Red Hot Chili Peppers are headlining the 2023 Global Citizen Festival, taking place September 23 at New York City’s Central Park.
The lineup also includes hip-hop artists Ms. Lauryn Hill and Megan Thee Stallion, pop singer-songwriter Conan Gray and K-pop group Stray Kids.
As always, you can earn free tickets to attend the Global Citizen Festival by taking action toward the events continuing goal of ending extreme poverty.
Farm Aid will once again be back this September, featuring performances by the organization’s board members: Neil Young, in his first return to the festival since 2019, John Mellencamp, WillieNelson, Margo Price and Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds.
This year’s event will take place Saturday, September 23, at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana, the second time it’s being held at the venue and the third time in Mellencamp’s home state.
“We are honored and excited to bring the Farm Aid experience back to Indiana,” Mellencamp shares. “My home state holds deep meaning for me and for the generations of family farmers who have dedicated their lives to caring for the Earth and bringing us good food.”
Other artists on the bill include Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack, Nathaniel Rateliff & TheNight Sweats, Lukas Nelson, Allison Russell, The String Cheese Incident and Particle Kid.
Tickets for this year’s Farm Aid go on sale Saturday, July 15, at 10 a.m. ET.
The very first Farm Aid concert was held in September 1985 in Champaign, Illinois, to raise funds to support family farmers. Since its inception, the annual festival has raised more than $70 million to support programs helping the farming community.
Def Leppard is giving their fans a chance to own one of Phil Collen’s guitars, while also raising money for a good cause.
The band just launched a new raffle, with one of Collen’s signed Jackson PC1 guitars as a grand prize. Collen used the guitar onstage during the band’s current The World Tour with Mötley Crüe.Raffle entry costs about $10, and fans in the U.S., Europe, the U.K. and Canada have until July 28 at 11:59 p.m. to enter as many times as they want.
All money raised through the raffle will go to help those affected by the February 2023 earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. The earthquakes killed over 51,000 people, and destroyed 214,000 buildings and homes, affecting over 18 million people. The money will go to Disasters Emergency Committee charities, which are still providing relief to those countries.
Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe recently wrapped the European/U.K. leg of their World Tour. It returns to the States on August 5 in Syracuse, New York. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com.
The late David Crosby had assembled a new band and was preparing for a new show when he unexpectedly passed away in January — but now that band is going to honor him with a special concert.
Billed as Stand and Be Counted, the band, made up of Crosby’s son James Raymond, Stephen Stills’ son Chris Stills, guitarist Steve Postell, drummer Stevie Distanislao, guitarist Dean Parks and bassist Andrew Ford, with Lara Johnston and Ken Stacey on vocals, will play the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California, on August 20.
Before his death, Crosby had been rehearsing for a February 22 concert celebrating the Lobero’s 150th birthday. He had planned to perform a set of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young classics, which will now be performed by Stand and Be Counted, with some help from special guest Shawn Colvin.
Tickets for the concert are not on sale yet, but more information can be found at lobero.org.
Graham Nash will be honored later this year with the John Lennon Real Love Award from Theatre Within, which offers free workshops in creative expression and mindfulness for children, teens and adults impacted by cancer, as well as youth in crisis.
“This is a very special award. I thank Yoko (Ono) and the Theatre Within for thinking of me,” the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said in a statement. “Over many years, I watched John and Yoko ‘fight the good fight’ for many whose voices were not being heard, a fight that Yoko continues to this day. I’m proud to be associated with the many fine artists who were previously honored with the John Lennon Real Love Award.”
Previous recipients of the John Lennon Real Love Award include Natalie Merchant, Patti Smith, Ani DiFranco and Donovan.
Nash will be celebrated at the 43rd annual John Lennon Tribute on Saturday, December 2, at Town Hall in New York City. The event, the only Lennon tribute concert sanctioned by Ono, will feature a performance by Nash, along with Judy Collins, Rosanne Cash, Rita Coolidge, Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin.
Proceeds from the Tribute will benefit Theatre Within’s programs, which include the John Lennon Real Love Project songwriting program. Tickets go on sale July 22 at 12 p.m. ET.
KISS members have achieved a lot over the course of their five-decade career, but for Gene Simmons,one of the things he’s most proud of is his relationship with bandmate Paul Stanley.
“We continue to have this astonishing relationship, and I’ve always been so sad when [John] Lennon and [Paul] McCartney and [Mick] Jagger and [Keith] Richards started backbiting,” Simmons shared in an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored. “I mean, even Cain and Abel didn’t get along so well.”
He describes his relationship with Stanley as “this resilient sort of the ‘brother-I-never-had’ kind of thing.” Although they don’t agree on many things, he notes “there’s an abiding admiration and respect for the talent that he has that I will never have, and hopefully, the piece of the puzzle that I bring to it that he doesn’t have.”
Simmons adds, “It works. You don’t know everything, and I don’t, and when you meet somebody that’s a kindred spirit, you can run and be bigger than you ever were.”
KISS is currently on the End of the Road tour and will play Rattvik, Sweden, July 12 and 13. The final KISS shows are set to happen December 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.
Billy White Jr., the designer of the Guns N’ Roses cross logo that appears on the cover of the band’s iconic 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction, has died.
The news was announced in an Instagram post by Slash, who writes, “RIP #BillyWhiteJr og designer of GNR cross logo.
The guitarist shares that White was a “long time friend of the band,” adding, “You will be missed.”
Bassist Duff McKagan responded to Slash’s post with a comment reading, “Ah…s***!”
The logo features each member of GN’R’s Appetite lineup — Slash, Duff, frontman Axl Rose, guitarist Izzy Stradlin and drummer Steven Adler — recreated as skulls situated on each point of the cross.
The late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts amassed a huge collection of books and jazz memorabilia throughout his life, and now, some of those works are being auctioned off at Christie’s later this year.
The auction, Charlie Watts: Gentleman, Collector, Rolling Stone – Literature and Jazz, will consists of over 500 items, including a first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby with inscriptions by the author, which is expected to sell for between $250,000 and $380,000.
Watts’ library also features a variety of first editions and works from such authors as George Orwell, AgathaChristie, Arthur Conan Doyle and James Joyce.
Additionally, the auction will have items from Watt’s huge jazz collection, including Charlie Parker’s Associated Musicians membership card, a pair of Parker’s DownBeat awards from 1952, an annotated printed score for GeorgeGershwin‘s Porgy and Bess and more.
“Charlie Watts holds a unique position within music history and Christie’s is proud to pay tribute to his extraordinary achievements and multifaceted legacy,” Christie’s specialists Benedict Winter and Mark Wiltshire said. “Charlie built his collection of modern literature and jazz with passion, intelligence and dedication, and this two-part auction celebrates his distinguished collecting taste. We invite the public to join us in this rare opportunity to glimpse the very private world of this extraordinary musical genius.”
The auction will take place in two parts, with part one happening in person on September 28 at Christie’s in London; part two will happen online between September 15 to 29. Fans will be able to check out highlights from the auction from July 25 to 29 at Christie’s in Los Angeles, September 5 to 8 in New York and September 20 to 27 in London.
The much-anticipated Power Trip festival is down a big name.
Ozzy Osbourne has dropped off the lineup, citing his continuing health issues. The performance was set to be his first full live performance since 2018 and his first since announcing his retirement from touring earlier in 2023.
“As painful as this is, I’ve had to make the decision to bow out of performing on Power Trip in October,” the Prince of Darkness says. “My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, and when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward.”
“Unfortunately, my body is telling me that I’m just not ready yet,” he continues. “I am much too proud to have the first show that I do in nearly five years be half-a**ed.”
Power Trip, which is being produced by the same team behind Coachella, was set to take place October 6-8 in Indio, California. The bill also includes fellow hard rock and metal titans AC/DC, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden and Tool.
As for who will be replacing Ozzy, the “Crazy Train” rocker teases, “They are personal friends of mine and I can promise that you will not be disappointed.”
“Above all, I want to thank my fans, my band, and my crew for their unconditional loyalty and continual support,” Ozzy says. “I love you all and I will see you soon.”
Ozzy has been besieged by health struggles over the past few years, including undergoing extensive surgery relating to a fall he suffered in 2019, which aggravated injuries he sustained in a 2003 ATV accident.
Looks like Slash is jumping on the Barbie bandwagon. In a recent interview with Variety, producer Mark Ronson reveals that the Guns N’ Roses guitarist appears on the song “I’m Just Ken,” which Ryan Gosling sings in the film.
Calling Slash his “all time hero,” Ronson decided to take a chance and send him the track, noting, “It never hurts to ask.” Even though he thought it was “such a long shot,” he says Slash agreed to be on it.”
“I sent him the song and he was like, ‘This is a good song… cool, I’ll play on it,'” Ronson says. “He kills it, he plays the solo at the end and the rhythm parts. It’s wonderful.”
As for Gosling’s performance, Ronson offered nothing but praise. “As he started to get warmed up, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this guy is gonna murder this song,’” he says. “And of course he would. He’s Ken. Who would understand this song better than him.”
Barbie opens in theaters July 21; the soundtrack will be released the same day
