Weezer plans to kick off their four-part Seasons album cycle on the beach, headlining California’s BeachLife Festival. The third iteration of the fest — held May 13 and 15 on the Redondo Beach waterfront — also features Smashing Pumpkins and Steve Miller Band.
Announced last summer, Seasons will feature a new release on the first day of each season throughout the year. Frontman Rivers Cuomo previously told Good Morning America: “Spring is kind of like happy chill. And then we move through to dance rock, like a Strokes-style album for the fall, and then sad acoustic, Elliott Smith-style for winter.”
Meanwhile, Smashing Pumpkins are heading into the new year with a wide-spanning slate of festival appearances already on their calendar. Last spring, Billy Corgan told Rolling Stone: “Any talk of new touring is rolled back to next year, and I think there’s still a little trepidation in the business about how it’s all going to work itself out. Obviously, festivals selling out is a big step toward people wanting to go back and have fun.”
The first day of the BeachLife fest will see additional performances from 311, Black Pumas, Cold War Kids, Milky Chance, Cannons, Atlas Genius, and more. And, on Saturday, Vance Joy, Stone Temple Pilots, Capital Cities, and Michael Franti & Spearhead will take the four stages. Sunday wraps up the weekend with appearances from Sheryl Crow, Lord Huron, UB40 with Ali Campbell, and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, among others.
The complete BeachLife Festival lineup is available on the organizer’s official website. All ticket packages for the festival are available now.
Metallica bassist Jason Newsted says he is now “free and clear” after facing throat cancer.
The 63 year old musician, who played with the Enter Sandman legends from 1986 through 2001, has shared details of his diagnosis publicly for the first time. He explained that doctors discovered it early, and on May 8, 2025 he “underwent a procedure” to treat the condition.
Speaking on the Let There Be Talk podcast, he said: “They took a bunch of s*** outta here and then they went in with lasers this way and took a bunch of s*** out.
“So the cavern inside my head is different than it was, but we got it early. And I got my ‘free and clear’ about three weeks ago. So I beat it.”
Jason contributed to several of Metallica’s most iconic releases, including 1988’s ...And Justice For All, their self titled 1991 album, 1996’s Load, the 1997 follow up Reload, and 1998’s Garage Inc.
After going through his cancer experience, the bassist made a point to slow down and actually give himself time to recover instead of constantly pushing forward.
He explained: “I promised myself I was going to rest, and that was the first time I’ve done that in my life.
"I’m usually just on or off. And so I promised myself I was gonna take the gravity off and lay down for the right amount of hours."
The health scare also led Jason to give up smoking weed and drinking alcohol, something he admits he likely would not have done otherwise.
He added: “The great spirit got my attention and said, ‘That’s not good right now, man.’ And so it pulled me off it.
"And so now I’m more clear-headed than I’ve been in my entire adult life. And so there’s blessings within everything. The lemonade I’m making this summer, bro — mm. Sweet. Ooh.”
Jason has previously said that his unexpected departure ultimately helped Metallica continue moving forward, while James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich later admitted they struggled to process his decision at the time.
Lars told Apple Music in 2021: “Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly. And that in itself is a statistic.
"And the resentment from James and I was just so… 'You can’t do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave'.
"And then we weren’t equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving. So of course, now you can see 20 years later, it makes complete sense.”
