Classic Rock 93.9

Despite saying goodbye to the road with two shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden in December 2023, KISS is poised to return to the stage this November, 

In an email to members of their KISS Army fan club, the band announced a 50th anniversary celebration in Las Vegas which will feature their first performance since those final New York concerts.

KISS Army Storms Vegas, which will double as a 30th anniversary of the first KISS fan convention, is happening Nov. 14-16 at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. It will feature a special “unmasked” performance from the band, along with a live performance from former KISS member Bruce Kulick and other special guests.

The email promises “a full schedule of activities” to be announced soon, and notes the weekend will include interactive activities and exclusive experiences, with special Vibee packages available that feature Q&As with members of KISS, panels, activities and more.

A KISS Army VIP member presale kicks off Thursday at 7 a.m. PT, with regular KISS Army and fan presales starting April 2 at 7 a.m. PT. Tickets will go on sale to the general public starting April 6 at 7 a.m. PT.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A contract from a controversial 1966 concert by The Beatles is one of the many pieces of Beatles memorabilia currently available at Rockaway Records, which boasts having over $1 million worth of rare items related to the band in stock.

The contract in question was from the band’s concert in Memphis that year, known as the “cherry bomb” concert because someone threw a cherry bomb and firecrackers at the stage. The show happened not long after John Lennon was quoted as saying the band was “bigger than Jesus.”

“In our nearly 50 years in business we have had countless amazing Beatles artifacts, but never an original contract,” Rockaway Records co-founder Wayne Johnson shares. “The opportunity to own one from a historically significant show is a collector’s dream.”

Other Beatles-related items in stock include unused concert tickets from 1964, 1965 and 1966, hundreds of rare Beatles LPs and 45s, plus items autographed by all four members of the group.

More information on the collection can be found at rockaway.com.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch has released a new song from his upcoming album with his new band, The Speaker Wars.

The group — made up of Lynch, singer-songwriter Jon Christopher Davis, Jay Michael Smith on guitar, Brian Patterson on bass, Steve Ritter on percussion and Jay Brown on keyboards — just dropped a video for the new single “It Ain’t Easy.”

The track is the second tune released from The Speaker Wars’ upcoming self-titled album, which will be released May 30. They previously shared their debut single, “You Make Every Lie Come True.”

“After my 20-year tenure with the Heartbreakers, I got a second act writing and producing. It was educational beyond measure to learn how to create music from the other side of the glass,” Lynch shares. “Around this time, I met Jon Christopher Davis in Nashville who casually mentioned that we should start a band — so here I am — in The Speaker Wars and it’s good to have my old job back.”

He adds, “The guys in our new band know how to make great music, and I’m looking forward to another round.”

The Speaker Wars is available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Back in February, The Beatles won a Grammy for best rock performance for their single “Now and Then.”  And the win was a very special one for Ringo Starr.

“I didn’t expect to win, but it was great,” Ringo tells People. “It just felt like John (Lennon) was with us.”

The win came 55 years after The Beatles broke up. It marked the band’s first Grammy win since 1997, when “Free As A Bird,” from Anthology 1, took home the Grammy for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals. 

Released in November 2023, “Now and Then” featured vocals Lennon recorded on a demo in the late ’70s, along with new recordings from Ringo and Paul McCartney, and guitar parts George Harrison recorded in the ’90s during the sessions for the Anthology series.

The song, said to be the final Beatles tune, debuted at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 in the U.K.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Frank Ferrer is speaking out following the recent announcement that he’s departing the band after playing with them for the last 19 years.

“The outpouring of love I have felt from the incredible fans of Guns N’ Roses and my peers over the past 24 hours has been tremendous,” he shares on Instagram. He adds that while he has “immense gratitude and love always” for GNR frontman Axl Rose and the band, he also feels some “disappointment that this chapter came to an end.”

“It has been an incredible 19 years. Guns N’ Roses has given me life-changing memories and experiences,” he adds. “A huge thanks to management, the crew, and fans for giving me memories that I will cherish for my lifetime. I hope I see you all again soon!”

Ferrer joined GNR in June 2006, replacing drummer Brain aka Brian Mantia, who had been with the band since 2000. His spot behind the drum kit is being taken over by Isaac Carpenter, who’s played in AWOLNATION for the last decade.

GNR is set to launch a world tour on May 1 in Incheon, South Korea. A complete list of dates can be found at GunsNRoses.com.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The 50th anniversary reissue of Venus and Mars, the 1975 album from Paul McCartney‘s band Wings, is out now. To mark the release they’ve shared some new performance clips of songs from the record.

The videos are for the tracks “Letting Go” and “Rock Show,” which have now been remastered in 4K. Both clips were recorded during the 1975 Wings Over The World tour and feature Paul, his late wife Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English.

The new half-speed mastered vinyl reissue of Venus and Mars was created by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios using the original master recordings from 1975. It features a reproduction of the original U.K. pressing and a recreation of the original artwork by Hipgnosis.

The album is also now out on Dolby Atmos for the first time, with Giles Martin and Steve Orchard behind the new mix.

The follow-up to the hit album Band on the Run, Venus and Mars was released May 30, 1975, and hit #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It featured the #1 single “Listen to What the Man Said.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jack Black has released a new song called “I Feel Alive” featuring Dave Grohl on drums.

The track was recorded for the soundtrack to A Minecraft Movie, which stars the Tenacious D frontman alongside Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks and Emma Myers.

“I Feel Alive” also features guitar by Queens of the Stone Age‘s Troy Van Leeuwen. You can listen to it now via digital outlets and watch its lyric video on YouTube.

A Minecraft Movie, based on the video game Minecraft, premieres in theaters April 4.

Grohl, by the way, has also played drums on every Tenacious D album.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dire Straits is set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their hit album Brothers in Arms with a new reissue.

Brothers in Arms 40th Anniversary Edition will be released May 16 as a five-LP or three-CD set. It features the original album, along with a 14-track previously unreleased concert recorded at the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas, during their Live in 85 tour.

As a preview of the live album, Dire Straits has released a performance of the song “Walk of Life.”

Both formats include a booklet featuring new liner notes, culled from new interviews with Dire Straits band members Mark Knopfler, John Illsley and Guy Fletcher. The three-LP version also includes exclusive art prints.

There will also be a Blu-ray release that features five mixes of the album, including the 2023 Dolby Atmos mix. The one-LP version is being reissued in its original configuration for the first time since the album’s 1985 release.

Brothers in Arms 40th Anniversary Edition is available for preorder now.

Released May 17, 1985, Brothers in Arms was the fifth studio album from Dire Straits, and their most successful. In fact, it’s considered one of the world’s bestselling albums, having been certified nine-times Platinum in the U.S. It was also the first album in history to sell over 1 million CDs.

Brothers in Arms spent nine weeks at #1 on the Billboard Albums chart. It contains the #1 song “Money For Nothing,” as well as “Walk of Life,” which went to #7, and “So Far Away.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The music of Neil Young is being celebrated on an upcoming tribute album, and now we have another preview.

Two new tracks from Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young have jut been released: a cover of the “The Needle and the Damage Done” from Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and Stephen Marley’s take on “Old Man.” Both songs originally appeared on Young’s 1972 album, Harvest.

You can listen to “The Needle and the Damage Done” and “Old Man” now via digital outlets.

Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young is divided into two volumes, with the first dropping April 25. Other artists paying tribute to Young on volume one include The Doobie Brothers’ Michael McDonald with Allison Russell, Brandi Carlile, Mumford & Sons, Lumineers, Fiona Apple, Courtney Barnett and Steve Earle.

Proceeds from the album will benefit The Bridge School, an educational institution for children with severe speech and physical disabilities.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Neil Young is no longer planning to play a free concert in Ukraine.

In early March, Young announced that he and his band The Chrome Hearts were in talks to open their love earth tour with the free concert, although he didn’t announce a date or exact location for the show. Well, now he says the show is canceled due to safety concerns.

“We had a good venue, close to a shelter, but the changing situation on the ground was too much,” Young explains in a post on his Neil Young Archives website. “I could not in good conscience take my crew and instruments into that area. My apologies to all.” He added, “Ukraine is a great country with a good leader. Slava Ukraini.”

Young’s love earth tour is set to kick off June 18 in Rättvik, Sweden. It hits the U.S. Aug. 8 in Charlotte, North Carolina, wrapping with a show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Sept. 15.

A complete list of dates can be found at NeilYoungArchives.com.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.