Classic Hits

This Thursday, September 9, would’ve been late soul legend Otis Redding‘s 80th birthday, and to commemorate the milestone, his home state of Georgia will declare that day to be “Otis Redding Day.”

The official proclamation will be announced during an event Thursday at The Otis Redding Museum in Macon, Georgia. The museum also will unveil a new collection of Redding memorabilia that day that will celebrate the singer’s life, legacy and his influence on the world. The display will feature handwritten notes, rare photos and more. More information about the exhibit can be found at OtisReddingFoundation.org.

Meanwhile, coinciding with Redding’s 80th birthday on Thursday, new immersive Dolby Atmos mixes of seven of Otis’ popular recordings — “These Arms of Mine,” “Pain in My Heart,” “Love Man,” “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” and the classic holiday covers “Merry Christmas Baby” and “White Christmas” — will be available on high-res streaming platforms.

Also on Thursday, DJ D-Nice will host a Redding birthday celebration as part of one of his Club Quarantine virtual parties on Instagram, starting at 8 p.m. ET. In addition, for his support of Redding’s legacy, D-Nice will receive the Award of RESPECT from The Otis Redding Foundation, a charitable organization that was established in 2007 by Otis’ widow, Zelma.

In other news, a series of special remixes of classic Redding songs created by various artists will be released this fall. The first of the series, which will arrive this Thursday, will be a remix of Otis’ classic 1967 duet with Carla Thomas, “Tramp,” by Australian electronic duo Korky Buchek.

Redding died in a December 10, 1967, plane crash, just three days after he finished recording his enduring soul ballad “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” He was 26.

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After postponing a series of U.S. concerts because founding members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons both tested positive for COVID-19, KISS has confirmed that it will relaunch its End of the World farewell tour with a show this Thursday, September 9, in Irvine, California.

According to a statement from the band, doctors advised that the trek was safe to resume after Stanley and Simmons quarantined for 10 days.

Meanwhile, five of the postponed shows have been rescheduled for late October at the tail end of the 2021 U.S. leg of the outing.

An August 29 concert in Atlanta has been moved to October 10; an August 26 show in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, now will take place on October 13; a September 1 performance in Clarkston, Michigan, has been moved to October 15; a September 4 gig in Tinley Park, Illinois, has been rescheduled for October 16; and a September 2 concert in Dayton, Ohio, has been rescheduled for October 17.

Two other concerts delayed because the KISS members’ COVID diagnoses, originally scheduled for August 28 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and September 5 in Milwaukee, will be made up sometime in 2022, as will an August 22 concert in Hartford, Connecticut — a date that was postponed because of the effects of Hurricane Henri.

Tickets that were purchased for the postponed concerts will be honored for the rescheduled dates. Additional details will be emailed to ticketholders.

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

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Pop star Selena Gomez isn’t the only chart-topping musician in the new Hulu series Only Murders in the Building: Sting also has a role.  In fact, the former Police frontman rock legend is starting to look like the prime suspect in the murder that the characters played by Selena and her co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short are investigating. But despite the fact that they’re both musicians, Selena said talking shop with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer was the last thing on her mind while filming the show.

“Oh, gosh, no, no, no!” Selena tells ABC Audio when asked if she and Sting discussed collaborating. “But I will say this: [There] was a very cool moment.”

As Selena recalls, “There was a piano on set and I was just playing piano and all of a sudden I hear Sting playing exactly what I’m playing, on the guitar! And I’m like, ‘O.K., this is a surreal moment I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.’ ‘Cause…like, I don’t bother [other stars] with anything; I just wanted them to have a great experience.”

More about Sting and his motivations will be revealed in the fourth episode of the show, which arrives today on Hulu. It’s called “The Sting,” and in it, we’ll find out that there’s a definite connection between the rocker and the victim, Tim Kono, played by Julian Cihi.

Like Selena, Sting has had an acting career running parallel to his music career for years. But according to Entertainment Weekly, the reason Sting is in Only Murders is because he’s been friends with Steve Martin and the show’s casting director, Bernard Telsey, for a long time.

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Last Thursday, ABBA thrilled fans by announcing plans to release their first new album in 40 years, Voyage, while debuting two tracks from the forthcoming record: “I Still Have Faith in You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down.”

Now comes word that the songs are both on pace to debut in the top 10 of the next U.K. Official Singles Chart. As of Saturday, “I Still Have Faith in You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down” sat at #6 and #7, respectively, on the Official Chart: First Look list.

If the songs hold their positions, they will become the Swedish pop legends’ first top-10 hits in the U.K. since “One of Us” in December 1981.

Both tracks are available now on vinyl, CD and digital formats. As of Saturday, “Don’t Shut Me Down” was the most downloaded song in the U.K. during the past week.

OfficialCharts.com also reports that more than 80,000 copies of the Voyage album, which is due out November 5, have been pre-ordered already, breaking a record for the most pre-orders ever for an album on ABBA’s longtime label, Universal Music UK.

As previously reported, Voyage was created in tandem with a concert experience that will see digital avatars of ABBA’s members — Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus — performing virtually with a live 10-piece band, in a purpose-built, 3,000-person capacity arena in London. The Voyage shows premiere May 27, 2022, and tickets for the concerts went on sale to the general public today. Visit ABBAVoyage.com for more details.

ABBA’s last studio album, The Visitors, was released in November 1981.

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The new official Led Zeppelin documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin got its premiere at Italy’s Venice International Film Festival over the weekend and, according to Variety, guitarist Jimmy Page was on hand to take part in a press conference celebrating the film’s debut.

During the event, held Saturday, Page noted that before agreeing to participate in this film, he and his surviving band mates had turned down many previous requests to do what he described as “miserable” documentaries about Led Zeppelin.

“[T]hey’d want to be concentrating on anything but the music, and consequently I would recoil immediately from that sort of thing,” Page explained.

Jimmy noted that Becoming Led Zeppelin was “everything about the music and what would make the music tick. And it’s complete versions of song, not just a little sample and then talking heads. This is something in a totally different genre.”

As previously reported, Becoming Led Zeppelin features new interviews with Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, as well as archival interviews with the group’s late drummer, John Bonham.

The film, which was directed by Bernard McMahon, follows the individual paths of Led Zeppelin’s members through their various groups and musical endeavors en route to becoming part of one of the biggest and most influential rock bands in the world. The documentary ends in 1970, at the height of Led Zeppelin’s meteoric rise.

Page said that the movie focuses on the early period of Led Zeppelin’s career, during which the band released its first two albums in the same year, 1970, and toured the U.K. and the U.S.

“The momentum was absolutely…I was going a million miles an hour,” Jimmy noted. That’s what they’ve managed to capture.”

According to Variety, all 12 scheduled festival screenings of Becoming Led Zeppelin were sold out.

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Take me down to BottleRock Napa Valley, where the rock stops promptly at 10 p.m.

Guns N’ Roses learned that the hard way during their headlining performance at the California festival over the Labor Day Weekend. Halfway through their rendition of “Paradise City,” which featured a surprise appearance by Dave Grohl on guitar and backing vocals, the power on stage was cut because the set had passed BottleRock’s strict 10 p.m. curfew.

Being that Grohl once finished a Foo Fighters show after falling off the stage and breaking his leg, he wasn’t about to let a lack of electricity end the party. So for the last three minutes of the song, GrohlN’R jammed “Paradise City” in the dark, with only the sound of drums and un-amplified vocals reaching beyond the stage.

You can watch fan-shot footage of the performance now via YouTube.

According to The Mercury News, artists including Neil Young, The Cure and Foo Fighters have been cut off at past BottleRocks after hitting the curfew.

Foo Fighters also headlined BottleRock this year. Additionally, Grohl and producer/songwriter Greg Kurstin performed a set a covers from their The Hanukkah Sessions series.

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Last month, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood revealed to The Times of London that he and his old Faces band mates Rod Stewart and Kenney Jones had been collaborating on new music together, and now Jones reportedly has shared some new details about the project.

Contact Music reports that in a new exclusive interview with BANG Showbiz, Kenney revealed, “We’ve done about 14 songs, it’s a mixture of stuff we never released which is worthy of releasing and there’s some new stuff which is really wonderful. Rod is writing the lyrics and he’s really keen on it.”

Jones, who is The Faces’ founding drummer, also says the band is planning to play a number of major concerts, including shows at London’s O2 arena, New York City’s Madison Square Garden and “some other big venues in America.”

He adds, “Nothing elaborate on stage, just bring back The Faces live.”

Kenney also reportedly tells BANG Showbiz that he and Wood have been looking through the Faces archives for unreleased recordings that they hope to put out.

“Ronnie has found around 90 pieces of music and I’ve found around 50 pieces of music,” Jones notes, “some are whole tracks, some are not, some are just bits.”

Jones, Wood and Stewart are the last surviving original members of The Faces. Bassist Ronnie Lane died in 1997 and keyboardist Ian McLagan passed away in 2014.

Jones, Wood and Stewart last performed together as The Faces in February 2020 during the finale of the Brit Awards, the U.K. equivalent of the Grammys.

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Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde celebrates her 70th birthday today.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Hynde moved to London in 1973 and eventually immersed herself in the city’s punk scene.

She formed The Pretenders in 1978 with drummer Martin Chambers, guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon. The band’s first single, a 1979 cover of The Kinks‘ “Stop Your Sobbing,” reached #34 on the U.K. charts.

The Pretenders’ 1979 self-titled debut album reached #9 on the Billboard 200. It featured the band’s first stateside hit, “Brass in Pocket,” which peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Pretenders also featured several other enduring songs, including “Precious,” “Kid” and “Mystery Achievement.”

The band’s 1981 sophomore album, The Pretenders II, reached #10 on the Billboard 200 and included the popular tunes “Talk of the Town” and “Message of Love.”

Tragedy struck the band in June 1982 when Honeyman-Scott, 25, died of a drug overdose, two days after Farndon was fired because of his own drug problems. In April 1983, Farndon drowned in his bathtub after overdosing on heroin. He was 30.

Hynde and Chambers soon re-formed The Pretenders, and the band scored its biggest hit in 1982 with “Back on the Chain Gang,” which reached #5 on the Hot 100. Other hits followed, including “Middle of the Road,” “Show Me,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and “I’ll Stand by You.”

Hynde also scored a big hit when she teamed up with U.K. reggae band UB40 for a 1985 cover of Sonny & Cher’s classic duet “I Got You Babe.”

Outside of music, Chrissie has had children with two other famous singers. Her daughter Natalie, whose father is Kinks frontman Ray Davies, was born in 1983. From 1984 to 1990, Hynde was married to Simple Minds single Jim Kerr, and the couple’s daughter, Yasmin, was born in ’85.

Chrissie was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The Pretenders in 2005.

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Kool & the Gang reached a milestone with the release of their 25th studio album, Perfect Union, two weeks ago. However, it was difficult to celebrate following the recent passing of two of the founding members.

Saxophonist Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas died on August 7, one year after Ronald Bell, brother of band leader Robert “Kool” Bell, died in 2020.

“Our last show with Dennis Thomas was in Los Angeles on 4th of July weekend,” Kool tells People about their performance at the Hollywood Bowl. “We didn’t know that he would pass two or three weeks later. It was the greatest show. We blended very well with the live orchestra and it was great. We didn’t know that he would be leaving us after that.”

Perfect Union is the Grammy Award-winning band’s first album in eight years, and was conceived by Ronald Bell.

“[He] put together most of this album before he passed,” Kool continues. “The album represents the perfect union the band makes together and the theme of what not only our country, but the world is trying to achieve right now. “

After more than 50 years, Kool & the Gang is ready to document their impressive longevity with a project inspired by their 1974 party classic.

“We’re working on a documentary, a movie as well,” Kool reveals. “My working title is Hollywood Swinging: The Kool and the Gang Story.”

Despite so much recent tragedy, including the passing of his wife, Sakinah, in 2018, Bell is grateful for what has been a very special life.

“A lot of different things over the years were testing periods for me, learning periods of my life,” the 70-year-old bassist comments. “This experience has been a blessing, to be able to travel around the world and see so many different things.”

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Late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was born 75 years ago this Sunday, September 5.

Mercury, who died from AIDS in November 1991 at age 45, is widely regarded as one of the all-time great rock singers. His powerful vocals, flamboyant persona and dynamic performing style helped Queen become one of the most popular and successful bands on the planet.

Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on the African island of Zanzibar in 1946, and his family lived there until 1964, when they moved to the U.K. In 1970, Mercury teamed up with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor in a band called Smile, and after the addition of bassist John Deacon, the group changed its name to Queen.

Queen blended a variety of genres including rock ‘n’ roll, hard rock, prog-rock, classical, pop, funk and rockabilly for a unique sound that captivated a wide variety of music fans. Mercury was responsible for writing many of the band’s biggest hits, including  “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love,” “We Are the Champions,” “Bicycle Race,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Play the Game” and, of course, the enduring rock anthem “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Freddie also co-wrote Queen’s classic 1981 collaboration with David Bowie, “Under Pressure.” Mercury’s performance with Queen at London’s Wembley Stadium at the 1985 Live Aid festival is widely considered one of the highlights of that historic event.

Mercury also released a pair of solo albums during the 1980s, one of which, 1988’s Barcelona, was a duets project with Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé.

Mercury and Queen’s other members were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003.

In commemoration of Freddie’s 75th birthday, three special T-shirts are on sale now at Queen’s online store.

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