Queen performed their first show under that name in Cornwall, England, after originally being booked under their previous name, Smile.
The new name was suggested by singer Freddie Mercury; it was his first paid gig with the band, whose lineup included Brian May, Roger Taylor and Mike Grose on bass. John Deacon became the band’s bass player in 1971.
Of course, Queen went on to become superstars, selling between 250 and 300 million records worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. They also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Congratulations are in order for Frankie Valli.People reports the 89-year-old singer just got married to 60-year-old Jackie Jacobs, a former CBS marketing executive.
The couple, who met in 2007 and began dating in 2015, tied the knot in a private ceremony at the Westgate Hotel in Las Vegas, with Valli’s classic tune “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” playing in the background.
“It’s terrific to have found love once again at this stage of my life,” the singer tells the magazine.
This is Valli’s fourth marriage. He was previously married to Mary Delgado from 1958 to 1971. He wed MaryAnn Hannigan in 1974, and they divorced in 1982. He then wed Randy Clohessy in 1984 and had three children with her before they separated in 2004.
Valli is set to return to the Westgate later this year. He and his band TheFour Seasons headline a residency there, with two shows scheduled in October as well as several dates planned for 2024. A complete list of dates can be found at westgateresorts.com.
We are halfway through 2023 and Pollstaris looking back at the last six months of touring, which have been very good for Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and others.
According to the trade’s midyear report, Springsteen and The E Street Band’s 2023 tour is the second-highest-grossing tour of the year, behind only Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Springsteen lands at two, with a gross of over $142 million, selling a total of 673,277 tickets in the first half of the year for an average gross per show of just under $4 million.
Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour also earns a spot on the midyear chart at #4, behind Harry Styles’ Love On Tour. Elton’s tour has grossed over $110 million in the first six months of the year, with an average gross per show of over $3.3 million.
Elton is set to wrap his tour July 7 and 8 in Stockholm, Sweden, but it has already broken the record for the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Meanwhile, Springsteen still has plenty of shows to go on his tour, which means he’ll be bringing in even more dough. He’ll play the second of two nights in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Wednesday, June 28, with the European leg wrapping July 25 in Monza, Italy. Plus he’ll bring the tour back to the U.S., kicking off with a two-night stand at Chicago’s Wrigley Field August 9 and 11. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.
A thought-to-be-lost Steely Dan track from the ’70s has found its way online for the very first time.
According to the Expanding Dan website, the track “The Second Arrangement” was erased by a studio technician in 1979 and thought to be lost forever. But now the family of the band’s late longtime engineer Roger Nichols has uncovered a previously unknown copy.
Nichols’ daughters Cimcie and Ashlee discovered the tape, labeled “Second ARR,” in 2011 while packing up the family home. Not knowing what to do with it, Cimcie simply brought it to her Los Angeles home. In 2020, during the pandemic, she started going through her dad’s things and posting interesting items to Facebook, including a picture of the tape. The photo quickly went viral, with Steely Dan fans wanting to hear it.
Cimcie then brought it to a studio in Los Angeles, where it was transferred from cassette to a new case. When they played it, they discovered “The Second Arrangement,” as well as an instrumental of the song. “Were You Blind That Day,” which eventually became “Third World Man,” was also on the tape.
Fans can now listen to it on the Expanding Dan site. Cimcie plans to put it up for auction soon in order to earn money that will, in part, go toward a documentary about Nichols.
Def Leppard and Sammy Hagar are among the artists set to receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2024.
Both will receive their stars in the Recording category, along with songwriter Glen Ballard, Gwen Stefani, Toni Braxton, Darius Rucker, Dr. Dre, Brandy Norwood and Charles Fox, with legendary artist Otis Redding earning a posthumous star in the Live Theater/Live Performance category.
Other big names selected this year include the late Chadwick Boseman, Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Eugene Levy and Kerry Washington.
Dates for this year’s star ceremonies have not yet been scheduled. Those selected have two years to choose the date for their ceremony.
Gov’t Mule has made their fall touring plans. The band just announced dates for their Peace…Like A River tour, in support of their recently released album of the same name.
The trek kicks off September 13, in Toronto, Canada, with dates in Portland, Maine; Charleston, West Virginia; Erie, Pennsylvania; Wilmington, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida and more, before wrapping October 15 in Columbus, Georgia. They’ve also announced a two-week European tour, which kicks off November 6, in London, England, and wraps November 20, in Trieste, Italy.
Tickets for the North American dates go on sale starting June 29, at 10 a.m. local time. European dates go on sale June 30.
Next up, Gov’t Mule will kick off their Dark Side of the Mule tour, a tribute to Pink Floyd’s classic album Dark Side of the Moon, on July 22, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A complete list of dates can be found at mule.net.
In other Gov’t Mule news, in early June the band announced bassist Jorgen Carlsson was leaving and would be replaced by bassist Kevin Scott. In a recent interview with Rock & Blues Muse, frontman Warren Haynes shared his first comments on Jorgen’s departure.
“Jorgen did an amazing job. His role in Gov’t Mule got better and better year after year,” Haynes says of the bassist. “He’s been quiet-quitting the last few years. We all knew it was coming, but it is heartbreaking.”
As for Kevin, he says, “Kevin is fantastic and we’re hoping it will be more than temporary … we’re all hoping that he’s here for a new chapter.”
The life of Asia co-founder, singer and bassist John Wetton will be celebrated with a new tribute concert in August. John’s wife Lisa, his son Dylan and QEDG Management just announced the lineup for An Extraordinary Life, a memorial concert for Wetton, taking place August 3, at Trading Boundaries in East Sussex, England.
The concert will be streamed online for fans to enjoy and will feature an audience of friends and family, a whole host of performers and special guests, including Wetton’s Asia bandmate Geoff Downes, Yes’ Rick Wakeman, former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, Squeeze’s Chris Difford and more. All artists will be backed by musicians from The Paul Green Rock Academy.
“I am delighted and humbled that so many legendary artists who worked with my Dad over the years have agreed to come together both to honor him and raise vital funds for the charity which supported him during his last days,” says John’s son, Dylan.
The memorial will raise money for the charity Macmillan Caring Locally, which cared for Wetton. He passed away January 31, 2017, due to complications from cancer.
Rick Astley certainly looked like he had a great time performing at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, June 24.
The singer treated the crowd to a set full of classics, including “Together Forever,” and, of course, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” but also threw in some surprise covers, including Harry Styles’ mega hit “As It Was.”
Video posted by BBC Radio 2 shows Astley introducing the tune, sharing, “From a song that 98 percent of you don’t know,” referring to his previous song “Keep Singing,” “to a song I think almost every one of you knows.”
Toward the end of his set, Astley sat behind the drum kit and sang AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell.” He also teamed with the band Blossoms for a full set of The Smiths covers.
After the sets, Rick took to Instagram to thank his fans, writing, “Sometimes words aren’t enough to say how you feel, thank you.”
Blue Öyster Cult drummer and founding member Albert Bouchard is set to release a new album, Imaginos III – Mutant Reformation, on July 7, and now, he’s sharing a new track from the record.
The latest is a new take on the BÖC song, “Transmaniacon,” featuring members of the rock band TheDictators, “Ross the Boss” Friedman and Andy Shernoff. It follows the earlier release of “E.T.I.,” featuring his brother, BÖC bassist and singer Joe Bouchard.
“I wanted to make a version of “Transmaniacon” that had a heavier approach, proto-metal with a punk flavor,” Bouchard says. “The guys in the new Dictators were just the group to deliver that. I know it’s a fan favorite with BÖC fans, but I hope they can appreciate it as much as the original.”
Imaginos III – Mutant Reformation is the third and final record in Bouchard’s trilogy of Imaginos, following 2021’s Imaginos 2 – Bombs Over Germany and 2020’s Re Imaginos, which was a reworked version of Blue Öyster Cult’s 1988 concept album Imaginos.
The albums have all been inspired by the writings of the late producer and songwriter Sandy Pearlman, which centered on an alien conspiracy happening in the 1800s and early 1900s through the actions of an evil character named Imaginos.
Another historic item of Beatles memorabilia is on the auction blocks. The latest is the December, 29, 1974, signed document that signaled the official end of the legendary rock band.
The Gotta Have Rock and Roll auction house is currently selling the contract, which is signed by all four members of the band, with John Lennon and George Harrison signing twice since they were the acting directors of the band’s record label, Apple Corps LTD.
According to the description, the document released “each Beatles member from their obligation to record as the group known as ‘The Beatles,’ thus giving each Beatles member their independence from each other to pursue their own projects solely and as individuals.”
As of this writing, the artifact has a bid of $100,000, but it’s expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000. Bidding closes June 30.
