The Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was their first exposure to an American audience.
The band performed the songs “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You,” and “She Loves You” and then later returned to perform “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
The performance was seen by a then-record 73 million viewers, and helped Sullivan top the nightly ratings for the first time in seven years.
The show is considered one of the seminal moments in pop culture and launched Beatlemania in America.
In 2019, Peter Frampton announced he was retiring from touring after being diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscular disease that affects his ability to play guitar. COVID forced him to cancel the European dates of his tour, which he didn’t think he was up to rescheduling. But in the new issue ofCREEM magazine, he reveals what got him back for those final shows.
“I had resigned myself to the fact that, two years into the pandemic, maybe we shouldn’t even try and get a tour together,” he tells the mag, noting that even though he was holding a date at London’s Royal Albert Hall he was still unsure.
It took a visit to an ENT to change his mind. When he expressed his ambivalence about performing again due to his condition, Frampton shares, “He said, ‘Do it. The people want to see you.’ Then he said, and it was important the way he put it, ‘They’ll understand.’”
He notes, “It took a stranger to make my mind up. Isn’t that wild?”
Another thing that got him excited about playing again was recording a guest appearance on Dion’s most recent album, Stomping Ground, which got him out of his “doldrums” and smiling again.
Frampton describes that Royal Albert Hall show as magical with an amazing audience. “They were super supportive in every possible way. It was a wonderful feeling,” he says.
And it may have been enough to keep Frampton from totally saying goodbye to performing. “The audiences really helped me see a way forward,” he says. “They were wonderful everywhere. I really can’t thank them—and Dion and my ENT, don’t forget—enough.”
When Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” beat out Beyonce, Harry Styles and Adele for Song of the Year at Sunday’s Grammys, there were a lot of people who were baffled — and some who didn’t even know who Raitt was. But apparently there were plenty of folks out there who decided to see what all the fuss was about.
Billboard reports the Grammy win resulted in a huge bump for the song, jumping from just 10,000 daily on-demand streams two days prior to the Grammys to 697,000 the day after the awards show. That’s a jump of 6,700%.
And it’s not just streams. Sales of the song jumped 10,000%, from negligible amounts before the awards show to 4,550 copies the day after, launching it to number two on the iTunes real-time sales chart.
Music fans were also checking out some of Raitt’s other tunes. Songs from her catalog saw a 161% increase in on-demand streams, from 333,000 before the Grammys to 869,000 the day after.
We’ve been hearing a lot about the legal battles between Journey members Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain, but it seems there’s even more drama going on with the band. In case you missed it, Journey’s current lead singer, Arnel Pineda, recently posted a series of cryptic tweets that suggest he’s unhappy with how things are going with the group.
“(I’)m with the band to sing the legacy..if some of them are tired of me being with them, with all means, they can fire me anytime..,” he tweeted. “and don’t lecture me about spiritual BS..#walkthetalk.”
And that’s not all. He followed up with, “all i know? is #ivepaidmydues so stop reminding me where i came from..coz it’s in my heart everyday..”
He added, “you just don’t pay attention..im not a slave..im a human being like anybody else..#wrongiswrong #rightisright that simple..”
So far none of the current Journey members have commented on Pineda’s remarks, although Jeff Scott Soto, who had a short stint as Journey’s lead singer from 2006 to 2007, did respond.
“You have NOTHING or NO ONE to answer to brother, you’re a kind, gentle and huge heart with a huge talent to match, it’s the age old crap when you achieve success and happiness, there are many who want to break you down! Stay the course, YOUR course, I’m proud to be your friend!” he tweeted.
Regardless of all the drama, Journey continues on their 50th anniversary tour. The trek hits Savannah, Georgia, on Wednesday.
Roger Waters made a Zoom appearance at the United Nations Security Council Wednesday after being invited by Russian diplomats. He called for an “immediate cease-fire” to Russia’s war on Ukraine during his speech, saying he was speaking for the voiceless majority.
“The voiceless majority is concerned that your wars — yes, your wars, for these perpetual wars are not of our choosing — that your wars will destroy the planet that is our home,” the Pink Floyd star said in the speech. “And along with every other living thing, we will be sacrificed on the altar of two things: profits from the war to line the pockets of the very, very few and the hegemonic march of some empire or other towards unipolar world domination. That road leads only to disaster.”
The focus of the meeting was Russia’s war with Ukraine. Waters called Russia’s invasion illegal, but argued it was not unprovoked.
“I condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” Waters said. “I condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms.”
Waters called the Security Council a “toothless chamber,” but suggested that was a good thing: “I can open my big mouth on behalf of the voiceless, without fear of my head getting bitten off. How cool is that?”
He also shared some advice he heard from his mom as a young child, offering, “Read, read, read. Find out everything you can about whatever it is.”
The handwritten lyrics to David Bowie’s 1972 Aladdin Sane single “The Jean Genie” have brought in big bucks at auction. The BBC reports that the lyric sheet sold for over $68,000 at Omega Auctions in England this weekend.
Bowie gave the lyric sheet to Neal Peters, the founder of the Davie Bowie fan club, in the ’70s. It includes 18 handwritten lines on a piece of A4 lined paper. It is autographed and dated by the rock legend.
According to Omega Auctions’ Dan Hampson, the original owner was “in possession of this incredible set for a few years,” noting he “decided to sell after seeing the amazing price achieved when we sold the ‘Starman’ lyrics last year.” The “Starman” lyrics went for over $245,000.
Metallica has raised $4 million for charity in between the band’s recent Helping Hands benefit concert and 2021’s Metallica Blacklist tribute album.
Helping Hands, which took place in December, brought in $3 million for Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation, which supports causes including workforce education, and hunger and disaster relief.
The concert featured a rare acoustic set by the “Enter Sandman” metallers, as well as an electric performance, including the live debut of the ‘Tallica single “Lux Æterna.” Greta Van Fleet opened the show, while St. Vincent made a surprise appearance during Metallica’s rendition of “Nothing Else Matters.”
Meanwhile, the MetallicaBlacklist album raised $1 million for charities chosen by artists who participated in the project, which features 53 covers of songs off Metallica’s 1991 Black Album in honor of its 30th anniversary. The first round of donations is going to charities picked by Weezer, Miley Cyrus, Ghost and Volbeat, among others.
Scorpions is the latest band to join YouTube’s Billion Views Club. The rockers’ 1991 hit “Wind of Change” just surpassed 1 billion views on the site.
“1 Billion views on the ‘Wind of Change’ video!!! What a milestone,” the band shared on social media. “Thank you to all the Rock Believers for watching.”
“Wind of Change” was featured on the German band’s 11th studio album, Crazy World, and topped the charts in several countries, peaking at four in the U.S. The lyrics, written by the band’s lead singer, Klaus Meine, celebrate the end of the Cold War.
Journey is currently on their 50th anniversary tour, and it looks like there’s something special in store for fans going to their upcoming show in Austin, Texas.
Guitarist Neal Schon took to social media to tease what he’s calling a “special surprise” at the February 22 show in Austin. While he didn’t say anything else, fans think they know what it is.
Schon has said in the past that he was hoping to get Journey’s original keyboardist, Gregg Rolie, to join the tour. Fans think that’s what Schon’s teasing, especially since Rolie currently lives near Austin.
“Yes, a surprise… I wonder who lives in Texas,…hmmm, I wonder….who could it be??” one fan commented alongside a keyboard emoji, with another adding, “I’m gonna take a swing and say Mr. Rollie [sic] is gonna join you guys haha I hope my guess is right brother. Love it man, you deserve it.”
While their contemporaries Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are already in, Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine still haven’t been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This could finally be their year, though, as both the “Black Hole Sun” and the “Killing in the Name” rockers are among the 2023 nominees to be inducted.
Speaking with ABC Audio, Jason Hanley, Rock Hall’s vice president of education and visitor engagement, says, “Clearly, both of those bands are very, very deserving of the honor.”
In making Soundgarden’s case, Hanley says Chris Cornell and company “did do something different” from the rest of the bands of the ’90s grunge scene.
“They had a different rock sound that was maybe a little more rooted in heavy metal than some of the others,” he says.
Rage, meanwhile, was not only “impactful” with their political activism, but also with their “innovative” music.
“Tom Morello‘s guitar playing alone could get them inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” Hanley laughs. “Not to mention the great lyrics and the presentation of it, that mixed hip-hop style and rock.”
Soundgarden is a second-time Rock Hall nominee, while Rage has been on the ballot four times previously, the most for any artist among this year’s potential inductees.
“I think maybe the issue is these bands often keep ending up on the ballot with a lot of other new names that keep coming out,” Hanley says.
Indeed, eight of the 2023 nominees are on the ballot for the first time, including The White Stripes, Joy Division and New Order, Willie Nelson and Missy Elliott. Meanwhile, artists including Iron Maiden and Kate Bush are among returning nominees.
The 2023 Rock Hall inductees will be announced in May.
