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The Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey will gather the press in London on Thursday (May 9) for a special announcement tied to a new project titled The Song Is Over.
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According to the band’s official channels, the announcement will include a livestreamed Q&A with fans worldwide, with questions already being collected on social media, building anticipation for what could mark a significant moment in The Who’s six-decade career.
The project’s title references “The Song Is Over,” a deep cut from the band’s 1971 album Who’s Next. The group also performed the track live for the first time in March at London’s Royal Albert Hall, although that rendition was interrupted when Daltrey experienced technical difficulties. “To sing that song, I do need to hear the key,” he told the crowd at the time. “And I can’t hear. There’s no pitch here. I just hear drums, boom boom boom. I can’t sing to that.”
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This would not be the first time The Who has suggested the end of the road was near. In 1982, the band launched what was billed as a farewell tour and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone with the headline “The Who The End.” At that time, Townshend was 37 and Daltrey was 38. Today, Townshend turns 80 later this month and Daltrey recently turned 81.
Longtime drummer Zak Starkey, who briefly exited the band earlier this year, is expected to be part of any future live plans. Starkey left following the Royal Albert Hall show but was soon reinstated. “There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily,” Townshend said.
The band has not confirmed that The Song Is Over will be a tour. Fans have also speculated the project could be a studio album, a biopic or even a new rock opera. Daltrey has discussed the idea of a Keith Moon biopic for years, although no official updates on that project have been shared recently.
The Who last released an album in 2019. Who debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, marking the band’s highest-charting album since Quadrophenia reached No. 2 in 1973.
Full details of The Song Is Over will be revealed Thursday.
Gene Simmons has clarified that not all members of KISS may appear together at KISS Army Storms Vegas, the upcoming three-day fan event scheduled for Nov. 14–16 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
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“This is much more a fan gathering,” Simmons told 94.3 The Shark radio station in a new interview. “The KISS Army are taking over the Virgin Hotel and we will show up, but I don’t even know if the entire band’s gonna be there.”
Simmons continued, “I know Paul and I are gonna be there, and Tommy. Bruce Kulick probably will show up, and we’ll jam, answer questions and stuff. It ain’t a concert, we’re gonna do none of that stuff. I may even bring my solo band up there just for fun.”
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The event will mark KISS’s first public appearance since the group wrapped its End of the Road farewell tour at New York’s Madison Square Garden in December 2023. Simmons previously told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in March that the band would not perform in makeup during the Las Vegas event, staying true to their vow that the MSG show was their final appearance in full costume.
“There’s no stage show. There’s no crew. We won’t have 60 people levitating drum sets and all that stuff,” he said at the time.
KISS Army Storms Vegas will celebrate the fan club’s 50th anniversary and will feature Q&A sessions with Stanley, Simmons and longtime manager Doc McGhee.
Additional performances will include sets from Thayer’s former band BLACK ‘N BLUE, former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach and tribute acts MR. SPEED and KISS Nation: The KISS Tribute Show. Kulick, who played with KISS from 1984 to 1996, is also scheduled to perform. It remains unclear if drummer Eric Singer will participate.
“There might be some KISS tribute bands, almost like a convention, if you will. So it’s much more personal. And of course, we can’t get by without playing, so we’ll get up and do some tunes,” Simmons added. “What they are, how long, I don’t know.”
Parkway Drive, one of Australia’s heaviest musical exports to date, have returned with “Sacred, their first new piece of music in three years.
Released on Thursday (May 8), the new single sees the heavy metal quintet drawing upon their 22-year history to deliver a piece of work that is a fitting representation of their past and an indication of what the future holds.
“The mission statement for ‘Sacred’ is pretty damn simple. An anthemic wrecking ball of positive energy,” vocalist Winston McCall explained in a statement. “Our lives and the way we exist in the world has been pushed further and further through the lenses and frames of negativity and hopelessness. Obsession with everything we lack, everything we hate, everyone we blame, everything that keeps us down.
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“We sell the unique parts of us most precious just to buy back manufactured pieces of self in order that we may feel whole again,” he added. “‘Sacred’ is our identity. ‘Sacred’ is our time. Never lose sight and never lose hope.”
The release of “Sacred” comes just weeks before the band perform a sold-out, black-tie symphonic show at the iconic Sydney Opera House on June 9, before embarking on an extensive run of North American dates as part of the Summer of Loud tour with Beartooth, I Prevail, and Killswitch Engage.
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Parkway Drive first formed in the coastal New South Wales town of Byron Bay in 2003, issuing their debut album two years later. They received their first top ten album in Australia with 2007’s Horizons, which also hit No. 27 on the Top Heatseekers charts. 2010’s Deep Blue launched a four-record run which saw the group consecutively charting within the top 40 of the Billboard 200, with 2015’s Ire resulting in a peak of No. 29.
Alongside becoming their first release to top the Top Hard Rock Albums chart, Ire also was their first of three consecutive records to top the Australian charts. “Sacred” is Parkway Drive’s first release since their 2022 album Darker Still, which saw them receive their third ARIA Award for best hard rock or heavy metal album
Parkway Drive – 2025 North American Tour Dates
June 21 – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, FLJune 22 – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa, FLJune 24 – Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GAJune 26 – Dos Equis Pavillion, Dallas, TXJune 27 – Germania Insurance Amphitheater, Austin, TXJune 28 – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Houston, TXJuly 1 – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, Phoenix, AZJuly 2 – Gallagher Square at Petco Park, San Diego, CAJuly 5 – Great Park Live, Irvine, CAJuly 6 – Toyota Pavilion at Concord, Concord, CAJuly 8 – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre, Salt Lake City, UTJuly 9 – The JunkYard, Denver, COJuly 11 – Somerset Amphitheater, Somerset, WIJuly 12 – Capital Credit Union Park, Green Bay, WIJuly 13 – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, ILJuly 15 – Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ONJuly 16 – Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, MIJuly 18 – Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield, OHJuly 19 – York State Fair, York, PAJuly 20 – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NYJuly 22 – Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MAJuly 23 – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden, NJJuly 24 – PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJJuly 26 – Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, VAJuly 27 – PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC
The Final Jeopardy clue on Jeopardy! on Wednesday (May 7) seemed to be way too easy, but not one of the contestants got it right. The category was The Grammys. The clue: “Best New Artists at the 7th Annual Grammys, this band would be nominated the next six years, but not again until the 39th and 67th events.”
The champion wrote down “Who is the Marine Marching Band,” which was incorrect. The ensemble has never even been nominated for a Grammy.
A challenger wrote down “Springsteen,” which ignored a key part of the clue that it was a “band.” And while Bruce Springsteen has been recording for more than 50 years, the clues indicated a 60-year span of Grammy ceremonies. The Boss hasn’t been around quite that long.
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The second challenger, you figure, has to get it right. He wrote “The Rolling Stones.” As host Ken Jennings pointed out, that was closer, but still not right. To the Grammys’ eternal shame, The Rolling Stones weren’t even nominated for a Grammy until the 1979 ceremony, when they were up for album of the year for Some Girls. And they don’t satisfy another part of the clue, either: They have never been nominated more than two years in a row. But they did win best rock album earlier this year for Hackney Diamonds.
The correct answer, of course, is The Beatles. They won best new artist at the 1965 ceremony, were nominated every year from 1966-1971, and then were nominated again in 1997 (when they won a total of three Grammys for The Beatles Anthology and “Free as a Bird”) and earlier this year (when they won best rock performance for “Now and Then”).
If the contestants had just muttered “Help!” when they saw the clue, and realized they were in trouble, that might have led them to the correct question.
OK, so, these three contestants were not Grammy experts, and perhaps not die-hard Beatles fans. Still, they did very well in other categories during the two rounds of play. This just goes to show that we all have our strong suits and other areas were we draw a blank.
Billy Idol lands his first top 10-charting effort ever on Billboard’s nearly 34-year-old Top Album Sales chart, as his new album Dream Into It debuts at No. 7 on the May 10-dated chart. The project is the iconic rocker’s first full-length studio project in over a decade, since 2014’s Kings & Queens of the Underground.
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Dream Into It also debuts on the Vinyl Albums (No. 19), Indie Store Album Sales (No. 21) and Independent Albums (No. 41) charts.
Elsewhere in the top 10 on the Top Album Sales chart, the latest releases from Ghost, Grateful Dead, d4vd, Tucker Wetmore, Goose and Viagra Boys all debut in the region.
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Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.
Dream Into It sold 6,500 copies in the United States in the week ending May 1, according to Luminate – largely driven by physical purchases (about 2,500 on vinyl and 3,500 on CD). Digital download purchases comprised about 500 copies.
Dream Into It is Idol’s 10th charting title on the Top Album Sales chart, which began in 1991. In that span of time, he had previously gone has high as No. 12 with the 2021 EP The Roadside.
Idol has a long history on Billboard’s charts, including a dozen charting titles each on the Billboard 200 (dating back to 1981) and Billboard Hot 100 songs charts, as well as 16 entries on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
Also on the latest Top Album Sales chart, rock band Ghost nabs its second No. 1 with its best sales week ever, as Skeletá debut atop the list with 77,000 copies sold. Grateful Dead’s latest archival live set, Dave’s Picks Volume 54: Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, MD – 3/26/73, bows at No. 2 with 19,500 copies sold. It’s the 46th top 10-charting set for the act on Top Album Sales. Rounding out the top three is d4vd’s new Withered, starting with 14,500 copies – the first top 10 and best sales week for the act.
Tucker Wetmore’s What Not to debuts at No. 4 with 7,500 (his first top 10 and best sales week), Kendrick Lamar’s former No. 1 GNX slips 3-5 (nearly 7,500; down 7%), Goose gets its first top 10 and best sales week with the start of Everything Must Go at No. 6 (7,000) and Viagra Boys round out the debuts in the top 10 as Viagr Aboys bows at No. 8 with 6,500 (the first top 10 and best sales week for the act).
Closing out the top 10 are two former leaders: Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 2-9 (nearly 6,500; down 24%) and Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM falls 4-10 (5,000; down 23%).
Brad Arnold, singer and drummer of the Mississippi-based rock band 3 Doors Down, announced Wednesday (May 7) that he’s been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer.
“Got some not-so-good news for you today,” Arnold said in a video posted to social media, revealing that he’s fighting clear cell renal cell carcinoma and that it’s metastasized into his lung.
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Due to Arnold’s diagnosis, the band is canceling its upcoming summer tour, with dates that were set to begin next week in Florida and continued through August.
Arnold said that he’s leaning on his faith through the medical battle (“I have no fear. I really, sincerely am not scared of it at all.”) and asked for prayers from his fans. “I’d love for you to lift me up in prayer any chance you get. And I think it’s time for me to go and listen to ‘It’s Not My Time’ a little bit.”
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He also referenced the 2008 3 Doors Down song “It’s Not My Time” in his Instagram caption, writing: “Thank you for all the memories so far. Now, I believe ‘ITS NOT MY TIME’ is really my song. This’ll be a battle so we need our prayers warriors! Thank y’all for being the best fans in the world. We love y’all!”
Arnold’s comments section was filled with a who’s who of his musical peers, with Creed’s Scott Stapp writing, “If anyone has the FAITH and STRENGTH to face this fight, it’s YOU brother. … I think I can speak for all of us, we are lifting you up in prayer right now believing without doubt for your total healing! I love you bro.”
Chris Daughtry added, “Sending you love my brother,” with Gavin McGraw commenting: “May God bless you brother. Showing us how to conquer the darkness with light.”
“Man I hate to hear that Brad. Praying for ya brother,” Jason Aldean wrote, with Sara Evans saying, “Will be praying for you every day!”
During their early 2000s heyday, 3 Doors Down scored 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including three top 10s: 2000’s “Kryptonite” (No. 3 peak), 2003’s “When I’m Gone” (No. 4) and 2003’s “Here Without You” (No. 5). They also scored two No. 1 albums on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart: 2005’s Seventeen Days and a self-titled project in 2008.
The Ataris are honoring the late father of lead singer Kris Roe with a new 7-inch single that includes Roe’s father’s ashes mixed in to the vinyl.
“Car Song,” now available in limited edition 7-inch vinyl, was written in honor of Roe’s father, who passed away in 2014 due to complications related to alcoholism. In his honor, a portion of the proceeds from the “Car Song” 7-inch release will go to Shatterproof, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending addiction.
“I’ve always been so lucky to have my dad’s unwavering support for The Ataris. He wasn’t just a fan — he was a fixture of our community. He would often interact with fans on the band’s message board, film live sets, and share them with everyone—everyone knew him. He was a huge part of the band’s journey,” Roe said in a press release. “When I read about a service that would press a loved one’s ashes into vinyl, it instantly hit me. What better way to honor my dad than making him a permanent part of the music he always loved? It felt like the most meaningful tribute I could give him.”
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“Car Song” is the first new release in 15 years for the Ataris, who also released a Breaking Bad-inspired video for the track that pays tribute to Walter White, Saul Goodman and the cinematic universe of one of modern television’s most celebrated franchises.
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The video comes amid the band’s continued reunion around the original lineup for their 2003 So Long, Astoria album, which began late last year and includes Roe, bassist Mike Davenport, guitarist John Collura, and drummer Chris Knapp. So Long, Astoria was released through Columbia Records in 2003 and sold over 700,000 copies in the US, making it the sole record from The Ataris’ to be certified gold.
“Car Song” is the first release from The Ataris’ yet-to-be-announced album and comes after Roe purchased the white Volvo featured in the final season of Breaking Bad. Roe reportedly purchased the Volvo from a friend who worked as an assistant director on the show and later found a receipt in the car signed by actor Bryan Cranston in the glovebox.
“I like to say that Walter White’s Volvo was the catalyst for ‘Car Song’ and the new album,” Roe said in a press release announcing the single. “It all just came together from there, and now, here we are.”
Watch the full video for “Car Song” below:
Fitz and the Tantrums have returned: the pop-rock group have announced that their sixth studio album, Man on the Moon, will be released on July 25 through Atlantic Records, and unveiled the title track of the upcoming full-length on Wednesday (May 7).
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The follow-up to 2022’s Let Yourself Free was a product of feeling less beholden to straining for hits in the studio, says band leader Michael Fitzpatrick. “I think after our first radio hit with ‘Out Of My League,’ there was this insane amount of pressure to keep delivering hits,” he says of the band’s breakthrough 2013 single. “Then we had an even bigger hit with ‘HandClap,’ and there was even more expectation and pressure.
“But today?!” Fitzpatrick continues. “No one knows what a hit is anymore, the landscape is totally different, and that was actually incredibly liberating for us during the making of this record. We said ‘screw it,’ and just did what we wanted 1000% of the time. Zero compromise and all feeling. The air finally came back into the room and writing songs felt joyful and easy again.”
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That process began with the title track, which will serve as the new album’s lead single. While the band released album track “Ruin the Night” in March, “Man on the Moon” represents a jolt of energy for the group, and a return to the soul-pop sound that has defined some of their most well-loved hits.
“‘Man On The Moon’ came about organically in the early days of the writing process for the album,” says Fitzpatrick. “The feelings and ideas that I wanted to write about just kept pointing us back in the Motown/soul direction. Honestly, it kinda felt like coming home.”
After touring extensively behind Let Yourself Free, Fitz and the Tantrums will kick off a summer headlining run on July 24 in San Diego on the eve of the album release. The 31-city North American tour will feature Aloe Blacc and Neal Francis as special guests on select dates, while Ax and the Hatchetman, SNACKTIME and Gable Price and Friends will serve as openers.
Check out the track list to Fitz and the Tantrums’ Man on the Moon and watch the video for the title track below:
“The Good The Bad The Ugly”
“Man On The Moon”
“Withdrawals”
“Oh Maria”
“Ruin The Night”
“Where I Go”
“Young Days”
“Perfume”
“Umbrella”
“Queen of Hearts”
“Waste My Time”
“OK OK OK”
“Motion”
“One Day”
Almost two years on from their last tour of the country, Big Thief will be hitting the road for a newly-announced run of North American dates.
Dubbed the Somersault Slide 360 Tour, the 20-date run of shows will launch in Sacramento, CA on Sept. 17 and traverse the U.S. and Mexico over the next two months before wrapping up in Houston, TX on Nov. 7. These dates also include a previously-announced performance at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium in October.
The band have, however, made an effort to assuage the fears of fans who may worry about missing them on the upcoming trek. “Somersault Slide 360 Tour will continue into 2026, and these shows that have just been announced are the first of more to come,” they explained. “Keep those antennas at a clear diagonal.”
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The tour will be Big Thief’s first run of American shows since 2023 when they were supporting their fifth album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, released the year prior. The record was their biggest commercial success to date, peaking at No. 31 on the Billboard 200 and receiving a Grammy nomination for best alternative album, and best alternative music performance for second single, “Certainty.”
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Big Thief released a pair of singles in 2023, and in July 2024, the group announced the departure of bassist Max Oleartchik, citing “interpersonal reasons” for his exit. 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.
In the time between studio releases, vocalist and guitarist Adrianne Lenker would release her Bright Future album in 2024, with recordings from the accompanying tour appearing on the recently-released Live at Revolution Hall album. On Friday (May 2), drummer James Krivchenia released the album Performing Belief.
Big Thief – 2025 Somersault Slide 360 Tour Dates
Sept. 17 – Channel 24, Sacramento, CASept. 19 – Edgefield, Troutdale, ORSept. 21 – Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical, Boise, IDSept. 22 – Twilight Concert Series, Salt Lake City, UTSept. 25 – The Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CASept. 27 – Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CASept. 28 – Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, San Diego, CAOct. 1 – Teatro Metropolitan, Mexico City, MXOct. 20 – State Theatre, Portland, MEOct. 21 – MGM Music Hall, Boston, MAOct. 22 – The Met, Philadelphia, PAOct. 24 – The Anthem, Washington, DCOct. 25 – Forest Hills Stadium, Forest Hills, NYOct. 29 – Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh, NCOct. 30 – The Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GAOct. 31 – Saenger Theatre, New Orleans, LANov. 3 – Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa, OKNov. 4 – The Bomb Factory, Dallas, TXNov. 5 – Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park, Austin, TXNov. 7 – White Oak Music Hall Lawn, Houston, TX
Nathan Jerde, the drummer of Chicago indie-rock outfit The Ponys, has padded away, it has been confirmed.
News of Jerde’s passing was confirmed by the band on social media on Monday (May 5). “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we let you know our friend, our band mate, and our brother left this world today,” The Ponys wrote.
“Nathan was an amazing drummer and possessed savant like art skills. Nathan loved goofing around, and had the sweetest of hearts. We traveled the world together. We ate amazing meals together and we met lifelong friends together. We fought like brothers sometimes, but we had so much f–king fun together. Nathan, we will miss you so much!”
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Matador Records also expressed their “deepest condolences to all friends, family and bandmates of The Ponys’ Nathan Jerde,” with their sentiments echoed in a social post from In the Red Records, who issued The Ponys’ debut album.
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“We’re beyond sad to hear the news of the passing of Nathan Jerde of The Ponys,” In the Red’s post read. “He was an awesome guy and a fantastic drummer. To say he will be missed is an understatement.”
The Ponys were formed in Chicago in 2001 by vocalist and guitarist Jered Gunmere, who had previously performed with The Defilers and The Guilty Pleasures. Joined by girlfriend (and later, wife) Melissa Elias on bassist, the lineup was rounded out by Jerde, who was previously the drummer for The Mushuganas, and Ian Adams, who also comprised one half of Chicago duo Happy Supply, on guitar and keys.
The band released their debut album Laced with Romance in 2004 via In the Red, before teaming up with veteran producer and Electrical Audio founder Steve Albini, to record their follow-up, 2005’s Celebration Castle. The group would sign to Matador for their third album, with 2007’s Turn the Lights Out reaching No. 39 on the Heatseekers Albums chart that same year.
The band would split in 2007, with members focusing on other projects. Jerde founded the group Mother of Tears and also joined Tyler Jon Tyler as bassist, before The Ponys regrouped for a series of shows throughout 2009 and 2010.
Jerde would continue working in the music industry, focusing on the artwork for bands such as Outer Minds, Mannequin Men, and Choke Chains in the ensuing years. The Ponys would reunite again in 2016 for a series of shows, though had not played live since the following year.
