Classic Rock News

David Byrne is one of the many music artists who have contributed to a new tribute album called Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono that’s been compiled by Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and will be released on February 18 — Yoko Ono‘s 89th birthday.

The former Talking Heads frontman teamed up with veteran indie-rock group Yo La Tengo to record a version cover of Ono’s 1970 song “Who Has Seen the Wind?” for the project. The track is available now via digital formats, and an animated companion lyric video has premiered at Death Cab for Cutie’s official YouTube channel.

The 14-track collection also features newly recorded renditions of songs from throughout Ono’s career by such other artists as Death Cab, The Flaming Lips, Magnetic Fields singer Stephin Merritt and more.

Gibbard says in a statement, “It is my sincere hope that a new crop of Yoko Ono fans fall in love with her songwriting due in some small part to this album we have put together.”

To accompany the album, Gibbard will be co-hosting a podcast diving deeper into Ono’s music that will feature some of the Ocean Child guest artists. The podcast will premiere on February 18, as well.

In a trailer for the podcast, Byrne says, “Yoko, in her own words, is perceived as a witch, and she’s underappreciated…so that gives us an opportunity to work with her material in a way that would be harder to do with someone who was kind of more universally appreciated.”

He adds, “She has a very open and curious approach, which is something that is really inspirational.”

A portion of proceeds from Ocean Child will be donated to the charity organization WhyHunger.

Here’s the full Ocean Child track list:

“Toyboat” — Sharon Van Etten
“Who Has Seen the Wind?” — David Byrne and Yo La Tengo
“Dogtown” — Sudan Archives
“Waiting for the Sunrise” — Death Cab for Cutie
“Yellow Girl (Stand for Life)” — Thao
“Born in a Prison” — US Girls
“Growing Pain” — Jay Som
“Listen, the Snow Is Falling” — Stephin Merritt
“No No No” — Deerhoof
“Don’t Be Scared” — We Are KING
“Mrs. Lennon” — The Flaming Lips
“No One Sees Me Like You Do” — Japanese Breakfast
“There Is No Goodbye Between Us” — Yo La Tengo
“Run Run Run” — Amber Coffman

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If the promise of watching Peter Jackson‘s acclaimed three-part documentary The Beatles: Get Back wasn’t enough to make you sign up for Disney+, it’s now coming to home video — and to a theater near you.

The complete docuseries will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 8, but to whet your appetite, the “rooftop concert” portion of the series, which runs 60 minutes, will debut at select IMAX theaters as part of a special screening on January 30. The screenings will feature a Q&A with Jackson via satellite, as well as exclusive mini-posters for attendees.

“I’m thrilled that the rooftop concert from The Beatles: Get Back is going to be experienced in IMAX, on that huge screen,” says Jackson in a statement. “It’s The Beatles‘ last concert, and it’s the absolute perfect way to see and hear it.”

The concert, which took place on the rooftop of The Beatles’ Apple Corps headquarters on London’s Savile Row on January 30, 1969, was the last time all four member of the band performed together live. The performance was seen in its entirety for the first time in The Beatles: Get Back.

Tickets for the IMAX Event Screening and Filmmaker Q&A are currently on sale at tickets.imax.com. A regular global theatrical showing of The Beatles: Get Back — The Rooftop Concert will then run from February 11 to February 13.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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David Lee Roth has issued a statement regarding the cancellation of his scheduled Las Vegas residency at the House of Blues, while also alluding to possibly playing more shows in the future.

The longtime Van Halen frontman’s statement, which EW.com received via his manager, reads, “Sometimes you win…Sometimes you lose…We got rained out…Covid cancelled…Future shows? When the benefit concerts for Colorado, Farm Aid, and hospital workers ‘everywhere’ come up; Call me.”

Accompanying the note was a photo of a road case that features multiple images the singer wearing a red top hat and holding a microphone, along with the message, “To be continued…”

As previously reported, Roth had announced in an October 2021 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he planned to retire after his Vegas shows. David scheduled nine concerts at the House of Blues, on New Year’s Eve and January 1, 5, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22, all of which were canceled in recent days.

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The Rush pinball machine has arrived.

Last month, the company Stern Pinball teased that a game dedicated to the Canadian prog legends was in the works. Now, Stern has officially revealed the details of the machine.

Not only will the game feature 16 Rush songs, such as “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight,” “2112” and “Fly By Night,” but it also includes custom-recorded dialog by surviving band members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson.

In a behind-the-scenes video, you can watch Lee and Lifeson recording their parts alongside pinball enthusiast and fellow Canadian rocker Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies.

“I particularly love it when a pinball machine taunts you,” Robertson tells Lifeson while coaching his voiceover performance.

The Rush pinball machine will be seen in action for the first time during a virtual event at the 2022 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, taking place January 5-8.

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With 2021 in the record books, Heritage Auctions has announced that it raked in a record of its own: $1.4 billion in sales from everything from sports memorabilia to comic books to coins to music-related collectibles.

The 45-year-old institution revealed that among the year’s biggest sellers in the latter category were a collection of guitars belonging to Journey‘s Neal Schon, and a touring piano played by Elton John.

Schon’s guitar collection, which was auctioned in July, brought in a total of $4.2 million, and included 10 instruments that fetched six figures.

Among the more than 90 instruments that were sold was the 1977 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Black Solid Body model that Schon used to record many songs on Journey’s chart-topping 1981 album, Escape, including “Don’t Stop Believin’.” That guitar was purchased for $268,000, including fees.

Meanwhile, Elton’s touring piano, a Steinway grand that the pop-rock legend played on the road for about 20 years, fetched $915,000 at a July auction. Elton wrote a note in black marker on the piano’s gild-iron frame that reads, “Enjoy this as much as I have, Elton John.”

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After canceling the first two shows of his nine-date Las Vegas residency at the House of Blues, scheduled for New Year’s Eve and in January, David Lee Roth‘s entire run of performances at the venue has now been nixed.

According to a statement shared by the House of Blues with ABC Las Vegas affiliate KTNV a few days ago, the founding Van Halen frontman’s concerts on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day were canceled “[d]ue to unforeseen circumstances related to COVID and out of an abundance of caution for those working and attending the shows.” However, no reason for the cancellation of the remaining shows — scheduled for January 5, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22 — has been announced.

The House of Blues website lists all of Roth’s upcoming gigs as canceled, and reports that refunds will be available “at point of purchase.” For more information, visit LiveNationEntertainment.com/ticketrefund.

For Roth’s part, he posted the image of a new painting on his official website and social media pages that includes the caption, “A funny thing happened on the way to Las Vegas…” The painting appears to be of a dirt road stretching out into a barren desert landscape.

As previously reported, Roth announced in an October 2021 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the House of Blues shows would be his farewell performances.

“I am throwing in the shoes. I’m retiring,” Roth said in the interview.

According to KTNV, Nevada governor Steve Sisolak announced on Monday that the state has had an “alarming” surge of COVID-19 cases following the holidays. Last Thursday, the Southern Nevada region recorded its highest number of daily COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.

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2021 was tough for Bryan Adams: He got COVID-19 twice. Thankfully, he didn’t succumb to his illness. But the veteran star has considered how he’d like to be remembered — and it’s pretty unique.

The publication Ramp.space asked Bryan if he’d like to be remembered as a musician or as a photographer, which is his other passion. “I could [sic] care less if I’m remembered or not,” Adams responded. “In fact, if I woke up tomorrow and there was no trace of me on the internet, I’d be thrilled.”

But after that harsh response, the “Summer of ’69” rocker gave the question a bit more thought.

“I once did an interview with a Brazilian journalist who asked me if I knew how many kisses my songs were responsible for. I had never thought about that before,” Bryan mused. “He calculated that it would be in the billions. I really liked that. Imagine being responsible for a billion kisses!”

He went on to say that if he were to be remembered in that way, “That would be okay with me, because without love we are nothing.”

“So to be able to bring a little love into this world — that means everything to me,” he added.

Bryan’s new album, So Happy It Hurts, is out March 11. He’s already released three songs from it: the title track, “On the Road” and “Kick A**.”  While his New Year’s Eve show in Vancouver was canceled due to COVID-19, he hints that he might want to hit the road this year after doing a November 2021 mini-residency in Las Vegas.

On Instagram, Bryan wrote, “I wonder what 2022 will be like, because after the Vegas shows, the idea of touring got under my skin again. Looking forward to seeing you all.”

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The lawsuit alleging that the cover of Nirvana‘s Nevermind album constitutes child pornography has been dismissed, Variety reports.

As previously reported, 30-year-old Spencer Elden sued Nirvana this past August, alleging that the group committed “commercial child sexual exploitation” of him with the artwork for their 1991 RIAA Diamond-certified record. The now-iconic cover features a photo of Elden, then a four-month-old baby, swimming naked underwater while reaching for a dollar bill.

Elden’s suit named surviving Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, as well as the late Kurt Cobain and his widow, Courtney Love, along with the Nevermind cover shoot photographer and art director, and various record labels. Ex-Nirvana drummer Chad Channing, who’d left the band in 1990, was also named in the initial suit, but was later dropped as a defendant.

This past December, lawyers for Nirvana filed to dismiss the suit, arguing not only that Elden’s claims are “not serious” and “absurd,” but also that statute of limitations on the allegations had expired.

As Variety reports, Elden had until December 30 to respond to the dismissal motion. However, because Elden missed the deadline, the judge in the case dismissed the suit.

Notably, Elden still has an opportunity to refile his suit by January 13, as the judge dismissed the case “with leave to amend.”

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Today marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. release of Yes‘ classic fourth studio album, Fragile.

Fragile was the U.K. prog-rock band’s highest-charting album on the Billboard 200, peaking at #4, and featured several of the group’s most enduring tunes, including “Roundabout,” “Long Distance Runaround” and “Heart of the Sunrise.”

“Roundabout,” of course, is widely considered the group’s signature song, and an edited version of the tune reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Yes’ second most successful single after 1983’s chart-topping “Owner of a Lonely Heart.”

Founding Yes frontman Jon Anderson, who co-wrote “Roundabout” with guitarist Steve Howe, recalls that the idea for the song came about as the band was driving in its tour van through Scotland. Anderson tells ABC Audio that the lyric “mountains come out of the sky” was inspired by the fact that “you couldn’t see the top of the mountains because the clouds were so low.”

He adds, “And then the lakes. You know, you come to Loch Lomond, and all that…energy of Scotland. That’s why if you listen to the solo, it’s a…like a Scottish reel.”

Fragile was the first Yes album to feature keyboard whiz Rick Wakeman, who replaced founding member Tony Kaye. Wakeman tells ABC Audio that he has fond memories of working on Fragile because he loved the collaborative way some of the album’s long pieces — such as “Heart of the Sunrise” and “South Side of the Sky” — were created.

“We used to spend one month, two months all together in a rehearsal room, throwing ideas at each other, and that’s how the music got put together,” Rick notes. “And it’s how…the best Yes music, in my mind, was always put together.”

Here’s the full Fragile track list:

Side One
“Roundabout”
“Cans and Brahms” (instrumental)
“We Have Heaven”
“South Side of the Sky”

Side Two
“Five Per Cent for Nothing” (instrumental)
“Long Distance Runaround”
“The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)”
“Mood for a Day” (instrumental)
“Heart of the Sunrise”

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Cheap Trick will head to the Las Vegas strip in late winter for a four-show residency at The STRAT Hotel, Casino & SkyPod.

The power-pop legends are scheduled to perform at the complex’s intimate STRAT Theater on February 25 and 26, and March 4 and 5.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Thursday, January 6, at 10 a.m. PT at Tickets.TheStrat.com. Members of Cheap Trick’s Trick International fan club can purchase pre-sale tickets now, while members of The STRAT’s free True Rewards program will be able to buy pre-sale tickets starting Tuesday, January 4, at 10 a.m. PT.

In addition, VIP packages are available that will offer a chance to watch Cheap Trick’s private pre-concert soundcheck, a group photo with the band, exclusive Cheap Trick merchandise, a commemorative laminate and early entry into the venue.

“Can’t wait to finally get back out on the road with Cheap Trick,” says founding bassist Tom Petersson. “I hope to see you during our Las Vegas residency at The STRAT. Happy New Year!” Petersson missed most of the band’s 2021 shows after undergoing open-heart surgery last year.

Cheap Trick become the second Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act to schedule a residency at The Strat, following Sammy Hagar‘s “Sammy Hagar & Friends” shows this past October and November.

Prior to their Vegas residency, Cheap Trick will headline the RokIsland Fest 2022 in Key West, Florida, on January 15, and then will play a series of shows in the U.K. and mainland Europe in February.

The band’s ’22 itinerary also includes a Canadian tour opening for ZZ Top in April and May, and a support slot on Rod Stewart‘s lengthy U.S. summer trek. Visit CheapTrick.com for full details.

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