Pulse Music

It was a Lennon / McCartney reunion of sorts on Saturday (November 12th) in London. Julian Lennon posted a couple of photos of he and Paul McCartney after bumping into each other at a lounge at Heathrow Airport.

Julian wrote: "It's Amazing who you run into in an airport Lounge! None other than Uncle Paul…. So, so lovely, and what are the chances… Thankful…."

Julian ended the post with a heart, prayer, and kiss emojis.

Julian Lennon's latest album, titled Jude, tips its hat to Paul McCartney who wrote the legendary Beatles classic for him at a particularly dark time in his childhood after his parents -- John and Cynthia Lennon separated when he was only five. McCartney, who was always close to Julian as a child, recalled composing the song for him: "I was driving out to John's house after John and Cynthia had got divorced and I was just going out to say hello to Cynthia and Julian. And I started coming up with these words. In my own mind I was kind of talking to Julian: 'Hey Jules don't take it bad, take a sad song and make it better' -- y'know, it will be alright. So, I kind of got the first of the idea on the way out there with this 'Hey Jules' as I thought it was going to be called, It seemed a little bit of a mouthful so I changed it to Jude."

Taylor Swift won big at the MTV EMAs 2022 Sunday (November 14th) night. The "Anti-Hero" singer took home the awards for "Best Artist," "Best Video," "Best Pop" and "Best Longform Video"for "All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version)."

Rita Ora and Taika Waititi hosted the event that was broadcast live from Dusseldorf, Germany.

The night's other big winners included Nicki Minaj who was awarded "Best Song" for "Super Freaky Girl," and "Best Hip Hop," and Harry Styles, who won "Best Live." "Video for Good" went to Sam Smith feat. Kim Petras for "Unholy."

Complete Winners List
Best Song: Nicki Minaj – "Super Freaky Girl"
Best Video: "Taylor Swift – "All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version)"
Best Artist: Taylor Swift
Best Collaboration: David Guetta & Bebe Rexha – "I'm Good (Blue)"
Best Live: Harry Styles
Best Pop: Taylor Swift
Best New: SEVENTEEN
Best K-Pop: Lisa
Best Latin: Anitta
Best Electronic: David Guetta
Best Hip Hop: Nicki Minaj
Best Rock: Muse
Best Alternative: Gorillaz
Best R&B: Chlӧe
Best Longform: Taylor Swift – "All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version)"
Video For Good: Sam Smith – "Unholy (ft. Kim Petras)"
Biggest Fans: BTS
Best Push: SEVENTEEN
Best Metaverse Performance: BLACKPINK The Virtual PUBG Mobile
Best Look ‘Personal Style': Rita Ora
Generation Change: Lina Deshvar, Anna Kutova and Anfisa Yakovina

Bruce Springsteen thought long and hard while prepping and recording his new R&B covers set, Only The Strong Survive. Exclaim! transcribed some of Springsteen's chat with Elizabeth Bowman, in which he revealed he tossed a lot of material by the wayside in order to get the set exactly how he envisioned it.

"The Boss" admitted, "Initially, it was really hard. I was picking material and I'm going, 'It's hard to sing somebody else's songs, and get them to sound authentic and it's coming out of you.' So I made an entire record that I threw out, and it'll show up in different places, and there were some good things on it but didn't feel quite right."

He went on to say, "I've been getting a lot better at picking them, but initially it was the trial and error of: 'What can I sing well?' So that was the process, but at the end of the day. I think the main thing the record is it's joyful, and a lot of fun, and tips my hat, and is a tribute to, like I say, all my mentors and masters, and all those great records and those great productions."

Recently, Bruce Springsteen opened up and shared his thoughts on modern music and the differences between musical genres. He said: "I would like to talk about the one thing that's been consistent over the years, the genesis and power of creativity -- the power of the songwriter or let's say just creator. So, whether you're making dance music, Americana, rap music, electonica, it's all about how you're putting what you do together. The elements you're using don't matter. Purity of human expression and experience is not confined to guitars to tubes to turntables to microchips. There is no right way, no pure way of doing it. There's just doing it."

Bruce Springsteen will promote the new album on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon over several nights this week, starting tonight -- November 14th, and again on the 15th, and 16th.

Springsteen will also make a special appearance on November 24th, for The Tonight Show's Thanksgiving episode.

Jung Kook is headlining the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on November 20th.

According to a tweet from BTS, the singer will also contribute to the soundtrack for the event.

Dua Lipa recently put to rest the rumor that she'd be performing at the opening ceremony.

She wrote on Instagram Sunday (November 13th), "There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the world cup in Qatar. I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform.I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup. "

Ballast Books has postponed the November 15th release of Aaron Carter's autobiography "out of respect for the Carter family."

A rep for both the publisher and the memoir's co-writer told Billboard, "My client has decided to defer the further release of the book at this time. Mr. Carter was not just a celebrity but also a father, a brother, a so and a friend to many still grieving for him."

Carter's rep recently told Page Six that his client wanted nothing to do with the memoir and added that its publication was "against Aaron's wishes."

TMZ reported Sunday (November 13th) that Carter died without a will. According to the outlet, California law dictates that his estate will be left to his only child, Prince. However, rumor has it that the singer was broke when he died last week.

Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan admitted that being a parent changed how he's gone about his career. Corgan and fiancee Chloe Mendel have two children, six-year-old Augustus and four-year-old Philomena.

Corgan spoke candidly about being an artist while raising a family, telling Britain's The Guardian: "When you start having kids, it's like -- OK, now you gotta not repeat all the mistakes that you've been complaining about in your songs for 20 years. Now, you got to be that guy that you wished your father was."

He added, "It has a way of sobering you up. I've never had any drug or alcohol issues; it was more like the classic: I guess I better grow the f***up now. I put off adult responsibility about as long as possible, outside of work. It was always my inner rationalization -- 'I'm working, and so everything's fine.' But that turned out not to be the case."

Corgan went on to say, "I don't want my kids growing up with a has-been father. I won't play games: I believe we're one of the great bands. . . I felt that when we were playing to 50 people in 1988. . . The sense, at this point, is not one of sort of chest-thumping victory. It's just like: 'No, this is the arc we should have stayed on.' We were the ones who walked away from it; nobody took us off our game. And now we're back to doing what we're good at."

A while back, Billy Corgan told us why he feels presenting Smashing Pumpkins music as part of a traditional album is still important: "Putting our foot down and saying we still believe in the album, which even a few years ago I was thinking was a dead form and maybe in five years it will be a completely dead form, sort of brought the focus that we needed to ask the record business that still is there to focus on us enough to try to bring an audience in to find it."

On Tuesday night (November 15th) he Smashing Pumpkins / Jane's Addiction: Spirits On Fire tour will hit San Francisco's Chase Center.

• Susan Young, the wife of Styx co-founder James 'JY' Young died on November 10th. The cause of death has not been released but it's known that Susan, who had been married to JY for over 50 years, had suffered a stroke a few years back.

The band posted a tribute on its social media pages, which reads:

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news with you that Susan Young passed away on November 10th, 2022. She passed away peacefully at home with her devoted husband of 50 years, James 'JY' Young, by her side.

Susie was a tireless advocate for her husband's rock n' roll career in the band Styx. She often spent years on end traveling with him and the Styx team on the road so they could be together. She was a constant source of encouragement and 'wardrobe suggestions'. JY and Susie were truly inseparable. Susie was beloved by all and will always be remembered.

• In a new chat with Guitar World, Sammy Hagar revealed that Eddie Van Halen was jealous of his close friendship with Michael Anthony: "Back in the early Van Halen days, Eddie would get all jealous. Because Mike and I would get into these soulful conversations for hours, and Eddie would be on the outside looking in. And this was when we were all getting along great, not towards the end when our marriage fell apart. But even in the early days, Eddie would say, 'Hey, I wanna hang out like you and Mike do.' And I was like, 'Cool, man. Let's do it. So, what's the problem?' . . . I guess Mike and I are cut from the same cloth. Eddie hated it, would get mad on stage, and called it stupid, but we had our inside lingo and were always very close." (Guitar World)
  
  

• Peter Frampton remains eternally grateful for his childhood friend David Bowie featuring him as his lead guitarist on his 1987 Glass Spider Tour. Frampton, who after a few lean years, credited his comeback with Bowie's once-in-a lifetime offer that took his career to a new dimension: "I was going to be Dave's guitar player. He could have chosen anybody. He's had Stevie Ray Vaughan the album before, but he chose me. I can never thank him enough for that. . . I've always been more comfortable playing guitar, not singing. . . David inviting me to do the album and tour changed my credibility; I got my credibility back that I felt I'd lost when (1977's) I'm In You came out. David gave me back that credibility to continue and bring people back to me." (Guitar World)

  
  
• Joni Mitchell is prepping the release of her July performance at the Newport Folk Festival. While chatting with Elton John on his Apple Music 1 program, Elton John's Rocket Hour, Mitchell revealed why she didn't sing her 1974 Court And Spark favorite, "Just Like This Train," explaining, "(We) didn't have any (rehearsal). . . I couldn't sing the key, I've become an alto, I'm not a soprano anymore, so I couldn't sing the song. And I thought people might feel lighted that if I just played the guitar part, but I like the guitar part to that song. So anyway, it was very well received, much to my delight." (Rolling Stone)

TAYLOR SWIFT ADDS 17 MORE DATES TO 'ERAS TOUR': Taylor Swift has expanded her Eras Tour with 17 additional shows. The cross-country tour will now kick-off a day earlier than originally announced – on March 17th in Arizona - and end four days later than planned - on August 9th in Los Angeles. A graphic posted to her Instagram Stories Friday (November 11th) showed that her additional stop will take place in Glendale, Arizona; Las Vegas; Arlington, Texas; Tampa, Florida; Houston (two more); Atlanta; Nashville; Chicago; Detroit; Pittsburgh; Minneapolis; Cincinnati; Kansas City, Missouri; Denver; and Los Angeles.

SIA DROPS 'SNOWMAN DELUXE' EDITION OF 'EVERYDAY IS CHRISTMAS': Sia celebrated the fifth anniversary of Everyday Is Christmas with a new digital "Snowman Deluxe" edition of the holiday album. The deluxe edition adds three new songs: "Naughty & Nice,'' "12 Nights" and "3 Minutes ‘Til New Years" plus a new remix of her certified holiday classic "Snowman."

JOE JONAS DROPS 'NOT ALONE' FEATURING KHALID: In honor of Veteran's Day, Joe Jonas unveiled a new single "Not Alone" with global superstar Khalid on Friday (November 11th). The track serves as the end title and theme song for Columbia Pictures and Black Label Media's forthcoming aerial war epic Devotion. The film opens exclusively in theaters everywhere on November 23rd.

Out today (November 11th) is Bruce Springsteen's soul covers set, titled Only The Strong Survive. The album, which was recorded without the E Street Band, features two duets with Sam & Dave's Sam Moore -- "Soul Days" and "I Forgot To Be Your Lover."

Among the other covers on the set are the Walker Brothers' "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted," Jerry Butler's "Hey, Western Union Man," the Temptations' "I Wish It Would Rain," the Four Tops' "7 Rooms Of Gloom," the Supremes' "Someday We'll Be Together" -- and even the Commodores' 1985 hit "Nightshift."

In the video announcement for the set, Springsteen explained, "I decided to do something I had never done before: make some music that is centered around singing, around challenging my voice. Now, in my own memoir, I give my voice a little short shrift by saying I didn't think I had much of one. But once I started on this project, after listening to some of the things we cut, I thought, 'My voice is badass!'"

Over the years, Bruce Springsteen has remained adamant that the Top 40 singles he heard throughout his teen years made him not only the musician he became -- but the man he is today: "Rock is primarily about longing. All the great rock songs are about longing. 'Like A Rolling Stone' is about longing; 'How does it feel to be without a home?' -- 'Louie, Louie' (laughs)! You're yearning for --'Where's that big party that I know is out there, but I can't find it' (laughs), or 'Where's that girl that I know, or that partner, that's out there, but I can't find her?' Well, rock's a little map to those things and it's like a little pill you take that they can't give 'em to ya, but it can create a spark in you that leads you to them."

IN OTHER SPRINGSTEEN NEWS

Bruce Springsteen will promote the new album on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon over several nights.

"The Boss" will appear with Fallon as the show's lead and musical guest on November 14th, 15th, and 16th. Springsteen will also make a special appearance on November 24th, for The Tonight Show's Thanksgiving episode.

RM will be the next member of BTS to release a solo project. He posted details online and shared a photo of a bright blue patch of denim, and revealed the title as Indigo. Look for it to be available on December 2.

A press release noted that various artists will be featured, but names were not mentioned.

Even though this will be RM's first full-length solo album, it's not his first release. He shared solo material in 2015 when he dropped his first mixtape which contained 2 singles.

The announcement of RM's solo album arrives shortly after fellow BTS member Jin released his own solo track titled "The Astronaut." That song is currently #51 on the Billboard Hot 100.

TL;DR:

Mariah Carey is set to host a new two-hour holiday special called Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!

The global superstar has become known as the queen of Christmas over the years thanks to her 1994 record-breaking hit "All I Want For Christmas Is You."

The primetime show will air on CBS and Paramount+ on December 20. It will be filmed at New York City's famed Madison Square Garden.

TL;DR:

• Mariah Carey is set to host a new two-hour holiday special called Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!
• December 20 on CBS and Paramount+

In celebration of his 80th year, on December 2nd Paul McCartney will release 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 will also be available digitally.

Paul McCartney wrote in the box set's introductory essay:

I still respect the B side -- where else can you find songs like (the Beatles') 'You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)' or 'Ode To A Koala Bear' (the flip-side of 'Say, Say, Say)? So, when my team suggested we put out this box of 45's, one of my hopes was that both sides of the record will be of interest to you.

It includes my first solo single, 'Another Day' b/w 'Oh Woman, Oh Why.' And it includes my latest single, 'Women And Wives' b/w St. Vincent's great 'three' imagining. . . It doesn't include my last single because I haven't written that one yet.

Paul McCartney talked to the BBC's Dermott O'Leary and shed light on his state of mind going it alone as a solo artist at the start of the 1980's after a decade with Wings: "I was a little bit nervous, ‘cause you're, sort of, now starting a new period; but it's exciting ‘cause you've written some new songs, you wanna get in the studio. And I was getting in with George Martin, so that was really exciting, starting to work with George again. So, I knew I loved working with him, he's just a fantastic person. I mean, in truth, I always think it's an exciting time to make music, no matter what's going on, ‘cause the focus to me is the making of the music. But that time it was good, because -- as we said before -- it was a new phase for me. It was something I was going to be working on my own as a solo artist. And what was that going to bring me? Was that going to work, or was it not? Y'know?"

Sam Smith has revealed more details about their upcoming album. Featured artists include Ed Sheeran, R&B-pop singer Jessie Reyez, Reggae performer Koffee and of course, Kim Petras is on their new history making single, "Unholy."

While collaborations with Sheeran, Koffee and Petras mark firsts for the singer, Smith and Reyez have worked together in the past — the pair teamed up with Calvin Harris for the DJ's 2018 single "Promises".

Sam Smith's new album, Gloria features 13 new songs and will be released on Jan. 27.

TL;DR:

• Sam Smith's album, Gloria features Ed Sheeran, Jessie Reyez, and Koffee
• It will be released on Jan. 27.

Doja Cat called out new Twitter owner, Elon Musk this week when she was having problems with her account. Doja changes her account name to match the holidays and since Musk made some changes to the platform she was stuck with the name - Christmas.

One of Twitter's new policies makes it so that existing verified users can't change their display names anymore. As she was figuring it out, she immediately went online and gave him a cussing and asked him for help at the same time.

After a few tweets back and forth, they seemed to get things worked out and in the end, looks like she'll be able to change her name again once Christmas is over.

TL;DR:

• Doja Cat called out new Twitter owner, Elon Musk this week when she was having problems with her account.
• After a few tweets back and forth, they seemed to get things worked out.

Happy Birthday to Neil Young, who turns 77 on Saturday (November 12th)!!! Neil Young & Crazy Horse will release their latest album, World Record, on November 18th. The new 10-track collection was produced by Rick Rubin and recorded at his Shangri-la Studios in Malibu -- which was originally the Band's headquarters after being used as a brothel for years.

Coming on December 2nd will be Young's 50th anniversary edition of his 1972 classic, Harvest. The triple disc set features a trio of session outtakes and a live BBC concert from February 1971. The collection also features a DVD of the BBC show along with the two-hour documentary, titled Harvest Time, featuring footage from in and around the Harvest sessions.

Back in 2019, Young, who is Canadian but had lived in California for the previous 56 years, finally became a U.S. citizen.

Neil Young married actress Daryl Hannah on August 24th, 2018.

Although Neil Young has tried extremely hard to keep his life private over the course of his career, he wants it known, he's hardly a recluse: "The fact that I don't, y'know, that I don't go out of my way to be seen and go to places where I know that my picture's gonna be taken and things like that makes them think that I'm hiding. I'm not hiding from anything. I'm just not interested in any of it. I have other things that I'm more interested in that don't have to do with getting my face on People magazine."

Graham Nash says that making music with Young as part of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young has always led to fascinating results: "I love to make music with Neil. It's very different with Neil. Y'know, it's a very different band -- there's more edge, it's darker, it's funkier. It's just different."

Although Waging Heavy Peace marked Neil Young's own personal autobiography, 2002's semi-authorized Shakey, written by Jimmy McDonough, was based on 300 new and exclusive interviews -- including a reported 50 hours of taped chats with Young himself. Graham Nash told us at the time, that like many readers, he found Shakey to be illuminating, particularly its anecdotes about Young's often nasty treatment of his musical colleagues: "I learned a lot about my friend that I didn't know, and I learned a lot about my friend that I thought I knew (laughs). To me, that's not the way I want to live my life. I am consumed by creation, but in my life, creation takes a second. . . not second, but a, certainly an equal footage to my life. I don't want to hurt people -- ever -- because to me, there's enough pain in this world."

Retired Crazy Horse guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro says that despite Young's constant need to shake things up by playing with different musicians, he seems to consider the band his musical home: "When you look at it, there is only one band that Neil continues to play with. He's played with a lot of different bands, but I'd have to say that we are, overall, the most consistent of all the bands he's played with -- even though he's played with Crosby, Stills & Nash quite a bit, but I think he's even played with us more than them."

David Crosby told us that Neil Young's moral integrity has always stood side-by-side with his talent: "That's basically the deal. I think it's one of the things that I've always admired about him, is that right, wrong or indifferent, he continues to grow. And I think that's always been something that I've always wanted to do and continue to do."

It was 52 years ago today (November 11th, 1970), that Elvis Presley's first concert film, Elvis - That's The Way It Is, premiered. The movie, which chronicled the Los Angeles rehearsals and the opening shows of Presley's third Las Vegas stand at the International Hotel, provided a behind-the-scenes look at Presley at work and at play.

The rehearsal footage, taped in Los Angeles' MGM Studios, shows Elvis working up material with the core of his TCB Band: lead guitarist James Burton, keyboardist Glenn D. Hardin, bassist Jerry Scheff, drummer Ronnie Tutt, and rhythm guitarist John Wilkerson.

The second part of the film, which features highlights of Elvis' first six shows of the Vegas stand, shows "The King" at the top of his game, both vocally and physically. Among the highlights in the film are his renditions of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," Dusty Springfield's "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," B.J. Thomas' "I Just Can't Help Believing'," Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," and his own recent chart topper "Suspicious Minds."

Elvis also is seen performing a handful of his '50s and '60s hits including "Little Sister," "Love Me Tender," "Hound Dog," "Blue Suede Shoes," and "Can't Help Falling In Love."

On February 27th, 1970 during a rare press conference in Houston, Texas, Elvis explained why he returned to performing after laying low throughout the 1960's: "I just missed it. I missed the closeness of an audience, of a live audience. So, as soon as I got out of the movie contracts, I started to do live performances again."

Guitarist and bandleader James Burton performed alongside Elvis at every show he played between July 1969 and June 1977. He says that Presley always kept the musicians on their toes: "Every show was different because Elvis didn't want to do the same thing every night. And even though he went by that song list, he never went by that song list, he'd jump all over the place."

The soundtrack to Elvis - That's The Way It Is peaked at Number 21 on the Billboard 200, and at Number Eight on the magazine's Country charts.

Although Presley had made several successful TV concert specials, including the 1973 Aloha From Hawaii and 1977's posthumous Elvis In Concert, he only made one other full-length concert film, 1973's Elvis On Tour.

Just reissued is the classic 1984 "Body By Jake" workout album by fitness icon Jake Steinfeld. The Body By Jake: Don't Quit (Music From The Original Video Soundtrack) collection, which is being rediscovered by a new generation after more than 35 years, served as precursor to the type of curated playlists found on Peloton and the streaming services.

The album features tracks by current Toto frontman Joseph Williams, and former Steve Wonder sideman and "Maniac" hitmaker, Michael Sembello.

Jake Steinfeld revealed to us that by not including his buddy, the late, great Glenn Frey on the classic Body By Jake album -- he ended up scoring his TV show an unforgettable theme song: "Y'know, I trained Glenn and then I had one of my brothers training Glenn. And then Glenn and I became very friendly -- he coached my older son Nick in basketball with his son Deacon, who since has taken over for him. We kinda always hung. And when he heard that I did an album, he said, 'You did an album? You didn't ask me?' He said, 'Look, if there's ever anything you need -- just let me know.' Now, in '87, I had a first-run syndicated television show called Body By Jake. So, I said, 'Hey buddy, you asked if I need anything' -- I said, 'I need a theme.' He said, 'Every time you hear Jake, you're always saying, 'don't quit.' Let's call (the song) 'Don't Quit.' I said, 'Fine, let's call it 'Don't Quit.' When you hear it -- I tell you -- it's better than 'The Heat Is On.'"

Machine Gun Kelly says he suffers from Peter Pan syndrome. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter he compared himself to the character he plays in his upcoming movie, Taurus. Saying they were both "broken" and didn't want to grow up.

Describing how he felt, he said "You're a lost boy, but you have Wendy, and Wendy doesn't want to be with the lost boy, but she's like, 'Come back home and be a grownup with me.'"

Experts caution that Peter Pan syndrome is not an actual medical diagnosis, but more of a popular metaphor to describe adults, who feel like kids at heart.

TL;DR:

• Machine Gun Kelly says he suffers from Peter Pan syndrome.
• He compared himself to the character he plays in his upcoming movie, Taurus and said they were both "broken" and didn't want to grow up.

It was 54 years ago today (November 11th, 1968) that John Lennon and Yoko Ono released their first album together, the infamous Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins. The album, which featured John and Yoko nude on the front and back covers, has been jokingly referred to over the years as the "most talked about album to have never been played."

The album was recorded in May 1968, supposedly during John and Yoko's first night together, and features an assortment of oddly mixed random noise, screeching, backwards tape loops, and other "found sound."

An early supporter of the album was Paul McCartney, who accompanied John and Yoko to the office of EMI Records chairman Sir Joseph Lockwood to persuade him to allow EMI to distribute the album. When Lockwood pressed the couple as to why they wanted to issue the album with the nude photos, Yoko replied "It's art." Lockwood's legendary response was, "Well, why not show Paul in the nude, he's so much better looking."

The album was released only weeks after John and Yoko's pot bust in London while staying in Ringo Starr's Montague Square apartment -- where the Two Virgins cover was shot -- and further alienated Lennon from his British fans, who were increasingly confused by the chief Beatle's odd behavior. Many stores would only carry Two Virgins wrapped in brown paper.

Shortly before her recent death, the late Cynthia Lennon recalled the period in which she was granted a divorce from Lennon and Two Virgins was released. She felt that the couple's drug bust during those weeks was a form of "Instant Karma" for the way in which Lennon abandoned her and their son Julian to run off with Yoko: "And yes, they were busted. I'm a great believer of 'action-reaction.' And I felt that because of what they had done, and made everything so public in such a cruel way, then something was going to happen in reaction to that. And what happened was that the police decided that they were going to make an example of him."

Paul McCartney felt that the deeper Lennon fell for Yoko the more clear it became to him that the Beatles' days were numbered: "When John hooked up with Yoko so, sort of, intensely; that was obviously -- it was kind of obvious that there could be no looking back after that. Y'know, he. . . I always felt that he had to clear the decks of us in order to give her enough attention."

Two Virgins was released on Apple Records, but EMI and its U.S. subsidiary Capitol refused to distribute the album because of the cover. In Britain, the Who's label Track Records distributed the disc, and in the U.S. Tetragrammaton Records, which was co-founded by Bill Cosby, pressed the album.

UK sales at the time peaked at 5,000, with the U.S. sales totaling about 25,000. A further 30,000 copies were confiscated in a warehouse in Newark, New Jersey due to obscenity laws.

Although the album received no substantial airplay, having the distinction of being the first solo John Lennon album ensured that it made the charts by topping out at Number 124 on the Billboard album charts in early 1969. Two Virgins didn't chart in Britain.

Iggy Pop has announced a new solo album entitled Every Loser. The punk icon's 19th solo album will be released via Atlantic and Gold Tooth Records. Pop said in a recent statement, "I'm the guy with no shirt who rocks; Andrew and Gold Tooth get that, and we made a record together the old-fashioned way. The players are guys I've known since they were kids, and the music will beat the sh*t out of you."

The album will be released on January 6th.

Ozzy Osbourne says that although he's done with Black Sabbath -- he'd like to continue working with co-founder Tony Iommi, according to Blabbermouth. On SiriusXM's, Ozzy Speaks show, Ozzy was asked about collaborating with Iommi on his solo track the track "Degradation Rules" from Ozzy's recent latest album, Patient Number 9: "(It) was great. I mean, now you don't have to sit in a room; you can do it over the phone. That track would have been a great Black Sabbath track on the 13 album. I wasn't really in love with that 13 album."

Regarding his lack of interest in recording or performing with Black Sabbath anymore, Ozzy said, "Well, it's kind of, like, how many times do you wanna do the same. . . it's the same format, y'know? It was very successful for a lot of years, and people wanted to see us. I did that farewell tour. And the only thing about that which was sad (was) Bill Ward wasn't there. But I've spoken to Bill since. He's all right. I would work with any of them individually. But as Black Sabbath, I think it's (over). We couldn't really beat what we've already done."

Tommy Iommi spoke a while back about the respect that Black Sabbath earned over the years: "For a while, nobody would take us seriously. But as we went on, the more we carried on, the more we proved, the more we stayed there, y'know? And I think we got the respect from that."

Britney Spears doesn't appear to be interested in having Millie Bobby Brown play her on the big screen.

The Stranger Things star told Drew Barrymore on Tuesday (November 8th), "I want to play a real person. I think for me it would be Britney."

She continued, "I think her story really resonates with me. Just growing up in the public eye watching her videos, watching interviews of how when she was younger. I see the scramble for words in her interviews and I don't know her, but when I look at pictures of her, I feel like I could tell her story in the right way and hers only."

Spears wrote on Instagram the same day Brown's interview aired, "I hear about people wanting to do movies about my life … dude I'm not dead !!!

Once again on Monday night (November 7th), Bruce Springsteen headlined the annual "Stand Up For Heroes" benefit benefitting the Bob Woodruff Foundation. The 2022 event, which took place this year at Manhattan's David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, also featured mainstay Jon Stewart along with fellow comedians Hasan Minhaj and Iliza Shlesinger, among others.

Springsteen, performing acoustically, live-premiered his 2020 Letter To You standout, "House Of A Thousand Guitars" and dedicated his 2007 Magic favorite "I'll Work For Your Love," to Eddie and Jill Vedder, who were in attandance. "The Boss" performed one more Letter To You tune -- "I'll See You In My Dreams," before finishing with "Dancing In The Dark."

The event kicked off the 16th annual New York Comedy Festival and is but one of over 100 performances held across New York City and runs through November 13th.

Variety reported, "The foundation -- which Bob Woodruff and his wife Lee started after he suffered a traumatic brain injury while embedded with troops in Iraq in 2007 -- has helped more than 12 million veterans by giving more than 560 grants. This year's event added $4.5 million to the coffers including more than $700,000 raised in donations from audience members."

Bruce Springsteen told us that he believes his role as an American songwriter extends far beyond the entertainment community in which he works: "You're supposed to remain interested in the world. Y'know, my job was always to put you in somebody else's shoes and, and have you walk a while in those shoes, I've said a lot in the past. You're out there, and you feel what's in the air out there, and you feel what's on people's minds. People are looking for ways to have a dialogue about these ideas, about these issues. They're looking for ways to try to get a handle and, and make sense of, of what's happening, y'know? And I think that music and film and, and art has a service to perform in, in that fashion."

Justin Bieber is allegedly scared of Judge Judy.

Judge Judy Sheindlin told Access Hollywood that the "Peaches" singer lived next door to her in 2017 and went out of his way to avoid her. She said, "He's scared to death of me. There was a period of time before he grew up, when he was foolish and doing foolish things."

She added that he even had his security team alert him of when she was outside so they wouldn't cross paths.

Before they became neighbors, Sheindlin shamed Bieber when discussing his 2014 DUI with CBS Los Angeles. At the time, she told the outlet he was a "marginal singer" who was "doing a very good job of making a fool out of himself."