John Fogerty headlines NPR ‘Tiny Desk’ concert series

January 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

John Fogerty is the latest artist to take part in NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, joined by his sons Tyler Fogerty and Shane Fogerty, treated the audience to five songs, starting with the classic “Proud Mary,” which he called “the first good song I wrote.”

He explains that he wrote the song in 1968 after receiving an honorable discharge from the Army Reserve.

“I opened my discharge [papers] up, and I was really, really, really happy,” he said. “I went right in the house, picked up my Rickenbacker guitar and started strumming, and the very first line that came out of me was, ‘Left a good job in the city. Workin’ for the man every night and day.'”

The set list also included “Change in the Weather,” “A Hundred and Ten in the Shade,” “Long As I Can See the Light” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain.”

Fogerty will be heading to Las Vegas later this year. He’ll launch a three-show residency at Planet Hollywood on March 18. A complete list of dates can be found at JohnFogerty.com.

Hollywood Vampires schedule first tour in three years

January 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Hollywood Vampires are set to rise once more.

The band of Alice Cooper, Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry and actor Johnny Depp has announced a tour of the U.K. and Europe, marking their first live shows in three years. The outing begins Aug. 12 in London and runs into the beginning of September.

Openers include The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Damned, depending on the date.

“We’re looking forward to incredible crowds, massive energy and more unforgettable nights,” the Vampires say. “See you all soon!”

Presales begin Jan. 20 at 10 a.m. local time, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Jan. 23 at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit HollywoodVampires.com.

Hollywood Vampires have released two albums, 2015’s self-titled debut and 2019’s Rise, featuring a mix of covers and original material.

The Who to release ‘Quadrophenia’ on high-fidelity audio Blu-ray

January 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

The Who is set to reissue their 1973 rock opera, Quadrophenia, with high-fidelity audio.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will release the album on SDE Blu-Ray audio, which will contain 2025 Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and Stereo mixes by longtime associate Richard Whittaker.

The Blu-ray also includes instrumental mixes of the album in Atmos, 5.1 and Stereo; the Quadrophenia 5.1 EP previously released as part of the 2011 Quadrophenia Director’s Cut box set; and the 2013 Stereo remaster of the album.

Quadrophenia on SDE Blu-ray will be released Feb. 27 and is available for preorder from now until Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. ET.

Released in 1973, Quadrophenia was The Who’s second full rock opera following 1969’s Tommy. It featured such classic songs as “The Real Me,” “Love, Reign O’er Me” and “5:15.”

Set in Brighton, England, in 1965, the story follows a young working-class mod named Jimmy on a journey of self-discovery. The album’s title was inspired by Jimmy’s four-way “split personality,” with each member of the band representing a different facet of his personality.

On This Day, Jan. 16, 2016: Bruce Springsteen celebrates ‘The River’ with new tour

January 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, Jan. 16, 2016…

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band launched The River Tour in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The trek was in support of 2015’s The Ties That Bind: The River Collection box set, marking the 35th anniversary of The Boss’ fifth studio album, which was released in 1980.

The tour was the first time in two years that Springsteen and The E Street Band headed out on the road. It featured them performing The River double album in sequence and in its entirety.

The River Tour comprised of 89 shows across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, wrapping Feb. 25, 2017, in Auckland, New Zealand.

It featured Springsteen’s longest concert in the U.S.: a four-hour, four-minute performance in Philadelphia on Sept. 7, 2016. That show was also his second-longest ever, just behind a 2012 concert in Helsinki, Finland, which was two minutes longer.

It’s 2026: Why is ‘Rumours’ still one of America’s bestselling albums?

January 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Luminate, whose data powers the Billboard charts, has revealed 2025’s top-10 bestselling vinyl albums, with Fleetwood Mac‘s 1977 album Rumours landing at #6. The project also placed at #16 on the Billboard 200 for the week of Jan. 17. In his new book Don’t Stop, Alan Light explores why Rumours resonates with new generations of fans.

“I think if you had sat down the music establishment on Dec. 31, 1979, and said, ‘Here are the five biggest records of the decade…50 years from now, which of these is gonna stand up the strongest and are young people gonna be listening to?,’ not one person would have said Rumors,” he told ABC Audio.

A key reason, Light argues, is that Rumours has inspired several pop cultural moments, from a Glee episode and the TikTok video of the guy lip-syncing to “Dreams” to the plots of Daisy Jones & the Six and the play Stereophonic.

Another reason is Fleetwood Mac’s lineup of three singers/songwriters: Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham. “For kids who didn’t grow up listening to albums as albums, having one guy singing at you for 45 minutes is maybe a lot for their patience,” he says.

Light notes that the “constantly shifting” perspectives, voices and sounds on Rumours make it sound less like an album and more like a playlist, a format young people are used to. The dominance of women on the project also align with today’s pop music, which he says is largely “defined by female artists.”

That resonance helps explain why young fans want to physically own the album.

“There is something about the mystique, the aura, the feeling [of Rumours] that makes these young listeners … want to have it near them,” Light says. “Several of [them] said, ‘I don’t have a turntable, but I want to make sure that when I get one, the first thing that I play on it will be Rumours.'”

Iconic Van Morrison albums launch new Acoustic Sounds anniversary series

January 16, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Two of Van Morrison’s iconic albums, 1968’s Astral Weeks and 1970’s Moondance, are the first releases of the new Acoustic Sounds 40th Anniversary Series, part of a partnership between Analogue Productions and Rhino Records.

Every album released in the series will be cut from the original analog tapes, or the best available source, to offer exceptional quality and sound. They will all be pressed on 180-gram black vinyl, with some also offered on super audio CD.

Following the January release of the Van Morrison albums, the series picks up again in March, with two albums released each month. The complete series will be made up of 40 titles, with future releases from artists like Genesis, Foghat, Little Feat, America, the Ramones and more.

Astral Weeks and Moondance are both available for preorder now. There is also the option to subscribe to the whole series; the first 400 customers will receive numbered LPs, with each month’s release marked with the same number.

Paul McCartney pays tribute to Bob Weir: ‘A great musician who inspired many people of many generations’

January 15, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Paul McCartney is the latest artist to pay tribute to the late Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, whose death at age 78 was announced on Saturday.

“Bob Weir was a great musician who inspired many people of many generations,” McCartney writes on Instagram. “I last saw Bob when we went to the Sphere in Las Vegas to watch Dead and Co. He was very welcoming and during the interval in the show he invited us into his trailer, and it was a special moment to meet his family and friends.”

McCartney writes about Weir showing him how he was set up to record music in the back of his bus while on tour, and how that almost led to a collaboration.

“I offered to play the bass on one of the tracks he played me but unfortunately that never came to pass,” McCartney notes.

“His humour, friendship and musicianship inspired me and will inspire many people into the future,” he continues. “Our family’s thoughts go out to Bob’s family at this time of loss, and I know they will remain as strong as he would wish them to be.”

McCartney signed the tribute, “God bless you Bob. See you down the road. Love Paul.”

New book highlights Beatles producer George Martin’s famous scores

January 15, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

A new book about legendary Beatles producer George Martin‘s work is being released in celebration of what would have been his 100th birthday.

George Martin: The Scores is described as “the first-ever definitive collection of the legendary producer’s original music manuscripts.”

The three-volume book will be released in April. It contains a forward by Paul McCartney, as well as full-sized reproductions of Martin’s handwritten scores, including those for songs like “Yesterday,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Here Comes the Sun” and “Live and Let Die.” The book also contains commentary, and new orchestral recordings from Abbey Road Studios, which “allows the reader to experience Martin’s arrangements on their own.”

“It’s a book of art, if you like, because his scores are very beautiful,” Martin’s son Giles Martin tells Rolling Stone. “There’s a fluidity to it. There’s a vibrancy to looking at that music on a page.”

The project was in development before Martin’s death in 2016 at age 90. He would have turned 100 on Jan. 3.

George Martin: The Scores is being released in three different formats — standard edition, deluxe edition and signature edition — with varying bonus material. Among the extras is documentary footage from the orchestral recording sessions in the deluxe and signature editions, with the latter also including a signature page signed by George at the beginning of the project.

All three are available for preorder now.

Mia McKenna-Bruce says Sam Mendes’ Beatles films are ‘absolutely next level’

January 15, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Actress Mia McKenna-Bruce is set to play Ringo Starr’s late wife Maureen Starkey in Sam Mendes’ The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, and she certainly sounds excited by the project.

She tells Variety that her experience on the project so far has been “absolutely next level,” noting that a read through with the cast was “really emotional, because the scripts are so beautiful.”

The films star Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo. McKenna-Bruce says the first time she saw them in their roles she didn’t recognize them, noting, “it was phenomenal.”

“They’ve done it beautifully in getting it bang on for the Beatles, but still holding on to the essences of the boys themselves as well. They’re all genius,” she continues. “And the boys have gone tenfold into playing these roles and know them inside out and back to front — they will question everything in the scripts to make sure it tells the right story. And Sam knows everything there is to know about the Beatles.”

As for what she’s learned about her character, McKenna-Bruce says Maureen was “loved by all the Beatles boys.”

“If she went into a room or party, she’d be the person that would go over to whoever was sat on their own — she wanted to make everyone felt included and was just a really good human,” she says. She adds that Maureen preferred to stay at home and “stayed out of the Beatlemania.”

And while McKenna-Bruce isn’t allowed to say much more about the films, due out in April 2028, she wishes she could.

“I just cannot wait for people to see this, because I really need to scream about it,” she says.

See Rod Stewart lead a pub sing-along in Scotland

January 15, 2026 by Classic Rock 93.9

Rod Stewart will sing anywhere — even in a Scottish pub on a weeknight.

The Glasgow Times reports that Rod was in the Scottish city of Falkirk on Wednesday to watch his favorite soccer team, Celtic, play. In video shared on the Instagram Story of his Wolfie’s whisky brand, Rod can be seen doing karaoke to the song “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, accompanied by his son Alastair Stewart and others.

According to the paper, as he left the pub Rod hugged one of the customers and said, “Cheers everybody, God bless.”

Rod released his version of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” as the first single from his 2006 album, Still the Same… Great Rock Classics of Our Time, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

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