Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer launches after school music initiative in Milwaukee
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith is launching a new after-school music program in Milwaukee through The Chad Smith Foundation. The initiative provides music instructors and instruments for students in local after-school music programs. The program aims to introduce kids to music and provide them with opportunities to discover their own voice through music. The foundation plans to expand the program to more cities across the United States in the future. Milwaukee organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and the Salvation Army have already partnered with the program to offer free music lessons to children in the community.
MGK Shares Cute Pics of Baby Saga Blade on Daughter’s First Birthday
MGK recently shared photos from his daughter Saga Blade’s first birthday celebration, obscuring her face in the images. The rapper posted a series of snaps showing moments from Saga's first year, including a photo of her sitting on the floor in a cute pink onesie. In another picture, MGK is seen enjoying lunch with his older daughter Casie while holding Saga on his knee. The rapper also revealed a cute nickname for Saga during an Instagram Live session, calling her "princess" and dancing with her to Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know." MGK is currently on his Lost Americana tour and recently left a flirty comment on ex Megan Fox's Instagram post.
ROCK HALL: Last Day to Cast Your Vote
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's Fan Vote for the Class of 2026 ends this Friday at 11:59pm ET.
With over nine-million votes cast, New Edition remains on top with close to a million of those votes followed in second by Phil Collins, Pink in third, Luther Vandross fourth, and Shakira fifth.
The rest of the list is as follows:
6- INXS
7- Sade
8- Wu-Tang Clan
9- Billy Idol
10- Mariah Carey
11- Lauryn Hill
12- Iron Maiden
13- Melissa Etheridge
14- The Black Crowes
15- Oasis
16- Joy Division + New Order
17- Jeff Buckley
You can vote for up to seven artists a day at RockHall.com.
The Top 5 artists selected by the public will comprise a “fans’ ballot” that will be tallied along with the other 1200 ballots to determine the 2026 Inductees.
The Class of 2026 will be announced on April 13th during American Idol’s Rock & Roll of Fame episode. The ceremony will be held in the fall at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Wiz Khalifa, Kane Brown & Bret Michaels to Headline 2026 NFL Draft Entertainment Series in Pittsburgh: ‘The Energy Here Is Different’
Country music star Kane Brown will headline the finale of the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, with the event taking place from April 23-25. The draft will be broadcast on various networks including NFL Network, ABC, and ESPN. Pittsburgh natives Wiz Khalifa and Bret Michaels will perform at the free 2026 NFL Draft Entertainment Series on April 24. Kane Brown expressed his excitement for the event, emphasizing the significance of the draft weekend for fans and players. The show is free to attend, with standing room spots available on a first-come, first-served basis. Previous performers at the event include Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, and Brad Paisley.
BUSH: Get Behind the Tiny Desk
Bush are the latest artist to play the Tiny Desk Concert series. Gavin Rossdale and company play the Sixteen Stone classics "Machinehead" and "Glycerine," the title track to I Beat Loneliness and a deep cut, "Out of the World" from 2001's Golden State. Watch it now on YouTube.
Noah Kahan Reveals Track List For "The Great Divide"
Noah Kahan is recruiting fans to help share the track list for his upcoming album "The Great Divide." A select group of fans were sent special jacket patches with the song titles on them.Taking to social media, each fan posted a photo of their patch, revealing one track at a time. Kahan then shared the photos to his own Instagram Story. The list is also available on the singer's official website. "The Great Divide" will feature songs Kahan has previously performed live like "Deny Deny Deny," "Haircut" and "Doors." The album drops on April 24th.
SEVENDUST: Their Claymation Selves Return
Sevendust have returned to the world of claymation. Their new video for "Threshold" is a sequel to one they did for "Fence" three years ago with animator Ollie Jones. This time, a greedy music agent pressures the band's management team to exhume the decayed members of Sevendust and send them back on tour. Watch it on YouTube. "Threshold" appears on Sevendust's upcoming album One, which is due out on May 1st.
BabyMetal Announce 2026 Would Tour With Halestorm, Violent Vira
BabyMetal are gearing up for a 2026 World Tour. The North America dates begin on August 20th in San Diego, California, and wrap up on October 3rd in Sacramento. Halestorm and Violent Vira will join the J-metal group on the road. Tickets for the U.S. and Canada dates will be available on April 10th.
Sparta Announce New Album
Sparta have a new album on the way. It's called "Cut a Silhouette" and they're already given fans a preview with the release of their single "Crater." The upcoming record is the band's 6th studio album, following 2020's "Trust The River." "Cut a Silhouette" arrives on May 29th.
Blackie Lawless Reveals The Title Of Upcoming Memoir
Blackie Lawless is ready to share some details about his upcoming memoir. During a conversation with UCR, the musician said "Tales From the Square Mile" is about a square mile that he lived in in Hollywood, and the influence it had on him and the music industry. The book is five years in the making and is about halfway done.The W.A.S.P. singer hoped to finish "Tales From the Square Mile" by the end of this year.
Could The Rolling Stones Be Teasing New Music?
Are the Rolling Stones going full "Taylor Swift?" There is mounting evidence that the legendary band may be teasing new music, and the clues require the sleuthing level of a Swiftie. Fortunately, an IG account, "stoneslippod," is up to the task. This week, mysterious billboards advertising an unknown band called The Cockroaches began cropping up in various London locations. So what does this have to do with the Stones? According to the account, the graphic has a simple red background and white border, and reads simply, "The Cockroaches" with a QR code. Stones fanatics know the Rolling Stones once billed themselves as "Keith and the Cockroaches" for a secret 1977 show. Further...
- The QR code links to a website called thecockroaches.com, owned by Universal Music, the Stones’ record label. The website’s holding page shows a sparse ‘70s bedroom complete with various items like concert tickets, vinyl records and more, plus a poster for The Cockroaches and a clock stuck on April 11th
- Forwarding the link creates an image bearing the phrase, “Who the f*** are the Cockroaches?” That format bears a striking resemblance to a T-shirt Keith Richards once wore with the message, "Who the f*** is Mick Jagger?"
- And we already know via Ronnie Wood that a complete album is "already done" and due out some time this year
Guess we'll know more next week!
U2 Released New EP
U2 is out with a new EP, the band's second of 2026. "Easter Lilly" was released at midnight Eastern today with six tracks. The Good Friday release comes after another EP, "Days of Ash," released in February for Ash Wednesday. “Easter Lilly” is only available digitally. The track list includes:
- Song for Hal
- In a Life
- Scars
- Resurrection Song
- Easter Parade
- COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?) – ft. a new soundscape by Brian Eno
PETER GABRIEL: Four-For-Four
With this year's fourth full moon comes the fourth single off Peter Gabriel's forthcoming album, o/i. Titled “Till Your Mind Is Shining,” he says it's "the closest I get to a pop song on this record. “It takes me back to my schooldays, in some ways, because before there was Genesis, we were effectively trying to be songwriters more than musicians – pop songs or soul / R&B songs. I think this song connects me back to some of those roots and the sort of thing that I was working on then and trying to master.” In regard to the overall theme of the album, he says, "In some ways it’s about opening up the mind and stepping inside to understand a little more of ourselves and the world we live in with the hope that we respond a little more responsibly and compassionately.” The next song, like all the songs on the album, will be released in conjunction with the next full moon on May 1st. The album will follow at the end of the year.
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: Flea Likes Slovak Doc
Red Hot Chili Peppers distanced themselves from the Netflix documentary The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel, about late guitarist Hillel Slovak. But it seems like Flea is happy with the final product. He wrote on Instagram, “I finally watched the new documentary about Hillel Slovak. I’m so grateful it exists, and that more people will know how much he meant and continues to mean to us as a friend and bandmate. It is a beautifully made film and filled my heart right to the top, not without a good dose of lifelong melancholy. Hillel forever."
Back in February when the Netflix premiere was announced, the Chili Peppers put out a statement saying, "This documentary is now being advertised as a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary, which it is not. We had nothing to do with it creatively. We have yet to make a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary." That prompted the film's producers to add Our Brother, Hillel to the film's title.
MAMMOTH, VAN HALEN: Great April Fools' Gag
Mammoth played a great April Fools' prank on fans who keep wanting Wolfgang Van Halen to do songs by his late dad Eddie. At the start of their encore Wednesday night at Bogart's in Cincinnati Wolf told the audience, "I've always said never say never, so I think tonight might be a really fun night. I don't know if I'm going to keep doing this, maybe this could just be our little secret. But I think there are some people out there that deserve this, and think it could really be fun, so, without further ado..." He then told Mammoth's drummer to count things off, and the band broke into Rick Astley's number-one hit "Never Gonna Give You Up." After a verse and chorus, they stopped. Wolf told the crowd, "April Fools'. If you guys really thought I was going to do that [play a Van Halen song], you haven't been paying attention." Watch the Rickroll happen on Instagram.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Still Gets Under Trump's Skin
Two days after Bruce Springsteen lambasted President Trump and his administration during the opening night of his Land of Hope and Dreams tour comes this response and directive from the White House. Trump, wrote on Truth Social, “Bad, and very boring singer, Bruce Springsteen, who looks like a dried up prune who has suffered greatly from the work of a really bad plastic surgeon, has long had a horrible and incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, sometimes referred to as TDS. "The guy is a total loser who spews hate against a President who won a landslide election, including the popular vote, all seven swing states, and 86% of the counties across America. Under 'Sleepy Joe' [Biden] and the Dems, our country was DEAD, and now we have the hottest' country, by far, anywhere in the world. “MAGA SHOULD BOYCOTT HIS OVERPRICED CONCERTS, WHICH SUCK. SAVE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. AMERICA IS BACK!!!” Bruce Springsteen's next tongue lashing of Trump comes tonight (Friday) in Portland, Oregon. The tour is scheduled through May 27th at Nationals Park in, you guessed it, Washington, D.C.
YES: No
Attention Yes fans. If you had plans to see them perform this spring in either the U.K. or Europe, then you'll have to make other plans. They've postponed the tour so guitarist Steve Howe can undergo "an essential operation that requires recovery time... This decision has been made to ensure that Steve can return to the stage in full health and deliver the performances that fans deserve." They are working on rescheduling the shows and hope to make an announcement after Easter. They ask that you retain your tickets as they will be valid for the rescheduled dates. Howe, who is 78, is the only member of the band left from their breakthrough years in the '70s.
BUSH: Get Behind the Tiny Desk
Bush are the latest artist to play the Tiny Desk Concert series. Gavin Rossdale and company play the Sixteen Stone classics "Machinehead" and "Glycerine," the title track to I Beat Loneliness and a deep cut, "Out of the World" from 2001's Golden State. Watch it now on
THE BEATLES: A Tale of Two Gardens
An old George Harrison song is up for a very modern award. The first-ever video for Harrison's second number-one song, 1973's "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" was released this past December -- and it has been nominated in the Animation category at The Webby Awards, which honors excellence on the Internet. You can cast your vote at WebbyAwards.com through April 16th. The awards will be handed out on May 11th. The stop-motion animation video, directed by actor and musician Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things), features Harrison walking through and manicuring his gardens of Friar Park, his estate outside London, with Easter egg references from Harrison’s career and a tribute to his love of gardening. The video recently won Best Animation Award at the Hollywood Music Video Awards, and a 15-minute documentary on the making of the video premiered yesterday morning (Thursday) on YouTube.
IN OTHER NEWS
Heart will perform at the Grammy Hall of Fame Gala on May 8th at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Their debut album, 1975’s Dreamboat Annie, will be inducted that night alongside recordings by Janet Jackson, Radiohead, the late Tupac Shakur, Funkadelic, Lucinda Williams and others.
In her appearance on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast, Courtney Love said she wished Dave Grohl would publicly say they have a good relationship. She said, “We’re cool, but you won’t say it because you’re afraid you’ll lose your audience, you’re afraid it’ll affect your relationship with literal Paul McCartney… Dave, it would really behoove me if the straight white males that are your base, if you will, stop picking on me."
Bret Michaels, a Pittsburgh-area native and Steelers fan, will perform at Day Two of the NFL Draft in the Steel City on April 24th. He says, “I cannot be more honored, excited, and fired up to perform at the Pittsburgh 2026 Draft… This is a dream come true. As a young diabetic searching for hope, football, music, family and friends inspired me to stay positive and never give up. Sharing the stage with my friend Wiz Khalifa makes this even more special. This will be a 'Black and Yellow' meets 'Nothin' but a Good Time' celebration, and we will bring 1000% energy to the stage for the fans and the city of Pittsburgh."
The Black Crowes opened their Australian tour – and first dates of 2026 – today (Thursday) in Melbourne. They kicked off the show with the debut performance of their new song, “Profane Prophecy” off their new album, A Pound of Feathers. They also gave the first performance of “Pharmacy Chronicles,” also off the album. And they brought out two rarities – playing “Movin' on Down the Line” for the first time since 2013, and closing with a cover of the Faces’ “Three Button Hand Me Down,” which they’d last played in 1990. They’ll do a second show in Melbourne on Friday followed by Brisbane on Monday. The U.S. tour starts May 17th in Austin, Texas.
Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May has wished the crew of Artemis II a “safe and successful journey around the Moon. What an adventure! Please send back stereo photos!!!”
Alice Cooper has swapped one blonde guitarist in his band for another as he’s hired 22-year-old Anna Cara from Newcastle, England to sit in for Nita Strauss, who is on maternity leave. Anna will play her first show tonight (Thursday) in Las Vegas at Cooper and illusionist Criss Angel’s Welcome to Our Nightmare show. Cooper says, “Anna Cara is a beautiful dynamic shredder in the vein of Nita but with a style of her own. She will fit in with our gang perfectly…and we can't wait for the sick things to meet her. Welcome to the show, Anna!"
A 1.5-inch clipping of one of the late Bob Marley’s dreadlocks is going up for auction on April 9th in Bristol, England. Combined with his autograph, it’s estimated to sell for upwards of $33,000. Marley gave the clip to the seller in 1978 during his performance on Top of the Pops. The owner says, “After he had finished singing, myself and a friend went up onto the platform where he was performing. He was chuckling away and I asked if I could take off a piece of his hair. He just kept nodding and chuckling and appeared amused by it, so I twisted a piece of his dreadlock off. And he of course gave me his autograph as well.”
Elton John’s The Remixes album, set for release on glow in the dark vinyl on Record Store Day, April 18th, will be available digitally the next day, April 19th. It contains eight remix tracks featuring Dua Lipa, Britney Spears, Pnau, and RuPaul.
On This Day
·in 1973, the first portable cell phone call was made in New York City.
·In 1978 - Patti Smith Group released their third studio album, Easter, which includes "Because the Night."
·In 1995 - R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry underwent surgery to halt bleeding caused by a brain aneurysm. The operation was a success, but he still felt it was best that he retired from the band.
·In 1995 - Foo Fighters made their live debut during a benefit show at The Satyricon in Portland, Ore.
·In 1997 - U2 released their ninth studio album, Pop. It features tracks "Discothèque," "Staring at the Sun," "Last Night on Earth," and "Please.”
·In 2009 - To celebrate the release of U2's 12th studio album and their appearance every night for a week on The Late Show with David Letterman, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg temporarily renamed part of 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan "U2 Way."
·in 2010, the first Apple iPad was released.