Queen launched a new tour in support of their fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera.
The tour kicked off with a two-night stand at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, England, which, according to setlist.fm, featured the live debut of several songs from the record, including the iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
The tour featured shows throughout the U.K., wrapping Dec. 24 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.
Queen recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of A Night At The Opera with vinyl reissues. The album was released on crystal-clear vinyl with gold labels in October, and “Bohemian Rhapsody” was released on transparent blue heavyweight 12-inch vinyl, as a 12-inch picture disc and as a blue cassette single.
Even though Riley Green‘s nominated for four trophies and he’s set to perform during the CMA Awards Wednesday, he confesses he still feels a little like an outsider at Country Music’s Biggest Night.
“It’s never something that you really expect,” he says of the attention. “I always think about things as just a fan of country music because it’s not too long ago that I was, you know.”
“And you see the names that are mentioned in winnin’ these awards and being nominated, and then to get kinda thrown in with that is always a big deal,” he adds. “[I’m] excited to have it listed up there with all these other great songs and collaborations.”
Riley’s up for single, song and music video of the year for “you look like you love me” with Ella Langley and musical event for “Don’t Mind If I Do” with Ella.
He’s also set to perform his #1 “Worst Way.”
In 2024, Riley and Ella both won their first CMAs for musical event for “you look like you love me.”
Photo of Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh (Photo by Ross Halfin)
Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh is set to host his ninth annual VetsAid concert on Saturday, which raises money for veteran-related causes.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is a longtime advocate for veterans issues, something that is personal to him, as he’s a Gold Star Family member. His father died in 1949 serving our country when Walsh was just 20 months old.
Walsh tells ABC Audio that he came up with the idea for VetsAid in 2017, after spending years going around the country meeting with veterans and realizing they weren’t getting the help they needed.
“I thought maybe I can make a difference here,” he says. “I always felt guilty not having a benefit. … It was, ‘Duh. You can do something there.'”
This year’s concert is taking place at the INTRUST Bank Arena in Walsh’s hometown of Wichita, Kansas. He says it’s “overwhelming” to be doing the show there.
“I’m just Joe here, you know,” he says. “That’s how Wichita is.”
This year’s lineup includes Vince Gill; Ryan Binghamand The Texas Gentlemen; and a “super-set” from Walsh, joined by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks of Tedeschi Trucks Band, Nathaniel Rateliff and other special guests. It will be streamed live on Veeps. While fans will be getting a great night of music, Joe hopes they come away with more than just a good time.
Walsh says he wants the concert to bring “more awareness for veterans and their situation,” but that’s not all.
“I want to show that with no politics involved, people can come and hear music,” he says. “People who don’t agree can sit next to each other. Politics doesn’t matter. Everybody has a good time, recharges, and goes home happy. … That’s a good feeling.”
‘Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless Christmas’ EP artwork. (Fearless Records)
The Pretty Reckless‘ new holiday EP is out Friday on physical formats following its digital release in October. The set includes a rendition of the song “Where Are You Christmas?,” which frontwoman Taylor Momsen originally sang as a child actress in the 2000 movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Momsen, who would go on to star in the TV series Gossip Girl, famously retired from acting to focus on The Pretty Reckless, and has long distanced herself from her past career. In revisiting “Where Are You Christmas?,” Momsen discovered an unexpected opportunity to bridge the two parts of her life.
“It was something that the fans have been asking for since I started The Pretty Reckless, and it was something that I never ever thought I would do,” Momsen tells ABC Audio. “Fast-forward a few years later, I went through a very hard time in my life and was doing a lot of reflecting, you know, all the things that come along with that.”
She continues, “We ended up jamming it through as a band during the holidays once, and by the end of the song, we all had giant grins on our faces.”
With “Where Are You Christmas?” and the EP, dubbed Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless Christmas, Momsen hopes “to just spread joy,” but the project has also had a profound personal impact on her.
“It’s kind of me accepting my past and bringing it into my future,” Momsen says. “It’s actually strangely emotional.”
“It’s a Christmas record,” she laughs. “But it’s kinda deep.”
In addition to the Christmas EP, The Pretty Reckless has released a new, non-holiday single, “For I Am Death,” which currently sits at #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
Of Monsters and Men performs on stage at Falls Festival on January 4, 2020 in Fremantle, Australia. (Matt Jelonek/Wire Image)
Of Monsters and Men has announced a livestream for the band’s upcoming show at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
You can tune in to watch on Nov. 25 via the platform Veeps.
The LA show is part of Of Monsters and Men’s ongoing U.S. tour in support of their new album, All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade. It includes the single “Ordinary Creature.”
In other Of Monsters and Men news, the band’s announced new dates for shows in Boston and Toronto, which were postponed from October due to vocalist Nanna Hilmarsdóttirlosing her voice. The rescheduled dates take place Dec. 3 in Boston and Dec. 5 in Toronto.
Of Monsters and Men has also added a new show in Chicago, taking place Dec. 1.
Yoko Ono and John Lennon December 1968. (Photo by Susan Wood/Getty Images)
The Oscar-winning short film War Is Over!, which was inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s classic holiday tune “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” is set to premiere on YouTube.
The 11-minute film, co-written by the couple’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, follows a game of chess, with a heroic carrier pigeon helping the game continue across enemy lines. It ends with the classic tune playing over the closing credits.
Sean co-wrote the film with writer, director and animator Dave Mullins, and it was executive produced by Sean and Yoko. The film won the 2024 Oscar for best animated short film.
In addition, John and Yoko’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” is being released as a 7-inch evergreen vinyl on Nov. 18. The replica of the original 1971 release will feature “Listen, The Snow is Falling” on the B-side. A limited-edition 12-inch zoetrope single of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”/“Listen, The Snow Is Falling” will be released Dec. 5.
Lady Gaga hasn’t directly commented on the seven Grammy nominations she received for her albums Mayhem and Harlequin on Nov. 7, but a new Instagram post Thursday she seems to have written in reaction to the recognition.
“MAYHEM is my personal chaos … produced with a desire to embolden my own voice as a musician,” she wrote. “I’ve spoken a lot about MAYHEM being a collection of gothic dreams and in a way Lady Gaga was my first one. She has always been an expression of my human reality. What does it sound like to feel like you’re drifting far away from yourself, what does it sound like to re-enter your body?”
“And Harlequin…it feels like much more than a year ago,” Gaga continued, referring to the album inspired by her film Joker: Folie à Deux. “It’s an album about empowerment and refusing to be minimized or left out in the cold.”
“These arrangements are my first new steps since Tony [Bennett] died,” she continued. “I’m so proud of Harlequin and how it prepared me for the most incredible year of MAYHEM. Sometimes I forget this has been just one single year.” Harlequin has been nominated for best traditional pop album.
Summing up, Gaga noted, “Somehow through my relationship and my deep love for my fans I really accepted that I can do it all as long as I am the one who is creating the storm instead of the one just standing in the center of it. … I’ll be fine. Because it’s my dream and no one else’s. I’ll decide for myself how this ends.”
David Coverdale from Whitesnake performs outside the Vikingship arena on June 02, 2022 in Hamar, Norway. (Photo by Per Ole Hagen/Redferns)
David Coverdale, who found fame with Whitesnake and Deep Purple, has announced his retirement from music.
In a video posted to Whitesnake’s YouTube account, the 74-year-old rocker reveals that “after 50 years-plus of an incredible journey” he’s decided to call it quits.
“The last few years has been very evident to me that it’s time really for me to hang up my rock ‘n’ roll platform shoes and my skintight jeans,” he says in the video. “It’s time for me to call it a day.”
“I love you dearly. I thank everyone who’s assisted and supported me on this incredible journey — all the musicians, the crew, the fans, the family,” he adds. “It’s amazing, but it really is time for me to just enjoy my retirement.” He adds, “And I hope you can appreciate that. Once again, I love you with all my heart. Fare thee well.”
The clip ends with a montage of photos and video from Coverdale’s career with Whitesnake, set to the band’s song “Fare Thee Well,” which appeared on their 2011 album, Forevermore, which was reissued in September.
Coverdale had his biggest success in the ’80s, thanks to the Whitesnake songs “Here I Go Again” and “Is This Love.” They released their last album, Flesh & Blood, in 2019.
Coverdale was also the frontman for Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, and released the album Coverdale-Page in 1993 with Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page. He also had a solo career, releasing his final solo album, Into The Light, in 2000.
Drummer Alex Van Halen of Van Halen performs at Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, FL (Photo by Michele Eve Sandberg/Corbis via Getty Images)
After releasing his memoir in 2024, Alex Van Halen is getting ready to release another book, which will surely excite Van Halen fans.
The rocker revealed on Instagram that he has been working with Genesis Publications on an official Van Halen anthology, which he describes as “a visual and written journey told through my perspective.”
He adds that the book, which he personally curated, is a “celebration of the music, the moments, and the legacy we built together.”
The book’s description notes that it will include iconic Van Halen photography, as well as rare and never-before-seen images from Alex’s private archives, covering the years 1978 to 1984. It will also include tour memorabilia, press materials, correspondence and more.
The book will be released as a signed, limited-edition box set, with those interested urged to sign up for updates.
Alex released his memoir, Brothers, in October 2024, which he described as a love letter to his late brother, guitar great Eddie Van Halen. The audio book included a previously unreleased song, “Unfinished,” which was described as the last piece of music Alex wrote with Eddie.
Luke Bryan and Ella Langley have teamed up for a new collaboration on the Christmas classic “Winter Wonderland,” which drops at midnight.
Brad Paisley discussed his new holiday album, Snow Globe, and singing the national anthem at the World Series on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Wednesday. You can check out his appearance on YouTube.
