The Friend Zone
RINGO STARR FIRST crooned about getting by with a little help from his friends on the Beatles’ seminal 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. And more than 50 years later, he’s still asking pals to give him a hand on his new EP, called, ahem, Zoom In. The 80-year-old collaborated with fellow Beatle Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz and Dave Grohl, as well as songwriter Diane Warren on the single, “Here’s to the Nights.” Sting also called in a few favours for his latest album, Duets, a compilation of the 69-year-old’s pairings with artists including Annie Lennox, Julio Iglesias and Eric Clapton. Meanwhile, with the 2019 documentary Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band still going strong on the Crave streaming service, The Band itself returns to the vault for the 50th anniversary of its hit album Stage Fright, with a box set featuring remastered tracks and unreleased concert recordings. And Willie Nelson, at 87, follows up his 2018 Frank Sinatra tribute album My Way with That’s Life, a second ode to Ol’ Blue Eyes featuring covers of tunes like “Luck Be a Lady.”