That's a stacked list of performers. Ahead of the Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy hosts many other events leading up to the esteemed music awards program. Grammy Week highlights talent beyond those who have received nominations, celebrating music creators, producers, and performers from all walks of life. However, given the Los Angeles wildfires, this year's events leading up to the Grammy Awards will look slightly different from past years. The city has faced massive destruction over the last few weeks from the horrific spread of fires. While the Recording Academy has chosen not to cancel the Grammy Awards, it has shifted its focus to fundraising to help the beloved place it calls home. Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO Harvey Mason Jr. shared: “We understand how devastating this past week has been on this city and its people. This is our home, it’s home to thousands of music professionals, and many of us have been negatively impacted. So after thoughtful consideration, and multiple assurances from state and local elected leaders, public safety agencies, and with support from our incredible artist community, we have decided to go ahead with the Grammy telecast and some select events. Grammy Week 2025 will not just be about honoring music, it will be about using the power of music to help rebuild, uplift and support those in need.” One event that they are going through during Grammy Week, as it's the largest fundraising event of the year, is the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala. This year's Persons of the Year goes to the Grateful Dead, one of the most influential rock and roll groups. "The Grateful Dead are MusiCares’ 2025 Persons of the Year! We’re honoring original band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bobby Weir, and the night will include special posthumous tributes to Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh as well. On January 31st, 2025, MusiCares’ annual gala will celebrate their creative and philanthropic work. Outside of the press release announcing the Grateful Dead as this year's recipient, MusiCares also shared the significance of this gala as it's the biggest fundraising event for the foundation. "The benefit gala raises vital funds for MusiCares’ year-round efforts so that we can continue our mission of helping the music community in times of need – including our critical disaster relief efforts for music professionals affected by the Greater Los Angeles wildfires." This gala will support and celebrate the legacy of the Grateful Dead in addition to fundraising efforts. MusiCares pulled out all the stops in choosing the performers for the gala. This year's list of performers includes some stellar country acts, including Dwight Yoakam, Wynonna Judd, Zac Brown, Sierra Ferrell, Billy Strings, Lukas Nelson, The War and Treaty, and more. https://www.instagram.com/p/DFGGD2gvhsz/ In addition to that stacked list of performers, Bert Kreischer will present the gala, and Andy Cohen will serve as the evening host. Andy Cohen is a giant Deadhead who went viral last year for dancing his heart out at Dead & Company's show at The Las Vegas Sphere. https://twitter.com/latenightercom/status/1849168776698487200 I don't think they could have picked a better host. Well, unless it was Sturgill Simpson who says Jerry Garcia saved his life and has performed with Bob Weir several times. Then again, maybe Stu doesn't quite have the eccentric personality of Andy Cohen. The tribute concert is scheduled for January 31st, ahead of the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.

While everyone else is calling Billy Ray Cyrus' performance at Donald Trump's inauguration a train wreck, the country music singer is insisting that it was just "rock and roll." In case you missed it, the “Achy Breaky Heart” took the stage at the Liberty Ball yesterday. It certainly seemed like the singer was lip synching. How am I so sure? Well, he wasn't even standing behind the mic at one point and “Old Town Road” was playing throughout the ballroom. Though the lip synching was probably the way to go... because his a cappella performance of "Achy Breaky Heart" was atrocious. It seemed as though Billy Ray was battling technical difficulties with his equipment - among other things. At one point, the power to the stage was cut off, and some thought the producers were simply trying to get him to stop the show and leave. His guitar tech even came out and tried to help (and/or pull him off the stage), but had no success. Eventually, Jason Aldean come on played a little longer to fill time. The train really got off the rails when Billy Ray Cyrus tried to break into his hit “Some Gave All." The country music singer placed the microphone into the stand and... walked around on stage in the dark, waving his hands. Long story short, everything went about as bad as it possibly could have for Billy Ray Cyrus. Here's a clip from the performance for reference: https://twitter.com/ArtCandee/status/1881525200690589796?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1881525200690589796%7Ctwgr%5Ec59547d314fb9a9a7103edb5f32a3e9bd8c25784%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2025%2F01%2F20%2Fbilly-ray-cyrus-appears-to-be-escorted-off-stage-after-trainwreck-performance-at-trump-inaugural-ball%2F Sheesh. A lot of people expected Billy Ray Cyrus to come out today with some sort of statement, apology, or explanation for the disastrous performance. And sure enough, the country music artist put out a statement in the form of a social media post. Though if you were looking for an apology or an explanation about what went wrong, Cyrus' statement was far from it. He instead chose to point out what went right, at least in his mind: "I wouldn’t have missed the honor of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not. I was there because President Donald J. Trump invited me. I had a ball at the Liberty Ball last night and I’ve learned through all these years when the producer says 'you’re on,' you go entertain the folks even if the equipment goes to hell. I was there for the people and we had a blast. That’s called rock and roll!" Well... you can't say that Billy Ray Cyrus doesn't have self confidence! He apparently thinks that he overcame the technical difficulties and put on a rocking and rolling performance. When in reality, he looked like Rob Zombie and tried his best to use his "achy break voice" to power through it. If I didn't mention the Rob Zombie thing, I apologize. Cyrus first went viral yesterday when he posed for a picture with Senator Marsha Blackburn. We honestly should have seen the Liberty Ball disaster performance coming after this photo hit the internet, but hey, at least he was asked to be there for President Trump's big day: https://twitter.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/1881080765062201790?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1881081480597884939%7Ctwgr%5Ec59547d314fb9a9a7103edb5f32a3e9bd8c25784%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2025%2F01%2F20%2Fbilly-ray-cyrus-appears-to-be-escorted-off-stage-after-trainwreck-performance-at-trump-inaugural-ball%2F You can watch the full performance here, but... I'm not sure why anyone would want to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUhCxhpavU

Often called one of the seven modern wonders of the world, the Panama Canal splits the continents of North and South America and launched a new era in global commerce when it opened in 1914.

Learn the key differences between sanitizing, disinfecting, and sterilizing to properly clean your home and protect your health.

The British guitarist John Sykes passed away at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer. Born in Reading, Berkshire, England in 1959, the musician was known for having been a member of bands like Tygers of Pan Tang, Whitesnake, Blue Murder and Thin Lizzy. As the news of his death was released many famous rock stars paid their tribute to Sykes. Rock stars reaction to John Sykes' death David Coverdale (Whitesnake) "Just heard the shocking news of John’s passing…My sincere condolences to his family, friends & fans," he said. Steve Stevens (Billy Idol) "Hearing that John Sykes has passed. Man, his work on the 1987 Whitesnake album was just incredible. You’ve got 12 year old kids on YouTube still learning his stuff. This is just so sad," Steve Stevens said. Marty Friedman (Ex-Megadeth) "Very sad to hear of John Sykes passing. His work with Tygers of Pan Tang was by far my favorite of the NWOBHM. A wonderful guitarist," Marty Friedman said. Thin Lizzy "John Sykes, has passed away aged 65 after battling with cancer. He was with Lizzy for the Thunder and Lightning album and tour bringing a harder edge to their sound. He always sounded fantastic and looked cool on stage. He stayed with the band until the end, a perfect fit with Phil, Scott, Brian and Darren. He joined Whitesnake after, a perfect foil for David Coverdale. Our respect and thoughts to his family and friends and a massive thank you for being a part of the Thin Lizzy story and history. Please play T&L today and play it loud. John Sykes 29 July 1959 – January 2025," the band said. Glenn Hughes (Ex-Deep Purple and Black Sabbath) "There are no words to describe how I feel about John's guitar playing. He was absolutely a phenomenon." "Here's a song that we wrote together called "Heaven's Missing An Angel". What an amazing solo on this song & Honored to have John join me on vocals. RIP Dear one. The angel is now in heaven, Love you ," Glenn Hughes said. Winger "R.I.P. #JohnSykes. A huge talent and huge influence."The post Rock stars react to John Sykes’ death appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Garth Hudson, the last surviving member of The Band passed away at the age of 87 in his sleep at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York. He was a member of The Band during their existence from 1957 to 1977 and 1983 to 1999, playing keyboards, organ, saxophone, accordion, woodwinds and brass. He was always praised by bandmates and producers who even used to say you could take anybody out of the group and still would be The Band, but you couldn't remove Garth because they wouldn't sound the same anymore. Besides being part of all the albums the group released, Garth was also part of the Bob Dylan albums "Before The Flood" (1974), "Planet Waves" (1974) and "The Basement Tapes" (1975), which also had his bandmates. The Band The Band was formed in Toronto, Ontario back in 1957 and had the Canadians: Garth Hudson, Rick Danko (Bass), Richard Manuel (Piano), Robbie Robertson (Guitar) and the American Levon Helm (Drums). From 1958 until 1963 they were known as The Hawks, being a backing band for the Rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins and then in the mid-60s gained fame being the backing group for Bob Dylan during his 1966 tour. After they left Dylan, the group finally changed their name to The Band and released several influential albums. Some of them were "Music from Big Pink" (1968), "The Band" (1969) and "Stage Fright (1970). They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 1994 by Eric Clapton. During his speech Eric Clapton praised them saying: "A standard of craft that really didn't bow down to any kind of commerciality". Richard Manuel was the first one from the classic line-up who died. He passed away in 1986, then Rick Danko in 1999, Levon Helm in 2012 and Robbie Robertson in 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkv7nNL7M3k&pp=ygUVc3RhZ2UgZnJpZ2h0IHRoZSBiYW5kThe post The Band’s Garth Hudson dies at the age of 87 appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Two legendary Rock and Roll artists are coming together in 2025 for a tour: Billy Idol and Joan Jett. Called "It's a Nice Day to... Tour Again!", the tour will start next April and has dates announced also for May, August and September. Idol posted a really funny video featuring his guitarist Steve Stevens and Joan Jett to promote the shows that can be seen below. Billy Idol and Joan Jett 2025 tour dates April 30 - Phoenix, AZ— Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre May 3 - Houston, TX— Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman 4 - Austin, TX— Moody Center 7 - Fort Worth, TX— Dickies Arena 9 - Alpharetta, GA— Ameris Bank Amphitheatre 10 - Tampa, FL— MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre 13 - Sunrise, FL— Amerant Bank Arena 16 - Charlotte, NC— PNC Music Pavilion 17 - Nashville, TN— Bridgestone Arena 20 - Tinley Park, IL— Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre 21 - Cincinnati, OH— Riverbend Music Center 23 - Toronto, ON— Budweiser Stage August 16 - Philadelphia, PA— TD Pavilion at The Mann 17 - Saratoga Springs, NY— Broadview Stage at SPAC 20 - New York, NY— Madison Square Garden Arena 22 - Columbia, MD— Merriweather Post Pavilion 23 - Mansfield, MA— Xfinity Center 26 - Bangor, ME— Maine Savings Amphitheatre 28 - Clarkston, MI— Pine Knob Music Theatre 30 - Noblesville, IN—Ruoff Music Center 31 - Milwaukee, WI— American Family Insurance Amphitheatre September 3 - Morrison, CO— Red Rocks Amphitheatre  5 - Salt Lake City, UT— Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre 12 - Palm Springs, CA— Acrisure Arena 14 - Berkeley, CA— Greek Theater* 17 - Wheatland, CA— Toyota Amphitheatre 19 - Ridgefield, WA— Cascades Amphitheater 20 - Seattle, WA— Climate Pledge Arena 23 - Chula Vista, CA— North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre 25 - Los Angeles, CA— The Kia Forum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mmD75yiQj4The post Billy Idol and Joan Jett announce 2025 tour appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.