Classic Hits

Two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Paul Simon is set to receive an honorary doctorate from Juilliard.

According to a press release, the honorary doctorates are handed out to “distinguished artists whose work has shaped and expanded the fields of opera, music, dance, film and theater.”

This year’s other honorary doctorate recipients include ballerina Misty Copeland, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and actor Oscar Isaac.

“Each of this year’s remarkable honorary doctorate recipients has left an indelible mark on their field,” said Juilliard President Damian Woetzel. “As we celebrate Juilliard’s class of 2026, we acknowledge these artists who stand as shining examples of extraordinary achievement and impact on the world.”

The honorary doctorates will be handed out at the school’s 121st commencement on May 22. This year’s recipients will be celebrated with performances from Juilliard students.

Simon is currently on the European leg of his A Quiet Celebration tour and will begin a three-night stand in Amsterdam on Wednesday. He brings the tour back to North America June 4 in Palo Alto, California.

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

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Looks like someone wanted to dress themselves up — not in Madonna’s love, but in her clothes.

The Queen of Pop wrote on her Instagram Story Monday that she was “still flying high” after her “full circle moment” at Coachella, which saw her return to the festival for the first time in 20 years to join Sabrina Carpenter onstage. However, she wrote, “I discovered that the vintage pieces that I wore went missing- my costume that was pulled from my personal archives – jacket, corset, dress and all other garments.”

“These aren’t just clothes, they are part of my history,” she said. “Other archival items from the same era went missing as well. I’m hoping and praying that some kind soul, will find these items and reach out to my team at: Infomaverick2026@gmail.com.”

Madonna says she’s offering a reward for the “safe return” of the pieces, and thanks fans “with all My Heart.”

During her performance, Madonna made a point of saying that she was wearing the same jacket, corset and boots that she originally wore at Coachella in 2006.

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Joan Jett and The Blackhearts are heading to the U.K. this summer for their first headlining tour in 16 years.

The tour is made up of four shows, starting July 2 in Glasgow. The tour will then head to Manchester on July 4 and Leeds on July 5, before wrapping July 7 in Wolverhampton.

“We can’t wait to be back on stage in the UK this Summer!” Jett says. “I wrote and recorded ‘Bad Reputation,’ my first solo LP in London. It’s been too long since we’ve been in the UK and we’re excited to see everyone!”

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday.

Joan Jett and The Blackhearts are also set to open for My Chemical Romance at Wembley Stadium in London on July 10.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are set to play several U.S. festivals this year, including Beachlife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, on May 2; BottleRock Napa Valley in Napa, California, on May 23 and Bourbon & Beyond in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sept. 24.

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

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The Totally Tubular Festival, celebrating music of the ’80s, will return for a third year this summer, with a lineup that includes Thomas Dolby & The Lost Toy People, A Flock Of Seagulls, The Motels, Animotion, The Escape Club, Tommy Tutone and The Producers.

The tour marks the first time Thomas Dolby & The Lost Toy People have performed together since 1988.

The tour is set to kick off July 17 in Phoenix, hitting such cities as Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., New York and more before wrapping Aug. 16 in Aurora, Illinois.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time. A complete schedule can be found at TotallyTubularFestival.com.

The Totally Tubular Festival launched in summer 2024, with Dolby also headlining the fest. Other artists on the inaugural bill included Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, Modern English, Men Without Hats and The Romantics.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Totally Tubular Festival, celebrating music of the ’80s, will return for a third year this summer, with a lineup that includes Thomas Dolby & The Lost Toy People, A Flock Of Seagulls, The Motels, Animotion, The Escape Club, Tommy Tutone and The Producers.

The tour marks the first time Thomas Dolby & The Lost Toy People have performed together since 1988.

The tour is set to kick off July 17 in Phoenix, hitting such cities as Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., New York and more before wrapping Aug. 16 in Aurora, Illinois.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time. A complete schedule can be found at TotallyTubularFestival.com.

The Totally Tubular Festival launched in summer 2024, with Dolby also headlining the fest. Other artists on the inaugural bill included Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, Modern English, Men Without Hats and The Romantics.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The fourth annual American Music Honors, put on by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, took place Saturday at the Pollak Theatre Monmouth, New Jersey. Patti Smith, The E Street Band, The Doors, Dionne Warwick and Dr. Dre were this year’s honorees.

The night featured some unique performances, including Springsteen and The Doors’ John Densmore, backed by the Disciples of Soul, performing the Doors’ classic “Light My Fire.”

Fan-shot footage posted to YouTube shows Springsteen warning the audience not to expect too much from the performances, joking, “There’s no one in the room in danger of filling Jim Morrison’s leather pants,” referring to the late Doors frontman. Steve Earle later came out to pay tribute to The Doors with a performance of “Roadhouse Blues.”

For their song, Springsteen and The E Street Band treated the crowd to “Thunder Road,” which they haven’t been playing on their current Land of Hope and Dreams American tour.

The night also featured a posthumous tribute to The Band, with Springsteen, Earle, Darlene Love and others performing “The Weight.” Warwick performed “Walk on By” and was joined by Love for “That’s What Friends are For.”

Smith teamed with Springsteen for “Because the Night,” a song co-penned by The Boss, with the night also including an all-star jam on Smith’s classic “People Have the Power.”

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Sammy Hagar is making some changes to the upcoming U.K. leg of his The Best of All Worlds tour, his first time playing the U.K. since 1996.

The rocker announced that he’s revising his itinerary in order to move his shows to more “intimate, tech-forward performing arts venues.” He’s also changed his one night at London’s O2 arena, to a three-night stand at a new yet-to-be opened venue in the city.

“After waiting 30 years to come back, we really wanted to get this right,” says Sammy in a statement. “Several factors pushed us toward revising this tour but after wrapping our Las Vegas residency last month at Dolby Live where the sound, the technology, and the more intimate size really lets us connect with the audiences, it was clear that we wanted to deliver an experience like that for our fans in England.”

He adds, “When I heard our promoter was opening a similar tech-forward venue in London that really sealed the deal for me. Three nights, a fresh set every night, and I get to stay in London, one of my favorite cities in the world, for a week. That’s the Best of All Worlds!”

The tour, which has Sammy playing songs from throughout his career, including his days with Van Halen, was originally supposed to launch on July 4 in Manchester, but will now begin July 6 in Wolverhampton, followed by a July 7 show in Manchester and three shows, on July 9, 11 and 12, at the new British Airways ARC in London.

Those who previously purchased tickets to the tour will receive a priority presale code for the new shows, plus 10% off merchandise. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

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Now that Madonna has officially announced her new album Confessions II, and she debuted one of the songs onstage during a surprise Coachella performance, fans are naturally wondering if the Queen of Pop will now take her show on the road. Well, according to her manager, the answer to that is TBD.

“I’m not sure yet,” Guy Oseary, Madonna’s manager, told Variety when asked if she plans to tour behind the record. Asked if he’d like to see her tour, Guy said, “I want to see her happy so whatever makes her happy, I’m all there.”

Guy also commented on Madonna’s Coachella performance with Sabrina Carpenter on Saturday night. “Madonna told me that she and Sabrina talked about it,” he said. “It was not my idea. It was a brilliant idea and I think the core of it is what was shown last night, which is love.”

“I mean, I don’t think my feet touched the ground. It was so beautiful,” he added. “I loved seeing the joy that she had. It was emotional.”

As previously reported, it had been 20 years since Madonna had last performed at Coachella. Back in 2006, she sang songs from Confessions on a Dance Floor in the Dance Tent, wearing the same corset and boots she rocked during the Sabrina team-up.

Madonna’s most recent tour, Celebration, ran from 2023 to 2024 and grossed over $225 million.

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On This Day, April 20, 1992…

Queen hosted the star-studded Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness at Wembley Stadium in London.

Also known as A Concert for Life, the event was a posthumous celebration honoring the band’s frontman Freddie Mercury, who passed away Nov. 24, 1991, from AIDS-related causes.

The lineup featured Def Leppard, Metallica, Bob Geldof, Guns N’ Roses, Extreme and more, as well as a pre-recorded performance by U2.

The surviving members of Queen — Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon — closed the show, joined by a star-studded lineup of guest singers including Elton John, The Who’s Roger Daltrey, David Bowie, Annie Lennox, George Michael, Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose, Paul Young, Robert Plant, Metallica’s James Hetfield and Liza Minnelli.

Proceeds from the concert helped launch the band’s charity, the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which helped in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

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Original Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm is currently joining the new Foreigner lineup on a series of shows in Florida, and he tells ABC Audio he’s been enjoying getting to play with the new members of the band.

“It’s been great because they’re great guys,” he says. “They accepted me into the band and they’re happy to have me and they all treat me very good.”

Gramm calls the current Foreigner lineup “exceptional musicians,” noting “they follow the arrangements pretty closely to the originals.”

“And the response from the audience is very good,” he adds. “I think the audience has missed Foreigner being in their lives.”

Besides Gramm’s occasional appearances with the band, there are currently no original members in Foreigner. Back in February, Gramm’s bandmate Al Greenwood told New York Magazine he hopes Foreigner “goes on forever,” noting, “I wouldn’t like to not be able to see that music being played.”

Gramm agrees with that sentiment.

“It’s exactly my feeling. I think the music is too good to fade away,” he says, noting that it feels great that fans still want to hear Foreigner tunes. He adds, “it feels timeless.”

Gramm’s next show with Foreigner is happening Tuesday in Orlando, Florida.

In addition to the Foreigner shows, Gramm is set to head out on his own tour in support of his recently released solo album, Released. The tour kicks off May 28 in Stamford, Connecticut. A complete list of dates can be found at LouGrammOfficial.com.

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