Bono on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’/(Disney/Randy Holmes)
Documentaries about Led Zeppelin, Billy Joel and U2 frontman Bono are among the films recognized with nominations for the 10th annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards.
The theatrical release Becoming Led Zeppelin, HBO’s Billy Joel: And So It Goes and Apple TV’s Bono: Stories of Surrender all received nods in the best music documentary category. The Jeff Buckley doc It’s Never Over Jeff Buckley and two films directed by Questlove, Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music and Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), about the late Sly Stone, were also nominated.
A documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono was also recognized with a nomination. The film, One to One: John & Yoko, is nominated in the best archival documentary category.
Winners of the 10th annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards will be revealed on Nov. 9 at a gala in New York City.
Billy Joel performs at Allegiant Stadium on November 09, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Billy Joel will be celebrated with an upcoming tribute concert in New York City.
The Piano Man is the latest focus of New York City entrepreneur Michael Dorf’s annual “Music Of” concert series, with the Joel tribute set for March 21 at Carnegie Hall.
The Music of Billy Joel will feature 20 artists performing songs from Joel’s legendary catalog, with 100% of the net proceeds going to music education for underserved youth programs.
The Joel concert will be the 21st “Music Of” tribute put on by Dorf. Since the series launched in 2004, the concerts have raised over $2 million for charity.
Last year’s honoree was Patti Smith, with previous concerts celebrating the music of Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, R.E.M., Crosby, Stills & Nash and more.
A lineup for the concert has yet to be announced. VIP tickets are on sale at musicof.org.
Cover of the Doors’ Live at the Aquarius Theatre: The First Performance/(Analogue Productions/Acoustic Sounds))
A classic live album from TheDoors is getting a new vinyl reissue.
Live at the Aquarius Theatre: The First Performance is being released on Nov. 21 as a 180-gram three-LP vinyl set, which includes the 2016 mix of the album by Doors engineer Bruce Botnick, taken from the original eight-track analog masters, resulting in a new high-fidelity experience.
The album, originally released in 2006, captures the band’s July 21, 1969, concert at the intimate Aquarius Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. It features performances of such Doors classics as “Break on Through,” “Light My Fire” and more.
In addition to the album, the set includes sound check recordings, liner notes and more.
“The new mix is a revelation,” Botnick says. “The resulting clarity gives this concert new life – and as a bonus, side six features material from the soundcheck that preceded the show.”
Live at the Aquarius Theatre: The First Performance is limited to 2,000 numbered copies and is available for preorder now.
Boy George & Culture Club Las Vegas artwork/(Courtesy of Live Nation)
Boy George & Culture Club are the latest artists headed to Las Vegas.
The “Karma Chameleon” singers have booked a six-night limited engagement at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, taking place in March 2026.
A Citi presale for tickets begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT, with additional presales running throughout the week. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
The last time Boy George & Culture Club played Las Vegas was back in 2023.
Culture Club is the subject of the documentary Boy George & Culture Club, which premiered in June at the Tribeca Festival. Boy George is also set to appear in the new holiday movie Christmas Karma, in which he’ll be playing The Ghost of Christmas Future. The film, from Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha, hits theaters Nov. 14.
The Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers documentary, Runnin’ Down a Dream, debuted at the New York Film Festival.
The four-hour documentary, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, gave insight into the history of the band from its early days as Mudcrutch, to its 30th anniversary concert at the University of Gainesville in Petty’s Florida hometown. It also touched upon Petty’s solo career and his work with the Traveling Wilburys.
The film featured archival footage, as well as interviews with fellow musicians such as George Harrison, Stevie Nicks, Jeff Lynne, Jackson Browne, Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl.
The doc was originally released as a four-disc box set that included not only the movie, but a disc featuring the 30th anniversary concert and a disc of rare tracks.
Cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition’ /(Sony Music)
Bruce Springsteen is set to release the Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition box set, which includes the long-rumored Electric Nebraska. While the recording is something fans have speculated about for years, up until recently Springsteen didn’t know it existed.
“I was taken aback when I found out Electric Nebraska was something real, that we’d gone as far as we had,” he says in a new interview in Mojo. “But we went back and found the tapes, and it was a bit of a shock. It was a surprise to me. And I think it’ll be a surprise to fans.”
Springsteen says fans shouldn’t expect the songs to be full E Street Band takes on the acoustic Nebraska songs.
“For most of the electric versions, we cut the band down to three pieces. And they were just howling. It’s this very primitive sort of rock ’n’ roll,” Springsteen says. “When I went back and listened to it, I was shocked to find that that’s the way that I approached it at that particular moment.”
And while Springsteen chose to release acoustic songs that he recorded on cassette tape, he says it wasn’t necessarily because the electric ones were bad.
“There’s no way to fully and completely understand why one recording seems to be speaking in the right tongue and another isn’t,” he says. “Were they better than the electric versions? That wasn’t even the question. The bedroom recordings did something for me that no other version of the songs seemed to be doing. That was the only measure I could go by.”
Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones performs onstage at SoFi Stadium on July 13, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Mick Jagger has a very unique way of recording music, according Andrew Watt. He produced The Rolling Stones‘last album, 2023’s Hackney Diamonds.
Watt tells People that the more Jagger sings, the more clothes come off.
“Something that I find really funny when he sings … He comes in every day and he’s wearing a T-shirt, a button-down and a cashmere sweater every day, even if it’s hot,” Watt explains. “As he starts singing, and it starts getting good, the layers start shedding. So, he pulls his sweater off, and he starts unbuttoning his shirt and shedding layers.”
Watt says, “By the time he’s in his T-shirt, he’s full-blown Mick Jagger dancing, singing his a** off. So it’s my job to get him down to the T-shirt pretty much.”
And Watt is apparently good at that job. Hackney Diamonds went on earn The Stones a Grammy for best rock album. Plus, Watt has already confirmed that he’s working with the band on their next release.
In a September interview with Rolling Stone he said, “I’ve said it before, but it’s like working for Batman. When the tongue is up in the air, you just go. … I can say we did some recording together, but that’s all I can say.”
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Las Vegas admat/(Courtesy of Live Nation)
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts are returning to Las Vegas.
After a successful run of dates at the House of Blues Las Vegas back in June, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will return to the venue, inside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, in 2026 with five new dates: Feb. 13, 14, 18, 20 and 21.
A Citi presale begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT, followed by a fan presale starting Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
A complete list of dates can be found at JoanJett.com.
In other Joan Jett news … the rocker is paying tribute a former member of the Blackhearts, drummer Thommy Price, who passed away at the age of 68. His death was announced by his wife on Facebook.
“We lost a member of the Blackheart family- the one of a kind Thommy Price,” Jett wrote on Instagram alongside video of him performing. “Thommy was a legendary drummer who was a Blackheart for 4 decades. He was a drummer’s drummer and admired by so many. Our hearts are heavy. Sending love to his beautiful family. We love you Thommy.”
Neil Diamond, Inspirational Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, is seen onstage during the 39th Annual Carousel Ball at Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center on October 11, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Tom Cooper/Getty Images for 39th Annual Carousel Ball)
Neil Diamond was honored with the Inspirational Lifetime Achievement Award at Saturday’s 39th annual Carousel Ball, which took place in Denver.
The event celebrates the work of the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes and raised over $2 million for the Children’s Diabetes Fund. The award honored Diamond for his “incredible service and dedication to the BDC and the role he has played in advancing type 1 diabetes care and clinical research.”
“I’ve been through it all now, and I’m still coming back for more,” said Diamond. “I’m proud to be a champion for this cause and grateful to be part of a night that brings hope to so many. Thank you, thank you and thank you.”
Actor Hugh Jackman, who stars alongside Kate Hudson in the new movie Song SungBlue, about a couple in a Neil Diamond tribute band, offered up video congratulations to Diamond.
“I’m thrilled you’re getting this award, because you are inspirational — not just through your music and creativity, but through your heart and your generosity,” Jackman said.
He added, “As a performer myself, you inspire me every single day. The way you connect with audiences, the way you connect to your music, the authenticity of who you are, it’s everything to me.”
The night included a Diamond performance. The singer, who in 2018 retired from touring after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, was joined by Nick Fradini, who played him in The Neil Diamond Musical: A Beautiful Noise, for a performance of Diamond’s 1969 hit “Sweet Caroline.”
Kelly Hansen of Foreigner performs on the Renegades & Juke Box Heroes Tour at Toyota Pavilion at Concord on July 01, 2024 in Concord, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images)
Kelly Hansen played his final show with Foreigner Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Fan-shot footage posted to YouTube shows a tearful Hansen thanking the band’s crew, his manager, his friends and, of course, the fans.
“If I could even string together the number of times that I’ve had experiences with fans — or, I don’t like to call you guys fans, I like to call you guys people who love music, appreciate music, you know,” he said. “My whole life since I was 17, it’s been great people who come to shows, thank you for that.”
“Thank you all for all of your support,” he added. “I’ve been in this business I think about 48, 49 years. I’ve put in my time. I spent 20 years with this fantastic band singing a catalog of songs that a singer couldn’t dream of. And thank you.”
The band then began their encore, with Kelly telling the crowd, “Now we have one last job to do. You guys need to be members of the band,” before launching into their #1 hit “I Want To Know What Love Is.”
Hansen joined Foreigner in 2005, following Lou Gramm’s departure in 2003. Foreigner guitarist Luis Maldonado will be taking over frontman duties when they launch a Canadian tour Oct. 21 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. A complete list of Foreigner dates can be found at Foreigneronline.com.
