Colin Hay was on top of the world with Men At Work. And then, abruptly, he wasn’t. In time, the Scotland-born singer and songwriter would climb the mountain once again.

Hay has gone on to enjoy one of rock music’s remarkable second acts, both as a solo artist, as a member of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, and as a raconteur, his stories and music opening doors and minds everywhere.

Hay has the gift of the gab, an easy charm, and stories that easily beat what the rest of us can drum up. Few tales can compare to the meteoric rise of Men At Work which, for a moment in 1983, simultaneously had the No. 1 single (with “Down Under”) and album (Business as Usual) both in the United States and in the United Kingdom, a rare achievement for an act from Australia, then and now.

Speaking with two-time Grammy Award–winning producer and music executive Pete Ganbarg for the Rock & Roll High School podcast, Hay remembered the high times, some “classic blunders” made along the way, turning his back on booze, and the comeback.

“You always think that you’re handling things really well, but of course you’re not,” he says of Men At Work’s bright start. “We made a couple of classic blunders but I think more than anything else it just wasn’t a band that was destined to go the distance really in terms of the personnel. This is also in hindsight really, we may have had another couple of albums in us, but five musicians and one manager. The manager was my friend and a couple of the guys in the band wanted to sack the manager and he wasn’t gonna get sacked cause he was my friend. It very much turned into an episode of Survivor, who’s gonna get voted off the island.”

That situation “soured me on the whole thing,” he continues. “I thought, well what is the point of conquering the world together if you can’t enjoy it together. It should be enjoyed and honored together by all the people who did that and there were six of us who did it. I’ll never understand why they wanted to get rid of him. It was just stupid. Even to this day I still think it was stupid, so it was over pretty much.”

Men At Work completed two more albums, before calling it a day: Cargo (from 1983) and Two Hearts (from 1985).

Speaking with Ganbarg, Hay points to a moment in January 1991 that he got his life and career back on track. With a move to Los Angeles, Hay kicked the bottle. “That really was the start of my new life,” he explains.  

Hay doesn’t have any bad feelings, except for the bruising — and costly — copyright battle over the flute refrain in “Down Under,” which began in 2009 and concluded several years on, an “unforgivable” situation, he mentions. “It was horrible and it went for so long as well. It went for six years or something. There was nothing really I could do about it but defend it,” he reckons.

To make matters considerably worse, bandmate Greg Ham died in 2012, aged 58, two years after the Australian Federal Court ordered Men At Work to pay 5% of royalties earned from the song since 2002 and from future earnings.

“At the end of the day the sadness for me was the fact that Greg, who wasn’t in great shape anyway at that particular time, felt a sense of guilt about the fact that he played the line and yet he wasn’t sued,” Hay continues. “I was the one that was sued as the songwriter and EMI Music Publishing was sued also. And it had a great effect on my father, who had come to Australia as an immigrant and was so proud of what we’d done and I would play him the songs all the time before they were records so he knew the song was clean in terms of composition so smoke would come out of his ears…I’ll never forgive them for that.”

For the podcast, Hay discusses songwriting, resilience, how life’s great setbacks can ultimately lead to fresh starts, how Zach Braff introduced Hay to new audiences on Scrubs and Garden State, the unlikely fan in System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, and much more.

Listen here or rockschoolpodcast.com.

Jack White, the record label chief, business owner and scathing critic of the Trump administration, gets back to the business of rock ‘n’ roll with Frozen Charlotte, his seventh studio album.

Released through White’s Third Man Records, Frozen Charlotte dropped at the stroke of midnight on digital music platforms and houses the new single “Neighbors Blues,” the propulsive, previously-released “Dollar Bill,” and the tracks he performed on SNL earlier this year, “G.O.D. and the Broken Ribs” and “Derecho Demonico.” 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee unveiled the 13-track collection during the free, two-part online series Third Man Release Lab, in which his team peels back the layers on his label’s joyfully chaotic release process.

Frozen Charlotte was produced and mixed by the Detroit native, and took sonic shape at White’s Third Man Studio in Nashville with a roll call of familiar collaborators, including Patrick Keeler (drums), Dominic Davis (bass) and Bobby Emmett (keys).

White has assembled the band for North America tour dates in support of the album, which begin tonight, July 10, with a sold-out show at Washington, DC’s The Anthem and then continues through a two-night stand at Atlanta, GA’s Coca-Cola Roxy on Nov. 20-21. Highlights include two-nighters in a string of cities, from Brooklyn to Chicago, Charlotte, and Miami Beach, along with top-billing at Borderland Festival (Sept. 19) and Iron Blossom Music Festival (Sept. 20).

White and Co. will make an Atlantic crossing for more summer dates and festival spots in the United Kingdom and Europe, including two-night stands at London’s Eventim Apollo (Aug. 25-26) and Dublin’s 3Olympia (Sept. 1-2). Then, a visit to Asia for shows in Seoul, South Korea; Shanghai, China; and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The followup to White’s Grammy Award-nominated 2024 LP No Name, Frozen Charlotte is also available in physical formats, including CD, cassette, standard black vinyl, limited-edition “Zug Island Blue” vinyl (available via Third Man Records), limited-edition “Chrome” vinyl (available on tour), and limited-edition “Ice Blue” vinyl (available at independent record stores).

Stream Frozen Charlotte below.

The rock ‘n’ roll juggernaut that is the Rolling Stones continues to power on with Foreign Tongues (via Polydor/Universal Music), the band’s 25th studio album which arrives fully formed, 14-tracks in total.

The followup to the Grammy Award-winning 2023 collection Hackney Diamonds, the new set houses 12 new compositions, including the previously-released “Rough and Twisted,” “Jealous Lover” and “In The Stars” — plus a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” and a nod to one of the Stones’ all-time influences, Chuck Berry, on the closing track “Beautiful Delilah.”

Brought to life during a fruitful and “exceptionally creative period” at Metropolis Studios in West London, the new release features contributions from a starry lineup of guests Steve Winwood, Paul McCartney, The Cure’s Robert Smith and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers; longtime collaborators Darryl Jones, Matt Clifford and Steve Jordan; and late drummer Charlie Watts on “Hit Me In The Head,” his efforts captured during one of his final recording sessions before his death in 2021.  

“It was a very intense few weeks recording Foreign Tongues,” recounts frontman Mick Jagger. “We had 14 great tracks and we went as fast as we could. I like the room there as it’s not too big so you can feel the passion from everyone.”

The atmosphere in the room “was so creative,” remarks guitarist Ronnie Wood, “and the whole band was on top form throughout the whole process. Very often we nailed it on the first take. I hope everyone loves it.”

With Foreign Tongues, the Stones could enter rare territory on the Billboard 200. The Rock Hall-inducted group has 38 top 10 hits on the all-genres chart, and nine No. 1s. Another leader would lift the Brits into double-digit chart crowns. In their homeland, the Stones’ have nabbed eight leaders on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, including a No. 1 with Hackney Diamonds, winner in the Grammys category for rock album.

“The Foreign Tongues album has a continuity from Hackney Diamonds and it was great to be working in London again,” enthuses founding guitarist Keith Richards, “and to have that London vibe around us. It was a month of concentrated punch. To me, it’s all about the enjoyment of it.  I’m blessed to be able to do this and long may it last.”

A new Stones album tends to herald a new, global tour by this, the greatest rock band still doing it. Jagger has said he “can’t wait” to take the lads back on the road, though fans shouldn’t expect an imminent announcement.

Speaking on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years alongside Wood, Jagger was asked whether the Stones would ever tour again. “I’d love to go on tour, I can’t wait,” he said, before tempering expectations. “I don’t think it’s going to be this year. But hopefully it’s going to be as soon as possible.”

Those remarks come after the band scrapped plans for a U.K. and European stadium tour, on unconfirmed reports that Richards was unable to “commit” to the jaunt. Richards has since hinted at a potential return to the road in 2027, and Jagger’s latest comments are a good indication that the legendary outfit will head out once more.

Stream Foreign Tongues below.

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to New Music Friday’s most essential releases each week — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

Last week, we featured Madonna, Sienna Spiro, Riley Green and more.

This week: Beyoncé surprise drops a new R&B-leaning single; Suki Waterhouse releases her third album Loveland; and Teddy Swims shares a tender summer breakup ballad while teasing a new album in the works…plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Beyoncé, “Morning Dew (Donk)”

Over the weekend, Queen B decided to surprise drop her new R&B-coated single — much to everyone’s delight. “Morning Dew” is a gorgeous, downtempo track from Beyoncé, showing yet another side to the singer following ventures into country and dance music on her previous two albums (granted, this is a side we already know well). And while it’s long been speculated that her ACT III could lean rock, this single might just prove otherwise — or at least keep us on our toes a while longer.

Suki Waterhouse, Loveland

Following the 2024 release of her memorably-titled second album (Memoir of a Sparklemuffin), dreamy singer-songwriter Suki Waterhouse is back today with her third full-length, Loveland. As the British artist shared on X earlier this week: “Loveland is memorialization of the places that made me. The realisation that reality is not a given and must be continually pursued. The best and worst nights of my life. The move towards aliveness.”

Teddy Swims, “Break Up In Reverse”

For anyone not experiencing summer lovin’, Teddy Swims has you covered with his new heartbreak anthem for the season. The downtempo ballad is all about hitting rewind and yearning to be loved when a relationship ends in the same way he felt at its start. “Upon writing this song and my next album I’ve been going through it with my relationship with my baby’s mother coming to an end,” Swims shared in a statement. “We were super inspired by an old NAS song called ‘Rewind.’ We loved how the whole song takes place in reverse. So we thought, ‘how beautiful would it be if we took the same idea, but wrote it about my relationship.’”

The Rolling Stones, Foreign Tongues

As only a legendary act can do, The Stones shares its 25th studio album today, a fresh and tight set for the veteran rockers clocking in at just over an hour across 14 songs. Mick Jagger’s vocals are clear-eyed while the band’s instrumentals are just as driving as ever, resulting in an album well worth listening from top to bottom.

The Linda Lindas and Hayley Williams, “Closer”

It’s fitting, really, that Williams would help The Linda Lindas with its major label debut single. The band goes back with the rock icon, citing Williams as a longtime inspiration and even welcoming her onstage last year to perform their breakout hit “Racist, Sexist Boy” at London’s O2. Now, that relationship has been formalized with a collaboration; “Closer” is the bands first release since signing to Reprise/Warner in June, and the midtempo alt-rock track surely signals more new music ahead.

Chris Lake & Tiga ft. Aatig, “Party Time” 

The release of the first ever Chris Lake and Tiga collab finds each producer on a respective hot streak, with Lake recently moving 55,000 tickets across shows in New York and L.A. and remixing Taylor Swift’s “Opalite” just prior. Tiga, meanwhile, released his excellent new album, Hot Wife, in April. So yes, it’s party time indeed on this new single, which finds Lake leaning into the weirder, squelchier area of his sound, a realm in which Tiga has permanent residency. Vocals come from Aatig, the artist name of Lake’s wife, Gita, and the song is out on his own Black Book Records. — KATIE BAIN

Chris Avantgarde, Hyperreal

German-born, London-based producer Chris Avantgarde releases his debut album with a confident statement, calling the project “an album that moves through genres with the energy of a night out. The build, the peak, the sunrise on the roof. On my own terms, with my own sonic identity. I’ve done that for plenty of other artists over the years, never really for myself. This time it’s mine, and I’m standing behind it.” Indeed, while Avantgarde has worked on myriad projects by Anyma along with music by artists including Kölsch and Adam Beyer, Hyperreal marks the most complete statement of his 15 year career thus far. Coming on the heels of Avantgarde becoming a father for the first time, Hyperreal is cool and pristinely made, a nearly 90-minute journey traversing throttling club beats to spacey, emotional ambient for the afters. — K.B.

Future has returned just in time to heat the summer up. The Atlanta rap dignitary released his The Real Me album on Friday (July 10), which serves as his first project since teaming up with Metro Boomin for a pair of collab efforts in 2024.

The album boasts 22 tracks in total and includes the previously released single “Radio.” If The Real Me tops the Billboard 200, it will be Future’s 12th time at the summit.

Even though he kept details of the album under wraps, Future set a high bar for the project, calling The Real Me the “album of the century” in a post to X in June.

2026 has still been a busy year for Future before releasing an album. Pluto ended his feud with Drake as the “Life Is Good” collaborators had a reunion on ICEMAN‘s “Ran to Atlanta” in Atlanta, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Hendrix also got involved in the FIFA World Cup 2026, which saw him tag-team with Tyla for “Game Time.” They performed the live debut of the collab during the World Cup’s Opening Ceremony at SoFi Stadium in June.

Future also reunited with DJ Khaled and Lil Baby for “One of Them” in April, which entered the Hot 100 at No. 70 and will appear on Khaled’s Aalam of God album.

To date, Future has 229 Hot 100 entries, 16 of which reached the top 10. He also has three No. 1 hits to his name.

Stream The Real Me below.

Madonna had an epic 1985. From performing her hits “Holiday” and “Into the Groove” at Live Aid in Philadelphia, to starring in the comedy Desperately Seeking Susan and headlining her Virgin Tour (with up-and-coming opening act the Beastie Boys), it was a year for the ages.

The seminal period that rocketed the singer to global stardom and made her a fashion icon will be explored in a new photo book from Simon & Schuster called Madonna: Into the Groove: An Intimate Portrait of the Queen of Pop. Due out in October, the book will focus on pictures taken by famed rock photographer Ken Regan, with the publisher describing the collection as a trove of, “beautiful, timeless images, most never before published, [which] follows her through an array of unforgettable moments —studio poses, bedroom positions, fitness routines, onstage performances — highlighting her raw, magnetic sexuality.”

The 160-page book’s text was written by Rolling Stone staff writer Tomás Mier, and it “brilliantly traces the development of her signature style,” and includes new interviews with producer Nile Rodgers, choreographer Brad Jefferies, stylist Maripol and others in the singer’s inner circle at the time. Per the publisher, Mier’s copy offers “fresh insights into Madonna’s whirlwind romance with Sean Penn, why the Mondrian session became the most successful shoot of Regan’s career, and even how the infamous Penthouse and Playboy photos affected her performance at Live Aid, where, behind the scenes, Regan shot her at the center of one of the most remarkable group photos of all time.”

That iconic pic featured Madonna in the middle of an iconic group of rock superstars, including Bob Dylan, Tina Turner and Mick Jagger.

Mier said working on the book was an “absolute honor,” noting that while he never got a chance to meet Regan, who died of cancer in 2012, “but through interviewing those who worked with him, I truly understand what made him such a visionary photographer: he approached his subjects with genuine empathy and respect. These images are a perfect encapsulation of his talent, capturing the Queen of Pop at a pivotal, electric moment in her own career and in music history.”

Variety reported that the book features archival images from Regan’s 1985 sessions with Madonna, including shoots at Le Mondrian in Los Angeles, where she posed in a hotel room, ballroom and gym, with the singer sporting a number of her signature looks from that era, including lace leggings, leotards, multiple crucifixes and stacked rubber bracelets. The chapter titles include “A Material Girl,” “Le Mondrian,” “The Virgin Tour,” “Live Aid” and “Aftermath,” combining glossy studio-style photos with behind-the-scenes stories from her collaborators.

Madonna just released her 15th studio album, Confessions II, which features the Sabrina Carpenter duet “Bring Your Love” and such dance-floor-ready bangers as “I Feel Free,” “Danceteria” and the bubbling “Bizarre” feat. Martin Garrix.

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Bonnie Tyler, the voice behind the Billboard Hot 100-topping 1983 smash “Total Eclipse of The Heart,” has died. She was 75.

A statement posted by representatives on the Welsh rock and pop singer’s Facebook page on Thursday morning (July 9) said that Tyler “unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for”. 

Her death follows emergency intestinal surgery in May, which took place in Faro, where Tyler had a home. She was later placed in an induced coma.

Born Gaynor Hopkins in Neath, Wales, Tyler rose to international prominence in the late 1970s with ballad “It’s a Heartache,” before reaching global superstardom in 1983 with “Total Eclipse of The Heart.” Written and produced by Jim Steinman, the dramatic mini-epic spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, making Tyler the first and only Welsh-born singer to top the chart to date.

The song, which featured on her album Faster Than the Speed of Night, earned Tyler Grammy nominations for female pop vocal performance and female rock performance, and became one of the defining records of its era. She then followed with another enduring classic, the urgent “Holding Out for a Hero,” from the film soundtrack to Footloose. Tyler’s distinct, raspy vocal style, developed after early vocal cord surgery, became her signature. 

Across a career spanning more than five decades, Tyler released 18 studio albums. She represented the U.K. in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Believe in Me,” finishing in 19th place. She was also made an MBE in 2023 for her services to music, after being named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Tyler had been due to perform at the Sunshine Festival in Worcester, England this summer, along with a number of European dates, and was also booked to perform at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena on December 17. Her final full show took place at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London on March 19.

As we hit what would have been Bon Scott’s 80th birthday on Thursday, July 9, one has to wonder what the shirtless, gleefully irreverent singer of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation” and “Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap” might be like at that age.

“Is there such a thing as a wild 80-year-old?” his rarely interviewed younger brother Derek Scott asks Billboard via Zoom from Perth, Australia. “I don’t think he would have changed.”

Forty-six years after his death on Feb. 19, 1980, from acute alcohol poisoning in London at the age of 33, Scott’s legacy and influence loom large. Born in Scotland and raised in Western Australia, Scott performed in other bands — most notably the Valentines and Fraternity before joining AC/DC as its second singer, replacing Dave Evans during the fall of 1974. He recorded six studio albums with the group, with his last, 1979’s Highway to Hell, an international breakthrough and AC/DC’s first top 20 Billboard 200 release in the United States.

Even now, on its Power Up world tour — returning to North America on July 11 in Charlotte, N.C. — more than half of the current AC/DC’s set hails from Scott’s era with the band.

“When Bon was asked, ‘Are you AC or DC?’ his answer was, ‘I’m the lightning bolt in the middle,” AC/DC co-founder and guitarist Angus Young says in a special birthday message provided to the Bon Scott Estate. “In my mind he was, and always will be the lightning bolt in the middle. He gifted us with great rock ‘n’ roll lyrics delivered in an impish manner, and was determined to show us all, it is a ‘long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll’.”

Judas Priest’s Rob Halford says in his own birthday message that, “Bon had a rare gift — he made people feel alive. His voice carried mischief, grit, humor and honesty…And that authenticity continues to resonate across generations.”

Derek Scott, 77, adds that his brother — who cared for him when he was younger because both of their parents worked — “was totally different to anybody else, even in the band. Those guys (in AC/DC) will say he was always a little bit different. It was his attitude; he knew where he wanted to go, and he did it. I don’t know how he got there. It was a lot of work…Overnight success always takes a lot of years. It was good to see him get the results he finally wanted.”

High Voltage

Scott’s birthday has become an annual rite of celebration during recent years, and this year’s 80th has an even greater sense of occasion.

The Estate, in partnership with Australia’s Sonic Rights Management and New York-based Jacksonic Sound and Vision, is bulking up the Bon Scott YouTube channel with more footage — including Fraternity performances from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) program GTK and new birthday wishes from Young, Halford, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Anthrax’s Scott Ian and others.

Meanwhile, the third annual Bon Scott Birthday Bash concert is taking place July 9 at the Cutting Room in New York City, with guest vocalists including Living Colour’s Corey Glover, American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis, Trixter’s Steve Brown, Peter Shaw of Trans-Siberian Orchestra and others. On the same day the elite German microphone manufacturer Neumann will release a Bon Scott Edition of the mic Scott used while recording at Albert Studios in Sydney, marking the first time the company has branded one of its products.

Scotland’s annual Bonfest took place during early May in Scott’s early home of Kirriemuir and has already announced its 2027 return next April 30-May 2. And on July 16 the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will honor Scott during an AC/DC Fan Day that includes artifact displays, film screenings and archival footage, educational presentations and a trivia contest.

“The amount of interest that remains with Bon after all this time, it’s staggering,” says Jacksonic founder John Jackson, who previously worked with AC/DC’s catalog during his tenure with Sony’s Legacy Recordings. “You reach out to any of these companies and they just immediately want to get on board with doing something with his name and likeness.”

Problem Child

The Scott estate wasn’t always quite so dialed-in, however.

He died without a will, and while appropriate financial arrangements were made after his death, other matters were left unattended according to Sonic Rights’ Damian Rinaldi, who co-manages the estate with Jackson and the Scott family. “He was such an icon, and yet there was no business structure around his rights, which was amazing to me,” Rinaldi explains. “The estate was not in order up until 2020. That’s when I started talking to the family and said I really do feel like they need someone who understands the industry and can help navigate it.” The Scotts were ultimately motivated by “bad actors,” including one company that was posing as the official Scott estate and releasing recordings it claimed featured Scott singing on them.

“The family could either get upset about the fact people they didn’t know were ripping off the estate, or they could actually do something about it and help the fans at the same time,” says Rinaldi, who worked with AC/DC during the ‘70s at the Australian music company J. Albert & Son (now Alberts). “We were starting from scratch — what it is you’re trying to identify, the rights and where they sit, who owns the pre-AC/DC copyrights. It’s come a long way.”

Derek Scott notes that, “I think as a family we didn’t want to exploit (Bon) in any way. We didn’t want to be the ones hanging off his coattails all the time…plus, we never had the knowledge of how to go about it for 40-odd years. We didn’t have a clue.” A catalyst, he adds, came when his son Daniel moved back to Perth after living in London and Brazil. (A younger brother, Graham, resides in Asia but has just tacit involvement with the estate.) “My two older sons weren’t as interested in getting involved, but (Daniel) had a big interest in it, and it was good,” Derek says. “If he hadn’t come back the way he did, it wouldn’t have happened.”

One of the estate’s earliest endeavors was the first authorized documentary, On the Brink, that aired during 2022 as part of ABC’s Australian Stories series. The estate has also partnered with a variety of manufacturers, including Knucklebonz, Funko Pop and Super 7 for figures and statues, and Copa and Dixxon for apparel. Australian artist Reg Mombassa, meanwhile, has created a special Scott image for a variety of products, and it’s also the source for a mural painted by artist Era at the beginning of AC/DC Lane in Melbourne. Separately, the Perth Mint has pressed commemorative gold and silver bars featuring the Bon Scott logo and bespoke packaging.

“People think we’re motivated by money and things like that. Nothing can be further from the truth,” says Daniel Scott, who serves as one of the estate’s officers. “Obviously the relationships evolved over time with Damian, who could drag us kicking and screaming into modern times, and then John with the creative side of things. I guess you’d say that after a long period of nothing from the estate, everything is aligned, which is great.”

Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be

All of the parties acknowledge a warm and supportive relationship with the AC/DC camp. “Everything we do gets run by Angus and the AC/DC brain trust. That’s a very important relationship,” Jackson says. Daniel Scott adds that, “Angus and Malcolm (Young), when he was alive, have always been extremely welcoming and fantastic over the years, and we have a communication and let them know what they’re up to.” The estate principals add that deference is why we’re unlikely to see a Bon Scott biopic come before a similar project from AC/DC.

“AC/DC very much take the view that they’re still ongoing, and biopics are probably for those who are looking back after they finished,” Rinaldi notes, to which Daniel Scott adds, “If AC/DC’s plans aren’t to do sorting such as that, neither are ours. We’re quite happy with how we’re going at the moment.”

The warm feelings extend to Brian Johnson, who replaced Bon Scott in 1980. “Brian’s fantastic,” Derek Scott says. “He’s jovial and fits in. It was very fortunate to have him come on board. He’s done a fantastic job. We’ve always got a lot of time for him.”

Rinaldi, meanwhile, observes that, “The story of Bon wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for Brian. Bon took the band up to the point of being huge and we lost him, and then Brian was able to take the baton and take it further. If it wasn’t for Brian we might not still be remembering Bon in the way we do today — and if it wasn’t for Bon, Brian wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do what he did. There’s massive mutual respect, which is something we foster. We love people loving Bon, but we love Brian as well.”

As the 80th birthday celebration gets underway, Derek Scott says he still has “mixed” emotions of pride in his brother’s accomplishments and sadness that he’s not around. Ultimately, he says, “it’s still great. It’s always good to hear his music and the old songs. Of course they bring back memories, but things move on. He wasn’t good at sports or school. He put his whole heart into the music and…here we are with it, still listening today.”

Brian Potter, a Grammy-nominated producer and songwriter best known for co-producing Glen Campbell’s 1975 Rhinestone Cowboy album, died June 30 in Granada Hills, Calif., following years living with vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s, according to his daughter. He was 87.

Potter, who was born in Essex, England, played in bands as a teen and even toured across the U.K. and Europe briefly as the drummer for Chuck Berry, scored his first hit in 1965 as a songwriter on the Small Faces’ debut single “Whatcha Gonna Do About It,” written with Ian Samwell. The song reached No. 14 on the U.K. Official Singles Chart.

Shortly thereafter, Potter met Dennis Lambert, a singer/songwriter in the U.S. Army stationed in Europe, and the pair became songwriting partners, leading to Potter moving to the U.S.

Together, the pair landed numerous hits starting with 1969’s anti-war song “One Tin Soldier,” which was first recorded by The Original Caste. A 1971 version by Coven became the theme to the movie Billy Jack, and Skeeter Davis’ rendition received a Grammy nomination for best female country vocal performance.

Several hits penned by Potter and Lambert followed, including writing and producing a number of albums for the Four Tops following the R&B group’s departure from Motown, that included such hits as “Keeper of the Castle” and “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got),” from the Lambert/Potter-produced album 1972’s Keeper of the Castle (with collaborator Steve Barri).

The pair landed their own imprint, Haven Records, at Capitol Records, and in the mid-’70s began working with Campbell on the 1975 Rhinestone Cowboy concept album about an aging country musician. The title track, written by Larry Weiss, earned Potter and his collaborators a Grammy nomination for producer of the year, and won him an Academy of Country Music Award as well as American Music Award.

Other 1970s’ Billboard Hot 100 hits penned by the duo included Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynold’s “Don’t Pull Your Love” (No. 4), the Grass Roots’ Two Divided By Love” (No. 16), The Righteous Brothers’ “Dream On” (No. 32) and Tavares’ “It Only Takes a Minute” (No. 10). As producers, they also continued to score hits, including Player’s No. 1 tune, “Baby Come Back.”   

After writing Score, a musical about Harlem Globetrotters founder Abe Saperstein, Lambert and Potter amicably split and Potter, with composer Wayne Green, wrote two musicals through SGI-USA, the Buddhist organization both men belonged to: This is America: A Musical Revue (1988) and This is America: The New World (1989), both of which toured more than 10 cities across the country.

Then, through Landmark Entertainment Group, the pair wrote more than 20 songs for Japanese theme park Puroland, while also writing and producing two children’s music albums for Here We Go, Kids. Continuing working with theme parks, Potter consulted with Universal Studios Hollywood in the early ‘90s on projects including Beetlejuice’s Rockin’ Graveyard Revue and The Blues Brothers Show.

In 2025, Lambert and Potter were nominated for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in the non-performing songwriters category.

Survivors include Potter’s wife of 55 years, Karen; daughter Courtney and stepdaughter Mary Shirley; two brothers; and a number of other relatives. Donations in his memory can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Motion Picture & Television Fund. A celebration of life will be held in the fall.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock is about to enter her era as a mother of three.

The Little Mix member and solo artist made the announcement about this new chapter with her husband, professional soccer player Andre Gray. On her social media, Pinnock shared the heartfelt news with an emotional video. 

In the clip, the singer appears in a recording studio, reading the lyrics from her phone as she records and sings into the mic. Shots from different angles of her body appear before she’s seen walking toward the mic, then turning around to reveal her baby bump. Meanwhile, her new song “Heaven” plays in the background. “As one chapter ends, another begins,” the artist captioned the post, adding a heart and a pregnant woman emoji.

Pinnock and Gray, who were married in a beachfront ceremony in Jamaica in 2023, have two other children, twin daughters born in 2021.

Fellow members of Little Mix expressed their happiness on the post with Perrie Edwards commenting with heart-eyes emojis and Jade Thirlwall sharing a message celebrating the news of Pinnock’s growing family. 

The news arrives at a major moment for Pinnock’s music career. She released her debut solo album My Ego Told Me To in February, and she announced a U.K. and European tour to promote the project.  

Little Mix, which was formed in 2011 on The X Factor in the U.K., earned various Billboard chart entries, including three of the girl group’s albums, DNA, Salute and Glory Days, reaching the Billboard 200. In 2021, their single “Confetti” became their final song before they announced a hiatus.