Classic Rock 93.9

Jon Bon Jovi celebrated his 60th birthday on Wednesday, and the New Jersey rocker had a message of thanks to share with all of his fans who wished him well on his big day.

In a video posted on his Twitter, Jon says, “Thank you with all my heart for all of the birthday wishes, all of the love that’s out there. I’m a very lucky man, and I want you to know that there’s not a day of this I’ve taken for granted. So on this occasion of my 60th birthday, it fits. I feel good about it.”

With Bon Jovi, the band, preparing to launch a U.S. tour next month, Jon notes, “I’m looking forward to making music with the guys again. We’re in rehearsal. It’s going great. I look forward to seeing your smiling faces again, getting all this COVID behind us.”

The singer concludes by saying, “I wish you all the same kind of love that I got today on my special day. Until I see you again, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of my life.”

In honor of Jon’s milestone, the Bon Jovi Twitter posted a note that reads, “The happiest of birthdays and lots of love to the one and only, @jonbonjovi,” and asked fans to leave their own birthday messages for him in the comments section, which you can read here.

Bon Jovi’s 2022 U.S. trek kicks off April 1 in Omaha, Nebraska.

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Def Leppard will be playing stadiums this summer, but fans of the band will have the chance to see drummer Rick Allen performing in much smaller venues in three U.S. cities this month.

Allen will be accompanying his wife, singer/songwriter and healing artist Lauren Monroe, at intimate concerts taking place on March 21 in New York City, March 22 in Philadelphia and March 24 in Washington, D.C.

The shows will celebrate the arrival of Monroe’s new single, “Kiss Me Now,” which will be released on March 18. You can check out a preview clip of the song at Lauren’s SoundCloud page. Among the musicians who contributed to the track were longtime Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone and acclaimed session bassist Bob Glaub.

At Monroe’s concerts, attendees will be able to view two pieces of art that Allen and Monroe created together, which will be auctioned online to benefit Raven Drum Foundation — the charity founded by the couple that seeks to support, educate and empower military veterans dealing with PTSD and combat trauma, as well as other at-risk populations.

The concerts and the single’s release coincide with National Complementary Therapy Week, which is observed March 20-27 in the U.S. and U.K. Through performance, storytelling and art, Allen and Monroe hope to present an intimate experience that will demonstrate how music can help people heal and grow.

For each performance, Raven Drum Foundation will be teaming up with local veterans organizations to nominate veterans who will get to attend the shows for free.

People also can visit e.givesmart.com, where they can purchase tickets that will be donated to veterans who would like to attend a Monroe concert.

Def Leppard’s The Stadium Tour with Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett kicks off June 16 in Atlanta.

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Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason‘s current band, Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, has joined the growing list of artists who have canceled concerts in Russia in the wake of that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

A statement from Mason’s group reads, “Due to the current events happening in Ukraine, we are cancelling all of our shows in Russia that were due to take place this summer. Our thoughts and support are with all those in Ukraine.”

Saucerful of Secrets’ Russian shows had been scheduled for June 10 in St. Petersburg and June 11 in Moscow. The band’s 2022 European tour begins April 13 in Dublin, Ireland.

Meanwhile, Mason’s former Pink Floyd band mate David Gilmour is among the rockers sharing their support for Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Gilmour posted a note online that reads, “Russian soldiers, stop killing your brothers. There will be no winners in this war. My daughter-in-law is Ukrainian and my grand-daughters want to visit and know their beautiful country. Stop this before it is all destroyed. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin must go.”

To accompanying his message, Gilmour posted the animated music video for his 2015 song “In Any Tongue,” which is about the futility of war.

The Who‘s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend also shared their support for Ukraine, in a note posted on the band’s social media pages this week.

“We stand by the people of Ukraine at this particularly harrowing time as we will stand for all whose freedoms are violated,” Daltrey and Townshend said in a joint statement.

The message also includes a quote from late U.S. historian, playwright and philosopher Howard Zinn that reads, “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”

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Night Ranger guitarist Brad Gillis and Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan are both considered virtuosos at their chosen instruments, so perhaps it’s not surprising that they’re now part of the lineup of a new band called Skills.

The group, which also features singer Renan Zonta of the Brazilian rock act Electric Mob and drummer David Huff of the band Giant, will release its debut album, Different Worlds, on May 13.

Skills have released an advance track from the album called “Stop the World,” along with a companion video that you can check out at Frontiers Music’s YouTube channel.

The video features a young woman sitting on her couch and flipping through channels on her television set, when footage of Skills performing “Stop the World” takes over the screen and she is unable to click to a different channel. Frustrated, she turns the TV off and heads out of her apartment. As she wanders a deserted street, she’s drawn to another building and when she enters, she finds herself in a room with dozens of TV sets all showing the members of Skills playing their song.

You can pre-order Different Worlds now. The album is available digitally, on CD and as a limited-edition LP pressed on white-marble-colored vinyl.

Here’s the full Different Worlds track list:

“Escape Machine”
“Blame It on the Night”
“Different Worlds”
“Losing the Track”
“Writings on the Wall”
“Show Me the Way”
“Just When I Needed You”
“Need to Fall”
“Stop the World”
“Hearts of Stone”
“Don’t Break My Heart”

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Asia recently released a 10-CD box set titled The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1 featuring recordings of five full concerts by the prog-rock supergroup’s original lineup from various years of their career.

Drummer Carl Palmer, who helped put the collection together, tells ABC Audio that choosing shows from various locations or with diverse set lists weren’t important criteria for what made it to the box set.

“We just selected the best live recordings, and wherever they came from, they came from,” he explains. “We didn’t really go for certain countries, we just went for the best live recordings. So that’s how it’s made up.”

Palmer adds, “[I]f there was a better set list but the sound wasn’t as good, then that wouldn’t make it…[W]hen you’re talking about live recordings, you’ve got to go for the best sound, not necessarily the best set list.”

That being said, the five concerts all come from different years and locations, with at least some set variations between each show.

The first concert was recorded at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York, in May 1982. The second show was held at The Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts in August 1983.

The other three concerts were captured after Asia’s classic lineup reunited for its 25th anniversary — in March 2007 at the Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil; in May 2008 at the International Forum in Tokyo; and in December 2010 at The Forum in London.

Palmer says the timing of the box set’s release was appropriate, with Asia celebrating its classic 1982 self-titled debut’s 40th anniversary, noting that versions of many of the songs from first album are featured on the live recordings.

As previously reported, the current Asia lineup will launch a 40th anniversary tour this summer.

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Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson‘s new band Envy of None has released a second advance track from its forthcoming self-titled debut album, an ominous, atmospheric tune called “Look Inside.”

The song, which is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, showcases singer Maiah Wynne‘s ethereal, dreamy vocals, which are accompanied by swirling layers of electronic and reverb-laden instrumentation.

Envy of None has posted a snippet of “Look Inside” on its and social media pages and on the Kscope label’s official YouTube channel.

As previously reported, the Envy of None album is an 11-track collection that will be released on April 8. In addition to Lifeson and Wynne, a Portland, Oregon-based singer/songwriter, the band also features bassist Andy Curran of the veteran Canadian rock group Coney Hatch and guitarist/keyboardist Alfio Annibalini.

Prior to releasing “Look Inside,” Envy of None debuted another track from the album, titled “Liar.” Check out a lyric video for the latter song on YouTube.

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Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo have announced a new show with their covers side project, The Wedding Band.

The concert takes place May 27 in Napa, California, and is an official after-show of the BottleRock Napa Valley festival, which Metallica is headlining.

Tickets go on sale this Thursday, March 3. For more info, visit BottleRockNapaValley.com.

Along with Hammett and Trujillo, The Wedding Band features a rotating lineup, including Queens of the Stone Age drummer Jon Theodore, Bad Wolves guitarist Doc Coyle and Ugly Kid Joe vocalist Whitfield Crane. The group’s sporadic live shows consist entirely of covers.

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Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach and Wendy Dio, widow of legendary rock singer Ronnie James Dio, will participate in a special discussion event about heavy metal that’s been newly added to the lineup of the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

The Q&A session, titled “Dreamers Never Die: The Enduring Power of Metal,” will take place on March 18 at the Austin Convention Center, starting at 11:30 a.m. CT. The event will feature Butler, Bach and Dio chatting with rock radio and TV host Eddie Trunk about the enduring connection so many musicians and fans have to heavy metal music, and people’s continued adherence to the hard-rock lifestyle even as they enter their golden years.

The session clearly is connected to the new documentary about Ronnie James Dio, DIO Dreamers Never Die, which is scheduled to get its world premiere at the festival on March 17.

The film is described as the “definitive career spanning documentary” on the late singer, who during his long career fronted his own band, Dio, as well as Rainbow and Black Sabbath. Ronnie died in May 2010 from stomach cancer at age 67.

In other SXSW news, Sammy Hagar & the Circle will be among the acts that will be performing at a free series of concerts at the SXSW Outdoor Stage at Austin’s Lady Bird Lake, running from March 17 to March 19. Hagar and company’s set will close out the March 18 bill, and will begin at 8 p.m. CT.

Visit SXSW.org for more details about the festival, which runs from March 11 to March 20.

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Paul McCartney has joined the many artists and other celebrities voicing his support for Ukraine as the country is being invaded by the Russian military.

McCartney has posted a note on his official website and social media pages that reads, “Remembering playing for our friends in Ukraine in Independence Square in 2008 and thinking of them in these difficult times. We send our love and support.”

Sir Paul also included link to three organizations aiding in relief for Ukrainians in need — UNICEF, Save the Children and the Red Cross.

Accompanying the message is a photo of Sir Paul waving a Ukrainian flag while onstage at the aforementioned concert, which took place in June 2008 in the capital city of Kyiv. According to PaulMcCartney.com, the former Beatles legend’s show was free, was attended by hundreds of thousands of people, and was broadcast live on Ukrainian television.

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It’s been over eight years since Lou Reed took his last walk on the wild side, but had he lived, the influential rocker would have celebrated his 80th birthday today.

Reed came to fame in the late 1960s as the leader, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter of the New York City-based band The Velvet Underground, whose songs explored dark themes such as drugs, kinky sex and domestic violence in the midst of the “Flower Power” era.

Although the group enjoyed little commercial success, their edgy and poetic tunes and sometimes experimental music inspired countless bands and artists that followed in their wake, including David Bowie, Roxy Music, Patti Smith and many notable punk, New Wave and alternative rock acts.

The band’s 1967 debut, The Velvet Undeground & Nico, was ranked #23 on Rolling Stone‘s 2020 list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

Reed left The Velvet Underground in 1970 and forged a critically acclaimed solo career that spanned over 40 years.

Lou’s best-known solo effort was 1972’s Transformer, which was co-produced by Bowie. The album peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200 and included Reed’s signature tune “Walk on the Wild Side,” which reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as “Perfect Day.”

Two of Reed’s solo albums were certified gold for sales of 500,000 in the U.S. — the popular 1974 live album Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal and 1990’s New York, which featured the modern-rock hit “Dirty Blvd.”

Reed was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, in 1992 as member of The Velvet Underground and posthumously as a solo artist in 2015.

Reed’s final album project saw him collaborate with Metallica on the 2011 concept album Lulu.

Lou died of liver cancer in October 2013 at age 71.

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