“Amazed” Lionel Richie responds to Emmy nod for “We Are the World” doc

“Amazed” Lionel Richie responds to Emmy nod for “We Are the World” doc
“Amazed” Lionel Richie responds to Emmy nod for “We Are the World” doc
Courtesy of Netflix © 2024

Lionel Richie, who’s won an Oscar and several Grammys, was nominated for an Emmy Wednesday in connection with the Netflix documentary he helped produce, The Greatest Night In Pop. Now, he’s responding to the honor.

The documentary details the creation of the all-star 1985 charity single “We Are the World,” which featured everyone from Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder to Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Bob Dylan. It was nominated for three Emmys, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.

Lionel wrote on Instagram, “I am still amazed by what we accomplished in 1985 and I’m even more amazed after receiving an Emmy nomination for The Greatest Night In Pop. It has been an absolute joy to be able to bring this moment in history to life alongside @netflix.”

“A big thank you and congratulations to all of the artists and participants for making ‘We Are The World’ happen, and thank you to the @televisionacad for recognizing our documentary,” he added.

Other Emmy nominees this year include Billy Joel, for his CBS Special The 100th – Live at Madison Garden, and Sara Bareilles, nominated for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for “The Medium Time,” which she wrote for her Netflix series Girls5Eva. Her Instagram reaction was “Omg.” next to the “shocked face” emoji.

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Grateful Dead & Bonnie Raitt among the 47th annual Kennedy Center Honors recipients

Grateful Dead & Bonnie Raitt among the 47th annual Kennedy Center Honors recipients
Grateful Dead & Bonnie Raitt among the 47th annual Kennedy Center Honors recipients
Mickey Bernal/Getty Images

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 teases video for latest single, “Paralyzed”

Lenny Kravitz teases video for latest single, “Paralyzed”
Lenny Kravitz teases video for latest single, “Paralyzed”
HELLE ARENSBAK/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

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’ Steve Howe announces new instrumental album, ‘Guitarscape’

Yes’ Steve Howe announces new instrumental album, ‘Guitarscape’
Yes’ Steve Howe announces new instrumental album, ‘Guitarscape’
HoweSound

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 announce fall tour with Lucinda Williams

Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs announce fall tour with Lucinda Williams
Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs announce fall tour with Lucinda Williams
Allen Berezovsky/WireImage

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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Whitney Houston gala will celebrate singer’s birthday and history-making performances in South Africa

Whitney Houston gala will celebrate singer’s birthday and history-making performances in South Africa
Whitney Houston gala will celebrate singer’s birthday and history-making performances in South Africa
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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 to headline fundraiser for new Antarctica documentary

ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons to headline fundraiser for new Antarctica documentary
ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons to headline fundraiser for new Antarctica documentary
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

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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New box set of legendary Faces BBC Sessions coming in September

New box set of legendary Faces BBC Sessions coming in September
New box set of legendary Faces BBC Sessions coming in September
Rhino

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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Drummer Simon Kirke hopes to “give something back” to fans at Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp

Drummer Simon Kirke hopes to “give something back” to fans at Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp
Drummer Simon Kirke hopes to “give something back” to fans at Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp
Bobby Bank/Getty Images

Simon Kirke, drummer for legendary rock bands Bad Company and Free, is ready to share all he’s learned over his more than 50-year career with campers at the upcoming Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp in New York.

Kirke has done about nine previous camps, and tells ABC Audio that he got involved years ago when he was touring with Ringo Starr and was asked by the promoter, who also ran the camp, whether he’d be interested in teaching. He says the idea intrigued him.  

“I know this sounds a little trite, but it was a chance to give something back to the fans and people who follow me and my bands over the years,” he says.

Kirke can see how music fans get a lot out of the experience, sharing, “When you get a chance to hang out with your ‘heroes,’ it’s wonderful. And once you put all that sort of aside, you want to learn from them.” 

And the campers aren’t the only ones who learn a thing or two at these camps.  

“I mean, I learn a lot by teaching,” Kirke says. “When you’re trying to impart knowledge to a beginner or relative newcomer, it helps you hone your own knowledge, as it were.”

He adds, “And I do love doing it.” 

Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp’s Rock The Apple is happening Thursday through Sunday. In addition to Kirke, counselors include Foreigner’s Lou Gramm and Cheap Trick’s Rick and Daxx Nielsen. More info can be found at rockcamp.com.

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Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. announce fall symphony-backed shows

Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. announce fall symphony-backed shows
Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. announce fall symphony-backed shows
Steve Jennings/Getty Images

Grateful Dead’s Bobby Weir has announced a set of shows that will have him backed by symphonies from each city he plays in.

Billed as Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack, the fall tour hits three cities, starting Nov. 13 in Cincinnati, backed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. They’ll then play Chicago Nov. 17-18, with the Chicago Philharmonic, before wrapping the trek Nov. 22-23 in New Orleans, backed by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tickets for the shows in New Orleans and Chicago go on sale Friday at 10 a.m., while the Cincinnati show goes on sale Monday at 10 a.m.

Until then, Weir will continue to perform with Dead & Company at their Dead Forever residency at the Sphere Las Vegas. The band returns to the venue Aug. 1, with shows confirmed through Aug. 10. A complete list of dates can be found at deadandcompany.com.

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