Classic Rock News

Queen guitarist Brian May revealed in September that he was recovering from a “minor stroke” that initially left him with no control over his left arm, but according to his wife, actress Anita Dobson, his health now seems to be back on track.

According to The Mirror, while speaking at a Christmas lunch held in London by the Television and Radio Industries Club, Dobson let fans know that her hubby is doing okay.

“He’s much better now, he’s stabilized now, which is brilliant,” she shared. “He’s got the use of that arm, which was a bit of a challenge, back now.” 

While Dobson noted that she was worried about “more reoccurrences,” she said May is “good to go now.”

“He’s playing the piano quite a lot in the house,” she said. “He likes a lot of Beethoven. I love it – the piano in the house is really, just very relaxing.”

Dobson added that the whole thing is scary.

“And also being a genius for someone like that. His brain’s overloaded, that’s what it is,” she said. “He’s too clever for his own good.”

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Pearl Jam has announced a U.S. tour for 2025.

The headlining outing runs from April 24 in Hollywood, Florida, to May 18 in Pittsburgh. In between, it’ll stop in Atlanta, Nashville and Raleigh, North Carolina, with two shows in every city.

Tickets will go on sale through Ticketmaster’s Artist Presale program on Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. local time. You can register to participate in the sale now through Dec. 10 at 10 a.m. PT.

Members of PJ’s Ten Club can access a presale now.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit PearlJam.com.

Pearl Jam will be touring in continued support of their new album, Dark Matter, which was released in April.

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On This Day, Dec. 5, 1974…

Paul McCartney and Wings released their third album, Band on the Run, which became a huge hit and to this day remains McCartney’s most successful non-Beatles album.

The album produced two hits, the title track and “Jet,” and went to #1 in the U.S. and the U.K.

The cover depicted McCartney, his wife Linda, and guitarist Denny Laine posing with actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee, British boxer John Conteh, U.K. broadcasters Michael Parkinson and Clement Freud, and English entertainer Kenny Lynch, all dressed as escaped convicts.

To celebrate the anniversary, McCartney released a special 50th anniversary edition of the album in February.

The reissue reentered the Billboard 200 at #156, and landed in the top 10 on three other Billboard charts: the Top Album Sales chart, where it reentered at #5; the Vinyl Albums chart, where it debuted at #7; and the Tastemaker Albums chart, where it hit #6. It also debuted at #37 on the Rock & Alternative Albums chart.

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Timothée Chalamet can’t quite believe that Bob Dylan has commented about his portrayal of Dylan in the upcoming film A Complete Unknown.

On Wednesday, Dylan tweeted about the film, noting that Timothée is “a brilliant actor,” adding, “so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me.” 

Well, now Timothée has responded to Dylan with a tweet of his own, writing, “Floored. I am so grateful. Thank you Bob.”

A Complete Unknown follows a 19-year-old Dylan as he arrives in New York from Minnesota and tracks his rise as a folk singer during the ’60s, ending with his electric rock ‘n’ roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. 

The film, directed by James Mangold, opens in theaters Dec. 25, with special early IMAX screenings starting Dec. 18.

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He’s always in a New York State of Mind, but Billy Joel will be playing New Jersey next summer for the first time in years.

He and Stevie Nicks have booked an Aug. 8 show at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It’ll mark the first time he’s played a show in the area since 2002, and his first outdoor show there since he played that stadium — then known as Giants Stadium — in 1994.

As for Stevie, this will be the first time she’s played New Jersey as a solo artist since 2012. For both, it’ll be their only appearance together in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut in 2025.

Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. via LiveNation.com. A Citi card presale starts Dec. 9 at 10 a.m. ET via citientertainment.com.

Billy and Stevie are also set to play together March 29 at Detroit’s Ford Field. Billy and Sting have several stadium dates booked for next year as well.

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A long in the works Led Zeppelin documentary is finally set to hit theaters.

The film, Becoming Led Zeppelin will open exclusively in IMAX theaters on Feb. 7, with a one night only early access screening to take place Feb. 5 in 18 markets, including New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.

Becoming Led Zeppelin is a film fans have been waiting for for a long time. In fact, it first premiered as a work-in-progress at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the rights to the completed film in May. 

The movie, described as a “hybrid docu-concert film,” is the first officially sanctioned documentary about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group.

As for why it took so long to complete, it seems the filmmakers had a hard time finding early footage of the band, and had to search for material to use for the project.

“We spent five years flying back and forth across the Atlantic scouring attics and basements in pursuit of rare and unseen film footage, photographs and music recordings,” writer/producer Allison McGourty explains. “Then we transferred each piece of media with custom techniques, so that in IMAX, these 55-year-old clips and music would look and sound like they came out of the lab yesterday.”

Director Bernard MacMahon adds, “The cinematic power of IMAX paired with the film’s authentic sound creates an immersive and transportive viewing experience letting audiences feel like they are there, in the venues with the band.” 

Tickets for Becoming Led Zeppelin are on sale now.

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Peter Frampton, Patti Smith and Neil Young are among the artists who have donated one-of-a-kind memorabilia to the ASCAP Foundation’s fourth annual Holiday Auction. 

Frampton, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, has donated a signed black Les Paul Gibson guitar, while Young has donated a framed and signed cover of his 2019 book To Feel the Music, and Smith has offered up a set of signed books and music.

Other items that are part of the auction include two tickets and a VIP experience to a Graham Nash concert in 2025, a G3 reunion album signed by Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani, a signed copy of Bernie Taupin’s memoir Scattershot, and signed music and merchandise from Huey Lewis and the News.

The auction is open from now until Dec. 18 at charitybuzz.com. Proceeds will benefit ASCAP’s mission to support the next generation of songwriters and composers, with the money going to music education and talent development programs across the country.

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Yoko Ono never remarried after John Lennon was killed in December 1980, and in a new interview, the couple’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, said his mother “never has moved on from that relationship.”

Sean made the revelation as he was talking to BBC Radio 6 Music host Chris Hawkins about what he learned putting together the box set for his dad’s 1973 album, Mind Games, which was released earlier this year.

He noted that even though his parents separated after the making of the album — Lennon went on to have a relationship with May Pang, in what was called Lennon’s Lost Weekend — his mom and dad still loved each other.

“The truth is, even when they were apart they were always talking, so I don’t think they ever really broke up. All his stuff was still in the apartment with my mum, it’s not like they had a real separation,” he said. “And on top of it, all my dad was thinking about was her.” 

He added, “You look at the album cover [of Mind Games], it’s a collage of my mum literally the size of a mountain, and he’s this little tiny thing sort of fading into the background. And I think it’s clear what his view of my mum was in his life.”

Sean noted, “She was monumental, obviously. And the whole album is about her.”

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Nudedragons, an alias previously used by Soundgarden, are set to perform at an upcoming Seattle benefit concert.

The show, dubbed SMooCH, takes place Dec. 14 and raises money for the Seattle Children’s Hospital. The SMooCH website teases that “Nudedragons will be returning to the stage … for the first time in 14+ years” for a “brief encore performance,” which will feature guest vocals from Seattle musician Shaina Shepherd.

Soundgarden last performed as Nudedragons in 2010, which marked their first reunion show since breaking up in 1997.

Presumably, the lineup for the SMooCH performance will include surviving members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd. Frontman Chris Cornell died in 2017.

Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan is also on the bill.

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Alex Van Halen opened up about coping with the death of his brother, Eddie Van Halen, in an interview with Anderson Cooper for his CNN podcast, All There Is With Anderson Cooper.

“I’m grieving all the time. I’m not running from it, because that doesn’t solve the problem,” Alex shared. “At times, it can be overwhelming, and the more I dwell on it, the more complicated it becomes.” 

Although Eddie had been battling cancer for years, Alex said, “None of us really thought he was going to die.”

“He’d always bounced back. He had the most incredible DNA that I’ve ever seen in anybody,” he said. “He could do more and more drugs than anybody, and still wake up the next day and perform.”

He noted, “I don’t think anybody really thought he was gonna die. So when he passed, it was really a shock.”

Alex says even Eddie didn’t think he was going to die.

“Being human, you think you’re gonna go on one more day, one more day. You keep going forward,” he said. “But then one day you don’t. So up to the very end, we were still making music and we talked about, what are we gonna do next year? But it was clear that he was going downhill.” 

Alex also talked about his final moments with Eddie in the hospital.

“All I know is that when he stopped breathing, I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t see anything. There were no bells. There were no angels,” he says, noting that because of the COVID-19 pandemic Eddie’s body was immediately taken away. “[It was] a very uneventful ending to an eventful life. But you know what? He fought it till the very end. I wanna think of Ed’s life in terms of that he never gave up.”

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