Peace may sell, but what about Megadeth-branded cryptocurrency?
Dave Mustaine‘s certainly hoping it will with the launch of $MEGA, described as the “official cryptocurrency of Megadeth and our community.”
“By buying, holding, and transacting with $MEGA, fans will gain access to exclusives and premium benefits,” reads a statement. Members of the Cyber Army fan club will also be able to “unlock additional exclusives, access, and offers.”
A streaming event focusing on a recent concert by Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde showcasing her 2021 Bob Dylan covers album Standing in the Doorwaywill premiere December 26 on the Veeps.com platform.
The show, Chrissie Hynde & Co. Sing Bob Dylan (and Other Songs), was recorded during a three-night engagement Hynde played this past July at London’s Royal Opera House. The concert featured renditions of all nine Dylan songs Chrissie recorded for Standing in the Doorway, as well as a couple of classic Kinks tunes, selections from The Pretenders’ 2020 album Hate for Sale, and more.
Hynde was accompanied at the shows by Pretenders guitarist James Walbourne — her main Standing in the Doorway collaborator — along with Carwyn Ellis on keyboards and Danny Williams on upright bass.
The show debuts at 3 p.m. ET on December 26. Anyone purchasing tickets will be able to re-watch the concert until January 3, 2022, at 2:59 a.m. ET.
Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan was released in May, coinciding with the folk-rock legend’s 80th birthday. The album came together over the course of 15 weeks in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes renditions of nine Dylan songs that Hynde recorded remotely with Walbourne.
We’re pleased to announce the ‘Chrissie Hynde & Co. Sing Bob Dylan (and Other Songs) Streaming Event’ taking place Dec. 26th
Filmed at Royal Opera House, Chrissie Hynde and Co. perform Bob Dylan covers, classic Kinks, Pretenders & more.
The clip features a cartoon Gibbons donning a Santa Claus outfit as he embarks on a snowy adventure to deliver presents in a hot rod that’s been converted into a flying sleigh. Along the way he rocks out on his new Christmas tune with help from a harmonica-playing snowman.
“The animators put me in a hot rod that looks suspiciously like our very own ’34 Ford-based ‘Whiskey Runner’ though they’ve made some few seasonal adjustments,” Billy explains of the video. “There’s considerable snowfall so the wheels are replaced midway by a set of skis and now there’s a pickup bed in the back so gifts can rain down from it. They have me doing a header into a chimney but it’s not clear if I get to to enjoy any cookies and milk for my efforts.”
As previously reported, “Jingle Bell Blues” is 12-bar-blues-infused version of the Christmas classic “Jingle Bells” that’s available now as a digital download and via streaming services. A limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single pressed on red-translucent vinyl will be released on December 10.
The disc, which you can pre-order now at Gibbons’ official online store, comes with an old-school vinyl center hole adapter with “Billy F Gibbons” written on it. The single’s flip side features an etching of a whitewall tire.
Carlos Santana has canceled all the December shows of his Las Vegas show at the House of Blues, because he’s recovering from what’s described as an “unscheduled heart procedure.”
The 74-year-old guitar legend tweeted a video in which he explains that last Saturday, he asked his wife to take him to the hospital because “I had this thing happening in my chest.”
“We found out that I need to take care of it, so I am,” Carlos goes on. “So I’m gonna be taking time out for a little bit to make sure that I replenish and I rest….so that when I play for you, I will play the way I’m used to and give you 150%. I wouldn’t show up unless I could do that.”
Santana will resume his shows in January of 2022. A statement from his manager further explains that Santana’s “procedure” “impacted his performance,” but adds that Carlos is “doing fantastic and is anxious to be back on stage soon.”
Santana has canceled all December 2021 at the House of Blues Las Vegas as he recovers from an unscheduled heart procedure. We look forward to returning to perform at the House Of Blues in January 2022. pic.twitter.com/8cHcVDjFhv
In September, The Scorpions announced that their long-awaited new studio album, Rock Believer, was due out on February 11, 2022, but the release date recently was pushed back to February 25.
This week, Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine and guitarist Rudolf Schenker shared some details about the album during a Zoom interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro.
Asked what fans can expect when they hear the new material, Meine said, “Well, you can expect an album that is dedicated to all the rock believers in the world…The goal was to make a rock album — to make an album with lots of attitude, power and focus on the good old times and really enjoy the music and have some fun with the music.”
Talking about the meaning of the album’s title, Schenker said, “Look, we [have been] around the world since 50 years or more. And [if] somebody can say he’s a rock believer, then this is us. And of course, we meet our rock believers in front of us, our audience.”
Meine told Radio Futuro that “Peacemaker” exemplified a lot of the tunes on the new record, noting, “It is an uptempo rock song, and this album really rocks…There are many uptempo songs and, believe it or not, there are even faster songs than ‘Peacemaker.'”
In addition, the singer revealed, “There’s also a very beautiful ballad on the album, and I’m sure there are fans out there [who] especially love the Scorpions ballads, and they will enjoy this record as well very much.”
Eddie Vedder has announced a 2022 U.S. tour with his solo band, Earthlings.
The outing will begin February 3-4 with a two-night stand in New York City, and will wrap up with a pair of dates in Pearl Jam‘s hometown of Seattle February 21-22.
Tickets will only be available through the Pearl Jam Ten Club and the Ticketmaster Verified Fan program. Registration for either sale is open now through December 5 at 5 p.m. PT.
Along with Vedder, Earthlings includes Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, ex-RHCP guitarist and current Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, singer-songwriter and Once star Glen Hansard, and guitarist/producer Andrew Watt. The group made their debut at Vedder’s Ohana Festival in September.
Earthlings take their name from Vedder’s upcoming solo album Earthling, due out February 11, 2022. The record includes the previously released singles “Long Way” and “The Haves.”
Last month, The Black Crowes played a special two-night Las Vegas engagement at the House of Blues, and now the veteran rockers have announced plans to return to the venue in February 2022 for a pair of new concerts.
The band’s residency, dubbed The Black Crowes: Twice as Hard, will take place on February 11 and February 12, and will feature the group — led by brothers Chris and Rich Robinson — playing their biggest hits, as well favorites from the band’s 1990 debut album, Shake Your Money Maker. The concerts will be held just before Super Bowl LVI, which is scheduled for Sunday, February 13, at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles.
Tickets for the new Vegas shows go on sale to the general public this Friday, December 3, at 10 a.m. PT. Black Crowes band, Live Nation and MGM pre-sale offers are all available now. Visit the group’s official website and social media pages and Ticketmaster.com for more details.
Besides the Las Vegas gigs, Chris and Rich Robinson are scheduled to perform as their Brothers of a Feather duo incarnation on January 15 at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. The Black Crowes also are part of the 2022 Stagecoach Festival lineup and are slated to play that event on May 1 in Indio, California.
New details have been announced about the release of the previously reported behind-the-scenes documentary film Barn, capturing the making of Neil Young & Crazy Horse‘s upcoming album of the same name, which is due out Friday, December 10.
In addition to the movie being released as part of the deluxe edition of Barn and as a standalone Blu-ray, as previously announced, the film also will be screened in select U.S. theaters on December 9 and in Toronto on December 11.
The Barn documentary also will premiere exclusively on-demand via the AARP Members Only Access service on December 10 and will be available through January 10. Barn also will be screened on AARP’s Music for Grownups platform on December 17.
The Barn film, which was directed by Young’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah — aka “dhlovelife” — offers an intimate look at Neil and the current Crazy Horse lineup working on the album in 19th-century log barn in Colorado’ Rocky Mountains during the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year. Most of the album was recorded live.
A video for one of the songs, “Heading West,” premiered on Young’s official YouTube channel this week, and the track will be made available as the third advance digital single from the album this Friday, December 3.
Barn, which you can pre-order now, is a 10-track collection that will be available on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital formats, and as a deluxe box set. The box set includes a CD and a vinyl LP, as well as the aforementioned Blu-ray featuring the Barn film.
12/9 — Chicago, IL, Landmark Century Centre Cinema
12/9 — Santa Monica, CA, Laemmle at the Monica Film Center
12/9 — New York, NY, IFC Center
12/11 — Toronto, ON, Canada, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema
Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Later this month, we’ll mark the fifth anniversary of the tragic death of George Michael, who passed way on Christmas Day 2016 at the age of 53. Now, one of his famous friends is expressing regret at not doing enough to prevent his death.
Speaking with Apple Music, Sting tells Zane Lowe of his late pal, “You wonder where that immense talent would’ve developed. What would he be doing now? And it’s with such sadness that I think of George, because he had such potential and died far too young.”
Sting adds, “And he was a lovely, lovely man. I just miss him. I just miss him. I wish we could have helped him more. I think he was lonely and we should have helped him more.”
Sting and George were both huge pop stars in the ’80s, and sang together on the Band Aid single “Do They Know It’s Christmas.” Over the years, they collaborated onstage, and George covered Sting’s classic Police hit “Roxanne” on his 1999 album Songs from the Last Century.
In 2017, Sting dedicated his song “Fragile” to George and two other icons who left us too early: David Bowie and Prince.
Speaking about his friendships with other artists, Sting told Lowe that many of them came about thanks to the massive charity events that were so popular in the ’80s.
“Events like Live Aid or the Amnesty Tour forced us to share space, to share dressing rooms, to share the stage, to share the limelight, to share airplane journeys together,” he explains. “And some of those friendships that were forged then — for example, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen…Tracy Chapman— those friendships are solid to this day because of that. We recognized our own situation in those other people. We didn’t feel isolated.”
John Mellencamp and former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer are among the artists who have contributed items to a silent holiday auction benefiting The ASCAP Foundation, which supports music education and talent-development programs for music creators.
Mellencamp has donated a signed Jasmine acoustic guitar that has an estimated value of $2,500.
Klinghoffer, who’s currently a member of Pearl Jam‘s touring band, has donated a 45-minute virtual guitar lesson to the auction, valued at $5,000.
Other stars who have donated items to the sale include Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, famed pop songwriter Paul Williams, R&B artist Ne-Yo, rapper Lil Baby and country stars Chris Stapleton and Old Dominion.
![Scorpions’ Klaus Meine says band wanted new album ‘Rock Believer’ to have “lots of attitude [and] power”](https://s3.amazonaws.com/syndication.abcaudio.com/files/2021-12-01/M_ScorpionsRockBeliever630_120121.jpeg "Scorpions’ Klaus Meine says band wanted new album ‘Rock Believer’ to have “lots of attitude [and] power”")
