Classic Rock News

Billy Joel and Aerosmith are among the latest artists sharing tributes to legendary music executive Clive Davis, who passed away Monday at the age of 94.

Joel shared a clip on Instagram from a 1974 interview where Davis talks about signing him.

“Clive Davis convinced me to sign with Columbia Records many years ago,” Joel wrote in the caption. “He recognized the talent of great musicians and understood the power of contemporary music,” noting, “I will always be grateful to Clive for his recognition of the critical importance of songwriting.”

Aerosmith shared a clip of the song “No Surprize,” about how they got their big break. In the track, they sing about Davis telling them he was going to make them a star.

“Our hearts are with the friends and family of Clive Davis, and all the artists and music lovers whose lives he changed with his vision, talent, and generosity,” they wrote. “He discovered Aerosmith, an unknown bar band, in 1972 and swiftly signed us to Columbia Records. He stood by us through our resurgence in the 1980s when our future wasn’t promised.”

They added, “He was a great man whose life’s work became the melody of modern culture and whose memory will always be a blessing.”

In addition, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton each shared their own tributes to Davis, with Tyler calling him, “The man with golden ears and Infinite Wisdom.”

Others paying tribute to Davis include Barbra Streisand, Joni Mitchell, Kenny Loggins and Dionne Warwick, who released a statement in which she called Davis “one of a kind.”

“I can think of no other record man that seemed to have that magical ability to know a hit when he heard a song,” Warwick added.

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Iron Maiden fans had to confront their “Fear of the Dark” when the power went out during the band’s show in Paris on Monday.

According to fan reports and a recap from the site SortiraParis.com, the Paris La Défense Arena went dark in the middle of a performance of the song “2 Minutes to Midnight.” The outage happened as France is dealing with an extreme heat wave. 

Unfortunately, fans had to wait for much longer than two minutes for the show to resume. Maiden eventually retook the stage after about an hour, but due to the delay and the venue’s curfew, the set’s encore was cut from the show.

Ahead of the Paris show, Maiden announced that they were filming the concert to document their Run for Your Lives tour, and that all fans standing in the floor section would be required to lock their phones in Yondr pouches. We’ll see if the power outage impacts the planned film at all.

The Run for Your Lives tour, which celebrates Maiden’s 50th anniversary, will continue through Europe into mid-July before coming to North America in late August.

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Eric Clapton and ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons are among the artists set to perform at a concert celebrating blues legend Buddy Guy’s 90th birthday.

Buddy’s Got the Blues: A 90th Birthday Concert Celebration, happening Oct. 1 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, is described in a press release as a concert that will celebrate Guy through “unforgettable performances, once-in-a-lifetime collaborations, and heartfelt tributes from artists whose music and careers were profoundly shaped by his influence.”

The lineup also includes John Mayer, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Jon Batiste, Aloe Blacc, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph and Jimmie Vaughan, among others.

Guy will also perform at the concert, with more special guests to be announced.

“Can’t wait to celebrate 90 years of living, loving, and playing the blues with all my friends,” says Guy. “We’ll make it a night not just for me, but for the folks who taught us, the friends we’ve played with, and the ones coming up behind us.”

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET.  A complete lineup can be found at buddy90.com.

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Despite all their rage, The Smashing Pumpkins are getting their own tribute album.

The record, titled Sending Hearts to All My Dearies – A Tribute to The Smashing Pumpkins, is due out digitally on Aug. 14 and will be released as a two-LP vinyl set on Oct. 16.

Artists contributing to the compilation include Tame Impala, Palaye Royale, Nita Strauss, Meg Myers, Barns Courtney, Bones UK and Des Rocs, among others.

You can listen to Tame Impala’s contribution, a rendition of the Siamese Dream cut “Hummer,” out now.

“Siamese Dream was the soundtrack to my high school years and ‘Hummer’ is the song that takes me back there in the most potent way,” Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker says in a statement.

If you want to hear The Smashing Pumpkins play Smashing Pumpkins songs, you can catch them live on their The Rats in a Cage tour. The trek, which kicks off in September, will feature Billy Corgan and company performing 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness in full, alongside another set of career-spanning songs.

Here’s the Sending Hearts to All My Dearies track list:

Tame Impala — “Hummer”
Yonaka — “Today”
The Midnight — “Tonight, Tonight”
Carpenter Brut — “Cherub Rock”
Barns Courtney — “1979” 
Meg Myers — “Eye”
Palaye Royale — “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”
Between the Buried and Me — “Jellybelly”
Alice Glass — “Drown”
Starbenders — “Tonight, Tonight”
Nita Strauss — “1979”
Bones UK — “Cherub Rock”
Moon Taxi — “Thirty Three”
Des Rocs — “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”
Urban Heat — “Ava Adore”

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On This Day, June 23, 2025…

U2 guitarist The Edge became an Irish citizen during a ceremony in County Kerry, Ireland.

While he’s always been associated with one of Ireland’s biggest rock groups, he was actually born to Welsh parents in Essex, England.

At the time of the ceremony he told reporters that he’s “always felt Irish,” and that “Ireland will always be home to me.” He added that his application for citizenship was “long overdue.”

Born David Howell Evans on Aug. 8, 1961, The Edge moved to Dublin with his family in 1962 and was raised in the Irish city.

He met his U2 bandmates Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. when they were students at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin. They formed U2 in 1978, and went on to become one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

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Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles and AC/DC are among the artists landing in the top 10 on Pollstar’s 2026 midyear touring charts.

While Bad Bunny leads the worldwide touring artists midyear chart with a gross of over $225 million, AC/DC is the highest-charting rock act. It lands at #4 thanks to the European leg of their Power Up tour, which has brought in close to $120.3 million so far this year.

Eagles, thanks to their Sphere residency and a handful of U.S. shows, land at #8 on the worldwide chart, with over $69.7 million in gross sales. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band are at #10, bringing in over $58.4 million with The Land of Hope and Dreams tour.

Among the North American top touring artists, Eagles land at #5, while Springsteen lands at #7. K-pop act BTS tops the list with a gross of over $104 million.

And both AC/DC and Eagles have a chance to add to their 2026 haul. AC/DC brings their Power Up tour back to North America July 11 in Charlotte, North Carolina, with dates confirmed through Sept. 29 in Philadelphia; Eagles have more Sphere shows in September and November.

Springsteen wrapped his The Land of Hope and Dreams tour on May 30 in Philadelphia.

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It was 55 years ago Monday that Joni Mitchell released her iconic album Blue, and to celebrate, the album has gotten an audio upgrade.

Rhino High Fidelity has just released limited-edition audiophile editions of the album on reel-to-reel and vinyl.

The vinyl reissue, cut from the original master tapes to 180-gram vinyl, is limited to 5,000 numbered copies. It includes an album insert featuring a new Q&A with Mitchell. The reel-to-reel, which was duplicated in real time from the original flat analog master tape, is limited to only 350 copies.

Released June 22, 1971, Blue is considered by many to be one of the greatest pop and rock albums of all time. Written following Mitchell’s breakup with Graham Nash, and during a relationship with James Taylor, the album includes such iconic Mitchell tunes as “A Case of You” and “River.” It peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA.

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Devo and The B-52s are once again teaming up for some North American tour dates.

The bands have announced a set of fall Cosmic De-Evolution Tour dates, starting Sept. 17 in Tinley Park, Illinois. The tour will hit cities in Michigan, Minnesota, Washington and more before wrapping Oct. 31 in Palm Desert, California.

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Devo and The B-52s launched the Cosmic De-Evolution Tour in September 2025.

Devo is set to join Billy Idol for several dates of the It’s A Nice Day To … Tour Again tour, starting Aug. 7 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The next leg of their Mutate, Don’t Stagnate tour begins Aug. 25 in New Orleans. A complete list of shows can be found at clubdevo.com.

Despite wrapping a farewell tour back in January 2023, The B-52s have continued to perform live. Their next show is Wednesday in Berlin, Germany. A complete list of dates can e found at TheB52s.com.

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Joan Jett says she has no plans to stop playing “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah).” The song was co-written by Gary Glitter, who was convicted in the U.K. of sex offenses, including attempted rape of a girl under 13.

Jett initially covered the song for her 1973 debut solo album, Bad Reputation, and still performs the song in concert. In an interview with The Telegraph, Jett was asked if “what we now know about Glitter” doesn’t bother her and she replied, “Of course it bothers me.”

“But that’s not the context in which I’m singing it, number one,” she said. “Number two, if we want to start investigating everybody … [o]ne of my favorite bands is the Rolling Stones. Go listen to Starf*****,  about a 15-year-old. I’m not condoning it at all,” referring to The Stones’ 1973 track, now called “Star Star.”

“And if you listen to the words I sing, I’m singing different words from what he’s saying. I try to make it my own,” she continued. “But am I going to drop it after the fact, after I’ve had my own career with the song? No. And if people want to come at me for that, do it. I’ve been come at for [more].”

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are set to kick off a U.K. tour on July 2 in Glasgow, Scotland. A complete list of show dates can be found at JoanJett.com.

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Bruce Springsteen, Carlos Santana, Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow are among the many artists paying tribute to legendary music exec Clive Davis, who passed away Monday. He was 94.

“Over here on E Street, we mourn the death of the great record man and close friend Clive Davis,” Springsteen, who Davis signed to Columbia Records in 1973, wrote on Instagram. “At 22 years old, he changed my life when he signed me to Columbia Records. He treated me with the same respect and kindness as a 22-year-old nobody as he did after all my success. A great man. All our prayers and love.”

Santana, who signed with Columbia in 1969, released a statement calling Davis “a visionary.”

“He could hear the intangible before anyone else could see it. He believed in Santana from the beginning, and years later he believed in us again,” he wrote. “That kind of faith is a beautiful blessing, and I will always be grateful.”

Davis was also responsible for bringing Santana to Arista Records in the ’90s, which resulted in his multi-Platinum, Grammy Award-winning album Supernatural.

“I thank Clive for his friendship, his trust, and his belief in Santana,” he added. “We celebrate his extraordinary journey and the legacy of joy, inspiration, and possibility that he leaves behind.”

Stewart, who released his The Great American Songbook albums on Davis’ J Records, called the music exec a “giant of a man in the music business” in a post on Instagram.

“I owe Clive so much,” he continued, noting Davis was the only one who believed he could sing “standards with conviction.”

“Other labels rejected the idea, and so The Great American Songbook was born, selling close to 40 million copies,” Stewart added. “We had some wonderful, unforgettable times together, but for now, Mr. Davis, it’s goodbye, my dear friend.”

Manilow, who signed to Columbia Records in 1969, wrote on X that his “heart is heavy with the loss of my friend Clive Davis.”

“For fifty years we worked together, created together, argued together, and celebrated together,” he shared. “Yes, some would say it was business. But to Clive, it never was. It was family. And I was honored to be a part of his. Thank you Clive. I wish we could do it all again.”

Others paying tribute to Davis include Patti Smith, The Grateful Dead,  KISS’ Paul Stanley, Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Stephen Bishop and The Kinks’ Dave Davies.

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