Rock
The Rolling Stones’ US Tour Going Ahead Despite Death of Charlie Watts
The Rolling Stones’ upcoming US tour will take place as scheduled starting next month. That’s despite the death of longtime drummer, Charlie Watts, as well as the recent surge of Delta variant cases across the US. “The Rolling Stones’ tour dates are moving ahead as planned,” the tour’s promoter, Concerts West, said in a statement. Prior to his passing earlier this week, Watts announced that he would be sitting out of The Rolling Stones’ upcoming tour after undergoing a medical procedure. Watts had asked longtime Stones associate Steve Jordan to fill in for him on drums. Advertisement Related Video The Rolling Stones’ 12-date “No Filter Tour” includes stadium shows previously postponed due to the pandemic, as well as new dates in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Tickets are available for purchase...
The Killers Nab Second Top Rock Albums No. 1 in Under a Year With ‘Pressure Machine’
Released Aug. 13, Pressure Machine earned 26,000 equivalent album units in its first week, ending Aug. 19, according to MRC Data. The Killers add their fourth No. 1 on Top Rock Albums (which began in 2006), as prior to Pressure Machine and Imploding the Mirage, Wonderful Wonderful launched on top in October 2017 and Battle Born began in the lead in October 2012. Concurrently, the rootsy Pressure Machine debuts as the band’s first No. 1 on Americana/Folk Albums and starts at No. 2 on Alternative Albums. On the all-format Billboard 200, the set starts at No. 9, marking The Killers’ seventh top 10. Each of their studio albums has hit the chart’s top 10, dating to their debut album Hot Fuss, which peaked at No. 7 in May 2005. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are l...
Patti Smith Surprise Releases New EP Live at Electric Lady: Stream
After nearly a decade, Patti Smith is finally putting out recorded music again. The legendary musician has just surprise released a new live EP called Live at Electric Lady. Stream it below exclusively through Spotify. Live at Electric Lady is Smith’s first piece of recorded music since putting out her 11th studio album Banga in 2012. The EP spans seven tracks in total, including her original classics like “Birdland,” “Ghost Dance,” and “Broken Flag” as well as covers of Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings” and Stevie Wonder’s “Blame It on the Sun.” “We are very proud to be part of Spotify’s Live at Electric Lady series, our favorite recording studio,” said Smith in a statement. “It was a unique challenge and offered us an exciting and innovative platform. We are grateful to Spoti...
Limp Bizkit Cancel All Remaining 2021 Festival Dates, Promise New Songs Will ‘Leak’ Soon
The band were slated to play the Rocklahoma (Sept. 5), Blue Ridge Rock Festival (Sept. 10), Rebel Rock (Sept. 24) and Aftershock Festival (Oct. 7) — which were all still on their official site at press time. After a well-received return to the stage at Lollapalooza three weeks ago, LB called off their Limited Last Minute Post Pandemic Popup Party Edition tour “out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of the band, crew and most of all the fans.” In a follow-up statement to Billboard, Durst explained, “In short, the system is still very flawed. Even if the performers, crews, staff, and promoters do their best to ensure safety on and behind the stage, that doesn’t ensure the safety of the audience as a whole. We are all in this together, and ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Doug “Cosmo” Clifford on Vault Albums and Retiring CCR
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Doug “Cosmo” Clifford catches up with Kyle Meredith to discuss For All the Money in the World, a record he wrote and recorded with bassist Steve Wright in the mid-’80s and kept inside his Cosmo’s Vault until now. The drummer/producer talks about why he sat on the LP for so long, tapping Joe Satriani to play guitar, and the other vault records that will be seeing release soon — including collaborations with Bobby Whitlock, Doug Sahm, and a solo album. Clifford also tells us why he and CCR bassist Stu Cook recently brought Creedence Clearwater Revisited to a close. Advertisement Related Video Stream the interview wit...
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards & Ron Wood Pay Tribute to Drummer Charlie Watts
Watts, who Richards frequently referred to with the long-running band’s “engine room,” died Tuesday at age 80, his rep announced. Watts had just exited the band’s upcoming U.S. tour to allow him to recover from an unspecified medical procedure. The beloved drummer was honored by a galaxy of fellow rock and pop stars, including Elton John, KISS, the Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Joan Jett, Lenny Kravitz and Pearl Jam, among many others. The Who guitarist Pete Townshend also remembered his late friend, offering up a photo of a double rainbow on Instagram, along with an inspiring message of hope and love. “Full Moon. Rainbow. Always a sign. Charlie Watts wept at Keith Moon’s funeral. I wish I was capable of such tears today. Instead I ju...
Explosions in the Sky Announce New Album Big Bend, Share “Climbing Bears”: Stream
Explosions in the Sky ascended to indie rock stardom in the 2000s thanks to a beloved piece of Texas pop culture, Friday Night Lights; now, the Austin-based band are even further cementing themselves into Lone Star State canon with their latest project. Explosions in the Sky are readying the release of Big Bend (An Original Soundtrack for Public Television), a standalone album that builds off their score for the recent PBS documentary, Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas. Along with their two-decade career of studio albums, Explosions in the Sky have also been around the block when it comes to composing film soundtracks. Back in 2019, they were approached to create the score for Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas, an hour-long film that landed on PBS in early 2021. The documentary captu...
“Never Call Me Your Drummer Again!” The Time Charlie Watts Punched Mick Jagger
Charlie Watts, the legendary drummer whose jazz-inflected grooves kept The Rolling Stones, rolling along, has died at the age of 80. The tributes have been pouring in, and amidst all of the fond remembrances, one memory sticks out as being more fond than most: the time Watts punched Mick Jagger. The anecdote comes from Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards’ 2010 autobiography Life. During a period when Jagger was one of the most famous people in the entire world — and, as Richards tells it, among the most irritating — Watts was one of the few people willing to put him in his place. “There was a rare moment, in late 1984, of Charlie throwing his drummer’s punch — a punch I’ve seen a couple of times and it’s lethal; it carries a lot of balance and timing,” Richards wrote. “He has t...
The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, Keith Richards Pay Tribute to Charlie Watts
The music world was shaken today when we learned of the death of Charlie Watts, the longtime drummer for The Rolling Stones. There has been an outpouring of reactions to the passing, with celebrities and peers from Paul McCartney to Questlove sharing messages. Now, two of his surviving bandmates have also paid tribute to Watts. In separate Instagram posts, both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards shared images in memory of their longtime bandmate. The former posted an image of a smiling Watts in action, a fitting way to remember the steady stickman known for his constant beaming behind his kit. It’s also nice to know this is how Jagger choose to remember him, rather than the time Watts punched Jagger for calling him “my drummer.” Richards, meanwhile, posted an image of Watts’ drum set with a “C...
The Baby on Nirvana’s Nevermind Album Cover Sues Band for Child Sexual Exploitation
Spencer Elden, who was famously photographed as a baby for Nirvana’s iconic Nevermind album cover, is suing the band for child sexual exploitation. The lawsuit comes just a month shy of the landmark album’s 30th anniversary. One of the most famous album covers of all time, Nevermind depicts a then four-month-old Elden swimming naked underwater as he reaches for a dollar bill. As the story goes, Elden was the son of a friend of album photographer Kurt Weddle. Nirvana’s label, Geffen, initially objected to Elden’s penis being visible, but Kurt Cobain insisted it not be censored. The Nirvana frontman at one point said his only compromise would be a strategically placed sticker that read, “If you’re offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.” According to TMZ, Elden has now filed a laws...
Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts Dies at 80
“Rock swings with a heavy backbeat,” Watts once explained to writer Chet Flippo. “It’s supposed to be fun, and that’s why I like it. It’s dance music…Heavy backbeat, that’s what it is.” And that sensibility became a hallmark of the Stones’ enduring sound. “To me, Charlie IS the Rolling Stones,” Keith Richards once told Billboard. “We can be as wild as we want, all over the place, but Charlie never falls out of place. He keeps it all locked in and moving forward.” Wyman, meanwhile, saluted Watts as “an economist” in both his playing and his instrument. “I look at all these drummers that have all these pieces on [their kits] to band around on, and Charlie has, like, seven,” the bassist...
R.E.M. Announce New Adventures in Hi-Fi 25th Anniversary Reissue, Share “Leave (Alternate Version)”: Stream
R.E.M. have announced a 25th anniversary reissue of their 1996 album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, due out October 29th via Craft Recordings. As a preview, the legendary Athens, Georgia rockers have shared an alternate version of “Leave,” which you can stream below. The deluxe CD edition includes three discs featuring newly remastered audio, 13 B-sides and rarities, and a Blu-ray containing an unreleased film that was originally projected on buildings to promote the album’s release. The Blu-ray also features five HD-restored music videos from the New Adventures in Hi-Fi era. It’s all packaged in a 52-page hardcover book with new liner notes from journalist Mark Blackwell, archival photographs, and commentary from all four original band members, Patti Smith, Thom Yorke, and producer Scott Litt....
