Classic Rock News

Fans of The Beatles are about to get a new look at the band from the point of view of George Harrison.

Random House is set to release the new book The Third Eye: Early Photographs in October, described as “the first ever collection of George Harrison’s personal photos taken between 1963 and 1970.”

The book will feature over 200 color and black-and-white images capturing the rise of The Beatles. The images, curated by Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison, were taken from the rocker’s personal photos and 8mm film stills.

According to the description, the photos give fans an “inside look at the human beings behind the Beatles, trying to hold onto themselves—and enjoy themselves—while standing at the center of the storm.”

The book will include essays by Olivia, as well as authors Colm Tóibín and George Saunders, and the photos will feature commentary, including never-before-seen quotes from George.

The Third Eye: Early Photographs will be released Oct. 6 in the U.S. and is available for preorder now. There will also be a deluxe edition coming later in the fall.

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Billy Idol received his second nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Wednesday. His first came last year, and he doesn’t sound too bent out of shape that he didn’t get in the first time around.

“I started to realize you don’t always get in on your first time; that’s quite unusual, I think,” Idol tells Billboard. “It’s a process, and I can see why.”

He notes, “There’s quite a large number of people involved in deciding who gets in. It’s no guarantee.”

And it certainly sounds like Idol is excited to get another chance at the Rock Hall.

“It’s fantastic. It’s really exciting. It would be incredible this year,” says Idol, who got his start in 1976 in the band Generation X. “This is 50 years ago when I started so it would be really incredible. It would cap off an amazing 50 years.”

Looking at fellow nominees like INXS, The Black Crowes, Joy Division/New Order and Oasis, Idol says, “[W]hoever gets in will be a fantastic class.”

“We were all kind of making our way towards really doing this forever,” he says. “It’s a serious thing we all believed in, that we really wanted to see where our generation would take music.” He adds, “I think with the punk and then the music in the [’80s], we really did establish what the sound of the [’80s] would be — and beyond.”

Billy Idol’s life and career are the subject of the new documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, which is in theaters now.

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Bryan Adams has announced dates for a new European tour.

The rocker is set to bring his Roll With The Punches tour to arenas in Europe this fall and winter, with the tour launching Sept. 27 in Riga, Latvia.

The tour will make stops in more than a dozen countries, including Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, before wrapping Dec. 19 in Athens, Greece.

A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at BryanAdams.com.

Adams is touring in support of his most recent album, Roll With the Punches, which he released in August. He is set to play in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Saturday. He also has dates booked in Brazil, Argentina and South Africa. 

Adams will return to the U.S. for a series of acoustic shows at the Encore Theatre at the Wyn in Las Vegas, starting June 3.

In other Adams news … the rocker has released another acoustic Friday performance to YouTube. The latest is a stripped-down version of the Roll With the Punches track “Two Arms to Hold You.”

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Queen is offering up the first preview of the upcoming reissue of their sophomore album, Queen II.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just released the 2026 mix of “Seven Seas Of Rhye” to digital outlets. The song was the band’s first U.K. top-10 hit, peaking at #10 in 1974.

Queen II Collector’s Edition, dropping March 27, is a five-CD + two-LP box set, featuring the 2026 mix of the album along with a whole host of bonus material.

Extras include previously unheard outtakes and demos, live tracks, radio sessions and what’s described as “intimate fly-on-the-wall audio of Queen in the recording studio.” The set also features a 112-page book with previously unseen photos, handwritten lyrics, the band’s memories of writing and recording the album and more.

The Queen II reissue will also be released as a two-CD deluxe edition and on one-LP vinyl. All formats are available for preorder now.

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Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles life in the ’70s, including the formation of his band Wings, is the focus of the new documentary Paul McCartney: Man on the Run. Director Morgan Neville tells ABC Audio he was interested in the story because it’s “one of the most misunderstood chapters” of any of the Beatles’ members lives.

“You think of McCartney as always winning, beloved and going from success to success. And this is like his dark night of the soul,” he says, adding it’s when McCartney had to “answer all these profound questions where he’s doubting even making music.”

Neville says McCartney was initially interested in just making a film about Wings, but the director had different ideas.

“When I sat down with him, I said, ‘Look, the story has to begin the moment The Beatles break up and to me, the story ends when John (Lennon) dies,'” he explains, noting it’s because it shows the arc of McCartney “trying to escape the shadow of The Beatles.”

The film is told through archival photos and video, as well as audio interviews with McCartney, members of Wings and others. Neville says he chose that format because it brings the film more into the present.

“If you constantly cut to people in their 80s talking about how great it was 50 years ago or whatever, it’s very retrospective,” he says.

And while Neville interviewed McCartney several times for the film, he says the rocker otherwise kept his hands off the project.

“He did not have a single comment about the film till he watched it when it was done,” Neville says, noting that after, “He actually had a pad of paper with him and he said, ‘Here are my notes,’ and he held up the page and [it] was blank.” 

Paul McCartney: Man on the Run is streaming on Prime Video.

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The late Ozzy Osbourne will posthumously be honored with the lifetime achievement award at the 2026 BRITs, the U.K. equivalent of the Grammys.

The ceremony, which takes place Saturday in Manchester, England, will also feature a performance of “No More Tears” featuring Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, as well as longtime Ozzy bandmembers Zakk Wylde, Adam Wakeman and Tommy Clufetos. The rendition will be fronted by English pop singer Robbie Williams.

“Ozzy Osbourne has been a mighty force in modern music,” says Stacey Tang, chair of the 2026 BRIT Awards Committee. “Possessing an unmistakable voice and unique presence, he reshaped the sound and spirit of rock, inspiring generations of artists who followed. This Lifetime Achievement Award [recognizes] a remarkable legacy built on originality and enduring influence, that continues to connect with fans worldwide.”

Ozzy died at age 76 on July 22, 2025, just over two weeks after he performed his final show at the Back to the Beginning concert.

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At least two members of the Grohl family are readying new albums.

Dave Grohl is putting out a new Foo Fighters record, Your Favorite Toy, on April 24. Meanwhile, his daughter Violet Grohl has been working on her debut album after signing with Republic Records.

While Violet may be following in her father’s artistic footsteps, Dave says her music influenced him on Your Favorite Toy.

“It really inspired me to make this record,” Dave tells the U.K.’s Radio X. “The way that they made the record and the energy of it, I was like, ‘Oh man, I’ve just been inspired by my daughter’s debut album.’ It’s cool.”

Dave adds that he was “totally uninvolved” with Violet’s album, and only learned she had a record deal when she told him.

“She met the producer, and they would go to the studio every day and make songs, and she would send me songs when she was finished,” Dave says. “But I had absolutely nothing to do with this record at all. And I had no idea.”

While he may be biased, Dave says Violet’s album is “an amazing record.”

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The 10th annual Love Rocks NYC benefit concert will take place March 5 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, but you don’t have to be in the Big Apple to enjoy the show.

The concert, featuring performances by Paul Simon, Elvis Costello and ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons, will stream live on Veeps.com.

Other artists on the bill include Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes, Goo Goo Dolls, Hozier, Linda Perry, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Jon Batiste, Susanna Hoffs, Mary J Blige, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Trombone Shorty, plus special surprise guests.

All artists will be backed by a house band, led by bassist Will Lee, best known as a member of the Late Show with David Letterman band.

Love Rocks NYC is a benefit for the nonprofit God’s Love We Deliver, which delivers meals to people who are too sick to prepare them themselves.

The Love Rocks concerts, which first launched in 2017, have raised $65 million — enough to fund 6.5 million meals for New Yorkers in need, according to the nonprofit.

Tickets for the livestream are on sale now at Veeps.com.

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Joan Jett is a guest on the latest episode of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Music Makes Us podcast, where she opened up about musicians not being afraid to speak out when they see injustices in the world.

Asked by host Kathleen Hanna whether music can still make a difference with how people respond to the world, Jett pointed to Bad Bunny and his Super Bowl halftime show.

“Even if he’s not saying something specifically with his lyrics, he’s using this huge platform that he’s been given to discuss issues that are really important to Americans, and to more and more Americans as they’re realizing what’s happening,” she said.

Jett noted that she and the Blackhearts recently got back from doing shows in New Zealand, where people were asking them about what was going on in the U.S. She said she feels that as someone with a platform she needs to be able to address it.

“I’m not saying you have to go all in the way you would if you were sitting down having a face-to-face conversation. You can’t, you can’t utilize your time like that,” she said. “But I think you can certainly have a few well thought out sentences to let people know … what’s going on and whatever it is you wanna say.”

She added, “But saying ‘shut up and sing’ has never really been what musicians or artists do, from way on back.”

“When people talk to me about other songs, you know, that touched them, whether it was really bad times the music got them through or really good times, it shows that the music really connects and fills an important space, if you allow it, in people’s capacity to deal with all this stuff that we’re dealing with,” she said.

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A new trailer has just dropped for the Billy Idol documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, which opened in theaters on Thursday.

The film, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, explores the rock star’s career and personal life, and features never-before-seen archival and personal interviews with Idol. The trailer opens with an early Idol interview in which he’s asked what he’d do with his money if his music took off and went to #1 in America and England. Idol replied, “I’d spend it on drugs.”

The film also features interviews with Idol’s family, peers and collaborators; the trailer features clips of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, The Who’s Pete Townshend and Miley Cyrus all talking about the rocker.

Info on screenings and tickets can be found at BillyIdolShouldBeDead.com.

(Video includes uncensored profanity.)

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