The Isley Brothers are preparing to battle in court over trademark rights to the band's name. In a lawsuit filed on Mar. 20 in Chicago federal court, Rudolph Isley accused his brother Ronald Isley of improperly attempting to secure a federal trademark registration on the "The Isley Brothers" -- even though the name is supposed to be jointly owned. "Counsel for defendant Ronald Isley has asserted in correspondence that defendant alone has exclusive ownership of the [trade]mark," Rudolph's lawyers wrote in their complaint. "These assertions... are false." The lawsuit claims that Ronald, "acting without the knowledge or approval of Rudolph," applied in 2021 at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register "The Isley Brothers" as a trademark under his name alone. The agency approved the application and registered the trademark in 2022. Rudolph Isley is asking a judge to declare that the trademark rights to the name are "jointly owned by Plaintiff and Defendant equally." He also wants a ruling that forces Ronald to explain how he has "exploited" the trademark and to share any revenue derived from it." In statement to Billboard responding to the lawsuit, Ronald Isley said: "This is an unfortunate family matter that will get resolved in litigation." Rudolph's attorney Brian D. Caplan responded that his client "regrets that he had to bring a lawsuit against his brother," but stressed that the case had become necessary: "He tried to resolve this matter without litigation. But the bottom line is that the name 'The Isley Brothers' belongs to both Rudolph and his brother Ronald." The Isley Brothers are known for such Top 10 hits as "It's Your Thing," "That Lady (Part 1)" and "Fight the Power (Part 1)." - Billboard, 3/21/23...... 
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band treated fans in Boston to one of their hometown anthems during a concert at TD Garden on Mar. 20 when he busted out the '60s rock band The Standells' 1965 ode to some of the city's iconic faces and places, "Dirty Water." The run through the classic garage rock tune came at the top of a 50-minute encore by the Boss and his band and it was just one of several Boston mentions the "Born to Run" rocker tossed out over the course of the show. Springsteen also dedicated his classic "Thunder Road" to the nurses, doctors and staff at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and encouraged his fans to donate to the volunteers from the Greater Boston Food Bank who were set up around the arena. "Dirty Water" was written by The Standells' producer Ed Cobb, a California native, and it makes mentions of the city's notoriously fouled Charles River and Boston Harbor (hence, "Dirty Water"), the totally unfair midnight curfew imposed upon female students at Boston University ("Frustrated women... have to be in by 12 o'clock") as well as the subject of the recent Keira Knightley film Boston Strangler ("have you heard about the strangler?"). In the years since, the song by the Los Angeles-based Standells, which peaked at No. 11 in June 1965, has become an anthem for Boston sports teams, including hockey's Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox baseball team. - Billboard, 3/21/23...... In other Springsteen news, the New Jersey rocker was among the recipients of the prestigious National Medal of Arts during a ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Mar. 21. In presenting the award, Pres. Joe Biden said the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member is celebrated as "one of our greatest performers and storytellers," whose music "celebrates our triumphs, heals our wounds, and gives us hope, capturing the unyielding spirit of what it means to be American." Also honored that afternoon were Gladys Knight, who was recognized as an "exceptional talent" who "influenced musical genres -- from rhythm and blues to gospel to pop -- and inspired generations of artists, captivated by her soundtrack of a golden age in American music," and José Feliciano, who was honored for "opening hearts, building bridges and "overcoming obstacles, never losing faith, and enriching the goodness and greatness of the Nation." Other recipients of National Medals of Arts on this occasion include actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, designer Vera Wang and The Billie Holiday Theatre. The National Medals of Arts is the nation's highest award given to artists and their patrons. - Billboard, 3/21/23...... Rod Stewart has apologized to fans for cancelling his sold-out concert in Australia at the last minute over the third weekend of March. Sir Rod was due to perform alongside Cyndi Lauper and Jon Stevens at his "A Day on the Green" event in Geelong on Mar. 18, however organizers announced on social media hours before the event that it was cancelled "due to illness", which caused ticketholders to become furious. That evening, the veteran British rocker took to Instagram to apologize to his fans for the cancellation and revealed he was suffering from a viral throat infection. "I'm absolutely downhearted that I'm disappointing my fans who bought tickets to A Day On The Green," Stewart said. "Late this morning I was advised that I have a viral infection and my throat is too irritated to sing. I'm only human and sometimes get sick just like you do. My greatest joy is performing for you, so I'm doing everything I can to get on the mend and back on stage!" the 78-year-old shared. Stewart is currently scheduled to perform at the AEC Arena in Adelaide on Mar. 28, followed by five more dates in Australia. From April to September, he will also perform in New Zealand, Mexico, America, Ireland, the U.K., and Spain. - Music-News.com, 3/20/23...... The National Association of Music Merchants' (NAMM) announced on Mar. 20 that John Fogerty will be presented with its prestigious Music for Life Award at the 2023 NAMM Show during a ceremony on Apr. 13 in Anaheim, Calif. The Creedence Clearwater Revival co-founder is being recognized for his "lifelong contributions to music and his commitment to inspiring music makers worldwide." Most recently, Kenny Loggins was presented with the award in 2022, and previous honorees include Quincy Jones, Garth Brooks, Melissa Etheridge, Graham Nash, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Yoko Ono, Henry Mancini, Bob Weir and Nancy Wilson. The Music for Life Award is the entertainment technology industry's highest honor. Meanwhile, Fogerty and his band will also be hitting the road in 2023 for The Celebration Tour, where he'll be joined by his sons Shane and Tyler Fogerty, as well as their band, Hearty Har. - Billboard, 3/20/23...... 
An Instagram conversation between Elton John and his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin has revealed the inspiration for John's No. 1 1972 hit "Rocket Man," and it came as a surprise to Elton. In a clip shared by the 75-year-old Elton, he said: "'Rocket Man' was our first-ever number-one record I think. And it was on the Honky Chateau record. It was a pretty easy song to write a melody to because it's a song about space so it's quite a spacious song." Taupin, 72, then responded: "It was actually a song inspired by Ray Bradbury from his book of science-fiction short stories called The Illustrated Man. In that book, there was a story called 'The Rocket Man', which was about how astronauts in the future would become sort of an everyday job so I kinda took that idea and ran with it." A surprised Elton replied: "Do you know, I never knew that..." The revelation comes after Taupin has just revealed he's set to tell his own story about his famous partnership with the rock superstar in a new book titled Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton, And Me, which is described as a "nonlinear" recollection of his time in the music industry. Bernie said of the book: "It was never my intention to write a traditional A to Z autobiography. I began a few years back composing essays and observations on my life that ultimately gained momentum and started to look like a book. From then on, it became a long, arduous task that was both exhilarating and liberating. It was also a lot of fun and immensely beneficial in blowing the dust off a lot of what I'd forgotten about." He added of the finished product: "Hopefully, there's something in it for everybody. It's contemplative, self-assessing, and attempts to stay off the beaten path in not regurgitating what's already been written. Nonlinear, it's an exploratory trip bouncing back and forth along the decades." Sir Elton previously wrote about their songwriting partnership in his hit 2019 autobiography Me, and Taupin's book is set to hit stores in September. Meanwhile, John and Country music queen Dolly Parton have collaborated on a new version of Elton's 1974 single "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," which Dolly is a huge fan of, and they plan to release the track later in 2023. According to a source quoted in the UK paper The Sun's Bizarre column, "Elton is a massive fan of Dolly -- she is a gay icon, after all. He heard that she wanted to work with him and leapt at the chance." The track will appear on the 77-year-old Parton's upcoming rock 'n' roll album, which will feature her own originals as well as covers of classic hits. Last December, Dolly revealed she's been working on a new rock-themed album "that will be coming out some time next fall, hopefully, in time for the Christmas season next year." - Music-News.com, 3/22/23...... In a new interview with Yahoo! Music, Peter Gabriel has weighed in on the growing prominence of artificial intelligence, and says he believes that neither his nor anyone's job is safe. Speaking about his new tech company Reverberation, Gabriel discussed the need to anticipate what AI technology could be capable of. "I'm probably just as scared [of AI] as everybody else, but I like to jump in the river rather than talk about it... I do think about it quite a lot, and I think not enough people are thinking about it," the veteran prog-rocker said. Gabriel then turned to the topic of whether AI-generated music could ever have the emotional effect of songs written by human artists. "Most people argue no; I would say they just need better algorithms," he said, adding that there will probably be algorithms for human spirit one day. "So, we might as well just grab the algorithms and dance with them, rather than fight them. Unfortunately, I don't think my job or anyone's job is safe from AI," he added. "The way to look at it, though, is this amazing toolkit is just coming into our possession and we could do all sorts of extraordinary things, including perhaps -- and I do say 'perhaps' -- protecting our future." In February, the former Genesis member released a new song titled "The Court (Dark-Side Mix)," the second single taken from his upcoming album i/o which features contributions from Brian Eno as well as backing vocals from his daughter, Melanie Gabriel. - New Musical Express, 3/20/23...... Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen has spoken about an unfortunate incident on Mar. 13 in which he was allegedly assaulted by a 19-year-old who rushed him and knocked him to the ground outside a Fort Lauderdale, Fla. hotel he was staying when his band was playing the city. "Your love and prayers are truly helping. My wife Lauren [Monroe] was thankfully not with me at the time of the incident," the 59-year-old Allen posted on Twitter. "We are together now, and working on recovering in a safe space. We are focusing on healing for everyone involved. We ask you to join us in our effort to move from confusion and shock to compassion and empathy. We understand this act of violence can be triggering for so many people." Police arrested Max Edward Hartley of Ohio after the teen allegedly attacked Allen outside the Four Seasons Hotel on Mar. 13, a day after the veteran British band played a show at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel with Mötley Crüe. Hartley was arrested a short time later after police found him at another hotel allegedly breaking car windows and then charged him with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief and abusing an elderly or disabled adult; Allen tragically lost his left arm after a 1984 car accident. The Florida show came just before a break in the band's touring schedule, with the next date scheduled for May 22 in Sheffield, England. - Billboard, 3/20/23...... More than a year after Cher sued the widow of her first husband Sonny Bono over royalties from the '60s and '70s duo's hits "I Got You Babe" and other songs, a federal judge has issued an initial ruling refusing to dismiss the case. In a split decision on Mar. 14, U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt trimmed part of the case, saying any royalties from recording rights regained by Mary Bono should stop going to Cher. But when it comes to the bigger question of the underlying musical compositions, the judge said the divorce agreement might entitle Cher to keep receiving those payments. "The composition royalties appear to arise solely from the [divorce settlement]," the judge wrote. "On this record, it has not presently been established that [Cher]'s rights to the composition royalties have been terminated." Sonny and Cher started performing together in 1964 and married in 1967, rising to fame with major hits like "I Got You Babe," "The Beat Goes On" and "Baby Don't Go." But the pair split up in 1974, finalizing their divorce with a settlement agreement in 1978. Under that deal, Sonny retained ownership of their music rights, but Cher was granted a half-share of all royalties. Bono died in 1998 as the result of a skiing accident, leaving Mary in control of those copyrights. And in 2016, she invoked the termination right -- a provision of the federal Copyright Act that allows creators or their heirs to win back control of rights they signed away decades prior. Mary sent such notices to Sonny and Cher's publishers, taking back full control of those copyrights. Five years later, Cher filed her lawsuit -- seeking a ruling that the divorce agreement was still in effect and that she was still owed her 50% cut of royalties, regardless of who owns the copyrights now. Mary then fired back a few months later, arguing that the case should be dismissed. Her lawyers said that termination rights were designed to trump all preexisting agreements, including a divorce agreement. - Billboard, 3/17/23...... 
Jackson Browne has issued a statement mourning his longtime collaborator David Lindley who died on Mar. 3 at age 78. "David Lindley, the guitarist, lap steel and fiddle player who gave his personality and his inspiration to so many of my songs, passed away on March 3rd," Browne wrote. "The outpouring of love, and the widespread recognition of his mastery has been very moving. I want to join in the resounding chorus of appreciation for his gifts, but nothing I write seems quite good enough. Words have never been enough to describe what David Lindley brought to a song." Browne ended his lengthy tribute by saying: "My own world is shattered by David's passing. He was my friend and my teacher. It was with great pleasure and certainty that I revisited our special connection over the years. I guess I thought that he would always be around. I've been struggling to write something and post it for the past two weeks. It was hard to begin, and it's hard to conclude, I guess, because I don't want to let him go. David was kind to everyone, and so funny. Incapable of uttering a dishonest word, or playing a dishonest note. There will be tribute concerts, and a documentary about him, for sure. There will be ways for us to continue to celebrate his life. And we all know there will never be another David Lindley." Talented multi-instrumentalist Lindley was a go-to collaborator for the likes of such music icons as Browne, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, and many more. He had been ill for a number of months, according to the Los Angeles Times. A cause of death was not provided. - Billboard, 3/17/23...... Patti Smith was among the artists headlining a Paul McCartney tribute concert at New York's legendary Carnegie Hall on Mar. 15 as part of Michael Dorf's charity series "Music Of," which brings musicians together to celebrate the life and music of some of the world's biggest stars. Also in attendance at the "The Music of Paul McCartney" tribute were Graham Nash, Lyle Lovett, Nancy Wilson, Bruce Hornsby, Macca's former Wings bandmate Denny Laine, and more. Smith appeared unannounced to cover "She's Coming Home," and her rendition of the Beatles' classic has been shared on Instagram. - NME, 3/17/23...... The Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde has joined the list of artists who aren't interested in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame enshrinement. On the heels of a scathing op-ed from grunge-rock icon Courtney Love on Mar. 17 lambasting the Rock Hall for its lack of female representation, Hynde posted a similarly dismissive Facebook note offering up her pointed opinion on the Hall. "I don't even wanna be associated with it. It's just more establishment backslapping," Hynde wrote. "I got in a band so I didn't have to be part of all that." Hynde said she's currently living a happy life in Rio De Janeiro when she was informed that the long-running band was being inducted into the class of 2005. She attended the event and performed two songs after being inducted by Neil Young. She has since, however, thrown dirt on the idea of what she calls the Hall of Fame's "music-as-sport" posture, and in the Facebook post said that when she got the news that her band had been tapped, her "heart sank because I knew I'd have to go back for it as it would be too much of a kick in the teeth to my parents if I didn't... I'd upset them enough by then, so it was one of those things that would bail me out from years of disappointing them (like moving out of the USA and being arrested at PETA protests and my general personality)." "Other than Neil Young's participation in the induction process, the whole thing was, and is, total bollocks. It's absolutely nothing to do with rock 'n' roll and anyone who thinks it is is a fool," she added. Meanwhile, the Pretenders have announced a run of shows in the UK and Ireland this spring. They'll begin their 'Relentless Tour' with a stop at The Great Escape on May 12, where they're due to headline The Independent Stage as part of an exclusive set. The band will release their 12th album, Relentless, later in 2023 although no release date has been given. It will mark the follow-up to 2020's Hate For Sale. - Billboard/NME, 3/17/23...... Daryl Hall has been announced as Billy Joel's special guest at Joel's upcoming American Express presents BST Hyde Park in London on July 7. The 76-year-old Hall, best known as the co-founder and principal lead vocalist of Hall and Oates, will be making his solo debut at the summer concert series. Daryl's House Band, plus special guest Todd Rundgren, have also announced another London show two days later at London's Eventim Apollo on July 9. Headliners for BST also include Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Guns N' Roses, Take That, BLACKPINK and Pink with special guest Gwen Stefani. - Music-News.com, 3/21/23...... 
The back catalog of Lynyrd Skynyrd has gained in streaming and sales following the death of founding guitarist Gary Rossington on Mar. 5 at age 71. In the Mar. 3-9 tracking week, the Southern Rock legends drew 16.4 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate. That's a 16% jump over the previous period of Feb. 24-Mar. 2 (14.1 million). Pacing the group, which was originally led by Ronnie Van Zant and inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, in overall volume for its songs was "Sweet Home Alabama," from 1974's Second Helping. The classic track, Lynyrd Skynyrd's lone top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 8 peak, Oct. 1974), earned 4.5 million streams Mar. 3-9, up 7% from 4.2 million. The song is followed by "Simple Man," from 1973's Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, at 3.9 million streams, a 5% boost. Next up, "Free Bird" from the same album, with a 11% jump to 3.1 million streams. The latter sports a slightly larger bump than the other songs, unsurprisingly: Rossington was the architect of the hit's signature slide guitar riff. A fourth Skynyrd song impacts the week's top 2,000 streams in the U.S.: "Gimme Three Steps," also from the 1973 LP, with 1.6 million streams, up 8%. The cause of death of Rossington, the final surviving original member of the band, has not yet been revealed. - Billboard, 3/17/23...... Mick Slattery, co-founder and original guitarist of the '70s prog-rock band Hawkwind, died "peacefully at home" on Mar. 17 following a short illness. He was 77. Slattery formed Hawkwind with his Famous Cure bandmate Dave Brock in 1969, joining forces with drummer Terry Ollis, saxophonist Nik Turner, and keyboardist Michael "Dik Mik" Davies, and they initially went by the name Group X. Slattery played on an original version of early Hawkwind song "Hurry On Sundown," which was recorded by the band as Hawkwind Zoo during some initial studio time to record demos. The track was eventually released in a 1996 reissue of Hawkwind's self-titled 1970 debut album. Slattery left Hawkwind in 1969 and was replaced by Huw Lloyd-Langton. He continued to make music with musicians who'd played in Hawkwind (with Turner in the group Space Ritual, and with Hawkwind's former bassist, Alan Davey, in his Hawkestrel project). The guitarist's passing comes four months after Turner died at the age of 82. - NME, 3/20/23..... Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins, an original member of Parliament-Funkadelic, died on Mar. 17 at age 81. A cause of death was not provided. Born in 1941 in West Virginia, Mr. Haskins was a member of The Gel-Airs before joining group originally known as The Parliaments, first formed in the 1960s as a doo-wop quintet with George Clinton, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas and Ray Davis. The group that later became known as Parliament-Funkadelic. Mr. Haskins is credited for his contributions to P-Funk tracks like "I Got a Thing" and "I Wanna Know If It's Good to You," according to a post about Haskins on Clinton's website. Mr. Haskins remained a full-time member of P-Funk through the late 1970s. He released his first solo album, A Whole Nother Thang, in 1976 through Westbound Records. He dropped his second solo album, Radio Active, in 1978. Along with other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, he was inducted by Prince into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. - Billboard, 3/18/23...... Director Peter Werner, who won the Oscar for Best Short Film in 1977 for In the Region of Ice, (a student film from his time at the American Film Institute), died on Mar. 21 of cardiac complications after suffering a torn aorta. He was 76. He was mainly known for his credits on a variety of TV series, including Ghost Whisperer, Medium, The Wonder Years, Moonlighting, Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, Elementary, Law & Order: SVU, and plenty of others. Werner, who also directed the 1982 film Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder, is survived by his brother, Tom, whose company produced shows like The Cosby Show, Roseanne and That '70s Show, as well as his wife, Kedren, and children: Lillie, Katharine and James. - Yahoo.com, 3/21/23.
Patti LaBelle sang a nonsense karaoke version of her '70s group Labelle's biggest hit, "Lady Marmalade," on the new Jimmy Fallon-hosted talent show That's My Jam on Mar. 14. LaBelle, 79, sang the reworked version of her hit track, at one point remarking, "Oh, I hate this. Come on!" "Lady Marmalade" originally spent 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 hit parade, peaking at No. 1 in Mar. 1975. The track later saw a resurgence in the 2000s when Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Mya and Lil' Kim covered it for the Moulin Rouge! movie soundtrack; the updated version of the song also peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100. Patti LaBelle's nonsense version "Lady Marmalade" has been shared on YouTube. - Billboard, 3/15/23...... Rising singer Bebe Rexha has told a British tabloid that a new remix of her latest single "Heart Wants What It Wants" will feature Stevie Nicks. Rexha says the idea for the remix was decided after she released the single, and realized it had been "inspired" by Nicks' discography. "We hit up her team and said we have a song, and it's very inspired by Fleetwood Mac and Stevie," Rexha says. "She heard it and loved it. We are still working on the remix but hopefully it will come out soon!" Rexha, a native of Albania, adds she was unfamiliar with Nicks' and Fleetwood Mac's music until her producer asked her to "do a deep dive" into the music. Although no official release date for the remix has been announced, Rexha is set to head out a string of North American tour dates this summer, beginning on June 1. - New Musical Express, 3/16/23...... 
Fans of Talking Heads and David Byrne will probably recall the enormous suit donned by Byrne in the acclaimed Jonathan Demme-directed 1994 Talking Heads documentary Stop Making Sense. Now Byrne, 70, is getting the enormous suit out of storage in a new promo video from movie studio A24 via 4K technology. In the trailer, Byrne visits his neighborhood dry cleaners with a wrinkled ticket -- number A24, naturally -- to see if they still have his signature gigantic outfit from the film that many consider to be one of the most eye-catching and important concert movies of all time. After riding his bike through the New York streets to get his prize home, Byrne slips back into the enormous suit originally built by costume designer Gail Blacker and practices some bendy choreography in a mirror to the strains of "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" from the band's 1983 Speaking in Tongues album. The scene then splits to the original, in which Byrne does some of his patented herky-jerky dance moves on stage before the camera seamlessly pans back to his well-lit apartment and the screen reads, "Stop Making Sense 2023." The trailer can be viewed on YouTube. Studio A24 celebrated the success of its "multiverse" dramedy Everything Everywhere All At Once at the Mar. 12 Academy Awards, during which Byrne, Son Lox and Stephanie Hsu performed best song nominee "This Is a Life" from the film. Byrne donned the hot dog fingers displayed in one of the film's many alternate universes. - Billboard, 3/16/23...... Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters is vowing to take legal action after local officials in Frankfurt, Germany cancelled one of his gigs and branded him one of the "world's most widely spread anti-Semites." Waters' "This Is Not A Drill" tour was due to visit Frankfurt's Festhalle venue on May 28, but the city council and the Hessian state government agreed to cancel the show to "set an example against anti-Semitism." Four days later, officials in Munich introduced a motion to cancel a concert scheduled for May 21 at the city's Olympiahalle. Now Waters -- who previously has faced criticism for his words of support for Vladimir Putin amid Russia's war against Ukraine -- has hit back at the "blatant attempt to silence" him and confirmed he is consulting his lawyers about the "unjustifiable decision." In a statement titled "Roger Waters fights back," the musician's management team accuse German authorities of having "extraordinary and prejudicial intention" to cancel the concert. "These actions are unconstitutional, without justification, and based upon the false accusation that Roger Waters is antisemitic, which he is not," the statement reads. "As a result of this unilateral, politically motivated action, Mr Waters has instructed his lawyers to immediately take all necessary steps to overturn this unjustifiable decision to ensure that his fundamental human right of freedom of speech is protected and that all of those who wish to see him perform, are free to do so in Frankfurt, Munich and in any other city in any other country." Tickets for both the Frankfurt and Munich shows are still available for sale on Waters' website. - Bang Showbiz, 3/16/23...... Mammoth WVH, the rock band led by late Van Halen co-founder Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang Van Halen, has signed a global record deal with BMG for its forthcoming second studio album. The band has also signed a publishing deal with BMG. The new release, coming this summer, will follow Mammoth WVH's 2021 self-titled debut on EX1 Records, which reached No. 1 on the Top Hard Rock Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, as well as No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 200. It also included two No. 1s on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart -- "Distance" and "Don't Back Down" -- while a third song, "Epiphany," reached No. 9. "The Mammoth team and I are so excited to now be a part of the BMG family," Van Halen said in a statement. "The entire team have welcomed us with open arms and have been nothing short of wonderful. I couldn't ask for better partners for the future of Mammoth." Wolfgang previewed the new album at Los Angeles' 5150 Studio in Los Angeles on Mar. 6-7. The group's name comes from the original moniker for his father's band, Van Halen. - Billboard, 3/16/23...... 
Queen guitarist Brian May was knighted by King Charles III of England during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Mar. 14 in London for his services to music and charity. The musician, 75, said he had "no words!" for the honor of receiving the title of Knight Bachelor by King Charles, and will now be known as Sir Brian May. Queen's official Twitter account shared a congratulatory note, writing, "Arise Sir Brian May. Brian's investiture as a Knight of the Realm took place at Buckingham Palace. The knighthood was presented to Brian by His Royal Highness, King Charles. Many congratulations, Sir Brian!" May was also previously given the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005, and joins a long list of English music stars who've been knighted, including Rod Stewart, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Barry Gibb and Van Morrison. - Billboard, 3/15/23...... A 19-year-old Ohio man has been arrested for attacking Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen as the band was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. co-headlining a show with Motley Crüe at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. According to the police report, Max Edward Hartley, a high school varsity lacrosse and football player from Cleveland, was hiding behind a pillar outside the Four Seasons hotel when he rushed Allen, who lost an arm in a 1984 car accident, knocking him down and causing him to "hit his head on the ground causing injury." Authorities say when Allen, 59, was down, a woman rushed out of the hotel to help him and she too was attacked, as the defendant "continues to batter her by striking her... [She] attempts to escape by running into the hotel." Hartley was arrested after being found at a nearby hotel allegedly breaking car windows, and has been charged with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief, and abuse of an elderly or disabled adult. A photographer with a Miami TV station confronted Hartley after he made bail, and asked why he would assault a person with one arm and if he knew that Allen was in the band. The man did not respond. - Bang Showbiz, 3/16/23...... Yusuf/Cat Stevens says he "didn't have a plan" for his newly-announced studio album King of a Land, although "I've been recording it for 12 years." "I started recording it in Berlin in 2011, but I wasn't happy with the tracks I laid down there," Yusuf recently told New Musical Express. "Over the years, I've gradually been perfecting them. I live in Dubai, where I've been adding details in my studio. So it's taken a long time, but it's benefitted from that... I wasn't going to let go until it's ready and I'm very, very pleased with the results. It's probably one of my best albums," he added. Made withhis longtime producer Paul Samwell-Smith, King Of A Land is a fascinatingly diverse album, veering from the childlike wonder of "How Good It Feels" and gospel-tinged "Highness" to the politicized rock of "All Nights All Days" and the heavy "Pagan Run." The album is launched with on of Yusuf's trademark infectious acoustic songs, "Take The World Apart." King of a Land drops on June 16 via BMG Records. - NME, 3/15/23...... A little more than one month after being released from prison on Feb. 3, Gary Glitter is back behind bars in the UK after breaching the terms of his probation. Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, served half of a 16-year prison sentence for sexually abusing three young girls in the 1970s when he was freed in February, and a Probation Service spokesperson did not specify the reasons why he was recalled, but "our number one priority is protecting the public." "That's why we set tough licence conditions and when offenders breach them, we don't hesitate to return them to custody," the spokesperson added. Sex offenders like Glitter "are closely monitored by the police and Probation Service," the Ministry of Justice said in a statement at the time, noting they face being fitted with a GPS tag. "If the offender breaches these conditions at any point, they can go back behind bars," that statement continued. Glitter, now 78, was initially found guilty of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13. His total fall from grace began in 1997, when he was arrested after indecent material was found on his computer, which resulted in a prison stint and the enduring scrutiny of Britain's tabloid press. Meanwhile, Deadline.com is reporting Glitter has been confirmed as the subject of a new Netflix documentary. Hunting Gary Glitter [working title] will cover Glitter's conviction for child sex abuse and a series of sexual offenses. With exclusive access to the journalists who pursued Glitter over several years across the world in order to bring him to justice, and alerted authorities to his whereabouts in Southeast Asia, ultimately leading to his arrest, the production has been underway for a number of months. Amazon Prime Video and ITV are reportedly also working up projects on Glitter. - Billboard/Deadline.com, 3/15/23...... 
Although hot young Canadian artist The Weeknd recently won five Juno Awards over the course of the two nights bringing his total to 22, he's still in second place on the all-time Juno leaderboard behind Anne Murray, who has picked up 25 Junos over the years. Murray's collection of Junos includes back-to-back awards for both Album of the Year and Single of the Year for 1980-81. She took the album awards with New Kind of Feeling and Anne Murray's Greatest Hits, and the single prizes with "I Just Fall in Love Again" and "Could I Have This Dance." The singer was one of the top pop/country crossover artists of the 1970s and '80s, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978 with "You Needed Me," and the Hot Country Songs chart 10 times. Murray also won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance with "You Needed Me" and for Best Female Country Vocal Performance three times, with "Love Song," "Could I Have This Dance" and "A Little Good News." Although best known for her ballads, she also had some midtempo hits, including covers of The Beatles' sassy "You Won't See Me" and The Monkees' endearing "Daydream Believer." Murray also had a wonderfully dry sense of humor in concert. When a fan would yell out a request, she would counter with a dry "Not yet. First, I want to work you up to feverish pitch." - Billboard, 3/14/23...... KISS' Gene Simmons recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that his band would still love to do a Vegas residency, after their planned stint at Zappos Theater in Sin City in 2021 and 2022 was canceled do to the Covid-19 pandemic. "I actually don't know because we have been so inundated by people wanting to see us wherever we go," Simmons says. "I mean, every guy whoever washed my dog or did my dry cleaning is hitting me up for tickets for his entire family, three generations back. Vegas? I don't know, it would be nice to do a Vegas residency. But I don't know any of these things." He added that "KISS the touring band will stop" once its "End of the Road" tour wraps in New York on Dec. 2, but "KISS will continue in other ways. I have no problems with four deserving 20-year-olds sticking the makeup back on and hiding their identity.... KISS will continue in ways that even I haven't thought of." - Music-News.com, 3/14/23...... CBS has given an air date of Apr. 9 for the recently taped Beach Boys tribute, A Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys. The show was taped at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on Feb. 8, three days after the live broadcast of the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Like past "Grammy Salutes" specials, the show features a broad range of artists performing the honoree's songs, with an eclectic mix of artists honoring Brian Wilson & co., including Brandi Carlile, John Legend, Norah Jones, Pentatonix, Take 6, Fall Out Boy, My Morning Jacket and Weezer. In addition, the special will feature appearances by music legends Sir Elton John and Bruce Springsteen along with actors Tom Hanks, John Stamos and Drew Carey. It was John did the honors when the BB were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and Sir Elton was the subject of his own Grammy tribute special in 2018, Elton John: I'm Still Standing - A Grammy Salute. The BB special will air on Apr. 9 from 8-10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. In a first for these Grammy Salutes specials, a one-hour version of the tribute will air on MTV at a future date to be announced. Interestingly, the Beach Boys never won a Grammy in competition, despite four nominations, although Wilson has received six more Grammy nominations and won twice -- for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" in 2004 and Best Historical Album for The Smile Sessions (Deluxe Box Set) in 2012. - Billboard, 3/14/23...... Willie Nelson announced on Mar. 14 he's bringing back his Outlaw Music Festival in 2023 for a string of dates this summer. The annual festival, which serves as a celebration of Nelson's life and legacy, will see the country rocker bringing friends and family on the road to celebrate his upcoming 90th birthday. Guests will include Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, The Avett Brothers, John Fogerty, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Whiskey Myers, Gov't Mule, Marcus King, Margo Price, Trampled By Turtles, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Kathleen Edwards, Flatland Cavalry, Kurt Vile And The Violators, Brittney Spencer and Particle Kid. The festival will kick off in Somerset, Wash. on June 23, making additional stops in Dallas, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Cleveland and more before wrapping in Cinncinati on Aug. 30. The full tour announcement and the day-by-day lineups for the festival can be viewed on Instagram. - Billboard, 3/14/23...... 
On Mar. 14 Tom Waits announced on Twitter that a 50th anniversary vinyl reissue of his debut studio album Closing Time will be released on June 2 via ANTI. The double-LP is available on clear and black 180g vinyl cut at 45rpm with half-speed mastering by Abbey Road Studios in London. It'll be packaged in a gatefold jacket with lyrics. Additionally, a remastered digital version of the album is out now on streaming platforms. The reissue can be listened to via Spotify.com. - NME, 3/14/23...... Organizers of the Bob Marley interactive exhibition "One Love Experience" announced on Mar. 14 that the exhibit as been extended for an additional four weeks in its current Los Angeles home at the Ovation Hollywood. The exhibit, which opened Jan. 27, was originally slated to run until April 23, but now will close after May 21. It spans multiple rooms across some 15,000 square feet, and includes the full Bob Marley archive of previously-unseen photos and memorabilia, and a 2,000-square foot "One Love Forest," which is an immersive trip through Marley's Jamaica, complete with cannabis garden and "a giant joint," according to a press release. The exhibit initially launched in London in Feb. 2022, spending 10 weeks at the Saatchi Gallery in the city, before moving to Toronto, where it spent 16 weeks at the Lighthouse Immersive Artspace. The exhibit is produced by the Marley family and Terrapin Station Entertainment, a division of Sony Music. - Billboard, 3/14/23...... The Who vocalist Roger Daltrey has confirmed that he recently completed a script for a new Keith Moon biopic and says he's determined to get the project to the big screen. "I'm at a draft that's ready to go to directors," Daltrey says about the film, which has been in the works since at least 2005, when Mike Myers signed up to portray the late zany drummer who died in 1978 from a drug overdose at age 32. However, it's since languished in development limbo and failed to get off the ground. "It's a tricky one, and it's taken me a long, long time," Daltrey continued. "A myriad of writers came up with failed scripts to finally make me sit down and write the kind of story I had in my head of how to tell a story that engages people, that really does expose the full Moon." The singer went on to describe Moon as an "extraordinary character," adding: "He was flawed, like we all are. But he was wonderful and he was an absolute uncontrolled genius. And people like him are greatly missed in life today, because life is so full of fucking mediocrity, it's unbelievable." Asked whether he had anyone in mind to play Moon in the film, Daltrey responded: "I've got someone in mind as a template, but he might be too old to play Keith. But I've got a template, which is the most useful thing. Mike [Myers] would have been great at that time but he's too old now, unfortunately. But I do have someone in mind who's a very very, very good actor. But again, he might be too old but he's a template." The Who will kick off a 10-date UK summer tour in Hull on July 6. - NME, 3/13/23...... John Travolta teared up at the 95th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Mar. 12 as he introduced his late beloved Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John. "In this industry we have a rare luxury of getting to do what we love for a living and sometimes getting to do it with people that we come to love," the Saturday Night Fever star said. "It's only fitting that we celebrate those we lost." Of those departed talents, Travolta said, "They've touched our hearts, made us smile and became dear friends who we will always remain hopelessly devoted to." As he delivered that last line, a reference to Newton-John's song "Hopelessly Devoted to You," he noticeably choked up, pushing back tears. Newton-John died last August at the age of 73. The pair remained lifelong friends after starring in the 1978 smash Grease, which launched both of their careers into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, Elton John raised several more millions of dollars for the fight against AIDS at his annual Oscars viewing party that same night at West Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. Hosted by John and his husband David Furnish, with special guests Eric McCormack and Michaela Ja Rodriguez, the event reportedly raised over $9 million for the "Rocket Man" singer's charity organization. The event was well-attended by plenty of A-list artists, including stars like Smokey Robinson, Sharon Osbourne, Hillary Duff and Tyga. In a statement, Sir Elton said in part: "We can see an end to AIDS in our lifetimes, but first we must break down stigma and discrimination and provide equal access to healthcare to finally end the epidemic for everyone, everywhere." His foundation was founded in 1992 with the stated goal of bringing an end to the AIDS epidemic. - Billboard, 3/12/23...... Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band announced on Twitter on Mar. 12 that they've been forced to postpone a handful of U.S. concerts "due to illness." The affected shows include Uncasville, Conn. (3/12) and Albany, N.Y. (3/14). Springsteen previously postponed the band's Mar. 9 concert at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Further details about the illness and whether it was Springsteen or one of the band members were not provided, however in a Twitter post on Mar. 11 E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt said: "No need to be anxious or afraid. Nothing serious. Just a temporary situation. We will all be back in full force very soon." - Billboard, 3/12/23...... On Mar. 10 Eric Clapton announced a pair of Jeff Beck tribute concerts will take place at London's historic Royal Albert Hall on May 22 and 23. Clapton says the event will "honour the memory and artistry" of Beck, who died suddenly on Jan. 10 aged 78, and is set to be joined at the gigs by a host of "colleagues and friends," including Rod Stewart, Johnny Depp, Billy Gibbons, John McLaughlin, Imelda May, Gary Clark Jr. and Joss Stone. Also scheduled to appear are Rhonda Smith, Anika Nilles and Robert Stevenson from Jeff Beck's live band. The final bill of participating artists will be revealed closer to the date of the performances. In 2022, Clapton played two nights at the Royal Albert Hall as part of his UK and European headline tour. He was later forced to postpone two of the dates on the stint after contracting Covid-19. - NME, 3/10/23...... 
Versatile R&B artist Bobby Caldwell, best known for his 1978 hit "What You Won't Do For Love," died on Mar. 15 at his home after a lengthy illness, according to a tweet by his wife Mary Caldwell. He was 71. In her tweet, Mary said her husband "had been FLOXED," which generally refers to a condition that arises from the adverse effects of consuming fluoroquinolone antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin, Levaquin or Avelox. Born on April 15, 1951 in New York City, Caldwell got his first big break serving as the rhythm guitarist for Little Richard in the early 1970s before going solo later in the decade and scoring a hit out of the box on his TK Records debut with the No. 9 Billboard single "What You Won't Do For Love." In a 2005 interview with NPR, Caldwell said the Miami-based TK label with a largely Black, R&B roster didn't "want it to be well-known that I was white," which explains why his picture was left off the cover of his self-titled debut. Additionally, he said the record was initially completed without the smooth, jazzy ballad "What You Won't Do for Love," which Caldwell co-wrote and cut in a hurry to please TK boss Henry Stone. The song went on to cement Caldwell's reputation as a "blue-eyed soul" star and it has been covered since by everyone from Boyz II Men to Michael Bolton, Roy Ayers and Snoh Aalegra; it was also sampled by Tupac Shakur on "Do For Love." He scored again in 1980 with the gentle piano pop tune "Open Your Eyes" from that year's Cat in the Hat album, and continued to release albums throughout the 1980s, 1990s and into the mid-2010's, all the way through his final collection, 2015's Cool Uncle. Caldwell also co-wrote the hit 1986 Amy Grant/Peter Cetera duet "The Next Time I Fall," which went to No. 1 and received a Grammy nod for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Goup with Vocal. He also wrote or co-wrote songs for Ayers, Neil Diamond, Boz Scaggs, Chicago and Natalie Cole, among others. - Billboard, 3/15/23...... It has been revealed that Lisa Marie Presley's ex-husband Michael Lockwood has been granted full custody of their 14-year-old twin daughters Harper and Finley following Lisa Marie's death on Jan. 12 at age 54. The custody battle over the twins had been ongoing for years, but following Lisa Marie's death, her lawyer attended a virtual hearing on Mar. 14 and asked for the custody case to be dismissed as his client is "sadly no longer with us." According to Entertainment Tonight, custody will go to Lockwood, who was married to Lisa Marie between 2006 and 2016, unless another family member disputes the matter. The custody hearing came just days after Lockwood asked the court to appoint him as the guardian ad litem for the children so he can represent them in an upcoming probate court hearing, which is scheduled to take place on Apr. 13. Both Harper and Finley each signed their names, approving of Lockwood as their guardian. Since Lisa's death, there has been an ongoing battle over her trust between her mother Priscilla Presley and daughter Riley Keough. - Music-News.com, 3/16/23...... 
In one of the most disturbing incidents in rock lore, prolific and in demand early '70s drummer Jim Gordon was sentenced to decades in prison after being convicted of killing his mother in 1983 and repeated failures to show up for his hearings. Gordon, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, died on Mar. 13 from natural causes at the California Medical Facility prison hospital in Vacavillle, Calif., according to his rep. He was 77. Best known for his work in Eric Clapton's band Derek and the Dominoes, Gordon co-wrote that band's classic track "Layla" with Clapton, and it appeared on the group's 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. "Layla" was famously written about Clapton's forbidden love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend and Beatles member George Harrison. The song initially peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1971 but became a top 10 hit when it was re-released the following year. Clapton's MTV Unplugged version of the track went to No. 12 on the Hot 100 in 1992. In addition to being a member of Derek and the Dominos, Gordon was also a member of the session musician group "The Wrecking Crew," in which he was able to earn spots playing the drums on tracks like Carly Simon's "You're So Vain," Steely Dan's "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," and John Lennon's "Power to the People," as well as The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, Tom Waits' The Heart of Saturday Night and other tracks by Cher, Alice Cooper, Leon Russell, Carpenters, Joan Baez and more. - Billboard, 3/16/23.
The Who frontman Roger Daltrey says he's enlisted such rising artists as Kasabian, Wet Leg, Courteeners and Underworld for the 2023 edition of his annual Teenage Cancer Trust shows, which take place Mar. 20-26 at the historic Royal Albert Hall in London. Daltrey, who is an Honorary Patron of TCT, will play a solo concert there on Mar. 26, as he announced on The Who's official 
In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, Deep Purple's Ian Paice and Ritchie Blackmore recalled the "pretty hostile" police situation with their classic "Smoke on the Water" riff was born back in 1971. The legendary rock band were jamming in a mobile unit after Switzerland's Montreux Casino burned down in 1971 during a concert by The Mothers of Invention after a fan had set the venue on fire with a flare gun. And the cops came knocking the doors down because they were making a "hell of a racket." "There was no sound-proofing and we were recording at night. A hell of a racket!," drummer Paice said. Guitarist Blackmore continued: "We did 'Smoke On The Water' there, and the riff I made up in the spur of the moment. I just threw it together with lan Paice. Roger Glover [Bassist] joined in. We went outside to the mobile unit and were listening back to one of the takes, and there was some hammering on the door. It was the local police, and they were trying to stop the whole thing because it was so loud. We knew that they were coming to close everything down. We said to Martin Birch, our engineer: 'Let's see if we have a take.' So they were outside hammering and taking out their guns... It was getting pretty hostile." Birch added: "It was about two in the morning, the neighbours were complaining. We locked all the doors. I mean, literally, it was 'da-da-da! Bang, bang', 'polizei, polizei' 'P*** off. Da-da-da'. So we had to get the track down before the police broke in and chucked us out." The iconic riff could have easily got away amid the "hostile" situation, however, "Smoke on the Water" ended up being the big hit from the band's 1972 album 
It was announced on Mar. 9 that iconic '70s actor John Travolta is scheduled to be among the presenters at the 2023 Oscars on Mar. 12, held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, the show's usual home since 2002. This will give the Saturday Night Fever and Grease star another chance to prove that his inexplicable mangling of Idina Menzel's name as "Adele Dazeem" on the Oscars nine years ago was just a once-in-a-lifetime verbal slip. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast to outlets worldwide on Mar. 12, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Among the notable '70s-related nominations is director Baz Luhrmann's dizzying Elvis Presley biopic 
Legendary New Wave icons The B-52's and '80s hitmaker Cyndi Lauper have joined a rising chorus of voices speaking out against new laws being passed by Republicans targeting the trans community and seeking to ban drag artists. "We, The B-52's, are deeply concerned about the numerous new bills that promote transphobia and discrimination against transgender individuals and drag artists, which have been introduced in the United States," the band said in a sharply worded statement issued on 
Actor Robert Blake, the Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted in the killing of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley in 2001, died of heart disease on Mar. 9 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 89. Blake, star of the 1970s TV show, 
On television, fans also watched Blake on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he was a recurring guest who appeared in funny skits with longtime friend Johnny Carson and other featured celebrities. He is also remembered as a pitchman in commercials for STP, Geico and others. Blake's career had slowed down well before the trial. Once a wealthy man, he spent millions on his murder defense and wound up living on social security and a Screen Actor's Guild pension. He made only a handful of screen appearances after the mid-1980s; his last project was in David Lynch's Lost Highway, released in 1997. According to his niece, Blake had spent his recent years "enjoying jazz music, playing his guitar, reading poetry, and watching many Hollywood Classic films." A private memorial service will be held to honor his life. - AP, 3/9/23...... Chaim Topol, the spirited Israeli actor and singer who portrayed Tevye the milkman in "Fiddler on the Roof" on stages all around the world and in an Oscar-nominated turn in Norman Jewison's 1971 film adaptation, died on Mar. 9 in Tel Aviv. He was 87. Israel's first international movie star, Mr. Topol also played famed Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in Galileo (1975); an American scientist, Dr. Hans Zarkov, in the cult sci-fi classic Flash Gordon (1980); and Milos Columbo, a Greek smuggler and ally of Roger Moore's James Bond, in For Your Eyes Only (1981). As Polish family man Berel Jastrow, he was central to the plot of two acclaimed 1980s ABC miniseries, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, both based on Herman Wouk novels. Topol last portrayed Tevye on a Boston stage in 2009 but was forced to exit the musical after suffering a shoulder injury. He received the prestigious Israel Prize for lifetime achievement from his government in 2015. Survivors include his wife, Galia, whom he married in October 1956. They had three children, Omer, Adi and Anat. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/9/23...... Bert I. Gordon, the professed king of the monster movies whose B pictures featured giant rats, giant spiders, giant grasshoppers, giant chickens, a colossal man and 30-foot teenagers laying waste to everything in sight, died on Mar. 8 in Los Angeles. He was 100 years old. As anxieties over nuclear testing and the effects of radiation swept postwar America, Mr. Gordon embarked on a low-budget filmmaking odyssey that turned mutated monsters loose on the hapless world. Despite the fact that his movies featured stars like Ida Lupino and Orson Welles, and despite the eye-catching apocalyptic titles and lurid posters, he generated many flops, a few minor hits and largely negative reviews. He also generated a cult following. In the 1950s and early '60s, Mr. Gordon's monster movies were perfect for drive-in theaters, where audiences took in wildly improbable plots, silly dialogue and crude special effects, including locusts overrunning a miniature city, a gigantic rat hovering over a girl in a negligee, and Ida Lupino being eaten by vast mealworms. - GlobalVillageSpace.com, 3/8/23.
Gary Rossington, the last surviving original member of Southern Rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd, died on Mar. 5, nearly four months before the band was planning to launch its next tour. He was 71. No cause of death was given, though Rossington had been dealing with health issues over the past couple of decades and particularly since the mid-2010s, when heart ailments occasionally sidelined him, and the band."It is without deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington today," the band wrote in an official statement. "Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. Please keep Dale, Mary and Annie and the entire Rossington family in your prayers and respect the family's privacy at this time," the band added. Rossington was the last man standing in a band that formed during 1964 in Jacksonville, Fla., starting with bassist Larry Junstrom and drummer Bob Burns in a trio called Me, You, and Him. Singer Ronnie Van Zant, who played on a rival baseball team, jammed with the team after one of their games, playing the Rolling Stones' "Time Is on My Side," and the rest was history. The band settled on its name around 1970, taking it from Leonard Skinner, the strict physical education teacher at Robert E. Lee High School. Skinner was particularly hard on boys who had long hair, which led Rossington to drop out of school. After working the local and regional scene Skynyrd was discovered by Al Kooper, founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears, who signed the band to his Sounds of the South label. The band's debut album, 
"We were a brotherhood, and when you lose your brothers you can't just go on." He and guitarist Allen Collins formed the Rossington Collins Band, which lasted nearly four years and two albums before breaking up in 1982. Lynyrd Skynyrd, meanwhile reformed in 1987, ostensibly to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the plane crash; the band has continued ever since, recording nine more studio albums and going through a number of number of lineup changes. Rossington -- who is part of a guitarist core that included Collins (who passed away during 1977), Ed King (who died in 2018), Hughie Thomasson (who died in 2007), Rickey Medlocke and others -- was the only Skynyrd member to appear on all of its albums. During a 2016 interview, promoting his Take It on Faith album with wife Dale Krantz-Rossington -- who's also a Skynyrd back-up singer -- Rossington said that despite his health battles he'd made a decision to go on playing and die with his proverbial boots on. "It's just in my blood, y'know?," he explained. "I'm just an old guitar player, and we've spent our whole loves and the 10,000 hours of working to understand how to play and do it. So I think once you've got something going for yourself you should keep it up and keep your craft going. When you retire, what's next? I like to fish, but how much of that can you do, right? So I want to keep doing what I do now." Despite his health concerns, Rossington still appeared at some of Lynyrd Skynyrd's shows in 2022, although sometimes he would only play for the second half of the gig. The band recently confirmed that he would be making "guest appearances" on their upcoming co-headlining tour with ZZ Top this summer. Tributes to Rossington began hitting social media immediately after the band's announcement. The social media team of the late Charlie Daniels wrote on 
Yusuf/Cat Stevens has been confirmed to play the coveted Legends Slot at the UK's Glastonbury 2023 festival on June 25, the BBC reports. The Legends Slot, often reserved for older and heritage acts, traditionally takes place at around 4:00 pm on the iconic Pyramid Stage. This will mark Yusuf's debut appearance at the festival held at Worthy Farm. Other acts set to join Elton John -- who'll be headlining the Pyramid Stage as part of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour and will be playing his final UK concert ever -- include Arctic Monkeys, Guns N' Roses, Lana Del Rey, Lizzo and The War On Drugs. Previous Legends Slot appearances include Diana Ross in 2022, Barry Gibb, Jeff Lynne's ELO, Lionel Richie and Dolly Parton. - NME, 3/3/23...... In a new interview shared on 
In a new interview with Goldmine magazine, Uriah Heep guitarist Mick Box revealed fans of the Heep are keen to launch a petition to get the band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Box, the only original member of the British hard rockers left in the current line-up, said: "People have been making rumbles about it, and I think our fans are trying to get a petition together for it to get the right numbers to warrant being there. But I think over the years, and maybe we deserve a place, but they have a selection committee that chooses what bands go in and what bands don't. And there's nothing we can do about that really." He continued, "All I know is that we've been going for over 52 years now, have 25 albums, sold over 40 million albums, and have toured in 62 countries, so there is some merit for us to be there. Whether or not we get chosen is neither here nor there. And if it doesn't happen, as usual, life goes on." When asked how he'd like to be remembered, Box said for "inspiring" people and being a "good guitarist." "I don't know, as that's a tough one. As a good guitarist and a good human being would be enough. I treat others how I want to be treated myself, and I'm very grounded in what I do. I'm one of these people who can go onstage and produce an ego to perform, but then I can leave it onstage and come back and be Joe Schmo again.... the most rewarding thing [is] inspiring people to bring music into their lives, because to be honest, music is life and life is music." - Music-News.com, 3/3/23...... Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters has shared a preview of "Us and Them" from his re-working of the iconic prog rock band's classic 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon and says in it's YouTube description that it's not intended as a "replacement" for the "irreplaceable" original. Waters says he simply intended to tip the hat to a song that he and his former bandmates, Nick Mason, Dave Gilmour and the late Rick Wright, have "every right to be proud of." "It's not a replacement for the original which, obviously, is irreplaceable," Waters wrote in the description of the YouTube clip. "But it is a way for the seventy nine year old man to look back across the intervening fifty years into the eyes of the twenty nine year old and say, to quote a poem of mine about my Father, 'We did our best, we kept his trust, our Dad would have been proud of us.' And also it is a way for me to honor a recording that Nick and Rick and Dave and I have every right to be very proud of," he added. Waters also confirmed he's "now in the process of finishing the final mix" for his Dark Side redux. Upon revealing he had been working on the project for months without the knowledge of Gilmour and Mason, Waters dismissed his former bandmates' contributions to the record insisting it was always his "project, let's get rid of all this 'we' crap." Speaking to the Daily Telegraph newspaper in February, he said: "I wrote 'The Dark Side of the Moon'. Let's get rid of all this 'we' crap! Of course we were a band, there were four of us, we all contributed - but it's my project and I wrote it. So... blah!" Waters wrote the album's lyrics and is credited with composing three of the 10 tracks, along with co-writing the music for another two. Asked why he has remade the record, he said: "Because not enough people recognised what it's about, what it was I was saying then." - Music-News.com, 3/3/23...... Chaka Khan has apologized for blasting singers such as Mariah Carey and Adele in a recent interview. Khan, real name Yvette Stevens, took to Instagram on Mar. 5 to apologize for her remarks to Andrew Goldman for his The Originals podcast earlier in March, when she was asked about being ranked number 29 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time" earlier in 2023, and gave her controversial opinions on those ranked higher. During the interview, when Goldman noted that Carey was ranked at number five, she jokingly alleged that Carey "may have bribed someone at the magazine," and as for Adele landing at number 2 ahead of Mary J. Blige at 25, she commented, "OK, I quit." Khan told Goldman: "Recently, I was asked about a list of the 'greatest singers of all time' and instead of questioning the need for such a list, I was pitted against other artists and I took the bait," she began. "As artists, we are unfairly put into 'boxes', 'categories' or on 'lists.' Being an artist or musician is not a competition. It's a gift, for which I am truly grateful. It was not my intention to cause pain or upset anyone. To anyone that felt this way, I sincerely apologize." She continued, "Thank you for all the love everyone has shown me, unconditionally. I have always been about empowering others and I started a foundation for that very purpose. I will be announcing soon. Empowering all artists is most important because we truly are the architects of change... and change begins within the heart. I love you all and God bless." - Music-News.com, 3/6/23...... 
Revered American jazz composer/saxophonist Wayne Shorter passed away in Los Angeles on Mar. 2 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 89. "Visionary composer, saxophonist, visual artist, devout Buddhist, devoted husband, father and grandfather Wayne Shorter has embarked on a new journey as part of his extraordinary life -- departing the earth as we know it in search of an abundance of new challenges and creative possibilities," read a statement from a spokesperson for Mr. Shorter. "Always inquisitive and constantly exploring -- ever the fearless and passionate innovator -- Shorter was 89 years young and had just won his 13th Grammy Award in February." Born on Aug. 25, 1933 in Newark, N.J., Mr. Shorter studied music at New York University in the mid-1950s, developing a style influenced by such jazz pioneers as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. After brief runs with the Horace Silver Quintet and the Maynard Ferguson big band, Mr. Shorter's career began in earnest in 1959 when he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, a four-year tenure that found him graduating to musical director for the group while blossoming into a multi-faceted composer and master of the driving, hard bop sound. He then moved on to a fruitful six-year run with jazz icon Miles Davis, first in his Quintet, where Mr. Shorter was able to stretch his musical wings and add layers to his already formidable talents, including on Davis' landmark 1969 jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way and 
Notable L.A. session musician David Lindley, a talented multi-instrumentalist known for his work and collaborations with the likes of Jackson Browne, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart and others, died on Mar. 3. He was 78. Born in San Marino, Calif., on Mar. 21, 1944, Lindley grew up surrounded by music and began playing banjo and fiddle as a child. By his early twenties, he had developed an interest in electric music and formed the psychedelic folk-rock band Kaleidoscope, which released its debut album, Side Trips, in 1967. That same year, he worked as a session musician on Leonard Cohen's first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen. After splitting with Kaleidoscope in 1970 following the release of four albums, Lindley joined Jackson Browne's band, establishing himself on albums like 1973's 
Appearing on Howard Stern's SiriusXM radio show on Mar. 1, KISS announced they'll play their final shows ever on Dec. 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden. "Dec. 1 and 2 is Madison Square Garden. Those are the last two shows of the band. We're finishing up where we started," KISS's Paul Stanley told Stern. Ahead of the gigs at the legendary New York venue, KISS will play 17 other shows across the U.S. and Canada as part of its End of the Road World Tour, including stops in Los Angeles, Seattle, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Baltimore. "Look, some people have kind of snickered and said, 'Oh this End of the Road tour's gone on for years,'" Stanley continued. "Yeah, we lost two and a half years to Covid. We would've been done already! So, yes, this is the end." Prompted by Stern, Gene Simmons said he's almost certain he'll be emotional once the band reaches its final performances. "I kid around a lot about, 'Men don't do that,'" he added. "I'm sure I'm gonna cry like a 9-year-old girl whose foot's being stepped on. KISS was born on 23rd Street. It's only taken us 50 years to go play the final shows 10 blocks away on 33rd Street, which is Madison Square Garden." In February, Stanley starred in Workday.com's Super Bowl commercial along with fellow rockers Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne and Gary Clark Jr. KISS's Howard Stern Show interview can be viewed on 
Van Morrison announced on Feb. 28 that he'll play a special one-off show at London's legendary Royal Albert Hall on June 28. The Celtic crooner will perform tracks from 
On Feb. 27 The Doobie Brothers announced 35 new U.S. dates for their ongoing 50th anniversary tour. The shows, which will run from June through October of 2023, extend the outing that has brought guitarists Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, John McFee and singer Michael McDonald back together for the first time in 25 years. "We are thrilled to be back on the road in 2023 playing some cities we haven't gotten to yet on this tour," Doobie's co-founder Johnston in a statement. After a June 9 launch in Sparks, Nev., the band will also visit markets including Kansas City (6/14), Des Moines (6/18), Louisville (7/1), Biloxi (8/28) and Charleston (9/7). After wrapping the U.S. dates in Atlantic City on Oct. 8, the group is slated to head overseas for shows in Australia, Japan and Singapore. - Billboard, 2/27/23...... A U.K. George Harrison fan named Andy Chistlehurst has dug through the archives to find a 1965 interview by Harrison with Record Mirror, where the guitarist discussed some of his influences at the time, and created a playlist from Harrison's jukebox from that time. Chistlehurst has now compiled the recommendations from the interview, including Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Little Richard, Otis Redding and more, into a 
Elton John and Mariah Carey were among the family, friends and celebrities paying tribute to Olivia Newton-John during an Australian state memorial in Melbourne on Feb. 26. During the ceremony, Sir Elton said during a video link that Olivia's "bravery and optimism" would stay with him forever. He added: "She was such a wonderful force of nature, she was funny, kind, warm and talented and every time we got together we laughed and laughed and laughed. Throughout her career I have watched her grow and grow and grow to be the artist she became." Mariah Carey noted how Newton-John "really affected my life." "As a little girl, I loved her so much. Grease was probably the first movie I ever saw. I looked up to her so much and when I got to meet her, she was just as nice as she was a star," Carey said. During the memorial, Delta Goodrem, the Sydney pop singer who portrayed Newton-John in the 2018 TV mini-series Hopelessly Devoted to You, performed a medley of Olivia's biggest hits. Speaking beforehand, she said that "being able to honor and celebrate Olivia is incredibly special." The ceremony also saw Australian actor Hugh Jackman pay tribute to Newton-John alongside her husband John Easterling and daughter Chloe Lattanzi. Newton-John died in Aug. 2022 having battled breast cancer since 1992. She was 73. - NME, 2/26/23...... New Wave legends Devo have announced a one-off date in the UK on Aug. 19 as part of their world "farewell tour" of 2023. "In celebration of their 50th year and as part of their Farewell Tour, pioneering synth-pop legends @DEVO will be playing the Eventim Apollo in London this August - their one and only UK show!," London's Eventim Apollo venue 
Since its debut in 1971, an anti-pollution ad showing a man in Native American attire shed a single tear at the sight of smokestacks and litter taking over a once unblemished landscape has become an indelible piece of TV pop culture. It's been referenced over the decades since on shows like The Simpsons and South Park and in internet memes. But now a Native American advocacy group that was given the rights to the long-parodied public service announcement is retiring it, saying it has always been inappropriate. The so-called "Crying Indian" with his buckskins and long braids made the late actor Iron Eyes Cody a recognizable face in households nationwide. But to many Native Americans, the public service announcement has been a painful reminder of the enduring stereotypes they face. The nonprofit that originally commissioned the advertisement, Keep America Beautiful, had long been considering how to retire the ad and announced on Feb. 25 that it's doing so by transferring ownership of the rights to the National Congress of American Indians. "Keep America Beautiful wanted to be careful and deliberate about how we transitioned this iconic advertisement/public service announcement to appropriate owners," Noah Ullman, a spokesperson for the nonprofit, says. "We spoke to several Indigenous peoples' organizations and were pleased to identify the National Congress of American Indians as a potential caretaker." NCAI says it plans to end the use of the ad and watch for any unauthorized use. When it premiered in the 1970s, the ad was a sensation. It led to Cody filming three follow-up PSAs. He spent more than 25 years making public appearances and visits to schools on behalf of the anti-litter campaign. From there, Cody, who was Italian American but claimed to have Cherokee heritage through his father, was typecast as a stock Native American character, appearing in over 80 films. Most of the time, his character was simply "Indian," "Indian Chief" or "Indian Joe." His movie credits from the 1950s-1980s included Sitting Bull, The Great Sioux Massacre, Nevada Smith, A Man Called Horse and Ernest Goes to Camp. On television, he appeared in Bonanza, Gunsmoke and Rawhide among others. He also was a technical adviser on Native American matters on film sets. Dr. Jennifer J. Folsom, a journalism and media communication professor at Colorado State University and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, applauded Keep America Beautiful's decision as an "appropriate move." "It will mean a trusted group can help control the narrative the ad has promoted for over 50 years," she said. - AP, 2/25/23.