Classic Hits

This year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is more like the MTV Hall of Fame: The newly minted inductees in the Performer category include ’80s pop icons Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, Eurythmics and Lionel Richie, plus Carly Simon and country legend Dolly Parton, who also had ’80s pop hits. The one outlier: rap superstar Eminem. But according to the Hall of Fame’s head honcho, “it’s all rock ‘n’ roll.”

“Rock ‘n’ roll has never been one thing,” says Rock Hall president and CEO Greg Harris. “It’s always been changing. It’s heavily influenced by the youth culture of the era and drives people to think differently, to act differently, to dress differently, to really believe in things.”

He adds, “We are seeing that in a big way with this class for the 1980s, but we’ll see it for subsequent decades as time marches on and and we continue to evolve. We’re not stuck in any one sound, but it’s all rock ‘n’ roll in our book.”

According to the Rock Hall, those honored with induction have created music with “originality, impact and influence [that] has changed the course of rock ‘n’ roll.” So how do these ’80s pop stars fit in?

Harris says Benatar “really set a path” for lots of female artists who came after her, because she was “in control [and] uncompromising” and has an “unbelievable vocal range.”

As for Duran Duran, Harris cites their “infectious melodies” and “complex musical arrangements,” as well as their mixture of guitar and synths, as influential.

And speaking of guitars and synths, Harris says Eurythmics took those and made them “really funky,” adding that Annie Lennox‘s “unbelievable voice” really brought “’60s soul into the ’80s.”

And talking about soul, Harris says, “Richie [was] hitting just as hard as Marvin Gaye, in a different era.”

As for Simon, Harris names Taylor Swift and Alanis Morissette as examples of women who’ve been impacted by “the honesty of her music and her delivery.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held November 5 at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater, and will air later on HBO and stream on HBO Max.

This year’s other inductees include Musical Excellence Award honorees Judas Priest and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis; Early Influence Award recipients Harry Belafonte and Elizabeth Cotton; and music-industry figures Allen Grubman, Jimmy Iovine and Sylvia Robinson, who’ll be recognized with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

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The Rolling Stones have partnered with the LEGO Group on the creation of a new LEGO set that celebrates the band’s classic tongue-and-lips logo in honor of the British rock legends’ 60th anniversary.

The set, which is part of the LEGO Art series, features 1,998 pieces that when put together creates a 3-D depiction of the Stones logo. It will be released on June 1, and will be available at LEGO.com and all LEGO retailers. The set is priced at $149.99.

LEGO designers have incorporated special surprise content into the set that can be accessed by fans — a soundtrack that includes music and an exclusive interview with graphic designer John Pasche, who created the original Rolling Stones tongue logo back in 1970.

“Who would have believed, 50 odd years ago…that design would be made into a LEGO piece. Wow!” Pasche said after he first saw the LEGO Art set.

The LEGO logo set measures over 22 inches long by 18.5 inches wide, and includes two hanger elements so that it can be affixed to a wall for display.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd will headline the final day of the second annual Born & Raised Festival, taking place September 16-18 in Pryor, Oklahoma, at Pryor Creek Music Festival Grounds, the same site as the popular Rocklahoma Festival.

The three-day event offers a country music and camping experience that showcases artists from the outlaw country genre, with a lineup featuring a total of over 35 acts.

Pre-sale passes for the festival will be available to purchase starting Friday, May 6, at 8 a.m. CT, while the general public will be able to purchase passes beginning on Monday, May 9, at 10 a.m. CT. You can register for the pre-sale, and find out full information about the event, now at BornandRaisedFestival.com.

Skynyrd’s Born & Raised Festival appearance is among a series of new performances that the famed Southern rockers have added to their 2022 tour schedule in recent weeks.

The band now has 25 shows listed on its itinerary, spanning from a May 13 appearance at the Pomona County Fair in Pomona, California, through a September 26 concert in Airway Heights, Washington.

Visit LynyrdSkynyrd.com to check out the band’s full schedule.

Meanwhile, founding Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington, who’s sat out most of the band’s concerts since 2021 because ongoing heart issues, recently posted a video on the group’s Facebook page giving an update on his health.

“I hope to make all [the upcoming shows] I can with my heart problems,” Rossington says in the clip, and reveals that he’ll soon undergo an operation “to put some heart-valve clips back on my valves that have kind of gone bad.”

He adds, “I’m gonna really keep working on my health and working out and trying to get better to be out there and play every night.”

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Stevie Wonder will be honored with the Legal Defense Fund’s inaugural Icon Award at the racial-justice organization’s 2022 National Equal Justice Awards Dinner, which will be held May 10 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Billboard reports that, according to a statement from the Legal Defense Fund, Wonder will be recognized for “his steadfast work throughout his illustrious career, spanning over half a century, which embodies LDF’s values and demonstrates his commitment to confronting the barriers that face Black Americans and other marginalized communities.”

The event, which boasts the theme “Truth Is Power,” will feature video messages from former first lady Michelle Obama and from former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick, as well as performances from the Dance Theater of Harlem.

Also at the event, author and professor Nikole Hannah-Jones, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her book The 1619 Project, will be honored with the Spirit of Justice Award; and Sherrilyn Ifill, the Legal Defense Fund’s outgoing president, will receive the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Our honorees have unapologetically used truth as power,” says current LDF president Janai S. Nelson in a statement. “They have refused to back down when others tried to silence them. And they have held their convictions fiercely and been unyielding to false narratives. Most importantly, they have used truth to shape outlooks, inform mindsets, and touch souls.”

For more information about the Legal Defense Fund and its National Equal Justice Awards Dinner, visit NAACPLDF.org.

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Pride Month begins June 1, and Mariah Carey is giving her lambs plenty of new clothes to celebrate.

The “Fantasy” singer dropped her 2022 Pride Collection on Tuesday, which fans can purchase now on her official online store.   Among the new, colorful goodies up for grabs are matching sweat sets, crop hoodies, muscle tanks, hats, water bottles, folding fans, rainbow neon lights and so much more.

Mariah also re-released a special vinyl edition of her 1999 Rainbow album, which features the songs “Thank God I Found You” and “Heartbreaker.”  It’s retailing for $31.98 on Mariah’s store.  

The singer commemorates some of those hit singles on special wardrobe pieces, such as an “Obsessed” crop hoodie and “Heartbreaker” tees and tank tops. 

Mariah also celebrated the outfit she wore on the Rainbow album with an all-new body tee, which allows fans to wear a stylized version of Mariah’s body on both the front and the back, for $60.

Prices range between $15 and $115 on Mariah’s new merchandise set, which is available to purchase now.

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Cyndi Lauper‘s life story is about to get the documentary treatment in the forthcoming film Let the Canary Sing. The movie will explore the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” singer’s rise to fame — and it has her seal of approval.

The movie will be helmed by Emmy-nominated director Alison Ellwood, who will take the audience on a deep dive into Cyndi’s history and accomplishments. 

According to a press release, the documentary will explore “how Lauper found her voice growing up in working class Queens, New York, a meteoric rise to stardom following the smashing success of her debut album She’s So Unusual, and the generations she has influenced with her songs, her inimitable ever-evolving punk style, unapologetic feminism and devotion to advocating for others.”

Cyndi has already given her “full participation and support” for the film.

“Like many people, I assumed when Cyndi Lauper burst onto the music scene in the early ’80s, that she was another young star experiencing a meteoric rise to fame and success thanks to MTV,” Ellwood said in a statement. “Her music videos were wild and colorful, her songs like ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun‘ were infectious. But as it turns out, her story is one of hard knocks, hard work and dogged determination. Cyndi wanted her voice not just to be listened to, but a voice to be heard.”

The director continued, “The documentary will be a full portrait of Cyndi Lauper — her ‘True Colors’ shining through.”

The pop legend has sold over 50 million records during her explosive career. Her standout hit “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” has been viewed over a billion times on YouTube.

Sony Music Entertainment is financing the film, for which a release date has yet to be announced.

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Graham Nash‘s long-awaited live album showcasing a series of special concerts he played in September 2019 during which he performed his first two solo album — 1971’s Songs for Beginners and 1974’s Wild Tales — in their entirety, finally will be released this Friday, May 6.

Graham Nash: Live — Songs for Beginners/Wild Tales features renditions of every tune from Nash’s two studio efforts, including the 1971 hit “Chicago/We Can Change the World,” and gems like “Military Madness,” “Simple Man,” “Prison Song” and “Oh! Camil.”

The full-albums concerts, which took place at four venues in the northeastern U.S., featured Nash performing with his two regular backing musicians — guitarist Shane Fontayne and keyboardist Todd Caldwell — plus a drummer, a bassist, a pedal-steel guitarist and two female backup singers.

In advance of the album, Graham released his live version of “Military Madness” digitally.

Reflecting on why the Songs for Beginners and Wild Tales albums were so popular with fans, Nash says, “I think it’s that intimacy and that immediacy of my emotions.”

He also laments that some of the topical songs he wrote during the ’70s remain relevant today.

“We’re supposed to learn from history and it doesn’t appear as if we’re learning much,” he maintains. “Songs like ‘Military Madness’…is that not relevant today? The hope that we can change the world, isn’t that still relevant today? I’m very flattered that my music seems to have lasted this long, but I’m also a little upset that we have to keep singing a song like ‘Military Madness’ right up to the present. Enough already!”

Graham Nash: Live, which can be pre-ordered now, is available on CD, as a two-LP set and via digital formats.

Here’s the live album’s full track list:

“Military Madness”
“Better Days”
“Wounded Bird”
“I Used to Be a King”
“Be Yourself”
“Simple Man”
“Man in the Mirror”
“There’s Only One”
“Sleep Song”
“Chicago”/”We Can Change the World”
“Wild Tales”
“Hey You (Looking at the Moon)”
“Prison Song”
“You’ll Never Be the Same”
“And So It Goes”
“Grave Concern”
“Oh! Camil”
“I Miss You”
“On the Line”
“Another Sleep Song”

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The 2021 documentary The Beatles and India, a film that explores the impact of the South Asian country and its culture on The Beatles‘ lives and music, as well as how the Fab Four helped introduce Indian music to the world, will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 21.

The Beatles and India was co-directed by Ajoy Bose, author of the book Across the Universe — The Beatles in India, which served as the inspiration for the movie. The film includes rare archival footage, recordings and photographs; expert commentary; eyewitness accounts; and new segments filmed across India.

According to the film’s official website, the documentary “is the first serious exploration of how India shaped the development of the greatest-ever rock band and their own pioneering role bridging two vastly different cultures across the universe.”

The Beatles’ interest in Indian music was sparked after guitarist George Harrison bought a sitar and began to take lessons from Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar. The band first featured sitar on their classic 1965 tune “Norwegian Wood,” and Indian influences were subsequently included on such songs as “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Love You To,” “Within You Without You” and “The Inner Light.”

The Beatles and India also looks at the band’s 1968 trip to Transcendental Meditation guru the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi‘s ashram in Rishikesh, during which many of the songs that appeared on The White Album were written.

You can pre-order the DVD and Blu-ray versions of The Beatles and India now at MVDShop.com.

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Former Blue Öyster Cult bassist Joe Bouchard has released a new single titled “My Way Is the Highway” that’s an advance track from his forthcoming solo album, American Rocker.

The song is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, while a companion music video has premiered on the Deko Entertainment label’s official YouTube channel.

“The song ‘My Way Is the Highway’ is a dream of tour destinations while cruising down the coast as the sun sinks into the Pacific Ocean,” Joe explains. “It is powered by the drums of Mickey Curry, and cementing the groove is brother Albert on his iconic cowbell — the original ‘more-cowbell man’! This song makes you want to put the pedal to the metal while you dance to the rocking music of the 70s.”

Curry is best known as Bryan Adams‘ longtime drummer, and he’s also worked with many other famous artists, including Daryl Hall, Cher, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper and The Cult. Albert Bouchard was Blue Öyster Cult’s original drummer, and he and Joe have collaborated on many projects together, including their band Blue Coupe with original Alice Cooper bassist Dennis Dunaway.

American Rocker is an 11-track collection that will be released on June 3. CD copies of the album can be pre-ordered now at Merchbucket.com. Also available are special bundles pairing the CD with a t-shirt and an autographed booklet.

Joe’s upcoming concert schedule includes a July 16 show with Blue Coupe in Sacketts Harbor, New York, and a U.K. tour in August with Albert performing as The Bouchard Brothers.

Here’s American Rocker‘s full track list:

“My Way Is the Highway”
“In the Golden Age”
“Deadly Kisses”
“Love Out of Thin Air”
“Off Season Hotel”
“Hounds of Hell”
“Conspiracy”
“Rocket to Fame”
“The Devil’s in the Details”
“Katherine”
“Hey There Suzi Dear”

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As one of the most famous musicians to hail from Alabama, it’s only fitting that Lionel Richie return to his home state for a very special performance in July.

The Tuskegee, Alabama native will headline the closing ceremony of The World Games 2022, which will be held July 17 at Protective Stadium. It’ll mark the first time Lionel’s performed in Alabama in more than 20 years.

The closing ceremony will also feature other Alabama musicians, such as the country group Alabama, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Motown legend Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas, rapper Yung Bleu, and American Idol alums Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks and Bo Bice.

Funk legend Bootsy Collins will be the emcee for both the opening and closing ceremonies of The World Games, an international event featuring sports that aren’t part of the Olympic Games, like kickboxing, pool, squash and tug of war.  Performers at the opening ceremonies include Sheila E., Tony! Toni! Tone!, Yolanda Adams and Nelly.

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