Classic Hits

Founding INXS multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Andrew Farriss has just released a music video for the latest single from his 2021 self-titled debut solo album, the uplifting “You Are My Rock,” which premiered Thursday exclusively on the CMT Music channel and at CMT.com.

The video features Farriss and his backing musicians performing the tune in the outback of his native Australia. The tune combines the country influences showcased throughout most of the album with some rock and gospel flavors.

As Farriss explains in a YouTube video clip, “‘You Are My Rock’ is the last track, and I wanted to deliberately leave it ’til the end because I wanted to, basically, kick a** at the end of the record. The song is about thanking people in your life for opportunities that are given to you, for people that support you.”

He adds, “I’m simply saying thank you to everybody [for] listening to my album to get to the end of the song.”

Farriss has a few upcoming U.S. performances lined up to promote his album, including on August 22 in Lexington, Kentucky, and on September 15 at the AmericanaFest event in Nashville.

Farriss co-wrote most of INXS’ songs with the group’s late original frontman, Michael Hutchence, including such big hits as “What You Need,” “Need You Tonight,” “Devil Inside,” “New Sensation,” “Never Tear Us Apart” and “Suicide Blonde.”

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Elton John‘s been traveling the world on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, but he’s finally enjoying some much-deserved time off with his family.

As the Daily Mail reports, Elton, dressed in head-to-toe Gucci, was spotted on a yacht in the South of France Wednesday with his husband, David Furnish, and their two sons, Zachary and Elijah. His tour won’t resume until September 7 in Toronto, so he’s got plenty of vacation time left. And he’ll need it: The tour isn’t scheduled to wrap up until the summer of 2023.

Meanwhile, it hasn’t been confirmed, but Elton’s much-anticipated collaboration with Britney Spears, “Hold Me Closer,” is rumored to be coming out on Friday. Not much is known about it, other than it appears to be an interpolation, reworking or remix of Elton’s classic “Tiny Dancer.”

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Mariah Carey‘s attempt to trademark the phrase “Queen of Christmas” has encountered more pushback from Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love, who has been called the “Queen of Christmas” for many years thanks to her classic holiday song “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”

After posting a note on Facebook Monday expressing displeasure with Mariah’s attempt to secure the trademark for the phrase to use for everything from clothing to soy milk to dog accessories, Love has now issued a statement to ABC News, in which she says, “I adore Mariah Carey as an artist and songwriter, but to register the term ‘Queen of Christmas’ for her sole usage doesn’t reflect on the holiday spirit of love and gratitude.”

Love’s statement concludes, “‘Queen of Christmas’ should not be exclusive to anyone except for Mary, Mother of Jesus.” Mariah admitted as much herself in an interview last year with BBC Radio, saying, “To me, Mary is the Queen of Christmas.”

Christmas artist Elizabeth Chan, who has also been called “Queen of Christmas” and whose lawyers have asked the U.S. Trademark Office to reject Mariah’s trademark application, told ABC’s Good Morning America Thursday, “Christmas is meant to be shared, and Christmas is for everyone.”

On GMA Thursday, ABC News legal analyst Dan Abrams said of Mariah’s filing, “This is a tough argument for her to make: the idea that she should be able to own all ‘Queen of Christmas’ merchandise moving forward … you have these other singers who’ve specifically used that phrase and [have] been called that, so I don’t see how she’s going to be able to win this sort of trademark application.”

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Billy Idol will release a new four-song EP titled The Cage EP on September 23. He’s given fans a taste of the record by making its lead track, the rocking and melodic “Cage,” available as a digital single.

The Cage EP follows another four-track collection from Idol, 2021’s The Roadside EP. Like last year’s EP, Idol’s main collaborator on the new project is his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens.

The veteran pop-punk rocker also debuted a music video for “Cage” on his official YouTube channel. The black-and-white clip features footage of Billy singing while alternately trying to free himself from a straitjacket and trapped in a small cage. Stevens also makes an appearance in the video, rocking out on lead guitar.

The Cage EP can be preordered now and will be available on CD, digitally, and as a standard black-vinyl disc and a limited-edition red-vinyl disc. A limited number signed copies of the EP are available at Idol’s official store.

Meanwhile, Variety reports that a new documentary about Idol is in the works from Grammy-winning filmmaker and videographer Jonas Akerlund, whose many credits include Madonna‘s “Ray of Light” video and Paul McCartney‘s Live Kisses concert film.

According to Variety, Akerlund was inspired to make a film about Idol after listening to Billy’s audiobook for his 2015 memoir Dancing with Myself.

“I told Billy, ‘This is a film … We need to tell this story,'” notes Akerlund. “He was there when punk-rock happened in London, then moved to New York just as MTV was exploding, and now he’s in Los Angeles. I personally love his story, the incredible events in his life. And the music has touched so many people.”

Here The Cage EP‘s full track list:

“Cage”
“Running from the Ghost”
“Rebel Like You”
“Miss Nobody”

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The first of two new compilations featuring rare and unreleased recordings by late Who bassist John Entwistle will be issued soon by the Deko Entertainment label.

Titled Rarities Oxhumed – Volume One, the album will feature previously unheard studio tracks, demos, remastered live performances and other unreleased gems. Among the live recordings is a performance of the 1978 Who tune “Trick of the Light,” penned and sung by Entwistle.

The albums have been put together by the Deko label in collaboration with longtime Entwistle solo band member Steve Lungo and John’s son, Chris Entwistle.

Deko Entertainment has launched a webpage promoting the new project, which features a countdown clock that’s scheduled to hit zero on Friday, September 9, at about 4 p.m. ET. There’s also a link to a YouTube video featuring an archival interview clip with Entwistle, who says, “I guess I’d like to be remembered as someone who helped change the face of bass guitar, and being probably the only bass guitarist that hasn’t been copyable.”

Entwistle died in June 2002 of a heart attack one day before The Who was scheduled to launch a U.S. tour. He was 57.

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Paul McCartney will be featured in a new episode of the Cosmic Kids children’s yoga series that premieres on Thursday, August 18, at 9 a.m. ET on YouTube and is inspired by the rock legend’s 2021 children’s book, Grandude’s Green Submarine.

Cosmic Kids is a story-based series that Jaime Amor and her husband, Martin, began in 2012 to teach children yoga and mindfulness. Episodes are available on YouTube and via an app that can be accessed through various streaming devices.

The new episode will offer a kids yoga adventure based on Grandude’s Green Submarine, which tells the story of a grandfather who sets sail with his grandkids, whom he calls his chillers, in his magical submarine on a journey to find his wife, Nandude.

According to a statement promoting the show, the story is a “wonderful celebration of the relationship between kids and their grandparents.”

You can check out a preview of the episode at Macca’s Facebook page.

Grandude’s Green Submarine is a sequel 2019’s Hey Grandude! Both books were written by McCartney and illustrated by Kathryn Durst.

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When it comes to blended families, Rod Stewart‘s an expert: He’s got eight children by five different women, so you can imagine how hard it must be to get them all together for anything, let alone a vacation. But he and his wife, Penny Lancaster, managed to pull it off for the first time in seven years.

The luxurious Italian vacation brought together seven of Sir Rod’s kids: Ruby, Renee, Liam, Kimberly, Sean, Alastair and Aidan. The only one missing was Sarah, who was raised by adoptive parents and didn’t meet Rod, 77, until later in life. They do have a relationship, but it’s not as close as the others.

Rod’s daughter Ruby, whose mother is model Kelly Emberg, has posted numerous photos of herself and her half siblings with Rod and Penny on Instagram. She wrote, “Our last family vacation was in 2015, so this one was well overdue. We all live in different places now and sometimes we miss some pretty important milestones in one another’s life. It can be difficult getting us all together, but the incredible @penny.lancaster managed to do it this time.”

She added, “I am beyond grateful for this mixed batch of personalities that is the Stewart Clan. I don’t know where I’d be with out you lot…Thank you dad for reminding us of the importance of family and Thank you Penny for always bringing us together again.”

Penny and the various siblings also posted their own snaps of the trip to the Amalfi coast, the island of Elba and other locations.

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Todd Rundgren‘s long-delayed studio album Space Force, which features collaborations with an eclectic variety of artists, will finally be released October 14.

Space Force is a 12-track collection that, as previously reported, includes contributions from Cheap Trick‘s Rick Nielsen, Steve Vai, Thomas Dolby, Crowded House frontman Neil Finn, former King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew, Weezer‘s Rivers Cuomo, Sparks and The Roots.

The lead track, a collaboration with Belew titled “Puzzle,” has just been released as the latest advance single from the album.

Four other Space Force tracks were previously released — “Espionage,” featuring Iraqi-Canadian hip-hop artist Narcy; “Down with the Ship” with Cuomo; “Your Fandango” with Sparks; and “Godiva Girl” with The Roots.

Originally due out in early 2021, Space Force is a follow-up to Rundgren’s 2017 album White Knight, another star-studded collection of collaborations.

In a new Variety interview, Rundgren says Space Force differs from White Knight in that the new album’s tracks featured more input from his collaborators.

“One of the reasons why I did White Knight was to force myself into opening up the process to others, but I had only done it halfway because I was still coming up with almost all of the material,” Todd notes. “So I thought, let’s go the next step. Let’s start using other people’s song ideas as the basis of where the music should go.”

Space Force can be preordered now and will be available on CD, in multiple colored-vinyl options and via digital formats.

Meanwhile, Rundgren has one joint concert with Daryl Hall scheduled for October 1 in Brookville, New York. Then, starting October 6, he’ll head out on the Celebrating David Bowie tribute tour, which also features Belew and other musicians.

Here’s the full Space Force track list:

“Puzzle” — with Adrian Belew
“Down with the Ship” — with Rivers Cuomo
“Artist in Residence” — with Neil Finn
“Godiva Girl” — with The Roots
“Your Fandango” — with Sparks
“Someday” — with Davey Lane
“I’m Not Your Dog” — with Thomas Dolby
“Espionage” — with Narcy
“STFU” — with Rick Nielsen
“Head in the Ocean” — with Alfie
“I’m Leaving” — with The Lemon Twigs
“Eco Warrior Goddess” — with Steve Vai

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Bruce Springsteen will help his longtime friend Jann Wenner celebrate the release of the Rolling Stone magazine co-founder’s new memoir, Like a Rolling Stone, by taking part in a special interview event on September 13 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

At the event, Springsteen and Wenner will discuss the famous publisher’s deeply personal book, which follows his eventful life while looking at the changing landscape of music, politics and pop culture of his generation, as covered by Rolling Stone since its 1967 inception.

The memoir also features Wenner’s reflections on a wide variety of important music artists, including Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono and Springsteen.

In-person tickets for the Q&A session are already sold out, but the event also will be streamed live online, and tickets to the virtual presentation are available at 92ny.org. Everyone purchasing a ticket will receive a copy of Like a Rolling Stone.

“If you were young, alone and in the far lands of New Jersey, Rolling Stone was a dispatch from the front, carrying news of a bigger world and another life awaiting,” says Springsteen with regard to the book. “Like a Rolling Stone is a touchingly honest memoir from a man who recorded and shaped our times and of a grand life well lived. It is wonderfully deep and rewarding reading. I loved it.”

Like a Rolling Stone will be published on September 13 and can be preordered now.

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If you can’t make it to London’s Wembley Stadium to see the star-studded tribute concert for Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, you’ll be able to watch the entire thing on Paramount+.

The September 3 show will stream live on Paramount+ starting 11:30 a.m. ET and globally on MTV Brand YouTube channels. It’ll also be available on-demand that day on Paramount+.

Don’t have that streaming service? CBS TV will air an hourlong version that night at 9 p.m. ET. MTV will then air the one-hour special internationally and follow it up with an extended two-hour special.

Meanwhile, both the London tribute and its U.S. counterpart, scheduled for September 27 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, have added more artists to their lineups.

The London concert has added Joe Walsh‘s pre-Eagles band James Gang, AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson, The Pretenders‘ Martin Chambers, Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich, Kesha, Dave Grohl‘s daughter Violet, Blink-182‘s Travis Barker, Taylor’s son Shane and more to a lineup that already included Queen‘s Brian May and Roger Taylor, Chrissie Hynde, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, Led Zeppelin‘s John Paul Jones, Rush‘s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Nile Rodgers of Chic, Nirvana‘s Krist Novoselic, ex-Oasis singer Liam Gallagher, Wolfgang Van Halen, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock.

The U.S. tribute has added James Gang, Def Leppard‘s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen, ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, Ulrich Barker, Black Sabbath‘s Geezer Butler, Violet Grohl, Shane Hawkins and more to a bill that already featured Joan Jett, Alanis Morissette, Heart‘s Nancy Wilson, KISS‘ Gene Simmons,  Miley Cyrus, Pink and many of the same guests as the London show.

Both concerts will be headlined by Foo Fighters.

Hawkins died earlier this year in Colombia.

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