Clem Burke of Blondie playing the drums during the recording of a pop promo for their single ‘Picture This’ at Isleworth Studios, Isleworth, London on 21 August 1978 for Chrysalis Records. (Photo by Brian Cooke/Redferns)
Blondie is paying tribute to their late drummer, Clem Burke, on what would have been the rocker’s 71st birthday.
“We lost our friend and drummer Clem Burke in April of this year,” they wrote on Instagram next to a photo of Clem behind the drum kit. “Clem was the heartbeat of Blondie – vital to our sound, success, and spirit.”
“His extraordinary talent, infectious enthusiasm, and fierce work ethic shaped everything we did,” they continued. “From the moment he answered our Village Voice ad for a ‘freak energy musical experienced drummer,’ our lives changed forever.” The post also included a photo of that ad.
Finally, they note, “We believe his energy lives on—somewhere still vibrant, echoing in ways we can’t yet understand. Happy Birthday, Clem — wherever you are.”
Burke died April 6 following a private battle with cancer.
Blondie is due to release a new record, High Noon, in 2026, which Clem recorded with the band before his death.
Rick Wakeman performs at City Winery on October 25, 2021 in New York, New York. (Photo by Bobby Bank/Getty Images)
Former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman announced back in July that he was postponing his summer tour due to some health issues. Now, he’s giving fans an update on his condition.
Wakeman explains in a post on his website that he had been diagnosed with a neurological disorder called normal pressure hydrocephalus, which led to him having surgery last week to put a shunt in his brain.
“I am pleased to say [it] was very successful and I am now recuperating at home being cared for by my lovely wife and our wonderful furry healing animals!” he writes.
Wakeman says that while he has to “take things easy for a while,” his doctors have told him that he should be “perfectly fine” to head to North America for his March tour with son Oliver Wakeman, plus any other shows after that. He also plans to play two charity shows in U.K. on Dec. 19 and 20.
“I am also pleased to say that it doesn’t seem to have affected my piano playing in any way as I still seem to be very capable of hitting the odd wrong note here and there when I lose my concentration!” he adds. “Once again, I’d like to thank everybody who wished me well over the last few months for a speedy recovery as it really did mean a lot to me.”
Wakeman’s tour with his son Oliver is set to begin March 11 in Ridgefield, Connecticut, with dates confirmed through March 29 in Red Bank, New Jersey.
A complete list of tour dates can be found at rwcc.com.
Queen frontman Freddie Mercury passed away at his home in Kensington, England. He was 45.
The cause of death was bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS. Mercury confirmed in a statement about 24 hours prior to his death that he had tested positive for HIV and had AIDS, although reports had suggested he was diagnosed as early as 1987.
Mercury was laid to rest three days later, with his Queen bandmates Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon in attendance for the funeral, as well as musician Elton John. Mercury’s cremated remains were given to his friend Mary Austin, who buried them at an undisclosed location.
The surviving members of Queen celebrated Mercury’s life five months later with The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness at Wembley Stadium in London, featuring appearances by such artists as John, Roger Daltrey, David Bowie, George Michael and Annie Lennox.
Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses perform onstage during the Power Trip music festival at Empire Polo Club on October 06, 2023 in Indio, California. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Power Trip)
Welcome to 2026, it’s got Guns N’ Roses tour dates.
The “Welcome to the Jungle” rockers have announced a worldwide trek for 2026, including a U.S. leg running from July 23 in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Sept. 18 in Atlanta. Additionally, they’ll play a one-off show in Hollywood, Florida, on May 5, and the Welcome to Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida, on May 7.
A presale begins Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. local time, and you can register for access now through Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit GunsNRoses.com.
Along with the tour dates, GN’R has announced the premiere of two new songs, “Nothin” and “Atlas,” which will premiere Dec. 2. The tracks follow the 2023 singles “The General” and “Perhaps.”
The most recent Guns N’ Roses album remains 2008’s Chinese Democracy, which was released before Slash and Duff McKagan rejoined Axl Rose in the band in 2016.
Jimmy Cliff performs live on stage on Day 1 at the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix Marina Bay Street Circuit at the Padang on September 18, 2015 in Singapore. (Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)
Jimmy Cliff, a Grammy Award-winning singer and actor, who helped Jamaican reggae music find its place within global pop culture, is dead at 81.
“It’s with profound sadness that I share that my husband, Jimmy Cliff, has crossed over due to a seizure followed by pneumonia,” Latifa Chambers, Cliff’s wife, said in a post on his official Instagram account.
Cliff’s award-winning career as a musician spanned decades and included some of reggae’s most memorable hits, including “Many Rivers to Cross.” He was inducted in 2010 into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which described him as reggae’s “first champion.”
“Jimmy Cliff was instrumental in spreading reggae beyond Jamaica,” the Hall of Fame said on its site . “A self-proclaimed shepherd of reggae, Cliff has gone all over the globe to pass on the mellow, sun-drenched sound.”
“Many Rivers” and two other hits — “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “The Harder They Come” — were standouts on the official soundtrack for a 1972 film, also titled The Harder They Come, that featured Cliff as its star.
Cliff played a young reggae artist who’s drawn into what’s portrayed as the often-seedy world of music production in Jamaica.
“Cliff’s portrayal is riveting and authentic,” the Grammy Awards wrote in an appraisal of the soundtrack marking 50 years after the movie’s release. It noted that Cliff, who was born James Chambers, had seen at least some of what was portrayed in the film.
“While pursuing a career as a singer, Cliff saw firsthand the crime, violence and the survival of the fittest mindset within the ghetto areas where reggae was birthed,” the appraisal said.
Cliff was born on July 30, 1944, during a hurricane in the Somerton District of St. James, Jamaica, according to his official biography. Fourteen years later, he had his first hit, “Hurricane Hattie,” beginning a career that stormed on far into this century.
He won the Grammy for best reggae album in 1986 for Cliff Hanger and again in 2013 for Rebirth. He was nominated several other times.
His songs often touched on freedom from burdensome surroundings and authority figures — and, fittingly, noting his birth during a hurricane, also included references to nature and storms.
On “The Harder They Come” he sung of fighting “as sure as the sun will shine,” adding a few lines later, “But I’d rather be a free man in my grave/Than living as a puppet or a slave.”
His wife in a note to fans posted on Monday said she was thankful for all the friends and artists Cliff held dear.
“To all his fans around the world, please know that your support was his strength throughout his whole career,” Chambers wrote. “He really appreciated each and every fan for their love.”
‘The Best of The Band’ (Capitol/UMe); ‘Filmworks: Insomnia’ (Omnivore Recordings)
Fans of The Band have multiple vinyl releases to choose from this holiday season.
Available for preorder now is the Vinylphyle pressing of1975’s Northern Lights, Southern Cross, which marks its 50th anniversary this year. Featuring classics like “Ophelia,” “It Makes No Difference” and “Acadian Driftwood,” the 180-gram black vinyl LP was mastered from the original analog sources, and includes gatefold packaging and new liner notes.
Then on Record Store Day Black Friday, Nov. 28, you can grab The Band’s 1993 reunion album, Jericho, appearing on vinyl for the first time, as well asFilmworks: Insomnia, a companion LP to Robbie Robertson‘s new book, Insomnia.
The book details the start of Robertson’s creative partnership with Martin Scorsese, which culminated in an Oscar nomination for his Killers of the Flower Moon score. The album features music Robertson composed and/or produced forThe Last Waltz, Raging Bull and Carny. Of note, Robertson recorded the Raging Bull pieces with bandmates Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson.
According to Robertson’s longtime manager, Jared Levine, Filmworks: Insomnia is a sidebar to a much larger future project, which began prior to Robertson’s death in 2023.
“He very much wanted, and we were working on before he died, a collection of his movie music,” Levine explains. “And so we were putting together all the pieces that he had done for film and kind of trying to figure out how we would go about it.” The Insomnia LP, he says, is something “that we’re really proud of and really just includes pieces that Robbie details in the book.”
And finally, the long-out-of-print greatest hits albumThe Best of The Bandreturns to vinyl on Dec. 12; it’ll also be available on CD.
Former Beatle John Lennon outside of the Times Square recording studio ‘The Hit Factory’ before a recording session of his final album ‘Double Fanasy’ in August 1980 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
Another John Lennon documentary is in the works, this time from Ocean’s Eleven director Steven Soderbergh.
According to Variety, Soderbergh talked about the film at the inaugural Doha Film Festival, explaining that the still-untitled project will focus on Lennon’s final interview, which he and wife Yoko Ono sat for just hours before he was shot and killed on Dec. 8, 1980.
“I’m excited about it,” Soderbergh said. “I’m not looking to re-invent the form. I’m just hoping to create a film that gets as many people as possible to hear what John and Yoko had to say on that afternoon before he was killed.”
The interview took place at John and Yoko’s New York apartment The Dakota and was tied to the release of their album Double Fantasy. Lennon was shot in front of his apartment later that evening as he was returning from a recording session at the Record Plant.
Soderbergh said he found the interview somewhat surprising.
“They were both so free in their discussions. As someone who has been interviewed many times I was surprised at how open and excited they were to talk,” he said. “You would think they had never been interviewed before.”
“So I want that to come across to the audience. Everything that they said 45 years ago is not just relevant today. It’s even more relevant in terms or relationships, politics, how we treat each other,” he continued. “How systems work on the individual and above all on the importance of love in our daily life and our world.”
The clip has Coverdale singing on a stage bathed in white and backed by a string section. The clip also features various photos of Coverdale with his wife, Cindy Barker.
“Forevermore” is the title track to Whitesnake’s 2011 album, which was reissued in September.
The 74-year-old Coverdale announced on Nov. 13 that “after 50 years-plus of an incredible journey” he’d decided to call it quits.
“I love you dearly. I thank everyone who’s assisted and supported me on this incredible journey — all the musicians, the crew, the fans, the family,” he said. “It’s amazing, but it really is time for me to just enjoy my retirement.” He added, “And I hope you can appreciate that. Once again, I love you with all my heart. Fare thee well.”
Poster for ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’/(Sony Pictures Classic)
Films about Led Zeppelin and John Lennon and Yoko Ono have a chance to be in the running for a 2026 Oscar nomination in the documentary feature film category.
Over 200 documentaries have been deemed eligible for consideration , including Becoming Led Zeppelin, which chronicles the early days of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band, and One to One: John and Yoko, which follows the 18 months John and Yoko lived in New York’s Greenwich Village in the early ’70s.
Other music docs eligible for a nod include: Billy Idol Should Be Dead, Pavements, Diane Warren: Relentless, Janis Ian: Breaking Silence, Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery – The Untold Story and It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley.
The eligible docs will be narrowed down to a shortlist that will be announced Dec. 16. Oscar nominees will then be revealed on Jan 22.
The 98th annual Academy Awards will air live on ABC on March 15 from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The Who‘s Pete Townshend appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Nov. 12, where he also sat in with the house band. Now the show is revealing what fans at home didn’t get to see.
The Late Show just released the latest clip in its “Commercial Breakdown” YouTube series, this time featuring Townshend performing his 1980 solo single “Let My Love Open the Door.” The clip has Townshend on acoustic guitar, backed by Louis Cato & The Late Show Band.
Townshend was on The Late Show to promote Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet, which ran at New York’s City Center.
During the appearance he talked about being open to using AI to complete unfinished music he has in his vault and also discussed The Who’s final North American tour, which wrapped in October.
