Out with the new, in with the old

 

Let us start with some of the veteran musicians making the rounds these days:

• The one and only Dolly Parton, country music’s brightest star for the last half-century and a bona fide cultural icon at this point, surprised quite a few people a little while back when she declined being considered for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year after having been nominated, which many around the world thought was actually high time. Her reason for declining was that she didn’t feel her work was infused with enough of a rock quality, but went on to promise that she would indeed make a great rock and roll album — then go for the coveted prize. A few days ago, she relented, now formally stating that she would indeed accept the accolade if she were to receive it. It appears she realized that many former recipients’ music has very little to do with rock and roll music anymore…
• Sir Paul McCartney, one half of the greatest songwriting team in the history of popular music, is back on the road at the tender age of 79! If that wasn’t reason enough to watch an absolute legend live (the author of these lines has, and still remembers every minute of that experience), the name of the tour is beautifully topical — “Got Back”. (Sir) Peter Jackson’s recent documentary Get Back on the seminal making of of what would go on to become Let It Be, the last Beatles album, rightfully inspired the most famous bassist on the planet to share his music with the world again — now that health regulations allow said world to enjoy it. And he had a little surprise up his sleeve for opening night: a virtual duet on “I’ve Got a Feeling” with the late John Lennon, as filmed live on that illustrious rooftop concert that bookends the documentary — and The Beatles’ live career. Perfect…

Now, on to the (relatively) fresher faces and their own bits of news:

• Pusha T, whose excellent new and fourth album It’s Almost Dry we recently reviewed — and lauded — is actually on top of the charts! While we think it makes absolute sense, it is still a happy surprise for the rapper, whose face is actually not all that fresh considering he started his career back in the 1990’s with his brother… In any event, and despite the fact that Pusha was involved in many high profile projects over the years, with the likes of Kanye West and/or Jay-Z (both of whom are actually featured on the album), this happens to be the first time the rapper comes out at #1 on the Billboard 200. His best performance up until that point came with previous album Daytona reaching #3 in 2018… To be fair, this achievement comes with a relatively low amount of units sold — about 55 000. All the same: the point is that one of this generation’s finest wordsmiths is finally on top for all the world to see…
• Speaking of top, the freshest face on this list belongs to Harry Styles, who snatches gold on the singles charts again with “As It Was” — for a third week all in. This man can simply do no wrong: after two chart-topping albums, featuring several massively successful hits with over a billion streams each (“Watermelon Sugar” actually nears 2 billion these days…), a spectacular couple of performances at this year’s Coachella complete with guest appearances by the likes of Shania Twain and Lizzo, the young superstar has yet again managed to create a tight pop gem that instantly inhabits your brain — and never leaves it. Not that we would complain, really…

And that’s it for now, old and new faces combined!