Rock
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Screaming Trees has lost another one of its members. On Wednesday (Jan. 18), Gary Lee Conner revealed that his brother — with whom he co-founded the band — bassist Van Conner, died Tuesday (Jan. 17) at age 55 after a long illness and pneumonia.
The guitarist shared the news to his personal Facebook and Instagram accounts, alongside a photo of himself posing with his late brother. “Let me put this letter on Van’s grave,” he wrote. “Van Conner bassist and song writer of Screaming Trees died last night of an extended illness at 55 It was pneumonia that got him in the end. He was one of the closest friends I ever had and I loved him immensely. I will miss him forever and ever and ever…”
Screaming Trees also shared Gary’s post to its verified Facebook account.
Van Conner formed Screaming Trees in 1984 with his brother, vocalist Mark Lanegan — who died at age 57 in February 2022 — and drummer Mark Pickerel after connecting in high school over their shared tasted in punk and classic rock music. The following year, the band recorded its first EP, Other Worlds, in their Ellensburg, Wash., hometown. Lanegan’s 2020 memoir, Sing Backwards and Weep, revealed that the EP’s track “Picture in My Mind” was the first song he wrote with the Conner brothers.
By 1986, the group’s first studio set Clairvoyance was released through Velvetone Records and helped the band to secure a recording contract through SST Records, but it wasn’t until 1992 — and the arrival of the Seattle grunge scene — that Screaming Trees started experiencing success on a commercial scale. The band’s 1992 album, Sweet Oblivion, peaked at No. 141 on the all-genre Billboard 200, with singles “Nearly Lost You” and “Dollar Bill” peaking on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart at Nos. 12 and 40, respectively.
In Van’s other endeavors, he formed and fronted Solomon Grundy and released an album with the band in 1990. During his tenure in Screaming Trees, he also played alongside Dinosaur Jr. for live shows. Following Screaming Trees’ breakup in 2000, Van formed bands VALIS and Ox, and also did work as a session musician.
See Gary Lee Conner’s announcement below:
Rev your engines. The Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival is driving through the city of Milwaukee this summer, with newly announced all-star headliners Green Day and the Foo Fighters in tow.
Named for its location in Wisconsin, birth place of Harley-Davidson, the Homecoming Festival will celebrate the motorcycle brand’s 120th anniversary over the course of four days in July, starting on the 13th. Green Day is slated to play on the 14th, and the Foo Fighters are booked for July 15.
The rest of the festival’s schedule has not yet been confirmed, though Cody Jinks, Social Distortion, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Phantogram, White Reaper and KennyHoopla will all make performances of their own over the course of the event, which concludes July 16. The festival will take place at Milwaukee’s Veterans Park, with tickets to see both headlining acts available for purchase now on Harley-Davidson’s website.
Both Green Day and the Foo Fighters posted about the event on their bands’ official social media accounts, including a sleek poster with their names worked into a graphic design of a guitar made out of motorcycle parks. The former wrote on Instagram: “Riding into Milwaukee on July 14th to celebrate @harleydavidson’s 120th bday (!!!)”
Harley-Davidson’s Homecoming announcement marks the latest in a wave of recent annual festival lineup announcements, from Coachella to Boston Calling to Bonnaroo. The Foo Fighters are booked for the latter two festivals, meanwhile Green Day is slated to headline the Arizona Innings Festival and the When We Were Young Festival this year.
See Green Day and Foo Fighters’ Harley-Davidson Homecoming announcements below.
The National revealed their upcoming album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, on Wednesday (Jan. 18) along with its star-studded tracklist.
The project is the band’s ninth full-length studio set is scheduled to arrive on April 28 via 4AD, and will contain lead single “Tropic Morning News” as well as collaborations with Taylor Swift (“The Alcott”), Phoebe Bridgers (“This Isn’t Helping,” “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend”) and Sufjan Stevens (opener “Once Upon a Poolside”).
On the sprightly lead-off track, frontman Matt Berninger croons, “I was so distracted then/ I didn’t have it straight in my head/ I didn’t have my face on yet/ Or the role or the feel of where I was going with it all/ I was suffering more than I let on/ The tropic morning news was on/ There’s nothing stopping me now/ From saying all the painful parts out loud.”
“The idea of referring to the darkness of the news in such a light way unlocked something in me,” he said of the song in a release. “It became a song about having a hard time expressing yourself, and trying to connect with someone when the noise of the world is drowning out any potential for conversation.”
For her part, Swift was thrilled that the secret was finally out, writing, “Ahhhhhh new National album lets gooooo and Sufjan and Phoebe catch me crying on April 28…Extra big hug to folklorian king @aarondessner” on her Instagram Story along with a pre-order link to the album.
The National teased First Two Pages of Frankenstein earlier this week courtesy of a password-protected page on their official website. The unlocked page offered fans a glimpse of Berninger reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein on a piano bench, and included a stately letter hinting at the album’s trio of guest stars.
Check out The National’s album announcement below, and the lyric video for “Tropic Morning News” above.
After five years of wishing, hoping and praying for new music from Boygenius — the indie rock supergroup comprised of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker — fans finally have cause to rejoice. On Wednesday (Jan. 18), the trio dropped three surprise new songs and, at last, announced their upcoming debut album via Interscope, a highly anticipated follow-up to their beloved 2018 self-titled EP.
None of the three musicians gave fans any sort of heads-up leading up to their comeback, nor had they given any hint that a full-length album was in the works. (The only indication that something was brewing was an announcement a week prior that they’d be performing together for the first time in years at Coachella 2023.) Instead, Bridgers, Dacus and Baker simply posted Spotify links to the new singles — titled “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry” and “True Blue” — on Instagram Stories.
News of Boygenius’ return was also run in a Rolling Stone article, which revealed The Record‘s track list and release date: March 31. The article also revealed that Bridgers had initiated a band reunion right after her 2020 sophomore solo record, Punisher, was released.
According to the publication, she’d sent Dacus and Baker “Emily I’m Sorry” after writing it alone, asking them, “Can we be a band again?”
“We were all nervous to bring it up,” Bridgers said. “We all thought that we were more excited than the other person.”
The track list for The Record is as follows:
“Without You Without Them”
“Emily I’m Sorry”
“True Blue”
“Cool About It”
“Not Strong Enough”
“Revolution 0”
“Leonard Cohen”
“Satanist”
“We’re in Love”
“Anti-Curse”
“Letter to an Old Poet”
Listen to “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry” and “True Blue” below:
Fall Out Boy is back. On Wednesday (Jan. 18), the pop punk group announced its eighth studio album, So Much (For) Stardust, on Ramen/Elektra.
The band — which consists of members Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley — revealed the album title and its release date via Instagram in an intimate letter to fans.
“‘Time is luck.’ Finish another tour. You reflect but not like a gem in the sun – more like a year long stare into yourself in another airplane bathroom,” the band wrote. “Sometimes you gotta blow everything you were and put the pieces back together in a new shape. The same but different – the foundation dynamited and the dust used to create the concrete pour. I have a tendency to get a little sad whenever I think about anything…but I also feel pure joy when I think that I exist at the same time as whales or that read happens to rise at a certain temperature. And that we happen to be spinning on this little blue rock at the exact same time together. So much (for) stardust.”
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The group captioned the post — which also included the album’s cover art featuring a dog attempting to eat bubbles — “New Album So Much (For) Stardust, produced by Neal Avron, out March 24th.”
The album announcement also arrived with the LP’s first single, “Love From the Other Side,” and its fairy-tale-themed music video.
“Sending my love from the other side of the apocalypse/ And I just about snapped/ Don’t look back/ Every lover’s got a little dagger in their hand/ Love from the other side of the apocalypse/ And I just about snapped/ Don’t look back/ Every lover’s got a little dagger in their hand,” Stump sings on the chorus.
Wentz also offered a little more insight into the album in a press release. “Our band has been an ongoing art project for 20 years, and we know there have been many inception points along that journey,” he said. “We wanted to create an album that merged those points together – something new, but carved from our foundation. Fueled By Ramen and Elektra seemed like the perfect home for this.”
Added Stump in the release: “We wanted to get back to the way we used to work. We wanted to make a record that was really lovingly crafted and deliberate and patiently guided – like someone cooked you a delicate meal. I’m not a very proud guy, but I’m pretty proud of this record.”
Stump also spoke with Apple Music 1 about writing for So Much (For) Stardust, and shared that a large driving force for the album was making sure it was filled with meaning.
“Honestly, for me personally, coming out of the pandemic and just being quarantined or with my family, I was like, if we’re going to do this, and if I’m going to leave again … I was like, it’s got to be, for me at least, it’s got to be with purpose,” Wentz said. “It can’t just be like, this … big show here. Yeah, it couldn’t be that anymore to me … Anybody who loves the thing that they do, their craft, you want to do it for the reason you originally loved. And it’s great actually to me to have these moments where you can reorganize the apartment of your mind or whatever. Life is short and long.”
See Fall Out Boy’s album announcement below and watch the video for “Love From the Other Side” above.
Now that she’s officially a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, country icon Dolly Parton is calling in some major hitters for her first rock album. During an appearance on The View on Tuesday (Jan. 17), Parton said that after her induction last year — following her initial reluctance to be enshrined alongside life-long rockers — she bent some ears at the ceremony and got started on her first rock album.
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“If I’m gonna be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I’m gonna have to do something to earn it,” she told the show’s hosts, noting that her in-process sessions for the album, Rock Star, include some of the icons she met that night. After co-host Joy Behar said that the album is slated to feature covers of Led Zeppelin’s iconic “Stairway to Heaven” and the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” she wondered if Dolly’s old pal, Stones singer Mick Jagger, might make a cameo on his song.
“I’m doing my best to try to get him on, but I did his song anyway,” she said. “I think P!nk and Brandi Carlile are going to be singing on that particular song with me.” She then ticked off who is definitely on board, an A-list roster that includes Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, former Journey singer Steve Perry and Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler. Parton said she’s also been searching around for the right song she can sing with Cher.
“That’s gonna be a big thrill, I think,” she said of a potential duet with the “Believe” singer. In a Tonight Show appearance in Dec., Parton said the album would be a mix of originals (including one called “Rockin’”) and cover of songs by Prince (“Purple Rain”), Journey (“Open Arms”) and Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Free Bird”).
Watch Parton talk about her rock album on The View below.
Christina Applegate took to social media on Tuesday (Jan. 17) to spill the tea on how one of Scott Weiland‘s suits ended up in her daughter’s possession.
“Just a fun fact, the suit my kid is wearing was Scott Weiland’s suit from one of his solo album covers,” she wrote on Twitter alongside a photo with her daughter Sadie at the Critics Choice Awards. “Scott gave my husband, Martyn, that suit long ago in the glorious 90’s… Also we were quite a pair last night. She fractured her ankle this week, hence the boot, and me…MS.” In the photo, Applegate — who revealed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021 — leans on a cane while her daughter wears a mask with a black pageboy cap pulled down over her eyes and a boot on her fractured foot.
The late Stone Temple Pilots frontman released his debut solo album, 12 Bar Blues, in 1998. And indeed, the pinstripe suit 11-year-old Sadie Grace LeNoble is wearing in Applegate’s Twitter snap is a dead ringer for the ensemble Weiland is sporting in the cover art for the album’s lone single, “Barbarella.” (The song became a minor hit upon release, peaking inside the top 40 on the Alternative Airplay chart.)
Applegate’s husband, Martyn LeNoble, was the founding bassist of Porno for Pyros, the Perry Ferrell-led band that surely ran in the same circles as Weiland.
Weiland, who died in 2015 due to an accidental overdose, went on to release three more solo albums in between his work with Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver and brief side project Art of Anarchy. His sophomore solo effort, “Happy” in Galoshes, came in 2008, a full decade after its predecessor’s release, followed by 2011’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and 2015’s Blaster with backing band The Wildabouts.
Back in 2021, Dark Pictures announced it was developing a motion picture, titled Paper Heart, based on Weiland’s life.
Check out Applegate posing with Sadie in Weiland’s threads below.
Just a fun fact, the suit my kid is wearing was Scott Weiland’s suit from one of his solo album covers. Scott gave my husband, Martyn, that suit long ago in the glorious 90’s Also we were quite a pair last night. She fractured her ankle this week, hence the boot, and me…MS pic.twitter.com/5rqv7d4chb— christina applegate (@1capplegate) January 17, 2023
Lizzo, Kendrick Lamar and Odesza will headline this summer’s Governors Ball Music Festival. The New York event announced the full lineup for this year’s fest on Tuesday morning (Jan. 17), including news that it is moving to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, a green space that has previously hosted two World’s Fairs and the annual U.S. Open Tennis Championship.
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Among the other 60+ acts slated to perform from June 9 through June 11 for the 12th edition of the festival are: Lil Uzi Vert, Haim, Diplo, Omar Apollo, Kim Petras, Joey Bada$$, 070 Shake, Lil Baby, aespa, Rina Sawayama, Lauv, Oliver Tree, Finneas, Kenny Beats, Lil Nas X, Giveon, Sofi Tukker, Pusha T, girl in red, Central Cee, Tems and PinkPanthress, among others.
After a long run at Randall’s Island through 2021 and two years at Citi Field, the move to Corona Park will feature a return to a parkside setting with shade trees and grassy fields, as well as easy accessibility via multiple public transportation options and a new collaboration with Queens Night Market, which will bring a number of Night Market favorites to the festival as vendors.
“We’re big steppers here in Queens, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo, Odesza and a litany of other iconic artists to Flushing Meadows Corona Park for Governors Ball 2023 this June,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. in a statement. “Beyond hosting some of the world’s most popular musicians and enjoying the economic activity that Governors Ball will generate across Queens, we’re also deeply grateful for the festival’s partnership with local organizations like the Queens Night Market, [non-profits] Chhaya and Elmhurst/Corona Recovery Collective to elevate our local food vendors and our community groups doing critical empowerment work every day.”
The Ball will invite young musicians from the local community to perform, with future stars from School of Rock Queens and School of Rock Brooklyn kicking off the show on Friday and Saturday.
This year will also include the introduction of the GA+ ticket, which will include access to air-conditioned bathrooms, an exclusive, centrally located lounge area with shade, seating and its own exclusive bar, food vendors and water refill stations. A special presale for 3-day and 1-day GA, plus the new GA+, VIP and platinum tickets will be available exclusively for Citi cardmembers from Tuesday through Thursday (Jan. 19) at 11: 59 a.m. ET here. Fan early access tickets will be available on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET (click here to sign up), with a general on-sale to follow.
Check out the full lineup below.
The iHeart ALTer EGO 2023 show descended upon L.A.’s Kia Forum over the weekend, and Billboard was backstage to bring you every exclusive moment.
In-between sets by Fall Out Boy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phoenix and Jack White, Billboard social media coordinator Lucy Blonstein chatted up the likes of Jared Leto, CHVRCHES and more on Saturday night. Below, we’ve rounded up seven moments you have to see from backstage.
Leto revealed backstage that out of all the bands on the lineup, he’d want to collaborate with Muse if his band, 30 Second to Mars, ever got the chance. “Because we’ve toured together before, we love them. Great guys, and I think we’d be an interesting, interesting pairing,” he said, standing in front of a giant portrait of Katy Perry. “Yeah, Muse.”
Billboard was also on the ground to catch Fall Out Boy headed backstage after their nostalgia-fueled set, which included classic hits like “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down,” “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race,” “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up),” “Thnks Fr the Mmrs” and more, and even caught a candid Pete Wentz whistling as he made his way through the backstage throngs, his long, bleach-blonde hair tied up in a bun and wearing the band’s own merch.
CHVRCHES, meanwhile, shared their “quite boring” pre-show rituals with Billboard, which happen to include vocal and instrument warm-ups, a couple of cocktails made by touring drummer Jonny Scott and listening to music to “get in the ‘zone’,” as singer Lauren Mayberry said. “And that’s about it,” she added. “But yes, no Satanic rituals yet. Maybe on album five.”
Billboard‘s December 2022 Chartbreaker Rosa Linn was also at the big show, where she performed “WDIA (Would Do It Again),” “Never Be Mine” and TikTok breakthrough “Snap.” The Eurovision competitor posed for our camera after leaving the stage, showing off “#ARtSAKH” painted on the sleeve of her jacket to bring attention to the ongoing blockade between Artsakh and Armenia.
Other famous faces we caught up with backstage included Phoenix, Jack White and Beach Weather. Check out exclusive photos and videos from backstage at iHeart’s ALTer EGO show below.
Jared Leto Shares His Dream Collab
Pete Wentz & Our Backstage POV of Fall Out Boy
Pete Wentz backstage at iHeart ALTer EGO 2023 at L.A.’s Kia Forum
Wes and Alex
CHVRCHES Share Their Pre-Show Rituals
Jack White Backstage
Jack White backstage at iHeart ALTer EGO 2023 at L.A.’s Kia Forum
Wes and Alex
Phoenix Backstage
Phoenix backstage at iHeart ALTer EGO 2023 at L.A.’s Kia Forum
Wes and Alex
Rosa Linn Backstage
Rosa Linn backstage at iHeart ALTer EGO 2023 at L.A.’s Kia Forum
Wes and Alex
Beach Weather Backstage
Beach Weather backstage at iHeart ALTer EGO 2023 at L.A.’s Kia Forum
Wes and Alex
Disney+ premiered its first teaser for Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, With Dave Letterman on Friday (Jan. 13).
“Dublin is a real part of our story,” Bono tells Letterman, adding, “It’s in our songs” before the clip cuts to a live performance of 2004’s “Vertigo.” As a montage of the rockers’ journey back to their homeland flashes across the screen, the U2 frontman’s voice can be heard singing, “Hello, hello/ I’m at a place called Vertigo/ It’s everything I wish I didn’t know/ Except you give me something/ I can feel.”
For his part, a bushy-bearded Letterman seems more than happy to be along for the ride, telling the U2 members, “Many nice things have happened for me in my life; this is right at the top of that list.”
Directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, the documentary will debut March 17 on Disney+ and showcase Bono and The Edge‘s special concert performance in Dublin. A release announcing the special promises it will be “part concert movie, part travel adventure plus a whole lot of Bono and The Edge, with Dave’s humor throughout.”
“Recently, I won a radio contest,” said Letterman in a statement. “Winner gets to visit Dublin with Bono and The Edge (radio contest part not true, but I feel like a winner). They showed me around, introduced me to their musician friends, and performed some of their greatest songs in a small theater. It’s a great tour. Get in touch with them ― I’m told there are still availabilities. I’m the luckiest man on the planet. (There are no availabilities).”
The release of A Sort of Homecoming also happens to coincide with the release of Songs of Surrender, the upcoming compilation of 40 tracks selected from U2’s storied discography — including “One,” “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “Walk On (Ukraine)” and many, many more — which have been re-recorded and entirely reimagined by the band.
Watch the teaser for Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, With Dave Letterman below.