec. 2023, was rejected in January, but now they've been granted a three-month grace period to try to reach an agreement outside the court. Cher had argued, via her lawyers, that "she feared that her son would not be alive within the year" if he was left in control of his money," due to the 47-year-old Allman's"history of drug use" and a "schizoaffective disorder" diagnosis. However, that bid was denied as Allman returned a clean drug test and appeared to have successfully managed his finances. Allman's lawyers said in early March they believe Cher intends to drag out the process until he can no longer afford to pay for legal representation. "We are concerned that this is an effort to continue this case further and further until Mr. Allman is left dry," Steven Bremer, Allman's attorney said during a hearing. Bremer added he could not see how the two parties could come to an agreement independently. "This is not like a family law matter where several issues need to be resolved," he said. "There is one issue and that is the conservatorship of my client... I'm not certain what middle ground we can find." - Music-News.com, 3/7/24...... Ozzy Osbourne's wife Sharon Osbourne has slammed singer Adele, accusing her of using a "fake" cockney accent. The former X Factor judge took aim at the London-born singer during the Mar. 7 episode of Celebrity Big Brother -- criticizing the "Rolling In The Deep"' singer as exaggerating her accent. I think she plays the whole 'Oh, love, oh I'm Adele... I'm so English,'" she said to her housemates during the UK reality show, putting on a heavy cockney accent. It's like, cut the crap, you don't talk like that anymore, just sing, just be true to who you are," she continued. "But she does all this old English, you know?" Since entering the Big Brother house on Mar. 4, Sharon has also called out fellow housemate James Corden -- namely for his habit of "constantly" name-dropping. Before entering the reality show, Sharon lashed out at rapper Kanye West, saying he "f----ed with the wrong Jew this time ater West was accused of sampling a Black Sabbath song without the band's permission on his new album Vultures. - NME, 3/8/24...... Steve Lawrence, the charismatic Grammy- and Emmy-winning crooner who delighted audiences for decades in nightclubs, on concert stages and in film and television appearances, died on Mar. 7 in Los Angeles of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 88. Mr. Lawrence partnered with the late Eydie Gormé, his wife of 55 years, in the very popular lounge act Steve & Eydie. Born Sidney Liebowitz in Brooklyn on July 8, 1935, Mr. Lawrence broke into show business with his boyish good looks, silky voice and breezy personality after winning a talent competition on Arthur Godfrey's CBS talent show and signed with King Records as a teenager. The singer chose to stay old school and resist the allure of rock 'n' roll. "It didn't attract me as much," Mr. Lawrence once said. "I grew up in a time period when music was written by Irving Berlin and Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and Sammy Cahn and Julie Stein. Those people, I related to -- what they were writing -- because it was much more melodic." Mr. Lawrence's smooth stylings were heard on dozens of solo albums, starting in 1953 with an eponymous LP. In 1963, he topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks with the Gerry Goffin-Carole King pop ballad "Go Away Little Girl." The single became the first in history to reach No. 1 by two different artists, after Donny Osmond recorded his chart-topping version in 1971. Lawrence also made the top 10 with 1959's "Pretty Blue Eyes" (No. 9), 1960's "Footsteps" (No. 7) and 1961's "Portrait of My Love" (No. 9). On Broadway, Mr. Lawrence starred as Sammy Glick in the long-running "What Makes Sammy Run?," a musical adaptation of Budd Schulberg's novel, and received a best actor Tony nomination in 1964. A year later, he hosted a short-lived CBS variety program, and in the 1970s, he was a semi-regular on The Carol Burnett Show, appearing on more than two dozen episodes. Mr. Lawrence also portrayed manager Maury Sline in The Blues Brothers in 1980, and reprised the character in the 1998 sequel Blues Brothers 2000. Mr. Lawrence and wife Edie won an Emmy in 1979 for their NBC special Steve & Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin and had fun on game shows, appearing on What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret and Password All-Stars, to name a few. They were a staple in Las Vegas, headlining Caesars Palace, the Sands, the Sahara and the Desert Inn, and the Las Vegas Entertainment Awards honored them four times as Musical Variety Act of the Year. Survivors include his son, David, a film and television composer whose credits include the High School Musical films; daughter-in-law Faye; granddaughter Mabel; and brother Bernie. Another son, Michael, died of heart failure in 1986 at age 23. Gormé died of an undisclosed illness in Aug. 2013. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/7/24.

Elton John has teamed up with the apparel company Happy Socks for a new collection of limited-edition custom socks. Titled the "Elton John Special Edition Unapologetically Yourself Collection," the line boasts eight different sock styles ranging from a denim patterned "Blue Jean Baby" pair of socks to a cobalt blue "Rocket Man"-themed pair. The entire collection, available for a limited time only, can be viewed at HappySocks.com. - Billboard, 3/5/24...... Cher will be honored with the 2024 iHeartRadio Icon Award at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Apr. 1. Cher was not announced as a performer on the show, but will be the subject of a musical tribute. The show will feature performances by Justin Timberlake, Green Day, TLC, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Tate McRae and more. The inimitable singer is also among this year's nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The 12th annual iHeartRadio Music Awards will celebrate the most-played artists and songs on iHeartRadio stations and the iHeartRadio app throughout 2023. The event will air live from Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Apr. 1 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET live (PT tape-delayed) on FOX. The show also will be heard on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on the iHeartRadio app. - Billboard, 3/4/24...... The Eagles/Don Henley "stolen notes" trial came to a stunning end on Mar. 6 after Manhattan prosecutors decided to drop a criminal case against three men accused of trying to sell stolen notes linked to the band's 1976 album Hotel California, with a judge saying Henley had "manipulated" prosecutors. During a hearing in open court, Justice Curtis Farber dismissed the charges against Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski after prosecutors alerted him that newly uncovered evidence cast doubt on whether Henley's notes had been stolen in the first place. The sudden reversal was sparked by Henley producing new evidence that had been previously withheld under attorney-client privilege. The new materials touched on whether journalist Ed Sanders, who was hired in the 1970s to write a book about the Eagles, had legitimately come into possession of Henley's notes. Farber sharply criticized the conduct of Henley and his manager, Irving Azoff: "It is now clear that both witnesses and their lawyers used the privilege to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging to their position that the lyric sheets were stolen." He added he was also troubled that prosecutors had been "manipulated" into bringing the charges, and questioned why they had not more thoroughly vetted the accusations and the evidence -- but praised them for dropping the case once new evidence had come to light. The surprise dismissal of the charges came mid-way through the closely-watched criminal trial, in which Henley and Azoff had already testified. The proceedings had already run more than two weeks and had been expected to keep going until at least next week. - Billboard, 3/6/24...... In other legal news, Earth, Wind & Fire has won its trademark lawsuit against a tribute band that used the group's name without permission. After a year of litigation, EWF prevailed against a tribute act calling itself "Earth, Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion" -- a use of the legendary R&B group's name that a federal judge called "deceptive and misleading." Tribute acts -- groups that exclusively cover the music of a particular band -- are legally allowed to operate, and they often adopt names that allude to the original. However they must make clear that they are only a tribute band, and they can run into legal trouble if they make it appear that they are affiliated with or endorsed by the original. The case against Legacy Reunion took that basic framework and added tricky questions. The tribute band really did feature musicians who had once performed with EWF, and they argued that they were legally allowed to tell that to fans. But EWF's attorneys argued that those performers were just a few "side musicians" who had briefly played with the band, and that they had purposefully aimed to mislead consumers into thinking the primary players were also involved. On Mar. 4, Judge Federico A. Moreno sided decisively with the original band, saying the evidence tipped "overwhelmingly" in its favor. - Billboard, 3/5/24...... '70s musicians and longtime anti-nuclear activists Jackson Browne and Graham Nash are among a coalition of actors, musicians and activists who have signed an open letter to Hollywood on the significance of director Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer and the real-life threats of nuclear war. Under the headline "An Open Letter to Hollywood on Oppenheimer and Nuclear War," an ad to be published on Mar. 7 in the Los Angeles Times and also viewable on MakeNukesHistory.org reads, in part: "Oppenheimer depicts the origin story of nuclear weapons, the history of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Oppenheimer's subsequent warnings against an arms race and the development of even more powerful weapons. Oppenheimer was right to warn us. Today, 13,000 nuclear weapons are held by nine countries. Some are 80 times more powerful than the ones that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. As artists and advocates, we want to raise our voices to remind people that while Oppenheimer is history, nuclear weapons are not." The campaign is taking place across Los Angeles and includes, in addition to several billboards, a mural in West Hollywood and more than 1,000 street posters, proclaiming "Oppenheimer Started It, We Can End It" and "13 Oppenheimer Nominations; 13,000 Nuclear Weapons." Also included the coalition are the likes of Annie Lennox, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas, Julianne Moore, Lily Tomlin, Viggo Mortensen and J. Robert Oppenheimer's grandson, activist Charles Oppenheimer. The film Oppenheimer is expected to pick up several Oscars -- including the major categories of best picture and best director -- during the 2024 Academy Awards ceremony on Mar. 10 in Los Angeles. - Billboard, 3/6/24...... On Mar. 6 the Doobie Brothers and their former member Michael McDonald announced they are reuniting for their first album in 44 years. The Doobies' 50th anniversary reunion tour is heading into its third year, and co-founders Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons say they're stoked about the band's next album, which it's finishing work on with McDonald. The singer/keyboardist was with the Doobies from 1975-1982, McDonald has been back in the fold since the band's anniversary tour was first announced in 2019 and then delayed by the pandemic. Produced by John Shanks -- who also produced the band's 2021 effort Liberte -- the new album will be the Doobies' first in 11 years, and the band's first with McDonald since 1980's One Step Closer. It will also be the first Doobies album to include McDonald, Simmons and Johnston since Takin' It to the Streets in 1975. McDonald also sang backing vocals on the Doobies' 2014 album Southbound. McDonald's tenure with the band -- coming after he contributed backing vocals to Steely Dan albums -- was among its most successful. Brought in to help the band while Johnston was suffering burn-out, the St. Louis native contributed hits such as "Takin' It to the Streets," "It Keeps You Runnin'," "You Belong to Me" (co-written with Carly Simon) and "Real Love." The triple-platinum Minute By Minute album in 1978, meanwhile, was the band's sole No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart and won three Grammy Awards including Record of the Year for the hit "What a Fool Believes." Simmons says the goal is to finish recording the new album before the band's summer tour begins June 15 in Seattle; meanwhile McDonald is preparing to release an autobiography, What a Fool Believes: A Memoir, on on May 21. - Billboard, 3/6/24......Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have been booked for a Jersey homecoming spot headlining the second of two nights at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival, set for Sept. 15 at Asbury Park, N.J., according to a post on the festival's Instagram page. The band previously announced it will hit the road for its latest world tour, set to launch Mar. 19 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, and stretching across 52 dates in 17 countries. Springsteen, 74, is now symptom free from a peptic ulcer disease that plagued him in 2023, and forced the band to postpone a long run of shows into 2024. Those postponed dates are worked into the forthcoming tour, set to wrap up Nov. 22 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C. The Boss warmed up the trek with performances at the 2024 MusiCares "Person Of The Year" gala, the 17th annual "Stand Up For Heroes" benefit, and at the New Jersey Hall of Fame induction honoring his wife and fellow musician Patti Scialfa. To celebrate the trans-Atlantic tour dates, Springsteen's longtime label home Sony Music has announced it will release a career-spanning collection of the Rock And Roll Hall of Famer's original music, on Apr. 19. The Best of Bruce Springsteen will boast 31 songs in digital formats. Sony will also issue an 18-track set across two LPs or one CD, and the vinyl edition will also be available as an Amazon.com exclusive "color variant," reps say. - Billboard, 3/6/24...... '70s pop star Gary Glitter is being sued in the UK by one of his victims over alleged psychiatric damage caused by his past sexual abuse. The claim against the disgraced Glitter has been brought by one of the victims to which Glitter was convicted in 2015 of abusing, along with two other young victims, with the incidents taking place between 1975 and 1980. In the lawsuit, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, is seeking compensation for the psychiatric damage she suffered at his hands when she was just 12 years old -- with her lawyer describing it as "the worst kind" of abuse. "What we have is severe and profound consequences as a result of abuse that I think is fair to say is of the worst kind," her lawyer, Jonathan Metzer, told the court during a hearing in London on Mar. 5. "In summary, it has had profound and long-lasting consequences for my client's life ever since." Glitter -- whose real name is Paul Gadd -- did not attend the London hearing and was not represented by a lawyer. The court was also told that he had not so far engaged with the civil case. The plaintiff has previously secured a "default judgment" in her claim -- a ruling in her favor over Gadd's liability. Glitter had several chart hits in the '70s but later fell from grace around 20 years later, when he was arrested and imprisoned for possessing thousands of images of child abuse. From there, he was later expelled from Cambodia in 2002 following reports of sex crime allegations, and was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam in 2006. The latter saw him spend two and a half years in jail. Further allegations against him came to light when he was the first person named and arrested under the UK's Operation Yewtree -- an investigation by the Metropolitan Police following the Jimmy Savile scandal. - New Musical Express, 3/6/24...... Sammy Hagar has won a court order barring an allegedly unauthorized Hollywood location of the "Red Rocker"'s Cabo Wabo Cantina from continuing to use the chain's name and branding while their dispute plays out before a judge. In a preliminary injunction issued on Mar. 5, a Los Angeles federal judge sided with Hagar's company, Red Head Inc., and ruled franchisee Robert Azinian was prohibited from using "Cabo Wabo" trademarks for any purpose, including a new location on Hollywood Boulevard that sparked the rocker's lawsuit. Judge George H. Wu's order came amid an escalating legal dispute between Hagar and his former business partner over Cabo Wabo Cantina -- a brand of Mexican-themed eateries started by the Van Halen rocker in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in 1990 and later franchised into locations in Las Vegas and Hollywood. He said Hagar's company was likely to eventually win the lawsuit, and that it would face so-called "irreparable harm" if Azinian was able to continue using the Cabo Wabo Cantina branding while the case played out. - Billboard, 3/5/24...... After premiering in the US on Valentine's Day, the new Bob Marley biopic One Love has become the seventh all-time highest-grossing music biopic. The film, which stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as reggae legend Marley, has grossed $82.8 million in the U.S. and Canada Mar. 3, according to boxofficemojo.com. The 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody claims the top spot, with a domestic gross of $216.4 million to date. Rami Malek won an Oscar for best actor for playing the band's charismatic lead singer Freddie Mercury. - Billboard, 3/3/24...... The Black Sabbath classic "Paranoid" has joined the elite streaming "Billions Club" on Spotify.com. Recognized as a classic of the heavy metal genre, "Paranoid" is the title track from the band's 1970 LP, peaking at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and No. 4 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart. Spotify welcomed "Paranoid" to its Billions Club in a Mar. 4 post on X/Twitter. "Paranoid" has racked up over 75 million records sold, including more than 24 platinum albums in the U.K. alone and over 15 million albums in the U.S., according to BMG, which represents the band's recordings outside North America. The song was written in the studio "in about five minutes," according to an interview with Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler with Guitar World in 2004. The song is the 581st addition to Spotify's Billions Club since the service launched in 2008. Black Sabbath was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, with members of Metallica doing the honors. - Billboard, 3/6/24...... During a show at the Broward Center For The Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Mar. 1, Bob Dylan appeared to respond to a heckler who shouted "play something we know!" at one of his recent live shows. Early on in the 16-song set, the rock legend was interrupted by a dissatisfied audience member. In a fan-shot video which can be viewed on YouTube and X/Twitter, a woman can be heard shouting at the musician to "play something we know!" during the introduction to a live rendition of his 1971 song "When I Paint My Masterpiece." Dylan then launched into a new arrangement of the song where he sings the lyrics to the tune of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On The Ritz" (or possibly, The Four Lads' 1953 song "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)." During the concert, Dylan also covered Jimmy Rogers' "Walking By Myself" live for the first time. Dylan's current "Rough And Rowdy Ways" tour is scheduled to conclude in early April. In February, he and Willie Nelson announced a co-headlining US tour for this summer. - NME, 3/5/24...... Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry has sold half of his sound recording, publishing and name, image and likeness rights to Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group. The company, which did not disclose financial details of the deal, said it will "develop and expand the renowned artist's musical legacy to new generations of fans." The deal spans Ferry's work with Roxy Music and his expansive solo career, which combined has yielded 24 albums over 50-plus years. The band's best known songs include "Love Is the Drug," "All I Want Is You," "Virginia Plain," "Dance Away," "Avalon" and radio staple "More Than This." Ferry's solo favorites include "Slave to Love," "Let's Stick Together," "Don't Stop the Dance," "Kiss & Tell" and a memorable cover of fellow sophisticate Robert Palmer's "Johnny & Mary." Ferry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of Roxy Music, and he was awarded a CBE in 2011 for his contribution to British music. - Billboard, 3/5/24...... One of the somewhat underreported facts about the recent lunar lander which became the first US spacecraft to touch down on the moon since 1972 was its payload that included a capsule full of artistic artefacts. Artists whose music appears in the arts-centric collection include recordings by Marvin Gaye, Santana, Chuck Berry, Sly & the Family Stone, Bob Marley, Janis Joplin and The Who and many more. It also has photos of music events like Woodstock and album art, such as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon. The capsule was enclosed in a glass, nickel and NanoFiche structure built to last millions of, if not a billion, years. "In case we blow ourselves up with a nuclear weapon or a meteor hits us or climatic change wipes us out, there's a testament of our history sitting on the moon," says Climate & Refugees documentarian Michael P. Nash. - NME, 2/27/24...... Late Queen singer Freddie Mercury's $38 million London home has officially hit the market for the first time since his death. The peaceful home, named Garden Lodge, first caught the eye of the Queen frontman in 1980 after he toured the Kensington property himself. He was so taken by its beauty and charm that he decided to purchase it "on the spot," according to a press release from Knight Frank, which holds the current listing. After Mercury bought the Neo-Georgian style home, he worked alongside interior designer Robin Moore Ede to transform it into a true reflection of himself and his eclectic style. After his death in 1991, the rock legend left his treasured estate to his close friend and former fiance Mary Austin, who has decided to list the property after more than 30 years. Freddie composed the Queen classic on the home's grand piano before his death at age 45 due to complications of AIDS. - People, 2/29/24...... Jim Beard, a solo artist and touring keyboardist for Steely Dan for the past 16 years, died on Mar. 2 at age 63 from complications of a sudden, as yet undisclosed illness, a spokesperson for the group has confirmed. Born in Ridley Park, Penn. on Aug. 26, 1960, Beard took clarinet, saxophone and sting bass lessons as a teenager and studied jazz at Indiana University, where he played in a bar band that featured session drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, John Fogerty) and trumpet player Chris Botti. He joined the live Steely Dan band in 2008 for the Think Fast Tour and in addition to performing with the long-running jazz-influenced rock group -- including at his final show with the band on Jan. 20 in Phoenix, Ariz. He was also a touring member of the Eagles on their Long Goodbye tour. Between tours with such jazz greats as Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin's Mahavishu Orchestra, Beard recorded six solo CDs and taught at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, the Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University, and variouis other universities. - Billboard, 3/6/24.