Classic Hits

On the heels of Cyndi Lauper’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination, she’s just received yet another honor — her very own Funko Pop! figure.

The Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Pop! vinyl figure mimics Cyndi’s ’80s style, complete with zebra striped shoes, patterned dress, a variety of bracelets and a leather belt, along with a colored stripe in her hair. According to Billboard, it is modeled after a look from a 1983 press shoot.

Cyndi’s figure, which is less than 4 inches in height, is available for preorder now, with shipping expected to begin in May.

As previously reported, Cyndi is one of several first-time nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. Others include the late George Michael, Willie Nelson, Warren Zevon and Sheryl Crow.

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Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees is lending her voice to a campaign to end cruel animal testing. The rocker has written a letter to Japanese conglomerate Ajinomoto Corporation, the world’s largest manufacturer of monosodium glutamate, or MSG, to urge them to stop doing tests on animals.

“I know that Siouxsie and the Banshees fans around the world—including the thousands who attended our final concert in Japan 20 years ago—will be just as appalled as I was to learn that thousands of dogs, gerbils, guinea pigs, fish, mice, pigs, and rabbits have been tormented and killed in cruel experiments since the 1950s,” she writes in a letter to Ajinomoto CEO Taro Fujie on behalf of PETA U.K. “Japan is a beautiful country, which I have visited many times, but these shameful experiments are a stain on its reputation.”

PETA argues that the tests being conducted are neither relevant to human health nor required by law, with Siouxsie adding, “As a major manufacturer, [Ajinomoto] should be leading the way with compassion, not falling behind. Please, stop being spellbound by bad science and end these cruel tests immediately.”

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John Mellencamp is set to kick off his Live and In Person tour this weekend, and one member of his band will certainly look familiar to longtime fans. The “Small Town” singer announced on Instagram that singer/multiple-instrumentalist Lisa Germano is joining him on tour for the first time in 29 years.

Germano toured and recorded with Mellencamp for seven years, appearing on such albums as 1987’s The Lonesome Jubilee, 1989’s Big Daddy and 1991’s Falling from Grace. Her fiddle playing can be heard on such songs as “Paper and Fire,” “Cherry Bomb” and “Check it Out.”

The Live and In Person tour is set to kick off Sunday with a two-night stand in Bloomington, Indiana. The tour has him playing multiple nights in several cities, including Nashville, Chicago and Minneapolis, including four nights at New York’s Beacon Theater. The tour wraps with a pair of shows in South Bend, Indiana, on June 23 and 24. A complete list of tour dates can be found at Mellencamp.com.

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Warren Zevon is one of the artists nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, and a fellow Hall of Famer may have been partly responsible for his recognition. The Los Angeles Times reports that Billy Joel, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, wrote a letter to the nominating committee campaigning for Zevon’s recognition. 

“I just wanted to put in my two cents of supporting Warren Zevon to be included,” Joel tells the paper. “If anyone deserved to be, he did. He was a real original, and I don’t know if that’s appreciated enough.”

Joel says he didn’t think Zevon “got the attention he deserved,” explaining, “Well, he was a piano player, and we all tend to get lumped into this thing of ‘They’re not real rock guys’ — which I don’t think is fair, but I understand why it happens. Piano is perceived to be this middle-of-the-road instrument only played by dorks.”

Joel says seeing Zevon play proved that thought wrong, noting, “He was kind of breaking the piano to pieces, little by little, which I thought was an interesting style.” He added, “He banged it, and he banged it good. Even without amplifiers, he was getting the most volume he could get out of that thing.”

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The day Bruce Springsteen fans have been waiting six years for is finally here. Springsteen and the E Street Band launch their new tour Wednesday, February 1, in Tampa, Florida.

The trek hits such cities as Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston and Seattle, with four shows in the New York area, before wrapping April 14 in Newark, New Jersey. 

This is Bruce and the E Street Band’s first tour since 2016, when they hit the road in support of The Ties That Bind: The River Collection, which celebrated the 35th anniversary of The Boss’ 1980 double album, The River.

Since then, Bruce has starred in his one-man Broadway show, Springsteen on Broadway, and also released two solo albums, 2019’s Western Stars and 2022’s Only The Strong Survive. He also released Letters To You with the E Street Band in 2020.

This new tour hasn’t been without controversy, though. When tickets went on sale many fans were unhappy about either not being able to get tickets or the high prices that were being charged thanks to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing option. In response, Bruce said in an interview with Rolling Stone that while he usually charged under market value for his concerts, this time he decided to do what his “peers” were doing. He argued that “most of our tickets are totally affordable.” 

And if fans can’t actually make it to a show, they can still enjoy the music. The Boss is releasing official multiple-track audio recordings from every stop on the tour right after each show. They will all be professionally mixed by Chiller Sound’s Jon Altschiller.

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Vanilla Ice reflected on his relationship with Madonna during an appearance on the Just Jenny with Jenny Hut podcast. The two dated for eight months in the early ’90s, and he says the relationship “got weird,” adding, “I didn’t know what was going on.” He compared his life to a snow globe, saying it was shaken up.

“I remember she came back to the dressing room and said hello to me, and she kind of gave me the sexy eyes, and I was like … I must be mistaken on that,” he says of their first real meeting, noting he initially thought she was “too old” for him. 

Vanilla Ice, born Robert Matthew Van Winkle, also reveals that at one point Madonna proposed to him: “Things were going so crazy and fast, man.” 

“I was just like, ‘What?! I thought the guy was supposed to [get down on one knee],’” he offered. “‘What do you mean? Wait a minute. This is too fast. I’m just getting started here, and I’m way too young for this!’”

He says in the end the relationship was ruined when Madonna put him in her Sex book without his knowledge, although he still has good things to say about her. “She’s great, she’s a legend, she’s one of the greatest ever.”

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Louise Harrison, the older sister of George Harrison who has been credited with helping The Beatles break in America, passed away Sunday at an assisted living facility in Florida, The Mirror reports. She was 91.

The news was revealed on Harrison’s Facebook page, where friends, including Marty Scott, a member of Beatles tribute group Liverpool Legend, wrote that Louise died “painlessly and peacefully.”

Louise moved to the U.S. with her first husband in the 1950s, and she helped promote The Beatles in the U.S. as they were just starting out. She’d contact radio and TV stations trying to get them a break, which finally happened when an Illinois radio station played “From Me To You” in 1963.

It would only be a matter of months before they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, which helped propel them to stardom.

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Bryan Adams is bringing his tour to North America this year. The “Cuts Like A Knife” singer just announced dates for his So Happy It Hurts tour, featuring special guest Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

The tour kicks off June 6 in Baltimore, Maryland, and hits big cities like Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Nashville and Los Angeles before wrapping August 3 in Seattle, Washington. 

Tickets go on sale Friday, February 3, at 12 p.m. local time. A complete list of tour dates can be found at bryanadams.com. 

The tour news comes as Bryan kicks off a four-night stand in Las Vegas February 1 at the Encore Theater at the Wynn Las Vegas. He’s there through Saturday, February 5.

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The lineup for Sunday’s Grammy Awards just got bigger, with the latest talent helping the show pay tribute to some of the artists we lost in the past year.

This year’s In Memoriam segment is set to feature a special tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, featuring a performance of her classic tune “Songbird” by her bandmate Mick Fleetwood, along with Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt.

The show will also include tributes to Loretta Lynn, with Kacey Musgraves performing “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” and Migos rapper Takeoff, featuring Quavo and Maverick City Music performing “Without You.” 

The 65th annual Grammy Awards air Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS live from Los Angeles.

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Cyndi Lauper is among this year’s first-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees, and she calls the recognition “an honor and a thrill.”

“Seeing my name on this year’s ballot with so many talents that I admire means so much to me,” she shares. “It has been a lifetime privilege to reach so many different kinds of fans with a message of following your own path (and having fun along the way, too).” She adds, “To my wonderful fans: Thank you for your support and love over the years!”

The Spinners are also in the running this year, their fourth nomination, and founding member Henry Fambrough is hoping this is the year they finally get in.

“It’s a pleasure being selected by this,” he tells Billboard. “We’ve been in this position over years and years, but we just haven’t won anything yet. But it’s a pleasure being selected like this.” He adds, “When you’re nominated like that, at least someone is thinking about you. You’re not sitting at home not hearing anything — you know what I’m saying?” 

Fan voting is open now through April 28 at rockhall.com, and the top five vote-getters will quality for the “fan’s ballot,” which will help determine this year’s inductees. This year’s Hall of Fame class will be announced in May, with the induction ceremony taking place this fall.

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