Pulse Music

TAYLOR SWIFT GUITAR TO BE AUCTIONED FOR CHARITY: Raven's Drum Foundation is auctioning off a Taylor Swift-signed guitar. The group's 12 Drummers Drumming auction runs through December 12th and is raising money for veterans and first responders who are dealing with PTSD, Trauma and suicidal ideation.

BLACKPINK IS TIME'S 'ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR': BLACKPINK has been named Time's "Entertainer of the Year." This year the all-girl K-pop group performed at the VMAs, kicked off a 27-city world tour, and dropped their sophomore album. As for what's next, Jennie told the outlet, "My No. 1 rule is not to look ahead, and enjoy every day, because it gets too overwhelming once we start planning a year ahead, two years ahead,"

It was 57 years ago today (December 6th, 1965) that the Beatles released their groundbreaking sixth album, Rubber Soul in America. Also released in conjunction to the album was the band's first official "double A-sided" single, "We Can Work It Out" backed with "Day Tripper. Rubber Soul featured a staring of instant classics, including "Michelle" -- which scored the band the 1967 Grammy for Song Of The Year despite it never being released by the band as a single -- "In My Life," "Drive My Car," "Nowhere Man," "Girl," "I'm Looking Through You," and "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"-- for which George Harrison is often credited for introducing world music into rock by contributing the song's signature sitar part.

In the U.S. "Drive My Car," "Nowhere Man," the John Lennon-Paul McCartney-Ringo Starr-written "What Goes On," and "If I Needed Someone" were left off Rubber Soul and replaced with the Help! holdovers "I've Just Seen A Face" and "It's Only Love." Rubber Soul marks the first time an outtake from a prior album was included on a new project, with "Wait" originally recorded during the previous spring's Help! sessions but left unissued.

Much the same way Paul McCartney credits the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds as being the inspiration for Sgt. Pepper, Brian Wilson credits Rubber Soul for inspiring Pet Sounds. Rubber Soul was the final album to feature Norman Smith as the Beatles' engineer. He was promoted at EMI Records to producer status and went on to work with Pink Floyd. Save for a few instances, Geoff Emerick went on to be the group's primary engineer until their split.

The album is unique for several reasons; Paul McCartney played slide guitar on "Drive My Car," Ringo Starr made his keyboard debut playing the organ on "I'm Looking Through You," and the album was the first to feature McCartney playing his solid-bodied Rickenbacker 4001 bass, rather than his signature Hofner "violin" bass.

On January 8th, 1966 Rubber Soul hit Number One on the Billboard 200 albums chart, holding down the top spot for six weeks. That same day, "We Can Work It Out" knocked Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound Of Silence" out from Number One for the first of three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. "Day Tripper" peaked at Number Five -- marking the group's 26th Top 40 hit in only two years.

Paul McCartney recalled how the band came to title the album Rubber Soul: "The title Rubber Soul was, kind of 'Hey man, it's got soul -- 'lotta soul, 'lotta soul, that music' -- it was a spoof on that, y'know, seemed nice and amusing, very us -- y'know, very whacky."

Most notably on Rubber Soul was George Harrison's use of the indian stringed instrument, the sitar, on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)." The use of the instrument, which went on to inspire an Eastern music renaissance in pop, coincided with Harrison's new-found spiritual quest.

Harrison's first wife, Pattie Boyd, told us that his infatuation with Hinduism, spiritual topics, and Indian music was his attempt to seek out the "bigger picture": "He had a bit of difficulty understanding why he -- this little boy from Liverpool -- had been selected to be so famous. And he didn't understand the fame and he thought that maybe Eastern philosophy could give him some sort of idea or clue as to why he had been chosen."

Shortly before his 2016 death, George Martin touched upon how as the Beatles gradually lost interest in live performance, their creative life in the studio grew by leaps and bounds: "Oh yeah, they were becoming quite original. The thing is, though, they were eternally curious. They wanted to find new ways of doing what they were doing -- new harmonies, new endings of songs, and that kind of thing. They would always want to look beyond the horizon."

During the filming of Let It Be on January 14th, 1969, John Lennon spoke about only becoming conscious of what his songs are about after the fact: "The songs, I mean, you're vaguely aware if you sing something it's gonna go 'round all over the world, but you can't get into that while you're writing a song. It's a job writing a song, and you're doing it, and you're involved in it, and then sometimes you don't realize what you've written 'til after you've recorded it, or even a year later, y'know? I hear old records of ours and see things on different levels."

Very early on during the Beatles' touring days, George Harrison was dubbed the "Quiet Beatle." Although Harrison was known to be just as hysterical, raucous, and vocal about issues as the rest of the group, he explained back in 1965, the demeanor took hold when dealing with the often vapid press covering the Beatles: "Well, I think I'm more quiet than the others because I got fed up before the others of all these questions, like, 'What color teeth have you got?' (Laughter) And all, just stupid questions you have no interest in any longer. And I think everybody -- well all fans, I think they all know what color eyes we've got and what we drink for breakfast and all that. And they don't want to know that anymore. So, I just shut up until someone asks me something worth answering."

During the Beatles' final tour in 1966 they only included three Rubber Soul-era songs in their setlist -- "Nowhere Man," "If I Needed Someone," and "Day Tripper."

Over the years, the songs of Rubber Soul have lived on through the solo Beatles concerts, with George Harrison performing "If I Needed Someone" during his 1991 tour of Japan; Ringo Starr frequently includes "What Goes On" in his All Starr Band shows; and Paul McCartney has tackled "Drive My Car," "You Won't See Me," "Michelle," "I've Just Seen A Face," "I'm Looking Through You," "The Word," "We Can Work It Out," and "Day Tripper" in his various world tours.

Sadly, legendary Beatles photographer Robert Freeman died on November 7th, 2019 at age 82. Freeman, who served as the band's unofficial photographer between 1963 and 1966, shot five of the band's album covers -- 1963's With The Beatles -- for which he was paid 75 British pounds, three times the usual fee, 1964's A Hard Day's Night and Beatles For Sale, and 1965's Help! and Rubber Soul.

In 1995's The Beatles Anthology Paul McCartney recalled how Robert Freeman came up with the groundbreaking cover for Rubber Soul: "He had a little carousel of slides and he had a little piece of cardboard stuck up on a little chair that was album cover size, and he was projecting the photographs onto it. 'Cause you could imagine exactly how it'd look then, as an album cover. We'd just chosen the photo, we said, 'That one looks good,' we all liked ourselves in one particular shot. And he was just winding up when the card it was on just fell backwards a little bit, and it elongated the photo and it stretched. And we went, 'Oh! Can we have that?! Can you do it like that?!' He said, 'Well yeah, I can print it like that. . .' We said, 'Yeah, that's it -- Rubber Soul -- heh-hey!"

It was 53 years ago today (December 6th, 1969) that the Rolling Stones held their ill-fated free concert at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, California. The bill, which also included Santana, the Jefferson Airplane, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, is mainly remembered for the violence instigated by the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, whom the Stones had hired as security -- and the murder of concert-goer Meredith Hunter by Hells Angel Alan Passaro. Passaro was later acquitted of the stabbing after claiming he acted in self-defense.

The Stones' Madison Square Garden shows and the Altamont event were filmed by filmmakers Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, and assisted by George Lucas, among others. The film was released in 1970 as Gimme Shelter.

At the New York City press conference on November 26th, 1969, Mick Jagger said he thought that the free Northern California concert would follow in the footsteps of the Woodstock festival, in terms of how people would get along: (Mick Jagger): We are doing a free concert in San Francisco. . . (Reporter): When? (Mick Jagger): December 6th -- and the location is not Golden Gate Park, unfortunately, but it someplace adjacent to it which is a bit larger. . . It's creating a sort of a microcosmic society, y'know, which, it sets an example to the rest of America as to how one can behave in large gatherings."

Keith Richards, who had opted to spend the previous night at the raceway concert grounds, hanging out and partying with fans, revealed the moment he knew things were going to go south with the event: "When I got a bad vibe about it was when I saw the condition of the Angels. Now, I can tell these guys are on acid and ripple wine. And they're already (wasted) in the early afternoon. They're startin' to get antsy. These guys were out there just lookin' for trouble."

Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen (pronounced: YOR-ma COW-co-nen) said that his only thought was to keep playing after he saw lead singer Marty Balin get punched in the face by one of the Hell's Angels: "I remember thinking that -- of course, if you look at the footage, Jack (Casady) and Spencer (Dryden) and I pretty much keep on playing -- I remember thinking at the time, 'I'm just gonna keep playing and see what happens.'"

Shortly before his death in 2018, Marty Balin looked back at Altamont and described to us the fight scene between him and the Hell's Angles that took place while the band performed "The Other Side Of This Life": "I was singin,' I open my eyes, and they're beating this guy in front of me in (front of) the stage with these pool cues. About 10 of 'em around this guy and the whole crowd, en masse, just kind of stepped back. And that pissed me off and I just leap off the stage and I start pushing these Hell's Angels back: 'You're ruining my set,' y'know, and they. . . (imitates drunken Hell's Angel) 'Hey Marty, whaddaya doing man, you should be up there singing, and y'know. . . ' -- I said, 'Nobody's listening to me, get away from me,' y'know? And so, they quit and I got back onstage and I started to sing again, the same opening, y'know? And behind me, they're fighting this guy again. And so, I said, well, nobody's paying any attention to what I'm doing at all, y'know, so I went back and their leader -- the guy with the wolf's head, y'know, he was there. So, him and I started punchin' it out, y'know. And then bam -- I blacked out. They knocked me out, y'know? And I woke up, I had all these boot tattoos all over my body, y'know? I left, went home. I told everybody, I says, 'Forget it. I'm outta here.'"

The Rolling Stones had dealt with the Hells Angels before, when the London chapter showed up in force the previous July during the Stones' legendary free concert at Hyde Park. The late-Charlie Watts recalled the subtle difference between them and the bikers that turned up at Altamont: "Except that these were actual, proper Hells Angels (laughs). It was a bit like asking the Nazi party to sort out the front of the auditorium."

The show's low standing stage eventually became overcrowded with fans and Angels alike. The Stones' tour manager Sam Cutler pleaded with the people to give the musicians room to play: "There are a number of people on and around this stage who should not be here. Consequently. . . consequently the musicians on this stage are playing with something like 200 people breathing down their necks. Now can I please ask that everyone leaves the stage, and as I say we'll go back to playing music and nothing else."

Both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards sought to get the crowd in line so that the Stones could play their set: "(Mick Jagger): People, who's fighting and what for?! Why are we fighting?! Why are we fighting?! We don't want to fight! Come on! Who wants to fight? (crowd noise) Every other scene has been cool. . . (Keith Richards): Look, cat. . . That guy there, if he doesn't stop it man! Listen man, either those cats cool it, or we don't play! (crowd noise). (Hell's Angel): Hey, if y'don't cool it, y'ain't gonna hear no music! Now y'all wanna go home or what?! (Crowd noise) (Announcer): We need doctors down here now please. Can we have a doctor now to the front? (Crowd noise)

Although the Grateful Dead were scheduled to play, they refused to take the stage in the middle of what was obviously a very ugly situation unfolding. Drummer Bill Kreutzmann says that the scene at Altamont was as tragic in real life as it appears in the Gimme Shelter footage: "Yeah, it was horrible. It was a war. It felt really uncomfortable. It was a dark day. It was so dark that that night, we were playing that weekend for Bill Graham at the Carousel, and I refused to play that night, I was feeling so bad about what had happened that day. I didn't feel like going and celebrating it musically."

In 1972, during a chat with Dick Cavett while back in the States on tour with the Stones, Bill Wyman was asked about Altamont: "I'd sooner forget about it. It was just a very unfortunate thing. It was the last show of a tour. Y'know, we weren't going to do it. It was just a free concert that was set up a few days before and I mean . . . There was 300,000 people there. It was only 30 people fighting. Almost all the audience never even saw it. Didn't even know it was going on, y'know?"

In May 1970, while on tour with the Grateful Dead in Europe, Jerry Garcia took time out to compare and contrast the previous year's era-defining concerts: "With Woodstock and Altamont, the same situations were prevailing. It was free -- essentially -- and it was also completely without control of any sort. Y'know, there were no police. There's no way you can realistically control that size, really. You can't expect to. The way I saw it, both of those situations were being, like, two sides of the same coin. It's like two ways that that kind of expression can go; y'know, a huge number of people and no rules. And one of the ways, obviously it can go is a terrible bummer -- like Altamont, and one of the other ways is into an immensely joyful scene -- like Woodstock."

Although only a handful of songs from the concert were shown in Gimme Shelter -- giving the appearance that the show was cut short due to the unruly crowd and violence -- the band actually performed a full 15-song set -- including the world premiere of "Brown Sugar."

The Stones' full setlist at the Altamont concert was: "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Carol," "Sympathy For The Devil," "The Sun Is Shining," "Stray Cat Blues," "Love In Vain," "Under My Thumb," "Brown Sugar," "Midnight Rambler," "Live With Me," "Gimme Shelter," "Little Queenie," "Satisfaction," "Honky Tonk Women," and "Street Fighting Man."

Out now is Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert 40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set. The set features three CD's and one DVD, with the first disc including the full 1970 Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out album, and the second disc including five additional cuts left off the original set. The third disc features performances from Ike & Tina Turner and B.B. King who served as the Stones' opening acts on November 27th and 28th, 1969 at New York's Madison Square Garden.

In August 2015, Keith Richards recalled the Altamont Speedway concert, during an appearance on Britain's Absolute Radio. Richards remembered the band being extremely on edge as the crowds started to surge, due to the continuous scuffles between the fans and the bikers: "I don't know if it was scary, it was just like, 'Wow you have got to do something about this before it turns into a full scale riot. We handled it the best way we could. Basically I just stopped playing and it happened to work. . . As events turned out security wasn't what it should be."

Although Meredeth Hunter was killed only yards away from the band, the show went on -- mainly, as the Stones have said over the years -- because more violence would've occurred had they quit. Richards explained: "We didn't know the cat was dead or anything, but we saw what was going on. . . It was a matter of 'quick do something, and distract people from the Hells Angels.'"

In 2016, renown rock writer Joel Selvin published the definitive account of the 1969 concert, titled, Altamont: The Rolling Stones, The Hells Angels, And The Inside Story Of Rock's Darkest Day.

2018 saw the publication of author Saul Austerlitz's Just A Shot Away: Peace, Love, And Tragedy With The Rolling Stones At Altamont.

Axl Rose took to social media on Friday (December 2nd) to announced that he's done throwing his mic into the audience after a woman was reportedly seriously injured.

Billboard reported that during Guns N' Roses' November 29th concert in Adelaide, Australia at the Adelaide Oval, a concertgoer named Rebecca Howe suffered two blackened eyes and a "busted nose."

Axl Rose tweeted a message to fans, which reads in full:

It's come to my attention that a fan may have been hurt at our show in Adelaide, Australia, possibly being hit by the microphone at the end of the show when I traditionally toss the mic to the fans. If true, obviously we don't want anyone getting hurt or to somehow in any way hurt anyone at our shows anywhere.

Having tossed the mic at the end of r shows for over 30 years we always felt it was a known part of the very end of r performance that fans wanted and were aware of to have an opportunity to catch the mic.

Regardless in the interest of public safety from now we'll refrain from tossing the mic or anything to the fans during or at r performances.

Unfortunately there are those that for their own reasons chose to frame their reporting regarding this subject in a more negative n' irresponsible out of nowhere light which couldn't be farther from reality. We hope the public and of course fans get that sometimes happens.

A BIG THANKS to everyone for understanding.

IN OTHER GNR NEWS

Guns N' Roses have taken legal action against an online weapon store named Texas Guns and Roses. The band filed suit on December 1st in Los Angeles Federal Court citing the website is attempting to "con" fans into thinking the band is associated with the business and is suing for an undisclosed sum.

CNS reported, "The lawsuit alleges that Texas company Jersey Village Florist operates the online store texasgunsandroses.com -- selling firearms, ammunition, scopes and body armor through the mail -- 'without GNR's approval, license or consent.' The plaintiffs allege that Jersey Village Florist 'selected and adopted defendant's marks for the purpose of confusing consumers into believing that it was connected or associated with, or licensed by, GNR.'"

The legal brief, which cites the band's partners as Axl Rose, Saul "Slash" Hudson, and Michael "Duff" McKagan, goes on to explain: "This is particularly damaging to GNR given the nature of defendant's business. GNR, quite reasonably, does not want to be associated with defendant, a firearms and weapons retailer. Furthermore, defendant espouses political views related to the regulation and control of firearms and weapons on the website that may be polarizing to many U.S. consumers." (CNS)

Demi Lovato is working on new music.

The singer shared a TikTok Saturday (December 3rd) that showed the text, "When your getting back in the studio" and used the popular, "Here the f**k we go" audio."

Lovato dropped their eighth studio album, Holy Fvck, on August 19th which was hailed as return to their rock-influenced roots.

Taylor Swift fans are suing Ticketmaster over the recent Eras Tour ticketing sale.

According to a complaint viewed by Pitchfork, the Plaintiffs are suing Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation for "fraud, price-fixing, and antitrust violations," alleging that "intentional deception" allowed scalpers to buy the majority of tickets.

The complaint also names L.A. County – where Live Nation is Located – and asks the court to fine the company $2,500 per violation of fraud, price -fixing and antitrust.

A scaled-back and primarily acoustic Who performed on Friday night (December 2nd) as part of 90th birthday salute to legendary artist, Peter Blake. Blake, who is considered the "Godfather" of pop art, is perhaps best known for designing the cover of the Beatles' groundbreaking 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, among countless other albums and projects -- including the Who's iconic 1981 cover for Face Dances -- and most recently, 2019's WHO. Proceeds from the performance at London's Royal Festival Hall went to towards the Who's patron charity Teenage Cancer Trust and Graeae Theatre Company.

The Who performed a seven-song set, featuring Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend on acoustic and electric guitars, with the pair accompanied by Townshend's brother and longtime bandmate Simon Townshend on acoustic guitar, touring bassist Jon Button, longtime Who associates Jody Linscott on percussion and Billy Nicholls on backing vocals. Also appearing at the event was the Pretenders' Chrissie Hyde, Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, and others.

Townshend and Daltrey took part in a brief discussion on stage during the latter part of the concert.

During his and Roger Daltrey's brief chat during Friday night's tribute, Pete Townshend spoke about how Peter Blake revolutionary use of color inspired him in the mid-1960's: "Peter will remember this, I can't remember which magazine it was. But I think it was the Sunday Times cover supplement. It had a piece about pop art, I pulled out all of the sheets and I had it all up in my bedroom. Very, very colorful, wonderful stuff that I still love to this day."

The Who's setlist on Saturday night in London was:

"Substitute"
"The Seeker"
"Tattoo"
"Behind Blue Eyes"
"The Kids Are Alright"
"Pinball Wizard"
"Won't Get Fooled Again" - Daltrey & Townshend only

The Who will again perform acoustically on December 13th at London's St. Luke's Church in London. All proceeds from the show will benefit Nordoff Robbins and the music therapies it supplies to challenged children.

Could it be possible that Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears have made up?

The "Toxic" singer publicly congratulated her sister on her upcoming reality show and referred to her as her "heart" on Friday (December 2nd).

The elder Spears wrote, "Congratulations on being so brave, inspiring, and showing guts and glory in your show!!! You ain't alone… if anybody knows what that feels like… I get it. My baby sister!!! I love you!!!"

Britney previously called Jamie Lynn "scum" and accused her of writing a tell-all book at her expense.

Charlie Puth made his relationship with Brooke Sasone Instagram official on his 31st birthday.

The pop star shared two strips of photo booth snaps featuring himself and the stylish brunette Friday (December 2nd). Although he did not tag her in the post, Billboard reports Internet sleuths were able to identify Sasone after she reposted the image to her Stories.

He captioned the post with the lyrics from his song "Loser," "Ohhhhh I'm NOT a loser…'cause I didn't lose her!!!"

Kanye West has reportedly fired Milo Yiannopoulos from his 2024 presidential campaign team after rumored infighting in the camp. According to The Daily Beast, although reports are circulating that Yiannopoulos was fired, he told journalist Will Sommer that he actually decided to exit Kanye's campaign team. He said, "Ye and I have come to the mutual conclusion that I should step away from his political team. I will continue to pray for Ye and all his endeavors."

An insider in Ye's entourage said that the rapper's team is in chaos. The source said, "It's like Game of Thrones, and every day is the Red Wedding." There are also allegations that Yiannopoulos was fired after attempting to make some power "move against" Nick Fuentes who he has allegedly budded heads with on the campaign trail. Yiannopoulos has denied these reports, saying, "Any suggestion that I tried to get anyone fired is false—especially not people I brought in myself, who owe me their gratitude, loyalty, and respect."

PRESIDENT BIDEN: 'HITLER WAS A DEMONIC FIGURE'

In other news, President Biden has responded to Ye's praise of Adolph Hitler. He tweeted, "I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure." He added, "And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity."

George Thorogood & The Destroyers have announced their 50th anniversary tour. After kicking off the year in February with a five-night run aboard the Rock Legends Cruise, Thorogood and the band launch their "Bad All Over The World Tour" on March 17th and 18th in Lincoln City, Oregon at Chinook Winds Casino Resort. As it stands now, the tour will run through May 17th when the band hits Niagara Falls, Ontario's Fallsview Casino Resort. Additional cities will be announced soon.

The trek, which will see Thorogood playing his first Canadian dates in over three years, will hit British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and Manitoba.

Thorogood said in the band's tour announcement: "From that very first show, we've stayed true to ourselves and the music we love. We've decided to celebrate our first half-century by throwing the biggest and baddest rock party ever."

George Thorogood told us that the secret to his continued success over the years simply amounts to delivering a quality product at a fair market price: "A good cheeseburger will never go out of style. Some things come and go -- you drive by a 7-Eleven, or a liquor store; one sign that's always in the window is Budweiser. Not Dom Perignon -- Budweiser. So I figure George Thorogood and the Destroyers are the Chevy, Chevy Suburbans and double cheeseburgers and Budweiser of America. And that's not a Sh Na Na thing, it's just something people can depend on that doesn't cost a lot of money!"

JUST ANNOUNCED: George Thorogood & The Destroyers' 2023 tour dates (subject to change):

February 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 - -Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Rock Legends Cruise
March 17, 18 - Lincoln City, OR -Chinook Winds Casino Resort
March 19 - Airway Heights, WA - Northern Quest Resort & Casino
March 21 - Redding, CA - Redding Civic Auditorium
March 22 - Santa Rosa, CA - Luther Burbank Center for the Arts.
March 24 - Highland, CA - Yaamava' Resort & Casino
March 25 - Las Vegas, NV - Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort
April 27, 28 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
April 29 - Penticton, BC - Trade and Convention Centre
April 30 - Prince George, BC - CN Centre
May 2 - Grand Prairie, AB - Bonnetts Energy Centre
May 4 - Edmonton, AB - The Venue at River Cree
May 5 - Calgary, AB - Grey Eagle Resort & Casino Event Centre
May 6 - Regina, SK - Casino Regina
May 8 - Saskatoon, SK - TCU Place
May 9 - Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre
May 12 - Sudbury, ON - Sudbury Arena
May 13 - Peterborough, ON - Peterborough Memorial Centre
May 14 - Montreal, QB - MTelus
May 16 - Kitchener, ON- Centre in the Square
May 17 - Niagara Falls, ON - Fallsview Casino Resort

Two hours before show time, Aerosmith canceled their concert Friday night (December 2) in Las Vegas due to Steven Tyler "feeling unwell." According to a statement from the band, he was "unable to perform," but is expected to make a full recovery for tonight's show (Monday 12-5). Specifics of his illness were not revealed.

Aerosmith apologized for the last minute notice and offered refunds, but many fans posted their dismay as they had planned expensive trips to Vegas to see the show.

In June, the band canceled dates after Tyler entered a treatment program and stated that he had relapsed on pain medication following foot surgery.

Most recently, Aerosmith celebrated their 50^th anniversary with a concert at Boston's Fenway Park.

TL;DR:

• Two hours before show time, Aerosmith canceled their concert due to Steven Tyler "feeling unwell."
• According to a statement from the band, he was "unable to perform," but is expected to make a full recovery.

It was 46 years ago this week (December 4th to 10th, 1976), that Boston's self-titled debut album peaked at Number Three on the Billboard 200 albums chart, where it stayed for five weeks. Since then, nearly every song from the album continues to receive heavy airplay on classic rock radio -- most notably the album's lead single, "More Than A Feeling," along with "Peace Of Mind," "Foreplay/Long Time," "Rock And Roll Band," "Smokin'," and "Hitch A Ride." Since its August 25th, 1976 release, Boston has sold over 17 million copies.

Boston's guitarist/songwriter/producer Tom Scholz credits the group's late-lead singer Brad Delp as the key to their global success: "He and I were the ones, y'know, that put most of those tracks on the albums. Y'know, I did the instruments, mostly, and he did the singing. That was the key. That's what we did in the demos -- I mean, other than the drum track -- and that's what worked. We basically did that on the albums and we certainly had some contributions from people along the way. But in my mind, y'know, none of them would've been successful without Brad's voice on them. I don't think there would've been a Boston today if he hadn't been the singer."

30 years after Boston's release, Tom Scholz finally got the chance to properly remaster the album and its 1978 followup, Don't Look Back, for CD: "I've always wanted to fix the sound on these CD's. I was really happy with the way those albums sounded back in the '70s on vinyl and tape, but I never liked the way they sounded after they were transferred to 16-bit CD's. This gave me the opportunity to, sort of, bring those mixes into the 21st Century."

Tom Scholz was the main force behind the Boston album, writing the songs and recording most of the instrumental parts at his home studio. He told us creating the album doesn't seem all that long ago to him: "The amazing thing to me is nothing seems to have changed with me -- I still have the same equipment in the studio, the same guitars, (laughs) the same everything. I do feel like, sometimes, like I'm sort of in a time warp and I don't change, but the rest of the world is sort of changing around me."

Boston lead singer Brad Delp committed suicide on March 9th, 2007 at the age of 55.

Boston remains a busy touring act with the band's sixth album, called, Love, Life, And Hope, having been released in 2013.

Darius Rucker is set to headline the inaugural Showdown Lex, a festival that pairs college football and live music.

The October 2023 event will precedes the game between UK and Mizzou in Lexington, Ky. Halfway to Hazard will open and a special guest will be announced later.

Tickets are on sale now and two dollars from each one sold will be donated to the Kentucky Children's Hospital.

Parmalee earned the #1 spot on Billboard's Year-End Country Airplay Chart with their single "Take My Name." Over the past year, it stayed in the Top 10 for 21 weeks.

Co-written by lead singer, Matt Thomas, the song has 259 million on-demand streams and is currently in the top 25 on Mediabase Hot AC Chart and Billboard's Adult Pop Airplay Chart.

"Take My Name" proceeds the band's current single "Girl In Mine," which is now in the Top 40.

For the second consecutive year, a British artist tops the year-end Billboard Global 200 songs chart.

Last year it was Dua Lipa, this year it's Harry Styles with the help of his record breaking single, "As It Was." The song spent 15-weeks at #1. And that's not all… Over-all, it spent 20 weeks in the top 2 slots and 29 weeks inside the top 5.

The rest of the Billboard Global 200 top 10 includes Ed Sheeran (twice), GAYLE, and Adele, plus collaborations from Elton John and Dua Lipa, The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber, Imagine Dragons and JID, as well as The Weeknd and Ariana Grande.

TL;DR:

The music world and beyond have posted loving tributes to the late-Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter-keyboardist Christine McVie. McVie, who had turned 79 back in July, died on Wednesday, November 30th, following a short illness.

Longtime collaborator and bandmate Lindsey Buckingham posted a handwritten note to Instagram paying tribute to McVie.

The note reads, "Christine McVie's sudden passing is profoundly heartbreaking. Not only were she and I part of the magical family of Fleetwood Mac, to me Christine was a musical comrade, a friend, a soul mate, a sister. For over four decades, we helped each other create a beautiful body of work and a lasting legacy that continues to resonate today. I feel very lucky to have known her. Though she will be deeply missed, her spirit will live on through that body of work and that legacy."

Back in 1998 during Fleetwood Mac's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, presenter Sheryl Crow reflected in glowing terms on McVie's influence on her: "Christine McVie made it cool to be the piano player in the band. She showed me that it's not about being 'pretty good' for a 'chick' -- it's about being great. She showed me that a driving rock song could be written on the piano. The first time I heard her sing 'Spare Me A Little,' I was blown away, and I still have the same reaction to it when I revisit that song today."

When we last crossed paths with her, Christine McVie admitted to us that as the years rolled by, she had instinctively become the greatest editor of her material: "I've never been a really prolific songwriter. I don't write millions and millions of songs. I write when I know there's a project coming up or when I. . . It's not something that I must do all the time, every day, every day. . . So, when I do come up with a song -- when I do write a song -- for me, it has to be special; y'know, otherwise I'll throw it out before it gets anywhere near being finished. If I don't like the chords and I don't like the way it's going, then I'll drop it."

CHRISTINE McVIE REMEMBERED

President Bill Clinton wrote: "I'm saddened by the passing of Christine McVie. 'Don't Stop' was my '92 campaign theme song -- it perfectly captured the mood of a nation eager for better days. I'm grateful to Christine & Fleetwood Mac for entrusting us with such a meaningful song. I will miss her."

The Eagles wrote: "We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Christine McVie. Hers was a vibrant, soulful spirit, and her music was, and will remain, a gift to the world. We had the utmost admiration and respect for Christine. We send our heartfelt condolences to her family, her bandmates, and her legions of fans."

Brian Wilson wrote: "It's so sad to hear about Christine. A wonderful singer and songwriter. She will be missed but her music will last forever. Love & Mercy to Christine's family."

Mike Love wrote: "Shocked and saddened by Christine McVie's passing. We'll miss you Christine."

Carole King wrote: "With love and respect. R.I.P. Christine McVie."

Pattie Boyd wrote: "Such sad news of the passing of Chris McVie. Rod and I knew her well. Hugely talented girl. Sending love and prayers to her family and the extended FM family x"

Bob Seger wrote: "As a singer, songwriter and keyboard player, Christine was an undeniable talent, responsible for so much of the success of the great rock band Fleetwood Mac. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and the band in this difficult time."

Dave Davies wrote: "I'm really upset about Christine McVie a very underrated and talented woman. A great talent"

The Doors wrote: "Rest in peace rock n' roll icon Christine McVie, singer and songwriter for Fleetwood Mac. McVie helped shape the sound of the '70s alongside her counterparts in Fleetwood Mac."

Ann Wilson wrote: "Christine was a gem. Soulful, classy and a beautiful songwriter. 'Over My Head' was always my sultry, angelic favorite. Bon Voyage sweet soul."

Sheryl Crow wrote: "I am so sad to hear of Christine McVie going on to heaven. The world feels weird without her here. What a legend and an icon and an amazing human being. RIP"

Paul Stanley wrote: "How Very, Very Sad. Those songs. That voice. She truly was the Songbird."

Aerosmith's Tom Hamilton wrote: "RIP Christine McVie. Left us too soon. What a songwriter! Never met her but always heard she was a good person. Must be a sad day for John."

Duran Duran wrote: "So so sad to hear about Christine McVie an artist I held dear and close to my heart. One of the greatest all time songwriters, singers, and band members, she radiated both purity and sass in equal measure, bringing light to the music of the 70s. RIP."

Bryan Adams wrote: "RIP Christine McVie. Thanks for the music"

Bette Midler wrote: "Christine McVie has left us. What memories, what joy, and what a legacy…"

Susanna Hoffs wrote: "Peace and love, Christine McVie."

Diane Warren wrote: "Well this is some pretty sad s***ty news. Always loved her. Always loved her songs. Sing in power Christine"

Belinda Carlisle wrote: "Oh no. The voice of an angel. RIP Forever loved."

David Coverdale wrote: "A Beautiful Soul."

Garbage wrote: "Gutted to learn about the passing of Christine McVie. Just gutted. Songbird forever."

Bret Michaels wrote: "What a tremendous loss to the music community. My deepest condolences to the family, friends & fans of Christine McVie."

Sebastian Bach wrote: "One of the rare musicians who can honestly say her voice was around us more than ever at the time when she left us"

6X Grammy-nominated artist Jack Harlow is wrapping up 2022 with 12 new RIAA certifications, including the 2x-Platinum certification for his hit single, "First Class." The song is from his Gold-certified, Grammy-nominated album, Come Home The Kids Miss You.

Both the single and the album are nominated at the upcoming Grammy Awards.

TL;DR:

• Jack Harlow is wrapping up 2022 with 12 new RIAA certifications.

Released today (December 2nd) in celebration of his 80th year, on Paul McCartney issued his 7-Inch Singles Box. The massive, numbered limited-edition collection of 80 7-inch singles spanning 1971 to the present was personally supervised by McCartney and contains recreations of 65 singles/promos using restored original artwork from 11 different countries.

The set features 15 singles never-before-released on 7-inch 45 r.p.m. discs. The package also includes one exclusive test pressing randomly selected from the manufacturing process. The Singles Box features a 48-page book containing foreword from "Macca," an essay by Rob Sheffield, recording notes, release dates, and chart information on each of the singles. The physical set runs for $611 and is also available digitally.

By the time 1980's chart-topping "Coming Up" was released, McCartney's proposed world tour had been sidelined by the former Beatle's infamous pot bust the previous January, which landed McCartney in a Tokyo jail for 10 days. Wings lead guitarist Lawrence Juber recalled that with Wings still together -- but with McCartney also pursuing a solo career -- it was a strange time to be scoring a Number One hit: "The shame of it was, that if we had continued -- he would've been touring the States with a Number One record, 'cause 'Coming Up' was Number One. But the fact that there was this conflict, this dichotomy between Paul as 'Paul' and Paul as 'Wings,' as the band, it was most epitomized by 'Coming Up.' Because in England, the studio. . . Paul's McCartney II version came out. In America, nobody wanted to play the McCartney II version."

Among the more recent singles represented in the box set is the 2018 standout "Come On To Me" from McCartney's 2018 chart-topping Egypt Station release. At the time, the former-Beatle called into to New York City's National Public Radio affiliate WFUV and shed light on the catchy rocker: "A lot of songs start off with a guitar riff, and so the opening guitar riff on the song was what I had; 'kinda sexy little riff. It started to remind me of parties I'd been to, where, y'know, you would see a beautiful girl, and you just think -- 'Wait a minute, did she give me a smile that was a bit of a come on?' So, that was the idea behind the song, and I just followed that trail kind of thing. So, 'Wait a minute -- did you give me a look? I swear you did.' Now the thing is -- I hasten to add -- these are parties that I used to go to before I met my lovely wife."

During an interview on Infowars, Kanye West says that there were good things about Adolf Hitler. He explained, "I see good things about Hitler also. I love everyone. Jewish people are not going to tell me you can love us, and you can love what we're doing to you with the contracts, and you can love what we're pushing with the pornography."

He continued, "But this guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can't say out loud that this person ever did anything good, and I'm done with that." He added that everyone has "value that they brought to the table—especially Hitler."

Meanwhile, Ye's Twitter was suspended last night after he poted a swastika. Elon Musk tweeted, "I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended."

KANYE WEST'S PARLER DEAL HAS BEEN TERMINATED

In other news, Ye's deal with social media app Parler has been terminated. According to BNO, Parler said in a statement that the company and Ye have "mutally agreed" to terminate the deal in mid- November. No word on why the deal fell apart.

YE CLAIMS HE CAUGHT KIM WITH CHRIS PAUL

Meanwhile, Ye took to Twitter last night to reveal that he caught his ex-wife Kim Kardashian with NBA star Chris Paul. He shared a pic of Paul andtweeted, "Let's break one last window before we get outa here I caught this guy with Kim. Good night."

He also tweeted, "The use of Porn destroyed my family but Jesus will heal everything."

Selena Gomez and BLACKPINK are celebrating a major milestone together. Their music video for "Ice Cream" has now surpassed 800 million YouTube views. For BLACKPINK, this makes their seventh video to do so.

Earlier this month, the K-pop group of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa also broke another record when their video for the 2019 hit, "Kill This Love" surpassed 1.7 Billion views on YouTube.

TL;DR:

• Their music video for "Ice Cream" has now surpassed 800 million YouTube views.

Lars Ulrich considers his Metallica bandmates the brothers he never had. Ulrich appeared on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show and discussed his relationship with James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo. Blabbermouth transcribed Ulrich as saying, "When I came to America (in the late-1970's), when I met James, when I met the other guys in the early years of the band and some of my friends when I landed here, there was that kind of rebellious thing. It was a big part of everybody who was 16 or 17; you were sort of rebelling against your parents. I never had that. I thought my parents were the coolest people in the world. Now, obviously, I've done therapy, and there were some issues, as you do a deeper dive into it. Denmark is a very liberal country, very safe country, so I'd say the flipside of my issues was I often was left alone and may still carry some issues of abandonment."

Ulrich went on to explain, "I think part of the reason that I love being in a band and feel so safe with James, Kirk, and Rob and the rest of the Metallica organization is I love being in a collective. They are the brothers I never had. And that safety in numbers."

Lars Ulrich told us a while back that the members of Metallica have gotten along consistently well ever since getting through the turbulent days of the early 2000's: "I mean, look, we don't wake up in the morning and call and see how the others slept. I mean, we don't spend 24-7 together. But the time that we share is definitely, to me, feels as solid and as mutually respectful as it's ever been."

Lil Nas X took advantage of a deepfake video of Elon Musk talking about him and he jumped at the chance to re-tweet it.

The video was edited in a way that the billionaire was saying that he's going to put Lil Nas in charge of Twitter.

The Fake Musk said, "I will be relieving myself of all duties and giving the CEO position of Twitter to Lil Nas X. Only users who agree that he's cute, fun and petite will be allowed to keep their accounts effective immediately."

The phony Musk video hilariously closed the loop on a joke Lil Nas made in early November shortly after the Space X/Tesla CEO took over, when he appointed himself Top Twit with a similar statement.

TL;DR:

• Lil Nas X re-tweeted a deepfake video of Elon Musk saying that he's going to put Lil Nas in charge of Twitter.
• The phony Musk video hilariously closed the loop on a joke Lil Nas made in early November shortly after the Space X/Tesla CEO took over, when he appointed himself Top Twit with a similar statement.