A new documentary about Elton John is set to premiere this fall.
Elton John: Never Too Late, directed by R.J. Cutler and Elton’s husband, David Furnish, will have its world premiere gala screening at September’s Toronto International Film Festival.
According to the description, in the Disney+ doc, Elton “pulls back the curtain on his life for the first time.”
The Elton doc is one of the first six films announced for this year’s Toronto Film Festival, which runs from Sept. 5 to Sept. 15. More information can be found at tiff.net.
Smokey Robinson and Sheila E are among the artists set to perform live on A Capitol Fourth, the annual PBS special celebrating Independence Day.
The celebration, America’s longest-running live national July Fourth TV tradition, will air July 4 at 8 p.m. ET and will feature a telecast of the fireworks live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
The program will once again be hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro, with Smokey headlining a tribute to Motown’s 65th anniversary.
The night will also feature performances by Sister Sledge featuring Slegendary, Fantasia, Darren Criss, Fitz and Noelle from Fitz and The Tantrums, the National Symphony Orchestra and more. There will also be a salute to Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics, featuring gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson East.
The Heart of Rock and Roll may still be beating, but it won’t be doing so on Broadway much longer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Huey Lewisand the News jukebox musical, The Heart of Rock and Roll, will close after its matinee on Sunday.
The show features such classic Huey Lewis and the News songs as “Hip to Be Square,” “Workin For A Livin,’” “Do You Believe In Love,” “I Want a New Drug,” “If This Is It” and “The Power of Love.”
The Heart of Rock and Roll opened April 22 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, and will have played 24 previews and 72 performances by the time it closes.
But it may not be the last folks see of the musical. Producer Hunter Arnold said in a statement that they are in talks for a national tour and international productions of the show. The Broadway cast recording is also streaming now.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band wrapped a three-night stand in Madrid Monday night, treating fans to three tour debuts.
According to setlist.fm, after opening the show with “Lonesome Day,” Bruce broke out the Born in the U.S.A. track “Cover Me” for the first time on the tour, marking the first time he’s performed the song since 2017.
Later in the show he offered up the tour debut of the Tracks song “My Love Will Not Let You Down,” as well as another Born in the U.S.A. song, “Working on the Highway.”
Of course, the set included plenty of Springsteen classics, like “Born To Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,” as well as “Hungry Heart,” “Thunder Road” and “Bobby Jean.”
Next up, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band bring their tour to Barcelona for two nights starting Thursday. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.
Fleetwood Mac hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with “Dreams,” which would turn out to be the only chart-topping single of their career.
The song was the third single off the band’s 11th studio album, Rumours, which spent 31 nonconsecutive weeks at #1.
In 2020 “Dreams” returned to the chart after a TikTok video created by Nathan Apodaca in which he was skateboarding to the tune went viral. The song returned to the Billboard Hot 100 at #22, peaking at #12 a week later.
Although “Dreams” was their only #1, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours featured several songs that went on to become classics, including “Don’t Stop,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Songbird,” “The Chain” and “You Make Loving Fun.”
Stevie Nicks has been forced to postpone a second show on her solo tour.
The two time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer announced on her Instagram Story that the Tuesday, June 18, show in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is being postponed “due to illness,” and has now been rescheduled to September 24.
Stevie previously postponed her Saturday, June 15, show in Hershey, Pennsylvania for the same reason, and that show has now been rescheduled for September 28.
Tickets for the postponed shows will be valid for the new dates.
Stevie’s next concert is scheduled for Friday, June 21, in Chicago, with Stevie noting she “looks forward to seeing fans” at the show.
A new collection of memorabilia from TheBeatles is now up for auction through ANALOGr.
Coinciding with Paul McCartney’s 82nd birthday on June 18, the new auction includes handwritten original lyrics to The Beatles’ “Birthday,” written on the back of an Apple Studio recording sheet. It even includes chord diagrams helping John Lennon and George Harrison with the guitar parts.
The unique piece of Beatles history has an estimated sale price of between $125,000 and $200,000.
Other items up for auction include a reproduction of sculptor Frederic Remington‘s famous “The Rattlesnake” statue that was owned by Lennon; a George Harrison Brainwashed collection, featuring a poster signed by Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Pattie Boyd and session drummer Jim Keltner; a CBS Records employee jacket signed by Ringo; and a Beatles 1964 Pepsi vending machine transistor radio, given to the band upon their arrival in America on Feb. 7, 1964.
“We are incredibly excited to present the second round of the ANALOGr Beatles auction,” said Thomas Scriven, CEO at ANALOGr. “This collection is a treasure trove of Beatles history, and we look forward to sharing these rare and unique items with fans and collectors around the world.”
The auction is open now and runs through July. More info can be found at analogr.com.
Blue Öyster Cult is continuing the celebration of their 50th anniversary with the release of a new live album.
50th Anniversary Live – Second Night, dropping Aug. 9, features a concert recorded during the band’s 2022 three-night stand at Sony Hall in New York. It has the band performing their sophomore album, Tyranny and Mutation, in its entirety, along with such classic tracks as “Burnin’ For You” and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”
As a preview of the record, Blue Öyster Cult has also released a live performance video of the track “7 Screaming Diz-Busters.”
The residency at Sony Hall had the band playing their first three albums in their entirety, one each night; Frontiers Music is releasing each night separately. The first release, 50th Anniversary Live – First Night, featured the band performing their self-titled debut album. It was released in October.
KISS’Gene Simmons reveals in a new interview that he wishes he had handled things differently with his former bandmates Ace Frehley and Peter Criss so they could still be with them celebrating the band’s long career.
During an interview with Backstage Pass, Simmons was asked if there was anything about the band that he would have done differently, and he expressed regret about how he dealt with Ace and Peter and their substance issues.
“I’m sad in retrospect. You know, hindsight’s 20/20,” he said. “I’m sad that I wasn’t more hard on Ace and Peter, the two original guys who played guitar and drums in the band,” noting that he has never gotten high and never drank.
“I’ve always been an outcast in that way,” he said. “The rest of the world seemed to be drug-fueled.”
Simmons acknowledged that Ace and Peter deserve as much credit for the band’s initial success as he and Paul Stanley.
“There’s no question it was that chemistry. And they both had unique voices, unique personalities and all that,” he said. “And they should have been here with us 50 or 55 years later and enjoying the fruits of their labor. But sadly, they’re not.”
Regarding their departures, Simmons shared, “It’s their own doing. They were in and out of the band three different times. They were let go three different times because of the same old thing.”
David Gilmour is giving fans another taste of his upcoming solo album, Luck and Strange.
The Pink Floyd rocker has released the new song “Between Two Points,” featuring vocals and harp from his daughter Romany Gilmour.
He’s also released a video for the track, directed by Gavin Elder, which was shot in London and Manchester.
“Romany performs this song with an extraordinary level of fragility, vulnerability and understated control,” Elder shares. “There’s a subtle, yet deep emotional rapport between David and Romany, captured with hand held cameras, enhancing the tension within the video.”
Gilmour is set to release Luck and Strange on Sept. 6. The album consists of eight new songs and one cover, with the title track featuring a contribution from late Pink Floyd keyboard Richard Wright, taken from a jam session at Gilmour’s barn back in 2007.
Gilmour is set to play select tour dates in support of the album in Rome, London, New York and Los Angeles. A complete list of dates can be found at davidgilmour.com.
