Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 17th, 2016

Leon Russell, the longhaired and long bearded pianist/guitarist/songwriter/bandleader who moved from playing countless recording sessions to making hits on his own, died on Nov. 12 in Nashville, Tenn. He was 74. The death of Russell, who had suffered significant health difficulties over the past five years, was announced on his website, which said that he had died in his sleep but gave no specific cause. One of the first of the supersessionmen, Russell played on recordings from whole host of artists from Jerry Lee Lewis through to The Crystals, Herb Alpert, The Byrds, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Delaney & Bonnie and the Rolling Stones. Born Claude Russell Bridges in Lawton, Oklahoma on Apr. 2, 1941, Russell grew up in Tulsa and studied classical piano from the age of three for 10 years, but then grew tired of the disciplines of formal music. At 14 he learned to play trumpet and put together his own band, lying about his age so that he could work in a Tulsa nightclub, where he played with Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, which later evolved into The Band. Later, Jerry Lee Lewis took Russell's band on the road with him. In 1958 he moved to Los Angeles, and began to hustle gigs as a sideman on recording sessions -- something his instrumental versatility enabled him to do with relative ease. He met Ricky Nelson's guitarist James Burton, who taught him guitar, and worked in the studio with Dorsey Burnette, Glen Campbell, and others. Russell worked on nearly all the Phil Spector hit productions -- from The Crystals' "He's a Rebel" to the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," as well as on isolated hits like The Byrds' "Mr. Tamborine Man," Herb Alpert's "A Taste of Honey" and Bob Lind's "Elusive Butterfly." After spending some time as an executive with a small record company named Viva, he quit the music business for two years in 1967 in order to build his own sophisticated home studio, and occasionally appeared with friends Delaney & Bonnie on the ABC TV dance show Shindig, and sometimes played sessions. In 1968, he and Marc Benno were signed by Mercury for the Smash label, and made the Asylum Choir album, which sold disappointingly. Russell then toured with Delaney & Bonnie, and teamed with English producer Denny Cordell to form Shelter Records, which signed J. J. Cale, and went to London where they laid down the tracks for Russell's debut solo album, Leon Russell. At the beginning of 1970, Russell put together the Mad Dogs and Englishmen all-star entourage to back Joe Cocker, who had cut Russell's composition "Delta Lady" at Russell's home studio, on Cocker's ambitious American tour. However as the film of the tour illustrates, the whole enterprise served to elevate Russell into the star attraction at the expense of Cocker. In August 1971, Russell was invited by George Harrison to be one of the many leading rock personalities to participate in the Concert for Bangla-Desh benefit show, which also featured Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. Russell's considerable stature in the rock world was also fortified when he was invited to work with and produce Dylan, although the resulting tracks, which include "Watching the River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece," were recorded when Dylan seemed to be creatively at a low ebb. Russell's solo career, however, continued apace, and throughout 1972 and 1973, he was enormously popular in the U.S. He developed a strong onstage personality with his long beard, wispy hair and beard, and familiar stove-pipe hat. His own albums usually employed superstar lineups, and were of variable quality, though after 1972's Carney and a 1973 triple live set recorded at California's Ontario Race Track both went gold, Russell's standing as a solo artist declined. Russell severed his associations with Shelter Records in 1976, and initiated a new label, Paradise Records, with his Wedding Album. The album celebrated his marriage to singer Mary McCreery, who had released a solo album on Shelter in 1973. In more recent years, Russell continued to record and tour, and in 2010 he collaborated with one of his old touring partners, Elton John, on an album called The Union. That same year, Russell underwent surgery for a brain fluid leak and was treated for heart failure. The following year, he was honored with the Award for Musical Excellence by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In July of this year, Russell suffered a heart attack, and was scheduled for further surgery, according to a news release from the historical society of Oklahoma, his home state. - 11/13/16.

Recent Nobel Prize for Literature honoree Bob Dylan has informed the Nobel Prize's Swedish Academy that "he wishes he could receive the prize personally, but other commitments make it unfortunately impossible," and that he won't be making the trip to Stockhom to pick up the prize in person on Dec. 10. Dylan, 75, was awarded the prize on Oct. 13 "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Details on who will accept the award on Dylan's behalf are expected to be announced soon. Dylan at first was silent after the Nobel announcement but eventually said getting the award left him "speechless." - AP, 11/16/16...... Friends and former bandmates of David Bowie have announced they'll throw an all-star concert in memory of Bowie on what would have been his 70th birthday, Jan. 8, 2016. Set for the UK's Brixton Academy, the event will feature music by 30 musicians from throughout Bowie's career. Bowie friend and actor Gary Oldman will host the show, and it will be the first of a series of gigs around the world that will "take place in cities that have a strong connection with David Bowie and his work." The London gig will feature musicians who played on Bowie's final albums, The Next Day and Blackstar, along with former collaborators Mike Garson, Earl Slick and Adrian Belew, among others. - New Musical Express, 11/14/16...... As Joni Mitchell continues to recover from a brain aneurysm that left her unconscious in her L.A. home in March 2015, the legendary Canadian singer/songwriter made another public appearance on Nov. 7, her 73rd birthday, to celebrate the occasion with friends. Wearing red for her special day, a photo of Mitchell was posted to her Twitter account on Nov. 16. Although her condition was listed as life-threatening at the time, Mitchell's attorney Rebecca J. Thyne said the artist "has physical therapy each day and is expected to make a full recovery." Mitchell has kept a low profile since but was snapped out with friends at the Catalina Bar and Grill in late August. - Billboard, 11/16/16...... The exact details of singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen's death on Nov. 7 have emerged, with his manager Robert B. Kory issuing a statement saying Cohen's death was "sudden, unexpected and peaceful" as he died in his sleep after falling down in the middle of the night at his Los Angeles home. Kory's statement also said that Cohen died on Nov. 7 -- three days before his passing was made public. The "Hallelujah" singer, who was 82, had been in declining health for much of the year, though he revealed few details. Cohen, who is survived by two children and three grandchildren, was buried in Montreal in a small ceremony on Nov. 10, the same day his death was announced. A makeshift memorial to Cohen has appeared at New York City's famous Hotel Chelsea, which was immortalized by Cohen in his 1974 song "Chelsea Hotel #2," which he later revealed was about Janis Joplin. Fans have left flowers, handwritten notes and pictures outside the Chelsea in Cohen's memory. A memorial to Cohen in Los Angeles is being planned, according to his reps. - AP, 11/16/16...... In related news, Leon Russell's wife, Jan Bridges, released a statement on Nov. 13 stating the influential songwriter and performer died at his home in his sleep on Nov. 12. "We thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this very, very difficult time," she wrote. While Bridges did not specify his cause of death, she said, "My husband passed in his sleep in our Nashville home. He was recovering from heart surgery in July and looked forward to getting back on the road in January. We appreciate everyone's love and support." Elton John, who collaborated with Russell on the 2010 album The Union, tweeted that Russell was "a mentor, inspiration and so kind to me... I loved him and always will." Others tweeting in honor of Russell include Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Charlie Daniels, Chaka Khan, Richard Marx, Whoopi Goldberg, Booker T. Jones an George Benson, whose cover of Russell's composition "This Masquerade" was a Top 10 hit in 1976. - Billboard, 11/13/16...... Bruce Springsteen and Diana Ross will be among 21 people to be recognized by Pres. Barack Obama with a Presidental Medal of Freedom at the White House on Nov. 22. America's highest civilian honor, the medal will also be awarded to Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Cicely Tyson, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill and Melinda Gates, Lorne Michaels and sports broadcaster Vin Scully. - AP, 11/16/16...... In other Bruce Springsteen news, a group of good Samaritan bikers rescued The Boss on his own motorcycle after the bike broke down as he was travelling through Allaire State Park in New Jersey on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Members of the Freehold, N.J. American Legion Post 54 Legion Riders -- who represented Post 54 at the Veterans Day Ceremony in Holmdel for Veterans Day -- noticed a lonely rider on the side of the road calling out for help. After they pulled over, they recognized it was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, and gave him a ride to Mulligan's, a restaurant in Farmingdale, N.J., where the 67-year old rocker made a call for a pickup. After the guys went inside, sat down and had a few drinks, a grateful Springsteen threw in $100, told them to keep the change, posed for a few pictures and took their phone numbers, presumably for future rides, or a thank-you note with free concert tickets. - Billboard, 11/12/16...... Reacting to the surprise election of Donald Trump as the next president of the U.S., Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger told the Associated Press in a new interview that "Everyone outside the U.S. is kind of mystified... I'd say, that's the polite word." Also weighing in during the interview were Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood, who aid "There will be some changes made. Hopefully they're going to be good ones," Charlie Watts, who commented that "I don't think he's gonna be as radical as he was coming into it, so I think a lot of what he says is going to be tempered down. Because if it isn't, it's gonna be a hell of bloody ride for four years." Keith Richards, however, offered no opinion. "It's a blank spot to me, I'm telling you... I ain't going there," he said. The Stones are promoting their new exhibit that debuted at Industria in New York City on Nov. 12 after launching in London earlier in 2015. It includes colorful tour outfits, Jagger's lyric book, Keith Richards' 1963 diary, Watts' toy drum kit and various photographs, from posters to magazine covers. The group's first London apartment that the band mates shared in 1962, complete with dirty dishes, beer bottles and blues records placed throughout the flat, has also been recreated. The band is also preparing to release a new album of blues cover songs called Blue & Lonesome on Dec. 2.- Billboard, 11/15/16...... Two members of the '60s pop band The Turtles, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (a.k.a. Flo & Eddie), have settled a royalty lawsuit with SiriusXM radio on the eve before the trial was scheduled to begin. Pre-1972 sound recordings aren't protected by federal copyright. So, until recently, the owners of the rights to the songs weren't being compensated for hits played on digital channels like SiriusXM Radio's "'60s on 6." Details of the settlement were not announced, and a motion for preliminary approval of the deal will be filed in the next three weeks. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/14/16...... Cable channel HBO has announced that a two-part, as-yet-untitled Elvis Presley documentary has just wrapped and will be debuting on their network at some future date. The three-hour doc from Sony Pictures Television will span from Presley's childhood through his final recording sessions at his Graceland Jungle Room studio in 1976. It is written by Alan Light and directed by Emmy/Grammy winner Thom Zimny, who has worked on multiple Bruce Springsteen documentary and video projects. The film is being produced with full participation of Presley's family estate and will include never-before-seen photos and footage. - Billboard, 11/14/16...... Aerosmith has announced that it will launch what it is calling a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring of 2017. The Hall of Famers, who recently completed a tour of South America, are calling the tour the Aero-Vederici Baby! Tour and will kick it off on May 17 in Tel Aviv, Israel and include 17 dates before wrapping up July 5 in Zurich, Switzerland. The tour includes headlining spots at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 8 and the U.K.'s Download Festival on June 11. Tickets go on sale Nov. 18, and the full itinerary is posted at the band's official web site. Aerosmith's members have been talking about a farewell tour for a year, and guitarist Joe Perry says "that's a little tough for me to wrap my head around." "I mean, we all know our age is creeping up on us, but, man, we've tried to follow the lead of the original blues guys and the early rockers and just keep playing 'til we drop, y'know?," he added. "We all have different feelings about it. I do have a feeling that there'll be a tour that we'll call the final tour -- but when will it end? That I can't say." No North American dates have been announced yet for next year. Aerosmith has announced no plans to release new music, but Perry says "Maybe once we start doing some shows again we'll get inspired and get everyone on the page to do that. We'll see." - Billboard, 11/14/16...... Veteran ska band The Specials have just played two shows in London in November, and have announced they'll play extra dates in Birmingham, Leeds and Hatfield in Hertfordshire in May 2017. In December 2015, The Specials' drummer John "Brad" Bradbury died at the age of 62. After joining the band in 1979, Bradbury had a top 10 hit with The Specials in 1984 -- "Free Nelson Mandela." The Coventry band then split, but reunited for a 2009 tour to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Bradbury had remained part of the group since then. - Billboard, 11/12/16...... A letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to Paul McCartney and wife Linda McCartney has been put up for auction to the highest bidder, with bidding expected to reach $20,000 (£16,000). The undated letter sees Lennon responding to prior correspondence from Linda which he says left him "wondering what middle aged cranky Beatle fan wrote it." Lennon writes in his letter: "I hope you realise what shit you and the rest of my 'kind and unselfish' friends laid on Yoko and me, since we've been together." Later in the letter, John goes on to say that doesn't "resent" his former Beatles bandmate but that he feels "sorry for him." He also wrongly predicts that the McCartneys' marriage would be over within two years. "It was likely written shortly before Lennon and Ono's departure for America," says RR Auction representative Robert Livingston. "The draft captures the intense rivalry between the two men in the months, and even years, surrounding the breakup of the Beatles." - New Musical Express, 11/14/16...... A gig by Kraftwerk in Buenos Aires that appeared to be a victim of the Argentinian capital's ban on electronic music events after six people died at the Time Warp festival will go ahead after all, the promoter announced on Nov. 14. Kraftwerk are scheduled to play at Buenos Aires' Luna Park Stadium on Nov. 23. Kraftwerk are also set to tour the UK in 2017. - NME, 11/14/16...... Former The Police frontman Sting reopened the Bataclan venue in Paris on Nov. 12, a day shy of the anniversary of the Paris terror attacks that killed 90 music fans during an Eagles of Death Metal concert in 2015. "We've got two important things to do tonight," Sting said in French. "First, to remember and honor those who lost their lives in the attacks a year ago and to celebrate the life and the music of this historic venue." He then called for a minute of silence in their honor, and said "We shall not forget them, before launching into his 1988 song "Fragile," whose lyrics read: "Nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could." Sting then paid tribute to a list of musicians who have passed within the past year, including David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, Lemmy Kilmister and Leonard Cohen. - Billboard, 11/12/16...... Actress Carrie Fisher, who co-starred in the iconic 1977 Star Wars film with Harrison Ford, has purportedly detailed that she had a three-month extramarital affair with Ford in her upcoming book, The Princess Diarist. Fisher reveals the two thespians were more than just friends while shooting Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope in 1976, when she first portrayed Princess Leia and Ford took on the role of Han Solo. An excerpt purportedly from the upcoming release began circulating online on Nov. 15, apparently suggesting Carrie, then 19, was left disappointed the first time she slept with her co-star. Fisher has since spoken out to dismiss the unfounded claims, telling People.com, "Any reports claiming I said Harrison was bad in bed are utterly false. Perhaps people should read the book before they write their stories." Fisher has also taken to Twitter to address the reports, insisting her book makes no mention of Harrison's lovemaking skills. "I would never talk about how someone was in any furniture - chair, bed, coffee table or otherwise," she joked. Fisher says she has no regrets about going public with her fling, even though it suggests Ford was unfaithful to his then-wife Mary Marquardt. Ford and his first wife MaryMarquardt filed for divorce in 1979. He went on to wed Melissa Mathison in 1983, and now he's married to actress Calista Flockhart. Fisther has only been married once - to singer Paul Simon from 1983 to 1984. Ford and Fisher both reprised their roles for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. - WENN.com, 11/16/16.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on Aug. 29th, 2015

AC/DC appears to be strangely involved in the infamous AshleyMadison.com hack, as it was revealed in a recent press conference that when employees of the dating-by-way-of-infidelity website logged into their computers July 12, they were greeted to a message from the hackers accompanied by AC/DC's 1990 song "Thunderstruck." The band itself had nothing to do with the hacks, which became national news after compromising the privacy of over 33 million accounts and allegedly leading to two suicides. Avid Life Media offered a $500,000 reward to anyone providing information leading to the prosecution of the hackers behind the invasion, known as the Impact Team. "Thunderstruck," from AC/DC's 1990 album The Razors Edge, is one of the Aussie rockers' most iconic songs. - Billboard, 8/25/15...... A cover of The Who's "My Generation" will be featured on the new Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp-fronted band Hollywood Vampires, which will release its new self-titled album on Sept. 11. Devised by Cooper and Depp as a way to cover songs by "their dead friends and heroes," Hollywood Vampires also features Slash, Brian Johnson, Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney and Perry Farrell and includes renditions of songs by John Lennon, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, T Rex and Small Faces. - Billboard, 8/26/15...... Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh has told Billboard that he's been working on a memoir "for about a year" and that "some of it's really funny, some... is what happened [and] some of it is other people telling me what I did." Walsh, who would become the second Eagles member, after former guitarist Don Felder, to publish his experiences with the Grammy-winning band, added that "when it's done it will come out... it's kind of a big undertaking." In the meantime, Walsh will kick off a solo tour of North America on Oct. 17 in Boston with longtime collaborator Joe Vitale among his band members. He's promising to treat fans not only with such favorites as "Funk #49," "Rocky Mountain Way" and "Life's Been Good," but also deep cuts from his solo catalog. "I went back and went through my catalog, and there's a bunch of songs that a lot of people know but they weren't hits and didn't have radio presence," he said. "Everybody will hear what they're coming to hear, but in addition to that there'll be some stuff off Joe Walsh albums that people will go, 'Oh yeah, that one!'" He also says that the next Eagles tour will be different from the recently completed History of the Eagles tour: "We have to reinvent a new set and a new show and we've got to take some time off before we start doing that." - Billboard, 8/28/15...... Cable TV's Showtime network will premiere a new Jimi Hendrix special, Electric Church, on Sept. 4. The documentary will feature previously unreleased footage of Hendrix's appearance at 1970's Atlanta Pop Music Festival just weeks before his death, along with reminiscences by such superstars as Paul McCartney and Steve Winwood. Meanwhile, Netflix will begin streaming a new Keith Richards doc, Under the Influence, on Sept. 18. Directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom), the show follows the Rolling Stones guitarist as he lovingly explores his blues and country influences. - Billboard, 8/27/15...... A-list actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Schumer helped Billy Joel make his Aug. 27 tour stop at Chicago's Wrigley Field unforgettable when the two divas shimmied barefoot on top of his grand piano during a rendition of his 1983 hit "Uptown Girl." Both Oscar-winning actress Lawrence and red hot comedian Schumer rehearsed their routine with the Piano Man in an empty Wrigley Field in the leadup to the big show. The two have jointly written a comedic screenplay for a new film in which they plan to co-star as siblings. "Uptown Girl" also features prominently in Schumer's latest film, Trainwreck. Joel's record-busting 2015 tour included a recent performance at Madison Square Garden in which he broke Elton John's record of 64 shows at the venue, and the final concert at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island on Aug. 4. - Billboard, 8/28/15...... Patti Smith performed her seminal 1975 album Horses in its entirety on Aug. 26 at Electric Lady Studios in New York, in honor of the landmark recording facility's 45th anniversary. Smith injected humor into the event, which could have been sober considering the nature of the album, by joking about "flipping the record from side A to B" after wrapping a fiery "Free Money," and after mangling a word at the top of "Birdland" (which starts with, "His father died and left him a little farm in New England"), she told the band to start over and deadpanned, "His dad is gonna have to die again." Celebrities in attendance in the concert room included Liv Tyler, Dakota Johnson and Win Butler of Arcade Fire. - Billboard, 8/27/15...... Nile Rodgers of Chic was honored with the 2015 BMI Icon Award on Aug. 28. In attendance was Bernard Edwards Jr., the son of Rodgers' late Chic partner, which Rodgers says was "one of the proudest times for me." "Most people don't realize that Bernard's son is an incredible producer who goes by the name Focus and is doing so many great records," Rodgers said. Rodgers' career will be saluted again later in the year during BMI's annual R&B/Hip-Hop Awards, taking place at the Saban Theatre in Los Angeles. Rodgers, who's also crafted hits for Diana Ross and Madonnai n addition to collaborating with Daft Punk, Disclosure and Sam Smith, will begin a four-date tour with Duran Duran on Oct. 1 at the Hollywood Bowl. Rodgers says that a new Chic album, dubbed About Time, is "in the fourth quarter" and the LP is on course to be released in 2015. "We're down to recording the last three songs. I've been somewhat protective of it, like a child. But I've got to let it grow up," he said. - Billboard, 8/27/15...... German electronic rock pioneers Kraftwerk recently told Rolling Stone that they're translating their visual shows into an album with "3D sound" that will be released in late autumn on Blue-ray. "We've put a lot of work into all the images, transforming from our Kling Klang archives into 3D format and arranging it synchronised with the music, so it's quite a lot of production," says founding member Ralf Hutter. The performances will include those from the band's recent 3D tour, which travelled to venues including the Sydney Opera House, London's Tate Modern and the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Kraftwerk will kick off a fall tour of North America on Sept. 16 in Edmonton, and then visit cities they haven't played since 1975, including Portland, Austin and Kansas City. - New Musical Express, 8/27/15...... Former Faces drummer Kenney Jones says there's even more in store for fans from the group's vaults after the Aug. 28 release of the band's new five-disc box set, 1970-1975: You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything. "There's lots of stuff that we all have individually, especially live stuff," Jones says. "Ronnie Wood's got a lot, I've got a lot, I think Rod (Stewart) has got some. We also have some old backing tracks that would take awhile to dig out." In the meantime, You Can Make Me Dance... will give Faces fans plenty to digest with its treasure trove of outtakes, alternate and rehearsal versions, and live tracks from both concerts and BBC sessions. The surviving Faces recently announced they'll play a one-off charity gig for Prostate Cancer UK in Surrey on Sept. 5. - Billboard, 8/27/15...... In 1972, Leon Russell went into a Nashville studio to record Hank Wilson's Back. Documentary filmmaker Les Blank chronicled the sessions for the album and spent two years at Russell's lakeside compound in Oklahoma, taking a job at a place called Pappy Reeve's Floating Motel and Fish Camp while there. But the resulting film, A Poem Is a Naked Person, was rarely screened due to tensions between Russell and Blank, who died in 2013. ("I might have killed him," says Russell on why they didn't speak for decades.) Now, 43 years later, the movie is finally being released in selected American cinemas. With cameos from George Jones and Willie Nelson, and plenty of live footage of Russell, it's a fascinating portrait of one of the Seventies' great eccentrics. "He was a collector of the unusual," Russell says of Blank. "Me being the prime unusual beast." - Rolling Stone, 8/13/15...... Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in early 2012, recently took part in a cancer awareness campaign in his hometown of Birmingham, UK, by standing in a glass box with a two-way mirror to "highlight the loneliness felt by people diagnosed with cancer." Onlookers could see into the box but Iommi could not see out, instead hearing audio of personal stories from cancer sufferers. Iommi said the presentation reminded him of his own battle with the disease: "I was in a bubble for a while -- just like the isolation box." In April, Iommi responded to rumors that he was suffering from a cancer relapse after he pulled out of Black Sabbath's "farewell" tour. "Once you've had something like lymphoma the fear that it will return never leaves, all I can say is that right now I'm fine and have regular blood tests," he posted on Facebook. - New Musical Express, 8/27/15...... A grand piano used on many of Abba's biggest hits, including "Waterloo," "Dancing Queen" and "Money, Money, Money," is expected to fetch as much as $1.2 million when it is auctioned by Sotheby's in September. Designed by Sweden's Georg Bolin and owned by the Stockholm music studio where the '70s Swedish super-group often recorded, the piano will be auctioned in London on Sept. 29. - AP, 8/28/15...... Ahead of her upcoming tribute at the National Portrait Gallery's inaugural American Portrait Gala on Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C., Aretha Franklin says that she'd like to see her life story on Broadway. "I would like to see it be a dramatic musical," she says. "I loved 'The Motown Musical'; it was so great. I think the timing is very good now, especially behind 'Jersey Boys', Carole King ['Beautiful']. Gloria Estefan ['On Your Feet'] has come to Broadway now and why not Aretha?" Franklin added that she's in talks with a award-winning actress-director Marsha Mason to work on the production, who's "very amenable and would love to do it." In 2015, the Queen of Soul is also celebrating the 30th anniversary of her Grammy-winning album Who's Zoomin' Who and its Top 5 hit "Freeway of Love." "I liked 'Freeway,'" she says. "I really did like 'Freeway' and usually when I really like a song like that, people like it, too." - Billboard, 8/26/15...... Carlos Santana says he's close to finishing his new "Santana IV" project, which will reunite the members of the 1971-72 lineup of the band, as well as a new jazz fusion group called Supernova that will also include saxophonist Wayne Shorter, keyboardist Herbie Hancock and guitarist John McLaughlin. "Definitely spring recording and summer touring in Europe and maybe America," Santana says of the Supernova plan. "It's kind of like playing with, sharing music with Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, 'cause Wayne and Herbie, they're at that level of genius, genius, genius, genius," Santana says. "I'm just grateful that they accept it and want to do it. And every time I play with [his wife] Cindy [Blackman], it goes viral. People go crazy. The energy between Cindy and I is very, very supernova." Santana IV, meanwhile, will feature original Santana members Greg Rolie, Marcus Malone and Michael Carabello, as well as drummer Michael Shrieve, who joined in 1969, and Neal Schon, who was Santana's second guitarist during 1971-72 before forming Journey with Rolie. An album has been recorded and will be mixed during September and Santana expects to have the group on the road next year as well. Santana's regular band is currently on the road, with his son Salvador as special guest. He'll begin his next residency at the Las Vegas House of Blues on Sept. 16 and Santana also hopes to record "a whole album" with Ronald Isley and bassist Larry Graham, both old friends who he's recently been working with. - Billboard, 8/26/15...... Elvis Presley has earned his 53rd top 40 album on the Billboard 200 chart as the new compilation Elvis Presley Forever debuts at No. 11. The set, sold exclusively through the U.S. Postal Service, is Presley's highest-charting album since 2003, when Elvis: 2nd to None peaked at No. 3. The debuting album was released in conjunction with the promotion of Presley's new USPS commemorative stamp. Elvis Presley Forever also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard Top Rock Albums chart, which originated in 2006. - Billboard, 8/26/15...... A deluxe 45th reissue of the Velvet Underground's 1970 album Loaded is due on Oct. 30. Boasting 6 discs of material, including the original album remastered in stereo and mono, as well as previously-unreleased demos, outtakes and alternate mixes, the lush Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition will also feature two live albums -- Live at Max's Kansas City and an unreleased (though widely bootlegged) set recorded in Philadelphia in 1970. The release follows 45th anniversary box sets for The Velvet Underground & Nico, White Light/White Heat and The Velvet Underground. - Billboard, 8/25/15...... The back catalog of Van Morrison, comprising some 33 album titles, has been acquired by Legacy Recordings in a career-spanning deal that encompasses 50 albums, videos and compilations and unlocks all of his albums for digital distribution, many for the first time. Most of the Morrison catalog has never been available for streaming, and many titles have been unavailable to download via the myriad digital music services. Legacy also has plans to issue physical releases. The new Legacy Van Morrison archive includes all of Morrison's solo works from 1971 to the present, including live works, plus the recordings made with his early-career rock band Them from 1964 through 1966. In time, Legacy Recording president Larry Block says the label plans to release a new career-spanning single CD compilation and deluxe Legacy Editions of classic Morrison solo albums. The rollout will include a 37-track anthology The Essential Van Morrison, which dropped on Aug. 28 as a two-disc CD album and in digital formats. Morrison, 70, signed a recording deal with RCA Record in late 2014, which yielded the release Duets: Re-Working The Catalogue. - Billboard, 8/25/15..... In a recent interview with the UK paper The Guardian, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's son Sean Lennon said he feels "no matter what I do, people see me as the spoiled slacker son of John and Yoko." "There's always going to be that element, and I kind of have to accept it and just do things anyway," added Sean, who is co-producing the next Fat White Family album as well as working with the group's side-project Moonlandingz. Sean said he has even considered releasing his projects under a pseudonym "to see what people's true reaction would be," but that would "be sort of disrespectful to my dad and my family and myself." "It's like, oh, well, I can't be proud of who I am? I didn't want to hide," he said. "The only reason I'm interested in art and music at all is because of my parents. Respect for them is at the heart of everything I do. It defines me. I consider myself a momma's boy, a poppa's boy -- I sort of hero-worshipped them as a child, then went to work making music on my own," he added. As for his dad's legacy, Sean says that his favorite Beatles music is "that period starting with Revolver -- when they were really pushing the limits of progressive songwriting." - NME, 8/25/15.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on February 27th, 2014

Pop crooner Engelbert Humperdinck has announced he'll release Engelbert Calling, a 2-disc, 23 track duets album featuring such artists as Elton John, Smokey Robinson, Johnny Mathis, Willie Nelson, Kiss' Gene Simmons and Wynonna Judd, among others, on March 17 in the U.K. and later this spring in the U.S. "I figured this'll be my 80th album, and I've never done a duets album, so it was kind of a change for me," Humperdinck says. "It was a big change and a great honor to work with all these legendary people. All of (the songs) are pretty personal; I wouldn't have chosen them if I didn't particularly like them. They all have a certain significance attached to them that relates to my life and to (the other singers)," adds Humperdinck. Among Humperdinck's seven Top 40 hits of the 1960s was the No. 4 "Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)," and in 1976 he had another Top 10 hit with "After the Lovin'." He also starred in his own musical variety TV series in 1970. - Billboard

Unreleased studio mixes of Led Zeppelin's 1975 classic Physical Graffiti will be among a treasure trove of classic rock artifacts is up for auction in March at the Marvels of Modern Music auction. The demo reels feature early versions of tracks like "Kashmir," "Custard Pie," and "In the Light." In some of the demos, the drums are the only instrument in the mix to make it to the final product, as guitars and vocals were redone later, with additional orchestration added. In other words, these are quite different from the recordings Led Zeppelin fans have become familiar with. Other items also on the block from producer Ron Nevinson's collection are Elvis Presley's sequined "American Eagle" cape from his 1973 Aloha from Hawaii performance, demos from Bad Company's self-titled 1974 debut, a 1973 Eric Clapton demo reel and John Lennon's 1965 Rolls Royce registration and famous wire-rim glasses. - Billboard

On Feb. 25, what would have been his 71st birthday, George Harrison was honored by friend and fellow musician Mike Love of the Beach Boys on the previously unreleased track "Pisces Brothers." Written in 2004, but released not released until now, "Pisces Brothers" was inspired by a trip Love and the Beatles took to India in 1968 to learn from the spiritual teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Donovan and Mia Farrow also accompanied the group. "This being the 50th anniversary of the Beatles coming to America, I wanted to commemorate this incredibly significant trip we all took together to India, at the Maharishi's invitation," Love said in a statement. "It was enormously influential on all of us, most especially George. The song is really sentimental for me, and meant to honor George Harrison's remarkable contribution to music. And how, in this one moment in time, we got together, as the song says, not [for] fortune or for fame, but for enlightenment." The title refers to the astrological sign the pair share, with Love continuing to practice the Transcendental Meditation techniques learned in India to this day. - Rolling Stone

Dave Davies of the Kinks returns to London to perform his first UK concert for 13 years at the Barbican Hall on Apr. 11. The concert will see him celebrating the 50th anniversary of the revolutionary guitar sound he created, which launched the Kinks to international stardom. In other Kinks-related news, Natalie Hynde, the daughter of former Kinks frontman Ray Davies and Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, has been found guilty of "besetting," or causing difficulty to, a test-drilling site in Balcombe, England. The 32-year-old, along with 55-year-old Simon Medhurst, had superglued themselves together around the drill site's gate on July 31st to create a "striking and symbolic" media image, according to The BBC, to raise awareness about fracking (a technique to fracture shale rock and retrieve natural gasses within). Hynde and Medhurst both denied wrongdoing. - Noble PR/Rolling Stone

Jim Lange, the first host of the popular game show The Dating Game, died at his home in Mill Valley, Calif., on Feb. 25 after suffering a heart attack. He was 81. Though Lange had a successful career in radio, he is best known for his television role on ABC's The Dating Game, which debuted in 1965 and on which he appeared for more than a decade, charming audiences with his mellifluous voice and wide, easygoing grin. He also played host to many celebrity guests, including Michael Jackson, Steve Martin and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others. Even a pre-Charlie's Angels Farrah Fawcett appeared on the program, introduced as "an accomplished artist and sculptress" with a dream to open her own gallery. - AP

Kiss announced on Feb. 23 that the band won't be performing at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in April because disputes over the lineup stirred up ill will among the band's members. "This is understandably an emotional situation where there is no way to please everyone," Kiss on the band's website. "To bring this to a quick end, we have decided not to play in any line-up and we will focus our attention on celebrating our induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame." Original member Ace Frehley revealed to a New York radio station on Feb. 21 that the original lineup would not be performing at the ceremony, and said that he was not willing to perform alongside the newer members. Also, Peter Criss said that he and Frehley "have been denied a performance with Gene [Simmons] and Paul [Stanley] for our Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction," and called the situation "disgraceful." According to the band's statement, however, there was no plan to exclude Frehley and Criss from the performance. "It is over 13 years since the original lineup has played together in make-up and we believe the memory of those times would not be enhanced. Contrary to claims made through the media we have never refused to play with Ace and Peter," the statement said. - Billboard

The U.S. Postal Service will unravel several lines of celebrity-adorned stamps over the next two years, including numerous music-related stamps such as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix in 2014 and a James Brown stamp next year. 2015 will also see a re-release of Elvis Presley's 29-cent tribute from 1993 -- the Postal Service's best-selling stamp ever. A stamp for John Lennon has been planned for an as-yet-unannounced date. Because some of these proposed stamps betray previous stamp guidelines (such as the subject being American, in the case of John Lennon), this new direction has become controversial among older philatelists. - Billboard

Bruce Springsteen will release four unreleased songs on a 12" vinyl EP entitled American Beauty for Record Store Day on April 19. Three of the tracks -- "American Beauty," "Mary Mary" and "Hey Blue Eyes" -- were recorded during the High Hopes sessions with producer Ron Aniello, but ultimately discarded. The origin of the other song, "Hurry Up Sundown," is unknown. It's unclear if the material on American Beauty will ultimately be offered to fans in any non-vinyl format. Springsteen and his E Street Band wrapped a tour of Australia on Feb. 26. They opened their tour-closing show in Brisbane with a cover of native Aussies the Bee Gee' classic "Stayin' Alive," and The Boss encored with a solo rendition of "Thunder Road," right before giving a nod to Aussies AC/DC with "Highway to Hell," accompanied by Eddie Vedder. - Rolling Stone

Veteran TV journalist Garrick Utley has died of cancer at 74, NBC said on Feb. 21. Mr. Utley began at NBC News in 1963, and for three decades handled a wide variety of assignments. Early on, he reported from Vietnam on the escalating conflict. In later years, he moderated Meet the Press. In between, Mr. Utley anchored Weekend Today and the Sunday Nightly News, as well as two different newsmagazines in two different decades with four different titles. - AP

Neil Young has announced plans for a pair of solo acoustic concerts at Los Angeles' Dolby Theater on March 29 and 30. While Young is notoriously unpredictable, it's likely that these shows will be similar in format to his recent Carnegie Hall stand, which focused heavily on his 1960s and 1970s catalog. Big hits like "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold" were mixed in with deeper cuts like "A Man Needs a Maid" and "Flying on the Ground Is Wrong." This summer, Young will tour Europe with Crazy Horse in early July for a month-long run of concerts. Meanwhile, Young's next album will be released on the Third Man Records label owned by Jack White. Young has said that the record will be released in March and described it as "An unheard collection of rediscovered songs from the past recorded on ancient electro mechanical technology captures and unleashes the essence of something that could have been gone forever." This fall, Young will release a new memoir that will interweave stories about the musicians's love of cars with recollections from his life, according to Blue Rider publishers. It will be the follow-up to his 2012 memoir, Waging Heavy Peace. - Rollling Stone

Elton John and former Commodores member Lionel Ritchie will be among the headliners at this summer's Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn. Also topping the bill at Bonnaroo, which is set for June 12-15, will be Jack White, Kayne West, Phoenix, Arctic Monkeys, Frank Ocean, The Flaming Lips and Vampire Weekend. - Billboard

Speaking of modern groups, alternative rock outfit The Nearly Deads have announced dates for "The Survival Tour," running March 8 - 21. Kicking off in Milwaukee, with a co-headlining slot at the inaugural LIAN Riot Music Series, the band then synchs up with Providence, RI rockers It Lives, It Breathes, from March 9 - 21, as they storm Chicago, Allentown, Baltimore, Springfield, Harrisonburg and other cities along the East coast. Crowned victors in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and a Converse Battle of the Bands competition, The Nearly Deads has received significant airplay on MTVu, FUSE, BlankTV, Vevo and YouTube. More info can be found on their Facebook page. - 1888 Media

Jeff Beck says he plans to wrap the recording of his first studio LP since 2010 by the time he kicks off his next tour April 7 in Tokyo. Beck, 69, says the new LP is "a very important album for me" and that "it's not Western style." Beck spent last fall on the road with Brian Wilson, where he added a new dimension to Beach Boys classics like "Surf's Up" and "Our Prayer." - Rolling Stone

David Bowie urged Scotland to "stay with us" and vote against independence in the country's upcoming referendum in his acceptance speech at this year's Brit Awards on Feb. 19. The ceremony took place at London's O2 Arena earlier this evening, with Bowie winning Best International Male. However, the reclusive rocker was not at the venue to pick up his award, and instead sent supermodel Kate Moss, who read out his acceptance speech, to pick up the prize on his behalf. Meanwhile, a major new exhibition of music memorabilia, featuring Bowie's ripped Ziggy Stardust shirt, will take place in honour of the historic British music venue Aylesbury Friars from March 1. Featuring rare memorabilia relating to Bowie, Lou Reed, Genesis, The Ramones, Talking Heads, The Clash, Roxy Music and Queen, "The Evolution of Friars" music exhibition includes concert posters, original photographs, paraphernalia from Friars' archives, and musical instruments and equipment used by some of the most prestigious names to pass through Friars' doors. The exhibition will be housed at the Buckinghamshire County Museum. - New Musical Express/Noble PR

Leon Russell will release Life Journey, a covers album featuring material by such acts as Billy Joel, Robert Johnson, Duke Ellington and Hoagy Carmichael, on Apr. 1, the day before his 72nd birthday. "This is a record of my musical journey through this life," Russell writes in the liner notes. "It reflects pieces of things that I have done and things I never did." Russell adds he is excited to take the LP on the road, which he might play with a full string section live. "The charts are not written for a call band in Cleveland -- they're difficult," Russell says. "It can't be rehearsed the day of the show." Russell has had several health scares in recent years and writes, "I'm [nearing] the final exit of my journey," in the liner notes, but he insists he's feeling good nowadays. "I'm 71 and I can still walk. I've got bad foot problems, so I try not to walk more than 50 feet because its very painful for me to stand up and walk. But it beats the alternative, I guess." - Rolling Stone

A strain of acne causing bacteria has been named after Frank Zappa. Scientists at at Italy's Centre for Sustainable Agro-Ecosystems and Bioresources have named the Propionibacterium acnes "type P. Zappae" after the experimental rock musician, who passed away in 1993. Researchers found a form of the bacteria in grapevines and elected to call it Zappae in tribute to the star, according to USA Today. Their report states that it came about from the unique transfer of human bacteria onto a plant. Zappa's widow Gail Zappa responded to the honor by saying, "For me this is just an extension of Frank's means of gluing things together, making sense of the universe. It's strictly conceptual continuity." P. Zappae is not the first time that Zappa has inspired the name of a new discover. The musician has provided inspiration for a mollusk, a new type of fish plus jellyfish and spiders in the past 40 years. There is also an asteroid named 3834 Zappafrank after the rock legend. - New Musical Express

A new book has revealed that tax breaks were the reason behind Abba's flamboyant stagewear in their 1970s heyday. Abba: The Official Photo Book, which hits stores on March 10, explains that the legendary pop band wore outrageous outfits because tax deductions for performance clothes were only allowed if the items were "in no way suitable for everyday wear." Last year Agnetha Faltskog hinted that Abba could reform in 2014. In recent years she had been seen as the main barrier to the Swedish quartet reforming, but told German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag that she, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson were considering doing something special in 2014 to mark the 40th anniversary of first hit "Waterloo." "Of course it's something we're thinking about," she said. "There seem to be plans to do something to mark this anniversary in some way. I can't say at this point what will come of them." - NME

Legendary rock bands Chicago and REO Speedwagon will be co-headlining a tour this summer that will take the bands through major metropolitan areas across the United States, including New York City, Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Detroit and more with even more dates to be announced soon. - Entertainment Weekly

Rock legend David Crosby underwent heart surgery during the second week of February after his doctor discovered a blocked artery and performed a cardiac catheterization procedure. The Crosby, Stills & Nash star is expected to make a full recovery, but he has been forced to postpone a string of upcoming California shows to concentrate on his health. "I am very glad that I listened to my doctors and my family. It seems I am once again a very lucky man. I'm sorry to have to move the dates, but I promise the music will be good when we do play them," said Crosby, 72. An upcoming CSN tour is scheduled to begin in early March and is expected to continue as planned. - WENN.com

Paul McCartney will attend the NME Awards to collect a special, one-off prize: Songwriter's Songwriter. Nominated by fellow artists, the special award marks McCartney's outstanding contribution to pop music, celebrating his unparalleled career and lasting impact on the music world. McCartney will accept his award in person at the O2 Academy Brixton on Feb. 26. - New Musical Express

Legendary English rock band Deep Purple is set to make its Israeli acting debut in an upcoming local TV series. The new scripted series, Atlantica, revolves around an aspiring underdog rock band from Jerusalem, managed by a high-school history teacher played by popular Israeli comedian and rock enthusiast Tal Friedman. In the series' final episode, Deep Purple lead singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover will have speaking parts as the aspiring Jerusalem rockers locate their idols and beg to join them on stage. - Billboard

Performing in Melbourne, Australia, on Feb. 15, Bruce Springsteen was joined onstage by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam for a cover of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell." Vedder also performed "Darkness On The Edge of Town," the second song of the set, with Springsteen and his E Street Band. - NME

Speaking of AC/DC, the band has revealed plans to enter the studio later this year in order to record their first new album since 2008's Black Ice. AC/DC will also be heading out on a 40th anniversary tour, says frontman Brian Johnson. Johnson adds the band would be heading to a Vancouver studio in May to record their 16th studio album. - NME

Bob Casale, one of the founding members of Devo, has died at the age of 61. Casale passed away on Feb. 17 from health complications which led to heart failure, according to TMZ.com. Since Casale died without a will or insurance, the band has established a fund on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe.com with the goal of raising $100,000 for Casale's family. Formed in Ohio in 1972, Devo released their debut album, Are We Not Men? We Are Devo! in 1978 and are best known for their 1980 single "Whip It." - Billboard

Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) has announced he'll publish a new autobiography in October. Written by Lydon along with music journalist Andrew Perry, the book is "basically about the life of a serious risk-taker" according to Lydon. The as-yet untitled autobiography will follow Lydon's 1994 book Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, which was co-authored with Kent and Keith Zimmerman. - NME

British '70s vocalists Tom Jones and Cliff Richard will be opening for '90s UK singer Morrisey when he plays stateside this summer. Morrisey will be performing at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on May 10 and Brooklyn's Barclays Center on June 21 - New Musical Express

The jackets worn by the Beatles in their 1965 film Help! are expected to fetch up to $115,000 when they are put up for auction in March. The iconic items of clothing will go under the hammer at Omega Auctions in March. Taken from director Richard Lester's private collection, staff at the auction house have estimated that they will attract offers of between $82,000 and $115,000 when the bidding opens. - New Musical Express

John Henson, the son of the late The Muppets creator Jim Henson, died on Feb. 14 of a heart attack at age 48, representatives for the Jim Henson Company said on Feb. 15. Henson, a shareholder and board member of the Jim Henson Company died at home, where he was with one of his daughters, the company said in a statement. He lived in Saugerties, New York, said company spokeswoman Nicole Goldman in an email. John Henson worked as a puppeteer for the Muppets, often playing the role of Sweetums. Jim Henson died in 1990 at age 53, and his wife Jane Henson, who helped create the Muppets, died in 2013. - Reuters

Posting on his official website on Feb. 12, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi says the band is "too busy" to record a new album. "[There was] plenty of interest in the [13] album still and endless questions about what we're doing next. Well, it's shows in the US, Canada and Europe, so far too busy with that to be thinking about more recording," Iommi wrote. - NME

Veteran character actor Ralph Waite -- who many knew best from his time as the family patriarch on The Waltons, though he also had regular roles in more recent series like Bones and NCIS -- died on Feb. 13 at his Palm Desert, California, home, according to Steve Gordon, his family accountant. He was 85. Mr. Waite was already a Hollywood veteran with parts in movies like Cool Hand Luke and Five Easy Pieces, plus TV series such as Bonanza when he landed the role of John Walton Sr. The Waltons struck a chord with many viewers during its run from 1972 to 1981, with Mr. Waite being a constant on that show as well as in several TV movies to follow. Mr. Waite was twice nominated for an Emmy, first in 1977 for supporting actor in a comedy or drama series for Roots and the next year as lead actor in a drama for his Waltons' role. Mr. Waite also tried his hand at politics, running unsuccessfully as a Democrat for a U.S. representative seat that includes Palm Springs -- narrowly losing in 1990 and again in 1998 to Mary Bono, the widow of former congressman and Sonny and Cher star Sonny Bono. - CNN

The Beatles TV special The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute, which aired on CBS on Feb. 9 exactly 50 years after the Fab Four's historic Ed Sullivan Show appearance, delivered an impressive 13.95 million viewers for the network. The special, which featured interviews and performances with surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with tributes from such artists as John Legend, Alecia Keyes and Maroon 5, came in second place to NBC's coverage of the XXII Olympics games, which garnered 29.06 million viewers. - AP

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have announced they will follow-up their tour of South Africa and Australasia with a fresh batch of American dates this spring. Kicking off April 8 in Cincinnati, Springsteen will hit markets in Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida, among others, before wrapping with a pair of shows at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn. Springsteen is on the road in support of his latest album High Hopes. - Billboard

The Kinks' Ray Davies and folk singer Donovan are both set to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. They will be joined by songwriters Graham Gouldman, who wrote for the Yardbirds, Mark James, who wrote "Suspicious Minds" and "Always on My Mind" for Elvis Presley, and Jim Weatherly, who wrote a number of hits for Gladys Knight and the Pips. The induction ceremony will take place at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on June 12. - Rolling Stone

Blondie has revealed that they rejected an offer to perform at the Sochi Olympics because of Russia's violations against human rights, including the country's recent anti-gay laws. On her Twitter account, Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry published a scan of the printed offer to perform at the Red Rocks festival in Sochi during the Olympics on Feb. 13, on which she wrote: "Pass. Human Rights." The offer was to perform a 45-minute set for a 25,000-people crowd at one of the Olympics' main venue, Sochi Medals Plaza. The Russian media reported that Blondie's slot is to be taken by the Latvian band Brainstorm and Russian singer Diana Arbenina. - Billboard

The Doors' Robby Krieger has been working on getting a bunch of musicians together to memorialize fellow band member, Ray Manzarek, who died in 2013. "We want to bring together those who Ray either idolized or guys who idolized Ray, maybe at the Greek or The Hollywood Bowl for a big concert this summer," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "We've teamed up with Live Nation and they are helping us get it all together. We just want it to be the best it can be." Krieger has sent out letters to many musicians to check their availability to participate. "That's the hard part, coordinating everyone's schedules," he said. "To get everyone together on one day, in the summertime, when they are not on tour for a big venue, that's the challenge." - Billboard

Rock veteran Keith Richards has become a grandfather again for the fifth time. Richards' daughter Angela and her partner Graham Whitney welcomed their second child, Otto, earlier this week. The couple already has a two-year-old daughter, called Ava Melody. The Rolling Stones star, 70, now has five grandchildren -- his son Marlon has three kids. Meanwhile, Stones frontman Mick Jagger is set to become a grandfather and a great-grandfather in the same year after it emerged his daughter Jade is pregnant at the same time as her 21-year-old, Assisi. Jade shocked her fans on Feb. 11 by announcing she is six months pregnant, just five months after daughter Assisi confirmed her own baby news. It means Mick Jagger is likely to welcome a fifth grandchild in May months after becoming a great-grandfather for the first time. - WENN.com

Queen's Greatest Hits has become the first album to sell six million copies in the UK. The record breaking album was first released over 30 years ago, in 1981, and now the UK's Official Charts Company has confirmed that the album has broken the six million sales mark. Of the albums total sales, 124,000 copies were downloaded digitally with the rest coming through physical sales. Chart Company data estimates that the album can now be found in one of four British households. - NME

The Jacksons are readying their first album since 1989, according to Jackie Jackson. "It sounds like Jacksons music, with today's sounds," Jackie explains. "People still want to hear that Jackson 5 harmony; we can't get away from where we came from. That's what they want to hear. But there's a lot of new flavors we can combine that with. Something like Bruno Mars' 'Treasure,' that's like on old Jacksons song. When I first heard that song I said, 'That could have been on one of ours!' The Jacksons are working with a number of contemporary artists and producers, though none are being identified yet. The set will be the first new Jacksons release since 1989's 2300 Jackson Street. - Billboard

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on March 27th, 2024

Grammy-winning guitarist-vocalist George Benson is reuniting with his former label, Warner Bros. Records, who released his breakthrough 1976 album Breezin' that topped the pop, R&B and jazz charts, propelled by the top 10 crossover hit, "This Masquerade." In addition to new music arriving later this year, the artist and Warner Music Group are celebrating the reunion with a previously unreleased YouTube video featuring Benson in a live performance of the track "Lady Blue" in the late '70s. "When I joined WB Records the first time, it caused an explosion in my career as a musician and quest to become a singer," said Benson, who was already a renowned jazz guitarist when he joined the lable, in a press release. "The exposure from that union has given me a life that I never imagined. Nothing but good has come from this partnership and today the inspiration continues on," he added. Benson recorded 12 albums for WB between 1979 and 1993, including the platinum-certified albums In Flight (1977), Weekend in L.A. (1978), and Give Me the Night (1980). He is also a 10-time Grammy winner, out of 25 nominations, and his cover of Leon Russell's "This Masquerade" won Record of the Year in 1976. Benson is set to perform at the Hollywood Bowl on Aug. 18. - Billboard, 3/26/24...... On Mar. 24 Roger Daltrey celebrated his final performance as the curator of the annual Teenage Cancer Trust concerts after 24 years with an all-star performance of one of The Who's most beloved songs, "Baba O'Riley." The "Ovation" concert at London's Royal Albert Hall ended with the 80-year-old Daltrey singing the Who's go-to show-closing 1971 epic, with Robert Plant, Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard, Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics, and Pete Townshend's brother Simon Townshend. In fan-shot video shared on YouTube, Daltrey takes the lead with Vedder, Plant, Jones, Hansard and Townshend leaning in to add group backing vocals. Pete Townshend performed with the Who earlier in the run and was slated to be on the "Ovation" lineup but had to miss the Mar. 24 show to be in New York for the opening of the revamped "Tommy" on Broadway. Though Daltrey is stepping down from his post, after the encore, he told the crowd, "I'm not going away from the Teenage Cancer Trust. I've completed the job I set out to do. We're going to get curators to do a year rather than doing 20 years... But I've got other work to do for the charity that is kind of more important because we live in a day where our NHS [National Health Service] everyone knows is very questionable even surviving. We are part of that service, though we are a charity If the NHS goes down, I want to make sure this charity doesn't go down with it." Among those thanking Daltrey for his TCT work with videos posted on social media were Paul McCartney and Nile Rodgers. Introducing himself as "Paul here, your friend of a million years," McCartney said: "Thank you for your 24 years of incredible service to Teenage Cancer. You've made so many kids happy and healthier and all of us connected with it want to thank you, so much," he began. "So what we say is [sings] 'thank you Roger, thank you so, you're a hero and you better know' -- That's one of the best songs I've ever written." Nile Rodgers also thanked Daltrey, saying: "It's Roger's last year curating these amazing gigs for Teenage Cancer Trust, and what an incredible 24 years it's been, showcasing the biggest names in music and comedy for a brilliant cause -- 600 hours of live music, reunions, supergroups, and of course rock n roll." Their messages can be viewed on X/Twitter. Daltrey has hosted and curated the fundraising shows since 2000, raising more than $40 million to date. He will still be an Honorary Patron of the charity, despite stepping down as curator of its annual concert series. - Billboard, 3/26/24...... Bruce Springsteen will be recognized for his "outstanding contribution to the craft of songwriting," as well as his "impact on the UK's cultural landscape," when he is honored as the first international songwriter outside the UK to receive the prestigious Ivors Academy Honor during an Amazon Music ceremony in London on May 23. The Boss will also be the irst American musician in the organization's 80-year history -- as well as the 27th musician overall -- to become an Academy Fellow, which is the highest honor one can receive from the institution. "I'm proud to be the first international songwriter to be recognized by The Ivors Academy," Springsteen said of the prize in a statement. "In addition to recognizing my songwriting, the award stands as a tribute to the fans and friends who have supported me and my work for the last 50 years. This entire country has made me feel welcome every step of the way. For this, I will always remain deeply appreciative," he added. Previous recipients include the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Joan Armatrading and Sting. Meanwhile, the the 74-year-old rock icon has said he's worried that his battle with peptic ulcer disease, which kept him off the road for six months during his latest world tour with the E Street Band, might permanently sideline him. In an interview with the E Street Radio channel, Springsteen told host Jim Rotolo that there was a point recently when he feared he might never perform live again. "Once I started singing, you know, you can rehearse singing, but your voice isn't the same in rehearsal. You don't have that edge of adrenaline that really pushes it into a better place and the thing when I had the stomach problem, one of the big problems was I couldn't sing," said Springsteen, who paused the E Street's planned 2023-2024 world tour in September for a total of 29 shows due to the serious effects of the gastro disease. "You sing with your diaphragm. My diaphragm was hurting so badly that when I went to make the effort to sing, it was killing me, you know?," he added. Thanks to his medical team, Springsteen is back and during the show in Phoenix on Mar. 19 -- originally slated for Nov. 30 -- he rocked through 29 songs without even mentioning the medical issue until the final song of the set. "I had a motherf----r of a bellyache," he told the crowd near the end of the two hour and 45 minute set. - Billboard, 3/26/24...... Ahead of a new Beach Boys documentary set to air on Disney+ in May, the band will release their first-ever and only autobiography, The Beach Boys, on Apr. 2. Surviving band members including Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston have chronicled their journey to fame and the success that followed in an autobiography that the title claims is "in their own words." Boasting 408 pages, The Beach Boys will include a detailed history about the band through their unique perspective providing a more intimate look at the band's history. The official description also says that the text will be accompanied with "iconic images, never-before-seen negatives and rare ephemera." Lindsey Buckingham, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Ray Davies, Bob Dylan, Def Leppard, David Lee Roth, Roger McGuinn, Graham Nash, Jimmy Page, Carly Simon and Pete Townshend are among the lineup of famous musicians who were tapped to contribute to the book. "There's love in the music and people can relate to the love, regardless of whether you're two years old or 92 years old," Brian Wilson said in a description of the book for Amazon.com. "For me, music is about love. Love is the message I want to share. I hope people feel that in my music. That makes the hard work worth it." - Billboard, 3/26/24...... Willie Nelson announced on Mar. 26 that his 4th of July Picnic will be moving to Philadelphia, PA for the first time. The country/pop superstar's annual concert, which he started in 1973, will be held at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, N.J., just outside Philadelphia, the birthplace of America. "I am thrilled to bring the 4th of July Picnic to Philadelphia for the first time in our storied history," Nelson said in a statement. "It's an honor to host such an extraordinary lineup of talent in the birthplace of our country. We can't wait to celebrate Independence Day with you," he added. Willie, now 91, first held the 4th of July Picnic more than 50 years ago in 1973 at Hurlbut Ranch in Dripping Springs, Tex. Over the decades, artists on the bill have included Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, The Charlie Daniels Band, Rita Coolidge and Leon Russell. The 2023 event was held at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Tex., and featured Tyler Childers, Dwight Yoakam, Shakey Graves and Sierra Ferrell, among others. Though this is the first stop in the Philly area, the picnic has been held outside Texas before, including at The Gorge in Quincy, WA, in 2007 and Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO, in 1978. On May 31, Nelson will release his latest album The Border, and will, once again, headline his annual Outlaw Music Festival Tour, which kicks off June 21 in Alpharetta, GA, and features many of the same artists as will appear at the July 4 event. - Billboard, 3/26/24...... AC/DC has announced its support act for the band's 2024 UK Wembley Stadium and European tour. The Pretty Reckless, a New York rock group comprised of frontwoman Taylor Momsen, alongside Jamie Perkins, Ben Phillips and Mark Damon, will be performing in the UK for first time since 2022 when they traveled outside the US for their "Death by Rock and Roll Tour." The tour dates with AC/DC are set to kick off in Germany on May 17, and will see them play numerous shows across Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland, before heading to the UK for two shows at Wembley Stadium on July 3 and 7. From there, the tour will head abroad again for remaining shows in Germany, Slovakia, France, Ireland and more. - New Musical Express, 3/25/24...... Van Morrison and The Corrs are the latest acts to be confirmed for the Forest Live 2024 festival set for Westonbirt Arboretum in Tetbury in Gloucestershire, UK, on July 7 and 6, respectively. The picturesque venue will also play host to acclaimed American jazz, blues and soul singer Gregory Porter on July 4, pop star Anne-Marie on July 5, and disco icons Nile Rodgers and CHIC on July 12. Forestry England uses the money raised from tickets for Forest Live to maintain the beautiful natural areas and run vital conservation projects, including planting trees. Tickets can be obtained through the ForestLive.com website. - Music-News.com, 3/22/24...... After becoming a staple within pop culture, notably being featured in the famous final scene of HBO's The Sopranos series finale "Made in America" as well as numerous theatrical films including Rock of Ages, Glee and Monster, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" has been named as "the biggest song of all time" by Forbes magazine. According to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), "Don't Stop Believin'" is now an 18-times-platinum-certified single, meaning that the track has moved more than 18 million units between pure sales and other forms of consumption like streaming in the US alone. Before reaching this honor, in May 2013, "Don't Stop Believin'" had only hit quadruple platinum status. Journey's founding member and lead guitarist Neal Schon took to X/Twitter to celebrate the achievement. "We now officially have the biggest song in the world ever in the history of music! Congratulations to all," he wrote. Former Journey frontman Steve Perry also took to his Instagram account to celebrate, writing: "To be part of such a moment as this made me reflect on my parents. By that I mean, though I lost them both years ago, I was so happy for them because they are truly the reason this is happening. My dad was a singer and both of them were very musical. So on behalf of my Mom and Dad, I thank every one of you for so many years of support." Upon it's release in Oct. 1981, "Don't Stop Believin'" earned the #9 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, becoming one of Journey's biggest hits. The track appeared on the band's seventh studio LP Escape which landed the top spot on the Billboard Hot 200 upon its release, and was certified a Diamond seller by the RIAA in July 2021 for at least 10 million sales in the US, making it the band's most successful studio album and second most successful album overall behind Greatest Hits. Journey announced on Feb. 27 that they'll kick off a 50th anniversary tour of the UK and Ireland this autumn in Cardiff's Utilita Arena on Oct. 30. - NME, 3/22/24...... Ryan Coogler, the director of the recent action flick Black Panther, is set to produce an as yet untitled "jukebox movie musical" based on the music of Prince. The film, which has been in the works since 2018, has a script by Bryan Edward Hill, who has written for comic books including Kilmonger and Ultimate Black Panther. In January, it was announced that Prince's Purple Rain film and soundtrack would be adapted into stage musical. The adaptation is set to feature a score by the late Prince, with a book by Pulitzer Prize-finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who is currently enjoying the Broadway run of his acclaimed drama "Appropriate." Jacobs-Jenkins' book will be based on the original Purple Rain screenplay, which was written by Albert Magnoli (who also directed the original film) and William Blinn. - Billboard, 3/23/24...... Elvis Presley's ex-wife Priscilla Presley has shut down a rumor suggesting she is in love with her former Dallas co-star Patrick Duffy. Presley, 78, dispelled the "unbelievable" rumor during a Q&A event at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., on Mar. 23. "Now there's this whole big thing out there that I love Patrick Duffy, and I'm reading this in a magazine that someone showed me yesterday," Priscilla said as she discussed her career after her divorce from Elvis in 1972. "I'm going, 'This is unbelievable, really, this is so crazy.'" The Naked Gun actress did not specify the article she was referring to. However, she claimed that the dating speculation began after she spent time with Duffy and his partner Linda Purl at a Dallas cast reunion event at the Burbank Marriott Convention Center on Mar. 1. "I hadn't seen him in a long time, and it was a great reunion," she explained. "Patrick told me how happy he was, and we talked to the audience and they had questions for us and that's it." Presley played Jenna Wade in Dallas for six seasons between 1983 and 1988. Jenna was the high school sweetheart of Duffy's character Bobby Ewing. In addition to Dallas, Presley appeared in all three Naked Gun films and made appearances on TV shows such as The Fall Guy, Melrose Place, Spin City and Dancing with the Stars. - Music-News.com, 3/26/24...... Joni Mitchell's catalog of classic tunes has been restored to Spotify.com, a week after her old friend Neil Young allowed his song canon to return to the popular streaming music platform. Mitchell pulled her music from Spotify in early 2022 in solidarity with Young over their concerns about the vaccine and Covid-19 misinformation being spread on the platform's popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Though Mitchell, 80, has not as yet formally commented on her music's return to Spotify, in a note on her official website posted at the time of the boycott she explained, "I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue." Earlier in March, Young said in a post on his Neil Young Archives site that the end of Spotify's exclusive deal with Rogan led to the restoration of his music to the service. "My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify," Young's post read -- in a clear reference to the Joe Rogan podcast, though he never mentioned the show, or its host, by name. Since February, the Rogan podcast has been available on a variety of platform, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and YouTube. At the time of Mitchell's boycott not all of her music was actually removed from Spotify. While such iconic titles as 1970's Ladies of the Canyon, 1971's Blue and 1974's Court and Spark went away during the pull-out, her four Geffen Records albums from the 1980s and early 1990s were still available. - Billboard, 3/22/24.

Ozzy Osbourne's wife Sharon Osbourne has opened up about the couple's decades-long marriage in a new interview with the UK's Daily Mirror paper. Sharon revealed that she and Ozzy had once tried marriage guidance counselling -- but it only lasted 30 minutes. "No matter how much bad behaviour or who's wrong or right in a certain situation, I love him," she explained. "He's the only man other than my dad that I've ever loved. I just adore him. And I knew what he was before I married him," she added. Reflecting on Ozzy's well publicized struggles with drugs and alcohol, she added: "But in my youth, being naive, I thought, 'I can change Ozzy. He won't drink when he's with me. I'll make him a nice home and nest and we'll be happy ever after.' But that's not real life. I knew what he was. I knew he had addictions and I took it on. We can't go for a week without each other. It's ridiculous." Sharon also says that Ozzy has "always been inappropriate with women." "We have a nurse at home, quite a large Russian lady, and she bent over him and he goes, 'Tell me, did you breastfeed your kids?' And I'm like, 'You cannot say those things now. The world today is different. You cannot talk to a woman like that. You can get into trouble'," she said. Earlier in 2024, Sharon revealed she once tried to take her own life after discovering that Ozzy was having an affair with a celebrity hairdresser, which went on for four years between 2012-2016. Ozzy and Sharon temporarily separated following the revelation. Sharon said she was "used to" her husband "always" having groupies, adding: "But when he knows the name of the person, where they live and where they work it is a whole different thing as you are emotionally invested. I took, I don't know how many pills." In January, Sharon revealed that Ozzy, who has ongoing health issues, was planning "two more shows to say goodbye" before he fully retires from performing live. - New Musical Express, 3/21/24...... In other Ozzy-related news, the historic Birmingham pub where Ozzy and Black Sabbath once played has been granted secured listed status by the UK's Department of Culture, following fears it may be knocked down. The Crown venue on Station Street, also regarded by some as the "birthplace of heavy metal" was one of the buildings at risk on that street, as is the Electric -- the UK's oldest working cinema which was shut down earlier in March. Now however, the Crown has been listed as Grade II by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England, helping to secure its future on the street. The iconic space, first erected in 1881, has been empty for 10 years now, and initially, Birmingham Open Media had planned to buy and restore the pub, however the organisation lost its funding and faced competition from a developer wanting to use the site for housing. The listed status comes after more than 15,000 people signed a petition, calling for the street to be saved and regarded as "a site of civic pride, cultural value and historic asset." The new status gives the venue more protection from re-development. Not only did Black Sabbath famously play many of their first shows at the site, but it also saw acts including Thin Lizzy, The Who, Supertramp, Duran Duran, Status Quo and Judas Priest headline earlier in their careers. Black Sabbath's Toni Iommi, one of the Crown's biggest backers, celebrated the news with a post on Instagram. - NME, 3/18/24...... Speaking of Judas Priest, the iconic heavy metal band has landed its third No. 1 album on Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart for the week dated Mar. 23. Invincible Shield, released on Mar. 8, has bowed with 25,000 equivalent album units earned March 8-14 in the U.S., according to Luminate. Of that sum, 23,000 units are via album sales. Priest's previous leaders on Top Hard Rock Albums, which began in 2007, are 2014's Redeemer of Souls and 2018's Firepower. Invincible Shield starts at No. 6 on Billboard's Top Rock & Alternative Albums and at No. 4 on Top Rock Albums. It is the band's 19th studio album, and its first in six years. The album also replaces Queen's Greatest Hits on the Top Hard Rock Albums tally, which has topped the chart every week since Nov. 4, 2023. Invincible Shield's lead single, "Crown of Horns," currently sits an No. 28 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. - Billboard, 3/20/24...... Michael Jackson's son Blanket Jackson is asking a Los Angeles judge to order his grandmother Katherine Jackson to stop using money from the late pop superstar's estate to fund her ongoing legal battles against the estate's executors over their recent $600 million deal with Sony. In court filings dated Mar. 18, Blanket is arguing that the estate shouldn't foot the bill for Katherine's pending appeal, in which she's challenging a 2023 ruling that gave co-executors John Branca and John McClain approval to proceed with an unnamed transaction. While the disputed deal itself is not explicitly named in legal documents, it appears to be the Jackson estate's estimated $600 million deal to sell part of the singer's catalog to Sony. Both Blanket and Katherine initially opposed the estate's proposed transaction, but after the judge ruled last year that the deal could move forward, Blanket and Jackson's other children accepted the decision. Katherine opted instead to keep fighting, filing an appeal that remains pending. In December, Katherine filed motions asking that the estate pay for her legal bills stemming from her objections, including the ongoing appellate case. But in his filing on Monday, Blanket said it would be "unfair" to force him and his siblings to pay for that case, since his grandmother's efforts face "long odds." Blanket did argue however that the estate should, in fact, pay Katherine's legal bills for her initial opposition to the deal -- arguing that she had presented "essential evidence" about the proposed transaction and that "all heirs and beneficiaries benefited from this court's scrutiny." - Billboard, 3/21/24...... Metallica was among the performers honoring Elton John and Bernie Taupin during the 2024 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at DAR Constitution Hall on Mar. 20 in Washington, DC. John and his songwriting partner Taupin were honored with the Library Of Congress Gershwin Prize For Popular Song at the ceremony, which was hosted by Billy Porter. Ahead of the event, Metallica said they were "beyond excited and proud to have been invited to perform at the "very special event" before describing John and Taupin as a "legendary songwriting team." The group opened the show with a rendition of "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" from John's 1973 double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, footage of which has been shared on X/Twitter. In addition, Annie Lennox covered "Border Song" from John's 1970 self-titled album and joined Joni Mitchell and Brandi Carlile for a joint performance of Elton's 1983 hit "I'm Still Standing." John closed the night with a live rendition of his 1970 classic track "Your Song." The invitation-only ceremony is scheduled to air on PBS in the US on Apr. 8. - NME, 3/21/24...... Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band returned to the stage on Mar. 19 at Phoenix, Arizona's Footprint Center after Springsteen took an extended 6-month break from the road as he suffered from peptic ulcer disease that caused him to postpone 29 dates on his world tour with the band. The Boss, clad in a red and black checkered shirt with rolled-up sleeves and black jeans, was in top form from show opener "Lonesome Day" and fully had his sea legs back by third song, "No Surrender," when he gave his first trademark shout out, "Cmon, Steve!" beckoning for his brother-in-music for over half a century, Steven Van Zandt, to join him on the mic. Unlike the setlists from earlier shows on this tour that seemed slightly more reflective and wide-ranging, the latest show was more of a high-octane, freight train of a rock show. Springsteen and the band barreled through 29 songs, passionately delivering mainly full-on rockers, in 2 hours and 45 minutes. The only break between songs was the few seconds it took for Springsteen to change guitars and, other than a few asides, he only addressed the audience for the speech before "Last Man Standing" and after "Backstreets." He never brought up his illness until right before the closing song when he apologized to anyone inconvenienced by the Phoenix date shifting from Nov. 30 to Mar. 19, adding, "I had a mother-----r of a bellyache." His 7-song encore included a rendition of the Isley Brothers' classic "Twist & Shout," after holding up a suggestion sign from a member of the audience to the band. - Billboard, 3/20/24...... Songs by '70s artists The Doobie Brothers, Donna Summer and Charlie Pride are among ten recordings that were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame on Mar. 20, following a two-year period in which the Hall was put on hiatus for a reevaluation. Several changes were made during the hiatus period. The number of inducted recordings is down significantly from 25 to 30 in prior years. And while past classes have included repeat inductions by such Hall of Fame mainstays as The Beatles and Ella Fitzgerald, all of this year's choices are by first-time inductees into the Hall. The as usual eclectic selection of artists chosen include the Doobies' 1979 No. 1 smash "What a Fool Believes," Donna Summer's 1977 No. 6 hit "I Feel Love" (her longest charting single), and country star Charlie Pride's 1971 signature song "Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'." This year's class, which also includes songs and albums by the likes of Guns N Roses, Lauryn Hill and De La Soul, will be saluted at the Grammy Museum's inaugural Grammy Hall of Fame Gala and concert on May 21 at the NOVO Theater in Los Angeles. - Billboard, 3/20/24...... The US tabloid The New York Post is reporting that the Eagles could be headed for a residency at the spectacular new venue the Sphere in Las Vegas. The Post reported claims made by various sources, stating that the country-rock veterans will enjoy a 10-week residency in Las Vegas later in 2024. The report claims that the official announcement is set to be made soon, and the booking will see the band perform in the impressive new venue from September through to December. If the Eagles do play the Vegas residency, the dates would come as an extension to their ongoing farewell shows, held as part of itsd "Long Goodbye" tour. The final run of tour dates kicked off in Sept. 2023, and is expected to run up until 2025. Currently, the last show officially listed on the schedule is planned for Arnhem in The Netherlands, and will take place on June 15. For the farewell tour, founding member Don Henley -- alongside Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Vince Gill and Deacon Frey -- plan to play "as many shows in each market as their audience demands." A spokesperson for the Sphere declined to shed light on the situation, telling the Post, "We do not comment on any artists performing at Sphere except for those who have been announced." - NME, 3/20/24...... During a concert in Toledo on Mar. 17, John Mellencamp called out a "cocksucker heckler" who kept asking him to "play some music." According to footage shared by an audience member on TikTok, the 72-year-old singer is seen sharing an anecdote with his crowd between songs, however, after a few seconds he is interrupted by a fan urging him to "play some music." "What do you think I've been doing, you cocksucker?" the Indiana rocker replied. "Here's the thing, man. You don't know me. You don't f----ing know me." "Hey Joe, find this guy and let me see him after the show," Mellencamp added, going on to continue with his anecdote before being interrupted again. "Guys, I can stop this show right now and just go home and I tell you what I'm going to do. Since you've been so wonderful, I'm going to cut about 10 songs out of the show," he said. From there, he began to play the "Jack & Diane" solo, before deciding: "Y'know what? Show's over." Mellencamp then left the stage and the house lights went up, but he eventually returned to the stage and performed a few more songs to close off the night. - NME, 3/19/24...... On Mar. 18 Jeff Lynne's ELO announced the dates for the classic rock group's final run of North American dates. The 27-date "Over and Out Tour" is slated to kick off on Aug. 24 in Palm Desert, Calif. and keep the "Evil Woman" band on the road through late October, with stops including Seattle (8/27), Vancouver (8/28), San Francisco (9/1), Toronto (9/9), Pittsburgh (9/10), Cincinnati (9/14), New York (9/16), Boston (9/23), Chicago (9/27), Denver (10/2), Detroit (10/9), Houston (10/16), Phoenix (10/21) and Sacramento (10/23) before winding down on Oct. 25 with a show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale on Mar. 22, and more info can be found at JeffLynnesELO.com. The original ELO released a dozen albums through 2001's Zoom -- plus the 1980 soundtrack to Xanadu featuring Olivia Newton-John -- as well as two credited to Jeff Lynne's ELO -- 2015's Alone in the Universe and 2019's From Out of Nowhere. The 2019 tour supporting the latter album was the last time Lynne, 76, was on the road. - Billboard, 3/18/24...... The BBC is celebrating ABBA's 50th anniversary with an hour-long documentary, When Abba Came to Britain, as part of a Saturday night full of ABBA specials on BBC Two on Mar. 23. Another special is called More ABBA at the BBC, and there will be further programming across the BBC, including BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds. The "Dancing Queen" hitmakers -- Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad -- made the UK their home from 1974 to 1982, and the film "examines their ground-breaking legacy," from winning Eurovision with "Waterloo" to ABBA Voyage, their record-breaking, first-of-its-kind avatar show in London. Viewers can expect "previously un-transmitted interviews with ABBA" with unseen footage thought to be lost. It will include interviews with the likes of Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and indie pop group Blossoms, who cite ABBA as an influence. - Music-News.com, 3/18/24...... On Mar. 18 The Who's Roger Daltrey announced a new "semi-acoustic" solo tour of North America this summer. Daltrey posted on the Who's official Instagram account and announced nine dates in June that will see the frontman perform "The Who hits and rarities along with solo music and stories about his incredible 60 year career" with the help of an "electric/acoustic" band. The tour will kick off in Vienna, Va. on June 12 before heading to Niagara Falls two days later. Other dates throughout the tour will see Daltrey and his backing band perform in Bethel, NY (6/16), Port Chester, NY (6/18), Boston (6/20), Lenox, Mass. (6/22), Detroit (6/25), Indianapolis (6/27) and Highland Park, Ill. (6/29). In December, Townshend said that the Who will have talks about where they go next, after playing their most recent show at the Sandringham Estate last summer. "I think it's time for Roger and I to go to lunch and have a chat about what happens next. Because Sandringham shouldn't feel like the end of anything but it feels like the end of an era." Meanwhile, pop and contemporary Christian artist Ryan Ellis, who was nominated for a Grammy for best contemporary Christian music performance/song this year for "God Problems," has been named a celebrity ambassador for Daltrey's and Pete Townshend's Teen Cancer America charity. As part of his role, Ellis will perform at the fifth annual Rockin' Polo Match, a TCA fundraiser taking place June 15 at Will Rogers State Park in Los Angeles' Pacific Palisades. The charity, funded by Daltrey and Townshend, is dedicating to getting specialized and appropriate care for teen cancer patients, who often fall in a gap between pediatric and adult oncology treatment. - NME, 3/19/24...... On Mar. 19 Deep Purple announced details of a new UK arena tour set for later in 2024. Called the "'One More Time" tour, the dates comprise five shows across the country, and will see frontman Ian Gillan and co. run through live renditions of their biggest hits including "Smoke on the Water," "Highway Star" and "Soldier Of Fortune." The dates kick off with an opening night at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham on Nov. 4, before resuming two days later with a show at London's O2 on Nov. 6. A gig at the First Direct Arena in Leeds is scheduled for the following night (11/7), and the tour wraps up with slots at Manchester's AO arena and Glasgow's OVO Hydro -- set for Nov. 9 and 10 respectively. Support for the UK shows will come from '90s indie-rock legends Reef, and tickets go on general sale on Mar. 22. Ahead of embarking on their UK shows, Deep Purple are set to head down under next month, and play a series of Australian festival slots alongside rock icons including Blondie, Alice Cooper, Placebo, Wolfmother and more. A run of European tour dates will then follow, and run throughout the summer. Deep Purple will also soon launch a deluxe version of their classic 1972 album Machine Head. Machine Head - 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will be available beginning Mar. 29 as a 3-CD/LP/Blu-ray set. The new version will feature new stereo and Dolby Atmos mixes by Dweezil Zappa, as well as the original 1974 quadraphonic mix. It also features two live albums: one recorded at the Paris Theatre in London in Mar. 1972, and a previously unreleased set recorded at the casino in Montreux in 1971. - NME, 3/19/24...... Longtime Styx bassist Ricky Phillips has departed the US hard rock band after a 21-year tenure. Phillips, 71, split duties with original bassist Chuck Panozzo for 21 years but has decided to take a break from the road to focus on a studio project close to home. In a statement, Phillips said: "Dear Friends, after touring for 50 years with The Babys, Bad English... Tina Turner, Belinda Carlisle... and writing, touring, and co-producing... with Ronnie Montrose, to name a chosen few... I'm taking a breather." He continued: "My last 20+ years of touring and recording with my friends in Styx has come to an end. I am taking a break from the road. I'm not retiring, just taking a break. Presently, I have accepted an offer to co-produce a project in a studio close to home. I've known since I was a kid that live performance is in my blood so, in time I will post any future engagements or commitments. But for right now, Melissa and I will share coffee talk and meals from home... with our critters close by." Phillips contributed to four Styx albums, the most recent being 2021's Crash of the Crown, and worked with Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page and Whitesnake vocalist David Coverdale on their 1993 Coverdale/Page LP. - Music-News.com, 3/21/24...... Byron Janis, hailed as one of the great pianists of the 20th century, died on Mar. 14 at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He was 95. The rare student of Vladimir Horowitz, Mr. Janis made a dazzling Carnegie Hall debut at age 20 and performed major concertos from Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Prokofiev. During his 85-year career, he covered composers from Bach to David W. Guion and performed major piano concertos from Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Prokofiev. He occupied two volumes of the 1999 Mercury Philips series Great Pianists of the 20th Century and recorded for Philips, EMI, Sony and Universal as well. Mr. Janis performed six times by four sitting presidents at the White House, and among his awards were the Commander of the French Legion d'Honneur for Arts and Letters, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Stanford Fellowship from Yale and the gold medal from the French Society for the Encouragement of Progress (he was the first musician to receive that honor since its inception in 1906). He composed the scores for major musical productions of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Hans Brinker," and wrote one for The True Gen, a 2013 documentary on the 20-year friendship between Gary Cooper and Ernest Hemingway. He is survived by his wife, Maria Cooper Janis, daughter of two-time Oscar-winning actor Gary Cooper. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/17/24...... M. Emmet Walsh, the familiar character actor in such films as Blade Runner, Blood Simple, Ordinary People, Knives Out, My Best Friend's Wedding, Slap Shot and more than 200 other films and TV shows spanning a half-century, died on Mar. 19. He was three days short of turning 89. His manager Sandy Joseph told Deadline.com that Mr. Walsh died of cardiac arrest at Kerbs Memorial Hospital in St. Albans, VT. Born on Mar. 22, 1935, in Ogdensburg, NY, Mr. Walsh was raised in rural Vermont. He began his screen career guesting on late-1960s TV series before landing bit parts in films including Alice's Restaurant, Little Big Man and Escape from the Planet of the Apes. He continued to guest-star in episodes of popular 1960s and 70s series including Bonanza, All in the Family, Ironside, The Bob Newhart Show, McMillan & Wife, The Rockford Files, The Waltons, Starsky and Hutch, James at 16, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and many more. He also appeared on the big screen in such '70s hits as Serpico, Straight Time, The Jerk, They Might Be Giants, Whats Up, Doc? and Slap Shot, in which he played sportswriter Dickie Dunn, who was "Just trying to capture the spirit of the thing." The prolific actor with the hangdog face and trademark paunch continued to work regularly into the 1980s up to the 2020s, appearing in popular pics including the Coen brothers' 1984 debut Blood Simple, and also appeared in the Robert Redford prison drama Brubaker (1980), Academy Award winner Ordinary People (1980), Best Picture Oscar nominee Reds (1981), Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic Blade Runner (1982), the Chevy Chase comedy Fletch (1985), horror pic Critters (1986) and more. His most recent roles included Knives Out, The Righteous Gemstones and Sneaky Pete. In 1979, he established the Blarney Fund Education Trust, which provides scholarships to Vermont students. Mr. Walsh is survived by his niece Meagan Walsh; nephew Kevin Walsh (Renee); and grandnephews Emmet and Elliot. Film critic Roger Ebert once created the "Stanton-Walsh Rule," which held that no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad, though he admitted it wasn't an infallible rule. "I approach each job thinking it might be my last, so it better be the best work possible," Mr. Walsh once said. "I want to be remembered as a working actor. I'm being paid for what I'd do for nothing." - Deadline.com, 3/20/24.