Rock
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The opening of a Las Vegas museum devoted to punk rock music has been pushed back.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday (Dec. 21) that the Punk Rock Museum, slated to debut next month, will open its doors in March.
The 12,000-square-foot museum is situated between the Las Vegas Strip and downtown. It will include a bar, a tattoo parlor, a wedding chapel and a “jam room.”
Several punk rock artists have signed on to act as tour guides, including Roger Miret of Agnostic Front and Louiche Mayorga of Suicidal Tendencies.
The museum’s opening day is March 10. Tours will begin April 1.
Weezer released the final chapter of their ongoing SZNZ EP project, SZNZ: Winter, on Wednesday (Dec. 21) via Crush Music/Atlantic Records.
Dropped by the band on the winter solstice, the seven-track EP contains lead single “I Want a Dog” as well as cuts like “Iambic Pentameter,” “Dark Enough to See the Stars” and closer “The Dark and Dreamless Sleep,” and completes the seasonal release cycle that began last March with SZNZ: Spring. SZNZ: Summer came next on the summer solstice in June, followed by SZNZ: Autumn on the September equinox.
“This year we’re releasing four EPs each inspired by magic, Pagan myths, religious rituals, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Shakespeare and more (so much more). Each one will take you on an enchanting journey,” the foursome shared when announcing the project back at the start of the year. The EPs are all tied together by interpolating a movement of “The Four Seasons” in a song on each.
To coincide with the sprawling, yearlong project, Weezer originally planned — and announced — a five-show Broadway run titled SZNZ: In Residence, but the residency was canceled months later in August due to low ticket sales and “unbelievably high” production expenses.
This fall, Weezer held their very first “Weezerween” pumpkin carving contest, offering the winning fan the chance to see their Halloween-inspired creation on a giant billboard somewhere in America. Last month, the band also released the lo-fi music video for SZNZ: Autumn lead-off “What Happens After You.”
Stream Weezer’s SZNZ: Winter below.
Just says after the death of The Specials singer Terry Hall at age 63 after what the band described as a “brief illness,” the group’s bassist revealed the beloved singer’s cancer diagnosis, as well as the previously undisclosed album the group was preparing to record.
“We had it all planned out. Make the album we were going to do in 2020 – a reggae album,” wrote Horace Panter, an original member of the second wave British two tone ska revivalist group of the sessions that were already booked in Los Angeles during the first winter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Panter said Aggrolites keyboardist Roger Rivas was set to co-produce the set and famed street artists Shepard Fairey was on board to create the cover.
With 8 songs prepped for the sessions by Hall, “confidence was high,” Panter wrote, noting that a revised plan called for them to hit the studio in September of this year. “Terry e-mails everyone and says he’s in bed with a stomach bug and can’t do the first week of pre-production sessions,” according to Panter. “No big deal, we can knock everything back a week. We’re not due to fly out until November 4th. The next week, Terry is no better and is in hospital. There’s not much we can do except wait for him to get better. Sunday October 2nd and I get a phone call from Manager Steve. And everything turns to s–t.”
Panter said that Hall’s illness was “a lot worse” than anyone thought, writing that the singer had been “diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas which has spread to his liver. This is serious. Like life-threatening serious.” At press time Billboard was unable to independently confirm the description of Hall’s illness and cause of death.
After the pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Panter said that Hall then developed diabetes, with chemotherapy going well, but pushing any potential plans to record vocals to March 2023 at the earliest. “He is in and out of hospital to stabilise the diabetes issue and also to manage pain. It then goes quiet,” Panter wrote. “Beginning of December and reports are not good. Terry has lost a lot of weight and is very frail. His friend Ian Broudie visits and phones Manager Steve. He fears that Terry is slipping away. 15th December and Manager Steve drives up to London to visit. He calls me on his return journey and says things are not looking promising. Terry is dying.”
The day after the visit, Panter said Hall was placed on morphine and was essentially unconscious most of the time. He described Hall’s wife holding the phone to the singer’s ear so he could say goodbyes to his bandmates and family, including to Panter. The bassist said the “Ghost Town” singer died on Sunday evening. “The world has lost a unique voice and I have lost a good friend,” he lamented.
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 multiracial makeup. Coinciding with the burgeoning Rock Against Racism movement in the U.K. at the time, the band members 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.”
The outpouring of grief over Hall’s death came in a torrent in the days after, with everyone from Elvis Costello (who produced the band’s self-titled 1979 debut), to Go-Gos guitarist Jane Wiedlin (who sang backing vocals on the group’s 1980s More Specials album) and dozens of other friends, peers and collaborators sharing their thoughts.
One of the most moving was a wordless, emotional piano performance of The Specials’ 1980s track “Friday Night, Saturday Morning” by Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn. “Terry, you meant the world to me. I love you,” Albarn wrote.
See Panter’s FB postand see Albarn’s tribute below.
If you’re feeling weird about spending all that hard-earned cash on a big stack of holiday gifts that the people on your list may or may not want (or need), Coldplay have a unique, heart-warming way to throw your arms around the world this Christmas time.
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On Tuesday (Dec. 20) the group encouraged their fans to drop by this year’s edition of their “Choose Love” pop-up shop in London — or to visit the store online — “to buy essential supplies like warm coats, hot food and heating fuel for refugees and displaced people all over the world this winter.”
A brief video accompanying the tweet showed a long line of people waiting outside the shop and a shot of the unconventional shelves inside stocked with toys for children, soccer balls, house plants, children’s backpacks, jerry cans and orange life vests, along with footage of coats and school supplies in the hands of kids in need.
“Everything you buy will go directly to the people who need them the most,” the video promised. “This year shop with love.”
Earlier this month, singer Chris Martin gave fans an update while sharing his current favorite songs. “I hope you’re all doing well. Here are some things I love at the moment,” Martin wrote in a note while listing his current top tracks, including include RM‘s “Yun” featuring Erykah Badu, Badu’s live rendition of “Tyrone,” Bayka‘s “She Like It,” The 1975‘s “Looking for Somebody (to Love),” Inhaler‘s “Totally,” Kyoka‘s “Hurt People” and Stormzy‘s “Hide & Seek.”
Martin concluded his message by writing, “We are in the studio. We send you all much love.” The band recently wrapped a massive world tour in support of 2021’s Music of the Spheres.
Check out the tweet below.
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.