Country icon Garth Brooks has been added to the performance schedule for Wednesday’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Future First Lady DR. Jill Biden extended the invite to Brooks last week, and he confirmed his participation during a press conference held by the Biden Inaugural Committee today. As the musician explained, he’s performed for every president since Jimmy Carter, with two exceptions: Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. The latter had asked him to play at the 2017 inauguration, but a tour scheduling conflict prevented him from attending. Brooks did, however, play for Biden’s other inauguration — as Vice President alongside Barack Obama — in 2008. “This is a great day in our household. This is not a political statement; this is a sta...
Roger Waters has shared a new recording of “The Gunner’s Dream” alongside a black-and-white video of himself performing it in the studio. The track originally appeared on Pink Floyd‘s 1983 album The Final Cut, which served as Waters’ last record with the band before they parted ways. Lyrically, “The Gunner’s Dream” imagines a post-war life where the world is free from tyranny, terrorism, and cruelty. The new version arrives mere weeks after we watched insurrectionists attack the US Capitol and just two days before their leader exits the White House. According to a statement from Waters, he started to revisit “The Gunner’s Dream” after recently watching a historical movie. “Last night I watched the 2013 documentary film The Man Who Saved The World. The man’s name is Stanislav Petrov,” he sa...
Tame Impala (photo by Philip Cosores), MF DOOM (photo via Getty), and Kendrick Lamar (photo by Philip Cosores) Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have shared the official playlist for their upcoming inauguration. The collection spans a whopping 46 songs in total and includes artists like Kendrick Lamar, MF DOOM, Tame Impala, and Beyoncé. Curated by D-Nice and Raedio, the label founded by Issa Rae and Benoni Tagoe, the playlist kicks off with “Lupitas Interlude” by Brooklyn rapper Kota the Friend. From there, it transitions into selected tracks by The Internet, Bruce Springsteen, SAULT, Mac Miller, Bob Marley, and A Tribe Called Quest. There’s also plenty of vibrant artists meant to inspire joy on the inauguration playlist as well, including Vampire Weekend, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, SZA, Steely...
New Radicals will reunite after 22 years to perform at Joe Biden’s inaugural parade. Rolling Stone reports the band will perform their signature hit “You Get What You Give” to close the virtual “Parade Across America” on Wednesday, January 20th. During the presidential campaign, “You Get What You Give” was used as the walk-out song for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff. The song was also beloved by President-elect Biden’s late son, Beau, and became something of a personal theme song for him as he battled cancer. “During breakfast, Beau would often make me listen to what I thought was his theme song, ‘You Get What You Give’ by the New Radicals,” Biden wrote in his 2017 memoir Promise, Me Dad. “Even though Beau never stopped fighting and his will to live was stronger th...
Ronnie Spector has issued a statement addressing the death of her ex-husband, record producer and convicted murderer Phil Spector. The statement was posted to Ronnie’s Instagram page and reads: It’s a sad day for music and a sad day for me When I was working with Phil Spector, watching him create in the recording studio, I knew I was working with the very best. He was in complete control, directing everyone. So much to love about those days. Meeting him and falling in love was like a fairytale. The magical music we were able to make together, was inspired by our love. I loved him madly, and gave my heart and soul to him. As I said many times while he was alive, he was a brilliant producer, but a lousy husband. Unfortunately Phil was not able to live and function outside of the recording st...
Marianne Faithfull was one of the lucky musicians who recovered from COVID-19 after contracting the virus last year, but that doesn’t mean she was left unharmed by it. In a new interview, the “As Tears Go By” singer revealed that her battle with coronavirus stripped her of her singing voice and it’s unclear if she will ever get it back. Last April, Faithfull was hospitalized in London after testing positive for COVID-19. She bounced back relatively quickly considering she was 73 years old at the time, and was prescribed “palliative care only” following the end of her 22-day stay in the hospital. Initially it seemed like a miracle because Faithfull wasn’t expected to survive. But now, she’s dealing with the downsides of overcoming it — terrible permanent effects like intense fatigue, short-...
A week after going viral with an eye-catching cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his singer wife Toyah are back with an equally fun rendition of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”. The couple have been putting an eccentric spin on rock classics as part of their “Sunday Lunch” quarantine series for a few months now, but last weekend’s cover of the iconic Metallica tune completely blew up, garnering nearly 3 million views to date. Judging by the pun-filled comments on YouTube and social media, it was Toyah’s revealing choice of attire that made the clip a whopping sensation, even more so than the quirkiness of her singing the iconic metal song while riding an exercise bike. Now, the playful pair take on Billy Idol’s sing-along anthem “Rebel Yell”, with Toyah d...
Phil Spector, the trailblazing record producer and creator of pop’s “wall of sound”, whose career was later tarnished when he was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson, has died at the age of 81. According to TMZ, Spector died on Saturday from COVID-19 related complications. Spector is widely considered one of the most influential producers in music history. In 1961, at the age of 22, Spector co-founded Phillies Records. Over the next several years, the label would release a number of No. 10 singles all helmed by Spector — including Darlene Love’s “He’s a Rebel”, The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby”, and The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” and “Unchained Melody”. In 1966, Spector signed Ike and Ina Turner to Phillies Records’ roster, but after the duo’s ...
Live shows may temporarily be on pause, but they’ve hardly been forgotten. In fact, The War on Drugs recently released a live album titled LIVE DRUGS comprised of concert recordings from throughout their career. (The 10-track effort was reportedly “culled from over 40 hard drives,” so you can be sure the concert nostalgia was intense.) On Friday, The War on Drugs supported their new effort by playing “Arms Like Boulders” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The remote performance saw Adam Granduciel, David Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Anthony LaMarca all play along on guitar, while Jon Natchez handled a mandolin. Replay the performance down below. Editors’ Picks “Arms Like Boulders” originally appeared on The War on Drugs’ debut album, Wagonwheel Blues, as well as th...
Sheer Mag have shared “Crushed Velvet”, their first new music since 2019’s A Distant Call. The Philadelphia rockers’ latest singles comes from the soundtrack to Hulu’s new original film The Ultimate Playlist of Noise. Out now, the movie finds a teenager (Keean Johnson) traveling to New York City as he tries to experience as many unique sounds as possible before a tumor takes his hearing. That theme is perfect for Sheer Mag’s style, as “Crushed Velvet” trades on soaring guitar riffs, snarled vocals, and some growling background. It’s a smorgasbord of throwback rock sounds, and you can take a listen below. Editors’ Picks The Ultimate Playlist of Noise is streaming now on Hulu. You can sign up for free month of the streaming service here to watch the new movie now. Check out the trailer...
The new David O. Russell film has just become an A-list bonanza. On Thursday, it was confirmed that Robert De Niro, Chris Rock, and our 2020 Performer of the Year Anya Taylor-Joy have signed on for the film. So too have Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Alessandro Nivola. All of those stars will be joining Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington in the as-yet-untitled film. Russell and his team are still keeping details about the plot confidential, but anonymous sources who spoke with Collider last year say that it apparently deals with an unlikely friendship between a doctor and a lawyer. Michael B. Jordan was originally slated to be part of the cast, but Washington replaced him last fall for reasons that are still un...