Metallica Makes A Big Donation For Hawaiian Flood Relief
Metallica's charitable foundation, All Within My Hands, has donated $125,000 to help with flood relief efforts in Hawaii following what the band described as the worst flooding the islands have seen in more than two decades. The money was split among three local organizations: the Hawaiian Council, the Lāhui Foundation, and Hui O He'e Nalu. The storms caused an estimated $1 billion in damage statewide, flooded hundreds of homes on O'ahu, left as many as 115-thousand residents without power, and caused widespread damage to farms. The band noted that actor Jason Momoa, who has ties to Hawaii, was already on the ground working with local organizations when they reached out to help.
Keith Richards Gives Fans A Health Update
Keith Richards has offered fans a health update. In a recent interview with "Guitar World," the 82-year-old guitarist revealed that the health issue that has kept him from the stage is arthritis, which of course would make playing difficult. Richards says it has slowed down his playing somewhat, but he's learned to compensate. "At my age, what I find most interesting about the guitar is you can compensate for certain disabilities and nimbleness and find other ways of getting around the problem," he said. "And it teaches you another thing; you never stop learning with the [ ] thing. I love it, and it’s my friend forever." He explained that the condition has caused his knuckles to enlarge. "They don’t hurt, but it does get in the way sometimes," he says.
JOURNEY: Sure Seem To Be Going Their Separate Ways
If you believe three of the members of Journey, then their Final Frontier tour really looks like it will be their last. Rolling Stone conducted interviews with guitarist and co-founder Neal Schon, keyboardist Jonathan Cain, and singer Arnel Pineda the day before the tour started on February 28th in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and you have to wonder how they're managing to get through it. Here's the laundry list of drama:
Both Jonathan Cain and Arnel Pineda sat out rehearsals -- Cain due to knee replacement surgery, and Pineda was still home in the Philippines. Pineda questioned doing the tour. "I was really not happy with how they scheduled this tour. My body has changed. I can’t take the cold weather anymore." He went onto say that he "wanted to retire because of my personal problems (he's going through a "nasty" divorce). Obviously, they don’t want to find another singer..." Pineda also agrees with fans who say his voice is not what it once was. "Steve Perry’s voice is really far superior to mine. But I’m almost 60 now. What can I do? And the band wants to move on with me, and they like the voice that I produce out there with them … They can fire me any time they want, but they’re not.”
Neal Schon is still not on good terms with Jonathan Cain, saying, "I feel like I get one [lawsuit] served every week from his camp... I just want some peace... I’m just really tired of all the legal [battles]. It’s meaningless to me. I don’t have any time for it... I'm 72. I’m no youngster. I still have a lot of fire in my soul and energy to do things, but I also want to feel comfortable. Jon made a statement a while ago that this was his farewell. And so, I’m treating it as such.”
As for Pineda's issues, Schon says, "He sent a lot of messages that he was overwhelmed with his personal life and didn’t know if he could do it. But we all signed contracts, OK? So, honestly, I’m signed up for the next two years... I’m ready to plow through it, survive, and float to the top. I hope that he feels better about things..." Asked if he would consider replacing Pineda, Schon says, "I’ve thought about it. I mean, it’s natural to think about it. It’s not something I want to think about. I love Arnel. He’s been a total martyr, like a warrior. This is his 17th year. But still, at the same token, if he said that, I have to respect it. Do I feel that we could continue? I would say that we could.”
And then there's Jonathan Cain, a Christian singer married to a high-profile minister (Paula White-Cain) who wants to devote more time to his ministry after the two-year tour ends. He admits that he lied in an interview earlier this year about Steve Perry considering possibly making appearances on the tour. "I just kind of planted a little seed... I was trying to fish a little bit, and say, ‘Well, he’s thinking about it.’ He came immediately out and said, ‘No, I’m not.’ I kind of did that on purpose, because there’s just so much fake AI stuff going on. You just look at it and go, ‘Wait a minute, no, that’s not true. None of this is true.'” What is true is that they've managed to get through the first 18 shows with the next one scheduled for Friday in Oklahoma City followed by Wichita, Kansas on Saturday.
Guns N’ Roses guitar hopes to fetch £300,000 at music memorabilia auction
A Gibson Les Paul guitar used by Slash of Guns N’ Roses during the Not In This Lifetime tour is set to be auctioned for up to £300,000 (just under $397,000). The photo-matched, stage-used and autographed Gibson Les Paul ‘59 Custom Shop guitar was played during the US band’s 2016 tour, which saw Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan reunite for the first time since 1993. The instrument, which carries an estimate of £150,000 to £300,000, is due to go under the hammer at Propstore auction house in London next month as part of the Music Memorabilia Live Auction collection. The auction will also feature items such as a jacket worn by George Michael in the Faith music video and a gold microphone used by Freddie Mercury of Queen. The microphone is part of a collection belonging to Peter Hince, the band’s head roadie and auction consignor, who said he has “wonderful memories” working with the best-selling group.
Other notable items include a signed poster by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, handwritten lyrics by Paul McCartney, and clothing worn by Amy Winehouse and Ed Sheeran. The auction, which includes over 400 lots, is expected to generate around £1.5 million (just under $2 million) in sales.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Launches Latest "War" Against Trump
Like he did last May in Manchester, England, Bruce Springsteen, backed by The E Street Band and special guest Tom Morello, opened the American leg of his Land of Hope and Dreams tour Tuesday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis with an attack on President Trump and his administration. Livestreaming the first two songs on YouTube, Springsteen, silhouetted on a darkened stage, said, "I want to begin tonight with a prayer for our men and women in service overseas. We pray for their safe return." After that he pulled no punches in explaining what this tour is about.
"The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times. We are here in celebration and defense of our American ideals, democracy, our constitution, and our sacred American promise. The America that I love, the America that I've written about for 50 years that's been a beacon of hope and liberty around the world is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous administration. Tonight we ask all of you to join with us in choosing hope over fear. Democracy over authoritarianism. The rule of law over lawlessness. Ethics over unbridled corruption. Resistance over complacency. Unity over division. And peace over war!"
From "War," which he last did in 2003, Springsteen segued into a somewhat less rambunctious and raucous version of "Born in the U.S.A." than in years past.
After doing 21 songs in the main set clearly chosen to convey his message, Springsteen lightened things up with five of the six encore songs, which included a tribute to Minneapolis native Prince and his first performance of "Purple Rain" in 10 years. He then brought the set full circle with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" to close things out. Springsteen will be visiting 17 more cities on this tour, with arena shows in 16, before the finale in Nationals Park baseball stadium in Washington, D.C. on May 27th. Up next is Portland, Oregon on Friday.
RUSH: What Would the "Professor" Think?
Following Rush's first public performance with drummer Anika Nilles Sunday at the Juno Awards, Canada's Grammys, in Hamilton, Ontario, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were asked what their late drummer Neil Peart would think of the new line-up. "Neil is irreplaceable. And if he had something to say to us right now, he'd probably say, 'You guys are idiots.' But, you know, music lives beyond tragedy, beyond anything that can happen in your life. One thing we've learned over the last 10 years is that music is still a part of us, and so to play it now with someone as young and exciting as Anika is just another tribute to him. I think he'd be very pleased with our choice of drummer, and I think he would have a bit of a smirk on his face and a thumbs up, I hope."
And as for rehearsing with Anika on and off for the past year, Geddy says it's been "very comfortable." "She's expressing her personality, which is nice to see, because she's a fantastic person, lovely, easy to work with and really deeply talented. So we consider ourselves so fortunate, because she was really the only drummer we tried to work with, and she's just been perfect for us. And she fires us up too, which is a bonus." In a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine, Anika discussed acclimating herself to the band, saying, "I had a few songs prepared before I flew over [to Canada], and we played those. But during the session, we also talked a lot about Neil — about his view on music and drumming. We spoke a great deal about the feel of the songs. The most important point is simply to capture the feeling — that it feels right for the two of them to play their music again. And ultimately, it will feel right for the fans as well. We talked about that a lot. The first session was really about getting to know each other and seeing how we function together."
Finally, Geddy and Alex were asked what they are most looking forward to on the tour. Alex said "Living to the end of it! This tour has grown from a handful to about 85 shows, which is more than we've done in quite some time. So, it's a chance to be really disciplined and really dive into this new production and the show with these new players [Anika and keyboardist
Loren Gold]. I think it's going to be a wonderful experience for us to live through. It's going to be exhausting, but I think we'll come out better for it at the end." And Geddy added that he's looking forward to touring Europe and South America because they were unable to get there on their last tour in 2015. Rush will start their Fifty Something tour on June 7th with the first of four shows at the Forum in Inglewood, California, where they played their last show on August 1st, 2015.
DAVID BYRNE: Talks and Plays for Colbert
On Monday night David Byrne made what is likely his last appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert before the show wraps up on May 21st. Byrne sat down for a chat with the host and fellow guest (and friend) John Mulaney. They discussed how they met and Byrne also spoke about playing footage of ICE raids while performing "Life During Wartime" on his current tour. Byrne also performed "When We Are Singing." Check out both on YouTube.
THE BEATLES: Their "Perfect 10"?
Arguably The Beatles came as close to musical perfection as one could get. But, according to Collider.com, they did achieve perfection with 10 songs. Basing the list on “songwriting, musical construction, overall influence, and the song’s impact on the band’s musical evolution,” they are as follows:
1.“Hey Jude”
2.“Come Together”
3.“Let It Be”
4.“Blackbird”
5.“A Hard Day’s Night”
6.“In My Life”
7.“All You Need Is Love”
8.“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
9.“Yesterday”
10.“I Want To Hold Your Hand"
Four of the songs were primarily written by Paul McCartney -- "Hey Jude," "Let It Be," "Blackbird" and "Yesterday." John Lennon also gets credit for four -- "Come Together," "A Hard Day's Night," "In My Life" and "All You Need Is Love." One is historically looked upon as being split down the middle -- "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and George Harrison has one with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Of course, the list is completely subjective, but a strong case can be made for:
- "Something"
- "Here Comes the Sun"
- "The Long and Winding Road"
- "Please Please Me"
- "Help!"
- "A Day in the Life
IRON MAIDEN: Hey, I Look Good In This Doc!
Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith says he didn't cringe seeing himself in the band's upcoming feature documentary Burning Ambition. Smith told Rolling Stone Brazil, "There’s a few things in there that haven’t been covered (before). It’s lovely to have a document, personally, to look back and have it laid out in the film. I thought it’d be uncomfortable for me to watch, because actors and people like that, when they see themselves on a big screen, it’s, like, ‘Oh, my god…’ but I actually quite enjoyed it." Smith added that it's a film for hardcore fans and casual observers of their career. "I think the fans are gonna love it. And maybe even people who don’t really know about Maiden might be interested in it, because it is a phenomenon, what’s happened to us over the years. And it’s been great to be a part of it, a part of the ride, really.” Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition will be in theaters on May 7th.
Hegseth Lifts Suspension Of Army Crew That Flew Apache Helicopter Over Kid Rock’s Pool Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is lifting the suspension of the Army crew who flew two Apache helicopters near singer Kid Rock's Nashville property over the weekend. Hegseth announced the men will not face disciplinary action or an investigation as well. A now viral video shows Kid Rock saluting one of the helicopters that hovered near his home's pool. The helicopters flew from Fort Campbell, Kentucky to the Nashville area. Kid Rock's estate, which he has dubbed "The Southern White House," is located about 50 miles from Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
Ambrosia Founding Member And Keyboardist Christopher North Dead At 75
Christopher North, keyboardist and founding member of the soft rock group Ambrosia, is dead at 75-years-old. The band confirmed the news in a post on Facebook writing "we honor the legendary life and career of our dearest family member Christopher North." They wrote that he faced health challenges in recent years, including a battle with throat cancer. The band also added that he was "a founding member since 1970, he was a keyboard wizard who brought an unmatched intensity and emotional depth to every performance." Following their formation in 1970, Ambrosia had a string of top-40 hits, including "How Much I Feel," and "Biggest Part of Me."
IN OTHER NEWS
Gene Simmons plans to do upwards of 30 shows this year and he just announced three with some special guests. Sebastian Bach, Lita Ford and Quiet Riot will join him on July 17th in Fresno, California and the 18th in Murphys, California, with Bach and Lita sticking around for a third straight day on the 19th in Stateline, Nevada. Simmons returns to the road on June 13th in Indio, California.
Van Morrison, Sting, James Taylor and Deep Purple will perform at this year’s Montreux Jazz Festival, July 3rd to the 18th in Montreux, Switzerland.
Former Electric Light Orchestra members Melvyn Gale, Bev Bevan and Mik Kaminski came together at Birmingham City University in mid-March to donate Gale's silver electric cello to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. It will be displayed in the Richard Tandy Production Suite, which opened last year in tribute to ELO’s late keyboardist. Gale says, “After watching the Richard Tandy tribute concert [last November by the] RBC students … I remembered I had the cello sitting in a cupboard at home. There was no such thing as an electric cello when ELO was performing, so we made one.” Tandy, who died in 2024 at 76, also has a scholarship at the school in his name, made possible by a donation from his wife, Sheila, and a fundraising campaign led by ELO founder Jeff Lynne.
Heaven & Hell -- the name the Ronnie James Dio-led Black Sabbath performed under in the late 2000s – have released a documentary about recording the music on their box set, Breaking Out of Heaven (2007-2009). Watch it on YouTube.
On This Day
·In 1975 - Journey released their self-titled debut album. It features “To Play Some Music.”
·in 1976, Apple Computer was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.
·In 1985 - USA for Africa released the album We Are the World. It features the title single and nine previously unreleased tracks from participating artists.
·In 1985 - David Lee Roth quit Van Halen shortly after releasing his version of The Beach Boys' "California Girls," which featured Carl Wilson on background vocals. Roth was replaced by Sammy Hagar later in the year.
·In 2003 - The White Stripes released their fourth studio album, Elephant. It features the single "Seven Nation Army."
·In 2015 - Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon's first wife, died of cancer at age 75 in Mallorca, Spain.
·In 2017 - After months of uncertainty and controversy, Bob Dylan finally accepted the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.