Classic Rock 93.9

In September, The Scorpions announced that their long-awaited new studio album, Rock Believer, was due out on February 11, 2022, but the release date recently was pushed back to February 25.

This week, Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine and guitarist Rudolf Schenker shared some details about the album during a Zoom interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro.

Asked what fans can expect when they hear the new material, Meine said, “Well, you can expect an album that is dedicated to all the rock believers in the world…The goal was to make a rock album — to make an album with lots of attitude, power and focus on the good old times and really enjoy the music and have some fun with the music.”

Talking about the meaning of the album’s title, Schenker said, “Look, we [have been] around the world since 50 years or more. And [if] somebody can say he’s a rock believer, then this is us. And of course, we meet our rock believers in front of us, our audience.”

The Scorpions gave fans their first taste of Rock Believer last month when they released the lead single, “Peacemaker,” along with a companion music video for the hard-driving tune.

Meine told Radio Futuro that “Peacemaker” exemplified a lot of the tunes on the new record, noting, “It is an uptempo rock song, and this album really rocks…There are many uptempo songs and, believe it or not, there are even faster songs than ‘Peacemaker.'”

In addition, the singer revealed, “There’s also a very beautiful ballad on the album, and I’m sure there are fans out there [who] especially love the Scorpions ballads, and they will enjoy this record as well very much.”

Rock Believer can be pre-ordered now.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Eddie Vedder has announced a 2022 U.S. tour with his solo band, Earthlings.

The outing will begin February 3-4 with a two-night stand in New York City, and will wrap up with a pair of dates in Pearl Jam‘s hometown of Seattle February 21-22.

Tickets will only be available through the Pearl Jam Ten Club and the Ticketmaster Verified Fan program. Registration for either sale is open now through December 5 at 5 p.m. PT.

For the full list of dates, visit PearlJam.com.

Along with Vedder, Earthlings includes Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, ex-RHCP guitarist and current Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, singer-songwriter and Once star Glen Hansard, and guitarist/producer Andrew Watt. The group made their debut at Vedder’s Ohana Festival in September.

Earthlings take their name from Vedder’s upcoming solo album Earthling, due out February 11, 2022. The record includes the previously released singles “Long Way” and “The Haves.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Last month, The Black Crowes played a special two-night Las Vegas engagement at the House of Blues, and now the veteran rockers have announced plans to return to the venue in February 2022 for a pair of new concerts.

The band’s residency, dubbed The Black Crowes: Twice as Hard, will take place on February 11 and February 12, and will feature the group — led by brothers Chris and Rich Robinson — playing their biggest hits, as well favorites from the band’s 1990 debut album, Shake Your Money Maker. The concerts will be held just before Super Bowl LVI, which is scheduled for Sunday, February 13, at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles.

Tickets for the new Vegas shows go on sale to the general public this Friday, December 3, at 10 a.m. PT. Black Crowes band, Live Nation and MGM pre-sale offers are all available now. Visit the group’s official website and social media pages and Ticketmaster.com for more details.

Besides the Las Vegas gigs, Chris and Rich Robinson are scheduled to perform as their Brothers of a Feather duo incarnation on January 15 at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. The Black Crowes also are part of the 2022 Stagecoach Festival lineup and are slated to play that event on May 1 in Indio, California.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

New details have been announced about the release of the previously reported behind-the-scenes documentary film Barn, capturing the making of Neil Young & Crazy Horse‘s upcoming album of the same name, which is due out Friday, December 10.

In addition to the movie being released as part of the deluxe edition of Barn and as a standalone Blu-ray, as previously announced, the film also will be screened in select U.S. theaters on December 9 and in Toronto on December 11.

The Barn documentary also will premiere exclusively on-demand via the AARP Members Only Access service on December 10 and will be available through January 10. Barn also will be screened on AARP’s Music for Grownups platform on December 17.

The Barn film, which was directed by Young’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah — aka “dhlovelife” — offers an intimate look at Neil and the current Crazy Horse lineup working on the album in 19th-century log barn in Colorado’ Rocky Mountains during the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year. Most of the album was recorded live.

A video for one of the songs, “Heading West,” premiered on Young’s official YouTube channel this week, and the track will be made available as the third advance digital single from the album this Friday, December 3.

Barn, which you can pre-order now, is a 10-track collection that will be available on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital formats, and as a deluxe box set. The box set includes a CD and a vinyl LP, as well as the aforementioned Blu-ray featuring the Barn film.

Here’s the list of scheduled theatrical screenings:

12/9 — Chicago, IL, Landmark Century Centre Cinema
12/9 — Santa Monica, CA, Laemmle at the Monica Film Center
12/9 — New York, NY, IFC Center
12/11 — Toronto, ON, Canada, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Later this month, we’ll mark the fifth anniversary of the tragic death of George Michael, who passed way on Christmas Day 2016 at the age of 53.  Now, one of his famous friends is expressing regret at not doing enough to prevent his death.

Speaking with Apple Music, Sting tells Zane Lowe of his late pal, “You wonder where that immense talent would’ve developed. What would he be doing now? And it’s with such sadness that I think of George, because he had such potential and died far too young.”

Sting adds, “And he was a lovely, lovely man. I just miss him. I just miss him. I wish we could have helped him more. I think he was lonely and we should have helped him more.”

Sting and George were both huge pop stars in the ’80s, and sang together on the Band Aid single “Do They Know It’s Christmas.” Over the years, they collaborated onstage, and George covered Sting’s classic Police hit “Roxanne” on his 1999 album Songs from the Last Century.

In 2017, Sting dedicated his song “Fragile” to George and two other icons who left us too early: David Bowie and Prince.

Speaking about his friendships with other artists, Sting told Lowe that many of them came about thanks to the massive charity events that were so popular in the ’80s.

“Events like Live Aid or the Amnesty Tour forced us to share space, to share dressing rooms, to share the stage, to share the limelight, to share airplane journeys together,” he explains. “And some of those friendships that were forged then — for example, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen…Tracy Chapman— those friendships are solid to this day because of that. We recognized our own situation in those other people. We didn’t feel isolated.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

John Mellencamp and former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer are among the artists who have contributed items to a silent holiday auction benefiting The ASCAP Foundation, which supports music education and talent-development programs for music creators.

Mellencamp has donated a signed Jasmine acoustic guitar that has an estimated value of $2,500.

Klinghoffer, who’s currently a member of Pearl Jam‘s touring band, has donated a 45-minute virtual guitar lesson to the auction, valued at $5,000.

Other stars who have donated items to the sale include Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, famed pop songwriter Paul Williams, R&B artist Ne-Yo, rapper Lil Baby and country stars Chris Stapleton and Old Dominion.

Check out all the items at CharityBuzz.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Iron Maiden is bringing the Legacy of the Beast stateside.

The metal legends have announced a 2022 North American leg for their ongoing global greatest hits tour, which first kicked off in 2018. The new dates are set to kick off September 11 in El Paso, Texas, and will wrap up October 27 in Tampa, Florida.

Trivium and Within Temptation will provide support on select dates.

“We’re really looking forward to our return to North America so we can bring The Legacy of the Beast show to places we didn’t get to in 2019 and to other cities we’ve not played for many years,” says frontman Bruce Dickinson.

“I’m really excited about the new additions and changes to the stage production and we can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve got planned,” Dickinson adds. “The whole band has really enjoyed the Legacy tour and now we just can’t wait get back out on the road to play live, have fun and see everyone again!”

The shows will also feature the debut live performances of songs off Maiden’s new album,, Senjutsu, which dropped this past September.

Tickets go on sale to the general public next Friday, December 10, at 10 a.m. local time. You can register for an opportunity at pre-sale tickets via the Ticketmaster Verified Fan program now though December 5 at 10 p.m. ET.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit IronMaiden.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett has announced plans to bring his Genesis Revisited: Seconds Out + More Tour to North America next spring.

The 35-date outing will begin with four shows in Canada, kicking off with a March 26-27 stand in Oakville, Ontario, then moving on to Quebec City on March 29 and Montreal on March 30 before heading to the U.S. for the remainder of the trek.

The stateside portion of the tour gets underway on April 2 in Boston and works its way across the country, wrapping up with a May 19 concert in Seattle.

The Genesis Revisited: Seconds Out + More Tour features Hackett and his solo band performing his former group’s 1977 live album Seconds Out in its entirety, as well as additional songs from Genesis’ back catalog and selections from his latest studio album, 2021’s Surrender of Silence.

Some of the U.S. shows are make-up dates from Hackett’s postponed 2020 and 2021 tours, and those concerts also will include a full performance of Genesis’ 1973 studio album Selling England by the Pound.

Seconds Out was a double album that was released in October 1977 and was mostly recorded during shows that Genesis played in Paris in June of that year. Seconds Out was the last new album that Genesis released featuring Hackett.

“I’m thrilled to bring Seconds Out back to life, featuring Genesis material at its most exciting and virtuosic,” says Steve. “This time with all numbers played in full plus additional surprises!”

Hackett wraps up his 2021 itinerary tonight with a show in Paris. For his full tour schedule and to purchase tickets, visit HackettSongs.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

This past week, British hard-rock legends Deep Purple released their first album of cover tunes, a 12-track collection titled Turning to Crime.

Founding drummer Ian Paice tells ABC Audio that impetus behind the project was the COVID-19 pandemic, which kept the band from touring and from working together on new music in a studio.

“So what do you do? You just can’t sit on your a** all day long, all month long, all year long,” Paice notes. “And if you can’t get together with your pals to write new music, then play some old music…and choose pieces which were important to you for different reasons.”

Paice says the band members settled on the tunes democratically, and recorded the album remotely.

“I was worried at first that it would sound like five guys in different parts of the world, but it doesn’t,” Ian admits. “It sounds like five guys in a room having fun. And once I realized it was gonna have that collective feel, I was really happy with just getting the project as good as we could get it.”

Turning to Crime features Deep Purple putting its own spin on such songs as the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac gem “Oh Well,” Bob Dylan‘s “Watching the River Flow,” Little Feat‘s “Dixie Chicken,” Cream‘s “White Room” and more.

Paice says “Dixie Chicken” was one of the songs he picked, noting, “I love the band, but also, [I’m a] great fan of [drummer] Richie Hayward…[He’s], just a feel-groove merchant.”

Ian also was quite happy with Deep Purple’s version of “Oh Well.”

“I think [guitarist] Steve [Morse] did a wonderful job,” he says. “He married…the Peter Green bit with a bit of Jeff Beck-ism at the end.”

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“7 and 7 Is”
“Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”
“Oh Well”
“Jenny Take a Ride!”
“Watching the River Flow”
“Let the Good Times Roll”
“Dixie Chicken”
“Shapes of Things”
“The Battle of New Orleans”
“Lucifer”
“White Room”
“Caught in the Act” (Medley: “Going Down”/”Green Onions”/”Hot ‘Lanta”/”Dazed and Confused”/”Gimme Some Lovin'”)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Marvel is moving from Iron Man to Iron Maiden.

The iconic comic book brand has announced a collaboration with the metal legends, featuring apparel and accessories that will bring together characters including Wolverine, Thanos, Venom and Deadpool with Maiden’s album artwork and Eddie mascot.

“Eddie has long stood shoulder to shoulder with the greatest super heroes and we’re also pretty proud of the Worlds we created for his many incarnations — from battlefields to Egyptian tombs to frozen icescapes or futuristic cities,” says Maiden manager Rod Smallwood. “Juxtaposing some of the most recognizable characters in pop art and comic book culture into planet Maiden has been an ambition of ours for years and working with Marvel and their unparalleled character-based IP is the perfect fit in this day and age.”

Smallwood adds, “To see such iconic characters alongside Eddie is something our fans have discussed for years and we think that the twist of placing Venom, Thanos, Thor or Deadpool in our Maiden worlds will excite fans of both cultures.”

You can check out the collection now via Iron Maiden’s web store.

Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.