Classic Rock 93.9

Ozzy Osbourne has shared his reaction to winning two awards at Sunday’s Grammys.

The Prince of Darkness earned Best Rock Album for his latest solo effort, Patient Number 9, and Best Metal Performance for “Degradation Rules,” featuring Black Sabbath‘s Tony Iommi.

In a press statement reflecting on his Grammy victory, Ozzy declares, “I’m one lucky motherf***er.”

“I was blessed to work with some of the greatest musicians in the world and Andrew Watt as my producer on this album,” Ozzy says. “Winning the Best Metal Performance was equally gratifying being that the song featured my longtime friend and Black Sabbath bandmate, Tony Iommi.”

The Grammy wins were undoubtedly a bright spot during a tough week for Ozzy, who announced last Wednesday that his long-delayed European and United Kingdom tour would be canceled due to the lingering effects from a fall he suffered in 2019, which has required extensive surgery and recovery time.

“Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way,” he said.

Ozzy was also nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance with the Patient Number 9 title track, which features the late Jeff Beck. Americana artist Brandi Carlile won both awards with her song “Broken Horses.”

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Van Morrison is the latest artist headed to Las Vegas. The “Moondance” singer just announced a three-night stand at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

The three shows are set for September 6, 8 and 9, with tickets going on sale Friday, February 10, at 10 a.m. PT.

The new dates come as the 77-year-old Morrison is getting ready to release his new studio album, Moving On Skiffle, on March 10. In addition to the Vegas dates, he has a few European shows lined up to promote the release, including March 13, 14 and 15 at The Stables in Milton Keynes, England, and April 6 and 7 at Whitla Hall in Belfast, Ireland.

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Items from Paul McCartney, Fleetwood Mac, Joe Perry and more brought in big bucks at the annual MusiCares Charity Relief Auction, which was held at Julien’s Auction House in Beverly Hills this weekend.

Big sellers included a personally signed copy of McCartney’s The Lyrics book, which sold for $25,600, 25 times more than expected, as well as a Rolling Stones signed 2022 60th anniversary European tour poster, which brought in $16,000, 16 times its original estimate.

Other items that brought in the big bucks include: a Joe Perry stage-played and signed Gibson Les Paul electric guitar, which went for $25,000; Fleetwood Mac’s band-signed MusiCares Person of the Year Gibson Les Paul, which was purchased for $19,200; a signed SG Electric guitar that belonged to Ozzy Osbourne, which sold for $19,200; Joni Mitchell’s original print of Jimi Hendrix, signed by Mitchell, which sold for $10,240; and a black Epiphone acoustic guitar from the 2015 celebration of honoree Bob Dylan, signed by the artists who paid tribute to him, including John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen, which sold for $12,800. 

The auction also featured items from Robert Plant, Sting, Don Felder, David Lee Roth and others.

Proceeds from the auction benefit MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s charity arm that provides health and human services to the music community.

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Dead Kennedys aren’t happy about the Grammys leaving late drummer D.H. Peligro out of its “In Memoriam” tribute segment during Sunday’s ceremony.

Peligro, born Darren Henley, played with the long-running punk outfit over several stints from 1981 up until his death last October. He also briefly joined Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1988.

In a tweet Sunday night, Dead Kennedys wrote, “Hey [Recording Academy] you forgot someone who influenced more musicians than half the people you listed.”

“Get with the times please,” they added.

Though Peligro was left out of the video tribute, his name is listed on the Recording Academy’s online “In Memoriam” list.

Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green, who passed away last December, was also left out of the video.

Among those who were included were Fleetwood Mac‘s Christine McVie, Jeff Beck, Television‘s Tom Verlaine and David Crosby.

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Ozzy Osbourne‘s Super Bowl commercial has arrived.

As previously reported, the Prince of Darkness is starring in an ad for the company Workday, which provides enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources, along with Joan Jett and Gary Clark Jr. All three artists appear in the full ad, which is streaming now on YouTube ahead of Sunday’s matchup, as do KISS‘ Paul Stanley and Billy Idol.

The commercial posits that office co-workers complimenting each other as “rock stars” is upsetting to actual rock stars.

“Hey corporate-types, would you stop calling each other ‘rock stars’?” an irritated Stanley asks. Cut to Osbourne, Jett, Idol and Clark listing off their rock star cred.

“I’ve done my share of bad things,” Ozzy says while sitting by a pool. “Also your share of bad things.”

Of course, an exception can be made if you happen to work with a real-life rock star. That’s when we see a shirt-and-tie-wearing Ozzy sitting in a cubicle and introducing himself to his colleagues as Oswald.

Super Bowl LVII airs February 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox.

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Carlos Santana is extending his residency in Las Vegas. The 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and his band have just added a string of fall dates at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. This is the 11th year Carlos is headlining the residency.

The 16 new dates for An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live will be happening in September and November. The first set runs from September 6 to September 17, followed by shows from November 1 to November 12.

Tickets for the new shows go on sale February 10 at 10 a.m. local time.

Santana wrapped up his latest set of House of Blues dates on Sunday and will return to the venue in May, with dates confirmed from May 17 to May 28. Tickets for those shows are on sale now. A complete list of Santana tour dates can be found at santana.com.

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Peter Gabriel has given fans another taste of his upcoming album, i/o, which is his first album of new songs in 20 years.

In connection with this weekend’s full moon, Gabriel released the track “The Court (Dark-Side remix),” which was recorded at Real World studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London. According to Gabriel, the song “was inspired by the work of NAMATI, whose mission is to provide people around the world access to justice they may not otherwise be able to afford.”

“I had this idea for ‘the court will rise’ chorus, so it became a free-form, impressionistic lyric that connected to justice, but there’s a sense of urgency there,” Gabriel shares. “A lot of life is a struggle between order and chaos and in some senses the justice or legal system is something that we impose to try and bring some element of order to the chaos.” He adds, “That’s often abused, it’s often unfair and discriminatory but at the same time it’s probably an essential part of a civilised society.”

i/o is expected to come out this year, but so far it doesn’t have a release date.

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The Bruce Springsteen fanzine Backstreets, which has been covering all things The Boss since 1980, announced over the weekend that it was shutting down.

The announcement came with a quote from Springsteen’s song “Nebraska”: “For a little while, sir, we had us some fun.” Editor-in-chief Christopher Phillips explained that the decision to shut down stemmed from disillusionment regarding the ticket debacle surrounding Springsteen and the E Street Band’s current tour, which saw many fans priced out of tickets due to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing.

“After 43 years of publishing in one form or another, by fans for fans of Bruce Springsteen, it’s with mixed emotions that we announce Backstreets has reached the end of the road,” Phillips wrote. Noting the ticket controversy, Phillips continued, “ … too many Springsteen fans got thrown to the wolves, pushed aside in a way that seems as unfathomable as it was avoidable.”

He added, “Whatever the eventual asking price at showtime and whether an individual buyer finds it fair, we simply realized that we would not be able to cover this tour with the drive and sense of purpose with which we’ve operated continuously since 1980. That determination came with a quickening sense that we’d reached the end of an era.”

In a statement to Variety, Bruce’s manager Jon Landau said they were “very sorry to hear the news” of the mag’s closing, adding they “want to thank Chris Phillips for his 30 years of dedication on behalf of Springsteen fans everywhere.”

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Paul McCartney will be the subject of a brand-new documentary, Man on the Run, which will be directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville.

The film will focus on McCartney’s post-Beatles life, including how he dealt with the Beatles breakup. It’ll also address his personal with wife Linda McCartney, the eventual formation of his band Wings and his hugely successful solo career. The documentary will include archival footage that has never been seen before, along with new interviews.

The film is described as “the definitive document of Paul’s emergence from the dissolution of the world’s biggest band and his triumphant creation of a second decade of musical milestones — a brilliant and prolific stretch” that featured such songs as “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Band on the Run,” “My Love,” “Live and Let Die” and more.

“As a lifelong obsessive of all things McCartney, I’ve always felt that the 1970s were the great under-examined part of his story,” says Neville, whose directing credits include 20 Feet from Stardom and others. “I’m thrilled to have the chance to explore and reappraise this crucial moment in a great artist’s life and work.”

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On this day, February 6, 1984…

The Talking Heads performed their final concert ever, at the Sweetwaters South Festival in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The 12-song set featured such classic songs as “Psycho Killer,” “Making Flippy Floppy,” “Swamp,” “Burning Down the House,” and more.

The show didn’t go off without a hitch, though, with drummer Chris Frantz revealing that frontman David Byrne walked off the stage mid-set and had to be dragged back. 

Although the Talking Heads never toured again, they did go on to record three more albums. And while this was their final concert ever, they did briefly reunite to perform together for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, delivering “Psycho Killer,” “Life During Wartime,” and “Burning Down the House,” along with an all-star jam of “Take Me to the River.”

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