A British Facebook user known as "Be Reet" has launched a campaign to have Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks work a shift at a McDonald's restaurant in Fleetwood, England, next fall. The campaign already has more than 3,300 people pledging to line up to be served by Miss Nicks herself, with at least 19,000 interested in attending. Nick's proposed shift is scheduled for Sept. 28 from 8:00 am to 11:00 am. "We've heard some rumours that Stevie Nicks might be keen to visit our own Fleetwood Macs," a spokesman for McDonald's says. "Next time she's in the area we'd be delighted to welcome her for some sweet little fries before she goes her own way," a nod to the Fleetwood Mac tunes "Sweet Little Lies" and "Go Your Own Way." Nicks is yet to respond to the campaign. Fleetwood Mac is scheduled to tour Europe in the summer, playing Berlin on June 6, Dublin on June 13, and two dates at London's Wembley Stadium on June 16 and 18. - DailyMail.co.uk/New Musical Express, 1/5/19...... 
In somewhat of an upset, the hit 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody beat out the latest Lady Gaga-starred remake of A Star Is Born for "Best Picture - Drama" at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 6 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Bohemian Rhapsody actor Rami Malek also won Best Actor for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury, and during his acceptance speech Malek tipped his hat to the original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, who were in the audience, for "ensuring authenticity and inclusivity exist in music and in the world and all of us" before honoring Mercury with "Thank you to Freddie Mercury. I love you, you beautiful man, this is because of you, gorgeous." Backstage, Brian May praised Malek and the others involved in the film, saying "We found the right people at the right time, or we wouldn't be standing here." Bohemian Rhapsody's big night at the Golden Globes was just the latest achievement for the movie, which has already grossed nearly $200 million in the U.S. alone, becoming the highest-grossing musical biopic film ever released, and also spawned a hit soundtrack, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart. Meanwhile, the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray release of Bohemian Rhapsody is set to include an extended and previously unseen 22-minute scene from Queen's seminal 1985 "Live Aid" performance, which sees them also playing "We Will Rock You" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." The release, which is due March 4, also comes with behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew, plus members of Queen. A Bohemian Rhapsody "sing-a-long" experience is also set to launch in cinemas across the UK on Jan. 11. - Billboard/NME, 1/6/19...... Paul McCartney kicked off the start of 2019 on Jan. 2 with a new song called "Get Enough." Co-produced by McCartney, Ryan Tedder and Zach Skelton, "Get Enough" features the former Beatle experimenting with the Auto-Tune recording process, beginning with a straightforward piano intro before McCartney's Auto-Tuned vocals kick in as he sings "I can't get enough of you." "Get Enough" was co-written by McCartney and Tedder, and comes a little less than four months after the release of his latest solo album, Egypt Station. McCartney also posted a short video of himself on Instagram having a good old time singing along to the track. "Happy New Year!" he wrote to his followers in the clip's caption on Jan. 5. "Can't get enough of you! Love Paul #getenough." - Billboard, 1/6/19...... In other Beatles-related news, Yoko Ono has reflected on her contribution to the John Lennon song "Jealous Guy." Originally titled "Child of Nature," the song featured the lines "I'm just a child of nature / I don't need much to set me free", which later at Yoko's suggestion became "I was feeling insecure / You might not love me anymore / I was shivering insideI didn't mean to hurt you / I'm just a jealous guy." "Well, if it was just John, [he] would have given me the right credit, but it was a difficult time. No famous songwriter would have thought of splitting the credit with his wife," Ono told New Musical Express. Speaking of her influence on the track, she added: "I think it's a good song from a women's point of view as well [as a man's] John was [initially] trying to create a fun song about going on a trip to Rishikesh. That might have been great too, but it ended up not being that." Ono also hinted that further details could emerge in the future regarding tracks she contributed to. "I think in maybe ten years I can tell it all," she said. "But I don't know if I want to." - New Musical Express, 1/2/19....... 
70s teen idol Donny Osmond has released a whopping 61 total albums during his nearly 50 years in show business -- either as a solo artist, with sister Marie Osmond, or as a member of The Osmonds -- and on Jan. 6 he shared a "little secret" as he put it with his fans on Twitter. "I've officially started working on my 62nd album! -- I'll keep you posted throughout the year as I continue creating it, but I have a feeling you're going to love it," he tweeted along with an illustration of himself wailing on a keytar. Osmond says the LP will be a compilation of notable covers, including his take on Michael Jackson's "Ben" and the Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road." - Billboard, 1/6/19...... Neil Young shared a tribute to his late ex-wife Pegi Young, who passed away on New Year's Day after a yearlong battle with cancer, on Jan. 5. The post, titled "Such A Woman: Pegi Young 1952-2019," includes lyrics from Young's song "Such A Woman," inspired by Pegi, with lines like "our love will live until the end of all time." Neil and Pegi Young were married for 36 years prior to their divorce in 2014, and they have two children, Ben and Amber. In 1986, they started the Bridge School non-profit to help children with severe physical and speech impairments, inspired by their own experiences trying to find schools for their son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy. Pegi's own music career began in 1994 -- at the nationally televised Academy Awards ceremony, singing backup for Neil Young on his Oscar-nominated song "Philadelphia." She eventually became a regular backup singer on his tours and sang and played occasional acoustic guitar on some of his albums, including Greendale, Prairie Wind, Chrome Dreams II and more. She also took photographs for Neil's Silver & Gold and for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 1999 comeback album Looking Forward. Graham Nash, a longtime friend and musical partner of Neil Young, said "Pegi was a very strong woman in many ways, certainly a lady to be admired." She passed away "surrounded by friends and family in California," according to an official statement, and memorial plans are pending. - Billboard, 1/6/19...... Cher has chimed in on a new viral video by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez which shows the newly elected Democratic congresswoman dancing on a roof during her student days at Boston University. "Know The Feeling @AOC SOMETIMES---JUST GOTTA DANCE, Good Thing You Can, Sponsor a Bill, Put On, & Kick Ass At The Same Time," Cher tweeted on Jan. 5. Ocasio-Cortez's video became a meme in record time, as different songs were paired with the visual continued to pick up steam. Ocasio-Cortez was understandably pleased to see Cher's tweet, posting "The Queen has spoken!" soon afterward. - Billboard, 1/5/19...... 
Bob Seger, who has said he may be retiring from the road in 2019, told fans at his Jan. 3 farewell concert at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Mich., that "in 2020 I'll be available for weddings...Keep me in mind." The quip has been the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's parting line since his "Final Tour" with his Silver Bullet Band began in November. Seger said goodbye with high-octane, 22-song two-hour show that included a few surprises. "Since I'm retiring soon I figured we better roll out some of the ones we've never played," said Seger who's also been opening some shows with his chart-topping Beverly Hills Cop II hit "Shakedown." "I'm pulling 'em out. Now's the time." He accompanied some of the songs with video screen montages of vintage images and lingered a bit longer on stories about "Like a Rock," "Her Strut" and "Turn the Page." He dedicated "We've Got Tonight" to his late mother, explaining that it's her "favorite song I ever wrote," while a cover Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" was a homage to the late Eagles' founder Glenn Frey, a close friend, and "some other people that we lost along the way," with photos of Tom Petty, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Prince, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Gregg Allman and Chuck Berry scrolling on the screen during the performance. He wrapped with his familiar encore set of "Against the Wind," "Hollywood Nights," "Night Moves" and "Rock and Roll Never Forgets." Seger's Final Tour is currently booked through May 2, but there's talk of more dates into the summer. - Billboard, 1/4/19...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason recalled Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett's mental breakdown in 1968 owing to acid-induced schizophrenia. Mason described how the band were "young and immature" with regard to "coming to grips" with Barrett's mental health issues. "So many songs were written by Syd in such a short time period. It was less than two years from out first public show in October of 1967," Mason said. "At that time we had only two or three original songs. And just about a year later, it was already sort of burning out," he added. Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes in 2006, aged 60. - Rolling Stone/NME, 1/3/19...... 
Olivia Newton-John reassured fans in a new video shared on Jan. 2 that recent rumors of her having only weeks to live "have been greatly exaggerated." Newton-John, 70, had announced in September that she is battling cancer for the third time after doctors discovered a tumor at the base of her spine, but in her video the healthy looking singer wished everyone a happy new year and said "rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated, to quote a very famous quote." "I'm doing great. I want to wish all of you the happiest, healthiest 2019 possible," she continues. "Thank you all for your wonderful love and support for me and my Olivia Newton John Wellness Center in Melbourne, Australia." Several Australian media outlets had picked up a Radar Online story claiming that a "ravaged" Newton-John was "clinging to life," and that her "bodily functions appear to be shutting down." The story also cited several doctors, none of whom have treated Newton-John personally, who insisted on the seriousness of her condition. "She almost certainly is going to die!" exclaimed one in what reads a lot like glee. A rep for Newton-John called the report "crap." - Billboard/Jezebel.com, 1/2/19...... Oscar-winning English actor Gary Oldman has confirmed he will be providing narration on a forthcoming app based on the David Bowie "Is" exhibition. The exhibition -- which explored "the broad range of the late artist's collaborations with artists and designers in the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theatre, art, and film" -- shut permanently back in July, five years after it debuted at the V&A in London (where it became the renowned institution's most-visited touring exhibition). Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh curated the exhibition, which drew over 2 million visitors across 12 cities. Bowie and Oldman enjoyed a close and enduring friendship in the years preceding Bowie's death in 2016, with Oldman appearing in Bowie's controversial video for "The Next Day." The Augmented Reality (AR) app will be available in iOS and Android, and will grant fans access to the show's hundreds of costumes, videos, handwritten lyrics, original works of art and much more. Dozens of items not featured in the original exhibition will also be included, including some entirely new and exclusive to the AR version of the app. It will arrive on Jan. 8 at a cost of £7.99. - New Musical Express, 1/3/19...... Dean Ford, the former frontman with the Scottish guitar-pop band Marmalade, has died at age 72. Ford, whose real name was Thomas McAleese, grew up in Airdrie and formed his first band, the Tonebeats, aged 13 before joining local band the Cravats aged 16. He went on to front Dean Ford and the Gaylords, who became established in the nascent "swinging London" scene of the mid-60s, before changing their name to Marmalade. The band became the first Scottish group to top the UK singles chart, with their cover of the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" in December 1968. They had another seven UK Top 10 hits, including "Reflections of My Life," co-written by Ford, which also reached the US Top 10 and sold over 2 million copies worldwide. The band toured with the Who and Ford once duetted with country star Bobbie Gentry. Ford went solo after Marmalade split and released an unsuccessful album in 1975. Eventually he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a limousine driver to stars including Michael Jackson, Tom Waits, Susan Sarandon and Bob Dylan, as well as delivering pizza and flowers. He also developed an alcohol problem before going sober in 1986. "The only thing that spoiled my life was alcohol," he said in a 2015 interview. "I spent a lot of money on alcohol. And drinking took me away from what I should be doing." - 1/2/19...... 
Keyboardist Daryl Dragon, best known as the hat-wearing "Captain" in the '70s pop group The Captain and Tennille, died due to renal failure in Prescott, Ariz. on Jan. 2. He was 76. A classically trained pianist, L.A.-born Dragon played keyboard for the Beach Boys from 1967-1972, where he was given the nickname "Captain" by lead singer Mike Love due to Dragon's penchant for wearing a captain's hat onstage. In 1971, Dragon met his future wife, Toni Tennille, when she hired him to play piano for a musical called "Mother Earth. "Shortly thereafter, Dragon suggested that Tennille join the Beach Boys on their next tour as an acoustic pianist. While on the tour, Dragon and Tennille soon began a romantic and musical relationship, performing in smaller venues together when not on tour with the Beach Boys. Going by the stage name the Captain and Tennille, the duo quickly formed a following. On the strength of the song "The Way I Want to Touch You," the team scored a record deal with A&M Records in 1974. Their song "Love Will Keep Us Together", the title track from the duo's 1975 debut album, climbed to No. 1 in Nov. 1974, where it remained for eight weeks. It won the Grammy for record of the year the following year. "Do That to Me One More Time," the last of their big hits, also reached the top of the chart, in 1979. In the interval, the Captain & Tennille reached the top 10 with "Muskrat Love," "The Way I Want to Touch You," "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" and "Shop Around." Married in 1975, Dragon and Tennille remained together until finalizing their divorce in 2014, but remained close friends. "He was a brilliant musician with many friends who loved him greatly. I was at my most creative in my life, when I was with him," Toni Tennille said in remembrance. She was with him when he died. Dragon is survived by his older brother Doug and two nieces, Kelly Arbout and Renee Henn. There are no services planned, by request of Dragon. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/2/19...... Comedian/actor Bob Einstein, a two-time Emmy winner who has recurred on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm series since its launch and created the wacky Super Dave Osborne character, died on Jan. 2 in Indian Wells, Calif. He was 76 and recently had been diagnosed with cancer. Einstein's career dates to the 1960s, when he won his first Emmy as part of the writing team for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, whose staff also included Steve Martin. Einstein, who also appeared on the show, went on to earn Emmy noms as a writer for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in 1972 and 1974 and two more for writing on Dick Van Dyke's mid-'70s series Van Dyke and Company. Einstein won his other Emmy as a producer for the series, sharing the 1977 award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Einstein also was a guest on numerous late-night and comedy shows spanning a half-century, including The Steve Allen Show, The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Hollywood Squares. "R.I.P. My dear brother Bob Einstein. A great brother, father and husband. A brilliantly funny man. You will be missed forever," his younger brother, actor-director Albert Brooks, tweeted. - Deadline.com, 1/2/19.
Elvis Presley has appeared in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart for the first time since 1981 as his classic 1957 rockin' carol "Blue Christmas" debuted at No. 40 on the chart for the week ending Jan. 5. Powered by streaming, "Blue Christmas" also zoomed to 32 on the Streaming Songs and drew 9.6 million in airplay audience. Presley, who passed away in 1977, had last ranked in the Hot 100's top 40 on the chart dated March 28, 1981, when "Guitar Man" peaked at No. 28. Also notably, Chuck Berry and Frank Sinatra have returned to the Hot 100 chart after several decades with "Run Rudolph Run" (No. 45) and "Theme From New York, New York" (No. 49), respectively. - Billboard, 1/1/19...... 
The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, N.Y., announced on Dec. 27 that it is planning a golden 50th anniversary Woodstock festival in 2019. Set for Aug. 16-18 at the concert venue built on the original Woodstock site, the Center says the festival will feature "live performances from prominent and emerging artists spanning multiple genres and decades, and TED-style talks from leading futurists and retro-tech experts." "Festival goers will also be able to visit the Museum at Bethel Woods, which tells the story of the 1960s through immersive media, interactive engagements, and artifacts from the 1969 festival, as well as experience the special 2019 exhibit We Are Golden: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival and Aspirations for an Aquarian Future," the statement continues. The original Woodstock, on Aug. 15-18, 1969, took place on a diary farm in the Catskill Mountains north of New York City. It quickly grew from a ticketed event to a massive free-for-all that drew more than 400,000 to a muddy 600-acre diary farm for one of the most iconic rock events of all time, featuring sets from Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, The Who, The Band, Joe Cocker and Santana, among others. At least three Woodstock tributes have been held since: a 25th anniversary concert in Saugerties, New York, in 1994, with performances from Cocker, Sheryl Crow, Aerosmith, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails and Bob Dylan; a Woodstock '99 concert in Rome, N.Y., which drew 400,000 people to a former Air Force base for a chaotic three-day gatherng marred by excessively hot weather, fan rioting and reports of sexual assault; and a smaller event on the site of the original Woodstock in 2009, with sets from a number of the original show's performers, including Country Joe McDonald, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat, Jefferson Starship, Mounatin and the Levon Helm Band. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a concert venue built on the original Woodstock site in the town of Bethel in Sullivan County, a rural area 85 miles (140 kilometers) northwest of New York City. A newspaper in nearby Middletown has reported that many motels, bed-and-breakfasts and AirBnB rentals in Sullivan County have been sold out for some time. Officials in Sullivan County recently said they plan to install 36 fiberglass dove statues to commemorate the upcoming 50th anniversary in a nod to the original event's iconic logo. Original Woodstock promoter Michael Lang has said he has "definite plans" to put on his own 50th anniversary Woodstock celebration, though it won't be on the site of the original and no further details have been released. - Billboard, 12/28/18...... Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan, and Monty Python icon Michael Palin are among the leading personalities from the world of entertainment who have been recognised in Queen Elizabeth II's New Year honours list. Mason will be receiving a CBE for his services to music. Mason, who founded Pink Floyd in 1965, is the only member to feature on every one of their albums. Palin meanwhile bagged a Knighthood for his diplomatic service to travel, culture and geography. Commenting on his time with the Monty Python troupe, Palin said: "Discovering there were five other people who had the same sort of sense of humour as myself and we all appreciated each other's work and that the work that we did, both on television and film, is still being replayed and still being appreciated, that's quite something, really, after 50 years. It will be 50 years since Python started, next year. That's something that hit a high spot that will last forever, so I'm very grateful to all the other Pythons and I am very proud of Python." - NME, 12/29/18...... 
Legislators in Washington state have voted unanimously to rename the Renton Highlands Post Office in the Seattle suburb of Renton "The James Marshall 'Jimi' Hendrix Post Office." The post office is located less than a mile from the Jimi Hendrix Memorial in Greenwood Memorial Park cemetery, where Seatlle native Hendrix is buried. "I am honored to join in paying tribute to rock and roll icon and Seattle native Jimi Hendrix with the renaming of the Renton Highlands Post Office as the James Marshall 'Jimi' Hendrix Post Office Building," Rep. Adam Smith, who sponsored the bill to rename the post office, said in a statement. "This designation will further celebrate Hendrix's deep connection to the Puget Sound region and help ensure that his creative legacy will be remembered by our community and inspire future generations." In 2018, a deluxe Electric Ladyland box set was released to celebrate the album's 50th anniversary. - Billboard, 12/30/18...... An American adventurer named Colin O'Brady has revealed that he got a phone call from Paul Simon during his two-month, 900-mile journey to become the first-ever person to cross Antarctica from coast to coast alone and unaided by wind. O'Brady, 33, completed his journey on Dec. 26, and told the New York Times he listened to Simon's Graceland LP on repeat for a whole day, and even received a phone call from Simon himself on day 35 of his trek (Dec. 7). "We had a wonderful conversation for 30 minutes over my satellite phone," O'Brady posted on Instagram. "We talked about many things, but setting aside celebrity and fame, what struck me most was talking to him about his process of creativity and bringing a masterpiece like Graceland into the world." Paul Simon also posted a note about the conversation on his website. "He was almost half-way through his arduous journey. I asked him if he felt lonely in the desolate landscape with no companionship," Simon says. "He said he spoke with his wife, Jenna, every evening. He told me that he wasn't lonely and had a lot of time to think on all sorts of matters from the mundane to the spiritual, with more time lately on the spiritual. O'Brady is 33 years old and a Yale graduate, an experienced endurance athlete and adventurer," he continued. "We promised to meet when he comes home and is rested. I'm looking forward to seeing him and hearing more about his amazing achievement." - Billboard, 12/28/18...... 
A documentary showcasing the life and legacy of iconic funk musician Sly Stone and his band Sly and the Family Stone has been announced for 2019. Directed by Brady Spensor, the film will also delve into Stone's money troubles and the U.S. Music Modernization Act that ultimately saved him from financial turmoil. In 2015, Stone won a lawsuit against his former manager Gerald Goldstein and lawyer Glenn Stone after Sly alleged that they had diverted money away from him to them for 11 years from 1989 to 2000. The jury ended up awarding £1.6 million ($2.5 million) in damages to the singer against Even St Productions, the company with with which they made him sign an employment and shareholder agreement, as well as £1.6 million ($2.45 million) against Goldstein and £32,932 ($50,000) against Stone. In 2011 Stone entered rehab to seek treatment for drug addiction after revealing that he had been living out of a van in the LA neigborhood of Crenshaw. It was then that he opened the case against Goldstein, suing him for $50 million. Brady Spensor says he conducted several interviews with the reclusive artist for the documentary in what's described as a decade-long process. "It took months before Sly even remembered my name," Spensor told Deadline.com. "But soon after, I would get called at all hours, day or night. When Sly finally collected his royalties after years of being financially strapped and homeless, it warmed my heart." No official release date for the documentary has been set but it's scheduled to drop sometime in 2019. - New Musical Express, 12/29/18...... The Osmond Family member Jimmy Osmond was treated for a stroke on Dec. 27 following his performance as Captain Hook in the Peter Pan pantomime at the U.K's Birmingham Hippodrome. "On the evening of Thursday 27 December, after pushing through the evening's performance of Peter Pan at Birmingham Hippodrome, Jimmy Osmond was driven straight to hospital and diagnosed with a stroke," his spokesperson told the BBC. "He is grateful for all the well wishes and will be taking time out in the new year." Speaking of his role in the panto in November, Osmond told a local paper: "For me, I kind of took to panto well. I'm from this vaudevillian background. I grew up doing TV variety shows. I started as a three-year-old kid on the Andy Williams TV show and worked with Bob Hope and Andy Williams and all of those great people. And then when I came over here as a kid, it made me feel British because I would watch pantomimes. I never thought I'd be so lucky as to be in them. I think my background helps me because in variety TV you have to learn how to do the jokes and communicate with an audience. I was always a performer." - NME, 1/1/19...... 
Ray Sawyer, a former member of Dr Hook & The Medicine Show, died peacefully in his sleep on Jan. 1, his wife Linda Sawyer posted on social media. He was 81. Mr. Sawyer, known for wearing an eye-patch after losing his eye in a car crash, found fame in the 1970s with Dr Hook, which charted such hits as "Cover Of The Rolling Stone" "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman." Born on Feb. 1, 1937 in Chickasaw, Ala., Mr. Sawyer had previously formed a rock trio called the Chocolate Papers and after they split in the 1960s, he decided to become a logger. It was during this period that he lost an eye in a car crash -- which pushed him to return to music, joining Dr Hook & the Medicine Show, which had been formed in 1968 in Union City, N.J. While he mainly sang backing vocals and played percussion, he took the lead on their legendary 1972 hit "The Cover of the Rolling Stone," a satirical look at rock culture which rose to No. 6 on the pop chart. They appeared on the front of the magazine a year later, interviewed by writer and future director Cameron Crowe. Later, Mr. Sawyer parted ways with the group in 1983 to go solo, but toured as "Dr Hook featuring Ray Sawyer" until 2015. "It's with a heavy heart that we have to say goodbye to one of the iconic performers of the 1970s who literally had his smiling face on the cover of Rolling Stone," his agent Artists International Management said in a statement. "Ray was the consummate 'road dog' performing all over the world to thousands and thousands of fans covering hundreds of shows and logging thousands of miles across the globe. He lived the rock and roll life right up to the age of 81, and he was proud of it -- and that's quite a feat. Rest peacefully Ray you will be sadly missed," they continued. Mr. Sawyer's wife Linda added: "My heart is broken; Ray passed away this morning peacefully in his sleep. We thank you all for your continued support and prayers. Ray loved you all." In addition to his wife he is survived by a son, Cayse Sawyer. - New Musical Express, 1/2/19.
Dolly Parton's new star-studded rock-themed album 
Wowing the crowd during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York on Nov. 23 was Cher, who turned the parade route into a dance club, performing on a silver stage flanked by dancers dressed like discofied toy soldiers. A troupe of silver-clad dancers also surrounded the stage and carried giant red hearts out for the grande finale. Cher performed "DJ Play a Christmas Song" from her brand new 
Billy Joel recently told People magazine that he scored "cool dad points" after taking his daughters to a Taylor Swift concert in Tampa, Fla., back on March 15. "Oh, she's great. She's really very good," Joel told the magazine during his exhibit preview at the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, which opened on Nov. 24 at the Stony Brook Village Center and features a 
TV producer Marty Krofft, known for imaginative children's shows such as 
'70s R&B star Jean Knight, best known for her funk hits 
Axios.com reporter Nate Rau tweeted on Nov. 17 that Daryl Hall has been granted a restraining order against his former music partner John Oates in the midst of a confidential legal battle. "Members of the beloved pop rock duo Hall & Oates are locked in mysterious litigation," Rau posted. "Daryl Hall filed a lawsuit yesterday against John Oates in Nashville Chancery Court. At least for now, all of the filings in the litigation are under seal. Based on captions for the filings in the chancery clerk's system, a business trust is at the center of the dispute." Although very little information about the lawsuit is publicly available due to it being sealed, UltimateClassicRock.com is reporting that Hall "sued in his official capacity as trustee of the Daryl Hall Revocable Trust, naming Oates and fellow co-trustees Aimee Oates and Richard Flynn from the John W. Oates TISA Trust as defendants. Summons were issued on November 20, after the proceedings were placed under seal on November 16." Per Variety, the Nashville Chancery Court confirmed the lawsuit but did not comment further due to the lawsuit being sealed. Neither Hall or Oates have spoken about the lawsuit or shared any statement in regards to it. The platinum-selling duo have always had a weird relationship. In 1985, Rolling Stone described their relationship as "strange" with journalist Lynn Hirschberg writing that the pair "are a cross between business partners and brothers... Hall doesn't seem to really like Oates, and Oates seems removed, even distant, from the entire Hall and Oates organization." - NME, 11/22/23...... Rod Stewart, who is preparing to release a new album about his "latest passion" -- swing music -- says if his new swing collaboration with Jools Holland proves popular enough, he is looking to head back to Las Vegas for a special run of shows. "If I go back to Vegas -- and I'd like to -- if the album's a big success, maybe I could do a swing show, big band stuff," the 78-year-old Sir Rod told the Daily Star's Wired column. Stewart added he finds live performing "highly addictive," although he's not the biggest fan of "sitting in hotel rooms" waiting for the next gig. "That two hours on stage is the most potent drug you can imagine. It's highly addictive. It's all the bloody in between time I don't like, sitting in hotel rooms. Although when I am sat around like that, I build my model railroad so that I'm not idle." Indeed, there was a time where his model railway hobby almost took over his future as a legendary musician. He recalled: "My dad was the first person who bought me a model railroad but also the first to buy me a guitar instead of a part for my train set. When I was young I said, 'Dad, I don't want a guitar -- I want that signal." After a date at The Colusseum at Caesars Palace in Vegas on Nov. 23, Stewart will return to the venue in 2024 for three dates in July and four dates in August. In February, he has gigs set for Thackerville, Okla., Gary, Ind., Hollywood, Fla., Tampa, Fla. and Jacksonville, Fla. - Music-News.com, 11/21/23...... Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson joined the alternative band Tool on stage in Toronto on Nov. 20 for a surprise performance. As Tool wrapped up their North American headline tou two shows in Toronto earlier in the week, the band invited Lifeson, who grew up in the city, to the stage for a rendition of their song "Jambi." The performance also included Rush's "A Passage To Bangkok"' intro and guitar solo from their 1976 album 2112. Footage of the surprise performance has been shared on 
Among the music gems being released on Record Store Day on Black Friday (Nov. 24) is WAR's The World Is a Ghetto: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition. The 
Neil Young says he's swearing off X/Twitter as he takes a firm stand against the popular social media platform's current owner, Elon Musk, after Musk recently urged Palestinian and Jewish people to band together in light of the war between Israel and Hamas. "We are stopping all use of X that we can control," Young wrote in a statement posted to his NeilYoungArchives.com website on Nov. 20. "For reasons that should be obvious to the richest man on Earth, we are taking action against his company." The post featured an image of Musk with the text "Tesla should fly flags of love, not hate" written over the billionaire's face. The statement continued: "For our many Palestinian friends and our many Jewish friends, we do need to start over in the present and release our terrible connections to the past. As bad as they are, they need to be forgotten so we can be free to move on in life together, all humanity, focused on saving our planet for future generations of all people." The statement comes after the tech mogul approved of a Nov. 17 tweet that accused Jewish people facing antisemitism due to the Israel-Hammas war of furthering the "exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them" and supporting "hordes of minorities" to become immigrants. Musk replied, "You have said the actual truth." Also joining Young in a boycott of X/Twitter is Gene Simmons of KISS. Simmons announced his departure on Nov. 18 by simply 
Tom Waits is set to join Iggy Pop for a rare UK radio interview, which will span two hours on BBC 6 Music. The discussion will mark one of the first new interviews the iconic American singer-songwriter has taken part in during recent years, and will see him co-host a special show with punk veteran Pop. Taking place on Dec. 3, the show will air on BBC Radio 6 Music between 4pm and 6pm. It will also see the two converse about their time in the music industry, share anecdotes from their personal lives and spin some of the famous tracks that have influenced them over the years. Waits has rarely stepped into the public eye to discuss his music career since he released his last studio album, Bad As Me, back in 2011. Since then he has also celebrated the 50th anniversary of his 1973 debut LP Closing Timebuy sharing a new vinyl reissue. He played one of his last live shows back in 2008, taking place in a tent venue in Dublin named the Rat Cellar. However, in the time since then, he turned his focus towards an acting career, appearing in such films as The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs (2018), the star-studded action film The Book Of Eli (2010) and the 2021 film Licorice Pizza. As for Iggy Pop, the punk icon released his latest studio album Every Loser in early 2023. His 19th full-length studio release, it featured contributions from Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses, and Blink 182's Travis Barker, among others. More recently, he joined forces with Trevor Horn to share a gritty cover of the Depeche Mode classic track, "Personal Jesus." - NME, 11/21/23...... Dolly Parton has revealed that she sent a "love note" to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr asking them to contribute to a cover of the Beatles classic "Let It Be" for her new album 
R&B legend Gladys Knight has announced she's extending her UK Farewell Tour, due to overwhelming public demand. A second date has been added Southend at the Cliffs Pavilion on July 4 and shows at Eastbourne Congress on July 6, and the Bristol Beacon on July 8. Knight's UK farewell tour already includes dates in Glasgow, Birmingham, London, Swansea, Bournemouth, Nottingham and Southend. The 79-year-old "Empress of Sou" is expected to play all her classics during her tour including standout gem 
Sean Connery, the Scottish-born actor who rocketed to fame as James Bond and became one of the franchise's most popular and enduring international stars, died in his sleep while in the Bahamas on Oct. 31. He was 90 years old. Born of Irish ancestry in the slums of Edinburgh on Aug. 25, 1930, Thomas Sean Connery was robbed of an education by poverty, and and by his teens he'd left school and was working as an unskilled laborer. At 17, he was drafted into the Royal Navy, but he was discharged three years later due to a serious case of ulcers. He returned to Edinburgh and worked a variety of jobs, including as a lifeguard. He took up bodybuilding and placed third in the 1950 Mr. Universe competition. After moving to London, Mr. Connery learned of an opening in the chorus of "South Pacific." He took a crash dancing and singing course and, surprisingly, landed the role, in which he stayed for 18 months. He was "hooked," he said, but spent several years paying his dues in small repertory companies in and around London before anyone else became hooked on him .In his early career, his physique was his main asset as he modeled and picked up acting jobs where he could. In 1956, he landed the role of a battered prizefighter in the BBC production of Requiem for a Heavyweight. Mr. Connery was a bodybuilder, model, and milkman before he found fame as an actor, making his movie debut in 1954's Lilacs in the Spring. He went on to appear in a series of British TV roles and films until his big break in the Disney musical Darby O' Gill & the Little People in 1959. Good notices brought him to the attention of the entertainment community, and his first film was No Road Back, a B crime movie in 1956. He seemed doomed to play the hunk to ageing leading ladies, as he did opposite Lana Turner in Another Time, Another Place, or roles that stressed his looks such as Tarzan's Great Adventure in 1959. 
In 1962, Mr. Connery made his debut in the first Bond film, Dr. No. His stature grew with the ever more popular Bond sequels From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball, which arrived over the next four years. Bond gave Mr. Connery a license to earn; he was paid only $30,000 for Dr. No but $400,000 for Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie and was soon getting $750,000 a film. His initial efforts to break out of the Bond mold, however, proved fruitless. Films like A Fine Madness, Shalako and The Molly Maguires were well-intentioned attempts that did nothing to shake Mr. Connery as Bond from the public consciousness. After 1967's You Only Live Twice, he left the Bond franchise, but he was coaxed back for 1971's 
Eddie Van Halen's hometown of Pasadena, Calif., has announced plans to memorialize the late guitar legend, but the City Council hasn't yet decided what form the tribute would take. On Oct. 26, the council directed officials to come up with ideas and report back on how to best remember Van Halen, who died of cancer Oct. 6 at age 65. According to a local paper, one idea could be renaming a street or alley near one of Van Halen's 1970s rehearsal spaces, while building a statue, installing a plaque or rechristening a city building also could be considered. Meanwhile, a memorial has grown outside Eddie and brother Alex Van Halen's boyhood home northeast of Los Angeles, where some fans are lobbying to make the house designated as a historic landmark. The Van Halen family moved to Pasadena after emigrating to the U.S. from the Netherlands in 1962. Eddie and Alex formed Van Halen about a decade later with singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony, who all grew up in the Pasadena area. - AP,...... In other Van Halen-related news, Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen is pushing back on rumours that he's replacing his father as the guitarist in a new incarnation of Van Halen, calling the speculation "a shitty lie." Wolfgang took to social media on Oct. 26 to refute claims being made in a Wolfgang Van Halen Fan Page on Facebook, which were shared to Twitter by user @MetalSludge. The Facebook post claimed that "there is a good strong possibility" that Wolfgang would be swapping his current role as Van Halen's bassist for his late father's position of lead guitarist, with "Van Hagar" era vocalist Sammy Hagar handling vocals and former VH bassist Michael Anthony handling duties on bass. Drummer Alex Van Halen would continue his position as drummer in the imagined lineup. The post claimed that the information came from "the VH camp", with Eddie Van Halen allegedly telling "his son and his brother, I give you my blessing." But Wolfgang says the rumour just isn't true. "This is just a shitty lie attempting to capitalize on these awful times," he tweeted in response to @MetalSludge sharing the post. "Please stop with this. Anyone peddling this shit is not only hurting the fans, but hurting me and my family." - NME, 10/26/20...... In related news, KISS bassist Gene Simmons said that he was "scared to death" one time after getting a lift with Eddie after a Metallica gig in Long Beach in the 1980s. Talking with Dennis Miller on his 
On Oct. 20 Jimmy Page released his new book 
A recently reunited Genesis have begun rehearsals in London for their massive 2021 UK reunion tour. Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks will head out on "The Last Domino? Tour" in April 2021, with dates having been pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. The trio, playing together for the first time since 2017, are set to be joined on the tour by Collins' son Nic Collins on drums, and guitarist/bassist Daryl Stuermer. Genesis recently announced the 19-date UK tour will kick off on Apr. 1 in Glasgow and wrap over three nights at London's O2 arena on Apr. 27, 29 and 30. Meanwhile, Phil Collins has issued a second cease and desist letter to Pres. Donald Trump's re-election campaign over the use of his hit "In the Air Tonight" at Trump rallies. Trump's campaign apparently ignored a previous legal letter over the use of the song, and again blasted the 1981 hit over the speakers at a gathering in Des Moines, Iowa on Oct. 14. At the time, Collins' representatives noted that Trump's aides had already been warned against violating the musician's copyright, and now his lawyers at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP are demanding an assurance it won't happen again, because Collins, 69, says he doesn't support Trump at all. Collins' lawyers state in the letter than their client takes particular offense that the song "was apparently intended as a satirical reference to COVID-19." "That reference was made at a time when Iowa was suffering from an acceleration of COVID-19 infection. Mr. Collins does not condone the apparent trivialization of COVID-19," the missive states. In other Phil Collins news, the singer may have to wait up to three years to have his ex-wife Orianne Cevey evicted from his mansion because of a backlog of trials due to COVID-19. Collins recently sought an injunction to have Cevey and her husband kicked out of his palatial waterfront home in Miami Beach, Fla., but suffered a major setback when Cevey made a counterclaim for $20 million. A county judge decided the explosive case should be heard in circuit court because of the huge sums at stake. It puts Collins' filling at the back of a long line of pending cases with court closures and pandemic restrictions expected to delay trials by a year or longer. Collins -- worth an estimated $300 million -- will now have to choose between paying his ex-wife off for the second time or facing off in court. - NME/WENN/DailyMail.co.uk, 10/27/20...... Music publishers Primary Wave announced on Oct. 23 that they've struck a 10-year strategic partnership with The Four Seasons. The marketing and administration deal is with the band's lead singer Frankie Valli and keyboardist Bob Gaudio, the two surviving members of the band's founding four; which also included bassist Nick Massi, who died of cancer in 2000, and guitarist Tommy DeVito, who died in Sept. 2020 from the coronavirus. Under the agreement, Primary Wave will work Valli and Gaudio to market the band's name and likeness, manage all daily digital marketing activities and administer their iconic catalog, which includes hits like "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," 
Speaking to the UK paper The Guardian, Joni Mitchell says she's "still struggling to walk" following her 2015 brain aneurysm in a rare new interview. "I haven't been writing recently. I haven't been playing my guitar or the piano or anything," said Mitchell. Instead, she's "just concentrating on getting my health back... You know what? I came back from polio, so here I am again, and struggling back." Mitchell was hospitalised in Los Angeles in March 2015, after being found unconscious at her home. Later that year she was said to be "making good progress." Mitchell also described to the paper that the five years since her aneurysm as "inching my way along," adding: "I'm showing slow improvement but moving forward." "Once again I couldn't walk. I had to learn how again. I couldn't talk," she added. "Polio didn't grab me like that, but the aneurysm took away a lot more, really. Took away my speech and my ability to walk. And, you know, I got my speech back quickly, but the walking I'm still struggling with. But I mean, I'm a fighter. I've got Irish blood! So you know, I knew, 'Here I go again, another battle.'" Mitchell is set to release a new archival album, 
Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry is labelling Van Morrison "insane" for his stance on the COVID-19 crisis. While Harry says she thinks Morrison, who has recently slammed safety measures designed to stop the spread of the virus at concerts and other venues, is a "creative genius," but also noted he is "completely mad." "I mean, he has a history of very strange behaviour so it doesn't really surprise me. And after all, everyone's entitled to their own opinion," Harry recently told New Musical Express. "As far as conspiracy goes... huh! If this is a conspiracy, then the biggest f---ing genius in the world has created it! I mean, that is insane. Totally insane!," Harry exclaimed. She then went on to attack Pres. Donald Trump, insisting: "When it comes to our president, white supremacists respect him not necessarily for himself but because he's achieved the presidency. There's a lot of kudos that hangs on the word 'president'... A lot of people fall for him, but this is not a good guy." - Music-News.com, 10/25/20...... Paul McCartney recently told the BBC that his new album 
In a new interview with the Irish Times, Don McLean branded his ex-wife of 30 years Patrisha McLean "the worst person I ever know" despite pleading guilty to domestic violence against his spouse. The 75-year-old 
Country singer/songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, best known for penning the 1971 hit