Music News of 2024


Lady Gaga surprises with new disc out Friday

Tuesday, September 24, 2024 – Lady Gaga today announced via her Instagram a surprise album. She will release "Harlequin," an album inspired by the character Harley Quinn from the movie "Joker: Folie ŕ Deux," on Friday.

Gaga plays the role of Harley Quinn in the movie, which is out Oct. 4.

"'Harlequin' is an album that celebrates a figure who thrives on danger, who lives for the undefinable, and who embraces the beautiful chaos of her own dreams," according to a press release.

This is the seventh studio album for Lady Gaga. Her most recent solo album is "Chromatica" from 2020. She released an album with the late Tony Bennett, "Love for Sale," in 2021.


Franz Ferdinand announces tour

Monday, September 23, 2024 – Franz Ferdinand have unveiled tour plans for North America in 2025.

The tour, which kicks off in March in Seattle will make stops at the Warfield in San Francisco, Anthem in Washington D.C., Brooklyn Paramount in New York and the Orpheum in Boston. Tickets go on fan pre-sale at 10 a.m. on Wednesday with a general sale starting 10 a.m. eastern on Friday at www.franzferdinand.com.

Earlier this month, the band said their next album, “The Human Fear,” will be out Jan. 10, 2025 on Domino. Produced with Mark Ralph previously worked with them on their 2013 album, “Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action,” the first single of the new release is “Audacious.”

Recorded at AYR studios in Scotland, the 11-songs on The Human Fear all allude to some deep-set human fears and how overcoming and accepting these fears drives and defines our lives.

Pretty much all written before they hit the studio, the idea was to have a songbook ready before they started recording and once in the studio it was all quickly executed - a lot of it recorded live with the band in the room and many of the vocals on the album being the original takes.

The first studio album to feature members Audrey Tait (drums) and Dino Bardot (guitar), the record also sees Julian Corrie step forward to collaborate with frontman Alex Kapranos and bassist Bob Hardy on songwriting and creative duties.

The track list is:
1. Audacious
2. Everydaydreamer
3. The Doctor
4. Hooked
5. Build It Up
6. Night Or Day
7. Tell Me I Should Stay
8. Cats
9. Black Eyelashes
10. Bar Lonely
11. The Birds>

Tour dates are:
March 24, 2025 – Showbox, Sodo – Seattle
March 25, 2025 – Commodore – Vancouver, Canada
March 28, 2025 – Warfield – San Francisco
April 3, 2025 – Midland – Kansas City, Mo.
April 4, 2025 – The Fillmore – Minneapolis, Minn.
April 7, 2025 – Anthem – Washington, D.C.
April 8, 2025 – The Fillmore – Philadelphia
April 10, 2025 – Brooklyn Paramount – Brooklyn, N.Y.
April 12, 2025 – Orpheum – Boston
April 14, 2025 – M Telus – Montreal
April 15, 2025 – History – Toronto


Heart cancels tour as Ann Wilson battles cancer

Tuesday, July 2, 2024 – Heart announced today the postponement of all remaining shows on their headlining Royal Flush Tour and Journey/Def Leppard Stadium Tour due to Ann Wilson’s battle with cancer.

Wilson said, "I underwent an operation to remove something that, as it turns out, was cancerous."

"The operation was successful & I'm feeling great but my doctors are now advising me to undergo a course of preventive chemotherapy & I've decided to do it. And so my doctors are instructing me to take the rest of the year away from the stage in order to fully recover."

"To the ticket buyers, I really do wish we could do these gigs. Please know that I absolutely plan to be back on stage in 2025. My team is getting those details sorted & we'll let you know the plan as soon as we can."

"Thank you all for the support."

"This is merely a pause. I've much more to sing."

Wilson said she would make no further statements.


Pearl Jam announces new music, tour

Tuesday, February 13, 2024 – Pearl Jam will release their 12th studio album, "Dark Matter," on Monkeywrench Records/Republic Records on April 19 and launch a 35-date worldwide tour this May.

Produced by Andrew Watt, "Dark Matter," marks the band’s first release since "Gigaton" (2020).

In 2023, the members of Pearl Jam — Eddie Vedder [vocals], Jeff Ament [bass], Stone Gossard [rhythm guitar], Mike McCready [lead guitar] and Matt Cameron [drums] — retreated to Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, Cal. for three weeks.

Vedder said: “I’m getting chills, because I have good memories. We’re still looking for ways to communicate. We’re at this time in our lives when you could do it, or you could not do it, but we still care about putting something out there that is meaningful, and we hopefully think is our best work. No hyperbole, I think this is our best work.”

Ament said, “What Ed said about getting us in a room at this point, we felt like we were about to make a really important record. A lot of that had to do with the atmosphere Andrew set up. He has encyclopedic knowledge of our history, not only as a band and how we wrote songs, but as players. He could pinpoint things we did on old songs to the point where I was like, ‘What the fuck is he talking about?’ His excitement was contagious. He’s a force. I just want to say thanks for keeping us on track. I couldn’t be prouder of us as a band. I feel so grateful for the fans, but mostly for my brothers and these people I’ve made music with.”

The track list is:
1. Scared of Fear
2. React, Respond
3. Wreckage
4. Dark Matter
5. Won’t Tell
6. Upper Hand
7. Waiting for Stevie
8. Running
9. Something Special
10. Got to Give
11. Setting Sun

Their global tour, hitting nine countries and 25 cities, kicks off at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada and will cover much of North America including shows at Wrigley Field, Madison Square Garden, Fenway Park and their first hometown performance in six years at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena.

Special guests Deep Sea Diver (North America Leg 1), Glen Hansard (North America Leg 2), The Murder Capital (UK/EU), Richard Ashcroft (Dublin and London) and Pixies (Australia and New Zealand) will serve as support for these dates.


May 4 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
May 6 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
May 10 Portland, OR Moda Center
May 13 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
May 16 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 18 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 21 -22 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
May 25** Napa Valley, CA BottleRock Festival
May 28 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
May 30 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
June 22 Dublin, IE Marlay Park
June 25 Manchester, UK Manchester Co-Op Live
June 29 London, UK Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
July 2 -3 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
July 6 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
July 8 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
July 11** Madrid, SE Mad Cool Festival
July 13** Lisbon, PT NOS Alive Festival
Aug. 22 Missoula, MT Washington-Grizzly Stadium
Aug. 26* Indianapolis, IN Ruoff Music Center
Aug. 29 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
Aug. 31 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
Sept. 3-4 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Sept. 7 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Sept. 9 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Sept. 12 Baltimore, MD CFG Bank Arena
Sept. 15 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Sept. 17 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Nov. 8 Auckland, NZ Go Media Stadium Mt Smart
Nov. 13 Gold Coast, AU Heritage Bank Stadium
Nov. 16 Melbourne, AU Marvel Stadium
Nov. 21 Sydney, AU Giants Stadium

* Rescheduled date from 2022
** Festival dates are already on sale


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