A never-before-heard full-length NFT “Always Love You” demo recording by 17-year-old Whitney Houston will be auctioned on December 13 with a starting bid of $117,000.
The winner of this “OneOf” item will have access to the recording in their OneOf Vault with a digital video utilizing archived photos of Houston created by 17-year-old artist Diana Sinclair.
“I’m excited to see Whitney’s legacy and her wonderful music expand into bold new technology of this era,” Whitney Houston Estate Executor Pat Houston says in a statement. “It was a joy partnering with 17-year-old Diana Sinclair and watching the artistry of Whitney’s music influence a new generation.”
Proceeds from the sales of the Houston NFT collection will go to the Whitney E. Houston Foundation, a non-profit which continues the work of the late six-time Grammy winner to empower, support, and inspire young people.
Interested bidders can apply on the OneOf website.
A whole lot of people are planning to see Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool in concert next year.
That’s according to the ticketing platform Gametime, which lists the two bands among the top 10 acts with the most in-demand concerts for 2022.
The Peppers, who are listed at number nine on the ranking, plan to embark on a global tour starting in June. The trek will mark the group’s first full live outing since guitarist John Frusciante rejoined in late 2019, and also boasts an eclectic batch of openers, including St. Vincent, HAIM, The Strokes and A$AP Rocky.
Tool, who grabs the number 10 spot, will launch a U.S. tour in January. Maynard James Keenan and company have been absent from the road since their 2020 outing was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other artists that make Gametime’s list include Billie Eilish, Elton John and Dead & Company collaborator John Mayer. Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny is number one on the ranking.
While many artists returned to the road in 2021, others decided to hold off until 2022. Now, Gametime, the app that specializes in last-minute tickets, has released its list of the most in-demand concerts for next year, and based on ticket sales, Elton John’s rescheduled farewell tour is near the top.
Elton was originally set to resume the Europe and U.K. legs of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour this year, but in September, he announced that he was moving those dates to 2023 because he had to have a hip operation. That means the first opportunity fans will have to see Elton is January 19, 2022, when his North American tour — postponed from 2020 due to COVID-19 — begins in New Orleans.
Also on Gametime’s list: The Weeknd. The Canadian star was supposed to do an arena tour in June of 2020, but that was moved to January 2022. Then, that tour was canceled, rescheduled for summer 2022 and moved to stadiums.
Justin Bieber‘s Justice world tour, which kicks off February 18, 2022 and will visit over 20 countries, is also much in-demand — understandable, since Justin hasn’t toured in five years.
While John Mayer toured in 2021 with Dead & Company, he’ll launch his solo Sob Rock tour in February. Dua Lipa‘s long-awaited North American leg of her Future Nostalgia tour also gets underway in February. Both made Gametime’s list.
Number one is Latin superstar Bad Bunny. But beware: The app says tickets will be 30% more expensive in 2022 due to pent-up demand, with an average price of $192 per seat.
Here’s the app’s full list of in-demand concerts for 2022:
1. Bad Bunny
2. Elton John tour
3. Billie Eilish
4. The Weeknd stadium tour
5. Justin Bieber
6. John Mayer
7. Dua Lipa
8. Tyler The Creator
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. Tool
A new edition of Cat Stevens‘ soundtrack to the 1971 cult classic Harold and Maude, in conjunction with the film’s 50th anniversary, will be released on February 11, 2022, on CD, digitally and as a 180-gram vinyl LP.
Harold and Maude tells the story of a suicide-obsessed teenager who learns to embrace life while falling in love with an eccentric, free-spirited 79-year-old woman. The darkly comedic film was directed by Hal Ashby, and starred Bud Cort as Harold and Ruth Gordon as Maude.
The movie’s soundtrack featured seven previously released songs by Stevens that first appeared on his then-recent studio albums Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman, and two new tunes Cat wrote specifically for the flick — “Don’t Be Shy” and “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out.”
A soundtrack album was not released in conjunction with the film because Stevens, who is now known as Yusuf Islam, says he was worried at the time that it would be perceived as a greatest hits collection, and he felt that it was too early in his career to issue one.
The original version of the Harold and Maude soundtrack album was released in limited quantities in 2007 on Cameron Crowe‘s independent label, Vinyl Films, but that soon went out of print.
The new version features the nine Stevens songs that appeared in the film, coupled for the first time with dialogue segments from the movie.
The audio for the soundtrack has been remastered at London’s famed Abbey Road Studios. The album will boast enhanced packaging that includes liner notes, song lyrics, movie dialogue transcriptions and photos from the film.
You can pre-order the Harold and Maude soundtrack now.
Here’s the album’s full track list:
Side 1
“Don’t Be Shy”
“Dialogue 1 (I Go to Funerals)”
“On the Road to Find Out”
“I Wish, I Wish”
“Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No.1 in B”
“Dialogue 2 (How Many Suicides)”
“Marching Band”/”Dialogue 3 (Harold Meets Maude)”
“Miles from Nowhere”
“Tea for the Tillerman”
Side 2
“I Think I See the Light”
“Dialogue 4 (Sunflower)”
“Where Do the Children Play?”
“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” (Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort vocal)
“Strauss’ Blue Danube”
“Dialogue 5 (Somersaults)”
“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out”
“Dialogue 6 (Harold Loves Maude)”
“Trouble”
“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” (ending)
Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, ex-Allman Brothers Band guitarist Derek Trucks and Trucks’ wife and Tedeschi Trucks Band mate Susan Tedeschi are among the latest musicians to join the lineup for Peace Through Music: A Global Event for the Environment, a virtual concert event scheduled to premiere December 15 at 9 p.m. ET at the Playing for Change YouTube channel.
The streaming event, produced by the Playing for Change organization and the United Nations Population Fund, will focus on raising funds and awareness for environmental issues.
More than 200 artists from over 35 countries will take part in the presentation, along with world leaders and influencers. Documentaries also will be shown displaying the beauty of the planet and looking at its vulnerability to pollution and other environmental hazards.
Previously announced performers include Slash, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, The Grateful Dead‘s Mickey Hart, No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal, Taj Mahal, Rosanne Cash, Jack Johnson, Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins, Ben Harper, Sara Bareilles, The Lumineers and Keb’ Mo’. Additionally, The Band‘s Robbie Robertson will be making a “special appearance” during the stream.
Peace Through Music previously raised $1 million for social justice charities with its 2020 stream, which featured artists including Ringo Starr, Gary Clark Jr., and Carlos and Cindy Blackman Santana.
Meek Mill is planning to be Santa Claus for needy kids in his hometown.
The “Sharing Locations” rapper announced he will host the “Meek Mill Holiday Giveaway Event” in Philadelphia on December 19 at a location to be announced later.
“Really doing something big for the city,“ Meek commented on Instagram. “Computers, bikes, and more for the kids.” Mill will also be giving away coats and various toys.
Meek is also planning to release the fifth and final installment in his series of Dreamchasers mixtapes next year as a NFT.
Who has the top song of 2021? According toBillboard‘s staff, the honor goes to Silk Sonicand their hit single “Leave The Door Open.”
The outlet released its list of the best 100 songs to come out of 2021 and, sitting above an impressive roundup is the Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak-fronted group. Billboard’s staff call their song “an instant slam dunk” because it blends “the lush sounds of ’70s soul” and a “modern finesse.”
Olivia Rodrigo claims second place with her angry breakup anthem “good 4 u,” which helped the young singer make history by going to number one on the Hot 100. The song’s number one bow was preceded by “drivers license” and, therefore, made Olivia the only artist in history to have a debut album, Sour, send two of its songs to the number one spot.
In third is “Levitating” by Dua Lipa, with Billboard saluting the hit for being a “fun repeat listen” even though it never topped the Hot 100, but was a constant in the top 10. Although the song was released in October 2020, it made the cut because it peaked this year: In fact, it was Billboard‘s number-one Hot 100 chart song of 2021.
Lil Nas X and his groundbreaking “Industry Baby” collab with Jack Harlow ends 2021 in fourth place while Taylor Swift rounds out the top five with her 10-minute re-recording of “All Too Well.”
Visit Billboard‘s website to read the complete list of the best 100 songs of 2021.
Adele continues to make history with her long-awaited album 30, which is now the first album in over a year to sell over a million copies in the United States. The last artist who enjoyed such a feat was Taylor Swift following her July 2020 release of folklore.
Billboardadds 30 surpassed the million-sales milestone in less than a month. The album was released on November 19 and the outlet reports that 692,000 copies flew off the shelves in its first week alone. Fans snatched up an additional 225,000 copies the following week.
Sales encompass all CD, vinyl LP, cassette and digital album download purchases.
It should also be noted that, while Adele sold over a million copies in just a few weeks, it took Taylor’s folklore almost three months to sell that many copies.
Billboard notes that it’s become even harder for artists to sell that many albums thanks to the rise of streaming. They say only three other albums have achieved powerhouse sales since 2019: the soundtrack to Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper‘s A Star Is Born, Harry Styles‘ Fine Line, and Billie Eilish‘s debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
Sure, you’ve heard Rob Thomas‘ “Small Town Christmas” by now, but if you want to find out more about his latest album Something About Christmas Time, tune into Instagram Live tomorrow when he plans to spotlight another track on the album.
Rob will be joined by gospel music great Bebe Winans on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET to discuss “That Spirit of Christmas,” the song they recorded together for Rob’s album. The holiday tune, originally recorded byRay Charles in 1985, is famously featured during the attic scene in the 1989 film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
As for how Bebe ended up on Rob’s album in the first place, Rob told ABC Audio that the gospel star has been one of his best friends for more than 20 years — Bebe even sang at his 1999 wedding to his wife Marisol.
Taylor Hawkins & Chad Smith in 2016; Steve Jennings/WireImage
A charity fundraiser turned into a veritable Lollpalooza in Malibu, California, over the weekend.
Rockers including Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool‘s Danny Carey, and Queens of the Stone Age‘s Josh Homme and Troy Van Leeuwen all jammed together during the event, which raised money for the Malibu Elementary School arts program.
The all-star band also included Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, and Ozzy Osbourne producer Andrew Watt on guitar. You can check out footage from the concert via an attendee’s Instagram.
While you probably didn’t get the attend the show, you can still listen to Hawkins and Chaney play together in the group NHC with the bassist’s Jane’s band mate, Dave Navarro. Chaney is also part of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder‘s solo band The Earthlings, alongside Smith and Watt.
