Classic Rock 93.9

John Fogerty is the latest artist to reach the Billions Club on Spotify. Fogerty’s Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” has now reached over 1 billion streams on the streaming service.

“I am honored and humbled that my song has been loved by so many for all these years. I’m just so grateful,” Fogerty shares. “Ironically, I wrote this song about my band breaking up, but today, the song has found new meaning for me. I love to dedicate it to my family because they are the rainbow that comes from rain falling on a sunny day.” 

Spotify’s Billions Club currently has over 400 songs, including classics like Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” CCR also lands at three on the list of the most overall monthly Spotify listeners of bands from the ‘60s. The only two bands ahead of them are The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac.

Released in January 1971, “Have You Ever Seen The Rain,” written by Fogerty, was featured on the band’s sixth studio album, Pendulum. It peaked at eight on the Billboard 200 album chart and became the group’s eighth record to be certified Gold. 

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Gov’t Mule is extending their time on the road this year. After confirming dates for a spring tour, Warren Haynes and the gang have announced they’ll be headed out this summer, with the tour featuring a celebration of Pink Floyd‘s classic The Dark Side of the Moon.

The 12-date Dark Side of the Mule tour, with special guest Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, will feature a full Mule set. It’ll be followed by the band’s Dark Side tribute performance, which debuted in Boston on Halloween 2008 and was released as a live album in 2014, earning the band a Grammy nod. The Mule’s tribute is their way of joining in on this year’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the iconic record.

“This all started so organically with what we thought would be a one-time Halloween performance,” Haynes shares. “Since then, Dark Side of the Mule has grown into something else.” He added, “It’s a blast to perform this material but our intent is to do it for one final tour in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Dark Side. Don’t miss it!”

The Dark Side of the Mule tour is set to kick off July 22 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, wrapping August 19 in Holmdel, New Jersey. Presale tickets go on sale March 7 at 10 a.m., with the general sale set for March 10 at 10 a.m. local time.

A full list of tour dates can be found at mule.net.

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Nita Strauss is back in Alice Cooper‘s band.

The guitar virtuoso will join the “No More Mr. Nice Guy” outfit on the road for his 2023 tour after announcing she was leaving his live lineup last summer to play in Demi Lovato‘s band.

“She’s back!” Cooper declares in a press statement. “Nita asked for a leave of absence to work with someone else, something I always encourage my band members to do. I like them to challenge themselves and try new things.” 

Cooper adds that he’s “thankful to my old friend Kane Roberts,” who filled in for Strauss in 2022. Roberts previously played with Cooper in the ’80s.

Upon announcing her hiatus from Cooper’s band last year, Strauss called her previous eight years with the group “the experience of a lifetime,” adding, “I don’t know what the future will hold after this, but I am forever thankful.” She later clarified to Louder that her absence from the band wasn’t necessarily permanent.

Cooper’s 2023 tour include headlining dates in April and May, followed by shows with Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard and with Rob Zombie in the summer.

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The Black Crowes have spent the past two years celebrating their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, and now they are continuing that celebration with a new live album. The Black Crowes: Shake Your Money Maker Live features the best performances from their 2021-22 reunion tour in which they played their debut album in order in its entirety.

“The Black Crowes are proud to present an audio document of our Shake Your Money Maker Tour from the last two years,” Chris Robinson shares. “From where it all began to where we’re going and all that was in between. Hail hail rock ‘n roll!”

Dropping March 17, The Black Crowes: Shake Your Money Maker Live will be available digitally, on CD and on vinyl. It will feature the entire album played live, selective hits and two bonus tracks of the band covering The Rolling Stones’ “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)” and Velvet Underground’s ‘Rock & Roll.” They’ve also shared the first track from the record, a live recording of the album’s opening track, “Twice as Hard.”

The album is available for preorder now. 

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Eric Clapton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist on March 6, 2000, his third time being inducted into the prestigious institution. Clapton was the first and remains the only musician to be inducted into the Hall of Fame three times.

Clapton was previously inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of The Yardbirds in 1992, and then again in 1993 as a member of Cream.

While Clapton is the only artist to be inducted three times, several have been inducted twice, including all four members of The Beatles, all four members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Stevie Nicks, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Jeff Beck, Dave Grohl and others

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Lenny Kravitz is the latest artist added to this year’s Oscars telecast. The rocker, who has also dabbled in acting in movies like The Hunger Games, Precious and more, is set to perform during the ‘In Memoriam’ segment of the show. As of now there’s no word on what song Kravitz will sing.

Kravitz joins previously announced Oscar performers, Rihanna, Diane Warren and Sofia Carson, David Byrne, Son Lux and Stephanie Hsu, and Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava, who’ll each perform one of this year’s Best Original Song nominees. 

The 95th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Foreigner is set to kick off their final tour this summer. While some may question whether it’s the right time for them to say goodbye to the road, the band’s current lead singer, Kelly Hansen, thinks the timing’s perfect.

“I’d rather go out at the top of our game than to be out there doing it less than it should be, as I’ve seen so many times over the years,” he tells ABC Audio. “Sometimes I’ll just see someone and I’ll just kinda go, ‘Why, why are they — is it too many divorces? Why are they still out there?’”

And the tour should certainly be a fun one for longtime fans, with Hansen noting, “I would like to be able to play some stuff that we really don’t get to play.” He says it will all depend on how long the show is, curfews and things like that. 

But Kelly hints that fans may see a special guest here and there. 

“All of the original Foreigner members are always welcome to join us and I know that will be taking place,” he says. “And who knows? Who knows in the musical world who might feel like it’s a good time to come and say hi with us onstage who might have been fans and never really told us. Who knows? But it should be good.” 

Foreigner’s farewell tour kicks off July 6 in Atlanta, Georgia, and is currently set to wrap up September 3 in Holmdel, New Jersey. A complete list of dates can be found at foreigneronline.com.

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Gary Rossington, guitarist for Southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd, passed away Sunday at the age of 71, according to an announcement on the band’s Facebook page.

“It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today,” the band shared. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does.”

The statement added, “Please keep [his wife] Dale, [his daughters] Mary [and] Annie and the entire Rossington family in your prayers and respect the family’s privacy at this difficult time.”

Rossington, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2006, was the last original member of Skynyrd’s lineup remaining in the group.  He had been the last surviving original member of the band, following the death of Larry Junstrom in 2019.

He played guitar on many of the band’s biggest hits, including “Simple Man,” which he co-wrote with Ronnie Van Zant, as well as “Sweet Home Alabama” — which he also co-wrote — and “Tuesday’s Gone.” He played slide guitar on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature “Free Bird.”

Rossington was one of the passengers who survived the October, 20, 1977 Mississippi plane crash that took the lives of Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines and three others, though he broke both arms, legs, wrists, and ankles, in addition to his pelvis. 

Outside of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington, along with Skynyrd member Allen Collins, formed the Rossington Collins Band, which released two albums in 1980 and 1981 before disbanding in 1982. He also formed The Rossington Band with his wife Dale Krantz; they released two albums in 1986 and 1988.

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Musician and songwriter David Lindley, who worked with such artists as Jackson Browne and Bob Dylan, passed away Friday at the age of 78, California’s Claremont Courier reports.

A musician who played dozens of string instruments, Lindley is best known for his work with Browne and was featured on such classics as “The Pretender,” “Running on Empty” and “The Load Out/Stay.” 

In addition to his work as a session musician on music from artists like Dylan, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, Lindley released several solo records, with his most recent release being 2008’s Big Twang. His highest charting single was with his band El Rayo X in 1981 on a cover of “Mercury Blues,” which went to 34 on the Billboard charts.

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The Who is getting ready to release their new live album The Who with Orchestra Live At Wembley later this month, and they’ve just shared another track off the record.

The latest is their performance of “Imagine A Man,” off the band’s 1975 album, The Who By Numbers. According to the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, this tour was the first time they’d performed the song since its release 44 years earlier. 

The Who with Orchestra Live At Wembley, dropping March 31, was recorded during the band’s July 6, 2019, headlining show at the famed London venue. The concert has them performing classic tunes from albums like Quadrophenia, Tommy, Who’s Next and Who Are You, backed by a 50-piece orchestra.

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