Classic Hits

The long, strange trip of The Grateful Dead just got a little bit stranger with the news that Martin Scorsese has signed on to direct an as-yet-untitled biopic about the legendary jam band that will star Jonah Hill as the group’s late frontman, Jerry Garcia.

Sources tell Deadline that Hill is co-producing the project through his Strong Baby production company, and that surviving Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, and Garcia’s daughter, Trixie Garcia, are serving as executive producers.

The film’s script is being written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski — whose credits include American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon and The People vs. Larry Flynt — along with Rick Yorn of LBI Entertainment.

The movie won’t be the first Grateful Dead-themed project that Scorsese has worked on. He also was an executive producer on the 2017 documentary Long Strange Trip that focused on the band’s history. Scorsese and Hill also previously worked together on Martin’s 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.

Hill reacted to the news of the Grateful Dead biopic by posted a screenshot of the Deadline article on his Instagram page, along with praying hands and skull emojis.

 

 

 

 

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You oughta know that Jagged, a documentary about Alanis Morissette and her seminal 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, airs tonight at 8 p.m. on HBO Max.

The album reveals how a then-21-year-old Alanis took the music industry by storm with her raw, emotionally honest songs. And the film’s director, Alison Klayman, tells ABC Audio that it’ll definitely have you digging out your old Jagged Little Pill CD.

“We had a party and we listened to the entire album after watching the movie and then karaoke’d all of the singles,” Klayman says, laughing. “And I was like, ‘Does everybody want this?’ And it was like, ‘This is all we want.'”

She adds, “The film just really inspires people not only to understand and re-frame and appreciate more deeply the story of the album, but really just to [be] like, ‘Yeah, I really want to listen to this. I love these songs.’“

Klayman also feels now is the perfect time to revisit the album and its message of female empowerment because, she notes, “We’re kind of on the other side of the beginning of MeToo and Time’s Up.”

“Y’know, there’s [now] a framework for thinking about some of these things,” she adds. “Like Alanis says, ‘It’s not that people are suddenly talking about it — it’s just that the culture wasn’t listening. And now it is.'”

While Alanis participated in the making of the film, she later publicly denounced it as salacious and refused to attend the premiere. Admitting she was “definitely surprised” by Alanis’ reaction, Klayman says, “I felt like this is a film that was made so collaboratively and with such a spirit of celebration and respect.”

She adds, “My hope is that she feels the love and support and can appreciate that, you know, that is the impact of this film.”

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Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Joan Jett‘s most successful album, I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, which features the pop-punk legend’s signature song, her classic cover of U.K. glam-rock group The Arrows‘ 1975 tune of the same name.

I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll was Jett’s second album following the 1979 breakup of her influential all-female group The Runaways, and the first that she released with her longtime backing band The Blackhearts.

The original Blackhearts lineup featured guitarist Eric Ambel, bassist Gary Ryan and drummer Lee Crystal although Ambel was replaced early on during the sessions by Ricky Byrd.

The title track, which was written by Arrows members Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker, became a massive hit for Jett & the Blackhearts, spending seven consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the spring of 1982. It’s Jett’s only song ever to top the chart, and was the third-best-selling track in the U.S. in ’82 overall.

The album also included Jett & the Blackhearts’ second-highest-charting single, a cover of Tommy James and the Shondells‘ 1969 #1 hit “Crimson and Clover” that reached #7 on the Hot 100 for Joan and company.

The album, which was split between original tunes written or co-written by Joan and cover tunes, also included memorable renditions of The Dave Clark Five‘s 1964 smash “Bits and Pieces,” doo-woop group The Halos‘ 1961 hit “Nag” and the holiday classic “Little Drummer Boy.”

The I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll album peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 and has gone on to sell more than a million copies in the U.S.

In 2016, Jett & the Blackhearts’ version of “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”
“(I’m Gonna) Run Away”
“Love Is Pain”
“Nag”
“Crimson and Clover”
“Victim of Circumstance”
“Bits and Pieces”
“Be Straight”
“You’re Too Possessive”
“Little Drummer Boy”

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U2‘s Achtung Baby album celebrates its 30th anniversary today. Released on November 18, 1991, the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified eight-times platinum by the RIAA.

Achtung Baby was the follow-up to the companion album to the Irish rocker’s 1988 documentary Rattle and Hum. Moving away from the Americana sounds of Rattle and Hum, the band went back to more of an alternative-rock sound for Achtung Baby, while also adding industrial and electronic music elements. The new sound was prevalent in songs like the funk-rock-inflected “Mysterious Ways” and the hip-hop-influenced “The Fly.”

U2 began recording Achtung Baby in Germany’s Hansa Studios just a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Though the band hoped to be inspired by German reunification, Achtung Baby became a very dark and personal album. U2’s members fought throughout the recording sessions, though things started to really come together when they wrote “One,” which has become one of the band’s most well-known songs.

Two singles from the album reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, “Mysterious Ways” and “One,” which peaked at #9 and #10, respectively. Achtung Baby also yielded two other top-40 hits — “Even Better Than the Real Thing” and “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.”

U2 supported Achtung Baby with the Zoo TV tour, which used elaborate visuals and other multimedia to emphasize the theme of “sensory overload.” Throughout the trek, Bono dressed up as different characters, and the band embraced a more humorous and ironic tone.

Considered by many to be one of U2’s greatest works, Achtung Baby returned the band to critical favor, and paved the way for the group’s continued musical exploration during the 1990s.

Here’s Achtung Baby‘s full track list:

“Zoo Station”
“Even Better Than the Real Thing”
“One”
“Until the End of the World”
“Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”
“So Cruel”
“The Fly”
“Mysterious Ways”
“Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World”
“Ultraviolet (Light My Way)”
“Acrobat”
“Love Is Blindness”

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David Bowie‘s widow, Somali-born supermodel Iman, has just released a fragrance called Love Memoir that she says is an homage to her “epic romance” with and “everlasting love” for her late husband, who died of liver cancer in 2016 at age 69.

Iman tells People that creating fragrance, which is available now exclusively via the HSN network and HSN.com, helped to ease her sorrow as she grieved for her rock-legend husband during the COVID-19 pandemic while spending time at the home they shared in upstate New York.

“There is an alchemy and magic to it,” Iman says. “I put in the woodsy vetiver that reminds me of David and the cologne he wore the night we met [Grey Vetiver by Tom Ford], and then the bergamot of Tuscany [Italy], where we were married.”

Iman tells People that she knows Bowie would have been proud of her fragrance venture, noting that he was very encouraging during the 1990s when she started her Iman Cosmetics company.

“As much as I find myself confident, I’m actually very apprehensive of starting things, especially businesses,” she notes. “If David was not in my life, I don’t know if I would have had the courage to start Iman Cosmetics — he’s fearless in that way. He gave me the courage.”

The couple were married in 1992 and had one daughter together, now-21-year-old Alexandra “Lexi” Jones.

Iman says after losing Bowie, she won’t consider getting married again, something he told her daughter when Lexi asked her how she felt about the subject.

“I still feel married,” Iman explains to People. “Someone a few years ago referred to David as my late husband and I said ‘No, he’s not my late husband. He’s my husband.'”

Eternal love.. Eternal Memories
Love Memoir by IMAN#IMANLoveMemoir #LoveMemoir #BowieForever https://t.co/ThW9CLR9eZ pic.twitter.com/HG2F2IaOx6

— Iman Abdulmajid (@The_Real_IMAN) November 16, 2021

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Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have announced a livestream performance to celebrate the release of their upcoming collaborative album, Raise the Roof.

The virtual event is set to premiere the same day Raise the Roof arrives, Friday, November 19. It will feature the debut performances of several of the album’s songs from Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville.

You can tune in to watch via both Plant and Krauss’ YouTube channels starting at 1 p.m. ET.

Raise the Roof is the Led Zeppelin singer and acclaimed country-bluegrass artist’s second joint album, following 2007’s Grammy-sweeping Raising Sand. The record is primarily a covers collection paying tribute to “legends and unsung heroes of folk, blues, country and soul music,” although it does include one original called “High and Lonesome” that Plant co-wrote with producer T Bone Burnett.

Along with the livestream, Plant and Krauss will mark Raise the Roof’s arrival with performances Friday on CBS Mornings and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Saturday on CBS Saturday Morning.

You can pre-order Raise the Roof now.

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Green Day and Gwen Stefani are part of a star-studded lineup of performers that will participate in the 2022 Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest, a three-day event taking place February 10-12 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles ahead of the upcoming Super Bowl LVI.

The “American Idiot” trio will be performing on February 12, along with pop superstar Miley Cyrus. The No Doubt singer will headline the festival’s middle date, February 11, with her husband, country star Blake Shelton, and another popular country artist, Mickey Guyton.

The festival’s first day will feature performances by rocker Machine Gun Kelly and his “Forget Me Too” collaborator, pop star Halsey.

Each of the three Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest concerts will be ticketed separately — tickets go on sale this Thursday, November 18. For more info, visit SuperBowlMusicFest.com.

Super Bowl LVI takes place February 13, 2022, at L.A.’s SoFi Stadium.

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The annual National Christmas Tree Lighting in Washington, D.C., will feature a star-studded lineup that includes soul/R&B legend Patti LaBelle and will be hosted by recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee LL Cool J.

Other performers who will be on hand to spread some holiday cheer at the event include Chris Stapleton, H.E.R., Keb’ Mo’, Kristin Chenoweth, Maren Morris and Billy Porter. The lighting ceremony will be taped on Thursday, December 2, on The Ellipse in President’’ Park in the nation’s capital.

The National Christmas Tree Lighting will air Sunday, December 5, at 8:30 p.m. ET/8 p.m PT, on CBS.

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Aerosmith has premiered a rare 1971 recording of the band’s early song, “Movin’ Out,” on their official YouTube channel. The track will be featured on the group’s upcoming limited-edition 2021 Record Store Day Black Friday release, 1971: The Road Starts Here.

The seven-track collection features previously unheard early recordings of Aerosmith playing several songs in their rehearsal room, one year before the band was signed to Columbia Records. The release will be limited to only 10,000 vinyl copies and 2,000 cassettes, available exclusively at participating independent record shops on Friday, November 26.

Among the songs Aerosmith performs on the recording are versions of five tunes that went on to appear on the band’s 1973 self-titled debut album — the aforementioned “Movin’ Out,” the classic rock anthem “Dream On,” “Mama Kin,” “Somebody,” and a cover of Rufus Thomas‘ 1963 hit “Walkin’ the Dog.”

Here’s the full track list of 1971: The Road Starts Here:

Side A
“Rehearsal Room”
“Somebody”
“Reefer Headed Woman”/”Walkin’ the Dog”

Side B
“Movin’ Out”
“Major Barbra”
“Dream On”
“Mama Kin”

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Add the late Whitney Houston to the growing list of celebrities joining the growing world of NFTs.  A demo song recorded by a then-17-year-old Whitney is about to hit the auction block.

OneOf, the NFT platform backed by Quincy Jones, announced that the track is a “never-before-heard full-length song.” The lucky winner of the auction “will have personal access to this recording in their OneOf Vault.”

The recording will be sold as part of an NFT collection that includes an accompanying music video created by 17-year-old artist Diana Sinclair featuring rare archival footage of Houston’s early days.

Joshua James, who co-founded OneOf, added, “We couldn’t be more excited to be releasing this historical song from the very beginning of her journey as an artist.”

Details of the two-day auction event are set to go live December 1. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Whitney E. Houston Foundation, a nonprofit that continues the singer’s legacy in empowering and supporting young women.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, allow buyers to exercise sole ownership over a unique piece of digital media, such as individual songs, videos and images.

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