Classic Hits

Lenny Kravitz is back with a brand new album, Blue Electric Light, dropping Friday, and he tells ABC Audio that the songs on the record came to him “organically.”

“I’m always inspired, it’s just a matter of what is it going to be,” he says. “I don’t have any preconceived ideas when I start working on a new phase of music.” 

Although some artists may head into the studio with a specific vision, that’s not how Lenny works — instead he just waits for the music to come to him.

“It’s just a big mystery. So, until it’s finished, I have no idea what’s going on,” he says. “I’m just channeling what I’m receiving. I’m just an antenna.”

So, what kind of album did Blue Electric Light wind up becoming?

“The album is, it’s just celebration, it’s fun. It’s just carefree and loose and spiritual and sensual, but mainly it’s a lot of fun,” Lenny says. “It’s a bit of the record I didn’t make in high school before I made my first album, Let Love Rule. I can sense the influence from that time.”

As for the message he hopes fans get after listening to Blue Electric Light, Kravitz shares, “As always, love. You know, love, unity, inclusion, God, humanity.”  

Blue Electric Light, Lenny’s first album since 2018’s Raise Vibration, is available for preorder now.

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Hank Azaria is set to celebrate the music of Bruce Springsteen in New York this summer.

The actor is bringing his Hank Azaria and the EZ Street Band tribute show to Le Poisson Rouge in New York City on August 1. The show has him and a band of musicians performing songs from The Boss’ catalog.

Azaria says he got “the crazy idea” to perform The Boss’ tunes for his 60th birthday, noting, “I’ve never worked harder preparing for any role than I did in perfecting a singing vocal impression of Bruce Springsteen.”

“At first I wasn’t sure I could capture Bruce’s singing voice – talking like him is no problem, I mean, that’s my day job!” he says in a press release. But he noted it took four months of “scream singing” before “something ‘unlocked’ in my voice – I kind of couldn’t believe how Bruce-like it sounded!” 

Azaria and his band previously performed their Springsteen tribute in front of a crowd at City Winery in New York, where he was joined by none other than E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, who was thoroughly impressed, calling it “the best Springsteen tribute band he’s ever seen.”

Tickets for the August 1 show are on sale now. Proceeds go to Azaria’s Four Through Nine Foundation, which is devoted to social justice, education and recovery causes.

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The Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame had planned a 20th anniversary concert for June 7 to celebrate the music of Billy Joel — but it’s been canceled because Billy can’t make it.

In a statement provided to ABC Audio, the organization said the event, which was also to have celebrated the induction of Billy’s longtime agent Dennis Arfa, has been “cancelled due to family commitments preventing Joel from attending.”

“LIMEHOF sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this cancellation may cause and thanks you for your understanding,” the statement continues. “Tickets will be refunded at the place of purchase.”

The event was to have featured performances by Billy’s daughter Alexa Ray Joel, Debbie Gibson, Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC, The Rascals’ Felix Cavaliere, legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb and others.

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Kate Hudson has no regrets about marrying The Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson when she was only 21.

The pair married in 2000, were together for seven years and welcomed a son, Ryder, before divorcing in 2007. And despite the marriage ending, she doesn’t second-guess her decision to get hitched.

“I didn’t question it for a second,” Kate shared during an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “We were so connected. And Chris taught me so much about love and connection. It was just a wonderfully passionate relationship.” 

Kate also noted the marriage was “not a mistake,” sharing, “I look back at my entire life at this point, and I’m like, I actually feel like I might have gotten it right.” 

She describes the marriage as a source of stability during a crazy time in her career.

“So when I met Chris, it’s like when my career is taking off,” she said. “It was also a time that could have been a whirlwind and instead I was in this very grounding, loving relationship.”

“At the end of the day, I believe you love someone — if you loved them once, you really love them in some way forever,” she concluded. “Even if you can’t stand them, if you really loved them, if it was pure … you’ll love them through anything. Maybe not romantically, but that will always, always be there.”

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America co-founder Gerry Beckley is getting a bit political in the latest preview of his upcoming self-titled solo album, which will be released June 28.

The artist has shared the new single “Red And Blue,” which takes on the political divide in our country.

“It’s something any of us who are politically aware can’t really avoid, to be honest,” Beckley, who has toured all 50 states with America, shares. “We were in red states as much as we were in blue states, and I like to think it was an opportunity for everyone to come together and put everything else aside and let’s let the music be the message this evening.”

He adds, “It was a lovely way to stay out of the line of fire, so to speak.”

You can listen to “Red And Blue” via digital outlets.

This is the third single Beckley has released from the album, following “Crazy” and “Well Worn Shoes.”

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Bruce Springsteen is lending his voice to a new song from singer, songwriter and guitarist Joe Ely. The tune, “Odds of the Blues,” will be featured on Ely’s new album, Driven To Drive, due out August 2.

“I got the idea for the song from hanging out at an all night after hours joint on the edge of east Lubbock called TV’s… there was always a dice game in the back room, the pool table had a bad lean, and the jukebox mainly played old blues songs,” Ely shares. “I asked Bruce recently if he would like to sing with me on this song and he said he’d love to.” He noted they’ve been “long lost friends for a long time.”

You can listen to “Odds of the Blues” now via digital outlets.

This isn’t the first time Springsteen and Ely have worked together. Bruce previously appeared on songs on Ely’s 1995 album, Letter To Laredo, including the tune “All Just to Get to You.” They’ve also performed together over the years, with Ely recalling one memorable performance.

“One of my memories of us singing together was in Dublin, Ireland when we both got on stage with Jerry Lee Lewis and Shane MacGowan and sang ‘Great Balls of Fire,'” he shared.

Driven to Drive is available for preorder now.

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Back in March, The Who’s Roger Daltrey curated his final set of Teenage Cancer Trust benefit shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and it was certainly a successful run.

In a new interview with Music Week, Daltrey reveals that the shows, which featured performances by The Who, Eddie Vedder, Paul Weller, Robert Plant, Noel Gallagher and more, raised over $2.5 million, the highest amount ever for the charity. 

Daltrey says raising that much money in just one week is remarkable.

“It’s only when you go out there and rattle a box that you find out how hard it is to raise money for a charity!” he says. “This year’s lineup was brilliant, because it’s great to be around my old mates.” 

Referring to Led Zeppelin rocker Plant, Daltrey offers, “I’ve been friends with Robert for 50 years and to have him on stage with me – two old farts having a good time – it was heaven!” 

After 24 years of curating Teenage Cancer Trust shows, Daltrey retired from the position after this year’s event, although he does say if the organization can’t find someone to take his place next year he’d be willing to do it one more time.

“I just don’t want the responsibility of a five-year contract because I am aware I’m 80 years old, and [that’s around] the average lifespan,” he says. “If it was 85, maybe I’d think I could accept it! I don’t want to be responsible for not delivering for the charity.”

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The Beach Boys members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston were in attendance Tuesday for the world premiere of their new Disney+ documentary, The Beach Boys in Hollywood.

The event was part of The Beach Boys: IMAX Live Experience, which livestreamed the film plus a Q&A to 12 IMAX theaters nationwide.

The event was the first public appearance by Wilson since he was put under a conservatorship due to his declining mental health; his daughters Carnie and Wendy Wilson of Wilson Phillips talked to Entertainment Tonight about how their father is doing.

“He is doing great! He is doing great. Every day he is in physical therapy. I’m cooking for him, he’s spending a lot of time with his children now, his family,” Carnie shared. “I’m so happy he’s here tonight.”

“I think he’s doing really good under the circumstances that he’s going through right now,” Wendy adds. “But, you know, he’s a survivor. That’s my dad. He’s very tough, a very strong person.”

The Beach Boys, directed by Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny, takes fans back to the beginning of the California band and includes never-before-seen footage, as well as all-new interviews from current and former band members and fellow musicians like Lindsey Buckingham, Don Was, Janelle Monáe and Ryan Tedder.

The Beach Boys debuts May 24 on Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Ringo Starr is about to launch the latest tour with his All Starr Band – Toto’s Steve Lukather, Edgar Winter, Men At Work’s Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette – and there’s a simple reason why he keeps assembling all these well-known rock stars to join him onstage.

“Well, I have a passion for playing and, you know, I am the drummer, so I need a band in front of me,” he explains. “I get to play with a lot of good players, and I play all their songs, they play mine, but I also then get a spot in the front, you know, which is great, too.”

The tour gives each artist a chance to shine with their own material, and Ringo says he offers one piece of advice to everyone as each tour begins: “Let’s just support each other.”

He notes, “That’s what it’s about.”

And while Ringo just released a new EP, Crooked Boy, he assures fans that he won’t be playing any new songs on the tour, joking, “If you want to sell T-shirts, you do the new record.”

Instead, fans can expect an evening filled with some of their favorite tunes.

“We, like, do the hits from the bands. That’s what it’s all about,” he says. “So it’s a great day out cause you hear a lot of songs you really love. It’d be funny, wouldn’t it, to go on then not do ‘Little Help From My Friends.’ So I do it cause I know they love it and I love it.”

Ringo Starr and his All-Star band kick off their tour Wednesday at The Venetian in Las Vegas. A complete list of dates can be found at ringostarr.com.

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Michael Anthony says he never got to reconnect with Eddie Van Halen before his passing in 2020. The two rock stars had a falling out after Eddie replaced Michael in Van Halen with his son, Wolfgang Van Halen, back in 2006. In a new interview on the Sally Steele Rocks Show Anthony says they never mended their relationship.

“No, unfortunately, Eddie and I never had a chance to really settle any differences that we had in the past or whatever,” he shares. But he says getting to see Wolfgang and his band Mammoth WVH when they played the House of Blues in Las Vegas in 2023 helped heal some issues.

“I went to the show as his guest. And we talked, we sat and talked, and there was a lot of closure for me there,” Anthony says, noting Wolf’s mom, Eddie’s ex Valerie Bertinelli, was also there. “So it was a great night.”

Anthony says he and Wolfgang have “always been friends,” even though Wolfgang replaced him in Van Halen, noting that he doesn’t think Wolf really wanted the job.

“Eddie, he wanted to play with his son. The way I kind of feel is that Wolfgang probably wasn’t excited, really, about being in Van Halen,” he says. “That’s why in his band, he doesn’t play any Van Halen, ’cause he wants to carve out his own niche. But just to be able to get up and play with his father, I can totally understand that.” 

He adds, “But no, I love Wolfie, man. I hadn’t seen him in, like, 20 years. I went to the show, it was great. We had a great time, great hangout.”

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