Classic Rock 93.9

Ringo Starr recently revealed on Instagram that he’s working on a country album, and now, he’s sharing a little more information about the project.

“I’m working on it with someone very special – T. Bone Burnett,” he tells USA Today. “He’s doing stuff in Nashville and he comes to L.A. and it’s all working out. He came to me with nine songs. It won’t be out until October, at least.”

In the meantime, Ringo is getting ready to hit the road with his All Starr Band, something he’s been doing since 1989.

“When I first started this, I was invited to put a band together and go on tour, and I said yes, and then I said: What do you mean, yes? You‘re the drummer in other people’s bands!” he shares about how the tour got started. “But I opened my phone book and called everyone I knew and they all said yes. So I had to close my book.”

While the lineup for the band has changed over the years, one constant since 2012 has been Toto’s Steve Lukather, and Ringo plans to keep it that way. 

“I’ll never get rid of Luke. He has a lifelong ticket,” Starr says. “He’s my last best friend. You need time to make best friends. He’s an incredibly good musician and an incredible human being.” 

Speaking of friends, Ringo also opens up about his relationship with Paul McCartney, sharing they often have dinner together because “we’re buddies.” 

“If he comes to LA we certainly do something, and when I get to England we’ll do something there,” he says. “It’s just what we do.”

Ringo Starr & his All Star Band hit the road starting May 22 in Las Vegas. A complete list of dates can be found at ringostarr.com.

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The four members of Talking Heads — David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth — got together last year to help promote the 40th anniversary rerelease of their iconic concert film, Stop Making Sense, and it seems they were pretty surprised by the public’s reaction to their reunion. 

“I assumed — I guess wrongly — that memory fades away, and that at some point, you’re kind of a ‘Where are they now?’ like you see on one of those cheesy documentaries,” Byrne tells Rolling Stone. “But that didn’t happen. That’s really surprising and flattering.” 

Frantz adds that the audience reaction during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert “was an awesome feeling.”

As for whether their recent reunion may spark a musical one in the future, the band isn’t saying.

“I’ve learned not to expect [anything],” Harrison says, although he notes, “We have taken baby steps forward to repairing our relationship.”

Regarding performing again, Byrne calls reports of the band being offered millions of dollars to play summer festivals “completely made up,” while Harrison shows a reluctance to tour, sharing, “It’s a lot of work. I don’t know how the Rolling Stones and The Who and these guys do it anymore.” 

“The world would love it, and we’re not getting any younger,” Harrison continues, “but I’m not holding my breath in any way.”

In the meantime, the four members of Talking Heads are due to reunite for two more Stop Making Sense Q&A sessions: June 4 at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, where the original Stop Making Sense concerts took place, and June 13 at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre.

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In March, Metallica played the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song ceremony in Washington, D.C., in honor of Elton John and his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin. The concert aired in April on PBS, and now, Metallica has posted footage of their performance.

As previously reported, Metallica covered the epic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road opener, “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.” You can watch their eight-and-a-half-minute rendition, complete with cutaways to Elton and Taupin nodding and clapping along, streaming now on YouTube.

In covering Elton, Metallica returned the favor from when the “Rocket Man” icon contributed to a version of “Nothing Else Matters” for the 2021 Metallica Blacklist album. That recording also featured Miley Cyrus, famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

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Jon Bon Jovi is combining his Notre Dame fandom with his music. The rocker, whose son Jesse Bongiovi went to school at the prestigious university, just announced a special Notre Dame-themed vinyl of Bon Jovi’s upcoming album, Forever.

“I’ve been a longtime fan of Notre Dame and have many incredible memories on campus supporting the Fighting Irish with our family,” Jon shared on Instagram. “This was a great opportunity to create an exclusive limited-edition Notre Dame themed vinyl of our new album and I’m excited to share it with you.”

The limited edition Notre Dame release features the album in clear translucent vinyl with a Notre Dame Swirl. It is available for preorder now

Bon Jovi’s Forever, dropping June 7, is the band’s first album since 2020, which came out four years ago. 

“This record is a return to joy,” Jon has said of the album. “From the writing, through the recording process, this is turn up the volume, feel good Bon Jovi.”

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This June will mark the 40th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s multi-Platinum album Born in the U.S.A., and The Boss is marking the occasion with a special vinyl release.

The 40th anniversary edition of Born in the U.S.A. will be released on translucent red vinyl and will feature new liner notes written by Springsteen archivist Erik Flannigan along with a booklet filled with all sorts of goodies from the Born in the U.S.A era. It also comes with a four-color lithograph.

The set will be released June 17 and is available for preorder now.

Released June 4, 1984, Born in the U.S.A. spent seven weeks on top of the Billboard 200 Album chart and went to #1 in several other countries. It produced seven top 10 singles: the title track, “Dancing in the Dark,” “Cover Me,” “I’m On Fire,” “Glory Days,” “I’m Goin’ Down” and “My Hometown.” 

About 25 million copies of Born in the U.S.A. have been sold worldwide, and the album was certified 17-times Platinum by the RIAA.

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On This Day, May 10, 1960…

Paul David Hewson, better known as U2 frontman Bono, was born in Dublin, Ireland.

U2 was formed in 1976 after Bono and friend David Evans, aka the Edge, responded to an advertisement posted on a bulletin board by Larry Mullen Jr., who was seeking musicians interested in forming a rock band.

U2 released their first album, Boy, in 1980. The follow-up, 1983’s War, propelled them to stardom thanks to hit singles “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Pride (In The Name of Love).”

The band has gone on to release 15 studio albums and win 22 Grammys, including Album of the Year for 1987’s The Joshua Tree. They’ve sold between 150 million and 170 million records and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 in their first year of eligibility.

In addition to U2, Bono is known for his activism and philanthropy, and has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the plight of the people of Africa. In 2004, he launched the One Campaign with a goal of eliminating extreme poverty and disease in Africa.

In November 2022, Bono released his memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. 

And in September 2023, U2 became the first band to headline the state-of-the-art Sphere in Las Vegas, playing 40 shows of their residency, U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere.

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Dave Grohl dedicated a performance of “My Hero” to late engineer and punk rocker Steve Albini during a Foo Fighters concert in Charlotte on Thursday, May 9.

Albini worked with Grohl when he engineered — a term he preferred to “produced” — Nirvana‘s final album, 1993’s In Utero.

“Tonight I’d like to dedicate this song to a friend that we lost the other day, who I’ve known a long, long time,” Grohl told the crowd in fan-shot footage posted to YouTube. “He left us much too soon, and he’s touched all of your lives, I’m sure. I’m talking about Steve Albini.”

“Those of you who know, you know,” Grohl continued. “Those of you who don’t know, just remember that name, Steve Albini. So let’s sing this one for him.”

Albini, who also engineered albums for artists including Pixies, The Breeders, PJ Harvey and Bush, died the night of May 7 at age 61. Following news of his passing, the Nirvana Facebook page posted the letter Albini sent the band ahead of recording In Utero, in which he explained his famed opposition to taking royalties.

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To coincide with The Beatles documentary Let It Be streaming on Disney+, a new music video for the title track has just been released.

The video features the recording of the song from camera angles not shown in the documentary, which, according to the clip, “have rarely been seen before.”

Footage shows Paul McCartney at the piano singing right to the camera, with George Harrison joining him on backing vocals, before Ringo Starr and John Lennon join in. Billy Preston is also in the clip, playing the organ.

Let It Be recently premiered on Disney+, marking the first time the documentary has been seen publicly in more than 50 years. The original film was released in April 1970, one month after the band officially broke up.

Footage from the film was used in Peter Jackson‘s 2021 Emmy-winning docuseries, The Beatles: Get Back, which also aired on Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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The Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson was placed in a court ordered conservatorship on Thursday, May 9, the Associated Press reports. His publicist Jean Sievers and manager LeeAnn Hard, were named his conservators.

The request for the conservatorship was made back in February by Wilson’s family after the January death of his wife Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, who up until then had been dealing with his affairs.

The court documents revealed that a doctor had diagnosed the 81-year-old Wilson with a “major neurocognitive disorder,” noting he was “unable to properly provide for his own personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.” The doctor also reported that Wilson was taking meds to treat dementia.

“I find from clear and convincing evidence that a conservatorship of the person is necessary,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gus T. May, who approved the request, said during a hearing, noting that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer appeared to have consented to the arrangement. 

The judge also agreed to a request by two of Wilson’s children, Wilson Phillips singers Carnie and Wendy Wilson, to be added to a group text chain related to their dad. The judge also ruled they be consulted on any medical decisions being made about him.

Wilson, along with his two brothers Dennis and Carl, Mike Love and Al Jardine, founded the band that would become The Beach Boys in 1961. They went on to sell over 100 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

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Billy Joel turned 75 on May 9, and he celebrated in one of his favorite places: onstage at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Unlike his 65th birthday show at the Garden, and the recent 100th show of his residency at the storied venue, there weren’t any special guests, Newsday reports. The publication, the Piano Man’s hometown paper, speculated that he’s saving the star power for his final residency show on July 25.

The audience booed when Billy mentioned that final show; however, they cheered when he added, “But there’s no reason we couldn’t come back here.”

“I just want to say how grateful I am for all you guys coming out to hear us,” he told the crowd, after the audience serenaded him with “Happy Birthday” and his band members gave him a cake. “I didn’t think I’d be doing this at 75.”

Newsday reports that Billy could be seen wiping one of his eyes throughout the show, but insisted that he wasn’t becoming emotional. “I’m not crying,” he declared. “A lot of weird s*** happens when you’re 75.”

As for the set list, it was full of hits — from “Only the Good Die Young” and “The River of Dreams” to “Piano Man,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “You May Be Right” — as well as his current single, “Turn the Lights Back On.” 

There were also a few deep cuts, such as Glass Houses’ “Sometimes a Fantasy” and “All for Leyna,” An Innocent Man’s “Keeping the Faith” and The Nylon Curtain’s “A Room of Our Own.”

Billy’s next Garden show is June 8. Before that, he’ll play T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington on May 24.

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