Pulse Music

Rob Zombie surprised his guitar player and his audience when he introduced the legendary, Peter Criss to the stage. Zombie stopped the set to announce that his guitar player, John 5 was celebrating a birthday and then brought out the KISS drummer as a birthday present.

Zombie said, "As you know, J5 is a really big KISS fan, so I thought to myself, ‘What can I get John 5 for his birthday that he doesn't already have?' I went out and got him an original Peter Criss… You don't have this at home, J5, I don't think."

Peter Criss gave a big hug to J5 and then took the mic and led the crowd in the traditional song.

Rob Zombie is currently out on a co-headlining tour with Mudvayne.

TL;DR:

• Rob Zombie surprised his guitar player and his audience when he introduced the legendary, Peter Criss to the stage.
• His guitar player, John 5 was celebrating a birthday and the KISS drummer as a birthday present.
• Peter Criss gave a big hug to J5 and then took the mic and led the crowd in the traditional song.

BLACKPINK teased more new music in a trailer released Sunday (July 31st).

In the 30-second teaser, titled "Born Pink," features a snippet of what appears to be a new song, along with some important dates.

According to the video, a pre-release single is scheduled for August, followed by the album drop in September, and a world tour set for October.

Did Beyonce bring up her husband Jay-Z and her sister Solange's infamous 2014 elevator fight on her new album Renaissance? On her song "Cozy," she sings "Comfortable in my skin / Cozy with who I am / I love myself, g**dmn / Cozy, cozy." But the line that the has the fans wondering is when Beyonce sings, ""Might I suggest you don't f**k with my sis / ‘Cause she comfortable."

Then on "Plastic on the Sofa," Beyonce seems to address media scrutiny on her and JayZ's marriage, singing, "we don't need the world's acceptance. They're too hard on me, they're too hard on you, boy."

She also sang,"Boy, I know you can't help but to be yourself around me, yourself around me. And I know nobody's perfect so I'll let you be, I'll let you be…. It's the way that you wear your emotions on both of your sleeves, 'til the face you make when I tell you that I had to leave."

'RENAISSANCE' TO DEBUT AT NO.1

Meanwhile, it's being reported that Renaissance will debut at number 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. The predicted first week sales overall are 275-315k and the predicted first week pure sales are 125-155k.

Ringo Starr has dropped "World Go Round," the teaser from his upcoming EP, titled EP3, set for release on September 16th. Joining the famed-Beatles drummer on his third EP over the past year-and-change is longtime All Starr Band member and Toto co-founder, Steve Lukather, along with Linda Perry, Dave Koz, José Antonio Rodriguez, and co-producer Bruce Sugar.

With EP3 marking his seventh self-produced solo release since 2010, Ringo told us that only now does he feel fully confident as a producer: "I'm more dialed in. Y'know, I've done it now, y'know, I was a little insecure when I was produced the first one, ‘cause I hadn't done it before. Y'know, the more you do something, the more you know how to do it."

Taylor Swift recently came under fire online after it was revealed that her private jet is used so frequently that it is responsible for "1,184.8 times more than the average person's total annual emissions."

According to a study conducted by the Yard, flights by her private jet have emitted 8,293.54 metric tons of carbon in the last seven months alone.

A spokesperson for the pop star told E! News, "Taylor's jet is loaned regularly to other individuals. To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect."

Ariana Grande recently put a fan in page in their place after they told her to "remember that you're a singer."

Grande was demonstrating new concealers for her r.e.m. beauty line on TikTok when a user dropped the comment.

According to Billboard, she clapped back, writing, "I have actually never felt more at home in my voice or like more of a singer."

Pat Benatar and husband Neil Giraldo have announced an opening date for their long-awaited production, Invincible - The Musical. The show will begin its run this November 22nd in L.A. at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. Previews run through November 29th, with the show playing at the Wallis through December 17th.

According to Variety, "The story for Invincible -- titled after one of Benatar's hits -- is described as a reimagining of Romeo And Juliet that is 'set in the modern, war-torn metropolis of Verona, where the newly elected Chancellor Paris vows to destroy the progressive resistance and return the city to its traditional roots. The star-crossed lovers' story, exploring how love and equality battle for survival in times of great transformation, envisions peace in a divided world."

Invincible - The Musical "will incorporate a mixture of old and new songs." The book will be written by Bradley Bredeweg, with the show directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene -- the resident director of Hamilton, with music direction and arrangements by Jesse Vargas, along with orchestrations and arrangements by Neil Giraldo.

Pat Benatar, a 2022 Rock Hall inductee, explained that although it's been exhuasting, she and husband Neil Giraldo have loved every minute of shaping Invincible into becoming the musical they imagined: "It's a huge undertaking. We've been working on this for almost five years now and so, it's been taking precedence for sure. We've written three or four new songs and working on the book with the book writer -- so, it's very, very busy, but it is truly one of the most collaborative genres of art that you do. I mean, we're always. . . Y'know, writing is what we do the most and we're still, every summer, we're going out to play and everything. Y'know, just to get out there and do stuff. So, nothing in the works right now for recording (there's) just (laughs) a little bit, little bit too much on the plate (laughs)."

• Pete Townshend made a rare solo performance on July 27th in Chelsea, London at Cadogan Hall when he guessed onstage with singer/songwriter Martha Wainwright. Townshend performed during the concert's final two songs -- playing a Fender Jazzmaster electric guitar on a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" and one of his Gibson J-200 signature acoustic models for Wainwright's 2005 tune, "Factory." (PeteTownshend.net)
  
  
• David Lee Roth has released a sensational new video for his Van Halen tribute song "Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Then Anyway." The video combines legendary archival footage of the band along with personal home movies and stills. "Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Then Anyway" stems from 2007 sessions with guitarist John 5 and Roth's original solo band drummer Gregg Bissonette for a project that never materialized.
  
  
• Eric Clapton has dropped the official video for his new one-off single, "Pompous Fool." The animated clip doesn't feature Clapton but spotlights a concise line-drawing story version of the song's lyrics.
  
  
• The Beach Boys' Al Jardine is on the mend after contracting Covid while on the road. Jardine, who was set to perform on July 29th, was forced to back out of the show, leaving his son -- and current Brian Wilson band vocalist -- Matt Jardine to step in and carry the show. Al posted a message to Matt and fans on his Facebook page, which read: "Thank you Matthew A. Jardine for really saving the day with your ALWAYS incredible vocals at the California Mid-State Fair this past Friday night -- unfortunately, I couldn't make it because of COVID (no worries, I'm feeling MUCH better) but my Endless Summer Band delivered a GREAT show and I heard the audience loved it! Thanks to everyone who made it to the Fair, Jeff Peters for the excellent mix and Erik Long for the cool pics -- it's so good to know I can count on all of you!!"

J.LO HEADLINED UNICEF GALA: Jennifer Lopez headlined a UNICEF charity gala in Capri, Italy to benefit Ukraine Saturday (July 30th). According to Page Six, Diplo, Sofia Carson and DJ Cruz performed ahead of Lopez's set, which included hits like "If You Had My Love" and "Waiting for Tonight." It was her first concert since she wed Ben Affleck on July 16th.

BRITNEY SPEARS MEMOIR DELAYED BY PAPER SHORTAGE: Britney Spears' tell-all is finally complete, but TMZ reports that the supply shortage is keeping the book off of shelves. Sources close to the pop star told the outlet that a paper shortage is holding up Simon & Schuster's plan to publish the memoir in January 2023.

It was 51 years ago today (August 1st, 1971) that George Harrison and friends performed the legendary Concert For Bangladesh at New York City's Madison Square Garden. Harrison organized the shows at the urging of his mentor, sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, who asked Harrison to help raise and awareness for his native, famine stricken East Pakistan, by then renamed Bangladesh. Harrison sprang into action and rounded up a veritable who's who in the rock community, including fellow Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr, the semi-reclusive Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Badfinger, and well over a dozen horn players and singers. With the world's eyes on him, Harrison planned rock's first global fundraiser, as well as his debut as a solo performer.

Harrison had actually asked his feuding ex-bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney to perform at the concert as well. According to several sources, McCartney initially agreed, but only if Lennon also performed, with the two playing separate solo sets. McCartney, who was days away from announcing the formation of his solo band Wings, eventually backed out, stating that there were too many legal problems yet to be sorted out between him and former Beatles and their then-manager Allen Klein for them to appear on the same stage.

Lennon was reportedly all for appearing, until Harrison informed Lennon that only he, and not wife Yoko Ono, was invited to participate. After a long argument with Yoko about whether to perform, Lennon flew to Paris alone and in a rage, missing the entire show, and causing a major rift in Lennon and Harrison's relationship. Harrison never formally asked Ringo Starr to play; Starr took it upon himself to tell Harrison he'd be there. Harrison also reportedly turned down offers from Mick Jagger and David Crosby, who asked to appear.

Due to overwhelming ticket demand, in the days before the show, a second afternoon performance was added. Although there was about a week of rehearsals that took place above Carnegie Hall, due to the various musicians' schedules, the benefit's afternoon performance was the first time that the entire ensemble actually played together.

Harrison's first wife Pattie Boyd says that no one expected the event to end up as the historic event it has become: "Well, of course we didn't know it was going to be the biggest concert in history. We knew it was going to be a very big concert, and he clearly hoped to raise a lot of money. And as far as I remember I think I flew in a couple of days before the show."

Harrison wasn't sure until the last minute that Dylan would actually turn up for the show, and can even be seen in the movie of the concert peering into the wings to see if Dylan actually was there before introducing him.

Although Eric Clapton was invited to be the show's lead guitarist, he was in such bad shape while dealing with his heroin addiction that Taj Mahal's Jesse Ed Davis was deputized to play and pick up whatever musical slack Clapton might leave behind.

Boyd, who after her divorce from Harrison went on to marry Clapton, recalled that everyone was worried about his health at the time: "I remember that it was a pretty major, wonderful show, fantastic show. But there was a bit of concern about Eric when he flew in because of the problems that he had at that time, and everyone was really concerned. And I think this sense of concern was everywhere, really."

The show featured Harrison performing selections from his recent Number One album All Things Must Pass, including the chart topper "My Sweet Lord," as well as Beatles classics such as "Here Comes The Sun," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Something." Starr took the lead on his recent Top Five Harrison-produced hit "It Don't Come Easy," and Dylan performed a set of his '60s classics including "Blowin' In The Wind," "Mr. Tambourine Man," and "Just Like A Woman," while backed by Harrison in slide guitar, Starr on tambourine and Leon Russell on bass.

The late-Billy Preston got an early ovation with his rousing performance of "That's The Way God Planned It." In 2005, Preston recalled the atmosphere among the musicians at the Bangladesh concerts: "Everybody was just excited and thrilled that it went so well. Everybody had a good time with each other. There was no egos."

One of the most lighthearted moments of the show was when introducing the band, Harrison nearly forgot to include Preston following his show-stopping performance: "Have we forgotten anybody? I don't know. . . We've forgotten Billy Preston!!! (applause)"

Longtime Beatles confidante and solo session bassist Klaus Voormann says that he was never more proud of Harrison than when he took charge of The Concert For Bangladesh concert at the urging of friend Ravi Shankar: "I really appreciated in later days that he actually went in front of that audience on the Bangladesh concert, because he did it for his friends. That he actually went up there and talked to an audience. I think it must've been about the first time that he's ever done this. Y'see, a few things in English, or a few things in German on a stage where it didn't matter is a big difference than to an audience where he knew it's going to be filmed and it's going to be used to talk to an audience."

Apple Records staffer Chris O'Dell, who recently wrote her memoirs, called Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days And Long Nights With The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton And The Women They Loved, admits that she and Pattie Boyd actually blew off the matinee performance: "Isn't that weird? Y'know when I went back over that and I was reading it after we wrote it, I thought -- 'that's weird, how come we didn't go?' Y'know? But as I think about it -- I don't know what it was -- I think we just wanted to hang out and get ready and take our time. The emphasis was on the evening show because there was a big party afterwards (laughs)."

The Concert For Bangladesh three-record set peaked at Number Two on the Billboard charts, and went on to win the 1972 Grammy Award for Album Of The Year.

The revenues from the concert tickets, live album, movie, VHS, and now recent DVD sales have topped $15 million. The concerts, which were rock's first major charity benefits, paved the way for every benefit that followed.

In 2006, Harrison's widow, Olivia Harrison, appeared at Madison Square Garden on the anniversary of the concerts, when a plaque commemorating the event was placed on the venue's walk of fame.

When the album became available online via iTunes it included the special bonus track addition of the single, "Bangla-Desh" -- which has only previously been available on vinyl. The single, backed with "Deep Blue," was originally rush-released on July 28th, 1971 -- only four days before the historic concerts -- went on to peak at Number 23 on the singles charts.

The MTV cable network launched 41 years ago this today, at 12:01 a.m. ET on August 1st, 1981. During its first five months of being on air, MTV was available in only 2.1 million homes in the U.S. -- with New York City one of the major spots that did not receive the signal.

The lack of MTV being carried across the country by various cable providers resulted in one of the '80s most legendary marketing campaigns with top artists of the day appearing on MTV commercials, demanding fans to contact their cable outlets with the soon-to-be iconic catchphrase: "I WANT MY MTV!!!"

When MTV first signed on it billed itself as a music network devoted to following "rock n' roll" from coast to coast. Today, critics blast the network for not showing any music on its airwaves, with the network now primarily comprised of original reality-based, "non-scripted" programming.

In 2012, the surviving original MTV VJ's, Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Nina Blackwood, published their joint memoir-- VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave. The fifth of the original VJ's, J.J. Jackson, passed away in 2004.

The first 15 music videos aired on MTV were:

1. The Buggles: "Video Killed The Radio Star"
2. Pat Benatar: "You Better Run"
3. Rod Stewart: "She Won't Dance"
4. The Who: "You Better You Bet"
5. PhD: "Little Suzi's On The Up"
6. Cliff Richard: "We Don't Talk Anymore"
7. The Pretenders: "Brass In Pocket"
8. Todd Rundgren: "Time Heals"
9. REO Speedwagon: "Take It On The Run"
10. Styx: "Rockin' The Paradise"
11. Robin Lane and the Chartbusters: "When Things Go Wrong"
12. Split Enz: "History Never Repeats"
13. .38 Special: "Hold On Loosely"
14. April Wine: "Just Between You And Me"
15. Rod Stewart: "Sailing"

MTV debuted with its iconic footage of a spaceship's launch: (Mission control) "T- minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, we've gone for main engine start, we have main engine start." (Narrator) "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll." (music: MTV theme)

During its first hours on hair, original VJ Mark Goodman shared MTV's mission statement with viewers: "Not only am I real excited that my very favorite sneakers could be here with me tonight, but we are all very excited here at MTV to be bringing you the best music all day, every day. But we're also gonna cover the music world from coast-to-coast, and we do mean that, all 50 states. Every day we're gonna have special reports for you from across the nation on almost any subject that relates to music."

It was 52 years ago today (August 1st, 1970), that the Carpenters' first Number One hit, "(They Long To Be) Close To You," began its second of four weeks on top of the charts. The group, which featured the Southern California brother-sister team of keyboardist Richard Carpenter and his younger sister Karen on drums and vocals, were already signed to A&M records when their cover of the Beatles' "Ticket To Ride" caught songwriter Burt Bacharach's ear. Bacharach eventually asked the group to open for him at a Los Angeles benefit, and asked Richard to arrange a medley of Bacharach and lyricist Hal David's rarer work to be performed at the event.

Legendary musician and A&M records co-founder Herb Alpert recalled that it took the group several tries to work the song into being a hit: "The Carpenters for instance, had 'Close To You,' it's a tune that I gave them that Hal David sent me. And the first recording was of Karen playing drums, and when we heard it, I just felt it was just a little too light. It wasn't competing with what was on the radio at that time. (The) second recording was likewise, it was a little bit of an improvement, I said, 'Man, you need to get some artillery in there.' And that was the breakthrough recording for the Carpenters."

The late-Hal David, the song's lyricist, said that the song wasn't written for the group, but rather for Dionne Warwick back in 1963: "I wrote (the lyrics) to the melody, although many of our songs Burt wrote to the lyric. We wrote that song for, and we recorded it with Dionne (Warwick). Herb Alpert was looking for a song, I think Burt sent it over and he gave it to the Carpenters, and they did a great arrangement on it, and she was fantastic."

The Carpenters' month-long reign topping the charts with "(They Long To Be) Close To You" was ended when Bread's "Make It With You" went on the to snag the top spot.

The Carpenters went on to score two further Number Ones, with 1973's "Top Of The World" and 1975's remake of the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman."

Proof that Metallica remains ageless, the band met up with and jammed with Stranger Things actor Joseph Quinn last week. As Blabbermouth reported, "Quinn, the actor known for his role as "Eddie Munson" performed Metallica's 1986 song 'Master Of Puppets' in one of the most memorable moments in the show's season four finale."

Prior to the band's July 28th Lollapalooza appearance at Chicago's Grant Park, the band thanked Quinn for helping breath new life into the '80s classic. The band jammed with him and gifted him a custom and signed B.C. Rich guitar, very similar to the one he used during his TV appearance.

Afterward the meet up, Quinn told the Netflix-owned fan site Tudum: "It was amazing! Opportunities to play 'Master Of Puppets' with the most iconic metal band of all time don't come around very often. A story for the grandkids."

Many fans consider Master Of Puppets Metallica's masterpiece, which the band itself acknowledged when it played the record in its entirety on a summer 2006 tour of Europe.

Frontman James Hetfield told us that playing the album live came down to the fans: "It was more of a fan's asking for that than us wanting to do it. Y'know, that was a pretty important album in our career, so pretty historic for a lot of people and that made sense."

Metallica next performs on August 11th at Buffalo's Highmark Stadium. After that, the band's only other date on the books is on August 14th at Pittsburgh's PNC Park.

David Lee Roth has blown more than a few longtime fans' minds with the unannounced drop of his tribute to Van Halen, called "Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway." The acoustic-based track popped up on his official YouTube site sporting a photo of the band circa 1979 jumping while on tour.

The track finds a clearly nostalgic Roth sifting through memories and touching on the band's early days and their unprecedented ride at the turn of the 1970's. "Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Then Anyway" stems from 2007 sessions with guitarist John 5 and Roth's original solo band drummer Gregg Bissonette for a project that never materialized.

"Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway" - lyrics via Blabbermouth:

We laughed, we cried, we threw the television off that balcony
That memory means so much to me

No doubt in me, I do believe that no one listens to both sides except the neighbors
Fine art of compromise, happy losing half of mine 'cuz she'll lose her half later

First taste of being victim of the very songs I sing
Ended up with "say goodbye" and "I hope I hear good things"

Walk away
Walk away

Nothing could have stopped us back then anyway

Remember when you safety pinned the tablecloth to my pants
And I stood up to the sound of dancing and the sound of our romance beginning
Kicked out the restaurant to make the night complete
Six pack and a happy meal on a park bench down the street

Dinner with Tennessee's elite

"Once upon a time" is how a fairy tale sells it
"Sit down you won't believe this s***" is how the trucker tells it
Strike up the band, hire the piper we will pay

Nothing could have stopped us back then anyway

David Lee Roth told us that these days bands just don't make their bones playing out the way the pre-fame Van Halen did in the first half of the 1970's: "Used to be, you would play in clubs five, six, seven 45-minute sets a night. The mighty classic Van Halen, when I was quarterback, must have learned 400 songs by other people, ranging from KC & The Sunshine Band, doing four-part harmony on 'Get Down Tonight.' We played Led Zeppelin, and we played Ohio Players, and we played ZZ Top. Somewhere in between, you had a balancing act there."

Author Greg Renoff received raves for his Van Halen biography, Van Halen Rising: How A Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal. In the book Renoff explained that what David Lee Roth lacked in vocal prowess was covered by his passion and total dedication to delivering onstage: "One of the people I talked to was the bass player in Red Ball Jet -- that was the band Dave formed after the Van Halen brothers turned him down the first time. He said from the first time he saw Dave -- so this is even before Red Ball Jet -- he said he saw him play in a park, on the same bill. These are like high school kids, everybody else is kinda swaying to the music while they play -- y'know, Dave goes out there, he's got, like the Mick Jagger rooster tail going out of the back of his jeans and he's, like, y'know, grinding and doing these things and everybody's, like 'We were just having lunch with you in the cafeteria six hours ago -- what are you doing, man?!' Like, y'know? But that was who he was. He was entrainment first all the time from the get-go. No. It's about the show. It's about being an entertainer."

Harry Styles has the fastest solo song to make it to 1 Billion streams on Spotify.

"As It Was" was released on April 1, so it took 118 days to make it to the milestone. He tied the record for individual song, so he shares that glory with The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber. Their song, "Stay" hit the same mark on the exact amount of days last year.

But, given the fact that Bieber and Lario recorded as a duo, Styles has the fastest solo song to reach 1 billion streams.

His album, Harry's House is 2022's best-selling vinyl album and the first album this year to go platinum.

TL;DR:

• Harry Styles has the record for having the fastest solo song to make it to 1 Billion streams on Spotify.
• The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber. Their song, "Stay" hit the same mark on the exact amount of days last year.
• Bieber and Lario recorded as a duo, Styles has the fastest solo song to reach 1 billion streams.

Machine Gun Kelly teamed with Vevo to release 2 new live performances this week.

"More Than Life" featuring Glaive shows Kelly standing in a vast green lit warehouse, surrounded by floor length curtains made of chains. Their performance transports viewers into a punk rock paradise, filled with pure chaotic rage.

"Twin Flame" begins with Machine Gun Kelly lying in a glass box, surrounded by chains, the room is bathed in a pink hue. He slowly emerges with guitar in hand, and gives a ferocious performance.

MGK is currently on the road with Avril Lavigne, Blackbear, Travis Barker and others.

TL;DR:

• Machine Gun Kelly teamed with Vevo to release 2 new live performances this week.
• "More Than Life" featuring Glaive and filled with pure chaotic rage.
• "Twin Flame" shows him lying in a glass box, surrounded by chains.

Post Malone's documentary, Runaway is set to be released next month.

Filmed just before the pandemic grounded his tour, it gives you backstage access to his North American tour. It's complete with stories, and songs from Malone.

The one hour musical documentary was created by Pulse Films and Federal Films and will debut on Amazon Freevee on August 12.

TL;DR:

• Post Malone's documentary, Runaway is set to be released
• To be released on Amazon Freevee on August 12.

From the get-go, former Journey frontman Steve Perry was a fan of the band's 1983 classic "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" being revamped and remixed for the soundtrack Netflix's Stranger Things program. The new Bryce Miller/Alloy Tracks Remix, which is one of the highlights of the show's Season Four soundtrack, re-imagines the song while keeping Perry's iconic vocal well intact.

Steve Perry spoke to FloodMagazine.com and was asked about how he became aware that the show was interested in the Frontiers hit: "Well, y'know, I still own all my songwriting; the other (Journey) members involved have since sold their songwriting (publishing). So I was contacted to approve the use of it. I was sent this trailer version, and I was absolutely stunned by the feeling that I got from it. Because it was so organic and analog-y, and I was stunned that the vocal was emotionally that good (laughs)."

He went on to say, "You gotta remember, I did that vocal, like, years ago, and back then I was struggling to be heard amongst incredible amounts of instruments -- analog synths, many, many guitars, and drums. So when I heard that Bryce had taken (my vocal track) out like he did, and there were certain harmonics that I think he had accentuated, with certain echoes that were just touching me emotionally that I wish I would've had on the original, I turned to my girlfriend and I said, 'Y'know, I never heard the vocal without all that stuff around it, it really, emotionally, sounds so different than I remember it -- and in a positive way!' I was blown away with what they had done, and I just wanted to get to know them and talk to them more."

Perry couldn't help but sing the praises of the remix and the imagination and care that went into creating new work out the old: "I just wanna say that there's musical contributions that people can make, but then there's emotional contributions -- and what Bryce and Troy have done is, they picked up on the deeper, emotional, buried-in-there potential contribution that they could pull out of it. They really reached for more emotion than I even knew was in there. When Bryce started arranging it, he took certain melody things that were always there, like guitar lines or things that we had worked on back in the day, and just expanded on 'em in a different way. And so it became a new version of itself, emotionally. I mean, I knew it was good, but I didn't think it was that emotional (laughs)."

"Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" was the lead single and opening track from Journey's 1983 Frontiers collection. The tune peaked at Number Eight for six consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and toped Billboard's Top Tracks chart for four weeks.

Keyboardist Jonathan Cain, who wrote the song with Steve Perry, shed light on his classic '80s collaborations with legendary frontman: "I think my relationship with Steve, it was kind of divine intervention that the Lord would bring me to this guy that could just sing like that (laughs), y'know? And how many things we had in common and how much we loved just writing great songs, y'know? And he really loved the 'hit' song. I didn't have any idea I would have that kind of chemistry with him. And we got to writin' songs together -- it was just magical."

It was 55 years ago today (July 29th, 1967) that the Doors' breakthrough hit "Light My Fire" began its three-week run at Number One, launching the Southern California band internationally and immortalizing the band's iconic frontman, Jim Morrison. Although the 2:52 single version of the track, which was edited from the 7:02 album version, was created specifically for the AM market -- many stations decided to spin the full version with keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger's sprawling solos. Upon its initial release, the Doors' "Light My Fire" sold over a million copies and scored Elektra Records its first Number One single. When the group performed "Light My Fire" on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 17th, 1967, they were asked to change the line "girl we couldn't get much higher." The band agreed, but when they went onstage, Morrison went ahead and sang the line anyway.

The song, which ended the Association's month-long dominance of the Billboard Hot 100 with the soft pop of "Windy," was ultimately knocked out of the top spot by the Beatles' own classic "Summer Of Love" anthem, "All You Need Is Love." Robby Krieger recalled how the band-credited "Light My Fire" came to be composed, telling Billboard's Fred Bronson, "Ray had the idea fore the opening, part, which was the real hook. Jim helped me out on some of the lyrics. . . and the beat was John (Densmore's) idea."

Although Jim Morrison's in-concert antics have become the stuff of rock legend, many of his outbursts during the Doors' recording sessions have been kept quiet over the years. Back in 2010, the now-late Ray Manzarek recalled the "Lizard King" losing his cool on August 21st, 1966 during the Doors' session for "Light My Fire" at Hollywood's Sunset Sound Recorders.

Manzarek remembered that producer Paul Rothchild and engineer Bruce Botnick had rigged a TV set to play silently facing them in the studio, so the pair could catch a bit of that night's Dodgers game while recording the band. Manzarek told Mojo magazine that there came a point when Morrison simply went berserk: "Everything went into slow motion, like a cartoon. I saw Jim go over to the TV, pick it up and throw it at the (studio control room) window. Rothchild and Botnick had the most fearful look on their faces. The TV bounced off the window, hit the floor, sputtered for a few minutes and died. And Jim is going, 'No TV set while we're recording. No baseball!!!'"

In 1968, the Doors actually turned down a massive offer from Buick to use the song in a TV commercial. In 2013, drummer John Densmore recalled to Rolling Stone that he, Manzarek, and Krieger seriously considering a $75,000 payday for a Buick ad in which the car company would change the song lyrics from "Come on baby light my fire" to "Come on Buick light my fire." Densmore remembered, "Jim told us he couldn't trust us anymore. We had agreed that we would never use our music in any commercial, but the money Buick offered us had been hard to refuse. Jim accused us of making a deal with the devil and said he would smash a Buick with a sledgehammer onstage if we let them (change the lyrics.)"

We asked John Densmore to recall the earliest days of the Doors before he, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and the legendary Jim Morrison had become household names: "Ray and I were listening really carefully to each other, 'cause his left hand was the bass. So, Ray and I kind of laid down the bed for Jim and Robby to float on top of. And then we get a record deal and that's another stage; but really, I would say, when we started playing small concert halls, second bill, or something -- out of the clubs -- I thought, 'Oh my God. . . I'm gonna make a living and this is gonna. . . this train is leavin' the station!' That's really almost more exciting as playing Madison Square Garden, because it's this dream coming true, y'know?"

Shortly before his 2013 death, keyboardist Ray Manzarek admitted that he was sick and tired of all the sensationalizing, which comes at the expense of Jim Morrison's true legacy: "Certainly we wouldn't want to -- we wouldn't want to talk about the art of Jim Morrison or the poetry of Jim Morrison, would we?"

Robby Krieger told us that today, he fully embraces his Doors past: "Y'know, at first when I would play alone, I didn't do any Doors 'cause I'd had albums come out and stuff. But then I used to go see those Doors tribute bands, and boy, were they having fun, and the audience was having fun, and I was, 'Wait a minute -- those are my songs.' So I started playing them more and more, and we do a lot of Doors stuff now."

"Light My Fire" was is ranked Number 35 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1968, newcomer Jose Feliciano's ballad version of the song topped out at Number Three and snagged him the 1969 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and helped earn him the award for Best New Artist.

Including their two chart-toppers -- "Light My Fire" and 1968's "Hello, I Love You" -- between 1967 and 1971, the Doors scored a total of eight Top 40 hits: "People Are Strange" (#12), "Love Me Two Times" (#25), "The Unknown Soldier" (#39), "Touch Me" (#3), "Love Her Madly" (#11), and "Riders On The Storm" (#14).

James Taylor, Peter Gabriel, and Iggy Pop are but a few of the participants in the new collection, Here It Is: A Tribute To Leonard Cohen. Among the other high profile artists who lent their talents to the set are Norah Jones, Mavis Staples, and Sarah McLachlan, among others.

James Taylor was quoted by Rolling Stone as crediting the project's producer Larry Klein for selecting "Coming Back To You" for him to cover: "For the project, I was drawn to a relatively obscure piece that was new to me, 'Coming Back To You.' Larry opted to cut the song in Cohen's original key, which was certainly at the bottom of my own range. But somehow moving me out of my comfort zone helped me find my own approach to the song. Like so much of Leonard Cohen's writing, this lyric resonates deeply with his forlorn and hopeless take on the bleak landscape of love and attachment."

Back in 2008, the late, great Lou Reed inducted Leonard Cohen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In his speech, Reed explained how important Leonard Cohen was as an artist: "'I showed my heart to the doctor. He said I just have to quit. Then he wrote himself a prescription and your name was mentioned in it.' He could've stopped there. He just gets better. We're so lucky to be alive at the same time as Leonard Cohen."

The tracklisting to Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen is:

"Steer Your Way" - Norah Jones
"Here It Is" - Peter Gabriel
"Suzanne" - Gregory Porter
"Hallelujah" - Sarah McLachlan
"Avalanche" - Immanuel Wilkins
"Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" - Luciana Souza
"Coming Back To You" - James Taylor
"You Want It Darker" - Iggy Pop
"If It Be Your Will" - Mavis Staples
"Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" - David Gray
"Famous Blue Raincoat" - Nathaniel Rateliff
"Bird On The Wire" - Bill Frisell

Joan Jett has heard all the criticisms of being a female rocker. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is out on the road this summer with heavyweights Motley Crue, Def Leppard, and Poison. Despite all the success and accolades she's earned as a co-founder of the Runaways and leading the Blackhearts ever since, she says that being a female in a male dominated industry is never overlooked. She explained to Mojo, "For women, it's a no-win. You're either too young or too old. You've got to make your own rules and follow them and just hope other people recognize and go, 'Yeah, I agree with her.'"

Recalling the mid-'70s ascent to fame with the Runaways she said, "I was disappointed to a degree that the audience was full of guys leering -- but I also understood why. I guess that had to be kind of scary for girls to go in there and watch to a degree -- I wasn't in the audience but I can only imagine the guys had quite an. . . energy about them."

Regarding the gender issues female rockers deal with even today, Jett explained, "People get really weird about stuff. A girl should be able to go out and play rock n' roll in this environment as well; are you saying that I shouldn't be able to do the show? Because what -- these guys sing about girls? And that's a problem? Come on. Give me a break. It's a little pearl-clutchy for me. You're talking about rock n' roll. Rock ' roll."

Joan Jett feels that after all this time, there's too much novelty placed on the fact that female rockers are somehow "unusual" -- or bucking the system: "I don't find that there's any difference whether or not you're female or male -- that has nothing to do with whether or not you can play music! I mean, girls play cellos and violins in symphony orchestras -- so why can't a girl play a guitar? We try to put out the best values for kids to pick up on; hard work, y'know, determination, do what you believe in doing, don't let people push you around. Y'know, things like that."

On September 23rd, Joni Mitchell will release The Asylum Series (1972-1975), her second collection of remastered albums in her ongoing Warner Bros. reissue series. The upcoming set features newly remastered versions of For The Roses (1972), Court And Spark (1974), the double live album Miles Of Aisles (1974), and The Hissing Of Summer Lawns (1975). All four albums were recently remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original master tapes.

The package will be available as four-CD set ($49.98), a five-LP 180-gram vinyl ($124.98, Limited Edition Of 20,000) version, as well as digitally.

The cover art for The Asylum Series (1972-1975) features an original painting by Mitchell. The set also includes an essay by friend and fellow Canadian Neil Young, who writes: "Joni's music is so deep and transporting. She comes right from the source. There is no mistaking it. . . For The Roses, Court And Spark, Miles Of Aisles, and The Hissing Of Summer Lawns. . . are all classics in my book. I listened to every album as it came out. The musicians she played with were always above my abilities. She had grown from folk to jazz and in between, creating a unique kind of sound that I loved to listen to over and over."

Uber-fan Jimmy Page was asked if Joni Mitchell's influence can be found in Led Zeppelin's music: "Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think anybody -- any sort of, thinking people -- were listening to Joni Mitchell's music. Apart from the fact that, y'know, I thought, she was absolutely gorgeous to look at and I really loved her music -- right from the very, very first album onwards. Yeah, sure I listened to Joni Mitchell. Oh, we even make a reference to her in 'Goin' To California' on the fourth album."

In 1997, Graham Nash -- who was also romantically linked to Joni Mitchell -- accepted her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, since Mitchell was not on hand. At the ceremony, he spoke about Joni's strength and vulnerability as a musician: "As delicate and as feminine as Joni is, she's a very tough lady, and she has always been a rock-and-roller at heart. She has always been, and wanted to be, one of the boys. And especially with me and David (Crosby) and Stephen (Stills), she was one of the boys for many years, in all of our lives."

On TikTok, Selena Gomez shared the casual way she styles her new bangs. She also got personal and revealed her morning beauty and hair routine and showed off some affordable products. Some as little as $12. She currently stars in the second season of Hulu's hit show, Only Murders In The Building.

Ed Sheeran's Mathematics Tour has proven very successful. For the month of June, it generated $60 million over the span of only 12 shows. Sheeran easily leads European tours on the Boxscore Report. His next date in the U.S. is slated for October 22 in Austin, Texas.

Shakira is closer to possibly facing trial for tax fraud. Reuters reported that she declined the prosecutor's settlement offer.

In a press release, her team stated that she has always met all tax obligations and called the case a total violation of her rights.

"The singer is fully confident of her innocence and therefore does not accept a settlement."

According to the spokesperson, the Spanish Tax Office continues to violate her rights and labeled her case baseless.

Shakira is accused of not paying taxes on 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014. They claim that she lived in Spain, despite her residence being in the Bahamas.

According to Shakira, she relocated to Barcelona in 2015 to live with FC Barcelona soccer club defender Gerard Pique. Shakira said she paid the 17.2 million they claimed was owed, so there has been no outstanding tax debt for many years.

TL;DR:

• Reuters reported that she declined the prosecutor's settlement offer.
• In a press release, her team stated that she has always met all tax obligations and called the case a total violation of her rights.
• According to the spokesperson, the Spanish Tax Office continues to violate her rights and labeled her case baseless.
• Shakira is accused of not paying taxes on 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014.
• At the time, she lived in the Bahamas.