Queen released their 11th studio album The Works, which featured such tracks as “Radio Ga Ga,” “Hammer to Fall” and “I Want to Break Free.”
“Radio Ga Ga,” written by drummer Roger Taylor, was the first single released from the album. It went on to hit #1 in 19 countries but only went to #2 in the U.K. and #16 in the U.S.
The video for the track “I Want to Break Free” caused some controversy because the band dressed in drag. Backlash in the U.S. led to the band’s decision to not tour the album in North America.
The Works, which peaked at #23 in the U.S., went on to sell over 6 million copies worldwide.
Spotify users have officially listened to Billie Joe Armstrong whine 1 billion times.
Green Day‘s hit “Basket Case” has joined Spotify’s Billions Club, a playlist of all the songs with at least 1 billion streams on the platform. It’s the first Green Day song to hit the milestone.
In a Facebook post responding to the news, Green Day writes, “What’s that, you say!? Basket Case is in Spotify’s BILLIONS CLUB?!” alongside a trio of exploding head emojis.
“Basket Case” originally appeared on Green Day’s breakout 1994 album, Dookie, which just celebrated its 30th anniversary earlier in February.
Green Day put out a new album, Saviors, in January. They’ll launch a U.S. tour in support of the record in July, during which they’ll also be playing Dookie and 2004’s American Idiot in honor of their respective 30th and 20th anniversaries.
Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil reflects on the band’s hit 1994 album, Superunknown, in an interview with Guitar Player.
Superunknown was Soundgarden’s fourth album and spawned the singles “Black Hole Sun,” “Spoonman,” “The Day I Tried to Live,” “My Wave” and “Fell on Black Days.” It became the band’s first and only #1 album on the Billboard 200, and has been certified six-times Platinum by the RIAA.
“I also have no problem with people who say it’s our best album,” Thayil says. “I particularly like Superunknown, not because of its success and songs like ‘Black Hole Sun’ or ‘Spoonman,’ but because of its ambience and feel. It’s got everything a rock band should bring to an album, namely songwriting and performances.”
“It’s not a dance record on which the producer means something,” he continues. “It’s not a record from the ’60s where you find some singer to actualize the songs you’ve written on piano and you find an arranger to throw other instruments in. This is a rock band, and all the work is done by the rock band.”
While Superunknown was quite successful, Thayil notes that he wishes he could’ve enjoyed that success more at the time. In addition to Thayil going through things in his personal life, Supernknown was released just a month before the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
“My personal life and things involving our colleagues and peers hit their nadir, but our professional life was at its zenith with the record hitting number one and [us] being on the cover of Rolling Stone,” Thayil says. “I know the success should have meant something, but it didn’t budge the meter from everything sucking. I wish we could have had the experience at another time.”
Superunknown will celebrate its 30th anniversary on March 8.
An exhibit of previously unseen photos of The Rolling Stones is set to open in London on Wednesday.
The Elegantly Waisted exhibit features photos taken by the band’s friend, photographer Tony Sanchez, nicknamed “Spanish Tony.” Tony worked and lived with The Stones during the period in the late ’60s when they were recording Beggars Banquet and the concert film The Rock & Roll Circus. He was also with them when they went into exile in the South of France.
The photos, which were thought to have been lost, were discovered in a loft in South London. They are described as “the most idiosyncratic shots of the band a collector could hope for.”
“I couldn’t be happier to be involved in this project,” Oliver Bayliss, owner & founder of Bayliss Rare Books, shares. “I spent months trawling through Tony’s archive – thousands of negatives and contact sheets – and am blown away by Tony’s unique eye and the quality of these images. Fans and collectors alike are in for a real treat.”
The exhibit, put on by Bayliss Rare Books and Spanish Tony Media, is happening at the J/M Gallery in Notting Hill from February 28 to March 5. Prints of the 27 photos on display will also be available for purchase starting February 28 on the Bayliss Rare Books website.
The exhibit is the latest exciting news for Rolling Stones fans. Next up, the band is set to release the live album The Rolling Stones Live at The Wiltern on March 8. They will then head out on their Hackney Diamonds tour starting April 28 in Houston, Texas. A complete list of dates can be found at rollingstones.com.
Artists like The Who, Santana and Jimi Hendrix have fans all over the world, but their music is no longer limited to folks here on Earth.
Billboard reports that digitized recordings from a slew of musicians was included in a time capsule on the Odysseusspace craft, which touched down on the moon on Thursday, February 22.
In total, the time capsule features music from 222 artists, including Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, and Chuck Berry. Some previously unreleased material was also included, as well as photos from Woodstock and album art, including Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon.
Dallas Santana, of the company Space Blue, brought the idea of the music collection to Arch Mission Foundation and curated the music that appeared on it. He notes, “This is music that stands the test of time.”
Santana adds that much of the collection is made up of music from 1969 and artists who were at Woodstock, since the festival took place just weeks after the U.S. landed on the moon for the first time. He hopes the capsule can capture some of the feelings of peace and togetherness that were on display at Woodstock.
“We need peace on the earth right now,” he says. “We’ve brought to the moon the Summer of Love, the people and artists and messages that are needed on earth right now.”
The Beatles have had one of their Billboard records broken, this time by Taylor Swift.
This week’s Billboard 200 features three Taylor albums in the top 10: 1989(Taylor’s Version),Lover and Midnights. That brings her total weeks in the top 10 to 384, from 16 albums. That’s enough to surpass The Beatles, whose 32 albums have spent 382 weeks in the top 10.
Meet the Beatles was the Fab Four’s first entry into the Billboard 200 top 10, the week of February 8, 1964. The reissue of Revolver marked their last top 10 entry, during the week of November 12, 2022.
Overall, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is The Beatles album with the most weeks in the top 10 with 35, followed by Abbey Road and A Hard Day’s Night, both with 28.
Coming in behind The Beatles is The Rolling Stones, with 309 weeks in top 10, followed by Barbra Streisand with 277.
War’s classic album The World Is a Ghetto celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, and now that celebration continues on the road.
The band, featuring founding member Lonnie Jordan, just announced dates for The World Is a Ghetto 50th Anniversary Tour, which kicks off March 8 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The tour includes dates in Florida, Louisiana, Nevada and Los Angeles, wrapping with a set at the Fools In Love Festival in Inglewood, California, on August 31. War is also booked to play the Super Legends Cruise out of Sam Pedro, California, from September 13 to 16.
Released in November 1972, The World Is a Ghetto spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart and became the biggest-selling album of 1973. In November, the band celebrated the 50th anniversary with a Record Store Day Black Friday vinyl release of a 50th anniversary collector’s edition of the album. A CD and digital release is expected later this year.
left to right: Sting, daughter Mickey Sumner/Photo credit: Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic
Back in 1984, Sting appeared in the original Dune film, directed by David Lynch, and now, he’s showing his support for the new installment of the sci-fi epic.
The rocker attended the New York premiere of Dune: Part Two this past weekend, accompanied by his 40-year-old daughter, Mickey Sumner, who shared a photo on Instagram of them posing together on the red carpet, decked out all in black.
“D U N E Part 2 (it’s incredible),” she wrote, “Escorting the OG FEYD.”
Mickey is referring to the character Feyd-Rautha, who Sting played in the original ‘80s movie. The role is being played by Austin Butler in Dune: Part Two, which opens March 1. The film, directed by Denis Villeneuve, also stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya.
Paul McCartney is opening up about the inspiration behind one of the iconic lyrics to his classic tune “Yesterday.”
During the latest episode of his McCartney: A Life in Lyrics podcast, the former Beatle explains that the line “I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday” was inspired by a time he corrected how his mother pronounced a word, something he deeply regretted.
“Sometimes, it’s only in retrospect you can appreciate it,” he says. “I remember very clearly one day feeling very embarrassed cause I embarrassed my mum.”
“She would talk what we thought was a little bit posh,” he explains, noting, “I know that she said something like, ‘Paul, will you ask him if he’s going?’ and I went, ‘Arsk?! Arsk! It’s ask, mum!’ And she got a little bit embarrassed.”
He adds, “I remember later thinking, ‘God, I wish I’d never said that.’ And it stuck with me … after she died.”
While the song seems to be about a heartbreak over a failed relationship, McCartney later realized it’s also about the loss of his mother.
“So I don’t know. Does this happen? Do you find yourself unconsciously putting songs into girl lyrics that are really your dead mother?” he says. “I suspect it might be true. It sort of fits, if you look at the lyrics.”
Blondie, Nile Rodgers & Chic, and Todd Rundgren are among the acts set to play Evolution Festival, happening September 28 and 29 at Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri.
The festival, now in its second year, will be headlined by The Killers and Beck, with Jane’s Addiction, Killer Mike,Elle King and Pete Yorn also on the bill.
Two-day passes for the festival go on sale Wednesday, February 28, at 10 a.m. CST. Info on tickets and the complete lineup can be found at evolutionfestival.com.
