Guitarist Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Thania Garcia Blur will be releasing their first album in eight years, “The Ballad of Darren,” later this summer, the band announced on Thursday morning. The news arrived with an early taste of the 10-song collection, a guitar-driven single titled “The Narcissist.” The album, which will be released on July 21 on Parlophone, follows their last reunion album — 2015’s “The Magic Whip” — and was produced by James Ford, who last worked with Blur’s Damon Albarn for the Gorillaz’s 2018 album “The Now Now.” “This is an aftershock record, reflection and comment on where we find ourselves now,” said Albarn of the new record in a statement. Lead guitarist Graham Coxon added, “The older and madder we get, it becomes more essential that what we play is loaded with the right emotion and intention. Sometimes just a riff doesn’t do the job.”

Avoiding awkward moments. Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas got candid when revealing how they navigate performing Jonas Brothers’ sexier songs as siblings.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Seeker Music has acquired the masters and publishing catalog of Charlotte Caffey, lead guitarist and a primary songwriter of pioneering all-female group and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members the Go-Go’s. Caffey co-wrote some of the group’s biggest hits and was the sole songwriter on its signature song, “We Got the Beat.” Since its release in 1981, the song has become the group’s most successful and most-covered track. She also had a hand in writing the group’s hits “Head Over Heels,” “Vacation,” “How Much More” and “Turn to You.” Beyond her work with The Go-Go’s, Caffey has also written songs covered by such artists as Keith Urban (the country hit “But for the Grace of God”) and her Go-Go’s bandmate Belinda Carlisle, as well as in the film and TV space, where she’s written several theme songs, including for the “Clueless” TV series.

Kurt Vile has hailed his late bandmate Rob Laakso a "musical genius". The guitarist and keyboard player - who became a full-time member of Kurt's The Violators in 2013 - tragically died on May 4 from cancer at the age of 44, and Kurt has thanked fans for their outpouring of love and the "nice things" shared about the musician. He began a lengthy Instagram post: "This one’s been hard to get out of the fog in my brain and into words for a long time now (and I mean for the last year or so, not just since rob’s passing) Tributes are never easy but this one is just too close to the bone I guess.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Madrid-based Latido Films has snagged international sales rights to Isaki Lacuesta’s “Saturn Return” (“Segundo premio”) and plans to kick off pre-sales at the Cannes market. Currently shooting in Granada, the semi-biopic is set during the ‘90s when the Andalusian city was ground zero for an outburst of cultural effervescence, with the pioneering rock band Los Planetas at the center of it. The film focuses on the creative process behind the recording of their iconic third album, which also took them to New York. Latido likens “Saturn Return” to “24 Hour Party People,” the2002 British biographical dramedy about Manchester’s influential music scene, which spawned such bands as Factory Records’ Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays.  

Pop-punk band Sum 41 have announced they're splitting up after 27 years as a band. The group, fronted by Deryck Whibley, announced on social media today the group will be going their separate ways after an upcoming album release and farewell tour. The band first formed in 1996, but has become synonymous with the pop-punk movement of the late 90s and early 00s.

Kim Gordon and avant-garde guitarist Bill Nace’s project Body/Head have surprise released a new EP – listen to ‘Come On’ below.The new release marks the first material from the project since their 2018 second album, ‘The Switch’.In 2021, the duo did team up with Aaron Dilloway in 2021 for a new collaborative album under the name Body/Dilloway/Head.Body/Head’s debut album ‘Coming Apart’ was released in 2013.Listen to the surprise new EP below via Bandcamp.Gordon’s last full solo album came with her 2019 LP, ‘No Home Record’.In a three-star review, NME said of ‘No Home Record: “A tense, abrasive work, [it] injects a hint poppier thrust into Gordon’s no-wave experimentations with her other project, Body/Head (a point of difference most obvious on the juddering ‘Sketch Artist’. Remarkably her first solo album, this is a record that surprises, despite its author’s truly enormous legacy.”2021 saw her share a new track called ‘Grass Jeans’ in aid of Fund Texas Choice, an organisation that provides women in Texas with travel to abortion clinics.“I often get asked, ‘Can music change things for people in a political landscape?’” she explained in a statement.

Kurt Vile’s band The Violators has died at the age of 44.Laakso died from cancer and is survived by his wife and their two children.The guitarist and keys player became a full-time member of The Violators in 2013, replacing The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel.He contributed to a majority of Vile’s albums including 2013’s ‘Wakin On A Pretty Daze‘, 2015’s ‘B’lieve I’m Goin Down…’, and 2018’s ‘Bottle It In‘. Laakso most recently worked with Vile on his 2022 album ‘Watch My Moves‘.The musician also played in the shoegaze band Swirlies and the indie rock group Mice Parade.Please support our sweet Doc & his family:https://t.co/DMQhHdq7hC— Swirlies (@swirlies11) May 5, 2023A GoFundMe page has been set up on the Laakso family’s behalf, which you can donate to here.Geri-Martha O’Hara wrote in a tribute on the fundraising page: “I am absolutely shattered to share with you that our beloved Rob passed away quickly and peacefully yesterday afternoon.

DEALSShed Seven have signed a new worldwide services deal with Cooking Vinyl, ahead of new music set for release later this year. “We are THRILLED to announce that we’ve signed with Cooking Vinyl”, says guitarist Paul Banks. “They’re a label that truly values creativity and empowers their artists to explore and develop their craft, which aligns perfectly with our musical vision.

READ MORE: Rod Stewart warns teen son 'keep it in your trousers'A self-taught guitarist and keyboard player, she appeared at the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970 and had four top 40 hits throughout the next decade - the first coming with Rock-a-Doodle-Doo which reached number 15 in the UK in 1973. Her biggest hit came with It's In His Kiss - a cover of Cher's The Shoop Shoop Song - which reached number six in 1975.

Mike Wass From braving the wild terrain of early Tumblr to its renaissance on TikTok, “Sweater Weather” by the Neighbourhood (stylized as the neighbourhood) has bridged the pre- and post-streaming eras by resonating with generations of netizens. Along the way, it’s amassed 2.1 billion Spotify streams, 1.7 billion YouTube views, and now earned a RIAA diamond certification for sales in excess of 10 million song units — one of only 106 songs to reach the milestone. These accolades hit the song’s co-writers a little differently. “To achieve such a big milestone is hard to believe,” says guitarist Zach Abels. “I think for all of us, it’s really hard to take in and accept it as reality.”

Tim Bachman, a member of Bachman-Turner Overdrive has died at the age of 71. Tim's death was confirmed by his brother Randy Bachman and his son via social media. "I haven’t posted because my heart has been heavy but the news has announced my brother Tim passed this weekend," Randy shared Monday.

Ethan Shanfeld Tim Bachman, the founding guitarist and vocalist of Canadian rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, has died due to complications from cancer, his son Ryder confirmed on Friday. “Grateful I got to spend some time with him at the end,” Ryder wrote on Facebook. “Grab yer loved ones and hug em close, ya never know how long you have.” In a previous post, he wrote that doctors had found “cancer riddled all throughout his brain.” He continued, “I sat with Dad yesterday afternoon and reminisced about some of the good times we had. He was pretty out of it most of the time, but at one point looked up at me with really, big wide eyes and said, ‘I love you Paxton, keep sharing the music…’ and then passed back out. It’s really hard watching your parent lay in bed helpless and sick and there’s nothing you can do to help them. Breaking my heart.”

Aerosmith will be touring a city near you for the last time to celebrate the rock band’s 50-plus years together.

Veteran guitarist Tim Bachman has died aged 71, his son Ryder has announced. 

Tim Bachman, singer and guitarist with hard-driving Canadian rock band Bachman Turner Overdrive, has died at age 71.

Allegations of theft and greed over control of the late guitarist Johnny Winter’s music are flying, the Associated Press reports.

William Earl “Beyond adventure!” shouted M83 mastermind Anthony Gonzalez and keyboard player Kaela Sinclair, minutes into their first of two NYC shows at Terminal 5 on April 25. This mission statement is repeated several times in the debut single “Oceans Niagara” from their recently released ninth studio album, “Fantasy.” The sprawling record is the backbone of this tour, with the band running through 10 of the tracks during the evening, including a five-song run at the beginning as bold in tone and attack as anything in their deep catalogue. Even casual fans were rapt with attention as the band’s live sound is a roaring juxtaposition to its often dreamy studio fare. Lead singer and guitarist Gonzalez, the only permeant member of the group, is joined by Sinclair, multi-instrumentalist Joe Berry, guitarist Théophile Antolinos, drummer Julien Aoufi and bassist Clément Libes on this trek, cranking their amps up so loud that synths rained over the crowd, with fans’ bellies shaking from the bass. The group’s greatest live trick is bashing out huge chords in many of their songs’ outros, washing the audience in a deafening euphoria as the rhythm section stomped out a driving pulse.

Blur have announced four intimate warm up shows next month ahead of their Wembley Stadium performance in July. The run will see the band play a hometown show in Colchester and officially re-open The Halls in Wolverhampton.Announced in November last year, the Wembley Stadium show will be Blur’s only large-scale performance in the UK this year.

When Dead & Company returns to the road this summer for the band’s final tour, it will be without original Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzman.

Facebook page of the Otis Redding Foundation – the family’s charity in Macon. She also added: “Please keep our family in your prayers at this time and please respect our privacy as we consume this huge loss.”Otis Redding III and his brother, Dexter, along with a cousin, Mark Lockett, formed the funk band The Reddings in the 1980s, who went on to record six albums.

Otis Redding III, the singer and guitarist who had followed his father Otis Redding into the music business, died of cancer Tuesday in Macon, Georgia. He was 59.

Minka Kelly says it was a long journey to repair her relationship with her father Rick Dufay.

Royal Trux guitarist Neil Hagerty has been arrested in Denver, Colorado for assaulting three police officers who were responding to a welfare check.According to The Denver Gazette, the incident happened after police were responding to a welfare check on the 600 block of North Pennsylvania Street.The responding officer was talking to the person who made the call when Hagerty reportedly came out of the building and attacked the officer, using his badge to create a six-inch laceration on the officer’s neck.UPDATE

Malina Saval Associate Editor, Features Radiohead guitarist and Academy Award-nominated composer Jonny Greenwood has long had an affinity for Israel. Radiohead first toured the country in the mid-1990s and Greenwood married Israeli visual artist, Sharona Katan. Now Greenwood is pairing with acclaimed Israeli singer Dudu Tassa for a collaborative album, “Jarak Qaribak,” which is due out June 9 from World Circuit Records. The album’s debut track, “Ashufak Shay,” which loosely translates to “Your Neighbor in Your Friend” and features Lebanese vocalist Rashid al-Najjar, dropped last week. Produced by Tassa and Greenwood and mixed by Nigel Godrich, “Jarak Qaribak,” is a celebration of multicultural talent, bringing together singers and musicians from across the Middle East, including Egyptian vocalist Ahmed Doma, Palestinian vocalist Nour Freteikh and Safae Essafi, a singer from Dubai. There are songs on the album from countries such as Algeria, Jordan and Morocco.

The Script’s guitarist Mark Sheehan has died, aged 46, following a short illness, the band announced over the weekend.In a statement on social media, the Irish band said: “Much loved husband, father, brother, bandmate and friend Mark Sheehan passed away today in hospital after a brief illness. The family and group ask fans to respect their privacy at this tragic time”.Joining tributes, Irish president Michael D Higgins said: “It was a mark of the originality and excellence that Mark and his bandmates in The Script sought that they saw such success across the world, including six number one albums in the UK and a number three album in the United States – a truly remarkable achievement”.“Through their music, Mark and The Script have played an outstanding part in continuing and promoting this proud tradition of Irish musical success across the world”, he added.Sheehan formed boyband Mytown with vocalist Danny O’Donoghue in 1996, working in LA for a number of years.

Instagram post. No cause of death has been released.“Much loved husband, father, brother, bandmate and friend Mark Sheehan passed away today in hospital after a brief illness,” The Script wrote.

Mark Sheehan, co-founding guitarist of the popular Irish rock trio The Script, died today after a brief illness, the band announced. He was 46. No other details were revealed.

The Script star Mark Sheehan has sadly died at the age of 46. The guitarist passed away after suffering from a brief illness, the band have confirmed. In a statement shared by the Irish group, they paid tribute to their longtime friend and fellow musician.