Classic Rock News

Pink Floyd is being celebrated with a new limited-edition cassette player from the company We Are Rewind.

The We Are Rewind x Pink Floyd Collector’s Box Set comes with a Bluetooth cassette player featuring artwork from the band’s iconic album The Dark Side of the Moon. It also includes the only cassette edition of 2023’s 50th anniversary remastered edition of the album.

The cassette player features both a stereo playback and recording function, as well as Bluetooth capabilities that allow fans to listen to the music on wireless headphones. It also has a rechargeable battery, good for 12 hours of playback, and comes with a pencil and a numbered authenticity card.

Only 3,000 sets are available. More info can be found at WeAreRewind.com.

In other Pink Floyd news … the band recently posted an archival live performance to YouTube. The clip features a 1989 performance of the A Momentary Lapse of Reason track “On the Turning Away,” with the band performing on a floating stage in Venice, Italy.

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Former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman released the album The Red Planet in 2020, and now he’s revisiting Mars for yet another album.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will release Return to the Red Planet on Oct. 16, described as “a sweeping new progressive work that fuses science, imagination, and musical virtuosity.” The description adds that it’s inspired by “the remarkable images and research that have transformed our understanding of Mars in recent years.”

“Once I started looking at the new data and photographs, I realised there was an entirely new album waiting to be written,” Wakeman says. “There was simply too much more to say about Mars – musically and spiritually – not to return.”

The album, recorded between August 2025 and January 2026, has Wakeman backed by The English Rock Ensemble, made up of bassist Lee Pomeroy, guitarist Dave Colquhoun, drummer Adam Falkner and vocalist Mollie Marriott, daughter of English musician Steve Marriott.

Return to the Red Planet is available for preorder now.

The album will be released ahead of Wakeman’s upcoming memoir, The Wizard of Prog, which comes out Oct. 29. He’s also set to tour the U.K. in December and in early 2027. A complete list of tour dates can be found at rwcc.com.

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AC/DC recently kicked off a new North American leg of their Power Up tour, and undoubtedly some fans may be wondering whether this will be the last time they see the rockers on the road.

It seems AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and Angus Young don’t really know yet.

The duo recently spoke to USA Today, and when the subject of where they’d like to play their last show came up they skirted the question.

“I hope it’s not my funeral,” Young said, with Johnson adding, “Upstairs rather than down!”

Narrowing it down a little more, Young responded, “On Earth?” He noted, “It’s a tough, tough call.”

“I wouldn’t want to upset any of the fans by saying, ‘No, that’s the best place,’” Johnson said of where they’d say goodbye. “After a gig, when I say, ‘Hey, thank you so much’ (to the crowd), you mean it, you know?”

As for how they want to be remembered, Young said, “I would just say ‘a great rock band.'”

“They were great at what they did. And they did it consistently,” Johnson added of their legacy. “You never thought back in the day that, when I finish here … I’m going to be 79,” to which Young joked, “Can you count that high?”

“I can’t even (expletive) think of it,” Johnson said. “Saying it back then, I would have just laughed at you.”

AC/DC’s Power Up tour hits Madison, Wisconsin, on Sunday. It wraps Sept. 29 in Philadelphia. A complete list of show dates can be found at acdc.com.

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Four iconic albums from The Who — 1965’s My Generation, 1969’s Tommy, 1970’s Live At Leeds and 1971’s Who’s Next — are getting audio upgrades.

Analogue Productions has announced definitive audiophile editions of all four albums in a variety of premium formats, including 180-gram 45 RPM vinyl, Hybrid SACD, Ultra High Quality Record editions and Ultra Tape reel-to-reel.

All the reissues have been sourced from the original analog master tapes.

My Generation and Live at Leeds are the first two albums getting audiophile upgrades. Both will be released July 24 as a 180-gram 45 RPM two-LP set, and on Hybrid SACD and Ultra Tape reel-to-reel.

A release date for Tommy and Who’s Next has not been announced yet. Tommy will be released on Hybrid SACD and Ultra Tape reel-to-reel, while Who’s Next will be pressed as a UHQR edition on 200-gram clarity vinyl.

All are available for preorder now.

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The Rolling Stones are back at #1 in the U.K.

The band’s latest release, Foreign Tongues, tops the U.K. Official Albums Chart, making it the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ 15th #1 album in the U.K.

The new chart-topper means The Stones are now tied with The Beatles as the artists with the second-most #1 albums on the U.K. chart. Pop star Robbie Williams has the most, with 16.

The Stones last topped the U.K. albums chart in 2023 with their Grammy-winning record Hackney Diamonds. They earned their first #1 in 1964 with their self-titled debut.

According to a post on The Stones’ Instagram, Foreign Tongues is also #1 in Germany, France, Netherlands, Austria and Belgium. “Thank you to everyone for making this happen!” the band wrote.

Meanwhile, in Australia, The Stones fell just shy of the top spot. Foreign Tongues debuted at #2 on the ARIA Top 50 Albums chart, with Olivia Rodrigo’s latest album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, keeping them out of #1.

Foreign Tongues, produced by Andrew Watt, is The Rolling Stones’ 25th studio album. It features guest appearances by Paul McCartney, Steve Winwood, The Cure’s Robert Smith and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

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Bruce Springsteen will be honored by the ACLU with the ACLU Ralph Ellison Award for Defenders of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Arts, Business, Science, and Sports.

According to a press release, the award recognizes “profound contributions to American thought and culture.” The release notes that the honor “underscores the ACLU’s recognition that the defense of our rights takes many forms, disciplines, platforms, and generations.”

Springsteen is being honored alongside former NFL player Colin Kaepernick.

“Bruce Springsteen and Colin Kaepernick epitomize talent with a purpose,” Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director, says. “Bruce Springsteen’s iconic songs like ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ date back decades, and so does his advocacy on behalf of civil rights and liberties.”

He adds, “We are proud of the partnerships the ACLU has formed with Bruce and Colin, and we’re honored to recognize their lifetime achievements with one of the ACLU’s highest honors.”

Springsteen’s most recent partnership with the ACLU happened back in March, when he allowed the organization to use “Born in the U.S.A.” for an ad campaign tied to the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship case.

Springsteen and Kaepernick will be honored at the ACLU’s biennial awards ceremony July 24 in Washington, D.C.

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On This Day, July 17, 1981…

Journey released their seventh studio album, Escape, which hit #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and went on to become a huge hit for the band.

The record was the band’s first with keyboardist Jonathan Cain, who replaced founding member Greg Rolie after his departure in 1980.

Escape featured the track “Don’t Stop Believin’,” written by frontman Steve Perry, guitarist Neal Schon and Cain, which peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and went on to become a signature tune for the band. In 2022, the song was chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

The album also featured the hit power ballad “Open Arms,” which peaked at #2 on the singles chart, becoming Journey’s highest charting single ever, and “Who’s Crying Now,” which peaked at #4.

The album launched the band into superstardom. It has been certified Diamond by the RIAA and is the band’s most successful studio album.

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John Mellencamp was forced to cancel his show in Clarkston, Michigan, Thursday night due to the poor air quality caused by wildfires in Canada.

“Following guidance from public health authorities, unfortunately we will not be able to perform our July 16 show in Clarkston, MI at Pine Knob Music Theatre due to poor air quality,” read a post on Mellencamp’s social media. “We were looking forward to seeing you tonight!”

Fans who bought tickets through Ticketmaster will automatically be refunded their money.

Mellencamp launched his Dancing Words Tour – The Greatest Hits on July 10 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, treating the crowd to all of his biggest hits, including some songs he hasn’t played in decades.

His next show is scheduled for Saturday in Noblesville, Indiana, with dates running until Aug. 12 in Mountain View, California. A complete list of dates an be found at Mellencamp.com.

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After over 50 years in the music business, Lenny Kaye, best known for being the longest-serving member of the Patti Smith Group, is out with his debut solo album, Goin’ Local.

So, why did it take so long for the 79-year-old Kaye to make a solo album?

He tells ABC Audio he’s had many of these songs for years, noting, “I wrote them, many of them, just for my own personal artistic satisfaction.”

He says one of the reasons he wanted to release them now is because he needed “artistic closure,” adding “a lot of the songs are kind of personal.”

“I write them because I need to in a certain way,” he explains. “That to me is one of the ways in which you can understand yourself, a relationship, a sense of who you are.”

Kaye has already released several tracks from the album, including the title track, “The Things You Leave Behind” and “Solstice,” co-written by Smith.

Kaye says it “feels great” to finally share these personal songs with the public.

“I mean, it’s also kind of a culmination of the many personas I’ve had within making music over the many years,” he says. “I love being a new artist.”

And Kaye says he hopes fans who listen to the album get a feel for who he really is.

“I hope that they understand that I’m a person who feels deeply, who tries to be honest with himself,” he says. “And I just hope that they realize that it’s an honest representation of who I am at this moment in time.” 

Goin’ Local is out now. Kaye is currently on tour and is set to play in Sacramento on Friday.

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R.E.M. called it quits in 2011, and while some fans may be holding out hope for a full band reunion, guitarist Peter Buck tells Mojo they really shouldn’t.

“When we decided it was the end, I felt fine with it. That was the story – it had a beginning and an end,” he says. “I was happy with the whole arc, and we were all young enough to go off and do other things, and we all have been.”

“And unlike every other band in the world other than The Smiths, we’re not going to be doing the famous album reunion tour or any of that crap,” he adds. “It’s just not going to happen.”

Buck says he has no desire to “do a tour so we can make more money or be famous.”

“I just don’t want to be the legacy act at Glastonbury playing our 40-year-old hits,” he says. “It’s great that we did all that stuff when we did it, and I’m really proud of the performances. I don’t want to cheapen it by going out there just for ego and money. I don’t need the money, and my ego? Well, I’ve had enough applause to last 10 lifetimes.”

R.E.M. announced their split in September 2011. All four members — Buck, Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Bill Berry — reunited to perform at the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2024. They also reunited in February 2025 for a performance of “Pretty Persuasion” at Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy’s show in Athens, Georgia.

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