Don McLean is taking his “American Pie” to Europe.
The singer/songwriter has booked a 35-date European tour for 2022, to mark the 50th anniversary of his signature song “American Pie.” Technically, the single turns 50 in October of this year, but of course, many artists aren’t returning to the road in full force until next year.
McLean’s overseas tour starts in the U.K. — Wales, to be specific — next September, and then moves on to the continent in early October, wrapping up in November of 2022 in Austria.
Last month, McLean received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; he was introduced at the ceremony by his pal, “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Ten years ago today, it felt like the end of the world for R.E.M. fans, as the college radio favorites-turned-rock icons broke up for good.
On September 21, 2011, the group — down to a trio of Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Peter Buck following the 1997 departure of Bill Berry —posted a message on their website, reading, “To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band.”
“We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished,” they added. “To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening.”
Mills wrote, “We’ve made this decision together, amicably and with each other’s best interests at heart. The time just feels right.”
Stipe added, “A wise man once said, ‘The skill in attending a party is knowing when it’s time to leave.’ We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we’re going to walk away from it.”
And Buck wrote, “Being a part of your lives has been an unbelievable gift. Thank you.”
To mark the anniversary, R.E.M has posted a playlist of songs called “Ten Years Onward,” described as “songs still as resonant today as they were on September 21, 2011.” It’s a collection of singles, deep cuts, demos, live tracks and rarities from across R.E.M.’s entire catalog.
On his Facebook page, the band’s manager, Bertis Downs, wrote, “Disbandment Day — a bittersweet day in memory. But a good decision by the guys. And thankfully the music and the people live on.”
Over their 31-year career, R.E.M. won three Grammys, sold 85 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Rolling Stones No Filter 2021 photo, taken prior to Watts’ death/Credit: J. Rose
As previously reported, The Rolling Stones on Monday night played a private event at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA hosted by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, which was the group’s first gig without their late drummer, Charlie Watts, who died on August 24. Now, Mick Jagger has posted on Instagram a video of the emotional dedication he made to Watts from the stage at the event.
Jagger can be seen telling the crowd, “It’s a bit of a poignant night for us, ’cause this is our first tour in 59 years that we’ve done without our lovely Charlie Watts.”
As the crowd cheers, Mick continues. “And we all miss Charlie so much, we miss him as a band and we miss him as friends on and off the stage, and we got so many memories of Charlie and I’m sure some of you that seen us before have got memories of Charlie as well.”
“I hope you will remember him like we do, so we’d like to dedicate this show to Charlie,” Jagger adds to cheers. “So we’re gonna do it for Charlie!” Jagger then picks up a glass and raises it in a toast, handing the microphone to Ronnie Wood, who adds, “Charlie, we’re praying for you, man, and playing for you!”
“What will we do now?” Mick muses. “Now I’m all emotional.”
The band went on to play a 15-song set with veteran drummer Steve Jordan behind the kit. The Stones’ No Filter 2021 tour officially kicks off this weekend.
Geddy Lee made good use of his time in quarantine: He wrote a memoir that’ll be out next year.
The Rush bassist/vocalist writes on Instagram that during the year and a half he spent in lockdown due to COVID-19 — “the longest time I’d spent in Toronto since I was nineteen,” he notes — he passed the time by teaching his grandson how to play baseball, taking care of his dogs, and watching TV mysteries with his wife. “Oh, and another thing,” he adds. “I began to write. Words, that is.”
Lee explains that writing was his way of dealing with the death of his band mate Neil Peart, who passed away January 7, 2020. According to Lee, Daniel Richler, with whom he collaborated on his Big Beautiful Book of Bass, “saw how I was struggling in the aftermath of Neil’s passing, and tried coaxing me out of my blues with some funny tales from his youth, daring me to share my own in return.”
“So I did — reluctantly at first, but then remembering, oh yeah, I like wrestling with words…and soon my baby-step stories were becoming grownup chapters,” Lee continues. He found himself, he says, “scouring my memory banks,” his “diaries and piles of photo albums,” and “piecing together a mystery of a different kind.”
Lee sent his work to Richler, who, he says, “cleaned up some of the grammar and removed a lot of the swearing.” The result, Lee says, is a “presentable, epic-length account of my life on and off the stage…my childhood, my family, the story of my parents’ survival, my travels and all sorts of nonsense I’ve spent too much time obsessing over.”
Lee’s now putting the finishing touches on the book, which will be published by HarperCollins in the fall of 2022.
Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora may no longer be band mates, but the songs they wrote together will live forever. That’s why the U.K.’s prestigious Ivor Novello Awards have honored both of them this year.
Jon and Richie were jointly honored with the Special International Award at the ceremony, held Tuesday in London, though only Sambora showed up to accept. The songwriting honor came in recognition of the global anthems the two musicians crafted, including “Livin’ on a Prayer,” “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Wanted Dead or Alive.”
At the ceremony, Sambora spoke with Sky News.about the importance of songwriting. “Everybody needs a great song so they can go out and play live to the people and entertain and do that; you need a great song, something that touches somebody in the heart,” he said. “You know, ‘Livin’ on a Prayer,’ part of that song is something that happened to me — my Uncle Sal got laid off at the docks, my dad was laid off — so there’s a time period of authenticity of a story.”
“And I think that’s what we’re here to celebrate, all the girls and guys and men and women that try real hard with a lot of courage,” Sambora added. “Because songwriting is harder than it looks.”
Other winners at the ceremony included Tears for Fears duo Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. They were honored with the Outstanding Song Collection award for their catalog of hits, including “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” “Sowing the Seeds of Love,” and “Shout.”
In a chat with Marc Maron on his WTF with Marc Maronpodcast, Sopranos creator David Chase explained how Journey ended up soundtracking the show’s controversial finale — and how the rest of his team loathed the idea of using that song.
As you may remember, in the finale, James Gandolfini‘s Tony Soprano and his family members sit down for dinner at a diner, and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” starts playing on a jukebox — before the entire scene, and the song, cut to black.
While Chase wasn’t re-litigating what the vague ending means — spoiler alert: he apparently once accidentally called it Tony’s “death scene” — he did talk about what went into choosing that song.
Discussing the topic with members of his crew at the time, Chase said he was left with three choices — Al Green‘s “Love and Happiness,” another song which he can’t remember, and the Journey song.
When he mentioned “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Chase recalled, “[T]hey went, ‘Oh, Jesus Christ, no. Don’t do that! Ugh. F***.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s it. That’s the one.'”
Chase explained, “I wasn’t saying that just to throw it in their face. That was kind of my favorite, and it got a reaction of some kind. So I can make this song lovable, which it had been.”
Of course, the song’s inclusion in the 2007 finale sent downloads soaring, and the renewed interest in Journey motivated the band to find a new lead singer, Arnel Pineda, and get back on the road. The song remains the best-selling digital song that was recorded in the pre-digital era.
The Sopranos prequel, Chase’s The Many Saints of Newark, starring Gandolfini’s son Michael as a young Tony Soprano, hits theaters and HBO Max on October 1.
Yusuf/Cat Stevens performs his contribution to “Peace Train” around the world live outside in Istanbul, Turkey; Credit: Playing for Change
Cat Stevens, the legendary singer/songwriter now known as Yusuf, is celebrating the International Day of Peace — September 21 — with a new version of his 1971 classic, “Peace Train.”
Yusuf has teamed up with Playing for Change, the project that aims to connect the world through music, to record more than 25 musicians from 12 countries around the world, all performing “Peace Train.” The artists participating include The Doobie Brothers‘ Pat Simmons, blues artist Keb’ Mo’, Grammy-winning Americana artist Rhiannon Giddens, Sengalese star Baaba Mal and many more.
The countries range from Mali, Pakistan and India to Argentina, Australia and Turkey, the latter of which is where Yusuf himself is seen performing in the video. You can watch it now on Playing for Change’s YouTube channel.
“We are privileged to be able to create a glimpse of unity through music,” says Yusuf in a statement. “However, if you want to make the Peace Train real, then you need two tracks: one track has to be Justice, and the other must be Well-being. Everybody should have access to these two things, then the Peace Train can really get going.”
Mark Johnson, the co-founder of Playing for Change, adds, “This song’s powerful message is as relevant today as the day it was written and as we celebrate the International Day of Peace, we hope that everyone will join us as we stand up for a more equitable and compassionate world.”
The Rolling Stones No Filter 2021 photo, taken prior to Watts’ death/Credit: J. Rose
A series of videos uploaded to YouTube Tuesday morning shows the Rolling Stones performing their first concert since 2019, and their first show without late drummer Charlie Watts.
According to the Boston Globe, the band performed Monday night at a private concert hosted by Patriots owner Robert Kraft at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, MA.
The Globe reports that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards told the crowd of 300 people that they were dedicating the performance, and their upcoming tour, to Watts, who died August 24 at age 80. Veteran drummer Steve Jordan was behind the kit last night, and will be for the tour.
Carlos Santana has teamed up with Steve Winwood for the third single from the legendary guitarist’s upcoming album, Blessings and Miracles: a cover of Procol Harum‘s 1967 classic “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”
The idea for the two to record the song together came from Santana, who suggested it to Winwood when they were both performing in London’s Hyde Park. “I said, ‘You and I have to do it, but we’re going to do it very sexy, like a Hare Krishna but with congas,’” Santana recalls. “I played the components in his ear, and he said, ‘I hear it, Carlos. You’re right.’”
“So that’s what we did — it’s Santana, Cuban, Puerto Rican in an African way. And man, you talk about sexy,” adds Carlos. “Steve’s voice is so sexy and beautiful.”
Winwood adds, “Carlos has been doing what I’ve been trying to do for the last fifty years, namely combining elements of rock, jazz, folk, and Latin Afro-Caribbean music.”
“Carlos’ genius comes in large part from a wonderful combination of rock music with Latin-Cuban rhythms,” Winwood adds. “I’ve played with Carlos on numerous occasions over the past fifty years and I’m very excited to be working with him again still.”
Blessings and Miracles will be released October 15. Santana has also released the Rob Thomas collaboration “Move” and the Diane Warren/G-Eazy collaboration “She’s Fire” from the album.
L-R: Sarah Dash, Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx; Sony Legacy
Sarah Dash, who co-founded “Lady Marmalade” group Labelle, died on Monday, Billboard reports. She was 76.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Labelle co-founder Patti LaBelle said that she and Dash were “just onstage together on Saturday,” adding, “It was such a powerful and special moment.”
“Sarah Dash was an awesomely talented, beautiful and loving soul who blessed my life and the lives of so many others in more ways than I can say. I could always count on her to have my back,” Patti continued. “That’s who Sarah was…a loyal friend and a voice for those who didn’t have one. She was a true giver, always serving and sharing her talent and time.”
“I am heartbroken, as I know all of her loved ones and fans are,” she added. “But I know that Sarah’s spirit and all that she has given to the world live on. And I pray that her precious memory brings us peace and comfort. Rest in power my dear sister. I love you always!”
LaBelle also posted footage of her and Dash onstage on Saturday, as well as a montage of photos of Dash and the group over the years.
In the ’60s, Dash teamed up with Nona Hendryx and Patti LaBelle in Philadelphia to form a group called The Ordettes. After Cindy Birdsong joined, they renamed themselves The Bluebelles, and then Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. In 1971, a few years after Birdsong left to join The Supremes, they reimagined themselves as the trio Labelle, with a funkier and futuristic visual style and more politically and socially conscious songs.
In 1974, Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade” — with its unforgettable chorus of “Voulez-vous couchez avec moi” — hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s parent album Nightbirds, was a top-10 hit and made them the first Black vocal group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. After two more albums, Labelle split and all three launched solo careers; in 2008, they reunited for an album and tour.
In addition to releasing a number of solo albums and singles, Dash wrote her autobiography, Dash of Diva, performed sporadically, and sang with the Rolling Stones, as well as with Stones guitarist Keith Richards on his solo album and tour.
