Guns N’ Roses have dropped a new single called “The General.”
The “Welcome to the Jungle” outfit previously previewed the track during a November concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It marks the second new GN’R tune of 2023, following the August premiere of “Perhaps.”
You can listen to “The General” now via digital outlets. It’s also being released alongside “Perhaps” on a seven-inch vinyl single.
“The General” and “Perhaps” follow GN’R’s two 2021 singles, “Hard Skool” and “Absurd,” which marked the group’s first new material since reuniting in 2016.
An auction of the late ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill‘s instruments, wardrobe pieces, memorabilia and more kicked off Thursday, December 7, at Julien’s Auctions, with one of his bass guitars going for big bucks.
The late rocker’s signature 1953 Fender Precision bass sold for $393,700, more than three times the auction house’s highest estimate.
The instrument, the most played of Hill’s guitar collection, is now the second-highest bass ever sold at auction. Only BeatlePaul McCartney’s Yamaha BB-1200 bass sold for more, back in 2021. A Fender Mustang, owned by The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman, is just behind Dusty’s bass at three.
“Dusty would be so pleased to know his bass is between a Beatle and a Rolling Stone!,” Dusty’s wife commented.
Other items sold include: Hill’s fur bass from ZZ Top’s “Legs” video, for $317,500; Hill’s MTV Moonman for Best Group Video for “Legs,” for $25,400; a custom sky-blue wool suit jacket, which Dusty wore on the cover of the album Fandango!, sold for $11,430; and a black leather motorcycle jacket with custom painted skeletons and silver spikes sold for $13,000.
The three-day auction continues Friday, December 8, and Saturday, December 9, in Dallas, Texas, and online at Julien’s Live. A portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to the Recording Academy’s charitable foundation, MusiCares.
Legendary BeatleJohn Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York City apartment building, The Dakota. He was 40.
Earlier in the day, Lennon signed a copy of his album Double Fantasy for a fan as he and wife Yoko Ono were leaving for the recording studio. When he returned later that evening, the same fan, Mark David Chapman, shot him twice. The musician was rushed to the hospital where he died.
Chapman did not go on trial for Lennon’s murder, instead pleading guilty to second degree murder. He was sentenced to 20-years-to-life in prison and became eligible for parole in 2000, but he still remains in jail.
No funeral for Lennon was held, but his cremated remains were scattered in New York’s Central Park, not far from The Dakota. A memorial for Lennon, Strawberry Fields, was later created in the area.
A new book focusing on two classic performances by The Who will be released early next year.
Teenage Wasteland: The Who at Winterland, 1968 and 1976 takes a look at how things changed for the band in the almost 10 years that passed between the two concerts at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom.
A description of the book notes, “These two years represent a screen grab of the band taken in its purest form: live, and harder than ever, right before and right after the huge success The Who struggled to live with in the years between.”
The two shows were worlds apart for the band, with the February 1968 concert attended by only a few hundred fans, while less than 10 years later, in March 1976, the 5,000-capacity theater was sold out.
The book offers fans a glimpse inside both shows with the use of firsthand accounts, previously unpublished photos taken by fans at the show and more.
Teenage Wasteland: The Who at Winterland by Edoardo Genzolini, with a foreword by Joel Selvin, will be released February 28 and is available for preorder now.
Peter Gabriel recently released i/o, his first album of new material in 13 years, but it sounds like fans may not have to wait too long for his next one.
In an interview with U.K. paper The Times, Gabriel says now that he’s done touring he’s “having a sabbatical.” But after that, “There is another album’s worth of stuff in the can that needs to be finished.”
He’s also working on what he calls a “brain project,” which is about a device that reads minds.
“Some of these current songs will fit into the brain project, as I want to have some familiar songs in it when it is finally assembled,” he says.
Later in the interview, Peter talks about why he decided to check out his former band Genesis’ final concert at London’s Wembley Arena in 2022.
“I had put so much of my life into getting Genesis going in the early years, it felt wrong not to be there when the guys decided to close the book,” he says. “It was a strange night for them and for me, full of memories, sadness and warmth.”
But fans shouldn’t expect Gabriel to now add Genesis tunes into his live shows.
“I know that the music that means the most to you as a teenager tends to retain its hold on you throughout your life. I do occasionally have thoughts about doing a version of a couple of those songs that have a lot of me in them,” he says. “But then my attention gets caught by something new and exciting.”
Documentaries about John Lennon, Carlos Santana and Blood, Sweat and Tears all have a chance for an Oscar nomination this year.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just announced the films eligible for a nomination in the Documentary Feature Film category, and several music docs made the cut.
Films that could possibly land a nomination include The Lost Weekend: A Love Story, about Lennon’s relationship with May Pang;Carlos, about guitarist Carlos Santana; and What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat and Tears?, about the band’s 1970 State Department-sponsored tour of Iron Curtain countries Yugoslavia, Romania and Poland.
Also in the running for a possible nomination is Joan Baez: I Am Noise, about folk singer Joan Baez, and Little Richard: I Am Everything, about the legendary musician Little Richard.
Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced Tuesday, January 23. The Oscars will air on ABC, Sunday, March 10.
Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman is releasing a new live box set capturing his sold-out two-night stand at the London Palladium earlier this year.
Live at the London Palladium 2023 features recordings of Wakeman’s February 22 and 23 concerts in their entirety. For the shows, Wakeman performed new arrangements of his classic tunes, backed by both the English Rock Ensemble and the English Chamber Choir. It includes performances of Wakeman’s solo work, as well as classic Yes tracks and the premiere of three-part “The Yes Suite,” a medley of themes taken from Yes music.
The set is broken down into four CDs centered around Wakeman’s solo albums: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Classic Yes.
Live at the London Palladium 2023 will be released February 16 and is available for preorder now.
Dave Grohl and company’s track “Everlong” has officially hit 1 billion streams, making it the first Foos tune to achieve that feat.
“Everlong” first appears on Foo Fighters’ sophomore album, The Colour and the Shape, which was released in 1997. It’s the band’s most-played song live, according to Setlist.fm, and its video has over 280 million views on YouTube.
Foo Fighters released their latest album, But Here We Are, in June. They’ll launch a U.S. stadium tour in July.
Elton John is really leaning into the holiday spirit this year. Not only has he released his 1973 Christmas song “Step into Christmas” digitally for the first time, he’s now teamed up with an artist for a new line of holiday cards inspired by his music.
The “Step into Christmas” holiday cards were hand drawn by illustrator Reggie O’Connell and feature caricatures of Elton in a Santa hat, with sayings like “Step into Christmas,” “Hold Me Closer Tiny Prancer” and “My Gift Is Yule Song.”
“Creating this batch of Elton-themed holidays cards was an incredible undertaking that began with a few puns and an abundance of ideas,” O’Connell shares. “Tapping into Elton’s unique, fabulous energy while staying true to my own cartoony style presented a fun challenge that ultimately came together in the end.”
He adds, “It was truly a joy illustrating these cards and I hope that you will all consider this an official invitation to step into Christmas!”
Lots of folks were happy to see The Rolling Stones return this year with their new album, Hackney Diamonds, but Blur’s Damon Albarn was not one of them.
Speaking to France’s Les Inrockuptibles magazine, Albarn seemed particularly upset about the band’s use of London’s Hackney district in promoting the project.
“That really irritated me. Because my family lives in Hackney and the way they showed up in the Hackney Empire theater freaked me out,” he says. “They never did anything at Hackney, they didn’t play there, they didn’t contribute anything. They just showed up.”
He also took issue with the album’s first single, “Angry,” because the video “objectified” actress Sydney Sweeney. He then noted her clips, combined with footage of The Stones throughout their career, felt “totally disconnected.”
“I love the idea of dedicating your life to one thing, in search of the sublime. But the truth is that they have become worse. Worse to persist in remaining themselves,” he says. “This is something I don’t understand. Making the exact same music, just not as good. There must be no joy in doing such a thing.”
