Classic Hits

Elton John’s documentary Never Too Late and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown have received multiple nominations at this year’s Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

The HMMAs recognize musical achievements in the movies in multiple categories, including documentaries, features, songs, on-screen performances and more.

Elton’s documentary, which will debut on Disney+ on Dec. 13, is nominated for Music Documentary – Special Program. Some of the other nominees include The Greatest Night in Pop, about the making of the all-star charity song “We Are the World”; and One to One: John and Yoko, which documents the couple’s move to New York City in the ’70s and their subsequent musical performances there.

In the category of Song – Documentary Film, the track “Never Too Late,” which is performed by Elton John and Brandi Carlile in the documentary, is nominated.

A Complete Unknown is nominated in the category of Music Themed Film, Biopic or Musical, where its competition includes Wicked, Bob Marley: One Love and the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black.

In the category of Song – Onscreen Performance (Film), Timothée Chalamet, who’s playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, is nominated for his onscreen performance of “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

The HMMA Awards will be held Nov. 20. As previously reported, Elton’s lyricist Bernie Taupin will receive the Outstanding Career Achievement Award.

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After canceling his live dates in September due to what he called an “urgent heart condition,” Dave Mason has now given fans a major health update.

On Instagram, the ex-Traffic rocker reveals that he’s going to have heart valve replacement surgery on Nov. 11. He says specifically, he’ll be having a kind of surgery called TAVR, or transcatheter aortic valve replacement. It’s a minimally invasive procedure that Mason points out has already yielded great results in another rock legend.

“Mick Jagger has had the same surgery, and we’ve all been lucky to have him continue to entertain us,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer writes. “They say I should feel significantly better in 30 days, and fully rocking in 90, given a smooth operation.”

Mason says that he and his wife are “looking forward to getting my health back and feeling better than I have in quite a while.” He adds, “We’re feeling great about the future. Music is my life, and it means the world to me to be able to share it with you … I’ll update you all again soon. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other.”

The 78-year-old Mason, who recently released his memoir, Only You Know and I Know, originally had dates booked through Oct. 12 on his Traffic Jam 2024 tour.  When he canceled in September, he said that “doctors detected a serious heart condition during a routine appointment that requires immediate medical attention.”

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Jackson 5 member Tito Jackson has been laid to rest at the same cemetery where his brother Michael Jackson is buried.

According to the Associated Press, Tito was buried Nov. 4 in a private ceremony at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. In addition to Michael, who died in 2009, Jackson patriarch Joe Jackson, who died in 2018, is also buried there.

Tito’s siblings La Toya and Marlon Jackson attended the ceremony, as did Michael’s children Paris and Bigi, aka Blanket.

Tito’s sons announced his death on Sept. 16. He was 70. His final show was with the Jacksons on Sept. 10, 2024 in Munich, Germany.

Tito was the third eldest of the nine Jackson siblings. He’s survived by Jackson matriarch Katherine, 94, and siblings Janet, Jermaine, Randy, Marlon, Jackie, Rebbie and La Toya.  

After Tito’s death, Janet wrote on an Instagram Story, “May you rest in eternal peace. I will miss you so much.”

On Oct. 15, which would have been Tito’s 71st birthday, his three sons wrote on Instagram, “His presence will always be deeply missed, but his music, kindness, and love will forever live on in our hearts. Tito brought so much joy to the world, both as a member of The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons, and as an amazing father, brother, son, uncle and friend who touched the lives of many.”

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On This Day, Nov. 6, 1993 …

Meat Loaf scored his one and only #1 song with the track “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),” from his multi-Platinum album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, the sequel to his 1977 debut, Bat Out Of Hell.

The track, written by Jim Steinman, who penned Meat Loaf’s other classic tunes “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” featured singer Lorraine Crosby and had an album run time of over 12 minutes.

The song went to #1 in 28 countries and was certified Platinum in the United States. It also earned Meat Loaf a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo.

The song’s lyric “I’d do anything for love, but I won’t do that” left fans wondering what the “that” was, with Meat Loaf saying it was one of the most common questions he was asked. He later explained it was just a repetition of the things he said he’d never do earlier in the song.

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New documentary The Session Man about the late rock keyboardist Nicky Hopkins is out now on Prime Video, giving fans insight into the famed musician who played on records by The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and more.

The film features interviews with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, as well as The Kinks’ Dave Davies, The Who’s Pete Townshend and Peter Frampton, who met Hopkins when he was hired to play guitar on Harry Nilsson‘s album Son of Schmilsson. 

“Nicky and I hit it off straight away,” Frampton tells ABC Audio. “I mean, he was a gentle soul, a gentle man, and very much so. And that shows in his emotional playing.”

Newly minted rock & Roll Hall of Famer Frampton thinks Hopkins deserves to be in the Rock Hall as well, especially when you consider his body of work. He played on The Beatles’ “Revolution,” as well as the Stones’ Exile on Main St. and Let It Bleed; The Who’s Who’s Next; The Kinks’ Face to Face; and John Lennon‘s Imagine. He played on 250 albums in all.

“[Do] you know the list of people he played with?” says Frampton. “It’s incredible who he didn’t play with!”

When it comes to the many classics Hopkins played on, Frampton says you can really get the feel for who he was as an artist by listening to his work on Joe Cocker’s top five hit, “You Are So Beautiful.”

“I mean, it’s just Joe and him playing piano,” Frampton says. “And it’s an incredible piece of piano playing. So he was definitely a genius. Didn’t realize it.”

He adds, “You know, I’m sure he knew he was good. But that was the beautiful thing about him. He was always so modest and that’s why I was a friend of his.”

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Michael, the biopic about King of Pop Michael Jackson, will now arrive in theaters next fall — about six months after its initial release date.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film, which has the support of MJ’s estate, will now open on Oct. 3, 2025. Its initial release date was April 18, and there’s no word on the reason for the delay.

Michael stars Michael’s nephew Jafaar Jackson as his late uncle, and the cast also includes Colman Domingo, Miles Teller and Nia Long. It’s being directed by Antoine Fuqua, who gave us Training Day, the Equalizer trilogy and Olympus Has Fallen.

Fun fact: In addition to being an acclaimed director, Fuqua is the nephew of Harvey Fuqua, a songwriter and executive at Michael’s former label, Motown.

According to a synopsis, the film will cover Michael’s “human side,” including his “personal struggles,” as well as his “undeniable creative genius.”

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A North Carolina town is honoring the Queen of Christmas.

Cary, North Carolina, changed its name for one day to honor Mariah Carey. The town’s mayor, Harold Weinbrecht, announced on the local radio station Mix 101.5 that on Nov. 1 the town would be renamed Carey in honor of the singer.

“It’s tiiiiimmmmeeee!” the town of Cary wrote on its official Instagram. “In honor of @mariahcarey and the holiday magic that she brings each year, Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht has proclaimed this morning on @mix1015wralfm that on November 1, 2024, Cary in the state of North Carolina shall be spelled C-A-R-E-Y for ‘One Sweet Day.'”

In a video shared to Instagram, a woman adds an “E” to the town’s sign, changing it from “Cary” to “Carey.” The picture carousel also included photos of Weinbrecht posing with the official proclamation.

“All are invited to Downtown Carey—no matter our spelling—to experience our enchanting light displays and take part in memorable events through the new year, because all we want for Christmas—and every holiday this season—is to celebrate together, with love in our hearts and joy in our community,” the caption continued.

Mariah commented on the post, “This is amazing!!! I’m so honored!! Can’t wait to be in North Carolina next month!!”

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In October, Pink Floyd sold the rights to their recorded works to Sony Music for a reported $400 million. And guitarist David Gilmour says he’s glad to be done with it — so he doesn’t have to fight with his bandmates anymore.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Gilmour, 78, says, “I’m an old person. I’ve spent the last 40-odd years trying to fight the good fight against the forces of indolence and greed to do the best with our stuff that you can do. And I’ve given that fight up now.”

“I’ve got my advance — because, you know, it’s not fresh new money or anything like that. It’s an advance against what I would have earned over the next few years anyway,” he continues. “But the arguments and fighting and idiocies that have been going on for the last 40 years between these four disparate groups of people and their managers and whatever — it’s lovely to say goodbye to.”

Gilmour and Pink Floyd bassist/vocalist Roger Waters have famously been at odds for several years. The rest of the “four groups of people” Gilmour is referring to are presumably drummer Nick Mason and his camp, and late keyboard player Rick Wright, who died in 2008 but was involved in nearly all the group’s recordings.

The estate of founding member Syd Barrett, who was ejected from the group in 1968 and died in 2006, also benefited from the deal, though he wasn’t involved in the 40 years of “arguments and fighting.”

Gilmour, currently touring behind his album Luck and Strange, further tells the paper that he’s retained his publishing rights, so he doesn’t really care what Sony does with the band’s classic recordings: “If it comes on an advert, I’m not gonna give a s***.”

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Robert Plant is rich enough to take a private plane wherever he wants to go, but evidently he prefers to take the train — if you believe a new ad for Italy’s Trenitalia rail service.

Plant is currently touring Europe with his acoustic band Saving Grace, which features Suzy Dian. According to Classic Rock magazine, when they were in Italy they made the promotional film for Trenitalia’s new “Red Arrow” high-speed service, which reaches speeds up to 186 mph.

Called Welcome aboard, Robert Plant!, the film is set to Plant and Saving Grace’s cover of “Everybody’s Song” by the band Low. It shows Plant and Dian traveling between Naples and Venice — a 435-mile journey that takes five hours — in luxurious surroundings on the Red Arrow. It ends with them arriving and then performing live in concert.

The tagline is, “When a rock legend chooses Red Arrow to get to his concerts, the journey becomes music.”

Plant and Saving Grace are currently on the U.K. leg of their tour, which wraps up Nov. 24. They have more European dates scheduled for next year, starting in May.

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Mariah Carey wants you to know it’s time to celebrate Christmas.

The singer has teamed up with Amazon Music to release brand-new holiday decor and tour merchandise in support of her 2024 Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time tour and the 30-year anniversary of her classic hit, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

You can deck the halls with new holiday decor, such as ornaments, tree skirts, wrapping paper, candlesticks, snow globes, a robe and slippers and, to top it all off, a 12-foot inflatable lawn decoration featuring Mariah on a sleigh being pulled by three reindeer. There’s also a festive stocking that fans can purchase online or at all stops of the Mariah Carey Christmas Time tour.

As for the tour merchandise collection, fans can purchase T-shirts, jackets, hoodies, earmuffs and scarves with all new designs and imagery. There’s also a bedazzled tumbler. All of the merch is available online and in venue at every stop of the tour, which begins on Nov. 6 in Highland, California.

“IT’S TIME (!!!) to launch my new decor and merch collection with Amazon Music to ring in the holidays,” Mariah said in a press release. “This collection lets you festivate in style with luxurious pieces like my cozy Christmas robe, sparkling ornaments, beautiful tree skirts, and even a life-sized Mariah Carey inflatable. I hope my fans are going to love the ‘Christmas Time’ tour merch and I can’t wait to see them decked out in it at the shows!”

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