The Hemsworths are not only a family of actors, but also a family of Green Day fans.
Thor star Chris has shared a video on Instagram capturing him and his brothers Liam and Luke covering the punk trio’s classic tune “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” over the holidays. Well, “cover” may be a loose term, as the video shows Chris whacking at the drums off-beat while Liam plays an acoustic guitar and sings with Luke.
“Christmas album just dropped, thanks for the inspiration @greenday,” the post’s caption reads.
You may recall that Chris previously covered Nine Inch Nails‘ “Hurt” — he performed the song in the style of Johnny Cash‘s version while on The Tonight Show in 2019.
Green Day, meanwhile, is gearing up to release a new album, Saviors, on January 19. Before that, they’ll say goodbye — or, perhaps, good riddance — to 2023 with a performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, airing December 31 on ABC.
Cher and son Elijah in 2001; Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Cher is taking legal steps to help her son Elijah Blue Allman, 47, who struggles with substance abuse: She’s filed for a conservatorship of him.
In legal documents obtained by ABC News, Cher states that she wants to be the sole conservator of Elijah’s estate because he is “substantially unable to manage his financial resources.” According to the documents, Elijah, the son of Cher’s late ex-husband Gregg Allman, is due to receive money from a trust before the end of 2023. However, because he’s currently suffering from “severe mental health and substance abuse issues,” Cher believes that “any money [he] receives will be “immediately spent on drugs … putting [his] life at risk.”
What’s more, the documents claim that Elijah’s wife, from whom he is allegedly estranged, shouldn’t be the conservator because she is “not supportive of Elijah’s recovery” and “actively works to keep Elijah from getting clean and sober or receiving mental health treatment that he desperately needs.”
The documents state that Cher has “worked tirelessly” to get Elijah “the help he needs,” and that two of his siblings have nominated her to act as conservator. It’s not clear which siblings she’s referring to, but the document lists three of Gregg Allman’s five children — including Devon Allman, lead singer of The Allman Betts Band — and Cher’s son Chaz Bono, from her marriage to the late Sonny Bono.
A hearing for a temporary order of conservatorship is set for January 5. A hearing that will decide whether to make the order permanent is set for March 6.
In October, Cher dismissed as “not true” a claim by Elijah’s wife that the singer, in an intervention attempt, had hired men to “kidnap” Elijah from New York City hotel room.
New music from The Beatles is probably not what fans expected this year, but that’s exactly what they got.
– Word of a new Beatles song first surfaced in June. During an interview about his new photo exhibit, Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm, Paul McCartney revealed “the last Beatles record” was going to be released, explaining they used artificial intelligence to extricate John Lennon’s voice from an old demo in order to complete it.
– After some folks interpreted that as artificial intelligence being used to create Lennon’s voice, McCartney clarified his statement, noting “nothing has been artificially or synthetically created.”
– In October, McCartney and Ringo Starr finally revealed the tune, “Now and Then,” would be dropping November 2.
– The song featured vocals Lennonrecorded on a demo in the late ’70s, which his wife, Yoko Ono,gave to McCartney, Starr and George Harrison in 1994. They used that demo to create “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,” which appeared on The Beatles Anthology project in the mid-’90s, but they were unable to complete “Now and Then.”
– In 2021, Peter Jackson, director of The Beatles: Get Back, used new technology to isolate Lennon’s “Now and Then” instruments and vocals. Paul and Ringo completed the song in 2022, using guitar parts Harrison recorded in 1995.
– They released a short film about the making of the song, along with a music video featuring clips that blended archival and current footage to make it feel like the whole band was playing together, and with younger versions of themselves.
– The song was an instant hit with Beatles fans, debuting at #1 on the U.K. charts and setting a record for the longest gap between number ones: 54 years. The last time The Beatles were on top of the charts in their homeland was in 1969 with the single “The Ballad of John & Yoko.”
– In the U.S., the song debuted at #7, extending The Beatles’ record for the most Hot 100 top 10 songs among groups, now with 35. They also nabbed the record for longest break between top 10 songs for any act with sole billing, at 27 years, 10 months and two weeks.
– As part of the “Now and Then” release, The Beatles also released 2023 Edition packages of two compilations, 1962-1966 (The Red Album) and 1967-1970 (The Blue Album), both mixed in stereo and Dolby Atmos.
Duff McKagan will be kicking off the new year with a trip to late night TV.
The Guns N’ Roses bassist is set to appear on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, January 9.
“January is looking to be a pretty busy month for me, and more on that at a later date,” McKagan shares in a Facebook post. “We’ll see ya on Kimmel on January 9th for those of you who get the show.”
McKagan’s 2023 included releasing a new solo album, Lighthouse, in between touring with GN’R. The “Welcome to the Jungle” outfit also put out two new songs this year, “The General” and “Perhaps.”
Paul McCartney is looking back at his year and sharing the photographic highlights with fans.
“From an unprecedented exhibition of his Beatles-era photographs to a jet-setting tour that saw Paul play in Australia, Mexico and Brazil; a part-masterclass, part-memoir podcast; and, of course, a new Beatles song. 2023 has been a year to remember!” reads a post on his website, along with 22 photos from the past year.
The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s photo diary includes a picture of him sharing a meal with Ringo Starr to celebrate his daughter Mary‘s vegetarian cookbook, posing with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl at the opening of McCartney’s photo exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery and sitting down with Stanley Tucci for a livestream event.
There’s also a photo of McCartney onstage during his Got Back Tour in Australia, a holiday photo with wife Nancy Shevell, a classic Wings pic celebrating the 50th anniversary of their album Red Rose Speedway and more.
Elton John started his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in September 2018 — a lifetime ago, it feels like — but it didn’t come to an end until July 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The final show of the final leg of Elton’s tour, which also included his first headlining set at England’s Glastonbury Festival, featured a special appearance via video from Coldplay, who were playing in another Swedish city that night. Singer Chris Martin thanked Elton for all he’s done for the fight against AIDS and LGBTQ rights, and for “fashion and eyewear … sexiness and love.”
After the show, Elton released a statement saying, “I’m trying to process it, and I don’t think it will sink in for a while yet that I’m finally finished touring.”
While he may be finished touring, Elton isn’t done with music, or with creating. At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in November, Elton told the crowd that he and his musical partner Bernie Taupin had just completed a new album. So far, there’s no word on a release date.
In 2023, Elton also guest-starred on The Rolling Stones‘ album Hackney Diamonds and Dolly Parton‘s album Rockstar, and co-wrote a new book called Watford Forever about his experiences as the owner of England’s Watford FC soccer team.
What’s more, it was announced that Elton’s latest stage musical, Tammy Faye, will come to Broadway for the 2024 season.
And in January, Sir Elton may finally become an EGOT winner. In July, he scored an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Variety Special, Live, for his Disney+ concertfilm, Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium. If he wins, he’ll join that rare group of entertainers who’ve won an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar. He’s won five Grammys, two Oscars and one Tony over the course of his career.
Also ahead for Elton: London’s Victoria & Albert Museum will stage an exhibit called Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection, opening May 18. In addition, he’ll film a cameo for the upcoming sequel to the legendary 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, along with Paul McCartney and Garth Brooks.
The next time you think that Rod Stewart is old, just remember: He’s got a sibling who’s 15 years older than he is.
Rod turns 79 on January 10, but on Instagram, he celebrated his sister Mary‘s 95th birthday by posting a photo of the two of them dressed to the nines. Rod’s wife Penny also posted a photo of herself and Rod posing with their two sons, Alastair and Aiden, Alastair’s girlfriend and Mary in front of a huge Christmas tree. She captioned it, “Happy 95th birthday Mary, we love you.”
Earlier this year, Rod brought Mary out onstage during his show in Edinburgh, Scotland to help him sing his song “Sailing,” and later told The Mirror, “At 94, she’s on a rock ’n roll stage and loving it. She has and continues to teach me about life.”
Last year, Rod and Mary’s brothers, Bob and Don, died within two months of each other; they were 88 and 94, respectively. They also had a sister, Peggy, who died at age 40 in 1975.
Queen’s fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera, became their first #1 on the U.K. album charts. In the U.S., the album peaked at #4 and went on to be certified triple-Platinum.
The album featured the eventual Queen classic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which became their first U.K. #1 single, along with “You’re My Best Friend,” and future live staples “Love of My Life” and “I’m in Love with My Car.”
In addition to the U.K., A Night at the Opera went to #1 in several other countries, including Australia and New Zealand.
The album is often included on lists of the greatest albums of all time and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018.
It’s always sad when our favorite musicians pass away and 2023 was a doozie, with several beloved artists leaving us.
The year started off with the loss of two two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famers: guitar great Jeff Beck on January 10 at the age of 78 from bacterial meningitis, and David Crosby on January 18 at the age of 81. Although no official cause of death was ever announced for Crosby, the singer’s bandmate Graham Nash revealed in an interview that Crosby died while battling COVID-19.
Another death felt deeply in the music world happened on May 24, when legendary Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll Tina Turner died at the age of 83. Turner, another two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, battled multiple life-threatening illness over the years.
And on August 9, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Robbie Robertson, guitarist and main songwriter for The Band, died at the age of 80 after a long illness. His death came not long after he finished working with his longtime friend and collaborator Martin Scorsese on the score for Scorsese’s film Killers of the Flower Moon.
Here’s a list of the many other music figures who died in 2023, in chronological order:
January 12: Robbie Bachman, drummer for the Canadian rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 69
March 5: Gary Rossington, guitarist and last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 71
March 13: Jim Gordon, drummer for Derek and the Dominoes, 77
March 22: Tom Leadon, co-founder of Tom Petty’s early ’70s band Mudcrutch, 70
April 2: Sire Records founder Seymour Stein, who signed artists like Talking Heads, Madonna and Pretenders, from cancer, 80
April 28: Tim Bachman, guitarist and one of the co-founders of the Canadian band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 71
May 22: Chas Newby, who played bass for The Beatles in their early days, 81
June 1: Grammy-winning songwriter Cynthia Weil (“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”), 82
July 26: Randy Meisner, founding member of the Eagles, due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 77
August 4: John Gosling, keyboardist for The Kinks,75
August 16: Music executive Jerry Moss, who co-founded A&M Records with Herb Alpert, the label responsible for albums like The Police’s Synchronicity and Carole King’s Tapestry, 88
August 24: Whitesnake’s original guitarist, Bernie Marsden,72
September 1: Beloved “Margaritaville” singer Jimmy Buffett, after a four-year battle with Merkel cell skin cancer, a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer, 76
November 30: The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, 65
December 5: Denny Laine, co-founder of Moody Blues and co-founder and guitarist for Paul McCartney & Wings, from interstitial lung disease, 79
Billie Joe Armstrong is throwing it all the way back to his middle school days.
In an Instagram Story, the Green Day frontman shared a photo of the day he and bassist Mike Dirnt graduated from the eighth grade together. The pic showcases the future Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ impressive teenage hairstyles, though they were more ’70s rock than punk at the time.
Armstrong and Dirnt, of course, were friends in school before they would go on to form Green Day. Among the band’s many career accomplishments is writing that staple song of school graduations everywhere: “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).”
Along with remembering saying goodbye to eighth grade, Armstrong will help say goodbye to 2023 when Green Day performs on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2024, airing December 31 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
Green Day is also set to have a big 2024 with the release of their new album, Saviors, on January 19, followed by the launch of a world tour. Additionally, they’ll be celebrating the 30th and 20th anniversaries of their landmark albums Dookie and American Idiot, respectively.
