Harry Styles was spotted making out with Emily Ratajkowski in Tokyo Saturday (March 25th) night.
Video obtained by the Daily Mail shows the two passionately kissing outside in the rain after leaving a nightclub.
The "Watermelon Sugar" singer has been crushing on the model for years, having told Telehit in 2014 that Ratajkowski was his celebrity crush.
Kelly Clarkson is working on a new album.
The talk show host said in an Instagram video Sunday (March 26th), "It is officially time to tell you that I've been working on this project for close to three years now and I wasn't sure I was going to release it, but I am."
Clarkson, who got divorced from Brandon Blackstock last year added, "This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship. A whole relationship shouldn't be just brought down to one thing. So there's the good, the bad and the ugly kind of thing going on in it."
According to the American Idol winner, the album will arrive "soon" and some tracks from the album will be available "even sooner."
Pete Townshend and wife Rachel Fuller discussed the making of the new single, "Can't Outrun The Truth" -- Townshend's first solo single in nearly 30 years. All proceeds from the song, which was written by Fuller, will benefit the Who's patron charity, the Teen Cancer Trust.
In a new YouTube short featuring the couple, titled, "Table Talking With The Townshends," Townshend shed light on recording the track, which featured him stretching slightly out of his comfort zone by playing both lap steel guitar and violin: "So, it was a fairly straightforward job for me. I just had to make sure the sound was okay. The bit that followed, which was a bit of a shock, was when you wanted me to then sing the song and I think there were a whole bunch of reasons why -- but basically because I was there."
Townshend went on to explain why the new single benefiting the Teen Cancer Trust will help make up for a disastrous couple of years when fundraising took a hit across the board: "Because of the charity angle and because one of the things about Teen Cancer Trust, which is this thing that Roger and I have been passionately involved in for 25, 26 years, the pandemic years were terrible for charities. Y'know, there were no concerts, there were no events. And the Teen Cancer Trust had been created in order to take the money from a series of concerts at the (Royal) Albert Hall every year -- and various other things -- to stimulate and create spin and donations and that had dropped."
Queen + Adam Lambert have rolled out the initial dates to their 2023 "Rhapsody Tour." The trek kicks off on October 4th at Baltimore's CFG Bank Arena and, as of now, winds down on November 11th in L.A. at BMO Stadium.
Guitarist Brian May told Rolling Stone, "This tour has lots of new bells and lots of new whistles. We've evolved as performers, I think. We've stepped up our game. We have better chemistry than ever. We understand each other better than ever, and we feel more free in the way that we interpret stuff. We're very happy with it. There's lots of new production and stuff we want to excite you with."
As with their European tour last year, the band hopes to pepper the set with fan favorites and deep cuts, with frontman Adam Lambert admitting, "I always like doing 'Dragon Attack.' That's one of my favorites. There's a lot of time between now and when the tour starts in October to come up with new ideas. I think we'll have many."
Adam Lambert admitted that he stepped into pretty big shoes when he agreed to take the stage fronting Queen -- a band that had perhaps the most legendary and charismatic frontman with the late-Freddie Mercury: "At first it was a little daunting, when we started our first incarnation of this. I was definitely. . . I was apprehensive. He's a big idol for me, and I thought to myself, y'know, ‘I hope that the fans dig this,' y'know? ‘Cause there was a possibility that they wouldn't. And it felt really good, the reception was warm, the press reaction to it the first time was very warm. And it's such a treat to get on stage and pay my respects and pay tribute to one of my favorite singers ever -- and to sing some of the greatest music ever written."
Prior to hitting the road last time around, Brian May told us that he, Roger Taylor, and Adam Lambert all look closely at the Queen songbook and figure out what key elements they need for a perfect show: "We're up for anything, really. Yeah, and, we'll look at the whole catalogue and see what we can pull off, I think. Y'know, what needs to happen is we need to be happy amongst ourselves. We need to be comfortable. Adam needs to be comfortable -- challenged, but comfortable. And yeah, I think we'll take a real careful look at all those albums and see what we can cherry pick and, y'know, bring to a new place."
JUST ANNOUNCED: Queen + Adam Lambert North American tour dates (subject to change):
October 4 - Baltimore, MD - CFG Bank Arena
October 8 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
October 10 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena
October 12 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
October 15 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
October 18 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
October 23 - Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena
October 25 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
October 27 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
October 30 - Chicago, IL - United Center
November 2 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
November 5 - Denver, CO - Ball Arena
November 8 - San Francisco, CA - Chase Center
November 11 - Los Angeles, CA - BMO Stadium
Taylor Swift praised Lana Del Rey during her Friday (March 24h) performance in Las Vegas.
According to Billboard, The "Lavender Haze" singer called Del Rey "the best that we have" before adding, "She knows I'm obsessed with her, and she was kind enough to make a song with me on Midnights called ‘Snow on the Beach' because she's a generous king. She did that for me, and I'll never forget how nice she's been to me. It's so cool when you have favorite artists and they turn out to be so nice to you. I wanted to just do some promo for her, and also, in honor of this brilliant album that she just put out, I wanted to play ‘Snow on the Beach.'"
The following night, Swift invited Marcus Mumford to join her for the live debut of the Evermore track, "Cowboy Like Me."
In light of the recent snafus regarding ticket sales for both the Cure and Bruce Springsteen -- in addition to exorbitant fees for even the worst seats in the house -- Neil Young posted a message to fans on his Neil Young Archive page explaining his thoughts on a broken concert ticketing system.
Young wrote: "TICKETMASTER FEES at 30%. It's over. The old days are gone. I get letters blaming me for $3,000.00 tickets for a benefit I am doing. That money does not go to me or the benefit. Artists have to worry about ripped off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers."
During a chat with the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, Neil Young spoke about a longing for music to take a more organic path going forward: "I really pray for a renaissance of real homemade music, where people actually play together and play off each other. That, to me, is what music's all about. And as we move more and more into the digital age of Pro Tools and putting things on a grid and organizing things and sampling and everything. . . I'm not puttin' it down, but I am sayin' that when they actually play together, that's a whole time that has to be preserved."
In commemoration of the one-year anniversary of Taylor Hawkins' death on March 25th, the Belgian band Black Box Revelation enlisted 100 drummers to film a collaborative live performance of the Foo Fighters classic "My Hero" in tribute to Hawkins. Loudwire reported the event took place at the country's Sportplaeis Antwerp, which was the last venue that Hawkins performed at with the Foos in Belgium.
Black Box Revelation said in a statement, "Taylor Hawkins was the best drummer of our times. Honoring him with this tribute was an experience we will never forget."
Participating drummer Gino Kesteloot added: "It's the first time I played together with 100 other drummers. It sounded great, I even got goosebumps all over my body! Wonderful to honor our hero this way."
Taylor Hawkins told us that the beauty of like-minded musicians connecting is that a music scene can spring up anywhere: "You can have a scene anywhere you want, period. Des Moines, Iowa, maybe they have a bitchin' punk rock scene that we don't even know about because there's a couple of kids there who are turning all their friends onto something, and next thing you know, they're taking over the rec center every Saturday. And that's how it started with (Foo Fighters bassist) Nate (Mendel) and how it started with all the other guys in the band."
Jackson Browne is taking his show on the road for a 24-city spring and summer run. The tour kicks off on June 3rd at Columbus, Ohio's Palace Theatre and wraps on August 2nd at Clearwater, Florida's Ruth Eckerd Hall. Browne is touring in support of his 2021 Grammy-nominated album, Downhill From Everywhere.
Jackson Browne told us that although fame has provided him with some great benefits, the drawbacks can be crippling to a working artist: "I have not really known what to, how to think of this from the beginning. I have a kind of deep ambivalence about fame -- y'know, you want to reach a lot of people, you want success, but a lot comes with it, y'know, that can kind of undermine your work, too."
JUST ANNOUNCED: Jackson Browne North American tour dates (subject to change):
June 3 - Columbus, OH - Palace Theatre
June 4 - Pittsburgh, PA - Benedum Center for the Performing Arts
June 6 - Akron, OH - Akron Civic Theatre
June 7 - Toledo, OH - Stranahan Theater
June 9 - Springfield, IL - UIS Performing Arts Center
June 10 - Louisville, KY - The Louisville Palace Theatre
June 12 - Springfield, MO - MSU - Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts
June 13 - Omaha, NE - Orpheum Theater
June 15 - Madison, WI - The Orpheum Theater
June 16 - Evansville, IN - Victory Theatre
June 18 - Nashville, TN - Grand Ole Opry
June 19 - Nashville, IN - Brown County Music Center
July 14 - El Paso, TX - Abraham Chavez Theatre
July 15 - Midland, TX - Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
July 18 - Austin, TX - ACL Live at the Moody Theater
July 19 - Grand Prairie, TX - Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie
July 21 - Sugar Land, TX - Smart Financial Centre
July 22 - New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theatre
July 25 - Mobile, AL - Saenger Theatre
July 26 - Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre
July 28 - Jacksonville, FL - Moran Theater and Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts
July 29 - Orlando, FL - Walt Disney Theater
August 1 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts
August 2 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
Ed Sheeran is already planning for music to be released after he dies.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed his desire to record the music slowly over time for the rest of his life and have it in his will to be released posthumously.
And while he didn't reveal much else about it, he's already juggling several projects, including his new album Subtract, that comes out in May.
TL;DR:
Released today (March 24th) is Pink Floyd's new 50th anniversary deluxe box set edition of 1973's The Dark Side Of The Moon. The package includes the CD and gatefold vinyl of the newly remastered studio album and Blu-Ray + DVD audio featuring the original 5.1 mix and remastered stereo versions. Also featured is the new Blu-ray disc of Atmos mix plus CD and LP of The Dark Side Of The Moon -- Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974.
Also issued separately today on CD and first ever vinyl release of The Dark Side Of The Moon - Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974. The concert was taped in November 1974 as part of the band's winter tour and now features artwork of an original 1973 line-drawn cover by George Hardie.
The new book Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon: 50th Anniversary, part of the deluxe box offering, will also be published separately by Thames & Hudson and "showcases rare and previously unseen photographs taken during The Dark Side Of The Moon tours of 1972-1975 and was created with the involvement of the band members."
Drummer Nick Mason -- the only member of Floyd to have never quit or been fired from the band -- explained to us that the Beatles' 2009 reissues pushed the band into finally agreeing to do a major job on getting their albums out on the market -- possibly for the last time on CD: "Once again actually, it's the Beatles leading the way. This is not something a couple of years ago when it was first suggested that I think I was particularly wild about. But having seen how the Beatles did it -- and realizing at this stage of the recording industry, this perhaps is the right time to do something like this. Because we are almost certainly losing the business of physical records and physical albums and sleeves and graphics and the artwork and all the rest of it."
Out today (March 24th) is Pete Townshend's first new solo single in 29 years. The acoustic-based track, titled, "Can't Outrun The Truth," was written by Townshend's wife and frequent collaborator, Rachel Fuller, produced by Charlie Pepper, and engineered by Townshend's brother-in-law, Jon Astley. The track originally appeared in the 2020 Jude Law film, The Hat. All proceeds will benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust.
With both Pete Townshend and Rachel Fuller workaholic composers, we asked Fuller, why the two don't simply pair up for an album together: "I don't know. I mean, apart from the fact that he and I would probably have fun doing it -- we do love working together -- I just think it's a bit too cheesy. I just think people would be like: 'blehhhh.' It's great when we work together, and I think doing those shows that we did was an appropriate place for him and I to actually do a couple of things together, but mainstream? No, I just don't think that would work."
During a chat at The New York Public Library, Pete Townshend revealed a new, key component about how he approaches his life and art: "And I think I have learned some stuff about myself. I think all kinds of things. I think the main revelation was to realize that at some point, probably quite recently -- maybe as recently as 15 years ago -- I made the decision to be happy. And that has been very, very difficult for me to do, because I never felt that it was a very serious occupation (laughter)."
The Who kicks off their 2023 European tour on June 14th in Barcelona, Spain.
Happy Birthday to Elton John, who turns 76 on Saturday (March 25th)!!! Elton, who is back on the road with his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, performs on Sunday night (March 26th) at Birmingham, England's Resorts World Arena. The ongoing "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, which began in 2018, is set to run through July 2023 with Elton performing his final European dates.
Last month, the "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour" was officially named the biggest selling tour of all time. Billboard Boxscore posted, "(Elton) has grossed $817.9 million across 278 shows so far -- more than any tour in Boxscore history. Bypassing Ed Sheeran's "The Divide Tour" ($776.4 million), it is the first tour in Billboard's archives to cross the $800 million benchmark."
In the works now is the upcoming Elton John documentary -- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And The Years That Made His Legend, is being co-directed R.J. Cutler along with Elton's husband David Furnish.
According to the official announcement, it will be, "centered around John's farewell tour, while also looking back at 1970 to 1975, the monumental period when John released 10 albums and scored some of his biggest hits. The doc will also include an array of unseen concert footage from the past 50 years, as well as John's handwritten journals and present-day footage of the musician and his family.
Released today (March 24th) is the belated 50th anniversary edition of Elton John's s Honky Chateau. The double disc set features, "the original album, a newly created selection of outtakes from the original session tapes and eight live recordings from the Royal Festival Hall show in 1972, where the tracks received their live debut, just a few days after being recorded at the Chateau. It includes a 40-page booklet with an essay featuring interviews from those who were there at the time."
The album, which was Elton's fifth studio album, was originally released on May 19th, 1972. The album topped the charts that July 15th and enjoyed a five-week run at Number One and spent 18 weeks in the Top 10. The album spawned two massive Top 10 hits with "Rocket Man" (#6) and "Honky Cat (#8)."
Out now is Elton's latest studio album, The Lockdown Sessions, featuring 16 collaborations recorded in isolation and under strict covid safety protocols during the pandemic. The set features team-ups with Stevie Nicks, Eddie Vedder, Stevie Wonder, Miley Cyrus, Gorillaz, Young Thug and Nicki Minaj, Brandi Carlile, Dua Lipa, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo, Chad Smith, and others.
The album features the surprise hit "Cold Heart" -- his recent Top 10 smash with Australian artist Pnau.
The track mashes together such Elton favorites as 1972's "Rocket Man," 1989's "Sacrifice," 1983's "Kiss The Bride," and 1976's "Where's The Shoorah?"
Recently released is Elton John's latest box set, Jewel Box. The collection is broken up into four sections: "Deep Cuts," "Rarities," "B-Sides 1976-2005," and "This Is Me. . .", which features songs that were specifically name-checked into Elton's recent memoir, Me, and serving as a soundtrack to the book. Each section comes accompanied with extensive notes including a track-by-track commentary by Elton for 'Deep Cuts.'"
2020 saw its up's and down's for Elton, with a handful of shows being postponed after he contacted pneumonia. In February, Elton and longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin won their first joint Oscar for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" -- the theme to 2019's Rocketman biopic, which was sung with Elton's silver screen counterpart, Taron Egerton.
In October 2019, Elton published his autobiography, titled Me. The book, which was co-written by with music journalist Alexis Petridis, was a New York Times Bestseller.
Out now is Elton John & Ray Cooper Live From Moscow. The set, which commemorates the "Rocketman's" historic 1979 Russian two-man tour with percussionist Ray Cooper, was recorded live on May 28th, 1979 at Russia's Rossya Hotel Concert Hall, with the original BBC multi-track tapes newly remastered by Bob Ludwig.
Elton John says he's winding down his performing career because his family needs to come first in his life. Elton and David Furnish have been together since 1993, entered into a civil partnership in 2005, and married in 2014. They are the parents of two sons, 12-year-old Zachary and nine-and-a-half-year-old Elijah.
Elton explained why it was important for him to finally quit the road: "And, y'know, I always thought I was going to be like Ray Charles, B.B. King -- on the road forever. But once your life changes and you have the children; it has changed our life so much, and I love them so much -- and they'll be coming on part of this tour with us. We're going to take them out of school for nine months, with a tutor. I just wanna be there. When I stop, they're going to be 10 and eight and that's a very important time in their lives. I love them so much, I don't want to miss them and I don't want them to miss me."
Elton released his most recent all-original album, Wonderful Crazy Night, on February 5th, 2016. The set was co-produced by Elton and T-Bone Burnett and recorded at The Village in Los Angeles. The album, which features 12 new collaborations with lyricist Bernie Taupin, also includes Elton's legendary bandmates -- drummer Nigel Olson and guitarist Davey Johnstone, who although onstage with Elton every night, had not been featured on the "Rocket Man's" studio sessions since 2006's The Captain & The Kid. Also on board from the legendary '70s Elton John Band lineup is beloved percussionist, Ray Cooper.
Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Pinner, Middlesex, a suburb of London. John was playing piano at age three, and by the age of 11 he was studying at London's Royal Academy of Music. He later dropped out to work as a music publishing errand boy and play rock n' roll at night. John recorded and gigged with his early band Bluesology, and went on to back such legendary acts as Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles and the Isley Brothers.
In 1967 he hooked up with aspiring lyricist Bernie Taupin and went on to form one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in rock history. By early 1971, Elton had cracked the American charts with "Your Song," which peaked at Number Eight, and became the first of his 25 Top 40 hits of the 1970's. In the '70s, John and Taupin turned out hit after hit, placing 25 singles in the top 40, 16 in the Top Ten, and sending six to Number One.
Of the 19 albums Elton released in the States during the 1970's, 15 went gold or platinum. His 1975 album Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy holds the distinction of being the first album to debut at Number One in the charts. A month after its release, on June 21st, 1975, Elton performed the album in its entirety at London's Wembley Stadium. Elton took the stage at the close of a mammoth outdoor rock concert, which featured the Beach Boys and the Eagles as the opening acts.
Elton John's classic singles include "Rocket Man," "Honky Cat," "Crocodile Rock," "Bennie And The Jets," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "The Bitch Is Back," "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," "Daniel," "Philadelphia Freedom," "Island Girl," the duet "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Kiki Dee, "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" with John Lennon, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," "Little Jeannie," "I'm Still Standing," "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues," "Sad Songs (Say So Much)," "Candle In The Wind," "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," and many, many more.
Elton John told us that his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin has given him great strength and proved to be one of the strongest relationships in his life: "It's been a remarkable partnership in the fact that we've never broken up -- although it was rumored that we did break up -- we didn't, we just had a break from each other and wrote with other people. Y'know, you can't suffocate each other. And the fact that we're still writing, and loving writing with each other -- we root for each other. And too often in this business, people get jealous, y'know, people break up a great thing over the most stupid thing. And he's been my brother without the music, he's been my brother with the music. He became the 'Brown Dirt Cowboy,' I became 'Captain Fantastic'-- we lived out. . . y'know, that album was very prophetic, that's what we became"
Elton says that he thrived on the demands in the '70s to constantly write new material: "I was under contract to do two albums a year, and we did it, and we did separate singles, we did separate B-sides and it was fun. If you love writing songs, there's no reason why you cannot do that."
The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is one of the world's largest HIV grant-makers. With offices in New York and London, EJAF has raised more than $349 million for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS since its inception in 1992.
In the Americas, the EJAF invests approximately $7 million in more than 120 organizations every year, with half of this focused on the Southern U.S. and the Caribbean.
Elton's efforts do not stop at fundraising. In April 2002, the singer visited Capital Hill, where he told Congress the U.S. has the power to end the AIDS epidemic: "Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the United States government is the biggest possible source of new funding for fighting AIDS. 40 million people are infected with HIV. Eight thousand people are dying every day. You have the power to end this epidemic. Please end it . . . please end it."
Bernie Taupin told us that although his and Elton's songs have become pop standards over the years, that shouldn't take away from the quality of the work: "First and foremost, we are good songwriters. And there's nothing wrong with writing a great song -- providing it retains elements of passion, and whatever. As long as its not just a surface thing. And I think these songs are very commercial and there's nothing wrong with being commercial, yet they are at the same time very passionate."
Elton says that from a very early age, his only objective was to work in some facet of the music business: "I honestly feel I couldn't have asked for a better life. I mean, I wanted to be involved in music -- whether it was working in a record store, whether it was working in a publisher's (office), whether it was writing. . . I didn't ever envisage being a singer, that happened by accident, but I just love what I do. As I've grown older, I love to play live much more. I feel much more comfortable with my own self, so being onstage is much more comfortable to me. I don't have to hide behind big glasses and costumes anymore."
With over 50 years under his belt as a world-class singer-songwriter-performer, we asked Elton John what continues to inspire him: "It's always about tomorrow and not the past. It's lovely to go and to look back, but I'm a person who looks forward. I'm more interested in what's going to happen next. I value the past and
The Arizona Food Bank Network got a surprise in the form of a money donation, ahead of Taylor Swift's show in Glendale last week.
Then on Wednesday (3-22), a food bank in Nevada, near her shows this weekend got the same surprise. They posted that because of Taylor's donation, they would be able to provide thousands of meals to families and individuals struggling with hunger.
There was no mention of the dollar amount, but they did stress that it was "a generous donation."
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour will be in Las Vegas tonight and Saturday night (3-24/25).
TL;DR:
Pinball designer Jack Danger revealed that the Foo Fighters couldn't be more pumped about the band's first-machines via Stern Pinball. Danger spoke to Billboard and shed light on how his love for the Foos and pinball coincided, explaining that the band's music followed him around his whole life: "There's me working at Subway making sandwiches (while listening to the Foo Fighters) and whenever a music game comes out it really speaks to fans of their music."
A Stern rep was quoted as saying the limited-edition version of the game -- 1,000 units at $12,999 -- has already sold out, but the premium machine at $9,699 and pro editions selling for $6,999 are still available. The machines feature such iconic Foo favorites as "All My Life," "Best Of You," "Breakout," "Everlong," "I'll Stick Around," "Learn To Fly," "Monkey Wrench," "My Hero," and "This Is a Call," among others.
Jack Danger admitted there was a point where the team was unsure whether to proceed after drummer Taylor Hawkins' sudden death: "There was a moment where we were like, 'do we keep moving forward with this?' But we decided to give them time to grieve and not bother them, but from a manufacturing standpoint we had to keep on the timeline." Ultimately all systems were a go with the band clearly thrilled with Stern and Danger's progress: "(There was)nothing but ‘'f***k yeahs left and right."
For more info on the Foo Fighters Stern pinball machines, log on to: https://sternpinball.com/game/foo-fighters/
Opening today (March 24th) in theaters in New York and L.A. on March 31st, is director John Scheinfeld's latest documentary, What The Hell Happened To Blood, Sweat & Tears? The film, which is already garnering an Oscar and Grammy buzz among industry insiders, is Scheinfeld's latest in a long line of docs, which include his celebrated looks at music's watershed talents, including The U.S. vs. John Lennon; Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?; and the John Coltrane doc, Chasing Trane, among others.
The new film, culled from footage shot in 1970 during the band's infamous tour behind the iron curtain, explains Blood, Sweat, & Tears' eventual fall from grace by the key players in the band at the time -- including leader and drummer Bobby Colomby, guitarist Steve Katz, and former-frontman David Clayton-Thomas, among their other legendary bandmates.
In short, in order to allow Canadian Clayton-Thomas to remain in the U.S. and be granted a green card, the band's management struck a deal with Richard Nixon's State Department to play Eastern Europe as part of a good will cultural offering. Upon returning to the States after blowing away the Eastern European crowds, the leftist counterculture slammed the band as being pawns on the wrong side of history as their star slowly faded -- especially after extolling the virtues of American life as opposed to some of the soul crushing scenes the band had witnessed overseas under Communist rule.
Drummer Bobby Colomby, who also co-wrote the score for the new doc, explained the bind the group was in and how they believed they had found the perfect solution to solve their frontman's immigration woes: "Our singer's green card was gone. We couldn't play in the United States without him having a green card. Someone or somebody -- it could have been the Immigration (Department), it could've been a right-wing congressman -- it could've been anything. Someone looked at his record and said, 'He's got a prison record -- no more green card.' It felt vindictive because he had had (a work visa) for so long and (it was) gone when we have Number One records. But when we went to (Eastern Europe), it was a quid pro quo in the purest sense. Somehow, the manager, he called -- or they called him -- and said something about the green card and 'We have a solution.'"
Ultimately, Colomby explained that the plan to save the band -- due to no fault of their own -- actually only caused it to unravel: "We probably wouldn't have taken any heat had it not been advertised by the State Department -- who was, by the way, pretty anti-Nixon. They were cool, they were nice, but you don't say 'State Department-Sponsored Tour.' The more they said that -- the uglier it sounded. It was all of a sudden, in a nutshell, (like) Sammy Davis (Jr.) hugging Nixon. That's what it was like and we're caught in this thing."
Blood, Sweat, & Tears are best remembered for their chart-topping 1968 self-titled second album, which boasted a trio of Top Two hit singles -- "You've Made Me So Very Happy," "Spinning Wheel," and "And When I Die." Blood, Sweat, & Tears went on to snag the coveted 1970 Grammy Award for Album Of The Year.
On April 21st, the soundtrack to What The Hell Happened To Blood, Sweat & Tears? will be released via Omnivore on CD and digitally. The film score, by Bobby Colomby and David Mann, will only be available digitally.
For theater information, log on to: https://www.bstdoc.com/watch
Just like any other American, Lizzo was summoned to jury duty, but after she posted about it on TikTok, she was dismissed.
She had been documenting the process of getting ready for the court, and posted that she was "really stressed about it." She was worried that her case might be "gruesome."
She even had her wardrobe picked out for court, which was her own clothing line.
Whether an official saw her posts, or someone realized that her high profile would be a distraction to the case, no one knows, but Lizzo was ultimately dismissed from her call to duty.
TL;DR:
Machine Gun Kelly and fiancé Megan Fox have paused their wedding plans. According to US magazine, sources say the two are on a break from each other.
Their current status was described as "pretty volatile," but they're communicating via text messages.
Rumors started when MGK showed up at a New Year's Eve party without her and then shortly after, there were stories of him cheating on her.
The couple got engaged just over a year ago, but never set a date for the ceremony.
TL;DR:
In an interview with Conan O'Brien, Chris Martin of Coldplay credited Bruce Springsteen for his eating habits. He says he skips the before-show meal because that's what The Boss does.
Martin explained that when Coldplay was in Philly, he had lunch with Bruce and wife /bandmate Patti Scialfa and realized that Bruce (his elder) was in better shape than he was. As they started talking about it, he found out that Bruce only ate one meal a day.
Martin says he now skips what would be dinner and doesn't eat after 4pm.
TL;DR:
It was 47 years ago Saturday (March 25th, 1976) that Paul McCartney released his seventh solo album -- and fifth Wings release -- Wings At The Speed Of Sound. The album, which was the former-Beatle's fifth chart-topper, hit Number One on April 24th, 1976 and spent seven non-consecutive weeks at the top spot while McCartney was back in the States on his sold-out Wings Over America tour.
The album's lead single, "Silly Love Songs" spent a whopping five weeks on top of the Top 40 charts. Its followup, "Let 'Em In," also achieved saturation airplay, peaking at Number Three.
Back in 2014 a super-deluxe edition of the album was released as part of the ongoing McCartney Archives Collection. The Wings At The Speed Of Sound set includes a 112-page hardbound book, and features several outtakes -- including the long-rumored version of "Beware My Love" featuring Led Zeppelin's John Bonham on drums along with a DVD featuring previously unreleased 1976 footage of Wings in Venice, a new behind the scenes edit from Wings' 1976 Wembley shows, as well as the original music video for "Silly Love Songs."
Although Wings was a massively successful band across the globe, they were especially big in America. Between 1971 and 1980 the band scored 13 Top 10 singles -- six of them chart-toppers; and eight Top 10 albums -- including five straight Number Ones, with the final chart-topper, 1976's Wings Over America, being a triple-record set.
We asked Paul McCartney why Wings landed so large in the States: "We did bigger tours over there, I think, really. Simple as that. The records sold very well and the concerts we did over there, inevitably, had bigger venues, so we saw more people, we played to more people."
McCartney's main musical foil throughout the Wings era was Moody Blues co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Denny Laine. Laine admitted that despite the band's success, being an active member of top act like Wings is hardly as easy as it looks: "Well, there's a lot of pressure on you when you're in a band like Wings -- to come up with the goods, to be continually working. It's not like taking it easy and taking it at your own pace. Y'know you're out there and you've got to do what the public expects you to."
It was 37 years ago today (March 24th, 1986) that the Rolling Stones released their fourth studio album of the 1980's, Dirty Work. The album, which was recorded during 1985 in the midst of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' slowly simmering cold war, saw the "Glimmer Twins" tracking their parts at different times, so as not to run into each other in the studio. Richards took exception that Jagger was more interested in promoting his 1985 solo debut, She's The Boss, than recording the new Stones album.
Dirty Work, which was co-produced by Jagger & Richards and Steve Lillywhite, was the band's first as part of their contract for CBS Records. It peaked at Number Four on both the U.S. and UK albums charts, but only spent a scant six weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. Dirty Work's lead single, a cover of Bob & Earl's 1963 hit "Harlem Shuffle," reached Number Five. Dirty Work holds the distinction of featuring the most number of co-written songs with guitarist Ron Wood -- a total of four.
Two other songs from Dirty Work are still regularly featured in the Stones' setlists -- Keith Richards' ballad "Sleep Tonight" and the Ron Wood co-write "One Hit (To The Body)." Among the high profile guests on Dirty Work were Jimmy Page, Bobby Womack, Jimmy Cliff, Anton Fig, Don Covay, Beverly D'Angelo, Kirsty MacColl, Patti Scialfa, and Tom Waits.
Noted Stones historian Bill German recalled that the tension in the band at that point stemmed from Mick Jagger blatantly putting his solo career before the Stones: "He didn't really wanna be there. He didn't really wanna be in the Stones at that point. Y'know, he was like the reluctant lead singer who had to contractually come in and sing the songs on Dirty Work. He really didn't wanna be there. Y'know, while they were recording Dirty Work, he was busy at the same time promoting his first solo album, She's The Boss."
Keith Richards told us that he's always had a soft spot for Dirty Work, which was overlooked in the wake of his and Jagger's late-'80s feud following Jagger's disinterest in recording and touring behind the album. Over 30 years on, it's clear to nearly everyone involved that Dirty Work planted the seeds for Richards' solo career: "Dirty Work for me was. . . I, I love the record and everything, but it was probably the most difficult one to make, because there was -- the tensions were all rising to the surface of whatever was going on. And I think it was probably Mick's and my frustration, really, just being in the Stones. But I wasn't, there was no way I was going to make the first move (laughs)."
Old friend, Jimmy Page supplied the distinctive lead work and solo on the album's lead track and second single, "One Hit (To The Body)." Shortly after the sessions, Page recalled the scene recording with the Stones: "It was a fantastic night, and the next night I was going to go down and put the solos on this thing, on their stuff, but when I got down there, Mick (Jagger) was there. I think it might've been some time since they've seen him prior to that. And he had just done a vocal on one of the numbers -- which is the one that I put some stuff on. Um, actually, at the time, I did bits and pieces on it and I don't really know now what, what I actually ended up (laughs) doing. Apparently, it's out and I'd really like to hear it, ‘cause I haven't (laughs)."
Mick Jagger credits a united professional front for the Stones' longevity over any fan's notion of a "brotherhood" with the rest of the band: "Relationships, for a long period, they go up and down, and sometimes they're good and sometimes they're not very good. Any internal, kind of, group of people always have varying groups of relationships with each other, so the dynamic changes. But, y'know, we sort of have common goals and so we try to get over the ups and downs and try and keep on the common goal."
Following the Dirty Work sessions, it would be four long years before the Rolling Stones would hit the studio again for 1989's Steel Wheels collection.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Beyonce and Adidas have mutually agreed to part ways.
2018, Beyoncé partnered with Adidas, where she relaunched Ivy Park and also developed new footwear and apparel for the brand. The outlet reports that there have been major creative differences between Ivy Park and Adidas and the "Break My Soul" singer is looking to maintain creative freedom.
It was 56 years ago Saturday (March 25th, 1967) that the Turtles' "Happy Together" began its three-week run at Number One. "Happy Together" was written by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon, who were members of the Boston area group the Magicians. The pair went on to write the group's follow-up single, "She'd Rather Be With Me" as well as Three Dog Night's "Celebrate."
"Happy Together," which knocked the Beatles' "Penny Lane" out from the top spot, has gone on to be featured in numerous TV shows, films and commercials, most recently for the Burger King chain.
Turtles' frontman Howard Kaylan says that he and group co-founder Mark Volman -- better known as Flo & Eddie -- made the right choice in deciding to battle for the group's trademark and ownership of their songs: "Because we went through the lawsuits back in the '60s and '70s with our label to regain our name and our credibility, and a little bit of self-esteem -- we were able several years later to actually win our name back, and the masters and the right to keep recording as the Turtles."
Kaylan told us that well after nearly-60 years in the business, he's happy with the way his life and career has turned out: "It's been a wonderful existence the way we've played the game. Y'know, if you really love the music and you really love the entire concept of rock n' roll and being a little slice of Americana, and adding your two cents to the tapestry, there's no better life in the world than the one that was chosen for us."
Throughout the years "Happy Together" has been covered by such artists as Dawn, the Captain & Tennille, Vikki Carr, Mel Torme, Petula Clark, Melba Moore, Donny Osmond, the Ventures, Percy Faith, and Frank Zappa, among others.
In 2013, Howard Kaylan published his memoir, called Shell Shocked: My Life With the Turtles, Flo And Eddie, And Frank Zappa, Etc.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band have just tagged eight stops onto their upcoming North American tours. Just added for the summer is a second night at Chicago's Wrigley Field set for August 11th, a second night at Foxborough, Massachusetts' Gillette Stadium on August 26th, and a third night at East Rutherford, New Jersey's MetLife Stadium for September 3rd.
A trio of makeup dates have been announced for the band's fall/winter arena run -- Uncasville, Connecticut on September 16th; Albany, New York on September 19th; and September 21st in Columbus, Ohio.
"The Boss" has also booked his first San Diego date since 1981 for December 2nd, along with a second night in San Francisco on December 10th.
Bruce Springsteen admitted that the shape of his concerts is constantly evolving in his mind throughout any given tour: "It's always a work in-progress. So, I'm laying in bed and I'm going, 'Okay, the other 35 nights, what did I play after 'The Promised Land? Well, what can I do in Belgium that's gonna be different tonight (laughs)?' So, on any given night, I know that these five songs work after this song and still keeps the narrative of what we're talking about intact."
UPDATED: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band tour dates (subject to change):
March 25 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
March 27 - Washington D.C. - Capital One Arena
March 29 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena
April 1 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
April 3 - Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
April 5 - Cleveland, OH - Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
April 7 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Arena
April 9, 11 - Belmont Park, NY - UBS Arena
April 14 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
August 9 - Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field
August 11 - Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field
August 16, 18 - Philadelphia, PA - Citizens Bank Park
August 24 - Foxborough, MA - Gillette Stadium
August 26 - Foxborough, MA - Gillette Stadium
August 28 - Washington, DC - Nationals Park
August 30 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium
September 1 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium
September 3 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium
September 7 - Syracuse, NY - JMA Wireless Dome
September 9 - Baltimore, MD - Oriole Park at Camden Yards
September 12 - Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena
September 16 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena *** rescheduled
September 19 - Albany, NY - MVP Arena *** rescheduled
September 21 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena *** rescheduled
November 3 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
November 6 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
November 8 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome
November 10 - Winnipeg, MB - Canada Life Centre
November 14, 16 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
November 18 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Centre
November 20 - Montreal, QC - Centre Bell
November 30 - Phoenix, AZ - Footprint Center
December 2 - San Diego, CA - Pechanga Arena
December 4, 6 - Inglewood, CA - Kia Forum
December 8 - San Francisco, CA - Chase Center
December 10 - San Francisco, CA - Chase Center
Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" had a break from chart-topping, but is back for its seventh week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It held a six consecutive week stretch before taking a break from the top spot for a couple of weeks.
The song is also #1 on the Radio Songs chart and #2 on Streaming Songs and the second leading seller on the Digital Songs Sales chart.
TL;DR:
12 a.m.-5 a.m.
