In a week of nonstop news at large, there was a lot to see and hear in the music news world in particular. In case you missed them, here are some of the top headlines of the past seven days.
Celebrating the late Quincy Jones
A true musical icon, the producer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Quincy Jones passed away this week at age 91. Most remembered for his work with Michael Jackson — specifically the iconic album run of Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad — Jones’ career stretched back into the 50s as a bandleader and producer (in addition to his solo work, he collaborated with legends like Louis Armstrong, Cannonball Adderly, Etta James, and Aretha Franklin) and into the 21st century (he notably worked with Amy Winehouse in 2010). Jones was also the musical supervisor on the film adaptation of 1978’s The Wiz, the all-Black retelling of The Wizard of Oz, and he orchestrated the charitable pop smash “We Are The World” along with Jackson, Lionel Richie, and a who’s who of 80s stars. An array of his peers and followers shared memories of Jones, including Paul McCartney, Elton John, Will Smith, The Weeknd, and his daughter, actress Rashida Jones. (Read more via Rolling Stone, Brooklyn Vegan, and Instagram.)
The Grammy nom’s are IN!
An array of XPN favorites from Waxahatchee to Fontaines D.C. to Shemekia Copeland and more are in the mix for the 2025 Grammy Awards, which take place on February 2nd in Los Angeles. (Read more via WXPN.)
A Springsteen biopic takes shape
Deliver Me From Nowhere, a film about the life and times of The Boss, Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen, is beginning to solidify. Jeremy Allen White of The Bear fame stars in the lead role, it’s directed and written by Scott Cooper, and the screenplay is based on a book by Warren Zanes. This week, the cast was further fleshed out with the addition of David Krumholtz (playing label exec Al Teller), Gaby Hoffman (playing Springsteen’s mom Adele), and podcasting icon Mark Maron (playing Chuck Plotkin, who Bruce recorded Nebraska with). (Read more via Variety.)
This Bauhaus / Culture Club mashup was not on our bingo cards.
Peter Murphy of 80s goth icons Bauhaus and Boy George, lead singer of new wave camp gods Culture Club, shared a collaborative song called “Let The Flowers Grow.” (Read more via Pitchfork.)
New music from Doves is on the way
If you turned on WXPN some 24 years ago, there’s a good chance the dreamlike “Catch The Sun” by Manchester trio Doves was playing. The song was in heavy rotation in our playlist at that time and in the years that followed, and the band this week announced a new album, Constellations For The Lonely, out on Valentine’s Day via EMI. It’s their sixth record and includes the band’s new single called “Renegade.” (Read more via Brooklyn Vegan.)
