Classic Hits

The Doors’ Robby Krieger and the late Ray Manzarek‘s estate are the latest artists to sell their music catalog, selling their interest in the legendary band’s catalog to Primary Wave Music. There’s no word on how much the deal was worth, but it includes The Doors’ recordings, trademarks, merchandise rights and income.

“After 58 years, and the most magical of times, I’ve decided to sell my share of The Doors to Primary Wave,” Krieger shares. “This will enable me to help the many charities I’ve been involved with, and some new ones too. I know Primary Wave cares about music, art, and about helping legacies go to even bigger levels.” 

Manzarek’s widow, Dorothy, adds, “Ray and I spent a lot of time discussing the future of The Doors’ legacy, and how to handle things after he departed this plane. Our family has worked patiently to find the right partners to continue Ray’s lifelong efforts in protecting and promoting his art, and now we are happy to have finally come to an agreement with Primary Wave.”

Only the two members of The Doors have sold their interests to Primary Wave, though. The Jim Morrison estate and drummer John Densmore still hold their interests in the band’s music and publishing.

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James Taylor, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo are among the stars headlining the seventh annual Love Rocks NYC benefit concert, scheduled for March 9 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

Other artists on the bill include Sheryl Crow, the John Mayer Trio, R&B legend Mavis Staples, alt-rocker St. Vincent, blues/rock singer/guitarist Gary Clark Jr., singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and Stephen Marley. 

Stephen Colbert, Bravo’s Andy Cohen, Saturday Night Live legend Chevy Chase and comedian/actress Phoebe Robinson will also appear at the event. 

The show is a benefit for God’s Love We Deliver, which delivers meals to New Yorkers who are unable to shop or cook for themselves. This year, the charity expects to deliver more than 3 million meals, which are provided free of charge.

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Friday marked one year since rocker Meat Loaf passed away at age 74. His daughters, Amanda and Pearl Aday, are remembering their dad with the 35-minute film Meat Loaf: A Celebration of Life, which they made with filmmaker Jack Bennett.

“This is a celebration of Dad’s life and legacy, an acknowledgment of the man he was on and off the stage. Not just the performer but the boss, the mentor, the friend, the husband, the godfather, the grandpa ‘Papa Meat,’ and the father,” they write. “The dad who gave us love and generosity, who taught us and teased us. The dad who laughed and cried with us, who taught us how to catch a ball and ride a bicycle, who celebrated our victories and picked us up when we fell down.”

They added that the rocker “was a big kid himself,” noting he “taught us tenacity and the value of respect,” sharing, “Our Dad. The man we miss every day.” 

“We are so grateful to share this retrospective with career highlights and private moments from our personal archives that haven’t been shared before,” they conclude. “We thank you for celebrating Dad, and we thank you for loving him with us.” 

Fans can check out the video at mlcelebration.com.

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So far, Stevie Nicks has announced nine co-headlining stadium shows with Billy Joel for 2023, but now she’s added a bunch of solo dates to her touring calendar, as well.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will do an additional 14 solo shows across the U.S., starting March 15 in Seattle. Right now, the dates are set to wrap up June 27 in Louisville, Kentucky.

That solo kickoff date will follow her first show with Billy March 10 in Inglewood, California. After Stevie’s solo dates are done, she has an additional five stadium shows with the Piano Man, scheduled through November. Of course, it’s always possible that she’ll extend the solo tour.

Tickets go on sale Friday, January 27, at 10 a.m. on livenation.com.

This will be Stevie’s first solo tour since her 24 Karat Gold trek, which wrapped up in 2017. From 2018 to 2019, she was touring with Fleetwood Mac. It was the band’s last tour prior to the 2022 death of Mac keyboardist, singer and songwriter Christine McVie.

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Madonna celebrated the success of her upcoming Celebration Tour by thanking fans in a video message.

After the tickets went on sale Friday, 98% of the dates sold out as 600,000 tickets were snapped up in a few hours, Billboard reported. Presales for the dates in Denver, Phoenix, Atlanta and a few other cities that weren’t included in the original sale begin Monday; the general sale for those shows is Friday.

In her Instagram video message, the Queen of Pop told fans, “I just want to say thank you to all of my fans for all of your love and support over the last few days.”

“I don’t take any of this for granted,” she added. “I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. And I’m so grateful for all of your support. And I can’t wait to put the show together, and have a moment with each and every one of you on the stage to celebrate the last four decades of my journey.”

Billboard reports that among those commenting on the message was Lady Gaga, who wrote, “We love you M.” However, the comment seems to have disappeared from the post.

The Celebration Tour starts July 15 in Vancouver and will feature Madonna performing songs from her entire 40-year career.

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David Crosby’s death last week reportedly came after a “long illness,” but it seems whatever illness he was dealing with didn’t stop him from making music. Friends tell Variety that not only was Crosby working on a new album, he was also planning a tour for this summer, and tickets were only days away from going on sale. 

“David didn’t think he was gonna last for years, which he joked about all the time. But there was no sense that we weren’t gonna be able to do this show and these tours,” musician Steve Postell tells the mag. “We were talking tour buses, and what kind of venues, and the whole team was all back together again,” He adds, “There was not even a remote sense that we weren’t about ready to hit the world.”

Postell says he rehearsed with Crosby alone in Santa Barbara the week before he died, and Crosby was “giddy” about plans for the tour. Postell even talked to Crosby the day before his death to discuss a pair of planned shows in February in Santa Barbara. The next day, Postell texted with Crosby’s son, James Raymond, and found out Crosby had died.

As for the new album, singer Sarah Jorosz says she recorded background vocals for it, sharing, “He just wanted to create until the very end, and that was always my impression of him in our conversations.

She says Crosby’s death came as a “shock,” explaining, “I mean, every time we talked, he would call and I’d be like, ‘How are you doing?’ And he’d be like, ‘Well, I’m dying’ — but jokingly, with a laugh.”

Jorosz adds, “I wasn’t aware if there was a long illness. It was more just like the hard years of living, and being 81.”

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A new Rush picture book is ready to hit shelves later this year. Portraits of Rush is being published by Rufus Publications and features photography from legendary music photographer Fin Costello. 

Costello had total access to the band, with photos capturing the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers during the All The World’s A Stage Tour from 1976 to 1977, the Exit Stage Left tour in 1981 and the major tours in between. It features black-and-white photos of them as they traveled, rehearsed, played live and even recorded in the studio.

The 240-page book features an introduction by music journalist John Tucker, along with articles on the band from magazines during that period. 

There are several editions of Portraits of Rush available, but quantities are limited, with only 666 numbered copies of the main edition available worldwide. There are also 50 leather and metal editions available, and 50 bundles featuring both versions.

The books are available for preorders now, and they’ll be shipped out sometime in May.

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The battle over the Journey American Express card isn’t over. In new court documents filed in California, Jonathan Cain is accusing bandmate Neal Schon of charging over $1 million on the card, which is causing problems for the band.

“Schon’s use of the [shared] AMEX card for personal expenses created serious liquidity problems for the band as the AMEX balance had to be paid every month, and there were insufficient revenues to pay for other expenses as Schon saddled Journey with over $1 million of his personal expenses,” the court documents state. 

And Cain specifically calls out just how Schon has been using that credit card, including spending over $100,000 on personal expenses in one billing cycle ending in January of last year, and $400,000 for the billing period ending March 16, which included $104,000 to a jewelry store and $31,000 to Bergdorf Goodman.

Plus, Cain argues that even when they put a $30,000 limit on Schon’s card, he still somehow spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses, like demanding a $5,000/night suite in Hawaii, when the maximum amount allocated was $1,500 a night. To add to that, he stayed a week longer than he should have.

As for Schon, his attorney tells Billboard Cain’s claims are ridiculous and “as phony as a three dollar bill.”

As previously reported, last year Schon sued Cain over the company AmEx card, claiming Cain refused to allow him access to it. Cain countered the suit was just Schon’s way of covering up his “excessive spending and extravagant lifestyle.”

Regardless of all of this, Journey is set to kick off their 50th anniversary tour on February 5 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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Musician James Raymond has paid tribute to his late father, two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer David Crosby, who passed away Thursday at the age of 81. 

“I am deeply saddened at the passing of my birth father David Crosby,” Raymond shares. “He was a monumental talent and a force of nature. The musical gifts he gave us all will be cherished for generations.” 

Raymond is Crosby’s son with Celia Crawford Ferguson; he was given up for adoption in 1962. Raymond and Crosby later reunited and formed the trio CPR with guitarist Jeff Pevar, releasing two studio albums and two live albums.

“I feel very fortunate that we found each other and that he so graciously invited me to experience that rarified air of creativity that surrounded him,” Raymond adds. “I’ll miss him immensely.”

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On Thursday, two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer David Crosby, solo artist and founding member of the Byrds; Crosby, Stills and Nash; and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young died at the age of 81. John Mayer, who was hugely influenced by Crosby, has shared several tributes to the late legend on Instagram.

John was not only influenced by Crosby as a guitarist, he also had Crosby and his bandmate Graham Nash sing on the title track of his album Born & Raised. On his Instagram Story, he writes, “If you want to honor the memory of David Crosby, pick up your instrument and sing the truth as you feel it. Don’t listen with anyone else’s ears but your own. Don’t concern yourself with formula or wonder what someone else might think.”

He continues, “Just sing how you feel, what you see, your pain and your joy, and sing so as to know yourself better, and so that others might know what it’s like to be you in this world.”

On his Story, John also posted an Apple Music screenshot of Crosby’s song “Music Is Love” from his first solo album, as well as a photo of Crosby holding a guitar. He captioned that one, “Acoustic guitar hero.”

On his regular feed, John posted a photo of Crosby playing acoustic guitar in the ’70s and wrote, “A life of songs, and now a life in songs. There aren’t many people who moved the world as deeply and for as long as David Crosby did. The music he made will inspire songwriters until the end of time. An absolute purist.”

In other John Mayer news, he’s got something new coming on January 26, though whether it’s a new song, album or tour announcement remains to be seen.

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