Classic Hits

New music from Rush doesn’t seem likely to happen, but the band’s fans will soon get another chance to enjoy the first-ever solo albums from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group’s surviving members, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. The solo albums, Lifeson’s Victor and Lee’s My Favourite Headache, are set to be re-released on Aug 9. 

Lifeson’s Victor, which came out in January 1996, features guest appearances by Primus‘ Les Claypool, Edwin from I Mother Earth and more. It will be released digitally and on CD, and will also be getting its first-ever vinyl release, completely remixed by Lifeson. The vinyl edition includes four instrumental tracks that fans could previously only get on the rocker’s website.

There will even be a special limited-edition two-LP ruby translucent vinyl, limited to 1,000 copies, featuring an autographed lithograph by Lifeson. It is available only as a Rush Backstage exclusive.

Lee’s My Favourite Headache, originally released in November 2000, features guest appearances by Soundgarden/Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron and Our Lady Peace‘s Jeremy Taggart. It will also be released on CD, as well as on two-LP blue/green vinyl, marking the first time it’s been available on vinyl since a 2019 limited-edition Record Store Day release. The vinyl edition also includes two instrumental tracks. 

Both Victor and My Favourite Headache are available for preorder now.

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The soundtrack for the new movie Deadpool & Wolverine features several classic tunes.

The much-hyped film includes hits from nearly every decade of pop music, including The Platters‘ “Only You (And You Alone),” which came out in 1955, ’70s classics like “Angel of the Morning” by Merrilee Rush, and the iconic Grease tune “You’re the One that I Want” by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

The ’80s are also represented with smashes like “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis & the News, Chris de Burgh‘s “The Lady In Red” and Eric Carmen‘s “Make Me Lose Control.”

Other songs on the album include Green Day‘s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” Goo Goo Dolls‘ “Iris,” Fergie‘s “Glamorous,” Avril Lavigne‘s “I’m With You” and *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” along with “The Greatest Show,” performed by Deadpool star Hugh Jackman and the cast of The Greatest Showman. 

The time-hopping soundtrack is apparently a reflection of the movie’s plot, which involves time travel. It’s out digitally on July 24, with physical copies dropping July 26.

Deadpool & Wolverine, produced by Marvel Studios, hits theaters July 26. Disney is the parent company of Marvel Studios and ABC News.

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Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Grateful Dead and Bonnie Raitt are among the artists who’ll be celebrated at the 47th edition of the Kennedy Center Honors, recognizing their lifetime artistic achievement.

This year’s other honorees include director Francis Ford Coppola and jazz musician Arturo Sandoval, as well as the iconic Harlem venue The Apollo, which will receive a special Honors recognition as an American institution.

“Our Honorees this year have each played an invaluable, pioneering role in developing American culture—not with one act of art but with their decades-long devotion to pushing creative boundaries,” Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter shares.

“It goes without saying that the Kennedy Center Honors represents the highest of reaches for artistic achievement,” Dead members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bobby Weir said in a statement. “The Grateful Dead has always been about community, creativity, and exploration in music and presentation … it also must be said that our music belongs as much to our fans, the Dead Heads, as it does to us. This honor, then, is as much theirs as ours.”

Raitt shared that she was “deeply honored and thrilled to have been chosen” as one of this year’s honorees, noting, “There is no higher level of esteem nor as delightful a celebration and I want to extend my sincere thanks to all who have chosen me to receive this honor.” 

She added, “I look forward to the upcoming ceremony and festivities, which I know will be one of my life’s peak experiences.”

The Kennedy Center Honors will be handed out on Dec. 8, ahead of a CBS broadcast of the event on Dec. 23.

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Lenny Kravitz is teasing his next music video.

The rocker shared a snippet of the video for the Blue Electric Light track “Paralyzed,” with images of three hooded figures walking toward the camera, which then cuts to an image of Kravitz from behind, bathed in light with his guitar strapped to his back and his hands reaching above him.

The video for “Paralyzed,” the third single from Blue Electric Light following “TK421” and “Human,” is set to drop July 24 at 12 p.m. ET, with what Kravitz is calling an “exclusive After Party” to follow for YouTube Premium subscribers.

Blue Electric Light, Lenny’s first new album since 2018’s Raise Vibration, was released in May.

Kravitz is currently on tour in Europe, where over the weekend he interrupted a show to take a call from his “brother” actor Denzel Washington. His next show is happening in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Sunday.

He brings his show to the U.S. for a five-night stand at Dolby Live in Las Vegas starting Oct. 18. A complete list of dates can be found at lennykravitz.com.

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Yes guitarist Steve Howe is set to release a brand new solo album, Guitarscape, on Sept. 27.

The album features 14 new instrumental tracks, all written and produced by Howe. The rocker plays acoustic, electric, steel and bass guitars on the album, along with keyboards, and is backed by his son Dylan on drums.

“This album has given me the opportunity to do something different,” Howe shares. “I’ve utilized most of the colors, as I like to I think of my styles, and I’m always pleased when I hear them running through and it moves from a steel, maybe, to a Spanish guitar.”

He adds, “Because it’s a different sort of album, I’m not using terribly conventional chord sequences but things that give me a fresh feeling and opportunities to improvise and stretch out as well as be melodic and make this a nice tuneful experience.”

Guitarscape, Howe’s first album since 2020’s Love Is, will be released on CD, vinyl and digitally, including in Dolby Atmos. It is available for preorder now.

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Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs have announced new fall co-headlining dates with singer Lucinda Williams.

The Alone Together: Come Hell or High Water tour kicks off Sept. 10 in Midland, Texas, hitting such cities as Austin, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Oakland, Los Angeles and more, before wrapping Sept. 29 in Del Mar, California.

Tickets for all shows go on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. A complete list of dates can be found at thedirtyknobs.com.

Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs recently released their third studio album, Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, which features a guest appearance by Williams on the song “Hell Or High Water.”

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The life and career of Whitney Houston continues to be celebrated in her absence. According to People, the Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation and Primary Wave will celebrate her 61st birthday at their third annual Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation Gala, taking place on her actual birth date, Aug. 9. The event will also commemorate the 30-year anniversary of Whitney’s three history-making performances in South Africa following Nelson Mandela‘s presidential win.

Whitney took the stage at King Park Stadium in Durban on Nov. 8, 1994, Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg on Nov. 12, 1994, and Green Point Stadium in Cape Town on Nov. 19, 1994, becoming the first major musician to visit and perform in the nation post-apartheid. Some of the proceeds benefitted local South African children’s charities.

The Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation Gala, hosted by Whitney’s sister-in-law Pat Houston and Kevin Frazier of Entertainment Tonight, will go down at the St. Regis Hotel in Atlanta. Set to hit the stage are headliner Yolanda Adams, Whitney’s brother Gary Houston, and Gregory Sams and Denisia Denisa, who recently won the Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation’s cover song competition. There will also be an online and silent auction, as well as a presentation of scholarships to HBCU students studying the arts. 

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ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons is playing a special concert to help raise funds for an upcoming documentary on Antarctica. 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer announced that he and his band the BFGs, featuring Mike Flanigin and Chris Layton, will headline a July 30 fundraiser at Villa at the Vineyard in Driftwood, Texas.

The concert is raising money for the feature documentary True South: An Antarctica Story, from National Geographic award-winning photographer Rodney Bursiel and Australian filmmaker James Douglas Cooper. Production on the film is scheduled to begin in February. 

“Will you help us on our bold mission to create a cinematic, world-class, award-winning independent feature documentary and photography series worthy of a worldwide audience?” reads a post on Gibbons’ Instagram account.

The filmmakers will be at the event, which will include food, drinks and a special auction.

Tickets are on sale now.

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Legendary rockers Faces are about to share more of their BBC Sessions with the world. 

Following two Record Store Day releases made up of some of the BBC recordings and various studio sessions, Rhino will release the new box set, Faces At The BBC — Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973, on Sept. 6 

The eight-CD/Blu-ray set is made up of recordings discovered in the Faces archives. It includes a whole host of previously unreleased material, now remastered with the full participation of surviving Faces band members Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood and Kenney Jones. It includes performances of such Faces classics as “Bad ’n’ Ruin,” “Had Me A Real Good Time,” “Miss Judy’s Farm,” “Too Bad” and “Stay With Me.” 

The Blu-ray features restored footage of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band’s April 1, 1972, appearance on the BBC’s Sound for Saturday program. And as a preview of what fans can expect, the band has released a performance of their classic “Stay With Me” from that appearance.

The set also includes a 48-page booklet with liner notes, featuring new contributions from the surviving members, as well as archival quotes from late Faces band members Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan, as well as the late BBC broadcaster John Peel.

Faces At The BBC — Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973 is available for preorder now.

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