James Taylor at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony (Disney/Eric McCandless)
Live Nation is offering four-packs of lawn tickets to individual shows over the summer for the all-in price of $99 as part of its Summer of Live promotion.
The participating artists include David Byrne, Don Felder, Foreigner, Lynyrd Skynyrd, James Taylor, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, Mötley Crüe, Santana, The Doobie Brothers, Toto, Christopher Cross, The Guess Who, Howard Jones and Tedeschi Trucks Band.
Saxophonist Walter Parazaider of Chicago performs at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on August 18, 2012 in Wantagh, New York. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
The Doobie Brothers have paid tribute to Chicago founding member Walter Parazaider, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 81.
In a post on Instagram, the band said they wanted to “bid farewell to our good friend” and reflected on their relationship with Chicago, which “goes back decades to the early 70’s (sic) when we played many shows with them.”
“We became good friends with all the members exchanging phone numbers, addresses and emails,” they wrote. “Walt was always among the first people to greet everyone when we walked into a venue. Always wearing a warm smile as he reached out to embrace you with a hug.”
“He always picked up the phone when you called and made you feel like he was genuinely happy to hear from you,” they continued. “On occasion you might get a call from him just checking in to let you know he was thinking of you.”
The band described Parazaider as “a truly authentic, warm person with a heart as big as the ocean.”
“We’re so thankful for the wonderful memories we have of Walt and for the incredible legacy of music he helped create,” they concluded the post. “We send our sincere condolences to his wife and family and of course to all his bandmates. He blessed us all with his presence and is forever in our hearts.”
The Rolling Stones’ ‘Foreign Tongues’ (Capitol Records)
The Rolling Stones are set to give fans some insight into the making of their upcoming album, Foreign Tongues, with a brand-new podcast.
Speaking in Tongues – The Official Podcast will consist of six episodes, narrated by Grammy Award-winning singer Norah Jones. According to the description, the podcast will take fans “inside the studio on an intimate and exclusive journey tracing the story of the inspiration, writing and recording of the new album.”
The podcast will feature new and exclusive interviews with The Stones’ Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, along with Foreign Tongues producer Andrew Watt. The Cure’s Robert Smith and Steve Winwood, who both appear on Foreign Tongues, will also contribute to the podcast, along with Nathaniel Mary Quinn, who did the artwork for the album.
The Band’s ‘Music From Big Pink’ (UMe/Capitol Records)
The Band’s debut album, Music From Big Pink, has gotten an audio upgrade.
The album, which features the band’s iconic Robbie Robertson-penned tune “The Weight,” has just been reissued as part of UMe’s Vinylphyle audiophile series.
The release, cut from the original 1968 album master, has been pressed on 180-gram black vinyl and includes new liner notes by music writer Rick Florino.
The pressing, limited to just 3,000 copies, is available now.
Music From Big Pink, originally released July 1, 1968, was recorded following The Band’s stint backing Bob Dylan on his 1966 tour, when they were known as the Hawks. The album’s title references the pink house in West Saugerties, New York, where Band members Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson lived, and the group worked on the record. The cover artwork is a painting by Dylan.
L-R) Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards attend The Rolling Stones Album Launch Event at The Weylin on May 05, 2026 in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Mick Jagger said during a recent appearance on the BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Yearsthathe “can’t wait” to go back out on tour with The Rolling Stones again, but it seems Keith Richards isn’t so certain.
While doing initial press for the band’s upcoming album, Foreign Tongues, Richards shot down the idea of a tour in 2026, and now he seems to be reconsidering the possibility altogether.
“I don’t know if tours are possible,” the 82-year-old rocker tells Uncut magazine in a new interview. “It’s the traveling that takes it out of you.”
But that doesn’t mean the band won’t be playing live again.
“But I do see the possibility of us doing [a] residency somewhere,” he adds. “Wherever it is, London, New York, Paris, anywhere. I’ll play Rome! But I don’t see why they shouldn’t be able to throw some shows together in a new format.”
After more than 60 years in the music biz, Richards says he still finds it exciting to make music with the band.
“Yeah, it’ll be exciting until something inside me says, ‘That’s that,’” he says. “I love working with the guys. I mean, what am I gonna do?” He adds, “It’s necessary for me – at gunpoint, if needs be – to keep a band together. ‘You will play drums!’ I do my bit, but it’s an incredible gift from everybody else. I didn’t expect this in return.”
He notes, “It’s still a bit mind boggling, even at this age.”
The Rolling Stones’ Foreign Tongues will be released July 10.
After having its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival in New York City in early June, Peter Frampton’s new documentary, Frampton, is coming to the West Coast.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has announced that the film is set to have its West Coast premiere as part of 2026 Dances With Films Festival (DWF:LA) on June 25 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
“The response to the film has been truly moving, and I can’t wait for more of you to see it,” Frampton writes on Instagram.
Frampton, directed by Rob Arthur, is described as “an intimate portrait of a rock icon who soared, stumbled, and rose again.”
It features archival footage as well as interviews with Frampton and stars like Sheryl Crow, Ringo Starr, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, director Cameron Crowe, Alice Cooper, Styx’s Tommy Shaw, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, The Who’s Roger Daltrey and more.
Bob Dylan released his 39th studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and went to #1 in over 10 countries.
The critically-acclaimed album’s first single was the more than 16-minute track “Murder Most Foul,” about the John F. Kennedy assassination. It was the longest song Dylan has ever released.
“Murder Most Foul” debuted at #1 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, becoming the first Dylan song to top any Billboard chart.
Other singles from the album included “I Contain Multitudes,” which reached #5 on the Rock Digital Songs Sales chart, and “False Prophet.”
Dylan launched the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour in support of the album in 2021.
: Eric Clapton performs onstage during Day 2 of Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival at Crypto.com Arena on September 24, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Crossroads Guitar Festival
Eric Clapton will once again be hosting his Crossroads Guitar Festival, this time in Austin, Texas, and now he’s giving you a chance to enjoy a VIP experience to the shows.
The three-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has announced a new sweepstakes where two premium tickets “on Eric Clapton’s guest list” are up for grabs, along with round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations. The package also comes with a Clapton-signed Fender Stratocaster guitar and a merch package.
The sweepstakes is being hosted by the platform Fandiem. Fans can enter by making a donation that goes to Clapton’s Crossroads Centre in Antigua, which helps those recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. The sweepstakes is open until Sept. 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
The 2026 Crossroads Festival will be held Sept. 26-27 at the Moody Center in Austin. Clapton is set to perform both nights, with the lineup featuring the first-ever Crossroads Guitar Festival appearance from The Who’s Pete Townshend.
Others performing this year include: ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons, John Mayer, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, Marcus King, Phish’s Trey Anastasio, Tommy Emmanuel and Julian Lage.
Syd Barrett, founding singer, songwriter and guitarist of Pink Floyd, in 1967. (Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage)
The late Pink Floyd guitarist and songwriter Syd Barrett would have turned 80 in January, and the milestone is being celebrated with a special concert in the English city where the rocker grew up.
The concert will be held Oct. 10 at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England, which is the last place Barrett performed live in 1972.
The event, happening on World Mental Health Day, will feature performances by such artists as Kula Shaker, Soft Machine, Men on the Border, Diana Silveira & The Psychedelic Circus, Rhadika and Pünk Flöyd.
“Eighty years after his birth, Syd Barrett’s influence remains as powerful as ever,” Neil Jones, the co-organizer of the concert, told BBC News. “His music, creativity and unique vision continue to inspire artists and audiences across generations.”
Tickets go on sale Friday. Proceeds will be donated to mental health charities.
And that’s not the only way Barrett’s milestone birthday will be marked. According to a post on Instagram, a charity tribute album is also on the way, as well as a Barrett exhibition.
Barrett was a founding member of Pink Floyd but parted ways with the group in 1968. Some claim it was due to mental illness, while others suggest it was drug related.
(L-R) Andy Summers, Sting and Stewart Copeland of The Police pose after being inducted as ‘Knights in the Order of Arts and Letters’ at the Ministry Of Culture on October 1, 2007 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julien Hekimian /Getty Images)
The Police drummerStewart Copeland is opening up about his relationship with former bandmate Sting.
In an interview with Billboard, Copeland says he, Sting and Police guitarist Andy Summers “get alone just fine,” adding that he and Sting are still in touch, often talking about “kids, Instagram memes, bulls***.”
As Billboard notes, this is despite a lawsuit Copeland and Summers filed against Sting over Police royalties.
As for the reasons they still get along, Copeland notes, “It’s not because of satanic impulses or any of the human infirmities of jealousy, greed, pride, whatever. It’s because we had a spell where our music universes overlapped and we created some incredible stuff.”
“We really achieved everything we needed to achieve,” he says. “Really, as I’ve been saying a lot recently, ol’ Sting-O and I, we make music for different reasons, and it has a different place in our lives. So we get along great as long as we’re not trying to make music together.”
As for the lawsuit, Copeland will only say, “We’re not (in court). The bean counters are, somewhere over in London. For me it’s, ‘Lemme know how it works out.’”
Copeland is currently on his Have I Said Too Much? – The Police, Hollywood, and Other Adventures spoken word tour. His next show is Thursday in San Juan, Capistrano, California. A complete list of dates can be found at StewartCopeland.net.
