Classic Rock 93.9

Sheryl Crow is just one of the big names performing at Keep The Party Going: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett, a concert in honor of the late singer taking place April 11 at the Hollywood Bowl. Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, the Eagles and Jackson Browne are also on the bill. Sheryl says she and Buffett met even before she was famous: He hired her to sing backup vocals on a project after her two-year stint on the road singing backing vocals for the King of Pop.

“I was blessed enough to get to spend some really good quality time with him,” she tells ABC Audio. “Actually, it’s interesting — he was my first recording session after I came home from the Michael Jackson tour, and I flew down because the band I used to sing with in St. Louis became [Buffett’s] Coral Reefer [Band] — and that was in 1989.”

Sheryl says she loved Buffett because of the way he approached his career.

“He emulates exactly how I wish I could be, which is just so in the joyful moment of making music,” she says. “Y’know, sometimes we get so in our analytical head and decide if something is good or bad, or if we’ve delivered … and he was not that.”

“He was somebody who was there for the fans, and loved what he did and was just a great man.” 

Other artists on the bill include Jack Johnson, country stars Kenny Chesney, Eric Church and Zac Brown, and Pitbull.

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Billy Idol‘s single “Rebel Yell” was a huge hit for him, thanks to its video being in heavy rotation on MTV, and that was exactly what he was hoping for when he shot the clip. 

In a new video posted to social media, Idol gives fans some behind-the-scenes info on the making of the video, and what he and his team hoped it would do for his career.  

“We deliberately did a live performance video … we wanted to show the people in America and around the world what a Billy Idol concert was like,” he shared. “We wanted to show the excitement we had for the music but also the excitement the fans had for discovering me in America solo.”

Idol says his manager at the time knew MTV was about to launch with videos playing 24 hours a day, noting his manager “knew I’d be perfect for it.” 

“We knew this was going to give us a platform that was going to break the new music we were making, because there was kind of a holdout against the new music from the people from the ’60s and the ’70s that really didn’t want things to change,” he says.

He added, “We were going to show them … we’re showing these old people, F-off.”

Idol also just shared video of a 2023 live performance of the song, the title track of his multi-Platinum 1983 album, which also featured “Eyes Without A Face” and “Flesh for Fantasy.”

Idol’s set to release a 40th anniversary deluxe expanded edition of Rebel Yell on April 26. It will include the original album, and an album of previously unreleased songs and demos. It is available for preorder now.

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The Rolling Stones have announced Gary Clark Jr. as the opener for the first show of their upcoming U.S. tour.

The show takes place April 28 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Clark is originally from Austin, Texas.

Following the Houston date, the Stones will play New Orleans Jazz Fest in May, followed by U.S. stadium performances throughout May, June and July. They’ll be supporting their new album, Hackney Diamonds, which was released in October and marked their first collection of original material in nearly 20 years.

Clark, meanwhile, put out a new record, JPEG RAW, in March. He’ll launch his own U.S. tour in May.

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While fans may think that Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora are permanently estranged, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Ahead of the April 26 streaming debut of their documentary Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, Jon told Entertainment Tonight that he and Sambora watched the first three episodes of the documentary together. He said it was the first time he saw Sambora — albeit onscreen — apologize for leaving the band in 2013.

“It was never about money, it was never about a girlfriend. He had issues … and he literally didn’t show up. We were playing for 20,000 people and there’s a black hole on the stage,” Jon told ET about Sambora’s departure. 

“Substance abuse or anxieties or single parenting, all those things weighed on him, losing his dad. These were all very hard things,” Jon continued. “But in fairness, why would I take away the livelihoods of … the band…? [What about] … the millions of people that bought a ticket? What am I going to do? Shut it down because you don’t want to go to rehab?”

However, Jon said that in the past 10 years he and Richie have been able to heal their relationship. As Jon told ET, “You read, you talk to professionals, you sit with yourself, you learn to understand from a different perspective that his choices weren’t made out of animosity either.”

Bon Jovi’s new album, Forever, is coming out June 7, but Jon says he won’t tour until his voice is 100% back following the vocal surgery he had in 2022.

As he put it, “I won’t compromise who we are as a band live, because I’d like to think we’re a pretty darn good band.”

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Paul McCartney is opening up about one of his most embarrassing moments as a musician in the latest episode of his podcast, Paul McCartney: A Life in Lyrics.

In discussing his early guitar playing, McCartney shared that originally he thought he was good, noting he even had to teach John Lennon guitar chords. John was more familiar with the banjo chords, since he was taught to play guitar by his mom, who only knew how to play banjo. But during an early show at Conservative Club in Liverpool McCartney realized he wasn’t the right person to play guitar in the band.  

“We had this gig and it was like, the first thing I ever played, and I was lead guitar player. John was rhythm,” he shared. “And I had a solo and I totally froze. Could not move my fingers. … It was, like, just so embarrassing.” 

He added, “My lead-guitar-playing career melted at that moment and I said, ‘Well, I’m not doing this again. I’m not cut out for this. I’m no good.’”

It all seemed to work out, though. With McCartney on the bass, George Harrison on lead guitar, Lennon on rhythm guitar and Ringo Starr on drums, The Beatles went on to be one of the biggest bands in the history of music.

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A new Grateful Dead book penned by late songwriter Robert Hunter is due for release later this year.

Hunter wrote The Silver Snarling Trumpet: The Birth of the Grateful Dead—The Lost Manuscript of Robert Hunter in the early ’60s, and its existence has been the subject of a lot of speculation amongst Deadheads. The book had been in Hunter’s attic for years, but it’s finally going to see the light of day.

Hachette Books is set to release The Silver Snarling Trumpet on October 8, giving fans insight into the origin story of the band and Hunter’s partnership with Jerry Garcia. It will feature a foreword by Dead & Company’s John Mayer, with an introduction by author and former Dead publicist Dennis McNally and an afterword by Hunter’s close friend Brigid Meier.

Hunter is best known for writing such Grateful Dead classics as “Dark Star,” “Ripple,” “Truckin’,” “Uncle John’s Band” and more. He passed away in September 2019 at the age of 78.

The book is available for preorder now.

In addition to the book, Hunter’s 1974 debut solo album, Tales of the Great Rum Runners, is getting a deluxe reissue on June 7. It will feature a newly remastered version of the album along with 16 previously unreleased recordings. The first track released from the record is a remastered version of “Standing at Your Door.”

You can listen to “Standing at Your Door” now via digital outlets and YouTube.

Tales Of the Great Rum Runners (Deluxe Edition) be released as a two-CD and two-LP set, and will also get its first-ever digital release. It is available for preorder now.

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Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has announced an intimate solo show in Los Angeles.

The performance takes place Friday, April 12, at the famed Whisky a Go Go club, which holds about 500 people. Tickets will only be available in person at the venue’s box office, beginning Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

“When you turn up at the box office, you never know who you might meet,” Dickinson teases.

Following the Whiskey concert, Dickinson will play another California show, taking place April 15 in Santa Ana, before launching international tours of Mexico, Brazil and Europe.

Dickinson released a new solo album, The Mandrake Project, in March.

Maiden, meanwhile, will launch a U.S. tour in October.

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Ever wonder what Lenny Kravitz does to get those chiseled abs? Well, he just gave us all a peek into his workout, and it’s very Lenny Kravitz. 

The rocker, who turns 60 on May 26, shared a video on Instagram of him at the gym doing situps while holding a barbell over his head. While that may seem normal, what is out of the ordinary is his workout gear: leather pants, a mesh shirt and boots.

“Thank God for today! Grateful. Never been better,” he captioned the video. “There are no shortcuts so seize your day. It is all possible. Love!” 

The clip got quite the reaction from Kravitz’s fans, many of whom commented on his unconventional gym attire.

“My man never breaks character. Full time rockstar!” one person commented, while another added, “Man! Boots and leather pants while working out is crazy! Always on brand!” 

And another joked, “Only Lenny can work out in that and nobody bats an eye.”

Lenny and those leather pants are getting ready to drop the new album Blue Electric Light on May 24. It is available for preorder now.

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Slash has announced a new signature guitar with Gibson inspired by his beloved “Jessica” Les Paul guitar.

The Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver shredder first got Jessica in 1988, and he’s used it as his main live guitar ever since.

“I take a lot of guitars out on the road, but this still has a very specific sound compared to all the other Les Pauls I have out there,” Slash says.

The Slash Jessica Les Paul Standard can be yours for $3,199. For more info, visit Gibson.com.

Meanwhile, Slash is prepping his new blues covers album, Orgy of the Damned, due out May 17. He’ll launch a U.S. tour in July.

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