The Royal Affair and After, the forthcoming live album from longtime Moody Blues singer/bassist John Lodge, was scheduled for release on December 3, but according to a message on Lodge’s socialmediapages, it’s now been pushed back until January 14, 2022.
The note explains that the “world-wide supply chain issue” that currently is affecting so many businesses has led to “a production and shipping delay.”
The message continues, “John and all his team are very upset by this news and hate to let you all down, especially those of you hoping Santa would leave [the album] under your tree on Christmas.”
However, the previously announced limited-edition blue-vinyl LP version of The Royal Affair and After is still scheduled to be released on January 28, 2022.
In related news, Lodge has released a live version of the 1981 Moody Blues hit “Gemini Dream” as a second advance digital single from the album. You also can check out a music video for the performance, which combines live footage with kaleidoscopic animation, at John’s official YouTube channel.
As previously reported, The Royal Affair and After features performances from a 2019 Las Vegas show that Lodge and his 10,000 Light Years Band played during his stint as an opening act on the Yes-headlined Royal Affair Tour. It also includes songs recorded during John’s subsequent U.S. solo trek.
Two of the songs feature guest vocals by current Yes frontman Jon Davison, including a rendition of “Ride My See-Saw” that was released recently as the first advance digital single from the album.
After being forced off the road in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lodge will return to touring in March 2022 with a series of U.S. dates.
Queens co-stars Brandy, Eve, Naturi Naughton and Nadine Velazquez gave their fans a Thanksgiving treat Wednesday with a new music video, “All Rise (The Supreme Court),” from Tuesday night’s episode of the ABC series.
In the episode, titled “Behind the Throne,” the ladies shot their first new music video in two decades. In the “All Rise (The Supreme Court)” video, which is set in a courtroom, the Queens rap about female empowerment. The clip also features Queens character Lil Muffin, portrayed by Pepi Sonuga.
Queens follows the original members of a fictional popular ’90s rap group who reunite in hopes of recapturing their hip hop crowns.
Naughton, who gave away Thanksgiving dinners Monday in Jonesboro, Georgia, says the song is very special.
“It was such an honor to perform this song with these QUEENS and make powerful statements to the world! I’m blessed to share the screen with you @brandy @therealeve @nadinevelazquez & @pepisonuga,” she commented on Instagram.
Brandy also shared her holiday plans, in a video posted on Instagram.
“My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is spending time with my family, and of course my momma’s food,” she said. “She only cooks twice a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we gonna get that meal.”
Paul McCartney, Elton John and Bruce Springsteen are just a few the famous musicians who’ve contributed instruments and other memorabilia to an auction benefiting Music Rising, a charity organization co-founded by U2 guitarist The Edge and producer Bob Ezrin.
The former Beatles legend is selling a Yamaha BB-1200 bass that he played live and in the studio with his old band Wings during in the ’70s. Elton has contributed a signed Yamaha Motif-8 keyboard that he played live for nearly a decade. The Boss is parting with a signed Americana Original ’50s Fender Telecaster guitar.
Other artists contributing instruments or other items to the sale include The Edge and his U2 band mates Bono and Adam Clayton, The Rolling Stones‘ Ronnie Wood, Steve Miller, former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, Joe Walsh, Slash, Rush‘s Alex Lifeson, Lenny Kravitz, Alice Cooper, KISS‘ Paul Stanley, Green Day, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joan Jett, Dave Grohl and Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder.
The auction, which take place live and online on December 11, will be hosted by Van Eaton Galleries in Los Angeles.
“Some of the world’s greatest musicians and friends of Music Rising have generously donated their personal instruments to raise money for Music Rising,” The Edge says in a statement. “We hope you have a chance to bid on one or more of the beautiful instruments in the auction.”
Music Rising was first formed in 2005 to support New Orleans and Gulf South-area musicians in need following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The auction will raise money for those musicians now affected by the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
For more information about the auction, visit VEGalleries.com.
After enjoying their Thanksgiving feast this week, music fans can head to their local independent record shops to check out the limited-edition vinyl releases available for the 2021 edition of Record Store Day’s Black Friday sale.
Releases from Hall & Oates, Aerosmith, U2, Fleetwood Mac and Carole King are among the discs that will be available.
Hall & Oates’ Black Friday release is Fall in Philadelphia: The Definitive Demos 1968-71, a collection of early recordings the duo made before their debut album came out. The LP is pressed on orange vinyl.
Aerosmith’s Black Friday offering is a 1971: The Road Starts Here, featuring a previously unheard early recording of the band playing several song in their rehearsal room, including “Dream On.” It’s available on vinyl and cassette.
U2 is issuing a four-track EP celebrating the 40th anniversary of their popular early tune “Gloria.” The disc, which is pressed on yellow vinyl, features the studio version of the song, plus three live renditions recorded in three different decades.
Fleetwood Mac is offering a two-LP set titled Alternate Live, a 14-track collection featuring performances of various songs taken from the band’s deluxe reissues of the Rumours, Tusk and Mirage albums.
King is issuing In Concert — Live at The BBC 1971, a live album featuring the lauded singer/songwriter performing songs from her landmark album Tapestry, including a guest appearance by James Taylor.
Other artists issuing 2021 Black Friday releases include The Bee Gees, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, Sam Cooke, Dire Straits, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Jorma Kaukonen, Little Feat, Modern English, Todd Rundgren, The Shangri-Las, Dusty Springfield, The Staple Singers, Stray Cats, JoeStrummer, TammiTerrell and Heart‘s NancyWilson
For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.
Just when you thought there were no chart records left for Adele to set, she goes ahead and sets another one.
The duet version of her song “Easy on Me” that features country superstar Chris Stapletonhas just enteredBillboard‘s Country Airplay chart at number 25. This is her first appearance on one of Billboard‘s country charts, and it’s allowed her to set that new record.
As Billboard notes, “Easy on Me” is the first song ever to appear on the pop, rock, R&B/hip-hop and country airplay charts since Billboard modernized its chart data back in 1990. Before that, the last song to achieve that feat was “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity single recorded by USA for Africa, a huge collective of the biggest names in music.
In addition, this is now the 17th Billboard airplay chart Adele has appeared on in her career, out of the 25 airplay charts that Billboard publishes. Mariah Carey has also appeared on 17 of those charts; the only other artist who’s been on more is Pharrell Williams, with 18.
In other news, Adele predicts that her nine-year-old son Angelo might have a bad reaction to one of the songs on 30 when he gets older: “My Little Love.”
While appearing on the Canadian show q with host Tom Power, Adele admitted, “He’ll probably go through stages of hating it when he’s a teenager.” The song features Voice Note recordings of Adele talking with Angelo about her divorce. But while it may be embarrassing for him, she says she felt she “had to include” it because “it was an important part of the puzzle.”
She explained, “It sorted out some of the clutter that was going on in my ability to talk about how I was feeling.”
Andrew Garfield can be seen on Netflix in Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s musical film Tick…Tick…Boom!, and he can also now be seen absolutely losing his mind on NetflixGeeked’s social media. And it’s all thanks to a greeting from the cast of the streaming service’s Emmy-nominated Cobra Kai.
The Oscar-nominated actor has said he became “obsessed” with the Karate Kid spin-off series, telling Netflix he unfortunately “had to put that on the shelf” because of how long he’s been waiting for the forthcoming forth season.
To get him through, Netflix set up surprise video greetings to Garfield from Cobra Kai‘s Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Jacob Bertrand, Mary Mouser and Peyton List.
Via a split-screen, you can see Garfield, arms occasionally flailing, as he nerds out hard while the cast members thank him for being such a “superfan.”
Afterwards, Garfield wiped away happy tears, saying “They know I exist.” Clearly moved, he observed, “My body feels like Christmas.”
“Forget season four,” he laughs. “That’s gonna keep me going for years.”
Fortunately, he won’t have to wait that long: Season 4 of Cobra Kai is set to be released December 31.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for American Museum of Natural History
Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder are all taking part in an auction benefiting Music Rising, a charity organization co-founded by U2 guitarist The Edge and producer Bob Ezrin.
The Foo Fighters frontman is contributing a signed Gibson Explorer guitar, while the Pearl Jam vocalist will be offering the guitar he smashed on stage during a 2018 concert.
Other participating artists include U2’s Bono and Adam Clayton, Slash, Noel Gallagher, Rush‘s Alex Lifeson, Lenny Kravitz, Alice Cooper, Coldplay‘s Chris Martin, KISS‘ Paul Stanley, The Rolling Stones‘ Ronnie Wood, Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale, Kings of Leon, Green Day, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joan Jett, and Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello.
The auction, which takes place December 11, will also feature several guitars from The Edge himself, as well as from the late Lou Reed.
Music Rising was first formed in 2005 to support New Orleans and Gulf South-area musicians in need following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The auction will raise money for those musicians now affected by the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain has a very busy holiday season planned with his famous band and his work serving as a minister at his wife Paula White-Cain‘s church, but first up he has some important familial Thanksgiving duties on his plate.
“I’m gonna be cooking a pretty extensive dinner like I usually do…Chef Jon,” he tells ABC Audio. “We’ll just have our close family and grandkids [over].”
Cain says he’s facing one major dilemma with his meal preparation, he’s been having a “big problem…finding a turkey.”
“Turkeys are, believe or not, scarce,” the 71-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who lives in Florida, says with a laugh. “My little place [where] I bought my Amish turkey [last year is] unable to help me. I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ So yeah, you can’t even get a turkey anymore.”
We won’t stop believing that Jonathan will be successful in his quest to find a big bird for his family’s holiday feast.
After Thanksgiving is over, Cain and Journey will head to Las Vegas, where the band will play a six-show residency at The Theater at Virgin Hotels that runs from December 1 through December 11, and a special symphonic concert at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on December 18.
Cain, who recently released his latest in a series of solo Christian-music projects, an EP titled Oh Lord Lead Us, also has plans to host a Christmas concert.
(ATLANTA) — A Georgia jury convicted three white men of murder on Wednesday in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, 21 months after the 25-year-old Black man was chased down and shot to death while out for a Sunday jog.
Travis McMichael, who fatally shot Arbery in February 2020, was convicted on all nine charges, including malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with a shotgun, aggravated assault with a pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony.
McMichael’s father, Gregory McMichael, 65, a former Georgia police officer, was found not guilty of malice murder but was convicted on the remaining charges, including the felony murder counts.
The McMichael’s neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, 53, was found guilty of three of the felony murder counts as well as charges of aggravated assault with his pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony.
‘A long fight’
“It’s been a long fight, it’s been a hard fight. God is good,” Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said during a news conference outside the courthouse surrounded by supporters and her primary lawyers, Ben Crump and Lee Merritt.
Calling her son, Ahmaud, by his nickname “Quez,” Cooper-Jones said, “He will now rest in peace.”
Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, added, “Today is a good day.”
The jury verdicts were read in court by the presiding judge in the case, Timothy Walmsley.
Marcus Arbery, who was in the courtroom, shouted out “long time coming” as the verdicts were read. The outburst prompted Walmsley to halt the proceedings briefly and order Marcus Arbery to leave the court.
As the verdicts were read in court, none of the defendants showed any emotions.
Outside the courthouse, a huge collective cheer went up from a large crowd of protesters.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who was in Brunswick throughout the trial and sat in the courtroom with Arbery’s parents, led a prayer of thanks outside the courthouse, “we’ve never had a Thanksgiving Day like today.”
“Let the word go out all over the world that a jury of 11 whites and one Black in the deep South stood up in the courtroom and said Black lives do matter,” Sharpton said.
President Joe Biden released a statement following the verdicts saying Ahmaud “should be here today” and that “the verdict ensures that those who committed this horrible crime will be punished.”
“While the guilty verdicts reflect our justice system doing its job, that alone is not enough. Instead, we must recommit ourselves to building a future of unity and shared strength, where no one fears violence because of the color of their skin,” Biden’s statement read.
Prosecutor says jury ‘did the right thing’
The lead prosecutor in case, Linda Dunikoski, joined Arbery’s parents at the post-verdict news conference to thank them for putting their faith in her and her prosecution team, saying, “This was a gigantic team effort.”
“The verdict today was a verdict based on the facts, based on the evidence. That was our goal,” Dunikoski said. “The jury system works in this country and when you present the truth to people and they see it, they will do the right thing and that’s what this jury did today in getting justice for Ahmaud Arbery.”
Dunikoski was tapped to lead the prosecution team after Cobb County District Attorney Broady Flynn was appointed as the special prosecutor in the Glynn County case after two previous district attorneys refused to file charges against the men, finding their actions appeared justified. Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, who once had a working relationship with Gregory McMichael, was accused of mishandling the case, leading to her indictment in September on felony charges of violating her oath of office and obstructing police.
The McMichaels were arrested and charged with Arbery’s murder about two months after the fatal Feb. 23, 2020 shooting in the Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick. Bryan was arrested about two weeks later.
The arrests came only after a cellphone video Bryan took of the confrontation that captured part of the shooting and was heavily used by both prosecutors and defense attorneys during the trial was leaked to the media despite Bryan having turned it over to Glynn County police on the day of the killing.
“To tell you the truth, back in 2020 I never thought this day would come, but God is good,” Cooper-Jones said.
Verdict delivered
The jury sent Walmsley a note around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday saying they had reached a verdict after deliberating about 11 hours over two days.
The panel began deliberating the nationally televised trial on Tuesday after hearing 13 days of evidence and listening to numerous witnesses, including the testimony of defendant Travis McMichael, 35, who claimed he shot the unarmed Arbery with a shotgun in self-defense during a face-to-face fight over his weapon.
The McMichaels and Bryan had all pleaded not guilty to a nine-count state indictment. The charges included malice murder, multiple charges of felony murder, false imprisonment, aggravated assault with a 12-gauge shotgun and aggravated assault with their pickup trucks.
Travis McMichael, who testified in his own defense, claimed he shot the unarmed Arbery in self-defense after Arbery resisted a citizen’s arrest after he and his father suspected him of burglarizing a home under construction in their neighborhood.
The defendants all face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Travis McMichael’s attorneys, Bob Rubin and Jason Sheffield, said they plan to appeal.
“This is a very difficult day for Travis McMichael and Greg McMichael. These are two men who honestly believed that what they were doing was the right thing to do,” Sheffield said. “However, the Glynn County jury has spoken. They have found them guilty and they will be sentenced and that is a very disappointing and sad verdict.”
During the trial, the jury heard wildly different theories based on the same evidence in the racially charged case. Prosecutors alleged the defendants pursued and murdered Arbery because of wrong “assumptions and driveway decisions” they made that the Black man running through their neighborhood had committed a burglary, while defense attorneys countered that Arbery was shot in self-defense when he resisted a citizen’s arrest.
Prosecutors claimed Arbery was out for a Sunday jog and was spotted by a community resident inside a home that was under construction where Arbery had been previously captured on security video looking around but never taking anything, according to the evidence.
The chase of Arbery started when Gregory McMichael, a retired Glynn County police officer, spotted Arbery running past his home. Prosecutors said Gregory McMichael rushed into his residence to fetch his gun and his son, Travis, who armed himself with a Remington pump-action shotgun before they got into a truck and chased after the Black man.
Bryan, who lived near the McMichaels, joined the chase not knowing why the McMichaels were chasing Arbery and told investigators that he used his truck to help corner Arbery just before Travis McMichael shot him.
Gwen Stefani joins this year’s The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration. Turns out, the singer has fond memories of the theme park.
Speaking toEntertainment Tonightfrom Disneyland, the “Slow Clap” singer explained that she grew up in a home that was so close to the park, it was basically her “backyard.”
“My parents used to pick us up from school and would be driving down Harvard Boulevard going, ‘Oops, we made the wrong turn. I guess we have to go to Disneyland today.’ It’s just one of those things that we do every year,” Gwen recalled, noting that she does the same thing with her kids: 15-year-old Kingston, 13-year-old Zuma, and Apollo, who’s seven.
“I bring the kids every single year at Christmas time, so I know that they would be freaked out to know that I am actually here right now. They are going to be like, ‘Why didn’t you bring us?'” Gwen laughed.
The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration airs Sunday, November 28, at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
Although Christmas is right around the corner, Gwen’s focused on Thanksgiving, and revealed, “We leave next week to go to Oklahoma, it’s a tradition. My whole family flies out, and we have not been back there since the wedding.”
The singer adds she’s “very excited” to spend her first holiday as Mrs. Blake Shelton and raved, “It’s gonna be our first married Thanksgiving!”
Gwen says she’s also looking forward to stuffing herself with turkey, adding, “My mom definitely likes to do her turkey her way. Blake likes to experiment with multiple smaller turkeys,” revealing he previously made a “hot Cheetos turkey” and plans on a “bacon-wrapped” bird this year.
