Jethro Tull is back with new music. The band just announced that their 23rd studio album, RökFlöte, will drop April 21. The record is Ian Anderson and the band’s follow-up to 2022’s The Zealot Gene, which was their first new release in two decades.
A post on Instagram reveals that the 12-track record is “based on the characters and roles of some of the principle gods of the old Norse paganism,” noting it also explores “‘RökFlöte’ – rock flute – which Jethro Tull has made iconic.”
The album is being released in a variety of formats, including two limited deluxe editions featuring bonus material, an in-depth interview with Anderson and more. All formats are now available for preorder.
The band has also shared the first single from the album, “Ginnungagap,” which is inspired by the god Ymir, “who was born from venom that dripped from the icy rivers called the Élivágar and lived in the grassless void of Ginnungagap.”
Here’s the RökFlöte track list:
“Voluspo”
“Ginnungagap”
“Allfather”
“The Feathered Consort”
“Hammer On Hammer”
“Wolf Unchained”
“The Perfect One”
“Trickster (And The Mistletoe)”
“Cornucopia”
“The Navigators”
“Guardian’s Watch”
“Ithavoll”
Ian Hunter is getting ready to release a new album, and he’s lined up some big-name artists to join him on it.
The Mott The Hoople frontman will release the new album Defiance Part 1 on April 21, featuring a star-studded list of guests, including the late Jeff Beck, the late Foo Fighers drummer Taylor Hawkins, ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, Stone Temple Pilots’ Dean and Robert DeLeo and EricKretz, Johnny Depp and Billy Bob Thornton. The album is available for preorder now.
“It was a fluke,” Hunter says of his A-list guests. “This was not planned. Really, I’m serious. I really couldn’t believe some of them. I mean, it’s amazing what’s happened. It’s been such a buzz.”
Ian is giving fans the first taste of the record with the new single “Bed of Roses,” which features two other pretty huge names in the rock world: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell and Beatle Ringo Starr on drums.
And fans can look forward to even more music and more guests. As the title suggests, Defiance Part 1 will be followed by Defiance Part 2, which will also feature some big-name collaborators.
As for the title of the record, the 83-year-old Hunter notes, “There are a lot of reasons for calling this album Defiance. It’s like, people my age shouldn’t be making records, blah, blah, blah. But we’ve still got a bit left.”
As previously reported, Crosby, Stills & Nash’s Graham Nash and Stephen Stills have already paid tribute to their bandmate David Crosby, who died Thursday at the age of 81. Now Neil Young, who joined the trio in 1969, has taken to his Archives site to pay respects to his former bandmate.
“David is gone, but his music lives on,” Young shares. “The soul of CSNY, David’s voice and energy were at the heart of our band. His great songs stood for what we believed in and it was always fun and exciting when we got to play together.”
His tribute continued, “‘Almost Cut My Hair’ ‘Deja Vu,’ and so many other great songs he wrote were wonderful to jam on and [Stephen] Stills and I had a blast as he kept going on and on. His singing with Graham [Nash] was memorable, their duo spot a highlight of so many of our shows.”
Young adds, “We had so many great times, especially in the early years. Crosby was a very supportive friend in my early life, as we bit off big pieces of our experience together. David was the catalyst of many things.”
Finally he offers, “My heart goes out to Jan and Django, his wife and son. Lots of love to you. Thanks David for your spirit and songs, Love you man. I remember the best times!”
Friday marked the 40th anniversary of the release of Def Leppard’s third album, Pyromania, and the band celebrated by sharing a special message to fans on social media.
“So 40 years ago today, 20 of January 1983, we released Pyromania,” frontman Joe Elliott shares. “It was a breakthrough album for us in the U.S. and Canada, and a little bit in Japan,” adding it was a “hugely important record for our career and in America, it broke us wide open. It became one of the biggest records of the year, only behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller in sales.”
Rick Savage adds, “Wow, 40 years of Pyromania. I can hardly believe it, so many great memories in the making of that record … even back then we kinda knew we were really trying hard to make a groundbreaking metal album. I honestly think we succeeded. It still sounds great to my ears, even 40 years later.”
Phil Collen noted Pyromania was his first album with the band and he was amazed at how it exploded, sharing it was “probably the most exciting period that I can remember of the career … everything about it was amazing.” And drummer Rick Allen said he “learned more about playing drums doing that record working with (producer) Mutt Lange.”
Vivian Campbell, who joined the band in 1992, says of the record, “I was a fan. I bought it way before I was in the band. Now I get to play it onstage and that is terrific.”
Pyromania featured such hit songs as “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages” and “Foolin,” with the album reaching number two on the U.S. Album charts. It sold 6 million copies in 1983 and went on to be certified Diamond by the RIAA for selling over 10 million copies.
Rick Wakeman is sharing some more info about his upcoming new album, A Gallery of the Imagination. The Yes keyboardist just announced the record will drop February 24, and he’s also shared the 12-song track list.
Wakeman describes A Gallery of the Imagination as a concept album inspired by his first piano teacher, Mrs. Symes, who taught him a lesson he never forgot: “When you play, you are painting pictures through music.”
“It is a very tactile album,” Rick explains. “I’d like to feel that people can actually touch the music.”
The album is available for preorder now and will come out in a variety of formats, including CD, two-disc CD+ DVD set with surround sound audio and hi-res stereo, two-LP on black vinyl, two-LP on colored vinyl and a super deluxe limited edition set that includes a 24-page book.
A Gallery of the Imagination track list:
“Hidden Depths”
“The Man In The Moon”
“A Mirage in the Clouds”
“The Creek”
“My Moonlight Dream”
“Only When I Cry”
“Cuban Carnival”
“Just A Memory”
“The Dinner Party”
“A Day Spent On The Pier”
“The Visitation”
“The Eyes of a Child”
Gloria Estefan, Cyndi Lauper, Belinda Carlisle and Dolly Parton are wearing their game day best in the new video for “Gonna Be You,” from the upcoming movie 80 for Brady.
The movie, based on a true story, stars Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field and Lily Tomlin as four best friends who take a trip to the Super Bowl in 2017 to see their hero Tom Brady play. It hits theaters on February 3.
Songwriter Diane Warren recruited Gloria, Cyndi, Belinda, Dolly and Blondie‘s Debbie Harry to sing on “Gonna Be You.” Debbie doesn’t appear in the video, but the other women do, all rocking blinged-out Tom Brady football jerseys with their names on the back and singing the song, intercut with footage of the film.
“What an honor to sing a song by my favorite songwriter with four other women who I have been a fan of for years! It doesn’t get much better than this,” says Belinda in a statement.
Cyndi adds, “This was such a great project to be part of because it was nice to be able to join forces with my pals for the song. Each of these women mean a lot to me. Friendships between women are important and I think Diane’s lyrics captured that. It was really touching. You don’t often see female ‘buddy movies’ so this was fun.”
Dolly says the project was a joy, adding, “This is very exciting to me. I love feeling like I’m still part of something great and being with those gals that we know are great was a thrill.”
And Gloria says, “What an honor to share this incredible experience with women that I have admired for decades!”
This week marked the 40th anniversary of the release of Bryan Adams’ breakthrough album, Cuts Like a Knife. The album, Bryan’s third, was his first U.S. top 10 album and gave him his first three U.S. hit singles: “Straight from the Heart,” the title track and “This Time.” Bryan says credit for much of the album’s success goes to MTV.
Bryan tells ABC Audio that MTV was hugely responsible for the successful 1983 release: “There was a fraternity of probably 10 artists that they put on heavy rotation: Madonna, Dire Straits, Michael Jackson, myself, Duran Duran. And we got played over and over.”
In fact, the video for “Cuts Like a Knife,” starring a Penthouse model named Raquel Pena, was one of the most popular videos of 1983. It was filmed in the empty swimming pool of an abandoned YMCA in LA, which was also the location for the party Bryan’s label threw when the album went Platinum.
“Back then, when MTV first started, it was a cable thing … and not everybody had cable,” Bryan says. “But anyone that did have cable was getting all these songs all the time. So I’m really, really grateful to them. I wish it still existed.”
As previously reported, Bryan and his band performed Cuts Like a Knife in its entirety at London’s Royal Albert Hall in May 2022; the full performance hits streaming on February 3. He believes the album holds up after 40 years.
“It was really exciting to go back and listen to those songs,” Bryan says. “Some of the songs I’d never played ever live. I had to sit in a rehearsal hall for a few days and get my head around it.”
Late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury would be turning 77 this fall if he were still alive, and a big party is planned in his honor.
The Official 77th Freddie Mercury Birthday Party 2023 is going down September 2, three days before his real birthday on September 5. It will be held at the Casino Barriere in Montreux, about two hours outside of Zurich, Switzerland. The bash will feature a live performance by the United Kingdom Queen tribute band Live Killers, who’ll celebrate the golden anniversary of Queen’s 1973 self-titled debut album by playing it in its entirety. They also promise Queen hits and some deep cuts.
Tickets for the event go on sale January 27, with proceeds benefiting the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which raises funds for the fight against HIV/AIDs. It was founded by Queen’s Brian May, Roger Taylor and their manager Jim Beach in memory of Freddie, who died from the disease in 1991.
As previously reported, Crosby, Stills & Nash’s Graham Nash has already paid tribute to his late bandmate David Crosby, who died Thursday at the age of 81, and now their fellow bandmate Stephen Stills has offered his thoughts on Crosby’s passing as well.
Stills shared in a statement:
“I read a quote in this morning’s paper attributed to compose Gustav Mahler that stopped me for a moment: ‘Death has, on placid cat’s paws, entered the room.’
I shoulda known something was up.
David and I butted heads a lot over time, but they were mostly glancing blows, yet still left us numb skulls..
I was happy to be at peace with him.
He was without question a giant of a musician, and his harmonic sensibilities were nothing short of genius. The glue that held us together as our vocals soared, like Icarus, towards the sun.
I am deeply saddened at his passing and shall miss him beyond measure.”
The music world is mourning the loss another rock legend with the death of David Crosby Thursday at the age of 81, and many took to social media to pay tribute to the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
Melissa Etheridge, who had two children with ex-Julie Cypher thanks to Crosby’s sperm donation, shared a picture with Crosby, writing “I am grieving the loss of my friend Beckett and Bailey’s biological father, David,” adding, “He gave me the gift of family. I will forever be grateful to him, Django, and Jan. His music and legacy will inspire many generations to come. A true treasure.”
The Beach Boys‘ Brian Wilsonalso remembered Crosby, noting, “I don’t know what to say other than I’m heartbroken to hear about David Crosby,” adding, “David was an unbelievable talent – such a great singer and songwriter. And a wonderful person. I just am at a loss for words.”
And Carole King also paid tribute, sharing, “My old friend David is gone, but he left us with his words, his music and his beautiful voice,” adding, “My deepest condolences to Jan, Django and everyone who loved David Crosby.”
Other tributes include:
Roseanne Cash – “I can’t begin to say how influential Crosby, Stills and Nash were for me. I’m grateful David Crosby lived, and so very sad he’s gone.”
E Street Band memberSteven Van Zandt – “RIP David Crosby. As a member of The Byrds, 1 of the historically essential Artists that created the Artform of Rock. The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who, Beach Boys & Yardbirds, showed future generations like us what was possible. We owe him, and them, everything.”
Marianne Faithfull – “‘I don’t like greed, I don’t like ignorance. I really don’t like anger. But I love love.’ – @thedavidcrosby. Rest in peace to the brilliant David Crosby. He will be greatly missed.”
Tom Petty’s official Twitter account – “Tom counted David Crosby as a friend and a hero. He visited often at his house in the valley. He was funny, provocative and electric with talent. His contribution to music will never be forgotten. Our thoughts and love to his family, bandmates and fans.”
The Doors – “The world has lost yet another ethereal fixture of the ‘60s peace and love movement; a legend within his own right, and every group he was a part of. Coming up in the same era as The Doors, David Crosby had the voice and song writing abilities that made him completely unique…”
Sebastian Bach – “As much as I loved his music I loved his thoughts on Twitter as well. Rest In Peace David Crosby ✌️ thank you for the lifetime of inspiration.”
Jason Isbell, who performed with Crosby on Red Rocks in 2019 – “Grateful for the time we had with David Crosby. We’ll miss him a lot.”
Hanson – “We are so sad to hear of the passing of the legendary David Crosby, a man of unbelievable talent. As a small tribute, here’s our cover of CSNY’s ‘Teach Your Children’. Rest in Peace, David.”
Michael Des Barres– “David Crosby stuck to his guns. A difficult and gifted man. Whose talent and taste was immense. His harmonious voice still echoes in Laurel Canyon. A proud man who said what he said, and felt what he felt with no apology. A brilliant songwriter, and an American Icon, RIP.”
