REBEAT News Roundup (June 21 – 27)
Welcome to REBEAT’s very first news roundup! Every week, we’ll strive to collect the latest news from the music world and beyond and present it to you in one convenient location. Breaking news stories, album announcements, tour commencements, and more — it’s all here!
Breaking news
In an interview with the Huffington Post on Friday, David Crosby revealed that singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is currently unable to speak due to a brain aneurysm she suffered this past May. “How much she’s gonna come back, I don’t know, and I’m not gonna guess,” he said, after saying Mitchell took a “terrible hit” and that she’ll have to “struggle back from it the way you struggle back from a traumatic brain injury.” Mitchell is currently recovering and receiving care at home. Watch the full interview with David Crosby here.
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Brian Wilson has postponed the UK leg of his tour slated for September. The reported reason is to devote more time to the promotion of Wilson’s recently released biopic Love & Mercy. Says his rep:
“Due to the overwhelming success of Brian Wilson’s movie Love & Mercy which has opened in the U.S. to critical acclaim, Brian has had to postpone his current UK tour planned for September 2015 due to commitments in the U.S. He will be back in the U.K. and Europe in 2016 with a string of concerts to mark the 50th Anniversary of his seminal album Pet Sounds, which will be his final European tour. Brian says ‘I’m sorry I won’t be able to make these shows this year, but I look forward to seeing all my fans in 2016 to help me celebrate 50 years of Pet Sounds. This will be my final European tour. I hope you all enjoy my movie when it opens in the UK on July 10th, I’ll see you all soon, Best, Brian.'”
Albums, singles, and tours
- Neil Young’s latest album, The Monsanto Years, began streaming on NPR Music on June 21; the album is also available for preorder on the site.
- James Taylor recently had his first #1 album on the Billboard chart with his latest release, Before This World, which sold over 97,000 copies in its first week.
- June 27 marks the beginning of the Grateful Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” tour. The dates take place in Santa Clara, California and Chicago, Illinois. Ticket prices for the Dead’s final shows had skyrocketed after they had been purchased in bulk by ticket reselling sites such as StubHub; however, it is said that prices have been slowly declining as of late.
Happy birthday!
- June 21 – Ray Davies of the Kinks (born in 1944), Chris Britton of the Troggs (1944), Joey Molland of Badfinger (1947)
- June 22 – Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon (born in 1944), Howard Kaylan of the Turtles and the Mothers of Invention (1947), Todd Rundgren (1948)
- June 24 – Al Molinaro, actor on Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi (born in 1919), Jeff Beck of the Yardbirds and the Jeff Beck Group (1944), Colin Blunstone of the Zombies (1945), Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac (1947)
- June 25 – Clint Warwick of the Moody Blues (born in 1940)