Lewis Capaldi wants people to stop telling him he looks like older women.
A TikToker commented on the "Someone You Loved" singer's New Year's Eve performance at the BBC's Hogmanay celebration with, "Lewis, my dad saw you on TV and thought you were Susan Boyle."
In response, Capaldi posted a video with the caption, "I dreamed a dream that ppl stopped telling me i looked like women in their 60s."
Taylor Swift's cat is the third richest pet in the world.
According to The Ultimate Pet Rich List, the singer's beloved feline, Olivia Benson, is worth $97 million.
The website notes that the cat is much more than just an Instagram influencer. According to the outlet, "The Scottish Fold earned her fortune starring alongside her owner in several music videos, has crafted her own merchandise line, and has had cameos in many big-budget ads, including for the likes of Diet Coke and Ned Sneakers."
The top two pets on the list are The Gunther Corporation's German Shepherd, Gunther VI, and premium catfood owner Nala Cat.
BillieEilish is officially in the "PPC."
While appearing on the latest episode of the Office Ladies podcast, the "Bad Guy" singer recreated "the first-ever party planning committee" scene from season one of The Office with cast members Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fisher.
Eilish took on the role of Phyllis and nailed the delivery, causing Fisher to exclaim, "You're officially in the PPC (party planning committee!"
Slipknot drummer -- and son of the "Mighty" Max Weinberg -- Jay Weinberg took to social media to praise Bruce Springsteeen and the rest of the E Street Band. Back in 2009, Jay floored Springsteen fans when he sat in for his dad during most of the E Street Band's European leg while Max stayed in L.A. to help kick off Conan O'Brien's ill-fated run of hosting NBC's The Tonight Show. Jay stayed on, performing partial sets during Springsteen's U.S. run -- and at some shows, he alternated with his dad.
Jay took time out to pay tribute to the E Streeters as they gear up for their upcoming 2023 tour kickoff, posting in part on Instagram: "I'm so stoked that it's only ONE MONTH until I see my E Street family play for the first time in six years! I've said it often, but I'm eternally grateful to @springsteen, @mightymaxweinberg, and the entire E Street Band for taking a shot in the dark on me when I was 18 years old -- to undertake the no-times-in-a-lifetime opportunity of filling in for my father."
He went on to write, "Far more than learning several hundred songs and performing for close to four hours every night, it was the E Street work ethic that made an indelible impression on me. A vertical learning curve that left me with life lessons and a skill set I've applied to everything I've ever done since. Each day on tour, Bruce would hand me a list of five new songs to learn on the way to the venue to rehearse at soundcheck. Two or three of them would likely make their way into the set that night. Rock the house, head to the next city, and repeat."
Jay added, "Observing how these titans of rock and roll dedicate themselves to their craft -- constantly refining, sharpening, and growing after almost 50 years -- is still so inspiring, and will stay with me for the rest of my life. Thrilled to watch them resume throwing down onstage in a month."
Back in 2009, Bruce Springsteen's pianist Roy Bittan told us during the initial E Street Band rehearsals the was nothing short of amazed at the power and talent of Jay Weinberg: "Jay, who's 18-years-old -- this kid is brilliant. He's a brilliant drummer and also spent hours upon hours studying the songs and learning it, and observing and watching Bruce, and talking to his dad. Max gave him a lot of instruction as to how to follow Bruce during the show, y'know? And has just done an incredible, incredible job. I mean the kid is one of the most brilliant drummers I've seen -- certainly at his age."
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band kick off their 2023 tour dates on February 1st in Tampa, Florida at Amalie Arena.
It was 56 years ago today (January 4th, 1967) that the Doors released its groundbreaking and iconic self-titled debut album. The album, which hit Number Two on the Billboard 200 albums chart, featured such instant classics as "Break On Through (To The Other Side)," "Soul Kitchen" "The Crystal Ship, "Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)," "The End" -- and the band's first of two chart-toppers, "Light My Fire."
On July 29th, 1967, "Light My Fire" began its three-week run at Number One, launching the Southern Californian Doors internationally and immortalizing the band's iconic frontman, Jim Morrison. Although the 2:52 single version of the track, which was edited from the 7:02 album version, was created specifically for the AM market -- many stations decided to spin the full version with keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger's sprawling solos. Upon its initial release, the Doors' "Light My Fire" sold over a million copies and scored Elektra Records its first Number One single.
When the group performed "Light My Fire" on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 17th, 1967, they were asked to change the line "girl we couldn't get much higher." The band agreed, but when they went onstage, Morrison went ahead and sang the line anyway. In 2017, in commemoration of its 50th anniversary, a new 45 r.p.m. single was reissued with the song's original B-side, "The Crystal Ship."
The song, which ended the Association's month-long dominance of the Billboard Hot 100 with the soft pop of "Windy," was ultimately knocked out of the top spot by the Beatles' own classic "Summer Of Love" anthem, "All You Need Is Love."
Robby Krieger recalled how the band-credited "Light My Fire" came to be composed, telling Billboard's Fred Bronson, "Ray had the idea for the opening, part, which was the real hook. Jim helped me out on some of the lyrics. . . and the beat was John (Densmore's) idea."
"Light My Fire" was is ranked Number 35 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1968, newcomer Jose Feliciano's ballad version of the song topped out at Number Three and snagged him the 1969 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and helped earn him the award for Best New Artist.
2016 saw the release of The Doors: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. The collection is packaged in a 12-inch by 12-inch hardcover book, along with a newly remastered version of the album's original stereo mix -- and for the first time on CD -- the album's original mono mix.
In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked The Doors 42nd on the magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. To date, the album has sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone.
In 2015, the Library of Congress announced The Doors would be included in its National Recording Registry.
We asked drummer John Densmore to recall the earliest days of the Doors before he, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and the legendary Jim Morrison had become household names: "Ray and I were listening really carefully to each other, 'cause his left hand was the bass. So, Ray and I kind of laid down the bed for Jim and Robby to float on top of. And then we get a record deal and that's another stage; but really, I would say, when we started playing small concert halls, second bill, or something -- out of the clubs -- I thought, 'Oh my God. . . I'm gonna make a living and this is gonna. . . this train is leavin' the station!' That's really almost more exciting as playing Madison Square Garden, because it's this dream coming true, y'know?"
Guitarist Robby Krieger says that looking back, the Doors' short time together was relatively free of ego problems or star trips: "It was really, like, the perfect group, y'know, as far as working together and stuff. There was no ego problems, y'know, and petty jealousies and stuff like that that a lot of groups go through."
Shortly before his death in 2013, Ray Manzarek told us that whether they liked it or not, the Doors ended up being spokesmen for their generation: "There was a war in Vietnam and, y'know, that had to be stopped, and we were gonna try to clean up the environment, and do all those good things that hippies were trying to do. And everyone was angry, man, so, y'know, we tried to make the music as hard and as powerful and as exciting as possible. And when you got Jim Morrison as your lead singer, well, y'know, that's an extra plus. So that's what it was all about."
In 1968, while the Doors were on tour in Europe, Jim Morrison spoke about the type of music he'd like to see the band tackle: "I'd like to do a song, or a piece of music that's just a pure expression of joy. Like, a celebration of existence. Y'know, the coming of spring, or, like, the sun rising, or something like that. Just pure unbounded joy, y'know? I don't really think we've done that yet."
Iggy Pop revealed he was offered the frontman gig in AC/DC following the 1980 death of the band's lead singer, Bon Scott. Pop told The New York Times, "They had a manager many years ago, when I hadn't reformed the Stooges, I hadn't moved to England. And this guy said, 'Are you interested in joining AC/DC?' They were looking for a singer."
Pop revealed that he felt that although he was into the band, he couldn't see him and the band gelling creatively: "I listened to their record. I thought, I can't fit that bill. I wasn't, like, 'Ugh, I don't like them.' It was quite well made. They do careful work, but I'm not what they needed."
Iggy Pop recalled meeting Bon Scott once in 1977 at L.A.'s Whisky A Go Go: "I had some wonderful encounter with Bon somewhere, and we were both drunk and stoned. I see pictures sometimes. I go, I don't remember, but that's me with Bon. I loved what he did."
Over the decades, Iggy Pop has garnered his fair share of good and bad press. Ultimately, he told us he's happy with any positive feedback he gets for his music, regardless of where it comes from: "It's always good when you hear from somebody that they like your stuff and they've got a little gleam in their eye, and frankly, it doesn't really matter too much whether it's the guy at the gas station or the guy in the (Red Hot) Chili Peppers."
Iggy Pop releases his latest album, Every Loser, produced by Andrew Watt, on Friday (January 6th).
Metallica's 1991 classic, "Enter Sandman" has been streamed over one billion times on Spotify. The "Black Album" favorite is the 28th song to pass the billion download mark.
Loudwire posted, "Metallica now joins the ranks AC/DC ('Highway To Hell,' 'Back In Black,' 'Thunderstruck'), Arctic Monkeys ('Do I Wanna Know?'), Bon Jovi ('Livin' On A Prayer'), Fleetwood Mac ('Dreams'), Journey ('Don't Stop Believin''), Linkin Park ('In The End' and 'Numb'), Lynyrd Skynyrd ('Sweet Home Alabama'), Maneskin ('Beggin''), Nirvana ('Smells Like Teen Spirit'), Oasis ('Wonderwall'), Panic! at the Disco ('High Hopes'), Queen ('Bohemian Rhapsody,' 'Don't Stop Me Now,' 'Another One Bites the Dust' and 'Under Pressure'), Radiohead ('Creep'), Red Hot Chili Peppers ('Under The Bridge' and 'Californication'), the Killers ('Mr. Brightside'), the Police ('Every Breath You Take'), the White Stripes ('Seven Nation Army'), and Twenty One Pilots ('Stressed Out,' 'Ride' and 'Heathens')."
"Enter Sandman" was the lead single pulled from Metallica's self-titled fifth album, known as the "Black Album," and has gone to become a staple of the band's concerts as well as rock and classic rock radio. Former bassist Jason Newsted admitted to us he wasn't sure about the song at first: "To me, it didn't register until we played it in front of people, really. I mean, I knew the radio liked it and all that kind of thing, but until you're right there and the crowd is louder than the PA, doing that thing, that's how you find out, is by everybody clapping along to it and singing along to it. That's how you get to know you've succeeded."
'80s rock icon Billy Idol will be honored with the first star of 2023 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this Thursday, January 5th at 11: 30 a.m. PST. Guest speakers will include Henry Rollins and artist and skateboarder Shepard Fairey. The event will take place at 6212 Hollywood Boulevard -- in front of Amoeba Records -- and will be streamed live exclusively at walkoffame.com.
According to the announcement, Idol, whose star is the 2,743rd on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, will be awarded his star in the category of "Recording."
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has hosted the famed Hollywood Walk of Fame since 1960, with the honorees selected by a committee of their peers. Sponsors fund the star, the ceremony and the maintenance of the legendary attraction. The Walk of Fame is free to all. To learn more and find your favorite stars, visit walkoffame.com.
Billy Idol told us that his live show is specifically built to be a fan pleaser: ["It's a lot of fun and I mean, we've got a lot of up-tempo music. I mean, people know a lot of the songs well -- 'Rebel Yell,' 'Dancing With Myself,' 'White Wedding.' But we've also got the other side of things, which are 'Flesh For Fantasy's,' or the 'Eyes Without A Face's' and a lot of the known songs that people know and love."] SOUNDCUE (:19 OC: . . . know and love)
Billy Idol will next perform on March 30th in Scottsdale, Arizona at The Rock Yard during Arizona Bike Week.
Britney Spears is planning to sell the home she and husband Sam Asghari purchased last summer.
TMZ reports that the couple is looking to unload the 11,650 sq. foot home in Calabasas that they purchased for $11.8 million back in June 2022. According to the outlet, the “Toxic” singer hasn’t fall in in love with the new home and is planning on selling it in 2023.
Spears also owns the Thousand Oaks mansion that often appears in the background of most of her Instagram videos. She purchased the residence in 2015 for $7.5 million.
Courtney Love maintains that by not allowing Brad Pitt to star in a Kurt Cobain biopic, it cost her a role in Fight Club. Love shared the details during her recent appearance on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, explaining how she was originally slated to portray the female lead in David Fincher's 1999 classic.
Love claims she was fired from the movie after a fight with Pitt, who wanted to portray Cobain in Gus Van Zant's movie Lost Days, the 2005 Cobain biopic which Love, the Cobain estate -- and ultimately, Brad Pitt -- were not involved in.
Courtney Love took to Instagram to speak out further on the incident, writing:
Hi. Regarding a story I told on the Marc Maron WTF podcast. A story I was never going to tell. Brad pushed me a bridge too far. I don't like the way he does business or wields his power. It's a simple fact, and it started during the production of Fight Club.
I understand how much a game of roulette casting is. I am not here 22 years later bitching about losing a part playing someone's side piece in a movie. On the podcast, I recount the day Brad & Gus Van Sant called me for lunch and tried to blackmail me over my role, for the rights to a film about Kurt. I lost my s*** on them, and by 7pm I was fired from Fight Club.
Every word of this is factual. This was always a secret I was fine keeping. It's a movie. Indeed, I passed on better roles than that. Who cares? The point is Brad kept on stalking me about Kurt.
Love went on to post that as recently as 2020, she and Brad Pitt had another discussion about a Kurt Cobain film:
It's because I'm in recovery. And resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. I was over being mad about it. Plus, I heard Pitt was dealing with the same demons. So, we might both have changed our spiritual world views. Not to be.
It's not just the Zoom I had with Brad in 2020 where I said no to @planbfilms & Brad producing it. It's that I said NO on the Zoom and that was not enough, and I was not heard. I was ignored. I had no plans to bring it up with Marc Maron but it came up. I told the story because I felt Pitt would not stop pursuing Kurt - unless I said it in public.
An unamed source told The Hollywood Reporter, that Courtney Love only auditioned for Fight Club -- and was never hired to act in the movie, claiming it was, "A role she was never offered at any point. . . You cannot be fired for a job you didn’t get. It’s common knowledge that roles are not decided by other actors but by the director."
Brett Morgen, who directed the 2015 Kurt Cobain documentary Montage Of Heck -- which was made with the cooperation of the Cobain family -- told us he has no patience for the Cobain murder theorists ["It's basically criminal, what they've done. It's made it very difficult for the family to grieve, and this is really just a couple of people who've gotten their seeds onto young, impressionable folks and it's pathetic. I mean, it really is. And if anyone out there thinks they're a Kurt Cobain fan and participates with these people, they are s***ting on Kurt's family, particularly his daughter."] SOUNDCUE (:22 OC: . . . particularly his daughter)
Selena Gomez rang in the New Year with friends Brooklyn Peltz Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham.
The Only Murders In The Building star shared pics on Instagram Monday (January 2nd) and wrote “Fine calls us a throuple #foreverplusone.”
Another post from their celebration shows Gomez and the Chippendales star in matching metallic silver dresses from Valentino.
It wouldn't be a new year without a string of new America tour dates popping up, with leaders Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell tagging nine new stops onto the band's 2023 itinerary. As it stands now, America kicks things off on January 12th in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania at the Luhrs Center and has just posted new shows in the South, Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast.
Dewey Bunnell told us that over the years on the road, the band has learned to run a tight ship both on and off the stage: ["We've grown up on the road and we know what we're supposed to be doing. The live show's matured. You take your responsibility a little more seriously. You have to take care of your voice. We wanna be able to do those songs justice every night. You don't wanna let down the team, I think we all appreciate that."] SOUNDCUE (:15 OC: . . . all appreciate that)
Gerry Beckley told us that the group tries to include all of America's best loved songs in their nightly setlist: ["It's all of those songs that make up the show, y'know, make up the experience. It really does turn into a 'Oh, I forgot they did that song' kind of an evening.'"] SOUNDCUE (:09 OC: . . . kind of evening)
UPDATED: America tour dates (subject to change):
January 12 - Shippensburg, PA - Luhrs Center
January 14 - Tysons, VA - Capital One Hall
January 19 - Sarasota, FL - Van Wezel PAC
January 20 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
January 27 - Brookville, NY - Tilles Center for Performing Arts
February 2 - Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre
February 3 - Robinsonville, MS - Bluesville at Horseshoe
February 8 - Modesto, CA - Gallo - Center For The Arts
February 10 - Indio, CA - Fantasy Springs Resort Casino
February 14 - St Charles, IL - Arcada Theatre
February 15 - Des Plaines, IL - The Des Plaines Theatre
February 17, 18 - Collingswood, NJ - Scottish Rite Auditorium
February 23 - Melbourne, FL - King Center For The Performing Arts
February 24 - Pompano Beach, FL - Pompano Beach Amphitheatre
March 3 - New Brunswick, NJ - State Theatre New Jersey
March 4 - Englewood, NJ - Bergen PAC
March 11 - Rochester, NY - Kodak Center
March 16 - Canton, OH - Canton Palace Theatre
March 17 - Warren, MI - Andiamo Celebrity Showroom
April 27 - Wabash, IN - Honeywell Center Ford Theater
June 14 - Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere
June 16 - Jim Thorpe, PA - Penns Peak
June 30 - Ridgefield, CT - The Ridgefield Playhouse
August 18 - Plymouth, MA - Plymouth Memorial Hall
August 19 - Lowell, MA - Lowell Memorial Auditorium
Bad Bunny is under fire for throwing a fan’s phone.
Footage obtained by TMZ shows the “Un Verano Sin Ti” creator chucking a female fan’s phone into the water after she shoved it in his face, looking for a photo.
He tweeted Monday (January 2nd), “The person who comes up to me to say hello, to tell me something, or just to meet me, will always receive my attention and respect. Those who come to put a phone bastard in my face I will consider it for what it is, a lack of respect and I will treat it likewise.”
Happy Birthday to the great Stephen Stills, who celebrates his 78th birthday today (January 3rd). The two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will forever be remembered for his legendary work with Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills, & Nash; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Manassas, and on his own. Stills last grabbed headlines for his string of sold-out shows with former girlfriend Judy Collins, along with the pair's critically acclaimed 2017 joint album, Everybody Knows. In recent years, Stills successfully rebounded from prostate cancer.
Aside from his brilliant ability to play nearly every instrument he's ever touched, Stills is above and beyond one of the key songwriters of his generation as well as a groundbreaking acoustic and electric guitarist. His songs came to help define his times starting with the Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and "Bluebird," CSN and CSNY's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," "Helplessly Hoping," "49 Bye-Byes," "You Don't Have To Cry," "Wooden Ships," "Carry On," "4+20," "Dark Star," "See The Changes," "Southern Cross" -- along with his signature solo anthem, "Love The One You're With."
Stephen Stills told us that his musical style comes from studying three distinct genres: ["My sense of syncopation comes from two places; the first is seeing the night time Zulu parades with the full Indians in their headdresses in New Orleans from the night before Mardi Gras -- I think I was six. And the other is growing up surrounded by salsa when I was a teenager. And also my best friend and I discovered real old blues. And so those three come together and it's where my feet are planted."] SOUNDCUE (:27 OC. . . feet are planted)
Graham Nash recalls being amazed at Stephen Stills' pure musical ability when he, Stills, and David Crosby were recording CSN's debut album: ["Stephen was amazing on that first record -- because he played most of the instruments. Me and David played rhythm guitar on our songs -- but the rest was Stephen. Stephen played electric guitar, he played rhythm guitar, he played bass, he played (Hammond) B-3 organ, he played piano, he played percussion (laughs). That's one of the reasons we got Neil (Young), I mean who can do all that live on stage yourself? So we had to get somebody else to play 'em."] SOUNDCUE (:22 OC: . . . to play 'em)
Over the recent years, Stills has slowly been working on his autobiography. When we last caught up to the singer/songwriter we asked him if he's happy with the way the memoir is progressing: ["Yes. I started it 10 years ago and then realized it was premature. My writing skills are pretty good. I finally got a completely dedicated computer to it. I finally at that point where I'm just writing vignettes and stories, and. . . but I'm looking for a thread that's gonna make this worthwhile. Y'know, not just a summation of a ghostwriter's interview."] SOUNDCUE (:28 OC: . . . a ghostwriter's interview)
Apart from all of her amazing accomplishments, Judy Collins will never not be known and beloved as the muse for Stephen Stills' masterpiece, "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." Collins revealed to us that the song remains truly a snapshot of her and Stills' relationship at that exact moment: ["There are a lot of lines with what was going on in my life and his. And, y'know, in that sense, it's pretty (laughs). . . it has some reality in it that's unmistakable. I mean, he was on the West Coast -- I was on the East Coast. He hated New York and therapy and I was in both -- and you can hear it in the song. I was with a bunch of therapists that didn't believe in dating one person, so you hear -- 'Tuesdays and Saturdays.' That's, that's from real life. That's not made up. But, I heard the song originally when he came to sing it to me to try to get me back (laughs)."] SOUNDCUE (:36 OC: . . . get me back (laughs))
In 2013, Stephen Stills along with old friend and keyboardist Barry Goldberg, and blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd formed the Rides, releasing two albums -- that year's Can't Get Enough and 2016's Pierced Arrow -- and hitting the road behind both sets.
Stills told us that he made sure that the Rides avoided the pitfalls that seem to plague bands getting together from different environments to make music. He explained the ground rules for a successful collaboration in the studio: ["If we have one rule, besides 'be on time -- please,' and 'quit early -- please,' is that all of those considerations and debates that bands have, can we dispense with that, please? And check your ego at the door. And we're gonna sit down and get in a circle and play. And it's going to evolve naturally. So, we recorded very, very old school. Analog tape -- two-inch tape. The amplifiers with top notch microphones on them and there's bleed and stuff, which can get problematical, but everything worked."] SOUNDCUE (:33 OC: . . . but everything worked)
Stephen Stills says that ultimately his music's longevity is the greatest honor for him as a musician: ["There's a great honor in having this music last so long and continue to transport people. It's amazing to me."] SOUNDCUE (:10 OC: . . . amazing to me)
It was 53 years ago today (January 3rd, 1970) that the Beatles recorded their final song together. Three of the four Beatles -- Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr -- gathered at London's Abbey Road studios to complete Harrison's tune "I Me Mine" for the group's Let It Be soundtrack. While it wasn't publicly known, John Lennon had quit the group the previous September. Although aware of the session, Lennon was vacationing with wife Yoko Ono in Denmark and declined to take part. The song "I Me Mine" was written by Harrison in late-1968 about the ongoing personality clashes within the group. Harrison, McCartney, and Starr can be seen running through the song in the Let It Be film while Lennon waltzes around the rehearsal stage with Yoko. "I Me Mine" was never officially recorded during the Let It Be or the Abbey Road sessions from later that year, so when the decision was made that the song was to be included in the Let It Be film, the band re-grouped to record the track.
The January 3rd session lasted from 2:30 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. the following morning. Sixteen takes were laid down of "I Me Mine," featuring Harrison on acoustic and lead vocal, McCartney on bass, and Starr on drums. Backing vocals, Hammond Organ and electric piano from McCartney and a lead guitar by Harrison were added toward the end of the session. After the 12th take, Harrison led the group through an impromptu run-through of Buddy Holly's 1959 hit "Peggy Sue Got Married," which has yet to be released.
Amazingly, on June 18th, 2000 -- in celebration of Paul McCartney's 78th birthday -- the George Harrison estate posted a photo of Harrison and McCartney playing acoustic guitars during the January 3rd, 1970 final Beatles session.
The original mix of the song topped out at only one minute and 34 seconds. When producer Phil Spector was brought in to "re-produce" the Let It Be album, he added a brass ensemble and re-edited the song to stretch it out to two minutes and 25 seconds. The original undubbed short version can be found on the Beatles' Anthology 3 album.
Although overdubs for the Let It Be album stretched on until March, this was the last time the Beatles entered a recording studio to record new material prior to their official breakup on April 10th, 1970.
Paul McCartney says that both fans and the press have incorrectly pegged him as the villain in the "Fab Four" breakup: ["Wrong, wrong, sorry. It wasn't me. It was John. What actually happened was: The group was getting very tense; it was looking like we were breaking up. One day we had a meeting, I came in and it was all Apple and business and Allen Klein and it was getting very hairy and no one was really enjoying themselves. It was. . . we'd forgotten the music bit -- it was just business. I came in one day, and I said, 'I think we should get back on the road -- small band, go and do the clubs, sod it, let's get back to square one, let's remember what we're all about. Let's get back.' And John's actual words were, 'I think you're daft. And I wasn't gonna tell ya, I'm breaking the group up.' He said, 'It feels good -- it feels like a divorce.' And he just sat there and our jaws just dropped."] SOUNDCUE (:37 OC: . . . jaws just dropped)
"I Me Mine" was the final Harrison song to ever appear on a new Beatles album. Nearly five months to the day of recording the tune, Harrison returned to Abbey Road Studios with Phil Spector to record a series of demos which marked the first session for All Things Must Past, his first solo album following the band's split.
In 1995, Harrison said that it was liberating to finally get his songs released: ["I was allowed to do my two, or one or two, songs on Beatle albums, and I had a backlog of songs. When I did All Things Must Pass, it was just good to get 'em out of the way."] SOUNDCUE (:09 OC: . . . of the way)
It wasn't until February 11th, 1994 that Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr regrouped again, when they gathered at McCartney's home studio to begin work on the first Beatles "reunion" song, "Free As A Bird," for their Anthology project.
Twenty One Pilots’ Scaled and Icy era is over.
The band’s 2021 record was “created and born in a time of uncertainty,” when touring was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Frontman Tyler Joseph wrote on Instagram, “we always wrote songs for the show, never the other way around. but i always wondered what it would be like to write a record that never existed in a concert setting. then we had no choice but to write that kind of record. so that’s what we tried.”
The “Heathens” singer added, “71 shows and 14 countries later, scaled and icy became something different. the lyrics meant something different, something more, the colors found their purpose, the chords rubbed together differently. the record came to life. it was confirmed: this band and these specific songs needed live music.”
After thanking the band’s crew, Joseph announced, “and that concludes ψ (Scaled and Icy trident symbol.)”
Miley Cyrus rang in the new year with the announcement that her latest single, “Flowers” will drop on January 13th.
While hosting Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, a promo aired showing the “Prisoner" singer wearing a gold mini dress while a snippet of the forthcoming track played. Clips posted to Instagram Sunday (January 1st) bore the caption, “NEW YEAR, NEW MILEY, NEW SINGLE. FLOWERS JANUARY 13.”
According to a press release, more announcements will be coming from the singer this week.
Steven Tyler is facing a lawsuit in Los Angeles accusing the Aerosmith frontman of "sexual assault, coercion of an abortion and involuntary infamy in the 1970s when (the plaintiff) was a minor and he was in his mid-20's." Julia Misley, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, filed the suit on December 27th under the California Child Victims Act, "which allows survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil cases." The three-year "lookback" window for the cases ended this past December 31st.
In a statement she said, quote, "I want this action to expose an industry that protects celebrity offenders, to cleanse and hold accountable an industry that both exploited and allowed me to be exploited for years, along with so many other naïve and vulnerable kids and adults."
CNN reported, "The lawsuit alleges that (in 1973) Tyler, now 74, took Misley to his hotel room and 'performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon her that night. . . Tyler purchased a plane ticket for Misley to join him in Seattle for the band’s next show. The lawsuit alleges Misley was also abused after that show. . . According to the lawsuit, in 1974, Tyler convinced Misley’s mother to 'sign over the guardianship of her daughter to him.' Tyler made promises to the mother that he would enroll her in school, help support her and help provide her with better medical care than her mother could provide, according to the lawsuit. . . Defendant Doe 1 did not meaningfully follow through on these promises and instead continued to travel with, assault and provide alcohol and drugs to plaintiff."
In addition to the alleged assault, Misley's lawsuit claims that Tyler has "intentionally publicized the acts he perpetrated" in multiple publications that detailed the assaults, including Tyler's 2011 memoir, Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?, in which he wrote about being so enamored with an underage lover he 'almost took a teen bride,' whom the singer does not specifically name."
In the book, Tyler wrote: "I went and slept at her parents’ house for a couple of nights and her parents fell in love with me, signed papers over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state. I took her on tour with me."
In her statement, Misley claimed, "The publications re-traumatized her and her family" adding, "I am grateful for this new opportunity to take action and be heard." Steven Tyler has yet to publicly comment on the lawsuit.
David Lee Roth took time out to salute his partner, the late, great Eddie Van Halen. During the most recent episode of his The Roth Show podcast, "Diamond Dave" spoke frankly and lovingly about the creative partnership that drove Van Halen for its first decade: ["My dear departed Ed. Boy, I miss him. I had a ball with Ed. Walt Disney once said, 'Y'know what? My love affair with Mickey Mouse was better than any love affair with a woman I ever had.' And, he was true blue -- he was not a philanderer, or whatever. I've gotta tell ya, playing with Ed, writing songs with Ed, presenting those songs with Ed was better than any love affair I ever had. And some of those songs, I think, might last forever -- or until 'the last syllable of time,' like Shakespeare said. They became anthems."] SOUNDCUE (:29 OC: . . . they became anthems)
Regarding Eddie Van Halen composing the synthesizer riff for "Jump" -- Van Halen's sole chart-topper and signature song, David Lee Roth admitted he couldn't see how the lick could fit within Van Halen's musical makeup: ["Where are they playing 'Jump' right now? I remember when he played it on the keyboard downstairs. I said, 'No.' (Laughter) We reflect the time and the times at that times (sic) was guitars, guitars, guitars -- and 'Jump' was one of those hybrids. It's like the first time Volkswagen shows up -- 'Is it cool?' Today, nothing could possibly be more cool than that lowered '66 VW bug out in my garage right now."] SOUNDCUE (:25 OC: . . . garage right now)
SARA BAREILLES IS ENGAGED: Sara Bareilles is engaged. The Girls5Eva star announced on Instagram Sunday (January 1st) that she plans to marry Mare of Easttown actor Joe Tippett. The “Love Song” singer wrote, “The more I know you the more I know I love you…and you have introduced me to parts of myself I was afraid to love. And now I love ME more because of you.”
JISOO TO RELEASE SOLO ALBUM THIS YEAR: Jisoo is planning to release her first solo album this year. The BLACKPINK singer told a fan on Weverse Saturday (December 31st), “Please wait for Jisoo’s solo album in 2023.”
It was 54 years ago today (January 2nd, 1969), that the Beatles' began their second-to-last project together, the movie and album, which was eventually released as Let It Be. The film and resulting music, which was shot and recorded throughout January 1969, was originally intended to be a TV special featuring the group rehearsing for their first live show in over two years. The early rehearsals captured the group, along with John Lennon's soon-to-be wife Yoko Ono, clearly bored, with only Paul McCartney showing any real enthusiasm for the new material. The first part of the film shows the strain of the early morning sessions held in a cavernous soundstage at London's Twickenham film studios.
Among the songs featured in the film are "Let It Be," "Get Back," "Don't Let Me Down," "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," "For You Blue," "Octopus' Garden," "I Me Mine," "Across The Universe," and "The Long And Winding Road," and covers of "Besame Mucho," "Shake, Rattle And Roll," and "Kansas City," among many others.
The Beatles' late-producer George Martin recalled that the Let It Be project held great promise in the beginning: ["They were going through a very, very revolutionary period at that time. And they were trying to think of something new. They did actually come up with a very good idea, which I thought was well worth working on; The wanted to write an album completely and rehearse it and then perform it in front of a large audience -- and for that to be a live album of new material. And we started rehearsing down at Twickenham film studios, and I went along with them."] SOUNDCUE (:26 OC: . . . along with them)
George Harrison, who was the least invested member of the band in regards to returning to the stage, recalled the band's initial plan: ["I think the original idea was to rehearse some new songs, and then we were going to pick a location and record the album of the songs in a concert. I suppose kinda like they do these days on Unplugged, except, y'know, it wasn't to be unplugged. It was to do a live album."] SOUNDCUE (:20 OC: . . . a live album)
The tracklisting to the Let It Be album is: "Two Of Us," "Dig A Pony," "Across The Universe," "I Me Mine," "Dig It," "Let It Be," "Maggie Mae," "I've Got A Feeling," "One After 909," "The Long And Winding Road," "For You Blue," and "Get Back."
The tension between the group is palpable, especially during the sequence where George Harrison and McCartney argue over Harrison's playing on the song "Two Of Us."
The movie lightens up considerably during the second half, when the filming moved to the group's new Apple Studios, with the addition of keyboardist Billy Preston. A major highlight of the film is the final sequence, when the Beatles play in impromptu set on the Apple headquarters rooftop, featuring "Get Back," "Dig A Pony," "I've Got A Feeling," "Don't Let Me Down," and "One After 909." Filmed on January 30th, 1969, it would be the band's final public performance.
Reviews for the film, which was released in May 1970 -- a month after the group's breakup -- were mixed, citing the sluggish and depressing nature of the film, as well as director Michael Lindsay-Hogg's sloppy editorial choices. But across the board, both critics and fans agreed on the power of the group's triumphant rooftop set.
In 1970, John Lennon recalled the early part of the Let It Be project, in which the band was filmed rehearsing in the cavernous Twickenham studio, which was the size of a small airplane hanger: ["It was just a dreadful, dreadful feeling being filmed all the time. I just wanted them to go away. And we'd be there at eight in the morning and you couldn't make music at eight in the morning, or 10, or whatever it was . . . in a strange place with people filming you and colored lights."] SOUNDCUE (:14 OC: . . . and colored lights)
Paul McCartney explained that unconsciously, the Beatles were actually telling the world that they were breaking up: ["In fact what happened was when we got in there we showed how the breakup of a group works because we didn't realize that we were actually breaking up, y'know as it was happening."] SOUNDCUE (:10 OC: . . . it was happening)
Author Ritchie Unterberger chronicled the prolonged Get Back/Let It Be sessions in his book, titled The Unreleased Beatles: ["They had bitten off more than they could chew. Y'know, even before they assembled in January, the idea was, 'Let's get back to playing as a live band' -- pretty good idea. But then it was, 'Let's make it an album and a film, and we're going to make the album a film of us doing a concert of songs we've never recorded before.' It's kind of like trying to do too much at once. And then you're recording it -- the comparison I made in the book is kind of Nixon's 'The Watergate Tapes,' you have no idea that this stuff is going to comeback to haunt you forever."] SOUNDCUE (:27 OC: . . . haunt you forever)
Beatlefan magazine's executive editor Al Sussman saw the film within days of its premiere and was left speechless by the group's live swan song: ["It was really depressing. But, what made it worthwhile was the rooftop, y'know? Because when I left that theater, I was this far off the ground. Despite the fact that we knew everything that happened afterward. Yeah, that saves the film."] SOUNDCUE (:14 OC: . . . saves the film)
George Martin said that he felt betrayed by Lennon and Harrison when they enlisted Phil Spector to rework the Let It Be tapes prior to their eventual release: ["When the record came to be issued, EMI rang me up and said, 'They don't want your name on the record. It'll be 'Produced by Phil Spector.' I said, 'But I produced all the original stuff that they worked on.' I said, 'I'm not having that. Why don't you put on it, 'Produced by George Martin, over-produced by Phil Spector?' But they didn't seem to go for that."] SOUNDCUE (:18 OC: . . . go for that)
The Let It Be album marks the only Beatles album to house three Number One songs -- albeit in different mixes to their single counterparts: "Get Back," "Let It Be," and the group's last chart-topper, "The Long And Winding Road."
Let It Be earned the Beatles their only Academy Award, when they won the 1970 Oscar for Best Original Song Score. The film was briefly available on VHS in 1981 -- but is still not yet available on DVD.
FAST FORWARD
Beatles fans were besides themselves with the long-awaited release of Peter Jackson's The Beatles - Get Back documentary. The three-part series rolled out over three days, November 25th, 26th, and 27th, 2021, exclusively on Disney+. All told, the complete running time for all three parts came out to a staggering near-eight hours of never-before-seen coverage of "The Fab Four" at work, which is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
The new doc forever changes history in that the band's Let It Be sessions -- seen in a much wider scope than the 90-minute original film from 1970, showcasing the "Fab Four" not at loggerheads -- but joyfully collaborating while producing new, solid music.
We caught up with Ringo Starr and he explained why the Get Back film bests the long out-of-print Let It Be movie: ["On the roof was seven minutes, eight minutes-long. On the roof with Peter is 43 minutes long (laughs). . . that’s. . . Y’know, it’s about the music -- and a lot of joy. Y’know, I didn’t feel any joy in the original documentary. The fact that we found 56 hours of unused video tells you everything, really. And I said -- ‘There’s lots of laughter (in that footage) -- I was there! We were laughin’, we were having fun. We were playin’, y’know, we were doin’ what we do. It’s full of fun.' I mean, there was a lot of joy in makin’ those records.”] SOUNDCUE (:32 OC: . . . makin’ those records)
At the doc's L.A. premiere, George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison admitted that the quality of the Get Back footage, mixed with the intimacy of the subject matter was nothing less than mind-blowing for him: ["When you see Peter (Jackson's) footage all res'd up. . . Me and my mom first saw John singing and I was, like, 'John had gold teeth?' (Laughter) Something you don't think of. Y'know, you see him singing and you can see he's got a gold crown."] SOUNDCUE (:11 OC: . . . a gold crown)
At the London premiere of Get Back, Ringo Starr's son and Who drummer for the past 25 years, Zak Starkey, spoke about his dad and the original 1970 Let It Be movie: ["He's the greatest living rock n' roll drummer-- and that's it with my dad. And he's better now than he was then. Let It Be was withdrawn wasn't it? That was a great movie. It's very dark and heavy, but it's a great movie. Y'know, there are four guys that know the truth and one of them's not me."] SOUNDCUE (:13 OC: . . . them's not me)
Last September, the Beatles won big at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for The Beatles: Get Back documentary. The critically acclaimed doc snagged the awards for Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program for Jackson, Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Series, Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera), and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera).
Interestingly, with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr sharing in the win as co-producers of Get Back -- both surviving members of the "Fab Four" are just one Tony Award away from achieving EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status.
Foo Fighters have issued a statement on what the future holds for them without Taylor Hawkins. They posted via social media, "As we say goodbye to the most difficult and tragic year that our band has ever known, we are reminded of how thankful we are for the people that we love and cherish most, and for the loved ones who are no longer with us."
The band continued, "Foo Fighters were formed 27 years ago to represent the healing power of music and a continuation of life. And for the past 27 years our fans have built a worldwide community, a devoted support system that has helped us all get through the darkest of times together. A place to share our joy and our pain, our hopes and fears, and to join in a chorus of life together through music. Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were—and without Taylor, we know that we're going to be a different band going forward.
The band added, "We also know that you, the fans, meant as much to Taylor as he meant to you. And we know that when we see you again—and we will soon—he'll be there in spirit with all of us every night."
Harry Styles mom, Ann Twist is happy to have him home for the holidays.
On her Instagram page, she posted photos and as you flip through them, you'll see the family all together. A selfie shows her with Harry, his sister Gemma Styles and Gemma's longtime boyfriend Michal Mlynowski grinning ear to ear with their arms around one another.
"Christmas 2022," she captioned the series of four photos along with a smiley face, Christmas tree and red heart emoji. The slideshow shows off her holiday decorations and cozy fireplace, and the Christmas Day feast.
Styles is wrapping up a big year with wins including: album of the year at the 2022 MTV VMAs and six nominations for the upcoming 2023 Grammy Awards.
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