Classic Hits

Got a cool quarter mil? You may want to invest in a treasure trove of old love letters that young Bob Dylan wrote to his high school sweetheart.

The 42 letters are currently up for sale by the Boston-based RR Auction house, and the starting bid is $250,000. In the letters, addressed to Barbara Ann Hewitt of New Brighton, Minnesota, Dylan — then named Bob Zimmerman — writes about preparing for the Hibbing High School talent show, as well as his dreams of selling 1 million records and changing his name. 

In other letters, he asks Hewitt to go with him to see Buddy Holly in Duluth and discuses the records he’s been listening to, as well as the cars and fashions of the late 1950s. He also, according to the auction house, “professes his never-ending affection,” signing the letters “Love, Bob.” All the letters come with the original envelopes — and there’s even a Valentine’s Day card in there.

The trustees of Hewitt’s estate want to keep the archive together, which is why the letters are being sold as one lot. Individual letters by Dylan have sold for as much as $30,000.

If your pockets aren’t that deep, other items from the Hewitt estate that are up for bid include signed photos, an original sketch, a collection of handwritten poems, and signed and annotated lyric sheets.

If you’re not a Dylan fan, the auction, which ends November 17, also includes items from The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, Led Zeppelin and The Doors.

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Ever since Richie Sambora left Bon Jovi in 2013, fans have been wondering if he’d reunite with his old bandmates again. Well, the answer is a definite maybe.

While in London for an awards ceremony, Sambora was asked by Metro if there was a possibility that he and Bon Jovi could possibly set aside their differences and come together for a headlining spot at next year’s Glastonbury Festival, the United Kingdom’s most prestigious music festival.

“It’s a possibility. We’re talking a bit,” Sambora said, with what the publication called “a cheeky smile.”

Bon Jovi is one of the few massive rock bands that has never headlined Glastonbury, though Sambora appeared there in 2014, joining Dolly Parton onstage for her set.

Sambora did reunite with Bon Jovi at their 2018 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; so did bass player Alec John Such, who left the band in 1994 and hadn’t played with them since a one-off performance in 2001. Such died last June.

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Neil Peart’s hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario, has commissioned an artist to create two bronze statues in honor of the late Rush drummer. The statues will be placed alongside the Neil Peart Pavilion in the city’s Lakeside Park, which inspired the Rush song of the same name.

Artist Morgan MacDonald has been tapped by the City of St. Catharines’ Neil Peart Commemorative Task Force to create the statues. The larger-than-life sculptures will be connected by a pathway lined with experiential and interpretive features that give insight into Peart’s legacy. The drummer died of an aggressive form of brain cancer on January 7, 2020.

One of the sculptures, which will stand about 12 feet tall, depicts Peart as a young artist and poet in the 1970s, holding a book and drumsticks. The other will show an older Peart, holding a piece of his drum kit and offering his drumsticks to passersby. Some of Peart’s old and damaged cymbals will be melted down and incorporated into the statues.

The creation of the statues is contingent on the task force raising $1 million. Donations toward that goal can now be made at stcatharines.ca/neilpeart. The sooner the million bucks is raised, the sooner the statues will be made and installed.

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Bruce Springsteen is staging a takeover of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The Boss will appear on the NBC show four times over the next couple of weeks. From Monday, November 14, to November 16, Bruce will be a lead guest on the show and will perform four songs from his new album, Only the Strong Survive, which is coming out this Friday. Then he’ll appear on November 24 during the show’s special Thanksgiving episode.

While this will be the third time Springsteen has appeared on Fallon’s show, surprisingly, the upcoming appearances will be his first musical performances on it.

As previously reported, Only the Strong Survive features covers of soul classics by the likes of The Four Tops, Ben E. King, The Temptations, The Supremes, Jerry Butler, Jimmy Ruffin and The Commodores.

The Fallon performances may give fans a taste of what they can expect on Bruce’s upcoming tour with The E Street Band — their first trek in six years. It launches February 1 in Tampa, Florida.

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In September, Cher was a surprise guest at the finale of the Balmain fashion show in Paris. Now, she’s starring in a new ad for the luxury label’s new bag: The Blaze.

At the fashion show, Cher wore a skintight, black jumpsuit with pointy shoulders and black platform shoes. In the ad, she’s wearing the same outfit and is shown seated on a throne. When she gets up, we see she’s attached to a massive wall by numerous, snake-like “plugs.” As she continues walking, the plugs detach.

As lots of futuristic special effects and lighting surround her, Cher intones, “All of us invent ourselves.” As the new bag appears in her hand, she adds, “Some of us just have more imagination than others.”

The Blaze bags are priced from $2600 to $3500 each.

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The Grateful Dead‘s Dancing Bears can adorn your dancing feet this holiday season, thanks to a new capsule collection the band authorized with eco-conscious shoe brand Sanuk.

The unisex Sanuk X Grateful Dead collection features Puffy Chiller slip-ons and fuzzy Furreal sandals, all featuring the Dead’s Dancing Bears logo. Both feature recycled polyester faux fur, as well as midsoles and outsoles created out of either recycled material or a material made of sugar cane.

The shoes range from $55 to $85, making them the perfect gift for the Deadhead in your life whose feet are perpetually cold.

This is the latest in a string of Sanuk X Grateful Dead footwear collections.

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A new book on Jimi Hendrix is in stores now, while one on Genesis will arrive early next year.

Jimi is written by Hendrix’s stepsister Janie Hendrix and John McDermott of Experience Hendrix L.L.C. It features rare and previously unpublished pictures of the late guitar legend as well as lyrics and personal memorabilia. Quotes from Jimi’s famous fans, from Paul McCartney, Lenny Kravitz and Ron Wood to Jeff Beck and Dave Grohl, are also included.

If this Hendrix book inspires you to write your long-delayed novel, Montblanc has a Jimi Hendrix collection of ballpoint and fountain pens. Each one celebrates a standout year in Hendrix’s career, from 1967 to 1969. But with prices that range from $940 to — no joke — $37,000, you might be better off buying a guitar.

Meanwhile, a unique book on Genesis is due March 17, 2023. Called Play Me My Song – The Music Of Genesis, the 558-page tome is described as “the biggest book ever published on” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers. But rather than simply being a band biography, it’s made up of extensive essays about every song and album in the band’s entire catalogue. 

According to the publisher, Play Me My Song — named after a line in the Genesis song “The Musical Box” —  “blends song histories, musical analysis, critical reviews, autobiographical tales, the fun of countdowns, and a dash of pure silliness.” You can pre-order it now.

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Taylor Dayne, the singer known for hits like “Tell It to My Heart,” “I’ll Always Love You” and “Love Will Lead You Back,” is stepping back into the spotlight to raise awareness about the importance of routine cancer screenings.

“Life is precious,” Taylor, 60, told ABC’s Good Morning America.  In July, she was diagnosed with colon cancer after a routine colonoscopy, which she has twice a year after past procedures showed benign polyps. This time, doctors discovered a polyp that held an aggressive cancer.

Taylor said her world went “dark” at the word “cancer,” but her doctor reassured her that they’d caught it early, which increases the chance of positive treatment outcomes.

“He never even said the stage,” said Taylor. “All I could do is [think], ‘OK, five months ago, I know there was nothing. So this is early detection.”

While colon cancer is the third most leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society, it’s also highly treatable and curable, if found early through a colonoscopy.

After her diagnosis, Taylor had 10 inches of her colon removed and was declared cancer-free. But she said she experienced a “complication” during recovery, and developed a post-op infection that required her to stay in the hospital for 15 or 20 days — which brought back traumatic childhood memories of suffering from terrible kidney infections.

“This has challenged me mentally, emotionally,” she said. “I am now back in a therapy program.”

The singer wants others — especially women — to talk to their doctors about when they should be screened for things like colon cancer.

“When you’re really sick, you don’t have the energy, you’re really relying on your champions around you, your soldiers, your people,” she said. “Find the doctor that will tell you the truth. Be a warrior for yourself.”

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Joe Walsh has assembled some of Ohio’s finest rock talent for this year’s edition of his VetsAid charity concert, but the lineup also includes one Ohio-born musician that Walsh says he didn’t even invite: Dave Grohl.

Walsh tells Billboard that in the six years since he started VetsAid — which raises awareness and money for veterans and their families — he’s found it “very uncomfortable” to ask bands to participate.  But when it came to Grohl, Walsh says, the Foo Fighters front man simply announced, “I’m gonna come.” When Walsh asked him, “What are you gonna do?” he replied, I don’t know, but I’m coming.”

It’s no surprise that Grohl would want to perform at the show, whose bill this year also includes Nine Inch Nails, The Breeders, The Black Keys, Drew Carey and Walsh’s own James Gang. After all, he and the James Gang performed at the Taylor Hawkins tribute shows in September, and Grohl joined them onstage at both concerts.

Grohl “can do anything he wants,” Walsh said of the drummer’s participation in the show, scheduled for this Sunday at Columbus, Ohio’s Nationwide Arena. He adds. “I’m sure he’ll play ‘Rocky Mountain Way’ with me, probably help sing it.”

Despite the James Gang’s appearance being billed as “one last ride,” Walsh says they may decide to continue. “Glenn Frey used to say never say never, so I’m not,” he tells Billboard, noting that he really enjoyed playing “loud on 11” at the Hawkins concerts. He adds, “I didn’t realize how much I missed it…I can’t wait to play again.”

Since its inception, VetsAid has distributed more than two million dollars in grants from the concerts and other fundraisers. Sunday’s show will be livestreamed via veeps.com: You can buy tickets at vetsaid.veeps.com

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Back in the ’80s, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen pulled off one of the more impressive second acts in music: After losing his left arm in a car accident, he taught himself how to drum with one arm and his feet — and Def Leppard went on to release the best-selling album of their career, Hysteria. But looking back now, Allen admits he was at a very low point following the accident. 

“I really didn’t want to be here and I felt very defeated,” Allen tells Page Six, adding that he felt “very awkward” and “self-conscious.” Allen, who was just 21 when he nearly died in the accident, said the people around him helped him realize he still had something to live for.

Allen said he received “a lot of encouragement” from “my peers, a lot of fans, my family,” adding, “They all tried to help lift me up and then finally I got it. I got to a point where I realized I can do this.” He adds, “It wasn’t until after the fact that I discovered the power of the human spirit and that’s what really propelled me to where I am now.”

Allen is currently touring with his wife, Lauren Monroe; Wednesday night they’ll perform in New York City. He’s also organized an online event for Friday, which is Veterans Day, called 12 Drummers Drumming: Finding the Rhythm to Heal. It’s a benefit for their Raven Drum Foundation, which helps veterans with trauma recovery via alternative medical programs, including drummer circles. You can watch at 12drummersdrumming.org.

Among the drummers participating are Stewart Copeland of The Police, Rage Against the Machine‘s Brad Wilk, Mötley Crüe‘s Tommy Lee, Original KISS drummer Peter Criss, Matt Sorum and Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live.

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