Rock
Metallica Rules Top Facebook Live Videos Chart With Final #MetallicaMondays Video
The rock band’s upload of its March 3, 2017, Mexico City concert leads the way for August 2020. Metallica’s final installment of Metallica Mondays on Facebook Live finds the band going out on top, as the rockers rule Billboard’s Top Facebook Live Videos chart for August 2020. The chart, the latest of which recaps August 2020 activity, is a monthly look at the widest-reaching and most-reacted-to videos posted by musicians on Facebook Live, as tracked by media analytics company Shareablee. Rankings are determined by a formula that blends reactions, comments, shares and first-seven-days views. Posted Aug. 25, Metallica’s final (at least for now) Metallica Mondays video featured the band’s March 3, 2017, concert from Mexico City. Metallica’s upload paced the field for August 2020 in first-seve...
All-Star ‘A Change Is Gonna Come 2020′ Playlist Encourages Voter Registration
A Spotify playlist titled “A Change is Gonna Come 2020” includes selections from former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke as well as members of the Polyphonic Spree, Slowdive and the Psychedelic Furs in an effort to encourage voter registration. The 40-track playlist features songs meant to capture the current moment and spur listeners to the polls on Nov. 3 and to activism in their communities. In addition to former punk bassist and Texas Rep. O’Rourke, the list is made up of songs chosen by Polyphonic Spree leader Tim DeLaughter, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), David Mandel (Seinfeld, Veep), Mars Williams (Psychedelic Furs), all the members of Midlake, Sarah Jaffe and many more. Inspired by Sam Cooke’s iconic 1964 soul anthem of the same name it is i...
Billy Corgan Says Halsey & Lady Gaga Exist in a Genre-Bending ‘Musical World That I Dreamed Of’
The Smashing Pumpkins‘ frontman Billy Corgan chatted with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about reassembling the Chicago alt-rockers for a new album and the evolving state of mainstream pop. Corgan listed his rock-leaning musical influences David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and The Beatles, but he appreciates how pop stars like Halsey and Lady Gaga have been leaning into other genres in a “musical world that I dreamed of.” “I think the good news is that we’re now in, or we’ve entered into, the musical world that I dreamed of. Which is that you hear pop artists like Halsey doing almost alternative tracks. You see Gaga doing a country album,” Corgan said of their output. “I mean, artists really should explore the space, and ...
S.G. Goodman & Jim James Headlining All-Star Get Out the Vote Festival ‘Which Side Are You On’
Native Kentuckians S.G. Goodman and Jim James are hoping to encourage voter registration with their upcoming all-star online festival, “Which Side Are You On: Voices for Kentucky and Beyond.” The Old Time Feeling singer-songwriter and My Morning Jacket frontman have teamed with Hood to the Holler and Rural Organizing for the three-hour Oct. 1 blowout, during which they will perform alongside Jason Isbell, Bright Eyes, Phoebe Bridgers, Nappy Roots, Chris Thile, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Durand Jones, Leyla McCalla, James Lindsey and many more. The show will be hosted by Kentucky House Rep. Charles Booker, who will discuss voter registration, voter eligibility and key voting deadlines in between acts. And though the music is the draw, Goodman tells Billboard that the go...
The Doobie Brothers Tell Bill Murray to Pay Up
Often, the legal threats come hot and heavy. But that’s not what happens when Bill Murray uses, without license, the Doobie Brothers‘ “Listen to the Music” for an advertisement for his golf shirts, and the band must react. Here, the group’s attorney Peter Paterno attempts to lightly scold Murray for using the 1972 hit, written by Tom Johnston. He writes, “It seems like the only person who uses our clients’ music without permission more than you do is Donald Trump… We’d almost be OK with it if the shirts weren’t so damn ugly.” Ouch! Murray’s camp hasn’t responded yet. Here’s the rest of the letter… This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you ...
Here Are All the Livestreams & Virtual Concerts to Watch During the Coronavirus Crisis: Week of Sept. 21
Fall is getting off to a hot start when it comes to livestream events. The first week of autumn offers plenty of musical events to keep you rockin’ on your couch. Among those are notable festivals such as Bonnaroo’s Virtual Roo-Ality and Fair Aid 2020; Hip-Hop 4 Peace featuring Chuck D and KRS One, as well as sets from Charlie Puth, Lamb of God, and many more. Many artists and festivals are continuing to take their shows online, as the global coronavirus pandemic continues to rage. While not all artists and festivals are offering new performances in upcoming livestreams, some — including Virtual Roo-Ality — are featuring rare or iconic performances from past events. Below is a list of the livestream concerts for the week of Sept. 21. We’ll continue to update t...
California Graphic Artist Claims He, Not Kurt Cobain, Created Nirvana’s Smiley Face Logo
In the latest twist in Nirvana’s two-year-old copyright and trademark battle with designer Marc Jacobs over the use of the band’s smiley face design, a California graphic artist has stepped forward to say that he created the band’s logo and not Kurt Cobain. Robert Fisher, a freelance graphic designer based in Woodland Hills, filed a motion Sept. 13 to intervene in the ongoing federal litigation in the U.S. California Central District claiming to be the rightful creator and owner of the copyright design. Nirvana LLC has been in litigation with Jacobs since 2018, when they sued the designer for copyright infringement and trademark infringement alleging that he had used that Happy face design as part of his “Bootleg Redux Grunge” line without their permission. The band’s legal papers state Co...
John Lennon’s Killer Mark Chapman Says he Sought ‘Self-Glory’
The man who killed John Lennon in 1980 says he was seeking glory and deserved the death penalty for a “despicable” act. Mark David Chapman made the comments in response to questions last month from a parole board, which denied him parole for an 11th time. As in previous parole board hearings, the now 65-year-old inmate expressed remorse for gunning down the former Beatle outside the musician’s Manhattan apartment building. “I assassinated him .. because he was very, very, very famous and that’s the only reason and I was very, very, very, very much seeking self-glory. Very selfish,” Chapman said, according to a transcript released by the state Monday after an open records request. Looking back 40 years later, Chapman called his actions “creepy” and “despicable.” He said he thinks all the ti...
Declan McKenna on Activism: “I’m a Pretty Hard-Lined Environmentalist”
Kyle Meredith With… Declan McKenna Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Declan McKenna speaks with Kyle Meredith about his sophomore album, Zeros. The album uses a wide concept of space as a way of looking at our own problems and behaviors here on Earth through an astronaut character named Daniel. McKenna explains how he arrived at the concept, wanting to write a song for the ways the world could end, and how we’ve become trapped by the very world we created. The London singer-songwriter goes on to discuss the importance of questioning societal norms, environmentalism, the accompanying visuals that go along with the record, and hopes for theatrics in the eventual live show. Kyle Meredi...
Vicky Cornell Shares Unreleased Clip of Chris Cornell’s ‘Only These Words’ for Daughter’s Birthday
Chris Cornell‘s daughter Toni turned 16 on Friday (Sept. 18), and to celebrate, Vicky Cornell shared a touching photo of the late singer smiling and hugging Toni alongside a a previously unreleased clip of the original version of his Higher Truth song “Only These Words.” “Your dad would be so proud of the smart, strong, beautiful, and confident woman you are growing up to be,” Vicky wrote in the caption. “You are so very loved, and you give so much love, freely and unconditionally. Your first sentence was “I love you” to your baby brother when you first met him. As your dad so perfectly sang and what it’s always all about – ‘Only these three words repeating…I love you…’ Continue to do great things, my sweet girl. He...
The 10 Best Covers of Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush
It’s nearly impossible to overstate the artistic influence and value of Neil Young. Born in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1945, he spent his first 20 years or so digesting as much rock ‘n’ roll, country, and doo-wop as possible in the midst of living a somewhat tumultuous life (including suffering from polio, moving around a lot, and becoming a child of divorce). As with many iconic musicians, he dedicated much of his teenage years to playing in multiple fledgling bands. That is, until fate introduced him to another singer-songwriter, Stephen Stills, with whom he’d form the beloved folk-country rock troupe Buffalo Springfield in 1966. (Of course, the two would also help start the arguably even more significant Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young a few years later.) As wonderful and enduring a...
Yungblud Reveals Release Date for Sophomore Album ‘Weird!’: ‘Embrace the Strange’
The set from the rising U.K. star is slated to arrive Nov. 13 via Interscope Records. Yungblud announced his forthcoming sophomore album, Weird!, on Thursday morning (Sept. 17) via social media. “WEIRD! the album will be released on friday 13th of november,” the rising star wrote on Instagram. “I cannot wait for you to fall into this world with me. together let’s re define what it means to be ‘different’. embrace the strange. never settle for being anything less than 100% who you are, even if that’s 15 different people all at the same time.” The slideshow posted by the U.K. singer-songwriter reveals the album cover art, which features Yungblud inhabiting seven distinct, gender-bending characters leaning against a bright blue wall of corrugated metal, as ...
