Classic Hits

Ray Manzarek, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors, passed away at the age of 74. Earlier in the year, the rocker had been diagnosed with a rare form of bile duct cancer.

Manzarek co-founded The Doors with Jim Morrison in July 1965. Drummer John Densmore joined in August of that year, followed by guitarist Robby Krieger.

The band released their self-titled debut in January 1967, containing future classics “Light My Fire” and “Break On Through (To The Other Side).”  “Light My Fire” has since been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, with the album chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2015.

The Doors went on to sell over 34 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Manzarek released his memoir, Light My Fire: My Life with the Doors, in 1998.

The Doors are in the midst of celebrating their 60th anniversary, which has included the first-ever digital releases of live recordings, as well as their first official book, Night Divides The Day: The Doors Anthology.

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Steve Miller will be receiving an award named after late, legendary guitar pioneer Les Paul, which is appropriate, considering that Miller was Paul’s godson.

On June 9 in Nashville, The Les Paul Foundation will present Miller with the Les Paul Spirit Award, in partnership with Gibson Gives, the charity division of the Gibson guitar company. The event will take place on what would have been Les Paul’s 110th birthday.

The award is presented to someone who “exemplifies the spirit of the late, great Les Paul through innovation, engineering, technology and/or music.” The award comes with a grant to the honoree’s charity of choice from The Les Paul Foundation.

Growing up in Milwaukee, Miller’s parents were very close with Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford, who were frequent visitors to their home. Paul became Miller’s godfather, and encouraged him to pursue guitar after he heard six-year-old Steve playing on a recording his father had made.

“They had a very unique relationship which Les cherished,” says Michael Braunstein, the executive director of The Les Paul Foundation. “If Les were still alive today, Steve and he would be jamming at his house regularly. I am personally thrilled to be able to present Steve with this award because I know he exemplifies everything Les was about and wanted to accomplish.”

Meanwhile, The Steve Miller Band will kick off a run of shows Aug. 15 in Bethel, New York.

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It was announced in March that KISS‘ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley would be performing together at the convention-like event KISS Army Storms Las Vegas, but Simmons says people are getting the wrong idea about what it is.

“There’s a mistaken notion that KISS is having a big Vegas event,” Simmons tells ABC Audio. “This [event] is completely because of the fans. … And we are going along for the celebration.”

In addition to Simmons and Stanley, KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer will be there, along with former KISS member Bruce Kulick and other acts. There could even be other members of KISS.

Simmons shares, “We’ve invited Ace and Peter, we don’t know if they’re going to attend or send greetings or anything,” referring founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

Simmons stresses the performance they’ll be putting on is “not a KISS show,” saying it’s going to be “more conversational, like we were in their garage, at a local place … so it’s much more intimate.”

“I make the distinction because we promised … once we put on the last shows here in New York City at Madison Square Garden, afterwards we said we will never do a KISS show ever again,” Simmons explains.

He says they made their decision to stop touring, “Because you’ve got to have self-respect when you’re the champion of the world, and when you’ve been there and done that, go out when you are on top.”

KISS Army Storms Las Vegas will take place Nov. 14-16 at the Virgin Hotels. While Simmons and Stanley’s unmasked performance won’t be a KISS show, it will be the first time they’ve performed together since KISS’ final concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden in December 2023.

More info on KISS Army Storms Las Vegas can be found at kissarmystormsvegas.com.

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In his classic song “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” Elton John sang, “Now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City.” But London is another story.

An Elton John-branded rose will make its debut May 20 at London’s Chelsea Flower Show, organized by the Royal Horticultural Society, the U.K.’s leading gardening charity. The flower, created by Harkness Roses, is a hybrid tea rose with a pearly pink hue that intensifies to a cherry color.

For every potted rose bush sold, Harkness Roses will donate about $6.70 to The Elton John AIDS Foundation.

The rose is just one of many ways that Elton has raised money for his AIDS Foundation over the years. He’s also teamed with department stores, candle companies and makeup brands for special collections, and auctioned off his own belongings multiple times to benefit the charity. The proceeds from his 2021 Christmas single with Ed Sheeran also went to the foundation, and of course, his annual Oscar viewing party has raised millions for the cause over the years.

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A sculpture of Jim Morrison, which went missing from his Paris gravesite in 1988, has been found.

French police found the marble bust of the singer while carrying out a search in an unrelated fraud case. A photo on Instagram shows the sculpture much as it appeared when it disappeared: It’s covered in graffiti and is missing a piece of its nose.

According to the U.K. paper The Guardian, the sculpture was carved by a Croatian artist and placed on Morrison’s grave at Paris’ Père-Lachaise cemetery in 1981. Morrison died in Paris in 1971 at the age of 27.

As for who originally stole the bust, that’s never been determined, though there had been reports that two fans carried it away on a moped in the dead of night. In 1994, a Utah man and his nephew were arrested at the cemetery for trying to attach a bronze replica of the bust to Morrison’s headstone.

On Monday, the curator of the cemetery told a French paper that he wasn’t sure whether or not the bust will be returned. Morrison’s grave is the most visited at the famed cemetery, which contains 70,000 tombs. Years ago, a security guard had to be hired to stop visitors from smoking pot and even reportedly having sex at the grave.

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Whitney Houston — or at least, the late icon’s voice — is going on tour this fall.

The Voice of Whitney: A Symphonic Celebration pairs original and remastered recordings of Whitney’s vocals set to new arrangements performed by a live orchestra, with never-before-seen video footage and interviews, along with footage of some of her historic performances.

The show has already been performed several times in locations such as Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City. This new tour will start Sept. 20 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and then continue in venues around the country, with more dates to be announced for this year and for 2026. Visit WhitneyHouston.com for full details.

The tour is part of a yearlong celebration marking Whitney’s 40th anniversary as a recording artist. Pat Houston, the executor of Whitney’s estate, says in a statement, “There’s so much excitement happening around this tour, even the discussions and plans to take the tour internationally … [it’s] a unique concert experience and she narrates the entire concert.”

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The Beach Boys‘ latest tour, The Sounds of Summer, has them fully booked through September, but they’ve just added three new shows in October.

The group will perform at The Venetian Theater at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on Oct. 1, Oct. 3 and Oct. 4. Tickets go on sale May 23 at 10 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster.com, VenetianLasVegas.com, or by calling 866.641.7469.

A Citi presale starts May 20 at 10 a.m. PT via citientertainment.com. Other presales will run throughout the week.

Among the legendary group’s dates in 2025 is an appearance at Riot Fest, taking place Sept. 19-21 in Chicago. The unlikely gig will find them sharing a bill with Weezer, the Sex Pistols and Jack White.

Meanwhile, Beach Boys frontman Mike Love will be honored at the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame induction gala in New York City on June 12.

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After Bruce Springsteen denounced President Donald Trump onstage in the U.K., Trump fired back on Truth Social, warning The Boss to “KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country.”  Now, Trump is calling for an investigation into Springsteen’s support of Kamala Harris, as well as the support of other celebrities.

According to Rolling Stone, on Saturday at his second concert in Manchester, England, Springsteen once again criticized Trump from the stage, saying, “In America, my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now.”

On Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social, “HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? …AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO??? I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter.”

He then accused Harris of paying celebrities for endorsements, adding, “IT’S NOT LEGAL!”

Celebrities who endorsed Harris have denied claims that they were offered money to do so.

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On This Day, May 19, 1986 …

Former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel released his fifth solo album, So, produced by Daniel Lanois.

The album became Gabriel’s biggest commercial success, moving over 5 million copies in the U.S. and peaking at #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.

So featured the #1 song “Sledgehammer,” as well as hits like “Big Time,” “In Your Eyes” and “Don’t Give Up” with Kate Bush.

“Sledgehammer” earned Gabriel three Grammy Award nominations — for best male rock vocal performance, record of the year and song of the year. Its innovative video won nine MTV Video Music Awards, including video of the year.

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The Who has announced who’ll be opening up for them on The Song Is Over tour.

The eclectic lineup of special guests who’ll appear on various dates include Billy Idol, Candlebox, Billy Bob Thornton — yes, that Billy Bob Thornton — and his band The Boxmasters, Booker T. Jones, Tom Cochrane, Feist, Joe Bonamassa, and The Joe Perry Project, whose lineup includes Perry’s Aerosmith bandmate Brad Whitford, The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson and Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots.

The Who has also added a second night in Chicago, set for Sept. 9. Presale tickets through Citi and the Who Fan Club start May 20; tickets go on sale to the general public May 23 at 10 a.m. local time at thewho.com/tour/. 

Today, Monday, marks Who guitarist Pete Townshend‘s 80th birthday. Over the weekend, Townshend announced on Instagram that longtime drummer Zak Starkey wouldn’t be part of the upcoming tour; Starkey then confirmed he’d been sacked. Some fans expressed dismay that this announcement wasn’t made prior to tickets going on sale.

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