6RR Spotlight

Paul McCartney Trades Pot For Booze

 

Paul McCartney says he’s traded smoking dope for drinking. The former Beatle, who over the years has been busted for pot a total of five times, spoke about the difference between being the legendary pothead of the 1960’s and ’70s and his life today, telling The Daily Mirror: “I don’t do it any more. . . The truth is I don’t really want to set an example to my kids and grandkids. It’s now a parent thing. Back then I was just some guy around London having a ball, and the kids were little so I’d just try and keep it out of their faces. Instead of smoking a spliff I’ll now have a glass of red wine or a nice margarita. The last time I smoked was a long time ago.”

 

Back in 2012, McCartney first claimed that he finally gave up marijuana after 48 years, due to his then-eight-year-old daughter by Heather Mills, Beatrice. McCartney, who along with the other Beatles, was turned onto grass by Bob Dylan during the “Fab Four’s” 1964 North American tour, told Rolling Stone at the time, that he was done getting high: “I did a lot, and it was enough. I smoked my share. When you’re bringing up a youngster, your sense of responsibility does kick in. Enough’s enough.”

 

 

Creed’s Scott Stapp To Star In Reality Show

 

Creed singer Scott Stapp and his wife Jaclyn are making the most of his recent recovery from last year’s drug-fueled psychotic breakdown and subsequent diagnosis of bipolar disorder. According to Consequence Of Sound, the couple are going to star in season six of the VH1 reality series Couples Therapy, where they’ll get to work out their problems in front of television cameras instead of in private where they probably should be doing this kind of thing.

 

The drama began last November when Stapp posted several videos online in which he claimed to be broke, nearly homeless and under “attack” from unnamed enemies who had wiped out his bank accounts and possibly set the IRS on him.

It later turned out that Jaclyn had filed for divorce, claiming that her husband had left their home in early October and gone on a drug bender.

Stapp believed at one point that he was a CIA agent on a mission to kill President Obama, recalling, “I was so out of my mind, delusional, turned on everyone that I loved, made wild and crazy accusations about my wife . . . it was a manic paranoid, psychotic episode.”

After he finally entered into an intensive rehab program, Stapp was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition that causes unexpected shifts in mood, energy and activity levels.

Stapp is now sober and in intensive therapy. He takes medication for bipolar disorder, works through a 12-step program, and meets with a sponsor, saying, “Nothing is more important than my sobriety.” Nothing except a new TV show, apparently.

 

 

U2 Plays Small Club Show

U2 ditched its massive new stage production for one evening to play a special show at the tiny Roxy nightclub on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles on Thursday night (May 28th). 500 fans, celebrities and radio contest winners jammed the legendary venue to watch a 12-song set that opened with “The Ocean” from the band’s 1980 debut album Boy and ended with “California (There Is No End to Love).”

 

Among the celebrities spotted in the audience, according to CBS Local, were Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Smith, Aaron Paul, Chris Martin, Tom Morello, Sean Penn and Courtney Love.

Paying tribute at one point to the band’s tour manager, Dennis Sheehan, who died last week, U2 singer Bono said, “He actually had the dignity that our music aspires to.”

Among the set’s highlights were “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of,” “I Will Follow,” “Out Of Control” and first encore “Vertigo,” during which Bono surfed the crowd.

The Roxy gig came in the midst of a five-night stand at the Los Angeles Forum, which ends on Wednesday night (June 3rd). The current North American leg of U2’s Innocence + Experience tour will wind down with an eight-night run at New York’s Madison Square Garden in late July.

 

 

Neil Young Releases New Video

Neil Young & Promise Of The Real have posted the first video from their upcoming album The Monsanto Years, which will be released on June 29th. Rolling Stone reported the track, called “A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop,” is the first from Young and the band, which also features Willie Nelson’s sons Lukas and Micah. The Monsanto Years is a concept album of sorts featuring tunes criticizing food industry giant Monsanto.

 

Fans have been aware of Young’s battle against the corporate giant since 2014 when he asked fans to boycott the Starbucks chain due to its ties with Monsanto. Back on April 16th, Young, Lukas Nelson and his band premiered a clutch of the album’s new songs alongside Young classics at an impromptu gig at San Luis Obispo, California’s 400-seat club SLO Brew.

 

 

Black Sabbath Reissues

 

Black Sabbath’s first eight albums are being re-released on vinyl. The reissues will kick off on June 22nd with 1970’s self-titled debut album, 1971’s Paranoid and 1971’s Master Of Reality. They will be followed on June 29th by 1972’s Vol. 4, 1973’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and 1975’s Sabotage. On July 13th, 1976’s Technical Ecstacy and 1978’s Never Say Die! will be reissued. All eight albums will be made available on heavyweight 180-gram vinyl and CD. The eight records were previously issued on vinyl in 2012 as a limited-edition box set.