The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson performs at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction (Disney/Frank Micelotta)
The Black Crowes released their latest album, Happiness Bastards, in 2024, marking their first album of new material in 15 years. Fortunately for fans, it sounds like they won’t have to wait nearly as long for the band to release some more new music.
In a holiday message posted to social media and YouTube, The Crowes’ frontman Chris Robinson gave fans an update on what to expect in 2026, and that includes music.
“Big news in the new year from The Black Crowes,” Chris says in the clip. “We have some new music to share with you in January, coming pretty soon really, and we have big big big tour news for you as well. So happy holidays hope you had a great one.”
He ended the clip with the message, “A pound of feathers or a pound of lead. Look out below and mind your head. We’ll see ya soon.”
When it comes to touring, The Black Crowes have already announced several dates for 2026. They’ll kick off a tour in Australia on April 2 in Melbourne, followed by two nights in Japan on April 14 and 15. The band also has dates booked across the U.K. and Europe in June and July, and will open four shows on Guns N’ Roses’ North American tour, starting Aug. 22 in Las Vegas.
Bad Company’s Simon Kirke performs with Heart’s Nancy Wilson, The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Disney/Frank Micelotta)
ABC will air The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, featuring performance highlights and standout moments of November’s ceremony, on New Year’s Day at 8 p.m. ET.
Bad Company was one of this year’s inductees, and drummer Simon Kirke says one of the secrets to their success was that they went out of their way to be different.
On the red carpet for this year’s induction, Kirke told ABC Audio that when the band was formed in late 1973 glam rock was huge, thanks to artists like David Bowie, T-Rex and others. He noted, “We wanted to be like the antithesis of that, and I think we just, we succeeded.”
Also inducted this year was Joe Cocker, whose music was celebrated during the ceremony by several artists, including Tedeschi Trucks‘ Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks.
Tedeschi told ABC Audio she was a big fan of how Cocker interpreted songs, sharing, “Honestly that guy, he has so much soul and everything he’s saying, you might not understand all the words, but you felt the words.”
Trucks felt bad Cocker, who passed away in 2014, couldn’t be there to enjoy the induction.
“I mean, it’s a shame he’s not here for it,” he said. “I know it meant a lot to him. He really wanted this to happen.”
This year’s other inductees included Soundgarden, Salt-N-Pepa, The White Stripes, Outkast and Cyndi Lauper.
Lauperbelieved November’s ceremony was “a great opportunity to bring people together.”
She told KABC-TV, “I grew up believing that rock and roll can save the world and to be part of the community, which I always was, but to remind people who we are and what we have done and what we can do together is kind of why I came.”
There were certainly a lot of big things happening in music in 2025. Here’s a roundup of some of the other music stories that made headlines this year:
–Rush members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson surprised fans by announcing they were heading back on tour. Fifty Something, the band’s first tour in 10 years and the first since the death of drummer Neil Peart, will launch in June 2026. Playing drums on the tour will be Anika Nilles, who previously worked with the late Jeff Beck.
-Also announcing a return to the road was Bon Jovi. The Forever Tour, the band’s first trek since Jon Bon Jovi underwent vocal cord surgery in 2022, consists of shows in four cities — New York, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin — kicking off in July 2026 with nine shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
–Grateful Dead celebrated their 60th anniversary and were honored by the Recording Academy as the MusiCares Person of the Year. Anniversary celebrations included the release of the first official Grateful Dead greatest hits compilation, Enjoying The Ride. They ended the year by landing their 66th top-40 album on the Billboard 200 album chart, which earned them a Guinness World Record.
–Dead & Company, which features The Dead members Bobby Weir and Mickey Hart, also helped mark the Grateful Dead anniversary by headlining three shows at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
–Neil Young released the new album Talkin to the Trees, his first with his new band The Chrome Hearts, and hit the road on a world tour that came to the U.S. in August. The tour featured a headlining spot at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival, although Young initially announced he wouldn’t be playing the festival due to corporate sponsorship.
-Former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth hit the stage for the first time since 2020, headlining the annual M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland. He would go on to perform several dates throughout the U.S.
-Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dave Mason, best known for his work with Traffic, announced his retirement from touring after 60 years in the business due to ongoing health issues.
–KISS reunited for their first performances since wrapping their End of the Road World tour in New York in December 2023. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer performed two unmasked shows at the KISS Kruise: Landlocked convention in Las Vegas. KISS, including original member Peter Criss, were also celebrated with the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.
–U2 was honored with the Woody Guthrie Prize, and were also the first Irish artists to be honored as Academy Fellow of The Ivors Academy, the U.K. organization that presents The Ivor Novello Awards to celebrate excellence in British and Irish songwriting. Bono was also the subject of the Apple TV documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender, a “reimagining” of his one-man stage show, Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief.
–Rod Stewart played the Glastonbury Festival in the Legends spot, where he was joined by The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood — his former Faces bandmate — as well as Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall and Scottish singer Lulu.
–BillyIdol released the new album Dream Into It, his first full-length release since 2014’s Kings & Queens of the Underground. He was also the subject of a documentary, Billy Idol Should Be Dead, which had its premiere at New York’s Tribeca Festival.
Bruce Springsteen on Jimmy Kimmel Live!/(Disney/Randy Holmes)
A legendary Bruce Springsteen concert has just gotten an audio upgrade.
A newly remixed version of Bruce and The E Street Band’s 1975 New Year’s Eve performance at the Tower Theater near Philadelphia is now available on nugs.net. The recording was taken from the 16-track analog master tapes originally recorded by producer Jimmy Iovine. The show was the final night of a four-night stand at the venue.
The 18-song set features a slowed down version of “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” along with performances of songs like “Thunder Road,” “Spirit in the Night,” “She’s the One,” “Backstreets,” “Jungleland,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?” and “It’s Hard To Be a Saint in the City.”
It also features several covers, including “It’s My Life,” “Detroit Medley” and the show’s final song, “Twist and Shout.”
The release is part of Springsteen’s Archives Series on nugs.net, which launched in November 2014. Since then, 100 Springsteen concerts have been released on the site.
The Who celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2025, which ended with what will likely be their last North American tour, much to the disappointment of many fans.
-The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers kicked off the year by announcing they were headlining two shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall in March to benefit Teenage Cancer Trust.
-During the shows, Pete Townshend revealed that he had just had hip replacement surgery, while Roger Daltrey, who is known to have hearing issues, also revealed that he was having problems with his eyesight.
-During one of the shows, Daltrey seemed upset with their longtime drummer Zak Starkey, complaining onstage and pausing the show’s final song.
-In April they announced that they were parting ways with Starkey, son of TheBeatles‘ Ringo Starr, who had been playing with them since 1996. But just three days later, The Who reversed course, with Townshend saying Starkey wasn’t being asked to step down.
-Weeks later The Who then changed their mind again and let Starkey go, announcing that Scott Devours would be his replacement.
-During all the back-and-forth with Starkey in May, Townshend and Daltrey announced at a London press conference they were going to tour North America one last time, revealing dates for The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour.
-The tour kicked off in August in Tampa, Florida, with The Who treating fans to a set filled with hits. They also played “Going Mobile,” a song they had never played live before.
-The Who wrapped the tour on Oct. 1 in Palm Springs, California. “I suppose, you know, it’s goodbye,” Townshend said during their final bows. “That’s what it is. To what we know as The Who, it’s goodbye.” Daltrey went on to thank fans “for all the years showing up for us.” They have not said whether they are bringing the tour to the rest of the world.
Other highlights of The Who’s year include:
-Townshend released Pete Townshend The Studio Albums, a box set featuring newly remastered versions of his seven solo albums.
-Townshend celebrated his 80th birthday in May.
-It was announced in June that Daltrey was selected for knighthood by King Charles for his contributions to music and his charity work, including raising funds for causes like Teenage Cancer Trust. He was officially knighted in December.
-Townshend’s Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet, featuring an orchestral version of The Who’s 1973 album, Quadrophenia, by Townshend’s wife, Rachel Fuller,debuted in the U.K. in May and then came to New York in November.
Bono and The Edge at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 16, 2025 in Cannes, France. (Photo by JB Lacroix/FilmMagic)
Back in October, Bono and The Edge were in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to represent U2 as they were honored with the Woody Guthrie Prize, which was given out by the Woody Guthrie Center. Now they are giving fans who weren’t in attendance a chance to hear what went down.
Audio of the conversation Bono and The Edge had with T Bone Burnett about art and activism, as well as the duo’s acoustic performance from the event, is now available on YouTube.
The surprise performance includes such songs as “Running to Stand Still,” which included a bit of Guthrie’s “Bound for Glory”; “Sunday Bloody Sunday”; “One”; “Pride (In The Name of Love),” which also featured a bit of Guthrie’s “Jesus Christ”; and “Yahweh.”
The Woody Guthrie Prize recognizes “a recipient who embodies the spirit of Woody Guthrie’s social consciousness and musical legacy.” The event was held at Cain’s Ballroom, a venue U2 headlined in 1981 on their Boy tour.
Previous Woody Guthrie Prize winners include Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Joan Baez and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello.
Billy Joel became a father when he and his wife, model Christie Brinkley, welcomed their only child together, daughter Alexa Ray Joel.
Their daughter’s middle name was a tribute to legendary musician Ray Charles, with whom Billy collaborated on the 1987 song “Baby Grand.” Joel later wrote the 1993 song “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” for Alexa.
Alexa followed in her father’s footsteps as a musician and released the EP Sketches in 2006, along with several other singles. She is scheduled to perform at New York City entrepreneur Michael Dorf’s annual Music Of concert celebrating her father, which will take place March 12 at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Joel went on to welcome two more daughters with his fourth wife, Alexis Roderick. Della Rose Joel was born in August 2015 and Remy Anne Joel in October 2017.
Billy Idol and The Warning perform at the CBS and the Recording Academy® present A GRAMMY® CELEBRATION OF LATIN MUSIC, airing Sunday, Dec. 28. (Gustavo Caballero/CBS)
The Warning performed alongside Billy Idol during a special called A Grammy Celebration of Latin Music, which aired Sunday.
The set began with the sister trio rocking out the iconic Mexican folk song “La Bamba” before Idol joined the stage alongside his guitarist Steve Stevens. Together, they transitioned into the song “Twist and Shout,” which has famously been performed by artists including The Beatles and The Isley Brothers.
“La Bamba” and “Twist and Shout” notably have a very similar chord progression, and have been previously mashed-up by Bruce Springsteen.
“The blend of these two songs and how they compliment each other in their history of how they were influenced in incredible,” The Warning said in a preshow interview. “For us, being Mexican, to be able to play ‘La Bamba’ is super, super incredible.”
You can watch footage of the performance via The Warning’s Instagram Story.
John Lydon of Public Image Ltd performs live on stage during their This Is Not The Last Tour at Parr Hall. (Andy Von Pip/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon says his former Sex Pistols bandmates didn’t reach out following the death of his wife, Nora Forster, in 2023.
“I expected some kind of connection when Nora died, but nothing,” Lydon tells the U.K.’s The Times.
Lydon has remained estranged from the rest of the Pistols — guitarist Steve Jones, bassist Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook — for some time; the band has since reformed with Frank Carter on vocals.
Lydon’s previously criticized the current iteration of the Pistols as “karaoke” and reiterates to The Times he has no interest in being part of the band.
“I still have a very great fondness for the chaps from that period,” Lydon says. “What they evolved — or devolved — into since is another consequence.”
Lydon is currently playing a run of U.K. dates with Public Image Ltd. The Carter-fronted Sex Pistols will launch a European tour in June.
It’s always sad to say goodbye to our favorite musicians when they pass away, and 2025 was certainly a tough year.
The music world lost a true legend on June 11 when Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson died in his sleep at the age of 82. He had been living with dementia at the time and had been placed under a conservatorship in early 2024 following the death of his wife, Melinda Wilson.
The rock world was in shock when news broke that Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22 at the age of 76. His death came barely three weeks after he made his final onstage appearance at the 10-hour all-star Back to the Beginning concert in his hometown of Birmingham, England. He was laid to rest in Birmingham, with fans lining the city’s streets to pay their respects.
Another influential artist we lost in 2025 was Sly Stone, of Sly and the Family Stone, who passed away June 9 at the age of 82. A statement revealed that he died “after a prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues.”
And Ace Frehley, guitarist and founding member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band KISS, died on Oct. 16 at the age of 64. His death came just weeks after he canceled the remainder of his 2025 tour due to health issues.
Here are some of the other music figures who died in 2025, in chronological order:
Jan. 21: Garth Hudson, keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist who was the last surviving member of The Band, 87.
Jan. 30: British singer Marianne Faithfull, best known for her hit “As Time Goes By” and for her association with The Rolling Stones, 78.
Feb. 28: David Johansen, lead singer and last surviving original member of the New York Dolls, who also found fame in the ’80s and ’90s as the throwback crooner Buster Poindexter, 75.
March 15: Les Binks, drummer for Judas Priest from 1977 to 1979, 73.
March 16: Jesse Colin Young, the voice heard on the Youngbloods‘ iconic hit “Get Together,” 83.
April 6: Clem Burke, drummer and founding member of Blondie, 70.
April 29: Mike Peters, frontman of Welsh rock band The Alarm, 66.
June 23: Mick Ralphs, guitarist and founding member of Mott the Hoople and Bad Company, 81.
July 29: Paul Mario Day, original lead singer for Iron Maiden, 69.
Aug. 4: Terry Reid, the British musician who’s most famously known for turning down offers to front Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, 75.
Aug. 10: Bobby Whitlock, pianist, guitarist and songwriter who formed Derek and the Dominoes with Eric Clapton, 77.
Sept. 5: Mark Volman, founding member of the rock band The Turtles, 78.
Sept. 6: Rick Davies, founding member of Supertramp who wrote and sang lead on their top-40 hit, “Goodbye Stranger,” 81.
Sept. 19: Sonny Curtis, a member of Buddy Holly‘s Crickets, who also wrote The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song, 88.
Sept. 25: Chris Dreja, a co-founder of the Yardbirds, 78.
Oct. 10: John Lodge, bassist and vocalist of the progressive rock band Moody Blues, 82.
Nov. 2: Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, vocalist for the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979, 78.
Nov. 5: Gilson Lavis, former drummer for the band Squeeze, 74.
Nov. 24: Jimmy Cliff, Grammy Award-winning reggae singer and actor, 81.
Dec. 3: Steve Cropper, guitarist for Booker T. and the M.G.’s, 84.
