The 10-track "No One Sings Like You Anymore" dropped by surprise on Friday (Dec. 11). The surprise final studio album from Chris Cornell, No One Sings Like You Anymore, dropped on Friday (Dec. 11) featuring covers of songs by John Lennon, Prince, Janis Joplin, Electric Light Orchestra and Guns N' Roses. According to a release, Cornell hand-picked and sequenced the collection as a celebration of the artists and songs that inspired him.

The collection was recorded in 2016 and it represents the late Soundgarden singer's last fully completed studio album, with runs through Lennon's "Watching the Wheels," Ghostland Observatory's "Sad Sad City," Harry Nilsson’s “Jump Into The Fire,” Carl Hall’s “You Don’t Know Nothing About Love,” ELO's “Showdown,” Terry Reid’s “To Be Treated Rite”, Lorraine Ellison’s “Stay With Me Baby," and his iconic cover of the Prince-written "Nothing Compares 2 You."

“This album is so special because it is a complete work of art that Chris created from start to finish,” said wife Vicky Cornell in a statement. “His choice of covers provides a personal look into his favorite artists and the songs that touched him. He couldn’t wait to release it. This moment is bittersweet because he should be here doing it himself, but it is with both heartache and joy that we share this special album. All of us could use his voice to help heal and lift us this year, especially during the holiday season. I am so proud of him and this stunning record, which to me illustrates why he will always be beloved, honored, and one the greatest voices of our time."

The physical version of the album will be available on March 19. The collection performed entirely by Cornell and Brendan O'Brien, who also produced and mixed the album, also features Cornell's take on a song popularized by Janis Joplin, "Get It While You Can" as well as his cover of Guns N' Roses' "Patience," which earned the singer his first solo Billboard No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart earlier this year. “When my dad was making this album, it was so fun - I remember waking up in the morning, having breakfast with him and going with him into the studio," said daughter Toni Cornell in a statement. "We would take our piano lessons there and Christopher would play video games with Brendan and my dad. We got to experience so much with him and have so many amazing memories. I’m really happy to be sharing this album. We love you daddy." The album is available now on all streaming services.

“We had so much fun in the studio during this time and on days off we’d go to Tree People and hike around there," said son Christopher Cornell. "We would also play hide and go seek inside the Beverly Hills Hotel and when security would show up, they would think it was so funny that my dad was running through fire escapes with us. For me, this album represents who my dad was. I’m really proud of him and his work. I hope you all love this record as much as I do.”

Cornell -- who died in May 2017 at age 52 of suicide -- worked out many of his favorite covers on his solo "Songbook" tours, hitting tracks by everyone from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin and on this collection, he chose most of the songs, according to O'Brien. "And we went out to various friends, people in the business, people he respected, to see what they thought... we compiled a bit of a list,” O'Brien added in a statement.

CREDITS: Billboard Magazine / By Gil Kaufman

Don McLean released his iconic album American Pie in 1971, and now 50 years later the legendary singer-songwriter will perform at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, on the anniversary of “The Day the Music Died,” February 3, 2021. The historic performance will honor Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper as it marks the 62nd anniversary of the 1959 plane crash that killed the American rock ‘n’ roll musicians. The concert, at the same venue where those legends performed for the last time, will also officially kick-off the American Pie 50th Anniversary World Tour, which will also take McLean to Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, and many more places to be announced soon.

Most can recite McLean’s eight-and-a-half minute 1971 single by heart. It was written to honor the legacies of the early rock legends who lost their lives in the tragic plane crash.

“February 3, 1959 was a tragic day for all of us who lost our heroes in that plane crash,” said McLean in the December 9 announcement. “While writing ‘American Pie,’ I felt it was important to remember this incident that to me, was still fresh. Now, we will return to the last venue they performed at on the anniversary of the crash.”

McLean was born Oct. 2, 1945 and turned 75 in 2020. He is a Grammy award honoree, a Songwriters Hall of Fame member, a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. “American Pie” resides in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry and was named one of the top five songs of the 20th Century by the Recording Industry of America. In 2015, one of the New York native’s four handwritten manuscripts of the lyrics to “American Pie” was auctioned by Christies, selling for just over $1.2 million.

CREDITS: by Best Classic Bands Staff

Willie Nelson has announced a new studio album, That’s Life, that pays home to Frank Sinatra. The album, Nelson’s 15th for Sony’s Legacy Recordings, will be released on February 26, 2021.

Honoring the enduring influence and inspiration of Frank Sinatra (born 105 years ago on December 12, 1915), That’s Life continues Nelson’s longtime musical appreciation of his friend’s artistry and repertoire, an exploration exemplified by 2018’s My Way, which earned the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Solo Album.

Nelson turns 88 on April 29, 2021.

From the Dec. 11 announcement: That’s Life finds Nelson (who has penned a few standards himself including “Crazy,” “Funny How Times Slips Away,” and “On the Road Again,” among many others) inhabiting more of the most treasured songs in the Great American Songbook. The album was recorded in the spirit of his groundbreaking 1978 Stardust, 2016’s Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin (a Best Traditional Vocal Album Grammy Award winner) and 2018’s My Way.

The album cover painting of Willie and his iconic guitar, Trigger, standing in the glow of a twilight streetlamp, was created by Paul Mann, a painter and illustrator known for his film poster work. It evokes classic Sinatra album images like In the Wee Small Hours (whose title song is featured on That’s Life).

Other key tracks on Willie’s new album include “I Won’t Dance” (featuring Grammy and Juno Award winning vocalist Diana Krall) and “A Cottage For Sale.”

Produced by Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollings, much of That’s Life was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood–where Sinatra, the first artist to record at the facility, created an unbroken string of album masterpieces from 1956 to 1961.

The pair were close friends, musical colleagues, and mutual admirers of each other’s work. In the 1980s, Sinatra opened for Willie at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas and the two of them appeared together in a public service announcement for NASA’s Space Foundation.

CREDITS: Best Classic Bands Staff