Red Hot Chili Peppers will be celebrating at the VMAs with Cheech&Chong.
According to Variety, the famed stoner comedy duo will present the “Californication” outfit with the Global Icon Award at the MTV show, taking place this Sunday, August 28.
Variety also reports that actor Johnny Depp was considered to present the award before the Peppers chose Cheech & Chong.
The VMAs announced last week that RHCP would receive the 2022 Global Icon Award, which “celebrates an artist or band whose unparalleled career and continued impact and influence has maintained a unique level of global success in music and beyond, leaving an indelible mark on the music landscape.” Foo Fighters were honored with the prize in 2021.
Red Hot Chili Peppers will also perform at the VMAs, marking their return to the show for the first time in over 20 years.
After name-dropping Billy Joel in her song “Deju Vu,” teen pop star Olivia Rodrigo joined the Piano Man to perform the hit tune Wednesday night during the latest installment of his monthly residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The two duetted on “Deja Vu,” which includes the lyrics, ”I’ll bet that she knows Billy Joel/ ‘Cause you played her ‘Uptown Girl’/ You’re singing it together/ Now I bet you even tell her/ How you love her/ In between the chorus and the verse.”
Joel and Rodrigo They then sang “Uptown Girl” together.
Olivia gushed over the experience on her Instagram Story, writing, “I SANG WITH BILLY JOEL AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN TODAY ARE U KIDDING.” She later posted a selfie with Billy, writing, “Biggest honor ever still crying thank u Billy!!!!!!!”
Joel commemorated the show with photos on his Instagram, as well.
The performance marked Billy’s 82nd monthly show as part of his MSG residency. His record-breaking concert series at the venue began in January 2014 with him playing one show at The Garden every month. Last night’s concert was his 128th show overall at MSG.
Thirty years ago today, Eric Clapton released what has become the best-selling album of his career, Unplugged.
The 14-track acoustic live collection features performances from an episode of the MTV Unplugged series that was shot in front of an intimate audience in January of 1992 at Bray Studios outside of London and premiered in March of that year.
The Unplugged album spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart in March 1993. It included one hit single, a low-key, jazzy rendition of Eric’s 1971 Derek and the Dominos classic “Layla,” which reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Unplugged also features a version of Clapton’s 1992 hit “Tears in Heaven,” a few other original tunes, and a variety of blues covers, including renditions of Bo Diddley‘s “Before You Accuse Me,” Son House‘s “Walkin’ Blues,” Robert Johnson‘s “Malted Milk” and Muddy Waters‘ “Rollin’ and Tumblin’.”
Clapton’s backing band for the Unplugged show included longtime Rolling Stones touring keyboardist and former Allman Brothers Band member Chuck Leavell, longtime Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone and longtime Elton John percussionist Ray Cooper.
At the 1993 Grammy Awards, Clapton won a trio of trophies for Unplugged — Album of the Year; Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male; and Best Rock Song for his acoustic version of “Layla.”
An expanded two-CD/DVD version of Unplugged was released in 2013. It featured a bonus CD with six additional tracks, and a restored version of the concert video, plus more than an hour of unseen footage from the rehearsal for the show.
In 2016, Unplugged was certified Diamond by the RIAA for selling over 10 million copies in the U.S. It’s among the bestselling live albums of all time.
Here’s the full track list of the Unplugged album:
“Signe”
“Before You Accuse Me”
“Hey Hey”
“Tears in Heaven”
“Lonely Stranger”
“Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out”
“Layla”
“Running on Faith”
“Walkin’ Blues”
“Alberta”
“San Francisco Bay Blues”
“Malted Milk”
“Old Love”
“Rollin’ and Tumblin'”
It’s been over 20 years since Poison released an album of new original songs, 2002’s Hollyweird. While frontman Bret Michaels says he’s not anxious to make another studio effort, he’d like to come up with one great new tune with the group.
“I know I could get outvoted on this,” Michaels tells the Arizona Republic. “But I said, ‘Guys, I beg you. Let’s just write a straight-up rock song.’ A ‘Nothin’ but a Good Time.’ But modern. ‘Talk Dirty to Me.’ A great guitar riff, good lyrics, a hook in the chorus. Just something that’s fun for us to write. And who knows? Maybe it could be a modern-day ‘You Shook Me All Night Long.'”
As for Poison possibly working on a longer music project, Bret says it’s probably not the best idea.
“You give us a whole album, you’ll get the best prize fight you’ve ever seen,” he says with a laugh.
Michaels says that he and his bandmates “always get along great,” except for those occasional times that they don’t.
“No one has ever made me laugh harder or been through as much as we’ve been through together, from the ground up,” Bret says. “I’m talking the basement, sump-pump water on the floor. We’re definitely four uniquely different personalities. But on that stage, it’s electric.”
He adds, “When it goes bad, it goes straight to a fistfight.”
Poison has been spending the summer on the massive Stadium Tour, which also features Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. The trek runs through a September 9 show in Las Vegas.
Michaels also has a bunch of 2022 concerts with his solo band scheduled through a November 11 gig in Ridgefield, Washington.
Jackson Browne and Elvis Costello are among the collaborators featured on actress/singer Rita Wilson‘s forthcoming album, Now & Forever: Duets, a covers collection mainly boasting renditions of 1970s hits.
According to Billboard, Wilson chose to focus on ’70s covers because of the personal significance the decade holds for her.
“I wanted to honor where I came from with songs from the ’70s,” she says in a statement. “It was really about showing enormous appreciation for the songwriting of that period — how these songs are still relevant even though they’re 50 years old.”
Rita’s duet with Browne, who’s widely considered among the most respected singer/songwriter to emerge during the ’70s, actually dates back to the 1959 Every Brothers hit “Let It Be Me.”
In a behind-the-scenes video about the making of Now & Forever postedon Wilson’s YouTube channel, Rita says, “Jackson, to me, is one of the first artists that I just fell in love with — his voice, his writing was so personal and so emotional.”
Costello, meanwhile, is a featured on a version of Bruce Springsteen‘s “Fire.”
Other guests artists on Now and Forever include Motown legend Smokey Robinson, crooner Josh Groban, Hamilton actor Leslie Odom Jr. and country stars Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw and Jimmie Allen.
The album also includes songs that were written and/or famously recorded by Van Morrison, Paul Simon, The Bee Gees, Bread, The Jackson 5, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, Harry Nilsson and Fleetwood Mac.
Now & Forever: Duets is due out September 27, and can be preorderd now.
Here’s the album’s full track list:
“Crazy Love” (Van Morrison) — with Keith Urban
“Where Is the Love?” (Roberta Flack & Donnie Hathaway) — with Smokey Robinson
“Slip Slidin’ Away” (Paul Simon) — with Willie Nelson
“Let It Be Me” (The Everly Brothers) — with Jackson Browne
“Massachusetts” (The Bee Gees) — with Leslie Odom Jr.
“Fire” (Bruce Springsteen) – with Elvis Costello
“If” (Bread) — with Tim McGraw
“I’ll Be There” (Michael Jackson) — with Jimmie Allen
“Without You” (Harry Nilsson) — with Vince Gill
“Songbird” (Fleetwood Mac) — with Josh Groban
A trailer for the upcoming Ronnie James Dio documentary Dio:Dreamers Never Die has been released.
The 30-second clip, streaming now on YouTube, showcases some of those interviewed for the film, including Jack Black and Lita Ford.
“When you’re a kid, you’re looking for a voice that says, ‘This is my generation,'” the Tenacious D frontman says. “Then all of a sudden, here comes Ronnie James Dio.”
Dreamers Never Die is described as the “first-ever, career-spanning documentary” on Dio, who passed away from stomach cancer in 2010. The film will follow Ronnie’s life from his days with the bands Elf and Rainbow, to joining Black Sabbath in place of the fired Ozzy Osbourne and forming his own namesake band, Dio.
Other rockers interviewed for the doc include Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, ex-Deep Purple bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, Dio drummer Vinny Appice, Rob Halford and Sebastian Bach.
Dreamers Never Die will screen in theaters on September 28 and October 2. Tickets are available now via DioDreamersNeverDie.com.
Nita Strauss has clarified her status with Alice Cooper‘s band following the announcement that she wouldn’t be joining the shock-rocker on his upcoming fall tour.
“It’s an interesting thing that everyone’s picked up saying it’s a ‘departure,’ but I don’t feel, necessarily, that I left,” Strauss tells Louder. “I took a step back and I’m stepping back from this upcoming tour but I don’t think anyone has ever used the word quitting or leaving outside of other people.”
Strauss first shared the news in a July Instagram post, writing, “it is bittersweet for me to let you guys know that I will not be joining the Alice Cooper band for the upcoming fall tour.” And while she did not explicitly say she’s leaving the group permanently, Strauss did write, “The past eight years together has been the experience of a lifetime,” which could be read as a reflection on the end of her time with Cooper.
As Strauss now tells Louder, not only is she leaving the door open for a possible return, but so is Cooper.
“When I had my last few shows with Alice, we had what Alice called a ‘Hiatus Dinner’ where he said, ‘We wish you the best, we love you, you’re welcome back,'” Strauss shares. “There’s no shutting of a door and changing of the guard, it’s just I’m taking a step back a little bit.”
“Depending on what the schedule looks like next year, I may have the chance to come back, I may not,” she adds. “But it definitely doesn’t feel as final to me and to the people in Alice’s band and the inner circle as it has been portrayed out in the world.”
Strauss is currently the guitarist in pop star Demi Lovato‘s live band.
Founding INXS member Andrew Farriss has been busy promoting his 2021 debut solo album, a self-titled effort that sees the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter putting aside his famous band’s funky modern-rock sound in favor of tunes with strong country and Americana influences.
Farriss, who lives on a cattle farm in his native Australia, says his lifestyle has helped him relate to people who reside in the rural Southern and Southwestern U.S., and to embrace the music that’s popular in those regions.
“These experiences for me drew me more and more into where I’m now in, which is sort of country rock, Americana, folk music,” he explains to ABC Audio, “because I feel I’ve connected with communities that aren’t city or suburban people. I understand now. I get it, now [that] I’ve lived out there and I’ve done it.”
Andrew also notes that additional inspiration for the songs on his solo album from a horseback riding trip came from he took with his wife a few years ago along the Mexican border in Arizona and New Mexico. Farriss says he became fascinated with the history of the Western U.S. and began writing tunes that drew parallels between the area and his own country.
“I started thinking more and more and more lyrically about how to draw in both from Australiana and Americana, and join them together,” he explains. “I could sing songs about bushrangers, as we call ’em, or outlaws, in Australia, I could sing about outlaws in America. But it was the cultural fusion…that was a powerful thing.”
Farriss tells ABC Audio that when he plays live, he does include some INXS songs alongside his solo material, noting that when he performs tunes by his old band, “I like to rearrange them.”
Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the death of longtime Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, who passed away from an undisclosed illness at age 80 on August 24, 2021.
The Rolling Stones have posted a tribute video on their socialmediasites, along with a note that reads, “One year on without our beloved Charlie. Remembering him and all the incredible things he achieved in his life.”
The video, which is set to the 1994 Stones song “You Got Me Rocking,” features a montage of photos and film clips of Charlie.
In addition, Stones singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Ronnie Wood have posted separate homages to Watts on their own social media pages.
Jagger’s tribute features a video including a series of photos of him and Watts together over the years, soundtracked by the melancholy 1974 Stones tune “Till the Next Goodbye.”
The clip also features audio of Mick talking about his relationship with Charlie.
“I miss Charlie because he had a great sense of humor,” Jagger says. “And…outside of the band, we used to hang out quite a lot and have interesting times. We liked sports — we’d go to football, we’d go to cricket games, and we would have other interests apart from music. But, you know, of course, I really miss Charlie so much.”
The video was accompanied by a message that reads, “Thinking of Charlie today,” along with a blue heart emoji.
Wood’s homage features four photos of Watts and a message that reads, “Charlie, missing you every single day. [Wife] Shirley, [daughter] Seraphina and [granddaughter] Charlotte, we hold you close in our hearts xxx.”
Watts played drums with The Stones from January 1963 until his death and appeared on all of the band’s albums.
Today, August 24, marks the 40th anniversary of the release of R.E.M.‘s debut EP, Chronic Town.
Arriving about a year after R.E.M.’s first single, “Radio Free Europe,” the five-track collection preceded the band’s classic 1983 debut studio album, Murmur.
The EP includes early fan favorites “Wolves, Lower,” “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” and “1,000,000,” as well as the gems “Gardening at Night” and “Stumble.” All songs were co-written by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry; theyshowcase the quartet’s jangly and hugely influential “College Rock” sound.
Chronic Town was co-produced by R.E.M. and singer/songwriter/producer Mitch Easter. It was recorded at Easter’s Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The EP was originally issued on cassette and vinyl, and it made its CD debut as part of R.E.M.’s 1987 rarities compilation Dead Letter Office.
To celebrate the milestone anniversary, R.E.M. releasedChronic Town as a standalone CD for the first time Friday, while the EP was reissued on cassette and as a vinyl picture disc. Easter has written new liner notes for the reissue.
In conjunction with the EP’s rerelease, Chronic Town-themed merch items have been made available at REMHQ.com, includingT-shirts, a hoodie and a collectible skateboard deck.
In other news, Buck and Mills recently contributed to a new song called “The Voice of Baseball” by their side group The Baseball Project. The tune, which is available as a digital download at the group’s official Bandcamp page, is a tribute to longtime LA Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully, who died August 2 at age 94.
Buck co-wrote the song with his Baseball Project bandmate Scott McCaughey, who was a longtime member of R.E.M.’s touring group.
