The Jonas Brothers are extending their Las Vegas residency.
The trio announced on social media Monday (August 15th) that they'd be returning to the Dolby Live at Park MGM for three more shows on November 10th, 11th and 12th.
They wrote on Instagram, "Just like last time, we will be playing a different set list every single night."
General onsale starts Friday (August 19th).
BLACKPINK, Jack Harlow, Lizzo and Måneskin are the have been added to the lineup for the 2022 VMAs.
The K-Pop sensations will make their U.S. award show debut with the first U.S. performance of "Pink Venom."
Maneskin will also make their VMA debut, while Jack Harlow will hit the MTV stage for his first solo performance.
Lizzo, who is up for four awards this year, will perform "2 Be Loved."
They will join previously announced acts, Anitta, J Balvin, Marshmello x Khalid and Panic! At The Disco live from Prudential Center on Sunday, August 28th at 8PM ET/PT.
Dua Lipa turned down a marriage proposal during a recent stop on the Future Nostalgia tour.
A TikTok video uploaded by the @dulapeepguy account shows the singer peering into the audience when she noticed a man wearing a shirt that said, "Will you marry me, Dula Peep?"
Lipa said, "Unfortunately I can't marry you, But I can dedicate this song to you if you like." She then playfully dedicated the song, "Good In Bed" to her suitor.
Michelle Branch has filed for divorce from Patrick Carney, a move that comes days cheating allegations and the singer's arrest for domestic assault.
Court documents obtained by TMZ show that Branch filed for divorce on Friday (August 12th) in Tennessee. She states irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
The "Everywhere" artist is asking for child support and for custody of their two young children.
Roger Daltrey shed light on his 60-year-relationship with Pete Townshend during a new chat with Forbes. The Who kicks off its next North American run on October 2nd at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena.
Although no longer at loggerheads as they were during much of the 1970's, Daltrey explained that he and Townshend's connection is solely based around the Who: "Our relationship is a working one, and that's about as far as it goes. But when we get on stage, there's a chemistry that's created. When we're playing well, it starts to kick in properly. It's still as wonderful as ever. We never really had a strong relationship off of the stage, though. It's as simple as that."
When pressed about his one-off collaboration with Townshend co-writing the Who's second single, 1965's "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere." Daltrey explained, "It happened by accident. Pete had a sketch for a song, but didn't have a bridge for it. We were rehearsing it, getting it down on stage at the Marquee Club. We were doing a show that night. When we got to the bridge part, I added some lyrics, and, if you add any lyrics to a song, you're one of the writers. But apparently that doesn't happen with everything you do, especially when jamming (laughs)."
Daltrey, who's now 78, spoke frankly about like and mortality, revealing, "I'm afraid of the things that everybody else is. I'm not afraid of death, that's for sure. I've been close to that too many times (laughs). Things that really frighten me are what might hurt my family. They are the most important thing in my life. That really terrifies me, that they'll have to go through a terrible time. How my parents got through the war, losing brothers and sisters, I don't know. The pain must have been enormous. The pain never left them, I do know that. I regret not talking to them about it. But I lived in the ignorance of it -- we all do when we're young."
During a recent appearance on Britain's The One Show, Roger Daltrey spoke about the key elements that set the Who apart from their peers: "I did get lucky, everybody gets lucky, you have to be lucky in this business. But we also had the talent and I got the good luck finding the other three members of the band. There was something about our rhythm -- the rhythm that the four of us made that was always spiky. It wasn't rock n' roll. Rock n' roll was, kind of, dance music, y'know, music to make love to. The Who made music to fight to."
Gene Simmons gave the blueprint of how the Kiss brand may live on after the band wraps its ongoing "End Of The Road " tour. Blabbermouth transcribed some of the bassist's comment while appearing on Dean Delray's Let There Be Talk podcast, where he touched on the final Kiss concert: "We don't know if it's (going to be in) New York. I have good reasons why it should be, but the important thing is when it's the last show, it'll be the last show. Kiss the touring band will stop. But the touring band. Kiss will continue in other ways. I have no problems with four deserving 20-year-olds sticking the makeup back on and hiding their identity."
Regarding the Kiss brand living on beyond the touring shelf life of the group, Simmons explained, "Kiss will continue in ways that even I haven't thought of. But I can conceive of. . . Y'know, the Blue Man Group and Phantom Of The Opera tours around the world with different personnel. There could and should be a Kiss show, kind of live on stage with effects and everything else, but also semi-autobiographical thing about four knuckleheads off the streets of New York that ends with the last third as a full-blown celebration, a full-on performance. Not with us. Although not a problem stepping in every once in a while."
Although Gene Simmons will miss the nightly connection Kiss gets when performing among the band's die-hard fans -- he's not shedding tears over the band quitting the road: "This is not a sad occasion. We couldn't think of a happier way to end it than with the people who put us here in the first place -- our bosses, the fans. Y'know, they've made all our dreams come true, and we're blessed and feel very fortunate and thankful for giving us this life."
Kiss performs on August 20th in Melbourne, Australia at Rod Laver Arena.
Their next U.S. show is set for September 21st at West Palm Beach's IThink Financial Amphitheare.
Jeff Beck has announced a 29-date fall tour, with select dates featuring ZZ Top and Ann Wilson opening. The tour kicks off on September 23rd in Del Valle, Texas at Germania Insurance Amphitheater and wraps on November 12th at Reno, Nevada's Grand Theatre in the Grand Sierra Resort. ZZ Top will be on hand for the tour's first six stops, with Wilson opening first three shows of the run.
Out now is Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp's first joint album, titled, 18. The pair have mixed new originals with covers by the likes of John Lennon, the Beach Boys, Dennis Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, the Velvet Underground, Killing Joke, the Everly Brothers, and more.
Ultimate Classic Rock reported Beck and Depp were recently accused of lifting the lyrics to their new collaboration "Sad Motherf***in' Parade" from the piece "Hobo Ben," which was described as "an old toast -- or form of Black folk poetry -- delivered by the late Slim Wilson and preserved in Bruce Jackson's 1974 book Get Your Ass in The Water And Swim Like Me and a 1976 album of the same name."
A representative for Beck and Depp told the website: ""We are reviewing the inquiry relating to the song 'Sad Motherf***in' Parade' on the 18 album by Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp. If appropriate, additional copyright credits will be added to all forms of the album."
Jeff Beck's former Yardbirds bandmate Jimmy Page feels that Beck's influence cannot be overstated: "He's been instrumental in pioneering a whole blueprints that was totally unique to him for everyone else to learn from. I mean, no one's ever equaled what Jeff's done, but he's -- he really shifted the whole sound and face of the electric guitar music, y'know?"
JUST ANNOUNCED: Jeff Beck North American tour dates (subject to change):
September 23 - Del Valle, TX - Germania Insurance Amphitheater (with ZZ Top & Ann Wilson)
September 24 - Dallas, TX - Dos Equis Pavilion (with ZZ Top & Ann Wilson)
September 25 - The Woodlands, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (with ZZ Top & Ann Wilson)
September 27 - Franklin, TN - First Bank Amphitheater (with ZZ Top)
September 29 - Pelham, AL - Oak Mountain Amphitheatre (with ZZ Top)
September 30 - Orange Beach, AL - The Wharf Amphitheater (with ZZ Top)
September 1 - Atlanta, GA - Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre
September 4 - Washington, D.C. - The Anthem
September 6 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway
October 7, 8 - Port Chester, NY - Capitol Theatre
October 10 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Center for the Arts
October 13 - Kingston, NY - Ulster Performing Arts Center
October 14 & 15 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount
October 17 - Toronto, ON - Meridian Hall
October 19 - Nashville, IN - Brown County Music Center
October 20 - Cincinnati, OH - The Andrew J Brady Music Center
October 22 - Louisville, KY - The Louisville Palace Theater
October 23 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
November 1 - Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theatre
November 2 - Temecula, CA - Pechanga Resort & Casino
November 4 - Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl Concert Theater
November 5 - Thousand Oaks, CA - Bank of America Performing Arts Center Thousand Oaks
November 6 - Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre
November 8 - Anaheim, CA - City National Grove of Anaheim
November 9 - San Jose, CA - San Jose Civic
November 10 - Sacramento, CA - Hard Rock Live
November 12 - Reno, NV - Grand Theatre, Grand Sierra Resort
Mariah Carey's Atlanta metro-area home was burglarized last month while she was vacationing in Capri, Italy and the Hamptons in New York.
The Sandy Springs Police Department are currently investigating the break-in and have not shared additional information at this time.
Apparently, Mariah posted on social media on July 16th, "Taking a picture before the humidity foils my hair here in Capri."
According to Page Six, the robbery occurred on July 27th.
On September 23rd Alice In Chains will issue a remastered 30th anniversary two-LP 12-inch black vinyl edition of their second album, Dirt. The album, which was the band's last album to be recorded with the Seattle group's core four founding members -- Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and late-members Mike Starr and Layne Staley.
Dirt was released on September 29th, 1992 and peaked at Number Six on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The set featured such instant classics as "Would?," "Down In A Hole," "Them Bones," "Rooster," and "Angry Chair."
According to the press release:
Alice In Chains will release an exclusive translucent orange variant of the double-LP 12-inch vinyl 30th anniversary edition of Dirt as a D2C offering on the band's website.
The AIC exclusive translucent orange pressing of Dirt will be available as a stand-alone purchase as well as a component in the ultimate Dirt Super Deluxe Package which also includes a resin figurine custom sculpted girl from the album cover as a vinyl topper and magnet, four show posters, a 24-inch square poster featuring the album cover and band photo, four reimagined Dirt album cover prints, and a Dirt hardcover book with never before seen photos.
Also included is a CD with remastered audio, and the album's five seven-inch vinyl singles: "Them Bones," "Down In A Hole," "Rooster," "Angry Chair" and "Would?"
Walmart will be offering customers an exclusive apple red variant pressing of the double-LP 12-inch vinyl LP.
Alice In Chains guitarist/songwriter Jerry Cantrell acknowledged the group didn't fit in neatly with the rest of the Seattle bands: "We definitely didn't fit into the Subpop scene. We were non-existent in that. I guess we were too rock (laughs). We kind of just did our own thing, and we were always outside that whole vibe of what later turned into what was going on with the Seattle sound or whatever. The bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, they were all associated at one point with Subpop and that whole scene."
Cantrell said point blank that Alice In Chains always considered themselves to be a force unto themselves: "We were just like kids out of the South End, like f***ing rock heads. We didn't fit in with that. We were always on our own. And that was fine by us. We always had the attitude -- not belligerently -- but if you don't dig us, then f*** you, basically. Y'know, that's cool.'"
Alice In Chains performs tonight (August 16th) in Clarkston, Michigan at Pine Knob Music Theatre.
Michelle Branch was arrested Thursday (August 11th) after getting into a physical alternation with husband Patrick Carney.
E! News confirmed that the singer was charged with domestic assault for admittedly slapping Carney in the face "one to two times"
The altercation comes two days after Branch tweeted and deleted that her husband had been cheating on her while she was at home with their newborn baby.
Taylor Swift could be nominated for an Oscar next year.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, All Too Well: The Short Film, is eligible to be nominated in the Best Live Action Short category at the 95th Annual Academy Awards.
The 14-minute production, which stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien screened at the AMC Lincoln Square last November.
Bruce Springsteen will be in conversation with Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Jann Wenner on September 13th at Manhattan's 92nd Street Y. According to the announcement, "the pair will be in conversation about Wenner's deeply personal new memoir Like A Rolling Stone, which brings you inside the music, the politics, and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond." For ticket information, log on to https://www.92ny.org/
Pete Townshend has always been very open about his life and work with the press, and learned early on that it was okay to trust the media, opening himself up to interviewers far more readily than his peers: "So what started to happen is that I would sit with somebody like (Rolling Stone's) Jann Wenner, I sat with him and opened my heart up to him, y'know? And it felt safe to do so, and it was safe, because you guys might think you know what I said --- and some of it I may have said to you -- but I know what you haven't printed that I've said."
Set for release on September 30th is the latest Eric Clapton box set, The Complete Reprise Studio Albums - Volume 1, which sells for $249.98. The Reprise collection contains newly remastered versions of six studio albums pressed on 180-gram vinyl: Money And Cigarettes (1983) as a single LP, Behind The Sun (1985), August (1986), Journeyman (1989), From the Cradle (1994), and Pilgrim (1998) as double-LPs. Behind The Sun and August were originally released as single LP's with both now packaged as three-sided double albums to avoid long LP sides and to maximize the audio quality.
A bonus album, exclusive to the new collection, Rarities (1983-1998), brings together eight rare recordings from this era, including live versions of "White Room" and "Crossroads" that were both featured on the B-side of the 1987 single "Behind The Mask." Another B-side, "Theme From A Movie That Never Happened (Orchestral)," appeared in 1998 on the B-side to "My Father's Eyes." A cover of Albert King's "Born Under A Bad Sign" and a previously unreleased remix of "Pilgrim" by co-writer and long-time Clapton producer Simon Climie.
Early 2023 will see the release of The Complete Reprise Studio Albums - Volume 2, a companion vinyl boxed set that features Clapton's Reprise studio albums spanning 2001-2010, along with an exclusive LP of rarities from that era. More details on this release will be announced soon.
Eric Clapton explained what goes through his head just before he launches into one of his signature solos: "You've got a (laughs) brief span of, like 10 seconds -- 'Right, I'm gonna play something now' -- and you go through 100 different changes in your head about what approach you're gonna take and usually by the time you've gone through those changes -- it's time! It's just like someone shoved you through a door and you've suddenly got to do an act. And for me, I just start singing. It's a voice. 'Got nothing to do with technique at all. Experience, maybe, of y'know, having confidence in knowing what you're hearing in your head you can do with your hand. But apart from that it's not any cleverness at all. It's just feeling."
Insiders say that Kevin Federline is speaking out about Britney Spears' alleged estrangement from her sons because he and the boys are worried about her mental health.
One source told Page Six, "Kevin did the interview because he and the boys are upset. They worry that everyone is completely ignoring the face that Britney is battling mental issues, which is not a secret."
Late last week, K-Fed tried to back up his claims about the embattled pop star's mental health by posting videos of Spears scolding her sons. In one clip, she demanded her boys show her respect, and in another she scolded her oldest, Sean, for going into a store without wearing any shoes.
Coming on December 2nd is the seven-disc Elvis On Tour box set. In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley's legendary tour the movie was culled from, the Elvis On Tour CD / Blu-ray box set is comprised of the audio from four of the shows -- and two rehearsals -- that were part of "The King's" 1972 North American tour.
The original concert film opened on November 1st, 1972 and went on to win the award for Best Documentary Film at the 30th Golden Globe Awards.
The new set features a total of 145 tracks, including 91 tracks that have been previously unreleased, as well as the award-winning concert film on Blu-ray.
After years of being confined to a backbreaking movie schedule, starting in 1969, Elvis Presley was thrilled to finally hit the stage in front of his fans -- both in Las Vegas and on the road: "A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that's generated and the crowd and on stage. It's my favorite part of the business is the live concert. I exercise every day, I vocalize every day, if I'm working or not, so, I just try to stay in shape all the time, vocally and mentally. Both is tough (laughs), y'know? You gotta work at 'em, but I don't mind it, y'know? It's worth it."
Tomorrow (August 16th), marks the 45th anniversary of Elvis' death of a heart failure at age 42.
MARIAH CAREY'S HOME BURGLARIZED: Mariah Carey's Atlanta home was burglarized while she was on vacation in July. According to Page Six, the singer traveled to Capri, Italy before heading off to a $20 million mansion in the Hamptons last month. Police confirmed the break in but told the outlet it is "still an open investigation, the information may be limited. It is unknown what was taken.
ADELE NERVOUS TO PERFORM AFTER CANCELLING VEGAS SHOWS: Adele was "nervous to perform" her first set of live shows after cancelling her Las Vegas residency in January. Singer Mahalia, who performed with Adele at her homecoming show's in London's Hyde Park last month told Metro UK the "Hello" singer "was definitely nervous, she made that quite clear on stage." She added, "I'm sure she was nervous, and also scared – there were so many people."
It's been reported that Metallica frontman James Hatfield has filed for divorce from his wife Francesca of 25 years. TMZ first reported the news, which cited it was Hetfield that filed the papers in California earlier this year.
The couple, who met in 1992, married on August 17th, 1997 and share three adult children -- 24-year-old Cali, 22-year-old Castor -- the drummer for Bastardane, and 20-year-old Marcella.
In 2019, the long-sober Hetfield relapsed and went back into rehab. A while back, he recalled how his wife played a major part in leading him to sobriety in the early-2000's: "My wife threw me out of the house and I went to rehearsal, and she could not believe that I had done that, and said, 'You've got to check yourself in somewhere,' and I said, 'Nah, no way, I'm the singer for Metallica, I can't get help. I don't need help.' A lot of denial. She was very adamant about me seeking the help and I went in, I think, for her and for my family."
Metallica next performs on September 24th in New York City at the Global Citizen Festival at Central Park.
It was 57 years ago tonight (August 15th, 1965) that the Beatles played their legendary concert at Shea Stadium in New York City. The show was the first on their 1965 U.S. summer tour, and it was also the first-ever open-air stadium rock concert. The group flew into New York on August 13th and a day later taped a five-song performance for The Ed Sullivan Show to be broadcast the following month. Sullivan returned the favor by introducing the group the next night at Shea, in front of a sell-out crowd of 55,600 fans.
The Beatles, who performed on a makeshift stage near where second base would normally be, earned a whopping $160,000 for their 30-minute set -- which was a record payout at that time. The New York Police Department was worried that fans attending the shows would jam the tunnels in and out of Manhattan, so the Beatles were escorted from the Warwick Hotel to the Manhattan East River Heliport and flown by helicopter to the roof of the World's Fair building in Flushing Meadows Park, not far from Shea Stadium. Next, the group jumped in a Wells Fargo armored van and were driven to the stadium. The van driver gave each of the Beatles a Wells Fargo "agent badge," which they all wore at the evening's concert.
Unlike today's stadium events, no seats were set up on the field for safety reasons. Throughout the concert -- which also featured legendary New York DJ Murray The K and opening acts the King Curtis Band, Cannibal & the Headhunters, Brenda Holloway, and Sounds Incorporated -- fans were constantly stopped from making mad dashes towards the stage.
Ringo Starr recalled the concert in The Beatles Anthology, saying, "What I remember most about the concert was that we were so far away from the audience. . . And screaming had become the thing to do. . . Everybody screamed. If you look at the footage, you can see how we reacted to the place. It was very big and very strange."
John Lennon recalled the show in 1970, saying, "At Shea Stadium, I saw the top of the mountain." During his last full-length TV interview in April 1975, Lennon told Tomorrow Show host Tom Snyder that the entire "Beatlemania" era was as confusing and disconcerting to the group as one would imagine: "It was like being in the eye of a hurricane, and you thought -- 'What's going on?' That was about as deep as it got: 'What is happening?' You'd suddenly wake up in the middle of one -- a concert or a happening -- and (think) 'How did I get here? Last thing I remember was playing music in a club and the next minute this."
Singer Bobby Vinton and the Rolling Stones briefly visited with the Beatles before they hit the stage. Vinton remembers hanging out with the Stones as they made their way to the concert: "Well, I remember I went to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium when they were here. I still saw the poster, I think it was like five dollars to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium. I went with Mick Jagger and the Stones, and they didn't quite. . . they weren't there yet, y'know? They were just comin', and I remember walkin' in New York to Shea Stadium and a couple of guys noticed Mick Jagger and they start punchin' him. And, I mean, these guys in New York are kinda rough, and I said, 'Oh yeah, those bad guys from England.' (laughs)."
Legendary concert promoter, the late-Sid Bernstein, booked the "Fab Four's" 1964 Carnegie Hall shows and 1965 and 1966 Shea Stadium concerts. Rather than play Madison Square Garden -- as had been suggested -- making Shea Stadium a massive concert event was Bernstein's vision: "It was the first stadium concert. And it broke all records for gross -- that record remained for awhile."
Bernstein said that decades after event, people still talked about that Beatles concert on August 15th, 1965: "I even meet people today, who occasionally say, 'I saw the show at Shea Stadium.' And I ask, 'Which one?' And they say, 'Y'know, the '65 -- the first one.' And I'll say, 'Did you hear anything?' And everybody will say, 'Didn't matter -- I was there.'"
Eric Carmen told us that although primitive by today's big budget concert productions, the Beatles' performances during their touring years were defined by the quality of the material they performed: "Y'know, pacing was probably never a problem for the Beatles. Because first of all, all those songs were just terrific. They were playing for a half an hour. So, I mean if you listen to an old Beatle tape of a concert, it's 30 minutes of 'Twist And Shout' and 'I Saw Her Standing There,' and 'Ticket To Ride.' And how bad can it be?"
Beatlefan executive editor Al Sussman explained that only two-and-a-half years after first landing on American shores, the Beatles were so massive on a cultural level that they easily dwarfed even the strongest of their competitors with their talent, status, and popularity: "As big as Herman's Hermits were during '65, as big as the (Rolling) Stones were, it was so obvious that the Beatles were on a totally different level popularity-wise. It was like, they're up here -- and the Stones and the Beach Boys, and everyone else are down here."
The Beatles' setlist for their 1965 Shea Stadium concert was: "Twist And Shout," "She's A Woman," "I Feel Fine," "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," their most recent Number One hit -- "Ticket To Ride," "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Baby's In Black," "Act Naturally," "A Hard Day's Night," "Help!" and "I'm Down."
The show was filmed and eventually aired on U.S. TV in December 1966 as The Beatles At Shea Stadium. Although most of the footage from the show is featured in the group's Anthology series, nearly all of the behind-the-scenes footage from that day remains unreleased. The Beatles returned to Shea the next year, on August 23rd, 1966, to a less-than-capacity crowd, with as many as 15,000 seats going unsold.
Both Paul McCartney's and Ringo Starr's future wives -- the late Linda McCartney and Barbara Bach -- were present at the concert. McCartney said during The Beatles' Anthology that, "Linda was also there -- but as she was a real music fan she was quite (annoyed) with everyone screaming. I think she enjoyed the experience, but she genuinely wanted to hear the show. That wasn't the deal though. Not then." Also on hand was Ringo's future brother-in-law, Joe Walsh.
On August 13th, 1965 the same day the Beatles landed in the States to kick-off their second full-scale North American tour, Capitol Records released the Help! soundtrack, which featured the seven songs featured in the group's hit film. The U.S. version of the album was padded out by incidental music by composer Ken Thorne, but in the UK the Help! album featured another full side of music which went on to break a whole new set of musical boundaries. Author and historian Bruce Spizer spoke about the difference between the UK and U.S. editions of Help!: "Help! is a very interesting album when you take the British album. Because, what people don't realize is that the focus when it was released in England was all these great songs from true film and the movie was out and on Side Two, you had ‘I've Just Seen A Face,' which had gone kinda unnoticed. ‘Yesterday,' which wasn't given prominence, whereas when Capitol released ‘Yesterday' as a single, y'know, it, became a million seller, Number One."
In addition to the Beatles, other artists who have performed at Shea Stadium include the Rolling Stones, the Who, Eric Clapton, Elton John, the Police, the Clash, Simon & Garfunkel, Humble Pie, Grand Funk Railroad, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jethro Tull, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and Bob Dylan.
In July 2008, McCartney joined Billy Joel onstage during the final concert at Shea before the stadium was leveled. McCartney -- playing the same Hofner violin bass that he did during the Beatles' 1965 and '66 shows -- performed "I Saw Her Standing There" and then took over piano duties from Joel for "Let It Be" -- marking it as the final song to be played in concert at Shea Stadium.
Joel paid tribute to the Beatles numerous times over his 2008 two-night stint dubbed, "The Last Play At Shea" -- including wearing Ringo Starr's Wells Fargo agent badge that he had worn during their 1965 show.
On July 17th, 2009 Billy Joel returned the favor during the opening night of McCartney's three-night-stand at the New York Mets' new home Citi Field by joining in on "I Saw Her Standing There." During his three-night run, McCartney paid homage to the "Fab Four's" 1965 gig by playing the band's original Shea closer "I'm Down" all three nights.
On July 16th, 2011, McCartney and Billy carried on the tradition by jamming on "I Saw Her Standing There" at McCartney's third venue-opening gig at New York City's other Major League Baseball arena -- Yankee Stadium.
Although Paul McCartney understands that the Beatles, and more importantly, the music he and John Lennon wrote, defined the times they lived in, he remains the first to share the credit of the 1960's artistic renaissance with the many others at the forefront of the changing times: "We changed a lot. I don't think we did it. I think we were spokesmen for a lot of people. People used to say, 'What about the haircut, and stuff? Oh, you invented that!' We said, 'No, no, there was this bloke called Jurgen (Vollmer).' There was always someone who turned us on, and followed it and thought, this is a really good idea, we'll bring that into the mainstream. But we weren't necessarily the inventors of it all. I mean, there were millions of art students and students coming up when we came up who were as bright as we were, what. . . it showed! In the fashion industry, and in plays, in literature, and book writing. It was a generation, and I think it was the war thing -- the baby boom thing. But yeah, without the Beatles, it would've been a very different world, I think."
In 2016, the Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium concert was shown during the screenings of Ron Howard's documentary, The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years -- although to Beatles fans' disbelief, the entire concert still eludes official release.
On Wednesday night (8-10) Madonna celebrated the release of her upcoming album with a roller disco party, in New York City's Central Park.
Madonna put on a pair of skates and did two laps around the rink. She then joined producer, Nile Rodgers and spoke to the audience about making Like A Virgin together.
Guests were served specialty cocktails with names like The Queen's Spritz and The Material Girl.
Madonna is the only artist to have had 50 songs top Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart.
Her career spanning compilation album, Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones will be out August 19.
TL;DR:
On Thursday (8-11) Megan Thee Stallion finally made an official announcement about the release of her new album, just hours before it happened.
In the last few weeks, bits of information have been coming out and just as rumored, the album title is Traumazine.
The collection of personal songs boasts an impressive list of featured artists including Dua Lipa, Future, Rico Nasty, Latto, and Jhené Aiko.
About the album, she told Rolling Stone, "I want to take you through so many different emotions. At first you was twerking, now you might be crying."
Among the project's 18 tracks are several previously released singles, such as "Pressurelicious," "Plan B," and "Sweetest Pie." Two of which she performed on the Billboard Music Awards earlier this year.
TL;DR:
Bishop Patrick Wooten spoke on Beyonce's song "Church Girls," which features a Clark Sisters sample, calling it sacrilege. He told his congregation, "Beyonce just released sacrilege. The only thing I can account to some of that stuff is, somebody done sold their soul to the devil."
He continued, "When you sell your soul to the devil you get the short end of the stick. Because you're not gonna live for so long and when you leave here, where you're going, you're going to be there forever. So, it's not a good deal."
He called the song a "piece of trash" that he "struggled to listen to" but said it was "too bad" and "not for public consumption."
He went on, "To sample the song of a real Church lady, Twinkie Clark . . . I don't know whether she knew what she was gonna do with the song or not. She knows she's not saved. And I pray to God that a stiff denounciation of what she did with that song is put out."
Elvis Costello revealed he'll be playing a special Manhattan residency early next year at the Gramercy Theatre. Costello announced the run while appearing on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon while publicizing his current summer tour and latest album -- a reunion set with pre-fame bandmate, Allan Mayes, titled, The Resurrection Of Rust by Rusty.
Costello spoke about the uniqueness of the 2023 Gramercy shows: "I'm gonna play a 10-night-stand in New York City next February -- but here's the thing (cheers) -- here's the thing. I'm gonna print a list of 10 songs a night that's gonna give you the clue to what that night's gonna be like -- and the other 10 songs I might play are a secret. So, you'll never hear the same song twice. It's gonna be 200 songs over 10 nights."
So far, no specific dates at the Gramercy have been listed by Costello nor the venue.
Thursday, August 12th, marks the anniversary of several landmark events in Beatles history. . .
ON AUGUST 12th, 1966: It was 56 years ago tonight that the Beatles opened the first show of their final U.S. tour at the Chicago Amphitheatre. The group, who had previously performed dates in Germany, Japan and the Philippines, began the U.S. tour amid controversy. John Lennon was forced to apologize the day before (August 11th) for statements he had made earlier in the year about the state of Christianity. The quote, "The Beatles are more popular than Jesus," was taken out of context and published in a teen magazine called Datebook, which lead to numerous "Beatle boycotts" and bonfires of the group's albums throughout many southern states.
Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson caught the Beatles' third-to-last show on the tour on August 25th, 1966 at the Seattle Coliseum. Nancy Wilson set the scene for what went down at the concert: "Yeah, we got to (laughs) see them. We could actually hear them slightly above the screaming, and it was kinda cool -- the parts we could hear. We were in a band at the time with uniforms that matched the Beatles' uniforms (laughs) that we wore to the Beatle show! We were slightly neurotic. And we weren't screaming; we were absorbing."
The 13-city tour wrapped up on August 29th at San Francisco's Candlestick Park.
ON AUGUST 12th, 1964: The Beatles' first movie, A Hard Day's Night, opened in 500 U.S. theaters. The movie cost just under $220,000 to make and became the surprise hit of the summer, grossing more than $13 million worldwide.
In addition to the title song, the soundtrack included such Beatles classics as "Can't Buy Me Love," "And I Love Her," "I Should Have Known Better," and "If I Fell." A Hard Day's Night was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Story And Screenplay Written Directly For The Screen and Best Score, but lost in both categories.
Phil Collins -- who was featured as an extra in A Hard Day's Night during the Scala Theatre concert scene -- admitted to us that he listens to "The Fab Four" with the same sense of excitement even today: "I mean I've been playing drums since I was five, way before the Beatles. But the Beatles were the first things, that when I first heard the albums -- it was melody. It was harmony. That's where you're trying to aspire to. So that sticks with me. I still listen to With The Beatles as if it was made last year. For me, it still sounds fresh."
ON AUGUST 12th, 1960: Drummer Pete Best auditioned for the Beatles in his mother's Liverpool nightclub called the Casbah. Best was asked to join the group, which then included original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, to begin a two-month residency in Hamburg, Germany. Two years later, on August 16th, 1962, Best was fired from the group and replaced by Ringo Starr.
Pete Best was asked if following the audition, he knew immediately that he had the job as the Beatles' drummer: "No. Not at that stage, because at the end of the day, yeah, I'd agreed to go to Hamburg, but the audition was there. I've always queried the fact of the audition. Because in those days people jumped ship from band-to-band so the audition factor was very much a case of like, 'You're making me audition?' But the type of material they were playing, I was playing with my own band as well. So when they turned around and said, 'Do you know this one?' -- it's like, okay, bash that one off, 'Do you know this one?' -- bash that one off."
It was a bittersweet reunion for Rush fans as surviving members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson performed together on Wednesday (August 10th) for the first time since the 2020 death of drummer Neil Peart.
Blabbermouth reported the pair took the stage at Morrison, Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater as part of the South Park: The 25th Anniversary Concert, and performed their classic "Closer To The Heart," while backed by Primus and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Alex Lifeson told us a while back that Rush's long history is the result of a combination of friendship and creative commitment: "I think, primarily, we really enjoy each other's company. We're very, very close friends. The music has always been very important to us. We've always pushed each other, in terms of our writing and where we want to go as musicians."
South Park: The 25th Anniversary Concert is set to air on Saturday (August 13th) on Comedy Central, and then next day on Paramount+.
