Classic Hits

Heart’s Ann Wilson has revealed that she is battling cancer, and the band has postponed their upcoming tour in order to give her time to recover.

“I recently underwent an operation to remove something that, as it turns out, was cancerous,” she shares on social media. “The operation was successful & I’m feeling great but my doctors are now advising me to undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and & I’ve decided to do it.”

“And so my doctors are instructing me to take the rest of the year away from the stage in order to fully recover,” she adds. 

Earlier this year, Heart announced they were postponing their European Royal Flush tour in order for Ann to have what they called “a time-sensitive but routine medical procedure.” They’ve now postponed the rest of the tour.

“To the ticket buyers, I really do wish we could do these gigs,” she writes. “Please know that I absolutely plan to be back on stage in 2025.”

In a separate post, Heart encouraged fans to hold on to their tickets, which will be valid for future rescheduled dates.

“Thank you all for the support,” Ann concludes. “This is merely a pause. I’ve much more to sing.”

Heart was due to kick off the second leg of their Royal Flush tour in August. They were also set to open a handful of dates on the Def Leppard/Journey Summer Stadium tour, which kicks off July 6.

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America is revisiting a classic concert for a new release. 

America – Live From The Hollywood Bowl 1975, dropping Sept. 6, features performances from the band’s Aug. 3, 1975, concert at the famed California venue, where they were backed by a symphony conducted by Beatles producer George Martin.

The album includes performances of such classics as “A Horse With No Name” and “Sister Golden Hair,” as well as “Ventura Highway,” which is available now via digital outlets.

“We’ve done thousands of shows throughout our career,” America’s Gerry Buckley shares, “but this special night with our dear friend and producer George Martin ranks near the very top of the list! Listen and enjoy!”

The album was previously released as a Record Store Day exclusive, but will now be released digitally for the first time, as well as on CD and red vinyl. The album is available for preorder now.

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Rush has paid tribute to their late producer Peter Collins, who passed away recently at the age of 73.

Collins produced four Rush albums: 1985’s Power Windows, 1987’s Hold Your Fire, 1993’s Counterparts and 1996’s Test for Echo. 

“We loved seeing him in Nashville when we came through on tour. He had a mischievous, beaming smile and great sense of humour,” the band writes. “He will be so missed…. RIP Mr. Big.”

Frontman Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson also shared personal tributes on their Instagram accounts, with Geddy calling Collins “a dear, dear friend.”

“During periods in the 80’s and 90’s [sic] we had some incredible musical adventures together, in various studios across the globe. He truly was our Mr. Big…with his ever present cigar and constant good humour,” he writes. “After hitting the record button, I can still hear him say ‘OK boys, from the topping … no stopping!'”

Lifeson added, “Peter Collins will forever live in my memory as Mr. Big, sitting at his control centre beside a recording console with his ubiquitous tools: a legal pad, an ashtray and a Monte Cristo No. 2.”

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On This Day, July 2, 2001 …

Twenty-one years after his death, Liverpool renamed Speke Airport after the late Beatle John Lennon, who was born and raised in the U.K. city.

Now known as Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the international airport was the first in the U.K. to be named after an individual.

The airport features a 7-foot-tall bronze statue of the rock legend, with the “Imagine” lyric “above us, only sky” painted on the airport’s roof. It also features a “Yellow Submarine” work of art, and an exhibit of photos of The Beatles in India.

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When Melissa Etheridge and her then-partner Julie Cypher revealed in 2000 that the father of their two children was legendary rocker David Crosby, it made headlines. But Melissa tells People that she and Cypher weren’t the only couple for whom Crosby served as a sperm donor.

At the suggestion of his wife, Jan, Crosby — who at the time had four children of his own — fathered Melissa and Julie’s kids Bailey, 27, and Beckett, who died of an overdose in 2020.

Melissa tells People of David and Jan, “They had just had help having their son [Django] and they appreciated that. They wanted to pay it forward.” And, says Melissa, they continued to help other couples.

“We’re still finding kids from David Crosby out in the world,” she says. “My daughter’s like, ‘I have another half-sister.'”

As for why Melissa and Julie didn’t use an anonymous donor, she explains, “The situation was special with [Julie] because she had been adopted and she wanted her children to know who their biological father was. So we weren’t going to go to a sperm bank because she wanted them to know.”

However, Melissa says she didn’t want someone who “wanted to be a father” to the children, so Crosby was “perfect.”  

“He did not need to be [a father] [to them]. And that’s what really made it clear for me, was that he was willing to say, ‘Yeah, I was the biological father,'” Melissa says. “And my kids call him bio dad, so he’s the biological father, but they didn’t need a relationship with him.”

She says that her relationship with Crosby, who died in 2023, “really taught me about generosity.” When he died, she wrote on Instagram, “He gave me the gift of family.”

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Rhino has announced some special vinyl releases to help celebrate summer. 

As part of their Sounds of the Summer promotion, the label is set to release exclusive, limited-edition sea blue vinyls from artists like Crosby, Stills & Nash, Genesis, Van Morrison, Grateful Dead and more.

The first drop is happening July 5, with Genesis’ And Then There Were Three, a Van Morrison compilation album and Yes’ The Yes Album (Steven Wilson Remix). 

There will be 24 vinyl releases in all, with Linda Ronstadt’s Simple Dreams and a Utopia collaboration coming July 12. Crosby, Stills & Nash’s CSN, The Doobie Brothers’ Takin’ It To The Streets, Little Feat’s Time Loves A Hero, Rod Stewart’s Foot Loose & Fancy Free, War’s Greatest Hits and a Hall & Oates compilation are coming on July 19. 

That will be followed by the release of 10 albums on July 26, including Chicago’s Greatest Hits 1982-1989, Joni Mitchell’s Hissing Of Summer Lawns (on clear vinyl), Fleetwood Mac’s Best of 1969-1974, and Grateful Dead’s Go To Heaven and Shakedown Street.

The vinyl releases will be available exclusively at participating retailers. A complete list of releases can be found at rhino.com.

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Steven Van Zandt has been married to wife Maureen for over 40 years, and the rocker tells People that the secret to their relationship is that they are OK not being with each other all the time. 

“As I often say, the key to staying together is stay apart,” the E Street Band guitarist jokes. “We’ve been together, God, what is it now, 40-plus years and probably have spent about 10 years of that together out of the 40, because I’m always on the road. So, you go home, and it’s always new again.”

Maureen keeps herself busy with her own projects while Stevie is on the road, and he notes, “She’s a very, very strong person.”

Van Zandt says he believes in the importance of “making sure that one plus one equals three rather than one plus one equals one-and-a-half, which you see all the time in relationships where people just start to lose their identity and compromise it in order to get along.”

He adds, “I think with some boundaries, if you will, allowing the other one to have their very strong identity and coming together and finding the common ground. We have both. That’s the key.”

Speaking of always on the road, Stevie is currently on the road with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They play Werchter, Belgium, on July 2. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.com.

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Taylor Swift is waxing poetic about Stevie Nicks.

The pop superstar, 34, praised the legendary Fleetwood Mac singer, 76, who was in attendance during the final night of Swift’s Eras Tour stop in Dublin on June 30.

During a speech cueing up her set of surprise songs unique to each tour stop, Swift called Nicks someone “who has really been one of the reasons why I — or any female artist — gets to do what we get to do.” 

“She’s paved the way for us, and she’s mentored so many artists that you don’t even know she’s doing it. She’s become friends with so many female artists just to be a guiding hand. I can’t tell you how rare that is,” Taylor said of Nicks’ impact and their friendship. “She’s a hero of mine and also someone that I can tell her any secret and she’d never tell anybody. She’s really helped me through so much over the years. I’m talking about Stevie Nicks.”

Swift then performed her song “Clara Bow” off her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department — a fitting choice as she name-checks Nicks in the lyrics.

“You look like Stevie Nicks/ In ’75, the hair and lips/ Crowd goes wild at her fingertips/ Half moonshine, a full eclipse,” she sings in the song.

Stevie showed her appreciation by writing a poem, “For T – and me …,” that’s included in The Tortured Poets Department.

And it looks like Taylor and Stevie got some bonding time in after the show. According to The New York Post, Stevie was with Taylor as she celebrated her concert at the Hacienda Bar in Dublin Sunday night. Also at the bar were Taylor’s beau, Travis Kelce, Paramour and members of Taylor’s crew.

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Ringo Starr is turning 84 soon and has announced plans for his annual Peace & Love birthday celebration.  

The annual event, happening July 7, will have Ringo and wife Barbara Starkey joined in Los Angeles by Joe and Marjorie Walsh, Stephen Stills, Diane Warren, Matt Sorum, Fred Armisen, Ed Begley Jr., Asa, Roy Orbison Jr. and more.

There will also be musical tributes from Ben Harper with Don Was, Gabe Witcher and Willie Watson, Greg Leisz, Ben Dickey, All Starr Band member Gregg Bissonette and Steve Dudas.

The group will gather together at noon on Ringo’s big day for the “Peace and Love” exclamation, with gatherings expected to happen in 34 countries worldwide.

“OK Peace & Love here we go again!” Ringo shares in a new video message. “Thanks for joining me on my birthday. I am so grateful to you all for helping me promote Peace & Love.”

He adds, “I want to give special thanks to all the Peace & Love Ambassadors – we are in 34 countries! thanks for doing it – and I gotta thank all the fans, peace & love – just join me in your mind, or on the bus or wherever you are on the 7th of the 7th just go Peace & Love at Noon your local time.”

Ringo has been using his birthday to spread peace and love to the world since 2008. 

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The Rolling Stones wrapped a two-night stand at Chicago’s Soldier Field on Sunday and treated fans to a new tour debut. 

According to setlist.fm, midway through the show the band added the Some Girls track “Before They Make Me Run” to the set for the first time this tour. The song features Keith Richards on vocals, one of three tunes Richards sang that night — the others were “Tell Me Straight” and “Little T&A.”

The night also featured a surprise appearance by the show’s opener, Lainey Wilson, who joined The Stones on “Dead Flowers,” a song they previously performed with Tyler Childers in Orlando.

The second Chicago show also featured “Shattered” as the fan-voted song of the night, with the rest of the set including such hits as “Start Me Up,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” “Gimme Shelter,” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction)” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

The Rolling Stones bring their Hackney Diamonds tour to Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 5. The tour wraps July 21 in Ridgedale, Montana. A complete list of dates can be found at rollingstones.com.

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