Classic Hits

Following Meat Loaf‘s death at age 74 on January 20, the powerhouse singer’s albums and songs have shot up the Billboard charts like, well, bats out of hell.

First of all, Meat Loaf’s classic 1977 album Bat Out of Hell re-entered the Billboard 200 at #13, one spot higher than it originally peaked back in 1978. The album, which has been certified 14-times Platinum by the RIAA, moved 28,000 album equivalent units during the most recent week-long tracking period, according to MRC Data, a 3,677% increase from the previous week.

Bat Out of Hell also debuted at #1 on the Top Rock Albums chart and re-entered the Catalog Albums tally at #1.

Meanwhile, Meat Loaf’s chart-topping 1993 sequel album Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell re-entered the Billboard 200 at #91 after notching 10,000 album equivalent units during the latest tracking period, a 2,320% surge from the previous week.

Bat Out of Hell II included Meat Loaf’s only #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” The tune has now debuted at the top of the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart and Hard Rock Streaming Songs tally.

Those two songs were streamed 4.4 million and 4.5 million times in the U.S., respectively, during the most most tracking week, accounting for 40% of Meat Loaf’s song streams.

As for Meat Loaf’s epic Bat Out of Hell track “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” it debuted at #1 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs and Hard Rock Streaming Songs charts.

Looking at Meat Loaf’s overall catalog, it amassed 21.1 million on-demand official audio and video streams in the U.S. during the latest tracking period, a 1,422% increase from the previous week, according to MRC Data reported by Billboard.

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After moving them several times, Aerosmith has now permanently canceled their planned European tour dates because of uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a Facebook message the band writes that the tour, which was to have taken place in June and July of this year, has been scrapped due to “related uncertainty around travel logistics and the continued presence of COVID restrictions and other issues.”

“The health, safety and well being of our fans is our number one priority,” the band continues, adding, “We will be back to rock out with everyone and we hope to have some exciting news to announce soon…Until then, take care and we deeply apologize for any inconvenience.”

The tour was originally supposed to take place in 2020, but it was then moved to 2021, and then to this year.  The last time Aerosmith played live was February 15, 2020 as part of their Deuces Are Wild Las Vegas residency.

The band’s only live date this year is now its September 8 show in Fenway Park in Boston with Extreme. It was originally supposed to have taken place in 2020 to celebrate Aerosmith’s 50th anniversary.

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In 2019, an eclectic group of music stars took part in a U.S. tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Beatles‘ The White Album, and now, a similar-themed trek has been announced for this March with a lineup that includes some of the same artists.

The 2022 “It Was Fifty Years Ago Today: A Tribute to The Beatles” tour will feature Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, founding Moody Blues and Wings member Denny Laine, Badfinger‘s Joey Molland, former Chicago singer/bassist Jason Scheff and Rascal Flatts‘ Jay DeMarcus performing songs from two classic Fab Four albums — 1965’s Rubber Soul and 1966’s Revolver.

The artists also will showcase tunes from their own respective bands or solo careers.

The trek gets underway on March 1 in Montclair, New Jersey, and currently is plotted out through a March 27 show in Kansas City, Missouri. Additional performances will be announced soon.

“This time we thought: Wouldn’t it be great if we played the best songs The Beatles ever recorded for a change?” notes Rundgren, who also took part in the 2019 tour, as did Cross, Molland and Scheff. “Rubber Soul and Revolver are the boys peaking in front of our eyes and redefining what pop music would be for the foreseeable future. This is going to be fun.”

Adds Cross, “It’s always a pleasure playing these classic songs with great artists and friends.”

Laine, meanwhile, says, “The Moody Blues met The BEATLES in the early ’60s and were invited to join them on their second British tour. The thought of performing some of their classic songs with such a revered cast on this tour will bring back not only those moments in time but also fond memories as a member of Wings.”

Check out a full list of confirmed tour dates at GlassOnyonPR.com.

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Def Leppard has reached a new deal with Primary Wave Music that pours some sugar on the original agreement that the British rockers struck with the music publishing company back in 2009.

The deal, which was announced on Monday, expands Def Leppard’s partnership with Primary Wave, as the company has acquired a bigger stake in the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ music publishing catalog, as well as in the income stream involving their master royalties.

The new agreement involves many of the group’s classic songs, including “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” “Rock of Ages” and “Photograph.” Def Leppard’s catalog features two albums that have sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. — 1983’s Pyromania and 1987’s Hysteria — and the band is one of only five rock groups that have achieved this milestone.

Def Leppard’s 2009 deal with Primary Wave involved the company marketing and administering the band’s song catalog.

“With Def Leppard celebrating 45 years as a band this year, we at Primary Wave are beyond excited on further partnering with them in a more meaningful way,” says Primary Wave executive Rob Dippold. “We are thrilled to continue building and elevating not only the band’s musical body of work but their impact in pop culture and the industry in general.”

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The Netflix series Emily in Paris is so popular that it’s easy to forget that its star, Lily Collins, has a father who’s even more famous than she is — but she reminded fans of that fact yesterday on Instagram.

Lily’s dad, Phil Collins, celebrated his 71st birthday on Sunday, and she posted a sweet tribute to him, sharing a photo of herself as a baby on his shoulders.  She wrote, “Happy birthday, Dad. I may no longer fit in your arms or sit comfortably on your shoulders but you continue to hug me tightly when I need it most.”

“We may not get to spend time together that often but when we are face to face, you really do see me,” she added. “You may not always believe it but please trust me when I say, no matter how old I get or what life may bring, I will always need you.”

“Whether I’m proudly watching you up on stage, laughing at home together playing trivial pursuit, I’m forever grateful for the moments and memories we share,” Lily concluded. “Especially the ones I now cherish as an adult myself. Thank you for inspiring me and supporting the woman I am today. I love you to the moon and back again.”

Lily is Phil’s daughter with his second wife, Jill Tavelman. He also has a son and a daughter with his first wife, Andrea Bertorelli, and two sons with his third wife, Orianne Cevey. His eldest son with Cevey, Nicholas, is serving as the drummer for Phil’s current tour with Genesis, which starts its next leg in March.

Lily, who was born in England but raised in the U.S., is a Golden Globe-nominated actress who’s appeared in numerous movies and TV series.

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The Steve Miller Band will travel from “Swingtown” to Sin City this spring to play a two-show engagement at Las Vegas’ Venetian Resort on May 13 and 14.

Tickets for concerts at the resort’s Venetian Theatre will go on sale to the general public this Friday, February 4, at 10 a.m. PT.

An artist pre-sale will be available starting Tuesday, February 1, at 10 a.m. PT, while Live Nation customers and members of The Venetian Resort’s Grazie loyalty program can purchase pre-sale tickets beginning Wednesday, February 2, at 10 a.m.

You can purchase tickets via Ticketmaster.com, VenetianLasVegas.com, the box offices at the resort, and by calling 702-414-9000 or 866-641-7469.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Steve Miller and his backing group are preparing to return to touring for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

So far, the band has only two other confirmed performances on their itinerary — a May 15 headlining appearance at the Beachlife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, and an August 22 concert at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

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The Grammy Awards may have been postponed from January 31 until April 3, but a “Grammy Week” benefit auction for the Recording Academy’s MusiCares charity went ahead as originally scheduled this past Sunday, January 30.

Among the noteworthy items that brought in big bucks at the sale were instruments signed by Keith Richards, Paul McCartney and the late Tom Petty, as well as an autographed print of a painting that Joni Mitchell did of Jimi Hendrix.

An ebony Gibson ES-335 electric guitar autographed by Richards along with an NFT featuring a digital video of the Rolling Stones legend signing the instrument fetched $57,600.

McCartney donated a signed Hofner B-Bass Hi Series violin bass guitar that brought in $38,400.

A Gibson ES-355 Bigsby VOS electric/acoustic guitar that Petty signed at the 2017 gala honoring him as MusiCares Person of the Year, along with a copy of the limited-edition Ultra Deluxe version of Tom’s Wildflowers & All the Rest box set, sold for $35,200.

The signed and framed proof print of Mitchell’s oil painting of Hendrix was auctioned for $22,400.

Other memorabilia sold at the auction included guitars signed by Guns N’ Roses‘ Slash, Jeff Beck, Depeche Mode and The Go-Go’s, and other items that belonged to or were associated with U2‘s Bono, Lionel Richie, KISS‘ Gene Simmons and Dolly Parton, among many others.

The collectibles that brought in the most money were seven custom-made suits worn by BTS during the K-pop superstars’ first Grammy ceremony appearance, which sold for a whopping $160,000.

The 2022 MusiCares Charity Auction was hosted by Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills. Visit JuliensLive.com for full results of the sale.

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Janet Jackson fans are still furious at Justin Timberlake for his role in the infamous 2004 Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction,” which led to her career taking a hit while he emerged relatively unscathed. But it turns out that Janet herself isn’t angry at Justin, so she’d like her fans to move on, just as she and Justin have.

As Access Hollywood reports, in the second half of Janet’s new Lifetime documentary that aired on Saturday night, we see a video that Janet filmed for fans, in which she says, “This whole thing was blown way out of proportion. Of course, it was an accident that should not have happened, but everyone is looking for someone to blame and that’s got to stop.”

She adds, “Justin and I are very good friends and we will always be very good friends. We spoke just a few days ago and he and I have moved on, and it is time for everyone else to do the same.” 

About a year ago, Justin issued an apology via Instagram to both Janet and his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears, in which he admitted that he’d “benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism.”

The documentary also reveals that in the aftermath of what’s now known as “Nipplegate,” Janet was “disinvited” from the Grammys, which led her then-boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri, to resign from the board of the Recording Academy. In addition, Janet shares that Justin did offer to speak out on her behalf, but she told him not to. 

Finally, the doc reveals that Justin asked Janet to perform with him when he headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2018.  She declined, saying that it would have been “stretching out the past, reliving something that happened over 10 years ago.”

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On Sunday, January 30, U2 frontman Bono and guitarist The Edge posted a video of them delivering a new acoustic performance of their band’s classic 1983 song “Sunday Bloody Sunday” that features a new final verse.

The debut of the updated version of the tune coincides with the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” massacre — which served as the inspiration for the song — where British Army soldiers shot and killed 13 civil-rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland.

The black-and-white video, which was shot at one of the U2 members’ homes in Dublin, was posted on the group’s official YouTube channel along with the caption “30 January 2022 – With love, Bono & Edge.”

The newly written closing verse features the following lyrics: “Here at the murder scene/ The virus of fiction, reality TV/ Why so many mothers cry/ Religion is the enemy of the Holy Spirit guide/ And the battle just begun/ Where is the victory Jesus won.”

Here are the original lyrics of the song’s final verse: “And it’s true we are immune/ When fact is fiction and TV reality/ And today the millions cry/ We eat and drink while tomorrow they die/ The real battle just begun/ To claim the victory Jesus won.”

“Sunday Bloody Sunday” was originally featured on U2’s third studio album, War.

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Joni Mitchell has joined her old friend and fellow Canadian artist Neil Young in removing her music from Spotify because the streaming service continues to host The Joe Rogan Experience.  Many in the medical community have claimed that Rogan‘s podcast spreads harmful misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines.

In an online message, Mitchell writes, “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”

Joni also posted a link to an open letter that was signed by hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asking Spotify to “immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform,” after a recent episode of the podcast aired that they allege included harmful untruths regarding COVID-19.

That same letter prompted Young to demand that his music be removed from Spotify if the service didn’t stop hosting Rogan’s extremely popular podcast. Spotify granted Neil’s request, rather cut ties with Rogan.

Following Young’s decision to leave Spotify, many artists expressed support for him, while quite a few others criticized him, suggesting that Neil’s actions were anti-free speech, and that Rogan had a right to express his opinions about the pandemic and vaccines.

In response to his detractors, Young maintained in an online note, “I support free speech. I have never been in favor of censorship. Private companies have the right to choose what they profit from, just as I can choose not to have my music support a platform that disseminates harmful information.”

He added, “I am happy and proud to stand in solidarity with the front-line health care workers who risk their lives every day to help others.”

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