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“I’m having the best time of my life – except this f****** eye. I wish I could see you,” Elton John told the audience at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 6 after his new documentary Never Too Late premiered, Variety reports.

The music legend had revealed on Instagram a few days earlier that he’s recovering from a “severe eye infection” that has left him with “only limited vision” in one eye.

Still, he was able to attend the festival with his husband, David Furnish, who co-directed the doc, but instead of walking the red carpet, he rode down it on a purple golf cart.

During a quick Q&A, Elton told the audience that he loves the fact that, in addition to his career, the film documents his relationship with Furnish and their two sons, Zachary and Elijah. 

According to Variety, Elton held back tears as he said, “I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved. I hope to keep making music, but I want to be home and treasure them. Having a #1 album is really nice for five minutes, but this is a lifetime.”

“On my tombstone, I don’t want it to say he sold a million records,” he added. “I want it to say he was a great dad and great husband.”

Never Too Late, which premieres on Disney+ on December 13, is bookended by Elton’s historic concerts at LA’s Dodger Stadium in 1975, and his 2022 shows at the same venue. It covers Elton’s childhood, his success, his drug addiction, his difficult romantic relationships, and his friendship with John Lennon among other topics.

According to Variety, Furnish said, “It’s a beautiful narrative arc. You can have all the success in the world, but it means nothing until you have love.”

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A new documentary about Jimi Hendrix is in the works, to be directed by The Greatest Night in Pop director Bao Nguyen, Variety reports.

The doc, Jimi, will be the first full-length film about the legendary performer, who passed away in 1970. It will focus on Hendrix’s time in London in the early ’60s through his U.S. breakthrough at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.

“Jimi’s time in London was some of the most pivotal in his life journey and his musical career,” Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s sister and the president and CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC, says. “Just as Bao Nguyen has achieved in his films highlighting the lives of other iconic figures who influenced pop culture, this presentation of Jimi’s London experience will be inspiring and informative — a story told the way it should be.”

“Telling the story of Jimi Hendrix during his pivotal years in London is both a profound honor and a unique responsibility,” Nguyen adds. “I approach this project with deep respect for his legacy and the cultural significance he holds as an American original.”

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Van Morrison and former Northern Ireland Minister of Health Robin Swann have come to a settlement in the dueling lawsuits they had against each other, according to the BBC.

Both suits stemmed from the COVID-19 lockdowns. Swann sued Morrison for slander after comments the musician made at a June 2021 show in Belfast, where he called Swann “very dangerous.” The comments were in response to show cancellations due to pandemic lockdowns. 

Morrison filed his own suit against Swan and the Department of Health over a September 2020 op-ed in Rolling Stone magazine that called out Morrison’s anti-lockdown songs, arguing their messages could be “actually dangerous.”

The High Court in Belfast announced Friday that both lawsuits had been settled, although terms of the settlement were not released. Both cases were due to go to trial at the end of September.

While neither Morrison nor Swann attended the hearing, a statement was read on behalf of both parties. Morrison acknowledged that although he didn’t agree with Swann, he “acted at all times honestly and in good faith and on the advice of responsible officials.”

Swann, who also didn’t agree with Morrison’s views, acknowledged the singer’s views “were sincere and expressed in the context of Sir Van being prevented by government regulations from performing in a role for which he is justly famous.”

The Department of Health also acknowledged that a U.S. music magazine was not necessarily the most appropriate place to express their views about Morrison’s song lyrics.

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Duran Duran fans are about to get some new music. The band announced on social media they’ll release the song “New Moon (Dark Phase)” on Sept 13.

While they didn’t share much else about the release, it appears to be some sort of new mix of their Seven and The Ragged Tiger single “New Moon on Monday,” as the title of the original song is in the new song’s digital pre-save link.

The artwork for the single seems similar to the art for their last album, the Halloween themed Danse Macabre, suggesting it may be a spookier version of the original tune.

Duran Duran is continuing their embrace of Halloween with their upcoming U.S. tour, which kicks off Oct. 21 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and includes The Danse Macabre Halloween Party, happening Oct. 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York. A complete list of dates can be found at duranduran.com.

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Grammy-winning Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes, who helped popularize bossa nova in the U.S. with his band Brasil ’66, has died, ABC Audio has confirmed. He was 83.

According to a family statement, Mendes died Sept. 5 in LA, surrounded by his wife and musical partner, Gracinha, and his children. For the last few months, Mendes had suffered health challenges due to the effects of long-term COVID-19, the family added. His last performances were in November 2023.

Mendes was a pianist, composer and arranger who brought Brazilian music to America, combining bossa nova, samba, jazz and pop, first as part of Antônio Carlos Jobim’s band and then with Brasil ’66. His big breakthrough came in 1968 when he and Brasil ’66 performed “The Look of Love” on the Oscars telecast. His version of the song, featuring vocals by Janis Hansen, was a top 10 hit.

One of Mendes’ biggest U.S. pop hits was his smash 1983 version of “Never Gonna Let You Go,” featuring singers Joe Pizzulo and Leeza Miller. It hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for four weeks.

Among Mendes’ other U.S. pop hits were covers of Little Anthony & the Imperials‘ “Goin’ Out of My Head,” Beatles songs like “The Fool on the Hill,” Simon & Garfunkel‘s “Scarborough Fair,” Buffalo Springfield‘s “For What It’s Worth,” and Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway‘s “Where Is the Love.”

In 2011, Mendes helped compose the soundtrack of the animated film Rio and was nominated for an Oscar for one of the movie’s songs, “Real in Rio.” His last studio album was 2002’s In the Key of Joy.

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Ringo Starr is getting ready to kick off another tour with his All Starr Band, and he just gave fans a peek behind the scenes at rehearsals for the trek.

In a new video, Ringo shared clips of him and his band at work rehearsing the song “Matchbox.” He also revealed that there’s something very special about the drum kit he’ll be playing on the tour, noting it’s the same model he played when The Beatles were on The Ed Sullivan Show. 

“I had the small kit because I wanted to be seen,” he explained. “But then I had the great idea and said why don’t you give me a rostrum, and they built the rostrum and I’m up there having a great time.”

For this leg of the All Starr Band tour, Ringo will be joined by Toto’s Steve Lukather, Men At Work’s Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart, Gregg Bissonette and Buck Johnson.

The tour kicks off Saturday in San Diego and wraps Sept. 25 in New York City. A complete list of dates can be found at ringostarr.com.

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Bob Dylan is sharing another live track set to appear on his upcoming box set, The 1974 Live Recordings, which is made up of live recordings Dylan made with The Band.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just released a performance of “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” a previously unheard live performance recorded Jan. 30, 1974, at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It follows the previously released recording of “Forever Young,” from a Seattle show on Feb. 9, 1974.

Both performances are part of the 431 live tracks featured on the box set, which is made up of 27 CDs. Among those live recordings are 417 that have never been released before. The set also includes 133 newly mixed recordings, plus all the surviving soundboard recordings.

The 1974 Live Recordings, dropping Sept. 20, celebrates the 50th anniversary of Dylan’s historic tour with The Band, which was Dylan’s return to touring after an eight-year break. The tour, which kicked off Jan. 4, 1974, in Chicago, saw the two acts playing arenas for the first time.

It is available for preorder now.

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Joni Mitchell is giving fans another preview of her upcoming box set, Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980), due out Oct. 4.

The legendary singer just released a demo of “Traveling (Hejira),” which was recorded in March 1976 at A&M Studios in Hollywood, California.

Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) features early recordings and alternate takes from Joni’s albums Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and Mingus, plus the 1980 live album Shadows and Light. It also includes live recordings from Mitchell’s time on Bob Dylan‘s Rolling Thunder Revue, which ran from 1975 to 1976 and also included Joan Baez and Roger McGuinn, among others.

It will be released digitally and as a six-CD set, plus there’s a four-LP set, Joni Mitchell Archives – Volume 4 Highlights: The Asylum Years (1976-1980), featuring Joni’s personal favorites from the CD set. All options come with a book with never-before-seen photos and liner notes that include a discussion between Mitchell and filmmaker Cameron Crowe about this five-year period of her career.

All formats are available for preorder now.

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Elton John is giving fans a sneak peek at his upcoming documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late, which will look back on the legendary performer’s 50-year career as he prepares for his final North American show at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has shared some exclusive photos from the doc with People, including shots of him and his band after the Dodger Stadium show in November 2022, and one of him FaceTiming with his 13-year-old son Zachary. 

There’s also a photo of him onstage with John Lennon at Madison Square Garden in 1974, and another of them backstage together. Lennon was a surprise guest at that concert, and it wound up being his last live concert performance ever.

Other photos include one of Elton lying on a couch backstage at MSG in 1974; a performance shot from the ’70s, where he’s banging on the piano with his boot; a shot of him in the studio while recording “Hold Me Closer,” his 2022 collab with Britney Spears; and one of him on his private plane, The Starship, during his 1974 tour.

Elton John: Never Too Late is set to premiere Friday at the Toronto Film Festival. It will stream on Disney+ starting Dec. 13.

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On This Day, Sept. 6, 1968 …

George Harrison asked Eric Clapton to contribute a guitar solo to his new Beatles song, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

Clapton initially declined Harrison’s request, saying “nobody ever plays on Beatles records,” but Harrison eventually convinced him to participate, and Clapton recorded the solo that night.

The song appeared on the band’s album The Beatles, also known as The White Album, which was released in November 1968. The track was one of Harrison’s songs on the album. It went on to be an iconic track for him and has often made it on lists of the greatest guitar songs of all time.

Harrison eventually paid Clapton back for his contribution by cowriting and playing guitar on Cream’s “Badge.”

Harrison and Clapton performed “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” live together several times. In November 2002 Clapton performed the tune at the Concert for George at London’s Royal Albert Hall backed by a band that included Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. The concert took place on the one-year anniversary of Harrison’s death.

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