Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlocke appear on Brother Cane’s Gary Rossington tribute song

April 17, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlocke appear on a new song that pays tribute to original Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington.

The song, “Prince Charming,” is from the Southern rock band Brother Cane, with the description noting it “reflects on legacy, loss, and the enduring impact of those who shape both music and life.”

“Gary Rossington was a hero for me that later became a friend and a mentor,” says Brother Cane’s Damon Johnson. “Something magical happened the day after his funeral in March of 2023 when this song arrived to me fully formed and literally perfect.”

“Prince Charming,” which appears on Brother Cane’s new album, Magnolia Medicine, is available now via digital outlets.

Gary Rossington passed away March 5, 2023, at the age of 71. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2006.

Don Henley’s ‘The End of the Innocence’ getting vinyl and digital reissue

April 17, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Don Henley’s hit solo album The End of the Innocence is getting a new vinyl and digital release.

The album, Henley’s third full-length studio album, has been remastered from the original analog tapes and will be reissued on June 5 digitally, and on two-LP 180 gram vinyl for the very first time.

Originally released in June 1989, The End of the Innocence is Henley’s bestselling solo work, having been certified six-times Platinum by the RIAA. It debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200, peaking at #8.

The album produced three top-40 singles, including the album’s title track, which peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Heart of the Matter” and “The Last Worthless Evening,” which both made it to #21.

The End of the Innocence reissue is available for preorder now.

Henley is currently busy with the Eagles. They are set to play New Orleans Jazz Fest on May 2 and have booked four shows on their The Long Goodbye Act III tour, including stops in Atlanta; Nashville; Arlington, Texas; and Hollywood, Florida.

A complete list of dates can be found at Eagles.com.

Here’s what to look out for on Record Store Day

April 17, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Saturday is Record Store Day, and your local independent record store is bound to be packed with folks trying to get their hands on the latest exclusive releases.

There will be over 350 releases available this year; here’s a heads-up on some of the music you may want to be on the lookout for:

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s triumphant 2024 return to Asbury Park, New Jersey, at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival will be released as Live From Asbury Park 2024. The five-LP set features more than three hours of music.

Peter Gabriel is releasing a 12-inch zoetrope picture disc of his 1986 hit single “Sledgehammer.”

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have contributed July 16, 1978 – Paradise Theater, Boston, MA, a previously bootlegged concert. It getting its first official release on pink and green translucent splatter color vinyl.

The debut solo albums of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash are being released as a four-LP box set, The Solo Albums, which also includes an LP or rarities from demos and studio sessions.

The Who is releasing the 1966 album A Quick One on two-LP colored vinyl. It will include the original album along with an LP of B-sides, alternate versions and instrumentals.

Brian Wilson will be represented with On Tour 1999–2007, a newly curated live collection featuring performances from Carnegie Hall, UCLA Royce Hall and more.

Pink Floyd’s often bootlegged Live From the Los Angeles Sports Arena, April 26th, 1975 is being released as a four-LP or two-CD set, the first official release of the concert. It features 16 live recordings, restored and remastered by producer Steve Wilson.

A full list of Record Store Day releases can be found at RecordStoreDay.com.

KISS announces 2026 edition of KISS Kruise: Landlocked in Vegas

April 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

KISS is returning to Sin City with another edition of KISS Kruise: Landlocked in Vegas.

This year’s event is happening Nov. 13-15 at the Virgin Hotels and will once again feature two KISS unmasked shows with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. It will also include Q&As and activities with the band.

Originally launched in 2025, the event was initially billed as KISS Army Storms Vegas before getting a name change to KISS Kruise: Landlocked in Vegas. It featured KISS’ first performances since their final show at Madison Square Garden in 2023. They were also the first performances since the death of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley a month earlier, and the band paid tribute to him during one of the two unmasked shows.

The 2025 edition also featured performances from former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick; Stephen Pearcy performing the music of Ratt; former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach; Quiet Riot; Black N’ Blue; and several KISS cover bands.

Folks can register now at KissKruiseVegas.com to get the first info on when reservations open.

Grateful Dead launches its first official streaming app

April 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Grateful Dead has given their fans a new way to enjoy their music.

The band has partnered with nugs.net to launch Play Dead, the first official Grateful Dead streaming app, featuring newly transferred and mastered recordings from the band’s vault, all in high-resolution audio.

The available music includes CD-only releases, like all currently released Dave’s Picks, that are getting their streaming debut; new vault releases every Tuesday, curated by Dead archivist David Lemieux; and plenty of live recordings. In fact, the app’s launch features 422 unique live shows, including 20 previously unreleased concerts.

The app also features live recordings listed chronologically by performance date for the very first time.

According to Billboard, plans for the app have been in the works for over two decades, but it wasn’t exactly an easy feat.

“What we’re embarking on now is the largest tape transfer project in the history of rock and roll, as far as I know, at least for any single band,” nugs founder/CEO Brad Serling tells the mag. He notes that The Dead music being available on a variety of formats, like reel-to-reel, multitracks DATS and more, made the task more difficult.

“This is my life’s work,” Serling, a Deadhead, adds. “I was born to do this. So here we are — it’s finally happening.”

Play Dead is available now and will set fans back $100.

Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl says parting ways with drummer Josh Freese is ‘what feels best for our band’

April 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is once again talking about the band’s decision to part ways with drummer Josh Freese in 2025.

In a new interview with the Irish Times, Grohl explains that their decision was something that just felt right for the band.

“A drummer’s playing is based on feel,” Grohl says. “That’s all drumming is: feel. It’s hard to define when you’re playing with someone and it feels ‘right,’ or when you’re playing with someone who feels ‘really good,’ and then you’re playing with someone and it feels ‘f****** amazing.'”

He adds, “It’s personality, it’s your connection, your rhythm that you have together. It’s just a combination, or a recipe – when you’re cooking something and it says, ‘salt and pepper to taste’ at the end of the recipe; that’s defined by you.”

Grohl then mentions British chef Marco Pierre White, who he calls a hero, noting that the chef is always talking about how things “feel” when cooking.

Grohl notes, “So he knows – and f***, man, if he knows, then it must be good. So we know what feels best for our band.”

Grohl also touched upon the political discord in America, saying, “It’s hard not to feel political living in America, where we’re deeply divided. And there’s injustice, and there’s so much hate and fear, and it’s such a drag.”

“I try to love everyone, because I think that’s what you’re supposed to do – and I do,” he says. “But there needs to be change in that direction, and it’s been hard to find in the States.”

Foo Fighters’ new album, Your Favorite Toy, their first with drummer Ilan Rubin, drops April 24.

Cream to release expanded edition of 1968’s ‘Wheels of Fire’

April 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Cream is revisiting their third studio album, Wheels of Fire.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band — Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce — is set to release Wheels of Fire (Super Deluxe Edition) on June 12, a five-CD set featuring newly remastered audio, plus a whole host of bonus material.

The set includes a rarities collection made up of 15 recordings, nine of which have never been released before. Among the tracks are an early version of “White Room”; a rough mix of “Deserted Cities of the Heart” without strings; and a single version of “Crossroads.”

The release also includes remastered versions of the original album’s four live tracks from March 1968, along with eight additional live tracks, including a previously unreleased live recording of “We’re Going Wrong,” recorded at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.

The set also comes with a 24-page hardcover book with rare photos and new liner notes.

In addition to the five-CD set, Wheels of Fire will be released as a three-LP Expanded Edition that includes the rarities collection.

All formats are available for preorder now.

Originally released in June 1968, Wheels of Fire was a double LP that included one LP of recorded music and a second of live recordings. It went to #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and included the iconic Cream song “White Room,” which was a top-10 hit for the band. Just as the album was being released, Cream announced that they would be breaking up following a farewell tour.

Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan on why he refuses to use AI

April 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Billy Corgan wants folks to know that he is not a fan of artificial intelligence.

In a recent interview with the And The Writer Is… podcast, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman didn’t hold back when sharing his thoughts about using AI to make music.

“You didn’t ask me, but I’m gonna make a declaratory statement. I refuse, refuse, patently refuse to use AI in my music creation,” Corgan says. “Because, to me, it’s a deal with the devil. Simple.”

“Whether it’s the Promethean fire myth or whatever, to me you’re literally leaning into the thing that will destroy you. Period,” he adds. “So that’s why I’m not gonna mess with it, because the pressure, the inspiration, the soul searching, the ‘I’m not sure I got anything else to say,’ that’s all part of the journey that a songwriter needs to go to.”

Corgan goes on to say that by embracing AI, folks are “flirting with the thing that will destroy us as an economy, as a business, as a movement.”

“We’re asking to be eradicated,” he adds. “But I’m saying, on a spiritual level to lean into it is to ask to be wiped out. You’re asking to be wiped out.”

Def Leppard contributes song to Disney’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring The Muppets

April 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

While Aerosmith has been removed from the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida, another Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band will be featured in the new attraction.

The new Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring The Muppets is set to open May 26, and it will feature a soundtrack that includes Def Leppard’s “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop).”

The news was revealed in a post on Instagram, which featured Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen talking to Electric Mayhem member Lips, who, somewhat incoherently, asks if Def Leppard would play with the Muppets band on the roller coaster.

“Yeah, we’d love to play with The Electric Mayhem,” says Collen, to which an excited Lips replies, “I didn’t think you’d say yeah, but you said yeah. That’s great. I love you man.”

As he walks away, Elliott asks, “What did we just agree to?”

According to Disney, in addition to “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop),” the soundtrack to the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will include Electric Mayhem covers of Blur’s “Song 2”; Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild,” featuring Camilla the Chicken; Ohio Players’ “Love Rollercoaster,” featuring Jennifer Hudson and Questlove; and Katrina and the Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine,” featuring Kelly Clarkson.

The new roller coaster will have guests go on a search for The Electric Mayhem, who go missing ahead of a gig headlining a big Hollywood concert. It will feature celebrity cameos from such stars as Neil Patrick Harris, John Stamos, blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Darren Criss and more.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Peter Frampton to perform at Tribeca Festival

April 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

A new documentary about Peter Frampton is set to premiere at the 25th annual Tribeca Festival, with Frampton set to perform at the event.

Frampton’s documentary, titled Frampton, will have its world premiere on June 4, with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer performing after the screening. The description notes that it tells Frampton’s story “from the arena-shaking triumph of ‘Frampton Comes Alive!’ to a final tour shaped by a degenerative diagnosis,” noting it follows “a rock icon who lost everything and fought his way back—again and again.”

The doc, directed by Rob Arthur, will feature appearances by The Who’s Roger Daltrey, The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman, Sheryl Crow, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Ringo Starr, Alice Cooper and more.

The doc news comes as Frampton is getting ready to release a new album. Carry the Light, Frampton’s first album of all new material in 16 years, drops May 15.

The Tribeca Festival runs from June 3 to June 14. More info can be found at TribecaFilm.com.

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