Eric Clapton kicked off a six-night residency at London’s Royal Albert Hall, treating the crowd to such classic songs as “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Wonderful Tonight,” “Cocaine” and more, including Cream tracks “White Room” and “Sunshine of Your Love.”
The residency soon became an almost yearly event for Clapton. In 1991 he played a whopping 24 shows at Royal Albert Hall, which broke his own record for the longest run of concerts at the venue.
During that run, Clapton performed with three lineups — a rock band, a blues band and an orchestra. In June he released a box set, The Definitive 24 Nights, featuring performances from that run.
Clapton’s most recent Royal Albert Hall residency took place in May 2024, playing four nights at the venue. He’s set to return for three nights in May 2025.
While The Beatles broke up in 1970, they’re still very much part of popular culture, with the past few years seeing the release of Peter Jackson’s Got Back docuseries, the recent documentary Beatles ’64, their final new song, “Now and Then,” and more. And while Julian Lennon may be Beatle John Lennon’s son, he says he’s usually out of the loop when it comes to new projects associated with the band.
“It’s news to me half the time. I’m not part of the inner circle – I never have been,” he tells The Guardian in a new interview. “You have to realize that when Dad left, when I was between three and five (it was a bit of a process), it was just mum and me, and we had nothing to do with the Beatles or Dad. I visited him on the odd occasion but we were very much on the outside.”
He adds that what inside info he does get, he gets from his younger brother Sean Ono Lennon, noting, “I’m thankful that Sean and I get on like a house on fire – we’re best buddies and he tells me what he can, but things are pretty secret on the Beatles front.”
Julian says that while it may be “extraordinarily strange,” he isn’t “upset about it.”
“I’d rather be excited and impressed by what they did and continue to do,” he says. “As a fan, I’m just as curious as anybody else, although I do find myself going, ‘how is it possible that there’s another Beatles film?’”
And he’ll have to get used to that because not only is there another Beatles film coming up, there are going to be four of them. Sam Mendes is planning to direct four new films on the band, one for each member of the group.
It sounds like we may be getting new music from U2 this year.
Guitarist The Edge appeared on the Sodajerker on Songwriting podcast to talk about the band’s recent 20th anniversary reissue of How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and its accompanying shadow album. While talking about how the band works together in the studio, he let it slip that a new song may be on the way.
Edge noted that he and his bandmates — Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. — are “lucky” because they still enjoy being together in the studio.
“We never turned it into work. We’ve always had fun,” he said. “I just love making music and it’s still a thrill being around Adam and Larry and Bono when we’re working together.”
“And I have to tell you, we’re working on a lot of new songs,” he then shared. “There might be a new U2 song happening very soon, which you’ll hear about.”
The Edge didn’t offer any details though, noting, “Can’t say any more than that, but we’re in a great place creatively.”
If we do get a new song from U2 this year, it will be their first new track since they released “Atomic City” in 2023, ahead of their Las Vegas residency at the Sphere. Their last album of new material, Songs of Experience, came out in 2017.
Bono has added another honor to his list of achievements. The U2 frontman was at the White House Saturday, where he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, considered the nation’s highest civilian honor.
According to the White House, the honor is given to people who’ve made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”
“President Biden believes great leaders keep the faith, give everyone a fair shot, and put decency above all else,” read a statement from the White House, noting that Bono and the other 18 individuals honored “are great leaders who have made America and the world a better place. They are great leaders because they are good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world.”
Bono was recognized for his work fighting against AIDS and poverty, including co-founding the ONE and (RED) organizations, as well as his work bringing politicians together to create the United States PEPFAR AIDS program.
“The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to Bono. As lead singer of U2, one of the most successful rock bands in history, Bono changes the world through his art and activism,” read the citation for Bono, which was read by the military as he received his honor. “The common beat of his life’s work is the power of freedom, a tie that also binds Ireland and America as beloved friends.”
Other recipients of this year’s Presidential Medal of Freedom include Denzel Washington, Michael J. Fox, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Magic Johnson, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, chef José Andrés and designer Ralph Lauren.
Neil Young has announced his latest Analog Original Series release, the “lost” album Oceanside Countryside.
The previously unreleased album was recorded before 1978’s Comes A Time and includes three songs that wound up appearing on that album, “Goin’ Back,” “Human Highway” and “Field of Opportunity.”
While some of the tracks from the album appear on a CD version of Oceanside Countryside that was part of Young’s Archives Vol. III release, the new version, being released in analog on vinyl for the first time, features the originally planned track list.
“This analog original album was recorded in 1977 and unreleased,” Young shares. “These songs are the original mixes done at the time of the recordings in the order I planned for the album.” He adds, “I hope you enjoy this treasure of an Analog Original recording … as much as I do. Listening to it now, I think I should have put it out back then.”
Carlos Santana has been forced to postpone the start of his 2025 Las Vegas residency after being injured in a fall at his home in Hawaii.
“I am sorry to say that Carlos was out taking a walk at his vacation home in Kauai. He took a hard fall, and he broke his little finger on his left hand,” Michael Vrionis, president of Universal Tone Management, announced. “He had to have pins inserted in the finger. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to play guitar for approximately six weeks. Doctors do say that he will recuperate fully.”
The 77-year-old Santana was due to return to the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Jan. 22 for the latest dates of his An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live residency. He has been headlining his House of Blues residency for 13 years.
“Carlos is doing well and is anxious to be back on stage soon. He just needs to heal,” Vrionis added. “Santana profoundly regrets these postponements of his upcoming performances, but accidents happen, and his health is our number one concern. He is looking forward to seeing all of his fans very soon.”
Affected shows will be rescheduled and tickets will be honored on the new dates.
R.E.M.’s Peter Buck has recorded a cover in celebration of one of his favorite music films of the 1960s.
Buck revealed the news on R.E.M.’s Instagram account. He explained that after he appeared on the Revolutions Per Movie podcast, where he discussed the 1968 rock ‘n’ roll movie Wild in the Streets, he recorded a cover of the movie’s theme song, “Shape of Things To Come,” featuring Vanessa Briscoe Hay from the Athens, Georgia, band Pylon and Camper Van Beethoven’s Victor Krummenacher.
Wild in the Streets, based on the Robert Thom short story The Day It All Happened, Baby!, starred Christopher Jones, Hal Holbrook and Shelley Winters. The song, “Shape of Things To Come,” was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, and was performed by the movie’s fictional band, Max Frost and the Troopers.
While Buck is no longer making music with R.E.M., he is still making music. In 2024 he teamed with The Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson, Screaming Trees/Mad Season drummer Barrett Martin and singer Joseph Arthur to form the supergroup Silverlites, which released their debut album in November.
Elton John is in the running for a BAFTA nomination for his recent documentary Elton John: Never Too Late.
The film has made the longlist for the 2025 EE Bafta Film Awards, handed out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Never Too Late is one of 10 films in the running in the documentary category. Others include I Am: Celine Dion, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will & Harper, starring Will Ferrell and Harper Steele.
The final list of nominees will be announced Jan. 15, with the EE BAFTA Film Awards ceremony happening Feb. 16 at London’s Royal Festival Hall, hosted by Dr. Who star David Tennant.
Elton John: Never Too Late premiered in December on Disney+, featuring never-before-seen footage of Elton’s career and of his life today as a husband and father.
The film missed out on earning a spot on the Academy Awards short list for best documentary, but his song from the movie, “Never Too Late,” which he wrote with Brandi Carlile, Bernie Taupin and producer Andrew Watt,is on the short list for best original song.
The Academy Award nominations will be revealed Jan. 17.
Stephen Stills, best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Manassas, was born in Dallas, Texas.
Stills has written such tunes as “For What It’s Worth,” “Sit Down, I Think I Love You” and “Bluebird” for Buffalo Springfield, and “Carry On” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” for CSN.
“Love the One You’re With,” from his 1970 self-titled solo debut, was Stills’ biggest solo hit, peaking at #14 on the Billboard charts. The tune features his CSN bandmates David Crosby and Graham Nash,and Rita Coolidge on background vocals.
Stills has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash and Buffalo Springfield. Both inductions took place in 1996, and he is the only artist to be inducted into the Hall of Fame twice in the same night.
After announcing he was pulling out of the British festival due to the BBC’s sponsorship of the event, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has now announced he and his band Chrome Hearts will indeed be on the bill.
“Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved,” he wrote on his Neil Young Archives website. “Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”
Young had previously said he and his band had been “looking forward to playing” the festival, but that BBC had “wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in” so they were pulling out.
“It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being,” he explained, “We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be.”
Glastonbury is now the first show Young has confirmed for 2025. He previously played the festival in 2009.
Glastonbury Festival is set to take place June 25 to June 29. The full lineup has not been announced, although Rod Stewart is confirmed to play the Legends slot.
