Classic Hits

Elton John is offering up some Christmas cheer with the release of a new video for his classic holiday track “Step Into Christmas.”

The new video features model/actress Cara Delevingne as Elton and reimagines the behind-the-scenes action during the making of the original ’70s video as his team attempts to make the clip “Christmassy enough.”

Elton says the idea to work with Cara came after he saw her at Glastonbury last summer.

“She’s hilarious to spend time with; we both have quite a self-deprecating sense of humor,” Elton shares. “When someone suggested the idea of her playing me in a riff on the 1973 ‘Step Into Christmas’ video, I just thought it was the perfect opportunity. Thank God Cara thought the same because it came out great.”

Cara adds that being asked to play Elton “was a dream that I didn’t know I had until it happened,” noting, “Honestly, I wish I could pretend to be Elton every day. I hope that Elton may one day return the favor and agree to play me in my not-yet-developed, written, pitched, or funded biopic. Fingers crossed.”

Released in November 1973, “Step Into Christmas” hit #1 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart and has subsequently spent 44 weeks on the Billboard Holiday Airplay chart.

In other Elton news … “Never Too Late,” the song featured in his Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, has been nominated for a 2025 SCL Award, handed out by the Society of Composers & Lyricists. The song, written by Elton, Brandi Carlile, Bernie Taupin and producer Andrew Watt, is nominated in the Outstanding Original Song for a Dramatic or Documentary Visual Media Production category.

Winners will be announced at the SCL’s sixth annual awards ceremony Feb. 12 in Los Angeles.

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Janet Jackson and her fans in Cincinnati will be “Together Again” in the summer of 2025. The singer is set to appear at the Cincinnati Music Festival, taking place in July, where she’ll perform her hits as a headliner.

Also on the lineup are Earth, Wind & Fire and Anthony Hamilton, with the rest of the artists to be announced later. Frankie Beverly, who passed away in September, will be honored with a special tribute.

“The Cincinnati Music Festival has become a cornerstone of our city’s annual entertainment schedule, and we’re thrilled to bring this incredible lineup to Paycor Stadium in 2025,” Joe Santangelo, producer of the Cincinnati Music Festival, said in a statement, per The Cincinnati Enquirer. “Beyond the unforgettable performances, CMF continues to drive significant economic growth, bringing millions of dollars into the region while celebrating music and culture.”

The music festival will take place July 24 to July 26 at the Paycor Stadium.

Before that, Janet will go to Sin City for a residency starting Dec. 30. Her shows at the Resorts World Las Vegas will wrap up on Feb. 15.

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The Beatles’ final song “Now and Then” is nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year and Ringo Starr is hoping they win.

“I’d love to win a Grammy,” Ringo tells Music Week. “That’s the business I’m in – and the track is good. The last track ever by the boys.” 

The song used vocals John Lennon recorded on a demo in the late ’70s, along with guitar the late George Harrison recorded in the mid-’90s, and new recordings from Paul McCartney and Ringo.

Ringo says it was McCartney who decided to revisit the track, using new AI technology to clean up Lennon and Harrison’s contributions, and says “he did a great job.”

“He put the strings on and the lead guitar that gave the track its emotion,” Ringo says. “It worked out really great and let’s hope for a Grammy. We’ll see; a lot of people are up for Grammys.”

But just because AI worked for them doesn’t mean Ringo is totally embracing it. 

“We’re all a bit afraid of it, because it can steal you,” he said. “Anyone who knows how to use it can steal you. If they just play any five of my songs into the computer, AI gets all of it and knows my every vocal move. They can have me sing anything and it will sound like me, because it’s taken from my personality.” 

“But the good side is the way we used it on ‘Now And Then.’ God knows where it’s going to go,” he added. “We’re all worrying about it, but nobody’s really stolen anything yet.”

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When Elton John told ABC’s Good Morning America a few weeks ago that because he’d lost the sight in one eye he was having a hard time making new music, he sounded kind of gloomy about it. But addressing the same question on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Dec. 17, he seemed much more positive.

“I’ve never been healthier,” Elton told Colbert. “I have a little problem with the eyes, but compared to most people, I’m the luckiest man in the world, so I’m very, very happy with everything.”

When Colbert asked Elton if “the juices were flowing again” and if we’d be getting new music from him, Elton said, “You will be getting some more.”

“The juices have never dried up. They never want to dry up because I’m always looking to create things. It’s just having the space now to do it on my own time,” he added. “Of course there will be new Elton John music.”

He also noted that “it’s the most fantastic thing in the world” to know that he doesn’t have to go out on another world tour ever again.

Elton’s current new music is his song “Never Too Late,” which he co-wrote with his pal Brandi Carlile for his Disney+ documentary of the same name. It was recently short-listed for an Oscar nomination. 

When Colbert asked Elton to name his five favorite Elton John songs, Elton cracked, “Not f****** ‘Crocodile Rock,’ I know that!” He named three songs from Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy: “Curtains,” “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” and “We All Fall In Love Sometimes,” as well as “Your Song” and “Blessed.”

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On This Day, Dec. 18, 1983 …

The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards celebrated his 40th birthday by marrying 27-year-old model Patti Hansen. The couple first met in 1979.

They have two daughters together, Theodora Dupree, born in 1985, and Alexandra Nicole, born in 1986, and are still together to this day.

Although the marriage was the first for Richards, he had previously been involved with Italian-born actress Anita Pallenberg from 1967 to 1979. The couple had three children together: son Marlon, born in 1969, daughter Angela, born in 1972, and son Tara Jo Jo Gunne, born in 1976. Tara passed away at a little over two months old from SIDS.

By the way, Richards turns 81 Wednesday.

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Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde has shared an end-of-the-year message on social media, and in it she sort of apologizes to fans for some of her behavior.

“What a year! We had a great tour thanks to you, our audience, for coming to see us. Thank-you SOOOOO much! We can’t do this without you and we cannot thank you enough for being there for us,” she begins the message, before noting, “As always, I have a few apologies to make….”

“First of all, I’m sorry that I’ve never adjusted to the phone / filming / picture taking culture,” she shares. “I’ve sworn and berated the very audience that is there for us. There’s no way to explain how distracting it is and why I have a meltdown when I see a phone.” 

She says that sometimes it bothers her so much she thinks “it’s just not worth it” and she should “find another vocation” but says, “I love the band and I love playing live for you. I just don’t’ (sic) like being stalked.”

Hynde also apologizes for her post back in October where she asked fans going to more than one show to get out of the front row to make room for locals.

“I will reinstate that we love to see people come back for more, but we travel the world to play to a new audience each night, so it’s good to see the locals up front,” she writes. “Come one and all…… but be fair!”

“So, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year and thank you once again for making it a joyful year for myself and the band entire, and our lovely crew,” she closes the post. “Best wishes all round!”

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The Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet, tells the story of a 19-year-old Dylan as he arrives in New York in the early ’60s and gets immersed in the folk music scene, through his controversial electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

Chalamet tells ABC News looking at footage of Dylan’s performance at the festival, it’s easy to see an artist coming into his own. 

“I see an artist who’s pursuing the path that he sees in front of him instinctually,” Chalamet says. “That’s not taking no for an answer, that won’t be bullied into doing what he doesn’t want to do, and perseveres through that vision … even through, perhaps, those who support him feeling let down, and following that vision through.”

The film also follows Dylan’s personal life, including relationships with Joan Baez, played by Monica Barbaro, and a character named Sylvie Russo, who’s played by Elle Fanning and is based on one of Dylan’s real exes, Suze Rotolo. 

“She knew him before the fame and before everything and loved him in a very pure way,” Fanning says of her character, noting she thinks they didn’t last because “that just wasn’t her path in life.”

A Complete Unknown opens Dec. 25 and already has the stamp of approval from Dylan, who posted a tweet calling Chalamet a “brilliant actor.”

Chalamet says Dylan’s tweet was “a huge moment of affirmation … because he’s a man of few words.”

“You know, take that moment of affirmation when you’re a young artist, you’re kind of jumping off the mountain,” he says. “So when one of these greats looks down from the mountaintop and pats you on the back in some way, regardless of the movie, it was a great feeling.”

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U2 is giving fans a peek inside the studio with some never-before-seen footage of a recording session for their 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

The video, shared on Instagram, shows the band working on the track “Original of the Species” at Air Studios Lyndhurst Hall in London. In one clip they are backed by a full orchestra. 

“I have a lot of fun putting songs together, you know, for the first time,” The Edge says in the clip. “When you actually bring it into this kind of environment, where you’re really deconstructing it, pulling it apart, it’s at times kinda grueling. But unless you go through that, you’re unlikely to get an arrangement that everyone’s completely committed to.”

U2 recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb by releasing a shadow album, How to Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb, containing 10 previously unreleased tracks from the band’s archive, with the songs all coming from the original recording sessions for the album. 

They also released a special 20th anniversary remastered edition of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, as well as a package with the remaster and the shadow album together, dubbed How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (Re-Assemble Edition), plus various box sets on vinyl and CD.

Released in November 2004, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was a #1 hit for U2, thanks to songs like “Vertigo,” “City of Blinding Lights” and “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own.” The record won eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own.”

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Legendary folk singer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Joan Baez will be celebrated with a tribute concert in February, featuring Bonnie Raitt, Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello, Hozier, Lucinda Williams and more.

The event, A Night to Honor Joan Baez, will take place Feb. 8 at Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, with Baez expected to perform. Other artists on the bill include Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Margo Price, Joe Henry and Taj Mahal, with promises of surprise guests and additional performers to be announced.

The concert is a benefit for Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which provides services and financial assistance for career musicians and music industry professionals.

“We’re beyond thrilled to celebrate 30 years of Sweet Relief while honoring the great Joan Baez and her amazing career,” Aric Steinberg, executive director at Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, shares. “Joan has supported our charity for many years, and it’s a privilege to honor her this year alongside so many incredible artists. It will be a night to remember and I’m so grateful to Joan and all of the performers who will help ensure that our music community continues to have Sweet Relief as a resource for emergency financial assistance.” 

Tickets for the concert go on sale Friday.

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In September, Madonna shared on Instagram that she was working with producer Stuart Price, with whom she co-produced her Grammy-winning 2005 album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Now she says we might get some new music from her by next year.

Madonna wrote on Instagram, “Working on new music with Stuart Price. these past few months has been medicine for my SOUL.”

Then, apparently referring to the battles she’s had trying to get her biopic made, Madonna wrote, “Songwriting and making music is the one area where I don’t need to ask anyone for their permission.. i’m so excited to share it with you. Who wants to hear new music in 2025!”

Madonna’s most recent studio album was 2019’s Madame X.

In addition to working on the 10-million-selling Confessions on a Dance Floor, Price most recently served as musical director on her Celebration tour, which concluded earlier this year. He’d also filled that role on her 2001, 2004 and 2006 tours. In addition, he co-produced her live albums I’m Going to Tell You a Secret and The Confessions Tour. 

Regarding her biopic, Madonna revealed in November that Hollywood types have been trying to convince her to downsize the project, which she said she’s been working on for four years.

“No easy rides for me. I guess I should be grateful,” she wrote. “It forces me to think outside the box. I did not have a normal life. I cannot make this in the normal way.” She also asked fans if her life story should be a series or a feature film.

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