Pulse Music

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+.

Out today is Chaos In Bloom, the 13th studio set from Goo Goo Dolls. The Goos are currently out on the road through the end of September and play tonight (August 12th) at Bridgeport, Connecticut's Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater.

We caught up with leader John Rzeznik, who told us this time out in the studio, he needed complete autonomy over his songs and the sound of the band: "There were couple of other guys that did production on the album, as well. But, I started the project, and I was just like, 'Y'know, I don't want anyone getting in the way of what I wanna do right now.' I felt like the last few albums I did I would do, like, three songs with one producer, three songs with another producer -- y'know, whatever. I can't do a whole record with one producer, because I just, I just go nuts. And that's how I did it and then I was just like, well, I'm at a point in my life and my career that I'm just kind of like, well, I'm just gonna do what I wanna do and I don't want anyone's input until I'm ready for it."

Happy birthday to David Crosby who turns 81 on Sunday (August 14th)!!!! Crosby, who's in the midst of a brilliant third act in his career, received raves for his 2021 solo set, For Free, which features key collaborators in recent years -- son James Raymond, Snarky Puppy's Michael League, Michelle Willis, and Becca Stevens.

The album, which peaked at Number Two on the UK Independent Albums chart, is named after "Croz's" cover of the Joni Mitchell classic. For Free features a new cover portrait by Joan Baez, and contributions from Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, and the Doobie Brothers' Michael McDonald.

Last year, while forced off the road during the pandemic, earlier this year, Crosby sold his entire music catalogue to music mogul Irving Azoff's Iconic Music Group. He continues his online advice column, Ask Croz, via RollingStone.com. He has since stated that in the wake of Covid, his age, and the state of the health he has rerired from touring.

Out now is Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young's "super deluxe" 50th anniversary edition of 1970's Déjà Vu, featuring four CD's, and one LP. Among the 38 newly released tracks featuring demos, outtakes, and alternate versions -- is an unedited 10-minute version of Crosby's tour-de-force, "Almost Cut My Hair."

2019 saw the theatrical release of the recent warts-and-all documentary, David Crosby: Remember My Name. The movie was helmed by first time feature-doc director A.J. Eaton and produced by Cameron Crowe, and features an unflinching look at Crosby's tumultuous life and career.

During a recent chat with Rolling Stone, David Crosby spoke about the 2020 drug overdose death of his 21-year-old biological son, Beckett Cypher -- whom he fathered for Melissa Etheridge and Julie Cypher: "The biggie is my kid died. I didn't get to raise that kid and I didn't mean to raise that kid, but he was here many times. I loved him and he loved me and he was family to me. (Pause) It's hard. You're not supposed to have your kids die before you die. That's a real punch in the face. It's like a train hits you and then you have to get back up. So I'm having a hard time. It's a real hard one and I haven't yet cried and I'm gonna and it's hard."

Croz went on to say: "In the middle of all that, I get trigger-finger tendonitis in my hands. I went in to get it fixed and it didn't work. Now I'm in a tremendous amount of pain in my right hand. It's entirely possible that I may never play guitar again."

In October 2018, Crosby released his latest set, titled Here If You Listen, and hit the road with the road one of his two touring ensembles, the Sky Trails Band.

Also in 2018, David Crosby announced he was seeking a licensing relationship with a national or global Cannabis company, which would provide the exclusive license of his iconic name and likeness for worldwide use. Crosby, who plans to use his brand name "Mighty Croz" as a tip of the hat to his legendary nickname "Croz," will "actively advise the selected Cannabis company in developing and marketing the brand."

Crosby won high praise for his fall 2016 solo album titled Lighthouse and its subsequent tour. The album was produced by Michael League, the leader of the Grammy Award-winning instrumental ensemble, Snarky Puppy, and recorded at Jackson Browne's Santa Monica studio, Groove Masters.

Crosby's recent creative resurgence has seen him working both on his own and with son James Raymond -- along with other much younger musicians. In February 2014, Croz -- which marked Crosby's first new studio collection in over 20 years -- peaked at an impressive Number 36 on the Billboard 200 albums charts. Croz also hit Number Two on the magazine's Top Folk Albums chart, Number Six on the Top Independent Albums chart, and Number Seven on the Top Internet Sales chart.

Back in 2010, the list of the "Best Albums" published by The Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, ranked Crosby's 1971 solo set, If I Could Only Remember My Name, second to the Beatles' 1966 masterpiece, Revolver. Crosby was baffled by the honor, telling Q magazine, "No one has yet worked out what the hell that was all about. And why should The Vatican have an opinion on music in the first place? And to choose me?! It baffles me as much as it baffles you, man. I got an email from David Gilmour saying, 'Dammit! -- Pink Floyd only came in third.'"

Although 2016's groundbreaking Lighthouse stalled at a disappointing Number 117 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, it ranked Number 34 on Mojo magazine's list of "The 50 Best Albums Of 2016."

In March 2016, Graham Nash revealed that his relationship with David Crosby is virtually non-existent at this point and that Crosby, Stills, & Nash are effectively over. Classic Rock magazine translated a then-recent Nash interview with Dutch magazine Lust For Life, which spelled out the end of CSN: "It's the first time I've said this out loud but this is the way it is. You asked me if there is more CSN? Well, my answer is no and that is very sad because we were pretty good but I'm currently not fond of David Crosby. He treated me horrible the last two years. Really, really awful. I've been there for him for 45 years to save his f***ing ass but he treats me like dirt. You can't do that to me. You can do it for a day or so, until I think you're coming around but if you keep going and I keep getting nasty e-mails, then I'm done. F*** you. David has ripped the heart out of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young."

Nash spoke to Radio.com regarding Crosby slamming Neil Young for leaving his wife of nearly 40 years for actress Daryl Hannah. Nash was asked if he would be the one to ever help mend that fence: "I'm not sure I can undo this one. This one is a deep one. You can't insult Neil Young personally like that and hope to get away with it. And I told David that he was wrong to have said that and that he should jump on it and try and figure it out with Neil. But he waited about a year, and that's way too long, and he did it publicly on The Howard Stern Show, apologized to Neil. But it was way too late."

Nash went on to explain: "Hey listen, I'm the guy that wrote 'Wasted On The Way' because of all the songs that I wish we had written and had sung and had been together enough to make more music than we did. But I guess it's what it is. I mean if CSN or CSNY never play another note of music, then that's how it is."

David Crosby, whose father was Academy Award-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby, grew up in affluent towns in and around Los Angeles, and later Santa Barbara, California. Crosby first attained fame as part of the Byrds, which he co-founded with Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke in 1964. The next year, the Byrds went on to score two Number Ones with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and an electric beat arrangement of Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn."

By 1967, Crosby, who was always an excellent harmonist, had developed a unique modular guitar tuning style, and began submitting seminal '60s work to the band's sessions, including "What's Happening?!?!," "Everybody Has Been Burned," "Draft Morning," and the 1967 psychedelic classic "Lady Friend." Most notably, Crosby co-wrote the band's groundbreaking 1966 single "Eight Miles High." Due to the growing mature nature of his songs and differing musical attitudes with McGuinn and Hillman, Crosby was fired from the Byrds.

In his 1988 autobiography, Long Time Gone, Crosby recalled being dumped by the band, remembering that, "(They said), 'You're real difficult to work with. We don't dig your songs and we think we'll do better without you.'"

In 1968, Crosby joined forces with the Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills and the Hollies' Graham Nash to form the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash. It was on their self-titled 1969 debut that Crosby was finally able to shine on Woodstock-era anthems such as "Long Time Gone," "Wooden Ships," and "Guinevere."

The group's 1970 follow up album, Déjà Vu, added Neil Young to the lineup and included such Crosby classics as the album's title track and "Almost Cut My Hair." During the group's frequent sabbaticals, Crosby and Nash continued to work together, most often working as a duo.

Although their relationship is admittedly strained these days, when we last caught up with David Crosby he said that his bond with Graham Nash goes way beyond just music: "There's a kinship there. I have tremendous respect and love for him, and he must love me, otherwise he would've tossed me aside long ago. And you can hear it in how we work with each other, what we do with our voices. It's sort of like a pair of aerobatic, y'know stunt flyers, flying formation and doing stunts together."

Art Garfunkel, who enlisted Crosby and Nash's help for his 1975 album Breakaway says that Crosby's vocal talent is unparalleled: "David Crosby can be very breathy and velvety, and, like, Brazilian. Perfect pitch, no vibrato. David Crosby, in his heyday, was one of the great baritones."

By the early '80s, Crosby had hit rock bottom due to cocaine and heroin addictions. In 1985 he served nine months in Texas State Prison for weapons and drug charge violations, and finally became sober.

In late-1994, on the eve of undergoing a liver transplant operation; he learned that his then-30-year-old biological son, keyboardist James Raymond, who was given up for adoption at birth, had tried to make contact with him. The father and son met the next year, and eventually formed a trio with guitarist Jeff Pevar, called CPR.

Crosby has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame twice, with the Byrds in 1991, and with Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1997.

In 2004, Crosby was arrested in New York City for weapons, and marijuana possession. Later that year, he plead guilty and paid a $5,000 fine. Although Crosby had been thought to be completely clean after sobering up in the mid-'80s, he admitted at the time he sometimes used marijuana to curb the constant pain that resulted from his liver transplant.

Crosby, a father of six who has cheated death on numerous occasions, said that he's grown to enjoy every day he's still alive: "It's a funny thing happens. When you come close to dying, and you don't, each day becomes this precious jewel, this commodity that it's so valuable to you. And you wind up really being excited with it, and really wantin' to do something with every minute of every day. You have what the French call a 'raison d'etre,' a reason for being."

A while back, when things were good between the lifelong friends, we asked Graham Nash if above his connections with Stephen Stills and Neil Young, he feels more spiritually and musically attuned to Crosby: "I would have to say so. I think my relationship with Crosby is very special. I'm very close to Stephen, and I'm very close to Neil -- but I'm super close to David. For some reason, I've always recognized his madness. I've always recognized that he's one of the most unique musicians on the planet. There's nobody like David; He thinks in chords and time structure that is beyond me. I'm this simple guy from Salford who writes simple songs, y'know? But the combination of both of our musical abilities is what fascinates me -- and he's a fascinating person. I'm learning from David every single day -- how to live my life and how to not live my life."

Sadly, Graham Nash told us that his public feud with David Crosby came to head during the planning of his recent Over The Years retrospective, when Crosby demanded that a classic Crosby & Nash medley tied together in both history and their fans' musical experience had to be separated: "I can tell you specifically when it was. Remember my song 'Wind On The Water'? Well, the beginning of that was 'Critical Mass' -- the beautiful chorale piece that Crosby wrote and we sang, right? And it's always been married to 'Wind On The Water.' Crosby, because he's so pissed at me, one day called my managers and said, 'I refuse to allow Graham to use that song ever again.' So, on this album -- you don't hear 'Critical Mass,' it fades up to 'Wind In The Water' from the string part. And that's sad, because you're not (bleep-bleep) with me when you do that, you're (bleep-bleep) with the muse of music -- and that's a serious crime to me."

While at the Sundance Film Festival promoting Remember My Name, Crosby spoke with TheWrap.com and was asked about what he would say to his estranged friend and partner, Graham Nash: "'Probably tell him that I love him, 'cause that's the highest of the emotions that I feel about it. That's the best that I got. We sing wonderfully together and we made incredibly good music together. All four of us in that band have been horrible to each other (laughs) many times. One of us has left another of us in the middle of a tour, just hangin' -- 'See ya, bye! Deal with it' We've done a lot of weird beep to each other. So, if I had a chance to talk to him, I'd sit down and say, 'Hey, y'know, I haven't changed, I'm still the same beep - beep you started with in the first place."

Lil Nas X and Hailey Bieber have teamed up for Vogue World, a fashion event celebrating the publications 130th anniversary during Fashion Week.

The big announcement came via Instagram, along with a photo of them both in a phone booth, with a fashion conscious, Statue of Liberty leaning over them.

The first-of-a-kind event will feature a runway show presenting the publication's favorite pieces from this year's fall collections.

While assuming they will walk the runway, it's unclear what else their roles will entail. Vogue World is set for September 12 in New York City.

TL;DR:

Tommy Lee really gave fans something to look at early yesterday (Thursday, August 11th) morning on social media. He posted a full-frontal nude picture of himself seemingly raised up out of the bathtub on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with the caption "Ooooopppsss." The image has since been deleted from Insta and Facebook but remained on Twitter at press time.

According to Loudwire.com, 1.4 million followers saw the picture and/or commented on it before it was removed from Instagram at 8 a.m. ET yesterday.

Lee's wife Brittany Furlan commented on the post simply writing, "OH MY GOD."

Travis Barker, who was hospitalized for life-threatening pancreatitis in June, has returned to the stage against doctor's orders.

The Blink-182 musician joined Machine Gun Kelly once again on his Mainstream Sellout tour this week.

MGK told fans about it on Instagram and announced that Barker also has a broken thumb.

Kelly shared a photo of Barker holding up his bandaged thumb. Then, Barker added on his socials that - he also had torn tendons.

Barker doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. Earlier this week, he posted photos of himself out in the water, learning to wake surf.

TL;DR:

• Travis Barker, who was hospitalized for life-threatening pancreatitis in June, has returned to the stage against doctor's orders.
• He joined Machine Gun Kelly on tour this week.
• Barker also has a broken thumb.

Happy Birthday to former-Dire Straits guitarist and leader Mark Knopfler, who celebrates his 73rd birthday today (August 12th)!!! Knopfler formed Dire Straits in 1977 with his brother David Knopfler, bassist John Illsey, and drummer Pick Withers. They recorded their self-titled debut album after appearing as the opening act for Talking Heads' during their 1978 European tour. Dire Straits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 with both Mark and David Knopfler skipping the event.

Coming on October 7th is Mark Knopfler - The Studio Albums 2009-2018, the anticipated follow up to last year's release of The Studio Albums 1996-2007. The box features such solo favorites as Get Lucky (2009); Privateering (2012); Tracker (2015); Down The Road Wherever (2018); and Back In The Day: The Bonus Tracks 2009-2018 (2022)

Released in 2020 was the six-CD collection, Dire Straits - Studio Albums 1978-1991. The set, which was previously issued as a vinyl-only set back in 2013, features all six of the band's albums: Dire Straits (1978); Communique (1979); Making Movies (1980); Love Over Gold (1982); Brothers In Arms (1985); and On Every Street (1991).

In March 2015, Knopfler released his eighth solo album, titled, Tracker, and hit the road for an extensive North American fall tour. 2015 also saw Knopfler appearing on Van Morrison's album, Duets: Re-Working The Catalogue, teaming up on "Irish Heartbeat."

In 2014, Mark Knopfler was featured on Eric Clapton & Friends: The Breeze, An Appreciation of JJ Cale collection, and can be heard on two of the album's tracks -- "Someday" and "Train To Nowhere."

2012, found Knopfler serving as the opening act on Bob Dylan's tour. The pair first worked together during Dylan's sessions for 1979's Slow Train Coming, with Knopfler going on to play on and co-produce Dylan's 1983 album, Infidels. That year, Knopfler released his seventh solo album, the critically acclaimed, Privateering.

Dire Straits' 1978 breakthrough hit, "Sultans Of Swing," established Knopfler as a songwriter-guitarist in the vein of both Bob Dylan and Albert King. Knopfler was a major force throughout the 1980's writing such Dire Straits classics as "Skateaway," "Romeo And Juliet," "Solid Rock," "Twisting By The Pool," as well as "So Far Away," "Money For Nothing," and "Walk Of Life" from the multi-platinum 1985 Brothers In Arms album.

Knopfler folded Dire Straits for good in 1995 and has spent the recent years occasionally playing with the side project the Notting Hillbillies, recording solo albums, and scoring films, most notably Wag The Dog.

In 2003 Knopfler broke six ribs and a collarbone after his motorcycle collided with a car in London.

Although Knopfler has proven himself a master in the studio, he says that unlike some musicians, he thrives on being out on the road: "I'm one of those lucky people. I enjoy the whole deal. Touring is one of those things where, when it's good, it's really very good -- or rather, when it's (laughs) very good, it's just great. It's buoyant, and it's great fun."

Mark Knopfler told us that with his new material, he never knows how well it'll hold up until he runs it through with other musicians: "What happens with a song is it sits in a notebook, and then when you start running it down with a band and stuff, it's when it starts to slide off your notebook and go out into the world. It's a great feeling, actually, when it's happening. In some ways, bits of it don't belong to you anymore, I suppose, or there's a sense in which it doesn't belong to you anymore."

Mark Knopfler told us he remains proud and humbled that his songs have resonated with so many people for so long: "They're like markers for people's lives, a lot of these songs. People come (and) tell you the most amazing things about what they were doing, y'know, when such-and-such a record was around, and what they associate the music with. And, you know, you realize that people are using the records to live with, and that's all right."

A 25 foot inflatable Ozzy Osbourne has embarked on a cross country promotional tour in support of Osbourne's new album Patient Number 9. The album is due out on September 9th.

The month-long tour kicked off with three stops in Los Angeles and will close out in New York City the week of the album's release. Some locations will be revealed 24 hours in advance, while others will be a surprise appearances.

It was 58 years ago Saturday (August 13th, 1964) that the Supremes recorded "Baby Love." The song, which was their follow-up to their first Number One hit, "Where Did Our Love Go," was also written and produced by Motown's legendary hit-making team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. On Halloween of 1964, "Baby Love" knocked Manfred Mann's "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" out from the Number One spot and went on to top the charts for four straight weeks.

Sadly, songwriter and producer Lamont Dozier died this past August 9th of undisclosed causes.

Eddie Holland remembers that writing the lyrics to Holland-Dozier-Holland's Motown classics was a solitary experience: "With those melodies that Lamont and Brian was coming out with, I mean, man! Norman Whitfield used to tease me. They'd say, 'When he's in Detroit on Lumpkin Street living up there over his grandmother in those attic rooms, and he never comes out, and all they do is open a little door and shove a little food and water in there for him' (laughter), be cause I, I would hibernate."

Shortly before her death in February 2021, Mary Wilson recalled that with all the time and effort that Holland-Dozier-Holland spent with the group in the recording studio; she's still not sure if they ever saw the group live in concert: "I remember when we had our first hit record, 'Where Did Our Love Go?' And 'Baby Love.' We went to the Copacabana and we were trying to get Eddie, Brian and Lamont to come out and see us onstage. They never wanted to come out and see us onstage. All they wanted to do was to stay back there, and write and produce. And that's pretty much what they did. I don't know if they ever saw us onstage."

"Baby Love," which was the Supremes' only UK Number One, marked the first time that a girl group had topped the British charts.

A decade later, in 1974, "Baby Love" again reached the UK's Top 20, peaking at Number 12. Both former Supremes Diana Ross and Mary Wilson still perform the song in their live shows.

The Eagles have tagged on six new dates to their upcoming fall run. The new shows primarily paly the Midwest and South, with stops set for St. Louis, Missouri; Des Moines, Iowa; New Orleans, Louisiana; Birmingham, Alabama; Kansas City, Missouri; and Fort Worth, Texas.

In the Eagles' current shows, Vince Gill is handling a large percentage of the classic Glenn Frey ballads. Joe Walsh explained how the group came to choose Gill for the gig: "Vince Gill has a been a really good friend of the band for a long time. And so, we thought about him having that kind of voice. And he grew up listening to the Eagles, so, all of that put together -- we figured we would, at least try it."

UPDATED: The Eagles tour dates (subject to change):

September 9, 10 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
September 13 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Centre
September 16 - Winnipeg, MB - Canada Life Centre
September 18 - Saskatoon, SK - SaskTel Centre
September 20 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
September 22 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
November 15 - St. Louis, MO - Enterprise Center
November 17 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena
November 19 - New Orleans, LA - Smoothie King Center
November 21 - Birmingham, AL - Legacy Arena
November 23 - Kansas City, MO - T-Mobile Center
November 25 - Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena

Julian Lennon admits he's come to terms with many aspects of his past. From accepting the nickname of "Jude," which Paul McCartney bequeathed him with the Beatles classic "Hey Jude," to formally changing his first name to Julian -- despite his birth certificate listing it as John, and finding new ways to enjoy his father, the late-John Lennon. Julian's upcoming album, Jude, is set for release on September 9th.

Julian spoke to Yahoo Music and explained that seeing the Peter Jackson-directed Beatles doc, Get Back, was a game-changer for him, admitting it was: "A lot to process. It really reminded me of the way Dad used to be. Y'know, when we were together, when I was a kid, he was funny, goofy, sarcastic, talented, moody, broody -- but fun. And that was all the things that he was to me when we lived together. And it made me fall in love with him again, which was really lovely. It made me appreciate him again, and reminded me of how he was before everything went a bit pear-shaped."

Julian touched upon the reasons behind changing his name legally: "Recently, in 2020, I decided that I was going to change my name, because originally my name was John Lennon -- John Charles Julian Lennon. And I'd had issues with that, especially at airports and security -- not-so-great moments and comments that had gone by because of my name being John, whether people recognized me or not. I decided that in 2020, after going through another learning process in life, that I wanted to become Julian. I was sick and tired of being someone else's John. And so, I changed my name to Julian Charles John Lennon. . . And that was all related to 'Jude' and 'Jules,' which is my nickname on a daily basis. So, it just made sense to me, and also with what was going on with the Beatles and Get Back and my feelings about that too. It was all intermingled."

He said that he's forgiven his father, ". . . many years ago for the stress that happened in not only in my life, but Mom's life too. . . Certainly we tried to embrace each other's company and tried to learn about each other again before he passed. And it was enjoyable experience. It was great. And I was longing to hang out with him even more, but you know, sadly what happened, happened. . . So, (Get Back) was just a way of remembering who he was and seeing the human side of him again. And that inspired me, and I loved that. So, the idea of that also tied into being Jude as well."

Back on April 8th, which was also his 59th birthday, Julian Lennon sang his father, John Lennon's global peace anthem "Imagine" for the first time publicly as part of Global Citizen's Stand Up For Ukraine. Julian, who over the years has turned down countless requests to perform his father's best-loved solo song, sang the 1971 classic on video, accompanied by Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt on acoustic guitar and harmony vocals.

Julian told us that the reasons for him singing his father's song were a lot more important than ruminating on the fact that he actually did it: "A lot of people had mentioned -- even since doing 'Imagine' -- 'Y'know he vowed never to do it!' I never vowed never to do it, I never said that. I don't know where that came from. No, I just said it would have to be the right occasion and something that was beyond meaningful and close to the end of the world in many respects on many levels. And certainly this, where we're at, y'know, just watching the news these days, y'know, we haven't learned anything. I'd still such a mess."

Mariah Carey shared special memories online of her time spent with Olivia Newton-John.

She looked up to the icon, and admitted that she was "obsessed" with the legendary actress and singer.

Mariah recalled dressing up one Halloween as Olivia's character, Bad Sandy, when she was in 5^th grade. And then said, "Years later, THE Olivia Newton-John walked out onto my stage in Melbourne, Australia and we sang our hearts out together to "Hopelessly Devoted to You." This is a moment I will never ever forget."

She posted the video of their duet online.

Olivia Newton-John passed away on Monday (8-8) after a long battle with breast cancer.

TL;DR:

• Mariah recalled dressing up as Olivia's character, Bad Sandy for Halloween when she was in 5^th grade.
• Years later they sang "Hopelessly Devoted to You" together.

Nick Jonas has released his version of the trivia game called Linkee. The popular U.K. mind-bender, prompts players to find links between different words.

Jonas says he was hooked on it the first time he and his wife played it at Mick Jagger's house. He said, "Mick was playing Linkee with all his friends, so we played. We had a great time."

Later he mentioned the game in an interview and the company heard him talking about it and contacted him for a collaboration.

Jonas helped craft the packaging as well as some of the questions. And the questions aren't just music, they're all different kinds of subjects.

TL;DR:

The Rolling Stones' legendary 1972 Exile On Main St. collection has topped a new "Top 10 Double Albums" list by the editors of Ultimate Classic Rock. Following the Stones at Number Two is the "Fab Four's" groundbreaking 1968 double set, The Beatles, universally known simply as the "White Album," with Bob Dylan's watershed 1966 seventh album, the timeless Blonde On Blonde, rounding out the Top Three.

Mick Jagger told us that although Exile On Main St. remains among the most beloved of the band's golden era, newer fans discovering the album are at a slight disadvantage: "I mean, it's never quite the same. Y'know, when you discover something yourself. The thing is when you discover a new bar -- you think you've discovered it and then you find out that everyone knows about it. So if you're 16 and you found this record, you'll say 'Oh! This is really interesting; have you ever heard of a record called Exile On Main St.?' I found this, it's like, really rare' And you say, 'Well everyone knows about that!' So, y'know, that's how you wanna discover things."

During a chat with 60 Minutes, Bob Dylan tried to explain how his early songs were constructed: "My stuff were songs, y'know, they weren't sermons. They came out of the folk music realm, but it's also done with a rhythm and a certain type of poetic nuance that I don't know how I derived that."

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

The "Top 10 Double Albums" according to Ultimate Classic Rock:

1. Exile On Main St. - The Rolling Stones (1972)
2. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966)
3. The "White Album" - The Beatles (1968)
4. Electric Ladyland - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968)
5. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek & The Dominos (1970)
6. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John (1973)
7. Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin (1975)
8. The Wall - Pink Floyd (1979)
9. Tommy - The Who (1969)
10. Tusk - Fleetwood Mac (1979)

Tones And I just released her new single, along with a lyric video for her song called "Charlie."

Fans got a taste of the new music when she performed it this week on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

She commented about the disco inspired track and said it has a personal meaning... "It was done in three hours and we wrote the bass line first. It's about missing my dog Charlie and other things. It's a funky jam and I just wanted to have some fun with it."

Tones And I is currently headlining her own tour. And starting next week, she'll be on the road with Macklemore and doing shows with him as well.

TL;DR:

• Tones And I released her new single along with a lyric video for a song called "Charlie."
• It's about her dog, Charlie.

Following their "Break My Soul" collaboration, Madonna, got a bouquet of white roses from Beyonce. She posted about it online and the note attached revealed that Madonna had actually come up with the remix's title. Beyonce thanked her for opening so many doors for so many women, calling her "a masterpiece genius."

Megan Thee Stallion posted online and showed off a new eerie and somber video. The first, short clip is set to an ominous piano track and you see a group of faceless figures at a funeral, with a woman wearing a black veil. Fans online seem to think that she's playing the part of the widow. The song is from her upcoming album, thought to be titled, Traumazine.

Slash is adamant that despite it being the flavor of the month -- there will never be a Guns N' Roses biopic. While promoting the horror film, The Breach, which he scored, Slash spoke to MovieMaker.com and gave his frank and honest thoughts about a possible Guns movie: "Yeah. That's a funny one. People come to make the Guns N' Roses movie. And then I have people coming to me about doing a movie -- I think it was after I wrote my book. It's just not something that -- collectively we're sort of just not interested."

He went on to say, "I can't imagine trying to find some actors that can portray the band properly. I mean, rock n' roll movies suffer from being just super, super corny and unrealistic anyway, as a whole. There's very few really good rock n' roll movies. So I would hate to sell us out ourselves out with some sort of script that's supposed to depict our history. I don't see it happening."

While women, drugs and alcohol used to be major components of life for Slash and the other members of Guns N' Roses, he told us a while back that the lifestyle eventually grew stale: "It was a pretty hard, fast-paced life that we've all been through, and there's certain aspects of it that just get a little bit boring, a little bit tedious. Some of the kind of circles that you surround yourself in to be able to sort of keep your high going or whatever -- it just gets old after a while. And y'know, the underlying thing that's always been sort of maintained was just, as long as you can play, and it just, everything sort of fell by the wayside."

Guns N' Roses kicks off their 16-date South American tour on September 1st, in Manaus, Brazil at Arena da Amazonia.

The one-night-only Flannel Nation Festival in San Pedro, California has been scrapped. The show, set for this Saturday at San Pedro, California's Port of Los Angeles, was to feature Everclear, Candlebox, Sugar Ray, Soul Asylum, Filter, Cracker, Fastball, Sponge, Star Zero, and X Wire.

Blabbermouth posted the announcement from the show's promoters stating: "We regret to announce that due to ongoing problems and logistical setbacks, putting on Flannel Nation as intended has become infeasible, therefore we are forced to make the tough decision to cancel this weekend's event. Our goal is to retool and reschedule the event and tickets will be honored for the new date when announced."

On Tuesday, Everclear explained why they were bowing out of appearing telling fans on Instagram: "It has been brought to our attention within the past week that the event organizers of Flannel Nation Festival in San Pedro, CA, scheduled for this Saturday, August 13th, do not have the adequate means to provide the level of experience our fans expect and deserve while attending an Everclear show. With this in consideration, we have decided to pull out of the festival. Please stay tuned in the coming weeks as we will be announcing a proper Los Angeles performance where we plan to deliver the type of performance that exceeds our fans' expectations. Refunds may be requested at the point of purchase."

Looking back, Cracker guitarist Johnny Hickman told us that writing songs for the band has always been a relatively simple process. In fact, he says, it's kind of like a casual conversation among two friends: "The songs that David (Lowery) and I have done together are very much a dialogue. As David puts it, I'll make a big noise on the guitar and then he´ll rant and rave for a little bit, then I make another noise, then he rants and raves again. And then we rant and rave and do the guitar together. Y'know, it's sort of (laughs). . . it's just the way we work together. That's sort of Cracker in a nutshell."

Happy Birthday to Eric Carmen, who turns 73 today (August 11th). Carmen is best remembered for writing and singing lead on the Raspberries' string of power pop hits, including "I Wanna Be With You," "Let's Pretend," "Tonight," "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," and their 1972 Top Five signature hit "Go All The Way." Carmen went on to solo success with 1975's "All By Myself," and "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again," as well as writing Shaun Cassidy's Top Ten hits "That's Rock 'N' Roll," and "Hey Deanie."

In the 1984 he co-wrote Ann Wilson and Mike Reno's duet "Almost Paradise" from the Footloose soundtrack, sang 1988's "Hungry Eyes" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, and scored his last Top Ten hit later that year with "Make Me Lose Control."

Out now is Pop Art Live, the latest Raspberries live collection that chronicles the band's initial reunion show on November 26th, 2004 at Cleveland's House Of Blues. Highlights on the set include such Eric Carmen classics as "Go All The Way," "Let's Pretend," "I Wanna Be With You," "Tonight," "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," "Ecstasy," and more. Also included are covers of the Who's "I Can't Explain," and a triple shot of Beatles gems -- "Ticket To Ride," "No Reply," and "Baby's In Black."

Recently released is The Essential Eric Carmen. The collection, which is the first double-disc retrospective of Carmen's 45-year career, contains classic tracks from his solo years, his major works with the Raspberries -- and even a cut from his pre-‘Berries band, Cyrus Erie. Along with the hits comes his most recent track, called "Brand New Year," featuring backing from the key members of his hero Brian Wilson's longtime band. His Raspberries classic "Go All The Way" was featured on the soundtrack to the 2014 hit summer movie, Guardians Of The Galaxy.

That same month, Carmen served 30 days in Ohio jail after pleading no contest to drunken driving and failing to control his car in 2014. This was the second DUI arrest for Carmen, who lives in the Cleveland suburb of Gates Mills. He was arrested on September 9th, 2008 after crashing his SUV into a fire hydrant. According to the charges, Carmen's blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the state's legal limit.

Eric Carmen says that it took a good 20 years for him to understand how influential the Raspberries turned out to be for rock's following generation: "Years ago I was in L.A. in the mid-'80s and somebody said, 'Axl Rose is a huge fan of yours. 'And I went, 'Axl Rose is a fan?' He's a huge fan! And it would start to come out -- we have one guy on our road crew that has worked for Van Halen for 20 years, and before that he worked with all these, y'know, hair bands and metal bands and whatever, and he said they were all fascinated; they wanted to know all (the) Raspberries stories. And I said, 'Who?' -- the guys in Poison. . . And I thought that's amazing that these guys like us, that they got it."

Carmen, who was the Raspberries' principle songwriter, says that the band's songs have lived on because it was honest music: "What the Raspberries were about was, y'know, I came in as a writer saying, 'How do I play to everyone's strengths here? What is it that we can do that's different from everyone else, and go for that."

Eric Carmen says that throughout the years he's come to understand what the 'Berries meant to the '70s generation: "David Wild who is now one of the editors of Rolling Stone and I were talking one day. And he confessed to me that he was a little too young for the Beatles, and that when he saw the Raspberries on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert one time, he said, 'You were my Beatles.'"

Eric Carmen recalls how he and Arista Records president Clive Davis were the only people who believed that "All By Myself" should be released as his debut solo single: "They had a testing center back in those days in Dallas, or something, where people would go into an auditorium on Saturday mornings and they'd get these different age groups and they'd wire up so you could tell demographic, and age, and sex, and see how a song struck everybody -- and then you would get, like, a meter reading. They tested 'All By Myself' and it came back absolutely a total loser -- not a hit. 98 percent say forget it. And then Clive and I went. 'Yeah, they're wrong.'"

Back in 2007 the Raspberries released their first-ever live album The Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip. The set features a bonus DVD of five songs, as well as a CD including the band's biggest power pop favorites, including "Tonight," "Let's Pretend," "Ecstasy," "I Wanna Be With You," and "Go All The Way," along with covers of the Who's "I Can't Explain" and the Searchers' "Needles And Pins."

Bruce Springsteen, a longtime Raspberries fan, wrote the album's liner notes to The Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip. Most of the hardcore power pop material that Springsteen recorded between 1977 and 1980 wasn't released until the 1998 archival box set Tracks, with a few more making their way onto 2010's The Promise collection. Springsteen has gone on record as saying that Carmen's early-'70s work with the Raspberries played a seminal role in his rediscovery of dual guitar-based rock. Carmen says that the influences at the time were mutual: "The first time I met Bruce, y'know basically I'm a shy guy, and someone brought me backstage at one of Bruce's concerts and I had no idea what to say to him, 'cause I'm always on the other side. And he looked at me and I think he's a shy guy too, and he looked at me and he said, 'I really wore that Raspberries' Greatest Hits album out.' And I said, 'Yeah, I wore out Born To Run.'"

Demi Lovato shared a preview of her upcoming single "29" on social media Tuesday (August 9th).

The song lyrics address what it was like to date a 29-year-old man at the age of 17. TikTokers speculated in the comments that the song is about her relationship with That 70's Show star Wilmer Valderama.

The two began dating in 2010 when the actor was 29 and she was 17.

Lady Gaga used her Washington DC stop on the Chromatica Ball tour to share her thoughts on abortion rights and gay marriage.

Before singing "Edge of Glory" Monday (August 8th) night, the pop star told the crowd, "I would like to dedicate this song to every woman in America. To every woman who now has to worry about her body if she gets pregnant. I pray that this country will speak up and we will not stop until it's right!"

She also used her platform to defend LGBTQ rights before performing "Born This Way."

Gaga said, "This might not be the national anthem, but it's our national anthem! They better not try to mess with gay marriage in this country."