Classic Hits

President Joe Biden has named The Eagles’ Joe Walsh to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. 

The committee was founded in 1982 to advise the president on enhancing federal support for the arts, humanities, and museum and library services, which it deems relevant to the country’s “health, economy, equity, and civic life.” 

“For more than 50 years, I’ve been blessed with opportunities to share my music with my fellow Americans and with the world,” Walsh shares on social media. “I’ve been humbled by participating in the creation of sacred spaces where those who disagree can come together, if only maybe for just a few minutes at a time, sing along in a shared experience and celebrate the things that make us all unique, American and uniquely American.”

He continues, “I love American Rock and Roll. I love my job. I love my country. If there’s anything I can do to assist in the guidance of future generations of Americans in finding their voices, sign me up, Mr. President.”

He added, “I graciously accept your invitation to serve on @PCAHgov and will do so with pride and with honor.”

In addition to Walsh, other newly appointed members to the committee include George Clooney, Jennifer Garner, Shonda Rhimes, Kerry Washington and Grammy winner Jon Batiste, with Lady Gaga and Oscar-winning TV and movie producer Bruce Cohen named as the committee’s co-chairs.

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On This Day, April 14, 2009…

Beatle George Harrison, who passed away in November, 2001, was honored with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

The ceremony was attended by Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dhani, along with the late rock star’s famous friends, including Sir Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Sheryl Crow, Eric Idle, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson and more.

The star, at 1750 Vine Street, was the 2,382nd star on the Walk of Fame.

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Queen is back with episode 13 of their year-long YouTube series Queen The Greatest Live, this time taking a look at the band’s iconic stage wear.

Not surprisingly, Brian May and Roger Taylor share that it was frontman Freddie Mercury who had the biggest impact on what the band looked like on stage. 

“The clothes are part of it, and no one was more aware of that than Freddie,” May shares. “Freddie really pioneered a lot of stuff…And what we tried to do was, I guess, call on the traditions of opera and other art forms and make the costumes speak for us, make them part of the storytelling.”

Roger adds, “For Freddie it was an aspect of the live show that he reveled in, and he particularly enjoyed surprising his fellow band members, as much as he did the fans.”   He notes, “You know, we could have gone ‘don’t be so ridiculous,’ but because it was Fred, it was ‘yeah, come on. That’s brilliant.’ You know, why not?”

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In 1973, Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers, made up of Nils Lofgren, Ben Keith, Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina, hit the stage at the Rainbow Theatre in London for a show that went on to become a classic for fans. Although it’s finally getting an official release on April 14, if you believe Lofgren, at the time of the show the audience didn’t really love what they were experiencing. 

The tour was in support of Neil’s album Tonight’s the Night, and Lofgren tells ABC Audio the record was “this otherworldly adventure in darkness and redemption.” He noted, “It was born of having to wrestle with a lot of our friends and heroes starting to die on us.” 

The band would play the album in its entirety, and since fans didn’t know it yet, Lofgren says they weren’t happy. “Everyone was wondering when we were going to play ‘Cinnamon Girl’ or ‘Heart of Gold,'” he says. “And people got pissed off. They’d yell, they’d boo, they’d throw bottles.”

It took some time but folks eventually came to realize the special night they witnessed. Lofgren says as he’s played in England over the past 30 years there’s always at least one person who’ll apologize for “booing and yelling for hits” during that Rainbow concert, telling him, “’and now I realize I witnessed one of the greatest artistic nights of my life.’” 

Somewhere Under the Rainbow will be available Friday on vinyl and CD at the Greedy Hand Store at Neil Young Archives, as well as at most music retailers.

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Earlier this year, Def Leppard appeared in the feel-good movie Bank of Dave, which only aired on Netflix in the U.K. Well, it looks like U.S. fans are finally going to get to see what all the fuss was about.

Deadline reports that Samuel Goldwyn Films has landed the North American rights to the British comedy, and will release it in theaters and digitally later this year.

Bank of Dave tells the real-life story of a working-class, self-made millionaire named Dave Fishwick, who tries to set up a community bank to help his town’s local businesses survive. It stars actor Rory Kinnear, who’s been in Penny Dreadful, Black Mirror and James Bond films, including Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.

Def Leppard appear in a cameo in the film, performing at a charity fundraiser for the bank, and were so excited about their appearance they shared behind-the-scenes footage of the filming with fans back in January.

“What a special day,” drummer Rick Allen shared in the clip. “I’m really excited about how this turns out and I think it’s just really an honor to be involved with something like this, with such a fantastic story.”

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John Fogerty was honored Thursday with the National Association of Music Merchants’ Music for Life Award, which is the organization’s highest honor. Fogerty was celebrated for his contributions to music and for inspiring artists everywhere.

“To get a lifetime achievement-type award is always very satisfying,” Fogerty tells ABC Audio. “It’s nice to be recognized for things that you’ve accomplished in your career.” A fire alarm interrupted his celebration, prompting Fogerty to joke about his award, “I hardly got a chance to hold it.” 

Fogerty joins a prestigious list of past Music for Life winners, including Graham Nash, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Bob Weir, Melissa Etheridge and Kenny Loggins.

Next up for Fogerty, he’s set to hit the road for his Celebration Tour, which kicks off April 27 in Uncasville, Connecticut. A complete list of dates can be found at JohnForgerty.com.

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When Billy Joel first released his #1 hit “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” he could’ve created a video that included an image of every single event and person he mentioned, from Marilyn Monroe to Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan. He didn’t, but now we’ve got one, thanks to the magic of AI, aka artificial intelligence.

A TikTok content creator who goes by the handle @digitalresonator has used a popular AI program called Midjourney — which creates images from descriptions you feed into it — to craft an entirely new video for “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” 

“Lots of requests for this one,” the creator wrote. “I hope you guys like this one. It took a long time between the research, the length, and the number of images.”  Responding to comments, they said it took “four or five hours” to do.

All the events and people Billy names in the song are depicted via AI-created images, including more generic ones like “hypodermics on the shore,” “Rock ‘n Roller cola wars” and “British politician sex.”

So far, the video has racked up 91,000 likes, and as one fan put it, “I feel like this is the video Billy Joel wanted to do. This is perfection!!”

“This was just beautiful to experience. Really stunning,” another wrote. “Thank you for putting the effort in.”

“That’s incredible! I wish Billy Joel would write the sequel,” one fan chimed in, with many others agreeing that Billy should do an update that covers the 1990s through today. The original covered the year of his birth, 1949, through 1989, when he turned 40.

Years later, Billy admitted, “The melody is horrendous. It’s like a mosquito droning. It’s one of the worst melodies I’ve ever written. I kind of like the lyric though.”

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If you ever wanted to play bass like Duran Duran‘s John Taylor, now’s your chance. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has teamed up with Dingwall Guitars for a new signature bass, which they say “embodies the personality and stylistic range of the band’s 1982 multi-platinum record,” Rio.

The John Taylor Signature Model Rio Dream Bass launched with a numbered, limited-edition cranberry pearl colored bass, mimicking the colors on the cover of the hit album. It features a special string pack, a “Rio Eye” inlaid in the 12th fret of the fingerboard, a custom guitar hanger and more. 

“This bass felt so intuitive to me from the moment I picked it up, and immediately made me wonder why all bass guitars aren’t made like this,” Taylor shared.

With only 83 initially available, Taylor’s bass quickly sold out. Luckily, if you missed out on the initial batch, there will be more to come, with black, vintage white and seafoam models in the works.

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Gene Simmons wants his fans to know he’s doing OK. As previously reported, the KISS co-founder fell ill during the band’s show in Manaus, Brazil, Wednesday and had to finish the concert seated. Well, now he’s shared a health update and it appears there’s noting to worry about.

“Ok, kids. Not a big deal. Thanks for your kind wishes,” he tweeted. “Last night we played Amazon jungle Stadium/Brazil. Humidity and temperature were sky high. I was dehydrated and was forced to sit for a song.”

He added, “We got back on stage in 5 minutes & finished the show.”

The Latin American leg of KISS’ End of the Road tour hits Bogotá, Colombia, on April 15. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.

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