Rock
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Before hitting the road last March, Coldplay set some very ambitious environmental goals for their massive Music of the Spheres world tour. Their overarching aim was to reduce the carbon footprint from their 2016/2017 Head Full of Dreams stadium tour by more than 50%.
In a statement on Friday (June 2), the band said that the Spheres tour has so far produced 47% less CO2e emissions than their last outing and that they’ve planted five million trees to date, or roughly one for every one of the seven million tickets sold so far.
“When we first announced the Music Of The Spheres Tour, we hoped to make it as environmentally beneficial as possible and reduce our direct carbon emissions (from show production, freight, band and crew travel) by 50%,” read the statement, which said the data has been independently assessed and validated by professor John E. Fernandez of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI).
While the numbers are a “good start… and something that our incredible crew should be very proud of,” Coldplay said there is definitely still room for improvement. “Now that we’re into the second year of the tour, we’ve started to run the entire show (audio, lights, lasers etc) from an electric battery system that allows us to use 100% renewable energy as efficiently as possible,” it continued. “We have been using electric vehicles and alternative fuels wherever we can, as well as reducing waste and plastic usage to a minimum.”
They also thanked the crew that has allowed them to achieve their goals, as well as the fans who have helped power the stage batteries using the exercise bikes and kinetic dance floors, as well as those who’ve walked, used bicycles, ride shares or public transportation to get to the gigs, brought their own refillable water bottles and returned the LED wristbands after each concert.
“And just by coming you have had a tree planted, and helped a range of environmental organizations like The Ocean Cleanup and ClientEarth (a team of lawyers who defend the environment). Thank you all and hopefully this time next year we will have made big improvements.”
In an accompanying statement, MIT’s Fernandez added, “Based on a detailed review of the work of Coldplay’s sustainability team in assessing and advising the band and management on the CO2e impact of touring, we fully endorse this effort as critically important, scientifically rigorous and of the highest quality.
Fernandez said MIT ESI endorses the work Coldplay has done as an “important and substantive step toward a new era of eventually achieving carbon neutral music events by major artists. The band deserves significant praise in commissioning the work and acting as the vanguard for the global music industry as it begins to take seriously the reality of living and making music in the Anthropocene.”
Coldplay also shared a number of other environmental data points for the tour so far, including:
— The five million trees planted amount to 5,000 hectares of land restored across 17 countries and 21 planting projects.
— One solar-powered River Interceptor deployed in March 2021 in the Klang River in Malaysia with 158 tons of waste and 13 tons of ocean-bound plastic removed since the start of the tour.
— An 86% average return rate for the reusable, plant-based LED writstbands.
— 15kWh average power per show generation through in-show solar installations, kinetic dance floors and power bikes, which was enough to power the satellite stage performances each night and provide phone, laptop and tool-charging stations for the crew.
— 66% of all tour waste diverted from landfills.
— 3,770 meals and 73 kg of toiletries donated from tour catering to the unhoused.
— Financial support to environmental organizations including ClientEarth,The Ocean Cleanup, Climeworks, Sea Shepherd, Project Seagrass, Sustainable Food Trust, Cleaner Seas Group, Food Forest Project, Knowledge Pele, Conservation Collective and others
Hayley Williams recently got tight-lipped after seemingly teasing a collaboration with Taylor Swift, but fans sure would like her to speak now.
At a recent Ulta meet-and-greet event, the Paramore frontwoman was captured on video accepting a homemade Speak Now-themed bracelet from a fan. “Let me just tell you, this is coming at a very interesting time that you’re giving me this to wear,” Williams said with a pointed smile while taking the bracelet. “And that’s all I’ll say.”
Now, there’s a lot to unpack here. First and foremost, Swift just announced a couple weeks ago that her next re-recorded album would be Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), surprising her Eras Tour crowd in Nashville with news that the project is set to arrive July 7.
The original 2010 Speak Now famously has no collaborations and was entirely self-written by Swift, but the pop star’s past two Taylor’s Version projects — Red and Fearless — both had a variety of guest appearances on previously unreleased “Vault” tracks. For instance, Phoebe Bridgers added duet vocals to “Nothing New” on Red (Taylor’s Version), and Keith Urban did the same for Fearless (Taylor’s Version) bonus track “That’s When.”
Plus, the “Still Into You” singer has previously said that Speak Now is her favorite of Swift’s eras, and in 2011, Williams made a guest appearance at one of the pop superstar’s Speak Now Tour shows. The longtime friends rocked out together on stage, and the “Anti-Hero” musician helped the Paramore singer perform the band’s Riot! track “That’s What You Get.”
Speaking of eras and tours, Paramore also opened for Swift’s first few Eras Tour shows in Glendale, Ariz., earlier this year.
“Having Paramore join me on tour is such an honor,” Swift told Billboard of the performances for the band’s January cover story. “We came up alongside each other as Nashville teenagers writing our own music, so it feels insanely special to kick off the tour together nearly two decades later … Hayley is such a riveting performer because she’s so multifaceted — bold and playful and ferocious and completely in command.”
Put that all together, and you’ve got a pretty compelling case that Williams may be getting a spot on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). At least, fans certainly think so. “Pretending not to care about the potential taylor and hayley collab on speak now tv so they announce it faster,” joked one Swiftie on Twitter.
“hayley motherf–king williams if you/paramore are featured on speak now taylor’s version i am going to levitate to places undiscovered by drugs or science please god,” tweeted another.
See more fan posts below:
hayley motherfucking williams if you/paramore are featured on speak now taylor’s version i am going to levitate to places undiscovered by drugs or science please god— ty ✰ heard getaway car ! (@owndiscomfort) June 1, 2023
if hayley willams is a feature on speak now tv you will NOT hear from me again i will literally be dead— caydence loves tyler ⊬ (@holdingontoTS) June 1, 2023
If Hayley Williams is truly on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) then start planning my funeral now— brad (speak now version) (@Mr_Swift1594) June 1, 2023
if hayley williams features on speak now tv i will deactivate and will probably die— aria 🦷 is cancelled (@iw4nttobelieve) June 1, 2023
Hayley is so sweet. Years ago she came into a store I worked at, and my manager told her how I was a fan, and she signed some paper we used to wrap fragile items with for me. I’d love for her to be in Speak Now TV so much. pic.twitter.com/Z2Bq2KMBk7— megan eras 7/15 | iso 7/14 🕰️ (@taysversiononly) June 1, 2023
was hayley saying speak now was her fav album and era an easter egg then..? like there’s truth to that statement no doubt But do u think she said it as a hint— evie ʚɞ⋆ 12 (@ahalfcrazygirl) June 1, 2023
if hayley williams is a feature on speak now, i fear i will be an insufferable nuisance to you all, and this will be me if/when it comes out: pic.twitter.com/PGvvNiMnio— parma-sean 🪐 (@andlookshesamum) June 1, 2023
As the 2024 presidential race starts to heat up with more than half a dozen republicans already throwing their hats in the ring to take on President Biden, Paramore singer Hayley Williams told New Jersey fans that she’s not afraid to get political from the stage. In fact, the outspoken vocalist told the crowd at […]
Great art is so often hewn from struggle. Dave Grohl knows all about it. Following the 1994 suicide of Kurt Cobain, and the immediate disbanding of Nirvana, the grunge great’s drummer Grohl focused his grief and energies on a new project, Foo Fighters. A year later, Foo Fighters dropped its self-titled debut album. Grohl sang every line and played every instrument, with the exception of a guitar part on “X-Static”.The Foos are now members of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 2022 (Grohl was also elevated as a member of Nirvana, in 2014), and 11 albums deep in a rocking career, one that was ignited by struggle. Grohl and his Foos have had to pick up their shattered pieces once again following the untimely death last March of their talismanic drummer, Taylor Hawkins. Working through heartbreak, the band reassembled those pieces for But Here We Are, the Foos’ 11th and latest studio album, which dropped at the stroke of midnight. Produced by years-long collaborator Greg Kurstin, the set is described a “brutally honest and emotionally raw response” to tragedy, and “the first chapter of the band’s new life.”
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Spanning 10 tracks, But Here We Are opens with the first single “Rescued,” which dropped April 19.
Grohl returns to his familiar duties behind the kit on the new LP, though Josh Freese was recently unveiled as the Foos’ full-time drummer, making his live concert debut with the group on May 21 for a performance that included new cut “Show Me How” and the title track. Freese, a veteran studio/touring drummer, has played with acts including Guns N’ Roses, A Perfect Circle, and Nine Inch Nails, was revealed as during a livestream, “Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts”.
The Foos will rumble through the summer with a full itinerary, including more than a dozen festival appearances at Boston Calling, Sonic Temple, Rock Am Ring, Bonnaroo, Ottawa Bluesfest, Harley-Davidson Homecoming, Fuji Rock, Wildlands, Outside Lands, Jazz Aspen Snowmass, Riot Fest, Sea.Hear.Now, Louder Than Life, Ohana and ACL, as well as a number of North American and international headlining dates.
And Here We Are is the followup to 2021’s Medicine at Midnight, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, one of the band’s nine top 10 appearances on the chart, two of which hit No. 1.Stream it below.
It’s been 20 years since Linkin Park rocked the music world with their 2003 hit “Numb,” and this week, the emotionally charged music video hit 2 billion views on YouTube. It’s the band’s first clip to achieve the impressive milestone. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The […]
Little Richard knew exactly what he was doing when he sang the seemingly gibberish lyrics “Awop-bop-a-loo-mop-alop-bam-boom/ If it don’t fit, don’t force it/ You can grease it and make it easy.” The iconic couplet he originally wrote for his 1955 breakthrough hit “Tutti Fruitti” is explored in a new episode of PBS’ American Masters, “Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” which will debut on public stations on Friday (June 2) at 9 p.m. ET as pat of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month and African American Music Appreciation Month.
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The show, which features interviews with the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Pat Boone, Ringo Starr, Bobby Rush and Big Freedia, as well as activist/drag performer Sir Lady Java and Richard’s spiritual advisor, Rev. Bill Minson, tells the origin story of Richard (born Richard Wayne Penniman) from a child prodigy steeped in the world of gospel to global rock stardom; it features never-before heard audio recordings of Richard made by his authorized biographer, Charles White, who is also featured.
In a Billboard exclusive clip from the show (see below), Little Richard’s bandmates and contemporaries talk about the origin story of “Tutti Frutti,” which was birthed at the raucous Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans. “When we went into the Drew Drop Inn there was a piano… and that’s when I began to know and understand Little Richard,” says Specialty Records producer Robert “Bumps” Blackwell.
“‘Cause that’s all you gotta do is give Richard an audience, turn the lights on and show is on,” Blackwell says. Richard’s longtime keyboard player and friend Ronald “Ron” Jones adds that one day Richard jumped on the piano and played the “alop-bam-boom” riff and his producers asked about the hook they’d never heard before, even though the singer — who died in May 2020 at age 87 of bone cancer — had been using it for years while playing to Black audiences on the Chitlin’ Circuit.
In the episode we hear archival tape of Richard reciting the next two lines in the chorus, “If you want it, you got it/ Tutti-frutti, good booty.” The lyrics, of course, could be interpreted as being about gay sex, laughs Deacon John Moore, a blues musician who recorded with Richard. “They’re not gonna play that on the radio. ‘Tutti-frutti, good booty!’ And everybody knew this ain’t about ice cream!”
The bottom line from Richard’s producer, though, was that regardless of what he was singing about, “Tutti Fruitti” sounded like a slam-dunk hit record. Informed that he would have to clean up the “smutty” lyrics a bit to get airplay, Richard agreed, with Blackwell explaining how they changed the first bit to “tutti frutti, oh rootie,” while adding girls named Sue and Daisy. After two or three takes, history was made.
The PBS doc follows on the heels of producer/director and former label exec Lisa Cortés’ recent doc, Little Richard: I Am Everything, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and has been streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV since April.
Watch the American Masters preview below and watch the full episode on Friday night.
New releases from Dave Matthews Band and Ghost top Billboard’s rock album charts dated June 3.
Walk Around the Moon, Dave Matthews Band’s 10th studio set, bows at No. 1 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums tallies with 44,000 equivalent album units earned May 19-25, according to Luminate. Of that sum, 40,000 are via album sales.
The set is frontman Matthews’ seventh No. 1 on both surveys, which began in 2006. (Five leaders are billed as by Dave Matthews Band; two are credited to Matthews and DMB guitarist Tim Reynolds.) He boasts the third-most rulers in the history of both charts, behind only John Mayer and Bruce Springsteen (solo and with the E Street Band), each with eight.
Most No. 1s, Top Rock & Alternative Albums:
8, John Mayer
8, Bruce Springsteen (solo and with the E Street Band)
7, Dave Matthews (solo and with Dave Matthews Band)
6, The Beatles
6, Coldplay
6, Grateful Dead
6, Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers)
Dave Matthews Band first commanded Top Rock & Alternative Albums in 2006 with The Best of What’s Around, Vol. 01. Until its latest No. 1, the group had last led with 2018’s Come Tomorrow.
Walk Around the Moon’s 40,000-unit sales mark also slots the set at No. 1 on the all-genre Top Album Sales chart, where it’s the band’s eighth leader. On the Billboard 200, it begins at No. 5, marking Matthews’ 13th top five entry, a run that began with Dave Matthews Band’s Crash in May 1996.
Concurrently, “Monsters,” the second radio single from Walk Around the Moon, lifts 12-11 on Adult Alternative Airplay. “Madman’s Eyes” reached No. 4 in March.
Meanwhile, Phantomime, Ghost’s new all-covers EP, starts at No. 1 on Top Hard Rock Albums with 36,000 units, with 34,000 from album sales.
The five-song set features the rockers’ renditions of music from Genesis, Iron Maiden, The Stranglers, Television and Tina Turner.
It’s Ghost’s fifth Top Hard Rock Albums ruler. The band first led with Infestissumam in May 2013 and had most recently reigned with Impera in March 2022.
Phantomime also begins at No. 2 on both Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums. On the Billboard 200, it arrives as the Tobias Forge-led outfit’s fourth top 10, at No. 7.
The EP’s lead single, Ghost’s cover of Genesis’ “Jesus He Knows Me,” rises 18-16 on Mainstream Rock Airplay. It has outperformed the Phil Collins-sung original, which hit No. 24 in 1992.
Paramore usually pick a superfan to join them on stage to perform their signature 2007 hit “Misery Business” during their shows. But on Wednesday night (May 31) they had a very special guest, and true uberfan, on hand to do the honors: Lil Uzi Vert. According to NME, Singer Hayley Williams took a moment to […]
Bruce Springsteen had a moment that fans, bandmates and promoters dread when, during a concert in Amsterdam last Saturday (May 27), the rock legend had an on-stage fall.
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The 73-year-old artist was returning from a stint in the pit when, during a performance of “Ghosts,” he tripped up the stairs while carrying his electric guitar.
The Boss appeared to have a soft landing, as members of the E Street Band rushed over to check on him and help the Boss to his feet.
“Goodnight everybody,” he yelled to the audience, as he gingerly made his way back to the center stage.
Thankfully, it wasn’t the end of the show. “Ghosts” came early in a set at Johan Cruijff Arena that numbered almost 30 songs, and included classics “Born In The U.S.A.,” “Born to Run,” “Thunder Road,” “Dancing In The Dark,” and more.Stumbles aside, Springsteen has enjoyed some glory days on his current European tour.
During his trip to Ireland, he caught up with former Pogues singer Shane MacGowan at his home in Dublin, and was spotted hanging with some townspeople and having a pint at The Burrow pub in Rathangan, Co. Kildare.
During a visit last month to Spain, Springsteen welcomed on stage former First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Kate Capshaw, wife of director Steven Spielberg, for a rendition of “Glory Days.”
And the stars came out for his performance at Rome’s Circus Maximus, with the likes of Sting, Nick Cave, drummers Lars Ulrich (Metallica) and Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), and actors Woody Harrelson, Chris Rock and Isla Fisher spotted in the audience.
Springsteen has been prolific of late, dropping the albums Western Stars in 2019, followed by Letter to You in 2020, both peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Last year, Springsteen released the R&B covers album Only the Strong Survive, his 21st studio set (peaking at No. 8).
Grammy-winning metal band System of a Down is best known for hair-raising hits such as “B.Y.O.B.” and “Aerials,” and now — thanks to America’s Got Talent contestant Phillip Bowen’s stunning violin cover of “Chop Suey!” on the show’s season premiere on Tuesday (May 30) — the world can enjoy an impressive reimagining of one of […]