Millions of Americans are spending too much time reading or watching thenews and browsing social media, and they are now inundated with stories,opinions and headlines that spell out the damage the deadly coronavirus iscausing around the world and predicting how bad things will get. While thecurrent situation is sure to improve (at some point), it’s tough not to havesome thought that this may be the end of all things, and that feeling has manyturning to a beloved hit that perfectly describes what so many are thinking.

R.E.M.’s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is backon a number of Billboard charts this week, as fans of the band or simply thosewho remember the cut head to streaming platforms and digital downloadstores to listen to the cut, which seems better-suited for these dark days thanwhen it was initially released.

On the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart, "It's the End of the World as WeKnow It (And I Feel Fine)" appears for the first time, debuting at No. 22. Thatlofty placement puts the decades-old tune ahead of brand new smashes by thelikes of Lil Uzi Vert, Megan Thee Stallion and Ellie Goulding. In the pasttracking frame, the R.E.M. track sold just over 5,000 copies.

"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" fared even betterwhen things are whittled down a bit and only rock music is concerned. The‘80s hit single reaches the Hot Rock Songs chart for the first time this frame,debuting at No. 4. The song is the band’s second to appear on the style-specificlist, as they were more popular long before the chart’s inception. This weekalso marks the group’s first top 10 and a new peak position.

On the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, "It's the End of the World as We Know It(And I Feel Fine)" re-enters at No. 2, coming in behind only The Killers’ newlaunch “Caution.” They have now placed just a pair of cuts onto the purchase-focused list, as their other beloved composition “Losing My Religion” oncenarrowly missed the top 20 a decade ago. This new win marks their bestshowing yet and their first top 10 and peak position.Depending on how things go in the world (and how people feel about the stateof the planet), "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"could quickly drop down the charts, or it could hold on, and potentially evenrise once again.

CREDITS: Forbes Magazine - Hugh McIntyre Contributor

The star-studded show will also feature Don Was, John Medeski and Ivan Neville, plusmembers of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Bonerama and the Radiators.Robbie Robertson will take part in a New Orleans tribute concert to the Band’s legendaryfarewell concert The Last Waltz with Warren Haynes, Jamey Johnson and special guests.

‘The Last Waltz New Orleans: An All-Star Celebration of the Band’s Historic Farewell Concert’,taking place on 2 May at the city’s historic Saenger Theatre, will also feature Don Was, JohnMedeski and Ivan Neville, plus members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Bonerama and theRadiators.“New Orleans has always been a special and influential place,” Robertson said in a statement.“I am honoured to continue the tradition of celebrating The Last Waltz with this extraordinaryline-up in a city that has meant so much to me.”

The tribute show continues concert producer Blackbird Presents’ annual celebration of thefamed 1976 live album. The company previously staged the two-night ‘The Last Waltz NewOrleans: A Celebration Of The 40th Anniversary of The Last Waltz’ at the Saenger in 2016. In2019, a similar line-up took ‘The Last Waltz Tour 2019: A Celebration of The Band’s HistoricFarewell Concert’ on the road for 12 gigs.Tickets for The Last Waltz New Orleans: An All-Star Celebration of the Band’s HistoricFarewell Concert go on sale Friday, 6 March.The Big Easy tribute show comes a few months after the release of Once Were Brothers:Robbie Robertson and The Band, a feature-length documentary about the Rock Hall-inducted group

CREDITS: Credits: udiscovermusic.com - Tim Peacock

In a previously unpublished interview, the country veteran, who died last week,talks about taking a musical gamble at Bonnaroo 2012. It paid off.In June 2012, Bonnaroo broke its attendance record, selling 100,000 tickets. Thefour-day, camping-only Tennessee festival featured Radiohead, Red Hot ChiliPeppers, Phish, Childish Gambino, Ludacris, Santigold, - and maybe mostsurprisingly, Kenny Rogers. “In doing this, I was way outside my comfort zone,”Rogers said. “But they made me feel very comfortable very quickly. They musthave parents who listen to my music. That’s the only thing I can think of here.”

The Bonnaroo set was further proof that Rogers was game for anything — justrevisit his guest episode on Reno 911!, where the police force is enlisted to dosecurity for a book signing to which no one shows up (Rogers gets shot at theend). At Bonnaroo, Rogers braved the mud (“that place can get ugly when itrains”) and took in as much music as possible. “I got the chance to hear somealternative music,” he said. “It was really fun for me to be exposed to people likePhish, to people like the Civil Wars.”

“I played to crowds that size at the peak of my career, but not recently,”Rogers said. “You could do it a thousand times, but you can’t help but beimpressed.”

Rogers’ guest appearance with Phish was a blast. The stakes for Phish’s set werehigh, given that they had invited out Bruce Springsteen in 2009. Trey Anastasiointroduced Rogers as “someone we’re absolutely thrilled to play with right now.”Rogers, casually wearing his backstage pass, embraced Anastasio as the crowdchanted, Kenny, Kenny.” They kicked into a rambling version of “The Gambler,”with keyboardist Page Mc Connell complementing Rogers’ howling vocals withexcellent barroom piano lines.

“We had a great time backstage rehearsing,” Rogers said. “There seemed to bemutual respect. I got to learn how they were going to sound. Sometimes, doing asong without your comfort [zone], or your environment, you can get lostcompletely. But they were great. They knew the sound. We were off to theraces.”Playing for a football-field-size crowd caused Rogers to reminisce about earlierdays in his career: “It was great. I’ve done that before. I played to that and bigger at the peak of my career, but not recently. It was great to be asked to do it.”Asked to recall the last time he played to a crowd that big, he said, “Probably inthe middle Eighties. We used to do two shows a day with that many people instadiums. You could do it a thousand times, but you can’t help but be impressed,and feel the give and take, in what I get from there.”

Rogers left the festival with a mission: Listen to more Phish. “Boy, there was somegood stuff there, I’d love to hear more from them,” he said. In 2017, he embarkedon his massive The Gambler’s Last Deal Tour, which included an all-star blowoutat the Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena with Richie, Dolly Parton, Jamey Johnson,Chris Stapleton, and another musically adventurous band, The Flaming Lips.

CREDITS: By Rolling Stone - PATRICK DOYLE

Eddie Money was celebrated on Feb. 20 when his family and friends gathered to pay tribute to his career. Sammy Hagar, Rick Springfield, George Thorogood, John Waite and Mickey Thomas were among the featured classic rock performers at “Eddie Money Tribute Concert,” at The Saban in Beverly Hills, Calif. AXS TV has announced the exclusive broadcast of the concert premiering on March 22 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

Also joining was Metallica’s James Hetfield, who has returned to the stage – and looked great – following a well-documented struggle with addiction. The house band included guitarist Waddy Wachtel. It will also be available for downloads for AXS TV Subscribers.

AXS TV’s Feb. 27 announcement noted, “The tribute also featured a collection of moving video tributes from world-class artists Huey Lewis, Joan Jett, Steve Miller, Loverboy, Boston, and Dennis DeYoung, as well as comedian Kevin James who fondly recalled Money’s performance at his wedding and shared rare footage from the special day. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak also took the stage, regaling the crowd with anecdotes from Money’s set at the historic US Festival in 1982.” The concert, hosted by comedian Louie Anderson, benefited MusiCares and the USC Eddie Money Cancer Research Fund.

CREDITS: Credits: by Best Classic Bands Staff