Elton John bids farewell to Pittsburgh in final Steel City performanceVideo
It seems we’ve been down this Yellow Brick Road before. Elton John brought his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour” to PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Friday night. “It’s our last time in Pennsylvania, so we’ve got to make it extra special,” John said. He certainly did. John didn’t...
Rapper PnB Rock fatally shot in Los Angeles restaurant
LOS ANGELES — Philadelphia rapper PnB Rock was fatally shot during a robbery in South Los Angeles, according to police and his representatives. The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Allen, was eating inside a Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles restaurant with his girlfriend Monday afternoon when a suspect approached their...
‘Rosalía is the truth’: How a Spanish flamenco singer defied convention and rewired pop
MEXICO CITY — “It was like I almost drowned!” Inside one of Mexico City’s posh five-star hotels, Rosalía sinks into a cushy office chair across from me, already winded on the third day of her Latin American tour, in support of her universally acclaimed album, “Motomami.” If it wasn’t from...
Review: Jann Wenner’s memoir looks at his rock, rolling role
“Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir” (Little, Brown) Jann S. Wenner takes us on a long, strange trip with his accessible and entertaining rock ‘n’ roll memoir. As the founder, co-editor and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine, Wenner had an unusual back stage pass to the rock ‘n’ roll revolution...
Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band bring Beatles hits and more to PittsburghVideo
Ringo Starr may not be everyone’s favorite Beatle, but an evening spent under the same roof with any Beatle has to be considered time well spent. And so it was for a far less than capacity, but enthusiastic, crowd at PPG Paints Arena Saturday night as the former Beatles drummer...
Weird Al gives himself the Weird Al treatment in new biopicVideo
TORONTO — When a young, bespectacled Al Yankovic picked up an accordion, few — especially Al, himself — would have predicted the long-running show-business career that would follow. But can you imagine if they did? That every step of Yankovic’s way — the first Hawaiian shirt, the epiphany of riffing...
Blake Shelton includes Pittsburgh stop on 2023 tour
Country music superstar Blake Shelton is returning to the road in 2023 and Pittsburgh is one of the places on his 18 city tour. Shelton will play PPG Paints Arena on March 24 as part of the “Back to the Honky Tonk Tour.” Included in the tour are CMA Female...
Lainey Wilson leads CMA Awards nominations in her 1st year
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Louisiana-native Lainey Wilson is having a breakout year as she tops the Country Music Association Awards nominations in her first year as a nominee, earning nods in six categories including album of the year, female vocalist of the year and song of the year. Wilson is only...
Justin Bieber suspends remainder of Justice World Tour
Justin Bieber has suspended the rest of his world tour to focus on his health. A day after he posted photos from his Brazil performance at the Rock in Rio festival, he told TMZ he was canceling the remaining 70 shows scheduled through March 2023 in South America, Asia, Australia,...
Indie duo closes Greensburg concert season expected to match previous high attendance
Couples of all ages and families, too, turned out Friday evening to enjoy the guitar stylings and harmonized vocals of indie folk-pop duo The Sea, The Sea — the final act in this season’s SummerSounds weekly concert series at Greensburg’s St. Clair Park. Regular attendee Lynne Roth of Hempfield came...
WYEP radio axes ‘Soul Show’ and ‘An American Sampler’ from weekend lineup
Two longtime staples of public radio station 91.3 WYEP’s weekend lineup are departing the airwaves. WYEP, which is run by the Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation and bills itself as “Pittsburgh’s home for Adult Alternative Music,” announced Wednesday that it is canceling “The Soul Show.” It has been on the air...
Grammy nominee Ingrid Andress talks about her new album, ‘Good Person’
DENVER — In the liner notes for her new album, “Good Person,” Highlands Ranch, Colo., native Ingrid Andress ends a detailed, heartfelt list of thank-yous with a note to herself. “For going through a lot of heartache and adventure to get to this point and turning it into something beautiful,”...
22nd Allegheny County Music Festival to rock Hartwood Acres with jam band theme
Those looking to enjoy a day of music and fun during Labor Day weekend can do so for a good cause. The 2022 Allegheny County Music Festival, which is marking its 22nd year, will take place Sunday at Hartwood Acres Park Amphitheater. The show kicks off at 5:30 p.m. and...
John Rzeznik wanted to be a teacher and own a bar, but became a rock star instead
The Goo Goo Dolls were hardly an overnight sensation. Having formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1986, the group spent years working on its craft and building a fan base before it finally broke through to the mainstream, in a big way, with 1995’s “A Boy Named Goo.” That album...
Taylor Swift announces new album, ‘Midnights,’ to be released in October
Taylor Swift is ready to begin again. The 32-year-old singer, who has spent most of the past several years re-recording her old albums amid a rights feud with former manager Scooter Braun, announced Sunday night that she is finally back with fresh content. “I had sort of made up my...
Muse’s Matt Bellamy: ‘I felt that we could do no wrong. Obviously, we could’
LOS ANGELES — Matt Bellamy wrote Muse’s new album in a Santa Monica recording studio painstakingly decorated to resemble the so-called red room from “Twin Peaks.” Crimson curtains, leather armchairs, black-and-white zigzag flooring: The 44-year-old frontman of one of England’s biggest rock bands reproduced every detail of the otherworldly chamber...
Metallica releases pro shot video of 2 songs from PNC Park in PittsburghVideo
Tens of thousands of Metallica fans witnessed Metallica tear through two hours of its hits on Aug. 14 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. And if you weren’t there, you can get a taste of what you missed thanks to the band’s YouTube page. The band this week released two professionally...
Disturbance halts Wiz Khalifa concert in Indiana, 3 injured
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — Rapper Wiz Khalifa cut short a concert in suburban Indianapolis as people began fleeing the outdoor venue, leaving three with minor injuries, following a disturbance, police said. People started exiting the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville about 10:30 p.m. Friday after a reported disturbance on part of...
Turkish pop star jailed over joke about religious schools
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish pop star Gulsen has been arrested on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke she made about Turkey’s religious schools, the country’s state-run news agency reported. The 46-year-old singer and songwriter, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken away from her home in...
Blondie opens vaults for a hefty box set celebrating cool
NEW YORK — For decades, a New Wave treasure trove sat in a converted barn. For fans of the band Blondie, it was the equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant tucked away in a rickety storage space. Inside the building just outside Woodstock, New York, were 100 reel-to-reel tapes,...
Greensburg Music Fest returns for 4th year, featuring bluesman Jimmy Adler
Pittsburgh bluesman Jimmy Adler will make his first appearance at the Greensburg Music Fest on Saturday, as the free live music event returns for its fourth year. Hosted by the Westmoreland Cultural Trust, the event will feature music for all ages and tastes on three outdoor stages and in The...
Former Shondell Mike Vale’s Crystal Blue Band to hold final concert Saturday in Latrobe
Mike Vale can vividly recall the details of the night his life changed dramatically in January 1966. He and his band, The Raconteurs (not to be confused with the modern Jack White-affiliated band), were playing at the Thunderbird Lounge in Greensburg. “Who, of all people, walks into the Thunderbird Lounge...
Cindystock backyard music fest benefitting cancer screenings returns to Wexford
An annual event for a good cause that folks in the area look forward to each summer is returning to the Wexford home of founders Cindy and Ted Yates. The 19th annual outdoor music festival known as Cindystock is set for Aug. 20 beginning at 4 p.m. Tickets are $50...
Metallica roars through Pittsburgh in display of classic metal dominanceVideo
Metallica didn’t show any signs of slowing down in their visit to Pittsburgh’s PNC Park on Sunday night. The veteran thrash metal band — if “classic metal” isn’t a thing like classic rock, it should be — played a two-hour set that might have blown the roof off if they...
Concert review: Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett rock PNC Park
Four bands transported PNC Park back to the Three Rivers Stadium era when The Stadium Tour finally came to Pittsburgh on Friday. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Poison, Def Leppard and Motley Crue combined for a raucous six-and-a-half-hour concert that delighted fans both young and old. Multiple bands remarked on...
