Classic Hits

Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh has announced the lineup for the 2024 edition of his benefit concert VetsAid, which is happening Nov. 11 at UBS Arena in Queens, New York, the first time it’s being held on the East Coast since it launched in Northern Virginia in 2017.

In addition to Walsh, the show will feature performances from Toto, country star Eric Church and Kool and The Gang.

The location is particularly close to Walsh, as his wife, VetsAid co-founder Marjorie Walsh, is from Rosedale, Queens. 

“VetsAid 2024 is all about family, friends and faith,” Walsh shares. “I honor my wife’s family and their legacy of service in her home borough of Queens. I honor our collective faith in the power of music to bring fans of diverse backgrounds together in celebration and our faith in the power of love to unite us all as Americans to support a population of veterans that has sacrificed so much and asked for so little in return.”

Finally, Walsh notes, “We’ve got something for everyone at VetsAid this year – country, pop, rock, funk and gospel – so all aboard!”

Tickets for VetsAid go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET. Proceeds from this year’s concert will benefit veterans services charities in the New York and New Jersey area.

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Journey’s Neal Schon appears to be responding to his bandmate Jonathan Cain’s recent lawsuit, in which he accused Schon of overspending.

In a post on social media, Schon shared a response to a fan who commented, “theres a lot of rumours about the band living its final days cus you and your wife can’t stop expending the bands money. Is this truth?” Schon called it “absolute rubbish.”

“I don’t know why people believe Media if anything [what] she’s done is make us a lot of money by attaining the Trade Mark,” which he said “cost quite a lot of money.”

He added that “both Jon Cain and Arnel Pineda are benefiting from that equally. It’s split in thirds.”

He then responded to claims he’s overspending by chartering private jets, saying they’re “approved in our budget.” Responding to claims he and his wife spend huge amounts on hotels, he insisted they pay for any upgrades they take.

“This is the second time JONATHAN CAIN has sued me for the same thing we’ve already been through in court – that case was dropped by both of us,” he said. “We both agreed to drop and move forward with prejudice. That means that you never open it again. Well here we are again.” 

He ends his post, “Don’t believe all you read in media it’s all manipulated and contrived as they wish it to be. I’m taking a higher road.” 

Cain filed his lawsuit against Schon on July 24, detailing what he claimed was Schon’s overspending, although in a statement he insisted the aim of the suit was to get the court to appoint a third, independent director to serve on the band’s Freedom 2020 board in order to deal with “growing issues” between him and Schon.

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On This Day, Aug. 12, 2012 … 

Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, The Who and The Kinks’ Ray Davies were among the artists who performed at the closing ceremony of the London Olympics, held at Olympic Stadium.

Queen’s May and Taylor were joined by Jessie J to perform “We Will Rock You” and Davies performed “Waterloo Sunset.” The Who closed the evening with a medley of three hits: “Baba O’Riley,” “See Me, Feel Me” and “My Generation.”

Dubbed A Symphony of British Music, the evening also featured Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason and Genesis’ Mike Rutherford, who performed Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” with Ed Sheeran. There were also  performances by Madness, One Direction, Spice Girls, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, Annie Lennox and Muse.

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The estate and family of legendary R&B singer Isaac Hayes has announced they are suing former President Donald Trump for copyright infringement over his use of the classic tune “Hold On (I’m Coming),” which Hayes and David Porter wrote for Sam & Dave. 

A letter to Trump and his campaign, which was posted to Hayes’ official social media accounts, reveals that the estate is demanding that Trump stop playing the tune at his rallies. They are also seeking $3 million to cover the licensing fees for the times the song has already been used without permission between 2022 and 2024. 

In addition, the estate wants any videos featuring the song to be removed from websites or other outlets worldwide. They also want a statement from Trump announcing that neither the family nor the estate approved the use of the tune.

The caption to the post notes that “Hold On (I’m Coming)” has been used 134 times by the Trump campaign. It also states that the estate is demanding compensation by Aug. 16, noting, “Failure to comply will result in further legal action.”

Hayes’ son Isaac Hayes III commented on the suit on his Instagram account, blasting Trump’s use of the song: “This behavior will no longer be tolerated, and we will take swift action to put an end to it.”

“We stand in solidarity with all musicians whose work has been co-opted without consent by divisive political campaigns,” he writes. “A musical performers art is a reflection of their soul, not a tool for promoting hatred or bigotry. It’s time for all artists to unite and demand respect for their creative legacies.”

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Madonna took to Instagram on Aug. 11 to wish her son Rocco Ritchie a happy 24th birthday with a heartfelt post.

Alongside a carousel of videos and photos of Rocco through the years, Madonna wrote, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCCO— the long and Winding Road through all your many moods and incarnations has been tumultuous and full of surprises. But through it all —your curiosity, and Artistic Soul has been the glue that has held us together.”

“Thank God for Art. Thank God for you. We have been together for many lifetimes,” she continued. “Thank you for choosing me again. I Love you -for Eternity.”

Rocco, who is a painter, is Madonna’s second oldest child. He was born four months before Madonna married his father, director Guy Ritchie, in Scotland on December 22, 2000.  Madonna and Ritchie divorced in 2008.

Rocco is one of Madonna’s two biological children: The other is daughter, Lourdes Leon, whose father, whom Madonna never married, is trainer Carlos Leon.  Madonna’s four other children — David, Mercy, Stella and Estere — were all adopted from Malawi.

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Eighties pop band Haircut 100, best known for songs like “Love Plus One” and “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl),” is getting ready to tour the U.S. with the original lineup for the first time in over 40 years, and frontman Nick Heyward and guitarist Graham Jones are looking forward to the trek.

“The best place for us is either on the stage or in the studio when we’re communicating with the audience, when we’ve got that interaction,” Jones tells ABC Audio. “What you get back from the audience is the reward for all the effort that we put in.”

The band first reunited in 2022. Nick says performing with his old bandmates has felt very organic, sharing, “I can’t remember it being this good.”

Jones adds that things are better now because there’s a new “level of maturity” in the band: “I think we’re kind of maybe paying more attention to each other, as opposed to getting caught up or swept up in the moment of being young pop stars.” 

Jones says he’s specifically looking forward to playing for U.S. audiences again, because their reaction to the music is much different than that of U.K. fans. 

“Americans seem to tend to listen to the music more than the other aspects. And when we come on stage, play our set and disappear, they go, ‘Christ, we didn’t realize they were that good,’” Jones notes. Heyward adds with a laugh, “No, that’s us, we don’t realize we were that good.” 

Haircut 100 will be the special guest on Howard Jones and ABC‘s summer tour, which kicks off Aug. 14 in Redmond, Washington. A complete list of dates can be found at haircut100.com.

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Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour and Roger Waters have been in a feud for a while now, which has resulted in public name-calling and legal threats. It’s hard to believe that the two ever got along, but according to Alan Parsons, the famed producer, engineer and musician who was behind the desk for The Dark Side of the Moon, it used be a “joy” to work with them.

In a new interview, Parsons was asked by YouTuber Rick Beato whether Gilmour and Waters used to feud back in the day. On the contrary, Parsons said, “They all got on really well. I mean, making Dark Side was a joy. I mean, everybody was into what they were doing. Everybody was friendly.”

“It’s terribly sad that the rift exists between them now,” he added.

But while the band members were friendly, you’d never catch them actually saying nice things about each other, Parsons recalled.

“They were all critical of each other’s performances and not afraid to say,” he laughed. “If David Gilmour had produced an incredible guitar solo on something, Roger [Waters] might say, ‘I think that might be all right, David. Thank you.’ Pretty sort of low-key congratulations.”

When Gilmour heads out on tour later this year in support of his new solo album, Luck and Strange, he reportedly plans to avoid Pink Floyd songs from the band’s ’70s era, which includes much of the material he made with Waters, in favor of songs from the ’60s, ’80s and ’90s.

Keyboardist Nick Mason recently suggested, “It would be fascinating to see what AI could do with new music … the thing to do would be to have an AI situation where David and Roger become friends again.”

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After canceling his big 200th residency performance at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Aug. 7 due to strep throat, Rod Stewart has now canceled two additional shows due to another illness.

A message on Rod’s Instagram on Aug. 9 said that the “Maggie May” rocker’s show in Stateline, Nevada was postponed, as is his Aug. 10 show in Lincoln, California, while he “recovers from a summer strain of Covid-19.”

The Lincoln show will now take place on August 18 and the Stateline show has been moved to August 20. All tickets will be honored for the new shows.  Rod’s next scheduled show is Aug. 13 in Saratoga, California.

As previously reported, Rod, 79, announced Aug. 7 that he’d be returning to Caesars Palace in 2025 with a new residency called The Encore Shows.

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An election year means rallies, and rallies mean music, and music usually means artists complaining about candidates using their songs without permission. On Aug. 10, one artist issued a statement criticizing a candidate’s use of her signature song — even though she’s Canadian and can’t vote in the election.

A message on Celine Dion‘s Instagram posted Saturday reads, “Today, Celine Dion’s management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at a Donald Trump / JD Vance campaign rally in Montana.”

“In no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use,” the statement continued.

The statement then concluded, with no small amount of shade, “…And really, THAT song?”

If you want to watch Celine performing “My Heart Will Go On” in a place other than a Trump/Vance rally, she’s compiled a new YouTube playlist of all her greatest live performances over the years, including her 2017 20th anniversary performance of the Titanic theme at the Billboard Music Awards.

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The fact that many top artists — like Coldplay‘s Chris Martin and Beyonce — are available to hire for weddings and birthday parties if the price is right is one of the worst-kept secrets in the music industry. But some artists just flat-out refuse to do them, even if the money is insane. Case in point: U2.

Jay Siegan, whose company specializes in organizing private gigs by big stars, tells The Times of London, “We recently made an offer to U2 of $10 million to perform on an island in the Caribbean for a private client. They quickly declined.” Other acts who “never” do private shows include Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Taylor Swift, The Cure and Depeche Mode.

Of course, those acts don’t exactly need the money. Just think of how much U2 must have raked in during their recent residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, which grossed some $256 million.

In other U2 news, the group has just released the 10th edition of its ongoing digital playlist series, To Love and Only Love — Deep Dives and B-Sides. The remastered collection is comprised of songs that until now were only available on vinyl, CD or cassette.

The latest playlist is centered around “Elevation,” from their 2000 album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind. The 10 tracks include six different mixes of “Elevation,” including the “Tomb Raider Mix” from the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. There are also live versions of “New York,” “I Will Follow” and the Ramones cover “I Remember You,” plus a remake of Johnny Cash‘s “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” which was the original B-side of “Elevation.”

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