Classic Hits

Paul McCartney, Elton John and Bruce Springsteen are just a few the famous musicians who’ve contributed instruments and other memorabilia to an auction benefiting Music Rising, a charity organization co-founded by U2 guitarist The Edge and producer Bob Ezrin.

The former Beatles legend is selling a Yamaha BB-1200 bass that he played live and in the studio with his old band Wings during in the ’70s. Elton has contributed a signed Yamaha Motif-8 keyboard that he played live for nearly a decade. The Boss is parting with a signed Americana Original ’50s Fender Telecaster guitar.

Other artists contributing instruments or other items to the sale include The Edge and his U2 band mates Bono and Adam Clayton, The Rolling Stones‘ Ronnie Wood, Steve Miller, former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, Joe Walsh, Slash, Rush‘s Alex Lifeson, Lenny Kravitz, Alice Cooper, KISS‘ Paul Stanley, Green Day, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joan Jett, Dave Grohl and Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder.

The auction, which take place live and online on December 11, will be hosted by Van Eaton Galleries in Los Angeles.

“Some of the world’s greatest musicians and friends of Music Rising have generously donated their personal instruments to raise money for Music Rising,” The Edge says in a statement. “We hope you have a chance to bid on one or more of the beautiful instruments in the auction.”

Music Rising was first formed in 2005 to support New Orleans and Gulf South-area musicians in need following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The auction will raise money for those musicians now affected by the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

For more information about the auction, visit VEGalleries.com.

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After enjoying their Thanksgiving feast this week, music fans can head to their local independent record shops to check out the limited-edition vinyl releases available for the 2021 edition of Record Store Day’s Black Friday sale.

Releases from Hall & Oates, Aerosmith, U2, Fleetwood Mac and Carole King are among the discs that will be available.

Hall & Oates’ Black Friday release is Fall in Philadelphia: The Definitive Demos 1968-71, a collection of early recordings the duo made before their debut album came out. The LP is pressed on orange vinyl.

Aerosmith’s Black Friday offering is a 1971: The Road Starts Here, featuring a previously unheard early recording of the band playing several song in their rehearsal room, including “Dream On.” It’s available on vinyl and cassette.

U2 is issuing a four-track EP celebrating the 40th anniversary of their popular early tune “Gloria.” The disc, which is pressed on yellow vinyl, features the studio version of the song, plus three live renditions recorded in three different decades.

Fleetwood Mac is offering a two-LP set titled Alternate Live, a 14-track collection featuring performances of various songs taken from the band’s deluxe reissues of the Rumours, Tusk and Mirage albums.

King is issuing In Concert — Live at The BBC 1971, a live album featuring the lauded singer/songwriter performing songs from her landmark album Tapestry, including a guest appearance by James Taylor.

Other artists issuing 2021 Black Friday releases include The Bee Gees, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, Sam Cooke, Dire Straits, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Jorma Kaukonen, Little Feat, Modern English, Todd Rundgren, The Shangri-Las, Dusty Springfield, The Staple Singers, Stray Cats, Joe Strummer, Tammi Terrell and Heart‘s Nancy Wilson

For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.

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Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain has a very busy holiday season planned with his famous band and his work serving as a minister at his wife Paula White-Cain‘s church, but first up he has some important familial Thanksgiving duties on his plate.

“I’m gonna be cooking a pretty extensive dinner like I usually do…Chef Jon,” he tells ABC Audio. “We’ll just have our close family and grandkids [over].”

Cain says he’s facing one major dilemma with his meal preparation, he’s been having a “big problem…finding a turkey.”

“Turkeys are, believe or not, scarce,” the 71-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who lives in Florida, says with a laugh. “My little place [where] I bought my Amish turkey [last year is] unable to help me. I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ So yeah, you can’t even get a turkey anymore.”

We won’t stop believing that Jonathan will be successful in his quest to find a big bird for his family’s holiday feast.

After Thanksgiving is over, Cain and Journey will head to Las Vegas, where the band will play a six-show residency at The Theater at Virgin Hotels that runs from December 1 through December 11, and a special symphonic concert at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on December 18.

Cain, who recently released his latest in a series of solo Christian-music projects, an EP titled Oh Lord Lead Us, also has plans to host a Christmas concert.

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John Lennon‘s older son Julian has revealed he had an emotional reaction when he got to watch a preview of the upcoming Disney+ docuseries The Beatles: Get Back in Los Angeles this past week.

In a recent message on his Instagram that accompanied a new photo of him with his half-brother, Sean, Julian writes, “[T]he film has made me love my father again, in a way I can’t fully describe…Thank you to All who had a hand, in bringing this project to fruition…Life Changing.”

Julian also reveals that after the Get Back screening, he attended an event hosted by designer Stella McCartney, Paul McCartney‘s daughter, noting, “What an Amazing night, firstly seeing ‘Get Back’ & then Stella’s Event afterwards…The One True thing I can say about it all, is that it has made me so proud, inspired & feel more love for My/Our family, than ever before.”

It’s widely known that Julian didn’t have a close relationship with his father, who divorced his mother, Cynthia, and remarried Yoko Ono in the late 1960s when Julian was still a child.

Meanwhile, Julian posted several pictures of him with Sean Lennon — John’s son with Yoko — on Instagram, including a photo of them sitting together at the Get Back screening with Stella sitting behind them. Interestingly, he wrote in the caption of that pic, “Wish You were here Dhani & Zak!” referring to Dhani Harrison and Zak Starkey — the respective sons of George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Another Instagram photo that Julian posted Monday shows him and Sean on a beach in Malibu, California, with the sun setting behind them. Lennon captions the pic, “A lil wind blown & tired after a few hours driving through the Mountains to the Sea, but so worth it…A Magical Day.”

 

 

 

 

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Just a reminder that Foreigner and Matchbox Twenty‘s Rob Thomas are among the music stars that will be performing at the 95th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which airs live Thursday on NBC from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET.

The veteran rockers will be featured on “The House of Marvelous Milestones” float sponsored by New York Life.  According to a post on their Facebook page, the band will perform at 10:27 a.m. ET.

As for Thomas, he’ll appear on the Hallmark Channel’s “Heartwarming Holiday Countdown” float, and will sing a tune from his new holiday album, Something About Christmas Time.

Neither Foreigner nor Thomas have ever performed before at the Macy’s parade.  Rob tells ABC Audio that he and his wife are equally thrilled that he’ll be part of the historic New York City holiday event.

“I’m stoked…my wife, growing up in Queens, [New York], that’s been her entire life,” Rob says. “Christmas starts when Santa Claus goes past Macy’s, then, from that moment on for her, it’s the holidays.”

He adds, “I’m excited about doing it and I’m excited about doing it on the Hallmark float. That’s huge! That’s serious Christmas, right there. I am knee-deep in Christmas at that point!”

As for the connection between the Hallmark Channel and Rob, one of the songs on his album — an updated version of his 2003 tune “A New York Christmas” — appears in the new Hallmark holiday film A Royal Queens Christmas.

Other musical artists scheduled to appear or perform during the parade include Nelly, R&B singer Kelly Rowland, pop singer-songwriter Andy Grammer, Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, and country stars Carrie Underwood, Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and Chris Lane.

Visit Macy.com for more parade details.

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Today marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of one of rock’s greatest champions, Queen singer Freddie Mercury.

Mercury died from complications of AIDS at age 45 on November 23, 1991, just one day after announcing to the world that he’d been diagnosed with the disease.

Widely regarded as one of the all-time great rock singers and frontmen, Freddie used his powerful vocals, flamboyant persona and dynamic performing style to help Queen become among the most popular and successful bands in the world.

Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in 1946 on the African island of Zanzibar, where his family lived 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.

The band blended a variety of genres to create a unique sound that captivated a wide variety of music fans. Mercury wrote many of Queen’s biggest hits, including “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love,” “We Are the Champions,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Bicycle Race,” “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 considered one of the highlights of that historic event.

Mercury also released a pair of solo albums during the 1980s.

Following Freddie’s death, May, Taylor and Queen manager Jim Beach co-founded the Mercury Phoenix Trust in his honor. The charity supports AIDS-related causes.

Mercury was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Queen in 2001. His legacy continues to make its mark on the rock and pop world.

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The project that Beatles fans have anxiously awaited for years finally is set to arrive this week. The Beatles: Get Back, the three-part, six-hour docuseries directed by Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson focusing on the January 1969 sessions that yielded the Let It Be album, premieres this Thursday, Friday and Saturday on Disney+.

As previously reported, the series was created from dozens of hours of previously unseen footage shot for what became the film Let It Be, but while the 1970 movie zeroed in on the tensions between the band members during the sessions, Get Back offers a more well-rounded look at The Beatles’ relationships as they came together to create that music.

Jackson’s longtime film editor Jabez Olssen, who worked closely with Peter on Get Back, tells ABC Audio that it quickly became apparent watching the footage that the band was getting along much better than had been previously portrayed.

“This is four guys who still very much get on with each other, are joking around, having a good time,” Olssen notes. “They have…disagreements and constructive conversations, but this is not a breakup film and this was not a breakup period in The Beatles’ lives.”

Perhaps the centerpiece of the series is the entire 42-minute impromptu concert of The Beatles’ played on the roof of Apple headquarters on London’s Savile Row.

Olssen says the segment offers “the best footage of The Beatles playing live that there is,” explaining, “You’re in the front row. They’re playing great. You can see them really well…[It] feels so personal and in your face.”

He adds, “To see how well they play and how happy they are and the buzz that they come out of it with, it really is a moment of triumph for them.”

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Mariah Carey is nearly synonymous with Christmas thanks to her music, television specials, recipes, merchandise and, of course, all those festive memes.  But, in a new interview, the singer opened up about why she continues to make the holidays such a big deal.

She tells Entertainment Tonight that she was unable to enjoy the lavishness of Christmas when she was a child because she grew up in poverty.  But, instead of becoming bitter over what she didn’t have, it fueled her desire to make Christmas even more special.

“In my memoir [The Meaning of Mariah Carey,] I talk about how when I was a little kid, growing up with no money, growing up being mixed, not understanding, having identity issues, and then going through my career and the different things that have happened, that I never even talked about to even some of my best friends,” she confesses.  “When I wrote about Christmas, I was like, ‘Oh wait, I don’t want to bring people down,’ ’cause this seemed like depressing stuff that happened.”

Mariah says that has “motivated” her to “really go all the way in every Christmas, every year.” 

And, while she “wants my kids to have the best time,” the pop star admits that, when it comes to indulging in the holidays, “A lot of it is for me.”

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Don McLean is tipping his hat to Taylor Swift after the 31-year-old pop superstar broke the record that the veteran singer-songwriter set on the Billboard Hot 100 almost 50 years ago.

Since 1972, Don’s eight-minute, 34-second classic “American Pie (Parts I & II)” held the title for the lengthiest song to hit number one.  Well, that longstanding record was broken this week when Taylor’s 10-minute, 13-second song “All Too Well” bowed atop the Hot 100.

“There is something to be said for a great song that has staying power,” 76-year-old McLean said in a statement to ABC Audio. “‘American Pie’ remained on top for 50 years and now Taylor Swift has unseated such a historic piece of artistry. Let’s face it, nobody ever wants to lose that #1 spot, but if I had to lose it to somebody, I sure am glad it was another great singer/songwriter such as Taylor.”

Taylor’s 10-minute-plus recording of “All Too Well” is featured as a bonus track on Red (Taylor’s Version), which she released on November 12.

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The nominees for the 2022 Grammy Awards were announced today, and among the veteran artists in the running for multiple trophies next year are AC/DC and Paul McCartney.

The Australian hard rockers and the former Beatles legend both will compete for the Best Rock Album prize, for Power Up and McCartney III, respectively.

AC/DC also was nominated for the Best Rock Performance honor for “Shot in the Dark,” while the video for the track scored a nod in the Best Music Video category. McCartney also is in the running for Best Rock Song, for the McCartney III track “Find My Way.”

Other veteran artists receiving Grammy nominations this year include ABBA, Jackson Browne, Los Lobos, Police drummer Stewart Copeland, Carole King, Steve Cropper, ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, the late Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and the late Prince.

ABBA is up for the Record of the Year for their new song “I Still Have Faith in You.” Browne and Los Lobos will vie for the Best Americana Album trophy for their respective records Downhill from Everywhere and Native Sons.

Copeland’s collaborative album with Ricky Kej, Divine Tides, is nominated for Best New Age Album. King received a Best Song Written for Visual Media nod for “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home),” which she co-wrote with Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Hartman for the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect.

Cropper’s Fire It Up will compete for the Best Contemporary Blues Album honor.

Among the Best Music Film nominees are David Byrne’s American Utopia and Music, Money, Madness…Jimi Hendrix in Maui, while potential honorees for Best Historical Album include the Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1 box set and the deluxe reissue of Prince’s Sign o’ the Times.

Check out the full list of nominees at Grammy.com.

The 2022 Grammys will take place Monday, January 31.

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