Rock
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It’s official: KISS shared the news on Wednesday (March 1) that they’ll be hitting the road for their last run of concerts ever.
The veteran glam rockers made the announcement during a sit-down on The Howard Stern Show, telling the host, “Dec. 1 and 2 is Madison Square Garden. Those are the last two shows of the band. We’re finishing up where we started.”
Ahead of the back-to-back nights at the iconic New York City venue, KISS will play 17 other shows across the U.S. and Canada as part of its End of the Road World Tour, including stops in Los Angeles, Seattle, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Baltimore.
“Look, some people have kind of snickered and said, ‘Oh this End of the Road tour’s gone on for years,’” Paul Stanley continued. “Yeah, we lost two and a half years to COVID. We would’ve been done already! So, yes, this is the end.”
Prompted by Stern, Gene Simmons said he’s almost certain he’ll be emotional once the band reaches its final performances. “I kid around a lot about, ‘Men don’t do that,’” he added. “I’m sure I’m gonna cry like a 9-year-old girl whose foot’s being stepped on. KISS was born on 23rd Street. It’s only taken us 50 years to go play the final shows 10 blocks away on 33rd Street, which is Madison Square Garden.”
Last month, Stanley starred in Workday’s Super Bowl commercial along with fellow rockers Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne and Gary Clark Jr.
Watch KISS dish on their final concerts above.
Weezer has toured the globe, sold millions of albums and written some of the greatest pop-rock anthems of the modern rock era. But the one thing the Rivers Cuomo-led band has never done is get a thumbs-up from Simon Cowell. But on Tuesday night (Feb. 28) the band popped in for a guest slot on America’s Got Talent, where they ripped through two songs and got high praise from the notoriously cranky reality TV judge.
The mini-set kicked off with a run through the SZN: Autumn track “What Happens After You?,” with the group performing the charging track in front of a giant wall of TV monitors as the judges politely clapped along. Then, in a surprise shift, the iconic drumroll kick-off to the band’s 2005 hit “Beverly Hills” swelled up and the Detroit Youth Choir charged to the stage, clapping their hands and chanting, “gimme gimme, cuz we the next big thing!/ Can you feel me, I know you hear me/ DYC the next big thing.”
While Cuomo strummed and sang the song’s first verse the choir busted out some high-energy choreo and made the chorus swell with their gospel-y backing vocals as judge Howie Mandel said, “I love this song.” After the stage exploded in confetti streamers, Mandel, Cowell and Heidi Klum gave the combined group a standing ovation.
Cuomo told host Terry Crews that performing withe choir was “super fun,” calling their background vocals “beautiful.” Cowell could not have agreed more, dubbing the performance “absolutely brilliant,” while thanking the band for the “magic” they brought to the stage.
Watch Weezer on AGT below.
Mod Sun has addressed his breakup with Avril Lavigne in a Tuesday (Feb. 28) Instagram post.
“In 1 week my entire life completely changed…I just know there’s a plan for it all. I’ll keep my head up + always listen to my heart, even when it feels broken,” the punk-pop rocker wrote alongside a carousel of photos and videos posted to his Instagram feed. His caption did not specifically mention Lavigne, but Billboard can confirm it is about their split. “Being surrounded by love every night on tour has been an absolute blessing. I have the best friends in the entire world, thanks for always having my back. See you on stage.”
When reports first started brewing a week ago that Mod and the “Bois Lie” singer had parted ways and called off their engagement, his representative told Billboard, “They were together and engaged as of three days ago when Mod left for tour so if anything has changed that’s news to him.” Lavigne’s team did not respond to requests for comment at the time.
Mod Sun is currently at the start of his 2023 God Save the Teen tour, having just played a show at The Depot in Salt Lake City one night before his post. The run of shows across the U.S. and Canada will continue through early April, with openers Stand Atlantic and Tom the Mail Man before he hits the U.K.’s Download Festival and Italy’s SUMMERSADFEST this summer.
Lavigne previously sat down to pen a personal essay for Billboard at the end of 2022 about the resurgence of pop-punk, performing at the inaugural When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas and her role in pioneering the genre. She also closed out the year by unveiling the deluxe edition of her latest album Love Sux featuring bonus tracks like “Pity Party,” “Mercury in Retrograde” and Yungblud collab “I’m a Mess.”
Ozzy Osbourne has met a lot of fellow famous people over the course of his global hopping half century of rocking. So you’d have to forgive him if he doesn’t always remember every single one.
Case in point: during the new episode of “Ozzy Speaks” on the metal icon’s SiriusXM channel Ozzy’s Boneyard this week, Osbourne recalled the time he ran into Whitney Houston and the late R&B legend scared him witless.
“When we were doing Dancing with the Stars [with] of the kids, in one of the breaks, Whitney [Houston] came down to sing in the break, you know, in the show,” Osbourne said of Houston’s performance of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” during the season 9 finale of the seaons, which found Ozzy and manager/wife Sharon’s daughter, Kelly Osbourne, finishing in third place.
“And she came down and I saw her when she was on the prime of her things. When that woman sang, it was like something out of a… it was like mind blowing,” Ozzy recalled. “And she came and she looked tired, burnt out. She stopped in the middle of it, and I thought she was looking at me. She was. She walks towards me and I’m going… I’m trying to think… my brain’s going, ‘Have I met her? Have I ever insulted her?’”
For the life of him, Osbourne could not figure out why Houston — who died at 48 in Feb. 2012 — would be coming over to talk to him.
“No, I’m, I’m going like, ‘have I f–king met this woman? Have I pissed her off? She’s gonna come over and tell me I’m a c–t,’” he said he worried. “‘Did I say anything about her in an interview?”’ Gripped with fear, Ozzy said Houston came right up next to him and said, “good to see you,” which mystified him even more. Ozzy said he turned to Sharon after Houston had walked away and said, “‘I never knew you knew Whitney Houston,’” to his wife.
“‘You never asked,’” Sharon responded. “Well you could have f–king told me!,” Ozzy shot back.
The sit down with co-host Billy Morrison also included an update on Osbourne’s medical condition, which forced the hard-charging metal icon to share that his touring days were over. Ozzy said he’s been “working my guts out” to get back on his feet after last year’s major spinal surgery, but appeared to confirm that he’s probably done mounting major global treks. “If I can ever get back to where I can tour again, fine. But right now, if you said to me, ‘Can you go on the road in a month?,’ I couldn’t say yes,” he said.
He did, however, clarify what he said was a false narrative in reports that he was retiring. “I looked in the magazine, ‘Ozzy’s on his last legs,’ I’m f–king not dying,” he said, as Morrison promised listeners that Osbourne was not on his deathbed.
“Come on, guys. Haven’t I had it bad enough already?,” Ozzy said. “If I get okay today… if the doctor said to me today, ‘Oh, you can tour,’ it would take another six months to get it together.”
Listen to Osbourne’s stories about Houston and touring below.
Foo Fighters singer/guitarist Dave Grohl put down his pick and hopped into the pit to help Los Angeles’ Hope Mission feed the homeless last week in a marathon BBQ session that had the organization’s CEO singing the rocker’s praises.
“In the middle of our 350 mile run to end homelessness, we got the coolest video ever from Dave Grohl, of the Foo Fighters. Not only did I wish us luck, but he cooked for hundreds of people who live in our shelters in the middle of one of the worst storms,” the group’s boss, Rowan Vansleve, wrote alongside a video of Grohl manning the rib station last Wednesday.
TMZ reported that Grohl spent 16 hours in the kitchen whipping up ribs, pork butt, brisket, cabbage, coleslaw and beans, personally footing the bill for all the expenses and catching a nap in the parking lot while the meat was smoking. The rocker then reportdly helped serve the food, which fed around 450 guests and 50 staff members.
On Tuesday morning (Feb. 28), the Foos also announced three more headlining shows. The band is gearing up to play its first run of gigs since the shock death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last March in Colombia while on tour; at press time the group had not yet announced who will play drums on their 2023 dates.
In addition to a number of festival gigs at Bonnaroo, Boston Calling, Sonic Temple, Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Harley-Davidson Homecoming, Fuji Rock, Jazz Aspen Snowmass, The Town and Sea.Hear.Now, the Foos announced gigs in Gilford, NH on May 24 (at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion), Rogers, AR on June 14 (at Walmart AMP) and Pelham, AL on June 16 (at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre); tickets for all three shows will go on sale to the public on Friday (March 3) at 10 a.m. local time here.
Check out the video of pit boss Grohl below.
A planned concert by Roger Waters in Frankfurt, Germany has been canceled after the city council called the former Pink Floyd singer/bassist “one of the world’s most well-known antisemites.” Waters was scheduled to perform at the city’s Festhalle on May 28, on the spot of what was a Jewish detention camp during WWII, where 3,000 Jewish men were held on Kristallnacht (“Night of the Broken Glass”) in Nov. 1938 before being sent to their deaths.
“The background to the cancellation is the persistent anti-Israel behavior of the former Pink Floyd frontman, who is considered one of the most widely spread antisemites in the world,” the council said in a statement according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “He repeatedly called for a cultural boycott of Israel and drew comparisons to the apartheid regime in South Africa and put pressure on artists to cancel events in Israel.”
The JTA reported that the city of Frankfurt made reference to the historic significance of the concert hall — which it partly owns — and said it was cancelling the show over Waters’ support of the controversial BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions). BDS is a Palestinian-led movement that calls for a boycott of Israel to force the nation’s government to change its policies toward Palestinians.
The JFA also noted that past Waters concerts have featured a flying pig balloon emblazoned with a Star of David (as well as a number of other corporate logos and symbols) and that he’s compared the actions of the Israeli government to that of South Africa under apartheid and Nazi Germany and questioned Israel’s right to exist.
At press time a spokesperson for Waters had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment; additionally, at press time the concert was still listed on Waters’ official site. Waters’ This Is Not a Drill tour is still slated to play a number of other gigs in Germany, including Hamburg (May 7), Cologne (May 9), Berlin (May 17) and Munich (May 21).
While Waters does not appear to have issued an official statement on the cancellation, he did retweet messages of support from an author and editor at the Palestine Chronicle who denied that the singer is an antisemite and an editor at the Delhi, India-based Marxist publishing house Leftword Books, who defended Waters’ stance on Israel. “Love you my brother,” Waters tweeted at Vijay Prashad, adding, “shoulder to shoulder. F–k em’!”
In Sept., Waters canceled planned shows in Krakow, Poland amid outrage over his stance on Russia’s unprovoked, yearlong war in Ukraine, which he has said was the fault of Ukraine and NATO. An official with the Tauron Arena in Krakow, where Waters was scheduled to perform two concerts in April, said they would no longer take place; the shows have been scrubbed from Water’s site. “Roger Waters’ manager decided to withdraw … without giving any reason,” Lukasz Pytko from Tauron Arena Krakow said in comments carried by Polish media outlets.
This year’s Beale Street Music Festival will feature sets from The Lumineers, Greta Van Fleet, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Earth, Wind & Fire, Hardy, Jazmine Sullivan, The Roots, AJR and 311.
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The event at Tom Lee Park in Memphis, Tennessee on May 5-7 will also feature appearances from GloRilla, Gary Clark Jr., Ziggy Marley, Young the Giant, Halestorm, Live, PJ Morton, The Struts, Gov’t Mule, Dru Hill, Mike., Andy Grammer, Yola, Toadies, Lucinda Williams and Living Colour.
Weekend VIP tickets will run you $995, while three-day tickets are $205 and one-day GA passes are $88.53; click here for more ticketing information.
Among the other acts slated to take the stage for this year’s fest are: Big Boogie, Cameo, the Bar-Kays, White Reaper, Shovels & Rope, Phony PPL, Low Cut Connie, Marcy Playground, Beach Weather, Jason D Williams, Myron Elkins, Dirty Streets, Mac Saturn, Tyke T, Sleep Theory and more.
The event will also host the Memphis Tourism Blues Stage on Beale at Handy Park — which is open to the public and free of charge — featuring Los Lobos, Keb Mo, North Mississippi Allstars, Bernard Allison, Ana Popovic, Cedric Burnside, Mr. Sipp, Colin James, Selwyn Birchwood, Ghost Town Blues Band, Blind Mississippi Morris and more.
“This year’s lineup reflects the broad musical tastes of our festival goers with a diverse lineup of some of today’s hottest artists as well past festival favorites and stars of tomorrow,” said Jim Holt, President and CEO of Memphis In May in a statement. “At the Beale Street Music Festival, we endeavor to offer something for almost every musical taste, and we have a few more surprise additions to come.”
Check out the full lineup below.
The 2023 Roskilde Festival in Denmark will feature headlining sets from Blur, Kendrick Lamar, Queens of the Stone Age, Christine and the Queens, Rosalía and others. Organizers announced a slew of new additions to the line-up on Monday (Feb. 27), including Angélique Kidjo, Caroline Polachek, Weyes Blood, Code Orange, Indigo De Souza and Special Interest.
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Other previously announced names on the roster for the fest slated to take place between June 24-July 1 are: Burna Boy, Sudan Archives, Big Freedia, GloRilla, Lil Nas X, Central Cee, Fever Ray, Hudson Mowhawke, Tinariwen, Lock Up, Benny Jamz, Clarissa Conelly’s Canon, 070 Shake, Derya Yildrim & Grup Simsek, Alice Glass, Rina Sawayama, Denzel Curry, Tove Lo, Japanese Breakfast, Nikki Lane, First Hate, Fulu Miziki, J.I.D., Rema, Armand Hammer, Billy Woods, Nora Brown and Phelimuncasi.
In a statement, Roskilde’s head of programming, Anders Wahrén, praised the eclectic lineup, saying, “This announcement features some of the most vehement vocalists and powerful performers right now, acts whom in each their own way convey hope, meaning and change. Roskilde Festival has shared a special, decade-spanning bond with artists like Kendrick Lamar and Angélique Kidjo, and they always bring something new to this festival.”
Speaking specifically about Lamar, Wahrén added, “Kendrick Lamar is one of the most requested artists among our festival audience, and he possesses a peerless artistic vision. He is no doubt the most influential rapper of his generation, and we’re excited to welcome him back.”
See the latest lineup announcement below.
After injuring his ring finger two times this month, Travis Barker revealed Monday (Feb. 27) on Instagram that he’s getting surgery.
“Surgery tomorrow,” Barker captioned an Instagram carousel of his injury, with the fingers-crossed emoji.
The first video in the carousel shows a medical professional trying to get the joint back in place. The next three photos show his swollen knuckle and a brace holding the ring finger in place.
Barker first injured the finger on Feb. 7 during rehearsals for Blink-182‘s upcoming reunion tour. “I was playing the drums at rehearsals yesterday and I smashed my finger so hard I dislocated it and tore the ligaments,” Barker tweeted on Feb. 8. Then, on Feb. 20, Barker shared an Instagram Story in which he showed off his swollen, bruised knuckle, captioning the image “again.”
Blink-182’s world tour — the first with reunited co-frontman Tom DeLonge back in the picture since 2014 — is set to kick off March 11 in Tijuana, Mexico. There’s no word yet how long Barker’s surgery recovery will take, but given how public the drummer has been with his injury journey, he’ll likely keep fans posted.
Mark Hoppus, Barker and DeLonge announced back in October that they were reuniting the band’s classic lineup for the 2023-24 world tour and the new single “Edging,” which was released late last year. On Christmas Eve, DeLonge teased that the trio were working on “the best album we’ve ever made.”
“I’m personally tripping and so proud of what we have created TOGETHER,” he wrote on Instagram. “As one unified force of fun, eternal youth, and most of all- close friends.”
See Barker’s surgery announcement below:
Lizzo showed off her knack for German by covering Rammstein on a tour stop in Hamburg, Germany, last week.
“Du, du hast/ Du hast mich!/ Oma!/ Du, du hast/ Du hast mich!” the star playfully chanted onstage at the European city’s Barclays Arena, in a reference to Rammstein’s 1997 single “Du Hast” from their sophomore album Sehnsucht. “Nein! Oh, Hamburg, I’m having fun, bi–h!” she then declared in her sparkling, rainbow sequined dress.
“Germany = Rammstein,” a TikTok user captioned the fan-captured video, adding, “She had just learned how to say ‘Oma’, that’s why she incorporated it.”
Lizzo’s ardent fandom certainly appreciated her knowledge of the German metal rockers, flooding the comments section with elated reactions. “Lizzo knowing Rammstein is everything I ever needed,” one wrote, while another ecstatically typed, “Just imagine her and Till on stage together I bet it would be hilarious.” Of course, several others called for a Lizzo/Rammstein collaboration.
At another concert during the week, Lizzo also re-created Ariana DeBose’s viral opening number from the 2023 BAFTA Awards, complete with the West Side Story breakout star’s shimmy of the shoulders and impassioned delivery of “Angela Bassett did the thing!”
Currently, the European leg of The Special Tour is slated to continue through the middle of March, with stops in Berlin, Milan, Paris, Dublin and London before Lizzo heads back to the U.S. for a second North American leg beginning April 21 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
Watch Lizzo nail her German pronunciation with a bit of Rammstein’s “Du Hast” below.