Classic Rock News

Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon received 10 Oscar nominations on Tuesday, January 23, including an Original Score nod for the late Robbie Robertson, which is a bit bittersweet for the director.

In a statement, Scorsese describes the academy’s recognition of the film and his collaborators as “deeply gratifying,” noting, “It was a remarkable experience to make this picture, to work together with the Osage community to tell the story of a genuine American tragedy, hidden in the shadows of official culture for far too long.”

Regarding the Original Score nod, Scorsese adds, “I only wish that Robbie Robertson had lived to see his work recognized. … our many years of friendship and Robbie’s growing consciousness of his own Native heritage played a crucial role in my desire to get this film onscreen.” 

Robertson’s mother was Cayuga and Mohawk, and he was raised in Toronto on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve. The posthumous nomination makes him the first indigenous person ever to be nominated in the Original Score category.  

Prior to Killers of the Flower Moon, Scorsese and Robertson worked together on 14 projects, including the Scorsese-directed concert documentary The Last Waltz, featuring Robbie’s group The Band.

Robertson passed away August 9 at the age of 80.

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Alice Cooper’s sixth studio album, Billion Dollar Babies, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1973, and now, the milestone is being marked with a new deluxe reissue. 

A newly remastered version of the album is part of the upcoming Billion Dollar Babies: “Trillion Dollar” Deluxe Edition, dropping March 8. The three-LP or two-CD box set also come with a host of bonus material, including studio outtakes, single mixes and a recording of an April 1973 concert in Texas.

Both versions also come with liner notes featuring an oral history of the album by Cooper and his bandmates Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith. Mimicking the album’s original release, the vinyl features a textured snakeskin wallet design gatefold cover and includes a bonus $1 billion bill inside. 

Released in March 1973, Billion Dollar Babies hit #1 on the Billboard album chart and was Cooper’s only #1. It featured such hit songs as “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Elected,” both of which were top 40 hits for Cooper. 

Billion Dollar Babies: “Trillion Dollar” Deluxe Edition is available for preorder now.

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Paul McCartney’s acclaimed photo exhibit is coming to New York. Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm is set to debut at the Brooklyn Museum on May 3 and will run until August 18.

Eyes of the Storm features more than 250 photographs taken by McCartney between November 1963 and February 1964, giving fans insight into his point of view as The Beatles were becoming international superstars.

The exhibit first debuted in June at London’s National Portrait Gallery and then moved to Virginia’s Chrysler Museum in December, where it is set to run until April 7.

“Since first arriving in New York in February 1964, Paul McCartney has built a strong, everlasting connection to the city,” Catherine Futter, director of Curatorial Affairs and senior curator of decorative arts at the Brooklyn Museum, shares. “His vibrant photographs from The Beatles’ first visit capture the energy of the city, the excitement of the American fans, and the frenzy of the band’s status as celebrities. Yet the images also record The Beatles’ fun and delight with each other.” 

She adds, “Through McCartney’s lens, we feel the intensity of being at the center of such extraordinary events.”

More information on the exhibit and tickets can be found at brooklynmuseum.org.

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Bob Dylan is returning to the road this spring. The 82-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced a spring leg of his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. 

The tour kicks off March 1 with a two-night stand in Ft. Lauderdale, one of five Florida cities on this leg. It also stops in Athens, Georgia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, before wrapping March 18 in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday, January 26. A complete list of dates can be found at bobdylan.com.

Dylan launched his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour in November 2021. The trek supports his album of the same name, which he released in June 2020.

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On This Day, January 23,1976…

David Bowie released his 10th studio album, Station to Station, which introduced a new persona, the Thin White Duke.

The follow up to 1975’s Young Americans, Station To Station, co-produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin, saw the rocker being influenced by electronic dance music as well as a genre of German experimental rock known as krautrock.

Station to Station peaked at #3 on the Billboard album chart and at the time was Bowie’s highest-charting album in the U.S.

The lead single, “Golden Years,” spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #10. The tune would later be used for the soundtrack to the 2001 movie A Knight’s Tale.

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Despite announcing his retirement from touring in 2023, Ozzy Osbourne has remained adamant about playing one-off shows in the future. Now, it seems that plans for the Prince of Darkness’ return to the live stage are in the works.

According to Rolling Stone UK, Sharon Osbourne spoke about Ozzy playing a pair of concerts in his hometown of Birmingham, England, during a stop on her Cut the Crap spoken word tour.

“[Ozzy] won’t tour again but we are planning on doing two more shows to say goodbye,” Sharon reportedly said. “He feels like, ‘I have never said goodbye to my fans and I want to say goodbye properly.'”

Sharon added that the concerts will take place in Aston Villa, presumably referring to Birmingham’s Villa Park stadium.

“[Ozzy’s] voice is still absolutely perfect,” she said. “And all the time he has been off he still does his singing lessons so his voice is perfect.”

The last time Ozzy played a full live show was in 2018. Since then, he’s been hampered by a number of health issues and has undergone multiple surgeries after suffering a fall in his home in 2019. He was booked to play the Power Trip festival in 2023 but dropped off the lineup due to his health.

Also during her Cut the Crap show, Sharon reportedly said that she attempted to overdose after learning Ozzy was having an affair in the 2010s. According to The Mirror, Sharon said, “I took, I don’t know how many pills … I took an overdose and locked myself in the bedroom. The maid tried to come in to clean room and saw me.”

A rep for Sharon confirmed her comments to People.

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even if it feels like it, you are not alone.

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The late Robbie Robertson has been recognized with his first-ever Oscar nomination for his work on Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. 

Robertson, who passed away in August, has been posthumously nominated in the Original Score category, where he’ll compete with scores for the films American Fiction, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Oppenheimer and Poor Things. 

Robertson’s score has already been recognized with nominations at the Golden Globe Awards and the Critics Choice Awards. In both cases, he lost to Oppenheimer’s Ludwig Göransson. The score also received a nomination for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Film Awards.

Also earning an Oscar nod in the Best Animated Short Film category is WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, which, as the title gives away, was inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono‘s classic holiday tune “Happy Christmas (War Is Over).” 

One musician who seems to have gotten snubbed from this year’s nominations is Lenny Kravitz, whose Rustin song “Road to Freedom” was on the shortlist for an Original Song nod but was left out of the category. The song had previously been nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award, but lost both times.

Songs that did make the Best Original Song category this year include the Barbie tunes “What Was I Made For?,” from Billie Eilish and brother FINNEAS, and “I’m Just Ken,” which features guitarists Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen, plus songs from American Symphony, Flamin’ Hot and Killers of the Flower Moon. 

The 96th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will air live on ABC Sunday, March 10.

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Some never-before-seen video footage of The Beatles can be yours if you’re willing to dip into your wallet.

An original 8mm reel featuring black-and-white footage of the band is now available through RR Auction. The reel features a little over three minutes of footage taken while the band was shooting their 1965 film Help!

According to Hot Press, the footage was found by Dublin-based illustrator Thomas Emmet Mullins after he set up an eBay alert for “Beatles 8mm.”

When he got his first alert, the listing featured some stills from the video. He says, “[I]t was clear it was unseen footage of what is arguably the most documented band in modern history,” noting he believes it was taken by either a crew member on the film or someone else who had access to the set.

The description of the footage says it was shot near Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in England, which means it was likely shot between May 3, 1965, and May 5, 1965, which is when they were filming in the area.

The clip give fans a peek at John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in their “natural jovial state,” and shows them interacting with the cast and crew. At one point you can even see Lennon “clowning around” with the film’s director, Richard Lester.

The 8mm reel is currently part of RR Auction’s Remarkable Rarities auction, with the sale set to run through February 22. It is estimated to sell for over $10,000.

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Metallica is releasing a new action figure modeled after late bassist Cliff Burton.

Created in collaboration with Burton’s family and the toy company Super7, the 3.75-inch scale recreation of the “Orion” rocker is dressed in torn jeans, a black T-shirt and flannel. It’s also accompanied by a mini plastic bass.

Proceeds will benefit Cliff Burton Music Scholarship Fund. You can buy yours now via Metallica.com or Super7.com.

Burton played bass on Metallica’s first three records — 1983’s Kill ‘Em All, 1984’s Ride the Lightning and 1986’s Master of Puppets — before he died in a bus accident in 1986 at age 24. Jason Newsted then became Metallica’s bassist, followed by Robert Trujillo.

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Former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar appears in a new episode of the PBS series Finding Your Roots, and in a preview of the episode Sammy discovers that Hagar really isn’t his last name. 

In the clip, the rocker is informed by host Henry Louis Gates Jr. that DNA testing shows he doesn’t match with any men with the last name Hagar.

“Get out of here. This is nutty as anything I’ve ever imagined,” he says in the clip, before being informed that his biological last name is actually Belcher and that he matches with 27 men with that surname. 

“What a trip,” he says.

Sammy’s episode of Finding Your Roots debuts Tuesday, January 23, at 8 p.m.

Sammy Belcher, we mean Hagar, is gearing up to hit the road this summer on his The Best of All Worlds Tour, where he’ll be joined by Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Joe Satriani. The tour kicks off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.

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