Rock and roll is full of legends ready to retire. But some know how to perform onstage without making fools of themselves or the fans.
Two of The Beatles are no longer with us, yet they just released recordings with a little help from their friends and AI. This is one of the most famous performances by any band on live TV and it went on without a hitch. It was February 9, 1964, when the Mop Tops took the stage on Ed Sullivan’s show and it was seen by an astonishing 73 million people. The appearance also marked the first time in seven years the program hit No. 1 in the nightly ratings (typically, he garnered some 21 million viewers). The moment also started “Beatlemania,” which swept the nation and soon the globe, making the band the biggest at the moment and catapulting them to the title of best rock band ever. Ahead of the Beatles on the show, the group had released their debut single, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 25, 1964, just two weeks before their Sullivan appearance. Check them out performing that very track here below. https://youtu.be/jenWdylTtzs?
Also, AI Elvis is coming back to the stage in a new “jaw-dropping” concert. All of it brings up questions about the ethics of raising celebrities from the dead, especially those like Lennon, Harison, and Elvis, who died too soon.
Although there are long-gone artists who have their recordings to be remembered by, others refuse to give up the touring scene that includes cash infusions.
As for the oldest rock band still in existence, that’s Golden Earring. They date back to 1961, just a few months before the Rolling Stones started — although they were originally called the Tornadoes and then Golden Earrings (plural).https://youtu.be/aRlSHG5hRY4?si=6XaDxijde0ZAql6V
This song comes from George Harrison’s famed 1970 triple LP, All Things Must Pass. And its subject? Reincarnation. But while the song deals with the idea, it also talks about living life so well that, eventually, your soul will transcend and perhaps not need to be reborn. Sings Harrison.
This one is from Sting’s 1999 album of the same name. The track, which includes harmonica playing from the great Stevie Wonder, is about returning from heartbreak. Sings the famed frontman and former member of The Police.
From the former Beatle’s 1980 album Double Fantasy, this track was, somewhat ironically, Lennon’s final single to be released before he was murdered that same year. After his death, the song hit No. 1 on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom. His first single release since 1975, this song is all about opening yourself up to something new. Sings Lennon.
The Rolling Stones are still releasing recordings and touring The English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active across seven decades, they are one of the rock era's most popular and enduring bands. In the early 1960s, the band pioneered the gritty, rhythmically driven sound that defined hard rock. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8kWt8ELuDOc&pp=ygUVUm9sbGluZyBTdG9uZXMgbG…
The Eagles are also touring. The American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards, and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in North America and are one of the world's best-selling bands, having sold more than 200 million records, including 100 million sold in the US alone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQhzrpZztl4
Eagles Say Goodbye to the Road & Fallen Friends With 4 LA Forum Shows on Long Goodbye Final Tour. The California rock legends return to their old stomping grounds and pay musical tribute to Jimmy Buffett, as well as bandmates Glenn Frey & Randy Meisner. https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/eagles-la-forum-concert-recap-long…
Though cutting-edge technology was used to recreate “Elvis” and "The Beatles" it’s based on a “19th-century parlor trick” called Pepper’s Ghost. Invented by British scientist John Henry Pepper, the technology uses a “light source and angled reflection to create an optical illusion.” The stage is split into 2 sections: one that the audience can see and one — called “the hidden room” — that they can’t. A plate of glass on the visible stage reflects an object or actor in the hidden room, giving the appearance of a ghost. Today, digital projection is used in place of a hidden room... And so it goes.