Classic Rock News

ZZ Top has announced that longtime drummer Frank Beard, ironically the band member who doesn’t have a beard, has left their current Elevation tour in order to undergo a health procedure.

A statement posted on social media reveals that Beard has “temporarily stepped away from the current tour to attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term.”

In Beard’s place, the band’s longtime tech member, drummer John Douglas, will join ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons and Elwood Francis for the tour.

“Mr. Douglas has maintained a close relationship with Beard and the bandmates, having served with the group in the past,” the statement continues, adding that Douglas previously filled in for Beard in 2002 when he had to have an emergency appendectomy in Paris.

The statement adds that Beard is “looking forward to a speedy recovery.”

ZZ Top’s Elevation tour hits Hiawassee, Georgia, on Tuesday. A complete list of dates can be found at ZZTop.com.

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On This Day, March 17, 1984…

Van Halen’s sixth studio album, 1984, hit #2 on the Billboard Albums chart and stayed there for five weeks.

The album was denied the top spot by Michael Jackson’s Thriller – which features guest guitar work from Eddie Van Halen on the track “Beat It.”

While 1984 never reached #1, it did go on to sell more than 10 million copies. It featured such classic Van Halen tracks as their only #1 single “Jump,” “Panama,” “Hot For Teacher” and “I’ll Wait.”

1984 was the last Van Halen album to feature original frontman David Lee Roth, until 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth. It was also the last full-length album to feature all four original members of Van Halen, as bassist Michael Anthony was replaced by Eddie’s son Wolfgang Van Halen on the 2012 album.

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Rod Stewart is returning for more Las Vegas shows.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has announced six new dates for his The Encore Shows residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, running from Sept. 24 through Oct. 4.

A presale for tickets begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT, with tickets going on sale to the general public starting Friday at 10 a.m. PT.

Stewart launched The Encore Shows on March 13, which was also his 200th residency show at the Colosseum. He was originally supposed to play his 200th show in August of 2024 as part of his Rod Stewart: The Hits residency, but had to cancel the show after he came down with strep throat.

Rod’s next Vegas show is happening Friday. A complete list of dates can be found at RodStewart.com.

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The Moody Blues’ Justin Hayward is out with some new music.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has released a two-track digital-only single that includes an orchestral rendition of the Dream Academy tune “Life in a Northern Town,” which he recorded with singer-songwriter, producer and conductor Mike Batt. The tune features Hayward on lead vocals, backed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The release also includes a live performance of The Moody Blues song “Hope and Pray” taken from a Kent, Ohio, performance on Justin’s Blue World tour.

The original “Life in a Northern Town” was the debut single from the British band Dream Academy. It was released in March 1985 and went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Hayward is getting ready to head out on another leg of his Blue World tour, which has him playing songs from throughout his career and sharing stories about those tunes. The trek kicks off April 15 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and wraps May 20 in San Francisco.

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

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Jack White and Eddie Vedder were rocking together in Japan.

The Pearl Jam frontman made a surprise appearance during the “Seven Nation Army” artist’s show in Tokyo on Saturday and joined him for a collaborative performance of Neil Young‘s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

That the two would jam together on that particular song seemed almost inevitable. Pearl Jam has long covered “Rockin’ in the Free World” during their live shows, while White just played it during February’s SNL50: The Homecoming Concert special, which also featured Vedder.

Eddie’s wife Jill Vedder also posted footage of White’s show from backstage, capturing his performance of the White Stripes song “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.”

White is currently touring in support of his latest solo album, No Name. Following a second show in Tokyo on Monday, he’ll return to the U.S. for a run of dates beginning in April.

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Pearl Jam and Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron has released a new EP with singer Shaina Shepherd.

The EP is called New Beginning and includes five tracks. 

If Shaina’s name sounds familiar, that’s probably because she played alongside Cameron and fellow surviving Soundgarden members Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd during a reunion performance at a December benefit concert. She handled vocals in place of the late Chris Cornell, who died in 2017.

Following the benefit concert, Shaina dismissed the idea of joining Soundgarden permanently, saying, “Soundgarden is a revolutionary band that changed my life, your life, the world. I could never front Soundgarden.”

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Envy of None, the band featuring Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, is sharing another new single off their upcoming sophomore album, Stygian Wavz, which drops March 28.

The latest is the track “The Story,” which songwriter and vocalist Maiah Wynne says is about “wanting to be better, to grow, and the sense of desperation that comes with that desire.”

“To me, the song is about the struggle of not being able to break bad cycles. I had been stuck for a very long time and was trying to be better,” she says. “Whether it’s habits, addiction, self-sabotage, or just unhealthy patterns, we all are trapped by something we are trying to break away from. If I had the power to write my own story, I’d want to be the hero, but so often I am my own villain.”

You can listen to “The Story” now via digital outlets and watch the accompanying video on YouTube.

This is the fourth song Envy of None has released from Stygian Wavz, following “Under the Stars,” “Not Dead Yet” and the title track.

Stygian Wavz is available for preorder now.

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Bruce Springsteen fans are anxiously awaiting the upcoming movie Deliver Me From Nowhere, in which The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White plays The Boss — and it sounds like they aren’t going to be disappointed.

While Springsteen has already said in interviews that he was impressed with White’s portrayal, one of the actors in the film, comedian Marc Maron, is sharing just how well White pulled off the role.

In an interview with Collider, Maron talks about White doing his own singing in the film and shares, “[T]here were times when Bruce didn’t know whether what he was listening to was him or Jeremy. It’s a good story, man.”

Maron plays a recording engineer named Chuck Plotkin in the film, directed by Scott Cooper, noting it’s a “very small part, but the guy is pivotal in the story.” He adds that the best part about doing the role was getting to hang out on set with Bruce and his manger Jon Landau, who is played in the film by Jeremy Strong.

“The real perk of doing that movie was Strong is playing Jon Landau, and White is playing Bruce, but Bruce and Jon, the real ones, were just out at Video Village,” he says. “They were hanging out the whole time. So, Scott would yell cut, and then you’d just go hang out with Bruce for a while. So, that was pretty great.”

He adds, “So anytime you had a minute to get off the set, you’d just go ask Bruce some questions.”

Deliver Me From Nowhere follows Springsteen’s efforts to make his 1982 solo album Nebraska. The film is based on Warren Zanes‘ book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.

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Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ first-ever live album is finally getting a full U.S. release to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Saturnight: Live from Tokyo, recorded on June 22, 1974, at Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo, was originally only released in Japan, but will now get its first full release in the U.S. on May 2. While it was made available in the U.S. as a limited-edition Record Store Day exclusive vinyl in November, it will now be released digitally and on CD, vinyl and limited-edition lava splatter vinyl.

The CD will include a 16-page booklet with lyrics, as well as notes from some of the people who were there, including bassist Bruce Lynch and Stevens’ 1974 tour manager, Carl Miller. The vinyl version will come in a gatefold sleeve with the same lyrics and notes.

The live album includes performances of songs like “Wild World,” “Oh Very Young,” “Where Do the Children Play,” “Lady D’Arbanville,” “Peace Train” and “Father & Son.” It also features the first live performance of Stevens’ rendition of Sam Cooke‘s “Another Saturday Night,” which would go on to become a top-10 hit.

And fans can now get a taste of that concert with the release of Stevens’ live performance of “King of Trees,” from the album Buddha and the Chocolate Box, which is available via digital outlets.

Saturnight: Live from Tokyo is available for preorder now.

And speaking of live performances … Yusuf/Cat Stevens has a big live show on the books for 2025. He’s set to open for Neil Young at his BST Hyde Park show in London on July 11. Van Morrison is also on the bill.

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Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Graham Nash is blasting a New Jersey resident who used one of his most iconic lyrics to share what Nash calls “hate and intolerance.”

The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young singer took to his Instagram Story to respond to a sign that read “boys have a penis, girls have a vagina,” along with “Teach your children well … Crosby, Stills & Nash.”

“It has come to my attention that a vile individual in NJ has this sign in his yard with a quote from my song Teach Your Children,” Nash writes. “I want to make it abundantly clear that I do not support this kind of hate and intolerance and that this is a disgusting message that has nothing to do with my song.”

He adds, “A sign like this is meant to exclude and shame people which is the very opposite of the message that I spread throughout my music.”

Nash reiterated his support for the transgender community, noting he “would never seek to make them feel less than or ashamed of being who they are.”

Finally he writes, “If you teach your children anything, let it be compassion and understanding. Especially of anyone who might not be exactly like them.”

“Teach Your Children” was released in 1970 and appeared on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album Déjà Vu. It peaked at #16 on the Hot 100 chart, but went on to be one of the band and Nash’s signatures tunes.

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