Classic Rock News

On This Day, June 8, 1991…

Bruce Springsteen married E Street Band member Patti Scialfa in a private ceremony at their Los Angeles home.

The couple started dating in 1988 during the Tunnel of Love tour, while he was separated from his first wife, model Julianne Phillips. Phillips filed for divorce in August of that year.

After living together in New Jersey, Springsteen and Scialfa moved to Los Angeles, where they welcomed their first child, son Evan, in July, 1990. After their marriage, they went on to have two more children, daughter Jessica, born in December, 1991 and son Sam, born in January 1994.

The couple, who currently live in New Jersey, became first time grandparents in July, 2022, when Sam and his fiancée welcomed a baby girl.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Back in April Neil Young returned to the stage for the first time since before the pandemic, and now he’s ready to head back on the road. Rolling Stone reports that during a Zoom with Neil Young Archives subscribers, the rocker announced he’ll be hitting the road on a West Coast tour set to kick off in early July.

But fans shouldn’t expect a greatest hits show. Neil explained that the performances will focus on songs he hasn’t actually played live before, suggesting that about 80 percent of the set will be made up of these rarities.

“I don’t want to come back and do the same songs again,” he said. “I’ll feel like I was on some sort of carnival ride. I’d rather be doing these others songs I haven’t done.” He adds, “I won’t have to compare how I’m doing ‘Heart of Gold’ to [how I played it in] 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020.”

Some of the songs Young says he’s rehearsed for the show include “Song X” from Mirror Ball, his 1995 album with Pearl Jam; the 1994 Sleeps With Angels track “Prime of Life”; and “If You Got Love,” an outtake from 1982’s Trans.

He says, “They’re not new songs. They’re old songs. But I wake up with them in my head every morning. They are songs that apply to my life right now, and apply to everyone’s lives in this era that we’re in.”

Details of the tour will be announced Friday, with Young noting it will open with a multiple-night residency in a “tiny, little unknown theater that’s close to one of the most well-known theaters in the world.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The legendary rock band Led Zeppelin is the subject of a new exhibition at the Morrison Hotel Gallery, opening Thursday, June 8, in New York and Los Angeles.

The gallery notes that the exhibit “chronicles the band’s exalted rise, widely-storied world tours and rare moments in music history immortalized only in memory and fine art photography.” 

Among the photos in the exhibit is one from the band’s first photoshoot ever, along with artwork from their classic 1971 album, Led Zeppelin IV, signed by guitarist Jimmy Page.

Both cities will open their exhibits with an opening night party, “transporting patrons back in time to when rock gods ruled and Zeppelin was king.” Fans interested in attending can RSVP at morrisonhotelgallery.com.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

RATT’s first five albums are being celebrated with a new box set, The Atlantic Years, dropping Friday, June 9, and frontman Stephen Pearcy is excited for its release.

He tells ABC Audio the set “is the true history with all five guys,” referring to the classic lineup of Pearcy (vocals), Warren DeMartini (guitars), the late Robbin Crosby (guitars), Juan Croucier (bass/vocals) and Bobby Blotzer (drums).

The set includes 1984’s Out of the Cellar, 1985’s Invasion of Privacy, 1986’s Dancing Undercover, 1988’s Reach for the Sky and 19909’s Detonator, along with the 7-inch single of “Nobody Rides for Free,” which was released in 1991 and featured in the Patrick Swayze/Keanu Reeves flick Point Break.

Pearcy says of all those records, Out of the Cellar is his favorite “because it was our first anything.” The album featured the band’s big hit, “Round and Round.” He notes, “The song has legs, it’s alive and kicking and it’s a beautiful thing. If you’re going to call me a one-hit wonder, which we’re not, thank you very much, then we wrote the best f***** one hit we could possibly give you.”

The box set also features a 12-page replica tour book, with never-before-seen photos and more. Pearcy says all of the surviving members had some input in what photos were included in the set.

But fans shouldn’t hope that will lead to them working together more in the future. He jokes, “That’s about as close to a reunion as … as we’re gonna get.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Metallica raised $200,000 through the band’s Month of Giving charity initiative.

Throughout May, the metal legends raised money through their All Within My Hands foundation for The Farmlink Project, which helps deliver farm fresh produce to food banks.

“Working with all of you (Metallica fans) and All Within My Hands has been the ultimate privilege for us at Farmlink,” says CEO Ben Collier. “You have all rallied together this month, demonstrating that you are not only passionate about music but also about making a lasting impact on the world!”

Metallica is currently on tour supporting their new album, 72 Seasons. The international trek comes to the U.S. in August.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Pete Ham, the late founding member of the British rock band Badfinger, is being celebrated with a special tribute album, with proceeds going to help those struggling with mental health. 

Shine On: A Tribute to Pete Ham features 35 new recordings of Ham songs, including such classic Badfinger tracks as “Day after Day,” “Baby Blue,” “No Matter What” and “Without You.”

Stan Lynch, drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, appears on three tracks on the album. He says, “The more I learned about Badfinger the more upset it made me, because they were so rich with promise. It’s not just a cautionary tale – it’s truly heartbreaking.” 

Lynch is likely referring, in part, to the fact that Ham and bandmate Tom Evans died by suicide, Ham in 1975 and Evans in 1983. 

The album, which is available for preorder now, will be released June 23, with all proceeds going to Mental Health America of Southeast Florida.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Foo Fighters have shared a live performance video for “Rescued,” taken from the band’s streaming concert last month.

The show marked the live debut of “Rescued,” as well as several other songs from the new Foos album, But Here We Are, which just dropped last Friday. Foo Fighters also used the stream to introduce new drummer Josh Freese, who joined the band following the March 2022 death of Taylor Hawkins.

You can watch the “Rescued” performance now via YouTube.

Foo Fighters launched their first tour following Hawkins’ passing in May. The outing continues June 14 in Rogers, Arkansas, and includes a mix of headlining and festival dates.

That touring schedule might also include a surprise stop at England’s Glastonbury festival, if a fan theory is to be believed.

Glastonbury attendees noticed that the festival’s schedule lists an unknown band called The Churnups playing the main Pyramid Stage on Friday, June 23. Meanwhile, in a letter to fans posted Tuesday, Dave Grohl wrote, in part, “It feels good to see you, churning up these emotions together.” Coincidence? Well, we’ll find out soon enough.

Grohl also notably performed for the first time since Hawkins’ death at last year’s Glastonbury when he was a surprise guest during Paul McCartney‘s headlining set.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

KISS bassist Gene Simmons made a surprise appearance in, of all places, U.K. Parliament, where he sat in on a PMQ session, a weekly session where members of Parliament get to ask the prime minster questions.

Simmons, who was a guest of Democratic Unionist Party MP Ian Paisley, seemed to be impressed by what went down and felt the U.S. could learn some things from how the Brits act.

“What I just saw in there was controlled chaos. It was the clash of wills but respectful – the right honorable so and so, it was fascinating,” Simmons said, according to the BBC. “I think Americans can take a big lesson in civility in how to make democracy actually work and still respect the other side.”

Simmons also seemed to admire the history and age of Parliament, noting it was something Americans don’t really understand.

“America is so young and has no sense of history, everything over there is just fast, immediate, instant gratification and there’s no time to sit there and just gaze, I mean, look where you are – it’s insane,” he said. “We’re standing on, in terms of democracy, hallowed ground.”

Simmons was in England for the kickoff of the band’s U.K./European leg of their End of the Road tour. It hits Prague on Saturday, June 10. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Now that Elton John‘s a father of two young boys, he seems to have a soft spot for kids — including one visually impaired child who attended his concert Tuesday night in Leeds, England.

In video posted on the Leeds-Live website, Elton is seen stopping the concert to praise fans in the audience who’ve attended more than 100 of his concerts and other fans who’ve dressed up like him. “It makes me feel so happy,” he says. “And I’ll tell you what made me feel even happier tonight is a little boy in the front row called Louie.” 

“And he can’t see me but he can hear me,” Elton added. “And he just broke my heart all night.” 

As the audience cheered, Elton told the boy, “You are so special, young man, and you made me feel so great tonight. I tell you what, we are going to get your telephone number and I’ll keep in touch with you.” The audience cheered again.

Elton thanked the crowd for “so many years of love and loyalty,” adding, “You’ve shown me more kindness on this tour than I can ever remember.”

Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour officially wraps up in July.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

David Bowie’s daughter, Alexandria “Lexi” Jones, is giving the public a little more insight into her relationship with her rock star dad. The 22-year-old, whose mom is supermodel Iman, just posted a throwback video to Instagram, showing her dancing with her dad. She captioned the clip, “My forever sunshine.”

The video starts with Lexi dancing on Bowie’s feet as the rocker sings along to the English nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence.” She later breaks off and dances on her own as Bowie watches on. Then, at the line “down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose,” Bowie does the very dad thing and steps in to “snatch” her nose.

This isn’t the first time Lexi has shared a throwback video featuring her dad. Back in January, on the seventh anniversary of Bowie’s January 10 death, she shared a clip of them playing piano together.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.