Classic Hits

Late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was born 75 years ago this Sunday, September 5.

Mercury, who died from AIDS in November 1991 at age 45, is widely regarded as one of the all-time great rock singers. His powerful vocals, flamboyant persona and dynamic performing style helped Queen become one of the most popular and successful bands on the planet.

Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on the African island of Zanzibar in 1946, and his family lived there until 1964, when they moved to the U.K. In 1970, Mercury teamed up with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor in a band called Smile, and after the addition of bassist John Deacon, the group changed its name to Queen.

Queen blended a variety of genres including rock ‘n’ roll, hard rock, prog-rock, classical, pop, funk and rockabilly for a unique sound that captivated a wide variety of music fans. Mercury was responsible for writing many of the band’s biggest hits, including  “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love,” “We Are the Champions,” “Bicycle Race,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Play the Game” and, of course, the enduring rock anthem “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Freddie also co-wrote Queen’s classic 1981 collaboration with David Bowie, “Under Pressure.” Mercury’s performance with Queen at London’s Wembley Stadium at the 1985 Live Aid festival is widely considered one of the highlights of that historic event.

Mercury also released a pair of solo albums during the 1980s, one of which, 1988’s Barcelona, was a duets project with Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé.

Mercury and Queen’s other members were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003.

In commemoration of Freddie’s 75th birthday, three special T-shirts are on sale now at Queen’s online store.

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Fans will have to wait a bit longer for Diana Ross‘ first album of new, original songs in 20 years. Originally scheduled to come out September 10, the album, titled Thank You, will now arrive November 5.

However, a new track from the record, called “If the World Just Danced,” has just been released. As its title suggests, it’s an upbeat song that’s made for dance floors, and seems ripe for remixes.

The song was co-written by Diana with six other people, including Amy Wadge, who’s written many songs with Ed Sheeran, including “Thinking Out Loud.”

As previously reported, Thank You was recorded in Miss Ross’ home studio during the pandemic shutdown, and features producers and songwriters who’ve created hits for Taylor Swift, Kanye West, Usher, Justin Bieber, Sam Smith, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé and Rihanna.

“This collection of songs is my gift to you with appreciation and love. I am eternally grateful that I had the opportunity to record this glorious music at this time,” the diva said in a statement.

Diana’s last album of new, original songs, as opposed to covers, was 1999’s Every Day Is a New Day.

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Elton John‘s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour is back on and, as of now, it’ll officially end in Australia in 2023.  But the Rocket Man has just announced a new date, which will mark his final show ever in London, England, the city where he first got his start as a musician and songwriter.

Elton will headline next year’s BST Hyde Park, the annual series of summer concerts that take place in London’s Hyde Park.  The show will take place June 24, 2022.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 10, but if you pre-order Elton’s new album, The Lockdown Sessions, via his official store, you’ll get guaranteed access to a pre-sale ticket.

“This will be my final tour date in London, and I can’t wait to perform in one of my favorite cities in the world,” Elton wrote on Instagram.

Elton’s Farewell tour will resume May 27, 2022, in Europe before heading to North America on July 15, 2022.  His final shows in the U.S. will be at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on November 19 and 20, 2022.

 

 

 

 

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Alice Cooper has been chosen as one of the grand marshals for this year’s Fiesta Bowl Parade, which takes place on Saturday, December 18, in the shock rocker’s hometown of Phoenix, Arizona.

Cooper will be joined as grand marshal by the nine founders of the NCAA’s Fiesta Bowl football game, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Fiesta Bowl executive director Mike Nealy tells the Arizona Republic that Alice is the first rock legend ever chosen for the honor.  Grand marshals picked for the event traditionally are individuals or groups whose actions and activities the Fiesta Bowl organization’s commitment to promoting economic growth, aiding charities and delivering innovative experiences.

Cooper, of course, is famous for his hard-rocking music and theatrical concerts, but he’s also the founder of Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock, a faith-based organization that provides a supportive creative sanctuary for Phoenix-area teenagers.

“It will be an honor to serve as Grand Marshal for this year’s Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Parade…Riding on a float doesn’t sound like a hard job and I can’t wait to do so in my hometown,” says Cooper. “I appreciate the generosity of Fiesta Bowl Charities in helping Phoenix-area teenagers. It’s great when I see other organizations supporting similar organizations like our Solid Rock Teen Center to get the job done for members of our community.”

The Fiesta Bowl Parade marches through downtown Phoenix and features floats, giant balloons, marching bands, antique cars, local celebrities and more. Admission is free to the public, although tickets for premium and reserved seats are on sale now for $30 at FiestaBowl.org/parade.

The parade will be broadcast live on Arizona’s Family 3TV channel, and also will be viewable online and via the AZFamily app.

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The late Rick James‘ daughter, Ty, says she wanted to show the world that there was more to her famous father than just his outspoken personality, partying and drug use in the new documentary film B*tchin: The Sound and Fury of Rick James.

“The main thing that I would want people to take away is that we’re all human and we were born with imperfections,” Ty tells ABC Audio. “We all have flaws. We all make mistakes. And the most important thing is to get up and keep going and learn from your mistakes and try not to make them again.”

In the new doc, which features rare footage of the Grammy Award winning funk legend, fans will get to see James doing what he does best: songwriting, producing and putting on an amazing performance. Ty says she hopes the doc will show “how much of a genius” her dad was before he passed away at the age of 56.

“He paved the way for a lot…of artists to this day,” she says. “One of the most highly sampled musicians in the game still.”

Ty says showing that side of her father is exactly what director Sasha Jenkins did in the new doc. She notes that Jenkins stayed away from sugar coating her father’s life, while making sure to “give the fans the the truth first and foremost.”

“And that’s with the good, the bad, the ugly,” Ty explains. “And hopefully people get the lesson…’cause to me, it’s all about the lesson in life. And if you can take his story and take something positive from it and learn from it, we hit a home run.”

B*tchin: The Sound and Fury of Rick James premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime

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Jackson Browne is among the artists who will be featured on the upcoming 47th season of PBS’ popular live performance series Austin City Limits.  The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s episode will premiere on November 13.

Browne’s ACL performance will be the lauded singer/songwriter’s first on the program in almost 20 years. He’ll be featured playing songs from his recently released studio album, Downhill from Everywhere, as well as select tunes from his extensive back catalog.

Austin City Limits‘ new season premieres on October 2 with a show featuring country star Miranda Lambert and country songwriters Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, who will play tunes from their 2021 collaborative album The Marfa Tapes. Other artists slated to appear on upcoming ACL episodes include Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard, Jon Batiste, Grammy-winning Americana artist Sarah Jarosz and young R&B singer Leon Bridges.

This season of Austin City Limits was recorded at the show’s Austin, Texas, studio this year in front of limited live audience.

“The world is still fighting its way out of this pandemic, but Austin City Limits is back — without missing a beat,” says the show’s executive producer Terry Lickona. “As always, we love to mix things up with some remarkable new talent as well as fan favorites, along with a few surprises. ACL celebrates the return of live music!”

Browne currently is playing a series of headlining concerts that run through a September 18 show in Phoenix, Arizona. On October 16 in New Orleans, Jackson kicks off his second leg of joint dates with James Taylor, which is mapped out through a December 13 performance in Buffalo, New York. Check out Browne’s full schedule at JacksonBrowne.com.

Here’s the list of newly confirmed Austin City Limits episodes and guests; more will be announced soon:

10/2 — Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram & Jon Randall: The Marfa Tapes
10/9 — Jade Bird, Dayglow
10/16 — Jon Batiste
10/23 — Sarah Jarosz, Billy Strings
10/30 — Brandy Clark, Charley Crockett
11/6  — Leon Bridges, Khruangbin
11/13 — Jackson Browne
11/20 — Brittany Howard

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Patti Smith has joined the lineup of the 2021 Riot Fest event, which is scheduled to take place September 16-19 at Chicago’s Douglass Park.

The godmother of punk and her band will be performing on the festival’s first day, which has been dubbed the “Preview Party.”

Ex-Smiths frontman Morrissey will headline the festival that day, and the “Preview Party” also will feature free carnival rides, sideshow performers, special Thursday-only merchandise, an onstage singing competition and more.

In addition, because of the recent changes to Riot Fest’s lineup on Sunday September 19, with Slipknot and Flaming Lips replacing Nine Inch Nails and The Pixies, fans with tickets to Sunday’s show will be able to attend the Thursday event for free.

Among the many other artists on the 2021 Riot Fest bill are DEVO, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sublime with Rome, Living Colour, Fishbone, Faith No More, Dropkick Murphys, Rancid and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

Meanwhile, Smith has a bunch of other U.S. shows on her 2021 schedule, starting with a series of California concerts in the coming week that will feature her performing with accompaniment from her son Jackson Smith on guitar and her longtime bassist Tony Shanahan.

Patti also will playing with her full band on September 18 at the See.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey; on September 19 in New York City’s Central Park; on October 21 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium; and on October 22 at Atlanta’s Roxy Theatre.

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Thanks to his collaboration with U.K. pop star Dua Lipa, “Cold Heart,” any barriers keeping Elton John from returning to the pop charts have melted away.

As Billboard notes, the mash-up of three past Elton songs created by Australian dance duo Pnau has entered Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart at #39. This is the first time Elton’s appeared on that chart since January of 1998, with his song “Something About the Way You Look Tonight.”

In addition, 74-year-old Elton has now set a record for having the longest span of songs on the Pop Airplay chart. He appeared on the very first one, back in October of 1992, so now his span is a month shy of 29 years.

As previously reported, “Cold Heart” will be part of The Lockdown Sessions, an upcoming album by Elton featuring collaborations he recorded during the pandemic. It features him working with everyone from Stevie Nicks and Stevie Wonder to Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder and rapper Nicki Minaj.

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KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons recently tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, forcing his band to postpone four concerts on its End of the Road farewell tour.

Simmons, who’s currently quarantining because of the illness, has taken to Twitter to share with fans that he’s “really fine,” and he says it’s thanks to being vaccinated.

Meanwhile, former Saturday Night Live star Joe Piscopo retweeted Simmons’ post about how he was feeling, along with a note that reads, “Vaccinated and still caught Covid,” which prompted a rebuke from the 72-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.

“Joe, vaccine protects you about 95%. However, you can still get Delta Covid variant. I did…But the effects are minimal, if you’ve been vaccinated twice,” Simmons wrote. “Without vaccine = hospital, pain and maybe death. Do your research. You’ll come off much brighter.”

Simmons tested COVID-19 positive several days after his KISS band mate Paul Stanley announced that he had caught the virus, which resulted in the group postponing three earlier shows. The tour currently is scheduled to resume with a September 9 concert in Irvine, California.

Stanley recently tweeted that his COVID symptoms were mild, but that the virus still “kicked my a**.”

Stanley’s latest Twitter update, posted Wednesday, reads, “REST!! Doctor’s orders so we can hit the road running on Sept. 9th. Staying clear of people for a few more days. Do I think my ‘freedom’ ever includes jeopardizing other people’s health?…No, I don’t.”

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David Crosby‘s debut 1971 solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, will be reissued in expanded form on October 15 in honor of its 50th anniversary.

The reissue will be available as a two-CD set featuring a newly remastered version of the album, plus a bonus disc offering demos, alternate takes and previously unreleased songs.

Crosby recorded If I Could Only Remember My Name with an impressive list of guest artists, including Graham Nash, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell; Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart; Jefferson Airplane‘s Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and David Freiberg; and Santana‘s Gregg Rolie and Michael Shrieve.

The haunting, atmospheric collection of songs came together as Crosby was grieving the death of his girlfriend, Christine Hinton, who was killed in a 1969 car crash. Crosby recalls that Garcia played an integral role in inspiring him to work on the material.

“There’d be that grin, and then that look in the eyes, and this fascination with the music,” Crosby remembers. “Easy, not forced, graceful, fun, ever-present. It was a kindness, I’m pretty sure. Jerry never said that, never even implied it. Just, ‘Hey, I heard you were doing something. What are you doing? Let’s do something.'”

If I Could Only Remember My Name was released in February 1971 and peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200.

One of the unreleased bonus demos, “Riff 1,” has been made available as an advance digital track.  Another bonus tune is an alternate version of “Cowboy Movie,” featuring a guitar solo by Young rather than by Garcia.

Digital and streaming versions of the deluxe reissue also will be available, as will a 180-gram vinyl LP featuring the remastered original album. You can pre-order the reissue now.

Here’s the If I Could Only Remember My Name deluxe reissue’s track list:

Disc One: Original Album

“Music Is Love”
“Cowboy Movie”
“Tamalpais High (At About 3)”
“Laughing”
“What Are Their Names”
“Traction in the Rain”
“Song with No Words (Tree with No Leaves)”
“Orleans”
“I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here”

Bonus Track
“Kids and Dogs”

Disc Two: Bonus Tracks

Demos
“Riff 1” (Demo)*
“Tamalpais High (At About 3)” (Demo)*
“Kids and Dogs” (Demo)*
“The Wall Song” (Demo)*
“Games” (Demo)*
“Laughing” (Demo)*
“Song with No Words (Tree with No Leaves)” (Demo)
“Where Will I Be” (Demo)*

Sessions
“Cowboy Movie” (Alternate Version)*
“Bach Mode” (Pre-“Critical Mass”)*
“Coast Road”*
“Dancer”*
“Fugue”*

* = previously unreleased.

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