Music News

Richie Sambora is reportedly unhappy about the way he is portrayed in the upcoming Bon Jovi documentary series, Thank You, Goodnight. In an interview with People, Jon Bon Jovi revealed that he invited Sambora over to his home to screen the documentary. “There’s never animosity,” the singer insisted, however a representative for Sambora painted things a little differently.
“Richie flew out to see Jon and brought him a birthday present — a really nice guitar — but they screened Jon’s documentary instead,” the source told People. “Richie left after the third episode because he was sick and tired of what he was seeing.”
Sambora – who quit Bon Jovi in 2013 to focus on his family – contributed extensive interviews for the docuseries. In the show, he admitted: “I don’t regret leaving the situation, but I regret how I did it.” Still, the guitarist was reportedly disappointed by the way he was portrayed in Thank You, Goodnight. (Ultimate Classic Rock)

The Rolling Stones have announced the opening acts for their ’24 Hackney Diamonds tour. The band will play more than 20 shows across the U.S. through July 17. Most dates will feature exclusive opening acts, though a few artists will perform at more than one concert on the tour. The Stones have lined up a diverse lineup of openers for the upcoming tour, including blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr., veteran soul singer Bettye Lavette, punk band the Linda Lindas and Pittsburgh rock and blues band Ghost Hounds, who will open the Cleveland show at Cleveland Browns Stadium June 15. (Ultimate Classic Rock)

Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine says she didn’t really think about the impact of appearing on a Taylor Swift album. Welch appears on and co-wrote “Florida!!!” on Swift’s new album The Tortured Poets Department. She tells British Vogue, “I almost didn’t think of the scale of it. There’s the sort of bigness of [the Swift phenomenon], and then there’s the Taylor I spend time with in the studio, who is just the sweetest and most down to earth.”
She adds that Swift approached her with “a concept and a story” for the song. “[It’s] my favorite way to start songwriting… We had such a fun time.”
In other Florence + the Machine news, they’ll perform their Lungs album in full with an orchestra at London’s Royal Albert Hall on September 11th.

Madonna sounds like she’s ready to lead her very own version of the Partridge Family. As she’s wrapping up her career-spanning Celebrations tour, she tells W magazine that having her kids join her onstage has been her favorite part of the experience.
“When I go on tour, nothing brings me more happiness than to know we are all working on the same show, creating the magic together. It would be boring if they were just traveling from hotel to hotel, and occasionally coming to watch the show.”
And yes, she admits there are downsides, saying “Of course, I am their mother so sometimes we get on each other’s nerves. We are a family of artists but we are also a family, and that’s what happens.”
The Celebrations tour will end with a massive free show on the beach in Brazil on May 4th.

Green Day, Billie Eilish, Lorde and Fall Out Boy are among the hundreds of artists to sign an open letter asking Congress to pass the Fans First Act, a bill that takes aim at “deceptive” and “predatory” ticket resellers. The letter, organized by the Fix the Tix Coalition, was also signed by a range of artists across all genres, and is aimed at making ticket buying more transparent as well as eliminate illegal bots that “scoop up face value tickets ahead of fans in order to resell at inflated prices on the secondary market.” (Rolling Stone)

ALBUM RELEASES THIS WEEK:
• Pet Shop Boys – “Loneliness”
• Alien Ant Farm – “mAntras”
• Def Lepard – “Pyromania” (40th Anniversary Edition)
• Neil Young + Crazy Horse – “FU##IN’ UP”
• Ringo Starr – “Crooked Boy” (EP)
• Hovvdy – “Forever”