Classic Rock 93.9

Queen continues to explore how their live show has evolved over the years in the latest edition of their weekly YouTube series, Queen the Greatest Live.

This week, the band looks at how they reimagine songs for their concerts, this time focusing on “Hammer to Fall,” the Brian May-penned tune from their 1984 album, The Works.

The clip features footage from their 2005 Return of the Champions tour, which featured Paul Rodgers as frontman. In the performance, the song starts off slow, with Brian solo in the middle of the stage before Paul comes out to join him.

But the band doesn’t stick to the slow version of the track. They soon kick things into gear, delivering a full band performance of the tune, much to the delight of fans in the audience.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It appears as though Lenny Kravitz has given the thumbs up to his daughter Zoë Kravitz’s engagement to Channing Tatum.

“Hey man, that’s life,” Lenny told Entertainment Tonight when asked about the happy news. “When your family is happy, when your child is happy, that’s it — I’ve done well. Blessed.”

Zoë, 35, who has starred in such films as The Batman and The Divergent series, is Lenny’s daughter with ex-wife Lisa Bonet. She and Tatum, 43, reportedly got engaged back in October after more than two years of dating.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Green Day has shared a new song called “One Eyed Bastard,” a track off their upcoming album, Saviors.

“‘One Eyed Bastard’ started off as just a riff that I had — a shuffle, almost like a Black Sabbath kind of riff,” says frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. “Lyrically, I was just reflecting on bad times in life.”

“That’s the thing about nostalgia, sometimes you think, ‘That was an awful time,'” he continues. “Everybody’s got that ugly place in their life where they have to deal with ugly thoughts — it could be like revenge or whatever. Thankfully, I have an outlet in songwriting.”

You can listen to “One Eyed Bastard” now via digital outlets.

Saviors, the follow-up to 2020’s Father of All…, arrives January 19. It also includes the lead single, “The American Dream Is Killing Me,” as well as the tracks “Look Ma, No Brains!” and “Dilemma.”

Green Day will support Saviors on a world tour; the U.S. leg launches in July. During the tour, Green Day will also be celebrating the 30th and 20th anniversaries of their albums Dookie and American Idiot, respectively.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, January 5, 1973… 

Bruce Springsteen released his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

Named one of the greatest debut albums of all time by Rolling Stone, the album’s two best-known tracks, “Blinded By the Light” and “Spirit in the Night,” were written after The Boss’ record label complained about a lack of singles.

The album also featured such future Springsteen classics as “Growin’ Up,” “It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City” and “For You.” 

Although the album only peaked at #60 on the charts and didn’t produce any hits, it’s considered a classic by Springsteen fans and went on to be certified double Platinum.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Rhino is kicking off the new year with a new vinyl series, featuring special limited edition vinyl releases from artists like The Doors, Foghat, Yes, Grateful Dead and more.

The series launches Friday, January 5, with a reissue of The Doors’ 1983 album, Alive, She Cried, on translucent emerald vinyl, along with Velvet Underground’s Live at Max’s Kansas City on two-LP orchid and magenta vinyl, Yes’ 1969 self-titled debut on cobalt vinyl and a Foghat compilation on translucent tan vinyl.

The series will continue throughout January with the reissues of two Grateful Dead albums on January 12: 1987’s In The Dark on silver vinyl and 1977’s Terrapin Station on emerald green vinyl. And January 19 will see the release of the two volumes of Lenny Kaye’s Nuggets compilations on psychedelic vinyl.

The month of releases will wrap on January 26, with two Stevie Nicks solo albums: 1994’s Street Angel on transparent red vinyl and 2001’s Trouble in Shangri-La on transparent sea blue vinyl. Also being released on January 26 is Black Sabbath’s 1973 album, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (50th Anniversary), on smokey vinyl, a Curtis Mayfield compilation on grape vinyl and a Ray Charles compilation on light blue vinyl.

The exclusive vinyl releases will be available online and at participating retailers. A complete list of releases can be found at rhino.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Who’s Tommy is set to return to Broadway in March, and the cast for the musical has just been revealed.

This version features a brand new staging, directed by original Tommy director Des McAnuff. It debuted at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in June, and it turns out most of the Windy City cast will be making the move to the Big Apple. 

It was previously announced that Ali Louis Bourzgui, who played the title role in the Chicago production, would once again be starring in the musical. Now, several of his castmates will be joining him, including Alison Luff as Mrs. Walker, Adam Jacobs as Captain Walker, John Ambrosino as Uncle Ernie, Bobby Conte as Cousin Kevin and Christina Sajous as The Acid Queen.

The Who’s Tommy is set to open at the Nederlander Theatre on March 28, with previews beginning March 8. Tickets are on sale now.

Based on The Who’s 1969 album and 1975 film, the original production of Tommy opened at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, on July 1, 1992. It opened on Broadway on April 22, 1993, and closed on June 17, 1995. Tommy won five Tony Awards, including Best Direction for McAnuff and Best Original Score for Pete Townshend. 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Billy Joel has announced some new tour dates for 2024, both solo and with two of his musical peers.

Joel is set to headline solo dates at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, on May 24, the first time he’s played Seattle in eight years. He’ll also headline Denver’s Coors Field on July 12, the first time he’s played the city in five years.

Joel will also once again team with Stevie Nicks for a co-headlining show at Chicago’s Soldier Field on Friday, June 21, marking the first time the duo has played together in the city. Plus, he’ll team with Sting for a concert at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium on Friday, September 27.

A Citi presale for all shows kick off Monday, January 8, at 10 a.m. PT, with tickets going on sale to the general public, Friday, January 12, at 10 a.m. PT.

Billy and Stevie first kicked off their co-headlining shows in March. In addition to Chicago, they have one other date set for 2024: March 9 in Arlington, Texas, which is a rescheduled show from 2023.

Meanwhile, Billy and Sting already have two other shows announced for this year: February 24 in Tampa, Florida, and April 13 in San Diego, California.

A complete list of dates can be found at billyjoel.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Elton John is worth millions, but evidently, when he gambles, he keeps things low-key.

One of Elton John’s pals, U.K. soccer legend Gary Lineker, posted a photo on X, formerly Twitter, showing a £10 note — worth just under $12.70 — along with a handwritten note from Elton. The note, dated December 27, indicates that the bill was his payment on a bet the two made on a soccer match, which Elton lost.

“Dear Gary, sorry this is late! With Christmas we were left a little short! Have a great new year. It was so great to see you! Thank you. Love Elton,” the note reads.

“Never let it be said that @eltonofficial doesn’t pay his debts,” Lineker wrote, adding the final score of the match, which took place in November: “Leicester [lester] 2 Watford 0.”

Elton was formerly the chairman of the British soccer team Watford FC, which he still supports. Lineker, now a sportscaster, used to play for Leicester City, among other teams.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Green Day has announced worldwide listening parties for their upcoming album, Saviors.

Events will take place in independent record stores across the globe starting January 13, roughly a week before the record officially drops on January 19.

“Listening parties are free + have exclusive giveaways (while supplies last),” Green Day teases. “Did we mention you’ll get to hear the whole damn album in its entirety before it’s out!!!”

For more info, visit ListentoSaviors.GreenDay.com.

Saviors is Green Day’s 14th studio album and the follow-up to 2020’s Father of All… It includes lead single “The American Dream Is Killing Me” as well as the tracks “Look Ma, No Brains!” and “Dilemma.”

Green Day will support Saviors on a world tour; the U.S. leg kicks off in July. The tour will also celebrate the 30th and 20th anniversaries of Green Day’s albums Dookie and American Idiot, respectively.

In other Green Day happenings, official footage of their performance on ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest is streaming now on YouTube. During the song “American Idiot,” Green Day changed the lyrics to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Looks like Neil Young may be heading out on tour in 2024.

The rocker teased the news in his year-end note to fans on his Neil Young Archives website, where he thanked his booking agent Marsha Vlassic for “booking my soon to be announced tour.”

There’s no word on when that tour will be announced and where Young will be going.

Young returned to the stage this past summer for a short West Coast tour, his first trek since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. His coastal tour consisted of 15 shows in California, Washington and Oregon.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.