Classic Rock 93.9

Journey’s Neal Schon is speaking out for the first time since it was revealed he is suing bandmate Jonathan Cain over their company Nomota’s finances, including an American Express card Cain took out. 

“The only comment I’ll make at this time is it’s all very unfortunate and tried for over a year to attain all our corporate records for Nomota with many personal e-mails to Jon as well as many legal letter stating it’s my legal right to see all but I was left with no choice but to take it legal,” he writes on Facebook. “There’s much more … since I filed I’ll be following my attorneys advice and not speak until we are in court where I’ll not have a problem at all. It is what it is. “

Schon is arguing that “millions of Journey funds have flowed through” that Amex card, which Cain set up without his knowledge. And while Cain has told him he’d have access to it, he has yet to be added to the card.

In a separate Facebook post, Schon’s wife, Michaele, claims that since 2020, Cain’s wife, Paula White, was added to Journey’s bank account “against Neal’s wishes.” She also accuses Cain and his wife of trying to harm the band, noting it’s “Neal Schon who keeps Journey alive.”

Schon added in a tweet, “Yeah it’s a bit deeper then just a card.”

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Annie Lennox is spearheading a new fundraising effort to fight against gender bias. The newly inducted Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has just launched the Circle Music Icons Auction, with proceeds going to her non-profit The Circle.

“Ahead of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, I am delighted to have brought together some of the world’s greatest female artists for a very special auction to help raise funds for the vital work o f@TheCircleNGO,” the Eurythmics star shares on Instagram. “I have long believed that music can build bridges and bring people together and it is wonderful to see these phenomenal female artists stand side by side with women and girls around the world facing and fighting gender-based violence.”

Fans can bid on such items as handwritten lyrics to “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” signed by Annie, along with handwritten lyrics to other songs, including Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’,” Billie Eilish’s “Your Power,” Brandi Carlile’s ‘Right On Time” and Angelique Kidjo’s “Agolo.”

Lennox adds, “The auction proceeds will enable The Circle to support our grassroots partners helping women and girls to build lives free from abuse and fear, and advocate for long-term change to end the violence that will affect 1 in 3 women in their lifetime.”

Fans have until December 5 to place a bid on one of the auction items. In addition, there is a sweepstakes that runs until December 15; those interested can contribute $10 to enter and possibly win an item.

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Ringo Starr has always done his best to spread “peace and love,” and now, he’s found another way to do it.

Starting Wednesday, the former Beatle is selling a collection of 500 life-sized sculptures of his “Peace and Love” hand symbol. Money raised from the sale will go to the Lotus Foundation, which funds, supports and promotes charitable projects aimed at advancing social welfare in a variety of areas, including homelessness, cancer, substance abuse and more.

The sculptures are available for purchase at Julien’s Auctions and come in bronze (250) and stainless steel (250). The limited-edition hand symbols are all signed by Ringo and come with a Certificate of Authenticity. They’re packaged in a Ringo “Peace & Love” box and weigh 3.5 pounds.

As for how much they will set you back, the stainless-steel sculpture sells for $5,000, while the bronze goes for $2,000.

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Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine wants to play another Big 4 concert, and he thinks it’s up to Metallica to make that happen.

Metallica and Megadeth make up half of the so-called “Big 4” of thrash metal, alongside Slayer and Anthrax. All four groups took the stage together for a run of shows between 2010 and 2011, including one at New York City’s Yankee Stadium.

While Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax have stayed active, Slayer called it quits in 2019. However, Mustaine still feels that another Big 4 concert is possible.

“I really think it’s time for the guys in Metallica to step up, and us do one last round, see if we can get Slayer to come out of retirement and do a ‘Big 4 passing of the torch’ to the new Big 4,” Mustaine tells Songfacts.

As for who would be a part of that new Big 4, Mustaine says that “would remain to be seen,” but mentions bands including Lamb of God and Trivium.

“I think it would be really cool symbolically if we did something at like, the LA Coliseum, even if it’s one show and that’s it,” Mustaine says of the potential concert. “Slayer is from Los Angeles, so it would probably make it more convenient for them to go home at night. I personally have been hoping for this for a while, and I keep asking and asking and asking.”

“They’re just not into it,” he adds, presumably referring to Metallica. “But that’s up to them.”

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When Michael Hutchence passed away 25 years ago Tuesday, his band INXS was left wondering what to do next, and apparently they considered going with a female singer. In a new interview for theLiSTNR podcast Behind The Hits, Baby Animals singer Suze DeMarchi says she was approached about being a permanent replacement for the band’s late frontman.

“There was a formal offer from their manager,” she explains. “They didn’t say, ‘You’re going to make this, we’ll do this, some of that … It hadn’t got[ten] to that point, but [there were] conversations with their manager at the time.”

Ultimately the band decided to find a new lead singer on the reality show Rock Star: INXS and hired JD Fortune, who sang on two albums: 2005’s Switch and 2010’s Original Sin.

“Just before they had done that show, I was really seriously thinking about doing it,” DeMarchi explains. “I was just about to go, ‘Yeah, maybe we could try this,’ and then they said, ‘Well, we want to do this show.’ So that’s how it went down.”

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David Bowie’s son, director Duncan Jones, isn’t at all happy that Donald Trump continues to use his dad’s music. The latest instance was during Trump’s recent event at Mar-A-Lago announcing his 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump used Bowie’s “Heroes” as his exit music; after folks on social media made him aware of it, Jones responded on Twitter with, “We’ve been though [sic] this before. He used the same track 6 years ago. Ive been told there is little we can do about it.” 

He later added, “Pretty sure he’s doing that just to wind me up.”

Jones’ response comes not long after Isaac Hayes and Tom Petty‘s estates called out Trump for using the artists’ music without permission.

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A computer glitch during Elton John’s Sunday night broadcast of his final U.S. Farewell Yellow Brick Road show at Dodger’s Stadium left some viewers watching on Disney+ a bit shocked. That’s because former President Donald Trump’s name showed up in the closed captions several times.

Posts on social media pointed out the error, which happened more than once, including while Elton was singing “Levon” and “Candle in the Wind.” And while TMZ speculated it was the result of a hack, sources say it was a simple error.

Disney+ hasn’t commented on the glitch, but sources tell Variety it happened because an outside vendor was used for the live closed captioning. That vendor also transcribes news events, so Trump’s name likely had a keyboard shortcut, which somehow was inserted during the Elton telecast. The mistake was eventually fixed for the on-demand replay of the concert.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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A bookshop in Portugal, which claims to be “the world’s most beautiful bookshop,” placed the winning bid on a set of love letters written by Bob Dylan when he was in high school.

According to the New York Post, Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal, shelled out almost $670,000 for the letters, which the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer wrote to high school girlfriend Barbara Ann Hewitt between 1957 and 1959. The collection, which was being auctioned off at RR Auction, features 42 handwritten letters and about 150 pages of writings, including bits of poetry, an invitation to a Buddy Holly concert and more. They were found by Hewitt’s daughter following her 2020 death.

The bookshop says they plan to keep the collection complete for any Dylan fans or scholars to study. 

But the letters weren’t the only Dylan items up for grabs at the auction. There was also a set of poems he wrote at the University of Minnesota, which went for about $250,000, and an early signed photograph of the artist, which sold for over $24,000.

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Elton John is one of several artists set to be honored at Variety’s sixth annual Hitmakers celebration, which honors artists who have the 25 most-consumed songs of the past year, according to Luminate.

Elton is being honored alongside Dua Lipa as Hitmakers of the Year thanks to the success of their collaboration “Cold Heart-PNAU Remix,” which combines Elton’s hits “Rocketman,” “Sacrifice” and more. It peaked at seven on the Billboard chart and became Elton’s 28th top-10 hit. The honor also recognizes Elton for his incredible six-decade career, as well as his “mentorship of young artists.”

Also being recognized at the event is Kate Bush’s ’80s single “Running Up That Hill” for Sync of the Year, due to its resurgence on the chart after its use in season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things. It turned out to be the 12th most consumed song of 2022.

This year’s honorees, which include Imagine Dragons, Selena Gomez and Lizzo, will be celebrated on December 3 with an invitation-only brunch.

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Danny Kalb, guitarist for the 1960s/1970s band The Blues Project, passed away Saturday at his nursing home in Brooklyn; he was 80 years old. His brother Jonathan confirmed the news of his death to the New York Times and revealed that Kalb had been diagnosed with cancer three years ago.

In a 2013 interview with AM New York, Kalb shared that he met Bob Dylan at the University of Wisconsin. After the singer “crashed with me for a few weeks” on his way to New York, Kalb said he “dropped out and followed him.”

He went on to become a fixture in the Greenwich Village music scene and played in the studio with such artists as Judy Collins and Pete Seeger. He contributed two songs to the 1964 anthology, The Blues Project: A Compendium of the Very Best on the Urban Blues Scene, which featured music from eight Greenwich Village regulars. 

Kalb embraced the electric guitar and the blues after seeing John Lee Hooker perform at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. He then formed the Blues Project with Steve Katz, Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld and Tommy Flanders, releasing their only studio album, Projections, in 1966. Although they broke up in 1967, they regrouped in various forms up until about 2012. He also released several solo projects, including Livin’ with the Blues in 1995, All Together Now in 2006 and more.

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