Classic Rock 93.9

KISS rocker Gene Simmons is defending JoJo Siwa after folks on social media criticized her recent look, which was vastly different from her usual bright colors, sparkles and bows.

The former Nickelodeon star recently walked the red carpet at an event in Los Angeles in what many considered a KISS-inspired look, complete with face paint, a sheer catsuit with glitter patches and big black boots. At one point, she even posed with her tongue out just like Simmons, who appears to be all for it. 

In a comment to TMZ, Simmons praised Siwa for her outfit. “JoJo is cool. Anybody who doesn’t get it is just jealous, period,” he shared, adding, “Never be ordinary. Always be extraordinary. JoJo is extraordinary and she looks cool.”

He then noted, “Of course she looks like me, but that’s another story.”

Simmons said goodbye to all that KISS makeup back in December when the band played their final two shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden. He’ll take the stage again with the Gene Simmons Band at the Summer Breeze Open Air festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 26. A complete list of dates can be found at genesimmons.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Back in 2022, Sheryl Crow, Lionel Richie and Billy Joel teamed up for a one-off show in Atlanta. But Sheryl says when she broached the subject of the three of them doing an entire tour together, Billy wasn’t interested.

While performing at a benefit show in Nashville on April 2, People reports that Sheryl told the crowd she suggested to Billy and Lionel that they do a world tour as a triple bill last year. While it’s not clear what Lionel’s response was, Sheryl says Billy wasn’t interested — because, as he told her, “I only do two shows a month.”

Sheryl and Lionel performed together in late 2023 at Lionel’s vacation destination event, Dancing in the Sand, in the Bahamas.

Billy, meanwhile, will wrap up his long-running Madison Square Garden residency this July. But while he’ll also be performing a series of stadium shows with artists like Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks and Sting this year, his tour schedule reveals that he is, indeed, limiting his activity to two shows a month.

Meanwhile, Sheryl is limiting her touring this summer because she wants to spend time with her kids before the oldest one goes off to college. She’ll be in Europe starting in June, do one date in July with Chris Stapleton‘s All American Road Show tour and then open for Pink from August to November.

Sheryl’s next gig, though, is performing at the upcoming Jimmy Buffet Tribute Concert April 11 at the Hollywood Bowl with Paul McCartney, The Eagles, Jon Bon Jovi and more.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are about to bring their tour to Los Angeles’ Kia Forum for a two-night stand on April 4 and 7, and the rocker had a fun way to get fans excited for the shows. 

Springsteen shared a video on Instagram to promote the concerts in which he and the band share their take on the classic theme song to the 1960s TV show The Beverly Hillbillies.

He ended the clip by telling fans, “LA, we’re coming to get you. You’ve been warned.”

Following the two-night stand in Los Angeles, Bruce and the band will return to the East Coast, starting with a show in Uncasville, Connecticut, on April 12. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Black Crowes launched their Happiness Bastards tour at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House on Tuesday, April 2, treating fans to a mix of new songs, hits and deep tracks. 

According to setlist.fm, the band kicked things off with the track “Bedside Manners” from Happiness Bastards, their first album in 15 years. In fact, the set featured several songs from the record, including their latest single, “Wanting and Waiting,” as well as “Cross Your Fingers,” “Flesh Wound” and “Rats and Clowns.”

Country star Lainey Wilson was a surprise guest at the show; she was introduced by Chris Robinson, who said, “I guess if you’re gonna play the Grand Ole Opry you have to have a bonafide country superstar.” She then joined the band for their Happiness Bastards collaboration, “Wilted Rose,” as well as the classic Shake Your Money Maker tune “She Talks to Angels.” 

The Crowes treated fans to a 17-song set list that also featured plenty of hits, including “Hard to Handle,” “Remedy,” “Sting Me” and “Jealous Again,” as well as “Twice as Hard” and the Southern Harmony and Musical Companion favorites “Thorn in My Pride” and “My Morning Song.” 

The band then wrapped the show with a cover of The Velvet Underground track “White Light/White Heat.”

The Black Crowes bring their Happiness Bastards tour to Atlanta’s Fox Theatre on Wednesday, April 3. A complete list of dates can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Bob Burns, the original drummer for Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died in a car crash near his home in Cartersville, Georgia.

Burns helped to form Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964 with Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Larry Junstrom, but left the group in 1974.

He is credited on recordings from the group’s first two albums: 1973’s (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) and 1974’s Second Helping. Those include such Lynyrd Skynyrd classics as “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Simple Man.”

In 1996, after years out of the public eye, Burns joined the band for a performance in conjunction with the film Freebird: The Movie. Then, in March of 2006, he returned to perform alongside the band at their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.

Lynyrd Skynyrd continues to tour to this day, although no members of the original band remain. The last original member, Gary Rossington, died in March of 2023. Skynyrd is currently on their Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top, which hits Biloxi, Mississippi, on April 4. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com. 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Classic songs by Queen and Fleetwood Mac are among the most-streamed songs in the U.K.

A new list compiled by the Official Charts Company has revealed the 300 most-streamed songs released in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, and while Oasis’ “Wonderwall” is #1, the top 10 is dominated by classic tracks. 

Queen’s iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the second-most streamed song on the list, with Fleetwood Mac at #3 and #4 with “Everywhere” and “Dreams,” respectively. Another Queen track, “Don’t Stop Me Now,” is at #5.

Also in the top 10 are Toto’s “Africa” at #6, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” at #9 and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” at #10, making her the only solo female artist in the top 10.

Fleetwood Mac also has two other songs in the top 20: “The Chain” at #11 and “Go Your Own Way” at #18. 

Other classics landing high on the list include Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ‘69” at #12, ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” at #17, Tears For Fears‘ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” at #19, Michael Jackson‘s “Billie Jean” at #20 and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” at #21.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Beyoncé’s latest album, Cowboy Carter, features her interpretation of The Beatles classic “Blackbird,” and it turns out she took more than just inspiration from the band.

Variety has confirmed that the song, retitled “Blackbiird” for Bey’s album, includes acoustic guitar and foot tapping by Paul McCartney, taken from the song’s original backing track.

Credits for the Cowboy Carter were not shared until after the album’s official release on Friday, March 29, and it did list McCartney as playing guitar, but a rep for the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has now confirmed that guitar contribution isn’t new.

Many reviewers have noted that it’s especially fitting that Bey recorded a cover of “Blackbird” given that McCartney has said the song was inspired by the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and in particular, the struggle of Black women.

So far, McCartney has not commented on Beyoncé’s cover, which also features backing vocals by four Black country artists: Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts and Brittney Spencer.

“Blackbird” originally appeared on The Beatles’ self-titled 1968 double album, which is commonly known as The White Album.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Foreigner doesn’t seem ready to say farewell to their Farewell tour. The band just announced a new set of fall dates featuring special guests Lita Ford and Loverboy.

The latest leg of the tour kicks off September 23 in Charleston, West Virginia, with dates confirmed through October 9 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

A Foreigner presale kicks off Wednesday, April 3, at 10 a.m. CT, and tickets go on sale to the general public starting Friday, April 5, at 10 a.m. CT.

Foreigner is currently in Las Vegas for residency at The Venetian Theatre, with three more shows left this month, April 3, 5 and 6. They will then resume their Farewell tour on April 11 in Ivins, Utah, and will team with Styx and special guest John Waite for the Renegades & Juke Box Heroes Tour, starting June 11 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

A complete list of Foreigner tour dates can be found at foreignerlive.com.

Foreigner is also currently nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Inductees will be announced in late April, with the ceremony taking place this fall in Cleveland.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dead & Company are spending some more time in Las Vegas. The band just added some new dates to their upcoming Dead Forever residency at Sphere Las Vegas.

The band — Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti — have extended the residency through July, with six new shows taking place July 4, 5 and 6, and 11, 12 and 13. Tickets for all shows on sale now. 

According to the initial press release, the shows will have a different set list each weekend and include “never-before-seen visual storytelling.” The residency kicks off Thursday, May 16, with Dead & Company playing each weekend on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

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

The concerts will be the first Dead & Company shows since wrapping what they said would be their final tour July in San Francisco.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The ’80s-era music of King Crimson will be celebrated on a new tour featuring former members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin.

The BEAT tour will have the two musicians teaming up with guitar great Steve Vai and Tool drummer Danny Carey to reinterpret three King Crimson albums – 1981’s Discipline, 1982’s Beat and 1984’s Three Of A Perfect Pair – which were also the first three to feature Belew and Levin. 

“The 1981 through 1984 King Crimson created a music all its own. Timeless. Beautiful. Complex. Fierce,” Belew shares. “For the fans who lived through it then, and the ones who never got to witness it, our aim is to bring it to life again. A monumental task but we’re going for it! There are not enough exclamation points to express my excitement!” 

Levin adds, “This is going to be quite a tour. Revisiting some of my favorite music is a treat in itself, but in company of this stellar lineup, I expect to have my musical butt kicked!” 

The BEAT tour kicks off September 12 in San Jose, California, with dates confirmed through November 8 in Las Vegas. A ticket presale is already open, with tickets going on sale to the general public on Friday, April 5.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.