Paul McCartney has defended Yoko Ono over the years against the widely assumed opinion that she was responsible for the breakup of the Beatles. A 1987 interview Ono gave to Joe Smith that is now a part of the archive of the Library of Congress leaves little doubt that Yoko felt McCartney caused the group to split. During the interview, Ono told Smith that Ringo Starr was the first member of the band to let John and she that he no longer wanted to stay in the Beatles. Ono claimed that George Harrison was next, leading John to conclude that breaking up was the right thing to do, and calling the decision something Lennon felt '...very good' about due to the escalating tension among members. In the end, Ono contends, McCartney was the only one of the four that wanted to continue as a band, leading the others feel that, 'They were getting to be like Paul's band, which they didn't like.'
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2012 draws to a close with proposals in the UK to issue currency featuring members of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and for the Birmingham Airport to be re-named in honor of Ozzy Osbourne. The bid to rebrand the airport the Ozzy Osbourne International Airport in recognition of the Flying High Again singer probably won't get off the ground - the city recently decided not to follow through on plan for a Black Sabbath Day. Jim Simpson, the record company head that floated the idea, admits that, 'Ozzy might not always have been a paragon of virtue', but adds, '...he is a genuine flesh and blood Brummie.' We'd bet a stack of those Beatles & Stones notes that flights won't ever be landing at the O.O. International Airport.
In a low-profile ceremony with star power, Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones married 34 year-old Sally Humphreys at the Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair, London on Friday 
Before joining Dusty Hill and Frank Beard to form the Texas trio ZZ Top, Billy Gibbons was the front man for a quartet known as The Moving Sidewalks. The Houston based group was together for two years before disbanding in 1969 when two of its members were drafted into military service. The group managed to release just one album, but got to open for the Doors, Jimi Hendrix and the Jeff Beck Group when Rod Stewart was its vocalist during its brief run. The Sidewalks will make a one-off appearance at the BB King Blues Club in New York City March 30 as a part of CAVESTOMP! - a festival that mashes up veteran and emerging performers of stripped-down, hard driving music.
Nick Mason is footing the bill to keep Foote's drum store from shutting down. The shop that the Pink Floyd drummer bought his first kit from has been in business since 1920 and will relocate after Mason offered to come up with the necessary funds to keep it operating. The shop's most famous customer vows not to involve himself in daily operations of the store, adding, 'I doubt I'll be much help really... I don't think I'm going to be behind the counter on a regular basis.' Like guitar shops, Mason says drum stores represent more to musicians than just a place to get an instrument or gear, calling them '...the place where information gets passed around. You hear about new things.'
A Crowes sighting on the Capitol Theatre (Portchester, NY) concert schedule for April sent a signal that the year-long split of the Black Crowes will end early in 2013. A Full line-up of dates has now firmed.The group parted company last December, with Chris Robinson going on to form the Chris Robinson Brotherhood without his brother, Rich, who did some touring during 2012 as well.
Tumbling Dice is not the first song that comes to mind as the most likely one for Bruce Springsteen to do with the Rolling Stones, but that is the one tune that fans attending the Stones concert Saturday 
The multiple millions the 121212 Hurricane Sandy relief benefit concert at Madison Square Garden raised for the Robin Hood Fund continues to swell, thanks to musicians that autographed instruments and equipment used during the historic event. CharityBuzz.com is collecting online bids for a number of one-of-a-kind items, including autographed guitars, clothing worn by some of the participating musicians and other items. Leading the way (as of 12/14) in the auction that ends Thursday (12/20) at 5pm (Eastern) were a Fender Bass autographed by Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Daltrey, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Jon Bon Jovi, Dave Grohl, Michael Stipe and others that had a top bid of $38,600. A Fender guitar signed by McCartney, Springsteen, Joel, Clapton, Grohl, Stipe and Eddie Vedder was just $100 behind the bass and a very close third was a Les Paul with the names of most of the above. Several other autographed guitars were being valued by bidders in the $7,500 - $10,000 range. Other items doing well included the shirt Bruce Springsteen wore during his set ($9,500), a saxophone signed by former president Bill Clinton ($12,000) and a meet & greet with Jon Stewart and 4 tickets to his Daily Show stood at $4,000 - a grand over its estimated value. The most over estimated value placed on a item in our estimation (and apparently that of bidders, too) was the $10,000 assigned to the personal backstage pass worn by Chris Martin of Cold Play and signed by him and Michaedl Stipe, which had received only 4 bids and was stalled at $1,600.
Coin toss? Draw Straws? Paper, Scissors, Rock? How do you decide who the 'opening act' is for a lineup that includes a lot of the biggest names in Rock? We have no idea. But we do know that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will deliver the opening set of the Wednesday 
A Velvet Revolver reunion could be ahead if reports prove true that Scott Weiland has gotten the boot from Stone Temple Pilots. Speaking with a Minneapolis radio station, Slash said he'd picked up on talk that Stone Temple Pilots had parted ways with Weiland, so he decided to '...inquire within' and says the lead singer '...got fired from STP'. Weiland had recently said he was 'completely open' to getting back together with Velvet Revolver.
While prospects remain dim for Led Zeppelin members performing together in the future, fans should soon get info on live dates by a group being put together by guitarist Jimmy Page. Page, who hoped he would be able to do some solo touring this year, said commitments to promotiong Celebration Day, the DVD-CD of Zeppelin's 2007 reunion concert, and work he has been putting in remastering and developing box sets for each Zeppelin catalog album prevented him from doing concerts. He hopes to put tour dates in place for concerts toward the end of 2013. No word yet on who else will be featured in the band.
The Rolling Stones have added their name to the December 12 benefit concert being staged at Madison Square Garden to raise Hurricane Sandy relief funds. Even before they volunteered, the line-up in a position to go down as the greatest collection of Rock talent to appear the same night on a single stage in history. Mick, Keith, Charlie, Woody and the touring members of the Stones join Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, the Who, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi, Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl and Coldplay's Chris Martin in a lineup that also includes Kanye West and Alicia Keys.
Moody Blues guitarist Justin Hayward is wrapping up work on a solo album that he plans to release in 2013. Hayward says the project includes material he developed a number of years ago that recently '...gathered momentum' and has been enjoyable to get ready for release. Hayward's last solo effort came out in 1996. As for the Moody Blues, he says the group may release future concert DVDs, but has no plans to write or record new material at this time. Asked about the group being left off the Rock Hall of Fame ballot for the umpteenth time, Hayward says he feels bad for fans about the annual snub, but notes, 'It's an American thing. If you really want to run a hall of fame and get people coming through and it's a great tourist attraction, that's fine, but it doesn't impact me at all.'
Ed Cassidy, who formed the group Spirit with his step-son, Randy California, in the Sunshine State in 1967, passed away Thursday
We are heartened to see a strong representation for a truly great rock album in this year's Grammy nominations. El Camino from the Black Keys is, song for song, an awesome body of work from a band that has created a unique sound by combining gritty blues, a dose of funk and elements of Glam Rock. The group picked up Album of the Year, and Best Rock Album nods for El Camino, Record of the Year, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song nominations for Lonely Boy. Bruce Springsteen's We take Care of Our Own was nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song and also picked up a Best Rock Album nomination for Wrecking Ball. The hardware gets given out February 10 in LA.
Just days after spending a night on stage with Alice Cooper's band (
If you can come up with a compelling enough account of what Bruce Springsteen's music means to you, it could end up getting used in Springsteen & I, a Rockumentary being produced by Ridley Scott. Co-producer Svana Gisla says testimonials should be '...captured in the most visually exciting way you can think of, whether you've been a hardcore Tramp since '73 or have heard one of his songs for the first time today!' The Baille Walsh directed project should be in theaters next year. The deadline for submitting footage is Thursday
Ted Nugent's love for firearms and the right of every law abiding citizen to have as many as they want is well known. So is his anger toward anyone that suggests that the country might be safer with more stringent gun laws. NBC Sports announcer Bob Costas is the latest figure to get Nugent aggravated enough to fire off a volley of harsh criticism. Recent remarks by Costas about the murder-suicide involving a member of the Kansas City Chiefs triggered an angry response by Ted on his Twitter account. During halftime of the Sunday Night Football telecast on NBC, Costas voiced agreement with a FoxSports.com post by Jason Whitlock that contended that the presence of a handgun too often turns a verbal disagreement into a deadly confrontation. Nugent responded to the Costas comments by tweeting, 'We thought Bob Costas was smarter than that. Only fools blame tools instead of human failings. Shame Bob...', and added '#BobCostas has clearly lost his mind. Inanimate objects are the problem not murderers. Brilliant.'.jpg)
The rumored 2013 Fleetwood Mac tour now has actual dates. The group has confirmed 34 shows,opening April 4 in Columbus, Ohio and continuing through mid June. The North American dates will include five stops north of the border and is just the first leg of a trek that will take the band to Europe for festival appearances during the summer, with a dozen or more dates expected to follow in Australia & New Zealand. Stevie Nicks has indicated that she and Lindsey Buckingham have worked up a couple of new songs she anticipates will be released in the Spring.
