Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and more featured in new doc about famed Australian concert promoter

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Michael Gudinski may not have been a household name, but he was a major player in the music business. That’s why the likes of Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and Ed Sheeran, among others, are happy to talk about him in a new documentary charting his career.

Gudinksi, who died unexpectedly in March 2021, was the head of the Mushroom Group, which encompasses all aspects of the music and entertainment industry in Australia. Chief among those ventures is Frontier Touring, the third largest concert promoter in the world. Through Frontier, Gudinski had a huge impact on the world’s biggest stars’ careers, bringing them Down Under for what were often record-breaking tours.

In the trailer for Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story, Sting describes the late promoter as having “the energy of a rock drummer.” Grohl says, “I imagine being a rock promoter as the biggest f****** nightmare. There has to be a reason why he did it.” Springsteen laughs, “He came on strong!”

Other artists who appear in the documentary include Vance Joy, Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue and Shirley Manson of Garbage.

According to The Music Network, Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival August 10, before opening in theaters in Australia on August 31. There’s no word on a U.S. theatrical or streaming release yet.

Green Day’s Tré Cool & other punk rockers join Gogol Bordello for charity single supporting Ukraine

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Punk musicians including Green Day drummer Tré Cool have teamed up with the band Gogol Bordello for a song in support of Ukraine amid Russia’s continued invasion of the country.

The track is called “United Strike Back” and also features ex-Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra, as well as members of Fugazi, Agnostic Front, Ministry and the Ukrainian band Kazka.

Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz, who’s from Ukraine, says, “Here, living legends of punk and hardcore who always meant so much to me, come together to show their much needed support for Ukrainian freedom fighters.”

You can listen to “United Strike Back” now via digital outlets. Proceeds will be donated to Kind Deeds, which supports wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

Joe Jonas admits he was “so jealous” when Nick joined ‘The Voice’

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

he Jonas Brothers got real about sibling rivalry on the latest episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.

While discussing the competition they’ve faced with each other over the years, Joe admitted he was jealous when Nick was chosen to be a judge on The Voice. He says he found out while at a Fleetwood Mac concert.

“As they were playing ‘Landslide,’ I found out that he was going to be a judge on The Voice and I was so jealous I cried my eyes out to ‘Landslide,’” Joe said.

“It was bittersweet,” he added. “I’m super happy for him but I’m also bummed cause, like, ‘I wanted that f****** gig!'”

For context, Joe previously served as judge on Australia’s version of The Voice, so he felt he should’ve gotten the U.S. job, as well.

Nick also revealed during the Armchair episode that he and Joe auditioned for the same role in Wicked, but neither of them got it.

50 Cent adds dates to The Final Lap Tour

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

50 Cent‘s meeting the demand for The Final Lap Tour. The entrepreneur has expanded the outing to include 10 new dates.

“If we gonna do it, we gonna do it BIG!” 50 announced on his socials. “Due to fan demand, I’m adding more dates to THE FINAL LAP TOUR celebrating GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN’ — 20 YEARS LATER with Busta Rhymes and Jeremih.”

Second dates have been added in cities including Montreal, Brooklyn, Toronto, Manchester and Dublin. 50 will now also be making his way to Baltimore; Newcastle, England; and Holmdel, New Jersey.

“I sold 500,000 tickets for The Final Lap Tour in seven days,” he said on Instagram Live. “It’s exciting. I’m getting ready to get a chance to run around and really tour with all the theatrics and everything else going in the background, big production, cool s***.”

“Because the ticket sales are doing really well, they adding new markets, so there’s the U.K., North America and possibly Australia will be in there and then I gotta get to Africa, I got a lot [of] spots I gotta hit before I’ll be done because it’s the Final Lap … I won’t be running around like this no more. I gotta do my film and television stuff,” 50 continued. “Got a lot of other things going on behind the scenes that I gotta work on, so I won’t be out touring as much as I’ve been touring or as visible as I’ve been.”

Tickets for the new dates go on sale to the public on May 26 at 10 a.m. local time; presales start May 24.

Get ready for Jake Owen’s new song + album

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Jason Kempin/Getty Images for ALSAC/ St. Jude

Jake Owen has announced on Instagram that he’s got a new song and album coming.

The as-yet-untitled track is slated to release on Friday, May 26, with the new album preorder rolling out the same day.

“Got some good news for you, got some new music coming out this week. Yeah, I do!” Jake told fans in the Instagram video, before sharing that he’s playing on ABC’s Good Morning America on Memorial Day on Monday, May 29.

Jake’s upcoming song follows “My Boots Miss Yours,” which dropped in January. Prior to that, he released “1×1,” “Up There Down Here” and “Fishin’ On A River” in 2022.

Purple Plays: Jimi Hendrix games have arrived for your smart TV

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

These days a lot of streaming platforms offer games, both free and paid, in addition to movies and TV shows. And as of May 23, you can play a Jimi Hendrix-themed game on one of those platforms.

Play.Works The Jimi Hendrix Experience is a slots game that is now available on Roku and will soon be rolled out to other pay TV platforms. It’s the first time that Hendrix’s music has been incorporated onto a connected TV, or CTV, platform. As you level up on the game, you can see unreleased photos and hear music from across Hendrix’s catalog.

Later this year, Play.Works will launch a Jimi Hendrix trivia video game. Both the games are part of a partnership between Play.Works, Experience Hendrix LLC and Authentic Hendrix LLC, the official representatives of Jimi’s estate.

Experience Hendrix President and CEO Janie Hendrix explains, “It’s a step toward the future. We recently celebrated what would have been Jimi’s 80th birthday, and he continues to appeal to people of all ages and walks of life. The Play.Works game and video trivia are an excellent way to reintroduce his magic and music to a whole new generation.”

Busta Rhymes and Jhené Aiko tapped to help launch ‘The Show: Sunshine Vibes Sessions’ in Vegas

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Busta Rhymes and Jhené Aiko are helping with the launch of The Show: Sunshine Vibes Sessions at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The stars have been tapped as headliners for the concerts, which will take place this Memorial Day weekend.

Starting May 27 at the Soak Pool, Jhené will perform, as will others on the lineup, including Swae Lee, Saint Jhn and DJ Boof, taking on the 1’s and 2’s. The following night, Busta and Jeremih will take the stage with Boof once again handling DJ duties.

“We are thrilled to kick off the pool season this Memorial Day Weekend at SOAK,” Steve Sagan, Palm’s executive director of nightlife and daylife, told Billboard. “SOAK Pool promises to be an ultimate poolside party paradise, offering a vibrant lineup of high-energy entertainment, fantastic music, refreshing drinks, delectable food, and endless fun.”

Busta celebrated his 51st birthday on May 20, but the entire year appears to be busy for the star. He previously made appearances at Usher‘s Lovers & Friends festival and one of the New York stops of Janet Jackson‘s tour; headlined the Grammy’s HipHop50 tribute; and performed a sold-out show at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

“I assure you we are just getting started,” Busta told Billboard. “My new album is on the way, and of course, me and my longtime brothers, 50 Cent and Jeremih, are going absolutely earthquake every city starting this summer on the Final Lap Tour 2023.”

‘Elephant’ or ’Elephunk’? ’Jeopardy’ contestant confuses The White Stripes and Black Eyed Peas

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

If you know that The White Stripes recorded an album called Elephant, you might’ve won some money on Jeopardy this week.

Picking from the category titled “Pop Culture 2003” during Monday’s episode, contestant Joe was tasked with solving the clue, “I’m going to Wichita to tell you Spin magazine’s top album of the year was their Elephant.” That, of course, refers to The White Stripes’ 2003 album — the “Wichita” line is also a lyric from lead-off track “Seven Nation Army” — but Joe responded, “What is Black Eyed Peas?”

While confusing Jack and Meg White for the “My Humps” group may be very funny, the mix-up isn’t as embarrassing as it might seem on the surface. We’re guessing that Joe was thinking of the very similarly titled Black Eyed Peas album Elephunk, which was also released in 2003.

Joe can also take comfort in knowing that another person on Jeopardy already confused The White Stripes with a different act. Back in 2018, a contestant responded to a clue accompanied by a photo of Jack White with “Who is Eminem?”

You can check out the Jeopardy! clip via the Jack White Reddit page.

Elephant, meanwhile, was reissued earlier this year in honor of its 20th anniversary.

Jelly Roll’s ‘Whitsitt Chapel’ track list revealed

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Jelly Roll has rolled out the track list for his forthcoming debut country album, Whitsitt Chapel.

The 13-song collection, which drops June 2, will feature Jelly Roll’s current single, “Need A Favor,” the recently released “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson, and a collaboration with Brantley Gilbert and Struggle Jennings.

Jelly Roll’s set to kick off his 44-city Backroad Baptism Tour on Friday, July 28, in Southaven, Mississippi. But before that, Hulu will premiere his upcoming ABC News Studios-produced documentary, Jelly Roll: Save Me, on Tuesday, May 30.

Here’s the full track listing for Whitsitt Chapel:

“Halfway To Hell”
“Church”
“The Lost”
“Behind Bars” (with Brantley Gilbert and Struggle Jennings)
“Nail Me”
“Hold On Me”
“Kill A Man”
“Unlive” (with Yelawolf)
“Save Me” (with Lainey Wilson)
“She”
“Need A Favor”
“Dancing With The Devil”
“Hungover In A Church Pew”

Joe Perry explains why shows featuring albums in their entirety didn’t work for Aerosmith

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Aerosmith‘s recorded their share of legendary albums that are packed with classic tracks, but unlike many of their peers, the band never really did one of those tours where they played one of their famous albums in its entirety. The reason? According to guitarist Joe Perry, it was just too boring.

Speaking to Kerrang, Perry says, “The closest we ever got to that was doing a version of Toys [In The Attic] front-to-back, but after we tried it a couple of times live, we realized that to maintain the energy of the show, we’d have to drop a couple of songs out. It wasn’t exciting enough, for me.”

“There are other songs that people would rather get to hear than being able to say they saw that album played in full,” he adds. “Any time you perform, you’ve got to treat it as the one time you get to play in front of that audience. You don’t know when you’re going to be back.”

And considering that Aerosmith’s upcoming Peace Out tour is billed as their farewell trek, it seems unlikely the band will ever attempt that again.

Perry also tells Kerrang that, having been rocking for 50 years, he feels the ultimate era of rock music was — big surprise — the ’60s and ’70s.

“You lived and died by how you played onstage. You could go out there and have a great single that was on top of the charts, but if you couldn’t deliver a great show live, you’d be gone, because there were all these other bands that could,” Perry say.

“It was about having your feet on the ground, standing in front of the fans, delivering.”

Aerosmith’s Peace Out tour kicks off September 2 in Philadelphia.

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