Rock
Page: 160
It’s beginning to look a lot like BlinkMas. Just in time for the holiday season, the reunited Blink-182 revealed they are edging closer to dropping their first new album of music from the longtime lineup. “New Album Coming in a few months,” wrote guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge, who rejoined the trio earlier this year after leaving the band for a second time in 2014.
The album tease featuring a live shot of the band performing below a giant four-letter pyro effect — Blink has not yet announced a firm release date for the follow-up to 2019’s Nine — came with more good news. In celebration of the first single from the album, “Edging,” earning a seventh week at No. 1 at alternative radio, DeLonge announced, “the next single that’s coming is [fire emoji].”
The slow-drip leak of information about the as-yet-untitled album got a boost last week from singer/bassist Mark Hoppus, who also promised that the follow-up to the trio’s last studio album together, 2011’s Neighborhoods, is, well, another fire emoji, followed by a metal salute emoji. Plus, Hoppus added what appeared to be some very on-brand goofball lyrics.
“I like to eat cheese/ In my U-Haul/ And drink so much beer/ I never poop at all/ I put my dog down/ And pulled my grandma’s plug/ I was getting kinda used to be someone you loved,” they read. The latter appeared to reveal that the lyrics may have been a gag (or not), as the last line was cribbed from Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved.” That inclusion inspired the English pop singer to respond, “This is the best day of my life.”
Drummer Travis Barker got in on the action this week too, posting a killer, triple-time drum solo from the studio with the caption, “Anthem Pt. 3.” The first “Anthem” appeared on the group’s 1999 breakthrough Enema of the State album, with the sequel showing up on their follow-up fourth full-length, 2001’s Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
The upcoming album’s first single, “Edging,” rocked all the way to the top of Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart last month after just three weeks, marking the quickest ascent to the top of that tally so far this year. The reunited trio’s massive world tour is slated to kick off on March 11 in Tijuana, Mexico at the Imperial GNP festival and keep the band on the road in South America and Mexico through April 2 before shifting to North America on May 4 with a show at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota; those dates will run through a July 16 gig in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena and then move on to Europe in September and Australia/New Zealand in early 2024.
See all three members’ posts below.
On night three of Hanukkah Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin dipped into an all-time classic from one of their favorites. “Once referred to as the ‘biggest Jewish band to come out of Britain,’ 10cc’s MOTs Godley, Crème and Gouldman recorded a ton of hits — here’s one of the many: ‘The Things We Do For Love’ as sung by Inara George!” they wrote in the description to the latest video from their 2022 “Hanukkah Sessions” series.
Singer George — Kurstin’s partner in the indie pop duo The Bird and the Bee — soared with the swoony ballad, belting out the song’s dreamy lyrics about walking through any kind of weather for love as Kurstin banged out the track’s barroom roll on his piano and Grohl hled down the beat. As a bonus, Tenacious D’s Jack Black and Kyle Gass casually added in some background sweet harmonies.
This is Grohl and Kurstin’s third year posting eight nights of covers of songs made famous by Jewish musicians. In a twist, this year’s efforts were all recorded live at Los Angeles’ intimate Largo on Dec. 5 with a cast of all-star guests taking the stage at the 250-capacity club that also included the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O and Grohl’s 16-year-old daughter, Violet. Night one featured beloved director Judd Apatow rocking through a cover of Blood, Sweat & Tears’ 1969 Grammy-nominated Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Spinning Wheel.” On night two, P!nk rolled up to “Get The Party Started” with a run through her signature 20001 bar mitzvah jam.
Grohl and Kurstin released the first “Sessions” in Dec. 2020 in the midst of the first winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping one new cover for each night of the holiday. In the midst of a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents and hate speech in the U.S., proceeds from the Largo night went to the Anti-Defamation League.
Watch “The Things We Do For Love” below.
Ozzy Osbourne earned four Grammy nominations for his Patient Number 9 album, and he tells Billboard that the nods were an unexpected, yet welcome, surprise.
“The whole thing shocked me,” he says in a new interview with Lyndsey Havens. “I mean, if I won anything for the album I’ll be floored.”
“That’s what I like about the business. It’s never short of — I love surprises,” he adds in the clip of the Q&A above.
Osbourne says he’s “kind of excited for being nominated for the best rock album” for Patient Number 9, which topped Billboard‘s Top Rock Albums chart in September. He’s also nominated for best rock song and best rock performance, for the song “Patient Number 9” featuring Jeff Beck, as well as best metal performance for “Degradation Rules” with Tony Iommi. (A full list of nominations for the 2023 Grammy Awards can be seen here.)
Asked whether he’ll prepare a speech or wing it on Grammy night, should he win any awards, Osbourne admits that giving speeches isn’t really his specialty.
“I’m not good at making speeches,” he says. “I always end up saying it twice or blowing it or whatever. I’m sure my wife will have it worked out. Behind me is my wife. My wife pulls my strings.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the 74-year-old rocker noted that the album’s title, Patient Number 9, is “me, I suppose. The last four years have been sheer hell for me. I’ve been in such a bad… healthwise. Plus I got [a] Parkinson’s diagnosis. But I’m, you know, takes a lot to hold me down.”
Watch the full interview in the video above.
John Mayer stopped by Call Her Daddy for the hit podcast’s first-ever holiday special and spilled some major tea about his breakout hit “Your Body Is a Wonderland.”
The topic came up when host Alex Cooper asked the rocker what he was like in high school, in an episode that dropped Tuesday night (Dec. 20). “I didn’t have a presence,” Mayer admitted. “So I think that one of the bigger misnomers about me is that there’s like a jocky-ness to me, you know? Like there’s an alpha, musician jocky-ness to me and the bottom line is, like, I went to school to get it over with. And my life began at 3 o’clock in the afternoon when I came home and played guitar.”
Cooper was quick to point out that just a few years after graduating from high school, he was winning his first Grammy for 2002’s “Your Body Is a Wonderland.” And yet, Mayer insisted that — contrary to the mythos surrounding his love life — he was hardly a Hollywood playboy at the time.
“That was about my first girlfriend,” he said of his sophomore single. “That was about the feeling, which I think was already sort of nostalgic… I was 21 when I wrote that song and I was nostalgic for being 16.”
When Cooper pressed that she always thought the sensual smash was about a certain, unnamed celebrity, he responded, “No, that’s one of those things where people just sort of formed that idea, it gets reinforced over the years, no, no, no. I had never met a celebrity when I wrote that song.”
Next year, Mayer will embark on the final Dead & Company tour, starting May 19 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
Stream Mayer’s Call Her Daddy episode on Spotify below.
The Tubes has lost another member. Rick Anderson, bassist and founding member of the San Francisco rock band, died at 75 on Dec. 16, the group shared in a statement on social media.
“We lost our brother on 12/16/22,” the band captioned a series of photos on Sunday (Dec. 18). “Rick brought a steady and kind presence to the band for 50 years. His love came through his bass. RIP.” The statement did not offer any additional details regarding Anderson’s death, which comes after the April passing of Re Styles, who sang with the group.
The Tubes formed on March 22, 1972, in San Francisco, and was the combined forces of two Phoenix bands that came from the city to California in 1969. The first band, called The Beans, included Anderson as well as other members Bill Spooner, Vince Welnick and Bob McIntosh. The second band, the Red White and Blues Band, featured members Prairie Prince, Roger Steen, and David Killingsworth.
With The Tubes, Anderson opened for Led Zeppelin in 1973. Rick Wakeman of the band Yes was instrumental in helping the band get signed, suggesting to the group’s A&R to pitch to A&M Records. After getting signed, The Tubes released its self-titled debut album in 1975. Tracks “White Punks on Dope” and “What Do You Want From Life?” became staples in the band’s catalogue, with the former being covered by Mötley Crüe in 2000.
See The Tubes’ announcement about Anderson’s death below:
Martin Duffy, the keyboardist for iconic Scottish alt-rock band Primal Scream, has died. He was 55.
Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie announced his bandmate’s death in a lengthy social media tribute on Tuesday (Dec. 20), revealing that Duffy had died from a brain injury after falling at his home on Sunday (Dec. 18) in Brighton, England.
“We in Primal Scream are all so sad,” Gillespie wrote on Instagram, noting that he had known Duffy since he was a teenager in the indie band Felt. “He played keyboards on every album of ours from the first to the last. Finally joining the band in 1991. Martin was a very special character. He had a love and understanding of music on a deep spiritual level. Music meant everything to him.”
Duffy was born on May 18, 1967, in Birmingham, England. He joined Felt at the age of 16 in the mid-1980s before the group signed with Creation Records. Duffy was a member of the band until its split in 1989.
During his time in Felt, Duffy also joined recording sessions for Primal Scream’s first two albums, Sonic Flower Groove (1987) and Primal Scream (1989). He was a full-time member of the U.K. rock outfit by the release of its critically acclaimed 1991 album, Screamadelica. Decades later, Duffy contributed to frontman Gillespie’s 2021 collaborative album, Utopian Ashes, with Savages singer Jehnny Beth.
Following the death of The Charlatans‘ founding member Rob Collins in 1996, Duffy stepped in to perform with the veteran groove-rockers when the band supported Oasis at a concert in Knebworth that summer. He also contributed to the Charlatans’ 1997 album, Tellin’ Stories.
“Another tragic loss of a beautiful soul,” Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess wrote on Twitter. “Martin Duffy stepped in to save The Charlatans when we lost Rob – he played with us at Knebworth and was a true friend. He toured with me in my solo band too – he was a pleasure to spend time with. Safe travels Duffy.”
Duffy collaborated with numerous other musicians during his career, including Beth Orton, Chemical Brothers, Paul Weller and Jessie Buckley. He also released a solo album, Assorted Promenades, in 2014.
“Martin was the most musically talented of all of us,” Gillespie wrote. “His style combined elements of country, blues and soul, all of which he had a God given natural feel for. He never played the same thing twice, ever. He was all about ‘the moment’, better have that ‘record’ button on when Duffy was on fire. His timing was unique, funky and ALWAYS behind the beat.”
See Primal Scream’s full tribute below.
Sir Elton John, who recently performed at Dodger Stadium for the final U.S. show of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road trek, is now within striking distance of the Billboard Boxscore record for highest-grossing tour. He says it’s his last. Billboard has charted the Rocket Man’s ascent and journey through the pop culture firmament since his first Hot 100 top 10, “Your Song,” to his latest, “Hold Me Closer” with Britney Spears.It’s a Little Bit Funny…
Before “Border Song” crossed over to the Hot 100, Billboard took in John’s career-making U.S. debut at the Los Angeles Troubadour for the Sept. 5, 1970, issue and remarked on his “Southern Comfort style” vocals. By the Nov. 28 issue, “Your Song” was climbing the Hot 100, but Billboard wasn’t fully on board. “Elton John faces a major decision in his short career. Does he abandon his valid musical skills in favor of being a ‘stage freak?’ ” sniped one writer, who sniffed at “cheap, silly” antics like “banging the keyboard with his boot.” We hope you don’t mind that we put this down in words, Sir Elton.
Bennie and the Jet Set
By the time the rocker appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in 1973 with “a torrent of homing pigeons” and “none other than Linda Lovelace of Deep Throat fame,” the Oct. 6 issue was more supportive of his “unusually flamboyant” and “high-energy piano-vocal stylings.” In the next issue, an MCA Records executive reported that the double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was enjoying the label’s “biggest initial orders to date.”
Captain Fantastic
By 1976, John was omnipresent. “’Pinball Wizard’ by Elton John I can play once an hour, and half an hour later get four or five phone requests for it,” marveled a Philadelphia DJ in the June 12 issue. In the Aug. 7 issue, a survey of radio listeners who regularly bought records revealed John was “a clear favorite with 27.8% of the respondents.” In the July 31 Billboard, his name was used as shorthand for rock n’ roll itself: “Steve Ford, son of President Ford, is showing up at more rock shows than Elton John these days.”
Still Standing — And Thriving
By the mid-1990s, John had been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and won an Academy Award. And as reported in the Oct. 11, 1997, issue, John’s tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” “blew away the previous record for largest SoundScan week” by selling “nearly 3.5 million singles its first week.” The following year, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
Can You Feel the Love Tonight?
In 1992, John started a pioneering HIV/ AIDS nonprofit. Sharing the Oct. 24, 2015, Billboard cover with his friend Lady Gaga, John wrote, “I believe with all my heart that in my lifetime I will have seen the very first day, and also the very last day, of the AIDS epidemic.” Gaga was inspired. “When I’m with him,” she told Billboard, “I just want to be a part of his genius plan to save the world.”
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 17, 2022, issue of Billboard.
Terry Hall, the charismatic lead vocalist of British ska revivalists The Specials has died at 63. The band announced Hall’s passing on Monday (Dec. 19), revealing that the singer passed after an undisclosed “brief illness.”
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced,” the band said in a statement.
“Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly the love. He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity.”
One of the leading lights of the late ’70s British ska revival, the Specials (originally billed as Special AKA) formed in Coventry, England in 1977, with Hall replacing original singer Tim Strickland in the group notable for its multi-racial makeup. Coinciding with the burgeoning Rock Against Racism movement in the UK at the time, the band made a statement in their rude boy two-tone suits and porkpie hats and blasted out of the gate on their Elvis Costello-produced self-titled debut on their 2 Tone label, which featured their signature cover of Dandy Livingstone’s 1967 single “A Message To You Rudy.”
Terence Edward Hall was born on March 19, 1959 in Coventry and began his singing career in local punk bands as a teenager before joining the Specials and splitting vocal duties with the excitable Neville Staple.
On such pointedly political songs as “Concrete Jungle,” “Ghost Town and “Rat Race,” the band mixed Caribbean sway, ska horns, loungey grooves and Jamaican rhythms to form a uniquely uplifting, danceable sound while delivering sharp social critiques about the late 1970s political, racial and economic struggles in the UK. Go-Gos guitarist Jane Wiedlin — who sang backing vocals on the Specials’ 1980 album More Specials — paid tribute to her friend in a touching tweet.
“Gutted to hear of the passing of #terryhall. He was a lovely, sensitive, talented and unique person,” he wrote. “Our extremely brief romance resulted in the song ‘Our Lips Are Sealed,’ which will forever tie us together in music history. Terrible news to hear this.”
The group scored a string of UK top 10 singles in their short initial run (1979-1981), before Hall and co-vocalist Staple and guitarist Lynval Golding split to form the more pop-oriented group Fun Boy Three. Hall then formed the group the Coclourfield in 1984, releasing two albums with that project before pivoting to release an album with his trio featuring actress Blair Booth and jeweler Anouchka Grose: Terry, Blair & Anouchka. He also recorded an album of electro pop songs with Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart as Vegas in 1992 before releasing a pair of solo albums, Home (1994) and Laugh (1997).
Hall returned for a reunion in 2008 and performed on-and-off with the band until his death, appearing on their eight studio album, 2019’s Encore.
In the early 2000s Hall sang on the 2001 Gorillaz song “911” and sat in on the Toots and the Maytals 2004 Grammy-winning album True Love. Though the Specials formed and reformed a number of times over the years with a wide variety of lineups, Hall will be remembered for the indelible mark he left on their first two albums and the long tail of influence in the band’s music, message and style, which was carried on in spirit by everyone from Fishbone to the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, No Doubt, Blur, Sublime, and Operation Ivy/Rancid.
In a moving nod to the Specials’ message of unity, the band noted in its tribute that Hall often left the stage at the end of shows by uttering a signature affirming three-word mantra: “Love Love Love.”
Watch “A Message to You Rudy” and see some tributes to Hall below.
Gutted to hear of the passing of #terryhall. He was a lovely, sensitive, talented and unique person. Our extremely brief romance resulted in the song Our Lips Are Sealed, which will forever tie us together in music history. Terrible news to hear this. 😢 pic.twitter.com/Fxxqr0p01T— Jane Wiedlin (@janewiedlin) December 19, 2022
The Specials were a celebration of how British culture was envigorated by Caribbean immigration but the onstage demenour of their lead singer was a reminder that they were in the serious business of challenging our perception of who we were in the late 1970s. RIP Terry Hall pic.twitter.com/PVwbXyXubq— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) December 19, 2022
“I was deeply saddened to hear about Terry Hall’s passing on Sunday. @SugaryStaple was called as we arrived in Egypt. We knew Terry had been unwell but didn’t realise how serious until recently. We had only just confirmed some 2023 joint music agreements together. This has hit me pic.twitter.com/sHNMJIwPII— From THE SPECIALS Neville Staple (@NevilleStaple) December 19, 2022
This is very very sad newsOnly if we had the conscious humour & intelligence in popular music today that #terryhall brought in his lyrics to us all back then.It’s time to put the specials where they belong as one of the greatest British bands ever. #ripterryhall https://t.co/Ghrh2o0uPj— 🏴☠️ Geoff Barrow 🏴☠️ (@jetfury) December 20, 2022
If night two is this rockin’, how are we even going to make it six more crazy nights? For the second installment of this holiday season’s “Hanukkah Sessions,” Foo Fighters boss Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin roped in P!nk for a raucous run through the singer’s 2001 smash “Get the Party Started.”
“One of the music world’s biggest and brightest stars of David, P!nk shows a couple of schmendricks how it’s done by joining us for her very own Bat Mitzvah staple ‘Get The Party Started!,’” read the description of the clip.
P!nk, dressed down in ripped green pants and a blue denim shirt worked the tiny stage at L.A. club Largo backed by Grohl on drums and Kurstin on keys, hilariously flubbing a few lines from the single on her second album, Missundaztood, while getting a bit of forceful backup vocal assistance from one of the night’s other special guests, Jack Black.
This is Grohl and Kurstin’s third year posting eight nights of covers of songs made famous by Jewish musicians. In a twist, this year’s efforts were all recorded live at Los Angeles’ intimate Largo on Dec. 5 with a cast of all-star guests taking the stage at the 250-capacity club that also included the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O and Grohl’s 16-year-old daughter, Violet. Night one featured beloved director Judd Apatow rocking through a cover of Blood, Sweat & Tears’ 1969 Grammy-nominated Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Spinning Wheel.”
Grohl and Kurstin released the first “Sessions” in Dec. 2020 in the midst of the first winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping one new cover for each night of the holiday. In the midst of a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents and hate speech in the U.S., proceeds from the Largo night went to the Anti-Defamation League.
The inaugural 2020 “Sessions” featured covers of songs by he Beastie Boys, Drake, Mountain, Peaches, Bob Dylan, Elastica, The Knack and the Velvet Underground, while last year’s edition brought eight crazy nights of covers, including a black metal take on Lisa Loeb’s “Stay (I Missed You),” as well as the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana (At the Copa),” the Clash’s “Train in Vain,” Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Nite,” Van Halen’s “Jump,” Amy Winehouse’s “Take the Box” and Billy Joel’s “Big Shot.”
Watch P!nk get the party started below.
[embedded content]
Shirley Ann Watts, a former art student and prominent breeder of Arabian horses who met drummer Charlie Watts well before he joined the Rolling Stones and with him formed one of rock’s most enduring marriages, has died. She was 84.
“Shirley died peacefully on Friday 16th December in Devon after a short illness surrounded by her family,” her family announced Monday (Dec. 19). The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood was among those mourning her.
“We will miss you so much, but take comfort that you are reunited with your beloved Charlie,” Wood wrote on Facebook.
While Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards all have had multiple wives and girlfriends, Charlie and Shirley Watts remained together for more than 50 years, until Charlie died in 2021. Their only known crisis happened in the mid-1980s, when Charlie Watts struggled with heroin addiction, a time he would later say nearly cost him his marriage. He was otherwise regarded as so devoted to his wife, and daughter Seraphina, that journalists essentially left him alone.
“I’ve always wanted to be a drummer [and] as long as it’s comfortable with my wife, I’ll continue to do it,” he told Rolling Stone magazine in 1996.
When Charlie wasn’t touring or recording, he and his family lived on a 600-acre, 16th century estate in Devon, where they were better known for their Polish Arabian horses and for rescuing animals than for the drummer’s singular place in rock history. Stories about the Watts were as likely to appear in Arabian Horse World as they were in a music publication.
According to Charlie, his wife had warm relations with Jagger and Richards and, unlike him, would play the Stones’ music around the house. But Shirley herself expressed ambivalent feelings, telling Vanity Fair in 1989 that the band’s drug use affected her life “very, very deeply” and that she otherwise had little use for the rock star world.
“It was quite appalling being pitched into the life of the Rolling Stones,” she said. “I really got lost for about 25 years and I’ve never been able to cope with it. There’s been lots of anger, much of it very, very deep. I like the people in the group — up to a point. But I’ve always hated the way rock music and its world treat women and particularly the Rolling Stones’ attitude. There is no respect.”
Shirley Ann Shepherd was born in London in 1938 and was studying sculpture at the Royal College of Art in the early ’60s when she first saw her future husband, who at the time was part of the emerging blues and jazz scene in England that also included Jagger and Richards. They were already dating when Watts joined the Stones early in 1963, and married the following year, just as the band had established itself as second only to the Beatles in local popularity.
“She was so funny and clever, and she had the most infectious laugh you’d ever heard,” Charlie Watts said of her when interviewed by The Guardian in 2000. “And I loved the world she was in, the world of art and sculpting. I just admired Shirley very, very much.”
The biggest scandal about their marriage was their decision to get married. Rock star weddings were considered bad business at the time, a turnoff to young female fans — the Beatles’ John Lennon was among those who hedged when reporters asked him about his domestic life.
Without informing the other Stones, the Watts married in Bradford and had a quiet lunch at a nearby pub. According to Paul Sexton’s Charlie’s Good Tonight, a 2022 biography of the late drummer written with his family’s cooperation, Charlie Watts initially denied reports that he was married, telling the Daily Express that “it would do a great deal of harm to my career if the story got around.” But Shirley happily confirmed the news, saying they could not “bear to live separately any longer.”
Neither Charlie nor Shirley liked drawing attention to themselves, but at times they did so anyway. Shirley Watts was arrested at the Nice airport in 1971 for attacking customs officials after they had reportedly singled out her husband for attention. In 2016, she threatened to sue Polish government officials over the alleged mistreatment of two Arabian mares at a state-run farm.
Shirley Watts also endured a battle with alcoholism, one she helped overcome by hours of sculpting horses and dogs. The Watts’ shared interest in horses grew from collecting figurines to raising hundreds of Arab horses, a passion that began after Charlie purchased a part-bred stallion for his wife.
“I much prefer my life here with the horses. I love the hunt. The sense of power one gets on a horse,” she told Vanity Fair. “It’s a very primeval instinct. When you hear the hounds — they call it the music — when you hear the hounds’ music, it’s bloodcurdling it’s so thrilling. And it affects both you and the horse. There’s nothing like it. It’s dangerous. It’s exciting.”
She added, with a laugh, “It sounds rather like a rock ‘n’ roll concert.”