Classic Rock News

The Rolling Stones have paid tribute to Jamaican reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, who passed away Monday at the age of 81. 

Mick Jagger posted a black-and-white photo on social media of him and Cliff laughing together, writing, “So sad to lose the beautiful voice of Jamaica, Jimmy Cliff.”

Both Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood also posted photos with Cliff. While they were different shots, they appear to have been taken around the same time.

Richards covered Cliff’s hit track “The Harder They Come” in 1993 and wrote about seeing the impact of the movie of the same name, which Cliff starred in.

“Farewell Jimmy, I was in Jamaica when the ‘Harder They Come’ was in every cinema on the island. You could feel the pride and and the love for Jimmy everywhere,” he wrote. “The sweetest voice, the sweetest soul. His music will live with us forever! Heartfelt condolences to his family! One love, Keith @jimmycliff.”

And in his tribute, Wood recalled Cliff’s 1982 album, Special, which he appeared on.

“Very sad news, bless @jimmycliff,” he wrote. “I made an album with him Jimmy in Kingston, Jamaica – a song called ‘Peace Officer’ among others xx.”

And those weren’t the only times The Stones and Cliff collaborated. The reggae star contributed backing vocals to the band’s 1986 album, Dirty Work.

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Guns N’ Roses announced a new world tour on Monday, and they celebrated the news in a big way.

The “Paradise City” rockers enlisted Sky Elements Drone Shows to stage a 500-drone display above Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles Tuesday to draw attention to the news.

The 12-minute show lit up the city with images from the band’s career, including song titles like “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” an image of Slash’s iconic hat, a gun with a rose shooting out of it, a guitar and more, ending with drones spelling out “Guns N’ Roses” and “2026 World Tour.”

“Sky Elements was honored to be a part of the Guns N’ Roses World Tour announcement,” said Kyle Pivnick, vice president at Sky Elements Drone Shows. “With 500 drones flying over the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, it was an iconic moment, and symbolic to the band’s return to the world stage.”

Guns N’ Roses’ 2026 World tour includes a U.S. leg that runs from July 23 in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Sept. 18 in Atlanta. They’ll also play a one-off show in Hollywood, Florida, on May 5 and the Welcome to Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida, on May 7.

A presale begins Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. local time; you can register for access now through Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

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

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While some folks will be headed to the mall on Black Friday to find the best deals, plenty of music fans will be headed to their local record store to nab some special releases for the annual Record Store Day Black Friday event.

This year there will be over 170 releases at independent record stores across the country. Here are some to look out for: 

Bob Dylan will be represented with two new releases, including The Original Free Wheelin’ Bob Dylan, which features four songs that Columbia Records execs pulled from the original 1963 album. There will also be a 7-inch single of “Masters of War,” recorded in Alan Lomax’s apartment in 1962, that includes a conversation between Dylan and Lomax on the B-side.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ live collection The Live Anthology – From The Vaults Vol. 1 will be released on turquoise blue vinyl, marking its first-ever vinyl release.

Fleetwood Mac is releasing Fleetwood Mac: Live 1975 on vinyl for the first time. The album features recordings from the band’s 1975 tour and is being released as a limited-edition crystal clear vinyl.

Grateful Dead has three releases, including a recording of their Oct. 4 & 6, 1980, concerts at The Warfield in San Francisco, which will be released on both limited-edition vinyl and CD. They will also release the live album On A Back Porch Vol. 2, a collaboration between The Dead and Dogfish Head Brewery.

RSD Black Friday 2025 will also feature releases from Billy Joel, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Van Halen, Ramones, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Robbie Robertson, Sammy Hagar, Elton John and Brandi Carlile and more.

For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.

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During Foo Fighters‘ performance on Amazon Music Live in October, Dave Grohl and company performed in the round on the floor without any elevation. Now the Foos are giving an inside look at how the show came together.

The “Everlong” rockers have shared hand-drawn pictures of the stage design, presumably created by Grohl. A drawing of the overhead view shows where each of the members would stand around drummer Ilan Rubin.

You can check out the drawings via the Foo Fighters Facebook.

Grohl previously took to pen and paper to bring his stage ideas to life when he created a hand-drawn image of the elaborate throne that he sat in during the Foos’ 2015 tour after breaking his leg at a show earlier that year.

Perhaps Grohl is currently drawing the stage setup for Foo Fighters’ 2026 stadium tour, which launches in the U.S. in August.

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Warren Haynes is revisiting his 1993 debut solo album, Tales of Ordinary Madness.

The Gov’t Mule frontman is releasing a remixed and remastered version of the album on Jan. 30, featuring one bonus track, “Tear Me Down,” which didn’t appear on the original album.

And Haynes is previewing the release with the remixed version of the album’s opening track, “Fire in the Kitchen,” which is now available via digital outlets.

Tales of Ordinary Madness is available for preorder now.

The album, co-produced by Haynes and Allman Brothers Band‘s Chuck Leavell, was originally released in March 1993. Since then Haynes has released several solo records, his most recent being 2024’s Million Voices Whisper.

Haynes is set to hit the road on an 11-date intimate solo tour starting Feb. 12 in Grass Valley, California, and wrapping Feb. 26 in Pelham, Tennessee. He’ll also be going on tour with the Warren Haynes Band starting March 1 in Birmingham, Alabama, and wrapping March 7 in Ithaca, New York.

Next up, Haynes will headline his annual Christmas Jam on Dec. 13 in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. The lineup includes Stone Temple Pilots and MJ Lenderman & The Wind, along with a special Christmas Jam tribute to Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, featuring Haynes, Lesh’s son Grahame Lesh, Widespread Panic‘s Jimmy Herring and more.

A complete list of dates can be found at WarrenHaynes.net.

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The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan appears on the latest episode of the viral online show Track Star.

On Track Star, host Jack Coyne asks guests to identify different songs as quickly as possible.

The songs that Corgan is played include “Shout It Out Loud” by KISS, “Limelight” by Rush and “Disorder” by Joy Division. Toward the end of the episode, Corgan learns that there are two separate bands called Goose and Geese.

“They should have a fight,” Corgan suggests. “It should be Goose versus Geese, and winner take all.”

Corgan is currently playing a run of shows at the Lyric Opera of Chicago celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Pumpkins album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 

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Artists including Dave Mason and Steve Hackett are taking part in the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund holiday auction.

Mason, former guitarist for Traffic, has donated a signed Fender Player II Stratocaster in red, while former Genesis guitarist Hackett has also signed a guitar for the auction.

Also up for bid are instruments signed by George Thorogood & The Destroyers, The Black Keys, Hozier, Dream Theater and more, as well as a signed Pearl Jam poster, and tickets to shows by bands like Bring Me The Horizon, Three Days Grace, Third Eye Blind and Dropkick Murphys.

The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides “financial assistance to musicians and music industry workers who are facing illness, disability, or age-related challenges,” according to a press release.

“Wow, another year of incredible generosity from our music industry supporters!” says Sweet Relief Executive Director Aric Steinberg. “All of the proceeds will help us to continue to provide a safety net for musicians and music industry professionals in need of physical or mental health care.”

The auction will be hosted by the site Fandiem. Visit Fandiem.com for more info.

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ZZ Top frontman Billy F Gibbons will once again be celebrating his birthday in Los Angeles.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has announced dates for his annual Birthday Jam, with the shows taking place Dec. 18, 19 and 20 at the Troubadour. Gibbons will be joined at the shows by a trio of guests, including guitarist Orianthi on Dec. 18, The Doors’ Robby Krieger on Dec. 19 and guitarist Joe Bonamassa on Dec. 20.

Tickets for all shows are on sale now.

This isn’t the first time Gibbons has held his Birthday Jam in Los Angeles. In fact, in the announcement he shared photos of last year’s concerts, giving fans an idea of what to expect. Those photos included guests like Guns N’ Roses’ guitarist Slash, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Orianthi and others.

In addition to the birthday concerts, Gibbons is set to headline his annual The Jungle Show blues concerts on Dec. 26 and 27 at Antone’s in Austin, Texas. Gibbons will be joined at the shows by fellow musicians Jimmie Vaughan, Mike “The Drifter” Flanigin and Chris “Whipper” Layton.

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Elton John has left touring behind him, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped playing live. He tells Variety he’s done 11 private shows this year, plus a few public ones, like his show at the London Palladium with Brandi Carlile. In 2026 he’ll headline the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil on Sept. 7.

In an Instagram video, Elton says he’s doing the gig because he felt he’d let his Brazilian fans down by not including the country on his farewell tour. He promises a “fantastic show” that he’s “really, really looking forward to.”

Elton is also looking forward to getting in the studio and making his next album, a follow-up to his Grammy-nominated collab with Brandi, Who Believes In Angels?

“I just can’t wait to go into the studio now and write some new songs. … I’ve got seven new lyrics from Bernie [Taupin] … and they’re really, really good,” he tells Variety. He specifically wants the new album to reflect what’s happening in music now.

“The album with Brandi, it’s a timeless record, but it’s not of its time,” he explains. “We just wanted to make a record that we loved, with great songs. That was a yesterday record, and it was fantastic. But there is a part of me that wants to do a much more commercial record and do more Bernie Taupin songs that are more of today than yesterday.”

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Paul McCartney’s Got Back tour has attracted some celebrity fans.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer shared photos on Instagram from recent tour stops in San Antonio, New Orleans, Atlanta and Nashville, with pop star Sabrina Carpenter making a cameo in one of the photos. She even commented on the post, “best show ever,” with three heart emojis.

According to the McCartney tour blog on his website, Carpenter attended the rocker’s show in Nashville on Nov. 6. And she wasn’t the only celeb in attendance, with the blog noting that former Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars, Kacey Musgraves, Robyn Hitchcock and Wilco’s Pat Sansone were spotted at the show.

McCartney kicked off this leg of his Got Back tour back in September. He’s set to wrap the tour on Tuesday with his second night at Chicago’s United Center.

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