Smokey Robinson accused by former housekeepers of sexual assault and rape
LOS ANGELES — Four former housekeepers of Smokey Robinson allege in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the Motown music luminary repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped them while they worked for him. The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks at least $50 million in damages over the alleged assaults,...
Singer Matt Andersen talks new ‘The Hammer & The Rose’ album before Pittsburgh concertVideo
With Matt Andersen’s latest album, “The Hammer & The Rose,” producer Josh Van Tassel convinced the veteran Canadian singer-songwriter to try a different approach from his previous effort. “He’d seen me live a bunch, and the moments when we’d chill out on stage a lot, those parts in the show...
Pittsburgh Blues Fest will pay tribute to Kip London, Mike Lange
The eighth installment of an annual music festival is getting a new name this year: the Kip London Memorial Pittsburgh Blues & Roots Festival. This year’s event, scheduled for July 25-27 at the Pittsburgh Shrine Center Pavilion in Harmar, will pay tribute to London, a Greensburg native who died in...
New Castle-based Pyrotecnico will light up AC/DC’s Pittsburgh show
Pete Cappadocia has played with fire, smoke and other special effects for four decades. Known as “Pyro Pete,” the pyrotechnics expert has spent many nights lighting up the stage for some of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll bands in the world, including AC/DC, which is set to play Acrisure Stadium...
Greensburg native, Juilliard grad will perform senior recital at hometown churchVideo
A piano sounds like a piano. A trumpet sounds like a trumpet. A big old church organ is another matter. A talented organist, using all of the instrument’s stops, levers and pedals, can make it sound like just about anything he or she wants. “I love that the organ can...
KT Tunstall, Ashley Cooke lead Allegheny County summer concert series
Allegheny County announced its 2025 summer concert series, with a diverse lineup ranging from country to jazz to the British Invasion to funk. The free concerts, which start May 30, take place at either the South Park Amphitheater or the Hartwood Acres Amphitheater in Hampton. Rising country singer Ashley Cooke...
Pittsburgh local music spotlight: Gary Pratt
Local country singer Gary Pratt loves to write songs, but he couldn’t pass up “Red Barn,” his latest single which was penned by veteran Nashville writer Jason Patrick Matthews (who has worked with Luke Bryan and Billy Currington). “It reminded me of the red barn on my great grandfather’s farm,”...
Melvins’ Buzz Osborne on touring, new album, Ozzy Osbourne’s final show ahead of Pittsburgh concertVideo
Melvins guitarist/singer Buzz Osborne has learned quite a bit about touring in his 40-plus years with the sludge metal pioneers. Before touring, Osborne sits down with a map and a calendar, plotting a route that will, mostly, hit the bigger cities on weekdays and the smaller markets on weekends. “Chicago...
Singer-songwriter Maya de Vitry talks alternate takes, inspiration ahead of Pittsburgh showVideo
Singer-songwriter Maya de Vitry recently released an alternate version of her song “Flowers,” drawing a parallel to an Edvard Munch display she saw on a trip to an art museum in Norway. “He had all these different versions of his work, like this one was sort of blue-colored, and this...
Jeannette Community Band announces 2025 schedule
The Jeannette Community Band will open its 37th season with a May 25 concert at the American Legion on South Fifth Street. The band is comprised of more than 60 volunteer musicians under the direction of Ron Stemple. Concerts are free and open to the public. They will take place...
Here are 5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: May 2-4
As of this writing, power is still out for a number of people in Allegheny County. If you are one of those unlucky households and you don’t feel like running a marathon this weekend, here are some other things you can do to get out of the house. ‘Star Wars’...
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs rejects plea deal in sex trafficking trial
LOS ANGELES — Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has rejected a plea deal in his upcoming trial on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. At a Thursday hearing, Judge Arun Subramanian asked Combs whether he rejected the plea deal from federal prosecutors that could have shortened his...
Jill Sobule, the singer-songwriter known for ‘I Kissed a Girl,’ dies in a fire
Jill Sobule, the award-winning singer-songwriter whose witty and poignant writing first attracted widespread attention with the gay-themed song “I Kissed a Girl,” died in a house fire Thursday. She was 66. Her death was confirmed by her publicist, David Elkin, in an email Thursday afternoon. It was not immediately clear...
AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Post Malone/Jelly Roll, George Strait/Chris Stapleton among top May concerts in Pittsburgh
May is packed with huge concerts, including three stadium shows, and a pair of sold-out nights at PPG Paints Arena. Here’s a look at the top shows coming to Pittsburgh this month: Top concerts May 8: AC/DC, The Pretty Reckless at Acrisure Stadium The rock icons from Australia are bringing...
Wiz Khalifa, Sean Paul set summer show at Star LakeVideo
Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa is coming home for a show at the Pavilion at Star Lake. The “Black and Yellow” singer, who grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, will play the Pavilion at Star Lake on July 19. For the Good Vibes...
Mamalarky’s Livvy Bennett, Noor Khan talk new ‘Hex Key’ album ahead of Pittsburgh concertVideo
The indie rock group Mamalarky just released their latest album, “Hex Key,” on April 11, with guitarist/singer Livvy Bennett describing the experience as “bittersweet.” “We self-produce our records, so we’re very involved in, like top to bottom, just making these songs happen. So when it’s done, I’m usually emotional,” she...
Suzanne Vega, Lisa Loeb among performers at Three Rivers Arts Festival in JuneVideo
The Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, which is relocating to the Strip District for this year only, announced its musical lineup on Monday. Chief among the four-day festival’s headliners are Suzanne Vega (“Tom’s Diner” and “Luka”) and Lisa Loeb (“Stay (I Missed You).” The festival, presented by the Pittsburgh...
Pittsburgh Symphony performance at Saint Vincent will honor late archabbot
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will honor a late Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica archabbot during a performance Wednesday in Unity. The show, “Music for the Spirit,” will pay tribute to Douglas R. Nowicki, OSB, the 11th and second longest-serving archabbot in Saint Vincent’s 178-year history. He oversaw the expansion and renovation...
Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Bad Company, Cyndi Lauper and Outkast get into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
NEW YORK — First-time nominees Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker and Bad Company will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a class that also includes pop star Cyndi Lauper, the hip-hop pioneers Outkast, the rock duo the White Stripes and grunge masters Soundgarden. Salt-N-Pepa, the first female...
Club Cafe to reopen in Pittsburgh under new management
Last September, Opus One Productions — the previous owners of South Side listening room Club Cafe — announced the impending closure of the quarter-century-old venue, to the surprise and disappointment of local musicians and music fans. Club Cafe closed its doors at the end of 2024. On Monday, music management...
Pittsburgh local music spotlight: Woodland Creatures
Woodland Creatures will be celebrating the release of their second album, “All Within Reach,” on May 3, with the record’s title drawn from a lyric and representing the band’s shared feeling of optimism for the future. ”In our first album, ‘Lay It All Down,’ we were still figuring out our...
Everclear delivers a blast of ’90s nostalgia at Jergel’s
More than once at Saturday night’s sold-out Everclear show at Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Warrendale, lead singer Art Alexakis asked the crowd, “Who wants to hear some ’90s alternative rock and roll?” And the response was overwhelming. It’s a reasonable question. Everclear hit their peak in the 1990s with hit...
Greensburg couple going viral for wedding in middle of Cannibal Corpse mosh pitVideo
It’s been a whirlwind couple of days for a Greensburg couple who were married Tuesday night — almost as chaotic as the crowd surrounding them during their vows. That’s because Chris and Erica Curtis got married in the middle of a mosh pit, as death metal legends Cannibal Corpse played...
Ghost Hounds singer SAVNT on joining band, ‘Almost Home’ album, Lainey Wilson and moreVideo
New Ghost Hounds singer SAVNT felt like he had the perfect name for a song off their new album. With the lyric of “No, you’ll never find me, I’m a renegade,” that last word fit just right, but he didn’t know its significance in Western Pennsylvania. “I have to say...
Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways tour creates memorable night in Pittsburgh
Bob Dylan’s simple line of “I have no apologies to make” — from his song “I Contain Multitudes” — might have seemed an appropriate summation of his concert Monday night in Pittsburgh. Oft heralded as America’s greatest songwriter, Dylan did things his way in a sold-out show at the Benedum...
