Dave Grohl
The Art of McCartney
Due Nov. 18, the Paul McCartney tribute album ‘The Art of McCartney’ collects more than 40 covers of songs originally recorded by the former Beatle.
The box set has covers from nearly 40 artists including Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Phil Collins, Chris Martin, Nick Cave, Dave Grohl, Florence Welch, Paul Weller and Ozzy Osbourne. Listen to a few of the cuts below.
The set, available for pre-order now, will be offered in a variety of configurations, including a deluxe box, triple-gatefold vinyl, CD and digital.
Rick Nielsen joins Foo Fighters for a cover of Cheap Trick’s “Stiff Competition.”
And on the 4th day, God (or David Letterman) gave us a Foo Fighters cover of Cheap Trick’s “Stiff Competition.”
This time, Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins swapped places, Dave drumming away on the kit and Taylor doing lead vocals. They were joined on guitar by Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen. They delivered an awesome performance of the Cheap Trick classic, “Stiff Competition”.
Listen below
Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson join Foo Fighters for “Kick It Out.”
Last night (October 14), Foo Fighters continued their week-long residency on The Late Show With David Letterman, performing with two members of Heart.
Ann and Nancy Wilson joined the Foos to play Heart’s 1977 single ‘Kick It Out’. Click below to watch.
The best mass musician sing-a-longs EVER
by Sophia Elias
Before Tuesday night, mass musician sing-a-longs were few and far between. Thankfully, BBC Music pulled out all the stops with their star-studded cover of the Beach Boys 1996 hit, “God Only Knows”. In light of the BBC Music launch, the network got everyone (and by everyone, I mean 29 world class musicians) to participate in the promo. With the likes of Elton John, Florence Welch, Pharrell, Lorde, Chris Martin, Dave Grohl and Sam Smith, it certainly didn’t disappoint.
Much like its all-star predecessors, “God Only Knows” will contribute to a good cause. The song is set to be released as a single in order to raise money for the BBC’s Children in Need appeal. I have to say, I haven’t been one to seek out celebrity sing-a-longs, but there is something powerful about world class artists collaborating on a single project. I think we ought take a trip down memory lane and give a nod to all those great musical collabs from the past. There are more than you probably know:
1. We Are The World (1985)
“We Are The World” is the mother of all mass musician sing-a-longs. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, “We Are The World” was released in an effort to raise awareness and bring relief to the famine in Africa between 1983-1985. The song raised over $10 million in record sales from the United States alone. The song included performances from over 44 world class musicians—including Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and Ray Charles—who operated under the name of USA for Africa. Fun fact: When the musicians entered the studio, they were met with a sign that read: “Check your egos at the door.” Continue reading
Hear New Foo Fighters Song Snippets in This ‘Sonic Highways’ Trailer
From Spin.com
HBO Go subscribers can get an early taste of the band’s new project
The Foo Fighters are in the rare position for a rock band of not only having a new album to promote, but a new HBO TV series about that new album as well. The band kills two birds with one stone in the recent Sonic Highways trailer available to watch on HBO Go (sorry, non-cable people) in which the band talks about their new LP while also previewing parts of two tracks from it, “Something From Nothing” and “The Feast and the Famine.” It’s not enough to get too critical an impression of the songs, but they still sound very much like the Foo Fighters, so it’s enough to be assured they didn’t go full go-go while in DC or anything.
There’s also plenty of other info dilvulged about the new album, including the fact that lyrics from it will largely be culled from conversations singer Dave Grohl and the band have with various musical heroes of the cities visited (“If you go to Seattle, you have to talk to someone from Heart. If you go to Nashville, you have to talk to Dolly [Parton]…”). Grohl even went as far as to say that when listening to the final songs, “You’ll recognize all of these references from stories you’ve heard in the last hour.” So expect the end of every episode to be a lot like watching the final scene of The Usual Suspects.
Sonic Highways the TV show starts on HBO October 17th, while Sonic Highways the album will follow on RCA on November 10.
Listen to an all-star cover of Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” to help benefit the BBC’s Children in Need program.
Brian Wilson, Dave Grohl, Lorde, Chris Martin, Sam Smith, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams, and Florence Welch have joined forces for an epic new version of The Beach Boys classic “God Only Knows”.
Wilson noted: “All of the artists did such a beautiful job I can’t thank them enough. I’m just honoured that God Only Knows was chosen. God Only Knows is a very special song. An extremely spiritual song and one of the best I’ve ever written.”
This Day in Music History — September 25
1956 : Elvis Presley’s Love Me Tender becomes the first single to sell a million copies before its release.
1980 : Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham dies at age 32 of asphyxiation from vomiting after a night of heavy drinking. The band decides to break up instead of replacing him.
1990 : Dave Grohl, former drummer of the Washington DC band Scream, joins Nirvana.
2012 : Two con artists, Alpha Lorenzo Walker and Tamara Diaz, are sentenced to 292 days in jail and 3 years’ probation after an attempt to blackmail Stevie Wonder. The pair had somehow obtained or created a video portraying Wonder in a negative light and were demanding $5 million under threat of releasing it to the public. The pair were caught in a sting operation.
This Day in Music History — September 22
1960 : Joan Jett was born.
1985 : The first “Farm Aid” concert is held, in Champaign, Illinois with Roy Orbison,Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, John Fogerty and others.
1990 : After parting with original drummer Chad Channing, Nirvana plays their one and only show with Dan Peters of Mudhoney on drums (at the Motor Sports International Garage in Seattle). He is replaced by Dave Grohl, who mans the kit henceforth.
1999 : Diana Ross is held in police custody at London’s Heathrow Airport for several hours following an incident involving a member of the airport’s security staff. Ross is arrested then cautioned and released following an allegation of assault on a female security officer during routine security checks prior to boarding a plane.
2002 : Sting receives an Emmy for his A&E documentary, Sting in Tuscany: All This Time. He dedicates his award to his “dear late friend Timothy White.”
Good Music. Good Life. 