Classic Rock 93.9

KISS is the latest group to sell their catalog.

The rockers, who wrapped their final tour in New York in December, have made a deal with Pophouse, the Swedish company behind ABBA’s London hologram show, Voyage. Pophouse will acquire their music catalog, including master recordings and publishing rights, as well as their brand name and likeness. 

Johan Lagerlöf, head of investment at Pophouse, said in a statement that the company’s aim is “to fulfill the band’s vision to become immortal, and to let new generations discover and be part of the KISS journey and carry it forward.”

“We will safeguard and enrich this legacy through future global endeavors, by breathing new life into their characters and personas while also leveraging and elevating the visual world of KISS,” Per Sundin, CEO at Pophouse, adds.

The deal will include the development of the already announced KISS avatar show, which is set to debut in 2027. 

“We have always been breaking new ground in popular culture, and this partnership will ensure that we continue to do so for years to come,” KISS’ Gene Simmons shares. “The future could not be more exciting!”

Paul Stanley adds, “As we embark on this venture, we aim to weave our legacy into the tapestry of different worlds, ensuring that the KISS experience continues to captivate both our devoted fans and those yet to discover the thrill. This partnership is not just a chapter; it’s an eternal symphony of rock ‘n’ roll immortality.”

While Pophouse and KISS did not disclose the terms of the deal, The Associated Press reports that Pophouse paid more than $300 million for the catalog.

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The Rolling Stones are giving music fans a chance to own an autographed guitar that’s actually been played by Ronnie Wood, and it’s all for a good cause. 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have teamed up with REK Trust for a new sweepstakes in which a lucky winner will get to take home a Duesenberg Starplayer TV Phonic electric guitar in Venetian White that has been played by Wood and signed by all the members of the band. 

Entries start at about $6, but the more you enter the more chances you have to win. Proceeds from the sweepstakes benefit REK Trust, a charitable organization dedicated to mentoring and educating emerging artists.

The sweepstakes is open now and will close April 16 at 7 a.m. ET to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the U.K. release of The Stones’ self-titled debut album.

More info can be found at rekognitionsound.com.

Fans of The Rolling Stones have a lot more to look forward to in April. The band is set to launch their Hackney Diamonds tour on April 28 in Houston, Texas. A complete list of dates can be found at rollingstones.com.

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Beyoncé’s latest release, Cowboy Carter, is a hit for more than just Beyoncé.

According to Billboard, several tracks Bey has either covered, sampled or interpolated on the record have seen a streaming bump since the album’s release, including songs by The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

Thanks to Bey’s “Blackbiird” cover, streams of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” saw a 13% increase the weekend after the release compared to the one previous, bringing it up to 71,000 streams. Plus, The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” which is part of the tune “Ya Ya,” saw a 13% increase, with Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” which is interpolated in the same song, seeing a 14% increase. 

And Dolly Parton’s classic “Jolene” has seen a huge bump thanks to Bey’s cover, up 43% to 1.24 million streams.

Meanwhile, two Chuck Berry tunes benefited from the Bey album. His song “Oh Louisiana,” which is sampled in Bey’s song of the same name, was up 138% to 12,000 streams, while “Maybelline,” featured in “Smoke Hour/Willie Nelson,” saw an 11% increase to 38,000 streams.

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oey Ramone’s brother Mitchel Hyman, better known by his stage name, Mickey Leigh, has responded to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by Linda Ramone, widow of guitarist Johnny Ramone.

The suit was over a variety of issues, including a planned Ramones movie based on Mickey’s memoir, I Slept With Joey Ramone. Although Linda’s suit didn’t mention Netflix, the streaming service has been developing a film based on the book, starring Pete Davidson as Joey.

In her suit, Linda accused Mickey of “unilaterally and covertly” developing the film without her sign-off. But in his response Mickey says that’s not the case. Lawyers for Mickey say Linda’s claims are “baseless,” since she agreed to the movie as far back as March 2006.

The docs also argue the film “is not a ‘Ramones biopic’ but rather one based on a family memoir” and that Mickey never intended for his film to stop the making of any future Ramones biopic.

Finally, Mickey’s lawyers argue that Linda’s suit is part of plan to “install herself as the Queen of the Ramones,” adding her “main purpose is to embarrass, harass, and destroy the integrity of Mr. Hyman, create an utterly false narrative about him, rewrite her role in the history of the Ramones, and win a popularity contest in which, in her mind, she takes over … the legacy of a band of which she never was a member and had nothing to do with creatively.”

ABC Audio has reached out to Linda Ramone’s attorney for comment.

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A new film about Buddy Holly is in the works, and it’s now snagged a director.

Variety reports that Mario Van Peebles is set to direct That’ll Be the Day, which will focus on Holly and his fellow musicians of the 1950s, detailing how their music influenced society and culture.

“America’s tumultuous cultural melting pot has produced transcendent musical talent, including Buddy Holly, who was our first bad a** rock ’n’ roll nerd,” Van Peebles, who previously directed New Jack City and the recently released Outlaw Posse, shares about the project. 

The film’s screenplay was written by Patrick Shanahan and Matthew Benjamin. Benjamin produced the 1987 biopic La Bamba, about singer Richie Valens, who died alongside Holly and J.P. Richardson, aka The Big Bopper, in the 1959 plane crash.

That’ll Be the Day appears to have backing by the Buddy Holly estate. BMG, the company that manages the estate and controls the rights to the singer’s music catalog, is providing early funding for the film.

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KISS rocker Gene Simmons is defending JoJo Siwa after folks on social media criticized her recent look, which was vastly different from her usual bright colors, sparkles and bows.

The former Nickelodeon star recently walked the red carpet at an event in Los Angeles in what many considered a KISS-inspired look, complete with face paint, a sheer catsuit with glitter patches and big black boots. At one point, she even posed with her tongue out just like Simmons, who appears to be all for it. 

In a comment to TMZ, Simmons praised Siwa for her outfit. “JoJo is cool. Anybody who doesn’t get it is just jealous, period,” he shared, adding, “Never be ordinary. Always be extraordinary. JoJo is extraordinary and she looks cool.”

He then noted, “Of course she looks like me, but that’s another story.”

Simmons said goodbye to all that KISS makeup back in December when the band played their final two shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden. He’ll take the stage again with the Gene Simmons Band at the Summer Breeze Open Air festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 26. A complete list of dates can be found at genesimmons.com.

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Back in 2022, Sheryl Crow, Lionel Richie and Billy Joel teamed up for a one-off show in Atlanta. But Sheryl says when she broached the subject of the three of them doing an entire tour together, Billy wasn’t interested.

While performing at a benefit show in Nashville on April 2, People reports that Sheryl told the crowd she suggested to Billy and Lionel that they do a world tour as a triple bill last year. While it’s not clear what Lionel’s response was, Sheryl says Billy wasn’t interested — because, as he told her, “I only do two shows a month.”

Sheryl and Lionel performed together in late 2023 at Lionel’s vacation destination event, Dancing in the Sand, in the Bahamas.

Billy, meanwhile, will wrap up his long-running Madison Square Garden residency this July. But while he’ll also be performing a series of stadium shows with artists like Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks and Sting this year, his tour schedule reveals that he is, indeed, limiting his activity to two shows a month.

Meanwhile, Sheryl is limiting her touring this summer because she wants to spend time with her kids before the oldest one goes off to college. She’ll be in Europe starting in June, do one date in July with Chris Stapleton‘s All American Road Show tour and then open for Pink from August to November.

Sheryl’s next gig, though, is performing at the upcoming Jimmy Buffet Tribute Concert April 11 at the Hollywood Bowl with Paul McCartney, The Eagles, Jon Bon Jovi and more.

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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are about to bring their tour to Los Angeles’ Kia Forum for a two-night stand on April 4 and 7, and the rocker had a fun way to get fans excited for the shows. 

Springsteen shared a video on Instagram to promote the concerts in which he and the band share their take on the classic theme song to the 1960s TV show The Beverly Hillbillies.

He ended the clip by telling fans, “LA, we’re coming to get you. You’ve been warned.”

Following the two-night stand in Los Angeles, Bruce and the band will return to the East Coast, starting with a show in Uncasville, Connecticut, on April 12. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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The Black Crowes launched their Happiness Bastards tour at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House on Tuesday, April 2, treating fans to a mix of new songs, hits and deep tracks. 

According to setlist.fm, the band kicked things off with the track “Bedside Manners” from Happiness Bastards, their first album in 15 years. In fact, the set featured several songs from the record, including their latest single, “Wanting and Waiting,” as well as “Cross Your Fingers,” “Flesh Wound” and “Rats and Clowns.”

Country star Lainey Wilson was a surprise guest at the show; she was introduced by Chris Robinson, who said, “I guess if you’re gonna play the Grand Ole Opry you have to have a bonafide country superstar.” She then joined the band for their Happiness Bastards collaboration, “Wilted Rose,” as well as the classic Shake Your Money Maker tune “She Talks to Angels.” 

The Crowes treated fans to a 17-song set list that also featured plenty of hits, including “Hard to Handle,” “Remedy,” “Sting Me” and “Jealous Again,” as well as “Twice as Hard” and the Southern Harmony and Musical Companion favorites “Thorn in My Pride” and “My Morning Song.” 

The band then wrapped the show with a cover of The Velvet Underground track “White Light/White Heat.”

The Black Crowes bring their Happiness Bastards tour to Atlanta’s Fox Theatre on Wednesday, April 3. A complete list of dates can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

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Bob Burns, the original drummer for Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died in a car crash near his home in Cartersville, Georgia.

Burns helped to form Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964 with Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Larry Junstrom, but left the group in 1974.

He is credited on recordings from the group’s first two albums: 1973’s (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) and 1974’s Second Helping. Those include such Lynyrd Skynyrd classics as “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Simple Man.”

In 1996, after years out of the public eye, Burns joined the band for a performance in conjunction with the film Freebird: The Movie. Then, in March of 2006, he returned to perform alongside the band at their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.

Lynyrd Skynyrd continues to tour to this day, although no members of the original band remain. The last original member, Gary Rossington, died in March of 2023. Skynyrd is currently on their Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top, which hits Biloxi, Mississippi, on April 4. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com. 

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