Pulse Music

It was 59 years ago today (June 7th) that the Rolling Stones released their debut single -- a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On" backed with Muddy Waters' Willie Dixon-written "I Want To Be Loved." Both tracks were recorded on May 10th, 1963 at London's Olympic Studios, produced by managers Andrew Loog Oldham and Eric Easton and engineered by Roger Savage.

"Come On" featured Mick Jagger on lead vocals, Keith Richards on guitar, Brian Jones on harmonica and backing vocals, Bill Wyman on bass and backing vocals, and Charlie Watts on drums. The song was a moderate hit, peaking at Number 21 on the British charts, and was played intermittently through 1965.

On June 6th, 2013 -- 50 years since recording the Chuck Berry obscurity, while performing on their "50 & Counting Tour" Mick Jagger tossed off a few lines of the song with the late-Charlie Watts tapping along a bit of rhythm after Jagger announced it was the song's golden anniversary.

Early fan Jimmy Page shed some light on the talents of the pure blues, pre-Rolling Stones Brian Jones: "Well, I first saw Brian Jones play in, I think it was the Railway Arms in Ealing, or Ealing Jazz Club. But I remember taking a sort of pilgrimage over there to see Alexis Korner's blues band, and (Brian) got up and played bottleneck (guitar) and he played some Elmore James, and I thought, 'Wow.' 'Cause I was listening to all of that stuff -- as were, y'know, what were a real serious minority of guitarists that were listening to this sort of stuff. And then I found out that he could play harp afterwards, as well, and he was playing pretty good harmonica. And bit by bit it unfolded into what a wonderful musician he was. I mean, he was a really fine musician."

Not too long ago, the sorely missed Charlie Watts explained that it never crossed his mind that the Rolling Stones would ever make it -- let along become rock's longest lasting rock bands: "No, every band I'd ever been in lasted a week. I mean, you only lasted as long as the guy in the club, or whatever, would book you for. So, y'know, if they didn't like you, y'know, it was two gigs and that was it. So I always thought it's gonna last a week, then a fortnight, and suddenly it's 30 years."

JOE JONAS REPORTEDLY CHANGES LYRICS ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT: Joe Jonas has reportedly changed up some song lyrics that were once meant to shade ex-girlfriend, Taylor Swift. The two dated for approximately three months back in 2008 before Jonas dumped the "Cardigan" singer on the phone in 25 seconds. While Swift sang about the breakup in the song, "Forever and Always," fans always suspected that the lyrics "I get a rep for breakin' hearts / Now I'm done with superstars / And all the tears on her guitar / I'm not bitter" from the Jonas Brothers track, "Much Better," were directed at Swift. BuzzFeed reports that on Saturday (June 4th), during the Jonas Brothers residency in Las Vegas, Jonas showed he was "cool" with his ex by singing the updated lyrics, "I get a rep for breakin' hearts / Now I'm done with superstars / And all the tears on her guitar / I'm not bitter."

NICK JONAS INJURED PLAYING SOFTBALL: Nick Jonas was injured while playing softball Sunday (June 5th). According to Page Six, the Jonas Brothers singer was several innings into the game when he appeared to get hit in the groin with the ball. According to the outlet, Nick was taken to the emergency room by his brother, Kevin Jonas, after he nearly collapsed onto the field.

QUEEN

• Queen is planning a September release for a previously unissued track featuring the late-Freddie Mercury. Brian May revealed to BBC Radio 2 that the song came from the sessions for 1989's The Miracle: "It was kind of hiding in plain sight. We looked at it many times and thought, 'Oh no, we can't really rescue that.' But in fact, we went in there again and our wonderful engineering team went, 'OK, we can do this and this.' It's like kind of stitching bits together. But it's beautiful, it's touching." (Rolling Stone)
  

THE DOOBIE BROTHERS

• The Doobie Brothers have been forced to reschedule five shows after members of their touring party contracted Covid. The band issued a statement saying, "We want to apologize to our fans. Several members of the Doobies touring party came down with Covid and we had no choice but to reschedule the below dates. We look forward to seeing you all very soon." (American Songwriter)
• The already rescheduled dates are: Alpharetta, Georgia -- July 17th; Jacksonville, Florida -- July 18th; Tampa, Florida -- July 20th; West Palm Beach, Florida -- July 21th; and Charlotte, North Carolina -- July 25th.
  

LOU REED

• A pair of new archival releases from Lou Reed will be released on August 26th. In celebration of what would've been the songwriter's 80th birthday, the collection, Words & Music, May 1965, will be the first set issued as part of the "Lou Reed Archive Series." On Thursday (June 9th) a new exhibit chronicling Reed's life and career opens at The New York Public Library, titled Lou Reed: Caught Between The Twisted Stars.
• The new set will be available in a variety of formats, including LP, cassette, 8-track, digital, and CD. The editions include a deluxe 45-RPM double LP version limited to 7,500 copies worldwide and includes a bonus 7-inch released of 1958 demos made by Reed while in high school. (Variety)

The deluxe tracklisting to Words & Music, May 1965 is:

"I'm Waiting For The Man" (May 1965 Demo)
"Men Of Good Fortune" (May 1965 Demo)
"Heroin" (May 1965 Demo)
"Too Late" (May 1965 Demo)
"Buttercup Song" (May 1965 Demo)
"Walk Alone" (May 1965 Demo)
"Buzz Buzz Buzz" (May 1965 Demo)
"Pale Blue Eyes" (May 1965 Demo)
"Stockpile" (May 1965 Demo)
"Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams" (May 1965 Demo)
"I'm Waiting For The Man" (May 1965 Alternate Version)

7-inch
"Gee Whiz" (1958 Rehearsal)
"Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" (1963/64 Home Recording)
"Michael, Row The Boat Ashore" (1963/64 Home Recording)
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" (Partial) (1963/64 Home Recording)
"W & X, Y, Z Blues" (1963/64 Home Recording)
"Lou's 12-Bar Instrumental" (1963/64 Home Recording)

DAVID BOWIE

• Todd Rundgren and guitarist Adrian Belew will lead this fall's Celebrating David Bowie tour. NME reported the pair will be joined by "Spacehog's Royston Langdon, Fishbone's Angelo Moore and Jeffrey Gaines on the 15-date tour to pay tribute to the late, influential British musician."
• Also on board are bassist Angeline Saris, drummer Michael Urbano, saxophonist Ron Dziubla, and guitarist Angelo "Scrote" Bundini, who put together the first Celebrating David Bowie tour back in 2017. Bundini is producing the tour alongside former Police manager, Miles Copeland." (NME)

JUST ANNOUNCED: "Celebrating David Bowie" tour dates (subject to change):

October 6 - San Diego, CA - Balboa Theatre
October 7 - Beverly Hills, CA - Saban Theatre
October 8 - San Jose, CA - San Jose Civic
October 9 - Anaheim, CA - City National Grove
October 13 - Prior Lake, MN - Mystic Lake Showroom
October 17 - Quebec City, QC - Le Capitole
October 18 - Montreal, QC - Olympia
October 31 - Annapolis, MD - Rams Head On Stage
November 3 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern
November 5 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
November 7 - Nashville, TN - Schermerhorn Symphony Center
November 10 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
November 11 - Albuquerque, NM - Kiva Auditorium
November 12 - Tucson, AZ - TCC Music Hall
November 13 - Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theatre

Happy Birthday to Tom Jones, who turns 82 today (June 7th)!!! Out now is Jones' 41st studio album, Surrounded By Time. The collection once again pairs the Welsh legend with producer Ethan Johns -- son of legendary Eric Clapton and Who producer Glyn Johns. The collection features Jones covering Bob Dylan's "One More Cup Of Coffee" and Cat Stevens' "Popstar."

A new song on the album, titled, "Talking Reality Television Blues," is directly based on Donald Trump.

Back on April 10th, 2016, Tom Jones' wife of 59 years, 75-year-old Linda Woodward, died in Los Angeles after a "short but fierce battle with cancer." Although unconfirmed, Jones has recently been linked with his old friend Elvis Presley's ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, despite representatives denying any romance.

Tom Jones first sprang on the charts with the 1965 Top 10 smash "It's Not Unusual," which led to his Best New Artist Grammy for that year. He went on to score hits with "What's New Pussycat?," "Thunderball," "Green, Green, Grass Of Home," "Delilah," "Help Yourself," "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," "Love Me Tonight," "Without Love (There Is Nothing)," and "She's A Lady," among others.

Tom Jones' 2015 studio set, Long Lost Suitcase, featured covers of the Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet classic "Factory Girl," Hank Williams' "Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used To Do?," and the folk standard, "He Was A Friend Of Mine."

In 2012, Jones teamed up with Ethan Johns to record Spirit In The Room, which features his covers of Paul McCartney's "(I Want To) Come Home," Bob Dylan's "When The Deal Goes Down," Paul Simon's "Love And Blessings," Tom Waits' "Bad As Me," and Kenny Rogers & The First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)."

In 2010 Jones and Johns first teamed up for Praise And Blame, which featured covers of Dylan's "What Good Am I" and John Lee Hooker's "Burning Hell."

Tom Jones says that unlike many other of his peers from the 1960's, he's always looked at his job as being strictly an entertainer: "I've always wanted to entertain people. I don't think you should remind people about the worries of their life. I mean, they could laugh or they could cry. Some of the songs are very sort of tender but that's about it. That's about what I try to do. I try to make people feel, y'know, feel good and to get them away from everyday life."

Jones credited his son and current manager Mark Woodward for saving him from becoming a Las Vegas caricature: "People are not taking you seriously. You are becoming a caricature of yourself. So that's. . . he made me aware of that. So I don't wear, y'know, my pants are not as tight anymore and I don't open my shirt as far and I don't pick up the underwear. Occasionally I do."

Tom Jones' career took on a whole new turn with his 1990 collaboration with Art Of Noise with their cover of Prince's "Kiss": "When I heard 'Kiss,' I thought, y'know, that's, like, it in a nutshell right there. Y'know, he's put 'you don't have to be this to turn me on, you don'y have to do. . . so all I want is your touch and your (sings riff) -- Kiss.' Y'know, I mean, it's like there's certain. . . It's ways of writing songs about certain things, but they have to have something that perks me up. Y'know, that says something to me. But the way -- y'know, the way that it's written, that's the thing."

Over the past 25 years or so, Tom Jones has shed most of his pop sensibilities and evolved into a dyed in the wool blues singer. We asked him if he made a choice of recording solely age-appropriate music: "Yes, it's to do with age -- there's no getting away from it. I've always sang it in the best way I know how. I put myself into it."

Tom Jones next performs on June 11th in Cork, Ireland at The Marquee.

Lizzo is responding to the interview Liam Payne did last week where the One Direction singer essentially told Logan Paul that he was the star of the group that also featured Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomilson and Zayn Malik.

Lizzo took to TikTok Friday (June 3rd) to address the issue, saying, "I don't know who lied to that poor boy, but he was not the frontman."

The rapper recently threw her support behind Styles' new album, Harry's House, saying on IG live that the singer, "put his whole harussy into that album. I love his new album."

You'll be hearing Harry Styles on a new ad for Apple AirPods. The soundtrack for the commercial is "Music for a Sushi Restaurant."

According to Billboard, the jazzy track from his new album, Harry's House sounds like a throwback to some of the classic 2003 Apple Silhouettes ads.

In the new commercial, Styles is scatting along as his color-blocked body cycles through a variety of eye-popping hues.

In case you're wondering how much he got paid to promote Apple… He requested that his artist fee be donated to the International Rescue Committee. An organization that responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

TL;DR:

• Harry Styles is featured on a new ad for Apple AirPods.
• The soundtrack for the commercial is "Music for a Sushi Restaurant."
• He donated his artist fee to International Rescue Committee.

Ringo Starr was on hand at Boston's Berklee College of Music on Thursday (June 2nd) to accept an honorary doctorate from the prestigious institution. Marca.com reported the students played a selection of Ringo's hits during the ceremony, before opening remarks by All Starr Band drummer Gregg Bissonette and Berklee President Erica Muhl.

Ringo spoke about being ill as a child in the hospital, when a drum was brought in for him to play while convalescing. He explained, "I just wanted to be a drummer from that moment on. It was my big dream and it's still unfolding. I get to play with great guys, like the band here. It's just a great life I lead."

Legendary producer Don Was, who first worked with Ringo during the sessions for the former-Beatle's 1992 Time Takes Time collection, told us that he always jumps at the chance to play with Ringo: "As a musician, when you finally get to play music with him, it's one of the most distinctive feels, y'know? His feel is just, it's such a unique fingerprint of where to lay the beat and where to play it. And, like, in the first few minutes of the first few songs, I thought, 'Oh man! You couldn't have had those Beatles records without this guy.' There's a musical personality that's so strong. I think he's one of the great rock n' roll drummers of all time."

Ringo told us that his ultimate goal has always to be a working drummer playing with top musicians: "It's playing with a band, always has been with me. Playing drums, playing with good players, playing to an audience -- it's still the best. There's certain nights when, where the band are all together, and the audience are all together, it's such an uplifting situation. That's the drug of it all -- y'know, it's like you just sail away. It's great."

Camila Cabello and Vevo have released another song in the series, Official Live Performance featuring Yotuel. The song, "Lola" is from her new album, Familia and represents the final video in the series that follows "Bam Bam," "Boys Don't Cry," and "No Doubt."

In the new video, Cabello and Yotuel are in the middle of a valley, surrounded by rolling hills at dusk. Both dressed in all white on a round, white stage.

Cabello worked closely with Vevo's team to create a custom series of original content. Her intent was to focus on joy, movement, and freedom.

TL;DR:

• Camila Cabello and Vevo have released another song in the series, Official Live Performance featuring Yotuel.
• The song, "Lola" is from her new album, Familia.

Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott says the band still believes in the art of the long form, full-album format. Blabbermouth reported that Elliott spoke in depth about the band in the current issue of Rock Candy magazine and explained why creating full-length LP's still works for the band and its fans: "When we got together in 2014 we noticed a trend of people releasing one song a month. They might bang them all together on an album two years later. Other people were just doing EP's."

Elliott went on to explain, "Maybe for a younger generation, an album isn't important, because they didn't grow up when it was. But we did. We grew up in the era of (The Rise And Fall Of) Ziggy Stardust (And The Spiders From Mars), (The) Dark Side Of The Moon, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road -- the greatest double album of all time, in my humble opinion. That's where we come from. You can't unscramble an egg. We invested in laying on the bed and looking at the sleeve, reading every word."

Joe Elliott, who's thrilled with the reaction Leppard's new album Diamond Star Halos has received, remains realistic about presenting new music in concert: "I don't think many legacy artists perform new music. We do. We play new stuff, but it's horses for courses. Leppard fans want 'Photograph.' They want 'Pour Some Sugar. . .' Only a fool goes, 'I'm gonna play you my entire new album.' Anyone who goes, 'Here are 12 songs from my new album' is going to clear the dance floor. Don't batter people with the new s***. If it's good enough, let it become part of the set further down the road."

We caught up with Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen who's celebrating his 40th year as an integral part of the Rock Hall inductees: "It just flies by. I know more than I did the day before and we, we kind of take that approach with the band. It's like, y'know, I honestly think so many artists and bands don't reach their full potential, 'cause they actually give up before that happens. And I think will all that experience and everything that we've had in 40-odd-years, if you can apply that moving forward, then you're way ahead of the game than anyone else because they never get to reach that magical period."

Jack Harlow and Kentucky Fried Chicken just launched an ad campaign for the Jack Harlow Meal. It's a combo of Spicy Chicken Sandwich, Mac & Cheese, Fries, and a lemonade, all served in custom Jack Harlow packaging. Harlow recently spent time at KFC's Louisville, Kentucky headquarters tasting the entire menu to hand pick his meal.

In other Jack Harlow news… The Louisville, Kentucky native released a video this week for the song, "Churchill Downs," featuring Drake. It was shot during the Kentucky Derby last month. The song is from Harlow's album, Come Home The Kids Miss You.

TL;DR:

• Jack Harlow and KFC just launched an ad campaign for the Jack Harlow Meal. It's a combo of Spicy Chicken Sandwich, Mac & Cheese, Fries, and a lemonade.
• He released a video this week for the song, "Churchill Downs," featuring Drake.

Paul McCartney's Glastonbury Festival performance on June 25th will be broadcast by the BBC One. Musicweek.com reported that the "Beeb" will also televise sets by Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, and Diana Ross, who'll perform in the "Legends" slot.

McCartney's 2020 Glastonbury spot was scrapped due to Covid. The former-Beatle first headlined the festival back in 2004.

The core of Paul McCartney's current band -- guitarist Rusty Anderson and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. -- began playing with McCartney back in 2001 in Los Angeles and now hold the distinction of being the longest and most stable lineup of any of his bands: "I worked with those two guys during the Driving Rain album and loved working with them. We did a couple of little things and then we did the Super Bowl with Brian (Ray), who was sort of our final member -- and Wix, who's from my old band. And it just seemed a good little group of people. Y'know, the attitude seemed great, y'know, we all seemed to like each other -- which is always a little bit of a plus. It just felt very good. So, we got into rehearsal, and it just started from there. And the tour just built and built, and now we consider ourselves not a bad little band."

It was 40 years ago Saturday (June 4th, 1982) that Genesis released its double-album concert collection, Three Sides Live. The album, which was primarily recorded the previous year during the band's tour in support of its MTV breakthrough Abacab collection, was the group's third live set, following 1973's Genesis Live, and 1977's Seconds Out.

Three Sides Live, which hit Number 10 in the U.S. was the band's second Top 10 hit in the states and peaked at Number Two in the UK. An accompanying video version of the album with a slightly alternate tracklisting was an early-MTV concert staple. The U.S. version of the album featured the fourth side comprised of the band's 1982 British EP 3×3 along with a pair of B-sides from their 1980 Duke album, with the overseas edition of the set featuring a trio of live tracks recorded live between 1976 and 1980.

Highlights on Three Sides Live included such recent Genesis favorites as "Turn It On Again" "Abacab," "Behind The Lines," "Misunderstanding," "Follow You Follow Me," and "Afterglow" -- along with a nearly 12 minute dip into the early-'70s Peter Gabriel-era with the "In the Cage," medley, which featured portions from both "The Cinema Show" and "The Colony Of Slippermen."

Back in '82 Phil Collins spoke about being a full time fromtman and only an occasion drummer during the Genesis live shows: "Well, I realize that I am a singer now -- whether I like it or not. But really, I still think of myself as a drummer. I still think that if I've got any magic, it's as a drummer -- not as a singer. That's really where I'm most natural. That's my most natural habitat, (laughs) if you like, It's about a drum kit. Although I do enjoy singing. Apart from the fact that I have to, y'know, right now as talking to you, in the back of my minds is: 'Don't use your voice. Don't use your voice'; because I have to sing. Whereas with drumming, of course, as long as you can stand up straight, you can play."

Kesha has announced that she will star in Conjuring Kesha, a Discovery+ show about exploring the supernatural and paranormal. She'll also have celebrity guests and says that - to her, the supernatural comes naturally.

She posted about it on Twitter and wrote, "This is literally the most insane thing I've ever experienced and I've experienced a lot of insanity this life time. Join me on the adventure! We cry! We laugh. We wonder if we're already dead! Are we aliens?!"

She hosts a weekly podcast with a similar theme.

Conjuring Kesha consists of six, one-hour episodes and will begin airing on July 8, on Discovery+.

TL;DR:

• Kesha will host Conjuring Kesha, a Discovery+ show about exploring the supernatural and paranormal.
• "This is literally the most insane thing I've ever experienced and I've experienced a lot of insanity in this life time."
• Six, one-hour episodes beginning July 8

The Strokes canceled another show due to Covid. On Thursday (June 2), the band issued a statement via Instagram Story, telling fans that they are unable to perform their headlining set for tonight's (June 3) Primavera Sound Festival because of Covid.

They wrote: "The band is committed to returning full force in Stockholm and playing next weekend in Barcelona. We deeply apologize."

The Festival made a statement to fans to let them know they tried everything to make it work. Saying that they had been concerned since the band's cancellation of their Boston concert on May 28. The band is already in Barcelona, with the exception of one of its members, who can't travel due to health reasons.

Other than the Boston show, The Strokes also had to cancel their New Year's Eve concert in Brooklyn due to covid.

Caribou will be taking The Strokes' place in the festival lineup, while Mogwai will take Caribou's original slot.

TL;DR:

It was 39 years ago today (June 3rd, 1983) that Derek & The Dominos drummer Jim Gordon brutally murdered his mother. Gordon, who was officially diagnosed with schizophrenia while on trial for bludgeoning his mother with a hammer and stabbing her to death, is still regarded as one of rock's greatest drummers. But Gordon is probably best known for writing the ending piano theme to the Eric Clapton's 1970 Derek & The Dominos masterpiece "Layla." In recent years Dominos keyboardist Bobby Whitlock revealed that Gordon actually did not write the piano them to "Layla," insisting that Gordon stole the melody from his then-girlfriend, singer Rita Coolidge.

Gordon was sentenced to 16-years-to life in prison, and has served his sentence at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, Atascadero State Hospital in Atascadero, and the State Medical Corrections Facility in Vacaville. Gordon was denied parole until at least 2018 when he was denied release for the first time. A California parole board panel deemed the then-67-year-old Gordon "a danger to society if released from prison" and citing "his resistance to court-ordered medication and counseling." Rolling Stone reported Los Angeles County deputy district attorney Alexis de la Garza told the panel that Gordon is ". . . medically and psychologically non-compliant. This is one of the saddest cases that we have in prison. We have an individual who is seriously psychologically incapacitated, and he is a danger when he is not taking his medication."

Beginning with a 1963 stint drumming for the Everly Brothers, Gordon's resume literally reads like a who's who of '60s and '70s session work, having played with Barbra Streisand, John Lennon, George Harrison, Taj Mahal, Phil Spector, Jackson Brown, Dr. John, Carole King, the Beach Boys, Delaney & Bonnie, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Johnny Rivers, Minnie Ripperton, Harry Nilsson, Gordon Lightfoot, B.B. King, Randy Newman, Carly Simon, the Monkees, the Carpenters, Linda Ronstadt, Steely Dan, Traffic, Frank Zappa, and many more.

Rita Coolidge, who was briefly romantically involved with Jim Gordon in the early-'70s recalled his violent and dangerous side: "In hindsight, lookin' back, I went, 'Well, he was doin' blow, he was just over the edge' -- because if you're doing excessive amounts of drugs and you have, already, a predisposition or active mental illness, it will be exacerbated by the drugs and alcohol. So, I just figured that's what had happened. I never. . . occurred to me. . . I mean, he had been violent with me for absolutely no reason -- but I didn't know anything about the voices. I don't know if he was hearing voices then. I imagine he probably was. Probably a voice told him to take me out in the hall and punch me out. I never went near him again. I didn't wanna deal with him on any level, because I was afraid of him!"

Legendary Eagles songwriter J.D. Souther, toured with Jim Gordon during the short-lived Souther-Hillman-Furay Band days, and recalled that there were two distinct sides to Jim Gordon in the mid-'70s: "Well, he was becoming unhinged. We didn't exactly know how much, because you couldn't tell that much. He was a social nightmare, but he was great on stage every night. He never messed up. He played these brilliant sets and then one night he passed out in the urinal waiting to go back on for an encore. He was completely unpredictable, but he never played badly."

Souther maintains that although everyone around him was aware of Gordon's issues -- nobody could've predicted what the future held for him: "We knew he was a mess, but nobody knew what kind of a mess. Frankly, he had so many chemicals running around in his body that it was impossible to tell which 'Jim' you were getting at any given moment."

In 1992 Gordon shared the 1992 Grammy for Best Rock Song for Clapton's re-recording of "Layla" from his Unplugged album.

Jim Gordon reportedly plays drums in a prison band.

A Judas Priest concert without leather and studs??? According to Blabbermouth -- that's just what fans got at the band's May 31st European tour kick off at Berlin, Germany's 1,600-capacity Huxleys Neue Welt.

Priest Richie Faulkner guitarist posted a message to fans on social media, which read:

Last night in berlin was glorious and something I've never done with the band before. No leather, no studs. No screens, no motorbike. No massive light show or inflatable Birmingham bull. Exposed speakers, just jeans, t-shirts, a small club and it was all purely about the music. All of us together and the raw power of the music. It was truly a great experience and one I'd love to do again sometime.

It's great when you strip it all back to what it's all about, the music and the people of our great heavy metal community. Thank you all for making it such a special night.

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford told us that an unexplainable transition occurs prior to him hitting the stage, which turns from soft-spoken, mild mannered man offstage to "Metal God" by showtime: "Something happens -- I don't know what it is. It's kind of intangible. It's probably best left unanalyzed, because it might be (laughs) too scary to find out what the hell's going on. I know that something takes over -- that's just the full extent of the passion that I have for my music, and the fact that to some extent, it's always been my therapy."

Justin Bieber seemed to enjoy making his new commercial for the launch of Biebs Brew, a French vanilla coffee brew, for a donut company called Tim Horton's.

The popular donut shop released a playful new commercial featuring Bieber's dedication to the cold brew he co-created.

The clip shows Bieber standing in a dark conference room in front of a large brewing container of coffee. And he tells the Tim Horton's employee that he isn't leaving until the coffee is ready, even though that won't happen until the next day. As he plans to spend the night at Tim Horton's waiting on the first brew, she turns out the lights and leaves him in the dark to wait alone.

This isn't the first time Bieber has come up with a fun collaboration with Tim Hortons. In November, he worked with the company's director of culinary innovation to come up with Timbiebs, AKA… donut holes.

Fans will be able to buy the new Bieber Brew in Canada and the U.S. by June 6^th.

TL;DR:

• Justin launched his new commercial for Biebs Brew, a French vanilla brew, at a donut company called Tim Horton's.
• Fans will be able to buy the new Bieber Brew in Canada and the U.S. by June 6^th.

The Rolling Stones kicked off their European "Stones 60" tour last night (June 1st) in Madrid, Spain, marking the band's first shows of 2022. The big surprise of the night was the band performing the 1966 Aftermath favorite "Out Of Time" for the first time since their fall '66 UK tour.

The 1978 Some Girls classic "Beast Of Burden" was the Internet "fan choice" of the night -- and the band and fans got the chance to sing "Happy Birthday" to guitarist Ron Wood who celebrated his 75th yesterday.

The "Stones 60" tour plays through July 31st in Stockholm, Sweden. The band will also perform open air shows in Germany, England, Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy. There are already industry whispers about upcoming North American dates -- but nothing concrete has been announced.

Mick Jagger told us that in terms of the band's nightly setlist -- just because a song might've cooked during rehearsals, it hardly means that it'll be a hit when introduced onstage: "The thing about when you do running orders, is that it's completely hypothetical. You don't know if this song is going to work -- and you soon do. And you go out and you do it. And if it doesn't work. . . you don't know about songs."

Keith Richards was asked if after all these years he gets nervous just before jumping on stage -- especially playing venues like the massive football stadiums the Stones usually play: "No -- but there is. . . it depends what you mean by nerves. I mean, some people (get) nerves, or butterflies -- no, that don't come into it. But there is at the same time a sense of excitement. You really, gotta, like, fly. Y'know, that's what you try and do, y'know; and I got some fliers in this band."

Ron Wood, who first recorded with the Stones back in 1974 and toured with the band the following year, still remembers what it was like to be one of the band's original legion of early British fans: "Yeah, well, I still look at it from a far, y'know? It's a bit like. . . it's very surreal to be in this unit where you used to run home from school to watch on the telly, going (claps hands): 'I'm gonna be in that band!' -- Y'know, to actually be in that band."

In 1982, Chuck Leavell replaced former-Faces member Ian McLagan to become the Stones' keyboardist for the European leg of the band's tour behind Tattoo You -- a gig he's had since then. Leavell, who also played with Eric Clapton, had previously achieved fame as part of the Allman Brothers Band and his own group, the Allmans off-shoot ensemble, Sea Level.

After playing an identical show night-after-night, for the band's 1989/1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle trek, Leavell told us he pressed the Stones to stretch out and really explore their entire catalogue: "I said, 'Let's dig deep guys' -- and we did. And so I started taking notes. I would do chord charts on early songs that the band had done, or I would take notes -- 'Do we have horns? What were the horn parts? What were the background vocals? Did we change the arrangements for any reasons?' And so, I began to take copious notes during that experience. And so, I, sort of, came to be the 'go-to' guy: 'Hey Chuck, how does the middle-eight go?' 'Hey Chuck, what's the tempo of this?' I keep a lot of that in my head, but I have the notes to refer to. I now have two encyclopedic notebooks that encompasses most, y'know, I would say 90 percent of the work that the band has done."

The Rolling Stones' setlist last night in Madrid:

"Street Fighting Man"
"19th Nervous Breakdown"
"Sad, Sad, Sad"
"Tumbling Dice"
"Out Of Time"
"Beast Of Burden"
"You Can't Always Get What You Want"
"Living In A Ghost Town"
"Honky Tonk Women"
Band intros & "Happy Birthday Ronnie"
"Happy"
"Slipping Away"
"Miss You"
"Midnight Rambler
"Start Me Up"
"Paint It Black"
"Sympathy For The Devil"
"Jumpin' Jack Flash"

Encore
"Gimme Shelter"
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

Billie Eilish and actor Matthew Tyler Vorce have split.

Vorce, 30, confirmed that he and Eilish, 20, had gone their separate ways He also addressed rumors and said he had not cheated on her.

According to Vorce, "Nobody" cheated on anyone. As he put it, "Relationships end. Simple as that."

The two first sparked dating rumors in April of 2021. Vorce, has appeared in horror films such Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? and Little Monsters, as well as several short films.

A representative for Eilish did not comment on the breakup when approached by People.com.

TL;DR:

• Billie Eilish and actor Matthew Tyler Vorce have split.
• According to Vorce, "Nobody" cheated on anyone. As he put it, "Relationships end. Simple as that."
• A representative for Eilish did not comment on the breakup when approached by People.com.

Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx took to social media explaining why the band will not be allowing fans backstage on the upcoming "Stadium Tour" for "meet & greets."

Sixx tweeted to fans, "It's been exhausting trying to explain to people why we can't have guests backstage. Our fans have waited almost 3 years for this tour. If one of us got Covid and had to cancel the show can you imagine the disappointment? We're not here to take f***ing selfies. This is for the fans."

"The Stadium Tour" -- featuring the Crue, co-headliners Def Leppard, along with Poison, and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts -- kicks off on June 16th at Atlanta's SunTrust Park. The 25-city trek will wrap on September 9th at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium.

Nikki Sixx told us that Motley Crue always has one goal whenever it goes onstage: "If we're the greatest we can be, that's exciting, and that's what I believe that Mick (Mars) and Tommy (Lee) and Vince (Neil) all want too. They want to be the greatest rock band that Motley Crue can be. That's why we always try to come up with new, twisted versions of our production, and I think our shows are so potent and, I think, contagious. It's fun and it's horrifying all at the same time."

Train has released a new video for their single, "Cleopatra."

The ‘70s-inspired clip, features a vintage-style set that captures the retro sounds of the new single and features Mexican pop singer-songwriter, Sofía Reyes.

"Cleopatra" is on Train's new album, AM Gold. And to help promote it, they'll hit the road next week with opening acts, Jewel and Blues Traveler. The trek kicks off June 8 in Mansfield, MA and will make 35+ stops across North America.

TL;DR:

• Train has released a new video for their single, "Cleopatra."
• The ‘70s-inspired video, features singer-songwriter, Sofía Reyes
• "Cleopatra" is on Train's new album, AM Gold.

Wolfgang Van Halen took to Twitter to trash this weekend's Reelz Channel Autopsy episode focusing on Eddie Han Halen's death. Autopsy: The Last Hours Of Eddie Van Halen will premiere on Sunday, June 5th at 8 p.m. ET. Van Halen died on October 6th, 2020 at age 65 after years of battling throat cancer.

Wolfgang linked to a Blabbermouth article reporting on the show and Tweeted: "F*** Reelz Channel, f*** everyone that works on this show, and f*** you if you watch it. F***ing disgusting trying to glamorize someone's death from cancer. Pathetic and heartless."

Being the caretaker of his father's legacy is something that Wolfgang Van Halen takes extremely seriously. Not too long ago, he told us that fans shouldn't bank on seeing any Eddie Van Halen tribute projects emerging from the vast tape archive he left behind.

Wolf, who is now in charge of his late-father's unreleased work housed at his 5150 California studio, explained that the process to get everything adequately cataloged is his first priority -- not getting new product out ASAP: "That's not gonna happen for a long time -- even without the intention of release, I want to -- at the every least -- archive it properly and digitize it so everything is safe for years to come. Because it's going to be an incredibly difficult process -- and a very long process to properly. . . just get the material off the old tapes, that I wanna do it right."

It was 44 years ago today (June 2nd, 1978), that Bruce Springsteen finally released his long awaited followup to 1975's Born To Run, Darkness On The Edge Of Town. The album peaked at Number Five on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and stayed in the Top 10 for a total of eight weeks.

The recording of Springsteen's fourth album was blocked for a year while Springsteen was in litigation with his former manager and producer Mike Appel. Appel's suit barred Springsteen from recording with future manager and producer Jon Landau.

The tracklisting to Darkness On The Edge Of Town is: "Badlands," "Adam Raised A Cain," "Something In The Night," "Candy's Room," "Racing In The Street," "The Promised Land," "Factory," "Streets Of Fire," "Prove It All Night," and "Darkness On The Edge Of Town."

The album's two singles -- although becoming instant FM and live staples -- fared less well on the Billboard Hot 100 -- with "Prove It All Night" hitting 33, and "Badlands" stalling at Number 42.

The Darkness sessions generated dozens of outtakes, as well as songs that went on to become successful for other artists, including "Fire" for the Pointer Sisters, "Because The Night" for Patti Smith, and "Rendezvous" for Greg Kihn and later Gary "U.S." Bonds.

On November 16th, 2010 Bruce Springsteen released the box set The Promise: The 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town' Story. The collection featured the first remastered version of the Darkness album, along with two CD's of previously unreleased outtakes titled, The Promise. The set also included an 80-page notebook, and three DVD's.

Bruce Springsteen explained that the songs during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions easily -- and more often than not -- morphed into one another: "There was a lot of multi-versions of all kinds of things. We were always pulling things apart. I had like a big junkyard of stuff as the year went by. If something wasn't complete, I just pulled out the parts I liked, like pulling the parts you need from one car -- put 'em in the other car so that car runs."

Darkness On The Edge Of Town engineer -- and now famed music mogul -- Jimmy Iovine explained the core difference between the creation of Born To Run and its followup: "Born To Run, there were only, maybe, nine songs -- eight made the album. On Darkness, there were, like, 70 songs. That was a big difference. If you think about that; somebody sculpting eight songs, and then all of a sudden, the next album, they're writing 70 songs."

E Street Band rummer Max Weinberg remembered the Darkness sessions as being an intense period for the band as Springsteen forged a new path both musically and thematically: "Y'know, I've read things and, of course, discussed personally with Bruce things about that record and what he was aiming for. And, y'know, I guess when I think back, what we were all trying to do was working really hard to give Bruce what he wanted. And we were all -- we were kids, y'know? Certainly on Bruce's part -- I mean, he's the true (laughs) artist! And learning how to do it together, basically. None of us had a huge amount of experience recording. Y'know, we kinda learned that process together."

Steve Van Zandt explained that unlike nearly all of his peers, schedules be damned -- with Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Bruce Springsteen recorded and discarded songs until he found the album he was trying to make: "Basically, the first good 10 songs you write, you put 'em out -- there's your record. That process would end (laughs) -- forever, and never came back."

After 1975's Born To Run album, Bruce Springsteen redirected the romantic scenes found on the album and refocused his work onto the real lives and responsibilities of people -- like those in his hometown of Freehold, New Jersey -- who were grappling just to survive day to day: "What happened was, I got to a point where the answers that I found in my favorite rock n' roll records, they didn't work for me anymore. Y'know, I couldn't find what I wanted in a Phil Spector record anymore. The whole thing wasn't workin' out. It wasn't workin' (laughs) -- the way the old story goes -- the way you thought it was gonna work out."