Billie Joe Armstrong thinks the Grammys should say “Good Riddance” to its current trophy.
In an Instagram Story, the Green Day frontman shared a photo of him holding his Best Alternative Music Performance award the band won in 1994 for Dookie, alongside the caption “Grammys need to come up with a new trophy.”
He then added, “No one knows what the f*** a ‘gramophone’ is.”
Indeed, the music playing device that gave the Grammys its name, which was first invented in the late 1800s, certainly isn’t as popular nowadays. Armstrong did not suggest a replacement design, though.
Should the Recording Academy decide to tinker with the Grammy trophy design, they do have some extra time to do it. Earlier this week, it was announced that the 2022 Grammys would be postponed from its originally announced January 31 date due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. A new date has yet to be announced.
Hollywood is mourning the passing of the legendary Sidney Poitier, who died Friday. He was 94.
Poitier became the first Black man to win an Academy Award for best actor, in 1964 for his role in Lilies of the Field. He is also remembered for starring in A Raisin in the Sun, To Sir, with Love, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and many more classic films.
Tyler Perry, Whoopi Goldberg, Viola Davis and Debbie Allen are among the stars paying tribute to a true icon.
Tyler Perry: “The grace and class that this man has shown throughout his entire life, the example he set for me, not only as a Black man but as a human being will never be forgotten. There is no man in this business who has been more of a North Star for me than Sidney Poitier.”
“I’ll never forget inviting him and Cicely [Tyson] to fly to South Africa with me. Selfishly, I wanted to hold them both captive for the hours-long trip as I literally sat at their feet and listened to their wisdom and experiences. It was life changing…Thank you for being willing to share YOU to make us all better.”
Whoopi Goldberg: “To Sir… with Love Sir Sidney Poitier R.I.P. He showed us how to reach for the stars.”
Viola Davis: “This is a big one. No words can describe how your work radically shifted my life. The dignity, normalcy, strength, excellence and sheer electricity you brought to your roles showed us that we, as Black folks, mattered!!!”
Debbie Allen: “Your last sunset with us is the dawn of many generations rising in the path of light you blazed. We will always hold you in our hearts and forever speak your name.”
Edgar Winter has organized a star-studded tribute album to his late older brother, blues-rock guitar great Johnny Winter, that features contributions from an impressive list of musicians who knew or were inspired by Johnny.
Titled Brother Johnny: An All-Star Tribute to Johnny Winter, the album will be released on April 15, and includes the talents of Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons, The Doobie Brothers‘ Michael McDonald and John McFee, ex-Allman Brothers Band members Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, Foo Fighters‘ Taylor Hawkins, Toto‘s Steve Lukather, and many others.
Brother Johnny is a 17-track collection curated by Edgar and producer Ross Hogarth. In addition to featuring various covers and renditions of songs by Johnny, it also includes two new originals by Edgar. The first single, a cover of the Chuck Berry classic “Johnny B.Goode,” has been released as an advanced digital track, while a visualizer video has premiered at Edgar’s YouTube channel. The tune features Edgar and Walsh sharing lead vocals, Edgar on piano and sax, and David Grissom — a fellow Texan like the Winter brothers — on guitar.
Walsh also plays guitar on version of Johnny’s “Stranger” that features McDonald and Starr as well.
Edgar says “Johnny B. Goode” is a significant song in his and Johnny’s life because it helped give them their first big break as musicians when their early band Johnny and the Jammers played it at a Texas talent contest and they won the chance to make their first record.
On paying tribute to Johnny with the album, Edgar notes, “[O]ne thing will always remain the same…that bond, of brotherhood, of family, of music, and of love. So in his name, I dedicate this album. Brother Johnny.”
Bon Jovi will be there for its fans later this year. The rockers unveiled plans for a 15-stop tour that will span across the U.S. starting in the spring.
Called the Bon Jovi 2022 Tour, the band will hit up arenas in the country’s biggest cities, starting April 1 in Omaha, Nebraska, at the CHI Health Center. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ tour wraps April 30 in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Bridgestone Arena.
The tour will support Bon Jovi’s 2020 album, and frontman Jon Bon Jovi cannot wait to hit the road again to see his fans. “We have all missed touring and we know that nothing can replace the energy of a live show for the fans or the band,” he said in a statement.
Tickets for the 15-stop tour go on sale starting Friday, January 14, at 10 a.m. ET on Bon Jovi’s official webpage. Fans will be able to cut the line if they are a member of the JBJ Experience, and can access the pre-sale a few days earlier, on Tuesday, January 11, at 10 a.m. ET.
Just a reminder that the star-studded A Bowie Celebration virtual concert event commemorating what would’ve been David Bowie‘s 75th birthday takes place this Saturday, January 8, starting at 9 p.m. ET.
As previously reported, the presentation was organized by longtime Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson, and will feature performances by Def Leppard, Duran Duran‘s Simon Le Bon and John Taylor, Noel Gallagher, Living Colour, Rob Thomas, WALK THE MOON, and actors Gary Oldman and Evan Rachel Wood, among others.
In addition, Ricky Gervais will make a special appearance during the show, part of the proceeds from which will benefit the Save the Children charity.
Garson will lead a house band featuring various musicians who toured and/or recorded with Bowie.
The event will be dedicated to legendary late photographer Mick Rock, and also will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Jim Henson fantasy film, Labyrinth, which starred Bowie as the Goblin King and featured five songs he wrote.
Meanwhile, a contest has been launched in conjunction of the livestream offering a variety of special prizes.
The grand prize features Bowie’s new 18-LP Brilliant Adventure box set, a one-on-one Zoom with Garson, a ticket to the streaming event, access to a virtual Q&A with some of the show’s musicians, a signed copy of Garson’s book Bowie’s Piano Man, t-shirts and other goodies.
To enter, fans must follow @bowietour, @licoricepizzarecords or @rollinglivestudios on Instagram, leave comment under the post about the contest, tag at least five friends and ask them to follow. The person who generates the most follows wins the contest. The winner will be announced at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.
Seven additional randomly chose winners each will receive a different Bowie album.
The Cars‘ Elliot Easton and The Scorpions‘ Matthias Jabs are among a variety of artists who will take part in the NAMM organization’s Believe in Music online event, which is scheduled for January 20 and 21.
Taking place instead of the annual in-person NAMM Show music-equipment trade conference — which has been moved to the summer — Believe in Music is a global online gathering that will help unify and provide support for the people and organizations that bring music to the world.
Believe in Music will offer a variety of free music-business-related presentations, including artist interviews, performances, round-table discussions, forums, tutorials, gear unveilings and more.
Easton and Jabs both will be participating in interviews on January 20, scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET and 5:30 p.m. ET, respectively.
Other artists also taking part in interview events include rock-guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd and Struts members Luke Spiller and Adam Slack.
The 2022 NAMM Show has been combined with the Summer NAMM conference, and is scheduled to take place July 3-5 at California’s Anaheim Convention Center.
David Bowie‘s estate has announced new special releases in conjunction with the ongoing Bowie 75 campaign commemorating what would’ve been the late rock legend’s 75th birthday this Saturday, January 8.
Five Bowie albums from the latter part of his career — 2002’s Heathen, 2003’s Reality, the 2010 A Reality Tour live album, 2013’s The Next Day and 2016’s ★ (a.k.a. Blackstar) — have been remixed for Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format and will be released via select streaming services on January 21.
The mixes were created by longtime Bowie studio collaborator and frequent co-producer Tony Visconti.
As previously reported, the 360 Reality Audio of Blackstar is getting its premiere today at the Bowie 75 pop-up stores in New York City and London. Also, 360 Reality Audio mixes of four tracks from the A Reality Tour album, which documents David’s final concert tour, will be streamed live tonight beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Bowie’s YouTube channel and at square.sony.com.
Listeners should wear headphones to enjoy the full 360-audio experience.
After the online livestream ends, viewers will be able to stream the performance on a smartphone using with the Artist Connection app, which can be downloaded at ArtistConnection.net.
Dead & Company won’t be playing in the Mexican sand after all this month, as the band has just announced that it’s called off its entire two-weekend Playing in the Sand destination festival.
The news of the cancellation comes after drummer Bill Kreutzmanndropped out of the event earlier this week due to health issues, and then singer/guitarist John Mayer dropped out because he got COVID-19.
On Instagram, Dead & Company posted a message that reads, “With much sadness and after great consideration of every possible scenario, the Playing in the Sand shows in Riviera Cancun on January 7-10 and January 13-16 have now been canceled…due to the spiking COVID-19 cases.”
The statement continues, “Dead & Company…tried everything possible to bring normalcy and to deliver a great experience and amazing music, but with each day it became increasingly clear that canceling is the correct thing to do for the fans and for our crew.”
Noting that anyone who has tickets will receive an email about refunds, the statement ends by saying, “See you soon, hug your loved ones, stay safe and be kind.”
The event was to have featured multiple performances by the Grateful Dead spinoff group and other artists at the Moon Palace Cancún resort.
Welcome to 2022…we’ve got new Guns N’ Roses music. Or we will, anyway.
In an interview with Classic Rock magazine, Slash reveals that there’s “new Guns material coming out as we speak.”
The guitar icon notes, “We’ll probably keep putting it out until the entire record’s worth of stuff is done and then put it out solid,” adding, “It’s cool. I’m enjoying working on the stuff and having a good time doing it.”
Last year, GN’R released two new singles: “Absurd” and “Hard Skool.” The tracks marked the first new tunes from the “Welcome to Jungle” rockers since Slash and bassist Duff McKagan rejoined frontman Axl Rose in the band in 2016.
The most recent Guns N’ Roses album is, of course, Chinese Democracy, which was finally released in 2008 after nearly a decade in development hell. Rose is the only original GN’R member featured on that record.
Slash, meanwhile, is set to drop a new album called 4 with his solo band Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators on February 11.
Cobra Kai co-creator Jon Hurwitz is hoping to add a bit of “Thunder” to the titular dojo’s “Strike First Strike Hard No Mercy” motto.
As Hurwitz tells Entertainment Weekly, he’s been trying to use the AC/DC classic “Thunderstruck” in the Karate Kid sequel series for some time now. In fact, “Thunderstruck” was specifically written into a script for a montage season in the recently premiered fourth season of the show.
“We’ve written ‘Thunderstruck’ into the script several times over the years,” Hurwitz shares. “We’ve never been able to afford it in that moment or to make that choice [to spend the money on it] right now.”
“Our fantasy is having the kind of music budget that would allow for us to have nonstop AC/DC and Bon Jovi and Guns N’ Roses,” he adds.
While viewers have yet to hear “Thunderstruck” soundtrack any epic Cobra Kai karate showdowns, the show does feature a lot of Karate Kid-era appropriate rock music, including Mötley Crüe, Poison and Ratt.
“[Music supervisor] Michelle Johnson has done an amazing job, she’s been phenomenal in understanding the tone of the show,” says Hurwitz. “She’ll pitch us many, many songs or send music to our editors and we’ll narrow it down. There’s nothing we love more than finding the right song for a montage.”
Cobra Kai season 4 also featured a wink to metalheads in an episode when a neighbor of the character Stingray yells at him for “blaring s***ty Metallica all night.” Stingray, who’s played by Richard Jewell star Paul Walter Hauser, then replies, “That was actually Exodus‘ Bonded by Blood, but it’s not your fault, you don’t know the genre.”
