Classic Hits

Artists like The Who, Santana and Jimi Hendrix have fans all over the world, but their music is no longer limited to folks here on Earth.

Billboard reports that digitized recordings from a slew of musicians was included in a time capsule on the Odysseus space craft, which touched down on the moon on Thursday, February 22.

In total, the time capsule features music from 222 artists, including Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, and Chuck Berry. Some previously unreleased material was also included, as well as photos from Woodstock and album art, including Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon.

Dallas Santana, of the company Space Blue, brought the idea of the music collection to Arch Mission Foundation and curated the music that appeared on it. He notes, “This is music that stands the test of time.”

Santana adds that much of the collection is made up of music from 1969 and artists who were at Woodstock, since the festival took place just weeks after the U.S. landed on the moon for the first time. He hopes the capsule can capture some of the feelings of peace and togetherness that were on display at Woodstock.

“We need peace on the earth right now,” he says. “We’ve brought to the moon the Summer of Love, the people and artists and messages that are needed on earth right now.”

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The Beatles have had one of their Billboard records broken, this time by Taylor Swift.

This week’s Billboard 200 features three Taylor albums in the top 10: 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Lover and Midnights. That brings her total weeks in the top 10 to 384, from 16 albums. That’s enough to surpass The Beatles, whose 32 albums have spent 382 weeks in the top 10.

Meet the Beatles was the Fab Four’s first entry into the Billboard 200 top 10, the week of February 8, 1964. The reissue of Revolver marked their last top 10 entry, during the week of November 12, 2022.

Overall, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is The Beatles album with the most weeks in the top 10 with 35, followed by Abbey Road and A Hard Day’s Night, both with 28.

Coming in behind The Beatles is The Rolling Stones, with 309 weeks in top 10, followed by Barbra Streisand with 277.

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Rod Stewart is headed for his first #1 album in nearly five years in his native U.K.

Rod’s new album Swing Fever, a collaboration with Squeeze keyboardist-turned-TV host and bandleader Jools Holland, is on track to top the charts across the pond, according to the U.K.’s Official Charts Company.

If it succeeds, this will be Rod’s 11th number one career album in the U.K. and Holland’s first. Rod’s last album to top the charts was 2019’s You’re In My Heart: Rod Stewart with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. That record consisted of Rod’s original vocal tracks for hits like “Maggie May” and “Forever Young” blended with new arrangements by the orchestra.

Swing Fever is a collection of upbeat, big band-style recordings of songs from the ’20s and ’30s, like “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Pennies from Heaven” and “Lullaby of Broadway.”

Holland has released over a dozen albums, both solo and collaborations, since leaving Squeeze, but so far the highest he’s ever gotten on the U.K. charts has been #5.

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War’s classic album The World Is a Ghetto celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, and now that celebration continues on the road.

The band, featuring founding member Lonnie Jordan, just announced dates for The World Is a Ghetto 50th Anniversary Tour, which kicks off March 8 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The tour includes dates in Florida, Louisiana, Nevada and Los Angeles, wrapping with a set at the Fools In Love Festival in Inglewood, California, on August 31. War is also booked to play the Super Legends Cruise out of Sam Pedro, California, from September 13 to 16.

A complete list of dates can be found at war.com. 

Released in November 1972, The World Is a Ghetto spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart and became the biggest-selling album of 1973. In November, the band celebrated the 50th anniversary with a Record Store Day Black Friday vinyl release of a 50th anniversary collector’s edition of the album. A CD and digital release is expected later this year.

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Back in 1984, Sting appeared in the original Dune film, directed by David Lynch, and now, he’s showing his support for the new installment of the sci-fi epic.

The rocker attended the New York premiere of Dune: Part Two this past weekend, accompanied by his 40-year-old daughter, Mickey Sumner, who shared a photo on Instagram of them posing together on the red carpet, decked out all in black. 

“D U N E Part 2 (it’s incredible),” she wrote, “Escorting the OG FEYD.”

Mickey is referring to the character Feyd-Rautha, who Sting played in the original ‘80s movie. The role is being played by Austin Butler in Dune: Part Two, which opens March 1. The film, directed by Denis Villeneuve, also stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya.

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Paul McCartney is opening up about the inspiration behind one of the iconic lyrics to his classic tune “Yesterday.”

During the latest episode of his McCartney: A Life in Lyrics podcast, the former Beatle explains that the line “I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday” was inspired by a time he corrected how his mother pronounced a word, something he deeply regretted.

“Sometimes, it’s only in retrospect you can appreciate it,” he says. “I remember very clearly one day feeling very embarrassed cause I embarrassed my mum.”

“She would talk what we thought was a little bit posh,” he explains, noting, “I know that she said something like, ‘Paul, will you ask him if he’s going?’ and I went, ‘Arsk?! Arsk! It’s ask, mum!’ And she got a little bit embarrassed.”

He adds, “I remember later thinking, ‘God, I wish I’d never said that.’ And it stuck with me … after she died.”

While the song seems to be about a heartbreak over a failed relationship, McCartney later realized it’s also about the loss of his mother.

“So I don’t know. Does this happen? Do you find yourself unconsciously putting songs into girl lyrics that are really your dead mother?” he says. “I suspect it might be true. It sort of fits, if you look at the lyrics.”

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Blondie, Nile Rodgers & Chic, and Todd Rundgren are among the acts set to play Evolution Festival, happening September 28 and 29 at Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri.

The festival, now in its second year, will be headlined by The Killers and Beck, with Jane’s Addiction, Killer Mike, Elle King and Pete Yorn also on the bill.

Two-day passes for the festival go on sale Wednesday, February 28, at 10 a.m. CST. Info on tickets and the complete lineup can be found at evolutionfestival.com.

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Former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm is speaking out regarding the band’s recent nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“I wanted to share my gratitude to the Rock Hall of Fame for this nomination, Mick Jones and I have waited a long time for this,” he writes on Instagram. “Thank you to my friends in the entertainment industry and fans alike for their generous support in voting for us, keeping Foreigner in the Top 3 since voting commenced.”

He adds, “You have been the reason #Foreigner has had so many multi-platinum albums, Billboard Hot 100 hits and is the most played classic rock band on radio.” 

In an attached video, Gramm also acknowledged Jones’ “courage” following the recent announcement of his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and thanked those in the industry who worked to get them the nomination. 

Gramm then gave a shoutout to Mark Ronson, Jones’ stepson, who posted a video featuring Slash, Jack Black, Josh Homme, Chad Smith and Dave Grohl, making the case for why Foreigner should be in the Hall of Fame.

“Now I’ve seen a lot of the videos and I’ve definitely been feeling the buzz,” he says. “It’s really exciting and it means a lot. It means a lot to me and all the guys in the band.” 

The Hall of Fame fan vote is open until April 26; fans can vote for up to seven artists daily. Inductees will be announced in April, and the 2024 induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland in the fall.

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On This Day, February 26, 1985…

At the 27th annual Grammy Awards, Bruce Springsteen took home his first ever Grammy, winning Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for the “Dancing in the Dark.” The track was also nominated for Record of the Year but lost to Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With it.”

The Boss also received a nomination for Album of the Year for Born in the U.S.A., but lost to Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down.

Throughout his career, Springsteen has won 20 Grammy Awards, with 51 nominations. His last win was in 2010 for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for “Working on a Dream.” He was nominated in 2023 for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Only the Strong Survive.

After being forced to postpone his 2023 tour due to peptic ulcer disease, Springsteen is set to kick off a new leg with the E Street Band on March 19 in Phoenix, Arizona. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.com.

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While KISS retired from touring back in December, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons‘ former bandmate Ace Frehley doesn’t believe they’re actually calling it quits from the road.

“I’m the only game in town because KISS is supposedly retired — which I don’t believe is gonna happen,” Frehley tells Billboard. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they reformed.”

But until that happens, Frehley is embracing his KISS past on the road.

“We added ‘Shout It Out Loud’ and ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ because talking to people, they go … you gotta do those songs live — and I did and it went over fantastic,” he said. “We ended the night with three KISS songs … and everybody was singing along and it was great.” 

And while it’s often felt like Frehley and his former bandmates aren’t on good terms, he insists that’s not really the case.

“We’re still friends,” he says. “I know a lot of people think we hate each other, but that’s not true. We’re just like a family, but sometimes brothers and sisters have arguments and so on. But when the s*** hits the fan, we’re there for each other. I just wish them the best.”

Frehley just released his new solo album, 10,000 Volts. Fans can catch him performing songs from that album, as well as those KISS classics, on tour this year. His next show is happening March 28 in New York City. A complete list of dates can be found at acefrehley.com.

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