Search Results for: rock and roll hall of fame

South by Southwest, Austin’s annual music conference that usually showcases the best new artists coming down the pike, kicked off, oddly enough, with a plea to go back. The call came from Robbie Robertson. The onetime leader of the Band expressed mild alarm at the state of the music business during his keynote address Thursday morning. Go back, he suggested, to that first moment of musical discovery. “Music took us on a journey, and we’re still on that journey,” he told a packed ballroom at the Austin Convention Center, noting that his own first impressions came during childhood visits to… Read more »

Former Queen guitarist Brian May recorded two tracks with the Foo Fighters recently at Conway Studios in Los Angeles. “Yes, I put a few brush strokes on two tracks for the forthcoming Foos album,” May revealed on the Queen website. May elaborated, “One track is very aggressively rhythmic, and I contributed some ‘Get Down Make Love’-type guitar as well as some soloing…For this session we improvised with more modern equipment to get a similar effect-in fact slightly different-so it was inspiring and seems to work well with the track…Of course it was all experimental and I did it purely because… Read more »

Paul McCartney and Rolling Stones singer-guitarist Keith Richards are among those paying tribute to Johnny Cash on an upcoming two-disc career retrospective. The Essential Johnny Cash, due February 26 from Columbia/Legacy Records, features more than 30 testimonials to Cash from artists including McCartney, Richards, Bono and the Edge of U2, Elvis Costello, former Vice President Al Gore, and even Shawn Crahan of the heavy metal band Slipknot. The Essential Johnny Cash, part of a campaign to celebrate the ailing Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer’s 70th birthday on February 26, compiles 36 digitally remastered tracks recorded not only for Columbia… Read more »

Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) founder Maurice White celebrates his 60th birthday today (December 19). Although his battle with Parkinson’s disease has kept him off the road, White has never stopped working with his bandmates, and he continues to write and produce EWF recordings. In October of this year, White surprised fans and joined his former bandmates on stage at a concert in Los Angeles, performing “Keep Your Head To The Sky” as a tribute to Americans following the horrific events of September 11. White, a former session drummer for Chicago-based labels OKeh Records and Chess Records, founded the ’70s… Read more »

After The Ramones hung up their jackets in 1996, Joey Ramone continued to work diligently writing and recording songs. Don’t Worry About Me, the result of these solo efforts, is already garnering recognition as his best work to date. Sadly, Joey succumbed to cancer in April 2001 at the age of 49. Producer, guitarist and long-time friend Daniel Rey worked alongside Joey on Don’t Worry About Me from day one. He recently completed final mixes on songs that hadn’t been mixed prior to Joey’s passing. Joey recruited world-class bassist Andy Shernoff (The Dictators) and split the drumming between Frank Funaro… Read more »

With a career spanning nearly 35 years, Elton John has a simple explanation for his longevity: “I tend not to look back. I look forward.” That said, John doesn’t disagree with the overwhelmingly favorable reviews that refer to his new album, “Songs From the West Coast,” as a vintage work hearkening back to the early 1970s hits that established him as a leading pop music figure. “I’m fine with that,” says John, 54, of comparisons to such early albums as “Tumbleweed Connection” and “Madman Across the Water.” “It’s the same kind of lineup as I had on the old albums,… Read more »

A major exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will trace teen idols from Frank Sinatra to Britney Spears. “We’re going to look at the phenomenon… from the past to the present,” said Jim Henke, the rock hall’s chief curator. The exhibit likely will span from the early days of Sinatra in the 1940s to current youth sensations such as the Backstreet Boys and Christina Aguilera, Henke said. It’s scheduled to open in spring 2002. The museum already has obtained memorabilia from several teen-idols, including David Cassidy, Debbie Gibson, New Kids on the Block, Neil Sedaka… Read more »

Wet Seal is teaming up with Epic Records for an in-store appearance by punk upstart Good Charlotte. Good Charlotte will be making a personal appearance at the Wet Seal store at South Park Center in Strongsville, Ohio on Thursday, August 9th at 1 p.m. The band will be signing autographs and CDs, as well as drawing names for prizes, including full-length CDs, posters and signed promotional photos. The in-store event will be supported through advertising on local radio stations. Earlier that day (on August 9th), a lucky winner from a Wet Seal-Epic Records promotion will have toured the Rock and… Read more »

When the superstar pop vocal group ‘N Sync sat down to pick the songs for its upcoming album, the quintet found itself at odds with its record company. The Florida-based group, which has sold more than 25 million records worldwide since debuting in 1997, wanted to rock the boat with “Celebrity,” which is due in stores July 24. But Jive Records executives worried that too much change might make fans disinclined to buy, buy, buy like they have in the past. “They were like, ‘I don’t know. I don’t like that song. I don’t think you should go there. It’s… Read more »

With a new wife, new twin sons and even a new band, veteran pop troubadour James Taylor is spending most of the next few months touring the amphitheaters of North America, a summer ritual as dependable as sunscreen and inflated concession stand prices. “I’m kind of grooved in on that kind of evening and a sort of summer-night experience,” says Taylor, 53, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who in February this year married Boston Symphony Orchestra publicist Caroline Smedvig. The couple’s sons were born in early April, via in vitro fertilization of a surrogate mother. The veteran singer-songwriter… Read more »