Rod Stewart Cancels More US Tour Dates

As his upcoming big gig at Glastonbury draws nearer, Rod Stewart has postponed or canceled more dates on his current tour due to illness. Suffering from the flu, Stewart was forced to cancel four shows scheduled across the US over the next week and postpone two others. On Instagram, Sir Rod wrote, "I have to cancel and reschedule my next six concerts in June as I continue to recover from the flu. So sorry my friends. I’m devastated and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience to my fans. I’ll be back on stage and will see you soon." The singer needs to get back to 100-percent quickly; his headlining gig at Glastonbury is scheduled for June 29.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Weekend at Pauly's

Paul McCartney was Bruce Springsteen's special guest for two songs Saturday at his show at Anfield stadium in McCartney's hometown of Liverpool. Taking the stage for his encores, Springsteen said, “Thank you Liverpool. You’re lucky tonight, we have a young man, a local young man from Liverpool, he’s gonna play with us tonight. I think he has a lot of talent, and I believe he’s gonna be going places. So let’s bring out Sir Paul McCartney.” With his trademark Hofner bass in hand, McCartney led Springsteen and The E Street Band through The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" and a cover of Little Willie Littlefield’s, and later Wilbert Harrison's “Kansas City,” which the Beatles covered on Beatles for Sale.

It really wasn't a surprise McCartney would show up because on Friday he showed Springsteen around the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, which he co-founded. Springsteen also participated in a Q&A with students that day.

McCartney and Springsteen last performed together in 2022 -- first at McCartney's show at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, having done “Glory Days,” ”I Wanna Be Your Man” and "The End," and then nine days later when Springsteen joined McCartney for the same three songs at the Glastonbury festival. McCartney also joined Springsteen for The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" at London’s Hyde Park in July 2012, and again at New York’s Madison Square Garden in September 2017. Springsteen's tour heads to Berlin, Germany on Wednesday.

OZZY & SABBATH: In the Comfort of Your Own Home

There's no need to schlep all the way to Birmingham, England for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's final shows on July 5th. The Back to the Beginning festival will streamed live with tickets on sale now at BackToTheBeginning.com. Sharon Osbourne says, "We had such an overwhelming demand from fans from around the globe, who couldn't get tickets to the show, and they took to social media, pleading with us to broadcast a livestream of the show. Being this is such a historic event we just couldn't let them down." The broadcast starts at 3 p.m. ET that day, with the option to watch the concert in its entirety for another 48 hours. Proceeds from the show will support Cure Parkinson's, the Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice.

In addition to Ozzy and Sabbath, the bill includes Metallica, Guns n' Roses, Tool, Slayer,

Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Anthrax and Mastodon. Tom Morello, the show's musical director, will also led an all-star band that will feature Duff McKagan and Slash of GNR, Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Wolfgang Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Steven Tyler, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vernon Reid of Living Colour, David Draiman of Disturbed, Jonathan Davis of Korn, Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing, members of Soundgarden,

and Tobias Forge of Ghost.

BILLY JOEL: Only the Good Almost Died Young...Again

It's no secret that Billy Joel attempted suicide on at least two occasions. But, now that it's been dredged up in his new documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which premiered Wednesday at the Tribeca Festival in New York, it's making headlines.

So, for those of you who don't know, when he was in his 20s he had an affair with Elizabeth Weber, the wife of Jon Small, his friend and drummer in his band Atila. In the film, Elizabeth says, "Bill and I spent a lot of time together,” adding that the affair was a "slow build” until Small, who had a son with her, suspected something was going on and Joel confessed, telling him, “I’m in love with your wife.” Joel says he felt "very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker. I was just in love with a woman, and I got punched in the nose, which I deserved. Jon was very upset. I was very upset...“I had no place to live. I was sleeping in laundromats, and I was depressed I think to the point of almost being psychotic. So, I figured, ‘That’s it. I don’t want to live anymore.’ I was just in a lot of pain, and it was sort of like why hang out, tomorrow is going to be just like today is and today sucks. So, I just thought I’d end it all.”

His sister Judy gave him sleeping pills to help him get some rest, but she says he "decided that he was going to take all of them… he was in a coma for days and days and days. I went to go see him in the hospital, and he was laying there white as a sheet. I thought that I’d killed him.”

After coming around he drank a bottle of the furniture cleaner Lemon Pledge, saying it "looked tastier than bleach." Elizabeth and Jon's marriage ended, and she and Billy married in 1973, lasting until 1982. He wrote about his despondent feelings at the time in his 1971 song, "Tomorrow Is Today," which he's described as a suicide note.

His 1985 song, "You're Only Human (Second Wind)," is a message to help prevent teen suicide.

In 2009, his daughter Alexa Ray, from his second marriage to Christie Brinkley, tried to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills.

JOHN FOGERTY: It Took a While

John Fogerty was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame 20 years ago today (June 9th, 2005). But his association with the institution dates back to when it was founded in 1969 and a letter he received from fellow songwriter Sammy Cahn."He invited me to join this brotherhood of songwriters in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Of course, I joined right away and the rest was wait a long time. I think it was 50 years later or something I was finally noticed, and they said, 'Hey, let's give John an award.' That was sweet." It was actually 36 years later when Fogerty was inducted alongside Smokey Robinson, Steve Cropper, Bill Withers, and the teams of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, and brothers Richard and Robert Sherman. The Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Phil Spector composition "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" was honored as The Towering Song, and Les Paul received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

RUSH: Box Drop

Rush surprisingly released a new box set last Friday. The Albums: 2002-2012 contains their last four studio efforts:

1.Vapor Trails - 2002

2.Feedback EP - 2004

3.Snakes & Arrows - 2007

4.Clockwork Angels - 2012

The seven-LP vinyl set is limited to 3000 copies worldwide, and it's their second collection dedicated to their years on Atlantic Records. The first was last year's The Albums: 1989-1996, which was made up of their first four studio albums with the label:

1.Presto - 1989

2.Roll the Bones - 1991

3.Counterparts - 1993

4.Test the Echo - 1996

For more details go to rushbackstage.com or rhino.com.

VAN HALEN: Might as Well Not

Wolfgang Van Halen is no longer pressing play when it comes to Van Halen. In a new video with Drumeo, the bassist in the band from 2006 to 2015 says, “I just don’t listen to Van Halen anymore. I understand, like, that’s the connection that everybody has. But, obviously, my connection was a little different... “So, when it comes to listening to it, it’s just like, I have the memories. I’m so happy of the time that I was able to be in that three-piece with Dad and [my uncle] Al. “But I totally get why Al [no longer plays]. Al was already a private guy to begin with. Now, it’s like, why would you want to play? I’m sure he probably keeps the chops up every now and then. “But yeah, it’s just not as fun, unfortunately.” Nor does Wolfgang perform Van Halen songs with his band, Mammoth. “I’ll play it for fun every now and then... But, overall, it’s really a tough thing for me.” Wolf and Mammoth start a tour with Creed on July 9th in Lexington, Kentucky.

Metallica's Red Cross Blood Drive Reaches Milestone

Metallica and their All Within My Hands Foundation are announcing that they've reached a milestone in their blood drive with the American Red Cross.In partnership with the American Red Cross, they've received over one-thousand blood donations to date. Executive director of national partnerships Darren Irby said The Red Cross appreciates the impact their partnership with the band has made in the lives of people in trauma situations. The remaining Metallica blood drive stops are taking place in Houston, Denver, and Santa Clara. In April, the band announced "A Sea of Hearts Beat As One Unified Initiative," through which they organized blood drives at select concerts across the nation.

IN OTHER NEWS

Sticking to that old adage that your health comes first, Triumph bassist Mike Levine sat out the band’s reunion show Friday night prior to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton. He said, “In the land of where medicine is free, it takes a long time to get specialist appointments. And I've been waiting for four months to see this guy. And my [doctor] appointment was booked for [June 6th] at 11:00 a.m., and I couldn't get out of it. It's one of those that I had to go to." It was Triumph’s first show in 17 years.

David Byrne joined Olivia Rodrigo at the Governors Ball in New York City on Saturday to perform the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House." Watch it on Instagram.

Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs have released a new single called "Heart of the Heartland." Check it out on YouTube.

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