Classic Rock News

Foo Fighters were among the winners at Tuesday’s Pollstar Awards, hosted by the concert industry publication Pollstar.

Dave Grohl and company were honored with the Best Rock Tour prize at the ceremony, which celebrated the return of live music in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Variety, Grohl sent in a statement to accept the award, which read in part, “F*** COVID. Live entertainment will always survive, and it will always be vibrant.”

Other winners included Garbage, who opened for Alanis Morissette‘s 25th anniversary Jagged Little Pill tour, for Best Support/Special Guest Act and Tour, and Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Festival for Music Festival of the Year in the under 30,000 attendance category. Texas’ Austin City Limits won Music Festival of the Year, over 30,000 attendance.

Harry Styles took home the night’s top prize: Major Tour of the Year.

For the full list of winners, visit Pollstar.com.

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Longtime Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward has joined the lineup of this year’s edition of the prog-rock-themed Cruise to the Edge, which is scheduled to take place during the first week of May.

According to the cruise’s official site and social media pages, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will be giving a special performance at some point during the nautical music extravaganza, which sets sail from Port Canaveral, Florida, on May 2 and stops on the Haitian island of Labadee and at CocoCay in the Bahamas before returning to port on May 7.

As previously reported, Cruise to the Edge is returning this year after being grounded in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and, for the first time, it won’t be featuring its traditional headlining act, Yes.

The lineup does feature Alan Parsons, Marillion, lauded jazz guitarist Al DiMeola, Al Stewart, ex-Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre, Saga, former King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew, current King Crimson guitarist Jakko Jakszyk, prog-rock supergroup Transatlantic, Wishbone Ash, Nektar, King’s X and Moody Blues touring keyboardist Alan Hewitt.

For more details about the cruise and to book a cabin, visit CruisetotheEdge.com.

In other news, Hayward recently released a digital album titled Tuesday Afternoons – The Audio Files that features audio of performances from Justin’s “Tuesday Afternoons” YouTube video series. The nine-song track list features mainly deep cuts from The Moody Blues and from Hayward’s solo career. You can order the album at JustinHayward.com.

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Rock guitar virtuoso Steve Vai released his latest studio album, Inviolate, last month.

On the nine-track instrumental collection, Vai’s impressive technique, inventiveness, melodic sensibility and knack for showcasing various influences are on full display.

Vai’s music could be described as otherworldly, but Inviolate‘s first track, “Teeth of the Hydra,” features a unique new signature guitar that Steve helped design that looks like something an alien would play. To create the three-necked instrument, dubbed the Hydra, Vai teamed up with the designers at Ibanez.

“I wanted it to have a 12-string neck that was half fretless, [a] seven-string [neck], [a] three-quarter [scale] bass neck that had two fretless strings, and these harp strings,” Steve tells ABC Audio. “And I was also into steampunk fashion at the time, so I gathered a bunch of material and I sent it to Ibanez, and the designers…went crazy, man. They just blew up the bridge.”

Vai’s reaction to seeing the finished instrument? “It was fascinating, it was stunning and it was terrifying, because I knew I had to write a piece of music with it,” he says.

It took him months, but he finally composed “Teeth of the Hydra.”

Inviolate also features contributions from a number of talented guest musicians, including drummers Terry Bozzio and Vinnie Colaiuta, both of whom, like Steve, are alums of the late Frank Zappa‘s touring band. Bassist Billy Sheehan, who was a member of David Lee Roth‘s solo band during the 1980s alongside Steve, also plays on the album.

Vai had planned to launch a lengthy U.S. tour in support of Inviolate last month, but he recently reinjured his shoulder — which had required surgery last year — forcing him to postpone the trek until the fall. You can check out Steve’s tour schedule at Vai.com.

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Last month, Asia revealed that it planned to mark its 40th anniversary with a new tour this summer, and now the Asia spinoff group Asia Featuring John Payne has announced that it’s plotting a special 2022 trek that will celebrate two milestone anniversaries for the supergroup.

Payne was Asia’s lead singer and bassist from 1991 to 2006, and he formed his own version of the band in 2007, after the group’s full original lineup reunited in ’06.

The 2022 Asia Featuring John Payne tour will not only mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Asia’s chart-topping 1982 self-titled debut album, but the 30th anniversary of Aqua, the band’s first studio effort to feature Payne.

Asia Featuring John Payne is preparing a 90-minute show that will focuses on those two albums, featuring a set list that includes “Heat of the Moment,” “Only Time Will Tell,” “Sole Survivor,” “Wildest Dreams,” “Who Will Stop the Rain” and many more.

“This is going to be very nostalgic for me,” says Payne. “I haven’t played some of these songs in 30 years and I’m extremely excited to do this tour with our band. We want the shows to sound as close to the original recordings as possible.”

Asia Featuring John Payne currently has three confirmed upcoming concerts on its schedule — a February 26 performance in Orlando, Florida; a May 21 show in Lynn, Massachusetts, that also will feature founding Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm; and a July 14 gig in Cleveland.

Visit AsiaFeaturingJohnPayne.com for more info.

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Carlos Santana‘s reunion single with “Smooth” collaborator Rob Thomas, “Move,” was released back in August of 2021, but now the song has made it into the top 10 on the Adult Contemporary airplay chart. The Matchbox Twenty frontman says he’s happy about the success of the single — which also features American Authors — simply because he would’ve hated to see something he likes so much get ignored.

“At some point you get old enough where…you don’t live and die by things doing well,” he tells ABC Audio. “But obviously, when you write music, you want to know that people are getting to hear it.”

He adds, “That’s the worst thing ever…when you put out something and them for some reason or another, signals get crossed, it just doesn’t quite land and you realize that it just means that a lot of people don’t get to hear something you worked really hard on.”

Thomas goes on to say that in that respect, the success of “Move” is “kind of amazing.”

He explains, “It’s great that something that Carlos and I really love and care about and…all the American Authors guys, we did something that meant a lot to us, and it can mean something to somebody else.”

“Move” is on Santana‘s album Blessings and Miracles. Rob plans to put out new music with Matchbox Twenty ahead of their upcoming tour, and he also has a solo album ready to go at some future date.

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The family of Cliff Burton has announced a livestream celebrating what would’ve been the late Metallica bassist’s 60th birthday.

The virtual event will premiere on this Thursday, February 10, at 7 p.m. PT on host Nicholas Gomez‘s YouTube channel. Among the guests taking part are Anthrax‘s Charlie Benante, Faith No More‘s Mike Bordin and Slayer‘s Gary Holt.

Benante has also designed two t-shirts celebrating the occasion, which are available for pre-order now.

Burton was born February 10, 1962. He played on Metallica’s first three albums — 1983’s Kill ‘Em All, 1984’s Ride the Lightning and 1986’s Master of Puppets — before he was tragically killed in a bus accident at age 24.

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Eddie Vedder seemingly shot back at Mötley Crüe during a recent live show after Nikki Sixx called Pearl Jam “one of the most boring bands in history.”

As captured by fan-shot footage posted to YouTube, Vedder appeared to be making fun of Crüe drummer Tommy Lee while introducing the drummer in his solo band, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“That drum kit, that silver, beautiful machine…does not need to elevate or rotate to do its job,” Vedder said to a cheering crowd.

Lee, of course, played on an elaborate drum roller coaster during the Crüe’s later tours, including their 2014-2015 “farewell” run.

As previously reported, this whole thing started when Vedder told The New York Times Magazine that he “despised” Mötley Crüe and bands of their ilk.

“I hated it,” Vedder said. “I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous.”

Sixx then fired back at Vedder with a tweet reading, “Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated @MotleyCrue. Now considering that they’re one of the most boring bands in history it’s kind of a compliment isn’t it?”

The Pearl Jam Twitter account then responded with a video of a crowd going crazy during one of the grunge band’s shows along with the caption, “We [heart emoji] our bored fans.”

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Heart frontwoman Ann Wilson will release a new solo album titled Fierce Bliss on April 29.

The 11-track collection was recorded at various sessions in Nashville, Seattle, Connecticut and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The album features mostly new originals co-written by Wilson, while also including covers of Queen‘s “Love of My Life” and Robin Trower‘s “Bridge of Sighs.” “Love of My Life” features guest vocals by country star and current Eagles touring member Vince Gill, while acclaimed blues-rocker Kenny Wayne Shepherd plays guitar on “Bridge of Sighs” and an original song called “Missionary Man.”

Wilson recorded two tracks — “Gladiator” and “Angel’s Blues” — with Gov’t Mule, the group led by former Allman Brothers Band singer/guitarist Warren Haynes, who also co-wrote the tunes with Ann.

Wilson was accompanied on most tracks by a group of session musicians who now serve as her solo touring band, The Amazing Dawgs.

Fierce Bliss also includes Ann’s 2021 single “Black Wing,” which she recorded with some Seattle-based musicians, including recent Heart touring bassist Andy Stoller and keyboardist Dan Walker.

Ann has released the album’s first track, “Greed,” as an advance digital single, while a music video for the tune has debuted at her official YouTube channel.

“‘Greed’ is that thing in our animal nature that makes us want MORE,” Wilson explains about the song’s theme. “Whether it be money, sex, power or ecstasy, it fires our craving! It happens with all of us. When you turn around and catch yourself making decisions because you want the money, or because you’re caught in the headlights of glory, well, those are greedy moments.”

Wilson is lining up 2022 tour dates with The Amazing Dawgs. Visit AnnWilson.com for her current schedule.

You can pre-order Fierce Bliss now. Here’s the full track list:

“Greed”
“Black Wing”
“Bridge of Sighs”
“Fighten for Life”
“Love of My Life” — featuring Vince Gill
“Missionary Man”
“Gladiator”
“Forget Her”
“A Moment in Heaven”
“Angel’s Blues”*
“As the World Turns”

* = on CD and digital formats only.

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Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has announced his debut solo EP.

Titled Portals, the set consists of four original, instrumental pieces co-written by conductor Edwin Outwater, who previously collaborated with Metallica for their 2019 S&M2 concerts.

“This music was created with what I describe as an ‘Audio-Cinematic’ approach,” Hammett says. “They’re soundtracks to the movies in your mind.”

Hammett himself produced Portals, which also features contributions from past Metallica producers Bob Rock and Greg Fidelman, and The Mars Volta and Queens of the Stone Age drummer Jon Theodore.

Portals will be released April 23. A special edition ocean blue vinyl variant will released exclusively in independent record stores for this year’s Record Store Day.

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The nominations for the 2022 Oscars was announced this morning Oscar and among the nominees in the Best Original Song category is Van Morrison.

Morrison’s “Down to Joy,” from the film Belfast, will compete against “Be Alive” from King Richard, co-written by Beyoncé and singer, songwriter and producer Darius Scott, aka DIXSON; “Dos Oruguitas,” from Encanto, composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda; the title track of the James Bond film No Time to Die, co-written by Billie Eilish and and her brother and collaborator, FINNEAS; and “Somehow You Do,” from Four Good Days, written by Diane Warren.

Meanwhile, a number of noteworthy songs from 2021 films that had been shortlisted for an Oscar nod were passed over. They include U2‘s Sing 2 track “Your Song Saved My Life”; and “Right Where I Belong,” from the Brian Wilson documentary Long Promised Road, which the Beach Boys legend co-wrote with My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James.

The 2022 Oscars will air live March 27 on ABC.

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