Classic Hits

Leonard Cohen is going to be the subject of a new series that focuses on his relationship with muse Marianne Ihlen.

Variety reports that actor Alex Wolff, who’ll appear in Christopher Nolan‘s next film, Oppenheimer, has been cast to play Cohen. The series is titled So Long, Marianne, named after the track that appeared on Cohen’s debut album, Songs of Leonard Cohen. The series also stars Norwegian actress Thea Sofie Loch Næss as Ihlen, along with The Last of Us’ Anna Torv and Peaky Blinders’ Noah Taylor, playing Australian novelists Charmian Clift and her husband, George Johnston.

The series, which is filming on the Greek island of Hydra, where the couple first met, is described as an “intimate tale of two, lonely people falling in love, during a period of their life when they are trying to figure out who they are and their place in the world, while one is becoming one of the most famous singers of all time.”

Production is expected to also take place in Norway, where Ihlen is from, and Cohen’s hometown of Montreal.

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n July 2021, Bob Dylan streamed a special black-and-white concert film, and now music from that experience is finally set for release.

Shadow Kingdom, featuring the 13 tracks performed during the concert, will drop June 2 digitally, and on CD and two-LP vinyl. A full-length feature film of the performance is also being released on June 6 for both download and rental.

The event featured Dylan performing such classics as “Forever Young” and “It’s All over Now, Baby Blue,” along with deep cuts like “Queen Jane Approximately,” “The Wicked Messenger” and more.

Shadow Kingdom is available for preorder now.

Here’s the track list for Shadow Kingdom:

“When I Paint My Masterpiece”
“Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)”
“Queen Jane Approximately”
“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight”
“Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”
“Tombstone Blues”
“To Be Alone With You”
“What Was It You Wanted”
“Forever Young”
“Pledging My Time”
“The Wicked Messenger”
“Watching the River Flow”
“It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”
“Sierra’s Theme”

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Gene Simmons isn’t going to let anything stop a KISS show. The rocker performed part of the band’s Manaus, Brazil, show Wednesday sitting down after falling ill during the show.

According to the Brazilian outlet G1, toward the end of the show Simmons asked a stagehand to bring him a chair and he sat down. The show was eventually stopped, with Paul Stanley telling the crowd they needed to take a break to help Simmons out.  

“We’ll need to stop to take care of him because we love him, right?” Stanley is heard telling the crowd in fan-shot footage. “Let’s give Gene a very loud ‘Gene’: 1, 2, 3! OK!” The band returned to the stage about five minutes later.

It appears the heat may have gotten to Simmons. The temperature in Manaus at the time of the concert was about 80 degrees. 

KISS is currently on the Latin American leg of their End of the Road tour. They play Bogotá, Colombia, on April 15. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.

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On This Day, April 13, 1987… 

Fleetwood Mac released Tango in the Night, their final studio album to be recorded with the classic Rumours lineup.

The album, the band’s 14th studio release, was its best-selling release since Rumours, selling 15 million copies and producing four hits, including “Little Lies” and “Everywhere.”

After its release, Lindsey Buckingham quit the band, and was replaced on tour by Rick Vito and Billy Burnette.

In 1983, Buckingham reunited with Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood to perform at President Bill Clinton’s first inaugural ball to sing “Don’t Stop.” The full Rumours line-up officially reformed in March, 1997 for a live concert, The Dance, which was released as an album and brought them back to the top of the charts for the first time in 10 years.

Buckingham left the group once again in 2018, although reports claimed he was fired because of a disagreement over touring. He later sued the group, and the suit was settled out of court.

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As previously reported, Eric Clapton’s record breaking 24-night run at London’s Royal Albert Hall is being celebrated with a new box set, The Definitive 24 Nights, dropping June 23. But it turns out, that’s not going to be the only way fans will get to experience the shows.

The concerts, which took place in 1990 and 1991 and had Clapton playing blues, rock and orchestral sets, are now coming to the big screen.

Eric Clapton Across 24 Nights will air in theaters globally on May 17, with an encore screening May 23. It will feature performances of 17 songs, including “Wonderful Tonight,” “Layla,” “White Room” and more, with special appearances by Phil Collins on “Knockin on Heaven’s Door,” plus Buddy Guy and Albert Collins.

Tickets are on sale now.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd has decided to go on following the March death of guitarist and original member Gary Rossington, and frontman Johnny Van Zant, who has been with the band over 30 years, knows it’s exactly what Rossington would have wanted. 

“Me and him have had very long conversations,” Van Zant tells ABC Audio. “He said, ‘You know what, I want the music to carry on. I want it to carry on.’” 

Johnny says Rossington had pointed out to him that since Charlie Daniels’ death in 2020 they were hearing less about him, and the same with the Allman Brothers after Gregg Allman’s 2017 death. Johnny said Gary told him, “I want Skynyrd to be around forever.” 

“We got together with the estates, talked it out. We all came to a conclusion that this music is bigger than any of us,” Van Zant shares. “We’re gonna go out and we’re gonna play for a little while longer.” He adds, “We definitely want to finish out this year and we would like, you know, maybe carry on next year and who knows.” 

Understandably, Van Zant says he’s “just devastated” by the loss of Rossington. “We became brothers over the years,” he offers. “I always tell people we fought, we cried, we made up and then we got drunk.” 

Lynyrd Skynyrd is set to kick off The Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top on July 21 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.

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Bono is lending his talent to a new animated short film based on the Sergei Prokofiev classic symphony Peter & The Wolf.

Deadline reports the project, which has been given the go-ahead by Max and Cartoon Network, will turn the story into a contemporary tale, with artwork inspired by Bono’s original illustrations, and music and narration by composer Gavin Friday. It is based on a 2003 project by the pair, which they did for the Irish Hospice Foundation. 

The story follows a 12-year-old Peter, who is dealing with the loss of a parent. He heads into the forest to search for a reported wolf on the loose and comes across creatures who help him on the search, as well as hunters trying to capture the wolf for a prize. 

“The messaging of vigilance, bravery, and resilience that were core to the original symphony are still echoed throughout our interpretation, but we spin a traditional fairy tale into a unique adaptation that also incorporates the topic of loss, redemption, and recovery,” Friday and Bono said. “It’s our hope that this Peter & the Wolf becomes a balm for any child dealing with loss, alongside exposing and captivating them into the wonderful and musical world of Prokofiev.”

Peter & The Wolf is expected to premiere later this year.

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Bob Dylan is currently in Japan with his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, and he surprised fans at his recent show at the Tokyo Garden Theater with a Grateful Dead cover.

Rolling Stone reports that while Dylan doesn’t usually stray too far from the same set list each night on this tour, for his show Wednesday he added the Dead classic “Truckin’,” the first time he’s ever covered the song.  

“Truckin’,” written by Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Robert Hunter, appeared on the Grateful Dead’s 1970 album, American Beauty. It was one of the 66 songs Dylan wrote about in his book The Philosophy of Modern Song, which came out last year.

Dylan’s tour of Japan still has three more shows at the Tokyo Garden Theater, April 14-16. He then wraps the tour with three shows in Nagoya, April 18-20. Dylan returns to the road in June for a European tour that kicks off June 2 in Lisbon, Portugal. A complete list of dates can be found at bobdylan.com.

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Toto’s Steve Lukather is ready to share a new solo album. Bridges, Lukather’s ninth studio album, will drop June 16.

The record features contributions from past and present members of the Toto family, including David Paich, Joseph Williams, Simon Phillips, Shannon Forrest, Lee Sklar and Steve Maggiora, along with Lukather’s son Trev and Gov’t Mule bassist Jorgen Carlsson.

Lukather says the album title seems appropriate because it’s “a bridge between my solo music and Toto music,” adding, “It also proves that most of my old pals and I are still great friends, and I wanted to do a record ‘in the style of,’ as Toto will never record another studio album. This is as close as we will get.” 

And to give fans a taste of what to expect, Lukather has released the first single from the record, “When I See You Again,” which he wrote with Williams, Paich and Stan Lynch. 

But until the release, Lukather will be pretty busy on the road this summer. He’ll be touring as part of Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band, with the shows kicking off May 19 in Temecula, California. A complete list of dates can be found at RingoStarr.com.

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The fashions of some of rock and pop’s biggest divas — including Elton John, Cher and Tina Turner — will be celebrated in a new exhibit at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum starting in June.

The exhibit, DIVA, will “celebrate the powerful and personal stories of creativity, ambition, and resilience of some [of] the best known divas, from opera goddesses and silent movie stars to sirens of the big screen and today’s global megastars.” 

The exhibit is divided into two acts. Act One focuses on the rise of the term “diva” to describe female stars and will include costumes, photos and memorabilia from O.G. divas like Maria Callas, Josephine Baker, Marilyn Monroe, Vivien Leigh, Bette Davis and Mae West.

Act Two will focus on “the diva today,” and among the items on display will be a number of Cher’s iconic Bob Mackie ensembles; a 1977 “Flame Dress,” also designed by Bob Mackie, worn by Tina Turner; a yellow and pink minidress worn by Blondie‘s Debbie Harry in 1979; one of Pink‘s outfits; and the over-the-top Louis XIV costume, complete with a massive powdered wig, that Elton John wore to his 50th birthday party in 1997.

Rihanna, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross and Barbra Streisand, as well as Lizzo, Annie Lennox, Prince, Grace Jones, Aretha Franklin, rapper Missy Elliott, RuPaul and Bjork will also be part of the exhibit via photos and archival material.

The exhibit opens June 24. Tickets are on sale now.

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