Allbutforgottenoldies.net Music News Digest: Week Of December 16, 2018

December 24, 2018 by Amy Gold

During the week of December 16, 2018, the Recording Academy announced this year's Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. Among the honorees are Black Sabbath, George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, Billy Eckstine, Donny Hathaway, Julio Iglesias, Sam & Dave, and Dionne Warwick.

Also that week, it was announced that Aerosmith will be among the featured artists at the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest leading up to Super Bowl LIII which kicks off on February 3, 2019 in Atlanta, GA. The festivities will take place January 31-February 2 at the city's State Farm Arena with Aerosmith scheduled to perform on February 1.

Also, two oldies Christmas classics debuted on the Billboard Hot 100. After a 52-year break, The Ronettes made a return to this chart with "Sleigh Ride" at #41. Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane)" came in at #40, making this his second-ever entry on this chart. This longtime Yuletide favorite was originally released in 1947, 11 years before the Billboard Hot 100 was established.

Earth, Wind & Fire announced a new Las Vegas residency at the city's Venetian resort with six shows scheduled for March 20-30, 2019. Also, John Fogerty has added six new concerts to his Las Vegas residency at Wynn's Encore Theater to take place April 10-20.

KISS announced a new career-spanning compilation titled "KISSWORLD -- The Best Of KISS" which is due out on January 25, 2019, six days before the band is scheduled to launch its farewell tour. Also due out on that day is a new EP by Santana titled "Mona Lisa" that features a three-part composition inspired by the famous painting. The guitar legend also plans to release a full length album sometime between next spring and summer.

Also that week, it was announced that the public television interview series, "Speakeasy," will air its fourth season beginning January 7, 2019 on select TV stations and January 13 on the WORLD public-television channel, with the first episode to feature Sting. Other guests will include Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Michael McDonald of The Doobie Brothers, and members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Full episodes of Speakeasy will also be streamed at SpeakEasyTalks.com.

Finally, fans bade a final farewell to Joe Osborn (August 28, 1937 - December 14, 2018) and Jerry Chesnut (May 7, 193 - December 15, 2018). Osborn was a bassist and a longtime member of the famous Wrecking Crew. He can be heard on such oldies favorites as The Fifth Dimension's "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In," The Association's "Windy," and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Chesnut was a highly acclaimed country music songwriter whose many hits for other artists included "Good Year For The Roses" (Alan Jackson, George Jones, Elvis Costello), "It's Four In The Morning" (Faron Young), and "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" (Elvis Presley, Travis Tritt).

(For more information about the above news items, please see below for a list of sources with links.)

Paul McCartney performs "Get Back" with former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones at London's O2 Arena (December 16, 2018).