Freddie Mercury‘s birthday will once again be celebrated with a big bash this fall.
The Queen frontman would have turned 79 on Sept. 5, and the band just announced that the Official Freddie Mercury Birthday Party 2025 will take place Sept. 6 at the Casino Barriere in Montreux, about two hours outside of Zurich, Switzerland.
“Mamma Mia, let me go! We will be celebrating ‘A Night At The Opera’ and 50 Years of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’” the band shared on Instagram, referring to their fourth studio album and the classic Queen track that appeared on it. “The dress code for party guests will be WHITE, to reflect the outfits the band wore at the time and the ‘A Night At The Opera album’ cover.”
More information on the party, along with ticket info, will be announced at a later date.
Proceeds from the event will go to The Mercury Phoenix Trust, which raises funds for the fight against HIV/AIDs. It was founded by Queen band members Roger Taylor and Brian May and their manager Jim Beach in memory of Freddie, who died from the disease in 1991.
Dave Grohl‘s reputation as the “nicest guy in rock” took a big hit in 2024 when he revealed he’d cheated on his wife and had a baby with someone else.
Leading up to that bombshell reveal, Grohl and Foo Fighters were having a normally busy year touring the world in support of their latest album, 2023’s But Here We Are. That all changed in September, when Grohl posted on Instagram that he’d “recently become the father of a new baby daughter, born outside of my marriage.”
Grohl married his wife, Jordyn Blum, in 2003, and they share three daughters.
“I plan to be a loving and supportive parent to her,” Grohl wrote. “I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness.”
Foo Fighters later canceled their one remaining show that was scheduled to take place after the announcement.
Perhaps less surprising but no less dramatic was the public demise of Jane’s Addiction. Similar to the Foos, Jane’s looked to have an active 2024 with the return of their classic lineup — frontman Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery — for their first shows together in 14 years. The reunion also spawned the foursome’s first new single in 34 years, “Imminent Redemption.”
Also like the Foos, Jane’s plans came to a screeching halt in September when a show in Boston ended abruptly due to Farrell throwing a punch at Navarro onstage.
The following Monday, Jane’s announced that they were taking “some time away as a group,” while Navarro, Perkins and Avery issued a statement saying that Farrell displayed a “continuing pattern of behavior” and was dealing with “mental health difficulties.” Farrell also apologized for his “inexcusable behavior.”
Days later, a new Jane’s song, ironically titled “True Love,” was released, though the band remained on hiatus.
Between Grohl cheating and Jane’s fighting, 2024 was a rough year for vets of the ’90s alternative rock scene. The era also lost a seminal figure in Steve Albini, who died in May. Known for working on Nirvana‘s In Utero, Albini also engineered — a term he preferred to “produced” — albums by Pixies, PJ Harvey, Bush and The Breeders.
Still, 2024 wasn’t all bad for ’90s rockers. Pearl Jam returned with a new album, Dark Matter, and staged a successful tour where nobody punched each other onstage.
When Alex Van Halen released his memoir, Brothers, in October, the book failed to include anything about the Sammy Hagar years of Van Halen, with Alex only writing, “[W]e had a lot of other singers over the years.”
In fact, in an interview with Rolling Stone he insisted that when it comes to Van Halen, “the heart and the soul and the creativity and the magic was Dave, Ed, Mike and me,” referring to the band’s original members, him and brother Eddie Van Halen, frontman David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony.
Well, Sammy appears to be clapping back at Alex’s disregard for his contribution to the band.
The rocker made his feelings known in the comments section of an Instagram post featuring a picture of him and Eddie, which he captioned “walking to the stage in the good old days. #1990s#vanhalen I needed to see this photo today to close out this year.”
The post spawned a few comments from fans, with one sharing, “No disrespect to Alex but it’s ok to like VH with Sammy, even if he doesn’t anymore,” while another countered with, “Most purists believe VH ended with DLR.”
The latter post prompted Hagar to argue why that’s not true, writing, “It could have my friend, but instead we went on to sell over 50 million records for (sic) No. 1 album(s) sold out every building and stadium in the world for a whole decade. That never happened again.”
He added, “Alex is not doing his brother’s musical legacy justice by not acknowledging all the No. 1 albums and some great music Eddie and I wrote together – not Alex – but Eddie and I wrote together. To not acknowledge 10 years of music is blasphemy to his brother’s musicianship, songwriting & legacy.”
It looks like we may be getting a new album from The Doobie Brothers in 2025.
In a year-end note posted to Facebook, founding member Patrick Simmons reveals that they’re almost finished with a new record, Walk This Road, sharing it’s a “goal we’ve set for 2025.”
“This train keeps rollin’ down the track and we’re almost ready to release our new album Walk This Road sometime after the first of the year,” reads the post. “We have 10 new songs sung by Tom, Michael, and Pat,” referring to his fellow members Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald.
“The three of us wrote songs and collaborated together. We had a lot of fun recording it and we feel very proud of the results,” the note adds. “We’ll probably debut a song soon after the first of the year and the full album will follow sometime in the Spring/Summer.”
Walk This Road will be the first new release from The Doobie Brothers since 2021’s Liberté, and the first full album of original material with McDonald since 1980’s One Step Closer.
“Once again we want to wish you and your families Happy Holidays and a Peaceful New Year. May 2025 bring you all health and happiness in abundance,” the post concludes. “We look forward to seeing you in your town next year.”
Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash in Sheffield, England.
After trying to pass a driver who had been taunting him on the road, Allen lost control of his vehicle, hitting a wall. His arm wound up getting caught in the seat belt and was severed.
While doctors initially tried to reattach the arm, it later had to be amputated due to infection.
Allen’s career as a drummer looked in doubt, but he eventually learned to play again on a specially designed electronic drum kit.
Allen and Def Leppard returned to the stage for his first concert following the accident on Aug. 16, 1986, at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Castle Donington, England.
He continues to perform with Def Leppard, with the band’s next show scheduled for Jan. 11 at the Harvest Nights Festival in Immokalee, Florida.
For years music fans have wondered when Foreigner and Peter Frampton were going to get recognized by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and this year they got their answer.
Both Foreigner, which has been eligible since 2002, and Frampton, who’s been eligible since 1997, finally got chosen for induction, thanks to not only fan support but the backing of some big-name artists — especially in the case of Foreigner.
That was evident when producer Mark Ronson, stepson of Foreigner founder Mick Jones, put together a star-studded video pushing for the band’s induction, with Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, GunsN’ Roses guitarist Slash, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and even Paul McCartney among the artists featured in the clip.
At the induction, which took place in October in Cleveland, Sammy Hagar welcomed Foreigner into the Rock Hall and performed in their honor, with Slash,Smith and Demi Lovato performing, as well. Foreigner’s original frontman, Lou Gramm, also performed, teaming with Kelly Clarkson for “I Want To Know What Love Is,” although prior to the show he made it publicly known he wasn’t happy with the song choice.
And while the night certainly was a celebration for Gramm, Al Green and Rick Wills, absent from the festivities were original members Mick Jones and Dennis Elliott. While Jones skipped the event because of his health — he revealed in 2024 that he has Parkinson’s disease — Elliott claimed he didn’t go because he received the schedule too late. However, Billboard claimed it was because his wife wasn’t allowed to walk the red carpet.
As for Frampton, he was inducted by The Who’s Roger Daltrey and performed two songs, “Something’s Happening” and a particularly shred-heavy version of “Do You Feel Like We Do” alongside Keith Urban.
This year’s other inductees were Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, Kool & The Gang, Dave Matthews Band and Mary J. Blige. The late Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick, MC5 and Motown producer/songwriter Norman Whitfield were inducted in the Music Excellence category. R&B singer Big Mama Thornton, as well as British blues musicians John Mayall and the late Alexis Korner, got in for Musical Influence.
The entire event aired live on Disney+, but if you missed the celebration you can catch a highlight show, 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Jan. 1 on ABC.
The Pretenders’Chrissie Hynde is sharing some of her favorite things about 2024.
“My end of ’24 good wishes to all. I always look forward to a new beginning and here we go. Thanks again to all of you who came to see us on tour,” she wrote in a post on social media. “In case anybody is interested – here’s my personal highlights of ’24.”
Like a lot of folks this year, Chrissie says Taylor Swift gave one of her favorite live performances of 2024, noting the singer’s show at Wembley Stadium in London was “….. Beautiful and inspiring. Timeless music…..(she’s the girl with the guitar).”
As for her favorite movie, that was Conclave, with Chrissie sharing, “I’ve seen it in the cinema 3 times already. Gorgeous thriller. Definitely one for the big screen. Breathtaking visuals and much more,” while her favorite TV show is BBC 2’s Wolf Hall, noting it’s “seriously mind blowing in every way.”
Her favorite documentary was James Brown Mr. Dynamite, saying James Brown “in my opinion, was globally the most influential artist ever.”
She also shared that the favorite show she was involved in this year was the tribute concert to the late Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan, which happened in early December at the Roundhouse in London. She called it, “A heartfelt celebration of the late artist’s music featuring a superb band … and glorious vocalists.”
A Complete Unknown director James Mangold has said in interviews that Bob Dylan gave his input on the film before it began production, and according to one of the film’s producers, Peter Jaysen, that included acting out the film with the director before signing off on the project.
“Bob Dylan had approval over the script. He had meaningful input. He met with Jim Mangold multiple times,” Jaysen revealed during an episode of The Town podcast. “At one point they sat there and they read the entire script out loud, with Jim Mangold reading every part and stage direction, and Bob Dylan only reading lines of dialogue for himself.”
He adds, “Through that process, [Dylan] sat there writing notes on the script. At the end of the last session with Jim Mangold, he signed the script and said, ‘Go with God.’”
But while Jaysen shared how important Dylan’s input was, he also noted that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer “did not have final cut” on the film.
Dylan has since shared his approval of the film on social media, and Jaysen notes, “The Bob Dylan that everyone is seeing interact with the press through a few tweets about A Complete Unknown is essentially the same Bob Dylan that our movie focuses on.”
“He’s an artist who cares more about authenticity and individuality and is not caught up in the hoopla of fame, fortune and all the trappings of success,” he adds.
A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet as Dylan, is in theaters now.
Gov’t Mule is once again set to ring in the new year at New York’s Beacon Theatre, with shows set for Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, and the venue is certainly one place frontman Warren Haynes is familiar with.
“The Beacon Theater is the place that I played more than any place on the planet,” he tells ABC Audio. “I think I’ve played there over 300 times now, which is absolutely crazy.”
Haynes notes that he loves playing there because the Beacon has “a great vibe,” adding that “the New York audience is fantastic.”
“It’s just a fantastic place to play,” he says. “We just always wind up having great shows there.”
Gov’t Mule has been celebrating New Year’s at the Beacon for over 20 years. “It’s kind of become tradition,” Haynes says.
And whether fans come out New Year’s Eve or the night before, it’s always special for him.
“I love the challenge of trying to figure out something crazy every New Year’s,” says Haynes, who released the new solo album Million Voices Whisper in October. “But it’s also nice the night before to just go to relax and not have to think about all this new material that we’re learning.”
Following the New Year’s shows, Haynes has a busy schedule for 2025. Gov’t Mule’s Island Exodus 15 is taking place in Runaway Bay, Jamaica, from Jan. 19 to Jan. 23, and then he’ll kick off a Warren Haynes Band tour on Feb. 7 in Knoxville, Tennessee. A complete list of dates can be found at warrenhaynes.net.
Neil Young has treated fans to another performance of a song he rarely plays live.
Following a recent fireside session, in which he shared a performance of “Silver and Gold,” a song he hadn’t played live since 2007, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has now shared a second fireside session. This time he featured a performance of “Pardon My Heart,” a track from his 1975 album, Zuma.
The latest performance was posted to the Neil Young Archives site, with a message that read, “Hello again folks, Pretty laid back version here. This is our second fireside of the season,” signing off with “Love to all of you, Peace” and “Love Earth, Be well, Neil and Daryl,” the latter being Young’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah.
According to Rolling Stone, Young hasn’t performed “Pardon My Heart” live in 50 years. In fact, he’s only performed the song live two other times: in May 1974, during a surprise set at the Bottom Line in New York, and in August 1974, at a Uniondale, New York, stop on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s reunion tour.
