KISS‘ Paul Stanley has contracted COVID-19 for a second time.
In an Instagram post, the Starchild shared a photo of his “Omicron face,” referring to the latest COVID variant driving a new surge of cases.
“My entire family has it,” Stanley wrote in the caption. “I’m tired and have sniffles. Most of my family have absolutely no symptoms.”
“Do as you choose,” he added. “I’m so glad I’m vaccinated.”
Stanley previously tested positive for COVID-19 this past August, as did his band mate, Gene Simmons. As a result, KISS postponed a number of dates on their ongoing End of the World farewell tour.
As promised, Eric Clapton debuted a brand-new song titled “Heart of a Child” over the holiday weekend.
The melodic acoustic ballad, which was released on Friday, Christmas Eve Day, is available now as a digital download and via streaming services. In addition, and an animated music video for the tune has premiered at Clapton’s official YouTube channel.
Clapton co-wrote “Heart of a Child” with Robin Monotti, an Italian film producer and architect who identifies as a pro-vaccine-safety advocate, and with whom Eric apparently shares similar anti-lockdown views.
The song’s lyrics seem to be directed toward a man who is feeling dejected because he’s being criticized by others, and has recently lost a close friend for some unclear reason.
“We lost of the love of a man, I was proud to know/ They locked you down, boy, made you grieve alone,” Clapton sings. “Turn off the TV, throw your phone away/ Don’t you remember what your daddy used to say?/ Don’t break the heart of your child/ Don’t let your fear drive you wild.”
The clip features a series of enigmatic images appearing as spray-painted graffiti on walls, billboards and other public places. The images include a pair of hands reaching toward each other, musical notes, a rock band, a bride and groom, a boy with a heart with a crack in it, ominous giant hands reaching to grab a man from behind, a man chained to a TV set and a mobile phone, a young man with a gun in one hand and sadly holding his head with his other hand, and an eye with a tear dripping from it.
For more information about “Heart of a Child,” visit WheresEric.com.
As we prepare to say goodbye to 2021, a number of well-known music artists will be celebrating milestone birthdays this week.
Two founding Moody Blues members were born 80 years ago this week — keyboardist/singer Mike Pinder and late flute player/vocalist Ray Thomas.
Pinder, whose 80th birthday is today, December 27, contributed his keyboard, songwriting and vocal talents to all of the band’s recordings from its 1965 debut album, The Magnificent Moodies, through 1978’s Octave.
The deep-voiced Pinder is perhaps best known for reciting the spoken-word piece “Late Lament,” written by drummer Graeme Edge, featured at the end of The Moodies’ classic 1967 concept album Days of Future Passed.
Thomas, who was born on December 29, 1941, contributed vocals, songwriting and flute to all of the band’s albums through 1999’s Strange Times, retiring from the group in 2002.
He died in January 2018 at age 76. Both he and Pinder were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as members of The Moody Blues in April 2018.
On Tuesday, December 28, Edgar Winter celebrates his 75th birthday. The multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter had his greatest success with his band the Edgar Winter Group‘s 1972 album They Only Come Out at Night, which featured the chart-topping instrumental “Frankenstein” and the top 20 hit “Free Ride.”
On Thursday, December 30, Patti Smith turns 75. The influential punk-rock singer, songwriter, poet and author is known for such memorable songs as her Bruce Springsteen collaboration “Because the Night,” her interpretation of Van Morrison‘s “Gloria,” as well as “Dancing Barefoot,” “People Have the Power” and many more. Smith was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2007.
On December 31, founding Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton celebrates his 70th birthday. In addition to playing bass on all of the band’s albums, Hamilton co-wrote the hits “Sweet Emotion” and “Janie’s Got a Gun,” as well as several other songs by the group. Hamilton entered the Rock Hall as a member of Aerosmith in 2001.
Rounding out the week, and ringing in 2022, Country Joe McDonald will celebrate his 80th birthday on New Year’s Day. McDonald was the frontman of Bay Area psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish, and showcased his classic anti-war anthem “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” at the 1969 Woodstock festival.
(Country Joe McDonald video contains uncensored profanity.)
Joe Walsh has extended the availability of the online stream of his recent fifth annual VetsAid benefit concert — dubbed “The Basement Show” — from December 25 through New Year’s Day.
The ticketed event, which premiered on December 18, is available now at Veeps.com, with all proceeds going to organizations that provide veterans services.
“I’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who has streamed our 5th Annual VetsAid show!” Walsh says. “With many holiday plans being altered, adjusted or canceled due to the pandemic, many fans have asked us to extend the viewing period so their families can enjoy the show over the holidays, so let’s keep the party going and raise money for our veterans!”
Walsh will also be taking part in a special “watch along” event on December 27 — he’ll be in the Veeps.com chat room starting at 8 p.m. ET that day.
As previously reported, this year’s VetsAid event was streamed live from the longtime Eagles guitarist’s basement studio and featured Joe performing with a backing group that included Tom Petty keyboardist Benmont Tench and three legendary session musicians: guitarist Waddy Wachtel, bassist Lee Sklar and drummer Russ Kunkel. Special guests included Walsh’s brother-in-law, Ringo Starr.
Unaired footage from the four previous VetsAid events was included in this year’s presentation, as well as recently shot footage of Walsh’s visit to the US VETS facility in Long Beach, California. During his visit, Joe treated veterans to a performance of his hit “Life’s Been Good.”
The VetsAid show also featured a tour of Walsh’s studio and part of his personal guitar collection, as well as a Q&A session during which he answered fan-submitted questions.
The Basement Show has been EXTENDED through 12/31 and is STREAMING NOW WORLDWIDE. Every $ goes to vets services. 5 hours of rock and roll for you to watch as many times as you like. If you’ve already signed up, your pass is now good through 12/31! Tickets: https://t.co/aBv7XIMLnTpic.twitter.com/SEMa1VwVsl
Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich is reflecting on the band’s recent pair of 40th anniversary concerts in San Francisco.
In an Instagram post, the drummer writes that he’s been “overf***inwhelmed” by the response to the shows, and shares his gratitude to all of the ‘Tallica’s metal-loving fans.
“Metallica is not me or you. Metallica is all of us,” Ulrich writes. “It’s a state of mind that we all share, it’s a destination we all seek out, it’s an element that keeps us alive, it’s our common purpose.”
“You keep this real,” he adds. “You keep us inspired and alive. It is because of you this thing exists.”
Ulrich goes on to marvel that Metallica has lasted so long.
“Who would’ve f***ing thought that this, whatever this is, could live and breathe this long, could still connect people, could still be somewhat relevant and still exist forty years later??!!” Ulrich asks.
“Thank you to each and every one of you for making it happen,” he continues. “Thank you to each and every one of you for believing in the possibility of music. Thank you to each and every one of you for being Metallica.”
Metallica’s 40th anniversary shows took place December 17 and 19, and were streamed live online. Rebroadcasts of the streams will air via the Coda Collection channel on Amazon Prime Video starting December 24 at noon ET.
AXS TV will bid farewell to 2021 and welcome 2022 with a special three-day block of programming that features a variety of concert films, including network premieres showcasing live performances by KISS, Def Leppard and Stevie Nicks.
KISS Rocks Vegas and Def Leppard: Hits Vegas were filmed, respectively, in 2014 at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and in 2019 at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theater.
Then on Saturday, New Year’s Day, Nicks’ 2020 concert film 24 Karat Gold will get its AXS TV premiere at 8 p.m. ET. The movie features performance footage from shows Stevie played in Indiana and Pittsburgh in 2017, during her 24 Karat Gold tour.
Other concert films being aired on AXS TV from December 31 to January 2 will feature performances by Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, Cyndi Lauper, Heart, Tom Petty, Peter Frampton, Bad Company, The Who and Van Morrison.
As the New Year’s programming block winds down, AXS TV will premiere a new episode of The Top Ten Revealed at 8 p.m. ET focusing debut albums released in 1982, followed by a new episode of the Rock Legends docuseries at 8:30 p.m. ET that looks at post-punk acts.
Here’s AXS TV’s full New Year’s weekend schedule:
12/31/21
8 p.m. ET — KISS Rocks Vegas*
9:30 p.m. ET — Def Leppard: Hits Vegas*
1 a.m. ET — KISS Rocks Vegas
2:30 a.m. ET — Kid Rock
1/1/22
10 a.m. ET — Fleetwood Mac: The Dance
12:30 p.m. ET — Def Leppard: Hits Vegas
4 p.m. ET — Chicago
5 p.m. ET — Cyndi Lauper
6 p.m. ET — Heart: Part One
7 p.m. ET — Heart: Part Two
8 p.m. ET — Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold
11:15 p.m. ET — Tom Petty
2 a.m. ET — Peter Frampton
1/2/22
10:30 a.m. — Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold
2 p.m. ET — Bad Company
3:30 p.m. ET — The Who: Tommy – Live at the Royal Albert Hall
5 p.m. ET — Van Morrison: Live at the San Francisco Jazz Center
7 p.m. ET — The Top Ten Revealed: ’80s Ladies
7:30 p.m. ET — The Top Ten Revealed: Debut Albums of 1981
8 p.m. ET — The Top Ten Revealed: Debut Albums of 1982*
8:30 p.m. ET — Rock Legends: Post-Punk*
Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy, the current band led by Emerson, Lake & Palmer drummer Carl Palmer, has announced plans to launch a second leg of its tour commemorating the legendary British prog-rock group’s 50th anniversary in 2022.
The U.S. trek will get underway with a January 27 show in Jacksonville, Florida, and is mapped out through a February 12-13 engagement at New York City’s famed jazz club The Iridium.
The first three dates of the tour — the Jacksonville gig, and shows on January 29 in Clearwater, Florida, and January 30 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida — are rescheduled concerts from 2021 that also will feature The Alan Parsons Live Project.
The new shows follow ELP Legacy’s 2021 tour leg, which took place in last month.
“Our Fall 2021 tour was first time since the pandemic hit that we were able to be together and perform,” says Palmer. “The response was remarkable and proved to us that live music was in great demand once again. The band and myself cannot wait to get out there once again for the Winter tour.”
The trek features ELP Legacy performing some of Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s most popular material along with a multimedia presentation that includes original artistic film clips and archival career-spanning footage of the famed trio. The band features Palmer joined by Paul Bielatowicz [bee-ell’-uh-TOE-vitch] on guitar and vocals, and Simon Fitzpatrick on bass and Chapman stick.
More U.S. dates are expected to be added to the 2022 trek. The band also will be touring the U.K. in April and mainland Europe in May and June.
Visit CarlPalmer.com to check out ELP Legacy’s full list of upcoming tour dates.
It’s coming on Christmas, so what better time for the first official music video for Joni Mitchell‘s classic 1971 piano ballad, “River,” to make its debut?
The animated clip, which you can watch now at the legendary Canadian singer/songwriter’s YouTube channel, is basically a black-and-white watercolor painting come to life depicting a melancholy Joni as she looked in the early 1970s, alone in her home and then skating on a frozen river.
As the video nears its conclusion, the animated black-and-white icy river and snowy landscape floods with springtime colors.
At the end of the clip, a quote from Joni appears that reads, “‘River’ expresses regret at the end of a relationship…but it’s also about being lonely at Christmas time…A Christmas song for people who are lonely at Christmas! We need a song like that.”
The video was directed by Russian animator and painter Matvey Rezanov, and pays tribute to Mitchell’s own painting style.
“River” appeared on Mitchell’s acclaimed fourth studio album, Blue, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. The song is believed to have been written about her breakup with Graham Nash.
Nirvana has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that asserts the cover of the band’s 1991 album, Nevermind, which shows a naked baby swimming for a dollar bill, constitutes child pornography.
As previously reported, 30-year-old Spencer Elden, who was photographed at four months old for the Nevermind cover, sued Nirvana members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and the late Kurt Cobain, represented by his widow and executor of his estate, Courtney Love, this past August, alleging that the grunge group committed “commercial child sexual exploitation of [Elden] from while he was a minor to the present day.”
In Nirvana’s dismissal request, obtained by Billboard, the band’s lawyers argue that Elden’s claims are “not serious” and “absurd.” Moreover, the motion maintains that the statute of limitations on Elden’s allegations have expired.
For Elden’s claims to fall within the statute of limitations, he would’ve had to filed his lawsuit within 10 years of “reasonably discovering” the “violation” or “injury.” Since he filed in August 2021, that means he must have learned of the “violation” no earlier than August 2011, which Nirvana’s lawyers argue is not true.
“Long before 2011, as Elden has pled, Elden knew about the photograph, and knew that he (and not someone else) was the baby in the photograph,” the motion reads. “He has been fully aware of the facts of both the supposed ‘violation’ and ‘injury’ for decades.”
The motion also brings up Elden’s own recreations of the Nevermind cover as an adult, as well as the Nevermind tattoo on his chest, and the claim that he used his fame as the Nevermind baby to “pick up women.”
“Elden has spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed ‘Nirvana Baby,'” the motion reads.
Starting in January, AXS TV will begin airing select past episodes of the popular performance series Live from the Artists Den, including shows featuring Ringo Starr and Robert Plant.
The season will kick off on Wednesday, January 12 with a performance by modern rockers Imagine Dragons, and the following week, on January 19, Plant and his former backing group Band of Joy will be featured.
The Led Zeppelin frontman’s episode was filmed in 2011 at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium, and includes renditions of Zeppelin’s “Gallows Pole” and “Ramble On,” as well as selections from Plant’s 2010 Band of Joy album. Among the musicians featured in the Band of Joy lineup were Americana artists Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin.
Starr will appear in an episode that will air on March 2. That program was shot in New York City at the Egyptian wing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2010, and features the former Beatles drummer performing songs by the Fab Four and from his solo career alongside Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 and Joan Osbourne.
Live from the Artists Den episodes will air weekly each Wednesday from January 12 through March 16 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
Other artists featured on upcoming episodes include Sheryl Crow, country stars, Lady A and Tim McGraw, pop group OneRepublic, and rock acts The Killers, Alabama Shakes and The Wallflowers.
AXS TV programming executive Sarah Weidman notes that Live from the Artists Den presents the various acts “in an intimate setting with a small audience, interspersed with insightful clips that find the performers reflecting on their own work and careers.”
