Classic Rock 93.9

The Black Crowes have dropped a new music video for “Wanting and Waiting,” the first single from their upcoming album, Happiness Bastards.

The clip, directed by Christopher Acosta, is the band’s first music video in 16 years, their last being 2008’s “Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution.”

The video features brothers Chris and Rich Robinson and the rest of the band performing in front of a large video screen that flashes various words and images, including skulls and crows. 

Happiness Bastards, The Black Crowes’ first album of new music in 15 years, drops March 15 and is available for preorder now. 

The band will also be heading out on the Happiness Bastards tour this spring, hitting 35 cities starting April 2 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. A complete list of dates can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

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On This Day, March 5, 2023… 

Gary Rossington, guitarist for Southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd, passed away at the age of 71. 

Rossington, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2006, was the last remaining original member of Skynyrd’s lineup. He had been the last surviving original member of the band following the death of Larry Junstrom in 2019.

Rossington played guitar on many of the band’s biggest hits, including “Simple Man” and “Sweet Alabama,” both of which he co-wrote with Ronnie Van Zant, as well as “Tuesday’s Gone.” He also played slide guitar on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature tune “Free Bird.”

Rossington was one of the passengers who survived the October, 20, 1977, Mississippi plane crash that took the lives of Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines and three others. He broke both his arms, legs, wrists, ankles and pelvis.

Lynyrd Skynyrd decided to continue as a band after Rossington’s death. They launch a new leg of the Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top on Friday, March 8, in Savannah, Georgia. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.

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Slash is teasing an upcoming blues project.

In a video posted to his Facebook, the Guns N’ Roses shredder shares, “I’m a rock guitar player that’s firmly rooted in blues.”

“Blues guitar is really something that I got turned on to when I was a kid,” he continues. “If you were to listen to anything that I do, you can see how big the blues influence is. I’d always thought that I would want to record a record at some point, and we got together and did it.”

More details will be announced on Friday, March 8.

Slash’s most recent album is 2022’s 4, recorded with his Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators band. They’re currently on tour in Asia.

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Bono has a new award to add to his trophy shelf.

The U2 frontman’s memoir, Surrender, won Audiobook of the Year at the 2024 Audie Awards, which took place Monday, March 4, at the Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles.

Surrender, which was released in November 2022 and featured the subtitle 40 Songs, One Story, followed Bono, born Paul Hewson, from his childhood in Dublin to the formation of U2 and their journey to superstardom.

Bono narrated the audiobook. Printed copies of Surrender featured 40 of his original drawings. 

Following the release of Surrender, Bono went on a worldwide Stories of Surrender book tour, which hit 14 cities and included an 11-night residency at New York’s Beacon Theatre.

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The public may be getting some more insight into the early days of The Beatles, only this time from the point of view of former Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe.

The U.K. Mirror reports that the Sutcliffe Estate is looking to sell a collection of rare photos, letters, memorabilia and artwork that belonged to Sutcliffe, and auction houses are interested in paying millions to get their hands on it. 

The collection includes 37 slides and photos of the group from the period between from 1960 to 1962, including shots with Sutcliffe and good friend John Lennon. There are also pieces of Sutcliffe’s personal artwork.

“The dream was for some of the art collection to find a home where it would be available to all,” Diane Vitale, chief executive of the estate, tells the paper. “The mission was always for it to return to where it all began.”

She’s hoping some of the items could go on display at a university or museum so the public can enjoy them. 

“Finding a benefactor who could finance a university or museum acquisition would be ideal,” she says, “and while Liverpool is my first choice it could happen anywhere.” 

Sutcliffe, a college friend of Lennon’s, joined The Beatles in early 1960 and was their original bass player. He left the group the following year to pursue his artistic studies in Hamburg, Germany. He passed away in April 1962 at the age of 21 after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

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Metallica has partnered with the work wear company Carhartt to help fund skilled trade education for women.

Carhartt has awarded Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation and its Metallica Scholars program with the For the Love of Labor grant in celebration of International Women’s Day, which takes place Friday, March 8. With the grant, the first $250,000 in sales of women’s apparel in Carhartt retail stores and online on Friday will be donated to Metallica Scholars.

“Together, we’re providing the next generation of hardworking women with the training and tools needed to take their future into their own hands,” reads an All Within My Hands press release.

For more info, visit AllWithinMyHands.org.

The Metallica Scholars program first launched in 2019 and funds scholarships for students pursuing a traditional trade or other applied learning program.

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Black Sabbath‘s “Paranoid” will now be occupying your brain on Spotify’s Billions Club playlist.

The metal classic has officially hit the 1 billion streams mark on the platform. It’s the first song from either Sabbath or Ozzy Osbourne‘s solo discography to achieve that feat.

“Paranoid” is the title track off Black Sabbath’s 1970 sophomore album, which also spawned “Iron Man” and “War Pigs.” Its video has over 250 million views on YouTube.

Other recent new additions to the Spotify Billions Club include Green Day‘s “Basket Case,” Evanescence‘s “Bring Me to Life” and Guns N’ Roses‘ “Paradise City.”

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There was a reunion of The Beatles in Paris on Monday, March 4.

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were spotted sitting in the front row at Paris Fashion Week, taking in the fall/winter womenswear show being put on by designer Stella McCartney, Paul’s daughter.

McCartney’s wife, Nancy Shevell, and Ringo’s wife, Barbara Bach, were also in attendance, as was Stella’s sister Mary McCartney and celebrity guests like Paris Jackson, M.I.A., Anna Wintour, Naomie Harris, Ashley Graham and Jameela Jamil.

The Paris reunion comes just four months after The Beatles released what they say will be their final song, “Now and Then,” using vocals John Lennon recorded on a demo in the late ’70s, along with guitar the late George Harrison recorded in the mid-’90s, and new recordings from McCartney and Starr. The song debuted at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 in the U.K.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke has some strong opinions about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, specifically the fact that he’s not in it.

Medlocke was Skynyrd’s drummer from 1971-72, rejoined the band as guitarist in 1996 and has been with them ever since. Despite the long tenure, there have been many who have questioned whether he should be considered an original member of the band, including the HOF, as he was not inducted with Skynryd in 2006.

“The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame stated that I have not had any link or that I wasn’t significant to the career, and it didn’t want me being inducted with them,” Medlocke shared in an interview with Iridium Rock and Metal Reviews, describing the decision as “kind of a blow to me.”

“Here’s what I say to them,” he added, giving the HOF the middle finger.

Medlocke got particularly peeved when he saw who has been getting inducted but noted, “It is what it is. My Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is the fans out there and the music that I play and the band that I play in, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and my own stuff.”

Next up for Medlocke and Lynyrd Skynyrd, they’re due to kick off a new leg of the Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top on Friday, March 8, in Savannah, Georgia. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.

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Elton John has been pretty busy since he wrapped up his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour: He’s got two musicals opening — one in London and one on Broadway — and he’s got new music on the way.

“He’s been working away,” his husband and manager David Furnish tells Variety. “I don’t think you’re going to have to wait too long [for new music]. I can’t say when but he’s making real progress. It was important for him when he came off the road to have a little bit of a breather and a break. But he’s always said he’s retiring from touring, but he’s not retiring from working.”

It’s not clear which new music Furnish is talking about. During the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last year, Elton told the crowd that he and his musical partner Bernie Taupin had just finished an album. Then, in December, The Who‘s Pete Townshend told Clashmusic magazine that Elton had “gone over to LA to make an album with Brandi Carlile” and that they’d finished it in two weeks.

Furnish also says that Elton will likely perform at his annual Oscar Viewing Party on March 10 with the special guest that he’s booked: the band Gabriels. “It’s hard to keep [Elton] off the stage,” says Furnish.

One thing that Elton may not be looking forward to this year is more surgery. Earlier this year, Furnish said, he had one of his knees replaced, and he’ll have the second one done this spring.

“Both his knees were bent so badly, but his left knee is now perfectly straight,” Furnish explains. “His right knee is still bent so he’s going to have another surgery in April.”

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