Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 1st, 2026

Deep Purple announced on Oct. 31 that they were forced to cancel two shows in Germany after frontman Ian Gillan was hospitalized following a medical emergency. "This comes as a result of a medical emergency involving Ian Gillan, which has resulted in his current hospitalisation," wrote the band, adding that the cancellation of concerts in Leipzig and Hamburg came "with great disappointment." The band -- which also features founding members Roger Glover (bass) and Ian Paice along with Simon McBride (guitar) and Don Airey (keyboards) -- did not provide further details about Gillan's condition or indicate when he might be released from the hospital. The band added that it is working to find a "suitable time to reschedule" both concerts. Tickets purchased for the original dates will remain valid for the rescheduled performances. In October, former DP bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes underwent 10-hour open-heart surgery. Hughes, who announced his retirement from touring earlier in 2026, shared an update saying he was recovering at home following the procedure. - Billboard, 10/31/26...... Aerosmith returned from a three-year live performance hiatus on Oct. 29 with the first of two all-star "California Dream On: Aerosmith and Friends" shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. In addition to a 45-minute set by Aerosmith -- their first full performance since singer Steven Tyler's 2023 vocal injury scuttled their planned "Peace Out - Farewell Tour" -- they were joined by Foo Fighters drummer/vocalist Dave Grohl, Heart, Sammy Hagar, Guns N' Roses, the Black Crowes and guitarist Joe Perry's Hollywood Vampires bandmate actor Johnny Depp. For most of Aerosmith's six-song, show-ending set, Grohl sat in with Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford and bassist Tom Hamilton in place of the band's co-founding drummer Joey Kramer, who has been on hiatus from the group since first taking a break due to health issues in 2020. At the close of Aerosmith's set, Tyler addressed the elephant in the room of their long break from performing: "Before we say good night, I just want to say what a ride it's been with my brothers -- Joe, Tom, Brad and Joey. Fifty-five f-king years, and we're the same f-king band that started fifty-five and a half years ago." Kramer then walked out and hugged Tyler and sat behind his drum kit, alongside Aerosmith's drum tech, John Douglas, who'd filled in for Kramer in his absence, and the band brought it all back home with their Top 10 1976 hit "Walk This Way." The night also included a five-song set from Guns N' Roses, who covered the early Aerosmith songs "Nobody's Fault," "Last Child" and "Season of Wither," in addition to their own indelible hits "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City." Heart took on two classics, Aerosmith's take on Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You)" (retitled "Never Loved a Girl" on 2004's blues covers album Honkin' on Bobo) and "Janie's Got a Gun" and country star Eric Church also picked a pair of favorites, "Rag Doll" and Aerosmith's No. 1 power ballad "I Don't Want to Miss A Thing." Tyler, 78, was diagnosed with a fractured larynx in Sept. 2023, just three dates into what was billed as the band's last tour. They initially postponed, then canceled the outing, announcing their official retirement from touring after more than five decades of road work. While the veteran band has not revealed whether these gigs are their true swan song, Variety noted that host comedian and fellow Boston native Bill Burr opened the night by called them "the final two shows in Aerosmith's history." A second Hollywood Bowl show is scheduled for Nov. 1. - Billboard, 10/30/26...... Blue Oyster Cult's 1976 hit "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" has jumped to the top of Billboard Top TV Songs chart after a synch of the song was used in the new season of Prime Video's series Reacher. "The Reaper" appears in the sixth episode of Reacher's fourth season; it aired on Sept. 2, with its season finale following two weeks later on Sept. 16. Rankings for the Top TV Songs chart are based on song and show data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of Sept. 2026. - Billboard, 10/30/26...... Occupational Hazard: The First Coral Reefers, a new documentary detailing the untold story of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band, became available Oct. 30 for rent via Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play and Fandango, after a nearly nine-month run in film festivals and theaters. As the title indicates, Occupational Hazard is an origin story, from the beginnings of the Parrothead-In-Chief's career as a troubadour (after a tenure writing for Billboard) and his move to Key West, Fla., where he assembled the initial Coral Reefer lineup during the mid-70s, after using the name for an imaginary band during his solo performances before then. Narrated by Oscar-winning actor and Buffett friend Jeff Bridges, it details a decidedly different and significantly less polished ensemble than Parrotheads became used to from the late '70s until Buffett's death on Sept. 1, 2023. "We wanted to capture the time before the Parrothead phenomenon began, when it was still rough 'n' ready out on the road," says director-producer John H. Cunningham. "Those were wild times; many viewers who are watching this have no idea that period even existed for this band, because they've seen this very organized, polished group for such a long time," he says. "But the first years were a little bit different. Some of the band are starting to pass away and disappear without the history being recorded. So just for historical purposes, we thought this was an important time to document," he added. The film, which won audience awards at the Dallas International Film Festival and the Sarasota Film Festival, is loaded with archival footage and images -- including home movies shot by original Coral Reefer Roger Bartlett's girlfriend Phyllis McBride and the late harmonica player Greg "Fingers" Taylor's brother Brent, who was the band's assistant road manager for a time. - Billboard, 10/30/26...... A previously unseen David Bowie 1978 concert film, Stage, will debut at Berlin's Uber Arena on Feb. 14. According to a press release announcing the project, the sound and vision experience was designed around recently discovered and restored footage from the 1978 "Isolar II" world tour, on which Bowie performed songs from his landmark "Heroes" album. The film will be presented in a three-screen format, combining large-scale projections of footage assembled from raw, unseen 35mm film and transparent LED screens with an elaborate lighting design by acclaimed lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe (Rolling Stones, Elton John), with a newly created sound mix by Oscar-winner Paul Massey (Bohemian Rhapsody, Michael). Bowie conceived and produced Stage in 1978 during his Isolar II concerts at London's Earls Court, with the legendary footage going untouched in the late singer's archives for more than 50 years, according to the release, which promises that it showcases "Bowie at the zenith of his powers as a live performer" in what is said to be one of his best live performances. A teaser for the film can be viewed on X. - Billboard, 10/24/26...... The soundtrack and film for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's epic July 2025 "Back To The Beginning" show are getting an official release, and will feature behind-the-scenes footage, video tributes from Dolly Parton, and more. The soundtrack and concert film will be released on Dec. 11, and available on a variety of formats including 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, CD, and vinyl. Highlights on the Blu-ray release include footage of Jack Black performing "Mr. Crowley" and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst performing "Changes," as well as a Sounds of Birmingham documentary. Video tributes to Osbourne from Dolly Parton, AC/DC, Ricky Gervais and more are included too. In April 2027, there will also be the release of a "Deluxe Box Set" of the concert film, which will feature memorabilia, collectables, and a bonus HD Blu-ray featuring all 35 Ozzy and Black Sabbath songs, including the covers performed by the guests. That version will also come with a limited edition film poster, a hardback book about the show, and an Ozzy Pendant Necklace. The huge one-day event, organized by Sharon Osbourne with musical direction from Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello, took place at Villa Park in Birmingham in July 2025. It marked both Osbourne's final solo performance and the last ever show from Sabbath's original line-up -- with the frontman Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward playing live together for the first time in two decades. Meanwhile, two previously-unheard Ozzy tracks are set to be released to coincide with the upcoming movie being made about Osbourne's life. According to a source in The Sun's "Bizarre" column, the songs are described as still being "works in progress," and even Ozzy's widow Sharon, who managed his career, hasn't heard them. "Those tracks have only been heard by [2022 Patient Number 9 producer] Andrew Watt and his musicians." Sharon and son Jack Osbourne have been the driving forces behind the biopic and the film is moving forward, though fans may have a long wait for both the movie and the songs as it is still in development. A source said: "The script is being worked on as a final draft with Sony Studios looking for directors." - New Musical Express/Music-News.com, 10/28/26...... A Los Angeles judge says Universal Music Group (UMG) can keep pursuing a legal battle demanding the return of what the label has called the "first known Beatles recording" from the estate of a famed Abbey Road sound engineer. In October, Judge David Cowan ruled that Calderstone Productions -- a UMG unit that administers the Beatles catalog -- had legal standing to seek to recover the rare tape from the estate of Geoff Emerick, who the label claims stole it decades ago. Emerick's estate, which says he rescued a piece of history from destruction, had argued UMG couldn't show a "chain of title" to prove it was the rightful legal successor to Abbey Road, meaning it lacked ownership rights in the first place. But in an Oct. 16 ruling, Judge Cowan rejected that argument: "Calderstone shows how the chain of title gives it the right to pursue its underlying conversion claim," the judge said, using the legal term for the civil law equivalent of theft. The decision sets the stage for an early 2027 trial over the big remaining issue: Whether Abbey Road legally abandoned ownership of the tape. The estate says it was basically thrown away and that Emerick saved it. UMG argues back that it was always company property: "At issue in this action is a highly valuable artifact of rock and roll history that was stolen." The courtroom showdown, currently scheduled for January, will be a bench trial before the same probate judge, without the kind of jury that often decides civil trials. Beyond the issue of abandonment, it will likely also touch on whether the entire dispute is past the statute of limitations. - Billboard, 10/28/26...... A new George Harrison photo book titled The Third Eye: Early Photographs features never before-seen photos of the Fab Four in their heyday. Billed as an "intimate, beautiful collection of more than 200 never-before-collected photos of the Beatles at work and at play," The Third Eye's photos were taken by Harrison through his Pentax film camera between 1963 and 1970 and span the most prolific years of the Beatles' career, covering everything from the making of seminal albums like A Hard Day's Night to the band's famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and subsequent tours around the world. First announced in 2025, the book was released Oct. 6 and has shot to number one on Amazon's bestselling photography books chart. - Billboard, 10/28/26...... Interviewed on the Classic Album Review YouTube channel, The Who's Pete Townshend revealed that he "never really got into Led Zeppelin" and felt like they were "trying to pinch our audience." During the show, host Barry Robinson asked him about his thoughts on how The Who impacted the music industry, and whether they could be considered pioneers of heavy metal. The question seemed to reference past comments made by Who frontman Roger Daltrey, who told Rolling Stone earlier in 2026 that he thinks his band "were the first heavy metal band" and that they paved the way for the genre in the '60s. Asked if he agreed with the statement, Townshend said: "No, I don't necessarily think so. I think [our 1970 live album] Live At Leeds is probably as explosive as it got." He also added that while they did have "some heavy stuff" in their discography, they didn't center purely around that sound. He went on to speak about other bands of that era, and said that "the only heavy metal I really listened to was AC/DC." "I never really got into Led Zeppelin," he added, "which is strange because today I've recently been trying to get Jimmy Page to have lunch with me. I sent him a note recently just saying, 'I've been listening to all of the Zeppelin albums again,' and I thought I should. And there's some f---ing great stuff there." As for why he never got into Led Zep's music, Townshend shared: "At the time I didn't like it that they were, in a sense, trying to pinch our audience. I'd been through it before with Jimi Hendrix coming over with his big amplifiers and his distortion and his wah-wah pedal, and having to admit, 'Wow, here is a guitar genius.'" Townshend also spoke about Black Sabbath, and had a similar attitude, despite the Birmingham, UK band widely being considered the pioneers of heavy metal. "I don't know about bands like Black Sabbath and so on because I really didn't listen to them, despite the fact that I think they were great fun and enjoyable," he explained. "And I really love the parts of the music business where people don't take themselves too seriously. That was my issue in my early days - I felt I was carrying a big cross, a big manifesto for rock and roll. I felt that this was important for me to deliver." The Who played their final-ever live shows in 2025, however, earlier this year Townshend hinted that there could be more to come from the band. "We are always trying to come up with something special, and God Willing will continue to do that, hoping one day we can astound you the way we used to," he said. - NME, 10/28/26...... KISS is prepping a two-part KISS: End of the Road documentary chronicling the final tour of the glam-rockers that will debut on Nov. 19 on the band's KISSOnline platform, followed by a roll-out on other platforms. "With unprecedented access to KISS's historic End of The Road World Tour, KISS: End of The Road chronicles the final live chapter of one of rock's most legendary bands, capturing the camaraderie, conflicts, challenges and emotion behind their journey to one last performance at Madison Square Garden, while also exploring how the band plans to carry its legacy forward in the years ahead," according to a press release. In a statement, singer/guitarist Paul Stanley said, "The End of The Road World Tour was the culmination of fifty years of touring to elevate the live concert experience for fans old and new. A defining moment in KISS history. The documentary takes everyone along with us to see and be a part of all the unseen moments that made this last tour one of the wildest, most memorable rides of our career. We can't wait for the world to see it through our eyes for the very first time and relive the magic of these shows." KISS's long farewell tour launched in Jan. 2019 and wound down on Dec. 2, 2023 with a show at Madison Square Garden. The film will premiere during a special livestream on the KISS website in November, with fans able to sign up now to access the stream for $14.99. Attendees at the upcoming "KISS Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas" will get the first chance to watch the documentary during the Nov. 13-15 event at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. KISS bassist Gene Simmons recently told the NewsNation media outlet that KISS stopped touring out of "respect" for their fans. "You've got to know when to gracefully and proudly step off that stage, because you have to understand that KISS was and continues to be the only band of its type, " he said. "Every show I had to spit fire... fly through the air, keep my tongue out all the time. Wear 70 lbs, as much as that, or as little as 50 to 60 lbs of armour, studs, guitars, and all on seven-inch platformed boots for two hours. It's exhausting. I'm 77 now, and boy, do I look good. But you've got to know -- you've got to respect the fans enough to know when to get off that stage," he added. - Billboard/Music-News.com, 10/28/26...... A letter by late The Rolling Stones member Brian Jones urging Charlie Watts to join the band is up for auction. The historic letter, dated 3 June 1962, is being auctioned by Watts' sister after more than six decades in the family and its contents have now been revealed publicly for the first time. Jones, who co-founded the Stones before being dismissed from the band in June 1969 -- a month before drowning in his swimming pool at the age of 27 -- due to alcohol and drug problems, urged Watts to quit Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and join the group he had formed alongside Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. He wrote: "Dear Charlie, if you consider this letter impertinent, please excuse me... I don't know at the moment what your relationship with Korner's band is. "I noticed Nick Nicholls was drumming last night at Ealing. If you are not going to work with Alex in the future, and still want to play R+B, we are looking for a good drummer. Already we consider our band far better than Alex's -- we are getting a very tightly-knit sound." Jones also informed Watts, who passed away at the age of 80 in 2021, that the band was rehearsing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The letter is expected to sell for between $70,000 and $80,000 and will be on display to the public at Sotheby's New York from Dec. 2-8, with online bidding open from Dec. 2-15 before the item's sale on Dec. 15. - Music-News.com, 10/28/26...... On Oct. 28 it was announced that ABBA's "Mamma Mia! The Party" dining experience will have its Australian premiere in Mar. 2027 at Sydney Event Centre at The Star. Created by ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus, "Mamma Mia! The Party" is an immersive theatrical dining event, where guests soak up the pop legends' music in a restaurant recreated to look like a taverna on the Greek island of Skopelos, where most of the feature film was shot. Dinners are treated to Mediterranean cuisine and, of course, many of ABBA's hits, performed by a live band and cast of 20 musicians and performers. Sydney is the third city to host "Mamma Mia! The Party" after Stockholm, which is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, and London, now its seventh year, collectively clocking up over 1,500 performances and welcoming 700,000 diners. The event's official trailer can be streamed on YouTube. - Billboard, 10/28/26...... Actress Barbara Barrie, who appeared in such fims as Breaking Away (1979), One Potato, Two Potato (1964), and Company (1970), died on Oct. 28. She was 95. Ms. Barrie was also known for her stint in the popular '70s ABC sitcom Barney Miller (1975-78), and as the grandma of Brooke Shields's character on Suddenly Susan (1996-2000). Ms. Barrie, who wrote and spoke about her battle with cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, opted for via medically assisted suicide because of a terminal cancer diagnosis. - Variety, 10/28/26...... Acclaimed British actor Patrick Stewart best known for his work on Star Trek, died on Oct. 28 following a brief and poignant journey" with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. He was 86. Born on July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, Mr. Stewart made his professional theater debut in 1959, eventually joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966. He spent the next two decades performing in both classical and contemporary productions -- Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"; Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" -- alongside fellow stage greats such as Ben Kingsley and Helen Mirren. In the mid '80s, Mr. Stewart moved to Los Angeles to star in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran from 1987 to 1994, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. He later reprised the role on the big screen for a series of Star Trek films, including Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). Mr. Stewart had more than 160 credits as an actor, most recently as the voice of Avery Bullock on the animated comedy series American Dad!. He will also appear posthumously in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday as Professor Charles Xavier, a role he played in several previous X-Men films. In 2010, Mr. Stewart was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and given the title of Sir in honor of his contributions to TV, film and theater. "We lost one of the greats of stage and screen today," Hugh Jackman, who starred alongside Mr. Stewart in X-Men, wrote in an Instagram post. "And, in my book, a tremendous friend and man. I learned so much from him. I will miss you, Patrick Stewart, all of my days." - Yahoo Entertainment, 10/29/26...... Donnie Iris, the Pennsylvania rocker best known for his 1981 No. 29 Billboard Hot 100 new wave hit "Ah! Leah!" and his 1970s No. 2 song "The Rapper" with the group The Jaggerz, has died at 83. A beloved staple of the Pittsburgh music scene, Elwood City, Pa., native Iris was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2023 shortly after his 80th birthday show, later canceling several shows and continuing to perform until announcing his retirement from the stage earlier this month after a final gig at Citizens Live at The Wylie in Pittsburg on Sept. 28. "After much thought, and in light of recent health issues, I have made the difficult decision to retire from future concert performances," he wrote on Oct. 9. "Music has given me far more than I could ever put into words. From the earliest days to every chapter of my life, your support has been a constant source of joy and inspiration." New Castle, Pa. native Donnie Iris found success pretty quickly with "The Rapper" from his group The Jaggerz, a swinging rock tune about a smooth-talking dude who uses a series of smarmy lines to pick up women at bars. After The Jaggerz split a few years later, Iris joined the group Wild Cherry -- two years after they scored their most well-known hit, "Play That Funky Music" -- to help them in the studio and play live guitar on the road. He performed on their 1979 album Only the Wild Survive, and then split the group with keyboardist Mark Avsec to form Donnie Iris and the Cruisers. The group hit pay dirt with their 1980 debut on Midwest Records, Back on the Streets, which featured their breakout hit "Ah! Leah!," a longing tune about romantic obsession on which he sings, "Leah, it's been a long time, you're such a sight/ You're lookin' better than a body has a right to/ Don't you know we're playin' with fire?/ But we can't stop this burnin' desire." The album topped out at No. 57 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned the band's biggest-ever chart hit, the doo-woppy "My Girl," which topped out at No. 25. The musician released another half dozen albums with the Cruisers through 2010's studio swan song, the Christmas album Ah! Leluiah! and continued touring with the group in the Pittsburgh area and beyond until his final gig in October. - Billboard, 10/27/26...... Susan Saint James, the Emmy-winning actress who costarred with Rock Hudson in the 1970s TV crime series McMillan & Wife and later costarred with Jane Curtin in the sitcom Kate & Allie in the 1980s, died on Oct. 27. She was 80. Born Susan Jane Miller on Aug. 14, 1946, in Los Angeles, she was raised in the northern Illinois city of Rockford, where her father had transferred for work. She began modeling as a teenager in Paris. At 20, she moved back to Los Angeles and landed a seven-year contract with Universal Studios. She made her television debut in the 1966 movie Fame is the Name of the Game with Tony Franciosa. She got another break when it became a series called The Name of the Game in 1968, with rotating lead characters played by Franciosa, Gene Barry and Robert Stack. Ms. Saint James provided the show continuity in her role as Peggy Maxwell, a research assistant who worked for all three men. She won an Emmy Award for the part in 1969. Before The Name of the Game, the actress had a recurring role in the crime-caper series It Takes a Thief starring Robert Wagner. Her other early TV credits included Ironside, McCloud and Alias Smith and Jones. In 1980, she guest-starred in an episode of M*A*S*H. Ms. Saint James left the NBC show before its sixth and final season because of a contract dispute, with her character killed off in a plane crash. She then turned to feature films. She played opposite Peter Fonda in Outlaw Blues in 1977. She costarred with George Hamilton in the 1979 vampire spoof Love at First Bite and joined Jessica Lange and Curtin in the 1980 comedy heist How to Beat the High Cost of Living. While guest-hosting Saturday Night Live in 1981, she met Dick Ebersol, the show's then-executive producer and the future chairman of NBC Sports. They married barely six weeks after meeting and had three sons, Charlie, Willie and Teddy. She filed for divorce from Ebersol in 2002, but they reconciled later that year. Teddy died at age 14 in a 2004 private plane crash that also killed the pilot and flight attendant; Ebersol and Charlie survived with serious injuries. "She never met a stranger," her family said in a statement to People. "Every person she met became the most important person in the room at that moment, from a fellow board member to the clerk at the shoe store, who usually walked away knowing her entire life story." - AP,10/27/26...... Elke Sommer, who rose from European cinema to become one of the most recognizable international actresses of the 1960s, died on Oct. 29. She was 85. Among her biggest roles was Maria Gambrelli opposite Peter Sellers in A Shot in the Dark, one of the most beloved films of the Pink Panther era. She also starred alongside Paul Newman in The Prize, played Linka Karensky in the Dean Martin spy adventure The Wrecking Crew, and showed a darker side in cult favorites such as Lisa and the Devil and Baron Blood. Her comic range was also on display in Carry On Behind, where she played Professor Anna Vooshka. Ms. Sommer remained a familiar presence on television through appearances in The Muppet Show, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. Years later, she reached another generation as the German voice of Yzma in Disney's The Emperor's New Groove. - Variety, 10/29/26.