OZZY: Before it's Too Late

There is a campaign to honor Ozzy Osbourne in his hometown of Birmingham, England as a Freeman of Birmingham. British TV personality Paul Sinha, who was once a General Practitioner, and who like Ozzy has Parkinson's disease, has backed the campaign, saying it would inspire fellow "Parkinson's warriors" to continue living their lives in public.

"Ozzy Osbourne is a legend; there's no getting away from that. If anyone is going to be given the Freedom of Birmingham, it might as well be him because he's been on the scene for so long. As a fellow 'Parkinson's warrior' I am biased. It would be a great message to send out to show people that life moves on..."People with Parkinson's are all leading an individual journey and can be described in a different way. But I don't think that we should necessarily be called 'suffering' because we are absolutely trying to prove to the world that we are living with it, rather than suffering."

The honorary title is granted to persons of distinction and those who have rendered eminent services to Birmingham.

Close Enemies, Aerosmith Bassist Tom Hamilton's Band, Announces Debut Single

Close Enemies, the band from Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton, has signed a record deal with TLG|ROCK for management and label services, and they’ll also be working with Virgin Records. With that…the band has also announced that they’ll be releasing their debut single “Sound Of A Train” on January 17th! "We're really excited to be working with TLG/Virgin on the release of the Close Enemies record! They're genuinely as excited about putting it out as we are! Can't wait to see what happens,” Hamilton share in a statement. The band is also going on tour next year, hitting the road on January 8th in Philadelphia. They’ll hit cities including New York City, Boston, and Chicago before wrapping things up on January 29th in St. Louis, Missouri. Full info at the band’s website closeenemiestheband.com.

·January 8 – Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia City Winery

·January 9 – New York City, NY – City Winery NYC

·January 10 – Boston, MA – Boston City Winery

·January 11 – Boston, MA – Boston City Winery

·January 14 – Manchester, NH – The Rex Theater

·January 23 – Pawling, NY – Daryls House

·January 25 – Nashville, TN – Nashville City Winery

·January 28 – Chicago, IL – Chicago City Winery

·January 29 – St. Louis, MO – St Louis City Winery

ELTON JOHN: His "Favorite" Song

Elton John was a guest Tuesday on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to plug his new documentary, Never Too Late, which is streaming on Disney+. In between talking about the film, Colbert asked Elton to name his Top 5 Elton songs, to which he said, "Well I write songs that have no Bernie [Taupin] lyrics and they're very dear to me. 'Your Bum Is Like a Magnet' is one of them." But then he did his best to seriously answer the question and chose "anything off the Captain Fantastic album -- 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight,' 'We All Fall in Love Sometimes,' 'Curtains' -- 'Your Song' obviously. It was the first hit I ever had. 'Blessed' is another one." And he added that one that's not a favorite is "Crocodile Rock."

They also discussed family life, with Colbert asking if his two sons knew if he was "Elton John," to which he responded, "How could you not. I mean when you wear a tiara for breakfast of course they [do]." Elton also said there will be new music to come, but didn't specify when. He recently said that the problems with his eyes are preventing him from going into the studio.

ELTON JOHN: "Step" Into a New Video

Elton John has released a new video for his holiday classic, "Step Into Christmas." It stars actress Cara Delevingne as Elton making the original performance clip for the track back in 1973 with her lip syncing the song. Commenting on the video, Elton says, "When someone suggested the idea of her playing me in a riff on the 1973 'Step Into Christmas' video, I just thought it was the perfect opportunity. Thank God Cara thought the same, because it came out great." Watch it on YouTube.

Bruce Springsteen Promises "Never Before Heard Music" In 2025

Bruce Springsteen is set to release previously-unheard music next year, featuring material from his long career. His team announced plans to include unreleased songs and demos, sparking rumors of a sequel to “Tracks,” which introduced fans to 66 rare recordings from his archives back in 1998. Seemingly speaking about the upcoming project in 2022, Springsteen shared, “Some of it is older stuff that the band plays on, and some of it is newer stuff…It’ll give people a chance to re-assess what I was doing during that time.” He also teased, “A lot of the stuff is really weird…I can’t wait to see the response.”

U2: Behind the Bomb

U2 continue to plug the recent 20th anniversary edition of their 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, this time by posting a video of themselves recording the song "Original of the Species” at AIR Studios in London. In the clip, The Edge says, "I have a lot of fun putting songs together, you know, for the first time. When you actually bring it into this kind of environment, where you’re really deconstructing it, pulling it apart, it’s at times kinda grueling. But unless you go through that, you’re unlikely to get an arrangement that everyone’s completely committed to.”

In addition to re-releasing the album, they also put out what they're calling a "shadow album," How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb, which contains 10 unreleased tracks from the sessions for the album.

PHIL COLLINS: Drum Career Gets Expansive Doc

Phil Collins and his drumming career is the subject of a new two hour documentary that you can watch for free on YouTube. Phil Collins: Drummer First was produced by the drum-focused website Drumeo and features an extensive interview with Collins along with his drumming son Nic and a who's who of all-star drummers like Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam, Todd Sucherman of Styx and Brann Dailor of Mastodon.

THE BEATLES: Emotion and Concern

Paul McCartney says performing the most recent and last Beatles song, "Now and Then," has been a double-edged sword. He tells the Mirror, "It's really great. When you introduce a new song, even though it's an old song, like 'Now and Then,' the first reaction is, people aren't quite sure what it is or what you're doing. "But during the run of the concerts, they get the idea. The word gets out on the Internet, you know. So now the reaction is really strong, and for us it's great to play because it's a nice song to play, and for me, it's particularly great because it's a John [Lennon] song. And so it's very emotional for me. I love it. I love doing it, and the audience seem to love it too."

Paul, George and Ringo first attempted to finish Lennon's demo of "Now and Then" in the mid-'90s for their Anthology project, but they had to abandon it because Lennon's vocal was on the same track as his piano and a TV in the background. But with new software that enabled them to extract Lennon's vocal, they were able to finish it in 2022 and release it last year.

Paul recalled "He was able to extricate John's voice from a ropey little bit of cassette where it had John's voice and a piano. He could separate them with AI. They tell the machine, 'That's a voice, this is a guitar, lose the guitar.' So, when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had that we worked on. We were able to take John's voice and get it pure through this AI so that then we could mix the record as you would normally do."

While the use of Artificial Intelligence helped to finish "Now and Then," Ringo has his concerns about the technology. He tells Music Week, “We’re all a bit afraid of it, because it can steal you. “Anyone who knows how to use it can steal you. If they just play any five of my songs into the computer, AI gets all of it and knows my every vocal move. They can have me sing anything and it will sound like me, because it’s taken from my personality... "God knows where it’s going to go. We’re all worrying about it, but nobody’s really stolen anything yet.” "Now and Then" has been nominated for two Grammy Awards -- Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance. The Grammy Awards will air live on CBS on February 2nd from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

McCartney brings his Got Back tour to a close tonight (Thursday) at the O2 arena in London.

Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner reveals what the band have been up to since disbanding

A sequel to the classic Spinal Tap movie is set to be released in 2025, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the original film. Director Rob Reiner revealed details about the key members of Spinal Tap, including their post-band activities. The movie will reunite the original trio of St. Hubbins, Tufnel, and Smalls, with cameos from Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Lars Ulrich. A soundtrack album featuring contributions from McCartney, John, and new songs by Spinal Tap has also been recorded. The release date for Spinal Tap II has not yet been announced.

SHINEDOWN, ALICE IN CHAINS: Report Says They Used Grant Money on Themselves

Shinedown and Alice in Chains are two acts mentioned in a new report that claims the bands used federal COVID grants to pay themselves, and not their touring companies the money was directed for. The Shuttered Venue Operations Grant was a government program meant to aid independent venues and arts groups during the pandemic. Artist touring companies were eligible to receive up to $10 million to spend on “ordinary and necessary” expenses and were required to report to the Small Business Administration that their companies had lost at least 25% between one quarter in 2019 and the same quarter in 2020.

Business Insider reports that three of the four members of Shinedown split at least $2.5 million of their $8.3 million grant. And on top of those distributions, all four members paid themselves more than $100,000 each out of the roughly $1.2 million of the grant that was allocated to payroll. The band's 15 touring-production workers received a combined $650,000 of the grant money -- less than a single member of the band got. Business Insider also reports that in March 2022, Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez of Alice in Chains took $3.4 million of the $4.1 million of the grant allotted for payroll. But a month before that they received $48 million in income from selling the copyrights on their catalog.

The band did pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to sound equipment rental firms, videographers and managers from the grant. However, Scott Dachroeden, a guitar tech and tour photographer, received a cancer diagnosis in late 2022 and had no medical insurance. Business Insider says that records show the band did not spend grant money on benefits like health insurance. A source close to Dachroeden said that he didn't get much, if any, money from the band during the pandemic and that after his diagnosis, the band only connected Dachroeden with a charity that helps with medical bills and shared his GoFundMe on its social media. Dachroeden died soon after his diagnosis.

Both Shinedown and Alice in Chains publicists didn't respond to requests for comment.

PRETENDERS: Chrissie Sort of Apologizes For Concertgoers Rules

Chrissie Hynde got some flack a couple months ago for asking that only local fans be in the front row at Pretenders shows. And now she's issued a sort of non-apology for it. Hynde posted on Instagram, "I will reinstate that we love to see people come back for more, but we travel the world to play to a new audience each night, so it’s good to see the locals up front. Come one and all...but be fair!"

She did issue something closer to an apology for her complaints about fans using phones at shows. "I’m sorry that I’ve never adjusted to the phone / filming / picture taking culture. I’ve sworn and berated the very audience that is there for us. There’s no way to explain how distracting it is and why I have a meltdown when I see a phone. Every night I come off stage scolding myself and saying it’s just not worth it and maybe it’s time to hang up the guitar and find another vocation. But I love the band and I love playing live for you. I just don’t’ like being stalked.

She added, "We post signs around the venues saying please do not use your phones, but some people just cannot resist. Anyway, I do feel baffled and bad about it. I know pop acts encourage phones because they want to be on social media. But we are not a pop act. We’re a rock band (in case you didn’t notice)."

Blondie to release new album produced by John Congleton in 2025

Blondie has announced the upcoming release of a new album in 2025, produced by Grammy-winning producer John Congleton. This marks the band's first album since 2017's Pollinator, which also featured Congleton as producer and collaborations with artists like Joan Jett and Charli XCX. The involvement of Congleton hints at a modern and innovative approach for Blondie's upcoming release.

IN OTHER NEWS

The last two Sam Goody record stores, a huge national chain in the ’70s, are closing early next year. They are in the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and the Rogue Valley Mall in Medford, Oregon.

AC/DC have released an alternate video for "Nervous Shakedown" from their 1983 album Flick of the Switch. Check it out on YouTube.

Elvis Costello and The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs wished Keith Richards a happy 81st birthday yesterday (Wednesday) by covering his 1967 Rolling Stones song “Connection.” Susanna tells Rolling Stone, “I had the great honor of singing with Elvis at a couple of his shows, and it was a dream to record a song together.” And Costello adds, “What a gas to sing with Sue again. I’d be the ‘Keith’ to her ‘Mick’ any day.” You’ll find it on YouTube. Wednesday was also Keith's 41st wedding anniversary, having married Patti Hansen on his 40th birthday in Cabo San Lucas, which is how Sammy Hagar came to discover the Mexican seaside town after seeing a picture of their wedding.

Gene Simmons continues to add dates to his 2025 tour, which now runs from April 5th in Rohnert Park, California through May 24th in Houston with 14 cities in between.

Big Rig