Classic Hits

Elton John previously hinted that he was going to have “guest artists” join him during his headlining set at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, June 25, and now his husband and manager David Furnish has spilled a little more info about that. 

In an interview with Sky News, Furnish revealed that Elton will be joined by “four collaborators of his choosing,” although he wouldn’t name names. “Sorry. I am sworn to secrecy.”

Reiterating earlier comments from the singer, Furnish says the show, which will be Elton’s final U.K. date, will feature “a different set list” from his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, noting Elton’s made “a lot of changes.”

As for life once the tour is over, Furnish joked, “I don’t think he’ll be sitting on the sofa with a remote control. He’s going to go back into the studio in October and start his next album. Which will be great. He’s not done a studio album in a long time.”

And speaking of Glastonbury, to get fans excited for the show, Elton posted a cute video to Instagram of the festival in Lego form, complete with a Lego Elton sitting behind the piano and performing.

Glastonbury runs from June 23 to June 25. A complete lineup and schedule can be found at glastonburyfestivals.co.uk. Elton’s final Farewell Yellow Brick Road show is set for July 8 in Stockholm, Sweden. A complete list of dates can be found at EltonJohn.com.

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Paul Simon has made another catalog deal. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has sold the royalty rights to his Simon & Garfunkel music to BMG. The deal also includes neighboring rights income, which refers to the performance and broadcast of recordings.

The deal includes albums like Sounds of Silence, Parsley Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, Bridge Over Troubled Waters and more, with such songs as “The Boxer” and “Mrs. Robinson.”

“In any list of the true greats, Paul Simon stands as one of the pillars of popular music history,” BMG’s Thomas Scherer said. “We will play our part to ensure his music continues to be honored and respected.” 

Although terms of the deal were not revealed, a source tells Rolling Stone it was worth eight figures. The deal is only for Simon & Garfunkel music, though; Simon sold his solo publishing catalog to Sony Music Publishing in 2021.

Simon is in good company at BMG, which has already acquired the rights and/or royalties for the music of artists like Mick Fleetwood, Peter Frampton, Tina Turner and ZZ Top.

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Ringo Starr, Toto and guitarist Joe Bonamassa are just a few of the artists signed on to perform for a special show to help raise funds for The Ed Asner Family Center, which provides programs to support special needs children and their families.

The concert is happening September 9 at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, with a lineup that also includes Stone Temple Pilots, Men at Work’s Colin Hay and Hoobastank, all of whom will be backed by an all-star band for their three-song set.

Toto’s Steve Lukather says the organization is one that’s been very important to his family. “I am honored to be a part of this event as the cause is very close to my heart,” he says. “The Center has done unbelievable, incredible things for my son Bodhi. May it be a source of support for families forever.”

Tickets for the concert go on sale Friday, June 23, at 10 a.m. local time.

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A new box set will celebrate the music of Beck, Bogert & Appice, the power trio made up of legendary guitarist Jeff Beck, bassist/singer Tim Bogert and drummer/singer Carmine Appice.

Live In Japan 1973, Live In London 1974 is dedicated to Beck, who passed away in 2023, and Bogert, who passed away in 2021. It will capture the trio’s short partnership, highlighting two concerts recorded at Koseinenkin Hall in Osaka, Japan, in May 1973, and one of their final performances at London’s Rainbow Theatre in January 1974. The latter includes a live version of “Superstition,” which you can listen to now via streaming services. 

The set is due out September 15 in a variety of formats, including a five-CD or four-LP set, as well as a purple vinyl version. It will include a booklet with extended liner notes, memorabilia, archival photos and more.

Live In Japan 1973, Live In London 1974 is available for preorder now.

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Paul McCartney is setting the record straight about reports artificial intelligence was used to “extricate” John Lennon’s voice from an old demo, for what he says will be “the last Beatles record.”

McCartney first revealed the news of the new Beatles song in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Best of Today podcast. But in a post to social media, McCartney seems to suggest people have been interpreting his comments the wrong way.

McCartney starts off noting that it’s been “great to see such an exciting response to our forthcoming Beatles project.”

“No one is more excited than us to be sharing something with you later in the year,” he says. But he adds there’s been “some confusion and speculation” about the song. “Seems to be a lot of guess work out there.”

While he admits he “can’t say too much” about the tune right now, McCartney wants fans to know “nothing has been artificially or synthetically created.”  

“It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years,” he clarifies. “We hope you love it as much as we do. More news in due course.”

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On this day, June 22, 1971…

Joni Mitchell released her quintessential confessional singer/songwriter LP Blue, now considered one of the greatest albums of all time.

The album included the track “River,” which went on to become a holiday standard, and “A Case of You,” as well as songs about Mitchell’s relationships with James Taylor and Graham Nash, and the daughter she gave up for adoption in 1966. 

Blue peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA.

The album has earned a spot on many greatest albums lists, including Rolling Stone’s Greatest Albums of All Time list, where it landed at #3 in 2020.

Mitchell recently returned to the stage after a more than 20 year absence, performing at the Newport Folk Festival in 2022, and at Washington’s Gorge Amphitheatre in early June. A live album of her Newport concert, Joni Mitchell at Newport, will be released July 28.

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Kate Bush’s classic tune “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)” has scored a new milestone. The song has just reached 1 billion streams on Spotify.

The feat is so amazing even the often reclusive Bush needed to recognize it, taking to her website to thank her fans. 

“A billion streams! I have an image of a river that suddenly floods and becomes many, many tributaries – a billion streams – on their way to the sea. Each one of these streams is one of you…,” she writes. “Thank you! Thank you so much for sending this song on such an impossibly astonishing journey. I’m blown away.”

Released in 1985, “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)” saw a new resurgence in 2022 thanks to its inclusion in season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things. The renewed interest in the song resulted in it reaching a new peak on the Billboard Hot 100, landing at #3.

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Dead & Company is currently on what they’re calling The Final Tour, but drummer Mickey Hart doesn’t seem so sure how “final” it is.

“Who knows what the next page is, we’re just turning the page,” he tells ABC Audio. “It’s not final anything. We never said we’ll never play again, but we’ll never tour again.” Not that he sees the end of this iteration of the Grateful Dead ending as bad: “Some things, good things, they come to an end and it’s really good to put a period on it and then move on.”

After almost 60 years of touring, Mickey says one of his favorite things about being a member of the Dead has been “raising [the] consciousness of millions of people, and helping them enjoy life and themselves and their families.” When it comes to his job, he says he’s “the luckiest guy in the world.”

As for why Dead music has had such a lasting appeal over generations of music fans, Mickey says it’s because “it’s a kind music. It’s a happy music,” adding it has “deep meaning for many people but it’s packaged in a rock ‘n’ roll band.” But, he shares, “This thing transcends rock ‘n’ roll. It stands for something wholly other than a rock ‘n’ roll band.”  

Dead & Company will play the second of two nights at New York’s Citi Field on June 22 before moving to Boston’s Fenway Park on June 24 and 25. The tour wraps with a two-night stand in San Francisco, July 15 and 16. A complete list of dates can be found at deadandcompany.com.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 50th anniversary concert, which was also their final show with guitarist and founding member Gary Rossington, is coming to the big screen.

The 50th Anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd: An Exclusive Concert Film Experience will have a weeklong run in movie theaters, drive-ins and outdoor venues from July 8 to 14.

The concert took place in November 2022 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. It featured a host of special guests, including Jelly Roll, Brothers Osborne‘s John Osborne, Marcus King, Shinedown‘s Brent Smith and 38 Special‘s Donnie Van Zant, brother of current Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant and their late frontman, Ronnie Van Zant.

Rossington had stopped regularly touring with the band in 2020 but showed up for the Ryman show, where he played most of the set. He passed away March 5, 2023. 

Tickets for the concert film are on sale now.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is set to hit the road this summer with ZZ Top on The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour. It kicks off Friday, July 21, in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.

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Another iconic piece of Van Halen memorabilia is up for sale.  

A mini replica of Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstrat guitar, used in the video for the hit “Hot For Teacher,” is currently up for grabs on eBay. The non-playing red guitar with black and white stripes is the one that “young” Eddie plays in the clip, and it is signed by the rocker. 

“You are looking at quite possibly the oldest piece of legitimate Van Halen memorabilia to ever go up for sale,” reads the description of the guitar. “This is maybe the most amazing piece of memorabilia I have ever owned with rock solid provenance.”

The guitar comes with a leather carrying case, as well as the outfit the young Eddie, played by Bryan Hitchcock, wore in the clip. Photos from the shoot, as well as photos from the 1985 American Video Awards, are also included. 

All of this will cost you a pretty penny. The guitar’s current asking price is over $219,000. But that is cheap compared to the original “Hot For Teacher” Frankenstrat, which was sold in April for almost $4 million.

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