The Eagles landed their third #1 with their fifth studio album, Hotel California.
The album spent eight nonconsecutive weeks in the top spot and went on to become one of the bestselling albums of all time, selling over 32 million records and being certified 26-times Platinum by the RIAA.
Hotel California was the Eagles first album with guitarist Joe Walsh. Songs like the title track, “Life in the Fast Lane” and “New Kid in Town” went on to become iconic songs for the band.
A hit with critics, the title track of Hotel California won the Grammy for Record of the Year; the album was nominated for Album of the Year but lost to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours.
Is Bruce Springsteen looking to make a movie? Well, Showbiz411’s Roger Friedman reports that it may be happening, with sources noting The Boss is looking into making a film about his 1982 album Nebraska.
Friedman says Springsteen has been working with Crazy Heart writer/director Scott Cooper on the project, which would focus on the making of the album. There’s no word on who may play Springsteen, but Friedman says Cooper “has someone in mind,” noting it’s “definitely not Timothee Chalamet,” since he’s playing Bob Dylan in the upcoming film A Complete Unknown.
So far, there’s no official word on the project.
Nebraska, released in September 30, 1982, featured 10 acoustic songs that Springsteen originally recorded as demos on a four-track recorder. Springsteen had planned to rerecord the songs with the E Street Band but instead opted to release it as a solo acoustic record.
Nebraska peaked at #3 on the Billboard chart, with his biggest hit being “Atlantic City,” which reached #10.
Some of the songs on the demo that didn’t make it on Nebraska were later rerecorded with the band and wound up on Springsteen’s multi-Platinum #1 record, Born in the U.S.A.
The Black Crowes just announced they’ll be releasing their first album of new music in 15 years, Happiness Bastards, on March 15. Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson called it quits on The Crowes in 2015 before reuniting in 2019. While you’d think their past relationship problems may have been an issue when they went to write music again, Rich says that wasn’t really the case.
“I wouldn’t say we had to repair our writing relationship, because that was never an issue,” Rich tells Rolling Stone magazine. “That was always the one natural thing, with very little volatility — when we would sit down to write, for whatever reason.”
Of course they still had work to do so they didn’t run into the problems they’ve had in the past.
“Everything else was just making the decision to be adults, and not fall back into those sort of old patterns,” Rich adds. “But us getting back together and being cool and just getting it to that place lifts everything up.”
It’s been almost 34 years since The Black Crowes released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, but Rich says fans shouldn’t expect a drastically different sound on the new album.
“I write how I write, like it or hate it. I think Chris is the same way,” he says. “We have always followed our heart, followed our ears where we choose to. Sometimes to our commercial detriment.”
And Rich assures fans they will like what they hear on the record, noting, “Chris sounds f****** better than ever, in my opinion.”
In addition to his work with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chad Smith has played drums with a lot of other artists. In a new video for the YouTube channel Drumeo, Smith takes a walk down memory lane and plays along to some of his past collaborations.
Among the songs Smith spotlights are Eddie Vedder‘s “Invincible” and Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Patient Number 9.” He notes how he was inspired by U2 for “Invincible,” which appears on the Pearl Jam frontman’s 2022 solo album, Earthling, and that he was playing “Patient Number 9” for the first time since he recorded it for Ozzy’s 2022 solo effort of the same name.
Smith also played along to tracks including Iggy Pop‘s “Frenzy,” Dua Lipa‘s “Break My Heart” and Wu-Tang Clan‘s “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit.”
Drumeo previously released a video of Smith drumming to Thirty Seconds to Mars‘ “The Kill” while listening to it for the first time. That has over 10 million views on YouTube.
Meanwhile, you can catch Smith play his main gig on Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 2024 tour, which includes headlining U.S. dates and performances at festivals including Bonnaroo.
Bruce Springsteen has released the latest edition to his Live Archives Series: his July 23, 2013, concert at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
The show was part of the European leg of his Wrecking Ball tour, with Springsteen archivist Erik Flannigan calling it “a rambunctious romp loaded with rarities.”
In addition to performances of classics like “Hungry Heart,” “Born to Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and an acoustic “Thunder Road,” the show featured the one and only performance of “TV Movie,” from the Tracks box set, along with “Cynthia,” “Summertime Blues” and “Tougher Than The Rest.” There’s also a cover of The Animals‘ “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place,” featuring a guest appearance by The Animals’ Eric Burdon.
The show is currently streaming exclusively on nugs.net, and is also available on CD and hi-res downloads.
And Bruce fans will soon get to see him back onstage where he belongs. He and TheE Street Band are set to kick off their 2024 tour on Tuesday, March 19, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Mötley Crüe is set to headline the North Dakota State Fair on Friday, July 19.
The show is happening on the opening night of the fair, which runs through July 27, and is the band’s first announced show for 2024.
Mötley Crüe hasn’t played a concert since November, when they wrapped their tour with Def Leppard in Australia. They were supposed to headline a New Year’s Eve concert in Palm Springs, California, but had to cancel the show due to production issues.
The show announcement comes as the band has been teasing fans with something coming on January 17. While there’s speculation they could finally be releasing new music, the tease could also have something to do with January 17 being the anniversary of band’s creation.
The Who infamously sang, “I hope I die before I get old” in their hit “My Generation,” which frontman Roger Daltrey seems to have some thoughts on now that he’s about to turn 80 in March.
Daltrey, who recently announced he was retiring as curator of the annual Teenage Cancer Trust charity shows, talked to the U.K. Timesat a cancer ward, where he discussed the concept of getting older.
“Actually, being around these young people today I do ask myself, ‘What the f*** am I still doing here?’” he says. “I’m in the way. All us old farts, we really are just in the way of the young now, aren’t we?”
Daltrey blames his generation for the problems with the U.K.’s National Health Service, noting, “It’s partly because all these old farts like me are in the way, isn’t it? Let’s just die! Get me and my lot out the way.”
While some may fear dying, Daltrey seems to have come to terms with it.
“My dreams came true so, listen, I’m ready to go at any time,” he says. “My family are all great and all taken care of. You’ve got to be realistic.” He adds, “You can’t live your life forever. Like I said, people my age, we’re in the way. There are no guitar strings to be changed on this old instrument.”
The Who is set to play two Teenage Cancer Trust shows on March 18 and 20 at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and that just may be it for the band.
Asked about The Who’s future, Daltrey replies, “I can’t answer that…We [he and Townshend] need to sit down and have a meeting, but at the moment I’m happy saying that part of my life is over.”
Queen‘s shows are known for including a set list filled with well known hits, but sometimes they get a chance to delve deeper into their catalog. That’s the subject of this week’s episode of their YouTube series, Queen the Greatest Live.
In the latest clip, they take a look at a Queen + Adam Lambert appearance at Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival 2014, where they broke out the album track “I Was Born To Love You,” which is described as a “cult gem” for Japanese audiences.
The tune, which was first released on Freddie Mercury’s 1985 solo album, Mr. Bad Guy, and then reworked for Queen’s posthumous 1995 album, Made In Heaven, was particularly popular in Japan. In 1996, it was used in a commercial for Kirin beer, and in 2004, it was used as the opening theme song for a TV drama series Pride, about a successful ice hockey team.
“I had an obsession with the song, and had the idea to make a new version, simulating how it would have sounded if we had been able to play it live with Freddie on stage,” Brian May shares. “So the Queen version was put together as a ‘virtual’ live track, using Freddie’s spectacular vocal as the central thread.”
He adds, “Little did we know that years later we’d have the opportunity with Adam to finally bring this arrangement to life on a real stage.”
Queen + Adam Lambert will have a chance to perform the song again for Japanese audiences. Their Rhapsody Tour will hit Japan starting February 4 in Nagoya. A complete list of dates can be found at queenonline.com.
Heart’s Ann Wilson has collaborated with metal band Disturbed on the track “Don’t Tell Me,” and the video for the song is out now.
The clip, streaming now on YouTube, features sepia-toned close-ups of Wilson and the Disturbed band members as they provide the soundtrack to a couple slowly fading apart.
“I was honored when I got the call from (Disturbed frontman) David Draiman,” Wilson shares. “Disturbed did a version of ‘The Sound of Silence’ that my husband and I both really dug. And so, when the opportunity came to sing a duet with him on a song that meant so much to David emotionally, I jumped at the chance. And then the video turned out great, which is yet another cherry on top.”
“Hopefully we’ll find a time to perform ‘Don’t Tell Me’ live together at some point,” Wilson adds. “If they call, I’m there.”
Draiman shares that he has “tremendous respect” for Wilson, noting, “In my humble opinion, she’s the greatest female rock voice of all time. I think she’s untouchable. I feel like we were very gifted to have her be a part of this.”
“Don’t Tell Me” is included on Disturbed’s latest album, 2022’s Divisive.
Last month, Heart returned to the stage for the first time since 2019 for a series of shows that included a New Year’s Eve headlining gig in their hometown of Seattle, Washington. They are currently booked to play three shows on the Journey and Def Leppard summer tour, including a show August 5 at Boston’s Fenway Park. A complete list of dates can be found at heart-music.com.
Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt has responded to Elon Musk‘s taunt over the band’s performance on ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with RyanSeacrest .
As previously reported, Billie Joe Armstrong changed the lyrics during Green Day’s rendition of “American Idiot” to “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda,” a reference to former President Donald Trump and his supporters. That prompted Musk to take to what used to be called Twitter — before he purchased it and changed it to X — to proclaim, “Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it.”
When asked about Musk’s comments in an interview with Rolling Stone, Dirnt replies, “Elon Musk actually is the machine.”
“I can’t take anything else from that,” Dirnt adds. “He’s not shy about saying stupid s*** on the internet. Whatever.”
Along with Musk’s post, Green Day’s NYRE performance caused a right wing firestorm, which, given that the band has long been vocal and open about their politics, surprised Dirnt. Not only that, but “American Idiot” was originally written about the administration of another Republican president, George W. Bush.
“The song’s 20 years old, and we’re Green Day,” Dirnt says. “What did you expect? Come on. I think the best part about it is that it provoked conversation. It got people talking.”
“First it was rhetorical, and then it got into conversation,” he continues. “Anytime you can get people talking, you’re always going to have the loudest voices [heard first], and then everyone else in the room is going to figure out what it really means.”
Green Day will release a new album, Saviors, on January 19.
