Rolling Stone May 18, 2017

TOUR U2’S ‘JOSHUA TREE’ TOUR KICKOFF For the 30th anniversary of the album that made them superstars, U2 will play every track – from “Where the Streets Have No Name” to “Mothers of the Disappeared.” We’ll be in Seattle for the U.S. kickoff. AWARDS MTV MOVIE AND TV AWARDS The best, worst and WTF moments from this year’s show, which will include TV categories for the first time. Spoiler alert: Get Out is expected to go home happy. MUSIC FIRST LADIES OF HIP-HOP The Sequence’s 1979 track “Funk You Up” was the first hit by a female rap group and recently powered the bridge to Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.” So why can’t they get any props? LIST THE BEST ‘SNL’ POLITICAL ACTS We rank the top political sketches of decades past, from Chevy Chase’s stumbling Gerald Ford to Melissa McCarthy’s take-no-prisoners…

R.I.P. Chuck Berry your articles were a fitting tribute to the Father of Rock & Roll [“Chuck Berry, 1926-2017,” RS 1285]. Reading about Berry’s dark brushes with the law made me appreciate his music even more. Augie Taylor, Portland, OR once, several years ago at Blueberry Hill. He stumbled a few times, but when he hit his groove, he was mesmerizing. A young man standing next to me was awestruck and repeatedly exclaimed, “That’s Chuck Berry!” Thus, the power of rock & roll. Kathy Vaughan, Independence, MO when the recently deceased are presented as gods, Mikal Gilmore instead wants us to remember Berry as a horrible human being. The space would have been better used on Berry’s innovative guitar, the racism he faced and the early tours with musicians 10 years younger than him. Lou Manuta,…

1. Joe Grushecky and Bruce Springsteen “That’s What Makes Us Great” Bruce and an old buddy, singer-songwriter Grushecky, carve Trump a new one: “I never put my faith in a con man and his crooks,” Springsteen sings. They make anguished rage feel raised-fist rousing. 2. The War on Drugs “Thinking of a Place” The War on Drugs’ songs reimagine Dylan or Petty as sweetly forlorn indie rockers on a road trip to nowhere. Here they zone out for 11 beautiful minutes. We’d probably be cool if it went on for 20 more. 3. Frank Ocean feat. Travis Scott “Lens” Ocean in late-night ballad mode, unfurling a slow jam that goes down like a bleary lullaby. 4. RichGains feat. Freddie Gibbs, ZZ Ward, Nico Segal “7 Digits” Singer-producer Gains folds decades of history into this resplendent ode to stacking paper – from…

The former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman is bringing his show Fortunate Son in Concert back to the Wynn Las Vegas in late May. Dale Hawkins “Susie Q” James Burton plays that great riff. The first time I heard it, I was sitting in my mom’s car. I went crazy and immediately began banging on the dashboard. Elvis Presley “My Baby Left Me” This song made me want to be a guitar player. As far as I’m concerned, Scotty Moore invented rock & roll guitar. The “5” Royales “The Slummer the Slum” This is Lowman Pauling. He plays in such a weird and wild way. When the solo comes, you know that all hell is gonna break loose. Stevie Ray Vaughan “Texas Flood” Great tone and great emotion. That sort of playing hasn’t been touched by anybody else. Lord knows I’ve tried. Freddie King “Hide…

S on to star in 1984’s Purple Rain, he got to work writing songs. Before filming even began, he had more than 100 ready. He obsessively recorded over the next nine months, at his home studio and in front of audiences at Minneapolis’ First Avenue. “We rehearsed for six months, and he documented everything,” says guitarist Wendy Melvoin of the Revolution. Only nine of those songs made it to the final soundtrack, and the unreleased material has tantalized fans for 33 years. Now, some of it will finally see official release. On June 9th, Warner Bros. will release an expanded edition of Purple Rain, with four discs including extended tracks, B sides, and a DVD of a March 1985 concert with the Revolution in Syracuse, New York (with a 20-minute…

‘Y the grin on my face,” Damon Albarn says, flashing another one in his New York hotel room. The singer is recalling a session in Chicago with gospel-soul legend Mavis Staples for Humanz, the new album of multiple-guest electro-pop credited to Albarn’s cartoon-figure quartet, Gorillaz. Staples is the vocal siren cutting through the hip-hop apocalypse of “Let Me Out.” Albarn – who founded Gorillaz with illustrator Jamie Hewlett nearly 20 years ago – says he was “a bit self- conscious” with Staples. “I was like, ‘These lyrics . . . is she going to?’ It was a relief when she sat down and started singing.” “You don’t see the organic side because they are such electronic records,” Albarn says of Gorillaz’ four hit albums, which include two U.S. Top 10s –…