Rock

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he will induct former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, retired San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds, the musician Joni Mitchell, the band Metallica and actors Edward Asner and Robin Williams to the California Hall of Fame next month.

The list includes a total of 18 Californians selected by the governor and his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, for their contributions to film, viticulture, sports, dining, art, literature, music, education, politics and business.

“This historic class reflects the very best of California and what’s possible when people have the courage to think big and make a difference,” Newsom said in a statement. “Their legacy will inspire the next generation to keep pushing boundaries and showing the world what Californians can do.”

The California Hall of Fame began in 2006 under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Over 180 inductees, who are required to live in California for at least five years, have been recognized over the last 20 years.

This year’s inductees include:

• The late Edward Asner, the first actor to win Emmys for playing the same role, Lou Grant, in both a comedy and a drama and a former president of the Screen Actors Guild.
• Andy Beckstoffer, a vineyard owner and leader in American viticulture, whom the governor is honoring for “pioneering precision farming technologies and advancing farm worker equity, he helped reshape vineyard stewardship and the industry’s economics.”

  

  Barry Bonds attends the 2025 BBWAA Dinner at New York Hilton Midtown.

  (Roy Rochlin / Getty Images)

• Barry Bonds, the left fielder who played 15 seasons with the San Francisco Giants. Bonds holds MLB records for career and single season home runs, and the most National League MVP Awards, among other baseball accolades.
• The late Betty Charbonnet Reid Soskin, the oldest full-time National Park Service ranger who retired at age 100 and “inspired generations by bringing history to life through her own experiences of segregation and resilience.”
• Dominique Crenn, the celebrated chef and co-owner of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco and the first woman chef in the United States to earn three Michelin stars.
• Guillermo del Toro, the Oscar-winning filmmaker.
• Shepard Fairey, the street and graphic artist best known for his 2008 portrait of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama.
• Maxine Hong Kingston, an author and the recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction, the National Book Award, National Humanities Medal and the National Medal of Arts.
• The late Diane Ladd, a three-time Academy Award nominated actress, the mother of actor Laura Dern and a 30-year member of the SAG-AFTRA National Board.

  

  Rock star Huey Lewis.

  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

• Huey Lewis, the musican and frontman of the Grammy Award-winning band Huey Lewis and the News.
• The late Felicitas Méndez, an advocate for public education who challenged Mexican American student segregation.
• Metallica, the San Francisco rock band that has sold 125 million albums worldwide and is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
• Joni Mitchell, the acclaimed singer and songwriter and member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

  

  Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks to the media Tuesday in Washington.

  (Aaron Schwartz / Getty Images)

• Nancy Pelosi, the Bay Area politician who served nearly four decades in Congress and became the first woman elected speaker of the House.
• Bonnie Raitt, the 13-time Grammy Award winner and member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
• The late Rob and Michele Reiner, who the governor’s office said “built careers in entertainment while collaborating on public education and civil rights initiatives in California.”
• Susie Tompkins Buell, the co-founder of the brands Esprit and the North Face, who is being recognized for her work that “challenged the notion that business success and social responsibility were separate pursuits, pairing extraordinary growth with progressive workplace practices and socially conscious marketing.”
• Robin Williams, the late actor, comedian, Academy Award, Emmy and Grammy winner.

Richard Lloyd, the fiery guitarist of the influential New York rock band Television, has died. He was 75.

Lloyd died on Saturday in Chattanooga, Tenn., from cholangiocarcinoma, a bile duct cancer, according to a statement from Lloyd’s family to the New York Times.

Lloyd’s contributions to Television — a proto-punk band with intricate hailstorms of guitar — helped make them one of the city’s most important if briefly tenured bands. In a time when peers such as the New York Dolls and Velvet Underground were upending rock and roll with glamour and arty disaffection, Television fulfilled the genre’s promises of both swaggering virtuosity and restless reinvention.

Lloyd, born Richard John Alt in Pittsburgh, moved to New York City with his mother and grew up in Greenwich Village. He attended Manhattan’s acclaimed Stuyvesant High School, but dropped out to pursue music.

Television formed in 1973 after Lloyd met front man Tom Verlaine, then-bassist Richard Hell and drummer Billy Ficca through Terry Ork, an Andy Warhol scenester who managed the legendary film bookstore and memorabilia shop Cinemabilia, where Verlaine and Hell worked. The band was an outlier at the grimy local country and bluegrass dive bar CBGB (the members had to convince owner Hilly Kristal to book them). Yet the group would help transform that club and Max’s Kansas City into hubs for punk bands and the avant-garde such as Blondie, the Ramones and Talking Heads.

While sharing little in common with dueling-guitar acts such as the Allman Brothers Band or ’70s contemporaries the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, Television also drew its power from the preternatural rapport between Verlaine and Lloyd’s instruments. With its oblique lyricism and jazz-infused chords, layered over a twitchy rhythm section and 10-minute-long jams, Television was unlikely to be a commercial hit.

Yet the band impressed peers such as Lou Reed and David Bowie, and signed to the major label Elektra. Its 1977 debut LP “Marquee Moon” is universally considered a rock masterpiece, landing at No. 107 on Rolling Stone’s ranking of the top albums of all time. The dramatic trills of “Venus” and moaning peals of “Torn Curtain” showcased Lloyd’s natural guitar language with Verlaine, adding up to an unmistakable and irreplaceable sound.

The band released one follow-up, 1978’s “Adventure.” But Lloyd, who had long struggled with mental health issues, was also suffering from drug addiction, and conflicts with Verlaine led to the band’s breakup.

Lloyd would go on to have a robust solo career, with nine albums under his own name, and performances on records by Matthew Sweet and John Doe of the punk band X. Television briefly reunited to perform at the 1992 Glastonbury Festival, and released a new self-titled album the same year.

Beyond its own career, Television became a key inspiration for Sonic Youth and Geese, which shared Television’s downtown panache and coils of guitar noise.

Lloyd’s survivors include his wife, Sheila, his brother, Eric and his son, Dylan.

A LEGENDARY 70s rock band have cancelled all their 2027 tour dates in their first breaking form performing in 50 years.

Cheap Trick formed in Illinois in 1973, with current members being Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson.

In a statement shared to Instagram, the band addressed their decision to take some time off.

They wrote: “Many thanks to everyone who has expressed concern for us.

“To clear things up, we’ve decided to take some time off after decades of touring because we need a break.

“Not for health reasons.

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“We’ll play our November shows and then take our first break in 50 years.

“Thank you for all your support!”

One fan commented: “The hardest working band in rock!”

Another said: “Take your well deserved break from touring & enjoy some free time for yourselves. You are forever MY Band.”

A third wrote: “Get some great rest. Its all good.

“Hope you have a wonderful break. Take care.”

A fourth shared: “Enjoy your well deserved break and time with your families.

“Looking forward to future shows!”

Throughout Cheap Trick’s history, they have released 21 studio albums, eight live albums and 20 compilation albums.

The rock group also have four extended plays, and 66 singles to their name.

CHRISTINA Aguilera was branded a “smokeshow” as she stripped completely naked for a sizzling bath selfie showing off her rock hard abs.

The popstar flaunted her recent weight loss as she perched in her cream standalone tub, with her blonde hair brushed over her eyes.

American hitmaker Christina, who has undergone a huge transformation in recent years and shed almost three stone in weight, gave a nod to spooky season with her upload.

She covered her modesty with two ghost icons on her boobs and added the words: “Last looks before xtinaween”.

One fan was quick to reply: “She’s the moment she’s an icon she’s a star”.

A second put: “Smokeshow”.

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A third then wrote: “OMG!!!”

The 45-year-old singer, who had her first hit with Genie in the Bottle in 1999, is no stranger to posing starkers in the suds.

Earlier this month she stripped for a bubble bath to promote a new lube brand.

Christina launched her sexual wellness brand Playground back in 2022.

It initially debuted with a line of four water-based, plant-infused lubricants.

Christina lost more than 40 pounds before her Las Vegas residency in 2024, with fans still in awe of her more slender look.

At the time, an insider told Life & Style that the singer had restricted her calorie intake to 1,600 calories per day.

The source added that Christina had been working out “rigorously” every day of the week.

“Christina didn’t feel as energetic with extra weight,” they said.

“Some are concerned she’ll gain the weight back but she loves all the attention she’s getting.”

Although looking smaller than ever, Christina previously claimed she didn’t want to be as thin as she was when she was younger.