Classic Hits

The late Jimmy Buffett will be celebrated with an all-star tribute concert coming to Los Angeles in April.

Keep The Party Going: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett will take place April 11 at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring performances by several of Buffett’s friends and collaborators, including Paul McCartney, who appeared on Buffet’s final album, Equal Strain on All Parts, the Eagles, Jon Bon Jovi and Jackson Browne.

Buffett’s longtime backing band The Coral Reefer Band is also booked for the special one-night only concert, as are Kenny Chesney, Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile, Zac Brown, Jack Johnson, Eric Church, Jake Owen, Pitbull, Mac McAnally and more. The show promises more special guests.

An American Express presale kicks off Wednesday, March 13, at 10 a.m., with tickets going on sale to the general public on Friday, March 15, at 10 a.m. 

Buffett passed away September 1 after a four-year battle with Merkel cell skin cancer, a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer. He was 76. 

He will also be celebrated at this year’s Jazz Fest in New Orleans. The Coral Reefer Band is scheduled to play the festival’s closing night, Sunday, May 5, with their set dubbed Celebrating Jimmy Buffett.

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On This Day, March 11, 1970…

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released Déjà Vu, the second album released by David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, and the first to feature Neil Young. 

The album spent one week at #1 and featured three Top 40 singles, “Woodstock,” “Teach Your Children” and “Our House,” as well as the classic track “Carry On.”

Déjà Vu has landed on several lists of the greatest albums of all time, and in 2012, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2023, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

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Elton John‘s annual Academy Awards Viewing Party has been going on for 32 years, but this year’s edition was the most successful yet.

The start-studded event, co-hosted by Elton and husband David Furnish, Neil Patrick Harris and husband David Burtka, and Tiffany Haddish, raised a record-breaking $10.8 million for Elton’s AIDS Foundation. It also featured a performance from Elton, who took the stage with special musical guest, the band Gabriels, for his 2003 U.K. hit “Are You Ready for Love.”

A huge chunk of the money raised came from an auction held during the party. A Yamaha piano bedazzled in crystals and signed by Elton sold for over $360,000 after Elton joined the auctioneer onstage and played “Tiny Dancer” on the instrument. Two Elton pinball machines went for $200,000 each. 

Other items that were auctioned off included two of Elton’s Gucci bomber jackets, a meet-and-greet with Elton and David at their upcoming photography exhibit at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, and a Rolex from Elton’s personal collection, engraved to commemorate his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.

“So far, this has been an extraordinary year beyond my wildest dreams, including the honor of achieving the EGOT, but it’s tonight’s gathering that is the ultimate highlight,” Elton said in a statement. “I’m so grateful to everyone who comes out each year to have a lot of fun and do a whole lot of good together. We’ve been loud and proud about showing compassion and ending the dreadful stigma that follows HIV, and we won’t stop until we achieve our mission.”

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The early days of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles career was explored in the first volume of the book The McCartney Legacy, and now the second volume is on its way.  

In celebration of National Book Day, a post on The McCartney Legacy social media account announced that Volume 2 of the series will be released on December 10, 2024.

The new edition will pick up where Volume 1 left off, covering McCartney’s life and career between 1974 and 1980, a time when he was enjoying huge success with his band Wings. 

The McCartney Legacy Volume 1, written by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, was released in December 2022. It covered the years between 1969 to 1974, delving into McCartney’s creative life right after The Beatles broke up. It featured interviews with fellow musicians, tour managers, producers and more.

Of course, McCartney has released his own book about his life, although it focused more on his music. The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present was released in November 2021.

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A short film inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s classic tune “Happy Christmas (War Is Over),” took home an Oscar Sunday night. 

War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko won the award for Best Animated Short Film, with the couple’s son Sean Ono Lennon on stage to help accept the award alongside filmmakers Dave Mullins and Brad Booker.

“John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote a song that inspired us,” filmmaker Dave Mullins said in his speech. “It is an anti-war message that we tried to honor with this film.”

Sean used his time to give a shout out to his famous mom. “My mother turned 91 this February, and today is Mother’s Day in the U.K.,” he said. “So could everyone please say, ‘Happy Mother’s Day, Yoko!'” 

The 11-minute film follows a game of chess, with a heroic carrier pigeon helping the game continue across enemy lines. It ends with the classic tune playing over the closing credits.

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Peter Gabriel makes a guest appearance on Sheryl Crow’s new album, Evolution. 

The album features Sheryl’s take on Gabriel’s 1992 hit “Digging in the Dirt,” with new vocals added by the former Genesis frontman. 

In a statement, Sheryl explains that the song was the impetus for her return to recording, despite claiming in 2019 that she’d never make another album. 

“Peter’s song is the one that started me on this whole process of making my new album Evolution, the first song I brought to [my producer],” she explains. “The idea of self-examination to understand our wounds and flaws and how they affect our daily lives really resonated with me, because that process can lead to self-healing. But it can be messy, it feels like digging in the dirt.”

“Peter’s lyrics express that so beautifully, with this just ridiculous groove driving underneath,” she continues. “When he agreed to sing on my cover … it just blew me away, and ironically it ended up being the last song we finished for the album.”

Finally, she adds, “It’s such an honor to have him perform on this song which really means so much to me, and there is nobody in the world who sings like Peter Gabriel.”

“Digging in the Dirt” is out now and available exclusively on the digital deluxe version of Evolution, which arrives March 29.

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Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Nils Lofgren has dropped a new digital album, Spares, featuring previously unreleased songs he recorded over the course of his career. 

“Along the way of the past 55 years, songs holding a wide range of emotional pieces of me wound up getting left behind. Basement demos never recorded, not quite right for the project, various reasons,” he shared on Instagram about the release. “Now these songs, ‘Spares,’ cover decades of writing and circumstance, in various periods of my musical and personal life are here, together to share.” 

The album is made up of 31 songs and features some special guests, including Foreigner’s Lou Gramm, on a song called “Dance of Life.”

The album is now streaming on all digital platforms. 

Spares follows Lofgren’s recent album of new material, Mountains, which was released in July. He also appears on the new Neil Young & Crazy Horse album, FU##IN’ UP, which is being released as a clear vinyl two-LP limited edition on Record Store Day, April 20; the black vinyl, CD and digital editions will be out on April 26.

Lofgren is also getting ready to hit the road once again with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Their tour kicks off March 19 in Phoenix, Arizona. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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Bestselling British girl group Bananarama, best known for “Cruel Summer” and “Venus,” have released GLORIOUS: The Ultimate Collection, which includes 50 songs from their 40-year career. The group’s Sara Dallin tells ABC Audio that it’s more than just a best-of compilation.

“It’s four decades, so we thought we should celebrate it,” she says. “And I think, rather than just do another greatest hits, we thought, ‘Let’s have some of the hits on there, but let’s choose some of our favorite tracks over the whole of the four decades, rather than just ’80s songs.'”

“It’s the first time that all the music from all those decades, all … 12 albums, are kind of on there. So it’s unique, I think,” she notes.

Sarah’s bandmate Keren Woodward says the two “had no falling outs” over which songs should and shouldn’t be included, explaining, “We picked our favorites. We did a shortlist. We went through each album. I think we kind of knew where we were going with it … just favorite songs.”

“The only problem we had was we decided to do one new track for it and ended up doing six,” she adds. “We got carried away.” Only two actually made the compilation: “Feel the Love” and “Supernova.”

From their beginnings in punk to their dance tracks today, Keren notes that as one of the few girl groups who wrote their own music, they’d like to think they’ve paved the way for today’s female artists.

“Going through the ’80s, I felt it was difficult, much more of a sexist industry,” she says. “…It probably hasn’t totally changed, but it’s certainly changed to the extent there are more female artists, more women around, and more women getting respect. So if we’ve played a little part in helping that along, I’m very proud.” 

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Elvis Costello and Daryl Hall are teaming up for a new co-headlining tour.  

The trek, which will feature Costello backed by his longtime band The Imposters with Charlie Sexton, will kick off June 2 in Troutdale, Oregon, and hit such cities as Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Boston and more before wrapping July 25 in Vienna, Virginia. 

“It’s fantastic to be able to rekindle a musical relationship. Get ready for lots of great music,” Hall shares. Costello adds, “We are looking forward to kicking off the show in style in the certainty that Daryl will deliver a slam-bang finish.”

Artists presales kick off Monday, March 11, with tickets going on sale to the general public on Friday, March 15, at 10 a.m. A complete list of dates can be found at elviscostello.com and darylhall.com. 

Costello is about to head out on a tour of Australia and Japan, which kicks off with an appearance at Bluesfest Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia, on March 28 and 29.

Hall most recently toured with Todd Rundgren, playing a handful of shows on the West Coast in October and November. In January, he launched a new season of his series Live from Daryl’s House, with all 90 episodes now streaming on YouTube.

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Bad Company‘s Paul Rodgers, ZZ Top‘s Billy F Gibbons and Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler are just a few of the A-list artists making guest appearances on the upcoming blues-inspired album from Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash.

The album, Orgy of the Damned, is due out May 17 and has the rocker joined by a variety of guest vocalists. In addition to Gibbons and Rodgers, The Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson and AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson are featured on songs, as are Iggy Pop, Gary Clark Jr., pop star Demi Lovato and country artist Chris Stapleton.

Tyler, who is currently recovering after fracturing his vocal chords, doesn’t sing on the record, but he plays harmonica on the lead single, a rendition of Howlin’ Wolf‘s “Killing Floor,” which features vocals by Johnson.

You can listen to it now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying videos streaming now on YouTube. 

Slash speaks further on Orgy of the Damned in an interview with Rolling Stone, which reports that a tour announcement is coming next week. 

“I just think that [this album] is coming from a different place [than usual],” Slash says. “Looking back on it, there was definitely a laidback, spontaneous approach to what I was doing. There was definitely a difference-making this record compared to some of the other stuff that I’ve done.” 

Here’s the Orgy of the Damned track list:

“The Pusher” feat. Chris Robinson
“Crossroads” feat. Gary Clark Jr.
“Hoochie Coochie Man” feat. Billy F Gibbons
“Oh Well” feat. Chris Stapleton
“Key to the Highway” feat. Dorothy
“Awful Dream” feat. Iggy Pop
“Born Under a Bad Sign” feat. Paul Rodgers
“Papa Was a Rolling Stone” feat. Demi Lovato
“Killing Floor” feat. Brian Johnson
“Living for the City” feat. Tash Neal
“Stormy Monday” feat. Beth Hart
“Metal Chestnut”

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