Chad King of A Great Big World has personal new song with some proceeds donated to Race to Erase MS

A Great Big World’s Chad King has released “All In Time”, a folk-inspired tune of reflection and honest admission about the Grammy winner’s personal journey with multiple sclerosis.

“All In Time” - Listen HERE

Alongside the track release and March being National MS Awareness Month, King has launched a new initiative with his longstanding friends at Race to Erase MS (where he is also a board member), donating half of the song’s streams/sales proceeds to aid in their mission to fund groundbreaking research that will ultimately cure multiple sclerosis.

“As a symptom of MS, a couple years ago I started losing strength on the left side of my body by noon every day. This heavily affected my ability to play and perform music,” revealed King. “This song was a way to make peace with my new reality, and it specifically uses guitar chords that I can play even in the afternoon.”

Nancy Davis, Founder of Race to Erase MS, said, "We are so grateful Chad is donating 50% of the proceeds from “All in Time” which he performed last year at our Race to Erase MS gala and had everybody in a state of awe with a standing ovation.”

Chad’s MS diagnosis in 2007 kicked off years of personal study for the recent college graduate, who explored numerous forms of medication and alternative medical options. Amidst all this, Chad and his A Great Big World-partner Ian Axel won a Grammy for their Christina Aguilera-collaboration, “Say Something,” in 2015.

When the pandemic hit, Chad’s symptoms ignited further, resulting in him having difficulty walking, a decrease in stamina, guitar-playing becoming difficult, and changes to his voice becoming apparent, especially near day-end. His experience of having to readapt the way he plays guitar is intertwined with “All In Time” specifically, finding King having to reconfigure how to play certain chords.

“All In Time” will join King’s debut solo single “Change Is Hard” on a forthcoming body of work. Chad has also recently been busy at work alongside Axel composing the music for the new musical Wonder which premiered at A.R.T’s Loeb Theatre (American Repertory Theatre) in Boston.

Photo by Shervin Lainez

Out now: Sting's 'Mercury Falling' - 30th Anniversary expanded digital edition; new fall North American tour dates

I'm looking forward to spending time with this expanded edition. The original landed on my top 10 year-end best list upon release. I got to review an early leg of this live trio format at LA's The Wiltern (see elsewhere on this blog)...

Sting marks the 30th anniversary of his platinum, fifth full-length solo album, Mercury Falling, with the release of a new digital-only special expanded edition available on all streaming platforms via UMe. Listen HERE.

Of the 19 tracks, many were previously unavailable digitally until now. There is “Moonlight,” from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of the 1995 romantic comedy Sabrina. The music for the song was written by composer John Williams with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and garnered nominations at both the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards. 

Beyond the inclusion of various B-sides and remixes, this edition concludes with three live recordings from TFI Friday of “You Still Touch Me,” “Lithium Sunset,” and “Message In A Bottle.”

Thirty years ago this week, the original Mercury Falling arrived on March 4, 1996. It reached the Top 5 of the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The record would also be Sting’s third successive collaboration with longtime producer Hugh Padgham, marking a milestone in their nineties work together. 

The album notched two Grammy nominations in the categories of “Best Pop Vocal Album” and “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance” for “Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot.” 

This is the latest Expanded Edition to be issued from Sting’s catalog. It follows on the heels of last year’s The Dream Of The Blue Turtles (Expanded Edition).

Track listing:

MAIN ALBUM

The Hounds of Winter
I Hung My Head
Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot
I Was Brought to My Senses
You Still Touch Me
I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying
All Four Seasons
Twenty Five to Midnight
La Belle Dame Sans Regrets
Valparaiso
Lithium Sunset

BONUS TRACKS

Moonlight*
The Bed's Too Big Without You
Lullaby to An Anxious Child
Beneath a Desert Moon
This Was Never Meant to Be
The Pirate's Bride
Giacomo's Blues
Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot (A&G Classic Edit)
Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot (A&G Full Testament Mix)
Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot (A&G Great Divide Mix)
Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot (A&G Great Divide Dub)
I Was Brought To My Senses (Steve Lipson Remix)*
Sister Moon (Hani Commissioned Club Mix)*
Sister Moon (Hani Commissioned Dub Mix)*
Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot (Single Edit)
You Still Touch Me (Edit)*
You Still Touch Me (Live At TFI Friday)*
Lithium Sunset (Live At TFI Friday)*
Message In A Bottle (Live At TFI Friday)*

*Previously unavailable on streaming platforms

In related news...

Sting has announced a new fall leg of his Sting 3.0 Tour across North America, starting in October. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is still accompanied by longtime guitarist and collaborator Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas (Mumford & Sons, Maggie Rogers).

The tour spotlights new interpretations of his catalog and most recent single, “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart),”

Additionally, a new live album, STING 3.0 LIVE, is now available digitally, on CD and on 180g vinyl. Also recorded on the “STING 3.0” Tour, STING 3.0 LIVE is a collection of his greatest hits, including “Be Still My Beating Heart,” which has never-before been released as a live version. The 10-song digital album also features a live recording of “Fragile,” Sting’s 1987 single, which was recently covered by a children’s choir in an episode of the Netflix miniseries Adolescence.

The general on sale will begin Friday, March 6 at 10AM local time on sting.com. Tickets for all other previously announced “STING 3.0” tour dates are available now.

Tour dates: 

Sat May 06 - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood
Sat May 09 – Durant, OK – Choctaw Grand Theater
Sun May 10 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
Tue May 12 – Austin, TX – Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park
Wed May 13 – Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
Fri May 15 – Atlanta, GA – Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park
Sat May 16 – Savannah, GA – Enmarket Arena
Mon May 18 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Tue May 19 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
Thu May 21 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap
Fri May 22 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap
Sat May 23 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap
Mon May 25 – Richmond, VA – Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront
Mon Oct 05 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – NEW SHOW
Tue Oct 06 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – NEW SHOW
Thu Oct 08 – Seattle, WA – Benaroya Hall – NEW SHOW
Fri Oct 09 – Seattle, WA – Benaroya Hall – NEW SHOW
Tue Oct 13 – Minneapolis, MN – Orpheum Theatre – NEW SHOW
Fri Oct 16 – Rockford, IL – Hard Rock Casino – NEW SHOW
Sat Oct 17 – St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre – NEW SHOW
Thu Oct 22 – Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre – NEW SHOW
Mon Oct 26 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre St-Denis – NEW SHOW
Tue Oct 27 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre St-Denis – NEW SHOW
Sun Nov 01 – Akron, OH – E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall – NEW SHOW
Wed Nov 04 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady Music Center – NEW SHOW
Mon Nov 09 – Wallingford, CT – Toyota Oakdale Theater – NEW SHOW
Wed Nov 11 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount – NEW SHOW*
Thu Nov 12 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount – NEW SHOW*
Sat Nov 14 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount – NEW SHOW*
Sun Nov 15 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount – NEW SHOW*
Tue Nov 17 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount – NEW SHOW*
Wed Nov 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount – NEW SHOW*
Tue Nov 24 – Tampa, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Tampa – RESCHEDULED SHOW

*with special guest Fiction Plane

Photo by Carter B. Smith

'It’s Been Too Long,' the new studio album by Ringo Starr, arrives next month

Molly Tuttle and Sarah Jarosz guest on the title track to “It’s Been Too Long,” the new studio album by Ringo Starr, which is scheduled for April 24 via UMe. Produced by T Bone Burnett, co-produced by Daniel Tashian (Kacey Musgraves) and longtime associate Bruce Sugar, the album is the follow-up to last year’s Look Up.

There are also collaborations with Billy Strings, Sheryl Crow and St. Vincent. Pre-Order HERE.

“I’m blessed to have T Bone in my life right now and working with me on these records,” Ringo stated. “After we did the last record, which I love listening to, this one just sort of happened. I like to say sometimes I make the right moves, like you can go left or right at any point, and one of the right moves was hooking up with T Bone for Look Up, and now for this one, which I’m calling Long Long Road, because I’ve been on a long long road.”

As the title implies, and like Ringo’s own journey, Long Long Road has roots in country and Americana, and evolved into a mosaic of Starr’s musical legacy and influences, including Carl Perkins. 

“I recorded two Carl Perkins songs with The Beatles, and both T Bone and I wanted one on this record,” Ringo explained, “and he found this beautiful track I’d never heard before, ‘I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore’.”

Recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles, this record sees the return of many of the Look Up musicians including the core band of Paul Franklin, David Mansfield, Dennis Crouch, Daniel Tashian, Rory Hoffman, Patrick Warren and Colin Linden.

“I've loved Ringo’s playing and his singing for my whole life,” T Bone stated. “And then one night we were at a poetry reading together and he said, why don't you write a song for me? So I wrote him a Gene Autry type song because I always heard Ringo as a Texas artist, the way he played felt just like Texas music to me. Ringo Starr is a recording artist of the highest caliber, and I wanted to surround him with these young masters, bringing in some of this extraordinary young energy that's happening around Nashville for both of these records.”

Their first collaboration, Look Up, released in January 2025, was Ringo’s first country record in 50 years and it earned him his first Top 10 on Billboard’s all genre Top Album Sales chart, as well as landing him on multiple other Billboard Charts. 

In the UK the album reached a significant career milestone garnering him his first solo #1 album on the Official Country Chart. In February 2025, Starr made his Grand Ole Opry debut after being invited by Emmylou Harris during the first of his two night run at the legendary Ryman, which was recorded for a 2 hour special still streaming on CBS/Paramount Plus.

Among the 10 newly recorded songs, six were written or co-written by T Bone Burnett, two were co-written by Ringo and Bruce Sugar, one was written by Ringo Starr, Mark Hudson and Gary Burr and one was by Bernie Benjamin and George David Weiss and recorded by Carl Perkins.

Track listing:

1. RETURNING WITHOUT TEARS
2. BABY DON’T GO
3. I DON’T SEE ME IN YOUR EYES ANYMORE
4. IT’S BEEN TOO LONG
5. WHY
6. YOU AND I (WAVE OF LOVE)
7. MY BABY DON’T WANT NOTHING
8. CHOOSE LOVE
9. SHE’S GONE
10. LONG LONG ROAD

Coachella Festival '26 news: Armin Van Buuren, Disclosure, Boys Noize, to perform at Thermal's Framework in the Desert

Framework in the Desert returns for its 5th anniversary edition on April 10-12, coinciding with the first weekend of Coachella Festival. 

The brand's festival afterhours series features three nights of house and techno music with headlining sets from Coachella acts Armin Van Buuren, Disclosure (DJ Set), Mochakk, Boys Noize, Marlon Hoffstadt, KETTAMA B2B Prospa, and Max Dean x Luke Dean.

It will also feature support sets from Riordan, Chloé Calliet, Azzecca, and bullet tooth, in addition to the return of the Long Feng Art Car - a state-of-the-art mutant vehicle that serves as the event stage.

Framework in the Desert, a 21 and over event, is held at Atlantic Aviation Airport Hangar in Thermal, Calif., a short drive from the Indio festival grounds. Three-day passes start at $194. Tickets are on sale now at: thisisframework.com/event/framework-in-the-desert26/