Classic Rock News

The music of Neil Young was celebrated with a tribute album, Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young, back in April 2025 and at the time it was billed as Volume 1. We now have information about the next two installments in the series.

Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young, Vol. 2 – Out of the Blue and Vol. 3 – Into the Black will be released on Nov. 6. The subtitles of the albums are a reference to a lyric in the Young classic “Hey, Hey, My My (Into the Black).”

Artists contributing Young covers to the new installments include Heart’s Ann Wilson, Peter Frampton, Modest Mouse featuring Califone, My Morning Jacket, Lucinda Williams, Jesse Malin, LP, MJ Lendermann, Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, Cold War Kids, and Kurt Vile and The Violators.

Previews of both albums are out now. Out of the Blue’s preview is a cover of “After the Gold Rush” by Latin star Draco Rosa, while King Princess covers “Helpless” for Into the Black.

Proceeds from both albums will benefit The Bridge School, an educational institution co-founded by Neil and Pegi Young, for children with severe speech and physical disabilities.

Limited-edition colored vinyls are available for preorder now.

Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young, Vol. 1 featured covers from Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Lumineers, Courtney Barnett, Sharon Van Etten, Mumford and Sons, Brandi Carlile and The Doobie Brothers with Allison Russell.

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On This Day, July 22, 1977…

Elvis Costello released his debut album, My Aim Is True, in the U.K. produced by musician Nick Lowe.

The album was released to critical acclaim, and included future Costello classics, “Alison” and “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.”

When it was released in the U.S. that November, it contained an additional track, “Watching the Detective,” which became the album’s first hit, peaking at #15 in the U.K.

While the album was recorded with the backing band Clover, they were uncredited on the record. Before the album’s actual release though, Costello formed a new band, The Attractions, which included musician Steve Nieve, who Costello continues to play with to this day.

Costello has gone on to release 32 studio albums, his last being 2022’s The Boy Named If.

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Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22, 2025, one year ago Wednesday. He was 76.

Born John Michael Osbourne on Dec. 3, 1948, the man who would become known as the Prince of Darkness helped create the genre of heavy metal as the vocalist in the legendary Black Sabbath alongside guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward.

Following his departure from Sabbath in 1979, Ozzy launched a solo career, which spawned classic singles including “Crazy Train” and “Mama, I’m Coming Home.” He later reunited with Sabbath multiple times, including for their farewell tour, which concluded in 2017. 

In between his musical career, Ozzy reached a broader audience as a star in the pioneering reality TV series The Osbournes, which also featured his wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, and their children Kelly Osbourne and Jack Osbourne.

Ozzy was also the subject of some of metal’s most outrageous moments, including when he bit the head off a bat during a concert in 1982.

“Ozzy was one of those indestructible forces,” Mastodon drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor tells ABC Audio. “Ozzy was always there, it’s so strange that he’s not here anymore.”

Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale adds that she was inspired by Ozzy’s “attitude toward life.”

“He led with love and complete joy and just always hungry for what’s next,” she says.

Ozzy dealt with a number of health issues in his later years, which kept him off the road. He returned to the stage for a final solo performance and alongside the original Sabbath lineup at the Back to the Beginning concert, which took place just two weeks before his death.

“To leave that kind of a legacy and to know that you’ve touched so many different people’s lives, yeah, I’m sure he went with a smile on his face,” Hale laughs. 

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Cheap Trick has added more dates to their All Washed Up Tour.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band has extended their tour through November, with new dates starting Nov. 11 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The additions include stops in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Ohio before wrapping Nov. 22 in Detroit, Michigan.

A presale for tickets begins Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Cheap Trick is touring in support of their 21st studio album, All Washed Up, which came out in November 2025. Their next show is Aug. 2 in Minnedosa, Canada.

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

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Carlos Santana, Patti Smith and Phil Lesh are among the artists contributing essays to a new photo book about American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane.

Coltrane: The Definitive Visual Celebration of the Legend, dropping Sept. 1, is described as a “photographic celebration” of Coltrane’s life, featuring dozens of never-before-seen photos from throughout Coltrane’s career. It includes photos in the studio, on tour and at home.

Others contributing essays include The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes.

The book, edited and overseen by John’s son, Ravi Coltrane, is part of a yearlong celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of John’s Sept. 23, 1926, birth.

The Definitive Visual Celebration of the Legend is available for preorder now.

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Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of Ozzy Osbourne’s death, and his son, Jack Osbourne, has a request for fans who wish to honor the milestone.

“I want to fill the entire day, July 22, with just awesome Ozzy stories,” Jack says in a video posted to Instagram.

Jack suggests sharing a remembrance of seeing Ozzy live or what his music has meant to you, and asks that you tag posts with #OzzyDay so that he’ll see it.

“Please, get thinking, get posting, spread the love. That’s what my dad would want,” Jack says. “He would not want us to all be sat around, shedding tears, because that’s not his vibe. He did not like people crying in front of him. So, yeah, spread the love that way.”

Ozzy died on July 22, 2025, at age 76. He’d just performed for the last time alongside the original Black Sabbath lineup at the Back to the Beginning concert, which happened two weeks earlier on July 5.

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Fans on a Beatles tour of Liverpool got quite a surprise when they had a chance encounter with Paul McCartney.

Neil Morton, who drives the Magical Mystery Tour Bus around Liverpool, tells the BBC that during a recent tour, the bus pulled up to find McCartney at a traffic light. It happened at the very moment McCartney was on a video call with his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr.

“It was surreal,” said Morton. “I had pulled up at the traffic lights on Hope Street when who should I see – Sir Paul with Ringo on Facetime. He waved to us and everybody took photos. The passengers could not believe it.”

Unfortunately for fans, Morton said, “Nobody really got chance to speak with him.”

According to the BBC, McCartney was back in Liverpool to honor Adolescence actor Stephen Graham with a companionship from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the school he co-founded.

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Queen is looking back at the past for a new series of posters.

The band is releasing a new collection of replica vintage Queen posters, with the first installment in the series featuring four posters.

The first set includes Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You and Queen Are Coming posters. There’s also a 1980 concert poster with an image of the band, and frontman Freddie Mercury in a jumping position that makes it appear as though he’s floating onstage.

All posters feature an official Queen embossed stamp and cost $50. They are available for preorder now, with shipping set for Aug. 15. More info can be found at QueenOnlineStore.com.

This isn’t the first time Queen has released a vintage replica poster. In 2025 they released a replica Queen Live Aid poster for the 40th anniversary of the all-star benefit concert. Proceeds from that poster were split between The Band Aid Trust and The Mercury Phoenix Trust.

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Jimmy Buffett passed away in 2023, but his music lives on.

Mac McAnally, longtime member of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band, tells Billboard that he and his Coral Reefer bandmate Michael Utley have been working on a posthumous Buffett release.

McAnally tells Billboard the album will include songs that are “for the most part, things that have never been out,” or they were “cut for a one-off purpose, a TV episode or a movie.”

“The oldest of these tracks is, like, 2003, and the newest is maybe four years ago or so,” McAnally says. “None of those things have ever been on a Jimmy Buffett album. We’re pretty excited.”

This won’t be the first Buffett album released since his death from skin cancer at 76. McAnally and Utley produced his final album, Equal Strain on All Parts, which was released in November 2023, two months after his passing.

There’s currently no release date or title for the posthumous album, which McAnally says is “really good.”

“When you hear Jimmy sing you can tell that he’s smiling; you can hear that smile, and I’ve been listening to that smile for three months finishing this record, so I’m almost sore from smiling — but I ain’t gonna quit,” he adds.

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Phil Collins hasn’t put out a new album since 2010’s Going Back, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be new music in the future.

During an appearance on the Sodajerker on Songwriting podcast, Collins sounds hopeful about making music again.

“Oh I’ve got some things that are finished. Well, a couple of things that are finished,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of ideas. I know what they are, but I haven’t approached them since the health issues.”

“But I’ve got a studio downstairs in my basement. I’m now not taking the long way around to avoid going in it,” he adds.

Collins has been dealing with health issues since 2007, including neck problems and nerve issues that left him unable to play the drums.

This isn’t the first time Collins has talked about possibly making new music. In a January BBC interview he said, “I’ve got some things that are half-formed or were never finished, and a couple of things that were finished which I like. So, you know, maybe life in the old dog yet.”

Collins’ appearance on the Sodajerker podcast is promoting the upcoming expanded edition of his debut solo album, Face Value, dropping Sept. 18.

One of the bonus tracks in the box set is a demo of the hit ballad “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now),” which Collins says didn’t make Face Value because “bizarrely I didn’t think it was kind of good enough.”

The song was eventually used for Taylor Hackford’s 1984 movie Against All Odds and went on to become the first of seven #1 songs for Collins. It was also nominated for an Academy Award.

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