Billy Idol’s latest album has landed on the Billboardcharts.
The rocker’s Dream Into It, his first full-length album since 2014’s Kings & Queens of the Underground, debuted at #7 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart. That marks his first album to ever land in the top 10 on that chart.
According to the mag, 6,500 copies of Dream Into It were sold in the week ending May 1, consisting of about 2,500 vinyl records, 3,500 CDs and 500 digital downloads. All those vinyl copies were enough to land the album at #19 on the Billboard Vinyl Sales chart.
Prior to Dream Into It, Idol’s highest-ranking album on the Top Sales Chart was the 2021 EP The Roadside, which peaked at #12.
Sammy Hagar was joined by a special guest for the latest show of his The Best of All Worlds residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas.
Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, who is headlining his own Vegas residency at the Sphere with Dead & Company, joined Hagar Wednesday night for a performance of the Montrose track “Bad Motor Scooter.” According to setlist.fm, it was the first time Hagar’s played the song during his Best of All World shows.
Hagar posted photos with Weir on Instagram, calling Wednesday’s concert “my favorite show so far.”
“@bobweir joined us for the #1973 first song I ever wrote in my life #badmotorscooter from #montrose,” he added. “we took a long walk in the woods to say the least and found our way. #backhome.”
Hagar returns to Dolby Live for another show on Friday, with the residency wrapping May 17. A complete list of dates can be found at RedRocker.com.
Dead & Company’s Dead Forever residency returns to the Sphere on Friday, with the residency also wrapping on May 17. The full schedule can be found at DeadandCompany.com.
A new musical featuring the music of Foreigner is set to open next year in Long Island, New York.
Feels Like The First Time – The Foreigner Musical is a collaboration between the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts and Long Island University’s Post Theatre Company, featuring 14 of the band’s iconic hits.
Rent star Adam Pascal, who is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at Long Island University, is on board to direct the musical, which will have workshops and staged readings this fall, before having its world premiere at LIU’s Little Theatre in April 2026.
“When I wrote ‘Feels Like The First Time,’ I had no idea how far that song would take Foreigner,” founder Mick Jones shares. “It is a personal thrill for me to know that the amazing Adam Pascal has elected to use it as the title of our new musical.”
He adds, “I am very confident that he and the whole team will create something very special, and I look forward to seeing the completed work in 2026, the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Foreigner.”
“As a Long Island native, it’s an honor to direct this new Foreigner musical and to serve as LIU’s first Artist-in-Residence,” Pascal adds. “I grew up on these hits and am excited to collaborate on bringing this production to life.”
Foreigner is confirmed to appear at an exclusive benefit concert, Foreigner: The Hits Unplugged, which will raise money for the production. Original lead singer Lou Gramm will host the concert, taking place Sept. 5 at Tilles Center. More info can be found at tillescenter.org/ForeignerBenefit.
Eddie Vedder gave Jack White a nice shoutout during Pearl Jam‘s show in Nashville on Tuesday.
In footage from the concert, Vedder tells the crowd that he’s playing the “Seven Nation Army” rocker’s signature Fender TripleSonic guitar, which White had personally given to him.
“He’s just a great human,” Vedder said of White.
Speaking on White’s Third Man Records label, Vedder continued, “You wanna know the secret between having a quality product and making money? The secret is you won’t make money, but you’ll make people happy.”
“That’s what we’ve seen Jack do,” Vedder concluded. “I’m very proud to be his friend, and thank you Jack for my nice new guitar.”
Pearl Jam then launched into a rendition of their song “Green Disease.” White reposted fan-shot footage of Vedder’s speech and the performance on his Instagram.
There’s been a lot of mutual love between White and Vedder lately. In March, they performed a cover of Neil Young‘s “Rockin’ in the Free World” together during a show in Tokyo, and a few days later, White shared that Vedder had gifted him a Chicago Cubs jersey.
Barry Keoghan is set to play Ringo Starr in Sam Mendes’ four films about The Beatles and the actor revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he’s met the legendary rock drummer, sharing that he was “absolutely lovely.”
“I met Ringo the other day. I met him at his house, and he played the drums for me,” the Saltburn star said. “He asked me to play, but I wasn’t playing the drums for Ringo.”
Keoghan, who said he’s been learning the drums for the role, opened up about the nerves he experienced during the visit.
“You know just one of those moments where you’re just in awe and you just froze,” he said. “And when I was talking to him, I couldn’t look at him. I was nervous, like right now. But he’s like, ‘You can look at me.'”
As for how he’s approaching the role, Keoghan shared, “My job is to observe and take in kinda mannerisms and study him,” noting, “I want to humanize him and bring feelings to it and not just sort of imitate.”
Mendes’ Beatles films, titled The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, will be released in April 2028. In addition to Keoghan they’ll star Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
As speculated, The Who has announced dates for a new 2025 tour, which will be their final North American trek.
The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour, named after a song on their 1971 album Who’s Next, will kick off Aug. 16 in Sunrise, Florida, and hit such big cities as Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle and New York, before wrapping Sept. 28 in Las Vegas.
The Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey announced the news at a press conference Thursday in London.
“The warmth of the American audiences over the years have been inspirational to me, and reflect the feeling I remember getting after hearing the first rock records coming across the radio. Musical freedom!” Daltrey shared. “To me, America has always been great. … It’s not easy to end the big part of my life that touring with The Who has been. Thanks for being there for us and look forward to seeing you one last time.”
“Well, all good things must come to an end,” Townshend added. “Roger and I are in a good place, despite our age, eager to throw our weight behind this fond farewell to all our faithful fans, and hopefully to new ones who might jump in to see what they have been missing for the last 57 years.” He notes, “This tour will be about fond memories, love and laughter. Make sure you join in.”
A Citi presale for tickets will go on sale May 13 through the band’s Wholigans fan club, with additional presales happening throughout the week. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting May 16 at 10 a.m. local time.
In addition to the tour, The Who announced a new live album, Live at the Oval 1971, recorded Sept. 18, 1971, in Kennington, South London. It will first be part of a Wholigan fan club bundle, that comes with presale access to tickets for the tour.
Live at The Oval will also be released Aug. 22 to digital services, as well as on CD, 2-LP vinyl and other various formats. It is available for preorder now.
An exhibit of Bob Dylan’s artwork is set to open at London’s Halcyon Gallery on Friday.
The exhibit, Point Blank, will feature 97 paintings by the “Like A Rolling Stone” singer. The description notes that they “read like a glimpse into his visual journey,” adding, “[T]hey are a masterful expression of a dynamic imagination, emphasized via the eclectic swathe of subjects depicted.”
The exhibit will feature works that started out as Dylan sketches, created between 2021 and 2022, and were then painted over.
This isn’t the first time Dylan’s works have been displayed by the gallery. According to Time Out London, he has actually been working with it for close to 20 years.
“It is nearly 18 years since Halcyon first started working with Bob Dylan and it has been an extraordinary experience to watch this cultural icon develop into such a critically revered and important visual artist so closely,”, Halycon Gallery founder Paul Green shares. “This latest body of paintings feels like a more intimate connection to the artist than in any of his previous work and it is a great privilege to share them with the public for the first time.”
Point Blank is free and open to the public and runs through July 16.
Lynyrd Skynyrd has shared a live recording of their classic tune “Sweet Home Alabama.”
The performance is taken from Celebrating 50 Years – Live At The Ryman, a special live album and DVD of the band’s historic 50th anniversary concert, which took place in November 2022.
The Ryman concert was filmed before the 2023 loss of Gary Rossington, the last founding member of Skynyrd. It features guest appearances by 38 Special’s Donnie Van Zant, Jelly Roll, Brent Smith of the rock band Shinedown, country star John Osborne of Brothers Osborne and Marcus King.
“It was a very special night with incredibly talented guests as we honored the iconic musicality of Skynyrd,” frontman Johnny Van Zant previously shared. “We are so grateful to the Ryman and to all of those who have worked so hard to make this project become a reality! This will forever be a keepsake in our hearts, and we are so happy to be able to share it with our Skynyrd Nation.”
Celebrating 50 Years – Live At The Ryman is due out June 27 and is available for preorder now.
The writers of Sam Mendes’ upcoming films about The Beatles have just been revealed.
Variety reports that three writers have been hired for the four films: Jez Butterworth, whose resume includes Ford v Ferrari, Edge of Tomorrow and Spectre; Peter Straughan, who won the Oscar this year for writing Conclave; and Jack Thorne, a BAFTA and Tony Award winner who wrote the 2020 film Enola Holmes and the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Mendes’ Beatles films, titled The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, will be released in April 2028, with each film being told from a different band member’s point of view. They will star Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
The Sony films will mark the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles have granted a studio the rights to the life stories of band members and their legendary catalog of music.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers shared a cryptic post on Instagram Wednesday, writing, “Stay tuned… in 24-hrs we’ll be answering your questions!” They then asked fans to drop questions in the comments.
While the post doesn’t offer any more details, The Who is set to hold a press event in London on Thursday, which will include a “special announcement followed by an exclusive Q&A session.”
According to Rolling Stone, the event is for a project called “The Song is Over,” which seems to be named after a track from The Who’s 1971 album, Who’s Next. Considering the finality of the title, there is some speculation the band may be making a farewell tour announcement.
The speculation comes on the heals of the band relaunching their Wholigan fan club, which promises members presale tour codes “for any future tour announcements.”
Last year, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey shared differing opinions in interviews as to whether the band would tour again, but in December Townshend told Variety, “I know that if Roger and I do tour again, as I’m sure we will, it will probably be one of the last periods that we tour.”
Since then they’ve played two Teenage Cancer Trust shows in London and have two shows in Italy scheduled in July.
