Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on June 25th, 2024

The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies says he was left dismayed after spotting his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trophy up for sale on eBay "without his consent." The marble plaque from the "You Really Got Me" group's 1990 RRHOF induction was listed on the re-sale site for $12,500 (9,860). Dave -- who was joined by brother Ray Davies, Pete Quaife and Mick Avory in the influential rock group -- insisted he had no idea how he lost the award but believes it could have been at the time of his stroke in 2004, as he was "incapacitated." Dave began a series of updates on X: "Regarding ebay listing for my RRHOF award statue has been made without my consent. I lost track of my award years ago and didn't know where it was. If the person bought it at a storage unit it may have been and the time of my 2004 stroke when I was incapacitated in UK... I'm grateful to have made a full record from my stroke but it's a shame that I wasn't contacted. I'm assuming this is what happened." The 77-year-old guitarist contacted the seller and hoped to come to an agreement, so he doesn't have to fork out $12,000 to get his prize back. He added: "We've written to the seller and are waiting to hear back. I don't want to have to pay 12 grand to get my own award back. But maybe we can work something out more reasonable." - Music-News.com, 6/21/24...... As The Who's Pete Townshend prepares to open a touring dance adaptation of The Who's seminal 1973 album Quadrophenia in 2025, the musician told New Musical Express that what inspires him is "trying to do something that has a slightly more ambitious thread." "It's not me being pompous," he says. "It's just something that seemed to fit more into the dis-conjunction that I felt when I left art school and ended up in the band. It felt like there was unfinished business for me, which was the art." "Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet," a sneak peak of which has been shared on YouTube, is currently in development and set to tour the UK in the summer of 2025. It's the first foray of Townshend, who's a longtime ballet fan, in the dance following projects in the media of opera and literature. Townshend says he envisioned the project after hearing early demos of his wife Rachel Fuller's orchestral score of the album, which was first performed at London's Royal Albert Hall in 2015 and recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. "I heard her score and I remember saying to her, 'I can just see dancers dancing'," he said. "It had tones of Prokofiev about it." "Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet" will premiere in Plymouth, UK in June 1, 2025, then visit Edinburgh, Southampton, London and Salford over the next two months. Asked whether The Who would follow up its last album, 2019's WHO, with a new album, Pete said: "I don't think there is. If there was a need or a place for a Who album, could I write the songs for it within six weeks? Of course I f---ing could, it's a piece of cake. The problem is I don't think Roger [Daltrey] wants to do it again. For me it would be a joy because I love writing songs, I love writing to a brief, I love having a commission, I love having a deadline and I love the feedback." Townshend then expounded on his thoughts: "I was so pleased that the critical response to the last Who album was so positive, I wasn't expecting that and I was grateful for it and inspired by it. So where I am at the moment is I'm thinking 'well, I might write the songs and then say to Roger, either you sing on them or I'm gonna put them out as a solo album and Who fans will love me for it." - New Musical Express, 6/25/24...... Paul McCartney was a VIP guest at one of Taylor Swift's run of shows at Wembley Stadium in the third week of June, which has taken the UK capital by storm. Videos showed the Beatles legend arrival at the stadium on June 23, but one clip in particular, which can be viewed on X, is quite special, capturing an experience that would be priceless to any McCartney/Swift fan. As Swift sang the "But Daddy I Love Him" lyric about how cynics and saboteurs can't "counteract chemistry, undo the destiny" of her relationship with the song's muse, a group of fans simply basking in the moment caught McCartney's attention. Sir Paul took note of the concertgoers' dance moves and joined in. "You ain't gotta pray for me/ Me and my wild boy, and all this wild joy," Swift is heard singing in the video embedded below. Macca sways and seems to sing along to some of the lyrics, alongside a number of wonderstruck concertgoers who couldn't have guessed this encounter would happen. Snapshots from Wembley Stadium on social media showed McCartney was approachable earlier in the day, too, partaking in the Eras Tour tradition of trading friendship bracelets. Other celebrities spotted in the audience that night included Jon Bon Jovi, Tom Cruise and Prince William. On June 17, McCartney announced a run of UK and European headline shows for later in 2024 as part of his "Got Back" tour. - Billboard, 6/23/24...... In other Beatles-related news, a rare version of the Fab Four's early 1962 single "Love Me Do" that features an incorrect spelling of McCartney's name is expected to fetch over 9,000 at an auction. The seven-inch vinyl single, which also features "P.S I Love You," is one of only 250 copies and is unique due to the fact that McCartney's surname is incorrectly spelt as "McArtney." It was part of a select number of tracks pressed and distributed to TV and radio stations prior to the single's release on Oct. 5 in 1962. "This is an especially rare Beatles single from the very earliest days of the band's career," vinyl specialist Rob Smee, told BBC News. "Being one of only 250 it is of particular interest to Beatles' collectors and the misspelling of Paul McCartney's name is both authentic and interesting in itself." - NME, 6/24/24...... Daryl Hall released D, the follow-up to his 2013 solo album Laughing Down Crying, on June 21. "It has been a long time," says Hall, who released a compilation, Before After, in 2022. "I couldn't believe how long ago (Laughing Down Crying) was. I dunno -- time flies. I've been busy with various things and trying to do what I was doing, and the years just flew by." The nine-track D itself has been "a long time coming" as well. Hall began working on it a year and a half ago on Harbor Island with co-producer and longtime friend Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame. There was no sense of urgency in the process, either, according to Hall. "We took breaks from it and all that," Hall explained. "I'd go down there; I have a house in the Bahamas and so does Dave, around the corner. It was really just the two of us, with an engineer (Jesse Samier). We pretty much worked in one-month increments; we'd do a month, then I went away -- I was on the road for a year -- then I'd come back and we'd do another month and then it was just kind of tying things together, which we did fairly recently. "I think in some respects it was better to take breaks, 'cause every time we'd jump back into it it'd be fresh. It was all very spontaneous, very happy, not a lot of thought, really. It was just 'Don't think, just do,' and (D) is what came out of it." Hall calls D a "very personal" album -- and one that, with its lyrical reflections on relationships, mortality and world order, is not always as breezy and smooth as the music. "The album is a complete thought," he said, "and we organized the songs to go through a journey with it. We hit sort of a bottom place with 'I'd Rather Be a Fool' -- that song is totally autobiographical -- and then start coming back up again to the new, better world. We didn't write the songs with that in mind, but when we realized what we had we put it together into a story, in a progression." A preview of D can be streamed on Spotify.com. Meanwhile, Hall says he's moving forward with his acclaimed performance series Live From Daryl's House after re-launching it in 2023 as a web series on YouTube. "We're talking about, instead of doing whole seasons just maybe doing two (episodes) at a time and putting them out," he says. "So every once in awhile we'll throw a couple out there; that way it doesn't take too much time out of other things I'm doing, 'cause it really does take time. So that's the plan; I don't know who (the next episodes) will be yet, but it'll probably be just a couple of new things coming out." - Billboard, 6/20/24...... Some lucky fans of Prince were treated to the first public preview of an upcoming stage musical adaptation of Prince's Purple Rain film on June 22 in Minneapolis as part of the five-day Celebration 2024 event in the Purple One's hometown. Acknowledging that the Purple Rain soundtrack's nine songs are not enough material for a Broadway musical, the panel also revealed that the Purple Rain stage musical will draw on Prince's full catalog, including songs that didn't even appear in the film. While director Lileana Blain-Cruz says she's hellbent on getting Prince's Purple Rain motorcycle on stage (she says the image of Prince "staring into her soul" on the bike is one of her earliest memories of the genius), she acknowledges some limitations of the medium. "I can't get a Lake Minnetonka that isn't actually Lake Minnetonka on stage," she jested, while still promising to bring the "epic" nature of a Met Opera production "to something as sublime as Purple Rain." "It is an opera -- it's a tragedy and a triumph," agreed her fellow panelist Bobby Z. The team behind this production say they're openly gunning for a Broadway run after debuting Purple Rain in Minneapolis, so the bar is high. However, "This is not 'Hamilton,'" joked music director Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who assured the audience of diehards that his book will draw on the 1984 film's screenplay without radically reworking it. Even so, he said he intends to further develop the character of Apollonia and make some necessary pacing changes to fit a stage production: "A play is a play, and a movie is a movie." As part of the five-day Prince celebration, his band The Revolution reunited on June 21 at Minneapolis' First Avenue nightclube. That downtown club is where the jaw-dropping musical sequences for 1984's Purple Rain movie where filmed. The Revolution -- Wendy, Lisa, Bobby Z., Brownmark and Dr. Fink -- disbanded in the mid '80s, reunited briefly in 2012 and has been back together since 2016, the year Prince unexpectedly died at age 57. With a purple light drenching First Avenue for the finale title song, the Revolution and and special guest Judith Hill offered up a faithful rendition (even the guitar solos were note-for-note) of "Purple Rain" at the exact venue Prince famously performed it 40 years ago. - Billboard, 6/23/24...... A few weeks after ABBA gathered together for a rare public appearance in Stockholm, where they were honoured with the Royal Vasa Order, a Swedish knighthood, ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus has told podcaster Gyles Brandreth that the quartet may never make another public appearance together again. When asked by Brandreth if the group often meet each other, Ulvaeus replied: "In public very rarely, and Frida (Lyngstad) said to me afterwards, 'This might be the last occasion.' Very sad, and I thought about that afterwards, but we're not getting any younger." Brandreth added, "Your colleagues sometimes say that, but they don't necessarily mean it," prompting Ulvaeus to remark: "I hope not, it's very sad." Ulvaeus' remarks come after the group spoke about their plans for the future of their virtual concert ABBA Voyage in a chat with NME last year. Once the show comes to an end in London in 2026, the group hope to bring the production to other parts of the world, including Asia, Australia, North America. - NME, 6/22/24...... The Paramount+ streaming channel announced on June 20 that a documentary on the '80s Hair Metal Era, Nthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of '80s Hair Metal, will premiere on the streaming channel later in 2024. The three-part, Jeff Tremaine-directed series is based on the Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock book of the same name, and will dive into brazen era of 80s hard rock, and will feature interviews with some of its main players and fans, including members of Poison, Ratt, Extreme, Skid Row and radio personality Riki Rachtman. "This docuseries is a celebration of the most outrageous decade in rock n' roll. It's my love letter to the '80s," said Tremaine in a press statement. "Each episode showcases the insanity and blazing ambition that has enthralled generations of music lovers and continues to influence culture to this day." - Billboard, 6/20/24...... Billy Joel has responded awkwardly when asked to "weigh in" on Justin Timberlake's recent DWI arrest. According to a complaint obtained by the New York Post, 10-time Grammy winnerTimberlake claimed to have consumed just "one martini" before following his friends home in his car. He also allegedly refused a breathalayser multiple times. Joel happened to be having lunch on Main Street in the Hamptons on June 18, the same location where Timberlake was charged for driving whilst intoxicated. Local news station Pix 11 News spotted Joel and asked him for his thoughts on the arrest. In response, Joel told the station: "Judge not lest ye be judged." Then, looking visibly uncomfortable, he continued: "I don't really know him that much, so I have no comment." Joel's brief interview has been shared on YouTube. Timberlake is due back in court on July 26. - NME, 6/20/24...... In a new interview with the UK's Metro, Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry has said she would like to collaborate with actor/musician Johnny Depp in the future. "Gee, that's a big question and I must say that it's probably a very long list," Harry replied when aksed whether there's anyone she dreams of working with. "I was just talking with one of our crew about Johnny Depp, somebody I've always admired. It's a very long list of directors and actors that I would love to work with." Harry has earned acting credits in films such as Six Ways To Sunday (1997) and A Good Night To Die (2003), as well as TV shows like Wiseguy, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and Absolutely Fabulous. She also appears in director Brian Logvinsky's new short film, Catharsis - which recently premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. "I've not really thought of anything specific," Harry continued. "I would certainly like to do a character in a major, big picture, but I'm sure everyone else in the business would like the same thing." In 2022, Johnny Depp released a collaborative album with Jeff Beck called 18. Earlier that year, the pair performed together onstage at some of Beck's live shows. Additionally, Depp is a member of the supergroup Hollywood Vampires alongside Alice Cooper and Aerosmith's Joe Perry. They have released two albums together to date and embarked on multiple tours. - NME, 6/18/24...... Speaking of Alice Cooper, the shock-rocker is the subject of a new A&E Biography episode. Biography: Alice Cooper premiered on the cable channel on June 23 and features Alice recalling the infamous time he threw a living chicken into the crowd at Toronto's Rock and Roll Revival Festival because he thought it would simply fly away, but unfortunately that wasn't the case, and it led to a bloody death at the 20,000-capacity Varsity Stadium, at the University of Toronto. "I had never been on a farm in my life. It had wings, it had feathers, it should fly. I picked up the chicken, and I flung it into the audience figuring it would fly away and somebody would take it and take it home and call it Alice Cooper." He was then faced with the realisation that chickens don't fly as well as other birds. Alice continued: "I threw it out there, and it fell straight down into the audience. The audience tears it to pieces. It was the peace and love festival. They tear it to pieces and throw it back up on the stage. So there's blood everywhere. Feathers and blood." Alice - who is famous for performing with snakes around his neck -- was faced with a protest by animal rights activist when they arrived in New York for their next show, and there was even a horrid rumour that he set a "German Shepherd on fire." "My reputation was just insane," he said. - Music-News.com, 6/24/24...... Filmmaker Martyn Atkins is suing Warner Music over his claim that the producers of a 2021 Tom Petty documentary "conned" him into sharing his "never-before-seen footage" of the legendary late rocker -- but never paid him or asked permission to use it. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court, Atkins called the 2021 Petty documentary Somewhere You Feel Free a "brazen exploitation" that used nearly an hour of his copyrighted film footage without permission. Atkins says he never gave the Somewhere producers consent to use hours of footage he filmed of the music legend during the 1990s but that the movie nonetheless contained "a shocking 45 minutes" of his materials, and that he "was not compensated in any manner for the Film's unauthorized, brazen exploitation of the works Atkins created and owns." Released in March 2021, Somewhere You Feel Free promised viewers "never-before-seen footage" of Petty as he worked on his 1994 album Wildflowers. Much of the footage was filmed by Atkins, who served as art director for the album and says he often documented the proceedings with a 16mm camera. Later, Atkins says he and Petty watched the footage and discussed eventually using it to create such a documentary. But after Petty's tragic death in 2017, the project didn't come together until 2020, when Atkins says he was invited to a meeting with Petty's daughter and other reps from his estate. After they promised him the job of directing the upcoming documentary, Atkins says, he provided them with a detailed breakdown of where he had stored the original footage at Warner Music's storage facility. But after that first encounter, he says he was "never asked to another meeting." Legal experts say a likely defense argument from Warner Music is that Atkins produced the footage as a so-called work-for-hire -- a legal term meaning he created it at the request of someone else. If true, that would mean that even though Atkins filmed the footage, the rights to it were retained by Petty or the label. After all, he was the art director on Petty's album and stored the film in Warner's facilities. But in his lawsuit, Atkins specifically aimed to preempt that argument: "The footage Atkins shot & was not subject to a work-for-hire or other such agreement. Atkins did not license the footage to Petty, Warner Records, any Warner Records affiliate, or anybody else. He was not acting as an employee of Petty or Warner Records, or any other party [and] here is no agreement in existence relating to any of the film footage." - Billboard, 6/24/24...... Willie Nelson has been forced to miss the opening shows of his joint tour with Bob Dylan "on doctor's orders." Nelson, 91, was due to kick off the "Outlaw Music Festival Tour" with Dylan in Atlanta on June 23, but pulled out of the show, along with other dates in Charlotte and Raleigh. A statement shared online read: "We regret to inform you that Willie Nelson is not feeling well and, per doctor's orders, has been advised to rest for the next four days. He is expected to make a quick recovery and join the Outlaw Music Festival tour next week. "In the meantime, Lukas Nelson and the Family Band, along with a few guests, will perform a special set to include Willie's classics and other songs." - Music-News.com, 6/23/24...... The English hard rock group Status Quo say they will retire from the road after playing the final concert of their current tour, which takes place at Somerset's Taunton, Vivary Park, on Aug. 23. "I don't think we will go again," guitarist/vocalist Francis Rossi told the UK's The Mirror. "And as far as the rest of the band are concerned it's the last tour too. I just can't see us doing it one more time." Rossi refused to call it their final tour because they previously did that with 1984's "End of an Er"' tour, and then reunited. He added: "I didn't want to put this current tour out, saying it's the last one ever. I did it once and was then coerced into coming back, but that's another whole other f------ story." On finding their energetic shows too much, Rossi confessed: "It's f------ hurting this time, physically. We were at rehearsals before this tour, and it occurred to me that we started 50 f------ years ago. Thinking about it brought it home my age. As much as you can say it's just a number and you can't really feel it, you definitely can, and you are lying if you don't. I've had prostate problems for a while, and macular degeneration... all old people things." In 2021, co-founder Alan Lancaster died at the age of 72 following a battle with multiple sclerosis, and rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Parfitt sadly died from sepsis at the age of 68 in 2016. The current lineup sees Francis joined by Andy Bown, John 'Rhino' Edwards, Leon Cave and Richie Malone. Despite the band seemingly calling it quits on the live front, Francis has plotted a 34-date solo tour for 2025. - Music-News.com, 6/24/24...... James Chance, the singer-saxophonist of the Contortions and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, who helped launch the No Wave scene in the late 1970s, died on June 18. He was 71. Chance, who was known for blending jazz, punk and funk, died at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in New York, according to a Facebook statement. In 1975, Chance moved to New York, where he officially began using his stage name, and a year later formed the influential group Teenage Jesus and the Jerks with singer Lydia Lunch. In 1977, after studying with saxophonist David Murray, he formed the first version of the Contortions. The group released its debut album, Buy, in 1979. Chance was known for his confrontational stage presence and known to start fights with members of the crowd. The Contortions broke up in 1979 and Chance reunited with some members of the band in 2003 for a series of shows, including All Tomorrow's Parties in Los Angeles. They later toured together in the following years. Chance also performed with the Chicago band Watchers. - Billboard, 6/19/24...... Actress Evans Evans, best known as hostage Velma Davis in the smash 1967 hit Bonnie and Clyde, died on June 16. She was 91. Born in Bluefield, W.V., on Nov. 26, 1932, Evans was resident of Sherman Oaks, Calif., and the widow of director John Frankenheimer. The two wed on Dec. 13, 1963, and remained married until his death on July 6, 2002. After a string of single appearances on such '60s episodic TV programs as The Donna Reed Show, Wagon Train, Death Valley Days and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Ms. Evans was cast in what would become her signature role for Bonnie and Clyde: As Velma Davis, she and scene partner Gene Wilder, in his big screen debut, portrayed two young lovebirds who, while kissing on their front porch, notice that a group of hoodlums is stealing Eugene's car. Irate, Eugene and Velma take off after the thieves, then think better of it and turn back, at which point the thieves -- who happen to be Bonnie (Faye Dunaway), Clyde (Warren Beatty) and the rest of the Barrow Gang, playfully turn and give pursuit. The outlaws kidnap the initially terrified couple, but soon all involved are having a good old time, driving, ordering take-out burgers, and laughing (or not) at the stale jokes of Buck Barrow (Gene Hackman). At one point, Velma shocks Wilder's Eugene Grizzard by blurting her true age -- 33. The lark soon comes to an abrupt halt when Eugene mentions that he is an undertaker, a disclosure that upsets the death-obsessed Bonnie. The excursion, one of the film's lighter and most genuinely comedic scenes, ends on a melancholy note as a panicked looking Bonnie demands that the young couple be kicked out of the car and left standing, with their burgers, on the side of some dark, distant road. The film would be the high point for Ms. Evans' career, as she appeared in small roles in a handful of projects through the '70s and, in 1989, Dead Bang, a film directed by her husband Frankenheimer. Ms. Evans appeared on Broadway three times in the late 1950s and early 1960s: First in 1957's "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs"; then "A Distant Bell" (1960) and, that same year, "The 49th Cousin." Additional details were not available. Her death was announced in a public obituary. - Deadline.com, 6/20/24...... Donald Sutherland, the versatile star of such iconic films as M*A*S*H, Klute and Hunger Games, died on June 20 in Miami after a long illness. He was 88. The revered Canadian actor's son, Kiefer Sutherland, announced the news on X, calling his dad "one of the most important actors in the history of film." "With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away. I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film. Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived," Sutherland wrote. Born on July 17, 1935, in Saint John, New Brunswick, the father-of-five appeared in more than 200 films and TV shows. He scored his big break in 1967 when he appeared alongside Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson in Robert Aldrich's star-studded 1967 World War II drama The Dirty Dozen. Mr. Sutherland's hit streak continued with the role of Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in Robert Altman's 1970 war dramedy M*A*S*H. He went on to appear opposite Clint Eastwood in Kelly's Heroes. Mr. Sutherland earned more acclaim when he starred alongside Jane Fonda in the 1971 noir drama Klute, in which he played a detective investigating the disappearance of a chemical company executive. The movie won Fonda her first Oscar. He worked seemingly non-stop throughout much of the 1970s, acting in Nicolas Roeg's haunting thriller Don't Look Now; starring in The Eagle Has Landed, with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, appearing in The Great Train Robbery with Sean Connery and Lesley-Anne Down; headlining a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers with Brooke Adams and Jeff Goldblum; and popping up alongside John Belushi in the John Landis-directed Animal House. Other notable films in the 1980s included the apartheid drama A Dry White Season opposite Marlon Brando and the Sylvester Stallone thriller Lock Up. In 1980, he kicked off the decade by playing a Chicago lawyer trying to hold his family together in Robert Redford's Ordinary People. The film won four Oscars including Best Picture. His most recent work included a stint on Taylor Sheridan's Lawmen: Bass Reeves and putting the finishing touches on a memoir, Made Up, But Still True, which will be released in November. Mr. Sutherland got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011; received a 2017 Governors Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and was on the Cannes Competition jury in 2016. Along with sons Kiefer and Roeg, Mr. Sutherland is survived by his wife, Francine Racette; sons Rossif and Angus; daughter Rachel; and four grandchildren. The family will hold a private celebration of life. - Canoe.com, 6/20/24.

Queen has reportedly reached a deal with Sony Music for the acquisition of their music catalogue and more. According to sources familiar with the deal, which has been in the works for some time, Sony will acquire Queen's back music catalogue, along with merchandising and other business opportunities. The deal, however, will not include revenue from Queen's live performances. According to Variety, sources claim the deal has been closed for $1.27 billion, making it the biggest acquisition of its kind ever. For comparison, in 2021 Bruce Springsteen sold his back catalogue to Sony for an estimated $500 million, in 2022 Sony acquired all of Bob Dylan's back catalogue for an estimated $200 million, and earlier in 2024, Sony acquired a 50 per cent interest in Michael Jackson's music catalogue for roughly $600 million. Variety also reports that another unnamed bidder was close to securing Queen's catalogue, but had stopped short at $900 million. The logistics of Queen's deal remains somewhat complicated, seeing as Disney currently owns the band's recording rights in the US and Canada per a deal that was struck sometime in the 1990s. Universal Music Group are also serving as the band's worldwide distributor, and will remain to do so for the next few years until that existing contract expires. As per company filings, Queen's surviving members -- Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon -- and the estate of late frontman Freddie Mercury are all equal shareholders in Queen Productions Ltd, and reported revenues of $52 million in 2022. - New Musical Express, 6/20/24...... In 1972, Alice Cooper released his hit "Elected" from his upcoming album Billion Dollar Babies, and the largely apolitical shock rocker has since used the song as fodder for his act, staging mock rallies at the end of his shows, and branding himself "a troubled man for troubled times." Cooper has used "Elected" as the climax of his latest tour, which debuted in Apr. 2023, and has now launched the website aliceforpresident.com, which promises "ongoing virtual rallies and Q&A sessions," and urges fans to "Stay informed. Join the Conversation. Be Part of the Movement." "I have absolutely no idea what to do -- so I should fit right in," Alice pledges. If elected he will not serve, of course, but Cooper seems more vested in being part of the discussion as the election season intensifies. "It's the same joke over and over. It was funny when I started doing it, now I'm really tired of it," Cooper told Billboard from his current tour in Europe. "I just can't' believe these two (candidates) are the best we can do. Y'know what they really are? These two are the best that money can buy. What they should do is just pick up a phone book and put a finger on somebody; whoever it is, if it's a guy who owns a gas station in Iowa, he should be president It seems like anybody out there can be better than these two guys." Cooper adds that touring overseas has also given him additional perspective about the situation. "Everyone here's terrified with what's happening with our presidential race," the Arizona resident says. "Everybody that I talk to in Europe goes, 'Really? Is that the best you can do is these two guys?' and I go, 'I have no idea.'" Cooper and his band are in Europe through mid-July, returning to North America starting July 30 in Niagara Falls, Canada, and including another run of the "Freaks On Parade Tour" with Rob Zombie, Ministry and Filter during the late summer. Another European run, meanwhile, takes place in October. Alice is also keeping busy recording a "surprise album" that will be the follow-up to 2023's Road, and hosts the syndicated radio show Alice's Attic. - Billboard, 6/19/24...... On June 18 the Toronto International Film Festival announced its first slate of film premieres, including the world debut of the new Elton John tour documentary Elton John: Never Too Late. Directed by his husband David Furnish, and R.J. Cutler, the new documentary will premiere at TIFF in September. According to IMDb.com, John's new documentary will show "never-before-seen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, as well as hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family." A report from Deadline back in May 2022 added that the documentary will focus on John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, documenting his final shows in the U.S., "culminating in his November performance at Dodger Stadium in his final North American show." John's farewell shows, which wrapped over a year ago, went on to do more than just close his touring career. During its four year run, the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour became the first in history to cross the $900 million mark, making it the highest grossing tour in history by the time it wrapped in July 2023. Recently, Sir Elton's efforts have been focused on his charitable work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Shortly before the start of Pride Month, the singer announced the organization's "Speak Up Sing Out" challenge, asking fans to perform a section of his classic hit "Your Song" before tagging someone who inspires them. One entrant will win an opportunity to meet John and Furnish in person. - Billboard, 6/18/24...... Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera and Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon are among the entertainment figures included in this year's King's Birthday Honours list. Manzanera was the lead guitarist and producer for the legendary art rock group, playing on all eight of their studio albums, released between 1972 and 1982. He has been awarded an OBE for Services to Music. In response to the honour, Manzanera has said: "I'm surprised and honoured to receive this Award. This has a poignancy for me and my family because in 1966 my dad, Duncan Targett-Adams was also awarded the OBE but sadly he died before his investiture." In addition to his work with Roxy Music, Manzanera also played with the groups 801 and Quiet Sun, and has played for many years with David Gilmour. He has also released a number of solo records over the years, and in 2023 he published his memoir, Revolucin To Roxy. Duran Duran frontman Le Bon has been awarded an MBE for Services to Music and Charity. - NME, 6/15/24...... As he celebrated his 82nd birthday on June 18, Paul McCartney shared a photo of himself onstage via Instagram. "They say it is my birthday," he captioned the snap, recalling the 1968 "The White Album" track "Birthday." "I'm looking forward to being spoilt rotten by my loved ones! - Paul." The night prior to McCartney's big day, Elvis actor Austin Butler revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he'd recently attended a party -- which may have been the former's birthday bash -- at the former Beatle's house. The gathering was also attended by Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep and Taylor Swift, who at one point DJ'd the festivities, according to Butler. "That was insane," he told host Jimmy Kimmel, who also attended the celebration, on the comedian's late-night show on June 17. Kimmel agreed that it was "the craziest party I've ever been to in my whole life." Butler's full Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview can be viewed on YouTube. Meanwhile, Macca announced on June 17 that he will perform his first U.K. tour dates in his native Britain in six years later in 2024 as part of his long-running Got Back tour. "I'm excited to be ending my year and 2024 tour dates in the UK. It's always such a special feeling to play shows on our home soil," Paul said. "It's going to be an amazing end to the year. Let's get set to party. I can't wait to see you." Paul is set to perform at Manchester's Co-Op Live Arena on Dec. 14 and 15, and at London's O2 Arena on Dec. 18 and 19. In addition to the U.K. dates, McCartney has also announced a string of shows in Paris and Madrid, which will follow his previously announced concerts in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru. The U.K. shows mark his first live performances in the country since headlining Glastonbury in June 2022. The Got Back tour, which kicked off in Apr. 2022, features music from Paul's decades-long career, including Beatles songs and his solo material. - Billboard/NME, 6/18/22...... In a new interview with SiriusXM, Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler said that co-founding Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne "desperately wants" to play one final show with the band. In May, Osbourne revealed that he would "jump at the chance" to perform another Sabbath show with co-founding drummer Bill Ward, who backed out of participating in the group's reunion dates between 2012 and 2017 over what he called an "unreasonable" contract. Butler confirmed later in May that he and Osbourne had "agreed" to play one last concert after Ozzy's wife/manager Sharon Osbourne revealed Ozzy was planning "two more shows to say goodbye" before he fully retires. These would be held at the Villa Park football stadium in his home city of Birmingham. "Ozzy was hoping to finish it all off next year back in Aston, at Aston Villa. I'm definitely up for it, to finish the whole thing off," Butler said in the interview "Me and Ozzy have agreed, but I'm not sure about anybody else." When asked if Ward would be willing to join Sabbath for a few songs or perhaps a recording session, the bassist replied: "I don't think so. Maybe, I don't know. I mean, the way technical things happen these days, maybe a couple of songs, but who knows?" Ozzy will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame later this year. - NME, 6/18/24...... David Gilmour has teamed up with his 22-year-old daughter Romany Gilmour for a whimsical new single called "Between Two Points." The song is a cover of The Montgolfier Brothers 1999 song of the same name, which features Romany on vocals and harp. "And you can see it in the way they look at you / Feel it in the way they treat you / Always the last to know / Always the first to leave," sing both David and Romany over the soloist and former Pink Floyd guitarist soft strumming and his daughter's bright harp. An accompanying black and white music video, which can be viewed on YouTube, features Romany playing the harp, travelling on a train and close-ups of her dad's epic guitar playing. "Between Two Points" marks the second single from Gilmour's forthcoming album Luck and Strange which is set for release on Sept 6. The LP marks the former Pink Floyd musician's first solo album in nine years, following 2015's Rattle That Lock. The single follows his previously released song "The Piper's Call." Romany also appears on the album's bonus track, "Yes, I Have Ghosts." Gilmour will mount a six-show tour in Rome at the end of September and beginning of October, then play six shows at London's Royal Albert Hall between Oct. 9-15. On Oct. 29, 30 and 31, he'll play the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, followed by four shows at New York's Madison Square Garden on Nov. 4, 5, 6 and 9. - NME, 6/17/24...... In a new interview with Guitar Interactive Magazine, Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes vowed he will "never speak to any of his [former Deep Purple bandmates] again." Hughes, who played with Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, reunited with Deep Purple when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, however, Hughes says the experience was not a positive one. He described DP drummer Ian Paice and DP bassist Roger Glover's behavior toward both him and fellow Deep Purple alumnus David Coverdale. "Both Roger, Ian and Gillan were rude to David and I. Very, very hurtful," Hughes said. "I didn't give a f---, actually, because I knew they were rude to begin with." Hughes also hit out at co-founding DP frontman Ian Gillan for being "rude to [him] on stage" at the ceremony, but he is happy to "let him run with it." He continued: "I was the only sober man there. I don't care about those guys. Gillan was rude to me on stage, accepting the award. I went to congratulate him. He looked at me in the eyes like I didn't exist. The guy has a problem with me, period. I'll let him run with it. I feel bad for him. I'm really sorry about his wife. I've tried to reach out to him. He doesn't want to know." Hughes emphasized he had tried to rekindle his friendship with Gillan -- whose wife Bron passed away in 2022 -- but he just doesn't want to know. He said: "I've tried to make some kind of friendship with him over the last 40 years. He doesn't want to know. David Coverdale and I don't exist to him. I wish him only the very best, but I have no time left for that behavior." - Music-News.com, 6/19/24...... Motown icon Smokey Robinson will be among the performers at the 44th edition of the annual A Capitol Fourth live broadcast from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol this Fourth of July. Robinson, along with Fantasia, Darren Criss, Sheila E., Fitz and The Tantrums, Chloe Flower and Sister Sledge featuring Sledgendary will be among the performers at the event, which will be hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro. A Capitol Fourth airs on July 4 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS, as well as to U.S. troops around the world via American Forces Network. The program will also stream on YouTube and PBS' website. - Billboard, 6/18/24...... Just days after she postponed a concert in Hershey, Penn. scheduled for June 15, "due to an illness in the band," Stevie Nicks delayed another concert in Grand Rapids, Mich. on June 18 "due to illness," according to a statement on Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena's social media. "Due to illness, the Stevie Nicks concerts on Tuesday, June 18 in Grand Rapids has been postponed to September 24," the statement on X reads. "Customers should hold on to their tickets, previously purchased tickets will be honored." The statement ended with optimism that Nicks and her band will be well enough to play at Chicago's Soldier Field later this week. "Stevie looks forward to seeing fans on Friday night in Chicago." The Hershey, Grand Rapids and Chicago concerts are the final three U.S. dates on Nicks' current tour. She has six shows scheduled in Europe for July, including in Dublin, London and Amsterdam, and then will return Stateside to make up the Grand Rapids concert in September; no new date has been announced for Hersheypark. Meanwhile, in a new interview with Britain's Mojo magazine, Nicks emphatically shut down talks of a Fleetwood Mac reunion without late FM keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie, who died in Nov. 2022 following a "short illness": "Without Christine, no can do. There is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together in any way. Without her, it just couldn't work." Her comments came after she had reflected on McVie's final days, saying she had gotten a call from McVie's family after the singer had suffered a stroke. Nicks had planned to rent a plane and fly down to visit McVie immediately, but was told not to, as her family didn't know if Christine would survive that long. Nicks confirmed that McVie died the following day. "I wanted to go there and sit on her bed and sing to her - which definitely would have made her pass away faster. But I needed to be with her. And I didn't get to do that. So that was very hard for me. I didn't get to say goodbye." - Billboard/NME, 6/17/24...... Rod Stewart was recently booed at his gig in Leipzig, Germany over his support of Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky. Stewart, who has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine since Russia launched their invasion on the country in 2022, had a Ukrainian flag projected onto the large screen behind him. Fan footage shot of the gig, which has been shared on X, captured loud boos from fans the moment images of Zelensky flashed up on the screen. Following the boos from the crowd, the singer went on to perform his 1991 track "Rhythm of My Heart," which he has referred to as his "anti-war song" and has previously dedicated to the Ukranian capital of Kyiv in recent concerts. According to The Independent, Stewart told the PA news agency: "I have supported the Ukrainian people throughout this war. From arranging for members of my family to take supplies to the country, to renting a house in the UK for a Ukrainian family, as well as employing two Ukrainians as part of my touring crew. So yes, I do support Zelensky and the people of Ukraine, and I will continue to do so." He continued: "[Vladimir] Putin must be stopped. I'm having the time of my life playing for German audiences, sharing some special memories, and I'm looking forward to playing my remaining dates here." Stewart will kick off a summer residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on July 25. Meanwhile, Stewart marked his latest wedding anniversary with wife Penny Lancaster on June 17 by painting a perfect marriage. Eloise Darlington, who dates Rod and Penny's son, Alistair, attended the celebration and took a snap of the couple looking all loved up which she then shared via Instagram Stories along with a caption stating, "Celebrating 17 years of love." Rod re-posted the charming image via his own Stories and added an additional caption stating, "25 years together and no red cards." Penny is Rod's third wife and he previously explained that she mended his broken heart after his second wife, Rachel Hunter, divorced him. His first marriage, to American actress Alana Collins Hamilton, lasted from 1979 until 1984. - NME/Music-News.com, 6/17/24...... Michael Jackson's infamous Neverland Ranch has been cleared as the site of a major filming location for the upcoming Jackson biopic, Michael. Around 300 people were given permission to shoot on the infamous property north of Santa Ynez in California, according to film permit activity reviewed by SF Gate. Jackson stopped visiting Neverland in 2005, after facing counts of child molestation. He was acquitted of all charges. Billionaire Ron Burkle purchased the property for $22 million in 2020 -- a fraction of the initial $100 million asking price. The 12,000-square-foot mansion sits on roughly 2,700 acres. It includes a 50-seat cinema, a basketball court and several guesthouses. In 2019, the documentary Leaving Neverland focused on the stories of two men who alleged Jackson sexually abused them as children at the ranch, as well as other locations. While for sale, Neverland was renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch in an apparent effort to shed the property of its disturbing legacy, but the name hasn't stuck. Jackson's real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson plays the late King of Pop in director Antoine Fuqua's upcoming film, which is slated for release in Apr. 2025. - Music-News.com, 6/17/24...... Co-founding The Velvet Underground member John Cale has released his latest album POPtical Illusion, which includes the track "Company Commander," in which he says he is having a dig at "right-wingers burning their libraries down." Cale, 82, said he churned out a "huge tranche of songs" amid self-isolation during the Covid 19 lockdown, during which he says he was enraged by political incompetence. The Welsh native John told The Observer: "The lockdown sort of dictated what was going on, so my anger showed up fairly regularly." Cale met Velvet Underground singer Lou Reed -- who died aged 71 in 2013 after battles with hepatitis, diabetes and liver cancer -- in 1964 in New York. When asked is he had been tempted to write a song about his late bandmate, Cale -- who had a famously stormy relationship with the singer -- said: "I think I have already, however vague they may seem." - Music-News.com, 6/17/24...... Willie Mays, the iconic Hall of Fame center fielder who is known as the greatest all-around baseball player, died on June 19, the San Francisco Giants announced on X. He was 93 years old. Nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid," Mr. Mays had a professional baseball career that spanned four decades, beginning with the Negro Leagues in the late 1940s and ending with the New York Mets in 1972. In between, he spent 21 years with the New York Giants, who would later move to San Francisco. Born on May 6, 1931, in Westfield, Ala., Mr. Mays was a true five-tool player, excelling at speed, throwing, fielding, hitting for average and hitting for power. He had a career triple-slash line of .301/.384/.557, with 660 home runs, 525 doubles and 338 stolen bases. He was the NL stolen-base leader four times and led the NL in homers four times. Over 24 seasons in the majors, he grounded into just 45 double plays. He earned his nickname, "The Say Hey Kid," in his rookie year. It was given to him by either his manager, Leo Durocher, or writer Barney Kremenko of the New York Journal American, who said he gave Mr. Mays that name because the shy, first-year player "would blurt 'Say who,' 'Say what,' 'Say where,' 'Say hey.' In my paper, I tabbed him the 'Say Hey Kid.' It stuck." Mr. Mays spoke and sang backup on "Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song)" in 1954, recorded by The Treniers, with music legend Quincy Jones conducting the orchestra. Mr. Mays began a slow decline in the late 1960s, though he still posted a National League-best .425 OBP in 1971. The Giants traded him to the Mets in May 1972, after which he was finally playing in front of New York crowds once again. After retiring, he became the Mets hitting coach until 1979, when he terminated his baseball contract to become a greeter at an Atlantic City hotel and casino. Then-commissioner Bowie Kuhn banned Mr. Mays from baseball due to the gambling connection, but he was reinstated in 1985 by Peter Ueberroth, Kuhn's successor. The Giants, who retired Mr. Mays' number in 1972, signed him to a lifetime contract in the 1990s, making him a permanent special assistant to the president. He spent years visiting the Giants' minor-league teams, attending spring training and making appearances on behalf of the club. In 2015, Mr. Mays received the greatest honor the government can bestow on a civilian: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. When he was given the award by Pres. Barack Obama, he joined Ernie Banks, Yogi Berra and Stan Musial as the only baseball players awarded the nation's highest civilian honor. Mr. Mays' death triggered an outpouring of tributes, for both his decorated playing career and his impact on everything else around baseball. He is survived by his son, Michael. Mr. Mays married his wife, Mae Louise Allen Mays, in the early 1970s. She died in 2013 following a long battle with Alzheimers. - Yahoo! Sports, 6/18/24.