Classic Hits

Ringo Starr‘s recently announced latest photo book, Lifted: Fab Images and Memories of My Life with The Beatles from Across the Universe, has officially been released and can be purchased now exclusively at JuliensAuctions.com, coinciding with Valentine’s Day.

Two editions of the limited-edition book are available — a Collector’s Edition that’s priced at $59 and a Signature Edition that costs $495. The Signature Edition, limited to just 500 copies, features a color cover of The Beatles signed by Ringo and comes housed in a special slip case.

Lifted pays tribute to Starr’s years with the Fab Four and features many rare, unseen and newly discovered photos of the band members, as well as recollections and anecdotes written by Ringo.

Starr put together the book with help from noted pop-culture journalist and author David Wild while quarantining during the COVID-19 lockdown. Besides images from his personal archives, Ringo also “lifted” photos of the band from the internet that caught his eye, which are featured in the book.

Starr explains in a statement, “These fantastic images came back to me in recent years from here, there and everywhere — online and off — and have somehow helped me get back to seeing my life with The Fab Four through fresh eyes.”

Proceeds from Lifted will benefit Ringo’s Lotus Foundation, which funds and supports charitable projects that focus on various social welfare causes.

Meanwhile, Ringo has shared a photo on Facebook of him, his brother-in-law Joe Walsh and their wives, Barbara and Marjorie Bach — who are sisters — celebrating the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl victory on Sunday. The pic shows all four wearing Rams jerseys, accompanied by a note from Ringo that reads, “We are the champions go Rams go peace and love.”

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The ninth installment of the star-studded Rock Legends Cruise, which originally was supposed to take place sail in February 2021, but was postponed because the COVID-19 pandemic, finally sets sail today from Port Canaveral, Florida.

One of the nautical rock extravaganza’s headlining acts this year is Deep Purple, and the famed British hard-rock band’s founding drummer, Ian Paice, tells ABC Audio that this is the first time his group has ever played this type of event.

Asked how he feels about doing the cruise, Paice explains, “I’m not trying to get any pre-formed ideas about it. I’m sure it’ll be very nice to spend a week in Florida in the middle of winter on a boat where I don’t have to work too hard, and I can wander off to a bar whenever I feel like and have a nice exotic tropical drink.”

To warm up for the cruise, Deep Purple played two gigs in Florida this past week, which were among the band’s first live performances since the pandemic began in 2020. Since that time, Deep Purple has released two studio albums — 2020’s Whoosh! and last year’s covers collection Turning to Crime.

Paice says the band likley won’t include too much material from the new albums on the cruise, noting that the performance time is limited and “the people on that boat are gonna want to hear those classic songs.”

Deep Purple currently has no other U.S. shows scheduled for this year, but Paice says, “[A]ssuming that everybody is fit and healthy and still wants to do it…then [the band will tour the States in] 2023.”

The Rock Legends Cruise IX runs through February 18, and also features Styx, Don McLean, ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder, Blue Öyster Cult and many more.

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With Valentine’s Day taking place this Monday, Neil Young & Crazy Horse have debuted a new animated lyric video for their song “Don’t Forget Love,” which appears on the group’s latest album, Barn.

The clip, which was directed by Neil’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah, features a series of animated drawings created by Gary Ward. Among the many images depicted in the art are a human heart, a couple kissing, a hand flashing a peace sign, a hand holding a few roses, a rain cloud, a rainbow, the sun shining on the moon and the Earth, and animals including bears, an owl, a dove and a blackbird.

The delicate song features sparse instrumentation, driven by piano, with lyrics that encourage “don’t forget love” when negative things are happening in your life.

In a brief video interview with Young posted in December on his YouTube channel, Neil explains, “I wrote that song for myself so that whenever I start to lose it I can just listen to that and go, ‘I wrote that. Why can’t I just do that?’ So, you know, a lot of it’s cheap therapy. Very cheap.”

As previously reported, Barn was recorded last June in a restored 19th century barn Young owns in the Colorado Rockies, and was released in December. A documentary about the making of the album, also called Barn and which Hannah also directed, premiered around the same time as the record’s release, and currently is streaming for free on Neil’s YouTube channel.

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Sting‘s latest solo album, 2021’s The Bridge, features a song titled “For Her Love.” Now the former Police frontman has released a Spanish-language version of the tune called “Por Su Amor.”

The new track, which is available now globally via digital outlets, was recorded during Sting’s recent trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where he was inspired by the scenery of Baja, California, and the views of the Gulf of California.

The Spanish lyrics for “Por Su Amor” were written by musician, songwriter and producer Martin Kierszenbaum, who is also Sting’s manager. Martin also co-wrote of “For Her Love” and co-produced The Bridge album with Sting, as well as contributing contributed keyboards to “Por Su Amor” and The Bridge.

You can check out a lyric video for “Por Su Amor” at Sting’s official YouTube channel.

Sting will give “Por Su Amor” its premiere performance on the 2022 edition of the long-running Latin music awards show Premio Lo Nuestro, which will air February 24 on Univision.

Sting has recorded other songs in Spanish in the past, as well as in Portuguese and French.

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This Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of the release of The Allman Brothers Band‘s classic fourth album, Eat a Peach.

The record, a two-disc set that includes a mix of studio tracks and live performances, is the band’s last album to feature founding slide guitarist Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle crash at age 24 on October 29, 1971, not long after the sessions began.

Although Eat a Peach had no hit singles, it features what became many of The Allman Brothers Band’s most popular songs, including “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” and “Melissa,” both written by lead singer/keyboardist Gregg Allman; “Blue Sky,” penned by singer/guitarist Dickey Betts; and a memorable cover of blues great Elmore James‘ “One Way Out.”

The live tracks — “One Way Out,” “Trouble No More” and the epic “Mountain Jam” — were recorded at the same run of 1971 New York City shows that yielded the band’s At Fillmore East album.

“Mountain Jam” is a 34-minute-plus improvised instrumental based on British folk-rocker Donovan‘s 1967 hit “There Is a Mountain.” To fit the jam onto the album, it was split into two parts and took up two full sides of the double LP.

Eat a Peach peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200, The Allman Brothers’ highest-charting album up to that time, and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for 1 million units sold in the U.S.

In 2020, Eat a Peach was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More”
“Les Brers in A Minor”
“Melissa”
“Mountain Jam” (live)
“One Way Out” (live)
“Trouble No More” (live)
“Stand Back”
“Blue Sky”
“Little Martha”

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Back in December, Styx and REO Speedwagon announced plans for a 35-date 2022 North American trek dubbed the Live & Unzoomed Tour featuring Loverboy as their special guest.  Now the veteran rockers have added 10 new dates to the outing.

The new concerts run from a September 3 performance in Duluth, Minnesota, through a September 18 show in Bangor, Maine.

Tickets for the new dates will go on sale to the general public on starting Friday, February 18, at 10 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com. Styx and REO Speedwagon will be making available VIP packages and exclusive pre-sales starting Tuesday, February 15, at 10 a.m. local time at StyxWorld.com and REOSpeedwagon.com.

Citi card members also will be able to buy presale tickets beginning February 15 at 10 a.m. local time; visit CitiEntertainment.com for more details.

As previously reported, the Live & Unzoomed Tour kicks off May 31 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the initially announced run of shows had been scheduled through an August 21 performance in Wantagh, New York.

When the trek was first announced, a hilarious video promoting the trek premiered on YouTube featuring Styx’s Tommy Shaw and Lawrence Gowan, REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin and Dave Amato, and Loverboy’s Mike Reno showing what they’ve been up to at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now a follow-up “bloopers” clip has debuted on YouTube featuring the various band members having fun while filming the original promo clip.

(Video contains uncensored and censored profanity.)

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Paul McCartney has contributed a bass part to a new song called “Home” by The Umoza Music Project, an international collective featuring various singers from the African country of Malawi collaborating with over a dozen U.K. musicians.

“Home” is the lead single and title track of The Umoza Music Project’s upcoming second album, both of which are due out May 6.

The Home album, which will be available on CD, vinyl and digital formats, features the Malawian artists singing in their native language, Chichewa, and was put together remotely with the various musical contributors.

The song marks the first time that McCartney has played bass as a guest musician on an African language track. Sir Paul recorded his part while in lockdown in the U.K. during the sessions for his latest solo album, McCartney III.

“Home” will also be released as a limited-edition single on 7-inch and 10-inch vinyl. Proceeds from the discs will benefit Malawian musicians.

“I’ve always loved African music so when I was asked to do this I jumped at the chance and ended up playing my Hofner bass on this cool song,” McCartney says in a statement. “It was great to collaborate with these excellent African musicians.”

John Tobin, founder and producer of The Umoza Music Project, adds, “[Paul has] helped us create us a great track and lead single, and it’ll bring these beautiful Malawian voices to the attention of many more music lovers around the world than we would have reached otherwise.”

Tobin, who was born in Malawi but raised in the U.K., began The Umoza Music Project in 2010 as a collaboration with a Malawian singer/songwriter named Max Jere. A documentary about the project currently is in the works. Visit PaulMcCartney.com and UmozaMusic.com for more information.

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Janet Jackson‘s bold new documentary has had a ripple effect on her music, boosting her streaming numbers by over 100 percent.

Billboard reports Janet’s streams have skyrocketed by 109 percent since her eponymous four-part documentary premiered  on A&E and Lifetime in late January, during which she provides honest insights on her career, controversies, upbringing and more. By February 3, fans streamed her songs 10.6 million times.  The most listened-to single was “That’s the Way Love Goes,” clocking 778,000 streams in the U.S. alone.  Other songs enjoying a major bump in numbers are “All for You,” “Control,” “Any Time, Any Place” and “Nasty.”    

Janet also enjoyed a major boost in sales.  “That’s the Way Love Goes” leads the pack, with fans snatching up 1,300 copies.  Securing the second-most sales was “All For You,” with 1,100 copies sold.  “Rhythm Nation,” “Escapade” and “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” also sold over 1,000 downloads each.

Janet’s album sales also jumped by 17,000 units.  The leader is Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, with 4,000 copies of it flying off the shelves. 

According to Nielsen, 2.8 million people tuned in to watch part one of Janet Jackson, the documentary when it premiered on January 28, and it amassed an additional 1.2 million views via digital download or on demand.  Parts two through four were respectively seen by 4.3 million, 3.7 million and 3.8 million people when they aired for the first time.

No other nonfiction offering on A&E and Lifetime amassed such numbers since 2019’s Surviving R. Kelly.

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Happy birthday Sheryl Crow, born sixty years ago today. 

Sheryl’s career spans over three decades, 11 studio albums and nine Grammy awards.  She got her start singing commercial jingles in the 80s before landing a spot as a backup singer on Michael Jackson‘s tour in 1987.  She didn’t get her big break until 1994, when she released her debut studio album Tuesday Night Music Club, which featured her hit single, “All I Wanna Do.”

Since then, Sheryl’s sold more than 50 million albums and scored other hits such as “If It Makes You Happy,” “Soak Up the Sun,” “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” and her “Picture” collaboration with Kid Rock. 

Sheryl also dabbled in acting, making her first television appearance in 1990 on the short-lived Cop Rock.  Since then, she’s made multiple cameos across several popular series such as One Tree Hill, 30 Rock, Hannah Montana and NCIS: New Orleans.  The singer also appeared in three films; 54, The Minus Man and De-Lovely.

In addition to nine Grammys, Sheryl also has one Academy of Country Music Award, three American Music Awards, a Billboard Music Award, a BRIT Award, and a People’s Choice Award.  In addition, she was given an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Southeast Missouri State University.

All this and more will be explored in her eponymous upcoming documentary that will take fans behind the scenes of Sheryl’s rise to fame and her “arduous musical career battling sexism, ageism, depression, cancer, and the price of fame,” per the official description.  Sheryl is set to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival on March 11. 

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Today marks the 10th anniversary of Whitney Houston‘s death, and her estate is ensuring that we’ll be able to enjoy her music for many years to come, through the release of everything from new albums, to a Broadway show.  It’s all being planned by Whitney’s estate, which has quadrupled its earnings over the past three years, Variety reports.

Most exciting for fans may be the news that two new Whitney albums will arrive in 2023, as Variety also reports. One will be the singer’s first gospel collection, while the other is a live album.  The gospel collection will be a mix of unreleased tracks, some of which are live, plus songs recorded for her 1996 movie The Preacher’s Wife.

Meanwhile, the authorized biopic of Whitney, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, is due out this December, but its soundtrack will arrive a month before, reports Variety. Whitney’s mentor Clive Davis, who is co-producing the film, will also be involved in the soundtrack.

ALso, the estate is already working on a Broadway musical adaptation and is in talks to create a “Cirque-like” Whitney destination show in Las Vegas. A cosmetics line is expected to launch around the same time as the film.

Finally, starting today, you can purchase a Whitney Funko Pop Icon figure, exclusively at Target.

Pat Houston, the president of the Whitney Houston Estate, tells Variety, “Whitney would certainly be proud of the direction and momentum we have established for her brand: re-introducing her legacy to a new generation [by] capitalizing on the opportunities that continuously represent her gift in the best light.”

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