The legendary U.K. rock band launched their TikTok account on Monday, May 30, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the day that the group entered the studio to start recording its classic 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have made all 15 of their studio albums available to the TikTok community to use to soundtrack their own videos creations. Among the classic Pink Floyd tunes that will be available via the TikTok Sound Library are “See Emily Play,” “Money,” “The Great Gig in the Sky,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” “Comfortably Numb,” and “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II).”
Pink Floyd also plans to use its TikTok account to regularly post unique video clips and content. Currently, the @pinkfloyd account features clips set to “Learning to Fly,” “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” and “Breathe (in the Air).”
Since 2000, REO Speedwagon and Styx have regularly hit the road together, and the veteran rockers’ latest co-headlining trek, the Live & UnZoomed Tour, gets underway tonight in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The outing, which also features Loverboy, includes over 40 dates, and runs through a September 18 concert in Bangor, Maine.
REO Speedwagon keyboardist Neal Doughty says the idea to tour jointly with Styx came about at a time when the popularity of veteran rock acts “was kind of tapering off.”
“[W]e knew that we needed some kind of a better reason for people to come out and see classic rock,” Doughty points out. “So we just started this thing of, you know, let’s put two or three headline bands on the same show and that’ll get people out of their houses.”
Doughty says REO has never done a full tour with Loverboy before, while noting that the Canadian group is “another one of those bands that as soon as you start working with them, you’re immediately good friends.”
He adds, “[Lead singer] Mike Reno is a force of nature. He’s just such a lovable guy. So they’re gonna be a really good addition to the Styx and REO [tour].”
As for what fans can expect from REO Speedwagon’s set on the trek, Doughty explains, “We know we’re working for the audience, literally, so we’ve got to play the biggest hits and, of course…[when we do,] it goes through the roof.”
Neal says that beyond REO’s hit power ballads, like “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and “Keep On Loving You,’ “a lot of our live show goes back to the stuff we were doing in the ’70s, [such as] ‘Roll with the Changes’ and ‘Ridin’ the Storm Out.'”
Ronnie Hawkins, the Arkansas-born rockabilly singer who helped mentor the mostly Canadian rock group that became The Band, died Sunday at age 87 after a long illness, his wife confirmed to The Canadian Press.
During the 1950s, Hawkins began performing in local Arkansas clubs with his own bands. In the late ’50s, Hawkins formed the band Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks and soon recruited a local musician named Levon Helm to play drums.
The band relocated to Canada, and established themselves as one of the most popular rock groups in Toronto, with Hawkins gaining a reputation for his dynamic stage presence. Over the next few years, The Hawks underwent several lineups changes that eventually saw Canadian guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manual and organ player/saxophonist Garth Hudson playing alongside Hawkins and Helm.
In 1963, The Hawks split from Hawkins. Bob Dylan hired them as his backing band for his tours in 1965 and ’66. The group soon began writing original material and rechristened themselves The Band.
Hawkins had his greatest success as a recording artist with his 1959 solo single “Mary Lou,” which reached #26 on the Billboard pop singles chart.
In 1976, Hawkins made a memorable appearance at The Band’s famous farewell show “The Last Waltz,” as seen in the 1978 concert film of the same name.
Roberston has posted a lengthy tribute to Hawkins on his socialmediapages in which he credits Ronnie for helping him and other Band members launch their careers.
“My heart sank when I heard ‘The Hawk’ just flew into the sunset,” Robbie writes. “The story of The Band began with Ronnie Hawkins. He was our mentor. He taught us the rules of the road.”
Robertson adds, “He was not only a great artist, a tremendous performer and bandleader, but had a style of humor unequaled…[H]e will live in our hearts forever.”
Darren Gerrish/WireImage; Donald Kravitz/Getty Images
Peter Gabriel and Frankie Valli are among the announced winners for the 2022 O2 Silver Clef Awards.
The annual U.K. ceremony is presented by the charity Nordoff Robbins, which provides music therapy to those “living with life-limiting illness, disability and isolation.”
Gabriel will be honored with the top O2 Silver Clef Award, while Valli will receive the Icon Award.
“I’ve always believed the role of music goes way beyond entertainment, and I’m convinced that sound and light have a critical role to play in therapies and healing in the future,” Gabriel says. “It’s wonderful to see Nordoff Robbins using music to reach young people, who otherwise would feel much more isolated and vulnerable, and giving them a means of expressing their emotions.”
Valli adds, “I’m thrilled to receive the…Icon Award. My life is all about music and that’s why I’m supporting Nordoff Robbins. Its trained music therapists provide sessions which can help people of all ages — whether a child with autism to communicate, unlock forgotten memories for those living with dementia or provide moments of peace for someone living with depression and anxiety. It’s vital this continues.”
Also among the honorees is former Squeeze keyboardist and longtime U.K. TV host Jools Holland, who will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award.
The 2022 O2 Silver Clef Awards will take place July 1. For more info, visit Nordoff-Robbins.org.uk.
Toast, an album that Neil Young recorded with Crazy Horse in 2001 but then shelved, finally will be released on July 8.
The seven-track collection, which was recorded at Toast Studios in San Francisco, includes three songs that have never been released before. The album can be pre-ordered now and will be available on CD, as a two-LP vinyl set and via digital formats.
Those who purchase Toast on CD and vinyl at Young’s Greedy Hand Store will receive a high-res digital download from Neil’s Xstream Store at his Neil Young Archives website.
Young shared some details about Toast in a message published in on Neil Young Archives in 2021 and reposted today.
“Toast is an album that stands on its own in my collection, unlike any other,” Young wrote. “The songs of Toast were so sad at the time that I couldn’t put it out. I just skipped it and went on to do another album in its place.”
He continued, “The music of Toast is about a relationship. There is a time in many relationships that go bad, a time long before the breakup, where it dawns on one of the people, maybe both, that it’s over. This was that time.”
Neil also praised Crazy Horse’s performance on the tracks, writing that the band “shows a depth never seen or heard before on any other Horse recording.” He added, “For the greatest group I have ever met — Crazy Horse — this is a pinnacle. Where they let me go, where they took me, was unbelievable. I couldn’t stay.”
Here’s Toast‘s full track list:
“Quit”
“Standing in the Light of Love”
“Goin’ Home”
“Timberline”
“Gateway of Love”
“How Ya Doin’?”
“Boom Boom Boom”
After a two-year layoff because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band launch a new North American tour tonight at Casino Rama in Rama, Canada.
The two-part trek’s first leg runs through a June 26 concert in Clearwater Florida, while the second leg begins on September 23 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and winds down October 20 in Mexico City.
The former Beatles drummer and his star-studded group celebrated the tour’s impending launch at a press event on Thursday at Casino Rama.
Reflecting on his long hiatus from playing shows, Starr said, “Two-and-a-half years has been really difficult. I love to play, as you can tell. I put the All Starrs together 32 years ago and, you know, I was in a couple of bands before that, and…for me that’s what it’s all about, is playing and having an audience.”
He continued, “You know, I’ve missed four tours, and I’ve really missed these guys. I love to play live, and I love to play with great musicians. And I got a crowd of them right here…with me.”
The All Starr Band also currently features Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, Men at Work frontman Colin Hay, Average White Band bassist Hamish Stuart, Toto multi-instrumentalist Warren Ham, acclaimed session drummer Gregg Bissonette and the group’s most recent addition, Edgar Winter. Winter, who previously played with the All Starrs from 2006 to 2011, rejoined the group earlier this year.
Ringo, who turns 82 on July 7, noted during the press conference that he has no plans to stop performing.
“I’m a musician. I don’t have to retire,” he declared. “[A]s long as I can pick up those sticks, I got a gig.”
Journey is set to release its first studio album in 11 years in July, but in advance of that record, the band’s longtime keyboardist and songwriter Jonathan Cain has delivered his latest faith-based solo effort, Arise.
The 11-collection is the sixth full-length spiritual-themed project that Cain has released since 2016. The album, which combines brand-new tunes with songs that appeared on Jonathan’s 2021 EP Oh Lord Lead Us, is available now as a digital download and via streaming services.
Cain says the songs on Arise encourages Christians to be more fervent in their faith.
“Like faith in action, the music of Arise moves to the spirit of revival,” says Jonathan, who leads worship gatherings at City of Destiny Church in Apopka, Florida, where his wife, Paula White-Cain, is senior pastor. “God is making his presence felt here on earth, and it’s up to us to wake up, to feel it, feel the revival and just dig in.”
He adds, “I hope that this music stirs up and awakens people in a way that they can become a part of what God is doing.”
As previously reported, Journey will release its new album, Freedom, on July 8. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers recently announced a series of four special symphonic concerts that month in Las Vegas — on July 15, 16, 22 and 23 — and the band now has started lining up a variety of other shows around the U.S.
The other concerts on their itinerary are scheduled for July 20 in Paso Robles, California; July 27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 in Las Cruces, New Mexico; July 30 in Lubbock, Texas; August 5 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan; August 6 in Canton, Ohio; and August 8 in Canandaigua, New York.
Flea is officially part of the Star Wars universe.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist has a role in the new Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries, which just premiered Friday morning on Disney+. He plays a bounty hunter who’s hired to kidnap child Princess Leia in an attempt to lure Kenobi out of hiding after he survived the infamous Order 66, which called for the execution of all Jedi.
The role is especially fitting for Flea since the 1999 Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Californication” includes the lyric “Alderaan’s not far away,” a reference to Leia’s home planet.
Flea’s previous acting credits include parts in The Big Lebowski, Baby Driver and the second and third Back to the Future movies.
In addition to his journey to a galaxy far, far away, Flea is preparing to rock our galaxy when Red Hot Chili Peppers launch their world tour in June. The group will be supporting their new album, Unlimited Love, which was released in April.
The 15-track collection was recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, with frontman Joe Elliott in Ireland, bassist Rick Savage in the U.K., and guitarists Phil Collen and Viv Campbell and drummer Rick Allen all in the U.S.
Elliott tells ABC Audio that he really enjoyed working on the album remotely.
“[T]he creating of the record was beautiful, really, because everybody just was in their own space,” the singer notes. “And…all you needed to do [was] pick up the phone or send an email going, ‘I’ve got an idea,’ and then, bing!, off goes your inbox and there’s an MP3, and you sit and listen to it…and see if there’s anything you can add to it.”
Collen also loved the process, explaining, “It just saved so much energy, and we were just allowed to express and create and be inspired constantly…It was great.”
The album title references a lyrical phrase from T. Rex‘s signature tune “Bang a Gong (Get It On),” and Collen points out that Def Leppard chose the moniker after realizing that many tracks on the record included elements that evoked the early-’70s glam-rock era — a major influence on the band.
“[W]e realized that [between] the songs there was a thread,” Phil notes. “It was like some of the lyrics, some of the ideas, some of the vibes and rhythms and grooves were very…from that period.”
Adding to the glam-rock theme, Def Leppard enlisted longtime David Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson to play piano on two tracks.
Elliott says Garson’s parts “had a little bit of avant-garde, kind of jazzy [feel], but not too much to…make it sound weird.”
Here’s Diamond Star Halos‘ full track list:
“Take What You Want”
“Kick”
“Fire It Up”
“This Guitar” — featuring Alison Krauss
“SOS Emergency”
“Liquid Dust”
“U Rok Mi”
“Goodbye for Good This Time”
“All We Need”
“Open Your Eyes”
“Gimme a Kiss”
“Angels (Can’t Help You Now)”
“Lifeless” — featuring Alison Krauss
“Unbreakable”
“From Here to Eternity”
In recent years, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has purchased some of the music world’s most historic guitars, as well as many other famous memorabilia items. He will be putting his collection on public display in New York City for the first time on Friday, June 3, at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
The Jim Irsay Collection includes guitars played and 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 addition 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, which he purchased at an auction for over $4.5 million.
Some non-music-related items are also 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.
The public event will run from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Free tickets can be reserved at Eventbrite.com.
Meanwhile, a private, invite-only reception will be held June 2 at 7 p.m. ET at the Hammerstein Ballroom that will give attendees the chance to check out the collection. It will also feature a performance by The Jim Irsay Band. Described as a group “which has never existed and will never exist again,” the band will feature Irsay backed by founding R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, longtime John Mellencamp guitarist Mike Wanchic, John Fogerty/ex-Mellencamp touring drummer Kenny Aronoff and others.
Former 10,000 Maniacs singer Natalie Merchant will be a guest performer with the band.
