Wolfgang Van Halen has shared a post honoring his father, Eddie Van Halen, on the one-year anniversary of the iconic guitarist’s death.
“You fought so hard for so long, but you were still taken away,” Wolf writes alongside a photo of him and Eddie smiling and playing music together. “It’s just so unfair.”
He continues, “I’m not OK. I don’t think I’ll ever be OK. There’s so much I wish I could show you. So many things I wish I could share with you. I wish I could laugh with you again. I wish I could hug you again. I miss you so much it hurts.”
Wolf adds that he’s “trying to do my best here without you, but it’s really f***ing hard.”
“I hope you’re still proud,” he says. “I love you with all of my heart, Pop. Watch over me.”
Eddie died October 6, 2020, following a battle with cancer. He was 65.
If you happen to be in Fox Creek neighborhood of Detroit, you can now mail a letter or package at a post office that’s named after the late Queen of Soul.
On Monday, the Fox Creek Station post office, located at at 12711 E. Jefferson Ave., was officially renamed the Aretha Franklin Post Office Building, Patch.com reports.
Legislation to have the post office named in Aretha Franklin‘s honor was introduced in the House of Representatives last year by Michigan congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, a close friend of Franklin’s. Former President Donald Trump signed it into law in January 2021.
Lawrence visited the post office Monday for a dedication ceremony celebrating the rechristening, along with Michigan’s two U.S. senators — Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow — and Franklin family members.
“This building will always stand as a reminder that we all deserve a little RESPECT,” Rep. Lawrence said. She also posted photos from the event on her Twitter feed.
Added Sen. Peters, “Aretha Franklin was not just the Queen of Soul — she was a Detroit icon whose legacy of music and activism will forever symbolize Detroit’s strength and resilience.”
A postal service press release announcing the building’s name change gave some background information about Aretha’s life and achievements. It noted that she was a child prodigy who sang gospel at Detroit’s New Bethel Baptist Church, where her father, Reverend C. L. Franklin, was a minister; that she “found acclaim and commercial success” after signing with Atlantic Records in 1966; and that she went on to become “a symbol of Black empowerment during the civil rights movement.”
Aretha died of cancer at her Detroit home on August 16, 2018, at the age of 76.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Eddie Van Halen‘s death.
The legendary guitar virtuoso and Van Halen co-founder died October 6, 2020, following a battle with cancer. He was 65.
Eddie and his older brother, Alex, were born in The Netherlands before the Van Halen family moved to Pasadena, California, in 1962. The two were interested in music in an early age and played in several bands together before forming Van Halen in the early ’70s with Eddie on guitar and Alex on drums. They soon found vocalist David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony, who comprised Van Halen’s “classic” lineup.
Though each member of Van Halen brought their own personality to the band, Eddie’s guitar playing was always the star of the show. He was particularly renowned for his finger-tapping technique, famously heard in the Van Halen instrumental “Eruption,” which is now considered to be among the greatest guitar solos of all time.
Van Halen’s classic lineup released six albums, from 1978’s self-titled debut to 1984’s 1984, and produced classic singles in “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love,” “Dance the Night Away,” “Unchained,” “Panama,” and the number-one hit, “Jump.”
In between all that, Eddie married actress Valerie Bertinelli in 1981 — with whom he had a son, Wolfgang, in 1991 — and played the solo on Michael Jackson‘s hit “Beat It.”
Roth left Van Halen in 1985 and was replaced by Sammy Hagar, whose tenure fronting the band produced four-straight number-one albums. Hagar was then replaced by Gary Cherone for one more album before Van Halen disbanded in 1999.
During the group’s hiatus, Eddie underwent treatment for tongue cancer and separated from Bertinelli. The couple eventually divorced in 2007, and Eddie married his second wife, publicist Janie Liszewski, in 2009.
Van Halen reunited briefly in the mid-2000s with Hagar singing before reforming again in 2006, with Roth back and a then-teenage Wolfgang playing bass instead of Anthony. That lineup would produce a final Van Halen album, 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth, before playing their last tour together in 2015.
Following his father’s death, Wolfgang revealed that there had been plans for a so-called “Kitchen Sink” Van Halen reunion tour, which would potentially feature Anthony back along with all three of the band’s singers. However, those plans were put on hold due to Eddie’s declining health.
Wolfgang, meanwhile, is carrying on the family legacy with his solo band, Mammoth WVH. The project has already scored two number-one Billboard rock singles.
Here’s wishing a happy 70th birthday to longtime REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin.
Cronin first joined the Illinois-based band in 1972 in time to record their second album, R.E.O./T.W.O., but he left the group because of creative differences during the making of their next record, Ridin’ the Storm Out.
In 1976, Kevin rejoined REO Speewagon and has fronted the band ever since. During the group’s heyday in the late 1970s and early ’80s, Cronin split main songwriting duties with guitarist Gary Richrath. In 1978, REO scored minor hits with the Cronin-penned “Roll with the Changes” and “Time for Me to Fly,” which were both featured on the band’s You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tuna Fish album.
REO Speedwagon’s real commercial breakthrough came in 1980 with Hi Infidelity. The album spent 15 non-consective weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 in 1981, more than any other album that year. It featured the chart-topping ballad “Keep On Loving You” and the #5 hit “Take It on the Run,” both written by Cronin. Hi Infidelity has gone on to be certified Diamond by the RIAA for sales of over 10 million in the U.S.
Numerous other Cronin-penned Billboard Hot 100 hits followed for REO Speedwagon during the ’80s, including “Keep the Fire Burnin’,” which peaked at #7 in 1982, and the band’s second chart-topping single, “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” which was #1 for three weeks in 1985.
Richrath was fired from REO over conflicts with Cronin in 1989, and Kevin has continued to lead the band. REO’s most recent studio album was the 2009 holiday collection Not So Silent Night…Christmas with REO Speedwagon, but the group still tours regularly.
The band’s next concert is scheduled for this Friday, October 8, in Boerne, Texas.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have announced two new eight-performance engagements of their “An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live” show, running from January 26 through February 6 and from May 18 to May 29.
Tickets for all of Santana‘s new performances go on sale to the general public this Saturday, October 9, at 10 a.m. local time via House of Blues.com/Santana, MandalayBay.com and Ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.
Citi card members can buy pre-sale tickets starting Wednesday, October 6, at 10 a.m. PT; visit CitiPrivatePass.com for more information. The House of Blues and Live Nation pre-sales will begin Thursday, October 7, at 10 a.m. PT.
Part of the money from the tickets sold for Santana’s Las Vegas shows will benefit the Milagro Foundation, the charity Carlos co-founded that helps young people in impoverished communities around the world. Some of the proceeds also will be donated to the House of Blues’ Music Forward Foundation, which uses music to help young people develop life skills.
The band also has two other previously announced eight-show stands this year at the House of Blues Las Vegas that are scheduled from November 3 to November 14 and from December 1 to December 12. Visit Santana.com to check out the group’s full schedule.
As previously reported, Santana’s latest studio album, the star-studded Blessing and Miracles, will be released on October 15. The band recently debuted a lyric video for one of the tracks, a cover of the Procol Harum classic “Whiter Shade of Pale” featuring vocals by Steve Winwood.
Lady Gaga reunited for a pair of farewell shows in August, titled “One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga,” and, in a recent 60 Minutes interview, she recalled the moment Bennett, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, remembered who she was.
“Whoa, Lady Gaga,” the legendary 95-year-old crooner shouted as she entered the stage, but as Gaga revealed on Sunday’s episode 60 Minutes, it was the first time he remembered her name in a while.
“That’s the first time Tony said my name in a long time. I had to keep it together ’cause we had a sold out show and I have a job to do,” she recalled. “But I’ll tell you when I walked out on that stage and he said, ‘It’s Lady Gaga,’ my friend saw me, and it was very special.”
Gaga insisted that when dealing with someone who has Alzheimer’s “there is a way to communicate and there’s a way to touch the magic inside of them that’s still there.”
The 35-year-old performer added, “I think it’s up to us to ask ourselves what are the ways we can push through what we’re feeling so we can best communicate with them and receive our love, because it’s still there.”
“With Tony in particular, a lot of it was me making sure that I navigate his needs in any given moment,” she continued, noting that “to be honest, that’s jazz too……we’re singing different notes in every song almost every time. We improvise all the time… Once you learn [the music that was written at the time] you can play with it, but you have to listen to each other.”
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s last album together, Love for Sale, is out now.
Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson has debuted an extended version of her acoustic instrumental tribute song for the late Eddie Van Halen, “4 Edward,” which was the final track on her recently released debut solo studio album, You and Me.
On Monday, Wilson posted a video on her official YouTube channel featuring her playing the updated version of the tune, titled “4 Edward with Love,” which runs about 40 seconds longer than the original track. The new version premieres just two days shy of the one-year anniversary of Eddie’s death.
As Nancy explained in an interview earlier this year with ABC Audio, she decided to write “4 Edward” after the guitar great died of cancer at age 65 on October 6, 2020. She said the song was inspired by an instrumental tune that he composed for her on an acoustic guitar she gave to him as a gift in the late 1970s after he revealed to her that he didn’t own one.
“4 Edward,” which clocks in at just one minute, 43 seconds, features some delicate strumming, picking and harmonics, and includes a segment that incorporates the chords from the classic Van Halen hit “Jump.”
You and Me was released in May. An expanded two-LP, blue-vinyl edition of the album will be issued on November 26 as part of the Record Store Day Black Friday event. It contains three bonus tracks, covers of The Beatles‘ tunes “Blackbird” and “Fixing a Hole” and a rendition of Steely Dan‘s “Any Major Dude.”
Courtesy of Mandolin/VVS Native American Scholarship
Jackson Browne will headline the 2021 edition of the Dream Concert, a virtual charity event that will stream live on October 9 at 6 p.m. PT via Mandolin.com.
Browne originally launched the event as an annual in-person concert in Sedona, Arizona, to support the Verde Valley School Native American Scholarship he created in 1990.
The show raises funds to support Indigenous students who attend Sedona’s Verde Valley School and also to raise awareness about issues Native American communities are facing.
Other artists on the Dream Concert lineup include Cyndi Lauper, Shawn Colvin, Taj Mahal and many more. Early-bird tickets can be purchased now for $10 at Mandolin.com; the price will increase to $20 on the day of the show. People also can donate additional money to the cause at the website. For more information about the school and the scholarship fund, visit VVSAZ.org.
In other news, Browne is scheduled to launch the second leg of his joint 2021 U.S. tour with James Taylor on October 16 in New Orleans. The trek is mapped out through a December 13 concert in Buffalo, New York.
First up, Krieger will participate in virtual book signing at the TalkShopLive social-shopping site’s Rock N Roll Channel on Tuesday, October 5, starting at 7 p.m. ET.
Then, on the memoir’s release date, October 12, Robby will appear in two streaming events. The first, which starts at 2 p.m. ET, will feature Krieger signing copies of his book at LiveSigning.com and also answering questions fans have submitted in advance.
The second is a pre-recorded Q&A that’s part of the Live Talks Los Angeles series, and that’s set to air at 9 p.m. ET.
On October 13, Krieger will take part in a previously reported interactive interview event presented by Rough Trade Records NYC that will be streamed live via Dice.fm. It will feature Robby chatting with respected writer and broadcaster Laura Barton via Zoom, and also answering questions from virtual audience members.
Meanwhile, a video preview featuring Krieger sharing details about his book has been posted at The Doors’ official YouTube channel. In the clip, Robby says, “Hopefully after reading my book, I think people will understand the whole dynamic of The Doors and what it’s really like to be in a band like The Doors.”
Who frontman Roger Daltrey will kick off a U.K. solo trek next month, but the singer’s famous band hasn’t announced when it will return to the road after canceling its touring plans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, in a new Rolling Stone interview, the 77-year-old rock legend reports that The Who will resume touring at “the end of next March and April.”
Daltrey says his solo outing will help keep his voice in shape for the next Who trek.
“If I don’t sing between now and then, I don’t know whether I will be able to do it then,” he maintains.
This past August marked the 50th anniversary of The Who’s classic albums Who’s Next, but Daltrey says the band has no plans to commemorate the milestone by playing the record in its entirety during the next tour.
“I don’t see the point. Who’s Next is a great album, but it’s best left as a great album,” Roger says. “The show we’ve got with the orchestra is fantastic, and the Who’s catalog has so much varied stuff that makes it better than just listening to Who’s Next.”
Meanwhile, the postponement of The Who’s tour has negatively impacted the amount of money the group has been able to raise for the Teen Cancer America charity that Daltrey and band mate Pete Townshend co-founded.
On a positive note, Daltrey is helping to promote a new TCA initiative, The Real Me podcast, which features adolescent and young adult cancer patients presenting songs they’ve written and recorded, and also discussing their experiences with the disease.
The Who have licensed their song “The Real Me” for use as the theme of the podcast, which premieres Tuesday, October 5, via various streaming services. Visit TeenCancerAmerica.org for more information.
