genre rock
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The Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival is set to bring surges of guitar-slinging rock, Red Dirt country, blues and Americana when the annual fest returns to The Park at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, Tenn., Sept. 27-28.
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John Mayer, Kings of Leon, Turnpike Troubadours and Young the Giant lead this year’s lineup, which also features Father John Misty, Sam Barber, Better Than Ezra, Colony House, American Aquarium, Grace Potter, Maggie Rose and Angel White.
Others on the bill also include Sam Grisman Project, The Heavy Heavy, Taylor Hunnicutt, Eddie 9V and verygently. The Americana Music Triangle will highlight Ben Chapman’s Peach Jam featuring JD Clayton, Meg McRee, Will McFarlane and Sam Grisman Project featuring Vince Herman, Lindsay Lou and Cristina Vane. The fest will offer a range of stages and amenities, including the VIP Village, the Midnight Sun Stage, the Gold Record Road Stage, the Craft Beer Hall and the Americana Music Triangle.
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Since its inception in 2015, the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival has become a must-see experience, boasting headliners including Zach Bryan, Justin Timberlake, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, Eddie Vedder and Willie Nelson over the years. In 2024, the headliners included Dave Matthews Band, Noah Kahan, Hozier and NEEDTOBREATHE. The fest is produced by Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin, along with Michael Whelan and W. Brandt Wood.
Mayer’s most recent album, 2021’s Sob Rock, reached No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200, while Kings of Leon released its more recent album, Can We Please Have Fun, nearly a year ago. Turnpike Troubadours just released its new album, The Price of Admission, and launched a series of The Boys of Oklahoma concerts in Stillwater, Oklahoma, alongside Cross Canadian Ragweed.
Tickets for Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival go on sale starting at 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, April 17.
Linkin Park will headline the upcoming UEFA Champions League final kick-off show at Munich Football Arena on May 31. The teams for the finale of one of the most prestigious football tournaments on Earth have not yet been announced, but regardless of which top-division European club makes the cut, they will have the pitch more […]
The Who have parted ways with drummer Zak Starkey after nearly three decades, following the band’s recent run of London shows.
In a statement to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the veteran group said: “The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall. They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.”
The gigs, which took place last month on March 18 and 20, were in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. The Who’s frontman, Roger Daltrey, is a patron of the charity and until 2024 acted as curator for their annual gig series at the historic venue.
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Tensions came to a head when Daltrey complained onstage last month about Starkey’s performance. A report of the first performance via Metro suggested that the singer stopped several songs mid-performance, citing difficulty hearing the band over the drums.
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It also said that Daltrey paused their final song, “The Song Is Over,” and told the audience: “To sing that song I do need to hear the key, and I can’t. All I’ve got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry guys.”
Starkey appeared to pre-empt his dismissal over the weekend (Apr. 13), when he posted an all-caps message to his Instagram page that read, in part: “Heard today from inside source that Toger Daktrey [sic] lead singer and principal songwriter of the group unhappy with Zak the drummer’s performance at the Albert Hall a few weeks ago is bringing formal charges of overplaying and is literally going to Zak the drummer.”
Daltrey, 81, recently revealed during those Teenage Cancer Trust shows that “the joys of getting old mean you go deaf. I also now have got the joy of going blind.”
The decision wraps up a significant chapter in the legendary rockers’ history. Starkey joined the band during their 1996 Quadrophenia world tour. He was introduced to drumming by The Who’s original drummer, Keith Moon, a close family friend who gave him a drum kit for his eighth birthday. He went on to play major shows with the group, including the 2010 Super Bowl and the 2012 London Olympics. At press time spokespeople for Starkey and the Who had not returned Billboard‘s request for additional comment.
Starkey is the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Maureen Starkey, and has also enjoyed a fruitful career outside of The Who, playing with Oasis, Johnny Marr, Paul Weller and Graham Coxon. He currently performs in the recently-formed supergroup Mantra of the Cosmos, also featuring Shaun Ryder and Bez of the Happy Mondays and Black Grape, and Andy Bell of Oasis and Ride.
Just a week after revealing that their forthcoming album will be taking an orchestral lean, prolific Australian collective King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard have officially detailed their 27th album.
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Set for release on June 13 via the band’s own (p)doom Records, new album Phantom Island is slated to be a stylistic change for the genre-defying rockers, with the ten-track album seeing them utilize orchestral arrangements for the first time.
Inspired by a meeting with members of Los Angeles Philharmonic while backstage at the Hollywood Bowl in June 2023, the sessions for King Gizzard’s 2024 album Flight b741 yielded an additional batch of tracks that needed “more time and space and thought” and additional “energy and colour,” guitarist and vocalist Stu Mackenzie claimed.
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With the LA Philharmonic in mind, Mackenzie reached out to friend, British historical keyboardist, conductor and arranger Chad Kelly, who brings a “wealth of musical awareness to his chameleon-like arrangements,” according to Mackenzie. “We come from such different worlds – he plays Mozart and Bach and uses the same harpsichords they did, and tunes them the exact same way. But he’s obsessed with microtonal music, too, and all this nerdy stuff like me.”
Kelly’s influence can be seen in lead single “Deadstick,” which pairs elaborate orchestrations and funky musicianship with a sprawling clip directed by Guy Tyzack.
King Gizzard formed in Melbourne, Australia in 2010 and swiftly became one of the country’s most prolific groups, with both 2017 and 2022 seeing the band release five albums within the span of a year.
Despite their extensive output, the band have not yet topped the charts in their homeland (though they would hit No. 2 on four separate occasions). In the U.S., the band peaked at No. 64 on the Billboard 200 with 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest, while their voracious fanbase has also seen the majority of their releases chart on the Top Album Sales chart.
In January, King Gizzard were also listed on the lineup for the 2025 edition of Bonnaroo, performing three sets over three days as part of the inaugural ‘Roo Residency. This Residency coincides with the release of Phantom Island on June 13, and will be followed by a series of U.S. tour dates where the band will be joined by a different 29-piece orchestra in each city.
Their U.S. run will also feature a standalone “Rock ‘n Roll Show” in New York on Aug. 2, and will wrap in Colorado later that month with the band’s own three-day Field of Vision festival.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard 2025 U.S. Tour Dates
June 13-15 – Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, TNJuly 28 – TD Pavilion At The Mann, Philadelphia, PA (w/ Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia)July 30 – Westville Music Bowl, New Haven, CT (w/ Orchestra of St. Luke’s)Aug. 1 – Forest Hills Stadium, Forest Hills, NY (w/ Orchestra of St. Luke’s)Aug. 2 – Forest Hills Stadium, Forest Hills, NYAug. 4 – Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (w/ National Symphony Orchestra)Aug. 6 – Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL (w/ Chicago Philharmonic)Aug. 8 – Ford Amphitheater, Colorado Springs, CO (w/ Colorado Symphony)Aug. 10 – Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA (w/ Hollywood Bowl Orchestra)Aug. 11 – The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, San Diego, CA (w/ San Diego Symphony Orchestra)Aug. 15-17 – Field of Vision at Meadow Creek, Buena Vista, CO
Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief has announced a new live album, with the forthcoming record capturing shows on her 2024 solo tour.
Set for release on Thursday, April 24 via 4AD and Remote Control, Live at Revolution Hall is a 43-track collection of songs recorded across three days in June 2024. Largely capturing performances at Portland’s eponymous Revolution Hall, the record features fan favorites, deep cuts and unreleased gems from Lenker’s prolific catalog. One of these unreleased tracks, “Happiness,” has been shared to preview the forthcoming live album.
Backed by pianist Nick Hakim and violinist Josefin Runsteen, the album was recorded by engineer Andrew Sarlo, who has been a longtime producer of Lenker and Big Thief.
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“This live album is another generous offering from Adrianne,” Sarlo said in a statement. “Performing a myriad of songs; some new, some rare, some favorites, and beyond in front of an audience and behind the scenes.
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“Clocking in around 120 minutes featuring songs & vignettes recorded exclusively on reel to reel and cassette tape, there was an attempt to create a different spin on what a live album could be,” he added. “Recorded over the span of 3-days while on the Bright Future tour, we put friendship at the focal point making this a loving memento from one friend to another.”
Lenker’s 2024 tour saw her performing throughout North America, Europe, and the U.K. in support of her latest solo album, Bright Future. Hitting No. 5 on the Heatseekers Albums chart, the record also garnered Lenker her first Grammy nomination as a solo artist, in the best folk album category.
Lenker will return to the live stage later this year when Big Thief performs a series of live dates throughout September and October. The band haven’t released a new record since 2022’s Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, which became their best charting release to date with a peak of No. 31 on the Billboard 200.
In July 2024, the group announced the departure of bassist Max Oleartchik, citing “interpersonal reasons” for his exit. “It’s a big change for us and the four of us ask for your trust, respect, and care as we grow into the next chapter of our lives,” the band wrote in a statement at the time.
In February, Big Thief also unveiled a new L.A. wildfires benefit EP, with Passional Relations collecting some of their “favorite unreleased songs” to aid relief for those impacted by the fires in Los Angeles.
Toby Gad, a German-born musician who made a name for himself in America as a hit songwriter, recently celebrated the deluxe edition of Piano Diaries – The Hits, a collection of his biggest songs (including two co-writes that topped the Billboard Hot 100, Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and John Legend’s “All of Me”) reimagined as collaborations with 17 fresh artists. The collection afforded the songwriter-producer the opportunity to look back on a career that has found him wearing many different hats; lately, he’s been donning a reporter’s cap, interviewing musicians about their careers, work habits and inspirations on his new podcast, Songs You Know with Toby Gad.
The podcast’s latest episode, which posted on Tuesday (April 15), finds Gad chatting with producer Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman about everything from growing up in Moldova to learning English through hip-hop to working with Hozier.
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Gitelman served as a producer on the Irish singer-songwriter’s 2023 album Unreal Unearth and its follow-up, the 2024 EP Unheard. Both projects were inspired by Dante’s 14th century classic Inferno, but Gitelman says he and Hozier initially bonded over a different part of the literary canon.
Meeting up during quarantine to work on new music in rural Ireland, Gitelman says he and Hozier spent “the first day or two just talking about James Joyce” (Gitelman says he’s a fan of Joyce’s Dubliners in particular). For the producer, those discussions were key to finding a trust that helped them as they worked on songs that bridged the gap between Irish folk and soul music (styles that Van Morrison, another artist the two discussed in detail prior to recording together, was especially adept at combining). “A lot of times it’s like, Andrew [Hozier], I don’t know what it is you’re saying in Gaelic, but let’s do,” Gitelman recalled.
The two also went deep on Gitelman’s time working with Mac Miller on Swimming, the final album released during the late rapper’s lifetime, as well as hitting the top 10 on three Billboard producer charts in the same week (Hot 100 Producers, R&B Producers and Country Producers) in November 2023 for his work on Jelly Roll & Jessie Murph’s “Wild Ones” and Victoria Monét’s “On My Mama.”
“It’s a cool statistic, I like numbers,” Gitelman says of the Billboard chart coup. “Coming up from an artistic, musical world, it’s nice. I’ve been shouting from the rooftops, like, ‘Hey I’m pretty good…’ To have the numbers do all the talking is really nice. I don’t think music is a competition… but man, the numbers sometimes give you the freedom to make the art you want to make.”
Check out the new episode of Songs You Know with Toby Gad below.
Malcolm Todd is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist for the first time thanks to his breakthrough single, “Chest Pain (I Love).” Released in December on Columbia Records, the song debuts at No. 68 almost entirely from 7.7 million official U.S. streams (up 45%) April 4-10, according to Luminate. It also reaches the top 10 […]
Two heavy metal icons are teaming up for a 22-city co-headlining tour this fall. Original shock rocker Alice Cooper, 77, will share stages with British hard rock legends Judas Priest for the Live Nation-produced outing that is slated to kick off on Sept. 16 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, MS. The tour will […]
Former Judas Priest drummer Les Binks, who held the spot in the metal band’s lineup for a few crucial years in the late 1970s, had died at 73.
The group members announced their bandmate’s death on Tuesday morning (April 15), writing on Instagram, “We are deeply saddened about the passing of Les and send our love to his family, friends and fans. The acclaimed drumming he provided was first class – demonstrating his unique techniques, flair, style and precision – Thank you Les – your acclaim will live on…..”
Born in Portadown, Northern Ireland, on Aug. 8, 1951, Binks (born James Leslie Binks), spent time drumming with Eric Burdon and the Animals and War, as well as the pop group Fancy before joining Judas Priest in 1977. The band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1969 and fronted by leather-loving singer Rob Halford released its debut album, Rocka Rolla, in 1974, followed by 1996’s Sad Wings of Destiny.
Binks made his first appearance with group in time for 1977’s Sin After Sin, the band’s major label debut. The sessions saw the exit of early drummer Alan Moore, who was replaced by Simon Phillips for the recording. But, with Moore unavailable to tour, Binks was tapped to hit the road with the band after bringing his signature double-bass barrage to the bonus track cover of The Gun’s “Race With the Devil.”
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The drummer made his biggest mark on 1978’s Stained Class, where his massive, double kick drum sound and blitzkrieg style is a standout from the very first seconds of opening track “Exciter,” one of the songs that set the stage for the speed and thrash metal of the 1980s. The album, considered by many fans to be one of the group’s finest efforts, featured a rare co-songwriting credit for Binks on the ominous prog-metal shouter “Beyond the Realms of Death.”
Binks also appeared on the follow-up, 1978’s Killing Machine (which was released as Hell Bent for Leather in the U.S.), the most commercially oriented collection to date from the Priest, and the LP that would also mark his swan song with the group. Anchored by meaty rock anthems such as “Rock Forever” and the raucous “Hell Bent For Leather,” the album set the stage for what would become the band’s commercial breakthrough on 1980s British Steel, which featured the hits “Living After Midnight” and Beavis and Butt-Head favorite “Breaking the Law”; Binks was replaced on that album by former Trapeze drummer Dave Holland.
Binks’ final record with Judas Priest would be the band’s 1979 Unleashed in the East live album recorded in Tokyo earlier that year, after which he split following a reported dispute with band manager Mike Dolan over compensation for the live LP.
The drummer played with a series of other bands throughout the 1980s and ’90s (Lionhearted, Tytan) and formed the all-star Priest cover band Les Binks’ Priesthood, in 2017. In a testament to the crucial role he played in the development of Judas Priest’s sound, Binks was on stage with the rest of Priest in 2022 when the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed as part of their three-song set in one of his final public appearances before his death.
Check out their performance at the RRHOF ceremony below.
Sam Fender has shared that he once turned down the opportunity to perform alongside Joni Mitchell.
In a new interview at Coachella with radio station KROQ, the North Shields songwriter revealed that he was once offered the chance to perform with the seminal folk artist as part of her “Joni Jams” series, but turned down the slot down due to nerves.
Fender went on to explain that Mitchell — who has a long history of hosting jam sessions in her living room with musicians — invited him to perform at her home in California. “Can I tell you something mental? I got offered to go to a ‘Joni Jam.’ You know how people were going to Joni’s house, and I didn’t go,” he told KROQ.
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“Honestly, it was nerves. I was like, ‘There’s no way I can sit next to Joni Mitchell and be like do you want to listen to this?’” he added. “I was like, ‘Does she even want these people around?’ Obviously, she did, but yeah, I got offered the chance to go, and I bottled it. I completely bottled it. It’s one of my great regrets, it really plays on my mind.”
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The Joni Jams began as an intimate performance series after Mitchell suffered a stroke in 2015. Organized by fellow singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile, close friends and collaborators would play her music for Mitchell as she recovered, with everyone from Elton John, to Paul McCartney, Harry Styles and others rumored to have been involved over the years.
The sessions later expanded to include public performances. In 2023, the 27,000-capacity Gorge Amphitheater in Quincy, Washington, played host to a Jam featuring appearances from Mitchell and Carlile, plus a star-studded guest list including Marcus Mumford, Annie Lennox, Allison Russell, Sarah McLachlan and Lucius.
At the time, it had been 20 years since the “Blue” singer had performed live due to several health issues that plagued the 81-year-old icon, leading to her staying out of the public eye for nearly two decades.
Mitchell made headlines again earlier this year when she took to the stage as part of the LA FireAid charitybenefit show. She was joined by Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Lucius, Taylor MacKall, Blake Mills and Abe Rounds, following a moving set at the 2024 Grammy Awards ceremony.
Fender, meanwhile, has enjoyed a banner year. The singer and guitarist shared his third LP, People Watching, in February, which Billboard U.K. described as “as a grand, emotional record which has the potential to become an instant British classic.”
According to data from the Official Charts Company, the record landed the biggest U.K. opening week for a British solo act since Harry Styles‘ Harry’s House in 2022. It also marked Fender’s biggest-ever opening week, selling more units than his 2019 debut Hypersonic Missiles and 2021’s Mercury Prize-nominated Seventeen Going Under combined.
In recent months, Fender has gone on to win a BRIT award for alternative/rock act, and has taken People Watching on tour across Europe and the U.S., including his debut appearance at Coachella over the weekend (Apr. 12).
This summer, he will perform a string of headline stadium shows in the U.K., with dates in London and Newcastle. £1 from every ticket sold on the run will be donated to select cultural organizations such as Youth Music and Sunday for Sammy to support the arts in the North East of England.
Check out the KROQ interview below.