Classic Rock 93.9

Rick Wakeman is teasing a return to the U.S., and it sounds like fans may not want to miss the chance to see him live.

The Yes keyboardist shared on his website that he’s in the midst of planning a second leg of his piano and keyboard one-man show. But he notes that “this is likely to be the last one man show there, so miss ‘The Final Grump Tour’ at your peril as there will not be any more!”

Wakeman explains that arthritis is making it harder and harder for him to do the show. “I can still get through okay but back in the dressing room at the end, the hands are plunged into an ice bucket of ice and ice-cold water in order to get some relief,” he says. 

Wakeman isn’t giving up touring all together, though. He says in the future he’ll tour with either the English Rock Ensemble or other band members, sharing, “I will still continue to do the odd one man show, but these will be one offs and mainly for the charities I support.”

And speaking of touring with a band, Wakeman just announced a new U.K. leg of his The Return Of The Caped Crusader tour, which will feature the English Rock Ensemble. The tour kicks off February 15, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland, and wraps February 28 in Bristol, England. The tour will have him playing new arrangements of classic Yes tunes, along with his 1974 album, Journey to the Centre of the Earth. A complete list of dates can be found at rwcc.com.

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Guns N’ Roses fans have another chance to see them perform in the U.S this year. The rockers are set to headline the annual Music Midtown festival at Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. 

The festival is happening Friday, September 15, to Sunday, September 17, with Guns closing the festival on Sunday night. Music Midtown’s other headliners include Pink, Flume, Billie Eilish, The 1975 and Lil Baby, with Incubus, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Pitbull and others on the bill.

Tickets for the festival go on sale Thursday, May 18, at 10 a.m. ET. A complete lineup can be found at musicmidtown.com.

The show is just the latest addition to Guns N’ Roses’ packed summer schedule. They kick off their latest tour on June 9 in Abu Dhabi, then hit Europe before returning to North America August 5 in Moncton, Canada, with the first U.S. date happening August 11 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. A complete list of tour dates can be found at gunnroses.com.

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On This Day, May 16, 1970…

Déjà Vu, Crosby, Stills & Nash’s first album with Neil Young, topped the Billboard album chart.

The album featured such classic songs as “Woodstock,” “Teach Your Children,” “Carry On,” and “Our House.”

The album went on to be certified seven-times Platinum by the RIAA and is the best-selling album to date by each of the group’s four members, Young, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash.

In 2023, it was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

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Gene Simmons is reminiscing about the late guitar great Eddie Van Halen for a new piece published in Classic Rock magazine.

The KISS bassist and co-founder talks about the first time he saw Van Halen play in a Hollywood club in 1976 and says despite what some have said, he didn’t discover the band. “No, I didn’t. I did no such thing,” he says, “I just happened to be there and witness their greatness at what was still a very early stage.”

“I saw them that night and was left incredulous. I stood at the front of the stage and couldn’t believe my eyes and ears,” he adds. “What really intrigued me about Van Halen was that they came out of nowhere … to this day I’ve no clue where Van Halen came from.” 

Simmons calls Eddie, who passed away in 2020, “such a kind and beautiful soul.” He said he’s particularly upset that young people don’t know, and may never know, how truly great Eddie was.

“As much as his death was upsetting, it also made me a little furious that so many of our so-called ‘younger generation’ remain unaware of his talents,” he says. “For f***’s sake, parents should be slapping mobile phones out of their kids’ hands and telling them to check out this guy.”

He adds, “Our millennials need to know about the most important musician since Jimi Hendrix. There will never be another like him.”

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Lately, Billy Joel, his wife, Alexis, and their two young daughters have been spending more time in Florida, so he’s movin’ out of his New York waterfront estate.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the 26-acre estate in “a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island” — as he famously sang about in his song “The Ballad of Billy the Kid” — is on the market for $49 million. Billy paid $22.5 million for the first 14 acres and home back in 2002, but he’s since bought up adjoining plots of land to restore the estate to its original size.

The property, which sits on a small island called Centre Island, is known as Middlesea and features a 20,000-square-foot mansion, a beach house, two outdoor pools, a helipad, a bowling alley, a wine cellar, a floating dock and an indoor pool that Billy covered up so he could use it as a music room.

In 2015, Billy purchased an estate in Lantana, Florida, for $22 million, the Journal reports. But The New York Post reports that it, too, is for sale, for just under $70 million. The Post speculates that he’s looking for another property.

But Billy isn’t giving up all his ties to Long Island: He still has a home in ritzy Sag Harbor in the Hamptons.

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Rolling Stones fans may want to make a stop at Los Angeles’ Rockaway Records. The store has just acquired a new collection of Stones memorabilia, featuring over 10,000 items.

The collection, purchased from the estate of skateboarder Brad “Squeak” Blanck, a known figure in the Rolling Stones community, consists of an extensive collection of vinyl, with rare LPs and 45s, vintage T-shirts, concert posters and more.

Some of the items up for grabs include a copy of the rare “Beast of Burden” 45 with picture sleeve and an Andy Warhol-designed promotional display from 1977. One item no longer available is a rare set of 1978 U.K. promo posters for “Some Girls,” which has already been purchased by The Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson.

“We have bought many amazing collections over the past 45 years, but this is definitely the most exciting one in a long time!” Rockaway Records’ Wayne Johnson shares. 

More information on the collection can be found at rockaway.com.

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Given that their latest album is a three-part rock opera, it would be hard not to call The Smashing Pumpkins ambitious. During an interview with Apple Music, frontman Billy Corgan shares that his ultimate ambition for the Pumpkins is to be “standing on the top of the heap of our generation.”

In achieving that goal, Corgan feels that Kurt Cobain was his “greatest opponent.”

“I will go down always as saying Kurt was the most talented guy of our generation,” Corgan says of the late Nirvana icon. “Kurt had so much talent, it’s, like, frightening. It was like a John Lennon level of talent … or Prince.”

“But Kurt’s not here, sadly,” Corgan continues. “So I looked around, I was, like, ‘Alright, well, I could beat the rest of them for sure.'”

Later in the interview, Corgan says, “When Kurt died I cried, because I lost my greatest opponent.”

The Smashing Pumpkins’ three-act rock opera, ATUM, is out now.

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David Lee Roth continues to baffle fans. The former Van Halen frontman has posted another bizarre dancing video, this time to Annie Lennox’s “Little Bird.”

The clip shows an always smiling Roth in a bright yellow suit prancing around with a flag, a cane, a sword, a trombone, bullhorns and cymbals.

This is far from the first strange video Roth has shared. He previously posted videos of him dancing to his cover of Wilson Pickett‘s “She’s Looking Good” and another featuring Daddy Yankee’s “Con Calma.” There was also another strange clip soundtracked to Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” that featured him, a mannequin, a statue of a dog and what appears to be a fast-food burger.

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Queen is offering fans a chance to get their hands on something pretty unique. The band is selling what they are calling a “Taylored” Spinner Cymbal Ring, made of sterling silver and featuring an outer spinning band constructed from one of drummer Roger Taylor’s personal cymbals.

Each ring is individually numbered and features the “Jolly Roger” logo on the inside. It is also engraved with “hearing secret harmonies” in Taylor’s handwriting, comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Taylor and a photo of the drummer taken by his daughter.

The ring will be available for preorder starting May 30, with the item shipping by July 28.

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Stevie Nicks is extending her time on the road. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has added a second leg to her solo tour. 

“Thank you to everyone who’s come out to see us so far, I’ve been having such a great time on the road,” Nicks shares on Instagram. “We are so happy to announce that we are adding 13 more shows to my 2023 tour! I hope I see you out there.”

The new dates kick off August 8 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and include shows in Houston, Austin, Pittsburgh, San Diego and Los Angeles. The last new date is set for December 5 in Palm Desert, California, although the tour wraps December 15 in San Francisco, California. 

Tickets for the new shows go on sale Friday, May 19, at 10 a.m. local time.

Nicks’ next concert is happening Tuesday, May 16, in Knoxville, Tennessee. She’s also set to play Nashville with Billy Joel on Friday, May 19. A complete list of dates can be found at stevienicksofficial.com.

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