Classic Rock 93.9

Rick Wakeman is ready to say goodbye to the road. The legendary Yes keyboardist just announced dates for what he says will be his final solo tour.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is promising fans a brand new show, which will have him performing highlights from his career with Yes and his solo work. He also plans to debut a brand new 30-minute instrumental piece, Yessonata, which turns themes and melodies from Yes’ music into a sonata. 

“I always planned to stop touring by my 77th birthday,” Wakeman, who turns 75 on May 18, shares, “but there is so much to fit in before then that I’m having to make plans now and so my final one-man shows will have to cease by that date.”

He adds, “I have thoroughly enjoyed performing the various one-man shows, but it’s time to call it a day. I intend to throw in the best of what I have done in the past, plus a few new surprises on the way, and possibly even the odd guest joining me on the odd occasion.”

The first leg of the tour is set to kick off March 19 in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and wrap March 29 in Albany, New York. Ticket information and a complete list of dates can be found at rwcc.com.

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Eagles are ready to say goodbye to their fans overseas.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers announced they will play a three night residency at Co-Op Live in Manchester, U.K., on May 31, June 1 and June 4. They’ll also play a fourth show on June 13 at Gelredome in Arnhem, Netherlands. All four dates will feature special guest Steely Dan. 

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday, January 26, at 10 a.m. local time. 

The concerts are the Eagles’ first overseas dates since they announced in July this will be their final tour. The last time they were overseas was in June 2022 for a short U.K. tour.

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During a concert in December, Billy Joel teased, “We’ve got a little something we’ve been working on you might hear sometime.” Now, we know what that something is.

Billy will be releasing a new pop single February 1 called “Turn the Lights Back On.” It’ll be available on both digital and limited-edition 7-inch vinyl, and a lyric video will be released. In the song, he sings, “Did I wait too long… to turn the lights back on?”

The song, which Billy co-wrote with three other people, will be his first song with lyrics — sung by Billy himself — since his 2007 single “All My Life.” In 2008, he put out a rock single he wrote called “Christmas In Fallujah,” but it was sung by Cass Dillon.

Billy’s last pop album, River of Dreams, came out more than 30 years ago.

This news comes as Billy prepares to wrap up his 10-year residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden. He also has quite a few other shows booked for 2024, either solo or with Sting or Stevie Nicks.

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Fresh off the news of their new album, Happiness Bastards, The Black Crowes have revealed they’ll hit the road in support of the record.

The rockers announced dates for the Happiness Bastards Tour, hitting 35 cities in North America and Europe. The trek kicks off April 2 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, and will hit big cities including Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., before wrapping May 7 in Philadelphia.

They’ll then head overseas starting May 14 in Manchester, U.K., and stop in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin and more, before ending June 9 with a set at the Stone & Music Festival in Mérida, Spain.

A ticket presale kicks off Tuesday, January 23, with the general onsale set for Friday, January 26, at 10 a.m. A complete list of dates can be found theblackcrowes.com.

Happiness Bastards. dropping March 15, is The Black Crowes’ 10th studio album and their first album of new music in 15 years. It is available for preorder now.

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After reuniting in 2021 for their 50th anniversary tour, The Doobie Brothers are ready to hit the road together again.

The band, made up of Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald, Pat Simmons and John McFee, just announced dates for The 2024 Tour, featuring special guests Steve Winwood and Robert Cray on select dates. 

The 38-city tour kicks off Saturday, June 15, in Seattle, Washington, and will hit San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Tampa, New York, Boston and more, before wrapping Friday, August 30, in Salt Lake City. 

A Citi presale for tickets begins Tuesday, January 23, at 10 a.m., with the general onsale set for Friday, January 26, at 10 a.m. A complete list of tour dates can be found at thedoobiebrothers.com.

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On This Day, January 22, 1977… 

Paul McCartney scored his sixth post-Beatles #1 album with his band Wings’ triple live release, Wings Over America. It was the first triple album by a group to top the chart.

The album featured songs recorded during Wings’ spring 1976 tour, including live performances of Beatles tunes “Yesterday,” “Lady Madonna,” “Blackbird” and “The Long and Winding Road.” 

The lead single was a live recording of the McCartney solo track “Maybe I’m Amazed,” which became a top 10 hit.

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Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic are mourning the death of Susie Tennant, a Seattle music industry figure who helped launch Nirvana‘s career.

“We loved Susie a great deal, and she will be missed,” Grohl and Novoselic tells The Seattle Times.

Author and fellow Seattle figure Charles R. Cross, who wrote the Kurt Cobain book Heavier than Heaven, penned the obituary for Tennant in The Seattle Times. She died at age 61 of early onset dementia.

Tennant worked for Sub Pop and DGC Records, both of which released Nirvana albums. She planned the infamous Nevermind release party, which then moved to her house after the Nirvana members got kicked out of the original bar for starting a food fight.

Other bands that Tennant worked with included Weezer, Hole, Beck and Sonic Youth.

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Sunday, January 21, marked the 40th anniversary of Yes’ hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart” hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Trevor Rabin, the song’s main writer, always had a feeling it would be a hit. 

“I had an idea that was going to be the song because it’s very hooky and got all the ingredients,” Rabin tells ABC Audio.

Believe it or not, Rabin says he actually wrote the track on the toilet because acoustically the sound was great in the bathroom.

He notes, “When I wrote that riff, I thought, ‘Ohhh.’ I stopped and I actually pondered it and I thought, ‘This is either something really kind of cool or it might be just absolutely nothing.’” 

Well, it certainly didn’t turn out to be nothing. The song, which appeared on Yes’ 11th studio album, 90125, was the only Yes single to top the charts, spending two weeks in the top spot. And the album turned out to be Yes’ bestselling release, selling over 3 million copies in the U.S.

But not everyone immediately thought “Owner of a Lonely Heart” would be a hit. Rabin says that after he wrote it he sent the song out to a bunch of people, including famed music executive Clive Davis, who told him the song wasn’t commercial enough.

But Rabin showed him, noting, “I sent him the Billboard clipping of it [at] #1.”

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Foo Fighters‘ concert in New Zealand on Saturday, January 20, featured a surprise from Jack Black.

Fan-shot footage shows the actor and Tenacious D frontman joining Dave Grohl and company for a spirited rendition of the AC/DC song “Big Balls.” The performance also featured co-vocals by the Foos’ drum tech Fiona, who also sang “Big Balls” during the band’s 2023 tour of Australia.

As for how Foo Fighters and Black found themselves on the other side of the planet at the same time, the “Tribute” singer has been in New Zealand filming the upcoming Minecraft movie.

The Foos have two more New Zealand shows on their schedule. They’ll be back in the U.S. in May for a few one-off shows and festival sets, including at New Orleans Jazz Fest and Shaky Knees, before launching a full Stateside stadium tour in July.

Foo Fighters released their latest album, But Here We Are, in June 2023.

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Jon Bon Jovi is set to appear at February’s Pollstar Live! conference, HitsDailyDouble reports.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has joined the conference’s February 7 panel called How To See a Million Faces and Rock Them All, a reference to the Bon Jovi hit “Wanted Dead or Alive.”

The band’s 40th anniversary will also be marked during the conference, with the rocker honored with Pollstar Live!’s Milestone Award.

The conference is set to take place February 6-8 in Los Angeles. 

Jon’s appearance at Pollstar Live! will take place just a few days after he receives another prestigious honor. As part of Grammy week he’ll receive the MusiCares 2024 Person of the Year award at a gala held Friday, February 2, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

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