Classic Rock 93.9

Many fans wondered if Elton John was serious about his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour really, truly being his last one. Well, Elton has once again insisted that it is … and he can’t wait until it’s over.

Speaking to Deadline over the weekend, Elton says, “I’m not going to tour again. There may be the odd show, but I’m not touring. Touring is exhausting for me now, and it takes me away from my family and my children.”

In fact, the Rocket Man says he’s literally counting down the days until the end of the tour and hasn’t even thought of what he’s going to do next.

“I finish on July the 8th, and I’m not concentrating on anything else apart from that date,” he said. “And then I have a little bit of freedom. I can relax. But I would have done 330 shows on this tour by that point.”

Elton’s tour is already the highest grossing of all time, and he’s still got plenty of shows left to do — including his first headlining appearance at the U.K.’s most prestigious festival, Glastonbury, in June.

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Robert Plant and Alison Krauss played New Orleans Jazz Fest on Friday, but that wasn’t the only Plant performance this weekend. Jambands.com reports that Plant made a surprise appearance at Preservation Hall in the French Quarter for an intimate performance in front of about 100 people. 

Plant’s performance was a part of the Midnight Preserve show, which usually features unknown artists. He joined Irma Thomas, known as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans,” to perform the 2007 Raising Sand track “Rich Girl,” and also treated the audience to the Led Zeppelin classic “Black Dog.”

The second weekend of New Orleans Jazz Fest kicks off Thursday, May 4. The lineup includes Santana, Dead & Company, Mumford & Sons and Melissa Etheridge. The complete lineup can be found at nojazzfest.com.

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Carl Palmer is giving fans a health update. As previously reported, the Emerson, Lake & Palmer drummer underwent a successful heart procedure last week, and he’s now shared a video on social media to let fans know how he’s doing. 

“I just want you to know I’m back home now, feeling really good,” he says in the clip. “The people at the Brompton hospital were fantastic; the Royal Brompton in London. And my surgeon, Tushar Salukhe — fantastic man.”

Palmer thanked his fans for their support and explained that he’ll be spending a few days recuperating, noting he’s “feeling wonderful,” although he is tired.

And he doesn’t plan on letting his condition stop him from hitting the road, telling fans, “I’m looking forward to seeing all of you — that’s the most important thing — in July; that’s my aim.” 

Palmer’s The Return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer 2023 Summer Tour, which has him performing alongside footage of his late bandmates Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, is set to kick off July 8 in West Jefferson, North Carolina. A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at carlpalmer.com.

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Heart’s Ann Wilson is heading out on the road this summer. The singer just announced dates for a new tour, where she’ll be backed by the group Tripsitter.

The tour is set to kick off July 7 in Toronto, Canada, with the first U.S. date booked for July 12 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The trek wraps August 30 in Syracuse, New York. A complete list of dates can be found at annwilson.com.

And it sounds like we may soon be hearing new music from Wilson. According to her website, she and Tripsitter are working on finishing up a new album featuring original material.

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Keith Richards made a surprise appearance at Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles over the weekend. Rolling Stone reports that Richards joined the birthday boy Sunday night for a performance of Waylon Jennings’ “We Had It All” and Billy Joe Shaver’s “Live Forever.”

“I’d like to thank Willie for inviting me to this party,” Richards told the crowd.

The two-night Nelson birthday party, Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, featured a lineup that included Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Warren Haynes, Sheryl Crow and Snoop Dogg. 

Saturday’s show, according Variety, featured a whole host of highlights, including: Young and Stills teaming up with Promise of the Real for “Long May You Run” and “For What It’s Worth”; Willie and Young, along with Lukas and Micah Nelson, performing “Are There Any More Real Cowboys”; Haynes performing the Allman Brothers Band classic “Midnight Rider”; and Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson performing “Lovin’ Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again).” 

Both nights featured a “Happy Birthday” serenade to the singing legend. As for his actual birthday, Willie shared on social media, “I was born before midnight on the 29th but it didn’t get registered in the county courthouse until the next day, the 30th. So, it went out officially as the 30th. So I just do both days.”

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If you ever run into Flea and want to impress him with your musical knowledge, here are some songs to study up on.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers co-founder has shared his picks for his three favorite basslines: Led Zeppelin‘s “Ramble On,” funk band Parliament‘s “Flash Light” and jazz musician Alice Coltrane‘s “Journey in Satchidananda.”

You can see Flea shred RHCP basslines on the band’s U.S. tour, which continues May 12 in San Diego. The “Californication” rockers have been supporting their two 2022 albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.

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KISS’ Paul Stanley is facing some backlash after posting his thoughts about gender confirmation treatment for children, suggesting it’s been “turned into a sad and dangerous fad.”

“There is a BIG difference between teaching acceptance and normalizing and even encouraging participation in a lifestyle that confuses young children into questioning their sexual identification as though some sort of game and then parents in some cases allow it,” Stanley writes on Twitter.

He seems to suggest that it’s OK if adults make the decision to change their gender, but he has some issues with parents “normalizing” the choice for kids.

Stanley adds, “With many children who have no real sense of sexuality or sexual experiences caught up in the ‘fun’ of using pronouns and saying what they identify as, some adults mistakenly confuse teaching acceptance with normalizing and encouraging a situation that has been a struggle for those truly affected and have turned it into a sad and dangerous fad.” 

The post has quickly been met with backlash. One of those blasting Stanley is The Offspring guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman, who tweeted, “This is a very disappointing take, especially from someone who wore high-heels, makeup, & teased up hair his whole career. As a young kid your band helped teach me that I could be whatever I wanted to be. I guess it was just gimmickry after all. #thatsashame.”

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On This Day, May 1, 1976 …

Led Zeppelin’s seventh album, Presence, hit number one on the Billboard Album chart. 

The band, unable to tour due to injuries Robert Plant sustained in a car accident, completed the album in just 18 days, with Plant doing his vocals from a wheelchair.

The album, which spent two weeks on top of the chart, featured the 10-minute opener “Achilles Last Stand,” one of the band’s longest studio recordings.  

Presence received mixed reviews and is the band’s lowest-selling album. It was one of seven Led Zeppelin albums to reach number one. The others include 1969’s Led Zeppelin II, 1970’s Led Zeppelin III, 1975’s Physical Graffiti, 1979’s In Through the Out Door and 2003’s live album How The West Was One.

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Tim Bachman, guitarist and one of the co-founders of the Canadian band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, passed away Friday at age 71. The news was announced by the artist’s son Ryder in a post on Facebook, with an earlier post revealing that doctors had found “cancer riddled all throughout his brain.”

“My Dad passed this afternoon. Thank You Everyone for the kind words,” Ryder wrote. “Grateful I got to spend some time with him at the end. Grab yer loved ones and hug em close, ya never know how long you have.”

BTO also featured Bachman’s brothers Randy and Robbie, along with Fred Turner. Tim was featured on two of the band’s albums, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Bachman–Turner Overdrive II, with the latter featuring the band’s two biggest hits, “Takin’ Care of Business” and “Let It Ride.”

Tim left the group in 1974 and was replaced by Blair Thornton. He did return for a 1984 reunion album and tour, which had BTO opening for Van Halen.

Tim’s death comes after the January passing of his brother Robbie, at the age of 69.

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Soundgarden, Warren Zevon and Iron Maiden are among the artists who made the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2023 fan ballot, Billboard reports.

For the past 10 years, the Rock Hall has allowed the public to vote for their favorite nominees to be inducted. The top five vote-getters then comprise the fan ballot, which counts as a single entry among all the ballots cast by the official Rock Hall voting body.

Other artists on this year’s fan ballot included George Michael, who earned the most votes, and Cyndi Lauper.

As Billboard notes, four out of the past five top vote-getters in the fan vote were ultimately chosen for induction. The only one who didn’t get in was Dave Matthews Band in 2020.

The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees will be announced on May 3. The other nominees are The White Stripes, Kate Bush, Rage Against the Machine, Joy Division and New Order, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, The Spinners and A Tribe Called Quest.

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