A musical stage version of director Cameron Crowe's '70s-themed 2000 film Almost Famous is almost ready for Broadway and will likely make its debut in the fall or winter of the 2022-2023 season. Like the film, the stage version is loosely based on Crowe's experiences as a cub reporter for Rolling Stone magazine and centers on William Miller, a 15-year-old scribe in the 1970s who gets the assignment of a lifetime when Rolling Stone sends him on tour with a fictitious up-and-coming band named Stillwater. The show had its world-premiere run in 2019 at San Diego's The Old Globe after going through a late 2019 spring developmental lab in New York City. Directed by Jeremy Herrin, with a book by Crowe and with original music and lyrics by Tom Kitt, the stage version was first announced in 2018. The original film, with Patrick Fugit in the title role, earned a best screenplay win for Crowe at the 2000 Oscars and best supporting actress nominations for stars Kate Hudson and Frances McDormand. - The Hollywood Reporter, 4/30/22...... 
As director Baz Luhrmann's upcoming Elvis Presley biopic Elvis is set to open in U.S. theaters on June 24, Elvis's widow Priscilla Presley took to Facebook on Apr. 29 to praise Luhrmann as well as Austin Butler, who portrays the late King of Rock & Roll. "This story is about Elvis and Colonel Parker's relationship," Presley posted. "It is a true story told brilliantly and creatively that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered. Austin Butler, who played Elvis is outstanding. Halfway through the film Jerry [Schilling] (Elvis and Priscilla's longtime friend) and I looked at each other and said WOW!!! Bravo to him - he knew he had big shoes to fill. He was extremely nervous playing this part. I can only imagine." Priscilla continued by sharing her memories of Elvis' manager Col. Tom Parker, portrayed in the film by Tom Hanks. "There was two sides to Colonel, Jerry and I witnessed both. The story, as we all know, does not have a happy ending. But I think you will understand a little bit more of Elvis' journey, penned by a directer who put his heart and soul and many hours into this film." Warner Bros. screened footage of the film in late April at the CinemaCon festival. - The Hollywood Reporter, 4/30/22...... The fan ballot for inductees into the class of 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees was revealed on Apr. 30, and rapper Eminem, 1980's hitmakers Duran Duran, and distaff rocker Pat Benatar came out on top. Duran Duran, a first-time Rock Hall nominee in 2022, came out on top with nearly 934,000 votes, which was 250,000 more votes than second highest artist on the fan ballot, Eminem (684,000). Finishing just 50,000 votes behind the Detroit rapper, two-time nominee Benatar took third place on the fan ballot with 631,000. The fourth and fifth spots went to Eurythmics (442,000) and Dolly Parton (394,000) respectively. Finishing just outside the Top Five were three-time nominee Judas Priest and first-time nominees Carly Simon and Lionel Richie. Winning the fan ballot does not ensure an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A body of more than 1,000 artists, industry members and historians will help decide which five acts out of the 17 will progress into the final round of induction consideration. Other names vying for a place in the Rock Hall include A Tribe Called Quest, Devo, Beck, Rage Against The Machine, MC5, Dionne Warwick, Fela Kuti, New York Dolls and Kate Bush. In related news, Dolly Parton has reversed her stance on being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and said she will accept the honor should she be voted in. In an interview on NPR's Morning Edition on Apr. 29, the country superstar was asked what she would do if she still received enough votes to enter her into the RRHOF. "Well, I'll accept gratefully," she replied. "I will say 'thanks' and accept that." In March, Dolly shared a statement saying that, while she was "extremely flattered and grateful" to be in the running, she didn't feel that she had "earned the right." "I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out," she wrote. - New Musical Express, 4/30/22...... As David Bowie's iconic persona Ziggy Stardust marked 50 years of existence on Apr. 28 -- the date "Starman" from his fifth album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars was released as a single in 1972 -- Parlophone Records announced on Apr. 28 that two special edition vinyl LP's containing all 11 of the original's tracks will be made available online on June 17 -- 50 years plus one day after it was originally released. Using the same master recordings and promotional artwork from the original album, the first of the limited vinyls will be a picture disc displaying Ziggy himself posing in a blue jumpsuit. The second will be a half-speed mastered LP, which means the music takes twice as long to be etched into each disc, producing a fuller, more accurate sound. According to a press release, the records were cut by John Webber at AIR Studios. Bowie's breakthrough album, Ziggy Stardust peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart and rocketed the influential pop pioneer to superstardom. - Billboard, 4/29/22...... A 40th-anniversary reissue of Rush's 1981 album Moving Pictures has re-entered the Billboard Top Album Sales chart at No. 2 and hit No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums and Catalog Albums charts for the first time. It also re-entered the Billboard Hot 200 at No. 11 -- the band's highest rank in nearly a decade. Moving Pictures sold 18,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Apr. 21, according to Luminate, an increase of 7,847% compared to its sales in the previous week. It marks the band's best sales week in over six years, since R40 Live sold 24,000 copies in its debut week, when it arrived at No. 14 on Top Album Sales (Dec. 12, 2015-dated chart). The 40th-anniversary reissue of Moving Pictures is available in multiple remastered editions, including a deluxe box vinyl set that sells for $99. - Billboard, 4/28/22...... 
Capitol Records and UMe have announced a newly remastered and expanded edition of The Beach Boys' career-spanning greatest hits collection, Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys, will hit stores on June 17 as part of a year-long 60th anniversary Beach Boys celebration. The new release will feature 50 more of the band's songs that "span their earliest hits to deeper fan-favorite cuts from their 1962 debut album, Surfin' Safari through to 1989's Still Cruisin'," according to a press release. It continues: "The collection boasts 24 new mixes including two first-time stereo mixes, plus 22 new-and-improved stereo mixes, which in some cases feature the latest in digital stereo extraction technology, allowing for the team to separate the original mono backing tracks for the first time." The new collection will be available digitally, via a 3-CD soft-pack, and as a Super Deluxe Edition 6-LP vinyl boxed set on 180-gram black vinyl. A trailer for the new releases has been shared on YouTube. After this, Capitol/UMe will release the next chapter in the BB's archival releases, 1972's Carl and the Passions - So Tough and 1973's Holland. The Beach Boys are also participating in a new feature length documentary that is currently in the works. "This is a huge milestone that we're all very honored to have achieved. And to our incredible fans, forever and new, we look forward to sharing even more throughout the year," the band said about their 60th anniversary celebration in a press release. - NME, 4/29/22....... Paul McCartney wowed fans on the opener of his "Got Back" tour in Spokane, Wash., on Apr. 28 by performing the Beatles' classic "I've Got a Feeling" with footage of John Lennon from director Peter Jackson's recent The Beatles: Get Back documentary in the background. McCartney began the song strumming a guitar with a swirl of pastel colors on the screen behind him and then elicited gasps of elation when mid-way through when Lennon's voice came in for his verse as Macca turned toward the screen to watch the footage from the Beatles' legendary Jan. 1969 rooftop gig atop the band's Apple Corps HQ in London. "Everybody had a hard year/ Everybody had a good time/ Everybody had a wet dream/ Everybody saw the sunshine," Lennon sang in the footage as McCartney sang counter-melodies. After the performance, McCartney explained how it came together, telling the audience, "So, Peter Jackson, the director of the Get Back film, he texts me one day. And he says, 'we can extract John's voice. And he can sing with you live.'" The crowd roared at the idea and McCartney, 79, shrugged and added, "I thought, 'Oh, yeah!" The gig marked McCartney's return to the stage following the pandemic and he was overjoyed to be performing once again as he treated the crowd to hits from the Beatles, Wings and his solo career. He said: "They said 'get back', and we got back. And it feels cool. "You'll have to give me a moment to myself, just to let me take this in." - Billboard/Music-News.com, 4/29/22...... In other Beatles-related news, John Lennon's son Julian Lennon says he's had a "love-hate relationship" with the Beatles classic "Hey Jude." Julian, the son of John and his first wife Cynthia Lennon said the song serves as a "dark reminder" about his parents' divorce after it was written for him by Sir Paul McCartney. Speaking on the SiriusXM radio show Debatable,Julian explained: "I wasn't really aware of what was going on except when I started seeing Yoko (Ono) around, obviously that made a bit of an impact and apparently I struggled with the separation a great deal at five. "I would have raging moments of being a screaming child but those moments haven't stuck with me. For me it has always been about moving forward, protecting mum the best that I could and making her proud, keeping an eye on her, arms around her, protecting her all the way up until the end, she was my priority." Julian also explained how the track inspired the name of his latest album, titled Jude: "The album allowed me to explain what 'Hey Jude' meant to me because the fact of the matter is it was a love-hate relationship, I thought I had heard it enough. I am thankful to Paul for writing it and putting some hope behind what was to come, but the downside of it was it was a dark reminder of what actually went down at that time, the separation." Lennon revealed how he was filled with pride after watching the recent Fab Four documentary The Beatles: Get Back. He said: "After watching the documentary there was such pride seeing dad the way I used to know him as a kid, remembering him and seeing him being a goofy b------ but also being such a great writer, performer and singer." - Music-News.com, 4/30/22...... 
In a tearful interview with British television network Talk TV on Apr. 28, Ozzy Osbourne's wife Sharon Osbourne revealed that Ozzy has tested positive for Covid-19 after two years of avoiding the virus. Sharon said Ozzy caught the virus and that she would have to temporarily leave her new gig as a host on The Talk to be with him in America as he recovers. "I spoke to him, and he's okay, she told the network of her husband, before saying how unlucky the timing of his diagnosis was. "I can't believe my luck that I'm missing the show, I've only been there three days!" With the 73-year-old former Black Sabbath frontman's string of health issues these past few years, it makes sense why Sharon is feeling emotional over his new Covid case. Ozzy revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2020, and prior to that he both suffered a fall requiring him to undergo surgery and contracted a potentially deadly staph infection. "I am very worried about Ozzy right now," she confessed, wiping tears with a tissue. "We've gone two years without him catching COVID and it's just Ozzy's luck he would get it now." Concerned as she is, Sharon is confident Ozzy will recover quickly and she'll be back on The Talk soon. "It'll take me a week to get my old man back on his feet again, and I will be back in a week," she said. "We're going to get him a negative test by next week." And in the meantime, her plans are to "hold him and kiss him, but with about three masks on." Sharon's interview can be viewed on Twitter.com. Meanwhile, Sharon has announced that she and Ozzy are planning to welcome "two Ukrainian families into the unused properties" on their country estate in the UK. During a new interview with The Sunday Times, Sharon criticized the UK government over the issues relating to processing refugees who have fled Ukraine as Russia's invasion of the country continues. "I think it's heinous what [Prime Minister Boris Johnson] is doing," she told the paper. "Ozzy's very well known in Ukraine, I think they'd be happy," Sharon added. - Billboard/NME, 4/28/22...... Speaking of Covid-19, KISS' Gene Simmons has once again called out those who are skeptical about getting the coronavirus vaccine. Simmons has long been a staunch advocate for the vaccine, and in a new interview with iHollywoodTV he's explained that he's still of the opinion that anti-vaxxers are posing a risk to themselves and to all those around them. He said: "Look, I've always been a safe guy. I've never been run over by a car. But then whenever I get to the street corner, I do what I was taught, which is look both ways, cross at the green, not in between, and all that stuff. So cars never hit me -- surprise! The pandemic is the same thing. You've gotta get a flu shot. If you go to school, you get all kinds of... A polio shot, all kinds of shots. Which may not be life-threatening. The pandemic and COVID could be life-threatening, especially if you have predisposed other diseases, you could die. A million Americans have died. Close to 10 million worldwide have died because of this. I know the conspiracy idiots are telling you that it's not true -- it is. So I got vaccinated twice, then had a booster, and I'm about to get another boost. This is gonna be a fact of life. Every year I go and get my flu vaccine -- I get the shots. Because even though flu might not be life-threatening, I don't wanna deal with the headaches and stuff." Simmons' interview can be streamed on YouTube. - NME, 4/28/22...... The Who's Pete Townshend will release a new Audible Original podcast Words + Music, Somebody Saved Me on May 6. Townshend says the two-hour Words + Music covers some material he's discussed in the past, but that the opportunity to create a long-form podcast, in which he can weave his story in between poignant performances of some of his favorite solo songs, was what convinced him to participate. "I loved this format, because it enabled me to approach the songs and the music that I was writing in that five-year period [through] what was going on in the music," says Townshend about 1978-1982 stretch he discusses -- which included the release of his solo albums Empty Glass (1980) and All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982). One of the other perks for Townshend was working with revered music journalist and Somebody Saved Me co-producer Bill Flanagan, an old friend who also helped shepherd the VH1 Storytellers episode he recorded in 2000. Townshend's Audible Original Words + Music, Somebody Saved Me will begin streaming for free on Audible.com beginning on May 6 in the U.S. A preview of the installmant can be heard on Soundcloud.com. - Billboard, 4/28/22...... 
On Apr. 26 Stevie Nicks announced a string of summer solo shows throughout this June. The Fleetwood Mac frontwoman will play Ridgefield, Wash. (6/10), Mountain View, Calif. (6/12), Salt Lake City (6/16) and Noblesville, Ind. (6/21). Nicks has already been confirmed for various US festivals in 2022, including Bonnaroo, Sound On Sound, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Eddie Vedder's Ohana Festival. Announcing the gigs on Instagram, Nicks told fans to "stay tuned for more" live dates. The singer was forced to cancel all of her scheduled tour dates in 2021 due to Covid-19 concerns. - NME, 4/26/22...... Veteran producer T Bone Burnett announced on Apr. 26 that he has been in the studio with frequent collaborator Bob Dylan, and the two have been working toward re-recording some of the rock legend's classic songs. The revisited recordings were created to showcase the brand-new high-fidelity medium called "Ionic Originals." The introduction of Ionic Originals debuts "the first breakthrough in analog sound reproduction in more than 70 years," according to a press release. Few details have been released regarding when we can expect these new Dylan recordings to come out and what songs were re-recorded, or what hardware will be needed to play them. Burnett has long been committed to advocating for the sonic excellence of analog sound. The Grammy-winning producer's new company, NeoFidelity Inc., will release a series of Ionic Originals, with the Dylan recordings serving as the company's first offering. Though the format they will be released in resembles vinyl, it will be a whole new medium altogether. A photo accompanying the announcement shows Burnett holding an aluminum platter on which Ionic Originals releases will be available. - Billboard, 4/26/22...... '70s Saturday Night Live star Dan Aykroyd and his wife of 39 years, actress Donna Dixon, have split up after 39 years together. The Hollywood stars married just months after meeting on the set of Doctor Detroit in 1983 but have announced that they have split up because they are now on "separate life paths" but will remain legally married. "After 39 years as a couple we are now on separate life paths," the couple told People magazine in a joint statement released on Apr. 29. "We remain legally married, co-parents, co-workers and business partners. This is our choice in loving friendship." Following their wedding, Aykroyd, 69, and Dixon, 64, went on to appear in a slew of movies in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s together including Twilight Zone: The Movie, Spies Like Us, The Couch Trip and Exit to Eden. The couple share daughters Belle, 28, Stella, 24, and 32-year-old singer Danielle -- better known by her stage name of Vera Solo -- together. - Bang Showbiz, 4/30/22...... Klaus Schulze, one of the pioneering figures of '70s electronic music, died on Apr. 26 "after a long illness, but yet suddenly and unexpectedly," according to his family. He was 74. Schulze emerged from Berlin at the turn of the '70s, when "Krautrock" was first starting to come to international prominence, as drummer for eventual cosmic greats Tangerine Dream -- then with his own group Ash Ra Tempel, formed alongside future proto-electronic trailblazer Manuel Gettsching. Shortly after, Schulze launched his solo career, releasing his debut LP in 1972 with the drone symphony Irrlicht, hailed today as a classic of its genre. The composer-producer would continue to release acclaimed early electronic sets throughout the '70s, including 1973's Cyborg and 1976's Moondawn, with his layered, atmospheric work from this period ultimately proving hugely influential on later genres like ambient, new age and trance. He also performed as part of the loose collective The Cosmic Jokers, whose recorded jam sessions would be released on a series of full-length records in the mid-'70s. - Billboard, 4/27/22...... Randy Rand, the founding member and bassist of the '80s glam metal band Autograph, has died. "It is with great sorrow and heavy hearts to announce the unexpected passing of our cherished friend and founding member of Autograph, Randy Rand," Autograph wrote on Instagram. "At the time of death, Randy was surrounded by his beautiful and infinite love, Regina Rand and family." Rand got his start in the '70s in California during the Sunset Strip era, later becoming an established and seasoned studio musician before later forming Autograph in Pasadena in 1984 with Steve Plunkett (vocals), Keni Richards (drummer), Steve Lynch (guitarist) and Steven Ishram (keyboard). The band's debut album, Sign In Please, arrived in October of 1984 and spawned the band's signature song, "Turn Up the Radio," which peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard 200, and enjoyed 29 weeks on the all-genre chart. - Billboard, 4/27/22...... 
Andrew Woolfolk, the longtime saxophonist with Earth, Wind & Fire, has died. He was 71. Woolfolk's EW&F bandmate Philip Bailey took to Instagram on Apr. 26 to confirm the news, sharing a photo of the duo with the caption, "I met him in High School, and we quickly became friends and band mates. Andrew Paul Woolfolk was his name. We lost him today, after being ill of over 6 years. He has Transitioned on to the forever, from this Land of the dying to the Land of the Living. Great memories. Great Talent. Funny. Competitive. Quick witted. And always styling. Booski& I'll see you on the other side, my friend." Woolfolk joined the genre-spanning R&B/rock troupe in 1973, according to the group's website, as a flautist and saxophonist, and played on and off with EW&F until 1993. His most recognizable work comes in the form of his lively soprano saxophone on the band's beloved 1978 hit, "September," the fourth of seven Top 10 songs for the group. Every year, "September" scores significant sales and streaming gains on Sept. 21, the day (or night, technically) mentioned in the classic hit's opening line. Most recently, in 2021, "September" drew 1.5 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to MRC Data. That's a 322% surge over Sept. 20, when the song racked up 352,000 streams. In 2000, Woolfolk was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame along with his fellow original Earth, Wind & Fire members. That evening, Woolfolk, dressed in a fiery red suit jacket, performed a jaw-dropping solo on "Shining Star." - Billboard, 4/26/22.
In a recent interview with Swedish radio station P4, Mick Jagger shared his thoughts about the state of rock music today, and his picks for who he specifically believes is breathing life into the genre in 2022 might surprise longtime rock fans. "You have Yungblud and Machine Gun Kelly," Jagger shared. "That kind of post-punk vibe makes me think there is still a bit of life in rock 'n' roll. The 78-year-old Rolling Stones frontman also touched on the Stones' upcoming 60th anniversary tour, and assured fans this will not be a "farewell tour." "I am not planning it to be the last tour. I love being on tour," he shared. "I don't think I would do it if I did not enjoy it. I enjoy going out there on stage and doing my stuff. That is what I do. I want everyone to enjoy themselves and forget the troubles in their lives for a couple of hours and just chill out and have a great afternoon and evening," he added. - Billboard, 4/25/22...... 
The B-52s announced on Apr. 26 that they'll be hitting the road one last time this summer on a farewell tour that will see the band's three surviving members -- Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson -- performing at least 15 shows across 11 venues in the U.S. between August and November. "No one likes to throw a party more than we do, but after almost a half-century on the road, it's time for one last blowout with our friends and family... our fans," Fred Schneider, 70, said in a statement. Cities on the itinerary include Seattle (8/22), Mashantucket, Conn. (9/29), Boston (9/30), Washington, DC (10/1), Chicago (10/7), New York City (10/13, 14), Atlantic City, NJ (10/15), Las Vegas (10/19, 21, 22), San Francisco (10/28, 29), and Los Angeles (10/4) before wrapping in their Georgia home base with a show at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Nov. 11. Additional dates are expected to be added in the next few weeks. Opening for the band on select dates will be KC and The Sunshine Band and The Tubes. "It's going to be one hell of a farewell party at these concerts," Schneider added about the special guests. Although it's not listed on the schedule, the trio will technically kick off the tour with a performance on Hollywood Boulevard with an Apr. 27 performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Originally made up of four members who historically formed the group after drinks in an Athens, Ga., Chinese restaurant, The B-52s became famous for their party-perfect hits such as "Love Shack" and "Rock Lobster" before guitarist Ricky Wilson died from an AIDS-related illness in 1985. - Billboard, 4/26/22...... It has been revealed that late guitar god Eddie Van Halen left a contribution of at least $1million (£780,000) to the US-based music education charity Mr Holland's Opus Foundation (MHOF). For 26 years, the MHOF -- named for the titular character of the 1995 film Mr. Holland's Opus (played by Richard Dreyfuss) -- has aimed to provide school-aged children from low-income backgrounds with the opportunity to enjoy music education, offering, among other avenues, access to musical instruments. The MHOF issued a statement on its website on Apr. 20 announcing that Van Halen, who died from throat cancer in 2020 left the charity a seven-figure bequest. Although an exact sum wasn't specified, the statement said the "transformative" amount would provide a "significant [increase to] the nonprofit's capacity to support music programs across the country." "Eddie's support and friendship over the years meant the world to us and to his fans. His passion for music and our work created a strong bond, which is evident in his extraordinary bequest," MHOF CEO Felice Mancini said. Prior to his death, Van Halen had been an ardent supporter of the organization, donating 75 guitars from his personal collection to the cause in 2012. - New Musical Express, 4/25/22...... In a new interview The Who frontman Roger Daltrey said he believes the music industry has been "stolen" from artists. Daltrey, 78, maintained that musicians are being "robbed blind" by their record labels, who have much less to do in the digital age but still take the same percentages, and by streaming services, who issue low royalty payments. "Musicians cannot earn a living in the record industry any more. That is ridiculous, and they're being robbed blind by streaming and the record companies, because the old deals with record companies that existed in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, they're still working on the same percentage breaks," Daltrey said. "And of course, they don't do any work. They just press a button and it goes out on digital, whereas before they had to manufacture, they had to distribute, they had to do all that stuff. They're doing bugger all and taking all the money, and the musicians are getting nothing," he added. Daltrey also said he thinks younger musicians can't earn a living writing music: "The streaming companies pay so little in the beginning and then the record companies take 85, 90 per cent of that. You need a billion streams to earn 200 quid. That's the reality. We've given our music industry to a lot of foreign-owned companies, and the money's not coming here any more. We used to lead the world in that, pay an awful lot of tax. It's terrible." - Music-News.com, 4/24/22...... 
Elton John and Mercury Records announced on Apr. 21 that a deluxe 50th Anniversary reissue of his classic 1971 album Madman Across the Water will be released in various formats on June 10, including a three-CD and one Blu-ray Super Deluxe Box Set, a 4-LP set, a 1-LP Limited Edition blue and white-colored vinyl, and a 2-CD set. The 4-LP boxset, the most exhaustive of the releases, will include 18 previously unreleased songs, a 40-page booklet with introductions by John and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, as well as photos interviews with people who collaborated on the album. It will also include a reproduction poster from 1971, memorabilia and artwork from Elton's Rocket Archive. Ahead of the reissue's release, fans can preview the boxset's contents with an "unboxing trailer" that has been shared on YouTube. John's fourth studio LP, Madman Across the Water was mostly written after his first adventures in America, inspiring signature songs "Tiny Dancer" and "Levon" off the album. Madman peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart and stayed on the chart for a total of 51 weeks. It was also the first album feature John's classic '70s band lineup, consisting of Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson, Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper. - Billboard, 4/21/22...... Ozzy Osbourne's daughter Amée Osbourne has shared a new single under the alias ARO on YouTube. The dark electro-pop track is the eldest daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's first new music in two years, and a press release states she plans on "sharing more new music this year." "I feel a different sense of freedom and excitement that comes from releasing a couple of songs or a single at a time," Amée recently told Rolling Stone. When asked what dad Ozzy thinks about her music, she said: "My dad has responded really positively to a lot of it. It's been a really fun way to connect with him about being in the same industry now. He is so dedicated and his ability to continue working and creating, his appetite for that is so admirable, it's unbelievable." - NME, 4/22/22...... Heart's Ann Wilson and Eagles member Vince Gill have teamed up for a cover of the Queen song "Love of My Life," which will be featured on Wilson's upcoming album Fierce Bliss, out Apr. 29 via Silver Lining Music. "'Love of My Life' is a beautiful song about endless love. It was my honor to duet with Vince Gill on this song; an unforgettable experience for which I'm grateful!," Wilson said in a statement. Of bringing Gill in to sing on the song, she added, "I had the idea for the Queen song 'Love of My Life' as a duet, so I just tried to picture who would be 'the male angel' that would sing the other part of it. I thought how great the song would be if it was stripped down and just sung with soul, and it had to be Vince Gill because he's got that voice, that soul." Written by late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury for Queen's classic 1975 set A Night At The Opera, "Love of My Life" went on to peak at No. 23 on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart during the "Queen-mania" of the Bohemian Rhapsody movie in 2018; the chart launched in 2009. - Billboard, 4/21/22...... 
Appearing on Kelly Clarkson's syndicated daytime talk show on Apr. 21, Bonnie Raitt recalled that she was "so terrified" about being in the same room with late Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Prince for a video that she basically changed her whole life before making a pilgrimage to Prince's Paisley Park compound for a 1980s summit. Raitt, 72, said Prince thought the she had been so mistreated by her label that he invited her to his Minneapolis recording compound to work on an album together. But before the meeting happened, Raitt recalled how she had a skiing accident the resulted in a broken thumb, which pushed back their collaboration for a few months. "I was like 35-40 pounds heavier and I went, 'You know, if I do a video with this guy -- if the songs works and it's really sexy -- I gotta do something -- I gotta work on this," Raitt said with a laugh. Using her cast as an excuse to lose weight, Raitt said she stopped drinking and found a group of sober friends to hang out with and realized, "You know what? This feels really good... So I lost 20 pounds before I worked with Prince." The crowd erupted in applause and Clarkson remarked, "I love that -- that's what did it!" Raitt added, "I was so terrified of being in a video with him and not looking and saying all that sexy stuff to me and going, 'I don't think people are gonna believe that'." Raitt's full interview with Clarkson can be streamed on YouTube. She released her 18th studio album, Just Like That, on Apr. 22 . - Billboard, 4/21/22...... The new Pink Floyd charity single for the victims of the Ukraine invasion has debuted atop Billboard Rock Digital Songs Sales chart for the week dated Apr. 23. "Hey Hey Rise Up, which features Ukrainian vocalist Andriy Khlyvnyuk, starts with 10,200 downloads sold in the Apr. 8-14 tracking week, according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data. It is Pink Floyd's first new song in 28 years and the band's first No. 1 on Rock Digital Song Sales, which began in 2010. The band has appeared on the chart with three other titles: "Wish You Were Here" (No. 6 peak, May 2020), "Eclipse" (No. 24, Sept. 2017) and "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" (No. 29, Mar. 2012). The songs are originally from 1975, 1973 and 1979, respectively. "Hey Hey Rise Up" also bowed at No. 2 on Billboard's all-format Digital Song Sales chart, Pink Floyd's first appearance on the ranking, which began in 2004. Shared on YouTube earlier in April, also recently debuted at No. 5 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart. "My daughter-in-law is Ukrainian, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour recently told Rolling Stone of the new song's origin. "It just struck me that here we are, with our name [Pink Floyd] and this platform, and we could use it more." - Billboard, 4/21/22...... Speaking to the UK's MOJO magazine, former The Police frontman and '80s and '90s solo superstar Sting said he doesn't believe "any grown man" can be in a band. Sting, a member of The Police from 1977 until 1983 before the trio -- which also included Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers -- went their separate ways, said that he "doesn't think any grown man can be in a band actually." "A band is a teenage gang. Who wants to be in a teenage gang when you're knocking 70? It doesn't allow you to evolve. You have to obey the rules and the gestalt of the band. As much as I love the Stones and AC/DC, it's hard to see growth in their music. For me, the band was merely a vehicle for the songs and not the other way round," Sting said, adding that "Both Andy and Stewart had made albums without me so it was my right too." "I recruited a band from the jazz world and I was lucky [his solo debut The Dream of the Blue Turtles] was a hit. I have no idea what would have happened if it hadn't been a hit. Would I have gone back to the band and eaten humble pie? I hope not." Sting reunited briefly with his former bandmates in 2003 for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and again in 2007 for a reunion tour, but he insisted he won't be doing it again as there's still a "power struggle" between them. "It was hugely successful but I wouldn't do it again. That would be a bridge too far," he said. - Music-News.com, 4/24/22...... 
In a new interview with Canadian talk show The Strombo Show, Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson revealed that their late bandmate Neil Peart wanted to keep his cancer diagnosis a secret prior to his death, and that the band was forced to be "dishonest" to its fans about Peart's disease. "[Peart] didn't want anyone to know [about his illness]," Lee said. "He just didn't. He wanted to keep it in the house. And we did. And that was hard. I can't tell you it was easy, 'cause it was not easy. And it was ongoing. His diagnosis was... he was given 18 months at the most, and it went on three and a half years. And so that was a constant flow of us going to see him, giving him support," Lee added. He continued: "....When you're in that state, it's very hard to function normally, because you can't talk to anybody about it, 'cause no one's supposed to know. And so people hear rumblings and they bring things up to you, and you deflect it. And so that feels, on one hand, it feels dishonest, but on the other hand you're being loyal to your friend. So f--- the dishonesty part. That wins. I would say that was the most difficult time for us to move forward, during that whole thing, because we were in this bubble of grief sort of walking towards an inevitable and terrible conclusion." Elsewhere in the interview, Lee and Lifeson expressed disappointment in how things essentially ended for Rush, prior to finding out about Peart's cancer diagnosis. "...it was becoming really difficult for Neil to play at that level, and unless he could play a hundred percent at that level, he really didn't wanna do any more shows ... And it was hard for him -- a three-hour show playing the way he played. It's a miracle that he was even able to play." Lee and Lifeson's full interview can be streamed on YouTube. - NME, 4/24/22...... Gene Simmons has come out in support of former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson who was caught on video punching a passenger on a flight bound for Miami on Apr. 20. After Tyson was loudly heckled and antagonized by a passenger who was seated behind him on the JetBlue flight, footage obtained by TMZ.com showed Tyson landing several blows on the man -- later identified as 36-year-old Melvin Townsend III -- who appears bloodied after the battering. Tyson's representatives said Townsend was acting "aggressive" towards the boxer -- who was en route to Miami for a speaking engagement at the Benzinga Cannabis Conference -- and claimed that in addition to verbally "harassing" him, Townsend "threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat." Gene Simmons echoed the sentiment of social media personality Jake Paul, who tweeted: "If you're being heckled in public like Mike Tyson was you should legally get a hall pass to beat someone's ass. This generation thinks they can get away with anything." "Agreed!," Simmons tweeted in response. - NME, 4/25/22...... Guitar maker Rick Turner, known as "the father of boutique guitar building" who created Lindsey Buckingham's signature axe and had a hand in building the Grateful Dead's famous "Wall of Sound," died on Apr. 17 in Pasadena, Calif., of complications from heart failure and stroke. He was 78. Turner was a pioneering concert sound mixer and guitar luthier who built instruments for the Dead, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Fleetwood Mac and many others. The Model 1 guitar he built for Buckingham, among other instruments, prompted Premier Guitar magazine to once call him "the father of boutique guitar building." One of Turner's best-known early instruments was the Alembic #1, a bass he made for the Jefferson Airplane's Jack Casady, which became the foundation for his pioneering company, Alembic, and was later displayed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In 1972, Turner relocated to a factory in Cotati, Calif., and word spread to the point that top jazz and rock stars were commissioning Turner's state-of-the-art instruments. "Rick was not only an innovator and inventor, but he had an ongoing curiosity about everything. He would learn something and felt compelled to share it with everybody," says Jason Kostal, a luthier and owner of Kostal Guitars, who worked closely with Turner. - Billboard, 4/22/22...... 
Former groupie Cynthia "Plaster Caster" Albritton, an artist best-known for her sculptures of male rockers' genitalia, has died in her home town of Chicago after a long illness. She was 74. Albritton became famous for her molds of body parts, including the penises of Jimi Hendrix and his bassist, Noel Redding, The Animals' Eric Burdon, The MC5's Wayne Cramer and Dennis Thompson, singer Anthony Newley, The Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra, The Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley, a variety of rock tour and road managers, and more than 40 other filmmakers and rock-adjacent figures. She later branched out into casting female body parts as well, making breast casts of members of Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier, Peaches, members of L7 and the Demolition Doll Rods and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, among others. Born on May 24, 1947 in Chicago, Albritton hit upon her unique artistic lane in college when a professor asked the class to cast a solid object the could retain its shape. The budding artist and rock fan decided to try memorializing erect male phalluses using a dental-molding substance, with Hendrix agreeing to be her first subject. Soon after she found a patron in gonzo rocker Frank Zappa, who was not interested in sitting for one of her unique sessions but paid for the fellow irreverent artiste to relocate to Los Angeles, where she began making her unique sculptures. Caster was the subject of the 2001 doc Plaster Caster, and was famously memorialized herself in the KISS song "Plaster Caster" from the group's 1977 Love Gun album (sample lyric: "The plaster's gettin' harder/ And my love is perfection/ A token of my love/ For her collection"). In 2000 she exhibited her "plasterpieces" at a SoHo gallery, followed by another showing in 2017 at the MoMA PS1 in Queens, New York. She launched a long-shot, unsuccessful bid for Chicago mayor in 2010 under the "Hard Party" banner. - Billboard, 4/22/22.
As many major pop/rock stars including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Sting and Stevie Nicks have sold their back catalog of songs in recent years, Billy Joel is one of the the more obvious hold outs. In Oct. 2021, Joel acknowledged that he had received several offers for his prized song catalog, but he joked to Howard Stern that he wasn't interested in selling for anything short of what would be an astronomical sum because, he said, he wants to retain control over how his songs are used when licensed in commercials, TV and films. Joel conceded that he might sell his song catalog if he was offered $1 billion -- a price Stern suggested as a valuation for his songs. "I don't know who would pay that but if someone offered me $1 billion what am I gonna say, no?... I'm from Levittown," the Piano Man said. However, sources say that after receiving inquiries about the catalog, Joel's representatives actively tested the waters by reaching out to potential suitors to test what the market was willing to bear, with a pricing suggestion described by a number of music asset buyers as "quite possibly the highest valuation ever for a song catalog" -- at least on a multiple basis. But it's unclear how far that effort went. Sources indicate Joel's reps were armed with an annual revenue number and an expected bidding price but hadn't prepared more extensive data. Joel's representatives are insisting the catalog is not up for sale. "At this time the [Billy Joel] catalog is not on the market," his agent Dennis Arfa said in an e-mail. Another source familiar with the proceedings disputes the characterization that the Joel catalog was ever up for sale. In addition to his songwriter share, Joel owns publishing of his song catalog, too, having received it as a present from his then-label head, the late Walter Yetnikoff. The CBS Records president had induced an early manager of Joel, who had locked up the publishing as part of his managerial contract with the artist, to relinquish control of Joel's publishing, according to numerous press reports at the time. - Billboard, 4/18/22...... The 1983 Journey hit "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" has returned to Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales chart dated Apr.23 following the inclusion of a reworked version of the song in the trailer for the fourth and final season of the Netflix series Stranger Things. "Separate Ways" debuted at No. 19 with 800 downloads sold in the Apr. 8-14 tracking period, according to Luminate (formerly MRC Data). It enjoyed a 208% surge over the previous week, sparked by its appearance in the series new trailer, which premiered Apr. 12. "Separate Ways" peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in Mar. 1983, becoming the rockers' fourth of six Top 10 singles during 1981-1986. The song also spent four weeks atop the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, marking the band's lone leader among eight Top 10s. In the trailer for the 80s-set Stranger Things, the song retains former Journey frontman Steve Perry's vocals but alters the instrumentation in certain parts to a moodier, more atmospheric sound. The fourth season of Stranger Things is scheduled for release in two segments, the first due May 27 followed by the second half on July 1. - Billboard, 4/20/22...... On Apr. 18 Bob Dylan announced some new West Coast tour dates as part of his summer "World Wide Tour." Dylan will begin this leg of his tour on May 28 in Spokane, Wash.at the First Interstate Center of the Arts, also visiting Kennewick, Wash. (5/29), Portland (5/31), Seattle (6/1, 2), Eugene, Ore. (6/5), Redding, Calif. (6/7), Oakland (6/9, 10, 11), and Los Angeles (6/14, 15, 16) before wrapping at the San Diego Civic Theatre on June 18. Dylan, 80, recently completed a 26-date tour of 2022 shows across the U.S. The "World Wide Tour" follows his "Never Ending Tour," the popular name given to Dylan's regular touring schedule that began in 1988 and was forced to end due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Tickets will be available starting Apr. 22 on his website, www.bobdylan.com. - Billboard, 4/18/22...... 
In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, Queen guitarist Brian May recalled the "odd experience" of working on Guns N' Roses' infamous 2008 album Chinese Democracy. "It was an odd experience. I think it was about midway through the whole thing. By that point Axl [Rose, frontman] was pretty much a recluse. He was working in his house, and I was working in the studio at the bottom of the hill with his engineer at the time, and he only rarely came down," May said, adding that "Now and again he would call in and get all enthusiastic and talk a lot, and then he'd be gone again. I don't think any of what I played actually got onto the album." At the time of Chinese Democracy's release, May told his fans on his website that it was "a shame" that his parts were omitted from the album. "I did put quite a lot of work in, and was proud of it," he posted. Meanwhile, May has teased that Queen might be performing at Queen Elizabeth II's upcoming Platinum Jubilee concert on June 4. The star-studded event set for Buckingham Palace before an audience of around 10,000 so far has only confirmed George Ezra as a headliner, which a statement has said will range from "pop stars to rock royalty to opera singers." The concert will also feature a full live orchestra, while "stars from film, TV and the stage will also tell the story and celebrate some of the most significant cultural moments from the Queen's reign." Speaking on the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show May, who previously performed a guitar solo of the British national anthem on top of Buckingham Palace for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002, teased that he and his Queen bandmates -- Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert -- might be taking part in the concert. "I don't think I'm allowed to tell you this but I think something might happen," May said. There is talk of something happening. What can I tell you? We may be there, we may actually be there. Of course, it's hard to follow standing on the roof of Buckingham Palace but you never know it might be possible," he added. - New Musical Express, 4/21/22...... In a recent interview on Swedish radio station P4, Mick Jagger admitted that the Rolling Stones "provoked a lot of people" with the release of their 1971 single 
In an extensive new interview with the syndicated showbiz program Entertainment Tonight, Gene Simmons of KISS has boldly claimed that artists like Beyoncé, Bono, Mick Jagger and Bruno Mars wouldn't be able to perform in his famously over-the-top costumes, due to their excessive weight and unwieldiness. Simmons went to explain that especially at age 72 -- more than 50 years since he first debuted with the band -- fitness is crucial to maintaining his prowess as a performer. "We work hard at it," he assured ET's Kevin Frazier, telling him the band currently enjoy "no drugs, no booze, no smoking. None of that stupid rock and roll stuff." He continued: "I hike almost every single day with Shannon [Tweed, Simmons' wife], we do three to five miles a day, and it's hard to keep this going." Simmons said that although "we love" Jagger, Mars, Bono, etc., "if you put those guys -- Beyoncé, put Beyoncé in my outfit with seven-to-eight-inch platform heels, dragon boots that each weigh as much as a bowling ball... The entire outfit, studs, leather and armor is about 40 pounds. The guitar and the studs is 12 pounds by itself. Then, you got to spit fire, fly through the air and do that for two hours. They would pass out within a half hour." Simmons then declared KISS to be "the hardest working band out there" -- something they "take pride in," especially considering their five-decade tenure is almost at an end. The band are currently gearing up to embark on the last stint of their final world tour, with their last-ever gigs slated to go down this November (as part of this year's edition of the KISS Kruise). - NME, 4/18/22...... On Apr. 17 Ringo Starr added further dates to his upcoming 2022 North American All-Starr Band tour in a post to his 
Brian Eno has announced he will be releasing an exclusive collaboration with former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe on Earth Day 2022 (Apr. 22). The single, called "Future If Future," will be released to draw attention towards the climate crisis. As reported by The Guardian, Eno is one of 100 artists who will be releasing material exclusively via Bandcamp, with proceeds going to causes at the forefront of the climate emergency. "I'm very pleased with the way it's gone," Eno told the paper. "It's a very good song, a very Stipe song. Beautiful lyrics, extraordinary piece," he added. Eno recently founded EarthPercent, a charity providing a simple way for the music industry to support the most impactful organizations addressing the climate emergency. He hopes that his Earth Day plans will become an annual campaign, led by the charity. "We've been trying to say to people, 'Look, if you want to find a simple way of joining the climate struggle, this might be the answer. We're a shortcut to a lot of things that otherwise might be fairly hard to do," he noted. Later in April, Eno will sit down in at the Royal Garden Hotel in London for a conversation on the climate emergency and how the energy of music can benefit the planet. For tickets and more info, you can visit www.agreenerfestival.com/green-events-innovations-confernence-gei. - NME, 4/15/22...... In a new interview with the Daily Star newspaper, Sting recalled how his stage name started "as a joke." Sting, whose real name is Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, said he was given his famous moniker as a joke by a trombone player in an old band when he complained about a song and began to wear a black-and-yellow t-shirt, seemingly to resemble a bee. He said: "He made me sing a song which was awful. So, in protest I began to wear a black and yellow top. He started to call me Sting as a joke." However, Sting went on to explain that he is "grateful" for the stage name because it speeds up the process of signing autographs. "I'm grateful for it now as when you have to sign something, it's short!," he said. - Music-News.com, 4/20/22...... Art Rupe, the founder of Specialty Records who was responsible for giving early breaks to the likes of Sam Cooke and Little Richard, died on Apr. 15 at his home in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 104. Born Arthur Goldberg, Mr. Rupe was raised outside the Pittsburgh area. He attended college at Virginia Tech and Miami University of Ohio, and in 1939 set off for Los Angeles to make his way in the world. During World War II, Mr. Rupe worked at Terminal Island testing ships. However, with a passion for blues, gospel and R&B music, he formed Juke Box Records with partner Ben Siegert in 1944. The label had a regional hit with the Sepia Tones' "Boogie No. 1." Two years later, in 1946, Mr. Rupe parted ways with Juke Box and founded Specialty Records. Over the next 15 years, Specialty became one of the most prominent independent recording companies, with worldwide distribution, and Mr. Rupe's work at Specialty played a key role in the emergence of the new musical genre of rock 'n' roll. Little Richard was the label's biggest hitmaker, starting with the classic "Tutti Frutti" in 1955. Other Specialty hits by Little Richard included "Long Tall Sally," "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Rip it Up." In a 2011 interview for the Rock Hall archives, Rupe said: "There was something in Little Richard's voice I liked." Elsewhere, Sam Cooke recorded some songs at Specialty in the mid-1950s after wanting to expand his appeal beyond gospel; one of those tracks included "You Send Me." Other artists that recorded for Specialty included Lloyd Price, Roy Milton and Percy Mayfield. Specialty's masters were acquired by Saul Zaentz's Fantasy Records in 1990. Today they're owned and distributed by indie music giant Concord. - NME, 4/17/22...... 
Actor Robert Morse, best known for starring in the hit TV series Mad Men as Bert Cooper, has died at the age of 90, his son Charlie confirmed on Apr. 20. Mr. Morse's acting career spanned almost six decades and he appeared in around 100 theatre, TV and film productions. Born on May 18, 1931, in Newton, Mass., the mischievous comedic star first made his name in a theatre adaptation of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" -- for which he won the Tony Award for best actor in a musical. He repeated the feat in 1990 as he won the Tony for best featured actor in a play for his performance as Truman Capote in the one-man show "Tru." He is one of just four actors to win the top acting Tonys for play and musical. Mr. Morse's portrayal of Capote also earned him an Emmy award three years later when the production was broadcast on TV. But it was the role of the eccentric Bert Cooper in Mad Men that earned Mr. Morse international fame -- earning him five Emmy nods and a Screen Actors Guild award. The star's final episode saw him channel his Broadway skills as he performed a song-and-dance routine following his character's death. Debuting in films in 1956 with The Proud and the Profane, his other movie credits include the 1967 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying bigscreen adapatation, A Guide for the Married Man (1967), Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968), and The Boatniks (1970). Larry Karaszewski, the Vice-President on the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, paid tribute to Morse in a tweet: "My good pal Bobby Morse has passed away at age 90. A huge talent and a beautiful spirit. Sending love to his son Charlie and daughter Allyn. Had so much fun hanging with Bobby over the years - filming 'People v OJ' and hosting so many screenings ('How To Succeed', 'Loved One', 'That's Life)." - Bang Showbiz, 4/21/22.
Moonage Daydream, an all-new David Bowie celebrating the life of the iconic late rocker, is coming to theaters and the HBO premium TV channel. The production company NEON and Universal Pictures announced the project on Apr. 13, saying the film will be released by NEON in the U.S., while Universal has international distribution rights. No theatrical release date has been announced, though the film is slated to premiere on HBO and HBO Max in spring 2023 via HBO Documentary Films. Theatrical engagements for Moonage Daydream, will include IMAX screenings in select markets. Five years in the making, the documentary was written, directed, edited and produced by Brett Morgen, who was given "unfiltered" access to Bowie's personal archives, including all master recordings, according to a press release. While researching the film, Morgen came across hundreds of hours of never-before-seen 35mm and 16mm footage, allowing him to assemble Bowie's performances from these original camera masters. The resulting project is described by the companies as "an artful and life-affirming film that takes the audience on a journey through Bowie's creative life." Guided by "Bowie's narration" with contributions from Bowie's long-time collaborator Tony Visconti, according to the release, Moonage Daydream includes 48 musical tracks mixed from their original stems and is the first film to be officially sanctioned by Bowie's estate. - Billboard, 4/13/22...... A British Beatles fan named Ken Lambert has turned George Harrison's suburban Liverpool childhood home at 25 Upton Green into an Airbnb and "living museum" of Harrison memorabilia. Lambert says he bouth the home in Nov. 2021 for around £171,000. According to the listing, Harrison lived at the three-bedroom house between 1949 and 1962, and the house was also used as a practice space for the pre-Beatles incarnation, The Quarrymen. Lambert says the house will be "a living museum by letting people stay overnight" and that a weekly tour group will also be able to stop by and spend about half an hour in the home drinking tea and playing music. "I'm not a wealthy individual. It's not like I go around buying up properties. I'm a Beatles fan, yes, but I am a big George Harrison fan specifically," Lambert told the New York Post. "I think it was a shame that George's house had no relevance to millions of Beatles fans, but they're waiting in line to walk into John Lennon's house. George is my favourite Beatle. I want to respect his legacy," he added. The property sleeps five guests, and a stay will set you back around £200 a night (there is a two-night minimum). Meanwhile, Paul McCartney announced earlier in April that he's opening up his childhood home for unsigned artists to use as a base to write, perform and gain inspiration from. The Forthlin Sessions initiative, backed by the former Beatle's brother Mike McCartney, will see artists chosen by Mike and local partners to write music at the same place where Paul and John Lennon forged their distinguished songwriting partnership. - NME, 4/14/22...... Announcing he was "hearbroken" and that "this just might be the cruelest thing that has ever happened to me," Barry Manilow revealed that he had tested positive for Covid-19 on Apr. 13 just hours before his new musical "Harmony" was scheduled to open at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. "I am heartbroken to say that I have just tested positive for Covid-19 and won't be able to attend tonight's opening night performance of my new musical 'Harmony,'" Manilow told Billboard. "This just might be the cruelest thing that has ever happened to me: 25 years waiting for this show to premiere in New York and I can't attend. Even in the face of this pandemic, we New Yorkers remain the toughest, staunchest people on the planet so, put on a mask and go see a show!" Created and scored by Manilow and his longtime musical collaborator Bruce Sussman, "Harmony" tells the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble which featured three Jewish members and performed in Europe between 1928 and 1934, selling millions of records and starring in more than a dozen films. Manilow is not a cast member of the show, which opened as planned in his absence. - Billboard, 4/13/22...... 
In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, Jimmy Page revealed that his curringly working on "multiple projects." "It's not just one thing, it's multiple things, and I don't want to even give a hint, because if you do & you give a one-sentence sound bite, and then if it doesn't materialize, it's like: 'Why didn't you do a solo album?' So I don't want to say what it is that I've got planned, because I don't want to give people the chance to misinterpret it." Of his new album, he added: "I really can't put on record what the new record is. I'll leave it to your imagination. The thing is there are so many ways I could present myself right now. Actually, not right now. I'll rephrase that: within a space of time." One project he won't be working on is Ozzy Osbourne's new solo album, which the former Black Sabbath frontman announced he has completed work on in a new Instagram post. Page said in the same interview that he turned down the opportunity to appear the follow-up to Ozzy's 2020 LP Ordinary Man. Page said Osbourne tried to get him to contribute to his new LP but said "I don't think he plays anymore." "I will never be one of those people who'll record alone and send someone a file," Page told Classic Rock. "I never went into music in the first place to do that -- it was for playing together." - NME, 4/13/22...... Rick Springfield's long-overdue homecoming tour of his native Australia with the '70s Australian band Zoot has been scrapped, promoter DRW Entertainment has announced in a 
Alice Cooper has announed he'll kick off a month-long fall 2022 tour of North America on Sept. 7 in Bethlehem, Pa. Cooper, who is currently finishing up the spring leg of his North American tour before he tours Europe from late May to early July, announced the fall series of tour stops on 
In a new interview with Johnny Marr on his The Big Issue podcast, Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry revealed she has swapped her partying ways for knitting. Harry, 76, previously battled heroin addiction, but now says she has changed her hard partying ways over the years and revealed she'll be bringing her knitting needles and yarn with her when she returns to the road. "I've had to change behaviour over the years, and behaviour is very hard to change. "On tour these days I do what the women on the front during the French Revolution would do. I sit there knitting and rocking back and forth. That's what I do. I will be bringing my knitting needles with me," she said. In 2020, Harry revealed she found obtaining drugs "a drag," and insisted she didn't need to go to rehab to get clean as she simply got tired of the effort it took to source the narcotics. "Drugs are a funny thing. The thing that drove me away from taking them was having to acquire them and what a drag that was. It was kind of a full-time occupation and a waste of time. It became unpleasant. Luckily for me I was able to handle the withdrawal," she said. These days, Harry says she's much more health-conscious, working out twice a week and eating a diet of "mainly raw foods" but she thinks getting older is "horrible" and she has "some dissatisfaction" with her life. Asked if she's happier now than she was in her 20s, she said: "There's [still] some dissatisfaction and hopelessness. It varies by the day." - Music-News, 4/12/22...... Bruce Springsteen fans were treated to some of the rocker's unreleased outtakes at a Mexican radio conference on Apr. 9, thanks to his longtime engineer. Toby Scott was a guest at the SoundCheck Xpo in Mexico City, and during his presentation he offered up some snippets of a few old recordings that Springsteen recorded in the early 1980s. During his 87-minute presentation, the engineer played a few different takes of the Boss recording "Born In The U.S.A." One of the versions was the solo-acoustic demo that Springsteen recorded in 1982, during the Nebraska era -- this version ended up on his 1998 box set Tracks. Scott also played a bluesy, full-band take of the iconic anthem that has not previously been heard. - NME, 4/11/22...... 
Gilbert Gottfried, the unfiltered standup comedian whose signature nasally squawk could be heard on everything from Saturday Night Live and The Howard Stern Show to movie favorites like Aladdin and Problem Child, died on Apr. 12 after a long battle with a form of heart failure. He was 67. The Gottfried family announced his death in a statement on 
The 59-year-old singer-songwrier explained what led him to decide to perform the song for the first time in his decades-long career. "I had always said, that the only time I would ever consider singing 'IMAGINE' would be if it was the 'End of the World,'" he wrote. "The song reflects the light at the end of the tunnel, that we are all hoping for ... As a result of the ongoing murderous violence, millions of innocent families, have been forced to leave the comfort of their homes, to seek asylum elsewhere," he added. Julian performed the song, which has also been shared on 
The song is headed for a No. 5 debut on the UK's Official U.K. Singles Chart, and would be the just the band's third U.K. Top 10 single, and its first since "Another Brick In The Wall" hit No. 1 back in 1979, their only chart-topper. "Rise Up" features a sample of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, from Ukrainian band Boombox, and all proceeds go towards the Ukrainian Humanitarian Effort. "I hope it will receive wide support and publicity," Gilmour said in a statement. "We want to raise funds for humanitarian charities, and raise morale. We want express our support for Ukraine and in that way, show that most of the world thinks that it is totally wrong for a superpower to invade the independent democratic country that Ukraine has become," he added. - Billboard, 4/11/22...... Ozzy Osbourne confirmed on Apr. 10 that he's finished work on his new studio album, the follow-up to 2020's Ordinary Man. Sharing a photo on 
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has announced that a new covers album of Bob Dylan songs, 
The Eagles posted on their 
Chris Bailey, frontman of the pioneering Australian punk band The Saints, died on Apr. 9 at age 65. "It is with great pain in our hearts that we have to inform you about the passing of Chris Bailey, singer and songwriter of The Saints, on April the 9th 2022," reads a message on Twitter posted by the band. The Saints' '70s single "I'm Stranded" was one of the sparks that lit the punk scene, as the band soaked up the frustration of living in the culturally-stifling Queensland of Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen and let it all spill out. The song was cut in 1976, and released on EMI the following year in the U.K., at the infancy of punk. "I'm Stranded" is considered one of the first and most influential songs of the punk era, and The Saints have been described by Bob Geldof as "one of the three bands which changed the 1970s, the others being the Sex Pistols and the Ramones." Born in Kenya in 1957, and raised in Brisbane, Bailey formed the pioneering punk outfit in 1973 with guitarist and songwriter Ed Kuepper and drummer Ivor Hay. The Saints were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001. - Billboard, 4/11/22..... Bluegrass legend Roland White, a Bluegrass Hall of Fame member who played fast without sacrificing the genre's melodic core, died on Apr. 1 after complicaions from a heart attack. He was 83. Mr. White, who had a long career of masterfully not following directions in bluegrass, played in the late '60s and early '70s with two of the genre s most important figures: Bill Monroe, for whom he was a singer and guitarist; and Lester Flatt, who hired him for mandolin. In the late '80s, Mr. White joined the Nashville Bluegrass Band, which earned two Grammys for Best Bluegrass Album, then formed the Roland White Band. "He formulated things in his own mind. He didn't ever read music and follow directions on how to play," says Diane Bouska, his wife since the 1980s and longtime musical partner. "It seemed like he was dancing through his instrument." - Billboard, 4/6/22...... Veteran actress Kathryn Hays, a longtime star of the daytime soap As the World Turns, died on Mar. 25 of as yet undisclosed causes. She was 88. Ms. Hays, who worked on As the World Turns for 38 years, from 1972 and 2010, began her career in the 1960s with roles on such shows as Hawaiian Eye, Dr Kildare, Route 66, Bonanza and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. In 1966, she was cast as Elizabeth Reynolds in The Road West for 29 episodes. In addition, she starred in the 1968 episode of Star Trek named "The Empath" as the titular character named, who went by Gem. Throughout her career, Ms. Hays appeared in 40 different television series with her last being a 2007 episode of Law and Order: SUV. - Bang Showbiz, 4/8/22.
The childhood Liverpool home of Paul McCartney at 20 Forthlin Road, where Paul and his songwriting partner John Lennon wrote such iconic Beatles hits as "I Saw Her Standing There" and "When I'm 64," has been opened up to unsigned artists as a spot to write and perform songs. Britain's National Trust announced on Apr. 5 that the initiative, dubbed the "Forthlin Sessions," will allow budding acts to "visit, write, and perform at 20 Forthlin Road, sitting in the very same spots where around 30 of the world's most famous songs, including "Love Me Do," "I Saw Her Standing There," "Hold Me Tight," "I'll Follow The Sun" and "When I'm 64" were written and rehearsed. It is also where Paul wrote his first-ever song, "I Lost My Little Girl." National Trust Director General Hilary McGrady said in a statement that the Beatles "inspired a generation to feel free to be creative, regardless of who or where they were" and that "it's a pleasure to care for the Beatles' childhood homes and to use the story of what happened there to continue this legacy." The artists who get this rare opportunity will work with Paul's younger brother, Mike McCartney, and British journalist Pete Paphides in consultation with the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts; acts must be over 18 and UK-based in order to participate. The sessions will be recorded and publicized, allowing the act to reach new, potentially global audiences. A video announcing the initiative has been shared on 
Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has embarked on a new project called Envy of None with bassist Andy Curran and Maiah Wynne, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter from Oregon. Along with producer and engineer Alfio Annibalini (who also plays keyboards and guitars), the band will release its 
Mick Jagger has released a new solo track called "Strange Game." Described as a "poignant, moodily strutting theme tune" that is "underpinned by Jagger's powerful and eery vocals," "Strange Game" serves as the theme song to the new Apple Original series Slow Horses, the first two episodes of which premiered on Apple TV+ on Apr. 1. Jagger teased the song on 
Bobby Rydell, an early 1960s-era pop crooner who scored 29 Billboard pop chart entries and starred in the 1963 movie adaptation of the Broadway musical "Bye Bye Birdie," died on Apr. 5 after a battle with pneumonia. He was 79. First making a splash with 1959's "Kissin' Time," his follow-up single, "We Got Love," peaked at No. 6 as the singer's first of six career top 10 hits during the early 1960s. Rydell's highest-charting track was "Wild One," which landed at No. 2 in the spring of 1960. Other successes included "Volare" (No. 4 in Sept. 1960), "The Cha-Cha-Cha" (No. 10 in Nov. 1962) and "Forget Him" (No. 4 in Jan. 1964). Rydell's image as the poster boy for pre-Beatles pop stardom also led to him landing the starring role in the 1963 big-screen adaptation of "Bye Bye Birdie." In the movie musical, he played Hugo Peabody, the high school sweetheart of Ann-Margret's Kim McAfee, a teenager randomly chosen to get a goodbye kiss from Elvis Presley-style rock 'n' roll singer Conrad Birdie before he leaves for the Army. The film also starred Janet Leigh and Dick Van Dyke, and featured Ed Sullivan as himself. His legacy was also cemented in the 1971 stage musical "Grease" and its blockbuster 
C.W. McCall, the baritone country singer best known for his CB-inspired 1976 chart-topping hit