Category: Music

4-day celebration will mark anniversary of Prince’s death

Influential pop star Prince will be celebrated over a four-day festival at his Paisley Park Studios compound in Minnesota on the first anniversary of his death, organizers said on Monday.

Celebration 2017 will take place from April 20-23, with tickets starting at $499 US for the four-day event that will include artists such as Prince’s band, The Revolution; Morris Day; and another Prince band, 3RDEYEGIRL. More artists will be announced at later dates.

Prince, known for songs including Purple Rain and When Doves Cry, died on April 21 of an accidental overdose of the powerful painkiller fentanyl at his Paisley Park estate in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen. He was 57.

Organizers said the event will “reflect the spirit” of the singer’s Prince: A Celebration June 2000 concert, which featured performances and events over four days.

Fans of the late singer have been able to pay their respects at Paisley Park since it opened to the public last month, allowing visitors to see instruments, artwork, wardrobe and other items belonging to Prince.

Last month, Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan topped the bill for an all-star concert tribute in memory of Prince, held at an arena in St. Paul, Minn., about 48 kilometres west of Paisley Park.

Warren Beatty explains ‘You’re So Vain’ (Sort Of)

Everybody assumed Warren Beatty was at least one of the preening peacocks whom singer Carly Simon skewered in “You’re So Vain,” her 1972 pop hit.

She once dated Beatty, who believed the chorus zinger, “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you,” was indeed aimed at him — although he was never inclined to get into specifics about it.

Simon kept mum about her target(s), claiming the “you” in the song referred to men in general. She reversed herself last year when she released her autobiography, Boys in the Trees, admitting that Beatty was referenced in part of the song. She also said that he’d broken her heart.

Asked about this during a Toronto Star interview, Beatty gave a typically complicated answer as he implied that Simon suffers from false memory syndrome. Could we vainly hope this is his definitive response to “You’re So Vain,” Carly Simon and Boys in the Trees?

Take a deep breath and let Beatty explain in his own way:

“All I can tell you is that invented memory is a huge subject now. And I don’t want to be unkind, I think Carly Simon is a very intelligent woman, who was extremely helpful when I was deeply involved in the McGovern campaign, and she was terribly helpful with raising money through the entertainment industry, which we did at that time in an unprecedented way.

“Let me just say that from what I have read that she wrote, and I didn’t read the book, I don’t read these books, there have been close to 15 books written about me, and I will read maybe 10 pages and see how inaccurate they are, and then I think, ‘Well, why would I continue doing this? As some sort of masochistic exercise?’ I’ve never read a full one. And I’ve never co-operated with the writing of a book about me.

“When somebody writes their own book and they invent memory, however flattering it may be to me, I don’t know what to say except, ‘Hi!’

“I’ve been around. I’ve been famous for a long time. So Carly, I don’t know how to respond. I would say there is invention there that is simply not true, but that’s fine. And there’s some small amount of truth there. Not a lot, but that’s just one example of what has happened with me for a number of books. I won’t name the people, but if you name them, I would respond, let’s say.”

There’s A New Neil Young Album Coming Our Way

Neil Young will release Peace Trail, his 38th solo album in December.

The album has been produced by Young and John Hanlon and like The Monsanto Years deals with global issues and humanitarian concerns. Jim Keltner (drums), Paul Bushnell (bass) and Joe Yanke (electric harp and pump organ) join Young on this largely acoustic record.

The CD version of Peace Trail is available next month, but the vinyl isn’t expected until 2017. If you want, you can order both via Young’s online store bundled with a “100% Organic Hat” (I kid you not).

Peace Trail is released on 9 December 2016.

Warner Bros. Promises Previously Unreleased Prince Music

Warner Bros. Records is about to unveil two projects by the late megastar Prince that include previously unreleased material.

Prince 4Ever is a 40-song compilation of his biggest hits from his Warner Bros. days along with the previously unreleased song “Moonbeam Levels,” recorded in 1982. It’s due in stores Nov. 22 and will feature a booklet with new Prince photos shot by photographer Herb Ritts.

Warner Bros. also says the Purple Rain deluxe reissue will come early next year. It will feature a second album of unreleased songs.

Every single Tragically Hip album is now charting in Canada

Canada’s love affair with The Tragically Hip continued this week as all 17 albums from the band’s illustrious career landed spots on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart this week.

The band’s work has perhaps unsurprisingly leapt back into the limelight following the much publicized Man Machine Poem Tour, the band’s final series of shows following lead singer Gordon Downie’s terminal brain cancer diagnosis.

From their 1987 debut EP to their most recent release, the entire discography landed back in the Billboard charts, which are compiled from album sales, digital song sales and audio on-demand streams.

Yer Favourites, the band’s two-disc 2005 compilation album featuring tracks selected by fans, scooped the number 1 spot, edging out Frank Ocean’s smash hit Blonde and last week’s chart topping soundtrack to the Suicide Squad movie. It was just one of four albums featuring in the top 10 including Man Machine Poem (6), Fully Completely (8), and Up Top Here (9).

Sales of the band’s catalogue have gone up a staggering 157% from the previous week’s charts, while digital song sales are up 342%, and streams are up 185%, no doubt in response to the emotional farewell which was watched by more than a third of Canadians last weekend.

Paul McCartney announces massive new compilation

Paul McCartney fans have a new authoritative compilation.

McCartney announced the upcoming release of a new 67-track compendium, “Pure McCartney” that covers the entirety of his post-Beatles output. That spans a wide-ranging career including tracks from “McCartney,” his underrated 1970 solo debut, his band Wings, his electronic project the Fireman and a bevy of more recent cuts, including a remixed Michael Jackson collaboration and his song for the video game “Destiny.”

In a statement Thursday, McCartney said, “Me and my team came up with the idea of putting together a collection of my recordings with nothing else in mind other than having something fun to listen to.”

“Maybe it’s to be enjoyed on a long car journey or an evening at home or at a party with friends? So we got our heads together and came up with these diverse playlists from various periods of my long and winding career.”

McCartney’s most recent solo album, “New,” was released in 2013, and he kicks off a new solo tour in Fresno on April 13. The “Pure McCartney” compilation will be available in two- and four-CD versions as well as a four-LP package, and it’s due out June 10.

Don Henley on Future of the Eagles: ‘I Don’t Think You’ll See Us Performing Again’

Eagles co-founder Don Henley says the surviving members of the rock band won’t likely perform again following the recent death of his longtime bandmate Glenn Frey.

Henley, along with Eagle Joe Walsh and Jackson Browne, paid tribute to Frey at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 15, performing his iconic song “Take It Easy.” Henley described the touching performance as the Eagles’ “final farewell.”

“I think it was an appropriate farewell, he explained in an interview with the BBC, noting that the tribute almost didn’t happen. “I don’t think you’ll see us performing again.”

Frey, a founding member of the Eagles, died on Jan. 18 at the age of 67. He had been battling intestinal issues that caused the band to postpone its Kennedy Center Honours.

Guns N’ Roses April Reunion Won’t Include Izzy Stradlin

The founding member says he won’t be joining Axl, Slash & Duff onstage or in the studio.

Guns N’ Roses are doing their best to reunite the band’s classic lineup, but for now, the legendary hard rockers’ 2016 incarnation won’t include founding member Izzy Stradlin.

“At this point in time, I will not be playing at any of the April 2016 GNR shows,” the guitarist told Rolling Stone on Tuesday (March 1) via email. “I’ve also not been in the studio recording or writing with any of the others recently,” he specified. “There is so much speculation, but so very little info, [that] I thought I should reach out.”

Theoretically, the fact Stradlin specifies “April 2016 GNR shows” could leave the door open down the line (they are expected to expand their tour beyond the current six-date itinerary), though for now, this leaves Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan as the only “classic” members on board.

It is also notable that Stradlin calls attention to alleged Guns N’ Roses studio sessions. Previously, these had been rumored through sources like former Slash publicist Arlett Vereecke and former GN’R manager Alan Niven, who even said Stradlin joined them in the studio. However, Guns N’ Roses has given no official word on a new studio album to accompany the tour.

So far, the band has confirmed six 2016 concerts, all in April: two in Las Vegas, two at Coachella and two in Mexico City.

Stradlin quit Guns N’ Roses in 1991 but has been onstage with them a few times since, notably at their 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction

David Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’ Album Debuts at Number 1 On The Charts

David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, giving the late music legend his first No. 1 album.

Bowie died on Jan. 10 of cancer, two days after the release of the album.

Blackstar was issued through ISO/Columbia Records and earned 181,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., during the week ending Jan. 14, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 174,000 were in pure album sales — Bowie’s biggest sales week for an album since Nielsen began electronically tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991. (His previous sales high in that span of time came when his last album, 2013’s The Next Day, bowed with 85,000 sold in its first week.)

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Jan. 30, 2016-dated chart (where Bowie debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Wednesday, Jan. 20. (Charts will be refreshed one day later than usual this week, due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 18.)

Clearly, music fans were moved by the news of Bowie’s death, as not only did Blackstar perform strongly, but he has nine further albums that either re-enter or debut on the Billboard 200 chart. Among them are two further titles in the top 40: the greatest hits collection Best of Bowie (No. 4) and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (No. 21).

Bowie’s history on the Billboard 200 dates back nearly 44 years, when Hunky Dory bowed on the chart dated April 15, 1972.

Blackstar and Best of Bowie bring the artist’s total of top 10-charting albums to nine. He previously hit the region with The Next Day (peaking at No. 2 in 2013), Let’s Dance (No. 4, 1983), ChangesOneBowie (No. 10, 1976), Station to Station (No. 3, 1976), Young Americans (No. 9, 1975), David Live (No. 8, 1974) and Diamond Dogs (No. 5, 1974).

Best of Bowie, released in 2002, returns to the chart at No. 4 (a new peak) with 94,000 units (up from only a few thousand in the week previous). It sold 51,000 in pure album sales, gaining by 6,698 percent. (It originally peaked at No. 70 in 2002.)

Naturally, a significant portion (48 percent) of Best of Bowie’s total units during the latest week were driven by track and streaming equivalent album units of its popular tracks. Among the tunes on the album: 11 of his 13 top 40-charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Those include his six top 10 hits: “Fame” (No. 1 in 1975), “Golden Years” (No. 10, 1976), “Let’s Dance” (No. 1, 1983), “China Girl” (No. 10, 1983), “Modern Love” (No. 14, 1983), “Blue Jean” (No. 8, 1984), “This Is Not America” (with Pat Metheny, No. 32 in 1985) and “Dancing in the Street” (with Mick Jagger, No. 7 in 1987).

With Blackstar and Best of Bowie at Nos. 1 and 4, respectively, Bowie is one of the handful of acts to manage the feat of having two albums in the top four of the chart at the same time. Previous to Bowie, the last act to do so was Adele on the chart dated March 3, 2012. That week, in the wake of her performance and six wins at the Grammy Awards (Feb. 12), 21 held at No. 1 while her previous album 19 rose 9-4.

Blackstar is additionally the first posthumous No. 1 album since Michael Jackson’s This Is It soundtrack arrived atop the list dated Nov. 14, 2009. Jackson died earlier that year.

As for the rest of the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, Adele’s 25 slips to No. 2 (143,000 units; down 26 percent) after seven consecutive weeks at No. 1. Justin Bieber’s Purpose also moves down a rung, to No. 3, with 104,000 units (down 17 percent).

Twenty One Pilots’ Blurryface falls 3-5 (43,000; down 17 percent), The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness dips 4-6 (39,000; down 14 percent) and Chris Stapleton’s Traveller holds steady at No. 7 (33,000; down 20 percent). Bryson Tiller’s Trapsoul hits a new peak, climbing 9-8 with nearly 33,000 units (down only 8 percent).

G-Eazy’s When It’s Dark Out returns to the top 10 for the first time since its debut frame, as it rises 13-9 in its sixth week (29,000; down 2 percent). Fetty Wap’s self-titled album descends 8-10 with 29,000 units (down 20 percent).

Pearl Jam confirm 2016 tour, promise 25th anniversary festivities

On Friday afternoon, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and manager Kelly Curtis took part in a Twitter Q&A, revealing some of their plans for 2016, as Alternative Nation points out.

Curtis confirmed that Pearl Jam will tour in 2016, with the first batch of dates to be announced at the beginning of the year. Additionally, he said the band has something planned to mark their 25th anniversary, but couldn’t share any specifics. If you recall, Pearl Jam celebrated their 20th anniversary with a three-day music festival.

Asked about the prospects of a new album, Curtis said Pearl Jam are “always in and out of the studio and constantly writing.” However, Ament said nothing has been recorded. Pearl Jam’s last album came in the form of 2013’s Lightning Bolt.

Curtis was asked if Pearl Jam would ever be interested in headlining a Super Bowl Halftime show, to which he responded, “Ask me in 10 years OR if the Superbowl is ever in Seattle.”