Classic Hits

Los Lobos will be presented with a prestigious award at the 35th annual Hispanic Heritage Awards, which will air September 30 on PBS, and also will stream on PBS.org and the PBS Video app.

The acclaimed veteran rock band from East Los Angeles, California, will receive the Hispanic Heritage Arts Award. Formed in 1973, Los Lobos is known for blending various styles of Latin and American roots music. They found their greatest commercial success with their chart-topping cover of the late Ritchie Havens‘ classic 1958 hit “La Bamba,” which they recorded for the 1987 Valens biopic La Bamba.

The Hispanic Heritage Awards was created by the White House in celebration of the establishment of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the U.S., which takes place each year from September 15 to October 15.

“Los Lobos is an American roots band, and those roots run deep from their East Los Angeles barrio to influences from blues, rock, jazz, and, of course, Mexican and all Latin American music,” says Hispanic Heritage Foundation CEO and President Jose Antonio Tijerino. “Those ingredients created a unique sound and representation that has never been comprised, which is why the Hispanic Heritage Foundation is honored to recognize Los Lobos with our Arts Award.”

In a post on their Facebook page, Los Lobos say they’re “thrilled to be honored” with the award.

Visit HispanicHeritage.org for more information about the event.

Music artists who have been honored at previous Hispanic Heritage Awards ceremonies include Carlos Santana, Linda Ronstadt, Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, José Feliciano and Tito Puente.

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All-star hard-rock band The Dead Daisies have announced plans for a new U.S. tour that will take place this September.

The cross-country out features nine shows and is mapped out from a September 7 concert in Vineland, New Jersey, through a September 24 performance in Seattle. Along the way, the band will stop in such major cities as Nashville, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.

Tickets are available for the shows now, and The Dead Daisies are also offering a special “Have a Drink on Us” ticket bundle that includes a beverage and an exclusive T-shirt. Only 100 bundles will be sold per show.

Coinciding with the tour announcement, The Dead Daisies have released a new single called “Shine On,” from their upcoming sixth studio album, which is due out in late September. The track is available now for streaming and download, and you also can check out an official music video for the tune on the group’s YouTube channel.

“Shine On” is the second advance digital track from the band’s upcoming album, following “Radiance,” which was released about a month ago along with an animated companion video.

Known for their rotating lineup of well-known rock musicians, The Dead Daisies currently feature former Deep Purple member Glenn Hughes on lead vocals and bass, ex-Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich and former Billy Idol, Whitesnake and Foreigner drummer Brian Tichy, as well as founding guitarist David Lowy.

The Dead Daisies are currently on tour in Europe, where they’re opening for Judas Priest on select dates, as well as playing some festivals and headlining shows. Check out their full schedule at TheDeadDaisies.com.

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Former Journey singer Steve Augeri has released a new single titled “Bated Breath,” a track from his forthcoming solo album, Seven Ways ‘Til Sunday.

The heartfelt ballad is available now via digital platforms, while a lyric video for the song has premiered on Augeri’s official YouTube channel.

Augeri, who sang with Journey from 1998 to 2006, co-wrote the music for “Bated Breath” with Craig Pullman and Adam Holland, while the lyrics were co-written with Susan Piazza.

“[W]e knew we were onto something very special because the goal for me was to have the lyrics match or surpass what I felt we had achieved musically,” Steve says about the writing of “Bated Breath.” “Dare I say it, but Susan added the ‘woman’s touch’ and another important perspective to the narrative elevating the song to a whole ‘nother level that would have been unattainable without her input.”

He adds, “I had those all important goosebumps because in my experience writing with the likes of [Journey’s] Jon Cain and Neal Schon, that any less than our very best was no longer good enough. You had to reach for the Moon.”

Seven Ways ‘Til Sunday is due out later this summer. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Augeri said of the record, “I put together an album that I’m super psyched about. More than anything ever, I feel like I’ve found my voice. I don’t think I’ll get the comparisons to Steve Perry. As wonderful a compliment as that is, I feel like I finally found something that sounds like me both writing-wise and performance-wise.”

“Bated Breath” is the second advance track that’s been released from Seven Ways ‘Til Sunday following “If You Want,” which arrived in February.

Meanwhile, check out Steve’s tour schedule at SteveAugeri.com.

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One hundred years ago today — July 11, 1922 — the Hollywood Bowl officially opened.

The Los Angeles amphitheater has gone on to become one of the world’s most iconic venues. It’s hosted countless concerts and many famous live albums have been recorded there, including notable ones from The Beatles and The Doors.

ABC Audio chatted with a few well-known artists about their own experiences performing at the historic venue.

Steve Miller, who has played the Hollywood Bowl multiple times, says, “[I]t feels iconic when you get there and you look out…It kind of feels like the ’40s or the ’20s in California…It has a real traditional feel to it, so it’s special for that reason.”

Country-rock pioneer Richie Furay recalls that his old band Buffalo Springfield played a particularly exciting show there early in the group’s career, opening for The Rolling Stones in 1966.

“I mean, we didn’t even have a record contract. That’s how new it was for us,” Furay remembers. “I think we were playing maybe at [the famous LA-area club] the Whisky a Go Go, and…that’s all we were doing…And here, all of a sudden, man, the management got us on that show. So…it was pretty cool.”

Furay adds that performing at the Hollywood Bowl was “like going onto the Grand Ole Opry stage or [playing] Carnegie Hall…It was a ‘wow’ experience.”

Jim Messina, meanwhile, will be teaming up with his old musical partner Kenny Loggins for two reunion shows at the Hollywood Bowl this Friday and Saturday. The concerts will mark the duo’s first performances at the venue in 50 years.

“It’s a wonderful venue to play at,” says Messina. “And it’s in our alma mater, being up in Hollywood, where we both started out our careers.”

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Billy Joel pulled into Detroit’s Comerica Park on Saturday, with a little help from surprise guest Joe Elliott.

The Detroit Free Press reports the Piano Man was an hour into his show when the Def Leppard lead singer — in town for his band’s own Comerica Park show on Sunday — took the stage for a rendition of his band’s 1988 smash “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” backed by Joel’s eight-piece band.

It marked an encore performance for the two, who played the song together during Billy’s appearance at Boston’s Fenway Park back in 2018.

Besides his vast collection of hits, 73-year-old Billy’s Motor City stop — his first since 2014 — featured several Motown covers, including Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” and Martha & the Vandellas‘ “Dancing in the Streets,” the latter of which Billy slipped into his own 1993 hit, “River of Dreams.”

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David Lee Roth has premiered a new solo song titled “Pointing at the Moon,” which you can check out now at the longtime Van Halen singer’s official YouTube channel.

Accompanying the acoustic-based, Americana-flavored tune is a new abstract painting by Roth bearing the same name, which he also posted on his official website and social media pages. No information about the song has been revealed.

The track begins with a solo piano intro, followed by a strummed acoustic guitar as Roth sings the enigmatic first verse, “From the mildew to the barbecue, you came through from the classroom to the tomb/ Moment of truth now, your bags are packed/ With lies you can go forward, but you cannot go back.”

“Pointing at the Moon” doesn’t appear to be available yet via any major digital music providers. The song is the first solo tune Roth has debuted since December 2021, when he premiered a video on his YouTube channel along with an acoustic-based song called “One Piece Thermo-Molded Country Plastic Chair,” which he dedicated “to all who are affected by and recovering from the Kentucky tornadoes.”

Roth has been relatively quiet since canceling a series of Las Vegas residency shows in January because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Diamond Dave had announced in an October 2021 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was planning to retire after the residency.

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Following Carlos Santana‘s onstage collapse last Tuesday during a show in the Detroit suburb of Clarkston, Michigan, his band immediately postponed a concert the following night in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, and now the group has postponed six additional performances.

The affected shows, which will be rescheduled, were to have taken place on June 8 in Noblesville, Indiana; June 9 in Cincinnati; July 10 in Milwaukee as part of the city’s Summerfest event; July 12 in Rogers, Arkansas; July 15 in Dallas, Texas; and July 16 in the Houston suburb of The Woodlands, Texas.

Carlos’ illness during the Clarkston show has been reported as “serious heat exhaustion and dehydration,” and the guitar legend’s manager, Michael Vrionis, explains in a statement that the concerts are being postponed “out of an abundance of caution for the artist’s health.”

He adds, “Doctor’s have recommended that Mr. Santana gets rest to recuperate fully.”  Carlos will turn 75 on July 20  

Santana is scheduled to resume touring on July 23 with a performance at the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles, California.

“Carlos is doing well and is anxious to be back on stage soon. He just needs rest,” Vrionis says. “Santana profoundly regrets…these postponements of his upcoming performances; but, his health is our number one concern. He is looking forward to seeing all of his fans very soon.”

Tickets purchased for the postponed concerts will be honored for the rescheduled dates. Visit Santana.com to check out all of the band’s confirmed shows.

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Neil Young has revealed that he just finished making a new studio album with Crazy Horse that he co-produced with Rick Rubin.

In a message posted Thursday on his Neil Young Archives website, the 76-year-old folk-rock legend explains that he’d like to release the album immediately, “but it won’t be out until later in this year,” because it will take some time for the vinyl to be manufactured.

“Listeners want vinyl for its quality and it’s worth waiting for,” he says, adding that some tracks from the album will be made available one at a time in advance leading up to the record’s release.

“With this recording, something special is happening and we know we have a good one,” Young enthuses about the new project. “It’s too early to say any more because in this world things come and go so fast. But real magic lasts and we think we have it.”

The as-yet-untitled album is a follow-up to Barn, which Young and Crazy Horse recorded in June 2021 and released in December.

“It’s the same band, Crazy Horse, but the music is unlike Barn, our last offering,” Neil writes. “Music lives!!!!! Two records made in one year!!!!!!!”

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Blondie has released a rare demo of a song called “I Love You Honey, Give Me a Beer” that was recorded in 1980 and that will be featured on the band’s expansive forthcoming box set, Blondie: Against the Odds 1974-1982, which is due out August 26.

The track, which is available now via digital formats, is an early version of “Go Through It,” a country-flavored tune that appeared on the band’s hit 1980 album, Autoamerican.

As previously reported, Against the Odds focuses on the influential New Wave band’s original heyday and is fully authorized by the group.

The retrospective, which can be preordered now, will be available in multiple formats and configurations, including an eight-CD set and a super deluxe collectors’ edition that features 10 12-inch vinyl LPs, a 10-inch LP and a 7-inch vinyl single.

The vinyl box set features 124 tracks, 36 of which are previously unreleased. The collection contains remastered versions of Blondie’s first six studio albums — 1976’s Blondie, 1977’s Plastic Letters, 1978’s Parallel Lines, 1979’s Eat to the Beat, Autoamerican and 1982’s The Hunter — and four LPs of outtakes, demos, remixes, alternate versions, home recordings and other rarities.

The 10-inch disc features additional rarities from 1974 and ’75, while the vinyl single boasts a cover of The Doors‘ “Moonlight Drive” and a demo of the song “Mr. Sightseer.”

The box set also includes extensive liner notes and track-by-track commentary from Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke, and from former members Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison, Frank Infante and Gary Valentine.

Blondie: Against the Odds also will be available as a four-LP package, a three-CD set and digitally.

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Heart singer Ann Wilson will take part in a special performance at an exhibition of Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay‘s extensive collection of rock memorabilia and other historic artifacts, which will be held August 2 in Irsay’s hometown of Chicago.

Wilson will perform at the event with The Jim Irsay Band, which features Irsay backed by founding R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, longtime John Mellencamp guitarist Mike Wanchic, John Fogerty touring drummer Kenny Aronoff and other noteworthy musicians.

The exhibit of the Jim Irsay Collection and the performance will take place at the Aon Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier and will run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. CT. The event is free, but tickets will be required to attend and can be reserved at Eventbrite.com.

Irsay’s collection includes guitars that were played and/or owned by Bob Dylan, members of The Beatles, Prince, Eric Clapton, The Grateful Dead‘s Jerry Garcia, Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour and many other famous musicians.

The collection also features other instruments, as well as autographed photos, handwritten lyrics and more. The most recent additions to Irsay’s trove of memorabilia is the guitar that late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain played in his band’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video, and the guitar on which the late Janis Joplin learned to play “Me and Bobby McGee.”

Some non-music-related items also are part of the collection: an original “Wanted” poster for John Wilkes Booth, a baseball bat used by Jackie Robinson and a robe worn by Muhammad Ali.

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