Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on March 17th, 2025

On Mar. 13 KISS co-founder Gene Simmons joined L.A. TV station Fox 11 to deliver a weather report with numerous KISS references, a quick rap and even tap dancing. Appearing alongsite meteorologist Adam Krueger, Simmons told Krueger that he looks "much better in real life than you do on TV," before going on to discuss the weather. Krueger dropped in a few Kiss references throughout the forecast such as: "There's been a lot of rain lately, and the rain you drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy talking about this rain," Recognizing the reference to "Rock and Roll All Nite," Simmons responded: "Hey, I wrote that. I like that." At the end of the forecast, Krueger told Simmons that it was time to wrap, but the bassist mistook the cue and began rapping "If you go to 7/11, go to heaven" before receiving a round of applause and laughter from the crew in the studio, adding in a quick tap dance. Simmons' debut stint as a weatherman can be viewed on YouTube. - New Musical Express, 3/17/25..... Speaking to NYC radio station Q104.3 on Mar. 16, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson revealed that several drummers reached out to his band to audition for late Rush drummer Neal Peart's job after Peart passed away in Jan. 2020 of brain cancer at age 67. Lifeson was asked if he and bassist Geddy Lee have considered reforming the band with a new drummer. "Oh, well, yeah, of course, because we're bombarded by it all the time," Lifeson said. "After Neil passed, it didn't take more than a few minutes before we started getting e-mails from all kinds of drummers who wanted to audition for the band, thinking that we were just gonna replace somebody that we played with for 40 years who wrote all the lyrics for our music." He continued: "I don't know what some of these people were thinking. So, yeah, we've had the conversation, because we can't avoid it." Rush last performed together for a farewell tour in 2015 playing 35 headline shows across North America. In 2022, Lifeson and Geddy Lee reunited in public to perform as part of the tribute shows in Los Angeles and London for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. The pair also participated in a Peart tribute concert in Los Angeles in Sept. 2020. Peart's full interview can be streamed on YouTube. - NME, 3/17/25...... Taking a cue from The Cure's Robert Smith, Neil Young has taken to his Neil Young Archives website to walk back his "Platinum" ticket option, in which Ticketmaster introduced high priced Platinum tickets to the areas where scalpers were buying the most tickets for resale. "I have decided to let the people work this out," Young said. "Buy aggressively when the tickets come out or tickets will cost a lot more in a secondary market," he added. In Oct. 2024, Robert Smith told the London Times that he was "shocked by how much profit is made [by ticketing]." "I thought, 'We don't need to make all this money.' My fights with the label have all been about how we can price things lower. The only reason you'd charge more for a gig is if you were worried that it was the last time you would be able to sell a T-shirt," he said. Young's upcoming tour will see him accompanied on all shows by his new Chrome Hearts band, who released the grungy anthem "Big Change" in January and have an album tentatively scheduled for release in April. - Billboard, 3/16/25...... ZZ Top issued a statement on Instagram on Mar. 14 saying that their co-founding drummer Frank Beard will be taking time off of their tour to undergo a "health procedure." Beard will be replaced on the tour, which kicked off on Mar. 5, by the band's "fellow Texan and longtime tech member, percussionist and drummer" John Douglas, who they say has a "close relationship" with the group and previously filled in when Beard underwent an emergency appendectomy in Paris in 2002. The statement concluded by saying Beard is "looking forward to a speedy recovery." Beard has served as ZZ Top's drummer for over 55 years, after taking over from founding drummer Dan Mitchell who played on the band's first single "Salt Lick." Their most recent LP was the live album Raw in 2022, which followed the death of ZZ Top bassist, Dusty Hill, the previous year. Raw was an 11-track LP recorded for the trio's 2019 Netflix documentary, That Little Ol' Band From Texas. - NME, 3/16/25...... A new documentary claims that The Doors frontman Jim Morrison could still be alive. In Before the End, a new film created by Doors superfan Jeff Finn, conspiracy theories will be examined that suggest Morrison may have faked his own death after becoming disillusioned with the fame and attention his success had brought him. It will examine the "evidence" of the theories that Morrison may still be alive, including one revolving around a man named "Frank X," who works in maintenance in Syracuse, N.Y., but who some believe is actually Morrison in disguise. Morrison was found dead in the bathtub of his apartment in Paris by his girlfriend Pamela Courson on July 3, 1971. He was 27 years old at the time, with the official cause of death listed as heart failure. The trailer for Before The End has been shared on YouTube, and streaming options for the film can be found at www.zmachine.net. - NME, 3/13/25...... On Mar. 14 Journey suddenly halted their Texas concert at NRG Stadium during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo following an electrical fire. Journey had performed just five songs when, during their 1981 hit "Don't Stop Believin'," they were forced to leave the stage after the sound cut out and the projector screens went dark. As the audience continued singing along to their 1981 hit, unaware of the issue, members of Journey's crew were reportedly seen rushing to the stage with fire extinguishers. Shortly after, the crowd was informed that the concert would not continue and that everyone needed to evacuate, according to Houston station KHOU. No injuries were reported. The livestock organization later posted on Facebook that they regretted the incident and apologized to fans, and "will provide updates regarding rescheduling options and refunds as soon as possible." Fan-captured video from the event can be viewed on X. - Billboard, 3/15/25...... Former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Rudy Sarzo says he is "honored" to have been invited to play at the upcoming final concert ever by Ozzy and Black Sabbath. Sabbath has announced they will return for one last concert at Villa Park in their hometown of Birmingham on July 5. The upcoming show will see the group's most iconic line-up -- comprising frontman Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward -- play live together for the first time in two decades. Sarzo, who played bass for Osbourne for a year in the '80s, said during an intervew with radio station WDHA 105.5 that last fall that he received a text from Sabbath show co-organizer Tom Morello that said, basically, "Hi, Rudy. [It's] Tom. Sharon and Ozzy asked me to see if you were available and wanted to participate in this event." Reflecting on the significance of the show to him personally, Sarzo said: "At that moment, for so many reasons, it was like time stood still and brought me back, like, 40 years. So after I got out that trance, I immediately said, 'Yes. Of course.'" Osbourne, who last performed a full set in 2018, recently said in a SiriusXM interview that due to his health issues he isn't planning on doing a full set with Black Sabbath, but "little bits and pieces with them... I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable." - NME, 3/14/25...... '70s funk-rock icon George Clinton has filed a $100 million copyright lawsuit against his former business partner Armen Boladian and his Bridgeport Music company over ownership of his music. The Parliament-Funkadelic musician -- who is set to be be inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame later in 2025 -- has alleged that Boladian fraudulently obtained copyrights to approximately 90 per cent of his catalogue. In a lawsuit on Mar. 11 in Florida District Court, Clinton alleged Boladian and Bridgeport, as well as Westbound Records, Nine Records, Southfield Music and Eastbound Records, have unlawfully profited from his music. He went on to hold a press conference outside of the Apollo Theatre to announce the suit alongside his attorney Ben Crump, stating that he aimed to reclaim ownership of his catalogue to provide for his family. Richard Busch, Boladian's lawyer, told Variety that "This is just the latest in a series of lawsuits that Mr. Clinton has filed against Bridgeport and Armen Boladian over the last 30 years raising the same exact issues. He has lost each and every time, including in the very courthouse in which he has filed this latest lawsuit. We will obviously therefore be moving to dismiss this lawsuit and will be seeking sanctions." Parliament-Funkadelic released their last album Medicaid Fraud Dog in 2018, marking their first new music in 38 years. Shortly after, Clinton announced his retirement from the road in 2019 and played his final shows in 2022 after they were delayed by the pandemic. - NME, 3/14/25...... Canadian pop music legend Anne Murray will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Junos in Vancouver, B.C. on Mar. 30. Nova Scotia native Murray, the most Juno-awarded artist in the history of Canada's national music honours, has won 25 Juno Awards. "Canada's National Arts Centre has been honoured to support countless Canadian performing artists from the beginning of their careers to the international stage, including this year's honouree, Anne Murray," says Christopher Deacon, President and CEO of the National Arts Centre. Presented by the National Arts Centre/Centre National des Arts, Murray will be the first performer to receive the recognition since it was awarded to Pierre Juneau in 1989. Murray, the singer behind such classics as "Snowbird" and others has sold over 55 million albums and has won four Grammy Awards, including best female pop vocal performance in 1978 for "You Needed Me." Her debut hit "What About Me" launched her career in 1968. - Canoe.com, 3/13/25...... Actress Amanda Seyfried has denied that her appearance on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon earlier in March in which she performed an impromptu cover of Joni Mitchell's 1971 classic "California" was an audition for Cameron Crowe's forthcoming Joni Mitchell biopic. Speaking with Variety's Just For Variety podcast, Seyfried said she never meant for the cover to be taken as an audition: "It was not an audition. In fact, I didn't even consider that, which is funny. What I know about that project is that I'm very, very much aged-out of [playing] young Joni." Crowe first announced his Mitchell project in 2023, and a cast has yet to be announced though it was reported that Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep -- a close friend of Mitchell's -- was in talks to portray an older version of the singer-songwriter in the biopic. - NME, 3/14/25...... A longtime dream of R&B/soul legend Otis Redding has finally come true as the Otis Redding Foundation has announced that the Otis Redding Center for the Arts (ORCA) will celebrate its grand opening in Redding's hometown of Macon, Ga., on Mar. 22. Following her husband's untimely death in 1967, ORCA president founder Zelma Redding has remained committed to fulfilling their vision of giving back to the community by enriching young people through the arts. "This is a dream that my husband and I shared," she said in a statement. "And being able to turn that dream into a reality with the help of my children, grandchildren and all of those who support us, means more to me than words can express." The Otis Redding Center for the Arts is a state-of-the-art, 15,000 square-foot facility housing seven creative labs, five private lesson rooms, an amphitheater and the O3 Recording Studio. The latter is named after the Reddings' son, Otis Redding III, who died in April 2023. The famed Otis Redding statue, previously located in Gateway Park, now stands outside of ORCA at the corner of Cotton Avenue and Cherry Street. Also nearby is the Otis Redding Museum at 339 Cotton Avenue. Otis Redding, nicknamed "The King of Soul," died on Dec. 10, 1967, in a plane crash near Madison, Wisc., at age 26. - Billboard, 3/13/25...... Joan Baez will appear with an electic panel of fellow guests on the season debut of John Mulaney's new Netflix series Everybody's Live With John Mulaney. In a prelude to a story about Martin Luther King Jr., Baez said she needed to "set the context" for what is going on in our country at the moment. "You said I could say anything I want out here," Baez said to Mulaney. "We're all here to be silly and have fun, and as long as we recognize the fact that our democracy is going up in flames we're being run by a bunch of really incompetent billionaires." Baez did not specifically note who said billionaires are, but it appeared she was talking about Pres. Donald Trump and DOGE boss Elon Musk, who have been deeply slashing the federal government workforce over the past two months in their attempt to cut government spending in a manner that has raised alarms about the impact on the environment, American's health and safety of the LGBTQ+ community. After Mulaney joked about the thought of Baez driving a Tesla, the singer noted that she actually used to own one of Musk's all-electric cars after her assistant suggested she try one, but that she now has serious buyer's remorse. "I hated that thing," Baez, 84, said. "But I thought I was supposed to like it. So I drove off in it. Within 45 minutes I had smashed it into an oak tree on my property I was thinking, 'That's a sign.'" While Baez said the crash was not on purpose, the joke came amid a national, and international, backlash against Musk's chainsaw-like slashing of federal programs that has seen Tesla vehicles and showrooms vandalized. "I hated it," Baez repeated about the car without specifying when she owned it. "It was too big I sold it and got one-half the amount of money I paid for." Baez's appearance on the Mulaney show can be streamed on X. - Billboard, 3/13/25...... Time to "turn it up to 11" once again. The highly anticipated sequel of the 1984 comedy, This Is Spinal Tap, officially has a release date. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues will hit theaters on Sept. 12 with Bleeker Street Studios gaining the U.S. distribution rights, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Rob Reiner is returning as director, and also reprising his role as documentarian Martin "Marty" DiBergi. "This Is Spinal Tap isn't just a movie -- it's a cultural touchstone that pioneered the mockumentary genre and left an indelible mark on both film and music," Bleeker Street CEO said in a statement. "Returning to this world through Spinal Tap II is an extraordinary chance to celebrate its legacy while creating something fresh for both new and devoted audiences." The original film -- in which most of the dialogue was improvised -- follows the rockers on a 1982 U.S. tour to promote their Smell the Glove album. Though the film did modestly at the box office at the time, it has since blossomed into a must-see movie with a cult following, even making it onto the Library of Congress' list of culturally significant artifacts. Spinal Tap II will reunite the band after a 15-year break for one last concert. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer will be returning in the sequel as the fictional English band Spinal Tap, while Fran Drescher will also be reprising her role as publicist Bobbi Flekman. Chad Smith, Lars Ulrich, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are all set to make cameos in the upcoming film. - Billboard, 3/12/25...... The first trailer for the upcoming John Lennon and Yoko Ono documentary One to One has been shared on YouTube. The two-minute clip opens with audio of Lennon calling someone named Howard, in which the woman on the other end begins to spell out the singer's name only to realize who she's talking to. "You're a member of the Beatles?" she asks. "That's right, yeah," Lennon answers nonchalantly. From there, the footage explodes into a collage of images of bombs falling in the Vietnam war and the couple preparing for a charity show as Lennon says, "good morning, folks. Have you had your breakfast yet?," accompanied by footage of the former Beatle having his bowl of morning cereal. The movie, directed by Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald, is a chronicle of the couple's new life in New York post-Beatles in 1972, following them as they move into an apartment in Greenwich Village and prepare for their "One to One" concerts, a two-show all-star charity event for children with special needs that they threw at Madison Square Garden in Aug. 1972. It was the only full-length performance by Lennon in the wake of the Fab Four's split two years earlier and in addition to the Plastic Ono Band it featured sets by Stevie Wonder, Sha Na Na and Roberta Flack, among others. - Billboard, 3/13/25...... Willie Nelson took to Instagram on Mar. 12 to formally announce his 154th studio album, Oh What a Beautiful World, will drop on Apr. 25. Like past albums, Oh What A Beautiful World sees Nelson dedicate an entire album to interpreting the works of notable songwriters. This time, he's focusing on songs written by Rodney Crowell. Nelson has released the title track as the record's first single, and it can be streamed on YouTube. - NME, 3/13/25...... Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell has told Guitar Player magazine that his "conscience is clear" and he "doesn't torture himself" over his bandleader Tom Petty's 2017 death from an accidental drug overdose. Petty's death at age 66 sent shockwaves through the rock community, especially after a coroner's report determined that a mix of opioids -- including fentanyl and oxycodone -- in his system contributed to a fatal "mixed drug toxicity." The rock legend had gone through periods of drug use throughout his life, but famously got clean in 1999 when his future wife, Dana York, convinced him to go to rehab. Campbell, 75, explained that while he recognized Petty was no longer sober near the end of his life, he felt it was impossible to get through to his longtime bandmate of over 40 years. "With Tom it was like, 'Your private life is yours, and mine is mine. I can see what you're doing, but out of respect for you, I'll trust you'll do the right thing. If you need me, call me,'" he recalled. "I could have gone to him and said, 'Hey, you've got to cut this s--- out,' which I kind of did once to the manager. But the thing with Tom was, you could say that and he would just look at you like, 'But I'm Tom Petty. I'm going to do whatever I f---ing want. Get out of my face.'" Campbell, who will release a memoir about his career with Petty called Heartbreaker on Mar. 18, suggested that "the sides of [Petty's] personality" always made it challenging to get close to the musician he worked with for more than 40 years. "He was intimidating, but there was love there. I think one reason we stayed together is because we kept our private lives separate. We didn't socialize that much off tour," he insisted. The last time the pair worked together was only a week before Petty's death, when they concluded their 40th Anniversary Tour at the Hollywood Bowl in Sept. 2017. When Campbell was pressed on why he didn't "get in [Petty's] face" about his noticeable decline, the musician replied: "I don't torture myself. My conscious is clear because Tom knew that I knew, and Tom knew that I wasn't forcing him and getting in his face about it." Since Petty's death in 2017, Campbell and Crowded House's Neil Finn have joined Fleetwood Mac as replacements for Lindsey Buckingham following the latter guitarist's acrimonious departure from the group. - US Weekly, 3/13/25.

Billy Joel announced on Mar. 11 that he's postponing his current North American spring tour for four months due to an undisclosed medical condition. Joel, 75, underwent surgery recently, and says he'll use the time to recover and undergo physical therapy. "While I regret postponing any shows, my health must come first," Joel, 75, said in a statement posted to Instagram. "I look forward to getting back on stage and sharing the joy of live music with our amazing fans. Thank you for your understanding." He's expected to make a full recovery, with the tour resuming at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on July 5. The stadium tour, which includes Joel often pairing with fellow legends Stevie Nicks, Sting or Rod Stewart, had been slated to get underway Mar. 15 in Toronto. It is unknown if the surgery was related to the spill the Piano Man took on stage Feb. 22 during a show at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn., while tossing his microphone during "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me." Joel quickly recovered from the fall, seemingly uninjured, and finished the show. The delay will not affect Joel's three New York City-area summer shows. He'll play Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on July 18; Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Aug. 8; and Citi Field, in Queens, N.Y., on Aug. 21, making him the first artist to play all three NYC-area stadiums in one summer. Stewart will join him July 18, Nicks on Aug. 8 and Sting on Aug. 21. - Billboard, 3/11/25...... Former J. Geils Band frontman Peter Wolf has just released a new book, Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses, and though it tracks Wolf's childhood to relatively recently, it isn't a standard, linear memoir. Rather, it's a collection of stories -- and a fascinating, good-humored one at that -- as the New York-born Wolf regales readers with his Forrest Gump-like life of encounters with such famous stars as Marilyn Monroe, who once literally fell asleep on him as a 10-year-old while both attended a screening of a film at a local movie theater. Also included are recollections of his interactions and relationships with blues heroes such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker, as well as his fellow rockers Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones, John Lennon and Harry Nilsson, Sly Stone, Aretha Franklin and more. "My goal was to make a book of short stories, treat each chapter like its own short story," explains Wolf, who was an art student and radio DJ in Boston as well as a musician," says Wolf, who joined the J. Geils Band in 1967 and fronted them to multi-platinum fame in 1981 with the chart-topping album Freeze-Frame and its No. 1 smash "Centerfold." Other subjects include his actress former wife Faye Dunaway, to whom he was wed from 1974-79, and the J. Geils Band, which asked him to leave the group in 1983. "I didn't want this to be a kiss-and-tell book; I just wanted to write about these incredible people that I had the privilege to meet and to get to know to certain degrees and capture that," he says. Wolf has recorded an audio version of Waiting On the Moon and has a handful of author appearances planned throughout March, including bookstores in Cambridge, Mass. (3/11), New York City (3/12), Ridgewood, N.J. (3/13), Portsmouth, N.H. (3/18), and Philadelphia (3/27), with an Apr. 8 stop in Madison, Conn. He's also "about 80 percent" finished with his new solo album, which will be his first since 2016's A Cure For Loneliness. "I think if the book connects with people it would even put the wind beneath my wings to finish the record and put it out," he says. A reissue of the J. Geils Band's classic 1972 concert album "Live" Full House is also slated for this year, according to Wolf. - Billboard, 3/11/25...... Such R&B/pop icons as Stevie Wonder, Valerie Simpson, Phylicia Rashad, Dionne Warwick, Alicia Keys, India.Arie and Peabo Bryson were among those lifting up their voices in tribute to the late pioneering singer-songwriter-musician Roberta Flack at a jam-packed celebration at New York's Abyssinian Baptist Church on Mar. 10. Also making unexpected appearances were Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, with Hill delivering a beautiful and measured take on the Flack classic "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" as emotional Hill sniffled her way through reflections about her late idol. "The artistry of Ms. Roberta Flack was beyond trailblazing.... Roberta Flack is a legend," Hill said in part. Stevie Wonder performed "If It's Magic," a track from his 1976 platinum album Songs in the Key of Life, and a tune that he wrote for Flack, "I Can See the Sun." Noted Wonder at the end, "She spread love all over this world." Also in attendance was a diverse range of artists and industry personages such as Clive Davis ("There will never be another Roberta Flack"), Oprah Winfrey and Flack's former Dakota apartment building neighbor, Yoko Ono. The celebration program also noted that donations in Flack's memory can be sent to the RobertaFlackFoundation.org. Flack died on Feb. 24 at age 88. - Billboard, 3/10/25...... A first-of-its-kind jazz and super club in Chicago's West Loop built and designed in honor of legendary Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia was announced on Mar. 10 by venue impressario Peter Shapiro. Shapiro has long collaborated with original members of the iconic 1960s band through projects like the "Fare Thee Well" concerts honoring the band's 50th anniversary, and also worked as the long-time promoter for late GD founding member Phil Lesh. For the new club, he has enlisted the help of Garcia's family members, including his daughter Trixie Garcia, who said the inspiration for Garcia's was "a live music club with a comfortable atmosphere for artists and guests... A place where Jerry could get his musical fix without going on the road." The 300-capacity concert venue will feature a full bar and restaurant, according to Shapiro, adding that the concept for Garcia's comes from iconic old supper and jazz clubs of yesteryear, including New York's Birdland, Harlem's esteemed Bill's Place or the Spotted Cat on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans. A full list of shows at the new venue can be found at GarciasChicago.live. - Billboard, 3/10/25...... A two-hour Ringo Starr special, Ringo & Friends at the Ryman, is currently streaming on-demand on the Paramount+ channel for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers. The special, which premiered on Mar. 10 on the CBS network, celebrates the music and legacy of Starr through the lens of country music. The Beatles drummer brought his love of country to life with two concerts taped at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on Jan. 14-15. In an exclusive clip from Billboard on YouTube, Starr, with a little help from friends like Jack White, performs the Carl Perkins rockabilly classic "Matchbox," which the Beatles covered in 1964. Other "friends" in the special include Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Mickey Guyton, Jamey Johnson, Rodney Crowell, the War and Treaty, and Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, both of whom appear on Ringo's new album Look Up, a current country Top 10 LP. - Billboard, 3/10/25...... In other Beatles-related news, Lady Gaga has revealed that the late John Lennon would be her dream collaborator. During a fan-led presser for her new album Mayhem, Gaga was asked by a fan was about her dream collaborator, dead or alive. "I think it would have been John Lennon. I think he had such a beautiful heart and I think that's one of my favorite things in like the history of music is when you don't just remember an artist for their music but you remember them for their heart," she said. In 2012, the "Born This Way"' hitmaker was awarded the Lennonono Grant For Peace by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono. She also performed a cover of "Imagine" at the opening of the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan back in 2015. Mayhem, Gaga's highly anticipated seventh album, arrived on Mar. 7. - New Musical Express, 3/7/25...... '80s pop star Rick Springfield, who released his first album in the U.S., Comic Book Heroes, in 1974, has revealed in a new People interview that he has brain damage from a bad stage fall he took in 2000. Springfield, 75, said that after getting a whole-body MRI scan he was told that he still has lasting brain damage from an on-stage tumble during a Las Vegas show 25 years ago. "I fell 25 feet, hit my head and then wood came down and hit my head, and then my head hit the stage again," Springfield said of the nasty fall. "I thought I had just broken my wrist, but on the scan I found out I have some brain damage from the fall, so I'm working on trying to repair that." Despite being halfway through his seventh decade, the "Jessie's Girl" singer said he's still feeling like he's in his 20s in his head thanks to daily exercise, a mostly pescatarian diet and the dialing back of his alcohol intake a few years ago, which has also had a positive impact on his lifelong battle with depression. Springfield released his Big Hits: Rick Springfield's Greatest Hits, Volume 2 in December, and is slated to hit the road on the" I Want My 80s Tour" this summer alongside such fellow 1980s stars as John Waite, Wang Chung, Paul Young and John Cafferty. Details can be found in his Instagram page. - Billboard, 3/10/25...... In other pop idol news, '60s hitmaker Tommy James was forced to end a recent concert in Las Vegas an hour into the performance after suffering from exhaustion. James, 77, was singing "Do Something to Me" at the Golden Nugget casino on Mar. 7 when he was forced to stop the performance and take a breather before he could finish the 90-minute set. His rep said the reason was that he had been up early for his five-hour flight to Sin City. The rep confirmed the "Draggin' the Line" singer was back in New Jersey and doing "fine working on his Sirius XM radio show Gettin Together with Tommy James." James and his band The Shondells are next due onstage on Mar. 15 in Tulsa, Okla. The musician is best known as the frontman of the rock band, who had a string of hits in the '60s with "Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover" and "I Think We're Alone Now." James is a prolific artist, having released 12 solo studio albums and eight albums with the Shondells. More than 300 musicians have recorded renditions of his songs with three of the covers reaching the Top 10 on the hit parade in the 1980s: Joan Jett's "Crimson and Clover," Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now," and Billy Idol's "Mony Mony." - Music-News.com, 3/10/25...... Michael Jackson's eldest son Prince Jackson attended the Sydney, Australia opening night of "MJ: The Musical" at Lyric Theatre, Star City on Mar. 8. This isn't the first time Prince has shown his support for the production, which debuted on Broadway in 2022 and has since expanded globally. In Mar. 2024, he attended the London preview night alongside his siblings, Paris Jackson and Bigi Jackson, continuing their tradition of honoring their father's legacy. Two years prior, he and Paris made an appearance at the 2022 Tony Awards, where "MJ: The Musical" was nominated for multiple awards, including Best Musical. The siblings introduced the cast's performance of "Smooth Criminal "that night, with Prince reflecting on their father's deep love for musicals. "A lot of people seem to think our dad Michael Jackson changed popular music forever. And who are we to disagree?" he said during the awards show. "But what people may not know is that he loved musicals, on film and on the stage." Following its success in New York, the musical has expanded to London's West End, a U.S. national tour, and now Australia, where it will run in Sydney before moving to other cities. The four-time Tony Award-winning production transports audiences back to 1992, inside the high-stakes creative process of Jackson's "Dangerous World Tour." Through the lens of an MTV documentary crew, the musical explores not just Jackson's signature moves and music, but his relentless artistic vision and the challenges behind the scenes. Tickets for "MJ: The Musical" are available now at mjthemusical.com.au. - Billboard, 3/10/25...... Legendary KISS bassist Gene Simmons is giving fans the chance to live out their dreams of rock stardom by letting them be his roadie for a day with his Gene Simmons Band -- but it comes with a hefty price tag. As Simmons prepares to mount a tour with his band in April, the rocker has launched a handful of "Experiences" in which fans can purchase ahead of the upcoming dates. One of them is the "Gene Simmons Bass Experience," which allows you (and three guests) the chance to meet Simmons after the stage. The other of these experiences (dubbed "The Ultimate Gene Simmons Experience"') allows the purchaser to become "Simmons' personal assistant & band roadie for the day." This package costs a total of $12,495 (in addition to the original ticket price), and also includes a bass guitar that had been used by Simmons during a KISS rehearsal. Only one experience per concert is available, with 26 dates currently scheduled across North America between April and August. More info can be found at www.genesimmonsaxe.com. - Billboard, 3/10/25...... Native Englishman and current Connecticut resident Keith Richards is being honoured with a new Connecticut residents award. Richards, who has been living in The Constitution State since 1985, was awarded the Connecticut Governor's Award of Excellence on Mar. 5, which recognizes creativity, passion and generosity in the area. The Rolling Stones guitarist is the first person to receive this award, and he was given a custom-designed medallion during a ceremony at The Westport Library in Westport, Conn. Gov. Ned Lamont, a self-professed Stones fan, praised the veteran musician for his music career and his contributions to local charitable causes. "Well, thank you very much. And thank you Connecticut," Richards while accepting the award. "You kind of get lost for words with something like this around your neck. All I gotta say is, you know, I've been here for 40 years, and it's been a great place for me. The family's had a great life, The kids grew up great and incredibly happy about everything." Meanwhile, the Stones have been reported to be scrapping their plans to tour across the UK and Europe in 2025. According to the UK paper The Times, in late January the group announced they have opted against a return to touring later in the year. This reportedly came following a proposed multi-million pound stop at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium being rejected, amid other shows across Europe. - NME, 3/9/25...... Kraftwerk kicked off the North American leg of their "Multimedia" world tour at Philadelphia's Franklin Music Hall on Mar. 6, then performed on Mar. 8 at the Pittsburgh venue Stage AE Outdoors and on Mar. 10 in Montreal. Some of the tracks played by the German electronic-pop pioneers include "Autobahn," "Airwaves," Spacelab," "Neon Lights," and "Radioactivity." The encore at the Philidelphia gig included "The Robots" and "Planet of Visions." Ralf Hütter & co. announced the tour back in December. In total, 27 dates have been lined up for March and April 2025, including March stops in Montreal, Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Kansas City, Mo. In April, they'll visit Denver, Portland, Ore., Vancouver, B.C., Indio, Calif, Salt Lake City, Indio, Calif., and Austin, Tex., before wrapping in Dallas on Apr. 24. Some fan-captured footage from the opening gigs have been shared on Instagram. - NME, 3/8/25...... After having an Order of Canada and Polaris Music Prize rescinded, Canadian singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie has now had a Juno Award along with her induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame revoked after facing criticism and scrutiny following a 2023 CBC investigation that cast serious doubt on her claims of Indigenous identity. The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), the organization that administers the Junos, released a statement, writing that the singer-songwriter does not meet eligibility requirements following her confirmation that she is not Canadian -- similar criteria that the Polaris Prize cited. It was a "not a reflection of Ms. Sainte-Marie's artistic contributions," CARAS writes. CARAS says it made the decision following a thorough review and consultations with the CARAS Indigenous Music Advisory Committee. In January of this year, Sainte-Marie's Order of Canada was terminated. On Mar. 4, The Canadian Press reported Sainte-Marie issued a statement about the termination, saying that she returned the Order "with a good heart" and affirming that she is a U.S. citizen. "My Cree family adopted me forever and this will never change," she added. - Billboard, 3/7/25...... On Mar. 8 New Mexico authorities released a statement saying Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman likely died of heart disease and Alzheimer's after his dead body and his wife Betsy Arakawa's corpse were found dead in his Santa Fe, N.M., home on Feb. 26. Hackman, 95, likely died about a week after Arakawa died due to hantavirus, a medical examiner said. Hackman died of cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer's disease as a significant contributing factor, said Heather Jarrell, the chief medical examiner for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. Arakawa likely died about a week earlier, on Feb. 11, of hantavirus, a potentially fatal virus transmitted by mice. Both deaths fall under natural causes, which can include heart disease, stroke, cancer, respiratory failure, infections and age-related complications. Authorities said at the time they did not suspect foul play, and the investigation continues. - Variety, 3/8/25...... Punk rock pioneer Brian James, founding member of English band The Damned, died on Mar. 6. He was 70. The news of the guitarist's death was shared with fans via a post on James' Facebook page on the day of his death. "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of the true pioneers of music, guitarist, songwriter and true gentleman, Brian James," it read. The message added that the musician was surrounded by family when he "passed peacefully." James formed The Damned in 1976 with bandmates Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian and Rat Scabies. That year, they released what is considered the first-ever British punk single: "New Rose." The guitarist would work on two albums with the foursome before leaving the group: 1977's Damned Damned Damned and Music for Pleasure. Captain Sensible honored his late bandmate with a post on X on Mar. 6, sharing a photo of himself with James and writing, "We're shocked to hear that creator of @thedamned, our great chum Brian James has sadly gone." A lovely bloke that I feel so lucky to have met all those years ago and for some reason chose me to help in his quest for the music revolution that became known as punk," he added. "Cheers BJ!" After leaving The Damned, James would form short-lived group Tanz Der Youth before starting The Lords of the New Church with Stiv Bators. His career came full circle in 2022 when James reunited with The Damned for a string of U.K. live shows. He is survived by his wife, Minna, his son, Charlie, and his daughter-in-law, Alicia. - Billboard, 3/7/25.