Classic Hits

On This Day, March 18, 2002…

Talking Heads, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and the Ramones were among the acts inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Talking Heads were inducted by Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman Anthony Keidis, with the band – David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison – reuniting for their first performance together since 1984. They performed “Life During Wartime,” “Psycho Killer,” and “Burning Down the House.”

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were inducted by Jakob Dylan, and the band performed “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “American Girl.”

Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder handled induction duties for the Ramones, with Green Day performing “Teenage Lobotomy,” “Rockaway Beach” and “Blitzkrieg Bop” in tribute to the punk rockers.

The night’s other honorees included Isaac Hayes, Brenda Lee and Gene Pitney.

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The new Peaky Blinders movie, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, is in select theaters now and will debut on Netflix Friday. To coincide with the release, its star Cillian Murphy has shared his choices for the ultimate Peaky Blinders playlist, and that includes“Lazarus” from David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar.

It turns out, Bowie had a real connection to the series, which debuted on Netflix in 2014, and always wanted his music to be a part of it.

In a interview posted to Instagram, Murphy says Bowie was “a very early advocate of the TV show,” noting, “He loved it from the start when many people didn’t.”

“I worked with him briefly in the year before he died and we’d spoke about it,” he says. “He told me how much he loved it and then I sent him the cap that I wear in series 1 with the razor blade in it and everything. And he sent me back a picture of him wearing it, which I treasure.”

Murphy says after Bowie died in 2016, they found out he had wanted songs from Blackstar to be used in the show.

“We were all like speechless and just kind of overwhelmed and just beyond moved,” Murphy says. “And then we tried to use them in a fitting way and I think that it really works.”

Also included on Murphy’s playlist is Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” Murphy notes “you could draw some line” between his character Tommy Shelby and Ozzy Osbourne. “Kind of rebels, both of them,” he says.

The list also includes songs by Sinéad O’Connor, Leonard Cohen and Radiohead Thom Yorke.

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Bruce Springsteen’s private chef is spilling some of the rock star’s food secrets.

Andre Fowles, who recently released the new cookbook My Jamaican Table, featuring a foreword by Springsteen, talked to Rolling Stone about the book, which reveals some of The Boss’ culinary preferences.

Fowles tells the mag that when it comes to food, Springsteen “loves his classics: a great cheeseburger, hot dogs, fried chicken,” although, he adds, “He has his moments where he craves seafood for a few days, or it’s just meat, or it’s just ‘he’s going to have dinner, no lunch.’”

Fowles incorporates his Jamaican heritage into what he cooks for Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa and he says he and Springsteen talk about food “all the time.” 

As for The Boss’ favorite dish, Fowles says, “I keep going back to one particular dish that I’ve made quite a few times that he enjoyed. It’s a curried lobster with coconut rice, roti to dip into the sauce, some mango chutney and sweet plantains.”

He adds, “You have the spicy from the curry, the sweetness from the chutney and the coconut rice, so it’s a really lovely spread. I would say that’s his go-to.”

But while Jamaican food can be quite spicy, thanks its frequent use of Scotch bonnet peppers, Fowles says Springsteen’s Scotch bonnet tolerance is “mid to low.”

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Billy Idol is bringing his live show to Las Vegas once again.

The “Rebel Yell” rocker has announced dates for his new Billy Idol: Hot in the City residency at the BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The residency will consist of five shows, running from Aug. 28 – Sept. 5.

A Billy Idol fan presale kicks off Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT,  followed by a Live Nation presale on Thursday at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting Friday at 10 a.m. PT.

A complete list of dates can be found at BillyIdol.net.

Idol last played Las Vegas in September when he opened for The Who. His most recent Vegas residency, at The Cosmopolitan, took place in 2023.

The Vegas news comes as Idol’s new documentary, Billy Idol Should Be Dead, is set to premiere on Hulu March 26. He’s also nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026. Fan voting is open now.

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On This Day, March 17, 1998 …

Van Halen released their 11th studio album, Van Halen III, their first with new lead singer Gary Cherone.

Cherone was the band’s third lead singer, following original frontman David Lee Roth, who left the group in 1985, and Sammy Hagar, who parted ways with the band 1996. The album was also the last to feature bassist Michael Anthony, who appeared on only three of the tracks.

While the album peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200, it was a commercial disappointment for the band and wasn’t a hit with critics or fans.

Van Halen III was the only album Van Halen released with Cherone. The band didn’t release another album until 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth, which was a reunion album with Roth.

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Paul McCartney fans are used to seeing him headline stadiums around the world, but he’s decided to take things down a notch for his next set of gigs.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has just announced two shows at the 1,200 capacity Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. Dubbed Paul McCartney Rocks The Fonda!, the shows are happening March 27 and 28. Both shows will be phone-free, with devices secured in Yondr pouches.

Fans must register for a chance to buy tickets, with registration open until Wednesday at 10 p.m. PT. Fans can register for multiple shows, although there is a two-ticket limit per person.

The shows are McCartney’s first concerts since wrapping his North American Got Back 2025 tour in Chicago in November.

This isn’t the first time McCartney has played a small venue in recent years. Back in February 2025, he headlined three nights at New York’s Bowery Ballroom.

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Heart’s Ann Wilson will be hitting the road to support her upcoming documentary, In My Voice.

The singer will headline a 10-city screening and Q&A tour with the film’s director Barbara Hall. The tour kicks off May 11 in Seattle and will hit Vancouver, Chicago, Cleveland, Nashville, New York, Toronto and more, before wrapping June 1 in Boston.

“This film is my story in my own words, told the way I’ve always wanted to tell it,” says Wilson. “It’s about finding my voice, keeping it alive, and sharing the journey with the people who’ve been part of it all along.”

“What an honor to tell the story of one of our greatest rock music voices of all time,” adds Hall. “Her voice notwithstanding, her story exceeds a scriptwriter’s imagination, and her courage to share her story is inspiring.”

The film follows the 75-year-old Wilson from her childhood to stardom in Heart and features personal home movies, photographs, journals and never-before-seen footage. It also includes contributions from the singer’s family, bandmates, fellow artists and more.

Information on when In My Voice will hit theaters is expected to be announced soon.

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You’ve probably seen those TikToks where people go around their offices, ask co-workers what year they were born, and then ask them what Jenny’s number is. The answer, of course, is “867-5309,” the title of the 1982 top-5 hit by the band Tommy Tutone. But now, pop music’s most famous phone number is being put to good use.

The nonprofit Cancer Support Community, along with Gilda’s Club locations, has taken over the number, with full endorsement from the band. Now, anyone impacted by cancer who calls CSC-867-5309 will receive support, information and personalized guidance from trained specialists.

“I gave a ‘yes’ as soon as they asked me, because we’ve all got to give back sometimes,” says Tommy Tutone lead singer Tommy Heath, whose own family has been impacted by cancer. Heath, who’s still touring and recording new music, tells ABC Audio that he’s continually amazed at the ongoing popularity of the tune.

“Everybody knows that song,” says Heath, 78. “It’s the number three password in the world. It’s the number girls give the guys that don’t want to give them their real number … I think every young person knows what it is.”

He laughs, “I don’t know why [the ’80s] resonates so well. … Several people told me that it was the high point of Western civilization!”

There are varying accounts of what inspired the song, but Heath swears there’s a real Jenny, and 867-5309 was her parents’ number. “I speak to her once in a while. We joke about having a reality show about what really happened,” he says.

“But I remember introducing her to my wife and saying, ‘This is Jenny,'” he recalls. “And [she goes], ‘Hi, Jenny.’ And I go, “No, this is JENNY!” 

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The soundtrack to Grateful Dead’s 1977 concert documentary, The Grateful Dead Movie, is getting its first-ever vinyl release.

The fully restored soundtrack is being released as a 10-LP set featuring performances of such Dead songs as “Playing in the Band,” “The Other One,” “Scarlet Begonias,” “Casey Jones,” “Dark Star” and more.

The film, one of only two directed by late Dead founder Jerry Garcia, is a recording of the band’s five-night stand at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom in October 1974, which at the time was believed to be their final set of shows. The run also saw the return of drummer Mickey Hart, who had left the band in 1971.

The new set, being released by Mondo in partnership with Rhino Records, is not only the first time the soundtrack is being released on vinyl, but the first time it’s been available in any format since 2005. It is pressed on colored, audiophile quality vinyl and will feature all 44 songs that appeared on the original CD release. It comes with 42-page book with rare and previously unseen photos and an essay by Dead historian Nicholas G. Meriwether.

“Widely considered one of the greatest runs of shows in the Grateful Dead’s history, October 1974 at the Winterland featured inspired, exciting and out-of-this-world playing,” says Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux. “We’re proud to partner with Mondo for a vinyl release that celebrates and preserves this essential document of the band’s legacy.”

The Grateful Dead Movie box set is limited to just 3,000 individually numbered units and is available for preorder now; shipping is expected in May.

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Bonnie Raitt is headed to California this fall.

The multi-Grammy winner has just announced a new set of California tour dates that kick off Oct. 7 in Redding. The tour includes an Oct. 14 show at the Theater at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, which will be Raitt’s first show in the San Francisco city limits in several years.

The nine-show tour wraps with a two-night stand at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre on Oct. 20 and 21, marking Raitt’s first shows at the historic Los Angeles venue in almost 30 years.

All shows will feature special guest Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen.

“Jon is one of my favorite musicians and a former longtime bandmate,” Raitt writes on Instagram. “I can’t wait to hear him with his killer band every night and then sit in with us on several songs in our set. Big fun for us all. Come on down!”

A fan presale begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates and more ticket information can be found at BonnieRaitt.com.

Before she hits California, Raitt has several spring and summer shows on her schedule. Her next concert is happening May 28 in Spokane, Washington.

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