Classic Hits

It seems that eventually every band that ever got near the Billboard Hot 100 chart reunites for an album, a tour or both. But one group that topped that chart multiple times never reunited — and it wasn’t because they didn’t get along.

The duo Wham! — Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael — were massively successful in the ’80s, with three number-one hits, a number-one album and sold-out concerts worldwide. But they were only together for four years; after that, George Michael launched his own solo career, which was also massively successful.

While George and Andrew remained good friends and performed together every now and then, it was never under the name Wham!, and they never did a full-fledged reunion tour. Speaking to Vulture, Andrew explains, “We resisted the lure of a reunion with steadfastness because … [George’s] artistic destiny lay beyond Wham!”

“We understood quite early that one day the constraints that Wham! imposed upon his songwriting scope were too narrow,” Andrew continues. “He wouldn’t be able to develop fully as an artist within the parameters that Wham! set.”

And why was that? “Wham! was that representation and manifestation of our youth,” Andrew explains. “It was all about the vigor, experience, vitality, and exuberance of youth … [we] couldn’t drag Wham! into middle age … it was never going to work.”

“Obviously, the temptation was there for both of us … [but] it pretty much became an unspoken rule,” he says. “We discussed it one time: ‘We cannot reform and we can’t appear again as Wham!’ Because it would’ve been a betrayal of everything Wham! stood for, really.”

Despite never getting a Wham! reunion, at least we have the Wham! Netflix documentary, which is streaming now.

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August 3 marks 36 years since Def Leppard released their fourth studio album, Hysteria, which went on to become their first Billboard 200 #1. Ahead of the anniversary, guitarist Phil Collen is breaking down the album for fans in a new video posted to social media.

“When we went in to record Hysteria (producer) Mutt (Lange) said let’s do a rock version of Thriller where you have like seven singles,” Collen says in the clip, referring to Michael Jackson’s classic album. “Create a genre of our own.”

Collen then goes to discuss several of the songs on the album, including hits like “Armageddon It,” their only #1 song “Love Bites” and “Animal,” which Collen says took “three years to write, or to get right.”

He also talks about “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” which became their signature tune. Collen says the song almost didn’t make the album as it was recorded after they already finished the record. They were also late handing it in and were “four and a half million dollars in debt.”

Frontman Joe Elliott was playing something on guitar in the studio, which caught Lange’s ear, and he pushed them to record it despite the album being late. He insisted, “this song is going to be really important.”

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James Taylor made a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, which took place July 28-30 in Newport, Rhode Island.

According to Jambase, Taylor was a last minute replacement on Friday, July 28, for singer Noah Kahan, who had to cancel his set due to vocal issues. Taylor was apparently vacationing nearby and arrived for his performance by boat less than an hour before going on.

He delivered a stellar set which featured such iconic Taylor songs as “Sweet Baby James,” “Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Something In The Way She Moves” and more.

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Paul McCartney appears to be teasing some big news on his social media accounts. 

The Beatle shared a tease on social media suggesting fans sign up for his mailing list “for news coming soon.” He captioned the post, “Got to get you into my life” along with a guitar emoji.

Although there’s no clear message as to what he’s teasing, Billboard suggests it’s likely a new world tour, noting that Australian concert promoter Frontier Touring, which produced McCartney’s 2017 tour of Australia and New Zealand, reposted the tease.

McCartney last hit the road in 2022 on the Got Back tour, which included shows in North America and a headlining spot at U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival.

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The Boomtown Rats rocker Bob Geldof is giving folks a little insight into singer Sinéad O’Connor’s state of mind at the time of her death.

During the band’s set at the Cavan Calling festival in Cavan, Ireland, Geldof revealed to the audience that he had been texting the singer in the weeks before her death at the age of 56.

“She was a very good friend of mine,” Geldof said, according to the Irish Independent. “We were talking right up to a couple of weeks ago.” He added, “Some of the texts were laden with desperation and despair and sorrow and some were ecstatically happy,” noting, “She was like that.”

Earlier in the day, Geldof talked to Irish Web TV and revealed that Sinéad actually “lived down the road” from him and the band’s late guitar player Garry Roberts. He said the group was “all very sad” about her death.

“So we’ve known that girl most of her life, really. She was a big Rats fan,” he said. “So, to be honest with you, that’s why we’re doing very early stuff and we dedicate this gig to her, it’s the only thing we can do as musicians.”

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Looks like Cher may be helping everyone get in the holiday spirit this year. The legendary singer teased fans on social media with an update about her first Christmas album.

Using a Santa emoji and a Christmas tree emoji instead of actually writing out “Christmas” or “holiday,” Cher tweeted that she’s “SO +%#~>€ EXCITED ABOUT MY” Christmas album, adding “NEVER WANTED 2 DO ONE, BUT ITS AS GOOD AS ANY RECORD IVE MADE.”

Although she didn’t give any more details, like when it may be coming, she did let fans know “THIS IS NOT UR’ MOTHERS” Christmas album.

This isn’t the first time Cher mentioned recording a Christmas album. Back in June, she shared a tweet about the record, noting “It’s scary to make something so Different” and adding that one of the songs she’s recording is one of her “favorites EVER.”

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On This Day, July 31, 1980…

During a benefit gig in Long Beach, California, Eagles members Glenn Frey and Don Felder spent the show detailing how they planned to beat each other up after it was over.  

The show – now known as the “Long Night at Wrong Beach” – was a benefit for California Senator Alan Cranston’s re-election campaign, and the band basically split up after the gig, although they did go on to release a live album of the tour, Eagles Live, in order to fulfill their commitment to Elektra Records. 

The band eventually reconvened in 1994, although Felder was kicked out of the group in 1999. Frey passed away in 2016, but the band continued on with Glenn’s son Deacon Frey and Vince Gill joining the group.

The Eagles recently announced their Long Goodbye Farewell tour, which kicks off September 7 in New York City.

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On Instagram, Lady Gaga paid a heartfelt tribute to her friend and musical collaborator Tony Bennett, who died at age 96 on July 21.

“I will miss my friend forever,” Gaga wrote in the lengthy caption of a photo of herself hugging the legendary crooner.  “I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together.”

“With Tony, I got to live my life in a time warp. Tony & I had this magical power,” Gaga continued. “We transported ourselves to another era, modernized the music together, & gave it all new life as a singing duo. But it wasnt [sic] an act. Our relationship was very real.”

“Sure he taught me about music, about showbiz life, but he also showed me how to keep my spirits high and my head screwed on straight. ‘Straight ahead,’ he’d say.”

She called Bennett an “optimist” who “believed in quality work AND quality life,” and who was “always grateful.” 

Gaga wrote, “I’ve been grieving the loss of Tony for a long time. We had a very long and powerful goodbye. Though there were 5 decades between us, he was my friend. My real true friend. Our age difference didn’t matter.”

She described losing to Bennett to Alzheimer’s as “painful” but also “really beautiful,” noting, “All I wanted was for Tony to remember how much I loved him and how grateful I was to have him in my life. But, as that faded slowly I knew deep down he was sharing with me the most vulnerable moment in his life that he could — being willing to sing with me when his nature was changing so deeply.”

She added, “I’ll never forget this experience. I’ll never forget Tony Bennett.”

Gaga closed the post with, “I love you Tony. Love, Lady.”

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The new documentary Kiss the Future, featuring Irish rockers U2, is set to open the 2023 Sarajevo Film Festival this August.

Screen Daily reports that the film, which received its world premiere in February at the Berlin Film Festival and also opened New York’s Tribeca Festival in June, will be part of Sarajevo Film Festival’s Open Air program on August 11.

Kiss the Future, directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain and produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Sarah Anthony, follows a group of underground musicians and creatives during the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from April 1992 to February 1996. The doc includes footage of U2’s memorable 1997 concert at Koševo Stadium celebrating the country’s liberation, along with interviews with Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton.

The film also features interviews with Sarajevo Film Festival founder Mirsad Purivatra. He started the festival during the conflict in 1995, and only stepped down as director last year.

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A month after she landed in the ICU with a “serious bacterial infection,” Madonna is celebrating being alive and thanking those who helped her get through that difficult time.

In an Instagram update posted on July 30, she shared three photos, two of which showed her with two of her six children: daughter Lourdes and son David. She wrote. “Love from family and friends is the best Medicine. One month out of the hospital and I can reflect.”

“As a Mother you can really get caught up In the needs Of your children and the seemingly endless giving,” she continued. “But when the chips were down my children really showed up for me. I saw a side to them I had never seen before.”

Madonna then wrote about the third photo on the post, which shows her holding a framed Polaroid photo — a gift from her manager, Guy Oseary.

“If you zoom into this Picture I am holding You will see A Polaroid taken by Andy Warhol of Keith Haring wearing a jacket with Michael Jackson’s face painted on it,” she wrote. “A perfect triangle of Brilliance. Artist[s] who touched so many lives including my own.”

Madonna befriended Warhol and Haring early in her career; she and Michael Jackson attended the Oscars together in 1991.

“I sobbed when I opened this gift because I realized how lucky I am to be alive,” she concluded. “And how fortunate I am to have known these people and so many others who are also gone. Thank you@guyoseary for this gift! And Thank you to all my angels who protected me and let me Stay to finish doing my work!”

Madonna has pushed back the North American leg of her Celebration tour; it will now start in Europe in October.

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