Chrissie Hynde reveals Pretenders 2025 touring plans, live album

April 11, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde is giving fans an update on their plans for 2025.

The rocker shared a note on social media, writing, “The sun is shining where we are and I hope wherever you are. Best time of the year. Flowers in bloom. We will be going back on the road soon. A short tour this time, mainly around South America. We are soooo looking forward to it. We love South America!”

And while they won’t be touring the U.S. this year, Pretenders are giving all of their fans a way to enjoy their live show at home: the upcoming release of the live album Pretenders Live – Kick ‘Em Where It Hurts, with Chrissie telling her followers it will give them “a chance to experience some of the magic.”

Pretenders Live – Kick ‘Em Where It Hurts, dropping June 13, was recorded during the band’s 2024 theater tour. It features performances of songs like “Talk of the Town,” “Boots of Chinese Plastic,” “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Middle of the Road” and more.

Pretenders Live – Kick ‘Em Where It Hurts is available for preorder now on limited-edition heavyweight black double vinyl. Below is the track list for the live album:
“Losing My Sense of Taste”
“Turf Accountant Daddy”
“Talk of the Town”
“The Buzz”
“Thumbelina”
“The Losing”
“Private Life”
“You Can’t Hurt A Fool”
“Don’t Cut Your Hair”
“Let The Sun Come In”
“I Think About You Daily”
“Biker”
“Boots of Chinese Plastic”
“Back On The Chain Gang”
“Time The Avenger”
“Hate For Sale”
“Middle of the Road”

Mick Jagger’s girlfriend appears to confirm engagement

April 11, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Mick Jagger’s girlfriend, Melanie Hamrick, has appeared to confirm that she and the rock star are engaged.

In a new interview with the French magazine Paris Match, Hamrick confirms that she’s been wearing the engagement ring Mick gave her for “two or three years.” She notes, “Maybe one day we’ll marry, maybe not. We are so happy in our current life that I would be too afraid to change anything.”

Jagger, 81, and Hamrick, 37, met in 2014 and welcomed son Devereaux in 2016.

“We try to support each other, be there for each other, and make sure everyone is happy,” she says about their relationship. “That’s all that matters to me and all I strive for.”

This isn’t the first time Hamrick revealed the depth of their commitment to each other. In a 2023 interview with People, Hamrick shared that Jagger had given her what at the time she described as a promise ring. Asked then whether they planned to marry, she replied, “I don’t know. I’m kind of like, a live-in-the-moment type of person, so who knows.”

AC/DC kicks off Power Up tour in Minneapolis

April 11, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

AC/DC returned to the stage Thursday, launching the U.S. leg of their Power Up tour in Minneapolis. It marks their first non-festival show in the U.S. since their 2015-2016 Rock or Bust tour.

According to setlist.fm, the rockers treated the crowd to a set filled with hits, kicking off the show with “If You Want Blood (You Got It)” and following that up with such AC/DC classics as “Back in Black,” “Thunderstruck,” “Hells Bells,” “Highway to Hell,” “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” “You Shook Me All Night Long” and more.

They wrapped the show with a two-song encore of “T.N.T” and “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You).”

AC/DC launched their Power Up tour in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in May 2024. It was their first tour since releasing their most recent album, Power Up, in 2020, as they were unable to support it on the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While their last U.S. tour ended in 2016, the last time AC/DC played the U.S. was at the Power Trip festival in Indio, California, in October 2023.

The 13-date Power Up stadium tour hits Dallas on Monday and runs through May 28 in Cleveland. A complete list of dates can be found at acdc.com.

On This Day, April 11, 1961: Bob Dylan gives his first professional live performance

April 11, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, April 11, 1961…

Bob Dylan played his first professional live gig at Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village, New York. He was the opening act for blues singer John Lee Hooker.

Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman, came to New York in January of that year to visit his musical idol Woody Guthrie.

The early days of Dylan’s career were the focus of the recent biopic A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet as Dylan. The film earned eight Oscar nominations, including best picture and best actor. It is currently streaming on Hulu.

‘One to One: John & Yoko’ director Kevin Macdonald brings Lennon’s only post-Beatles concert to the big screen

April 11, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

John Lennon and Yoko Ono are the subject of a new documentary, One to One: John & Yoko, which opens exclusively in IMAX theaters on Friday.

The film features a treasure trove of archival material of the couple in New York in the early ’70s. The film’s director, Kevin Macdonald, tells ABC Audio the footage helped him realize the story he wanted to tell.

“I thought, actually, this is gonna be a film about the times,” he says, “about this year which John and Yoko spent living in New York in this tiny apartment in the West Village, as much as it is a sort of story of just them.”

That archival material includes audio recordings the couple made of themselves when they feared the FBI was listening in to their phone calls, and Macdonald says it gives fans a new perspective on the rock star couple.

“I think there’s something just about hearing their voices in this very casual way when they’re not … being interviewed,” he says. “I think you get a different feeling for who these two people are as people.”

Macdonald notes the real “center of the film” is footage of John and Yoko’s One to One concerts, which took place at Madison Square Garden in August 1972; they were the only full-length concerts Lennon gave after The Beatles‘ 1970 breakup.

“We had access for the first time to this concert,” he says, noting everything else in the documentary is “really giving context to that concert.”

And Macdonald hopes that after seeing the film, fans “feel like they get more intimate with John than they ever have before” and get to appreciate him as a performer.

“I think that you can’t underestimate how rare and special it is to see John performing live,” he says.

(Video includes uncensored profanity.)

Bon Jovi set for ‘intimate private’ show in Nashville in June

April 10, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Bon Jovi is set to perform together for the first time since 2024.

The New Jersey rockers are set to play an “intimate private performance” as part of a tour package in Nashville from June 13 to June 15. The performance will be held at a “secret location” in Music City and will be for anyone who purchases what’s being called an “ultimate fan experience.”

Those booking the three-day weekend event will be put up at the JW Marriott Nashville. The package also comes with a party at Jon’s Nashville bar, JBJ Nashville, an autographed photo of Jon, a trip laminate, custom lanyard and more.

More info can be found at runawaytours.com. Reservations open Monday at 12 p.m. ET.

Bon Jovi’s last major performance took place in February 2024 at the MusiCares Person of the Year celebration for Jon. It was the first performance from the band since Jon underwent vocal cord surgery in 2022. In June 2024 they also performed a short set at the opening of JBJ Nashville.

Sammy Hagar launches Ultimate Red Rocker Rockstar Experience sweepstakes for Las Vegas residency

April 10, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Sammy Hagar is getting ready to launch The Best of All Worlds Tour Stays in Vegas – The Residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM Las Vegas, and he’s giving one lucky fan a chance to win what he’s calling the Ultimate Red Rocker Rockstar Experience.

Fans can enter Sammy’s new sweepstakes now. The grand prize winner will nab two VIP tickets to the May 9 show, along with two roundtrip tickets to Vegas and a two-night stay at the Park MGM.

It also comes with a red Les Paul guitar and tour jacket, both signed by Sammy and the band: Van Halen’s Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Kenny Aronoff. There’s also a meet and greet with Sammy before the show and a VIP table at The Barbershop at the Cosmopolitan in Vegas.

Fans have until April 21 to enter the sweepstakes, with the winner to be announced on April 22.

The Best of All Worlds Tour Stays in Vegas – The Residency will have Sammy performing a career-spanning set that includes songs from his solo career, Van Halen, Montrose and Chickenfoot. It kicks off April 30 and runs through May 17. A complete list of dates can be found at RedRocker.com.

John Mellencamp making burial plans for daughter Teddi Mellencamp

April 10, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Rocker John Mellencamp’s daughter Teddi Mellencamp is battling stage 4 cancer, and during her Two Ts in a Pod podcast, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star revealed that her dad has already made plans for her burial in Indiana.

Teddi explained to co-host Tamra Judge that her dad recently tried calling her multiple times to talk to her about his plans. She said, “Finally I answer, I’m like, ‘I’m in the bath. Let me live a little.’ He goes, ‘I just want to make sure you’re going to be in our group family mausoleum.’”

After she expressed concerns about whether there’d also be room for her three children, the “Small Town” singer let her know he had everything worked out.

“He’s like, ‘Well, there’s going to be the top five and then we’re gonna have little areas around it, and then that’s where everyone’s going to get buried,’” she said.

She noted that she asked him if she has to make that commitment right away. “He goes, ‘You’re doing your will right now, so you may as well put it in there.’”

The conversation made it appear as though Teddi gave her dad the OK, with Teddi joking to Tamra that she’d have to travel to Indiana to visit her grave. Teddi then added that a stranger gave her an idea for what she’d want written on her tombstone: “Hot girls never die.”

Teddi is John’s daughter with his second wife, Victoria Granucci, who he was married to from 1981 to 1989. She was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in October 2022 and recently revealed that it had progressed to stage 4.

Elton John says he’s done with musicals, but he’s already at work on next album

April 10, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Elton John recently launched two musicals, one of which was a success and the other of which was a flop. That may or may not be why he’s giving them up for good.

The stage version of The Devil Wears Prada, for which Elton wrote the music, is currently playing at London’s Dominion Theatre with Vanessa Williams in the starring role. His other musical, Tammy Faye, closed last year after just 29 regular performances on Broadway due to bad reviews and poor ticket sales.

Elton, who’s won one Tony Award and has been nominated for several more, tells The Evening Standard, “I don’t think I have another musical in me.”

But while musicals will now join touring on the list of things that Elton isn’t going to do anymore, he says recording is still a going concern. In fact, he’s already working on the follow-up to Who Believes in Angels?, which came out April 4.

“My next record won’t be anything like this one,” he says of the collaborative project with Brandi Carlile. “I really want to do another dance track … I’ve got two songs already written that are pretty damn good.”

And Elton’s husband and manager, David Furnish, tells MusicWeek, “I think we would like to find more opportunities for Elton to work with young artists, in terms of future collaborations.”

“I know there’s lots of people he would love to work with, people that he admires, and also to find a way to do that in a more official capacity. … [F]or that to become, not just a hobby, but something that is a little bit more official.”

Neil Young & Santana among the headliners for the 59th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival

April 10, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts and Santana are both booked to play the 59th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival, which will be held July 4 to July 19 in Montreux, Switzerland.

Both artists will perform on the festival’s Lake Stage: Young and his band will headline on July 6, while Santana will headline on July 18.

Other artists booked for the Montreux Jazz Festival include Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie, Alanis Morissette, Noah Kahan, Sam Fender, The Black Keys and Brandi Carlile. On opening night there will also be a tribute to the late Quincy Jones featuring Khan “and friends.”

Tickets go on sale to the public starting Friday at noon.

Both Young and Santana’s appearances are part of larger European tours.

Young’s tour kicks off June 18 in Rättvik, Sweden, and runs through July 13 in Paris. A full list of dates can be found at NeilYoungArchives.com.

Santana’s tour kicks off June 9 in Lodz, Poland, and runs through Aug. 11 in Copenhagen. More tour dates can be found at Santana.com.

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