Posted by Administrator on October 19th, 2023
Joni Mitchell made a surprise appearance at Brandi Carlile's recent show in Los Angeles as well as Annie Lennox, Lucius, Blake Mills, Wendy and others. A highlight of the evening came towards the end of the 21-song setlist when Carlile brought out close friend and music icon Mitchell for a surprise appearance, which came amid 79-year-old Mitchell's general return to live performing following a nine-year hiatus. The two shared stories of their memories about one another over the years including Mitchell calling Carlile "butch" for drinking straight out of a wine bottle, and Carlile recalling their spending time together in Canada. They also performed renditions of Mitchell's "Shine," "Ladies Of The Canyon," and "The Circle Game" to close off the show. The pair's "The Circle Game" duet has been shared on YouTube. In August, Mitchell announced the forthcoming release of the third volume of her ongoing archival project, The Asylum Years, which she began in 2020. - NME, 10/16/23...... 
Kicking off his 2023 tour of Australia, Paul McCartney played the Beatles classic "She's A Woman" for the first time in nearly 20 years at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Oct. 18. His first performance in over a year, the Adelaide gig spanned across nearly three hours and included a mix of his solo hits, as well as discography with the Beatles and Wings. "She's A Woman," originally the Fab Four's B-side to "I Feel Fine" and their last single release of 1964, was last played live by Macca in 2004. Elsewhere in the setlist, McCartney opened the show with "Can't Buy Me Love" -- the same as seen in previous dates of his "Got Back" tour -- before launcing into the Wings tracks "Junior's Farm" and "Letting Go." No tracks from his latest album McCartney III were featured in the 39-song setlist, although he did bring out songs such as "Come On To Me," "My Valentine," "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Dance Tonight" from his solo discography, and even an old pre-Beatles The Quarrymen number, "In Spite Of All The Danger." His "She's A Woman" performance has been shared on YouTube. The remaining dates of his Oz tour will continue on Oct. 21 in Melbourne; from there, he will also play shows in Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane. The Australian dates will conclude with a gig at Heritage Bank Stadium, Gold Coast on Nov. 4. He will then make his way to Brazil for five shows, beginning on Nov. 30. In other McCartney news, the star has recently spoken about the Beatles' feelings towards Yoko Ono during a new episode of his new 12-part podcast series, McCartney: A Life In Lyrics -- stating that he saw her presence during the Beatles' recording sessions as "an interference in the workplace." "John and Yoko had got together and that was bound to have an effect on the dynamics of the group," McCartney said in an interview with poet Paul Muldoon. "Things like Yoko being literally in the middle of the recording session [were] something you had to deal with... Anything that disturbs us, is disturbing. We would allow this and not make a fuss. And yet at the same time, I don't think any of us particularly liked it." - New Musical Express, 10/19/23...... In the latest episode of Ozzy Osbourne and family's new Osbournes Podcast, Ozzy admits that used to willingly wet himself while performing on stage, arguing that it was fine because he was "wet anyway." The topic came to light during the weekly podcast when Ozzy, his wife Sharon Osbourne and children Jack and Kelly Osbourne were discussing the unusual things that have been sold for huge amounts at auctions - namely, a pair of Queen Victoria's underwear. To justify the purchase, Sharon responded, "Shoes, a handbag, a dress is different than somebody's bloody knickers that they farted in and shit in," with Ozzy adding: "[Queen Victoria] was an old girl, she was probably incontinent. She owned continents, but she was incontinent." He continued: "When I was onstage, I used to go, 'Oh, f--- it,' and just piss, 'cause I was wet anyway from throwing water around," he explained, referring to when he would spray his audience with high-powered water guns or throw buckets of water around on stage. Following the announcement, Sharon exclaimed, "Thanks for sharing!" The full episode can be streamed on YouTube. Meanwhile, Ozzy has told Philadelphia's 93.3 WMMR radio station that his upcoming final solo LP will have fewer featured artists -- unlike his last two albums which featured contributions from the likes of Elton John, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and his former Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi. "I'm waiting for [his recent producer Andrew Watt] to get free to do another album. 'Cause everybody wants to use him now," Ozzy said. - NME/Music-News.com, 10/18/23...... 
Pop-rock-funk legend Sly Stone released his first ever memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), on Oct. 17. Named after one of his band Sly & The Family Stone's many hits, the memoir is the first title from AUWA Books, an imprint headed by Questlove who also penned the foreword. Beyond reflections on the band's music, Stone takes a no-holds-barred approach in his memoir as he tracks the other ups and downs throughout his storied life from his and Kathy Silva's famous 1974 wedding/concert at Madison Square Garden ("$8.50 for a wedding and a concert both. A bargain.") and the birth of his beloved son Sylvester Jr. and daughters Phunne and Novena to various business ventures and finally overcoming his drug addiction. Stone, now 80 and suffering from COPD, writes, "Then came the Four Visits. Fifty years of drugs, plus age, plus stress, made the hospital a regular stop." Sly's stream of consciousness recall of life experiences, coupled with colorful turns of phrase, makes Thank You a fun and insightful read. - Billboard, 10/18/23...... The Eagles' Joe Walsh has signed a new publishing deal with Reservoir Media for his back catalog and future output, including songs he wrote for the Eagles, The James Gang, and his solo albums. It does not include the administration of his entire back catalog but select songs, including "A Life of Illusion," "In The City," "Life In The Fastlane" and "Life's Been Good," are part of the deal. "It is such a pleasure to be partnered with a team who are hands on and personal and who have shown their passion for and dedication to my work," said Walsh in a statement. "I look forward to a great partnership and future with Reservoir." Walsh, who rocketed to superstardom when he joined the Eagles in 1975, has also released eleven solo albums to date and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 alongside his Eagles bandmates. - Billboard, 10/17/23...... Graham Nash has sold controlling interest in his recording catalog, as well as his name, image and likeness, to Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group. Joining his Crosby, Stills & Nash bandmates on Team IAG, Nash's deal is a wide-ranging deal that aims to bolster the influential singer-songwriter's musical legacy for future generations. He joins an elite roster of acts at IAG, which Azoff co-founded in Jan. 2020: Cher, Dan Fogelberg, Linda Ronstadt, The Beach Boys, Joe Cocker, Nat "King" Cole, Dean Martin and of course Stephen Stills and David Crosby, who died earlier in 2023. IAG declined to share financial details of the deal, or the size of their controlling interest in Nash's rights. - Billboard, 10/17/23...... Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli's son Wolfgang Van Halen married his long-time love Andraia Allsop during an intimate ceremony over the second weekend of October, the eighth anniversary of their first date. One of the most emotional moments of the ceremony was when Van Halen walked down the aisle with his actress mom Bertinelli, to a song written for him by his late dad Eddie Van Halen, who died at age 65 in Oct. 2020 after long battle with cancer. "The song that my father had written for me, it's an instrumental piece called '316.' It'll be a nice way to include my dad," Wolfie said of the acoustic, finger-picked 90-second track from Van Halen's 1991 album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge that was inspired by Wolfgang's birth on March 16, 1991. The bride walked down the aisle with her dad to Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" and tapped her grandmothers as the flower girls. The wedding took place in the couple's living room and was officiated by one of the guitarist's closest family friends, whom Wolfgang, 32, said he's known for most of his life. "He's the dad of one of my best men and he's just an important guy in our life," the Mammoth WVH frontman said of the officiant. The backdrop to the ceremony was a stained-glass window that previously served as a set piece for a Lady Gaga performance. A picture of the happy couple has been shared on People magazine's Instagram page. Wolfgang will kick off his upcoming Mammoth WVH tour on Nov. 4 in Milwaukee. - Billboard, 10/17/23...... The Grammy-nominated documentary Music, Money, Madness... Jimi Hendrix In Maui will make its debut theatrical screening on Oct. 25 at 7:15 PM at LOOK Dine-In Cinemas W57 (657 W. 57th Street) in Manhattan. Nominated for Best Music Film at the 2023 Grammy Awards, the feature length documentary chronicles the Jimi Hendrix Experience's storied visit to Maui in 1970, and how they became ensnared in the controversial, counterculture film Rainbow Bridge. Co-produced by Hendrix's sister Janie Hendrix, George Scott and John McDermott, who also directed the film, Music, Money, Madness... Jimi Hendrix In Maui incorporates never before released original footage and new interviews with firsthand participants and key players such as bassist Billy Cox, Warner Bros. executives and several Rainbow Bridge cast members, as well as its director Chuck Wein. Their fascinating accounts tell the definitive story about what is arguably one of the most controversial independent films ever made. - Music-News.com, 10/14/23...... '70s disco queen Gloria Gaynor has reacted to Madonna covering her 1979 signature hit "I Will Survive" during a London stop on her European "Celebration Tour" on Oct. 14. Madonna took a moment during her first show to talk about the serious health scare that postponed the tour from its original planned start over the summer. "I forgot five years of my life, or my death -- I don't really know where I was," Madonna said onstage at The O2 arena. "But the angels were protecting me, and my children were there.... If you want to know my secret and you want to know how I pulled through and survived, I thought, 'I have to be there for my children. I have to survive for them'," she said before covering "I Will Survive." Gaynor approved of Madonna covering her hit sharing on X/Twitter the next day: "@Madonna congratulations on the launch of #TheCelebrationTour at @TheO2. So happy that you are in good health and ready to have a holiday with fans around the world! By the way, you have excellent taste in music!" - Billboard, 10/16/23...... Former The Police guitarist Andy Summers is combining his two passions -- music and photography -- on his current North American tour. The show, which features Summers performing solo while his photography is displayed behind him, spans The Police ("Roxanne," "Tea in the Sahara" and "Spirits in the Material World" are regularly played), original solo works (such as "Triboluminescence" and "The Bones of Twang Zu"), covers of Brazilian influences and a jazz classic (Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight"). His recent Solo Tour: Behind the Setlist podcast can be streamed on Spotify.com and other major streaming services. - Billboard, 10/16/23...... 
Never one to shy away about sharing her feelings about former US president Donald Trump, Cher has told the UK paper The Guardian that she is considering moving out of America should the four-times indicted, former reality TV star become president again. "I almost got an ulcer the last time," Cher said of Trump's tumultuous four-year term, which concluded with the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump's followers. "If he get in, who knows?" the 77-year-old diva said. "This time I will leave [the country]." During the 2016 election, Cher threatened to "leave the planet" if then-political neophyte Trump was elected. Cher, who will releae her first-ever Christmas collection Christmas on Oct. 20, also spoke about the rise in anti-trans legislation. "It's something like 500 bills they're trying to pass," the longtime ally of the LGBTQ community said about the raft of legislation being pushed by conservative lawmakers across the US over the past year targeting trans people, drag queens and queer culture. "I was with two trans girls the other night -- and of course my own child [Chaz Bono is trans]. I was saying 'We've got to stand together.' I don't know what their eventual plan is for trans people. I don't put anything past them." - Billboard, 10/18/23...... After teasing his long awaited new solo album I/O with a steady stream of singles over the last 12 months, Peter Gabriel has confirmed the album will drop on Dec. 1. "After a years-worth of full moon releases, I'm very happy to see all these new songs back together on the good ship I/O and ready for their journey out into the world," Gabriel, 73, said in a statement. Collaborations with Brian Eno, XL Recordings owner Richard Russell, guitarist David Rhodes, bassist Tony Levin, drummer Manu Katch and pianist Tom Cawley are set to feature on the album. Gabriel shared the first single, "Panopticom," in January, marking his first new song since 2016. - Music-News.com, 10/19/23...... Films about or featuring live performances of '70s stars David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Elton John and Billy Joel are among 94 films vying for a nomination for a Best Music Film Grammy in 2024. The Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream and the Cohen doc Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen: A Journey, A Song, along with Elton's Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium and Joel's Live at Yankee Stadium, are just four of the films contending for nominations in the very competitive category. The last two winners in the category were Various Artists films -- Summer of Soul and Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story. - Billboard, 10/16/23...... Two-time Oscar winner Michael Caine has announced he is retiring from acting following his work on the recently released WW2 drama, The Great Escaper, in which he plays a veteran named Bernard Jordan who broke out of a care home to attend the 70th anniversary commemoration of D-Day in 2014. "I keep saying I'm going to retire," Caine said during an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Today show. "Well, I am now." aine said the fact that he got to play the lead in the film that received accolades from critics after its release in Britain earlier this month led to his decision. "I've figured, I've had a picture where I've played the lead and it's got incredible reviews," Caine said. "The only parts I'm likely to get now are old men, 90-year-old men, maybe 85. And I thought, 'Well, I might as well leave with all this -- I've got wonderful reviews. What have I got to do to beat this?' You don't have leading men at 90, you're going to have young handsome boys and girls." In his 70 years as an actor, Caine has starred in more than 130 films and won two Oscars (for Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986 and Cider House Rules in 2002), three Golden Globes, one SAG award, and one BAFTA. - Canoe.com, 10/16/23...... Influential jazz composer and pianist Carla Bley, a pioneer in the free jazz movement who previously worked on an album with Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, died at her home in Willow, upstate New York on Oct. 17. She was 87. Ms. Bley was known for her avant-garde approach in her early career and become a pioneering musician in the free jazz movement. "I wanted to object to as many things as possible that were wrong in the world of jazz and change the whole system that existed in the music world," she once told The Guardian. Her best known work, the jazz opera Escalator Over the Hill, was released in 1971. She would go on to write the music for Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason on his 1981 solo debut album, Nick Mason's Fictious Sports. - NME, 10/18/23...... Burt Young, the Oscar-nominated actor who played Paulie, the rough-hewn, mumbling-and-grumbling best friend, corner-man and brother-in-law to Sylvester Stallone in the franchise that began with 1976's Rocky, died on Oct. 8 in Los Angeles, his daughter, Anne Morea Steingieser, disclosed to the New York Times on Oct 18. No cause was given. He was 83. Mr. Young had roles in acclaimed films and television shows including "Chinatown, Once Upon a Time in America and The Sopranos, but he was always best known for playing Paulie Pennino in six Rocky movies. The short, paunchy, balding Young was the sort of actor who always seemed to play middle-aged no matter his age, and began in the Rocky series as an angry, foul-mouthed meat packer who is abusive to his sister Adrian (Talia Shire), with whom he shares a small apartment in Philadelphia. The film became a phenomenon, topping the box office for the year and making a star of lead actor and writer Stallone, who paid tribute to Mr. Young on Instagram on the evening of Oct. 18. "You were an incredible man and artist, I and the World will miss you very much," Stallone posted, along with a photo of the two. Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., Mr. Young served in the Marine Corps, fought as a professional boxer and worked as a carpet layer before taking up acting, studying with legendary teacher Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. He also appeared in the 1986 comedy Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield, and the 1989 gritty drama Last Exit to Brooklyn with Jennifer Jason Leigh. In addition to The Sopranos he guest-starred on many TV series including M(asterisk)A(asterisk)S(asterisk)H, Miami Vice and The Equalizer. Later in life he focused on roles in the theatre and on painting, a lifelong pursuit that led to gallery shows and sales. His wife of 13 years, Gloria, died in 1974. Along with his daughter, Mr. Young is survived by one grandchild and a brother, Robert. - AP, 10/19/23...... 
Actress Piper Laurie, a three-time Oscar nominee who starred in such films as The Hustler and Carrie, died on Oct. 14. She was 91. Born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit on Jan. 22, 1932, Ms. Laurie was plucked out of Los Angeles High School at age 17 and signed to a Universal contract for $250 a week, which would run up to $1,750 a week after seven years. She made her debut as Ronald Reagan's daughter in the 1950 film Louisa and then went on to star in a series of undistinguished comedies and musicals, including a foray into the Francis the talking mule series called Francis Goes to the Races. She negotiated herself out of her contract with Universal in the mid-'50s after a series of ingenue roles in mediocre films and turned in an impressive supporting performance in Robert Wise's Until They Sail (1957), with Jean Simmons, Paul Newman and Joan Fontaine. She scored her first Oscar nomination for her work opposite Newman in 1961's classic poolhall drama The Hustler, in which she played an alcoholic who memorably tells Newman's character, "Look, I've got troubles and I think maybe you've got troubles. Maybe it'd be better if we just leave each other alone." Though she informally retired to raise a family for more than a decade, Ms. Laurie returned to film and television in the mid-'70s and racked up an impressive roster of characterizations, including Oscar-nominated turns in Carrie and in Children of a Lesser God, in which she played Marlee Matlin's icy mother. She also began regular work on television in such TV movies as In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan; the Judy Garland biography Rainbow; and 1981's The Bunker, in which she played Magda Goebbels to Anthony Hopkins' Hitler. Her last film appearances included Eulogy (2004), in which she stood out as the matriarch of a dysfunctional family; The Dead Girl, in which she played another cruel mother, this one bed-ridden; Hounddog, as the stern grandmother of rape victim Dakota Fanning; and Hesher, in which she memorably shared a bong with the stranger, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who insinuates himself into her household. Ms. Laurie's manager Marion Rosenberg confirmed the news of her death to Variety, writing, "A beautiful human being and one of the great talents of our time." - Variety, 10/14/23...... Actor Mark Goddard, best known for his role in the 1960's sci-fi series Lost in Space, died on Oct. 10 after being hospitalized for pneumonia, his wife Evelyn posted on Facebook. "I'm so sorry to tell you that my wonderful husband passed away on October 10th," she wrote. "Several days after celebrating his 87th birthday, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. We were hopeful when he was transferred to a rehabilitation center, but then doctors discovered he was in the final stages of pulmonary fibrosis for which there is no cure. He received excellent care at the beautiful Pat Roche Hospice Home and was able to die peacefully and with dignity," she added. After starring as Major Don West on Lost in Space, Mr. Goddard guest-starred on a number of series and starred with Liza Minnelli on Broadway in the musical "The Act" in 1978. His last major appearance was in 2010's Soupernatural, but he reprised his signature role as Don West in the BluRay special Lost in Space: The Epilogue in 2015. Tributes poured in for the actor, including one from his former Lost In Space co-star Billy Mumy, who posted Mr. Goddard was "a truly beloved friend and brother to me for 59 years.... The last words we exchanged were 'I love you.'" - Bang Showbiz, 10/13/23...... Phyllis Coates, the first actress to play Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane on television, only to leave the Adventures of Superman after just one season, has died. She was 96. Ms. Coates, who also appeared in Republic Pictures serials and in such films as I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, died on Oct. 11 of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, her daughter Laura Press told The Hollywood Reporter. - The Hollywood Reporter, 10/16/23...... 
Suzanne Somers, best known for playing the ditzy blonde Chrissy Snow on the hit 1977-1981 sitcom Three's Company and who later became an entrepreneur and a New York Times best-selling author, died on the morning of Oct. 15 in her Palm Springs, Calif., home after a 23-year battle with breast cancer. She was 76. "Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15th," read a statement from her publicist and longtime friend R. Couri Hay. "Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family." Her death came just one day before her 77th birthday. Born in 1946 in San Bruno, Calif., to an abusive, alcoholic gardener father and a medical secretary mother, Somers married young, at 19, to Bruce Somers, after becoming pregnant with her son Bruce. The couple divorced three years later and she began modeling for The Anniversary Game to support herself. It was during this time that she met her second longtime husband Alan Hamel, who she married in 1977. She began acting in the late 1960s, earning her first credit in the Steve McQueen film Bullitt. But the spotlight really hit when she was cast as the blonde driving the white Thunderbird in George Lucas's 1973 film American Graffiti. Her only line was mouthing the words "I love you" to Richard Dreyfuss's character. At her audition, Lucas just asked her if she could drive. She later said that moment "changed her life forever." In 1980, after four seasons on Three's Company, she asked for a raise from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 an episode, which would have been comparable to what Ritter was getting paid. Hamel, a former television producer, had encouraged the ask. "The show's response was, 'Who do you think you are?"' Somers told People in 2020. "They said, 'John Ritter is the star."' She was promptly phased out and soon fired; Her character was replaced by two different roommates for the remaining years the show aired. It also led to a rift with her co-stars; they didn't speak for many years. Somers did reconcile with Ritter before his death, and then with Joyce DeWitt on her online talk show. She followed her Three's Company stint by releasing more than two dozen wellness books, headlining a show in Las Vegas, hosting a talk show (The Suzanne Show) and becoming a fitness entrepreneur via her ubiquitous commercials for the ThighMaster exercise device. In July, Somers revealed on Instagram that she was diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer after she'd previously been diagnosed with the disease in the early 2000s. "Like any cancer patient, when you get that dreaded, 'It's back' you get a pit in your stomach. Then I put on my battle gear and go to war," she told Entertainment Tonight at the time. "This is familiar battleground for me and I'm very tough." Barry Manilow, one of her longtime friends, posted a tribute to the actress on Oct. 15 on X/Twitter: "Suzanne and I were friends for decades. She was the sister I never had and my close confidant forever. We shared triumphs and heartaches. Her fame in so many fields overshadowed her real talent as one of our greatest comedic actors, a loving mother [and] an amazing homemaker." - AP, 10/15/23.
The No. 1 song on Billboard's Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind, for September 2023 is fitting: it's "September," by Earth, Wind & Fire. "September" sported a synch in the latest season of the Netflix series Virgin River. The entire fifth season premiered Sept. 7, and the 1979 Earth, Wind & Fire classic was heard in the third episode. In all, "September" received 19 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 8,000 downloads in Sept. 2023, according to Luminate. Some of its metrics are also due to annual gains for the song (No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in Feb. 1979) each September around Sept. 21, corresponding with the track's opening lyric. Gerry Rafferty's 1978 smash "Baker Street" ranks at No. 2 on the tally. It appears in the second episode (Sept. 29) of new show The Continental, from Peacock, which is a newly released spinoff of the John Wick franchise. The Continental has three tracks on the tally, with "Baker Street" followed by ZZ Top's "La Grange" at No. 5 and Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" at No. 10. - Billboard, 10/12/23...... 
A Jimi Hendrix Experience cover of the title track of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album has been newly unearthed and released to the public for the first time. The track, which has been shared on YouTube, had its world premiere on the SiriusXM radio show Breakfast With the Beatles, which was guest hosted by former Rolling Stone editor David Fricke. "Here is the sound of the most exciting new group in the world, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, live in rock's greatest year -- and performing the opening theme song from The Beatles' Summer of Love masterpiece," Fricke said as he introduced the song. Fricke continued: "It is a pleasure and honour to play it, for the first time anywhere, on the Beatles Channel." The track serves as the lead song on the forthcoming album Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967, which is set for release on Nov. 10. The LP will also feature such JHE originals as "Purple Haze," "The Wind Cries Mary," "Foxey Lady" and "Fire," as well as covers of the likes of Howlin' Wolf ("Killing Floor"), Bob Dylan ("Like a Rolling Stone"), The Troggs ('Wild Thing") and Muddy Waters ("Catfish Blues"). According to legend, Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison were able to witness the Hendrix and his band cover their song mere days after the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the middle of 1967. Occurring at the Saville Theatre in London on June 4, Hendrix played the song for the pair backstage on a portable record player and then opened the show with the Jimi Hendrix Experience's own dramatic interpretation. - New Musical Express, 10/13/23...... As the Queen + Adam Lambert tour hit New York's Madison Square Garden on Oct. 12, fans were treated to all manner of spectacles from frontman Adam Lambert, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. For "Bicycle Race," Lambert rose from under the stage on a shimmering chrome motorcycle (straddling a camera on its dashboard all the while); during "Killer Queen," the singer turned his back to the audience and performed directly into a vanity mirror, primping and preening at every given opportunity; and during "A Kind of Magic," May managed to conjure up sorcery of his by shooting flares out of the end of his guitar. At one point late in the show, May let the audience in on secret. "You're all in very good voice tonight. At Queen shows, we like to hear you... It's more fun when there's a bit of audience participation," he said with a cheeky smile. The crowd certainly delivered on that front -- during the band's opening number "Radio Ga Ga," audience members perfectly nailed the hands-up, double-clap choreography for the song's chorus. When "Fat Bottomed Girls" arrived at its ear-worm chorus, the audience sounded more like a choir than a group of concertgoers. And Lambert continued to facilitate that choral energy for the bridge of "Somebody to Love," letting the audience take the reins. At no point during their show did the trio pull the focus away from the spirit of their late enigmatic former frontman, Freddie Mercury. During a solo section in which May performed an acoustic version of "Love of My Life," he acknowledged that this was "Freddie's song," and that "Freddie should be singing it right now." After introducing his legendary bandmates, Lambert made sure the audience knew whose shoes he was filling on stage. "Just know that every time I take this stage, just like all of you and just like these gentlemen, we all have Freddie Mercury in our hearts," he said. But the most poignant and fitting tribute to Mercury's legacy came just moments before the band's encore, when a video of Freddie performing live appeared on the stage's scrim. Performing his famous vocal improvisation "Ay-Oh," in which he quickly runs through a series of riffs and runs while getting the audience to repeat after him, the virtual image of Mercury secured the same command over the crowd gathered in MSG as he did when he was still alive. It was simple, effective, and exactly the kind of tribute Queen fans would want to see for an icon like Mercury. - Billboard, 10/13/23...... 
On Oct. 12 it was revealed that Michael Jackson's leather jacket from his 1984 Pepsi commercial will be auctioned off by Propstore.com. The auction house will be selling the custom-made black and white jacket and over 200 original pieces of music memorabilia on Nov. 10 in one of the biggest ever sales of entertainment collectors' items. Bids on the late King of Pop's garment -- which has no size or manufacturer label -- will start at $100,000, but estimates predict it will fetch between $200,000 and $400,000. For the Pepsi ad filmed in New York City, Michael changed his 1983 hit single "Billie Jean"' to create a jingle referencing Pepsi's "New Generation" of customers, which co-starred a 12-year-old Alfonso Ribeiro before he found fame on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Michael starred in the commercial with his brothers from the Jackson Five and they earned a reputed $5 million -- a record fee at the time -- from PepsiCo in 1983. The jacket is being sold by Wendell Thompson who was gifted the item when he met the pop legend in 1980 aged 12. Thompson -- whose father was Jackson's hairdresser in Florida -- was given the piece of pop history in Dec. 1983 when he was visiting Orlando for the opening of the Michael Jackson room at the Hotel Royal Plaza, originally named The Royal Inn and now called B Resort Spa. Thompson's auction lot also includes the original Polaroid photo of him receiving the jacket, a hand-signed photo from Jackson, The Making of Thriller book, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller LaserDisc and Pepsi set pics. When filming a second Pepsi commercial with his siblings, Michael's hair notoriously caught fire after a pyrotechnics effect went wrong and he sustained second degree burns on his scalp. The incident has been attributed to the start of the Michael's painkiller addiction, a struggle that lasted up until his death on June 25, 2009 at the age of 50 from "acute Propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication." Make-up artist Karen Faye -- who worked with Jackson for 27 years -- testified in a later court case: "I never saw anything like that in my life. This was someone I knew and he was on fire. All his hair was gone and there was smoke coming out of his head." The auction will also include items from other music legends including John Lennon, The Beatles, David Bowie, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Oasis, AC/DC, KISS, Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, Queen, Elvis Presley and Amy Winehouse. - Music-News.com, 10/12/23...... On Oct. 13, ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog released A+, a reimagining of her solo album A. In a new interview with the UK paper The Guardian, Falkskog said at first she was "a bit suspicious" of the ABBA Voyage show, which reunites the band in digital form when it debuted in 2020. "We were working the whole of February [2020] to prepare -- it doesn't sound so much, but it was, performing the songs with all these technicians and all the things on your body. We were working really hard and I'll be totally honest, I was not so comfortable with it. But after maybe four or five days you get into it: OK, I'll go there again. Also, the music helps, because it gives us a very special feeling, and somewhere along the way I could just feel proud -- they really want to see us again." The ABBA Voyage virtual concert series is currently set to run in London into 2024, with plans reported for the experience to be taken on a world tour. - NME, 10/13/23...... Ringo Starr released a new four-song EP titled Rewind Forward on Oct. 13, which features a song written for Ringo by his former bandmate Paul McCartney. Ringo says his request to Paul to write a song for him came about during one of the pair's frequent conversations. "We were Facetiming each other -- we do that quite a bit -- and I say, 'I'm doing an EP. Write me a song.' And he said, 'OK,'" Starr told Billboard during a recent interview outside West Hollywood's famoust Sunset Marquis hotel. "And he not only wrote it, he's on bass, he's singing on it. He's all over it. He actually put his drums on it." But fans won't hear Sir Paul's drumming on the song: Starr may be the only musician in the world who could tell McCartney his contribution wasn't up to par. When asked how he rates McCartney as a drummer, Starr laughs and, without missing a beat, says, "I wiped him off completely and did it myself. It would be like me sending him a track and I'm on bass." This year also marks the 50th anniversary of "Photograph," the sweeping, nostalgic tune co-written by Starr and George Harrison that became Starr's first solo No. 1 hit in 1973. "We were on a yacht. We were at the Cannes Film Festival," Starr says of writing the song, but the details pretty much end there. "I've very little memory of whatever went on on that holiday," he says with a chuckle, before going into a sweet remembrance of working with Harrison over the years. "George was like my producer for awhile. He took care of me. He put the right chords in because I could only play three," he says. "There's a great piece of footage where I'm playing 'Octopus's Garden' and he's going [shouts] 'F!' I don't know where F is. 'G flat!' He's just shouting out these chords, laying on the settee. Look, I can play any song in the world as long as it's in C," Ringo says, laughing loudly at himself. Ringo has just wrapped the 2023 edition of his annual All-Starr Band tour, which includes such musicians as Colin Hay, Hamish Stuart and Edgar Winter. "We love it. I know the audience loves me. And I love them," Starr says. "And the band has only one rule: We're not there to be miserable. And I'll support you to the best of my ability and I expect the same from you. We do it for each other." - Billboard, 10/13/23...... In other Beatles-related news, Paul McCartney took to Instagram on Oct. 9 to mark his 12th wedding anniversary to his wife Nancy Shevell. "Happy anniversary to my lovely wife, Nancy," the 81-year-old wrote alongside a photo of him and his wife, 63. Macca added in the caption, "Let's have a great one - Paul." Fans flooded the comments section with congratulatory messages for the couple, with one fan writing, "Congrats to the happy couple. Look'in good guys," while another commented, "Happy anniversary to my favorite Beatle and his wife." McCartney and businesswoman Shevell met in 2007. They tied the knot four years later in 2011 in London. - Music-News.com, 10/10/13...... 
Rod Stewart has turned down what could likely have been one of the biggest paydays in his vaunted career over what he says are the repressive policies of the Saudi Arabian government. "I'm grateful that I have a choice whether or not to perform in Saudi Arabia," the "Maggie Mae" singer wrote in an Instagram message on Oct. 12. "So many citizens there have extremely limited choices -- women, the LGBTQ community, the press," Stewart continued. "I'd like my choice not to go shine a light on the injustices there and ignite positive change." It is unknown how big a payday the 78-year-old Stewart was being offered to play in the kingdom, where members of the LGBTQ+ community do not have state-recognized rights and where same-sex sexual activity is illegal and punishable by up to life imprisonment. A source close to Sir Rod said that the offer, which was never confirmed, was one of the most lucrative of rocker's career, though not the biggest he has received. - Billboard, 10/12/23...... On Oct. 10, Bruce Springsteen shared an update on his health amid his continuing battle with peptic ulcer disease. In late September, the Boss postponed the remainder of his 2023 live tour late last month due to his illness. A statement at the time explained that Springsteen had "continued to recover steadily," but said he'd been advised to "continue treatment through the rest of the year" per consultations with his doctor. On Oct. 6, Springsteen announced the rescheduled US dates with The E Street Band for 2024. During the Oct. 10 edition of his From My Home To Yours series on SiriusXM, the Jersey rocker introduced himself as "your favorite rock star with a bitch of a bellyache." "Let me take a moment and thank my fans affected by our postponed shows for their understanding," he continued. "I am deeply sorry but this belly thing, despite my ability to laugh at it, has been a monster and is still unfortunately rocking my internal world." In other Springsteen news, the star's Only the Strong Survive 2022 collection of classic R&B and soul songs is among the contenders for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for the 2024 Grammy Awards (there is no traditional R&B album category). The Traditional Pop category, long the domain of such crooners as Tony Bennett and Michael Bublé, has embraced more contemporary pop and rock artists in recent years. Winners since 2000 include Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, Paul McCartney's Kisses on the Bottom, Elvis Costello & the Imposters' Look Now and James Taylor's American Standards. Springsteen has won Grammy album awards in three different categories -- Best Contemporary Folk Album for The Ghost of Tom Joad (1996), Best Rock Album for The Rising (2002) and best traditional folk album for We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006). First-round voting for the 66th annual Grammy Awards opened on Oct. 11 and closes Oct. 20. Nominees will be announced on Nov. 10. The final-round voting window extends from Dec. 14 through Jan. 4, 2023. Winners will be announced on Feb. 4, 2024, at Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as Staples Center) in Los Angeles. - NME, 10/11/23...... On Oct. 11 Cher denied allegations that she plotted to kidnap her adult son Elijah Blue Allman in Nov. 2022. Speaking to People about the claims made last year by Allman's estranged wife, Marieangela King, in divorce documents, which alleged that the pop icon had sent four men to kidnap Allman from a New York City hotel room, Cher simply said, "That rumor is not true." The diva declined to comment further on the event described by King, but she did tell the magazine that the family matter was related to her son's substance abuse issues, which he has previously spoken about. "I'm not suffering from any problem that millions of people in the United States aren't," Cher said. "I'm a mother," she continued. "This is my job -- one way or another, to try to help my children. You do anything for your children. Whenever you can help them, you just do it because that's what being a mother is. But it's joy, even with heartache -- mostly, when you think of your children, you just smile and you love them, and you try to be there for them." Though the kidnapping plot accusations were first made in court documents filed in December, the allegations recently surfaced amid ongoing divorce proceedings between King and Allman, whose father is late rock star Greg Allman. King alleged in her filing that Cher, concerned for Elijah's well-being, hired four men to get her 47-year-old son out of the hotel where he was staying with King as the two worked to reconcile their marriage. - Billboard, 10/11/23...... 
Leo Sayer has been forced to cancel his scheduled UK live shows after becoming "very ill," the "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" singer revealed on Facebook on the first week of October. "I haven't posted anything publicly about this before but I couldn't fly or make the recent shows in the UK as I became very ill just before the trip," Sayer, 75, said. "I have been in hospital here for the last 3 weeks in Australia with kidney, bladder and prostrate complications. It all happened at the last moment, so it was too late to warn anyone. Many thanks to Butlins [sic] and Tony Denton for making replacement arrangements for these shows," he added. Sayer went on to apologize for having to disappoint his fans, but said "these things can happen to us 75 year olds." Sayer confirmed that he was "still in hospital" at the time, though he said he was "well on the mend." "I will take a necessary short break from activities and be back fighting for shows in 2024 -- particularly my UK and Ireland tour next autumn. Thank you everyone for all your concerns and good wishes," he concluded. Sayer released his most recent studio album, Selfie, in 2019. He recorded the LP at his home in Queensland where he lives with his wife Donatella Piccinetti, who he wed earlier in 2023. In 2022, the singer released the covers collection Northern Songs: Leo Sayer Sings The Beatles. - NME, 10/11/23...... Steely Dan has reportedly dropped out of a few of their tour dates with the Eagles due to illness. ccording to the Indy Star newspaper, Eagles principle Don Henle told the crowd at a recent concert in Indianapolis's Gainbridge Fieldhouse that Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen had been hospitalized, before thanking fellow rocker Steve Miller for filling in at the last minute. "The show must go on," Henley reportedly said. Sheryl Crow filled in for Steely Dan at the Eagles' Denver shows earlier in October, before Miller took over in Indianapolis and the upcoming Detroit show on Oct. 13. Eagles member Vince Gill will open the Pittsburgh concert on Oct. 15 with a solo set, and Steely Dan are currently listed to return to the stage on Oct. 17. There has yet to be an official statement from the Eagles specifying Fagen's illness or recovery time. The Eagles' tour will wrap on Jan. 6 in Inglewood, Calif. - Billboard, 10/10/23...... Judas Priest surprised fans during a concert at the Power Trip Festival in Indio, Calif., on Oct. 7 by unveiling details of a new album. "Panic Attack," the first single from their long-awaited 19th studio album Invincible Shield, will drop on Oct. 13, with the new LP following on Mar. 8, 2024. The band also announced the new album on X/Twitter the following day. Invincible Shield will be Judas Priest's first album in six years and the follow-up to 2018's Firepower. - NME, 10/8/23...... Roger Waters reportedly told his audience to "f--- off" during a gig at the London Palladium on Oct. 8, prompting some fans to leave soon after. At the start of the show, Waters reportedly informed fans that it would be split into different parts. Many had turned up expecting Waters to play his new version of Dark Side of the Moon from the opening, but were surprised when instead, he began the show reading from his unpublished memoir, Dark Side Of The Moon: Memoirs Of A Lanky Prick. A report in Men's Journal noted that Waters "arrived 15 minutes late for his scheduled performance" and "instead of launching into the hits, [he] began reading off of his laptop passages from his yet-to-be-published memoir." As the audience grew disgruntled with the start of the show, Rogers reportedly told the audience to "f--- off." After that, some frustrated fans started to leave according to reports. One fan posted on X/Twitter that "I went to watch Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon remake gig last night at London Palladium with Roger Waters and I simply have no words to describe it and not in a positive way. What an egocentric narcissist he is and to think I paid good money to watch him. Lesson learnt." Waters released his re-recorded version of The Dark Side Of The Moon, The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux, on Oct. 6. - NME, 10/10/23...... 
Rudolph Isley, a founding member of the iconic R&B group The Isley Brothers, died on Oct. 11 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 84. After years of singing gospel in the church, Rudolph formed The Isley Brothers with his siblings Ronnie, O'Kelly and Vernon Isley in 1954 when he was just a teenager. A year later, the group temporarily disbanded after 13-year-old Vernon was killed after getting hit by a car. In 1957, the group rebanded with Ronnie as the lead vocalist, and the trio left their hometown of Cincinnati, Oh., for New York City. There, they recorded their first tracks including "Angels Cried" and "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon," and signed a deal with RCA Records in 1959. They released their first album, Shout!, that same year. The trio added their younger brothers Ernie and Marvin Isley and Rudolph's brother-in-law Chris Jasper into the band in 1971. On the Billboard charts, The Isley Brothers have charted two albums top the all-genre Billboard Hot 200 album chart: The Heat Is On in 1975 and Body Kiss in 2003. Over on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the group has six No. 1 hits, including "Fight the Power Part 1," "Take Me to the Next Phase," "I Wanna Be With You," "Don't Say Goodnight," "The Pride (Part 1)" and "It's Your Thing." Rudolph left The Isley Brothers in 1989 to pursue becoming a Christian minister. However, he has often reunited with his brothers over the years, including when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, an honor that was presented to them by Little Richard. "There are no words to express my feelings and the love I have for my brother," Rudolph's brother Ronald said in a statement. "Our family will miss him. But I know he's in a better place." - Billboard, 10/12/23.
