Classic Rock News

Hollywood Vampires have put their tour on pause to let Johnny Depp recover from an ankle injury.

The band, which also includes Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, Alice Cooper and Tommy Henriksen, announced they are postponing three tour dates this week to give Depp time to heal.  

“Johnny has sustained a painful injury to his ankle following his recent appearances and has been advised by his doctor not to travel,” reads the band’s announcement. “He is devastated by this turn of events, but looks forward to resting up so all four Vampires can bring their absolute best to the tour in Europe.” 

The three shows — in Boston; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Bethel, New York — have all been moved to July.

Hollywood Vampires kick off their European tour in Bucharest, Romania, on June 8. A complete list of tour dates can be found at HollywoodVampires.com.

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Roger Waters has commented on the controversy surrounding his concert in Berlin earlier this month.

As previously reported, Waters faced backlash for using images of Anne Frank and a pig with a Star of David on it, as well as what looked like an SS soldier costume. It even sparked a criminal investigation, with the police looking into “the suspicion of incitement of the people.”

But in an Instagram post, Waters calls the controversy “bad faith attacks from those who want to smear and silence me because they disagree with my political views and moral principles.”

“The elements of my performance that have been questioned are quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice, and bigotry in all its forms,” he writes. “Attempts to portray those elements as something else are disingenuous and politically motivated,” noting they’ve been in his shows since the ’80s.

Waters says he’s spent his life “speaking out against authoritarianism and oppression wherever I see it” and doesn’t plan to stop. He notes, “Regardless of the consequences of the attacks against me, I will continue to condemn injustice and all those who perpetrate it.”

Waters also shared a clip from his recent Frankfurt show in which he told the audience he was leaving out certain elements because the venue is the site of where over 3,000 Jews were detained and abused in November 1938 before being sent to concentration camps,

“So, that is why I’m making this small, but I hope significant, gesture tonight,” he says. “It is to show that I can’t possibly understand the feelings of the relatives of those men, or what it was like in 1938 in Frankfurt all over the rest of Germany, but I do know the history and my heart is beating hard now.”

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Rod Stewart was all set to become the latest rock legend to cash in by selling off his music catalog, but he’s now called off the deal.

Music Week reports that Rod, 78, had been negotiating with Hipgnosis Songs, which has purchased the catalogs, publishing rights or significant stakes in the catalogs of Justin Timberlake, Fleetwood Mac‘s Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, Soundgarden‘s Chris Cornell, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young and dozens of other artists, writers and producer.

However, he’s now opted to retain ownership of his catalog and terminated the sale. In a statement provided to Music Week, Sir Rod says, “This catalogue represents my life’s work. And it became abundantly clear after much time and due diligence that this was not the right company to manage my song catalogue, career or legacy.”

Rod’s recorded music output includes not just his solo work, but his recordings with The Faces and Jeff Beck Group. 

The U.S. leg of Rod’s current tour starts July 29 in Sparks, Nevada.

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On This Day, May 30, 1987 …

Rocker David Bowie kicked off his Glass Spider tour in support of his album Never Let Me Down.

The tour was known for its elaborate set design, which included what looked like a giant spider with light-up legs. It was described at the time as “the largest touring set ever.” It took 43 trucks to move and weighed an estimated 360 tons.

Bowie was joined by Peter Frampton on the tour, along with dancers choreographed by Toni Basil.

In addition to songs from Never Let Me Down, the set list included such Bowie classics as “China Girl,” “Fashion,” “Heroes,” “Let’s Dance,” “Fame” and “Modern Love.”

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Foo Fighters are giving fans another taste of their upcoming album But Here We Are, which drops Friday, June 2.

The band just released the 10-minute epic “The Teacher,” along with a short film directed by multimedia artist Tony Oursler, which includes trippy images of the band, along with early home movies, and more. 

The song, likely inspired by Grohl’s late mother Violet, who was a teacher, includes the lyrics, “You showed me how to breathe, never showed me how to say goodbye,” and “You showed me how to grieve, but never showed me how to say goodbye.”

“The Teacher” is the third song the Foos have released from But Here We Are, following “Rescued” and “Show Me How.” It is available for preorder now. 

And the Foos are giving fans a unique way to get an early listen to the whole album. They’ve just announced But Here We Are at Sunrise, a free listening event which takes place, as the name suggests, at sunrise at venues in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles. All ages are welcome, and fans are advised “to rise early, dress for the outdoors and listen together.” More information can be found at foofighters.com.

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Kansas kicks off their 50th anniversary tour on June 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and guitarist and founding member Richard Williams is certainly excited to be celebrating such a big milestone.

“Fifty, it’s a big number, it’s half a century,” Williams tells ABC Audio. “Suddenly there’s like a ‘whoa’ moment that’s, like, ‘Wow, 50 years, that’s a lot.’” He described the tour as “a celebration of the entire career.”

Williams says when Kansas first got together, their biggest dream was simply “to record an album and then get it played on the radio if we were lucky,” and then possibly get to open for some big national acts.  

“We couldn’t imagine dreaming beyond that,” he says. “You know, the world stage and being a headlining act and continuing to make records and all that was so distant that it wasn’t even a thought. That wasn’t a dream. … the last 49 years have been all gravy.”

And at 73, Williams has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. He insists fans shouldn’t expect to hear news of a retirement tour, noting, “What’s the point, unless it’s a money grab.” 

Williams adds, “It’s really more a matter of how long can I do it. According to my doctors, I’m in great shape. Barring, you know, illness or death, I’m here. I’m going to be doing this until I can’t.” 

Kansas currently has dates confirmed through January 28, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A complete tour schedule can be found at kansasband.com.

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Foo Fighters’ return to the stage continued Friday night as the band headlined Boston Calling, where they got some help from family.

Just like he did at their opening show in New Hampshire earlier in the week, the set included Dave Grohl performing “Cold Day in the Sun,” the In Your Honor track featuring their late drummer Taylor Hawkins on vocals. According to Consequence, he told the crowd, “I tried to do it the other night, and I’m gonna try to do it again,” adding. “And I’m gonna do it for Taylor’s family, and I’m gonna do it for Taylor.”

And turns out Taylor’s family was at the show to witness it, with the band bringing out his son Shane Hawkins to get behind the drumkit for the classic tune “I’ll Stick Around.”

And Taylor’s son wasn’t the only Foo offspring at the show. Grohl’s daughter Violet Grohl came out to join the band on two songs, “Shame, Shame” and “Rope.” 

As for new drummer Josh Freese, he continues to prove he has the right sense of humor to be a member of the band. At the New Hampshire show he wore a T-shirt that read “Employee of the Month,” while at Boston Calling he donned a tee that read, “Fingers crossed for the new guy.”

Both the New Hampshire show and Boston Calling were the Foos’ first concerts since Hawkins’ death in March of 2022. Their next show is happening May 28 at the Sonic Temple Arts & Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio. A complete list of dates can be found at foofighters.com.

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As part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration of The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd recently held a special event that coincided with a rare solar eclipse. That event is now being turned into a documentary, and the band is giving fans their first peek at it.

The rockers just released a teaser trailer for Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon 50th Ningaloo Eclipse, which lets fans experience the once-in-a-lifetime event at a secluded beach at Ningaloo (Nyinggulu) Marine Park in Exmouth, Western Australia, in April. 

A handful of fans won a trip to the beach, where they listened to Dark Side in full — timed so that the closing line, “but the sun is eclipsed by the moon,” would play at the exact moment of the eclipse.

So far the documentary doesn’t have an exact release date, but it is expected to be out sometime in September.

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Lenny Kravitz has always been one of the more stylish rockers out there, but early on some friends questioned his style choices. 

Discussing a black skirt a former girlfriend made him when he was a teenager, Kravitz tells the latest issue of Highsnobiety, “My friends were like, ‘Your mom’s going to freak.’ We were all nervous.”

But it turns out there was no real need to worry. He says that his mother, The Jeffersons star Roxie Roker, looked him “up and down” and then gave him some advice, sharing, “If you’re gonna wear that skirt, you got to change them shoes.”

He adds, “One thing about my mother, she never judged anybody. She just loved.” 

Kravitz discusses how his background, being both Caribbean-American and Jewish-Ukrainian, helped influence his style. He shares, “Growing up between cultures and religions and types of people in my family, by virtue of me being multiracial … I grew up in the middle of all this beauty.”

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some regrets about his style choices. “It happens all the time,” although he says now he has more of a “who cares?” attitude about it.

“You’re not going to grow if everything’s perfect all the time,” he says.

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For many, Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, and in addition to fun things like the beach and barbecues, lots of people look forward to summer concerts. Well, according to a new StubHub report, some concerts are more popular than others this season. 

While Taylor Swift is the top In-Demand Global Artist of the summer based on sales, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s summer tour ranks high up there at #4, thanks to his 31 tour stops, which kick off August 9 and 10 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Metallica also lands in the top 10 at #8.

The ranking was determined by cumulative global ticket sales on StubHub and viagogo for concerts taking place between Memorial Day, May 29, and Labor Day, September 4.

Meanwhile, Dead & Company land at #2 on the Top Group Acts for summer list, with Metallica at #3 and Guns N’ Roses landing at #8.

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