Q-Tip and Demi Lovato released a silky, Motown-inspired rendition of Elton John‘s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” one of the inventive new covers featured on the upcoming John tribute compilation, Revamp. The duo also unveiled the music video for the cover of the Number One hit that originally paired John with singer Kiki Dee. The new visual, directed by Hector Dockrill, is inspired by the documentary Paris Is Burning as well as the voguing scene in London and Paris. Neither Q-Tip...
As the members of all-female Seventies rock band Fanny reunite in a new project, they open up about the trials they faced the first time around. When Deep Purple didn’t show up for a gig once in Ohio in the early Seventies, opening act Fanny went on in their place. “And slammed,” recalls guitarist June Millington. “No one left, which impressed everyone. It was a big deal ’cause, well, you know: girls!” Four girls, in fact. Formed in 1969, Fanny...
Rivers Cuomo unveiled a surprise new single, “Medicine for Melancholy.” The song is the Weezer frontman’s first as a solo artist. Unlike the riff-heavy Weezer catalog, “Medicine for Melancholy” finds Cuomo backed by sweeping synths and handclapped beats while still boasting Weezer’s penchant for big hooks. “We got that Friday feeling / Can I hang out with you for a bit? / You’re my medicine for melancholy / I wanna take you in,” Cuomo sings before the wordless chorus. It’s...
Actress Toni Collette joins Arcade Fire in Money + Love, a 16-minute short film that serves as a two-in-one music video for “Put Your Money on Me” and “We Don’t Deserve Love.” Collette plays the head of a comically evil media company called Everything Now. At the start of the video, she informs Arcade Fire that they are “are officially bankrupt.” “This contract with us will ensure that we keep the show on the road,” she adds. “We’ll have exclusive...
This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: The Last Word: John Prine on Fatherhood, Johnny Cash, Why Happiness Isn’t Good for...
The upbeat Number One alternative smash comes from a melancholy reality Alice Merton wrote “No Roots” to cope with moving a dizzying 12 times in her 24 years. And the song – a diary entry explaining how constant upheaval can both harden and enlighten – has spent the past year on a remarkable journey of its own. After its initial release in 2016, it began flourishing in Europe late last year. It has since reached Number One on the Alternative,...
Liz Phair will mark the 25th anniversary of her seminal debut album, 1993’s Exile in Guyville, with a massive box set and separate remastered double LP and CD reissue. Both will be released on May 4th via Matador. Girly-Sound to Guyville: The 25th Anniversary box set comprises seven LPs, including the remastered double LP Exile in Guyville alongside music from the three Girly-Sound cassettes released prior to her debut album. The cassette material was restored from the original tapes and has never...
Kali Uchis brought a hazy funk to The Tonight Show on Wednesday, performing her single “After the Storm” with Tyler, the Creator and the Roots. “After the Storm” reaches back to the Seventies, when bright synthesizers started to infiltrate R&B; the recording features contributions from Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic fame. On The Tonight Show, Uchis sang about the value of persistence – “winners don’t quit, so don’t you give up” – as a pair of backing vocalists...
More than 40 years later, Jimmy Buffett can still recall the moment he wrote “Margaritaville.” Buffett had played a show in Austin and was on his way back home to Key West. “It was a hot day and I had a couple of margaritas,” he recalls. “I was a bit hung over, but I started writing the song on my guitar case at the Austin airport. It was written in five minutes. I wasn’t wasting away – I was working...
High-powered stars from pop (Miley Cyrus), R&B (Mary J. Blige), country (Miranda Lambert) and rock (the Killers) will take part in a two-volume tribute album for Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Revamp and Restoration are due out on April 6th. “It’s always a huge compliment when an artist loves your song enough to take the time and effort to rework it,” Elton John said in a statement. “As songwriters, Bernie and myself are thrilled when singers we admire and respect...
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office said it was “unopposed” to rapper Meek Mill’s release from prison on bail, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. A motion prosecutors filed on Wednesday stated there is a “strong likelihood” Mill’s conviction would be reversed. The news came the same day Rolling Stone published an exclusive interview with Meek Mill from prison. Mill, whose legal name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, has been in prison since November serving a two-to-four year...
Diplo is launching his own SiriusXM station, “Diplo’s Revolution.” The DJ-producer will hand-curate the channel’s line-up of global, hip-hop, experimental and underground dance music. Diplo, Dillon Francis and Major Lazer members Jillionaire and Walshy Fire will each host original programs. The channel will launch with a live Diplo DJ performance on Thursday, March 22nd at 9 p.m. ET. Other special guests will take part in the exclusive SiriusXM event, streaming from the Faena Theater in Miami Beach, Florida....
Buddy Guy joined Billy Cox and the Experience Hendrix Band for a rousing version of Jimi Hendrix‘s 12-bar blues classic “Red House” on Tuesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! Guy, dressed in his signature black-and-white polka dot shirt, fired off squealing solos throughout the track. Cox – a former member of Hendrix’s bands Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, the Band of Gypsys and a revamped version of the Jimi Hendrix Experience – channeled Hendrix’s dark vocal howl. The performance promoted Both Sides of...
Stephen Colbert joined Jack Johnson, one of the late-night host’s favorite artists, onstage to perform a pair of songs on Tuesday’s Late Show. “Folks, this is the best job in the world because I got what I wanted,” Colbert told the audience prior to the performance of “Sleep Through the Static,” which marked the first time Johnson had played the 2007 song on television. For the occasion, the singer-songwriter and the late-night host traded verses before joining together on the...
When Quincy Jones, in his famously freewheeling interview with New York magazine earlier this year, was asked to name the greatest musical innovation of his storied career, he answered, “Everything I’ve done.” It’s hard to argue with that. Born in 1933, Jones began as a jazz trumpeter, and he worked his way up to a spot in Dizzy Gillespie’s band while honing his chops as a producer, composer and arranger for everyone from Count Basie to Duke Ellington and Ray...
Roger Waters recorded verses by Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish intended as a rebuke to President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. “After the relics are gone/ Where, oh white master, are you taking my people … and yours?” Waters says on “Supremacy,” amid swirls of oud music. In the accompanying video, the former Pink Floyd singer-songwriter’s face floats in a black void while the words run as subtitles beneath him. Waters recites the poem,...
Have you ever wondered about the origins of “yacht rock”? Or how Van Morrison made his enigmatic classic? Look no further than these excellent new books. 3 Kings: Diddy, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z and Hip-Hop’s Multibillion-Dollar Rise by Zack O’Malley GreenburgIn the past 20 years, hip-hop has produced enough wanna-be Warren Buffetts to fill the biggest strip club in Atlanta. But, according to Forbes editor Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s new book, only a trio of artist-entrepreneurs have risen to a status that...
Leon Bridges released a pair of new songs from his upcoming sophomore album. “Bad Bad News” pushes Bridges’ vintage soul towards the dance floor, while “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand” is an ornately arranged ballad. “Bad News” is the peppier number, with a strutting bassline, surging backing vocals and flashes of fluid, George Benson-like guitar. Bridges displays some bravado here that was rarely seen on his debut album. “I don’t worry ’bout people in my face/ Hit ’em with...
Madonna will direct the upcoming film Taking Flight about Michaela DePrince, the Sierra Leonean ballet star who also appeared in Beyoncé’s Lemonade. The new film will be adapted by Camilla Blackett from the memoir Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina. “Michaela’s journey resonated with me deeply as both an artist and an activist who understands adversity,” Madonna said in a statement. “We have a unique opportunity to shed light on Sierra Leone and let Michaela be the voice...
Nokie Edwards, whose guitar playing in the Ventures helped define surf rock and earned the group a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, died on Monday. He was 82 years old. “Nokie Edwards passed away today after several months battling an infection after hip surgery this past December,” says a statement on the band’s website. “The Ventures family feels this loss very deeply: Nokie has been part of the Ventures’ history for almost six decades and helped...
