Classic Rock 93.9

Steven Van Zandt has been married to wife Maureen for over 40 years, and the rocker tells People that the secret to their relationship is that they are OK not being with each other all the time. 

“As I often say, the key to staying together is stay apart,” the E Street Band guitarist jokes. “We’ve been together, God, what is it now, 40-plus years and probably have spent about 10 years of that together out of the 40, because I’m always on the road. So, you go home, and it’s always new again.”

Maureen keeps herself busy with her own projects while Stevie is on the road, and he notes, “She’s a very, very strong person.”

Van Zandt says he believes in the importance of “making sure that one plus one equals three rather than one plus one equals one-and-a-half, which you see all the time in relationships where people just start to lose their identity and compromise it in order to get along.”

He adds, “I think with some boundaries, if you will, allowing the other one to have their very strong identity and coming together and finding the common ground. We have both. That’s the key.”

Speaking of always on the road, Stevie is currently on the road with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They play Werchter, Belgium, on July 2. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.com.

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Taylor Swift is waxing poetic about Stevie Nicks.

The pop superstar, 34, praised the legendary Fleetwood Mac singer, 76, who was in attendance during the final night of Swift’s Eras Tour stop in Dublin on June 30.

During a speech cueing up her set of surprise songs unique to each tour stop, Swift called Nicks someone “who has really been one of the reasons why I — or any female artist — gets to do what we get to do.” 

“She’s paved the way for us, and she’s mentored so many artists that you don’t even know she’s doing it. She’s become friends with so many female artists just to be a guiding hand. I can’t tell you how rare that is,” Taylor said of Nicks’ impact and their friendship. “She’s a hero of mine and also someone that I can tell her any secret and she’d never tell anybody. She’s really helped me through so much over the years. I’m talking about Stevie Nicks.”

Swift then performed her song “Clara Bow” off her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department — a fitting choice as she name-checks Nicks in the lyrics.

“You look like Stevie Nicks/ In ’75, the hair and lips/ Crowd goes wild at her fingertips/ Half moonshine, a full eclipse,” she sings in the song.

Stevie showed her appreciation by writing a poem, “For T – and me …,” that’s included in The Tortured Poets Department.

And it looks like Taylor and Stevie got some bonding time in after the show. According to The New York Post, Stevie was with Taylor as she celebrated her concert at the Hacienda Bar in Dublin Sunday night. Also at the bar were Taylor’s beau, Travis Kelce, Paramour and members of Taylor’s crew.

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Ringo Starr is turning 84 soon and has announced plans for his annual Peace & Love birthday celebration.  

The annual event, happening July 7, will have Ringo and wife Barbara Starkey joined in Los Angeles by Joe and Marjorie Walsh, Stephen Stills, Diane Warren, Matt Sorum, Fred Armisen, Ed Begley Jr., Asa, Roy Orbison Jr. and more.

There will also be musical tributes from Ben Harper with Don Was, Gabe Witcher and Willie Watson, Greg Leisz, Ben Dickey, All Starr Band member Gregg Bissonette and Steve Dudas.

The group will gather together at noon on Ringo’s big day for the “Peace and Love” exclamation, with gatherings expected to happen in 34 countries worldwide.

“OK Peace & Love here we go again!” Ringo shares in a new video message. “Thanks for joining me on my birthday. I am so grateful to you all for helping me promote Peace & Love.”

He adds, “I want to give special thanks to all the Peace & Love Ambassadors – we are in 34 countries! thanks for doing it – and I gotta thank all the fans, peace & love – just join me in your mind, or on the bus or wherever you are on the 7th of the 7th just go Peace & Love at Noon your local time.”

Ringo has been using his birthday to spread peace and love to the world since 2008. 

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The Rolling Stones wrapped a two-night stand at Chicago’s Soldier Field on Sunday and treated fans to a new tour debut. 

According to setlist.fm, midway through the show the band added the Some Girls track “Before They Make Me Run” to the set for the first time this tour. The song features Keith Richards on vocals, one of three tunes Richards sang that night — the others were “Tell Me Straight” and “Little T&A.”

The night also featured a surprise appearance by the show’s opener, Lainey Wilson, who joined The Stones on “Dead Flowers,” a song they previously performed with Tyler Childers in Orlando.

The second Chicago show also featured “Shattered” as the fan-voted song of the night, with the rest of the set including such hits as “Start Me Up,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” “Gimme Shelter,” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction)” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

The Rolling Stones bring their Hackney Diamonds tour to Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 5. The tour wraps July 21 in Ridgedale, Montana. A complete list of dates can be found at rollingstones.com.

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The Tom Petty estate has signed a new worldwide deal with Warner Chappell Music, which will now be in charge of the late Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s catalog.

“We’re looking forward to this new partnership with the team at Warner Chappell, as we expand the reach of Tom’s iconic song catalog. This partnership will open the door to new licensing opportunities and serve to introduce his music to a new generation across the globe,” the Petty estate shares. “We’re excited for this new chapter of growth, and the preservation of Tom’s legacy both at home and abroad.”

The deal encompasses Petty’s entire catalog, including songs with the Heartbreakers and his solo work. Those tunes include such classics as “American Girl,” “The Waiting,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Free Fallin’” “Learning to Fly” and “Wildflowers.” 

“Tom Petty’s music is woven into the fabric of our lives, not just across America, but around the world. He captured the full range and resilience of the human spirit in songs about freedom and dreams, outcasts and rebels, relationships and heartbreak, the personal and the universal,” WCM co-chair and COO Carianne Marshall and co-chair and CEO Guy Moot shared in a statement. “Tom’s unmistakable sound and lyrics remain as timeless and vital today as ever, and all of us at Warner Chappell Music are honored to be joining with his estate to help amplify his extraordinary legacy on a global scale.”

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Eagles’ Don Henley has filed a lawsuit to get his handwritten notes and lyrics back.

The lyric sheets in question are for songs from the band’s classic album Hotel California. They were the subject of a criminal trial earlier this year, in which three men — Craig Inciardi, rock memorabilia dealer Edward Kosinski and rare-books dealer Glenn Horowitz — were accused of trying to auction them off.

The trio claimed they got the sheets from writer Ed Sanders, who came into possession of the documents when he worked on Henley’s never-published biography. Henley had argued that the sheets were stolen and not given to Sanders.

The case was eventually dismissed due to a late disclosure of documents by Henley’s team; the lyric sheets have been in the custody of the New York district attorney ever since. Now Henley’s new suit against just Inciardi and Kosinki is seeking to have a court declare he is the rightful owner of the documents and that they be returned to him.

“Because Kosinski and Inciardi have also claimed title over Henley’s lyric sheets, the issue must be decided in a civil court with appropriate jurisdiction,” reads the lawsuit. “Henley therefore seeks a declaration from this Court that he is the lawful owner of his seized lyric sheets to provide the ‘satisfactory proof of his title’ that will facilitate the District Attorney’s return of his property.”

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On This Day, July 1, 1968…

The Band – Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm – released their debut album, Music from Big Pink.

The album was named after a house in Saugerties, New York, shared by Danko, Manuel and Hudson, where some of the songs on the album were composed. It was recorded after the group toured as Bob Dylan’s backing band, and features a Dylan painting as the cover art.

Music from Big Pink features The Band’s future classic “The Weight,” which was written by Robertson. While it only reached #63 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song became more popular following The Band’s performance at Woodstock, and the song’s inclusion in the movie Easy Rider.

The Band broke up in 1976 following their November 25, 1976, concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, which was filmed for what would become the critically acclaimed concert documentary The Last Waltz.

They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

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Having your dad come along on your honeymoon seems like it’d put a damper on any romance, but Jon Bon Jovi‘s son Jake and Jake’s wife, Millie Bobby Brown, don’t seem to mind.

Jake and Millie, who secretly tied the knot in May, are currently on the Italian island of Sardinia, and Jon and his wife, Dorothea, have evidently tagged along, according to photos obtained by the Daily Mail and Page Six. However, the foursome seem like they’re having a great time enjoying the sun and shopping.

During an appearance on BBC’s The One Show, Jon said of the marriage, “It was a very small family wedding and the bride looked gorgeous and Jake is happy as can be.”

Speaking to The Sun in June, Jon noted that he and Dorothea have welcomed two daughters-in-law into the family: his other son, Jesse, also recently tied the knot. 

“Suddenly, your kids are married and then they’re telling you about the prospect of grandbabies … woah!” said Jon. “There’s no chapter in my book that went this far.”

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Fifty years ago, in July 1974, Eric Clapton released his second solo album, 461 Ocean Boulevard, which became a huge hit for the future three-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.

The album, named after the address of the Golden Beach, Florida, home he lived in while recording the record, featured Clapton’s classic cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff,” which would become his only #1 single. The track was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003.  

Clapton recorded 461 Ocean Boulevard following his battle with heroin addiction, and its success marked a personal and professional comeback for the musician. In a 2007 Amazon interview to promote his memoir, Clapton: The Autobiography, he opened up about how fortunate he felt that he was able to find success again after kicking the habit.

“There’s no doubt that music, the things that I love in my life today and I’ve always loved, were there before any of the habits, the bad habits, anyway, came into my life. And the terrible thing is, those bad habits merely curtailed it,” he said. “And we know that the blessing is I was allowed, for whatever reason, to come back and have another go.”

The album, which featured two new songs along with a variety of covers, went on to become one of Clapton’s most successful releases, hitting #1 in the U.S. and spending four weeks on top. It also topped the chart in Canada, landed in the top 10 in eight other countries and went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA.

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Pearl Jam has canceled two more shows on their European tour due to health issues.

The affected dates were set to take place Tuesday and Wednesday in Berlin. In a Facebook post Sunday, the “Even Flow” rockers share, “Despite everyone’s best efforts, the band has yet to make a full recovery.”

“The impacts of this decision are not lost on us,” Pearl Jam writes. “We feel deeply that so many people spend their time, money, and emotional energy to get tickets and then to come see the band and it is heart wrenching to have to disappoint you. We also appreciate the many people whose hard work goes into making these shows happen.”

“Please trust we never take these decisions lightly and try to do everything possible to show up for you all,” the post continues. “We wish a reschedule had been possible for this tour leg and hope to come back to Berlin soon.”

Those who purchased tickets will receive a refund at their point of purchase.

Pearl Jam previously canceled their show Saturday in London due to illness; they have not publicly commented on the nature of the illness or which member, or members, it is affecting.  However, reviews of Pearl Jam’s most recent show, held June 25 in Manchester, England, noted that frontman Eddie Vedder was feeling under the weather.

The next show on Pearl Jam’s schedule is set for July 6 in Barcelona. The band is set to launch a U.S. summer tour in August.

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