Author: Lauren Leadingham

Mazzy Star co-founding guitarist and keyboardist David Roback has passed away at the age of 61. A representative of the band announced today that Roback died on Monday, a cause of death not yet released. Roback got his start in the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene in the 1980s, playing in Rain Parade and Opal. From the ashes of Opal, David formed Mazzy Star with vocalist Hope Sandoval in 1989, and together the two wrote all of the band’s songs. In addition to being the primary songwriter, he also produced the band’s albums. Between 1990 and 1996, Mazzy Star released…

English once stated, “Had it not been for Willie, I would be dead or in the penitentiary.” 

The Prince Estate has announced the next surge of reissues, including Prince’s early ‘00s work that’s been largely out of print. These new editions will be made available on April 17. The box set Up All Nite With Prince and his 2001 The Rainbow Children will be reissued by Legacy Recordings. The Rainbow Children will come as a clear double LP with a limited edition custom rainbow slipmat. The Up All Nite With Prince box set will contain The One Nite Alone Collection, One Nite Alone… Live!, The Aftershow: It Ain’t Over, and the DVD Prince Live at the Aladdin…

Time-honored tradition will bring the Rolling Stones back on the road. Today the Stones announced that their “No Filter” tour will return to North America for a 15-city run in 2020. The tour gets under way on May 8th in San Diego and ends in Atlanta on July 9th. Full itinerary below. “It’s always a pleasure to return to North America and play for some of biggest and best crowds in the world!” said Mick Jagger in a statement. “We had the best time on the road last summer and we are ready to do it again!,” added Keith Richards.…

Today PEN America announced Patti Smith as the recipient of the 2020 PEN America Literary Service Award, to be granted at this year’s PEN America Literary Gala, on May 19. PEN America is recognizing the poet laureate for her fecund and iconic career, across which she’s written luminous memoirs and poetry. Smith is justly lauded for her long-standing achievements in the two worlds of punk and poetry, which she has always paired seamlessly. Smith has many published books under her belt, including the inspirational memoirs Just Kids, M Train, and the recently released Year Of The Monkey. PEN America president and author of Manhattan…

A couple days ago, a Change.org petition was created urging Mike Love’s Beach Boys to drop out of the concert scheduled at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada on February 5th. The organization encourages trophy hunting for endangered species. Donald Trump Jr. will be its keynote speaker. Brian Wilson himself has taken to social media in support of this this, hoping that others will join him in signing a petition addressed to Elliott Lott, the Beach Boys’ manager. The petition states: “We the undersigned pledge to stop buying or downloading all Beach Boys music, going to Beach Boys concerts,…

Ivan Král, a former member of Patti Smith Group, has passed away at the age of 71. He died at his home in Michigan on Sunday, following a battle with cancer.  The Czech guitarist and producer played with Blondie in 1974, just before teaming up with Patti Smith Group as a founding member. He wrote for and played guitar/bass on some of Patti Smith’s most influential albums: Horses from 1975, Radio Ethiopia from 1976, and Easter from 1978. Ivan filmed a documentary on the New York punk scene with Amos Poe called The Blank Generation, and he also wrote songs performed by…

Poguetry will embark on a tour in the U.S. starting at the end of February and ending in the middle of March

The Strokes have added a trio of North American tour dates ahead of their South American and European festival slots. They will be headed to Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 5th; Seattle on March 9th; and Los Angeles on March 14th on this short run. However, you can catch them in Miami at Mana Wynwood on May 1st. General tickets for the L.A. show go on sale Friday, January 31st at 10 a.m. PT, and the Seattle and Vancouver dates follow at noon PT. Citi card members can access a pre-sale for Seattle and L.A. “Surprise. 2020 here we come. We…

Elvis Costello earned his second GRAMMY win last night at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. Elvis & The Imposters have won the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category for his thirtieth studio album, Look Now (Concord Records), the latest with longtime band The Imposters. The nomination of this album was Costello’s fifteenth to date. His first GRAMMY win was in 1998 for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for “I Still Have That Other Girl,” a duet with Burt Bacharach. The singer-songwriter nonpareil did not know Look Now had been entered into the category until he got the nomination. Costello is among a class…