Eagles Add More Concert Dates for 2025
The Eagles have added four more shows to their Hotel California Sphere residency in Las Vegas on September 5th, 6th, 12th, and 13th, as part of their "Long Goodbye" farewell tour. These dates follow their upcoming shows in April and bring the total number of shows to 36. Tickets for the September dates go on sale next Friday, March 28th, with pre-sales starting on March 25th. The band's current lineup includes Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Vince Gill, and Deacon Frey.
Steve Winwood Announces First NA Headline Dates In Six Years
Steve Winwood is announcing his first North American headlining shows since 2018. All of the dates are in September, starting with the 12th and 13th in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He'll be joined by the Tedeschi Trucks Band for the two Bridgeport shows. Winwood will play eight more U.S. shows along the Atlantic Coast, including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The former Traffic, Blind Faith, and Spencer Davis Group singer will wrap up his tour in Niagara Falls, Ontario on September 28th.
Steve Miller Band announces summer tour dates
Steve Miller Band has announced a new headlining tour with six shows starting in August. The tour will kick off in Bethel, New York on August 15th, and wrap up in Salamanca, New York on August 30th, with stops in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. More dates may be added, as these are the first set of shows announced. Ticket information can be found on the band's website. Last summer, the band also toured as a special guest on the Def Leppard/Journey stadium tour. Info at stevemillerband.com.
Green Day Uses “Boogie Nights” Scene As Their iHeartRadio Music Awards Acceptance Speech
Green Day nabbed an award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards and Billie Joe Armstrong
decided on a tongue-in-cheek acceptance speech. As Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt were chuckling behind him, Armstrong used the speech Mark Wahlberg gave in “Boogie Nights” almost verbatim! The band then put a side-by-side video of the two speeches on their Instagram account and fans gave the band a bravo! Check out the post on Instagram:
Green Day | ALTERNATIVE ARTIST OF THE YEAR !!! @iheartradio I guess the only thing we can say is... we promise to keep rocking and rolling and keep... | Instagram
QUEEN: Polarized
Queen will be one of this year's recipients of the Polar Music Prize, which celebrates excellence in music. The band issued a statement saying, “We are highly and deeply honored to be given the Polar Music Prize this year. It’s incredible, thank you so much.” This year's other honorees are jazz great Herbie Hancock and conductor Barbara Hannigan.
The Polar Music Prize will be presented at a ceremony on May 27th at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm in the presence of the Swedish Royal Family. Each Laureate will receive $93,897, which is the equivalent of one million Swedish Krona. The award was founded in 1989 by Stig ”Stikkan” Anderson, publisher, lyricist and manager of ABBA. It's named after Anderson’s record label Polar Music. Previous honorees include Pink Floyd, Iggy Pop, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Sting, Elton John and Peter Gabriel.
KANSAS: Cancer, Surgery, Tour
In February, Kansas singer Ronnie Platt was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He underwent surgery two weeks ago (March 4th), and now he's been cleared to resume performing.
He says, "It’s hard to believe that less than two months ago I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer… It really was just a bump in the road! Thank you so much for your prayers, your positive vibes, and encouraging and hopeful messages. "I can’t wait for April 4th, where I once again will be able to say, ‘Good evening and welcome to Kansas!’” The show that night will take place in Ivins, Utah. Platt, who joined Kansas in 2014, is 62.
DAVID LEE ROTH: And Now for the Finished Version
David Lee Roth has released a new song. If you've listened to The Roth Show over the years, you may have heard a snippet of "Alligator Pants." Last month he posted a demo of it on Instagram, and now the finished version is out, which you can find on YouTube.
Roth hasn't provided any other details on the song.
BILLY GIBBONS: With a Little Help for Joe
ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, like Paul McCartney earlier this month, is encouraging his fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Fame voters to cast one for the late Joe Cocker. He says Cocker's nomination is "good news in view of the monumental recordings released and amazing performances delivered over the course of his lengthy career. We first crossed paths at Texas Stadium in Austin sharing the bill at our first annual Rompin’ Stompin’ Barn Dance & B.B.Q. back in 1974. As it happened, there was no ‘Second Annual’ edition because of all the rompin’ and stompin’ that took place back at the first and last. Suffice it to say, Joe was one of a kind, the very embodiment of rock and roll in terms of talent and spirit. Let’s get him inducted!" This is the first time Cocker has been nominated, although he's been eligible since 1989 -- 25 years after his first recording. Cocker died from lung cancer in 2014. He was 70. Cocker is sitting at number-six in the Rock Hall's Fan Vote. Gibbons was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with ZZ in 2004.
ROCK HALL: Behind the Vote or No Vote
If you like to debate who should be or shouldn't be nominated and inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, you are not alone. Even voting members raise their eyebrows. Once again,
Vulture.com has interviewed two of those members to get their take on this year's ballot and who they will be voting for. See if you agree.
Bad Company
Voter 1: "Are they a major rock act? No. Are they an ever-present classic-rock act heard on the radio to this day? Absolutely. I like them more than I want to admit, largely because Paul Rodgers has a fantastic rock-and-roll voice. 'Feel Like Makin’ Love' may be a meathead anthem, but it’s catchy. I won’t vote for them, though, because I’m trying to use my vote strategically to help women and people of color."
Voter 2: "When you look at people talking about the Rock Hall and saying, 'Why isn’t X inducted?' Bad Company is up there every year. It’s a quintessential rock supergroup. You have Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke, so you have links to Free, Mott the Hoople [with Mick Ralphs], and King Crimson [Boz Burrell]. They’re sort of the connective tissue between all the British bands of the ’60s and everyone who came after. They have a good chance of getting in without my vote."
The Black Crowes
Voter 1: "I’d be a liar if I didn’t cop to the fact they’ve had hits I’ve liked. But do I think they deserve to be on this ballot? No, not over other people. It’s possible to love an act and think they don’t need to be in the Rock Hall. This comes up with The Monkees argument every year. I love the Monkees, but I don’t feel it’s a great outrage that they’re not inducted. The Black Crowes are fairly derivative. If they get in, it’s because people will say, 'When you think rock and roll in the ’90s, you think Black Crowes.'"
Voter 2: "It had never occurred to me that The Black Crowes, of all bands, would get nominated. That’s no shade on them because I find them to be fantastic. I just don’t think they’re Rock Hall–worthy. They’re part of the great Southern rock tradition and fit in that lineage, but who have they influenced?"
Joe Cocker
Voter 1: "I’m partially disappointed by this nomination because it would’ve been nice if he had been on the ballot while alive. I’m still deciding if I’m going to vote for him. He’s a very distinctive vocalist, but the recorded output is spotty. 'Up Where We Belong' and 'You Are So Beautiful' aren’t priority songs in the history of rock and roll. You’re basically voting for him as a song stylist. It’s comparable to Chubby Checker in that the songs slightly overshadow the career, but the career is pretty great."
Voter 2: "This was another one that was a bit of a head-scratcher for me, only because it was like, Huh, that’s right, he’s not in. He sits in the Linda Ronstadt–type category in that he’s such a wonderful interpreter of music and other artists’ songs. As a vocalist, he’s peerless. What his impact is, I don’t know. I didn’t end up voting for him, but I could see him getting in."
Billy Idol
Voter 1: "Do I need to vote for this guitar-wielding white man? Maybe not. This nomination is basically about Billy playing ball with the Rock Hall. Not to be too cynical but appearing at a couple of ceremonies is notoriously a way to get on the ballot. Good for you, buddy. The main thing I love about him is he’s a tough genre categorization. He’s pop, he’s punk, he’s New Wave. He even qualified as hair metal. If anything gets me to vote for Billy, it’s his shape-shifter nature."
Voter 2: "I would never have anticipated Billy Idol getting inducted. It makes a lot of sense, though. When you think of ’80s solo acts, he was huge. He started off in Generation X as a real punk-rocker and translated that attitude to rock and pop music for decades. But this year, there were other people I felt needed my vote more."
Oasis
Voter 1: "Oasis has a brand to protect. They are the turds in the punch bowl of rock and roll. They have to act like they’re above it all and don’t give a [crap], though Liam Gallagher said he would show up if they got inducted. I won’t vote for them. I have a hard time seeing the influence. I suspect a lot of the people voting for them are ten years younger than me who remember the ’90s a little more fondly than I do."
Voter 2: "They’re so influential, almost in spite of themselves. It’s been 30 years since they first emerged, and bands that are still forming are saying, 'I want to sound like Oasis.' The fact they’re coming around to do a victory lap, to say, 'Hey, remember us? We did it right first, we’re the best' -- I love that. They’re massively popular in America. People forget about that. I voted for them because the spectacle of them showing up would be hilarious."
Soundgarden
Voter 1: "They arguably could’ve gotten in before Nirvana and Pearl Jam and have a bit more influence than them. They were in the Seattle scene long before Nirvana even released an album. I’m the problem because I’ve never voted for them. I’m trying to find room for Soundgarden this year because they deserve it. This is morbid, but after Chris Cornell died, why didn’t they get in the following year?"
Voter 2: "They’ve probably been dinged for so long because they draw so much on the metal side, especially their earlier stuff. I can see people being a little put off because they hewed toward that end rather than, say, someone else from Seattle who was a bit poppier, like Nirvana. Soundgarden is heavy, but they’re extremely influential. Chris Cornell’s voice was unreal. They were a 'classic band,' so I voted for them. It’s long overdue.
And the rest:
·The White Stripes -- Voter 1 Yes, Voter 2 No
·Mariah Carey -- Voter 1 unclear, Voter 2 Yes
·Chubby Checker -- No for both
·Joy Division/New Order -- Yes for both
·Cyndi Lauper -- Yes for both
·Maná -- Voter 1 unclear, Voter 2 No
·OutKast -- Yes for both
·Phish -- No for both
As for the Fan Vote, the Top 5 voter getters are:
1.Phish
2.Bad Company
3.Billy Idol
4.Soundgarden
5.Cyndi Lauper
You can vote once a day through April 21st at RockHall.com. The top five artists selected by the public will comprise a “fans’ ballot” that will be tallied along with the other ballots to determine the 2025 Inductees. The Class of 2025 will be announced in late April with the ceremony set for the fall in Los Angeles.
Styx's Lawrence Gowan Praises 'South Park''s Impact on the Band
Lawrence Gowan of Styx credits South Park for introducing a new generation of fans to the band, particularly through Cartman's rendition of "Come Sail Away." Gowan humorously praised Cartman's version as the definitive one, acknowledging the show's significant influence on attracting younger listeners. The rocker expressed his admiration for South Park and Family Guy's musical references and said that he enjoys watching the shows on the tour bus. Styx's upcoming album, Circling From Above, is set for release in late May, coinciding with their Brotherhood of Rock tour with Kevin Cronin starting in April.
Courtney Love Applies For British Citizenship
Courtney Love is looking to be a citizen in the U.K. The former Hole singer shared the news in a conversation with Todd Almond at London's Geographical Society. She said it's great living in the U.K and she's applied for British citizenship. Love has lived in London since 2019 and previously said the city's lifestyle and privacy laws are the main reasons for her residence.
IN OTHER NEWS
Paul Stanley will show off his new artwork at the Wentworth Gallery in McLean, Virginia on April 12th, and Elvis Costello will do the same at the Wentworth Gallery in Short Hills, New Jersey on May 3rd followed by McLean on May 31st.
Gibson Guitars and Publishing put out a coffee table book about Slash's guitar collection in 2022, and now they're publishing one about Kirk Hammett from Metallica. It's due out later this year.
Elton John and Brandi Carlile's show next Wednesday -- March 26th -- at the London Palladium, in support of the April 4th release of their album Who Believes in Angels? will be broadcast on CBS on April 6th at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will stream on Paramount+.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will launch an exhibit called SNL: Ladies & Gentlemen, 50 Years of Music on May 23rd. It will include memorabilia from Blondie, Mick Jagger and many others who have performed on the NBC show.
AC/DC got an unexpected tribute Monday night in Melbourne, Australia when pop star Dua Lipa covered their "Highway to Hell." Check out the performance on YouTube.
Bryan Adams will release his new album, Roll With the Punches, in August. To go along with this announcement, he’s posted a video on Instagram of himself doing an acoustic version of the album’s second single, “Make Up Your Mind.”