Queen Elizabeth II‘s Platinum Jubilee celebration, which will mark her 70th year on the British throne, just got a lot more star-studded.
The lineup for the Platinum Party at the Palace, a massive concert set for June 4 in front of Buckingham Palace in London, has been revealed. Sir Elton John and Sir Rod Stewart are among the performers, as are, fittingly, Queen + Adam Lambert.
The bill also includes Duran Duran, Diana Ross, Elbow, Alicia Keys, Andrea Bocelli, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Also part of the lineup are several pop artists who are well known in the U.K. but less familiar in the U.S., including Sam Ryder, Mabel, George Ezra, Craig David, Sigala & Ella Eyre, Mica Paris, Celeste and Mimi Webb.
There are just 10,000 tickets available, which are being allocated on a first come, first served basis. Visit the BBC’s website for more information. It’s not clear yet if the BBC’s broadcast of the event will air in North America.
Another Pearl Jam member has tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the band to cancel upcoming shows in Sacramento, California, and Las Vegas.
The grunge rockers announced Wednesday that bassist Jeff Ament had contracted the virus, a week after drummer Matt Cameron tested positive. While they had kept the tour going without Cameron by using guest drummers — including original Ten drummer Dave Krusen, and ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist and current PJ touring member Josh Klinghoffer — Ament testing positive means Pearl Jam’s whole rhythm section is now sidelined.
“This is horrible for everybody involved and we are especially sorry to those out there who have made plans to attend these shows,” Pearl Jam writes. “Our attention to staying inside the bubble has been constant. We have truly done all that we could have to remain clear of infection.”
The Sacramento date was scheduled for tonight, May 18, while the Las Vegas show was supposed to happen this Friday, May 20. Refunds will be issued to ticket holders.
“We are so very sorry,” PJ’s statement concludes. “Be safe out there.”
The Vegas concert was also the last stop on the first leg of Pearl Jam’s North American tour, which was already rescheduled from 2020 due to the pandemic. The next leg is set to launch September 1 in Quebec.
If it’s good enough for The Beatles, it’s good enough for Elton John.
What’s being described as the “official feature” on Elton John is heading to Disney+. Called Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and The Years That Made His Legend, the documentary features unseen concert footage from the past 50 years, modern-day footage of Elton and his family, and a look at his hand-written journals.
Ahead of its arrival on Disney+, the doc will have a limited theatrical run and will also screen at festivals.
Capturing Elton’s last months on the road on his farewell tour, with performance clips from Madison Square Garden, London and more, the film will culminate with the star’s final North American show at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium this November. It’ll also feature a special look at the first five years of Elton’s career, during which he scored seven #1 albums and became a global superstar.
Elton’s husband and manager, David Furnish, is a producer on the project. It’s directed by R.J. Cutler, who brought you the music doc Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry, as well as BELUSHI, The War Room, A Perfect Candidate and The World According to Dick Cheney.
In a statement, Furnish says, “Elton and I could not think of a better collaborator than R.J. Cutler for a film that represents more than just Elton’s career — it’s his life. From the Troubadour to Dodger Stadium, we knew that R.J. would help guide Elton’s story and its many layers in a way that feels authentic and evocative.”
Elton has been part of the Disney family since 1994, when his music for The Lion King became a massive hit.
Alice Cooper circa 1970; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
A new Alice Cooper action figure celebrating the shock rocker’s memorable early-1970s look and his band’s classic 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies has been released by the Super7 toy company as part of its ReAction Figure series.
The figurine depicts Cooper with his trademark face makeup wearing a black leather outfit, including a vest, gloves and knee-high boots with silver lightning bolts on the side. The toy also features two accessories — a microphone and Cooper’s pet snake.
The figurine comes packaged on a special billion-dollar-bill cardback similar to the one that came with the original Billion Dollar Babies LP.
Billion Dollar Babies is the only Cooper album ever to top the Billboard 200. It included the top-40 hits “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Hello Hooray.”
The Cooper figure is available now at Super7.com and is priced at $18. Previous toys in the ReAction Figure series include figurines depicting Motorhead‘s Lemmy, late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, late Exodus frontman Paul Baloff, Iron Maiden mascot Eddie, King Diamond and Ghost singer Papa Emeritus II.
Cooper is set to kick off a 2022 European tour this Sunday, May 22, in Swansea, Wales. Check out his full schedule at AliceCooper.com.
A massive Al Stewart box set titled The Admiralty Lights, spanning the veteran Scottish singer/songwriter’s nearly 60-year career, will be released on June 3.
The 50-CD collection features remastered versions of all 21 of Stewart’s studio albums, 18 discs of previously unheard live recordings spanning from 1970 to 2009, three CDs of BBC sessions that Stewart recorded from 1965 to 1972, and eights discs of demos, outtakes and other rare tracks dating from 1964 to 2008.
The box set also includes a 160-page hardback book featuring extensive liner notes, an interview with Stewart, and rare photos and memorabilia; a 24-page “Collectors’ Book” with details about the various rare recordings; a print of the cover of Stewart’s smash 1976 album Year of the Cat signed by artist Colin Elgie; and a poster of Stewart’s 1988 album Last Days of the Century.
Stewart emerged from the British folk scene during the 1960s, but he enjoyed his biggest success as a rock artist with two platinum-selling, Alan Parsons-produced albums — Year of the Cat and 1978’s Time Passages.
Year of the Cat featured the hit title track, which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as “On the Border,” which fell just short of the chart’s top 40. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200.
Time Passages reached #10 on the Billboard 200, while its title track became Stewart’s highest-charting single in the U.S., peaking at #7 on the Hot 100.
Other noteworthy recordings in the box set include Stewart’s 1969 Love Chronicles album, featuring contributions from Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones; and 1973’s Present & Future, which boasts appearances by Yes‘ Rick Wakeman and Queen‘s Roger Taylor.
Jane’s Addiction will no longer be playing Welcome to Rockville this weekend, but festivalgoers will still get to see Perry Farrell.
In a statement posted to the Welcome to Rockville Facebook page, Farrell shares that Jane’s won’t be able to play due to guitarist Dave Navarro suffering from a “long bout” of COVID-19. In their stead, Farrell is reuniting his band Porno for Pyros.
The PfP lineup for the performance will include original members Farrell, Stephen Perkins and Peter DiStefeno, as well as bassist Mike Watt of the seminal punk band Minutemen.
Porno for Pyros was founded by Farrell and Perkins, who also plays drums in Jane’s, after the “Been Caught Stealing” outfit broke up in the early ’90s. The group released two albums before calling it quits in 1998.
In 2009, the original PfP lineup — which also included bassist Martyn LeNoble — reunited to play Farrell’s 50th birthday party. The lineup featuring Watt then got back together in 2020 to play a couple songs on the Lollapalooza 2020 streaming concert, which was held in lieu of the usual in-person festival due to the pandemic.
The Welcome to Rockville performance will mark the first full, public, in-person Porno for Pyros show in 26 years.
Welcome to Rockville takes place May 19-22 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Headliners include Nine Inch Nails, Guns N’ Roses, KISS and Korn.
If you had your heart set on seeing Jane’s, you can catch them during their recently announced tour with The Smashing Pumpkins, which launches in October.
Soundgarden has shared a tribute to Chris Cornell to mark the fifth anniversary of his death.
“Five years we have missed you,” the grunge rockers write in an Instagram post. “You have love. You have peace. You have eternity.”
The band adds, “Love and peace for all of Soundgarden’s brothers and sisters.”
Cornell’s widow, Vicky, also shared a statement, which reads in part, “[Five] years ago today, would be the worst day of our lives.
“It would be the last time Chris would hug & kiss us, the last time he’d walk out our front door. The last time he’d wave goodbye to use from the car. The last time we’d ever seem him.”
Vicky also thanks her husband’s fans, writing, “Please know he loved you as much as you love him.”
“He was so grateful to be able to make music, perform all over the world, have his music & lyrics touch your heart & impact your lives. He loved receiving love from all of you.”
The grunge icon, whose unmistakable voice helped define the sound of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave, passed away May 18, 2017, at age 52.
Cornell, born July 20, 1964, co-founded Soundgarden in 1984, becoming a staple of the Seattle music scene before the grunge movement took off in the early ’90s. In 1990, Cornell formed Temple of the Dog with future members of Pearl Jam. They released one album together in 1991. The record memorably included the song “Hunger Strike,” featuring a then-unknown Eddie Vedder.
Soungarden, meanwhile, began gaining mainstream attention with 1991’s Batmotorfinger, which was released within two months of Pearl Jam’s Ten and Nirvana‘s Nevermind. They then broke out further with 1994’s Superunknown, which spawned Soundgarden’s signature single, “Black Hole Sun.”
After releasing one more album, 1996’s Down on the Upside, Soundgarden broke up in 1997. Cornell then began a solo career. In 2001, he joined three-fourths of Rage Against the Machine to form Audioslave, which would release three records before disbanding in 2007.
Soundgarden then announced in 2010 that they were reuniting, and a new album, King Animal, dropped in 2012. The group continued to tour throughout the 2010s and had begun working on another record.
On May 17, 2017, Soundgarden performed in Detroit. In the early morning hours following the show, Cornell was found dead in his hotel room. His death was ruled a suicide.
In January 2019, the Cornell family staged a tribute concert featuring Metallica, Foo Fighters and Miley Cyrus, among many others. The following year, a posthumous covers compilation, No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1, was released. It was described as Cornell’s last fully completed studio album.
If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
The Eagles will wind down the 2022 U.S. portion of their long-running Hotel California Tour with a recently announced May 28 concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and now additional tickets to the show have been made available.
The tickets, which are priced starting at $139, are on sale now at AXS.com, while a limited number of VIP packages also are available for purchase. The VIP packages include premium seats, special merchandise and more.
The Eagles launched their Hotel California Tour in 2019 with three sold-out concerts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
As previously reported, the Hotel California shows feature the current Eagles lineup performing the band’s classic 1976 album of the same name in its entirety, as well as other classics, accompanied by an orchestra and a choir.
Prior to the Las Vegas concert, the Eagles have three other U.S. shows scheduled — a May 19-20 engagement in Austin, Texas, and a May 25 performance in Salt Lake City.
The band also has a series of five European concerts scheduled in June.
Visit Eagles.com for complete tour and ticket information.
Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Heifer International
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith is following Pearl Jam‘s Matt Cameron in denouncing Rolling Stone‘s recent article about Taylor Hawkins.
The piece, which was published Monday evening, features interviews with both named and anonymous friends of the late Foo Fighters drummer, including Smith and Cameron.
The piece includes multiple sources claiming that Hawkins had expressed discomfort with the amount of touring he had to do as part of Foo Fighters leading up to his unexpected death this past March, with both Cameron and Smith quoted as saying Hawkins had a “heart-to-heart” conversation with Foo frontman Dave Grohl and the band’s management about his concerns.
Smith is also quoted talking about an alleged incident during which Hawkins “lost consciousnesses” while on a flight last December.
“That was one of the straws that broke the camel’s back,” one of Smith’s quotes reads. “After that, [Hawkins] had a real important heart-to-heart with Dave and the management. He said, ‘I can’t continue on this schedule, and so we’ve got to figure out something.'”
Both claims about the alleged conversation between Hawkins, Grohl and management and Hawkins losing consciousness aboard that flight were denied by a Foo Fighters rep.
On Tuesday afternoon, Cameron issued a statement claiming that his quotes were “taken out of context and shaped into a narrative I had never intended,” adding that he’s “truly sorry to have taken part in this interview.”
Smith then followed with his own statement Tuesday evening, reading, “The story [Rolling Stone] wrote was sensationalized and misleading.”
“Had I known I never would have agreed to participate,” Smith continued. “I apologize to his family and musical friends for any pain this may have caused. I miss Taylor every day.”
