Classic Hits

Netflix announced that the sequel to the Oscar-nominated 2019 hit whodunnit Knives Out will premiere on December 23.

The streaming service made the announcement Monday about the upcoming film, titled Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and debuted a new teaser interview with writer-director Rian Johnson, who reveals that the movie’s title was inspired by a 1968 Beatles song.

Johnson explains that he came up with the title “Glass Onion” while searching for a phrase that the film’s main character, the flamboyant detective Benoit Blanc, might use to describe the murder he’s investigating.

“I’m always fishing for something fun that Blanc can grab onto as an overwrought metaphor that he can beat to death,” Rian maintians. “This is all in plain sight from the very start. So, the idea of glass came to me, something that’s clear.”

He continues, “I’ll be very honest. I literally got out my iPhone and searched my music library with the word glass. ‘There’s got to be some good glass songs.’ I was like, ‘Oh, is it a glass fortress? Is it a glass castle? Is it a glass man?’ The first thing that came up, because I’m a huge Beatles fan, is ‘Glass Onion.'”

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will feature Daniel Craig reprising his role as Blanc, who travels to Greece to solve a case with a whole new set of colorful suspects.

While the original Knives Out also starred Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson and Christopher Plummer, the follow-up features another impressive cast, including Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista.

Norton plays a tech billionaire who invites a group of friends to his island getaway — where one of them ends up murdered.

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“Hold Me Closer,” Elton John‘s new collaboration with pop superstar Britney Spears, won’t be released until this Friday, but we now have our first taste of the track.

On TikTok, Elton posted a 14-second snippet of the song, which features Britney’s voice singing the chorus of Elton’s 1972 hit “Tiny Dancer” — “Hold me closer tiny dancer/ Count the headlines on the highway” — paired with Elton’s original vocal over a dance beat, with some “woo-hoos” in the middle.

The song has a vibe similar to Elton’s 2021 hit “Cold Heart,” which featured his original vocals from his 1989 song “Sacrifice,” paired with Dua Lipa singing the chorus of his 1972 hit “Rocket Man” and part of his 1983 single “Kiss the Bride.”

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A new album titled Let’s Live for Today featuring updated versions of well-known songs by the veteran pop-rock group The Grass Roots will be released on September 9.

The 15-track collection features vocals by longtime Grass Roots lead singer and bassist Rob Grill that were recorded in 1997, 14 years before his 2011 death from complications of a stroke at age 67.

The album boasts renditions of such late 1960s and early ’70s hits as “Let’s Live for Today,” “Midnight Confessions,” “Sooner or Later,” “I’d Wait a Million Years” and “Temptation Eyes.”

The record also features contributions from MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, as well as veteran garage rockers The Fuzztones, Texas psychedelic act Night Beats, Canadian alt-country group Dead Ghosts, Danish/Brazilian retro-rock duo The Courettes and British electronic duo The KVB.

Kramer play on one of three versions of “Midnight Confessions” that appear on the album. The Courettes lent their talents to the lead track, “Wait a Million Years,” which has been released as an advance digital single.

Let’s Live for Today can be preordered now and will be available via streaming platforms, on CD and as a limited-edition purple-splatter vinyl LP.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Wait a Million Years” (The Courettes Mix)
“Midnight Confessions” — featuring Wayne Kramer
“Let’s Live for Today” (The Fuzztones Mix)
“Temptation Eyes” (Night Beats Mix)
“Sooner or Later” (Dead Ghosts Mix)
“Bella Linda”
“Heaven Knows”
“Midnight Confessions” (The KVB Mix)
“Things I Should Have Said”
“Sooner or Later”
“Wait a Million Years”
“Temptation Eyes”
“Let’s Live for Today”
“Midnight Confessions”

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Robert Plant has long insisted he has no interest in reuniting with Led Zeppelin. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, he again addressed the issue when it was suggested fans of his old band would love to hear him sing with the group once more.

“Going back to the font to get some kind of massive applause — it doesn’t really satisfy my need to be stimulated,” said Robert, who currently is touring the U.S. as a duo with acclaimed folk/bluegrass artist Alison Krauss in support of their 2021 album Raise the Roof.

When the interviewer asked if his reluctance to revisit his past glories “make you feel like an outlier among your classic-rock peers,” Robert responded, “I know there are people from my generation who don’t want to stay home, and so they go out and play. If they’re enjoying it and doing what they need to do to pass the days, then that’s their business, really.”

Meanwhile, Plant celebrated his 74th birthday on Saturday, August 20. To mark the occasion, he got a surprise visit from his son Logan and Logan’s two children while performing with Krauss in Stateline, Nevada.

As seen in fan-shot video posted on YouTube, Logan and his kids wheeled out a birthday cake and some golden balloons as Robert chatted to the audience between songs during the show.

“This is my family,” Robert told the crowd. “They’ve come all the way from England to give me … a chocolate microphone.” He then blew out the candles, before Logan led the audience in a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

Plant and Krauss’ tour continues Tuesday in Napa, California, and is scheduled to wrap up on September 12 in New York City.

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Former Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham has announced plans for a new fall U.S. solo tour, which features 17 dates at venues throughout the Eastern U.S., as well as some gigs in the Midwest.

The outing kicks off October 26 in Bristol, Tennessee, and runs through a November 19 show in Augusta, Georgia.

Earlier this year, Buckingham canceled a trio of concerts at the end of his spring U.S. tour leg — including an April 30 performance in Louisville, Kentucky — because he and members of his touring party contracted COVID-19. Lindsey now has lined up a new show in Louisville, on October 27, but at a different venue.

The new U.S. tour takes place after Buckingham’s fall European trek, which originally was scheduled for late spring, but was postponed because Lindsey was still recovering from COVID at the time.

The forthcoming European outing is mapped out from a September 19 concert in Paris through an October 6 show in Dublin.

Visit LindseyBuckingham.com to check out Buckingham’s full schedule and for information about how to purchase tickets to the concerts.

Lindsey’s shows are in support of his latest solo studio album, a self-titled effort that was released in September 2021.

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The third episode of the new four-part Rolling Stones docuseries My Life as a Rolling Stone premieres on EPIX this Sunday, August 21, at 9 p.m. ET.

The new installment focuses specifically on Ronnie Wood. It features the longtime Stones guitarist discussing the high and low points of his long career, and his life as a member of the the iconic band.

In a preview clip from the episode, Wood and founding Stones guitarist Keith Richards recall how Richards once got into a fight with Wood over Wood’s use of crack cocaine during the group’s 1981 tour.

Richards remembers that he angrily knocked on the door to Wood’s hotel room, and when Wood opened it, Richards could smell the drugs and he proceeded to punch his bandmate, who fought back.

“We all fought into Ronnie’s room,” Richards recalls. “He tries to land one on me. The couch goes over. Ronnie’s about to fall out the window, so I grab him and then everything stops. And laughter. And that was that.”

Wood adds, “We laughed it off, and I went into the next room. There’s Mick [Jagger] and Charlie [Watts] …They’re playing some game on the floor, and I went, ‘Look at me, I’m covered in blood.’ And they just sort of went [to each other], like, “OK, right, it’s your move.”

As previously reported, the series, which was produced to coincide with the British rock legends’ 60th anniversary, is made up of four hourlong episodes, each focusing on a different band member. The first episode profiled Jagger, the second looked at Richards, while the final installment will focus on the late Watts.

In addition to new conversations with Jagger, Richards and Wood, My Life as a Rolling Stone features new interviews with many other noteworthy music artists.

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Earlier this week, Rush‘s Alex Lifeson visited the Gibson Garage, the Gibson guitar company’s flagship store in Nashville, for a special event, during which he announced that he was making a significant donation to two local charities.

Teaming up with Gibson Gives, the guitar maker’s charitable arm, Lifeson revealed that he was donating current and future earnings from sales of his recently released signature Epiphone Les Paul Axcess guitar to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and the Room in the Inn organization.

Monroe Carell hospital employs music therapists who work with in-need children and their families, using music to aid young people with chronic pain, physical rehabilitation, psychiatric symptoms, terminal illnesses and other issues.

Room in the Inn offers a variety of services for people experiencing homelessness, including meal programs, recovery from addiction and mental health issues, showers, telephone and computer access, transportation, laundry, legal help, health care and work skills training.

“I feel very fortunate that I am able to partner with Gibson Gives to support the important and never-ending work that both the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital and Room in the Inn supply for the needs of those who are less fortunate,” says Lifeson.

He adds, “It is heartbreaking to witness the struggles of a brave child battling an illness that shows no mercy or the destitute soul struggling with both homelessness and hopelessness. If we can lend a helping hand through our support to provide a reprieve for even a moment, then we have done our duty to the community.”

Also at the event, Gibson announced that it was donating guitars to both the hospital and the Room in the Inn.

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Creedence Clearwater Revival has made available the band’s performance of its classic 1969 hit “Fortunate Son” at the Royal Albert Hall as an advanced track from the upcoming archival live album featuring an April 14, 1970, show by the group at the famous London venue.

As previously reported, the album, titled Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall, will be released on September 16 and features the band’s full 12-song set from the concert, including such classics as “Travelin’ Band,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Proud Mary” and the aforementioned “Fortunate Son.”

In addition, a video of CCR playing “Fortunate Son” at the April 1970 show has debuted on the band’s official YouTube channel.

The footage will appear in the recently announced upcoming documentary and concert movie Travelin’ Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall, which includes unseen film of CCR’s entire performance.

Travelin’ Band, which is narrated by Jeff Bridges, also features rare behind-the-scenes clips of the band and archival interviews. The film will premiere internationally on September 16.

The album, which can be preordered now, will be available on CD, cassette, 180-gram vinyl and via various digital formats. Select retailers, including Walmart and Target, are offering limited-edition colored-vinyl variants of the record.

Meanwhile, a super deluxe box set will be released on November 14 that features a Blu-ray of the Travelin’ Band film, two-LP 45-rpm versions of the live album and a bonus CD containing music that’s featured in the movie.

Here’s the Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall album’s full track list:

“Born on the Bayou”
“Green River”
“Tombstone Shadow”
“Travelin’ Band”
“Fortunate Son”
“Commotion”
“Midnight Special”
“Bad Moon Rising”
“Proud Mary”
“The Night Time Is the Right Time”
“Good Golly Miss Molly”
“Keep On Chooglin'”

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We finally have a release date for Elton John‘s collaboration with Britney Spears, “Hold Me Closer.”

The song, thought to be an interpolation, remix or reimagining of Elton’s classic 1971 tune “Tiny Dancer,” will be released on August 26. The single’s artwork features a famous picture of Elton as a child sitting at a piano, as well as a photo of Britney as a little girl wearing a pink dance costume. Spears’ pic certainly fits the theme of a “tiny dancer.” You can presave the song now.

“Hold Me Closer” will be the first new music from Elton since 2021. Of course, Elton recently scored a major chart hit with “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” his collaboration with British pop star Dua Lipa, which was released last year and went on to reach #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 this past January.

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The fourth installment of Aerosmith‘s five-week archival streaming concert series, 50 Years Live!: From the Aerosmith Vaults, premieres Friday at 3 p.m. ET on the band’s official YouTube channel.

The flick captures the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers performing in September 2003 at Detroit’s Comerica Park during the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, a co-headlining trek with KISS.

The show features a rendition of Aerosmith’s 2001 hit “Jaded,” as well as such classics as “Walk This Way,” “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Mama Kin,” “Love in an Elevator” and “Cryin’.” The band also played some select covers, including Aretha Franklin‘s “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” and the early Fleetwood Mac gem “Stop Messin’ Around.”

The film, which has been remastered in HD from the original master tapes, will be viewable for one week after its premiere.

As previously reported, the five-part series is offering new archival “official bootleg” concert films featuring never-before-seen footage debuting weekly. Each flick captures Aerosmith during a different decade.

One day after each film premieres, highlight clips from the respective movies will be added to Aerosmith’s YouTube channel.

The 50 Years Live! series concludes next Friday with a 2016 concert that Aerosmith played in Mexico City. The band is then scheduled to begin its 50th anniversary tour plans, which include a September 4 concert in Bangor, Maine, a September 8 show at Boston’s Fenway Park and two eight-date Las Vegas residencies at the Dolby Live at Park MGM venue. The Vegas engagements run from September 14 to October 5 and November 19 to December 11.

Here’s the remaining schedule of the 50 Years Live!: From the Aerosmith Vaults series:

8/19 — Live from Comerica Park, Detroit, MI, 2003 (Rocksimus Maximus Tour)
8/26 — Live from Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, 2016 (Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble Tour)

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