Classic Rock 93.9

Blondie is set to make a trek out to the desert this spring. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are booked to play Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, taking place in Indio, California, April 14 to 16 and April 21 to 23.

Blondie is confirmed to play opening night of both weekends, which will be headlined by Bad Bunny and also feature Gorillaz, Chemical Brothers and more. The weekend’s other headliners include BLACKPINK on the Saturday shows and Frank Ocean closing out both weekends.

The Coachella date is one of only two U.S. shows Blondie has scheduled for 2023. The other is happening March 16 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

Presale tickets go on sale Friday at 11 a.m. PT, although there is a “very limited” amount of passes available for weekend one. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit Coachella.com.

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Eddie Vedder is performing at an upcoming tribute concert in honor of the late actor, comedian and musician Leslie Jordan, taking place February 19 at the historic Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.

The Pearl Jam frontman will be joined on the bill by country artists Maren Morris, Brothers Osborne, Ashley McBryde and Jelly Roll. Additionally, actors Jim Parsons, Mayim Bialik and Max Greenfield will be making special appearances, along with comedian Margaret Cho.

Proceeds raised from the concert will be donated to the EB Research Partnership, which Vedder and his wife, Jill Vedder, co-founded to support efforts to cure epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic skin disorder. Tickets go on sale this Friday, January 13, at 10 a.m. local time.

For more info, visit Opry.com.

Jordan died last October at age 67. In addition to his work on shows including Will & Grace, American Horror Story and Call Me Cat, Jordan released an album called Company’s Comin’ in 2021, which featured Vedder on the song “The One Who Hideth Me.”

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The life of Christine McVie was celebrated in Los Angeles Monday night. TMZ reports that a memorial service for the late Fleetwood Mac star took place at Little Beach House in Malibu.

Paparazzi photos show that several of Christine’s bandmates were in attendance to celebrate her life, including Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks, as well as former bandmate Lindsey Buckingham.

As previously reported, McVie passed away November 30 at the age of 79 following a short illness. The band released a statement following news of her death, sharing, “There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie,” calling her the “best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life.”

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U2 is set to release a new album of old material. The Irish rockers just announced they’re dropping Songs Of Surrender, featuring “40 Songs. Reimagined and rerecorded,” on March 17, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.

The album appears to be inspired by Bono’s recently released biography, Surrender: 40 Songs; One Story. Based on the clip of “Beautiful Day” they shared with the announcement, it will feature reworked versions of U2 classics.

U2 fans began getting hints of the new project earlier this week, with folks on Twitter sharing pictures of a  handwritten note from Edge they received in the mail. 

“So what happens when a voice develops and experience and maturity give it additional resonance?” he writes. “U2 have been around long enough to know what that is like. It’s true for us all, but it’s particularly true for Bono,” adding that since the band wrote many of the songs as “very young men,” they “mean something quite different to us now.”

He shares, “Music allows you to time travel and so we started to imagine what it would be like to bring these songs back with us to the present day and give them the benefit or otherwise, of a 21st century re-imagining. What started as an experiment quickly became a personal obsession as so many early U2 songs yielded to a new interpretation.”

Finally, he writes, “Once we surrendered our reverence for the original version each song started to open up to a new authentic voice of this time, of the people we are, and particularly the singer Bono has become.”

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Poison’s Rikki Rockett is sharing some great health news with fans. The drummer revealed on social media that he’s celebrating his seventh year of being cancer-free.

“Almost 7 years cancer free thanks to the best Dr. in the world, Ezra Cohen,” he shared on social media with a photo of him and his doctor. “Today is a good day!!! Thanks to God and modern medicine!”

Rikki first revealed that he was battling throat cancer in 2015. In July 2016 he shared the news that he was cancer-free.

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Foo Fighters‘ 2023 schedule is filling up.

After announcing earlier Tuesday that they’d be headlining the 2023 Boston Calling festival in May, Dave Grohl and company have revealed they’ll be leading the lineup for this year’s Bonnaroo and Sonic Temple festivals, as well.

The festivals mark the first live Foo Fighters performances since the band’s New Year’s Eve announcement that they intend to continue following the 2022 death of drummer Taylor Hawkins.

There’s no word yet on who will be playing drums with the Foos for the shows. During their two tribute concerts to Hawkins last September, the “Everlong” rockers were joined by a number of guest drummers, including Blink-182‘s Travis Barker, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, prolific session drummer Josh Freese and Hawkins’ teenage son, Shane.

Bonnaroo takes place June 15-18 in Manchester, Tennessee, and also features Paramore, Korn, Portugal. the Man, Marcus Mumford, Pixies, My Morning Jacket, girl in red, The Revivalists, Franz Ferdinand, AFI, Fleet Foxes, Odesza and Kendrick Lamar.

The lineup for Sonic Temple, which will be held May 25-28 in Columbus, Ohio, also includes Tool, KISS, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Rob Zombie, Queens of the Stone Age, Deftones, Falling in Reverse, Chevelle, Puscifer, Sublime with Rome and The Pretty Reckless.

Tickets for Bonnaroo go on early access sale this Thursday, January 12, at 10 a.m. CT. A presale for Sonic Temple tickets begins Wednesday, January 11, at 10 a.m. ET.

For the full lineups and all ticket info, visit Bonnaroo.com and SonicTempleFestival.com.

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After revealing that they plan to continue on as a band following the 2022 death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters have announced their first show of 2023.

Dave Grohl and company will headline this year’s Boston Calling festival, taking place May 26-28 at Beantown’s Harvard Athletic Complex.

There’s no word yet on who will be playing drums with the Foos for the show. During their two tribute concerts to Hawkins last September, the “Everlong” rockers were joined by a number of guest drummers, including Blink-182‘s Travis Barker, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, prolific session drummer Josh Freese and Hawkins’ teenage son, Shane.

In a statement posted New Year’s Eve, Foo Fighters wrote, “Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were — and without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward.”

The 2023 Boston Calling bill also includes Paramore, Queens of the Stone Age, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Lumineers, Alanis Morissette, The National, Bleachers, The Linda Lindas and The Flaming Lips. Presale begins this Thursday, January 12, at 10 a.m. ET.

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

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Elvis Costello is ready to celebrate his decades long collaboration with the legendary Burt Bacharach.

The Songs of Bacharach & Costello is a new box set Costello has personally compiled of every published song the pair has written together. Dropping March 3, the set features 45 songs, including the pair’s 1998 album Painted From Memory, which has been remastered by Bob Ludwig from the original tapes.

The set also includes the new collection, Taken From Life, which includes mostly unreleased songs from the proposed Painting From Memory musical, with three newly recorded songs. There are also two discs of rare and unreleased live performances, as well as a disc of Bacharach and Hal David songs Costello has performed and recorded over the years, and more. It also includes “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” the song the pair performed in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

In addition to the music, the box comes with a 20-page booklet of photography, early drafts of lyrics, studio notes and more, including a brand new 10,000-word essay by Costello which delves into his and Bacharach’s three-decade long friendship and musical partnership.

And to give fans a taste of the set, Costello has released three rare and unreleased live performances: “In the Darkest Place,” recorded with Elvis’ The Imposters bandmate Steve Nieve on tour in Australia, “Painted From Memory,” recorded in Stockholm, Sweden with Nieve and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and a version of the 1963 Dionne Warwick track “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” recorded by Costello and Bacharach at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

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As previously reported, Brian May was knighted as part of the 2023 New Year’s Honours List, the first from King Charles. Well, the new honor apparently inspired a lot of fan art, and the Queen guitarist was so flattered by it he couldn’t help but share some of his favorites.

May posted two carousels of knight-inspired artwork from fans, writing, “THANKS to all of you who have so kindly supported me on this new journey. I love ALL ‘my’ artists, and friends, and this is just a selection of your lovely messages which made me smile.” 

He also cautioned some fans whose art may have not made the post. “If you find yourself saying ‘my stuff is more worthy than his, or hers – it should have been ME who got that attention, or success, or glory’ … take a good long look deep inside,” he writes. “A good friend of mine had a favourite phrase … so true … he said simply ‘Talent will Out.’ That friend was Freddie Mercury.”

Finally, May shared, “Don’t let envy, or jealousy, or insecurity drain your power. Just work towards your vision. If you want it enough, you will find it. The more generosity you put out, the more will come back to you.”

Check out the artwork here and here.

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Paul Stanley is bringing his art to more people. The KISS frontman is set to appear at showings of his latest collection at Wentworth Gallery locations in Florida, Maryland and Virginia.

Stanley will kick off his appearances February 3 and 4 in Hollywood and Boca Raton, Florida, respectively. Then on February 24 he’ll be in Bethesda, Maryland, followed by McLean, Virginia, on February 25. 

The latest collection includes artwork from his Black Series, which was originally commissioned for a museum exhibition in 2020 that was canceled due to the pandemic. These works were started on a black canvas, instead of a white one, and feature his trademark bright colors.

Stanley has been creating art for decades, and actually designed and created the iconic KISS emblem. About 10 years ago he took it up again, creating portraits and abstract work. His art has been featured in museums, as well as sold-out art shows and more.

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