Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, June 18, 2011…

E Street Band and Bruce Springsteen saxophonist Clarence Clemons died in a Florida hospital six days after suffering a stroke at his home. He was 69.

Clemons, also known as The Big Man, was a member of the E Street Band from 1974 until his passing. He met Springsteen in 1971 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Their meeting was immortalized on the track “The E Street Shuffle,” from Springsteen’s sophomore album, 1973’s The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, and on the 1975 Born To Run classic “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.”

Clemons was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band in 2014.

In addition to his work with Springsteen, Clemons released several solo albums and had a hit with the 1985 track “You’re A Friend of Mine,” a collaboration with Jackson Browne.

Springsteen chose Clarence’s nephew Jake Clemons to be the new E Street Band saxophonist in 2012. He has performed with them ever since.

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As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Esquire is taking a deep dive into songs that most reflect our nation.

The mag has just come out with a list of the 25 most American songs of all time, with tracks by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and more making the list.

According to Esquire, the list doesn’t aim to choose the greatest American songs; instead it is “a collection of songs that are distinctly American, addressing protest and leisure, joy and pain, wisdom and silliness, nostalgia and experimentation.”

Despite the title, Springsteen is not on the list for his iconic protest song “Born in the U.S.A.” In fact, songs with America or U.S.A. in the title or chorus were excluded from the list. Instead, The Boss’ 1980 track “The River” is recognized, with the mag calling it his “most perfectly American composition” because it describes the “compromises required of the working class.”

Dylan is represented with 1965’s “Highway 61 Revisited,” although the mag notes his “entire 60-plus-year career has been an exploration of American music.” Petty’s recognized for 1989’s “Free Fallin'” because it “depicts suburban isolation and longing.”

Other songs making the list include: KISS’ “Rock and Roll All Nite,” the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville,” The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ Safari,” Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”

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Neil Young’s tune “Harvest Moon” has been covered by Melvins’ drummer Dale Crover, who has an interesting connection to the track.

Crover, who was also briefly a member of Nirvana, played a role in the original tune’s release over 30 years ago. You see, the rocker played a younger version of Young in the video for the original “Harvest Moon,” which was the title track off Young’s 1992 album. 

According to Crover’s label, Joyful Noise Recordings, he also “crashed Neil’s car on set” during the video shoot.

Crover has now put his spin on “Harvest Moon” for an EP titled Get Yer Ba-Ba’s Out, dropping Sept. 4. His version is also a mash-up with the Melvins song “The Bit.”

The “Harvest Moon” cover is out now. 

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Chicago has paid tribute to founding member Walter Parazaider, who passed away Wednesday after living with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 81.

“Chicago is heartbroken to share the sad news of Walter Parazaider’s passing this morning,” the band writes on Instagram. “We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and countless Chicago fans who are all grieving his loss today.”

“A Rock & Roll band with horns was Walt’s idea. He put the band together and they rehearsed in the basement of his mother’s home,” the post continues. “He is also the one who did the hard work to book shows for the young, unknown band, performing top 40 covers at local bars in and around Chicago.”

“We are forever grateful for his contributions,” the post concludes. “Perhaps his greatest gift was bringing people together. This amazing music may have never been heard had it not been for Walt’s vision.”

Parazaider was part of the original lineup of Chicago, along with Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Danny Seraphine. The band formed in its namesake city in 1967.

Parazaider, Loughnane and Pankow made up the band’s brass/woodwind section, with Parazaider playing a variety of instruments, including saxophone, flute and clarinet.

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Rush was joined by special guest Aimee Mann during the four-night opening stint of their Fifty Something tour in Los Angeles, but it turns out Mann almost said no to the gig.

The singer joined the band to reprise her part on “Time Stand Still” from 1987’s Hold Your Fire. But she reveals in an Instagram post that she initially wasn’t keen on doing it.

Mann posted a hand-drawn comic with the caption “What I did last week,” where she explained how her guest appearance came about.

“Way back in March, I got an email from Geddy Lee, from the band Rush. But I was quite frankly in a s***** place and couldn’t imagine doing it,” she explains on top of the drawings. “I was in such a hole I couldn’t even answer one way or the other. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t try.”

Apparently she finally agreed, and goes on to say the band “were so kind and welcoming.” She writes, “I felt protected by their bubble of music and Canadian warmth, and buoyed aloft by their fans.”

Within the drawings, she reveals what was going on in her head after being asked, including her worry about the size of the KIA Forum, where Rush was playing, and her original plan, which was to “just apologize profusely and explain that I’m a crazy person.”

There are also drawings depicting Lee welcoming her, as well as one of the pair onstage together.

The Rush 50 Something tour heads to Mexico City for two nights, Thursday and Saturda. A complete list of dates can be found at Rush.com.

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Steve Miller has announced his first concerts of 2026.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is set to return to the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City on Oct. 9 and 10.

Miller first played the Rose Theater back in 2016 and has been performing at the venue for nearly a decade. According to a post on Instagram, the shows will have Miller honoring his “blues and jazz heroes.”

Tickets are on sale now.

The October dates are the only shows Miller has on his schedule for 2026. In July 2025 he abruptly canceled the planned Steve Miller Band tour, blaming the extreme weather conditions hitting the U.S.

“The combination of extreme heat, unpredictable flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and massive forest fires make these risks for you our audience, the band and the crew unacceptable,” read his post on Instagram. “So… You can blame it on the weather…The tour is cancelled.”

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Bon Jovi is set to launch their Forever Tour in July, their first tour since frontman Jon Bon Jovi underwent vocal cord surgery in 2022. In a new interview with People, the rocker is letting fans know he’s ready to get back onstage.

“I’m fully recovered,” he tells the mag in their latest issue, on newsstands Friday. “It was longer than I’d ever expected, but it had to be right. We never lost faith.”

Jon reveals he was a bit surprised when he found out he had a damaged vocal cord.

“I’d often joked and said the only thing that’s ever been up my nose was my finger. I never did anything to hurt the cords; I didn’t have any excesses. I’m a trained vocalist. I’ve practiced the craft,” he says. “So when a doctor had to explain to me that one of the cords was literally atrophying, it was confusing.”

While it took a lot of hard work to get him ready to tour again, Jon says his bandmates were confident it would happen.

“They never doubted [me] and never looked for work or decided to retire,” he says. “The sacrifices that each one of them have made to be there for me is on a whole ’nother level. They said, ‘No, we’re with you.’ Every day of every rehearsal they were there with me. My love for them has only deepened.”

As for getting back onstage again, Jon notes, “I think that this is a rebirth,” adding, “It is simply about the joy.”

Bon Jovi’s Forever Tour kicks off July 7 with a nine-show stand at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The tour is also headed to the U.K., wrapping in September with three shows at Wembley Stadium in London.

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

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Walter Parazaider, founding member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Chicago, died Wednesday at the age of 81.

His death was confirmed by his daughter Felicia Parazaider on Facebook, who wrote, “My father, my hero, is gone. He went peacefully about 20 minutes ago. There’s no more pain. No more struggle.”

Parazaider was part of the original lineup of Chicago, which was formed in its namesake city in 1967. Other original members included Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Danny Seraphine. He, Loughnane and Pankow made up the band’s brass/woodwind section, while Parazaider played a variety of instruments, including saxophone, flute and clarinet.

Chicago — best known for such hits as “Saturday In The Park,” “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day,” “If You Leave Me Now,” “25 or 6 to 4,” “You’re The Inspiration” and more — sold over 40 million units in the U.S. and had five consecutive #1 albums on the Billboard 200 between 1972 and 1975.

They were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

Parazaider retired from Chicago in 2017 and announced in 2021 he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“This was the worst six years. The hardest season of my life,” Felicia wrote in her post on Facebook. “And I’m so grateful that my dad is not suffering anymore.”

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On This Day, June 17, 1981…

Pink Floyd wrapped the 31-date The Wall Tour at London’s Earl’s Court, the final show of a five-night stand at the venue. It was Roger Waters’ last full concert with the band.

The tour launched in February 1980 in support of Pink Floyd’s concept album, The Wall, visiting the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. It featured pyrotechnics and elaborate staging, including an airplane that flew over the audience and crashed into a giant wall onstage. The wall also got torn down at the end of each show.

Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, two years before their next tour, 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour. He later reunited with his bandmates to perform at Live 8 in July 2005.

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While Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind, not everyone will get to attend Eddie Vedder’s 2026 Ohana Festival — three-day tickets are already sold out. However, here’s your chance to win a VIP experience to the festival.

Pearl Jam has announced a raffle offering two three-day VIP Ohana 2026 passes, along with round-trip travel to Los Angeles and four-night hotel stay. The winner will also receive a limited-edition poster signed by the PJ members, artist lounge passes, a backstage tour and even surfing lessons.

The raffle is being hosted by the platform Fandiem, and you can enter by donating to Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy Foundation. It’ll be open through Sept. 4.

For more info, visit Fandiem.com.

Ohana 2026 takes place Sept. 25-27 in Dana Point, California. Along with headlining sets from Pearl Jam and Vedder, the bill includes Bad Religion, Fontaines D.C., Alabama Shakes, Rilo Kiley, The Format and Billy Idol.

Pearl Jam’s performance is set to mark the debut of their new drummer. Matt Cameron, who manned the PJ kit for 27 years, announced his departure from the band in 2025.

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