Are you a fan of the Grateful Dead who’d love to learn more about your favorite band? Well, Stanford University is here to help with that.
The college is offering a course on the Rock & Roll Famers. Psychedelia and Groove: The Music and Culture of the Grateful Dead, taught by musician, author and radio producer David Gans, is a six-week online course that begins January 22.
According to Stanford’s website, the course “invites students to delve into the phenomenon that is the Grateful Dead through a captivating exploration of the band’s history, music, and cultural impact.” It promises to delve into the band’s evolution, formation in San Francisco, approach to touring, music catalog and “cultural impact on society.”
It will also feature guest speaker Steve Silberman, co-author of Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads and regular contributor to the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast.
The description notes, “By the end of the course, students will have a well-rounded appreciation for the roots, struggles, and milestones that shaped the Grateful Dead’s trajectory, an understanding of its profound impact on music and culture, and insight into a legacy that still resonates deeply today.”
Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry has given fans an update regarding the rescheduling plans for their final tour, the Peace Out tour.
Aerosmith kicked off the tour on September 2 in Philadelphia, but after playing only a handful of dates, the tour was postponed when frontman Steven Tyler fractured his larynx.
The tour was supposed to include a hometown show on New Year’s Eve at Boston’s TD Garden; in an interview with the Boston Globe, Perry says they’re “bummed” they have to miss it, then shared a tidbit about their future plans.
“But with any luck we will be back out late summer and fall of 24,” he said. “And there’s always next New Year’s Eve! Stay tuned for that.”
Perry also promised fans they’ll be getting some new releases from the band’s archives in 2024, noting, “We have a ton of unreleased material coming out over the next year and a half with remixes and alternate takes.”
Perry also commented on the band’s recent milestone: their song “Dream On” passing 1 billion streams on Spotify.
“That knocked us back on our heels, I’ll tell ya. I talked to Steven who was freaking out about writing that riff four years before he even joined the band,” he says. “And all I could think about was taking my first guitar — a Sears $12 acoustic — out of the box when I was 11 or so.”
He adds, “And now over a billion fans hear my guitar at the beginning of the song. Who would have thought that?”
The Beatles landed another #1 album with their self-titled ninth studio release, more commonly referred to as The White Album, due to its plain white jacket cover with just the band’s name embossed on it. It spent nine weeks on top of the chart.
The album featured 30 songs, including such future Beatles classics as “Helter Skelter,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and “Blackbird.”
Tensions were high during the recording of the album, especially since John Lennon began bringing his new girlfriend, Yoko Ono, into the studio. Things got so bad that Ringo Starr reportedly left the group for two weeks.
The White Album also topped the charts in the U.K., Australia, Canada, Sweden and more. It has since been certified 24-times Platinum by the RIAA, making it The Beatles’ most certified album.
Cher and son Elijah in 2001; Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Cher is taking legal steps to help her son Elijah Blue Allman, 47, who struggles with substance abuse: She’s filed for a conservatorship of him.
In legal documents obtained by ABC News, Cher states that she wants to be the sole conservator of Elijah’s estate because he is “substantially unable to manage his financial resources.” According to the documents, Elijah, the son of Cher’s late ex-husband Gregg Allman, is due to receive money from a trust before the end of 2023. However, because he’s currently suffering from “severe mental health and substance abuse issues,” Cher believes that “any money [he] receives will be “immediately spent on drugs … putting [his] life at risk.”
What’s more, the documents claim that Elijah’s wife, from whom he is allegedly estranged, shouldn’t be the conservator because she is “not supportive of Elijah’s recovery” and “actively works to keep Elijah from getting clean and sober or receiving mental health treatment that he desperately needs.”
The documents state that Cher has “worked tirelessly” to get Elijah “the help he needs,” and that two of his siblings have nominated her to act as conservator. It’s not clear which siblings she’s referring to, but the document lists three of Gregg Allman’s five children — including Devon Allman, lead singer of The Allman Betts Band — and Cher’s son Chaz Bono, from her marriage to the late Sonny Bono.
A hearing for a temporary order of conservatorship is set for January 5. A hearing that will decide whether to make the order permanent is set for March 6.
In October, Cher dismissed as “not true” a claim by Elijah’s wife that the singer, in an intervention attempt, had hired men to “kidnap” Elijah from New York City hotel room.
New music from The Beatles is probably not what fans expected this year, but that’s exactly what they got.
– Word of a new Beatles song first surfaced in June. During an interview about his new photo exhibit, Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm, Paul McCartney revealed “the last Beatles record” was going to be released, explaining they used artificial intelligence to extricate John Lennon’s voice from an old demo in order to complete it.
– After some folks interpreted that as artificial intelligence being used to create Lennon’s voice, McCartney clarified his statement, noting “nothing has been artificially or synthetically created.”
– In October, McCartney and Ringo Starr finally revealed the tune, “Now and Then,” would be dropping November 2.
– The song featured vocals Lennonrecorded on a demo in the late ’70s, which his wife, Yoko Ono,gave to McCartney, Starr and George Harrison in 1994. They used that demo to create “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,” which appeared on The Beatles Anthology project in the mid-’90s, but they were unable to complete “Now and Then.”
– In 2021, Peter Jackson, director of The Beatles: Get Back, used new technology to isolate Lennon’s “Now and Then” instruments and vocals. Paul and Ringo completed the song in 2022, using guitar parts Harrison recorded in 1995.
– They released a short film about the making of the song, along with a music video featuring clips that blended archival and current footage to make it feel like the whole band was playing together, and with younger versions of themselves.
– The song was an instant hit with Beatles fans, debuting at #1 on the U.K. charts and setting a record for the longest gap between number ones: 54 years. The last time The Beatles were on top of the charts in their homeland was in 1969 with the single “The Ballad of John & Yoko.”
– In the U.S., the song debuted at #7, extending The Beatles’ record for the most Hot 100 top 10 songs among groups, now with 35. They also nabbed the record for longest break between top 10 songs for any act with sole billing, at 27 years, 10 months and two weeks.
– As part of the “Now and Then” release, The Beatles also released 2023 Edition packages of two compilations, 1962-1966 (The Red Album) and 1967-1970 (The Blue Album), both mixed in stereo and Dolby Atmos.
Paul McCartney is looking back at his year and sharing the photographic highlights with fans.
“From an unprecedented exhibition of his Beatles-era photographs to a jet-setting tour that saw Paul play in Australia, Mexico and Brazil; a part-masterclass, part-memoir podcast; and, of course, a new Beatles song. 2023 has been a year to remember!” reads a post on his website, along with 22 photos from the past year.
The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s photo diary includes a picture of him sharing a meal with Ringo Starr to celebrate his daughter Mary‘s vegetarian cookbook, posing with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl at the opening of McCartney’s photo exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery and sitting down with Stanley Tucci for a livestream event.
There’s also a photo of McCartney onstage during his Got Back Tour in Australia, a holiday photo with wife Nancy Shevell, a classic Wings pic celebrating the 50th anniversary of their album Red Rose Speedway and more.
The next time you think that Rod Stewart is old, just remember: He’s got a sibling who’s 15 years older than he is.
Rod turns 79 on January 10, but on Instagram, he celebrated his sister Mary‘s 95th birthday by posting a photo of the two of them dressed to the nines. Rod’s wife Penny also posted a photo of herself and Rod posing with their two sons, Alastair and Aiden, Alastair’s girlfriend and Mary in front of a huge Christmas tree. She captioned it, “Happy 95th birthday Mary, we love you.”
Earlier this year, Rod brought Mary out onstage during his show in Edinburgh, Scotland to help him sing his song “Sailing,” and later told The Mirror, “At 94, she’s on a rock ’n roll stage and loving it. She has and continues to teach me about life.”
Last year, Rod and Mary’s brothers, Bob and Don, died within two months of each other; they were 88 and 94, respectively. They also had a sister, Peggy, who died at age 40 in 1975.
Queen’s fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera, became their first #1 on the U.K. album charts. In the U.S., the album peaked at #4 and went on to be certified triple-Platinum.
The album featured the eventual Queen classic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which became their first U.K. #1 single, along with “You’re My Best Friend,” and future live staples “Love of My Life” and “I’m in Love with My Car.”
In addition to the U.K., A Night at the Opera went to #1 in several other countries, including Australia and New Zealand.
The album is often included on lists of the greatest albums of all time and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018.
It’s always sad when our favorite musicians pass away and 2023 was no exception, with several beloved artists leaving us.
The year started off with the loss of two two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legends, guitar great Jeff Beck on January 10 at the age of 78 from bacterial meningitis, and David Crosby on January 18 at the age of 81. Although no official cause of death was ever announced for Crosby, the singer’s bandmate Graham Nash revealed in an interview that Crosby died while battling COVID-19.
Another death felt deeply in the music world happened on May 24, when Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll Tina Turner died at the age of 83. Turner, another two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, battled multiple life-threatening illness over the years.
Music fans were shocked when, on July 26, it was announced that Irish superstar Sinéad O’Connor had died at the age of 56. No cause of death has been revealed. A funeral for the singer, held on August 8, was attended by Bob Geldof,U2’s Bono and The Edge, and Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins.
Also, crooner Tony Bennett, who made teenyboppers scream in the 1950s and toured with Lady Gaga in the 2000s, died July 21 in New York City at the age 96. The singer was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, revealing his condition to the public in February 2021.
Here’s a list of the many other music figures who died in 2023, in chronological order:
January 1: Fred White, drummer for Earth, Wind & Fire, 67
January 5: Gordy Harmon, founding member of The Whispers, 79
January 12: Robbie Bachman, drummer for the Canadian rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive,69
January 31: Charlie Thomas, of the legendary group The Drifters, 85
February 8: Legendary composer Burt Bacharach, 94
March 1: Leon Hughes, the last surviving original member of The Coasters, 92
March 5: Gary Rossington, guitarist and last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 71
March 13: Jim Gordon, drummer for Derek and the Dominos, 77
March 17: Parliament-Funkadelic original member Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins, 81
March 22: Tom Leadon, co-founder of Tom Petty’s early ’70s band Mudcrutch, 70
April 2: Sire Records founder Seymour Stein,who signed artists like Talking Heads, Madonna and Pretenders, 80
April 25: Harry Belafonte, singer, groundbreaking actor and trusted confidante to fellow civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., 96
April 28: Tim Bachman, guitarist and one of the co-founders of the Canadian band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 71
May 1: Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian singer-songwriter best known for such hits as “Sundown” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” of natural causes, 84
May 22: Chas Newby, who played bass for The Beatles in their early days, 81
June 1: Grammy-winning songwriter Cynthia Weil (“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”), 82
July 26: Randy Meisner, founding member of the Eagles, due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 77
August 4: John Gosling, keyboardist for The Kinks, 75
August 9: Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Robbie Robertson, guitarist and main songwriter for The Band, after a long illness, 80
August 16: Music executive Jerry Moss, who co-founded A&M Records with Herb Alpert, the label responsible for The Police’s Synchronicity and Carole King’s Tapestry, 88
August 24: Whitesnake’s original guitarist, Bernie Marsden,72
September 1: Beloved “Margaritaville” singer Jimmy Buffett, after a four-year battle with Merkel cell skin cancer, a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer, 76
October 11: Rudolph Isley, a founding member of The Isley Brothers, 84
November 16: Kool & The Gang drummer and founding member George “Funky” Brown, 74
November 22: Jean Knight, best known for her 1971 hit single “Mr. Big Stuff,” 80
December 5: Denny Laine, co-founder of Moody Blues and co-founder and guitarist for Paul McCartney & Wings, from interstitial lung disease, 79
The success of Cher‘s holiday hit “DJ Play a Christmas Song” has led to several chart records in the U.S., and now it’s the same story across the pond.
“DJ Play a Christmas Song,” from Cher’s new Christmas album, has reached #20 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart, setting a new record for the oldest solo female performer to make the Top 40. She’s 77 years and 7 months old; the previous record holder, Shirley Bassey, was 70 years and 4 months old when she set the record in 2007.
Plus, Cher is now the first female artist to score a Top 40 hit with new material across seven consecutive decades. Her Top 40 debut in the U.K. came in 1965 with her song “All I Really Want to Do,” and she’s since placed a solo single of new material in the Top 40 in every decade since.
Finally, “DJ Play a Christmas Song” is now Cher’s highest-charting single in the U.K. in more than two decades. The last time she was in the Top 20 was in 2001, with the song “The Music’s No Good Without You.”
