Pulse Music

Journey's Jonathan Cain Fires Back At Neal Schon's Lawsuit

Journey's Jonathan Cain issued a statement regarding the lawsuit filed against him by his longtime bandmate and collaborator Neal Schon. Schon's suit is based around a corporate American Express account set up by Cain in which, "millions of Journey funds have flowed through," that Schon is unable to access nor ascertain how much money he is owed.

Schon's suit was filed in Contra Costa in the Bay Area of California and deals specifically with Nomota -- the jointly owned company Schon and Cain created to deal solely with Journey-related business matters. Schon's suit alleges he's been unable to access the financial statements of his co-owned company. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 3rd.

Variety published a statement by Jonathan Cain, which reads in part:

This is a matter that should have been resolved privately but I am forced to publicly respond now to Neal's malicious lies and personal attacks on my family and (me) in an effort to garner public support for his ill-conceived lawsuit -- a lawsuit that has absolutely no merit.

Neal has always had access to the credit card statements; what he lacks -- and what he is really seeking -- is the ability to increase his spending limits. Since Neal decided to publicize what is going on, I can tell you we will present the evidence to the court that shows that Neal has been under tremendous financial pressure as a result of his excessive spending and extravagant lifestyle, which led to him running up enormous personal charges on the band's credit card account. When efforts were made to limit his use of the card to legitimate band expenses, Neal unfortunately decided to attack me rather than trying to get his reckless spending under control.

I am saddened by the situation -- for Neal and for our fans -- but since Neal filed a lawsuit, I suspect he will not be able to ignore the court like he has ignored the countless financial advisors and accountants he has fired over the past several years who have tried in vain to help him.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' 'Live At The Fillmore (1997)' Out On Friday

Set for release on Friday (November 25th) is Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' four-CD / six LP-set, Live At The Fillmore (1997). The collection, which was produced by Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and longtime producer/engineer Ryan Ulyate, was culled from the band's legendary 1997 20-night stand at the San Francisco venue.

The shows from January and February 1997 have become legendary, with each night featuring a different setlist allowing Petty and the band to delve into their back catalogue and flex their muscles on old favorites and cover versions. The final night of the run -- February 7th, 1997 -- was broadcast live and proved to be the longest show of the stand, clocking in at a whopping three hours with the Heartbreakers tackling 40 songs.

According to the announcement:

Six of the shows were professionally recorded and this release features many of the high points of the residency. The small venue allowed the band to vary their sets each night; they included re-arranged and distinctive versions of their hits, deep cuts, and many cover versions - paying tribute to the artists that Tom and the band had been influenced by.

When we last caught up with Tom Petty he told us felt the Heartbreakers have beaten the odds by not only surviving as a unit -- but actually improving over the decades: "I think that right now it's actually better than I ever counted on it being. It's great to be improving this many years along the line with the band. Usually when a band's been around this long, it's just sort of paying lip service to itself. I think our music is actually improving. It's getting easier to do. It's not nearly the chore it's been. Those are nice things to have happen."

Zayn To Drop Jimi Hendrix Collaboration On Friday

Zayn appears to be teasing a collaboration with the late Jimi Hendrix on Instagram.

The former One Direction singer dropped a 15-second clip in his Stories Tuesday (November 22nd) that alludes to a collaboration on Hendrix's 1971 track, "Angel," from the posthumous studio album The Cry of Love.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. told Billboard, "We are pleased that Zayn has been inspired to use original music from Jimi Hendrix's ‘Angel' in his recording of the song. We're hopeful that this version of a Hendrix classic will enlighten a new generation of listeners about Jimi's genius and further propel his continuing legacy."

The song is scheduled to drop Friday (November 25th)

Beyonce's Renaissance Named Top Album By A Female Artist In 2022

TIME has named Beyonce's Renaissance album the top album by a female artist in 2022. The album comes in at number three on the list, with 9 Masters by Saya Gray and Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny, which place at #2 and #1 respectively. Other entries on the list, include, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, which came in at number eight and and It's Almost Dry, which took the fifth spot .

In other news, Beyonce has been ranked as a top influencer by Neilsen. Beyonce came in at number three with an average value of $1,182,297 from her 281 million followers. Zendaya holds the top spot with about 156 million and holds a social media value of about $3,262,216.

Quickies: Dua Lipa, RM, + Camila Cabello!

DUA LIPA PAYS TRIBUTE TO ELTON JOHN: Dua Lipa paid tribute to her "Cold Heart" collaborator, Elton John following his concert Sunday (Nov. 20th) night. The singer wrote on Instagram Monday (November 21st), "To my most magical friend @eltonjohn thank you for keeping the dream alive!!! It was an honour, a privilege and a joy to share the stage with you last night on your last show at the Dodgers Stadium. Thank you for everything, forever and always. I love you!!!"

RM'S NEW ALBUM TO DOCUMENT HIS TWENTIES: RM is getting ready to drop his first solo album, Indigo. The BTS rapper shared a film teaser for the project Tuesday (November 22nd), which gave fans a look at his forthcoming LP. According to the clip, the album due to be released in December, will serve as "an archive of his twenties."

CAMILA CABELLO MOCKS HER PRONOUNCIATION OF 'CHRISTMAS': Camila Cabello poked fun at her pronounciation of "Christmas" in a new TikTok. In the recent clip, she pretended to be a vocal coach attempting to correct the way she sang "I'll be Home For Christmas" in the PBS Holiday Special In Performance at the White House: Spirit of the Season. The video shows the "Bam Bam" singer repeatedly trying to say "Christmas" but saying "Quismois" over and over.

The Doors Release 'Paris Blues' Archival Set On Friday

Out on Friday (November 25th) is the Doors' new Record Store Day release titled, Paris Blues. The blues-themes set features the official premiere of the band's last unheard unreleased song -- "Paris Blues."

The title track is an original blues song written by the band; the track was recorded during one of the band's recording sessions for either The Soft Parade or L.A. Woman (no one seems to remember).

Paris Blues also contains a pair of outtakes recorded during the band's sessions for 1969's The Soft Parade -- "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further" and "I'm Your Doctor." Both feature Ray Manzarek on vocals backed by Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. In 2019, bass by Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots was added to the songs, which were included on Rhino's 50th anniversary edition of the album.

Also featured on the set are a pair of previously unreleased live recordings of Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger performing as a duo at a benefit for Norman Mailer's mayoral campaign on May 31st, 1969 in West Hollywood. The first song is "I Will Never Be Untrue," a Doors original written for, but left off of, 1970's Morrison Hotel. The other is a cover of Robert Johnson's "Me And The Devil Blues."

The album is filled out by a trio of tracks first issued on the 2010 archival release Live in Vancouver 1970. These live tracks feature the band with legendary bluesman Albert King, who joined the Doors onstage during its June 6th, 1970 show at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum. Jim Morrison's introduction of King is included along with live versions of "Little Red Rooster," "Rock Me Baby," and "Who Do You Love?"

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."

Bob Dylan Fans In Uproar Over Fake Autographed Books

Some Bob Dylan fans are receiving $600 refunds after their personally autographed books were send out using an auto-pen reproduction of his "John Hancock." Rolling Stone reported publishers Simon & Schuster are making things right after fans shelled out big bucks for the autographed limited edition of Dylan's latest book, The Philosophy Of Modern Song.

Simon & Schuster posted a message to fans on Instagram, stating, "To those who purchased The Philosophy Of Modern Song limited edition, we want to apologize. As it turns out, the limited edition books do contain Bob's original signature, but in a penned replica form. We are addressing this immediately by providing each purchaser with an immediate refund."

A while back, Bob Dylan discussed his fans' adulation with the BBC and explained that his desire to write, record, and perform has very little to do with filling some type of void in his personal life: "I got enough love around me, y'know? So I don't need no people's love. I don't need to go out and play to a crowd of 20, 30, 50,000 people for their love. Some performers have to, y'know? But I don't. I got enough love just in my immediate surroundings, so. . . It accounts for why a lot of entertainers do what they do, because they want the love of another group of people. And I don't do it for love. I do it, 'cause I can do it and I think I'm good at it, and that's all I do it for."

Flashback: John Lennon Joins Elton John Onstage At Madison Square Garden

It was 48 Thanksgiving's ago (November 28th, 1974) when John Lennon joined Elton John on stage for a brief set of songs at New York's legendary Madison Square Garden. Lennon's appearance happened due to a bet made with Elton earlier that summer when Elton supplied the piano and harmony vocal on Lennon's "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night." Elton made Lennon promise that if the song hit Number One he would join Elton onstage to perform it. Lennon, who had yet to have a U.S. solo chart-topper, never believed the song would hit the top spot, and agreed. When the song hit Number One, plans were made for Lennon to make a guest appearance at Elton's New York City show.

Lennon reportedly got cold feet after traveling to Boston and catching Elton's Boston Garden show, but was talked into honoring his commitment. Only two days before his death, Lennon recalled the entire back-story to his brief stage comeback to BBC Radio: "Elton was in town and I was doing it and needed the harmony. He did the harmony on that and a couple more, and played beautiful piano on it. And jokingly, he was telling me he was going to do this Madison Square Garden concert -- he said, 'Will you do it with me if the record's Number One?' And I did not expect it to get to Number One at all. I didn't think it had a chance in hell. I said, 'Sure, sure, sure I will.' He came back and said, 'OK, it's time to pay your dues!' It was the first Number One I had, actually. 'Imagine' wasn't Number One, 'Instant Karma' wasn't Number One -- which I all think are better records than 'Whatever Gets You Thru The Night.' (The) words are pretty good. But anyway, so what could we sing, that was the point."

Elton John, who shared a music publisher with the Beatles starting as far back as 1967, didn't meet and become friends with John Lennon until late-1973. Elton shed light on their unique friendship: "We got on like a house on fire and we hung out for a couple of years; I found him very kind, very funny. I don't know why we clicked, but we did and he clicked with my band and he clicked with the people around me. And we had so much fun. I was quite intimidated by him, because I knew he was razor sharp and could be very abrasive. But that side never came out with me -- only the kind side and the funny side."

Toward the end of Elton's New York City show, Lennon was announced, dressed all in black and playing a black and white Fender Telecaster as he, Elton, and the band launched into "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night"; the Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," which he and Elton had re-recorded earlier that year and was Elton's current single; and the early Beatles classic "I Saw Her Standing There," a Paul McCartney-sung track that Lennon had never performed after the group's split.

Amazingly, the MSG performance was NOT the first time that Lennon and Elton had taken the stage together. On November 30th, 1973, the self-admitted inebriated pair joined Dr. John onstage at L.A.'s Troubadour for a pair of songs -- "Cold, Cold, Cold" and "Mama Don't Know." Although photos exist, to date, no audio of the one-off team-up has been discovered.

Flashback: The Band And Friends Perform 'The Last Waltz'

It was 46 Thanksgivings ago (November 25th, 1976) that the Band played its most famous -- and final -- concert. Billed as The Last Waltz, the show at Winterland in San Francisco featured the group, along with an all-star guest list, in what became the farewell performance of the original quintet. Among the friends on the bill that night were Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond, and Joni Mitchell. The legendary movie, directed by Martin Scorsese, opened on April 26th, 1978 and is largely believed to be the greatest big screen concert film of all time.

Band leader Robbie Robertson told us that the events leading up to the Band's swan song were truly disturbing to him: "In a certain period leading up to The Last Waltz, it felt really crazy out there. When we were in Malibu, or on the road, and everywhere, everything was distorted in life. Everything was bent. So, part of the reason, leading up to The Last Waltz, was, like, can we do this before something terrible happens?"

Robertson told us that he saw the Band parting ways -- if only temporarily -- was crucial to their personal survival: "So many people, y'know, that we knew were dying. It was a reckless, reckless period. So you say, 'Wait a minute. Let's get in a huddle here and figure out how we don't go over the cliff. What can we do? What can we do in celebration of our music, our brotherhood -- everything that we stand for. What can we do?' And then, let's shut it down."

Shortly before his death in 1999, singer-bassist Rick Danko spoke about the Band's decision to break up: "It seemed that it was time to bring it in. Y'know, it seemed like it was time to have a kinda going-out-of-business sale. I didn't really believe that we were putting it away like that -- thought we'd maybe at least release a record a year, but we didn't."

Robbie Robertson said that the intent of The Last Waltz was meant as a farewell to the road so the musicians could concentrate on recording projects: "What really happened was after The Last Waltz, people had some projects they'd been wanting to do for a while. Everybody was looking forward to the opportunity of just spreading their wings and experimenting in different areas. And everybody drifted off in these different directions, and what happened was -- 'cause that wasn't the idea -- what happened was everybody drifted off and never drifted back."

Released in 2016 released as a four-CD/Blu-ray set and -- for the first time -- on vinyl as a six-LP set, was the "40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition" of the original soundtrack to The Last Waltz has 54 tracks, including the entire concert, as well as rehearsals and outtakes.

Among the rarities are performances not featured in the film, such as "Furry Sings The Blues" with Joni Mitchell and "All Our Past Times" with Eric Clapton, plus rehearsals for "Caravan" with Van Morrison, "Such A Night" with Dr. John, and "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" a song that was not performed in concert.

The CD version also includes newly penned liner notes by revered music journalists David Fricke and Ben Fong-Torres along with a classic essay from 1977 written by iconic author Emmett Grogan.

The "40th Anniversary Collector's Edition," was limited to 2,500 copies worldwide, and included a replication of Scorsese's original shooting script. Once the film was complete, director Martin Scorsese had two copies of the script bound in a red leather book; one copy for himself and the other a gift to Robbie Robertson, which now resides at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "The Collector's Edition" also includes a foreword by Scorsese and an essay from screenwriter Mardik Martin.

Yeezy Staffers Claim YeUsed Porn & Intimate Photos Of Kim K To Control Them

Former Yeezy and Adidas staffers are claiming that Ye has used intimidation tactics towards them. According to Rolling Stone, the staffers say that Ye played pornography during staff meetings and discussed porn and showed an intimate photograph of Kim Kardashian in job interviews. Ye also allegedly showed an explicit video and photos of Kardashian as well as his own sex tapes to Yeezy team members.

Members of the Yeezy team said that leaders from Adidas were aware of West's "problematic behavior" but "turned their moral compass off." One staffer said, "There was no accountability. Difficult moments happened, with executives in the room — VP level or higher — and nothing would be done. You'd still show up to work the next day."

KANYE WEST CLAIMS ADIDAS FROZE FOUR OF HIS BANK ACCOUNTS TOTALING $75 MILLION

In other news, during an interview with X17, Kanye said that Adidas have placed a $75 million hold on four of his bank accounts. He said, "The reason why I'm announcing that I'm running for president is I want the FCC to look at my money. If they actually see, I was looking at my money, and there might have been a possibility that adidas wouldn't have went into JP Morgan and froze my account and put a $75 million hold on four different accounts."

He continued, "I went from being a multi-billionaire to not even being able to use my Apple Pay four nights ago. I couldn't use my Apple Pay because someone how Adidas was able to legally go in and freeze my money, and when I see this, I think, well, if this could happen to me, this could happen to other Americans, and for what? You know this can happen to an American that didn't even steal anything, that didn't even hurt anyone. This could just happen to you for saying the wrong idea out loud."

Flashback: Paul McCartney Launches 1989 Comeback Tour

It was 33 years ago tonight (November 23rd, 1989) that after a 13-year-stretch, Paul McCartney returned to the North American concert stage for the first of a five-night stand at the L.A. Forum. McCartney's band featured wife Linda McCartney on keyboards, Average White Band co-founder Hamish Stuart on guitar and bass, Former Pretenders lead guitarist Robbie McIntosh, keyboardist Paul "Wix" Wickens, and drummer Chris Whitten.

McCartney's last North American trek had been the blockbuster 1976 Wings Over America tour, and Wings' 1979/1980 tour was canceled after only 20 UK shows following his infamous January 1980 pot bust in Tokyo. Following the Japan debacle and John Lennon's murder the following December, McCartney continued to record and wrote and starred in the big budget, big screen flop Give My Regards To Broad Street, which was universally panned.

By the time of the 1989 tour, McCartney had released four studio albums -- Pipes Of Peace (1983, #15); Give My Regards To Broad Street (1984, #21); Press To Play (1986, #30); and Flowers In The Dirt (1989, #21) -- which, to that date, marked his worst charting releases. McCartney also hadn't racked up a Top 20 single hit since 1985's "Spies Like Us" scored him his last Top Ten hit to date. His 1987 double-album solo retrospective All The Best! only rose as high as a dismal Number 62.

For the 1989/1990 world tour -- which kicked off with a 28-date European leg on September 26th, 1989 in Oslo, Norway -- McCartney, in response to his dwindling chart appearances -- packed the comeback show with 50 percent Beatles classics -- most of which the "Fab Four," who retired from the road in 1966, never got the chance to play live.

After such a long time away from the concert stage, McCartney explained how he came about figuring out the 1989 setlist: "What I did was I just sat down and kind of asked myself what I would like to see 'him' play, y'know, if I was just somebody just coming to the show, what I thought I'd like to see the band play. The interesting thing about some of the Beatles stuff was I've never actually performed it onstage before -- and we never got to do it with the Beatles, 'cause we stopped touring at that time. I got up on stage and said 'I've never done this one before.' So that's nice, 'cause they're fresh."

Among the Beatles classics getting their first-ever live airings on the 1989/1990 world tour were "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Good Day Sunshine," "Eleanor Rigby," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Birthday," "Back In The U.S.S.R.," "Hey Jude" and the Abbey Road closing medley -- "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End."

The shows also featured McCartney's first-ever solo performances of "Can't Buy Me Love," "Things We Said Today," and a short-lived dance medley of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" -- as well as "McCartney's first-ever North American performances of "The Fool On The Hill," "Got To Get You Into My Life," and "Let It Be."

Paul McCartney's setlists since returning to the stage in 1989 have been dominated with Beatles hits and rarities. We asked him if playing the songs ever brings back tough memories for him: "No, I don't really feel that. I used to -- just after the Beatles had broken up -- I think all of us thought, y'know 'Is there life after the Beatles?' And, 'It's a tough act to follow.' As time's gone by, I've rediscovered the songs. And instead of the sort of anger and the pain that we all felt when we were breaking up, I just like the songs now and they're a pleasure to do."

McCartney also world premiered songs from that spring's Flowers In The Dirt collection along with assorted Wings hits -- and his 1982 Number One hit "Ebony And Ivory." Guitarist Hamish Stuart usually took over Stevie Wonder's part during the tour, but on the third night of the L.A. stand -- November 27th, 1989 -- Stevie Wonder came out to reprise the duet with McCartney.

Multi-instrumentalist Hamish Stuart performed with McCartney from 1987 until the end of 1993. Both fans and Stuart alike were acutely aware of the vocal chemistry between him and McCartney: "Paul did something and I sang with him, and it worked right from the first time that we sang together. I know that Paul did enjoy singing with me. 'And I Love Her,' when we did the acoustic thing that was a blast to do that, and 'Here, There And Everywhere,' and things like that."

Stuart says that Linda was always an integral part of Paul's music: "Ah, Linda was great. She got a lot of bad press. She wasn't there because she was a great musician, she was there because she was Paul's partner. I remember there was one day early on when she didn't turn up for rehearsals, and it didn't feel right. She was lovely."

McCartney's 1989/1990 world tour remains his most extensive to date, taking in a total of 108 concerts across Europe, North America, Japan, and South America.

McCartney's full setlist was represented on double-disc live set Tripping The Live Fantastic, which was released on October 29th, 1990. The album's single CD releases featured bonus live and soundcheck tracks from the tour.

Paul McCartney's opening night setlist - Great Western Forum, Inglewood, CA - November 23rd, 1989:

"Figure Of Eight" - bass
"Jet" - bass
"Rough Ride" - bass
"Got To Get You Into My Life" - bass
"Band On The Run" - bass
"Ebony And Ivory" - bass
"We Got Married" - bass
"Maybe I'm Amazed" - piano
"The Long And Winding Road" - piano
"The Fool On The Hill" - piano
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - electric guitar
"Good Day Sunshine" - electric guitar
"Can't Buy Me Love" - electric guitar
"Put It There" - acoustic guitar
"Things We Said Today" - acoustic guitar
"Eleanor Rigby" - acoustic guitar
"This One" - bass
"My Brave Face" - bass
"Back In The U.S.S.R." - bass
"I Saw Her Standing There" - bass
"Twenty Flight Rock" - bass
"Coming Up" - bass
"Let It Be" - piano
"Ain't That A Shame" - piano
"Live And Let Die" - piano
"Hey Jude" - piano

Encores:
"Yesterday" - acoustic guitar
"Get Back" - bass
"Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" - keyboards & electric guitar

Flashback: Ringo Starr Hits Number One With 'Photograph'

It was 49 years ago this week (November 24th to November 30th, 1973), that Ringo Starr's "Photograph" hit the Number One spot. The song was co-written with his former Beatles bandmate George Harrison, and was the first single from his new Ringo album. An early attempt to record the song took place during sessions for Harrison's Living In The Material World album, which Ringo drummed on in early 1973.

"Photograph" spent just one week at Number One. Two more singles were released from the Ringo album: a cover of Johnny Burnette's "You're Sixteen" which also hit Number One in January of 1974, and "Oh My My" which peaked at Number Five in March 1974.

In the spring of 1973 he began recording Ringo. From the beginning the sessions featured a star-studded cast, including members of the Band, Steve Cropper from Booker T. & the MGs, Billy Preston, Marc Bolan of T. Rex, Harry Nilsson and all three former Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

Although Ringo was his third solo album it was his first rock album. His debut album from 1970 called Sentimental Journey featured Ringo singing standards from the 1930s and '40s, while Beaucoups Of Blues, also from 1970, was a straight-ahead country album recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1971 Ringo teamed up with Harrison, who had produced "It Don't Come Easy," Ringo's first solo hit, which peaked on the charts at Number Four. Although uncredited, Harrison in fact wrote most of the words and music for the song.

The next year the pair teamed up again for "Back Off Boogaloo," which went to Number Nine in 1972.

Ringo, which peaked at Number Two in late 1973, was the last time all four Beatles appeared on a new album.

Since his return to the road in 1989, Ringo Starr has included "Photograph" on every one of his solo All Starr Band tours.

At the 2002 George Harrison tribute show, The Concert For George, Starr performed the song backed by Eric Clapton, Harrison's son Dhani, Billy Preston, and ELO's Jeff Lynne, among many others.

"Photograph" was among the highlights on the 2017 soundtrack to the ABC hit drama, This Is Us.

Ringo told us he'll always have a soft spot for "Photograph': "'Photograph,' y'know, was a huge song for me. And (it) was probably the best structured of mine, which was helped by George. The thing about 'Photograph' -- the emotion I get from it -- is that I was in Spain at the time when I wrote it. But the sentiment of that song I love, but now it has a different meaning, of course. Just because of the fact that George has left. Y'know the song's a song that fits into the universe and that's good. And I still do it now, a hundred years later." (:26 OC: . . . hundred years later

Metallica To Livestream 2022 'Helping Hands' Benefit

On December 16th, Metallica will stream its 2022 Helping Hands Concert in benefit of the band's All Within My Hands foundation, live on Paramount+. The show will take place at L.A.'s Microsoft Theater and feature the third edition of the Helping Hands Concert & Auction with an opening set by Greta Van Fleet.

Variety reported, "The concert will be available to stream in the UK, Latin America, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France on Saturday, December 17th; Australia on Sunday, December 18th; and South Korea in 2023. The concert will also be simulcast on Pluto TV globally and on YouTube."

Adele Reportedly Stubbed By Ceasars, Staying At Wynn Instead

Adele reportedly refuses to stay at Ceasar's Palace during her residency because she wasn't offered a nice enough suite.

Sources told the U.S. Sun that the singer's room wasn't as nice as those offered to "high rollers," with one insider saying, "It's a snub in many ways but she's a super star who can kind of do whatever she wants."

The outlet reports that she's currently staying in a private villa at The Wynn.

Adele began her long-delayed Las Vegas residency Friday (November 18th) and is expected to perform on select weekends through March 25th.

Journey's Neal Schon Sues Bandmate Jonathan Cain

Journey's inner-band squabbles continue to rage on with co-founding guitarist Neal Schon filing suit against the band's primary songwriter and keyboardist Jonathan Cain. PageSix.com reported that Schon's suit is based around a corporate American Express account set up by Cain in which, "millions of Journey funds have flowed through," that Schon is unable to access nor ascertain how much money he is owed.

Schon's suit was filed in Contra Costa in the Bay Area of California, and deals specifically with Nomota -- the jointly owned company Schon and Cain created to deal solely with Journey-related business matters. The long and short of Schon's suit is that he's been unable to access the financial statements of his co-owned company. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 3rd.

The briefing states in part, "As a member and manager and founder and leader of Journey. Schon has the right to access and control Nomota's books and records. Schon must have unfettered access to Nomota's records so he can oversee and manage Nomota/Journey. . . Among other things, the American Express account of Nomota has been set up such that only Cain has control of the account and access to its records. On information and belief, millions in Journey funds have flowed through this AMEX account." Schon also claimed he only learned about the company credit card through American Express.

Elsewhere to suit claims: "Cain is interfering with Journey, refusing to respond to booking opportunities, blocking payment to band members, crew and vendors, refusing to execute necessary operating documents, and in other ways as well. Cain has obstructed Schon from viewing expenses incurred by Cain and his touring party on band tours."

The filing also states: "Cain has further refused to deal with critical, time-sensitive touring contracts for Journey's 2023 tour and ensure payment for band members and crew, who Cain contends are 'non-essential.' Schon believes those band and crew who are crucial to the band's success should be paid. Cain's conduct is inexplicable."

Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain are the lone members of the band's classic '80s lineup. After recently weathering the storm of their own personal, musical, and political differences, they buried the hatchet and joined forces against their now former-bandmates who attempted a hostile takeover of the band's corporate entity.

Not too long ago we caught up with Jonathan Cain and asked him if things were cool again with Neal Schon: "Yeah, we've mended our fences and moved on. Neither of us liked the way all that went and I think it was a matter of just, like, 'Wait a minute, y'know, there's a misunderstanding here.' He read it wrong and nothing was meant by what happened there. In a relationship that 40 years, you're gonna have bumps in the road. You're just gonna have that mess, y'know? There's a lot of misunderstanding, things were taken wrong. I think that it shows that our relationship is better than that. And that's brothers -- that's what brothers do."

Dua Lipa, Elton John, Lizzo and Selena Gomez Among 'Variety's' Hitmakers

Dua Lipa, Elton John, Lizzo, and Selena Gomez are among Variety's 2022 Hitmakers.

The "Cold Heart – PNAU Remix" singers have been selected for the dual honor of Hitmakers of The Year while Gomez has been honored with Film Song of the Year. And Lizzo has the Record of the Year with "About Damn Time."

Other winners include Kim Petras and Sam Smith for Innovators of the Year, Imagine Dragons for Group of the Year, Latto for Breakthrough Artist and Future for the Collaborator Award.

The Hitmakers will be honored at an invitation-only brunch on Saturday, December 3rd.

Kanye West News Roundup

KANYE WEST ANNOUNCES THAT HE IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT

Kanye West has announced that he is running for president again in 2024. A video surfaced this past weekend of Ye Alt-Right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. Ye revealed that Milo will work on his campaign. When someone asked, "Is that an announcement?" Yiannopoulos responded, "I guess it is. Thanks, I accept."

The cameraman then asked Ye, Ye laughs and says, "Yes. It's simple 'cause ain't nobody can tell me, you know, ‘You should say this, you shouldn't say that,' you know? It's just we're moving towards the future."

KANYE SKIPS DEPOSITION IN KIM KARDASHIAN DIVORCE CASE

In other Ye news, according to TMZ, Ye didn't show up to a scheduled deposition in his divorce with Kim Kardashian. In legal docs, the parties agree that the deposition will now happen on November 29th at 9:30 am.

Miley Cyrus To Ring In The New Year With Dolly Parton

Miley Cyrus will ring in the new year with a new co-host.

The second iteration of Miley's New year's Eve Party will feature global superstar Dolly Parton.

According to a press release, the NBC special, executive produced by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, promises an A-list lineup of yet-to-be-announced musical performances and special guests.

Miley's New Year's Eve Party will air live on NBC from Miami on Saturday, Dec. 31 from 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET and will also stream live on Peacock.

Queen + Adam Lambert Eyeing North American Dates

Brian May says that Queen + Adam Lambert are eying a return to the road in 2023. During a new chat with Variety, May admitted, "There's a strong possibility that we'll be going out together again. We're talking about that as you and I speak, making those decisions. Now, it does get to be more of a decision as you get older. I'm not 35 anymore, and leaving home for two months is not easy. But we feel as like if we're all fit and well, that we'd like to go out there one more time. It would probably be in the United States in 2023 at some point. I'm hoping that happens, but it's a strong possibility."

May went on to say, "The new music thing? I've got to tell you it hasn't happened yet, but we do bring the subject up. Generally, when we are together, the live show is all-consuming. There isn't really time to discuss any studio action. We feel as if the live stuff is what the public wants. And when we're not on tour, Adam has his own career -- he just gave me some stuff that he's working on for his next album, and it's remarkable. So, I suppose that the opportunity to make an album together doesn't come up, but I'm not saying that it couldn't happen."

Brian May told us a while back that he struggled with revamping Queen as a live act following Freddie Mercury's death in 1991: "I started to see it from the outside, in a sense, y'know? It was a long grieving process, in a sense, losing Freddie, y'know, and I was resistant to doing anything -- I didn't even want to talk about Queen for such a long time. And then finally, you, you realize the love that is out there, and I thought, 'Well, yeah, if I was out there, I would like to see us go out and do the songs.'"

Sam Smith's 'Unholy' Ft. Kim Petras Goes Platinum

Sam Smith's new single, "Unholy" ft. Kim Petras, has attained Platinum certification in a year when only 14 singles have achieved RIAA Platinum status.

The news, shared in a press release, comes as "Unholy" ascends to the #1 position on the Mediabase Top 40 Airplay chart.

Released by Capitol Records on September 22nd, the track, which is nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, is the first and only pop collaboration of 2022 to be certified Platinum and the third collaboration across all genres to reach this milestone.

Flashback: The Beatles Release The 'White Album'

It was 54 years ago today (November 22nd, 1968) that the Beatles released their 30-song self-titled double album, which was commonly known as the "White Album." The album's release followed the group's extended stay in Rishikesh, India where they studied transcendental meditation under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Most of the songs from "The White Album" were written while the group was in India, including "Back In The U.S.S.R.," "Yer Blues," "I Will," "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill," "Revolution 1," "Rocky Raccoon," "I'm So Tired," "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da," "Dear Prudence," "Mother Nature's Son," and John Lennon's thinly-veiled attack on the Maharishi, titled "Sexy Sadie."

Other highlights on the album included Eric Clapton guesting on George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Julia," "Helter Skelter," "Glass Onion," "Martha My Dear," "Birthday," and Ringo Starr's first composition, the country-flavored "Don't Pass Me By."

Several songs originally intended for the "White Album" turned up on later solo albums, such as "Junk," which Paul McCartney released on his 1970 solo debut McCartney; "Child Of Nature," which Lennon rewrote as "Jealous Guy" for his 1971 album Imagine; "Not Guilty," which made its way onto Harrison's 1979 self-titled album; "Circles," which saw release on his 1982 album Gone Troppo; and McCartney's "Cosmically Conscious" which appeared on 1993's Off The Ground album -- with an extended version appearing on the B-side of the title track's single.

Paul Saltzman, the author of the photo book, The Beatles In India, spent weeks within the group's inner circle at the Maharishi's ashram. He says that he never so much as saw the Beatles smoke a cigarette -- let alone partake in any illicit drugs: "That was their single most creative period of time in their history. Dennis O'Dell, (who) used to be the head of Apple Films in the '60s, said to me about a year ago: 'Do you know how many songs they wrote in India?' -- and I said, 'Do you know how much?' And he said, 'I sure do. When John and Paul came back I asked them how many songs did they write? And Paul answered '48.' In less than eight weeks. Paul was only there five weeks, George and John eight weeks and of course Ringo, 11 days."

In a sick example of the Beatles' growing influence in popular culture, Charles Manson and his "family" members credited the "White Album" as their inspiration for the vicious August 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders in Los Angeles.

Not long before his 2016 death, producer George Martin, who was behind the boards for all the Beatles albums and a handful of solo McCartney discs, told us that McCartney's 1968 "White Album" classic "Blackbird" as one of his all-time favorites: "I always liked the finger-picking style of guitar playing, from both John and Paul. And when Paul did 'Blackbird' it was such a simple way of performing a song -- all by himself, nothing else -- just tapping away with his foot."

Martin said that the album still sounds more like the work of four solo artists rather than one unified band: "They came back from abroad. . . They'd been away for quite a while after the death of (manager) Brian Epstein. They came back and presented me with 33 songs, which they all wanted to record at once, literally. They said, 'Well, you've got another studio. George has something going in one studio, and I can go in another,' says Paul. I was running from one studio to another, doing a kind of executive role."

George Martin recalled that the material seemed to not be up to the Beatles' usual standards when they first presented it to him: "A lot of the recordings, they would have a basic idea, and then they would have a jam session to end it, which sometimes didn't sound too good. But this was fairly small criticism. When they did The White Album, I thought we should have made a very, very good single album out of it, rather than make a double album out of it. I think it was an album that could have been a fantastically good album if it had been compressed a bit and condensed. But a lot people I know think its the best album they made. So, it's not my view."

Paul McCartney didn't buy into Martin's revisionist beliefs that it could have made a single album on par with Revolver and other single-disc Beatles masterpieces: "Well, y'know, you can always say that. Perhaps I'll go with -- but not definitely -- in fact I think it's a fine little album. I think the fact that it's got so much on it is one of the things that's cool about it, 'cause they're very varied stuff, y'know 'Rocky Raccoon,' 'Piggies,' 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' -- that kind of stuff. I think it's a fine album. I'm not one for that: 'Maybe it was too many of that -- what do you mean? It's great, it sold, it's the bloody Beatles' White Album -- shut up!"

George Harrison defended the group's decision to release a 30-song album: "But y'know, what do you do when you've got all them songs and you want to get rid of them so that you can do more songs? Y'know, there was a lot of ego in that band, and there was a lot of songs (on The White Album) that should have been elbowed, or maybe made into B-sides." 15

The Beatles' late-chief engineer Geoff Emerick -- who was the first engineer to score a Grammy for his work on Sgt. Pepper -- told us that the band finally moving to an eight-track recording console for the "White Album" changed the way Beatles records were mixed forever: "Because of the way we had been working in the past, and basically mixing the finished sounds to tape with echo and almost the right EQ's and everything else; Now we could just -- we still approached the recording like that, with the finished sounds. And this was like icing on the cake, 'cause now I had extra tracks and I could actually record the drums in stereo. So this was like magic."

With tensions in the band so high, Geoff Emerick quit the sessions rather than face further attacks by the band. Engineer Chris Thomas stepped in and later went on to produce key albums for the Sex Pistols, the Pretenders, Pete Townshend and McCartney. Emerick was asked if he ever regretted his decision to miss out on engineering the "White Album" and Let It Be classics such as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Back In The U.S.S.R.," and later on, "Get Back" and "The Long And Winding Road": "Not at all. And thinking about it afterwards, I think it was good because it certainly jolted them. It's something that should have been done a long time ago. Looking back, I'm glad I did it. I didn't lose any respect (from them) because I went back and worked at (the Beatles' company) Apple and recorded (their album) Abbey Road."

Beatlefan magazine executive editor Al Sussman recalls at the time that less than a year after Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles had amazingly dropped all vestiges of psychedelic production: "This was 30 songs! It was much simpler than Sgt. Pepper had been. But we were kind of expecting that, because of the fact that in England, there had been this kind of 'back to the basics' thing -- 'Lady Madonna' was part of that, certainly (the Rolling Stones') "Jumpin' Jack Flash' was part of that -- "Street Fighting Man." Y'know, it wasn't as grandiose as Sgt. Pepper or Magical Mystery Tour had been. It was very kind of basic."

The group's biggest hit, "Hey Jude" -- and its B-side, "Revolution" -- were both recorded during sessions for the "White Album," but were left off the album after being released as a single the previous August.

The Beatles' the "White Album" hit Number One on December 28th, 1968 and went on to top the charts for nine non-consecutive weeks.

FAST FORWARD

November 2018 saw the Beatles back in the Top 10 with the 50th anniversary reissue of the band's "White Album." The set jumped back onto the Billboard 200 album charts hitting Number Six.

The massive six-CD, one Blu-ray "Super Deluxe" version of the "White Album" features the album's 30 tracks newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and mix engineer Sam Okell in stereo and 5.1 surround audio, joined by 27 early acoustic demos and 50 session takes, most of which are previously unreleased in any form.

This was the first time the "White Album" had been remixed and presented with additional demos and session recordings. The album's new edition follows 2017's universally acclaimed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band "Anniversary Edition" releases.

To create the new stereo and 5.1 surround audio mixes, Martin and Okell worked with an expert team of engineers and audio restoration specialists at Abbey Road Studios in London. All the new "White Album" releases include Martin's new stereo album mix, sourced directly from the original four-track and eight-track session tapes. Martin's new mix is guided by the album's original stereo mix produced by his father, the late-George Martin.

The "White Album" has now been certified 24-times Platinum.

Jane's Addiction Jams With Josh Klinghoffer

The reunited Jane's Addiction welcomed ousted Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer on stage for a mini-set of their classics. Klinghoffer, who has jumped stage with the band previously -- and as recently as last month -- was on hand this past November 12th during the band's joint gig with Smashing Pumpkins at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena.

Ultimate-Guitar.com posted Klinghoffer -- who now serves as a touring member of both Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder's solo outfit, the Earthlings -- performed on "Ocean Size," "Three Days," and "Mountain Song."

Ticketmaster Cancels Taylor Swift Ticket Sales After Extraordinarily High Demands

After more than 2 million tickets were sold for Taylor Swift's 2023 Eras tour through Ticketmaster's Verified Fan presale on Tuesday, the ticketing company announced Thursday (11-17) that a planned general sale for all other customers has been canceled.

Ticketmaster stated that it was due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory.

While many fans were able to get tickets on Tuesday, others were left waiting in hours-long Ticketmaster queues that eventually either crashed or sold out. The company later issued a statement about "historically unprecedented demand."

The site was supposed to be opened up for 1.5 million verified Taylor Swift fans and instead had 14 million people hit the site — including bots.

Swift's last concert tour in 2018 sold a total of 2.8 million tickets across 53 global dates and became the highest-grossing U.S. tour of all time. Her upcoming tour features 52 shows in North America alone.

The Eras tour is set to kick off in March in Arizona, and will hit a number of cities across the U.S. before wrapping things up in Los Angeles in August.

More than 90% of the ticketing inventory is already gone, breaking the record Tuesday for the most tickets ever sold in a single day by a touring artist.

It's unclear how the remaining tickets will be distributed or sold.

TL;DR:

  • After more than 2 million tickets were sold for Taylor Swift's 2023 Eras tour Ticketmaster announced Thursday (11-17) that a planned general sale for all other customers has been canceled.
  • The site was supposed to be opened up for 1.5 million verified Taylor Swift fans and instead had 14 million people hit the site — including bots.

Bruce Springsteen Reveals 'Unreleased Albums' Box Set

Bruce Springsteen revealed that his long-awaited next box set will be comprised of unreleased material from the 1990's. During a chat with Rolling Stone, "The Boss" explained, "I have a box set of five unreleased albums that are basically post-1988. People look at my work in the '90s and they go, 'The '90s wasn't a great decade for Bruce. He was kind of doing this and he wasn't in the E Street Band. . . ' I actually made a lot of music during that period of time. I actually made albums. For one reason or another, the timing wasn't right or whatever, I didn't put them out."

Springsteen, who just released his first soul covers collection, Only The Strong Survive, said of his unreleased works: "I spent time over one of the past winters completely cleaning out the vault. I have a series of Tracks albums that eventually we'll release. Some of it is older stuff that the band plays on, and some of it is newer stuff where I was conceptualizing during that period of time. It'll give people a chance to reassess what I was doing during that time period. Also, a lot of the stuff is really weird. I can't wait to see the response to some of it (laughs)."

The upcoming 2023 dates will see the E Street Band supplemented by a horn section and a few background singers, recalling to fans the 2012/2013 "Wrecking Ball" tour. The additional played will be on board so that the band can included tunes from the new covers set.

When pressed as to whether fans can expect songs from Springsteen's country-based Western Skies album to find their way into next year's setlists, he said, "I might do one, but the E Street Band is going to come out and put on a rock show. That's what people want to see. That's what I want to play. And that's what it's going to be."

During Bruce Springsteen's recent appearance on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, he shed light on his penchant for playing long shows with the E Street Band: "The great, great acts used to play 20 minutes. Now, they'd play 20 minutes -- five shows a day. You can get what someone has to deliver in a short period of time, but we came up playing in bars where you played five hours a night. You played 50 minutes on -- 10 minutes off -- for five sets. So, we were used to playing a long time, y'know?"