The wife of Queen guitarist Brian May is giving fans an update on his health.
In early September, May revealed on social media that he was recovering from a “minor stroke” that initially left him with no control over his left arm. While he called the incident “a little scary,” he assured fans that he was doing OK.
May’s wife, actress Anita Dobson, has provided an update, letting folks know that he is on the mend.
“He’s been told to rest. It’s hard to keep him resting, but he needs to, otherwise he won’t get well,” she told The Sun. “He’s doing great – he’s on the road, he’s doing really, really well. We’re very pleased.”
She adds, “I’m completely confident he’ll make a full recovery,” although she notes, “You have to take things slowly, chill a bit. He’s not that kind of animal!”
The Eagles have paid tribute to songwriter JD Souther, who co-wrote some of their best-known songs, including “Best of My Love,” “New Kid in Town,” “Heartache Tonight,” “Victim of Love” and “James Dean.”
Souther’s rep announced Wednesday that he had “passed away peacefully in his New Mexico home.” He was 78.
“We have lost a brother, a friend and a brilliant collaborator, and the world has lost a great songwriter, a pioneer of the Southern California sound that emerged in the 1970s,” the band shared on their website. “J.D. Souther was smart, talented, well-read, and in possession of a wicked sense of humor.”
They added, “He loved a good meal, a good movie, and a good Martini … and he loved dogs, adopting many, over the course of his lifetime.”
“We mourn his loss and we send our condolences to his family, his friends, and his many fans around the world,” they write. “He was an extraordinary man and will be greatly missed by many.”
Several other artists paid tribute to Souther on social media, including Graham Nash, who wrote about him on his Instagram Story, calling Souther an “inspiration to many musicians and a friend to many more.” Carole Kingalso remembered Souther, writing, “JD Souther was a friend, and so talented. We’ll miss him.”
Rocker Jimi Hendrix died after being found unconscious at London’s Samarkand Hotel. A coroner later ruled he died after asphyxiating on his own vomit after taking barbiturates.
Hendrix was only 27 years old when he passed, but he had already left his mark on the musical world, thanks to such songs as “Purple Haze,” “Hey Joe” and “The Wind Cries Mary,” and his classic album Are You Experienced? He was also well known for his live performances, including iconic sets at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
Hendrix was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
And Hendrix fans will soon learn more about him. It was recently announced that the first full length documentary on the rocker is in the works, helmed by The Greatest Night in Pop director Bao Nguyen.
John David “JD” Souther, solo artist and co-writer of many hits for the Eagles, has died. According to his rep, he “passed away peacefully in his New Mexico home.” He was 78.
Born in Detroit, Souther moved to LA in the late ’60s and formed Longbranch Pennywhistle with Glenn Frey. That band made one album, but after Frey formed the Eagles, Souther went on to co-write some of their best-known songs, including “Best of My Love,” “New Kid in Town,” “Heartache Tonight,” “Victim of Love” and “James Dean.” He also co-wrote Don Henley‘s 1990 hit “The Heart of the Matter.”
As a solo artist, Souther scored hits with “You’re Only Lonely” and “Her Town Too,” the latter a duet with his friend James Taylor. Souther also worked extensively with Linda Ronstadt, a former girlfriend, recording the duets “Prisoner in Disguise,” “Sometimes You Can’t Win” and “Hearts Against the Wind” with her and writing songs that she recorded, including “Faithless Love” from Heart Like a Wheel.
With former Byrds member Chris Hillman and Poco‘s Richie Furay, Souther was part of The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, which released two albums in 1974 and 1975. He provided vocals for songs by Don Henley, Christopher Cross, Dan Fogelberg and Roy Orbison, among others.
Souther also had an acting career, appearing in the TV shows thirtysomething, Nashville and Purgatory, and in the movies Postcards from the Edge, My Girl 2 and Deadline. He wrote the theme song for the TV series Anything But Love.
In 2013, Souther was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. His final album of original material, Tenderness, came out in 2015. He had planned to tour with Karla Bonoff starting Sept. 24; the tour will now be canceled. Donations in his honor can be made to Best Friends Animal Society.
To coincide with the upcoming deluxe edition of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ 1982 album, Long After Dark, the Petty estate has released a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the video for the album’s biggest single, “You Got Lucky.”
“I wanted [‘You Got Lucky’] to have this Ennio Morricone/Clint Eastwood Western feel,” Petty explains in the video. “So when we went to write the movie, I really just wanted an excuse to go play around in the desert.”
Petty notes that he knew he didn’t want to lip-synch in the video, so they opted instead to make a little movie, which he describes as a “science fiction Western.”
“When we made the ‘You Got Lucky’ film, it was a huge MTV track, though we hadn’t seen MTV at that time,” he says. “So I didn’t try to adhere to the song or anything. I just thought we’d go for a vibe. Some kind of feel that was fun.”
“You Got Lucky” was a top 40 hit for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, peaking at #20. It went on to become a fan favorite.
The new deluxe edition of Long After Dark will feature the remastered original album, plus 12 bonus tracks, among them Petty’s versions of his songs “Never Be You” and “Ways to Be Wicked,” which were previously recorded by Rosanne Cash and Lone Justice, respectively. Other additional tracks were taken from sessions for French TV.
Peter Frampton has canceled his Tuesday show at Virginia Credit Union Live in Richmond, Virginia.
A post on the soon-to-be Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s Instagram blames the cancellation on “unforeseen circumstances,” adding, “We apologize for the inconvenience. Refunds will be available at point of purchase.”
The show was part of Frampton’s Positively Thankful Tour, which kicked off Sept. 8 in South Carolina. The next show is scheduled for Thursday in Philadelphia, with the tour wrapping Sept. 23 in Northfield, Ohio. A complete list of dates can be found at Frampton.com.
Following the tour, Frampton will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 19 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. The ceremony will stream live on Disney+, followed by a special airing on ABC at a later date.
The Doors’ John Densmore and Devo are among the musical artists taking part in a livestream event in support of the Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaign.
Dubbed Musicians for Kamala, the virtual concert takes place Tuesday in honor of National Voter Registration Day at 8 p.m. ET.
The lineup also includes Jefferson Starship, Living Colour, The Flaming Lips‘ Wayne Coyne, Sheila E., former 10,000 Maniacs frontwoman Natalie Merchant, Bootsy, Collins and Jack Johnson.
In 1994, Whitney Houston played three shows in South Africa. Soon you’ll be able to see a movie documenting those performances at a theater near you.
Whitney Houston — The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban) was filmed during Whitney’s show in Durban on Nov. 8, 1994. She also played Johannesburg and Cape Town on the tour, which marked the first time a major Western recording artist performed in the new, post-apartheid South Africa, following Nelson Mandela being elected president.
The never-before-seen concert will screen in more than 900 theaters in more than 25 countries on Oct. 23 and Oct. 27; tickets are on sale now at WhitneySouthAfrica.com. A live album version of the concert, featuring the previously unreleased track “Love Is,” will be released Nov. 8 on CD and vinyl. It’s available for preorder now.
Both the film and the album feature performances of hits like “I Have Nothing,” “How Will I Know,” “I Will Always Love You,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” and “Greatest Love of All.”
Pat Houston, the executor of Whitney’s estate, says in a statement, “This concert is one of the most consequential concerts of her career. On this momentous 30th Anniversary, we are thrilled that we can release this film not only to her fans, but to the people of South Africa and its new generation.”
Grateful Dead is giving fans another preview of their upcoming Friend of the Devils: April 1978 box set ahead of its release on Friday.
The band has just released a performance of “Peggy-O,” recorded live at Duke University’s Cameron Indoor Stadium on April 12, 1978. It is available now via digital outlets.
“No one could have known that the X-factor would appear in such force at Duke ‘78,” Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux shares. “The Dead, as everyone in the building that night could hear, were determined to play one of their best shows ever.”
The 19-CD Friend of the Devils: April 1978 will be made up of eight previously unreleased complete shows from April 1978, including three Florida shows, as well as two Atlanta shows and single shows from North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
The set will be released exclusively at Dead.net and will be limited to 10,000 individually numbered copies. Plus, the Duke University show will released digitally and as a three-CD or four-LP set.
And for fans who want to hear an even bigger preview, on Wednesday Dead.net will be hosting an early listening party for the April 16, 1978, show at the Huntington Civic Center in Huntington, West Virginia. On Thursday there will be a viewing party for the Duke University concert on The Dead’s YouTube channel at 8 p.m. ET.
Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks’ pre-Fleetwood Mac album Buckingham Nicks has been reimagined by musicians Andrew Bird and Madison Cunningham.
The pair is set to release a full covers album, titled Cunningham Bird, featuring their take on the record, using the exact sequencing of the original release.
“It’s hard to listen to Buckingham Nicks’ 1973 debut album without trying to imagine it as a prequel to Fleetwood Mac’s legend,” Bird shares. “It’s hard to listen to this album period, as it’s out-of-print and not available on any streaming services. Yet it’s that youthful ambition and overindulgence that make it fascinating.”
He adds, “The best reason to cover anyone is that little part of you that thinks you might do it better. This album epitomizes excess and confidence, and it only made sense to embody that spirit ourselves. The confidence, that is, to mess with an iconic, if underrated gem.”
The duo has already shared two singles from the record, “Crying in the Night” and “Crystal,” which are available now via streaming services.
Released in September 1973, Buckingham Nicks was the only studio album from the two future Rock & Roll Hall of Famers. A little over a year after the album’s release the pair was asked by Mick Fleetwood to join Fleetwood Mac.
Cunningham Bird will be released digitally on Oct. 18, and on vinyl and CD Dec. 13. It is available for preorder now.
