Denny Laine, the co-founder of rock bands The Moody Blues and Wings, has died at 79.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member, who had been suffering from post-Covid health complications in recent months, died on Tuesday morning, according to his wife Elizabeth Hines.

Hines said she was at his bedside, holding his hand while playing his favorite Christmas songs for him.

Hines said her husband has been in the ICU on a ventilator this past week, fighting Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD). She added that the couple believed he would overcome his health setbacks and return to the rehabilitation center and eventually home, but each infection weakened and damaged his lungs.

Laine co-founded The Moody Blues with Mike Pinder in 1964, and Wings alongside Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney in 1971.

Laine worked with a variety of artists and groups over a six-decade career and continued to record and perform as a solo artist.

Laine was also part of Electric String Band, Balls and Ginger Baker’s Air Force for a few years.

In 2018, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues.

(Photo: Jim Summaria; CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia)

Source: RTT Music News

Legendary rock bands Styx and Foreigner have announced a joint North American Tour for next year.

The Summer 2024 trek, called “The Renegades & Juke Box Heroes” tour, is scheduled to begin on June 11 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The tour will conclude on August 28 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Tickets are on sale now.

Announcing the tour, Styx founding guitarist James ‘JY’ Young said, “We’re very excited to be sharing the concert stage with Foreigner and John Waite in the summer of 2024. We have previously toured with Foreigner and the result was both bands kicked ass and had a great time doing it. Looking forward to seeing everybody this summer!”

Foreigner founding member and lead guitarist Mick Jones said he is very much looking forward to the band being back on the road with their old friends, Styx.

“Our ‘Soundtrack Of Summer’ tour ten years ago was a blockbuster, and our tour album was a Billboard chart success,” Jones said. “It’ll be a great time had by all. As an added bonus, John Waite will accompany us on the journey, adding his #1 hits to a special night of classic rock.”

Meanwhile, Styx’s Tommy Shaw and Foreigner’s Kelly Hansen said in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock that both the bands are working on new music.

2024 Tour Dates:

June 11 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
June 12 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
June 14 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
June 15 – Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
June 18 – Maryland Heights, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – STL
June 19 – Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
June 21 – Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
June 22 – Woodlands, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 25 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
June 26 – West Valley City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
June 28 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
June 29 – Concord, CA @ Toyota Pavilion at Concord
June 30 – Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater
July 12 – Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater
July 13 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
July 15 – Charleston, SC @ Credit One Stadium
July 17 – Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
July 19 – West Palm Beach, FL @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
July 20 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 23 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 24 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
July 26 – Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
July 28 – Camden, NJ @ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
July 30 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Broadview Stage at SPAC
July 31 – Burgettstown, PA @ The Pavilion at Star Lake
Aug. 2 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
Aug. 3 – Bangor, ME @ Maine Savings Amphitheater
Aug. 4 – Gifford, NH @ BankNH Pavilion
Aug. 16 – Orange Beach, AL @ The Wharf Amphitheater
Aug. 17 – Huntsville, AL @ Orion Amphitheater
Aug. 20 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at VB
Aug. 21 – Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Aug. 23 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
Aug. 24 – Tinley Park, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
Aug. 26 – Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center Omaha
Aug. 28 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford PREMIER Center

Source: RTT Music News

A sequel to This Is Spinal Tap is set to feature appearances by Paul McCartney, Elton John and Garth Brooks.

Director Rob Reiner has confirmed that the shooting for a sequel to This Is Spinal Tap will begin next year.

“We’re making a sequel,” Reiner told Richard Herring on an episode of his “RHLSTP” podcast. “We’re gonna start shooting at the end of February. And everybody’s back. And Paul McCartney is joining us, and Elton John, and a few other surprises. Garth Brooks.”

This Is Spinal Tap was released in 1984. The film stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as members of the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap, who are characterized as “one of England’s loudest bands.”

In May 2022, Reiner announced that he is working on a sequel to the film, which will include him returning to play filmmaker Martin “Marty” DiBergi, and McKean, Shearer, and Guest as the members of Spinal Tap.

“When it was announced that Spinal Tap would reunite for one final concert, Marty DiBergi saw this as a chance to make things right with the band who viewed This Is Spinal Tap as a hatchet job,” Reiner said in a statement announcing the sequel back in May 2022. “So he left his position as visiting adjunct teacher’s assistant at the Ed Wood School of Cinematic Arts in pursuit of film history.”

Source: RTT Music News

Apple TV+ recently released an official trailer for the new three-part documentary series, “John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial.”

Narrated by Emmy Award winner Kiefer Sutherland, the docuseries is set to premiere globally on December 6.

The docuseries features exclusive eyewitness interviews and previously unseen crime scene photos, shedding new light on the life and murder of music and cultural icon John Lennon, and the investigation and conviction of Mark David Chapman, his confessed killer.

“John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial” is a deeply researched examination of Lennon’s 1980 murder. The series includes exclusive interviews including Richard Peterson, a taxi driver who was witness to the shooting; Jay Hastings, a doorman at The Dakota building who heard Lennon’s last words; David Suggs, Chapman’s defense lawyer; Elliot Mintz, a confidant to Lennon and Yoko Ono; and Dr. Naomi Goldstein, the psychiatrist who first assessed Chapman.

The series is produced for Apple TV+ by 72 Films, directed by Nick Holt and Rob Coldstream with executive producers David Glover, Mark Raphael and Coldstream, alongside producers Simon Bunney and Louis Lee Ray.

Source: RTT Music News

Billy Joel announced during a preview of Billy Joel: My Life – A Piano Man’s Journey that he will continue to tour after the end of his residency at Madison Square Garden in July 2024.

“I’m not leaving [touring]. We’ll still do the work — we’re just not going to keep working in the same place. We’re going to different places,” Joel told the crowd.

Earlier, Joel expanded on his post-residency plans a bit during an interview with Fox 5 New York while he was visiting the exhibit, which is located at the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in Stony Brook, New York.

“It doesn’t mean I’m giving up,” he insisted. “It doesn’t mean I’m stopping performing. We’ll do more gigs.”

Asked if he might consider playing at the new Las Vegas venue the Sphere, where U2 currently is playing a residency, Joel said, “We might do that. We’re talking about it. I have to go to the Sphere and check out what it really is all about, ’cause I’m not sure how we bring programming for that, but we’d have to do that.”

Joel’s Madison Square Garden residency is scheduled to wrap up on July 25, 2024. He also has shows scheduled at the venue leading up to his final residency date.

Source: RTT Music News