Music – Page 4009 – 105.7 WDNY

“I’m so grateful”: Garth Brooks matches his ticket record at Croke Park

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Garth Brooks continues to outdo himself.

Following the announcement that his Stadium Tour will conclude in 2022 with five shows at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, the country legend has sold more than 400,000 tickets to the shows. But this isn’t the first time he’s accomplished a feat of this magnitude.

This marks a full circle moment for the superstar, as he sold the same number of tickets when he was supposed to launch his Comeback Tour at Croke Park in 2014, but ended up having to cancel all five concerts when the Dublin City Council would not allow for more than three shows he had been granted licenses for.

“I never dreamed we’d get the chance to try this again. I’m so grateful to all who made this happen,” Garth shares in a statement.

The “Unanswered Prayers” hitmaker was originally scheduled to play two shows at Croke Park next year, but more were added due to overwhelming demand.

The Dublin shows will take place September 9, 10, 11, 16 and 17.

Teyana Taylor cancels Saturday concert and is recovering in a Connecticut hospital

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Teyana Taylor is now recovering in a Connecticut hospital after she says her body “shut down” and she was forced to cancel Saturday night’s scheduled concert at Femme It Forward in Mashantucket, CT.

The MTV VMA winner is performing on The Last Rose Petal…Farewell Tour.

“SHUT DOWN, my body actually low key betrayed me,” Taylor commented on an Instagram photo of herself lying in a hospital bed as she thanked her fans for understanding the last-minute cancellation of her show. “Y’all have seen me with a broken foot and all types of other crazy s**t but still got on that stage and bodied it.”

The singer/actress/choreographer/fashion designer said she is receiving the care she needs.

“I’ve since got the proper fluids and nutrients put back into my body all night/morning & will take the next few off days to continue to recover,” the 30-year-old entertainer continued.

Taylor promised fans the show would be rescheduled for a future date and that all tickets would be honored.

She concluded the lengthy post with many thanks. “Shoutout to my lovelies @arilennox & @sevyn for holdin it downnnnn!… Shout to @babyjunie4 for holding it down for mommy,” Teyana added.

Several stars sent her heart-warming messages. Niecy Nash wrote, “Wishing you a speedy recovery.” Erykah Badu commented, “Bless up,” while Marlon Wayans posted, “Get well soon sis, love you. You’re a real one. We give our best us to the people that love us… take care of you.”

Taylor was scheduled to perform the final show on the tour Tuesday in Atlanta.

One week ago, Teyana’s husband, Iman Shumpert, became the first NBA player to win Dancing with the Stars as he took home the mirrorball trophy with his professional partner, Daniella Karagach.

Whitesnake introduces new bassist, Tanya O’Callaghan, the band’s first-ever female member

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Whitesnake has seen many musicians come and go during its 40-year history, but the band has never featured a female member…until now!

This past week, after frontman David Coverdale and company announced that bassist Michael Devin had parted ways with the group, Whitesnake revealed that Devin’s replacement is Tanya O’Callaghan.

“[W]e are very proud to announce & to introduce you all to our newest Snake…or should I say…SNAKETTE!!!” a message on the band’s official website reads. “Please give A LOUD WHITESNAKE CHOIR welcome to THE IRISH TORNADO!!!…A whirling dervish of a performer whom we feel will bring a fresh, new, exciting musicality & welcome energy to the band, both in the studio & onstage…here she is…Irish born & bred…the one & only…Tanya O’Callaghan!!!”

Adds Coverdale, “For whatever reason Whitesnake has never featured a female musician in the band before…Bad Boys!!!…But, when we saw TANYA performing with our friend Stephen Adler‘s Band at the M3 festival in 2019 & we were all blown away.”

According to O’Callaghan’s official website, besides playing with ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Adler’s solo band, Tanya has “toured, recorded, written and worked with” Twisted Sister‘s Dee Snider, Extreme‘s Nuno Bettencourt, Tool‘s Maynard James Keenan, Orianthi, 10cc‘s Kevin Godley, The Corrs‘ Sharon Corr and others.

Meanwhile, O’Callaghan has shared a message about how she feels about joining Whitesnake on her Facebook page.

“What an absolute honor to be joining Whitesnake/David Coverdale for their worldwide farewell tour 2022/23,” she writes. “[T]o step into the snake shoes of my bass brothers Rudy Sarzo, Tony Franklin, Neil Murray and Michael Devin…are you kidding me…what a f#*king honor beyond belief!!! My heart is exploding.”

Whitesnake launches its 2022 tour on May 10 in the capital of O’Callaghan’s homeland, Dublin.

“We’re very excited”: Reba McEntire opening restaurant and live music venue in 2022

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Welcome to Reba’s Place, a new bar, restaurant and live music venue curated in honor of the country legend herself, Reba McEntire.

Housed inside a 100-year-old Masonic Temple in Reba’s home state of Oklahoma will be a two-story restaurant, bar, live music venue and retail store. Reba’s Place will regularly feature live music shows, along with a personalized menu that boasts a “Fancy” steak, named after her signature hit, her favorite dish, pinto beans and corn bread, along with street tacos, chicken fried steak and more.

The multi-purpose venue will also display memorabilia from her storied career and the decor will reflect her midwestern roots, in addition to a vintage bar that will serve beer, wine and craft cocktails.

Reba made the announcement on Saturday during a performance in Atoka where the venue is located.

“We’re really tickled, we’re very excited about it,” Reba said onstage. “It’s going to have great food, family atmosphere, a bandstand in there where we can do a little pickin’ and grinnin’ and singin.'”

The singer says they’re hoping to open in September 2022. Reba’s Place is created in partnership with Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the City of Atoka.

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss’ ’Raise the Roof’ earns top-10 ’Billboard’ 200 debut

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss‘ second collaborative album Raise the Roof has debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200.

The record lands at number seven on the all-genre chart with a total of 40,000 equivalent album units, 38,000 of which were traditional album sales.

Plant and Krauss’ first joint effort, 2007’s Grammy-winning Raising Sand, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. With Raise the Roof, Plant now has nine top-10 records as a solo artist, along with the 13 he’s notched with Led Zeppelin. Krauss, meanwhile, has a total of five top-10s.

Raise the Roof 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. Plant and Krauss will hit the road in support of the album starting June 2022.

Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding charity event returns with Ace Frehley, The Rascals’ Felix Cavaliere & more

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

It was canceled for 2020, but Alice Cooper‘s annual charity fundraiser, Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding, is returning for 2021.

Scheduled for this Saturday, December 4, the lineup includes Tom Morello, Ace Frehley, Ed Roland of Collective Soul, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals. Of course, Alice himself will perform with his touring band. It takes place at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona, where Alice lives.

According to the Arizona Republic, Alice’s wife Sheryl Cooper, a choreographer and dance instructor, will perform at the event for the first time.

As always, the event will raise money to pay for staff and resources at Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Centers, which provide free music, dance, arts and vocational training programs for young people aged 12-20. There are two such centers: one in Phoenix and one in Mesa, Arizona.

“The uniqueness of this concert is that you’ll never see this caliber and variety of artists on the same stage again,” said Alice in a statement. “Come join our ultimate Christmas party and help support the teens at The Rock Teen Center!”

Meanwhile, the shock rocker will kick off a tour January 28 in Cincinnati; he’ll play eight shows through a February 8 concert in Orlando, Florida. The next day, he sets sail on the Monsters of Rock Cruise.

Dave Grohl & Greg Kurstin’s Hanukkah Sessions series returns with metal Lisa Loeb cover

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin‘s Hanukkah Sessions is back for 2021.

The Foo Fighters frontman and the producer first launched the series in 2020, releasing covers of songs by eight Jewish artists for each night of the holiday. With Sunday being the first night of Hanukkah this year, they’ve started it up again, beginning with a rendition of Lisa Loeb‘s ’90s hit “Stay (I Missed You).”

The cover begins as a faithful tribute before taking an unexpected turn into black metal with Grohl’s growling vocals and pounding guitar riffs. In an accompanying video, streaming now on YouTube, Grohl wears a dress and glasses modeled after Loeb’s iconic look from the original “Stay” clip.

“Welcome back to the menorah, y’all,” Grohl and Kurstin say. “Let’s kick [off] this year’s Hanukkah Sessions with one of Dallas, Texas’ favorite Jewish daughters. So put on your coffee shop spectacles and your Betsey Johnson dress and HAVA listen to this.”

The first season of Hanukkah Sessions featured covers of songs by Beastie Boys, Drake, Mountain, Peaches, Bob Dylan, Elastica, The Knack and The Velvet Underground.

Music, actually: Elton John & Ed Sheeran’s new Christmas song is coming on Friday

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

After Ed Sheeran teased it a while back, we now have a release date for his holiday collaboration with Elton John: a song called “Merry Christmas.” The date is revealed in an adorable video inspired by everyone’s favorite British Christmas movie, Love, Actually.

In the video, we see Elton answering his door to find Ed on his doorstep with a series of cue cards, which detail the story of how the collab came about.

“Hello. Last Christmas, I received a call from my mate, Elton John, and he told me, ‘We should do a Christmas song,'” the cue cards read as Ed goes through them one by one. “And I replied, ‘Yeah, maybe in 2022.’ But I actually wrote the chorus that day, and here we are.”

Ed continues to shuffle through the cue cards: “Our Christmas song, ‘Merry Christmas,’ is out this Friday. Go pre-order or pre-save it now. It has sleigh bells. A lot of them.”

All the U.K. profits from “Merry Christmas” will be donated to Ed and Elton’s respective favorite charities: the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

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Queen’s Brian May says his words were “subtly twisted” into seemingly anti-trans comments

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Last week, Queen‘s Brian May gave an interview to the British paper The Mirror in which he reacted to the BRIT Awards — the British equivalent of the Grammys — doing away with the male and female solo artist categories in favor of just one single solo artist award. Now, he’s clarifying his comments, which some have interpreted as being unsupportive of the transgender community.

On Instagram, May wrote, “Yes – I was ambushed and completely stitched up by a journalist…and it’s led to a whole mess of press stories making it look like I’m unfriendly to trans people. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

“My words were subtly twisted. I should have known better than to talk to those predatory Press hacks,” the guitarist continues. “Sincere apologies to anyone who has been hurt by the stories. My heart is open as always to humans of all colors, all creeds, all sexes and sexualities, all shapes and sizes – and all creatures. We all deserve respect and an equal place in this world.”

May went on to thank fans who “stepped up to defend me,” adding, “It means so much that you have faith in me.”

The guitarist was quoted as saying of the category change, “It’s a decision that has been made without enough thought..I get so sick of people trying to change things without thinking of the long-term consequences.”

He then mentioned the current “atmosphere of fear,” in which people are “are afraid to say how they really think,” and was quoted as saying that if Queen’s original lineup were around today, they wouldn’t have been considered diverse enough.

“We would be forced to have people of different colors and different sexes and we would have to have a trans [person],” the paper quoted him as saying.

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George Harrison passed away 20 years ago today

November 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the death of George Harrison, who passed away from complications from lung cancer at age 58.

Harrison, of course, first came to fame as the lead guitarist of The Beatles, then had a long and successful career as a solo artist.

While the Fab Four was dominated by the talented and prolific songwriting team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Harrison eventually made major contributions to the band with his own compositions, including “Taxman,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Here Comes the Sun” and the #1 hit ballad “Something.”

George also helped introduce Indian music to the pop world thanks to sitar-driven tunes like “Love You Too” and “Within You Without You.”

Following The Beatles’ breakup in 1970, Harrison became the first member of the band to score a chart-topping solo hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Sweet Lord.” In addition, the album on which that song appeared, the three-LP All the Things Must Pass, spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200.

Harrison hit #1 on the Hot 100 again in 1973 with “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” and once more in 1987 with “Got My Mind Set on You.”

George also was a member of the successful supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, along with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne.

Harrison was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice — in 1988 as a member of The Beatles and, posthumously, in 2004 as a solo artist.

In August, a 50th anniversary reissue of All Things Must Pass was released in a variety of formats and configurations, including a Super Deluxe version featuring 42 previously unreleased tracks.

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