Debbie Harry, Kate Pierson to perform at annual Tibet House Benefit Concert

January 13, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Blondie’s Debbie Harry and The B-52s’ Kate Pierson are among the artists set to perform at the 39th annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert, taking place March 3 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Musicians Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson will once again serve as the night’s artistic directors, with Patti Smith Group’s Tony Shanahan serving as musical director.

Anderson and the Philip Glass Ensemble are also part of the lineup, along with singer/songwriter Allison Russell and others, with more artists to be announced.

Proceeds from the show support Tibet House US, a nonprofit educational institution and cultural embassy founded in 1987 by the Dalai Lama to ensure the survival of the Tibetan civilization.

Over the past almost four decades Tibet House benefit concerts have featured performances by such artists as R.E.M, David Bowie, Carly Simon, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Lou Reed, Joan Baez, Jackson Browne, Annie Lennox and more.

Tickets are on sale now.

Deadhead Andy Cohen pays tribute to Bob Weir

January 12, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Bravo personality Andy Cohen, a well-known Grateful Dead fan, has penned a tribute to the band’s late guitarist, Bob Weir, whose death was announced Saturday.

“Bob Weir wasn’t The Other One, he was That Guy. He was impossibly beautiful and wildly fiery, intense and passionate,” Cohen wrote. “Nobody forgets their first Dead show and mine was in 1986 in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. Bob was just a speck on the stage from where I was, but man was his voice fierce and smooth… it felt like rays of sunshine were coming out of his mouth.”

Cohen notes that when members of The Dead formed Dead & Company in 2015 with Cohen’s friend musician John Mayer, “fans were gifted our songbook performed live in stadiums again. It felt like Brigadoon.”

“I feel SO BLESSED to have gotten to know Bob and the equally wondrous Weir family through my friendship with John,” he wrote, mentioning that Weir made appearances on his Bravo show Watch What Happens Live. Cohen even shared a clip of one of those appearances on Instagram.

Cohen wrote that during one appearance, Weir talked about dealing with his bandmate Jerry Garcia‘s 1995 death, noting, “he referred to it as ‘checkin’ out’. That felt so graceful a way to put it, and a testament to the fluidity of all us in this world.”

“Bob checked out but his music is going to live gloriously forever, and so will he,” he concluded. “One of the absolute coolest and best to ever do it.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd to play the 2026 Rock the Country festival

January 12, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Lynyrd Skynyrd is set to play the 2026 Rock the Country touring festival.

The mostly country festival will take place over eight weekends this summer, with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers confirmed for the Ashland, Kentucky, stop. Skynyrd will perform July 10, with a lineup headlined by country star Jelly Roll.

Other artists booked for the festival include rockers Creed, Kid Rock and Shinedown, plus country stars such as Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Brooks & Dunn, Riley Green and Miranda Lambert.

Other Rock the Country 2026 dates include: May 1-2 in Bellville, Texas; May 29-30 in Bloomingdale, Georgia; June 27-28 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; July 25-26 in Anderson, South Carolina; Aug. 8-9 in Hastings, Michigan; Aug. 28-29 in Ocala, Florida; and Sept. 11-12 in Hamburg, New York.

You can sign up now for a presale that begins Friday at 10 a.m. local time. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit RocktheCountry.com.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is set to spend their summer on the road with Foreigner on the Double Trouble Double Vision Tour. It will consist of 19 co-headlining dates, kicking off July 23 in Atlanta and wrapping Aug. 29 in Rogers, Arkansas. A complete schedule can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.

James Taylor to perform at The Nearness of You Concert in New York

January 12, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

James Taylor is one of the acts set to perform at The Nearness of You Concert, an all-star benefit concert supporting cancer research at Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The event honors the memory of Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Michael Brecker, who died in 2007. He played sax on Taylor’s 1972 track “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,” described on Instagram as “one of the most memorable collaborations in James’s catalog.”

The concert will be held Feb. 9 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room in New York, hosted by comedian Susie Essman. The lineup also includes trumpeter Chris Botti, singer/songwriter Lisa Fischer, inaugural poet Richard Blanco and special guests.

This is the fifth Nearness of You Concert that’s been held. Previous shows have raised over $5 million for cancer research and featured artists like Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Christopher Cross and others.

Tickets for the concert are on sale now.

In December Taylor revealed his plans to tour in 2026, noting in a social media video that he would be out west in California and Nevada in April, and then hit the East Coast in June. So far the only confirmed U.S. shows are his annual July 3 and 4 concerts at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Taylor also has dates in the U.K. and Europe in July. A complete schedule can be found at JamesTaylor.com.

‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ wins AARP Movies for Grownups Award

January 12, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

The Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere hasn’t gotten much love this award season, but it did just nab one honor.

The film, starting Jeremy Allen White as The Boss, picked up a trophy at the Movies for Grownups Awards Saturday. Put on by AARP, the awards honor “outstanding films and television projects that celebrate the voices and stories of the 50-plus.”

Deliver Me From Nowhere won the award for best period film, beating out Dead Man’s Wire, Marty Supreme, Nuremberg and Sinners.

The film, which follows Springsteen as he makes the 1982 solo album Nebraska, also earned a best director nomination for Scott Cooper, although he lost to Frankenstein director Guillermo del Toro.

If you didn’t catch Deliver Me From Nowhere in theaters, it hit digital platforms in December. It will also be released on 4K Blu-ray on Jan. 20, with the release including the four-act documentary Making Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

John Lydon again revealed as ‘Masked Singer’ competitor

January 12, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

John Lydon has now been part of The Masked Singer on both sides of the Atlantic.

The former Sex Pistols frontman was revealed as the Yak character on the latest episode of the U.K. edition of the reality singing competition show, in which participants perform while hidden behind elaborate masks. His stint comes five years after he competed on the U.S. Masked Singer in 2021 as the Jester.

Despite being eliminated from The Masked Singer for a second time, Lydon seems to be taking it all in stride.

“John’s got the sad sack yak off his back,” reads a post to his Facebook page. “Now he’s off to record the new [Public Image Ltd] album!”

The Pistols, meanwhile, reunited in 2024 with original members Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook alongside singer Frank Carter in place of Lydon, who’s dismissed the reformed band as “karaoke.”

Sammy Hagar announces new Best of All Worlds Tour dates

January 12, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Sammy Hagar has announced a new set of dates for his Best of All Worlds Tour.

The latest leg, featuring special guest Rick Springfield, will once again have him backed by Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, guitar great Joe Satriani and drummer Kenny Aronoff. The tour features a set filled with Van Halen classics, some of his solo tunes and tracks from his bands Chickenfoot and The Circle.

“We’re celebrating the legacy of the music and bringing it to a whole new generation of fans,” said Hagar.

The tour consists of eight shows, kicking off June 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, and wrapping June 27 in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Artist and Citi presales for tickets begin Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Sammy will next headline another set of Best of All Worlds Las Vegas residency dates, starting March 11 at Dolby Live at Park MGM. He’ll also launch a Best of All Worlds U.K. tour on July 4 in Manchester, marking his first performances in the U.K. since 1996. A complete list of dates can be found at RedRocker.com.

On This Day, Jan. 12, 1995: Neil Young, Led Zeppelin & more are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

January 12, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, Jan. 12, 1995…

Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and the Allman Brothers Band were among the artists inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at the 10th annual induction ceremony, held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.

Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder handled the induction for Young, while Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry inducted Led Zeppelin. Willie Nelson inducted the Allman Brothers, and Melissa Etheridge led Joplin’s induction.

The evening ended with an all-star jam, where Young performed with Vedder and his Pearl Jam bandmates Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, as well as the surviving members of Led Zeppelin — Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones — who were also joined by Tyler and Perry, among others.

The ceremony was the first to be taped and broadcast by MTV.

Other inductees included Al Green, Frank Zappa and Martha and the Vandellas

Foo Fighters dedicate ‘My Hero’ to Pat Smear at first show of 2026

January 12, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Foo Fighters played their first show of 2026 Saturday at Mexico’s Feria de León festival and dedicated a performance of “My Hero” to guitarist Pat Smear.

Smear, of course, was absent from the show after suffering what the band called a “bizarre gardening accident.”

“This means he’ll unfortunately be missing a few shows while the multiple broken bones in his foot heal,” the Foos wrote in an Instagram post on Jan. 7. “We’ll miss our beloved Pat as much as you will, but we want him fully healed and back on his feet as soon as possible.”

In Smear’s absence, the Foos were joined by guitarist Jason Falkner, who’s played with Beck and St. Vincent.

There’s no word yet on when Smear will return to the touring lineup. Foos play a benefit show Wednesday in Los Angeles in celebration of frontman Dave Grohl‘s birthday, before heading to Tasmania for a one-off concert on Jan. 24. Their next show after that isn’t until May.

Mickey Hart pays tribute to Bob Weir: ‘my first friend in the Grateful Dead’

January 12, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Mickey Hart, one of the last two surviving members of the Grateful Dead, has paid tribute to his bandmate Bob Weir, who passed away at the age of 78.

“Bob Weir was a little brother to me for almost sixty years. He was my first friend in the Grateful Dead,” Mickey wrote on Instagram. “We lived together, played together, and made music together that ended up changing the world.”

“Bob had the ability to play unique chords that few others could. Long fingers, that’s the difference,” he continued, noting their late bandmate Jerry Garcia “once told me that the harmonics Bob created became an inspiration for his own solos. When all of us were entrained, rhythm section, guitars, and voices… it was transcendent.”

“What was a lifetime of adventure boils down to something simple – we were family and true to the music through it all,” he added.

Hart also shared a carousel of photos, noting the shots “show the bookends of our lives together.” He ended the tribute saying, “Still cannot believe he’s gone. I miss you so much already, dear friend.”

Hart joined the Grateful Dead in 1967, two years after it was formed by Weir, Garcia, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann, the only other surviving member of the band.

John Mayer, Weir’s bandmate in the Grateful Dead offshoot Dead & Company, which was formed in 2015, also paid tribute to Weir.

He posted a black-and-white photo of Weir on Instagram, writing, “Thanks for letting me ride alongside you. It sure was a pleasure. If you say it’s not the end, then I’ll believe you. I’ll meet you in the music. Come find me anytime.”

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