Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on June 20th, 2016

Moviemaker J.J. Abrams is teaming up with author/broadcaster Tavis Smiley to adapt the latter's new book, Before You Judge Me: The Triumph and Tragedy of Michael Jackson's Last Days, into a TV series. Smiley's book, which hits stores on June 21, is described as a taut novelistic rendering of the final months in the life of Michael Jackson, examining his highs and lows as he endured the pressures of fame that made him socially fragile and almost unable to live. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions and Tavis Smiley TV & Film have yet to sign a network deal for the series yet, and are expected to shop it to broadcast, cable, premium cable and streaming services. - The Hollywood Reporter, 6/20/16...... Posting on his Facebook page, musician/producer Brian Eno has urged his fellow British citizens to vote "remain" in the upcoming EU Referendum. "I have a lot of misgivings about the way the EU is run, but they don't make me want to ditch the whole idea," Eno explained. "I feel the EU is one of the only restraints on the kind of neo-liberal market fundamentalism that has seen inequality rising throughout the world. I feel that it has been a net force for good in promoting enlightened social and environmental agendas. It could and should be doing a better job at all these things, but to do any job at all it needs our support. The only good outcome of this referendum is that it might remind us what the original mission of the EU was, and might motivate us to actually make it happen," Eno added. "So...please vote. And please ask your friends to do the same." - NME, 6/19/16...... Rocker Meat Loaf was hospitalised on June 16 after collapsing on stage during a concert in Edmonton, Alberta. A video of the incident shows Meat Loaf dropping his mic and falling to the floor. As his band members walked over to help, the music eventually went silent, and the audience members were asked to vacate the Jubillee Auditorium venue. The 68-year-old Meat Loaf, whose real name is Marvin Lee Aday, had canceled two other concerts recently citing ill health. A hospital spokesman declined to provide an update on Meat Loaf's condition, citing patient privacy. - AP, 6/17/16...... Phil Collins announced on June 15 that he will publish his autobiography, entitled Not Dead Yet: The Memoir, in October 2016. Collins, 65, promises to "talk honestly" about his three failed marriages, his alcoholism and his ill health, as well as discuss the highs and lows of his long career as a member of Genesis and a superstar solo artist in the 1980s. "In many respects I've had a dream life," Collins said in a press release. "I've been incredibly lucky, but I've also worked extremely hard. I've collaborated with some of my heroes, written songs that people have liked, and wildly surpassed my initial hope to make a living as a drummer. Throughout, there have been lots of highs, and more than a few lows. I'm being completely honest about all of them, embarrassingly so in some cases. Some things might amuse people, some will surprise them. Horrify them, even." Collins announced that he was "no longer officially retired in Oct. 2015, and in March, he played his first solo gig in six years at a charity event in Miami. Collins' book will be published by Century publishers in hardback, audio and Ebook form on Oct. 20. - New Musical Express, 6/15/16...... Speaking of Genesis, former frontman Peter Gabriel released a new seven-minute song celebrating the late Muhammad Ali on June 16. In the track, titled "I'm Amazing," Gabriel sings "Look at me, look at me, can you see what I can do?" Gabriel sings. "'Cause I'm amazing." Posting on Facebook, Gabriel explained that he wrote the song a few years ago and it was, in part, "inspired by Muhammad Ali's life and struggles." "At the time of his death, when so many people are celebrating his life and thinking about all he achieved, it seemed the right time to release it," he wrote. - Billboard, 6/16/16...... Lawyers representing Led Zeppelin are asking the judge presiding over the "Stairway to Heaven" trial to halt the proceedings, arguing that Michael Skidmore, the trustee for the late Spirit guitarist Randy California, has failed to establish burden of proof during three days of testimony. "Although the parties' pre-trial filings identified what plaintiff Michael Skidmore needed to prove to establish his claims, Skidmore failed to prove required elements of his claims for direct, contributory and vicarious copyright infringement," Led Zeppelin's attorney Peter J. Anderson said in a statement. During the trial, Skidmore's attorney, Francis Malolfiy, played Spirit's "Taurus" alongside "Stairway To Heaven" and tried to ascertain that Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page had heard Spirit's track before writing the Led Zeppelin classic. Taking the stand, Page denied this, claiming he only first heard "Taurus" a few years ago. "Something like that would stick in my mind. It was totally alien to me," he said. However, Page did acknowledge that he owned three Spirit albums in his personal collection and that Led Zeppelin used a riff from another Spirit track in a medley played during their first tour in Scandinavia. Taking the stand on June 17, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones said he never heard the band Spirit play, never met them and didn't own any of their albums. On June 15, former Spirit member Mark Andes shared his view that that riffs from both songs were the same. If Judge R. Gary Klausner gets past arguments of non-ownership of "Taurus," he will also have to decide whether there's enough evidence to let a jury decide whether Randy California's song has been infringed. - New Musical Express, 6/20/16...... Former Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore played his first rock gig in 19 years on June 17 at Germany's Monsters Of Rock festival in Loreley, then the following evening another performance at Bietghiem-Bissingen. Since 1997, Blackmore has played traditional-style baroque folk music with his band Blackmore's Night, the duo he formed with his partner Candice Knight. Blackmore has rejected playing traditional venues to perform in small clubs. Performing under the name Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, his set was divided between six Deep Purple songs including "Smoke On The Water" and six by Journey, such as "Spotlight Kid"' as well as Journey's cover of Russ Ballard's "Since You Been Gone." Blackmore founded Deep Purple in 1968 with singer David Coverdale, before quitting in 1975 to form Rainbow. Blackmore rejected an invitation to rejoin Deep Purple in 2015 when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. - NME, 6/20/16...... The '60s pop group The Turtles have announced they will release a career-spanning box set that will feature the band's six long-out-of-print albums this summer. Due on Aug. 19, The Complete Original Albums Collection will boast all the music the Turtles released between 1965 and 1970. Also, a 2-disc set of all the band's singles, All the Singles, will also be released featuring every White Whale label single and its b-side. The Turtles' legal battle over their pre-1972 recordings continues to wind its way through the courts, as the band wants a ruling whether copyright owners have exclusive performance rights over their pre-1972 tracks. - Billboard, 6/20/16...... Director Ron Howard's new Beatles documentary, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week -- The Touring Years, will debut on Sept. 17 on the streaming service Hulu.com, one day after it bows in select U.S. theaters, its producers have announced. The film -- made with cooperation from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison -- recounts the first part of the band's' career, 1962 through 1966. A world premiere is planned for Sept. 15 in London. Meanwhile, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which owns the rights to most Lennon/McCartney lyrics, has enlisted the global branding and licensing firm Epic Rights to help put the lyrics of some of the Beatles' most classic songs on everyday products. Potential licensing ventures include greeting cards ("Hey Jude"), door mats ("Hello Goodbye") or coffee ("A Day in the Life"). "We envision a broad licensed products campaign that encompasses everything from apparel, accessories and wall art to home electronics, gifts, stationery, and more," an executive with Epic Rights said. Sony/ATV owns the songs originally published by Lennon/McCartney's Northern Songs, which was purchased by Michael Jackson in 1985 and dissolved ten years later when Jackson merged his catalog with Sony Music. - Billboard, 6/20/16...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, Paul McCartney showed solidarity with the LGBT community following the recent mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., during a gig in Berlin on June 14. The Beatles legend came on stage draped in a rainbow flag and told the crowd: "We stand together with Orlando." Sir Paul's fellow rock music legend, Elton John, has also tweeted his condolences to the Orlando and LGBT community: "Our hearts go out to all the families and loved ones of those lost in Orlando," he posted. - New Musical Express, 6/15/16...... Steely Dan played a one-off symphonic charity gig with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at the famed venue in Los Angeles on June 18. A good number of the Donald Fagen and Walter Becker songs kicked off with a 15-to-30-second orchestral fanfare that let the audience get a touch of the baroque before the band's trademark hard soul kicked in. The duo also changed their normal set list to include six songs that have rarely or not at all been heard on their current tour, like "Night by Night" and "The Caves of Altamira." The 13-song show benefited the L.A. Philharmonic's high schooler-mentoring Composer Fellowship Program, raising $1.7 million for the charity. - Billboard, 6/19/16...... Bob Dylan's 2016 American tour hit Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium on June 16, after a few gigs further up the coast. For almost the first time in his 55-year career, Dylan has not altering the set list at all from night to night, with seven selections from his recent two albums of Frank Sinatra covers dominating the show along with nine original numbers from the year 2000 forward. Dylan's 20-song set included the encores "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Love Sick," with the latter being the only song that that sounds anything like contemporary rock as we know it. - Billboard, 6/18/16...... Jimmy Buffett paid tribute to two of Detroit's most famous recently fallen icons -- late Eagles member Glenn Frey and hockey great Gordie Howe, during a show at the DTE Energy Music Theatre on June 18. Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band played a version of the Eagles' "Take It Easy," posting a photo of Frey. He also included footage of Howe, the Detroit Red Wings hockey legend who died on June 10. - Billboard, 6/19/16...... Movie director Ray Burdis, who is helming a new Quadrophenia-inspired film To Be Someone, is defending his movie after being attacked by the Who. Burdis says he doesn't intend it to be a sequel to the Who's 1979 Quadrophenia film. "I totally agree that Quadrophenia is a classic, iconic film that should never be revisited," Burdis says. "If The Who management had actually read the script of To Be Someone, they would have realised it is not an attempt at a Quadrophenia sequel but a stand-alone film based on modern day Mod culture. It's a feel good, fun, fashion and music extravaganza... I have never stated that it was a sequel," he added. When the Who learned of Burdis' project, they issued a statement disassociating themselves from it and called it "totally ridiculous." Burdis did admit that he had hoped to cast Roger Daltrey in his film, but that doesn't appear to be in the cards. "I'm sorry that the Who's management feel affronted, as I would have loved Roger Daltrey to play a role, but there you go," he said. - New Musical Express, 6/20/16...... A lock of David Bowie's hair is to be auctioned off on June 25 by L.A.'s Heritage Auctions and is expected to sell for approximately £3,000. The hair snippet was kept by Wendy Farrier, who took a small chunk of Bowie's hair when he posed for his waxwork at Madame Tussauds in London in 1983. Farrier cut some of Bowie's hair for the waxwork's wig, but kept a small lock which is being sold off 33 years later. The hair is among several Bowie rarities being sold at the auction, with other items including a signed copy of his 1971 LP Hunky Dory, a signed drawing by the singer from 1996, and a gold disc of Bowie's 1983 album Let's Dance. Meanwhile, on June 19 Bowie's widow Iman posted a picture on Twitter of her late husband with their daughter to mark Father's Day. The photo shows Bowie holding the couple's daughter, Alexandria "Lexi" Zahra Jones, when she was a baby. "Happy Fathers Day #LexiLove," Iman tweeted. - NME, 6/20/16...... Blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa is set to be inducted into the Cavern Club's "Wall of Fame" on June 27 ahead of his gig at the U.K. venue later that evening. Bonamassa's free show at Liverpool's famous cellar club is a "thank you" to his British fans for the support they have shown him through his career. The show will pay homage to some of Bonamassa's musical inspirations including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, the latter two of already whom also feature in the Cavern's "Wall of Fame." - Noble PR, 6/20/16...... British pop singer Cliff Richard says he is "thrilled" that authorities in the UK have announced that they will not pursue charges against him over allegations that he sexually abused four boys more than three decades ago. "After almost two years under police investigation I learnt today that they have finally closed their enquiries," Richard posted on June 16. "I have always maintained my innocence, co-operated fully with the investigation, and cannot understand why it has taken so long to get to this point! Nevertheless, I am obviously thrilled that the vile accusations and the resulting investigation have finally been brought to a close." Britain's Crown Prosecution Service announced that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute the 75-year-old Richard, who has never been arrested on the charges but twice voluntarily met officers from South Yorkshire Police after it launched an inquiry in 2014. "I have always maintained my innocence, co-operated fully with the investigation, and cannot understand why it has taken so long to get to this point," Richard added. Richard, who was often called "Britain's Elvis Presley" early in his career, has had 14 No. 1 singles in Britain, and is the only singer to have topped the UK singles chart in five consecutive decades, from the 50s to the 90s. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1995. - Reuters, 6/16/16...... Rick Parfitt, a member of the U.K. rock band Status Quo, was hospitalised in Antalya, Turkey on June 16 following a suspected heart attack. Status Quo had been performing at the city's Expo 2016 event before the incident. Parfitt underwent a quadruple heart bypass in 1997 and suffered a heart attack in 2011. The band's manager said no further comment will be made "until the completion of the next round of tests and assessments," and asked that "the family's privacy be respected at this difficult time." - NME, 6/16/16...... Actress Ronnie Claire Edwards, best known for her portrayal of Corabeth Godsey in the '70s series The Waltons, died on June 14. She was 83. Ms. Edwards made her debut in the third season of The Waltons as a as a mousy spinster who, after some persuasion from John Walton (Ralph Waite) and his wife Olivia (Michael Learned), hesitantly marries storekeeper Ike Godsey after his proposal following their first date. She appeared in over 100 episodes. - Variety, 6/16/16...... Ann Morgan Guilbert, known as the spirited neighbor Millie Helper in the classic '60s sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, died on June 14 in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer. She was 87. Ms. Guilbert's decades-long career began in the 1950s as a featured performer and singer in the Billy Barnes Revues. After the Dick Van Dyke Show, she appeared in guest roles in several series including the premiere episode of Adam-12, The Andy Griffith Show, That Girl and Dragnet, among others. Her next big TV role came in the 1990s as Yetta Rosenberg opposite Fran Drescher in The Nanny. - Deadline.com, 6/15/16...... Janet Waldo, a voice-over actress who played sprightly teenagers for decades on several popular cartoon shows, most notably The Jetsons as Judy Jetson, died on June 12 at her home in Encino, Calif. She was 96. - The New York Times, 6/15/16.

Queen and their current guest vocalist Adam Lambert dedicted the band's 1986 song "Who Wants to Live Forever" to the victims of the recent mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., during their set at the U.K.'s Isle of Wight Festival in Newport, U.K. on June 12. "This song is dedicated to those who lost their lives last night in Orlando, Florida, and anyone who has been a victim of senseless violence or hatred," Lambert announced before Queen closed their headlining set with a moving and emotional performance of the song. Meanwhile, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts festival in Manchester, Tenn., also on June 12, former Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir accepted the Les Paul Spirit Award early in the day before his current band Dead & Company played two sets that evening. Weir said he accepted the award with a "heavy heart" due to the Orlando massacre, and went on to draw a parallel between the radical belief of ISIS and those of homophobes. "It's the same hatred," said Weir. "They pull those hatreds out of different books but it's the same." - Billboard, 6/13/16...... Brian Wilson headlined Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Northside Festival on June 12, with the bulk of the show devoted to the Beach Boys's 1966 album Pet Sounds. Wilson reveled in the crowd's energy, joking around from behind his big white piano while sharing tidbits of background information on many of the songs before performing them. The crowd was understandably somber due to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history taking place less than 24 hours earlier and, for a music festival, surprisingly sober. - Billboard, 6/13/16........................ The "Stairway to Heaven" trial, in which eight jurors will decide if Led Zeppelin ripped off the famous guitar riff in the 1971 rock classic from the Spirt song "Taurus," got underway on June 14 in Los Angeles. Both Robert Plant and Jimmy Page attended and faced the potential jurors during their selection, as seven of the first 14 were dismissed, including a self-admitted huge Zeppelin fan whose "love for these two guys" is "very strong." Attorneys Francis Malofiy, representing the Trustee who manages the estate of Spirit's Randy Wolfe, and Peter Anderson, representing Zeppelin, were pleased with the next set, and a final group of four men and four women was sworn in. In a trial that's literall been decades in the making and could rewrite rock history, each side will be allowed 10 hours to present their arguments and witnesses. In a pre-trial hearing the previous day, U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled that a musicologist in Zeppelin's camp will be heard from during testimony, despite a last-ditch effort by the plaintiff to have him tossed for a conflict of interest. They claimed that noted musicologist Lawrence Ferrara had previously been hired by their own publisher to evaluate the similarities between the two songs. - Billboard/The Hollywood Reporter, 6/14/16...... Beating expectations of an impressive No. 3 bow on Billboard's Hot 200 album chart with his new album Stranger to Stranger, Paul Simon's 13th studio album has debuted at No. 1 on the chart dated June 25. It marks the 74-year-old Simon's highest-ever debut and best rank since Graceland reached the same spot in 1987. As a solo artist, Simon has scored only one previous chart-topper: 1975's Still Crazy After All These Years. The album also opens as the top-selling album overall for the week, starting at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart. In 2011, his LP So Beautiful or So What debuted and peaked at No. 2. The album's first single, "Wristband," is currently No. 18 on the Adult Alternative Songs airplay chart. In the U.K., Stranger to Stranger also bowed at the top of the pops, making it Simon's first U.K. No. 1 studio album in 26 years (his The Rhythm of the Saints spent two weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. in 1990). - Billboard, 6/14/16...... Elton John has extended his record for the most appearances in the 55-year-old history of the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart as his new single "A Good Heart" has debuted at No. 30. The song, the second single from his February-released Wonderful Crazy Night album, marks Elton's 72nd entry on the ranking, with Barbra Streisand ranking second with 64 AC hits, and Neil Diamond coming in at third with 58 AC songs. John first charted on AC chart with the No. 9-peaking classic "Your Song," which bowed on the Dec. 26, 1970, survey. - Billboard, 6/13/16...... A new docu-drama on the making of the Rolling Stones' 1972 album Exile on Main Street based on author Robert Greenfield's book about the summer the band spent working on the album has begun pre-production. Casting is underway for the roles of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for the film, to be directed by Downton Abbey director Andy Goddard. An expected release date for the film is set for sometime this winter. - Billboard, 6/14/16...... Two albums of previously unreleased Frank Zappa music, Frank Zappa for President and The Crux of the Biscuit, will be released on July 15, becoming album numbers 39 and 40 of posthumous Zappa music released since his Dec. 4, 1993, death. Frank Zappa For President consists of music mainly composed on the Synclavier, which Zappa took up after learning in 1990 that he had terminal prostate cancer. He mainly wrote modern classical music for the rest of his life. "We know that Frank wanted to run for office at various times," reads a Universal Music press release. "In the spirit of the dramatic 2016 presidential election adventures comes a release that gives us a glimpse into what could have been." The Crux of the Biscuit was initially intended for release in 2014 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of his album Apostrophe(') and features music recorded during the same sessions. After the release of many albums after his death, a new deal was struck between his estate and Universal to take a fresh look at how best to compile his unreleased music. Zappa, one of rock music's most prolific artists, released 62 albums during his lifetime, beginning with his 1966 debut Freak Out! through 1993's The Yellow Shark. - New Muiscal Express, 6/14/16...... In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, Eric Clapton revealed that he has been suffering from a nervous system disorder called peripheral neuropathy that has made it very difficult for him to play guitar. Peripheral neuropathy is a condition that can cause muscle weakness, as well as numbness in the hands and feet and a loss of coordination. "I've had quite a lot of pain over the last year. It started with lower back pain and turned into what they call peripheral neuropathy, which is where you feel like you have electric shocks going down your leg. And I've had to figure out how to deal with some other things from getting old," the 71-year-old three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee said. But he added that due to his struggle with alcoholism and substance abuse, "I consider it a great thing to be alive at all." "By rights I should have kicked the bucket a long time ago. For some reason I was plucked from the jaws of hell and given another chance." Clapton's latest album, I Still Do, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart after being released May 20 via Clapton's own Bushbranch imprint. - Billboard, 6/13/16...... Paul McCartney has become the first person to test Facebook's new 360 degree photo app, which allows Facebook users to post photos taken "in the round." Sir Paul posted a photo of him on June 10 posing with the crowd from his gig at the Alberto Kempes Stadium in Cordoba, Argentina. The photo ties in with McCartney's 360 degree theme of his current "One On One" tour. He has released a series of 360 degree videos talking about songs from his new compilation Pure McCartney, which was released on June 10. McCartney promised "There'll be more to come" of his 360 degree photos. McCartney is touring in Europe until June 30, before the US leg of "One On One" starts in Milwaukee on July 8, ending in Cleveland on Aug. 18. - NME, 6/10/16...... David Bowie and current pop sensation Adele will be among those celebrated at a new exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery. The exhibit spotlights past and present famous residents of south London from all walks of life, not only musicians but also a former footballer and gay rights campaigner. The exhibition, which is free, is open until Sept. 6. - New Musical Express, 6/9/16...... He's sometimes known as "Hot Rod," but now you can refer to him as "Sir Rod." Rod Stewart has been given knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II during her annual birthday honours list. Stewart, 71, was honored in Elizabeth's June 10 list "for services to music and charity," and will be able to call himself Sir Roderick David Stewart. Stewart reacted to the news saying he had "led a wonderful life" and a "tremendous career thanks to the generous support of the great British public... This monumental honour has topped it off and I couldn't ask for anything more." Later, Stewart tweeted a link to a BBC article confirming the news with the caption "A truly monumental honour." Britain's honors are bestowed by the monarch at New Year and on her official birthday in June. Recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public. In descending order, the main honors are knighthoods, CBE, OBE and MBE. Knights are addressed as "sir" or "dame," followed by their name. Recipients of the other honors have no title, but can put the letters after their names. - AP, 6/10/16...... Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Lionel Richie and Chic were feted at the Songwriters Hall of Fame 47th Annual Induction and Awards ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on June 9. Petty was inducted by former Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, to whom he is often compared. McGuinn recalled touring with Petty in the 1970s and writing with him. "He doesn't just write songs," McGuinn said. "He goes up and grabs them -- he flies up to the great wide open and catches and idea and freefalls back to earth." Petty delivered his brief acceptance speech in a slow, deadpan drawl: "I'm sorta the rock and roll white trash section of the show... Writing a song for a rock band -- you'd better bring a really good song, because they don't take it well if it's not. Many times I've gone back to the drawing board." Accepting his award, Elvis Costello called himself "the least commercially successful songwriter you have ever inducted" thanked Linda Ronstadt and her producer/manager Peter Asher for recording "Alison" in 1978, generating royalties that "kept the gas in my tour bus." As he was honored, Lionel Richie said, "I am humbled by the presence of greatness in this room... I am humbled by the fact that I am standing here holding any kind of award." The evening wrapped with Chic's Nile Rodgers leading the house band through "Le Freak," and finally joined by Sister Sledge for a rousing "We Are Family." - Billboard, 6/10/16...... The CBS television network has announced it is developing a scripted limited series about the kidnapping of millionaire heiress Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) in 1974. Should the Hearst project be ordered to series, it would explore the 19-month FBI/police search and capture of Hearst, who turned SLA sympathizer and changed her name to Tania, that captivated the nation and played out on the nightly news during the course of her trial. - The Hollywood Reporter, 6/10/16...... Gordie Howe, the legendary National Hockey League player who shattered records, dropped gloves and threw elbows while helping the Detroit Red Wings win four NHL championships, died on June 10 of natural causes. He was 88. Known as "Mr. Hockey," Mr. Howe was a Canadian farm boy who developed his brute strength and incredible stamina on the Saskatchewan prairie, and could put his team ahead with a timely goal or even the score with his opponents with his elbows and fists. One of the most likeable superstars in any sport, Mr. Howe became the NHL's quintessential star during a career that lasted into his 50s. Mr. Howe helped guide the Red Wings to four NHL championships, and set NHL records with 801 goals and 1,850 points, a record that stood until Wayne Gretzky came along. "Unfortunately, we lost the greatest hockey player ever today," Gretzky tweeted after hearing of Mr. Howe's passing. "But more importantly the nicest man I have ever met," he added. - AP, 6/11/16...... Guitarist Henry McCullough, best known for his touring and recording work with Paul McCartney's Wings during the 1970s as well as also working with Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, died on June 14 in Belfast after a long illness. He was 72. Born in Portstewart, Ireland in 1943, McCullough spent years playing blues, rock, pop and psychedelic bands in London -- touring in support of Jimi Hendrix and playing on Joe Cocker's breakthrough 1969 album With a Little Help From My Friends -- before getting tapped to join Wings for 1973's Red Rose Speedway LP. During sessions for that album he also made his way onto a Pink Floyd album when he waltzed to an adjacent studio and contributed a spoken word bit ("I don't know, I was really drunk at the time") to the Dark Side of the Moon track "Money." But it was his guitar work on the Wings track "My Love" that secured his place in rock history, as that song hit No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. "I was very sad to hear that Henry McCullough, our great Wings guitarist, passed away today," McCartney wrote in a blog post. "He was a pleasure to work with, a super-talented musician with a lovely sense of humour. The solo he played on 'My Love' was a classic that he made up on the spot in front of a live orchestra. Our deepest sympathies from my family to his." His fellow Irish singer and musician Van Morrison, with whom McCullough also worked with, said he was "very sorry" to hear about his death." I know he had some difficult times recently, but he will be remembered for his long and productive career in music... My thoughts are with his friends and family at this time," Morrison told BBC News. After his stint in Wings, McCullough signed to George Harrison's Dark Horse Records, through which he releaed his solo album, Mind Your Own Business. He then enjoyed a long and fruitful career as a session musician over the next two decades, sitting in with the likes of Roy Harper, Ronnie Lane, Eric Burdon, Marianne Faithfull and Spooky Tooth. His final albums include Belfast to Boston and Poor Man's Moon. - New Musical Express, 6/14/16.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on April 26th, 2024

Def Leppard will release a 40th anniversary edition of their classic 1983 set Pyromania on Apr. 26. With ace producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange back in the studio after 1981's High 'n' Dry, the band crafted a technically sophisticated album of hard chugging yet melodic songs that catapulted them onto radio waves and stages usually reserved for pop stars. "The obvious observations for those two records is that High 'n' Dry sounds like a band playing live and Pyromania sounds like a band in the studio -- a la Pink Floyd, a la the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper -- that sat down to craft some songs," says Def Lep frontman Joe Elliott. Bassist Rick Savage adds: "What we really set out to do was create this a wall of sound. High 'n' Dry was very much in your face and very aggressive. It was our first album with Mutt and he got us ultra-focused in creating a rock song. With Pyromania, we wanted to take a lot of elements of that but develop the harmonies, banks of vocals, banks of guitars, just everything very multitracked and very orchestral." Pyromania's blockbuster success eventually included a diamond RIAA certification for over 10 million units shipped, and paved the way for the pop-metal crossover of bands like Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses and Poison. In 2022, the still-active band from working-class Sheffield, England, became only the third group to notch a top 10 album on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart in every decade since the '80s. - Billboard, 4/26/24...... During the Apr. 21 episode of the long-running talent competition series American Idol, host Ryan Seacrest and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Lionel Richie revealed which artists will constitute the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2024. Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, Kool & the Gang, Dave Matthews Band, Mary J. Blige and A Tribe Called Quest are all entering the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year in the performers category. Three guitar-slinging blues trailblazers will be inducted in the musical influence category: the late Alexis Korner, one of the founding fathers of British blues; John Mayall, the 90-year-old blues-rock legend whose outfit John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers fostered some of the biggest names in rock history; and "Big Mama" Thornton, an R&B pioneer whose big personality, guitar tone and brash vocals helped shape early rock n' roll. Four more artists make it into the Rock Hall in the musical excellence category: Jimmy Buffett, the standard bearer of laid-back, good-time rock until his death in Sept. 2023; MC5, the political firebrand proto-punk outfit; elegant, sophisticated pop hitmaker Dionne Warwick; and Motown Sound songwriter and producer Norman Whitfield. Suzanne de Passe, a former Motown exec who brought the Jackson 5 to Berry Gordy and oversaw numerous music-related TV specials, will be given the Ahmet Ertegun Award. Those nominated but passed over this year include Mariah Carey, Eric B. & Rakim, Jane's Addiction, Lenny Kravitz, Oasis, Sinead O'Connor and Sade. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 2024 ceremony will stream live on Disney+ on Oct. 19 from Cleveland, be available on Hulu the following day, and air in edited form on ABC at a later date. - Billboard, 4/21/24...... Reacting to his RRHOF induction, Peter Frampton said, "I think I'm a little bit in shock, and speechless. I never expected this. People always said, 'You should be in.' I said, 'Eh, what is to be,' y'know? So mixed emotions, because it's something that I just never expected, whereas other people did for me. (laughs) It's wonderful." Frampton, who's been battling a degenerative inclusion body myositis (IBM) disorder during the past six or so years, is particularly stoked that he also finished second in the fan vote with 528,000 -- second only to the Dave Matthews Band. "You never quite know how you are regarded," Frampton explained. "I don't think about that; I just do my thing. But ending up in the number two position blew me away, actually. It's an honor people regard me in this way. I'm just honored and blown way." "I think it means more to me now than perhaps 20 years ago," Foreigner principal Mick Jones said. "I've had a great career, and this is like the whipped cream and cherry on top. It's something I will savor over the years. It's a great honor to be included amongst all these great artists that have been inducted over the years," added the 79-year-old Jones, who revealed his battle with Parkinson's disease earlier this year. Ozzy Osbourne, who is preparing for his his second RRHOF induction -- this time as a solo artist -- says this induction to Sabbath's "feels different, because my solo career, it's been a much larger part of my overall music career as a whole." And after finishing fourth in the fan vote with more than 480,000 votes, he says it "feels more special, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way." - Billboard, 4/21/24...... The Eagles have flown back onto the charts with their new best-of collection, To the Limit: The Essential Collection. The thoughtfully curated 2-disc collection gathers 51 songs from the band's studio albums and live recordings released between 1972 and 2020, including such fan favorites as "Desperado," "Victim of Love" and "In the City." To the Limit sold 7,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Apr. 18, with physical sales comprising 6,500 of the album's first-week sales (5,000 on CD and 1,500 on vinyl) while digital download sales comprise 500. Elsewhere on the Billboard Hot 200 chart, former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler is back with One Deep River, his first new entry since 2018. Knopfler's latest studio effort bows at No. 7 with 8,000 copies sold, and is his first entry on the list since his last studio album Down the Road Wherever debuted and peaked at No. 6 on the Dec. 1, 2018-dated list. - Billboard, 4/25/24...... The Rolling Stones have announced the support acts for their 2024 "Hackney Diamonds"' US tour, which gets underway in Houston on Apr. 28. The tour will see Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood perform in 16 cities across North America and Canada. For the Houston show, Gary Clark Jr. will serve as the opening act, with Ghost Hounds opening for the Stones in Atlanta on June 7, Cleveland on June 15 and lastly Vancouver on July 5. KALEO will open the Philadelphia date on June 11. After Stones' Jazz Fest performance in New Orleans on May 2, they will be joined by both Electric Mud and Carin León in Glendale, Ariz., on May 7. The Pretty Reckless will join Jagger and co. in Las Vegas on May 11, while it will be Joe Bonamassa in Seattle on May 15. The band will close out the first month on road with Lawrence in East Rutherford, N.J., at MetLife Stadium for the second show date on May 26, as well as The Red Clay Strays in Foxboro, Mass., on May 30. Additionally, Tyler Childers will open in Orlando on June 3, Widespread Panic in Denver on June 20, Bettye LaVette in Chicago for night one at Soldier Field on June 27 and Lainey Wilson on night two on June 30. The Stones will close out the series of dates in California with The War and Treaty opening the first night in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium on July 10 and The Linda Lindas on the second on July 13, followed by The Beaches in Santa Clara for the final stop on July 17. To celebrate the tour, the Stones have dropped a merch collection on Amazon.com comprised of T-shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops and more.- New Musical Express, 4/25/24...... In other touring news, Aerosmith is ready to come together this fall and winter for what could be the last time for the rescheduled dates of their "Peace Out" farewell tour. The band originally had to cancel tour dates when frontman Steven Tyler announced a vocal chord injury, but starting Sept. 2024 until Feb. 2025, the Boston-based rockers will head back on the road and travel to cities across North America. Select dates will also include special guests like The Black Crowes and Teddy Swims. Originally, the tour was slated to begin Sept. 3, 2023, and go on for more than 40 concerts. The tour will kick off on Sept. 20 in Pittsburgh and play 40 concerts before wrapping in Buffalo, N.Y. on Feb. 26, 2025. - Billboard, 4/23/24...... Independent music publisher Primary Wave has acquired the music publishing catalog of Kiwi musician Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House fame. Songs included in the deal are the classics "Better Be Home Soon," "Weather With You" and "Don't Dream It's Over." Through the partnership, Primary Wave Music will also represent Finn's solo material. "I look forward to seeing Primary Wave's plan for the ongoing care of my songs. I am confident they see the body of my work as music that matters," says Finn in a statement. "This deal has been a good while in the making and feels right." The New Zealand-born and based Finn co-founded Split Enz, an alternative rock outfit that landed hit after hit in Australia and New Zealand, prior to their dissolution in 1984. From its embers, Finn formed Crowded House. A U.S. breakthrough happened in Apr. 1987 when "Don't Dream It's Over," recorded by the classic lineup of Finn (singer, songwriter, guitar), Nick Seymour (bass) and the late drummer Paul Hester, peaked at No. 2 in the U.S. The song made a mighty comeback in 2023, thanks to a sync to an episode of the rebooted detective classic Magnum P.I. "Don't Dream It's Over" powered to No. 1 on Billboard's Top TV Songs chart. - Billboard, 4/25/24...... Former Pink Floyd guitarist-vocalist David Gilmour has announced Luck and Strange, his first solo album in nine years. Gilmour released the LP's first single, "The Piper's Call," on Apr. 25 on BBC Radio 2's Breakfast Show, with the track's accompanying music video will be released the following day. Luck and Strange, recorded over five months in Brighton and London, is set for release on Sept. 6. Gilmour's wife, author-lyricist Polly Sampson, previously documented Gilmour's studio visits and shared the photos on her personal Instagram. The album's title track also features the late Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright and was recorded in 2007 at a jam in a barn at Gilmour's house. Other contributions for the LP emerged from the live streams that Gilmour and family performed to a global audience during the global pandemic. His daughter Romany Gilmour sings, plays the harp and appears on lead vocals on "Between Two Points" and his son Gabriel Gilmour also provides backing vocals. - NME, 4/24/24...... In other Pink Floyd-related news, the band's Dark Side of the Moon track "The Great Gig in the Sky" will be at the heart of a new immersive exhibition. Brainstorms: A Great Gig in the Sky will take over Frameless in London on Friday and Saturday evenings in June, which brings to life the results of a research project from Brainstorms, a joint venture between San Francisco-based creative studio Pollen Music Group and Richard Wright Music Limited. It brings to life the results of the Brainstorms research project that took place last autumn. To create the visuals, 125 people had their brain activity recorded while listening to the Dark Side of the Moon track in immersive sound Dolby Atmos. The EEG readings of brain activity, which will be showcased within the experience, were captured at Dolby by the neuroscience experts within the Pollen Music Group team and reflect the participant's excitement, interest, relaxation and stress felt whilst listening to the track. Participants will then be able to see their brain activity visualised into stunning large-scale cloud formations, projected into Frameless' re-imagined "Cloud" Gallery. Each participant will also receive a personalised memento based on their individual brain's reaction to the piece. - Music-News.com, 4/26/24...... Paul McCartney & Wings have announced they'll release their 1974 live studio album One Hand Clapping for the first time this summer. The album was recorded back in Aug. 1974, while the band were enjoying their long run on the U.S. and U.K. charts with Band on the Run. One Hand Clapping was recorded when McCartney and Wings headed to Abbey Road Studios for the recording of a documentary and possible live studio album. Filmed across four days and directed by David Litchfield, the album was never officially released despite overwhelming demand, although various bootleg versions emerged over the years. Set to drop on June 14, the upcoming version of the LP marks the first time in 50 years that it has received an official release. "One Hand Clapping showcased Wings' new line-up, fresh off their return from Nashville where they recorded the classic single 'Junior's Farm'," reads a press release. "Following the sudden departure of Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough the previous year on the eve of recording the Wings masterpiece 'Band on the Run', Paul, Linda and Denny Laine were now joined by guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton." The band was joined in the studio by orchestral arranger Del Newman and saxophonist Howie Casey -- both of whom had previously played with McCartney, and would go on to join the Wings touring band. The album opens with an instrumental jam, which would soon become the One Hand Clapping theme song, and features live-in-studio renditions of hits "Live and Let Die," "Band on the Run," "Jet," "My Love," "Hi, Hi, Hi," "Junior's Farm," and Macca's much loved solo song "Maybe I'm Amazed." One Hand Clapping will be released in multiple formats including an online exclusive 2LP + 7" package. This features an exclusive vinyl single of previously unreleased solo performances recorded on the final day of the sessions in the backyard of Abbey Road Studios. - NME, 4/23/24...... Deep Purple have shared details of a new studio album titled =1, set for release later in 2024. =1 marks the classic rockers' first full-length release since 2021, when they dropped the covers album Turning To Crime, and first LP of original material since 2020 with Whoosh! It also comes after Deep Purple members shared hints at a new announcement across cities in Europe over recent days. Fans first began to speculate that new material was on the way after mysterious equations and depictions of multiverses appeared in London, Paris and Berlin, making nods to the album's title. According to a press release, the title of the upcoming 23rd studio album "symbolises the idea that in a world growing ever more complex, everything eventually simplifies down to a single, unified essence. Everything equals one." The first single of the album will arrive on Apr. 30, and the full album will drop on July 19 via earMUSIC. The band are currently fronted by the legendary Ian Gillan, alongside bassist Roger Glover, drummer Ian Paice and keyboardist Don Airey. =1 will also mark Deep Purple's first album with guitarist Simon McBride, who joined the line-up after longtime member Steve Morse left due to personal circumstances. The news of a new album arrives just weeks after Deep Purple announced details of a new arena tour, set to take place across the UK later this year. Called the "One More Time" tour, the dates comprise five shows across the country -- kicking off with an opening night in Birmingham on Nov. 4, before continuing two days later with a show at London's O2 arena on Nov. 6. A gig at the First Direct Arena in Leeds is scheduled for Nov. 7, and the tour wraps up with slots at Manchester's AO arena and Glasgow's OVO Hydro -- set for Nov. 9 and 10 respectively. - NME, 4/24/24...... Stevie Nicks has announced the first wave of special guests for her forthcoming show at London's BST Hyde Park. The Fleetwood Mac legend is due to play a solo headline set at the concert series on July 12. It comes as part of her 2024 UK and Ireland tour, which kicks off in Dublin on July 3 and also visits Glasgow on July 6 and Manchester on July 9. Brandi Carlile will be supporting Nicks at Hyde Park this summer, and also on the bill are Anna Calvi and Paris Paloma, with "many more" acts still to be announced. Nicks last performed at BST Hyde Park back in 2017 when she opened for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. This year's edition will also host headline performances from the likes of SZA, Kings Of Leon, Kylie Minogue, Shania Twain, Stray Kids and Robbie Williams. - NME, 4/23/24...... 10cc's Graham Gouldman has announced a new solo album that includes collaborations with Sir Brian May, Sir Ringo Starr, Hank Marvin and Albert Lee. Gouldman will release his sixth solo LP, I Have Notes, via British independent record label Lojinx on July 5. As well as the four above named legends, Graham is also joined on the record by Nashville-based singer/songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman, who has previously worked with the likes of Bette Midler, Trisha Yearwood and Neil Diamond. The two artists co-wrote "We're Alive," the first single from the record, which also features guitarist Gordon Kennedy -- who has played with Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton and Garth Brooks. Queen guitarist May, 76, joins the 77-year-old Graham on literal space-ballad "Floating In Heaven," while Beatles legend Ringo, 83, adds his talent to "Couldn't Love You More" which is inspired by The Fab Four. I Have Notes will be released on vinyl LP, CD and digital on July 5. Gouldman's work with 10cc continues to endure in the build up to next year's 50th anniversary of the band's iconic album The Original Soundtrack. 10cc recently completed a UK wide tour, which included a sold out Royal Albert Hall show, and they've also announced a further Autumn UK tour; and announced their first major US tour in over three decades. - Music-News.com, 4/22/24...... Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. is caught up in an ugly legal battle pitting his son against a former business advisor and romantic partner -- a lawsuit he says is a "craven, desperate, and disgusting attempt" to "shake down" his family. In a filing on Apr. 22 in Los Angeles court, attorneys for Gordy demanded that he be dismissed from the case, arguing that the legendary record executive had been unfairly dragged into the litigation to distract from "wanton acts of embezzlement" committed by his son's accuser. "Extortion though illegal and highly unethical is a powerful weapon," wrote Gordy's lawyers Christopher Frost and John D. Maatta. "Nowhere is that more true than here." Gordy founded Motown in 1959, paving the way for the influential soul music sound that came to bear the same name. He eventually signed The Supremes, Marvin Gaye,The Temptations and Stevie Wonder and many others to the label, before selling it off to MCA in 1988. His strongly-worded response ame amid a back-and-forth legal dispute between his son, Kennedy Gordy (better known by his stage name Rockwell), and Anita Hawker Thompson, who previously served as the CEO of Kennedy's company, Rockwell Entertainment Enterprises. Kennedy's company sued Thompson in 2023, claiming that he suffers from "psychological impairments" and that Thompson had abused her power over him to steal $1.7 million in royalty payments that had been paid to the company. Thompson responded by filing her own scathing countersuit, accusing Kennedy of subjecting her to "physical, sexual, and psychological abuse" during a years-long romantic relationship. In it, she also named the elder Gordy as a defendant, claiming he knew about his son's abusive conduct and "tried to cover it up." - Billboard, 4/23/24...... Terry Carter, the actor best known for his roles in Battlestar Galactica and McCloud, died on Apr. 25 at the age of 95. Born John Everett DeCoste in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Dec. 16, 1928, the actor would proceed to have a prolific career. He became one of the first Black actors as a regular on a TV sitcom series, The Phil Silvers Show. He appeared in 92 episodes as Private Sugarman from 1955-1959. Two years later, he appeared in the film adaptation of the Mildred Savage novel Parrish. Then, in 1965, he portrayed the only Black G.I. in the World War II series Combat! The series ran from 1962 to 1967, with 152 episodes. Mr. Carter starred in several feature films, including the 1970 TV movie Company of Killers and the Blaxploitation classic Foxy Brown, alongside Pam Grier. Throughout the decade, he also starred as Sgt. Joe Broadhurst, the sidekick to Dennis Weaver's Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud on McCloud. The series ran from 1970 to 1977. The next two years, he starred as Colonel Tigh in 21 episodes of Battlestar Galactica. In addition to starring in both film and television roles, Mr. Carter also formed his own production company in 1975. He focused his attention on educational documentaries, and by the following decade, he began creating documentaries for the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts and PBS. - People, 4/23/24...... Mike Pinder, the last surviving original member of the veteran psychedelic prog rock band The Moody Blues, died on Apr. 24 at his home in Northern California of undisclosed causes. He was 82. Moody Blues bassist John Lodge shared a statement from Pinder's family on Facebook, in which they wrote, "Michael Thomas Pinder died on Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 at his home in Northern California, surrounded by his devoted family. Michael's family would like to share with his trusted friends and caring fans that he passed peacefully. His final days were filled with music, encircled by the love of his family. Michael lived his life with a childlike wonder, walking a deeply introspective path which fused the mind and the heart." It continued, "He created his music and the message he shared with the world from this spiritually grounded place; as he always said, 'Keep your head above the clouds, but keep your feet on the ground.' His authentic essence lifted up everyone who came into contact with him. His lyrics, philosophy, and vision of humanity and our place in the cosmos will touch generations to come." Born in Erdington, Birmingham England on Dec. 27, 1941, Pinder co-founded the group in May 1964 with multi-instrumentalist/singer Ray Thomas, singer/guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist/singer Clint Warwick. Laine and Warwick left the band in 1966 after the release of 1965's debut album, The Magnificent Moodies, and were replaced by guitarist Justin Hayward and bassist Lodge. Pinder and Laine co-wrote all the original songs on Moodies, which included the band's wistful, R&B influenced breakthrough single, "Go Now." The new lineup released one of the landmark early prog rock albums, Days of Future Passed, in 1967, on which Pinder made his recorded debut playing the mellotron, a keyboard that used prerecorded three-track tapes to reproduced a variety of orchestral instrumental sounds and special effects. "The Mellotron enabled me to create my own variations of string movements. I could play any instrument that I wanted to hear in the music. If I heard strings, I could play them with the Mellotron. If I heard cello, brass, trumpets or piano, I could play them," Pinder told Rolling Stone in an oral history of the album's enduring hit single, "Nights in White Satin." Pinder took lead vocals on the majestic, symphonic opening instrumental, "The Day Begins," and is credited with writing "Dawn: Dawn Is a Feeling" and the "Sunset" portion of the trippy "Evening" suite. The album also featured what would become the group's signature mind-trip single, "Nights in White Satin," which rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart when it was re-released in 1972. Pinder's experimentation with the then-new mellotron helped it become a staple of prog and psychedelic recordings by groups including Yes, Genesis and King Crimson. His explorations continued on the Moody's 1968 album In Search of the Lost Chord, another concept LP which explored the concepts of inner exploration and discovery. He contributed vocals to the propulsive single "Ride My See-Saw" and is the credited songwriter on the mind-tripping psychedelic journey through the universe "The Best Way to Travel." The group's 1972 LP, Seventh Sojourn, found Pinder blazing a trail with another new instrument, the Chamberlin, another electro-mechanical keyboard that also used a tape-like device that would later be featured on recordings by Stevie Wonder, James Taylor and Edgar Winter. Pinder released his debut solo album, The Promise, on the band's label, Threshold, in 1976, followed by a second one, Among the Stars, in 1994 and 1995's A Planet With One Mind. In 2018, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Moody Blues, although was the only member of the band who did not give a speech while on stage. Before his passing, Pinder the was the last living member of the original lineup following the death of bassist Warwick in 2004, singer/flautist Thomas in 2018, drummer Edge in 2021 and guitarist Laine in 2023. "Mike your music will last forever. Rest in peace on your travels to heaven," Lodge wrote on X. - Billboard, 4/25/24.

Heart has announced they'll reunite this spring and fall for a world tour and a new song. Heart guitarist/singer Nancy Wilson describes the tour as "the full-on rocker size" and she's been getting in shape for the tour. "I've been strengthening. I've got my trainer," she says. "You go one day at a time and you strengthen one workout session at a time. It's a lot of work, but it's the only job I know how to do." In addition to the band's classic hits like "Magic Man," "Crazy on You" and "Alone," Heart will be featuring some tracks from of their solo albums -- like Nancy's "Love Mistake" and sister Ann Wilson's "Miss One and Only" -- along with a new song called "Roll the Dice." "I like to say we have really good problems because the problem we have is to choose between a bunch of different, really cool songs that people love already," says Nancy. The tour, Heart's first in five years, kicked off on Apr. 20 in Greenville, S.C., then will visit cities including Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, as well as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Col. International dates include stops in London, Oslo, Berlin, Stockholm, Montreal and Glasgow. Their "Royal Flush Tour" will have Cheap Trick as the opening act for many stops, but Def Leppard and Journey will headline for three stadium dates in Cleveland, Toronto and Boston this summer. "The shows can be so elating and so transcendent, and the electric energy is unbelievable. So that's what we're here for," says Nancy. "We've built this train. We've got the wheels on and we're putting it on the track, and we'll see how fast things thing can go -- and how far it can go." - AP, 4/19/24...... Taylor Swift's new album The Tortured Poets Department has become the toast of the current pop scene since its release early on Apr. 19, and the album contains shoutouts to two important '70s female "tortured poets" -- Stevie Nicks and Patti Smith. Nicks penned a poem dedicated to Swift, as printed inside the CD casings of the 16-track record. "He was in love with her/ Or at least she thought so," it reads. "She was broken hearted/ Maybe he was too/ Neither of them knew." "He really can't answer her," the text, dated Sept. 13, continues. "He's afraid of her/ He's hiding from her/ And he knows -- that he's hurting her/ She tells the truth/ She writes about it/ She's an informer/ He's an x-lover/ There's nothing there for her/ She's already gone." Nicks dedicated the poem, "For T -- and me." Her contribution, which can be read in full on X, comes after Swift gave Nicks a shoutout on the closing track of Tortured Poets -- "Clara Bow." "You look like Stevie Nicks in '75, the hair and lips," the pop superstar sings on the finale. "The crowd goes wild at her fingertips/ Half moonshin5, a full eclipse." Meanwhile, Patti Smith has responded to Swift's insertion of her name into the title track of Tortured Poets. In the song, Swift makes reference to Smith and the poet Dylan Thomas in the lyric: "I laughed in your face and said, 'You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith / This ain't the Chelsea Hotel / We're modern idiots.'" It is thought that the title track refers to Taylor's short-lived relationship with The 1975's Matty Healy and her comment about Smith and Dylan refers to the 1975 frontman and herself in the sense that the pair should not take themselves so seriously and they are just "modern idiots." Now, Smith has had her say on her name being dropped in the song in an Instagram post featuring a photo of her reading Thomas. "This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thank you Taylor." Nicks and Smith are two of several celebrities namechecked on the new album, including Kim Kardashian, Charlie Puth and Lucy Dacus. Swift will resume her career-spanning "Eras Tour" in Europe in May before heading to the UK and Ireland in June. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 4/19/24...... German electro-pop pioneers Kraftwerk will be among the headliners at the 2024 installment of the Montreux Jazz Festival, set for Switzerland's Lake Geneva shoreline between July 5-20. The 58th edition of the prestigious Swiss event will also feature the likes of Sting, Alice Cooper, Duran Duran, Lenny Kravitz, Smashing Pumpkins, Soft Cell, PJ Harvey and more on its Lake Stage. The Casino Stage program, meanwhile, "blurs the lines between jazz, afrobeats, pop and rap," with such artists as Dionne Warwick, Andre 3000, Paloma Faith, Brittany Howard and Loreen. Additionally, former Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason will bring his "Saucerful Of Secrets" project which focuses on the band's founding years -- from 1967 to 1972 -- to the Casino Stage on July 13. The full lineup can be viewed on the festival's X page, and more info can be found at www.montreuxjazzfestival.com/en/. - NME, 4/18/24...... New tracks from David Bowie, Brian Eno, Aurora and London Grammar have been shared to promote Earth Day on Apr. 22. Launched by The Museum for the United Nations, the project is called Sounds Right, and is developed to both spark a global conversation about the value of nature and galvanise people to take meaningful action to protect our planet. It sees "Mother Nature" recognized as an official artist with her own profile on major streaming platforms -- where music lovers can listen to the eclectic mix of sounds from the natural world, including ocean waves, wind, rainstorms and birdsong. Bowie and Eno's track "Get Real" is one of the songs featured -- now remixed by the latter to incorporate the harsh cries of hyenas, rooks and wild pigs. Eno explained the remix in a post on Instagram: "In the nature remix of 'Get Real', a track I co-wrote with David Bowie 30 years ago, the animals are invading the song -- it's like it has sprung leaks everywhere and these animals are coming in through every window and crack between the doors. They're sort of threatening -- suddenly Nature has crept into the art." The full playlist can be checked out on Spotify.com. - NME, 4/18/24...... Barbra Streisand has recorded a new song, "Love Will Survive," for the upcoming Sky/Peacock original series The Tattooist of Auschwitz. The track recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra was composed by two-time Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer in collaboration with Emmy-nominee Kara Talve and Grammy-winning producer/songwriter Walter Afanasieff (Mariah Carey); the song's lyrics were penned by Grammy and Golden Globe nominee Charlie Midnight; Afanasieff and Peter Asher produced the track. "Because of the rise in antisemitism around the world today, I wanted to sing 'Love Will Survive' in the context of this series, as a way of remembering the six-million souls who were lost less than 80 years ago," Streisand said in a statement. "And also to say that even in the darkest of times, the power of love can triumph and endure." The song, Streisand's first-ever recording for a TV series, will be released by Columbia Records on Apr.25, a week before the series launches globally on streaming on May 2. Zimmer also composed the original score for the six-part limited series starring Harvey Keitel, Melanie Lynskey, Jonah Hauer-King, Anna Prchniak and Jonas Nay. It tells the story of a Slovakian Jewish man, Lali (Hauer-King), who in 1942 was deported to the Nazi death camp where more than one million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. The series will be available beginning May 2 on Sky Atlantic and the NOW streaming service in the UK and Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as Peacock in the U.S. and Stan in Australia. - Billboard, 4/17/24...... The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Okla., has announced the recipients of its inaugural Bob Dylan Center songwriter fellowship. Tega Ethan, a 25-year-old singer-songwriter from Nigeria, and Taylor Zickfoose, a 28-year-old native of Washington state, were selected by global panel of leading artists and songwriters, including Juliette Armanet, Patty Griffin, John Mellencamp, Carla Morrison and Nas, and reviewed by executives at BDC in Tulsa, Okla. and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). Each fellowship includes a $40,000 project stipend, public engagement and presentation opportunities, dedicated time in the Bob Dylan Archive to study the legendary artist's creative process, roundtrip airfare to Tulsa and accommodations, mentorship from the music publishing giant's songwriters and executives, recording time, and more. Nearly 600 works were submitted from around the world, organizers say, based on the criteria that applicants were 18 years or older and unsigned to a publishing agreement of any kind at the time of the Fellowship start date, May, 1, 2024. Announced last August, the fellowship is to be awarded each year to two standout talents, through an initiative that identifies, mentors and develops rising talent, doing so with the resources of the BDC. - Billboard, 4/17/24...... In a new interview with Mark Goodman and Alan Light on the Sound Up! podcast, The Who's Pete Townshend appears to put a dampener on any hopes for a Who farewell tour, saying that he was being "sarcastic" when he hinted at the idea. Initially, it seemed that the band were planning a farewell tour to end their touring days with a bang, with Townshend stating in March that The Who have one "final" thing left to do before they call it quits. "It feels to me like there's a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die," he said. "I don't get much of a buzz from performing with The Who. If I'm really honest, I've been touring for the money. My idea of an ordinary lifestyle is pretty elevated." However, when asked about the prospect by hosts Goodman and Light, Townshend replied: "I'm not doing a farewell tour. I think I was being sarcastic about it." He also elaborated on how he has "felt old" for the majority of his time with the band, going on to give one song from his 1982 solo album All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes in particular as an example. "When I was 34, I wrote the song 'Slit Skirts,' and I think the line is 'I'm 34 years old and I'm still wandering in a haze. I felt old at 34." Townshend's comments about the band coming to an end also follow on from comments made by Who frontman Roger Daltrey in March, when he reflected on turning 80, saying that "he has to be realistic" and is "on the way out." Daltrey recently announced a new "semi-acoustic" solo tour of North America, which will take place across nine dates in June. - NME, 4/17/24...... Director Peter Jackson, who helmed the Beatles' The Beatles: Get Back documentary series in 2021, has announced that director Michael Lindsay-Hogg's legendary 1970 documentary Let It Be will be available for the first time in more than 50 years when it airs exclusively on the Disney+ streaming channel beginning May 8. According to a press release, the film -- recorded during the midst of the group's breakup -- "now takes its rightful place in the band's history... Once viewed through a darker lens, the film is now brought to light through its restoration and in the context of revelations brought forth" in Jackson's Emmy-winning 2021 docuseries. The restored Let It Be features footage that appeared Get Back, taking viewers into the studio and onto the Apple Corps London rooftop in Jan. 1969 for what would be the quartet's final live performance. It also features the band in the studio writing and recording their Let It Be album. In the wake of the rapturous appreciation for Jackson's series, and with Lindsay-Hogg's support, Apple Corps asked Jackson's Park Road Post Production team to restore Let It Be from the original 16mm negative, a process that also included the remastering of the film's sound using the same MAL de-mix technology that was employed on Get Back. Though Let It Be premiered in movie theaters in 1970 and was released on home video formats in the early 1980s, it has never been officially issued on DVD, blu-ray or streaming. The new Let It Be released was teased on Apr. 15 in a post on the Beatles' Instagram page with the cryptic message: "There will be an answer." - Billboard, 4/16/24...... In other Beatles-related news, Ringo Starr has announced an autumn 2024 tour of North America with his All-Starr Band that will kick off in Omaha, Neb. on Sept. 12 and wrap at New York City's Radio City Music Hall on Sept. 25. The autumn tour is in addition to the previously announced spring/summer tour which sees the All Starr Band on the road for 12 shows including Las Vegas and Mexico City. The current incarnation of the All-Starr Band, in addition to Sir Ringo, includes Steve Lukather, Edgar Winter, Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette. Starr, 83, released a 4-song EP, Crooked Boy, on Apr. 12. - Music-News.com, 4/19/24...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Neil Young revealed that he has uncovered the "lost verses" from the 1975 song "Cortez The Killer," and that he's considering playing them during his upcoming tour with Crazy Horse. Young reportedly recently hosted a Zoom session with a handful of fans who are subscribed to his official website. During this call, the artist revealed that he had recently found "the other verses" from "Cortez The Killer" that were either cut from the song, or lost due to technical difficulties while recording the track. He also teased performing them, though nothing is set in stone just yet: "Just a couple of days ago, I found the other verses. Just the lyrics we may have those lost lyrics in the show, which will be fun for me." In February, Crazy Horse announced their upcoming album FU##IN' UP, which will contain songs from the band's 50 year career, freshly recorded for 2024. The album will have its initial release on Record Store Day (Apr. 20); it will arrive in all formats on Apr. 26. The pair, who last reunited for a Hyde Park BST festival date in London in 2014, will tour North America between Apr. 24 and May 23. Young and Crazy Horse released their last music collaboration in 2021, with Barn. - NME, 4/16/24...... Legendary comedienne Carol Burnett will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 49th Annual Gracie Awards Gala on May 21 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The award recognizes a woman whose work in media honors the legacy of Gracie Allen, a pioneering force in the industry and the award's namesake. The awards are presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF). "Carol Burnett is a true icon of television and entertainment, whose impact spans decades and resonates with audiences of all ages," Becky Brooks, president of the AWMF, said in a statement. "Her groundbreaking work on The Carol Burnett Show set a standard for excellence in comedy and storytelling." Burnett won her seventh competitive Emmy Award in January for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) for Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love. The two-hour NBC special featured such pals as Julie Andrews and Cher and a performance by Katy Perry of "I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together," the theme song to The Carol Burnett Show. In 1985, Burnett became just the second woman (after Lucille Ball) to be inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Her many other honorary awards include the Kennedy Center Honors (2003), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005), the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (2013), and the life achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild (2015). In 2019, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association created The Carol Burnett Award which is an honorary Golden Globe to celebrate outstanding contributions to television. Burnett was the first recipient. Burnett co-stars in the new series Palm Royal for Apple TV, which premiered Mar.20. The cast includes Kristin Wiig, Allison Janney, Laura Dern, Ricky Martin and Josh Lucas. - Billboard, 4/16/24...... It was revealed on Apr. 15 that the Class of 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees will be announced live coast-to-coast during a Rock Hall-themed episode of American Idol on Apr. 21. The inductees will be announced by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest along with judge (and 2022 Rock Hall inductee) Lionel Richie. The episode will air 8-10:01 p.m. ET and 5-7:01 p.m. PT on ABC, with a repeat scheduled for 8-10:01 p.m. PT on the West Coast. In that same episode, Gene Simmons will serve as a guest mentor for the top 14 Idol contenders. Simmons was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2014 as a member of KISS. - Billboard, 4/15/24...... Co-founding The Allman Brothers Band singer-guitarist Dickey Betts passed away on the morning of Apr. 18 following a battle with cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 80. "It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the Betts family announce the peaceful passing of Forrest Richard 'Dickey' Betts (December 12, 1943 -- April 18, 2024) at the age of 80 years old," his family announced on his Instagram account. "The legendary performer, songwriter, bandleader and family patriarch was at his home in Osprey, Florida, surrounded by his family. Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt worldwide. At this difficult time, the family asks for prayers and respect for their privacy in the coming days. More information will be forthcoming at the appropriate time," they added. Born Forrest Richard Betts in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 12, 1943, Betts grew up listening to bluegrass and country music as a child and played in a number of rock band in his home state before being tapped to join the Allmans. An integral part of the Allman's swampy, rambling Southern rock sound, Betts joined brothers Gregg and Duane Allman in 1969 in the group the siblings formed after splitting up their earlier band, the Allman Joys. Taking his place alongside drummers Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe and bassist Berry Oakley -- Betts had played with Oakley in the band the Second Coming -- Betts provided lead guitar as well as initially sharing vocals with Duane and Oakley before Gregg Allman stepped up to be the lead singer and primary songwriter. Though he did not have a songwriting credit on the band's 1969 self-titled debut album -- which featured a mix of blues covers and Allman originals such as "Black Hearted Woman," "It's Not My Cross to Bear" and the furious blues guitar workout "Whipping Post" -- he did land a few songwriting nods on their 1970s follow-up, Idlewild South. Along with his buoyant, album-opening acoustic jam "Revival" Betts contributed a song that would become one of the band's signature extended jam showpieces, the explosive, jazz-influenced seven-minute workout "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." On the band's next album, the iconic 1971 live album At Fillmore East, fans who had not yet caught the group's exploratory, expansive live show yet were treated to a nearly 13-minute version of "Reed" that showcased the jazz and Western swing influences Betts brought to the table. And, in keeping with their growing reputation as one of the most experimental, unpredictable American rock bands, that long walk was accompanied on side four by a furious, 22-minute "Whipping Post." On 1972's hybrid studio-live album Eat a Peach, Betts penned and sang what would be the Allman's only top 10 Billboard Hot 100 single, the AM radio staple "Ramblin' Man," which rose to No. 2 on the chart. Betts would also contribute lead and slide guitar as well as the a handful of lead vocals on the 1975 album Win, Lose or Draw. During his stint in the group the unpredictable, mustachioed Betts -- who famously inspired the wildman character Russell played by Billy Crudup in director Cameron Crowe's rock-themed film Almost Famous -- released a series of solo albums, beginning with 1974's jazz and country/bluegrass-influenced Highway Call, followed by 1977's Dickey Betts & Great Southern (featuring a songwriting collab on "Bougainvillea" with actor Don Johnson) and, in 1979, Atlanta's Burning Down, during the group's first hiatus. The Allmans came back in 1979 for the album Enlightened Rogues, but things went south again quickly and they called it quits once more in 1982. Betts continued to play shows and tour until 1989, when the group once again reformed with a new slide guitarist from Betts' band, Warren Haynes. Three more Allman albums were released in the early 1990s, though Betts was not always on stage with the group when they toured later in the decade and he played his final show with the band in May 2000 at the Music Midtown Festival in Atlanta, after which he was fired for what the band dubbed "creative differences." Betts filed suit against his former bandmates over his sacking and never performed with them again, though he continued to tour with his own band for several years before retiring from music in 2017. Betts suffered a mild stroke in Aug. 2018 after a brief return to the road in 2018 with a band that included his son, Duane. In Dec. 2023, Betts attended an 80th birthday concert in his honor by the Allman Betts Family Revival Band. The Allman Brothers also posted a statement to their website mourning the death of their former bandmate, writing in part, "His extraordinary guitar playing alongside guitarist Duane Allman created a unique dual guitar signature sound that became the signature sound of the genre known as Southern Rock. He was passionate in life, be it music, songwriting, fishing, hunting, boating, golf, karate or boxing. Dickey was all in on and excelled at anything that caught his attention." - Billboard, 4/18/24.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on May 6th, 2025

Pink Floyd are on track to claim their seventh UK number one album with the rerelease of the soundtrack of their legendary 1975 concert film Pink Floyd At Pompeii MCMLXXII. Released on May 2 also in a Blu-ray cinema version and other formats, was directed by Adrian Maben and filmed in the hauntingly atmospheric Roman amphitheatre of Pompeii and has been remixed by acclaimed producer Steven Wilson. The legendary prog rockers' previous UK number ones included Atom Heart Mother (1970), Wish You Were Here (1975), The Final Cut (1983), The Division Bell (1994), Pulse (Live) (1995), and The Endless River (2014). Final chart positions will be confirmed on May 9 by the UK's Official Charts Company. - Music-News.com, 5/6/25...... Jimmy Page has been hit with another lawsuit over the songwriting credits of the 1968 Led Zepplin track "Dazed and Confused." Musician Jake Holmes, who is said to have written the original track that inspired the famous Zeppelin release in 1967, alleges Page heard the song in August of that year when he opened for Page's previous band, The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds went on to share their own version of the song shortly afterwards and played it regularly at their shows. Although an official studio version was never made, they did share live recordings of their version of "Dazed And Confused" in 1967 and 1968. Later, Page would share another version of the song with Led Zep that appeared on the band's 1968 debut album. This sounded very similar to the original version by Holmes (which can be heard on YouTube), although it contained new lyrics and instrumental melodies written by Page. It remains one of Led Zeppelin's most popular songs. Holmes first filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against against Page in 2010, and the settlement (decided outside of court) led to the songwriting credit on the Led Zeppelin version being changed to "inspired by Jake Holmes." It was unclear whether or not the agreement also applied to recordings shared by The Yardbirds, and now that several archival releases from the band have been shared, the lawsuit from Holmes has been revived once more. In the new lawsuit, Holmes claims that he has not been given credit nor royalties for the early versions of "Dazed And Confused" performed by The Yardbirds. The suit references the newly shared film Becoming Led Zeppelin, which has the Led Zeppelin version credited as "inspired by Jake Holmes" but the Yardbirds version as only "written by Jimmy Page." It also names Sony Pictures and music publisher Warner Chappell as defendants. Page's legal team has yet to make a public statement about the revived lawsuit from Holmes. - New Musical Express, 5/6/25...... Two months before Black Sabbath's final-ever live show at Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, England on July 5, Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler says he has some intense anxieties ahead of the gig. Speaking to the UK paper The Guardian, Butler admitted that while he's unsure of how the performance will roll out, or how band frontman Ozzy Osbourne's health may affect the show. Butler says the lofty expectations behind such a gig have left him feeling immensely anxious. "I'm already having palpitations," he noted. "In fact, I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed everything went wrong on stage and we all turned to dust. It's important that we leave a great impression, since it's the final time that people will experience us live. So it has to be great on the night." While Osbourne hasn't performed a full set since Dec. 31, 2018 -- two months before his diagnosis of Parkinson's -- he's previously lowered expectations for the upcoming gig, noting he isn't "planning on doing a set with Black Sabbath," but rather "little bits and pieces" with the group. "I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable," he explained. Ozzy, who also participated in the interview, once again pointed out that Sabbath aren't planning on performing a full-length set. "We're only playing a couple of songs each," he explained. "I don't want people thinking, 'We're getting ripped off', because it's just going to be -- what's the word? -- a sample, you're going to get a few songs each by Ozzy and Sabbath." The event, which will raise funds for three charities -- Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Children's Hospice -- will see the band's classic line-up -- Osbourne, Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward -- play live together for the first time in two decades, while the likes of Metallica, Judas Priest, Slayer, Anthrax, Alice in Chains, Megadeath, and myriad others also join the bill. In a new interview with the UK's The Guardian, Ozzy's wife/manager Sharon Osborne confirmed that Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is set to perform at the event too, as are the surviving members of Soundgarden. For Tyler, the gig will mark one of the few live appearances since he abruptly retired from touring in Aug. 2024. The decision was made after he suffered a serious vocal cord injury while kicking off Aerosmith's final tour. Although he has not played any full shows since the news, he has taken to the stage once since the injury -- playing at a charity event in February and breaking out some of his biggest hits. - Billboard/NME, 5/5/25...... Shortly after performing a solo set at the 2025 Stagecoach Festival in Indio, Calif. on Apr. 27, Sammy Hagar has spoken to Rolling Stone about his ongoing feud with his former Van Halen bandmate Alex Van Halen. Hagar said he wonders if "jealousy" is the reason why Alex hasn't spoken to him in 21 years. In a 2022 interview, Hagar said the drummer had completely cut him off, adding that "Alex has got a stick up his ass about something with me still." Notably, Alex also left details of Hagar's years in Van Halen out of recent memoir, Brothers, whose narrative ends before the departure of original VH vocalist David Lee Roth. Hagar told Rolling Stone that he "dreamt about Alex the other night, man." "It was crazy. And it was so friggin' real," he said. "I was saying, 'What are you pissed off at me about, man? What the f---? Now just tell me what your problem is. What did I do? Just tell me.'" Hagar also wondered if it was related to the fact that the Van Halen band has been relatively inactive in music while he himself continues to tour. "I think Al's angry because I'm out doing it, and [bassist] Mike [Anthony] and I are out doing it, and he can't," he suggests. "He's not a singer. He's not a guitar player. He is not really a band leader. And he seems like he doesn't want to play drums or can't play drums anymore, and he can't go write a new record. Alex wasn't the songwriter in the band. He was the drummer. Eddie and I wrote the songs. Dave and Eddie wrote the songs, and so we can go out and do them. I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it. I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn't do it anymore. But I'm the happiest guy out of all of them. That pisses people off in itself. Being too happy, people don't like that." The interviewer countered with the suggestion that Alex's health could be to blame, as well as the difficulty of playing without his brother following Eddie Van Halen's death in 2020. "Yeah, I'd say so. And I'm okay with it. Al, you're fine. Just leave me alone. I'll leave you alone. Everything's good. I'm making you money, by the way, Al. I'm out there selling Van Halen records and keeping the name alive, keeping the music alive." Hagar recently released a new single, "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight," which has been shared on YouTube and includes a guitar lick he says Eddie showed him in a dream. - NME, 5/5/25...... The 2025 Met Gala dinner inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 5 was headlined by Stevie Wonder and Usher. Making his Met Gala debut with his family, Wonder was joined by a nine-person band and opened his headlining set with a capella intro of "Sir Duke," before entertaining the guests with a string of hits like "Black Man," "Higher Ground" and "Isn't She Lovely." A singalong erupted in the room as Wonder sang his early hit "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" followed by "I Wish" and "Superstition." He concluded the set by bringing Usher, who opened the show, back out for a duet of his song "Another Star." During his time on the red carpet, the 74-year-old spoke to Vogue about the importance of Black fashion being celebrated by the Costume Institute's new exhibition "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style." "It is a wonderful thing that it's being celebrated tonight. I appreciate that," he said. "But the reality is, I believe that God has celebrated what we have done since the beginning of time... since we were created we've created style, whether be it music, whether be it dance, whether be it, the most important thing, love." - Music-News.com, 5/6/25...... Neil Young's new song "Let's Roll Again," released on May 2, calls out Elon Musk and "fascist" Tesla owners amid lyrics imploring the major auto manufacturers to build clean-energy vehicles that "won't kill our kids." Singing a melody that evokes Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," Young quips, "If yer a fascist, then get a Tesla/ If it's electric, it doesn't matter." The release of "Let's Roll Again" comes six days after Young first premiered the track during his performance at the "Autism Speaks Light Up The Blues 7" concert in Los Angeles. It will appear on Young's upcoming album, Talkin' to Trees, which he announced May 2 would be arriving June 13. Also featuring January single "Big Change," the LP marks Young's first with new band the Chrome Hearts. Young and his band are currently gearing up to kick off their first world tour on June 18 in Sweden, after which they'll perform a string of shows across Europe through the first week of July. In August, they'll kick off North American leg on Aug. 8 in Charlotte, N.C. Musk is famously the CEO of Tesla, which makes battery-powered cars. In addition to owning X (formerly Twitter) and SpaceX, he's also the polarizing right-hand man of Pres. Donald Trump, with Musk heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) created in January. "Let's Roll Again" has been shared on YouTube. - Billboard, 5/2/25...... The new Bruce Springsteen documentary Bruce Springsteen: Backstage and Backstreets was nominated for an Outstanding Arts, Culture or Entertainment Coverage Emmy on May 1. Springsteen has been nominated for three Primetime Emmys, but has yet to win. He was nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (HBO, 2001), Outstanding Special Class - Short-Form Live Action Entertainment Program for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Super Bowl Halftime Show (NBC, 2009) and Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) for Springsteen on Broadway (Netflix, 2019). The 46th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards will be presented live at the Palladium Times Square in New York City on June 25 (News ceremony) and June 26 (Documentary ceremony), and will be streamed live on The Emmys website and via The Emmys apps for iOS, tvOS, Android, FireTV and Roku. Meanwhile, the New Jersey rocker continues to review his upcoming expansive box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums by sharing another track, "Faithless," on Spotify.com on May 1. Described as "the title track from a long-lost soundtrack to a movie that was never made," the Boss takes us once again down to the river, where love is found. "Well, I work by the rocks of the river/ Faithless, faithless, faithless/ Then I met you," Springsteen sings in a hushed voice over gentle, high desert-style acoustic guitar backing. "I walked 'neath the eaves of the garden/ Faithless, faithless, faithless/ Then I saw you," he adds with a chorus of female voices echoing his own. In a press release announcing the song, it is called a "meditation on purpose, belief and acceptance" that was originally intended to accompany a "spiritual Western" film that never got made. Springsteen recorded much of the Faithless album between the end of the Nov. 2005 Devils & Dust tour and the Apr. 2006 release of the We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions album. "Faithless" joins the other two pre-release songs previewing the Tracks II collection, the beat-heavy "Blind Spot" from the 10-track "Streets of Philadelphia" Sessions and the turbulent, "Rain in the River." The 83-track collection will "fill in rich chapters of Springsteen's expansive career timeline -- while offering invaluable insight into his life and work as an artist," according to the initial release announcing the set, which noted that some of the albums got to the mixing stage before being shelved. - Billboard, 5/1/25...... In a new interview with the British tabloid Metro, Gloria Gaynor said the "biggest misconception" about her is that she is a feminist. Gaynor, whose chart-topping 1979 smash "I Will Survive" is widely regarded as one of the most iconic feminist anthems of all time, said that she does not identify as a feminist when asked what people often get wrong about her. "The biggest misconception about me? It may be dangerous to say this, but that I'm a feminist," she said. Noting that she grew up with five brothers, Gaynor added, "I love men who know who they are and are strong enough to take their place, but also strong enough to recognize a woman's strengths and allow her to exercise those strengths and realize that we are to be partners and not opponents." The disco legend's comments have already sparked pushback online, with many people pointing out that, despite her implication, loving men and feminism are not mutually exclusive. By definition, feminism is the "belief in and advocacy of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests," according to Merriam-Webster. "So Gloria Gaynor doesn't know what feminist is... got it," one person wrote on X. "So Gloria Gaynor isn't a feminist because she loves men?" wrote another user. "Feminism isn't anti-man, it's just pro-human rights. But sure, let's ignore that. i love men and I'm still a feminist." The two-time Grammy winner's new interview comes a few weeks after she announced that her new EP, Happy Tears, will arrive June 6. The first taste of the five-track project came in February, when Gaynor dropped single "Fida Known," which she told Metro is her favorite song of the bunch. - Billboard, 5/5/25...... Virgin records/airline CEO Richard Branson has recalled the time he once saved the life of Keith Richards when a man showed up brandishing gun to kill him. Branson, well known for being a close friend with countless A-List stars including the founding Rolling Stones guitarist, recalled the incident on Virgin Radio UK on May 1, saying, "I went to the front door. There was this huge guy there and he had a gun. He went, 'I've come to kill Keith Richards, he's in your house with my wife.'" While the command sounded preposterous, it appeared the angry man was correct -- as the 74-year-old Branson went on with his tale. "As I was talking to him, I saw a naked Keith Richards and a naked wife running behind him across the lawn," he recalled. "I said, 'Put the gun down and you can search the house'. He searched the house, he apologized, he left. About an hour later, a naked Keith Richards came back without the wife." Richards, now 81, has been in a relationship with model Patti Hansen since 1979 and they have been husband and wife since 1983. The couple share two children together, and Richards has three other children from a past relationship with late model Anita Pallenberg. - Music-News.com, 5/3/25...... The Beach Boys legend Mike Love took to Instagram on Apr. 28 to publicly mourn the loss of his brother, Stan Love, a onetime NBA player who spent two years with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1970s and is the father of current NBA All-Star Kevin Love. Kevin announced his father's death at age 76 on social media on Apr. 27, with no cause of death revealed. "So many of you have shared your condolences about the loss of my brother. I guess I am still in shock; although he'd battled significant health issues for so long, I never thought I'd lose him. I really thought we would be here together; reality is not what I thought or hoped for," Mike Love, 84, wrote in his post. "My big younger brother, you called me the superstar, but to me you are the superstar!! You always had my back!," Love continued. "I am blessed to be your brother. I will cherish our lives spent together, whether spoofing on each other or reliving memories. I know you're on the big court now, pounding down 3's; don't foul out, bro. Give Mom & Dad a hug from me. Until we meet again, I love you, Brother, for eternity," he added. Among those giving Mike's post a heart was Full House star John Stamos, who has performed frequently with the Beach Boys over the years. - Parade, 4/29/25...... Joe Louis Walker, an electric blues musician who worked with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt and Mark Knopfler, passed away in late April following a cardiac-related illness. He was 75. Walker's extensive career, which spanned over six decades, saw the singer and guitarist open for such fellow blues icons as Muddy Waters and Thelonious Monk. In the blues scene and beyond, he was considered a "musician's musician" by peers, with Franklin dubbing him "The Bluesman." Born and raised in San Francisco, Walker took to playing the guitar as a child and went on to become a Bay Area regular as he gigged throughout the boom of the late '60s psychedelic rock and blues movement, finding friends in Jimi Hendrix and Mike Bloomfield -- who later became his roommate. After a stint spent in jail, Walker was working odd-jobs by the mid '70s, but started playing with gospel outfit the Spiritual Corinthians. His joining them was followed by a performance at the 1985 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which became the catalyst for his return to blues. In 2016, he was nominated for his first and only Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album with 2015 release Everybody Wants a Piece, and, earlier in 2025, revisited his 1986 debut album, Cold Is The Night. Honors earned throughout his career include an induction into the Blues Hall of Fame, being named a USA Fellow by United States Artists, and receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. - NME, 5/3/25.

On Apr. 30 Paul McCartney revealed the cover for his new book about his '70s band Wings, Wings: The Story Of A Band On The Run. Set to arrive on Nov. 4, the book is compiled from over 42 hours of brand-new interviews, as well as historical interviews and newly discovered, previously unheard interviews from McCartney's personal archive. Also included are around 150 photos -- many previously unseen -- capturing the band throughout the years, along with memorabilia, including some of Sir Paul's diary page entries from the time and handwritten lyrics. The cover photo, taken by Linda McCartney, shows Wings members Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell together while on tour in Spain in 1972. According to a press release, the book will recall some of the band's most memorable moments in Scotland, New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Nashville, Lagos, Japan, the Virgin Islands, Morocco, Montserrat and more, and is set against the backdrop of political and social timelines of the '70s. McCartney also shared a new excerpt he wrote of the book's foreword: "Suddenly Wings has found its moment. We have a generational shift at work, and it's like being transported back on a magic carpet. Working on the book has awakened so many beautiful memories of our times back then." News of the new book first arrived in February, when it was confirmed that Macca would be sharing an oral history of his first post-Beatles band Wings. In early April, it was confirmed that an exhibition of 36 rare photographs taken by Paul in the early '60s would be opening in Los Angeles. - New Musical Express, 4/30/25...... Speaking of Paul McCartney, the former Beatle will be among several famous collaborators on a new duets album by Barbra Streisand, The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two. The diva announced her latest studio album on Apr. 30, a new project featuring a cross-genre, cross-generational list of duet partners including McCartney, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Sting; Irish rocker Hozier; Icelandic jazz singer-songwriter Laufey; English crooner Sam Smith; country hitmaker Tim McGraw and British soul singer Seal. The first taste of the album, a Streisand duet with Hozier of Roberta Flack's No. 1 1972 smash "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," has been shared on Spotify.com. "I've always loved singing duets with gifted artists," Streisand said in a statement. "They inspire me in unique and different ways... and make our time in the studio a joy." The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two is due on June 27 via Columbia Records. It follows Babs' 2023 anecdote-rich memoir, My Name Is Barbra, about her 60-plus years of blazing trails in music, film, Broadway, activism and beyond. The singer's previous two albums, Partners and Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway, both reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart and received Grammy nods for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. - Billboard 4/30/25...... Appearing on comedian Bill Maher's podcast Club Random with Bill Maher, actor Terrence Howard revealed that the biggest career mistake he ever made was turning down the chance to play Smokey Robinson after the Motown legend asked the actor to portray him in a movie. Howard said he turned down the role because he was already "in conversation" with director/producer Lee Daniels about playing another Motown legend, Marvin Gaye, in a separate project. Howard went on to say that he turned down the role of Gaye because he was uncomfortable with how the singer's sexuality would be explored. "I was over at Quincy Jones' house and I'm asking Quincy, 'I'm hearing rumours that Marvin was gay' and I'm like, 'Was he gay?,' and Quincy's like, 'Yes,'" Howard recalled. On the prospect of exploring Gaye's sexuality, he added: "They would've wanted to do that, and I wouldn't have been able to do that." When asked by Maher if he couldn't kiss a man on screen, Howard replied: "No. Because I don't fake it," before adding: "That would f--- me. I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off. I can't play that character 100 per cent. I can't surrender myself to a place that I don't understand." Gaye did not publicly explicitly state his sexuality but was married twice in his life, to Anna Gordy and Janis Hunter. But Jones once alleged in an interview with Vulture, that the late singer had an intimate relationship with late actor Marlon Brando, although it has never been confirmed. "Brando used to go cha-cha dancing with us. He could dance his ass off. He was the most charming motherf---er you ever me," said at the time. "He'd f---- anything. Anything! He'd f--- a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye He did not give a f---!" Howard's full interview with Maher can be streamed on YouTube. - NME, 4/29/25...... The inductees of the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were announced by Ryan Seacrest on ABC's American Idol on Apr. 27, with '70s stars Joe Cocker and Bad Company among the seven acts inducted into the performer category. Cocker and Bad Company were first-time nominees, as well as inductee Outkast. Inductees Cyndi Lauper and The White Stripes, had each been nominated once before, and inductee Soundgarden had been nominated twice before. Inductee Chubby Checker, whose "The Twist" was a global smash in 1960, had to wait even longer for induction than Cher, who was finally inducted last year, 59 years after Sonny & Cher's breakthrough smash "I Got You Babe." There are six other inductees this year in other categories. Salt-N-Pepa and Warren Zevon are set to receive the musical influence award; Philly Soul producer Thom Bell, English studio pianist/organist Nicky Hopkins and studio bass guitarist Carole Kaye (who was part of the fabled Wrecking Crew of top L.A. studio musicians) will receive the musical excellence award; and producer and label executive Lenny Waronker will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award. Sadly, several of these people didn't live to see their inductions. Hopkins died in 1994 at age 50; Zevon in 2003 at 56; Chris Cornell of Soundgarden in 2017 at 52; and Bell in 2022 at 79. The other seven nominees in the performer category who were denied admission to the Rock Hall this year include Oasis, Mariah Carey, Joy Division/New Order, The Black Crowes, Billy Idol, Man and Phish. Joe Cocker's widow Pam Cocker said she was "really surprised" her late husband was inducted into the Rock Hall. "I voted every day and watched his standing on the fan vote. 'Long overdue' -- those were my daughter's first words when we heard the news." Pam added that while her husband "wasn't obsessed with the fact he wasn't in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he did want it. But he didn't prioritize it. He was always surprised at what other people were not in it more than himself." All of the Cockers, including Joe's surviving older brother Vic Cocker, are planning to attend the induction ceremony in November and are anticipating, in Pam's words, "a brilliant evening." Bad Company's Paul Rodgers told Billboard that "I know that our fans, friends and some media have wanted this for a long time, so they will be pleased at last. I am looking forward to seeing some old friends, reconnecting with (fellow inductee) Chubby Checker -- maybe do the twist?" Both Rodgers and Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke say they'll attend and perform at the RRHOF induction gala on Nov. 8 ceremony in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be live on Nov. 8 at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. The 2025 ceremony, held at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live, will once again stream live on Disney+, with a special airing on ABC at a later date and available on Hulu the next day. - Billboard, 4/28/25...... Neil Diamond will be honored with the Inspirational Lifetime Achievement Award by the Children's Diabetes Foundation at the 39th Annual Carousel Ball on Oct. 11. The event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, near the home of CDF's primary operations and its clinic and research facility, the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. Diamond, 84, is just the third recipient of the award, following Sidney Poitier (2016) and Diane Warren (2024). Proceeds from The Carousel Ball benefit CDF and focus on patient support, awareness and diabetes research. The Carousel Balls, founded in 1978, collectively have raised more than $117 million. Diamond has served on CDF's advisory board and has attended the organization's fundraisers for many years, including performing in Denver in 2001, as well as at The Carousel of Hope Ball in Beverly Hills in 2012, where he memorably sang an impromptu duet of "Sweet Caroline" with George Clooney. "It's been my absolute joy to have supported the Children's Diabetes Foundation for so many wonderful years," Diamond said in a statement. "Barbara Davis and her organization have done an immense amount of good helping kids, adults and their families facing a difficult diagnosis." With a career spanning nealy 60 years, Diamond is a 2011 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and his achievements also include a Grammy, a Golden Globe Award, an American Music Award, an ASCAP Film and Television Award and a Billboard Icon Award. - Billboard, 4/29/25......Bruce Springsteen played alongside a litany of fellow music legends on Apr. 26 at an American Music Honors show at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ. An intimate audience of just 700 got to witness the Boss jam alongside John Fogerty, Smokey Robinson, Jackson Browne, Tom Morello, Darlene Love and Nora Guthrie in the concert organized by The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center. Fogerty, Robinson and Morello were receiving the American Music Honors at the event, as well as Emmylou Harris and Joe Ely. Springsteen himself delivered speeches for Fogerty and Ely. Springsteen and Fogerty went on to jam on the Creedence Clearwater Revival classics "Bad Moon Rising," "Proud Mary" and "Fortunate Son." Springsteen and Motown legend Robinson then played "Going To A Go-Go" together, before the Boss joined Browne for "Take It Easy" and Morello for "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." The night drew to a close with all the artists in attendance joining together on stage for a version of Woody Guthrie's classic "This Land Is Your Land," the first time Springsteen has played the once-regular part of his setlist since 2013. - Billboard, 4/27/25...... Former Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmates Neil Young and Stephen Stills reunited on Apr. 26 for the Light Up The Blues 7 Concert charity show at L.A.'s Greek Theatre. Stills came out at the end of Young's set with his new band The Chrome Hearts for collaborations on 1978's "Human Highway" and Young's regular set closer "Rockin' In The Free World," with footage of the latter available for viewing on YouTube. Later in the night, Young returned the favour during Stills' set, joining in on a version of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," the classic 1966 single on which they both originally played. It was a night in which political commentary dominated Young's set, with new song "Let's Roll Again" (which he has shared on YouTube) including the lyrics: "Come on America / Let's cover our back / Protect our children / If you're a fascist / Then get a Tesla / If it's electric, it doesn't matter." Other politically motivated tracks in Young's setlist included deep cuts "Ordinary People" and "Big Box," while "Rockin' In The Free World" included Young and Stills leading the crowd in a chant of "take America back." Other artists on the Light Up The Blues bill included Billy Idol, Cat Power, Nathaniel Rateliff, Rufus Wainwright and Linda Perry. - NME, 4/27/25...... An iconic photograph of David Bowie is set to feature on a limited-edition Bang & Olufsen speaker series. The high-end Danish audio tech company has announced an exclusive run of 30 Beosound A9 speakers that will include a canvas cover adorned with a rare Bowie image captured by the acclaimed British rock photographer Denis O'Regan. The item is priced at £3,995 and each speaker will come with a signed and numbered 12" x 8" print of the image, a printed box sleeve and a certificate of authenticity. The speakers are on sale now and can be found on the West-Contemporary-Editions website. O'Regan has spent decades capturing the biggest names in music and has been the official tour photographer for artists including The Rolling Stones, Queen and Pink Floyd. He also had a longstanding relationship with Bowie and was also one of the official photographers for Live Aid in 1985. He accompanied Bowie on multiple tours and produced the box set Ricochet: David Bowie 1983, which documented the extensive touring that followed the release of 1983's Let's Dance album. "Throughout my career I've been privileged to hear fans and collectors describe one of my images as their 'favourite picture of Bowie'," O'Regan said about the new release. "This favourite of mine is the image I've selected as my chosen moment for the B&O A9 speaker cover." - NME 4/26/25.