Classic Rock 93.9

Def Leppard is giving fans a backstage look at their recent concert at Feria Estatal De León in León, Mexico.

The band shared their first behind-the-tour video of 2025, highlighting the Jan. 18 concert, which they played without guitarist Vivian Campbell, who’s recovering from a bone marrow transplant to treat his cancer.

“Vivian is recuperating from cancer surgery,” frontman Joe Elliott says in the clip. “He’s doing very well but he’s in a bubble. He’s not allowed to travel.”

Phil Collen‘s guitar tech John Zocco filled in for Viv, with Elliott calling him a “phenomenal player.” He adds, “We have every confidence that it will go swimmingly until our boy Vivian is back on the stage with us.”

Rick Savage adds, “Viv we miss you, we love you and we wish you could be with us.”

In footage from the concert, Elliott tells the audience that they’re celebrating the 45th anniversary of their debut album, On Through The Night. The band follows that by performing one of the singles from the album, “Wasted.”

Elliott later shares that the León concert actually took place 45 years to the day that Def Leppard kicked off their On Through The Night tour, which was their first-ever headlining tour.

Def Leppard has several more dates on the books for 2025, with shows confirmed through August. Their next show is happening May 15 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com.

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The upcoming MusiCares Charity Relief Auction is set to feature a whole host of items from this year’s MusiCares Person of the Year, the Grateful Dead.

Among the Dead-related items available are Jerry Garcia’s ivory two-piece suit, worn on the cover of The Dead’s 1980 album Go To Heaven; a Bobby Weir-owned, -played and -autographed D’Angelico Deluxe Bobby Weir 3 semi-hollowbody electric guitar; signed Mickey Hart art on various canvases, including drumheads and symbols; and Bill Kreutzmann’s owned and used Yamaha Alex Acuña 10-inch timbale.

Plus there will be rare test pressings of several reissued Dead albums, each signed by Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux.

The MusiCares Charity Relief Auction, put on by Julien’s Auctions, is happening Sunday live at the Recording Academy in Santa Monica, California, and online at juliansauctions.com.

Proceeds will benefit The MusiCares Foundation, which, according to a press release, “raises essential funds that help music professionals recover from crises, including the unprecedented challenges posed by the recent wildfires in Greater Los Angeles.”

The members of the Grateful Dead will be honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year on Friday. The gala, taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will feature performances by such artists as Mick Fleetwood, Stewart Copeland, Sammy Hagar and Dave Matthews, as well as Dead & Company, which includes Weir, Hart and Kreutzmann along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti.

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The Eric Burdon years of War are being highlighted in a new CD box set.

Eric Burdon & War – The Complete CD Collection, dropping March 7, is a four-CD set made up of War albums released between 1970 and 1976. Those albums include 1970’s Eric Burdon Declares War and Black Man’s Burdon, and 1976’s Love Is All Around.

War previously released this box set as a Record Store Day exclusive on vinyl.

This is the second release War is putting out this year, which also happens to be their 55th anniversary.

On Feb. 7 they’ll drop Live in Japan 1974, which is their first live album to feature all seven original members. It features a collection of recently discovered live recordings from concerts in Shizuoka, Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe, and will be released on vinyl and CD for the very first time.

Both releases are available for preorder now.

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Bob Dylan has paid tribute to The Band‘s Garth Hudson, who passed away Jan. 21 at the age of 87.

“Sorry to hear the news about Garth Hudson,” Dylan shared on social media. “He was a beautiful guy and the real driving force behind The Band. Just listen to the original recording of The Weight and you’ll see.”

Before striking out on their own, The Band, made up of keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Hudson, guitarist/songwriter Robbie Robertson, keyboardist/vocalist Richard Manuel, bassist/vocalist Rick Danko and drummer/vocalist Levon Helm, gained fame as Dylan’s backing group in the ‘60s, although they were known as The Hawks at that time.

Hudson was the last surviving member of The Band, who were inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. 

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On This Day, Jan 28, 1985…

An all-star lineup of musicians came together in a studio in Los Angeles to record the charity single “We Are the World.”

The tune, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, featured artists like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Steve Perry and more.

Released in March 1985, “We Are the World” raised more than $63 million for a newly formed organization called United Support of Artists for Africa (USA for Africa) to help with the famine crisis in the region.

The song, produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian, went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for a month. It went on to become the first single to be certified multi-Platinum, earning a four-time Platinum certification by the RIAA.

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Paul McCartney’s band Wings is celebrating the 50th anniversary of their fourth studio album, Venus and Mars.

The milestone will be marked with a new half-speed master reissue of the album, dropping March 21. The remaster was created by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios using the original master recordings from 1975 and will feature a reproduction of the original U.K. pressing, and a recreation of the original artwork by Hipgnosis.

The album will also get its first-ever Dolby Atmos release, with Giles Martin and Steve Orchard behind the new mix.

The follow-up to the hit album Band on the Run, Venus and Mars, released May 30, 1975, hit #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It featured the #1 single “Listen to What the Man Said.”

Venus and Mars (50th Anniversary) is available for preorder now.

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Rush is looking back at their career with a new box set.

Rush 50, dropping March 21, is a 50-track anthology that spans from the band’s 1973 debut single and ends with the last song they ever played together live.

The anthology includes select songs from every studio album, as well as seven previously unreleased tracks, including the first ever CD and LP reissue of their first single, 1973’s “Not Fade Away,” as well as “You Can’t Fight It.” There’s also Vault Editions of 1974’s “Working Man” and 1978’s “The Trees,” featuring alternative guitar solos from Alex Lifeson. Both songs were previously only available digitally.

Rush 50 also includes five unreleased live songs, two of which come from the band’s earliest live shows. The set’s final track is a recording of their last live performance together, at their final show in 2015 at The Forum in Los Angeles: “What You’re Doing,” “Working Man” and “Garden Road.”

“50? Is that all?” frontman Geddy Lee shares, “…seriously…it’s a cool collection…but look at all those songs – I’m exhausted just reading the effin list!”

Rush 50 will be released in a variety of formats including a 7-LP Deluxe Edition, a 4-CD Deluxe Edition and a digital edition. There’s also a 4-CD/7-LP Super Deluxe Edition and a Rush Store Exclusive Super Deluxe Edition.

All formats are available for preorder now.

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The music of Grateful Dead founder Jerry Garcia will be celebrated this spring by the Boston Pops.

On June 3 and June 4, the Pops will host the Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration, conducted by Keith Lockhart, with an all-star lineup including Jerry Garcia Band members Melvin Seals and Jackyln LaBranch, Dead & Company and Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead member Tom Hamilton Jr.

According to the announcement, the concerts will celebrate “60 years of the Grateful Dead and Garcia’s enduring legacy.”

Tickets for both shows go on sale Feb. 4 at 10 a.m. at BostonPops.org.

In other Dead-related news, in celebration of the band’s 60th anniversary, ANALOGr has launched a new Dark Star Palace auction, with over 8,000 Grateful Dead items becoming available throughout the year, including backstage passes, posters, books, artwork and recordings.

Some of the items in the auction include Phil Lesh’s original #5 Dual Showman Bass Amplifier, an early replica of Garcia’s “Alligator” guitar and a 35-foot tie-dyed stage backdrop.

More info on the auction can be found at analogr.com.

Coming up next, the members of the Grateful Dead will be honored as the Recording Academy’s MusiCares Person of the Year on Friday. The gala, taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will feature performances by such artists as Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood, The Police’s Stewart Copeland, Sammy Hagar and Dave Matthews, as well as Dead & Company, which includes Dead members Bobby Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann along with John Mayer, Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti.

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Bob Dylan has been in the news more than ever thanks to the biopic A Complete Unknown, and if that makes people want to go see him live, there’s now a chance to make that happen. 

Dylan has announced three new shows for 2025: March 29 in Wichita, Kansas; April 4 in Mankato, Minnesota; and April 6 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Still being billed as Dylan’s Rough & Rowdy Ways Tour, which originally launched in November 2021, the 2025 trek kicks off March 25 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the same city that houses the Bob Dylan Center.

Tickets for the new shows go on sale Friday.

A complete list of dates can be found at bobdylan.com.

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David Lee Roth, former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, and Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini performing Ratt are the rockers set to headline the annual M3 Rock Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

The 16th edition of the hard rock festival is happening May 2-4, with a lineup that also includes Winger, Slaughter, former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, Warrant, Great White and Lita Ford.

The Roth performance will be the former Van Halen frontman’s first live performance since March 2020. He was supposed to play a Las Vegas residency in December 2021/January 2022, which was billed as his final shows, but they it was canceled and he retired from performing.

Tickets for the festival go on sale Friday at 12 p.m. ET. A complete schedule and lineup can be found at m3rockfest.com.

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