Def Leppard is set to headline the inaugural Boardwalk Rock festival, taking place May 17-18 in Ocean City, Maryland.
Also headlining the fest are Mötley Crüe, Nickelback and Shinedown.
The festival will feature three stages on the shores of Ocean City’s Inlet Beach at the Ocean City Boardwalk. Other artists on the bill include Alice Cooper, Poison’s Bret Michaels, Night Ranger, Everclear, Three DaysGrace and 3 Doors Down.
Tickets for the festival go on sale Friday, with a presale beginning at 10 a.m., followed by a public sale at 11 a.m. Info on the complete lineup and tickets can be found at boardwalkockfest.com.
A New Jersey politician has been forced to admit that he fudged his Spotify Wrapped in order to make it appear that his most-played songs were all by New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen.
Democrat Josh Gottheimer, who is running for governor of New Jersey, posted his Spotify Wrapped on social platform X on Friday, with his top five songs being The Boss’ “Thunder Road,” “Because the Night,” “Glory Days,” “Badlands” and “The Rising.”
“No surprises here,” he captioned his post. “Fun fact: My first ever concert was at Meadowlands to see The Boss!”
But the politician was soon called out by NJ.com reporter Matt Arco, who noted how dissimilar Gottheimer’s post was to other Spotify Wrapped posts, particularly the fonts and spacing, suggesting the list was faked.
After being exposed, Gottheimer owned up to fudging his list, although he insists he’s a huge Springsteen fan.
“This would be my Spotify Wrapped if I didn’t share my account with my 12 and 15-year-old kids,” Gottheimer said in a statement to New Jersey Advanced Media. “While it’s Springsteen all day for me — don’t get me wrong, I still love listening to Taylor Swift!”
Looks like Paul Mescal is going from playing a gladiator to a Beatle.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, during a conversation between Mescal’s Gladiator II director Ridley Scott and director Christopher Nolan at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles Tuesday, Scottrevealed that Mescal has been cast in SamMendes’ upcoming films about The Beatles.
When talking about his next project, the movie The Dog Stars, Scott was asked if Mescal was going to be in the film. At first Scott said that he was, before suggesting Mescal’s schedule may be an issue.
“Paul is actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next,” he said. “So I may have to let him go.”
While Ridley didn’t say who Mescal would be playing, The Hollywood Reporter notes that rumors have suggested he was the frontrunner to play Paul McCartney.
Mendes’ Beatles project was announced back in February, with the director revealing he planned to make four separate films, one for each member of the group — McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison.
Sony Pictures is the studio behind the movies, and it marks 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.
No official casting has been announced for the films, although Ringo recently let it slip in an Entertainment Tonight interview that Barry Keoghan had been cast to play him.
The Rolling Stones began shooting the concert film Rock and Roll Circus.
The film was shot over two days and featured The Stones, as well as The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal and Marianne Faithfull, performing on a stage set that looked like a circus.
It also featured a one-time-only performance by The Dirty Mac, a group made up of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and more.
The film was originally supposed to air on the BBC, but, unhappy with their performance, The Stones opted to hold back the broadcast. It took 28 years for them to change their mind and release it. It premiered as part of the New York Film Festival in October 1996. A soundtrack followed two days after the premiere.
A remastered edition of the film in Dolby Atmos received a limited theatrical release in March 2019.
“TIME Icon of the Year – what an honour!” Elton writes on Instagram. “Reflecting on my journey – from the highs and lows of my early career to the peace and happiness of life now with my husband and two wonderful sons – I’m reminded of the incredible support and love that have shaped my path. This accolade is a personal milestone and a reminder to the world that being yourself is truly iconic.”
In the accompanying article, Elton’s writing partner, lyricist Bernie Taupin, talks about how in-demand their music still is today.
“Do you know how many requests I get a day for the use of our songs on things like America’s Got Talent, The Voice, or the silly show where they dress up as poodles?” Taupin shares. “I don’t think Bob Dylan gets a lot of requests for The Masked Singer.”
And Elton reflects on his legacy, saying it would be enough “if people remember that we tried to change the world a little bit, we were kind, we tried to help people. And then, apart from that, there was the music.”
On a totally different subject, in the interview, Elton, who’s battled drug addiction in the past, shares his thoughts on the legalization of marijuana — and he’s not for it.
“I maintain that it’s addictive. It leads to other drugs,” he says. “And when you’re stoned—and I’ve been stoned—you don’t think normally. Legalizing marijuana in America and Canada is one of the greatest mistakes of all time.”
Online ticket platform StubHub has come out with its look back at the year in live entertainment, with bands like The Rolling Stones, the Eagles and U2 among the most in-demand artists of the year.
While, unsurprisingly, Taylor Swift was the most in-demand global artist of 2024, the Eagles landed in the top 10 at #7, followed by The Stones at #8, Billy Joel at #9 and U2 at #10.
And looking ahead to next year, the Eagles, thanks to their Las Vegas Sphere residency, land at #3 on the in-demand global experiences list, with Metallica at #4 and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, who’ll tour Europe again next summer, at #10.
In other year-end news, the in-venue interactive music and entertainment platform TouchTunes has released its 2024 year-end charts, with AC/DC nabbing the honor of the most played band of the year.
Other bands making the list include Lynyrd Skynyrd at #2, The Stones at #3, Fleetwood Mac at #5, Queen at #6, Creedence Clearwater Revival at #7, Metallica at #8 and Led Zeppelin at #10.
The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood, KISS’ Gene Simmons and ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons are among the artists contributing to the upcoming new album by soul legends The Stylistics.
The album, Falling In Love With My Girl, will be released Feb. 21 and will mark the band’s first new album since 2008’s That Same Way. The new record has the group — original members Airrion Love and Herb Murrell, along with Jason Sharp,who joined the group in 2011 — collaborating with a whole host of artists.
Other guests on the record include Toto’s Steve Lukather, Ray Parker Jr., TheElton John Band, Chicago’s Bill Champlin and The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins.
The first single from the record, “Yes I Will” featuring Shania Twain, is set to drop on Feb. 14.
Never Too Late, the new documentary that captures Elton John‘s life and career, debuts on Disney+ on Dec. 13. If you want to prepare by taking a spin through his more than 30 albums, Rolling Stonehas thoughtfully narrowed down his discography to the “50 Best Elton John Songs.”
Coming in at #1 is the song that gave Elton one of his nicknames: “Rocket Man.” In his autobiography, Me, Elton recalls crafting that song, plus two others from the Honky Château album, one day over breakfast after Bernie Taupin left him the lyrics on the piano. Rolling Stone points out the song has been covered by everyone from Neil Diamond to Kate Bush to William Shatner. It was also one of the Elton songs interpolated in his Dua Lipa duet, “Cold Heart.”
Number 2 on the list is “Tiny Dancer” — Elton credits the film Almost Famous for making that song popular. He wrote in his book, “People forget that when it came out as a single in 1971, it flopped.”
“Levon” is #3, followed by “Daniel” at #4. The latter has been described by Taupin as “the most misinterpreted song that we’ve ever written.” It’s actually about a blind war veteran, written from the point of view of the veteran’s little brother, but Elton wrote that many people felt it was “a coded description of a gay relationship” — which it wasn’t.
#5 is the enduring “Your Song,” which Elton says Bernie “wrote over breakfast one morning,” and for which he wrote the music in “15 minutes flat.”
The rest of the top 10: 6. “Funeral for a Friend”/”Love Lies Bleeding” 7. “Candle in the Wind” [the original 1973 version] 8. “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” 9. “Madman Across the Water” 10. “The Bitch Is Back”
Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has been certified Diamond by the RIAA.
The generation-defining hit officially passed the milestone, which recognizes 10 million certified units, on Dec. 6.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the lead single off Nirvana’s breakout album, Nevermind, which was certified Diamond in 1999. Nevermind currently sits at 13-times Platinum.
A number of other Nirvana releases have also earned new RIAA certification, including “Something in the Way,” which is now officially Platinum following its 2022 resurgence driven by The Batman movie.
U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. has just released two new songs, both of which were written for the new documentary Left Behind, which is getting a theatrical release in January.
The songs, “Between The Lines” featuring GAYLE and “One of Us” featuring Welsh singer Donna Lewis, are now available via digital outlets.
Both tunes were co-written by Mullen, who is also a producer on Left Behind. The film tells the story of the New York City mothers who fought to open the city’s first public school for dyslexic children. The school, the South Bronx Literacy Academy, opened in September 2023.
Mullen and GAYLE, who teamed to co-write “Between The Lines,” both have a personal connection to the subject matter, as GAYLE and Mullen’s son both have dyslexia.
Left Behind is set to open Jan. 17 for a weeklong engagement at New York City’s QUAD Cinema. It will then expand to select theaters nationwide.
