The bandmates' $785,000 contribution will help bring a permanent tribute to the legendary drummer to Lakeside Park.

Billy Eff is the Content Director for Rolling Stone Canada. An award-winning journalist and columnist, he has previously contributed to outlets including VICE and Urbania. A passionate advocate for underground music and a musician himself, he has conducted several hundred interviews with artists and industry professionals across a wide range of styles and genres over the past 15 years. He is based in Montréal, Québec.

Rush has helped ensure that a permanent memorial to Neil Peart will become a reality in the drummer’s hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario.

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson presented a $785,000 cheque to the Neil Peart Commemorative Task Force and City of St. Catharines staff, bringing the fundraising campaign for the planned memorial at Lakeside Park to its $1-million goal. The donation came from a portion of the proceeds generated by VIP experiences and packages sold during Rush’s current Fifty Something tour.

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The contribution also caps a fundraising effort that began following Peart’s death in January 2020. Lee previously pledged $1 from every ticket sold during his 2023 My Effin’ Life book tour, while fans and other supporters helped push the campaign toward its target.

The memorial will be built beside the existing Neil Peart Pavilion at Lakeside Park. Peart spent much of his youth in nearby Port Dalhousie, and those summers later inspired Rush’s 1975 song Lakeside Park, from the album Caress of Steel.

Designed by sculptor Morgan MacDonald of The Newfoundland Bronze Foundry, the installation will feature two bronze sculptures depicting Peart at different points in his life, connected by a pathway with interpretive and experiential elements exploring his personal and musical legacy.

The fundraising campaign officially closes October 15, while the city currently expects the memorial to open in late 2027.

Nearly 50 years after the Battersea Power Station appeared on the cover of Pink Floyd‘s Animals, Apple has transformed the decommissioned building into a music venue.

Apple Music Hall will function as both a live music space and production facility, where musicians can record their performance on multitrack. The venue boasts a 38-foot wide stage, a 48-speaker spatial sound system, 16 or more cameras, and a 600-capacity crowd. Essentially, artists can exit with a Spatial Audio recording, a broadcast-ready mix, and multicamera video from a single show.

“Apple’s deep love for music dates all the way back to the very beginning, from the launch of the iPod to the long-running iTunes Music Festival to the debut of Apple Music,” Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and International Content, said in a statement. “Today, with the opening of Apple Music Hall, we are once again taking an unprecedented step further in our commitment to artists and fans by supporting live music in ways only Apple can do.”

Animals was released on Jan. 21, 1977, and its legendary cover — the Battersea Power Station, with a George Orwell-esque inflatable pig seen floating in the sky — symbolized industrial greed and the voracious appetites of capitalism (famously, the pig balloon flew away).

The image was created by Hipgnosis Studios’ Storm Thorgerson, and assisted by Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell, who updated the cover for the Animals 2018 Remix in 2022. “Animals is one of my favorite albums by Pink Floyd just because of the stories attached,” Powell recalled in 2022. “I remember going to Battersea Power Station and it was a dump. It was full of coal and debris and broken cars. It was just absolutely horrid. I knocked on the door and a lad answered. I said I was looking for someone important and the chap went, ‘Well, thats me,’ and I said, ‘I want to fly a pig.'”

Performances at Apple Music Hall will be livestreamed globally, while fans can access tickets on the venue’s website.

It’s official: almost a year since it was first released as a single in October 2025, Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” is the longest running Number One song in Billboard Hot 100 history. The classically country tune written by Langley with Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick and Joybeth Taylor has passed tracks by Harry Styles, Morgan Wallen, and now former leader Mariah Carey (and Christmas itself) to cement itself as the new record-holder with 23 weeks atop the chart. Carey, whose “All I Want For Christmas Is You” could retake the top slot once holiday season begins, has yet to comment.

Coming in at Number Two is Stella Lefty and “Boston” (which just became a Number One song on country radio) with Wallen’s “Been By Now” at three. With all three slots taken by country artists, it’s clear that the genre’s wave of dominance is not going anywhere soon.

It’s a cherry on top of a record-breaking year for Langley. The Alabama native made history when “Choosin’ Texas” hit Number One on the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Country Airplay charts at the same time in February. Langley is also the top nominee at the 60th Annual CMA Awards, with a total of nine, including entertainer of the year, and her sophomore LP, Dandelion, just returned to the top of the album charts. Even Drake is trying to get in on the action, teasing a potential “Choosin’ Texas” remix.

“Everyone can relate to wanting something that doesn’t want you back, whether it be a relationship or a job,” Langley told Rolling Stone about why the song of the summer has resonated so widely. “I’m giving my heart to people a lot. And that’s scary to constantly do, because no one wants their heart broken.”

Langley is well aware of how powerful it is to have women in country music breaking through the bro-dom: Dandelion includes a cover of Kitty Wells’ 1952 hit “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” which was the first solo song by a woman to top the country charts. And Langley’s doing her best to make sure the success of “Choosin’ Texas” isn’t just relegated to her alone. On her current Dandelion tour, she made sure to spotlight other female musicians as her opening acts, including Gabriella Rose, Kaitlin Butts, Avery Anna, Laci Kaye Booth, and Madeline Edwards.

“Ella is such a role model for what skyrocketing with grace looks like,” Butts told Rolling Stone. “She’s put me up for an acting role in her iconic music video for ‘Choosin’ Texas’ and now she’s taking me on tour with her. That’s what I love about her, a win for her means a win for all of us women in country music because she’s one of the ones that’s turning around to help the next in line.”

StubHub Canada has been fined $20,000 by the Ontario government for breaking the province’s new ticket resale rules, and the company says it plans to fight the penalties.

The fines, issued earlier this month, consist of two $10,000 administrative penalties. According to Ontario’s Consumer Beware List, one involved StubHub facilitating a ticket resale without proof of what the ticket originally cost. The other involved a ticket being resold above Ontario’s new price cap. The government has not identified the events or specific tickets behind the penalties.

The rules are part of Ontario’s revamped Ticket Sales Act, which came into effect earlier this year. Among other changes, the law limits how much a ticket can be resold for and requires resale platforms to provide documentation showing the ticket’s original total price.

The company told The Canadian Press that it intends to appeal the penalties, arguing that the legislation does not clearly establish how platforms should obtain and verify the original price of the ticket. StubHub says it has been trying to comply with the new requirements while navigating what it considers gaps in the legislation.

This isn’t the first time StubHub has to face Canadian regulators. In 2020, the Competition Bureau reached an agreement with the company over ticket prices advertised without mandatory fees, resulting in a $1.3 million penalty. Ontario has said companies can face penalties of up to $250,000 for violating the new rules.

The Weeknd had a surprise waiting for Japan.

Kicking off the Asian leg of his After Hours Til Dawn tour at Belluna Dome on September 19, the superstar used opening night to unveil a brand-new, unreleased song.

Currently dubbed “Tokyo”, the track features Japanese singer Yoko Takahashi and samples her iconic 1995 song “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis”, the opening theme from the famous anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion.

It was a distinctly Japanese unveiling for the new material, bringing together music, anime and gaming in one performance. Takahashi first delivered “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” before Tesfaye joined her for the unreleased track, while visuals from NieR creator Yoko Taro played across the stage. Tesfaye later shared the performance online with the credit: “Presented by YOKO TARO. Featuring “YOKO TAKAHASHI”

The song has yet to receive an official release date, but its debut arrives at a particularly pivotal point in Tesfaye’s career.

“Tokyo” also marks the second unreleased track Tesfaye has unveiled on the After Hours Til Dawn tour, following “Rio,” his collaboration with Anitta, which debuted during his April 26 show in Rio de Janeiro.

Despite spending much of the Hurry Up Tomorrow era teasing the end of The Weeknd persona, Tesfaye now appears to be looking firmly towards what comes next.

In GQ Hong Kong’s new cover feature, Tesfaye elaborated on his current period as a kind of creative reset rather than retirement. “If I create under my own name one day,” he told GQ, “it won’t be about leaving anything behind. It’ll just be another evolution.”

That revolution is already beginning to take shape. Tesfaye further revealed that he has been revisiting Kiss Land, his 2013 debut studio album, and is currently working on a remaster. He said about his record, "it's the one project I never felt I executed exactly the way I envisioned” and that he’s now returning to it with the intention of bringing that original vision closer to life.

Kiss Land marked a significant shift from the unfiltered intimacy of his early mixtapes into a darker, more cinematic world. One that would eventually foreshadow the conceptual universes he built throughout the following decade.

Now, that past is colliding with whatever comes next, the Asian leg of the tour continues through Jakarta, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok and Hong Kong before wrapping up in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 4. The tour has already become the highest-grossing solo male tour in history, while Tesfaye continues to hint at what comes after.

Amid a glow of red and orange lights, a chic underground room in New York’s trendy Meatpacking District is alive with bodies. It’s just after midnight, and women are dancing on velvet banquettes, men are two-stepping on luxe, carpeted floors the color of merlot, and everyone is table-hopping with icy martinis in hand, as the groovy house jam “Talk to You” pumps through the venue’s sound system.

It’s one of the latest tracks from ANOTR, an Amsterdam DJ duo who timed the release of the feel-good anthem for the summer. And before the in-demand producers jetted off to Cannes and Ibiza to kick off the European party circuit, they made an unadvertised pit stop here, at the members-only club Chez Margaux.

There’s something surreal about watching some of the most sought-after acts in house music perform for 250 people rather than the thousands they typically draw at festival stages and international gigs. Imagine Foo Fighters playing Irving Plaza before a world tour, or Justin Bieber performing at a tech conference fresh off headlining Coachella. “We aim for the top one percent of the top one percent in terms of DJ talent and musical talent,” Riccardo Ambrosio, the club’s director of events and partnerships, tells Rolling Stone.

The likes of Rüfüs Du Sol, Black Coffee, &ME, and PAWSA have already graced the European-inspired lounge and restaurant for similar private, ticketed shows held roughly twice a quarter. And for jet-setting clientele accustomed to having a Euro Summer, they could catch ANOTR at a pop-up that the club hosted in St. Tropez. But unless you are a Margaux member paying $4,000 in annual dues and a one-time $3,000 initiation fee, you’d be none the wiser.

“I hate to say it, it was a great time. It was nice to have a more intimate space,” says Michal Cohen, who attended the ANOTR spring set, where tickets went up to $1,000. “I think prices are insane, but I do like it more than going to, like, a Brooklyn warehouse.”

In a world where a $15,000 initiation fee isn’t unheard of, exclusive, premium music experiences are emerging as the latest means to attract and amuse deep-pocketed members in the increasingly competitive world of private clubs.

THE CONCEPT OF MEMBERS’ clubs is hardly new. In New York City alone, prestigious, academic-based institutions like the Harvard Club, the scientific Explorers Club, and the old-money haunt The Union Club, which predates the Gilded Age, still stand. But since 2003, with the arrival of London export Soho House to New York City — its rooftop pool earning a cameo in Sex and the City — there’s been a growth of younger-skewing ventures that have sexy-sounding names like Maxine’s, ZZs, and Crane Club, all materializing around the city’s most affluent and buzzy neighborhoods. (The field is so saturated, Vogue came up with a handy guide to determine what clubs best fit someone’s personality.)

The business behind these clubs is booming, and hospitality experts forecast that the private-club trend will only continue to accelerate, with applicants for New York City alone increasing 42 percent last year, according to Zach Bates, an industry expert and marketing strategist.

These clubs have always strived to maintain an edge on competitors by hiring award-winning chefs, hosting curated events, and decking out their interiors with millions of dollars worth of art. Still, the more competitive landscape has led clubs to drill deeper into hyper-specialization. Moss, a wellness-focused hub near Bryant Park, offers heated thermal pools. New York Vintners in Tribeca is a best-kept secret among wine aficionados and New York Knicks players, with its three-level space serving as an ultra-private storage cellar, entertainment venue, and dining room. Cult streetwear brand KITH introduced the sports-centered KITH Ivy, a “luxury padel brand and club” with $25 Erewhon smoothies and a boutique store.

“There’s going to be this shift where clubs are going to be able to connect you with like-minded people,” explains Bates, who is CEO and founder of Private Clubs Inc., a development and management firm for such ventures. “They’re looking for experience over possessions.”

Take Zero Bond — a favorite members-only haunt of former New York City Mayor Eric Adams and billionaires Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian, and Michael Rubin — who created Baby Disco in its new Las Vegas outpost, offering a scaled-down alternative to the city’s multilevel mega-clubs. On opening night, Doja Cat performed before the Chainsmokers deejayed a set to a few hundred people, versus the thousands they’d attract elsewhere on the Strip. “These clubs went from 2,000, 3,000 to 6,000 people,” explains owner Scott Sartiano, whose résumé includes New York institutions 1 Oak and Up & Down. “[They] got bigger and bigger and bigger. That’s not for everybody. We thought: ‘What can we do that’s right for Zero Bond and its members that gives them that feeling of what they want?’”

Next weekend, Soho House, a longstanding staple of the membership club scene, is bringing its long-running music festival to New York City for the first time. Headlined by Alanis Morissette, the one-day $450 ticket available to members and their guests, will feature a throwback indie-rock line-up that includes the Flaming Lips, MGMT, Santigold, Questlove and friends, as well as Justine Skye, Pauli Lovejoy, and Hamilton Leithauser. Their clubs around the country also offer discounted concert tickets, as well as intimate moderated conversations and live performances within the clubs from artists such as Norah Jones, 50 Cent, Leon Bridges, James Pay, All-American Rejects, and Ja Rule. “We’ve definitely noticed a craving from our members … people are really craving those experiential moments,” explains Dominique Belas, the company’s global head of events.

Members of Aman New York can stop by its Jazz Club, a swanky underground venue for guests of the five-star property. On Valentine’s Day, members were treated to a special set by Diplo, and Jack Harlow dropped by for a scaled-back set of his latest album, Monica. Space permitting, members of the public can also reserve tables to see the likes of Mike Yung, a subway singer-turned-breakout star of America’s Got Talent; acclaimed jazz drummer and composer Terri Lyne Carrington; and vocalist April Varner. There’s also a residency series, kicked off by Black Thought of the Roots, whose semi-regular “One of Those Nights at The Jazz Club” evenings feature rotating surprise guests.

And newcomer Stylus — envisioned as a “shrine to music” — will be a first-of-its-kind space built around a state-of-the-art listening room in the Lower East Side in early 2027. Priced at $10,000 in annual dues and a $5,000 initiation fee, the club will have a high-fidelity sound system designed by Devon Turnbull and 40-hertz sound and light therapy sessions.

The ramp-up of exclusive music-based events comes as the live music industry reaches a crisis point over exorbitant prices and hyper-commercialization. This summer, for example, Pacha New York charged up to $600 a ticket to secure a spot in its “VIP Zone,” set apart from the general area that can hold more than 5,000 people. And depending on the DJ, which has recently included Rampa, Black Coffee, and ANOTR, a designated table for a dozen people may require a minimum spend of more than $10,000.

Erika, who asked to be identified only by her first name, says she gladly paid upwards of €1,200 for two tickets to watch Rampa descend upon the slopes of Courchevel in the French Alps for an après-ski set hosted by Chez Margaux earlier this year.

“It was the highlight of our trip,” Erika says, recalling how the sun set against a backdrop of powdery mountaintops. “We are in our thirties now, and the experience of having that type of exclusive and intimate event was really appealing to us. It obviously comes with a much higher price tag than a music festival or warehouse venue that you might otherwise see these types of DJs. [But] as we get older, we are looking for more experiences like that, compared to a massively crowded event.”

Of course, exclusivity translates to steep prices, but costs have been rising across the board. Between 2019 and 2024, the average cost of a traditional concert ticket in the U.S. rose more than 30 percent, according to Billboard. Fans have been forced to battle scalper bots for seats as small independent venues shutter at an alarming rate. While megastars like Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan, and Taylor Swift can easily sell out stadium-sized shows, the “blue dot fever” — where a sea of blue dots on online seller platforms represents hundreds of unsold tickets — has seen artists like Kid Cudi, the Pussycat Dolls, and the Black Keys scale back shows or scrap tours entirely, citing weak ticket sales.

Some New York nightlife venues have tried to find middle ground by introducing membership models that focus less on exclusivity and more on encouraging frequent concertgoing. Live music venue Baby’s All Right sells an 8-ball chain necklace that doubles as a yearly $250 membership, with free entry to any show. Subscribers to Nowadays’ Patreon — priced as low as $5 a month — are guaranteed entry to every party and can skip the line. Bushwick venue Elsewhere rolled out membership tiers, where the top seasonal pass at $45 a month earns the member and a guest unlimited free entry to shows, VIP guest-list drops, and invites to private events.

“The angle we’ve always taken is more around accessibility and just bringing together music fans first,” says Rami Haykal-Manning, co-founder of Elsewhere. “I feel like memberships have always been around at clubs. It’s not a new concept, but a lot of spaces in the last couple of years have really tried to tap into it in a more hospitality-forward or higher-end version.”

As live music events are increasingly turning into big format spectacles backed by blue-chip sponsorships, some members’ clubs see an opening in the opposite direction: private sets and scaled-down performances for those who can afford it.

“There’s nothing that compares to it,” Ambrosio says. “That’s what makes them so special and what people are willing to pay the price for.”