Posted by Administrator on July 5th, 2024
AC/DC kicked off their first night at London's Wembley Stadium on July 3 with a performance of "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" from 1979's iconic Highway To Hell, before going into "Back In Black," one of their best-known songs. Their 21-song set also featured other classic songs from across their 50-year career, as well as a couple from the most recent album, 2020's Power Up. After a 20-minute Angus Young guitar solo, a two-song encore followed, comprising "T.N.T." and "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)." As well as Young on lead guitar, the lineup for this tour also features vocalist Brian Johnson and rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, with Matt Laug and Chris Chaney on drums and bass respectively. The band are playing another show at Wembley on July 7 before a string of European dates across Germany, Slovakia, Belgium and France, and finishing off at Dublin's Croke Park on Aug. 17. - New Musical Express, 7/4/24...... 
Perturbed over several recent controversial rulings by the US Supreme Court, Bette Midler took to X on July 2 to share a Wizard of Oz parody song that calls out several Supreme Court Justices, including Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. "Neil and Brett, you spiteful judges/ We gals are holding grudges/ Keep church and state apart/ You could be less disruptive, in all matters reproductive/ If you only had a heart," she sings in the track, written by Eric Kornfeld, with music direction by Midler's long-time associate, Marc Shaiman. The song is a parody of "If I Only Had a Brain," the Oz classic written in 1939 by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. "Thumbs down to autocracy!! #VoteBlue2024ProtectDemocracy," the Grammy/Emmy/Tony Award winner captioned the post. Midler has long been an outspoken liberal and critic of Trump's, but even she found herself in hot water in 2022 over making what some perceived as anti-trans comments on Twitter in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. At the time, the controversy ignited a discussion around the importance of using inclusive language. Midler insisted there was "no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic" in her sentiments. "The truth is, Democracy is slipping through our fingers! I'm all in on trying to save Democracy for ALL PEOPLE. We must unite, because, in case you haven't been paying attention, divided we will definitely fall," she noted at the time. - Billboard, 7/2/24...... Appearing on a recent episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Roger Waters clashed with Piers Morgan on the talk show host's YouTube show after Morgan called him "the world's dumbest rock star." In the interview, Morgan and the co-founding Pink Floyd member got into a heated debate over what happened when Hamas invaded Israel last October, which reignited the current conflict. Waters proposed that there should be an investigation into what happened that day, particularly in relation to allegations of rape and sexual assault, which Hamas officials denied their officers were involved in. "I'm not saying a part of the Palestinian resistance movement didn't cross that wire fence. I am not saying that didn't happen at all," Waters said. "What I am saying is there is all this talk about does Israel have a right to defend itself why didn't Israel defend itself that morning?," Waters questioned. "Why did they wait seven hours before they started machine-gunning everyone? And all the great work that the Grayzone did in debunking all the filthy degusting lies that the Israelis told after October 7 about burning babies and women being raped." Morgan maintained that sexual violence was a part of the attack, a claim the United Nations has said there are "reasonable grounds" to believe happened. "No, they weren't," Waters insisted. "There was no evidence. You can say anything that you want, but there is no evidence." Now, in a post on Instagram about the interview (which can be viewed on YouTube), Morgan said that he and Waters had butted heads. "Update: I interviewed Pink Floyd star Roger Waters yesterday, after calling him 'the world's dumbest rock star' and a 'complete and utter moron.' It went as well as could be expected," Morgan wrote. Waters has made his support for Palestine very public but has also been frequently accused of anti-Semitism, which he has strenuously denied on the basis that he takes issue with the state of Israel, not Judaism as a whole. He has previously accused Israel of "abusing the term anti-Semitism to intimidate people like me into silence", and back in November he speculated that the "fishy" attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 could have been a "false flag operation." - New Musical Express, 7/4/24...... Willie Nelson is scheduled to return to the stage on July 4 after skipping the first seven dates of his Outlaw Music Festival due to an unspecified illness. Nelson, 91, is slated to perform at his Fourth of July Picnic gig in Camden, N.J. after missing a July 2 concert in Mansfield, MA at the Xfinity Center. "Willie Nelson is looking forward to seeing everyone in Camden on July 4," read an Instagram post on July 2. "He will not be performing in Mansfield today. Bob Dylan, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and Celisse will perform as scheduled. In addition, Lukas Nelson and Family, along with some special guests, will once again play his own set that will include Willie's classics and other songs." The Fourth of July show markes the first time in 14 years that Nelson's annual Fourth of July Picnic will be held outside of Texas. The Outlaw festival kicked off on June 21 in Alpharetta, Ga., with Nelson announcing that he was sitting out the opener "per doctor's orders," saying at the time that he'd been ordered to rest for four days. The outing is slated to wrap up with a Sept. 20 show in Gilford, N.H. Nelson released his 75th studio album, The Border, in May. - Billboard, 7/4/24...... 
A pair of blue suede shoes worn by Elvis Presley himself has sold for over $151,000 (£120,000) during an auction conducted by Henry Aldrige & Son in Devizes, UK on June 28. The shoes were first acquired by the King of Rock & Roll after he performed the Carl Perkins hit "Blue Suede Shoes," and wore the shoes for various interviews and public appearances throughout the 1950s, most notably on The Steve Allen Show in the US, on which he performed "Hound Dog." According to auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, the shoes are what "you think of immediately when you talk about Elvis Presley" and they "transcend popular culture." Aldridge elaborated: "When Elvis joined up for the American army, he had a get-together at Graceland. Elvis called some of these people upstairs and was giving away some of the clothes he didn't think he'd need or want when he came back from the army. The gentleman concerned was Alan Fortas, Elvis's branch manager and a friend of his." Over the years, the shoes had spent time on display at various museums. Aldrige said that their authenticity had been verified by singer Jimmy Velvet, who was a close friend of Presley and himself used to run a museum of Elvis memorabilia. The shoes can be viewed on Aldrige's Instagram page. In other Elvis news, Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tenn., has announced "Virtual Elvis Week 2024" will take place on Aug. 9-16 and allow viewers to celebrate the legacy of the King through a worldwide online experience with live concert events, conversations with special guests, ultimate contests, and exclusive videos. Highlights include an "Elvis: Back in Memphis" concert, tribute artist concerts and contests, the Elvis Fan Choice Awards, an "Elvis: Return to Vegas" show, "Conversations on Elvis," and more. Guests joining the Elvis Week lineup this year include Elvis' friend Jerry Schilling, Elvis' girlfriend Linda Thompson, and Larry Geller, Elvis' hairstylist and spiritual advisor, among many other guests. As always, Graceland will also livestream free-of-charge the annual Candlelight Vigil held at Graceland on the evening of Aug. 15. - NME/Music-News.com, 7/2/24...... Paul McCartney has announced he'll be going "south of the border" with new tour dates in Brazil, set to take place later in 2024. The former Beatle ended his 2023 string of "Got Back" shows in Brazil, and has now revealed that he's returning for more shows this October. "Finishing 2023 in Brazil was an incredible experience. The warmth and love you showed us on our last visit was incredible. We just knew we had to get back and see you again," Sir Paul said via an Instagram post announcing the new Brazilian dates. October will see McCartney will play a total of three shows in Brazil: two stadium shows at Allianz Parque in So Paulo on Oct. 15 and 16, and one in Florianpolis, Brasil at Estdio da Ressacada on Oct. 19. In November, he'll play Monterrey, Mexico (11/8) and Mexico City, Mexico (11/12) before wrapping with another show in Mexico City on Nov. 17. Tickets to Paul McCartney's Brazil shows are now on sale and can be purchased via his official website. - NME, 7/2/24...... Deep Purple have shared "Lazy Sod," their new single from their upcoming album =1. The song's title is inspired by a journalist who recently called Purple frontman Ian Gillan just that. Gillan, 78, says he agreed with the reporter because he has penned way less music than country music legend Dolly Parton, who is the same age as him. "Recently, a young journalist asked me how many songs I had written in my life," Gillan told ROCKS magazine. "I replied that the last time my assistant counted, twenty years ago, it was over 500. I felt quite accomplished until she pointed out Dolly Parton's 5,000 songs, calling me a lazy sod. I couldn't help but agree and wrote down the exchange in my notebook." "Lazy Sod" follows the band's recent singles "Portable Door" and "Pictures of You." As for the theme, a press release teased: "The enigmatic title '=1' symbolises the idea that in a world growing ever more complex, everything eventually simplifies down to a single, unified essence. Everything equals one." The band shared mysterious equations and depictions of multiverses in London, Paris, and Berlin to tease the record, which arrives on July 19. Deep Purple will also bring their "= 1 MORE TIME TOUR" to Birmingham, London, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, with support from indie rockers Reef, this November. - Music-News.com, 7/3/24...... 
An all-star Country tribute to late rocker Tom Petty has made a chart-topping debut on Billboard's Compilation Albums chart for the week dated July 6. The 20-track Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty boasts country covers of tunes originally performed and written by Petty (who died in 2017), including "Runnin' Down a Dream" (covered by Luke Combs), "I Should Have Known It" (Chris Stapleton, who was one of the first artists to come on board the project), "Southern Accents" (Dolly Parton), "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (Lady A), "American Girl" (Dierks Bentley) and "I Won't Back Down" (Brothers Osborne). With almost 11,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending June 27, Petty Country earns the biggest-selling week for any compilation album in well over a year. The set was issued on CD, digital download, and across four vinyl variants (all color variations). In other Tom Petty news, it was announced on July 1 that the "vast majority of songs" in Petty's catalog, including with the Heartbreakers, solo and with Traveling Wilburys, are included in a new global publishing deal between Petty's estate and Warner Chappell Music. The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, covers dozens of Heartbreakers-backed songs including "Refugee," "Here Comes My Girl" and "Even the Losers," along with all-timers like "The Waiting," "Learning to Fly" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" off later efforts. The pact does not include "American Girl" or the band's first eponymous album. The Petty estate praised the new partnership as it looks to "expand the reach" of the singer-songwriter's expansive catalog and bring in new fans to his work. As recently as 2022, Petty's publishing catalog was administered by Wixen Music Publishing, which went after an Arizona politician for their unauthorized use of his anthem "I Won't Back Down." - Billboard, 7/2/24...... The Rolling Stones have been offered another concert at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach in Brazil -- meaning they could take back their concert attendance record Madonna surpassed. The Queen of Pop wrapped her "Celebration" tour by playing her biggest-ever concert in Rio de Janeiro in May, playing to an estimated 1.6 million fans at Copacabana Beach. The Stones performed to 1.5 million people there on their A Bigger Bang tour in 2006. According to an item in the UK's The Sun, promoter Daniel Grinbank, who organized the concert 19 years ago, has contacted Mick Jagger and co to see if they would be interested in playing in South American again. "Daniel has approached them about coming back to South America for some shows and thinks another concert at Copacabana 19 years on could see The Stones taking back the record from Madonna," a source said. "The talks are ongoing but if anything is announced, it won't be until the band have finished up their North America run." However the one to beat is Rod Stewart, who played to a whopping 4.2 million fans at the same location on New Year's Eve in 1994. - Music-News.com, 7/3/24...... Stevie Nicks was seen looking visibly emotional at a recent Taylor Swift concert in Dublin, Ireland on June 30. On that night, Swift performed the last of a three-show run at the Aviva Stadium as part of her ongoing "Eras" tour, and played her Midnights track "You're On Your Own, Kid" during her set. Nicks has previously thanked Swift for penning the song because it captured how she felt about losing Christine McVie. Last year, she told fans at an Atlanta show the significance of the track, saying: "That is the sadness of how I feel." he explained: "As long as Chris was, even on the other side of the world. We didn't have to talk on the phone, we really weren't phone buddies. Then we would go back to Fleetwood Mac, and we would walk in and it would be like, 'Little sister, how are you?' It was like never a minute had passed, never an argument in our entire 47 years. So, when it was the two of us, the two of us were on our own, kids, we always were. And now, I'm having to learn to be on my own, kid, by myself. So, you help me to do that. Thank you." Fan-shot footage of Nicks crying during the song has been shared on X. - NME, 7/1/24...... 
On July 2 Heart announced they were postponing the remainder of their North American headlining "Royal Flush Tour" and their opening dates on the Journey/Def Leppard stadium tour, due to frontwoman Ann Wilson's recent health issues. "I underwent an operation to remove something that, as it turns out, was cancerous," Wilson shared in a press statement. "The operation was successful & I'm feeling great but my doctors are now advising me to undergo a course of preventive chemotherapy & I've decided to do it. And so my doctors are instructing me to take the rest of the year away from the stage in order to fully recover. To the ticket buyers, I really do wish we could do these gigs. Please know that I absolutely plan to be back on stage in 2025. My team is getting those details sorted & we'll let you know the plan as soon as we can." Wilson concluded by noting, "This is merely a pause. I've much more to sing." Fans are encouraged to hold on to their tickets for the upcoming postponed dates. In May, Heart canceled their European tour dates. Heart's "Royal Flush" tour marks the band's return to the road for the first time in five years. The North America leg kicked off April 20 in Greenville, S.C., with Cheap Trick as support on most dates, while Squeeze was set to open on a handful of those now-canceled summer European dates. - Billboard, 7/2/24...... Peter Collins, the British record producer who's worked with the likes of Rush, Bon Jovi and more, has passed away in his home in Nashville, Tenn. after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 73. Collins' producing credits include Rush's Power Windows, Bon Jovi's These Days, Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime, Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid, Jewel's Spirit, Rick Astley's Portrait and over 50 other albums. Rush paid tribute to the producer with a post on their official Instagram post. "Peter Collins was our beloved producer for 4 albums. First on 'Power Windows' ('85), then 'Hold Your Fire' ('87), 'Counterparts' ('93) and 'Test For Echo' ('96). We loved seeing him in Nashville when we came through on tour. He had a mischievous, beaming smile and great sense of humour. He will be so missed. RIP Mr. Big," read the caption. Rush vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee also shared his own tribute to Collins on his official Instagram account. "So sad to hear of the passing of Peter Collins. A dear, dear friend and producer of 4 different RUSH albums. During periods in the 80's and 90's we had some incredible musical adventures together, in various studios across the globe. He truly was our Mr. Bigwith his ever present cigar and constant good humour. After hitting the record button, I can still hear him say 'OK boys, from the topping no stopping!' We love ya B, rest in peace and thank you from the bottom of our hearts." - NME, 7/1/24.
Executors of Michael Jackson's estate filed papers on June 21 in Los Angeles County Superior Court that show Jackson was apparently dealing with a staggering $500 million in "debt and creditors' claims, with some of the debt accruing interest at extremely high interest rates, and some debt in default." The document shows Jackson, who died in June 2009 from a heart attack, had more than 65 claims made against him by creditors, which sparked further litigation. Executors wrote in the filing that they did settle these claims or had otherwise resolved them. Along with creditors, Jackson's untimely death also left his estate liable financially -- he reportedly owed $40 million to promoter AEG for his "This Is It" residency. He had been scheduled to to perform at London's O2 between 2009 and March 2010, until fate stepped in. In 2013, forensic accountant William Ackerman testified that the singer was "tapped out" in a wrongful death trial Jackson's mother Katherine Jackson filed against AEG, detailing how he spent the majority of his money on travel, art, charity, gifts and lavish furniture, and that Jackson was reportedly paying 15million per year on old debts, saying that "consistently, his [Jackson] largest expenditure was interest expense. He spent a ton of money on interest." Additionally, the executors also requested reimbursement for their attorneys with money from his estate for legal services in 2018 - New Musical Express, 6/29/24...... 
The Eagles' co-founder Don Henley filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on June 28 seeking the return of his handwritten notes and song lyrics from the band's 1976 album Hotel California. The civil complaint comes after prosecutors in March abruptly dropped criminal charges midway through a trial against three collectibles experts accused of scheming to sell the documents. Henley has maintained the pages were stolen and had vowed to pursue a lawsuit when the criminal case was dropped against rare books dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and rock memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski. "These 100 pages of personal lyric sheets belong to Mr. Henley and his family, and he has never authorized defendants or anyone else to peddle them for profit," Daniel Petrocelli, Henley's lawyer, said in statement. According to the lawsuit, the handwritten pages remain in the custody of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, which declined to comment on the litigation. Lawyers for Kosinski and Inciardi dismissed the legal action as baseless, noting the criminal case was dropped after it was determined that Henley misled prosecutors by withholding critical information. "Don Henley is desperate to rewrite history," Shawn Crowley, Kosinski's lawyer, said in an emailed statement. "We look forward to litigating this case and bringing a lawsuit against Henley to hold him accountable for his repeated lies and misuse of the justice system." Inciardi's lawyer, Stacey Richman, said in a separate statement that the lawsuit attempts to "bully" and "perpetuate a false narrative." During the trial, the men's lawyers argued that Henley gave the lyrics pages decades ago to a writer who worked on a never-published Eagles biography and later sold the handwritten sheets to Horowitz. He, in turn, sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski, who started putting some of the pages up for auction in 2012. The criminal case was abruptly dropped after prosecutors agreed that defense lawyers had essentially been blindsided by 6,000 pages of communications involving Henley and his attorneys and associates. - Billboard, 6/29/24...... The story of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band's ad hoc performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival in 1969 is legendary and oft told, and is the subject of a new documentary, Ron Chapman's Revival69: The Concert that Rocked the World, out now via a variety of platforms. Using footage shot on that day by legendary documentarian D.A. Pennebaker, it chronicles how festival organizers, fretting over low tickets sales and indebted to a motorcycle gang financier, put in a last-minute call to England and convinced Lennon to agree to fly from London to Toronto on short notice and play on the same bill as his rock n' roll heroes -- Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent and more -- as well as The Doors and Chicago. Lennon, however, had no band, so he rounded up a crew that included Eric Clapton (after Beatles mate George Harrison declined), Klaus Voormann -- a friend from the Beatles' early Hamburg days who designed the album cover for Revolver and was playing in Manfred Mann -- and fledgling drummer Alan White, whom he saw play in a London club (and who famously hung up on Lennon's first phone call). With minimal rehearsal -- a bit on the plane ride over and backstage -- the troupe played a rough and tumble set of covers, the Beatles' "Yer Blues," Lennon's not-yet recorded "Cold Turkey" and "Give Peace a Chance," as well as two Ono songs, including the lengthy, free-form "John John (Let's Hope For Peace)." As Lennon's first full-scale concert performance since the Beatles' last show on Aug. 29, 1966, in San Francisco, it was a bit loose, and it's preserved on the Live Peace in Toronto 1969 album released three months later. Voorman says he "felt sorry for John" because he "felt out of place on stage." "John never was a frontman on stage," Voorman says. "People don't realize (that) when you're with a band you may do a little bit of saying, 'Here's the next number'. He was never the frontman who was actually organizing a stage persona. He never had that." - Billboard, 6/28/24...... In other Lennon-related news, a new music video he directed for his 1973 song "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)" from his Mind Games album has been shared on YouTube. The brand new video has been released to accompany the song's fresh "ultimate mix," which will appear on the upcoming Mind Games deluxe box set that's due out on July 12. It's set to contain 'ultimate mixes' of every song on the albums, along with a variety of alternate mixes. Now, fans can watch Lennon's directing skills with home video footage shot by the musician on a Sony Portapak in 1973. Taken just as he moved into his new NYC apartment with Yoko Ono, scenes of his apartment, Central Park, Ono and Lennon himself can be watched in the music video. - NME, 6/27/24...... Chatting with guest host Martin Short during the June 26 episode of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, singer Beck told of a Grammy night mission in Hollywood as Paul McCartney's wingman. The pair went is search of a party, with Mark Ronson working the decks. Beck and McCartney, a household name everywhere since the Beatles got their break in the early '60s, were bounced. "How V.I.P. do we gotta get," McCartney, the two-time Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inducted can be heard saying to the door staff. To add insult to the injury to Beck's ego, the late night show aired a clip of the mid-adventure. Beck's interview can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 6/27/24...... 
A California judge is refusing -- at least for now -- to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Village People against Disney that claims the Hollywood giant blackballed the legendary disco band from performing at Walt Disney World. In a ruling issued on June 21, San Diego County Superior Judge Katherine Bacal ruled that the Village People could move forward with the case, which accuses Disney of violating state laws and committing fraud by placing a "do not book edict" on the group. Disney had argued that it has a First Amendment right to hire -- or to not hire -- any band it chooses, citing a special California law designed to protect free speech. But in her recent ruling, the judge said the company had failed to prove that the statute applied to the case. Importantly, the decision does not mean the Village People will win the lawsuit. Instead, Judge Bacal merely rejected Disney's request to dismiss the case at the earliest stage. The two sides will now proceed to discovery and an eventual trial, where the band will need to fully prove its claims. - Billboard, 6/26/24...... Neil Young & Crazy Horse have announced a "big unexpected break" from their ongoing tour due to illness in the band. On June 26, Young and the band took his Neil Young Archives website to announce the cancellation of their remaining shows, writing: "The 'Love Earth' tour has been a great experience for us so far. GREAT AUDIENCES AND MUSIC. WE HAVE HAD A BLAST! When a couple of us got sick after Detroit's Pine Knob, we had to stop. We are still not fully recovered, so sadly our great tour will have a big unplanned break." They continued in the blog post: "We will try to play some of the dates we miss as time passes when we are ready to rock again! We know many of you made travel plans and we apologise for the inconvenience. Thanks for your understanding and patience. Health is #1. We want to stay and do more shows and more albums for you and for us." Refund details have yet to be announced, nor have rescheduled dates for the rest of the tour, which was meant to resume on July 8 in Toronto and conclude on Sep. 29 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. - NME, 6/27/24...... Bette Midler posted a long string of reactions on social media as she watched the telecast of the presidential debate between Pres. Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump on June 27 in Atlanta, Ga. "All my friends are taking their blood pressure medicine now, preparing for the debate," Midler tweeted on X ahead of the face-off. "I wonder how many TV screens are going to be broken tonight? Every word out of his mouth is a lie. Every single word." Midler made her stance even clearer with another tweet: "The Worst President In The History of The United States. The absolute worst, Donald Trump, now and forever." Midler's fellow diva Barbra Streisand tweeted that "Debates are not governing. They are about televised theatrics. Biden is accomplished at governing. He is experienced and has accomplished a great deal." Another Trump critic, Star Wars legend Mark Hamill, posted on X he was "Keeping my expectations low for this debate considering the highlight last time was "Will you shut up, man?!" - Billboard, 6/27/24...... Speaking of Pres. Biden, he was joined by Elton John and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on June 28 during a ceremony for the opening of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City, to mark the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Both the president and Elton spoke at the event, with the Rocket Man urging the LGBTQ+ community to keep fighting. "55 years ago, in this sacred spot of the Stonewall Uprising, gay activists stood strong and ignited a movement that has changed history for the better," he said. He continued, to rapturous applause, "As President Biden has reminded us today -- do we stand up for our vision and our values, or let misinformation and senseless scapegoating turn back the clock? No f----ing way." John closed the event with a performance of his hits "Bennie And The Jets," "I'm Still Standing" and "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." Meanwhile, Elton and his husband David Furnish have outlined their support of UK pol Keir Starmer and the Labour party at the forthcoming general election. Tireless champions of emerging talent and new artists, John and Furnish delivered a video message at a major campaign event in London on June 29 as Labour's campaign for change reaches the final weekend before polling day. "It's heartbreaking to see the hopes of Britain's next generation of creative talent downtrodden and destroyed by bureaucracy and red tape," Elton said in the video. "The rich cultural exchange and education that informed my early years and paved the way for my career and success is drying up and in danger of dying out completely. And it's not just the musicians, but the whole team that puts together a tour and the wider industry that relies on emerging talent to thrive in the future." He continued: "That's why we're backing Keir and Labour to win this election. There is only one choice. Let's help artists cut through the red tape that prevents them from thriving and contributing to this country's future success. Let's show the world what a creative, prosperous and forward thinking nation Britain is. Let's get behind Labour to win on 4 July." - NME, 6/30/24...... Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters has reflected on the 50th anniversary of the time they played their 1974 Country-themed song "Fairytale" at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn, and were mistaken for the kitchen help. On Oct. 25, 1974, four years after Linda Martell became the first Black woman to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, the Pointer Sisters became the first Black vocal group to perform at the famed Nashville venue (though without June, who was absent due to exhaustion). "When we performed at the Grand Ole Opry people were yelling from the audience, 'Oh my God, them gals is Black!'" Ruth says with a laugh. "They had planned a party for us, and when we showed up they ran out to the car, ran us around the back and put us in the kitchen. I thought they were hiding us to make a surprise entrance. Then (Rubinson) came back, 'What are you guys doing back here?' We told him, 'We think they're keeping us here to come out as a surprise' and he said, 'No. They think you're the help.' And we're like, 'Oh, OK' (laughs) So that was our experience with the Grand Ole Opry and country and Nashville." "Fairytale" won a Grammy Award for best country vocal performance by a duo or group the following year (one of the group's three Grammy wins), and in 1986, Anita Pointer hit No. 2 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart via a duet with Earl Thomas Conley on his single, "Too Many Times." The Pointer Sisters kick off a run of co-headlining shows with The Commodores, titled "An Evening of Icons," on July 26. - Billboard, 6/27/24...... 
On June 26 Van Morrison announced on Instagram that he'll be releasing a new album titled New Arrangements and Duets on Sept. 27. The album will be comprised of unreleased material the Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer has had in his catalogue. According to Xsnoise.com, the big band tracks were recorded in 2014 with Paul Moran and Chris White individually choosing the tracks they wanted to create big band arrangements for. "This album represents a small percentage of the huge amount of unreleased material we are hoping to roll out in the near future, rather than letting it gather dust in some archive," the Celtic crooner posted. New Arrangements and Duets will feature songs with the likes of Willie Nelson, Joss Stone, Curtis Stigers and Kurt Elling which were all recorded between 2018 and 2019. An official lyric clip for its lead single, "Choppin Wood," has been made available on YouTube. Morrison is set to embark on a handful of live shows in July in Europe as well as a show in California later in 2024. He'll play Dublin on July 4, Gloucestershire on July 7, and Belfast on July 11. On Oct. 19 and 20, he'll play two nights at L.A.'s Orpheus Theatre. - NME, 6/26/24...... Daryl Hall has opened up about the "real truth" behind the feud with his former Hall & Oates bandmate John Oates. The pair have been embroiled in a legal battle after Hall announced he was suing Oates after claiming that he was left "blindsided" by his plan to sell a business stake in Nov. 2023 -- which Oates described as "inaccurate." Now in a new interview with Billboard, Hall has opened up about the origins of their split. "John and I did not have a creative relationship for decades; the last song I wrote with John was in 2000, and that was with somebody else. We toured and we toured and we toured, and it was very restrictive to me, and to John," he said. He continued: "The real truth of it all is John just said one day he didn't want to do it anymore. I said, 'OK', but the problem is [Oates] didn't make the parting and breakup easy, and that's where the difficulties lay and still lay, and that's all it is." Oates previously revealed that his friendship with Hall was not actually as tight as it may have seemed to the outside world. Speaking to Good Morning America, the musician claimed the pair's working relationship had been distant even before the lawsuit, limited only to playing onstage where they "trotted out the hits." Though there was no animosity, Oates claimed they "never really talked to each other", adding: "Over the past 20 years, we'd show up at a show individually, walk on stage, play, and then we'd go our separate ways. It really wasn't as tight as people might, you know, would like to imagine in their kind of a fantasy imagination of our relationship." Oates also previously said although he believes Hall & Oates' catalogue "will stand the test of time," he has also "moved on." - NME, 6/26/24...... The Rolling Stones are the latest artists to collaborate with Universal's interactive game Roblox. Following collabs with Elton John, Nicki Minaj and Lil Nas X, the latest Roblox venture sees the Stones introduced to Beat Galaxy, a virtual world created by Universal Music Group. Users will be able to play an interactive track-runner game featuring Rolling Stones hits, compete for prizes, and obtain exclusive virtual Rolling Stones merchandise during the experience. There will also be a virtual club and social hub. "Bringing our music to the virtual world of Beat Galaxy is an innovative way to connect with our new and existing fans," said the band in a statement. The Rolling Stones Roblox experience is live now. - NME, 6/26/24...... Patti Smith dedicated a cover of Lana Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness" to her late husband, MC5's Fred Smith during a performance at Vicar Street in Dublin, Ireland on June 27. Halfway through her set, Smith surprised audiences with a cover of "Summertime Sadness." Smith was visibly emotional during the cover, and she dedicated the song to her late husband and MC5 member Fred Smith. She told audiences that the track reminded her of their "wild youth." Earlier in the night, she covered Bob Dylan's 'Man in the Long Black Coat'. It marked just the second time she has performed the song live, and the third overall, posting a video of her cover onto YouTube earlier in June. Smith's sterring cover of "Summertime Blues" can be watched on YouTube. - NME, 6/28/24...... 
The estates of '70s disco queen Donna Summer and modern rapper Kanye West have reached an agreement concerning the "illegal" use of Summer's hit "I Feel Love" on the controversial West's Vultures 1 album. West, 47, used an unauthorized interpolation of the late singer's 1977 hit "I Feel Love"' on "Good (Don't Die)," which features on his and Ty Dolla $ign's joint LP, and was released independently by Ye's YZY brand on Feb. 10, 2024. The song features the lyrics: "Oh, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive" set to the melody of the classic track from the Queen of Disco, who died in 2012 aged 63. A statement shared on the Instagram "Story of Donna"'s account earlier this year read: "Kanye West asked permission to use Donna Summer's song I Feel Love, he was denied he changed the words, had someone re sing it or used AI but it's I Feel Love copyright infringement!!!(sic)" As a result, the pair were hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit by Summer's widow, Bruce Sudano, who accused them of "shamelessly" re-recording the "instantly recognizable" part of the hit. After it was recently revealed that a settlement was reached, the case has been dismissed with prejudice. However, no information regarding the settlement has been made public. Kanye was also hit with a separate copyright claim by Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne, who accused him of sampling the Sabbath classic "War Pigs" on Vultures 1 without permission. - Music-News.com, 6/25/24...... Gibson Guitars have shared details of a new "YardBurst" 1959 Les Paul Custom, made in honor of guitar icon Jeff Beck. The new model arrives both as the guitar manufacturer celebrates 130 of music history, and on the same day as the legendary player would have celebrated his 80th birthday. It pays homage to the axe that Beck played as he was first put on the map -- the iconic 1959 Les Paul Standard that he played when making a name for himself as part of The Yardbirds. Available now (but apparently already sold out), the "YardBurst" is a faithful recreation of the historic guitar, and has been designed to capture all of its distinctive traits including the classic white bobbin humbuckers and black single-ply pickguard. Only 130 have been made -- in keeping with the Gibson 130th anniversary -- and each one was made by hand at the Murphy Lab and artfully aged to match the exact appearance of the original model during the guitarist's Yardbird days. It comes following the unexpected death of the guitar pioneer in Jan. 2023, when he was aged 78. - NME, 6/25/24...... Kinky Friedman, the Country singer-songwriter known for songs like "Sold American" and his quick wit in his writings, interviews and beyond, died at his home in Texas on June 26. He was 79. His death was announced via a statement posted to X. "Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by family & friends," the message read. "Kinkster endured tremendous pain & unthinkable loss in recent years but he never lost his fighting spirit and quick wit. Kinky will live on as his books are read and his songs are sung." Additionally, following the news of his death, Friedman's estate posted a sweet excerpt from one of his 1993 columns about his love for animals: "They say when you die and go to heaven all the dogs and cats you've ever had in your life come running to meet you." In the music world, Friedman's best known album was 1973's Sold American, which featured the title track, "High On Jesus," "The Ballad Of Charles Whitman" and more. He also had a humor-filled campaign to run for Texas governor back in 2006 with the slogan, "How hard can it be?" Despite the longshot, he managed to garner almost 13% of the vote. He also ran a popular column at Texas Monthly, and released a series of successful novels, including 1986's Greenwich Killing Time, 1987's A Case Of Lone Star, 1988's When the Cat's Away and, most recently, 2008's What Would Kinky Do? How to Unscrew a Screwed Up World. - Billboard, 6/27/24...... 
Martin Mull, the hip comedic actor best known for his roles on Fernwood 2 Night and Roseanne, died on June 27 after what his daughter described as "a valiant fight against a long illness." He was 80. Mr. Mull, who was also a guitarist and painter, came to national fame with a recurring role on the Norman Lear-created satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and the starring role in its spinoff, Fernwood Tonight. "He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials," his TV writer-producer daughter Maggie Mull (Family Guy) said in an Instagram post. "He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and -- the sign of a truly exceptional person -- by many, many dogs." Known for his blonde hair and well-trimmed mustache, Mr. Mull was born in Chicago on Aug. 18, 1943, raised in Ohio and Connecticut and studied art in Rhode Island and Rome. His first foray into show business was as a songwriter, penning the 1970 semi-hit "A Girl Named Johnny Cash" for singer Jane Morgan. He would combine music and comedy in an act that he brought to hip Hollywood clubs in the 1970s. "In 1976 I was a guitar player and sit-down comic appearing at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip when Norman Lear walked in and heard me," Mull told the AP in 1980. "He cast me as the wife beater on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Four months later I was spun off on my own show." His time on the Strip was memorialized in the 1973 country rock classic "Lonesome L.A. Cowboy" where the Riders of the Purple Sage give him a shoutout along with music luminaries Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge. Mr. Mull appeared in 49 episodes of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, 44 episodes of Fernwood 2 Night and 65 episodes of America 2-Night. In a case of life imitating art, Mr. Mull would get to be a real talk-show host when he filled in for Johnny Carson on NBC's The Tonight Show. Mr. Mull also appeared in two more long-running TV series. He played Roseanne Barr's gay boss (and later business partner), Leon Carp, on 46 episodes of her smash sitcom Roseanne (1991-97). His sexual orientation was treated matter-of-factly. That was groundbreaking on TV at the time, when gay characters rarely appeared at all. Mull was also a creative consultant on the fourth season of Roseanne and wrote the episode "Tolerate Thy Neighbor." His partner on Roseanne was played by Fred Willard (who died in 2020). He also played the nosy Principal Willard Kraft on 39 episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1997-2000). Mr. Mull also appeared as a voice actor on numerous episodes of Family Dog, Teamo Supremo, Danny Phenom and American Dad!. Mr. Mull received a Primetime Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series in 2016 for playing Bob Bradley on HBO's Veep. Given his long career in TV, the nomination was overdue and most likely given in recognition of a lifetime of solid work. Mr. Mull made his bigscreen debut in FM, a 1978 film about an FM radio station. He played the libidinous DJ Eric Swan. The FM soundtrack album, featuring many of the top rock stars of the era, rose to No. 5 on album chart. Mr. Mull went on to play Teri Garr's boss Ron Richardson in 1983's Mr. Mom; Colonel Mustard in the 1985 comedy Clue; and Justin Gregory in 1993's Mrs. Doubtfire, to cite three of his most successful films. Twice divorced, Mr. Mull is survived by his daughter and musician Wendy Haas, his wife since 1982. - Billboard, 6/29/24.
As the new highly anticipated Beach Boys authorized documentary The Beach Boys premiered on May 24, BB co-founders Al Jardine and Mike Love sat down with Billboard at Hollywood's EastWest Studios to comment on the film. Jardine says he first met Brian and Carl Wilson, cousins of Love, in high school some 60 years ago and, according to Love, "the blending developed into something much more sublime." The key to the Beach Boys' stunning vocal arrangements, was "sublimating your individuality" for the good of the overall sound...we were obsessed with that," Love adds. The Beach Boys, initially comprised of Jardine, Love, Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, have charted 55 songs on the pop charts -- starting with their first sun-drenched single, "Surfin'," in 1962, and including four No. 1's: 1964's "I Get Around," 1965's "Help Me, Rhonda," 1966's "Good Vibrations" and 1988's "Kokomo." The documentary examines the band's creation in Hawthorne, Calif., and how they became, as the film attests, "America's band" -- and have remained so, with their upbeat music spanning more than half a century. "Certainly my goal was to find out how it all happened, and to tell the individual stories of each member," says director Frank Marshall, who has directed previous music documentaries on the Bee Gees and James Taylor/Carole King. "It's very complicated. A couple of members come and go and come back. And so it was really a journey for me of exploring how this group came together and what made it tick." The five original band members reunited again briefly on May 21 at the premiere of the documentary in Los Angeles, and Love says he looks at the whole process as a gift. "We're grateful and thankful and somewhat honored to have this documentary that Mr. Marshall has taken under wing," he says. "It's a fantastic thing to have happen at this stage of our lives." The official trailer of The Beach Boys can be viewed on 
In other Springsteen-related news, The Boss's country artist daughter Alana Springsteen recently brought friends together in a Nashville backyard to crack a Bud Light beer and offer a glimpse into her songwriting process and more. "When I think of country music, I think of home. I think of where I grew up -- family -- all the best things," the Alana explained in her installment of the Billboard presents Bud Light Backyard content series. "I've just always experienced my life through music. Once I started writing my own songs, I never looked back. That was it for me." A 23-year-old country singer with a soulful voice and vulnerable songwriting style, Springsteen had a publishing deal by her mid-teens, and knows a thing or two about storytelling. Born and raised in Virginia Beach, Va., she grew up singing in church and received her first guitar at the age of seven. She credits her uncle for teaching her chords and technique early on. After an impressive 2019 self-titled debut EP, she shared two more projects ahead of her first-ever full length LP, Twenty Something, which dropped in 2023. "The secret to writing great songs and being creative is just keeping it casual," she added, adding that collaboration with her trusted circle of friends that includes Corey Kent and Dalton Dover helps the everyday process. Her interview has been shared on 
Rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs, already the object of several accusations alleging he raped or abused at least eight women, has yet another story that makes him look even worse than he already does -- this time that he disprespected iconic R&B singer Chaka Khan and had her son beaten up, according to Khan's daughter. Indira Milini Khan brought her anger toward the 54-year-old Diddy by commenting on his Instagram apology video from May 19. "I'm glad this is happening to you," Indira posted on 
Even though a Rush reunion is unlikely to happen, guitarist Alex Lifeson has been playing songs from the band he was a member of for five decades with lead vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee again. In a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock he says he and Lee have been playing old Rush songs during weekly hangouts. "We decided that we would play some Rush songs. Because, you know, we haven't played these songs in 10 years," Lifeson tells the magazine. "We started that a couple of weeks ago. We get together one day a week over at his place. We just picked some Rush songs and we started playing them and we sound like a really, really bad Rush tribute band." Rush played their final show in 2015 and called it quits after drummer Neil Peart died in Jan. 2020. In the years since, Lifeson and Lee have kept themselves busy with a variety of side projects -- including Lifeson's Envy of None band he co-founded in 2021 -- but the two have maintained a close bond that stretches back to the early '70s. Playing together, casually, has been a fun exercise, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Lifeson says. "Trying to figure out the songs, I'm thinking, 'Why did we write that so difficult? Why is this so hard to play?'" he says. "After about three run-throughs of all of these songs, muscle memory kicks in and your hand just goes to where it goes. You sort of get out of the way and you play and you go, 'Thank God, I did make this simpler than it felt.'" But Lifeson cautioned that he and Lee have no plans to reform Rush with a new drummer for a tour. "I'm 70. It's not as easy to get my fingers to do what my brain tells me to do," he says. "They're much lazier than they used to be and they have a poor memory. Doing this really helps a lot, and it's fun. That's it. The whole thing was that in the beginning, it was just fun. We're having a riot together doing that. There's no rhyme or reason. We're not planning on going back on the road, finding a new drummer or anything like that. It's just fun to do it." - Canoe.com, 5/22/24...... Neil Young and Crazy Horse have announced a new archival album, 
Richard M. Sherman, the Oscar-winning songwriter who partnered with his late brother to craft tunes for such Disney classics as Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Jungle Book, died on May 25 at the age of 95. Mr. Sherman, who also co-wrote "It's a Small World (After All)" -- considered to be among the most performed songs ever -- as well as "You're Sixteen," a 1960 hit for Johnny Burnette which Ringo Starr took to No. 1 on the hit parade in 1974, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of age-related illness, Disney announced. Members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and recipients of the National Medal of Honor, Richard and his older brother, Robert Sherman, wrote an estimated 1,000 songs and music for 50 movies, and they were reportedly responsible for more movie musical songs than anyone in history. For their work on Mary Poppins (1964), the Sherman brothers made two victorious trips to the Academy Awards stage at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, accepting the trophies for best original score and best song ("Chim Chim Cher-ee"). Their movie work also included The Parent Trap (1961) -- which featured "Let's Get Together," their inventive "duet" performed by Hayley Mills -- The Sword in the Stone (1963), Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), The AristoCats (1970), Snoopy, Come Home (1972), Charlotte's Web (1973), Tom Sawyer (1973) and The Tigger Movie (2000). Richard Sherman was born in Manhattan on June 12, 1928, 30 months after his brother. Their mother was a Broadway actress and their father was Tin Pan Alley composer Al Sherman. Robert died in March 2012 at age 86. B.J. Novak played him, and Jason Schwartzman portrayed Richard, in the Disney film Saving Mr. Banks (2013), about the making of Mary Poppins. Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Elizabeth; his children, Gregory, Victoria and Lynda; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. - The Hollywood Reporter, 5/25/24...... Country music artist Frank Ifield -- who also is credited with helping to launch The Beatles into stardom -- died "peacefully" on May 18. He was 86. Mr. Ifield was reportedly given a guitar at the age of 13 and self-taught when it came to playing and writing songs. The musician released 44 records in just six years and was the top recording artist in Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. After moving to the UK, he introduced his fans to soon-to-be rock legends The Beatles, as the band acted as the opener for him at his live shows. He also famously performed to the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1965 as he appeared at the Royal Variety Show. In 2009, Mr. Ifield was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to the arts as an entertainer. He is survived by his wife Carole Wood and two children. - NME, 5/20/24.
Willie Nelson has joined the list of grown musician cookbooks by teaming with his wife Annie Nelson for a cookbook featuring their favorite recipes, all infused with cannabis. 
Weeks after legendary The Four Seasons frontman Frankie Valli and his son Emilio Valli were granted a temporary restraining order against Valli's oldest son, Francesco Valli, a judge extended the order on Apr. 29 for three more years. Emilio, 29, said in his initial court filing that his brother Francesco, 36, had repeatedly threatened both Emilio and Frankie, 90, over "the past several months," as Frankie had been financially supporting Francesco but recently made that support contingent on Francesco's entering a residential drug-treatment program. The most recent incident occured on Apr. 5, when Francesco allegedly "repeatedly physically threatened to harm or kill" Emilio. "Frankie is saddened by these unfortunate events," a rep for the 
The long-awaited first authorized Led Zeppelin documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin, has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics, which has announced plans to distribute the film in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia (except Japan) and Benelux. The hybrid documentary-concert film reportedly features never-before-seen footage, performances and music and is described as an "experiential cinematic odyssey exploring Led Zeppelin's creative, musical and personal origin story," told in Led Zepp's own words in the first officially sanctioned movie about the band. In 2021, a work-in-progress version of the film was screened at the Venice Film Festival, and received a 10-minute standing ovation. The film follows the band's four members -- singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones and late drummer John Bonham -- as they rise up through the British music scene in the 1960s playing in small clubs. It follows them to a fateful rehearsal in 1968 that changed the course of their careers and culminates in their first tour of America in 1970 as they ascended to rock superstardom. The film features a new sound mix, previously unseen materials from the archives of all four members, including home movies and family photos, as well as exclusive interviews with Page, Plant and Jones, and never-before-heard interviews with Bonham. Becoming Led Zeppelin was written and directed by Bernard MacMahon (American Epic) and Allison McGourty, with director MacMahon saying that the team spent "years designing this film to be experienced on the big screen with the best possible sound." A release date has yet to be announced for the film, but you can watch an official Venice teaser clip prepared for the Venice debut on 
Popular comic actor Dabney Coleman, best known for his roles in such iconic films as 9 to 5, Tootsie and On Golden Pond as well as a stint in the