U2 gave away their new album Songs of Innocence, with the record automatically appearing in the music libraries of some 500 million iTunes users.
The album, the 13th studio release from the Irish rockers, included the lead single “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone),” which was featured in a TV ad for Apple. Other singles included “Every Breaking Wave” and “Song for Someone.”
But not everyone wanted Songs of Innocence. In fact, angry Apple customers compared the unwanted album to “spam” or “junk mail,” and Apple was forced to create a way for users to delete it from their accounts.
Bono later apologized, taking “full responsibility” for the stunt.
The music of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles band Wings is being explored in a new collection.
Simply titled Wings, the anthology, personally overseen by McCartney, will be released digitally and as a three-LP or two-CD set. It features remastered versions of such Wings classics as “Band on the Run,” “Live and Let Die,” “Jet,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Let ‘Em In” and more.
There will also be a three-LP, limited edition color vinyl version; a Blu-ray that will feature the first ever Dolby Atmos mixes of the songs; a one-LP and a one-CD version.
In addition to the music, the physical releases will feature a 32-page booklet with trivia, photos and paintings, as well as original artwork created by Humphrey Ocean, the artist in residence for Wings’ 1976 tour. There are also extensive notes on the artwork, written by Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell of Hipgnosis, the design studio responsible for the covers of seven Wings albums.
The anthology will come out just days after McCartney releases a new book about his Wings era: Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run will be released Nov. 4.
The Zombies’ ‘Odessey and Oracle’/Beechwood Park Records
The Zombies are set to reissue their iconic sophomore album, Odessey and Oracle,on Sept. 26, and members of the band will celebrate the release with some special events in England.
Frontman Colin Blunstone and bassist/co-songwriter Chris White are set to appear at two events: an acoustic performance and Q&A on Sept. 25 at EartH Theatre in London, and a listening party and Q&A at Pioneer Club in the band’s hometown of St. Albans.
After Odessey and Oracle was recorded in 1967,the album was remixed in a then-new stereo format. According to a press release, that “sacrificed key elements from the mono recording.” The new reissue will be in mono, with the band noting in an Instagram post that it allows fans a chance to “experience the album the way it was intended to be heard and seen: raw, rich and timeless.”
Released in April 1968, Odessey and Oracle was not a commercial success when it came out. In fact, The Zombies has already broken up by the time the album was released. But the album’s third single, “Time of the Season,” became a hit in the U.S. almost a year later, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It went on to become an iconic song for the band.
CheapTrick’s Rick Nielsen and Daxx Nielsen, Toto’s Steve Porcaro and The Go-Go’s Jane Wiedlin are among the artists taking part in the upcoming Freezing Man concerts, raising support for epilepsy research and education.
The concerts, put on by the nonprofit Joey’s Song, will take place Jan. 9 and 10 at The Sylvee in Madison, Wisconsin, and will feature all-star collaborations from over 35 artists.
Other artists on this year’s bill include The Bangles‘ Vicki Peterson and Debbi Peterson, Garbage’s Butch Vig and Duke Erikson, and members of such bands as Silversun Pickups, Belly, Letters To Cleo, Portugal. The Man and Eve 6.
Freezing Man will consist of two different shows, an unplugged night on Jan. 9 and an electric show on Jan. 10, with Vig acting as musical director and his covers group The Know-It-All Boyfriends acting as the house band.
Tickets for the shows go on sale Friday at JoeysSong.org.
The organization Joey’s Song was founded 15 years ago in memory of a young boy named Joey Gomoll (Gum-ahl), who passed away before turning 5 after a battle with a severe form of epilepsy. Previous benefit concerts have raised more than $1.5 million for epilepsy research and education.
Cover of Duff McKagan’s ‘Lighthouse: Live in London’/(Earmusic)
Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan is giving fans at home a taste of his live show. The rocker is set to drop Lighthouse: Live From London, a new live album and concert film highlighting a show from his Lighthouse Tour ’24, on Oct. 31.
The concert is a recording of McKagan’s Oct. 25, 2024, concert at London’s Islington Assembly Hall and features performances of songs from his third solo album, 2023’s Lighthouse, including the track “Longfeather,” which is out now.
The album also features other songs from McKagan’s career, a performance of the Guns track “You’re So Crazy” and several covers. There’s also an appearance by Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones on covers of David Bowie’s “Heroes” and Johnny Thunder’s “Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory.”
Lighthouse: Live From London will be released digitally, and on CD and as a CD+Blu-ray set that includes the complete Live From London concert film. It will also be released as a two-LP black vinyl set that comes with a replica concert ticket signed by McKagan.
McKagan and his Guns N’ Roses bandmates are getting ready to hit the road again. They kick off a fall Latin American tour on Oct. 1 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
John Fogerty Las Vegas residency admat/courtesy of Live Nation
John Fogerty will be kicking off the new year in Las Vegas.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has announced a new set of Las Vegas dates, including a special New Year’s Eve show.
John Fogerty, Live in Las Vegas at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino will consist of six dates: the special Dec. 31 show, followed by performances on Jan. 2 and 3, and March 18, 20 and 21.
A ticket presale begins Wednesday at 9 a.m. PT, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday at 9 a.m. PT.
Fogerty recently released the new album Legacy: the Creedence Clearwater Revival years,, which had him recording new versions of his classic Creedence Clearwater Revival tunes. He has several more U.S. shows on his schedule for the year, including stops in Nashville, Atlanta and Boston. A complete list of dates can be found at JohnFogerty.com.
Michael Stipe attends Focus Features’ “The Phoenician Scheme” New York Premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 28, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
In his original posts on Bluesky, Stipe clarified two particular lines in the song. He wrote, “It’s ‘Left of west and coming in a hurry with the Furies breathing down your neck,'” before correcting the following line, “Team by team reporters, baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped, Look at that low playing, fine, then.”
In another series of posts on Bluesky, Stipe has highlighted two more sets of lyrics folks may be getting wrong.
“Ok, its ‘feed it off an aux, speak, grunt no strength, the ladder start to clatter with fear fight down height, wire in a fire representing seven games, a government for hire and a combat site,’” he wrote in one post. Another clarified the lyric, “Uh-oh, overflow, population ‘common food, but it’ll do’, save yourself, serve yourself, world serves its own needs—listen to your heart bleed, dummy with the raptured and the revered and the right, right.”
On the second post he also commented about his writing style, joking, “And let it be said I’m of the lets eat grandma school of punctuation, so.”
“It’s the End of the World” appears on R.E.M.’s 1987 album, Document, which celebrated its 38th anniversary on Sept. 1. The track was the second single from the record, peaking at #69 on the Hot 100, although it went on to be one of the band’s signature tracks.
The Eagles are having an extremely long run in Las Vegas.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will return to the Sphere in Sin City in 2026 for four shows: Jan. 23, 24, 30 and 31. The Eagles are also set to perform in 2025 on Sept. 12; Oct. 3, 10 and 31; and Nov. 7. With those newly announced shows, the band’s residency now comprises 48 shows since they started playing the massive venue in 2024.
The general sale for the new shows starts Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. PT via eagles.com. Artist presale registration is open now at eagles.com; it starts Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. PT, followed by several other presales on Sept. 18.
The Venetian Resort Las Vegas is also hosting the Eagles Third Encore experience, which is free and open to the public. It includes a Hotel California immersive experience, memorabilia display and merch store. If you have VIP tickets, you can also visit a replica of the legendary LA club The Troubadour, where the band played early in its career.
Bruce Springsteen attends the US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 07, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images)
Bruce Springsteen and members of The E Street Band made a surprise appearance at the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music’s Born to Run 50th anniversary celebration on Saturday, the Asbury Park Press reports.
Bruce and the band performed two Born to Run songs at the event, “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run.” Bruce was joined by current E Streeters Max Weinberg, Steven Van Zandt, Garry Tallent, Roy Bittan and Eddie Manion, as well as former keyboardist David Sancious and former drummer Ernest “Boom” Carter, who appeared on the album.
The Born to Run symposium, which ran Sept. 4-7 at the Pollak Theatre on the campus of Monmouth University, featured a variety of panels, with Springsteen participating in three of them.
Released Aug. 25, 1975, Born to Run became a breakthrough hit for Springsteen, propelling him to mainstream success. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified seven-times Platinum by the RIAA.
In other Springsteen news, The Boss attended the U.S. Open Men’s Championship in Queens on Sunday with his daughter, Jessica Springsteen, and was reunited with one of his famous video co-stars. Courteney Cox, who starred in Bruce’s video for “Dancing in the Dark” before she became famous on Friends, was also there, and video shared on social media shows the actress coming over and giving Bruce a kiss hello.
Jon Bon Jovi landed at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with his debut solo single, “Blaze of Glory.”
The power ballad, which features Jeff Beck on guitar, was featured in the Emilio Estevez western Young Guns II, although Estevez originally wanted to use the Bon Jovi song “Wanted Dead or Alive.” Feeling that the song didn’t fit the theme of the movie, Jon decided to write the new tune.
“Blaze of Glory” would go on to earn Jon Bon Jovi a best original song nomination at the Oscars, although he lost to the Dick Tracy song “Sooner or Later,” which was written by Stephen Sondheim.
The tune did win a Golden Globe award for best original song and an American Music Award for best pop song.
