Classic Rock News

U2 has shared a short documentary about the making of the video for their 2004 hit “Vertigo,” which was the lead single off their 11th studio album, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

Based on guitarist The Edge‘s comments, it would seem the video wasn’t exactly pleasant to make. 

“We finally managed to persuade somebody to shoot a video of us somewhere warm,” he says of their location in a Spanish desert, “and what happens? We get rained on. We get hurricane strength winds. Sand blasted.”

The video then shoots to Bono, who shares he “love[s] the smell of sand up my nose in the morning.”

Edge later jokes, “It’s not easy being a rock star these days.” 

The video for “Vertigo,” directed by the team of Alex & Martin, won a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video in 2005. 

The making of the video’s release is part of the band’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. In honor of the occasion, the band is also releasing what they’re calling a “shadow album,” How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb, featuring 10 previously unreleased tracks from the album’s recording sessions. It will be released Nov. 29 as an exclusive for Record Store Day Black Friday, along with a digital release.

In addition, on Nov. 22 U2 will release a special 20th anniversary remastered edition of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, featuring the bonus track “Fast Car,” as well as a package with the remaster and the shadow album together, dubbed How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (Re-Assemble Edition).

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When Foreigner gets inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Saturday, only three members of the band — singer Lou Gramm, keyboardist Al Greenwood and bassist Rick Wills — will be on hand to accept the honor. 

Dennis Elliott and Mick Jones won’t be in attendance, and the trio tells ABC Audio their bandmates not being there is a bit of a letdown.

“I mean, we knew Mick was very doubtful for being here because of his illness,” Wills says. Jones revealed he had Parkinson’s disease back in February. 

And while Greenwood said Elliott not coming is “pretty much of a disappointment,” Wills adds, “But Dennis is Dennis. I have to say sometimes that he makes his own decisions that we don’t always agree with,” with Gramm chiming in “or understand.”

Dennis revealed on Facebook he decided not to go because he was unhappy with the schedule, with Billboard suggesting one issue was that spouses were not allowed to walk the red carpet.

“It was very disappointing cause he said he was going to be here,” Wills says. “He should be here.” 

But even though they’ll be missing two people, it sounds like fans can expect a great performance. Sammy Hagar is set to induct them and perform “Hot Blooded,” and Gramm is going to perform “I Want To Know What Love Is” with Kelly Clarkson, although if he had the choice he’d be singing a different tune.

“It is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and I’m disappointed that I’m not singing a rock song,” he said. “But apparently the choice of songs was not up to me.” 

The 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, taking place at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, will stream live on Disney+ at 7 p.m. ET. 

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Dave Matthews Band is being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Saturday in Cleveland, in a ceremony that will stream live on Disney+. At a ceremony at the Rock Hall Friday, during which a plaque honoring all of this year’s honorees was unveiled, Dave Matthews recalled his first encounter with another one of this year’s inductees: Foreigner.

“When I was a little kid, I was taking guitar lessons,” he told the crowd. “It was above a studio. And one day I was waiting for my mom to pick me up. And they started bringing all these little crates on wheels … and I looked on one of them and it said ‘Foreigner.’ And I was like, ‘What the f***?'”

Years later he ran into Foreigner a second time, when he and the band were recording for the first time in an actual studio.

“We were in one studio room and then the next one was Foreigner! And we were like, ‘What the f***?'” Matthews recalled, as the crowd laughed. “And then now, we’re getting into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Foreigner!” 

Meanwhile, Rick Wills from Foreigner told ABC Audio on Friday that during that encounter in the recording studio, they actually ended up sharing a joint with the DMB.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony streams at 7 p.m. ET Saturday on Disney+.

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The Bear star Jeremy Allen White is set to play Bruce Springsteen in the upcoming movie Deliver Me From Nowhere, and The Boss has shared his thoughts on the actor’s singing voice.

Springsteen appeared on the latest episode of The Graham Norton Show, where he talked about the film. According to People, he said, “It’s a lovely cast and I am involved a little.”

The Boss also acknowledged that portraying him on the big screen could be a challenge for White.

“This is not easy to do because you can’t do an imitation, you have to do a personal interpretation,” he said. “It’s difficult but he is a great actor and sings pretty good.”

White previously revealed in an interview with GQ that he’d be doing his own singing in the film.

“I’m really lucky that there’s sort of a team of folks now in place to help young actors portray rock stars,” he said. “I’ve got a really talented group of people helping me train vocally, musically, to get ready for this thing.”

Deliver Me From Nowhere, directed by Scott Cooper, follows Springsteen’s efforts to make his 1982 solo album Nebraska. The film is based on Warren Zanes‘ book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.

In related news … After rumors circulated in May that Succession star Jeremy Strong was in talks to play Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau in the film, the actor has now confirmed his participation.

“It just always spoke to me, there’s a melancholy to it,” he told NME of Nebraska. “I am doing [Deliver Me From Nowhere] but I’d always felt that way about that album. There’s a narrative to it that comes from a very deep place in him and you can feel that.”

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It looks like David Lee Roth may be responding to all the Van Halen news that’s been coming out since Alex Van Halen started doing interviews to promote his upcoming memoir, Brothers, which drops Tuesday.

The former Van Halen frontman just reposted a video to Instagram of his song “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway,” which was originally released two years ago. The song has him reminiscing about his days in the band, and the video features plenty of archival videos and pictures from that time.

“We laughed, we cried, we threw the television off that balcony,” he sings in the song. “That memory means so much to me … Remember when you safety pinned the tablecloth to my pants/ And I stood up to the sound of dancing and the sound of our romance beginning.”

The post comes just days after Alex told Rolling Stone that Roth was to blame for the collapse of a planned Van Halen tour following Eddie Van Halen’s 2020 death, saying that Roth “popped a fuse” at a suggestion to pay tribute to Eddie during the show.

Regardless, Alex said he’s still in touch with Dave and told Billboard, “I’m not angry at all with Dave.”

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Ozzy Osbourne has announced a new vinyl box set titled See You on the Other Side 2.0.

As with 2019’s See You on the Other Side package, the 2.0 collection features all of the Prince of Darkness’ solo studio albums, as well as two live albums and the Flippin’ the B-Side rarities compilation. Newly added to the updated set are Ozzy’s last two solo records, 2020’s Ordinary Man and 2022’s Patient Number 9. 

Ozzy’s also put out a new video in which his longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde plays a lawyer offering compensation to those suffering from LOPOD, or Lack of Prince of Darkness.

See You on the Other Side 2.0, which will set you back $599.99, is due out March 14, 2025. You can preorder your copy now.

Meanwhile, Ozzy’s set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during Saturday’s ceremony in Cleveland, which will stream live on Disney+. Those performing in his honor include Wylde, Tool‘s Maynard James Keenan, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith, Metallica‘s Robert Trujillo, Wolfgang Van Halen, Jelly Roll, producer Andrew Watt, Billy Idol and Steve Stevens.

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(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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Peter Frampton will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Saturday, and he’ll also be performing on the show. He tells ABC Audio narrowing down what to play took a little bit of work. 

Frampton says he was originally given 7 1/2 minutes to perform and opted to play just one song.

“I’m not a mash-up guy,” he said, “so we’ll do one number that is 7 1/2 minutes long,” although he didn’t name the song. 

The folks at the Rock Hall offered him a chance to play a second song, but only gave him two minutes more. And while producers had requested a specific tune, Frampton instead opted for one he felt more appropriate for the occasion.

“There’s another song that opens the Frampton Comes Alive album on side one,” he said. “The first line is, ‘Who said it’s my year?’ So I said, ‘How about that?’”

That song is “Something’s Happening,” with Frampton noting he cut it down from five minutes: “It seems like a sneeze, but it sounds good.”

Frampton won’t be alone during his performance; he’ll be joined by country star Keith Urban, who he’s known since his early days living in Nashville.

“He’s such a dear, sweet guy and a great performer,” Frampton shares. “Wonderful guitar player, singer and songwriter.”

Frampton is getting into the HOF after being eligible since 1997, but he’s not completely satisfied: His band Humble Pie‘s been eligible since 1994. When asked whether he’d like to see them get in, Frampton said, “Yes, I would. And that’s part of my speech.” 

The 2024 induction ceremony, taking place Saturday at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, will stream live on Disney+ at 7 p.m. ET.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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On Thursday it was revealed that Foreigner’s Dennis Elliott and Mick Jones would not be attending Saturday’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, and Elliott has explained his reasoning for skipping the event.

“We were finally given the schedule last night, and it is not to our satisfaction. So we are staying home,” he wrote on Facebook. “We have been asking for this for weeks, and they have waited until the very last minute to send it knowing we were all packed and going to bed. Totally unacceptable to us.”

According to Billboard, there was an issue over the fact that spouses were not allowed to walk the red carpet with band members.

The mag also reports that Jones’ absence is being blamed on his health. He disclosed back in February that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which was the reason why he hadn’t been performing with the band on their current Farewell tour. 

Foreigner singer Lou Gramm, keyboardist Al Greenwood and bassist Rick Wills will be attending the induction and will also be performing with Demi Lovato, Sammy Hagar, Kelly Clarkson and others. 

The 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, taking place at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, will stream live on Disney+ at 7 p.m. ET. On Jan. 1, ABC will air the special 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, featuring performance highlights.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Alex Van Halen wants folks to know his memoir, Brothers, out Tuesday, isn’t a tell-all.

“It’s not about the dirt,” Alex tells Billboard. “If I start throwing dirt, it’ll never end … I think it divides the audience, and we’re not here to divide.”

Instead, Alex says he wrote Brothers to get the truth out about his brother and Van Halen bandmate Eddie Van Halen, who died in October 2020.

“I really felt like a lot of the stuff that was out there was incorrect, and it didn’t do justice to the more sensitive side of Ed,” he says. “So before I die I would like to at least partially set the record straight.”

The book doesn’t go into Van Halen past the David Lee Roth years, with Alex saying there were “limitations to how big the book could be.”

But talking about their 1985 split with Roth, Alex says, “It was a very sad moment when that whole thing fell apart,” with the mag noting that in the book he calls Roth’s departure “the most disappointing thing I’d experienced in my life, the thing that seemed the most wasteful and unjust. Until I lost my brother.” 

As for their other singer, Sammy Hagar, Alex was asked why he didn’t want to join Sammy and bassist Michael Anthony on their recent The Best of All Worlds Tour, during which they played Van Halen hits.

“I’m not interested. They’re not doing the band justice,” he says. “They can do what they want to do. That’s not my business.”

Alex also set the record straight about selling off his drum equipment in June, sharing he was just getting rid of stuff he wasn’t using.

“I’m not quitting. I don’t know where that came from,” he says. “I’ll die with sticks in my hand.”

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Talking Heads have shared a previously unreleased live performance of “Uh-Oh, Love Come to Town,” recorded during the band’s final concert at the legendary New York punk rock club CBGB in October 1977.

The song, available now via digital outlets, is one of 13 previously unreleased live recordings included in an upcoming box set celebrating the band’s debut album, Talking Heads: 77. 

Talking Heads: 77 (Super Deluxe Edition), dropping Nov. 8, will be made up of four LPs, one of which is a remaster of the original album. There’s also an LP of unreleased demos and outtakes, along with the two-LP live album, Live at CBGB, New York, NY, Oct. 10, 1977.

The set also includes four 7-inch singles, an 80-page hardcover book with never-before-seen photos and liner notes written by the members of Talking Heads — David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison — and recording engineer Ed Stasium. 

In addition to the super deluxe edition, the reissue will be released digitally, on two-LP standard black vinyl, two-LP green vinyl at Barnes & Noble and as a three-CD/Blu-ray set, with the Blu-ray featuring new high-quality mixes of the album. 

Talking Heads: 77 (Super Deluxe Edition) is available for preorder now.

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