Classic Hits

KISS has announced new dates for four U.S. shows that were postponed last year, all of which will take place in May.

The concerts, which are part of the band’s End of the Road farewell tour, are scheduled for May 11 in Milwaukee; May 12 in Dayton, Ohio; May 14 in Hartford, Connecticut; and May 17 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Tickets and VIP packages that were purchased for last year’s shows will be honored for the new dates. Additional information will be emailed directly to those with tickets.

KISS also is scheduled to play a previously announced headlining set at the Rockville 2022 Festival in Daytona Beach, Florida, on May 19.

The band will kick off its 2022 End of the Road itinerary with a series of Australian shows in late March and early April, followed by a South American leg that’s mapped out from late April to early May.

After the U.S. concerts, KISS will head to Europe for a run of shows scheduled from early June to late July.

Visit KISSOnline.com for more details about the tour.

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The 33rd annual GLAAD Awards have unveiled this year’s list of nominees and, among them, are Elton John and Melissa Etheridge.

They are competing against each other in the outstanding music artist category, which also includes Brandi Carlile, Lil Nas X, Demi Lovato, Halsey, St. Vincent and others. Elton and Melissa earned their nods, respectively, for their albums The Lockdown Sessions and One Way Out. It’s worth noting that Carlile and Lil Nas X both collaborated on songs with Elton that appear on The Lockdown Sessions.

The 33rd annual GLAAD Awards will take place on two dates — April 2 in Los Angeles and May 6 in New York City.

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Giles Martin, son of late Beatles producer George Martin, has shared a touching archival family video that shows his dad telling Giles’ young daughter the story of how he wound up working with the Fab Four.

The clip, which Giles posted on his Twitter feed, shows his elderly father — who died in 2016 at age 90 — sitting on a couch next to the young girl, who appears to be about six years old.

George starts by telling his granddaughter that when he was first told about the band, he thought their name was silly, but it was then explained to him that it wasn’t Beetles, but Beatles with an “a.”

George then explains that he felt he needed to hear the group before deciding to work with them, so they came down from Liverpool to London to meet him.

“And when I listened to what they did, it was OK, but it wasn’t brilliant. It was OK,” George continues. “So I thought, well, ‘Why should I be interested in this?'”

He then notes, “But the magic bit came when I started to get to know them, because they were terribly good people to know. They were funny, they were very clever, they said all lovely things. And they were the kind of people that you like to be with.”

George concludes by saying, “So I thought, ‘Well if I feel this way about them, other people will feel this way about them. So therefore they should be very popular.’ And I made records with them.”

In a note that accompanies the video, Giles — who has overseen and produced many recent Beatles-related projects — writes, “Ordinary people do extraordinary things. Great decisions are made for the simplest reasons.”

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ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons has collaborated with Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys to create a signature sandwich in celebration of the popular Houston eatery’s 60th anniversary this month.

The Whisker Bomb Po’ Boy is a fried green tomato sandwich that Gibbons devised in collaboration with Antone’s executive chef Alex Padilla. The sandwich is available now at both of Antone’s full-service sandwich shops in Houston, the bearded rock legend’s hometown.

“Antone’s has been notable for presenting one of the greatest sandwich collections and that fact remains unchallenged,” Billy says in a statement. “Their attention to perfection in the world of po’ boys made the draw a natural for teaming up and bringing a new twist and [a] tasty addition with Antone’s line of flavor sensations.”

The Whisker Bomb Po’ Boy features buttermilk-dipped fried green tomatoes, harissa, chipotle mayo, Gibbons’ Whisker Bomb Have Mercy hot sauce, goat cheese, spices and arugula served on warm French bread.

The po’ boy, which is priced at $9.95, is the last offering in Antone’s “H-Town Originals” sandwich series charity initiative, and will be available until June 1. Proceeds from sales of the sandwich will benefit The Clifford Antone Foundation, an Austin, Texas-based organization dedicated to preserving the local music culture and community “by caring for our elders and investing in our youth.”

Gibbons selected the foundation as his beneficiary because of his connection to the historic Austin venue Antone’s Nightclub.

“It’s surreal to be able to partner with Billy F Gibbons, someone who grew up on Antone’s po’ boys, at the same time I grew up watching him on stage,” Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys CEO Craig Lieberman. “[W]e are honored to have a Texas legend like Billy to be a part of [our 60th anniversary].”

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Fleetwood Mac drummer and co-founder Mick Fleetwood is set to executive produce the music drama 13 Songs, currently in development at Fox, according to Deadline.

The series reportedly follows an aging rock star who’s diagnosed with terminal cancer. Given just a few months to live, he reconnects with his old band to write and record 13 final songs as a final love letter to his fans and hopefully leave his mark on the world forever.

Will Reiser, who wrote the Joseph Gordon-Levitt-led comedy feature 50/50, will script the project, along with American Soul creator Jonathan Prince.

It will be directed by Jonathan Levine, who directed Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers.

Additionally, Fleetwood “will lend his creative and musical voice” to the project, according Deadline.

13 Songs is the latest in a series of musical dramas being prepped at Fox, along with Monarch, the country music family dynasty series starring Susan Sarandon and Trace Adkins, and Icon, an anthology drama series profiling some of the world’s biggest music legends, starting with country music duo The Judds.

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It’s been almost two years since Elton John‘s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour was sidelined because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the trek relaunches tonight in New Orleans, the first show of a lengthy two-part 2022 North American leg.

With the U.S. and many other areas around the world still dealing with COVID-related issues because of the easily spread Omicron variant, Elton’s longtime guitarist and music director Davey Johnstone tells ABC Audio he doesn’t know if the tour will go off without postponements, but he says every precaution is being made to help ensure the musicians and crew remain healthy.

“It seems it changes so much, and we’ve got to kind of be ready for anything,” Johnstone says regarding the COVID situation. “So, I know there’s no backstage, there’s no guests. There are no backstage passes. There are no wives or girlfriends or anything…[E]verybody’s [going to be] super masked up and getting tested every two days to make sure everybody on the tour stays safe.”

He adds, “I think there’s like a hundred people [who] travel around, between the crew and the production staff and…the band and all that. So it’s a lot of people to keep safe. So…it’ll be a different animal, but, you know, I think we’ll be OK as long as we can just keep to the program.”

Asked if, after a nearly two-year layoff, there might be some changes to Elton’s set list, Johnstone says he and the other band members are more focused on delivering an exciting show.

“[W]e just get out there and play some kick-a** rock ‘n’ roll, and that’s what we’ll do,” he declares. “And there might be a couple of subtle changes…but nothing too drastic.”

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When it comes to a way to like his own voice, Bono still hasn’t found what he’s looking for.

On a new episode of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast, the U2 frontman says he feels “embarrassed” when he hears his singing, particularly on the group’s earlier recordings, explaining that, while he thinks the his band mates sound “incredible,” he finds his voice to be “very strained.”

“I’ve been in a car when one of our songs has come on the radio and I’ve been the color of, as we say in Dublin, scarlet,” Bono says. “I’m just so embarrassed.”

During the interview, Bono shares a story about a fellow rock star who had a similar disdain for the U2 frontman’s voice, the late Robert Palmer. He says Palmer once approached U2 bassist Adam Clayton and griped, “God, would you ever tell your singer to just take down the keys a little bit? He’d do himself a favor, his voice a favor, and he’d do us all a favor who have to listen to him.”

Bono adds that he feels he “only became a singer, like, recently.”

“Maybe that hasn’t happened yet for some people’s ears,” he laughs. “And I understand that.”

Another thing Bono isn’t all that jazzed about: the name U2.

“I still don’t really like the name,” he says. Guitarist The Edge adds that they only picked U2 in the first place because, of the potential candidates, it was the one they “hated the least.”

While Bono may have his own issues with his voice, that doesn’t seem to be bothering the voters for the Oscars, who placed U2’s new single “Your Song Saved My Life” — from the animated film Sing 2 — on the shortlist to be nominated for Best Original Song.

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What happens in Vegas…will be the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

After canceling plans to hold the awards ceremony on January 31 because of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Recording Academy has announced that “Music’s Biggest Night” will now take place Sunday, April 3, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The show will air live on CBS, and also will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Trevor Noah will return as the host for the ceremony. Details about Grammy Week events like the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala and Clive Davis‘ annual pre-Grammy party will be announced soon.

Hits Daily Double reports that options being considered include holding these events in Las Vegas, holding them in Los Angeles that same week, or holding them the week after the Grammys.

Among the veteran artists receiving nominations for Grammy Awards this year are Paul McCartney, AC/DC, ABBA, Jackson Browne Los Lobos, Police drummer Stewart Copeland, Carole King, Steve Cropper and ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

What happens in Vegas…will be the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

After canceling plans to hold the awards ceremony on January 31 due to the Omicron variant, the Recording Academy has announced that “Music’s Biggest Night” will now take place Sunday, April 3 live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on CBS.  The show will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Trevor Noah will return as the host for the ceremony.  Details about Grammy Week events like the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala and Clive Davis‘ annual pre-Grammy party will be announced soon. 

Hits Daily Double reports that options being considered include holding these events in Las Vegas, holding them in Los Angeles that same week, or holding them the week after the Grammys.

The leading nominee for the Grammy Awards this year is Jon Batiste, who has 11 nods, followed by Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and H.E.R., all of whom have eight nominations.

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1960s baroque pop act The Left Banke‘s reunion album Strangers on a Train, which featured recordings made in 1978 by three of the band’s four core members but wasn’t released until 1986, will be reissued on CD for the first time on March 4.

The Left Banke are best known for the 1966 hits “Walk Away Renée” and “Pretty Ballerina.” The band initially was active from 1965 to 1969, and released two albums during that time period.

Strangers on a Train came about when original Left Banke singer Steve Martin Caro, bassist/guitarist Tom Finn and drummer George Cameron got together to record songs for a new publishing deal Finn had secured. Founding Left Banke keyboardist Michael Brown also is said to have participated in early sessions for what became Strangers on a Train, but was not credited on the album.

The Strangers on a Train reissue also features six previously unreleased tracks written by Brown that he recorded with Caro in 2001 for what he’d hoped would be a new Left Banke project.

The six songs also will be released separately on a digital EP titled High Flyer that’s due out on February 25.

Sadly, the four main members of The Left Banke all died in recent years — Brown in 2015, Cameron in 2018, and Caro and Finn in 2020.

You can pre-order the Strangers on a Train CD and High Flyer EP now at OmnivoreRecordings.com.

Here is the Strangers on a Train track list:

“Strangers on a Train”
“Heartbreaker”
“Lorraine”
“Yesterday’s Love”
“Hold On Tight”
“And One Day”
“You Say”
“I Can Fly”
“Only My Opinion”
“Queen of Paradise”

Bonus Tracks:
“Airborne”
“I Don’t Know” (2002 Version)
“Until the End”
“Buddy Steve (Long Lost Friend)”
“Meet Me in the Moonlight”
“High Flyer”

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