Pulse Music

SAM ASGHARI DOESN'T WANT TO KNOW THE SEX OF HIS CHILD WITH BRITNEY SPEARS: If the decision is left up to Sam Asghari, he and Britney Spears will be waiting to find out the sex of their baby. When Mario Lopez asked the 28-year-old actor if he plans to find out if they're having a boy or a girl, he told the Access Hollywood host, "That's up to her, but I don't want to. He added, "It's something that I want to wait for."

DEMI LOVATO HAS MAKE-A-WISH REUNION: Demi Lovato had an emotional reunion with a fan battling kidney disease in a video released Wednesday (April 27th) by the Make-A-Wish program. The 29-year-old singer first met Austen in 2009 when the then-10-year-old got to perform on stage with her idol. Lovato, who recently partnered with the organization to celebrate World Wish Day this Friday (Aug 29th), recently surprised the 23-year-old, telling her, "You're so grown now. Oh my gosh. I remember your pigtails."

Nearly 50 years after forming, Cheap Trick remains busier than ever with concerts running throughout 2022. The band's North American dates find them opening for ZZ Top and Rod Stewart, alternately, along with a five-city UK tour set for the fall.

Co-founding guitarist and primary songwriter Rick Nielsen chatted with Classic Rock magazine about the band's longevity and said, "The way I look at it, Cheap Trick got to do what we wanted to do, whether we had success or not. We got to make records, we got to tour. I can't really think of too many downs, because we're just lucky enough that we get to play. There's a million other bands that wish they could be in our position, good and bad."

He went on to say, "Let's face it, we're never going to be the next new big thing or whatever, plus we don't dance. But the fact is I'm proud to be part of that club of people who are still out there playing music. I know that's pretty basic, but it's the truth. What a dream come true."

Nielsen, a musician who has truly been everywhere and seen it all over the decades, can't help but be thrilled with the steady influx of new fans ever year: "We have all ages. And we always did, even when we were playing the clubs back in the late-'60s and early-'70s. We always had people who brought their kids along."

He summed up the band's career by explaining, "My line for Cheap Trick is we're too dumb to quit, so we'll always be coming back. We've made 20 albums, and I don't think we've run out of bad ideas yet. We've got a busy year on the road, but we're planning to get back into the studio as soon as we can. We're with Rod Stewart from June, we're also touring with ZZ Top, then we'll be in England. It's a riot, it's fun."

Rick Nielsen told us that over the course of the band's history, they've never been motivated by sales when writing and recording new material and are now back on a major label -- BMG: "It's not gonna change the world, but maybe it'll help somebody that doesn't know anything about us. Maybe we'll sell five billion of 'em -- who knows, y'know? We don't do that with anything like that in mind. It's just, we do stuff for fun, and we like to play, and we're good musicians, and it's cool that we get offered -- and it's cool that we took the offer and ran with it."

Cheap Trick performs tonight (April 29th) with ZZ Top live in Saskatoon, SK at SaskTel Centre.

It was 55 years ago Sunday (May 1st, 1967) that Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu at Las Vegas' Aladdin Hotel. The short eight-minute ceremony, which took place at 9:00 a.m., was officiated by State Supreme Court Justice David Zenoff.

Following the vows, a special banquet was held below the hotel's casino for around 100 guests who dined on "ham, eggs, Southern fried chicken, Oysters Rockefeller, roast suckling pig, poached and candied salmon, lobster, Eggs Minnette, and champagne." Following the banquet, the Presley's held a press conference before flying out of Las Vegas.

Elvis and Priscilla met in 1960 while he was stationed in the Army in Germany. Her father was an Air Force officer also stationed there. In 1963 Priscilla moved to Memphis to be with Elvis, first living with his father Vernon and stepmother Dee while she finished high school, before eventually moving into Graceland with Elvis.

The couple had one child together, Lisa Marie Presley, who was born nearly nine months to the day after their wedding.

Priscilla has said that although they had been living together for several years, they did not consummate the relationship until they were married.

Elvis and Priscilla's marriage happened towards the end of Elvis' "movie years" -- a period where the "King of Rock N' Roll" was pretty much sleepwalking his way through light musical comedies in which he lip-synced lousy material to extras, kids, and dogs. Fan Pete Townshend told us that he viewed Elvis' movie years in the 1960's as a wasted opportunity: "I was watching the TV yesterday, and Blue Hawaii was on. I just thought, 'What was Elvis doing?!' Y'know, the Beatles were about to appear, Ricky Nelson was putting out 'Hello, Mary Lou,' the Everly Brothers were doing 'Cathy's Clown' -- the most unbelievably brilliant music! Dion was doing great stuff. It was the most fantastic records being made! (Elvis was) dressing up in Hawaiian shirts, playing the ukulele and getting married on a raft."

Elvis and Priscilla separated in 1972 and divorced in 1973.

The Presley's have four grandchildren through daughter Lisa Marie; Danielle Riley Keough and fraternal twin girls -- Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood.

Tragically, on July 13th, 2020 Elvis and Priscilla's only grandson, Lisa Marie's child, Benjamin Keough, shot himself with a shotgun at his home in Calabasas, California. He was 27-years-old.

It was 54 years ago today (April 29th, 1968) that the counter-culture musical Hair opened at Broadway's Biltmore Theatre. Hair, which had run off-Broadway the previous year, was unlike any other mainstream show, featuring a story line using humor, music and sexuality to celebrate and raise understanding of the problems facing the 1960s baby-boomer generation.

The show, which was created by actors James Rado and Gerome Ragni, centered around a tribe of Central Park hippies, led by a character named Claude -- played by Rado -- who is eventually is shipped off to Vietnam.

The show was directed by Tom O'Horgan with music by Galt MacDermot. Several of the songs from the play's soundtrack became hits for other artists, including Oliver's "Good Morning Starshine," which peaked at Number Three in 1969, and the Fifth Dimension's medley of "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In," which topped the charts for six weeks in the Spring of 1969.

Among the actors who got their start during Hair's Broadway run were Diane Keaton, Melba Moore, Nell Carter, and Keith Carradine.

Hair eventually closed on July 1st, 1972, after 1,742 performances. It was nominated for two Tony Awards in 1969, for Best Musical Play and Best Director Of A Musical Play, but lost in both categories.

There was an unsuccessful revival of the show in October 1977, which closed after 43 performances.

A movie version of Hair was released in 1979. It continues to run in independent theaters around the world.

Hair's 2009 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival Of A Musical

Ed Sheeran will lead the U.K. in a musical tribute to Queen Elizabeth. His home country will be celebrating the monarch's record-breaking 70 years on the throne with a special four-day weekend event.

Through a press release, Sheeran said, "I'm proud to be part of the celebration and it's going to be a great opportunity to bring everyone together."

He'll perform outside Buckingham Palace on June 5, in what's being called The People's Pageant.

Although it's expected to be televised, there has been no official announcement yet.

TL;DR:

• Ed Sheeran will lead the U.K. in a musical tribute to Queen Elizabeth to celebrate 70 years on the throne.
• He'll perform outside Buckingham Palace on June 5.

Lady Gaga has announced that "Hold My Hand" will be her next single. It's from the upcoming movie, Top Gun: Maverick.

In a tweet, she described the song as a love letter to the world during and after a very hard time. She posted: "When I wrote this song for Top Gun: Maverick, I didn't even realize the multiple layers it spanned across the film's heart, my own psyche, and the nature of the world we've been living in. I've been working on it for years, perfecting it, trying to make it ours."

"Hold My Hand" marks her return to writing and producing original music for film. Her success of 2018's A Star is Born soundtrack earned Gaga an Academy Award, four Grammys, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Critics' Choice Award.

She composed and recorded it specifically for the movie. The song will be released on May 2 and the movie will be in theatres on May 27^th.

TL;DR:

• Lady Gaga has announced that "Hold My Hand" will be her new single.
• It's from the upcoming movie, Top Gun: Maverick.
• The song will be released on May 2 and the movie will be in theatres on May 27^th.

Paul McCartney kicks off his 2022 "Got Back" tour dates tonight (April 28th) at Spokane, Washington's Spokane Arena. The 17-date trek marks the former-Beatle's first since he wrapped his "Freshen Up" tour on July 13th, 2019 with Ringo Starr sitting in with the band for "Sgt. Pepper's (Reprise)" and "Helter Skelter."

The current tour marks McCartney's 20th year playing with his current band -- the longest lineup of musicians he's ever performed with. The group was initially assembled to tour in 2002 in support of his 2001 Driving Rain album.

We recently checked in with Macca's guitarist Brian Ray, who painted a picture of what it's like to gear up for a tour backing the rock legend: "The first (laughs) day of any rehearsal for any new project with us, is about 40 minutes of us just jamming. Y'know, Paul will just start in, playing, like 'Twenty Flight Rock' or he'll play 'Matchbox,' y'know, and we'll jam out on that and he'll play some guitar solos. And then we'll do another song -- it's just a jam. He'll just start a riff and it'll be mostly instrumental. He might start singing, like he does in some soundchecks -- he'll start singing about the town we're in. And then we'll go on to a couple of other casual songs, and then, we'll go into work."

Paul McCartney was asked if carrying the legacy of the Beatles as a performing artist today is too heavy a load: "No, it's, it's a great thing, 'cause I was in 'em, and there were only four people in 'em. You're growing up, you're a kid, you're going to school and all this stuff and you're aiming to get, y'know, a great job and do well and everything. You finally get there, it's kind of, y'know, it's amazing, 'cause you're still that kid aiming to get there, but now you're there. And, y'know in some ways I'm still the same kid I was when I was five looking at it, so that is -- I'm amazed! It's like, 'What? You got in the Beatles??? Alright man! Yeah!'"

Harry Styles has a new movie coming out and the first photo released, shows him in bed with co-star Florence Pugh.

The photo was taken from the movie trailer that was shown this week, as it debuted at Cinema Con. Olivia Wilde, who directed the thriller, posted the image on Wednesday (4-27).

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the storyline centers on a 1950s housewife living in a utopian experimental community, who begins to worry that her husband's glamorous company may be hiding disturbing secrets.

Wilde described the movie as a love letter to films like The Matrix and Inception.

Don't Worry Darling will open in theatres on September 23.

TL;DR:

The documentary George Michael had been working on prior to his 2016 death will hit the big screen on June 22nd in a special theatrical release. George Michael: Freedom Uncut credits the singer as a co-director along with David Austin, with Michael also serving as the film's narrator. Back in 2017, an edited version of the film premiered on Showtime.

Rolling Stone reported, "Freedom Uncut chronicles the tumultuous -- yet creatively fruitful -- period of Michael's life and career following the release of his 1987 solo debut, Faith, then through the creation and release of his 1990 follow-up Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1. Along with documenting his creative efforts during this period, the doc will also explore his relationship with Anselmo Feleppa -- who died from AIDS-related complications -- as well as the death of Michael's mother."

George Michael: Freedom Uncut includes testimony by such friends as Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Liam Gallagher, Nile Rodgers, Ricky Gervais, Tony Bennett, Mark Ronson, Mary J. Blige, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, and Linda Evangelista, among others.

Back in 2007, George Michael appeared on Britain's Parkinson show and explained that his free and rebellious nature was a callback to a previous era: "I think I'm of my generation, only most of my generation have got no balls anymore (laughter) -- basically. Y'know, I think my generation were taught that it was okay -- especially as a musician -- to speak your mind, and we're living in a time when it's not okay and we're trying in an effort to return to 'family values' to pretend that some of the things that happened between 1960 and 1985 didn't happen."

While rumors have been swirling about a possible romance between Olivia Rodrigo and Zack Bia, the couple was spotted this week at Zero Bond, a private New York social club.

19-year-old Rodrigo was wearing a black sheer dress with small pink and blue embroidered flowers with pink knit fingerless gloves.

Bia, a 25-year-old DJ wore camouflaged pants, paired with bright orange shoes. He hid his face behind a zipped up, black-hooded jacket.

The night out followed Rodrigo's first of two sold out shows at Radio City Music Hall on Tuesday night (4-26).

TL;DR:

• Olivia Rodrigo and Zack Bia were spotted was this week at a private New York social club.
• The night out followed Rodrigo's first of two sold out shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Queen's Brian May remains grateful for the four years in which the legendary Paul Rodgers sang with the band. Paul Rodgers -- a hero of May and Roger Taylor's since his days singing for Free and Bad Company -- fronted the Queen + Paul Rodgers lineup to great success bridging the gap between the late, great Freddie Mercury and today's sold out tours with Adam Lambert.

Brian May admitted to Classic Rock magazine that Queen thought the death of Freddie Mercury meant the end of the band: "We thought it was over. Roger and I were convinced it would be impossible to carry on. As soon as we lost Freddie, the spirit was gone. We didn't even have the desire, to be honest. (The posthumous) Made In Heaven (album) was supposed to be the final chapter, then we both plugged into our solo work. And then completely by accident we met Paul Rodgers, and we thought: 'Maybe let's work with this guy who was a hero to us and see what happens.'"

Although the trio toured the globe to sold out audiences -- they only recorded one studio set together -- 2008's The Cosmos Rocks. Despite hitting the Top Five in the UK, the collection stalled at a disappointing Number 47 on the Billboard 200 album list.

Brian May is still a vehement defender of The Cosmos Rocks, saying, "I am proud of that album. I think it has some really good stuff and it is underestimated. We had fun and Paul had fun. It was great. Not just him flexing his muscles on the Queen material, but also, us playing 'All Right Now' and his songs. I loved going around the world playing that stuff, boys with a new kind of toy. It was great for a while, then eventually it ran its course, and it was obvious that Paul needed to get back to his own career. But we parted on very good terms and keep in touch."

Today, Queen remains bigger than ever, with Adam Lambert bringing some of the drama, pomp and circumstance back to Queen's live act. Brian May explained, "I can't see that it would have worked with anybody else. He's a voice in a billion and a presence in a billion; the showmanship, the personality, the range, his ability to reinterpret stuff . Plus he's nice person to have around. He's a gift from God."

As of 2022, Queen + Paul Rodgers' The Cosmos Rocks stands as the band's final studio statement. We asked Roger Taylor if he thinks that had the album been a worldwide hit, Paul Rodgers would've extended his tenure with Queen: "I'm not sure. I think it -- I mean, I would've been happy — definitely, a lot happier if it had. I don't know. I think there was some in-built resistance to that record, which I think has some very good points to it. But, what would've happened, I haven't got a clue. But, I really don't think it would've, um. . . I don't think it would've continued."

Queen + Adam Lambert kick off their European dates over two nights -- May 27th and 28th -- in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the SSE Arena.

Kiss fans eager for a final reunion of the original members are feeling that much more hopeful after reading Gene Simmons' Twitter feed. Simmons, who along with Paul Stanley, has been alternately demeaning towards -- and nostalgic about -- co-founding guitarist Ace Frehley over the years, but now seems to want him on board for the band's final victory lap.

On Wednesday (April 27th), Gene Simmons tweeted well wishes to Frehley for his 71st birthday and posted an open-ended offer to the guitar legend: "Happy Birthday Ace. And many more… The invitations still stand. Jump up on stage with us for encores. The fans would love it. - Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) April 27, 2022

Not too long ago, we asked Gene Simmons what it feels like to turn around and see the spitting image of his former bandmates -- yet it's replacement musicians Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer: "Y'know, we still have a tug of the heart. It's like your drunken dysfunctional father who was a bum and you finally had to get rid of him -- but you still remember the beginning when he was a good dad. Ace and Peter are beloved, as they should be, for the beginning. For helping launch the band -- if you don't mind me saying so -- that changed the face of rock 'n roll, literally and figuratively speaking. But equally as important part of the beginning of Kiss, it's also important to know that with them in the band today, Kiss wouldn't be around."

Kiss kicks off its North American farewell dates on May 11th at Milwaukee's American Family Insurance Amphitheater.

Travis Scott is set to perform for the first time since the tragic Astroworld festival. According to TMZ, Scott is set to perform at Miami's E11EVEN on Saturday, May 7th. The show coincides with the festivities surrounding Race Week and the 2022 Miami Grand Prix, which will be held the next day at the Miami International Autodrome.

The performance will also feature an after-hours set from Chase B.

Weezer will be performing during this year's NFL Draft in Las Vegas with Ice Cube and Marshmello. And in an interview with Audacy to promote the event, Rivers Cuomo admitted he aspired to be a football player when he was younger, but eventually took the rock star route. He was a Steelers fan and his plan was to be a member of the team.

By the time he got to high school he realized that he couldn't get very far as a football player because he was too small.

He said, "It took me a year or two and then I finally figured out… I can be a rock star and still hear the cheer of the crowd and get some of the same thrills."

He also hinted that Weezer is working on booking a residency in Vegas.

The NFL Draft Concert Series takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada from April 28 through 30.

TL;DR:

• Weezer will be performing during this year's NFL Draft in Las Vegas with Ice Cube and Marshmello.
• Rivers Cuomo aspired to be a football player when he was younger,
• By the time he got to high school he realized he was too small.
• The NFL Draft Concert Series takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada from April 28 through 30.

Metallica's James Hetfield and Ernie Ball Strings have joined forces for Hetfield's signature line, called "Papa Het's Hardwired Master Core Signature Strings." PlanetSixStaring.com posted, Papa Het's new Hardwired Master Core set, "consists of a never before offered 11 to 50 gauge combo, designed for his aggressive style."

James Hatfield said in the press release, "With all the companies we're with, we're super proud to be with Ernie Ball! For them to take on the challenge of, 'Hey I got an idea, can you do this…' -- they have stepped up to the challenge! I'm super proud!"

The specs on the Ernie Ball's new Papa Het's Hardwired Master Core Signature Strings are:

Never before offered gauge combo (11, 14, 18p, 28, 38, 50)

"Master Core" heavier core to wrap ratio

Wound strings wrapped with Paradigm plasma-enhanced nickel plated steel around ultra-high strength tin plated steel hex core

Paradigm ultra-high strength tin plated steel plain strings

Thicker sound

Added pitch stability

James Hetfield told us a while back that he couldn't stop writing new material even if he wanted to: "I can't turn off the creative part of me, which is -- what a great gift. There's stuff coming out all the time, whether it's in the tuning room, in my hotel room, sitting at home with the acoustic, wherever. The stuff is coming out, and it gets recorded or written down or something, some way, and it'll come out at some point. Whether it's on this album, the next album, who knows?"

Harry Styles reveals in the June issue of Better Homes & Gardens that he used to feel "ashamed" about people knowing he had sex.

The "Watermelon Sugar" singer said, "For a long time, it felt like the only thing that was mine was my sex life. I felt so ashamed about it, ashamed at the idea of people even knowing that I was having sex, let alone who with."

The former One Direction member admitted that the cleanliness clauses in the contracts he used to sign as a part of the boy band were so stressful that he burst into tears when he finally signed a solo contract.

He added that he finally "felt free" when he realized his ability to make music would not be affected by personal transgressions.

Journey has just dropped "You Got The Best Of Me" -- the band's lead single from its upcoming album, Freedom, which is set for release on July 8th. Journey is currently out on the road and plays tonight (April 27th) -- with special guests Toto -- at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.

Co-founding guitarist Neal Schon said of the new track: "I wanted kind of a punky rendition of 'Any Way You Want It.' I usually don't go in saying I'm going to look for something like that, but then it just came to me, like 'Wheel In The Sky' did years ago. It just kind of flew out of my mouth. During the pandemic, there wasn't much to do. I spent a lot of time in my little studio at home, learning how to play keyboards and looping. Some of those ideas ended up being songs. So it kind of came out of nowhere."

Freedom marks Journey's first new studio set since Eclipse was released in May 2011. The Walmart exclusive debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart at Number 13 and was the band's second to feature current frontman Arnel Pineda.

Neal Schon recently explained how he urged his bandmates to look past the classics to showcase everything that Journey is about musically during its shows: "I said, 'Guys, I want you to have an open mind and check out this list that I've put together here, 'cause I think that we're missing a lot of these elements in our show. And there's no reason to be missing 'em, 'cause we own it. (Laughs) It's ours! Just 'cause we don't play it all the time doesn't mean that we shouldn't be playing just 'cause they're not so so-called 'pop hits.'' I've never been from the school where every song has to be a hit. I think we're really fortunate that we have so many hit songs -- but you can't play 'em all in one show."

The B-52's have just announced their farewell tour. The band, who'll be joined at various stops by either the Tubes or KC & The Sunshine Band, launch their final trek on August 22nd at Seattle's McCaw Hall and wrap things up over two nights for hometown gigs on November 11th and 12th at Atlanta's Fox Theatre.

The group is currently working with director Craig Johnson on the definitive documentary of their career, which is expected to see release next year.

The group addressed their final dates in a press release:

Kate Pierson: "Who knew what started as a way to have some fun and play music for our friends' at house parties in Athens in 1977 would evolve into over 45 years of making music and touring the world. It's been cosmic."

Cindy Wilson: "It has been a wild ride, that's for sure. We feel truly blessed to have had an amazing career encouraging folks to dance, sing along with us and feel they can be whomever they are with our music."

Fred Schneider: "No one likes to throw a party more than we do, but after almost a half-century on the road, it's time for one last blow-out with our friends and family. . . our fans. And with KC & The Sunshine Band and The Tubes on board, it's going to be one hell of a farewell party at these concerts."

We asked singer Kate Pierson how the B-52's have been able to keep the show on the road so smoothly after all these years: "We learned to accept each other with all our, y'know, wonderful things, and flaws, and attributes (laughs). Y'know, we really accept each other; we're still like a family. We still make each other laugh -- that's the key thing. Of course I'm not saying there aren't ups and downs, but I think it's still amazing that we can still make each other laugh, we still hang out after the show. Y'know, we really have fun together."

JUST ANNOUNCED: The B-52's tour dates (subject to change):

August 22 - Seattle, WA - McCaw Hall (with The Tubes)
September 29 - Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods Casino (with KC & The Sunshine Band)
September. 30 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall (with KC & The Sunshine Band)
October 1 - Washington, DC - The Anthem (with KC & The Sunshine Band)
October 7 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre (with KC & The Sunshine Band)
October 13, 14 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre (with KC & The Sunshine Band)
October 15 - Atlantic City, NJ - Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino (with KC & The Sunshine Band)
October 19, 21, 22 - Las Vegas, NV - The Venetian Theatre|
October 28, 29 - San Francisco, CA - The Masonic Auditorium (with The Tubes)
November 4 - Los Angeles, CA - YouTube Theater (with KC & The Sunshine Band)
November 11, 12 - Atlanta, GA - The Fox Theatre (with KC & The Sunshine Band)

Justin Bieber's latest track dropped last night (April 26th).

The video for "I Feel Funny," directed by Cole Bennet, made its debut at midnight.

In the description, Bennet shared the story of how the visual was made. He wrote that the two had some downtime while shooting a video for "Honest," and added, " I went into his trailer and said "Remember that song you sent me? Let's shoot a video for it on my phone in between takes of the actual video." ... The rest was history."

According to the video posted by Lyrical Lemondade, the 90-second clip took about 15 minutes to shoot and features a cameo by Don Toliver.

CAMILA CABELLO IS THE FACE OF VICTORIA'S SECRET'S BOMBSHELL: Camila Cabello is the star of Victoria's Secret's first ever bilingual campaign. The singer is the newest face of the brand's Bombshell Fragrance. She wrote on her Instagram, "Bombshell is about embracing who and what you are and celebrating that every day."

LIZZO AND GAYLE TO PERFORM IN ROBLOX: Lizzo and Gayle will perform at the second annual Logitech Song Breaker Awards, hosted in Roblox. The show will premiere on Saturday, April 30th, and will be hosted by YouTuber and TikTok entertainer Bretman Rock. Lizzo will perform "Special" for her first ever metaverse performance.

LIL NAS EX ANNOUNCES FIRST TOUR: Lil Nas X will embark on his first ever tour this fall. The North American leg of the Long Live Montero tour will kick off in Detroit on Tuesday, September sixth and make stops in Chicago, Nashville, Los Angeles, and more before wrapping up in San Francisco on Sunday, October 23rd. Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, April 29th.

Roger Daltrey has just announced the makeup dates for his postponed 12-city, full-band, UK tour, dubbed, "Who Was I," featuring, "an evening of Who classics, rarities, solo hits, and fan Q&A."

According to the official announcement: "Last autumn, due to ongoing concerns about the uncertainty of the Covid-19 situation as it could have affected his band, crew and audience, Roger Daltrey decided to move his 'Who Was I' solo UK Tour to summer 2022. . . If you already have tickets for the 2021 autumn dates, they will be honored for the new summer 2022 dates."

Last year, an announcement on TheWho.com revealed the tour would comprise a unique mix of music and conversation and is "built around Roger's musical journey and encompasses nearly every style imaginable -- including blues, rock, country, soul, and metal."

Daltrey will touch upon and play music from all facets of his career. The gigs promise "a plethora of songs with some questions answered and rock n' roll stories along the way."

Although Roger Daltrey does tip his foot into his solo career during his solo shows, he told us that he's often faced criticism for performing Who material without Pete Townshend: "Y'know, people say, 'Ah, well, y'know, why are you doing Who songs?' And I think, well, they're my songs, it's my history, it's my voice that gave them birth. I mean, Pete wrote them, but it's my voice that brought them out to the public."

In his most recent solo shows, Roger Daltrey has taken to playing a solo ukulele version of the band's 1975 Townshend-sung The Who By Numbers standout "Blue, Red, & Grey" giving fans the opportunity for the first time to hear any member of the Who perform it live: "'Blue, Red, & Grey' I love, because it's a song we never, ever did onstage, that I used to plead with Pete to play. It's the song that John (Entwistle) did the brass arrangements for, which we now can replicated on keyboards, of course -- which, y'know, give me memories of my days that I grew up with working class societies and communities that had all those bands; the coal mine bands, the steel mill bands, shipyard bands. It just evolves a memory of a past that we lost, y'know?"

The Who performs tonight (April 27th) at Tampa's Amalie Arena.

JUST ANNOUNCED: Roger Daltrey UK tour dates (subject to change):

June 20 - Bournemouth, England - Bournemouth International Centre
June 22 - Brighton, England - The Brighton Centre
June 24 - Oxford, England - New Theatre Oxford
June 27 - Portsmouth, England - Portsmouth Guildhall
June 29 - Nottingham, England - Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall
July 1 - Southend, England - Cliffs Pavilion
July 4 - Birmingham, England - Symphony Hall
July 6 - Glasgow, Scotland - SEC Armadillo
July 9 - Manchester, England O2 Apollo
July 11 - Liverpool, England - Liverpool Empire
July 13 - Newcastle, England - O2 City Hall Newcastle
July 17 - London, England - London Palladium

It was announced 41 years ago (April 27th, 1981), that Paul McCartney's solo band Wings had disbanded. McCartney and his first wife Linda had formed the group in the summer of 1971 with drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist and Moody Blues co-founder Denny Laine. The McCartney's and Laine remained the nucleus of the band's ever-changing line up throughout their decade-long run. At the time of Wings' split the band included Wings' third lead guitarist Laurence Juber and fourth drummer Steve Holley.

The same day the announcement was leaked to the press, McCartney, along with Linda and their four children, joined his bandmates from his other band, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, at Ringo's wedding to actress Barbara Bach in London.

McCartney first broke Wings in by playing small, unannounced university gigs throughout Britain in early 1972. Gradually, he began booking the group into theaters and arenas across Europe, Australia, and America as the group started racking up Top Ten hits such as "Hi, Hi, Hi," "Live And Let Die," "Helen Wheels," "Jet," "Junior's Farm," "Let 'Em In," and "Goodnight Tonight," along with the Number Ones "My Love," "Band On The Run," "Listen To What The Man Said," "Silly Love Songs," "With A Little Luck," and "Coming Up."

In 2001 McCartney released his Wingspan documentary chronicling the group's career. He admitted at the time that he was horrified by at the public and critical beating Linda took after marrying and co-founding Wings with him: "She took some s*** -- major league. Not only from the critics, (but) from the fans. I mean, we had stuff daubed on our front wall in large letters, and it was highly offensive, y'know? So, she had to put up with that. Luckily, she was a very strong woman, and was able to overcome it and the period passed, and as she went on, people started to appreciate more and more."

Denny Laine says that despite the band's success, being an active member of top act like Wings is hardly as easy as it looks: "Well, there's a lot of pressure on you when you're in a band like Wings -- to come up with the goods, to be continually working. It's not like taking it easy and taking it at your own pace. Y'know, you're out there and you've got to do what the public expects you to."

The Beatles' late-engineer Geoff Emerick, who went on to work on several Wings projects, including the One Hand Clapping film and the Band On The Run and London Town albums, told us that above all the members, it was Linda that was really the unsung hero of the group: "Wings was Wings, and Linda was such an integral part of that -- if you took Linda's vocals out of those harmony voices -- it wasn't Wings anymore."

Wings' final lead guitarist, Laurence Juber, told us that although the band was specifically not brought on for McCartney's Tug Of War sessions, they remained an active studio unit for McCartney's other recording work -- including his still-unreleased outtakes project, Cold Cuts: "George Martin didn't want it to be a Wings album, that's what I was told. Paul called up and said, 'George wants to make this a 'Paul McCartney' album and thanks, but no thanks.' But subsequently, we were still back in the studio as Wings, 'cause during January of '81 we were loosely working on what was called Cold Cuts."

Beatlefan magazine publisher Bill King had covered all of McCartney's exploits leading up to Wings calling it quits -- including his infamous January 1980 Tokyo drug bust which curtailed Wings' second proposed world tour. We asked King if he was shocked by the announcement signaling the end of the band: "I was mildly surprised but after the who Japanese thing, that was sort of a major demarcation in his life and career. 'Cause we had heard the reports that the last British tour was underwhelming. Everybody remembered Pete Townshend's comment about him getting out there with an 'under-rehearsed band.' I seem to recall that my feeling was that this had run its course, it was a good time for him to try something different, and to basically record with a whole bunch of different people."

McCartney biographer Christopher Sanford feels that there was probably no clear moment at which McCartney decided that Wings was an unworkable situation: "His solo album (McCartney II) that came out in May of '80 was sort of an organic process. I don't think there was a 'big bang' moment where he decided to demolish Wings. And I think it developed in the first six or seven months of 1980. And I suspect that John's murder had -- among many other horrible repercussions -- a disinclination to go out on the road immediately. I mean, for one thing, you're more vulnerable physically; and secondly it's hard to go out and sing with the best will in the world 'Silly Love Songs' and the other upbeat stuff when you're grieving your best friend."

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett credits the band's personal growth for his debut solo release of Portals. While chatting with Kerrang, Hammett explained how the new EP came to be through his own sobriety and the band's maturity. He touched upon how former-bassist Jason Newsted's 2001 exit came about, in part, to his wanting to pursue a solo project away from the band.

Hammett compared the difference between Newsted wanting to stretch his wings and him doing so today: "It is 20 years later and Metallica have gotten even bigger since then. So trying to divert any kind of focus at this point, it would take an army to do that. And it's just good ol' me. And also we've all grown. We've all grown from our experiences and we've certainly grown from (Jason Newsted's departure). It's a recognition that we're all musicians, we're all artists. Who's to say to someone else, 'Don't put your art out there, I don't want you to'? We've all grown up, basically."

He went on to say, "So the question is, were we not grown up back then? Of course not. We'll be the first ones -- or at least I will -- to put my hands up and say I only feel like I've reached maturity in the last 10 f***ing years. Also I have to say I've been sober for seven-and-a-half years now and my mind is in a different place, I'm better focused. I got my brain back, I've gotten my memory back so nowadays I'm in a better place. I record music and my focus is that much better."

Hammett spoke about being able to tap into a different mindset when writing and playing the material he creates apart from Metallica: "It was a very conscious effort to write things for Portals that did not sound like they could be on the next Metallica album. And that's very easy because I play all different kinds of music. I play jazz, bossa nova, rock, all sorts of stuff. It's very easy for me to know what a Metallica formula is because I helped f***ing formulate it. So it was very easy for me to not write stuff that sounded like Metallica and vice-versa -- it's very easy for me to slip into Metallica mode and write heavy, aggressive music. I've been doing it for so long I can literally put myself in that mode in 10 seconds."

During the pandemic, recording has proved to be a big hurdle for Metallica -- but the band has been busy culling ideas for its next studio project. Kirk Hammett told us a while back that coming up with material is never a problem for Metallica: "We're a band that never has a shortage of ideas. Y'know, you hear about these bands that are like, oh, they're sitting in the studio and they don't have any songs, what are they gonna do? That's not Metallica. Metallica's problem is the total opposite: we have too many ideas, which ones are we gonna use. And so that's pretty much how it stands with us."

Metallica performs tonight (April 27th) in Santiago, Chile at Club Hípico.

Roger Daltrey maintains he's about $10,000 out of pocket after recording the last Who album -- 2019's Top Two hit, WHO. Daltrey, who along with the band, is back out on tour and spoke to Britain's The Independent about the state of the record business and explained, "Musicians cannot earn a living in the record industry any more. That is ridiculous, and they're being robbed blind by streaming and the record companies, because the old deals with record companies that existed in the '70s, '80s, and '90s -- they're still working on the same percentage breaks."

He added: "Of course, they don't do any work. They just press a button and it goes out on digital, whereas before they had to manufacture, they had to distribute, they had to do all that stuff. They're doing bugger all and taking all the money, and the musicians are getting nothing."

Daltrey isn't alone among veteran musicians who feel that recording new music is essentially giving away the store for free -- and that live music is the only way to guarantee money earned gets to the musicians: "Our music industry, I think, has been stolen. I think we really do have to be concerned when young musicians can't earn a living writing music. The streaming companies pay so little in the beginning and then the record companies take 85, 90 percent of that. You need a billion streams to earn 200 quid. That's the reality. We've given our music industry to a lot of foreign-owned companies, and the money's not coming here anymore. We used to lead the world in that, pay an awful lot of tax. It's terrible."

Despite his issues with the music business in general -- creatively, Roger Daltrey couldn't be happier. He told us he believes the band's latest music on 2019's WHO album easily stands tall alongside the band's most beloved material: "I think it's some of our best work since the '70s. I would've liked a bit more time on it, 'cause we did it in a bit of a rush, 'cause it was supposed to be out in July and they pushed the date back for release 'til now. But, all in all, I'm pleased with it. It's good. It's really good stuff. It shows that Pete hasn't lost his bite as a writer -- as a songwriter. Which is important, y'know, he's just not a product stuck in the '60s -- he's very much a man of today."