Classic Hits

Barry Manilow is such an icon that he doesn’t just make a video: He releases a “music film.”

In this case, it’s for his current single, “Once Before I Go.” Filmed at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, where Manilow does his regular residency, it opens in 1976, as a crowd cheers for Barry and a woman sits in a backstage corridor, dejectedly reading a letter.

The video then cuts back and forth between the woman and Barry in the present day, who keeps imagining her — along with a young girl and a little boy. According to a press release, Barry is portraying “a character who sacrifices a traditional family life to pursue his dream as a performer.”

“Once Before I Go,” whose lyrics reflect the fact that Manilow, 82, has been giving farewell concerts in select U.S. cities, was produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. Manilow’s next run of farewell shows begins Jan. 6 in Sunrise, Florida.

Also in 2026, Manilow is set to receive the President’s Award from the American Advertising Federation, in recognition of the fact that, prior to finding stardom, he produced, composed and sang iconic commercial jingles for brands including State Farm, Band-Aids, Dr. Pepper, KFC and McDonald’s. He later famously performed those songs on his 1977 #1 album Barry Manilow Live, under the title “A Very Strange Medley.”

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On This Day, Nov. 11, 1972 …

Berry Oakley, bassist and founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, was killed in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Georgia. He was 24.

Oakley’s death occurred just three blocks from where fellow Allman Brothers Band member Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident one year prior, on Oct. 29, 1971. Duane also died at the age of 24.

Oakley played in guitarist Dickey Betts‘ band Blues Messengers prior to the 1969 forming of the Allman Brothers Band with guitarists Duane and Dickey, singer and keyboardist Gregg Allman, and drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe Johanson.

Considered by some to be one of the best bass players of all time, Oakley was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 with the Allman Brothers Band.

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Former Yes frontman Jon Anderson has announced a new set of tour dates with his backing band, The Band Geeks.

The 10-show Yes Epics, Classics and More tour will kick off April 17 in Ridgefield, Connecticut, with stops in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, before wrapping May 7 in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Anderson and The Band Geeks released their first album together, True, in August 2024, and songs from the album will be included in the set, along with tracks from the Yes catalog.

Anderson has been touring with The Band Geeks since 2023. They wrapped their most recent U.S. tour in July.

They are currently working on a new album, with plans to release it in the second half of 2026.

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Pop star Charli XCX has released her collaboration with The Velvet Underground’s John Cale.

The song, “House,” is part of the album of music Charli created for Emerald Fennell’s upcoming take on Wuthering Heights.

Charli previously explained in an Instagram Story message that a quote from Cale — “elegant and brutal” — had inspired the sound of her music for the film. She reached out to Cale to see what he thought about the songs, which led to them talking about “House.”

“He recorded something and sent it to me. Something that only John could do,” she said. “And it was… well it made me cry.”

The pair released a video to go with the song, which is set in a dark woods at night, and includes a raven, burning candle wax, and Cale seemingly holding Charli down against her will on a marble altar.

Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, hits theaters Feb. 13, 2026.

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Bonnie Raitt has announced her first tour dates for 2026.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is set to hit the West Coast and Canada, with the tour kicking off May 28 in Spokane, Washington, and wrapping in the U.S. on June 13 in Bellingham, Washington. It will then hit Canada with special guest Jon Cleary, starting June 16 in Vancouver and wrapping June 27 in Winnipeg.

A ticket presale begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

A complete set of dates can be found at BonnieRaitt.com.

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Michael Jackson just landed a new chart record.

Billboard reports that following Halloween, Jackson’s song “Thriller” — which initially peaked at #4 in 1984 — has jumped from #32 to #10 on the Hot 100 singles chart. That makes the late King of Pop the first solo artist ever to hit the top 10 in six different decades: the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, ’10s and ’20s.

Michael has now passed the record set by Andy Williams, who reached the top 10 in five decades, mostly thanks to his holiday hit “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

After reaching the top 10 for the first time in 1969 as a member of the Jackson 5, Michael first hit the top 10 as a solo artist in 1971 with his song “Got to Be There.” Until now, he was last in the top 10 in 2018, as a featured artist on Drake‘s song “Don’t Matter to Me.”

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Bad Company‘s Paul Rodgers couldn’t make it to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday due to health issues, so he’s decided to share his induction speech in a video posted to YouTube.

In the clip, Rodgers recalls that when he was 14 a teacher told his class that most of them, if not all, would wind up working in the steel mills, chemical factories and shipyards of his hometown of Middlesbrough, in northeast England.

“That night, I went to a dance and I heard a record by Little Richard,” he said, “And a whole box of fireworks went off in my head, rockets and all. And I thought to myself, I’m going to follow that music and find out all about it.”

“That’s what I did. I followed that music. Sixty plus years went by in the blink of an eye, and I find myself being inducted into the brotherhood and sisterhood of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with my bandmates Bad Company,” he added.

Rodgers went on to mention his bandmates, and thank the Rock Hall, his wife, family members, managers, artists he’s played with and more.

He also thanked their fans “for enabling us to live our dream,” and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, who signed them to their Swan Song label “for their total support from the start.”

Bad Company’s Rock Hall induction featured an introduction by Mick Fleetwood, and a performance featuring the band’s drummer Simon Kirke, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, The Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson and Bryan Adams.

Highlights from the 2025 Rock Hall induction ceremony will air Jan. 1 on ABC.

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Jon Bon Jovi’s family continues to grow.

The rocker’s son Jesse Bongiovi and wife Jesse Light announced on Instagram Monday that they welcomed their first child.

“Blair Lucy Bongiovi. Our sweet girl has arrived, and we couldn’t be happier,” they wrote, next to a partial photo of the infant. “Welcome to the world, baby Blair bear.”

This is Jon Bon Jovi’s second grandchild. In August, son Jake Bongiovi and his wife, Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown, announced in a joint Instagram post that they had adopted a baby girl.

The 30-year-old Jesse is Jon Bon Jovi’s eldest son. The rocker and wife Dorothea Bongiovi have four children together, daughter Stephanie Bongiovi, 32, and sons Jesse, Jake, 23, and Romeo Bongiovi, 21.

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The Black Crowes and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne are confirmed to play the 2026 Mad Cool Festival, happening July 8-11 in Madrid, Spain.

Both artists are booked to play the final night of the festival, which also features headliner Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Pulp and The National’s Matt Berninger.

The festival’s other headliners include Foo Fighters, Florence + the Machine and Twenty One Pilots, with the lineup also featuring Kings of Leon, Halsey, Dogstar, Lorde, A Perfect Circle, Charlie Puth and more.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Mad Cool. After various presales, tickets go on sale to the general public on Nov. 20.

A complete lineup can be found at madcoolfestival.es.

Byrne is currently on tour in support of his latest album, Who is the Sky?, and is set to play three nights in Seattle starting Tuesday.

The Black Crowes will release a super-deluxe box set of their third studio album, Amorica, on Friday. They also just announced a tour of Australia that kicks off April 3 in Melbourne and includes an appearance at the Byron Bay Bluesfest. 

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Freddie Mercury’s debut solo album, Mr Bad Guy, is being reissued in celebration of its 40th anniversary.

The album will be released Dec. 5 on 180 gram translucent green vinyl featuring a 2019 mix by Queen’s longtime sound team, Justin Shirley-Smith and Joshua J. Macrae. The mix originally appeared on the Mercury box set Never Boring. The album will also be reissued on picture disc.

“We went back to the original multi-track tapes,” Shirley-Smith says. “It’s a great collection of songs and Freddie’s vocal performance is absolutely extraordinary.”

He adds, “The idea wasn’t to try to make it sound like they would make it now, it was to make it sound like it would have then if they’d had better technology and more time. And of course, it’s a massive honor to work on anything Freddie did, and we always treat it with the utmost respect.”

Originally released in April 1985 during a Queen hiatus, Mr Bad Guy was made up of 11 songs written by Mercury, featuring more of a dance-pop sound than the music he recorded with Queen.

“I had a lot of ideas bursting to get out and there were a lot of musical territories I wanted to explore which I really couldn’t do within Queen,” Mercury said at the time.

Although not a hit in America, the album hit #6 in the U.K. The lead single, “I Was Born to Love You,” was later reworked by Queen after Mercury’s 1991 death and appeared on their 1995 album Made in Heaven, which was their 15th and final studio album.

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