Neil Young announced a new book about audio quality he co-authored with his Neil Young Archives CEO Phil Baker on his official website on May 3. Titled To Feel the Music: A Songwriter's Mission to Save High-Quality Audio, the book is Young's attempt to, according to him, tell "the story of my efforts to improve the quality of audio that you hear." "It takes you through how the sound was and is compromised by the tech and record companies, and instead of improving over time like other technologies, it has become worse," Young continues. "Our book also tells the business and development story behind Pono, and then, when people wanted the convenience of streaming, how we developed Xstream high resolution streaming, the highest quality streaming in the world, as you hear it at NYA. The issue of improving audio quality has been one of the most important things we've been doing for decades, and something I focus on every day. We spent a year writing this and I think you'll find it interesting and informative." To Feel the Music is scheduled to drop on Sept. 9. Young launched a new subscription service and app in Dec. 2018 that brought together material from across his entire career. The Neil Young Archives (NYA), originally launched in 2017, includes Young's complete back catalogue of audio and visual content. - New Musical Express, 5/4/19...... 
In more Neil Young news, the singer/songwriter is among a slew of Canadian musicians including Rufus Wainwright, k.d. lang and members of Arcade Fire who have signed the "Pact for a Green New Deal," asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal federal government to devise "an ambitious policy platform that re-tools our economy to respond to the multiple crises we are faced with today," including global climate change, decent jobs, tackling hate crimes and racism, and fulfilling outstanding promises to Indigenous peoples. "A bold and far reaching plan to cut emissions in half in 11 years in line with Indigenous knowledge and climate science, create more than a million good jobs you can support a family with, and build inclusive communities in the process," the petition states. "We need a Green New Deal -- for everyone. And we need everyone to be a part of building it." Open to the public, the petition was created by "a coalition of workers, artists, Indigenous leaders, scientists, youth, and people directly impacted by climate catastrophe." - Billboard, 5/7/19...... In related news, Queen's Brian May is calling for another concert on the epic scale of the 1985 Live Aid event will take place to tackle climate change. "It probably would take the younger generation to take that bull by the horns," May told the UK paper Daily Mirror on May 7. "We'd help in any way we can but I think that's what it would require." May and Queen played an integral role at the original Live Aid, playing what was arguably the most famous gig of their entire career, but May admits another in a long string of benefit concerts might not have the desired effect. "People have seen so many concerts since Live Aid purporting to be solving the problems of the world so it's not quite as easy as it seems," May noted. - NME, 5/7/19...... Cher performed her big hits "Believe" and "If I Could Turn Back Time" along with ABBA's "Waterloo" at the "2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art" on May 6 in New York City. Showing off blue hair and a skin-tight glittery body suit, Cher shone on a high-camp night first with "If I Could Turn Back Time," and later transformed herself with an outfit change, appearing on stage with blonde locks, a black puffer jacket over a pink slip and jeans for a performance of "Believe" and "Waterloo." Among the attendees were Kayne West and various members of the Kardashian clan, Travis Scott and Corey Gamble. - Billboard, 5/7/19...... In a new interview with the UK paper The Sun, Elton John laments about being "too old" to have more children because he and husband David Furnish already have too much on their hands. John, 72, is already father to two sons, Zachary, eight, and Elijah, six, and gushed that being a parent is "fantastic" though, even if he never expected his lifte to take this turn of events. "Ten years ago if you'd have told me that, I'd have said you're crazy," Elton said. John, who is currently on his goodbye "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, explained that as a dad he has "other things to do" with his time than taking on more parenting responsibilties, as he prepares to close the door on his touring career. He adds that he feels like now is the right time to stop performing after almost 50 years on and off the road, and his main focus will be raising his two sons, who he revealed are "girl mad," after the tour finishes. Meanwhile, a behind-the-scenes featurette of the upcoming Elton biopic Rocketman was released on May 6. In the film, fans get a look at how the superstar's wardrobe was treated for the film. Actor Taron Egerton, who plays John in the new film, said settling into the star's iconic clothing was one of the most fun parts of filming. "I have found the process of inhabiting Elton John and his wardrobe incredibly liberating," he said. The clip also introduces Julian Day, the film's costume designer, who says "What we talked about was using the basis of Elton's clothes to create our own look for him." Rocketman premiered in the UK on May 2 and will hit US theaters on May 31. TheDailyMail.co.uk/Billboard, 5/3/19...... A George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Musical Achievement Award that was to be presented to Don McLean by the Student Alumni Association of University of California, Los Angeles, has been rescinded after the association learned that McLean was involved in a domestic violence assault incident in 2016. McLean, 73, pleaded guilty to domestic violence assault against his then wife Patrisha McLean, and the case was dismissed after he met the terms of a plea agreement. The couple are now divorced. A spokesman for McLean called it "disrespectful" for an award to be rescinded over failure to conduct due diligence on a widely reported incident. Past recipients of the award include Julie Andrews, Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles. - AP, 5/7/19...... Woodstock 50 organizer Michael Lang has announced he plans on raising $30 million by May 10 in a last ditch attempt to save his floundering Woodstock 50th anniversary concert, set for Aug. 16-18 at Watkins Glen International speedway, 150 miles east of the original 1969 Woodstock festival site. Lang estimates that he will need $30 million to stage the three-day concert, in addition to the $30 million Japanese firm Dentsu already spent on headliners for the festival including Jay-Z, Dead & Company, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Miley Cyrus and Chance the Rapper. Officials with Dentsu previously said that their announcement on Apr. 28 to withdraw from Woodstock 50 meant the anniversary festival would be canceled, but Lang disagreed and said he would continue to produce the festival without Dentsu or producer Rick Farman from Superfly, which issued a statement on May 1 saying New York City-based promoter "will no longer be participating" in Woodstock 50. It is unclear if Lang will be able to raise the $30 million he needs, with promoters Live Nation and AEG already passing on offers to invest in the event, or if the artists announced to perform at the festival are still obligated to perform. - Billboard, 5/6/19...... 
The final two days of the 8-day 2019 New Orleans Jazz Fest were closed out in style with headlining sets from Diana Ross on May 4 and Chaka Khan on May 5. On May 4, Ross hit the stage with, appropriately, a gangbusters rendition of "I'm Coming Out" as her first song. She followed that with "More Today Than Yesterday" and her first words to the crowd: "If you know these songs, you gotta join in and sing with me, okay?" "This is my Diamond Jubilee!" Ross later told the crowd. "So if I'm 75, you can do it too, come on!" Ross finished her performance with such nuggets as "Love Hangover," "Ease on Down the Road" from The Wiz, and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." She went beyond her time with an encore of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," and reprised the song for a second encore. Ross also made headlines as she traveled home after the festival, blaming the Transportation Security Administration for an "over the top!!" screening at the New Orleans airport that "made her want to cry." The Motown legend posted on Twitter that she felt "violated" by an airport screener who touched her between her legs. "On one hand I'm treated like royalty in New Orleans and at the airport I was treated like shit," she wrote. The TSA responded in a statement: "TSA is aware of concerns presented by Diana Ross about her screening experience at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport this morning. Initial review of CCTV indicates that the officers involved with Ms. Ross's screening correctly followed all protocols, however, TSA leadership will continue to investigate the matter further. We encourage Ms. Ross to reach out to TSA so we can work with her directly to address her concerns." The following afternoon, Chaka Khan played the crowd-pleasing funk she's known for playing to an absolutely packed and scorching Congo Square Stage. Khan opened with "This Is My Night," with its bright synth horns, and "Do You Love What You Feel" and "Tell Me Something Good," two more Rufus jams. She followed them with "What Cha' Gonna Do For Me?" a "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" for the '80s, with her soaring vocal runs on the outro. She then performed a medley of Rufus songs, including "Stay" and "Sweet Thang." Attendance estimates for 2019 NOJF are expected to surpass the 2018 festival, which drew upwards of 60,000 or so attendees daily. - Billboard/AP, 5/6/19...... Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was a surprise guest at the fifth annual "Ride For Ronnie" Ronnie James Dio charity event in Encino, Calif., on May 5. Grohl was part of a special live band who covered Motörhead and Thin Lizzy during the charity show. Grohl played drums during the gig in a band which was comprised of the Black Star Riders' Ricky Warwick and Robbie Crane, as well as the former Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson. Together, the quartet performed covers of Motörhead's "Bomber" and Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak." "I am here on this beautiful day in Encino [because] everybody loves Ronnie James Dio," Grohl told those who attended the event. "He was my neighbor actually; we lived down the street from each other. "I encourage everybody to come out and support the cause, because it's a beautiful day with a bunch of beautiful people and we hope to see you next year." - New Musical Express, 5/7/19...... Bruce Springsteen showed up at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood at the opening night of the Netflix FYSEE "Springsteen On Broadway" event on May 5 to, by his own admission complete strangers for their vote." During the event, which promoted The Boss's Broadway special before Emmy voters, Springsteen and director Martin Scorsese discussed the film of "Springsteen on Broadway" in an often humorous and personal chat. Springsteen and Scorsese first met in 1975 when the legendary director and Robert DeNiro went to a Springsteen concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles. But it was about 30 minutes into the 40-minute talk that Springsteen said what any Bruce fan wanted to hear: "There will be another tour with the E Street Band. "I've spent about seven years not writing anything for the band. I couldn't write anything for the band," confessed Springsteen, whose new solo album, Western Stars, drops June 14. "And then about a month or so ago, I wrote almost an album's worth of material for the band and it came out of just I mean I know where it came from, but at the same time, it just came out of almost nowhere. I had almost two weeks of those daily visitations and it was so nice. It makes you so happy. You go, 'Fine, I'm not f---ed.' There'll be another tour." The news brought a cheer from the 200-person audience, who were also treated to a two-song acoustic performance of "Dancing In the Dark" and "Land of Hope and Dreams" by Springsteen. Meanwhile, the previous evening Springsteen made a surprise appearance with E Street Band member Little Steven Van Zandt at Van Zandt's Disciples of Soul show at Beverly Hills' Saban Theater. Springsteen joined Steven Van Zandt's band -- which was celebrating the May 3 release of their new album Summer of Sorcery -- for renditions of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," "Sun City" and "I Don't Want to Go Home." - Billboard, 5/6/19...... 
The new Beatles tribute film Yesterday from director Danny Boyle premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on May 4. Right before Boyle unveiled his new film, he shared a quick anecdote about filming inside the Mersey Tunnel in the Fab Four's native Liverpool. A local construction worker stopped him, he said, and gave him a stern warning about the project: "Don't f---k it Up." From all indications, he didn't. Oscar-winning Boyle and screenwriter Richard Curtis (Love, Actually) have crafted a crowd-pleaser that aims to delight, and when the musical rom-com fantasy is released to the masses on June 28, it will certainly be anointed as the "feel-good picture of the summer." In Yesterday, Boyle allows fans to re-experience the Beatles' songs as if they're brand-new. After a freak 12-second global blackout and a bus accident that landed main character Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) in the hospital and wrecked his guitar, he's gifted a new instrument by his friends once he's on the mend. Turns out Jack is the only human on Earth to have heard of the Beatles or their unparalleled repertoire following that unexpected, dimension-shifting blink. When Jack straps on an electric guitar and performs a sizzling rendition of "Help!" the feeling is exhilarating. As his popularity grows into "Hard Day's Night"-levels, there's a sense that sooner rather than later someone will and should figure out that "The Long and Winding Road" is not an original and Jack must face a serious reckoning. - Billboard, 5/5/19...... A federal judge in Mississippi has dismissed most of a lawsuit in which rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis alleged a daughter had stolen money from him. U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers ruled on Apr. 25 that most claims were barred by a three-year statute of limitations. Judge Biggers left alive only claims by Lewis' son and current wife that they were defamed by online comments from the daughter's husband. The lawsuit is another fracture in the often difficult personal life of the 83-year-old pianist and singer known as "The Killer." The Louisiana native and survivor from the dawn of rock now lives in Nesbit, Miss. Lewis suffered a stroke in February and canceled upcoming performances. - Billboard, 5/3/19...... A former accountant for Deep Purple has been sentenced to six years and four months in a UK prison for stealing £2.2million from the band. Dipak Rao was sentenced on Apr. 30 after it was revealed that he transferred large sums of money from the accounts of Deep Purple Overseas Ltd and HEC Enterprises Ltd -- both of which he was a director of -- into his own account. Rao then invested the cash into a number of money-making schemes that all turned out to be scams, resulting in Rao losing the money. Discovering Rao's wrongdoings in 2014, he was sued by the surviving founding members of Deep Purple (Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Ian Paice) and the estates of the late Jon Lord and their former manager Tony Edwards in early 2017. Edwards' children were said to have become suspicious when they inherited some of the band's business following their father's death in 2010. "The stress that we have been under during this time is immeasurable," said a statement from Tony Edwards' daughter, read out in court. "He has devastated the legacy that my father spent his life building. This devastation was brought about by a man that we had known for years and trusted." Pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position and transferring criminal property, Rao is due to serve at least half of his prison sentence and has been disqualified from being the director of any business until 2028. - New Musical Express, 5/2/19...... Stevie Wonder was among the family and friends of recently deceased director John Singleton at his Los Angeles funeral on May 6. The private service was held at Angelus Funeral Home in South Los Angeles, the neighborhood formerly known as South Central, where Singleton spent part of his childhood and where his career-defining film, Boyz N the Hood, was set. Also paying their respects were Rep. Maxine Waters, Ice Cube, Ludacris and actors Ving Rhames and Taraji P. Henson. The service came a week after Singleton s family announced that he had died at age 51, days after he suffered a stroke. - AP, 5/7/19...... 
Songs by Frank Sinatra, Ed Sheeran, Led Zeppelin, Meat Loaf and Robbie Williams are the most popular songs played at funerals in the UK, according to a new poll by Co-op Funeralcare. Sinatra's "My Way"' topped the latest chart drawn up by the UK's biggest chain of funeral directors, but for the first time since the biennial exercise began in 2002 not a single traditional hymn made it into the top ten. "Supermarket Flowers" -- Sheeran's tribute to his late grandmother, written from the perspective of his mother -- has entered the roundup at No. 6. Other popular choices included Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" and Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell," while "Angels" by Robbie Williams is the most requested pop tune, said the Co-op. "What people want more than anything at a funeral is a combination of the personal and the familiar," Rev. Dr. Jeremy Brooks, a member of a Church of England focus group working on funerals, told The Guardian. "Contemporary lyrics, classical music and songs that have been the soundtrack of our lives are all valuable in helping people remember and grieve. For a family to be able to choose particular songs for a funeral led by a church minister -- whether the music is expressly religious or not -- is an important part of any service," he added. - NME, 5/3/19...... Stephen I. Diener, a music and entertainment executive who served as president of ABC Records in the late '70s where he worked with such artists as Steely Dan, Tom Petty, Jimmy Buffett and the Commodores, died on Apr. 30 at his home in Coral Gables, Florida. He was 80. After graduating from Tulane University, Mr. Diener began his professional career in New York at the firms Young & Rubicam and Revlon. Pursuing a love for the arts and entertainment, he entered the music industry and held various executive positions at CBS Records International before departing to Paris to head CBS Records France. Mr. Diener then moved to Los Angeles where he was named president of ABC Records in 1977. In the early '80s, Mr. Diener relocated to Miami and returned to CBS International, where he helmed the marketing operations of the European and Latin American divisions. Later, as a pioneer in the home video business, he was named president of 20th Century Fox Video. - Billboard, 5/3/19...... Peter Mayhew, who portrayed the iconic Star Wars character Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy, Episode 3 of the prequels and the new trilogy, died on Apr. 30 in his North Texas home with his family by his side. He was 74. The 7-foot-2-inch tall Mayhew was plucked from obscurity in 1976, when he was working as an orderly at London's King's College Hospital. Producer Charles H. Schneer cast him as a minotaur in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger after seeing a photograph of Mayhew in an article about a man with large feet. That lead to Mayhew being cast as Chewbacca in 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, and the rest is history. "He put his heart and soul into Chewbacca and it showed in every frame of the films, from his knock kneed running, firing his bowcaster from the hip, his bright blue eyes, down to each subtle movement of his head and mouth," his family said in a statement. Mayhew was a mainstay at Star Wars conventions around the world, including the bi-annual "Star Wars Celebration," and he was heavily involved in the Make-A-Wish foundation, Wounded Warriors and the Star Wars organization the 501st Legion, a fan collective that creates authentic props and costumes. He also established The Peter Mayhew Foundation, which supported individuals and families in crisis situations, providing "food and supplies for children of Venezuela during their recent road to freedom." - DailyMail.co.uk, 5/2/19.
Neil Young announced on Apr. 28 that he'll drop a previously unreleased live album recorded with his then backing band the Stray Gators in 1973 on June 7. Called Tuscaloosa, the live album originally recorded on Feb. 5, 1973 at the University of Alabama features songs from such classic Young albums as Harvest and Time Fades Away. With a total of 11 tracks, Tuscaloosa is shorter than the original performance because the show tape didn't capture the whole thing, according to Young's engineer, John Hanlon, who says "The Loner" wasn't included because "it was out of tune" and "On The Way Home" is absent simply as it appears on too many other live albums. Young defended the decision to leave out those two songs on his Neil Young Archives website: "I still make those decisions because I am here on the planet. However, those two versions will be available in the archives for members to hear. I have no plans to release everything I have ever recorded. Some of it is just not good enough." - NME, 4/28/19...... 
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry's "Bladerunner" guitar, which he famously played in the "Walk This Way" video with Run-D.M.C., is part of the new "Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll" exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. "I was really honored to think a guitar I played would have enough gravitas to make it into the Met," Perry told Billboard during a break at Aerosmith's current "Deuces Are Wild" residency at Las Vegas' Park MGM. "There's a thousand great guitar players out there who have contributed to the last 50, 70 years of rock n' roll. To be asked to have even one guitar in that display is a real honor. The guitar I picked -- I'm sure there are plenty of Les Pauls and Stratocasters and those guitars that have played a big part in my career in the studio and on the stage -- but that guitar was in a video that was pretty pivotal," Perry added. Perry says his Bladerunner has "a little different sound than what I usually like, but it's got a good neck on it, it's a well-built guitar." "I actually went online and I couldn't find one," he noted. " don't know how many they made; the guy who gave it to me from the Guild said it was a prototype. I had another one duplicated from a guitar-maker friend of mine, so I have two, just in case something happens to the original. They're very rare, I don't know how many they made actually." Aerosmith began their Las Vegas residency on Apr. 6, with many of the scheduled 18 shows already sold out. Beginning Aug. 8, they'll play 9 shows at the The Theater at MGM Grand Harbor in National Harbor, Maryland. - Billboard, 4/30/19...... On Apr. 29 Ozzy Osbourne released a list of rescheduled dates for his "No More Tours 2" tour, which the heavy metal had been forced to postpone after being laid up with a variety of health issues for much of the new year. Ozzy will kick off the European leg of his 19-city tour in his native country on Jan. 31 with a show at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. He'll also be visiting Dublin, Manchester, Newcastle, London, Glasgow and and Birmingham in the next two weeks, before playing several cities on the continent through a Mar. 16 gig in Zurich. Osbourne also rescheduled 27 North American dates, which starts with a show in Atlanta on May 27 and runs through a July 31 concert in Las Vegas. "I'm really looking forward to getting back to Europe for these shows," Osbourne said in a statement. "Thank you to all the fans for sticking with me and waiting for the new dates to be announced. I can't wait to see you all next year." - Billboard, 4/29/19...... Meanwhile, Ozzy's wife Sharon Osbourne and Gene Simmons of KISS are among the names speaking out against a suggested boycott of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Israel. Set for Tel Aviv in May with headliner Madonna confirmed to perform, the annual competition has sparked much controversy due to its location. Earlier in 2019, Peter Gabriel, Vivienne Westwood and Wolf Alice were among the signatories of an open letter calling for the BBC to boycott the contest in solidarity with Palestine -- arguing that taking part would be "a dubious honour" for "any artist of conscience." Now, Simmons, Osbourne and over 100 other public figures have signed a letter arguing against a boycott, claiming that it would only work against the show's "spirit of togetherness" and ultimately "subverting the spirit of the contest and turning it from a tool of unity into a weapon of division." Meanwhile, the BBC is denying that Eurovision had any political associations. "The competition has always supported the values of friendship, inclusion, tolerance and diversity and we do not believe it would be appropriate to use the BBC's participation for political reasons," the UK broadcaster said. "Because of this, we will be taking part in this year's event. The host country is determined by the rules of the competition, not the BBC." The first run of semi-finals for Eurovision 2019 begin on May 14, before the final takes place on May 18. - New Musical Express, 4/30/19...... Former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung is working on his first solo album since his 2009 effort One Hundred Years From Now, despite his feeling that the current music business "is as crass and as unrewarding as it has ever been." "It's a lot of work, and there's no radio to play it... I couldn't see any reason to do it," DeYoung recently told Billboard. DeYoung has written eight new songs with his neighbor in Chicago and former Survivor/Ides of March principal Jim Peterik for the new album, and one of the songs, the proggy and soul-searching "Proof of Heaven," is out now, with a video, and will appear on solo albums by both men. DeYoung is currently touring his "The Grand Illusion 40th Anniversary Album Tour" as well as his "The Music of Styx" shows, and acknowledges it is interfering with his as-yet-untitled solo album's completion. "I just tell people the party's going on... it's gonna go on just as long as they want to come and see it," he says. - Billboard, 4/29/19...... 
As the 2019 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival continues in the Crescent City, Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt brought down the house on Day 4 on Apr. 28 at the Fair Grounds Race Course. "This is the greatest festival in the world for artists of all stripes," Bonnie Raitt told the crowd as she performed on the Acura Stage at 3:40 p.m., adding that the NOJF was "an endangered species." Raitt had kind words for singer/songwriter John Prine, who she noted was "having a helluva year," by way of introducing "Angel From Montgomery," which Prine penned but she popularized. She remarked on the 30th anniversary of her classic Nick of Time LP before playing "Something to Talk About." After performing a funked-up version of that album's "Love Letter" that she dedicated to "all the New Orleans funk greats," Raitt wound down her set with the maudlin "I Can't Make You Love Me." At 5:35 p.m., Van Morrison took the stage, starting out his set with Muddy Waters' "Baby Please Don't Go" (as in, "down to New Orleans," in an offering to locals) with a vocal effects mic as well as Waters' "Got My Mojo Working." The Celtic crooner also treated fans to a beloved romantic ballad of his from his 1989 Avalon Sunset album, "Have I Told You Lately," with Morrison on sax, soloing alongside his bandmates. Later on in his set, Morrison performed the light-as-air "Moondance," and ended his set with a trio of killers: "Wild Night," "Real Real Gone" and, of course, "Brown Eyed Girl." - Billboard, 4/29/19...... The Rolling Stones announced on Apr. 30 that they'll reissue their classic 1968 The Rock and Roll Circus film on June 7 in the US and June 28 in the UK. Originally conceived as a BBC-TV special, The Rock and Roll Circus was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg (the Beatles' Let It Be) and recorded in front of a live audience in London in 1968. It also featured performances from The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, Yoko Ono, as well as "supergroup" The Dirty Mac - consisting of Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix Experience and John Lennon. Unheard tracks by the collective will be available on the new release for the first time ever. The film has received a 4K Dolby Vision restoration for Blu-ray and DVD, with the soundtrack also remixed and expanded to 28 songs and set to be released on double CD and triple vinyl sets. A Limited Deluxe Edition will include the film on Blu-Ray ray and DVD, plus the 2-CD expanded soundtrack, and a 44-page booklet with custom foldout gatefold design. Meanwhile in other band news, Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has shared an update on Mick Jagger's health after the singer underwent surgery: "Sally [Humphreys, Wood's wife] and I went on a break to the Caribbean with Keith [Richards] and Patti [Hansen], and we sent him videos of us playing and singing 'get well' songs on the guitar," Wood said. "[Jagger] was amused and impressed!" Wood added. "He is doing really well. I spoke to him yesterday and he's feeling great." - New Musical Express, 4/30/19...... Concert promoter Michael Lang, the co-organizer of the beleaguered 50th anniversary Woodstock festival set for Watkins Glen, N.Y., on Aug. 16-18, is vowing to keep his celebration of the iconic 1969 festival alive after its primary funding partner Dentsu Aegis Network withdrew its financial commitment and announced the "cancellation" of Woodstock 50 over concerns about the capacity of the festival, site readiness, and permitting issues. Lang, who co-founded the original Woodstock festival, has hired well-known New York trial lawyer Marc E. Kasowitz, who has represented Pres. Donald Trump in the past, in an effort to calm the storm surrounding Woodstock 50's immediate future. Kasowitz issued an industry-wide statement on Apr. 30 which declared that Dentsu did not have the right to cancel the festival, and instructed "all stakeholders, including the entertainers" to proceed as planned, even though representatives from two major talent agencies with headliners booked for the event said Dentsu's decision to pull out of the event "voids their contract and releases them from playing the festival." Speaking to the New York Times, Michael Lang said that he and the other organizers of Woodstock 50 are currently "in talks with investors who are anxious to come in" and save the festival. "We have a short window to put this back together. That's obvious," Lang added. "We feel it's enough time, and there is enough interest, that we think we will accomplish it." In a separate statement issued by Lang a few days earlier, he cited the memory of the chaotic staging of the original 1969 festival as inspiration for how Woodstock 50 could get back on track. "It's deja vu all over again... it seems in a way that history is repeating itself," he wrote. "In July of 1969 we lost our site in Walkill and with only a month to go, we managed to move to Bethel. Woodstock was going to happen no matter what!" More than 80 artists, including John Fogerty, Miley Cyrus, Santana, Imagine Dragons, Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters, the Black Keys and Chance the Rapper, are expected to perform on three main stages at Watkins Glen International racetrack in the Finger Lakes for Woodstock 50. The original Woodstock was held on a farm in Bethel, New York, that is now run as an attraction by The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. That venue has its own anniversary event Aug. 16-18 with performances by Fogerty, Santana and Ringo Starr. - New Musical Express/AP, 5/2/19...... 
The Sound of My Voice, a new Linda Ronstadt documentary that traces the singer's rise in Los Angeles clubs to opening for Neil Young and eventually packing many of those arenas herself in the years that followed, made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Apr. 26. Such Ronstadt collaborators as David Geffen, Ry Cooder, J.D. Souther, Don Henley and Cameron Crowe all weigh in with their recollections, but present-day Linda, who retired from music in 2011 just before being diagnosed with Parkinson's, only plays a minor role in the film, appearing briefly at the beginning and end of the picture and in voiceovers. The bulk of the narration is stitched together from more than 50 years' worth of interviews, a triumph of both research and clever storytelling. Sheryl Crow was on hand to close the premiere with a short set of Ronstadt nuggets, including "When Will I Be Loved," "Tumbling Dice" and "You're No Good" -- before introducing her own "My Favorite Mistake" and gushing about Ronstadt's influence on her own career. The Sound of My Voice is based on Ronstadt's 2013 autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, and comes from filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. - Billboard, 4/29/19...... A Los Angeles man who claims he was the victim of a gay hate crime perpetrated by Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal's son Redmond O'Neal is suing O'Neal for over $100 million in damages. Ken Fox claims he was walking down the street while singing opera on May 2, 2018. Fox says he passed by O'Neal, who then looked at him and said, "What are you looking at, f----t?" Before he could react, Fox claims O'Neal then struck him in the head with a bottle (or another hard object), breaking his nose. Fox says he then fell to the ground and O'Neal began punching him as he hurled more expletives. O'Neal eventually fled the scene and ended up getting arrested several days later after he allegedly committed several other crimes. He was eventually charged with attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats, brandishing a knife and battery. Fox has now filed a statement of damages with the court, saying he is going after O'Neal for $15 million for pain and suffering and another $15 million for emotional distress. After the addition of medical expenses, past and future lost earnings, attorneys fees and punitive damages, it adds up to over $100 million in damages. O'Neal is still behind bars awaiting trial on a slew of charges stemming from his latest crime spree. - TheBlast.com, 4/30/19...... Detroit rock concert promoter Russ Gibb, who promoted hundreds of concerts by the likes of The Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa as well as being responsible for the infamous "Paul (McCartney) Is Dead" rumors that began in 1969, died on Apr. 30 in Garden City, Mich., after years of declining health. He was 87. First working as a teacher, Mr. Gibb moved into music by working part-time at WKNR in Dearborn, Mich., and DJing at local sock hops -- where he "made more money in one night than in about three weeks of teaching." He was already operating the Grande when he made international news via the "Paul is Dead" rumor. It began on Oct. 12, 1969, during his radio shift at Detroit's WKNR when Gibb took a call from a listener claiming that the Beatles bassist had died in 1966 and been replaced by a cosmetically altered look-alike. The caller encouraged Gibb to play the group's "Revolution 9" backwards, with its purported message of "turn me on dead man," setting off a firestorm of speculation that spread around the world. "The whole thing just exploded," Gibb recalled. "The phones were ringing off the hook. People were calling with their own clues. It was non-stop." Gibb laughed as he remembered the station's owner telling him, "Whatever you're doing, just keep doing it." He even called Eric Clapton, a friend in England, to ask if he knew anything about it. "He told me, 'Come to think of it, I haven't seen Paul for awhile...' "It was really a phenomenon. For a while, it seemed like it might really be true." McCartney called the rumor "bloody stupid" when Life magazine reporters found him in Scotland shortly after, but in 2009 he told David Letterman that, "I just laughed it off but it was a little strange because people did start looking at me like...'Is it him or a very good double?'" Mr. Gibb also owned the Grande Ballroom in Detroit -- one of the key theaters on the early U.S. rock n' roll circuit during the late '60s and early '70s -- and made it one of the country's premier rock venues during its six-year run. The Grande was defined by extravagant light shows -- including the first strobe light in the U.S., Gibb claimed -- and psychedelic poster art as well as often mixed-genre bills. Roger Daltrey of The Who -- which gave the rock opera "Tommy" its U.S. premiere on May 9, 1969 at the Grande -- noted that the venue "was one of THOSE places, the ones you had to play when you came to America. If you played there it was a sign that you were important." Mr. Gibb closed the Grande during 1972, after a six-year run, over financial concerts and when national acts "started using their own (opening) bands and Detroit bands were being squeezed out." He went on to his career as an educator and, until 2016, maintained an active website that included an outspoken blog called At Random. Tributes to Mr. Gibb were posted by Wayne Kramer of the Detroit band The MC5 ("he was one of a kind") and Alice Cooper ("when nobody else would book us, Uncle Russ would"). - Billboard, 5/1/19...... 
Former The Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick says she is not happy with an anti-vaccination group that has been using a clip of herself and other Brady Bunch actors to downplay the seriousness of measles, which is currently having its largest outbreak in the US since the disease was declared eliminated in nationwide 2000. The "anti-vaxer" group is referencing an episode of The Brady Bunch from 1969 in which McCormick, who played Marcia Brady on the iconic sitcom, catches measles along with her other siblings. In it Marcia says, "If you have to get sick, you sure can't beat the measles." "I think it's really wrong when people use people's images today to promote whatever they want to promote and the person's image they're using, they haven't asked or they have no idea where they stand on the issue," McCormick told NPR. She also added that her own daughter was vaccinated. "Having the measles was not a fun thing," McCormick recalled of when she contracted measles as a child. "I remember it spread through my family," she added. Most cases in the United States have emerged in communities with low rates of vaccination against the virus, according to public health officials. Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes or if someone comes into direct contact with them or shares germs by touching the same objects or surfaces. Measles symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes and a rash of red spots. - CNN, 4/29/19...... Rock vocalist Phil McCormack, who took over as lead singer of the Southern Rock act Molly Hatchet in 1992, died on Apr. 29 of as yet undisclosed causes at age 58. McCormack -- who previously performed in The Roadducks and Savoy Brown -- joined the Southern rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1971 in 1995, taking over for longtime singer Danny Joe Brown, who passed away in 2005. With his gritty, soulful voice, McCormack became the band's official full-time lead singer in 1995 and fronted the group until his death, appearing on seven albums, including 1996's Devil's Canyon, 2000's Kingdom of XII and 2012's covers album Regrinding the Axes. "Wherever he performed he gave his all," McCormick's family posted on Apr. 29. "Phil loved his audiences and they loved him." - Billboard, 4/29/19.
A musical based on the beloved '70s-themed acclaimed 2000 movie 
It was revealed on Apr. 25 that Bruce Springsteen's first new studio album in more than five years will be released on June 14 by Columbia Records. 
Steely Dan brought their sophisticated ecstasy to their new Vegas residency, dubbed "Reelin' In the Chips 2," at the Venetian at its debut on Apr. 24, with band co-founder Donald Fagan fully front and center after the death of Walter Becker in 2017. The team accompanying Fagen in 2019 is a practically flawless assortment of instrumental pros -- much like the cast of studio pros who played on Steely Dan's '70s albums -- whose every guitar riff, horn vamp or silky backup vocal brings to mind the original studio version without feeling like a slavish recreation. Before delving into "FM (No Static At All)," the title track to the forgotten 1978 comedy starring Martin Mull, Fagan noted: "This is a song we wrote -- I'm talking about my partner Walter Becker -- for a movie that was kind of a stinker. It was okay, could have used a little help on the screenplay." Fagen and his band also trotted out such classics as "Reelin' In the Years," "Peg," "My Old School," "Hey Nineteen," "Aja" and "Dirty Work." "I hope we're good -- or at least passable," Fagen told the crowd at one point. - Billboard, 4/25/19...... Meanwhile, Sting announced on Apr. 24 that he'll headline a new Las Vegas residency, "Sting: My Songs," beginning May 22, 2020. The 16-show residency will take place at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and explore Sting's decades-long catalog, including his hits with The Police and his solo work. "I'm thrilled to announce that my brand new Las Vegas residency "Sting: My Songs" will be opening at the legendary Caesars Colosseum in May of 2020!," Sting tweeted on Apr. 24. Before he heads to Vegas, Sting has a string of projects in the works: He'll tour the United Kingdom with Shaggy (they won the best reggae album Grammy this year for their collaborative album 44/876); he has a number of solo shows in the United States and around the world; and he will release a new album that re-imagines some of his biggest hits, 
'80s pop hitmaker Rick Springfield, who released his debut album in 1974, will release 
Actor Ken Kercheval, best known for portraying oil tycoon Cliff Barnes on the 1978-1991 CBS soap opera 
Eric Clapton announced on Apr. 22 that he'll play three dates in the Western US this September before presenting the fifth iteration of his Crossroads Guitar Festival later the same month. Slowhand will play San Francisco's Chase Center on Sept. 11, Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 13, and Phoenix's Talking Stick Resort Arena on Sept. 14 before his two-day Crossroads Festival gig, which is set for Dallas' American Airlines Center on Sept. 20-21. The festival has announced a superlative group of ax-slingers, with 2019's roster boasting Gary Clark, Jr., Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Billy Gibbons, James Bay and more. Clapton will be the only artist playing both nights of Crossroads, whereas every other player is split between Friday and Saturday's slate of performances. Proceeds from the event will benefit Clapton's Crossroads Centre in Antigua, his facility for chemically-dependent persons focused on treatment and education. - Billboard, 4/22/19...... Photographic portraits of Joni Mitchell by veteran rock photographer Norman Seeff have gone on display at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. Seeff's latest photo book, 
Serving as the keynote speaker at the Pop Conference 2019 at the Seattle Museum of Pop Culture' on Apr. 20, former Journey frontman Steve Perry spoke of how personal loss affected his music, and how he sees his songs as "little ghosts in time." "I'm a pretty melancholy kind of guy," Perry said when asked how grief affects writers' songs. "I kind of live in a melancholy state all the time. For me, is that too much sadness? I don't know. It does keep me centered, it keeps me in the moment. Am I a depressive guy? I don't know, I call it melancholy. I write music that I think speaks from that place." Perry then brought up the loss of his partner Kellie Nash, who died in 2012 after a battle with cancer. They were together for a year and a half before she passed away. "When I had my profound loss with Kellie [Nash] a few years back, I agree that being pulled into that moment deeper than I ever experienced before was a new place, to where everything that mattered, I thought, fell off," Perry said. "I sought professional help to really learn how to grieve, because I didn't know how." Perry also spoke about his most recent solo album, 2018's Traces. "It's a complex record because there are two songs I wrote that were about profound grief -- one called 'In the Rain,' which is the darkness of grief, pictures that stare back in silence, by myself; the other one is a song called 'Most of All,' a little but more uplifting, but still about loss," said Perry. "Those songs were written before I met Kellie, which was really bizarre." He later spoke of the "haunting" aspect of music. "Some of the recordings are little ghosts in time, and they have a tendency to remain that to us personally, but they are invisible until they hit your inner ear and they go in your mind and they recall spots where you first heard that song, what it means to you, what's going on today. They conjure all these emotions." - Billboard, 4/21/19...... Concert promoter Michael Lang, who is heading one of the two planned 50th anniversary Woodstock festivals later in 2019, is pushing back against rumors that his Woodstock 50 festival has been cancelled after an email alerting agents that a ticket on-sale has been postponed. "Woodstock is a phenomenon that for fifty years has drawn attention to its principles and also the rumors that can be attached to that attention," Lang, one of the co-founders of the original 1969 event in Bethel Woods, N.Y., told Billboard. "It's just more rumors." Tickets for the three-day event with headliners The Killers, Dead and Co, Imagine Dragons and Jay-Z had been set to go on sale on Apr. 22 in honor of Earth Day. No new date has been announced, and the delay has prompted concern from managers and agents with acts playing the multi-genre festival. - Billboard, 4/19/19...... The Rolling Stones released a new career-spanning greatest hits compilation titled 
The supergroup Hollywood Vampires have released the lead single, "Who's Laughing Now," from their forthcoming second album 
Former Doobie Brothers member and '80s solo star Michael McDonald has inked a new worldwide publishing deal with Kobalt Music, the company announced on Apr. 18. The worldwide agreement includes administrative, creative and global synch services for the former Doobie Brother's entire catalogue and any future works. "Having penned some of the most significant songs of the last fifty years, Michael's catalogue is a treasure trove of hits," Kobalt exec Merril Wasserman-Serling said in a statement. "Michael continues to write and I'm certain that more great songs are on the horizon. It's an honor to welcome him to the Kobalt family and look forward to working closely with him and his team." "I'm very excited about my new affiliation with Kobalt Music Publishing," McDonald added. "I look forward to working with... Merril Wasserman... and the entire Kobalt team in the years ahead." McDonald is currently on a North American co-headling tour with Chaka Khan. He continues to collaborate with other artists, including recent work with Barbra Streisand, Thundercat and Nashville duo Johnnyswim. - Billboard, 4/18/19...... Fleetwood Mac announced the rescheduled date for their upcoming North American tour on Apr. 18 after cancelling a handful of shows earlier in April due to the illness of a band member. The previously scheduled show in Boston at TD Garden has been shifted to Oct. 28, while a show in Quebec City at Centre Videotron will now take place on Oct. 30. New dates have also been announced for shows in Toronto (11/1), Philadelphia (11/3), Winnipeg (11/7), Calgary (11/10) and Edmonton (11/12). However the Mac will not be making up a planned appearance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in May, which was to be a replacement act after the Rolling Stones had to cancel their performance due to Mick Jagger recent surgery. All previously held tickets will be honored for the new dates. - Billboard, 4/18/19...... During a performance in Vienna, Austria on Apr. 17, Bob Dylan called out fans for taking photos after he nearly fell over during the concert. After nearly wiping out on a foldback wedge, the rock icon gathered himself and paused when a fan broke his "no photos" rule. "Take pictures or don't take pictures. We can either play or we can pose. Okay," Dylan grumbled to the audience before taking his seat at the piano for a rendition of "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry." This isn't the first time that Dylan has taken issue with fan photography at gigs. As Rolling Stone reports, a New York show last year had ushers shining flashlights at anyone they spotted using a phone, with repeat offenders threatened with being removed from the show. Dylan's European tour continues, including a headline performance at Roskilde Festival in June as well as performing at London's Hyde Park with Neil Young in July. Meanwhile, Dylan is expected to help open his new whiskey distillery in downtown Nashville, Tenn. next fall under the brand "Heaven's Door," in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of his classic Nashville Skyline album. - New Musical Express, 4/18/19...... 
A 60th anniversary Motown concert featuring a slew of famous Motown acts including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson was aired on CBS on Apr. 21. The "Motown 60: A Grammy Celebration" concert, which was held on Feb. 12 in Los Angeles, also featured Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr., who told the packed Microsoft Theater that he wanted his label to "bring people together from all walks of life through a legacy of love." "My dream came true," added Gordy, who started the African American label in 1959, building a roster that included superstar artists such as Ross and The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and The Temptations. Ross, who was once signed to Motown as lead singer of The Supremes, brought attendees to their feet when she opened her set singing to Gordy while sitting next to him. After singing a couple of songs onstage, she returned back to Gordy and sang "My Man." The event was hosted by Robinson and Cedric the Entertainer. - AP, 4/17/19...... Accomplished British songwriter Les Reed, who penned songs for the likes of Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby and Shirley Bassey, has passed away at age 83, his family has confirmed. The Woking-born songwriter was the co-writer of Jones' hits "Delilah" and "It's Not Unusual," the latter which was released in 1964 and became Jones' debut single and first No. 1 hit. It also featured Mr. Reed as arranger and pianist. The pair reprised their success with "Delilah" in 1968, which reached the Top 10. In 1959, Mr. Reed joined The John Barry Seven as a pianist, and developed his career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing hits for artists including Lulu, Herman's Hermits and The Dave Clark Five. Tom Jones paid tribute to Mr. Reed on Twitter, describing him as a "gifted songwriter who was instrumental in penning many a hit, incl two important songs for me. Les was a lovely man, whose legacy will live through his music." Mr. Reed was born in Woking, Surrey, in 1935. He is survived by his daughter, Donna, and grandsons. - The BBC, 4/16/19...... Soul music songwriter Kent "Boogalo" Harris, who wrote hits for such acts as The Coasters, Bo Diddley and The Platters, has reportedly died of cancer at his Southern California home at age 88. Mr. Harris's stock and trade in the 1950s was writing catchy novelty songs such as "Shopping For Clothes" for The Coasters and "Cops and Robbers" for Diddley. He also wrote for his own family group, The Harris Sisters (later called The Dimples Harris Trio), who had several modest hits during the decade, and recorded and performed with his own act, Boogaloo and His Gallant Crew. Mr. Harris also became an entrepreneur, opening a Los Angeles record store in the 1960s and forming his own record label. He also continued to write and producer for a number of R&B and jazz artists, including Adoph Jacobs and Jimmy Ellis. Mr. Harris continued to work into the new century, reportedly contributing to the music of the somewhat maligned Eddie Murphy movie, Norbit. He also would perform his delightfully humorous repertoire around the U.S. with his Boogaloo and His Gallant Crew. - AP, 4/16/19.
Songwriter/singer Kenny Nolan, the composer of such iconic '70s hits as LaBelle's 
In related news, James Taylor will kick off his first ever Vegas residency at The Colosseum on Apr. 17. Taylor will perform 17 shows at the venue, which has also hosted residencies by the likes of Elton John, Cher, Celine Dion and Bette Midler Taylor will be performing on acustom-built stage that will include the return of his One Man Band drum machine. "I was a Vegas snob forever, for sure," the 71-year-old Taylor notes. "Back in the day, Vegas definitely had a very specific connotation for us, and it was something [that folk and pop artists] in the late '60s and early '70s, were distancing ourselves from. For one thing, it's now a town of two million people. It's not just the strip; there's an actual population there, and it's just an excellent place to put on a show." He says he's most excited about performing on his most elaborate stage to date. "This particular staging that we're going to present is something we've essentially been perfecting over the past couple of years," he said. Taylor will play the Colosseum on April 17, 19, 20, 24, 26, 27 and May 1, 3, 4, 8, 10 and 11, with the possibility of more gigs added in the future. - Billboard, 4/15/19...... Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance at New York's Tribeca Grill Loft on Apr. 13 at a benefit for the Kristen Ann Carr Fund. Hopping on stage with famed photographer Danny Clinch's Tangier Blues Band, the Boss ripped through Johnny Rivers' classic "Rockin' Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu" and the blues rock standard "Down the Road Apiece" at the event, dubbed "A Night to Remember." The event was aimed at raising money to fight the soft tissue cancer sarcoma in honor of Carr, the late daughter of rock journalist Dave Marsh and Springsteen's co-manager, Barbara Carr. Kristen Carr died of sarcoma in 1993 at age 21. - Billboard, 4/15/19...... Police log books from the Beatles' first visit to the U.S. have gone on display at Liverpool's Magical Beatles Museum. The log books, which were set to be destroyed, were discovered by NYPD officer Patrick Cassidy, who discovered the logs while searching in police records. "The Ed Sullivan Theatre is in the confines of my precinct, so one day in 2013, I went into the storage area that holds these books," Cassidy told the BBC. "After 50 years, they clean out and destroy them, so I looked up February '64 and found the book, which would have been destroyed the following year." The logs list the names of the officers who guarded the band in New York as they prepared to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 and their show at Carnegie Hall. At the latter, the logs state that there was an incident where an officer was "knocked off balance" and injured outside the Plaza Hotel while "attempting to restrain the surging crowd." The Fab Four's appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which marked their US TV debut, was watched by a then record 73 million people at the time. - New Musical Express, 4/15/19...... The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has made nearly $1 billion (£760 million) taking in box office receipts of over $900 (£687 million) around the world since its premiere in 2018, Variety has reported. The Oscar-winning film generated $901 million (£688 million) internationally and of those figures, it has been a huge hit in Japan where it has grossed $114 million (£87 million), a further $76 million (£58 million) in South Korea and in the United Kingdom where it has brought in returns of $71 million (£54 million). The ticket sales show a huge return for the biopic, which itself only cost Fox $50 million (£38.2 million) to make. Bohemian Rhapsody swept the board at major film awards earlier in 2019 including winning accolades for Best Picture at the Golden Globes and numerous Best Actor awards for Rami Malek, who portrayed Freddie Mercury in the blockbuster. Rudi Dolezal, the director of many Queen music videos, recently revealed that a Bohemian Rhapsody sequel could also be in the works. A documentary about Queen and its current frontman Adam Lambert, The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story, to be aired on ABC on Apr. 29 and will follow the band's ongoing collaboration with Lambert. - New Musical Express, 4/15/19...... A source close to AC/DC says its former frontman Brian Johnson will "absolutely" tour again with the Aussie rockers in 2019. Last year, it was reported that the rock icons were working on a new album that would feature the work of their late rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young on "every track." Then, earlier this year, American band Terrorizer confirmed that after bumping into Johnson at an airport, he told them that he would feature on the new album and that he was "sick of denying it." Johnson meanwhile was forced to quit AC/DC in 2016 after suffering hearing loss and was replaced on the band's tour by Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose. But according to radio DJ Eddie Trunk, Johnson will rejoin the legendary band to tour the upcoming album. "I have sources that have told me that they are absolutely going to tour with Brian back again," Trunk says. "That's all unconfirmed from their camp, but I had it from some reliable sources." The band is reportedly back in the studio working on a new album with Johnson on vocals. - NME, 4/13/19...... Mick Jagger posted a pic on Twitter of himself taking a stroll in a park on Apr. 11, once week after the 75-year-old rock icon had surgery to replace a heart valve. Dressed in jeans, a dark blue dress shirt and gray baseball hat, Jagger posed in front of a tree filled with white spring blossoms, a slight smile on his face, with the caption "A walk in the park!" The Stones announced earlier in April that they were rescheduling their North American "No Filter Tour" so that Jagger could have the procedure. Originally slated to begin in April, the tour will now begin in July with new dates to be announced in the coming weeks. - Billboard, 4/12/19...... 
Singer/songwriter John Prine gave a rollicking performance at Brooklyn's Kings Theatre on Apr. 13, the one year anniversary of his 2018 album The Tree of Forgiveness, his most acclaimed and successful album in several years. "Today is its birthday, one year ago tonight," said Prine to the sold-out crowd at the majestically restored venue. The album's arrival last spring marked Prine's first set of new songs in some 13 years, and the disc debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The album also signaled Prine's confident return after surgery for lung cancer in 2013, following his recovery from neck cancer 15 years earlier. Prine, 72, was named artist of the year at the Americana Music Awards in September. He was honored in an all-star tribute concert on the eve of this year's Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, and he will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York on June 13. After touring throughout 2018, Prine spent this March performing in Australia. The Brooklyn gig was his second stateside stop on a world tour that currently runs through December. - Billboard, 4/14/19...... As the 2020 presidential primary campaign heats up, some of the leading Democratic candidates have received donations from several famous rock and country musicians before the recent close of the first quarter fundraising deadline. Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a former member of a punk rock band, has received $2,800 from a fellow Texan, county music icon Willie Nelson, as well as $1,850 from Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh and $2,800 from Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley. In March, Michael Jackson producer and composer Quincy Jones was among the celebrities contributing to California Sen. Kamala Harris' bid for the White House, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has received donations from members of Foo Fighters and Phish. - AP, 4/16/19...... Paul Raymond, a guitarist for the rock band UFO, died of a heart attack only one week after the band's final U.K. show, his life partner Sandra announced on Facebook on Apr. 14. He was 73. "With a desperate and broken heart, fully in tears and pains that feel like they will kill me I have to tell you that my most beautiful and beloved darling Paul Raymond has passed away today," she wrote. "The doctors were trying to reanimate him and with success at first but then his system shot down again and there was nothing more they could do for him, he died of a heart attack." First joining UFO in 1976, Raymond played on the albums No Place to Run, Obsession and Lights Out as well as the live Strangers In The Night album. After playing with the band during four different stints, he was a regular in the UFO lineup since 2003. Raymond's other musical endeavours included replacing Christine McVie in Chicken Shack after she left to join Fleetwood Mac, as well as being a member of Savoy Brown. He also played with two former UFO bandmates on two separate occasions. He also played with guitarist Michael Schenker in MSG, and then with Pete Way in Waysted. UFO will be performing at a series of European festival dates this coming June and July, with a US tour in October. They will also perform as part of the Rock Legends Cruise, which departs from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Feb. 27, 2020. - New Musical Express, 4/13/19...... Gary Stewart a music industry veteran who spent decades in the industry working at Rhino Entertainment and Apple Music, died on Apr. 11. He was 62. A musical savant, Stewart used his vast knowledge to introduce music to a new audience through such memorable catalog collections for Rhino Entertainment as the kitschy 
Emmy-winning sitcom actress Georgia Engel, best known for playing Ted Baxter's significant other Georgette Franklin on 
Neil Young posted on his Neil Young Archives site on Apr. 8 that he and Crazy Horse are "about to enter the studio with 11 new ones." "We sincerely hope [fans] enjoy our new music when it is released this year, because we know we will enjoy making it," Young added. He has released a total of 23 records with Crazy Horse, including EPs and live albums. Young and Crazy horse last recorded together in 2012 for their Psychedelic Pill album, and the two camps reunited in 2018 for a one off concert. Young launched his Neil Young Archives, a subscription service and app that gives fans access to a complete back catalogue of audio and visual content, in 2018. - New Musical Express, 4/10/19...... On Apr. 9 the Fender guitar company released replicas of two iconic guitars made famous by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page to mark the band's 50th anniversary -- the "Dragon" and "Mirror" models of Page's Telecaster. In an animated clip from Fender which features Page's voiceover, he recalls the time his former Yardbirds bandmate Jeff Beck gifted him the "Mirror" -- "He said, 'Here, this is yours', and he gave me the Telecaster." Page goes on to discuss how he wanted to "really make it [his] own" following his time with the Yardbirds. "I tried applying mirrors to it so you could use it in an optical way," he remembers. "It was this whole thing of the reflective surfaces, and you could actually reflect the light onto other things; to make it sort of almost kinetic at the same time." - New Musical Express, 4/9/19...... In other Zeppelin-related news, drummer Jason Bonham, son of late Led Zepp drummer John Bonham, has revealed how Jimmy Page gave him his first line of cocaine when he was just 16. Appearing on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show, Bonham explained how he entered Page's hotel room to discover a woman on the floor who was meowing and wearing a collar. "Jimmy was the first one to ever give [cocaine] to me," Bonham said. "We got called to his room. I was 16 at this point, and there was a woman on the floor with a collar on, meowing, and he had this grinder thing and he turned it over and he went, 'Here you go,' and I went, 'Thanks.' He's like, 'You've done this before, right?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, of course I have.'" Jason Bonham has filled in for his dad on the kit at several Led Zeppelin reunions - including the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and their comeback performance at Ahmet Ertegun's O2 Arena tribute concert in 2007. - NME, 4/11/19...... 
Disciples of Soul, a side project of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, will release their latest album, 
Legendary prog-rockers King Crimson are finally entering the digital world in conjunction with their upcoming 50th anniversary world tour. At a presser on Apr. 6, King Crimson manager David Singleton announced that the band's entire studio-album catalog will soon launch on the Spotify streaming platform, as part of an "outreach year" for King Crimson. Their 13 studio albums will be available on other streaming platforms in May before uploading to Spotify on June 10, the same day the band kicks off their ambitious 43-city 50th anniversary world tour on June 10 in Leipzig, Germany. The Robert Fripp-led group is also releasing reissues of their back catalog, a new documentary, and commemorative merchandise in celebration of five decades together. - Billboard, 4/8/19...... Music publisher Primary Wave has signed a deal with the estate of Leon Russell to curate the songwriting catalog of the late 1970s rocker, including such oft-covered songs as his 1970 classic "A Song For You." Under the new deal, Primary Wave also acquires the music publishing and master recording income stream of songs including his 1972 hit single "Tight Rope," "The Masquerade," which George Benson recorded, and "Superstar," a hit for The Carpenters. Since Russell released "A Song For You" on his eponymous debut album, it has been covered by the likes of Whitney Houston, Willie Nelson, Ray Charles and Amy Winehouse. "I am delighted that Leon Russell and his heirs have joined the Primary Wave family," said Primary Wave CEO and founder Lawrence Mestel. "Leon was a legendary songwriter whose music has resonated in people's lives for decades. His songs were an inspiration to so many and we look forward to furthering the legacy of this remarkable musician." The partnership comes one week after what would have been Russell's 77th birthday. The eclectic Grammy-winning artist, who was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame, died in 2016 at age 74. - Billboard, 4/9/19...... More details have been announced about Bob Dylan's recently announced whiskey distillery which will open in downtown Nashville, Tenn., in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of his iconic Nashville Skyline album. Dylan is set to help open the distillery in fall 2020 under the brand "Heaven's Door," which takes its name from one of his biggest hits. According to a press release, "Heaven's Door Spirits will transform the 160-year-old Elm Street Church into the Heaven's Door Distillery and Center for the Arts, featuring the distillery, a whiskey library, a restaurant and a 360-seat live performance venue. It will also feature Dylan's paintings and metalwork sculptures." - AP, 4/9/19...... A silent 11-second clip of the Beatles performing on the legendary U.K. music program Top Of The Pops that was once thought lost has been unearthed in Mexico. The clip is the only surviving footage of the band miming to 'Paperback Writer' on the show back in 1966, as the BBC did not keep the tapes. However, one family in Liverpool happened to be filming the footage from a television on an 8mm camera. A collector in Mexico then happened upon the footage, who handed it over to missing TV footage specialists Kaleidoscope in Birmingham. "I think if you're a Beatles fans, it's the holy grail," Chris Perry of the UK band Kaleidoscope told the BBC. "People thought it was gone forever because videotape wasn't kept in 1966. To find it all these years later was stunning." While the band pre-recorded a number of performances for Top Of The Pops, this was their only live appearance. - New Musical Express, 4/9/19...... 
Classic rock veterans Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck have announced they'll reunite this September for a connect in Los Angeles, marking the first time the two have shared a stage together in almost a decade. Stewart and Beck, who played together in The Jeff Beck Group, are set to play the Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 27 in what is being described as "their most in depth concert in over 35 years." Their set list will include a mixture of hits and rare early classics. The Jeff Beck Group was formed by Stewart and Beck in 1967 and also included Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. The group released several albums before disbanding in the early 1970's. The last time the two reunited was during a concert in 2009. - New Musical Express, 4/8/19...... Fans of Creedence Clearwater Revival will have their final opportunity to see the CCR spinoff band Creedence Clearwater Revisited this summer as the band has announced a 20-city farewell tour will kick off on June 13 in Del Mar, Calif. and the San Diego County Fair. Original bassist Stu Cook says "this just seemed like a good time to wrap it up." "Both (drummer Doug Clifford) and I are approaching 74 this month and just thought, 'Y'know, we've been there, done that, seen it, we know how it feels, we know how it tastes'," Cook explains. "We're gonna miss it, but there's still time to do other things in life. We all have bigger families, grandkids. We're still playing great, but we are pretty tired of the road. We're not retiring, but the idea right now is to put the band to bed and see what else comes along and how we feel about it moving forward. I'd like to try other things and explore other ideas and places before my time's up." CCRevisited formed during 1995, at a time Cook and Clifford's former bandmate John Fogerty was still refusing the play the band's material. Cook and Clifford did lock horns periodically with Fogerty -- who famously refused to perform with them during CCR's 1993 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction during Revisited's tenure. Though in 1997 Fogerty's legal actions briefly forced them to change the group name to 
ZZ Top announced on Apr. 8 that they'll embark on a lengthy 34-city U.S. tour this summer in celebration of their 50 years as a band, with Cheap Trick and Lynyrd Skynyrd opening for the Texas trio on selected dates. "It's been five decades, and I think we're starting to get pretty good at all this!" ZZ Top guitarist/vocalist Billy Gibbons said in a statement. "We're truly excited to be appearing across the continent this summer and fall, playing our bluesy kind of rock like we started in '69." The tour is set to kick off Aug. 16 in Ridgefield, Wash., also hitting cities including Irvine, Calif. (8/23), San Diego (8/28), Phoenix (8/29), Milwaukee (9/4), Boston (9/18), Cleveland (9/21), Charlotte (10/6) and Tampa, Fla. (10/19) before wrapping in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Oct. 20. - Billboard, 4/8/19......Just a few days after announcing they'd be stepping in to replace the Rolling Stones at the 2019 Jazz Fest in New Orleans as Stones frontman Mick Jagger recouperates from surgery to replace a faulty heart valve, the band has been forced to drop out of the Jazz Fest as well due to an illness affecting Mac singer Stevie Nicks. "Due to the illness of Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac has just announced the postponement of four upcoming North American tour dates and their performance at Jazz Fest on May 2," the Jazz Fest announced on Apr. 8. Mac announced on April 4 that the band would replace fellow veterans the Stones at the annual New Orleans festival, with Nicks tweeting to fans that she "can't wait to get back to New Orleans again." Earlier in April, Mac postponed shows in Philadelphia and Boston due to what was described as "a band member illness." "We are having more fun than ever on this current tour, but as we all know, touring life comes with its challenges," drummer Mick Fleetwood said. "The flu has sidelined Stevie for a couple of weeks but she is on the mend and we look forward to getting back out on the road. We so apologize to the fans, but we are working on rescheduling." - Billboard, 4/8/19...... Meanwhile, Mick Jagger updated fans on his healthon Apr. 5, posting on his Facebook page that he's "feeling much better now and on the mend." The 75-year-old singer also thanked his fans for their messages of support, "and also a huge thank you to all the hospital staff for doing a superb job." The Stones announced last week that they were rescheduling their North American No Filter Tour so that Jagger could have the procedure. Orginally slated to begin in April, the tour will now begin in July with new dates to be announced in the coming weeks. The Stones are expected to make up nearly all the dates on their "No Filter Tour." - Billboard, 4/8/19...... In other Stones-related news, the UK's Sheffield Documentary Festival has pulled a screening of a film about former Stones bassist Bill Wyman over "sex predator" protests in the country. Wyman's The Quiet One documentary was among the festival's most high-profile offerings for the 2019 event, where it was due to be screened alongside a Q&A session with Wyman himself and the film's director Oliver Murray. Both events have now been pulled after detractors singled out Wyman's relationship with his second wife Mandy Smith. Wyman met Smith when she was just 13, and he was 47. While the pair married in 1989 when she was 18 and Wyman was 52, Smith later alleged that they first had sex when she was just 14. While the screening has been cancelled, Wyman has never been arrested or charged with any offences and previously said that he volunteered to be interviewed by police. "I went to the police and I went to the public prosecutor and said, 'Do you want to talk to me? Do you want to meet up with me, or anything like that?' and I got a message back, 'No,'" he said. "I was totally open about it." Wyman was the main bassist with the Rolling Stones until his retirement in 1993. He has since made a handful of comeback cameo performances, including a brief stint during a show at London's O2 Arena in 2012. - New Musical Express, 4/8/19...... 
A "prequel" to the smash 1978 movie musical