Cindy Williams, the dynamic actress best known for playing the bubbly Shirley Feeney on the hit 1970's-80's sitcom Laverne & Shirley, died on Jan. 25 after a short illness, it was announced by her family on Jan. 30. She was 75. "The passing of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought us insurmountable sadness that could never truly be expressed," a statement from Williams' children Zak and Emily Hudson read. "Knowing and loving her has been our joy and privilege. She was one of a kind, beautiful, generous and possessed a brilliant sense of humor and a glittering spirit that everyone loved." Willams had credits spanning six decades, but it was her role on Happy Days spin-off Laverne & Shirley that endeared her to millions and made her a household name. On the series, she starred opposite the late Penny Marshall (who died in 2018) as one half of a dynamic friend duo whose adventures powered the show, which ran for eight seasons from 1976-1983. Born in Van Nuys, Calif. on Aug. 22, 1947, Williams' interest in acting throughout high school led her to studying theater at Los Angeles City College. Some of her first professional acting credits include a three-episode arc on the 1969 series Room 222 and appearances on other shows, like Nanny and the Professor and Love, American Style, in the early 1970's. Williams went on to become a prolific working television and film actor, appearing in dozens of titles, but it was after she first appeared in Happy Days in 1975 that her career began to take shape. 
The lighthearted Laverne & Shirley proved to be a ratings hit and earned six Golden Globe nominations, including two for Best Comedy Series and one for Williams in the Best actress in a Comedy category. She also appeared in several standout films, most notably, George Lucas' acclaimed 1973 film American Graffiti, which earned her a British Academy Film Awards nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The film went on to be nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, at the 1974 Academy Awards. Williams also had roles in acclaimed films, including George Cukor's Travels with My Aunt in 1972 and Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation in 1974. Also an accomplished stage actress with a long list of credits, in 2022 Williams toured her one-woman show, "Me, Myself and Shirley," where she shared stories from throughout her careerr. She had at least one series of dates scheduled for later in 2023. Upon news of her passing, Williams' friends and fans took to social media to honor the late actress, including her American Graffiti co-star and director Ron Howard. "Her unpretentious intelligence, talent, wit & humanity impacted every character she created & person she worked with," Howard tweeted, going on to say that the pair worked together on six different projects together. "Lucky me," he added. Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie on Happy Days, also tweeted that Williams was "a fine and talented human being." Williams' children added in their statement that they were proud of their mother for many reasons -- "her lifelong mission to rescue animals, her prolific artistry, her faith" among them -- but "most of all, her ability to make the world laugh!" "May that laughter continue in everyone, because she would want that," the statement said. "Thank you for loving our Mom, she loved you too." - CNN, 1/31/23.
KISS announced on Jan. 30 that Welsh ragga-metallers Skindred will support them for their final UK tour, set to kick off June 3 in Plymouth, and London rockers The Wild Things will open the tour for them. KISS announced back in 2018 that they'd be embarking on one final tour before hanging up their iconic costumes, with bassist/co-vocalist Gene Simmons saying they were retiring from live performing out of "self-respect" and because of the "love" for their fans, although Simmons has hinted recently at a significant extension to the farewell tour, promising that KISS would take their show to 100 more cities before retiring. KISS's farewell UK tour will also hit Birmingham (6/5), Newcastle (6/6), London's O2 (7/5) and Manchester (7/7) before wrapping in Glasgow on July 8. - New Musical Express, 1/30/23...... 
Veteran rock journalist Gary Graff is set to release an Alice Cooper biography, Alice Cooper @ 75, on Jan. 31, just days before the rocker's actual 75th birthday on Feb. 4. Among the topics the book delves into is how Alice, born Vincent Furnier, chose the name "Alice Cooper" for himself and his band. One story was at a gathering of his then-manager Dick Phillips' mother's house, Phillips' mom was reputed to be a medium and pulled out a Ouija board to have a little fun. When Furnier asked the spirits whom he'd been in a previous life, the board led him toward the spelling of "A-L-I-C-E-C-O-O-P-E-R." A great story, but not true. That actual adoption of the name was more mundane. "I just kind of said, 'Alice Cooper.' It just came out of my mouth. That was it," Cooper is quoted in the book. "It had a quality to it--a little deranged, a little wholesome, a little spooky maybe. And... I felt like it would make people go, 'Wait... what?! Alice Cooper? They're all guys. Who's Alice Cooper?'" The Ouija board myth hung around, however. And the original band would continue to reference it throughout its time together, including in guitarist Mike Bruce's memoir No More Mr. Nice Guy. "It gave us a myth, a great story," Cooper said. "People loved it even better than the truth." - Billboard, 1/30/23...... Concert industry publication Billboard Boxscore is reporting Elton John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour" is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. In Jan. 2018, Sir Elton announced he was retiring from live performing after a worldwide, multi-year farewell tour that began in September of that year. It began a record-breaking run that has grossed $817.9 million across 278 shows so far -- more than any tour in Boxscore history -- bypassing rising artist Ed Sheeran's "The Divide Tour" ($776.4 million). John's first three North American legs combined to $268.2 million over 116 shows. His stadium run from July -- Nov. 2022 brought in $222.1 million, or 83% of his arena grosses, in just 33 shows. John also holds the Boxscore record for career gross ($1.863 billion) and attendance for a solo artist (19.9 million tickets), having passed Bruce Springsteen and Madonna while on this tour. Meanwhile, Elton's Jan. 27 gig in Auckland, New Zealand was cancelled just minutes before stage time as huge floods threatened the city. Auckland experienced an entire summer's worth of rainfall in one night, with properties flooded, the city's airport closed after terminal buildings filled with rainfall, and many left without power. 40,000 fans had gathered at the Mt Smart Stadium for a show on his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, but were informed of the cancellation at 7.15pm local time, just 15 minutes before John was due on stage. A fan in attendance told Sky News: "I'm furious. It was raining heavily on the way to the stadium and I kept checking for announcements but nothing came, despite puddles being up to my ankles." No plans for a rescheduled gig have yet been shared. In more Elton-related news, his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin has set a release date for his upcoming memoir, Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton & Me. The memoir, published by Hachette Books, is said to detail Taupin and John's lifelong creative partnership, dating back to the singer's 1969 debut album Empty Sky. Scattershot is set to drop on Sept. 12, and according to the publisher is "an exciting, multi-decade whirlwind told in a non-linear yet grounded narrative." In his own statement, Taupin promised anecdotes not only about the Rocketman but the likes of John Lennon, Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra, and said that authoring the book was "a long, arduous task." Prior to Scattershot, Elton and Bernie's relationship was documented both in the 1991 documentary Two Rooms, and the 2019 John biopic, Rocketman. - Billboard/NME, 1/30/23...... 
Michael Jackson's nephew Jaafar Jackson will star as the King of Pop in an upcoming biopic, Michael, the film's distributor Lionsgate announced on Instagram on Jan. 30. Produced by Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King and directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer trilogy, Emancipation), Michael is an authorized portrait of the pop star, who died in 2009, and begins shooting in 2023. The movie will be Jaafar's acting debut, although the 26-year-old has put out music of his own; in 2019, he released his debut single, "Got Me Singing." "I met Jaafar over two years ago and was blown away by the way he organically personifies the spirit and personality of Michael," Graham King said in a statement. "It was something so powerful that even after conducting a worldwide search, it was clear that he is the only person to take on this role." "Jaafar embodies my son," his mom Katherine Jackson said in a statement. "It's so wonderful to see him carry on the Jackson legacy of entertainers and performers." - AP, 1/30/23...... Meanwhile another Motown legend, Smokey Robinson, will release his first new solo album in nearly a decade on Apr. 28. The "King of Motown" will release the nine-track album Gasms on Apr. 28. The LP features new songs produced and written by Robinson himself, and the album's first single, "If We Don't Have Each Other," is now available on streaming services. Robinson is a legendary music producer, songwriter, former Motown VP and solo musician who's penned over 4,000 songs and been inducted into the the Rock 'n' Roll and Songwriters' Hall of Fame. Robinson will soon be honored alongside fellow Motown musician Berry Gordy as the 2023 "Persons Of The Year" at the Grammy organization's Recording Academy's annual MusiCares event on Feb. 3 in Los Angeles. - AP, 1/30/23...... A lost song written by recently deceased guitar hero Jeff Beck and famous former Beatle Paul McCartney in 1994 has been discovered in McCartney's archive. Beck died on Jan. 10 at the age of 78 after suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, which led Sir Paul to begin thinking about the studio time they had shared almost 30 years ago. This led Paul's team to rediscover the never-before-heard track, which has an environmentalist slant. A spoken pro-environmentalist message recorded by Beck opens with him asking: "Why are they cutting down the rainforest?" The message was later used in an American 13-part radio series presented and created by Paul called Oobu Joobu. The show featured rehearsals, demos, unreleased recordings, conversations and cameos from many of McCartney's friends, and highlighted campaigns o issues he felt were important, such as vegetarianism. Elsewhere, Grammy-winning producer Rick Rubin recently heaped praise on McCartney for his skills as a bassist and songwriter. "I thought about how everything I've seen, Beatles-related, is either about the songwriting or Beatlemania," Rubin told MOJO magazine. "Paul McCartney the bass player, or Paul McCartney the musician, because he plays everything -- that's a little story told. You just think of him as Beatle Paul, yet in my opinion, he is the best of all bass players, he's number one." Rubin, who is credited with helping to popularize hip-hop with his work on records by the Beastie Boys, Geto Boys, Run-DMC, Public Enemy and LL Cool J -- teamed up with the Beatles legend on the 2021 miniseries McCartney 3,2,1. Meanwhile, a clip from Paul's daughter Mary McCartney's new Abbey Road documentary If These Walls Could Talk in which her famous dad almost gets hit by a car while recreating his famous trek across London's Abbey Road has been shared by the Abbey Road Studios on Twitter. Sharing the footage, Abbey Road Studios wrote: "Close call for Paul McCartney on the Abbey Road crossing! In this clip from Mary McCartney's new documentary, a car narrowly misses Paul as he recreates the 'Abbey Road' album cover." Speaking about the incident earlier in 2023, Mary said: "The bit where the car nearly ran him over on the zebra crossing, that was so funny. As we were leaving [the studio], I said, 'I'll film you [on the crossing],' and he went over and this car totally didn't stop for him." If These Walls Could Talk is currently streaming on Disney+ and charts the long history of the iconic London studio. The documentary features interviews with McCartney and fellow Beatle Ringo Starr, alongside Elton John, Nile Rodgers, Noel and Liam Gallagher, Roger Waters, Celeste, George Lucas and more. - NME/Music-News.com, 1/30/23...... 
On Jan. 30 The Who announced a 2023 UK tour where they will be accompanied by an orchestra on each date. The tour is the rock legends' first tour in six years and will kick off on July 6 in Hull, after which they will play a mixture of indoor and outdoor shows across the country before wrapping in Brighton on July 23. The nine-date run of shows will see the band return to Edinburgh for the first time in over 40 years (July 7 and 8), while they will also perform in Derby, on July 14, for the first time since 1966. UB40 featuring Ali Campbell will be joining them on all shows, apart from Edinburgh and London. "Having not toured the UK for six years, it's great that at this time of our careers we have the chance to go to places that are not on the usual touring map -- Edinburgh Castle and Derby, as well as the other cities across the country that we haven't been to for decades, will make this very special for me," said Who frontman Roger Daltrey in a statement. "This opportunity will give our UK Who fans the chance to hear our current show, which, with the addition of an orchestra, takes our music to new heights." "Roger initially christened this tour with an orchestra 'Moving On!' I love it," guitarist Pete Townshend added. "It is what both of us want to do. Move on, with new music, classic Who music, all performed in new and exciting ways. Taking risks, nothing to lose. I'm really looking forward to bringing this show to the UK." The Who toured the US with an orchestra at the end of 2022. At one show in Long Island, they surprised fans by playing "Young Man's Blues," which they have only ever performed live six times in the last 40 years. - NME, 1/30/23...... Journey took a break from their running feud among band members to deliver a harmonious concert at the Choctaw Grand Theatre in Durant, Okla., on Jan. 27. Journey's two-hour show, the first of two nights, was generally harmonious and upbeat, with the sextet's three focal points -- frontman Arnel Pineda, guitarist Neil Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain -- dominating the spotlight. Pineda, who replaced long-departed frontman Steve Perry in 2008 and sounds exactly like him, was in constant motion, running, jumping, waving, pointing and leading singalongs. Schon soloed constantly, opening the first song "Only the Young" with a burst of noise on his PRS NS-15 guitar and improvising with hard rock power chords in unexpected ways at the ends of rock radio fixtures "Wheel In the Sky" and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," and Cain anchored "Feeling That Way" and "Who's Crying Now" on his red piano. "It's good to be back. All together again," Cain told the audience of about 3,000. It was a unifying sentiment after months of Journey acrimony, which saw Cain and Schon battling in court over Schon's expenditures on Journey's American Express card and Cain's participation in an event at former Pres. Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort. - Billboard, 1/28/23...... Queen's Brian May has doubled down on the reason why his famous glam-rock band "could never" play the UK's Glastonbury festival. May previously ruled out playing the festival held at Worthy Farm after clashing with Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis over the badger cull. Eavis previously called May a "danger to farming" and criticized the guitarist's opposition to the controversial cull, arguing that the process aims to fight against the impact that bovine tuberculosis can have on infected cattle. As a result, May insisted that Eavis' comments would prevent the band from playing at Glastonbury, even if it became a remote possibility. "We won't [play Glastonbury] and there are a lot of reasons for that. One of them is that Michael Eavis has frequently insulted me, and I don't particularly enjoy that. What bothers me more is that he's in favour of the badger cull, which I regard as a tragedy and an unnecessary crime against wildlife," he previously said. May has now reiterated his stance on performing at the festival, telling The Sun newspaper in a new interview: "Would I ever do it? No. As the man who runs it advocates killing badgers for no good reason and I could never level with that. Have they tried to book us? I think the feeling is mutual so I think they understand how I feel." Despite May's comments, Eavis claimed in the past that the band were "not quite our thing" and said that Queen's manager had sent him a "hand-written postcard" in an unsuccessful attempt to secure a headline slot for the band. The 2023 Glastonbury festival is due to take place on June 21-25, but so far only Elton John has been revealed as a headliner. - NME, 1/26/23...... 
On Jan. 27 veteran prog-rockers Yes sold the rights to their recorded music catalogue under Atlantic Records, which comprises their first 12 studio albums as well as various live recordings and compilation albums, to Warner Music Group (WMG). Yes's deal comprises a total of 29 albums and spans all of their studio efforts from 1969's self-titled debut through to 1987's Big Generator, as well as live albums like Yesterdays (1975) and Yesstory (1992), and a handful of compilations like Highlights: The Very Best of Yes (1993) and Yes Remixes (2003). In a statement, the band said: "The entire Yes family came together and worked enthusiastically with Warner Music Group to secure this historic deal, ensuring that these iconic recordings will continue to be curated in the optimum manner to delight their fans across more than five decades, while also finding and developing new audiences for this timeless music." WMG's acquisition of Yes' Atlantic catalogue follows similar deals with the estate of David Bowie and 300 Entertainment. The company's other recent headlines include their move to scrap unrecouped debts for heritage artists, and the historic launch of a fan-powered royalties system. Last May, longstanding Yes drummer Alan White died at the age of 72, following his battle with a "brief illness". White joined the band in 1972 and performed with them regularly until his passing. In May 2022, longstanding Yes drummer Alan White died at the age of 72, following his battle with a "brief illness." White joined Yes in 1972 and performed with them regularly until his passing. - NME, 1/28/23...... In related news, Reservoir Media has purchased the catalog of Bronx-born talent Dion Francis DiMucci, better known as Dion. The deal includes his publishing catalog and future works as well as synchronization rights to his master recordings. Best known for releasing defining, R&B-infused rock in the 1950s and '60s, Dion's catalog includes "Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer," "Ruby Baby" and "Dream Lover," which he released with his band Dion and the Belmonts. Over the course of his career, Dion has accrued 11 top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Three of his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame --"I Wonder Why" (with the Belmonts), "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer." Despite his many decades of success, Dion hasn't rested on his laurels and continues to tour and release music today. In 2021, he released the album Stomping Ground featuring Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Knopfler and more. Dion's songs have continued to permeate pop culture, particularly via their placement in films and TV shows, including Diner, Peggy Sue Got Married, The Sopranos, Behind Enemy Lines, The West Wing, The Wire and Ozark. Additionally, his life and songbook inspired the creation of "The Wanderer," a musical that had a successful pre-Broadway run at Paper Mill Playhouse in Apr. 2022. - Billboard, 1/26/23...... Elvis Presley's widow Priscilla Presley is contesting an amendment made to the will of Lisa Marie Presley, who died on Jan. 12 at the age of 54 after suffering a heart attack. Lawyers representing the 77-year-old Priscilla filed a petition at the Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan. 27, claiming that the amendment naming Lisa Marie's children Riley and Benjamin Keough as trustees of her estate featured an "invalid" signature. Priscilla also alleged that prior to 2016, she and business manager Barry Siegel were the named co-trustees of the estate and that the penmanship on the signature did not match the singer-songwriter's usual style, implying that it was forged. She also noted that the signature was not witnessed or notarized, making the amendment attached to it an "invalid modification." In addition, Priscilla alleged she should have been notified of changes to the will at the time they were signed. Lisa Marie's son Benjamin died at the age of 27 in 2020. She is survived by Riley, 33, and 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood. - Music-News.com, 1/29/23...... The NBC television network has announced it will celebrate the upcoming 90th birthday of TV variety legend Carol Burnett with a two-hour special on Apr. 26 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will also stream the next day on Peacock. Filmed at Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles, the special will feature an A-list lineup of musical performances from Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Jane Lynch, Katy Perry, Kristin Chenoweth and more. Musical tributes will pay homage to Burnett's renowned career performances on her Carol Burnett Show with the likes of Julie Andrews and Beverly Sills. Special guests include Andrews, Aileen Quinn, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Bob Mackie, Cher, Ellen DeGeneres, Laura Dern, Lily Tomlin, Marisa Tomei, Sofia Vergara, Steve Carell, Susan Lucci and Vicki Lawrence, among others. "I'm so excited NBC decided to throw me a birthday party and invited all of my closest friends," Burnett said. "I can't wait to look back at so many wonderful moments throughout my career, I feel so lucky to share this night with everyone." - Deadline.com, 1/26/23...... 
Legendary Motown songwriter Barrett Strong, who more than 73 years ago declared "Money (That's What I Want)" -- for the first hit single from the Motown empire, died on Jan. 29 in Detroit of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 81. Mr. Strong's canon of enduring songs include "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" for Marvin Gaye and also Gladys Knight & the Pips, "War" for Edwin Starr, the Undisputed Truth's "Smiling Faces Sometimes" and a wealth of material for The Temptations -- "I Wish It Would Rain," "Just My Imagination," "Cloud Nine," "Psychedelic Shack" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," for which Mr. Strong shared a Grammy Award. In addition to the Grammy, Mr. Strong was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Songwriters in 1990 and a Songwriters Hall of Fame induction in 2004. BMI celebrated his legacy during a special event in 2016. The rest of Mr. Strong's time at Motown was just as memorable. He recalls that Motown initially didn't want to release "Grapevine," which he began writing during a brief tenure working for Vee Jay Records in Chicago. "They didn't think it was a hit record," said Mr. Strong, adding with a chuckle, "You know how it goes: They say, 'We don't like that,' but when it's a hit, everybody takes credit." The Miracles were actually the first to record the song, in 1966, and Gaye recorded it the following year. But it was Gladys Knight's raucous version that came out first, during September of 1967, followed by Gaye's slowed-down groove 11 months later; Knight's reached No. 2 on the Hot 100, while Gaye's topped the chart. Creedence Clearwater Revival turned in an 11-minute version of "Grapevine" on its 1970 album Cosmo's Factory, while the California Raisins covered it for a TV commercial in 1986, which launched a "career" for the cartoon group. The son of a Uniroyal plant worker and a housewife, Mr. Strong was born on Feb. 5, 1941 and grew up on Detroit's west side and sang in a gospel group with his four sisters. They toured the local church circuit and befriended stars such as Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke. "When they'd come to town they'd stop by the house and visit with us," Mr. Strong recalled. "We would all sit around the piano and play and sing." Mr. Strong left Motown during the early '70s and resumed his performing career, recording for the Epic and Capitol labels. He also co-wrote singles for The Dells. For a time Mr. Strong operated a production company called Boomtown in Detroit, mentoring and partnering with younger artists, and in 2010 he released Stronghold II, his first album in 30 years. "I am saddened to hear of the passing of Barrett Strong, one of my earliest artists, and the man who sang my first big hit," Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Jr. said in a statement. "Barrett was not only a great singer and piano player, but he, along with his writing partner Norman Whitfield, created an incredible body of work, primarily with The Temptations. Their hit songs were revolutionary in sound and captured the spirit of the times... Barrett is an original member of the Motown Family and will be missed by all of us." - Billboard, 1/29/23...... Lisa Loring, TV's original Wednesday Addams actress on the '60s sitcom The Addams Family, died on Jan. 28 after being removed from her life support machine after she endured a stroke caused by "smoking and high blood pressure," according a social media post shared the next day. She was 64. "It is with great sadness that I report the death of our friend, Lisa Loring. 4 Days ago she suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure," her friend Laurie Jacobsen wrote on Facebook. "She had been on life support for 3 days. Yesterday, her family made the difficult decision to remove it and she passed last night." Loring was the first to take on the youngest member of the Addams family in the 1960s television program - which was based on the Charles Addams' cartoon series that first ran in The New Yorker magazine - that ran for 64 episodes across two seasons. Loring also appeared in such '60s and '70s television series as The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., Fantasy Island, Barnaby Jones and Dr. Kildare. She also had a recurring role as Cricket Montgomery in the soap opera As the World Turns, and had her final acting credit with the movie Doctor Spine. Loring's sister Marianne, who was also by her side, said Lisa "went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands." - Bang Showbiz, 1/30/23...... 
Tom Verlaine, frontman for the influential '70s New Wave band Television, died on Jan. 28 following a brief illness. He was 73. Born Thomas Miller on Dec. 13, 1949, Verlaine was raised in Wilmington, Del., before moving to New York City in 1968 and taking on his stage name. He formed Television, who became an influential fixture of NYC's punk rock scene at CBGB in the '70s, establishing an early residency at the legendary Lower East Side club, with bandmates Richard Hell, Billy Ficca and Richard Lloyd. With Television he brought his signature guitar work and songwriting to two albums, 1977's landmark Marquee Moon and 1978's Adventure, before the group parted ways in 1978. Verlaine then embarked on solo endeavors -- releasing several of his own albums throughout his career over the next few decades, beginning with a self-titled record in 1979 -- and reunited with Television periodically. Verlaine's early musical influences ranged from free jazz to The Yardbirds' Five Live Yardbirds to the Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown," and included John Coltrane, Pablo Casals and John McLaughlin. "My first music experiences were with classical and then jazz," Verlaine told Billboard in 2005. "I played sax for three years, so my real roots are in instrumental music. In fact, when I hear the term 'music' I never think of 'songs.'" Artists like Patti Smith, Michael Stipe, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, Blondie's Chris Stein and many others took to social media to honor the innovative guitarist. "This is a time when all seemed possible. Farewell Tom, aloft the Omega," Patti Smith, Verlaine's former partner and collaborator, captioned a black-and-white photo on Instagram. Michael Stipe also shared a heartfelt remembrance through R.E.M.'s official Instagram account. "I have lost a hero. Bless you Tom Verlaine for the songs, the lyrics, the voice!," Stipe wrote. "And later, the laughs, the inspiration, the stories, and the rigorous belief that music and art can alter and change matter, lives, experience. You introduced me to a world that flipped my life upside down. I am forever grateful," he added. - Billboard, 1/28/23.
TV adverts during the annual Super Bowl NFL championship game can often attract as much attention as the game itself as advertisers roll out their best ads to stand out from the competition, and Ozzy Osbourne is getting in on the action in 2023 in a Super Bowl ad as an office fresh face -- dressed up for work in a dress shirt, tie and an office-appropriate amount of eyeliner -- for the workplace finance/HR software company Workday. In the 15-second preview clip which can be viewed on 
James Taylor announced on 
As Willie Nelson prepares to celebrate 9 decades on planet Earth on Apr. 30, he'll be the subject of a five-part documentary debuting this month at the Sundance Film Festival. Willie Nelson & Family is described by co-director Thom Zimny as an engrossing, unflinching and ultimately loving portrait of a cultural icon who has lived "a rich life of beauty and struggle." The film captures the complexity of the 89-year-old Nelson, who dreamed in his boyhood of becoming a singing cowboy like his movie idols, and became one of the most acclaimed songwriters and singers of his age, as well as a celebrated actor, author and activist, living through decades of tragedies and triumphs. "I related to Willie's story on many levels," says Zimny. "Nelson's music is very cinematic" and his story tells of "a person who connected to music deeply and also had a rich life of beauty and struggle... what was really important was that we got the trust and support of the family to sit down with Willie and really explore a lot of those different chapters." Meanwhile, a star-studded 90th birthday party for Nelson is set for L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl on Apr. 29 and 30, with headliners including The Chicks, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton and Tyler Childers gathering for a two-day concert event, billed as "Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90." "I can't think of a better way to spend my 90th birthday than being surrounded by family, friends and of course the fans who made this all possible," Nelson said via a statement. "It's an honor to perform with such an incredible group of artists at such an iconic venue." On Mar. 3, Nelson will release his release his upcoming studio album, 
Music publishing and talent management company Primary Wave announced its acquisition of The Doors members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek's rights as it pertains to their involvement with The Doors. This includes the guitarist and late keyboardists recorded music, publishing, trademarks and merchandise rights and income. Jim Morrison, the band's lead singer, and John Densmore, its drummer, continue to own the remaining interests in the Doors rights. Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, Billboard estimates that The Doors master recording catalog generates nearly $10 million in annual revenue, with band royalties coming to about $4.4 million thanks to a heritage contract, which likely carries a generous 50% royalty payment on streaming licensing. Billboard further estimates that the band s catalog generates about $5 million in publishing and that the band takes in another $1 million in merchandising. In total, that comes out to $10.4 million in royalties for the band, with Krieger and Manzarek s share at $5.2 million. Consequently, Billboard estimates that Primary Wave paid anywhere from $75 million to $100 million for The Doors music income streams and other intellectual property rights it acquired. Primary Wave declined to comment. "We are looking forward to growing the legacies of Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek," says Larry Mestel, CEO and founder of Primary Wave Music. "We are also very happy to be working alongside such an industry icon as (Doors manager) Jeff Jampol to tastefully grow opportunities for The Doors. - Billboard, 1/23/23...... The L.A.-based pop duo Sparks has re-signed with Island Records after almost 50 years to release their 26th studio album, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. The sibling duo of Ron and Russell Mael's breakthrough third record, Kimono My House, came out via the label back in 1974. Sparks remained with Island until 1976. Their seventh LP, 1977's Introducing Sparks, was released through Columbia (US) and CBS (UK). Per a press release, the follow-up to 2020's A Steady Drip will arrive in May and see the band continue down a "unique and uncompromising path," and is described as a "bold, genre defying, modern masterpiece." The group made the announcement on 
Former child star Lance Kerwin, best known for appearing in NBC TV series 
As Pink Floyd announced a special 
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger -- and the entire Stones music catalog -- are now on the popular social media platform TikTok. The band's official account, along with the individual accounts of Jagger and Keith Richards, will share exclusive behind-the-scenes content and more. Jagger celebrated the occasion on Jan. 20 by posting his first video dancing to "Sympathy for the Devil." "Hello TikTok, we have joined your world," Jagger says from the recording studio in his introductory clip. "You can follow up @therollingstones and @jagger. So excited to see what you create with our music. Use #TheRollingStones so we can check it out& Oww!" The Stones jumping on the TikTok bandwagon also means their entire catalog of hits will now officially be made available for TikTok users to stitch, lip-synch and otherwise create with on the social platform via the Sounds page. Also to mark the occasion, the band curated a special playlist on TikTok featuring 44 of their songs, including "Start Me Up," "It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It)," "Miss You," "Angie," "Beast of Burden" and more. As of Jan. 20, Jagger's personal TikTok account has amassed more than 58,000 followers. The band's official TikTok page, meanwhile, has begun posting old interviews from the 1960s as well as tutorials for fans to learn how to "Dress Like the Stones," "Move Like the Stones" and perform a famous Keith Richards guitar chop. Not merely icons of a bygone era, the Rolling Stones remain in high demand after more than six decades. Their most recent tour, a 14-date European run last summer, grossed $120.8 million from 712,000 tickets, according to figures reported by Billboard Boxscore. - Billboard, 1/20/23...... "Gonna Be You," the new upbeat synth-pop track featuring Debbie Harry, Dolly Parton, Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper and Gloria Estefan used in the upcoming sports comedy movie 80 for Brady, has been shared on 
Neil Young has penned a loving tribute to his late bandmate David Crosby, who died at age 81 on Jan. 19. In a personal note posted on his 
On Jan. 18, Joe Walsh announced that the proceeds from his sold-out November 2022 VetsAid benefit concert -- named after his non-profit -- would be going to help those who served. "Today I am thrilled to announce $650,000 disbursed in grants to our Ohio charity partners after VetsAid 2022," Walsh shared via 
Emmy- and Grammy-winning video director Bruce Gowers, who directed the seminal Queen video "Bohemian Rhapsody" and directed nine-plus seasons of American Idol, died on Jan. 15 of complications from an acute respiratory infection in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 82. Mr. Gowers called the shots for 234 episodes of American Idol from 2002-11, from the first season to the 10th, and won his Emmy for outstanding directing for a variety, music or comedy series in 2009. His Grammy trophy came in 1986 for his work on the music video for Huey Lewis and the News' "Heart of Rock and Roll." Eight years later, he received a DGA award for helming the CBS special Genius: A Night for Ray Charles. Along the way, he directed comedy specials from Richard Lewis, Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Eddie Murphy and Paula Poundstone and music specials from Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. The New Kilbride, Scotland native's touch on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," filmed at Elstree Studios in London in Nov.1975 in about three hours for the BBC's Top of the Pops, helped Freddie Mercury and his mates find superstardom and proved to be a defining moment in the history of the music video business. It was the first music video ever aired by the influential Top of the Pops, and he said he got $590 for the gig. "It changed the way music was perceived; everyone was doing videos and bands were seeing their sales and chart positions rise if their videos were good," he told the Daily Mail in 2018. "The only thing that upsets me is that they have been using my video for 40 years, and they have never paid me a dime or said thank you." Mr. Gowers also directed music videos for Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, Prince, John Mellencamp, The Rolling Stones, Rush, The Bee Gees, Supertramp, Journey and The Tubes, among others. For the past 23 years, he and his wife Carol Rosenstein resided in Malibu. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/18/23.
Iconic American folk-rocker David Crosby, a rare two-time inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and one of the most influential rock/pop musicians of the 1960s and '70s, died on Jan. 19. He was 81. His wife, Jan Dance, announced the death in a statement published by Variety, and it did not specify when the musician died, nor the cause. Musically, Mr. Crosby stood out for his intricate vocal harmonies, unorthodox open tunings on guitar and incisive songwriting. His work with both The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash/Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young blended rock and folk in new ways, and their music became a part of the soundtrack for the counterculture era. In addition to drug addictions that ultimately led to a transplant to replace a liver worn out by decades of excess, Mr. Crosby's tumultuous life included a serious motorcycle accident, the death of a girlfriend, and battles against hepatitis C and diabetes. Born on Aug. 14, 1941, in Los Angeles, Mr. Crosby's father was a cinematographer who won a Golden Globe for High Noon in 1952, and his mother exposed him to the folk group The Weavers and to classical music. As a teenager, Mr. Crosby found that one of his passions aided him in the pursuit of another. "It (playing music) was absolutely joyous to me, he wrote. "I always loved it. I always will love it. And I did get laid." After a short time in New York's Greenwich Village music scene, Mr. Crosby returned to California in 1963 and helped Roger McGuinn form The Byrds, whose first hit, a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," came in 1965, followed by "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Mr. Crosby was kicked out of The Byrds because the band did not want to play his songs, with the flashpoint being "Triad," about a ménage à trois, and disputes over on-stage political rants. Mr. Crosby and Stephen Stills, whose band with Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, had fallen apart, then began playing together. Graham Nash of The Hollies, who met Mr. Crosby in 1966 and went on to become his closest collaborator and a closer friend, joined them. Their first album, Crosby, Stills and Nash, was a big seller in 1969. 
Young fell in with them that year and CSNY came to be considered one of the greatest amalgams of talent in rock history. The group's second performance together was the landmark Woodstock music festival in 1969, and their 1970 album, 
He was also arrested on gun and marijuana charges in New York in 2004. In 2014 he released Croz, his first solo album since 1993, but his tour to promote the record was interrupted in February by heart surgery. He continued recording and was an active presence on Twitter, in addition to writing an advice column for Rolling Stone. He fathered six children -- two as a sperm donor to rocker Melissa Etheridge's partner and another who was placed for adoption at birth and did not meet Mr. Crosby until he was in his 30s. That son, James Raymond, would eventually become his musical collaborator. In March 2021, The Guardian newspaper reported that Mr. Crosby sold the recorded music and publishing rights to his entire music catalog to Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group for an undisclosed sum. His longtime collaborator, Graham Nash, paid tribute to Mr. Crosby in a press release: "It is with a deep and profound sadness that I learned that my friend David Crosby has passed. I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together & and the deep friendship we shared." Others paying tribute to the musician on Twitter include 
An autopsy of Lisa Marie Presley has reportedly been performed but will not immediately be released as officials await the results for a toxicology report to come back, according to TMZ.com. The autopsy of Elvis Presley's only child, who died on Jan. 12 after suffering two heart attacks, was performed on Jan. 14, and an official cause of death will be determined after the pending toxicology results are reviewed. Lisa Marie, 54, went into cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, Calif. after complaining of severe stomach agony, and suffered another heart attack when she arrived at hospital. She died from her second cardiac arrest suffered while she was in hospital and passed away after the family signed a do not resuscitate order. Lisa Marie was living with her ex-husband Danny Keogh, 58, at the time she collapsed, and he performed CPR on her until paramedics arrived. She married Keogh when she was a teenager at a drug rehabilitation centre, and they divorced in 1994 days before she eloped with Michael Jackson, who she married in 2006 and finally divorced 10 years later. She was also engaged to musician John Oszajca, 48, in 2000, but called it off after she met actor Nicolas Cage, 59, at a party, who she married in Aug. 2002 before filing for divorce just months later. On Jan. 13 Cage broke his silence about his ex-wife's sudden death, telling E! News that "Lisa had the greatest laugh of anyone I ever met" and calling her death "devastating." "I find some solace believing she is reunited with her son Benjamin." In July 2020, Lisa Marie's 27-year-old son Benjamin Keough died by suicide in Calabasas. Posting on 
Even though The Beach Boys never won a Grammy Award in competition, the legendary American pop band is the latest in a series of "Grammy Salute" specials that will tape on Feb. 8, three days after the 65th annual Grammy Awards are held in Los Angeles. The live concert special will feature a star-studded lineup paying tribute to the classic pop/rock group. It will tape at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will air on CBS later in 2023. Tickets, starting at $75, are available through Ticketmaster. Although Grammy voters of the 1960s were still trying to decide what they thought of contemporary pop/rock, voters have since decided they like it -- and The Beach Boys in particular -- very much. The group received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2001, and group leader Brian Wilson was named MusiCares Person of the Year in 2005. Five BB recordings have been voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which functions as a second chance for the Grammys to reward worthy records they may have missed the first time around. Since band's '60s heyday, Wilson has received six more Grammy nominations, winning twice -- Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" (2004) and Best Historical Album for 
In a happy ending to one of the music industry's grimmest and longest tales, Creedence Clearwater Revival principle John Fogerty has regained control over the CCR song catalog after buying a majority interest in the global publishing rights to the songs. At a time when Fogerty's peers such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Neil Young are selling their copyrights for hundreds of millions of dollars, Fogerty has done the opposite: buying a majority interest in the global publishing rights to his historic CCR song catalog from Concord for an undisclosed sum. The treasure trove includes such rock classics as "Proud Mary," "Down on the Corner," Fortunate Son," "Bad Moon Rising" "Up Around the Bend" and "Green River." Concord has owned the rights since 2004 when the company bought Saul Zaentz's Fantasy Records. One of the first moves Concord made was to reinstate and increase Fogerty's artist royalties, which Fogerty had relinquished to Zaentz in 1980 to get out of his Fantasy deal and had not received in 25 years. Concord retains the CCR master recordings already in its catalog and will continue to administer Fogerty's share of the publishing catalog for an unspecified limited time. "I'm really kind of still in shock," the 77-year-old Fogerty says, and added he thought this day would never come. Fogerty says he "tried really hard," he says to get them back in the decades since he signed his label and publishing deal in 1968 with Fantasy but suffered setback after setback at the hands of Zaentz, who died in 2014. With control over how his music is used now, his wife Julie Fogerty adds she'd like "to take these iconic songs and reintroduce them to the new generation because I think the songs will be around forever," adding there's talk of both a biopic and a documentary about Fogerty. "But it's mostly I think just connecting John to those songs... There were a lot of years where he felt like they tried to erase him." As he moves into the next chapter with the "lingering specter" that has haunted him for so long finally gone, Fogerty says "I'm ready to feel really good about music." And selling his publishing rights is "not what I'm thinking about" now: "I've never been allowed or gotten to experience participation and ownership in the sense of being involved. And, you know, the last thing on my mind is thinking about selling it, I want to enjoy it. It's good. That's where I'm at."- Billboard, 1/12/23...... The US Library of Congress announced on Jan. 12 that Joni Mitchell will be honored with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song on Mar. 1 at a tribute concert in Washington. Mitchell becomes the third female artist to receive the prize, after Carole King in 2013 and Gloria Estefan in 2019, and joins a host of legendary acts to receive the prize since it was established in 2007, including Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Lionel Richie. "This is a very prestigious award," Mitchell said in the Library of Congress press release. "Thank you for honoring me." It is unclear at this stage whether Mitchell, who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015, will be performing at the forthcoming tribute concert, however she played a 13-song set at the Newport Folk Festival with Brandi Carlisle in 2022 and is planning to play her first headline show in 23 years in 2023. - NME, 1/12/23...... 
A 50th anniversary reissue of David Bowie's iconic 1973 set 
Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, the sultry Mediterranean sex symbol of the 1950s and 1960s, has died at age 95, her former lawyer said on Jan. 16. At the height of her fame in the 1950s and 1960s, Ms. Lollobrigida, who was known simply as "La Lollo," was an internationally recognized epitome of Italian post-war cinema, rivaled only by Sophia Loren. Born on July 4, 1927, to a working class family in a poor mountainous area east of Rome, Ms. Lollobrigida studied sculpture then got her break in the film world after finishing third in the 1947 Miss Italia beauty contest. One of her earliest performances was as Gemma, the unhappy adulteress in the 1953 film by director Mario Soldati The Wayward Wife. She burst to fame in Italy with the leading roles in two Italian comedies by Luigi Comencini - Bread, Love and Dreams and Bread, Love and Jealousy. A role opposite Humphrey Bogart in John Huston's 1954 film Beat the Devil, sealed her worldwide fame and in 1955 she made what became one of her signature films, The World's Most Beautiful Woman. But despite playing opposite other American stars such as Frank Sinatra and Burt Lancaster, she never clicked with Hollywood and preferred to work closer to home, making films throughout the 1960s with directors such as Mario Bolognini. Perhaps her last well-known movie was Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, a farce by director Melvin Frank which also starred Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford and Telly Savalas. Tempestuous and impulsive by nature, she made headlines in 2006, when, at age 79, she announced that she would marry a man 34 years her junior. She later called off the wedding, blaming the media for spoiling it. "All my life I wanted a real love, an authentic love, but I have never had one. No one has ever truly loved me. I am a cumbersome woman," she told an interviewer when she was 80. When she stopped making films, Ms. Lollobrigida developed new careers as a photographer and sculptor and was also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and its Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Between 1972 and 1994 she published six books of her photographs, including Italia Mia (My Italy), The Philippines and the Wonder of Innocence, photographs of and for children. - Reuters, 1/16/23...... 
Robin "Robbie" Bachman, the co-founder and drummer of 1970s Canadian rockers Bachman-Turner Overdrive, died on Jan. 12. He was 69. The news was announced by Bachman's older brother, former Guess Who guitarist and BTO guitarist/vocalist Randy Bachman in a statement. "Another sad departure. The pounding beat behind BTO, my little brother Robbie has joined Mum, Dad & brother Gary on the other side," Bachman wrote. "Maybe Jeff Beck needs a drummer! He was an integral cog in our rock 'n' roll machine and we rocked the world together. #RIP #littlebrother #family," he added. The Winnipeg, Manitoba-bred band (also known as BTO) formed in 1973 and blazed a trail through the '70s with a series of hard-charging AM radio rock hits including the No. 1 single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," as well as "Takin' Care of Business," "Roll on Down the Highway" and "Let It Ride." The original lineup included another Bachman sibling, guitarist Tim Bachman (replaced by Blair Thornton in 1974), as well as bassist Fred Turner. BTO released their self-titled debut in May 1973, but it was their second album, Dec. 1973's