Foo Fighters had a new lead singer — temporarily — on Sunday for their set at Lollapalooza: Dave Grohl‘s 15-year-old daughter.
Violet Grohl joined her dad and his band mates to sing “Nausea,” by pioneering L.A. punk band X. In April, Violet performed the song on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, backed by her dad, his ex-Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic, producer Greg Kurstin, and Mr. Bungle drummer Dave Lombardo. They recorded the song for Grohl’s documentary, What Drives Us.
Sunday was also the seventh birthday of Grohl’s daughter, Ophelia, and after leading a “Happy Birthday” singalong for her, Grohl introduced Violet by saying, “If you stick around long enough, maybe your daughter will join your band, too. So since my daughter Violet Grohl is now in the Foo Fighters, we thought, ‘Why don’t we come out and sing a song for Lollapalooza tonight?'”
Dave described Violet as “the most bad-a** person I know in my life,” and boasted that “she likes to listen to the punk rock music that I like to listen to.” After claiming that he and X drummer DJ Bonebrake are related — which may actually be true — he then let Violet take the mic for “Nausea.” She acquitted herself admirably in true rock-star style, and seemed totally unfazed by the massive crowd.
Foo Fighters’ tour continues August 3 in St. Louis, MO.
(Violet’s song with the band starts at 1:32:18 into the video.)
The Smashing Pumpkins have been working on a new album, which has been described as a “sequel” to 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000’s Machina. Speaking with ABC Audio, guitarist Jeff Schroeder shares a bit more about the record, and its massive scope.
“This Pumpkins thing is such a big project,” Schroeder reveals. “It’s gonna be 33 songs.”
Working on the record, Schroeder says, has so far been the “deepest musical journey” he’s taken in his career.
“I mean, 33 songs is a lot,” he muses. “That’s a lot of tunes.”
The ambition of the forthcoming project is also influenced by the way the Pumpkins have come to approach making records.
“We are not a band that goes in the studio and jams it out and is gonna do an album in a few days,” Schroeder explains. “Like, these are painstakingly worked-over albums where every second of the record is thought about.”
As for progress on the album, Schroeder says he’s about “halfway done” with his parts. Production-wise, he likens the music to the most recent Pumpkins record, last November’s CYR.
“It’s more of a forward-leaning album in production, not very four guys, five guys in a room jamming-type of record,” Schroeder says. “It’s a very produced album, so far.”
He adds, “But…things could change.”
Meanwhile, Schroeder just released his debut solo song, “Haenim.”
First announced in 2019, a new Led Zeppelin documentary — the first in 50 years to feature the band’s participation — has been completed, and now has a title: Becoming Led Zeppelin.
As Variety reports, the director, Bernard McMahon, had what’s described as “unprecedented” access to the band for the project. “Becoming Led Zeppelin is a film that no one thought could be made,” Variety quotes MacMahon as saying. “The band’s meteoric rise to stardom was swift and virtually undocumented. Through an intense search across the globe and years of restoration of the visual and audio archive found, this story is finally able to be told.”
Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones all sat for new interviews for the doc, and archival interviews with late drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980, are also included. Never-before-seen pictures and film, plus state-of-the-art audio transfers of Zeppelin’s music, round out the project.
McMahon also directed American Epic, a documentary series focusing on American roots music and its impact on the world. According to Variety, when Becoming Led Zeppelin was first announced, Page said that he knew McMahon would be “qualified’ to tell their story based on his “remarkable achievement” with American Epic.
So far, the documentary does not have a release date.
A new Beatles tribute album featuring an eclectic variety of well-known artists, including Heart‘s Ann Wilson, late Cream bassist Jack Bruce and Southern rockers Molly Hatchet, performing classic songs by the Fab Four will be released this Friday, August 6.
The album, which can be pre-ordered now, features Wilson’s rendition of “Across the Universe,” Bruce’s version “Eleanor Rigby” and Molly Hatchet performing “Back in the USSR.”
Other artists contributing tunes to the record include late Asia frontman John Wetton, ex-Deep Purple bassist/singer Glenn Hughes, folk legend Judy Collins, ’80s synth-pop artist Howard Jones and longtime Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, the latter of whom teams up with Mr. Mister‘s Richard Page for a cover of “Here Comes the Sun.”
Here’s the full track list of Legends Play The Beatles:
“Here Comes the Sun” — Richard Page & Steve Morse
“Across the Universe” — Ann Wilson
“Penny Lane” — John Wetton
“Back in the USSR” — Molly Hatchet
“Norwegian Wood” — Andrew Gold
“The Long and Winding Road” — Air Supply
“Tomorrow Never Knows” — Electric Moon
“Rain” — Sugar Candy Mountain
“Eleanor Rigby” — Jack Bruce
“And I Love Her” — Howard Jones
“Yesterday” — Judy Collins
“Let It Be” — Glenn Hughes
ZZ Top in 2015; Randy Holmes/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
Following the unexpected death of bassist Dusty Hill earlier last week, ZZ Top returned to the stage on Friday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Billboardreports that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers honored their late band mate before getting into the thick of their performance.
Frontman Billy Gibbons introduced Elwood Francis — who has served as the band’s guitar tech for the past two decades — as Hill’s temporary replacement. Francis had previously filled in for the late bassist prior to his death.
“We’re gonna have a good time in here tonight,” promised Gibbons. “Got a new guy up here, as you know. Dusty gave me the directive. My friend, your pal, Elwood Francis is gonna hold it down behind me.”
Mid-performance, Gibbons addressed the crowd again on behalf of Hill, shouting at the revelers, “How about that Elwood? Tearing up that bottom there for Dusty.”
Gibbons previously confirmed that Hill wanted the band to continue without him, according to tweets shared by rock radio personality Eddie Trunk.
“As Dusty said upon his departure, ‘Let the show go on!’ and…with respect, we’ll do well to get beyond this and honor his wishes,” a reported text from Gibbons said.
The 71-year-old singer/guitarist added, “Dusty emphatically grabbed my arm and said, ‘Give Elwood the bottom end and take it to the Top.’ He meant it, amigo. He really did.”
Last Wednesday, ZZ Top announced that Hill “passed away in his sleep at home in Houston” at age 72. No cause of death has yet been publicly revealed.
That’s what anyone with cable TV who happened to be up at midnight on August 1, 1981 — 40 years ago this Sunday — heard, as MTV: Music Television signed on the air for the very first time. At the time, it wasn’t even available in most major markets, including MTV’s home base, New York City. And that first day was a little rocky.
“The plan was that Mark Goodman would begin the welcome,” recalls original VJ Alan Hunter of MTV’s first moments. “After you had the Buggles and Pat Benatar videos, Mark comes on and says, ‘Hey, welcome to this thing called MTV and here are my pals'” And it would roll down to JJ [Jackson] and Martha [Quinn] and Nina [Blackwood]. And I was the last guy to say, ‘and I’m Alan Hunter.'”
But because the guy loading the videotapes screwed up, Hunter ended up being the first VJ we ever saw, saying, “…And I’m Alan Hunter.”
“No one really noticed, it was late at night,” Hunter laughs. “There was so many technical glitches that first day…MTV was duct-taped together to start, to be honest.”
But MTV soon took hold across the country — especially in the Midwest, where Hunter and his fellow VJs would find hundreds of people waiting to greet them at in-store appearances.
“They would ask for an autograph and say, ‘I watch this 24/7 in the dorm at college,’ or, ‘in the basement of our friend’s house down the street who has cable’…kids [were] going crazy for it,” Hunter recalls. “And they were beginning to ask for the music that they were seeing on MTV.”
Flooded with requests for songs by MTV faves like U2 and Duran Duran, radio eventually responded and previously unknown bands became superstars. But hey, don’t expect any gratitude from Duran Duran, whose stylish videos were a highlight of MTV’s early years.
“We tend to look at it the other way around,” Duran Duran’s Simon LeBon tells ABC Audio. “We think, ‘How much does MTV have to thank us for the popularity that they had in the 1980s?'”
Keyboardist Nick Rhodes snarks, “Yes, at least with Duran Duran, we didn’t have to resort to game shows in the end. We stuck with the music!”
Indeed, MTV stopped being the place for music videos literally decades ago.
“When I look at MTV’s daily schedule, all I see is Ridiculousness,” laughs Hunter, referring to the viral video clip show. “I think they’re struggling to try to find where they’re going.”
But whatever MTV is today, its impact is still being felt. Rob Tannenbaum, co-author of the oral history I Want My MTV, explains, “It changed record labels because now a certain type of band was more profitable. It changed the TV industry and the movie industry because they all wanted to emulate the fast cutting [and] bright colors. It changed fashion design. It changed advertising. It had a wholesale effect…all over popular culture.”
And the quintessential MTV Video? Tannenbaum says it’s Van Halen‘s “Hot for Teacher.”
“It has all the things that are supposed to make a video good. It’s got a guitar solo. It’s a band with long hair, chicks in bikinis,” he says, adding, “If you were trying to illustrate to an alien from another planet what MTV was about, you would show them ‘Hot for Teacher.'”
Here were the first 10 videos played on MTV:
“Video Killed the Radio Star” — The Buggles
“You Better Run” — Pat Benatar
“She Won’t Dance with Me” — Rod Stewart
“You Better You Bet” — The Who
“Little Suzi’s on the Up” — Ph.D.
“We Don’t Talk Anymore” — Cliff Richard
“Brass in Pocket” — The Pretenders
“Time Heals” — Todd Rundgren
“Take It on the Run” — REO Speedwagon (interrupted after 12 seconds due to technical difficulties)
“Rockin’ the Paradise” — Styx
On Thursday night at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom, Journey played their first concert since late 2019, and the first since longtime bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith were fired early last year.
The performance was part of a series of Lollapalooza “aftershow” events that select artists also performing at the Chicago festival this weekend are playing at various venues in the Windy City. The Aragon show was a warmup for Journey’s Lollaplooza headlining set Saturday.
In addition to guitarist Neal Schon, keyboardist Jonathan Cain and singer Arnel Pineda, Journey’s lineup includes drummers Narada Michael Walden and Deen Castronovo, keyboardist/backing vocalist Jason Derlatka and bassist Randy Jackson, although Marco Mendoza is filling in for Jackson at the Chicago shows while Randy recovers from back surgery.
According RollingStone.com, the Aragon Ballroom show was an extra-long, two-set extravaganza that included classic hits like “Open Arms,” “Faithfully” and “Separate Ways,” along with deep cuts like “Suzanne,” “Just the Same Way” and “Feeling That Way.” You can check out fan-recorded video of the band performing the 1978 gem “Wheel in the Sky” on YouTube.
Walden, Jackson and Derlatka joined the band last year, while it was announced earlier this week that Castronovo, who previously played who Journey from 1998 to 2015, was once again a member of the group.
Meanwhile, Schon tells ABC Audio that he’s excited that popular rapper-singer Post Malone will be headlining Lollaplooza alongside Journey on Saturday.
“I think he’s a very good guitar player…and I heard he’s a fan of mine as well,” says Neal. “And he plays many different styles.”
Schon adds, “Maybe he’ll get done before we do, ’cause I think we’re playing a longer show, and I’d like to invite him to our show to come…and sit in.”
Alice in Chains guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell has released a new song called “Atone.”
The track, which premiered via RollingStone.com along with an official music video, is the first single off Cantrell’s upcoming solo album Brighten. The album, which can be pre-ordered now, is due out October 29.
According to Rolling Stone, Brighten will feature guest spots from artists including Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan. It was co-produced by film composer and former Marilyn Manson band member Tyler Bates.
You’ll also find a cover of the 1971 Elton John song “Goodbye,” which was personally approved by the Rocket Man himself.
“Out of respect to Elton, I wouldn’t include it unless he said it was OK,” Cantrell says. “He’d played piano on [the 2009 Alice in Chains song] ‘Black Gives Way to Blue,’ which I wrote for Layne [Staley], so I reached out to Elton, he listened to it, and told me, ‘You should absolutely use it.'”
Brighten is Cantrell’s first solo album since 2002. Here’s the track list:
“Atone”
“Brighten”
“Prism of Doubt”
“Black Hearts and Evil Done”
“Siren Song”
“Had to Know”
“Nobody Breaks You”
“Dismembered”
“Goodbye”
Some day soon, you may be able to tour Kurt Cobain‘s childhood home in Aberdeen, Washington — that is, if the home’s current owners has anything to say about it.
Lee Bacon and his wife Danielle bought the house, where the late Nirvana frontman lived from 1968 to 1984, in 2018 from the Cobain family. Since then, Rolling Stone reports, they’ve been working to restore it to the way it looked in the ’70s and ’80s. It even has the Cobain family’s blessing: They’ve donated Kurt’s toddler bedroom set, as well as the mattress from his bedroom and their old dining room table and china hutch.
So far, the home has been officially approved for inclusion of Washington state’s Heritage Register of buildings that are culturally important. While it’s not properly zoned to become an actual museum, Bacon says he wants to open it up in the coming months for private tours, and is trying to work out the logistics now.
Rolling Stone adds that Bacon has also bought another building in downtown Aberdeen, where he plans to open an 8,000-square-foot “Tribute Lounge and Gallery Cafe” dedicated to Kurt. He envisions it as a space that will “tell the story of the house” and Kurt’s childhood years via artifacts, memorabilia, photos and more. Admission to that will be free, he says, and so will admission to the house, if he’s allowed to open it for tours.
Bacon also plans to install a plaque on the front of the house, telling Rolling Stone, “We have to write it for someone in the future, 20 years from now, who wants to learn about Kurt. We want it to be for someone who doesn’t know who he was or the contributions he made.”
L-R: Dusty Hill, Dave Grohl, Billy Gibbons; Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
When Foo Fighters performed in Cincinnati on Wednesday night, they took some time to pay tribute to ZZ Top bass player Dusty Hill, whose death at age 72 was announced a few hours before the band took the stage.
Drummer Taylor Hawkinswore a t-shirt reading “Dusty RIP” and, as a video that’s now been posted online shows, Hawkins also sang ZZ Top’s “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers” during the band introduction part of the concert, after guitarist Chris Shiflett began playing the tune. Shiflett then kicked into the ZZ Top classic “La Grange,” although frontman Dave Grohl unsuccessfully struggled to remember the words.
“That’s all you’re gonna get,” he joked. “But that was for Dusty, everybody. Let’s give it up.”
Hill died in his sleep on Wednesday; a cause of death hasn’t been announced. ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons has since said that the band plans to continue on.
