Classic Hits

As part of Aerosmith‘s ongoing 50th-anniversary festivities, the band has unveiled plans for a new streaming concert series: 50 Years Live!: From the Aerosmith Vaults will kick off Friday, July 29, and will run for five consecutive weeks.

Each week, a new archival “official bootleg” concert film featuring never-before-seen footage will debut at Aerosmith.com and the band’s official YouTube channel. Each flick captures Aerosmith during a different decade and was filmed by multiple cameras.

The first installment, titled Live from The Summit, Houston, TX, 1977, features remastered footage from a two-night stand that the band played at the Houston venue in June ’77. It will air on July 29 at 3 p.m. ET and will be viewable for up to one week.

The other concert films in the series are as follows: Live from The Capital Centre, Landover, MD, 1989 will premiere August 5; Live from the Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheatre, Pittsburgh, PA, 1993 drops August 12; Live from Comerica Park, Detroit, MI, 2003 comes out August 19; and Live from Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, 2016 arrives on August 26.

One day after each premiere, highlight clips from the respective films will also be added to Aerosmith’s YouTube channel.

As previously reported, Aerosmith has anniversary concerts scheduled on September 4 in Bangor, Maine and September 8 at Boston’s Fenway Park. They also have two eight-date Las Vegas residencies at the Dolby Live at Park MGM, running from September 14 to October 5 and November 19 to December 11.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

ZZ Top‘s latest album, Raw, hit stores Friday.

As previously reported, the stripped-down collection of live performances is dedicated to the band’s longtime bassist, Dusty Hill, who died in July 2021 at age 72.

“I think nothing could be a more fitting tribute [than] to release something that was so telling of how ZZ Top actually came about,” singer/guitarist frontman Billy Gibbons tells ABC Audio.

The 11-track album was recorded live at historic Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, in conjunction with the famed blues-rock trio’s 2019 documentary That Little Ol’ Band from Texas.

The album features ZZ Top’s classic lineup — Gibbons, Hill and drummer Frank Beard — playing versions of various songs from their back catalog, including hits like “Legs” and “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” and as well two tunes from the band’s 1971 debut album: “Brown Sugar” and “Certified Blues.”

Gibbons says the performance was unplanned, noting the film’s director had invited ZZ Top to Gruene Hall for what the band thought was just a photo shoot.

“Upon arrival, we discovered that some wires had been crossed,” Gibbons notes. “The ZZ Top equipment crew had not been told it was just a photo session. They set up the entire backline. We had guitars, amps, drums, the works.”

Gibbons says the trio proceeded to play a bunch of songs, and while footage of some performances were featured in the movie, Billy maintains he wasn’t aware that audio of the full set had been recorded until an engineer informed him a few months later.

“Upon listening to it, we all took a shine,” Gibbons notes, “and said, ‘Gee whiz, this sounds like the ZZ Top we’ve always known. That’s how we started.'”

Here’s Raw‘s full track list:

“Brown Sugar”
“Just Got Paid”
“Heard It on the X”
“La Grange”
“Tush”
“Thunderbird”
“I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide”
“Gimme All Your Lovin'”
“Blue Jean Blues”
“Certified Blues”
“Tube Snake Boogie”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Beatles‘ Ringo Starr, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, and The Grateful Dead‘s Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are among the famous musicians featured in an upcoming documentary titled Let There Be Drums!, according to Deadline.

The film, which aims to “examine the essential role drumming plays in great bands and how music passes from generation to generation,” will also feature interviews with Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith, ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum, Jane’s Addiction‘s Stephen Perkins and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Hawkins’ appearance in the film marks, as Deadline puts it, “what may have been the final filmed interview” he gave prior to his unexpected death earlier this year.

Let There Be Drums! was directed by Kreutzmann’s son, Justin, who told Deadline the project gave him the opportunity “to talk to the world’s most influential drummers in hopes of better understanding his father and the instrument that defined his life.”

Let There Be Drums! is set to premiere in theaters October 28. Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are serving as executive producers on the movie.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Another project about The Beatles may be on the way.

In a recent interview, Peter Jackson, the director behind the Disney+ three-part docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, revealed that he’s in talks with surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr about a new endeavor.

“I’m talking to The Beatles about another project, something very, very different than Get Back,” Jackson told Deadline. “We’re seeing what the possibilities are, but it’s another project with them. It’s not really a documentary … and that’s all I can really say.”

Get Back, which hit Disney+ in November 2021, was created from dozens of hours of previously unseen footage that focuses on the January 1969 sessions that yielded the band’s Let It Be album.

The docuseries recently scored five Emmy nominations, in categories honoring outstanding documentary, directing, picture editing, sound editing and sound mixing.

Jackson told Deadline that he’s especially happy about the nominations in the sound-related categories.

“Get Back is all about the sound, and restoring the sound and developing the AI things to separate the musical tracks,” Peter notes. “We did a lot of groundbreaking work, so it’s really great that the guys who did that work are part of the Emmy nominations.”

The Beatles: Get Back is available now on DVD and Blu-ray.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Zombies will be playing a sold-out show tonight at the intimate Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace venue in Pioneertown, California, but if you can’t make it to the concert in person, the event will be streamed live via the Veeps.com platform.

Tickets for the virtual event are available now for $17.99, and you’ll be able to view the concert on demand for 72 hours after the live performance takes place. The show starts at 11 .m. ET/8 p.m. PT. Opening for the British Invasion legends will be veteran U.S. alternative rock band Rooney.

In a recent interview with DesertLocalNews.com, Zombies lead singer Colin Blunstone said about getting the chance to play at Pappy & Harriet’s, “I have heard of the reputation of this place and how unusual it is. I’m very much looking forward to going there.” The famous venue, located in the Califonia desert, hosted a concert by Paul McCartney back in 2016.

Meanwhile, Blunstone also revealed that The Zombies have “completely finished” recording their next studio album, which will be a followup to 2015’s Still Got That Hunger.

“I don’t have a release date and I don’t even have a title,” notes Colin about the upcoming record.

The Zombies will wind down the North American summer leg of their Life Is a Merry-Go-Round Tour with a three-night stand, July 28-30, in Park City, Utah.

The band also has a series of shows in mainland Europe scheduled from early September to early October, followed by a U.K. leg that will take place in April and May of 2023.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ricky Martin said “Truth prevails” after a court dismissed the restraining order his nephew filed against him.

As previously reported, Dennis Yadiel Sanchez, 21, filed a domestic abuse restraining order against the “Livin’ La Vida Loca” singer in Puerto Rico and accused Ricky of engaging in a seven-month relationship with him. He claimed he “feared for his safety” after the singer allegedly began stalking him following the end of their alleged relationship.

Ricky’s attorney had called the allegations “untrue” and “disgusting.”

A Puerto Rican court dismissed Sanchez’s restraining order on Thursday, and Ricky’s legal team told ABC News in a statement they are pleased with the outcome.

“Just as we had anticipated, the temporary protection order was not extended by the Court. The accuser confirmed to the court that his decision to dismiss the matter was his alone, without any outside influence or pressure, and the accuser confirmed he was satisfied with his legal representation in the matter,” the team said. 

They continued, “The request came from the accuser asking to dismiss the case. This was never anything more than a troubled individual making false allegations with absolutely nothing to substantiate them.”

“We are glad that our client saw justice done and can now move forward with his life and his career,” the statement concluded.

Ricky came under fire earlier this month when a judge allowed Sanchez’s restraining order to go into effect under Law 54, which is Puerto Rico’s Domestic Abuse Prevention and Intervention Act.  

Ricky’s lawyer, Marty Singer, told ABC News that the claims were fabricated and made by someone who is “struggling with deep mental health challenges.” They also expressed hope for Sanchez to get the help “he so urgently needs.”

Sanchez, nor his legal team, have spoken publicly about the case.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Irish rockers U2 and pop/R&B legend Gladys Knight are among the five honorees who will be saluted at the 45th annual Kennedy Center Honors gala. The star-studded ceremony will be held December 4 at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C.

Also set to be honored are actor/filmmaker George Clooney, Christian music artist Amy Grant and Cuban-born American composer and conductor Tania León.

The awards are presented annually by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to people who have made lasting contributions to American culture through performing arts.

In a joint statement, U2 said of the honor, “[W]e never imagined that 40 years on [from our first trip to the U.S.], we would be invited back to receive one of the nation’s greatest honours…It has been a four-decade love affair with the country and its people, its artists, and culture. We consider America to be a home away from home and we are very grateful to the Kennedy Center Honors for welcoming us into this great clan of extraordinary artists.”

Knight, meanwhile, says she’s “humbled beyond words” to be recognized alongside the other honorees, adding, “I stand here with my fans, my family, my friends, my team, and my faith in accepting such an amazing distinction. It is dedicated to all those who paved the path for me to be able to accomplish the wonderful blessings I’ve been able to receive.”

A two-hour TV special documenting this year’s event will be broadcast at a later date on CBS and will be streamed and made available on demand on Paramount+.

For more details about the event, visit Kennedy-Center.org.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Moody Blues singer/bassist John Lodge says he’s been working on new music with Yes frontman Jon Davison, who has made regular guest appearances at Lodge’s solo concerts in recent years.

“We’ve been writing a couple of songs together … for the future,” Lodge tells ABC Audio, while also noting that Davison will appear with him and his 10,000 Light Years Band at a one-off concert this Monday, July 25, at Ocean City Music Pier in Ocean City, New Jersey.

“I’m looking forward to that,” Lodge says. “It’s great having [Jon] onstage.”

The 77-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who mounted a three-week U.S. tour in March, tells ABC Audio that he’d initially planned to play more concerts this summer, but decided to take a break before scheduling a new trek.

Lodge notes he couldn’t pass up doing the Ocean City show because he loved the idea of playing in that location.

“To go to a pier in New Jersey in the summer, it intrigued me,” he says. “The boardwalk and all that, you know?”

Lodge says it reminded him of England during the late 1950s and early ’60s, when rock ‘n’ roll shows were commonly held on Sundays at various piers during summertime.

Meanwhile, he says the New Jersey concert will basically feature the same set as the ones he played in March.

At those shows, he performed renditions of classic Moody Blues songs that he wrote and also paid tribute to his former bandmates Justin Hayward, Mike Pinder and the late Ray Thomas by playing tunes they composed for the group.

A major highlight was a rendition of the Hayward-penned “Nights in White Satin,” with Davison on guest vocals.

Tickets for the concert are available at Ticketmaster.com; special upgrades can be purchased at OneLiveMedia.com.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Doors guitarist Robby Krieger has revealed plans to release a new album this summer with a new group called Krieger & The Soul Savages.

According to a post on Robby’s official Facebook page, the band features keyboardist Ed Roth, bassist Kevin Brandon and drummer Franklin Vanderbilt playing “a blend of melodic, psychedelic rock and soul.”

Krieger & The Soul Savages appears to be a rechristened version of Robby’s jazz-flavored side group The New Experience, which debuted in 2019 and also featured Roth, Brandon and Vanderbilt.

Krieger & The Soul Savages made their live debut last week at two concerts in the Los Angeles area. The band also has club gigs lined up on July 31 at Bogies in Westlake Village, California, and August 10 at Vibrato Grill in LA.

Meanwhile, Robby has five other upcoming concerts scheduled with his other group, the Robby Krieger Band. Those shows will take place on July 21 in St. Charles, Illinois; July 22 in Des Plaines, Illinois; September 23 in San Juan Capistrano, California; and September 25-26 at the famed Whisky a Go Go club in West Hollywood.

During the two-night stand at the Whisky, Robby and company will celebrate the 55th anniversary of The Doors’ second album, Strange Days.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Mike Love and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys will team up with country duo LoCash for a special performance August 2 on ABC’s Good Morning America.

During their stop on the show, the acts will deliver the national television premiere of “Beach Boys,” LoCash’s new song, which pays tribute to the legendary California pop-rock group and features guest vocals by Love and Johnston. After performing the new single, Love, Johnston and LoCash will deliver a rendition of The Beach Boys’ 1988 classic “Kokomo.”

The Beach Boys have picked up some serious country cred since LoCash’s new single came out; last month, they joined the duo to make their Grand Ole Opry debut. While they were backstage, LoCash surprised Mike and Bruce with two pairs of snakeskin boots, officially welcoming them to the country music family.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.