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Rock music legends Van Morrison and Eric Clapton have teamed up for “Stand and Deliver,” a song that takes coronavirus lockdowns to task. “There are many of us who support Van and his endeavors to save live music; he is an inspiration,” Clapton said according to Variety. “We must stand up and be counted because we need to find a way out of this mess. The alternative is not worth thinking about. Live music might never recover.” Clapton also said that the end of live entertainment due to coronavirus lockdowns is “deeply upsetting.” Proceeds for the track — set to...

The first time Peter Green died was one night in 1969, in San Francisco. Or possibly New York. Or Los Angeles or Miami or Chicago. Peter could never remember which. He had died a hundred times since, and after a while, all the deaths blurred together. Behind that first death lay 22 years of life, most of it spent as Peter Greenbaum, an obscure lad from Bethnal Green in the east end of London. Aside from jellied eels, rhyming slang, and Jack the Ripper's crime spree 80 years earlier, Bethnal Green wasn't known for much. Nothing in particular augured the...

[Snip] Yes, we've lost some already. On top of the icons who died horribly young decades ago — Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, John Lennon — there's the litany of legends felled by illness, drugs, and just plain old age in more recent years: George Harrison, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty. Those losses have been painful. But it's nothing compared with the tidal wave of obituaries to come. The grief and nostalgia will wash over us all. Yes, the Boomers left alive will take it...

In a landmark ruling, a court in Mexico City has said two people should be allowed to use cocaine legally. The ruling means the unnamed pair can use, but not sell, small amounts of cocaine, according to Mexico United Against Crime (MUCD), an NGO that filed legal papers in the case as part of its strategy to change the country’s drug policy. This is the first time cocaine use has been made legal in Mexico, but the ruling still needs to be ratified by a higher court. It comes at a time when Mexico is grappling with its drug policy...

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations (AMO) P-3 Long Range Tracker (LRT) crew worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to seize over two tons of cocaine valued at nearly $55 million. The crew was patrolling the Eastern Pacific Aug. 3 in coordination with the Joint Interagency Task Force South when they detected a Low Profile Vessel (LPV). A U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted the LPV, apprehending four people who were moving 63 bales of cocaine weighing 4,215 lbs. valued at $54,938,310.

JERUSALEM, Israel -- What does the Presbyterian Church USA and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters have in common? They both support boycotting Israel, a sweeping movement that's trying to delegitimize the Jewish state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a great struggle and international campaign is being waged against his country to "blacken its name." "It is not connected to our actions; it is connected to our very existence," Netanyahu said. "It does not matter what we do; it matters what we symbolize and what we are." Just this week, the CEO of French mobile phone giant Orange said he'd cut...

LONDON/MOSCOW/BEIJING, May 23 (Yonhap) — Kim Jong-chol attended an Eric Clapton concert in London for the second time this week, but where the brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un headed Saturday remained unknown. He had been scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Saturday from Moscow on his way to Pyongyang, a source with knowledge of the stopover said. However, the name of Jong-chol was not on the registry of the flight from London to Moscow, according to the source. He also wasn’t seen at the Beijing airport Saturday.

Despite a sensational Daily Mail report that multi-millionaire rock star Eric Clapton lets his Canadian brother live in "sub-Dickensian squalor," Fast Eddie Fryer says he's doing all right and bears no ill-will towards his famous sibling. "This writer came in and did a character assassination on the place where I live," Fryer told Vancouver's The Province, referring to the Downtown Eastside rooming house he calls home. It may be Canada's poorest neighbourhood, but Fryer -- who has late-stage cirrhosis of the liver -- says it's a good place for him to be. "Granted it is not the Hilton," Fryer said....

Carl Perkins, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Dave Edmunds, Rosanna Cash, and others rockabilly high [and they're thoroughly enjoying it]

Jack Bruce, the singer and bassist for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Cream, has passed away, his family confirmed the musician's passing on his Facebook page. He was 71. "It is with great sadness that we, Jack’s family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend. The world of music will be a poorer place without him, but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts," the Bruce family wrote. Bruce's publicist added, "He died today at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family." No other details were...

J.J. Cale has died from a heart attack at the age of 74. The death of the legendary Grammy Award winning singer songwriter was announced on his Facebook page today. “We’ve lost a great artist and a great person tonight. JJ Cale passed away at 8:00 pm on Friday July 26 at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, CA. He had suffered a heart attack. There are no immediate plans for services. His history is well documented at JJCale.com , http://www.rosebudus.com/cale/ and in the documentary, To Tulsa And Back. Donations are not needed but he was a great lover of animals...

Let Eric Clapton fight his own bar battles Clapton would be proud: Local performer Merv Roland was battle-scarred defending Eric Clapton's honor. By Steph Greegor Published: Thursday, May 20, 2010 11:18 AM EDT Merv Roland plays acoustic guitar in front of a few folks on the weekends for a little bit of cash and some sweet brew...not to fight battles for musicians he’s never met. “To have a gig where I can trade musical notes for alcoholic beverages—it’s what I do,” said the self-described “48-year-old, fat, bald guy.” “I’m not Eric Clapton. And I don’t want to take an ass-kicking...

In some ways Yoko Ono is still an amateur. At “We Are Plastic Ono Band,” mixing concert and tribute at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Tuesday night, her voice could be shaky and her stage patter giggly and unplanned. She looked genuinely surprised when the audience interrupted her and sang “Happy Birthday.” (She turns 77 on Feb. 18.) She’s also untamed. She can still let loose the bleats, wails, yips, howls and shrieks that alienated Beatles fans in the 1960s and inspired avant-rockers soon afterward. Ms. Ono’s well-preserved air of naïveté — and the license it gives her to...

Yoko Ono has recruited Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, Bette Midler and more artists for the first Plastic Ono Band show in 40 years: a special concert on February 16th at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. The “new” Plastic Ono Band will be comprised of Ono’s son Sean Lennon plus Japanese musicians like Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda, Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Haruomi Hosono and Cornelius, who also worked on Ono’s 2009 album Between My Head and the Sky. Both Clapton and bassist Klaus Voorman, who’s also confirmed for the Brooklyn event, were...

It would be fair to say that the crashy culmination of NASA's LCROSS mission on October 9th was a technical success but a public-relations fizzle. LCROSS on final approach LCROSS and its Centaur rocket prepare to crash into the Moon. NASA On the plus side, the engineering team for LCROSS (short for Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) delivered as promised, deftly driving a spent 2½-ton Centaur rocket into a target zone near the Moon's south pole only 2 miles (3½ km) across. Four minutes later, after flying through the debris cloud raised by the rocket's crash, an instrument-packed 600-kg...

Guitar legend Eric Clapton increased his fortune by hundreds of thousands of pounds when a Norfolk auctioneer put his collection of bespoke shotguns under the hammer. Clapton is an avid collector of ornately-crafted British weapons - and decades of rock royalties means he has been able to amass a sizeable collection of the finest available. But in an effort to make some space in his gun room, the man who - lyrically at least - “shot the sheriff” with his 1974 hit single, accepted bids for seven lots at the sale by specialist auctioneers Holt's. The lots sold included a...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap [Yonhap headline: "Clapton Has No Plan To Perform in Pyongyang: Report"] SEOUL, March 6 (Yonhap) - World-renowned English rock guitarist Eric Clapton's spokesperson has denied news reports that the musician "will highly likely" perform in Pyongyang early next year, according to a local radio station. "Clapton has no plan to play any dates in North Korea," his US spokesperson Kristen Foster said in an interview with an MBC radio programme Wednesday evening. The spokeswoman refused to give any reason for not performing in North Korea. The denial came one...

N. Korea invites Eric Clapton to play Pyongyang Feb. 26 2008 CTV.ca News Staff Musicians may be at the forefront in helping thaw diplomatic relations between North Korea and the international community. On the same day that the New York Philharmonic performed in the communist country, the North Korean embassy in London has confirmed reports that rock legend Eric Clapton has been officially invited to perform in the communist country. The North Korean president's son is apparently a big fan of Clapton's music. Clapton spokesperson Kristen Foster says the musician has not made any firm commitments. "Eric Clapton receives numerous...

/begin my excerpt Kim Jong-il's Second Son Plays Solo Guitar for his Rock Group in Front of him Kim Jong-il' second son Kim Jung-choll(age:26), born from Ko Yong-hee, Kim Jong-il's third wife, is a rabid fan of Eric Clapton, a world-famous guitarist and a rock' n roll singer, and started his own rock group 'Sae-byul Jo', imitating Clapton. It is made up of Kim Jung-chol and some musicians from 'Bo-chun-bo Electronic Music Company.' The group has performed in front of Kim Jong-il in which Jung-chol plays solo guitar himself. This kind of music talent is inherited from his father, Kim...

Credited throughout his career with creating super sounds in super groups, the ultimate Clapton collaboration will take place July 28, 2007 when he gathers the past, present and future of guitar music onto one stage for an incredible full day musical event. Announced today, the second Crossroads Guitar Festival, scheduled for July 28, 2007 at Toyota Park in Chicago, will be a cornerstone of this year's summer music festival season. Profits from the Festival will benefit The Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a treatment and education facility founded by Clapton for chemically dependent persons. Since its inception, Clapton's vision for the...