Albums from Black Sabbath‘s I.R.S. Records era are set to be reissued in 2023.
Guitarist Tony Iommi teased the upcoming rereleases in a tweet this week marking the birthday of late drummer Cozy Powell, who played on three of Sabbath’s I.R.S. albums.
“Cozy Powell would have been 75 today,” Iommi writes. “Looking forward to the release of the IRS albums in 2023, a tribute to his great playing.”
Sabbath released five records on I.R.S. — 1989’s Headless Cross, 1990’s Tyr, 1992’s Dehumanizer, 1994’s Cross Purposes and 1995’s Forbidden — three of which featured Iommi as the only original member. The era’s lineup also included Tony Martin on lead vocals for each album but Dehumanizer, which featured the return of Ronnie James Dio.
Meanwhile, Iommi reunited with the original Black Sabbath frontman, Ozzy Osbourne, this year to play on the Prince of Darkness’s new solo album, Patient Number 9. Their collaboration “Degradation Rules” is nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 2023 Grammys.
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British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, who made punk and new wave fashion mainstream, died Thursday at age 81, and her loss is being felt throughout the music community. Several artists took to social media to pay tribute to Westwood, including Paul McCartney and Boy George.
“Goodbye Vivienne Westwood,” McCartney shared. “A ballsy lady who rocked the fashion world and stood defiantly for what was right.”
“R.I.P to the great and inspiring Vivienne Westwood who lead us through punk and beyond. Laughed at by the fashion industry but without question she is the undisputed Queen of British fashion,” Boy George tweeted. “I love you!”
John Taylor of Duran Duranshared a touching tribute to the designer, calling her “the most original and influential” of designers and noting, “Without her no Punk, no Pistols and no Future.” He added, “There will not be another like her. There is rarely a day that Vivienne doesn’t influence some clothing choice that I make. Who shall we look to now?”
And Billy Idoladded, “difficult 2 process this today… she was such a big part of our lives those who loved her fashion and cultural influences …her fight against climate change …oh god…it’s too much.”
Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament also marked Westwood’s passing, writing, “RIP @viviennewestwood who with Malcom and Jamie Reid created the best/most shocking/thought provoking pieces from the great art of the punk rock era.”
When Joni Mitchell suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015, few people thought she’d ever return to the public eye, let alone perform again. But that all changed in 2022.
–The singer’s good year started in April, when she was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year, with artists like Brandi Carlile, Jon Batiste, John Legend, Herbie Hancock and Stephen Stills celebrating her at a gala in Las Vegas.
–In July, Joni shocked everyone when she turned up at Rhode Island’s Newport Folk Festival to join Carlile for a “Joni Jam,” featuring special guests like Marcus Mumford, Lucius, Taylor Goldsmith and Wynonna. With help, Joni, who hadn’t performed live since 2000, treated the crowd to such songs as “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Both Sides Now.”
–In August, she received an honorary doctorate from Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music during an event held at a private residence in Santa Monica, California. Mitchell was bestowed with the honor by Berklee’s Office of the President and Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
–Joni isn’t done performing. In fact, in October, Carlile announced a new three-day festival, Echoes in the Canyon, at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington, with one of the nights featuring another “Joni Jam.” The festival goes down June 9 to June 11, with Joni’s night, June 10, already sold out.
Steven Tyler is facing a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims she had a relationship with him in the ’70s when she was a minor. Rolling Stonereports that in a suit filed in Los Angeles, the plaintiff, Julia Holcomb, is accusing the Aerosmith frontman of sexual assault, assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Although Tyler isn’t named in the suit, the defendants are listed as Doe 1 and Does 2 through 50. The mag claims it’s obvious it’s Tyler since Holcomb has talked about her relationship with him in the past, and Tyler also wrote about it in his memoir. The suit also uses quotes about the relationship from Tyler’s book.
Holcomb claims she and Tyler were together for three years starting 1973, when she was 16 and he was in his 20s. They were allowed to be together because the rocker got her mother to grant him guardianship over her, which allowed her to live and travel with him.
Holcomb claims she “was powerless to resist” the rock star’s “power, fame and substantial financial ability,” and that he “coerced and persuaded” her into believing their relationship was a “romantic love affair.” She also says at 17 she got pregnant with Tyler’s son, but he pushed her to have an abortion, alleging smoke inhalation from when their apartment caught fire hurt the baby. Holcomb claims he threatened to stop supporting her if she didn’t. She says after she had the abortion she left him.
Tyler does mention a relationship with a 16-year-old in his memoir, Does the Noise in my Head Bother You? Although he doesn’t name Holcomb in it, he does include a Julia Halcomb in the acknowledgements.
It was quite a year for Bruce Springsteen fans, who saw The Boss announce a new tour, but then anger them with ticket prices. He also released a new album, made several surprise concert appearances and more.
Here are some of the Bruce Springsteen happenings in 2022:
–Bruce and the E Street Band announced that their first tour in six years would hit Europe and the U.S., first revealing European dates that kick off in April in Barcelona.
–During Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour stop at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Bruce hopped onstage to join them for performances of his “Working on a Dream” and “Dancing in the Dark.”
–Also at MetLife Stadium, Bruce helped Paul McCartney wrap up his Got Back Tour in the U.S., joining Sir Paul to perform his “Glory Days” and the early Beatles track “I Wanna Be Your Man.”
–Less than two weeks later, Bruce showed up for McCartney once again, joining him for his historic headlining set at the Glastonbury Music Festival in England. The pair played the same two songs they performed in Jersey.
–Bruce and the E Street Band finally announced North American dates for their 2023 tour, which will kick off February 1 in Tampa, Florida. While fans were excited, that changed when tickets actually went on sale. Many were unable to get them, and those who got through to Ticketmaster found ticket prices as high as $5,000 thanks to the site’s dynamic pricing, which raises prices based on demand.
–Bruce responded to the backlash later in the year, telling Rolling Stone that while in the past he has always priced his tickets “under market value,” this time, at 73, he told his team, “I want to do what everybody else is doing, my peers.” He did insist most of his tickets were “affordable.” He also noted that artists “have to own the decisions you made,” adding, “I think if folks come to the show, they’re going to have a good time.”
–Bruce and wife Patti Scialfa became grandparents for their first time when their youngest son, Sam, welcomed daughter Lily Harper Springsteen.
–The Boss turned up at Bleachers’ Radio City Music Hall show in New York, joining Jack Antonoff to perform their collaborative tune “Chinatown.”
–September 30 marked the 40th anniversary of Bruce’s acclaimed solo album “Nebraska.”
–Bruce made a surprise appearance at The Killers’ show at Madison Square Garden, where he joined Brandon Flowers to perform his “Badlands” and “Born to Run,” as well as The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and “A Dustland Fairytale.”
–He made his annual appearance at the Stand Up For Heroes benefit in New York, where he played a four-song set and told his traditional dirty jokes.
–Bruce dropped the new album Only The Strong Survive, made up of covers of classic soul songs like “Don’t Play That Song” and “Night Shift.” The album debuted at eight on the Billboard 200 album chart, his 22nd top 10 record, landing him at eight for the most top 10 albums and at six for the most among solo artists.
–During a week of appearances on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Bruce confirmed that the often-debated line in “Thunder Road” is “Mary’s dress sways,” although he read what was written on the Born to Run jacket. Despite saying he was “insane about every little detail” about the album, it does, in fact, read “Mary’s dress waves.” Bruce insisted “this is wrong.”
In 2019 Peter Frampton announced he was retiring from touring due to a progressive muscle disorder, but apparently that doesn’t mean he’s ready to give up playing live altogether. In fact, he’s already lined up a new show for next month.
The guitar great just announced he’s headlining a free concert in Nashville on January 22.
So far no other details about the concert have been revealed. His last performance was back in August, when he performed at a Buddy Holly 85th birthday celebration in Texas.
Gov’t Mule fans are going to have to make some new New Year’s Eve plans. The band was supposed to kick off a run of shows in Philadelphia Thursday, but just announced the entire schedule has been postponed due to a “medical emergency.”
“After waiting for so long, we were excited to be together and finally make these shows happen, the last thing we wanted or expected was to have to postpone again, but it was an unavoidable situation,” the band shared on Instagram. “Please keep holding on to those tickets, and we’ll update you soon with more info. Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday.”
The Black ‘N’ Blue New Year’s Eve run was supposed to launch Thursday at the Met in Philadelphia, followed by shows Friday and Saturday at the Beacon Theater in New York. These shows have already been postponed twice. They were originally supposed to happen the end of December 2021 and then were rescheduled to April, but were then postponed again.
Neil Young is certainly known for standing up for what he believes in, and he did that in a big way this year, taking on Spotify.
It all started in January when Neil, upset about the COVID misinformation he believed was being spread on Spotify thanks to Joe Rogan’s podcast, demanded his music be removed from the streaming platform. Spotify did comply, but Neil wasn’t the only artist it was about to lose over the matter.
Not long after his declaration, in solidarity with Neil, Joni Mitchell and E Street Band/Crazy Horse member Nils Lofgren stood by him, demanding their music be removed from the service for the same reasons.
Then in February, Neil’s Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate Graham Nash backed him up by removing his catalog from Spotify. Not long after, David Crosby and Stephen Stills demanded their solo work, plus any Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young or Crosby, Stills & Nash and Crosby-Nash music be removed.
But the battle with Spotify wasn’t the only thing Neil had going on this year. He also released a new Crazy Horse album, World Record, as well as the album Toast, which he recorded with them in 2001 but had not released. He also released a 50th anniversary deluxe reissue of his fourth album, Harvest, along with a companion documentary, Neil Young: Harvest Time, chronicling the making of the record. Neil also released the live album and concert film Noise & Flowers, which was recorded during his nine-date 2019 European tour with Promise of the Real.
David Lee Roth is opening up about his relationship with his late Van Halen bandmate Eddie Van Halen, who passed away in October 2020.
In the latest episode of his The Roth Show podcast, Roth shares, “My dear departed Ed. Boy, I miss him. I had a ball with Ed.”
As for their working relationship, Roth notes, “Walt Disney once said, ‘You know what? My love affair with Mickey Mouse was better than any love affair with a woman I ever had,’” offering, “I’ve gotta tell ya: playing with Ed, writing songs with Ed, presenting those songs with Ed was better than any love affair I ever had.”
He adds that some of the tunes they made together in Van Halen “might last forever – or until the last syllable of time, like Shakespeare said. They became anthems.”
While the Beatles broke up over 50 years ago, they were still making headlines in 2022, with Emmy wins, big tours and more.
Here’s a lowdown on all of 2022’s Beatles happenings:
—Paul McCartney launched his Got Back tour in Spokane, Washington, which featured a virtual duet with John Lennon on the Fab Four’s “I’ve Got a Feeling.” He wrapped the tour at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, with special appearances by Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi. It was also Paul’s 80th birthday, and Bon Jovi led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to him.
–Lennon’s son Julian Lennon covered his father’s classic track “Imagine” for the first time during Global Citizen’s televised Stand Up for Ukraine special.
—Ringo Starr received an honorary doctorate from Boston’s Berklee College of Music.
–McCartney headlined the Glastonbury Music Festival in England, and was joined by special guests Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl. It was Grohls’ first time onstage since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins.
–McCartney released McCartney I II III, a box set of his three self-titled solo albums: 1970’s McCartney, 1980’s McCartney II and 2020’s McCartney III.
–Ringo and his All-Star Band relaunched their tour after 12 dates had to be scrapped in June due to positive COVID tests by Edgar Winter and Toto‘s Steve Lukather. Unfortunately, a month later Ringo was forced to cancel the remainder of the tour after testing positive for COVID himself.
–McCartney made a surprise appearance at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in England. Accompanied by The Pretenders‘ Chrissie Hynde, the pair teamed up for a version the Beatles’ “Oh! Darling.” Sir Paul and the Foo Fighters also performed “Helter Skelter.”
—The Beatles: Get Back won five Emmys at the Creative Artist Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. McCartney and Starr, as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison,the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, received trophies since they were all co-producers of the series.
–Ringo released EP3, the third EP of a four-EP collection.
–A deluxe reissue of the Beatles’ Revolver was released, featuring various new mixes of the original 1966 record, as well as a collection of outtakes and a four-song EP. Following the reissue’s arrival, Revolver re-entered the top five on the Billboard 200.
–November marked the 20th anniversary of the Concert for George, celebrating George Harrison with a screening of the all-star concert in theaters.
–McCartney dropped The 7” Singles box, featuring 80 7-inch McCartney singles, all personally curated by the Beatleslegend.
–A new documentary about Abbey Road studios, If These Walls Could Sing, directed by Mary McCartney, debuted on Disney+.
