Classic Hits

Boy George is ready to tell more of his story. The Culture Club singer announced on Instagram that his new autobiography, Karma, which he jokes “rhymes with drama,” will be released November 9.

“It’s really been fun to kind of address some of the things I’ve been through since the last book,” he said in a new video, referring to 1995’s Take it Like A Man. “I discovered who I really am as a person. You know I really like being me.”

“I’m over that kind of existential crisis of being famous. I enjoy it now. I embrace it in a way that I wasn’t able to as a young person,” he notes, adding, “I’m able to say I love being Boy George. It’s fabulous.”

Both the hardcover version of Karma and the audiobook, read by Boy George, are available for preorder now. There is also a signed hardcover edition that can be ordered through the British book chain Waterstones.

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With Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band canceling their September shows so The Boss can recover from a peptic ulcer, Nils Lofgren is free to play with Neil Young again.

Young is set to headline two shows at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles on September 20 and 21, in celebration of the venue’s 50th anniversary. He’ll be backed by his pre-Crazy Horse band The Santa Monica Flyers, which will include Lofgren now that he’s not busy on the road with The Boss.

Young announced the news on his Neil Young Archives, noting the shows will feature Lofgren, Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina, all original members of the Santa Monica Flyers, along with Willie Nelson’s son Micah Nelson.

And it certainly sounds like Young fans are in for a treat. “We will be playing two albums live,” Young shares about the gigs. “All songs will predate the original Roxy opening 50 years ago. We are stoked!” 

The Roxy concerts are taking place almost 50 years to the day Young first performed for the venue’s opening. He opened The Roxy with a three-night stand September 20-22, 1973.

As for Springsteen and the E Street Band, they’re expected to return to the road on November 3 in Vancouver, Canada. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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Now that Elton John has declared he’ll never tour again, he no longer needs the home that was his U.S. touring base: a 13,500-square-foot condo in a complex in Buckhead, an upscale area of Atlanta, Georgia. It’s on the market for just under $5 million, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In 1992, Elton bought a duplex in the building and then bought five more apartments in the building over the next 20 years, combining them together into one four-bedroom space. Serving as his touring base, as he could easily get to most places in the U.S. flying out of Dekalb-Peachtree Airport, it also held his massive collection of photography.

As for why a British rock star would move to Atlanta in the first place, Elton tells the Journal that at the time, he was just out of rehab and dating someone in the area. He decided he liked the area for the people and the recovery facilities. 

“The only people I knew were real people, who had normal jobs,” Elton tells the paper. “The city adopted me and I adopted it.”

He adds, “I didn’t know what the first apartment that I bought would lead to. But it was a wonderful surprise. Everything about Atlanta was a surprise.”

“After years and years of touring, it was so comforting just to come home instead of staying in a hotel,” he notes.

Elton says he’ll miss Atlanta very much, adding that he always checks the baseball scores in the morning to see how the Braves are doing.

You can see photos of the condo, including the closets holding Elton’s massive wardrobe, at WSJ.com.

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Farm Aid is going down at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana, on Saturday, September 23, and fans who can’t make it will still get to enjoy the show.

For the third year in a row, the annual concert will air on the Circle Network. The broadcast, which kicks off at 7 p.m. ET, will feature live and prerecorded segments. For fans who want even more, the complete show will air live on the Circle Now app, starting with a press conference at 11:30 a.m. ET.

This year’s Farm Aid lineup includes the organization’s board members: Neil Young, in his first return to the festival since 2019, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Margo Price and Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds. Also on the bill are Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson, Allison Russell, The String Cheese Incident and Particle Kid.

The very first Farm Aid concert was held in September 1985 in Champaign, Illinois, to raise funds in support of family farmers. Since its inception, the annual festival has raised more than $70 million to support programs helping the farming community.

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On This Day, September 20, 1975…

David Bowie topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with “Fame,” his first #1 in the U.S.

The song written by Bowie, Carlos Alomar and John Lennon, was the second single off Bowie’s ninth studio album, Young Americans. It wound up being one of the biggest hits of the year, charting at #7 on Billboard’s year-end chart.

It would be almost eight years before Bowie landed his second, and final, #1 hit with “Let’s Dance,” which topped the chart in May, 1983.

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Jerry Garcia’s live performances will be part of a new vinyl series launching this November on Round Records. 

The archival series, Heads & Tails, will feature previously unheard Garcia performances that fit on one side of a record, something that isn’t always easy considering Garcia’s fondness for extended jams. The vinyl will also feature detailed album art.

According to the press release, Heads & Tails is “built for those magical windows when record consciousness manifested for magical 18-to-22-minute stretches of well-caught tape.” 

The series will launch November 3 with a cloudy blue vinyl release and artwork by Madalyn Stefanak. It features a side-length performance of “Save Mother Earth” with Merl Saunders, recorded January 19, 1972, in San Anselmo, California. The other side features Jerry Garcia Band jams “Don’t Let Go” and “Think,” recorded February 5, 1988, in Santa Rosa, California.  

Heads & Tails: Volume 1 is available for preorder now.

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If you ever wanted to play bass like Gene Simmons, Gibson is here to help you get closer to reaching that goal.

The guitar company just launched the new Gene Simmons EB-0 Bass, inspired by Simmons’ heavily modified 1959 EB-0, the instrument he played during KISS live shows and TV appearances in the ’70s. Like Simmons’ own bass, the Gene Simmons EB-0 features a VOS finish in Ebony, with a reshaped neck, a relocated pickup closer to the bridge and more.

Only 100 of these instruments are being sold for a little under $6,500. They can be purchased at Gibson Custom Shop dealers and online at gibson.com.

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Sammy Hagar is getting ready to launch his very own beer, and he’ll be celebrating onstage.

The rocker and his band The Circle, made up of Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham and Vic Johnson, has announced a special show at The Fillmore in Detroit on October 23, in connection with the launch of Sammy’s Red Rocker Brewing Co. and their inaugural beer, Red Rocker Lager.

Tickets for the concert go on sale Friday, September 22, at 10 a.m. local time.

“Rock ‘n’ roll is at the heart of Red Rocker Brewing Co. and there’s no better place to brew our beer than in Detroit Rock City,” Sammy shares. “We created Red Rocker Lager to not only honor the fans, but to also pay tribute to the soul of Detroit rock ‘n’ roll.” He adds, “I can’t wait for beer lovers in Michigan and all around the world to try it.”

For now, the beer, described as a Mexican style lager, will only be sold in liquor stores in Michigan, although it will eventually be available for shipping to select states in the U.S. More info can be found at redrockerbrewing.com.

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Duran Duran fans are about to get another preview of their upcoming album, Danse Macabre. 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just announced they’ll drop the new track, “Black Moonlight,” on Thursday, September 21. The song features a special appearance by Chic‘s Nile Rodgers on guitar.

Danse Macabre, dropping October 27, was inspired by the band’s Las Vegas Halloween show in 2022. It features three new songs along with covers and new takes on old Duran Duran tracks.

Danse Macabre is available for preorder now.

Duran Duran is winding down their Future Past Tour this week. They play Toronto, Canada, on Tuesday, September 19. A complete list of dates can be found at duranduran.com.

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Julian Lennon says he’s waiting for Paul McCartney to tell him some private stories about his dad, John Lennon.

During an appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, Julian recalled running into McCartney at Heathrow Airport back in November 2022, a moment he captured for social media.

Julian, who was 17 when his father died, said, “We sat there chatting away for a little bit.” He described his relationship with his late father’s The Beatles bandmate as “weird,” noting, “We’re close but we’re not that close.”

He said he and McCartney never really sat down for a conversation like the one he was having with Maher, although McCartney has promised it will happen.  

“We keep saying, and he keeps telling me, we’re going to try and push for this, this year, sooner than later anyway,” Lennon said. “He keeps telling me, ‘I’ve got so many stories about your dad that I’ve never told anybody that I want you to hear about.'” 

He added, “And you know, he gave me some samples I thought I’d never heard before. But we just got to find the time and lock in to do that,” to which Maher responded, “Do it, like, yesterday.”

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