Classic Hits

Wednesday marked the 40th anniversary of Bryan Adams’ third studio album, Cuts Like A Knife, and he’s marked the occasion by releasing two live performances of songs from the record.

Bryan shared clips of him performing the title track and the tune “I’m Ready,” both of which were recorded on May 11, 2022, at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The performance features Keith Scott on guitar, Pat Steward on drums, Sol Walker on bass and Gary Breit on keyboard.

Fans will soon be able to hear the entire Royal Albert Hall performance of the album, as it’s scheduled to hit Apple and Spotify on February 3. 

Adams released Cuts Like A Knife on January 18, 1983. In addition to the title track, it contained the hit “Straight from the Heart,” which was Adams’ first song to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

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Bruce Gowers, the man behind Queen’s iconic video for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” passed away Sunday in California at the age of 82. Queen’s Brian May is now paying his respects. 

“Bruce was, of course, the architect of our ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ video, and quite a few others as well,” Sir Brian said, according to BBC News. “He will be sadly missed in the rock community, and certainly never forgotten. We send deepest condolences to his family.” 

In addition to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Gowers directed videos for Rod Stewart’s “Hot Legs,” Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You,” Prince’s “1999,” Rush’s “Limelight,” The Rolling Stones’ “Fool To Cry” and more. He also won a Grammy for directing the video for Huey Lewis & The News’ 1985 hit “The Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

Besides music videos, Gowers directed the hit talent competition American Idol for nine seasons, for which he won an Emmy as Best Musical Variety Director in 2009. He also produced the Emmy Awards, People’s Choice Awards, MTV Movie Awards and MTV Music Video Awards, among other specials.

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Neal Schon is not happy with reports that claim he confirmed Journey‘s original keyboardist, Gregg Rolie, would not be joining the upcoming Journey 50th anniversary tour, as he previously suggested.

Schon shared an article with the headline “Neal Schon Confirms Gregg Rolie Won’t Be Joining Journey ‘At This Moment,'” which was a reference to a comment Schon made to a fan on Twitter when asked about Rolie’s involvement. He had replied, “Not at this moment.” Schon reacted to the article by writing, “This is BS,” adding, “Please Stop with these Fake Blogs and Statements.”

“This is going out to all media of all your postings today that Gregg Rolie is out. FALSE – where would you get this information? Ex managers ? PR stunt again,” he later tweeted, adding, “Currently have many trying to have a media war. It was a simple request from myself as the founder President of all Journey LLCs I wanted to include Gregg Rolie and met with resistance. That doesn’t mean anything at this point to me.”

The Journey 50th anniversary tour is set to kick off February 4 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and it’s pretty apparent it’s very important to Schon. “Obviously this means more to me than anyone else right now. 50 years of playing every show and recorded every album and co wrote many great songs,” he shared. “Honor it!”

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A biopic on Michael Jackson is in the works, and it just nabbed an A-list director. Variety reports Antoine Fuqua, known for such flicks as Training Day, starring Denzel Washington, and 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen, has been tapped to direct the flick, Michael, which is expected to begin filming this year. 

“The first films of my career were music videos, and I still feel that combining film and music are a deep part of who I am,” Fuqua shares. “For me, there is no artist with the power, the charisma, and the sheer musical genius of Michael Jackson. I was influenced to make music videos by watching his work – the first Black artist to play in heavy rotation on MTV.”

He notes, “His music and those images are part of my worldview, and the chance to tell his story on the screen alongside his music was irresistible.”

The film, which promises to delve into all aspects of the King of Pop’s life and career, will be produced by Graham King, who was responsible for the 2000 Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, as well as the 2006 Oscar winner The Departed. It will be written by John Logan, who penned the script for the James Bond flick Skyfall. 

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Bret Michaels is getting nostalgic for the past with his new single. The Poison frontman just dropped the tune “Back in the Day,” described as a “feel good, road trip anthem song that will help you beat the winter blues.” 

He also dropped a video for the song, which is described as “a modern day MTV throwback video to the early days of the music TV network,” featuring never-before-seen images and photos. 

The new track comes as Bret is set to launch his limited engagement summer Parti-Gras tour. The tour features Jefferson Starship and Night Ranger, along with special appearances by ex-Journey singer Steve Augeri and Sugar Ray‘s Mark McGrath. It’s set to kick off July 13 in Clarkston, Michigan.

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A new biography on legendary artist Leon Russell is about to hit store shelves. Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time’s Journey Through Rock & Roll History, written by author and founding member of Buffalo Tom, Bill Janovitz, will be released March 14 by Hachette Books.

The book, which has the support of the Russell estate, is described as “the definitive, never-before-told chronicle of one of the most important music makers of the 20th century,” calling Russell a “truly mythical figure in American music.” 

Russell, who passed away in 2016, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. He wrote such songs as “Delta Lady” and the Grammy Hall of Fame tune “A Song for You.” He had his own hits with songs like “Lady Blue” and “Tight Rope.” Over the years he collaborated with a huge list of artists, including Eric Clapton, Elton John, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Bob Dylan.

The book can be preordered here.

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ELO’s Jeff Lynne, Gloria Estefan and Sade are among the artists chosen for the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year.

Other artists making up the 2023 class include Teddy Riley; Snoop Dogg; Glen Ballard, who is best known for writing such hits as Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and Alanis Morissette’s ”You Oughta Know”; and Liz Rose, whose work includes Taylor Swift tunes “You Belong With Me” and “All Too Well.” 

“The music industry does not exist without songwriters delivering great songs first. Without them there is no recorded music, no concert business, no merch … nothing, it all starts with the song and the songwriter,” SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers shares. “We are therefore very proud that we are continually recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2023 slate represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and, in their time, literally transformed music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.”

Artists who were nominated, but not chosen this year, include Bryan Adams, the members of R.E.M., Patti Smith, Steve Winwood, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons of The Doobie Brothers and Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Clem Burke and Chris Stein.

The 2023 class will be celebrated at the 52nd annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala, taking place June 15 in New York City.

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Former music exec Tony King is opening up about the crazy experiences he had working as head of A&R for The Beatles’ label, Apple Records, back in the day.

“It was so mad, Apple. The poor office boy had to do Ringo (Starr‘s) shopping every Friday,” King shares in a new interview with The Guardian. “There would be all these toilet rolls stacked in the lobby while they counted them out, making sure they’d got the right number for Ringo.”

Noting that the “mad side of it was lovely,” King went on to reveal, “We had an Apple darts team and we’d challenge different record companies. Keith Moon showed up wanting to play, but he was so drunk, the office boys had to hold him up so he could throw a dart.” 

King, whose new memoir, The Tastemaker, comes out January 31, was friends with plenty of artists over the years, including Elton John, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and Charlie Watts. He feels there was a simple reason they liked him. “I suppose I was always very straightforward, a straight speaker,” King says. “I wasn’t an artist but I understood the artists, I was in their camp. I think I had an innate understanding of what artists needed, and I didn’t put up with bullsh**.”

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A new book dedicated to the late ELP keyboardist Keith Emerson has just been released. The book, Emerson: The Official Illustrated Story, features never-before-seen photos of the rocker from the private Emerson family archives, along with live performance photographs and more. 

The book also features new interviews with Keith’s friends and family sharing their favorite memories of him. There are also interviews with fellow artists, such as ex-ELP member Carl Palmer, Rick Wakeman, ex-Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and many others.

The book has been released in two versions, the Classic and the Signature, the latter of which is signed by author Chris Welch and Keith’s son Aaron Emerson. It features a CD of an unheard Emerson interview, an exclusive art print portrait of Keith and sheet music for a song called “Quatermass Boogie Woogie,” the first piece Emerson composed at just 12 years old.

Emerson died by suicide in March 2016. He was 71.

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The estate of George Michael is denying a report from earlier this week that claimed a biopic on the late singer is in the works with their approval.

The report, initially posted in the Daily Mail, claimed the film was “in the final stages of development” with the backing of the singer’s estate. Theo James was reportedly the top contender to play the singer, who passed away in 2016. But now Michael’s estate is denying any involvement in the alleged project. 

“To all of George’s Lovelies, fans and lovers of his music, a story has been published stating that George Michael’s family has endorsed a so called ‘biopic’ about his life,” read a statement from George Michael Entertainment. “On behalf of George’s family and GME we want to make it clear that there is no truth whatsoever in this story, we know nothing about this project and will not be endorsing it in any way.”

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