Posted by Administrator on April 26th, 2025
It has been announced that the 2025 inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will be revealed on a live episode of American Idol on Apr. 27. Show host Ryan Seacrest will make the eagerly awaited announcement. James Taylor, who was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2000, will serve as a mentor on the episode, on which this season's top 14 Idol contestants will perform songs associated with previous Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. The episode will air live coast-to-coast on ABC from 8-10 p.m. ET/5-7 p.m. PT. The episodes will also be available the following day on Hulu. - Billboard, 4/21/25...... 
ZZ Top issued a statement via the LiveNation site on Apr. 24 announcing drummer Frank Beard will be missing the band's forthcoming Australian tour, "as recommended by medical personnel." On Mar. 15, the Texas trio revealed that Beard would be absent from the group's current "Elevation Tour" due to the need to undergo an unspecified health procedure. "Shelter Music Group, ZZ Top's management, has announced the band's drummer, Mr. Frank Beard, has temporarily stepped away from the current tour to attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term," an Instagram post read. "Beard, along with fellow ZZ Top members Billy F Gibbons and Elwood Francis, presently on the Elevation tour since March 5, have engaged fellow Texan and longtime tech member, percussionist and drummer, John Douglas, for the interim," the post read. Douglas has long maintained a close relationship with both Beard and his bandmates, having previously sat in for the drummer during a Paris performance in Oct. 2002 when he underwent an emergency appendectomy. "Beard's continued physical therapy has shown to be very effective in dealing with the issue that caused him to leave the recent US leg of the tour," Live Nation's statement continued. "While cheered by the positive news, band and management believe that his total recovery must be priority #1. Beard's attending physicians have suggested more physical therapy over a longer period would potentially achieve better and longer lasting results, and this will now be his focus." Beard has been the drummer of ZZ Top since 1969, when he took over from co-founder Dan Mitchell. In 1970, Dusty Hill assumed the role of bassist and the lineup remained stable until Hill's death at age 72 in 2021, with Francis replacing him on bass. ZZ Tp[ will embark upon their first Australian tour since 2013 on Apr. 26. The ten-date tour will conclude in mid-May, with a handful of New Zealand tour dates to be followed by an additional North American trek in June. The band's 51-date trek will run through until October. - Billboard, 4/25/25...... In an interview with the Spanish outlet RockFM, The Who's Pete Townshend revealed that he does not love performing live on stage, saying it "does not fill my soul." In the interview, which is viewable on YouTube, Townshend said: "One is they love performing. I don't love performing. I don't like being on a stage. I don't mind being on a stage, I don't hate it, but it doesn't fill my soul in the way that you see some performers, [where] just their soul is filled through being on the stage. That's not me." He went on to explain that the second thing he does not enjoy is collaborating with other musicians, which he said he "finds very difficult." "If I was in a studio, like with a really, really great musician, or with a group of really great musicians, I think I would find it very hard. I often do find it very hard," he said. "I find it difficult to collaborate. I find it very difficult looking in the eyes of another musician. I find myself looking to my own energy to express myself. So I'm very different to most musicians in that respect." Townshend was talking ahead of the new ballet reimagining of The Who's 1973 album Quadrophenia, which has its opening performance in Plymouth's Theatre Royal on May 28. - New Musical Express, 4/25/25...... 
Speaking to the UK paper The Telegraph, former Faces drummer Kenney Jones revealed that he and his surviving former bandmates Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood have recorded "about 11 tracks" at RAK Studios in London for what would be their first album in over 50 years. Jones also confirmed that musician and TV personality Jools Holland also contributed to one track. "Not all of them are going to be right [for the album], but most of them are good." Jones continued: "I can't see it coming out this year. But I can see it coming out next year. Everyone's doing different things. We do little snippets [of recording] here and there. Then all of a sudden, The Stones are out [on tour] again, Rod's out again..." First formed in 1969 as the result of a merger between members of Small Faces and the Jeff Beck Group, Faces were around for six years before guitarist Wood left to join the Rolling Stones, and Stewart continued his ongoing successful solo career. The group would release four albums throughout their career, with 1971's A Nod Is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse becoming their most successful, hitting No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. The record would spawn the single "Stay with Me," which peaked at No. 17 on the Hot 100 singles chart, and would be followed by their final studio release, Ooh La La, in 1973. The article itself notes that the band have teased a new album for four years now, with Stewart confirming its existence in 2021, and again claiming in 2024 that "We haven't finished it yet, but we'll finish it this year, I promise." Faces performed a series of reunions after their initial dissolution, and founding bassist Ronnie Lane would pass away in 1997, and keyboardist Ian McLagan would also pass in 2014. At the 2020 Brit Awards, the remaining three performed "Stay With Me" and began to express a desire to work together again. Stewart is currently scheduled to perform in the Sunday evening Legends Slot at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival, with a series of Las Vegas residency dates also set to run until October. - Billboard, 4/25/25...... Founding KISS drummer Peter Criss announced the release of his first solo album in almost two decades via a short video from the fansite KissFAQ.com. "I have an announcement," Criss tells fans in the video. "I have my new rock and roll album to [share with] you KISS Army guys coming out in the fall, and I really hope you like it, man. And I wanna say God bless to each and every one of you." KISS historian Julian Gill then took over with the reporting, noting that the record is a "hard rock, kick-ass album" that features the production work of Barry Pointer, while Criss is joined by guitarists John 5 and Mike McLaughlin, bassists Billy Sheehan and Matthew Montgomery, and pianist Paul Shaffer. The record also features the talents of backing vocalists Dennis and Sharron Collins, and Cathryn Manning. "I was honored to listen to this album at Peter's studio with him last night, and it was absolutely amazing to hear this new music," adds Gill. "It was vibrant and powerful. The as-yet-untitled studio album will be Criss' first solo release since 2007's One for All, which itself arrived 13 years after his previous solo release. Criss initially departed KISS in 1980, having performed his last show with the band in December 1979. He would later rejoin the band in 1996 as part of their original lineup reunion, and following a brief departure in 2001, would rejoin the band until his final exit in 2004. He has not performed live since his retirement from touring in June 2017. Criss' new album announcement has been shared on YouTube. - Billboard, 4/25/25...... Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic 1973 track "Free Bird" has reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top TV Songs chart, for March 2025, topping the tally following a synch in NCIS: Origins. "Free Bird" appears in the 15th episode of NCIS: Origins' inaugural season, premiering on Mar. 31 on CBS. The new series is a spinoff of CBS' long-running NCIS franchise and was renewed for a second season earlier in 2025. In March 2025, "Free Bird" earned 12.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 2,000 downloads, according to Luminate. One of Skynyrd's signature tracks from its 1973 debut LP, the song peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975, with a live version also making the Top 40 almost exactly two years later. Meanwhile, the Apple+ TV series Severance, which wrapped up its second season in March, boasts four entries on the latest Top TV Songs, led by The Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius" at No. 4 (1.2 million streams, 1,000 downloads). - Billboard, 4/24/25...... 
Sammy Hagar says his guitar playing on his upcoming single "Encore. Thank You. Goodnight" was inspired by a guitar lick that his late Van Halen bandmate Eddie Van Halen showed him in a dream. "About two months ago, I had this dream and Eddie came," Hagar told Ultimate Classic Rock about the inspiration for the song. "We were in a room like this, [with] a bunch of people around. It was just like he'd been gone. It was not like he was passed, but he had just been out of my life and we hadn't seen each other for a while. He's going, 'Man, let's write some music!' I said, 'Yeah, f--k it, man. Here, let's go!'" In the dream, Hagar said Van Halen showed him "this harmonic thing he slid up to a chord, like a slide guitar... We wrote a song with that lick." The next morning, the veteran rock singer and guitarist said he got up and wrote the new song, which he titled, in part, "Thank You" because he'd used "the f---in' lick that he showed me in the song." While the track came together too late to be included on Hagar's 2022 Crazy Times album with his band the Circle, on Instagram earlier this week Hagar said he "can't wait" for the world to finally hear his tribute to his late bandmate. The post describes the song that also features Joe Satriani, drummer Kenny Aronoff and former VH bassist Michael Anthony as "inspired by a dream and brought to reality through introspective lyrics, powerful chords and rhythmic guitar and drums." - Billboard, 4/24/25...... Carlos Santana postponed a planned show in San Antonio, Tex. on Apr. 22 after being rushed to a local hospital. Santana, 77, was booked to play San Antonio's Majestic Theatre, but reportedly fell ill during soundcheck as a result of dehydration. According to a statement from the venue, manager Michael Vrionis said the guitarist was taken to a San Antonio hospital for observation. "It is with profound disappointment that I have to inform you all that tonight's show in San Antonio has been postponed," Vrionis said in a statement on Instagram. "Mr. Santana was at the venue (Majestic Theater) preparing for tonight's show when he experienced an event that was determined to be dehydration. Out of an abundance of caution and the health of Mr. Santana, the decision to postpone the show was the most prudent course of action. He is doing well and is looking forward to coming back to San Antonio soon as well as continuing his US Tour." Santana is in the midst of his 2025 Oneness tour, and his rep later issued a statement saying that Santana "is postponing his Oneness Tour 2025 show at Smart Financial Center, tonight (Wednesday, April 23, 2025) in Sugar Land, Texas. Mr. Santana has tested positive for Covid and is resting at his hotel.... [and] out of an abundance of caution, the decision was made to also postpone this evening's show in Sugar Land. Carlos experienced dehydration yesterday, and has since tested positive for Covid. I am happy to report that Carlos is doing well and will be back on his US Tour this Friday in Thackerville, OK. We appreciate everyone's well wishes and concern. Carlos is looking forward to seeing you all very soon." Please hang onto your tickets -- we will advise on the rescheduled show date as soon as possible." - Billboard, 4/23/25...... Emmylou Harris, R&B star Eddie Floyd and Jody Stephens, drummer of iconic power-pop band Big Star, are set to perform at the 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame Gala on May 16 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. -- the site of the first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1959. All three have recordings being inducted this year. Harris will be joined by producer Daniel Lanois and jazz drummer Brian Blade for a performance of a song from her 1995 album Wrecking Ball, which Lanois produced. Floyd is being honored for his 1966 classic "Knock on Wood"; Big Star for its 1972 album #1 Record. Percussionist Cindy Blackman, who is married to Carlos Santana, is also set to perform. The band Santana's 1999 album Supernatural is among the 13 recordings being honored. The gala will celebrate the 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame inducted recordings, which according to the GHOF exhibit "qualitative or historical significance" and are at least 25 years old. The Grammy Hall of Fame Gala serves as a fundraiser to support the Grammy Museum's national education programs. It includes a cocktail reception, dinner, and concert program. More info can be found at GrammyMuseum.org. - Billboard, 4/23/25...... 
After years of health issues, Ozzy Osbourne is making sure that he's in top shape when he suits up for what is being billed as Black Sabbath's final-ever performance on July 5 in Villa Park in the band's hometown of Birmingham, England. In a new interview with Billy Morrison on SiriusXM's Ozzy's Boneyard channel, Osbourne, 76, said he's been in "heavy training" for the show that will see rock's Prince of Darkness reunite with his bandmates for one last time on a bill that will also include the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Pantera, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Alice in Chains and many others. "I haven't done anything for, this will be seven years, and so I've been through all this surgery. It really is like starting from scratch," said Osbourne, who has been dealing with a Parkinson's disease diagnosis as well as a 2019 fall that aggravated a previous spinal injury and required multiple surgeries. Osbourne said his workouts include endurance training due to his long lay-off from performance. "The first thing to go when you're laid up is your stamina, so believe it or so, I'm doing two sets of three-minute walks and weight training. I'm going and going you know," he said. " I'm waking up in my body, you know. I mean, three minutes to you, for instance, is nothing, but I've been laying on my back recovering from umpteen surgeries." Osbourne talking about his training regimen on Ozzy Speaks can be streamed on YouTube. - Billboard, 4/23/25...... Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen says he's still dealing with the fall-out from a 2023 incident in which a 19-year-old man rushed at him and knocked him to the ground outside a Florida hotel. In a recent interview on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk, the veteran rocker said that he has eased back on some of his non-performance efforts -- including showcasing his painting on this years's "Monsters of Rock" cruise -- as he continues his recovery from the scary incident. "I've been going through some challenging times, kind of related to what happened in Florida," Allen said. "And that whole thing is kind of ongoing, when I got beaten up outside the hotel [there]. So I've been trying to deal with that the best that I can, and really I just needed to take a break from some of the side projects that I was busy with, just so I could spend more time at home. So, that's been a real challenge for me. Hopefully I can put it all behind me and I can just kind of get back to as normal as I could possibly be given the circumstances. But that was very traumatic for me, and, yeah, it's been difficult. But hopefully I can put it behind me soon." Allen was assaulted in March 2023 outside of a Fort Lauderdale, FL hotel by an Ohio man who allegedly rushed the drummer at full speed and knocked him to the ground. A police report noted that the alleged assailant hid behind a pillar outside the hotel entrance while Allen smoked and then allegedly attacked Allen, who "hit his head on the ground causing injury" and that when a woman ran out to help Allen the man allegedly attacked her as well. The man was arrested a short time later after police found him at another hotel allegedly breaking car windows. He was charged him with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief and abusing an elderly or disabled adult; Allen lost his left arm after a 1984 car accident. Allen said he went on a cruise following the assault and found it "difficult to be around a lot of people," leading to him deciding to stick closer to home. "I decided, 'You know what, Rick? Don't try and bite off more than you can chew. Just deal with this, deal with what's in front of you... And I'm just hoping, as I say, that I can put it behind me... I'd love to get back to doing some of my side projects, particularly the art. And let's hope I can soon." Though he is still traumatized by the incident, Allen will be on board when Def Leppard hits the road this year for a tour slated to kick off on May 15 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, followed by a summer of North American festival and amphitheater dates through October. - Billboard, 4/22/25...... Sean Ono Lennon has asked fans not to compare him to his brother Julian Lennon, while insisting that there's nothing but love between them. Taking to Instagram Stories on Apr. 21, Sean shared a black-and-white photograph of himself and his older half-brother -- both of whom are the children of late Beatles icon John Lennon. Sean, 49, is also the son of Yoko Ono. John shared Julian, 62, with his first wife Cynthia Lennon. "Here, we do not accept comparisons and erroneous creations of fights about two people that John Lennon loved the most: his children :)," Sean captioned the upload. He added: "Peace and much, much lovea&." The musician also tagged Julian in the post. The attached picture shows Sean and Julian at the 1986 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony, where they inducted Elvis Presley. Earlier in 2025, Julian admitted that he is not part of The Beatles' "inner circle" and is often one of the last to hear any news about his late father's former band. "I'm thankful that Sean and I get on like a house on fire -- we're best buddies and he tells me what he can, but things are pretty secret on the Beatles front," he explained. Julian also spoke about the pair's relationship in late 2023, when he called rumours of an alleged feud between them "such bull". He said: "We've never had a fight in our life. I posted lots of happy pictures of us [Sean and me] doing nothing but smiling, laughing and acting like idiots. This was important for me and for the peace and for family, because there has been friction, no question, in the past between everybody. But we're all getting a bit older, and as we get older we lose people and we realise now what's most precious in life." - NME, 4/22/25...... Speaking to Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast, Bruce Springsteen has discussed his involvement with his biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, saying set visits brought back some memories and describing the film as "fantastic." Directed by Scott Cooper, the film stars Jeremy Allen White as the singer during the early '80s, and centers around the personal and professional circumstances that led to him making his seminal work, 1982's Nebraska. The film is yet to announce a release date but is expected to be released later in 2025. "It's '81, '82, and centred around the creation of that particular record while I was simultaneously recording 'Born in the USA' and also going through some personal difficulties that I've been living with my whole life. But it's fantastic," Springsteen said on the podcast. He revealed he wasn't present for a lot of the filming, but made regular trips to the set and was taken aback by what he saw. "I was on tour during a lot of it, so they filmed a good amount of it without me there," he said. "But I was on set sometimes". He continued: "It was interesting to see it played out, to see your grandmother's house again, and to go inside and get a general feeling of what it was like when you were very young. So I enjoyed all those parts of it." Meanwhile, The Boss is gearing up to release a new box set of seven never-heard-before full records on Tracks II: The Lost Albums on June 27. - NME, 4/22/25...... 
David Thomas, the howling lead singer of long-running Cleveland-bred post-punk rockers Pere Ubu, died on Apr. 23 in his home town of Brighton & Hove [in the U.K.]. He was 71. Thomas' passing was announced on Pere Ubu's Facebook page, which said he died after an unspecified "long illness" with his wife and youngest step-daughter by his side. "MC5 were playing on the radio. He will ultimately be returned to his home, the farm in Pennsylvania, where he insisted he was to be 'thrown in the barn.'," the post added. Thomas was born in Miami on June 14, 1953 and began his career in rock as the lead singer of the short-lived proto-punk Cleveland band Rocket From the Tombs. Inspired by Detroit punk godfathers the MC5 and The Stooges, the band was a precursor to the worldwide punk revolution that exploded in the U.S. and U.K. in the mid-1970s. After the band's split, two members, guitarist Gene "Cheetah Chrome" O'Connor and drummer Johnny "Johnny Biltz" Madansky, went on to form legendarily shambolic Cleveland punk band the Dead Boys. Thomas and guitarist Peter Laughner teamed up to launch the artier, spikier Pere Ubu, whose name was a riff on the outr 19th century French play "Ubu Roi." The avant garde group released its debut single, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" in late 1975 on Thomas' indie label, Hearthan Records. After a handful of follow-up singles, their debut album, The Modern Dance, dropped in 1978. The band released three more albums, 1979's New Picnic Time, 1980's The Art of Walking and 1982's Song of a Bailing Man before breaking up. Thomas continued his experimental journey on a series of solo albums with his bands the Pedestrians and and Wooden Birds in the 1980s, before reforming Pere Ubu in 1987 for the recording of The Tenement Year, which leaned in a distinctly more pop direction (at least compared to the band's earlier work), followed by 1989s's Cloudland. In between Pere Ubu projects, Smith stayed busy with solo albums, Rocket From the Tombs reunions and experimental theater projects. - Billboard, 4/24/25...... David Briggs, a keyboardist and studio operator who played a pivotal role in establishing Muscle Shoals, Ala., as a recording hub in the 1960s before helping to revitalize mainstream country music, died on Apr. 22 in Nashville. He was 82. According to his brother John, his death, in a hospice facility, was caused by complications of renal cancer. Mr. Briggs contributed to not just one but two major developments in popular music. As a member of the original rhythm section at Fame Recording Studios, he helped put the northern Alabama hamlet of Muscle Shoals on the musical map. He played on landmark R&B recordings like Arthur Alexander's "You Better Move On" (1962), Jimmy Hughes's "Steal Away" (1964) and The Tams' "What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)" (1963), all of which were Top 40 pop singles as well as R&B hits. Mr. Briggs's other defining moment came when he, fellow studio musicians Norbert Putnam and Jerry Carrigan, moved to Nashville in late 1964 and began infusing country recordings with the understated, groove-rich variant of the Nashville Sound that became known as "countrypolitan." Mr. Briggs would go on to play everything from the funky organ on Tony Joe White's "Polk Salad Annie" to the pealing barroom piano on Conway Twitty's honky-tonk weeper "The Image of Me." He provided empathetic accompaniment on Sammi Smith's "Help Me Make It Through the Night," a No. 1 country and Top 10 pop hit in 1971, and Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors," which was also a Top 10 country single that year. After just a few months in Nashville, Mr. Briggs had distinguished himself as one of the city's first-call studio keyboard players. He would go on to take part in hundreds of sessions a year into the 1980s. David Paul Briggs was born on Mar. 16, 1943, in Killen, Ala., northeast of Muscle Shoals. Classically trained, he began playing professionally as an adolescent. He worked in a local band called the Crunk Brothers and, through them, met Putnam and ultimately gained entree to session work at Fame. Mr. Briggs and Putnam played on Tommy Roe's chart-topping 1962 hit, "Sheila," and were members of his backing band when Roe was an opening act for The Beatles in their first U.S. concert, in 1964. In 1966, Mr. Briggs joined Elvis Presley's TCB Band, a job he would keep, along with his session work, until Presley's death in 1977. In 1969, Mr. Briggs and Putnam opened Quadraphonic Sound, a much-in-demand studio that hosted projects by Neil Young, Dan Fogelberg, Jimmy Buffett and The Jacksons. That year, Mr. Briggs joined Area Code 615, a supergroup of session musicians, including Putnam and guitarist Mac Gayden The band released a pair of albums of freewheeling country rock on Polydor Records. Along with Putnam, Carrigan and the guitarist Terry Thompson, Mr. Briggs was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville in 2019. He remained active as a musician and studio owner well into his 70s. - The New York Times, 4/25/25...... 
Veteran producer Roy Thomas Baker, whose credits feature some of rock's biggest hits including Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and other tracks by the likes of Journey, Yes, The Cars, Cheap Trick, Guns N' Roses and Smashing Pumpkins, died at his home in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., on Apr. 12, his family announced on Apr. 22. He was 78 and a cause of death has yet to be revealed. The producer's credits feature a who's who of rock stars over the past half-century, with Baker also producing Foreigner, Devo and Mötley Crüe, in addition to the above named acts. Baker worked with Queen on five of the band's 1970s albums, including on their bombastic A Night at the Opera lead single "Bohemian Rhapsody," which is reportedly the most-streamed song recorded in the 20th century. The 1975 single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in Jan. 1976 but didn't hit its No. 2 peak on the chart until its inclusion in the film Wayne's World in 1992. Born in Hampstead, London, in 1946, Baker's career began as second engineer to Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti at London's Decca Records. He graduated to chief engineer in the '70s and moved to Trident Studios to begin working with the then-unknown Queen. Columbia Records later asked him to relocate to the U.S. to work with Journey and others. "We did [1978 album] Infinity with the infamous Roy Thomas Baker," recalled Journey's Neal Schon, "and we did so many different things on that record that I'd never tried, or even thought about doing. I learned a lot from Roy." Elektra Records, Queen's U.S. label, then teamed Baker with such artists as Lindsey Buckingham, Dokken and The Cars -- for whom he produced their first four albums, from 1978 to 1981. "Bohemian Rhapsody" and The Cars have both been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry, two of the most prestigious honors for classic recordings. In addition, Queen's A Night at the Opera album, which houses "Bohemian Rhapsody," was separately inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Baker is survived by his wife, Tere Livrano Baker, and his brother, Alan Baker. - Billboard, 4/22/25.
Patti Smith is among several musicians and celebrities who have reacted to news of the death of Pope Francis, who passed away at age 88 from a cerebral stroke on Easter monday (Apr. 22). "Farewell dear Pope Francis/Nature and poetry and the suffering shall miss their champion," the punk poetess shared on her Instagram account. Famously, in 2014, the pontiff personally invited Smith to perform at the Vatican's Christmas concert, where to much controversy she sang "O Holy Night" backed by the Vatican orchestra. 
Smith's booking evoked a mixed response from Christian groups, with Catholic organisation Portosalvo describing the decision as "blasphemous," following the singer's 1975 song "Gloria," which famously featured the lines: "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine." Francis, who was recently hospitalized for weeks with double pneumonia, was largely considered the most progressive pope to date, and had fans in several high-profile artists, with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Bono, Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie attending papal audiences with him over the years. The death of the pontiff, who became pope in 2013 after his predecessor Benedict XVI resigned, was detailed in a statement by Cardinal Kevin Farrell on X. Dubbed the "People's Pope" for his more inclusive stance on marginalised communities, his last address to the public was on Apr. 20 when called for a ceasefire in Gaza. - New Musical Express, 4/21/25...... A New York Times instant bestseller since its release on Apr. 8, the new John Lennon and Paul McCartney biography John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs follows the songwriting duo's relationship as songwriters, lyricists and bandmates in The Beatles. Author Ian Leslie drew from tunes, film footage and recordings to paint a picture of two musicians working together to create some of the greatest songs of the 20th century. Meanwhile, Lennon and wife Yoko Ono's son Sean Ono Lennon has shared the message he hopes people will take away from the new Lennon/Ono documentary One to One: John & Yoko documentary. "It's going to be very revelatory for everybody who sees it," Sean says. "I do think I know my parents pretty well," says Ono Lennon, who co-executive produced the film (along with Brad Pitt and others) and served as its music producer. "I knew about that time. It was only a couple years before I was born. My mother spoke about it a lot. I know a lot about their story, including (this time period), so I would not frame it that I learned something necessarily." Directed by Kevin Macdonald and distributed by Magnolia Pictures, One to One employs a montage-style collection of footage and sound recordings (some provided by the John Lennon Estate) to present Lennon and Ono primarily in their own words, without third-party narration. One to One premiered at the Venice Film Festival in Aug. 2024, also showing at the Telluride Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival before its IMAX rollout on Apr. 11. It opens wide in theaters starting Apr. 18 and will stream on the Max premium platform later this year. Ono Lennon has also finished work on a One to One soundtrack release slated for Oct. 9 (John's birthday) in several formats and packages. - Billboard, 4/21/25...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, 36 rare Paul McCartney photographs, many of which have just been rediscovered, will feature in a new Los Angeles exhibition set to open on Apr. 25 at Gagosian Art Gallery. The Rearview Mirror: Photographs, December 1963-February 1964 collection includes photos that were recently rediscovered by Sir Paul and have never been shown before, as well as some that were featured in his 2023 photography book Eyes Of The Storm. Following the exhibition, the photos, which are all signed by McCartney, will be going on sale, with expected prices ranging from $15,000 to $90,000 (£11,000 to £68,000). Proceeds will go to benefit efforts for those affected by the devastating California wildfires. A clip of McCartney reflecting on the collection can be viewed on YouTube, and the exhibition will run until June 21. - NME, 4/19/25...... In still more Beatles news, John Lennon's last autograph is currently up for auction on the gottahaverockandroll.com website. On Dec. 7, 1980 musician Willie Nile and Lennon were recording at The Record Plant studio in New York City when engineer Thom Panunzio called saying, "John broke a string on his guitar. Do you have any extra strings?" Willie did have extra strings and gave them to John. The next day Dec. 8, 1980 Willie and John ere again at the Record Plant recording. That evening when John was about to walk out the door of the Record Plant, Penunzio asked John for an autograph for his friend Karl. John mistakenly thought it was for the person who gave him the guitar strings the day before so John wryly signed a Record Plant tape sticker "To Karl, who strung me along, thanks John Lennon 1980." Lennon also drew a self-portrait caricature, and then left the studio by limousine at approximately 10:30 pm, arriving at his The Dakota apartment building at approximately 10:50 when he was shot dead. It would become the last autograph John Lennon would ever sign, and one of the most important autographs in rock and roll history. The autograph was previously sold for $72,000 in 2012. - Music-News.com, 4/20/25...... 
Billboard is reporting that Alice Cooper has reunited with his original band for their first album in 51 years on his next album, The Revenge of Alice Cooper. "It was very much like this was our next album after (1973's) Muscle of Love, just like, 'OK, this is the next album.' Isn't that funny after 50 years? All of a sudden it just falls into place," Cooper told Billboard by phone from his home in Phoenix. Cooper's longtime producer Bob Ezrin, meanwhile, says that the band on The Revengewas eerily similar to the group he worked with on platinum Cooper 70s albums such as Love It to Death, Killer, School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies. "None of them has changed much as a person," Ezrin says. "Obviously everyone's older and more mature and more settled, but when we all get together and I watch the interplay between them, it's like they just walked out of high school and were hanging out in the local cafe. They just revert to type. They revert to who they were as kids when the first got together... and make music together like they did 50-some years ago." The 14-track album reunites Cooper with guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neil Smith. Guitarist Glen Buxton passed away in 1997 at the age of 49 -- the album is dedicated "to our brother Glen Buxton" -- and he's represented on two songs: "What Happened to You" is built from the riff on an old demo tape Dunaway and Buxton made together and the limited-edition box set bonus track "Return of the Spiders 2025," is an upgraded remix of a track from the group's second album, 1970's Easy Action. Cooper will be premiering the first single, "Black Mamba," on Apr. 22)on the latest episode of his syndicated radio show, Alice's Attic. Featuring Robby Krieger of The Doors, a friend of Cooper and his band's the late 60s days in Los Angeles, it was, according to Alice, "definitely an Alice Cooper, from-the-ground-up song" created during studios sessions for the album. As word about The Revenge filters out, Dunaway says the band is "ready to explode with excitement because we've kept it secret for so long." There's no word yet, however, on whether the four will regroup to play live to support the new LP when it's released on July 25. Cooper already has a full slate of touring ahead this year, including a May and August dates in the U.S., summer shows in Europe and a co-headlining run with Judas Priest during September and October. - Billboard, 4/21/25...... Just days after it appeared that The Who's current drummer Zak Starkey would no longer be performing with the group after three decades, The Who guitarist Pete Townshend took to Instagram on on Apr. 19 to announce that Starkey has been reinstated after what he described as "communication issues." "News Flash! Who Backs Zak! He's not being asked to step down from The Who," Townshend posted "There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily." The announcement comes shortly after Starkey addressed rumors of his firing, reportedly sparked by singer Roger Daltrey's dissatisfaction with Starkey's performance during a Teenage Cancer Trust benefit show at London's Royal Albert Hall in late March. Townshend elaborated on the situation in his post, saying, "Roger and I would like Zak to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line up and he has readily agreed. I take responsibility for some of the confusion. Our TCT shows at the Royal Albert Hall were a little tricky for me. I thought that four and a half weeks would be enough time to recover completely from having a complete knee replacement. (Why did I ever think I could land on my knees?) Wrong!" Townshend elaborated that "maybe we didn't put enough time into sound checks, giving us problems on stage." "The sound in the centre of the stage is always the most difficult to work with," he added. "Roger did nothing wrong but fiddle with his in-ear monitors. Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised. Albeit with a rubber duck drummer. We are a family, this blew up very quickly and got too much oxygen. It's over. We move forward now with optimism and fire in our bellies." Starkey later shared Townshend's post on his own Instagram, adding, "V grateful to be a part of the who family Thanks Roger and Pete xx. Repost from @officialthewho." The drummer, son of Ringo Starr and his former wife Maureen, has been a central figure in The Who's live lineup since 1996, when he joined the band for their reunion tour, performing their 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia in its entirety. - Billboard, 4/19/25...... Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe have announced they're teaming up for the premiere "Rock the Tides Destination Festival" in Riviera Maya, Mexico this winter. The two legendary hard rock groups will set up shop from Nov. 7-9 for the Rock the Tides fest, which will also include sets from Poison singer and solo performer Bret Michaels, Extreme, the Struts, Buckcherry, Dorothy, Living Colour, Moon Walker and Velvet Daydream. Guests have a choice to stay at two different all-inclusive luxury five-star resorts, the adults-only Barcel Riviera Maya Barcel Maya Grand, with all packages including a resort room, unlimited food and drinks, access to all the shows and transportation to and from the airport, according to a press release announcing the event. The festival poster and teaser video has been shared on Instagram. - Billboard, 4/18/25...... 
Bruce Springsteen dropped "Blind Spot," the second preview of his upcoming Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set, on Apr. 17. Opening with a sampled voice grunting over a mechanical-sounding drum beat, it finds Springsteen singing, "We inhabited each other/ Like it was some kind of disease/ I thought that I was flyin'/ But I was crawlin' on my knees," in a haunted cadence. The chorus leans into the notion that it's the things we miss in love that are our undoing: "Everybody's got a blind spot that brings 'em down/ Everybody's got a blind spot they can't get around." "Blind Spot" was written following the New Jersey rockers's 1994 Oscar- and Grammy-winning song "Streets of Philadelphia," which accompanied the 1993 Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington movie Philadelphia, director Jonathan Demme's legal drama about an attorney suing his former employer for his firing after the firm discovers he's gay and has AIDS. Though a companion Philadelphia album never saw the light of day, the LP was completed, mixed and slated for release in the spring of 1995, then shelved when Springsteen opted instead to reunite with the E Street Band after a seven-year hiatus. Earlier in April, Springsteen announced the June 27 release of Tracks II, which will contain seven previously unheard full-length records. - Billboard, 4/17/25...... Elton John and Brandi Carlisle have united their respective Elton John AIDS Foundation and Looking Out Foundation to offset the Pres. Donald Trump. administration's cuts to HIV/AIDS funding. "Without prompt action, decades of progress in the global fight against HIV could be reversed, creating a global health crisis that we have both the power and the tools to prevent," Joh said in a statement. "Our mission is more important than ever -- we refuse to leave anyone behind -- and I'm so fortunate that Brandi is not only a wonderful collaborator and artist, but a dear friend who shares my vision of a world where HIV care is prioritised and protected," he added. Looking Out Foundation have committed to matching every donation up to $100,000, claiming it will "double the impact to protect HIV prevention and care services across the US and around the world." After his second inauguration in January, Trump passed an executive order slashing the funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has resulted in major setbacks for many HIV/AIDS programs that rely on USAID funding. Elton launched the foundation in 1992 and it is reported to have raised over $500 million over the last three decades. The pair's first collaborative album, Who Believes In Angels?, is currently a Top 10 release in the US and a No. 1 hit in the UK. Meanwhile, it appears Elton could have yet another collaborative partner soon -- '80s pop queen Madonna. Madonna and Elton recently buried the hatchet after years of feuding and Madonna revealed Elton had written a song for her, which Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters hinted on Nick Grimshaw's "Sidetracked" podcast could become the Rocket Man's next duet. Shears revealed superstar Elton always does his best to support new music but can be difficult to please. He explained: "He's always on it, but I can never predict what he's going to like. I can be listening to something and be like, 'Elton's going to love this,' and I'll be like, 'Elton, what do you think of this?'. He'll be like, 'Absolute c***. That's the worst thing I've ever heard'. It's really funny. But he's so passionate about music and he loves it so much. I know when he really likes something because he's effusive about it." - NME/Music-News.com, 4/17/25...... Speaking of Donald Trump, Neil Young's actress wife Daryl Hannah has said the first Trump administration tried to "mess Neil Young up" over his American citizenship. In light of his own speculations he may not be let back into the country after his upcoming European tour wraps, Hannah continued: "They've been detaining people who have green cards or visas -- which is hideous and horrifying -- but they have not, so far, been refusing to let American citizens back in the country, so I don't think that's going to happen." The Trump administration has deported and detained several immigrants over their political views, including pro-Palestine activists, as well as those backing Ukraine over Russia." If you say anything bad about Trump or his administration, you may be barred from re-entering USA. If you are Canadian, if you are a dual citizen like me, who knows? We'll all find that out together," Young recently posted on his blog. Hannah's revelation comes ahead of the release of forthcoming documentary Coastal, which was shot and directed by Hannah. "A personal, behind-the-scenes look at Young during his 2023 tour dates" which gives "an up-close and intimate view into the life of one of history's most iconic songwriters and musicians," it was screened in cinemas for one night only worldwide on Apr. 17. Its official trailer can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 4/14/25...... 
Songwriter Toby Gad, who has worked with the likes of Beyoncé, Fergie, Madonna and many more throughout the years, is set to share a posthumous song by '70s disco queen Donna Summer later in 2025. Gad, who recently dropped an new album that reimagines some of his biggest hits in his career, recently told BANG Showbiz that he has another release on the way -- a previously unreleased song from Summer, which the two worked on shortly before her death in 2012. "Moving forward, I'm releasing new singles of new songs with the same sonic signature," he told the outlet. "And one song I wrote was with Donna Summer before she passed, which I'm going to release. That's an unreleased song I'm working on and in a couple of months that will come out, and I'm very proud of it." Gad and Summer had worked together for the 'I Feel Love' singer's final album, 2008's Crayons. Recalling their time in the studio and during the writing process, Gad said: "Donna and I, we spent some beautiful times at her beach house. I worked with her on her last album. I had three songs on her last album. She was such an icon, so I'm really proud of that one coming out soon." More details about the track, including the title and release date, are expected to be shared soon. In other Donna Summer news, it was reported earlier this year that Kanye West and the late singer's estate had finally reached a settlement over the alleged "illegal" use of 'I Feel Love' on the controversial rapper's Vultures 1 album. A copyright infringement lawsuit was filed against both West and Ty Dolla $ign by Summer's husband Bruce Sudano, claiming that the two rappers did not have permission to sample the 1977 disco hit on their collaborative album. - NME, 4/17/25...... Greek art designer Ioannis Vasilopoulos, who has designed album cover artwork for such famous hard rock and heavy metal bands as Deep Purple, Bon Jovi, King Crimson and Extreme, has died at age 66 of as yet undisclosed causes. Vasilopoulos had been selling prints of his work on his official website prior to his passing. His family shared a stateent on Facebook on Apr. 8, writing: "The outpouring of love for Ioannis and his work is a great comfort. Ioannis wanted to do so many new things, and as a family, we have been tasked with continuing his work. His energy will live on through his incredible art. His bright smile and child-like excitement live on in his works. Ioannis will undoubtedly be remembered as one of rock's all-time great artists." Some of the more notable album artworks designed by Vasilopoulos include Deep Purple's Rapture Of The Deep, Sepultura's Chaos A.D., Extreme's Extreme II: Pornograffitti (A Funked Up Fairytale), and King Crimson's The ConstruKction Of Light. - NME, 4/11/25.
Singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer Ric Ocasek, the frontman of the legendary New Wave band The Cars, died on Sept. 15 after being discovered unconscious and unresponsive in his Manhattan townhouse at around 4:14 p.m. EDT by his estranged supermodel wife, Paulina Porizkova. He was 75 and the primary cause of death is not yet known. Born Richard Otcasek on Mar. 23, 1949, in Baltimore, Md., Ocasek took up guitar at age 10 and immediately began to write songs. After dropping out of Antioch College and Bowling Green State University, he began making a living as a musician. He met future Cars bassist Benjamin Orr (who died in 2000) in Cleveland, Oh., where Orr worked as a studio producer and session musician. After working in various bands in the northeast, the pair settled in Cambridge, Mass., in the late Seventies. After recruiting guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes, and drummer David Robinson, the quintet had intensive rehearsals in Ocasek's basement and made some demo tapes, including "Just What I Needed," which became popular with locals after it was played on Boston radio station WBCN. The band was signed by Elektra Records and released their 
The Cars' 1981 album, Shake It Up, went platinum on the strength of the No. 4 title track and another hit, "Since You're Gone." In 1983, Ocasek released the first of his seven solo albums, Beatitude, and around this time also did production for Bad Brains. In 1984, The Cars staged a major comeback on the charts with their Heartbeat City LP, which launched four hit singles that year: "You Might Think" (#7), "Magic" (#12), "Drive" (#3) and "Hello Again" (#20). The video for the song starred model Porizkova, whom Ocasek would wed in 1989. The Cars would chart two more Top 20 hits in the Eighties -- "Tonight She Comes" (#7, 1985) and "You Are The Girl" (#17, 1987) -- however by the time of 1987's Door To Door album, the band began to unravel due to personal conflicts and called it quits. Ocasek would have a #15 solo hit, "Emotions In Motion," in 1986, but found his biggest post-Cars success as a producer, helming Weezer's landmark self-titled debut ("the Blue Album"). The proper lineup of The Cars (after once touring with Todd Rundgren fronting the band) would reunite for 2011's well-received Move Like This album. Ocasek released a book of poetry, Negative Theatre, in 1992, and in 2017 revealed he was working on an album that would compile "the best picks of the solo albums" as well as "another 10 or 15 songs that nobody's ever heard. Some are finished, some are demos. It's stuff I've always liked but never put it on things." Several of Ocasek's contemporaries, including Peter Frampton, Billy Idol and Bryan Adams, paid tribute to the late musician on Twitter upon learning of his death. "So sad. Such a great writer, singer, player, producer. My thoughts are with his family. Rest in peace," Frampton wrote. The band Weezer posted: "The Weezer family is devastated by the loss of our friend and mentor Ric Ocasek." - Billboard, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock, 9/16/19.
To help celebrate Motown's 60th anniversary, on Sept. 13 the Detroit-based label released a video of Marvin Gaye performing his classic 1971 track 
On Sept. 13 Ringo Starr announced details of his 20th studio album, What's My Name, and posted a video of the album's title track on 
Fred Schneider of the B-52's has confirmed that his band is "scheduled to do two more songs" soon to accompany "a deluxe package of all our records" that's expected out sometime during 2020. They're releasing deluxe this, deluxe that every year," Schneider says, "so we're planning to record two more songs." Schneider adds that Keith Strickland, who's retired from touring with the B-52's, will be writing the music for the songs, with Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson adding lyrics. The B-52's are currently on a North American tour (with opening acts OMD and Berlin) celebrating the 40th anniversary of their first eponymous album. "We won't be doing any major tours anymore, but we'll be doing gigs and festivals and things like that," Schneider explains. The group does have a one-off show booked for Nov. 16 in Mexico City and will be part of the "80s Cruise" setting sail next March 8 from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Schneider says the B-52's "still kick ass" and "it's 40 years of friendship -- more, really -- and still going strong. We didn't know what we were doing back when we started and it just kind of snowballed. I'm ready to relax, a little, but we're not going to just stop cold." - Billboard, 9/10/19...... ABCKO Records announced on Sept. 11 that they will release a massive 50th anniversary Rolling Stones 
After performing a surprise 4-song set on the sixth story rooftop at the Pace Gallery's massive new Chelsea headquarters in New York City on Sept. 12, The Who announced they'll release their first album in 13 years in November. WHO (for those keeping track, this is the fifth Who studio album with 'who' in the title) will be released on Nov. 22 and according to an interview with frontman Roger Daltrey in July, "it's typical [Pete] Townshend." "He's still got the bite and that knack of creating songs with the earworm that climbs into you. How it fits in the modern market I don't know, but I don't care. I know inside me it's good stuff." WHO will include a studio version of "Ball and Chain," a classic Who rocker in the vein of Quadrophenia that references the U.S.'s controversial detention camp in Cuba: "Down in Guantanamo / we still got the ball and chain," Daltrey growls. "There's a long road to travel for justice to make its claim / so let's bring down the gavel / let the prisoner say his name." Daltrey and Townshend are joined on the album by drummer Zak Starkey and bassist Pino Palladino. The Who/Pace connection wasn't entirely random -- within the new gallery was the cover art to the band's new LP, courtesy of Sir Peter Blake, the renowned U.K. artist best known for crafting the cover imagery for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with then-wife Jann Haworth. - Billboard, 9/13/19...... Neil Young and Crazy Horse shared a new song called 
Having decided to do a "tip of the hat" to his hometown of Detroit, Alice Cooper has recorded a new vinyl EP of Detroit songs with some of the Motor City's most famous players including Bob Seger. Cooper's 
A three-minute "Facebook Live" video of Ted Nugent signing a long line of red "Re-Elect That Motherf----r" hats has topped Billboard's monthly Top Facebook Live Videos chart for November. Nugent had the hats produced to show his enthusiastic support of Pres. Donald Trump and to sell them to fans. Along the way, he apologized for the delay in getting the hats, which resemble Pres. Trump's famous "Make America Great Again" hats, out to those who had ordered them. Nugent's video was the only upload from any musician to top 1 million views in its first seven days, racking up 1.2 million views, and was the week's most shared by a musician (17,000). Billboard's Top Facebook Live Videos chart tracks the widest-reaching and most-reacted-to videos posted by musicians on Facebook Live. - Billboard, 12/17/19...... Tom Petty's widow Dana Petty and his daughters Adria Petty and Annakim Violette reached a settlement agreement on Dec. 13 in their legal battle over the estate of the late rock star, who died of an accidental drug overdose on Oct. 2, 2017, at age 66. The legal feud first erupted in April 2019, when the two parties filed dueling court petitions accusing the other of attempting to control Petty's assets. In May, a $5 million lawsuit was filed against Dana and several co-defendants by Petty Unlimited, an LLC established in Petty's will, that accused her of "self-dealing, theft, and gross mismanagement" of her late husband's estate and an attempt to "deprive" Adria and Annakim of their share of his assets. Dana then filed a petition two weeks later asking the court to fund and execute an operating agreement for Tom Petty Legacy, a separate LLC she established on her own, while alleging "foul behavior" on Adria's part with regard to estate matters. She also accused the two daughters of interfering in and delaying several posthumous Petty releases, including the 2018 box set An American Treasure, the 2019 greatest hits collection The Best of Everything and a 25th anniversary reissue of Petty's 1994 acclaimed solo album Wildflowers that has yet to materialize. The new legal documents, filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles, do not disclose details of the settlement. - Billboard, 12/13/19...... French musician/composer Alexandre Desplat, who scored the new movie version of Louisa May Alcott's famous 1868 novel Little Women, says that David Bowie provided inspiration for his music for the new film. Desplat says Little Women director Greta Gerwig had requested music resembling "Mozart meeting Bowie" for the film's score. "I always try to ask, 'What do you expect from me as the composer? Do you want me to do something grand? Melancholic? Lush? Huge? Small?'," Desplat said of his initial discussions with the director. "She said with enthusiasm, 'I'd like the music to be a mix of Mozart meeting Bowie'. It doesn't mean anything, but it does mean something if you let the energy come into your system and you get something of that, and this opening is about that." The film has already received an early nod for the 2020 Oscars in the Music (Original Score) category. Desplat has previously bagged two Academy Awards for his work on The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water. - Billboard, 12/18/19...... 
KISS announced on Dec. 17 that former Van Halen lead singer and solo star David Lee Roth will be their special guest on the final legs of their self-proclaimed continuing End of the Road farewell tour. "David Lee Roth will bring his exciting stage show featuring a twin guitar big rock sound and a set list of classic hits and future energy," the band said in a statement. The tour is slated to officially wind-down with a July 17, 2021 show at an as-yet-unannounced venue in the group's native New York. KISS is currently in Japan where they played the Osaka Dome on Dec. 17, while Diamond Dave is gearing up to launch a Las Vegas residency on Jan. 8 at the House of Blues Las Vegas. Roth recently posted an announcement of his Vegas residency on 
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain says his main focus in 2020 will be making some new Journey music, the band's first since 2011's Eclipse. Cain says it will probably be in the form of an EP rather than a full album just to "break the ice" after the long gap. "I have quite a bit of ideas lyrically," Cain says. "We have the beginning of a really good song and we've even got a title for the next record. For me it works best with just [guitarist] Neal [Schon] and I in a room and we come together rather than trying to dictate what it is." Cain adds that he and Schon have "mended our friendship and moved on" since their relationship was fractured after some vitriolic social media posts by Schon during the summer of 2017 when Schon became upset that Cain, Journey singer Arnel Pineda and bassist Ross Valory attended a meeting at the White House with Pres. Trump. "Neither one of us liked the way all that went, and neither did the fans. It was just a lot of misunderstanding and things that were taken wrong," Cain says. "I think we both learned a lot, and it shows that our relationship is better than that and we shouldn't come against each other." Cain, who began a solo Christian music career with 2016's What God Wants to Hear and followed it up in 2018 and 2019 with two additional Christian albums, says he's among those who welcome rapper Kayne West to the ranks of Christian music. "For me it looked like a move of God, and I'm thrilled he's doing it," Cain said. Meanwhile, Journey will play the next edition of its Vegas residency in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace starting Dec. 27, including a New Year's Eve show. Its summer tour with Pretenders kicks off May 15 in Ridgefield, Wash., with arena and amphitheater dates into September. - Billboard, 12/17/19...... Roy Loney, the founding lead singer of the influential '70s San Francisco power pop band the Flamin' Groovies, died of "severe organ failure" at CPMC Davies Campus in San Francisco on Dec. 13, after a brief hospitalization. He was 73. Loney was a charismatic frontman whose high-energy stage moves and growly, blues-inflected vocals were part of the psychedelic, hippie vibe of the Bay Area rock scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Unlike the prevailing flower power sound of the time, the Groovies were full-steam-ahead '50s-inspired rockers, injecting blues, rockabilly and R&B swing into a power pop froth on songs such as "Love Have Mercy," "The First One's Free" and "Bam Balam" -- all written or co-written by Loney -- on their full-length 1969 Epic Records debut. They jumped to Kama Sutra Records for their second effort, 1970's even more raw Flamingo, which solidified their gritty sound. In 1971, the band released Teenage Head, a masterpiece of loose, concise bluesy garage rock. But by the next year Loney quit the group as a precursor to a long solo career with a number of different bands; the Flaming Groovies, however, would record 
Legislators in Tennessee are considering replacing a controversial bust of former Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest that has resided in the state Capitol building since 1978 with one of the state's most celebrated musicians, Dolly Parton. According to The Tennessean newspaper, Parton is being considered for the honor because of her revered status as a country music legend and as an ambassador of goodwill around the world, in contrast to the former KKK Grand Wizard. "If we want to preserve history, then let's tell it the right way. Right now there are eight alcoves [in the Capitol]. Seven are filled with white men," said Tennessee House of Representatives member Jeremy Faison. Faison has also suggested building a monument to honour the slaves who built the Capitol Building, while the bust of Forrest should be placed in a museum to educate people about the Fort Pillow massacre of 1864 -- where soldiers under his command massacred African-American troops. Meanwhile, Parton's new Netflix series arrived in late November, and she released her latest album, Heartstrings, on Nov. 22. - The Tennessean/NME 12/16/19...... Joe Smith, a legendary record executive who signed the Grateful Dead and helmed three labels, including as president and CEO of Capitol-EMI Music, died on Dec. 2 at the age of 91. Mr. Smith, who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015, worked closely with a number of artists, including Bonnie Raitt, whom he signed while president at Warner Bros. Records in the '70s and then brought to Capitol and was part of her comeback in the late '80s, including her multiple Grammy winner, 1989's Nick of Time. Among the other artists with whom he worked are Jackson Browne, Frank Sinatra, Garth Brooks, Eagles, Rod Stewart, The Cars and Bob Seger. In 2012, the Library of Congress acquired more than 200 hours of interviews conducted by Mr. Smith for his 1985 book, Off the Record: An Oral History of Pop Music, a collection of interviews with more than 200 artists, producers and executives, including Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Tom Jones, B.B. King and Barbra Streisand. "Joe believed in supporting artists for the long haul, allowing us to stretch and grow," Bonnie Raitt said in memoriam to Mr. Smith. - Billboard, 12/2/19...... Emmy Award-winning composer, conductor and electronic music pioneer Gershon Kingsley, who wrote the 1969 top 10 hit "Popcorn" and played a pivotal role in popularizing the Moog synthesizer sound, died Dec. 10 in New York. He was 97. Although "Popcorn" was written by Mr. Kingsley, it was a remake by Hot Butter that reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972, and No. 1 in at least six other countries. In 2005, Crazy Frog released its version, with the song again going to No. 1 in a number of countries. In 2018, Mr. Kingsley released a yellow vinyl 12" of his trademark song for Record Store Day. Mr. Kingsley also wrote theme music for the American game show The Joker's Wild and several German television shows. In the 1980s, Mr. Kingsley released a number of New Age albums, and one of his latest theatrical works, "Raoul," about Raoul Wallenberg, premiered in New York in 2004 and went on to full production in Bremen, Germany, in 2008. - Billboard, 12/14/19.
On Dec. 13, Pink Floyd released 
To the delight of Talking Heads fans, the New Wave icons opened what appears to be an official Instagram account on Dec. 9, sparking rumors of a potential long-awaited reunion. Although the account has yet to share a single post or be authenticated by Instagram's coveted blue check mark, the band's new handle, @talkingheadsofficial, has already garnered more than 10,000 followers in just two days, including former TH keyboard player Jerry Harrison. While frontman David Byrne has been famously reticent in the past about getting the band back together, interestingly 2020 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Heads' critically-acclaimed fourth album, Remain in the Light, which Harrison already announced he'll be celebrating by playing a series of special shows with Adrian Belew and the funk band Turkuaz. - Billboard, 12/11/19...... The Eagles announced on Dec. 10 that they'll be playing their seminal 1976 album Hotel California in its entirety next summer at London's Wembley Stadium. The pair of shows, which will also include a set of the country-rock legends' greatest hits, are set for Aug. 29 and 30 as part of the band's "Hotel California" tour in the U.K. Tickets for the Wembley shows go on sale to the general public on Dec. 14 at 9 a.m. and can be purchased by visiting the Eagles' official website. - Billboard, 12/10/19...... An urban legend that Jimi Hendrix was to blame for the arrival of wild parakeets in Britain has been finally debunked in a new study published in the Journal of Zoology. It was previously claimed that Hendrix released the first pair of parakeets, called Adam and Eve, as a symbol of peace while stoned in London's Carnaby Street in 1968. But the study confirms that the birds were sighted in Britain as far back as 1855, when one parakeet was spotted in Norfolk. Experts now believe that the parakeet population may have risen after the birds escaped from damaged bird houses during Britain's Great Storm of 1987. They also claim that many parakeets kept as pets were released during an outbreak of "parrot fever" in 1929, 1930 and 1952, with the public urged by newspapers to keep away from the "dangerous birds." A rival urban legend claimed that late '80s pop singer George Michael was to blame, after burglars broke into his Hampstead home in the 1990s and raided his secret aviary, but he failed to report the crime since he was wary of the police. Another popular theory claimed that the birds escaped from the set of the classic 1951 film The African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. - NME, 12/12/19...... The family of the late Marvin Gaye are asking the original judge in the now infamous "Blurred Lines" vs. "Got To Give It Up" lawsuit to revisit his decision to deny an award of $3.5 million in attorney fees after Pharrel Williams and Robin Thicke were ordered to pay half of "Got To Give It Up"'s royalties to Gaye's family as well as a one-off payment of $5.3 million in damages in 2015. Gaye's famiy claim that Williams committed perjery in court when defending himself in lausuit after he told GQ magazine in November that he "reverse engineers the feeling he gets from listening certain music, adding that he "did that in "Blurred Lines' and got myself in trouble." The Gaye family, represented by litigator Richard Busch, believes Williams' November 2019 comment constitutes a fraud on the court and evidence of perjury, and wants US District Court Judge John Kronstad to deny the attorney fees. The Gaye family's motion stops short, however, of requesting new criminal prosecution. - NME, 12/10/19...... 
Linda Ronstadt, who was honored with a prestigious Kennedy Center Honor at the 42nd annual Kennedy Center Honors gala in Washington, D.C., had some strong words for Sec. of State Mike Pompeo at a dinner the evening before the ceremony after Pompeo introduced her to the audience, congratulating her and joking aloud "when he would be loved," a reference to Ronstadt's hit "When Will I Be Loved." In response, the 73-year-old singer told Pompeo, "Maybe when you stop enabling Donald Trump." The awkward exchange was tweeted about by Sam Greisman, the son of Oscar-winning actress and fellow 2019 Kennedy Center Honors recipient Sally Field. "Linda Ronstadt got up to get laurels, looked the f---er right in the eye and said 'maybe when you stop enabling Donald Trump.' Icon," he wrote. Other honorees included Earth, Wind and Fire; conductor Michael Tilson Thomas; and the long-running children's TV show Sesame Street. The event, hosted by LL Cool J, was taped and will be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 15. Pres. Trump an first lady Melania Trump declined to appear at the event for the third year in a row. - Billboard, 12/8/19...... The U.S. Library of Congress announced on Dec. 12 that Prince's 1984 film Purple Rain is among the 25 films added to its annual National Film Registry in 2019. The grossed more than $68 million at the box office in the US in its first release and earned over $80 million worldwide. It went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song Score, the last movie to receive that particular award. Other "culturally and historically significant" films that are set to be archived in 2019 include Martin Scorsese's classic concert film for The Band, The Last Waltz, and Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It. - NME, 12/12/19...... Queen + Adam Lambert have added five new dates to their forthcoming UK "Rhapsody" tour. The band had already announced five nights at London's O2 Arena in June 2020 along with two dates at the Manchester Arena (6/11, 12). Now they've added five more nights at the O2 to run throughout the month. The "Rhapsody" shows were inspired by the Oscar winning 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and will feature ambitious staging, lighting and visuals. The film is now the highest-grossing music biopic of all time and the biggest-selling film of 2019 in the UK. - NME, 12/11/19...... An AC/DC reunion with former lead singer Brian Johnson has apparently been confirmed by their fellow hard rock acts Twisted Sister and Behemoth, with the latter band's member Nerghal telling Loudwire: "I know there's a new AC/DC album in the making with [late AC/DC rhythm guitarist] Malcolm Young. It's coming. It's going to be an outtake from Rock or Bust. What do I expect? I expect nothing more and nothing less, just give me f---ing rhythm and Angus and Malcolm's guitar. Don't give me anything extra. [Brian Johnson] is back in the band." Dee Snider of Twisted Sister also seemingly backed the reports on Twitter, claiming that the band will reunite with drummer Phil Rudd, who was ousted from the group following his conviction in 2018 for drug possession and making threats to kill a former employee. - NME, 12/10/19.
