Classic Rock 93.9

Back in February, Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer revealed that he had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that left him unable to play guitar. Now he’s sharing a health update with fans.

“I just want to let you all know that I’m getting better day by day. The progress I’m making is excellent!” he shared on Instagram. “My dream is to visit Japan, the States, and Europe with Stray Cats, and of course, one of my biggest thrills would be bringing back the BSO Christmas show tradition,” referring to his other band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra.

“Thank you all for your love and support—it truly means the world to me,” he added. “I was deeply touched. I love you guys, and only we can truly understand what this sound means to us!”

In his initial announcement, Setzer said he discovered he had an autoimmune disease after suffering cramping at the end of the last Stray Cats tour in 2024. He said he was being treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, telling fans, “I know I will beat this, it will just take some time.”

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Moog Music has announced a new collaboration with Rush rocker Geddy Lee.

The company is debuting a new synthesizer, the Moog Music Geddy Lee Minimoog Model D. It takes inspiration from the original Minimoog Model D, which helped shape Rush’s progressive rock sound on songs like “Tom Sawyer” and “Subdivisions.”

“It’s a thrill to see the Minimoog Model D in that stunning red, so representative of one of the most fertile periods in Rush’s creative history,” Geddy shares. “I’ve always been mad for custom color instruments, many inspired by automotive hues, and I’m thrilled with how it turned out—it’s just so beautiful.”

He adds, “The Minimoog Model D was the first synth that made dreaming big accessible to a schlub like me. Its intuitive design lets you learn waveforms, blend sounds, and experiment with the modulation wheel. That’s its legacy: a fat, sophisticated sound in a package that’s not daunting to get your hands on.” 

The Geddy Lee Minimoog Model D features a custom red satin finish with metallic flecks, which matches Lee’s Grace Under Pressure-era keyboard. It also includes a custom Rush “starman” logo” and other enhanced features, with each Minimoog coming with a 10-inch translucent vinyl copy of Rush tracks “Xandadu” and “Jacob’s Ladder.”

The Moog Music Geddy Lee Minimoog Model D is available now via Reverb.

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Guns N’ Roses have announced a new drummer following the departure of longtime member Frank Ferrer.

Isaac Carpenter, who’s played in AWOLNATION for the last decade, will man the kit for the “Welcome to the Jungle” rockers during their 2025 world tour dates, which begin in Asia in May.

Carpenter also has a connection to GN’R bassist Duff McKagan, having played in his band Loaded.

GN’R announced on Wednesday that they and Ferrer had amicably parted ways. Ferrer, who joined in 2006, leaves the group as the longest tenured drummer in GN’R history.

“The band thanks Frank for his friendship, creativity, and sturdy presence over the past 19 years, and they wish him success in the next chapter of his musical journey,” a press release read.

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Not like he needs the money, but Elton John has just won a $100,000 prize for his artistic accomplishments.

As Toronto’s The Globe and Mail reports, Elton is the 15th recipient of the Glenn Gould Prize, which has been handed out by the Toronto-based Glenn Gould Foundation since 1987. It’s given to a living artist whose “unique lifetime achievement contribution has enriched the human condition.” 

The award is named after the renowned classical pianist Glenn Gould, who died in 1982 and whose life was depicted in the 1993 movie Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. Elton said in a statement, “After spending decades admiring the virtuosity of Glenn Gould’s work, I am awestruck and honored to receive this award.”

Elton is the fourth pianist — but the only chart-topping pop star — to win the award, which is generally given to classical composers, musicians and artists. Leonard Cohen is the only other Rock & Roll Hall of Famer to received the honor.

No word on what Elton plans to do with the money.

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U2 have been chosen as the next Academy Fellow of The Ivors Academy, the U.K. organization that presents The Ivor Novello Awards to celebrate excellence in British and Irish songwriting.

The band — Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. — are the first-ever Irish songwriters to earn a fellowship, the highest honor handed out by the Ivors.

“We were a band before we could play, let alone write songs. … In fact it was our inability to play other people’s songs that kicked off our own songwriting,” Bono shared. “Early musical heroes like the Ramones, Patti Smith, The Clash were our inspiration. There’s alchemy at play, turning base metals into gold … your s**** into gold would be another way of putting it.”

“To be recognized in this way by The Ivors Academy feels very special indeed,” Clayton added. “The appreciation of one’s peers is a humbling honor and we are immensely grateful.”

Mullen also shared he was “very grateful” to the Ivors for recognizing them, while The Edge noted, “Songs are kind of magic. The best ones feel like gifts from some other dimension, but to catch them you have to make yourself available. I’m not sure songs can change the world but they sure have changed mine.”

Last year Bruce Springsteen received the honor, becoming the first international songwriter to be chosen as a Fellow. Other recipients include Sting, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Elton John and Peter Gabriel.

U2 will be presented with their honor at The Ivors on May 22 in London. Nominees for the Ivor Novello Awards will be announced on April 23.

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Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett has released a new photo book exploring his personal guitar collection in depth.

The aptly titled The Collection: Kirk Hammett contains 400 pages of photos shot by renowned rock photographer Ross Halfin on location in Los Angeles and Hawaii. It showcases instruments including Hammett’s signature 1979 Gibson Flying V and his prized 1959 Les Paul Standard aka “Greeny.”

The Collection is available in three editions, two of which are signed by Hammett. You can order your copy now via the Metallica web store or Gibson.com.

You can see Hammett play his signature guitars live and in person on Metallica’s upcoming U.S. tour, which begins in April.
 

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Green Day is turning an upcoming show into a scene for their New Years Rev film.

The concert takes place March 25 at the Palladium venue and will be filmed for the part in the movie when Green Day plays a New Year’s Eve gig.

“We’ll be playing a few songs—a LOT of times (and maybe a few others),” Green Day says. “Movies take time, so plan to stay for 10-11 hours. But don’t worry, we’ve got sandwiches and drinks covered.”

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, unfortunately the show is already sold out.

As previously reported, New Years Rev follows a trio of friends who mistakenly believe that their band is opening for Green Day during the aforementioned New Year’s Eve show. It’s inspired by the “American Idiot” outfit’s early van-touring days.

Along with the Green Day members themselves, the cast includes Mckenna Grace, Fred Armisen, Bobby Lee, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey.

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This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead. While the surviving band members – Bobby Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann – had said there was talk of a reunion to celebrate the milestone, the October death of bassist Phil Lesh seemed to put an end to that.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone Weir discuses the possibility of that reunion, but he doesn’t sound too optimistic about it.

“I think when Phil checked out, so did that notion, because we don’t have a bass player who’s been playing with us for 60 years now,” he says. “I suppose I could go back out. I wouldn’t put anybody in his place, so it would be a trio at this point. It’d be me and two drummers. I’d have to think about that. … I guess we’ll just see what the three of us can pull together.”

Talking about the decision-making in the band, Weir shares, “We speak a language that nobody else speaks. We communicate, we kick stuff back and forth, and then make our little statement in a more universal language.”

“For us, it’s a look or a motion with one shoulder, or the way you reflect a phrase or something that tips off the other guys where you’re going with this,” he adds. “And then they work on being where you’re headed, getting there with a little surprise for you.”

“That’s a formula that’s worked real well for us over the years, and there just aren’t enough of us left now to do that anymore,” he says.

While Grateful Dead hasn’t made any decisions about reuniting, the offshoot Dead & Company is set to launch new residency dates at the Sphere Las Vegas on Thursday. The shows are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the band.

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After touring to celebrate the 40th anniversaries of R.E.M.’s Murmur and Fables of the Reconstruction, actor Michael Shannon and his musical partner Jason Narducy are ready to take on another album from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band.

Narducy tells SPIN they’re hoping to tour in celebration of the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s Life’s Rich Pageant in 2026.

“We want to do it, but there’s so many logistics still to be worked out, like who’s available when and what cities we would go to,” Narducy tells the mag. “We’re learning as we go.”

He adds, “I love that record and I love these tours, so we’re going to do everything we can to make it happen.”

Shannon and Narducy recently wrapped their Fables tour in Chicago. Their two nights in Athens, Georgia, birthplace of R.E.M., included an onstage reunion of all four members of R.E.M. – Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Peter Buck and Bill Berry. The duo will next bring the Fables tour to the U.K. and Ireland in August.

“I don’t aspire to be in a cover band, but this is just so damn fun,” Narducy says. “It also doesn’t feel like a cover band. It’s more like a celebration band.”

He adds, “Most of the comments from people are them sensing that we love the songs and they love the songs and we’re just going to get into a room and do that for two-plus hours. What does that say about R.E.M.? They’re so phenomenal. The quality of every single album is astounding.”

Released in July 1986, Life’s Rich Pageant was R.E.M.’s fourth studio album and peaked at #21 on the Billboard chart. It featured such songs as “Fall on Me,” “Begin the Begin” and a cover of “Superman,” which was sung by Mills.

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KISS has found a unique way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their third studio album Dressed to Kill.

To mark the occasion, on Saturday KISS will launch a special audio walking tour through New York City, where the band launched their career. The tour will feature audio interviews from KISS’ Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, as well as rock photographer Bob Gruen.

The tour will begin at West 23rd Street and 8th Avenue, the corner where Gruen shot the album’s cover, which featured KISS in bespoke suits and full makeup. The rest of the tour will feature iconic New York locations from KISS history, or KISStory as they say, including several venues where they played.

The tour can be accessed at kissonline.com, although the audio is only accessible via a mobile phone.

Released March 19, 1975, Dressed to Kill became a top 40 hit for the band and was certified Gold. It featured what would become one of their signature tunes, “Rock and Roll All Nite,” although it wasn’t a hit when first released. A live version, released off KISS’ 1975 album Alive!, eventually went to #12 on the charts.

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