Classic Rock 93.9

Stevie Nicks, who owns a house on Maui, has posted a lengthy essay mourning the loss from the wildfires in Hawaii — especially the devastation of Lahaina, which is about 15 minutes from her house there.

“This island, in so many ways, defines Fleetwood Mac and me and our families,” she writes. “Mick [Fleetwood] and I came here in 1978…he said to me, ‘I will live and die on this island.’ I knew he was telling me his truth. John [McVie] also lived here in Maui for a long time — Christine [McVie] never lived here but visited many times.”

Stevie mentions that her niece, her husband and their son were at her home when the fires started, though they were eventually able to get to safety and leave. “They escaped a bullet,” Stevie writes, adding, “The end result could have been very different.”

“The Lahaina that we knew — the Lahaina that in many ways connect Fleetwood Mac and our music to the world, is gone,” she writes. “But my memories of everything that happened to me there is clear as a bell” — including, she notes, meeting her longtime backing singer, Sharon Celani, there in 1979.

“Lahaina is not gone,” Stevie concludes. “It is just away. With Aloha, Stevie Nicks.”

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U2’s Bono and The Edge brought their star power to the Friday, August 11, opening of the Sarajevo Film Festival, where the documentary Kiss the Future was screening.

Bono surprised the crowd with an a cappella rendition of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” with The Edge and the crowd joining in.

Kiss the Future, directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain and produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Sarah Anthony, follows a group of underground musicians and creatives during the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from April 1992 to February 1996. The doc includes footage of U2’s memorable 1997 concert at Koševo Stadium celebrating the country’s liberation, along with interviews with the band.

The Sarajevo Film Festival runs until August 18.

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On This Day, August 14, 1971… 

English rockers The Who released their iconic album Who’s Next, featuring such future Who classics as “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and “Behind Blue Eyes.”

The album was originally conceived as another rock opera, Lifehouse, following their 1969 hit Tommy. Pete Townshend eventually scrapped the whole project, although a 10-CD/Blu-ray set of the recordings from the sessions are finally set for release on September 15. 

Who’s Next was a critics darling, and consistently lands on lists of the greatest albums of all time. The album was the band’s only #1 in the U.K.; it hit #4 on the Billboard 200 Album chart and has been certified triple Platinum by the RIAA.

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Foo Fighters‘ headlining set at the Outside Lands festival on Saturday, August 12, featured a surprise appearance by Michael Bublé.

As for why the Canadian crooner showed up during a Foos show, Rolling Stone explains that Dave Grohl and company have been performing a medley on their current tour, which features bits of new drummer Josh Freese‘s past collaborations with artists including Bublé. Their Bublé song of choice has been the track “Haven’t Met You Yet,” which Grohl has invited fans to sing onstage during recent shows.

In a clip from the Outside Lands performance posted to the Foo Fighters Facebook, you can see Grohl spot someone in the crowd holding a sign that read, “I [heart] Bublé.” That person turned out to be the real Michael Bublé.

Bublé also shared an Instagram video of him backstage with Grohl, excitedly sharing, “Well, the time has finally come: I’ve been asked to be in the Foo Fighters!”

“F*** you, Bublé!” Grohl responds.

FYI: Bublé is something of a rocker when it comes to the music he listens to; he’s especially a big fan of Deftones.

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Sammy Hagar has a lot of business ventures outside of music, and he’s setting his sights on one more.

The former Van Halen frontman owns several restaurants and nightclubs, including his Cabo Wabo Cantina, and now he says he wants to go even bigger, with his very own resort. 

“I want a resort: Sammy’s Resort World,” he shared during an appearance on The Kenny Aronoff Sessions podcast. “Everything Sammy. Basically, Sammy’s Island.” 

He adds, “Like, if you went to my island, I’d have everything there for you. The food I like to eat, the drink I like to drink. You’ll be listening to my music and other people’s music that I like.” 

Hagar hints that the resort will need to be by a beach, noting, “I have to have a coast.” And like his Cabo Wabo chain, it would include a place for him to get up onstage and play. 

He says, “Now, this is my dream, OK? It’s going to happen. I’m telling you it’s going to happen.”

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David Lee Roth is back with another somewhat bizarre video, this time proving to fans he’s skillful with a samurai sword.

The former Van Halen frontman’s latest clip has him showing off a series of sword moves, soundtracked to the tune “Woke Up This Morning” by Alabama 3, better known as the theme song to the HBO hit mobster series The Sopranos.

Roth captioned the black-and-white video “Inazuma II,” a reference to an earlier clip, “Inazuma,” posted in July. That video featured another sword routine, set to the Queen classic “We Will Rock You.”

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Foghat is set to return with their first new album in seven years. The band will release their 17th studio album, Sonic Mojo, November 10, with the first single from the record, “Drivin’ On,” available August 25. 

The album features three new songs co-written by founding member/drummer Roger Earl, along with guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Rodney O’Quinn and singer/guitarist Scott Holt. It also includes three songs co-written by Earl’s former Savoy Brown bandmate Ken Simmonds before he passed away in December 2022. 

Sonic Mojo will be released on CD and 180-gram neon purple vinyl. Fans can presave the new single “Drivin’ On” now and check out a preview on YouTube.

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Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon doesn’t mince words when it comes to his thoughts about Danny Boyle‘s Sex Pistols series Pistol, which was based on guitarist Steve Jones’ autobiography, Lonely Boy.

In an interview with The Sun, Lydon says he watched the FX series “just to see how absurd it was” and notes, “I’m sad to say it fulfilled all my negative expectations.”

“I didn’t recognize the characters. It was so disappointing that the whole thing was done behind my back  ’cos  I’m the bloke who wrote the songs and created the image. So bizarre,” he says. “It was like an act of rebellion against what made the band popular and famous. Or unpopular and infamous!”

In the same interview, Lydon rails against suggestions that the punk scene came out of New York, suggesting you only have to look at artists like T. Rex, David Bowie and Mott The Hoople to know that isn’t true.

“Their influence was enormous,” he says. “And they try to write that all off and wrap it around Patti Smith. It’s so wrong!”

Finally, Lydon shares his thoughts on the recent supergroup Generation Sex, featuring Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, and Billy Idol and Tony James of Generation X.

“Good luck to them but come on boys, get it together,” he says. “The Pistols side of it is songs they never really understood and Billy’s got to come in as a translator. What has poor Billy taken on?”

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The Band’s Robbie Robertson certainly lived an interesting life, and after news of his death hit this week, evidently a lot of people realized they wanted to learn more about it.

Variety reports that the late Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s memoir, Testimony, is back on top of the bestseller list. 

Released in 2017, Robertson spent five years writing Testimony, which covers his upbringing in Toronto and his musical journey, which begins at 16. He writes about touring with Bob Dylan in 1966, his time in The Band, the group’s breakup following their The Last Waltz concert and more.

As the description notes, “Above all, it’s the moving story of the profound friendship between five young men who together created a new kind of popular music.”

Robertson died Wednesday, August 9, after a long illness. He was 80.

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Metallica‘s All Within My Hands charity foundation has announced a $200,000 grant toward wildfire relief for Maui, Hawaii.

A statement posted to the All Within My Hands Instagram account reads, “We are heartbroken by the destructive wildfires devastating the historic town of Lahaina in Maui.”

“With strong ties to the Hawaiian Islands, #AWMH is granting $200,000 to the Maui Strong Fund established by the [Hawaii Community Foundation],” the post continues. “The fund is currently providing resources, along with rapid response and recovery for the ongoing wildfires.”

For more info, visit AllWithinMyHands.org.

Metallica, meanwhile, is set to continue the North American leg of the band’s M72 tour Friday, August 11, in Montreal, though not without a reported complication.

According to a Facebook post by music journalist Mitch Lafon, a truck hauling equipment for the show was involved in a road accident. Lafon also linked to a TikTok featuring footage of the accident aftermath. Both the Facebook post and the TikTok note that the people involved are OK.

ABC Audio has reached out to Metallica’s reps for comment.

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