VAN HALEN: Working on a New Album?

If a report out of the Netherlands is true, Alex Van Halen is trying to finish tracks his brother Eddie recorded with Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. Last month, Alex, who was born and raised in Amsterdam, was in the Netherlands and did an interview for his book Brothers, and went to see Toto perform at the Gelredome in Arnhem. Alex alluded to the album during interview, saying, “[My brother] Ed and Steve Lukather were very good friends, and they often worked together. There is no one who can do this process with me as well as he can.”

Jean-Paul Heck, the reporter who did the interview, then asked Lukather, who said, "Did Alex say that? Oh, in that case the news is true. Ed, Alex and I were very close for years. It is true that we worked on it together.” A source close to Lukather confirms that Heck did interview Alex and he was at the Toto show, where he did speak to Lukather, but says that anything further needs to come from Alex. The source adds that the quote from Lukather is "not verbatim." Meanwhile, a source for Alex is unaware of such a project but tells us they'll look into it.

Last November, during an interview about Brothers, Alex told us about the archives. "We want to do it right. The vault is just a bunch of fragments of music. To put it together in a structure of something that holds up is gonna be a problem. And not a problem that can't be overcome. But, it's not as simple as pulling a couple of tapes and going, 'Here. Check this out,' because that wouldn't do us justice anyway. There's a reason why those pieces are all up there."

Van Halen's last album was 2012's A Different Kind of Truth. Seven of the album's 13 songs were re-recordings of demos they did in the '70s into early '80s.

BILLY JOEL: Is He Really Ok?

Earlier this week when Billy Joel announced that he was postponing four months of dates to "recover from recent surgery and to undergo physical therapy under the supervision of his doctors," speculation started to spread that the "medical procedure" he underwent in January was quite serious. Now a so-called "family member" has chimed in. Sailor Brinkley-Cook, the daughter of Billy’s ex-wife Christie Brinkley with her fourth husband, Peter Cook, who refers to him as "Uncle Billy,” says he's "doing great. He’s totally healthy and it’s just some things that he has to deal with. So, I’m excited for him to be able to get back [onstage].”

Billy's North American dates in Detroit, Toronto, Syracuse, Salt Lake City, Charlotte and Milwaukee have been affected by the postponement, as have dates in Edinburgh [pr: ED-in-bo-ro], Scotland and Liverpool, England. With the exception of the Detroit show with Stevie Nicks, which has been moved to November 15th, rescheduled shows will now take place in 2026. Current tickets will be good for the new dates. Joel, who is 75, is expected to resume touring on July 15th at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

TOM PETTY: "Wild" Video

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1982 version of The Troggs' "Wild Thing" now has a video.

Put together by his estate, the video is now on YouTube. It combines footage of them doing the song in 1982 at The Record Plant in Los Angeles for the French TV show Houba Houba with never-before-seen footage from the 1983 documentary Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party, which is now streaming on Paramount+. Petty's version of the 1966 song is included on last October's deluxe reissue of release of Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1982 album Long After Dark. This video comes days after the Petty estate put together a streaming-only soundtrack to accompany Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party. Check out the 35-track release, which mixes album cuts, rarities and live tracks, on YouTube.

TOM PETTY: Heartbreaking

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell says there was no saving Petty, no matter how much he wanted to. Campbell writes in his forthcoming memoir, Heartbreaker, that he and Tom "had our brotherly friction here and there, but there was a deep love that kept us together through all the rough times.” And apparently that love wasn't enough to save Petty's life. Campbell tells Guitar Player, "With Tom, it was like, 'Your private life is yours, and mine is mine. I can see what you're doing, but out of respect for you, I'll trust you'll do the right thing. If you need me, call me.' "I could have gone to him and said, 'Hey, you’ve got to cut this [crap] out,' which I kind of did once to the manager. But the thing with Tom was, you could say that and he would just look at you like, 'But I'm Tom Petty. I'm going to do whatever I want. Get out of my face.' "Those were the sides of his personality. He was intimidating, but there was love there. I think one reason we stayed together is because we kept our private lives separate. We didn't socialize that much off tour."

So, as for Tom dying in 2017 "due to mixed drug toxicity," Campbell says, "I have no problem with that for the reasons I just explained. I don't torture myself. My conscious is clear because Tom knew that I knew, and Tom knew that I wasn't forcing him and getting in his face about it.

"We had this invisible understanding, and I didn't have to confront him for him to know how I felt about it. Like I said, there was no second thoughts or reservations about going out on tour. In fact, the last conversation I had with Tom about it, I said, 'Are you sure you want to do this? Are you up to it?' He said, 'I'm not staying home. I'm going out. I want to do it. If I have to be in a wheelchair, I'm going to do it.' I said, 'Okay, then what?' He said, 'Well, when the tour's over, I'm going to go get my [hip] surgery. We'll write some more songs, make another record.'"

Petty died on October 2nd, 2017. He was 66. Heartbreaker will be published on Tuesday, March 18th.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: Flea's Trumpet Album?

It looks like Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is making a solo album based around another instrument he plays -- the trumpet. The news came via singer Nick Cave who revealed on his website, “Last week, Flea sent me a song and asked if I’d like to add some vocals. It was for a ‘trumpet record’ that he is making. It is not for me to divulge what the song was, only that it is a song I cherish more than most, with arguably the greatest lyric ever written, a song of such esteem that I would never have dared to sing it had Flea not asked me to.” Cave added, “I went into the studio on Wednesday and recorded my vocals. The track emerged as a beautiful conversation between Flea’s trumpet and my voice, filled with yearning and love, the song transcending its individual parts and becoming a slowly evolving cosmic dance, in the form of a reconciliation and an apology."

Little Feat Announces New Album

Little Feat has announced a new album, “Strike Up The Band,” is coming out in May. Ahead of the full album releasing, the band has dropped their new single “Too High To Cut My Hair.” Bandleader Bill Payne hypes up the new song in a statement, sharing, "People love the humor in our records, a cherished entree to those when they find it. So I'm happy this song displays that humor and in full. It's also got the classic Sam Clayton doing his 'three octaves below middle C voice' in there...Everyone that has heard it has said, 'That’s a Little Feat song”, and I know what they mean!'" "Too High to Cut My Hair" is based on a true story. In a news release announcing the forthcoming album "Strike Up the Band," Payne says guitarist Fred Tackett asked his wife to trim his hair while they were staying at a New Orleans hotel. Tackett decided his wife was "too high to cut his hair" and then thought "What a title!" The video includes clips of band members in a barber shop.

Little Feat also announced a U.S. tour that kicks off in Rutland, Vermont on May 5th and wraps up on October 26th in Red Bank, New Jersey.The band will be in Montclair, New Jersey on May 9th when the album is scheduled to drop. In addition to the tour, Little Feat will be among the acts on the "Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea" cruise September 15th through the 21st in Alaska. As for “Strike Up The Band,” fans can get their hands on the album on May 9th.

Tickets On Sale Today For Steve Hackett's 50th Anniversary "Lamb" Tour

Tickets go on sale today for Steve Hackett's North American tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Genesis album "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." The official name of the tour is the "Genesis Greats, Lamb Highlights and Solo Tour" and it kicks off on October 4th in Ithaca, New York. Hackett became a member of Genesis in early 1971, just a few months after drummer and eventual frontman Phil Collins joined the band.Hackett left Genesis in 1977 to pursue a solo career. During the mid-80s, Hackett and former Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe formed the band G-T-R. Their 1986 self-titled album hit number eleven on the Billboard 200 and the single "When the Heart Rules the Mind" reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Michael McDonald Sings Lead On New Doobies Single - First Time Since 1980

After just 45 short years, the wait is over to hear Michael McDonald singing on a new Doobie Brothers song. The band released "Learn To Let Go," the fourth single from their forthcoming "Walk This Road" album. McDonald co-wrote the song with producer John Shanks and is joined on vocals by Pat Simmons and Tom Johnston. McDonald left The Doobie Brothers for a solo career after the band's 1980 release "One Step Closer." "Real Love" was the last Doobies single with McDonald on lead to hit the top ten, spending two weeks at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 in October of 1980. The new album is set for a June 6th release and The Doobie Brothers kick off their "Walk This Road" tour August 4th in Detroit.

OASIS: New Report About Lineup has Liam Upset

A new report about the lineup for the Oasis reunion tour sent Liam Gallagher on a tweetstorm Wednesday morning. The NME cited "sources working closely with the band and tour" for their report that Liam and Noel Gallagher would be joined by original guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs, two members of the band from 1999 to 2009 --bassist Andy Bell and guitarist Gem Archer -- plus a drummer new to the band, Joey Waronker. Waronker played drums for Liam and John Squire when they toured behind their collaborative album in 2024.

After NME posted their report, Liam tweeted, "NME tell me who your source pots are that keep giving you info about OASIS and I’ll give you an exclusive interview about [the] up n coming OASIS tour you can have it all but how much do you want it?"

When a fan asked why he'd break his no interview vow, Liam replied, "I want to know who the bands close sources are there saying we have a mole in the crew." Another fan asked why he'd care when the tour is starting in just over four months, and Liam said, "Coz we’re not messing about this time any BIGMOUTHS talking to the press are gonna get dealt with." He then wrote, "It’s not the lineup reveal I’m bothered about. I’ll reveal that to you in a minute. I’m more bothered about the line where it says a source close to the band and tour that really causes me a great deal of concern." He then tweeted a lineup of all drummers -- "Tony [McCarroll] drums, Alan White bass guitar, Zak [Starkey] lead guitar [and] Chris Sharrock keys. That’s a BANGING line up." Fans will get to see who is in the lineup when the tour starts July 4th in Cardiff, Wales.

OASIS: No Official Lineup, But How About a Mysterious Film?

Oasis fans might not know for sure who's going to be joining Liam and Noel Gallagher on the road this summer, but they do know a film is being made about the reunion trek. But it seems like it might not be a typical tour documentary as the Gallaghers announced that the film will be created and produced by Steven Knight, the producer and director who is best known for the Netflix series Peaky Blinders. And the directors are Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, best known for the LCD Soundsystem documentary and concert film Shut Up And Play The Hits.

Adding to the mystery about the film the press release sent out by Oasis's publicist closes with "No release date has yet been set, and no further details regarding the content of the film will be released at this moment in time."

ALICE COOPER: His Rock Hall Choices

This Friday -- March 14th in 2011 -- marks the 14th anniversary of Alice Cooper and his band being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With Alice now a voting member, he told us he cast his ballot this year for Bad Company and Joe Cocker and shared who he'd like to see nominated. "I mean, come on, Iron Maiden. I mean how can you dis Iron Maiden? They have their own army out there. Another one is Burt Bacharach. Burt Bacharach wrote as many hits as The Beatles and he's not in the Hall of Fame. And yet there's other guys in the Hall of Fame that were writers that weren't anywhere near Burt Bacharach."

Faced with the question of what defines rock music and who or who should not be inducted, Alice says it's more than that. "It's really hard for me to put somebody like Missy Elliott in with The Who. You know, I mean those are two different worlds. But, it's a lifestyle and it's really who brought what to the table. If somebody came in and had an impact that wasn't there before...but I would still prefer to see an Iron Maiden in there before I would see some of these other ones." Maiden have been nominated twice -- in 2021 and '23.

In addition to Bad Company and Joe Cocker, this year's other nominees are Phish, Billy Idol, Soundgarden, Cyndi Lauper, Chubby Checker, The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Joy Division + New Order, Outkast, The White Stripes, Oasis and Mana. Fans can vote once a day through April 21st at RockHall.com. The top five artists selected by the public will comprise a “fans’ ballot” that will be tallied along with the other ballots to determine the 2025 Inductees.

The Class of 2025 will be announced in late April with the ceremony set for the fall in Los Angeles.

Radiohead Forms New Legal Entity, Suggesting New Activity Is On The Way

The news broke yesterday that, on Monday, all five members of Radiohead, Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Philip Selway, registered a new limited liability partnership named RHEUK25 LLP. Why is this important? Historically, the band has established new legal entities before launching new projects. For instance, they formed Dawn Chorus LLP before releasing their last new album, 2016’s “A Moon Shaped Pool,” and Spin With a Grin LLP ahead of the 2021 “Kid A Mnesia” reissue. It’s the first time in four years that all of the members have been involved in forming an LLP. Of course, it’s all speculation at this point, as nothing’s been announced, but there appears to be some kind of movement on the way from Radiohead.

IN OTHER NEWS

Paul McCartney is supporting PETA’s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) campaign to prevent Peet’s Coffee from charging extra for plant-based milk options. In a letter to Peet’s President and CEO Eric Lauterbach, he writes, “I must say this surprised me as I understand that your company is committed to reducing methane emissions and water waste, yet cow’s milk significantly contributes to them. I would like to politely request that you consider dropping the upcharge on plant milks, just as Starbucks and Dunkin’ have recently done… I sincerely hope that for the future of the planet and animal welfare you are able to implement this policy.” McCartney’s message and mug will also be featured on a billboard just outside the Peet’s location in Oakland, California, which is near their corporate headquarters.

John Mellencamp has posted on Instagram audio of himself reading the lyrics to “Chasing Rainbows” off his 2022 album, Strictly a One-Eyed Jack.

Rod Stewart did his 200th show at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas Wednesday night. It was supposed to be last August during his Hits residency, but that was postponed after he came down with strep throat. This 200th show was the first of his new residency, The Encore Shows. The milestone was marked with the presentation on stage of a gold record, while Rod did a shot of his Wolfie’s Whisky.

Elton John and Brandi Carlile have released a video for “Swing for the Fences,” the second song off their debut album, Who Believes in Angels?, set for release on April 4th. The song is described as a “a life-affirming, joyous track and an anthem for LGBTQ+ youth.” You can watch the video on YouTube.

Crash & AJ