If a T-shirt isn’t enough for you to express your love for Metallica, perhaps some jewelry will do the trick.
The metal legends have announced a ring inspired by their new album, 72 Seasons. The ring will be available as an all-silver piece for $249.99, with a limited edition version embossed with brass selling for $349.99.
The brass edition is exclusive to members of Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club and will be limited to just 72 pieces.
72 Seasons was released in April. Metallica is currently supporting the album on the world M72 tour, which continues Friday, August 25, in Los Angeles.
Guns N’ Roses continues to surprise fans on their current world tour. The latest instance came Monday, August 21, during their show at Fenway Park in Boston, when Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde came out to join them on the track “Bad Obsession.”
Fan-shot footage posted to YouTube shows Chrissie joining Axl Rose and the others on harmonica for the Use Your Illusion I track, which was the second song of the night.
Chrissie and the Pretenders are currently one of the opening acts on the Guns N’ Roses tour. The trek hits Chicago’s Wrigley Field on Thursday, August 24. A complete list of dates can be found at gunnroses.com.
Pretenders, who are dropping the new album Relentless on September 1, are also currently headlining a club tour. Their next club show is happening Saturday, August 26, in Nashville, Tennessee. A complete list of dates can be found at thepretenders.com.
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith, often called the Godmother of Punk, continues to to be an inspiration to future generations of musicians, and the latest artist paying her respects to her is Dua Lipa.
The pop star has just picked Smith’s acclaimed memoir, Just Kids, as the September pick for her Service95 Book Club.
The book documents Smith’s relationship with late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the late ’60s and early ’70s New York art scene. The book was a New York Times best seller, and in 2010, it won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
“Patti is an absolute rock and roll icon and a personal hero of mine so I am beyond excited to dive into this book,” Dua writes on Instagram. “It’s hard to define Patti – she is a singer, a songwriter, a poet, a painter and, of course, an author. It’s safe to say that we get something of all of these personas through this beautiful book.”
Dua continues, “I’d have loved to be part of such a cool era. Patti gives us the next best thing – possibly the most spellbinding account of New York in the ’70s ever written. As we witness the ascent of two legendary artists – Robert and Patti – it’s clear that her respect and love for artistry never dims.”
Throughout September, Book Club followers will see Dua chatting with Smith about her life experiences and creative process. Smith will also share two exclusive readings, a playlist and a compilation of her own must-reads.
Ringo Starr is treating fans to another EP. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is set to release his fourth EP, Rewind Forward, on October 13, with the title track dropping Friday, August 25.
“Rewind Forward was something I said out of the blue – it’s just one of those lines like a Hard Days Night. It just came to me. But it doesn’t really make sense,” Ringo says about the title. “I was trying to explain it to myself and the best I can tell you about what it means is: sometimes when you want to go forward you have to go back first.”
Ringo brought in some of his A-list friends to help him with the tracks on the EP, including former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney, who wrote “Feeling Sunlight.” The EP also features songs written by Toto’s Steve Lukather and Joe Williams, Heartbreakers’ Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, and Ian Hunter. The Eagles’ Joe Walsh, who is Ringo’s brother-in-law, also appears on the EP.
Ringo kicked off his EP series in March 2021 with Zoom In, which was followed that September by Change The World and then EP3 in September of 2022.
Up next, Ringo and his All-Starr Band will kick off a fall tour September 15 in Stateline, Nevada. A complete list of dates can be found at ringostarr.com.
Here is the track list for Rewind Forward:
“Shadows On The Wall”
“Feeling The Sunlight”
“Rewind Forward”
“Miss Jean”
Led Zeppelin released their eighth and final studio album, In Through the Out Door, in the United States.
The album went to #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, where it spent seven weeks, tying it with Led Zeppelin II for the Led Zeppelin album with the most weeks at #1. The album’s best known songs include “All of My Love” and “Fool in the Rain.”
In Through the Out Door wound up becoming the last studio album from the legendary rockers. Their drummer, John Bonham, died in September, 1980, and they disbanded that December.
Are TheRolling Stones dropping hints that a new album is on the way? Well, that’s the speculation on social media after fans caught wind of a cryptic newspaper ad in the British paper the Hackney Gazette for something called Hackney Diamonds.
Billed as “specialists in glass repair,” the ad notes that Hackney Diamonds is “opening September 2023,” with the “I” in Diamonds dotted with the Stones’ signature lips logo. The ad also quotes several Rolling Stones song titles in its promotion.
“Our friendly team promises you satisfaction. When you say gimme shelter we’ll fix your shattered windows,” reads the ad, referring to Stones songs “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Gimme Shelter” and “Shattered.”
There’s also a Hackney Diamonds website, run by Universal Music, with the same ad, asking fans to “register your interest.”
So far, the Stones are staying mum regarding the speculation, but fans are convinced it’s all leading to a new album. Fans have been anxiously awaiting album news since Keith Richards said back in January that new Rolling Stones music was “on its way.”
The award-winning graphic novel The Fifth Beatle was released 10 years ago. And to mark the milestone, a new anniversary edition is being released this fall.
The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story (Anniversary Edition) will feature a new cover and a new intro from former Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis, as well as a musical playlist curated by the graphic novel’s author, Vivek Tiwary. There are also new introductions from British musician Billy J. Kramer and record producer Andrew Loog Oldham, along with an expanded sketchbook.
Released in November 2013, The Fifth Beatle was written by Tiwary, with illustrations by Andrew C. Robinson and Kyle Baker and lettering by Steve Dutro. It told the true story of Beatles manger Brian Epstein, delving into both his professional life and guiding the Beatles to superstardom, as well as his personal struggles.
The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story (Anniversary Edition) will be released in bookstores on November 21 and comic stores on November 22. It is available for preorder now.
Heart’s Ann Wilson is set to headline the sixth annual Women Who Rock benefit concert, taking place October 21 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Wilson will perform with her new band Tripsitter, with the concert raising money for the Magee-Womens Research Institute, which is the largest research institute in the U.S. dedicated solely to lifesaving women’s health research.
The concert will feature an all-female-fronted lineup that also includes Youngstown, Ohio, band The Vindys, as well as a DJ set from Madame Trio.
Tickets for the concert go on sale Friday, August 25, at 10 a.m. ET.
The B-52s are extending their time in Las Vegas. The band just announced five more dates for Loveshack: The Residency at The Venetian Resort.
The new shows are set for April 12, 13, 17, 19 and 20, with a presale happening August 22 at 10 a.m. local time and a public on-sale set for Friday, August 25, at 10 a.m. PT.
The B-52s still have five more Vegas shows in 2023. They’re back at the Venetian August 25, 26 and 30, followed by shows September 2 and 3.
Although The B-52s wrapped a farewell tour in January, they didn’t completely say goodbye to performing. In addition to the Vegas shows, they’re due to play festivals in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Huntington Beach, California, later this year. A complete list of dates can be found at theb52s.com.
Bruce Springsteen will be the subject of a new exhibit opening in Boston in September.
Bruce Springsteen: Portraits of an American Music Icon is set to debut September 13 at the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame inside Boston’s Bosch Center Wang Theatre. The exhibit, curated by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music, will give fans insight into The Boss through photos taken by close friends, photographers and family members, including Danny Clinch, Eric Meola and Bruce’s sister Pamela Springsteen.
Also on September 13, the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame will be debuting another exhibit, Legends of Folk, Americana and Roots, featuring artifacts from legendary folk musicians like Woodie Guthrie and Pete Seger.
