Classic Rock 93.9

Sting‘s My Songs tour, which has essentially been going on since 2019, will return to North America this fall.

The tour, which highlights material from Sting’s entire catalog, both solo and with The Police, starts September 5 in Toronto and is set to wrap up October 12 in Arkansas. However, it’s billed as Leg 1, so it’s likely Sting will be returning at some point. Opening all dates will be special guest Joe Sumner aka Sting’s eldest son.

Sting’s fan club members can access a presale via Sting.com starting April 12. The general on-sale date is Friday, April 14, at 10 a.m. local time via Sting.com.

Sting’s My Songs tour began in 2019 and toured through Europe, Asia and North America, but of course was canceled in 2020. It resumed in the fall of 2021 and included Sting’s debut Las Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. It continued around the world in 2022, with a second run of Las Vegas shows that June.

The set list has changed from year to year, but has always included hits like “King of Pain,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Fields of Gold” and “Desert Rose.”

Sting’s already been to Australia and Asia this year, and has done a third run in Vegas. He’ll perform in Sacramento, California, on April 11 and 12 before heading back to Europe.

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Metallica kicked off its weeklong residency on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, by sitting down for an interview, followed by a performance of “Lux Æterna,” the first single from their new album, 72 Seasons, out Friday, April 14.

In addition to the new album, the group — singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo — talked about some of their other projects, including their marching band competition which invites bands of all levels to come up with unique performances of Metallica songs, with over $150,000 in prizes up for grabs for the winners.

“The fact that we get to play and love what we do and someone takes that and puts that…in their own sense, then they get their whole audience pumped up for their team to play…it’s double cool,” Hetfield told Kimmel.

They guys will also be doing something a little different for their upcoming tour, in which they’ll play “two nights in every city, two completely different shows, no repeats” which, according to Ulrich, “helps us avoid falling into autopilot.”

The metal legends also discussed their popularity with younger fans, thanks in part to the use of their song “Master of Puppets” — which they’ll perform in its entirety on Wednesday — in an episode of Netflix’s Stranger Things, and their own kids following in their footsteps.

“Maybe one day we’ll…hand the keys to [Metallica] to them.”

The Kimmel residency continues through Thursday, leading up to Friday’s release of 72 Seasons.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Seems like Jon Bon Jovi is about to add a new A-lister to the family.

The rock star’s son Jake Bongiovi has apparently gotten engaged to his girlfriend, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown.

19-year-old Millie seemingly confirmed the news in a post on Instagram, featuring a happy photo of the couple embracing, with a ring clearly visible on Millie’s finger. In the caption she quoted another music superstar, Taylor Swift, writing, “I’ve loved you for three summers now, honey, I want ’em all.” That’s a lyric from Taylor’s top 10 hit “Lover.”

20-year-old Jake also shared photos of himself with his apparent new fiancée at the beach, captioning the pics “Forever.”

The couple has been publicly linked since 2021.

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The new movie Spinning Gold tells the story of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart, who launched the career of several artists in the ’70s, including KISS. And while Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons don’t appear in the film, they did play a part in making the movie look and feel as accurate as possible.

“They were very collaborative in making the film,” director Timothy Bogart, who is Neil’s son, tells ABC Audio. “You know, they were speaking to our costume designers, our makeup designers, our production designers.”

Timothy says they’ve had “great support over the years” from the artists his father worked with, noting, “I think the idea that he’s being celebrated finally is something that makes them all, you know, feel like that’s an appropriate thing to finally happen.”

And while Timothy doesn’t know if Gene and Paul have seen the film, he says former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley has reached out to him. “He actually went to the theater and was with a friend of his, and apparently the whole time going, ‘Yup, I remember that. I remember that.’”

Even though Ace’s relationship with Neil isn’t part of the film, Timothy says, “Just to hear his response was great. He really loved it.” 

Spinning Gold is in theaters now.

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Journey’s Neal Schon knows a few things about suing bandmates, and now he’s throwing his two cents in regarding the legal battle between Mick Mars and his former bandmates in Mötley Crüe.

As previously reported, Mars sued his former bandmates Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil, claiming they unfairly decreased his portion of the band’s profits from 25% to 5% after he announced his retirement from the road. He also accused them of playing to pre-recorded tracks on last summer’s Stadium Tour.

Motley later responded to Billboard, insisting they “did not owe Mick anything” and have offered Mars “generous compensation.”

Well, now Schon has taken sides. When Twitter user Mitch Lafon asked folks whose side they were on in the Mötley debate, Schon chimed in “Mick,” adding, “Given his health issues, and (t)he  obvious swagger, he gives to the band through his guitar playing. He didn’t deserve this.” 

Schon, of course, has a history of legal entanglements with his bandmates, most recently with Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain. He sued him over a company credit card, and also sent a cease-and-desist to stop him from playing “Don’t Stop Believin’” at political events. 

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Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock reveals in a new interview that he wasn’t the biggest fan of Danny Boyle’s Hulu series about the band, Pistol. In an interview with The Metal Voice, Matlock admits he was “very disappointed” in the series, particularly in the way his departure from the band was depicted.

While he says he was happy it came out — “I thought it was important that it went ahead because it was based on Steve’s (Jones) story and take on things. And he was the guy that formed the band.” — he says he wishes it was “more truthful.” 

Matlock says unlike what was portrayed in the series, he “was not sacked” from the group, sharing, “That whole episode where Steve sacked [me] is just bollocks.”

He was even more upset because he had some meetings with Boyle before production began. “And I thought it had all been ironed out,” he says. “But then I was ignored. So, I’m not happy. I feel shafted.”

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The set list for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band‘s current tour is a hits-packed extravaganza that includes nearly every song a casual fan would want to hear, from “Dancing in the Dark” to “Born to Run,” plus some deep cuts for the Bruce fanatics. But those fanatics are also keeping careful track of Bruce’s surprise “tour premieres”: a different song he throws into the set every night, many of which he hasn’t performed in years.

Sunday night’s show at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, brought the tour premiere of “Mary’s Place,” a song from Springsteen’s 2002 album The Rising, which he hasn’t performed since 2017.

Shows in Maryland and Cleveland featured the tour premieres of “Lucky Town,” the title track of one of The Boss’ two 1992 albums, and “Atlantic City,” from 1992’s Nebraska.

For his April 3 concert in Brooklyn, New York, Bruce threw it back to his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, for “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City.” His April 1 show at New York’s Madison Square Garden brought the first performance of “Jungleland” since 2017.

Other songs that have so far gotten a single airing on the tour include “Workin’ on the Highway,” “Hungry Heart,” “I’m On Fire” and “Darkness on the Edge of Town.”   

As previously reported, if you missed your favorite song’s tour debut, you can stream all of the tour’s shows via nugs.net and buy recordings of every show, as well. All the details are available on live.brucespringsteen.net.

The current leg of the tour wraps up April 14 in Newark, New Jersey, but Bruce and the band are coming back to North America to play stadiums starting in August. The set list may change even more by then.

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The guitar Eddie Van Halen played in Van Halen‘s “Hot for Teacher” video is going up for auction.

Created specifically for Eddie by Paul Unkert of Kramer Guitars, the “Hot for Teacher” axe was one of Van Halen’s main guitars between 1983 and 1984. In the “Hot for Teacher” video, Eddie memorably shreds the song’s solo on the guitar while walking across desks in a library.

The auction begins at $1.8 million, and is expected to fetch between $2 million and $3 million. It’s open until April 18 via Sotheby’s.

For more info, visit Sothebys.com.

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Ian Bairnson, a guitarist best known for his work with Alan Parsons Project, passed away Friday at the age of 69. His death was confirmed on social media by his wife, Leila, who wrote, “Ian was the sweetest, kindest, loving husband I could ever have wished for and I take comfort that he is resting now up there in his very own piece of ‘Blue Blue Sky’.”

Alan Parsons paid tribute to the musician on Facebook, sharing, “It was a great pleasure to have him participate on every album by The Alan Parsons Project and several other albums under my name since.” He also shared a few memories of Bairnson, including the fact that he talked Parsons into not scraping what turned out to be one of his biggest hits, “Eye in the Sky.”

Parsons adds, “He was a true master of the guitar – he knew every possible playable guitar chord and how to describe it,” noting, “Ian will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.”

In addition to the Alan Parsons Project, Bairnson was a member of the Scottish band Pilot and played guitar on several of Kate Bush’s albums, having a notable guitar solo on her 1978 debut single, “Wuthering Heights.” As a session musician he worked with such artists as Mick Fleetwood, Jon Anderson and Neil Diamond. He played live with Sting, Eric Clapton and many more.

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Gavin Rossdale‘s family is getting bigger now that his daughter, Daisy Lowe, has welcomed her first baby.

Lowe shared the news in an Instagram post Easter Sunday alongside the caption, “Our Easter egg finally hatched!”

“Ivy Love Saul you have made all my dreams come true- our dream girl,” Lowe wrote. “I have never known happiness or love like this. I can’t stop crying tears of joy.”

The new addition makes the Bush frontman a grandfather for the first time.

Lowe, 34, is Rossdale’s daughter from his relationship with designer Pearl Lowe. He also shares three sons with ex Gwen Stefani.

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