AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson‘s autobiography, The Lives of Brian: AC/DC, Me, and the Making of Back in Black, which originally was scheduled to be published in October 2021, will finally be released October 25.
In the memoir, Johnson shares the story of his journey from growing up in a working-class town in northern England to singing for one of the world’s biggest rock bands.
Back when The Lives of Brian was first announced last year, Johnson posted a video trailer for the memoir on his official YouTube channel, along with a note that reads, “I’ve had some long nights and some great nights, bad days and a lot of good ones. I’ve gone from choirboy to rock ‘n’ roll singer, and now I’ve gone and written a bloody book about it.”
According to a description at HarperCollins.com, The Lives of Brian will follow Johnson’s life from his formative years in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, to his experiences fronting the local glam-rock band Geordie, to being hired by AC/DC in 1980 to replace their late singer Bon Scott.
The memoir also will feature Johnson’s stories about the making of his first album with AC/DC, the landmark Back in Black and his adventures of touring behind what’s become one of the best-selling rock records of all time.
The Lives of Brian can be preordered now at HarperCollins.com and will be available as a hardcover, an e-book and an audio book.
Johnson, who’s also a well-known car-racing enthusiast, previously wrote a book about his passion for fast cars, called Rockers and Rollers: A Full-Throttle Memoir, which was published in 2009.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer‘s sole surviving member, drummer Carl Palmer, will resurrect his old band with the help of modern technology for a new U.S. tour this fall.
Palmer, in association with the estates of his late ELP bandmates Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, will launch the Welcome Back My Friends — The Return of Emerson Lake & Palmer Tour on November 18 in Philadelphia.
The trek will feature Palmer performing live onstage with his current group, ELP Legacy, flanked by two huge video screens where digital footage of Emerson and Lake playing in concert will be projected.
“About five years ago I explored the idea of trying to reunite the band using digital holograms,” Palmer explains. “We saw a few shows of other artists but it did not seem like an honest approach.
“Then we realized the film we made of ELP’s sold-out run at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1992 had everything we needed. We were able to use just the camera shots of Keith and Greg, with the sterling audio tracks of their performances, resulting in a combination of film and onstage performance that brings back the magic of ELP.”
The tour currently features 10 confirmed dates and is mapped out through a December 3 show in Akron, Ohio. More shows are expected to be announced soon. Tickets for the Welcome Back My Friends Tour are on sale now at CarlPalmer.com.
You can check out a trailer for the trek now on the YouTube channel of ELP and Carl Palmer’s manager, Bruce Pilato.
Emerson died by suicide in March 2016 at age 71, while Lake passed away in December that year of cancer at age 69.
David Bowie‘s estate has partnered with NFT marketplace OpenSea and the We Love the Arts venture for the “Bowie on the Blockchain” sale, which will feature a series of unique Bowie-themed NFTs, each created by a different artist.
The sale, which takes place on September 13, will feature nine NFTS that pay tribute to the late rock legend and his influential life and music. Among the artists who created the collectible digital tokens are Nadya Tolokonnikova of the Russian activist and music collective Pussy Riot.
The Bowie estate will donate all of the profits from the sale to the anti-poverty and humanitarian organization CARE, for which David’s widow, Iman, serves as Global Advocate.
“David Bowie is an icon and a trailblazer in every way,” says OpenSea executive Ryan Foutty. “This incredible collection brings together some of the most groundbreaking NFT artists with Bowie artifacts to bring a new generation of fans together in [the new World Wide Web iteration] web3.”
Adds We Love the Arts co-founder Andrew Keller, “David Bowie’s artistry has had an indescribable impact on my life. I’m truly honored to have had the privilege of guiding this project. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage with the Bowie Estate as well as this group of artists, all of whom I have immense respect for.”
The “Bowie on the Blockchain” sale takes place three days before the global premiere of Moonage Daydream, the kaleidoscopic documentary paying tribute to Bowie that was fully sanctioned by his estate.
The track was posted on Diamond Dave‘s official YouTube channel along with a caption that reads, “Roth Lives! … David Lee Roth Studio Live.” The clip features an archival photo of the Van Halen frontman standing with his arms crossed as a scantily clad woman peers out of a window behind him.
According to the reliable Van Halen News Desk fan site, “Panama” was one of 14 songs that Roth recorded on May 2 of this year during a two-hour session at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles.
Accompanying Roth at the session were the current members of his solo backing band — guitarist Al Estrada, bassist Ryan Wheeler and drummer Francis Valentino.
Prior to the new rendition of “Panama,” Dave debuted a previously unreleased solo song in July called “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway.” That song, which pays homage to his early days in Van Halen, was recorded years ago with current Rob Zombie and former David Lee Roth Band guitarist John 5.
New details have been unveiled about Rarities Oxhumed – Volume One, the recently announced forthcoming compilation that will feature rare and unreleased recordings by late Who bassist John Entwistle.
“I’ll Try Again Today” originally appeared on The John Entwistle Band‘s the 1999 live album, Left for Live, which featured performances recorded during the group’s 1998 tour.
As previously reported, Rarities Oxhumed – Volume One will feature previously unheard studio tracks, demos, remastered live performances and other unreleased gems. Among the live recordings is a performance of the Entwistle-penned and sung 1978 Who tune “Trick of the Light.”
The compilation will be available to preorder starting sometime this week. On DekoEntertainment.com’s webpage promoting the compilation, a countdown clock has been posted that’s scheduled to hit zero on September 9 at 4 p.m. ET, so we’re assuming that’s when preorders will begin.
Meanwhile, you can check out a couple of videotrailers promoting Rarities Oxhumed at Deko Entertainement’s YouTube channel. The clips include archival interview footage of Entwistle, Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan and Deep Purple‘s Roger Glover.
A second Rarities Oxhumed volume is expected to be released at a later date. The albums have been put together by the Deko label in collaboration with longtime Entwistle solo band member Steve Luongo and John’s son, Chris.
Entwistle died in June 2002 of a heart attack one day before The Who was scheduled to launch a U.S. tour. He was 57.
On Saturday, while Paul McCartney was playing a pair of classic Beatles songs with Foo Fighters at the star-studded Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in London, his old band’s acclaimed docuseries was busy winning a bunch of trophies at the 2022 Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
The Beatles: Get Back, which premiered on Disney+ in November 2021, won all five Emmys for which it was nominated — in including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series — tying for the most awards won that evening Adele‘s Adele:One Night Only concert special.
The Beatles: Get Back also won Emmys in the following categories: Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program; Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program; Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera); and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera).
As co-producer’s of the series, McCartney, Ringo Starr and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison — Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison — were among those receiving the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, along with director Peter Jackson. Jackson also picked up the Outstanding Directing honor, while producer Giles Martin was one of the recipients of the Sound Mixing prize.
Starr posted a message on his social media sites reacting to Get Back‘s winning night, writing, “Wow I just heard we won an Emmy[.] not one Emmy five Emmys[.] I want to congratulate Peter and everybody [who] was involved in the making of [Get Back,] the Emmy winning documentary … peace and love.”
Meanwhile, a second Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held Sunday.
Foo Fighters hosted the first of two tribute concerts honoring late drummer Taylor Hawkins on Saturday at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The show featured a jaw-dropping lineup of music stars that included one particularly special surprise guest, Paul McCartney, who joined the Foos during their event-closing set.
McCartney was accompanied by The Pretenders‘ Chrissie Hynde — whose own band played a set earlier in the day — and two performed duet version The Beatles‘ “Oh! Darling.” Then, Sir Paul and the Foo Fighters rocked out on the Fab Four’s “Helter Skelter.”
The concert, which ran for a whopping six hours, began with a video montage set to the Foos song “Aurora,” after which frontman Dave Grohl, flanked by bandmates Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and Rami Jaffee, came onstage to deliver his first public remarks since Hawkins unexpectedly died on March 25 at age 50.
“Tonight, we’ve gathered with family, and [Hawkins’] closest friends, his musical heroes and greatest inspirations, to bring you a gigantic f***ing night for a gigantic f***ing person,” Grohl told the cheering crowd.
The concert began with ex-Oasis singer Liam Gallagher, who performed his old band’s songs “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” and “Live Forever” alongside Foo Fighters, with Grohl on drums.
The first half of the show was mostly a tribute to the music that Hawkins himself loved. Among the highlights: Chic‘s Nile Rodgers was joined by Queens of the Stone Age‘s Joshua Homme and Supergrass‘ Gaz Coombes for David Bowie covers; Wolfgang Van Halen channeled the spirit of his late father Eddie Van Halen with performances of Van Halen‘s “Hot for Teacher” and “On Fire” with Grohl on bass; and the Joe Walsh-fronted band James Gang reunited for their first live set since 2006.
The concert also included performances by Hawkins’ side projects Chevy Metal and Coattail Riders, The Pretenders with Grohl on bass, and reunited supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, featuring Grohl, Homme, Led Zeppelin‘s John Paul Jones and Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Alain Johannes.
In between performances, the Wembley screens showed video tributes sent in by artists including Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Slash and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, and Elton John. Fleetwood Mac‘s Stevie Nicks also sent in an audio message, while comedian Dave Chappelle and actor Jason Sudeikis gave in-person remarks.
The concert then started to channel a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony when the Foos returned to the stage with AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson and Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich to play AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and “Let There Be Rock.” Police drummer Stewart Copeland then joined the Foo Fighters for two of his old band’s songs.
Next, Rush‘s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson rocked out with Grohl on drums on “2112: I. Overture” and “Working Man.” Lee and Lifeson were then joined by former Bowie drummer Omar Hakim for “YYZ.”
A Queen set followed, with Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor joining the Foos for renditions of “We Will Rock You,” “Somebody to Love,” “I’m In Love with My Car” and “Under Pressure.” May then played a solo rendition of Queen’s “Love of My Life.”
The night closed out with a greatest-hits performance of Foo Fighters songs, with the band joined by several guest drummers, including Hakim, Roger Taylor’s son Rufus and viral kid drummer Nandi Bushell.
After McCartney’s surprise appearance, the Foos closed the night with their classic “My Hero,” with Taylor Hawkins’ son Shane on drums, and a Grohl solo rendition of “Everlong.”
You can watch an archived stream of the entire show via MTV’s YouTube channel. CBS will air a one-hour special version of the concert Saturday at 10 p.m. ET. A two-hour special will air on MTV later in September.
Proceeds from the Wembley concert will be donated to Music Support and MusiCares. The second Hawkins tribute show will take place September 27 in Los Angeles.
Here’s the Wembley set list:
Foo Fighters with Liam Gallagher — “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” (Oasis)
Foo Fighters with Liam Gallagher — “Live Forever” (Oasis)
Joshua Homme, Chris Chaney, Omar Hakim, Nile Rodgers — “Let’s Dance” (David Bowie)
Gaz Coombes, Chris Chaney, Omar Hakim, Nile Rodgers — “Modern Love” (David Bowie)
Chevy Metal — “Psycho Killer” (Talking Heads)
Kesha with Chevy Metal — “Children of the Revolution” (T. Rex)
Justin Hawkins with Coattail Riders — “Louise” (Coattail Riders)
Justin Hawkins with Coattail Riders — “Range Rover B****” (Taylor Hawkins)
Justin Hawkins with Coattail Riders — “It’s Over” (Coattail Riders)
Wolfgang Van Halen, Dave Grohl, Josh Freese, Justin Hawkins — “On Fire” (Van Halen)
Wolfgang Van Halen, Dave Grohl, Josh Freese, Justin Hawkins — “Hot for Teacher” (Van Halen)
Violet Grohl, Dave Grohl, Greg Kurstin, Alain Johannes, Chris Chaney, Jason Falkner — “Last Goodbye” (Jeff Buckley)
Violet Grohl, Dave Grohl, Greg Kurstin, Alain Johannes, Chris Chaney, Jason Falkner — “Grace” (Jeff Buckley)
Supergrass — “Richard III”
Supergrass — “Alright”
Supergrass — “Caught By the Fuzz”
Them Crooked Vultures — “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (Elton John)
Them Crooked Vultures — “Gunman”
Them Crooked Vultures — “Long Slow Goodbye” (Queens of the Stone Age)
Pretenders with Dave Grohl — “Precious”
Pretenders with Dave Grohl — “Tattooed Love Boys”
Pretenders with Dave Grohl — “Brass in Pocket”
James Gang — “Walk Away”
James Gang — “The Bomber: Closet Queen/Bolero/Cast Your Fate to the Wind”
James Gang with Dave Grohl — “Funk #49”
Violet Grohl, Mark Ronson, Chris Chaney, Jason Falkner — “Valerie” (The Zutons)
Foo Fighters with Lars Ulrich & Brian Johnson — “Back in Black” (AC/DC)
Foo Fighters with Lars Ulrich & Brian Johnson — “Let There Be Rock” (AC/DC)
Foo Fighters with Stewart Copeland — “Next to You” (The Police)
Foo Fighters with Stewart Copeland & Gaz Coombes — “Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (The Police)
Dave Grohl, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson — “2112: I. Overture” (Rush)
Dave Grohl, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson — “Working Man” (Rush)
Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Omar Hakim — “YYZ” (Rush)
Foo Fighters with Roger & Rufus Taylor, Brian May, Luke Spiller — “We Will Rock You” (Queen)
Foo Fighters with Roger & Rufus Taylor, Brian May — “I’m in Love with My Car” (Queen)
Foo Fighters with Roger Taylor, Brian May, Justin Hawkins — “Under Pressure” (Queen & David Bowie)
Foo Fighters with Roger Taylor, Brian May, Sam Ryder — “Somebody to Love” (Queen)
Brian May — “Love of My Life” (Queen)
Foo Fighters with Josh Freese — “Times Like These”
Foo Fighters with Josh Freese — “All My Life”
Foo Fighters with Travis Barker — “The Pretender”
Foo Fighters with Travis Barker — “Monkey Wrench”
Foo Fighters with Nandi Bushell — “Learn to Fly”
Foo Fighters with Rufus Taylor — “These Days”
Foo Fighters with Rufus Taylor — “Best of You”
Foo Fighters with Paul McCartney, Chrissie Hynde & Omar Hakim — “Oh! Darling” (The Beatles)
Foo Fighters with Paul McCartney & Omar Hakim — “Helter Skelter” (The Beatles)
Foo Fighters with Omar Hakim — “Aurora”
Foo Fighters with Shane Hawkins — “My Hero”
Dave Grohl — “Everlong”
U2‘s Bono is among a variety of Irish celebrities featured reading the poetry of acclaimed late Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh on a new album titled Almost Everything… that will be released September 23.
The album is a two-part collection, combining recordings of 15 different Irish figures reciting Kavanagh’s poems backed by a musical soundtrack with a remastered version of the 1964 record Almost Everything that captured Kavanagh reading his own poetry.
Bono kicks off the album with a recitation of perhaps Kavanagh’s most famous poem, “On Raglan Road.” Other contributors to the album include Ireland’s president, Michael D. Higgins; singers Sharon Corr, Christy Moore, Hozier and Imelda May; and actors Liam Neeson, Aisling Bea, Evanna Lynch, Aidan Gillen and Jessie Buckley.
Almost Everything… will be available as a two-CD or a two-LP set, and can be preordered now at CladdaghRecords.com and Amazon.
The physical versions of Almost Everything… will come packaged with a booklet featuring all the poetry heard on the album.
Kavanagh, who began his professional writing career during the early 1930s, was known for his unsentimental depiction of everyday life in Ireland. He died in 1967 at age 63.
Here’s the track list of Almost Everything…:
CD1 (read by guests):
“On Raglan Road” — read by Bono
“Stony Grey Soil” — read by Michael D. Higgins
“Memory of My Father” — read by Liam Neeson
“Canal Bank Walk” — read by Imelda May
“Peace” — read by Hozier
“Inniskeen Road: July Evening” — read by Lisa McGee
“In Memory of My Mother” — read by Kathleen Watkins
“The Hospital” — read by Lisa Hannigan
“Pegasus” — read by Rachael Blackmore
“October” — read by Christy Moore
“Shancoduff” — read by Aisling Bea
“Lines Written on a Seat on the Grand Canal, Dublin” — read by Evanna Lynch
“Extract from The Great Hunger” — read by Aidan Gillen
“A Christmas Childhood” — read by Sharon Corr
“Epic” — read by Jessie Buckley
CD2 (read by Patrick Kavanagh):
“Autobiographical Prose”
“The Same Again”
“Jungle”
“Narcissus and the Women”
“Epic”
“God in Woman”
“Kerr’s Ass”
“Peace”
“The Hospital”
“On the Death of Jim Larkin”
“Extract from The Great Hunger“
“Living in the Country: Part One”
“Dear Folks”
“Miss Universe”
“About Reason, Maybe”
“To Hell with Commonsense”
“October”
“Come Dance with Kitty Stobling”
“Prelude”
“Having Confessed”
The Who‘s 10th studio album, It’s Hard, was released 40 years ago this Sunday — September 4, 1982. The album was the British rock legends’ final studio effort to feature their founding bassist, John Entwistle, and their second and last recorded with ex-Faces/Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones, who replaced Keith Moon after Moon’s 1978 death.
It’s Hard peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 and yielded the hit single “Athena,” which reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the enduring tune “Eminence Front.” “Athena” and “Eminence Front” also ascended to #3 and #5, respectively, on Billboard‘s rock-radio airplay chart.
It’s Hard was produced by Glyn Johns and was recorded at his Turn Up-Down Studio in Surrey, U.K. It has gone on to be certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 in the U.S, and features the song “Eminence Front,” which has been used in commercials, in TV shows and at sporting events.
The Who supported It’s Hard with a major trek that the band had planned to be its farewell tour. The outing included the famous concert at New York’s Shea Stadium that featured The Clash as one of the opening acts.
This past June, an expanded 40th-anniversary edition of It’s Hard was released as a limited-edition two-LP vinyl set as part of this year’s Record Store Day event. The release featured bonus tracks and one orange and one yellow LP.
Here’s the full original track list of It’s Hard:
“Athena”
“It’s Your Turn”
“Cooks County”
“It’s Hard”
“Dangerous”
“Eminence Front”
“I’ve Known No War”
“One Life’s Enough”
“One at a Time”
“Why Did I Fall for That?”
“A Man Is a Man”
“Cry If You Want”
This marks the first time the star-studded collection has been made available via streaming services.
A Postcard from California features an impressive cast of guest artists, including Jardine’s fellow Beach Boys, Steve Miller, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, America‘s Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, and Glen Campbell.
Jardine wrote or co-wrote over half of the tracks on the album, which also features updated renditions of The Beach Boys’ hits and of the Mamas and the Papas classic “California Dreamin’.”
The digital reissue includes two bonus tracks. The first is a previously unreleased extended version of “Waves of Love,” which features one of the last recorded studio vocal performances by late Beach Boys co-founder Carl Wilson. The second is “Sloop John B (A Pirate’s Tale),” Jardine’s reworked version of the popular folk tune “Sloop John B,” which was originally released in 2005 alongside Al’s children’s book of the same name.
Miller contributes to an updated version of “Help Me Rhonda,” the chart-topping 1965 Beach Boys hit featuring Jardine’s lead vocals. Crosby, Stills and Young all appear on Jardine’s rendition of “A California Saga.” Campbell, who was a touring member of The Beach Boys during the mid-1960s, lends his vocal talents to the title track and the “California Dreamin'” cover.
“I can’t believe it’s been 12 years since Postcard came out and I thank everyone involved in the production and creation of this album to help me get my songs out there,” says Jardine.
Here’s the reissue’s full track list:
“A Postcard from California” — featuring Glen Campbell
“California Feelin'”
“Lookin’ Down the Coast”
“Don’t Fight the Sea” — featuring The Beach Boys
“Tidepool Interlude” — featuring Alec Baldwin
“Campfire Scene” — featuring Neil Young
“A California Saga” — featuring Neil Young, David Crosby & Stephen Stills
“Help Me, Rhonda” — featuring Steve Miller
“San Simeon” — featuring America
“Drivin'” — featuring Brian Wilson & David Marks
“Honkin’ Down the Highway” — featuring Brian Wilson
“California Dreamin'” — featuring Glen Campbell
“And I Always Will”
Special Bonus Tracks
“Waves of Love” — featuring Carl Wilson
“Sloop John B (A Pirate’s Tale)”
