Classic Rock 93.9

If you’ve seen Wolfgang Van Halen perform live, you’ve probably seen him thank his dad, the late Eddie Van Halen, by pointing up to the sky. In an interview with People, Wolf shares, “The reason I do what I do is because of my dad.”

“If I didn’t or at least think about him throughout the process, I’d be doing a disservice to my existence,” Wolf says. “So I think it’s very important to establish that to thank my dad every night, every time I’m on stage. Just to thank my father and to know that he’s always there with me every night.”

Wolf also speaks about his relationship with his mother and Eddie’s ex-wife, Valerie Bertinelli.

“A big thing is that she’s the only parent I have, and so I think it’s important to be close to your family and to make that time count because it doesn’t last forever,” Wolf says. “It’s very important to spend every chance you can get with your family.”

“My parents raised me,” he adds. “I wish I could spend more time with my dad, but I can’t, but I can spend time with my mom and it’s the best. She’s the best.”

You can catch Wolf live with his band Mammoth WVH touring the U.S. beginning in May.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

INXS frontman Michael Hutchence has been gone for nearly three decades, but his music lives on, and it turns out there’s even more music to enjoy.

A never-before-heard Hutchence solo single, “One Way,” has just been released, put together by his friend and producer/musician Danny Saber from previously unreleased material.

“’One Way’ is the culmination of nearly two decades of work,” Saber shares. “One of the fundamental reasons for releasing this music is to allow the fans to hear Michael’s voice on something new and fresh, offering a glimpse into what might have been, and, in turn, reawakening millions of people who may have simply forgotten about him.”

The unreleased material, including demos and song ideas, was discovered in a locker in London in 2006, with some of that material featured in the 2017 documentary about Hutchence, The Last Rockstar. 

“One of the best things for me personally is that through this journey, I have come to a better understanding of what happened to Michael and why,” Saber says. “I want to share that perspective as I really feel Michael’s story has so much relevance and value on so many levels, and along the way, hopefully we can shift the focus to how he lived and not how he died.”  

Finally, he notes, “Michael deserves to take his place in the pantheon of great frontmen and finally get the recognition he and the band deserve.”

Hutchence’s band INXS had a string of hits in the mid-’80s to early ’90s, including “Need You Tonight,” their only U.S. #1, “What You Need,” “Never Tear Us Apart,” “New Sensation” and “Suicide Blonde.”

Hutchence was found dead on November 22, 1997. His death was later ruled a suicide. He was 37.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lenny Kravitz has dropped the video for his latest single “Human,” from his upcoming album, Blue Electric Light.

The clip, directed by Joseph Kahn, kicks off with a bunch of people distracted by their phones, which are later pulled out of their hands and sucked into a large stack of speakers that surround Kravitz’s performance in the middle of the street. The music prompts folks to dance in the streets and even causes them, and the cars around them, to levitate into the air.

Lenny also does a bit of floating in the air and is suddenly shirtless, showing off his chiseled abs.

Blue Electric Light, Lenny’s first album since 2018’s Raise Vibration, is set to drop May 24, two days before the rocker’s 60 birthday. It is available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kurt Cobain‘s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, has shared a statement marking the 30th anniversary of her late father’s death.

The statement accompanies an Instagram post featuring a photo R.E.M.‘s Michael Stipe took of the Nirvana frontman’s hands, which Frances’ mother, Courtney Love, previously shared. Frances writes that Kurt’s mother, Wendy, would tell her as a baby, “You have his hands.”

“I wish I could’ve known my Dad,” writes Frances, who was about 20 months old when Kurt died by suicide on April 5, 1994. “I wish I knew the cadence of his voice, how he liked his coffee or the way it felt to be tucked in after a bedtime story. I always wondered if he would’ve caught tadpoles with me during the muggy Washington summers, or if he smelled of Camel Lights & strawberry nesquik (his favorites, I’ve been told).”

“But there is also deep wisdom being on an expedited path to understanding how precious life is,” she continues. “He gifted me a lesson in death that can only come through the LIVED experience of losing someone. It’s the gift of knowing for certain, when we love ourselves & those around us with compassion, with openness, with grace, the more meaningful our time here inherently becomes.”

Frances adds that Kurt wrote a letter to her before she was born, which reads, “Wherever you go or wherever I go, I will always be with you.”

“He kept this promise because he is present in so many ways,” Frances says. “Whether it’s by hearing a song or through the hands we share, in those moments I get to spend a little time with my dad & he feels transcendent.”

If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

We’re getting another preview of the upcoming Tom Petty tribute album, Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty.

The latest track released is Dolly Parton’s cover of “Southern Accents,” which is accompanied by a music video featuring footage of Petty throughout his life, including some personal home movies.

“I was fortunate enough to get to know Tom over the years,” Dolly shares. “He’s such an iconic artist and important songwriter. I’m so honored to be a part of this special album and to be able to share my version of one of Tom’s best songs, ‘Southern Accents’.”

Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty will be released June 21, featuring 20 Petty covers from country stars like Parton, Dierks Bentley, whose take on “American Girl” has already been released, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Brothers Osborne, Willie Nelson and more.

The album also features guest appearances by Petty’s Heartbreakers bandmates Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench. Campbell appears on “Ways to Be Wicked,” sung by Margo Price, while Tench appears on “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” also covered by Rhiannon Giddens and Silkroad Ensemble.

Here is the track list for Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty. It is available for preorder now.

“I Should Have Known It” by Chris Stapleton
“Wildflowers” by Thomas Rhett
“Runnin’ Down A Dream” by Luke Combs
“Southern Accents” by Dolly Parton
“Here Comes My Girl” by Justin Moore
“American Girl” by Dierks Bentley
“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” by Lady A
“I Forgive It All” by Jamey Johnson
“I Won’t Back Down” by Brothers Osbourne
“Refugee” by Wynonna Judd & Lainey Wilson
“Angel Dream No.2” by Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson
“Learning To Fly” by Eli Young Band
“Breakdown” by Ryan Hurd feat. Carly Pearce
“Yer So Bad” by Steve Earle
“Ways To Be Wicked” by Margo Price feat. Mike Campbell
“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Midland
“Free Fallin’” by The Cadillac Three feat. Breland
“I Need To Know” by Marty Stuart And His The Fabulous Superlatives
“Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Rhiannon Giddens feat. Silkroad Ensemble and Benmont Tench
“You Wreck Me (Live)” by George Strait

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

U2 has launched a new digital series that will treat fans to live recordings and remixes that came out before we all enjoyed our music online.

The series, U2 To Love and Only Love – Deep Dives and B-Sides, kicked off Friday, April 5. The band plans to release 12 newly remastered collections throughout the year, made up of songs that until now were only available on vinyl, CD or cassette.

The first entry into the series looks at the Pop track “Discothèque,” with U2 releasing 10 different remixes of the song, including one that’s a whopping 10 minutes long. They also released two remixes of the B-side “Holy Joe.”

To coincide with the launch, U2 has released a limited-edition Discotheque vintage T-shirt, which is available to order now.

“Discothèque” was the opening track of U2’s 1997 album Pop and was a top 10 hit for the band in the U.S.; it went to #1 in the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and several other countries. 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kurt Cobain, Nirvana frontman and face of counterculture and the grunge and alternative movement of the early ’90s, died April 5, 1994 — 30 years ago Friday.

Born February 20, 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington, Cobain formed Nirvana alongside bassist Krist Novoselic, whom he’d met during high school. Nirvana’s debut album, Bleach, was released in 1989, after which they recruited a new drummer, Dave Grohl.

A follow-up, Nevermind, was released in September 1991. Word quickly spread of lead single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and its video, which showed Nirvana performing in a high school gym while surrounded by anarchist cheerleaders. In January 1992, Nevermind hit #1 on the Billboard 200 and is now certified Diamond by the RIAA.

Cobain’s lyrics about self-hatred to adolescent rebellion, coupled with Nirvana’s hooky, distorted rock, spoke directly to the disaffection felt by the generation’s youth and was viewed as an antidote to the excess and debauchery of the ’80s hair metal scene.

As Nirvana and Cobain became more and more popular, his personal life, including his reported heroin use and his relationship with his wife, Courtney Love, became tabloid fodder, deeply affecting his already fragile mental and emotional health.

Nirvana released their final album, In Utero, in September 1993 and taped an MTV Unplugged special later that year. Cobain’s drug use continued, and he was hospitalized in March 1994 with an overdose. On April 8, he was found dead at his Seattle home. An investigation ruled that he died by suicide on April 5.

With Nirvana over, Grohl formed his own band, Foo Fighters. He and Novoselic have reunited several times, perhaps most notably at the 2014 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, during which they performed Nirvana songs with guest singers including Lorde and Joan Jett.

If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

U2 has donated a prize package of merch from their Las Vegas residency, U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, to raise money for a trio of Irish charities.

The package includes a poster, two T-shirts and a pair of “Bono Fly Sunglasses,” as well as a tour program, which they say features “a very rare collection of signatures.” It’s rare because in addition to Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton, it includes the signature of drummer Bram van den Berg, who filled in for Larry Mullen Jr. during the residency.

The package is one of the many items up for grabs at the Lord Mayor’s Charity Auction in Dublin, which is part of the upcoming Lord Mayor’s Charity Ball, taking place April 27. The auction is raising money for Breast Cancer Ireland, the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and the mental health charity A Lust For Life.

U2 isn’t the only artist to donate an auction item. Also up for grabs are Gold Circle tickets to Rod Stewart‘s May 26 concert in Dublin, complete with hotel accommodations; four tickets to see Bryan Adams in Dublin on May 21, with a hotel stay; and two tickets to see Bruce Springsteen at his show at Dublin’s Croke Park on May 19.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

If you live near an independent record store, you may be able to hear Pearl Jam‘s Dark Matter album early.

Record Store Day has announced that select shops across the U.S. will be playing Dark Matter in full on Sunday, April 14, nearly a week before the record drops on Friday, April 19.

For a list of participating stores, check out the RSD Instagram.

Dark Matter is the 12th Pearl Jam album and the follow-up to 2020’s Gigaton. The title track and the cut “Running” are out now.

You can also hear Dark Matter ahead of time during a worldwide theatrical event, taking place in cinemas on April 16.

Pearl Jam will launch a U.S. tour in support of Dark Matter in May.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lenny Kravitz is giving fans a sneak peek at the music video for his latest single, “Human,” which is set to debut Friday, April 5, at 12 p.m. ET.

The rocker shared a brief snippet of the clip on social media, which sees various people with their heads buried in their phones. The camera then cuts to a bus rider on his phone, before a phone is suddenly thrown through the window of the vehicle. That’s followed by a quick shot of a shirtless Kravitz showing off his chiseled abs.

“Human” is the second single from Lenny’s upcoming album, Blue Electric Light, which comes out May 24. The album is available for preorder now.

Lenny is getting ready to hit the road in support of the album this summer. He kicks off a European tour in Hamburg, Germany, on June 23. So far, no U.S. tour dates have been announced. A complete list of shows can be found at lennykravitz.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.