Classic Rock News

If it’s good enough for The Beatles, it’s good enough for Elton John.

What’s being described as the “official feature” on Elton John is heading to Disney+. Called Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and The Years That Made His Legend, the documentary features unseen concert footage from the past 50 years, modern-day footage of Elton and his family, and a look at his hand-written journals.

Ahead of its arrival on Disney+, the doc will have a limited theatrical run and will also screen at festivals.

Capturing Elton’s last months on the road on his farewell tour, with performance clips from Madison Square Garden, London and more, the film will culminate with the star’s final North American show at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium this November. It’ll also feature a special look at the first five years of Elton’s career, during which he scored seven #1 albums and became a global superstar.

Elton’s husband and manager, David Furnish, is a producer on the project. It’s directed by R.J. Cutler, who brought you the music doc Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry, as well as BELUSHI, The War Room, A Perfect Candidate and The World According to Dick Cheney.

In a statement, Furnish says, “Elton and I could not think of a better collaborator than R.J. Cutler for a film that represents more than just Elton’s career — it’s his life. From the Troubadour to Dodger Stadium, we knew that R.J. would help guide Elton’s story and its many layers in a way that feels authentic and evocative.”

Elton has been part of the Disney family since 1994, when his music for The Lion King became a massive hit.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News. 

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A new Alice Cooper action figure celebrating the shock rocker’s memorable early-1970s look and his band’s classic 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies has been released by the Super7 toy company as part of its ReAction Figure series.

The figurine depicts Cooper with his trademark face makeup wearing a black leather outfit, including a vest, gloves and knee-high boots with silver lightning bolts on the side. The toy also features two accessories — a microphone and Cooper’s pet snake.

The figurine comes packaged on a special billion-dollar-bill cardback similar to the one that came with the original Billion Dollar Babies LP.

Billion Dollar Babies is the only Cooper album ever to top the Billboard 200. It included the top-40 hits “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Hello Hooray.”

The Cooper figure is available now at Super7.com and is priced at $18. Previous toys in the ReAction Figure series include figurines depicting Motorhead‘s Lemmy, late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, late Exodus frontman Paul Baloff, Iron Maiden mascot Eddie, King Diamond and Ghost singer Papa Emeritus II.

Cooper is set to kick off a 2022 European tour this Sunday, May 22, in Swansea, Wales. Check out his full schedule at AliceCooper.com.

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A massive Al Stewart box set titled The Admiralty Lights, spanning the veteran Scottish singer/songwriter’s nearly 60-year career, will be released on June 3.

The 50-CD collection features remastered versions of all 21 of Stewart’s studio albums, 18 discs of previously unheard live recordings spanning from 1970 to 2009, three CDs of BBC sessions that Stewart recorded from 1965 to 1972, and eights discs of demos, outtakes and other rare tracks dating from 1964 to 2008.

The box set also includes a 160-page hardback book featuring extensive liner notes, an interview with Stewart, and rare photos and memorabilia; a 24-page “Collectors’ Book” with details about the various rare recordings; a print of the cover of Stewart’s smash 1976 album Year of the Cat signed by artist Colin Elgie; and a poster of Stewart’s 1988 album Last Days of the Century.

Stewart emerged from the British folk scene during the 1960s, but he enjoyed his biggest success as a rock artist with two platinum-selling, Alan Parsons-produced albums — Year of the Cat and 1978’s Time Passages.

Year of the Cat featured the hit title track, which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as “On the Border,” which fell just short of the chart’s top 40. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200.

Time Passages reached #10 on the Billboard 200, while its title track became Stewart’s highest-charting single in the U.S., peaking at #7 on the Hot 100.

Other noteworthy recordings in the box set include Stewart’s 1969 Love Chronicles album, featuring contributions from Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones; and 1973’s Present & Future, which boasts appearances by Yes‘ Rick Wakeman and Queen‘s Roger Taylor.

The Admiralty Lights can be preordered now.

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Jane’s Addiction will no longer be playing Welcome to Rockville this weekend, but festivalgoers will still get to see Perry Farrell.

In a statement posted to the Welcome to Rockville Facebook page, Farrell shares that Jane’s won’t be able to play due to guitarist Dave Navarro suffering from a “long bout” of COVID-19. In their stead, Farrell is reuniting his band Porno for Pyros.

The PfP lineup for the performance will include original members Farrell, Stephen Perkins and Peter DiStefeno, as well as bassist Mike Watt of the seminal punk band Minutemen.

Porno for Pyros was founded by Farrell and Perkins, who also plays drums in Jane’s, after the “Been Caught Stealing” outfit broke up in the early ’90s. The group released two albums before calling it quits in 1998.

In 2009, the original PfP lineup — which also included bassist Martyn LeNoble — reunited to play Farrell’s 50th birthday party. The lineup featuring Watt then got back together in 2020 to play a couple songs on the Lollapalooza 2020 streaming concert, which was held in lieu of the usual in-person festival due to the pandemic.

The Welcome to Rockville performance will mark the first full, public, in-person Porno for Pyros show in 26 years.

Welcome to Rockville takes place May 19-22 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Headliners include Nine Inch Nails, Guns N’ Roses, KISS and Korn.

If you had your heart set on seeing Jane’s, you can catch them during their recently announced tour with The Smashing Pumpkins, which launches in October.

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Soundgarden has shared a tribute to Chris Cornell to mark the fifth anniversary of his death.

“Five years we have missed you,” the grunge rockers write in an Instagram post. “You have love. You have peace. You have eternity.”

The band adds, “Love and peace for all of Soundgarden’s brothers and sisters.”

Cornell’s widow, Vicky, also shared a statement, which reads in part, “[Five] years ago today, would be the worst day of our lives.

“It would be the last time Chris would hug & kiss us, the last time he’d walk out our front door. The last time he’d wave goodbye to use from the car. The last time we’d ever seem him.”

Vicky also thanks her husband’s fans, writing, “Please know he loved you as much as you love him.”

“He was so grateful to be able to make music, perform all over the world, have his music & lyrics touch your heart & impact your lives. He loved receiving love from all of you.”

Others who’ve paid tribute include Soundgarden and Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, Cornell’s Audioslave band mate Tom Morello, and The Pretty Reckless‘ Taylor Momsen.

Cornell died in the early morning hours of May 18, 2017, after playing a Detroit show with Soundgarden the night before. He was 52.

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Chris Cornell died five years ago today.

The grunge icon, whose unmistakable voice helped define the sound of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave, passed away May 18, 2017, at age 52.

Cornell, born July 20, 1964, co-founded Soundgarden in 1984, becoming a staple of the Seattle music scene before the grunge movement took off in the early ’90s. In 1990, Cornell formed Temple of the Dog with future members of Pearl Jam. They released one album together in 1991. The record memorably included the song “Hunger Strike,” featuring a then-unknown Eddie Vedder.

Soungarden, meanwhile, began gaining mainstream attention with 1991’s Batmotorfinger, which was released within two months of Pearl Jam’s Ten and Nirvana‘s Nevermind. They then broke out further with 1994’s Superunknown, which spawned Soundgarden’s signature single, “Black Hole Sun.”

After releasing one more album, 1996’s Down on the Upside, Soundgarden broke up in 1997. Cornell then began a solo career. In 2001, he joined three-fourths of Rage Against the Machine to form Audioslave, which would release three records before disbanding in 2007.

Soundgarden then announced in 2010 that they were reuniting, and a new album, King Animal, dropped in 2012. The group continued to tour throughout the 2010s and had begun working on another record.

On May 17, 2017, Soundgarden performed in Detroit. In the early morning hours following the show, Cornell was found dead in his hotel room. His death was ruled a suicide.

In January 2019, the Cornell family staged a tribute concert featuring Metallica, Foo Fighters and Miley Cyrus, among many others. The following year, a posthumous covers compilation, No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1, was released. It was described as Cornell’s last fully completed studio album.

If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

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The Eagles will wind down the 2022 U.S. portion of their long-running Hotel California Tour with a recently announced May 28 concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and now additional tickets to the show have been made available.

The tickets, which are priced starting at $139, are on sale now at AXS.com, while a limited number of VIP packages also are available for purchase. The VIP packages include premium seats, special merchandise and more.

The Eagles launched their Hotel California Tour in 2019 with three sold-out concerts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

As previously reported, the Hotel California shows feature the current Eagles lineup performing the band’s classic 1976 album of the same name in its entirety, as well as other classics, accompanied by an orchestra and a choir.

Prior to the Las Vegas concert, the Eagles have three other U.S. shows scheduled — a May 19-20 engagement in Austin, Texas, and a May 25 performance in Salt Lake City.

The band also has a series of five European concerts scheduled in June.

Visit Eagles.com for complete tour and ticket information.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith is following Pearl Jam‘s Matt Cameron in denouncing Rolling Stone‘s recent article about Taylor Hawkins.

The piece, which was published Monday evening, features interviews with both named and anonymous friends of the late Foo Fighters drummer, including Smith and Cameron.

The piece includes multiple sources claiming that Hawkins had expressed discomfort with the amount of touring he had to do as part of Foo Fighters leading up to his unexpected death this past March, with both Cameron and Smith quoted as saying Hawkins had a “heart-to-heart” conversation with Foo frontman Dave Grohl and the band’s management about his concerns.

Smith is also quoted talking about an alleged incident during which Hawkins “lost consciousnesses” while on a flight last December.

“That was one of the straws that broke the camel’s back,” one of Smith’s quotes reads. “After that, [Hawkins] had a real important heart-to-heart with Dave and the management. He said, ‘I can’t continue on this schedule, and so we’ve got to figure out something.'”

Both claims about the alleged conversation between Hawkins, Grohl and management and Hawkins losing consciousness aboard that flight were denied by a Foo Fighters rep.

On Tuesday afternoon, Cameron issued a statement claiming that his quotes were “taken out of context and shaped into a narrative I had never intended,” adding that he’s “truly sorry to have taken part in this interview.”

Smith then followed with his own statement Tuesday evening, reading, “The story [Rolling Stone] wrote was sensationalized and misleading.”

“Had I known I never would have agreed to participate,” Smith continued. “I apologize to his family and musical friends for any pain this may have caused. I miss Taylor every day.”

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A collection of guitars and memorabilia belonging to former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman that had been displayed at the recently closed Sticky Fingers restaurant he owned in London have been added to an auction of music collectibles scheduled for May 20-22.

The auction, the latest installment of Julien’s Auctions’ “Music Icons” sale, will be held at the Hard Rock Café in New York City, while bids also will be accepted online.

Almost 150 lots belonging to the 85-year-old rocker are part of the auction, including guitars, basses, “gold” and “platinum” record awards, photos, posters and other artifacts.

Among the instruments going on the block is a 1965 Framus Star bass that Wyman used during Stones concerts and recording sessions in 1965 and ’66. It is valued between $30,000 and $50,000.

Also being auctioned are a 1974 Dan Armstrong prototype bass that Wyman played on the Stones’ 1975-1976 tour, and a 1978 Travis Bean custom short-scale bass that was custom built for Wyman and was used on Stones recordings and tours from 1978 to 1981; both are estimated to sell for $20,000 to $30,000.

In addition, a 1969 Fender Telecaster guitar that Wyman used for home recordings in the 1970s and ’80s is expected to bring in $15,000 to $25,000.

Wyman also is selling “gold” record awards for such Stones albums as Out of Our Heads, Aftermath, Between the Buttons, Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers.

Sticky Fingers restaurant was open from 1989 to 2021. Wyman notes, “This wonderful collection of Stones memorabilia that was displayed there … [gives] people the chance to have a piece of Sticky Fingers history for themselves.”

Check out the full list of items up for bid at the auction at JuliensLive.com.

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Todd Rundgren and Daryl Hall have three shows left on their current series of joint U.S. tour dates, but a new six-date summer leg has now been added to the trek.

The newly announced concerts, which will mostly take place in the Southeast, run from a July 31 performance in Hollywood, Florida, through an August 11 gig in North Charleston, South Carolina. The other shows are scheduled for August 3 in St. Petersburg, Florida; August 5 in Roanoke, Virginia; August 7 in Mason, Ohio; and August 9 in Durham, North Carolina.

Tickets for the concerts go on sale to the general public this Friday, May 20, at 10 a.m. local time via LiveNation.com.

Rundgren’s current run of shows with Hall — their second of 2022 — winds down with performances this Wednesday in Denver; Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Sunday in Austin, Texas. The first run of concerts kicked off on April 1, the same day that Hall released his first solo compilation, BeforeAfter.

BeforeAfter is a 30-track collection that features selections from all five of Hall’s solo studio albums, as well as eight performances from his acclaimed TV/web series Live from Daryl’s House. Among the Live from Daryl’s House performances is a duet between Hall and Rundgren on Rundgren’s 1978 hit ballad “Can We Still Be Friends.”

Meanwhile, Rundgren’s 2022 tour schedule also includes a new series of dates on the “It Was Fifty Years Ago Today” Beatles tribute trek — also featuring Badfinger‘s Joey Molland, ex-Wings member Denny Laine, Christopher Cross and former Chicago singer/bassist Jason Scheff — running from May 24 to June 26, as well as his own his own headlining trek, The Unpredictable Tour, which is plotted out from June 30 to July 30.

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