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Herbie Flowers, the bassist who played on songs like Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” and David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” has died at the age of 86.

Flowers’ September 5 death was confirmed on social media by the bassist’s family members (via the Guardian); no cause of death was provided. “While we knew and loved him as Uncle Herbie, his musical contributions have likely touched your lives as well,” the husband of Flowers’ niece wrote. “He played bass on many of the songs from the golden age of rock.

A bit of Beatle history was made this week, and we have Dolly Parton to thank for it. Earlier this month, Parton debuted her cover of “Let It Be” featuring Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Now, the single from her upcoming covers album Rockstar has landed a spot on a number of Billboard charts, marking the first time in history that two Beatles are listed as separate artists on the same charting song

Parton’s “Let It Be” — named Consequence’s Song of the Week — has hit No. 2 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, No. 15 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart, and No. 22 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart, all dated the week of September 2nd. The song is credited to “Dolly Parton, featuring Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr”.

Thus, Parton’s “Let It Be” marks the first time that Starr and McCartney — or any former Beatles,...

Actor Leonard Fenton, best known for playing Dr. Harold Legg in long-running BBC soap “EastEnders,” died on Jan. 29, his family said. He was 95.

Fenton was in the first episode of “EastEnders” in 1985 and his last appearance was in 2019. In all, he appeared in 267 episodes.

“The family of the actor Leonard Fenton are heartbroken to announce his death at the age of 95 on Saturday, Jan. 29. Best known for his role as Dr Legg on EastEnders, Leonard’s acting career spanned more than 60 years,” Fenton’s family said in a statement. “He worked in TV and film and his long stage career included time at the National Theatre and most recently the Royal Shakespeare Company. He felt privileged to have worked with some of the greats of the theater, including Samuel Beckett Orson Welles and Jonathan Miller.”

“His passion for painting and singing pre-dated his acting career and was equally as important to him,...

It has been more than three decades since Paul McCartney, who has a small part in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (May 26), appeared in a feature film.

The last time was in 1984 when the former Beatle, then 42, wrote, produced, scored and played himself in Give My Regards to Broad Street. The musical drama, however, was not well-received. Phrases such as "congenial but dumb" and "a home movie on an amazing scale" were used almost everywhere — except in The Hollywood Reporter.

THR really liked Broad Street, describing it as "a fanciful musical...

When Paul McCartney shocked the world in April 1970 with his announcement of the Beatles' break-up, drummer Ringo Starr added a surprise of his own by becoming (initially, at least) the most musically active member of the former Fab Four.

As he would later recount in the lyrics of "Early 1970," the deceptively jaunty b-side of his 1971 hit "It Don't Come Easy," Starr was the only Beatle who didn't have any serious beef with any other member of the band at the time. Feeling lost without the family dynamic of the musical...

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The upcoming fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film will reportedly be shooting scenes with rock legend Paul McCartney.

While Disney’s upcoming franchise extender Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales officially wrapped its production way back in August of 2015, it seems that the creative coalition behind the high-seas-finagling fivequel will commence some additional shooting, specifically around a new character played by the one and only Paul McCartney.

According to a report by Deadline, directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg along with longtime franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer will once again be rolling cameras on Dead Men Tell No Tales for what is being described as “a big set piece scene” centering around a character played by McCartney. While no further details have been revealed in regards to the character he will portray, the prospect of seeing Sir Paul trade his Rickenbacker for a rapier is actually intriguing.

What goes on tour stays on tour – unless it's caught on camera. With classic Beatles comedy A Hard Day's Night returning to UK cinemas on July 4, and Metallica's triumphant set at Glastonbury reminding us how far they've come from darker days, now feels like the time to look back on some of the movies that prove that maxim.

Below, we catalogue the craziest music movies ever made, helpfully divided into four distinct categories of weirdness.

Bad Behaviour

Beginning with its 70-something subject attacking the director with his walking stick, Beware Of Mr Baker (2012) introduces a man – ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker – so bellicose he's made the whole world his practice kit. Like Brick Top from Snatch with even greater anger-management issues, Baker is a bitter old codger who "communicates more through his drums than his words", according to his long-suffering daughter. He certainly doesn't mince the latter.

Mick Jagger is...

Set decorator who worked on all the Harry Potter films and The English Patient

Although she won an Oscar for The English Patient (1996), the set decorator Stephenie McMillan, who has died of cancer aged 71, will be best remembered for the creation of the magical world of Harry Potter on film. Stephenie helped to bring Jk Rowling's intensely imagined world to the screen across all eight films in the series, from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001 to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in 2011.

Directors and cinematographers changed in the course of the series, but the art department that Stephanie and I oversaw remained a constant, providing a real sense of visual continuity. Stephenie's work was always characterised by technical finesse, elegance and wit. She was responsible for the details that brought my vision as production designer to life.

It was Stephenie who organised the thousand-plus...

In 1984 Paul McCartney filmed "Give My Regards To Broad Street," and while the movie ended up being a flop -- the plot revolved around McCartney losing his tapes and trying to get them back by midnight -- it did feature one very memorable scene.

In the film, McCartney busks -- donning ruffled hair and disheveled clothes -- in front of the Leicester Square Station in London. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) for McCartney, no one recognized him as the former Beatle.

“Y’know, they just made me up and dropped me off," McCartney told the New York Daily News in 1984. "I told ‘em we’d never get away with it, but they kept putting dirt on and rufflin’ up me hair -- I was looking better and better -- and I figured, why not."

"So I was standin’ there plunkin’ chords, doing this silly version of the song, and no one noticed it was me,...

"He's a villain, a real mixer, and he'll cost you a fortune in breach of promise cases," joked Paul McCartney in the film "A Hard Days Night." The year was 1964 and the Beatles were already superstars in their own right, having conquered the world with their catchy pop rock and Liverpool mop tops. For Sir Paul, who turns 70 years old today, it was the first time he and his Beatle bandmates appeared on the big screen. Though McCartney is best known as a musician, he has made an indelible mark on the world of film. Since then, Macca has had a variety of feature-length movie moments, popping up in musicals ("Give My Regards to Broad Street"), playing bass on a London rooftop ("Let It Be") and even singing a James Bond theme song ("Live and Let Die"). In celebration of Paul's 70th birthday, let's take a look back at some...

Character actor who was an ensemble player to the core

John Burgess, who has died of pancreatic cancer aged 77, was a versatile and highly intelligent character actor who appeared in several productions at the National Theatre in London. He joined the National in 2000 for Romeo and Juliet, directed by Tim Supple, and appeared in Remembrance of Things Past, co-adapted by Harold Pinter, with whom John enjoyed a friendship. He also performed in Trevor Nunn's The Relapse (2001) and The Alchemist (2006), but was injured out early in the run.

It was at the National that John and I collaborated joyously. I had much enjoyed working with this direct, drily humorous man back in 1978, when he was in my abandoned RSC Aldwych project Ice Cream (not to be confused with Caryl Churchill's later piece of the same name). So when Nick Hytner invited me to create a play for the National's...

Yesterday, we celebrated the day that Paul McCartney first met John Lennon, a meeting that ended up eventually giving birth to the Beatles. Today, we celebrate the birth of Richard Starkey, the man who would be known the world over as Ringo Starr, the man who kept the beat for the Beatles. He turns 70 years old today. Of the four Beatles, Ringo was the oldest (he was a few months older than Lennon) and has had one of the most fascinating solo careers since the legendary band disbanded 40 years ago.

Starr always had one of the most dynamic personalities of any of the Beatles, helping to craft some of the group's most off-beat tunes (including "Octopus's Garden" and "Don't Pass Me By") and providing the most electrifying on-screen presence (his is the one performance in "A Hard Day's Night" that stands out, and he had a relatively fruitful acting career...

Rock music has been a big part of the movies since Blackboard Jungle made Bill Haley a legend in 1955, and although the marriage of the two mediums hasn't always been a happy one (see: Elvis Presley in Harum Scarum and Paul McCartney's Give My Regards to Broad Street -- or better yet, don't), it's also produced some cinematic classics. With Pirate Radio hitting theaters, we thought it would be a good time to share our staff's favorite rock 'n' roll movies -- flicks that will get your toes tapping and your hands strumming the old air guitar. Hey, Rt...