Classic Rock 93.9

Def Leppard has released a new music video for their cover of Ben E. King’s classic “Stand By Me,” which is helping to raise money for those affected by the California wildfires.

The video features footage of the band performing the song, cut with clips of them shooting their cameo in the Netflix movie Bank of Dave 2: The Lone Ranger. The band recorded the song for the movie. 

Proceeds from “Stand By Me” will be donated to FireAid, with money being used for those affected by the California wildfires and to support efforts to keep such disasters from happening again.

Bank of Dave 2 is the sequel to the 2023 Netflix film Bank of Dave, which told the real-life story of working-class, self-made millionaire Dave Fishwick, played by actor Rory Kinnear, who set up a community bank to help his town’s local businesses survive.

Def Leppard also had a cameo in the original film, playing themselves performing at a charity fundraiser for the bank. The sequel follows Dave as he takes on payday loan companies.

The sequel debuted in the U.K. in early January. Netflix has yet to reveal when it will begin streaming in the U.S.

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The worlds of Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine and Tool will come together at the massive Black Sabbath reunion and farewell concert.

As Ozzy Osbourne‘s wife, Sharon, tells NME, the show will feature a collaboration between Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, Rage guitarist Tom Morello and Tool drummer Danny Carey.

“You’re going to see one icon playing with another icon, doing a Sabbath song and one or two of their own songs, and people playing with each other that you never thought you’d see,” Sharon says of the all-star lineup. “Tom Morello is going to play with [Carey] and they’re going to have Billy Corgan with them. They’re all from Chicago so they’re all doing their bit.”

For what it’s worth, Carey actually hails from Lawrence, Kansas, though both Corgan and Morello have roots in the Windy City.

The Sabbath concert takes place July 5 in the band’s hometown of Birmingham, England, and will mark the final performance of their classic lineup, as well as Ozzy’s farewell as a solo artist.

Also on the bill are Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Mastodon, Disturbed‘s David Draiman, Slash and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, Limp Bizkit‘s Fred Durst and Wolfgang Van Halen, among others.

Morello will be the show’s music director.

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Bruce Springsteen’s iconic anthem “Born to Run,” which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has been reimagined for a new Dove Super Bowl commercial, which focuses on the impact negative body talk can have on girls in sports.

The new version of the track is recorded by R&B star H.E.R. and serves to promote the company’s Body Confident Sport program. The press release notes the song will “serve as an anthem for the next generation of young girls in sports and amplify the commitment to #KeepHerConfident.”

“It’s been an honor to do a version of this iconic song, 50 years after its release,” said H.E.R. “Partnering with Dove on this project means the world to me because I feel like part of my purpose is to empower young girls to go against the grain and hold onto their confidence.”

She adds, “I hope this movement inspires young girls to continue to love what they see in the mirror, stay in sports, and believe in themselves and realize they are truly unstoppable.”

Dove’s 30-second spot will air during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 59, which airs Sunday on Fox.

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Bob Dylan is in the news a lot lately thanks to the biopic A Complete Unknown, and now his music is being celebrated again, this time by Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart.

Stewart is set to release the limited-edition vinyl Dave Does Dylan on April 12 for Record Store Day.

The album features 14 “pure and unedited” live covers of Dylan classics, including “Forever Young,” “Make You Feel My Love,” “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.”

Stewart and Dylan have become friends over the years, and Stewart notes, “I’m so, so grateful for getting to know him personally and to now record this album of songs after years of singing them to friends and to myself.”

“It’s been a long road and these lyrics and melodies have kept me company through the best and the worst of times,” he adds. “I hope my album can do the same for Dylan fans out there—who understand the mastery and the mystery Bob has bestowed on us, and still does to this day.”

And Stewart is planning to play some of those covers live when he tapes an episode of Recorded Live at Analog on March 22 at Analog inside The Hutton Hotel in Nashville. The show will air on PBS in July. 

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Bryan Adams is back with new music.

The rocker has just released the new single “Roll With the Punches,” the title track to his upcoming new studio album, expected later this year.

“‘Roll With the Punches’ is a song about resilience and the spirit of getting back up no matter how hard you’ve been knocked down,” Adams shares. “This song is for everyone who’s ever felt defeated but chose to fight another day.”

He adds, “I believe the song captures the idea of getting through things when confronted with challenges and disappointment by simply rocking out!”

“Roll With the Punches,” co-written by Mutt Lange, is out now via digital outlets. Adams also released a video for the tune that has him and his band performing in an airplane hangar.

Adams is also releasing the song as a picture sleeve 7-inch single, which is available for preorder now.

Roll With the Punches will be Adams’ 16th studio album and his first new release since 2022’s So Happy It Hurts.

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The music of Neil Young will be celebrated with a new tribute album, with proceeds benefiting a good cause.

Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young will feature fresh interpretations of Young classics from such artists as The Doobie Brothers’ Michael McDonald with Allison Russell, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Brandi Carlile, Mumford & Sons, Lumineers, Fiona Apple, Stephen Marley and more. The album is divided into two volumes, with the first dropping April 25.

And fans are getting a preview of the first volume with the release of two tracks, “Lotta Love,” covered by Courtney Barnett, and “Southern Man,” sung by Chris Pierce.

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

Here is the track list for Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young:
“Philadelphia” – Brandi Carlile
“Heart of Gold” – Fiona Apple 
“Harvest” – Mumford & Sons 
“The Needle and The Damage Done” – Eddie Vedder 
“Lotta Love” – Courtney Barnett 
“Old Man” – Stephen Marley 
“Here We Are In The Years” – Sharon Van Etten 
“Sugar Mountain” – Lumineers 
“Comes A Time” – The Doobie Brothers with Allison Russell 
“Long May You Run” – Steve Earle 
“Mr. Soul” – Rodney Crowell 
“Cowgirl in the Sand” – Anders Osborne 
“Such A Woman” – Charlie Greene 
“Southern Man” – Chris Pierce 

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On This Day, Feb. 7, 1970 …

Led Zeppelin scored their first U.K. #1 with their second studio album, Led Zeppelin II.

The album, produced by guitarist Jimmy Page, featured such Zeppelin classics as “Whole Lotta Love,” “Thank You” and “Ramble On.”

The album spent one week in the top spot, but remained in the top 10 for 54 weeks and in the top 100 for 129 weeks. In the U.S. it also hit #1, spending seven weeks on top.

Led Zeppelin II went on to be certified 12-times Platinum and has been ranked on several critics’ lists of the best albums of all time.

In 2014 the album was reissued, with the deluxe and super deluxe editions coming with bonus material, including alternative takes, backing tracks and a previously unreleased instrumental track, “La La.”

A new documentary about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band, Becoming Led Zeppelin, is set to open exclusively in IMAX theaters on Friday. It will then hit theaters nationwide on Feb. 14.

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Elton John and Brandi Carlile have released the video for their duet “Who Believes in Angels?,” the title track from their upcoming collaborative album.

Directed by Elton’s longtime collaborator David LaChapelle, the clip starts with a young girl who unveils an Elton John “Captain Fantastic” pinball machine — a real thing that existed in the ’70s — plugs it in and begin to play. 

Cut to Brandi and Elton inside the pinball machine playing the song; Elton’s on piano that has a giant wing on top, while Brandi is playing a wing-shaped guitar.  Various figures — including two representing Tina Turner and Little Richard — dance around them, possibly because one of the songs on the new album is called “Little Richard’s Diary.”  As for Tina, well, Elton played the Pinball Wizard in the movie Tommy, which co-starred Tina Turner, so maybe that’s the connection.

As the song ends, the little girl jumps up and down, celebrating how well she did playing the machine. In a statement, LaChappelle says, “We made a magical world that reminds us of where we’ve been as kids – that dreams do come true – and creating together with your heroes can be a sublime experience.”

While this song is somewhat upbeat, Elton revealed in an interview with BBC Radio 2 that there was one song on the album — “When This Old World Is Done With Me” — that made him “sob” for 45 minutes after he read the lyrics, penned by Bernie Taupin.

“It was about my death, it’s about mortality,” said Elton, 77. “And when you get to the late seventies, you think about mortality… you think, ‘Well I hope I’ve got a few more years left.'”

The album Who Believes in Angels? is out April 4.

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Jethro Tull is giving fans another preview of their upcoming album, Curious Ruminant.

The latest is “The Tipu House,” which frontman Ian Anderson describes as “a song of aspiration in adversity.”

“Our societies are filled with those who have risen from relative poverty to positions of greatness in the world and their successes are a beacon of hope for the rest of us,” Anderson shares, “even if ‘greatness’ is a relative concept at the end of it all.”

This is the second track Jethro Tull has released from Curious Ruminant. They previously shared the album’s title track.

Curious Ruminant, out March 7, features nine new tracks, including a tune called “Drink From The Same Well,” which is almost 17 minutes long. The album will be released in a variety of formats, including CD, vinyl and transparent grape vinyl.

There are also two limited-edition deluxe sets, both of which include alternative stereo mixes of the album, a Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound, plus interview material.

Curious Ruminant is available for preorder now.

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Paul McCartney and Paul Simon are both set to appear on SNL50: The Anniversary Special, a live three-hour show airing Feb. 16 on NBC at 8 p.m. ET.

The telecast, from Studio 8H in New York’s Rockefeller Center, will also feature appearances by Adam Driver, Ayo Edebiri, Bad Bunny, Dave Chappelle, John Mulaney, Kim Kardashian, Martin Short, Miley Cyrus, Pedro Pascal, Peyton Manning, Quinta Brunson, Robert De Niro, Sabrina Carpenter, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks and Woody Harrelson.

More artists are expected to be added.

SNL50: The Anniversary Special is one of many programs celebrating half a century of the NBC late-night sketch comedy series. SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, featuring performances by Bonnie Raitt, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, David Byrne, DEVO, The B-52’s, Jack White and more, will stream live on Peacock on Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. ET. Plus the docuseries SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night and documentary Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music are currently streaming on Peacock.

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