Classic Rock 93.9

Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner has shared more about the scary health issue that necessitated emergency heart surgery late last month.

In a statement posted to the band’s website, Faulkner explains that he felt something was off during Priest’s performance of “Painkiller” during their set at September’s Louder than Life festival.

“As I watch footage from the Louder than Life Festival in Kentucky, I can see in my face the confusion and anguish I was feeling whilst playing ‘Painkiller’ as my aorta ruptured and started to spill blood into my chest cavity,” Faulkner writes. “I was having what my doctor called an aortic aneurysm and complete aortic dissection.”

Indeed, if you look at fan-shot footage of the performance, it does appear that Faulkner grabs his chest towards the end of the song.

Faulkner was immediately rushed to the local Rudd Heart & Lung Center — which, luckily, was only four miles away — where he underwent over 10 hours of open heart surgery.

“It could have all ended so differently,” Faulkner muses. “We only had an hours set that night due to Metallica‘s performance after us — and it does cross my mind if it was a full set, would I have played until total collapse…? If it hadn’t happened in such a high adrenaline situation would my body have been able to keep going long enough to reach the hospital…?”

“We can always drive ourselves crazy with these things but I’m still alive thankfully,” he adds.

Faulkner is now on the road to recovery, and notes that several parts of his chest were “replaced with mechanical components.”

“I’m literally made of metal now,” he says.

Due to Faulkner’s surgery, Judas Priest postponed the remainder of their 2021 U.S. tour.

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Here’s wishing a happy 70th birthday to longtime REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin.

Cronin first joined the Illinois-based band in 1972 in time to record their second album, R.E.O./T.W.O., but he left the group because of creative differences during the making of their next record, Ridin’ the Storm Out.

In 1976, Kevin rejoined REO Speewagon and has fronted the band ever since. During the group’s heyday in the late 1970s and early ’80s, Cronin split main songwriting duties with guitarist Gary Richrath.  In 1978, REO scored minor hits with the Cronin-penned “Roll with the Changes” and “Time for Me to Fly,” which were both featured on the band’s You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tuna Fish album.

REO Speedwagon’s real commercial breakthrough came in 1980 with Hi Infidelity. The album spent 15 non-consective weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 in 1981, more than any other album that year. It featured the chart-topping ballad “Keep On Loving You” and the #5 hit “Take It on the Run,” both written by Cronin. Hi Infidelity has gone on to be certified Diamond by the RIAA for sales of over 10 million in the U.S.

Numerous other Cronin-penned Billboard Hot 100 hits followed for REO Speedwagon during the ’80s, including “Keep the Fire Burnin’,” which peaked at #7 in 1982, and the band’s second chart-topping single, “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” which was #1 for three weeks in 1985.

Richrath was fired from REO over conflicts with Cronin in 1989, and Kevin has continued to lead the band. REO’s most recent studio album was the 2009 holiday collection Not So Silent Night…Christmas with REO Speedwagon, but the group still tours regularly.

The band’s next concert is scheduled for this Friday, October 8, in Boerne, Texas.

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New music from Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators is “coming soon.”

That’s according to a new Facebook video posted by the Guns N’ Roses shredder featuring footage of him jamming along with his solo band.

“I think the record itself is probably the best one that we’ve done so far,” Slash says in the clip, referring to the upcoming fourth Conspirators album. “We’re showing no signs of slowing down.”

The most recent Conspirators effort is 2018’s Living the Dream.

Slash, meanwhile, just released a pair of new singles with Guns N’ Roses, “Absurd” and “Hard Skool.” The tunes mark the first fresh material from the “Welcome to the Jungle” rockers since Slash and Duff McKagan rejoined Axl Rose in the band in 2016.

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Foo Fighters are set to headline the 2022 edition of the Innings Festival.

The baseball-themed event, which coincides with the beginning of MLB’s spring training, takes place February 26-27 in Tempe, Arizona.

Other artists on the lineup include Tame Impala, St. Vincent, Black Pumas, White Reaper, My Morning Jacket, Dashboard Confessional, Matt and Kim, Fitz and the Tantrums and Nothing but Thieves.

The festival will also feature appearances by a number of former MLB players, including Roger Clemens, Jake Peavy, Dave Stewart and Rick Sutcliffe.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit InningsFestival.com.

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Carlos Santana and his famous band have extended their long-running Las Vegas residency at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino well into the spring of 2022.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have announced two new eight-performance engagements of their “An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live” show, running from January 26 through February 6 and from May 18 to May 29.

Tickets for all of Santana‘s new performances go on sale to the general public this Saturday, October 9, at 10 a.m. local time via House of Blues.com/Santana, MandalayBay.com and Ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.

Citi card members can buy pre-sale tickets starting Wednesday, October 6, at 10 a.m. PT; visit CitiPrivatePass.com for more information. The House of Blues and Live Nation pre-sales will begin Thursday, October 7, at 10 a.m. PT.

Part of the money from the tickets sold for Santana’s Las Vegas shows will benefit the Milagro Foundation, the charity Carlos co-founded that helps young people in impoverished communities around the world. Some of the proceeds also will be donated to the House of Blues’ Music Forward Foundation, which uses music to help young people develop life skills.

The band also has two other previously announced eight-show stands this year at the House of Blues Las Vegas that are scheduled from November 3 to November 14 and from December 1 to December 12. Visit Santana.com to check out the group’s full schedule.

As previously reported, Santana’s latest studio album, the star-studded Blessing and Miracles, will be released on October 15. The band recently debuted a lyric video for one of the tracks, a cover of the Procol Harum classic “Whiter Shade of Pale” featuring vocals by Steve Winwood.

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Ringo Starr and dozens of other well-known drummers have teamed up for a new version of the 1969 Beatles classic “Come Together” to raise money to support the WhyHunger charity’s mission to end global hunger.

Dubbed “Drum Together,” the recording also features the E Street Band‘s Max Weinberg, Pearl Jam‘s Matt Cameron, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith, Yes‘ Alan White, Bad Company‘s Simon Kirke, Vanilla Fudge‘s Carmine Appice, Rolling Stones touring drummer Steve Jordan, Iron Maiden‘s Nicko McBrain, famed session musician Jim Keltner, and pre-teen drumming sensation Nandi Bushell. More than 100 drummers in total lent their talents to the song.

“We all can agree that no kid should be hungry, and everyone should have access to nutritious food,” says Ringo in a statement. “This is a great cause that I’ve supported in the past and a great track — one of my favorite Beatles songs. So when Jim Keltner asked me to join all these other drummers I was happy to. Peace and love.”

A variety of non-drummers also contributed to the track, including singer Jen Chapin — daughter of late WhyHunger co-founder Harry Chapin — and such acclaimed session musicians as bassists Lee Sklar, Will Lee and Nathan East.

Ninety cents from every dollar raised by the Drum Together campaign will go toward WhyHunger programs that focus on community-led initiatives, the goal of which is to provide nutritious food to those who need it across the U.S. and the globe.

You can check out an official video for the song that features composite footage of all of the participants performing individually on the WhyHunger YouTube channel.

A list of all the participating musicians has been posted on WhyHunger.org.

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Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson has debuted an extended version of her acoustic instrumental tribute song for the late Eddie Van Halen, “4 Edward,” which was the final track on her recently released debut solo studio album, You and Me.

On Monday, Wilson posted a video on her official YouTube channel featuring her playing the updated version of the tune, titled “4 Edward with Love,” which runs about 40 seconds longer than the original track. The new version premieres just two days shy of the one-year anniversary of Eddie’s death.

As Nancy explained in an interview earlier this year with ABC Audio, she decided to write “4 Edward” after the guitar great died of cancer at age 65 on October 6, 2020. She said the song was inspired by an instrumental tune that he composed for her on an acoustic guitar she gave to him as a gift in the late 1970s after he revealed to her that he didn’t own one.

“4 Edward,” which clocks in at just one minute, 43 seconds, features some delicate strumming, picking and harmonics, and includes a segment that incorporates the chords from the classic Van Halen hit “Jump.”

You and Me was released in May. An expanded two-LP, blue-vinyl edition of the album will be issued on November 26 as part of the Record Store Day Black Friday event. It contains three bonus tracks, covers of The Beatles‘ tunes “Blackbird” and “Fixing a Hole” and a rendition of Steely Dan‘s “Any Major Dude.”

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Jackson Browne will headline the 2021 edition of the Dream Concert, a virtual charity event that will stream live on October 9 at 6 p.m. PT via Mandolin.com.

Browne originally launched the event as an annual in-person concert in Sedona, Arizona, to support the Verde Valley School Native American Scholarship he created in 1990.

The show raises funds to support Indigenous students who attend Sedona’s Verde Valley School and also to raise awareness about issues Native American communities are facing.

Other artists on the Dream Concert lineup include Cyndi Lauper, Shawn Colvin, Taj Mahal and many more. Early-bird tickets can be purchased now for $10 at Mandolin.com; the price will increase to $20 on the day of the show. People also can donate additional money to the cause at the website. For more information about the school and the scholarship fund, visit VVSAZ.org.

In other news, Browne is scheduled to launch the second leg of his joint 2021 U.S. tour with James Taylor on October 16 in New Orleans.  The trek is mapped out through a December 13 concert in Buffalo, New York.

Browne released his latest studio album, Downwhill from Everywhere, in July. Last week, he issued a new single from the record, “Until Justice Is Real.”  That song also is featured in a teaser trailer for a new documentary called How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? that focuses on racial injustice in the U.S.

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Dave Grohl will be an upcoming guest on Bedtime Stories, a kids TV program on the BBC’s CBeebies pre-school channel.

On the first of two episodes, premiering October 8, the Foo Fighters frontman will read from Octopus’s Garden, a children’s book written by Ringo Starr based on the 1969 Beatles song of the same name.

“As a proud father of three, I’ve always enjoyed reading stories to my children,” Grohl says. “It was a pleasure to read these stories for CBeebies.”

If you’re looking for more Dave Grohl stories, look no further than The Storyteller, the iconic musician’s first ever memoir. The book will be released tomorrow, October 5.

Grohl is currently on a book tour in support of The Storyteller, which continues Tuesday in New York City.

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The Doors‘ Robby Krieger will publish a new memoir titled Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar with The Doors on October 12. To promote the book, the 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has lined up a variety of virtual events taking place in the coming weeks.

First up, Krieger will participate in virtual book signing at the TalkShopLive social-shopping site’s Rock N Roll Channel on Tuesday, October 5, starting at 7 p.m. ET.

Then, on the memoir’s release date, October 12, Robby will appear in two streaming events. The first, which starts at 2 p.m. ET, will feature Krieger signing copies of his book at LiveSigning.com and also answering questions fans have submitted in advance.

The second is a pre-recorded Q&A that’s part of the Live Talks Los Angeles series, and that’s set to air at 9 p.m. ET.

On October 13, Krieger will take part in a previously reported interactive interview event presented by Rough Trade Records NYC that will be streamed live via Dice.fm. It will feature Robby chatting with respected writer and broadcaster Laura Barton via Zoom, and also answering questions from virtual audience members.

Other upcoming events to promote Set the Night on Fire include a virtual Q&As on October 18 hosted by the Hudson Library & Historical Society in Cleveland, and on November 8, presented by the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, a video preview featuring Krieger sharing details about his book has been posted at The Doors’ official YouTube channel.  In the clip, Robby says, “Hopefully after reading my book, I think people will understand the whole dynamic of The Doors and what it’s really like to be in a band like The Doors.”

(Video includes censored profanity.)

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