Classic Rock 93.9

The Oscars saved the best for last when it came to performances of the Best Original Song nominees.

Best Supporting Actor nominee Ryan Gosling, wearing a pink sparkly suit, took the stage to perform a show-stopping rendition of the show-stopping number from Barbie, “I’m Just Ken.”  Joining him onstage were some of the other Kens from the film, including Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir, plus dozens of other male dancers, all wearing suits and black cowboy hats.

At one point, Gosling was lifted onto the shoulders of the dancers and the camera shot him from above, stretched out and surrounded by giant cut-out faces of a ’50s-era Barbie doll.  Then, the guitarists who performed on the recorded version of the song — Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen — appeared onstage to shred along with the song’s co-writer, Mark Ronson.

While all this was going on, the song’s lyrics flashed on giant screens in the theater, and Gosling went down to the front row to allow Barbie director Greta Gerwig and co-stars America Ferrera and Margot Robbie to sing along with the tune.

The overwhelming ‘Kenergy’ earned a standing ovation from the crowd.

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A short film inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s classic tune “Happy Christmas (War Is Over),” took home an Oscar Sunday night. 

War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko won the award for Best Animated Short Film, with the couple’s son Sean Ono Lennon on stage to help accept the award alongside filmmakers Dave Mullins and Brad Booker.

“John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote a song that inspired us,” filmmaker Dave Mullins said in his speech. “It is an anti-war message that we tried to honor with this film.”

Sean used his time to give a shout out to his famous mom. “My mother turned 91 this February, and today is Mother’s Day in the U.K.,” he said. “So could everyone please say, ‘Happy Mother’s Day, Yoko!'” 

The 11-minute film follows a game of chess, with a heroic carrier pigeon helping the game continue across enemy lines. It ends with the classic tune playing over the closing credits.

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The Who is getting ready to play two shows to benefit Teenage Cancer Trust in March, and they’re now giving fans a way to help them raise even more money for the charity.

The band is selling concert prints celebrating the history of the benefit shows, which have been taking place at London’s Royal Albert Hall since 2000.

The first print, The Who 2000, created by Joel Burden, is part of their retrospective gig posters. It commemorates The Who & Friends show on November 27, 2000, which featured guest artists like Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder, Noel Gallagher, Bryan Adams and more. There are 100 copies available for purchase, each autographed by Who frontman Roger Daltrey.

They’re also selling limited-edition The Who 2024 posters, created by Josh Townshend, who’s Pete Townshend’s nephew and Simon Townshend’s son. They commemorate this year’s pair of London Royal Albert Hall shows; 50 numbered posters for the March 18 concert, autographed by Daltrey, and another 50 for the March 20 show, autographed by Pete Townshend.

All posters are available for preorder now and will be shipped April 1. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to Teenage Cancer Trust.

This year’s Teenage Cancer Trust charity concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall run from March 18 to March 24. In addition to the two Who shows, which feature special guest Squeeze, there will be concerts by Noel Gallagher’s the High Flying Birds, Young Fathers and The Chemical Brothers.

The shows will wrap with a special concert, Ovation, a Celebration of 24 Years of Gigs for TCT, celebrating Daltrey’s 24-year career as curator and host of the Teenage Cancer Trust shows. It will feature special guests Robert Plant with Saving Grace, Eddie Vedder, Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones and Paul Weller.

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Pearl Jam‘s new single “Dark Matter” matters a great deal on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

The title track off the grunge titans’ upcoming album has hit #1 on the tally, and, in doing so, has set a new Billboard record.

Prior to “Dark Matter,” Pearl Jam hadn’t led Mainstream Rock Airplay since 1998, or 26 years and two weeks ago, with “Given to Fly.” No other act has gone that long in between number ones in the 43-year history of Mainstream Rock Airplay. The next closest is Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who ended his 20-year, 11-month drought at the top of the chart in 2019 as a featured artist on Five Finger Death Punch‘s cover of his song “Blue on Black.”

The album Dark Matter drops April 19. Pearl Jam will launch a U.S. tour in May.

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Peter Gabriel makes a guest appearance on Sheryl Crow’s new album, Evolution. 

The album features Sheryl’s take on Gabriel’s 1992 hit “Digging in the Dirt,” with new vocals added by the former Genesis frontman. 

In a statement, Sheryl explains that the song was the impetus for her return to recording, despite claiming in 2019 that she’d never make another album. 

“Peter’s song is the one that started me on this whole process of making my new album Evolution, the first song I brought to [my producer],” she explains. “The idea of self-examination to understand our wounds and flaws and how they affect our daily lives really resonated with me, because that process can lead to self-healing. But it can be messy, it feels like digging in the dirt.”

“Peter’s lyrics express that so beautifully, with this just ridiculous groove driving underneath,” she continues. “When he agreed to sing on my cover … it just blew me away, and ironically it ended up being the last song we finished for the album.”

Finally, she adds, “It’s such an honor to have him perform on this song which really means so much to me, and there is nobody in the world who sings like Peter Gabriel.”

“Digging in the Dirt” is out now and available exclusively on the digital deluxe version of Evolution, which arrives March 29.

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Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Nils Lofgren has dropped a new digital album, Spares, featuring previously unreleased songs he recorded over the course of his career. 

“Along the way of the past 55 years, songs holding a wide range of emotional pieces of me wound up getting left behind. Basement demos never recorded, not quite right for the project, various reasons,” he shared on Instagram about the release. “Now these songs, ‘Spares,’ cover decades of writing and circumstance, in various periods of my musical and personal life are here, together to share.” 

The album is made up of 31 songs and features some special guests, including Foreigner’s Lou Gramm, on a song called “Dance of Life.”

The album is now streaming on all digital platforms. 

Spares follows Lofgren’s recent album of new material, Mountains, which was released in July. He also appears on the new Neil Young & Crazy Horse album, FU##IN’ UP, which is being released as a clear vinyl two-LP limited edition on Record Store Day, April 20; the black vinyl, CD and digital editions will be out on April 26.

Lofgren is also getting ready to hit the road once again with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Their tour kicks off March 19 in Phoenix, Arizona. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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Jimmy Buffett‘s well-known love of New Orleans is being celebrated in a video for his track “University of Bourbon Street,” which is featured on the posthumous album Equal Strain on All Parts, released back in November.

The song features NOLA’s Preservation Hall Jazz Band and has Jimmy singing about the life lessons he learned while experiencing the city’s famed party street.

The video features photos and video from Buffett’s life in the city from the ’70s and on, along with clips of him in the studio recording the song. The description notes it’s “a heartfelt homage to the city that Buffett adored, showcasing his deep connection to its music, culture and community.”

One way Buffett showed his love for the city was by playing New Orleans’ Jazz Fest numerous times throughout his career. He’ll be remembered at this year’s event, the first Jazz Fest since his passing in September. His longtime backing band, the Coral Reefer Band, is scheduled to play the festival’s closing night, Sunday, May 5, with their set dubbed Celebrating Jimmy Buffett.

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Elvis Costello and Daryl Hall are teaming up for a new co-headlining tour.  

The trek, which will feature Costello backed by his longtime band The Imposters with Charlie Sexton, will kick off June 2 in Troutdale, Oregon, and hit such cities as Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Boston and more before wrapping July 25 in Vienna, Virginia. 

“It’s fantastic to be able to rekindle a musical relationship. Get ready for lots of great music,” Hall shares. Costello adds, “We are looking forward to kicking off the show in style in the certainty that Daryl will deliver a slam-bang finish.”

Artists presales kick off Monday, March 11, with tickets going on sale to the general public on Friday, March 15, at 10 a.m. A complete list of dates can be found at elviscostello.com and darylhall.com. 

Costello is about to head out on a tour of Australia and Japan, which kicks off with an appearance at Bluesfest Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia, on March 28 and 29.

Hall most recently toured with Todd Rundgren, playing a handful of shows on the West Coast in October and November. In January, he launched a new season of his series Live from Daryl’s House, with all 90 episodes now streaming on YouTube.

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Bad Company‘s Paul Rodgers, ZZ Top‘s Billy F Gibbons and Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler are just a few of the A-list artists making guest appearances on the upcoming blues-inspired album from Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash.

The album, Orgy of the Damned, is due out May 17 and has the rocker joined by a variety of guest vocalists. In addition to Gibbons and Rodgers, The Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson and AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson are featured on songs, as are Iggy Pop, Gary Clark Jr., pop star Demi Lovato and country artist Chris Stapleton.

Tyler, who is currently recovering after fracturing his vocal chords, doesn’t sing on the record, but he plays harmonica on the lead single, a rendition of Howlin’ Wolf‘s “Killing Floor,” which features vocals by Johnson.

You can listen to it now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying videos streaming now on YouTube. 

Slash speaks further on Orgy of the Damned in an interview with Rolling Stone, which reports that a tour announcement is coming next week. 

“I just think that [this album] is coming from a different place [than usual],” Slash says. “Looking back on it, there was definitely a laidback, spontaneous approach to what I was doing. There was definitely a difference-making this record compared to some of the other stuff that I’ve done.” 

Here’s the Orgy of the Damned track list:

“The Pusher” feat. Chris Robinson
“Crossroads” feat. Gary Clark Jr.
“Hoochie Coochie Man” feat. Billy F Gibbons
“Oh Well” feat. Chris Stapleton
“Key to the Highway” feat. Dorothy
“Awful Dream” feat. Iggy Pop
“Born Under a Bad Sign” feat. Paul Rodgers
“Papa Was a Rolling Stone” feat. Demi Lovato
“Killing Floor” feat. Brian Johnson
“Living for the City” feat. Tash Neal
“Stormy Monday” feat. Beth Hart
“Metal Chestnut”

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