Classic Rock 93.9

Ringo Starr is setting out on another tour with his All-Star Band this summer, and it doesn’t sound like he has plans to stop anytime soon.

“What else am I going to do?” Ringo tells the U.K. paper The Times. “The band sounds great. We have a fun time and we just do it.” 

Ringo and his All-Starr Band — Toto’s Steve Lukather, Men at Work‘s Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart, Gregg Bissonette and Buck Johnson — will hit the road starting June 12 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

And Ringo has a perfectly good explanation for why he likes to surround himself with such A-list musicians. 

“I only want to be in a band. I don’t want to be out on my own, ” he explains. “There’s no way you can go out there and do ‘Yesterday’ just on drums.”

Ringo just released the new country album Look Up, but he wants fans to know he doesn’t plan to fill his set with predominantly new songs. 

“In the late ’90s, I would put in, like, two or three from the new album, and you could feel the room empty,” he says. “It happens to everybody.” 

He then recalled seeing that happen at Elton John’s 1975 Wembley Stadium show supporting his then-new album Captain Fantastic. “I was with his mother. He came on and said, ‘I’m only going to do the new album,’” Starr shares. “Me and his mother left after three tracks because we didn’t know them.”

A complete list of Ringo dates can be found at RingoStarr.com.

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After much speculation, the Grammys, scheduled for Feb. 2, will proceed as scheduled despite the deadly LA wildfires.

In a letter sent out to Recording Academy members on Jan. 13, Academy executives confirmed that the awards show telecast on CBS will “proceed as planned.” However, the letter notes that the telecast will “carry a renewed sense of purpose: raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours.”

The Academy has donated $1 million to support music creatives and professionals affected by the fires, and with additional contributions, it has already distributed $2 million in emergency aid.

The 67th annual Grammy Awards will be hosted by Trevor Noah. The leading nominee is Beyoncé, with 11 nods. 

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Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith is one of the many Los Angeles residents whose home was destroyed in the California wildfires, his wife Nathalie Dufresne-Smith revealed on social media.

In a post featuring pictures of a sunset, she wrote, “We lost our house,” adding in the caption, “We are safe. We have each other. We will start again. #malibustrong.” She added, “Thank you for your support during these trying times.”

Before the announcement, Nathalie had been documenting the fires as they were getting closer to the couple’s home and in one she can be heard saying, “Look, this is definitely coming toward us … now we have to go!”

Smith joined Iron Maiden in 1980, departing in 1989. He rejoined the group in 1999 and has been with them ever since.

Iron Maiden is set to kick off a new European tour on May 27 in Budapest. A complete list of dates can be found at IronMaiden.com.

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Neil Young has shared his thoughts on the new Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown, and it turns out he’s a big fan. 

“I love Bob Dylan and his music. Always have. He’s a great artist,” Neil wrote on his Archives website. “Once he was on my bus and I didn’t recognize him and threw him off but that’s another story.” 

As for the film, which stars Timothée Chalamet as Dylan, Neil writes, “This movie is a great tribute to his life and music. I think if you love Bob’s music you should see this great movie. I loved it.”

While Neil gave the film a thumbs-up after seeing the flick, Dylan also threw his support behind the film without having seen it. In December he posted his thoughts on social media, sharing, “Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me.” 

A Complete Unknown, which is in theaters now, follows a 19-year-old Dylan as he arrives in New York from Minnesota and tracks his rise as a folk singer during the ’60s, ending with his electric rock ‘n’ roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

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Green Day is headlining the 2025 BottleRock Napa Valley festival, taking place May 23-25 in Napa, California.

The lineup also includes fellow headliner Noah Kahan, plus Cage the Elephant, Sublime, Kaleo, Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES, The Doors‘ Robby Krieger and Two Feet.

Additionally, you’ll find the reunited 4 Non Blondes on the bill. The “What’s Up?” outfit last performed together in 2014 after initially breaking up 20 years earlier.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT. You can get access to a presale beginning Tuesday at 8 a.m. PT by signing up for the BottleRock texting list.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit BottleRockNapaValley.com.

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In December, the surviving members of Soundgarden — Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd — reunited for a charity performance under the alias Nudedragons. Joining them on lead vocals was a Seattle musician named Shaina Shepherd, who’s now responded to the idea of joining the “Black Hole Sun” rockers full time.

She took to the Facebook comments of an article published by the site Hot Metal asking “Should Soundgarden permanently reform with Shania Shepherd?” Shepherd first fired back at readers who replied “no,” declaring, “Haters gonna hate while I live my dream.”

She then added, “Soundgarden is a revolutionary band that changed my life, your life, the world. I could never front Soundgarden.”

“But I love making music with those guys,” she continued. “I did it for me, for them like any other music endeavor. I don’t care what any of you think – never did. I care what they think – always will.”

Shepherd concluded that the original article is “meaningless.”

The Nudedragons show featured performances of songs including “Outshined” and “Hunted Down.” The three surviving members have reunited several times since frontman Chris Cornell‘s death in 2017, including at the 2019 Cornell tribute concert and during a 2021 Brandi Carlile show.

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Eric Clapton’s iconic MTV Unplugged performance is coming to the big screen.

Eric Clapton Unplugged … Over 30 Years Later is set to debut in select U.S. and U.K. theaters on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28. The 90-minute special will then stream on Paramount+ starting Feb. 12.

In addition to the original Unplugged special, the new release will feature new content, including commentary from Clapton about the inspiration behind the songs and footage of performances shot for the crew before he took the stage.

Clapton recorded his episode of MTV Unplugged on Jan. 16, 1992, in front of a small audience at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, England.

The taping featured performances of such songs as “Tears in Heaven,” about the death of his 4-year-old son, Conor, and an acoustic version of “Layla.”

A live album of the special was released in August 1992 and went to #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It also won three Grammy Awards, including Record and Song of the Year for “Tears In Heaven,” and sold 26 million copies worldwide to become the bestselling live album of all time.

Tickets for Eric Clapton Unplugged … Over 30 Years Later are on sale now.

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On This Day, Jan. 13, 1973 …

Eric Clapton returned to the stage after a two-year hiatus with two back-to-back shows at the Rainbow Theatre in London. During that two-year break Clapton battled a heroin addiction and recorded his second solo album, 461 Ocean Boulevard. 

An all-star lineup of guest stars supported Clapton at the show, including The Who’s Pete Townshend, who organized the concert, Ronnie Wood, Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi. 

A live album of the concert was released that September, with an expanded edition released in 1995 to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the concert.

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Legendary musician Tony Levin, best known for working with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, is giving fans a glimpse of his life on the road with the video for “Road Dogs,” a track from his latest solo album, Bringing It Down to the Bass, which dropped in September.

The black-and-white comic book-style clip features personal photos and video from Tony’s career on the road, including his recent BEAT tour, which featured Adrian Belew, Steve Vai and Danny Carey celebrating the 1980s era of King Crimson, as well as from his time working with King Crimson, Gabriel and more. It also pays tribute to the crew that handles all the behind-the-scenes of a tour.

“We road dogs who tour all the time aren’t just the players onstage – as the lyrics say, there’s trucking & rigging and loading and gigging,” Tony shares. “[M]any of my photos of the crews in action seemed right for the video.” 

Bringing It Down to the Bass is available now on double vinyl, CD, Blu-ray and digital streaming.

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Bruce Springsteen is one of the many artists paying tribute to legendary Sam & Dave singer Sam Moore, who passed away Friday at the age of 89.

“Over on E Street, we are heartbroken to hear of the death of Sam Moore, one of America’s greatest soul voices,” Springsteen wrote on social media. “There simply isn’t another sound like Sam’s soulful tenor in American music.”

“Having had the honor to work with Sam on several occasions, he was a sweet and funny man,” Bruce added. “He was filled with stories of the halcyon days of soul music, and to the end had that edge of deep authenticity in his voice I could only wonder at. We offer our prayers to his wife Joyce and thanks for the immortal recordings Sam left us. God bless.”

Along with the message, Springsteen and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shared a video of The Boss being joined by Moore for a performance of Sam & Dave’s classic tunes “Hold On, I’m Coming” and “Soul Man” at the Rock Hall’s 25th anniversary concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2009.

In addition to that performance, Moore appeared on three songs on Springsteen’s 1992 album Human Touch, while Springsteen appeared on Moore’s track “Better to Have and Not Need.”

The Who’s Roger Daltrey also remembered Moore, writing, “When I think back to my teenage years and the sounds of the records which would eventually shape my life to come, Sam Moore’s voice still rings fresh in my ears. His pure soul voice was inspirational to me. Thank you, Sam for the great music.”

Others paying tribute to the soul legend include Sammy Hagar, Jon Bon Jovi, Nile Rodgers, Stevie Van Zandt, Chuck D and more.
 

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