Classic Rock News

The late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is the latest rock star to be honored by The Royal Mint with a U.K. coin.

The coin features an etching of Mercury midperformance, and the studs on the edge mimic the arm band he wore during Queen’s iconic Live Aid set. The coin also features a musical stave that spans from bass to treble, representing Mercury’s four-octave vocal range.

Freddie’s sister, Kashmira Bulsara, was at The Royal Mint to help strike the very first coin as they went into production, and she believes Freddie would have been happy with the honor.

“Striking the first coin at The Royal Mint was such an emotional and proud moment for me,” she said. “Freddie would have been absolutely delighted to see himself honored in this way and to know that his family was part of bringing this tribute to life.”

She added, “He always had such respect for British traditions and institutions, and to have The Royal Mint celebrate his legacy with such beautiful artistry would have meant the world to him. The coin perfectly captures his passion and the joy he brought to millions through his music.”

The coin comes in silver and gold proof, with some featuring the addition of the color yellow on Freddie’s jacket. It is now available for purchase on The Royal Mint website. A special gold proof version has been donated to Queen’s AIDs charity, the Mercury Phoenix Trust, and it will be auctioned off to support the organization.

Mercury’s coin is part of The Royal Mint’s Music Legends series, with artists like David Bowie, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney previously being honored with their own coin.

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David Byrne is out with a new single.

The Talking Heads frontman has released the new track “T Shirt,” which he co-wrote with producer Brian Eno. The song is described as “a classic piece of electro-pop wrapped in lightly humorous, but always earnest, political commentary.”

The video for the song features a drawing of a T-shirt with a variety of messages, including “well-behaved women seldom make history,” “you always have a choice,” “embrace differences” and “fight today for a better tomorrow.”

“T Shirt” is available now via digital outlets.

Byrne released the new studio album Who Is the Sky? in September, and while “T Shirt” isn’t on the album, he has been performing it during his current tour in support of the album.

He’s set to play the final night of a three-night stand in San Francisco on Tuesday. A complete list of dates can be found at DavidByrne.com.

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Carlos Santana has announced a 2026 leg of his Oneness tour.

The 78-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has booked 10 new shows, kicking off March 28 in Thackerville, Oklahoma, with stops in Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and Florida. The tour wraps April 11 in Hollywood, Florida.

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

Ahead of the tour, Santana will be returning to the stage in Las Vegas. He’ll launch the first 2026 dates of his An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live residency on Jan. 21 at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

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

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Foo Fighters and Guns N’ Roses are headlining the 2026 Welcome to Rockville festival, taking place May 7-10 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

They join the previously announced headliners My Chemical Romance and Bring Me the Horizon.

The rest of the bill includes Five Finger Death Punch, Turnstile, Breaking Benjamin, A Day to Remember, Godsmack, The Offspring, Motionless in White, Rise Against, Staind, Parkway Drive, Lamb of God, Yellowcard, Alice Cooper, Poppy, Highly Suspect and All Time Low.

Tickets are on sale now. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit WelcometoRockville.com.

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On This Day, Nov. 18, 1978…

Billy Joel landed his first #1 album with 52nd Street, his sixth studio album. The record spent eight weeks on top of the charts.

The album, one of the first to be commercially released on CD, featured three top-40 singles: “My Life,” which peaked at #3, “Big Shot,” which hit #14, and the ballad “Honesty,” which went to #24.

It would go on to earn Joel two Grammys, album of the year and best pop vocal performance. “Honesty” was also nominated for song of the year.

Joel would go on to have three more #1 albums: 1980’s Glass Houses, 1989’s Storm Front and 1993’s River of Dreams.

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Mötley Crüe is hitting the road in 2026 to celebrate some big milestones.

The band has announced dates for The Return of the Carnival of Sins tour, celebrating both the band’s 45th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of their 2005-06 Carnival of Sins tour.

The 33-city North American tour, with special guests Tesla and Extreme, will kick off July 17 in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, and wrap Sept. 26 in Ridgefield, Washington. 

“Bringing back the spirit of Carnival of Sins has been a blast, and we wanted to take it even further for its 20th anniversary,” the band said in a statement. “This new show is for the Crüeheads who’ve been with us through it all and for the new Crüeheads who didn’t get to experience Carnival of Sins last time around. Get ready — we’re coming your way and we can’t wait to see you next summer.”

A Mötley Crüe presale begins Wednesday at 12 p.m. local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. local time. One dollar from every ticket will be donated to ASAP! (After School Arts Program) through the Mötley Crüe Giveback Initiative.

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

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Pink Floyd’s iconic album Wish You Were Here begins and ends with the two-part track “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” a tribute to their late bandmate Syd Barrett. Now the two parts have been put together as one complete song.

The band has just released “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (pts. 1-9, New Stereo Mix),” which marks the first time the song has been released as one continuous piece. The 25-minute track, newly mixed in stereo by James Guthrie, is part of Wish You Where Here 50, Pink Floyd’s 50th anniversary reissue of the album, which is dropping Dec. 12.

To coincide with the release, comedian and Great British Baking Show co-host Noel Fielding has created a commissioned set of original paintings inspired by Barrett’s iconic image.

“I was pretty young when my affinity with Pink Floyd and Syd started,” Fielding shares. “What’s amazing about Pink Floyd, especially with Wish You Were Here, is that the artwork was as good as the music.” He adds, “It is a masterpiece, that album cover, and that album. It’s a masterpiece. And it’s based on Syd Barrett, who is a walking masterpiece.”

Wish You Were Here 50 will be released in a variety of configurations, including a three-LP or two-CD set, with the original album plus 25 bonus tracks, including six tracks that have never been released before. There will also be a Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround mixes of the album; three concert films from the band’s 1975 tour; and a short film by famed art designer and Hipgnosis co-founder Storm Thorgerson.

All formats are available for preorder now.

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R.E.M. called it quits in 2011, and while fans may be holding out hope for a reunion, Mike Mills doesn’t see that happening.

“R.E.M. broke up because it was time, and we all recognized it and we all had thought about it before we ever mentioned it to each other,” Mills said on the latest installment of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. “And, you know, it’s fine.”

Although the band did perform “Losing My Religion” together at their Songwriters Hall of Fame induction in 2024, Mills doesn’t see it as that big of a deal.

“We didn’t reform, we got together to play one song one time, because that’s what you do with the Songwriters Hall of Fame,” he says. “It’s churlish to go in there and not do the thing that everyone does when you play there. So we did … and it just completely reinforced our belief that we’d done the right thing.”

The interview had Mills, Hootie & the Blowfish’s Darius Rucker and former The Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman talking about their new band, Howl Owl Howl, which wrapped a U.S. tour Saturday in Atlanta. Their show in Athens, Georgia, on Friday included an appearance by R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry.

Mills reveals in the interview that it was his R.E.M. bandmate Michael Stipe who came up with the name for the new group.

“Stipe said, ‘Howl Owl Howl,’” Mills says. “And I was like, ‘OK, that’s it. That is so weird that I’m gonna send it to ’em and they’re gonna hate it.’ And they did.”

Gorman adds that he changed his mind after a couple of days, noting, “It was just in my brain. I couldn’t get rid of it. I was like, ‘Oh s***. Howl Owl Howl’s great.’”

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Warren Haynes has announced dates for a new 2026 solo tour.

The trek will feature just Haynes and his guitar, and will have him playing stripped down shows that will feature two sets each night. He plans to play songs from his catalog, including solo recordings, and Gov’t Mule and Allman Brothers Band tunes, plus music that has influenced his career.

“Although I have done a few solo dates here and there, I’ve never afforded myself the opportunity to do an actual solo tour so I’m extremely excited about this,” Haynes says. “Anytime I get the chance to do something that I don’t get to do often enough is a rewarding experience for me and hopefully for the audience as well.”

The 11-date tour kicks off Feb. 12 in Grass Valley, California, and wraps Feb. 26 in Pelham, Tennessee.

Haynes will also be hitting the road with the Warren Haynes Band starting March 1 in Birmingham, Alabama, and wrapping March 7 in Ithaca, New York.

A fan club presale for all new shows will begin Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET, with local presales starting Thursday at 12 p.m. ET. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting Friday at 12 p.m. ET. A complete list of dates can be found at WarrenHaynes.net.

Next up, Haynes will hit the stage in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, for his annual Christmas Jam. The concert, taking place Dec. 13 at ExploreAsheville.com Arena, will be headlined by Warren Haynes & Friends, with the lineup also including Stone Temple Pilots and MJ Lenderman & The Wind.

The show will feature a special Christmas Jam tribute to Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, featuring Haynes, Lesh’s son Grahame Lesh, Widespread Panic‘s Jimmy Herring, John Molo and Jason Crosby, along with special guests.

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Cheap Trick is revisiting their iconic live album Cheap Trick at Budukon, but fans won’t have to travel to Japan to experience it.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers announced two shows in Las Vegas where they will play the 1978 live record in its entirety, along with their other hits. Cheap Trick at Budokan – Live in Las Vegas will take place April 17 and 18, 2026, at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas.

A ticket presale is underway, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. PT.

Cheap Trick at Budokan was recorded April 28 and 30, 1978, at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan. It was the band’s first live album, and featured performances of such classic tracks as “Surrender” and “I Want You To Want Me.” It went on to become the band’s bestselling album and has been certified triple Platinum by the RIAA. In 2019 it was chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

The Vegas announcement comes just days after Cheap Trick released their 21st studio album, All Washed Up. It’s the band’s first album since 2021’s In Another World.

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