Classic Rock 93.9

Robert Plant isn’t from Liverpool, but he’s received a special honor from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). The school was founded by Paul McCartney in 1995 in the same building as the ex-Beatle‘s former childhood school.

Plant visited LIPA in November for a session with the students, the BBC reports, and now, the legendary Led Zeppelin frontman has been made a companion of the school. The honor is given for “outstanding achievement” and “practical contribution to students’ learning.”

The BBC reports that at the graduation ceremony attended by about 330 students, Plant accepted the award — presented to him by McCartney — via video. He was one of nine notable people in arts and entertainment to receive the award this year.

Plant wrapped up his Raising the Roof tour with Alison Krauss in July. Starting August 24, in Slovenia, he’ll perform shows with his new group, Saving Grace, for which he provides vocals and harmonica. They toured the U.S. earlier this year.

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Paul McCartney has just announced dates for a new leg of his Got Back tour, which will hit Australia, marking the first time he’s toured there since 2017. In a new interview with Australian TV show 7.30 to promote the tour, Sir Paul reveals that his late Beatles bandmate John Lennon continues to be on his mind when he writes songs.

“John’s input was very important” when the two were writing songs together, McCartney remembers. Then, he admits, “These days, even when I’m writing [a] song, I will kind of check with him just mentally, y’know? ‘Does this suck, like I think it does? Right, let’s get rid of it, start again.’ …so I really miss that, and I know he missed [having songwriting] contact with me, too.”

Previewing the moment in his live show when he sings a “virtual duet” with Lennon on “I’ve Got a Feeling,” Paul says, “The first time I ever did it was very emotional. And it keeps being emotional. Because, you know, I’m singing with my old buddy again.”

McCartney also discussed Peter Jackson‘s 2021 Get Back documentary, which he says made him feel better about himself.

“It was really good for me, because I’d kind of worried, in the studio with the Beatles, I might’ve been too bossy,” he admits. “I had kind of ended up buying into this idea that, you know, poor old other three, and I’m just bossing them around.”

He adds, “But when I saw the film, I’m thinking ‘No, I’m not. It’s O.K. It’s just us in the studio, and I’m not bossing them, everyone’s kind of happy to work…’ so, it was a big relief for me. It just made me feel really good about that whole period.”

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Metallica is getting into the podcast business.

The metal legends have announced an official weekly audio show titled The Metallica Report. It’ll be hosted by Steffan Chirazi, the editor of ‘Tallica’s online So What! magazine, and Renée Richardson, director of philanthropy for the band’s All Within My Hands charity foundation.

“With each episode, Steffan and Renée will keep you informed with the latest news from Metallica HQ and dispatches from the road as the M72 tour continues to make its way around the world,” Metallica says. “You’ll also enjoy exclusive, behind-the-scenes updates and interviews with the likes of the touring crew, poster and t-shirt artists, and fans through our mini-features. And we plan to make a few appearances ourselves!”

Episodes will air each Wednesday. The first episode, which features an introduction from drummer Lars Ulrich and a recap of the European leg of the M72 tour, is out now.

The Metallica Report premieres just as Metallica’s set to launch the U.S. leg of M72, which kicks off Friday, August 4, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The M72 tour supports Metallica’s latest album, 72 Seasons, which dropped in April.

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Rob Halford guests on a new cover of Judas Priest‘s “Living After Midnight,” recorded by the Metal Queen herself, Germany’s Doro.

“Judas Priest and Rob Halford have always been one of my biggest inspirations and continue to be my heroes,” Doro says. “It was so great working with Rob. ‘Living After Midnight’ has always been one of my favorite songs and I’m so proud of our duet!”

You can listen to the collaboration now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying lyric video streaming now on YouTube.

Doro recorded “Living After Midnight” for her upcoming album Conqueress — Forever Strong and Proud, due out October 27. Halford also guests on the record’s closing track, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” presumably a cover of the Bonnie Tyler hit.

You can also hear Halford on Dolly Parton‘s new song “Bygones,” a track off her upcoming Rockstar album.

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A 21-year-old Robert Allen Zimmerman legally changed his name to Bob Dylan.  

In his book Chronicles, Dylan explained that he was inspired to change his name after he saw an article about jazz performer David Allyn and later some poems by Dylan Thomas. He considered the names Robert Allyn and Robert Dylan, before finally deciding on Bob Dylan.

Of course, Dylan went on to have massive success and is considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1982, and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. He was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.

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The new North American leg of the Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard stadium tour kicks off Saturday, August 5, in Syracuse, New York, but during the brief downtime the band got between tour legs, Nikki Sixx helped his daughter Ruby live out her Disney princess fantasies.

People magazine has photos of Nikki posing with Ruby and his wife, Courtney, at Ruby’s Sleeping Beauty-themed fourth birthday party, complete with pink balloons, flowers and a white bouncy castle. While Ruby dressed as Princess Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty, Courtney bought a King Stefan costume for Sixx, but realized she couldn’t let him wear it without seriously damaging his rocker cred.

“I’m like, ‘okay, I love you so much, like bonus points that you’re gonna dress up, but oh my gosh, that’s just, it’s no, it’s just not happening,'” she laughs. However, Ruby did get to see her dad in the costume, and she “freaked out,” Courtney says.

The Crüe bassist, who also has four older children, told People back in June that he loved having Ruby out on the road with him.

“One of Ruby and my favorite things to do is the…walk from dad’s dressing room to the stage,” Sixx said. “She always holds my hand and sings ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen but [then] breaks into [the Crüe song] ‘Wild Side.'”

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The Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band tour returns to North America later this month, and if you weren’t able to snag tickets when they first went on sale, there’s now another option to get them. While it may be costly, it’s all for a good cause.

The Boss has put several ticket packages up for auction on Charity Buzz. The packages are available for shows in Chicago; Philadelphia; Foxborough, Massachusetts; and East Rutherford, New Jersey. Bids are currently between $1,500 and $2,000, although it’s estimated they’ll go for $7,500. In addition to two tickets — either general admission or reserved, depending on the bidder’s preference — the packages also include passes to the E Street Lounge, if there is one at the venue.

Proceeds from the auctions will go to the Kristen Ann Carr Fund, which raises money and awareness of the little understood form of cancer called sarcoma. The Kristen Ann Carr Fund was founded in 1993 in honor of the daughter of Springsteen’s co-manager Barbara Carr and rock journalist Dave Marsh. She died of sarcoma in 1993 at just 21.

The second leg of Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s North American tour kicks off with a two-night stand at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, August 9 and 11. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.com.

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Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh is remembering the late Pee-wee Herman creator Paul Reubens, who passed away July 30 after a secret battle with cancer. He was 70.

Mothersbaugh wrote the theme song and music for Reuben’s hit show Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which had a huge effect on Mothersbaugh’s career.  

“I’d never done a TV show before,” he tells Yahoo Music. “That took me into the world of film and television and video games. It totally changed the trajectory of my career.” 

Mothersbaugh, who did not know about Reubens’ battle with cancer, described him as someone who “always had a good personality and a good heart.” 

“It’s just shocking and sad that he’s gone,” he says. “I really didn’t expect it. We’d even been talking about working on an animated version of Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

Mothersbaugh met Reubens at the Groundlings when the rocker was dating former Saturday Night Live star Lorraine Newman. They first collaborated on the 1980 cult film Pray TV, which starred Ruebens and featured Devo. Mothersbaugh was originally approached to do the music for the 1985 movie Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, although a Devo tour kept him from doing it. He got a second chance with the Pee-wee CBS TV show, and it was an experience that was perfect for him. 

He notes, “Maybe with a different television show, I might have said, ‘I never want to do this again!’ But it was such an ideal, perfect situation.”

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Picking the greatest anything is certainly open for debate, and that is likely to be the case with the results of Total Guitar’s recent poll, which aimed to pick the greatest acoustic song of all time.

Topping the list is Led Zeppelin’s 1971 classic “Stairway to Haven,” which some may argue isn’t completely acoustic. Only the four-minute intro features an acoustic guitar, with the remaining half electric.

Coming in behind “Stairway to Heaven” is Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” followed by the Eagles’ “Hotel California,” neither of which are completely acoustic either.

The two songs rounding out the top five are more traditional acoustic numbers: Eric Clapton’s 1992 release “Tears In Heaven” at four, followed by The Beatles’ 1968 song “Blackbird.”

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Mötley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx just gave a fans a new reason to get excited about the rest of the year. Not only is the band about to kick off the new North American leg of their tour with Def Leppard, but the bassist is hinting at more things to come.

“Packing for the road……..Few more days of this Paradise before we leave for the shows,” Sixx shared on Instagram. “Gonna be a killer summer and then right back home for fall.”

He then added the tease about what’s to come, noting, “Every change of season gives me a creative push towards something brand new… I feel a lot of new stuff will be surfacing over the next year.”

While he doesn’t go into any more detail about the “new stuff,” he could be referring to new music, as earlier this year, the band revealed they were back in the studio with their Dr. Feelgood producer Bob Rock. 

It sounds like Motley Crue has even more plans to continue their wild ways well into the future. During a recent interview with Australia’s 60 Minutes, Sixx noted, “I feel like our [middle] finger is about to go higher,” adding, “I think we’re kind of in the ‘we-don’t-give-a-f***’ phase of our career.”

The new North American leg of the Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard stadium tour kicks off Saturday, August 5, in Syracuse, New York. A complete list of dates can be found at motley.com.

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