Classic Hits

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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Billy Joel is going to be the focus of New York City entrepreneur Michael Dorf’s annual Music Of concert series, and the lineup of artists celebrating Joel has just been announced.

This year’s concert is March 12 at Carnegie Hall, with a lineup that includes Joel’s daughter Alexa Ray Joel, Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas, Train’s Pat Monahan, Gavin DeGraw, OAR’s Marc Roberge, Matt Nathanson, country star Tanya Tucker, Americana artists The War and Treaty and Mary Chapin Carpenter and singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright, with more artists to be announced.

Joel’s eight-piece touring band will also be on hand for the celebration, serving as the evening’s house band.

For the first time ever, the show completely sold out before the lineup of artists was announced. Tickets remain for a live rehearsal show at City Winery on March 11.

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.

This year’s honoree was Patti Smith, with previous concerts celebrating the music of Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, Prince, R.E.M., Crosby, Stills & Nash and more.

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Items from The Beatles, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan and more are part of a new Marvels of Modern Music auction being put on by RR Auctions.

Among the highlights of the auction is an extremely rare EMI mono acetate pressing of The Beatles’ track “Please Please Me,” which was cut at Abbey Road Studios. There’s also an acetate of an unreleased version of “She’s a Woman,” which, according to the description, “offers a rare window into The Beatles’ studio experimentation at the height of Beatlemania.”

Other items in the auction include Ringo’s 1964 Gold record for A Hard Day’s Night; a vintage pressing of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, signed by Ringo, Paul McCartney and George Harrison; a Bob Dylan mixed media painting, Side Tracks; and a signed 1968 document by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

More info on the auction, which closes on Thursday, can be found at rrauction.com.

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If all you want for Christmas is an item used by Mariah Carey, luck may be on your side. The singer, who is the MusiCares Person of the Year, has launched a charity auction in partnership with the nonprofit and Julien’s Auctions.

Up for auction on Feb. 1, 2026, will be a pink 1950s-style Thunderbird convertible used as a prop during Mariah’s performance of “Dreamlover” at her Number 1 to Infinity Las Vegas residency. The car is estimated to sell for anywhere between $6,000 and $8,000.

Also used during the same Vegas run is the gold jet ski Mariah entered in to perform her 1997 song “Honey.” It’s projected to go for up to $2,000.

The residency at The Colosseum at Caesars in Las Vegas ran from May 2015 to May 2017. Other items up for sale will be announced at a later date.

The Julien’s MusiCares Charity Relief Auction will take place Feb. 1, 2026, two days after MusiCares’ 35th annual Person of the Year benefit gala, where Mariah will be honored as the Person of the Year. The auction will run from 11 a.m. PT to 1 p.m. PT via juliensauctions.com and the Recording Academy in Santa Monica, California. 

Proceeds will “help industry professionals recover from emergencies, including hardships brought on by the wildfires earlier this year,” as well as “disaster relief, mental health services, addiction recovery programs, and essential living expenses for music people and their families,” according to a press release.

Fans must register for access to participate; registration is available online via the Julien’s Auctions website and in person on the day of the event.

Bids can be placed online, over the phone, in person or via an absentee bid.

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