James Taylor at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony (Disney/Eric McCandless)
James Taylor is one of the acts set to perform at The Nearness of You Concert, an all-star benefit concert supporting cancer research at Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The event honors the memory of Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Michael Brecker, who died in 2007. He played sax on Taylor’s 1972 track “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,” described on Instagram as “one of the most memorable collaborations in James’s catalog.”
The concert will be held Feb. 9 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room in New York, hosted by comedian Susie Essman. The lineup also includes trumpeter Chris Botti, singer/songwriter Lisa Fischer, inaugural poet Richard Blanco and special guests.
This is the fifth Nearness of You Concert that’s been held. Previous shows have raised over $5 million for cancer research and featured artists like Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Christopher Cross and others.
In December Taylor revealed his plans to tour in 2026, noting in a social media video that he would be out west in California and Nevada in April, and then hit the East Coast in June. So far the only confirmed U.S. shows are his annual July 3 and 4 concerts at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Taylor also has dates in the U.K. and Europe in July. A complete schedule can be found at JamesTaylor.com.
Poster for ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’/(20th Century Studios)
The Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere hasn’t gotten much love this award season, but it did just nab one honor.
The film, starting Jeremy Allen White as The Boss, picked up a trophy at the Movies for Grownups Awards Saturday. Put on by AARP, the awards honor “outstanding films and television projects that celebrate the voices and stories of the 50-plus.”
Deliver Me From Nowhere won the award for best period film, beating out Dead Man’s Wire, MartySupreme, Nuremberg and Sinners.
The film, which follows Springsteen as he makes the 1982 solo album Nebraska, also earned a best director nomination for Scott Cooper, although he lost to Frankenstein director Guillermo del Toro.
If you didn’t catch Deliver Me From Nowhere in theaters, it hit digital platforms in December. It will also be released on 4K Blu-ray on Jan. 20, with the release including the four-act documentary Making Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.
John Lydon of Public Image Ltd performs live on stage during their This Is Not The Last Tour at Parr Hall. (Andy Von Pip/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
John Lydon has now been part of The Masked Singer on both sides of the Atlantic.
The former Sex Pistols frontman was revealed as the Yak character on the latest episode of the U.K. edition of the reality singing competition show, in which participants perform while hidden behind elaborate masks. His stint comes five years after he competed on the U.S. Masked Singer in 2021 as the Jester.
Despite being eliminated from The Masked Singer for a second time, Lydon seems to be taking it all in stride.
“John’s got the sad sack yak off his back,” reads a post to his Facebook page. “Now he’s off to record the new [Public Image Ltd] album!”
The Pistols, meanwhile, reunited in 2024 with original members Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook alongside singer Frank Carter in place of Lydon, who’s dismissed the reformed band as “karaoke.”
Sammy Hagar Best of All Worlds Tour admat (Courtesy of Live Nation)
Sammy Hagar has announced a new set of dates for his Best of All Worlds Tour.
The latest leg, featuring special guest Rick Springfield, will once again have him backed by Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, guitar great Joe Satriani and drummer Kenny Aronoff. The tour features a set filled with Van Halen classics, some of his solo tunes and tracks from his bands Chickenfoot and The Circle.
“We’re celebrating the legacy of the music and bringing it to a whole new generation of fans,” said Hagar.
The tour consists of eight shows, kicking off June 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, and wrapping June 27 in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Artist and Citi presales for tickets begin Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. local time.
Sammy will next headline another set of Best of All Worlds Las Vegas residency dates, starting March 11 at Dolby Live at Park MGM. He’ll also launch a Best of All Worlds U.K. tour on July 4 in Manchester, marking his first performances in the U.K. since 1996. A complete list of dates can be found at RedRocker.com.
Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and the Allman Brothers Band were among the artists inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at the 10th annual induction ceremony, held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.
Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder handled the induction for Young, while Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry inducted Led Zeppelin. Willie Nelson inducted the Allman Brothers, and Melissa Etheridge led Joplin’s induction.
The evening ended with an all-star jam, where Young performed with Vedder and his Pearl Jam bandmates Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, as well as the surviving members of Led Zeppelin — Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones — who were also joined by Tyler and Perry, among others.
The ceremony was the first to be taped and broadcast by MTV.
Other inductees included Al Green, Frank Zappa and Martha and the Vandellas
Dave Grohl and Pat Smear of Foo Fighters perform on stage at London Stadium on June 20, 2024 in London, England. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Foo Fighters)
Foo Fighters played their first show of 2026 Saturday at Mexico’s Feria de León festival and dedicated a performance of “My Hero” to guitarist Pat Smear.
Smear, of course, was absent from the show after suffering what the band called a “bizarre gardening accident.”
“This means he’ll unfortunately be missing a few shows while the multiple broken bones in his foot heal,” the Foos wrote in an Instagram post on Jan. 7. “We’ll miss our beloved Pat as much as you will, but we want him fully healed and back on his feet as soon as possible.”
In Smear’s absence, the Foos were joined by guitarist Jason Falkner, who’s played with Beck and St. Vincent.
There’s no word yet on when Smear will return to the touring lineup. Foos play a benefit show Wednesday in Los Angeles in celebration of frontman Dave Grohl‘s birthday, before heading to Tasmania for a one-off concert on Jan. 24. Their next show after that isn’t until May.
(L-R) Mickey Hart and Bob Weir attend the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year Honoring The Grateful Dead at the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 31, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Mickey Hart, one of the last two surviving members of the Grateful Dead, has paid tribute to his bandmate Bob Weir, who passed away at the age of 78.
“Bob Weir was a little brother to me for almost sixty years. He was my first friend in the Grateful Dead,” Mickey wrote on Instagram. “We lived together, played together, and made music together that ended up changing the world.”
“Bob had the ability to play unique chords that few others could. Long fingers, that’s the difference,” he continued, noting their late bandmate Jerry Garcia “once told me that the harmonics Bob created became an inspiration for his own solos. When all of us were entrained, rhythm section, guitars, and voices… it was transcendent.”
“What was a lifetime of adventure boils down to something simple – we were family and true to the music through it all,” he added.
Hart also shared a carousel of photos, noting the shots “show the bookends of our lives together.” He ended the tribute saying, “Still cannot believe he’s gone. I miss you so much already, dear friend.”
Hart joined the Grateful Dead in 1967, two years after it was formed by Weir,Garcia, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann,the only other surviving member of the band.
John Mayer, Weir’s bandmate in the Grateful Dead offshoot Dead & Company, which was formed in 2015, also paid tribute to Weir.
He posted a black-and-white photo of Weir on Instagram, writing, “Thanks for letting me ride alongside you. It sure was a pleasure. If you say it’s not the end, then I’ll believe you. I’ll meet you in the music. Come find me anytime.”
Cover of Warren Haynes’ ‘Tales of Ordinary Madness’ (Megaforce Records)
Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes has shared another song from the upcoming remixed and remastered version of his 1993 debut solo album, Tales of Ordinary Madness.
The latest release is “I’ll Be There One,” the second remixed track to be unveiled from the album, following “Fire in the Kitchen.” The song is now available via digital outlets.
The updated take on Tales of Ordinary Madness is set to drop Jan. 30 and includes the bonus song “Tear Me Down,” which did not appear on the original album.
The album, co-produced by Haynes and Allman Brothers Band‘s Chuck Leavell, was originally released in March 1993.
Since then, Haynes has released several solo records, his most recent being 2024’s Million Voices Whisper.
Haynes will support the Tales of Ordinary Madness reissue with the Winter of Warren 2026 Tour, which begins with a run of stripped-down solo shows starting Feb. 12 in Grass Valley, California, and concluding Feb. 26 in Pelham, Tennessee. He’ll then tour with the Warren Haynes Band beginning March 1 in Birmingham, Alabama, including a newly announced March 6 stop at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.
Following that run, Haynes will hit the road with Gov’t Mule starting March 27 in Denver, Colorado, before embarking on a summer co-headlining tour with Joe Bonamassa,which kicks off July 29 in Vienna, Virginia.
Honoree Bob Weir of Grateful Dead accepts the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year award onstage during the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year Honoring The Grateful Dead on January 31, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Following the announcement that Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir had passed away at age 78, a tribute to the rocker was shared on the Grateful Dead social media accounts, written by Dead archivist Dave Lemieux.
The post noted that the band was “defined by each of the unique musicians and voices these guys brought to the stage,” adding, “And Bobby was as unique as they come.”
“A guitar player unlike any other, and a songwriter who created some of the most interesting, exciting, and oddly-timed songs in rock history, Bobby was also the unabashed rock star in the Grateful Dead,” the post continued, noting his “list of contributions to the Grateful Dead repertoire is way too long to list.”
“For 60 years, Bobby has been a huge part of the soundtrack to our lives,” the post concluded. “His kindness, generosity, and musical contributions have made our world a better place.”
Several artists also took to social media to remember Weir, including Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes, who posted a long tribute on Instagram.
“Bob was an enigma— a beautiful enigma,” he wrote, noting Weir was “genuinely a beautiful human being and I am honored to have known him as a friend and to have played together the many, many times that we did.” He added, “I will cherish those memories and the world of music will keep his spirit alive.”
Phish’s Trey Anastasio, who joined Weir and Dead & Company on stage during their August shows at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, also shared a long tribute to Weir, writing, “I really loved him. He was a sweet, kind, gentle friend, and I never believed this would happen so soon.”
He added, “Thank you for all the gifts you brought into the world, and for all the love you gave to so many of us. Your spirit lives on forever.”
Honoree Bob Weir of Dead & Company and of the Grateful Dead performs onstage during the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year Honoring The Grateful Dead at Los Angeles Convention Center on January 31, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Bob Weir, rhythm guitarist, co-vocalist and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at the age of 78.
His death was announced in a post on Instagram, which revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer in July, and had started undergoing treatment just weeks before Dead & Company would take the stage in August for three shows at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” read the statement. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”
“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music,” the statement continued. “His work did more than fill rooms with music; it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language, and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them.”
The post noted that the San Francisco shows “were not farewells, but gifts,” adding, “Another act of resilience. An artist choosing, even then, to keep going by his own design.”
“There is no final curtain here, not really. Only the sense of someone setting off again,” the post concluded. “He often spoke of a three-hundred-year legacy, determined to ensure the songbook would endure long after him. May that dream live on through future generations of Dead Heads. And so we send him off the way he sent so many of us on our way: with a farewell that isn’t an ending, but a blessing. A reward for a life worth livin’.”
Weir co-founded Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965, with drummer Mickey Hart and lyricist Robert Hunter joining the group in 1967.
He co-wrote many of the band’s songs including “Sugar Magnolia,” “Playing in the Band,” “Jack Straw” and “One More Saturday Night.”
After Garcia’s death in 1995, Weir continued the Grateful Dead legacy by performing in various Dead offshoots, including the Other Ones, The Dead, Furthur and Dead & Company, the latter of which he formed in 2015 with Hart, Kreutzmann, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti. He also formed the band RatDog in 1995, and had been touring with Wolf Bros since 2018.
Weir was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Grateful Dead in 1994. The band also received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2024, and was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year in 2025.
