Classic Hits

With Christmas just days away, Paul McCartney is giving fans some insight into his holiday classic “Wonderful Christmastime.”

The Beatles legend has released a Vevo Footnotes version of the song’s video, revealing the stories behind the track.

“I’m thinking about Liverpool Christmas parties, that’s really all I’m doing with that song,” McCartney shares in one of the notes in the video. “‘The mood is right, let’s raise a glass, the spirits up’ – you know, all the stuff you do at Christmas.”

After the clip notes there’s a theory the song is about people practicing witchcraft getting caught and trying to cover it up, McCartney jokingly confesses the “truth.”

“Thank goodness they found me out,” he says. “This is completely true and actual fact, I am the head wizard of a Liverpool coven.” He adds, “Either that … or it’s complete nonsense. And you know it’s the latter.”

“Wonderful Christmastime” was released as a single in November 1979 and appeared on his 1980 album, McCartney II. It was McCartney’s first solo single in more than eight years.

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A new video has just been released of John Lennon and Yoko Ono performing at a benefit concert for the families of those killed in New York’s Attica prison in 1971.

The concert took place 24 years ago, on Dec. 17, 1971, at the Apollo Theater in New York. Video shows John & Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band performing what was then a new song, “Attica State.”

The clip opens with an explanation of what happened on Sept. 13, 1971, at Attica Correctional Facility, noting that 39 people were killed and hundreds more injured.

The emcee of the evening explains to the crowd while introducing John and Yoko that the pair “saw fit to put down in music and lyrics, so that it will never be forgotten in our country by anyone, the tragedy of Attica State.”

The performance is one of 92 bonus tracks that appear on the John and Yoko box set Power to the People (Super Deluxe Edition), which came out in October. The set focused on John and Yoko’s political activism and life in New York City.

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The life and career of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh will once again be celebrated with a series of concerts at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

Phil’s son Grahame Lesh has announced dates for Unbroken Chain: A Celebration of the Life & Music of Phil Lesh. The shows will take place March 12-15, on what would have been Phil’s 86th birthday weekend.

Phil celebrated several birthdays onstage at the Capitol Theatre, including his 84th birthday in March 2024. He passed away that October. Grahame held the first Unbroken Chain shows in March 2025.

“We had a beautiful, emotional celebration at the Cap last March, which established such a beautiful new tradition at a place that has become like a 2nd home for my dad and my family in the past 13 years or so,” Grahame wrote on Instagram. “I’m so grateful to all of these beautiful musicians on these lineups – my dad’s friends (& Friends!), bandmates, collaborators, and this year some wonderful musicians who never got to play with my dad but are an integral part of keeping this music moving forward.”

This year’s lineup includes Dead & Company’s Oteil Burbridge, North Mississippi Allstars‘ Luther Dickinson, guitarist Daniel Donato and Goose’s Rick Mitarotonda.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Proceeds from the shows will benefit the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. Last year’s concerts raised over $250,000 for charity.

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Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox is the latest artist to record the theme song for the opening sequence of the Starz series Outlander.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer performs “The Skye Boat Song” for the show’s eighth and final season. It’s a 19th century Scottish song, with the show’s version using the text of the Robert Louis Stevenson poem “Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone,” although the lyrics have been changed to “sing me a song of a lass that is gone.”

“I’ve loved and sung ‘The Skye Boat Song’ since I was a young girl growing up in Aberdeen,” says Lennox, referring to her Scottish hometown. “It represents such an iconic part of Scottish culture and history and it’s a real honor to have been asked to record it for Outlander’s final season.”

Outlander has used “The Skye Boat Song” in the show’s opening since its debut in 2014, although it has featured a new performer and arrangement each season. The song was recorded by Sinéad O’Connor for season 7.

The eighth and final season of Outlander premieres March 6 on Starz.

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On This Day, Dec. 17, 1949…

Singer Paul Rodgers was born in Middlesbrough, England.

Rodgers would go on to form the rock band Free in 1968 with drummer Simon Kirke, guitarist Paul Kossoff and bassist Andy Fraser. The band landed a #1 hit with ”All Right Now,” which Rodgers co-wrote with Fraser.

After their breakup, Rodgers and Kirke formed the supergroup Bad Company with Mott The Hoople’s Mick Ralphs and the King Crimson’s Boz Burrell.

Bad Company’s self-titled debut album was released in 1974 and hit #1 thanks to such classic songs as “Can’t Get Enough” and the title track. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.

After leaving Bad Company in 1982, Rodgers launched a successful solo career and fronted the band The Law, featuring former Faces drummer Kenney Jones. He also toured and recorded an album with Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor under the name Queen + Paul Rodgers.

In 2023, Rodgers released Midnight Rose, his first solo album in almost 25 years, and revealed to the world he had suffered a series of strokes starting in 2016 that nearly took away his ability to sing. 

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Van Morrison, E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt, George Thorogood and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ Mike Campbell are among the artists set to perform at an upcoming benefit concert celebrating the career of blues musician Taj Mahal.

The concert, taking place Feb. 21 at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, is the annual benefit for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.

Other artists set to celebrate Mahal include Patty Griffin, Jim Lauderdale and Joe Henry. Mahal will also perform, with additional artists to be announced.

“Thrilled to be honored by Sweet Relief and to celebrate with good feeling music,” Taj Mahal says. “Thank you Sweet Relief for all that you do and for bringing us together.”

Tickets for the concert go on sale Friday.

Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides services and financial assistance for musicians and music industry professionals. In 2025 it held a similar concert in celebration of Joan Baez, which featured performances by Bonnie Raitt, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Emmylou Harris, Henry and Lucinda Williams.

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Bruce Springsteen has paid tribute to Americana singer Joe Ely, who passed away Monday at the age of 78 from complications of Lewy body dementia, Parkinson’s disease and pneumonia.

“Over here, we’re deeply saddened by the loss of Joe Ely, a singular American singer, great musician and great artist,” Springsteen wrote on Instagram. “I was lucky enough to count Joe as a true friend and I will miss that voice and his companionship. Our hearts go out to his wonderful wife Sharon and the family. We’ve lost an American classic.”

Springsteen and Ely collaborated with each other numerous times over the years. Bruce appeared on songs on Ely’s 1995 album, Letter To Laredo, including the tune “All Just to Get to You.” He also appeared on “Odds of the Blues,” a track on Ely’s 2024 album, Driven to Drive. They also performed together several times over the years.

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Billy Idol has a chance to nab an Oscar nomination.

The rocker’s song “Dying to Live,” from his documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, has earned a spot on the Oscars short list for best original song.

The tune, written by Idol, J. Ralph, Steve Stevens, Tommy English and Joe Janiak, is one of 15 tracks to make the short list, with the category to be narrowed down to five songs.

Another track making the short list is the Diane Warren song “Dear Me,” from her documentary Diane Warren: Restless. Warren has been nominated 16 times before, but has never won, although she did receive an honorary Oscar in 2022.

Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 22.

Billy Idol Should Be Dead had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival in June. The film, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, is expected to be released in theaters and on streaming services in early 2026.

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The first-ever video for George Harrison’s classic tune “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” has just been released, directed by Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard.

It took a team of 20 stop-motion artisans to create the stop-motion clip, which is set in the gardens of Friar Park, the Victorian mansion Harrison purchased in 1970. The video is described as “an homage to his love of gardening.”

“To work with the Harrison family and bring this video to life with a team of incredible young Canadian artists has been a great honor,” says Wolfhard. “It’s hard to put into words how grateful I am for this opportunity. George Harrison has and will continue to be a huge inspiration to me, and his work will live on forever.”

Harrison’s son, Dhani Harrison, who was an executive producer on the clip, notes, “Finn is one of the sweetest and most talented people I know of his generation, and he is the perfect person to direct a video for my dad.” He adds, “My dad would have loved this, and I hope his wonderful, creative, heartfelt ideas help this song reach another generation.”

“Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” was the opening track and lead single off Harrison’s 1973 album, Living in the Material World, which went to #1. The song topped the chart as well, becoming Harrison’s second #1 after “My Sweet Lord.”

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Disco queen Donna Summer has been posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Summer, who wrote her hits like “Love to Love You Baby,” “Bad Girls,” “On the Radio” and “She Works Hard for the Money,” was celebrated Monday at a ceremony in West Hollywood, California. Summer’s husband, Bruce Sudano, and their daughters Brooklyn Sudano and Amanda Sudano Ramirez were in attendance.

“It’s important to me because I know how important it was for Donna,” Bruce Sudano said at the ceremony. “The backstory is, with all the accolades that she received over her career, being respected as a songwriter was always the thing that she felt was overlooked. So for her to be accepted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, I know that she’s very happy … somewhere.”

Summer passed away in 2012 at age 63. She sold an estimated 150 million records worldwide and was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

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