Future Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Peter Frampton has paid tribute to comedy and TV legend Bob Newhart, who passed away at the age of 94.
Frampton shared a photo of him, Newhart and Bill Murrayon Instagram, writing, “Heart broken to hear. I’ve known Bob since the 70s and he was a charmer. Yes, he made us all belly laugh with his many years of incredibly bright and unique sense of humour.”
Frampton continued, “I will miss our lunches. If I was paying it was The Four Seasons. If he was it wasn’t the Four Seasons! Forever the accountant but one of the most modest down to earth people I have known and called a friend. I will miss you Bob (heart emoji) rip.”
According to Newhart’s publicist, he died at his home in Los Angeles “after a series of short illnesses.”
The Smashing Pumpkins have announced a new album, Aghori Mhori Mei.
The 13th studio effort from the “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” rockers arrives Aug. 2. It’s the follow-up to the Pumpkins’ 33-track, three-part rock opera, ATUM, which was released over 2022 and 2023.
“In the writing of this new album I became intrigued with the well-worn axiom, ‘you can’t go home again,'” says frontman Billy Corgan. “Which I have found personally to be true in form but thought well, what if we tried anyway? Not so much in looking backwards with sentimentality but rather as a means to move forward; to see if in the balance of success and failure that our ways of making music circa 1990-1996 would still inspire something revelatory.”
Aghori Mhori Mei will arrive amid the Pumpkins’ summer tour, kicking off July 29 in Washington, D.C., which includes headlining dates and shows with Green Day.
Here’s the Aghori Mhori Mei track list:
“Edin” “Pentagrams” “Sighommi” “Pentecost” “War Dreams of Itself” “Who Goes There” “999” “Goeth the Fall” “Sicarus” “Murnau”
Steely Dan appears to be to calling out Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention for using their music.
The Donald Fagen led band posted a message on their website to Sixwire, the house band at this weeks’ convention in Milwaukee, who played a series of classic rock covers, including Steely Dan’s “Reelin’ in the Years.”
In the post they noted, “If you want to play our music how about playing The Man in the TIN FOIL HAT?”
“Tin Foil Hat” is an anti-Trump song released by Todd Rundgren in 2017 that features Fagen singing. He also co-wrote the tune. The accompanying video for the track appears to mock Trump, Fox News and Trump’s associates.
This isn’t the first time a band has been upset that one of their songs has been associated with the Trump campaign. Neil Young sued Trump’s campaign for using his songs at rallies. Plus, the estates of Isaac Hayes and Tom Petty‘s have called out Trump for using the artists’ music without permission.
Deep Purple‘s new studio album, =1 (equals one), is out now and longtime bassist Roger Glover tells ABC Audio the inspiration for the album’s title came from the “strange mind” of lead singer Ian Gillan.
Glover said Gillan once questioned how big of an equation someone could come up with where the answer would equal one, then had a mathematician friend come up with an example.
“And he showed it to me and I said, ‘You know, that could be a title,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I think so, too,’” Glover shares. Gillan then wondered if the equation itself should be the title, but Glover notes, “I said no, just ‘equals one.’”
Deep Purple is now made up of Glover, Gillan, drummer Ian Paice, keyboardist Don Airey and guitarist Simon McBride. Glover says the title’s perfect for a band that he describes as having “a long soap opera history” with so many lineup changes, because despite it all, “we’re still one band.”
The album features singles like “Portable Door,” “Pictures of You” and “Lazy Sod,” which Glover says they didn’t actually write in the traditional sense.
“Songs evolve rather than are written,” he says of the band’s process. “And it starts with a sort of jam session for a week or so. We just have fun, play this and play that, and then pick out the ones that are most promising.”
Glover has been with Deep Purple on and off since 1969, and more than 50 years later he can’t believe he and his bandmates are still making music together.
“I’m totally amazed. Every day,” he says. “I can’t believe that I’ve had a history that I’ve had with this band,” adding, “There’s a destiny that we will survive … well, at least for a bit more.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers have announced a collaboration with the lifestyle brand Parks Project.
The collection includes a T-shirt, sweatshirt and blanket with designs inspired by Yosemite National Park and RHCP’s 1999 album, Californication, which turned 25 in June. It will support the organization NatureBridge, which aims to “connect young people to the wonder and science of the natural world.”
“We are incredibly excited to partner with the Red Hot Chili Peppers on this special collection,” says Parks Project President Jack Gray. “The designs, inspired by the stunning landscapes of Yosemite and the band’s boundary-pushing artistic style, perfectly align with our mission to promote conservation and inspire a love for the outdoors.”
Gray adds, “Together, we hope to make a significant impact by supporting NatureBridge and providing opportunities for kids to connect with nature and learn about the importance of preserving our national parks.”
Music fans are getting their first look at an upcoming documentary about Jimi Hendrix’s famed music studio, Electric Lady Studios.
A trailer for the film, Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, directed by John McDermott, has just been released, featuring archival footage and photos showing the building of the studio, Hendrix performing and more.
The film is filled with previously unseen footage and photos, and includes interviews from recording engineer Eddie Kramer, Experience bassist Billy Cox, original Electric Lady staff members and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Steve Winwood, who took part in Hendrix’s first session at the studio.
Opened in 1970, Electric Lady Studios was the first commercial studio owned by an artist. It was constructed specifically for Hendrix, who died just weeks after its opening. The studio went on to be a go-to spot for musicians, with artists such as John Lennon, David Bowie, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and more recording there.
Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision will open in New York City on Aug. 9, with a wider release to follow.
Genesis fans will soon be able to stock their vinyl collection.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band will be reissuing 13 of their albums on 180g vinyl, all mixed and remastered by producer Nick Davis.
The reissue campaign begins Aug. 23 with 1972’s Foxtrot, 1974’s The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, which was Peter Gabriel’s last album with the band, 1980’s Duke, 1981’s Abacab and 1983’s Genesis. The second set, dropping on Sept. 6, will include 1971’s Nursery Cryme, 1973’s Selling England By The Pound, 1976’s Wind & Wuthering and 1991’s We Can’t Dance.
The final three reissues will drop on Sept. 27, made up of 1976’s A Trick Of The Tail, their first album with Phil Collins as vocalist, 1978’s …And Then There Were Three…, their first as a trio following Steve Hackett‘s departure, and 1986’s multi-Platinum hit Invisible Touch, which includes their first and only #1, the album’s title track.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, a Program of Pride Live
Five-time Emmy winner Jean Smart has just been nominated yet again for her role as comedy legend Deborah Vance on Max’s hit show Hacks. And while the show has lined up some big-name guest stars in the past, Smart tells Deadline that her dream guest for season 4 would be Elton John.
“I would think I’d died and gone to heaven if he came on the show,” Smart told Deadline, noting the show has already used two of his songs: “The Bitch Is Back” and “I’m Still Standing.”
“So I think that he likes the show, so maybe we could write an incredible part for him that would be awesome,” she continued. “I have this funny feeling about him, I don’t know why. Every once in a while I’ll see somebody, or I’ll be a fan of someone, and I just think that if I met that person, we’d be friends. And that’s how I’ve always felt about him. Always. I don’t know why. I have nothing to base that on.”
Smart’s co-star Hannah Einbinder, who was also nominated for an Emmy, added that having Elton on the show “would be sick.” Production for season 4 of Hacks starts in September.
If Elton did appear on Hacks, it’d be the latest in a long series of cameo appearances the Rocket Man has made over the years. He’s guest-starred as himself in TV shows like The Simpsons, Ally McBeal, South Park, Absolutely Fabulous,The Nanny and Nashville.
In May, Dave Navarro rejoined Jane’s Addiction live after being sidelined from the road for over two years due to the effects of long COVID. Not only was his long journey back to the stage hampered by his health, but Navarro was also dealing with the emotional impact of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins‘ death.
Navarro played with Hawkins and former Jane’s bassist Chris Chaney in the band NHC. The trio launched in September 2021 and put out an EP in February 2022. Speaking with Guitar World, Navarro shares that NHC had more music in the works when Hawkins passed in March 2022.
“I just completed making a record with Taylor Hawkins and Chris Chaney,” Navarro recalls. “We mixed and mastered it, and then, we lost Taylor. That was in the middle of COVID, and it was actually very painful for me to pick up the guitar after that.”
Navarro estimates that he “didn’t pick up the guitar for about a year” after Hawkins’ death.
“[Hawkins] was such an inspiring artist,” Navarro says. “Not only was he a phenomenal drummer, but he was also an amazing songwriter and lyricist, and he was just one of those humans that everybody loved. Everybody loved him.”
Eventually, Navarro did get back into the guitar, sharing that he “started playing some cover songs, and just kind of got used to the instrument in my hand again.”
With Navarro returning to Jane’s, the band’s classic lineup of him, frontman Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins are playing live together for the first time in 14 years. They’re launching a U.S. tour in August and are dropping a new song, “Imminent Redemption,” on July 24.
New music from Rush doesn’t seem likely to happen, but the band’s fans will soon get another chance to enjoy the first-ever solo albums from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group’s surviving members, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. The solo albums, Lifeson’s Victor and Lee’s My Favourite Headache, are set to be re-released on Aug 9.
Lifeson’s Victor, which came out in January 1996, features guest appearances by Primus‘ Les Claypool, Edwin from I Mother Earth and more. It will be released digitally and on CD, and will also be getting its first-ever vinyl release, completely remixed by Lifeson. The vinyl edition includes four instrumental tracks that fans could previously only get on the rocker’s website.
There will even be a special limited-edition two-LP ruby translucent vinyl, limited to 1,000 copies, featuring an autographed lithograph by Lifeson. It is available only as a Rush Backstage exclusive.
Lee’s My Favourite Headache, originally released in November 2000, features guest appearances by Soundgarden/Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron and Our Lady Peace‘s Jeremy Taggart. It will also be released on CD, as well as on two-LP blue/green vinyl, marking the first time it’s been available on vinyl since a 2019 limited-edition Record Store Day release. The vinyl edition also includes two instrumental tracks.
