Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie sold her back catalog of songs including such huge hits as "Don't Stop," "Everywhere, "You Make Loving Fun," "Songbird" and "Little Lies" to the London investment company Hipgnosis on Aug. 9. Financial terms were not disclosed for the catalog, which includes 115 songs, 11 No. 1's, and two Grammy-winning singles. "In the last 46 years [Fleetwood Mac] have had three distinct writers and vocalists but Christine's importance is amply demonstrated by the fact that eight of the 16 songs on the band's Greatest Hits albums are from Christine," Hipgnosis founder and CEO Merck Mercuridis said, adding the company now owns the rights to 48 of 68 tracks on the band's most successful albums. In the past few years Hipgnosis has spent more than $2 billion buying the rights to hits from iconic artists such as McVie's former Fleetwood Mac bandmate Lindsey Buckingham, Neil Young and Blondie. In a statement, McVie said: "I am so excited to belong to the Hipgnosis family, and thrilled that you all regard my songs worthy of merit." - New Musical Express, 8/9/21...... 
In a new Instagram chat, Queen's Brian May confirmed that a sequel to the massively successful Queen/Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody is definitely in the works. "We are looking at it," May said. "Yeah, we have been looking at ideas. It's going to be hard to follow that one (first film) as none of us could have predicted how massive that was going to be. We put a lot of heart and soul into making it and no one could have predicted as it was bigger than Gone With The Wind," he added. May's comments contradict recent comments by himself and Queen drummer Roger Taylor that a Bohemian Rhapsody sequel was unlikely. "We don't really think there's another movie there. I think we should look somewhere else. There are other ideas that we had, but I don't think a sequel will happen. But we have looked at it pretty seriously," May told Rolling Stone in 2020. Taylor expressed similar sentiments to the magazine, saying "I really do think we need to sit back for a year or two and look at things and see if that is a believable or credible thing to do. The movie was a great hit. We were delighted, obviously. But I think I wouldn't want to be seen as cashing in again. I'd have to have a very, very good script and scenario to make that work. Right now, I can't think of a way of doing a sequel." Meanwhile, May has also shared his thoughts about Eric Clapton's stance on receiving a Covid-19 vaccine, who in July told the UK's The Independent paper that he won't grace "any stage where there is a discriminated audience present. Unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show." "I love Eric Clapton," May said in an interview with The Independent on Aug. 7. "He's my hero, but he has very different views from me in many ways. He's a person who thinks it's OK to shoot animals for fun, so we have our disagreements, but I would never stop respecting the man," May noted. May went on to say he thinks anti-vax people "are fruitcakes" and he's confident the vaccines "are safe." "There's always going to be some side effect in any drug you take, but to go around saying vaccines are a plot to kill you, I'm sorry, that goes in the fruitcake jar for me," he said. In July, the UK government declared that it will be making proof of vaccination a legal requirement at venues from the end of September. In the same interview, May said he now wants to move away from his hometown of London after a torrential rain in the capital recently caused his basement to flood. The basement, where he and his wife, Anita Dobson, kept their memorabilia was hit worse. "It's made us feel violated... It's what it does to your soul to lose your possessions, to see them swimming about in it. I had to tear up all my old photograph albums, the very first ones I ever had when I was eight years old, to try to save the photographs." May, who was born in the outer London suburbs, and has had a home in the city all his life. May also said he once considered suicide while struggling to cope with his bandmate Freddie Mercury's death from an AIDS-related illness in 1991. "I felt like life was over. I was very close to driving off the bridge several times. Very close. It was Hammersmith Bridge," he said. - WENN/Canoe.com/Billboard/NME, 8/8/21...... Paul McCartney has scored his second No. 1 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart of 2021 as his latest effort McCartney III Imagined debuted atop the weekly survey for the week of Aug. 7 following its physical release on July 23. McCartney III Imagined starts with 21,000 equivalent album units earned in the July 23-29 tracking week, according to MRC Data, with nearly all its units via album sales. The LP follows the success of its parent album, McCartney III, which topped the Jan. 2 Rock Albums chart with 101,000 units. The two LPs have swelled McCartney's total to four Top Rock Albums No. 1s (dating to the chart's 2006 start). He also led with Memory Almost Full (2007) and Egypt Station (2018). Concurrently, Imagined leads the all-genre Top Album Sales chart, marking McCartney's third No. 1, after Egypt Station and McCartney III, and starts at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 200. Imagined was initially released Apr. 16 on digital platforms (and dented Top Album Sales for a week at No. 60). The 12-song album features re-dos and remixes of songs from McCartney III by artists including Beck, Josh Homme and St. Vincent. - Billboard, 8/6/21...... 
In other Beatles-related news, George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison has spoken out about John Lennon past comments regarding his father's 1970 iconic triple LP All Things Must Pass. Publicly at least, Lennon was dismissive of the album, telling Rolling Stone in 1970: "I don't know... I think it's all right, you know. Personally, at home, I wouldn't play that kind of music, I don't want to hurt George's feelings, I don't know what to say about it." Now in a new interview with Matt Wilkinson on the Apple Music Hits podcast, Dhani responded to John's comments about the record after Wilkinson pointed to a later interview with session musician Bobby Whitlock saying: "I remember Lennon coming to the studio during the recording sessions quite friendly and being played it, and he was visibly blown away." "Yeah, I mean, how could you not be, especially for The Beatles, I think, to be like... There might've been an oops moment. Like, 'Oops. Shit. Maybe that song was good,'" Dhani responded. "But I think they were all just very happy for each other. How could you not be happy if you had a bandmate who left your band and then went and did that? How could you not be happy for them?," he added. A huge "Uber Deluxe" boxset reissue of Harrison's third post-Beatles solo album was released as an eight LP or five CD plus one Blu-ray set, and as more modest triple vinyl and double CD versions, on Aug. 6. - NME, 8/6/21...... Speaking of John Lennon, '60s British hitmaker Petula Clark has told The London Times newspaper that she sang on John and Yoko Ono's 1969 hit "Give Peace a Chance" by accident. Clark said that she had been going through a difficult time while on tour in Montreal during 1969, and decided to visit John Lennon after discovering that John was in town with his wife Yoko. Recalling the lack of security as she approached the late legend's room, Petula said: "John Lennon looks at me and says, 'Is that you, Petula? Come in.' He was lovely. I told him the whole sad story and he was very funny about it, but I said, 'What am I going to do?' He said, 'Oh, f*** 'em.' I said, 'Oh, that's a thought.' In other words, so what, what will be will be." Clark went on to detail how she found other guests singing a "simple little tune," and decided to join in -- although she had no idea that it was John and Yoko's anti-war song, which was released that same year. "And it was all being recorded, I didn't know," the 88-year-old singer said. Petula said she is unable to hear her voice on the Plastic Ono Band song but felt it helped during her tough time in Canada. She said: "[I was] lost in the mix. But I guess it was what I needed at that moment." The "Don't Sleep in the Subway" singer also recalled her friendship with the late Karen Carpenter but admitted she could never match her singing style. "We all have to do it our way. It's no good imitating other singers. Karen, Dusty Springfield too, they were born with this amazing sound in their voice, which I don't have. They were blessed," she said. - Music-News.com, 8/6/21...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, two handwritten setlists from the early days of the Beatles are going under the hammer in a Bonhams auction on Oct. 28. The setlists, among only eight believed to still be in existence, are from gigs the band played in 1960 and 1963 respectively. The former was written by Paul McCartney, and is from when the band played at Liscard's Grosvenor Ballroom shortly before changing their name from The Silver Beetles to simply The Beatles. McCartney was the band's drummer at the time. The setlists are expected to fetch anywhere between $150,000 and $250,000. - NME, 8/5/21...... Elton John has critisized the UK government's latest announcement on post-Brexit touring rules, calling it a "rehash of what we already know." On Aug. 4, the government announced that "short-term" visa-free travel without work permits will be allowed for musicians and performers in 19 European countries. Talks are also ongoing with the remaining countries in the EU. In a statement posted to Twitter, John said his excitement about the Department of Culture, Media & Sport's latest declaration had "soon turned to disappointment after realising it seems to be just a rehash of what we already know." "There needs to be far more clarity on exactly what progress has been made," John said. "There is a small window of opportunity to get this right to ensure the next generation of musicians and emerging artists have the ability to tour. Speed is of the utmost importance. We need to sustain momentum to enforce change. There must be solutions, short and long term, or we risk losing future generations of world-beating talent," he added. Elton recently postponed part of the German leg of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour due to ongoing capacity restrictions. - NME, 8/5/21...... Lynyrd Skynyrd have announced they have been forced to cancel a string of upcoming US concerts after their guitarist Rickey Medlocke has tested positive for Covid-19. In a statement on Facebook, the band wrote: "Skynyrd Nation, Due to unforseen circumstances, Lynyrd Skynyrd is unable to perform the next four shows in Canton, OH, Jackson, MI, Atlanta, GA and Cullman, AL. Longtime band member Rickey Medlocke has tested positive for COVID-19. Rickey is home resting and responding well to treatment." The band confirmed they will no longer be playing their forthcoming shows in Ohio, Missouri and Alabama. Their scheduled show in Atlanta, Ga. on Aug. 13 has been postponed to Oct. 23. Medlocke's diagnosis is the latest setback in the health of Lynyrd Skynyrd members, with guitarist Gary Rossington having to undergo an emergency heart procedure in July. During a performance in Minnesota, vocalist Johnny Van Zant told the crowd that Rossington had to have an "emergency stent put in his heart", a procedure used to prevent arteries from closing. Rossington, the sole surviving member of the original band, is expected to make a full recovery. Skynyrd are currently on their "Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour," an extensive run of shows that began in 2018, and was set to run through late 2020, with Covid-19 causing a large portion of their 2020 shows to be postponed to 2021. - NME, 8/9/21...... 
The Doobie Brothers announced on Aug. 6 that they'll release their 15th studio album, titled Libert, on Oct. 1. Produced and co-written by John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Bon Jovi), Libert features 12 new songs from co-founding Doobie members Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons and John McFee. In addition to the new LP, a special four-track EP, The Doobie Brothers EP, is currently streaming, featuring the Libert songs "Oh Mexico," "Cannonball," "Don't Ya Mess With Me" and "Better Days." Fan who bought a ticket/album bundle and redeemed a copy of the EP between Dec. 2019 and Nov. 2020 will get their physical CD starting Sept. 17. The band also revealed dates for an ambitious 50th anniversary, 49-city North American tour featuring Johnston, Simmons, McFee and singer Michael McDonald performing on the road together for the first time in nearly 25 years. The trek gets underway on Aug. 22 at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines and is set to wrap on June 30, 2022 in London, Ontario. - Billboard, 8/6/21...... Barbra Streisand released Release Me 2, a sequel to her acclaimed 2012 rarities compilation Release Me, on Aug. 6 via Columbia/Legacy Recordings. The 10-track album includes a selection of delightful duets (Willie Nelson, Barry Gibb and even Kermit the Frog), selections from some of the greatest songwriters ever (Burt Bacharach/Hal David, Randy Newman, Carole King), and a never-before-heard recording from a pre-fame session in 1962. Teaming with her trusted studio collaborators such as Jochem van der Saag and Walter Afanasieff, Streisand retooled a number of shelved recordings for Release Me 2, oftentimes reworking "limp" or "flat" orchestrations that hampered otherwise lovely vocal performances spanning the decades. Streisand told Billboard that if more people get vaccinated for Covid-19, she can go back into the studio to record new material. "They're dragging their feet for no good reason. It's just common sense," Streisand said. "Science is real. Climate change is real, it's not fake news or a hoax. Too many people have died by thinking science is a hoax. I want everybody, for their own health and their family's health, to get vaccinated. Please?," she added. - Billboard, 8/6/21...... Black Sabbath announced on Aug. 5 that they'll mark the 45th anniversary of their 1976 album Technical Ecstasy with the release of a huge new box set on Oct. 1. Technical Ecstasy - Super Deluxe Edition will be repackaged in a 4-CD or 5-LP box set, featuring remastered and alternate mixes of the album from producer Steven Wilson, as well as a host of outtakes and live versions. The package will also include a booklet, recreated tour program and poster. Released in Sept. 1976 to mixed reviews, Technical Ecstasy was a commercial success, and backed with a tour that saw the band supported by AC/DC. The fractious tour saw singer Ozzy Osbourne at one point leave the band to be replaced by Savoy Brown's Dave Walker. Osbourne would return for 1978's Never Say Die, but was afterwards replaced permanently by Ronnie James Dio. Earlier in 2021, Sabbath put out a deluxe reissue of their fourth album Vol. 4 containing 20 previously unreleased tracks. - NME, 8/5/21...... The U.S. equestrian jumping team which includes Bruce Springsteen's daughter Jessica Springsteen in its ranks have won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The US team team came up just short of Olympic gold, falling to Sweden in a jump off on the evening of Aug. 7 that still left the Americans with a record 10th medal in the event. It's the first for the 29-year-old Springsteen, the daughter Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa, who made her Olympic debut in Tokyo. Riding powerful stallion Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, Jessica clipped one rail in the primary round, as did her teammate McLain Ward, leaving the U.S in a tie with the Swedes for first with eight penalty points. "I was happy we were able to pull it together and fight for the rest of the course," said Jessica, who noted that her parents have been watching from home, as athletes weren't allowed to bring family into Japan for these pandemic-beleaguered games. - AP, 8/7/21...... 
The Rolling Stones announced on Aug. 5 that their co-founding drummer Charlie Watts will not join the band's forthcoming US tour as he recuperates from a medical procedure. According to a statement from the band's spokesperson, Watts recently underwent an unspecified medical procedure that was "completely successful." "Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation. With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it's very disappointing to say the least, but it's also fair to say no one saw this coming," the spokesperson said. Steve Jordan, a member of Stones guitarist Keith Richards' side-project The X-Pensive Winos, will fill in for Watts on the tour. Watts, who has served in the band since its inception in 1962 and turned 80 in June, joked that "for once my timing has been a little off." "I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while," he continued. "After all the fans' suffering caused by Covid I really do not want the many RS fans who have been holding tickets for this Tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation. I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me," he added. Jagger, Richards and Ronnie Wood have all shared subsequent messages of support for Watts on social media, while also welcoming Jordan temporarily to the fold. The Stones "No Filter" tour will run from late September to November and visit 13 major US markets, kicking off in St. Louis, Mo. on Sept. 26 and ending in Austin, Tex., on Nov. 20. The tour was originally scheduled for the summer of 2020. - NME, 8/5/21...... Carlos Santana announced on Aug. 4 that his next studio album will be titled Blessings and Miracles and be his first release for a new record deal with BMG Records. "I would like to thank everyone at BMG for sharing our collective commonality -- vision to touch people's hearts with energy, conviction and integrity," Santana said in a statement. "Now more than ever, we need songs and melodies to remind us that we are significant, meaningful and that life is full of blessings and miracles," he added. A debut single is expected later in August. Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Although his band has yet to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Grammy's Recording Academy, the 8-Grammy sweep of his Supernatural album in 2000 was seen by many as, in effect, a lifetime achievement award. - Billboard, 8/4/21...... A trailer for director Sacha Jenkins' upcoming Rick James Showtime documentary Bitchin': The Sound and Fury has been shared on YouTube. The trailer teases a portrait of a singular artist with a complicated legacy who died in 2004 of cardiac failure at age 56 and best known for such indelible funk jams as "Super Freak" and "Give It To Me Baby," as well as his songwriting/producing duties for everyone from Eddie Murphy to Teena Marie to Smokey Robinson. Bitchin' is slated to premiere on Sept. 3 and promises to focus on James' iconic funky sound and legendarily brash public persona, while also hinting at the "demon" of drug use that dogged his personal life. - Billboard, 8/4/21...... Saturday Night Fever star John Travolta has sold the Florida home he shared with late wife Kelly Preston for $4 million. Kelly passed away in the home in 2020, after a long battle with breast cancer. Travolta bought the five-bedroom mansion, which is situated on Clearwater Harbor, in 2017. Property records show he paid $3 million at the time. Fellow Scientologists Tom Cruise and Kirstie Alley also own property in the area, which is near a major Scientology centre. Earlier in 2021, the Pulp Fiction star sold another longtime residence -- a waterfront pad in Maine -- for $5 million. And in Jan. 2020, he offloaded his $18 million Spanish-style Los Angeles estate. Travolta currently owns a $2.65 million six-bedroom home in a gated community in Calabasas, Calif. He and Preston, who wed in 1991, bought the house in 2019. - WENN/Canoe.com, 8/8/21...... 
Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, a co-founding member of the Grammy-winning troupe Kool & The Gang, passed away "peacefully" in his sleep in New Jersey on Aug. 7 of as yet unannounced causes, according to a statement from the band. In a statement, the "Get Down On It" hitmakers hailed their late alto saxophonist, flutist, percussionist, and master of ceremonies, for his showmanship and unique style. They said: "An original member of Kool & the Gang, Dennis was known as the quintessential cool cat in the group, loved for his hip clothes and hats, and his laid-back demeanor. A huge personality while also an extremely private person, Dennis was the alto saxophone player, flutist, percussionist as well as master of ceremonies at the band's shows." Thomas, they added, "was the group's wardrobe stylist who made sure they always looked fresh... In the band's early days, Dennis also served as the 'budget hawk', carrying the group's earnings in a paper bag in the bell of his horn." Thomas last played with the band in a July 4th concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. He is survived by his wife Phynjuar Saunders Thomas and his three children, Tuesday Rankin, David Thomas and Devin Thomas. Kool & The Gang was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015. - Music-News.com, 8/8/21...... Former child star Jane Withers passed away on Aug. 7 in Burbank, Calif. at the age of 95. An official cause of death has yet to be revealed for the actress, who was a child star in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. Her first big break came in 1934 movie Bright Eyes, in which she appeared opposite Shirley Temple, and the star went on to play the titular role in Ginger a year later when she was just nine years old. In the same year, Ms. Withers appeared opposite Henry Fonda in The Farmer Takes a Wife. Ms. Withers also starred in several motion pictures in her teens, including My Best Gal and Johnny Doughboy, but she later retired from acting in 1947 aged just 21. However, the actress was tempted back to the big screen when director George Stevens cast her in his 1956 film Giant alongside Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. She starred in a few movies afterwards and most recently lent her voice to 1996 animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and 2002 sequel The Hunchback of Notre Dame II -- her final movie role. Ms. Withers was also no stranger to the small screen, appearing in a few episodes of Murder, She Wrote, and she starred in an episode of The Munsters. Her biggest prominence, however, came in the 1960s by portraying "Josephine the Plumber" in TV commercials for Comet cleanser for 12 years. "Oh, the money is nice, all right," she told the Los Angeles Times in 1963. "I got five figures for eight of those commercials, and I'm doing four more." - WENN/Canoe.com, 8/9/21.
Willie Nelson led more than a thousand spectators in singing "vote them out" on July 31 from the steps of the Texas Capitol in Austin during a rally that wrapped a 4-day march in support of Democratic state legislators who bolted for Washington two weeks ago to block new GOP-backed voting restrictions. The special session that the exodus by Texas Democrats halted is set to expire in mid-August, but Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has pledged to schedule a new one as soon as the lawmakers return to the state. "If you don't like who's in there, vote them out," Nelson sang, inviting the crowd to join him in singing lyrics he'd previously written about taking a stand at the ballot box. Families with lawn chairs spread out across the sprawling Capitol greens in Austin as Nelson and other musicians as well as members of the clergy, politicians and constituents all spoke out about the proposals to impose voter ID requirements, limit ballot drop boxes and mail voting, and strip local officials of their election authority. The march began on July 28 and ended July 31 when participants walked up to the doors of the Texas Capitol building in a rally sponsored by activist group Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. It was led, in part, by Beto O'Rourke, the former Texas Democratic congressman and 2020 presidential candidate who has not ruled out a run for Texas governor in 2022. - AP, 7/31/21...... 
A new documentary about the early days of Led Zeppelin has become a last minute addition to the 78th Venice International Film Festival, which will run for 11 days beginning Sept. 1. Director Bernard MacMahon's Becoming Led Zeppelin follows Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham as they move through the '60s British music scene, gigging at small clubs to a fateful rehearsal in 1968 that changes their lives forever. The film culminates in Led Zepp's 1970 tour of America, where they became the biggest rock band in the world from 1970-75. MacMahon, who also co-wrote and produced the film with Allison McGourty, says "my goal was to make a documentary that looks and feels like a musical." "I used only original prints and negatives, with over 70,000 frames of footage manually restored, and devised fantasia sequences, inspired by Singin' In The Rain, layering unseen performance footage with montages of posters, tickets and travel to create a visual sense of the freneticism of their early career," he said in a statement, adding it is "a film that no one thought could be made... The band's meteoric rise to stardom was swift and virtually undocumented. Through an intense search across the globe and years of restoration of the visual and audio archive found, this story is finally able to be told." He said fans can expect "unprecedented access" to the band, in what marks "the first and only time they have participated in a documentary in 50 years." MacMahon is best known for his American Epic, series for the BBC and PBS, where he looked at some of the first recordings of roots music in the US and their impact on the culture. - The Hollywood Reporter, 8/3/21...... A recent post on Instagram shows somebody named Paul McCartney getting vaccinated for Covid-19 and encouraging his fans to do the same with a simple message: "BE COOL. GET VAX'D." Wearing a beanie and a face-mask, the 79-year-old rocker posted the message to Instagram on Aug. 2, signing off as "Paul." The Beatles legend told the UK paper The Sun in Dec. 2020 that he was eager to get the jab when the top-priority groups -- citizens over the age of 50 and those in high-risk categories -- were eligible toward the beginning of 2021. "The vaccine will get us out of this. I think we'll come through it, I know we'll come through, and it's great news about the vaccine," he said in the interview. "I'll have it as soon as I'm allowed." Meanwhile, Sir Paul's recently released McCartney III Imagined has hit No. 1 on Billboard Top Album Sales Chart for the week dated Aug. 7 after previously only being available via digital retail and streaming services. McCartney III Imagined sold 21,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending July 29 (up from a negligible figure in the week previous), according to MRC Data, thanks to its release on CD, vinyl LP and cassette tape. The album is a collection of remixed songs from McCartney's last studio album, the Dec. 2020 release McCartney III, and was initially released via digital download and streaming services on Apr. 16, 2021. The Imagined set spent one week previously on the Top Album Sales chart, debuting at No. 60 on the May 1-dated chart with 2,200 downloads sold. Imagined is McCartney's third No. 1 on the 30-year-old Top Album Sales chart, following McCartney III (Jan. 2-dated chart) and Egypt Station (Sept. 22, 2018). Imagined's tracklist boasts an eclectic lineup of guests, including Beck, Dominic Fike, St. Vincent, Blood Orange, Phoebe Bridgers, Damon Albarn and Josh Homme. - Billboard, 8/2/21...... The Who's Pete Townshend has sold his home in the London district of Richmond. Constructed on Richmond Hill in 1775, the mansion was previously owned by Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, as well as stage and screen actor John Mills and record industry executive Derek Leahy. A property listing for the Grade I listed Georgian house, which looks out over the River Thames, details how the four-storey residence includes a heated swimming pool on the upper terrace, a studio/office suite, four cloakrooms, numerous bedrooms and a "dogs' room." "The views have been immortalised in paintings and drawings by numerous artists including Reynolds, Gainsborough and Turner," Pered's listing states. Pereds' website now lists Townshend's property as "sold," with "offers in excess of £15,000,000" having been invited. - NME, 8/3/21...... 
It has been revealed that Michael Jackson once pitched a collaboration with British pop-rockers Duran Duran in the mid-1980's, when Jackson was the biggest solo pop star on the planet, and Duran Duran was the No. 1 band. During an interview on What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Aug. 2, Duran Duran's founding keyboardist Nick Rhodes confirmed the late King of Pop once reached out to his band to work together, but they blew it off. Rhodes said Jackson came calling while they were enjoying the success of their monster 1984 hit "The Reflex," and when he passed the offer on to his bandmates, they passed. "I go to everyone, 'hey Michael Jackson called last night. Do you fancy maybe doing a song with him?," he said. "And they all went, 'nah.'" Duran Duran, who are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, will drop their 15th studio album, Future Past, on Oct. 22 via BMG. - Billboard, 8/3/21...... In other MJ news, a recent series of important legal victories have given Jackson's estate hope for a kind of comeback in the months ahead. One of Jackson's accusers' lawsuit was dismissed in October 2020, and another was tossed out in April of 2021. In May, a ruling in a tax case slashed their debt to the IRS dramatically. The estate suddenly stands nearly clear of a dozen years of disputes, and entertainment attorney and Jackson estate co-executor John Branca says he expects that in the next 18 months it can finally be taken out of probate court and turned into a trust for Jackson's three children, who are all now adults. "I was always optimistic," Branca told the AP. "Michael inspired the planet and his music still does. There was never any doubt about that." Branca says the first priority is the revival of the Cirque du Soleil show "Michael Jackson: One at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas." It is slated to reopen Aug. 19 after a coronavirus closure of nearly a year and a half, in time for a major celebration there planned for Jackson's Aug. 29 birthday. Then the Broadway show "MJ: The Musical" will follow quickly on its heels, the first of several planned projects. Although Branca and his associates have brought in $2.5 billion in revenue for the Jackson estate in the 11 years since Michael passed and Jackson has remained the top earning deceased celebrity every year since his death at age 50 from a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol, Branca says the way Jackson's musical legacy echoes through modern artists may be his most impressive legacy. "Kanye West, Drake, Beyonc, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande -- they all point back to Michael," Branca said. "His influence is really enormous." - AP, 7/31/21...... ZZ Top played its first concert since the recent death of its longtime bassist Dusty Hill in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on July 30. Elwood Francis, the group's guitar tech of 20 years, filled in for Hill, and during the show, frontman Billy Gibbons expressed the late bass player's desire for the band to continue on after his passing. "We're gonna have a good time in here tonight. Got a new guy up here, as you know. Dusty gave me the directive. My friend, your pal, Elwood Francis is gonna hold it down behind me," Gibbons told the crowd. Later in the concert, Gibbons added, "How about that Elwood? Tearing up that bottom there for Dusty." The band announced in a statement on July 28 that Hill had died at age 72. In an interview with Variety.com, Gibbons revealed that Hill had requested dismissing himself from ZZ Top's current tour. He said, 'Yeah, let me go check this out'," Gibbons said. "And of course I said, 'Hey, man, health is number one. Go do your thing.' And I could tell through those first two valiant attempts, if he's not giving it 110 per cent, he was the first one to kind of say, 'Gee whiz. Let's go take care of this.'" Gibbons continued: "It's no secret that over the past few years he had a pretty rough go with a broken shoulder, followed with a broken hip. And he had some problems with some ulcers. So he's been kind of tiptoeing through keeping himself ship-shape, best he could. But I think that this was a real challenge. And by throwing in the towel, it might've caught up with him. Who knows? I'm just glad he's in a good spot." Gibbons said all that can be determined so far is that the musician died in his sleep. "Let's face it, you don't necessarily pass away from a broken shoulder or broken hip," he said. "Although the attending physician had earlier warned him that bursitis was not uncommon, even arthritis, and they said it's not a very comfortable place to be. And I could tell that he was moving a little slow. He said, 'Boy, this shoulder and hip are really starting to become a problem.' But, as of this juncture, yeah, it was off to dreamland and beyond." - Billboard/New Musical Express, 8/1/21...... 
As the new Aretha Franklin biopic Aretha is being readied for a US release on Aug. 13, the Queen of Soul's handprints were unveiled outside Legends Plaza in her hometown of Detroit of Aug. 1. The unveiling at the Detroit Historical Society Museum coincided with the opening of a new, temporary museum exhibit on Franklin, who died Aug. 16, 2018 of pancreatic cancer at age 76 in her Detroit home. Franklin cast her handprints in concrete for installation on the plaza in 2017 at the Detroit Music Hall's celebration of the dedication of Aretha Franklin Way in the Motor City, according to the historical society. They last were seen as part of the museum's commemorative exhibit following Franklin's death and are being placed on permanent display in conjunction with the upcoming release of Respect. The new museum exhibition formally opened on Aug. 1, and will feature costumes from Respect, along with other artifacts. Meanwhile, L.A.'s Grammy Museum will host a panel discussion keyed to Respect on Aug. 12. The discussion will feature the film's star, Jennifer Hudson, as well as Stephen Bray and Jason Michael Webb. Variety's Chris Willman will moderate. Respect is scheduled to be theatrically released in the US on Aug. 13, a full year after its original scheduled release date. The release date was bumped a few times because of the Covid-19 pandemic. - AP/Billboard, 8/1/21...... The BBC is reporting that Van Morrison has ended his legal challenge against the Northern Irish government over its ban on live music. The 75-year-old has been an outspoken critic of pandemic lockdown measures, criticizing what he calls the "pseudo-science" of socially distanced gigs in August and writing multiple songs denouncing lockdowns which were met with significant backlash. In January, the Celtic crooner announced that he was planning a legal challenge after Northern Ireland banned live performances in an attempt to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Now, following the Stormont's Executive's recent decision to allow live music to return, Morrison has dropped the challenge. He was forced to cancel a run of shows at Belfast's Ulster Hall due to begin in late July. After the release of Morrison's anti-lockdown songs, Northern Ireland's Health Minister Robin Swann criticized the longstanding singer, who he accused of delivering a "smear on all those involved in the public health response." Meanwhile, Eric Clapton -- who appeared on one of Morrison's anti-lockdown songs "Stand And Deliver" -- recently declared that he will not perform concerts that require proof of vaccination. - NME, 8/3/21...... Bob Dylan will release a new 7-inch vinyl single featuring a previously unheard version of "Blind Willie McTell" on Aug. 20 via Jack White's Third Man Records. Dylan's original track, which can be viewed on YouTube, initially emerged from the sessions for his 1983 album Infidels, but didn't make the final album cut and a first version didn't arrive until 1991, when it featured on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1 - 3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991. While the original track featured a stripped-back acoustic piano-guitar rendition led by Dylan and Mark Knopfler, the new seven-inch features two full-band takes featuring Dylan, Knopfler, Mick Taylor, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. Only the A-side of the single ('take 1') will only be available on the seven-inch, but the B-side ('take 5') will also appear on the forthcoming upcoming Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 , which arrives on Sept. 17. Meanwhile in other Dylan-related news, the estate of the co-writer of Dylan's chart-topping 1976 album Desire was handed a defeat on July 30 in a lawsuit against Dylan and Universal Music Group which hoped to establish co-ownership of the songs that he had a hand in. Late songwriter Jacques Levy's widow Claudia filed the lawsuit back in January after Dylan sold his publishing catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group in December 2020, arguing that the estate should receive a portion of the overall amount that Dylan took home from the reported $300 million sale. Dylan and UMG's lawyers contended that the original agreement drafted between Dylan and Levy in 1975 made it clear that he would not own any of the material, and that his profit participation would consist of a share of songwriting royalties, which Judge Barry Ostrager of the Supreme Court of New York agreed with. "Upon review of the 1975 Agreement and the competing arguments, the Court finds the Agreement is clear and unambiguous on its face when read as a whole," Judge Ostrager said in his 18-page decision. Dylan's lawyer Orin Snyder said he and his client were pleased with the decision. "As we said when the case was filed, this lawsuit was a sad attempt to profit off the recent catalog sale. We're glad it's now over," he said. - NME, 8/3/21...... During a new interview with Marc Maron on his WTF With Marc Maron podcast, former Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham opened up on his 2018 firing from the band, while boldly admitting that "pretty much everyone would love to see me come back." Buckingham revealed that he is still in contact with "soul mate" Mick Fleetwood, the drummer and co-founder of the band. "We love each other and we reinforced each others sensibilities in the band," said Buckingham, before adding: "it's my sense that pretty much everyone would love to see me come back." However Buckingham also expressed doubt that his re-joining the group is actually "doable." Meanwhile, Buckingham is set to release his new self-titled solo album on Sept. 17 and will launch a fall 2021 US tour behind the new album in Milwaukee on Sept. 1. - NME, 8/3/21...... The Beach Boys have shared two unreleased songs including an unreleased a capella version of their 1971 track "Surf's Up." The two tracks are taken from the band's huge recently released box set, Feel Flows - The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971. After sharing a new recording of the Surf's Up track "Big Sur" in June, the band have now shared an a capella version of its title track as well as a reimagined mix of the Sunflower track "This Whole World" on Spotify.com The band's new 5-disc and digital release includes newly remastered versions of both albums together with 108 unreleased tracks and live recordings. It also includes alternate versions and mixes, a cappella recordings, radio promotions from the album sessions as well as isolated backing vocal tracks. The release, which dropped on July 30, also comes with a new 48-page book featuring archival interviews with the group and a new set of linear notes. The box set is available as a limited edition translucent gold and translucent blue 4-vinyl edition or as a two-vinyl/two-CD option. - NME, 8/2/21...... Bruce Springsteen's daughter Jessica Springsteen has failed to qualify for the Equestrian Park individual jumping finals at the Olympics 2020 in Tokyo. As previously reported, 29-year-old Jessica -- the daughter of The Boss and Patti Scialfa -- competed as the youngest member of the US showjumping team at the Tokyo games on Aug. 3. She is ranked in the world's top 15 and was vying for glory in the team event, alongside team members Kent Farrington and Laura Kraut. She had to secure a top 30 finish in the individual class to confirm her place in the Aug. 4 final. Per ESPN, however, her horse ran into trouble at the 14-jump course's 11th obstacle. The pair earned four penalty points after knocking down a rail, although Jessica's score was high enough to keep her on the bubble. She was eliminated approximately one hour after riding. Despite the elimination, Jessica will compete in the jumping team event on Aug. 6. "All in all, I'm thrilled with the round, and I'm excited for the rest of the week," she said following the jumping finals. Jessica has been riding her 12-year-old horse, Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, for around two years. She was an alternate for the London Summer Olympics in 2012 but did not participate. - New Musical Express, 8/3/21...... 
An Alice Cooper-themed coloring book officially endorsed by the shock-rocker himself is due out on Aug. 27. Titled Welcome 2 My Nightmare, features a selection of images to colour in associated with Cooper, including album artwork and other notable iconography. In an Instagram preview given by Eyesore Merch, fans will apparently be able to color in an image of the Coop as Medusa as well as an image inspired by 1972's School's Out. Welcome 2 My Nightmare is the latest installment in a string of books made by the UK company Rock N Roll Colouring, with each one celebrating the art of a different act. They released their first instalments, themed around Judas Priest and Motörhead respectively, in late 2020. - NME, 8/2/21...... In other shock-rocker news, Ozzy Osbourne announced on Twitter on July 29 he plans to release a 30th anniversary reissue of his 1991 solo album, No More Tears on Sept. 17. The new version of the LP includes 12 new rare tracks that will be hitting streaming services for the very first time. The reissue will be available as both an upgraded digital release and an LP edition which will come as a two-disc set on black vinyl. Considered one of Ozzy's best-loved albums, it's not just fans who have a lot of love for the rocker's sixth LP. "I have a lot of great memories of making the album," Osbourne said in a statement. In addition to the original album and a handful of demos, hits such as "I Don't Want To Change The World," "Mama, I'm Coming Home," "Road To Nowhere," and the title track will all appear on the expanded edition as live recordings from Osbourne's No More Tours tour in 1992. - NME, 8/1/21...... The estate of late funk-rock icon Prince has sold a controlling stake in the rights to his intellectual property. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune paper, the three youngest of Prince's six siblings have each agreed to sell their inheritance in the estate to New York independent music publisher and talent management company Primary Wave. The report reveals that Primary Wave, which also owns a music catalogue that includes Nirvana and Ray Charles, in July bought 100% of Prince's youngest sibling Omarr Baker's interest in the estate. Previously, the company bought 90 per cent of Tyka Nelson's stake and 100 per cent of the late Alfred Jackson's interest. The intellectual property sold includes Prince's name and likeness, royalties from his masters, and publishing rights, as well as his renowned Paisley Park studios, as per Rolling Stone. Prince's oldest three siblings -- Sharon, Norrine, and John Nelson -- said they have no plans to sell their stakes in the rights to the singer's estate, and Sharon told the paper that Nelson and Baker "didn't have the patience to wait." rince Rogers Nelson died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2016. Due to the absence of a will, and being he had no legal partner or children, sorting out his estate has been a complicated affair. - NME, 8/1/21...... Elton John has postponed part of the German leg of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour due to ongoing capacity restrictions. The tour initially commenced in 2018, and is expected to resume later this year. However, venues in Germany are not expected to be at full capacity in time, meaning his Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Mannheim and Cologne shows in the country will be postponed to 2023. "As we begin to exit this terrible global pandemic, we are all faced with regulations and restrictions that we must adhere to," John said in a statement. "As such it has been necessary to once again review my Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour and make some difficult decisions. I hope you can appreciate that these decisions are not ones we have taken lightly, but with due consideration for the situation in each country and the safety of our fans and everyone involved with this amazing show. Based on the information we have received, venues in Germany will not be allowed to reopen to 100 per cent capacity in the near future, and as we have sold 100 per cent of the tickets to my show we have taken the decision to reschedule," he added. John's shows in the UK are still expected to take place beginning in Oct. 2021, kicking off at AO Arena in Manchester. - NME, 8/1/21...... 
An Elvis Presley biographer has claimed that the rock'n'roll legend died not because he was a drug abuser, but because he had bad genes. In her book Elvis: Destined To Die Young, author Sally Hoedel claims the singer's long-documented health problems -- which were often written off as the consequences of addiction -- could have been caused by Presley's maternal grandparents, who were first cousins. Hoedel, a historian, has said Presley's mother's family -- including three uncles -- were cursed by early death, and she doesn't think it was a coincidence that Presley's mother, Gladys, died at 46 and Presley at 42. "They had a similar four-year period of degenerative health, and that's interesting because she did not take the same medication as he took," Hoedel writes in the book. Presley's health problems were intertwined with his life story, she writes, adding that he suffered from disease in nine of 11 bodily systems. Five of those disease processes, she claims, were present from birth. She believes examining them is a way to "humanize" the mythical figure of Presley. "Elvis is seen as less or more than human, like an image, and he's been reduced to this rock'n'roll guy who died in his bathroom from taking too many pills," she told The Observer paper. "That's not enough for a man who culturally shifted our universe. It's not accurate and it's not enough. Elvis was a sick man who hid a lot of his weakness to fill concert venues and support his family. By examining his flaws and health issues, maybe we can start to see his humanity again," she added. Meanwhile in other Elvis-related news, the mother of Presley's widow Priscilla Presley has died at age 95. Priscilla, 76, told her followers on Instagram that she's been left "heartbroken" following the passing of her mother, Anna Lillian Iversen. "I am heartbroken. My beautiful mother passed today. She was the light of our lives," Priscilla said. "She never wanted any attention on herself. Her children were her everything. May you Rest In Peace. You will always be with us," she added. - NME, 8/1/21...... Charles Connor, known for being the drummer in Little Richard's band as well as performing with other greats including James Brown and Sam Cooke, died peacefully in his sleep on July 31 while under hospice care at his home in Glendale, Calif. He was 86. Mr. Connor's daughter, Queenie Connor Sonnefeld, said her father had been diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain disorder that causes fluid buildup. She called the drummer a "great father" who was always positive and a person who never gave up on his dreams. "He was one of those drummers that was a bricklayer of creating that rock 'n' roll genre," she said. "He played behind so many legendary musicians in the 1950s. He was a loving grandfather and was very proud of his family and took a lot of pride in his contributions to rock 'n' roll," she added. Mr. Connor began playing drums at age 12 and during his career toured with various musicians such as Brown, Jackie Wilson and the original Coasters. He also received a certificate of special recognition from Rep. Maxine Waters in 1994. Mr. Connor released his motivational book Don't Give Up Your Dreams: You Can Be a Winner Too! in 2008, and was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame two years later. In 2013, Mr. Connor released his EP album Still Knockin'. At the time of his death, he was working on his autobiographical documentary. - AP, 8/1/21.
We will forever be connected to that 'Blues Shuffle in C'. You will be missed greatly, amigo." Earlier in July, Gibbons and Beard played their first performances without Hill in more than 50 years, stating that the bassist had been forced to seek medical attention "to address a hip issue," according to a statement on 
ZZ Top moved from London Records to Warner Bros. in 1979 for Deguello, which sold 1 million copies. ZZ Top then moved to another level of popularity with 1983's Eliminator, which achieved "diamond" status (10 million records sold) and found Gibbons and his band mates experimenting with new technologies -- guitar loops, manipulated vocals and synthesized bass and drums -- that refreshed their sound. In the wake of the follow-up, Recycler, the band was cast as themselves in director Bob Zemeckis' 1990 movie Back to the Future III. In 1994, ZZ Top exited Warner Bros. for a highly publicized $35 million pact with RCA Records, and released a platinum-selling album Antenna, which was followed by XXX (1999), Mescolero (2003) and La Futura (2012). ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and the group charted a total of seven albums in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. Those paying tributes to Hill on social media include John Fogerty, who noted "the show we did together just last week would be his last... So heartbreaking," Ozzy Osbourne ("My thoughts go out to @BillyfGibbons and Frank Beard and all the #ZZTop fans around the world"), Paul Stanley ("What an icon. @ZZTop's bassist forever. So unique." and Bootsy Collins ("Danggit! We lost another loving Giant legend of the Rock & Roll Empire, Mr. Dusty Hill."). The contemporary rock band Foo Fighters also included a ZZ Top medley in their July 28 concert at Madison Square Garden in tribute to Hill. Billy Gibbons has reportedly said that ZZ Top will go on in a July 29 interview with SiriusXM radio host Eddie Trunk. "As Dusty said upon his departure, 'Let the show go on!' And... with respect, we'll do well to get beyond this and honor his wishes," he was quoted as saying. The band's U.S. tour is currently scheduled to run through the end of the year, with the final show set for Dec. 12 in Midland, Tex. - Variety.com/Billboard, 7/28/21.
Bruce Springsteen has "respectfully declined" to allow his name to be used for a New Jersey rest stop in his honor. The state has announced plans to honor a number of its famous native sons, including Jon Bon Jovi, Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Toni Morrison, James Gandofini and Toni Morrison, along the Garden State Parkway as part of Gov. Phil Murphy's plan to expand the New Jersey Hall Of Fame. Springsteen, however, is reported to have declined the proposal according to a statement by NJHOF spokeswoman Natasha Alagarasan. "Bruce Springsteen respectfully declined to have a service area named after him," she said in a statement. The rest stops will also feature a display curated by the New Jersey Hall Of Fame, including exhibits, artefacts and a video monitor that screens vignettes on the inductees as well as posters designed by New Jersey architect Michael Grave. - NME, 7/29/21...... In other Springsteen-related news, a mega-concert in Central Park co-headlined by Springsteen, Paul Simon, Journey, Jennifer Hudson, The Killers and LL Cool J will go ahead as planned on Aug. 21 despite new concern over the Covid-19 Delta variant. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio joined music industry legend Clive Davis, who is co-producing the concert, for a press conference on July 27, unveiling details of what de Blasio promised will be a "historic," "blockbuster" event. Officially titled "We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert," the event is set for Aug. 21 at 5 p.m., and the concert will be broadcast live globally on CNN with 80% of tickets free. While de Blasio initially proposed having vaccinated and unvaccinated sections, he said that attendees will be required to present proof of vaccination. "New York City is back. You can see it, you can feel it, and it's time to celebrate on the Great Lawn," de Blasio said. His office has been rolling out media campaigns to encourage vaccination among residents who are reluctant to get the shot, and the mayor continued to urge New Yorkers to get vaccinated at the press conference, calling the vaccine "the number-one savior." "If you want to go to this concert," he said, "get vaccinated." - Billboard, 7/27/21..... Elton John has debunked recent claims concerning HIV and AIDS made by rapper DaBaby after DaBaby launched into a headline-making homophobic tirade about the disease during his set at Rolling Loud Miami. During his set, DaBaby shouted to his fans, "If you didn t show up today with HIV, AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases, that ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cellphone lighter up! Ladies, if your p---y smell like water, put your cellphone lighter up! Fellas, if you ain t sucking d--- in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up!" In the caption of his July 28 
Stevie Nicks has reflected on the 40th anniversary of her hit 1981 solo debut Bella Donna in a lengthy message on 
The CNN-produced Linda Ronstadt documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice has been nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary category. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, the documentary looks at the singer's career peaks in the '70s and '80s, and the grace that she has shown in dealing with the degenerative condition (progressive supranuclear palsy) that has stilled her remarkable singing voice. The film also brought Ronstadt her 11th competitive Grammy win in Mar. 2021 (she also received a lifetime achievement award in 2016). The other nominees in the Emmy category include the Miles Davis PBS documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, along with docs on Harry Belafonte and Walter Mercado broadcast on Peacock and Netflix, respectively. The Emmy awards will be presented in two ceremonies in late September. - Billboard, 7/27/21...... Joni Mitchell is set to release the recordings of two sets at a Canadian coffee shop that were recorded by none other than Jimi Hendrix. Mitchell's performances at Ottawa's Le Hibou Coffee House were captured by Hendrix in March 1968 during a two week residency by Mitchell ahead of the release of her debut album, Song To A Seagull. Hendrix had performed at the nearby Capitol Theatre earlier that evening, and even noted plans to record her performance in his diary. "Talked with Joni Mitchell on the phone. I think I'll record her tonight with my excellent tape recorder (knock on wood)... hmmm... can't find any wood... everything's plastic," he wrote. The recording, which will feature on Mitchell's upcoming collection 
The life and career of country/pop legend Willie Nelson will be the focus of the multi-part docuseries Willie Nelson and Family from Blackbird Presents and Sight Unseen, it was announced on July 27. Nelson, 88, will participate in the docuseries, as will many of his family and friends. With the aim of making the "definitive docuseries" of the entertainer's career, the project's filmmakers will also benefit from access to Nelson's archives from his seven decades in music. Filmmakers Thom Zimny (Springsteen on Broadway, Elvis Presley: The Searcher, The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash) and Oren Moverman (The Messenger) will co-direct the docuseries, with production already underway in Austin, Los Angeles, Maui, Nashville, and New York. Sight Unseen, Moverman's production company, serves as producing and financing partner. - Billboard, 7/27/21...... Blondie have announced a new NFT collaboration with Hackatao to celebrate the 93rd birthday of legendary pop artist Andy Warhol. The "crypto art series," dubbed "Hack The Borders," will be be released through digital art online auction platform Nifty Gateway in August. The artwork is based upon Warhol's first ever digital portrait of Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry, shot in 1985 and currently available for viewing on 
Tom Jones has announced a new set of UK tour dates in 2021 in support of his recent UK chart-topping album 
Ron Popeil, an inventor and the face of infomercials for "as-seen-on-TV" products like Showtime Rotisserie and Pocket Fisherman, died on July 27 surrounded by family after undergoing a medical emergency at Los Angeles Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was 86. Mr. Popeil was best known for the "Set it and forget it" catchphrase used to sell Showtime Rotisserie in late-night infomercials. Long before air fryers became the kitchen appliance du jour, the countertop rotisserie appliance took the home cooking world by storm, having sold over $1 billion worth, according to TMZ.com. The mogul is also credited with coining the oft-used infomercial phrase, "But wait, there's more!" Following in the footsteps of his father, Ronco president Samuel "S.J." Popeil who invented the Chop-o-Matic and Veg-o-Matic, Mr. Popeil went on to create products himself including the Mr. Microphone (the first Karaoke machine), the Popeil Pocket Fisherman, the Buttoneer, the Smokeless Ashtray, Popeil's Electric Food Dehydrator, the Inside-the-Egg Scrambler, GLH-9 (Great Looking Hair Formula #9) Hair in a Can Spray, the Rhinestone Stud Setter (Later called the Bedazzler), the Cap Snaffler, the Popeil Automatic Pasta Maker and the Ronco Electric Food Dehydrator. His products can be seen in the Smithsonian Museum today. Perhaps due to the catchiness of his infomercials, Popeil was a hot figure himself, having been portrayed by Dan Aykroyd on a 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live. The SNL skit, which can be viewed on 
Cher has offered to take beleaguered pop star Britney Spears on a tropical island vacation after Spears name-checked the legendary diva in a lengthy 
After 15 years of legal wrangling, the family of James Brown appears to have finally settled a feud over his estate, which has been valued at anywhere from $5 million to $100 per year. Six years before his death on Christmas Day 2006 at age 73, Brown had specified in a will that he would bequeath little to his heirs, other than a $2 million scholarship fund for his grandchildren. But his daughters Deanna Brown-Thomas and Yamma Brown, among others, found a way to inherit potentially millions of dollars. Although details of the July 9 settlement have not been mad public, several of the late Godfather of Soul's are likely to split up termination rights on the copyrights to Brown's 900 compositions, which according to U.S. law cannot be bequeathed as part of a will. The rights are potentially incredibly valuable -- the publisher portion of Brown's songs, including classics like "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" -- are due to "terminate" and revert to Brown's control under U.S. copyright law starting in the next few years. That allows the Brown heirs to license them to commercials, TV shows, movies and video games or sell them outright. Marc Toberoff, a lawyer for nine of Brown's heirs, says that "all matters" had been settled between the parties and that his clients were "very happy." The deal also paves way for Brown's dying wish to fund scholarships for disadvantaged children to finally be realized. It comes one year after a judge ruled Brown's longtime girlfriend Tommie Rae Hynie was not his legal wife so has no right to Brown's fortune. - Billboard, 7/22/21...... The Boss and a former POTUS are teaming up to release a new book entitled Renegades: Born in the U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen and former Pres. Barack Obama teamed up in February for an 8-part Spotify.com podcast conversation back in February, and now the two are coming together again to tell tales on a literary counterpart. Spanning 320 pages, Renegades: Born in the U.S.A. captures those conversations between the rock legend and the 44th U.S president, and features more than 350 color photos, illustrations, and never-before-seen archival content, according to a press release. "There were serious conversations about the fate of the country, the fortune of its citizens, and the destructive, ugly, corrupt forces at play that would like to take it all down," writes Springsteen in his introduction for the forthcoming book. "This is a time of vigilance when who we are is being seriously tested. Hard conversations about who we are and who we want to become can perhaps serve as a small guiding map for some of our fellow citizens," he continues. "This is a time for serious consideration of who we want to be and what kind of country we will leave our children." Springsteen and Obama first met back in 2008, and went on to form a deep friendship. Renegades: Born in The U.S.A. will arrive Oct. 26 via Penguin Random House in partnership with Higher Ground, the production company established by Barack and Michelle Obama. A trailer for the new book has been shared on 
On July 21 Eric Clapton was quoted as saying he will not play any live shows that require attendees to show proof that they've received the Covid-19 vaccine. The 76-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, who feared he would "never play again" after receiving both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, made his statement after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a press conference on July 19 stating, "We're planning to make full vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather" by the end of September in England, where 35% of 18- to 30-year-olds have not had their first shot. Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said that nightclubs can be classified as "potential super spreading events" because of attendees being in close contact. Italian architect and film producer Robin Monotti Graziadei shared Clapton's announcement on Instagram's 
Dolly Parton has recreated her 1978 Playboy magazine cover in honor of her husband Carl Dean's 79th birthday. "Today is July 20th," Parton said in a 
The estate of Dr. John issued a statement on July 22 saying a forthcoming Dr. John documentary directed by The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach is unauthorized. Auerbach and Dr. John, who died in 2019, collaborated multiple times in the last decade of the latter's life, with Auerbach producing and playing guitar on John's Grammy Award-winning 2012 album Locked Down. Earlier in July, Auerbach announced he would make his directorial debut with a documentary about the singer-songwriter, in partnership with Radical Media and Impact Artist Productions. But in a new statement, Dr. John's estate announced the project does not have its blessing. "The Official Estate of Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., p/k/a Dr. John, clarifies that the Estate has not authorized the recently announced documentary on the life of Dr. John purportedly to be produced by Impact Artist Productions (and Management) and Radical Media," the statement reads. "For clarity, Impact Artist Productions (and Management) does not manage or speak for the Estate, which has its own team with, as Mac would say, a gang and a half of legalizers. The Estate thanks Mac's fans for their support and assures that the Estate will 'Walk On Guilded Splinters' to deliver new music and an officially authorized documentary, to be announced In The Right Place at the right time," it continued. When announcing the project, Auerbach said he was honoured to be directing the film, describing it as "a tale of true Americana." "[Dr. John] was such a unique individual and a shining example of the great melting pot of American music," he said. - NME, 7/22/21...... On July 21 Columbia/Legacy Records announced that the next edition of Bob Dylan's ongoing bootleg series, 
The famously politically-incorrect comedy legend Jackie Mason died on July 24 at the age of 93. Mr. Mason (real name Yacov Moshe Maza) began his career in the mid-1950s, appearing at New York City nightclubs. He also worked resorts in the Catskills region of New York state, known as the "Borscht Belt," that fostered such comics as Rodney Dangerfield, Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles and Phyllis Diller. In 1987, he received a special Tony Award for his solo show, "Jackie Mason's The World According to Me!," which ran for 573 performances. The self-titled show also netted him an Emmy award when it aired on television in 1988. Mr. Mason won a second Emmy for voicing Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, the father of Krusty the Clown, on The Simpsons in 1992. His film roles included 1979's The Jerk with Steve Martin, Mel Brooks' 1981 comedy, The History of the World: Part I, and 1988's Caddyshack II. The comedian's 1992 series, The Jackie Mason Show, featured a panel discussion format about the topics of the day, very much along the lines of Bill Maher's show Politically Incorrect, which premiered the following year and ran through 2002. When the comedian launched a one-man show in 1994, called Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect, the cable network Comedy Central, which hosted the Maher show, unsuccessfully sued the veteran comic over the name. Mr. Mason retired from show business in 2012 and is survived by his wife, Jyll Rosenfeld, who he married in 1991, and a daughter. - Variety, 7/24/21.
Digital art made by the late Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia in his final days are being put up for sale on the NFT (non-fungible tokens) cryptocurrency marketplace YellowHeart. Garcia, when he wasn't busy penning jams for the Dead as its principal songwriter, lead guitarist and vocalist, was an early adapter of digital artwork. Now a partnership between Garcia's family and YellowHeart is selling a three-part collection titled "An Odd Little Place: The Digital Works of Jerry Garcia (1992-1995)." It includes 20 digital art pieces as well as tickets to a corresponding art exhibit of the same title at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The first drop kicked off on July 19 and included NFT tickets for an exclusive preview event with the Garcia family at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Aug. 5, the day before the exhibit opens to the public. On Aug. 1 -- what would have been Garcia's 79th birthday -- the first 17 pieces of limited-edition art will go on sale, priced between $400 and $2,500, and collectors will also have the option to acquire a physical, framed digital screen displaying their purchase. On Aug. 5, the three works created in Garcia's final hours will go up for auction as one-of-ones, with a physical, framed screen of the work included with each purchase. More info can be found on the 
The 5th Dimension veterans Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. have found themselves back in the limelight with their inclusion in the new concert film Summer of Soul, which includes never-released concert footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. "What's so beautiful is that the timing is so perfect," says McCoo of Summer of Soul. "Fifty years ago, the film might not have had the tremendous impact that it's having today. People are being blown away by all the iconic talent featured in the film," she added. McCoo and Davis are also working on Blackbird, their first album in 30 years, and are also among the 38 new Hollywood Walk of Fame honorees announced in June. "Now, all of a sudden, we're being noticed like we were years ago," says Davis of the Grammy-winning husband-and-wife duo. "It's a blessing." In tandem with the social justice and equality movement that reached a boiling point in the summer of 2020, McCoo and Davis weaved those themes into their latest project, Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons. Using the famous Beatles tune and album title track as a catalyst, the duo recorded nine more Lennon/McCartney compositions threaded in the same vein, among them "Help!," "The Long and Winding Road" and "The Fool on the Hill." Their cover of "Blackbird" has since been chosen by the Social Justice Learning Institute (sjli.org) as its "Summer of Equity" anthem. - Billboard, 7/15/21...... Elvis Costello has announced he is re-releasing his classic 1978 album This Year's Model, but as a new Spanish version that erases his vocals and replaces him with Spanish-language singers. Producer Sebastian Krys kept, and remixed, the original instrumental tracks recorded by Costello and his backing band, the Attractions. In a press release, Costello said he was inspired by television producer David Simon's request that he record his song "This Year's Girl" as a duet with singer Natalie Bergman for his show The Deuce. He said he had a dream where he heard This Year's Model sung in Spanish, and wanted to rerecord the album with hispanic singer Juanes. A video of Costello and the Attractions playing "Pump It Up" with Juanes has been shared on 
The surviving members of The Faces -- singer Rod Stewart, guitarist Ronnie Wood and drummer Kenney Jones -- are reportedly recording their first new music in four decades. In a new interview with the London Times, Wood said he met up with Stewart and Jones recently, in addition to catching up with his Rolling Stones bandmate Mick Jagger for a separate project. "I saw Mick [Jagger] here last week and Rod [Stewart] and Kenney [Jones] were here yesterday," Wood told the paper. "Me and Mick have done nine new tracks for the [40th anniversary] re-release of Tattoo You, and me, Rod and Kenney have been recording some new Faces music. I've had a front-row seat on some amazing rock'n'roll projects these past couple of weeks," Wood revealed. The Faces, who formed in 1969 from the ashes of The Small Faces, formally disbanded in 1975 after Stewart left the group. Around the same time, Wood began playing with the Rolling Stones. The Faces recorded four studio albums in their time, the last being 1973's Ooh La La. The band's last reunion performance was at the 2020 BRIT Awards, where Stewart, Wood and Jones closed the ceremony with a live rendition of "Stay With Me." Faces' founding keyboardist Ian McLagan died of a stroke in 2014, and bassist Ronnie Lane passed award more than a decade earlier in 1997. Wood, 74, is also involved in yet another new project -- a tribute to blues legend Jimmy Reed with former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. - NME, 7/19/21...... In the latest episode of Queen's retrospective series Queen: The Greatest, surviving Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor revealed that late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury wrote "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in the bath in 10 minutes as a rockabilly tribute to Elvis Presley. After May noted that Queen "got into this rather indulgent way of just bowling into the studio with no ideas, or very few ideas, and just doing it from scratch" and were trying to find a new tact after recording seven albums, May added that "The first thing we did was 'Crazy Little Thing...', and Fred did write the song in the bath in about 10 minutes." Speaking about Mercury's love of Presley, May said: "He was very fond of Elvis, and of Cliff [Richard], I have to say. Yeah, Freddie wrote it very quickly and rushed in and put it down with the boys. By the time I got there, it was almost done." "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" went onto be Queen's first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979, and reached No. 2 on the Official UK Singles Chart. - NME, 7/17/21...... AC/DC has authorized two new craft beers that are set to be released on the fourth weekend of July. A joint venture between KnuckleBonz, Inc. and Calicraft Brewing Co., the beer is set to be launched at a series of events in California on July 23-25. "We are excited to announce this is the first in a series of AC/DC branded beers to be featured in this unique collaboration to bring quality beverages to the music superfan," KnuckleBonz and Calicraft said in a statement, with KnuckleBonz also announcing the beer on its 
Robert E. "Robby" Steinhardt, a violinist and co-lead vocalist with the American prog-rock band Kansas, died on July 19 due to complications from pancreatitis. He was 71. Steinhardt's wife Cindy posted on