Posted by Administrator on June 15th, 2024
Las Vegas' Sphere announced on Instagram on June 13 that its next headliner will be Rock and Roll Hall of Famers the Eagles for an eight show residency over four weekends in September and October. The full list of dates for the Eagles residency are: Sept. 20-21, Sept. 27-28, Oct. 11-12 and Oct. 18-19. All-in ticket prices begin at $175 and to ensure that they get into the hands of fans an advance artist presale will begin on June 18 at 1 p.m. ET; a Live Nation presale will launch on June 20 at 1 p.m. ET. The Eagles will take over from Dead & Company, who brought their never-ending road trip to the mind-bending venue on May 16 and have dates scheduled through Aug. 10. - Billboard, 6/13/24...... 
Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote the upcoming 40th anniversary reissue of their 1984 album Stop Making Sense, Talking Heads said that they didn't want the album to be "too Spinal Tap." When host Jimmy Fallon asked the band whether they had approached Jonathan Demme, the director of their Stop Making Sense film, with any "notes" on how he should capture their performance onscreen, Talking Heads bassist/singer Tina Weymouth said, "We said, 'We don't want all the gimmicks. We wanted the cameras to be like a sensitive eye; the way an audience member would be seeing it, without the camera getting in the way and playing around.'" She went on to say that the group wanted "no split screen" and "no interviews" to be featured. "That would be too Spinal Tap," Weymouth added, referring to the classic comedy rock mockumentary -- which was released the same year as Stop Making Sense. Later in the interview, Talking Heads frontman David Byrne recalled how he had "improvised" his famous dance moves for the Stop Making Sense performance. "I'd be inspired by preachers or people feeling the spirit," he explained. "And I'd see the kind of moves they were doing. I felt [like], 'Oh! Music makes me feel like that, too.'" Byrne added: "I put on some of the music [to rehearse] -- some of our songs -- and go, 'This might make me move in a certain way. How do I wanna move with this song?'" The singer then watched some of the old rehearsal footage back in the talk show studio. He said: "Those moves that you just showed everybody - none of those ones got used. So still available! [Laughs]" The 40th anniversary edition of the Stop Making Sense album will be released along with the remastered live film on July 26 as a 2LP and 2CD/Blu-ray set. Also in May, the tribute album Everyone's Getting Involved: A Tribute To Stop Making Sense was released. The song-for-song tribute album featured covers from the likes of Miley Cyrus, Paramore, Lorde and The National. Talking Heads' full Tonight Show interview can be viewed on YouTube. - New Musical Express, 6/14/24...... The HBO fantasy drama series House of the Dragon star Fabien Frankel has revealed that he auditioned for the role of George Harrison in one of director Sam Mendes' upcoming Beatles biopics. Announced in February, the four biographical films will each be told from the perspective of a different Beatles group member, and will intersect to "tell the story of the greatest band in history." "I read to play George," Frankel told New Musical Express. "I had an audition. But I just think I look a little Latino. I just don't think I could, but I would love to play George." Frankel added that he never got to read the finished script, explaining that it was a "transcribed audition." Previously, it was reported that Paul Mescal will portray Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon, Barry Keoghan will be Ringo Starr and Charlie Rowe will star as George Harrison. The upcoming biopics mark the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles -- McCartney, Starr, along with the families of John Lennon and George Harrison -- have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film. The films are set to have a global release in 2027, with the band saying in a statement: "The dating cadence of the films, the details of which will be shared closer to release, will be innovative and groundbreaking." - NME, 6/14/24...... In other Beatles-related news, on June 10 Paul McCartney took to his website to announce a handful of tour dates in South America this fall. The trek will kick off in Montevideo, Uruguay on Oct. 1, before he performs in Bueno Aires, Argentina on Oct. 5 and Santiago, Chile on Oct. 11. After a short break, Macca will return to Argentina for an Oct. 23 show in Crdoba before he ends his tour in Lima, Peru on Oct. 27. Meanwhile, McCartney and his '70s band Wings have released their 1974 live studio album One Hand Clapping for the first time ever. Discs 1 and 2 are newly mixed with 12 tracks that didn’t appear in the original film, including reworked extracts of Beatles classics. The package includes original artwork, plus a TV sales brochure created for the film. - NME, 6/11/24...... 
London's High Court has ordered disgraced '70s glam-rocker Gary Glitter to pay over £500,000 in damages to a victim he was convicted of sexually abusing. Glitter (real name Paul Gadd), had the lawsuit filed against him in March by one of the three victims he was convicted of assaulting in the landmark 2015 case. The incidents originally took place between 1975 and 1980. Gadd denied all the charges, but was acquitted of three other counts. In the current lawsuit, Gadd was ordered to pay over £500,000 to the claimant. He may also have to pay her legal fees, though that is currently undecided. Gadd did not respond to the compensation claim or attend the hearing. In the decision, the judge began the assessment of damages by stating: "There is no doubt that the claimant was subject to sexual abuse of the most serious kind by the defendant when she was only 12 years old and that has had a very significant adverse impact on the rest of her life." According to the document, Gadd met the claimant and her mother backstage at one of his shows and "plied them with champagne," eventually isolating the young girl and assaulting her. The judge wrote there were "further sexual assaults," including an incident taking place at Gadd's house in London. "Gadd's refusal to engage with the process merely proves his utter lack of remorse, something we will be reminding the Parole Board about if he makes another application for early release.," the claimant's lawyer told The Guardian. "We will be pursuing Gadd for payment and will continue to support our client through this process." A parole board recently ruled that Glitter will remain in prison until his next hearing. - NME, 6/12/24...... Legendary producer/songwriter/musician Quincy Jones is set to receive an honorary Oscar at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' 15th Governors Awards on Nov. 17 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood. It will be the second honorary Oscar for Jones, 91, who was voted the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994. Jones accepted that award on the Oscar telecast in 1995 from his longtime friend Oprah Winfrey, saying in part, "This moment, this evening, this spot where I stand tonight was not my destination when I was young and full of vinegar. I did not engineer this journey. To tell you the truth, I don't think I could even see this far. And now that I'm older and full of wonder, I can see that maybe other forces were at the wheel." Jones has received seven Oscar nominations, but has yet to win a competitive Oscar (keeping him from being an "EGOT" (Emmy/Grammy/Oscar/Tony) winner). Nonetheless, Jones has made Oscar history many times. He was the first Black musician to be hired as music director on the annual Oscar telecast, and in 1967, he became the first Black composer to receive an Oscar nomination for best original song for "The Eyes of Love" from Banning. Other films in which he has been nominated for an Oscar include In Cold Blood (1967), The Wiz (1978) and The Color Purple (1985). The Honorary Award is given "to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences of any discipline, or for outstanding service to the Academy." - Billboard, 6/12/24...... Alexander Morris of the legendary R&B vocal quartet The Four Tops has sued a hospital for alleged racial discrimination and false imprisonment. Morris has filed the lawsuit against a Michigan hospital, who he claims put him in a restraining jacket when Morris told them he was in the legendary Motown group. The Four Tops singer went to the emergency room at Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital on Apr. 7, 2023, as he was apparently suffering from chest pains and had difficulty breathing whilst singing and touring with The Temptations. However, upon telling the hospital about his profession, Morris alleges white hospital staff "wrongfully assumed he was mentally ill" and placed him in "a restraining jacket and/or a four-point restraint mechanism." He went on to accuse staff of removing his oxygen, and ordering him to wait for a compulsory psychological evaluation. The lawsuit also claims staff refused to confirm his identity, his "significant" history of cardiac disease, or even see his identification card. According to Morris, upon offering to show his card, a white male security guard told him to "sit his Black ass down": "None of the nursing staff intervened to stop the racial discrimination and mistreatment," the lawsuit also reads. Morris was said to have been released from his straitjacket upon convincing a nurse to watch a video of him performing at the Grammys (Morris has been part of the group since 2019). The nurse apparently then "realized" he was a member of the Four Tops and told other hospital staff; only then was the psychological evaluation said to have been cancelled and Morris released from his restraints and treated. The lawsuit alleges he was eventually diagnosed with a "severe heart condition and pneumonia." According to the lawsuit, a hospital security guard contacted Morris afterwards to notify him the guard who restrained him allegedly had a history of making racist comments and "frequently used excessive force with patients." The guard also claimed employees tampered with Morris' incident report, and that employees were instructed not to discuss what took place. In a statement sent to Rolling Stone, Ascension Hospital said although it couldn't comment specifically on the incident, "we do not condone racial discrimination of any kind. The health, safety and well-being of our patients, associates and community members remains our top priority. We remain committed to honouring human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion for all persons and the community." - NME, 6/12/24...... 
Styx and Foreigner kicked off their co-headlining Renegades & Juke Box Heroes Tour on June 11 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Touring together for the first time in a decade, the two classic rock icons will visit 36 North American dates through August, and will also release a joint compilation album, Renegades & Juke Box Heroes, on vinyl in conjunction with the trek. Available at tour stops and, as of July 12, at retail, it features four songs from each band, divided onto separate sides. With former The Babys frontman John Waite opening, the tour will be filled AOR-era hits, from Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time," "Cold As Ice," "Urgent," "Juke Box Hero" and "I Want to Know What Love Is" to Styx's "Lady," "Come Sail Away," "Renegade" and "Mr. Roboto." Foreigner, in the midst of a farewell tour that's slated to go into 2025, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 19 in Cleveland after its first nomination, following an extensive campaign spearheaded by founder Mick Jones' son-in-law Mark Ronson. Styx is still waiting for that honor but has been (comparatively) prolific in the last decade, with new albums in 2017 (The Mission) and 2021 (Crash of the Crown). "It's always been good, the respect and admiration we have for Foreigner and their music," Styx's Tommy Shaw told Billboard of the kinship between the two groups. "They're going for excellence all the time, and they're achieving it. I think they are also true to the DNA of the music and really do a great job of playing the songs people have loved for so many years." Current Foreigner frontman Kelly Hansen adds that, "Both bands came out of the same era, the same kind of machinery of the time, of the '70s, when recording techniques were expanding colossally, when all different kinds of bands on a wide spectrum were all on the same radio station together, when every song you heard was completely different. It was a really a bountiful time, and I think that's something both of these bands have experienced that kind of bonds us and creates a camaraderie." - Billboard, 6/11/24...... Gladys Knight glistening through renditions of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia," and Patti LaBelle kicking off her shoes during a spirited rendering of "Oh, People" were only two of the events that wowed the audience of the Juneteenth celebration on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. on June 10. The second White House concert in celebration of Juneteenth was a joyous affair from start to finish. Knight's and LaBelle's performances were bookended by opening remarks from Vice-Pres. Kamala Harris and closing comments from Pres. Joe Biden, who both stayed for the entire event that took place three years after Pres. Biden signed bipartisan legislation establishing June 19 as a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Musical performances spanned a gamut of genres and decades, with the likes of Anthony Hamilton, Brittney Spencer, Trombone Shorty, Raheem DeVaughn, Doug E. Fresh and Patina Miller also taking the stage. - Billboard, 6/11/24...... Peter Frampton was honored with the 2024 Les Paul Spirit Award at the Gibson Garage Nashville on June 9, which would have been Paul's 109th birthday. Frampton spoke about his admiration for and friendship with Les Paul, after which he performed. The award was made from a piece of wood from Les Paul's acoustic wall from his home in Mahwah, N.J., and was presented by Michael Braunstein, executive director of the Les Paul Foundation, in partnership with Gibson Gives. The annual award, created and presented by the Les Paul Foundation (this year, in partnership with Gibson Gives, the philanthropic division of Gibson), goes to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of the late Les Paul through innovation, engineering, technology and/or music. In addition to the award, a grant from the Les Paul Foundation will be made in the honoree's name to the charity of his choice. Frampton is the fourth recipient of the award, following Bob Weir, Nile Rodgers and U2's The Edge. - Billboard, 6/11/24...... Elvis Presley's actress granddaughter Riley Keough has cowritten a book with Lisa Marie Presley based on her late mother's writings and tapes which Lisa Marie requested Riley to help her finish only a month before Lisa Marie's 2023 death. Entitled From Here to the Great Unknown, the memoir is set to be published by Random House on Oct. 8. - People, 6/17/24...... Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown, a three-part docuseries about the 1978 mass murder-suicide of more than 900 Americans, launches on the streaming channel Hulu on June 17. The special revisits the tragedy via two groups of survivors: former members of Jim Jones's Peoples Temple cult and the team of U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan brought to Guyana on an ill-fated rescue mission. It's at once a chilling portrait of evil and an inspiring story of bravery. - People, 6/24/24...... 
Steve Nicks brought her solo headling summer to Connecticut's 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena on June 9. Nicks was a lively conversationalist, letting her sense of humor shine while telling the crowd about her early days with Fleetwood Mac in the 1970s, how her debut solo album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1981, and what's currently on her mind in 2024. Ahead of singing, she used her platform to nudge people to vote in the upcoming US presidential election, something she failed to do for many years. One of Nicks' only regrets -- of which she has very few, she says -- is not voting earlier in her life. "We should all vote," Nicks told the crowd. "We should. I didn't vote until I was like 70 years old," she said. The show featured setlist staples like "Dreams," "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Stand Back," "Leather and Lace," "Rhiannon," "Gypsy" and an encore of "Landslide," a beautiful tribute to late best friend and bandmate Christine McVie, who sadly passed away in 2022. Mixed in with the chart-toppers were the singer-songwriter's stories, almost like mini lessons on the history of Nicks' path. After leaving the stage briefly toward the end of the concert, Nicks and her band returned for a two-song encore, likely the most-anticipated pair of Fleetwood Mac songs Nicks would deliver that night, "Rhiannon" and "Landslide." Her eyes glistening as she sang, Nicks delivered a beautiful performance of "Landslide," the 1975 FM ballad that's more than stood the test of time. As fans sang along, a video montage played of photos featuring McVie (many being snapshots of Nicks with McVie) across the big stage screen at Mohegan Sun Arena. With the stage set up in her memory, Nicks closes the show backed by the spirit of her longtime friend and musical collaborator each night she performs. Meanwile, the full line-up has been announced for Nicks' headline UK show at BST Hyde Park 2024 has been announced on X. Nicks is set to perform at the summer concert series on July 12. It comes as part of her 2024 UK and Ireland tour, which kicks off in Dublin on July 3, also hitting Glasgow on July 6 and Manchester on July 9. - Billboard, 6/10/24...... Rod Stewart has joked to retired football superstar David Beckham that his knighthood is "coming soon." Stewart, 79, made the comment while attending an event at the The King's Foundation on June 11. "(Stewart's wife) Penny (Lancaster) and I are so honoured to be (The King's Foundation) ambassadors," Rod said to the audience, that included David Beckham and King Charles III. "I'm also wonderfully honoured to be a knight and David, yours is coming soon." Beckham, 49, has recently started working with The King's Foundation, an education charity which aims to create better communities. In May, the football star visited The King's Highgrove home. After the meeting, David revealed they spoke about the charity, and also exchanged beekeeping tips. - Music-News.com, 6/12/24...... Actress Elizabeth MacRae, who played Lou-Ann Poovie on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and also appeared in the acclaimed Francis Ford Coppola-directed 1974 drama The Conversation, died on May 28 in Fayetteville, N.C. No cause of death was given. She was 88. - People, 6/17/24...... Actor Tom Bower, best known for his roles in The Waltons as Dr. Curtis Willard and later in Die Hard 2, died at his home in Los Angeles on May 30. No cause of death was given. He was 86. - People, 6/24/24...... Françoise Hardy the beloved French pop singer, actress and model, died on June 11 after a long battle with cancer. She was 80. One of the most versatile and beloved French artists of her generation, Ms. Hardy was best known for her melancholy ballads and became one of the leading lights of the "Y-y style" of music, whose name was a spin on the frequent "yeah, yeah" chants in English language pop songs of the era by the likes of the Beatles. More hits followed, including "Je Suis D'Accord" and "Le Temps de L'Amour" and in 1963 Ms. Hardy came in fifth place as the entry from Monaco in that year's Eurovision Song Contest. In addition to influencing (and being fawned over by) everyone from Bob Dylan to Mick Jagger to David Bowie, Ms. Hardy became a muse for fashion designers Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne as well, with famed photographers Richard Avedon and William Klein shooting her over the years. Dylan was so entranced by her, in fact, that in the liner notes of his 1964 Another Side of Bob Dylan album he included a poem in her honor that began, "For Françoise Hardy, at the Seine's edge, a giant shadow of Notre Dame seeks t' grab my foot." In addition to collaborating with everyone from Iggy Pop to Blur, Ms. Hardy also appeared in films by such acclaimed directors Jean-Luc Godard (1966's Masculine Feminine) and John Frankenheimer (Grand Prix). Her son, musician Thomas Dutronc, announced her passing in a touching Instagram post featuring a picture of him as a baby in the arms of his mother with the message "Maman est partie (mom is gone)." - Billboard, 6/12/24...... 
Songwriter Mark James, who composed several of the most iconic songs in pop and rock history, died at his home in Nashville on June 8. He was 83. Mr. James was known for penning such famous hits as Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds," Willie Nelson's (and Pet Shop Boys') "Always On My Mind," and B.J. Thomas' (and Blue Swede's) "Hooked On a Feeling." Mr. James won two Grammy Awards -- song of the year and best country song -- for "Always on My Mind," an exquisite ballad he co-wrote with Johnny Christopher and the late Wayne Carson. The song was also named song of the year by the Country Music Association in both 1982 and 1983. Mr. James was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame the following year. Thomas and Hunter Hayes performed Mr. James' songs at the latter event. His other notable hits included "The Eyes of a New York Woman," a top 30 Hot 100 hit for B.J. Thomas in 1968; "Moody Blue," a top 40 Hot 100 hit for Elvis Presley in 1977 and the title track of his last studio album released in his lifetime; and "Sunday Sunrise," a top 10 hit on Hot Country Songs in 1973 for Brenda Lee. Born Francis Rodney Zambon on Nov. 29, 1940, in Houston, Tex., Mr. James befriended B.J. Thomas, who grew up in nearby Rosenberg, Texas, while both were still young. (Thomas died in 2021 at age 78.) By the late 1960s, Mr. James was signed as a staff songwriter to Memphis producer Chips Moman's publishing company. Moman produced Thomas' versions of James' songs "The Eyes of a New York Woman", "Hooked on a Feeling" and "It's Only Love" (which James co-wrote with Steve Tyrell). All three singles made the top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968-69. Mr. James released his own version of "Suspicious Minds," also produced by Moman, on Scepter Records in 1968. Presley's 1969 version, co-produced by Moman and Felton Jarvis, topped the Hot 100 in the issue dated Nov. 1, 1969, becoming the final No. 1 for the King of Rock and Roll. In 1972, Mr. James signed a long-term contract with Screen Gems-Columbia Music. In 1973, Brenda Lee landed a top 10 hit on Hot Country Songs with Mr. James' "Sunday Sunrise." Anne Murray revived the song with some success in 1975. Fine Young Cannibals, Jay-Z, Dwight Yoakam and Bill Withers are among the other artists who have recorded Mr. James' songs, and his songs have also been featured in such films as Kramer vs. Kramer, Black Hawk Down and Reservoir Dogs. - Billboard, 6/13/24...... Angela Bofill, one of the first Latina singers to find success in R&B and jazz with hits like "I Try" and "This Time I'll Be Sweeter," died on June 13 at age 70. Born in Brooklyn of Cuban-Puerto Rican descent, Bofill had her first hit in 1978 with "This Time I'll Be Sweeter," and also sang backing vocals for Diana Ross. After suffering a stroke in 2007, the singer returned to the stage five years later, and was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2023. Singer Sheila E. paid tribute to Bofill on social media, calling her "my sister my queen." - People, 7/1/24...... NBA legend Jerry West, whose image was the model for the NBA's logo, died on June 12. He was 86. Mr. West, known as "Mr. Clutch," spent his entire 14-season career from 1960 to 1974 with the Los Angeles Lakers and was known as a guard who could make a shot under pressure. With an average of 27 points per regular season game, Mr. West is still the eighth-highest scorer in NBA history. Tough on the court (his nose was reportedly broken nine times), Mr. West made another significant mark as the Lakers' GM when the team won three championships with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson and when, in 1996, he signed Kobe Bryant. - People, 7/1/24.
Eccentric American rockers David Byrne and Devo have shared an unearthed collaborative song called "Empire" on YouTube. The track was originally written by the pair for the former Talking Heads frontman's fifth solo album, 1997's Feelings, but it didn't make the final cut. A version of the tune appears on Byrne's 2004 record Grown Backwards. As announced earlier in 2024, the almost three-decade-old team-up between Byrne and Devo will feature on Noise For Now, Vol. 2 -- a charity compilation to benefit independent abortion providers in the US. The collection is due for release on June 21, marking two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. Other artists to have contributed to the project include Faye Webster, The War On Drugs and Courtney Barnett. The Noise For Now non-profit "enables artists and entertainers to connect with and financially support grassroots organisations that work in the field of Reproductive Justice, including abortion access," according to its official website. - NME, 6/7/24...... 
Music PR exec Alan Edwards, founder of the celebrated British PR film The Outside Organisation, has published his memoir I Was There: Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll in which he talks about working alongside the likes of David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Prince and Britney Spears. Edwards says he met Bowie in the early '80s after the rock star had acted in 1983 war epic Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, and he "was being treated like a movie star, but also he had just been dropped by his record label because Low and "Heroes" weren't being deemed as good commercially as stuff like Bay City Rollers. "It was when I went on tour with him that it started to sink in how down-to-earth and charming he was," Edwards told New Musical Express. "He'd turn up at our office in Tottenham Court Road and make coffee for everyone. He told me his secret to not being recognised was to wear a cloth cap and have a Greek newspaper under his arm. That way if anyone ever questioned whether it was him, they'd look closer and think, 'Well it can't be -- he's obviously Greek'." Edwards gives an example in his book of how modest the superstar was: "There was one time after a radio interview he had nothing better to do, so he decided to present the station's traffic reports. He sat there telling people there were delays on the M25& and even to this day I don't think anyone knew it was David Bowie. He was this extraordinary creative genius, but also a pure, disarming, nice gentleman." Meanwhile in other Bowie-related news, 50 rat sculptures are set to appear in Hull, UK, in honor of Bowie's late guitarist Mick Ronson. The giant statues -- which will stand at six-feet-tall -- will create an art trail across Hull and East Yorkshire. Prior to gaining fame as Bowie's lead guitarist, Ronson was a member of the British rock band The Rats in 1966. Ronson, who was born and raised in Hull in 1946, went on to play on Bowie's iconic and influential 1972 concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and 1973's Aladdin Sane. He went on to work with other legendary rock icons such as Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and more. Ronson passed in 1993 at the age of 46 after battling liver cancer. - New Musical Express, 6/9/24...... Robert Plant and his recent collaborator Alison Krauss released a hypnotic live version of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" on YouTube on June 7. Although Plant has mostly kept his Zeppelin past at arms-length since the group officially disbanded in 1980, here are a few songs from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band's revered catalog that he has revisited and revised over the years, including on his current "Can't Let Go" summer tour with Krauss. In the mesmerizing version of "Levee," the pair transform the 1929 Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy blues number into a mix of Celtic dirge and mournful country ballad with a combination of hand drums and fiddles complimenting their intertwined vocals. The "Levee" version that they've been performing live together since 2007 has echoes of the Middle Eastern influences heard on the 1994 Jimmy Page and Plant live LP No Quarter and epresents their first new music release since their Grammy-nominated 2021 album Raise the Roof. "Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan/ Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan/ It's got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home," Plant croons as Krauss doubles his vocals, giving the already ominous arrangement a more haunting feel. The pair are performing "Levee" along with some other reworked Led Zep songs such as "Gallows Pole" and "The Battle of Evermore" as part of the tour, which also spotlights their takes on a number of other classic rock, country and bluegrass standards from Raise the Roof and its Grammy-winning predecessor, 2007's Raising Sand. The Can't Let Go tour kicked off on June 2 in Tulsa, Okla. - Billboard, 6/7/24...... 
Among the things Roger Daltrey fans won't see on Daltrey's 11-date North American tour which kicked off June 10 in Glenside, Pa., is The Who frontman's famous banshee-like scream near the end of the Who classic "Won't Get Fooled Again." "We don't use a tape loop for the instrumentation. We do it on real instruments. It just takes it off the rails and gives me more room as a singer," Daltrey told Billboard during a Zoom call from his native UK. That said, Daltrey notes, "I'm not gonna do the scream. I'm gonna get the f---ing audience to do the scream. I've done that scream for 55 years, and I've had enough of it. I don't even want to try it now; it's brutal on the vocal cords. They can do the scream, and I'll do everything else. I'm more into singing these days. At the age of 80, I think I deserve to be." Daltrey describes his June tour as "a mostly acoustic set of Who gems, rarities, solo nuggets and other surprises," along with Q&A opportunities for the audiences. Daltrey's band for the tour includes Who backing musicians Simon Townshend (Pete Townshend's younger brother) on guitar, guitarist Doug Boyle, bassist John Hogg, keyboardist Geraint Watkins and drummer Scott Devours, with various other musicians on violin, mandolin, harmonica and accordion. As for the Q&A part of the night, Daltrey says he did something similar for a show in England back in 2022 and enjoyed it. Fans will be able to submit written questions to boxes at the venues before the show, then the band will review them backstage and choose "the most interesting ones -- and I just draw them out of a hat. It creates a great deal of fun, and you can get some good comedy out of it if you're lucky." "I'm actually looking forward to a tour!," adds Daltrey, who most recently did symphonic tours he and Pete began in 2019. "I'm out there to have a good time this time." Hitting mostly medium-sized cities in the Eastern US and Canada, along with Boston (6/20) and Detroit (6/25), the tour wraps on June 29 in Highland Park, Ill. - Billboard, 6/7/24...... Former The Sex Pistols members Paul Cook, Glen Matlock and Steve Jones, along with vocalist Frank Carter, have added an extra show to their run of gigs at London's Shepherd's Bush Hall in August, in which they'll be performing the Pistols' iconic 1977 album Never Mind The Bollocks in its entirety to raise funds for the Shepherd's Bush venue. After the dates on Aug. 13 and 14 sold out, they have now added a third show on Aug. 15. Earlier in 2024 the venue revealed that it needed to raise 42,000 through crowdfunding to prevent it from losing its music status, as it saw a 24.5% decrease in live music bookings in 2023. - NME, 6/7/24...... After fans in Marseille, Prague and Milan staged their own informal events and sang along to some of Bruce Springsteen's classic tracks after the New Jersey rocker was ordered to rest his voice after contracting a virus that forced him to call off concerts in those cities, the Boss was so touched that he posted a message on Instagram to the fans. "It's Bruce Springsteen, calling from the wild lands of New Jersey, where I'm just getting over my vocal bug," the 74-year-old musician wrote. "I have to apologize again for missing those concerts. But more importantly than that, I have to thank our incredible fans in the cities of Marseilles and Milan and Prague for their beautiful serenading when we weren't feeling so good." He continued: "It was really touching, deeply emotional, and it's something I won't forget. We will be back and we will give you the show of your lives. Thank you very much!" Springsteen also thanked his British and Irish fans for "giving us a series of shows that were deeply memorable." "We just had great times there," he posted. "We'll be back, coming back to Madrid and Barcelona where we plan to rock you into the ground! Alright, be seeing you soon. Bye-bye." Springsteen is expected to return to the stage on June 12 in Madrid, Spain. Meanwhile, Springsteen and Elvis Costello will be among a superstar group of rock icons appearing an upcoming tribute album honoring Jesse Malin as the beloved punk troubadour continues his recovery from a spinal stroke he suffered in 2023 that left him partially paralyzed. Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin is due out on Sept. 20 and will also feature Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, late MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and many more. Malin's gutter poetry songwriting acumen has made him a favorite among his fellow composers, and the new album will also feature contributions from Counting Crows, Dinosaur Jr., Spoon, The Wallflowers, Tommy Stinson (The Replacements) and Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles). - Music-News.com/Billboard, 6/7/24...... Prince's sister Tyka Nelson opened up about her final conversations with the late rock icon and innovator in a new interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Nelson, who is Prince's only full sibling as they have five half brothers and sisters, said that she was not aware of Prince's illness on Feb. 15, 2016, in which he became unresponsive and the plane in which he was flyng made an emergency landing in Moline, Ill. Prince was immediately hospitalized and given naloxone -- which is used to reverse a narcotic overdose. Upon becoming conscious and ignoring medical advice, the "Purple Rain" singer left the hospital. On Apr. 21, the 57-year-old Prince was found death in his Paisley Park compound in Chanhassen, Minn., and his cause of death was ruled due to an accidental overdose on fentanyl. Tyka, who says the last time she saw her brother was two days after his plane's emergency landing, said she was not aware of his illness but when she hugged him, she felt he had lost some weight. "A couple of times I said, 'How are you really?' He didn't go into anything with me. That was bothering me, and he knew it was but that was all he wanted to tell me," she said. "I don't want to go into that. You're going to spoil the book. Don't you want me to make money?" Nelson revealed that the final interaction between her and Prince occurred four days prior to his death. "He kept avoiding questions. I kept getting mad. I felt like 'talk to me for two seconds.' He'd change the subject, make a joke and then we'd both laugh," she told the publication. Nelson, who is a performer herself, is set to retire from performing on June 8 after one last show in Minneapolis. She is also in the process of writing a memoir. In other news, it was recently announced that Prince's Minneapolis house, which was featured in Purple Rain, will be available to rent as an Airbnb for a year. - NME, 6/6/24...... 
David Draiman, frontman of the UK band Disturbed, is continuing his feud with former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters, describing him as "anti-Semitic to his rotten core." Draiman, who is Jewish, shared his opinion of the rock veteran during a new interview with Linda Advocate, in which he looked back at the considerable accusations of anti-Semitism Waters has faced over recent years. "He's a piece of work, that deluded old freak," Draiman began. "Antisemitic to his rotten core. Just ask David Gilmour and his wife -- they'll testify to it." The latter part of the comment refers to the tension between Waters and his Pink Floyd bandmate. In 2023, Gilmour's wife Polly Samson claimed that Waters was "antisemitic to [his] rotten core," as well as "a [Vladimir] Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac." Gilmour reposted that tweet as well, and told his followers that his spouse's claims were "demonstrably true." Draiman, who has been vocal about his feelings towards Waters in the past, continued his tirade: "He's a coward. He's a hypocrite. He is a supporter of dictators and dictatorial regimes all over the world. He's an apologist for Putin and apologist for anybody that's on the wrong side of history. He's a deluded wannabe-socialist as well. The guy is a bully. It's all about hate-fuelled anti-Semitic, spite-filled narrative that continues to fuel this narrative of demonisation of our people. He's a monster." Commenting on the Israel-Hamas war, Draiman said that although he does have "empathy for the Palestinian people," he believes that "Hamas celebrates death" and needs "to be eradicated." For his part, Waters has always denied all accusations of anti-Semitism made against him, and during a 2023 concert in Birmingham UK told the audience he was "pissed off" at "the antisemitism bullshit." He added: "They're trying to cancel me like they cancelled Jeremy Corbyn and Julian Assange. I will not be cancelled." - NME, 6/6/24...... As she opened the annual Country Music Association (CME) Fest in Nashville on June 6, Dolly Parton revealed to fans she's "finally developing" a Broadway show about her life. Dolly says the musical will be called "Hello, I'm Dolly," which is named after her first studio album release in 1967, and that it's set to debut in 2026. "Very excited about that, so you'll get to know all my life up to now, and it's not a jukebox musical," the 78-year-old star said. She added she's been writing the script, music and lyrics for "several years." "I tried for years, how to do my life story and make it make sense," she told the crowd. The show is different from the London West End jukebox musical "Here You Come Again," which features Dolly's songs and is currently on tour in England. At CMA Fest, the 11-time Grammy winner also announced two other ventures. "Dolly Wines" is a line of vino that will be available beginning in July, and feature sparkling wines, as well as a rosé and a Chardonnay. She also confirmed she is opening a hotel and museum in Nashville, called the Songteller Hotel. The museum will feature clothing items and artefacts from her six-decade long career, and will sit next to a hotel. "I've always wanted a hotel here in Nashville and a museum here," she said. The Songteller is the name of Dolly's 2020 autobiography. Dolly also recently told E! News that she wants to be involved in a remake of her hit 1980 comedy 9 to 5 in which she co-starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Parton says she'd like Fonda, 86, and Tomlin, 84, involved as well. "I'm hoping they use my song, and I'm hoping they might find a way to have Lily, Jane and me come back in," she said. - Music-News.com, 6/7/24...... 
The Detroit-based proto-punk band MC5 have shared details of Heavy Lifting -- their first new studio album in over five decades -- and shared its lead single, "Boys Who Play With Matches," on YouTube. Announced on June 6, the project will feature both guitar and vocals from the founding member Wayne Kramer, who died in February at age 75 following a battle with pancreatic cancer, as well as a number of special guest appearances. Kramer was prolific for his work with the band over the past five decades, and the last remaining active member of the line-up. Before his death, he co-wrote 12 of the 13 songs that feature on the upcoming album alongside Oakland singer-songwriter Brad Brooks. Drummer Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson also contributed to the forthcoming LP shortly before his death in May. It will be his final studio recording. Set to arrive on Oct. 18, it is the first full album the band has released since High Time in 1971. In a Nov. 2023 interview with the UK's Uncut music mag, Kramer said the new album "continues from where High Time left off. "In that, I think it's an artist's responsibility to reflect the times they're going through. And I think that we made an album that is in sync with where we're at today and the challenges that we're facing, and that carries a positive message." The LP will feature guest appearances from the likes of Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello, Slash, William Duvall (Alice In Chains), Tim McIllrath (Rise Against) and more. A bonus LP edition will feature peviously unreleased live recordings and appearances from Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, and vocalist Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla). Heavy Lifting's Oct. 18 release date is also one day before the band will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame class of 2024, alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, and others. As well as the loss of both Kramer and Thompson, this April also saw the unexpected death of MC5's former manager John Sinclair. - NME, 6/6/24.
As 
On June 1 Steve Miller shared his thoughts on rap superstar Eminem's interpolation of Miller's chart-topping hit "Abracadabra" in Eminem's latest single, "Houdini." "There is a long chain of stories, poetry, lyrics, and musical roots that have crossed cultures and generations inspiring the whole world for hundreds of years and in all those lines of thought, music, and rhythm there are special artists who take it all in and create new original ideas from their own feelings and experiences," Miller wrote in a lengthy message on 
Former The Sex Pistols members Glen Matlock, Paul Cook and Steve Jones are joining forces with Frank Carter to save the historic West London venue Bush Hall with two concerts on Aug. 13 and 14. The Sex Pistols, one of the most influential rock bands of all time, will be joined by the electric frontman Frank Carter at Bush Hall to perform the Sex Pistols' iconic 1977 album 
Elton John announced on 
The iconic "lost" 1964 Framus Hootenanny acoustic guitar used by John Lennon during the 1965 sessions for the Beatles' Help! album set a new record when it sold for $2.9 million at a Julien's auction on May 29. The auction was conducted at the Times Square Hard Rock Café in New York. The Framus 12-string -- which was also used by Lennon's late Beatles bandmate George Harrison during the sessions for the Fab Four's 1966 Rubber Soul LP and was heard and seen on the Help! album and movie -- was purchased via a phone bid from an undisclosed buyer. The guitar went missing for nearly 50 years after Lennon gave it to Gordon Waller of the British duo Peter & Gordon, who he and Paul McCartney had been writing songs for. Waller, in turn, gave it to his manager, who stashed it in an attic of his home, according to Julien's. Julien co-founder Darren Julien said in a YouTube video that a British man found the guitar and its case in his parent's attic when they were moving out and promptly reached out to the auction house, who authenticated it with a Beatles expert. The guitar was initially valued at an estimated $600,000-$800,000 before selling to the anonymous buyer for $2,857,500. Julien's said the sale made it the most expensive Beatles guitar to ever sell at auction. In 2015, another Lennon acoustic guitar sold at auction for a then-record $2.4 million. - Billboard, 5/30/24...... In other Beatles news, a blue plaque of English Heritage has been placed at George Harrison's childhood home in Liverpool. Harrison's widow, Olivia Harrison, unveiled the tribute at the house in Arnold Grove, Liverpool. Olivia went on to say that the plaque was "a source of family pride." Harrison -- who passed in 2001 at the age of 58 after battling cancer -- was born in 1943 and lived in the terraced house in the Wavertree district of the city until the age of seven. The plaque is one of the first official English Heritage blue plaques to be placed on a property outside London. The Liverpool Beatles Museum posted a pic of the plaque to their 
On May 30 Heart announced in an 
"Eye of the Tiger," the legendary pump-up anthem by classic rockers Survivor used in the 1982 Rocky III movie, has just hit 1 billion views on YouTube. The 
Barry Manilow was back on stage at the London Palladium on May 28 after cancelling one of his farewell shows at the legendary venue the previous day on "doctor's orders." According to Metro UK, the singer, 80, called off his May 27 gig with just hours to go, writing on Instagram, "Unfortunately, under doctor's orders, we must cancel tonight's 27th May Barry Manilow concert." Hundreds of disappointed fans were reported to be lined up outside the theater when the news was announced. Though upset, "Fanilows" spread the love to the "Mandy" singer in comments on the X post about the rescheduling, with one writing, "Good news, what a relief to know you're feeling better (if the doctor is OK, I'm happy you can perform today). You can count on me tonight and for the 10 other concerts (evening & afternoon)." Manilow is in the middle of a nine-show residency run at the venue entitled "The Last, Last UK Concerts." The shows are slated to run through June 9. The setting is fitting because the London Palladium was where the "Mandy" singer performed his first UK gigs in 1978. Manilow's tour schedule can be viewed on 
Peter Frampton will be honored as a recipient of the Les Paul Spirit Award during a private event at the Gibson Garage venue in Nashville on June 9. The annual award, created and presented by the Les Paul Foundation, goes to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of the late Les Paul through innovation, engineering, technology and/or music. In addition to the award, a grant from the Les Paul Foundation will be made in the honoree's name to the charity of his choice. Frampton is the fourth recipient of the award, following Bob Weir, Nile Rodgers and U2's The Edge. The Les Paul Spirit Award is made from hand-carved acoustic boards built by Paul, who died in 2009 at age 94, that he used in his home studio. Given the unique nature of the studio pieces which are being used to create them, no two Les Paul Spirit Awards will be exactly the same. Frampton, 74, was diagnosed with a degenerative muscle condition called inclusion body myositis (IBM) in 2019. Despite that health challenge, he continues to write and perform. - Billboard, 5/28/24...... The Swedish five-piece rock band The Hives have teamed up with Spotify for their Spotify Singles to release their rendition of Blue Swede's 1974 hit track "Hooked on a Feeling." Released on March 29 of that year, "Hooked on a Feeling" made history by becoming the first single by a Swedish artist to take the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. "Hooked on a Feeling" has racked up over 660 million streams on Spotify to date, in part thanks to its feature in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Reservoir Dogs. For their version of the song, which can be streamed on 
Doug Ingle, the original singer and organist of psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly, died on May 25. He was 78, and a cause of death was not provided. Ingle's son Doug Ingle Jr. shared the news of his father's passing on Facebook, writing, "It's with a heavy heart & great sadness to announce the passing of my Father Doug Ingle. Dad passed away peacefully this evening in the presence of family. Thank You Dad for being a father, teacher and friend. Cherished loving memories I will carry the rest of my days moving forward in this journey of life." Ingle, writer of Iron Butterfly's signature song