Classic Rock 93.9

The battle over who owns the rights to The Guess Who‘s name and music has taken a sudden and extreme turn. 

The founding members of the band, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, sued original members Jim Kale and Garry Peterson in October, accusing them of misleading fans into thinking the founding members are part of the current lineup that’s on tour. Peterson is the only original member still touring with the group under the name The Guess Who.

According to Rolling Stone, in an effort to put an end to Kale and Peterson’s version of The Guess Who, Cummings — who wrote the band’s classic hits like “American Woman” and “These Eyes” and owns the publishing for them — has canceled the performing rights agreements for the songs. That means no band, including the current incarnation of The Guess Who, is allowed to play those songs live.

Here’s how it works: By canceling those agreements, concert venues can no longer host any acts who are performing Cummings’ songs. If they do, Cummings’ publishing company could sue them. The move has already resulted in several The Guess Who concerts in Florida being canceled.

But the move will likely wind up costing Cummings money, too, because it will prevent him from collecting royalties when the songs — or any covers of those songs — are played on radio, TV shows and more.

“I’m willing to do anything to stop the fake band; they’re taking [Bachman and my] life story and pretending it’s theirs,” Cummings tells Rolling Stone. “Yes, I’m going to lose some money, but we’re going to find out what’s worth what. I will not have this fake band going on any longer.”

He adds, “I’m going to lose some money, but … the name is worthless without those songs.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Joe Elliott wants fans to know that what they see at a Def Leppard concert is all live.

“You want people to hear it and go, ‘My God, they’re tight,’ but you can tell there’s a difference between the live and the record,” he tells Stereogum in a new interview.

While Elliott said he doesn’t “normally comment on this kind of stuff,” he wanted to set the record straight after W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes and Testament’s Chuck Willy had claimed the band used backing tracks in concert. 

“I’m flattered because their standards must be very different to ours,” Elliott says. “For anybody that thinks we use backing tracks, it must mean that when they hear us, they can’t believe how good it is for real.”

He adds, “The fact is that if you rehearse the way we do and you’re as talented as the band are as musicians, then maybe you would believe it. I’d be happy to invite any of those guys to come stand side stage with a pair of headphones on so they could actually hear what’s coming out of the stage.”

Elliott does acknowledge the use some effects, like keyboards and drum loops, the latter of which he says is used by “thousands of other drummers to enhance a sound.” 

“But backing tracks or playing along to a backing track — we’ve never done that, never,” he insists. “We’ve never mimed to the vocals, or we’ve never had multiples of stuff on tape. It’s literally live.”

Finally Elliott notes, “So, sorry Chuck and Chris Holmes, but you’ve got that one completely wrong. But thanks for thinking that we need them. We don’t. We’re that good.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Queen’s Brian May is set to join French new age performer Jean-Michel Jarre for a special concert to kick off this year’s STARMUS Festival.

The one-off show, Bridge from the Future, will take place May 12 at Incheba Bratislava, Slovakia, under the backdrop of the SNP (UFO) Bridge. The concert is free to attend and will also stream on Jarre’s YouTube channel.

The concert will kick off the seventh edition of STARMUS Festival, which is described as “the globe’s preeminent gathering uniting science, art, and music.” May, who in addition to a being a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is an astrophysicist, is one of the co-founders of the festival, along with astrophysicist Garik Israelian.

“We’re thrilled that STARMUS VII will kick off with such a unique and spectacular show,” May shares. “And in this concert, Jean-Michel Jarre will set the tone for the spirit of this conference, specifically aimed towards addressing our planet’s current problems.”

The STARMUS Festival will take place May 12-17. More info can be found at starmus.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

While Billy Idol is getting ready to release a 40th anniversary deluxe expanded edition of Rebel Yell on April 26, it seems when it comes to music he isn’t stuck in the past.

In an interview with the Calgary Herald, Idol revealed he has a new album coming out later this year, which will be his first in almost a decade; his last album was 2014’s Kings & Queens of the Underground.

“We don’t just do old stuff. We’ve got an album coming out in October, which I think is going to be a kicka** record,” he shares. “I really enjoyed making that. So we’re just as fired up about what we’re doing today as we ever were, and I can see the same on the faces in the audience.”

Idol will kick off a set of U.S. dates on May 3 in West Palm Beach, Florida, and will launch a Canadian tour on July 30 in Vancouver. When asked if this will be the end of his touring career, Idol shut down the thought.

“No, of course not. Not right now and hopefully, I never stop,” he said. “I’m just thinking I’ll rock til I drop. That’s kind of my ethos.” 

A complete list of Billy Idol tour dates can be found at billyidol.net.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jethro Tull’s first live album, Bursting Out, is getting reissued with a whole host of extras for fans. 

Originally released in September 1978 as a double album, Bursting Out was recorded during the band’s Heavy Horses European tour, featuring performances from shows that took place in May and June of that year.

The reissue, Bursting Out (The Inflated Edition), will be released as an expanded three-CD/three-DVD set, remixed by Steven Wilson. It will feature previously unreleased performances, a CD of an edited version of a 1978 Madison Square Garden show, previously released in 2009, and a DVD of the full MSG show, with over 50 minutes of video that was previously broadcast on the BBC and Radio 1.

Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson says the album “serves as a fine testimony for the many wonderful shows we did in the 70s before general touring fatigue and burn-out began a year or so later,” adding, “Enjoy vintage Tull at its ’70s best!”

Bursting Out (The Inflated Edition) will be released June 21. It is available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Paul Simon was the musical entertainment at the White House State Dinner for Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Yuko Kishida, hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Wednesday.

Video posted to social media shows Simon performing an acoustic version of his Grammy-winning song “Graceland” at the event, which former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Robert De Niro, Apple CEO Tim Cook and more attended.

Simon revealed last May that he had lost hearing in his left ear, making it difficult to play, although things have now changed. Just last month, he revealed that his hearing had returned enough to make him feel comfortable enough to sing and play guitar again.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jon Bon Jovi‘s first hit was “Runaway,” but as many fans know, his first paid job as a singer was on Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album. He discussed the latter on April 10 during his appearance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Jon was working as a gofer at the studio where the Star Wars Christmas Album was being made. The man in charge of the album needed a young-sounding guy to sing on a track called “R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and tapped Jon for the job.

“He says, ‘Young boy, can you sing?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I think I can,'” Jon remembered. “He says, ‘Go in there and if you wanna do this, it pays 183 dollars.'”

Jimmy then played a clip of the song, to which Jon smiled and even sang along.

“Legend!” Jon joked. 

Speaking of that, Bon Jovi‘s new album, Legendary, is coming out in June. The band’s documentary begins streaming April 26 on Hulu.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Last month, Mick Jagger posted a video of him dancing to a band playing Maroon 5’s hit “Moves Like Jagger,” and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine still can’t believe it. 

“It’s really surreal,” Levine shared during an appearance on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. “It’s just one of those things you’re like, ‘Oh my, like how is this possible. What is happening. It’s bizarre.’” 

Jagger posted the video with the caption, “Moves like who!” and Maroon 5 shared their approval on Instagram with an animated “GOAT” — “Greatest of All Time” — graphic. 

Levine said that while folks probably think tons of people sent him the video after Jagger posted it, that just wasn’t the case.

“I think it was one of those like everyone thought everyone had already sent it to me thing,” Levine shared, noting he only got it from a few people. “My mom and like one of my friends sent me the video. I was shocked not more people sent it to me.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, April 11, 1981 …

Eddie Van Halen married One Day at a Time actress Valerie Bertinelli eight months after meeting her at a concert in Shreveport, Louisiana. 

They welcomed their first and only child, Wolfgang, in 1991, but the marriage didn’t last, and Bertinelli filed for divorce in 2005. Despite the end of their marriage, the pair remained close over the years. In fact, Bertinelli and Van Halen’s second wife were both at his side when he died on October 6, 2020, at the age of 65.

As for Wolfgang, he went on to follow in his father’s footsteps. He performed with his dad in Van Halen from 2006 to 2020 and also fronts his own project, Mammoth WVH, which released their sophomore album, Mammoth II, in 2023.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Alice in Chains‘ Jerry Cantrell has located his lost guitar.

On Tuesday, April 9, Cantrell posted that his prized original Blue Dress G&L guitar, which he’s had since 1985, had gone missing and was believed to be stolen. In a video update on Wednesday, April 10, Cantrell shares that the guitar had simply been “misplaced … during transit between photoshoots and the studio” while he was working on a new album.

“We found the damn thing!” Cantrell exclaims. “God, what a relief … I really thought this thing had gone missing.”

Cantrell notes that he’s had a guitar stolen before, and it took him 18 years to get it back.

“I was worried to death that this thing was gone,” Cantrell says of the Blue Dress. “Happy to cry wolf, it was misplaced, I hope you understand my concern. The thing is OK … and we will be rocking together very shortly for you.”

Cantrell also thanks everyone who reached out to him with and shared his initial post.

“It just makes me feel very f****** special to have so many great people in my life and so many people care,” he says.

Cantrell’s previously said that the Blue Dress guitar has “been on everything I’ve ever recorded, pretty much.” It’s named after the pinup picture on the front, and it also has a Soundgarden sticker on the back.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.