Pulse Music

It was 15 years ago today (March 9th, 2007) that Boston lead singer Brad Delp committed suicide at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire, at the age of 55. Emergency operators in Concord, New Hampshire, got a phone call seeking help and when local police responded, they found Delp had suffocated from the smoke of two charcoal grills he had lit inside his bathroom. The singer was found lying on a pillow by his fiancee, Pamela Sullivan. His cause of death was listed as carbon monoxide poisoning.

Delp will be remembered for his peerless vocals on such timeless Boston classics as "More Than A Feeling," "Peace Of Mind," "Foreplay/Long Time," "Rock & Roll Band," "Smokin'" -- which he co-wrote with Boston co-founder Tom Scholz, "Hitch A Ride," "Something About You," "Let Me Take You Home Tonight," -- which Delp wrote on his own, "Don't Look Back," "We're Ready," and Boston's only chart-topper, 1986's "Amanda." Delp is featured posthumously on Boston's latest album, 2013's Love, Life, And Hope.

Immediately following his death, Tom Scholz posted a statement on the official bandboston.com website: "We've just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll. . . As you all know by now, Boston's lead singer, Brad Delp, was found dead in his home on Friday, March 9th, 2007. Plans for live Boston performances this summer have, of course, been canceled. My heart goes out to his wonderful fiancee Pamela, his two children and other family members, his close friends and band mates, and to the millions of people whose lives were made a little brighter by the sound of his voice. He will be dearly missed."

Shortly before his death, Brad Delp recalled to us the first time that rock n' roll entered his life back in October 1956: "I was told the story of when Elvis first came on Ed Sullivan, my sister flipped the chair over (laughs) when he came on, and I do remember playing her Elvis records, and her Buddy Holly records. And I was lucky enough that I got to see Elvis. It was the last tour I think that he ever did, and he played in Providence, Rhode Island, so he wasn't in the best of health, but I can say that I actually got to see Elvis on stage."

Like many people his age, Delp decided to become a musician after watching the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, and he worked with a number of groups in the area while he was still in school. Delp graduated from Danvers High School in 1969, and it wasn't long before he hooked up with Scholz to work on the music that became the first Boston album.

Delp left Scholz and Boston following the release of the band's second album, 1978's Don't Look Back, and he spent a few years working with former Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau on a number of projects, including the groups RTZ and Orion The Hunter, before returning to Boston in 1986 for the album Third Stage. He was out again for the recording of the band's next album, 1994's Walk On, but he returned for the tour and shared lead vocal duties with Fran Cosmo. That arrangement was still in place until fairly recently, when Fran and his son Anthony Cosmo were dismissed.

When he wasn't working with Boston, Delp could often be found doing Beatles covers with the band BeatleJuice, which had been playing the local circuit for many years.

Back in 2007, Tom Scholz told us that Brad Delp had the greatest set of pipes he'd ever heard: "He's the best singer I've ever heard -- period. I have worked with a ton of 'em -- nobody can do the things that he can do. I'm not talking about singing high notes -- lots of people can do that. He can do amazing things with his voice, and his grasp of music is just mind-boggling. The things that he can keep upstairs. . . it's like you're tapping into some kind of computer memory bank or something."

Scholz credits Delp as the key to Boston's global success: "He and I were the ones, y'know, that put most of those tracks on the albums. Y'know, I did the instruments, mostly, and he did the singing. That was the key. That's what we did in the demos -- I mean, other than the drum track -- and that's what worked. We basically did that on the albums and we certainly had some contributions from people along the way. But in my mind, y'know, none of them would've been successful without Brad's voice on them. I don't think there would've been a Boston today if he hadn't been the singer."

THE AFTERMATH

In 2012 Tom Scholz filed suit against The Boston Globe, accusing the paper of claiming that he allegedly drove Brad Delp to suicide in 2007. In legal testimony and the press, Delp's closest friends took to Delp's defense, with Ultimate Classic Rock quoting former Boston member David Sikes saying, Delp "didn't like Tom and didn't trust Tom. He felt that Tom had taken advantage of him financially, especially."

Shortly before his suicide, Sikes says that Delp told him "how much he envied me, that I had the guts to stand up to Tom Scholz and the guts to quit the band and to move on with my life, to leave Boston."

Close friend Joy Baker testified, "Brad just could not stand one more minute of feeling like he could not stand up for himself or do the right thing, if you will, in any aspect of his life, because he was so afraid. . . he would run from confrontation and I think he was just beaten down by the years of dealing with Tom Scholz."

Examiner.com reported that on August 24th, 2012 Superior Court Judge John C. Cratsley threw out Scholz' defamation lawsuit against Brad Delp's ex-wife Micki Delp. Scholz claimed that Micki's interview with The Boston Herald alluded that Scholz was the cause for Delp's suicide.

Scholz has gone on record stating that "an extremely upsetting and embarrassing incident" was the real reason for Delp's suicide. To make a long story short -- according to Scholz -- Delp was engaged to Pamela Sullivan at the time of his death. For the two years leading up to his suicide, Pamela's sister Meg lived with Delp in a very close, but platonic relationship. Meg and her boyfriend found a secret battery powered camera planted in her bedroom -- allegedly set up by Delp.

When confronted, Delp was humiliated and contrite -- blaming the emotional fallout from an alleged previous affair of Pamela's for his problems. The couple allowed Delp to tell Pamela himself. Instead, Delp brought two charcoal barbecue grills up to his bedroom, turned the gas on and killed himself.

In the notes Delp left behind, he told the couple: "I have had bouts of depression and thoughts of suicide since I was a teenager. . . (Pamela) was my 'ray of sunshine,' but sometimes even a ray of sunshine is no substitute for a good psychiatrist."

Alanis Morissette announced Tuesday (March 8th) that she will hit the road with Garbage this summer to celebrate 25 years of Jagged Little Pill.

The new tour dates will kick off in Ottawa on July 10th and hit cities including Toronto and Vancouver before wrapping in Mountain View, CA on August 6th.

Tickets go on sale Friday, March 11th. The singer will also release her new song, "Olive Branch" the same day.

Tickets are already on sale for the Foo Fighters' six-city stadium tour of Australia and New Zealand. Between November 30th and December 17th, Dave Grohl and the gang will hit Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney, Australia -- along with stops in Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand.

NME reported the assorted Australian and New Zealand support acts opening the shows will include the Chats, Teenage Joans, Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers, Amyl And The Sniffers, and Dick Move. Britain's Hot Milk will also join the tour for three dates, marking their first-ever Down Under shows.

Dave Grohl told us a while back that it's vital for the band to change up the live show from night to night: "You've got to change it up. To keep things interesting musically, like, that's our lifeline, y'know, and to experiment and do things we've never done before. So we go out every night and we play all the loud, old rock stuff, we play all the loud new rock stuff, we play acoustic stuff, newer acoustic stuff, we just kind of change it up a little bit."

JUST ANNOUNCED: Foo Fighters Down Under tour dates (subject to change):

November 30 - Perth, Australia - HBF Park
December 4 - Melbourne, Australia - AAMI Park
December 10 - Brisbane, Australia - Suncorp Stadium
December 12 - Sydney, Australia - Accor Stadium
December 15 - Wellington, New Zealand - Sky Stadium
December 17 - Auckland, New Zealand - Western Springs Stadium

Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock have settled their divorce battle.

According to TMZ, L.A. Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon signed off on the terms, giving Clarkson primary custody of their two kids, while her ex will have them one weekend a month.

The talk show host will continue to hold on to the couple's Montana ranch but Blackstock is allowed to rent the home for $12,500 a month until June 1st. And although the entertainment manager turned rancher has been awarded $115,000 a month in spousal support, payments will end in January 2024.

The couple was married from October 2013 until their divorce was finalized in August 2021. They have two children together, River Rose and Remy Alexander.

Lady Gaga has rescheduled The Chromatica Ball.

The singer announced Monday (March 7th) that the 15-stop summer stadium tour will run from July 17th to September 10th. She'll be making stops in Washington DC, New York, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco annd Los Angeles.

Tickets for domestic dates go on sale March 14th. One dollar from each ticket purchased will be donated to Born This Way Foundation, a non-profit founded by the House of Gucci star and her mother in 2012.

Originally scheduled for the summer after Gaga's 2020 album Chromatica was released, the tour was postponed due to coronavirus concerns.

Machine Gun Kelly wants BTS to play at his wedding to Megan Fox.

During the game "Burning Questions" on Monday's (March 7th) episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, he said he said that if he had to pick a boyband to play at his reception, he would probably pick NSYNC or BTS, adding that he had an in with the "Permission To Dance" group.

He told DeGeneres, "I met them at the Billboard Awards, they were, like, stoked to meet me. I think I have a better chance of getting BTS to come."

One of Olivia Rodrigo's previously unheard tracks will be revealed in the performer's forthcoming Disney+ documentary.

The "Drivers License" singer told Rolling Stone Monday (March 7th) that a song, previously cut from her debut album, Sour, will be featured in the film Driving Home 2 U (A Sour Film).

An iPhone recording of the untitled, unfinished tune will appear during the end credits of the documentary when it premieres on March 25th.

ZZ Top are heading back on the road and have rolled out a 25-date spring and summer "Raw Whisky" tour itinerary. The tour's title is a hat tip to both the forthcoming album as well as the recent release of ZZ Top Tres Hombres whisky from Balcones Distilling of Waco TX, a flavorful 100 proof mash bill of roasted blue corn, malted barley and rye.

As it stands now, the band featuring Billy F. Gibbons, Frank Beard, and bassist Elwood Francis will kick things off on May 6th in Niagara Falls, Ontario at the Fallsview Casino Resort and run through August 27th when the tour wraps at Beaver Dam, Kentucky's Beaver Dam Amphitheater.

Coming on July 22nd will be the new 11-track Raw album, which recorded as part of the 2019 Netflix documentary That Little Ol' Band From Texas. Highlights include such classics as "La Grange, "Tush," "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide," and "Gimme All Your Lovin'," among others. The recordings, which feature late-bassist Dusty Hill, were recorded at a "very intimate session at Gruene Hall -- the oldest continually run dance hall in Texas."

Billy F. Gibbons and Frank Beard wrote about the sessions in the album's liner notes:

It was, in a very real way, a return to our roots. Just us and the music, no audience of thousands, no concession stands, no parking lot social hour, no phalanx of tour busses. Just us and the music.

We knew right then it was a very special circumstance, all of us in the same place at the same time and what a time it most certainly was!

It was as bare bones as when we first started touring in a behemoth Chrysler station wagon, driving vast stretches between those early far-flung shows under blackened Texas skies and first hearing our records on the radio. We were bonded as brothers.

'The Dust'' may have left the building but he's still very much with us.

It's going on 40 years after ZZ Top's MTV era-defining 1983 Eliminator album, which featured such instant band classics as "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man," and "Legs." We asked guitarist Billy F. Gibbons how the band was able to embrace the 1980's while staying true to themselves musically: "Yeah, well as the old saying goes: 'One foot in the blues.' It keeps it honest and kinda straight ahead. We can narrow the range -- take it far left, far right; let's go back to step one -- the blues."

JUST ANNOUNCED: ZZ Top tour dates (subject to change):

May 6 - Niagara Falls, ON - Fallsview Casino Resort
May 29 - Paso Robles, CA - Vina Robles Amphitheatre
June 1 - Redding, CA - Redding Civic Auditorium
June 2 - Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery
June 5 - Jacksonville, OR - Britt Pavilion
June 7 - Bend, OR - Hayden Homes Amphitheater
June 8 - Walla Walla, WA - Wine Country Amphitheater
June 9 - Spokane, WA - First Interstate Center for the Arts
June 12 - Billings, MT - MetraPark – First Interstate Arena
June 14 - Grand Junction, CO - Las Colonias Park Amphitheater
June 17 - Tucson, AZ - Casino Del Sol's AVA Amphitheater
June 19 - Colorado Springs, CO - Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts
June 21 - Loveland, CO - Budweiser Events Center
June 22 - Grand Island, NE - Fonner Park - Heartland Events Center
June 24 - Park City, KS - Hartman Arena
June 25 - Oklahoma City, OK - Zoo Amphitheatre
June 26 - Little Rock, AR - First Security Amphitheater
June 29 - Rogers, AR - Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion
July 1 - Toledo, OH - Toledo Zoo & Aquarium – Amphitheater
July 2 - Sterling Heights, MI - Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
July 5 - Fort Wayne, IN - Foellinger Theater
July 9 - Greenville, WI - Greenville Lion's Park
July 22 - Boston, MA - Leader Bank Pavilion
July 23 - Watertown, NY - Watertown Fairgrounds Baseball Diamond
August 27 - Beaver Dam, KY - Beaver Dam Amphitheater

Rather than escalate his feud with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx is trying to explain his anger at Vedder's comments. During a recent chat with The New York Times, Eddie Vedder recalled working at a San Diego venue back in the 1980's when glam metal was at its peak. Vedder remembered, "I'd end up being at shows that I wouldn't have chosen to go to -- bands that monopolized late-'80s MTV. The metal bands that -- I'm trying to be nice -- I despised. 'Girls, Girls, Girls' and Mötley Crüe: F*** you. I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous."

Blabbermouth transcribed a chat between Sixx and Brazilian entrepreneur Paulo Baron and music critic Regis Tade in which he shed light on his feelings about Vedder's unprovoked slamming of his band: "I'm not trying to be the guy that wrote (the Crüe song) 'Bastard' (from 1983's Shout At The Devil album), 'cause I'm not the guy that wrote 'Bastard'. I wrote that song about somebody that ripped us off. I am the guy that if you f*** with me, I will f*** with you back. And that's what that song is about. You take a swipe at my band; I'll take a swipe at your band. You try to hurt my family, which is my band; I will try to hurt you. That's not something to be proud about (laughs)."

Sixx explained that he and his bandmates were totally open to the grunge scene emanating out of the Pacific Northwest, recalling, "I remember going to MTV with (a copy of Nirvana's) Nevermind before it had come out. We were, like, 'Hey, you guys gotta check out this band. You gotta check out this band.' And they were bands that were coming. I remember having a cassette -- I think it was demos; it might not have been; it might have been early recordings -- for Rage Against The Machine, and I remember telling everybody about that."

He went on to say, "We've never been afraid to embrace music changing because that's the whole idea behind music. If you listen to 'Too Fast For Love' and then you listen to 'The Dirt', you're, like, 'Well, it's the same band, but it has grown.' So we never had a problem with that. My only thing is, you wanna take a crack at my band, I'm probably gonna say something back. But what I don't understand is why's the guy even talking about my band? He's a successful guy."

Nikki Sixx added, "Listen, let's face it: the guy flies around in private jets; he lives in a mansion in a gated community; he sells out stadiums; and then he dresses at the thrift store and tries to pretend some guy in the '90s. Don't take a swipe at my band, dude. I mean, I'm at least being honest."

Paul McCartney spoke candidly about bringing his children out on the road in the 1970's during the Wings era. When asked by a fan who sent a question in to his PaulMcCartney.com website about it, "Macca" responded, "It was interesting and it was wacky. Our main reason was, we worried about leaving the kids at home and then getting a nanny or somebody ringing up saying ‘oh they've gone into hospital' or ‘they're very ill', and we'd be far away in Australia or something."

He went on to explain, "When we decided to bring them along we tried to be very careful about the sensible stuff like their education. We did things like going to their school and asking the teachers what the class are they going to be doing while we're away, and then we had a tutor that came with us -- the kids hated him! They did not like being told in the afternoon that it was 'school time!' They'd protest: 'No, we wanna go to the beach!'"

McCartney, who now has eight grandchildren, added, "But it was great -- it was lovely having them with us. They joke about it now, saying they were hippy commune kids! But it was great for us, and I think it was great for them. It meant that we didn't have to worry about them, because they were right there with us. And we figured if you want to know geography, actually going to all these places was helpful -- it was part of their education. So yeah, it was interesting!"

Paul and Linda McCartney's daughter Stella McCartney, who's now 50, explained that having solid parents and a close relationship with her siblings grounded her and set the course for her success: "Y'know, I do look at my upbringing and think it enabled me to not have to compromise. That's one of the biggest blessings it gave me, that I always, sort of, knew -- I still know -- that if everything goes horribly wrong, I can fall back on a really loving, caring, unconditional family unit and will be okay, y'know? I have a good buffer and I think that afforded me to not compromise my ethics going into my workplace."

While appearing on NBC's Today, Paul McCartney was asked if early on his grandchildren had any idea how popular and recognizable he was: "No, they didn't. Y'know, I say, 'People come to see me!' (Laughter) 'People pay to come and see me -- I'm famous!' (They say) 'Yeah, yeah, we're watching TV.' They gradually get the fame thing. They get, like, people always wanting a photo of me -- but they're very. . . they're very cool with it."

It was 45 years ago today (March 8th, 1977) that Foreigner released its self-titled debut album. Foreigner, which peaked at Number Four on the Billboard 200, spent 18 non-consecutive weeks in the magazine's Top 10.

The album featured the band's classic, original lineup of guitarist / songwriter/ producer Mick Jones, singer Lou Gramm, keyboardist Al Greenwood, bassist Ed Gagliardi, drummer Dennis Elliott, and the recently deceased multi-instrumentalist, Ian McDonald.

Foreigner featured three hit singles, "Feels Like The First Time" (#4), "Cold As Ice" (#6), and "Long, Long Way From Home" (#20). The album also included such AOR staples as "Headknocker" and "Starrider."

Frontman Lou Gramm told us that back in the day, he and Foreigner were always offended by the "corporate rock" tag the band got upon hitting the scene in the late-'70s: "I don't even know how that story got started. That a corporation picked the members of the band? That's the farthest thing from the truth. We had auditions just like every other band -- and people who quit and people who decided to stand. But a corporate band? I don't think the music was corporate. How could you call 'Dirty White Boy' corporate?"

Leader Mick Jones told us that in addition to Lou Gramm's songwriting abilities, Foreigner was lucky to have his soaring vocals setting them apart from its competition: "The time that we had in the beginning of the band through the '80s was great, y'know? And I just feel like it was such a gift to have a voice like Lou singing these songs. And that was an incredible part of everything."

Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion are getting to drop their collaboration, "Sweetest Pie".

On Sunday (March 6th), Lipa shared a clip of her and the rapper's forthcoming track, scheduled to be released on Friday (March 11th).

On her own page, Megan shared images of herself with white, sprinkle-topped hair that resembled soft-serve ice cream with the caption, "5 days until this serve."

Kanye West's newest album Donda 2 is not eligible for the Billboard Charts. According to Fader, the album was released on Ye's $200 Stem Player and the Stem Player is being characterized as merchandise, which means the album cannot be added to its charts for now.

The device -- which isolates songs into different musical elements, is packaged with the new album but the machine "can be used for other means besides the playing of the album," which is the reasoning Billboard used to percent Donda 2 from a chart debut.

No word on if the album will ever be available on streaming devices.

Happy Birthday to the Monkees' Micky Dolenz, who turns 77 today (March 8th)!!! Micky Dolenz will always be best remembered for singing lead on such group classics as "(Theme From) The Monkees," "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," along with the Monkees' first two singles -- and chart toppers, "Last Train To Clarksville" and "I'm A Believer."

Dolenz, the sole-survivor of the group, will honor his late-Monkees bandmates on tour this spring. The shows will mark Dolenz' first proper tour dates since the Mike Nesmith's death last December at age 78.

The trek, which is billed as "Micky Dolenz Celebrates The Monkees," will spotlight the contributions of Mike Nesmith -- as well as those of Davy Jones and Peter Tork -- during the upcoming shows, said in a statement, "I felt it was important to gather the fans and properly celebrate the lives of Davy, Mike, and Peter. People have been contacting me, requesting that I honor them in a way where the extraordinary impact of the Monkees can be properly acknowledged. We spent such a great deal of time together; they were like my brothers, and I want to share some of the great joy we had together."

On November 14th, 2021 Mike Nesmith wrapped up the final Monkees tour dates in L.A. with Micky Dolenz as part of the pair's farewell tour. Nesmith had been struggling with heart disease in recent years and in 2018 underwent quadruple bypass surgery.

He was the third of the Monkees to pass with Davy Jones dying from a sudden heart attack on February 29th, 2012 at age 66 and Peter Tork dying on February 12th, 2019 at age 77 following a decade-long battle with adenoid cystic carcinoma -- a rare cancer of the salivary glands.

In 2021 Micky Dolenz released a Mike Nesmith tribute album, titled Dolenz Sings Nesmith. The set was produced by Nesmith's eldest son Christian Nesmith, who also toured as part of his father and Dolenz' Monkees revue.Dolenz Sings Nesmith features songs written throughout Nesmith's career -- including his Monkees years.

Over the years, Micky has appeared in such Broadway, regional, and touring casts of Elton John and Tim Rice's AIDA, Pippin', Grease, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and Hairspray. In recent years he's also performed a solo revue of Monkees classics with his sister Coco.

Micky Dolenz says that he isn't bothered by the ever present "Monkee" tag, mainly because he stopped reading his own press years ago: "The press, whenever they do an article, of course, they want a long line. They want something to catch your eye, and there's nothing like the word 'Monkee' to do that. Y'know, I don't really pay much attention anymore to be honest. I never read articles that have been written about me. To be honest, I never listen to interviews, I never read reviews."

Micky Dolenz Celebrates The Monkees tour dates (subject to change):

March 19 - Manistee, MI - Little River Casino Resort
March 25, 26, 27 - Miami, FL to Nassau, Bahamas - The Beach Boys Good Vibrations Cruise
April 5 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
April 6 - Richmond, KY - EKU Center For The Arts
April 8 - Nashville, IN - Brown County Music Center
April 9 - Cincinnati, OH - The Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center
April 12 - Akron, OH - Goodyear Theater
April 13 - Joliet, IL - Rialto Square Theatre
April 15 - Riverside, IA - Riverside Casino & Golf Resort
April 16 - Madison, WI - Overture Center For The Arts
April 23 - Lancaster, PA - American Music Theater (with Felix Cavaliere's Rascals)
April 24 - Glenside. PA - Keswick Theatre (with Felix Cavaliere's Rascals)
May 12 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Center (with Felix Cavaliere's Rascals)
May 14 - Patchogue, NY - Patchogue Theatre For The Performing Arts (with Felix Cavaliere's Rascals)
June 3 - New York, NY - Palladium Times Square (with Felix Cavaliere's Rascals)
June 4 - Lynn, MA - Lynn Auditorium (with Felix Cavaliere's Rascals)

Avril Lavigne's seventh studio album Love Sux has debuted in the top 10 on Billboard's Top 200 Chart, landing at #2 on Billboard's Top Album Sales Chart, Top Rock Albums Chart, and Top Alternative Albums Chart.

The album, which marks Lavigne's 6th Top 10 album on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, was released February 25th via Travis Barker's DTA Records.

It was 58 years ago tonight (March 8th, 1964) that the Dave Clark Five (DC5) made their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. The group was the second British Invasion act to infiltrate the U.S. shores, following the Beatles. The DC5 originated from North London and had 17 records on Billboard's Top 40 between 1964 and 1967. They were best known for their string of '60s hits, including "Glad All Over," "Bits And Pieces," "Because," "Any Way You Want It," "Catch Us If You Can," "Over And Over," and "Having A Wild Weekend." All told, the group racked up a total of 18 appearances on the Sullivan show -- more than any other musical act -- and all of them were reportedly lip-synched.

Out on DVD is PBS' Great Performances: The Dave Clark Five And Beyond - Glad All Over. The documentary focuses on the Brit-pop path created by the DC5 and the Beatles, featuring filmed appearances by Paul McCartney, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, '60s fashion icon Twiggy, among others.

Included in the film are the DC5's' iconic performances on The Ed Sullivan Show, along with rare live concert footage and their countless appearances on television with American musical icons. Much of this material -- much of it on 35mm film -- has not been seen in decades, either on television or home video."

Beatlefan magazine's executive editor Al Sussman says that the DC5 were clearly the Number Two British invasion act during the peak of Beatlemania: "They were the Number Two group mainly because of the fact that -- first of all, they were the second group to come over here after the Beatles -- but also because they released a new record, like, every two weeks. They had, I think, seven singles that hit at least the Top 20 -- at least -- during the course of the year."

Sussman says that most people don't realize that although the Dave Clark Five are synonymous with the British Invasion, they were always far more popular in the U.S. than they were in their native Britain: "What happened was, it became apparent very quickly to Dave Clark that they were much bigger here than they were in England. Because after 'Glad All Over' and 'Bits And Pieces,' they didn't have another big hit until 'Catch Us If You Can.' They appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show more than any other band at that time."

Dave Clark told us that the band's secret weapon was their lead singer, songwriter, and keyboardist, the late great Mike Smith: "He didn't realize how good he was. I think I say that in the film. He had an amazing talent, Mike. I mean, he studied classical piano originally, so he was a musician. His dad got very disillusioned when he got his first job in a pub (laughs), y'know? But, it, it worked. He had a great voice, and he had a great look, y'know?

Longtime fan Tom Hanks inducted the DC5 into the Rock Hall in 2008. In his speech, he explained that a few things which separated the band from the pack: "The Dave Clark Five were sensations in particular ways, not the least of which was their eschewing of animals or minerals in their choice of name. The Dave Clark Five were one of the few British bands of the day that never replaced their drummer."

The group broke up in 1970, with Clark becoming a multi-millionaire music mogul. Although the band's material never made the switch from Top 40 to album oriented rock in the latter half of the 1960's, Clark explained that the DC5 actually influenced the harder-edged bands that followed in their wake: "All the bands that were actually influenced by us -- I mean, (Bruce) Springsteen and Kiss and all, all heavy metal -- the Ramones. Y'know, I mean, the last song they ever played was ‘Any Way You Want It.' It's a totally different audience, I suppose, looking back, that it appealed to the Beatles or even the (Rolling) Stones." Stones

In 2003, the group's lead singer, keyboardist, and main songwriter, Mike Smith, was paralyzed after falling off his roof in Cadiz, Spain. In 2005, a fundraiser for Smith's medical bills was held in New York City, featuring the reunion of Peter & Gordon, Billy J. Kramer, the Zombies, and former Moody Blues and Wings member Denny Laine.

Smith died just weeks before the band's 2008 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The previous December, the group's saxophonist Denis Payton died of cancer at age 63. On February 11th, 2013, bassist Rick Huxley died after a long battle with emphysema. Huxley, who grew up in Dartford, England -- the same town as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards -- went on to work for Vox amplifiers before moving on to his own music equipment and electrical wholesale businesses.

FAST FORWARD

2019 saw the release the Dave Clark Five's All The Hits. The 28-song set, which is available as a single CD and double-album set, features newly remastered sound by Dave Clark himself and London's legendary Abbey Road Studios.

Among the highlights on the collection are the DC5's most timeless tracks, including the band's signature hit "Glad All Over," "Bits And Pieces," "Because," "Any Way You Want It," "Catch Us If You Can," "I Like It Like That," "You Got What It Takes," and their sole chart-topper, "Over and Over."

Britney Spears detailed the abuse she suffered at the hands of her family and demanded justice after returning to Las Vegas as a "guest" for the first time since her residency ended in 2017.

According to TMZ, The "Toxic" singer wrote on Instagram Sunday (March 6th), "Being a guest in Las Vegas is way better than being me…or wait…is it because my family got to be the stars when I worked in Vegas??? I mean damn they were given star treatment…spas…alcohol…the whole 9 years…but guest what!!! This was my first time! It was absolutely lovely being treated like an equal in Las Vegas for the first time in 13 years."

The post has since been deleted.

She continued writing about the way she was mistreated by her family in a subsequent post. Spears shared, "In a world where it's okay to lock your daughter up and make her work 7 days a week … 8:00 am to 6:00 pm … no days off … 105 people are in and out of a small trailer home weekly … No private baths … seen naked when changing … drugged … can't even speak or talk … has to be available to the treatment people and show up every day for 10 hours a day … if not will have to stay longer … never given a date on when you can leave … 9:00 pm bed every night … like 8 gallons of blood weekly … this happened to me for 4 months after I worked for my dad and my family for 13 f---ing years … I gave my all when I worked only to be literally thrown away."

The pop star concluded, "I want justice and won't stop until something is done to those who harmed me … and YES I was harmed !!!! This is a message to all who have been threatened for their life … You are NOT ALONE !!!!"

Spears and her fiance, Sam Asghari, stayed at Resorts World Las Vegas this weekend for UFC 272 Saturday (March 5th) night.

Will Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones divide British fans by making appearances at competing UK festivals??? Industry whispers are stating that the Stones are prepping for a June 25th return to Britain's Hyde Park BST Festival -- the same day the former-Beatle is set to headline Glastonbury. Britain's Daily Mail posted: "No artist has yet been named to play that empty Saturday slot (at Hyde Park), but the site suggested that the artist headliner would be the Rolling Stones." If the Stones do sign on for the June 25th gig, their night will be bookended by respective appearances by Elton John and the Eagles.

The Stones' first Hyde Park gig took place on July 5th, 1969 and served as the band's tribute to late-co-founder Brian Jones -- as well as the live introduction of his replacement, Mick Taylor. The band returned to Hyde Park on July 6th and 13th, 2013, highlights of which were released on their Hyde Park Live collection.

Paul McCartney last headlined Glastonbury in 2004 and had planned to play the 2020 festival before the Covid shut down. McCartney also played Hyde Park on June 27th, 2009.

Keith Richards was an immediate fan and friend of the Beatles. He admits that following manager Andrew Loog Oldham's brief that the Stones become the opposite of the lovable "Mop Tops" was ingenious and important in separating the Stones from all the other British beat groups that followed in the Beatles wake: "There was no competition between the bands, per se, y'know -- but in the greater world, the Beatles were the "Fab Four," y'know? As I say, that's wearing the ‘white hat.' So the only other (laughs) place to go is to wear the ‘black hat' (laughs), y'know? And at the same time, we were pretty natural, and I think all we really did was, we didn't ‘showbiz' ourselves up."

In 2005 when the Stones performed as the Super Bowl's halftime act the year after Paul McCartney, he echoed John Lennon's 1970 statement that the Stones did everything the Beatles did a year later: "It's not bitchy, but if you look at the career of the Beatles and the Stones, they always do stuff a year after we do. So we do Sgt. Pepper and about a year later they do Satanic Majesties, they do their psychedelic album. The Beatles come to America, about a year later the Stones do. So I like it. They're holding true to form."

Halsey revealed Saturday (March 5th) that their five-year-old pup, Jagger, has died of a "progressive condition called Myelomalacia."

They wrote on Instagram that the dog's declining health led to the "worst week of their life and added, "If you're reading this and you don't have a pet, you might be thinking ‘it's just a dog.' Like I maybe used to. But I can tell you you're wrong. So f---ing wrong.

"It's the most visceral loss I have ever felt. Like the absence of a vital appendage. Every single second of my day that once revolved around his little habits and routines is now full of just emptiness and silence."

Snoop Dogg has recently revealed that Jay-Z threatened to end his NFL deal unless Dr. Dre, Snopp Dogg, etc. performed at the the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. During an interview with TIDAL, Snoop said, "We love each other. Like, not secretly, like publicly, we love each other. It is what it is, so it's like for him to go to bat for us and tell the NFL, ‘F**k that. They perform or I quit,' that was the most gangster sh*t out of everything."

The NFL was also concerned about Snoop's onstage attire, but JAY-Z told him not to worry. Snoop explained, "Then with attire and kneeling and all this … you can't wear your gangbang sh*t? JAY-Z hit me like, ‘Wear what the f**k you want to wear. Peace to the Gods.'"

Snoop said that he and Jay performed after the performance, saying, "So then he came down, and soon as he came in he hugged me. We hug each other tight. It was as if we won a championship. Like, you know when you're genuinely happy for each other? People don't understand, me and him are the ones. He's the one on the East. I'm the one from the West."

DR. DRE'S ATTORNEY CLARIFIES THAT HE STILL OWNS 'THE CHRONIC'

Meanwhile, Dr. Dre's attorney Howard King has released a statement claiming that his client still owns The Chronic despite recent comments that Snoop Dogg made where he told Complex that he owns Dre's debut album.

King told Complex earlier this week in a statement, "There are false reports out regarding ownership by Death Row of Dr. Dre's The Chronic. Dr. Dre owns 100 percent of The Chronic."

John Mayer is leaving Columbia Records after more than two decades with the label.

He wrote on Instagram Friday (March 4th), "After 21 years, eight studio albums, and some wonderful personal and creative relationships, I have decided not to renew my recording agreement with Columbia Records. Hard as it is to say goodbye, I'm excited to pursue new avenues of making music, both of sic my own and with other artists."

The "Last Train Home" singer added, "I love music more than ever, and I believe some of my best work still lies ahead."

During his time with the label, Mayer released Room For Squares (2001), Heavier Things (2003), Continuum (2006), Battle Studies (2009), Born And Raised (2012), Paradise Valley (2013), The Search For Everything (2017), and last year's Sob Rock.

Reports say that Kim Kardashian is not too happy about Kanye West's new video for "Eazy." As previously reported, the video features a claymation version of Kim's boyfriend Pete Davidson being tied up, kidnapped and buried.

According to People, Kim is "furious" about the video. A source said, "She thinks it's way too violent and is upset. She really upset with Kanye that he'd do this. She's completely over all of this and she wants it to stop."

The source added, "Kim's No. 1 concern right now is making sure that her children are protected from the situation because everything plays out in the public eye and that's very difficult when there are children involved. She is very angry about the violence and she just feels that it's inappropriate and wrong."

Meanwhile, Davidson reportedly finds the video hilarious. The source told Entertainment Tonight, "He finds the fact that Kanye included a cartoon version of him in his music video hysterical. He is almost flattered by it all because it is so ridiculous to him."

The source added that Pete "is not threatened by Kanye in any way, shape or form."

Kanye responded to backlash of the "Eazy" video, saying, "Art is therapy just like this view. Art is protected as freedom of speech. Art inspires and simplifies the world. Art is not a proxy for any ill or harm. Any suggestion otherwise about my art is false and mal intended."

KANYE WEST SHARES FEELINGS ON KIM KARDASHIAN DIVORCE

Meanwhile, Kanye took to social media to reveal his feelings on his divorce from Kim Kardashian. He posted aa poem via Instagram, saying, "Divorce feels like your kids were snatched from your control/ Divorce feels like you've been shot and traffic is slow/ Divorce feels like heavy breathing/ Divorce feels like grandma never got over that cold/ Divorce feels like suffocating/ Barely breathing."

Last week, due a judge ruling, Kim Kardashian was declared legally single and no longer has to go by "Kim Kardashian West."

Sting has taken to social media platforms to post a message of support to the people of the Ukraine along a new version of his 1985 Cold War ballad "Russians," performed acoustically with noted cellist Ramiro Belgardt.

Sting explained why he felt the need to revisit the song, which he believed represented a darker era of decades past: "I've only rarely sung this song in the many years since it was written, because I never thought it would be relevant again. But, in the light of one man's bloody and woefully misguided decision to invade a peaceful, unthreatening neighbor, the song is, once again, a plea for our common humanity. For the brave Ukrainians fighting against this brutal tyranny and also the many Russians who are protesting this outrage despite the threat of arrest and imprisonment -- We, all of us, love our children. Stop the war."

Sting next performs on March 24th in Le Grand-Quevilly, France.

Graham Nash says that estranged partner David Crosby was the first artist to raise a red flag regarding Spotify's gross underpayment to artists for their music streaming across the online platform. The disbanded Crosby, Stills, & Nash made a rare show of unity behind Neil Young when he demanded his music be taken off the streaming platform, accusing the service of spreading false information about Covid via Joe Rogan's podcast.

Nash gave credit where credit was due, saying that Crosby was the first to go public about the pittance artists were receiving through streaming: "Crosby, basically on our behalf, has been rallying against Spotify because of the amount of money that they don't pay musicians. As a several-billion-dollar company, all they do is play other people's music and pay them very little. And then when Neil came upon Joe Rogan letting people express opinions saying that the vaccinations don't work and masks don't work, and all that stuff that Neil has been upset with Joe Rogan and we totally agree. And that's why we took our music from Spotify also. But it started out with Crosby talking about how much they didn't pay musicians."

Graham Nash says that musicians predicted the digital revolution long before their record companies recognized it, by which time it was too late. Nash told us that it serves the record companies right for being so slow in understanding and embracing the new technology: "We tried to tell the record companies that this digital revolution was coming and they took no notice of anybody, and so got stuck behind the 8-ball. And record companies, like, the big, y'know, CBS and Warner Brothers and all. . . don't exist anymore. They don't want physical product. They want it all to be a digital download."