Classic Rock News

England’s Aston Villa soccer team has announced a collaboration with Black Sabbath.

In partnership with Adidas, Aston Villa is launching a Sabbath-inspired shirt and soccer cleat, or, as they say across the pond, football boot.

The shirt, which will be limited to just 250 pieces, includes the Sabbath logo on the back, while the boot aims to “encapsulate Black Sabbath’s aesthetic through a color palette that embodies the band’s signature style, creating a striking, cohesive visual.” The boot won’t be available for sale, but Villa goalkeeper Emi Martínez will be wearing them during an upcoming game.

Aston Villa is based in Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham. Frontman Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler previously starred in a commercial for Aston Villa ahead of the 2024-25 Premier League season.

“My absolute favorite colors in the world have always been purple and black,” Ozzy says of the new collab. “It’s been Black Sabbath colors for over 50 years. [Guitarist] Tony [Iommi], Geezer, [drummer] Bill [Ward] and I look at this as a huge honor. UP THE VILLA!!”

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On This Day, Oct. 30, 2007 …

The Eagles released their seventh studio album, Long Road Out of Eden, which was their first studio album since 1979’s The Long Run.

The release, their first double album, took nearly six years to complete and was their first release since the 2001 departure of Don Felder. It was also their last with Glenn Frey, who passed away in 2016.

Thanks to a last-minute rule change by Billboard, Long Road Out of Eden debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, keeping Britney Spears’ Blackout from the top spot. It was the Eagles’ sixth consecutive #1 album and was the highest-selling record of that year.

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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell is ready to tell his story.

The rocker just announced he’ll release his memoir, Heartbreaker, which he wrote with Ari Surdoval, on March 18.

“This is my book. It’s the story of a poor kid from Jacksonville, Florida, who realized a dream through music,” he writes on Instagram. “It’s a long journey through hard work, dedication, and luck. Playing guitar and writing songs has been my inspiration and purpose.

“It’s a story of hope, redemption, and gratitude, a testimonial that dreams can come true if you believe in yourself and follow your truth,” he adds. “It took two years to write, and it’s a labor of love. I hope you enjoy the ride!” 

Campbell and Petty performed together in the band Mudcrutch. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers formed in 1976, with Petty and Campbell joined by their Mudcrutch bandmate Benmont Tench, Ron Blair and Stan Lynch. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

In recent years Campbell toured with Fleetwood Mac from 2018 to 2019 and fronted his own band, Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs. They released their third album, Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, in June.

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KISS’ Gene Simmons recently shared his thoughts on so-called “bass virtuosos,” telling Guitar World they were simply “show-offs in music,” but that doesn’t mean there aren’t bass players out there who impress him.

So, who are his favorites? They include The Beatles‘ Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood.

McCartney is Simmons’ top pick, telling Guitar World he “is probably the most influential bassist for me.”

“The biggest compliment I can give Paul McCartney is that you can pick the vast majority of Beatles songs and you’ll remember what the bass was playing,” he says. “So McCartney is hands and feet above the other guys. He’s a triple threat – he wrote songs that were unmatched, became the most successful songwriter of all time, and he wrote them by himself.” 

For Wood, he points to his time with the Jeff Beck Group, sharing, “Those first two records were pivotal. They came out before Led Zeppelin; I heard that stuff and was awed by how free-flowing they were.”

Other bass players getting props from Simmons include Mountain’s Felix Pappalardi, Yes’ Chris Squire and Carol Kaye.

He’s also a fan of Van Halen’s Michael Anthony, noting he “never got a lot of attention – but he’s really good. I remember being impressed with him when I produced that first Van Halen demo.”

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Warren Haynes is getting ready to give fans a preview of his new solo album, Million Voices Whisper.

The Gov’t Mule frontman announced he’ll perform “stripped down versions” of some of the album’s tunes on Warren Haynes – Live From The Power Station, streaming on YouTube starting Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET. 

Million Voices Whisper, dropping Friday, is Haynes’ first solo record in almost a decade. It features guest appearances by Derek Trucks, Lukas Nelson and Jamey Johnson.

Million Voices Whisper is available for preorder now. There will also be a deluxe CD edition that includes four additional tracks.

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Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai and Danny Carey have been touring the country on their BEAT tour, celebrating the ’80s-era music of King Crimson, and now fans will be able to experience the concert in the comfort of their own home. 

The artists have announced a new global livestream, Live From Los Angeles, debuting Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. PT on VEEPs. The performance, from The United Theater on Broadway, will be available for seven days.

Belew and Levin are both former members of King Crimson, and the BEAT tour has them teaming with Vai and Carey, drummer of Tool, to perform three King Crimson albums: 1981’s Discipline, 1982’s Beat and 1984’s Three Of A Perfect Pair – which were also the first three to feature Belew and Levin. 

Tickets for the livestream are on sale now.

The tour launched in San Jose, California, in September with dates confirmed through Dec. 18 in Highland, California. Their tour hits Cincinnati on Tuesday for a sold-out show. A complete list of dates can be found at beat-tour.com.

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The late Sinéad O’Connor‘s cover of Nirvana‘s “All Apologies” soundtracks the newly released trailer for the upcoming film Queer.

Starring Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey, Queer is based on the William S. Burroughs novel of the same name, published in 1985. It’s directed by Challengers and Call Me By Your Name filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.

Queer premieres in theaters in November. You can watch the trailer on YouTube.

“All Apologies” is a track off Nirvana’s third and final album, In Utero. O’Connor covered it on her 1994 album Universal Mother, which was released five months after Kurt Cobain‘s death.

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Rush is set to release a new vinyl box set dedicated to their time with Atlantic Records.

The Albums: 1989-1996, dropping Nov. 1, will be made up of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band’s first four albums with the label — 1989’s Presto, 1991’s Roll the Bones, 1993’s Counterparts and 1996’s Test for Echo. 

The box set will consist of six LPs and comes with a print featuring reimagined cover artwork. The set’s slipcase features new artwork created by artist Hugh Syme, who’s worked with Rush on album covers since 1975.

The Albums: 1989-1996 is available for preorder now.

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Grateful Dead founding member Bobby Weir is throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz in the race for president.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer shared his endorsement on Instagram, posting a photo of him in a Harris/Walz 2024 Dead-themed shirt, along with another featuring Walz holding the same shirt.

“Well, OK, I guess it all depends on your worldview; you can see your place in the world as something to defend from those who might want to take some or all of it from you—or you can see it as a grand adventure, a place to make dreams come to fruition for yourself and for others,” Weir wrote in the caption. “There is, of course, an in-between place—but the more you lean toward the grand adventure side, the clearer the choice becomes.”

He adds, “More good comes from focusing on building a world where disparities aren’t so pronounced that they cause friction and reducing the inequalities that create barriers.”

Finally Weir notes, “With these things in mind, I’ve done my research and come to the clear conclusion that I’ll be voting for @KamalaHarris and @TimWalz this time around.”

Weir is the latest in a long list of musicians to support the Harris/Walz ticket. Others include Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Neil Young, James Taylor and Michael Stipe.

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Iggy Pop has announced a new live album, recorded during his set at the 2023 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

The aptly titled Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 is due out Jan. 24.

“I give something extra every time I do Montreux Jazz,” Iggy says. “In ’23 it was deep cuts like ‘Mass Production,’ ‘Endless Sea,’ ‘Five Foot One’ and a hell of a lot of sweat.”

You can listen to the performance of “Five Foot One,” a track off 1979’s New Values album, now via digital outlets and watch it streaming on YouTube.

Iggy’s most recent studio album is 2023’s Every Loser, which was produced by Andrew Watt and features contributions from Guns N’ Roses‘ Duff McKagan, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction‘s Dave Navarro, blink-182‘s Travis Barker, Pearl Jam‘s Stone Gossard and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 



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