Freddie Mercury made his final public appearance today, 29 years ago when he joined the rest of his band on stage to accept the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. The award show was held at the Dominion Theatre in London. This day proved to be emotional, not only for this reason but because the other members of Queen, knew that Mercury was seriously ill. Although rumours were making its rounds about Mercury being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS as early as 1986, the public was not fully aware of this at the time. Due to their lack of tour to support their 1989 album, ‘The Miracle’, fans grew concerned about Freddie. Brian May later responded: “We didn’t know actually what was wrong for a very long time,” said May. “We never talked about it and it was a sort of unwritten law that we didn’t because Freddie didn’t want to.”He just told us that he wasn’t up to doing tours, and that’s as far as it went. Gradually, I suppose in the last year and a bit, it became obvious what the problem was, or at least fairly obvious. We didn’t know for sure.” Freddie appeared haggard and unusually quiet at the Brit Awards. After May thanked the Brits on the band’s behalf, Freddie briefly leaned into the microphone to say, “Thank you … goodnight.” He kept his privacy for the remainder of his life until the 22nd of November 1991, when he publicly confirmed his diagnosis. Just over 24 hours later, he passed away at his home in Kensington at the age of 45.
Tom Petty – Previously Unreleased Song, ‘For Real’
Ahead of a new two-disc retrospective release, an unreleased song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was released – listen below. ‘For Real’ features on the forthcoming retrospective ‘The Best of Everything’ which consists of 38 tracks. The box set, described as ‘An American Treasure’, celebrates the late musician who passed away in 2017 at the age of 66 from cardiac arrest. Geffen Records/UME stated: Rather than chronological order, the special cross-label collection was sequenced as a hard-hitting playlist giving the entire catalog equal prominence.” Bob Dylan paid his respects to Petty and wrote: “It’s shocking, crushing news. I thought the world of Tom. He was great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.” Petty’s 1989 ‘Full Moon Fever’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame earlier this year. The full box set will be released on the 1st of next month.
Embracing a Cosmic Consciousness with @WinzdayL
Raised in D.C., twenty-one-year-old singer/songwriter, Winzday Love, is growing her fanbase and captivating listeners with her chocolate, velvety vocals. Her aim is to spread cosmic consciousness through free-flowing soundscapes, punk rock expressions and diaphanous, emotive lyrics. Her influences range from Rose Royce to Led Zeppelin and has already captured listeners’ attention with her sonic energy in performances including an exclusive in-studio performance at Beneville Studios, headlined shows with Sofar Sounds both in New York and D.C and was set to appear on the Smithsonian’s Luce Unplugged stage with an acoustic show earlier this year. She is raising vibrations with a performance series at Enter the Vortex, a multisensory experience intended to highlight local creative partners. Her latest single, ‘Rum’, was released on the 1st of February and is available on all major music platforms.
Mr. Käfer – Lost Reflections, Out Now @mr.kaefer
Austrian beatmaker, Mr Käfer, released his new project on the German label, Melting Pot Music, ‘Lost Reflections’, January this year. The 9-track EP is the result of an impromptu jazz-beat collab with Californian Saxophonist, Gavin Lord. The album consists of liquid, jazzy soundscapes without one element overpowering the other. Lord stated: “We would start with a rough idea of the mood we wanted to convey–whether that was a feeling or a sample or a riff–and then we would just jam on it until it felt right.”
“To be honest, at first we didn’t really know what we were doing; I had only played with jazz combos and swing bands. Karim was a beat maker and rapper. Jamming and improvising with a saxophone and a midi-controller was new for both of us, but very cool and natural. After I moved away, we almost forgot about the tracks and they just sat around for a while. But we put too much love into these tracks to sit on them forever.” Perfect for cold weather, this dreamy album is available now on all major music platforms.
Pink Floyd’s Tenth Studio Album Released Today, 42 Years Ago
Pink Floyd’s tenth studio album, ‘Animals’ was released in the US today, 42 years ago. Reaching No.3 in the charts in no time, the album’s cover includes a pig floating between chimneys on Battersea Power Station. Bassist, Roger Waters was the mind behind this concept and was realised by Hipgnosis, the band’s long-time design and photographic collaborators. The album, one of Pink Floyd’s most progressive studio LPs, was not played on classic rock radio as frequently as its predecessors. Although the album is only spread across five tracks, the record runs a compact 40 minutes and results in songs that stretch from 17 to 10 minutes. Compositionally, no keyboard or guitar solo is wasted and the band sticks to their spacey, psychedelic character. Given the distressed political time, the band’s response to the punk rock movement left a distinct imprint on the musical landscape since 1977. The second part of ‘Pigs on the Wing’ sums up the overall motif of the album which reminds fans that optimism is no substitute for challenging the power structures that put us into boxes.