Classic Hits

Aerosmith has canceled the band’s first batch of Las Vegas residency dates due to frontman Steven Tyler entering a treatment program.

“As many of you know, our beloved brother Steven has worked on his sobriety for many years,” the “Dream On” rockers write in a social media statement posted Tuesday. “After foot surgery to prepare for the stage and the necessity of pain management during the process, he has recently relapsed and voluntarily entered a treatment program to concentrate on his health and recovery.”

As such, Aerosmith won’t be playing the Vegas dates scheduled for June and July while Tyler “focuses on his well-being.”

“We are devastated that we have inconvenienced so many of you, especially our most loyal fans who often travel great distances to experience our shows,” the statement reads. “Thank you for your understanding and for your support for Steven during this time.”

Those who purchased tickets to the affected shows will receive refunds.

Aerosmith plans to resume the residency in September.

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The Scorpions have released “The Language of My Heart” as their latest single, a bonus track from the French version of their new studio album Rock Believer.

The track is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, while a lyric video has premiered at the veteran German rockers’ official YouTube channel.

The touching ballad is a celebration of Paris, inspired by the brutal terrorist attacks that took place at the historic Bataclan theater and other parts of the city in November 2015 and left 130 people dead and hundreds more wounded.

“It’s a tribute to France, with its wonderful culture and our fantastic fans,” says Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine.

The Scorpions were the first band to stage a concert in Paris following the attacks, just 10 days later, when they played the AccorHotels Arena for a crowd of 20,000.

Last week, the band gave “The Language of My Heart” its live debut during a new concert at the Paris venue. The show kicked off a European tour in support of Rock Believer that runs through a July 18 concert in Lisbon, Portugal. The Scorpions recently announced dates for a North American leg that also will feature Whitesnake and that gets underway on August 21 in Toronto.

Check out the band’s full tour schedule at The-Scorpions.com.

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After a six-year break from the road, Bruce and the band are back.

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band have announced a 2023 tour, which will include U.S. shows in arenas starting in February followed by stadium shows in Europe, and then a second North American leg in August.

In a statement, the Boss said, “After six years, I’m looking forward to seeing our great and loyal fans next year. And I’m looking forward to once again sharing the stage with the legendary E Street Band. See you out there, next year — and beyond.”

So far, only the European shows have been announced, starting April 28 in Barcelona. U.K. shows will be announced at a later date, as will the U.S. dates. 

These are the first tour dates for Bruce and the band since The River Tour wrapped up in Australia in 2017, though they did perform on Saturday Night Live in 2020 to promote their most recent album, Letter to You.

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Dave Stewart of Eurythmics has just released a box set titled Ebony McQueen, a 26-track collection that tells the fictional story of a teenage boy from northern England who is visited by a voodoo blues queen, setting in motion a journey of discovery.

The box set is the first of multiple Ebony McQueen projects Stewart is planning, along with a film and a stage musical.

Stewart tells ABC Audio that Ebony McQueen was inspired by his own life story, based on how he developed a passion for music as a teenager in Sunderland, U.K.

“I started to write songs and write a story [about] the [time] in my teenage life when I discovered music for the first time,” he explains. “And it was through playing a blues record [by Robert Johnson] that my cousin had sent from Memphis.”

Dave notes that while recuperating from a soccer-related knee injury, he started becoming obsessed with music, and began learning guitar and tuning in to BBC Radio at the time that The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks were becoming popular.

“In that six to nine months, you have no idea how the radio was so eclectically brilliant,” Stewart declares. “[I]t was…literally like having your mind blown.”

Stewart wound up incorporating various musical styles from that period of his life into the songs on Ebony McQueen.

The box set includes three vinyl LPs, two vinyl EPs, two cassettes featuring acoustic versions of the songs and a booklet with photos, lyrics, drawings and an early script Dave wrote for the Ebony McQueen movie.

Dave says casting has already begun for the movie, which he compares to Billy Elliott and Once, noting, “it’s that kind of film where there’s an epiphany and it changes…your life in a massive way.”

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A permanent Blue Plaque marker commemorating the late Jimi Hendrix‘s last residence in London, then known as the Cumberland Hotel and now the site of the Hard Rock Hotel in the Marble Arch section of the U.K. capital, will be unveiled on June 10.

The unveiling will be presented by the Hard Rock Hotel London in partnership with Experience Hendrix L.L.C., the family company that oversees the guitar legend’s music and legacy.

The new marker will become the second Blue Plaque honoring Hendrix in London. The first, which was unveiled in 1997, is located at the building where Jimi resided in 1968 and ’69 in the city’s Mayfair section. While living at the Cumberland Hotel, Hendrix wrote lyrics to his sings “Look Over Yonder” and “Suddenly November Morning” on the hotel’s stationary.

In conjunction with the new plaque’s debut, a special ticketed event will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel that will include a screening of the 2020 documentary Music, Money, Madness…Jimi Hendrix in Maui, and a Q&A with longtime Hendrix studio engineer Eddie Kramer; the film’s director, John McDermott; and Experience Hendrix CEO Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s sister.

“I’m so proud of my brother Jimi and his being honored again in London,” says Janie. “His mission was to spread love across the world through his music, and we continue to see that come to fruition all these years later. Eddie, John and I all look forward to interacting with people on June 10, whose lives were touched by Jimi in London — a city that was so important to him and his career.”

Tickets for the screening and Q&A can be purchased at Universe.com.

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Stevie Nicks is one of the many artists confirmed to appear on the soundtrack to Elvis, the upcoming biopic about rock ‘n’ roll icon Elvis Presley by Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet director Baz Luhrmann.

The album also will include “original songs and recordings” from Elvis himself, as well as contributions from Chris Isaak, Rufus Thomas, Jack White, Gary Clark Jr., Kacey Musgraves, Jazmine Sullivan, Tame Impala, Doja Cat, Måneskin, Eminem and CeeLo Green, and Elton John collaborators Pnau.

A track list for the soundtrack has yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, a second official trailer for Elvis debuted May 23 at Warner Bros. Pictures’ YouTube channel.

Elvis stars Austin Butler in the title role and Tom Hanks as his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. The film premieres in theaters on June 24.

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Alanis Morissette and Cyndi Lauper are among the artists who will perform at the inaugural Oceans Calling Festival, taking place September 30 to October 2 in Ocean City, Maryland.

Morissette will headline the event on Sunday, October 2, and Lauper also will perform that day.

The festival’s other headliners are Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds and The Lumineers, while the bill also includes Sublime with Rome, Toad the Wet Sprocket, O.A.R., Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Jimmy Eat World, Cage The Elephant, Young the Giant, Skip Marley, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, Dirty Heads and Grouplove. Festival co-founder O.A.R. will perform twice — on September 30 and October 2.

“We are thrilled to host Oceans Calling Festival in Ocean City, Maryland, and celebrate all our incredible city has to offer,” says Mayor Rick Meehan. “Thank you to C3 Presents and Maryland’s own O.A.R. for bringing an event of this magnitude to the Ocean City Boardwalk. We look forward to seeing everyone!”

Tickets go on sale this Wednesday, May 25, at noon ET. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit OceansCallingFestival.com.

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REO Speewagon will reissue its 14th studio album, Building the Bridge, on May 27 on CD. The record also will be released for the first time via digital music services that day.

The band will be selling CD copies of Building the Bridge during its Live and UnZoomed tour this year with Styx and Loverboy. The net proceeds from the sales will be donated to REO and Styx’s Rock to the Rescue foundation. In addition, a vinyl version of the album will be released later in 2022.

While Building the Bridge failed to chart when it was released in 1996, REO frontman Kevin Cronin says in a statement he felt it was “the album that truly solidified the current REO lineup, and its songs are some of our strongest ever.”

Cronin continues, “From the title song, which I sang with Bill Clinton on his 1996 campaign trail, to ‘Haven’t We Lost Enough (I Still Love You),’ which I co-wrote with my musical hero, Stephen Stills, to the production collaboration with the late, great Greg Ladanyi, I feel this record is pound for pound one of our best.”

The Building the Bridge reissue, which will be released by Jimmy Buffett‘s Mailboat Records label, features remastered audio and updated artwork.

Adds Cronin, “I am excited to give new life to this long forgotten, but powerful album.”

You can preorder the Building the Bridge reissue now.

The Live & UnZoomed tour kicks off May 31 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is mapped out through a September 18 show in Bangor, Maine.

Here’s the full Building the Bridge track list:

“Can’t Stop Rockin'”
“Haven’t We Lost Enough (I Still Love You)”
“Building the Bridge”
“When I Get Home”
“Then I Met You”
“Look the Other Way”
“After Tonight”
“Hey, Wait a Minute”
“One True Man”
“She’s Gonna Love Me”
“Ballad of the Illinois Opry”

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The first trailer for the upcoming official David Bowie documentary film Moonage Daydream has debuted at Bowie’s official YouTube channel.

The promo features a variety of clips of Bowie performing live during different periods throughout his career, as well as segments from some of his music videos and films. It includes a voice-over of Bowie saying, “All people, no matter who they are, wish they’d appreciated life more. It’s what you do in life that’s important, not how much time you have … or what you wish you’d done. Life is fantastic.”

The trailer’s arrival comes just in advance of Moonage Daydream‘s premiere, which, according to Variety, is taking place tonight, May 23, at the Cannes Film Festival’s “Midnight Screenings” section.

As previously reported, Moonage Daydream was written and directed by Brett Morgen and is the first film to be officially sanctioned by Bowie’s estate. The movie is described as “a sublime kaleidoscopic experiential cinematic odyssey that explores Bowie’s creative, spiritual, and philosophical journey.”

Moonage Daydream includes previously unseen footage and performances, as well as unheard music, and will feature Bowie’s own narration. The film includes 47 musical tracks, mixed from the original recordings. Bowie’s longtime friend, collaborator and co-producer Tony Visconti is serving as the musical producer of the project.

According to the caption for the trailer on YouTube, Moonage Daydream will get its premiere in cinemas worldwide in September.

Billboard recently reported that the movie will get its TV premiere on HBO and HBO Max in the spring of 2023.

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Even back when Harry Styles was in One Direction, his resemblance to a young Mick Jagger was often mentioned. He’s since played on that resemblance, portraying the Rolling Stones front man on Saturday Night Live and allegedly taking inspiration from Jagger’s ’70s-era outfits. However, Jagger doesn’t really think he and Harry have much in common at all.

Asked by The Times of London if he feels that he’s inspired Harry, Jagger said, “I like Harry — we have an easy relationship,” but points out, “I mean, I used to wear a lot more eye makeup than him. Come on, I was much more androgynous.”

Jagger goes on to say, “And he doesn’t have a voice like mine or move on stage like me; he just has a superficial resemblance to my younger self, which is fine — he can’t help that.”

While Jagger may insist he was “much more androgynous” than Harry, the legendary singer never wore a dress on the cover of Vogue.

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