Classic Hits

U2 is ready to hit Las Vegas. The Irish rockers will kick off their new residency, U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, at The Venetian Resort on Friday.

The residency will be the first-ever show at the new state-of-the-art venue Sphere, which boasts a 160,000-square-foot wraparound interior LED screen with 16K resolution, along with an exterior that features 580,000 square feet of LED displays.

“Over playing a theater, most music venues are sports venues … they’re built for sport, they’re not built for music, they’re not built for art,” Bono previously told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about the venue. “So this building was built for immersive experiences in cinema and performance … you can’t come here and see an ice hockey game.”

The Edge added, “The sound has been designed as a priority from the beginning. Best sound I’m sure we’ll ever hear.”

Unfortunately, the residency will be happening without the band’s drummer, Larry Mullen, Jr., who is sitting out the shows as he recuperates from surgery. Drummer Bram van den Berg will be filling in behind the drum kit.

Ahead of the residency debut, U2 gave fans a bonus treat with the release of new single “Atomic City.” “It’s a love song to our audience … ’where you are is where I’ll be,’” Bono says of the track, which features a nod to Blondie’s “Call Me.” 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, including Mullen, shot the video for the song earlier this month on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, the same location where they shot the video for “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” back in 1987.

U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere will consist of 25 shows, wrapping December 16. A complete list of dates can be found at U2.com.

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Joni Mitchell’s Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) is set to drop October 6, and fans are getting another preview of some of the extras they’ll get with the expansive box set.

The legendary singer has shared “You Turn Me on I’m a Radio” with Neil Young and The Stray Gaters, which was recorded during the early sessions for 1972’s For The Roses.

Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) will feature a whole treasure trove of music for Joni fans, including never-before-heard demos, performances, and early and alternative versions of songs from three of her albums: For The Roses, 1974’s Court And Spark and 1975’s The Hissing Of Summer Lawns.

It also includes several live performances, including Joni’s entire 1972 concert at Carnegie Hall, and performances in Montreal in 1973 and Los Angeles in 1974.

Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) is available for preorder now.

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Bruce Springsteen is sharing a preview of a new song he wrote for the upcoming movie She Came to Me.

The Boss shared a snippet of the track, “Addicted to Romance,” on Instagram, revealing that the song will officially be released on Friday, September 29. 

The song will play over the end credits of the Rebecca Miller-directed film, which stars Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei and Anne Hathaway. It opens in theaters October 6. 

This isn’t the first time Springsteen has written a song for the movies. In fact, he won an Oscar for the song “Streets of Philadelphia,” from the 1994 film Philadelphia. And in 1996 he was nominated for an Oscar for his song “Dead Man Walkin’,” which he wrote for the Sean Penn/Susan Sarandon film Dead Man Walking.

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Queen fans can now get their hands on a fun new collectable — a tambourine just like the one Roger Taylor uses during the band’s live shows.

The rockers have just launched the limited-edition “Taylored” Tambourine, a 9-by-12-inch professional tambourine like the one Taylor will be using on the band’s upcoming Rhapsody Tour. It features a red drum skin with an image of Taylor’s face and white drumsticks.

It is available for $79.99 on Queen’s website.

The new tambourine launches as Queen + Adam Lambert are set to kick off their 2023 Rhapsody Tour in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 4. While the tour bares the same name as their 2019 summer tour, the group is promising an “even more ambitious show” this time around.  

“We’re still calling our show The Rhapsody Tour, but the content has evolved massively from when you last saw it,” guitarist Brian May shares. “New toys, new takes, but all the hits and more.”

The 2023 Rhapsody Tour is set to wrap November 11 and 12 in Los Angeles. A complete list of dates can be found at queenonline.com.

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The late Charlie Watts’ huge collection of books went up for auction at Christie’s on Thursday, September 28, and brought in some big bucks.

According to The Independent, The Rolling Stones drummer’s first-edition copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 classic The Great Gatsby earned the highest bid of the day, over $276,000.

Meanwhile, a first edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘s Sherlock Holmes tale The Hound Of The Baskervilles, featuring a personal message from the author, set a new record. It sold for over $261,000, a record for the sale of a printed book by Doyle. It had been previously held by a 2022 sale of The Sign of Four, which went for $201,600.

Another record was set with the sale of an “exceptionally rare” edition of Agatha Christie’s 1932 mystery collection The Thirteen Problems. It went for just over $74,000, higher than the previous record for the sale of a Christie book, a 2021 sale of The ABC Murders, which went for over $58,000.

These sales were just a few of the several books previously owned by Watts that went up for auction, along with jazz memorabilia he collected over the years. There is also an online auction of Watts items happening until Friday, September 29.

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October 27 will see the reissue of Prince’s 1991 album, Diamonds and Pearls, featuring 47 previously unreleased tracks. Ahead of the release, fans are getting a preview of what to expect.

Two previously unreleased songs from the iconic singer’s infamous vault have just been released, “Get Blue” and “Live 4 Love (Early Version).”

The newly remastered Diamonds and Pearls will be released in a variety of formats, including a two-CD/four-LP deluxe edition and a seven-CD with Blu-ray or 12-LP with Blu-ray super deluxe edition. It is available for preorder now.

But that’s not all. For the first time ever, fans can now enjoy Diamonds and Pearls in Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio formats, giving listeners a chance to hear the music like never before. The new mixes were taken from the original album’s masters and mixed by longtime Prince audio engineer Chris James.

The new formats are available now via digital outlets. 

Fans will also soon have a chance to learn more about Diamonds and Pearls. The new four-part podcast The Story of Diamonds and Pearls, hosted and produced by Andrea Swensson, is set to debut October 12. It will feature insights into the creation and legacy of the album from members of Prince’s New Power Generation band.

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ZZ Top‘s Billy F. Gibbons has announced dates for the 2023 edition of The Jungle Show, which he describes as the “ultimate Texas Blues event of the season.” 

This year’s run will return to Antone’s in Austin, Texas, with the shows happening December 27, 28 and 29. The lineup features Jimmie Vaughan, Sue Foley, Mike “The Drifter” Flanigin and Chris “Whipper” Layton. 

Gibbons and his pals have been holding The Jungle Show since 2016. Tickets for the 2023 edition are on sale now at antones.com.

Until then, Gibbons and ZZ Top will be on the road for the month of October. Their next set of tour dates kick off October 5 in Auburn, Washington. A complete list of dates can be found at zztop.com. 

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The Rolling Stones have treated fans to another preview of their upcoming album Hackney Diamonds, releasing the gospel-infused “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” which features vocals by Lady Gaga and keyboards by Stevie Wonder.

In a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, frontman Mick Jagger calls Gaga a “really great singer,” noting, “I’d never heard her sing quite that style before. Not exactly.”

The Gaga and Wonder contributions were recorded in Los Angeles. Jagger tells Lowe, “We did it live in the room and that was a great experience, her just coming in the room and her just opening up and seeing her bits and feeling her way and then getting more confident.”

You can listen to “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” via digital outlets and on YouTube.

“Sweet Sounds of Heaven” is the second single released off Hackney Diamonds, following “Angry.” The album is the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ first album of original material in 18 years.

Hackney Diamonds, which drops October 20, is available for preorder now.

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Former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle has assembled an all-star lineup of artists to join him on his brand new album, Anthems – Honoring The Music Of Lynyrd Skynyrd, dropping February 2, 2024.

The 13-track album features performances of such Skynyrd classics as “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “Simple Man,” “Free Bird” and more, with guest appearances by Dolly Parton, Sammy Hagar and Warren Haynes, along with country stars Ronnie Dunn, Chris Janson, Billy Ray Cyrus and others.

“This project has been a year in the making, but when the fans hear it they will understand why it took so long,” says Len Snow, president of Get Joe Records, which is releasing the album. “Artimus is legendary within the Southern Rock space. The music that Lynyrd Skynyrd made will always live as a part of rock history. This album honors that music and gives Artimus a way to honor his former bandmates.”

Pyle is set to drop the first single from the record on October 20, which is the 46th anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and four others, and injured Pyle, guitarist Gary Rossington and other members of the band.

Anthems – Honoring The Music Of Lynyrd Skynyrd is available for preorder now. Here is the album’s track list:

“I Know A Little” – Michael Ray
“Sweet Home Alabama” – Ronnie Dunn
“Simple Man” – Sammy Hagar
“Needle And The Spoon” – Lindsey Ell
“The Ballad Of Curtis Loew” – Chris Janson
“Workin’ For MCA” – Lee Brice
“That Smell” – Jerrod Niemann
“Gimme Three Steps” – Marty Raybon
“Call Me The Breeze” – Billy Ray Cyrus
“Saturday Night Special” – Warren Haynes
“The Hunt” – Artimus Pyle Band
“What’s Your Name” – LOCASH
“Freebird “- Dolly Parton

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On This Day, September 28, 1968…

The Beatles’ non-album single “Hey Jude” began a nine-week run at #1 on the Billboard Hot 10. It was the longest run at #1 for any Beatles single.

With a run time of seven minutes and 11 seconds, “Hey Jude” also set a new record for the longest song to top the chart.

Paul McCartney famously wrote “Hey Jude” for John Lennon’s son Julian, during John’s separation from his first wife, Cynthia.

The song, which was the first release on the band’s new Apple Records label, also topped the chart in several other countries, including the U.K., Australia and Canada.

It was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.

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