Graham Nash took to social media to wish his bandmate Stephen Stills a happy 79th birthday on Wednesday, January 3.
“Happy Birthday to one of the most genuinely cool and kind people I’ve been lucky enough to call my friend,” Nash wrote on Instagram next to a picture of him, Stills and the late David Crosby. “Hope it’s a great one, Stephen! Much love my friend.”
Meanwhile, Stills’ Instagram account marked his birthday with a montage of photos set to The Beatles “Birthday.” The post was captioned with a quote from Stills about aging.
“Getting older is like a long rock and roll song,” he writes. “Some parts are epic solos, and others are just the drummer trying to find the beat.”
Back in May, Queen‘s Brian May posted a photo with his good friend Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, sharing that they were filming a documentary on guitar riffs. Now, fans in the U.S. are finally getting to see what went down.
The two rockers teamed for the three-part Sky News series, Greatest Guitar Riffs, which aired in the U.K. back in November. Guitar World has just debuted a clip of them chatting and performing together.
Asked how he came up with his Sabbath riffs, Iommi explains, “I don’t know. I think it’s within.”
“Normally, we jam around and play something, and Ozzy (Osbourne) will go, what the f**** that,” he continues, adding, “It just feels right.”
They then discuss Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” which Iommi says happened because they didn’t have enough tunes for their album, and their producer told them they needed another song.
“The others had gone out to have something to eat. I came up with this riff, so when they got back I played them this idea of ‘Paranoid’,” he explains. “It’s basic. It’s not technical by any means. What I’ve always done is, not try and play anything that’s flash. I play things that I think is right for the song.”
Iommi and May then jam on the song’s classic riff, although May seemed hesitant to play.
“I’m going to commit sacrilege by joining in!” May jokes, before adding, “It is a good riff. It will go far.”
Vinyl sales continue to grow in the U.K., and one of the biggest vinyl albums of 2023 comes from none other than The Rolling Stones.
The U.K. Official Charts reports that while Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was the U.K.’s bestselling vinyl album in 2023, The Stones land at #2 with Hackney Diamonds, their first new album in 18 years, making it the bestselling vinyl by a U.K. artist last year.
Hackney Diamonds debuted at #1 on the U.K. charts back in October, becoming The Stones’ 14th #1 album. It also topped the chart for a second week in December, becoming the U.K.’s official Christmas #1 album.
Meanwhile, The Beatles‘ “Now and Then” was the biggest selling vinyl single of 2023. The tune, billed as the final song from the band, has moved 33,000 vinyl copies. The numbers were helped by the band offering various vinyl options, including 12-inch and 7-inch versions in clear, light blue and blue/white marble.
Stephen Stills, best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Manassas, was born in Dallas, Texas.
Stills has written such tunes as “For What It’s Worth,” “Sit Down, I Think I Love You” and “Bluebird” for Buffalo Springfield, and “Carry On,” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” for CSN.
“Love the One You’re With,” from his 1970 self-titled solo debut, was Stills’ biggest solo hit, peaking at #14 on the Billboard charts. The tune features his CSN bandmates, David Crosby and Graham Nash, and Rita Coolidge on background vocals.
Stills has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash and Buffalo Springfield. Both inductions happened in 1996 and he is the only artist to be inducted into the Hall of Fame twice in the same night.
Foreigner kicked off their farewell tour back in July, but it doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon.
The band currently has dates on the books for 2024, including a Las Vegas residency that kicks off in March and a tour with Styx that launches in June. And during an interview with Bass Musician magazine, bassist Jeff Pilson suggested that there may be even more shows planned for 2025.
“There may be something going on in ’25, we just haven’t heard yet,” he shared. “But what I will tell you is at the end of ’24 will be the end of our doing long tours. That’s really what we mean by this farewell tour … no more nine months of the year on the road.”
As for why the band is ready to hang it up, he says the traveling is too much, plus they want to spend time with their families.
“We’re not that young. So, there is all that,” he says. “And basically, we wanna have a life, it would be nice to have more of a life.”
Foreigner’s 2024 dates kick off January 19 in Scottsdale, Arizona, and they’ll be back in Las Vegas for their Feels Like The Last Time residency, starting March 22. Their Renegades & Juke Box Heroes tour with Styx kicks off June 11. A complete list of dates can be found at foreigneronline.com.
Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley continues to diss his former band, and his latest victim is Tommy Thayer, the guitarist who took his place in the group from 2002 to 2023.
During an interview with Guitar World, Frehley was asked if his own guitar playing is based on instinct; he used his response to call out Thayer.
“It is. I’ve never had a guitar lesson. I was born with a certain technique that many people, namely Tommy Thayer, can’t duplicate,” he replied, noting that now that KISS is no longer touring, “It’s back to the breadline for him.”
Frehley recently released the title track off his upcoming solo album, 10,000 Volts, which drops February 23. He believes fans are more interested in his song than they are his former band.
“I was on YouTube last night and I noticed that the music video for ‘10,000 Volts’ is creeping up on half a million views,” Frehley says. “Then I checked on a video of one of KISS’ final live shows, and they didn’t have close to that.”
But even with those digs, Frehley insists he doesn’t take things as far as his former bandmates, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.
“I’ve always been the kind of guy to let the music do the talking, you know? The less I say … I think that sometimes, that’s the best route to go,” he says. “Paul and Gene always like to elaborate and put people down. … Maybe it makes them feel better, or perhaps it’s because they’re just insecure. I don’t know the reason.”
Since Ozzfest first began in the ’90s, festival culture has exploded. So could there ever be another Ozzfest tour?
That’s the question Ozzy Osbourne posed to his wife and Ozzfest founder Sharon Osbourne during the latest episode of The Osbournes Podcast.
“Yeah, sure,” Sharon replied. “Of course.”
The last full-scale Ozzfest tour took place in 2007. Since then, there have been pared-down tours and one- or two-day events, the last of which took place in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve 2018.
Among the issues that would face the resurrection of Ozzfest, Sharon said, are the financials.
“Why is it when it comes to us that everybody thinks that we are trillionaires?” Sharon asked. “Every manager who wants their band on our festival wants one of the f****** trillions they think we’ve got.”
Speaking about the broader festival landscape nowadays, Sharon is proud to see how much of it has been shaped by Ozzfest.
“It’s great, that’s what we wanted, everybody to do spinoffs and do their own festivals,” Sharon said. “It’s great for fans, it’s brilliant.”
“We started something,” she added. “People have taken it, and it’s still great for the genre.”
Should an Ozzfest tour ever come back, though, you probably shouldn’t expect to see Ozzy play all the dates. The Prince of Darkness announced in 2023 that he’d retired from touring due to health issues, though he still hopes to play one-off shows in the future.
After KISS wrapped their End of the Road tour, Gene Simmons gave fans a chance to spend some time with him at Electric Lady Studios in New York. Now he’s sharing some behind-the-scenes footage of the experience.
The unique event happened December 4, 5 and 6, following the band’s final performance at Madison Square Garden on December 2. Those who took part paid $6,000 for the privilege, which included being able to record a song with Simmons and hear him share stories of his career.
In a video posted to YouTube, Simmons talks about how the studio, which was built by Jimi Hendrix, has a very personal connection to KISS.
“This was the first recording studio Paul [Stanley] and I ever recorded in. We did background vocals for other artists. And then KISS. Yes, our little band,” he shares. “This was the very first recording studio, Electric Lady, where we recorded our very first demo that had songs like ‘Deuce’ and ‘Black Diamond’ and so on.”
He talks of wanting fans to get to experience the studio where artists like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and more recorded, noting, “I wanted the fans to be able to stand there and actually record in the very same rooms that these superstars were in.” He added, “What an amazing experience. I hope to do it again.”
The clip then shows Simmons posing for photos with fans and directing them as they record their take on the KISS classic “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
As for doing it again, it sounds like there are already plans in the works. Simmons ends the video by teasing the same experiences coming to “a local recording studio where you live.”
Mötley Crüe has been teasing new music for a while now. They first shared in April that they were once again working with Dr. Feelgood producer Bob Rock, and in December, bassist Nikki Sixx confirmed new tunes would be out in 2024.
Well, now guitarist John 5 is getting fans excited for what to expect, revealing in an interview with Illinois Entertainer that Nikki is constantly working on new material.
“Just the other day, Nikki called me and he was playing guitar over the phone and he’ll play a riff, and he’ll sing this melody, and it sounded like it could be something off of Too Fast For Love,” he says, referring to the band’s 1981 debut album. “It’s just natural for him to write these songs that I have loved and lots of other people have loved.”
He adds, “I think we’re always going to make new music because man, this guy is pumping out amazing lyrics and great music. When we all get together, it’s pretty magical.”
After helping induct guitarist Link Wray into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Musical Influence category in November, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page opened up about his admiration for Wray in a post on Instagram.
Page shared that he’s admired Wray from the moment he heard “Rumble,” which he performed during the induction.
“I first heard it when I was 14, roaring from a jukebox in my hometown of Epsom,” Page shares. “As a guitar instrumental the attitude of it was totally unique in its mystery, imagination and execution — it had a profound effect on me.”
He adds, “Link Wray and Rumble stand alone at the pinnacle in the world of instrumentals and I was thrilled to stand on stage in New York with drummer Anton Fig and bassist Tim Givens at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame to induct one of my heroes.”
The post promoted a comment from Wray’s daughter Charlotte, who wrote, “Thank you for playing my dad’s song at the Rock Hall.” She added, “me and my siblings that were there cried, cheered and loved every moment!!!!”
Highlights from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony recently aired on ABC, but fans can still catch the full show streaming on Disney+.
