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After an unexpected comeback with new music in 2023, The Swell Season have announced a full-scale return with their first new album in 16 years.
The duo – comprising Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová – announced that new album Forward would arrive on June 13, with latest single “Stuck in Reverse” accompanying the news.
“It felt right to title the record Forward because it’s a reunion of sorts, but we’re not going backwards,” Irglová said in a statement. “Both of us have grown and changed; we’re in different places and getting to know each other again as the new people we’ve become.”
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First formed in 2005, the pair released a self-titled album the following year and received widespread attention after they featured in the lead roles for John Carney’s 2007 film Once. In 2008, their track “Falling Slowly” took home the Academy Award for best original song, with second album Strict Joy following the next year, reaching No. 15 on the Billboard 200.
Though a number of sporadic performances have taken place since, the pair would release “The Answer is Yes” in 2023, their first new piece of music in well over a decade. It was this recording session that inspired an eventual return. “After our whirlwind that led up to the Oscars and after, we were so busy and with that came a pressure that neither of us particularly wanted, and ultimately we kind of drifted in the middle of all of that hard work and celebration,” Hansard explained.
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“We remained good friends, helping on each other’s records, keeping up with each other’s families. While touring my last record, I realised I just missed her. I remember calling Marketa and saying, ‘Do you feel like doing some gigs?’ She said, ‘Yeah, that sounds great,’ and the shows went really well. Once we were hanging out again, new songs started coming through, and we started trying new ideas and playing the songs onstage.
“From there the idea was to do a little recording and not put any pressure on it, just see what happens, and suddenly we found ourselves making a record,” he added. “And we were both totally into it, and so here we are, a new chapter of our lives.”
Having recently performed a trio of dates across New York City and Boston in March, the pair will embark on a run of shows throughout Europe and the U.K. in May, before another North American return over the summer.
Vinyl releases from Post Malone, Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams and more were among the top-sellers from Record Store Day (RSD) 2025 in the United States, according to Luminate.
The yearly independent record store celebration was held on April 12 this year and offered an array of unique and limited-edition albums and singles (mostly vinyl pressings) issued for RSD. More than 300 titles were released for RSD 2025 at independent record stores across the U.S.
Post Malone had both the top-selling RSD 2025 album and single. His Post Malone Tribute to Nirvana, pressed on yellow-colored vinyl, was the top-seller among albums. The album was recorded in 2020 during a livestream that raised funds for The World Health Organization in support of COVID-19 relief efforts. Joining Malone for the livestream were Travis Barker (drums), Nick Mack (guitar) and Brian Lee (bass). The RSD 2025 vinyl release is also a charitable affair, as, according to the RSD organization, 100% of net proceeds from the sale of the vinyl will be donated to MusiCares’ Addiction Recovery/Mental Health division.
Tribute to Nirvana also bows at No. 2 on the April 26-dated Top Album Sales chart, where half of the top 10 are RSD 2025 titles. (Bon Iver‘s new studio album SABLE, fABLE — not an RSD 2025 release — debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, scoring the artist his second leader.)
The Nos. 2-5 biggest selling RSD 2025-exclusive albums were: Gracie Abrams’ Live From Radio City Music Hall (double-vinyl set), Rage Against the Machine’s Live On Tour 1993 (double-vinyl set), Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl (double-vinyl set) and Charli xcx’s 2017 mixtape Number 1 Angel (on apple-colored vinyl).
Meanwhile, in terms of the top-selling RSD 2025 singles, Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight,” featuring Malone (on 7-inch vinyl) was the biggest seller. The Nos. 2-5 selling RSD 2025 singles were Charli xcx’s “Guess,” featuring Billie Eilish (on 7-inch vinyl); The Killers and Bruce Springsteen’s three-song “Encore at the Garden” (on 12-inch vinyl); The Cure’s “Alone” (Four Tet Remix) (on 12-inch vinyl) and Eddie Vedder’s “Save It for Later” / “Room at the Top” (on ocean floor-colored 12-inch vinyl).
Malone also served as the RSD 2025 Ambassador, and earlier said in a statement upon his selection: “What an honor, I can’t believe I was chosen to be Record Store Day’s Ambassador for 2025. Record Store Day is so important and I really hope to do my part to keep it alive.” Malone follows such recent RSD Ambassadors as Paramore (2024), Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires (2023), Swift (2022), Fred Armisen (2021), Brandi Carlile (2020) and Pearl Jam (2019).
Top-Selling Record Store Day 2024 Exclusive Albums at Independent Record Stores in the U.S.Rank, Artist, Title1. Post Malone, Post Malone Tribute to Nirvana (yellow-colored vinyl)2. Gracie Abrams, Live From Radio City Music Hall (double vinyl)3. Rage Against the Machine, Live On Tour 1993 (double vinyl)4. Laufey, A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl (double vinyl)5. Charli xcx, Number 1 Angel (apple-colored vinyl)6. Wallows, More (evergreen and white-colored vinyl)7. Talking Heads, Live On Tour (double vinyl)8. Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac (picture disc vinyl)9. Gorillaz, Demon Days Live From the Apollo Theater (red-colored double vinyl)10. The Doors, Strange Days 1967: A Work In Progress (translucent blue-colored vinyl)11. The Replacements, Tim (transparent purple-colored double vinyl)12. Grateful Dead, Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 6/14/76 (180-gram five vinyl set)13. The Cure, The Head On the Door (picture-disc vinyl)14. The Ramones, Loco Live (blue and red-colored double vinyl)15. Soundtrack, The Virgin Suicides (25th Anniversary Edition) (blue-colored vinyl)16. Queen, De Lane Lea Demos (vinyl)17. Wu-Tang and Mathematics, Black Samson, The Bastard Swordsman: Wu-Tang, The Saga Continues Collection (180-gram double vinyl)18. The Rolling Stones, Out of Our Heads (U.S.) (180-gram clear-colored vinyl)19. Elton John, Live at the Rainbow Theatre With Ray Cooper (180-gram vinyl)20. David Bowie, Ready, Set, Go! (Live, Riverside Studios ’03) (180-gram double vinyl)21. Thin Lizzy, Jailbreak (Alternate Version) (vinyl)22. Judas Priest, Live in Atlanta ‘82 (red-colored double vinyl)23. Young Thug, Barter 6 (silver-colored double vinyl)24. Vince Guaraldi, Selections From ‘It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown’ (10-inch easter egg-shaped, colored vinyl)25. Beabadoobee, Live and Acoustic In London (red slushie-colored vinyl)Source: Luminate, for the week ending April 17, 2025
Top-Selling Record Store Day 2025 Exclusive Singles at Independent Record Stores in U.S.Rank, Artist, Title1. Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone, Fortnight (7-inch vinyl)2. Charli xcx featuring Billie Eilish, Guess (7-inch vinyl)3. The Killers & Bruce Springsteen, Encore at the Garden (Badlands / Dustland / Born to Run) (12-inch vinyl)4. The Cure, Alone (Four Tet Remix) (12-inch vinyl)5. Eddie Vedder, Save It for Later / Room at the Top (ocean floor-colored 12-inch vinyl)6. David Gilmour With Romany Gilmour, Between Two Points (Vita Brevis/Between Two Points [Live From the Royal Albert Hall] / Between Two Points [GENTRY Remix] / Between Two Points [GENTRY Remix Edit] / Between Two Points [Album Version]) (clear-colored 12-inch vinyl)7. Waxahatchee, Much Ado About Nothing / Mud / Next to Me (7-inch vinyl)8. Tom Waits, Get Behind the Mule (Spiritual) / Get Behind the Mule (7-inch vinyl)9. Geddy Lee, The Lost Demos (Gone / I Am… You Are) (12-inch vinyl)10. George Harrison, Be Here Now / Beck, Be Here Now (12-inch vinyl)Source: Luminate, for the week ending April 17, 2025
Green Day landed one of its biggest hits with their 2004 single “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” — now, 20 years later, the trio’s dreams are coming true over on Hollywood Boulevard. The veteran rock band is set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, May 1 at 11:30 a.m. PT. […]
Bon Iver’s SABLE, fABLE premieres atop a host of Billboard album charts dated April 26.
The set bows with 37,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 17, according to Luminate. That sum includes 25,000 in album sales, begetting a No. 1 debut on Top Album Sales. Its 19,000 vinyl copies sold also spark a No. 1 start on Vinyl Albums.
The Justin Vernon-led band rules the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart for the first time since 22, A Million led in 2016. Before that, Bon Iver hit No. 1 with its self-titled effort.
SABLE, fABLE also starts at No. 1 on Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums and Americana/Folk Albums, likewise marking Bon Iver’s third leader on each list.
Bon Iver adds its second Top Albums Sales No. 1, following 22, A Million, and its third on Vinyl Albums, after Bon Iver and I,I.
On the all-genre Billboard 200, SABLE, fABLE enters at No. 11, Bon Iver’s best rank since 22, A Million reached No. 2; Bon Iver also hit No. 2. The band first made the survey in 2008 with For Emma, Forever Ago, which peaked at No. 64 in 2009.
Concurrently, four tracks from the new album appear on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, led by “There’s a Rhythm” at No. 35 thanks to 1.9 million official U.S. streams. “Everything Is Peaceful Love,” the set’s current radio single, follows at No. 44, along with “S P E Y S I D E” (No. 46) and the Dijon– and Flock of Dimes-featuring “Day One” (No. 48).
“Everything Is Peaceful Love” ranks at No. 7 on the latest Adult Alternative Airplay chart, Bon Iver’s second-highest-charted song on the tally and best as a lead act, having passed the No. 13 peak of “S P E Y S I D E” last year. Its best remains its featured turn on The National’s “Weird Goodbyes,” which reached No. 6 in 2022.
Riot Fest is one year shy of legal drinking age and celebrating its 20th anniversary this summer with a stacked lineup of classic indie and alternative bands led by East Bay punk legends Green Day, pop punkers Blink-182, alt-rock darlings Weezer and rock icon Jack White. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest […]
After years of health issues, Ozzy Osbourne, 76, is making sure that he’s in top shape when he suits up for what is being billed as Black Sabbath’s final-ever performance on July 5 in Villa Park in the band’s hometown of Birmingham, England.
In an interview this week with Billy Morrison on SiriusXM’s Ozzy’s Boneyard channel, Osbourne said he’s been in “heavy training” for the show that will see rock’s Prince of Darkness reunite with his bandmates for one last time on a bill that will also include Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Pantera, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Alice in Chains and many others.
“I haven’t done anything for, this will be seven years, and so I’ve been through all this surgery. It really is like starting from scratch,” said Osbourne, who has been dealing with a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis as well as a 2019 fall that aggravated a previous spinal injury and required multiple surgeries.
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Osbourne said his workouts include endurance training due to his long lay-off from performance. “The first thing to go when you’re laid up is your stamina, so believe it or so, I’m doing two sets of three-minute walks and weight training. I’m going and going you know,” he said. ” I’m waking up in my body, you know. I mean, three minutes to you, for instance, is nothing, but I’ve been laying on my back recovering from umpteen surgeries.”
Ozzy’s longtime collaborator guitarist Zakk Wylde recently teased that the metal legend could take flight during the Back to the Beginning all-day show on the throne that the will sit on during the show. “With Oz and his throne that just flies over the stadium or whatever, [where he] shoots out buckets of water and does everything like that,” Wylde said a recent interview. “So if Oz has a great time and it’s just, like, ‘I wanna go out on the road again,’ it’s just, like, ‘Good. Let’s do it again.’”
Wylde added that, “Ozzy was just sitting at the chair and he was singing ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home,’ and it sounded great. So hopefully we’ll just do this, and then Oz will go, ‘Let’s just fire up the machine again and we’ll do another tour.’”
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello will be the musical director for the show that will mark Osbourne’s first time on stage since a brief 2022 set at the NFL Kickoff in Los Angeles; his last full show was in December 2018 at the Forum in L.A. as part of his No More Tours 2 outing. Other acts slated to perform at the final Sabbath blowout include: Halestorm, Gojira, as well as appearances by Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan and Slash, Wolfgang Van Halen, Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, Lzzy Hale, Disturbed’s David Draiman, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Sammy Hagar and many more.
Listen to Ozzy talking about his training regimen below.
To this day, Bryan Adams takes a lesson he learned from Tina Turner more than 40 years ago with him whenever the iconic Canadian rocker goes on tour. A few years before the two recorded their sexy, gritty Grammy-nominated duet “It’s Only Love” in 1984, he went to see the legend in Vancouver at a club as she was mounting her comeback.
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A 21-year-old Adams and songwriting partner Jim Vallance had written a song for Turner called “Lock Up Your Sons Because Tina’s in Town.” “Terrible,” he says, with a laugh. He convinced the bouncer to let him go backstage after the show and he saw a visibly ill, bundled up Turner. “I realized at that point she had the flu, and she had just put on this incredible show. I thought, ‘Wow! Nobody knew she was sick. She just went out there and gave everything she got.’ From that moment on, I never complained, ever, about being a little under the weather if I had to go on because I’ll just go out and do it. She’s at the forefront of my mind whenever that happens.”
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Adam will kick off an eight-week North American tour Sept. 11 in Kamloops, British Columbia at Sandman Centre. The ticket presale starts April 29 and general onsale begins May 2 at BryanAdams.com.
The outing, named the Roll with the Punches tour, has already kicked off internationally and Adams is calling as he’s headed to Reykjavik for a concert.
The So Happy It Hurts tour, named after his 2022 album, ended in Australia and New Zealand in February.
“I don’t actually have a beginning or and end” to touring, Adams says. “It all sort of melds into one.”
The Roll with the Punches Tour takes its name from the forthcoming album Adams will release on his own label, Bad Records, later this year.
Bryan Adams
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“I’ve got my own sort of schedule and how we roll things out,” Adams says. The title track and another song are already available, and he expects to put out a few more songs before the album is released in August and pepper them into his shows.
Adams started Bad Records a number of years ago as a home for his catalog, much of which has reverted back to him from Universal (which bought PolyGram, which had purchased his original label home, A&M).
All the mergers made Adams feel like “a chair in the lobby,” he says. “I could have probably rolled [my contract] over and kept it there. But there was something about being independent that I liked and, after much back and forth, finally I was free,” Adams says. “I’ve been signed to a label pretty much on and off since I was 16 years old, so the feeling of and the understanding of being able to be an independent artist is actually quite liberating.”
Among the projects he has released on his own label are two box sets from his 2022 and 2024 Royal Albert Hall residencies, as well as re-records of past albums. For Record Store Day earlier this month, his label put out a previously unreleased version of “It’s Only Love” featuring just his and Turner’s vocals and a keyboard. “It shows you the power of her voice like never before,” he says.
Adams has found the hands-on aspect of running a label inspiring. “I even went to the record manufacturing company in Poland where we were putting things together,” he says. “It was a Sunday, and I just expected one person to be there to say hello and shake my hand. The entire company showed up because they don’t get artists saying hello, and it was just fascinating.”
The Royal Albert albums and videos show the superstar’s command over his audience, especially when he plays the opening chords of one of his many hits like “Summer of ’69,” and the crowd instantly goes wild. “You just hope the microphone’s working,” he jokes when a song gets such a rabid response. “That’s one of the great things about having so many songs. I look down my set list and I’m always pleased to know what the next song is. I know it’s gonna be fun to play,” he says. “It wasn’t like there was any plan. It was just every couple of years I would put out the best songs I’d written and occasionally, some of them stuck.”
The North American tour encompasses 39 dates, averaging around five shows a week. The longtime vegan jokes his stamina is “powered by lentils.” He adds: “I do the best I can. There’s nothing you can do if you get a cold or a flu. You just have got to soldier on,” as Turner taught him. (Adams speaks lovingly of the late Turner, for whom he produced her 1986 album, Break Every Rule and even sang at her wedding, saying his greatest memory of Turner is when he introduced her to his daughters. “It makes me a bit weepy thinking about it, to be honest, because she was just super, super kind to me. She loved the fact that I was having children.”)
Playing his native Canada is always special for Adams, “especially now that we’ve been sort of, I don’t know, skewered by your president,” he says of Donald Trump. “It’s really unified the country in a way. And so, it’s exciting.” Popular Canadian rock band The Sheepdogs will open the Canadian dates.
Pat Benatar and Neil Geraldo will open the U.S. leg. Surprisingly, Adams has never met the husband-and-wife duo but does have a connection that goes back more than 40 years when in 1981 he wrote a song called “Lonely Nights” for Benatar. “She didn’t do it, but it ended up being the first song off my second album that really opened the door for me in America,” the rocker says. “I may have to add that during the set because it’s kind of a good story to tell. I just really love her voice so it’s great that she’s gonna be out with us.”
From the start of his career, Adams has focused on spanning the globe and in the ‘80s and ‘90s was one of the first Western artists to play in India, Pakistan, Vietnam and many of the former Eastern Bloc countries. After Reykjavik he will continue through Europe, ending in Helsinki, Finland in mid-August.
“For me, it was just a wanderlust to be able to see the world,” he says of touring so widely in the early days. “You know, ‘Here’s an opportunity. I wonder if we can do a gig there.’ And when you start to investigate these places, you find out that, yes, there is a chance you could do it,” he says. “I recently inquired whether I could get to do a show in Iran, and, unfortunately, it’s still not the time to do that. I would love to be one of the people that could break down that sort of cultural boycott that’s happening. There are also parts of North Africa that I’d like to go to.”
Adams, a well-regarded professional photographer who has released retrospectives of his photography and autographed notable figures including the late Queen Elizabeth, does not spend days off between gigs exploring with his camera. Instead, he is understandably “probably resting” or working,” he says. His days on the road “are really organized. There’s no randomness about it. I enjoy finding things and exploring, but usually if you’re in the middle of a tour, that’s the last thing you want to do. You want to rest because you’ve got work to do.”
Adams, who has also written songs Kiss, Roger Daltrey, Motley Crue and Loverboy, in addition to his multiple hits, still owns his estimable publishing catalog even though his writing partner Vallance sold his to Round Hill in 2021. “I’ve been asked by loads of people [to sell]. I’m not interested,” he says. “Maybe somewhere in the future. It’s definitely not on my radar now.”
‘ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES’ NORTH AMERICA TOUR DATES:
Thu Sep 11 – Kamloops, BC – Sandman Centre
Fri Sep 12 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Sat Sep 13 – Victoria, BC – Save On Foods Memorial Centre
Tue Sep 23 – Prince George, BC – CN Centre
Wed Sep 24 – Kelowna, BC – Prospera Place
Fri Sep 26 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
Sat Sep 27 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
Sun Sep 28 – Regina, SK – Brandt Centre
Mon Sep 29 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre
Thu Oct 2 – St. Catharines, ON – Meridian Centre
Fri Oct 3 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
Sat Oct 4 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre
Tue Oct 7 – Peterborough, ON – Peterborough Memorial Centre
Wed Oct 8 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
Thu Oct 9 – Quebec City, QC – Videotron Centre
Sat Oct 11 – Moncton, NB – Avenir Centre
Sun Oct 12 – Halifax, NS – Scotiabank Centre
Wed Oct 15 – St. John’s, NL – Mary Brown’s Centre
Sat Oct 25 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena^
Sun Oct 26 – Boston, MA – TD Garden^
Wed Oct 29 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center^
Thu Oct 30 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden^
Sat Nov 1 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Arena^
Sun Nov 2 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena^
Mon Nov 3 – Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena^
Wed Nov 5 – Raleigh, NC – Lenovo Center^
Thu Nov 6 – Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena^
Fri Nov 7 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena^
Sun Nov 9 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live^
Mon Nov 10 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena^
Thu Nov 13 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center^
Sat Nov 15 – Phoenix, AZ – PHX Arena^
Sun Nov 16 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena^
Tue Nov 18 – Los Angeles, CA – The Kia Forum^
Wed Nov 19 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center^
Fri Nov 21 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena^
Sat Nov 22 – Portland, OR – Moda Center^
Mon Nov 24 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena^
Wed Nov 26 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center^
*With The Sheepdogs
^With Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
+With Amanda Marshall
Carlos Santana postponed a planned show in San Antonio, TX on Tuesday night (April 22) after being rushed to a local hospital. Santana, 77, was booked to play the Majestic Theatre in the Texas town, but reportedly fell ill during soundcheck as a result of dehydration. According to a statement from the venue, manager Michael […]
Roy Thomas Baker — the producer behind some of rock’s biggest hits, including Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” — has died at age 78, his family announced Tuesday (April 22).
Baker died at his home in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, on April 12. No cause of death has been revealed.
The producer’s credits feature a who’s who of rock stars over the past half-century, including Journey, Yes, Foreigner, The Cars, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Devo, Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses and Smashing Pumpkins. Baker worked with Queen on five of the band’s 1970s albums, including on their bombastic A Night at the Opera lead single “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which is reportedly the most-streamed song recorded in the 20th century. The 1975 single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1976 but didn’t hit its No. 2 peak on the chart until its inclusion in the film Wayne’s World in 1992.
Born in Hampstead, London, in 1946, Baker’s career began as second engineer to Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti at London’s Decca Records. He graduated to chief engineer in the ’70s and moved to Trident Studios to begin working with the then-unknown Queen. Columbia Records later asked him to relocate to the U.S. to work with Journey and others.
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“We did [1978 album] Infinity with the infamous Roy Thomas Baker,” recalled Journey’s Neal Schon, “and we did so many different things on that record that I’d never tried, or even thought about doing. I learned a lot from Roy.”
Elektra Records, Queen’s U.S. label, connected Baker with Lindsey Buckingham, Dokken and The Cars — for whom he produced their first four albums, from 1978 to 1981.
Baker is survived by his wife, Tere Livrano Baker, and his brother, Alan Baker.
Jonathan Davis is doing more than just throwing a dog a bone — he’s launching a new capsule collection for his Freak on a Leash pet line to help pooches everywhere be a little more rock n’ roll. The Korn frontman announced on Tuesday (April 22) that he has teamed up with designer Ashton Michael […]