Roger Waters releases ‘Is This the Life We Really Want?’ performance from ‘This Is Not a Drill’ concert film

June 27, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Roger Waters is sharing another tease of the upcoming theatrical release of his concert film, This Is Not a Drill – Live from Prague the Movie.

The rocker has released a performance clip of “Is This the Life We Really Want?,” the title track of his 2017 solo album.

The concert was recorded during the Pink Floyd rocker’s May 25, 2023, show at O2 Arena in the Czech Republic. The show was part of Waters’ “first ever Farewell Tour” and featured performances of songs like Pink Floyd’s “Us & Them,” “Comfortably Numb” and “Wish You Were Here,” as well as Waters’ solo material.

This Is Not a Drill – Live from Prague the Movie is coming to theaters on July 23 and July 27, with tickets on sale now at RogerWaters.film.

Music from the film will be released on Aug. 1 in a variety of formats: four-LP, two-CD, DVD, Blu-Ray and digital audio. It is available for preorder now.

This is why Iron Maiden won’t be performing at Glastonbury

June 27, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Iron Maiden celebrates their 50th anniversary in 2025, and in that half-century, the metal icons have never played Glastonbury. If that never changes, that’s fine by frontman Bruce Dickinson.

“I always said I’d turn Glastonbury down if we were ever invited,” Dickinson tells the U.K.’s The i Paper.

He adds, “I don’t want to go play in front of Gwyneth Paltrow and a perfume-infested yurt.”

While we can’t speak to the Iron Man star’s current festival-going plans, she has attended Glastonbury in the past to watch her ex-husband, Chris Martin, perform with Coldplay.

As for the alleged perfume infestation, we imagine that’s not the worst thing you could smell at a festival that’s notorious for its mud.

Nevertheless, it seems Maiden is happy to keep on trucking and playing for their dedicated fanbase — and for what they hope is a reasonable price — as they continue their current Run for Your Lives world tour.

“It’s not just about making money,” Dickinson says. “We want s***loads of people to come and see us. I’m amazed at the prices that some people are prepared to pay to see some legacy acts.”

Meanwhile, Glastonbury 2025 is currently underway. It features headliners The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo.

Billie Joe Armstrong raises ‘Anarchy in the UK’ with Sex Pistols during Tons of Rock festival

June 27, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Never mind the bollocks, here’s Billie Joe Armstrong rocking with the Sex Pistols.

The Green Day frontman made a surprise appearance during the reformed punk icons’ set Thursday at the Tons of Rock festival in Norway, joining vocalist Frank Carter in singing “Anarchy in the U.K.”

Sex Pistols announced their reunion in 2024 with original members Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook alongside Carter in place of frontman John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten. Lydon has criticized the new lineup as “karaoke.”

The Sex Pistols reunion tour comes to the U.S. in September.

John Fogerty shares more songs from ‘Legacy: the Creedence Clearwater Revival years’

June 27, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

John Fogerty has shared another taste of his upcoming album, Legacy: the Creedence Clearwater Revival years, dropping Aug. 22.

The album features newly recorded versions of classic CCR tunes. The latest releases are his new takes on “Born on the Bayou” and “Lodi,” which are both available via digital outlets.

“When it came time to sing ‘Lodi,’ I noticed that my voice seemed to have a little extra character in it from the guy who sang this same song 50+ years ago,” Fogerty shares. “I realized that I had to do my darndest to get my mind into the same place that it was when I did the original vocal.”

The song has Fogerty singing about a musician yearning to break free from his small town.

He adds, “I had to reflect and think about the words of the song, think about the times, make myself go back into that spiritual plane of existence and face that.”

The album, produced by Fogerty and his son Shane Fogerty, comes two years after Fogerty fully regained the rights to his CCR catalog. The rocker is backed on the album by both of his sons, Shane and Tyler Fogerty.

Legacy: the Creedence Clearwater Revival years is available for preorder now.

On This Day, June 27, 2002: The Who’s John Entwistle died

June 27, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, June 27, 2002 …

One day before the start of The Who’s U.S. tour, bassist John “The Ox” Entwistle died of a cocaine-induced heart attack. He was found dead in his room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas by the stripper he had spent the night with.

He was 57.

“The Ox has left the building—we’ve lost another great friend,” The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend said in a tribute after Entwistle’s death. “Thanks for your support and love. Pete and Roger.”

The Who decided to go on with their tour and resumed their shows on July 1 with bassist Pino Palladino taking Entwistle’s place.

In addition to his time with The Who, Entwistle released several solo albums, which were the subject of The Ox Box Set, released in 2024. A compilation of rarities, Rarities Oxhumed – Volume Two, was also released that year.

The Smashing Pumpkins announce 25th anniversary ‘Machina’ reissue

June 27, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

The Smashing Pumpkins have announced a reissue of their 2000 album, Machina/The Machines of God, in honor of its 25th anniversary.

A deluxe vinyl box set, which also includes the companion record Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music and 32 bonus tracks, will be available on Aug. 22 exclusively through Billy Corgan‘s Madame Zuzu’s tea shop in Highland Park, Illinois.

“It’s taken some 25 years to finally release Machina as we in the band had hoped it would be, and with MadameZuzus.com as the only place one can get this expansive, 80-song collection, I personally could not be more proud,” says Corgan. “Machina was meant as our swan song, and it was truly a labor of love to bring it to fruition, however broken we were back then.”

The original Machina albums marked the final Smashing Pumpkins releases to feature the band’s classic lineup of Corgan, guitarist James Iha, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and bassist D’Arcy Wretzky before they broke up in 2000. Corgan then reformed the band in 2006 with just Chamberlin, who left in 2009 before rejoining in 2015. Iha then came back in 2018.

“This set stands as a celebration and testament of will, for the songs alone have helped James, Jimmy, and I keep the faith,” Corgan says.

A standalone reissue of just Machina/The Machines of God will also be released on vinyl, CD and digital on Aug. 22.

Corgan has been playing songs off Machina on his Machines of God solo tour, which concludes Sunday in Minneapolis. The Pumpkins will launch an international tour in July.

New box set features Ramones’ first four albums in Dolby Atmos

June 27, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

The music of the Ramones has gotten a sound upgrade.

Rhino just dropped a new box set, 1!2!3!4! The Ramones Atmos Collection. It features the band’s first four albums — Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket to Russia and Road to Ruin — in Dolby Atmos on Blu-ray audio, along with each album’s original stereo mixes in high-resolution.

The Atmos mixes of Leave Home, Rocket to Russia and Road to Ruin were handled by Ed Stasium, who originally engineered those three albums. Craig Leon, producer of the band’s 1976 self-titled debut, handled its remix.

“These Atmos mixes present the Ramones’ recordings with the clarity and power with which I always imagined hearing them,” Stasium says. “It might sound a bit cliché, but I find listening to them to be like seeing the sequence from The Wizard of Oz where the film morphs from black & white to color. These Dolby Atmos mixes are transforming the original mixes from 16mm black & white into vivid IMAX!”

The set, 1!2!3!4! The Ramones Atmos Collection, will be limited to 2,000 copies and is available now at Rhino.com.

Paul McCartney reveals the albums that have been the soundtrack to his life

June 27, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

There’s no doubt plenty of people can say Paul McCartney’s music has played an important role in their life, and now the Beatles legend is revealing the albums that are just as important to him.

In his latest Q&A on his website, a fan shared that they’d recently been discussing albums and songs that have become the soundtrack to their life, and asked McCartney if there were any “albums that take you back to certain periods in your life.”

McCartney named three, noting his “favorite albums by other people” are 1968’s Music from Big Pink by The Band, 1966’s Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys and 1972’s Harvest by Neil Young.

“They are the three classics that I love to listen to, and they all remind me of certain times in my life,” he says.

McCartney also shared that performing his own music can also spark special memories for him.

“When I perform my own songs, the great thing is that they often bring back memories of recording them,” he says. “That can often entail memories of John and George in the studio – sweet memories!,” referring to his late bandmates John Lennon and George Harrison.

No ‘Fade to Black’?: Metallica’s Kirk Hammett doesn’t ‘believe in retirement’

June 26, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Much like time, Metallica marches on, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. At least, as long as Kirk Hammett has his way.

Speaking to Metal Hammer about the possibility of him hanging his guitar up, Hammett declares, “I don’t believe in retirement.”

“Retirement is something that’s been forced onto people; I don’t believe musicians are allowed to retire!” Hammett says. “This was the thinking of all musicians for the last century; because you’ve earned the right to be up there onstage, you have to fulfill that responsibility to the very end.”

“The goal was to die onstage!” he continues. “Playing music is a gift, a blessing and a privilege. I love what I do and it’s magic – it helps people. So I can’t walk away from that.”

Despite Hammett’s own feelings on retirement, he’ll help Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne say goodbye when Metallica performs at the massive Back to the Beginning concert on July 5.

Johnny Van Zant on a possible new Lynyrd Skynyrd album: ‘We will leave that door open for the future’

June 26, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

When Gary Rossington, the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, passed away in 2023, the band decided to continue on, and it turns out, that could mean new music in the future.

The band recently announced a new label deal with Frontiers SRL and in a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, frontman Johnny Van Zant suggests a new album isn’t out of the question. He says that in 2020 they put out a new song “The Last of the Street Survivors,” and there had been plans for more.

“We were headed to doing a new studio album, and then Gary’s health got really bad,” he says. “There are other songs written with Gary before he died that we could record. We will leave that door open for the future.”

He notes that it’s all a matter of if they have the time, sharing, “For me, Skynyrd always made great records, but it was a live band, and that’s still true today.”

“When I first joined [in 1987] we were all still into drinking and having a party on stage – just like the audience – but nowadays we soak that music up,” he says. “It’s become more of a spiritual thing, and we never, ever phone it in. That’s something I’m very proud of.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd will release the live album and DVD, Celebrating 50 Years – Live at the Ryman, on Friday. It’s a recording of the band’s historic 50th anniversary concerts, which took place in November 2022. They were the band’s last shows with Rossington before his death.

Skynyrd’s next concert is happening Friday in Barcelona, Spain. They return to the U.S. for shows starting Aug. 1 in Saratoga, California. A complete list of dates can be found at LynyrdSkynryd.com

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