Classic Hits

Luther: Never Too Much, a documentary about late singer/songwriter Luther Vandross, will premiere next year on CNN, OWN and Max, it was announced Wednesday.

The film, directed by Dawn Porter, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January. It tells the musician’s story through interviews with his friends and musical collaborators, such as Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson and Roberta Flack.

The film covers Luther’s career, which included sales of 40 million records worldwide and eight Grammy Awards, as well as his health struggles and his personal life. “Luther’s music is timeless, his legacy is unsurpassed, and we can’t wait for all of his fans new and old to experience his brilliance,” Porter says in a statement.

Luther’s biggest hits include “Here and Now,” “Power of Love/Love Power,” “Never Too Much,” his “Endless Love” duet with Mariah, the Janet Jackson duet “The Best Things In Life Are Free” and “Dance with My Father,” co-written by Richard Marx.

Prior to becoming a solo star, Luther was a backing vocalist and appeared on albums by everyone from David Bowie and Bette Midler to Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Donna Summer.

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Elton John is showing his gratitude after one of his records was named to Apple Music’s list of the 100 Best Albums. 

“THANK YOU @APPLEMUSIC FOR NAMING GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD ONE OF THE #100BESTALBUMS!” he wrote on his Instagram story, after the 1973 release landed at #78.

Apple Music has been slowly revealing their 100 Best Albums list, so far sharing those that have placed from 70 to 100.  

Other albums making the list include Steely Dan’s Aja at 73, Neil Young‘s After The Gold Rush at 81, Patti Smith‘s Horses at 83, AC/DC‘s Back in Black at 90 and Eagles‘ Hotel California at 99.

Released October 5, 1973, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road featured such future Elton classics as “Candle in the Wind,” “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” “Bennie and the Jets” and the title track.

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Yes’ fourth studio album, Fragile, which featured the hit song “Roundabout,” is set to be reissued this summer. 

Fragile (Super Deluxe Edition) will be released June 28, featuring a remastered version of the original album on both CD and vinyl, along with bonus material including rarities and previously unreleased live recordings. There will also be a Blu-ray featuring a new Dolby Atmos mix from music producer Steven Wilson. 

One of those unreleased recordings, “Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus),” is out now on all digital outlets. 

Fragile (Super Deluxe Edition) will feature four CDs, one LP and one Blu-ray, with the music also getting released digitally and on streaming platforms. It is available for preorder now.

Fragile, released in February 1972, was the first Yes album to feature keyboardist Rick Wakeman, with a Yes lineup that also included Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Bill Bruford and Steve Howe. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard Album chart, with the single “Roundabout” reaching #13 on the Hot 100. It has been certified double Platinum by the RIAA.

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John Lennon’s 1973 solo album, Mind Games, is getting a brand new reissue with lots of extra goodies for fans. 

The newly expanded Mind Games – Ultimate Collection is set to drop July 12, produced by Sean Ono Lennon, who oversaw the project, and with the blessing of Yoko Ono Lennon.

According to the press release, the Ultimate Collection “puts listeners in the center of the studio and explores the album’s 1973 recording sessions at the Record Plant in New York City.” It will include six different listening experiences, featuring unreleased outtakes, stripped down mixes, instrumentals, demos, rehearsals and even what’s described as “studio chatter.” 

And fans are getting a preview of what to expect with the release of “Mind Games” (Evolution Documentary),” an audio documentary that gives listeners insight into the evolution of the album’s title track. It includes an early piano demo of song, which at the time was called “Make Love Not War,” along with studio rehearsals and various takes on the tune. There’s also never-before-seen footage of John and Yoko in their bedroom at their Ascot home in February 1970.

Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection will be released as two-CD and two-LP versions, as well as a deluxe box set with six CDs and two Blu-rays and a super deluxe edition, which is limited to only 1,100 copies and includes two limited-edition reproduction artworks by John and Yoko, nine LPs, six CDs and two Blu-rays.

Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection is available for preorder now.

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A long-awaited documentary about legendary rockers Led Zeppelin is now one step closer to being released. 

Sony Pictures Classics just acquired the rights to the film, Becoming Led Zeppelin, which first premiered as a work-in-progress at the 2021 Venice Film Festival.

Now completed, the documentary, described as a “hybrid docu-concert film,” is the first officially sanctioned film about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group. It features never-before-seen footage newly unearthed from the band’s archives, including home movies and family photos. There’s also previously unseen performance footage from The Filmore West in January 1969, The Atlanta Pop Festival in July 1969 and The Texas Pop Festival in August 1969.  

Directed by Bernard MacMahon, the doc also includes exclusive interviews with Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, as well as previously unheard interviews with their late drummer, John Bonham. 

According to the press release, the film is “a visceral musical experience that will transport audiences into the concert halls of Led Zeppelin’s earliest tours, accompanied by intimate commentary from the famously private band.”

“When I saw the early cut of the film premiered, at the Venice Film Festival, it was amazing,” Page shares. “The energy of the story, and the power of the music, is phenomenal.”

Sony Pictures Classics is planning for a theatrical release of the film, but so far there’s no word on when it will hit theaters.

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On This Day, May 15, 1975 …

In El Paso, Texas, Fleetwood Mac launched their first tour with new members Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. 

The set list included several songs from Buckingham and Nicks’ 1973 album, as well as the future classics they contributed to the band’s 1975 self-titled album, like “Rhiannon,” “Landslide” and “Monday Morning.”

Nicks and Buckingham were in a romantic relationship that ended in 1977, although they remained with the band and wrote songs inspired by the breakup, including “Silver Springs” and “Go Your Own Way.”

Although they would both leave Fleetwood Mac at various points in their careers, all members who appeared on 1977’s Rumours reunited in March 1997 for a live concert, The Dance, which was released as an album.

Buckingham left the group once again in 2018, although reports claimed he was fired because of a disagreement over touring. He later sued the group, and the suit was settled out of court. Fleetwood Mac went on to tour without him, replacing Buckingham with The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell and Crowded House’s Neil Finn. 

The future of Fleetwood Mac has been uncertain since the November 2022 death of vocalist/keyboardist/songwriter Christine McVie, with Nicks saying in an interview “there’s no reason to” continue without McVie.

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Bon Jovi is getting ready to release another song from their upcoming album, Forever.

The band will drop the new single “Living Proof” on Friday, May 17. They shared a snippet of the track on social media, which includes a sound that will be familiar to fans of their hit “Livin’ On A Prayer.” 

“‘Living Proof,’ the next single off the album, we bring back the talk box, the idea based on Peter Frampton and Joe Walsh and our using it first on ‘Livin’ on a Prayer,'” Jon shares, referring to Frampton’s use of the guitar gadget on “Do You Feel Like We Do” and “Show Me The Way,” and Walsh’s on “Rocky Mountain Way.”

Jon then offers up a taste of one of the lyrics, sharing, “this family tree’s got nothing left to prove now/ me and you are the living proof.”

He adds, “[T]his is a big old rock song just the way you like it.” 

Forever, Bon Jovi’s first album in four years, will be released June 7. It is available for preorder now. 

Jon also announced that the band will be holding pizza parties to give fans a first listen to the album. He explains that when they were recording 1986’s Slippery When Wet there was a pizza place by the studio, and they would invite locals hanging out there to come listen to the songs and give their feedback.  

Jon says they are bringing the parties back, starting in Los Angeles, with information about the parties available to those who join their broadcast channel.

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Last year on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Cher said she wouldn’t be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame “if they gave me a million dollars,” and added that the Hall of Fame “can just go you-know-what themselves.”  Well, now that she’s actually going to be inducted, she’s changed her tune — somewhat.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Cher said she credits her longtime friend, movie and music mogul David Geffen, for getting her into the Hall, as well as legendary music executive and MTV co-founder John Sykes. She also confirmed that she’ll attend the ceremony, but warned, “I’m gonna have some words to say. I’m gonna accept it in my ‘Cher’ [way] … as me.”

Cher will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio on October 19 which will stream live on Disney+. Joining her in the Hall will be Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Mary J. Blige, Kool & the Gang, Dave Matthews Band, Ozzy Osbourne and A Tribe Called Quest.

Cher also commented on her upcoming birthday: She’ll turn 78 on May 20.  Asked how she’ll be celebrating, she joked, “Putting my pillow over my head and screaming!”

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The Rolling Stones have been changing up the sets on their ’24 Hackney Diamonds tour, substituting a few songs here and there, but it sounds like there’s potential to shake things up even more.

Rolling Stone magazine interviewed the creative team behind the tour, revealing the band rehearsed between 60 and 70 songs for the trek.

“The real privilege is to see them in rehearsal,” lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe, who’s worked with The Stones since 1982, tells the mag. “It’s thrilling still, even after all this time.” He notes, “They’ve always had really high standards, particularly about rehearsing, even during some of the more chaotic periods of their career. I see them in rehearsal as a small group of players just wanting to make their music.”

The tour has the band performing on a massive stage featuring 2,300 square feet of high-resolution LED screens. The idea is to create what is described as a “virtual stage” for The Stones, changing up the look throughout the show.

“The stage is embellished by all of the digital media around them, and that, by default, makes it very contemporary,” shares Ray Winkler, CEO and design director at Stufish Entertainment Architects, the company that created the stage. “It’s not about the physical presence of a stage set but the continuing, evolving, and developing imagery that you see on the screens.”

“It’s a team effort,” he says of the production. “It’s a massive endeavor to get a project like this from an idea on paper into reality. There’s a lot of unsung heroes that contribute toward the success of it.” 

The ’24 Hackney Diamonds tour hits Seattle, Washington, on May 15. A complete list of dates can be found at rollingstones.com.

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Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are known for their live shows, and now fans are going to get some insight into what it takes to make it happen: A new documentary, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, is coming to Hulu and Disney+ in October.

According to a press release, the documentary, directed by Springsteen’s longtime collaborator Thom Zimny, “opens a new door to Springsteen’s creative process for fans around the world.” It features a behind-the-scenes look at The Boss’ 2023-24 tour, including band rehearsals, backstage footage and professionally shot clips from the tour.

The documentary will also feature rarely seen archival clips, plus insight from Springsteen about how he develops his shows and interviews with members of the E Street Band discussing what it’s like to work for The Boss. 

The description notes the documentary “serves as an essential and never-before-seen chapter in an autobiographical series,” which already includes Springsteen’s memoir Born To Run and his Broadway show Springsteen on Broadway, as well as the films Western Stars and Letter To You.

Springsteen and The E Street Band are currently on tour, playing Cork, Ireland, on May 16. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net. 

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