In a new interview with the Swedish newspaper Expressen, Gene Simmons of KISS revealed that his band is preparing to announce a three-year world tour that he promises will be "the most spectacular KISS tour ever." He added that it would also take in "all continents," and will be kicking off in January 2019. - New Musical Express, 6/6/18...... Bruce Springsteen will be taking the stage at the Asbury Lanes in his hometown of Asbury, N.J., on June 18 as a "special guest" performer celebrating the transformation of the city's beloved bowling alley into a music venue. A donation will be made by iStar to the Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County. In 2010, developer iStar invested $100 million to renovate the areas on and around the boardwalk, and the new Asbury Lanes venue opened to the public over Memorial Day Weekend. - Billboard, 6/4/18...... 
Puerto-Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano will be performing the U.S. national anthem for 20 new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington on June 14, Flag Day. The event will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of Feliciano's performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" during game five of the 1968 World Series at Detroit's Tiger Stadium, which ignited a controversy that reflected the tense atmosphere in the United States in the era of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement, after Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated earlier that year. Boos could be heard in the audience, and many television viewers called in to NBC to complain about Feliciano's "hippie" version of "The Star-Spangled Banner." During the naturalization ceremony on June 14, Feliciano will speak to immigrants from 17 countries gathered to officially become Americans, and then sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." Feliciano, who immigrated to the U.S. with his family from Puerto Rico at age 5, will also donate the Concerto Candelas guitar he played during the recording of his Top 5 breakout hit "Light My Fire" to the Smithsonian, along with other items from his personal archives. "I could be a sarcastic bastard and say it's too little too late," he says, referring to the initial reaction to his "Star-Spangled Banner." "But I'm grateful to the Smithsonian. This is a beautiful thing." Feliciano will also be among the headliners at a free concert in New York City's Central Park on Aug. 12. - Billboard, 6/6/18...... Olivia Newton-John and country singer Hunter Hayes are set to surprise two couples in the Disney series Fairy Tale Weddings, which returns on cable TV's Freeform channel on June 11 at 8:00 p.m. EDT. The new episodes follow 11 new couples with hidden-camera engagements, fairytale weddings and everything in between filmed at different Disney locations around the world. One couple, Christina and Jarrod, tie the knot at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, with Newton-John -- a cancer research crusader after being diagnosed with breast cancer herself -- performing at their ceremony. - Billboard, 6/4/18...... Attorneys for concert promoter AEG have filed a motion to dismiss Ozzy Osbourne's anti-trust lawsuit challenging the concert promoter's block-booking policy, which requires artists playing the O2 arena in London to also play Staples Center in Los Angeles. According to a recent filing from AEG, Osbourne doesn't have standing to sue the company over a proposed Staples Center commitment letter from earlier in 2018 because the rocker was not a party to the agreement, and the deal was between AEG and Live Nation. Osbourne's attorney Dan Wall counters that argument is "flat wrong." "The Staples Center Commitment letter binds the artist," Wall says. "They're trying to have it both ways and say the letter is signed on an artist's behalf, but (also say) the artist will be bound by it and can't do anything if they think it's unlawful." - Billboard, 6/4/18...... 
Cable TV's A&E channel will air a new David Cassidy documentary, David Cassidy: The Last Session, on June 11, and in the doc Cassidy is reportedly quoted as saying he was still drinking in the last years of his life and he did not have dementia, which was reported at the time. Cassidy, according to People magazine, called producers of the documentary after he fell ill last year and told them that he had liver disease. In the recorded conversation, the former teen idol said there was no sign of dementia and it was "complete alcohol poisoning," adding that he had lied by telling friends and family he had stopped drinking. "He wanted to be honest once and for all," says documentary producer John Marks. Cassidy died of organ failure in Nov. 2017 at age 67, and his late father, actor Jack Cassidy also had a well publicized battle with alcoholism. - AP, 6/6/2018...... Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, two co-founders of the seminal '60s country/rock band The Byrds, have announced they will embark on a 50th anniversary tour commemorating the release of their influential 1968 LP Sweetheart of the Rodeo on July 24 at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. The tour will also visit Saratoga, Calif. (7/29), Albany, NY (9/18) and Hopewell, Va. (9/20) before wrapping at the Akron Civic Center in Akron, Oh. on Oct. 3. "On March 9, 1968, Roger McGuinn and I along with many fantastic musicians began recording the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album at Columbia Studios in Nashville," Chris Hillman said in a statement. "It was truly a pivotal moment in our lives taking a turn toward the music we always felt a strong kinship with. We are honored that it has left a strong, long lasting impression on country and rock music." With new member Gram Parsons, the Byrds' 1968 album melded country and rock to bring about a new Nashville sound. As pioneers of the blended genre, Hillman and McGuinn will share stories of how the album came together while onstage. Roger McGuinn adds that he and Hillman "are looking forward to taking the fans through the back pages of the recording," and that the concert "will include songs that led up to that groundbreaking trip to Nashville and all the songs from that album." The duo will be joined on tour by country artist Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives. To warm up for the tour, McGuinn and Hillman played a short set at Stuart's Late Night Jam on June 6 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. - Billboard, 6/4/18...... 
Neil Diamond will be the recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award during the 2018 Songwriters Hall of Fame gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on June 14. The award is named for the "Moon River" tunesmith who co-founded the SHOF in 1969 with with music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. Ahead of the ceremony, Diamond reflected on one of his biggest hits, 1969's "Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)." "That song was like a lucky gift. I needed it desperately in my career," Diamond says. "I was about to go hungry. I had a new baby. There were all kinds of things that were counting on this record, and I just had an hour to do it. It was the day before the session, and that beautiful girl came to me and I was a happy guy. You never know with a song; I never knew with 'Sweet Caroline' it would become such a beloved song." Also among the honorees at the gala will be Robert "Kool" Bell, Ronald Bell, George Brown & James "JT" Taylor, John Mellencamp and Bill Anderson. - Billboard, 6/5/18...... With June being Gay Pride Month, Carole King is one of the artists requested by Billboard to write a "love letter" to the LGBTQ community. The legendary singer/songwriter says that she is "old enough to remember friends growing up in the last century who thought being L or G or B or T or Q made them 'the other' not only to others but to themselves. Sadly, in this century, too many people (who may themselves be suffering) are turning to fear, hatred, and blame rather than to love." King continued: "After years of fighting for AIDS research and against arbitrary barriers defining "normal," you, and consequently all of us, have come a long way.... My hope for the future is that every being will live in harmony, peace, joy, love and light." - Billboard, 6/5/18...... Music producer/composer/arranger Giles Martin, the son of the late Beatles producer George Martin, has been tapped by the Aussie alternative rock outfit INXS to be their executive music producer. In that role, Martin will have creative reins on all audio aspects of INXS's plans, which include musicals and movies and the reissue of their studio albums, which will be repackaged, remixed and expanded for release through Universal Music Group (UMG) in partnership with Petrol Records. Martin first collaboarated with INXS in 1994, and has worked with the band across several of their releases, including a greatest hits compilation and a Dolby Atmos mix of their classic Kick album for its 30th anniversary reissue in 2017. Formed in Perth in 1977, INXS has racked up six U.K. Top 10 albums and five U.S. Top 20 albums, a BRIT Award (in 1991 for best international group) and, in 2001, they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. - Billboard, 6/5/18...... 
Queen is curently occupying three of the top 20 spots on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart for the week ending June 2, thanks to streaming and sales gains for the band's catalog after the May 18 arrival of the first trailer for its upcoming biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. The film's namesake song has risen to No. 8 from No. 10 on the chart, drawing 4.7 million U.S. streams and sold 4,000 downloads in the tracking week. "Rhapsody" is followed by "Another One Bites the Dust" (No. 13; 3.3 million streams, 2,000 sold) and "We Will Rock You" (No. 17; 2.7 million streams, 3,000 sold), with all three songs appearing in the trailer. Additionally, the band's Greatest Hits LP, originally released in October 1981, has jumped to No. 2 from No. 4 on the Hard Rock Albums chart. Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Rami Malek as late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, is set to premiere Nov. 2 in the U.S. - Billboard, 6/1/18...... After two TV-movies based on Dolly Parton songs aired on NBC, streaming giant Netflix has picked up an eight-episode scripted Parton anthology with the same premise. The as yet untitled anthology will see each episode based on a song by the country music icon. Parton will serve as singer-songwriter, exec producer and will also appear in the series. "As a songwriter, I have always enjoyed telling stories through my music," Parton said in a statement. "I am thrilled to be bringing some of my favorite songs to life with Netflix. We hope our show will inspire and entertain families and folks of all generations, and I want to thank the good folks at Netflix and Warner Bros. TV for their incredible support." - The Hollywood Reporter, 6/4/18...... Prince fans will celebrate what would have been the music legend's 60th birthday with a three-day music festival beginning on June 7 in Henderson, Minn., where the iconic movie Purple Rain was filmed. The festival will include a bus tour of Purple Rain filming locations, a screening of the 1984 movie and live music. In honor of Prince's 60th birthday, 60 butterflies will be released at the event, and members of Prince's family will be present. Meanwhile, another copy of Prince's super rare "The Black Album" has surfaced. The album was supposed to be released in 1987 as The Funk Bible, Prince's 16th album. However, the singer had a "spiritual epiphany" and demanded all 500,000 copies be destroyed, as he said the content was "evil." Prince later gave permission for it to be released on CD and cassette -- but never vinyl. Five vinyl copies surfaced in the States in 2017, and now another has appeared in Canada, after a Canadian former employee of Columbia Records' pressing plant held onto one of the records. The owner has listed the record online on Discogs.com for $27,500, and a pristine edition of the album once sold for $42,298. In more Prince news, sources close to the investigation of his 2016 death from an accidental drug overdose have revealed that the pop star often "videotaped himself having sex with lots of his lovers and was quite kinky in his porn tastes." "The evidence is in his vaults and on the computers seized by police," says the source, who stressed that none of the material was illegal. The music legend's porn preferences were described as "wild" by another source, based on the search history and downloads on laptops taken from Prince's home. "Cops had enough respect for Prince that they didn't want to mar his legacy by revealing he was a secret sex-tape and porn addict!" the insider claimed.- AP/RadarOnline.com, 6/3/18...... 
James Taylor and Sheryl Crow's co-headlining summer tour hit a jam-packed Hollywood Bowl on May 31, with Taylor stepping onstage to a standing ovation -- one of several throughout the evening. Centering on well-known entries in his repertoire, including "Fire & Rain," "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)," "Handyman," "Sweet Baby James," Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" and "You've Got a Friend, Taylor also took the audience all the way back to 1968 with "Something in the Way She Moves" -- the song he auditioned for Paul McCartney and George Harrison before he signed with Apple Records. Earlier in the evening, Taylor joined Crow onstage for a rousing rendition of Crow's hit "Everyday Is a Winding Road," with Crow joining Taylor during his encore for duets of "Mockingbird" and "Close Your Eyes." Taylor and his band will next head to Sacramento (6/10), Portland, Ore. (6/12) and Seattle (6/13) before Bonnie Raitt rejoins the tour for seven shows beginning in St. Paul, Minnesota (6/22). - Billboard, 6/1/18...... Actor Bill Phipps, a prolific character actor who starred in several sci-fi movies of the 1950s and provided the voice of Prince Charming in the Disney classic Cinderella, died on May 31 at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica after a battle with lung cancer. He was 96. His other roles include a servant to Marlon Brando's Antony in Julius Caesar (1954), the French Impressionist painter Emile Bernard in Kirk Douglas' Lust for Life (1956) and the old man Quentin in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993). Mr. Phipps left show business in the late 1960s to live in Maui but returned to portray Theodore Roosevelt in the 1976 ABC miniseries Eleanor and Franklin, winner of 11 Emmy Awards. He then reprised the role in a commercial for Maxwell House coffee. He also showed up on TV shows like The Twilight Zone (the 1960 episode "The Purple Testament"), Perry Mason, Rawhide, 77 Sunset Strip, Gunsmoke, F Troop, Batman, The Virginian and Mannix. - The Hollywood Reporter, 6/3/18.
The Who's Roger Daltrey released his first solo LP in 25 years, As Long As I Have You, on June. 1. A soulful grab bag of originals and covers, the album was described by Daltrey in a statement as "a return to the very beginning, to a time when we were a teenage band playing soul music to small crowds in church halls." - Billboard, 5/31/18...... Posts by Mick Jagger on his son Lucas Jagger's Instagram account have gone viral as the legendary Rolling Stones frontman apparently left a series of "dorky dad" comments to tease his son. "Looks like fun. Ha!" read one comment underneath a photo of Lucas at the Lollapalooza festival. "Watch out for the water," said another, written in the comments section on a photo of Lucas standing ankle deep in the ocean. Meanwhile, the Stones returned to London in late May for their first show in the city in five years. - Billboard, 5/31/18...... 
Former The Monkees members Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz will kick off their "The Monkees Present The Mike & Micky Show Tour" in Arizona on June 1. Both Dolenz and Nesmith said the tour developed out of a mutual friendship and respect for each other that began early in the Monkees' career and has lasted through the years. "I've always been a fan of his and he's been a fan of mine," Dolenz says. "We always got along great creatively. (We have) similar tastes in music and style and stuff like that. I've had an enormous amount of respect for him as a musician, singer and songwriter." Nesmith says that he and Dolenz always "got on so well." "He could make me laugh hard and I could make him laugh hard. So we were playmates on that level," he said. "The Mike & Micky Show Tour" is also scheduled to hit California, Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, and includes two dates in Canada. Nesmith, meanwhile, has just released his new memoir, Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff, in which he remembers his Monkees days as well as his tenure with the First National Band, along with his Christian Science philosophy and meeting the Beatles. - Billboard, 5/31/18...... Elton John spoke out about the recent successful referendum in Ireland to repeal the country's ban on abortion during a recent visit to Ukraine to raise awareness about AIDS. "Believe me, I love this country. We will do everything we can to continue the fight against AIDS," John said at an event organised by the Elena Pinchuk Foundation. "It takes a long time for things to happen as I said," Elton continued. "Look what just happened in Ireland: the vote for abortion. Things change. People | they change their mind. And with a younger generation coming up, they are different kind of people, and they're our future." It has also been announced that the pop star will be further establishing his alliance with people living with HIV and AIDS by delivering the "Diana, Princess of Wales Lecture" on HIV on June 8 in London. The lecture is presented with the mission to end AIDS, calling on the government and private sector to take necessary actions in order to rid the country of the disease. Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures has given a May 17, 2019 opening date for the upcoming Elton biopic Rocketman. The movie has been billed as a "larger than life movie musical spectacle that tells the story of a child prodigy turned music legend" and will star Eddie the Eagle actor Taron Egerton as John. - New Musical Express/Billboard, 5/30/18...... The Jimmy Buffett Broadway musical "Escape to Margaritaville" has announced it will have its final performance on July 1 after the tequila-infused jukebox musical has struggled to build audiences since opening earlier in 2018. The romantic comedy, set at a Caribbean island getaway threatened by an erupting volcano, has been a modest earner at the box office since it began previews in February, suggesting that Manhattan is not a high-density Parrothead metropolis as it played to just 56 percent capacity. Built around songs drawn primarily from Buffett's back catalog but also including more recent material, the musical drew more consistent crowds in Houston and Chicago, suggesting that it might fare better on tour, and producers have announced a road company will kick off in Oct. 2019 at Rhode Island's Providence Performing Arts Center. - The Hollywood Reporter, 5/31/18...... The estate of Michael Jackson filed a copyright infringement suit against the Walt Disney Co. on May 30, alleging that the television special The Last Days of Michael Jackson which aired on ABC on May 14 used Jackson's songs and videos without permission. Jackson's estate alleges that the producers used songs including "Beat It," "Billie Jean," and "The Girl Is Mine," along with music videos such as "Thriller," and clips from This Is It, the concert documentary, without asking for permission before the show aired. The suit says when the estate raised objections, Disney asserted that the show was a "documentary" and was entitled to use the material under the "fair use" doctrine. Howard Weitzman, the attorney for the Jackson estate, argued that was "patently absurd," especially in light of Disney's aggressive enforcement of its own copyrights. - Variety.com, 5/30/18...... 
A career-spanning documentary focusing on former The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive member Randy Bachman had its world premiere at the Hot Docs festival in Toronto, Canada, in May and will air on Canada's CBC Documentary Channel later in 2018. Incorporating numerous present-day interviews with Bachman's family, management, and fellow musicians, the documentary touches on everything from Bachman's childhood to his various rock bands -- The Guess Who, BTO, Brave Belt, Bachman-Turner -- and solo work. Bachman says it's "pretty strange" seeing his life condensed into a 75-minute documentary. "It's like your dad doing a surprise and inviting out all your friends and showing all your old family home movies of going on vacation and the clothes you wore, and then have all your friends complaining about what a poor playmate you were or what a brat you were," he says. A number of musicians who cite Bachman as an influence, including Neil Young, Paul Shaffer, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Alex Lifeson and Peter Frampton, also contribute to the documentary. Bachman is also promoting his new album, By George By Bachman -- Songs of George Harrison, which he has described as "his last all-original studio work." and a new movie called Taking Care of Business is currently in the works. Bachman says his son, Tal Bachman, who scored an alternative rock hit with "She's So High," has also joined his band and "they're talking about re-recording it for the women's movement because "the women in the audience don't sing 'she's so high'; they sing 'we're so high, we're high above you,' but they're pointing to the men." - Billboard, 5/31/18...... A private retreat in the Turks & Caicos Islands that is believed to be the only remaining property in Prince's real estate portfolio is being put up for sale. A New York auction house is taking sealed bids on the 5.7-acre (23,000 sq.-meter) property which is surrounded by water on three sides and includes several structures totaling more than 10,000 square feet (930 sq. meters). It includes two private beaches, a marina and a long, winding driveway painted purple. Prince bought the property in 2011 for $13 million, and it is expected to bring as much as $15 million. - AP, 5/29/18...... Former Police frontman Sting and his wife Trudie Styler were presented with honorary degrees during the 250th commencement at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on May 27. Sting and Styler were recognized for their work with the environmental organization the Rainforest Fund, to protect the world's rainforests, which they co-founded. - AP, 5/28/18...... Willie Nelson was forced to leave the stage before playing a note at a concert in Charlotte, N.C., on May 26 at the PNC Music Pavilion after the country/pop legend complained he was ill. After picking up his trusty acoustic guitar Trigger and briefly putting it on, Nelson set it back down, flung his cowboy hat into the crowd and left the stage. The 85 year-old singer could be seen walking out of the stage door after what was reportedly his second attempt to take the stage that night. A spokesman for Nelson said the following day that he was suffering from a "stomach bug" that prevented him from performing and that the Charlotte show will be rescheduled at a later date. The concert promoter also issued a statement saying "Fans are asked to please hold on to their tickets until the new date is announced." - Billboard, 5/28/18...... 
Graham Nash is prepping a 2-disc compilation of his solo material and work with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young entitled Over the Years. The release, which hits stores June 29, features 15 tracks of Nash's greatest solo material, up to 2016's Myself At Last on one disc, and an equal number of demos from 1968-80. The latter disc includes rarities such as "Horses Through A Rainstorm," co-written with Terry Reid and originally targeted to join "Our House" on CSNY's Deja Vu, as well as "Man In The Mirror," "I Miss You," "Simple Man" and "Right Between The Eyes." "I realized there hadn't ever been a 'greatest hits' album of my music," Nash says, "so I decided that I would find out what my 15 most popular songs are and put them on. And then I thought, 'Well, everybody's got those,' so I decided I would put demos on here because I think people are kind of interested in what happens from a demo to an actual record." As for a potential CSN and/or Y reunion (the band has been dormant since 2015), Nash says "I don't know what's going on." "All I know is I'm here on my own trip now and having a great time. If someone comes to me, if Neil (Young) calls again and says, 'Hey Willy, man, I've got six great songs here. What do you want to do?' then we're off and running again. But until that happens, nothing's going on." - Billboard, 5/31/18...... Ginger Baker's son Kofi Baker, Jack Bruce's son Malcolm Bruce and Eric Clapton's nephew Will Johns have announced they will come together for the first time in the UK to pay homage to Cream's extraordinary legacy with "The Music Of Cream - 50th Anniversary World Tour." The four-date UK tour, which starts at the Glasgow O2 Academy on Nov. 23, celebrates 50 years since the original line-up's farewell UK concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Nov. 26, 1968. Other dates include the Leamgton Spa, Assembly (11/24), London's O2 Forum (11/25) and the Manchester Ritz on Nov. 26. The trio will share personal stories and perform songs such Cream classics as "Sunshine of Your Love," "Crossroads," "Spoonful" and White Room" performed across a comprehensive set, which will also see the three interplay with footage of their fathers and mentors on the big screen, along with never-before-seen footage and photos. Tickets are available via www.themjrgroup.com/moc50th/. - Noble PR, 5/29/18...... The iconic 80s Canadian rock band Glass Tiger, best known for their 1986 UK Top 40 hit single "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" and 1991's "My Town" featuring Rod Stewart, return to the UK for the first time in 27 years to play two rare concerts. The band last came to the UK when they supported Roxette on their 1991 nationwide UK tour. Glass Tiger play the University of London Union on Oct. 19, followed by the Rockingham Festival at Nottingham Trent University on Oct. 21. Tickets for the University of London concert can be booked from Eventbrite, Eventim, and Gigantic. Tickets for Glass Tiger's Rockingham Festival performance are available from Ticketsource. To celebrate their 30th Anniversary, earlier this year Glass Tiger released a new album entitled 31 which includes two new songs and re-imagined recordings of all their hit singles. - Noble PR, 5/29/18...... Russ Regan, the "golden-eared" A&R music exec best known for signing the likes of Elton John, Neil Diamond and Barry White, among many others, has died following a series of health problems. He was 89. The 30-year industry veteran had been hospitalized this spring following surgery for a pacemaker, and his battles with cancer and other ailments even led to a GoFundMe campaign to help his family cover hospital expenses. In 1965, Mr. Regan joined the Warner Bros. soul imprint Loma as general manager, and two years later took over at the fledgling Uni Records, owned by MCA, where he proceeded to transform it into a powerhouse by signing both Diamond and John, as well as guiding other artists like Strawberry Alarm Clock ("Incense and Peppermints") and Hugh Masekela to mainstream success. Mr. Regan signed John to Uni in 1970 and played an integral part in introducing the British piano man to U.S. audiences during the elaborate promotional campaign for his second studio album (but first in the U.S.), which included breakthrough single "Your Song." On Twitter, Elton John paid tribute to Mr. Regan, saying thanks for "believing in me and helping launch my career." In 1972, Mr. Regan jumped ship to 20th Century Records where he launched then producer Barry White's singing career, and in 1977 he launched Parachute Records in a working partnership with Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records. He also did extensive work as a music supervisor or consultant for numerous films including The Karate Kid, Breakin', All the Right Moves and Flashdance, among others. - Billboard, 5/29/18...... 
Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page has persuaded authorities in the affluent Holland Park area of West London to postpone a decision on pop star Robbie Williams' plan for an underground gym and swimming pool. Page and the former Take That boy band member have been feuding for years over Williams' plans to extend his home, which Page says could damage his own 19th-century Gothic-revival mansion, Tower House, which features ornate tiling, plasterwork and stained glass. Page says Tower House could be damaged by vibrations from construction work. Page says he's careful to only play acoustic guitars in the home, which he bought in 1972 from actor Richard Harris, however Williams counters the construction work "will result in absolute minimal impact" to neighboring properties. At a meeting on May 30, the Kensington and Chelsea Council's planning committee decided not to grant Williams planning permission until it received further legal assurances. Page said he was "really pleased at the outcome" and the council's consideration for the house. "I'm only the custodian to pass it on to the next person in the same way I bought it from Richard Harris," he said. - AP, 5/30/18...... Australian guitar legend Phil Emmanuel died on May 24 in the Australian town of Parkes after a sudden asthma attack. He was 65. Revered for his versatility on the electric guitar, Emmanuel shared a stage with the greats of country, jazz and rock 'n' roll over 50-year-plus career, from Dolly Parton to Willie Nelson, Tammy Wynette, Dire Straits, The Shadows, Midnight Oil, Jimmy Barnes, Carlos Santana and many more. The 2000 Sydney Olympic Games provided a career highlight for Emmanuel and his younger brother and regular bandmate Tommy Emmanuel as they performed at the Closing Ceremony, and the pair reunited again in late 2010 for a 50th anniversary tour. In 1991, Phil was inducted into Australia's Country Music Hall of Fame. - Billboard, 5/28/18...... Former US astronaut Alan Bean, who was the fourth man to walk on the Moon, has died in a Houston, Tex. hospital at the age of 86, his family has said. Mr. Bean also commanded the second Skylab crew in 1973 and went on in retirement to become an accomplished artist, producing paintings that were inspired by space. A former US Navy test pilot, Mr. Bean was selected by NASA as a trainee in 1963 and went into space twice, the first time in Nov. 1969 as the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 12 Moon-landing mission. He later described how complex and risky the mission had been: "It was more science fiction to us, I think, than it was to the average public." Mr. Bean retired from NASA in 1981 and carved a successful career as an artist. His paintings, inspired by space travel, featured lunar boot prints as well as small pieces of his mission patches which were stained by Moon dust. The three astronauts who preceded Alan Bean to the moon's surface were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11 in July 1969, and Charles Conrad who was also on the Apollo 12 mission. Of the four men, only Aldrin is still alive, now aged 88. Mr. Bean is survived by his wife Leslie, a sister and two children from a previous marriage. - BBC.com, 5/27/18.
After the success of its Jesus Christ Superstar - Live In Concert musical on Apr. 1, NBC has announced on May 22 that its next live production will be another hippie generation favorite -- the Broadway musical "Hair." "I'm overjoyed that James Rado and Galt MacDermot are trusting us with their masterpiece 'Hair', one of the most original shows ever conceived for Broadway with one of the greatest scores," said NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt at a presser. "These songs are part of the vocabulary of popular music, and this rebellious story of young people protesting and standing up for what they believe in is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. This will be the perfect live event, and I'm looking forward to seeing Craig and Neil, along with our partners at MGM and the original creators bring the audience to their feet as they experience these beloved songs and recognizable young characters." "Hair" has been revived several times since its original 1968 Broadway run, most recently with a celebrity-studded staging at the Hollywood Bowl and earned a 
John Fogerty has enlisted ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons to record a gritty new rocker called "Holy Grail" that will be released digitally on June 8 and is the first track from Fogerty's next album, which he's currently writing and hopes to enter the studio to begin recording this fall. Fogerty says that the song was the result of a short session he and Gibbons did during late February and posted on Facebook to promote his coheadlinging summer tour with Gibbons, which kicked off on May 25 in Atlantic City. "We played short versions of a few of each of our songs," Fogerty recalls, "and even before that, as the (tour announcement) was going to happen I began to think, 'Y'know, we ought to write a song and record it kind of in honor of this tour.'" The two met up at Fogerty's house not long after that, though he wound up doing the heavy lifting due to Gibbons' busy schedule. "I got a track recorded and then Billy came in and put his voice and guitar on it. I probably would've had this thing come out two months ago, but we haven't quite started the tour yet. So by this Friday we'll start to really groove on the song," says Fogerty, who adds the song's title comes from what he thought it would be like standing on the stage playing guitar with Gibbons. For his part, Gibbons says "it's not an overstatement to say that writing a song with John Fogerty is a genuine bonus" and the song "begs a shout of, 'Turn it up!'" Fogerty says he expects the joint tour to be "a lot of fun" and plans to play "Holy Grail" with Gibbons, and hopefully more. - Billboard, 5/24/18...... Peter Frampton is among the artists paying tribute to the Small Faces' 1968 LP Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, which hit stores on May 24, 1968. "Ogdens' was the best Small Faces album for me," Frampton tells Billboard. "It was just after its release that I first met Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, and there was talk of me joining the band as the fifth member as well. They were always one of my most favourite bands from, "Whatcha Gonna Do About It," onwards. This album's great material and concept are what made it their finest work. Its eye catching round cover made it unique before you even heard the music. Love this record!!," Frampton added. Bassist Lane, keyboardist Ian McLagan and drummer Kenney Jones would eventually form the Faces in 1970 with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, and Marriott became the frontman for Frampton's former band, Humble Pie, in 1969. - Billboard, 5/24/18...... The estate of Michael Jackson is slamming the ABC special The Last Days of Michael Jackson, which aired on the network on May 24. The estate says the special is not sponsored or approved by Jackson's heirs, and will most likely violate their intellectual property rights. "We believe the special to be another crass and unauthorized attempt to exploit the life, music and image of Michael Jackson without respect for Michael's legacy, intellectual property rights or his children," the estate said in a statement. The estate said ABC used a copyrighted silhouette and photo to promote the special, but stopped after demands from Jackson attorneys, and also used other other intellectual property without permission, including music, photos and artwork. "It is particularly disheartening that (ABC owner) Disney, a company known to strongly believe in protecting its own IP rights, would choose to ignore these rights belonging to the Estate," the statement added. Representatives for ABC owner Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. - AP, 5/23/18...... As the trailer for the upcoming Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was shared on the Internet in late May and criticized by some fans for leaving out any mention of frontman Freddie Mercury's alleged bisexuality, Queen's latest frontman Adam Lambert says he doesn't know how "in the closet" Freddie actually was. "I mean it was like another time where it was just taboo to even discuss it in the media," Lambert says. "I think it might have been interpreted as him being tongue-in-cheek, but he sort of owned it from the get-go." Lambert, who was the openly first gay man to have a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, is currently on a summer tour with Queen throughout Europe, before the group comes to Las Vegas for a limited three-week residency at the Park Theater. - Billboard, 5/23/18...... 
Banjo player extraordinaire and producer John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fame has just released a new memoir, 
Author Philip Roth, the prize-winning novelist and fearless narrator of sex, death, assimilation and fate, from the comic madness of Portnoy's Complaint to the elegiac lyricism of American Pastoral, died of congestive heart failure in a New York City hospital on May 22. He was 85. Author of more than 25 books, Mr. Roth was a fierce satirist and uncompromising realist, and among the greatest writers never to win the Nobel Prize. But he received virtually every other literary honor, including two National Book Awards, two National Book Critics Circle prizes and, in 1998, the Pulitzer for American Pastoral. He was in his 20s when he won his first award and awed critics and fellow writers by producing some of his most acclaimed novels in his 60s and 70s, including The Human Stain and Sabbath's Theater, a savage narrative of lust and mortality he considered his finest work. Mr. Roth identified himself as an American writer, not a Jewish one, but for Mr. Roth the American experience and the Jewish experience were often the same. After receiving a master's degree in English from the University of Chicago, he began publishing stories in The Paris Review and elsewhere. As narrated by Alexander Portnoy, from a psychiatrist's couch, Roth's novel Portnoy's Complaint satirized the dull expectations heaped upon "nice Jewish boys" and immortalized the most ribald manifestations of sexual obsession. Although Portnoy's Complaint was banned in Australia, many critics welcomed the novel as a declaration of creative freedom. The novel sold millions, making Mr. Roth wealthy and famous, and it was later turned into a 
The Jacksons have been confirmed to headline the Detroit Music Weekend on June 14-17, where they will also be honored with a key to the city and Michael Jackson will have a street renamed in his honor. The city announced on May 17 that a downtown block will be renamed Michael Jackson Ave., however Marlon Jackson says it was his understanding the street was "supposed to be" renamed for the entire group and "I think it is going to be that. There was a mistake." While Detroit has a city ordinance that requires any honorary street naming to be for an individual only, sources said that talks were underway to allow for an exception to that. Detroit Music Weekend founder and producer Vince Paul says he wanted to start with Michael and "if I had my druthers there'll be [streets named for] Tito, Jackie, Marlon... That's where I'm going with it." In 2017, Aretha Franklin was the recipient of a street naming during the festival, and there are also plans to rename street after other legendary Detroit acts including The Tempations, The Four Tops and The Supremes. In addition to the Jacksons' free public performance on June 16, a Jacksons tribute concert to the group will take place on June 15. More than 500 performers are expected to play during the festival, including former Grand Funk Railroad frontman Mark Farner. - Billboard, 5/17/18...... In other Jacksons-related news, ABC has announced it will broadcast a two-hour Michael Jackson special dedicated to his live and legacy on May 24, ahead of next year's 10th anniversary of his death. The Last Days of Michael Jackson will feature never-before-seen interviews he did with Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer, as well as conversations with his friends and family. The special airs on ABC on May 24 at 8:00 p.m. EST. - Billboard, 5/17/18...... In related news, NBC announced on May 17 it will broadcast a 50th anniversary tribute to Elvis Presley's iconic "1968 comeback" special sometime in 2019. The special is set to feature some of today's biggest music artists recreating the spectacle and the staging of the original Singer Presents... ELVIS show. Additionally, the two-hour broadcast will include rare footage of the superstar and interviews from those who were involved in the event 50 years ago. - Billboard, 5/17/18...... The George Clinton-fronted '70s funk band Parliament has released 
The Who frontman Roger Daltrey had some harsh words for UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during a recent interview with Britain's Event magazine. "Jeremy Corbyn is not a socialist. He's a communist," Daltrey said. "Be honest about that and see how many votes you get, Jeremy, because otherwise, you're going to be moving in to Downing Street under a false premise." Daltrey also weighed in on Brexit, saying "what I'm against is Brussels, not the EU. I can't live with that because we lost people in my family fighting for our right to be democratic." About the #MeToo movement, Daltrey argued that rock stars don't sexually harass women because they don't "need" to. "Why would any rock star need to push themselves on women?" he said. "Usually, it's the other way around. I'd like to have £1 for every woman that screws my ass. Mick Jagger would be a billionaire out of it. If it was going to be in the rock business, it would've been out by now. It would've been out a long time ago. I find this whole thing so obnoxious. It's always allegations and it's just salacious crap." Daltrey will release his first solo LP in 25 years, 
The state of Florida has just erected a historical marker at the Jacksonville home of Southern rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd and .38 Special. The house is located at 5419 Woodcrest Road, one block off Lake Shore Boulevard, in a blue-collar neighborhood that Ronnie, Donnie and Johnnie Van Zant grew up in before forming Lynyrd Skynyrd, the reformed Skynyrd, and .38 Special, respectively. Jacksonville Beach entrepreneur Todd Smith bought the property and worked with the state to get the marker, which was officially unveiled to the public May 12. Smith says he found the house while looking for property in the area, learned about its history and decided something needed to be done to officially acknowledge it. He says he has plans to restore the house to look like a time capsule from the '70s, complete with an avocado-green rotary-dial phone and a wooden console stereo with an eight-track player and several Skynyrd eight-tracks that still sound just fine. Those touches fit in with the acoustical tile ceilings and the wood paneling on the walls, where Smith will place Skynyrd memorabilia where once the Van Zant parents hung gold records. - AP, 5/21/18...... Steven Tyler admitted he's spent "about $2 million" on drugs throughout his life during a game of "Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts" on CBS's The Late Late Show with James Corden on May 17. The premise of the game is that host James Corden gets to pick a disgusting item for the celeb to eat if they refuse to answer a juicy question, and Tyler opted for honesty when having to eat head cheese or answer a question about how much he'd spent on drugs throughout his life. After saying he'd spent "about $2 million," the Aerosmith frontman joked that he'd "snorted half of Peru." Later, Tyler also admitted to having hit on his actress daughter Liv Tyler's friend, Cameron Diaz, rather than eat a dried out caterpillar. - JustJared.com, 5/18/18...... Founding Judas Priest member KK Downing's share of the royalty rights to over 130 Judas Priest tracks, including metal hits "Breaking The Law," "Living After Midnight" and "Painkiller," are being put for sale following the demise of a luxury golf resort in Shropshire, UK, that Downing invested in. In late 2017, the resort business fell into administration (similar to Chapter 11 insolvency in the U.S.) and the 320-acre estate was put up for immediate sale with an asking price of more than £10 million ($13.5 million). At the time, administrators blamed "tougher economic times within the wider corporate hospitality market" for placing "unsustainable pressure" on the business. Astbury Hall and its golf course has since been acquired by new owners. The next part of the bankruptcy process involves the sale of Downing's share of the royalty rights to 136 Judas Priest songs, which administrators FRP Advisory LLP say generates between $340,000 and $400,000 per year. Downing hasn't been a member of Judas Priest since 2011, when he left the band citing a breakdown in relationships between members and dissatisfaction with the group's live performances. Judas Priest is set to kick off a 25-city co-headlining North American tour behind its latest LP 
The Doobie Brothers kicked off a 32-city coheadlining summer tour with Steely Dan on May 19 in Atlanta, and Doobies frontman Tom Johnston says the veteran rock band still feels adrenaline from the audience every night. "It's pretty much the interacting with the crowd, that is still the pinnacle right there," Johnston says. "That's why we keep doing what we do, because we love playing for people live. And the more action you get out of the crowd, I guess you could call it reciprocal, action back from the crowd, the better the gig is. And that's something that we always strive for every night." Johnston added that his touring partners Steely Dan "sounds as good or better than they ever did" despite the loss of Steely Dan guitarist Walter Becker. "It's basically all about Donald (Fagen) right now," Johnston says. "And he's got a band assembled with really great players. A couple of gals singing background, horn section, and they nail the stuff. I mean it sounds like a record. It's just incredible." Johnston says he's particularly looking forward to a Sep. 22 date at Petco Park in San Diego when his group and the Zac Brown Band will be the openers for the Eagles. "They sound great, they've got a great visual show going, but if they didn't have the visual show, it wouldn't matter. They're sounding really good. We played with them last year at Dodgers Stadium, and then in New York at Citi Field." The Doobies have also been spending some time in the recording studio, working on a new album, says the band's John McFee. "That's our plan. We do want to make some new music. As a matter of fact, we have gone in and already cut four songs." - Billboard, 5/18/18...... Reggie Lucas, the Grammy-winning musician who played with Miles Davis in the 1970s and produced the bulk of Madonna's debut album, died on May 19 from complications with his heart in New York City. He was 65. After playing with Davis in the '70s, Lucas began a musical partnership with percussionist James Mtume. Together they wrote hits like Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's "The Closer I Get to You" -- later covered by Beyonce and Luther Vandross -- and Stephanie Mills' "Never Knew Love Like This Before," which won the duo the Grammy for best R&B song. Lucas went on to produce the majority of Madonna's 1983 self-titled debut album, which sold more than 5 million units and included the hits "Borderline" and "Lucky Star." In addition to his daughter, Lucas is survived by his wife Leslie Lucas; his son Julian Lucas; his mother Annie Wolinsky; and his brother Greg Lucas. - AP, 5/19/18...... Actor Clint Walker, best known for his role as cowboy hero Cheyenne Bodie on the hit 1950's western series Cheyenne, died suddenly on May 21, apparently after a heart problem. He was 90. Mr. Walker first made his mark on Hollywood by landing a role in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, and also starred in such films as None But the Brave, Small Soldiers, The White Buffalo, Pancho Villa, Yellowstone Kelly and The Great Bank Robbery, as well as as the TV series Kodiak. His last credit was 1998's Small Soldiers, in which he voiced the character Nick Nitro. Mr. Walker cheated death in 1971 when the tip of a ski pole pierced his heart during a vacation in Mammoth, Calif. The hulking actor made an amazing recovery and was back at work filming in Spain two months later. - WENN.com, 5/22/18...... 
Interview magazine, the publication founded by British journalist John Wilcock and pop art icon Andy Warhol in 1969, announced on May 21 that it is ending both its print and web publications after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In 1989, billionaire art collector and Warhol admirer Peter Brant purchased the glossy art and culture magazine from Warhol's estate. According to the New York Post, the magazine was evicted from its Soho office in February after Brant Publications apparently stopped paying the landlord. Interview was once dubbed "The Crystal Ball of Pop Culture" because of its iconic covers and lengthy, often freewheeling interviews with artists and people of note conducted by their celebrity peers. - Spin.com, 5/22/18...... Legendary movie poster artist Bill Gold, whose artworks included Casablanca, A Clockwork Orange, The Exorcist, Dog Day Afternoon and decades' worth of Clint Eastwood films, died of natural causes at his home on Old Greenwich, Conn., on May 20. He was 97. Mr. Gold revolutionized the art of the movie poster over a seven-decade career that began at Warner Bros. in the early 1940s, and he had a hand in more than 2,000 posters during his iconic career, working on films for everyone from Alfred Hitchcock (1954's Dial M for Murder), Elia Kazan (1955's East of Eden) and Federico Fellini (1963's 8 1/2) to Sam Peckinpah (1969's The Wild Bunch), Robert Altman (1971's McCabe & Mrs. Miller) and Martin Scorsese (1990's GoodFellas). The Brooklyn native received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Hollywood Reporter during its 1994 Key Art Awards ceremony. - The Hollywood Reporter, 5/21/18.
Jeff Beck is the subject of an upcoming documentary of his life called Still on the Run: The Jeff Beck Story which covers the guitar legend's life from his days in The Yardbirds through his solo career, with rock legends including his rival Eric Clapton paying tribute. Beck has told Rolling Stone magazine that he was surprised Clapton agreed to take part in the doc. "I must admit there was a tear -- especially with Eric," Beck says. "I never expected him to bother to be in it. I studied his face over and over, just to make sure there wasn't something else going on [laughs]. But no, it was just overwhelming." Beck added that he learned from Clapton's former wife, Patti Boyd, that "there definitely was [rivalry]" between the two, "especially with the Stevie Wonder stuff. He was not too amused about me doing something successful with Stevie. I think that maybe got under his skin a bit." - New Musical Express, 5/17/18...... Speaking of Stevie Wonder, the Motown legend has announced he will play five shows in Las Vegas this summer at the Park Theater starting Aug. 3. The 5,300-seat venue is located at the Park MGM casino-resort, formerly known as the Monte Carlo. It previously hosted the residencies of Cher and Ricky Martin. - AP, 5/16/18...... A two day Julien's auction featuring memorabilia from the likes of Prince, Bob Dylan and George Harrison will be held at the Hard Rock Cafe New York and online during the third weekend in May. The first auction day, on May 18, is dedicated to Prince, the musical legend who died in April 2016. The items include a guitar the artist had commissioned, as well as a number of outfits he wore at different performances, and handwritten lyrics. The second day's items on May 19 include guitars played by Dylan and Harrison, as well as costumes and jewelry. - AP, 5/15/18...... Iggy Pop will be among the headliners at the 2018 Cal Jam festival, set for Oct. 6 at Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino, Calif. In 2017, alternative band Foo Fighters helped revive the long-forgotten festival that took place in the '70. Its 1974 concert boasted such rock giants as Deep Purple, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and the Eagles. In addition to Pop, the Foo Fighters will also be headlining the upcoming Cal Jam, along with Tenacious D, Garbage, Silversun Pickups and Manchester Orchestra. Pop will be reuniting with his former backing band Post Pop Depression during his performance. - Billboard, 5/14/18...... Bob Dylan has announced he will kick off his 2018 summer tour in Asia at the Fuji Rock Festival on July 29, 40 years since his first tour of Japan. The festival, held at Naeba Ski Resort, marks Dylan's 101st performance in Japan. After Japan, his tour travels to Hong Kong on Aug. 4 and Singapore on Aug. 6. - Billboard, 5/15/18...... 
Power pop artist Nick Lowe will release a new EP with Los Straightjackets entitled 
The first trailer for the long-awaited Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was released on May 15. It opens with Freddie Mercury, played by actor Rami Malek, wearing a fluttering white cape, engaging in the familiar call-and-response with an audience that was one of Queen's signature live concert staple moves, before cutting to snippets of Malek as Mercury in a gold lame jumpsuit, a black leather outfit and shirtless while wielding the late singer's iconic half microphone stand as the instantly recognizable strains of "Another One Bites the Dust" kick in. The trailer then depicts Mercury's first meeting with guitarist Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and drummer Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy), and then to a scene in which Brian May plays the central "Rhapsody" riff in the studio and Mercury informs him from the mixing board "this is where the operatic section comes in." The trailer peaks with a glimpse of the massive crowd at Wembley Stadium in 1985 when Queen leaped into history with their unforgettable set at Live Aid. Bohemian Rhapsody will hit theaters on Nov. 2. - Billboard, 5/15/18...... Def Leppard has announced it is teaming up with Seattle's Elysian Brewing Company to craft "Def Leppard Pale," a brand new brew that will make its debut on May 23, the second date of Def Leppard's upcoming coheadlining summer tour with Journey. The potent 6% ABV beer will be available at most stops on their tour, as well as select bars and restaurants. "The best of British beer is the malt body and that beautiful malt balance. And the best thing about American beer is the citrus, piney hops," says Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott. "So we've taken those two aspects, put them together and come up with a beer you can actually drink a few of -- 6% ABV you can drink all night long." The Def Leppard/Journey tour kicks off May 21 and runs through Oct. 7. - Billboard, 5/14/18...... Metallica performed a funky cover of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" when their current world tour hit Stockholm, Sweden, in early May. Metallica are currently covering tunes relevant to the city they're playing in each night, and when in Norway they offered up a version of A-Ha's "Take On Me." - New Musical Express, 5/9/18...... In a new post on his official Facebook page, Neil Young says he's leaving the popular social media site to focus on expanding his NeilYoungArchives.com site, which he describes as "a giant time machine cabinet filled with "albums and tracks, bits and pieces, manuscripts and art, film and video." "Each song is being backed up with the archival material that relates to it and to the creation of it, from song writing, to band jams, the history of this music is there," Young continues. "It's never finished, it is huge and growing. We work night and day expanding the window you can see this archival stuff through. The musician added that as of June 1, he plans to charge $1.99 a month, or $19.99 a year for access to NeilYoungArchives.com. "If you want to hear my music and would like to have the option to listen to it with all the depth and glory of high resolution, it will be there," he says. "All my new records can be heard there first, before they get released anywhere else. New unreleased albums from the archives, old unreleased albums from the archives. Will always be heard there first." Young will kick off a 2018 summer tour on June 28 in St. Louis, also visiting Chicago (6/30, 7/1), Detroit (7/3) and Detroit (7/11, 7/12). - Spin.com, 5/14/18...... 
During a show in Los Feliz, Calif., on May 11, former Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham addressed his departure from the iconic rock band. "I have sadly taken leave of my band of 43 years, Fleetwood Mac. This was not something that was really my doing or my choice," Buckingham said. "I think what you would say is that there were factions within the band that had lost their perspective. It harmed the 43-year legacy that we had worked so hard to build," he said of the group's decision, "and that legacy was really about rising above difficulties in order to fulfill one's higher truth and one's higher destiny." Buckingham refrained from commenting when one audience member yelled "F--- Stevie Nicks." Buckingham was performing at a campaign fundraiser for Mike Levin, a California Democratic congressional candidate. On Apr. 9, Fleetwood Mac issued a statement saying that Buckingham "will not be performing with the band" on its upcoming tour, and "wishes Lindsey the best."I t was also revealed that he would be replaced by former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House's Neil Finn on tour. - Billboard, 5/12/18...... A Prince symphony concert series was announced on May 16, with the funk/rock icon's hits performed by a full symphony orchestra. "4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince" will be co-curated by Questlove of The Roots and feature guest vocalists as well as videos and photos provided by Prince's estate. The 32 concert run will get underway on Sept. 6 in New Brunswick, N.J., and wrap on Oct. 19 in San Antonio, Tex. - New Musical Express, 5/16/18...... A new Robin Williams autobiography dubbed 
Actress Margot Kidder, perhaps best known for her role as Lois Lane on 1978's 
A new career-spanning box set from late Eagles member Glenn Frey, 
Iconic pop singer/songwriter Paul Anka has revealed that he and current singing sensation Drake will be teaming up for a new project that will drop in June 2018. "I'm working with a brilliant young artist who is as hot as you can get right now, a fellow young Canadian and his name is Drake," Anka said on May 10 during the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards, where he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from his friend Michael Bublé. "We recorded something that will be released, out in June. That's all I can tell you," he added. Anka, 76, wrote his first No. 1 hit "Diana" at age 15 and went on to pen such classics as "My Way," "Puppy Love," Lonely Boy," "Put Your Head On My Shoulder," "She's a Lady" and "(You're) Having My Baby," as well as the theme to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. - Billboard, 5/11/18...... Michael Jackson will appear on a new Pepsi can as part of the soft drink company's #PepsiGenerations campaign this summer, it was announced on May 11. Jackson will appear alongside similar retro designs featuring Pepsi-affiliated artists including Ray Charles and Britney Spears. #PepsiGenerations highlights Pepsi's biggest pop culture moments over the years, starting with February's "This is the Pepsi" Super Bowl commercial narrated by Jimmy Fallon. Jackson began appearing in Pepsi spots in 1984, when his hair famously caught fire during one shoot. He also appeared posthumously in a series of 2012 Pepsi ads to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his album Bad. The Jackson Pepsi can will also be available in select other countries around the world. - Billboard, 5/11/18...... The Beach Boys have announced they'll make their own foray into orchestral music with a new LP dubbed 
Stevie Wonder hinted that his next project could be a collaboration with Donald Glover and Childish Gambino during an intimate two-hour set at the Peppermint Club in Los Angeles on May 9. Billed as "The Stevie Wonder Song Party: A Celebration of Life, Love and Music," the show was attended by such celebrities as Motown founder Berry Gordy, actress Angela Bassett, actor/comedian Craig Robinson, T.I., Nick Cannon and actor/activist Jesse Williams. During the evening, Wonder also referenced his forthcoming album, Through the Eyes of Wonder, telling the audience that he wanted to play some of the new material, "but unfortunately, the players don't know it." Wonder, who turns 68 on May 13, also revealed he intends to mount a new national tour behind his new album, although he did not mention a specific start date or itinerary. - Billboard, 5/10/18...... Neil Young has announced he's planning to produce and release a 35-minute film he conceived to go along with his 1982 album Trans some 16 years after it was first conceived. Young says the film was never actually created because his then record company Geffen "pulled the funding for the videos because they didn't like the record," which featured him singing through a vocoder over stiff synth grooves and earned him a lawsuit from the record company. Young says the backstory of Trans is poignant: he created it as a statement about the difficulty of communicating with his son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy and unable to speak. (Hence the chilly, difficult-to-understand vocals.) The planned film would elucidate this concept more explicitly, featuring "electronic-voice people who were working in a hospital, and the one thing they were trying to do is teach this little baby to push a button," according to the Neil Young bio Shakey. Young also says he plans on releasing "four or five" previously unheard collaborations with his band Crazy Horse via his Neil Young Archives digital library project. - Spin.com/Yahoo News, 5/8/18...... Country music icon Dolly Parton was on hand at a senior center dedication ceremony in her hometown of Sevierville, Tenn., on May 7 to give the facility a new name: the My People Senior Activity Center, in honor of her parents, Robert and Avie Lee Parton. The 72-year-old Parton joked that she's a senior, too, and made fun of her plastic surgery, shouting "girl power" when she saw more women doing woodworking at the center than men. At the event, Parton gave her own secret to staying young: "Be busy, stay active and get involved." - AP, 5/8/18...... 
Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance at the 2018 New Jersey Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Asbury Park Convention Center om Asbury Park, NJ, on May 6 to introduce his longtime friend and guitarist Steven Van Zandt into the hall. The two joined forces onstage and played "I Don't Want To Go Home," trading vocals and eventually welcoming the entire class of inductees -- and many of their family members -- onstage to close the show. "We did the impossible: We made New Jersey hip," said Van Zandt, who is from Middletown, NJ. Other performers getting the nod included Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry, of Hawthorne, NJ. Disco queen Gloria Gaynor, who is from Newark, turned the hall into a giant dance party as audience members leapt from their seats and boogied to her hit 
Phil Collins announced on May 7 that he'll mount his first major North American tour in 12 years beginning on Oct. 5 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Entitled the "Phil Collins Not Dead Yet, Live!" tour after his recent autobiography Not Dead Yet: The Memoir, the trek will be a limited engagement of 15 shows also visiting Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Newark, NJ, Brooklyn, NY, Montreal, Cleveland, Oh., Columbus, Oh., Minneapolis, Chicago, Oakland, Calif., and Las Vegas before wrapping in Los Angeles on Oct. 28. Collins will be accompanied by musicians including his longtime guitarist Daryl Stuermer and his 16-year-old son Nicolas Collins on drums. - Billboard, 5/7/18...... Redmond O'Neal, the troubled 33-year-old son of Ryan O'Neal and the late Farrah Fawcett, was arrested on May 8 at 3:00 a.m. by the Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Division for robbing a convenient store with a knife. According to an LAPD spokesperson, Redmond "entered the store with a knife and approached the clerk and demanded money from the register. The clerk, who was in fear for his life, gave him the money." Though he fled on foot, O'Neal was caught by officers after matching the description of the suspect. "O'Neal was detained and identified as suspect from the robbery," the spokesperson continued. "Officers found the knife and cash in his possession." O'Neal was taken to jail, and is currently being held with a $50,000 bail. In recent years O'Neal has had multiple arrests, and spent a year in prison after being found guilty of drug charges. He had originally been sentenced to three years in prison for violating his probation in an ongoing drug possession case. He struggled for years with his sobriety, and was released from prison in 2016. - RadarOnline.com, 5/10/18...... German-Israeli singer Abi Ofarim, who had hits including "Cinderella Rockefella" in the '60s with his wife in the musical duo Esther & Abi Ofarim, has died in Munich after a long illness. He was 80. Born Abraham Reichstadt in what is today Israel, Ofarim started performing there with Esther Zaled in 1959, and the two married in 1961. After hits in Germany, their greatest success came with "Cinderella Rockefella," which reached No. 1 in Britain in 1968 and led to appearances in London and New York. After the pair separated in 1970, Ofarim worked as a producer and manager but had little success with a solo career. In recent years he'd been working with a Munich organization to help seniors. - 5/4/18.