Carole King released her second album, Tapestry, which went on to be a massive hit for the singer/songwriter. It featured several songs that went on to be King classics, including “It’s Too Late,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “So Far Away,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and others.
Tapestry spent 15 straight weeks at number one and won four Grammy Awards, on its way to becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. It holds the record for the most consecutive weeks at number one by a female artist, and until 2017 held the record for the longest-charting album by a female solo artist in the U.S. The record was broken by Adele’s 21.
Several songs on Tapestry also became hits for other artists, including “You’ve Got a Friend,” which was recorded by James Taylor and went to number one, and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” which became a classic thanks to Aretha Franklin.
Queen is back with the latest edition of their YouTube seriesQueen The Greatest Live. This week the band wraps up their look at the rehearsal process, sharing footage of Brian May and Roger Taylor at soundcheck for a 2012 concert in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The rare and unseen footage gives fans a peak at the important few hours the band has at the venue before the show, revealing how they use that time to make sure everything is ready to go for showtime. It features clips of them rehearsing the track “39” from A Night at the Opera.
The show was a particularly important one for the band, as it was their first full concert with new frontman Adam Lambert. It took place at Kyiv’s Independence Square, where they performed in front of more than 35,000 fans, as well as a TV audience.
Legendary composer Burt Bacharach passed away Wednesday at the age of 94. Bacharach worked with a whole host of artists over the years and several of them, including Dionne Warwick and Elton John, paid tribute to him on social media.
Warwick, who teamed up with Bacharach for such hits songs as “Walk On By” and “I Say A Little Prayer For You,” shared on Twitter that Bacharach’s death “is like losing a family member.”
“These words I’ve been asked to write are being written with sadness over the loss of my Dear Friend and my Musical Partner,” she wrote. “On the lighter side we laughed a lot and had our run ins, but always found a way to let each other know our family, like roots, were the most important part of our relationship.”
Elton, who recorded “That’s What Friends are For” with Warwick, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder, shared a picture from the recording session, writing, “@burtbacharach ,the amazing composer and songwriter, has left us with a treasure trove of unique melodies to savour forever. He was the Rolls Royce of songwriters.”
Knight also paid tribute to the composer, sharing, “Rest well my dear friend Burt Bacharach… Your soul will be missed and your art and impact here forever cherished.”
And Richard Marx, who collaborated with Bacharach on the song “Always,” called him a “remarkable talent” and “an extraordinary man,” offering, “I’m completely heartbroken over this loss but so filled with gratitude that I got to be in his company and even better, to create something so beautiful with him.”
Other artists took to social media to pay tribute:
Sheryl Crow – “One of the great thrills and honors of my life was getting to know @BurtBacharach – one of the greatest songwriters of all time. There will never be anyone like him and as a songwriter, he set the bar. Burt, you will be missed but your music will live on. My love to his family.”
Tony Bennett – “‘Music breeds its own inspiration. You can only do it by doing it.’ – Burt Bacharach. Saddened to hear about the passing of the great American composer Burt Bacharach. Rest in peace.”
Brian Wilson – “I’m so sad to hear about Burt Bacharach. Burt was a hero of mine and very influential on my work. He was a giant in the music business. His songs will live forever. Love & Mercy to Burt’s family.”
Kiss’ Paul Stanley– “Burt Bacharach… What a loss but what a treasure of amazing songs he’s left us. His work with Hal David, Carole Bayer Sager and others, share an effortless combination of simplicity & sophistication. Walk On By? That’s What Friends Are For? Alfie? This Guy’s In Love With You? WOW.”
Elvis Costello is set to kick off his 10-night residency at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre on Thursday, which will have him going through a good portion of his music catalog.
Dubbed 100 Songs and More, the residency will have him performing a different set each night, amounting to over 200 songs in total. The first five nights will have Costello performing solo. He’ll be joined by his longtime pianist Steve Nieve for the final five shows. The residency is set to run through February 23.
Fans who go to the shows will at least know a little bit about what to expect. Costello has already revealed 10 songs that will be featured on each night’s set list, with at least 10 more to be added each night.
Opening night is set to include:
“Welcome To The Working Week”
“Hoover Factory”
“Red Shoes”
“Stranger In The House”
“Poison Moon”
“Wave A White Flag”
“Radio Sweetheart”
“Mystery Dance”
“Cheap Reward”
“Alison”
Songs featured on the other nights can be found at elviscostello.com.
REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin is one of the rockers set to appear on Dolly Parton’s upcoming rock album, Rock Star, and he’s spilled the tea on the track they’ve recorded together.
While chatting with the Totally 80s podcast, Cronin revealed he and Dolly recorded a cover of the band’s classic “Keep On Loving You,” although he notes their version is a “dark duet.”
In the song Cronin sings about his woman’s infidelity and his decision to stay with her, but says he realized, “I kind of portrayed myself as more of the good guy than perhaps I was.”
“Perhaps it takes more than one snake in the grass, ‘all coiled up and hissing,’ to tango — if you catch my drift. That’s the reality of the song, you know?” he explains. “So, it gave me the idea that Dolly could sing the first verse, and in the first verse, I’m cheating on her. But then I take the second verse, and in the second verse, I go, ‘Oh yeah? Well, I know all about those men!’”
The two then come together and sing the chorus in harmony, but he notes, “It just slays me, because that’s how the song was meant to be performed; I just didn’t realize it until Dolly called me the other day. So that’s how we’re doing it, and I’m just so stoked.”
The Rolling Stones are the subject of a new Vevo-hosted YouTube series that launched on Thursday. The Rolling Stones Chronicles, co-produced by BBC Motion Gallery and ABKCO, is comprised of six documentary shorts, with each focused on a different Stones hit from the ’60s.
Each clip features interviews with the band, along with historical documentary footage of world events that were taking place at the time.
The weekly series kicks off with The Last Time (EP1), soundtracked by the top five single of the same name, which reveals how early rock ‘n’ roll and Chicago blues influenced the band. In addition to archival interviews with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards,it features footage of B.B. King, Little Richard and others.
“The Rolling Stones Chronicles puts the band’s music in context with history,” says Robin Klein, executive producer of the series. “While they were very much of that time, The Rolling Stones themselves served as a vehicle for, and reflected and inspired change.”
Future episodes will be set against such Rolling Stones classics as “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “She’s A Rainbow,” “Street Fighting Man” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” wrapping March 16 with an episode featuring “Gimme Shelter.”
Linda Ronstadt is the latest artist to see a chart resurgence thanks to one of her songs being featured in a popular series. In Ronstadt’s case, it’s the tune “Long Long Time,” which has jumped back on the chart thanks to its inclusion in the third episode of the hit HBO series The Last Of Us.
Billboardreports the song, which originally appeared on the 1970 album Silk Purses, tops the Rock Digital Songs Sales, LyricFind U.S. and LyricFind Global charts, with the latter two ranking the tracks gaining momentum on lyric searches and usages.
From January 27 to February 2, “Long Long Time” went from negligible downloads to 6,000, which was an increase of 11,181% and enough to land it on top of the Rock Digital Song Sales chart. The song also saw a 1,042% increase in official streams during that week, from 79,000 to 903,000.
“Long Long Time” is just one of several songs that has seen renewed interest thanks to a popular series. Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” returned to the charts thanks to its appearance in The Last Of Us’ premiere episode, and of course, Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)” landed in the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 after it was featured on Netflix’s Stranger Things last year.
A new documentary about Karen Carpenter and her struggle with an eating disorder has just been shared by Variety.
Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection will explore Carpenter’s successful music career with brother Richard, which resulted in such hits as “Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” It will also address her struggle with anorexia nervosa, a little-known eating disorder at the time, which led to her death on February 4, 1983, at just 32.
The film, directed by Randy Martin and executive produced by Carnie Wilson, will feature never-before-heard recordings from Karen, along with interviews by such stars as Olivia Newton-John, Cynthia Gibb, Suzanne Somers, Kristin Chenoweth, Belinda Carlisle and Carol Burnett.
The film is set to premiere Friday at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, just six days after the 40th anniversary of Karen’s death. So far there’s no word on where or when the film will be released.
Roger Waters has been in the news a lot lately because of his views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But in case you missed it, in a recent interview with the German magazine Berliner Zeitung, he dropped some big news about his music.
The article, which has been translated on Waters’ website, reveals that he is rerecording Pink Floyd’s classic album The Dark Side of the Moon, which next month will celebrate its 50th anniversary.
“The new concept is meant to reflect on the meaning of the work, to bring out the heart and soul of the album, musically and spiritually,” he tells the mag. “I’m the only one singing my songs on these new recordings, and there are no rock and roll guitar solos.”
For those who’d rather just listen to the original, Pink Floyd is set to mark the album’s 50th anniversary with a special The Dark Side of the Moon deluxe box set on March 24.
Elton John is “overjoyed” to host his Oscars viewing party this year after missing out on last year’s festivities.
The singer unveiled plans for the 31st annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party, announcing he will return as host alongside husband David Furnish.
Actors Eric McCormack and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez will serve as this year’s special guests, while British singer Rina Sawayama has been tapped to perform. Elton and Rina previously teamed up for the song “Chosen Family,” which was featured on his compilation album The Lockdown Sessions.
More celebrity guests will be announced in the weeks ahead.
“I am overjoyed to be reuniting with old and new friends on one of my favourite nights of the year, especially after missing last year’s viewing party due to an unfortunate clash of schedules with my ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour,” he said in a statement. Last year marked the first time Sir Elton was unable to attend his own viewing part.
Elton’s statement continued, “As always, I am so appreciative of every attendee, donor and sponsor who continues to support the Foundation’s work across the globe in the fight to end AIDS. With such meaningful generosity, we can make a healthier and more inclusive world.”
Furnish added in his own statement, “With rising new HIV infections and the tragic and needless loss of lives in many parts of the world, the support of our work is more crucial than ever.”
Elton’s viewing parties began in 1992 and so far have raised close to $100 million for his foundation, which aims to destigmatize AIDS, fund treatments and find a cure.
This year’s celebration will be held Sunday, March 12.
