A campaign by fans of Steely Dan to rename a street in Forest Hills, N.Y. after band co-founder Walter Becker came to fruition on Oct. 28 when the corner of 112th St and 72nd Drive was co-named "Walter Becker Way." Becker, who passed away on Sept. 3, 2017 after a battle with esophageal cancer, grew up in the same neighborhood was honored with speeches from New York City Council Member Karen Koslowitz, who initiated the project, and Howard A. Rodman, Becker's longtime friend and collaborator. - Billboard, 10/29/18...... 
Charlie Daniels released his latest LP, Beau Weevils -- Songs in the Key of E. Plus, on Oct. 26, just two days before the legendary Southern rocker turned 82 years old. "It's not a dressed up record. It's not got a lot of electronics or overdubbing. It's pretty much straight ahead. It's just four people playing music," the Country Music Hall of Famer says about the album featuring contributions from drummer James Stroud, guitarist Billy Crain and bassist Charlie Hayward. "I like this album a lot. When I get through with an album, I just usually don't listen to it a lot. I go on to something else. I keep pulling this one out. It's a fun album and puts me in a good mood, so I listen to it quite a bit," he added. Meanwhile on Nov. 6 Daniels will release a new book, Let's All Make the Day Count: The Everyday Wisdom of Charlie Daniels, along with a companion 10-song CD also titled Let's All Make the Day Count with a rendition of the classic hymn "How Great Thou Art" along with other CDB rock classics. "This is not just something I'm writing. I've lived it," Daniels says of the book. "I want people to realize how valuable their lives are. Each day is a total blessing from God and to waste a day is a day gone. You can never ever get it back. Every day is a gift, so make the day count." - Billboard, 10/26/18...... Ringo Starr and Michael Jackson were among the honorees at an event in Beverly Hills on Oct. 25 called "The Paley Honors in Hollywood: A Gala Tribute to Music on Television." The event, which featured packaged salutes to musical performances and themes over nearly 70 years on television, took place at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. Ringo fondly recalled the Beatles' historic 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. "The Ed Sullivan Show. Yeah, we did that," Starr said, garnering a laugh from the audience. "We came to America, and you don't know where things are going in life. I was in a factory and I left there to play drums. I had a three-month gig, and after that, I was on my own, and then I was introduced to the other three lads. I'm here because we are celebrating the four of us... I well up a little bit because two of us aren't here." Starr, 77, also said people express surprise that he is still touring and making music. "'What? You're still doing it?' They say that all the time," he said. "What do you mean I'm still doing it? That's what I do. I'm not an electrician, but it is nice and I still love it." The evening also included salutes to other memorable musical moments from television, including music on TV series, awards shows, variety shows, talk shows, reality shows and musicals. The evening's other honoree was Michael Jackson, who was saluted by Motown founder Berry Gordy in a touching and often funny speech. Gordy noted Jackson's thrilling performance on Motown's 25th anniversary special in 1983, when the pop star made history with his "moonwalk." "That was the night his career went into orbit and never came down," Gordy recalled, before introducing a clip package that highlighted those performances and so much more, including Jackson's 1993 Super Bowl halftime performance and his groundbreaking videos. The funds raised from the Paley Honors will benefit the Paley Center's programming dedicated to music on television and the expansion of the Music Collection in the Paley Archive, the nation's largest publicly accessible archive of television and radio programming. - Billboard, 10/26/18...... In other Beatles-related news, Yoko Ono will be among the headliners at the UK's Manchester International Festival 2019 next July. The event will kick off with Ono's "Bells for Peace," which will see 8000 members of the public forming a bell orchestra in Manchester's Cathedral Gardens. "The beauty of this piece will break the sky and more," Ono said of the fortnight long event, which runs from July 4-21. "More than ever, we must come together to heal each other, and the world. Peace is power!" - New Musical Express, 10/29/18...... 
David Bowie's widow Inman has opened up about the pain of losing her husband in Jan. 2016 in a new interview with Net-A-Porter.com. "People take pictures of me in the street, and say [touching my arm]: 'I am so sorry for your loss.' I'm like, don't touch me. You just took pictures of me, how can you be sorry?," the supermodel said. "I get the fans' grief, but it's not the same. They have lost someone they look up to; we have lost a husband and a father. And sometimes, I don't want people to know how sad I am. People say to me, 'Oh, you're so strong.' I'm not strong -- I am just trying to keep it together," she added. When asked about the prospect of another relationship Iman, who was married to Bowie from 1992 until his death, said: "I will never remarry. I mentioned my husband the other day with someone, and they said to me: 'You mean your late husband?' I said, no, he is always going to be my husband. I do feel very lonely. But do I want a relationship? I can't say never, but no, not now." She added that her daughter with Bowie, Lexi Bowie, is keen to move to Los Angeles where Bowie's son Duncan Jones lives. "But one of her biggest fears is leaving me," Iman said. "I tell her: you are not responsible for me. It's the other way around." - NME, 10/28/18...... Stevie Wonder is among the contributors to a new Christmas album by veteran crooner John Legend. The yuletide LP, titeld A Legendary Christmas, also features an assist by one of Wonder's fellow Grammy-winners, Esperanza Spalding. Legend and Wonder collaborate on the album's opening track, "What Christmas Means to Me." - Billboard, 10/26/18...... Phil Collins' North American "Not Dead Yet Tour," which he launched on Oct. 5, has been a substantial success, coming in at No. 3 on Billboard Boxscore's top concert tally. The tour sold 96,311 tickets and grossed $14.4 million from seven shows according to the Hot Tours recap for the week ending Oct. 27. Collins brought the tour's name to life, selling out all seven shows. The leg's highest attendance tally came in Toronto, where he moved 14,686 tickets at the Scotiabank Arena and grossed $1.99 million. Meanwhile, Billy Joel's show in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Oct. 13 was good for a No. 7 place on the roundup. The Piano Man sold 33,422 tickets and grossed $3,698,043 with that show. - Billboard, 10/26/18...... Roberta Flack has just released Running, her first new album in eight years. "The music remains my lifeline," the 81-year-old Flack says. "And the lyrics for "Running" speak to where I am now, working to keep going through music," she added. The moving title track, written by Michael A. Levine, is the closing credits song for the documentary 3100: Run and Become, which focuses on aspirants participating in the annual Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race, the longest footrace in the world. The documentary premiered in New York City on Oct. 26, and will open in Los Angeles on Nov. 9 before going wide and digital. Flack was a longtime devotee of the late Guru Sri Chinmoy, an Indian spiritual leader who organized the 3100 Mile Race. "I used to meditate with Guru Chinmoy in the late '80s and '90s, read his writings and run with him," Flack said. - Billboard, 10/26/18...... 
Jackson Browne is among the contributors to a new free music compilation that hopes to help the Democrats flip the U.S. House of Representatives to blue in the Nov. 6 midterms. The 33-track Songs for Swing Left is available for free download and aims to raise funds and awareness for the Swing Left Campaign, which is encouraging voters in districts where 84 key seats are being contested to get involved. Browne's contribution is the song "Far From the Arms of Hunger," and each artist intros their contribution with a reminder to fans to get and vote in the midterms on Nov. 6. You can download any of the tracks for free by providing your email address, at which point you'll be connected with other volunteers in your area who are working to win a race in a swing district. - Billboard, 10/25/18...... The final trailer for the new Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was released on Oct. 25. It opens with actor Rami Malek as Mercury slowly putting on sunglasses in front of a mirror as doubts from others echo in his mind. The scene fades into a montage of vibrant outfits, crowded shows, dancing fans and music business meetings as the rock band's 1981 "Under Pressure" collaboration with David Bowie plays in the background. Bohemian Rhapsody premiered in the UK on Oct. 24 and hits US theaters on Nov. 2. - Billboard, 10/25/18...... A "hologram tour" showcasing late rock/pop legend Roy Orbison is currently underway and will hit Toronto's Sony Centre on Nov. 4. Orbison's son, Alex Orbison, understands there are skeptics when it comes to his dad's hologram tour, which comes 30 years after the "Oh, Pretty Woman" singer died from a heart attack at age 52 and has been criticized for being gimmicky or disrespectful. "Of course, people are going to have a feeling that they don't like the concept of this," said Alex, 43, whose company 'Roy's Boys' with brothers Roy, Jr. and Wesley are working with BASE Hologram, who also developed a Maria Callas tour this year. "The reason why it is (happening) now is just because finally the holograms have made a huge jump with the technology so they look much more real and the shows can be done on a tour basis," Alex says. "There's a risk, obviously, that it wouldn't work. But there's a benefit too from the amount of attention of doing something first," he adds. Alex says he's also working on a Roy Orbison big budget Hollywood biopic "that's been 100% of my focus for the last month or so." "We're so close to getting our team finally assembled," he says. "I can't say (who would play my dad) but we do want a slightly younger Roy Orbison, someone who's in their '30s or young '40s that can play the teen-to-20 Orbison." - Canoe.com, 10/28/18...... Neil Young and Rush are among the native Canadian artists honored with 2018 Polaris Music Prizes. Young was the winner in the 1960-1975 period category for his 1969 album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, while Rush took the prize in the 1976-1985 category for its 1976 LP 2112. The awards were created to honor albums that might have been nominated for, or possibly won, the esteemed Polaris Music Prize if it had existed before 2006. For the Heritage Prize, four short lists, which also include the time periods 1986-1995 and 1996-2005, were curated by a jury of music historians and music media. The international voting public and a small pool of the music media each vote on four albums for each of the time periods. The public can vote once per day. - Billboard, 10/24/18...... 
Meanwhile, Neil Young's sometime bandmate David Crosby released his latest studio project, Here If You Listen, on Oct. 30. Crosby recorded the LP with same foursome of musicians he used on his critically acclaimed 2016 album Lighthouse, which he created in collaboration with Snarky Puppy mastermind Michael League and vocalists Michelle Willis and Becca Stevens. "The chemistry was explosive," Crosby says of his work with the group. "I have never seen such a creative flow, ever, anywhere. We wrote a whole record and recorded it in eight days! It was crazy! Absolutely crazy!" Crosby says Here If You Listen is very much an album of the moment, filled with songs that address the current sociological and political landscape. Songs, like "Other Half Rule," which Crosby describes as a plea to "politely ask the women of the United States of America to save our butts," after centuries of patriarchal rule. It also contains a re-imagination of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," which Crosby first tackled while in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young back in 1970. "I came up with that different set of changes for 'Woodstock,'" he said. "At some point, I showed it to Becca, and she can play it better than I can, so she started playing it and we said, 'Oh f--- it, let's try it.' And we started singing it live. Four parts. And what happened was kind of magical. When we started doing it, the first time we hit that chorus, where it goes to reveal actual four different notes for a part, the audience started applauding right in the middle of the song." - Billboard, 10/25/18...... On Oct. 29 KISS announced details of the UK leg of their final ever world tour. The American glam-rock icons will visit Birmingham on July 9, London on July 11, Manchester on July 12, Newcastle on July 14, and Glasgow on July 16. "All that we have built and all that we have conquered over the past four decades could never have happened without the millions of people worldwide who've filled clubs, arenas and stadiums over those years," said KISS in a statement announcing their "End of the Road" tour. "This will be the ultimate celebration for those who've seen us and a last chance for those who haven't." - New Musical Express, 10/29/18...... Ozzy Osbourne shared a video on Twitter on Oct. 25 reassuring fans that he's made full recovery from an infection in his thumb that forced him to cancel several tour dates. The Prince of Darkness was hospitalised earlier in October after contracted a staph infection in his right thumb, and forced him to undergo multiple surgeries and postpone the last four shows of the autumn North American leg of his "No More Tours 2" trek. "I just want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your concern," Ozzy says in the clip. "My thumb is fully recovered now. I am looking forward to seeing you all this New Year's Eve at The Forum with Ozzfest." - NME, 10/26/18...... 
The unlikely duo of famed Star Trek actor William Shatner and punk rock legend Iggy Pop have shared their cover of the Christmas classic "Silent Night," which will appear on Shatner's upcoming Christmas album. Shatner Claus - The Christmas Album will be the actor's first-ever yuletide record and will feature him singing festive classics with the help of some special guests, including Henry Rollins, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Yes' Rick Wakeman, among others. The record will be released on Oct.26, via Cleopatra Records. Previously, Shatner has released a David Bowie covers album, Seeking Major Tom, and a prog-rock concept album, titled Ponder The Mystery, for the label. - NME, 10/24/18...... Country/blues singer and songwriter Tony Joe White, who penned such hits as "Polk Salad Annie" and "A Rainy Night in Georgia" that were covered by the likes of Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Jr., Tina Turner, Ray Charles and Waylon Jennings, died on Oct. 24 of as yet undisclosed causes in Nashville, Tenn. He was 75. White, originally from Louisiana, had a hit in 1969 with "Polk Salad Annie" and his music spanned many genres from country, rock, blues and R&B. His record label, Yep Roc, released his last album, Bad Mouthin', in September. - AP, 10/25/18...... Longtime Motown guitarist Melvin Ragin, known as "Wah Wah Watson" for his guitar and wah wah pedal sounds in sessions for Motown artists, died on Oct. 24. He was 67. Ragin joined the Motown house band, the Funk Brothers, in 1968, and was only 20 years old when he was called into Motown for a session with The Temptations, producer Norman Whitfield, which eventually led to his work on "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." Ragin played on endless iconic musical pieces throughout his career, including Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" and" I Want You," Quincy Jones' "Body Heat," Smokey Robinson's "Love Breeze" and Michael Jackson's 1979 LP Off the Wall. More recently, he played on records for artists like Maxwell, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson. - Billboard, 10/25/18.
James Taylor was on hand at Game 1 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Boston's Fenway Park on Oct. 23 to kick off the fall classic with a rendition of the National Anthem. Guitar in hand, the 70-year-old Boston native performed an acoustic version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the center of the field, as the players and military officials stood nearby. - Billboard, 10/23/18...... Elton John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour rolled into New York City's Madison Square Garden for a second night on Oct. 19, which gave longtime fans a reminder why the inimitable entertainer will be missed when his 300+ date, three-year swansong tour finally comes to a close. John included deep album cuts like "Take Me to the Pilot" and "Burn Down the Mission" that you're unlikely to hear on classic rock radio, and mid-show, he busted out the monumentally epic "Love Lies Bleeding/Funeral For a Friend." That 11-minute Goodbye Yellow Brick Road opener, one of his finest compositions, was quite possibly the most fun moment of the show, with horror movie fog rolling across the stage as his piano spinned and the band indulged in some extended riffing. Elton played his oft performed classics "Your Song," "Daniel" and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" with fragile intensity, and though he has said he's "beyond tired" playing "Crocodile Rock," he nevertheless obliged the crowd, although he did introduce it by specifically saying, "This is for the fans." John will return to MSG for two dates in November, and again in 2019. - Billboard, 10/20/18...... 
As the new Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody premiered in the UK on Oct. 24, London's Carnaby Street was transformed into a tribute as lyrics from the title song were lit up in the historical Soho spot. The cast of the new movie which follows the British rock quartet's first 15 years, including Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) as frontman Mercury, gathered with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor to ignite a special set of neon lights retelling the lyrics of the iconic song. The lights will be up until Jan. 4, and on Nov. 8 a Carnaby Christmas Shopping "party" will take place. Meanwhile, actor Lucy Boynton, who plays Mercury's long-time friend and former fiancé Mary Austin, has responded to claims that the biopic "straightwashes" Mercury. Boynton described them "frustrating," especially as they were sparked by "a 60-second teaser which is supposed to tease basically nothing." "It's when people want to have something to criticise that is kind of jarring, especially because it does and the one thing that we re so proud of with this film is that I don't feel it ever steps over the line into any kind of exposé or intrusiveness," she added. The critics have also weighed in on the film, with most reviews praising the work of lead actor Rami Malek. However, feelings on the film itself appear to be mixed, with the pic currently sitting at 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "The finished product is energetic, if not always smooth, its affection for Mercury and Queen indisputable even when the drama is undernourished," while The Guardian's Steve Rose gave the biopic two stars, saying, "Rami Malek's excellent performance aside, it feels less a pioneering musical odyssey than a really good covers band." Bohemian Rhapsody. USA Today's Brian Truitt similarly gave the film two stars, noting, "There's a sequence in which the screen is peppered with all the harsh words that critics had back in the day for 'Bohemian Rhapsody' the song, ending with 'perfectly adequate.' That's the kindest thing one can say about the new Queen biopic and also the most damning." The original soundtrack for the film has also arrived, and is now available for streaming and purchase. The career-spanning 22-song album features new versions of Queen classics and five tracks from a previously unreleased performance at Live Aid. Bohemian Rhapsody, in which Brian May and Roger Taylor worked on as creative consultants and directed by Dexter Fletcher, will hit US theaters on Nov. 2. - New Musical Express/The Hollywood Reporter, 10/23/18...... Ozzy Osbourne has revealed that his recent hand surgery, which forced him to cancel four concerts on his "No More Tours 2" tour, was part of his treatment plan for a potentially deadly staph infection. "I didn't feel sick, so I was cracking jokes," Ozzy told Rolling Stone of his visit to the emergency room, which came after his thumb had suddenly swollen to the "size of a f---in' lightbulb" following a show in Salt Lake City. At the hospital, doctors told him he actually had three separate staph infections in his thumb, one of which spread to his middle finger. Osbourne said the doctor suggested that he could have gotten a staph infection from simply shaking someone's hand -- something the rocker says he does probably 200 times a day on tour -- and "cut all this stuff out," Osbourne said. "Even with the numbing stuff, it was agony. It wasn't pus, but it was the stage after pus, when it gets in the blood and goes in your body and f---ing kills you. It may sound f---ed up what I'm saying to you, but he was really concerned about checking my blood." Osbourne, who spent almost a week in the hospital, was treated with antibiotics and found solace in eating ice cream as he recovered. He was then discharged and told to soak his hand in a special soap twice a day, for 10 days. Meanwhile, Ozzy has announced that his annual OZZFEST metal festival will return this year for a New Year's Eve celebration set to take place in Los Angeles on Dec. 31 at The Forum. The lineup includes OZZFEST alumni Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Johnathan Davis of Korn, Body Count featuring Ice-T, and Osbourne closing out the event with a countdown to the New Year. The OZZFEST news comes just two weeks after Osbourne rescheduled four previously-canceled tour dates after undergoing surgery for his hand injury. Osbourne has since rescheduled the October concert dates he had to call off. - Billboard, 10/22/18...... 
On Oct. 24 Eric Clapton announced details of a three-night residency at London's iconic Royal Albert Hall in May of 2019. Marking his only UK shows of 2019, Slowhand will play the venue on May 13, 15 and 16, accompanied by his band members Chris Stainton, Nathan East, Doyle Bramhall and Sonny Emory. On Oct. 12, Clapton released his new 14-track yuletide album Merry Xmas, with the track "Jingle Bells" dedicated to DJ Avicii, who was found dead from an apparent suicide in April. "I had in my head that these holiday songs could be done with a slight blues tinge, and I started to figure out how to play the blues lines in between the vocals," he said in a recent interview. "I got it down and one of the most identifiable songs on the album, the one that became the foundational style, is 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.'" - NME, 10/23/18...... Canadian rapper Drake has just beaten a record held by the Beatles since 1964, thanks to his guest contribution on Bad Bunny's new track "MIA." Drake now has had 12 songs to have reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2018, the most that one artist has ever had in a single year. The record was set by the Fab Four in 1964, when "I Feel Fine" and "She's A Woman" entered the charts on Dec. 26, taking the band's total that year to 11. 1964 also saw the Beatles release classics such as "Can't Buy Me Love" and "A Hard Days Night," but their record of over half a century now belongs to Drake. - New Musical Express, 10/23/18...... In other Beatles-related news, Universal Pictures has just announced it is negotiating to option the rights to the epic John Lennon and Yoko Ono love story with producers Michael De Luca and Immersive Pictures. Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Valee is attached to direct and edit the spec script written by Oscar nominee Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour). Yoko Ono will produce the project alongside De Luca, Josh Bratman and McCarten. Meanwhile, the new deluxe reissue of John Lennon's Imagine album has reached No. 5 on Billboard's Top Catalog Albums chart following its release on Oct. 5 in a variety of formats, some with oodles of bonus material. - The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard, 10/24/18...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, Paul McCartney announced on Oct. 19 that two new archive editions for the Wings albums Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway will hit stores on Dec. 7. The four-disc Wild Life deluxe set will include 3 CDs and one DVD with the remastered album on one CD and additional 25 bonus audio tracks across two discs with rough album mixes, original single edits, B-sides, home recordings and previously unreleased tracks. The set will also have a DVD with unreleased acoustic home videos, rehearsals and behind-the-scenes footage. The six-disc Red Rose Speedway deluxe set will have 3 CDs, 2 DVDs and a Blu-ray, and include a copy of the remastered album on one CD and two discs of 35 bonus audio tracks that reconstructs for the first time the originally planned double album version that was never made. In addition, the two discs will include singles, B-sides, alternate mixes and other unreleased tracks. A never-before-seen film, The Bruce McMouse Show, fully restored and remixed in stereo and 5.1 surround sound, will be included on both DVD and Blu-ray. Another DVD will have more rare and previously unseen footage including the vintage James Paul McCartney television special, plus interviews and music videos. A third deluxe set combining both albums and adding an exclusive "Wings Over Europe" set will also be available. - Billboard, 10/19/18...... 
Jeff Lynne's ELO announced on Oct. 22 that they will be launching a North American tour in 2018, the first time the band has done an extensive tour of the US since 1981. The 20-date tour begins on the West coast in Anaheim, Calif. on June 20 and includes stops in Nashville, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and New York before wrapping in Pittsburg, Pa. on Aug. 1. Meanwhile, Jeff Lynne has reflected on his time with the late '80s "supergroup" The Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, which marks the 30th anniversary of its debut set Vol. 1 in October. "Because we had the studio, we just planned for ten days, to write ten songs for the album," Lynne recalled. "Which is what we did: getting together around lunchtime, strumming five acoustic guitars. We'd all share chords, ideas for the chord changes, just to get the backing track, and then we'd lay those down. Sometimes we'd double-track those five acoustics, so it'd become ten acoustics. It was rather extravagant, but the rest of it was very, very simple. We would then have dinner and write the words at the same time we're having dinner. We'd be sitting there at the table, throwing out lines. Bob got a lot of the lines, just because he's such a great writer of lyrics. And it was just fascinating, really -- the whole thing was done at dinner time. We'd then go back in the studio and sing them. We'd sort out which parts would suit everybody, and then me and George produced it. It was a marvelous time." Lynne added that he still includes one Wilburys tune in the setlist on his current tour. "I still do one song onstage on the new tour: 'Handle With Care,' just to remind you of the Wilburys and show them a little bit of the Wilburys footage on the screen in the back," he says. "The crowds always love that. They love to hear that one." - Billboard, 10/22/18...... Family and friends of the late Tom Petty and members of the Tom Petty Nation! fan club gathered in the rocker's hometown of Gainesville, Fla. on Oct. 20 to celebrate the star's birthday with his music and the dedication of the former Northeast Park as "Tom Petty Park." "My brother and I grew up in this park. We played as kids. My cousin reminded me the other day of my remark that it was a sanctuary, and it really was," said brother Bruce Petty. "It was a place for us to escape and be kids and have fun. The fact that we are doing this today and the part that we played in it makes it so much more special." Petty died Oct. 2, 2017. He was born Oct. 20, 1950 in Gainesville and lived in the small city until he left for Los Angeles to make it big in the music business. Meanwhile, Sirius XM Radio has announced it will be airing the final three new episoded of Petty's Buried Treasure program this fall. The late rocker's weekly Sirius show began in Dec. 2004 and includes Petty's own selections from his record collection, laced with anecdotes and a bit of history. Part one of the pre-recorded series will air on the rocker's birthday, Oct. 20. Parts two and three will premiere Nov. 19 and Dec. 17, respectively. The episodes feature music from Al Green, Neil Young, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and more. - AP/Billboard, 10/18/18...... Neil Young announced on Oct. 19 he'll release a new 23-track live acoustic album entitled Songs For Judy this fall. Comprised of recordings from Young's Nov. 1976 solo acoustic tour, the album also features the previously unreleased track, "No One Seems to Know." Young has regularly played the song live but has never included it on a physical release. The version on Songs For Judy was recorded in Boulder, Col. on Nov. 7, 1976. Songs For Judy will drop on Nov. 30 in the US and Dec. 14 in the UK, with pre-orders coming with an instant download of "Campainger" from a Nov. 22, 1976, gig in Boston. - New Musical Express, 10/19/18...... 
After Ted Nugent delivered another furious rant about his omission from the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees, decrying it as "sacrilege" that he is yet to be inducted, his nemesis David Crosby, a two-time RRHOF inductee for his tenure with the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, responded with a tweet about the controversial musicain. "He's not good enough and he never will be," Crosby tweeted. "A hack player and no singer at all .could not write a decent song if his life depended on it," he added. In an interview with MyGlobalMind, Nugent gave a ferocious rant about his omission for the eighteenth year in a row since he became eligible. "Is it or is it not vulgar, dishonest, and obscene that Grand Master Flash [sic], Patti Smith, and ABBA are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame but Ted "F---ing" Nugent isn't? Is that the most outrageous and disgusting lie you have ever seen?," Nugent said. Known for his outspoken right-wing views, in 2017 Nugent argued that "political correctness" and his membership of the NRA were to blame for his omission. In 2011, he described his exclusion as an "embarrassing denial of historical and current truth and evidence." - New Musical Express, 10/22/18...... Cher and her son Chaz Bono have reacted strongly to Pres. Donald Trump's recent announcement that it would eliminate transgender recognition by requiring individuals to be defined as male or female based on their genitalia at birth. According to a government memo obtained by The New York Times on Oct. 21, the Department of Health and Human Services is aiming to establish a uniform definition of gender, determined "on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable," the report says. "Sex means a person's status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth. The sex listed on a person's birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person's sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence." The announcement caused an uproar on social media, with Cher and Chaz Bono among the many including musicians, actors and reality TV stars who reacted to the proposed move which would affect an estimated 1.4 million Americans. "Fk These Ppl.Will MY SON Be Sent To INTERNMENT CAMP 2 Live with LATINO Children,& Be Kept In Cages in Places where (you) Cant See Them. THIS IS 'HIS CODE' 4...MAKE THEM DISAPPEAR," tweeted Cher, whose son, Chaz Bono, is transgender. He tweeted, "I can't begin to express the rage I feel toward an administration that is trying to redefine me out of existence. Just another gift for his small minded base, terrified of the diversity that has always made America exceptional! #Vote." - Billboard, 10/21/18...... Country legend Loretta Lynn is back at home resting after she was hospitalized on Oct. 20 following an unspecified but "serious" health setback. "I am very sad to report this morning that the Queen of Country Music, Ms. Loretta Lynn has had some setbacks in her recovery and is back in the hospital with some serious issues," according to a post by one Michael Lynn, who claims to be her relative. "She needs our prayers right now, and the one thing I do know for sure is that she is a fighter and will not go down easy. PLEASE pray today for her." Lynn later posted a Facebook update, saying "After a brief hospital visit, I'm feeling better now and enjoying a weekend of resting up at home." Her daughter Peggy also posted that "mom did have a really horrible stomach flu this last week. She is home and doing nicely recovering." She claims the source of the original report of her mother's illness is a "fake news story going around from some guy posing to be a family member or posing to be close to family." Lynn, 86, has had several medical issues of late. In May 2017, she suffered a stroke, and earlier this year she broke her hip. - Billboard, 10/20/18...... 
The O'Jays released a new single, "Above the Law," on Oct. 19. Just in time for the Nov. 6 midterm elections, the politically charged "Above the Law" -- co-written by the O'Jays and fellow soul legend Betty Wright along with Angelo Morris -- is the lead single from The Last Word, the O'Jays' first studio album in almost 20 years. "What's transpired since the presidential election and the injustice that's going on now directed where this song and album are coming from," says the O'Jays' Eddie Levert of "Above the Law." "Some things just need to be said. So either we're going to get a lot of airplay or people aren't going to play it at all. If nothing else, it will hopefully open some eyes or get us blackballed out of this business [laughs heartily] because there are powerful people who own the radio and media needed for this song to be heard." "People know in their heart of hearts what's happening; they're not blind to what's going on," adds the group's Walter Williams. "The bad apples trying to control everything won't spoil the whole bunch. People are going to step up. And this song really spells it out." When queried on their favorite O'Jays message song, Levert said "Mine is 'Back Stabbers' because the haters are always there," while Levert said his is "Love Train" "because it says all the things that need to be said, inviting everyone to come on board. There's no prejudice in any sense. And it's the biggest song we've done to date. We're still getting royalty checks [laughs]." - Billboard, 10/19/18...... Dominick "Randy" Safuto, cofounder and lead singer of the doo-wop group Randy and the Rainbows, has died. Randy and the Rainbows are best known for their Top 10 1963 single "Denise." Formed in Maspeth, N.Y. in 1962, the group featured two pairs of siblings, along with a fifth member. The Safuto brothers had previously sung in the group The Dialtones. They recorded with the producers of The Tokens, releasing the single "Denise" in 1963. The name "Randy and the Rainbows" was chosen by the owners of Laurie Records after the group recorded "Denise." The group had previously been called "Junior & the Counts" and "The Encores." "Denise" spent 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 10, while reaching No. 18 on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart. The song was written by Neil Levenson, and was inspired by his childhood friend, Denise Lefrak. In the late 1970s, the song became a European hit for Blondie, with the title changed to "Denis." Randy & The Rainbows' follow-up single, "Why Do Kids Grow Up," barely scraped into the pop charts at No. 97, and the group never charted again. - 10/17/18.
Ozzy Osbourne, his wife Sharon Osbourne, and their son Jack Osbourne will launch a new 8-part paranormal series on cable TV's Travel Channel on Aug. 2. The series, entitled The Osbournes Want to Believe, will find Jack trying to make believers out of his parents, who are, of course, natural skeptics. According to a press release, each hour-long episode will find Jack screening clips of unexplainable events, from Bigfoot and UFO sightings to poltergeists, creepy dolls and other unexplainable phenomenon to his mom and dad. "My parents have always lived on the edge, even when it comes to believing in the supernatural... My biggest challenge may be keeping their comments family friendly. It will be a classic Osbourne gathering!," Jack said in a statement. Ozzy and Sharon will check out Jack's videos and critique them and the series premiere promises to include "their outrageously funny reactions" including "Ozzy's historical digressions on Greeks, Romans and the berserkers and a copious amount of swearing." Meanwhile, possibly taking a cue from rapper Kayne West, Ozzy has just launched a new merchandise line featuring the slogan "Ozzy for President." Osbourne's presidential merch will include t-shirts, buttons, hoodies and bumper stickers. Captioning a link to the merch on 
The Rolling Stones announced on July 9 they're reissuing their classic 1973 No. 1 album Goats Head Soup as 
Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, insiders say 87-year-old Yoko Ono is "slowing down" after she was last spotted in Jan. 2019 at a women's march in a wheelchair and has not been spotted in public since. In 2017, Yoko was presented with a Centennial Song Award by the National Music Publishers Association and was pushed onstage in a wheelchair by her son Sean Lennon, shocking some who didn't realize the formidable avant-garde artist was incapacitated. She began her short acceptance speech by "addressing the elephant in the room. While it's not clear what "illness" she was referring to, Ono is reportedly still ailing, and requires round-the-clock care and rarely leaves her sprawling apartment in The Dakota, a source close to her staff recently told The New York Post. Ono, who has reported assets of $700 million, recently donated $50,000 to the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, which during the coronavirus pandemic has provided thousands of meals to out-of-work and needy residents in her Upper West Side neighborhood. - The New York Post, 7/4/20...... Bruce Springsteen has made a surprise release of a live Streets of Philadelphia album recorded on Sept. 25, 1999, at Philly's First Union Center. The longtime fan favorite bootleg, featuring his classic E Street Band lineup, has never been officially available before. The 22-song show, newly mixed from multitrack masters, opens with "Incident on 57th Street" and "The Ties That Bind," and includes such favorites as "Prove it All Night," "Atlantic City," "Point Blank," "Badlands" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" and encores of "Jungleland," "Born to Run," "Thunder Road" and "Land of Hope and Dreams." The album's title comes from the song Springsteen wrote for the 1993 Tom Hanks/Denzel Washington AIDS drama Philadelphia. Streets of Philadelphia can be streamed on 
The family of reggae legend Bob Marley have reimagined Marley's iconic song "One Love" to raise money for Unicef's coronavirus fund. Originally recorded in 1977 by Marley and his band The Wailers, the new take on "One Love" sees vocals from Marley's son Stephen, daughter Cedella and grandson Skip. The song, which has been shared on 
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz said it "would be nice" if his iconic New Wave band reunited. Frantz, speaking about his new biopic Remain in Love, said he hasn't seen Talking Heads frontman David Byrne since a 2003 meeting at a restaurant on New York's Lower East Side, and wasn't invited to see Byrne's "American Utopia" stage show on Broadway, which ran across 2019. Frantz said Byrne told him that evening that he would "think about" a reunion, but three days later he received a blunt email from Byrne saying, "I will never reunite with the Talking Heads. Please don't bring this up again." Frantz admits that he would like to reunite with the band, though, saying: "It would be nice if it could happen because unlike many of our contemporaries, we're all still alive." Talking Heads broke up in 1991, and have only played together once since, for their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. In late 2019, fans believed that a potential Talking Heads reunion was finally in the works, after the band appeared to launch an official Instagram account. The account hasn't shared a single post, and isn't verified as of yet. - New Musical Express, 7/7/20...... British photographer Fiona Adams, who took several memorable snaps of the Beatles including the iconic pic of the Fab Four jumping off a Brick Wall on London's Euston Road which adorned the cover of their 1963 "Twist and Show" UK EP, has died at the age of 84. Ms. Adams, who graduated from the Ealing College of Art and Technology in 1952, also went on to photograph some of the Sixties' other defining icons too -- including Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. In 2009 the National Portrait Gallery featured her Sixties work, in their exhibition "Beatles to Bowie: The 60s Exposed." She was hailed as "an unsung heroine of the decade now retired and living in the Channel Islands." Her death follows that of fellow Beatles collaborator/photographer Astrid Kirchherr earlier in 2020. - NME, 7/10/20...... Legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who is best known for scoring The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, has died in Rome following complications from a fall. He was 91. Mr. Morricone, who scored more than 500 films, is widely regarded as one of cinema's greatest composers and won a long-overdue Oscar for his work on Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight in 2015. He also received nominations for Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven (1978), Roland Joffe's The Mission (1986), Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987), Barry Levinson's Bugsy (1991) and Giuseppe Tornatore's Malena (2000). But it was Mr. Morricone's collaboration with director Sergio Leone on the "Dollars" spaghetti Western trilogy featuring Clint Eastwood that arguably spawned his best known work -- the iconic theme to The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. Affectionally known as "The Maestro," Mr. Morricone was handed an honorary Oscar by astwood in 2007, with the Academy hailing his "magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music." - New Musical Express, 7/6/20.
In 1979, he scored a multi-million selling breakthrough with Million Mile Reflections, which yieled his No. 3 hit, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and earned him a Grammy for Best Country Vocal. The increasing political edge of his music was demonstrated with the 1980 No. 11 hit "In America," and in 1982 his version of Dan Daley's "Still in Saigon" concerned the traumas of a Vietnam vet. In 1993, he switched to Liberty Nashville Records, with another patriotic anthem in the title cut of America, I Believe in You. In 1994, he recorded his first gospel LP for Sparrow Records, The Door, which featured a songwriting collaboration between himself and Steven Curtis Chapman. Although his edgy, early music which celebrated pot smoking and poking fun at rednecks raised eyebrows in Nashville, he softened some verses in the 1990s and in 2008 joined the epitome of Nashville's music establishment, the Grand Ole Opry, and eight years later was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Daniels had suffered what was described as a mild stroke in Jan. 2010 and had a heart pacemaker implanted in 2013 but continued to perform. In 2017 he published his memoir, Never Look at the Empty Seats, and followed up in 2018 with Let's All Make the Day Count: The Everyday Wisdom of Charlie Daniels. In March, despite the coronavirus pandemic putting many events on hold, Daniels confirmed the lineup for a 2020 Volunteer Jam concert on Sept. 15, naming performers such as Trace Adkins, Justin Moore, The Marshall Tucker Band and Charley Pride, among others. Accolades to Daniels on Twitter from several country acts include Brad Paisley, who posted "A tale of hard work, musical discovery, and faith, Charlie Daniels's journey has been one of a kind. Equal parts rebel rouser and apostle, it's no small coincidence he launched his career by beating the Devil with a fiddle in hand. I love this man, the things he stands for, and his music. What a story." Daniels is survived by his wife Hazel, who he married in 1964, and son Charlie Jr. - Billboard/The Daily Mail UK/Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock, 7/6/20.
Billy Joel and his wife Alexis welcomed their second daughter, a 7 lb., 3 oz. girl named Remy Anne, into the world at 7:50 p.m. on Oct. 22. "Alexis and Remy are doing well, and everyone is thrilled," a rep for Joel said. Joel and Alexis are also the parents of another girl, Della Rose, and Joel has a daughter, Alexa Ray, with his ex-wife Christie Brinkley. Meanwhile, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Oct. 19, Joel revealed that he is extending his Madison Square Garden residency through the new year, the 48th of his current residency there and the 91st of his career at the legendary venue. "We're gonna go into 2018," Joel said. "I thought it would kind of taper off after four or five years, but they're buying tickets faster now than they were at the beginning." Joel also revealed that his songs are based on real people (Davy, who's still in the Navy, in "Piano Man," for instance), and that his favorite Bruce Springsteen song is "Meeting Across the River" before instructing Kimmel's house band on how to play the song so he could do his best Springsteen impression. "It's a very atmospheric Springsteen song," Joel said. The Piano Man added that he would consider performing an intimate Broadway show, as his pal Springsteen is currently doing. "We talked about it with Bruce last night. I said, 'Why don't we switch it up once in a while? You come do the Garden, and I'll do your gig for a couple days.'" - Billboard, 10/23/17...... As Dolly Parton releases her first album of music exclusively for children, 
As Meat Loaf's legendary 1977 LP 
Emmy-winning actor Robert Guillaume, best known for his portrayal of the sharp-tongued butler in the TV sitcoms 
Dick Clark Productions, the organizer of the American Music Awards, announced on Oct. 18 that Motown legend Diana Ross will be the recipient of the American Music Award of Lifetime Achievement during the 2017 AMA on Nov. 19 in Los Angeles. Ross, who as a member of The Supremes became the best-selling Motown act of the 1960s and released several additional chart-toppers during her decades-long solo career, is a seven-time AMA winner and hosted the AMAs in 1986 and 1987. "I have endless memories of all the years that I have appeared on the American Music Awards," Ross says in a statement. "It started with Dick Clark and the Caravan of Stars and American Bandstand. It was Dick Clark who said, 'Music is the soundtrack of our lives.' So true. I am so excited to be receiving this honorable award." The AMAs will be broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 19 at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC. - Billboard, 10/18/17...... In light of the alleged sexual harassment and abuse revelations by some powerful figures in the movie industry that have made headlines recently, '60s and '70s hitmaker Sir Tom Jones has revealed that it also exists in the music industry and can happen even to men, too. "Things have always happened in the music industry as well," Jones said in an Oct. 18 interview with the BBC Radio 5. "There's been people complaining about publicists and different things they've been expected to do to get a record contract, just like a film contract. There were a few things like that. But you avoid it. You just walk out| But what's tried on women is tried on men as well," he added. Speaking specifically of his own experience, Jones said: "It wasn't bad, just somebody tried to pull| it was a question and I said 'No thank you.'" - NME, 10/19/17...... Legendary rocker Tom Petty was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Pacific Palisades, Calif., on Oct. 16. Petty, who passed away from cardiac arrest on Oct. 2 at age 66, is buried in the same temple and meditation garden where his good friend, former Beatles member George Harrison, was laid to rest in 2001. Petty's daughter AnnaKim posted a series of photos in Instagram as she experienced the ceremony, including one of herself beneath a black & white picture of Petty on a stand above a flower arrangement with the caption "the dark of the sun we will stand together" and another that read "My beautiful twin star??I promise not to be sad and to follow my heart you live on in your art." - Billboard, 10/17/17...... In other Petty-related news, it has been revealed that Petty offered what would become his first Top 10 Hit -- the 1979 Damn the Torpedoes track "Don't Do Me Like That" -- to the J. Geils Band, but the band passed on it. J. Geils singer Peter Wolf told Rolling Stone that "maybe we thought we had the songs for our album... We can do it for the next one," but adds that that band did like the song. Petty reportedly didn't think the song was right for him and his group the Heartbreakers for some reason, but was eventually convinced he should record it by Damn the Torpedoes producer Jimmy Iovine. In a strange twist of fate, Peter Wolf's new band, the Midnight Travellers, actually opened for Petty on his final tour. - Stereogum.com, 10/19/17...... 
Meanwhile, Ringo Starr says he was totally shocked to hear about the death of his good friend Tom Petty on Oct. 2, the day after the tragedy of the lone sniper in Las Vegas. Ringo says he had been booked to play in Las Vegas on Oct. 2, and on the same day he learned of Petty's death. "It was a shock. When you first hear it, it's like, 'What...?!' Like when I heard Elvis was dead; It's like, 'What?!' It has to sink in. It was very sad. That's all I can say, really. God Bless him and his family," said Starr, who occasionally collaborated with Petty and notably appeared in Petty's video for "I Won't Back Down" in 1989. Starr says he hopes to return to Las Vegas under much better vibes when he and his All-Starr Band kick off a fall tour supporting his new album, 
Tina Turner was on hand at an announcement party to help launch a new musical based on her life and career, "Tina," which is scheduled to open Apr. 17, 2018, at London's Aldwych Theatre. Turner joined the actress who will be portraying her, Adrienne Warren onstage for a rare performance for guests at the party. "Growing up watching Tina, I knew how to shake my hips before I could tie my shoes," said Warren, who was nominated for a Tony in 2016 for her featured role in the musical "Shuffle Along." "I am elated, honored and humbled. Meeting and working with Tina is and will always be one of the great moments of my life," she added. The musical "Tina" will trace Turner's life from her humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tenn., through her stormy marriage to Ike Turner, her hard-won independence and her ultimate emergence to become one of the top-selling female recording artists of all time. - The Hollywood Reporter, 10/19/17...... Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner is reportedly no longer speaking to the author of a new biography about him, 
Legendary rock guitarist and bandleader John McLaughlin says he plans to retire from touring as he prepares for the start of his final North American run "The Meeting of the Spirits Tour" with his band the 4th Dimension that begins Nov. 1 in Buffalo, N.Y. "I think one of the most catastrophic things that could happen would be to go on tour and have a really bad hair day where I'm not really able to play," the Mahavishnu Orchestra mastermind said in a new interview with Billboard. "That's a nightmare for me. I don't want to get confronted with that situation, so I told the guys in the band, and some months ago, that this is the goodbye tour." McLaughlin and company have dates booked through Dec. 9 in Los Angeles, with Jimmy Herring and the Invisible Whip on the tour and playing an encore set of Mahavishnu Orchestra material together. While McLaughlin may be giving up the road, he isn't giving up on music altogether; he has just released a new album called