Classic Rock News

Paul McCartney wrapped the latest leg of his Got Back tour on Sunday with a performance at the Corona Capitol Festival in Mexico City, and he brought out a couple of special guests to end the evening.

Fan-shot footage posted to YouTube shows McCartney performing The Beatles track “The End” with the help of rockers Jack White and St. Vincent on guitar. Both White and St. Vincent were on the Corona Capitol bill, as well.

St. Vincent, who appeared on the remix album of McCartney’s 2021 solo release, McCartney III, also joined The Beatle earlier in the set for the classic “Get Back.”

As for the rest of the set, according to setlist.fm, as he’s done most of the tour, McCartney performed a mix of solo, Beatles and Wings classics, once again including the most recent Beatles tune, “Now and Then,” along with “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Love Me Do,” “Blackbird,” “Jet,” “Band on the Run” and “Hey Jude.”

McCartney kicked off this latest leg of the tour in Uruguay in October. He launches a European leg on Dec. 4 in Paris, wrapping with a show Dec. 19 in London. A complete list of dates can be found at paulmccartney.com.

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 Timothée Chalamet and the cast of A Complete Unknown recently talked to Rolling Stone about the making of the Bob Dylan film, and Chalamet shared some insight into his commitment to what he calls a “role of a lifetime.”

“It was something I would go to sleep panicked about, losing a moment of discovery as the character — no matter how pretentious that sounds — because I was on my phone or because of any distraction,” he says. “I had three months of my life to play Bob Dylan, after five years of preparing to play him. So while I was in it, that was my eternal focus.” 

He adds, “He deserved that and then more … God forbid I missed a step because I was being Timmy. I could be Timmy for the rest of my life!”

Chalamet was listed as “Bob Dylan” on the film’s call sheet, and it fooled co-star Elle Fanning, who got an invite to a preproduction meeting with director James Mangold and “Bob,” thinking she was meeting the rock icon.

“I’m probably the first person in life to be let down by having a rehearsal with Timothée Chalamet, right?” she tells Rolling Stone. “Like, the first girl in history.” 

Monica Barbaro, who plays Joan Baez, said Chalamet “wasn’t so full-on” with his method acting, but she noted he was “in his own world” on set, “in a way that I think Bob often was as well.”

And Ed Norton, who plays Pete Seeger, described Chalamet’s commitment as “relentless.”

“No visitors, no friends, no reps, no nothing,” he said. “And I agreed totally — it was like, we cannot have a f****** audience for this. We’ve got to believe to the greatest degree we can. And he was right to be that protective.”

A Complete Unknown opens Dec. 25.

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Rod Stewart will be hitting the road in 2025.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will launch his One Last Time Tour with special guest Cheap Trick on March 7 in Austin, Texas, and wrap up Aug. 15 in St. Louis, Missouri. Rod and Cheap Trick last toured together in 2022.

A fan club presale starts Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. via RodStewart.com. Citi cardmembers can get tickets starting Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. via citientertainment.com. Tickets go on sale to the general public Nov. 22 at 10 a.m.

In addition to the tour, Rod will return to the Colosseum at Caesars Palace for his residency show, Rod Stewart: The Encore Shows, which will run on and off between March 12 and June 8.

Despite the tour’s name, this isn’t being described as Rod’s final tour.

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As he recently teased, Sammy Hagar is doing more The Best of All Worlds shows, and this time he’s heading  to Las Vegas.

The rocker just announced dates for The Best of All Worlds Tour – The Residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM. The Vegas residency consists of nine shows, running from April 30 to May 17.

Joining Sammy will once again be Michael Anthony and Joe Satriani, with Kenny Aaronoff handling drums in place of Jason Bonham. In fact, Bonham recently confirmed he wouldn’t be back, after he announced his own shows and a fan asked him if he’d be back with Sammy. He replied in the comments, “Sammy has decided to carry on with Kenny so Sadly no.”

“I’m so looking forward to this residency and being able to stay in one place so we can get the sound and production completely dialed in,” said Sammy. “It also allows the band to experiment with the setlist every night – that’s why it’s going to be exclusive to Las Vegas.”

He adds, “I plan on digging deeper into the Van Halen catalog, and my solo career, Montrose and Chickenfoot, as well. The fans are in for a lot of surprises.” 

Various presales kick off Tuesday, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. PT. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.

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On This Day, Nov. 18, 1991 …

U2 released their seventh studio album, Achtung Baby, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, making it the band’s third #1 album.

Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, the band began recording the album in Germany, although the sessions were marred by tension within the band. The record was eventually finished in Dublin.

The album took influences from alternative rock, electronic dance and industrial music, and featured such hits as “One,” “The Fly” and “Mysterious Ways.”

Achtung Baby was a huge success for U2, selling over 18 million copies worldwide. It also earned them a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.

U2 celebrated Achtung Baby’s 30th anniversary, albeit a bit late, by playing the album in its entirety during their U2: UV Achtung Baby residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, which kicked off in September 2023.
 

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The Moody Blues’ John Lodge is hoping to get everyone in the holiday spirit.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer released the new Christmas single “Love Will Conquer All,” which he wrote just after suffering a stroke, which he calls a “Christmas present he didn’t want.”

“We all have our challenges in life, mine happened last Christmas … but like a phoenix this song appeared and helped me work through some of those difficult days,” Lodge shares. “As I look forward to Christmas this year, I know it was love that got me through, and my Christmas wish for everyone is that they are surrounded with love (and great music) this year.”

The song, now available via digital outlets, is a bit of a family affair, with Lodge’s son-in-law, current Yes frontman Jon Davison, providing background vocals, drums and rhythms, and Lodge’s wife of 56 years, Kirsten, also joining the song on backing vocals.

The song will appear on an upcoming extended EP, Love Conquers All, which will be released Feb. 14 digitally, on CD and as a limited-edition 180g violet vinyl. It is available for preorder now.

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Def Leppard is getting ready to go country … in Canada.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are set to headline the Saskatchewan edition of the Country Thunder festival, taking place July 10-13. 

Def Leppard is the only rock band on the bill; country stars Bailey Zimmerman and Jason Aldean are the other two headliners, with Nate Smith, Tyler Hubbard and Kip Moore also part of the lineup.

A full lineup and ticket information can be found at countrythunder.com.

Country Thunder is one of only a few shows Def Leppard currently has booked for 2025. They’re also headlining the Harvest Nights Festival in January and playing the Illinois State Fair in August. They also have their own headlining show in Puerto Rico in May. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com. 

Meanwhile, Def Leppard is also helping fans get into the holiday spirit this year. They just launched a new holiday merch collection, which includes a Def Leppard snow globe, a logo tree topper, a duffel bag and more.

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While KISS may have said goodbye to the road in 2023, Paul Stanley says it doesn’t necessarily mean we will never see the band play live again.

In a new interview with the Daily Times, Stanley says he’d be open to playing with his bandmates again for some kind of one-off performance.

“Anything’s possible,” he says. “KISS is so far from over, though KISS as we know it is done. But, having our hands and our ideas and our fingers in what KISS continues as makes all the sense in the world.”

He adds, “So, I look forward to whatever comes next without knowing what comes next. But I’m open to it all.”

In the meantime, Stanley is focusing on his art; he’ll be making appearances at Wentworth Gallery locations in Atlantic City and Short Hills,  New Jersey, on Friday and Saturday, respectively. He’s also getting ready to play again with his soul/oldies side project Soul Station. 

“We’re just lining up shows and tours now nationally and internationally,” he says. “It’s financially daunting to take a band of that size out, but selfishly, it’s so rewarding for me because those songs mean so much to me.”

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Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach is getting ready to show off his lack of cooking skills. 

The rocker is one of the celebrities booked for the Food Network competition series Worst Cooks in America Celebrity Edition: Heroes vs. Villains, debuting Jan. 5.

“Hey i can make one thing perfectly in a restaurant! That would be a reservation,” Bach shared on Instagram. “i had a hilarious time filming this show and it should be very entertaining to watch!”

The heroes vs. villains labels come from the contestants’ previous reputations during their reality show days, with Bach, who appeared on reality shows like Sing Your Face Off and The Masked Singer, landing in the heroes category. 

Bach and his fellow contestants, including Cheryl Burke, Adam Rippon, Frankie Grande and Tiffany “New York” Pollard, will be mentored this year by chefs Jeff Mauro and Antonia Lofaso, with the two most-improved contestants facing off in the season finale, airing Feb. 2. The winner gets $25,000 for the charity of their choice.

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An animated video for the previously unreleased Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers song “Never Be You” has just been released.

The clip, directed and animated by Jeff Scher, features hand-drawn images of Petty and the band, cut with similarly drawn visuals of couples kissing, various women and even an alligator. 

Petty and the Heartbreakers’ version of “Never Be You” appears on the recently released Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition) reissue. The song was originally recorded by Rosanne Cash, appearing on her 1985 album, Rhythm & Romance.

Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition) was released in October and featured the remastered original album, plus 12 bonus tracks, including “Never Be You” and “Ways to Be Wicked,” as well as tracks taken from sessions for French TV. 

Originally released in 1982, Long After Dark featured the Petty classic “You Got Lucky,” along with “Change of Heart” and “Straight Into Darkness.” It was the first to feature new Heartbreaker Howie Epstein on bass and was a top-10 record for the band.

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