Classic Rock 93.9

Aerosmith’s “Dream On” may have been released 50 years ago, but fans still love listening to it. 

The classic tune just reached over one billion streams on Spotify, so the band took to social media to thank their fans, the Blue Army, for the milestone.

Released in June 1973, “Dream On” was featured on Aerosmith’s self-titled debut album and became the band’s first big hit. When it was initially released, it peaked at #59 on the Billboard Hot 100, but a 1975 reissue of the longer album version wound up peaking at #6. 

The track has gone on to be one of the band’s signature tunes; it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018.

Meanwhile, fans are anxiously awaiting dates for Aerosmith’s rescheduled Peace Out tour. It was postponed back in September after frontman Steven Tyler fractured his larynx.

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Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson is once again helping other musicians to sound their best.

The rocker just launched his first signature pedal, the Lerxst By-Tor pedal, through Mojotone, which is being sold exclusively on Reverb. The pedal is described as being “capable of going from light crunchy drive sounds to full out roar with sustaining lead tones.” 

This isn’t the first time Lifeson has worked with Mojotone. In 2012, they teamed up on a custom-built tube amp. And just last month, Lifeson and Mojotone launched a new Lerxst Omega line of hand-built guitar amps and cabinets inspired by Lifeson’s five-decade career. 

The Lerxst By-Tor pedal, which features the image of a wolf’s face on the front, is available to order now.

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Producer Jack Douglas, who produced the John Lennon and Yoko Ono album Double Fantasy, is opening up about Lennon’s final days, as we approach the 43rd anniversary of the legendary Beatle’s death.

“He was very positive,” Douglas tells People about his final session with Lennon before his December 8, 1980, murder. “They were both just so happy.”

Double Fantasy wound up being Lennon’s final album. He was shot by Mark David Chapman outside his Manhattan building, The Dakota, as he was returning home from the studio.

Douglas says had Lennon not died, he’d go beyond the album’s release, noting he was planning a tour and even thinking about working with his former bandmates as a backup on Ringo Starr’s next release. 

As happy as Lennon, however, he appeared to have a feeling that his death would come soon, Douglas says. 

“He spoke about death every once in a while. He would say things like, ‘I might be gone soon.’ He would say, ‘When I die, it’s going to be bigger than Elvis,’” Douglas explains. “He insisted on journals being kept for every moment, everything being documented … It felt like he had a feeling something was coming, and he was very intuitive about things. Extremely. Almost supernaturally about things.”

Douglas shares more about Lennon and his death in the new Apple TV+ docuseries, John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial, which premieres December 6.

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Documentaries about Devo and Brian Eno are set to premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. 

First announced in March, Devo, directed by Chris Smith, uses archival footage and interviews with the band’s members to delve into their 50-year career, which reached its peak in 1980 thanks to their hit “Whip It.”

Eno, directed by Gary Hustwit, is described as the “first ever career spanning documentary” about the famed producer, who has worked with such artists as David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads and more.

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, will take place January 18–28 in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. Passes for the festival are on sale now, with individual ticket sales set to begin January 11. More info can be found at festival.sundance.org.

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It seems as though a lot of music fans really wanted to see Bruce Springsteen and U2 in 2023.

Both artists land in the top 10 on StubHub’s year-end Top In-Demand Global Touring Artists list, which is based on an artist’s global ticket sales on the site, and related partners, for 2023.  

Springsteen, who launched his tour with the E Street Band back in February, lands at #6, while U2 is just behind him at #7, thanks to their Las Vegas residency, U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere. 

Springsteen & the E Street Band also land in the top five for experiences in specific cities, including Chicago (#3) and New York (#5), while U2 is in the top five for Las Vegas (#2). 

Other artists that were big draws in specific cities include: Billy Joel in New York (#2), Joel and Stevie Nicks in Nashville (#5) and Dead & Company in San Francisco (#4).

Things are also looking good for Springsteen next year. After postponing shows in 2023 to deal with peptic ulcer disease, he’s set to relaunch his tour in March. StubHub has him at #5 for the projected top global experiences of 2024, with Billy Joel and Aerosmith also making the list at #9 and #10,

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Guns N’ Roses will release a new song called “The General” via digital outlets on Friday, December 8.

You can presave the track now and check out a 15-second preview via GN’R’s Facebook.

Guns previously debuted “The General” live during a November concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It’ll mark the second new GN’R tune of 2023, following the August debut of “Perhaps.”

“Perhaps” and “The General” are also being released on a 7-inch vinyl single, due out December 8.

The arrival of “The General” comes after frontman Axl Rose was sued on November 22 by former model Sheila Kennedy, who accused him of sexual assault. Rose has denied the allegations.

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A new two-part docuseries about Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Paul Simon is set to premiere on MGM+ in March.

In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney, follows Simon’s life from growing up in Queens to his partnership with Art Garfunkel and more, using previously unseen archival footage. It also sees Simon in the studio during the Covid-19 pandemic, recording his most recent album, Seven Palms, which was released in May.

“Alex Gibney is one of the most gifted documentary filmmakers of our time, and he has brought his incredible storytelling eye to the fascinating and worthy subject of Paul Simon’s iconic career,” Michael Wright, head of MGM+, shares. “We’re thrilled that this stunning deep dive into Simon’s career and creative process has landed at MGM+.” 

In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon is set to air March 17 and March 24 at 9 p.m. ET.

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Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson doesn’t sound like he was the biggest fan of the 2023 Power Trip festival, which, in addition to Maiden, featured Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Metallica and others.

In an interview with the Brazilian radio station 92.5 Kiss FM, Dickinson called the October festival “a slightly strange experience” for the band, especially since they opened their day without any warmup act. He also took issue with the audience setup, noting that the real fans weren’t able to get up close. 

“I think what was a little bit strange for us was that the people who should be down the front of the stage, because the tickets for the festival were so expensive, they were at the back,” he says, “and the people who were at the front were just like rich people that wanted to film everything on their phone.” 

“But the kids who you wanted to play to were at the back. And that sucks, actually,” he adds.

On a positive note, Dickinson says Iron Maiden will have another shot at getting close to fans, because they plan to tour the U.S. next year.

“And the people who are down the front are gonna be the people who deserve to be down the front,” he says. “They’re gonna be the real fans, which is gonna be great.”

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The late Gary Rossington’s Georgia home is on the market.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s estate in Milton is currently listed for $12 million through Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty.

The estate sits on 80 acres of land and includes both a main and guest house, two barns, a private lake with two docks, a custom pool and a spa with waterfall.

The main house has five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms, as well as a two-story entrance, formal dining room, study, an eat-in kitchen with professional-grade appliances, a two car garage, an au pair suite and more.

As for the two-level guest house, it has three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the upper level, and another bedroom and bath on the lower level.

Rossington, the last original member of Skynyrd’s lineup, passed away March 5.

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On This Day, December 6, 1969…

The Altamont Speedway Free Festival kicked off in the Bay Area of California, headlined by The Rolling Stones and featuring a lineup that included Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

The counterculture concert, attended by nearly 300,000 people, was marred by the presence of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club, who had been hired as security for the day. The group clashed with concertgoers, which led to the stabbing death of one of the attendees, 18-year-old Meredith Hunter, and three accidental deaths, as well as numerous injuries and property damage.  

Footage from the concert was featured in the 1970 Rolling Stones documentary, Gimme Shelter.

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