State Champ Radio Rock
Page: 12
Heart‘s Nancy Wilson and her bandmate and sister Ann Wilson are proud daughters of a Marine Corps major, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist said in a pointed Instagram post on Saturday (June 14) that their band’s music is not meant for political purposes. “Earlier today, during a parade held in support of our nation’s military and organized by President Donald Trump, the song ‘Barracuda’ by Heart was played without permission or authorization from us,” she said of the playing of the group’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 11 1977 hit during the military showcase.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“‘Barracuda,’ written and performed by Ann and I, is a powerful piece of music that was never intended for political use,” continued Wilson, who drove home her point by wearing a “No Kings But Us” hat on a day when a historic number of Americans took to the streets from coast to coast to protest against what they called the creeping authoritarianism of the second Trump administration in a series of “No Kings” protests.
“As daughters of a U.S. Marine Corps major, we hold a deep and abiding respect for the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces,” wrote Wilson. “On a day meant to honor that service, it’s important that music used in such settings reflects not only the tone of the event but also the wishes of the artists who created it.🤘🏻”
According to reports. instrumental versions of Heart’s “Barracuda” and Journey’s “Separate Ways (World’s Apart)” were among the songs played at the event that appeared to draw modest crowds at a reported price of $25-$45 million, while the ACLU said that an estimated five million people took part in more than 2,100 “No Kings” rallies across the nation, making it the largest protest in the nation’s history.
Trump’s military parade, which was intended to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, also fell on the president’s 79th birthday. The parading of military hardware through the streets of the nation’s capital is an unusual site in the U.S., though Trump has long mused out loud about wanting to hold such an event. The D.C. event came amidst a day of dramatic news, including Iran and Israel battering each other with missiles in what is ramping up to be a major escalation of hostilities between the two nations. In addition, officials in Minnesota launched a massive manhunt for the suspected shooter who assassinated a Democratic state legislator in that state and attempted assassination of another; the now-captured 57-year-old man, Vance Boelter, allegedly had a list of 70 other potential targets in his car.
Nancy Wilson has long objected to politicians using her band’s music at their rallies, and earlier this year she said she feels “embarrassed” to call herself an American at this time. “We were kind of embarrassed at that time to call ourselves American because of the dirty politics of the Vietnam War,” Wilson said of the period that inspired some of the band’s most beloved hits, including the anti-Vietnam war single “Crazy On You,” whose lyrics she added are relevant again. “To be as subtle as possible, it’s more embarrassing now.”
She noted that “Barracuda” was initially written about a sleazy industry figure at the time, though Wilson twisted it to fit the current commander in chief, saying the song is “even more relevant in the salacious billionaire culture with the grab-them-by-the-(expletive) mentality,” the latter phrase a reference to an infamous sexist comment from Trump.
The Wilsons were also peeved when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin played “Barracuda” at the 2008 Republican National Convention, sending a cease and desist order to the former Alaska governor demanding she stop using the track as her unofficial theme song. In 2018, singer Ann Wilson told The Hill that any politician was free to use “Barracuda” on the campaign trail in 2020. “I think anybody but Trump,” she added.
Kim Gordon unveiled a new version of her 2024 single”Bye Bye” on Friday (June 13) aimed squarely at the right-wing culture wars created by President Donald Trump.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Rechristened “Bye Bye 25!,” the protest song now features the Sonic Youth alum listing off a litany of cultural terms the Trump administration has not only gotten worked up over, but attempted to erase from official government records altogether since returning to office in January.
“Mental health, electric vehicle, Gulf of Mexico/ Energy conversion, gay, bird flu, advocate, pregnant person,” Gordon intones over skittering, apocalyptic production, before later adding words like “immigrants,” “diversity,” “victims,” “transgender,” “Hispanic,” “fluoride” and “female” to the stanzas.
“When I was thinking of lyric ideas, it occurred to me to use words taken from a site that had all the words that Trump has essentially banned, meaning any grant or piece of a project or proposal for research that includes any of those words would be immediately disregarded or ‘cancelled,’” the singer explained of the song’s reinvention in a statement. “I guess Trump does believe in cancel culture, because he is literally trying to cancel culture.”
To coincide with the release, Gordon has also designed a limited-edition T-shirt, with proceeds from both the tee and the song going to benefit Noise for Now, a New Mexico-based nonprofit organization dedicated to abortion access and reproductive rights justice.
The alt-rocker released the original iteration of “Bye Bye” as the lead single from her sophomore solo album, The Collective, which bowed at No. No 40 on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart and peaked in the top 20 of the Indie Store Album Sales tally back when it was released in March 2024.
Watch the stark music video for Gordon’s “Bye Bye 25!” below.
“Here we are now, entertain us.” You asked for it and Nirvana provided. The iconic grunge trio’s beloved video for breakthrough 1991 hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has just crossed the two billion views mark on YouTube. The Samuel Bayer-directed clip in which late singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and company rock a high school gym into a frenzy debuted on MTV in the fall of 1991, quickly catapulting the group to global superstardom.
While the majority of the YouTube music videos with two billion or more views are from pop, Latin, country and hip-hop artists including Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, Enrique Iglesias, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Shakira and Alan Walker, there are a handful of other rock videos that have reached that storied height.
Among the other rock acts to hit two billie are: Twenty One Pilots (“Stressed Out,” “Heathens”), Imagine Dragons (“Believer,” “Thunder”), Guns N’ Roses (“November Rain”) and Linkin Park (“Numb”). “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was first uploaded to YouTube at 2009 and hit the one billion mark in 2019.
Trending on Billboard
Two months after its release, the song that defined a generation topped Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart on Nov. 23, 1991 and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The unlikely long-for-pop-radio five minute hit featuring such obtuse lyrics as “A mulatto, an albino a mosquito, my libido” and a visual in which band members Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic thrash about as anarchist cheerleaders whip teens into a frenzy in a smoke-shrouded gymnasium was the unlikeliest hits at a time when Bryan Adams, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men ruled the charts.
But the song helped the band’s second studio album, Nevermind, climb the charts and end then chart king Michael Jackson’s run at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart on Jan. 11, 1992 when it pushed his Dangerous album from the to of the heap.
Check out “Smells Like Teen Spirit” below.
One of two irreplaceable instruments stolen from the band Heart at a New Jersey venue two weeks ago has been retrieved. According to the Associated Press, on Tuesday (June 10), police in Atlantic City said they had recovered the purple baritone Telecaster guitar with ah hand-painted headstock belonging to guitarist Nancy Wilson from a woman […]
Noel Gallagher has teamed up with Mantra of the Cosmos, a supergroup composed of Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder and Bez, Ride’s Andy Bell and former The Who drummer Zak Starkey, for a new song “Domino Bones (Gets Dangerous).”
The song was first teased earlier this year and released on a limited vinyl run, and is now available to listen to on streaming services. Speaking to The Times in January, Gallagher described the psych-rock song: “It’s Dylan, Dali, Ginsberg and a bit of cosmic jibber-jabber. Add in Bez, who dances on the tunes like Zak plays the drums and Andy Bell plays all things stringed, and you have it.”
The band celebrated the limited vinyl release back in January with a show at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, where Starkey’s father Ringo Starr played early shows with The Beatles beginning in 1962.
Trending on Billboard
In a matter of weeks, Gallagher will kick off the Oasis reunion tour in Cardiff, Wales on July 4, with a run of shows in the U.K. and Ireland, North America, Asia and beyond. Bell is reported to join the Oasis lineup on bass, reprising a role he held between 1999 and 2009, appearing on three of their studio LPs. Starkey, who played in Oasis’ lineup from 2004 and 2008, appears to not be in the reunion tour, with Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.) set to take on the drummer role.
Recently Starkey has been embroiled in an ongoing saga regarding his position as drummer of The Who. Starkey joined the band in 1996 and accompanied the Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend-led band on a number of global tours.
Following a gig in March, however, Starkey was seemingly axed by the band over his performance, particularly on the show’s final track “The Song Is Over.” Following reports of his sacking, The Who blamed “communication issues” which “had been happily aired” and that Starkey was, indeed, back in the band.
Weeks later in late May, Starkey’s tenure in the band seemingly came to an abrupt end, and he claimed on his Instagram that Daltrey had asked him to “retire” from the band. Speaking on BBC 6 Music on Monday (June. 9), Starkey claimed that the issue arose from “two dropped beats” in the performance, but that “I’ve watched the gig over and over again on YouTube and I can’t find them.”
The Who will embark on their final North American tour this summer, kicking off in Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL on Aug. 16.
Listen to “Domino Bones” below.
Turnstile is hitting the road this fall in support of their new album Never Enough, launching Sept. 15 in Nashville. The tour includes support acts SPEED and Jane Remover and special appearances by guests Amyl & The Sniffers, Blood Orange and Mannequin Pussy. Last week, the band released their new record and companion film Turnstile: […]
The 20-track Democracy Forward double album will feature songs from R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, Wilco, Tyler Childers, Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and many more on a compilation focused on democracy, resilience and courage. The collection is a partnership between literary magazine The Bitter Southerner and national legal organization Democracy Forward.
“The work of Democracy Forward ensures that people and communities – that all of us – are heard and that our rights are protected,” said Skye Perryman, President & CEO of Democracy Forward in a statement about the collection that will be release on vinyl the week of July 3; pre-sales begin today here.
“At a time when so many communities across the nation are hurting and being targeted, music, art, and expression helps to bring people together in community, which creates the conditions for courage,” read the statement. “We are incredibly grateful to the artists who have dedicated their music to support the American people’s rights and our democracy during this consequential time. Each of us has a role to play in strengthening our democracy, and every voice matters.”
Proceeds from the album will benefit Democracy Forward’s work, which includes free representation for people and communities in defense of their constitutional rights. Since the second inauguration of President Donald Trump, Democracy Forward said in the statement that it has been focused on “some of the most significant issues affecting people, families, and communities to confront anti-democratic extremism head-on. From stopping the federal funding freeze, to blocking the decimation of the Department of Education, to protecting religious liberty, to safeguarding due process, to stopping DOGE and Musk from taking Americans’ sensitive and personal data, and more – Democracy Forward has won court orders for people and is just getting started.”
The album will open with Stipe’s new original spoken word piece “Invocation.” The singer and activist said in a statement, “We believe in the importance of our democracy and also our ability to save it. The world is depending on us. This fight is not over. The day is not done.”
Since Democracy Forward’s formation in 2016, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit has taken the Trump administration to court more than 100 times and worked with dozens of prominent groups to combat some of the administration’s actions by partnering with organizations including: Abortion Fund of Ohio, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Parks Conservation Association, Alliance For Justice, National Resources Defense Council, New York Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Teachers, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The album announcement comes as Trump is attempting to muscle through his so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” a proposed tax and spending package that aims to permanently extend the president’s big tax cuts for the nation’s wealthiest individuals, as well as make deep cuts to social programs including Medicaid and food aid and roll back a wide variety of environmental regulations and green energy initiatives in an effort to focus on climate-warming fossil fuels.
It also coincided with Trump’s provocative deployment of 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles on Monday (June 9) — without the consent of Gov. Gavin Newsom — in order to quell demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the city.
Check out the track list for Democracy Forward below.
Michael Stipe – “Invocation” (new)
Sierra Ferrell –“American Dreaming”
Wilco – “Cruel Country”
Tyler Childers – “Long Violent History”
Brandi Carlile – “Speak Your Mind”
Hurray for the Riff Raff – “Colossus of Roads”
Brittany Howard – “Another Day
Tunde Abebimpe – “People”
Kevin Morby and Waxahatchee – “Farewell Transmission”
Fruit Bats – “A Lingering Love”
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – “Something More Than Free” (Live from the ACL Live)
She Returns From War – “Ruthless”
John Prine – “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven” (Live at Fifth Peg Chicago)
S.G. Goodman – “Satellite”
Allison Russell (featuring Brandi Carlile) – “You’re Not Alone”
Langhorne Slim – “Life is Confusing”
Blue Mountain – “Jimmy Carter”
Danielle Ponder – “So Long”
Jim James – “Here in Spirit”
Michael Stipe and Big Red Machine – “No Time For Love Like Now”
Just days after performing the Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House” with Olivia Rodrigo at New York’s Governors Ball over the weekend David Byrne announced his 11th solo album, Who Is the Sky? The follow-up to Byrne’s 2018 LP American Utopia is due out on Sept. 5 via Matador Records.
Produced by Kid Harpoon (Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles), the 12-track album will feature collaborations with Paramore’s Hayley Williams, St. Vincent and The Smile drummer Tom Skinner, with arrangements by the New York chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra. Byrne previewed the album on Tuesday (June 10) with a video for the universalist anthem about the emotions and feelings we all share.
“Everybody laughs and everybody cries/ Everybody lives and everybody dies/ Everybody eats and everybody loves/ Everybody knows what everybody does,” Byrne sings over strummed acoustic guitar and a bouncy rhythm in the clip in which the camera scoots from left to right as dozens of people act out the lyrics and bust into an impromptu marching band performance when they’re not dancing with selfie sticks.
Trending on Billboard
“Someone I know said, ‘David, you use the word “everybody” a lot.’ I suppose I do that to give an anthropological view of life in New York as we know it,” said Byrne in a statement announcing the album and the single. “Everybody lives, dies, laughs, cries, sleeps and stares at the ceiling. Everybody’s wearing everybody else’s shoes, which not everybody does, but I have done. I tried to sing about these things that could be seen as negative in a way balanced by an uplifting feeling from the groove and the melody, especially at the end, when St. Vincent and I are doing a lot of hollering and singing together. Music can do that – hold opposites simultaneously. I realized that when singing with Robyn earlier this year. Her songs are often sad, but the music is joyous.”
Producer Kid Harpoon (born Tom Hull) added, “It took me a second to realize, oh yeah, these songs are personal, but with David’s unique perspective on life in general. Walking around New York listening to the demo of ‘Everybody Laughs’ was so joyous, because it made me feel like we’re all the same – we all laugh, cry and sing. The thing about David that resonates with a lot of people is that he’s in on the joke. He gets the absurdity of it all, and all of these personal observations are his perspective on it.”
Byrne said there are “more story songs than usual” on the new album, tracks he describes as “mini-narratives based on personal experience including “She Explains Things to Me,” “A Door Called No,” “My Apartment Is My Friend” and “I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party.” The “jaunty” song with Paramore’s Williams, “What Is the Reason For It?,” is focused on codifying “love in a way logic can rarely accomplish.”
“Does it do something useful?/ Nobody understands,” goes one line from the song.
“I suspected that intimate orchestral arrangements would bring out the emotion I sense is there in these songs,” Byrne said. “It’s something that folks don’t always hear in my work, but this time for sure I thought it was there. At the same time, I also see myself as someone who aspires to be accessible. I imagined that Kid Harpoon would help with that, as well as being a set of trusted ears, since there was a lot going on. People think of producers as people who mainly make a record sound good, and Kid Harpoon did that, but he was also aware of how important the storytelling is.”
The collaboration with St. Vincent comes more than a decade after the two musicians teamed up for the 2012 album Love This Giant.
Among the other contributors to the LP are American Utopia percussionist Mauro Refosco, who has toured and recorded with Byrne for more than three decades. “At my age, at least for me, there’s a ‘don’t give a s–t about what people think’ attitude that kicks in,” Byrne said. “I can step outside my comfort zone with the knowledge that I kind of know who I am by now and sort of know what I’m doing. That said, every new set of songs, every song even, is a new adventure. There’s always a bit of, ‘how do I work this?’ I’ve found that not every collaboration works, but often when they do, it’s because I’m able to clearly impart what it is I’m trying to do. They hopefully get that, and as a result, we’re now joined together heading to the same unknown place.”
Byrne will hit the road with a new live show featuring a 13-person troupe of musicians and dancers to support the album on a world tour slated to kick off on Sept. 14 at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence, R.I.
Watch the “Everybody Laughs” video and check out the Who Is the Sky? tracklist and Byrne’s 2025-2026 tour dates below.
Who Is the Sky? track list:
“Everybody Laughs”
“When We Are Singing”
“My Apartment Is My Friend”
“A Door Called No”
“What Is the Reason for It?”
“I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party”
“Don’t Be Like That”
“The Avant Garde”
“Moisturizing Thing”
“I’m an Outsider”
“She Explains Things to Me”
“The Truth”
North America 2025 tour dates:
Sept. 14: Providence, RI @ Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Sept. 16: Pittsburgh, PA @ Benedum Center PAC
Sept. 17: Columbus, OH @ Mershon Auditorium
Sept. 19: Akron, OH @ Akron Civic Theatre
Sept. 21: Schenectady, NY @ Proctors
Sept. 23: Syracuse, NY @ Landmark Theatre
Sept. 25: Buffalo, NY @ Shea’s Buffalo Theatre
Sept. 27: Washington D.C. @ The Anthem
Sept. 28: Washington D.C. @ The Anthem
Sept. 30: New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
Oct. 1: New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
Oct. 3: Boston, MA @ Boch Center Wang Theatre
Oct. 4: Boston, MA @ Boch Center Wang Theatre
Oct. 7: Wallingford, CT @ Toyota Oakdale Theatre
Oct. 8: Portland, ME @ Merrill Auditorium at City Hall
Oct. 10: New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
Oct. 14: Richmond, VA @ Altria Theater
Oct. 16: Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
Oct. 17: Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
Oct. 21: Toronto, ON, Canada @ Massey Hall
Oct. 22: Toronto, ON, Canada @ Massey Hall
Oct. 25: Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
Oct. 28: Chicago, IL @ The Auditorium
Oct. 29: Chicago, IL @ The Auditorium
Oct. 31: Chicago, IL @ The Auditorium
Nov. 3: Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
Nov. 4: Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
Nov. 6: Denver, CO @ Bellco Theatre
Nov. 7: Denver, CO @ Bellco Theatre
Nov. 11: Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
Nov. 12: Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
Nov. 16: San Francisco, CA @ The Theater at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Nov. 17: San Francisco, CA @ The Theater at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Nov. 20: Los Angeles, CA @ Dolby Theatre
Nov. 21: Los Angeles, CA @ Dolby Theatre
Nov. 25: Austin, TX @ Bass Concert Hall
Nov. 26: Austin, TX @ Bass Concert Hall
Nov. 28: Dallas, TX @ Music Hall at Fair Park
Nov. 29: Dallas, TX @ Music Hall at Fair Park
Dec. 2: Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre
Dec. 3: Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre
Dec. 5: Miami, FL @ Fillmore Miami Beach At Jackie Gleason Theatre
Dec. 6: Miami, FL @ Fillmore Miami Beach At Jackie Gleason Theatre
2026 Australia & New Zealand dates:
Jan. 14: Auckland, New Zealand @ Spark Arena
Jan. 17: Brisbane, Australia @ Brisbane Entertainment Center
Jan. 21: Sydney, Australia @ ICC Sydney Theatre
Jan. 22: Melbourne, Australia @ Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Jan. 24: Adelaide, Australia @ Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena
Jan. 27: Perth, Australia @ RAC Arena
2026 Europe & United Kingdom dates:
Feb. 12: Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
Feb. 15: Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFAS Live
Feb. 16: Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFAS Live
Feb. 18: Brussels, Belgium @ Forest National
Feb. 21: Milan, Italy @ Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Feb. 22: Milan, Italy @ Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Feb. 24: Frankfurt, Germany @ Jahrhunderthalle
Feb. 27: Zurich, Switzerland @ The Hall
March 2: Cardiff, UK @ Utilita Arena
March 3: London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
March 4: London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
March 6: Glasgow, UK @ SEC Armadillo
March 7: Glasgow, UK @ SEC Armadillo
March 9: Manchester, UK @ o2 Apollo
March 10: Manchester, UK @ o2 Apollo
March 13: Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena
March 15: London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
March 18: Paris, France @ La Seine Musicale
March 19: Paris, France @ La Seine Musicale
Sharon Osbourne has revealed that she removed a band from the lineup of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s highly anticipated Back to the Beginning concert, set to take place on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Osbourne explained that the removal followed a contentious dispute with the band’s manager, leading her to feel “the worst way I’ve felt in years.”
“I had a huge, huge to-do with a manager over this celebration for Ozzy and Sabbath,” Osbourne explained. “And it was probably the worst way I’ve felt in years. And I don’t care what this person says about me, thinks about it, because he doesn’t know me. And he’s now going around making up bulls— lies because I threw his band off the bill.”
Trending on Billboard
While speculation initially arose that the band in question was Iron Maiden after she clashed with Bruce Dickinson during the 2005 edition of Ozzfest, Osbourne swiftly dismissed this.
“Oh god, no. Ozzy only has respect for the guys in Maiden,” she said, clarifying that Ozzy was unaware of Dickinson’s behavior until after the incident. “I never told him, until the night that it happened when it was the last show, and he just looked at me and goes, ‘You’re terrible.’”
Speculation also briefly pointed toward Tool due to their name initially missing from promotional materials for the event’s global livestream. However, it was later confirmed that the omission was merely a design oversight, and Tool is still set to perform.
Osbourne emphasized her indifference to industry criticism, noting, “I don’t care what people say. Because do you know what? I don’t love them. I care about people who love me, what they say about me. You can’t care what an industry says, because you don’t love them, so how can it hurt you? It doesn’t.”
The Back to the Beginning concert is set to be an iconic moment in rock history, featuring the final live performances from both Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne.
In May, Ozzy spoke to Billy Morrison on their SiriusXM “Ozzy Speaks” show to break down what he’s doing to gear up for the July 5 Back to the Beginning show in his hometown.
“I haven’t done any physical work for the last seven, six and a half, seven years,” Ozzy said, promising that “by hook or by crook, I’m gonna make it [to the stage at Villa Park],” where Black Sabbath’s final gig will find them joined by an all-star roster that will also include Metallica, Mastodon, Anthrax, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Slayer and a supergroup featuring members of Guns N’ Roses, the Smashing Pumpkins, Limp Bizkit, Judas Priest, Rage Against the Machine and many more.
“I’ve got this trainer guy who helps people get back to normal,” he said of the intense training he’s undergoing following a rough several years that included spinal surgery and a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. “It’s hard going, but he’s convinced that he can pull it off for me. I’m giving it everything I’ve got.”
Over two distinct sonic eras, The Doobie Brothers — led by singer-guitarist Tom Johnston and singer-pianist Michael McDonald — have sustained a genre-agnostic, commercially viable career since the early 1970s. That includes nine top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 and 10 top 20 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as hits spanning the rock, adult contemporary, R&B and country charts.
But what truly defines the band is that “it’s a democracy,” according to Karim Karmi, its comanager of a decade alongside Irving Azoff.
Trending on Billboard
Now, 50 years in, the Doobies are proving just that with Walk This Road, their first album to feature significant contributions from all three principal songwriters (Johnston, McDonald and Pat Simmons). Produced by pop-rock stalwart John Shanks, the project is McDonald’s first appearance on a Doobies album in 20 years and will arrive a week before he, Johnston and Simmons are inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (alongside George Clinton, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Ashley Gorley, Mike Love and Tony Macaulay) on June 12. After which, McDonald teases, the Doobies “might even do another” album.
How did working with John Shanks affect your songwriting process for Walk This Road?
Michael McDonald: We found ourselves revisiting old ideas that might have never gotten recorded — in my case, songs that I might have demoed, gosh, 10 years ago, that I would every once in a while run across in my phone. And then some of the stuff was more immediate, where we just sat down with John and came up with a song in a moment.
Tom Johnston: John’s a hell of a guitar player, and he has good ideas on sound. He’s got a place up in the Hollywood Hills overlooking part of the San Fernando Valley and he’s got a lot of toys, so you can try pretty much anything you want to try and that’s liberating.
McDonald: It’s every musician’s fantasy man cave — literally every kind of keyboard, keyboards I never even knew existed.
A sense of social conscience is central to the band’s music, especially on this album’s title track with Mavis Staples. Do you feel a responsibility to address current times in your writing?
Johnston: The civic duty bit that you express when writing, that’s something that you just feel — it’s an organic thing.
McDonald: With “Walk This Road,” I think John had the original idea for the title — of us getting back together, here we are still trudging the same road all these years later. But it immediately took on a bigger meaning, and I think bringing Mavis onto the track cemented that idea because she is an ambassador of the gospel of humanity. The sound of her voice and her intent made it clear what we might be talking about in the bigger sense, which is, we’re all here together. As a band, we hope to appeal to the collective better nature of people.
You have a long track record on the Billboard charts. What does it take to write a hit?
Johnston: When you’re writing a song, you’re not thinking about that; you’re just trying to put into it what you feel at that moment. The only time I ever even thought [about] that was on “Listen to the Music.” You just want to do the best you can.
McDonald: We came up in the middle of the ’60s and the ’70s, when recording artists were starting to exercise a lot more latitude in terms of style and genre, and the Doobies were always a very eclectic band; we were free to do what we wanted or whatever we thought we could be sincere at portraying musically. I always felt fortunate that we came up in a time when there were a lot less limitations set on artists to stay in their lane.
HBO’s Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary highlights that aspect of you and your contemporaries — as well as your habit of turning up in unexpected places, Mike, both in the Doobies and as a solo artist. What’s the most unexpected place or collaborator you’ve found yourself around recently?
McDonald: I wrote a couple songs recently with a kid named Charlie Puth, who’s a really talented musician. And I find that I’m being taken more places than I would ever have gone on my own. I’ve been trying to co-write with people, which I always do with a little bit of mixed feelings. I never really know if what I’m writing is good or not. You start to compare yourself to everything else, and it gets a little scary sometimes. But I do like co-writing because it gets me out of the house and it makes me do something rather than watch another episode of HGTV. (Laughs.)
This story appears in the June 7, 2025, issue of Billboard.
