Next time you address Rod Stewart you may want to make sure you do it correctly because from now on he’ll be known as Sir Rod Stewart. The rocker was knighted by the Queen Elizabeth II as part of her 90th Birthday Honors list. “I’ve led a wonderful life and have had a tremendous career thanks to the generous support of the great British public,” Sir Rod said in a statement. “This monumental honor has topped it off and I couldn’t ask for anything more. I thank Her Majesty and promise to ‘wear it well’.” Rod certainly isn’t the first rock star to receive a knighthood. Others knighted by the Queen include Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Tom Jones.
Eric Clapton may be a guitar god, but the legend is struggling to play the instrument that made him famous. “I’ve had quite a lot of pain over the last year. It started with lower back pain, and turned into what they call peripheral neuropathy – which is where you feel like you have electric shocks going down your leg,” he explains. “And I’ve had to figure out how to deal with some other things from getting old.’’ Regardless of his pain and struggles, Clapton feels like he’s lucky to have made it this far. I’ve had quite a lot of pain over the last year. It started with lower back pain, “Because I’m in recovery from alcoholism and addiction to substances, I consider it a great thing to be alive at all. By rights I should have kicked the bucket a long time ago,” he explains. “For some reason I was plucked from the jaws of hell and given another chance.”
- Clapton released the album, “Still I Do” last month, but it looks like a tour in support of the album won’t be happening anytime soon
The annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction took place in New York honoring this year’s class, which included, Nile Rodgers Marvin Gaye, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Chip Taylor and music exec Seymour Stein. In addition, Lionel Richie received the Johnny Mercer Award telling the audience, “Tonight is the best night of my entire life as a songwriter,” and adding, “I am humbled by the presence of greatness in this room. I am humbled by the fact that I am standing here holding any kind of award.”
Jennifer Hudson honored Richie by performing “Still,” while the evening’s other performances included Marcus Mumford performing Costello’s “Pump It Up,” “Empire’s” Jussie Smollett doing Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” Rachel Platten taking on Chip Taylor’s “Angel in The Morning,” The B-52s performing “Love Shack” in honor of Stein, the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn doing Petty’s “American Girl,” while Petty himself played two new Mudcrutch tunes, and finally Rodgers bringing down the house with Chic’s “Le Freak,” while Sister Sledge joined in for “We Are Family.”
Also honored was Nick Jonas, who received the Hal David Starlight Award, which is given to writers who are “at an apex in their careers and are making a significant impact in the music industry.” After graciously telling the crowd “I don’t deserve this at all” he performed his track “Jealous.”
The newest Red Hot Chili Peppers album doesn’t hit stores until Friday, so they’re giving fans another single to hold them over. “We Turn Red” is the third single off “The Getaway,” and it’s a bit groovier than what we’ve heard so far. Check the audio for “We Turn Red” below.
Paul Simon has got to be happy with the reaction to his new album. Simon’s latest release, “Stranger to Stranger,” moved 68,000 equivalent album units to debut at number three on the “Billboard” 200 Album chart. But that’s not all, with 67,000 of those units in traditional album sales, Simon has the best actual sales for the week, landing him at number one on the Top Album Sales chart. By landing at number three, Simon has his highest charting album in 29 years, with the last time he made it that high was in 1987 with “Graceland,” which spent one week at number three. The album is also Simon’s seventh solo album to land in the Top Ten, with one album, “Still Crazy After All These Years,” making it to number one.
Neil Young has no problem getting political, and he’s a supporter of Bernie Sanders this election. So when he seemed okay with Donald Trump using his song “Rockin’ In the Free World” at rallies, fans were surprised. “He actually got a license to use it,” Young said at the time. “I mean, he said he did and I believe him. So I got nothing against him. You know, once the music goes out, everybody can use it for anything.” Now, however, Young has taken to Facebook to make sure everyone knows he’s anti-Trump. “When I discovered that the candidate first used my song at his campaign launch , my management called his office and immediately requested he stop,” Young writes. “We thought he had. But now, unfortunately, I understand he is still using it.” He goes to say he still feels the Bern and doesn’t endorse “hate, bigotry, childish name calling, the superficiality of celebrity or ignorance.” In case you thought he was referring to anyone other than the former reality star turned presidential candidate, Young included a video of him yelling “F**k Donald Trump!” during a recent concert. The video is just Neil singing ‘F you Donald Trump’ over and over like all those wonderful FaceBook videos.
Pearl Jam was one of the headliners at this weekend’s Bonnaroo, but Eddie Vedder managed to fit in another performance….with Judd Apatow. Vedder and Apatow put together a son to honor the late comedian Garry Shandling, with the Pearl Jam rocker singing the chorus while Apatow reading some of Shandling’s best jokes served as the verse. Check out fan shot footage of the Shandling tribute song to the right.
