Peter Gabriel has announced that the WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festival he founded in 1980 "is officially back" after taking a break in 2025 as it was "re-evaluating, regenerating and reinvigorating" after facing challenges post-COVID. Now, Gabriel has revealed that the 2026 edition will be held at Neston Park, Corsham, Wiltshire, on July 23-26. "I'm delighted to say that WOMAD is officially back," Gabriel said in a statement on Oct. 30. "We're back and in a beautiful new home; Neston Park near our own base in Real World Studios. We have looked at many wonderful sites around the country, but when we learned that Sir James and Lady Venetia Fuller were keen to open up their beautiful estate and host WOMAD, it immediately felt to us like a warm and welcoming home into which we could sink our roots," he continued. The statement went on to say: "While we've been away, all the team have been working away regenerating our beloved festival and poring over your extensive feedback -- and finding so many great suggestions." The 2025 year off follows the festival's cancellation in 2021 amid the COVID pandemic, which, at the time, Gabriel put down to a lack of support from the UK government. He had previously warned that the event would be cancelled unless the government offered an insurance program. Since 2007, the WOMAD festival, which aims to spotlight an eclectic mixture of genres, has travelled to 27 countries across the world, while the main UK event has taken place in Charlton Park in Wiltshire since 2007. - NME, 10/30/25...... 
Posting a two-minute clip on his YouTube channel on Oct. 30, Neil Young has attacked Pres. Donald Trump and what he describes as "looting oligarchs" -- Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk -- in footage that collects a variety of news clips. Titled "As Time Explodes," the clips are pieced together as a critique of both the Trump administration and the increasing power granted to tech billionaires. No lyrics are featured, and the instrumental track that plays over the top is a guitar-driven nod to his song "Be The Rain," which he released with Crazy Horse in 2003. The clip begins by showing media coverage of the demolition of the White House's East Wing during the government shutdown. It then goes on to show a banner that reads "The 1% ruins the world," before embedding a compilation of some of the highest profile billionaires in the world -- the infamous footage of Musk wielding a chainsaw along with Pres. Trump accepting a luxurious jet from Qatar, and Apple CEO Tim Cook is seen going to the White House. There is also a nod made to the extortionate cost behind Bezos' wedding, which was held in Venice over the summer. Another clip in the video shows a tweet that reads "The oligarchs gather & so starts the looting of America," and more footage shows the National Guard being deployed to the ICE Protests across the US. Toward the end, the huge crowds that gathered for the "No Kings Protests" across America over the past few weeks are shown, and the National Guard being deployed for "security." The clip is the latest in a series of occasions the "Heart of Gold" singer has used his platform to make a political stand. In Jan. 2022, he announced that he was removing his music from Spotify after episodes of Joe Rogan's controversial podcast spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines, and more recently he hit out at the president with the song "Big Crime" and told his fans that Trump was "out of control" and "we need a real president." - New Musical Express, 10/31/25...... After the Oct. 9 revelation that actress Soairse Ronan (Ladybird, Little Women) would be playing Linda McCartney in the forthcoming biopics about the Beatles, more of the actresses playing other of the Fab Four's significant others have been announced. The Beatles - A Four-Film Cinematic Event has cast Shogun's Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono, The White Lotus' Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd, and How to Have Sex's Mia McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Cox Starkey in the Sam Mendes-directed biopic series. The four actresses join Paul Mescal (Paul McCartney), Harris Dickinson (John Lennon), Barry Keoghan (Ringo Starr), and Joseph Quinn (George Harrison) in the biopics, which will arrive in theaters beginning in Apr. 2028. "Maureen, Linda, Yoko and Pattie are four fascinating and unique figures in their own right... and I'm thrilled that we've managed to persuade four of the most talented women working in film today to join this amazing adventure," Mendes said in a statement. Producers also noted that the actors portraying other core characters in the Beatles universe -- Cynthia Lennon, Brian Epstein, George Martin, Ravi Shankar, and other key roles -- will be revealed at a later date. - Rolling Stone, 10/31/25...... 
The final years of David Bowie are set to be explored in a new BBC Channel 4 documentary dubbed The Final Act. According to Deadline.com, the documentary will "chart the final creative chapter of one of music's most iconic artists" and will feature rare interviews with those who knew and worked closely alongside Bowie. The documentary will include interviews with famous fans and artists who have been inspired by his work, and "uncover the strategy behind the star's artistic resurrection and the inexhaustible extraordinary creativity that defined his final decade." Speaking about the project, director Jonathan Stiasny said: "The traditional music documentary celebrates triumph. What fascinated me most when making this film was how Bowie's final chapter wasn't an ending, it was a resurrection." A firm release date for The Final Act has yet to be announced. In early October, the BBC also announced a new Bowie documentary set to premiere in 2026 under the working title Bowie In Berlin, which will explore the icon's time in Berlin between 1976 and 1978. That 90-minute documentary will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer sometime in autumn 2026. Bowie had famously retreated from fame and moved to Berlin in 1976 to battle his cocaine addiction and reroute his career. The move would prove integral, as it sparked three legendary albums: Low, "Heroes" and Lodger -- also known as the Berlin Trilogy. Bowie died at the age of 69 in Jan. 2016 following an 18-month battle with cancer, just two days after he released his final album, Blackstar. - NME, 10/30/25...... Stevie Nicks has clarified an often misheard lyric in the 1973 Buckingham Nicks track "Frozen Love" and apologized to Lindsey Buckingham for the misconception. In September, the the legendary duo reissued their 1973 album Buckingham Nicks, making it publicly available for the first time since its original release. Now, the former Fleetwood Mac members have appeared on the Song Exploder podcast to discuss "Frozen Love," in an episode comprising two separate interviews. In her segment of the episode, Nicks described the song's themes, saying it's about "two people that were in love, that had a lot of differences and saw the world slightly differently, but had this like relationship that seemed to be, like a gift." She went on to compare them to classic literary romances. "I like to think of it as Wuthering Heights or Great Expectations. A modern-day love affair, tragedies. Because nobody really loves happy songs. Certainly, I didn't, and neither really did Lindsey." After Nicks wrote the song, she said that she gave it to Buckingham to further develop, with him explaining: "I don't think she craved my input on that level, and nor did I crave hers on production or instrumental level, either. She understood that I was transforming things for her, and I understood that I wouldn't have had anything to transform without the beautiful center that she'd given me." Nicks then detailed how their turbulent relationship influenced their work, explaining: "Our relationship was up and down and up and down and up and down and difficult, but at the same time, fantastic. And what we were doing was so fantastic that it was worth putting up with the trials and tribulations of a relationship that's difficult." She then went on to clarify a frequently misheard lyric, "Hate gave you me for a lover," saying she originally wrote it as, "Fate gave you me for a lover." "When I hear myself sing that line, it sounds like I'm saying 'hate,'" she said. "So, that's not good. I'm sorry, Lindsey. I'm calling him later." Elsewhere in the podcast, Nicks shared that she and Buckingham are now back on talking terms, saying: "Lindsey and I started talking about it last night. This whole thing seems really like yesterday to us." - NME, 10/30/25...... 
The National Football League's hospitality provider, On Location, announced on Oct. 29 that Sting will be headlining an intimate Super Bowl-branded concert on Feb. 6 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, two days before Bad Bunny takes the stage for the Super Bowl halftime show at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8. The former Police singer and solo superstar will perform as part of an event dubbed "Super Bowl LX Studio 60," described as "a weekend of unforgettable music entertainment at one of San Francisco's most iconic venues," that will give fans a chance to see artists "up close and personal." The announcement of the Sting show comes as the 2026 halftime show headliner has gotten unequivocal messages of support from the NFL and rapper Jay-Z -- whose Roc Nation has been booking the halftime show since 2019 -- following complaints about Bad Bunny's booking from Pres. Donald Trump and other administration figures. When recently asked by a TMZ photographer about the harsh words coming Bad Bunny's way from some on the right, Jay-Z reportedly told the site that the Puerto Rican superstar is more beloved in the U.S. than some would like you to think. "They love him. Don't let them fool you," he said. - Billboard, 10/29/25...... Iconic '70s funnyman and musician Steve Martin has earned his seventh No. 1 on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums chart with Safe, Sensible and Sane, his collaborative album with fellow banjo player Alison Brown. The Compass Records disc, featuring songs with Jackson Browne, Vince Gill and Jason Mraz, debuted at No. 1 on the chart dated Nov. 1, making it the seventh time that the comedian-actor-playwright-banjo player has appeared on the list, five times opening at the very top, and it is Brown's second No. 1 debut. Martin's musical career was once considered a sideline to his comedy and film-TV career but it's now a big part of his creative output. His 2009 debut, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo, spent 31 weeks at No. 1 and he's since enjoyed 84 weeks at the top of bluegrass album charts, the most among male solo artists. Not only that but four of those No. 1 bluegrass albums have also reached the top 10 on Americana/folk album charts while five appeared on the all-genre Billboard Hot 200 album chart. Martin had four comedy albums from 1977-1981 on the Billboard 200, including two in the Top 10, including A Wild and Crazy Guy, which reached No. 2 in 1978. Songs from those albums, including "King Tut," "Grandmother's Song" and "Cruel Shoes," even cracked the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, with "King Tut" making it to No. 17. In addition to his successful music career, Martin is touring with his Only Murders in the Building co-star Martin Short, while also appearing with Selena Gomez in the Hulu mystery-comedy which he co-created. He also recently co-hosted the 2025 IBMA Awards in Chattanooga, Tenn., with Brown. - Canoe.com, 10/30/25...... 
As a teenage journalist for Rolling Stone, Oscar-winning director/screenwriter Cameron Crowe logged quality face time with some of rock's greatest legends throughout the 1970s, including Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and Joni Mitchell -- experiences that later inspired his 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous, which he wrote and directed. For Crowe, 68, that bit of wisdom led to a one-of-a-kind career as a writer and filmmaker, which he recounts in his new memoir The Uncool, out Oct. 28. The book covers his California childhood with his parents, older sisters, family tragedies and the almost-too-good-to-be-true stories of his time with pop culture icons. Crowe says writing The Uncool was a way for him to pay tribute to the myriad of "vivid characters," professional and personal, who helped shape his unforgettable and inspiring ride. "Take a little optimism with you," he says, sharing his own motto. "Something is waiting if you just don't give up. Life will surprise you in the most spectacularly original ways." - People, 11/3/25...... Influential jazz drummer Jack deJohnette, known for his work with such jazz greats as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Alice Coltrane, died on Oct. 26 in hospital in Kingston, N.Y., due to congestive heart failure. He was 83. Born in Chicago, 1941, Mr. DeJohnette broke into the jazz scene when he was asked to play for Sun Ra and His Arkestra at a rehearsal session. He went on to play for John Coltrane after Coltrane's regular drummer was late for a set, which prompted the club owner to "let Jack DeJohnette play!". Moving to New York in the mid-1960s, Mr. DeJohnette was a seminal part of jazz bands with greats like Davis, Charles Lloyd and Keith Jarrett, having also worked with Hancock, Coltrane, and plenty more. He was part of Davis' Bitches Brew ensemble, and would play with Davis regularly until 1971. "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Jack DeJohnette," his family wrote on social media. "He was surrounded by his wife, family, and close friends. Jack was a NEA Jazz Master. His legacy will live on." He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Lydia, and their two daughters, Farah and Minya. - NME, 10/28/25...... Actress Prunella Scales, best known as acid-tongued Sybil Fawlty in the classic British sitcom Fawlty Towers, has died, her children revealed on Oct. 28. She was 93 and had lived with dementia for many years. "Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home," her sons said. "She was watching 'Fawlty Towers' the day before she died." Ms. Scales' career included early roles in a 1952 television version of Pride and Prejudice and the 1954 film comedy Hobson's Choice, followed by her TV breakthrough starring opposite Richard Briers in Marriage Lines, a popular 1960s sitcom about a newlywed couple. In Fawlty Towers she played the exasperated wife of hapless Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese, whose efforts to run a seaside hotel inevitably escalated into chaos. Only 12 episodes were made, in 1975 and 1979, but it is regularly cited as one of the funniest sitcoms of all time. Later roles included Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of Attribution, Alan Bennett's stage and TV drama about the queen's art adviser, Anthony Blunt, who was also a Soviet spy. She played another British monarch in the one-woman stage show "An Evening with Queen Victoria." Ms. Scales was a versatile stage performer whose theatre roles ranged from Shakespeare's comedies to the morphine-addicted matriarch Mary Tyrone in a 1991 production of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night." Ms. Scales was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013. Between 2014 and 2019, she and her husband, actor Timothy West, explored waterways in Britain and abroad in the gentle travel show Great Canal Journeys. The program was praised for the way it honestly depicted Ms. Scales' dementia. - AP, 10/28/25.
Black Sabbath guitarist Tommi Iommi gave a surprise performance at the end of the press night for the new Black Sabbath ballet stage production in London on Oct. 22. Iommi made the surprise appearance at the end of the Birmingham Royal Ballet's performance of "Black Sabbath - The Ballet" at Sadler's Wells in London. The ballet, which was first announced in 2023, has seen Iommi take a role in the creation of the ballet, working with Birmingham Royal Ballet director Carlos Acosta. The show includes eight of the band's tracks plus new music inspired by them, all performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. At the end of the event in London, Iommi played his iconic guitar solo to "Paranoid" as part of the evening's closing number, and the performance has been shared on YouTube. Iommi's Queen friend and fellow guitar legend Brian May was in attendance, and later shared his own video clips on Instagram, writing, "Wow! The true Father of Heavy Metal making that beautiful axe sing like a bird tonight at Sadlers Wells. Tony Iommi plus a 40 piece orchestra and a cast of 50 dancers - putting the icing on the cake of a great production of Black Sabbath the Ballet. Proud to call this infinitely modest and generous genius my friend." "Black Sabbath - The Ballet" is currently playing in London before travelling to the Edinburgh Festival Theatre from Oct. 30. - New Musical Express, 10/24/25...... 
In a new poem shared with RollingStone.com, Joan Baez suggests that a "little green worm" has eaten the part of Pres. Donald Trump's brain "where empathy originates." In the piece titled "Little Green Worm: A Note to the President," the folk icon and longtime social justice advocate slams the president's lack of "empathy," "impulse control" and "basic intelligence," positing that Trump has none of the above due to a "little green worm" entering his brain and eating it all up. "I've been thinking about a little green worm that has worked its way into your anterior insular cortex, the part of the brain where empathy originates," Baez wrote. "The little green worm quickly devoured yours. He then munched onward until he came to the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in impulse control and regulating social behavior. It's meant to stop us from blurting out vulgarities such as 'Grab her by the p---y' and 'S-thole countries' or accusing all Mexican immigrants of being criminals, rapists and drug dealers," the poem continued. The piece closes with Baez illustrating how the little green worm eventually moves on to the part of Trump's brain that should be "responsible for thought," only to find that he doesn't have one. "Oh s--t: there's nothing there," the musician concludes. Baez explained to Rolling Stone that turning to poetry instead of songwriting has helped her process the overwhelming nature of today's political landscape. "When I'm present and looking out at my own yard and the trees and all of that, it's still as beautiful as it ever was," she told the publication. "And then there are times of great sorrow and times of frustration, like everybody. And I found that the poetry helps -- just doing it and getting it down on paper or on computer to keep my head above water." - Billboard, 10/24/25...... In related news, Bruce Springsteen is continuing to speak out against Pres. Trump, offering up a "prayer" for "no kings" amid the ongoing protests against the politician. At the American Film Institute Opening Night Gala on Oct. 22 -- where Springsteen was in attendance to support new biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere -- The Boss performed his song "Land of Hopes and Dreams." Before diving into the track, however, he called it a "prayer for America, our community and no kings." "Outside, all hell is breaking loose in the United States," Springsteen said. "For 250 years around the world, despite all the faults that we've had, the United States has served as a beacon of democracy and hope and freedom." Despite how "terribly damaged" he thinks the country is, though, the Jersey rocker also noted that the nation's "ideals remain worth fighting for." In September, Springsteen told Time magazine that he intends on continuing to call out the faults he sees in the Trump administration. "I'm going to stay true to who I've tried to be. I can't give these guys a free pass," he said. In a June interview with the New York Times, Springsteen called Trump "a moron" and his rise on the political scene "an American tragedy." "I think that it was the combination of the deindustrialization of the country and then the incredible increase in wealth disparity that left so many people behind. It was ripe for a demagogue," he said. Springsteen's American Film Institute performance can be streamed on the AFI Instagram account. Also during the Fest, the musician told Variety that he's already planning a sequel to the Deliver Me From Nowhere film. "I suppose if you can make four Beatles movies, you can make a couple of Bruce Springsteen movies," he said in reference to Sam Mendes' four upcoming biopics of the legendary band members. Deliver Me director Scott Cooper also chimed in: "There's so many chapters in Bruce's life, in all seriousness, that are quite right for cinematic treatment," he noted. "That's something quite honestly that Bruce and I have discussed. I think he really loves this film. He's loved the experience. I think he feels incredibly comfortable with, someone telling a very painful chapter in his life. You'd have to ask him, but I think he's ready for more." - Billboard/NME, 10/23/24...... 
The Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh will be adding his star power to the "Knockouts" rounds of the NBC amateur talent series The Voice during season 28. Walsh will be a "mega mentor," mentoring contestants on teams for Niall Horan and Reba McEntire, while Zac Brown Band frontman Zac Brown will mentor contestants on teams for Michael Bublé and Snoop Dogg. Brown and Walsh will mentor the remaining contestants as they prepare for the Knockouts round, which begin on Oct. 27. Walsh's five-decade career began with the James Gang in 1969, before he founded the trio Barnstorm and later launched a solo career. In 1975, he joined the Eagles. The Voice airs Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC and will stream the following day on Peacock. - Billboard, 10/20/25...... Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was laid to rest in an intimate, private ceremony in the Bronx on Oct. 22 attended by family, friends, and his three surviving KISS co-founders: singer/guitarist Paul Stanley, bassist/singer Gene Simmons and original drummer Peter Criss. SiriusXM radio host and Frehley friend Eddie Trunk posted about the event on Instagram, including the program for the memorial service honoring the beloved guitarist who died on Oct. 16 at age 74 featuring a quote from John 14:1-3, 27 which concludes with: "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." In the accompanying note, Trunk wrote, "It has been an emotional couple of days to say the least saying farewell to a rock icon and long time friend. All of the services went as well as they could and were attended by a small group of family and close friends, including the 3 surviving original members of @kissonline." He also noted that there will also be a public event in the future to pay tribute to the musician known as "Spaceman" for his fiery guitar solos and irreverent sense of humor. In another Instagram post, Trunk added that Frehley was buried in a cemetery in the Bronx, where he grew up and close to where his parents are buried, per his request. In addition to the KISS trio, Trunk said some of Frehley's solo bandmates were on hand as well, though no fans attended the "very small, private" memorial or burial. That's why Trunk re-iterated that he's trying to pull together a public fan memorial, something he said Ace would have "loved I think he deserves that." Frehley died on Oct. 16 at his New Jersey home of undisclosed causes, with his spokesperson attributing his passing to a "recent fall at his home." According to TMZ.com, the Morris County, N.J. medical examiner's office is conducting a series of exams to determine the musician's cause of death, including a toxicological screening and external body exam, with results due in several weeks. KISS will be honored at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors taping on Dec. 7 -- and airing Dec. 23 on CBS -- with Frehley becoming be just the third person to receive the honor posthumously. - Billboard, 10/24/25...... 
Spinal Tap have announced plans for a "final" concert movie entitled Stone Henge: The Final Finale. The film, which will hit cinemas in 2026, was originally filmed in August this year and sees the definitive rock "mockumentary" boys performing their first and final concert at the historical landmark with the likes of Eric Clapton, Shania Twain and Josh Groban. The famous ancient landmark Stonehenge is an integral part in the original 1984 movie This Is Spinal Tap, where the band perform the song "Stonehenge" around a hilariously small 18-inch model of the historical landmark. The track pops up again in the sequel, this time with the help of Elton John, and a much larger prop. Directed yet again by Rob Reiner, The Final Finale follows the long awaited Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues sequel which was released in September. "I'm told this is it. They're really serious this time," says Kent Sanderson, CEO of the film's distributor, Bleecker Street. "While this is ostensibly the end, how fitting is it that this actual-probable-send-off is shot, historically, at Stonehenge, the mysterious landmark that we now know must have been erected thousands of years ago purely to serve as the setting for the last act of Spinal Tap." A teaser trailer for The Final Finale can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 10/24/25...... Longtime 10cc drummer Paul Burgess has announced his intention to step down from the band due to the "rigours of touring." Burgess, 75, has sat behind the kit for 10cc for 52 years, and is also known for his tenures with Jethro Tull, Camel, Magna Carta, and The Icicle Works. "Having enjoyed many years with 10cc, I'm sorry to say that for me the rigours of touring have become incommensurate with age, and it's time to put excessive hours spent waiting in airports and sitting on tour buses behind me," Burgess said. "I have no intention of retiring and will continue to play, but at a more agreeable pace, working with past associates and a new band of like-minded musicians, The Guilty Men." 10cc frontman Graham Gouldman admitted it will be "strange" being onstage without his "longest-running musical associate." "When Paul and I started working together in 10cc, we never imagined in our wildest dreams that we would still be doing it even 30 years later, let alone 52," Gouldman said. Burgess' replacement will be Ben Stone, who has drummed for the likes of Mike and the Mechanics and Bonnie Tyler. Burgess, who had various stints with 10cc since he joined in 1973, played his last concert with the "I'm Not In Love" hitmakers in Alexandria, Va. in September. 10cc has announced plans to bring their "And Another Bloody Greatest Hits Tour" to the UK in 2026. - Music-News.com, 10/25/25...... 
Popular '50s/'60s actress June Lockhart, known for her roles in the TV series Lost In Space and Lassie and the film musical Meet Me in St. Louis, died of natural causes on Oct. 23 in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 100 years old. Ms. Lockhart became known for her performances as young Timmy's foster mother, Ruth Martin, on the CBS series Lassie from 1958 to 1964. She took over from Cloris Leachman as the Martin family moved on to the famous collie's farm and became foster parents to both the orphaned Timmy and Lassie. She then starred as Dr. Maureen Robinson on the CBS series Lost in Space from 1965 to 1968, playing a brilliant biochemist and loving mother of three who is marooned in space along with her family. In a 2024 interview, Ms. Lockhart noted that Lost in Space was the favorite of her many projects. "It was so campy," she said, "And I truly enjoyed my relationship with my space family." Over nearly eight decades on screen, Ms. Lockhart went on to appear in dozens of series and movies well into her 80s, with recurring roles on Petticoat Junction, General Hospital, Beverly Hills 90210, and guest appearances on shows from The Beverly Hillbillies to Happy Days to Full House, Roseanne and Gray's Anatomy. The daughter of actors Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart, Ms. Lockhart was born in New York City in 1925. She made her feature film debut at 13 years old, starring alongside both of her parents in Edwin L. Marin's 1939 A Christmas Carol, where she played Belinda Cratchit. After her breakout role, she appeared in films such as All This, and Heaven Too, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Yearling, and Sergeant York. In the 1950s, she guest-starred in several Western series such as Wagon Train, Cimarron City, Gunsmoke, Have Gun - Will Travel, and Rawhide. She was nominated for two Emmys, including Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series for her performance in Lassie. She also received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television. Lockhart was previously the recipient of a Special Tony Award for Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer for her role on Broadway in "For Love or Money" in 1948. Her last role was the voice of "Alpha Control" in a 2021 episode of the Lost in Space remake series and her last on-screen appearance was in the 2016 movie The Remake. A private service has been planned in her honor. - Variety, 10/24/25.
The Beach Boys' founder and principal creative force Brian Wilson, whose spectacularly imaginitive songwriting evoked the joys of hot-rodding, sunshine, and the bronzed, bikinied lifestyle of Southern California, died on June 11, his family announced on social media. He was 82 and no cause of death was given. "We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away," wrote his children on 
The album and Mr. Wilson had a profound impact on musicians of the era and beyond, with the Beatles acknowledging its complexity helped inspire their similarly ambitious 1967 masterpiece, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Yet as such albums as Shut Down, Volume 2, All Summer Long, The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) -- all released between March 1964 and July 1965 -- represented an exponential leap for Mr. Wilson as composer, arranger and producer, Brian led what was often an unhappy and unsettled life, and suffered a breakdown in the late 1960s that drastically curtailed his life and later work. For most of the following decade, Mr. Wilson was a near-complete recluse. He contributed one or two songs to Beach Boys recordings, which still came out on occasion but sold miserably (as did Pet Sounds, which sold relatively poorly when it came out). The group was often dismissed as hopelessly old-fashioned during the "psychedelic" late 1960s and early 1970s -- despite releasing such acclaimed albums as 
An album, 
In 2010, Brian made a recording of his favorite George Gershwin songs and, in 2021, he released At My Piano, a selection of his songs played simply, lovingly and somewhat anxiously by their composer. Mr. Wilson's final ever live performance took place on July 26, 2022, at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Mich., the final date of his 2022 US summer co-headline tour with Chicago. The 20-track set took in many of his most classic songs, from "I Get Around"' and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" to "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations." He was joined on stage by fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine, as well as Blondie Chaplin, his sometime songwriting partner who was also in the band from 1972-73. Footage from the final gig can be viewed on 
Sly Stone, the groundbreaking funk and psych-rock pioneer who led the iconic Sly and the Family Stone group in the 1960s into the early 1980s, died on June 9 from "a prolonged battle with COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] and other underlying health issues," according to his family. He was 82. Beginning with "Dance To The Music" in 1968, which peaked at No. 8 on the chart, Sly and the Family Stone racked up 17 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including five top 10s and three number ones: "Everyday People," which reigned for four weeks in 1968-1969; 
Among Sly and the Family Stone's greatest triumphs was their 1969 appearance at Woodstock, where they performed in the midst of a 3:30 a.m. downpour, roused a mud-caked crowd of 500,000, and brought the house down with a captivating performance that has since become a highlight of Michael Wadleigh's 
As part of the huge wave of releases for Record Store Day on Apr. 12, previously unreleased performances from John Lennon's post-Beatles final full-length solo concerts will be released on vinyl as Power To The People - Live At The One To One Concert, New York City, 1972. The special 180-gram yellow vinyl will feature performances by John and Yoko Ono' Plastic Ono Band, backed by the NYC group Elephant's Memory, from their pair of "One to One" benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City. John and Yoko played a matinee and evening performance to a total of 40,000 people on Aug. 30, 1972, to benefit children with special needs, and raised a whopping $1.5 million, with some of the money raised going to the Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, N.Y., which was infamous for its poor conditions. The historical event, two years after the dissolution of the Beatles, also saw performances by the likes of Stevie Wonder and Roberta Flack. Produced by the couple's son, Sean Ono Lennon, the four tracks have been remixed and re-engineered from the original multi-track tapes by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon. They include the previously unreleased performances of "Well Well Well," "Cold Turkey" and Yoko's "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For A Hand In The Snow)," while "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" has been newly remixed. The release is limited to just 5500 copies worldwide, and more info can be found on recordstoreday.com. Meanwhile, the One To One concerts are explored in great detail in the forthcoming film, One to One: John & Yoko. Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, Marley), the documentary is an expansive look at the 18 months John and Yoko spent living in Greenwich Village in the early 1970s and delivers never-before-seen material and newly restored footage of John's only full length, post-Beatles concert. The film will air on HBO in the US and will be available to stream on Max in late 2025. - Music-News.com, 2/7/25...... Celebrated Canadian singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie has had her appointment to one Canada's highest honors -- The Order of Canada -- terminated by the country's Governor General following an investigation into Indigenous ancestry. Sainte-Marie had claimed she believed she was born on the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan and had been adopted by the Santamaria family that raised her in Wakefield, Mass., attributing her adoption to the "Sixties Scoop," a period in the 1960s when many Indigenous babies were taken from their parents and adopted by white families. In the fall of 2023, however, a CBC Fifth Estate investigation cast doubt on her claims of Indigenous ancestry. The investigation produced a birth certificate for Sainte-Marie which lists her presumed adoptive parents as her birth parents. It also features interviews with Sainte-Marie's family members calling her claim to Indigenous identity "an elaborate fabrication," and contextualizes Sainte-Marie's career within a phenomenon of high-profile public figures who have fabricated Indigenous identity. As a young adult, Sainte-Marie was adopted by Emile Piapot and Clara Starblanket Piapot of the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan in accordance with Cree law and customs. Sainte-Marie issued a statement around the investigation. "For a long time, I tried to discover information about my background," she wrote. "Through that research what became clear, and what I've always been honest about, is that I don't know where I'm from or who my birth parents were, and I will never know." In a follow-up statement, she affirmed her truth. "I have never lied about my identity," Sainte-Marie said, adding that the investigation included "mistakes and omissions." In her six-decade career, Sainte-Marie has won an Oscar and a Golden Globe (both for co-writing "Up Where We Belong" from An Officer and a Gentleman), the Polaris Music Prize, seven Juno Awards (including four in categories honoring aboriginal or indigenous music), and the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, in addition to her appointment to the Order of Canada. She was first appointed to the Order in 1997, and in 2019 was made a Companion of the Order, the highest level within the Order. The 83-year-old artist also had a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972 with "Mister Can't You See." - Billboard, 2/10/25...... 
David Johansen, the co-founder and frontman of the iconic '70s punk band The New York Dolls, has revealed that he is battling a brain tumor and stage four cancer. The news came via a Sweet Relief Fund in his name seeking to raise money for the singer's ongoing care in which his daughter, Leah Hennessey, revealed the extent of her 75-year-old father's health issues. "Five years ago at the beginning of the pandemic we discovered that David's cancer had progressed and he had a brain tumor," Leah wrote. "There have been complications ever since. He's never made his diagnosis public, as he and my mother Mara are generally very private people, but we feel compelled to share this now, due to the increasingly severe financial burden our family is facing." She noted that in a further blow, the singer known for his outrageous, high-energy stage persona, fell down a flight of stairs after Thanksgiving and broke his back in two places. Following a week-long hospital stay and a successful surgery, Leah said her dad has been bedridden and incapacitated since then and "due to the trauma, David's illness has progressed exponentially and my mother is caring for him around the clock." The family said that their most immediate needs are for full-time nursing, physical therapy and funding for day-to-day vital living expenses, aimed at helping Johansen regain "some mobility and independence." Donations to Johansen can be made via the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund at 
On Feb. 5 it was revealed that the most iconic lineup of Black Sabbath -- frontman Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward -- will play live together for the first time in two decades on July 5 at Villa Park in their hometown of Birmingham, UK. The news of the final live show, dubbed "Back To The Beginning," was announced at the home of Aston Villa by Iommi and Sharon Osbourne, the manager and wife of the iconic Sabbath frontman Ozzy, as well as on 
The UK's Royal Mail announced on Feb. 6 that they will celebrate Australia's AC/DC with an official series of 12 special Royal Mail stamps. The stamps will mark the 50th anniversary of the band's debut album High Voltage and will depict the group in live performances in venues around the world. There will be 12 stamps in total, with four of them featuring the covers of four of the band's classic albums - High Voltage, Highway To Hell, Back In Black and Power Up. That band line-up will also be presented in a miniature sheet together. David Gold, director of external affairs and policy at Royal Mail, said: "AC/DC is one of the most successful rock bands in the world. Over the past half century, they have recorded some of the best-known rock anthems and have given us 'Back In Black' -- the biggest-selling rock album of all time. These stamps capture a sample of their electrifying live performances, along with some of their most iconic album covers, and celebrate their significant contribution to the world of rock music." AC/DC become the eighth artist to be honoured with their own dedicated Royal Mail stamp range, following on from The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden, Spice Girls and The Who. The AC/DC stamps can be viewed and pre-orderd at 
Donny Osmond is set to share the stage with a younger version of himself from 1972 "thanks to some mind-blowing AI and CGI technology." The Osmonds star, 67, has shared introduced his new "co-star" for the remaining dates of his solo residency at Harrah's Las Vegas -- an avatar of 14-year-old teenage heartthrob Donny. In an Instagram video introducing "AI Donny," he said: "I have a new co-star at my Las Vegas residency, and we are going to be making history together. Can you imagine sharing the stage with your 14-year-old-self? Well, it's happening, thanks to some mind-blowing AI and CGI technology, I'm going to be talking and singing with Donny Osmond, you know the one from 1972." Donny is then joined by the avatar and asks him: "What does it feel like to sing with yourself 50 years in the future?" The young Donny said it was like performing with his "grandpa." To which, the real Donny replied: "You're my grandson, Daxton Osmond." At a click of the fingers, Donny and Daxton's faces interchanged. The "Puppy Love" hitmaker started his residency at Harrah's in Las Vegas back in 2021 and it will wrap in June. Speaking about the rise in the use of AI (artificial intelligence), Donny previously told Fox News Digital: "AI is a tool, not a substitute. So, I love the prospects of AI. I love what it can do for me as a producer, as an artist -- as a tool. And that's it." - Music-News.com, 2/7/25...... Guitarist Mike Ratledge, a co-founder of the British psych-rock band Soft Machine, died on Feb. 5. He was 81. The news of his passing was shared by his former Soft Machine bandmate John Etheridge, who explained that the death was related to a recent illness. "Incredibly sad news that my great friend and Soft Machine legend passed away two hours ago after a brief illness," he wrote. "Mike was the backbone of Soft Machine in the early years and a man with an absolutely incisive mind -- a marvellous composer and keyboardist. A real renaissance man -- so talented, cultured, charming -- and a wonderful companion. We used to meet every few weeks for over 40 yrs -- a treat for me. What a loss to all of us and his sisters and wonderful girlfriend Elena, who were with him at the end." Mr. Ratledge was born in Kent in 1943 and began his time in the music industry as a teenager when he Daevid Allen and joined his band the Daevid Allen Trio. As well as that, he grew up learning piano and clarinet and went on to get a degree in psychology and philosophy from Oxford's University College. He formed Soft Machine with Allen, Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers in 1966, and although the members would shift over the years, he remained the longest-serving member. He left the group in 1976. The band would make a name for themselves through their psych-pop, progressive sound and blend of jazz fusion. Alongside his work with Soft Machine, Mr. Ratledge also took on work as a composer and producer, working on various projects on television and in the theatre. He also famously joined forces with composer Karl Jenkins for his Adiemus: Songs Of Sanctuary album, and continued to work with Jenkins in the following years. - NME, 2/6/25.
On Feb. 5 Elton John and Brandi Carlile announced details of a new collaborative album called 
Cheap Trick will be among the headliners at the upcoming Pure Imagination Fest on May 17 in Prescott, Ariz. Other headliners include Grammy-nominated artist Matisyahu, and Grammy winning hip-hop group Arrested Development. Also on the bill is the 80s ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk outfit English Beat, as well as Gone Gone Beyond, Kelsey Waldon, Ponderosa Grove, Bird and Byron, Kids In America, Pijama Piyama and Dutch Holly. Since its debut in 2022, the female-founded and curated Pure Imagination Fest has become a standout experience, seamlessly merging music, nature, and culture with an eco-conscious ethos in the traditional lands of several Native American tribes. "Pure Imagination is about more than just music," event founder Candace Devine says. "It's about creating an unforgettable experience where people can connect, be inspired, and celebrate the power of art in one of the most beautiful places in the world." The event's 2024 promo video can be viewed on 
The Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 2 featured a star-studded tribute performance recognizing producer/composer/instrumentalist Quincy Jones's varied musical achievements throughout the decades. The performance was introduced by actor Will Smith, who acknowledged his career would not be what it is without Jones, who produced Smith's debut acting gig TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The musical portion of the tribute to Jones began with legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock playing Jones' classic '60s instrumental "Killer Joe." Hancock was then joined by vocal powerhouse Cynthia Erivo for a show-stopping performance of "Fly Me to the Moon," which became a signature song for Frank Sinatra with Jones arranging his performance. The duo were then replaced by country star Lainey Wilson for a rollicking performance of Jones' '90s rave-up "Let the Good Times Roll." After that, Hancock was welcomed back to the keys, along with all-time great Stevie Wonder on harmonica for a rendition of Jones' version of jazz staple "Bluesette." Wonder then capped the tribute by introducing (and leading the crowd in a singalong of) "We Are the World," the all-star USA for Africa charity single that Jones produced 40 years earlier in 1985. Jones is one of the most decorated figures in the history of the Grammys, winning 28 awards over the course of his generation-spanning career -- including two album of the year wins for Micheal Jackson's Thriller (1984) and his own Back on the Block (1991). Also during the Grammys, The Rolling Stones picked up a Best Rock Album award for their 2024 album Hackney Diamonds. Accepting the trophy on the Stones' behalf, Andrew Watt, producer of Hackney Diamonds, said: "Talked to Mick [Jagger] yesterday and he just wanted to say a big thank you to the Academy from the entire band. The legendary Frankie Valli of The Four Seasons was also honored with a Special Merit Award by the Recording Academy on Feb. 1. Valli made note of how long it took the Recording Academy to get around to him. Valli has never won a Grammy, on his own or in the Four Seasons, which landed their first three No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962-63. "This has been an incredible evening," he said. "I don't know what took so long, but that's the way it goes." - Billboard, 2/2/25...... As he attended the Janie's Fund Grammys viewing party in Los Angeles on Feb. 2, Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood opened up to US Weekly about his former bandmates Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham "I always have a fantasy that [Stevie] and Lindsay would pal up a bit more and just say everything's OK for them both. But we've had such an incredible career," Fleetwood told the magazine. This is not the first time Fleetwood has opened up about wanting Nicks and Buckingham to be friendlier. In 2024, he spoke to Mojo and shared: "It's no secret, it's no tittle-tattle that there is a brick wall there emotionally. Stevie's able to speak clearly about how she feels and doesn't feel, as does Lindsey. But I'll say, personally, I would love to see a healing between them -- and that doesn't have to take the shape of a tour, necessarily." In 2024, Buckingham shared that he would rejoin the Fleetwood Mac line-up "in a heartbeat," and Nicks has said there's "no reason" for the band to get together after the passing of Christine McVie. It was announced in 2024 that a "fully authorised," "definitive" Fleetwood Mac documentary to chronicle the history of the legendary band is in the works. - NME, 2/4/25...... 
Also at the Janie's Fund Grammy Viewing Party at the Hollywood Paladium, former Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler made his first return to the stage since Aerosmith's announcement that they were retiring from touring. Performing with Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt, Tyler's six-song set featured a rendition of Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic", Extreme's "More Than Words" with Mick Fleetwood, and "Dream On" with Lainey Wilson. Joined by Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton and the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson for performances of "Sweet Emotion," and "Walk This Way," the high-profile set closed out with a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker." The performance was only Tyler's second time appearing on stage since his vocal injury. In May 2024 -- months before Aerosmith announced their retirement from touring -- Tyler performed "Mama Kin" with the Black Crowes in London. At the time, the Black Crowes were planning to resume their role as the opening act for Aerosmith's then-postponed "Peace Out" tour later in the year. While performing in Elmont, NY on Sept. 9 of that year, Tyler fractured his larynx, necessitating the postponement of shows on their "Peace Out" tour. Ultimately, these shows were canceled entirely when the band announced their retirement from touring in Aug. 2024. It's currently unclear whether Tyler's return to the live stage could result in anything more in the future, though Hamilton did speak to Boston's WBUR in January to give an update on the possibility of one-off Aerosmith appearances down the line. "Steven's healing process is going really, really well, but it goes at its own pace," Hamilton told the station. "Maybe Aerosmith will do something in the future, but it's a big if and the last thing I want to be doing is to try and push Steven in that direction. If we do anything in the future, it would come from him." - Billboard, 2/3/25...... AC/DC announced on 
Joni Mitchell made a rare live appearance at the LA FireAid benefit show at the Kia Forum on Jan. 30. At the event to provide financial support for the victims of the recent devastating Los Angeles wildfires, one of the most memorable moments came as the 81-year-old iconic singer-songwriter took to the stage for a moving rendition of her hit "Both Sides Now" from her 1969 album Clouds. The singer remained seated on a gold throne as she broke out the track, and was joined by Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, as well as Lucius, Taylor MacKall, Blake Mills, and Abe Rounds. Footage of the performance can be viewed on