Classic Hits

Carlos Santana and his famous band have extended their long-running Las Vegas residency at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino well into the spring of 2022.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have announced two new eight-performance engagements of their “An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live” show, running from January 26 through February 6 and from May 18 to May 29.

Tickets for all of Santana‘s new performances go on sale to the general public this Saturday, October 9, at 10 a.m. local time via House of Blues.com/Santana, MandalayBay.com and Ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.

Citi card members can buy pre-sale tickets starting Wednesday, October 6, at 10 a.m. PT; visit CitiPrivatePass.com for more information. The House of Blues and Live Nation pre-sales will begin Thursday, October 7, at 10 a.m. PT.

Part of the money from the tickets sold for Santana’s Las Vegas shows will benefit the Milagro Foundation, the charity Carlos co-founded that helps young people in impoverished communities around the world. Some of the proceeds also will be donated to the House of Blues’ Music Forward Foundation, which uses music to help young people develop life skills.

The band also has two other previously announced eight-show stands this year at the House of Blues Las Vegas that are scheduled from November 3 to November 14 and from December 1 to December 12. Visit Santana.com to check out the group’s full schedule.

As previously reported, Santana’s latest studio album, the star-studded Blessing and Miracles, will be released on October 15. The band recently debuted a lyric video for one of the tracks, a cover of the Procol Harum classic “Whiter Shade of Pale” featuring vocals by Steve Winwood.

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Lady Gaga reunited for a pair of farewell shows in August, titled “One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga,” and, in a recent 60 Minutes interview, she recalled the moment Bennett, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, remembered who she was.

“Whoa, Lady Gaga,” the legendary 95-year-old crooner shouted as she entered the stage, but as Gaga revealed on Sunday’s episode 60 Minutes, it was the first time he remembered her name in a while.

“That’s the first time Tony said my name in a long time. I had to keep it together ’cause we had a sold out show and I have a job to do,” she recalled. “But I’ll tell you when I walked out on that stage and he said, ‘It’s Lady Gaga,’ my friend saw me, and it was very special.”

Gaga insisted that when dealing with someone who has Alzheimer’s “there is a way to communicate and there’s a way to touch the magic inside of them that’s still there.”

The 35-year-old performer added, “I think it’s up to us to ask ourselves what are the ways we can push through what we’re feeling so we can best communicate with them and receive our love, because it’s still there.”

“With Tony in particular, a lot of it was me making sure that I navigate his needs in any given moment,” she continued, noting that “to be honest, that’s jazz too……we’re singing different notes in every song almost every time. We improvise all the time… Once you learn [the music that was written at the time] you can play with it, but you have to listen to each other.”

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s last album together, Love for Sale, is out now.

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Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson has debuted an extended version of her acoustic instrumental tribute song for the late Eddie Van Halen, “4 Edward,” which was the final track on her recently released debut solo studio album, You and Me.

On Monday, Wilson posted a video on her official YouTube channel featuring her playing the updated version of the tune, titled “4 Edward with Love,” which runs about 40 seconds longer than the original track. The new version premieres just two days shy of the one-year anniversary of Eddie’s death.

As Nancy explained in an interview earlier this year with ABC Audio, she decided to write “4 Edward” after the guitar great died of cancer at age 65 on October 6, 2020. She said the song was inspired by an instrumental tune that he composed for her on an acoustic guitar she gave to him as a gift in the late 1970s after he revealed to her that he didn’t own one.

“4 Edward,” which clocks in at just one minute, 43 seconds, features some delicate strumming, picking and harmonics, and includes a segment that incorporates the chords from the classic Van Halen hit “Jump.”

You and Me was released in May. An expanded two-LP, blue-vinyl edition of the album will be issued on November 26 as part of the Record Store Day Black Friday event. It contains three bonus tracks, covers of The Beatles‘ tunes “Blackbird” and “Fixing a Hole” and a rendition of Steely Dan‘s “Any Major Dude.”

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Jackson Browne will headline the 2021 edition of the Dream Concert, a virtual charity event that will stream live on October 9 at 6 p.m. PT via Mandolin.com.

Browne originally launched the event as an annual in-person concert in Sedona, Arizona, to support the Verde Valley School Native American Scholarship he created in 1990.

The show raises funds to support Indigenous students who attend Sedona’s Verde Valley School and also to raise awareness about issues Native American communities are facing.

Other artists on the Dream Concert lineup include Cyndi Lauper, Shawn Colvin, Taj Mahal and many more. Early-bird tickets can be purchased now for $10 at Mandolin.com; the price will increase to $20 on the day of the show. People also can donate additional money to the cause at the website. For more information about the school and the scholarship fund, visit VVSAZ.org.

In other news, Browne is scheduled to launch the second leg of his joint 2021 U.S. tour with James Taylor on October 16 in New Orleans. The trek is mapped out through a December 13 concert in Buffalo, New York.

Browne released his latest studio album, Downwhill from Everywhere, in July. Last week, he issued a new single from the record, “Until Justice Is Real.” That song also is featured in a teaser trailer for a new documentary called How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? that focuses on racial injustice in the U.S.

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The Doors‘ Robby Krieger will publish a new memoir titled Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar with The Doors on October 12. To promote the book, the 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has lined up a variety of virtual events taking place in the coming weeks.

First up, Krieger will participate in virtual book signing at the TalkShopLive social-shopping site’s Rock N Roll Channel on Tuesday, October 5, starting at 7 p.m. ET.

Then, on the memoir’s release date, October 12, Robby will appear in two streaming events. The first, which starts at 2 p.m. ET, will feature Krieger signing copies of his book at LiveSigning.com and also answering questions fans have submitted in advance.

The second is a pre-recorded Q&A that’s part of the Live Talks Los Angeles series, and that’s set to air at 9 p.m. ET.

On October 13, Krieger will take part in a previously reported interactive interview event presented by Rough Trade Records NYC that will be streamed live via Dice.fm. It will feature Robby chatting with respected writer and broadcaster Laura Barton via Zoom, and also answering questions from virtual audience members.

Other upcoming events to promote Set the Night on Fire include a virtual Q&As on October 18 hosted by the Hudson Library & Historical Society in Cleveland, and on November 8, presented by the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, a video preview featuring Krieger sharing details about his book has been posted at The Doors’ official YouTube channel.  In the clip, Robby says, “Hopefully after reading my book, I think people will understand the whole dynamic of The Doors and what it’s really like to be in a band like The Doors.”

(Video includes censored profanity.)

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Who frontman Roger Daltrey will kick off a U.K. solo trek next month, but the singer’s famous band hasn’t announced when it will return to the road after canceling its touring plans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, in a new Rolling Stone interview, the 77-year-old rock legend reports that The Who will resume touring at “the end of next March and April.”

Daltrey says his solo outing will help keep his voice in shape for the next Who trek.

“If I don’t sing between now and then, I don’t know whether I will be able to do it then,” he maintains.

This past August marked the 50th anniversary of The Who’s classic albums Who’s Next, but Daltrey says the band has no plans to commemorate the milestone by playing the record in its entirety during the next tour.

“I don’t see the point. Who’s Next is a great album, but it’s best left as a great album,” Roger says. “The show we’ve got with the orchestra is fantastic, and the Who’s catalog has so much varied stuff that makes it better than just listening to Who’s Next.”

Meanwhile, the postponement of The Who’s tour has negatively impacted the amount of money the group has been able to raise for the Teen Cancer America charity that Daltrey and band mate Pete Townshend co-founded.

On a positive note, Daltrey is helping to promote a new TCA initiative, The Real Me podcast, which features adolescent and young adult cancer patients presenting songs they’ve written and recorded, and also discussing their experiences with the disease.

The Who have licensed their song “The Real Me” for use as the theme of the podcast, which premieres Tuesday, October 5, via various streaming services. Visit TeenCancerAmerica.org for more information.

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Queen drummer Roger Taylor‘s first new solo album in eight years, Outsider, was released Friday.

The 12-collection features an eclectic variety of reflective songs, most of which Taylor recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic at his home studio in southwestern England.

“I think it’s a little bit more adult than my albums before,” Taylor tells ABC Audio. “It was a happy project born out of the boredom of lockdown…I’m very happy with it, and I just hope it imparts a little joy to some other people.”

Taylor says Outsider was almost a literal solo project, noting that he played “about 96 percent” of the music on the album. He did get some vocal help on the record’s lead single, “We’re All Just Trying to Get By,” a duet with Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall.

“[S]he’s a real, real talent, I think,” Roger notes. “It was nice to have her singing along with me.”

He notes that he wrote the song during the lockdown while reflecting on what all living things have in common.

“[E]verybody and everything that’s living is just trying to get by and is just trying to survive and multiply,” he notes. “[E]ven the virus is trying to get by.”

An interesting aspect of Outsider is it features two very different versions of the same song, “Gangsters Are Running This World,” which is about how corrupt people are in control in many countries.

“I couldn’t make up my mind whether to do it as a hard rocker or to do it as a slightly more serious and more melodic piece,” he notes. “So I did both.”

Taylor launched a 14-date U.K. solo tour supporting Outsider on Saturday in Newcastle with a set that included Queen tunes, solo material and select covers.

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David Lee Roth has released his recent solo song, “Lo-Rez Sunset,” as a digital single, and also has debuted an animated music video for the quirky, acoustic-driven tune on his YouTube channel.

The surreal video features animated illustrations created by the Van Halen frontman, depicting Diamond Dave apparently stranded on a desolate beach accompanied by a frog-like creature, a horse and other critters.

Dave proceeds to head out to sea with his froggy friend on a rowboat he finds on the beach, but he eventually ends up back where he started. Near the end of the clip, he also happens to find a rocket ship on the beach, but perhaps his adventures are all just a daydream.

“Lo-Rez Sunset” is a jangly, melodic pop tune that initially debuted as one of five songs featured in Dave’s online interactive comic book The Roth Project, which premiered in fall 2020. The track features current Rob Zombie/former DLR Band member John 5 on guitar and bass, as well as drummer Greg Bissonette on drums, keyboardist Brett Tuggle and percussionist Luis Conte.

Meanwhile, after revealing during a backstage interview with Us Weekly at the recent 2021 MTV Video Music Awards that he had plans to play “Las Vegas on New Year’s,” Roth has now confirmed that he’ll be performing five upcoming concerts at the House of Blues Las Vegas, including shows on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and on January 5, 7 and 8.

Roth’s “Rock Vegas” residency will feature “a changing set of 26 instantly recognizable songs, including ‘Jump,’ ‘Panama” and ‘California Girls.'”

Pre-sale tickets and VIP packages for the concerts are available now. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting Saturday, October 2, at 10 a.m. PT.

Visit HouseofBlues.com for more details.

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Today, Neil Young released his latest archival live album, Carnegie Hall 1970, which marks the launch of his new The Neil Young Official Bootleg Series.

The album was recorded on December 4, 1970, at the first concert that Young ever played at the historic New York City venue. The Neil Young Official Bootleg Series — Carnegie Hall 1970 is available now as a two-LP vinyl set and a two-CD collection at The Greedy Hand Store at WarnerRecords.com and as a high-res digital download at NeilYoungArchives.com.

The show was the first of two solo acoustic concerts that Neil played at Carnegie Hall that evening, and featured a 23-song set that, in addition to many selections from his solo career, included renditions of tunes he recorded as a member of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

The concert featured performances of three songs that Neil had not yet officially recorded or released — “Bad Fog of Loneliness,” “Old Man,” and “See the Sky About to Rain.” Other tunes he played at the show included “Down by the River,” “Cinnamon Girl,” “Helpless,” “Southern Man,” “Sugar Mountain,” “After the Gold Rush,” “Cowgirl in the Sand” and “Ohio.”

Coinciding with Carnegie Hall 1970‘s release, Young has posted his performance of the Buffalo Springfield tune “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong” featuring him playing the song on piano on his YouTube channel.

Neil is planning to release five more installments of his new Official Bootleg Series in 2022.

Here’s the full track list of Carnegie Hall 1970:

“Down by the River”
“Cinnamon Girl”
“I Am a Child”
“Expecting to Fly”
“The Loner”
“Wonderin'”
“Helpless”
“Southern Man”
“Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing”
“Sugar Mountain”
“On the Way Home”
“Tell Me Why”
“Only Love Can Break Your Heart”
“Old Man”
“After the Gold Rush”
“Flying on the Ground Is Wrong”
“Cowgirl in the Sand”
“Don’t Let It Bring You Down”
“Birds”
“Bad Fog of Loneliness”
“Ohio”
“See the Sky About to Rain”
“Dance Dance Dance”

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On Saturday, Sting celebrates his 70th birthday. The man born Gordon Sumner is truly one of rock’s renaissance men, and not just because he literally recorded an entire album of Renaissance-era lute songs in 2006.

Over the years, Sting’s artistry has expanded from fronting the now-legendary new wave band The Police into a thriving solo career, acting on the stage and screen, composing for movies and the theater, collaborating with dozens of artists across multiple musical genres, and working tirelessly for various charitable causes.

Music
With The Police, Sting released five albums, four of which made the list of Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The Police officially disbanded in 1986 but reunited in 2007 for a hugely successful one-off tour.  The Police have sold more than 75 million records, won six Grammys and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Sting launched his solo career in 1985 with The Dream of the Blue Turtles and was immediately successful. He’s continued releasing solo albums at a steady pace, including best-sellers Ten Summoner’s Tales, …Nothing Like the Sun and The Soul Cages.  His 15th solo album, The Bridge, is due in November. As a solo artist, he’s won more than 10 Grammys. 

Movies & TV
Sting’s acting career started in 1979, when he appeared in not one but two movies, the most famous of which is Quadrophenia, based on The Who‘s 1973 concept album.  Since then, he’s acted in films like Dune, Plenty, The Bride, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and appeared as himself in Zoolander 2 among others.

His TV resume includes Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Ally McBeal, The Larry Sanders Show and more.

Sting’s also found great success in writing music for films.  He’s been nominated four times for the Best Original Song Oscar, and also either wrote or recorded songs for The Thomas Crown Affair, Leaving Las Vegas, The Three Musketeers and Lethal Weapon 3, among many others.

Theater
Sting made his Broadway debut as Macheath, aka Mack the Knife, in a 1989 production of The Threepenny Opera.  His original musical, The Last Ship, debuted on Broadway in 2014 and received two Tony nods. In the final weeks before it closed in 2015, Sting also starred in the show.

Philanthropy
It’s difficult to find a major musical charity event that Sting hasn’t appeared at in the past 30 years, from Amnesty International-sponsored tours to Live Aid to the 9/11 fundraiser A Tribute to Heroes.  However, he’s most associated with the Rainforest Foundation Fund, which he and his wife, Trudie Styler, founded in 1989. It’s since funded projects that have protected 28 million acres of rainforest around the globe.

Sting has also held regular benefit concerts at New York’s Carnegie Hall to support the Rainforest Foundation Fund, with star-studded lineups that have included the likes of James Taylor, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and Lady Gaga.

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