Pearl Jam
Metallica have wrapped up their live activity for 2024, finishing things off with their regular Helping Hands concert in California.
The musical component of the heavy metal outfit’s All Within My Hands foundation, the Helping Hands concert series is a biannual affair which has been running since 2018.
With “aims to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band for years, as well as encourage participation from fans and friends”, the previous events have been wildly successful, with the 2018 and 2020 editions raising over $1.3 million, and 2022 resulting in over $3 million in donations.
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The latest Helping Hands concert took place on Friday (Dec. 13) at Inglewood, CA’s 6,000-seat YouTube Theater, with hosting duties performed by Jimmy Kimmel. The event also featured a handful of special guests, including Sammy Hagar and special guests Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani, and Kenny Aronoff, with classically-trained siblings SistaStrings also taking part.
As is tradition, the event featured a handful of deep cuts from the band’s back catalog, with this recent performance being no exception. Launching proceedings with a five-song acoustic set, both San Francisco singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Avi Vincour and pianist Henry Salvia were also on hand to aid in the performance.
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The band’s acoustic set kicked off with a performance of “Low Man’s Lyric”, which hadn’t been played live since the band’s Reload tour in September 1998, before being followed by the first play-through of Diamond Head’s “Helpless” since 2018, and their first-ever rendition of Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Away From Home”. Welcoming SistaStrings to the stage, the acoustic portion of the event wrapped up with versions of 2023’s “If Darkness Had a Son” and the enduring “Nothing Else Matters”.
The career-spanning electric set was slightly more traditional, featuring tracks from the band’s wider catalog. Alongside last year’s “Screaming Suicide”, Metallica leant into tracks from the likes of famed ’80s records Kill ‘Em All, Master of Puppets, and 1989’s …And Justice for All. While reintroducing “The Unforgiven II” to the live set for the first time since 2015, the band also welcomed Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament to the stage for a performance of “Hit the Lights”.
Metallica’s Helping Hands concert will also be uploaded to YouTube for streaming on Thursday (Dec. 19), while full details regarding how much was raised by the event is usually shared in the new year.
Seattle grunge icons Pearl Jam have wrapped up their 2024 touring activities with a special show in Sydney.
The final show of their Dark Matter World Tour (and the final date of their first Australian tour in a decade) took place at Sydney’s ENGIE Stadium on Saturday (Nov. 23), and featured a 27-song set full of hits, deep cuts, and the typical cover versions.
One of the more notable covers was the band’s rendition of “Hunger Strike”, originally recorded by Temple of the Dog for their sole self-titled album which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in 1991. Considered something of a retroactive supergroup due the presence of future Pearl Jam and Soundgarden members, the original version features respective frontmen Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell sharing co-lead vocal duties on the track.
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It’s become a grunge anthem, and as a result, it’s sporadically been played by Pearl Jam, with its last appearance in the band’s set being at Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit in October 2014. It had previously been a staple of Cornell’s live sets prior to his passing in May 2017.
Pearl Jam’s final Australian show also featured covers of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”, with their 11-song encore set opening with a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “No Surrender”.
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The first time it had been performed since the band’s appearance in New Jersey in June 2006, this particular performance saw Vedder solo armed with an acoustic guitar as he dedicated the track to its creator. Dubbing Springsteen “a great friend of mine and a brother of mine”, Vedder explained that if he hadn’t been performing the final show of Pearl Jam’s world tour, he would have been watching The Boss wrap up his own world tour in Vancouver.
“Bruce Springsteen is magic and he makes magic, and he works hard to make magic,” Vedder told the crowd. “And then sometimes it’s easy for him to make magic, but he also has songs of strength.
“I know for him, as well as us, it’s been a tricky time in our nation back home,” he continued. “We’re going to be OK. It’s just going to take some time, a bit of a reset. But we will lean on music when words fail us.”
Previously, Vedder had performed “No Surrender” alongside Springsteen at New Jersey’s Continental Airlines Arena in October 2004 as part of the 2004 Vote For Change tour. That same performance also saw Vedder guesting on a rendition of “Darkness on the Edge of Town”.
Pearl Jam has been forced to cancel two additional shows on their European tour as unspecified band members continue to recover from illness.
The group was slated to perform at Waldbühne in Berlin on July 2 and 3, but these dates have now been scrapped.
The announcement comes just a day after the band had to call off their June 29 show at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the same reason. The next opportunity for Pearl Jam to return to the stage will be on July 6 in Barcelona.
In a statement shared on their social media channels, the band expressed their disappointment and the difficulty of the decision.
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“Despite everyone’s best efforts, the band has yet to make a full recovery,” Pearl Jam’s social media channels read.
“The impacts of this decision are not lost on us. We feel deeply that so many people spend their time, money and emotional energy to get tickets and then to come see the band, and it is heart-wrenching to have to disappoint you. We also appreciate the many people whose hard work goes into making these shows happen.”
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“Please trust we never take these decisions lightly and try to do everything possible to show up for you all,” it continued.
“We wish a reschedule had been possible for this tour leg and hope to come back soon. Tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase. Thank you for your continued understanding and support. It means the world.”
We are sorry to share that the Pearl Jam concerts scheduled for Tuesday, July 2nd and Wednesday, July 3rd in Berlin are cancelled. Tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase.Thank you for continued understanding and support, it means the world.– Pearl Jam pic.twitter.com/fXIcjizGX8— Pearl Jam (@PearlJam) June 30, 2024
Although the specific members affected have not been disclosed, frontman Eddie Vedder struggled with vocal issues during the band’s previous show in Manchester on June 25, just the second date of the tour leg.
Tickets for the canceled Berlin shows will be refunded at the point of purchase.
Addressing the audience, Vedder alluded to catching an illness after high-fiving fans at their Dublin show a few days prior.
Pearl Jam is currently on tour supporting their latest album, Dark Matter. Earlier this week, Vedder surprise-released a solo cover of the English Beat’s “Save It for Later” as part of the new season of the FX show The Bear.
On June 30, the band also marked the 24th anniversary of the tragic crowd surge that claimed the lives of nine fans during their performance at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival in 2000.
“We honor and remember the young men who tragically lost their lives on June 30, 2000 and hold their friends and families in our hearts,” they wrote on social media.
The band is set to launch a U.S. summer tour in August.
The all-star charity album Good Music to Ensure Safe Abortion Access to All debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Compilation Albums chart and also bows at No. 9 on Top Album Sales.
The 49-track set sold nearly 8,500 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 13 according to Luminate – the largest sales week for a non-soundtrack compilation album in two years.
The benefit album boasts music from Death Cab for Cutie, Fleet Foxes and Pearl Jam, among others, and was exclusively available via Bandcamp’s webstore for one day only, on Oct. 7, as a digital download. According to a press release, the album’s net proceeds will benefit non-profit organizations working to provide abortion care access to all: Brigid Alliance and NOISE FOR NOW (who are working with Abortion Care Network).
The last time a non-soundtrack compilation album sold more in a single week was two years ago, when the last Good Music charity album, Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, Volume 2 debuted at No. 10 on Top Album Sales with 13,500 sold (Oct. 17, 2020 chart).
Good Music to Ensure Safe Abortion Access to All also debuts at No. 8 on Top Current Album Sales and in the top 40 on Independent Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums.
Good Music additionally enters at No. 151 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart – the highest debut by a non-R&B/hip-hop compilation in over a year. The last such set — again, excluding soundtracks — to bow higher was A-list-loaded rock tribute set The Metallica Blacklist, which debuted at No. 132 on the Sept. 25, 2021-dated chart (peaking at No. 103 on the Oct. 16, 2021 chart).
In 2020, the two Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy albums raised over $600,000 for voting-rights organizations (according to the Good Music organization).
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.
Compilation Albums ranks the week’s top-selling compilations by traditional album sales. Top Album Sales and Top Current Album Sales tally, respectively, the overall top-selling albums of the week, and the top-selling current (excluding older, or “catalog” albums) albums of the week.
Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums rank the week’s most popular rock and alternative albums, rock albums and alternative albums, respectively, by equivalent album units. Independent Albums reflects the week’s most popular albums, by units, released by independent record labels.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance runs back up Billboard’s album charts (dated Oct. 22) following its wide vinyl release on Oct. 7. The set surges 69-2 on Top Album Sales and returns to No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Top R&B Albums and Vinyl Albums, and hits No. 1 on Tastemaker Albums for the first time. On the Billboard 200, the former No. 1 climbs 6-3.
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Renaissance sold 47,500 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 13 (up 2,401%) according to Luminate. Of that sum, vinyl sales comprised 45,500 (up from a negligible sum the week prior) – marking the largest week for an R&B album on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. It’s also Beyoncé’s single-largest week on vinyl ever.
Renaissance was initially released on July 29 via streaming services, and through all retailers as a digital download and CD. At the time, its vinyl LP was exclusively available only through Beyoncé’s official webstore and in a limited quantity. It did not reach general retail until Oct. 7.
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 units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top R&B Albums rank the week’s most popular R&B/hip-hop albums and R&B albums, respectively, by equivalent album units. Vinyl Albums tallies the top-selling vinyl albums of the week. Tastemaker Albums ranks the week’s best-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores.
At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Stray Kids lock up their second chart-topper, as MAXIDENT debuts atop the tally with 110,000 copies sold — the fourth-largest sales week of any album in 2022. Of its sales sum, 97% were CD sales while 3% were digital albums. The set was not available in any other configuration for purchase.
The CD configuration of the album was issued in collectible packages (10 total, including exclusive variants for Barnes & Noble, Target and the group’s official webstore), each with a standard set of internal paper items and randomized elements (such as photocards, mini posters and stickers). CD sales were also aided by autographed editions sold via the act’s webstore.
Lamb of God collects its sixth top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales as the rock band’s latest studio effort, Omens, bows at No. 3 with 19,000 copies sold. NCT 127’s 2 Baddies rises 9-4 with 11,000 sold (up 49%), following its Oct. 7 release in a CD digipack edition (available in nine different cover variations – one for each of the group’s members – each with a standard set of paper goods and randomized photocards).
Charlie Puth’s third full-length studio album, Charlie, debuts at No. 5 on Top Album Sales with 10,000 sold. It’s the third consecutive top five-charting album for Puth on Top Album Sales. The set was available in a handful of configurations, including two deluxe CD boxed sets (each with a branded T-shirt), a Target-exclusive version packaged with a poster, and a cassette tape and a signed CD sold through his official webstore. A vinyl edition of the album is due out on Nov. 25.
Alvvays notches its first top 10 on Top Album Sales as the act’s third album, Blue Rev, arrives at No. 6 with nearly 10,000 sold – largely from vinyl sales (6,500; a No. 4 debut on Vinyl Albums). Mac Miller’s Macadelic re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 7 with 9,500 sold (up from a negligible sum the week prior) after the album was reissued on colored vinyl for its 10th anniversary. Essentially all of the album’s sales for the week were on vinyl, and it re-enters the Vinyl Albums chart at No. 2.
Slipknot’s The End, So Far falls tumbles to No. 8 (8,500; down 83%) from its chart-topping debut a week ago.
The all-star charity compilation album Good Music to Ensure Safe Abortion Access to All debuts at No. 9 on Top Album Sales with nearly 8,500 sold – the largest sales week for a non-soundtrack compilation album in two years. The 49-track digital download album – boasting music from Death Cab for Cutie, Fleet Foxes and Pearl Jam, among others – was exclusively available via Bandcamp’s webstore for one day only, on Oct. 7. According to a press release, the album’s net proceeds will benefit non-profit organizations working to provide abortion care access to all: Brigid Alliance and NOISE FOR NOW (who are working with Abortion Care Network).
The last time a non-soundtrack compilation album sold more in a single week was two years ago, when the last Good Music charity album, Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, Volume 2 debuted at No. 10 on Top Album Sales with 13,500 sold (Oct. 17, 2020 chart).
Good Music to Ensure Safe Abortion Access to All also debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Compilation Albums chart, No. 8 on Top Current Album Sales and in the top 40 on Independent Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums.
In 2020, the two Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy albums raised over $600,000 for voting-rights organizations (according to the Good Music organization).
Rounding out the new Top Album Sales chart is Pink Floyd’s Animals, which gallops 23-10 with a little over 8,000 sold (up 122%) following the Oct. 7 release of a deluxe box set edition. The four-disc set (containing vinyl LP/CD/DVD and Blu-ray discs) sold for $99.98 in Pink Floyd’s official webstore and is packaged in a hardcover book with a 32-page booklet.
In the week ending Oct. 13, there were 1.896 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 14.3% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.53 million (up 18.1%) and digital albums comprised 366,000 (up 0.5%).
There were 715,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Oct. 13 (up 17.5% week-over-week) and 804,000 vinyl albums sold (up 18.9%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 26.758 million (down 7.9% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 30.031 million (up 1.8%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 73.152 million (down 7.6% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 57.202 million (down 2.9%) and digital album sales total 15.95 million (down 21.4%).
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