Lyricist Robert Hunter, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead, died at his home in San Rafael, California, at the age of 78.
Hunter began working with the Grateful Dead early in their career and contributed songs to several of their albums, starting with 1969’s Aoxomoxoa. Many of the band’s signature tunes were either written or co-written by Hunter, including “Ripple,” “Terrapin Station,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Box of Rain,” “Dark Star” and “Truckin’.”
Following the death of The Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia and the disbanding of the band, Hunter continued his songwriting, working with artists like Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Costello and others.
Hunter was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 with the Grateful Dead, and he andGarcia were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.
Cover of 1973’s ‘Buckingham Nicks’/(Rhino Records)
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham recently reissued their debut album, Buckingham Nicks, and it’s got Stevie in a nostalgic mood.
The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer shared on Instagram a handwritten letter she wrote to her family while working on the album, revealing in the caption, “My mom saved it and it’s been in a drawer for over 50 years.”
“I am getting very tired of sitting around listening to 12 hours of music per day,” she writes in the note. “Oh well, I know it will pay off in the end, and when I am sitting in my small but luxurious Beverly Hills home overlooking my small but tasteful pool that is totally secluded, where I can sun in the nude and tan my entire fat body while waiting for my plastic surgery leg lift — it will all be worth it.”
She then reflects on her upcoming 25th birthday.
“I have decided that we should set aside the entire month of May to celebrate the fact that I am now 1 quarter of a century old,” she writes. “A new landmark like this should not simply be passed over as yet another birthday, but should include a gala celebration.”
She ends by telling her family that she wishes they could hear the music she and Lindsey are working on. Referencing the song “Don’t Let Me Down Again,” she writes that Lindsey “may go down in history as one of the ‘greats’ in guitar playing. It really is quite amazing.”
Finally Stevie asks them to “hold good thoughts about this thing.”
Released in 1973, Buckingham Nicks was the only album the artists released a duo. It eventually led to them being invited to join Fleetwood Mac.
HARDY‘s new album, COUNTRY! COUNTRY!, arrives on Friday, boasting a lead single that’s already a top-25 hit.
“‘Favorite Country Song’ is more or less just about where I grew up and how much I love it and how much I’m fond of that and cherish what it has to provide,” the Philadelphia, Mississippi, native says.
HARDY also feels like he’s covering some new ground with his latest hit.
“I really love the soul that ‘Favorite Country Song’ has because it’s something that is a little bit different,” he reflects. “I kinda touched on it with ‘Signed, Sober You’ and a couple things, but I feel like it just shows a different part of me emotionally and vocally that I haven’t really done before.”
HARDY just released the fan favorite “Dog Years” as the final preview track before his album drops on Friday.
Penny Lancaster and Rod Stewart attend the “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” Global Premiere in Leicester Square on May 15, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Simon Ackerman/FilmMagic)
Rod Stewart is the father six children, two with current wife Penny Lancaster, and in a new interview Lancaster reveals that kids were a bit of deal-breaker in their relationship.
She tells the British magazineSagathat early in their relationship Stewart indicated that he didn’t want more children, which is something she wasn’t OK with. In fact, she says she would have left the rocker if he hadn’t changed his mind.
“And that would have been very hard,” she says. “But we just went with the flow.”
Stewart did eventually agree to having more kids and they welcomed two sons, Allastair Stewart in 2005, and Aiden Stewart in 2011.
“Now Rod always says, ‘I wish I’d said yes [to babies] earlier, because then we could have had more children,'” she shares. “Even five years ago we were talking about adopting, but it ended up not happening. We thought there might be too much of an age gap.”
Plus, it sounds like Lancaster already has enough to deal with, joking that her husband is like a kid himself.
“Actually, I have three because there’s another big baby who needs my attention in a different way,” she says. “I think all women would say that about their husbands.”
Penny is out promoting her new memoir, Someone Like Me, which drops Thursday. Stewart shared his ringing endorsement of the book in an Instagram video: “Wow, this is incredible, Penny, absolutely blood curdling information here,” he says, before pointing to a specific page. “You shouldn’t have put that in the book, Penny.”
He ends the video by getting serious, saying, “It’s just the best. I’m so proud of her.”
Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. performs as part of day 3 of the Hell & Heaven Metal Fest 2022 at Foro Pegaso on December 4, 2022 in Toluca, Mexico. (Medios y Media/Getty Images)
P.O.D. has confirmed that they’ll be releasing a cover of The Beatles‘ “Don’t Let Me Down.”
The “Youth of the Nation” metallers previously teased they were taking on the Fab Four classic in a video spelling out “Don’t Let Me Down” in Morse code.
“As cliché as it may sound, we’ve always admired the Beatles from the very beginning of our songwriting journey,” says guitarist Marcos Curiel. “Their melodies, the hooks, and fearless experimentation inspired us to craft our own take on the classic, ‘Don’t Let Me Down,’ with nothing but the utmost respect.”
Curiel adds, “Thank you for helping lay the foundation of what we all know today as Rock n roll, Pop and Metal.”
A$AP Rocky attends the Los Angeles special screening of Apple Original Films and A24’s “Highest 2 Lowest” at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on August 13, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Savion Washington/FilmMagic)
Don’t Be Dumb isn’t just the name of A$AP Rocky‘s upcoming album, it’s the motto that best represents this current phase of his life.
“Don’t be f****** dumb! … That’s the motto of life at this moment.I take my own advice when it comes to that. At least I try to, these days,” he tells GQ, noting the phrase is a “generalized statement” that “pertains to any and everybody at the same time.”
He discussed the inspiration for Don’t Be Dumb, which he says was “German expressionism,” an aesthetic Rocky says came from directors in Germany during a time when the country “was going through a crisis.”
“When those directors were compelled to use what they had in their natural environment, that’s when their imagination came in, and they started doing exaggerated, dark undertones, pointed shapes and spots, which mimics German Expressionism, primarily,” Rocky tells GQ. He added that Don’t Be Dumb was also inspired by A Nightmare Before Christmas,Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Batman and Edward Scissorhands.
Don’t Be Dumb will mark Rocky’s fourth studio album. Though the release date has not been announced, he tells GQ his children can listen to his and Rihanna‘s music whenever they want.
“They don’t request their parents’ music. They can’t even develop the concept of having famous parents at this moment. They don’t have a consciousness of self at the moment, or knowledge itself. Their little brains are still developing, so whenever they’re ready, they can listen to my music,” Rocky shares. “I need them to know Dad is a rockstar, Mommy’s a rockstar.”
Rocky and Rihanna share two sons, with a third child on the way.
Whether you’ve heard every album or haven’t kept up since “Moaning Lisa Smile,” you might still be surprised by the directions Wolf Alice takes on their latest record, The Clearing.
In approaching their fourth studio effort, bassist Theo Ellis tells ABC Audio, “The songwriting is at the core of this album.”
“I think it always has been, but I think this album really reflects our reverence for the craft of songwriting,” Ellis says.
Sonically, much of The Clearing is driven by the piano, which you can hear on the lead single, “Bloom Baby Bloom.” Ellis describes the piano as a “lynchpin” in frontwoman Ellie Rowsell‘s early demos for the album.
“It’s kind of like a guitar riff, but [it’s] being played on the piano,” Ellis says of “Bloom Baby Bloom.” “It felt like a really exciting song to explore, ’cause it kinda bridges the world from [Wolf Alice’s last album] Blue Weekend going into what The Clearing kinda became.”
Rowsell, meanwhile, found herself using her voice in new and different ways on The Clearing as she considered how to sing “more performatively.” Her voice on the songs “Leaning Against the Wall” and “Passenger Seat,” for example, has almost a country lilt to it.
“Our most performative songs were the heaviest songs and the ones that were the loudest and fastest, the most distorted,” Rowsell says. “I was interested in how our most performative songs could not rely those things.”
To see how that all comes together, you can catch Wolf Alice on their ongoing North American tour, which continues Tuesday in Toronto.
“I saw someone say our shows [are] ‘way more ridiculous’ than they had expected, and I kind of understand that,” Rowsell laughs. “It feels quite ridiculous, in a good way.”
‘Psychocandy’ reissue artwork. (Third Man Records)
The Jesus and Mary Chain has announced a standalone release for the 40th anniversary vinyl reissue of their 1985 debut album, Psychocandy.
The LP is due out Nov. 14 on standard black and limited-edition hot honey vinyl. It includes remastered audio of the original record.
A 40th anniversary edition of Psychocandy was previously exclusive to a package released by Jack White‘s Third Man Records Vault subscription service.
Upon its original release, Psychocandy helped to pioneer the genre of noise pop. It spawned singles in “Just Like Honey,” “Never Understand” and “You Trip Me Up.”
The most recent Jesus and Mary Chain album is 2024’s Glasgow Eyes. The band’s co-founding brothers, Jim Reid and William Reid, also put out a memoir in 2024, Never Understood: The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Metallica on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (ABC/Randy Holmes)
Metallica is once again off to Funko Pop! land.
The metal legends have announced another collaboration with the toy company to produce a new line of ‘Tallica-inspired editions of its popular big-headed vinyl figures.
The latest Metallica Funkos are specifically themed around the band’s latest album, 2023’s 72 Seasons, and include recreations of all four members: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo.
You can preorder your set now via Metallica’s web store.
Metallica has collaborated with Funko four times previously.
Ashanti and Nelly are seen during a segment of “Good Day New York” on June 24, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Simon/Getty Images)
Nelly is no stranger to touring, but the experience has changed slightly now that his wife and youngest son are on board.
“They joined me. They’ve been on the road a lot,” Nelly tells People of partner Ashanti and their son, Kareem Kenkaide Haynes. “It’s dope, man,” he says. “It’s different on the bus, I’ll tell you that. There’s no more weed smoking and no s*** like that, you know what I’m saying? That’s gone.”
Nelly also opened up about his experience watching Ashanti take on and enjoy the journey of motherhood.
“She’s an incredible person already, so to watch her go through motherhood for the first time is really a joy to watch, man,” he shares. “Everybody doesn’t get a chance to be a mother, everybody don’t get that chance, and that’s something that I did not realize until me and her got back together, so to speak.”
“To watch her eyes light up every day and the joy with him — he’s the splitting image of her, too — it’s great,” Nelly concludes.
Nelly and Ashanti dated on and off from 2003 to 2013 before calling it quits. They reignited their spark in 2023 and secretly married that December.
