Elton John, Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers are among the nominees for the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.
Elton has received two nods thanks to his hit collaboration with British pop star Dua Lipa, “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix),” which is up for Song of the Year and Best Collaboration.
Madonna’s Madame X documentary and concert film will compete for the Best Longform Video prize.
The Chili Peppers, meanwhile, have been nominated in the Best Rock category for their “Black Summer” video.
Scoring the most MTV VMA nominations were rappers Kendrick Lamar, Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow, who each tallied seven nods. You can check out the full list of nominees at MTV.com.
The 2022 MTV VMAs take place August 28. Voting is now open at Vote.MTV.com.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell has been busy this year touring with his own band The Dirty Knobs, whose second album, External Combustion, was released in March.
Since Tom Petty‘s unexpected death at age 67 in October 2017, Campbell hasn’t played with most of his Heartbreakers band mates, but would he consider eventually doing a reunion project or tour with the guys? In a recent interview with ABC Audio, the 72-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer admitted that he had mixed feelings about that.
“I go back and forth. I’m not really feeling it right now,” Campbell said. “I’m still grieving, and I still feel uncomfortable with the idea of getting all the guys in a room…and starting a song and Tom’s not there. I don’t know if I want to feel that grief at this moment.”
Mike also noted that he was busy with The Dirty Knobs now and he “wouldn’t want to distract from [that].”
Campbell added that he wouldn’t absolutely say “no” to some kind of reunion, “but right now it doesn’t look like it.”
He continued, “I don’t want to mess with the past…I’m really proud of our legacy, and I don’t want to cheapen it by going out with some…homogenized version of what it was. And without Tom, I don’t care who’s singing, it wouldn’t be the same.”
Campbell also pointed out that The Dirty Knobs have been honoring Petty by playing several of Tom’s songs at their concerts this year.
“[T]hat’s where I get that out of my system,” he maintained.
The Dirty Knobs’ upcoming 2022 tour schedule includes a bunch of headlining shows, some festivals, four gigs opening for Gov’t Mule in early October, and seven concerts in October and November supporting The Who.
Bob Rafelson, the director, producer and writer best known for co-creating The Monkees TV series and helming the 1970 film Five Easy Pieces, “died peacefully, surrounded by his family” Saturday evening at his home in Aspen, Colorado, his former personal assistant, Jolene Wolff, tells Variety.
In 1965, Rafelson teamed up with fellow aspiring filmmaker Bert Schneider — who died in 2011 — to form the Raybert Productions company, whose first project was a comedy show that followed a fabricated rock group seemingly modeled on The Beatles. The series, which ran from 1966 to 1968, was initially a huge success, as were several of the albums that the band created for the show released.
In 1968, Rafelson directed and co-wrote, with Jack Nicholson, the movie Head, which starred The Monkees. Raybert Productions also produced the classic 1969 counterculture film Easy Rider.
Rafelson directed, co-wrote and co-produced Five Easy Pieces, which starred Nicholson and scored four Oscar nominations.
Rafelson also co-wrote and/or directed a number of other films starring Nicholson, including 1972’s The King of Marvin Gardens and 1981’s The Postman Always Rings Twice.
In addition, he directed the music video for Lionel Richie‘s 1983 hit “All Night Long (All Night).”
Monkees member Micky Dolenz paid homage to Rafelson in a Facebook post that reads in part, “One day in the spring of 1966, I cut my classes in architecture at LA Trade Tech to take an audition for a new TV show called, The Monkees … Needless-to-say, I got the part and it completely altered my life…Regrettably, Bob passed away last night after a long illness but I did get a chance to send him a message telling him how eternally grateful I was that he saw something in me.”
Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Encore, the companion weekend to the Pearl Jam frontman’s Ohana Festival, has been canceled.
No official announcement was made, but the Ohana website no longer lists the Encore event. Additionally, the festival’s FAQ section states that tickets that have been purchased for Ohana Encore will be automatically refunded.
According to Spin.com, ticketholders received an email saying that Ohana Encore was canceled due to “circumstances beyond our control.”
Ohana Encore was set to take place October 8-9 in Dana Point, California, and was to have featured headlining performances by Vedder and Alanis Morissette on the first day, and The Black Keys and HAIM on the second.
Ohana Festival, meanwhile, will be held in Dana Point from September 30 to October 2, and will include performances by Vedder, Stevie Nicks, Pink, founding Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and his current group The Dirty Knobs, Jack White, St. Vincent and Brittany Howard.
In a tweet Monday, the punk rockers shared an image of the American Idiot heart grenade surrounded by a nearly whole circle.
While fans in the comments are hoping that the mysterious post is hinting at new music, it seems to be teasing an announcement for an intimate Lollapalooza aftershow around Green Day’s upcoming headlining set at the Chicago festival.
The same image was also tweeted by Lolla, while the Chicago club Metro tweeted, “Now might be a good time to be signed up for the Metro newsletter…Just sayin.” The Metro logo also features the same almost-circle in Green Day’s post.
Lollapalooza takes place July 28-31, with Green Day scheduled to headline the final day. The lineup also includes Metallica, Machine Gun Kelly, Måneskin, Porno for Pyros, Glass Animals, Turnstile and Wallows.
Joni Mitchell thrilled fans at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island on Sunday when she made a surprise appearance at the event, marking her first performance at the fest since 1969.
Mitchell, who has rarely performed in public since suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015, was the guest of honor at “Joni Jam” — a Brandi Carlile-led event that featured accompaniment and guest appearances from a variety of musicians and singers, including Wynonna Judd, Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons, Dawes‘ Taylor Goldsmith, Lucius, Allison Russell and Shooter Jennings.
Sitting in a plush throne-like chair, Mitchell sang along with Brandi for most of the 13-song set and delivered lead vocals on several songs, including her classics “Both Sides Now” and “The Circle Game.” Joni even played some guitar during a rendition of her 1974 tune “Just Like a Train.”
The last time Mitchell performed a full set of songs was in 2000. Her official website has gathered together links to fan-shot videos of all 13 performances.
In related news, Paul Simon also made a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival over the weekend. On Saturday, July 23, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats curated a set of Simon’s songs that featured various guest performers, including Paul, who joined in for the last four songs — “Graceland,” “American Tune,” “The Boxer” and “The Sound of Silence.”
“What an absolute pleasure to work with Nathaniel Rateliff and his incredible band,” Simon wrote on his Facebook page Sunday. “[Nathaniel’s] curation of my music and all of the artists he selected to participate was overwhelming.”
Here’s the full set list of Joni’s performance:
“Carey”
“Come In from the Cold”
“Help Me”
“A Case of You”
“Big Yellow Taxi”
“Just Like This Train”
“Why Do Fools Fall In Love”
“Amelia”
“Love Potion #9”
“Shine”
“Summertime”
“Both Sides Now”
“The Circle Game”
Stevie Nicks has added a dozen headlining dates to her upcoming 2022 U.S. tour, which includes appearances at five festivals.
The newly announced shows run from a September 13 concert in Clarkston, Michigan through an October 28 performance in West Palm Beach, Florida. Nicks’ tour also will visit Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Stevie’s pal, singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton, will open all 12 shows. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting this Friday, July 29 at 10 a.m. local time via LiveNation.com. Pre-sale tickets will be available starting Thursday, July 28 at 10 a.m. local time.
“Here we go!” Stevie says in a statement about the trek. “I’m so excited to be back on the road and can’t wait to see everyone.”
Nicks’ festival performances are scheduled for September 4 at Jazz Aspen Snowmass in Snowmass, Colorado; September 8 and September 10 at Ravinia in Highland Park, Illinois; September 17 at the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey; September 24 at Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Sound on Sound Festival; and September 30 at Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Fest in Dana Point, California.
Pink Floyd has debuted an official video for the recently reworked version of the band’s 1994 song “A Great Day for Freedom,” which was released recently digitally and as the B-side of the physical version of the group’s new single, “Hey Hey Rise Up.”
The video, which you can watch at Pink Floyd’s official YouTube channel, features newly edited footage of the band performing during rehearsals for its two-week run of shows at Earl’s Court in London in 1994.
The updated recording of “A Great Day for Freedom” features David Gilmour’s original vocal, guitar and bass; Nick Mason‘s original drums; keyboards by Rick Wright and backing vocals by Sam Brown, Claudia Fontaine and Durga McBroom recorded during the ’94 Earl’s Court show rehearsals; and new keyboard tracks by Gilmour.
“A Great Day for Freedom” originally appeared on Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell. The song’s music was composed by Gilmour, with lyrics co-written by David and wife Polly Samson.
The tune reflects with uncertainty about the future of Eastern Europe following the Berlin Wall being torn down, and Gilmour felt the song served as a good companion for “Hey Hey Rise Up,” which was inspired by Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine.
As previously reported, the “Hey Hey Rise Up” single featuring the updated “A Great Day for Freedom” is available now in most countries on CD and as a seven-inch vinyl disc, but won’t be released in those formats in North America and Australia until October 21.
In other news, a 2018 remix of Pink Floyd’s “Dogs,” from the upcoming reissue the band’s 1977 album Animals, has been released as an advance track via digital formats and posted at the band’s YouTube channel. The Animals reissue is due out September 16.
If 17 new Red Hot Chili Peppers songs weren’t enough for you, then you only have to wait a few months to hear some more.
The “Under the Bridge” outfit has announced another new album to follow April’s Unlimited Love. The upcoming record is titled Return of the Dream Canteen and will arrive October 14.
In a statement, the Peppers describe how the writing and recording process for Unlimited Love, which marked the return of guitarist John Frusciante after he’d left the group in 2009, left them with “more songs than we knew what to do with.”
“Well we figured it out,” the Peps write. “[Two] double albums released back to back. The second of which is easily as meaningful as the first or should that be reversed.”
“Return of the Dream Canteen is everything we are and ever dreamed of being,” they add. “It’s packed.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers just launched their U.S. tour in support of Unlimited Love over the weekend. The headlining outing, which features artists including HAIM, Beck, Thundercat, The Strokes and King Princess on the bill, stretches into September.
Longtime Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse is officially leaving the band after announcing in March that he was taking a temporary hiatus from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers to be with his wife, Janine, as she battles cancer.
In a new message from Deep Purple, the group explains, “Steve Morse will be stepping back from the band, having been its guitarist for more than a quarter of a century. Steve’s personal circumstances have made it impossible for him to commit to the band’s schedule throughout 2022 and beyond.”
Deep Purple adds, “Steve will be greatly missed by band, crew, management, record label and all those that had the pleasure of working with him over the years.”
Morse joined Deep Purple in 1994, and played on eight studio album by the band, while co-writing nearly every original song that appeared on those records.
In his own statement, Morse explains about his decision to leave the band, “[My wife and I] are learning to accept stage 4 aggressive cancer and chemo treatment for the rest of her life. We both miss being at shows, but I simply couldn’t commit to long, or far away tours, since things can change quickly at home.”
He adds, “I wish to thank the listeners who so strongly supported live music and turned every show from a dress rehearsal to a thundering, exciting experience. I’ll miss everybody in the band and crew but being Janine’s helper and advocate has made a real difference at many key points.”
The band’s statement also includes messages from Morse’s Deep Purple band mates — singer Ian Gillan, drummer Ian Paice, bassist Roger Glover and keyboardist Don Airey — in which they expressed their admiration and affection for Morse.
Deep Purple currently are on tour in Europe with Morse’s replacement, Simon McBride.
