Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on June 14th, 2026

Alice Cooper has thanked a man in his home state of Arizona with a signed copy of his latest album after the man found Cooper's credit card in a gas pump. After Cooper had been golfing in the Payson, Ariz. area, he'd lost his card at a gas station after leaving it at a pump. It was later found by a local named Geoff Guy, who somehow managed to get it back to the veteran shock-rocker, and was rewarded with a signed copy of his latest album, The Revenge Of Alice Cooper. After finding the card, Guy's wife suggested he call Cooper's Phoenix-based charity, the Alice Cooper Solid Rock Teen Center, and, after doing so, he was able to get it back to Cooper on June 8, right before the rocker set off on his European tour. "The guy is a legend for people of my generation, that's for sure, and I'm really glad I could help get it back to him," Guy told a local TV station. Cooper and Guy appeared side by side in a local news segment, with Cooper stopping for pictures and thanking Guy for making "a good call" right before he set off for his tour. The tour kick-off follows Cooper announcing details of a new "definitive autobiography" titled Devil On My Shoulder, and confirming plans for a new Q&A book tour for later in 2026. Guy was interviewed about the incident on the Chaz and AJ podcast, which can be streamed on Instagram. - New Musical Express, 6/14/26...... Carly Simon has revealed the first single on her upcoming first album in 20 years will be "Howl," a letter to a friend whose lover has just left them. "'Howl' lives in that space between betrayal and forgiveness, where anger has to be voiced before it can be released," the 82-year-old singer/songwriter said in a press release about the track. "It's about letting the frustration out, so it doesn't sit and simmer. The song begins in anger, but it moves toward forgiveness and speaks to any situation where trust has been broken." The lyrics include the words, "Howl like the wind/Roar like the river/Wail like the rain/Cry, shout, and shiver," before it says, "Call love a liar." Simon wrote and recorded her new album, titled Comes in Waves, at her studio in Martha's Vineyard. It contains nine new songs, plus two songs she had written previously and revisited. Her children, son Ben Taylor, and daughter, Sally Taylor, both feature on the album, and Sally produced the artwork for the album. Simon's label says the theme of Comes in Waves is "resetting oneself." The album "does not attempt to recreate the past," according to a statement, but "continues the conversation Simon has been having with her audience for decades, one grounded in truth, vulnerability, and a refusal to simplify emotion. It is a reminder of an artist still fully engaged with her craft, still asking questions, and still finding new ways to articulate what it means to live, to love, and to let go." Comes In Waves will drop on Aug. 14. - Music-News.com, 6/12/26...... Michael, the box office smash Michael Jackson biopic that premiered on Apr. 24, has surpassed the 2018 Freddie Mercury/Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody as the highest-grossing music biopic of all time, crossing $911.9 million worldwide as it continues its global rollout. The Lionsgate and Universal co-production has surpassed Bohemian Rhapsody's total gross with $358.6 million at the domestic box office and $553.3 million internationally -- with Universal generating $540.5 million of the international total after acquiring foreign theatrical and ancillary rights. With the film opening in Japan on June 14, Michael is expected to push past $1 billion worldwide in 2026, joining the company of Universal's Super Mario Galaxy Movie. By comparison, Bohemian Rhapsody grossed $216.6 million domestically and $694.3 million internationally for a $910.9 million global total. Both films were produced by Graham King, meaning King has now broken his own all-time box office record for music biopics. Michael's other records include the largest global opening weekend ever for a music biopic, the highest-grossing domestic biopic of all time, and the most successful biopic ever in France, surpassing La Vie en Rose. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by John Logan and with Michael's nephew Jaafar Jackson in the titular role, the film was forced to undertake $50 million in reshoots after the Jackson estate identified a key issue with a plot point in the screenplay concerning one of Jackson's accusers, who was not meant to be dramatised in the film. Meanwhile, MJ child abuse accusers James Safechuck and Wade Robson have been given a new trial date for 2028. The pair, who appeared in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland where they detailed their alleged abuse by Jackson, allege that they were befriended by the singer and abused at his Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif., between the ages of 7 and 10. They also accused employees of his companies, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, of helping enable and conceal the alleged abuse. Robson, a choreographer and director, and Safechuck, a writer, actor, and director, sued MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures for negligence, breach of duty, and intentional infliction of emotional distress in separate lawsuits in 2013 and 2014, respectively. After consolidating their cases in 2024, the two men and their lawyer, John Carpenter, previously wanted their case heard before the release of the recently released Michael biopic, but the case faced a series of delays and was previously set for trial in October 2027. On June 12, a judge in California agreed to set a new trial date in the sexual abuse case brought by the men. Judge Michael E. Whitaker set the new trial date for Feb. 14, 2028, but he ordered everyone back for another hearing in September to keep the case on track. The Jackson estate has adamantly and repeatedly denied that he abused either of the boys, and has emphasised that Robson testified at Jackson's 2005 criminal trial that he had not been abused, and Safechuck said the same to authorities. - Billboard/NME, 6/14/26...... On June 10 the music publishing and talent management company Primary Wave announced it has entered into a new partnership with the estate of late '70s disco icon Donna Summer. The deal will see Primary Wave work alongside Summer's estate to expand the reach of her song catalog and recordings. It also includes her name, image and likeness (NIL) rights. Through the agreement, the company will work closely with the estate on new marketing, branding digital and sync opportunities, along with film and TV projects. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to a press release, Summer, a primary force in bringing disco to the mainstream, has sold more than 100 million albums globally. Her catalog includes 17 studio albums, three of which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200. That includes 1978's Bad Girls, which spent six weeks atop the tally. She also enjoyed four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, including "Hot Stuff," "Bad Girls," "MacArthur Park" and "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)," and placed a total of 14 songs in that chart's top 10. The five-time Grammy winner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2025. She died in 2012 at age 63. - Billboard, 6/10/26...... Speaking to reporters on the red carpet after attending the 55th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony on June 11, John Fogerty said he thought "whoever that Bob Dylan guy was" would be a great fit to portray him in a planned biopic of the legendary Creedence Clearwater Revival co-founder and frontman. Fogerty, of course, was referring to the hot young actor Timothee Chalamet, who took on the role of the iconic singer-songwriter for the critically acclaimed biopic A Complete Unknown. Earning a BAFTA nod and eight Oscar nominations, the film saw Chalamet perform some of Dylan's biggest hits himself, rather than mime them. Fogerty said he was "really excited" about the biopic of his life which is currently in the works, with the script currently being written. "That's such an honou, to get a movie made about you," he said. "I'm thrilled and happy that this is finally going to come out. I think they're working on it. That's about all I can say." When asked who he'd want to play him in a film about him, Fogerty quipped, "I used to joke, 'Oh, Brad Pitt!'. Speaking to another reporter the same night, the "Centerfield" singer was asked about his dream casting, and said he'd pick: "Whoever that Bob Dylan guy was. That would be great." The musician kept details of the new film largely under wraps, but told The Hollywood Reporter he'd be content with whoever got cast. "Years ago, probably in the middle of all the dark times, I would tell people, 'Someday they're going to make a movie about me, but I'll be too old to play myself,'" he said. "It's kind of like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz singing about someday.... Whoever they find that makes it work, I'll be happy with." - NME, 6/14/26...... Speaking of Bob Dylan, the rock bard has delved into his The Basement Tapes LP once again, this time playing "I Shall Be Released" for the first time in 18 years at a recent concert. During his gig at Oregon's Cuthbert Amphitheatre on June 9, Dylan brought back the song he last played at a 2008 concert in Warsaw. He wrote the track in 1967, and he and the Band recorded it during their "Basement Tapes sessions." The Band also recorded their own version of the song without Dylan, and they used it as the closing track on their 1968 debut Music From Big Pink. It comes after he opened a previous Washington gig on June 6 with anotherBasement Tapes cut, "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere." The song, which he hasn't played in concert since 2012, saw him joined on vocals by his guitarists Doug Lancio and Bob Britt, a callback to the Larry Campbell and Charlie Sexton era in the late '90s to early '00s, when it was far more common for his bandmates to sing with him. - NME, 6/13/26...... Paul McCartney has paid tribute to his artist friend David Hockney, who passed away peacefully at his home in the UK on June 11 at the age of 88. The Bradford native died after a career that saw him lauded as one of the most influential and celebrated artists of the 20th century. A defining figure in British art, his works included "A Bigger Splash" and "Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures)." One of the friends he made over the years was Beatles legend McCartney, who has shared a personal tribute to him on his Instagram page. Alongside a photo of the two arm in arm, McCartney wrote: "David Hockney was a friend and an incredible painter. I knew him during the 1960s and kept a friendship going till he died on Thursday, the 11th of June. He was very clever witty and fun to be with." "His paintings often gave off a feeling of great joy," he added. "Nancy and I enjoyed visiting his studios in California where we took a drive along Mulholland Drive which he made famous all over again in his sensational paintings. Or in his London studio. The rooms were filled with paintings. Often some of the most recent pictures that he had done. He would talk about them and his very particular views on art. He felt that it was important to see correctly. He wasn't a great fan of perspective and was always involved in inventing new ways to view the world. His many paintings, drawings, films and other media like iPad drawing he took readily to and mastered." Meanwhile, Sir Paul has defended the lyrics to "Momma Gets By," the closing track of his acclaimed new album The Boys of Dungeon Lane. The song concerns a put-upon wife who shoulders the burden of family life while her feckless husband shirks his responsibilities. "Momma gets by while papa gets high," McCartney sings, "She makes enough to raise a family." Later, he adds: "Even though he's complicated, she takes it in her stride / What are his silly faults compared to what she feels inside?" Certain corners of the internet and music press have questioned the song's gender politics, with one fan writing on Reddit: "It's a nice melody, lovely string arrangement, but the lyrics and message that it's ok to have a deadbeat drug addict absentee husband / co parent if you love him? Really odd, and so impersonal!" Speaking to UK comedian Rob Brydon onstage at The Roundhouse in north London on June 10, McCartney explained: "Sometimes you write songs about somebody you know, or an experience that you've had. And sometimes you just make 'em up 'cause you're in a more theatrical mood. I imagined this [track] like a play. I don't know the characters, but I'm imagining the woman and then the song is told from the perspective of the kid. So it just kind of unfolded itself. I was imagining the musical Porgy and Bess and that sort of thing. It's like a little theatrical story; a little musical theatre moment about this woman." He continued: "Some people would say, 'Oh, she's a bit of a sucker 'cause the guy's a bit of a waster.' But for me she's a very strong woman and it explains that in the song. I'm very proud of her and women like her." As the crowd cheered, McCartney added: "There's a lot of strong women out there." - NME, 6/13/26...... Queen drummer Roger Taylor has announced his seventh solo album, Violence Insane In A Beautiful World, will be arriving Sept.18. Marking his first full-length release since 2021's No. 3 UK LP Outsider, the drummer, songwriter and vocalist has launched the album with its first single, "Come On Summer (It's Party Time)," featuring a vibrant performance from South Africa's Ndlovu Youth Choir, who famously went viral for their Zulu-language rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. The album, recorded largely by Taylor himself with long-time collaborator Joshua J. Macrae and members of his touring band, explores what he calls the tension between the world's beauty and its escalating turmoil. He said: "There is a theme what a beautiful world we live in, don't f--- it up. The violence in the world seems to be as bad as it ever was but kindness is very important. It seems to be forgotten quite a lot." Although not a concept album, the record threads together Taylor's reflections on global conflict, environmental damage and political unrest, while still leaning into optimism and the "eclecticism" that has defined his solo work. The Ndlovu Youth Choir appear on three tracks -- a collaboration Taylor describes as transformative: "They're just wonderful it gives the songs a whole new dimension." The album also includes an emotional cover of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy," which Taylor calls "one of the greatest ballads ever written." Taylor will embark on a short UK tour behind the new album -- his only UK shows of 2026 - performing with the same band that joined him on the Outsider tour. The run begins Sept. 21 in Newcastle before heading to Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, Swansea and London's Roundhouse, where Taylor last appeared as a guest of Foo Fighters in 2011. It wraps on Sept. 29 in Swansea. - Music-News.com, 6/10/26...... Bruce Springsteen has apologized to U2 frontman Bono for refusing to license "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" for a new advertisement for the clothing brand GAP in partnership with Bono's AIDS foundation (RED). While presenting Springsteen with the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at Tribeca Festival in New York on June 13, the Bono recalled asking the Boss to license the 2007 track after he'd joined forces with the clothing brand for the (PRODUCT) RED campaign, which raised money to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. "That was a big mistake," Springsteen said, drawing laughs. "I should have said yes." He called the song one of his "personal favorites" and one that the "audience doesn't really care" about. "That was just a song that I love," he continued. "Damn it, I still think back: 'Bono asked you to put this thing on a commercial on television.' I should have f---ing done it! People would hear it like a hit, you know? So I have to apologize." At the beginning of the event, Tribeca Festival founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal introduced Bono, who then heaped praise on the New Jersey rocker. "Bruce Springsteen is America," Bono said. "Bruce made poetry from the voices of the people and set that poetry to music. We honor him tonight as a musician and poet and as an activist and a patriot." In conversation, Bono and Springsteen talked about bringing political resistance to the masses with Springsteen's "Land Of Hope And Dreams" tour, throughout which he has used his time on stage to mount criticisms of the Donald Trump regime. It was prompted by the killing of two Minneapolis citizens by ICE agents earlier in the year, with the Boss saying that US citizens are "living through some very dark times" as the "American values that have sustained us for 250 years are being challenged as never before." Fan-shot video of Springsteen wrapping up the event by performing "Land of Hope and Dreams" can be viewed on Instagram. - NME, 6/14/26...... New Wave legends DEVO and The B-52s are set to perform at London's O2 on June 20, 2026, followed the next evening with a show at Manchester's AO Arena. The two UK dates come as an extension to their "Cosmic De-Evolution Tour," which has already seen them take to stages across the US and Canada. The two groups say they will rotate who tops the bill each night. "We keep trying to fight about who gets to be the opening band so we can go out to the restaurant after the show," said DEVO's Mark Mothersbaugh. Joining the two bands at the London and Manchester shows will be Scottish punk legends The Rezillos and fellow New Wave artist Lene Lovich. - NME, 6/13/26...... In a new interview with Vulture magazine, Paul Stanley says KISS' secret weapon has always been their larger-than-life personas. The rock icon says the face paint-wearing group have spent five decades as "Batman with a guitar and Superman with a Marshall amplifier," a comparison he made while looking back at the moments that turned KISS into one of rock's most enduring acts. Stanley pointed to the release of their raucous 1975 live album Alive! as the moment everything shifted. "Alive! was such a turning point for us," he said. "We wanted you to be in the crowd and have a sense of empowerment to hear the noise of people next to you between songs, because technology doesn't really allow for multisensory overload." The album, he added, finally showcased "the power and commitment of us as a band." He believes the band's visual identity -- the makeup and ageless personas -- has been just as crucial to their longevity as the music itself. Fans who see KISS today, he said, still feel like they're watching the same superhero figures they first encountered in the '70s. He added: "Part of what has been our strength over the years is looking the same onstage. The idea of being omnipotent, of being ageless, is incredibly powerful So in that way, we're timeless superheroes -- Batman with a guitar and Superman with a Marshall amplifier." Another way they are securing their legacy is with their digital avatar show. "There's no reason for us to live within the boundaries of other rock bands," the musician recently said on the Rock of Nations podcast. "They live within those boundaries because that's all they can be. And it's great, but we are not that -- we're KISS." - NME, 6/12/26...... The Rolling Stones have announced they're teaming up with Marvel Studios to launch a special vinyl collector series for their new album Foreign Tongues. For a limited time, a special collector's release of the album will be on offer -- replacing the original artwork with Marvel-inspired designs. There are five variants on offer, one shows the Hulk carrying a truck with the Stones' iconic lips logo on the side, one shows Spider-Man crafting the logo out of webs, and another shows Captain America crashing through a wall covered in the design. Other variations include Thor holding his hammer, with the lips logo being formed by lightning around him, and one of Wolverine standing in front of the design. Each design has been designed by Marvel illustrators especially for this release, and they can be pre-ordered at therollingstonesshop.com. Foreign Tongues is due July 10 via Polydor/Universal Music. Meanwhile, Stones frontman gave a surprise impromptu performance at the Half Moon pub in St Clements in Oxford on June 7, performing as part of the pub's weekly folk session. Jagger was in attendance with his partner, former American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, and they were there as guests of Oriel College. The college confirmed that the couple had drinks and dinner at the college, before heading off to the pub with Stones keyboard player Matt Clifford and Oriel Politics academic Robert Cheah. There, they delivered an impromptu performance of traditional song "Handsome Molly," which Jagger covered on his 1993 solo album Wandering Spirit. Speaking to BBC News about the surprise appearance, an employee at the Half Moon said that they were "delighted" by Jagger taking to the stage, and added that the venue "prides itself on its authentic atmosphere and welcoming community." "Our Sunday folk session has been going for many years and is open to everyone -- whether you're a beginner player or an international rock star," they added. "You never know what to expect at the Half Moon." Footage of the performance has been shared on Instagram. NME, 6/11/26...... As Taylor Swift prepares to wed fiance Travis Kelce in one of the biggest celebrity events of the season, the current reigning pop queen performed a duet with Randy Newman at the world premiere of Toy Story 5 in Los Angeles. Before a screening of the fifth instalment of Pixar's Toy Story film series, the music superstar took to the stage to sing "I Knew It, I Knew You" at a piano. In addition, Swift was joined by the Toy Story franchise's long-running composer Newman for a rendition of his 1995 track, "You've Got a Friend in Me." The theme song has been incorporated into the soundtracks of all of the Toy Story films, starting with the 1995 original. Swift, who recently became the youngest woman inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, thanked all the artists and animators who worked so hard on creating the feature. Swift's performance can be viewed on YouTube. - Music-News.com, 6/10/26...... A dystopian sci-fi movie based on the iconic 1973 Emerson, Lake & Palmer track "Karn Evil 9" is in development. The Radar Pictures-produced movie has secured a director and screenwriter, and reportedly has the cooperation of the band's management and surviving members. As reported by Variety, the film draws its name and thematic core from "Karn Evil 9," the sprawling half-hour track from the band's 1973 album, Brain Salad Surgery. Written by Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and lyricist Peter Sinfield, the piece fused rock, classical motifs, and futuristic dread in a way that had no clear precedent in popular music. Its album cover, designed by H.R. Giger, became an enduring image of the era. The official synopsis hints that the story complements contemporary anxieties. "When Zak, a brilliant but troubled musical prodigy, is invited to perform at a major music festival simulcast in the world's most popular video game, he is shocked to discover the game's mysterious creator may be using him to promote a terrifying new technology. In a harrowing twist, our hero comes to believe that this technology may be of inestimable benefit to humanity. And he is hunted by ruthless, anti-technology mercenaries." Isaac Ezban, the Mexican filmmaker behind the acclaimed thriller The Incident, has signed on to direct, while Tim Hedrick, a veteran writer on Avatar: The Last Airbender, has penned the screenplay. Ezban described the project in vivid terms. "This is, quite literally, a miracle of a movie and just the kind of movie I had always dreamt of directing," he said in a statement. Hedrick argued that "Karn Evil 9" functions as a cultural precursor to landmark sci-fi films. "'Karn Evil 9' predates The Matrix and The Terminator, but it anticipates both of those films, as well as our present moment of technological chaos. I can't wait to explore this world." - ComingSoon.net, 6/12/26.