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.

BBC to air documentary celebrating 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s first UK tour

April 10, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

The 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen‘s first U.K. tour will be celebrated with some special Springsteen programming on the BBC, including a new documentary.

When Bruce Springsteen Came To Britain is a one-hour doc that will feature a new interview with The Boss talking about his first U.K. show: a sold-out concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in November 1975 promoting his album Born to Run. In the interview he shares previously unheard stories about the tour, including how disappointed he was with his own performance at that first show.

“(After the show) … I went to a party that was supposed to celebrate my triumph, but I felt I’d been terrible and so I was embarrassed to even go in,” he says. “I had PTSD from the first Hammersmith show!”

The doc will also cover Springsteen’s 1985 Born in the USA tour, which was the first time he played huge outdoor venues, and continues on to his most recent U.K. tour in 2024.

In addition to Springsteen, the doc will feature new interviews from E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Bruce’s manager Jon Landau and others.

So far no exact date for the Springsteen programming has been announced.

The doc comes as Springsteen and the E Street Band are getting ready to launch a new U.K. and European tour. The trek kicks off with a three-night stand in Manchester, May 14, May 17 and May 20. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

‘Bono: Stories of Surrender’ documentary to have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival

April 10, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

The upcoming Apple TV+ documentary about Bono’s Stories of Surrender book tour will get its world premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, taking place May 13 to May 24.

Bono announced the news on social media with the caption, “From the intimacy of the Beacon Theater [sic] to the bright lights of the Croisette.”

Bono: Stories of Surrender will feature what’s described as a “reimagining” of the U2 frontman’s one-man stage show, Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief. That coincided with the release of his memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, released in November 2022.

The doc will feature footage from one of his shows at New York’s Beacon Theatre, which had him sharing stories about his life, family, friends and more, along with performances of some U2 songs “that have shaped his life and legacy.”

Bono: Stories of Surrender is set to debut on Apple TV+ on May 30. For those with Apple Vision Pro, Bono: Stories of Surrender (Immersive) will also premiere on May 30, giving viewers an immersive experience of the film. It will be the first feature-length film available on Apple Vision Pro.

‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’ writer Warren Zanes talks Bruce Springsteen biopic

April 10, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

The upcoming Bruce Springsteen film Deliver Me From Nowhere is based on Warren Zanes’ 2023 book Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. In an interview with the Boston Globe, Zanes discusses how the film came to be.

Zanes says when he was first approached, he knew they’d have to get Springsteen onboard, so he and the film’s director, Scott Cooper, sent Bruce and his manager, Jon Landau, a one-page description of the project. Then they waited for their response.

But Zanes initially didn’t hear back, because Springsteen was dealing with peptic ulcer disease.

“Later, I was driving, and got a call from Bruce, totally unexpected,” Zanes shares. “At the end, I said: ‘Hey, did you get a chance to look at that description?’ While I was on the phone, he pulled it up. We hung up. Five minutes later, he texted: ‘I’m into this.’”

Zanes spent time on the film’s New Jersey set when production began, as did Springsteen, and Zanes noticed the experience wasn’t an easy one for The Boss.

“There was no hiding the fact that he was there on a regular basis. And there are difficult passages. He was going through some hard stuff, and here he was, watching his life being enacted, reliving it,” Zanes says. “I asked him, ‘Is this as intense for you as it appears it might be?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’”

Zanes wants fans to know Deliver Me From Nowhere will be different from other biopics because “it doesn’t start before success — it starts in the middle.”

“It’s a story about family history, mental health, and an already-successful artist facing a crisis,” he says. “There’s nothing about him making it. No ‘Born to Run’ moment. None of that. We see what he’s haunted by.”

Two David Bowie records among the UK’s bestselling vinyl records of the past decade

April 9, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

David Bowie fans are apparently really into vinyl records.

The U.K.’s Official Charts recently came out with a list of the bestselling vinyl records of the past 10 years, and while Taylor Swift’s Midnights tops the list, Bowie lands two albums in the top 10.

Of the pair, Bowie’s 2016 greatest hits package Legacy lands in the highest spot at #5. His final album, Blackstar, lands at #8.

A post on Bowie’s official Instagram account notes, “Our man has fared well alongside the youngsters of today, and it’s all thanks to you.”

Bowie’s Blackstar was released in 2016, just two day before the rocker passed away at the age of 69. It was the bestselling vinyl album of that year in the U.K. and spent 38 weeks on the official U.K. album chart.

Legacy, which features such Bowie classics as “Let’s Dance,” “Changes,” “Modern Love” and “Fame,” has spent 437 weeks on the same chart.

Sean Lennon supports Sam Mendes’ Beatles films: ‘I am not interested in second-guessing his casting choices’

April 9, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Sean Lennon has weighed in on the casting of Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles films, and he is putting his faith in the director.

The cast of The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event was recently announced, with Harris Dickinson playing Sean’s father, John Lennon. Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan has been cast as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn will portray George Harrison.

And while some folks have had strong opinions about the casting, Sean tells Vanity Fair he’s not about to question Mendes’ choices.

“We are all in touch with Sam (the Beatles gang). I told him I am not interested in second-guessing his casting choices as a director. Would anyone have expected Christian Bale to be a good Dick Cheney?” he says, referring to the 2018 movie Vice.

“I think that’s the filmmaker’s choice,” Sean adds. “My interest has more to do with the scripts, and how they intertwine. I have every confidence in Sam and Harris and the rest of the team.”

Sean, who’s promoting the upcoming documentary One to One: John & Yoko, which opens in IMAX theaters on Friday, also talked about the importance of preserving the legacy of his parents and The Beatles.

“When I was growing up—and that was the ’80s and ’90s, even the early 2000s—you could argue people like Zeppelin and Hendrix and the Beatles and Stones were in the pantheon of these godlike figures. I don’t think it’s as true today, and I think that that’s unfortunate,” he shares. “I don’t think we can afford to forget them, especially in the case of John and Yoko, because in that case, we’re talking about peace and love. And I think that message is sadly as important, if not more important than it’s ever been.”

Sex Pistols dedicate Sydney concert to Blondie drummer Clem Burke

April 9, 2025 by Classic Rock 93.9

Sex Pistols brought their tour to Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, and dedicated the show to late Blondie drummer Clem Burke.

“Very quickly I just want to take a moment to dedicate this show to an amazing man, and a friend of the lads, Clem Burke,” current frontman Frank Carter told the audience, as seen in video shared by bassist Glen Matlock. “An incredible drummer, who sadly passed away yesterday. So tonight is for Clem and it’s for friendship.”

Not only was Burke a friend of the Sex Pistols, he actually worked with several members of the band. Burke and guitarist Steve Jones teamed up in 1983 for the supergroup Chequered Past, which also featured singer Michael Des Barres and former Blondies bassist Nigel Harrison.

In addition, Burke and Matlock played together in the band International Swingers, which was formed in 2011. Matlock also performed with Blondie on tours in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Matlock had previously paid tribute to Burke on social media, writing, “Such a sad news couple of days. What a drummer, what a friend, what a guy. Will miss you big time mate.”

Burke’s death was announced by Blondie on Monday, revealing that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer he had been privately battling cancer. He was 70.

“Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable,” read the post. “Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.”

+ More