Classic Hits

Kenny Loggins is ready to say goodbye to the road. The artist just announced dates for his final tour, aptly titled the This Is it tour.

“It’s been an amazing journey since starting with Jimmy Messina in 1971, and I’m fortunate to have had such a long touring career,” Loggins says. “I don’t see this as the end of my professional career, but certainly a halt to the grind of major touring.” As for why he’s decided to retire, he notes, “after spending a lifetime on the road, I want to have more time at home.”

The trek is set to kick off March 10 in Sarasota, Florida, with dates confirmed through October 27 in Inglewood, California, and more dates to be announced soon.

As for what fans can expect on the tour, Loggins shares, “I’ll be playing songs that I feel sum up the emotional story of my music. This will include 90 percent of the hits and 10 or so percent of the deeper cuts.” He is also teasing possible special guests, sharing, “We’re hoping to have some of my longtime friends sit in whenever possible.”

For more information on Loggins’ tour, click here.

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Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell are among the artists who have contributed items to the new MusiCares Charity Relief Auction, set to coincide with this year’s Grammy Awards.

Items up for grabs include three guitars from MusiCares Person of the Year honorees. There’s a 2014 Gibson Les Paul electric guitar signed by the five members of Fleetwood Mac — Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine and John McVie — who received the honor in 2018; a black Epiphone acoustic guitar from the 2015 celebration of honoree Bob Dylan, signed by the artists who paid tribute to him, including John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen; and a 2021 Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar signed by the 2022 MusiCares Person of the Year, Joni Mitchell, which is paired with an autographed four-LP vinyl box set of The Reprise Albums (1868-1971).

There is also a Joni Mitchell watercolor painting that was created live by artist Rob Prior ahead of the 2022 event, which Mitchell added a few strokes to, as well as a signed print of Joni’s original painting of Jimi Hendrix. 

And that’s just a little of what’s up for bid. The auction will also include items from such artists as Slash, David Lee Roth, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant, Sting and The Who. Check out the full list of items available here.

The auction is scheduled for February 5 at 11 a.m. PT; it will take place at Julien’s Auctions and online. Proceeds benefit MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s charity arm that provides health and human services to the music community.

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It’s official: Madonna‘s hitting the road.  The Celebration Tour, kicking off July 15 in Vancouver, was announced Tuesday morning with a video featuring a star-studded guest list.

The definitely NSFW video features Madonna playing Truth or Dare with an eclectic lineup of celebs, including Jack Black, Judd Apatow, Lil Wayne, Meg Stalter, Eric Andre, Bob The Drag Queen, Kate Berlant, Amy Schumer and more.  It ends with Schumer daring Madonna to go on a world tour and perform all her biggest hits. 

After singing a few bars of “La Isla Bonita” along with Schumer, Madonna says, “F**k yeah!” and announces, “80s, 90s, 2000s, four decades of music avec moi — MLVC — welcome to the party, b****es!”

That means, “with me, Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone,” in case you’re not familiar with French, or with the Queen of Pop’s birth name.

The 35-city world tour starts in North America before hitting Europe, wrapping up in Amsterdam on December 1.  In a statement, Madonna says, “I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for.”  A one-of-a-kind experience with special guest Bob the Drag Queen will be featured on each date.

Tickets go on sale January 20 and January 27 at 10 a.m. local time, depending on the city. Presales for Citi cardmembers start today, Tuesday, January 17 at 2 p.m. local time for the shows going on sale January 20, and January 24 for the shows going on sale January 27. Visit CitiEntertainment.com for details.

A presale for members of Madonna’s Official Fan Club starts Tuesday at noon ET for the North American shows, and 9 a.m. GMT on January 18 for the U.K. and European shows. Visit Madonna.com for all the info.

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A never-before-heard interview with the late Jeff Beck is featured in the latest Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, where he opens up about the important role guitar played in his life.

“The only friends I had were pretty low-life,” Beck says of his childhood, in the unearthed audio from an interview with the mag’s Kory Grow. “They were one step away from jail, most of them. The guitar saved me from that.” 

In the interview, Beck, who passed away Tuesday from bacterial meningitis, also discussed how it may have been a good thing that he “never made the big time.” “When you look around and see who has made it huge, it’s a really rotten place to be when you think about it,” he says. “Maybe I’m blessed with not having had that.”

In addition to the interview, the podcast features tributes to Beck by such fellow guitar legends as The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and Joe Satriani.

You can listen to the podcast here.

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Paulina Porizkova is sharing fond memories of her very first date with her late husband, The Cars’ Ric Ocasek. 

“I’m sitting at a table at the Odeon restaurant, the very same table where, 39 years ago, I had my first dinner with the man who would become my husband,” she shares in an Instragram post. “We were having dinner with the whole band, their manager, and actor Timothy Hutton, but I hardly noticed anyone else but the tall, lanky and akwardly (sic) elegant man with turquoise eyes next to me.” 

Paulina then writes about how the rocker accepted a dare during the meal to sit on top of a table where another couple was dining. 

“Without a word, he pushed condiments and food aside and then got up on the table, folding his body so the entirety of him fit right on the table top, along with the plates and food,” she explains. “He sat there, mutely, for a minute, looking back and forth between the man and the woman, who gaped back at him. Then he got off, and slinked back next to me as if nothing happened.”

Paulina adds that while his band didn’t even notice what he was doing, “I thought he was the most compelling man I had ever met. Confident and funny in a absurdist Monty Python-esque way.”

The couple married in 1989 and had two sons together before announcing their separation in 2018. The Cars frontman passed away in 2019.

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U2 frontman Bono is set to appear on the next episode of Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett’s Smartless podcast, debuting January 23.

“We needed a lead vocalist, so we got Bono,” they share in announcing the news. “Come join us for breaking-news, the similarities between Ireland and Jamaica, the difference between EQ and IQ, and, um… World of Warcraft.”

The news comes barely a week after U2 announced their new album, Songs of Surrender, will drop March 17. It will feature 40 rerecorded and reimagined U2 classics.

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The Beach Boys are the latest artists whose career will be celebrated by the Recording Academy.

Billboard reports that A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys is set to happen February 8 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The event, which takes place three days after the Grammy Awards, will be recorded and air at a later date on CBS. So far, the lineup of artists paying tribute to The Beach Boys has not been announced.

Last year, Paul Simon was the subject of the annual Grammy Salute, with the special airing this past December. It featured performances by Dave Matthews, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, The Bangles, Garth Brooks and more.

While The Beach Boys have never won a Grammy, in 2001 they were honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Recording Academy, and five Beach Boys recordings have made it into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In addition, Brian Wilson was named MusicCares Person of the Year in 2005.

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Billy Joel was back at New York’s Madison Square Garden Friday night and Rolling Stone reports he took some time out of his residency to pay tribute to the late Jeff Beck, who died Tuesday at the age of 78.

“He was a musician that I always loved. He was the best. Jeff Beck just passed away…,” Joel told the audience at his 86th MSG show. “I couldn’t let the night go by without doing something by Jeff.”

Billy then performed the track “People Get Ready,” which Beck recorded with Rod Stewart for for Beck’s 1985 album, Flash.

He paid tribute to Beck again later in the evening after the night’s last song, “You May Be Right,” with the band playing a jam session that morphed into “Going Down,” a track that appeared on the Jeff Beck Group’s 1972 self-titled third album. Noted Billy, “we should have rehearsed this today.”

Following the news of Beck’s death, Billy posted a tribute to him on social media, calling him “one of my heroes,” and noting, “I was fortunate to meet him recently and I’m very grateful now that I was able to tell him how much I admired his musical skill. This is the end of an era.”

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We’re about to learn a lot more about the early days of The Police, thanks to Stewart Copeland. The drummer has announced that diaries he kept in the ’70s are being compiled for a new book, The Police Diaries, 1976-’79, coming later this year from Rocket 88 Books. 

Copeland shares the book will be “the truest account of the Police’s beginning and early days,” explaining, “It’s full of my original diary pages, hand-made poster designs, ragged accounts, callow observations and other scribblings of a proto-rock star, illuminated by hitherto unseen vintage photos from the deepest vaults. It’s a big, noisy book about one heckuva ride.” 

He’s also sharing some never-before-heard demos and recordings from that era of The Police, including the just-released “Clown’s Revenge.”

Fans can sign up now, which will allow them to be among the first to get the book — and also get a discount for it. There will also be an opportunity for fans to get their name in the book.

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It appears that the rumors are true: Sources tell Billboard that Madonna plans to celebrate her 40th anniversary as a recording artist with a massive tour later this year.

On the tour, Madonna plans to perform music from every phase of her career, from her 1983 self-titled debut album right up to 2019’s Madame X, her most recent album of new material.  The Queen of Pop, who normally doesn’t like to look back, has never done a retrospective tour like this before.  According to Billboard, the tour will include a multi-night stand at London’s O2 arena.

Madonna’s last tour, in support of Madame X, was plagued by difficulties, including production delays, late starts and shows that were canceled due to her hip and knee injuries.  The tour began in 2019 and ended in early March of 2020, cut short by three days due to the COVID-10 pandemic.

Madonna currently holds the record for the highest grossing tour ever by a female artist: Her Sticky and Sweet tour of 2008-2009 took in $407 million.

Madonna’s first single, “Everybody,” released in October of 1982, peaked on Billboard‘s Dance Club Songs chart on January 8, 1983: It was her first song to appear on a Billboard chart.  Her debut album came out in July of 1983.

In 2021, Madonna signed a deal with Warner Music Group for “extensive, multi-year series of catalog releases.” Last year, she released the career-spanning compilation album Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones, which collected all her dance club hits.

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