Classic Hits

Paul McCartney’s photography is the subject of a new exhibit opening later this month at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and to promote its opening he’s set to talk about his photos in a new online discussion with actor Stanley Tucci.

The in-conversation event, taking place June 29, is part of the museum’s First Look Festival, designed to reintroduce the NPG to visitors after being closed for three years to undergo renovations. 

The discussion will have the pair chatting about the exhibition, Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm, and McCartney’s book 1964: Eyes of the Storm, both of which give fans insight into McCartney’s point of view as The Beatles were becoming international superstars during the height of Beatlemania. The photos are from McCartney’s own archive, and were taken between December 1963 and February 1964.

The global livestream will kick off at 9 a.m. ET, with tickets on sale now.

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm is set to run from June 28 to October 1. His book, 1964: Eyes of the Storm, will be released June 13 and is available for preorder now.

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Eric Clapton has set his first plans for 2024. The three-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has just announced a limited run of dates in the U.K. and Ireland. 

The six-date tour kicks off May 9 in New Castle, England, and wraps with a two-night stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall, May 20 and 21. Clapton played Royal Albert Hall in May, hosting the two-night all-star Jeff Beck tribute concerts.

Tickets for all 2024 shows go on sale Friday, June 9, at 10 a.m.

Clapton is set to kick off a short set of North American shows this year, with the trek launching September 8 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He’ll also headline two Crossroads Guitar Festival dates, September 23 and 24, in Los Angeles. A complete list of shows can be found at ericclapton.com.

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On This Day, June 6, 1993…

The Broadway musical adaption of The Who’s Tommy won five awards at the 47th annual Tony Awards.

Based on the band’s 1969 album and 1975 film of the same name, the musical earned a Best Original Score Tony for The Who’s Pete Townshend, as well as Best Direction of a Musical for Des McAnuff. In total it was nominated for 10 Tonys, including Best Musical, losing out to Kiss of the Spider Woman. 

The Who’s Tommy opened on Broadway on April 22, 1993, and closed on June 17, 1995, after 899 performances. It was also staged in Canada, Germany and the U.K. 

A new reimagining of the musical, featuring a cast of 28, a nine-piece band and brand new staging, is set to open at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre on June 13.

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Michael Cartellone, the current drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd, is set to show off his latest art collection in July. The rocker’s work will be on display at the Wentworth Gallery at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, on Thursday, July 20. 

The exhibit includes a piece titled “Ringo,” which is a tribute to The Beatles legend Ringo Starr, depicting his point of view during the band’s rooftop concert, featured in the 1970 film Let It Be.

“Being a drummer myself, I am very familiar with this vantage point, which makes this painting about my favorite drummer, of my favorite band, even more special to me,” Cartellone shares. “I wanted everything to be as authentic as possible,” noting he researched exactly what Ringo’s drums looked like, and watched videos from the Get Back and Let It Be documentaries.

The exhibit will also feature a piece titled “Fifty,” which celebrates Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 50-year career and their debut album, (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd). As part of the celebration, 50 signed and numbered canvas prints of the commemorative piece will be up for sale, as will the original.  

The new exhibit will debut ahead of the kickoff to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour, with ZZ Top, which launches July 21 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found a lynyrdskynyrd.com.

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Julian Lennon is taking a stab at hosting. Variety reports the musician, son of The Beatles‘ John Lennon, will host a new docuseries, Inspired, that looks at how an artist’s creative process is influenced by their surroundings.

Each episode will have Lennon meeting with artists, helping viewers experience a location from their point of view.

“What’s so special about this series is getting to know an artist and the culture of a place through a specific lens — this unique relationship an artist has with a certain place that gets their creative juices going,” he says. “It’s a new entry point into both artist and place, which is one of the brilliant strokes of this series.”

So far there’s no word on when or where Inspired will air.

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KISS will finally say goodbye to the road this December when they wrap their End of the Road tour in New York City. While some fans may want them to go on forever, Gene Simmons believes it’s important for them to go out while they are still on the top of their game. 

“Well, look, at a certain point Mother Nature takes over no matter what your plans are. And at a certain time, you’ve gotta have the dignity and pride but also the love and admiration of your fans to know when it’s time to call it quits,” Simmons shares in an interview with Australia’s The Sunday Project. “We’ve all seen boxers that stay in the ring too long, and we’ve all seen bands that stay on the stage too long.”

Simmons says that while he’s “still looking pretty damn good,” he realizes “the physical nature of what we do is gonna limit how long we do it, so we’re gonna quit while the quitting’s good, while we’re on top.”

Simmons also expressed how grateful he is to KISS fans, noting that “without them, I’d be asking the next person in line if they’d like some fries with that. Don’t kid yourself.”

KISS kicks off the U.K./European leg of the End of the Road tour on Monday, June 5, in Birmingham, England. They wrap the tour for good December 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.

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Neil Young fans have a lot to look forward to in July.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has announced the fifth installment in his Official Release Series, this time comprised of four remastered albums: 1989’s Freedom, which includes the Young classic “Rockin’ In The Free World”; 1990’s Ragged Glory; and two albums from 1991: the live record Weld and the companion Arc, described as “a 35-minute outburst of feedback, improvisation, guitar solos and vocal fragments.” 

Official Release Series Volume 5, dropping July 14, will be released as a numbered vinyl box set, the first time these albums have been remastered for vinyl, and Arc‘s first time on vinyl ever. The set will include the four albums on nine vinyl LPs. There will also be a numbered CD set, featuring six CDs.

Both sets will be available at the Greedy Hand Store at the Neil Young Archives, as well as music retailers and most digital services. It is available for preorder now.

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In the 31 years since Elton John established his AIDS Foundation, he’s raised millions of dollars for the cause, but their work is far from over. As part of a new initiative called The Rocket Fund, he’s now calling on people to “let their inner Elton out.”

Appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday, Elton announced that he wants fans to take to social media and dress like him to show their support for The Rocket Fund — and he’s asked famous pals like Neil Patrick Harris and JoJo Siwa to join in. 

The fund aims to “turbo charge” the foundation’s fundraising efforts and take in $125 million for the fight against AIDS, with an eye toward ending the disease by 2030.

Elton also talked about the impending end of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which wraps up next month in Sweden. “It’s gonna be emotional but I’m not thinking about it,” he told GMA‘s Lara Spencer. “I’m just concentrating on doing the next best show I can.”

Noting that his two sons are going to attend the final show in Sweden, Elton added, “It’s gonna be a tremendous occasion … who knows what it’s gonna feel like?”

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On This Day, June 5, 1983…

During a stop on their War tour, U2 headlined Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and recorded the performance for what became their first video release, Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky. The concert was nearly canceled due to inclement weather, but the band went on and played in the rain.

The video featured a classic performance of “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” which Rolling Stone called one of the “50 Moments that Changed the History of Rock and Roll.”  

The concert film went on to become a best-seller, and was crucial in cementing U2’s reputation as a stellar live act and helped make them stars.  The band later released a live album, Under a Blood Red Sky, which featured eight tracks performed live during the War tour, with two songs from the same concert.

A remastered version of Live at Red Rocks was released on DVD in 2008, featuring previously unreleased tracks.

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June 4 marked the latest full moon, which means Peter Gabriel fans got a brand new song. The latest release is the tune “Road to Joy,” the sixth single he’s shared from his new album, i/o, which is due out sometime this year.

Gabriel says the song “connects” to another project he’s working on about “the brain and how we perceive things.”

“It deals with near-death experience and locked-in syndrome situations where people are unable to communicate or to move. It’s an amazingly frustrating condition,” he explains. “There have been some great books and films about this subject, but at this point in our story the people looking after our hero manage to find a way to wake him up. So, it’s a lyric about coming back into your senses, back to life, back into the world.”

As he’s done with previous i/o singles, Gabriel plans to release several mixes of the tune. The first is the Mark ‘Spike’ Stent (Bright-Side Mix), which will be followed later this month by mixes from Tchad Blake (Dark-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix).

So far Gabriel hasn’t announced a release date for i/o. In the meantime, fans can catch him live on i/o The Tour, playing Amsterdam on Monday, June 5. The tour comes to North America on September 8 in Quebec City, Canada. A complete list of dates can be found at petergabriel.com.

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