Rock
It’s fair to say the three members of Imagine Dragons are over the moon about their new concert film Imagine Dragons: Live From the Hollywood Bowl (with the LA Film Orchestra), showing in theaters March 26 and 29. The fact that it comes in the wake of the band’s music actually being on the moon makes it even better.
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On March 5, Imagine Dragon’s “Children of the Sky” — which the Las Vegas-formed group co-wrote with Inon Zur and others in 2023 for the video game Starfield — was embedded in Athena, a ship the space startup Lonestar Data Holdings sent to Earth’s moon. And while music had previously arrived there on other voyages, it marked the first time a song was transmitted back to Earth — albeit a day later because the Athena craft landed on its side, and short of its target, so some adjustments had to be made.
Imagine Dragons’ guitarist Wayne Sermon is still stoked that “Children of the Sky” skied its way back to its home planet. “I was here, and I was following the mission live on YouTube,” Sermon tells Billboard via Zoom from Los Angeles, where he now resides. “I’m very much into space exploration, I’m into anything NASA’s doing. I’m very fascinated with that kind of stuff…It was one of the easiest yeses we had. Things looked a little dicey there for a minute…but (Athena) was able to still do a couple of things and one of them happened to be beaming our song.
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“We were happy just to be part of it. It’s a crazy thing. Put it up on the list of things that are just surreal, having your music beamed from the moon. It’s like alright, sure, that sounds reasonable, OK.”
Sermon says he hasn’t had a chance to flex any bragging rights over the achievement, however. “I haven’t used it once, man. Unbelievable,” he says. “It hasn’t come up in conversation, casually. Once it does I have an ace in the hole at a dinner party — ‘So, how about the moon…?’”
Sermon says the filmed Hollywood Bowl experience was also otherworldly. Filmed Oct. 27, 2024, at the last of four shows Imagine Dragons performed at the venue (and the final date of the North American leg of its Loom World Tour), the concert found the band — also including frontman Dan Reynolds and bassist Ben McKee — playing with a full orchestra conducted by Zur, whose video game scoring work the group has long admired.
“We saw these Hollywood Bowl shows coming down the pipeline while we were on tour,” Sermon recalls. “We just felt like something needed to happen there. We’d sold out four shows, which was kind of crazy to us, and it seemed to be special, so we thought, ‘Why don’t we do something with an orchestra, a one-night-only thing.’” The group recruited Zur to create orchestrations and then watched it grow from a handful of numbers to the entire 22-song concert.
“We’d keep getting emails from (Zur), ‘OK, send me another one,’ and the next day we’d have an arrangement and ‘Send me another one,’” Sermon says. “This kept happening until he’d arranged every single moment of the show. From start to finish it was a complete collaboration, which I think is pretty rare in a show like that.”
Among the concert moments that most stand out is “Radioactive,” for which Zur created a duel between violin and cello players in the orchestra. “Children of the Sky” was another highlight, according to Sermon. “That was a song conceived in the studio, and we weren’t present for when (Zur) came up with the orchestration for it,” Sermon says. “We wrote our part, he wrote his part and we got ’em together remotely. We never actually played that song together in the same room with an orchestra before. So for that song to come to life at (the Hollywood Bowl) felt like a full-circle moment. (Zur) wrote a really incredible intro to it where he could stretch out and show some of his chops. It was great to do that song and have it represented and documented forever.”
The film, however, was not part of the initial discussion and only decided upon “probably a couple of weeks before the show,” according to Sermon. “It was just going to be this thing that happened, that you just had to be there for. In this day and age, where everything is documented and overshared, it was maybe something that just lived for a night and was gone, and maybe there’s something beautiful about that. But the more we thought about it, so many people who would like to see it couldn’t. With Inon being involved and hearing his arrangements…we felt it would be a real shame for people not to hear it. Luckily our management scrambled to find some extra cameras and we threw it together and willed it into existence so people could see it.”
Live From the Hollywood Bowl was directed by Vincent Adam Paul and will be screened in CJ 4DPLEX, ScreenX, 4DX and Ultra 4DX as well as standard formats. Theater and ticket information is available via ImagineDragonsMovie.com.
Sermon plans on catching one of the big-screen showings himself but anticipates the film will eventually go to streaming as well. “The whole point of filming it was so people can see it,” he says. “Seeing it in theaters, especially in 4DX formats, is gonna be mind-blowing for people, but eventually it will be streamed.”
Imagine Dragons will resume the Loom World Tour on April 4 in China and then begin a European run on May 27 in Italy. The trek is set to wrap up July 25-26 in London, while he, Reynolds and McKee are “just starting to write our new album now. We are exploring a lot of different options, including parting things back a lot — just trying new things and seeing what sticks. We don’t really know what we’re doing for next things until we just do it.”
Mt. Joy have awaken from their winter hibernation with a new single, “Coyote,” an infectious homage to the energy and excitement one experiences on the cusp of breaking through.
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The track is the first from the Philadelphia indie rockers’ fourth studio album, Hope We Have Fun (out May 30 on Futures x Bloom Field). It arrives ahead of the April 19 kickoff to their 2025 North American tour.
Frontman Matt Quinn tells Billboard the first single was inspired by the sounds of coyotes in Los Angeles’ San Rafael Hills and the energy found in young groups of coyotes, commonly called a band. Quinn says the song is a celebration of the make-it-or-break-it energy the band experienced grinding it out on the road and the surprising paradigm shifts that followed their crossover success.
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Last year, the five-piece group hit a number of touring milestones, performing at both New York’s Madison Square Garden and Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater and selling more than 180,000 tickets on their biggest tour yet.
Success has brought changes to the way the band tours, Quinn tells Billboard. “The shows have gotten quite a bit bigger and that changes the day pretty dramatically for us. We don’t have to set the whole thing up ourselves which gives us a lot more time to work on new things we want to try to incorporate into the live shows,” he explains.
“I will say, though, there is something awesome about the adventure of being in a van and pulling over at random roadside attractions and being late to a venue load-in because you took a detour and saw a random man’s petting zoo,” Quinn added. “Now we drive in the middle of the night so it’s just truck stops and Nintendo Switch.”
A complete list of tour stops from the band’s 2025 run can be found below. Listen to “Coyote” here.
HOPE WE HAVE FUN TOUR
04/19 – John Paul Jones Arena – Charlottesville, VA
04/21 – KEMBA Live! – Outdoors – Columbus, OH
04/25 – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre – Charlotte, NC
04/26 – High Water Festival – North Charleston, SC
05/04 – BEACHLIFE FESTIVAL – Redondo Beach, CA
06/06 – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre – Sterling Heights, MI
06/07 – Stage AE – Outdoors – Pittsburgh, PA
06/08 – The Governors Ball Music Festival – New York, NY
06/10 – Midway Lawn at Champlain Valley Expo – Essex Junction, VT
06/12 – MegaCorp Pavilion – Newport, KY
06/13 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD
06/14 – Bonnaroo – Manchester, TN
06/17 – Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park – Indianapolis, IN
06/19 – Thompson’s Point – Portland, ME
06/20 – Green River Festival – Greenfield, MA
06/20-06/22 – Mountain Jam Music Festival – Highmount, NY
06/28 – BST Hyde Park – London, UK
07/04-07/05 – Zootown Festival – Missoula, MT
07/23-07/27 – FloydFest – Floyd, VA
07/27 – Newport Folk Festival – Newport, RI
08/09 – Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, AB
08/10 – Edmonton Folk Festival (Gallagher Park) – Edmonton, AB
08/12 – Twilight Concert Series at Library Square – Salt Lake City, UT
08/14 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
08/15 – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre – Denver, CO
08/17 – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater – Nampa, ID
08/19 – Deer Lake Park – Burnaby, BC
08/20 – WAMU Theater – Seattle, WA
08/22 – Hayden Homes Amphitheater – Bend, OR
08/23 – The Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA
08/24 – Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
08/26 – The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park – San Diego, CA
09/11 – Budweiser Stage – Toronto, ON
09/12-09/14 – Borderland Music Festival – East Aurora, NY
09/13 – United Center – Chicago, IL
09/16 – The Armory – Minneapolis, MN
09/17 – Kohl Center – Madison, WI
09/20 – TD Garden – Boston, MA
09/23 – Koka Booth Amphitheatre – Cary, NC
09/24 – ExploreAsheville.com Arena – Asheville, NC
09/26 – TD Pavilion at The Mann – Philadelphia, PA
09/27 – TD Pavilion at The Mann – Philadelphia, PA
Larry Tamblyn, the keyboardist/singer and co-founder of L.A. garage rock band The Standells has died at 82. The news was first announced on Friday by Tamblyn’s nephew Dennis and confirmed by the group’s Facebook page. “Sad news to announce tonight,” the group wrote on Saturday in a message that did not provide any additional information on the cause of death.
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“My uncle Larry Tamblyn passed away today. I have very fond memories of him and his family over the years,” Dennis wrote in the post that appears to have since been deleted. “He lived an incredible life. He was in a band called The Standells, whose hit song ‘Dirty Water’ is still played to this day whenever the Red Sox or the Bruins win a home game. They also played on an episode of The Munsters.”
According to People, the post continued, “A few years ago, The Standells played at Hotel Congress here in Tucson, Ariz., and Larry stayed with me. It was so great to hang out with him and catch up. He was still making music well into his later years. You will be missed, Uncle Larry.”
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The Standells were formed in Los Angeles by Tamblyn — who had a brief solo career in the early 1960s — along with guitarist Tony Valentino, bassist Jody Rich and drummer Benny King. Their debut single, “You’ll Be Mine Someday Gir/ Girl in My Heart” was released in 1963 under the name Larry Tamblyn and the Standels before they signed to the Liberty label and adopting their foreshortened name, with Gary Lane taking Rich’s place and Gary Leeds replacing King; Leeds left a short time later and was replaced by former Mouseketeer Dick Dodd, who also took over as lead vocalist.
The band’s first album, the mostly covers collection In Person at P.J.s, came out in 1964 and the group famously made a cameo on The Munsters sitcom in 1965, where they played the original “Come On and Ringo” and a cover of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Though the group was originally formed by Tamblyn, he did not sing the lead vocals on what is the band’s most enduring hit, 1966’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 11 garage rock classic “Dirty Water.”
“Dirty Water” became the band’s calling card, acting as one of the anchors of both the 1972 Nuggets garage rock compilation as well as a sports anthem for a number of Boston-area professional teams, serving as the victory song at Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics games. The track, anchored by Dodd’s snarly vocals and a metronomic beat, became associated with Boston thanks to lyrics referencing the polluted Charles River, the Boston Strangler and shout outs to the city and its “lovers, muggers and thieves.” The Standells performed the song at Fenway Park during one of the Red Sox’s 2004 World Series games.
The song appeared on the band’s 1966 debut album, Dirty Water, which also featured covers of the Rolling Stones’ “19th Nervous Breakdown” and other originals written by “Dirty Water” producer/songwriter Ed Cobb (The Four Preps).
Though the group never again scored a hit on the level with the lascivious, grungy “Dirty Water” they did land at No. 43 with their follow-up single, “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White.” A second album, Why Pick on Me – Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White, was released in 1966 while the group’s roster underwent another series of personnel changes before 1967’s The Hot Ones! cover songs album. Dodd — who died in 2013 — left in 1968 to go solo.
The Standells released two more albums, 1967’s Try It and 2013’s Bump, and continued on performing sporadically in the 1980s and 90s with a line-up featuring Tamblyn and a variety of former and new band members.
Tamblyn was not the only A-lister in his family. He was the brother of actor Russ Tamblyn (West Side Story) and uncle of actress Amber Tamblyn (Paint It Black). In addition to his work with the group, Tamblyn released an autobiography, From Squeaky Clean to Dirty Water: My Life with Sixties Garage Rock Trailblazers the Standells, in 2022. Tamblyn was inducted into the California Music Hall of Fame in 2013 by brother Russ.
Listen to “Dirty Water” below.
Jack Black is fired up and ready to rock on the first soundtrack song from his upcoming adventure flick A Minecraft Movie. And he’s bringing along some friends. Black dropped the classic rock burner “I Feel Alive” last week, a thundering jam featuring Who-like screams and 1970s KISS disco rock vibes. Explore See latest videos, […]
Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Frank Ferrer is speaking out about what the group called an “amicable exit” from the band after nearly two decades. In his first statement since GNR’s announcement last week that he would be replaced by former AWOLNATION time keeper Isaac Carpenter, Ferrer posted a statement on Instagram over the weekend.
“The outpouring of love I have felt from the incredible fans of Guns N’ Roses and my peers over the past 24 hours has been tremendous,” he wrote. “I will have immense gratitude and love always for Axl and the band while at the same time, disappointment that this chapter came to an end.”
Last week, less than 24 hours after Guns announced that Ferrer would amicably be leaving the group after 19 years, they thanked their longest-running drummer for “his friendship, creativity and sturdy presence over the past 19 years, and they wish him success in the next chapter of his musical journey.” Ferrer joined Guns N’ Roses in 2006, taking over from Bryan “Brain” Mantia, who had joined in 2000. Ferrer’s last appearance with the band was at Mexico’s Hell & Heaven Metal Fest in November 2023, which is also the most recent live performance from the GNR.
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In his place they announced 45-year-old Carpenter, who performed in a GNR cover band in high school called .22s and Tulips, before that group turned into the group Loudermilk, which got signed to Rick Rubin’s American label while the members were teens. Following the band’s break-up, Carpenter played drums in AWOLNATION for a decade, and also logged time playing with McKagan’s side project, Loaded, as well performing and recording with Adam Lambert, Barbarians of California, A Perfect Circle, The Exies, Ours and Black Lab, among others.
In his post, Ferrer added, “It has been an incredible 19 years. Guns N’ Roses has given me life-changing memories and experiences. A huge thanks to management, the crew, and fans for giving me memories that I will cherish for my lifetime. I hope I see you all again soon!”
GNR’s will kick off their Because What You Want & Want You Get Are Two Completely Different Things tour on May 1 in South Korea.
Ozzy Osbourne has confirmed he’ll perform from a throne — possibly even a flying one — at what’s being billed as Black Sabbath’s final-ever performance.
Set to take place July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, the Back to the Beginning show will see the Prince of Darkness reunite with his legendary bandmates for one last ride, albeit in a slightly more seated fashion.
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The 76-year-old singer, who has dealt with neck and spinal injuries as well as Parkinson’s disease, now occasionally uses a wheelchair, but he’s determined to make this moment count.
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Ozzy’s longtime collaborator and guitarist Zakk Wylde teased that the frontman could be airborne during the event — quite literally.
“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 in a new interview with Riff X’s Metal XS. “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.’”
He added, “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.’”
“Everybody’s gonna be playing Sabbath songs, it’s gonna be pretty mind-blowing,” he added.
Although Ozzy won’t be delivering a full set, the Back to the Beginning concert is shaping up to be a metal fan’s dream. The lineup features both Black Sabbath and Osbourne alongside other big names such as Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax. Other high-profile artists, such as Pantera, Lamb Of God, Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Halestorm and recent Grammy Award-winners Gojira are also included.
“I’m not planning on doing a set with Black Sabbath but I am doing little bits and pieces with them,” Osbourne recently explained on his SiriusXM show Ozzy Speaks.
“I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable. I am trying to get back on my feet… When you get up in the morning, you just jump out of bed. I have to balance myself, but I’m not dead. I’m still actively doing things.”
Falling in Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke is facing scrutiny after a social media tirade directed at Australian councillors prompted an official report to Tasmania Police.
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The backlash stems from a photo shared by Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood, who posed with Radke during the band’s current Australian tour. The image quickly drew criticism from councillors and members of the community, referencing Radke’s criminal past, including prior convictions for domestic violence and assault in 2012.
He also faced sexual assault allegations in 2015, though he was not convicted of that offence.
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“I stand in solidarity with all the women who have suffered at the hands of violence, whose voices are continually silenced while men like Ronnie Radke are given hero status,” Councillor Lindi McMahon said in a statement reported by ABC News.
In response, Radke lashed out on Instagram, calling the ABC “propaganda pieces of s–t” and directly targeting Councillors McMahon and Andrea Dawkins. He referred to Dawkins as a “disgusting f—ing human,” tagging her account and instructing his followers to “go give her the much needed bullying she deserves.”
City of Launceston CEO Sam Johnson issued a firm response condemning the artist’s comments, calling them “dangerous and irresponsible.”
“The City of Launceston condemns the dangerous and irresponsible actions of US singer Ronnie Radke, who has used his social media platform to incite harassment and abuse against elected councillors,” Johnson’s statement reads.
“His recent Instagram video – which calls on his followers to target and intimidate Councillors who expressed concerns over a photo with the Mayor – is not only reckless but entirely unacceptable.
“Councillors have a duty to represent the interests of the community without fear of intimidation or abuse. No individual – celebrity or otherwise – has the right to weaponise their platform against those who exercise their democratic right to voice concerns.
“Mr Radke’s actions place undue risk on the safety and wellbeing of Councillors and their families, creating a hostile environment that goes against the principles of free speech, accountability, and civil discourse.
He confirmed that Tasmania Police had been contacted regarding the posts, adding that the council had reported Radke’s video to Instagram and urged social media platforms to act on the misuse of their services.
“We call on Mr. Radke to immediately retract his inflammatory statements and take responsibility for the harm his words have caused,” Johnson added. “His actions place undue risk on the safety and wellbeing of Councillors and their families, creating a hostile environment that goes against the principles of free speech, accountability, and civil discourse.”
Radke has since doubled down with a second video on Sunday, again attacking the councillors and showing no indication of retraction.
Meanwhile, Garwood has spoken out after posting the now-deleted photograph of himself of Radke., describing the last few days as “absolute mayhem”.
“I am deeply alarmed to hear of serious threats towards my colleagues and am concerned for their welfare and around the manner in which these uploads were delivered,” he wrote on March 23.
“The recent social media posts made by Ronnie Radke regarding City of Launceston Councillors were entirely his own and do not reflect my views in any way and I condemn the call for bullying and the way in which they have been delivered. I do not condone violence or threats against anyone, and I believe in respectful discourse, even in disagreement; Which is something that I too need to be better at.”
“These posts are a personal response from Mr. Radke to individual’s comments made about him. They were not directly related to my attendance at his show. It is important to separate individual opinions from broader discussions, and I encourage respectful engagement on all matters.”
He continued, “As stated in my previous post, I saw this as simply an opportunity to meet a band I’ve listened to since high school. Never to endorse any specific actions or personal positions of the band. I appreciate that people have differing views on this, and I will continue to respect those perspectives”
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The Guns N’ Roses drum seat didn’t stay empty for long. Just a day after announcing the departure of their longest-tenured stickman, Frank Ferrer, after 19 years, the hard rock stalwarts revealed who will take over on Thursday (March 20).
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And while he’s not (yet) a household name, Isaac Carpenter has the perfect CV to back up the core trio of singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan on their upcoming Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things Tour, which kicks off in South Korea on May 1.
The 45-year-old Washington state native performed in a GNR cover band in high school called .22s and Tulips, before that act transformed into the group Loudermilk, which got signed to Rick Rubin’s American label while the guys were still teens. Following the band’s dissolution, Carpenter played drums in AWOLNATION for a decade, and also spent time playing with McKagan’s side project, Loaded, as well performing and recording with Adam Lambert, Barbarians of California, A Perfect Circle, The Exies, Ours and Black Lab, among others.
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Carpenter will kick off his GNR era with the band for their 2025 tour, which will hit stadiums and festivals in Europe, Asia and the Middle East this summer.
Guns announced the “amicable exit” of Ferrer on Wednesday (March 19), thanking their longest-running drummer for “his friendship, creativity and sturdy presence over the past 19 years, and they wish him success in the next chapter of his musical journey.” Ferrer joined Guns N’ Roses in 2006, taking over from Bryan “Brain” Mantia, who had joined in 2000. Ferrer’s last appearance with the band was at Mexico’s Hell & Heaven Metal Fest in November 2023, which is also the most recent live performance from the GNR.
Check out the band’s first official photo of Carpenter below.
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Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan and wife Chloé Mendel welcomed their third child on Tuesday (March 18). The couple shared the news with People magazine, revealing that Juno Corgan was born during the “wee hours” at the couple’s Highland, Park, IL home and weighed 9.9 lbs. and was 22 inches long. “My wife, Chloé is […]