Classic Rock 93.9

Legendary singer Paul Rodgers turns 75 on Tuesday.

Rodgers is best known for his work as the frontman of Free, which had a top-five hit with “All Right Now” in 1970, as well as the frontman of the supergroup Bad Company. 

Bad Company’s self-titled debut album, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in May, hit #1 thanks to such classic songs as “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” and the title track. Rodgers told ABC Audio “it’s a very lovely feeling” knowing the songs on Bad Company have stood the test of time after 50 years, sharing, “When I listen back to it, I’m like, wow.”

After leaving Bad Company in 1982, Rodgers launched a successful solo career and also fronted the band The Law, featuring former Faces drummer Kenney Jones.

In 2004, Rodgers joined Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor for a TV performance, and soon the Queen members were asking him to join them on the road. The touring collaboration, under the name Queen + Paul Rodgers, kicked off in 2005. They even recorded an album together, The Cosmos Rocks, which was released in 2008. Rodgers left in 2009 to get back to his solo career.

In 2023, Rodgers released Midnight Rose, his first solo album in almost 25 years, and revealed to the world he had suffered a series of strokes starting in 2016 that nearly took away his ability to sing. He told ABC Audio making the album helped him with his recovery.

“Well, it feels like being born again, actually, it’s absolutely great,” Rodgers said. “I was sort of incapacitated. … And I had to take it step by step. And everything I did was like a progress, was a step in the right direction.” 

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Steve Perry wants to help you get into the holiday spirit.

The former Journey frontman has just launched his very own holiday yule log on YouTube, featuring songs from his latest holiday album, The Season 3, with video of a roaring fire, surrounded by a Christmas tree and stockings.

Perry originally released The Season in 2021, then followed it up with a deluxe edition a year later.

The latest version of the album, which came out in November, features a total of 16 holiday tunes, six of which are new, including “Call Me Irresponsible,” featuring the singer’s late father, Ray Perry, “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Let It Snow.”

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John Lennon’s two sons, Julian Lennon and Sean Ono Lennon, spent some quality time together and gave the public a little peek at their evening.

Julian shared a trio of photos from their hangout at John Lennon’s apartment at The Dakota on Instagram, including one of him giving Sean a kiss on the head and another of Sean digging into some noodles surrounded by takeout containers.

“A Goodnight kiss for my brother, after spending the evening with him, having a lil dinner & chatting the night away, at The Dakota,” Julian wrote. “Something we rarely get to do…Thankful.”

Julian, 61, is Lennon’s son with his first wife, Cynthia, who the Beatle divorced in 1968. Sean, 49, is his son with wife Yoko Ono, who he married in 1969.

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Paul McCartney is getting into the holiday spirit.

The Beatles legend is currently on the U.K. leg of his Got Back tour, and while playing in Manchester he broke out his holiday tune “Wonderful Christmastime.”

Performing in front of a holiday-themed backdrop, McCartney performed the song for the first time since 2018 at the Co-Op Live on Saturday, where, according to Rolling Stone, he was joined by children from the You Should Be Dancing Theatre Academy. He then performed the song again during his Saturday night show.

McCartney shared photos of the concert, and the holiday-themed performance, on Instagram, writing, “Simply having a Wonderful Christmastime in Manchester! We’ve been travelling around the world and here we are up north again. It’s good to be back!“ 

And McCartney has a few more opportunities to sing the song before Christmas. He is set to wrap the tour with two nights at the O2 in London, Wednesday and Thursday.

Released in 1979, “Wonderful Christmastime” was recorded during the sessions for McCartney’s solo album McCartney II. The song peaked at #26 in the U.S. and was a top-10 hit in the U.K., Germany and other countries.

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REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin wants fans to know he didn’t want the band to end.

The group announced in September that after 2024 they would cease touring; in a new interview with Billboard, Cronin says ending the group wasn’t his decision.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever see this coming,” he told the mag. “I didn’t want to end REO Speedwagon. This is sad, and I would do anything in my power to continue (as) REO Speedwagon. I never quit the band; I never will quit the band. I just got outvoted and … have to stop calling it REO Speedwagon at the end of this year.”

The vote he’s referring to was between the three members with controlling interesting in REO Speedwagon — Cronin; founding member Neal Doughty, who retired from touring in 2023; and bassist Bruce Hall, who joined the band in 1977 and who hasn’t toured with them since November 2023.  

Cronin is also upset Hall made comments on social media suggesting he was responsible for the end of the band. 

“It’s kind of like a divorce of sorts and during a divorce things get a little muddy and things get a little sticky,” he says. “It’s never thrilling when things are said that are inaccurate and hurtful.”

He adds, “My hope is that there will come a time where the dust will have settled. My intention is to ask forgiveness for anything that I’ve done or any hurt that I have caused Bruce. I don’t like to have grudges with people. I like to forgive and be forgiven.”

REO Speedwagon plays their final show Dec. 21 in Las Vegas. Cronin will head out on the Brotherhood of Rock tour with Styx starting May 28 in Greenville, South Carolina.

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Metallica headlined their 2024 Helping Hands benefit Friday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California, treating fans to two sets — one acoustic, one electric — filled with live debuts, covers, rarities and more.

According to setlist.fm, the acoustic set included the first performance of the Reload track “Low Man’s Lyric” since 1998, as well as the Diamond Head cover “Helpless.” It also featured live debuts of a cover of Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Away From Home” and the 72 Sessions track “If Darkness Had a Son,” with the set ending with an acoustic version of “Nothing Else Matters.” 

The seven-song electric set featured the first performance of “The Unforgiven II” since 2015, along with a new arrangement of “Fuel,” off their album Reload, and the Kill ‘Em All track “Hit The Lights,” featuring a guest appearance by Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament. 

The concert was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and also featured performances by Sammy Hagar with his The Best of All Worlds tour band, and musical duo SistaStrings. It is set to premiere on YouTube Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. 

“Thank you to everyone who made #HelpingHands2024 a night to remember!” Metallica shared on Instagram, shouting out all the performers, as well as the sponsors. 

“But most of all, massive thanks to the #MetallicaFamily– each one of you who filled @youtubetheater with your love and energy,” they added. “We can’t wait to bring the show to the rest of the world next week!”

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AC/DC’s Brian Johnson makes a surprise appearance in a special holiday edition of Apple TV+ and Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke.

A Carpool Karaoke Christmas, with Zane Lowe behind the wheel instead of James Corden, focuses on three pop stars — Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa and Chappell Roan. Johnson turns up during Gaga’s segment.

“You know what, I got you something for Christmas,” Lowe says, before stopping and picking up Johnson, which comes as a complete surprise to Gaga. 

The rocker then takes over behind the wheel, with Lowe asking, “You guys ready to rock?” Johnson responds to Gaga, “You were born ready.”

That leads to them all singing AC/DC’s classic “Highway to Hell.” At one point Johnson takes his hands off the wheel, shocking Gaga, who jokes, “We’re all gonna die and go to hell.”

Gaga then reveals a special connection she has to AC/DC, sharing that she was an extra in their “Stiff Upper Lip” video when she was 17. 

“I was head banging and they were like, ‘Um, don’t head bang, we want it to be modern,’” Gaga says, “and I was like, ‘No, there’s only one move that I can do.’”

Johnson ends his ride by wishing Gaga a Merry Christmas and joking, “I should have told you I don’t have a license.”

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On This Day, Dec. 16, 1984 …

ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill accidentally shot himself in the stomach when, while taking off his boots, his gun fell out and went off. Hill was able to drive himself to the hospital and made a full recovery.

In a 2010 interview with Classic Rock magazine, Hill said of the accident, “I couldn’t believe I’d done something so stupid. To this day, I don’t know how I could do it.”

Hill went on to play with ZZ Top until his death on July 28, 2021. The band continued on, with Hill replaced by Elwood Francis, the band’s longtime guitar tech, who was Hill’s pick to take his spot.

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Under the name Nudedragons, the surviving members of Soundgarden reunited Dec. 14 at a Seattle benefit concert.

The show, dubbed SMooCH — Seattle Musicians for Children’s Hospital — was the 13th annual benefit for Seattle Children’s Hospital. Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd performed, with guest vocals from Seattle musician Shaina Shepherd. Frontman Chris Cornell died in 2017.

Also on the bill for the event, which raised more than $2 million for the hospital’s Uncompensated Care Fund, were Guns N’ Roses bass player Duff McKagen, Sebadoh and Doug Martsch of Built to Spill.

According to fan-shot video, the songs performed by Nudedragons included “Outshined,” “Hunted Down,” “Flower,” “Beyond the Wheel,” “Kickstand” — sung as a duet with McKagen joining Shepherd on vocals — and a cover of MC5‘s “Kick Out the Jams,” with McKagen joining on bass and vocals.

Soundgarden last performed as Nudedragons in 2010; it was their first reunion show since breaking up in 1997.

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The Who‘s Roger Daltrey, Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder, Iggy Pop and Billy Idol were among the A-list talent who played a holiday party in New York on Friday.

According to setlist.fm, the bash for Eldridge Industries took place at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester and also featured Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes, Elvis Costello and Lisa Fischer, backed by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, music producer Andrew Watt, legendary guitarist G.E. Smith and more. 

Partygoers got to hear Daltrey perform several The Who classics, including “Pinball Wizard,” “The Real Me,” “I Can’t Explain,” “I’m One,” “The Seeker,” “Baba O’Reily” and “My Generation,” while Vedder treated the crowd to Pearl Jam tunes “Corduroy” and “Better Man,” as well as a covers of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ “The Waiting,” The Beat’s “Save It For Later” and The Mono Men’s “Watch Outside.” He also fronted an ensemble performance of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World.”

Costello performed his classic “Pump It Up,” as well as The Clash’s “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” while Haynes took part in a performance of The Allman Brothers Band‘s “Whipping Post.” Idol sang “Dancing with Myself” and “Mony Mony,” as well as the Sex Pistol’s “Pretty Vacant.”

Among the night’s other performances, Iggy performed “The Passenger” and “Search and Destroy,” Fisher and Idol teamed up for The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” and Watt fronted covers of Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.”

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