Tom Waits has today (August 9) announced that his twin 2002 albums, ‘Alice’ and ‘Blood Money’, will be reissued on vinyl.

The albums – which this year celebrate their 20-year-anniversary – will be pressed on translucent blue and red vinyl respectively, with the reissues expected to hit record stores and Waits’ merch website on October 7. Both reissues are currently available for pre-order via Waits’ webstore here.

Coinciding with the announcement, Waits has also shared a pair of live recordings set to feature on each of the upcoming reissues: ‘All the World Is Green’ from ‘Blood Money’ and ‘Fish and Bird’ from ‘Alice’.

Check out the live recordings below.

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Waits’ live version of ‘All the World is Green’ adds a flamenco flair to the original, and was recorded during the singer-songwriter’s Milan show as part of his 2008 Glitter and Doom concert tour. Meanwhile, the previously unreleased rendition of ‘Fish and Bird’ was lifted from Waits’ 2004 show in London, and pairs his live vocals with stripped-down piano keys.

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Speaking of the original albums in press materials at the time, Waits recalled his avoidance of string instruments, saying that “too many of [his] songs were drowning in strings.”

“I didn’t want to hear another blasted violin. So, we found string players who felt the same way about their instrument, formed an odd, skeletal chamber orchestra and tried to avoid all the old familiar phrases where strings love to play,” Waits said.

Both ‘Alice’ and ‘Blood Money’ were borne out of Waits and co-writer Kathleen Brennan’s years-long collaboration with playwright Robert Wilson. Wilson had previously contributed to Waits’ 1989 album ‘The Black Rider’, and later featured the songs from ‘Alice’ in his 1992 opera of the same name. On top of that Alice in Wonderland-inspired play, Wilson used ‘Blood Money’ as the basis of his 2000 musical ‘Woyzeck’.

The albums’ contribution to the plays preceded a swathe of Waits’ additional appearances in both stage and screenplays. Over the years, the musician has taken on roles in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film Dracula, as well as his more recent appearance in last year’s Licorice Pizza, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

Elsewhere in live performance news, Waits delivered a rare set at Hal Willner’s tribute concert earlier this year. Taking to the stage in April in honour of the late SNL music producer, Waits performed his own 2013 track ‘Shenandoah’, as well as a live cover of Frank Sinatra‘s ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’.

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Ozzy Osbourne made a surprise appearance at this year’s Commonwealth Games closing ceremony. Watch a clip of the performance below.

The Black Sabbath frontman had previously shared his desire to attend this year’s event in his hometown of Birmingham. It was believed that he would not be able to attend due to currently recovering from an operation last month.

Taking to Instagram last week, he shared footage of ‘Paranoid’ being played out on the BBC over footage of the Games. “This was played at the end of today’s #CommonwealthGames. I really wish I could have been there with you all. Just amazing for Birmingham!” he wrote.

Tonight (August 8), Osbourne made it to the games, however, performing ‘Paranoid’ with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Tommy Clufetos and bassist Adam Wakeman.

“I love you, Birmingham – it’s good to be back!” he said before the closing set.

Later, Osbourne took to Instagram again, this time sharing a clip from the performance. “What a way to bring it all to an end!” he said, adding: “Thank you, Birmingham. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The surprise performance comes after Iommi and saxophonist Soweto Kinch led a dream sequence entitled ‘Hear My Voice’, based on the title track from 2020 film Trial Of The Chicago Seven, re-imagined by Birmingham-born R&B vocalists Indigo Marshall and Gambimi at the event’s opening ceremony.

Specific details of Ozzy’s recent medical procedure have not been confirmed, though he revealed in May that he was awaiting neck surgery as he “can’t walk properly these days” and needed to have physical therapy “every morning”.

Osbourne has suffered several bouts of illnesses and injuries related to accidents over the past few years. Back in January 2020, he confirmed he’d received a “challenging” diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. He also contracted COVID-19 in April.

The star is currently scheduled to take his pandemic-delayed ‘No More Tours 2’ live show on the road in 2023.

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Bring Me The Horizon‘s Oli Sykes and Mat Nichols have completed a triathlon and raised funds for a Ukrainian LGTBQ+ charity.

• READ MORE: Bring Me The Horizon on stepping up for the scene: “Things are better when you’re not the only one”

Over the weekend, Skyles and Nichols posted on Instagram, detailing their first-ever triathlon which consisted of swimming, cycling and running and shared that they’d surpassed their original goal of raising £3,000 for UKRAINEPRIDE.

“We did it!” Oli said. “Thank u so much to everyone that sponsored us in our first triathlon 4 @ukraine.pride means the world. I’m going to leave up the donation page til tomorrow would be sick to double our goal (link in bio) but yeah sick thank u!”

“Had a great time today doing this,” Mat posted. “All for a good cause. Thanks to everyone that donated, me and Ol are dead chuffed to have smashed the target we set for the fundraising.”

Earlier this year, the band paid tribute to Ukraine during their BandLab NME Awards 2022  closing set.

Taking to the O2 Academy Brixton stage, BMTH, who were proudly displaying the Ukrainian flag on their bass drum skin, launched into ‘Can You Feel My Heart’. They then played ‘Parasite Eve’ (where they were joined by two dancers in yellow hazmat suits), ‘DiE4u’, ‘Mantra’ and ‘1×1’, which they performed with help from Nova Twins.

Prior to playing their set-closing track ‘Throne’, BMTH frontman Oli Sykes made a speech in honour of the Ukrainian people. “I guess it’s better being here in a room full of influential people: they need to use their voice every single day until this crisis is over,” he told the room.

“If Kyiv does not survive, international peace will not survive,” he added, before the band tore into ‘Throne’.

Last month, Bring Me The Horizon shared a music video for their new single ‘Strangers’, inspired by the mental health experiences of the band and their fans. The track was first revealed during a DJ set that the band performed on the first night of their own Malta Weekender festival.

The band’s last non-collaborative single was ‘DiE4u’, which landed last September. Like ‘Strangers’, that song is expected to appear on the next instalment of the band’s ‘Post Human’ EP series, which is slated for release sometime this year. The first instalment, ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’, was released in October 2020.

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