Classic Rock 93.9

Robert Plant has released another track off his upcoming album with his acoustic band Saving Grace. The latest is the tune “Gospel Plough,” which is now available.

According to a description on Instagram, with “Gospel Plough” the band transforms “a centuries-old spiritual number into a hypnotic mélange of vocals, steel banjo, acoustic guitar, and percussion.”

Plant and Saving Grace are set to release their debut album, Saving Grace, on Sept. 26. It’s an album that’s six years in the making, as Plant began working with Saving Grace — drummer Oli Jefferson, guitarist Tony Kelsey, banjo and string player Matt Worley, cellist Barney Morse Brown and vocalist Suzi Dian — in 2019.

The album, which Plant describes as “a song book of the lost and found,” was recorded between April 2019 and January 2025. It has them covering songs by Memphis Minnie, Bob Mosley of Moby Grape, Blind Willie Johnson and more.

Plant and Saving Grace are set to launch their first U.S. tour on Oct. 30 in Wheeling, West Virginia, with dates confirmed through Nov. 23 in Valley Center, California. A complete list of dates can be found at RobertPlant.com.

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A new box set celebrating John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s political activism and early life in New York City is on the way.

Power to the People (Super Deluxe Edition), produced by the couple’s son Sean Ono Lennon, will be released Oct. 10, on what would have been John’s 85th birthday. It’s a nine-CD/3-Blu-ray box set, featuring 123 tracks, 90 of which have either never been heard before or were previously unreleased. They include demos, outtakes, home recordings and more.

The set includes a new version of their 1972 album Sometime in New York City, as well as a completely remixed version of the pair’s 1972 One to One concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden, which were John’s only full length concerts after leaving The Beatles.  The concerts will also be released outside the box set in a variety of configurations. 

As a preview of the box set, a previously unreleased performance of “Come Together” from the One to One concerts has now been released.

“I was completely floored putting this collection together and getting to remix the concerts and hearing all the unreleased material from my parents’ archive for the first time,” said Sean. “People may not realize how special it is for me to hear my dad talking or to see him. I grew up with a set number of images and audio clips that everyone’s familiar with. So to come across things that I’ve never seen or heard is really deep for me, because it’s almost like getting more time with my dad.”

The super deluxe edition will come with a 204-page hardcover book and more goodies. There will also be two-CD, four-LP and two-LP colored vinyl editions. 

All formats are available for preorder now.

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On This Day, Aug. 14, 1971…

English rockers The Who released their iconic album Who’s Next, featuring such future Who classics as “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Behind Blue Eyes.”

The album was originally conceived as another rock opera, Lifehouse, following their 1969 hit Tommy. Pete Townshend eventually scrapped the whole project.

Who’s Next was a critics’ darling, and consistently lands on lists of the greatest albums of all time. The album was the band’s only #1 in the U.K.; it hit #4 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has been certified triple Platinum by the RIAA.

The Who revisited Who’s Next/Lifehouse in 2023 with a new 10-CD/Blu-ray set that featured 155 tracks, with 89 songs that had never been released and 57 fresh remixes. It included Lifehouse demos, various session recordings and two complete concerts from 1971: one recorded at London’s Young Vic theater and one recorded at San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium.

The Who is getting ready to launch their last tour of North America. The Song is Over North American Farewell tour will kick off Saturday in Sunrise, Florida, and wrap Sept. 28 in Las Vegas.

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Eagles founding member Bernie Leadon has debuted a video for his latest single, “Too Many Memories,” which is his first solo single in over 21 years.

The clip uses old photos to provide a “visual time capsule” of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s life and career, and he says digging through his old pics for the clip was “a lot of fun.”

“I’m sure everyone has their own batch of photos they feel strongly connected to. And a song or two to go with them,” he says. “Looking back at photos, and different moments throughout our lives, so many memories, stories and feelings come back to us, sometimes connected to a song or a similar experience.”

He adds, “It’s not that we literally have ‘Too Many’ memories, it’s that some of them may not be resolved, that we’ve left something undone or unsaid.” He notes, “The song’s conclusion is that we really should leave most of the troubling things behind, let them dissolve like the mist rising off a meadow in the early morning or dwindling light of evening.”

It’s been a long time since Leadon has performed for the public, but that’s about to change. He’s set to perform at the upcoming Americanafest, taking place Sept. 9-13, marking his first public performance since touring with the Eagles on 2105’s History of the Eagles tour.

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Foreigner has added more orchestral shows to their 2026 calendar.

The Rock & Roll of Famers already announced a five-night Las Vegas residency, Foreigner: The Hits Orchestral – Celebrating 50 Years Live in Vegas, which will take place at The Venetian Theatre March 6-14. And now they’ve added some California dates to the tour.

Following Vegas, Foreigner will play five cities in California starting March 17 in Redding, and hitting Folsom, San Diego and Napa before wrapping March 22 in San Jose.

The shows will have the band playing their biggest hits, like “Urgent,” “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded” and “I Want To Know What Love Is,” backed by a 20-piece orchestra, with arrangements written by Juilliard cello virtuoso Dave Eggar and conductor Chuck Palmer.

Information on tickets and a complete list of dates can be found at Foreigner.com.

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Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks have shared another track from the upcoming reissue of their only studio album as a duo, 1973’s Buckingham Nicks.

The artists have released the tune “Don’t Let Me Down Again,” which was the first single off the record when it was originally released. It is now available via digital outlets.

Buckingham Nicks is being released Sept. 19, digitally, on CD and on vinyl, with newly remastered sound. This will mark the first-ever reissue of the album, which has been unavailable for decades.

Lindsey and Stevie’s career didn’t initially take off after the release of Buckingham Nicks. The album wasn’t a commercial success, but shortly after the release Mick Fleetwood heard a track from the album, which led to him inviting Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham insisted his then-girlfriend Nicks come with him, and the pair officially joined the band on New Year’s Eve 1974.

Buckingham Nicks is available for preorder now.

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President Donald Trump announced this year’s Kennedy Center Honorees Wednesday, with KISS among the artists being recognized.

Trump made the announcement during a press conference. “I Will Survive” singer Gloria Gaynor, actor Sylvester Stallone, Phantom of the Opera star Michael Crawford and country legend George Strait also make up the 49th class of Kennedy Center Honorees.

“They’re great people and they deserve it. They work hard, and they’re still working hard,” Trump said of KISS, noting the band has “something very special” planned for the annual ceremony, which will be held on Dec. 7. “We’re gonna have a good time.”

Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss formed KISS in New York City in 1973. They released their self-titled debut album in 1974 and have gone on to become one of the biggest-selling bands of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. 

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Elton John, reality competition host? Well, sort of.

Elton, his husband David Furnish and their pal Charlotte Tilbury, of the makeup line of the same name, are teaming up to host an online competition called Style Icon. Here’s how it works: Go to StyleIcon.org to submit your photo and a short application spotlighting your personal style. Then, share your profile and encourage friends, family and fans to vote.

The public will then vote for their favorite Style Icon, which will involve supporting the Elton John AIDS Foundation in some way — it’s not clear how at the moment. The stylish winner will get tickets to Versace’s show at Milan Fashion Week 2026, $20,000 and an exclusive feature in Flaunt magazine.

“You’ve got flair, and the world needs to see it,” says Elton in an Instagram post announcing the competition.

“If you’re a bold trendsetter who inspires the world with your signature style, join us in our search for the next style icon,” David says.

“But it’s more than glitz and glam,” Elton continues. “This competition is about using your voice and your platform for good.” 

“Through your participation, you are supporting lifesaving work,” notes David.

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David Byrne reunited with his Talking Heads bandmates in 2023 to promote the rerelease of their 1984 concert film, Stop Making Sense, but anyone holding out hope for a reunion tour will be disappointed.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Byrne says doing press for the movie together resulted in him and his bandmates – Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth – feeling “more comfortable with one another” but it won’t lead to anything else.

“I didn’t feel like, ‘Oh, yeah, let’s go out on tour again.’ Or, ‘Let’s make another record,'” he says. “Musically, I’ve gone to a very different place. And I also felt like there’s been a fair number of reunion records and tours. And some of them were probably pretty good. Not very many.”

“It’s pretty much impossible to recapture where you were at that time in your life,” he adds. “For an audience … that was formative music for them at a particular time. They might persuade themselves that they can relive that, but you can’t.”

But Byrne says he can “totally understand” why fans want a Talking Heads reunion tour.

“I’m a music fan like other people,” he says, noting there are bands that have broken up that he’s missed.
 

“But you realize you can’t turn the clock back,” he says. “When you hear music at a certain point in your life, it means a lot. But it doesn’t mean you can go back there and make it happen again.”

Byrne is set to release a new solo album, Who is the Sky?, on Sept. 5 and just released another song from the record, “The Avant Garde,” to digital outlets.

He’s also hitting the road on a new tour that kicks off Sept. 14 in Providence, Rhode Island. A complete list of dates can be found at DavidByrne.com.

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Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde has recruited some of her famous friends for a new solo album, Duets Special, dropping Oct. 17.

The album features Chrissie collaborating with artists like Blondie’s Debbie Harry, The Killers’ Brandon Flowers, Garbage’s Shirley Manson, The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, the late Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan, k.d. lang, Lucinda Williams, Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, Julian Lennon and more.

Hynde is offering up the first preview of the record with the digital release of the classic “Always on My Mind,” featuring Rufus Wainwright.

“I never thought about doing a Duets album before. I think the idea came about in 2023,” Chrissie shares. “I was talking to Jörn (Weisbrodt), Rufus Wainwright’s husband, on the phone. I think we were recommending novels to each other, and for some reason, I said ‘Hey, maybe Rufus and I should do something,’ and quickly scribbled out 10 songs off the top of my head.”

She adds, “So Jörn asked Rufus, who was up for it, and that’s how it started. A spontaneous and what I thought would be a fun thing.”

Duets Special, Hynde’s fourth solo album and the first since 2021’s Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan, will be released digitally, and on black vinyl and CD. It is available for preorder now.

Here is the track list for the album:

“Me & Mrs Jones” (feat. k.d. lang)
“Can’t Help Falling In Love” (feat. Mark Lanegan)
“Sway (feat. Lucinda Williams)
“Dolphins” (feat. Dave Gahan)
“First of the Gang to Die” (feat. Cat Power)
“Always on My Mind” (feat. Rufus Wainwright)
“Every Little Bit Hurts” (feat. Carleen Anderson)
“I’m Not in Love” (feat. Brandon Flowers)
“It’s Only Love (feat. Julian Lennon)
“Try to Sleep” (feat. Debbie Harry)
“County Line” (feat. Alan Sparhawk)
“Love Letters” (feat. Shirley Manson)
“(You’re My) Soul And Inspiration” (feat. Dan Auerbach)

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