Classic Rock 93.9

When drummer Josh Freese revealed the news Friday that he’d been let go from Foo Fighters, he signed off by writing, “Stay tuned for my ‘Top 10 possible reasons Josh got booted from the Foo Fighters’ list.” As it turns out, he wasn’t kidding.

Freese has now unveiled a David Letterman-esque list of 10 explanations for his Foos departure, including “Once whistled ‘My Hero’ for a week solid on tour,” “Metronome-like precision behind the kit deemed ‘soulless,'” “Never even once tried growing a beard” and “Promised Noodles he could be the 4th guitarist,” referring to his former bandmate in The Offspring.

For the #1 reason, Freese writes, “The whole poodle thing was getting to be a bit much.” Outside of his drumming, Freese is known for having multiple poodles.

As for why Freese was actually fired, he wrote in his initial statement that “no reason was given,” only that the Foos told him they were going “in a different direction with their drummer.” Freese added he didn’t feel angry, “just a bit shocked and disappointed.”

Freese was announced as the new Foo Fighters drummer in 2023 following the 2022 death of Taylor Hawkins. His replacement has yet to be revealed.

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Welcome to the Guns N’ Roses Instagram, it’s got footage of Axl Rose falling down.

The rock icons have shared a video compiling clips of their lead singer wiping out onstage over the years, set to their hit “Welcome to the Jungle.” The footage ranges from GN’R’s early days in the ’80s to their more recent tours with Slash and Duff McKagan back in the band.

“Guns N’ Roses Greatest Hits!” the post’s caption reads. 

GN’R is currently on a world tour making stops in Asia and Europe.

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A movie about the life of Ozzy Osbourne will have its theatrical premiere in the Prince of Darkness’ hometown, a day before his final concert with Black Sabbath.

The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne will screen July 4 at Millennium Point in Birmingham. There will be two screenings, with all profits donated to charity. Ozzy’s son, Jack Osbourne, will also be doing a live Q&A after the later screening.

The film traces Ozzy’s story from his childhood through his years with Black Sabbath, his success as a solo artist and his reinvention as a beloved reality star. It was first released in 2020, but this is the first time the movie will be shown in a theater.

The final Black Sabbath concert, dubbed Back to the Beginning, will take place July 5 and will be headlined by original Sabbath members Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, playing together for the first time in 20 years. Ozzy, whose health issues have kept him from doing a full live show for nearly seven years, will also play a solo set. 

Those performances will be part of an all-star festival. The lineup includes Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Slayer, Alice in Chains, Halestorm, Pantera and Gojira.

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Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd has revealed the name of a song off the band’s unreleased album, which they’d been working on leading up to the 2017 death of frontman Chris Cornell.

In an Instagram post marking the anniversary of Cornell’s May 18 death, Shepherd shares that he’s been thinking of a song called “The Road Less Traveled,” which Chris and drummer Matt Cameron had written “for our album that has yet to be named.”

“Just hearing Chris’ voice helps,” Shepherd writes. “I know he did that for everyone he knew.”

The status of the Soundgarden album has remained in limbo for several years due to disagreements between the band and Cornell’s estate. In 2023, Soundgarden and Cornell’s widow, Vicky Cornell, announced that they’d reached a reconciliation that would allow new music to be released, but in an interview later that year, Cameron said that a dispute was still ongoing and that the project continued to be “on hold.”

Meanwhile, Soundgarden is set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November.

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After Bruce Springsteen denounced President Donald Trump onstage in the U.K., Trump fired back on Truth Social, warning The Boss to “KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country.”  Now, Trump is calling for an investigation into Springsteen’s support of Kamala Harris, as well as the support of other celebrities.

According to Rolling Stone, on Saturday at his second concert in Manchester, England, Springsteen once again criticized Trump from the stage, saying, “In America, my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now.”

On Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social, “HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? …AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO??? I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter.”

He then accused Harris of paying celebrities for endorsements, adding, “IT’S NOT LEGAL!”

Celebrities who endorsed Harris have denied claims that they were offered money to do so.

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In case it needed to be said, Dave Navarro has confirmed that Jane’s Addiction is indeed done for good.

You probably already thought that when frontman Perry Farrell threw a punch at Navarro onstage during a September 2024 show in Boston, after which the band announced that they were taking “some time way as a group.”

In an interview with Guitar Player about the best and worst gigs of his career, Navarro understandably picks the last Jane’s show for the latter category.

“It all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band’s life,” Navarro says. “And there’s no chance for the band to ever play together again.”

He adds, “I have to say that’s my least favorite gig, without throwing animosity around, and without naming names and pointing fingers, and coming up with reasons.”

As for the best show if his career, Navarro picks when his band Camp Freddy performed alongside late Velvet Underground icon Lou Reed.

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On This Day, May 19, 1986 …

Former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel released his fifth solo album, So, produced by Daniel Lanois.

The album became Gabriel’s biggest commercial success, moving over 5 million copies in the U.S. and peaking at #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.

So featured the #1 song “Sledgehammer,” as well as hits like “Big Time,” “In Your Eyes” and “Don’t Give Up” with Kate Bush.

“Sledgehammer” earned Gabriel three Grammy Award nominations — for best male rock vocal performance, record of the year and song of the year. Its innovative video won nine MTV Video Music Awards, including video of the year.

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The Who has announced who’ll be opening up for them on The Song Is Over tour.

The eclectic lineup of special guests who’ll appear on various dates include Billy Idol, Candlebox, Billy Bob Thornton — yes, that Billy Bob Thornton — and his band The Boxmasters, Booker T. Jones, Tom Cochrane, Feist, Joe Bonamassa, and The Joe Perry Project, whose lineup includes Perry’s Aerosmith bandmate Brad Whitford, The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson and Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots.

The Who has also added a second night in Chicago, set for Sept. 9. Presale tickets through Citi and the Who Fan Club start May 20; tickets go on sale to the general public May 23 at 10 a.m. local time at thewho.com/tour/. 

Today, Monday, marks Who guitarist Pete Townshend‘s 80th birthday. Over the weekend, Townshend announced on Instagram that longtime drummer Zak Starkey wouldn’t be part of the upcoming tour; Starkey then confirmed he’d been sacked. Some fans expressed dismay that this announcement wasn’t made prior to tickets going on sale.

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Roger Daltrey is no longer the only octogenarian in The Who. Pete Townshend is celebrating his 80th birthday on Monday, and while age may have slowed him down a bit, it hasn’t stopped him from rocking.

It’s been 60 years since Townshend and his bandmates — Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon — exploded on the U.K. rock scene, with a career that included hits like “My Generation,” “Baba O’Riley,” “Who Are You” and “Pinball Wizard.”

Townshend also had a successful solo career that produced such songs as “Let My Love Open the Door,” “Rough Boys,” “Face the Face” and more.

The Who became known for their dynamic live shows, thanks in part to Townshend’s iconic “windmill” guitar strumming, stage jumps and guitar smashing. And while Townshend has cut back on his stage antics over the years, fans still clamor to see The Who live — and there’s still a chance to do that.

The Who just announced their The Song Is Over North American Farewell tour; during a press conference, Townshend reflected on their long career and whether they can keep going.

“You know, time passes. As you get older it passes faster and faster and faster until you find yourself here. You know, a point where you have to accept that you can’t do what you used to do,” he said. But he noted that seeing artists like The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen still touring inspired him “to think what could we do that would be new and different?”

Looking back on his career, he noted, “This wasn’t a career that I chose, it chose me. And I’ve always been creative, so creativity has been what sustained me.”

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Bono‘s upcoming Apple TV+ documentary, Bono: Stories of Surrender, earned the U2 frontman a 7-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, Variety reports.

The documentary is a “reimagining” of Bono’s one-man stage show, Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief, which was recorded at New York’s Beacon Theatre during the book tour for his memoir. It mixes Bono reading passages from the book with live performances of songs like “Beautiful Day” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.”

According to Variety, following the ovation, an emotional Bono told the crowd, “I’m not a Frenchman. I’m an Irishman. I’m not even a self-made man. You wrote this story. The Edge wrote this story. Adam [Clayton] and Larry [Mullen Jr.] wrote this story. [U2 manager Paul] McGuinness wrote this story.”

Bono thanked the project’s director, Andrew Dominik, who was absent, and said, “I can’t believe you got those performances out of me.” He also shouted out Sean Penn, who was there. The singer, who recorded a song for Penn’s 2020 documentary Citizen Penn, said, “If I was in the trenches — like, real trenches, as opposed to ones on a movie set — I’d want to be with Sean Penn in those trenches. He was there for me. Thank you again.”

Bono: Stories of Surrender premieres May 30 on Apple TV+. 

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