Iconic American folk-rocker David Crosby, a rare two-time inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and one of the most influential rock/pop musicians of the 1960s and '70s, died on Jan. 19. He was 81. His wife, Jan Dance, announced the death in a statement published by Variety, and it did not specify when the musician died, nor the cause. Musically, Mr. Crosby stood out for his intricate vocal harmonies, unorthodox open tunings on guitar and incisive songwriting. His work with both The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash/Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young blended rock and folk in new ways, and their music became a part of the soundtrack for the counterculture era. In addition to drug addictions that ultimately led to a transplant to replace a liver worn out by decades of excess, Mr. Crosby's tumultuous life included a serious motorcycle accident, the death of a girlfriend, and battles against hepatitis C and diabetes. Born on Aug. 14, 1941, in Los Angeles, Mr. Crosby's father was a cinematographer who won a Golden Globe for High Noon in 1952, and his mother exposed him to the folk group The Weavers and to classical music. As a teenager, Mr. Crosby found that one of his passions aided him in the pursuit of another. "It (playing music) was absolutely joyous to me, he wrote. "I always loved it. I always will love it. And I did get laid." After a short time in New York's Greenwich Village music scene, Mr. Crosby returned to California in 1963 and helped Roger McGuinn form The Byrds, whose first hit, a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," came in 1965, followed by "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Mr. Crosby was kicked out of The Byrds because the band did not want to play his songs, with the flashpoint being "Triad," about a ménage à trois, and disputes over on-stage political rants. Mr. Crosby and Stephen Stills, whose band with Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, had fallen apart, then began playing together. Graham Nash of The Hollies, who met Mr. Crosby in 1966 and went on to become his closest collaborator and a closer friend, joined them. Their first album, Crosby, Stills and Nash, was a big seller in 1969. 
Young fell in with them that year and CSNY came to be considered one of the greatest amalgams of talent in rock history. The group's second performance together was the landmark Woodstock music festival in 1969, and their 1970 album, Déjà Vu, contained hits "Teach Your Children," "Woodstock, "and one of Crosby's signature songs, "Almost Cut My Hair." In March 1971, Mr. Crosby released a well received solo album, If Only I Could Remember My Name, the same month CSNY released a live chart-topper, 4 Way Street. As CSNY was taking off, Crosby was in a drug-fueled downward spiral caused by the 1969 death of girlfriend Christine Hinton in a car accident. "Nothing in my life had prepared me for that," Mr. Crosby once wrote, who had added cocaine and heroin to his drug repertoire. The next decade was a blur of drug arrests, album releases and women. "I was not into being monogamous -- I made that plain to everybody concerned. I was a complete and utter pleasure-seeking sybarite," he wrote in his autobiography. Mr. Crosby had a daughter with a girlfriend but soon left her for Jan Dance, who moved in with him in 1978. That relationship lasted and they had a son, Django, in 1995. Mr. Crosby introduced Dance to heroin and the free-basing method of smoking cocaine. "We went down the tubes together but we did it with our hearts intertwined," he wrote. Although there were several attempts at rehab, they failed and Mr. Crosby developed a reputation as a bloated, hapless addict. In 1985, Graham Nash told Rolling Stone magazine: "I've tried everything -- extreme anger, extreme compassion. I've gotten 20 of his best friends in the same room with him. I've tried hanging out with him. I've tried not hanging out with him." He also managed to alienate many of his other famous former bandmates, for which he often expressed remorse in recent years. His drug habits and often abrasive personality contributed to the demise of CSNY and the members eventually quit speaking to each other. In the 2019 documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name, he made clear he hoped they could work together again, but conceded the others "really dislike me, strongly. Mr. Crosby beat a series of drug charges but lost in Texas after being arrested with a drug pipe and gun at a club in Dallas and went to prison in 1985. The prison system required him to shave his trademark bushy mustache, but he found solace in playing in the prison band during his year of incarceration. After his release, he told People magazine that he had beaten his addictions. 
He was also arrested on gun and marijuana charges in New York in 2004. In 2014 he released Croz, his first solo album since 1993, but his tour to promote the record was interrupted in February by heart surgery. He continued recording and was an active presence on Twitter, in addition to writing an advice column for Rolling Stone. He fathered six children -- two as a sperm donor to rocker Melissa Etheridge's partner and another who was placed for adoption at birth and did not meet Mr. Crosby until he was in his 30s. That son, James Raymond, would eventually become his musical collaborator. In March 2021, The Guardian newspaper reported that Mr. Crosby sold the recorded music and publishing rights to his entire music catalog to Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group for an undisclosed sum. His longtime collaborator, Graham Nash, paid tribute to Mr. Crosby in a press release: "It is with a deep and profound sadness that I learned that my friend David Crosby has passed. I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together & and the deep friendship we shared." Others paying tribute to the musician on Twitter include Etheridge, Brian Wilson, the family of Tom Petty, Ron Sexsmith and Sebastian Bach. - Reuters, 1/20/23.
Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood has shared an eulogy on Instagram that he presented at the memorial service for his late Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie on Jan. 9. The memorial took place at Little Beach House in Malibu, Calif., reuniting Fleetwood with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, who gathered to honor McVie's life and legacy. "When we first learned that we might be losing Christine, there was an immediate coming together of everyone in the band and the Fleetwood Mac family with the hope and possibility that we would not love Chris," Fleetwood said in his eulogy. "And now, since the loss of Christine, we are all still trying to come to terms with the fact she has really flown away.... The enormity of our loss, the enormity of her passion, the enormity of her talents and her unshakable sense of grace in the way she handled life's challenges." McVie died on Nov. 30, 2022 at the age of 79 following a brief period of illness. Following her death, her bandmates paid tribute to the singer-songwriter, remembering her as "the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life." - New Musical Express, 1/13/23...... 
An autopsy of Lisa Marie Presley has reportedly been performed but will not immediately be released as officials await the results for a toxicology report to come back, according to TMZ.com. The autopsy of Elvis Presley's only child, who died on Jan. 12 after suffering two heart attacks, was performed on Jan. 14, and an official cause of death will be determined after the pending toxicology results are reviewed. Lisa Marie, 54, went into cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, Calif. after complaining of severe stomach agony, and suffered another heart attack when she arrived at hospital. She died from her second cardiac arrest suffered while she was in hospital and passed away after the family signed a do not resuscitate order. Lisa Marie was living with her ex-husband Danny Keogh, 58, at the time she collapsed, and he performed CPR on her until paramedics arrived. She married Keogh when she was a teenager at a drug rehabilitation centre, and they divorced in 1994 days before she eloped with Michael Jackson, who she married in 2006 and finally divorced 10 years later. She was also engaged to musician John Oszajca, 48, in 2000, but called it off after she met actor Nicolas Cage, 59, at a party, who she married in Aug. 2002 before filing for divorce just months later. On Jan. 13 Cage broke his silence about his ex-wife's sudden death, telling E! News that "Lisa had the greatest laugh of anyone I ever met" and calling her death "devastating." "I find some solace believing she is reunited with her son Benjamin." In July 2020, Lisa Marie's 27-year-old son Benjamin Keough died by suicide in Calabasas. Posting on Instagram, Dolly Parton addressed Lisa Marie's mother Priscilla Presley, 77, directly: "Priscilla, I know how sad you must be. May God comfort you at this time," she began before turning to the late King of Rock n' Roll and his daughter. "Elvis, I know how happy you must be to finally have her home and to have her back with you. Lisa Marie, may you rest in peace. We all love all of you." Austin Butler, star of the 2022 hit Presley biopic ELVIS remembered the "bright light" of Lisa Marie and said his heart "is completely shattered" while ELVIS director Baz Luhrmann took to Instagram to say "Lisa Marie, we will miss your warmth, your smile, your love." Attorneys John Branca and John McClain, writing on behalf of the estate of Michael Jackson, said in a statement that "Michael cherished the special bond they enjoyed as apparent in the official video for 'You Are Not Alone', and was comforted by Lisa Marie's generous love, concern and care during their times together." Meanwhile, legal documents obtained by TheBlast.com in Nov. 2022 have resurfaced, showing that Lisa Marie was spending more than $92,000 a month before her death and may have been worth only $4 million when she passed away. They also showed her monthly expenses included $23,500 in rent and $1,078 for Maserati payments. Papers also showed Presley had $95,266 in cash assets, $714,775 in stocks and bonds, and had a $1 million debt to the IRS. It was reported her total worth without debts left her with $4 million, but her total worth at the time of her death is as yet unknown. The mother of four children had been bringing in more than $100,000 a month from her father's estate and businesses, with around $4,400 a month coming from his Graceland estate and $104,000 a month from the Elvis Presley Enterprises firm. The figures were first revealed during her long battle to divorce ex-husband Michael Lockwood, 61, who ended up seeking $40,000 a month in child maintenance for their 14-year-old twin daughters Harper Vivienne and Finley, 14. - Billboard/Bang! Showbiz, 1/14/23...... 
Even though The Beach Boys never won a Grammy Award in competition, the legendary American pop band is the latest in a series of "Grammy Salute" specials that will tape on Feb. 8, three days after the 65th annual Grammy Awards are held in Los Angeles. The live concert special will feature a star-studded lineup paying tribute to the classic pop/rock group. It will tape at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will air on CBS later in 2023. Tickets, starting at $75, are available through Ticketmaster. Although Grammy voters of the 1960s were still trying to decide what they thought of contemporary pop/rock, voters have since decided they like it -- and The Beach Boys in particular -- very much. The group received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2001, and group leader Brian Wilson was named MusiCares Person of the Year in 2005. Five BB recordings have been voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which functions as a second chance for the Grammys to reward worthy records they may have missed the first time around. Since band's '60s heyday, Wilson has received six more Grammy nominations, winning twice -- Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" (2004) and Best Historical Album for The Smile Sessions (Deluxe Box Set) in 2012. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 (with Elton John doing the honors), and Wilson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007. - Billboard, 1/12/23...... On Jan. 12 Ringo Starr announced the dates for a spring 2023 tour by his All Starr Band. Confined to the Western US, the outing will kick off on May 19 at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif., and feature a three-show run at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas (5-24, 26, 27), as well as shows in San Diego (5/28), Seattle (6/4), Denver (6/6), San Francisco (6/11) and Los Angeles (6/15) before wrapping up on June 17 in San Jose, Calif. "I love playing with the All Starrs and can't wait to be back out on the road again with this band," Ringo said in a statement. "I send Peace and Love to you all and we hope to see you out there." The 2023 ASB incarnation will feature Starr joined by Men at Work singer Colin Hay, Toto guitarist/singer Steve Lukather, jazz/rock drummer Gregg Bissonette, keyboardist/singer Edgar Winter, Average White Band bassist Hamish Stuart and Kansas/Toto multi-instrumentalist Warren Ham. - Billboard, 1/12/23...... Bob Dylan has shared the original version of "Not Dark Yet" from the upcoming latest edition of his ongoing bootleg series on YouTube. The track appears on Dylan's upcoming release Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997), which focuses on his 1997 LP Time Out of Mind and will be released on Jan. 27 to celebrate the record's 25th anniversary. Fragments will feature a remixed version of Dylan's 30th studio album, plus unreleased recordings such as outtakes, demos, alternate versions and live cuts. It will be available physically in both a five-CD and 10-LP format. Released in Sept. 1997,Time Out Of Mind earned Dylan his first solo Album of the Year at the 1998 Grammy Awards, along with Best Contemporary Folk Album and, for 'Cold Irons Bound', Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. - NME, 1/12/23...... 
In a happy ending to one of the music industry's grimmest and longest tales, Creedence Clearwater Revival principle John Fogerty has regained control over the CCR song catalog after buying a majority interest in the global publishing rights to the songs. At a time when Fogerty's peers such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Neil Young are selling their copyrights for hundreds of millions of dollars, Fogerty has done the opposite: buying a majority interest in the global publishing rights to his historic CCR song catalog from Concord for an undisclosed sum. The treasure trove includes such rock classics as "Proud Mary," "Down on the Corner," Fortunate Son," "Bad Moon Rising" "Up Around the Bend" and "Green River." Concord has owned the rights since 2004 when the company bought Saul Zaentz's Fantasy Records. One of the first moves Concord made was to reinstate and increase Fogerty's artist royalties, which Fogerty had relinquished to Zaentz in 1980 to get out of his Fantasy deal and had not received in 25 years. Concord retains the CCR master recordings already in its catalog and will continue to administer Fogerty's share of the publishing catalog for an unspecified limited time. "I'm really kind of still in shock," the 77-year-old Fogerty says, and added he thought this day would never come. Fogerty says he "tried really hard," he says to get them back in the decades since he signed his label and publishing deal in 1968 with Fantasy but suffered setback after setback at the hands of Zaentz, who died in 2014. With control over how his music is used now, his wife Julie Fogerty adds she'd like "to take these iconic songs and reintroduce them to the new generation because I think the songs will be around forever," adding there's talk of both a biopic and a documentary about Fogerty. "But it's mostly I think just connecting John to those songs... There were a lot of years where he felt like they tried to erase him." As he moves into the next chapter with the "lingering specter" that has haunted him for so long finally gone, Fogerty says "I'm ready to feel really good about music." And selling his publishing rights is "not what I'm thinking about" now: "I've never been allowed or gotten to experience participation and ownership in the sense of being involved. And, you know, the last thing on my mind is thinking about selling it, I want to enjoy it. It's good. That's where I'm at."- Billboard, 1/12/23...... The US Library of Congress announced on Jan. 12 that Joni Mitchell will be honored with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song on Mar. 1 at a tribute concert in Washington. Mitchell becomes the third female artist to receive the prize, after Carole King in 2013 and Gloria Estefan in 2019, and joins a host of legendary acts to receive the prize since it was established in 2007, including Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Lionel Richie. "This is a very prestigious award," Mitchell said in the Library of Congress press release. "Thank you for honoring me." It is unclear at this stage whether Mitchell, who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015, will be performing at the forthcoming tribute concert, however she played a 13-song set at the Newport Folk Festival with Brandi Carlisle in 2022 and is planning to play her first headline show in 23 years in 2023. - NME, 1/12/23...... 
A 50th anniversary reissue of David Bowie's iconic 1973 set Aladdin Sane will be released on Apr. 14 as a half-speed mastered LP and a picture disc LP pressed from the same master, the David Bowie Official website tweeted on Jan. 9. According to a press release, the new pressing was "cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer." The half-speed record was cut by John Webber at London's AIR Studios. Bowie's sixth LP, Aladdin Sane was the follow-up to his breakthrough 1972 album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars and was originally released in April 1973. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott at Trident Studios in London and RCA Studios in New York in the wake of his post-Ziggy stardom, most of the tracks were written as Bowie toured the US in 1972. In 2022, Bowie's fourth studio album, Hunky Dory, was released as a deluxe reissue that included unreleased home demos, live recordings and other rarities from that era. - NME, 1/9/23...... Keith Richards posted a Facebook message on Jan. 11 promising Rolling Stones fans that some "new music" is on the way in 2023. "Hi guys, here we are again. Wishing you all a belated Happy New Year," said Richards in the 15-second clip in which he looks super-chill hanging in a tropical-looking locale in round shades, a green t-shirt and matching headband. "There is some new music on the way and hopefully we'll get to see you. Anyway, let's keep our fingers crossed." While Richards did not specify who the music was coming from, there have been ongoing rumblings about the band's first album of new material since 2005's A Bigger Bang. In the meantime, fans can enjoy several Stones classics with the upcoming definitive live album, GRRR Live!, which is due out on Feb. 10. The band has shared a new live version of their 1969 track "Wild Horses" that will be included on GRRR LIVE! on YouTube ahead of the album's release. - Billboard, 1/12/23...... Gene Simmons says KISS has a music vault full of material for more Off the Soundboard releases, a bootleg live series launched by the glam metal group in 2022 with the recording of their Tokyo 2001 concert. They followed that with Des Moines 1977, Donington 1996, and Virginia Beach 2004, and fans can expect many more live albums to be released in multiple formats. Asked by Vintage Guitar Magazine if more installments are on the horizon, Gene replied: "Yeah. We have a large, temperature-controlled vault. There's an awful lot of of material in there. It's always just about having some downtime to go in there and say, 'Let's see what we've got.'" KISS recently polled fans on Instagram about which tours they would like to see released next. KISS -- also comprising Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer -- has announced they will bow out of touring after completing their "End of the Road" farewell tour in 2023. However Simmons has said that KISS could continue "in other ways." "I have no problems with four deserving 20-year-olds sticking the makeup back on and hiding their identity," he said. - Music-News.com, 1/14/23...... Former The Sex Pistols and current Public Image Ltd frontman John Lydon has said that he finds the annual Eurovision contest to be "disgusting" and "dreadfully phoney," despite wishing to compete in it. "It's absolutely awful, the songs. The whole thing of it is disgusting to me. I'm a songwriter, I perform live, and these shows just come across as so dreadfully phoney to me," Lydon recently told a European radio station. "But look, we're giving it a chance to break out of that mould," he added. Lydon and his band recently announced that they will compete to represent Ireland at this year's contest in Liverpool with new track "Hawaii," which they have shared on Spotify.com. The song has been described by Lydon as a "love letter" to his wife of nearly 50 years, Nora, who has Alzheimer's disease. The 2023 Eurovision competition will take place this May in Liverpool, the city that beat Glasgow to stage the contest on behalf of Ukraine after organizers deemed that last year's winning country would be unable to host the event due to their ongoing war with Russia. - NME, 1/11/23...... In a rare and extensive new interview with comedian/talk show host Conan O'Brien, Neil Young reveals his favorite songs and discusses his songwriting method. On appearing on The Johnny Cash Show in 1971, he told O'Brien: "You gotta realize, I'm 23-years-old, and I'm going on a television show. I was petrified. I was thinking about the song I was going to sing and whether I was going to screw up or not. That's all I thought about. I don't really remember much else about it." Young commenting on his cover of the recently deceased Canadian songwriter Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds" and other of his favorite songs can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 1/10/23...... 
Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, the sultry Mediterranean sex symbol of the 1950s and 1960s, has died at age 95, her former lawyer said on Jan. 16. At the height of her fame in the 1950s and 1960s, Ms. Lollobrigida, who was known simply as "La Lollo," was an internationally recognized epitome of Italian post-war cinema, rivaled only by Sophia Loren. Born on July 4, 1927, to a working class family in a poor mountainous area east of Rome, Ms. Lollobrigida studied sculpture then got her break in the film world after finishing third in the 1947 Miss Italia beauty contest. One of her earliest performances was as Gemma, the unhappy adulteress in the 1953 film by director Mario Soldati The Wayward Wife. She burst to fame in Italy with the leading roles in two Italian comedies by Luigi Comencini - Bread, Love and Dreams and Bread, Love and Jealousy. A role opposite Humphrey Bogart in John Huston's 1954 film Beat the Devil, sealed her worldwide fame and in 1955 she made what became one of her signature films, The World's Most Beautiful Woman. But despite playing opposite other American stars such as Frank Sinatra and Burt Lancaster, she never clicked with Hollywood and preferred to work closer to home, making films throughout the 1960s with directors such as Mario Bolognini. Perhaps her last well-known movie was Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, a farce by director Melvin Frank which also starred Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford and Telly Savalas. Tempestuous and impulsive by nature, she made headlines in 2006, when, at age 79, she announced that she would marry a man 34 years her junior. She later called off the wedding, blaming the media for spoiling it. "All my life I wanted a real love, an authentic love, but I have never had one. No one has ever truly loved me. I am a cumbersome woman," she told an interviewer when she was 80. When she stopped making films, Ms. Lollobrigida developed new careers as a photographer and sculptor and was also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and its Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Between 1972 and 1994 she published six books of her photographs, including Italia Mia (My Italy), The Philippines and the Wonder of Innocence, photographs of and for children. - Reuters, 1/16/23...... 
Robin "Robbie" Bachman, the co-founder and drummer of 1970s Canadian rockers Bachman-Turner Overdrive, died on Jan. 12. He was 69. The news was announced by Bachman's older brother, former Guess Who guitarist and BTO guitarist/vocalist Randy Bachman in a statement. "Another sad departure. The pounding beat behind BTO, my little brother Robbie has joined Mum, Dad & brother Gary on the other side," Bachman wrote. "Maybe Jeff Beck needs a drummer! He was an integral cog in our rock 'n' roll machine and we rocked the world together. #RIP #littlebrother #family," he added. The Winnipeg, Manitoba-bred band (also known as BTO) formed in 1973 and blazed a trail through the '70s with a series of hard-charging AM radio rock hits including the No. 1 single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," as well as "Takin' Care of Business," "Roll on Down the Highway" and "Let It Ride." The original lineup included another Bachman sibling, guitarist Tim Bachman (replaced by Blair Thornton in 1974), as well as bassist Fred Turner. BTO released their self-titled debut in May 1973, but it was their second album, Dec. 1973's Bachman-Turner Overdrive II that broke them in the U.S., thanks to signature hits "Takin' Care of Business" and "Let It Ride." The group's third effort, 1974's Not Fragile, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 album charts and spawned the driving, stuttering No. 1 hit "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and another enduring classic rock radio staple "Roll on Down the Highway," co-written by Robbie Bachman. Randy Bachman split after the release of 1977's Freeways, replaced by bassist Jim Clench, with the group forced to perform as BTO due to the ex-singer's rights to the full name. The band split up in 1980 and reunited three years later, with Robbie Bachman replaced by former Guess Who drummer Gary Peterson; he returned in 1988 for another three-year run. Due to ongoing tensions between the Bachman brothers, the revolving door of band lineups continued throughout the late 1980s through a second break-up in 2005; that break-up marked the official end of Robbie Bachman's run with BTO. Randy Bachman returned for a fourth stint on the mic in 2009, leading the group through its final split in 2018. - Billboard, 1/13/23.
Canadian musician and businessman Tim Bachman, one of the founding members of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, was charged with several sexual offenses by Canadian authorities on May 28, including sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching, following an investigation into incidents that took place two decades ago. Bachman is currently free under the provision he must avoid contact with anyone under the age of 16, and also has been ordered to stay away from public parks, schoolyards, swimming pools and other areas where minors are present. In 2013, an unidentified woman claimed Bachman had groped her while she was living with him as a foster child, however he was found not guilty of the charges in that case. Bachman co-founded BTO with his brothers Robbie and Randy Bachman, along with vocalist Fred Turner, in 1973, and played on their first two albums, the gold-selling Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the platinum follow-up, 
Former Journey frontman Steve Perry sang publicly for the first time in 19 years when he joined the alt-rock band Eels for a few songs during the second encore of the band's second encore in St. Paul, Minn., on May 25. Perry surprised fans when he took to the stage to sing the Eels song, "It's a Motherf---er," then resurrected two classic Journey songs, "Open Arms" and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin,'" before leaving the stage. Although the 64-year-old Perry's vocals have grown gruffer and scratchier with age, one reviewer noted his pipes still packed the same potent arena-ready punch they did back in the day. After a successful side solo career which included the double-platinum LP Street Talk (with its No. 3 hit "Oh Sherrie") while still in Journey, Perry recorded his last album with Journey, Trial By Fire, in 1996. In a 2013 interview, Perry revealed that he was writing "for the first time in three years," and said his tenure in Journey was "a magical time for music and to be in the music business" but he "got burned and had to leave." He also left the band partly due to medical issues, including a bad hip that's since been replaced, arthritis and having two melanoma removal surgeries, as well as mourning the passing of his girlfriend Kellie Nash, who died of breast cancer in 2012. Perry is also reportedly working on a new record with Aaron Bruno of the band Awolnation. 
In related news, former Genesis singer/drummer Phil Collins finally returned to the stage on May 22 when he sang two classic rock songs -- his iconic solo hit "In the Air Tonight" and the Genesis MTV staple "Land of Confusion" -- with young musician-students in Florida at the Miami Country Day School. It was a rare public appearance for Collins, who recorded his last album of original material, Testify, in 2002 and since then has seemed to be more comfortable out of the spotlight. "I've kind of put that side of my life on hold mainly because I feel like I've earned this opportunity to do nothing," he told Rolling Stone magazine in 2012. "And I have young children, so I don't feel the drive to go out there and compete... I can't be what I used to be. I can't play like I used to. And I don't want to go out there and do it half-assedly," he added. Collins has been gradually re-entering the public eye over the past year, and early in 2014 told a Florida reporter that he'd begun writing material with chart-topping pop star Adele."I've just started to work with Adele," he said. "I wasn't actually too aware I live in a cave, but she's achieved an incredible amount. I really love her voice. I love some of this stuff she's done, too." It is unclear if this material was intended for an Adele project or a Collins project (if either), and no further info about the collaboration has been announced. - Rolling Stone, 5/27/14.
A block on New York City's Upper West side has been renamed in honor of jazz legend Miles Davis on May 26, what would have been his 88th birthday. A stretch of 77th street between Riverside and West End, where Davis composed some of jazz's greatest works in an apartment building at 312 West 77th Street, was renamed "Miles Davis Way" and the scene of an unveiling ceremony which drew hundreds of jazz fans. The campaign to rename the street was led by Shirley Zafirau, a former neighbor of Davis who still lives on the block. According to Zafirau, Davis often hung out on the stoop outside his apartment, greeting those who passed by and even leading jam sessions. "He interacted with the community on the street," Zafirau told The New York Times. "He really liked being there." Thanks to Zafirau's efforts, outgoing New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a bill renaming the street into law last December. Davis, whose 1970 album 
In an interview with BBC Wales on May 23, Queen guitarist Brian May revealed his iconic rock band would be releasing a new collection of music later in 2014 that will include previously unreleased songs sung by Freddie Mercury. "We found a few more tracks with Freddie singing and all of us playing and they are quite beautiful. It is a compilation but will have this material that nobody in the world has ever heard...I think people will really enjoy it," May said, adding it will probably be released before the end of the year under the title Queen Forever. "It is quite emotional," May continued. "It is the big, big ballads and the big, big epic sound. It wouldn't have been if we hadnt have done this restoration job. We had to start from scratch because we only had scraps. But knowing how it would have happened if we had finished it, I can sit there and make it happen with modern technology." Earlier in May, Queen announced it will hit the road for its first full North American tour in nearly a decade, with Adam Lambert taking on the late Mercury's vocal chores. The tour starts June 19 in Chicago and ends July 28 in Toronto before heading down under for an Australian leg. - Billboard, 5/26/14.
In other Zeppelin-related news, Eagles member Don Henley has responded to former LZ vocalist Robert Plant's recent comments in Rolling Stone magazine about the Eagles' reasons for reuniting. In an interview with the New Zealand Herald, Henley denied that the reunion had anything to do with boredom and offered a stinging conjecture regarding Plant's reluctance to tour with Led Zeppelin. "Do you know why the Eagles said they'd reunite when 'hell freezes over,' but they did it anyway and keep touring?" Plant said in the interview. "It's not because they were paid a fortune. It's not about the money. It's because they're bored. I'm not bored." Asked whether Plant's assessment was correct, Henley said, "No, I am never bored. The truth is, we enjoy doing it. It is hard work, especially for gentlemen of our age but the fact is it's a fantastic job and it's a wonderful way to make a living and see the world and get to travel and we take our kids with us." Henley went on to deliver a back-handed compliment to the LZ singer. "I really wish [Led Zeppelin] would get back together because they were one of the greatest bands of all time," he began, promisingly. "I think maybe Robert is worried about hitting those notes. He may not be able to unbutton his shirt any more." Meanwhile, a new video for a previously-unheard version of the Zepp classic "Whole Lotta Love" from the upcoming 
Aerosmith announced on May 1 that they'll launch a 40-date farewell "Peace Out" tour on Sept. 2 in Philadelphia. Aerosmith -- frontman Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer -- are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their 1973 eponymous debut album with a jaunt that includes a stop in the band's hometown of Boston on New Year's Eve and wrap on Jan. 26, 2024 in Montreal. Perry tells the AP "I think it's about time" for Aerosmith to say goodbye now, especially with every founding band member over the age of 70. Tyler, 75, is the oldest in the group. "It's kind of a chance to celebrate the 50 years we've been out here," Perry said. "You never know how much longer everybody's going to be healthy to do this. It's been a while since we've actually done a real tour. We did that run in Vegas, which was great. It was fun, but (we're) kind of anxious to get back on the road," he adds. During the tour Aerosmith will be digging into their lengthy catalog of the group's rock classics including "Crazy," "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Livin' on the Edge." Formed in 1970, Aerosmith has collected four Grammys and broke boundaries intersecting rock and hip-hop with their epic collaboration with Run-DMC for "Walk This Way." Their resume includes a 2001 Super Bowl halftime performance, and even a theme park attraction named in their honor in 1999 at Disney World in Florida and later in Paris with the launch of the "Rock n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith" ride. Before the 40-date tour wraps, Perry said other cities domestically and internationally could be added. "It's the final farewell tour, but I have a feeling it will go on for a while," he said. "But I don't know how many times we'll be coming back to the same cities. It could very possibly be the last time." - AP, 5/1/23...... KISS singer/guitarist Paul Stanley has been criticized by some of his fellow musicians including Steve Albini and The Offspring's Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman for a statement in which he labelled children's gender reassignment surgery "a sad and dangerous fad." Posting on 
Speaking of Michael Jackson, the late pop superstar's "They Don't Care About Us" music video has hit a major milestone by surpassing one billion views on 
Speaking of documentaries, the trailer for Love To Love You, an upcoming documentary film about Donna Summer's reign as the "Queen of Disco," has been shared on 
Apparently not wanting to make any rash decisions, Leo Sayer has finally tied the knot with his longtime partner, Donatella Piccinetti. After nearly 40 years of dating, the 74-year-old 
Former The Four Seasons frontman and solo star Frankie Valli returned to his boyhood home at Newark, N.J.'s Stephen Crane Village public housing project on Apr. 27 to have a street named in his honor. "I remember growing up as a kid, and how tough things were," Valli, 88, said in front of dozens from the old neighborhood who grew up nearby. "A lot of the enthusiasm that came to me came out of the fact that I had people here who loved and supported me... This is something that I'll remember for the rest of my life," the visibly moved "Grease" singer added. His comments came after the street sign showng Frankie Valli Way was unveiled at the corner of Stephen Crane Plaza and Franklin Avenue. Valli, born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio, grew up initially in Newark's old First Ward, then the North Ward at a time when the neighborhoods were Italian-American working-class enclaves. For those who came back to see Valli honored on the streets where they were all raised together, it means a lot that he didn't forget where he came from. "The guys from The Four Seasons were heroes to us. What Bruce Springsteen is for Freehold, Frankie Valli is for us," said Dominick Maglio, who grew up blocks away from Valli in Belleville, N.J., explaining why he made the trip from Central Jersey. "We appreciate what he's done for the community. I've never been this close to him, and I've got goose bumps," he added. Valli's signature falsetto voice powered a series of The Four Seasons hits in the 1960s and 70s, including "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," "Rag Doll," and 
Tim Bachman, a former member of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, died on Apr. 28 as a result of complications with cancer "throughout his brain," according to his son Paxton Bachman. He was 71. "My Dad passed this afternoon. Thank You Everyone for the kind words," Paxton posted on his 
"Oh my God!" Eddie Van Halen's iconic red, white and black-striped Kramer guitar from Van Halen's 1984 
'70s No. 1 hitmaker Roberta Flack and current pop sensation Usher will receive honorary doctorates from the prestigious Berklee College of Music on May 13 during this year's commencement ceremony, it was announced on Apr. 20. The 2023 honorees, which also include multi-instrumentalist Sona Jorbarteh, will have the chance to address the 2023 class of graduates at the ceremony, and each will be further celebrated with a reception and concert on the eve of commencement, featuring more than 200 student vocalists, musicians, dancers, arrangers and producers from the graduating class performing a musical tribute to their work. The three join an impressive and diverse list of musicians who've received honorary degrees from Berklee in years past, including Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, B.B. King, Joni Mitchell, Chaka Khan, Willie Nelson, Ringo Starr, Gloria Estefan and John Legend. Flack, a four-time Grammy winner, has topped the hit parade three times: 
English singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran took the stand in Manhattan Federal Court on Apr. 25 in a high-profile copyright trial about whether his smash single "Thinking Out Loud" copied Marvin Gaye's classic 1973 song 
Harry Belafonte, a towering figure in entertainment and civil rights who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, died on Apr. 25 of congestive heart failure at his New York home, according to his publicist Ken Sunshine. He was 96. With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, the Harlem-born and Jamaican-raised Mr. Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit "Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," and its call of "Day-O! Daaaaay-O." But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson's decree that artists are "gatekeepers of truth." Mr. Belafonte stands as the model and the epitome of the celebrity activist. Few kept up with his time and commitment and none his stature as a meeting point among Hollywood, Washington and the Civil Rights Movement. Mr. Belafonte not only participated in protest marches and benefit concerts, but helped organize and raise support for them. He worked closely with his friend and generational peer the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., often intervening on his behalf with both politicians and fellow entertainers and helping him financially. He risked his life and livelihood and set high standards for younger Black celebrities, scolding Jay-Z and Beyoncé for failing to meet their "social responsibilities," and mentoring Usher, Common, Danny Glover and many others. In Spike Lee's 2018 film "BlacKkKlansman," he was fittingly cast as an elder statesman schooling young activists about the country's past. A master at blending pop, jazz and traditional West Indian rhythms, Mr. Belafonte released more than 30 albums during his career and received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy from the Recording Academy in 2000. One of his three albums that charted in the top three in 1956, Calypso, which featured "Day-O" and another hit, "Jamaica Farewell," topped the hit parade for an incredible 31 weeks and is credited as the first LP to sell 1 million copies. In the late 1950s, Mr. Belafonte also made news as a rare non-white sex symbol and matinee idol. In the Darryl F. Zanuck-produced Island in the Sun (1957), his politician character is romantically pursued by a rich white woman (Joan Fontaine), a storyline that created much controversy (and big box office) at the time. And in two films released in 1959, he played a bank robber opposite a racist partner (Robert Ryan) in Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow and survived a nuclear disaster -- and then battled Jose Ferrer over Swedish actress Inger Stevens -- in The World, the Flesh and the Devil. Both movies were financed by his own company, HarBel Productions. Following an acclaimed Carnegie Hall two-night stand in Apr. 1959, Mr. Belafonte became the first African-American performer to win an Emmy (in 1960) for his Revlon Revue TV special, Tonight With Belafonte. He published a memoir, My Song, in 2011. Mr. Belafonte was married three times -- to nurse Marguerite Byrd, dancer Julie Robinson and photographer Pamela Frank, who survives him and was by his side at his death, as do his daughters Shari, Gina (both actresses) and Adrienne and son David (a producer). - AP/The Hollywood Reporter, 4/25/23.