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Maria Callas was a person of mystery long before her untimely passing. The world wanted to know about the opera singer, and many attempts have been made to dissect her life. The most recent and widely reached has to be Angelina Jolie’s film, which took some very interesting approaches to her story.

Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria | Credit: Netflix

There is one very interesting approach that the film took with the aspect of “Mandrax,” turning the drug into an actual person and leaving it to the audience to figure out if he was real or not. However, one cannot help but wonder what the real-life Callas’s relationship with the drug was.

The Personification of an Addiction

Many works over the years have tried to capture the essence of Maria Callas, following her through her life and success as an opera singer. However, Angelina Jolie’s film,...

Heavy metal veterans W.A.S.P.’s concert at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Saturday (November 16th) turned into a quasi-rally for president-elect Donald Trump leading into the final song of the night.

W.A.S.P. are currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of their self-titled debut, performing the LP in its entirety before playing an encore of songs from other albums. Just prior to playing the evening’s final song, “Blind in Texas,” frontman Blackie Lawless addressed the crowd, eventually referencing the fact that Trump was down the street at a UFC event in Madison Square Garden. The singer’s full speech (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), reads as follows:

“We’ll do something a little different tonight. We are in the appropriate city to do this. You know, it was Shakespeare that said, ‘Some are born to greatness. Some have greatness thrust upon them.’ It was the Greek historian...

Eve Babitz, the “dowager groupie” who wrote Slow Days, Fast Company and was known for her relationships with the likes of The Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison and Steve Martin, and Joan Didion, the author of Play It As It Lays and The White Album, who wrote Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson’s A Star Is Born, are unquestionably two of Los Angeles’ most-revered writers.

A new book – Didion & Babitz written by Lili Anolik – highlights the relationship between the pair, helped by the author unearthing scores of previously unseen letters.

The book, which published today by Simon & Schuster’s Scribner, also explores their contrasting relationship with Hollywood (the town) and Hollywood (the industry).

Didion wrote a slew of screenplays with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, including the aforementioned A Star Is Born, 1971’s The Panic In Needle Park, which starred Al Pacino, 1981’s True Confessions, which starred Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall,...

Does Cillian Murphy think James Bond should be a woman? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Cillian Murphy threw his hat out of the ring in an era where the “Bond” mantle is up for grabs. Instead, he suggested a woman should don the iconic 007 tux. His perspective? “It did feel kind of pivotal,” Murphy remarked, signaling a departure from Bond’s classic mold. This was classic Murphy, blending introspection with a sharp awareness of cultural evolution. But if there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about shaking up old molds, it’s Murphy himself.

In the summer of ’96, Murphy was at his pivotal moment, a young man at a crossroads in Cork. His law exams at University College Cork? Flunked. The record deal with his funky, Frank Zappa-inspired band? Declined. And then came Disco Pigs, the play that would change it all. Murphy jumped in, untrained and uncertain, alongside then-unknown writer Enda Walsh.

Saturday Night Live first aired on NBC in 1975. Created by Lorne Michaels, the late-night sketch comedy has had its ups and downs throughout the years. Each episode features a celebrity host and musical guest, some of which have been incredible additions to the series lineup, while others just didn't hit the mark. Below we chronicle a list of 10 of the worst hosts featured on SNL.

Louise Lasser (1976) Actress Louise Lasser on Television Set | Lynn Goldsmith/GettyImages

Louise Lasser hosted during the debut season of SNL during the penultimate episode. She was well known for her work in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which earned her place as host. Earlier that year, her personal life took a nose dive when she was given six months probation for cocaine possession. During her episode, she refused to perform with the cast, making an exception for Chevy Chase and a dog.

Her opening monologue focused on her struggles,...

In its 50-year history, Saturday Night Live has seen all kinds of hosts. Some are absolute geniuses on the show, have huge hits with the audience, and come back multiple times. Others were “flash in the pan” stars whose gigs are mostly forgotten. And then there are hosts who were absolutely terrible and never invited back.

Some go the extra mile and are openly banned by SNL, although it’s sometimes tricky to figure that out. Contrary to opinion, Charles Grodin wasn’t banned, but it was his own choice not to return as he didn’t feel he worked on the show. Many bans are for the musical guests, but these stand out as the SNL hosts were so awful they were banned from returning, and some big names on this list.

Steven Seagal Smash Global V Pre-Oscar Fight - Arrivals | Paul Archuleta/GettyImages

In the annals of SNL,...

Legendary bassist Tony Levin, best known for his work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, has announced the new album Bringing It Down to the Bass. The LP features contributions from Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Vinnie Colaiuta, and more.

The album arrives via Flatiron Recordings on September 13th, one day after Levin kicks off the highly anticipated “Beat” tour celebrating the music of King Crimson with Adrian Belew, Danny Carey, and Steve Vai. According to Levin, the album is a long-time coming, as he’s been working on a number of the songs for years, if not decades.

Get Beat Tickets Here

“It could have been done a long time ago, frankly,” Levin said in a press release, “but it’s because of a problem I have, which is a very good problem to have. And that’s that I have a lot of touring and...

Wait, was that Kamala Harris emerging from a record store brandishing a vinyl copy of the Grateful Dead’s Live/Dead? No, it was actually Charli Xcx’s Brat. No, hold on, it was Frank Zappa’s One Size Fits All. Or maybe it was Nirvana’s Nevermind or Gza’s Liquid Swords?

All those answers are right — sort of.

In the week since Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, music nerds have been having fun with a photo, taken last year, of Harris emerging from Hr (Home Rule...

John Mayall, the newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose group the Blues Breakers helped nurture many British music legends including Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and several future members of Fleetwood Mac, died Monday in California. He was 90.

His family released a statement on social media confirming the news but gave few details other than citing “health issues.”

“It is with heavy hearts that we bear the news that John Mayall passed away peacefully in his California home yesterday, July 22, 2024, surrounded by his loving family,” the Instagram post reads. “Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world’s greatest road warriors.”

Heralded as “The Godfather of British Blues,” singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mayall had a love of American blues and jazz — and a gift for spotting young talent. In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, he...

Black Sabbath legends Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi have each unveiled an intriguing new product. Somewhat reflective of their respective demeanors, Ozzy is the subject of an official coloring book, while Iommi is offering up his second signature cologne, dubbed “Deified.”

Ozzy Osbourne: The Official Coloring Book is “coming soon” via Fantoons, which has also created activity/coloring books for Iron Maiden, Rush, Frank Zappa, and more.

The Ozzy mega-coloring book features 72 pages of line art that’s ready for coloring. Reads Fantoons’ official description:

“The only official Ozzy Osbourne coloring book has arrived! Revisit his entire solo discography through intricate illustrations by the award-winning Fantoons animation studio! Get ready for a unique book featuring Ozzy and the universe he built throughout his unmatched career. The perfect gift for casual or die-hard fans alike. Get ready for a crazy train ride… A must-have for Ozzy fans around the globe! Disclaimer: Bats not included.

The first hit album of Frank Zappa’s career, Apostrophe (‘), will be expanded into a comprehensive box set for its 50th anniversary. Available in a variety of formats on Sept. 13, the reissue in its most extravagant form, a super deluxe edition, will feature a remastered edition of the original album with bonus tracks, live recordings from Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, and Dayton from 1974, and a Blu-ray that includes the album in 5.1 surround sound and its original quadrophonic mix in addition to high-res audio.

The release, available to preorder now,...

Actor, comedian, and musician Martin Mull, known by many as Gene Parmesan, Private Eye, from “Arrested Development” or Colonel Mustard from “Clue: The Movie,” died Thursday at the age of 80 according to an Instagram post shared on Friday by his daughter, TV writer Maggie Mull.

“I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness,” she wrote. “He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and — the sign of a truly exceptional person — by many, many dogs. I loved him tremendously.”

Mull was born in Chicago, but grew up in Ohio and Connecticut.

In news that will certainly devastate fans of comedy and prolific character actors, it was announced today that comedian, actor, musician, and painter Martin Mull has passed away. The star of shows like "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," "Fernwood 2 Night," "Roseanne," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "Arrested Development," "Danny Phantom," and countless comedic movies (including the cult hit "Clue") was 80 years old. The news first broke on a post from his daughter Maggie Mull's Instagram. Her caption reads below:

"I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness. He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians,...

Martin Mull, the comedian and actor known for his rolls in Clue, Roseanne and Arrested Development, has died at the age of 80.

His daughter, Maggie Mull, announced the news on Friday, writing, “I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness.” She added, “He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny.”

“My dad will be...

Martin Mull, the comic musician and actor who started with 1970s TV series “Fernwood 2 Night” and went on to appear as Colonel Mustard in “Clue” and on “Arrested Development” and “Roseanne,” died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 80.

His daughter Maggie announced his death on Instagram, writing “I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness. He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and—the sign of a truly exceptional person—by many, many dogs. I loved him tremendously.”

Mull was nominated for an Emmy in 2016 for his guest role...

Martin Mull, the droll comedian, actor, singer-songwriter and painter who found fame on the soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and its spinoff Fernwood 2 Night, has died. He was 80.

Mull died Thursday at home after a “valiant fight against a long illness,” his daughter, Maggie Mull, shared on her Instagram.

“He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials,” she wrote. “He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and — the sign of a truly exceptional person — by many, many dogs. I loved him tremendously.”

Mull also enjoyed lengthy stints in the 1990s as the befuddled principal Willard Kraft on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and as Leon Carp, the gay boss and pal...

Martin Mull, the droll comic actor best known for his roles in “Clue,” “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” died Thursday at age 80.

His daughter, Maggie Mull, shared the news to Instagram on Friday, writing, “I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness.”

Maggie, who is a TV writer, added, “He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by maggie mull (@mulltoons)

She added that he will be missed by “his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and — the sign of a truly exceptional person — by many, many dogs.”

She ended her post with, “I loved him tremendously.”

Mull...

Johnny Depp, Iggy Pop and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch are among those sharing memories about tattoo artist Jonathan Shaw in the trailer for the documentary feature Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist.

Dark Star Pictures releases the movie from directors Lucas de Barros and Mariana Thome in theaters June 14 before it hits VOD platforms July 30. Scab Vendor examines the life of Shaw, who opened his Fun City Tattoo studio in New York City before tattooing was even legal in Manhattan.

The son of bandleader Artie Shaw and actress Doris Dowling, Jonathan Shaw suffered an overdose in his 20s. He bounced back by becoming a go-to tattoo artist in NYC, where he enjoyed a celebrity lifestyle and developed friendships with various public figures. The film also focuses on Shaw’s realization at the height of his career that he needed to change his path.

“My childhood was a typical American-dream nightmare,...

Independence Day is here, and Deep Tracks is focusing on the most essential fourth releases from American classic rock artists! We’re counting down your favorites, as voted by you.

Deep TracksFourths for the FourthListen on the App

Listen on the App

Stream the “Fourths for the Fourth” countdown in the SiriusXM app now, and catch it on-air when it premieres on Deep Tracks (Ch. 308) on July 4 at 4pm Et.

Directions: Vote once for up to 15 of your favorite albums in the poll below before 11:59pm Et on June 16, 2024.

Can’t see the poll? Click here to vote.

Fourth releases from American classic rock artists

These are the possible album choices for this year’s “Fourths for the Fourth” countdown:

Allman Brothers Band – Brothers And Sisters

Aerosmith – Rocks

Al Kooper – New York City (You’re A Woman)

Alice Cooper – Killer

Beach Boys – Little Deuce Coupe

Big Star – In Space...

Looking back, 1974 was a groundbreaking year for new musical releases. To re-create some of the magic that year brought, Classic Vinyl (Ch. 26) is counting down the top “50 Albums Turning 50” — as voted by you, our listeners!

50 Albums Turning 50Stream the full countdown nowListen on the App

Listen on the App

The “50 Albums Turning 50” countdown premieres on Classic Vinyl (Ch. 26) on May 24 at 3pm Et.

Stream it anytime, anywhere, on the SiriusXM app.

Directions: Vote once for up to 20 of your favorite albums in the poll below before 11:59pm Et on May 20, 2024.

Can’t see the poll? Click here to vote.

Albums from 1974 you voted on

These are the possible album choices for this year’s “50 Albums Turning 50” countdown:

Aerosmith – Get Your Wings

America – Holiday

April Wine – Live!

Argent – Encore: Live in Concert

Bachman–Turner Overdrive – Not Fragile

Bad Company – Bad Company

Bill Wyman – Monkey Grip

Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenade

Blue...

To the average listener hearing Jessica Pratt for the first time, it’s possible to mistake her for an artist from a different era. Her music sounds decades old, like an obscure artist unearthed from the dusty bin of a Midwestern antique shop. But this is not the Langley Schools Music Project, and Pratt is no Connie Converse. Born in 1987, the Los Angeles musician has been surprising people with her otherworldly indie folk since 2012. And now she’s returned with her fourth album, Here in the Pitch, out May 3 via Mexican Summer.

In the summer of 1968, months after the releases of We’re Only in It for the Money and Lumpy Gravy and a few months ahead of the release of Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention found time for a five-hour concert on the Sunset Strip. A new box set, Whisky a Go Go, 1968 — due out June 21 — chronicles the unique evening, which the band recorded for release but, in Zappa’s signature fashion, divvied up for spare parts on other recordings. (Notably, Uncle Meat’s...

Music movies are having a moment — if, indeed, they ever stopped having one. Take the pop-music biopic. There are times, like right now, when it surges in popularity, yet the form has never gone out of style. And music documentaries, a staple of the indie-film world, have only proliferated during the streaming era. This means that they have to compete for visibility, but a ton of them are getting made and (mostly) getting seen. They’ve become a happy epidemic.

A few, like “Amy” or “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?,” are popular and vital enough to have carved out a place in the culture — and, in the case of both those films, to have inspired the creation of a biopic. I have it on good authority that when you’re trying to put together a music documentary, the prospect of it spawning a biopic can be a key selling point.

Dweezil Zappa has announced 2024 tour dates celebrating the 50th anniversary of his father Frank Zappa’s albums Roxy & Elsewhere and Apostrophe.

Kicking off on August 1st in Phoenix, the dates — dubbed the “Rox-Postrophy Tour” — will see Zappa reimagine the music from the two albums with “fan-favorite tracks from each record; replete with unique hybrid arrangements.” After stops in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, and more cities, the tour will conclude with a final performance in Santa Fe, New Mexico on September 11th.

Get Dweezil Zappa Tickets Here

Tickets for the dates will first become available via an artist pre-sale opening on March 13th at 10:00 a.m. local time. For more information on the pre-sale, check out Zappa’s website. General on-sale will begin via Ticketmaster on March 15th at 10:00 a.m. local time, after which tickets can be purchased on StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program.

Spoiler Alert: This article continues spoilers for the film “Drive-Away Dolls.”

In Ethan Coen’s “Drive-Away Dolls,” an homage to the colorful, brash world of exploitation cinema, there’s a notable cameo from none other than Miley Cyrus. Cyrus appears in a psychedelic swirl of flashbacks as Tiffany Plastercaster, seen titillating a college-aged version of Matt Damon’s character, who will come to be a conservative Senator in Florida. Plastercaster does as her name implies, crafting a replica dildo for the aspiring politician’s stimulated member.

It may sound far-fetched, but Cyrus’ cameo is inspired by Cynthia Plaster Caster — real name Cynthia Albritton — the artist and groupie who famously cast the genitals of musicians and others in plaster, from Jimi Hendrix to The Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra.

Albritton, who died in 2022, also cast female breasts in later years in an effort to even the playing field, with subjects including Karen O,...

Eddie Wilson could tell stories about the Armadillo World Headquarters, the storied Austin music venue he founded in 1970, for hours. He’ll tell you about how “nowhere else in the world” had ever treated Charlie Daniels so good, or the “phonebook thick” contract Zz Top made him sign, or maybe the times that names like Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, and Stevie Ray Vaughan performed there in the Seventies.

“We got one wonderful picture of Frank Zappa bending over a table with a razor blade,” Wilson recounts in his Texas twang.

BBC News has reported that David Soul, the famed star of the 70s police show, Starsky and Hutch, has died at the age of 80. Helen Snell, Soul’s wife revealed that the actor had passed on Thursday “after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family.” She added, “His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.” Soul is known best for co-starring with Paul Michael Glaser in Starsky and Hutch, where he portrayed Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson. The popular cop drama ran from 1975 to 1979. He would reprise his role in a tongue-in-cheek cameo in the 2004 Todd Phillips comedic film adaptation, Starsky & Hutch, alongside Paul Michael Glaser.

David Soul can also be remembered for his work in Here Come the Brides, Magnum Force and The Yellow Rose. Soul also had a recording career as a singer. Before finding success with acting,...

David Soul, who starred alongside Paul Michael Glaser on the 1970s’ ABC buddy cop show Starsky and Hutch and had a No. 1 hit with the song “Don’t Give Up on Us,” has died. He was 80.

Soul died Thursday after “a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family,” his wife, Helen Snell, said in a statement.

“He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend,” she said. “His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.”

Soul also appeared for two seasons on the 1968-70 ABC show Here Come the Brides, played one of the corrupt young motorcycle cops brought down by Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan in the thriller Magnum Force (1973) and stood out as a terrified vampire hunter in the 1979 Stephen King CBS miniseries Salem’s Lot.

On two...

For my money, the Monkees are way, way more interesting than the Beatles. 

According to Andrew Sandoval's thorough and invaluable book "The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the '60s TV Pop Sensation," an ad was put in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter on September 8, 1965, looking for "four insane boys" to be the members of a new pre-fabricated pop band. The band would also star in a TV series -- deliberately meant to evoke Richard Lester's 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" -- that would use their real names, but present their lives as a fictional merry-go-round of kooky shenanigans. 

The producers zeroed in on former child actor Micky Dolenz, a friend of musician Stephen Stills named Peter Tork, a British, boyish heartthrob named Davy Jones, and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune, Mike Nesmith. Their TV series debuted on September 12, 1966, the week after "Star Trek" debuted, and...

Essra Mohawk, who recorded a dozen albums and saw Cyndi Lauper’s cover of her “Change of Heart” hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, died on Dec. 11 at her home in Nashville from cancer. She was 75.

A dreamy singer who described herself as a flower child, Mohawk never quite broke through to stardom. But she carved out a long career nonetheless in a highly fertile music era, performing with Frank Zappa and Jerry Garcia, among others.

She was scheduled to perform at the original Woodstock festival, but her driver took a wrong turn on the way.

“We got there in time to see the last verse of the last song of the last act of the first night, and then the stage went dark before we got to it from the parking lot,” she recalled in a 2009 video interview.

She recorded more than a dozen albums over the years.

In the 1970s,...

The final cover of The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band doesn’t reflect the Fab Four’s original idea. The Beatles removed one star from the image for financial reasons. The star might have made a huge mistake when he corresponded with The Beatles.

An artist said the creation of The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’ cover was ‘pretty funny’

Jann Haworth was one of the artists behind the Sgt. Pepper artwork. Famously, the record includes the visages of many celebrities, writers, and historical figures. During a 2017 interview with Good Times, Haworth said The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, decided the band needed permission to use the famous figures’ images late in the creative process.

“And the story as it’s written up is that Emi thought of this, but as it was presented to me it was Brian saying ‘Oh my god, we’ve got to get this straightened out,...

At the beginning of his video for “No Es Culpa Mía,” Pink Pablo traipses into frame, pours a beer over his head, takes off his shirt, kicks a keyboard off its stand, knocks over a rack of clothes, and starts screaming into a mic. What you might not know is that you’re watching someone with a master’s in neuroscience practicing what he’s learned.

Pink Pablo, whose real name is Juan Pablo Rivera, has been making music on and off for more than four years now. But it...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s landmark Over-Nite Sensation, and in November, Zappa Records/UMe will celebrate the LP with a deluxe reissue of the 1973 album complete with unreleased tracks, outtakes, two concerts from the era, and more from one of Rolling Stone’s 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Ahead of Over-Nite Sensation: 50th Anniversary Edition’s release on November 17, check out the previously unheard “Face Down,” a demo that would ultimately transform into the album’s television-skewering “I’m the Slime.”

The demo finds the...

In 1980, John Lennon said he wasn’t interested in what the other Beatles were doing but that didn’t make him “callous.” Despite his words, he called a Paul McCartney song “a good piece of work.” The song’s music video had Paul looking to The Beatles’ past.

John Lennon felt 1 Paul McCartney song made him sound depressed

During a 1980 interview from the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John discussed his former bandmates. “I don’t follow what they do now,” he admitted. “Somebody asked me what I thought of Paul’s last album and I made some remark like I thought he was depressed and sad. But then I realized I hadn’t listened to the whole damn thing.” The album in question was McCartney II, Paul’s venture into electronic music.

“I heard one track — the hit, ‘Coming Up,...

Thirty-eight years ago today, Mr. Snider went to Washington. A new graphic novel, Dee Snider: He’s Not Gonna Take It (due out Nov. 21), illustrates the fateful day the Twisted Sister frontman spoke in defense of free speech, alongside Frank Zappa and John Denver, at a Senate hearing regarding placing content-warning labels on album covers. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello penned a foreword for the book paying tribute to Snider’s heroic spirit.

Publisher Z2 presents Morello as a Spider-Man-like superhero in the panels premiering on Rolling Stone.

Paul McCartney was saddened when John Lennon compared him to another popular singer. However, the comparison doesn’t work at all. Notably, this comparison came from John’s era of edgy trash-talking.

Paul McCartney hated John Lennon comparing him to Engelbert Humperdinck

In the 1970s, John was as known for his digs as he was for his music. For example, in the 1971 book Lennon Remembers, John criticizes all the other Beatles, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Orson Welles, Frank Zappa, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, and so many others.

During a 1974 interview with Rolling Stone, Paul said he didn’t like everything John did, however, he kept his mouth shut. “I mean, he came out with all stuff like I’m like Engelbert Humperdinck,” Paul recalled. “I know he doesn’t really think that.”

Paul was asked what he thought about John’s comments. “Oh, I hated it,” he recalled. “You can imagine,...

It’s been nearly 50 years since Frank Zappa’s celebrated album, Over-Nite Sensation, first debuted. Now, the record is receiving box set treatment: the “super deluxe” Over-Nite Sensation: 50th Anniversary Edition will drop on November 3rd via Zappa Records and UMe.

Released in September 1973, the original Over-Nite Sensation was produced by Zappa and features a group of virtuosic musicians, including Tina Turner and a then-newly-reformed iteration of Zappa’s backing band called The Mothers, which had grown to include a number of jazz greats like Jean-Luc Ponty and George Duke. It came to be one of Zappa’s most commercially-successful releases, bringing his avant-garde sound to a wider audience.

Over-Nite Sensation: 50th Anniversary Edition was produced and compiled by Zappa’s son, Ahmet Zappa, as well as “Zappa Vaultmeister” Joe Travers. It boasts a whopping 57 previously unreleased tracks, including masters, mix outtakes, two live concerts, and more. It’s all packaged as a five-disc set,...

Alice Cooper reveals he has only once ever brought up with his friend Johnny Depp the subject of the actor’s acrimonious divorce, which saw Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard embroiled in courtroom battles on either side of the Atlantic.

Cooper, who has for eight years played in the band Hollywood Vampires with Depp, told the UK’s Times newspaper that he once suggested to Depp: “’I have a great idea. You and Amber do a remake of The War of the Roses. Who wouldn’t go and see that?’”

According to Cooper, Depp laughed at the idea of reprising the 1989 movie, in which married couple played by Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner battled with each other, although Cooper added that his friend has always tried to dodge the attention his personal life generates: “Johnny is a good guitarist and in a way he would have been happiest doing that,...

Music is incredibly subjective. What sounds fantastic to one person might not resonate with someone else. The Rolling Stones are no exception. The band saw several albums reach No. 1 on the charts, but some listeners favor the more obscure. Like Frank Zappa, who once said he felt the Stones’ Between the Buttons was better than The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Frank Zappa liked The Rolling Stones’ album ‘Between the Buttons’ better than ‘Sgt. Pepper’

Zappa was never one for floating in the mainstream. Whether it was his music, opinions, or the names of his children (especially Moon Unit and Dweezil), the individualistic guitarist marched to the beat of his own drum.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that Zappa once said he preferred The Rolling Stones’ 1967 album Between the Buttons to The Beatles’ magnum opus, Sgt. Pepper, from later that year. His opinion probably shocked Mick Jagger,...

Tl;Dr:

The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” charted at the same time as a song by an important shock-rock musician. Years later, the shock-rocker remembered “Hey Jude” blocking his signature song from reaching No. 1. “Hey Jude” was No. 1 in the United States for a whopping nine weeks.

The Beatles‘ “Hey Jude” was so huge it overshadowed almost all the other songs from the 1960s. For example, it stopped a famous classic rock song from hitting No. 1. The tune wouldn’t have been a hit without the aid of Jimi Hendrix.

The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’ got in the way of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s ‘Fire’

Arthur Brown is a shock-rock and progressive-rock musician. He is most known for writing and performing the song “Fire.” During a 2022 interview with NME, he was asked if he could remember which track stopped “Fire” from hitting No. 1.

“Can I sue you if I...

Over three hours worth of newly-unearthed Frank Zappa receives an official release as a compilation called Funky Nothingness. Available as of today, the music is believed to have been intended for a sequel to Hot Rats, the avant-garde rocker’s 1969 solo debut.

Freshly dug out from the Zappa vault, Funky Nothingness will include 25 unreleased and rare tracks, as well as compositions, covers, and miscellaneous jams from 1970 studio sessions with Zappa’s core group: Aynsley Dunbar, Don “Sugarcane” Harris, Ian Underwood, and Max Bennett.

“Funky Nothingness delivers on all fronts, showcasing Zappa’s love for rhythm and blues, picking up where Hot Rats left off with extended instrumental workouts fusing rock, jazz, and classical elements into music that can only be described as Zappa,” reads a statement from “Zappa vaultmeister” Joe Travers, who also compiled the collection along with Zappa’s son Ahmet Zappa.

Funky Nothingness arrives just shy of a...

Mark Volman, founding member of the ’60s pop-rock band The Turtles, has been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, he revealed in an interview with People.

Volman, 76, received the diagnosis back in 2020 after experiencing the neurological disorder’s trademark symptoms like intense hallucinations, lapsed thinking and speech, and tremors, among others. Still, Volman is determined to live life to the fullest extent he can, having been on tour since May. The Turtles headline the ’60s revival tour “Happy Together,” named after their hit single, every year — something Volman doesn’t want to stop any time soon.

“Right now, for me, it’s not scary, although it probably should be,” Volman said in the interview. “I got hit by the knowledge that this was going to create a whole new part of my life. And I said, ‘Ok, whatever’s going to happen will happen, but I’ll go as far as I can.

Mark Volman, singer and founding member of the Sixties hitmakers the Turtles, has revealed that he has been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia.

However, despite being diagnosed with the disease in 2020, Volman told People he still plans on going on tour with the current version of the Turtles. “It’s the safest place for me to be. I can’t get lost or hurt,” Volman quipped.

The “Happy Together” singer’s revelation comes a week before the release of his new memoir, Happy Forever, out June 20.

Volman — also a veteran...

George Winston, the celebrated solo pianist who sold more than 15 million albums over the course of his career, died Sunday, June 4. He was 73.

Winston’s death was confirmed on his website. He had been battling cancer for 10 years, undergoing a bone marrow transplant in 2013.

Winston rose to prominence in the early Eighties with a trio of records, Autumn, Winter Into Spring, and December, all of which were certified platinum in the United States (December even went three times platinum). His music seemed to incorporate elements of classical, jazz, folk, ambient,...

Mike Nesmith always had a soft spot for The Monkees‘ only feature film, Head. The 1968 film was misunderstood by many critics and fans of the band who were used to the casual hijinks of the quartet’s NBC series. However, Nesmith discussed how the film had a hidden meaning missed by many. He claimed the film poked “a lot of fun at The Monkees’ expense.”

The Monkees in a scene from the feature film ‘Head’ | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Mike Nesmith shared in a rare interview the intentions of the movie ‘Head’

Mike Nesmith shared the purposes of the group’s first feature film in a rare interview with Monkees bandmates Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork for the Hy Lit Show. Head, he explained, poked “a lot of fun” at the expense of its stars.

“The most fun was the character assassination,” Nesmith said of the darker...

Ringo Starr is known, first and foremost, as a drummer, but he appeared in multiple movies over the course of his career. All of The Beatles picked up some acting experience, but Starr took steps to build a career as an actor. Not all of his movies performed well – even the drummer’s biggest fans should avoid a few of them — but some are worth a watch. Here are four of Starr’s movies worth putting on your to-watch list.

Ringo Starr | Michael Putland/Getty Images ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ is 1 of the movies Starr filmed with The Beatles

Starr’s first movie is also one of his best. In 1964, The Beatles released A Hard Day’s Night, a musical comedy film in which the band played themselves. The film gave Starr a good deal of screen time — he chaperones Paul McCartney’s grandfather and gets arrested.

While director Richard Lester...

The late Frank Zappa’s “vaultmeister” has unearthed 23 previously unreleased and rare recordings that Zappa may have been considering for a sequel to his beloved jazz-rock masterpiece, 1969’s Hot Rats.

The apocrypha, which totals three-and-a-half hours of music, will finally come out on June 30 via a three-disc set titled Funky Nothingness.

Zappa’s estate is previewing the set with Zappa’s interpretations of two songs from 1954 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, “Work With Me Annie/Annie Had a Baby,” with violinist Don “Sugarcane” Harris singing lead:

The recordings, cut...

Musicians rely on their fans to keep their careers running, but sometimes the attention can be too much. Sometimes, it even crosses the line into being dangerous. Overly enthusiastic crowds, people storming the stage, and even fans following bands home are all horror stories for musicians. Here are four musicians who have had frightening experiences with fans.

Tom Petty | George Rose/Getty Images The Beatles

The Beatles dealt with such intensely dedicated fans that the media had to coin the phrase Beatlemania. Fans broke into their houses, jumped on the roofs of cars while they were inside, and attacked their wives if they saw them on the street. While some members of the band were more receptive to this behavior than others, George Harrison found it frightening.

The Beatles appeared on 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium' #OnThisDay in 1963. ?

They caught the attention of the mainstream media, who coined the...

Peacock is announcing a big expansion of its content library this week. The service will add a variety of curated films from Magnolia Pictures, one of the top independent film distributors in the United States. The new films will be available starting Thursday, April 13 to all Peacock subscribers.

Sign Up $4.99+ / month peacocktv.com

The hand-picked content from Magnolia Pictures will highlight the pinnacle of independent cinema through its wide reaching and critically acclaimed library of documentaries and award-winning genre titles. Peacock subscribers will have access to a specially curated assortment of titles that include top-tier talent in front of the camera, as well as behind.

Highlights of the new Magnolia Pictures collection on Peacock include “A Royal Affair” starring Mads Mikkelsen and Alicia Vikander, rocking music documentary “We Are X,” the emotional and poignant BAFTA-winner “I Am Not Your Negro,” and many other titles including the uproarious horror-comedy “Tucker and Dale vs Evil...

In the 1960s, the American band The Turtles were thrilled to meet The Beatles, but their meeting went sour when guitarist Jim Tucker got on John Lennon’s bad side. Lennon didn’t seem to have a reason to pick a fight with Tucker, but he quickly turned on him. Tucker looked to Lennon as a hero, so his condescension stung. He left the music industry shortly after the meeting, and his bandmate Howard Kaylan believed Lennon’s behavior was the reason.

John Lennon | New York Times Co./Larry C. Morris/Getty Images The Turtles were excited to meet The Beatles

While spending time with Graham Nash, The Turtles listened to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for the first time. After hearing the album in its entirety, an awestruck Tucker expressed his desire to meet the band.

“Man, those guys are gods!” he said, per the book Shell...