1949 E Street Band's Roy Bittan born.

1962 Army discharges Jimi Hendrix.

1969 Leslie West and Felix Papalardi form 

1971 Queen's first concert with the Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor lineup.

1973 Brain Eno leaves Roxy Music.

1979 Neil Young & Crazy Horse release Rust Never Sleeps.

1980 Bob Weir & Mickey Hart of Grateful Dead arrested for obstructing drug bust in San Diego. 

1981 Foreigner releases Foreigner IV.

1981 Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey hosts first concert - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.

1982 Elvis Costello releases Imperial Ballroom.

1991 Tom Petty releases Into The Great Wide Open.

1991 Axl Rose triggers riot when he jumps into St. Louis concert crowd to go after a fan with a camera during Guns N' Roses concert. 

1997 Bruce Springsteen awarded Polar Music Prize by Sweden, donates the money to a teen protection agency.

2001 Liverpool renames it airport John Lennon Airport.

2005 Live 8 Concerts staged in several countries.   

2009 Robert Plant in a car accident in North London.  

2009 Canada issues a Bryan Adams postage stamp. 

2014 Styx & Foreigner tour buses catch fire in Philadelphia parking the day before the lot before Let Freedom Rock concert at Susquehana Bank Park.

Bob Dylan wanted Robbie Robertson to play on his Rough and Rowdy Ways album, but the former Band guitarist turned down the invite citing other commitments. Speaking with Rolling Stone, Robertson said he would have loved for it to happen but was "...slammed with work" related to his own album's release and the scoring he was doing for Martin Scorsese on The Irishman.
He apparently declined the offer after a phone call from Dylan that included him reading Robbie some lyrics, and said he planned to let Dylan know, "God, I'm sorry I Wasn't available then, but let's see if we can cause some trouble down the line."
Had it worked out, it would have been Robertson's first studio session with Dylan since the Band backed Bob on Planet Waves in 1974.

He always went out of his way to let fans know how much he appreciated their interest in him and hs music.  We will miss him.  RIP Benny.  From his obit...

BENNY MARDONES DIES AT 73
After Battle with Parkinson’s Disease

I am deeply saddened to announce that Benny Mardones, artist and writer of 3x Billboard Charted Record “INTO THE NIGHT”, has died at 73, says long time friend and record producer, Joel Diamond.

Benny died peacefully at his home in Menifee, CA on June 29, 2020 with his loving wife at his side. He died from complications of Parkinson’s disease.  Benny was born Ruben Armand Mardones in Cleveland, Ohio on November 9,1946. 

"I have lost my husband and the love of my life. Not a day went by without Benny telling me how much he loved me. When he knew the end was coming and near coma, he would ask me to come close and struggle to sing “I’ve Got You” (click: https://youtu.be/zfJuJcfTLx4). For the last 12 years he would often surprise me with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers and a note attached saying in Danish “Jeg Elsker Dig” (I Love You)," said Jane.

Benny was raised in Savage, Maryland and later moved to Syracuse, NY, where he became their “Hometown Hero”. He then moved to Woodstock, NY, and most recently for the past 20 years has resided in Southern California. Benny joined the Navy right after high school and fought in the Vietnam War.Benny Mardones is a name you might not be familiar with, but as soon as you hear the first “signature” chords (click: https://youtu.be/m20bgdHdNk8) of "Into The Night", you will instantly know the song and the artist. He exploded onto the music scene in 1980 and was quickly nicknamed "The Voice," a title earned because of his incredible range as well as his soulful and passionate performances. "Into The Night" has been played over 8 Million times and to this day is still one of the most frequently played rock tunes in America.

As part of his legacy, Benny’s final wish and his ultimate gift was to donate his body after-death to Parkinson’s for advanced medical research and education.

A Memorial Service will be announced in the near future.
 

"Life has a beginning and an end for all of us, but one thing that will always be said of Benny Mardones is that he definitely squeezed the tube-of-life completely dry", said  Joel Diamond.

Ringo Starr's 80th birthday celebration goes online July 7 with virtual appearances from guest including Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Elvis Costello, Steve Earle, Gary Clark Jr., Keb Mo, Ben Harper, Michael McDonald and Willie Nelson.

The event streams on Ringo's YouTube Channel and is free to view, with a donation optional.

As big a drag as this global health crisis has proven to be, having to cut back a lot of collective engagement activities has created a lot more time to devote to exploring online rabbit holes like YouTube. It's amazing how many unexpected things turn up. This morning, we followed a lead from Best Classic Bands via Music Fest News that led to this 1964 recording of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna guitar great Jorma Kaukonen and Janis Joplin working through some tunes together.

Tom Petty's home recorded demo for You Don't Know How It Feels.

The latest indication that wealthy people not spending money on lavish vacations, expensive restaurants and the other perks of having lots of discretionary income are eager to buy rare collectibles is word that the original artwork for Led Zeppelin's debut album has sold at auction for close to $325,000. Created by art student George Hardie for the equivalent of about $1,200, the stipple tracing of a photo of the Hindenburg airship disaster of 1937 had been expected to top out at about $30,000 at the Christie's auction. The now 76 year-old artist who became an academic lecturer on illustration says the original was found in a folder at the bottom of a chest in his studio. The label applied to the outside of the folder by a partner of the artist when it was tucked away read, "G's pension fund".

MORE LED ZEPPELIN INSIGHTS

Billy Gibbons added a tantalizing tidbit to his previous assurances that ZZ Top is working on new material with the intention of putting out a new album after this prolonged period of not being able to tour or record together. Speaking with Live Signing, the Top guitarist said, "We're getting ready to go back in the studio" and added that there's a good chance Jeff Beck will join him, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard when they do. The two guitar greats got together in London about a year ago and have stayed in touch since. Billy credits Beck as "... a guy that not only is still doing it like we'd like to do it - he is inventing things on the guitar that probably wasn't really designed to be done and yet he's doing it."

MORE ZZ TOP INSIGHTS

Roger waters passed along this in isolation version of the final song on the 1983 Pink Floyd album The Final Cut.

The 1959 Martin D-18 guitar Kurt Cobain played during Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged set shattered the previous record amount paid for an iconic guitar when it brought a top bid of $6 million Saturday (6/19). Just 7 bidders were vying for the guitar during the final round of bids according to Julien's Auctions. The previous high bid for an individual guitar was set when David Gilmour's Black Stratocaster sold for $3.95 million.

Todd Rundgren is riding out the physical distancing at his home in Kauai, Hawaii, where he has passed the time developing a streaming TV series he will premiere on his 72nd birthday this coming Monday (6/22). Future episodes of The Todd's Honest Truth will stream at onlocalnation.com every other week starting on July 3.

Rundgren told the Oakland Press he researched streamed offerings of other musicians during the pandemic and found most to be 'slack and low energy'. He plans a more impressive presentation. He'll have to if he expects fans to pony-up the $15 per episode cost to view each one.

Bruce Hornsby has a new release due on August 14th that will include a demo he and the late, great Leon Russell recorded together 25 years ago. Non-Secure Connection draws on a range of styles and subjects that the former leader of The Range, the Noisemakers and informal member of the Grateful Dead observes is consistent with hem feeling his music "...has never been a part of any trend that defied any era of music during my 34 years of doing this."

Classic Yes front man Jon Anderson returns with a solo album on July 31 that had been made available for a limited time on his website and at concerts. Making it all the more interesting to longtime Yes fans, 1000 Hands features Anderson working with group veterans Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, Alan White, Steve Howe and Trevor Rabin.

Sammy and the Circle reconvene virtually for a run through of this VH classic.

Neil Young's decades delayed Homegrown album gets released next Friday. Here's an advance listen to the song Vacancy.

The Doobie Brothers will have an additional wait for their long overdue induction into the Rock Hall OF Fame which has been pushed into November due to the pandemic, but the guys are sounding good from their respective spaces on this isolation collaboration.

Kansas has shared this first look and listen to their next album The Absence of Presence, due out June 26. This is Jets Overhead...

Sweet bassist Steve Priest passed away Thursday (6/4) at 72. The co-founding member of the group best known for Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run and Love is Like Oxygen had a stage presence once described as looking "like a navvy who'd stolen all your makeup" and helped drive the group that merged punk,glam and heavy metal. No cause of death was announced.

Def Leppard has packaged their 2019 Rock Hall Of Fame induction performance into a release that will drop on the first of three Record Store Days slated for later this summer and fall. Only 4,000 copies of the limited edition 5 song set the group did during the March 29 induction staged in New York City are being made available on August 29th's RSD.

MORE DEF LEPPARD INSIGHTS

Baseball''s status as "the national past time" may have passed, but it unquestionably has inspired more songs and in-song lyrics than any other organized sport. A favorite of many is the title song to John Fogerty's 1985 album Centerfield. The song earned the Creedence Clearwater Revival veteran an invitation to perform it at the Baseball Hall Of Fame's annual induction ceremony in 2010. John even donated his Louisville Slugger custom guitar to the Hall when he was in Cooperstown. Fogerty fulfilled another dream of his on his 75th birthday when he got to play at Dodger Stadium, albeit an empty stadium due to the MLB season being on hold due to Covid-19. John said, "It took 75 years and it's a little different than I envisioned", but added,"I get to fulfill my dream playing 'Centerfield' in centerfield with my kids on the team. A home run!"

One of the more unusual virtual concerts took place last night from Fenway Park in Boston when the Dropkick Murphys did a set in the shadow of the fabled Green Monster before 36,000 empty seats and welcomed Bruce Springsteen to drop in on their set.

John Fogerty has bundled several of the Covid-19 quarantine songs he has streamed with members of his family into an EP. The 10 song Fogerty's Factory 4th Generation digital release includes a trio of tunes performed as an NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

About the last thing anyone would have expected from KISS veteran Paul Stanley is a cover of a Motown classic, but here it is...

With new town houses closing in on the abandoned building where many of Southern Rock's greatest albums were recorded, Capricorn Records offices and Studios in Macon, Georgia looked to be on the verge of being reduced to just an historical marker a couple of years ago. Mercer College not only saved the building fro the wrecking ball, it revived it. Blackberry Smoked booked one of the earliest sessions in the studio and invited back Jimmy Hall to join them on a rendition of Keep On Smilin', the song Hall recorded there with the band Wet Willie in 1974.

The group's Live From Capricorn Studios EP drops on June 19 and includes a version of Midnight Rider with Charlie Starr playing Duane Allman's Goldtop Les Paul, the Allman's Revival, the Marshall Tucker Band's Take The Highway, Little Richard's Southern Child and Little Milton's Grits Ain't Groceries, another song Wet Willie recorded in the studio's hay day.

Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band will do a Washington State Covid-19 Relief streaming concert on Saturday, June 10 at 7pm (Pacific). Others contributingh songs during the session include Brandi Carlile and Ben Gibbard of the band Death Cab for Cutie.

Led Zeppelin fans can stream the group's 2007 reunion concert Saturday night (5/30) for free.  The set that was delivered to honor Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun took place at London's 02 Arena and marked the first time surviving members of the group had done a concert together in 27 years.  John Bonham's son, Jason, filled Bonzo's roll admirably that night.

Here's a preview...

Brian May reveals that a recent awkward moment for him proved to be more serious than it seemed at the time. We wish the Queen guitar great the best.

 

 

 

 

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Hmm ... Sheer Heart Attack eh ? Well, I think I always worried a little bit about that album title. I wondered if it might upset some people who had actually had heart attacks. I’m actually quite relieved now that I’m in that club - and I don’t find it upsetting at all ! Take. care folks. And ... why did those discs in my spine get so squished? Well I think 50 years of running around with a guitar strap over my left shoulder holding a heavy guitar might have something to do with it ! But it probably WAS all worth it ! Bri

A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on May 24, 2020 at 7:42pm PDT

Dennis DeYoung is angling for a reunion tour with Styx that includes him. In a recent radio interview, the former Styx member says he's not lobbying to rejoin the group on a full time basis but wants "...one last tour for the Styx fans that want this".

Carb Day for the Indy 500 goes virtual with musicians that had played the event live in years past.

Bono's handwritten lyrics to I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For has raised more than $92,500 in an auction to benefit Covid-19 relief services including Feeding America and NHS Charities Together. The autographed lyrics sheet attracted 3,250 bids during the broadcast auction conducted by Omega Auctions in conjunction with Island Records. Other items in the auction that raised close to $220,000 included a private tour of Abbey Road Studios and a ringtone composed by Brian Eno.

MORE U2 INSIGHTS