Classic Hits

Richie Sambora is out with new music. The former Bon Jovi guitarist just released the brand new single, “I Pray,” and that’s just a taste of what’s to come.

Sambora is planning to release three more tracks to digital platforms throughout the month of May. “I Pray” will be followed by “Livin’ Alone,” coming May 3, “Songs That Wrote My Life,” out May 10, and “Believe (In Miracles),” coming May 17.

You can listen to “I Pray” now via digital services and on YouTube.

“I’m at that point in my life where I am truly happy and a big part of that joy comes from writing songs and making music,” Sambora shares. “There’s a tremendous freedom with these songs because I don’t have to think about charting #1 or what’s happening on the radio, but I still put the same craftsmanship, care and love into it as I did with Slippery When Wet or New Jersey and I hope they bring a similar happiness to those that choose to listen and push play on streaming services.”

The song release comes as Richie is featured in the brand new docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, which is streaming now on Hulu. The four-part series follows the 40-year career of his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Bon Jovi.

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Bon Jovi is looking back at their 40-year career with the new four-part docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, and front man Jon Bon Jovi tells ABC Audio he’s very proud of the final product.

“Overall, it’s a very emotional piece, to see your life flash before your eyes,” he says. “You’re showing everything. You’re putting all your cards on the table.”

As for why he felt now was the right time for such an in-depth look at the band, Jon says, “I just felt that it was an opportunity for us to mark the first 40 years and to look back while I’m looking ahead.”

There’s no doubt Bon Jovi’s devoted fan base will tune in to watch — and while some may think they know all there is to know about the group, Jon thinks there’s still a lot fans can learn about how the band got to where they are today.

“I think that folks think that these songs fall out of the sky, and then we just do things,” he says. “There’s a lot of hard work that goes into making it look easy.”

But will this documentary bring a new set of fans to Bon Jovi? Jon’s not so sure.

“That’s what’s interesting about putting a documentary out,” he says. “Even if you have a perception of something, how it’s then viewed and perceived by others is completely out of your control.” 

Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story premieres Friday, April 26, on Hulu.

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The members of Talking Heads will once again reunite to talk about their groundbreaking documentary, Stop Making Sense.

All four members of the group — David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison — will come together to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the concert documentary at two Q&A sessions following screenings of the film. They took part in a similar Q&A at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

Brooklyn, New York’s Kings Theatre announced the band members will be on hand for a June 13 screening of the film, with the Q&A moderated by Questlove. The event will also feature The Linda Lindas covering “Found a Job” from the upcoming Stop Making Sense tribute album, Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, which comes out May 17.

A ticket presale is open now, with tickets going on sale to the general public on Friday, April 26. 

Brooklyn Vegan reports that the band will also be on hand for a June 4 screening of the film at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, which is where the original Stop Making Sense concerts took place. That night’s Q&A will be moderated by Fred Armisen and will feature Blondshell performing “Thank You For Sending Me an Angel,” also from the tribute album. 

Considered by many to be the greatest concert film of all time, Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme, was recorded over three shows at Pantages Theatre in December 1983; the documentary came out the following October. 

A Stop Making Sense Collectors Edition Blu-ray, featuring two extended cuts of the film, a 25-minute documentary and more, will be released May 8. It is available for preorder now.

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The new Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story features some unheard music from the group — and Jon Bon Jovi says in the future everyone will get to hear it.

Asked by Billboard if the archival music will ever come out, he says, “Yes. One thing that we have always known, and our deep fan base knows as well, is that we always write 30 songs to get 10. And so there’s always been a backlog of material that’s been unreleased. There’s no shortage of it.”

“So I think that we stumbled on 30 or 40 songs that no one’s heard, and they’ll all come out, yeah,” he added.  Jon notes that the unreleased songs are from “all the records” — including Slippery When Wet and New Jersey.

The bad news is that Jon doesn’t know when these songs will be released. “But,” he explains, “We know what we’ve got. It’ll happen during the course of the release of the album.” That’d be Forever, which is coming out in June.

“There’s some really good songs that I can’t believe didn’t make those records,” he says.

The docuseries also shows Jon’s struggle to get his voice back after undergoing surgery. He says he won’t go on tour until he can, as he puts it, “go out on that stage … and pick any song I want throughout [our] catalog on a nightly basis, the way I used to be able to do.”

He adds, “That’s where I have left to go … that’s the bar that I need to get back to.”

As for what he’s doing to get back to that point, Jon says it involves vocal therapy four times a week, as well as, “Hoping, wishing. Wishing, hoping. Praying.”

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The Rolling Stones are getting ready to kick off their Hackney Diamonds tour on Sunday, April 28, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, and they’ve just revealed the lineup of acts set to open for them on the trek.

The opening show will feature already announced special guest Gary Clark Jr., with The Pretty Reckless, KALEO, Joe Bonamassa, The Linda Lindas, Lawrence, Tyler Childers, Widespread Panic, Lainey Wilson, The Beaches, Electric Mud, Carin León, Ghost Hounds, Bettye LaVette, The Red Clay Strays and The War and Treaty among the artists booked for the rest of the tour.

Clark Jr., Ghost Hounds and KALEO have all opened for The Stones in the past.

The Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds tour, their first North American tour since 2019’s No Filter tour, consists of 19 shows, with multiple nights in New Jersey, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as a headlining set at Jazz Fest in New Orleans on May 2.

The tour wraps July 17 in Santa Clara, California. A complete list of dates can be found at rollingstones.com.

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After announcing it last week, Barbra Streisand has now unveiled her new song, “Love Will Survive,” which she recorded for the upcoming Peacock limited series The Tattooist of Auschwitz. It’s Streisand’s first-ever song for a TV series.

As previously reported, Streisand, 82, said of the song, “Because of the rise in antisemitism around the world today, I wanted to sing ‘Love Will Survive’ in the context of this series, as a way of remembering the six million souls who were lost less than 80 years ago [in the Holocaust]. And also to say that, even in the darkest of times, the power of love can triumph and endure.”

In the emotional ballad, Barba sings, “Until we face every heartache together / I’ll keep believing, feel you breathing, hear your cries / with every season of sorrow / somehow our loves survives.”

The Tattooist of Auschwitz stars Harvey Keitel, Melanie Lynskey, Jonah Hauer-King, Anna Próchniak and Jonas Nay. It follows the love and survival story of a prisoner at a Nazi concentration camp who falls in love with a fellow prisoner he meets while tattooing her identification number on her arm. Years later, he finally tells his story to an aspiring writer.

The six-part series launches globally on May 2.

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Artists including Graham Nash, Yes and Duran Duran have signed an open letter supporting the proposed Fans First Act, which aims to “combat predatory resellers and the use of illegal bots” in the concert ticket industry.

The letter was released by a coalition called Fix the Tix, organized by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA).

“As artists and members of the music community, we rely on touring for our livelihood, and we value music fans above all else,” the signees write. “We are joining together to say that the current system is broken: predatory resellers and secondary platforms engage in deceptive ticketing practices to inflate ticket prices and deprive fans of the chance to see their favorite artists at a fair price.”

“Predatory resellers have gone unregulated while siphoning money from the live entertainment ecosystem for their sole benefit,” the letter continues. “They use illegal bots, speculative ticket listings, and deceitful advertising, which cause real harm.”

It concludes, “We, as artists, as music lovers, and as concert attendees ourselves, urge you to support the Fans First Act to combat predatory resellers’ deceptive ticketing practices and the secondary platforms, which also profit from these practices. Predatory resellers should not be more profitable than the people dedicating their lives to their art.”

Others who signed include Blue Öyster Cult, Nile Rodgers, Cyndi Lauper, Green Day, Darlene Love, Men at Work‘s Colin Hay, Dave Matthews, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Billie Eilish, Jack Johnson and Pixies.

To read the whole letter, visit NIVAssoc.org/fixthetix.

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On This Day, April 25, 1987…

Three weeks after its release, U2’s The Joshua Tree hit number one on the Billboard 200 album chart.

The album, the band’s fifth studio release, was U2’s first U.S. chart-topper, and it remained at number one for nine weeks.

The record included future U2 classics “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” which remain U2’s only number-one singles in the U.S., as well as “Where the Streets Have No Name.” 

The Irish rockers went on to have seven more number one albums: 1988’s Rattle and Hum, 1991’s Achtung Baby, 1993’s Zooropa, 1997’s Pop, 2004’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, 2009’s No Line on the Horizon and 2017’s Songs of Experience.

U2 celebrated the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree with tours in 2017 and 2019, during which they played the album in its entirety. The tour hit North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

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Mike Pinder, keyboardist, vocalist and founding member of the Moody Blues, passed away Wednesday, April 24 at the age of 82. The news was confirmed in a statement from his family, which was shared on Facebook by his Moody Blues bandmate John Lodge.

“Michael’s family would like to share with his trusted friends and caring fans that he passed peacefully,” read the statement. “His final days were filled with music, encircled by the love of his family. Michael lived his life with a childlike wonder, walking a deeply introspective path which fused the mind and the heart.”

“He created his music and the message he shared with the world from this spiritually grounded place,” the statement continued. “His authentic essence lifted up everyone who came into contact with him. His lyrics, philosophy, and vision of humanity and our place in the cosmos will touch generations to come.” 

Pinder was remembered by his Moody Blues bandmate Justin Hayward as “a natural born musician who could play any style of music with warmth and love.” He added, “He was a huge part of my own musical journey. My sincere condolences to his loving and devoted family.”

Moody Blues were formed in May 1964 by Pinder and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ray Thomas, who recruited guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and Clint Warwick. Guitarist/vocalist Hayward and bassist/vocalist Lodge joined the band after Laine and Warwick’s departure in 1966. Pinder was the last surviving original member of the band.  

Moody Blues were influential in the development of progressive rock, with their sophomore album Days of Future Passed considered by some to be the first real example of the genre. It contained the classic hit “Nights in White Satin,” which was initially released in 1967, but peaked at #2 in the U.S. when it was reissued in 1972. 

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Robert Plant’s career following the breakup of Led Zeppelin in 1980 will be explored in a new picture book coming later this year. 

Portraits of Robert Plant, from Rufus Publications, is a 240-page coffee table book featuring rare and previously unseen photos from well-known rock photographers. It also includes an essay from music journalist Mark Blake, who delves into Plant’s career through the decade. 

The book will be released in two editions, both coming with a foldout poster. The main edition, limited to 500 numbered copies, comes in a black slipcase with gold foil logo. There’s also a lager black leather and metal edition, limited to 50 copies, which comes in a hand welded aluminum metal slipcase with a screen printed logo and a unique lenticular print. 

Both copies will be available for preorder starting Friday, April 26, with shipping to start at the end of July.

Led Zeppelin called it quits in 1980 following the death of their drummer, John Bonham. Plant released his first solo album, Pictures at Eleven, in 1982, releasing three other solo albums in the ‘80s: 1983’s The Principle of Moments, 1985’s Shaken ‘n’ Stirred and 1988’s Now and Zen.

Plant also teamed up with his Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page and guitarist Jeff Beck for the side project Honeydrippers, releasing the EP The Honeydrippers: Volume One in 1984. It featured a remake of Phil Phillips’ “Sea of Love,” which hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In 1988 he reunited with his Led Zeppelin bandmates Page and John Paul Jones, along with Bonham’s son Jason, to perform at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary celebration concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

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