Classic Hits

Grammy-winning saxophonist David Sanborn passed away May 12, according to a post on his Facebook account. He was 78.

“It is with sad and heavy hearts that we convey to you the loss of internationally renowned, 6 time Grammy Award-winning, saxophonist, David Sanborn,” read the post, which revealed that he died “after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications.” 

“Mr. Sanborn had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018, but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently,” the post continued. “Indeed he already had concerts scheduled into 2025.”

“David Sanborn was a seminal figure in contemporary pop and jazz music. It has been said that he ‘put the saxophone back into Rock ’n Roll,'” the post concludes.

Sanborn, an alto saxophonist, was well known not only in the jazz world, but in pop, rock and R&B, as well. He released his first album, Taking Off, in 1975, which landed in the top 20 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. He went on to win six Grammy Awards, and earn eight Gold albums and one Platinum album.

Sanborn performed and recorded with a whole host of musicians, including David Bowie on Young Americans; James Taylor on four albums, including the Gorilla song “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”; and Eric Clapton on the soundtrack to the movie Lethal Weapon.

Other artists he recorded with include The Who‘s Roger Daltrey, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Carly Simon, Billy Joel, Steely Dan, James Brown, The Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead and the Eagles.

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Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band brought their tour to Kilkenny, Ireland, on Sunday, where they paid tribute to the late Irish singer Shane MacGowan, who passed away in November at age 65.

Fan-shot footage posted to social media shows Bruce and the band performing “A Rainy Night in Soho,” the classic track by MacGowan’s band The Pogues.

When Shane died Bruce paid tribute to him on social media, sharing that Shane “was one of my all-time favorite writers.” He added, “The passion and deep intensity of his music and lyrics is unmatched by all but the very best in the rock and roll canon.”

According to setlist.fm, “A Rainy Night in Soho” was the first song of Springsteen’s main set, but fans who got to the show early got a surprise from The Boss. The rocker came out with his guitar to perform for the “early birds” in the audience, treating them to an acoustic performance of “This Hard Land.”

The rest of concert featured plenty of Springsteen classics, including “Born To Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Badlands” and “Thunder Road.” Springsteen also got up close and personal with the Kilkenny crowd, jumping into the pit during “Spirit in the Night.” Unfortunately he had a little issue getting out and needed a hand from security to lift him out.

Bruce has two more shows in Ireland: He plays Cork on May 16 and Dublin on May 19. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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A pair of boots worn by Sir Paul McCartney are being auctioned off at Sotheby’s to raise money for Meat Free Mondays. 

The black vegan suede boots, which McCartney designed with shoemaker Crispinians, were made for the rocker’s On The Run world tour and were worn during his finale performance at the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.

“As it was time for me to get myself a new pair of boots I thought this might be a good way to help our Meat Free Monday campaign celebrate its 15th anniversary,” Paul shared. “Me and my boots have great memories of that special evening at the Olympic opening ceremony in London. It was a high to be involved with such an awesome and spectacular event. Something I’ll remember forever.”

The auction is set to begin on May 24, with the boots estimated to sell for between $12,000 and $19,000.

Meat Free Mondays is a nonprofit co-founded by Paul, Mary McCartney and Stella McCartney in 2009 to encourage people to help the environment by committing to eating at least one plant-based meal a week. 

“It’s a great idea, and I urge you to try it, and if you like it then spread the word,” Paul says. “And if enough people do it, it really will make a considerable difference to the future of this planet.” 

More info on the auction can be found at sothebys.com.

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Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour is bringing his live show to the U.S. for the first time in eight years.

The rocker has just announced four North American tour dates for his Luck and Strange tour: October 29 and 30 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and November 4 and 5 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. These will be Gilmour’s only North American concert appearances. 

A presale for tickets will begin Wednesday, May 15, at 10 a.m., and fans need to sign up at davidgilmour.com to gain access. Tickets then go on sale to the general public starting Friday, May 17. 

Gilmour previously announced dates in Rome and London. He’ll play Rome’s Circo Massimo September 27, 28 and 29 and October 1, 2 and 3, and London’s Royal Albert Hall October 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15.

The tour is in support of Gilmour’s new solo album, Luck and Strange, which drops September 6. It is his first album of new material in nine years. 

Luck and Strange is available for preorder now.

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On This Day, May 13, 1985 …

Bruce Springsteen married actress Julianne Phillips at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The marriage was the first for both, although it did not last.

Songs on Springsteen’s 1987 album Tunnel of Love were inspired by his troubled marriage, and during Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love Express tour he reportedly began a relationship with musician Patti Scialfa, who had joined The E Street Band for the tour.

Springsteen later separated from Phillips, and Phillips filed for divorce in August 1988, citing irreconcilable differences.

Springsteen went on to wed Scialfa on June 8, 1991, at their home in Los Angeles. They had already welcomed their first child, son Evan, almost a year earlier. They later welcomed two more children, Jessica, born in December 1991, and Samuel, born in January 1994.

Springsteen and Scialfa are still married and she has toured with The E Street Band for years, although she’s been mostly absent from his current tour, which hits Cork, Ireland, on May 16.

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The Rolling Stones continue to surprise fans on their ’24 Hackney Diamonds tour, this time treating the Saturday, May 11, audience at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium to four tour debuts. 

According to setlist.fm, the debuts began just three songs into the set, with the tour’s first performance of “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” followed two song later by a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone.”

The other tour debuts were “You Got Me Rocking,” the fan-voted song of the night, and “You Got the Silver,” one of two songs featuring Keith Richards on vocals. The other was “Little T&A,” which The Stones have been playing since the tour kicked off in April.

The rest of the set included Hackney Diamonds tracks “Angry,” “Mess It Up” and “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” along with such Stones classics as “Start Me Up,” “Get Off of My Cloud,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Gimme Shelter” and “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”

Next up, The Rolling Stones bring their ’24 Hackney Diamonds tour to Seattle, Washington, on Wednesday, May 15. A complete list of dates can be found at rollingstones.com.

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Aerosmith has teamed with the fine art photography company Sonic Editions for a new limited edition photography collection to help celebrate their upcoming final tour.

The officially licensed framed prints in the collection were all hand-selected by the members of Aerosmith, which, according to the announcement, ensures “every piece captures the essence of their legendary career.”

The collection includes various live shots, including one of them on stage in Boston in 1973 and one of frontman Steven Tyler in front of an audience in Oakland in 1978. There is also a variety of group portraits, including one from Hamburg, Germany in 1977 and others taken around the time of their Pump and Permanent Vacation albums.

Prints in the Aerosmith Collection range in price from about $150 to $1,000 depending on the size. More information can be found at soniceditions.com. 

After postponing their Peace Out farewell tour last year when Tyler fractured his larynx, Aerosmith is due to relaunch the trek on September 20 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with dates confirmed through February 26 in Buffalo, New York.  The Black Crowes will once again be special guests on the tour.

The complete Peace Out schedule can be found at aerosmith.com.

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A new musical with a score by Elvis Costello is set to open in London this fall, Playbill reports.

A Face in the Crowd is based on the 1957 movie of the same name, which starred Andy Griffith, Walter Matthau and Patricia Neal. It is set to begin previews at London’s Young Vic theater on September 10, with opening night scheduled for September 17. The show will run through November 9.

Canadian actor Ramin Karimloo, who appeared in the latest Broadway adaptation of Funny Girl, and Anoushka Lucas, who starred in the Young Vic’s revival of Oklahoma!, have been cast in the production, which follows a drifter who rises to unlikely fame after being given a spot on the air by a radio producer.

Costello has been working on the music for A Face in the Crowd for quite some time. In fact, he has actually been performing some of the songs in concert as far back as 2015, and a reading for the show took place in 2016 in New York.

Up next for Costello, he’s set to hit the road with Daryl Hall for a tour that kicks off June 2 in Troutdale, Oregon. A complete list of dates can be found at elviscostello.com.

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Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour is slowly revealing his upcoming touring schedule.

After previously announcing a six-show run at London’s Royal Albert Hall in October, Gilmour has just announced six more shows, this time at Rome’s Circo Massimo.

The Italian concerts are happening September 27, 28 and 29 and October 1, 2 and 3, with tickets going on sale Friday, May 17. They will be Gilmour’s first concerts in Italy in eight years.

The tour coincides with the release of Gilmour’s new solo album, Luck and Strange, which drops September 6. It is his first album of new material in nine years.

Luck and Strange is available for preorder now.

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Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is the latest musician to pay tribute to prolific punk rock musician and audio engineer Steve Albini, who died Tuesday, May 7, at age 61.

“I was very sad to hear of Steve Albini’s passing this week,” Page wrote on Instagram, mentioning that he and his Led Zeppelin bandmate Robert Plant worked with Albini on the 1997 album Walking in Clarksdale. He noted it’s “a record I’m still really proud of.”

Walking in Clarksdale was the only studio album Page and Plant released together following the breakup of Led Zeppelin. It debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, with the single “Most High,” winning the 1999 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. 

“I had a strong connection with Steve, we all did on that album, and he came with such pedigree and experience as one of the world’s leading mixers and audio engineers,” Page writes. “He loved working with analogue tape, in fact his own band was called Shellac.”

Page described Albini as “passionate and knowledgable (sic),” calling out his work on Nirvana’s third album In Utero, as well as with bands like the Pixies and Bush.

He concluded, “He had an impressive CV and leaves a real legacy. RIP, Steve.”

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