Pulse Music

The latest Pink Floyd track, "Hey Hey Rise Up," will see physical release on Ocober 21st. The single will be available in both CD and seven-inch vinyl versions. Both will feature the newly-reworked B-side, "A Great Day For Freedom," which was originally featured on Floyd's 1994 The Divison Bell collection.

Rolling Stone reported, "David Gilmour reimagined the song using the original tapes, which feature Nick Mason on drums and the late Richard Wright on keyboards. Proceeds for the physical release and the ongoing digital sales will go to Ukraine humanitarian relief."

Back in April, "Hey Hey Rise Up" was released digitally in support of the people of Ukraine, The track marked the band's first new music since The Division Bell and features Gilmour and Mason joined by long time bassist Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney on keyboards -- along with a vocal performance by Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band Boombox. The track, recorded on March 30th, 2022, uses Andriy's vocals taken from his Instagram post (https://www.instagram.com/p/Cae5TydPAxh/) of him singing in Kyiv's Sofiyskaya Square.

According to the original press release for "Hey Hey Rise Up":

The song itself "The Red Viburnum In The Meadow" is a rousing Ukrainian protest song written during the first world war which has been taken up across the world over the past month in protest of the invasion of Ukraine. The title of the Pink Floyd track is taken from the last line of the song which translates as "Hey hey rise up and rejoice."

Gilmour, who has a Ukrainian daughter-in-law and grandchildren said:

We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world's major powers.

Britney Spears is back on Instagram. She re-activated her account by posting about her happy marriage, and talked about her new home. She shared a photo, wearing a multi-colored bikini at her new swimming pool. She told fans that she hadn't been on her honeymoon yet, instead she and her husband have been moving into their new home, which puts her closer in distance from her 2 songs, Sean and Jayden.

Post Malone and 21 Savage's 2017 music video for "Rockstar" has surpassed a billion views on YouTube. This is Malone's third and 21 Savage's first time to reach the milestone. The song was the lead single from Malone's sophomore album Beerbongs & Bentleys. It held #1 for eight weeks and remained on the Billboard charts for 41 weeks total.

Lizzo stripped down to her underwear for Instagram. Striking a sexy pose in her heather gray panties and a matching scoop neck bra she wrote: "New background unlocked." Her post had lots of comments from her famous friends such as SZA and Chloe Bailey… who both wrote: "Gorgeous!!"

Roger Daltrey is back on the road touring the UK with his solo band and admits it's a world away from the Who's recent dates. While chatting to England's Portsmouth News, Daltrey explained, "The Who is a whole different kettle of fish and of course at the moment we're touring with a full orchestra, so it's full-blown Who -- but because I say we've got an orchestra, it doesn't mean the power of the music is watered down in any way whatsoever, if anything it's even more powerful."

He went on to say, "That's what so great about this -- for the last 50 years we've been playing to enormous audiences in enormous arenas, stadiums, outdoor festivals with half a million people there. It's going to be great with smaller audiences. It's something I used to do in the old days, we all did, and it's great to be reminded of the journey you've been on, and that's what the title of the show is all about, because 'Who Was I?'"

Daltrey takes several liberal dips into his solo career -- which although scoring the singer several major hits -- was nothing that ever was done with an eye in replacing the Who: "There's so much when I listen back to the solo albums I did -- it was basically a hobby, something to do while the Who weren't touring. I never had any intention of doing a Rod Stewart and the Faces, having this huge solo career, I was trying to keep it down if anything! I only ever wanted to be the singer of the Who."

Daltrey said he feels confident in reimagining the Who's classics on the road: "I'm going to try and do that to turn your head around a bit with different sounds so that you hear the songs again for the first time. They will be THE songs. Like I did a version of 'Baba O'Riley' and it was done with just a squeezebox, fiddle and mandolin, acoustic guitar and piano and a boom-box -- and it sounded amazing! The sounds are so different, but the song is so familiar it just gives it a lift. There's something about it. I don't want to go up on this solo show and pretend I'm the Who without Pete Townshend -- there's no point in that at all, so let's try and do something a bit different."

Roger Daltrey told us that he belongs to the old-school breed of rockers, who believe that the only way you end up keeping in shape for rock is by actually performing it: "You can do all the exercises in the world, but it doesn't keep it road-fit. It's like a boxer training. Y'know, a boxer can train, train, train, train -- 'doesn't get him ring-fit."

Daltrey told us that these days, due to his aging vocal cords, he's learned to properly pace himself within his live performances: "We can only play for two hours. Y'know it gets to be, for me personally and my voice, two hours is enough singing the way I sing. It's not an easy number these songs. They're very, very challenging. They demand the kind of energy that the voice needs to give it."

Roger Daltrey's solo "Who Was I" tour plays tonight (June 24th) in Oxford, England's New Theatre Oxford.

It was 45 years ago Sunday night (June 26th, 1977) that Elvis Presley performed his last concert. "The King's" final show in Indianapolis at the Market Square Arena was his 55th show of the year. Despite Presley's failing health, and at times sickly appearance, his presence alone was still enough of a draw to sell out shows nationwide. Bootleg copies of Presley's Indianapolis shows have been available on the collector's circuit for years, and prove that Presley's voice was in good shape for the entire show, which was nearly identical to most of his 1977 performances.

Although the following October's CBS-TV special Elvis In Concert has been billed over the years as being Presley's final show, it was actually compiled from shows from June 19th, 1977 in Omaha, Nebraska and on June 21st in Rapid City, South Dakota.

The setlist to Elvis Presley's final show was: "C.C. Rider," "I Got A Woman/Amen," "Love Me," "Fairytale," "You Gave Me A Mountain," "Jailhouse Rock," "It's Now Or Never," "Little Sister," "Teddy Bear," "Don't Be Cruel," "Release Me," "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Early Mornin' Rain," "Johnny B. Goode," "I Really Don't Want To Know," "Hurt," "Hound Dog," and "Can't Help Falling In Love."

James Burton, Elvis' longtime lead guitarist and bandleader, said that "The King" was never not in full control of his voice -- even on his final tours when his health was sometimes in question: "Oh yeah, he knew his range. Oh yeah, absolutely. He had perfect pitch. I mean the guy could be clear across the stage and go into a song he probably hadn't sung in years -- it was there. It was such a natural talent, y'know? It was a blessing from God."

Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham credits hearing Elvis in 1956 as the motivating factor that lead him to becoming a musician: "Like many people my age, y'know, I was quite young, I was always interested in music, and I was listening to what we all would refer to as our 'parents' music.' So, when my older brother brought home (the single of) 'Heartbreak Hotel' -- it's not a unique story, but it was just a mind-blowing revelation in terms of this kind of explosive spirit that just kind of washed over that whole generation."

While out on the road in 1972, Elvis Presley talked about how he and his live band leave everything on the stage during every show: "I think it's 'cause we enjoy it -- and we constantly enjoy it. Y'know, we do two shows a night for five weeks, but we never let it get old. Every song is like we do it for the first time and that's one of the secrets. We can change 'em around, but even if we do the same songs, they're new and the sound is. . . the feeling is there every time."

Pete Townshend told us that he believes that the enormity of pressures surrounding the Elvis "machine" are what ultimately lead to his death at such a young age: "That's a terrible tragedy when you think what a decent kind of guy he seemed to be when you read the stuff. Y'know he came to pieces at the end. And it's easy to blame Vegas, but it wasn't about Vegas, it was just about the load."

Elvis Presley died of heart failure on August 16th, 1977 at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 42-years-old.

The new biopic, Elvis, opens today (June 24th). The film was directed by Baz Luhrmann with Austin Butler portraying Elvis and Tom Hanks as the legendary Col. Tom Parker.

It was 55 years ago Saturday (June 25th, 1967) that the Beatles performed "All You Need Is Love," which was broadcast live via global satellite to an estimated 400 million viewers. The Beatles were representing the U.K. in the Our World TV special, which was the first major televised hookup linking five continents.

The Beatles were riding high on the success of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which had been released earlier that month. For the broadcast, the four Beatles were surrounded by such high-profile guests as Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithful, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, George Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd, Paul McCartney's girlfriend Jane Asher, his brother Mike "McGear" McCartney, Graham Nash, and numerous other assorted friends and family.

The Beatles, who sat on high stools in Abbey Road Studio Number One, were decked out in their finest Swinging London apparel, with John Lennon, who composed the song, sitting center stage without an instrument. Although the Beatles were playing live, over the preceding ten days they had recorded a basic track to play along to, which included Lennon on harpsichord, Paul McCartney on double bass, George Harrison's lead guitar solo, and Ringo Starr's drums.

Graham Nash gave us the backstory on how he ended up participating in the 'All You Need Is Love' recording session: "Got a call one Sunday morning from Paul (McCartney). He asked me what I was doing later that day and I said, 'Well, first of all it's only nine o'clock in the morning, Paul. What are you doing call. . . I mean, Saturday evening, who the hell goes to sleep?' Right? So, anyway, I was joking with him. I said, 'What are you up to?' He says, 'Well, at Abbey Road (Studios) later on, we're gonna do this new song called 'All You Need Is Love,' it's going to be on satellite and it's going to be for a few people.' I said, 'How many people?' He said, 'A couple of billion.' 'What?!' We went down there -- all friends (Mick) Jagger's over there, Keith (Richards') over there, and I'm over here, Marianne (Faithfull's) over there, y'know, and we're just sitting there watching the boys do their performance. I can actually hear myself whistling on the end of that track (laughs)."

George Harrison recalled the recording of the song in 1995's The Beatles Anthology: "I don't know how many millions of people but it was supposed to be some phenomenal amount of people and it was probably the very earliest technology that enabled that kind of satellite link. We just thought, 'Well, we'll just sing 'All You Need Is Love," because it's a kind of subtle bit of PR for God,' (laughs) basically."

Paul McCartney recalled the recording of the song and said that he wasn't sure whether Lennon had written the tune especially for the satellite event: "It was John's song mainly. I don't think it was written especially for (the global broadcast) but it was one of the songs that we had. It was certainly tailored to it once we had it. But I've got a feeling it was just one of John's."

In The Beatles Anthology book, Ringo Starr commented on the altruistic aspects of the Beatles performing "All You Need Is Love" on a truly global stage: "We were big enough to command an audience of that size, and it was for love. It was for love and bloody peace. It was a fabulous time. I even get excited now when I realize that's what it was for: peace and love, people putting flowers in guns."

According to legend, had Lennon not come up with "All You Need Is Love" on May 22nd, 1967, the Beatles were planning to perform McCartney's "Your Mother Should Know."

"All You Need Is Love" knocked the Doors' "Light My Fire" out of the Number One spot on August 19th, 1967, becoming the group's 14th Number One song, and topping the charts for one week. Over the years, the song has become synonymous with 1967's legendary "Summer Of Love."

"All You Need Is Love", along with the Beatles' other two Number One's from that year, "Penny Lane" and "Hello Goodbye," was included on the soundtrack album to the group's Magical Mystery Tour album, which was released that December.

A colorized version of the Beatles performance of "All You Need Is Love" was included in the 1995 Beatles Anthology.

The Beatles never performed the song live, having given up touring in 1966. In 2002, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard, and many others performed "All You Need Is Love" in London at Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace. In recent years, McCartney performed the song's end-chorus in medley with the "Fab Four's" Rubber Soul classic, "The Word."

In an interview with Weverse Magazine, Chris Martin of Coldplay received more praise from BTS' RM. When they collaborated on the hit song "My Universe," RM says he was surprised that Martin agreed to travel to Korea to work on the project. He was also impressed with how much Martin knew about the group and talked about music.

RM said, "Not only did he know all our names, he knew all about Tomorrow X and Enhypen. And not just in passing, either. Someone walked by while we were at the HYBE building and he said, ‘Isn't that ENHYPEN?' I was like, Yo, how much did he study before he came here?"

In addition, he said that they all continued to communicate while working on the project and almost always it was Martin that would text first.

"My Universe" was released in both English and Korean. The two bands have performed the song multiple times, including at the 2021 American Music Awards.

TL;DR:

• RM said he was surprised that Martin agreed to travel to Korea to work on the project.
• He was impressed with how much Martin knew about the group and talked about music.
• They all continued to communicate while working on the project and almost always it was Martin that would text first.

It was 56 years ago tonight (June 24th, 1966), that the Beatles kicked off their final tour in Munich, West Germany. The tour, which saw the group performing in Germany, Japan, the Philippines, and North America, was plagued with controversy. In the Philippines, the Beatles, who had politely declined an invitation to attend a banquet with then-President Ferdinand Marcos, were virtually run out of the country for what the Filipinos believed to be a snub towards the first family.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., trouble was brewing after a statement John Lennon had made the previous spring in an interview with The London Evening Standard, during a philosophical discussion about religion, was taken out of context and printed in the U.S. teen magazine Datebook. The magazine, which printed Lennon's quote that "Christianity will go it will vanish and shrink. . . Jesus was alright, but his disciples were thick and ordinary . . . We're more popular than Jesus now," ignited protests, including record burnings all over the "bible belt" and southern U.S. states.

The Beatles held a press conference on August 11th in Chicago, the night before they started the U.S. leg, where, after trying to explain exactly what he meant in the interview; Lennon essentially apologized -- not for the statement itself, but for how it may have been interpreted. Death threats plagued the Beatles throughout the 14-date tour -- especially prior to the group's August 19th show in Memphis -- their only show in the South.

The tour dragged on through the States to still strong, but less-than-sellout crowds, where the group, already long bored with performing for screaming fans, lazily ran through a set which showed no sign of the experimentation heard on their Revolver album, which was released days before the tour began.

The group performed approximately a 30-minute set every night, featuring 11 songs: "Rock And Roll Music," "She's A Woman," "If I Needed Someone," "Day Tripper," "Baby's In Black," "I Feel Fine," "Yesterday," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Nowhere Man," "Paperback Writer," and either "Long Tall Sally" or "I'm Down."

Ringo Starr explained that when the Beatles were on the road, there was barely a respite from the mania: "Y'know, we were on 24 hours a day, really. From the minute we opened our eyes; somebody wanted to get at us for something. Y'know, the story is, like, we'd take the whole floor of a hotel and we -- the four of us -- would be sittin' in the toilet (laughs). It was the only place we could sort of get away from the pressure, 'cause the pressure was on as soon as you opened your eyes" 'Sign this!' 'Say this!' Do this!' 'Gimmie, gimmie!' And so, we'd try and get some space."

Paul McCartney says that the Beatles always felt that quitting the road would be a major turning point for the group: "I remember thinking a bit like Army buddies. One of the songs we used to love was 'Wedding Bells.' (sings song) And this idea that you'd been army buddies but one day you'd have to kiss the army goodbye and get married and act like normal people -- it was a bit like that. We knew that day would come."

The Beatles played their last public performance on August 29th, 1966 at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. McCartney, knowing that the show was to be the Beatles' last, captured the show on a portable tape recorder, which eventually has made the rounds of bootleg collectors

Happy Birthday to Carly Simon, who turns 77 on Saturday (June 25th)!!! In May it was announced Simon will be inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. The 2022 Rock Hall induction ceremony will be held on November 5th at L.A.'s Microsoft Theater and air at a later date on HBO and stream on HBO Max.

In addition to Carly Simon the 2022 inductees are Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, and Eminem. This year's Musical Excellence Award will go to Judas Priest along with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Early Influence Awards will go to Harry Belafonte and Elizabeth Cotten, with Ahmet Ertegun Awards going to recording engineer, producer, and executive Jimmy Iovine, R&B singer and Sugar Hill Records founder Sylvia Robinson, and attorney, Allen Grubman.

In 2019, Carly Simon published the book about her friend, and former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, titled, Touched By The Sun. Onassis, who died in 1994, befriended Simon years before on Martha's Vineyard, where the pair began an "improbable, but lasting friendship."

In 2018, a long-lost Mick Jagger-Carly Simon collaboration, believed to be titled "Fragile," from 1972 has been unearthed by a Rolling Stones collector. The Associated Press reported London entrepreneur Matt Lee "declined to say where the tape of the song came from. But he said he sent a digital copy of the song to Rolling Stone magazine because they promised to give it to Simon." Lee explained, "I'm not doing it for the money. I'm a collector. My motive for sending it to Rolling Stone was to pass it to Carly."

In 2016, Carly Simon spoke to Rolling Stone about the team-up stating, "We had this little back and forth at the piano for about an hour, (singing) 'Funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, How love can make you cry.''" On the demo recording, after the song finishes, a voice -- believed to be Simon's -- says, "good song." Fans have possibly already heard a bit of the tune in the Rolling Stones' infamous and long-unreleased 1972 tour film C***Suckers Blues, where Jagger can be heard singing an unknown tune, with the lyrics: "It's funny, funny, funny."

Back in 2011 Carly Simon revealed that Mick Jagger took a 1974 collaboration by the two and co-credited Keith Richards instead of her. At the same time that Jagger laid down backing vocals on Simon's 1972 track and eventual chart-topper, "You're So Vain," she says that she and Jagger went on to co-write a future Stones classic -- which found her edged her out of the songwriting credit.

Simon was quoted on Marc Spitz' recent biography, Jagger: Rebel, Rock Star, Rambler, Rouge, as saying, "We wrote a song together that became a song on the next Stones album (It's Only Rock N' Roll) called, 'Till The Next Goodbye.' I thought that was going to be a joint venture, but I'd never heard from Mick about how he'd like me to share the royalties."

She went on to clarify that Jagger was not the subject of "You're So Vain" -- or that the relationship was ever anything other than professional. Simon also said, that there's no hard feelings for Jagger cribbing the tune from her: "It's the very least I can do to thank Mick for turning what could have been an ordinary record into an iconic huge song for me over the years -- so, my God, let him take all my songs and say he wrote them."

In 2015, Simon published her autobiography, titled, Boys In The Trees - A Memoir. Simon's most recent original album, 2009's Never Been Gone, features new acoustic version of her classics "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," "Let The River Run," "Coming Around Again," "Anticipation," "You Belong To Me," and "You're So Vain."

Over the course of her career, Simon has scored a dozen Top 40 hits -- and won two Grammy's -- snagging the awards for 1972's Best New Artist and in 1990 the prize for Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or Television for her song "Let The River Run" as featured on the Working Girl soundtrack. The song also earned Simon the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

In July 2013, Simon, who infamously suffers from stage fright, joined Taylor Swift onstage at Boston's Gillette Stadium to duet on "You're So Vain."

Carly Simon admits that she was never a big fan of birthdays, even as a little girl: "They're all big in a way. I've never been a birthday person. I've always had birthdays that were at the beginning of summer camp and so all my friends went away to summer camp on my birthday, generally, so I never had parties. And so I was the only one in the family that was never given a party because of it being just that my friends were all away then. Boo-hoo. I always say I don't care about my birthday and then it turns out if people forget it, I get sad, but I say I don't really care."

Simon told us about her life-long battle as a stutter -- which continues through today -- and revealed that music became a key part of how she learned to communicate: "Even as a child, I would sing most of what I wanted to say. I had a terrible stammer; I couldn't really speak until I was 16. I couldn't speak at all fluently until I was 16, and so my mother would always say, 'Well, just go ahead and sing it,' because I didn't stammer when I sang because you use a whole different set of muscles when you sing as opposed to when you talk. So when I would start hesitating or stammering, she would say, 'Just sing it,' and then I would sing whatever I was trying to say and I'd be able to do it."

She told us that says that the most enjoyable part of recording these days is singing with her adult children from her marriage to James Taylor, Sally and Ben Taylor: "With Sally and Ben, when the three. . . I mean Sally and I have very different voices, but there's something about them that sounds almost identical when we sing. And Ben and I have very similar voices even though he enunciates very much like James, but the huskiness in his voice is like mine. So when Ben and I sing together it sounds very much like the way James and I used to sing."

Carly Simon recalled recording the backing vocals to "You're So Vain" with Mick Jagger and Harry Nilsson during the 1972 sessions for her No Secrets album: "Y'know, Harry and I were in there, we were doing it, it didn't quite have the right character, because it wasn't tough. I didn't ask Mick to come over because I needed a tough voice. Mick just showed up, and so we invited him to join us. And so the three of us were singing it together. And it sounded too sweet. The three-part harmony didn't work, but Harry was the first to notice it, and Harry said, 'Well, why don't the two of you try it together?' Y'know that's how it happened -- but more than anything Harry wanted to go out and have a drink (laughs)."

John Mellencamp had some harsh words for the new Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, he still believes is still too weak to be effective. The new legislation in Washington, D.C. would secure background checks for gun buyers under 21, as well as making it easier to take away weapons from those threatening to harm themselves or others, along with those who have a history of domestic violence.

Mellencamp tweeted a message to regarding the current climate of gun murders in the U.S.:

Only in America, and I mean only, in America, can 21 people be murdered and a week later be buried and forgotten, with a flimsy little thumbnail, a vague notion of some sort of gun control law laying on the senators' desks. What kind of people are we who claim that we care about pro-life?

Just so you know, anyone that's reading this....politicians don't give a f*** about you, they don't give a f*** about me, and they don't give a f***about our children. So, with that cheery thought in mind, have a happy summer, because it will be just a short time before it happens again.

John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp has never shied away from airing his personal political beliefs, but he told us they're best served by incorporating them into his art -- rather than standing on a soapbox during his concerts: "I think that if you're going to challenge people musically it should probably be on a record. Y'know, you don't mind people looking that way at a recording that you've done, and I think they should. But when they take a chance -- and that's the word -- take a chance, that perhaps they're going to pay their money to come and see something, I think that they should be entertained and they should leave saying, 'Jesus Christ, that's the greatest thing I've ever seen!'"

Justin Timberlake has issued an apology for the awkward dance moves he did during a recent performance at Something in the Water festival in Washington, D.C.

In a video on JT's Instagram Story, he said, "D.C., I want to apologize to you for two reasons: here and here. I had a long talk with both of them, individually, and said, 'Don't you ever do that to me again.'"

He added, "Maybe it was the khakis. It was a real khaki vibe."

Timberlake had joined Neptunes producer Pharrell Wiliams on stage and performed some of his biggest songs including "Like I Love You," "Rock Your Body" and "Senorita." He ended his set with "SexyBack."

Paul McCartney's album-closing medley to the Beatles' 1969 swan song, Abbey Road, has been voted his "best song." The new list, tallied by Variety's editors in celebration of "Macca's" recent 80th birthday, features nine out of the Top 10 songs coming from his Beatles years -- but only two of them being hit singles.

Topping the list is 1969's "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End," with 1965's "Yesterday" coming in at Number Two, and the Top Three rounded out by the 1968 "White Album" pot-boiler, "Helter Skelter."

To view the full Variety list of "Paul McCartney's 80 Best Songs," log on to: https://bit.ly/3QQYDm2

Paul McCartney's 10 'Best Songs' according to Variety is:

1. "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" - 1969
2. "Yesterday" - 1965
3. "Helter Skelter" - 1968
4. "Maybe I'm Amazed" - 1970
5. "Here, There, And Everywhere" - 1966
6. "Blackbird" - 1968
7. "I'm Looking Through You" - 1965
8. "Oh! Darling" - 1969
9. "I'm Down" - 1965
10. "For No One" - 1966

"Helter Skelter" was inspired by a review Paul McCartney had read describing the Who's "I Can See For Miles" as being among the loudest and raunchiest recordings ever committed to tape. The 1968 "White Album" classic has become one of the highlights of McCartney's recent tours -- thanks to his band persuading him to finally include in their setlists. McCartney recalled the Beatles' legendary 1968 session for the track: "We just tried to get it louder -- "Guitars -- can we have 'em sound louder! The drums louder!' And that was really all that I wanted to do, make a very loud raunchy rock n' roll record with the Beatles -- which it is. We did it so long and so often, that on the end of it Ringo (Starr) did have blisters."

Rumor has it that Olivia Rodrigo and music executive Zack Bia are dating.

According to People, a source said the two have been an item since the Super Bowl back in February.

Before reports of Rodrigo dating Bia, the singer was with music-video-producer Adam Faze. However, back in February, a source told People, "They've been over for a bit now."

On the other hand, Bia was on-and-off with singer Madison Beer in a relationship that ended in 2019. He was also recently linked to Outer Banks star Madelyn Cline.

Billie Eilish used a body double during a recent Coachella performance.

During an interview with Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music 1, the pop star shared that she recently pulled the wool over her fans' eyes.

She explained, "The beginning of Coachella, I had a body double, one of my dancers for the show. I dressed her up in a show look that I had worn before. We got a black wig and we put buns in it and we gave her a mask and sunglasses and she wore my shoes and my socks."

Billie continued, "I put her up at the back of the stage and she stood there while the lights went on and everybody thought it was me. And nobody ever knew it wasn't me, literally nobody knew. And while she's up there, I put on a big black coat and a traffic vest and a hood and just glasses."

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are settling into their lives as newlyweds.

A source close to Sam told E! News, "Britney and Sam have been soaking up their time together as newlyweds and have been relaxing since the wedding. They are planning a honeymoon in a month once Sam's press tour is done and they want to go to Hawaii or somewhere international."

The insider added, "Britney is feeling very fearless and is in total bliss since marrying Sam. She is so happy and feels like she is a new woman now."

Ed Sheeran has been awarded over $1.1 million in legal fees following his "Shape of You" copyright case.

According to Rolling Stone, Sheeran won the copyright battle in England for his 2017 single "Shape of You" back in April. A judge ruled that Sheeran and his co-defendants, songwriters Steven McCutcheon and Johnny McDaid, did not plagiarized Sami Chokri's 2015 song "Oh Why."

A different judge will oversee and assess the costs and damages that need to be paid. The judge could also decide to dismiss costs and damages, which would lower how much Chokri and O'Donoghue owe.

According to RS, Ed Sheeran said in a video statement via Twitter, "While we're obviously happy with the result, I feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court. Even if there's no base for the claim. It's really damaging to the songwriting industry. There's only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music. Coincidence is bound to happen if 60,000 songs are being released every day on Spotify."

He continued, "I don't want to take anything away from the pain and hurt suffered by both sides of this case, but I just want to say that I'm not an entity. I'm not a corporation. I'm a human being. I'm a father. I'm a husband. I'm a son. Lawsuits are not a pleasant experience and I hope with this ruling it means in the future baseless claims like this can be avoided."

A Korean Singers Association chairwoman has made a request for BTS to reconsider their "indefinite" break from group activities to focus on solo work and their fans are reacting.

Lee Jayeon, the chairwoman, said, "Since it's not easy to expect next BTS or Beatles, I'm afraid that the Hallyu flow would be cut. I know it's a decision made after a lot of consideration, but I do wish they would reconsider. If BTS disappears, then the Hallyu missionaries ARMY also disappear."

Despite Jayeon's statement, no members of BTS have taken steps towards quitting music or any other career endeavors.

One fan said, "Respect BTS as humans and artists. If u care so much about the economy, find sustainable long term solutions for industries to thrive, not rely on 7 people to carry the weight of your nation."

Another fan wrote, "Let them rest. Let them take a break. Let them pursue anything they want. Let them grow as artists. They don't owe you anything. Took you a while to realize that the industry will be nothing without them. Now go cry somewhere else."

Fan are raving about the Beach Boys' newly released deluxe and expanded release of its 2003 Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys collection. The set -- which originally peaked at Number 16 on the Billboard 200 and has sold nearly 4.4 million copies to date -- has now been expanded to include two additional discs boasting 50 additional tracks -- many of which have been completely remixed and/or featured in stereo mixes for the first time.

During a new chat with Mojo magazine, frontman Mike Love shed light on his iconic songwriting partnership with cousin Brian Wilson, which gave the world such legendary songs as "Good Vibrations," "Surfin' Safari," "I Get Around," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Help Me, Rhonda," "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)," "Dance, Dance, Dance," and "California Girls," among so many more.

Love explained the songwriting team's key strengths: "Brian is amazingly adept at chord progressions and coming up with harmonies and so on. I was pretty quick on the lyrical side, and the hooks. So, we were just a very good partnership at that time. Whether it'd be 'Fun, Fun, Fun' or 'I Get Around,' or 'Help Me, Rhonda,' or any of those hits at that time that we co-wrote, it was literally I would sit next to him at the piano. And we would work out both the musical and the lyrical components, which complemented the musical mood that was going on at the time."

He went on to say that the Beach Boys' power was sounding recognizable -- but never treading water creatively: "One of the things about the Beach Boys was there was a strength to being different and unique. Y'know, with the different lead singers, or a different subject matter, or a different mood or tempo. Brian, he's a Gemini, right? Multiple interests. 'The Little Girl I Once Knew' was a lot different from 'California Girls,' but for better or for worse, that experimentation and that variation came into play. And I think it has something to do with our longevity."

Although over the years Brian Wilson teamed up with other lyricists, Mike Love explained to us why he and his cousin were always able to connect, lock in to a great idea, and run with it: "I mean, we were born in the same family, grew up together, loved the same music, learned Four Freshman arrangements, sang Everly Brothers in three and four-part harmony, did all the doo wop stuff you ever wanted to do -- so, we have so much in common musically -- and as cousins -- and compliment each other so well."

The Beach Boys -- featuring Mike Love & Bruce Johnston -- perform tonight (June 23rd) in Margate, England at Dreamland. The group's next North American date is set for July 28th in Calgary at the Grey Eagle Resort & Casino.

Brian Wilson with Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin are on the road with Chicago and next play tomorrow (June 24th) Dallas' Dos Equis Pavilion.

Today (June 23rd) marks what would have been original Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe's 82nd birthday. Sutcliffe left the group in the summer of 1961 to continue art college in Hamburg, Germany. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 10th, 1962 at the age of 21, with most sources attributing his death to a blow to the head which he received after a post-show run-in with local Liverpool thugs -- not John Lennon as has been often been incorrectly reported. In the months leading up to his death, Sutcliffe, whose brain was literally swelling against his skull, would fall into incredible fits of rage due to the pain, and was often rendered blind by the agonizing attacks.

Sutcliffe, an award-winning painter was John Lennon's best friend and classmate at the Liverpool College of Art. It was with the prize money he earned from the sale of his work that Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison -- then still known as alternately as the Quarrymen and/or Johnny & The Moondogs -- convinced Sutcliffe to purchase a sunburst Hofner President 500/5 model bass guitar. According to numerous sources, it was Sutcliffe who named the band, "The Beatals" -- spelled with two "a's." Paul McCartney recalled Stuart Sutcliffe joining the group in the spring of 1960: "Stuart was John's friend, mainly, from art college. Stuart was a very good painter. We were all slightly jealous of John's friendship -- John being a little bit older, certainly than me, certainly than George -- you wanted to sit next to him on a bus and stuff. Like, he's the older fella, y'know -- it's just the way it was. So, when Stuart came in, he was taking a little of that position away from us. We, sort of, had to take a little bit of a backseat."

Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Lennon, went to art school with Lennon and Sutcliffe and shortly before her 2015 death, told us that their personalities balanced each other out perfectly: "What John gave Stu was the ability to laugh at himself and have humor, because he was such a serious student. And what Stuart gave John was a kind of. . . he was inspirational. I mean, John had no faith in his abilities to do anything serious -- or complete anything. And Stuart was constantly supporting him."

She said that even while still in her teens, she was able to recognize Sutcliffe's brilliance as a painter: "Stuart was special. He was in art college with us. He was the most brilliant student. He was awesome, the stuff that he did. And he was a gentle, gentle young man."

Sutcliffe, who was only a member of the Beatles for 15 months -- from May 1960 to August 1961 -- toured with the band in Scotland for their first out-of-town dates and was part of their legendary and historic Hamburg residency.

Although barely competent on the bass guitar when he first joined the group, Sutcliffe reportedly became a good enough bassist that he had offers to join other Liverpool groups after leaving the Beatles.

Sutcliffe's lone solo spot in the Beatles' stage act was a cover of Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender." His bass work with the Beatles is featured on several tracks on the group's 1995 Beatles Anthology 1. Paul McCartney became the band's bassist after Sutcliffe's departure and his original Hofner bass is now in the possession of his and the Beatles' close friend and collaborator, Klaus Voormann.

Howie Edelson the co-host of the cutting edge hit Beatles podcast Fabcast, recently devoted an entire episode to the band's Hamburg era. In the show, titled "Leather," he explained how the group's pre-fame Hamburg recordings were shaped by the band's live work in Germany: "Y'know, they're so tight. Even with a lousy drummer, they're still so tight, and their harmonies -- that's the thing also; they knew how to work a mic. The way they moved their bodies around a mic. They knew how to do this thing from hours and hours and hours on stage. Work -- standing up -- work! They're 19-years-old, 20-years-old; no nights off -- 'we're on tonight, this is what we're doing with our lives' -- everybody else was working in a factory and then going to a bar."

Original Beatles drummer Pete Best along with John Lennon and Paul McCartney had flown to Hamburg on April 13th, 1962 -- just three days after Stuart's death. Expecting to find Stuart and his fiancee, photographer, Astrid Kirchherr at the airport to greet them they were devastated to learn from Astrid that Stuart was in fact dead. Pete Best recalled the emotional scene: "Very upsetting -- that's the only way I can put it. I don't wanna dwell on (or) try to describe the scene or. . . It upset John tremendously, and Paul and I were also deeply upset by, y'know, the tragedy, which had befallen Stuart."

Astrid Kirchherr died of cancer on May 12th, 2020 only days before her 82nd birthday.

Pauline Sutcliffe, Stuart's younger sister, died on October 13th, 2019 at age 75.

It was 50 years ago tonight (June 23rd, 1972) that Smokey Robinson performed his final show with the Miracles. The concert, which later was reissued on CD as part of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The LIVE! Collection, took place at Washington D.C.'s outdoor Carter Barron Amphitheatre. Joining the Miracles for their set was the group's co-founder, and Smokey's then-wife, Claudette Robinson, who had left the road in the mid-'60s to raise a family.

Highlights of the show included the group's hits "The Tears Of A Clown," "Shop Around," and "More Love," and covers of the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," Dion's "Abraham, Martin & John," and Michael Jackson's then-current hit "Got To Be There."

Toward the end of the concert, Smokey introduced his replacement, Billy Griffin, as the new lead singer for the Miracles. With Griffin, the Miracles went on to score a Number One hit in 1976 with "Love Machine (Part 1)."

Smokey Robinson says that performing live is a completely different experience to being holed up in a recording studio for months on end: "Yeah, it's a different thing, but I enjoy performing. That's probably my favorite part of this. Because I get a chance to see and be with the fans, and react to them and have them react to us one-on-one. And that's my favorite thing."

Ozzy Osbourne has posted a teaser online for his new single, "Patient Number 9," which features Jeff Beck and drops on Friday (June 24th). Blabbermouth reported, "Legendary artist and comic book creator Todd McFarlane is also tagged in the post, suggesting that McFarlane animated the song's accompanying music video."

There been no word on the still-unnamed album's release date, although it's expected to be released in September.

Ozzy Osbourne recently battled not only Covid but is recuperating from "life-altering" surgery that involved removing and realigning pins in his neck and back. He told us a while back that he appreciates being alive and sober more than ever: "We all take life for granted, y'know, and nobody wants to talk about the fact that any of us could go to bed one night and never wake up again. We just take life for granted. I was under the influence of one chemical or another for so long that the joy of just coming around, waking up now without a hangover is great, y'know."

SELENA GOMEZ REVEALS REGRET OVER ALBUM COVER: Selena Gomez has revealed the regret she's faced over her 2015 album cover, Revival. During the Hollywood Reporter's Comedy Actress Roundtable, comedian Amy Schumer spoke on how Selena was sexualized at a young age. The singer, "I felt like it was very difficult for people to take me seriously. I have slowly pushed through that, and I'm really glad, but it was very frustrating. I felt like a joke, you know? I actually did an album cover and I was really ashamed after I did it. It was a choice that I wasn't necessarily happy that I made but I think I've done my best at least. I've tried to be myself." She continued, "I'm not an overly sexual person, sometimes I like to feel sexy but that doesn't mean it's for somebody else, it's for me." Gomez added, "I took control of the narrative of my life once I started becoming older because, growing up, I didn't really have a choice. Now I understand that there are certain boundaries that I need to set for myself, and I respect and adore so many people, but I've got to do what's best for me."

MEGAN TRAINOR IS IN MOM-MODE FOR NEW ALBUM: Meghan Trainor is embracing motherhood in her new album, Takin It Back, which comes out on October 21st. According to Rolling Stone, Meghan said, "She's a motha! I feel like my songwriting is much better since I had a C-section." She welcomed her son Riley with actor Daryl Sabara in 2021. Takin It Back will be Meghan Trainor's first album since 2020.

Olivia Rodrigo is reportedly dating 26-year-old music executive, Zack Bia.

A source told People, "They've been dating since the Super Bowl. They really like each other."

The 19-year-old singer was previously linked to music video producer Adam Faze.

Coming to Epix on August 7th is the four-part docuseries, My Life As A Rolling Stone. The specials, produced in conjunction with the band in celebration of its 60th anniversary, will feature an hour-long look each on Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, and the late-Charlie Watts. Neither former members Bill Wyman nor Mick Taylor will be given their own spotlight docs.

Rolling Stone reported the shows' co-directors -- Oliver Murray and Clare Travenor -- are no strangers in covering rock's original bad boys with Murray directing the 2019 doc on co-founding bassist Bill Wyman, The Quiet One, and Travenor behind the camera for TV special based around Keith Richards' memoir, Life.

Back in April, when the British rights for the series were picked up by the BBC, The Guardian reported the films would feature, "unseen footage and exclusive stories from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood interwoven with new and archive interviews and performance,'while the Watts film is told through his bandmates and peers. Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Steven Tyler, Chrissie Hynde, Slash, and PP Arnold are among those who have contributed to the films."

Although the Rolling Stones have always been dealing with the shadow of their early days -- Mick Jagger explained that for the most part, they remain one of the lucky bands not lumped in with any particular era or decade: "I find it fascinating when I hear other people talking about it and other groups copying certain periods. I don't find it, very, kind of, interesting to look back too much. You can't ignore what you were, but I think to kind of take that stuff too seriously. . . I'm glad that the Stones aren't labeled a ''60's band' -- and I find increasingly that they're not. They're just not completely tracked in there. That's taken quite a lot of effort."

Keith Richards said that more often than not over the years, he's been the one to lead the charge when it comes to the studio: "I always am for that, because, y'know, the guitars and drums -- I have to play and I have to get them to play, y'know? So that Mick has something (laughs) decent to sing to. I mean, I am the winder-upper in that respect, yeah."

The Rolling Stones next play on June 25th at London's Hyde Park.

Billy Joel will head Down Under for one night only on December 10th to play Melbourne, Australia's Melbourne Cricket Ground. Tickets to the show, which marks Billy's performance in Melbourne in 14 years, will go on sale Monday, July 4th (10 a.m. AEST) via frontiertouring.com/billyjoel.

According to the announcement, "Performing one Australian show only in Melbourne's most iconic stadium, the concert is presented in partnership with 'Always Live,' a state-wide celebration of contemporary live music supported by the Victorian Government through Visit Victoria."

Billy Joel said in a statement rolling out the December Melbourne gig:

I'm happy to announce that I'm finally coming to Australia to do one exclusive show at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as part of 'Always Live.' It's been a really long time since I've been there, I'm really looking forward to coming and I'm bringing the whole family and we're going to enjoy it. I'll see you there.

Billy Joel told us he was barely in his teens when he realized the power that his musical talent held: "There's a wizardry to it, there's kind of a sorcery to the manipulation of sound. I mean, I was just a little guy; I wasn't a real social butterfly. I'd be at somebody's house and I'd kind of wander over and play the piano and it enchanted other people. And when I came of age and started liking girls, I realized, this is better than a sports car (laughs), y'know? I play the piano and I'd look up and there's a girl, I play a little more, there's another girl; I said, 'This is great.' I recognized the power that's inherent in music."

UPDATED: Billy Joel tour dates (subject to change):

June 25 - Notre Dame, IN - Notre Dame Stadium
July 9 - Detroit, MI - Comerica Park
July 20 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
August 11 - Pittsburgh, PA - Concert At PNC Park
August 24 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
September 9 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
September 23 - Houston, TX - Minute Maid Park
October 9 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
November 23 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
December 10 - Melbourne, Australia - Melbourne Cricket Ground