Slash no longer has even just a little “Patience” for social platform X.
The Guns N’ Roses guitarist has announced that he’s “decided to step away” from the social media site formerly known as Twitter and that he will “no longer be active on the platform.”
“This was a considered decision after repeated hacks, and it reflects a shift in how I’d like to stay connected moving forward,” Slash writes.
Slash will still be “posting regular updates” on his Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts.
The rocker shared a photo on Instagram Wednesday of her with her parents, writing, “This is with my mother and father who inspired much of my next book Bread of Angels. The memoir, a bright and dark dance of life, will be published on November 4th, by Random House.”
Bread of Angels comes 15 years after the release of Smith’s first memoir, Just Kids, which documented her time in Manhattan in the ’70s and her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe.It won the National Book Award in 2010.
“November 4 is especially meaningful to me,” Smith shared in a press release. “It’s the birthday of Robert Mapplethorpe and the anniversary of my late husband Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith’s passing. It took a decade to write this book, grappling with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime. I’m hoping that people will find something they need.”
According to the release, Bread of Angels is “the most intimate” of Smith’s memoirs, following the musician through her childhood in Philadelphia and South Jersey, her teenage years “when the first glimmers of art and romance take hold,” her marriage to Fred Smith and their family life, and more.
“As Smith suffers profound losses, she also returns to writing,” the release notes, “the one constant on a lifelong path driven by artistic freedom and the power of the imagination.”
In addition to Just Kids, Smith released the memoir M Train in 2015.
Smith is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of her debut album, Horses,this year with a tour that kicks off Oct. 6 in Dublin, Ireland, and hits the U.S. on Nov. 10 in Seattle. A complete list of dates can be found at PattiSmith.com.
Van Morrison is turning 80 in August and he’s going to celebrate on the stage.
The “Brown Eyed Girl” singer announced that on his birthday, Aug. 31, he’ll headline a concert at Waterfront Hall in his hometown of Belfast, Ireland, which he’s dubbing his 80th Birthday Celebration.
Morrison is expected to be joined by “very special guests” at the concert, with the announcement boasting, “We’re celebrating in style.”
Tickets for the concert go on sale Friday.
The concert news comes as Morrison is getting ready to release a brand-new album, Remember Now, on June 13, featuring 14 original tracks. The album, available for preorder now, is Morrison’s first album of all new material since 2022’s What’s It Gonna Take?
He’s also got several concert dates on his 2025 schedule, including a spot opening for Neil Young at his July 11 BST Hyde Park concert in London. A complete list of dates can be found at VanMorrison.com.
R.E.M. released their second studio album, Reckoning, which like their 1983 debut, Murmur, was produced by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon.
The album, which was first released in the U.K. and then the U.S., was recorded at Reflection Sound in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the producers attempting to capture the energy and sound of the band’s live performances.
Reckoning was a hit with critics and peaked at #27 in the U.S., although it topped college radio airplay charts.
Its first single, “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry),” peaked at #86 on the Billboard Hot 100, while its second single, “(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville,” did not chart. Both went on to become R.E.M. fan favorites.
The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA.
In February, the members of R.E.M. – Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Peter Buck and Bill Berry – reunited on stage at Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy’s Athens, Georgia, concert celebrating the band’s third studio album Fables of the Reconstruction. They performed the Reckoning track “Pretty Persuasion.”
Metallica has announced the return of their takeover events for the upcoming U.S. leg of the band’s ongoing M72 world tour.
Takeover events consist of Metallica-themed happenings that pop up around each stop on the tour. The newly announced takeover events include guitarist Kirk Hammett speaking on his new book, The Collection, pop-up shops, performances by tribute bands and Blackened Whiskey events.
As previously reported, Metallica will also be hosting blood drives alongside the American Red Cross and screening an early cut of their Metallica Saved My Life fan-focused film throughout the tour.
Metallica’s tour begins April 19 in Syracuse, New York. For the full list of dates and all takeover events, visit Metallica.com.
Recordings by Elton John, Chicago and Steve Miller Band have been chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
In total 25 recordings have been chosen this year “based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.”
Albums picked include Elton’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which features hits like the title track, “Bennie and the Jets” and “Candle in the Wind”; Chicago’s debut Chicago Transit Authority, with songs like “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” and “Questions 67 and 68″; and Steve Miller Band’s Fly Like an Eagle, with hits like the title track, “Take the Money and Run” and “Rock’n Me.”
Also being chosen is the Microsoft Windows Reboot Chime, which was composed by Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Brian Eno in 1995.
“These are the sounds of America – our wide-ranging history and culture. The National Recording Registry is our evolving nation’s playlist,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said. “The Library of Congress is proud and honored to select these audio treasures worthy of preservation, including iconic music across a variety of genres, field recordings, sports history and even the sounds of our daily lives with technology.”
The public can nominate recordings to be considered; this year, the Library of Congress received 2,600 nominations, with Chicago Transit Authority being the top nominee. With the new additions, the National Recording Registry titles are now at 675, part of a recorded sound collection of close to 4 million items.
Talking Heads frontman David Byrne is bringing back his Amazing Humans Doing Amazing Things variety show for a second year.
The one-night-only event will be held May 29 at New York’s Town Hall. It will be a benefit for Byrne’s solutions-based nonprofit magazine Reasons to be Cheerful, a project of his nonprofit, Arbutus.
Byrne will emcee the evening, which will feature a lineup that includes comedian and actor Ramy Youssef, musician Reggie Watts, gospel soul group Annie and the Caldwells, magician Steve Cuiffo, burlesque performer Julie Atlas Muz and Balkan musicians Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band, with more artists to be announced.
“Reasons to be Cheerful is all about finding signs of hope, even when it feels like it’s in short supply,” Byrne shares. “That’s what this show is all about: a joyful communal experience to buoy us in a tumultuous time.”
Byrne held the first Amazing Humans Doing Amazing Things variety show in October 2024, which celebrated the fifth anniversary of Reasons to be Cheerful.
Billy Corgan plans to keep making artistic statements even beyond the grave.
In an interview with The Guardian, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman was asked what song he’d pick to be played at his funeral. His response? “I’d probably pick one of my own just to make some sort of posthumous, bitter point.”
Said point, Corgan says, would be “You should have paid more attention to me when I was here.”
“‘To Sheila’ from the Adore album by Smashing Pumpkins would be a good one, if you’re sitting there, mourning my loss,” Corgan says.
If you’d like to pay more attention to Corgan now, you can listen to his podcast, The Magnificent Others. He’s also launching a solo tour under the name Billy Corgan and the Machines of God in June.
“Telecasters are the heart and soul of rock and roll music and this one is a beautiful instrument,” says Campbell. “I could tell The Red Dog was special as soon as I picked it up. It felt like it was in the right place at just the right time.”
“It’s our mission to honor the legacy and sonic character that Mike Campbell has infused into every note played on his beloved ‘Red Dog’ Telecaster,” Justin Norvell, executive vice president of Fender Products, shares. “Every scratch, modification, and battle scar tells a story, and with these meticulously crafted recreations, we’re giving players everywhere the chance to channel that same timeless energy and write their own musical history.”
L-R: Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson; Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Director Sam Mendes has shared some of his thoughts about why he’s decided to make four films about The Beatles.
Mendes penned an article for The Times about his BBC2 World War II documentary, What They Found, and shared how his approach to that project is similar to his motivations behind The Beatles films.
“As a filmmaker, one is always looking to find new ways to look at the past. To turn historical events so they catch the light in new and different ways,” he shares. “My film 1917 was an attempt to do this. The Beatles films we are making now also fall into this category. And here again I felt the same portal to the past had been opened.”
Mendes’ Beatles project, The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, is set to be released in April 2028. The films, each focused on a different member of the band, will star Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
The Sony films will mark the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles have granted a studio the rights to the life stories of band members and their legendary catalog of music.
