On This Day, Dec. 17, 1949: Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers was born

On This Day, Dec. 17, 1949…Singer Paul Rodgers was born in Middlesbrough, England.Rodgers would go on to form the rock band Free in 1968 with drummer Simon Kirke, guitarist Paul Kossoff and bassist Andy Fraser. The band landed a #1 hit with ”All Right Now,” which Rodgers co-wrote with Fraser.After their breakup, Rodgers and Kirke formed the supergroup Bad Company with Mott The Hoople’s Mick Ralphs and the King Crimson’s Boz Burrell.Bad Company’s self-titled debut album was released in 1974 […]

December 17, 2025

Music

Van Morrison, Stevie Van Zandt & more set for concert celebrating Taj Mahal

Admat for concert celebrating blues musician Taj Mahal (Courtesy of Sweet Relief Musicians Fund)Van Morrison, E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt, George Thorogood and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell are among the artists set to perform at an upcoming benefit concert celebrating the career of blues musician Taj Mahal.The concert, taking place Feb. 21 at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, is the annual benefit for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.Other artists set to celebrate Mahal include Patty Griffin, Jim […]

December 17, 2025

Music

Bruce Springsteen pays tribute to Americana singer Joe Ely

Bruce Springsteen (R) and Joe Ely perform at the Austin Music Awards, held at the Austin Music Hall during the South By Southwest Music Festival on March 14, 2012 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gary Miller/FilmMagic)Bruce Springsteen has paid tribute to Americana singer Joe Ely, who passed away Monday at the age of 78 from complications of Lewy body dementia, Parkinson’s disease and pneumonia."Over here, we’re deeply saddened by the loss of Joe Ely, a singular American singer, great musician […]

December 16, 2025

Music

James Taylor announces annual July 4 holiday shows at Tanglewood

James Taylor at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony (Disney/Eric McCandless)James Taylor has announced his annual Independence Day shows at Tanglewood, in the Berkshires area of Massachusetts.Taylor and his All-Star Band just announced they’ll play the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts, on July 3 and July 4; the Fourth of July show will end with a fireworks display for the holiday, celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.This year marks 52 years since Taylor first took […]

December 16, 2025

Music

Billy Idol song ‘Dying to Live’ lands on Oscars short list for best original song

Billy Idol at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction/Disney/Eric McCandlessBilly Idol has a chance to nab an Oscar nomination.The rocker’s song “Dying to Live,” from his documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, has earned a spot on the Oscars short list for best original song.The tune, written by Idol, J. Ralph, Steve Stevens, Tommy English and Joe Janiak, is one of 15 tracks to make the short list, with the category to be narrowed down to five […]

December 16, 2025

Music

Watch the first-ever video for George Harrison’s ‘Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)’

George Harrison November 23, 1971. (Photo by: Ann Limongello/ABC Photo Archives) The first-ever video for George Harrison’s classic tune “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” has just been released, directed by Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard.It took a team of 20 stop-motion artisans to create the stop-motion clip, which is set in the gardens of Friar Park, the Victorian mansion Harrison purchased in 1970. The video is described as “an homage to his love of gardening.”“To work with […]

December 16, 2025

Music

Donna Summer posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame

American Disco and R&B singer Donna Summer (born LaDonna Gaines, 1948 - 2012) performs onstage at the Poplar Creek Music Theater, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, July 12, 1983. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)Disco queen Donna Summer has been posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Summer, who wrote her hits like "Love to Love You Baby," "Bad Girls," "On the Radio" and "She Works Hard for the Money," was celebrated Monday at a ceremony in West Hollywood, California. Summer’s husband, Bruce Sudano, and […]

December 16, 2025

Music

Foreigner announces new tour dates with Lou Gramm

Foreigner's Lou Gramm at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction (Disney/Michael Le Brecht) IIForeigner has announced some new 2026 tour dates with original frontman Lou Gramm.The band is set to reunite with Gramm for a string of Florida shows that kick off April 17 in St. Augustine, wrapping April 23 in Key West.Foreigner played several dates with Gramm in December. According to setlist.fm, Gramm joined the band for five songs, including “I Want to Know What Love […]

December 16, 2025

Music

Lineup for Billy Joel ‘Music Of’ concert announced

'The Music of Billy Joel' (Courtesy Music Of Presents)Billy Joel is going to be the focus of New York City entrepreneur Michael Dorf’s annual Music Of concert series, and the lineup of artists celebrating Joel has just been announced.This year’s concert is March 12 at Carnegie Hall, with a lineup that includes Joel’s daughter Alexa Ray Joel, Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas, Train’s Pat Monahan, Gavin DeGraw, OAR’s Marc Roberge, Matt Nathanson, country star Tanya Tucker, Americana artists The War and Treaty […]

December 16, 2025