U2 has announced a vinyl reissue of the band’s 1993 album, Zooropa,in honor of its 30th anniversary.
The record will be available as a limited edition transparent yellow two-LP set in October. You can preorder your copy now.
Zooropa was first released July 5, 1993, 30 years ago Wednesday. It followed U2’s massive 1991 album, Achtung Baby, and continued to experiment with the dance and electronic elements of its predecessor, which came to a head with 1997’s Pop.
The arrival of the Zoorapa reissue coincides with U2’s upcoming UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere Las Vegas residency, which launches in September.
Meanwhile, U2 will be streaming their ZOO TV: Live from Sydney concert film, which was recorded in 1993, during a free global watch party beginning July 12 at 3 p.m. ET.
The relationship between Mick Mars and his former Mötley Crüe bandmates is certainly strained now that they’re battling it out in court over money. It turns out, however, they haven’t been on good terms for quite a while.
Mars tells Rolling Stone he hasn’t really had a conversation with any of his former bandmates since the 2019 premiere of Netflix’s The Dirt, which was the movie based on the band’s memoir.
“Nobody spoke to me in 2022,” Mars says, despite the fact that the band spent that year on tour with Def Leppard. “A lot of the time felt like I was just playing by myself. You know how you can be in a crowd of people and still feel alone? That’s how I felt that whole tour.”
Mars says the whole thing made him feel “used, sad and inferior,” adding he “felt relieved” after what would be his last show with the group in September 2022.
“A lot of the pressure was gone. But I was very emotionally wounded,” he explains. “They weren’t just shallow wounds. They were deep ones; the kind you can’t get over.”
After their legal battles are finally over, Mars doesn’t care if he ever speaks to his former bandmates again.
“I think all of us would be okay with that,” he says. “And I don’t just mean me with them. I mean them with each other,” adding, “I don’t plan on having a funeral. If I did, I think maybe they’d show up for that just out of courtesy. But for me, there’s no funeral. There’s no nothing.”
The legacy of Guns N’ Roses‘ headlining set during June’s Glastonbury Festival will live on through two baby owls.
According to the U.K.’s Secret World Wildlife Rescue organization, the chicks were rescued from underneath Glastonbury’s main Pyramid Stage, which the “Welcome to the Jungle” outfit rocked on Saturday, June 24. Fittingly, they were named Axl and Slash after the GN’R frontman and guitarist, respectively.
“Both Axl and Slash are now in an outside aviary at Secret World and although a little camera shy are both doing well,” Secret World Wildlife Rescue says. “No signs of them exhibiting their musical talent yet though!”
Perhaps having adorable baby animals named after them will help Guns N’ Roses get over from some of the bad reviews they got for the Glastonbury set, though they didn’t seem to care too much about that in the first place. In a tweet tagging two writers who penned particularly scathing critiques, GN’R quoted the “Chinese Democracy” lyric, “It would take a lot more hate than you.”
Peoplereports that the 76-year-old was the surprise guest this past weekend at a Rhode Island concert headlined by songwriter and Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band bandmate MacMcAnally.
Fan-shot video posted to Facebook shows McAnally performing the Alan Jackson/Buffett hit “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” changing one of the lyrics to sing, “At a moment like this, I can’t help but wonder what would Jimmy Buffett do?” The crowd immediately went wild at the sight of Buffett, who replied to the question, “I would come play for you.”
The pair then continued the song together, with Buffett later telling the crowd, “Well, it is good to see an audience, let me tell you that.”
Buffett canceled a South Carolina show in May, telling fans on social media he’d been hospitalized to “address some issues that needed immediate attention.” He was supposed to headline Milwaukee Summerfest on July 6, but that performance was also canceled.
The Grateful Dead played the final show of a three-night stand at Chicago’s Soldier Field, featuring special guests Bruce Hornsby and Trey Anastasio.
The show was billed as the final time Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann would perform together, but that fall, Kreutzmann, Hart and Weir formed Dead & Company, with guitarist John Mayer. They initially announced just one show, but went on to tour the country and would subsequently go on to tour each summer.
Dead & Company, without Kreutzmann, is currently on what they are billing as their Final Tour. The trek wraps with a three-night stand in San Francisco, July 14-16.
Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron contributes to a new recording of the band’s song “4th of July,” which is spearheaded by the metal project Marc Urselli’s SteppenDoom.
The cover was recorded for an upcoming tribute album to Soundgarden’s 1994 album, Superunknown, dubbed Superunknown Redux.
“When [record label] Magnetic Eye invited me to do ‘4th of July’, I jumped at the opportunity to do a sludgy and weird rendition,” Urselli says. “I immediately thought about inviting Matt Cameron to play drums on it. Matt graciously agreed to participate and this clearly is a major honor.”
The Redux recording of “4th of July” also features Alain Johannes, who previously worked on the late Chris Cornell‘s Euphoria Mourning solo album and toured with the Them Crooked Vultures supergroup.
Dolly Parton is sharing some more behind-the-scenes tidbits about her upcoming rock album, Rockstar. While it’s filled with all-star guests like Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Elton John, she tells HitsDailyDouble she had the most fun recording with Stevie Nicks and Debbie Harry.
Dolly and Stevie duet on Nicks’ “What Has Rock ‘n’ Roll Ever Done for You,” which Dolly calls a “performance piece” that Stevie “had never put on a record but had always wanted to.”
“When we got in the studio, it was just fun, because we kinda ad-libbed at the front and on the end,” she says. “I like those kinda loose songs, because I’ve always been a performer and entertainer, and there’s a lot to be said when you can hear the fun.”
Dolly recorded Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” with Harry, with Dolly noting it was “great fun.” “She came down, and we got to know each other quite a bit,” she says. “She is just the sweetest people, so good.”
Rockstar also includes Dolly covering Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic “Freebird,” which features Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle. Dolly also got permission from the late Ronnie Van Zant’s widow to include his vocals on the track, making the song extra special.
“That’s not going to be on the Lynyrd Skynyrd record, only the version we did. She allowed that, and I was so happy we got to use his real voice,” Dolly says. “It made it so special. I get chills every time I hear it.”
Ringo Starr is turning 83 on Friday, July 7, and he celebrating with his annual Peace and Love birthday event.
“As many of you know, since 2008, every year I use my birthday, July the 7th, to spread peace and love,” he shares in a new video featuring footage from past birthdays. He explains that the first one took place in Chicago with just 80 fans; he says now “it’s grown so much with a celebration in countries all over the world.”
“You have all helped create a wave of peace and love that goes over a whole planet. It’s a simple thing to do,” Ringo says. “So I’m giving you this reminder to join me if you want to at noon your local time on July the 7th to post, say or even just think peace and love.”
He adds, “That would be great. A great birthday gift for me and for the world. It helps the planet…and the new planets we’re going to.”
HELLE ARENSBAK/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
Here’s some good news for Mötley Crüe fans. According to frontman Vince Neil, the band isn’t planning to stop touring once their tour with Def Leppard is over.
During an interview withThe Music Universe podcast, Neil spilled the beans on the band’s future plans — and that includes more recording and more touring.
“We have eight shows in the U.S. after (the U.K./European leg). Then we go to Australia and Japan, and then I think we’re gonna go back in the studio for a couple of more songs,” he shared. “And then we will announce a new stadium tour for next summer. We’re not sure who’s gonna be on it, but there’ll be another tour.”
Meanwhile, on June 30 Mötley Crüe took a break from stadiums to play a small club show at the Underworld in London under the name Dogs of War. The performance featured Crüe classics like “Shout at the Devil,” “Girls, Girls, Girls” and more, but the set also featured a surprise cover of the Beastie Boys classic “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!).” According to setlist.fm, it was the first time they’d ever played the Licensed to Ill track.
And finally, Crüe co-founder Nikki Sixx celebrated 22 years of sobriety on July 2, marking the occasion with a special message on social media. “It has been one hell of beautiful and sometimes difficult journey,” Sixx wrote. “For those still suffering there is hope. I am a work in progress. I still have work to do but I try to mitigate my life one day at a time. I love you. Love yourself back too.”
The Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard world tour hits Dublin, Ireland, on July 4. A complete list of dates can be found at motley.com.
July 3 marks the 50th anniversary of David Bowie’s final performance as Ziggy Stardust at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, and his pianist Mike Garson says that while fans may not have been ready to say goodbye to the character, Bowie certainly was.
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Garson, a member of Bowie’s then-backing band at the time, TheSpiders From Mars, says Ziggy was exactly what Bowie needed because he was able to “hide behind this character,” which helped with his nerves. However, Garson says he stayed in the character “a little too long.”
“Yes, this show and this persona could have gone on for six months to a year longer than it did, but he cut it short at the Hammersmith in ‘73 because he’d had enough of it,” he says. “Fans didn’t get enough of it, because it was just warming up. But he knew it would screw him up if he stayed in it any longer. So, he dropped it.”
Garson, who continued to play with Bowie after the Ziggy era, says “part of me was happy” Ziggy came to an end “because I was bored,” but he notes he did miss his bandmates.
“This guy couldn’t help himself. He had to move on and move on and move on,” he says of Bowie. “He was always that way. He was impatient, because he couldn’t help wanting to create the next thing… He was the Miles Davis of the rock world, in that he had to change styles every few years.”
The 50th anniversary of Bowie’s final performance as Ziggy Stardust is being celebrated with screenings of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture in theaters across the country throughout July. Tickets are on sale now.
