Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DeLeo has revealed he’s contracted COVID-19.
“Well, like so many others this virus has come to pay me a visit,” DeLeo writes in an Instagram post alongside a photo of him holding a rapid antigen test showing two pink lines, signifying a positive result.
“Yes, double lines…Jackpot!,” the post reads. “Except this time you don’t win anything but a nice chunk of time by yourself doing the ‘q’ word.”
“Omicron, Robotron, Lexicon, whatever they wanna call it, it’s the CRUD!” DeLeo adds. “A new year is upon us and I hope and pray everyone stays healthy and safe. Let’s all make this new year a positive and forward moving experience filled with everything we all love!”
STP’s 2022 plans include a tour of Australia kicking off in March.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Go-Go’s had five West Coast concerts scheduled for this week and next, spanning from a December 28 show in San Francisco through a January 3 performance in San Diego, but all of the events have been postponed because a member of the band’s team recently tested positive for COVID-19.
A message from The Go-Go’s announcing the unfortunate news explains, “ALTHOUGH WE ARE, OF COURSE, VERY DISAPPOINTED, we will be following proper protocols and postponing our upcoming west coast dates.”
The band adds, “We will be announcing new dates VERY soon and look forward to getting back to performing and celebrating with everyone. WISHING EVERYONE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE HOLIDAY SEASON, AND SEE YOU IN THE NEW YEAR!”
The three other postponed concerts were scheduled for tonight, December 29, in Los Angeles, and on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in Las Vegas.
The Go-Go’s were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on October 30 in Cleveland and performed a three-song set at the ceremony. They also played a special club show on December 14 the the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California.
The band’s next scheduled concerts will take place this June, when the group will serve as Billy Idol‘s opening act at a series of U.K. shows.
In 2021, all those collaborations that Elton John had been doing for the past year or so really paid off, as he returned to the charts for the first time in decades.
In August, Elton teamed up with his new BFF Dua Lipa, who he became friendly with in 2020, to release “Cold Heart.” The mashup of four Elton songs — “Sacrifice,” “Rocket Man,” “Kiss the Bride” and “Where’s the Shoorah?” — was created by Australian dance act Pnau, with whom the music legend had previously collaborated.
–“Cold Heart” proved to be an unexpected smash, returning Elton to the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 for the firs time since 1999. It also officially gave him a 50-year span of singles on the top 40: the longest for any artist in Billboard history.
–“Cold Heart” was an even bigger hit in the U.K. When it hit the top 10, it made Elton the only act in the history of the singles chart in that country to score a top-10 hit in six different decades. Then in October, “Cold Heart” topped the U.K. chart, becoming Elton’s first number-one in his home country in 16 years.
–“Cold Heart” also became Elton’s first-ever number one on Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, and his first Australian number-one since 1997, making him, at 74, the oldest person ever to top the Australian chart.
–The number-one success of “Cold Heart” in the U.K. was helped along by Elton’s pal Ed Sheeran. After his song “Shivers” had been number one for four weeks, Ed actively encouraged his fans to stop streaming his song and stream Elton’s instead, writing, “Who doesn’t wanna be knocked off [the top] by Elton anyway?”
–After the release of “Cold Heart,” Elton surprised fans by announcing The Lockdown Sessions, an album featuring Elton duetting with everyone from Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X and Nicki Minaj, to Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder and Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder.
–Released in October, The Lockdown Sessions became Elton’s first top-10 album since 2016 in the U.S., and his first number-one album in the U.K. since 2012.
–In November, Prince Charles presented Elton with the Order of the Companions of Honour, which was first established in 1917 to reward “outstanding achievement.”
–In December, Elton and Ed teamed up for the festive holiday song “Merry Christmas,” which debuted at number one on the U.K. chart. The duo then partnered with the British duo LadBaby to create a parody of their song called “Sausage Rolls for Everyone,” a charity single which raised money for British food banks. The parody went on to become the U.K.’s much-coveted Christmas number one for 2021. It gave Elton his third U.K. number one of 2021.
–The one negative thing that happened to Elton in 2021 was that he had to push back his European tour dates because he had to have a hip operation. But his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour is one of the most anticipated of 2022.
Rush is set to be immortalized as a pinball machine.
A silver ball game dedicated to the Canadian prog legends is about to be released. Manufacturer Stern Pinball will debut the Rush machine during a virtual event at the 2022 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, taking place January 5-8, after which it’ll be coming to an arcade near you.
You can watch a teaser video for the Rush pinball machine, which promises that it’ll be “traveling soon,” now on YouTube.
Stern has also created machines inspired by bands including Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Aerosmith, AC/DC and KISS. To find a Stern pinball game in your area, visit SternPinball.com.
In addition to your local arcade, you can also hear Rush’s music live on tour next year, albeit played by Primus. The “My Name Is Mud” outfit will be launching a 2022 leg of their A Tribute to Kings tour in April, during which they perform Rush’s 1977 album A Farewell to Kings in its entirety.
The Rolling Stones made some very sad and very happy news in 2021. The sad news was that the band lost its beloved drummer, Charlie Watts, who died in August at the age of 80 after playing with the group for over 58 years.
The happy news was that, after postponing a planned U.S. tour in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Stones returned to the road in the fall of this year for a stateside leg that became the highest-grossing tour in the world for 2021.
The Rolling Stones unveiled their plans for a new U.S. leg of their No Filter Tour in late July. Just a couple weeks later, however, it was announced that Watts would likely not be able to join the band on the trek because he was recuperating from a medical procedure, and that he had personally chosen acclaimed session drummer Steve Jordan to fill in for him.
The Stones reportedly had expected Watts to make a full recovery, but he passed away on August 24 in a hospital, surrounded by family members.
With Jordan behind the drum kit, The Rolling Stones officially launched their 2021 tour on September 26 in St. Louis. The band dedicated the trek to Watts, and at the start of every show, a video presentation paying tribute to Charlie was shown on the venue’s screens. The 14-date trek wound down with a November 23 concert in Hollywood, Florida. Pollstar announced in December that the first 12 dates of the tour brought in $115.5 million — the final two shows took place after the calculation cut-off date — making the trek easily the highest-grossing in the world this year.
In other noteworthy Rolling Stones-related news that happened in 2021, Mick Jagger released a new collaborative single in April called “Eazy Sleazy” that featured Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on guitar, bass and drums. Also, October saw the release of an expanded 40th anniversary reissue of The Stones’ classic 1981 album Tattoo You. The deluxe versions of the reissue included a bonus disc titled Lost & Found made up of previously unreleased tracks enhanced with newly added vocals and guitars.
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason‘s current band, Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, has announced that its planned North American tour, scheduled to begin in January, has been postponed.
A message on the band’s official Twitter feed announced, “It is with great regret that due to the uncertainty surrounding the Covid pandemic, it has been decided to postpone the North American tour until later in the year. Apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment due to this.”
“We are working on rescheduling the dates and will announce them as soon as we can,” the message continued. “Ticket holders are advised to await further information from the venue and/or ticket company where they purchased their tickets.”
The trek, called the Echoes Tour, had already been postponed for over a year due to the pandemic. This time, it was set to kick off January 18 in Toronto and wrap up February 23 in Vancouver, with 23 U.S. concerts in between.
Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets performs Pink Floyd music that predates the band’s classic 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. The group also features Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp, longtime Pink Floyd and David Gilmour touring bassist Guy Pratt, and veteran session musicians Lee Harris and Dom Beken on guitar and keyboards, respectively.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
After the in-person ceremony was replaced by a virtual special in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction gala returned this year in full force with a star-studded event held October 30 at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The honorees in the Performers category this year were Foo Fighters, Todd Rundgren, The Go-Go’s, Tina Turner, Carole King and JAY-Z. The other inductees included Musical Excellence Award recipients LL Cool J, late Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads and the late Billy Preston; and Early Influence Award honorees Kraftwerk, late blues great Charley Patton and late soul/jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron; and music executive and entrepreneur Clarence Avant, who received the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
Here are some of the evening’s many highlights:
—Paul McCartney inducted Foo Fighters, and compared frontman Dave Grohl‘s post-Nirvana career to his own time in Wings, noting, “We had a great time with our groups, but eventually tragedy happened and my group broke up. Same happened with Dave. His group broke up under tragic circumstances. So the question is, what do you do now?”
Macca continued, “In my case, I said, ‘Well, I’ll make an album where I play all the instruments myself.’ So I did that. Dave’s group broke up…what’s he do? He makes an album where he plays all the instruments himself. Do you think this guy’s stalking me?”
The Foos performed “Everlong,” “Best of You” and “My Hero” before taking the podium. Grohl delivered a short acceptance during which he thanked his band and crew family, and his actual family. Drummer Taylor Hawkins campaigned in his speech for the eventual induction of Soundgarden and George Michael.
The night concluded with McCartney and Foo Fighters jamming on the Beatles classic “Get Back.”
–Rundgren, who’d said for many years that if inducted, he wouldn’t attend, pointedly booked a concert in Cincinnati on the night of the ceremony. He was virtually inducted by Patti Smith, who has known Todd since their twenties. A tribute video included commentary from Daryl Hall and The Bangles‘ Susanna Hoffs.
—Drew Barrymore inducted The Go-Go’s and paid homage to the cover of the all-female group’s debut album, Beauty and the Beat, by wrapping her hair in a bath towel and applying face cream, emulating the album’s cover image. “Beauty and the Beat blew the doors of my life off,” she told the crowd.
While the group accepting their honor, bassist Kathy Valentine said now that The Go-Go’s had been inducted, they’d be “advocating for the inclusion of more women.” The band then rocked the crowd with “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat.”
–Turner and King became the second and third women to become two-time Rock Hall inductees, following Stevie Nicks in 2019. Tina was first inducted in 1991 as one half of Ike & Tina Turner. Welcoming her as a solo performer was actress Angela Bassett, star of the Turner biopic What’s Love Got to Do with It. Tina didn’t attend the event, instead sending a pre-recorded thank-you video.
King, who’d been inducted as a songwriter in 1990, was ushered into the Rock Hall this time by Taylor Swift.
—Ringo Starr appeared via pre-taped video to induct Preston, who famously played and recorded with The Beatles during the making of Let It Be.
–JAY-Z was inducted by Dave Chappelle; Rhoads by Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello; Kraftwerk by Pharrell Williams; LL Cool J by Dr. Dre; Scott-Heron by Common; Patton by Gary Clark Jr.; and Avant by Lionel Richie.
Remember when Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat during a concert? It’s back, in NFT form.
According to Rolling Stone UK, the metal legend is launching his own run of non-fungible tokens inspired by that infamous 1982 incident. The collection, titled CryptoBatz, consists of 9,666 digital bats designed by Ozzy in collaboration with the NFT studio Sutter Systems.
“I’ve been trying to get in on the NFT action for a while,” Ozzy says. “I asked Sharon for a Bored Ape for Christmas after several failed attempts of buying my own, and she said no, so I decided to create my own.”
“CryptoBatz is a f***ing mental project for NFT collectors and fans,” the Black Sabbath frontman adds. “The design pays tribute to one of my most iconic on-stage moments and is a chance to acquire a rare piece of art history. I love it!”
The rapidly spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 has forced some Broadway shows to temporarily close, or even shutter for good. However, David Byrne is using the situation to take his show, American Utopia, in a different creative direction.
Several members of the show’s company tested positive and are isolating at home so, as Byrne says in a statement, “We’ve chosen to make some creative changes to enable us to put on a show.”
“What we are doing could be called ‘Unplugged,’ or maybe ‘Unchained,’ he explains, referring to the fact that the show takes place on a bare stage surrounded by curtains made of chains.
“We are adding some songs by Talking Heads as well as songs from my solo catalog, that will supplement songs already in American Utopia,” Byrne continues. “I know it’s going to be a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ experience, that will only be seen for a few performances. We are ready to have a good time!”
This week, American Utopia has shows scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, plus Saturday and Sunday, January 1 and 2. Tickets are on sale through April 3, 2022 at via AmericanUtopiaBroadway.com.
Led Zeppelin‘s Robert Plant reunited with acclaimed country-bluegrass artist Alison Krauss in 2021 to record a new collaborative album titled Raise the Roof, a follow-up to their Grammy-winning 2007 duets collection, Raising Sand.
Like its predecessor, the 12-track Raise the Roof collection was produced by T Bone Burnett and features mostly cover songs.
The album includes renditions of tunes by Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, The Everly Brothers, British folk legend Bert Jansch and many others. Raise the Roof also features a new original tune called “High and Lonesome” that Plant co-wrote with Burnett.
Among the contributors to Raise the Roof were a few musicians who also appeared on Raising Sand — drummer Jay Bellerose, guitarist Marc Ribot and bassist Dennis Crouch. Other collaborators on the record included Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo, lauded jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and Robert’s Band of Joy collaborator Buddy Miller.
Raise the Roof was released on November 19 and debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200. Plant and Krauss have promoted the album by appearing in pre-recorded in-studio performance segments that have been shown on a variety of television shows, including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, CBS Saturday Morning and PBS NewsHour. They also shot an episode of NPR’s popular online performance series Tiny Desk Concert.
The duo also announced that they’ll hit the road together next year, starting with a U.S. tour leg that kicks off June 1 in Canandaigua, New York, and runs through a June 16 show in Atlanta.
Raising Sand, Plant and Krauss’ first duets album, won five Grammys in 2009, including Album of the Year.
