Classic Rock News

Sting‘s on the road with his latest musical project, Sting 3.0: a “power trio” with himself on bass, Dominic Miller on guitar and Chris Maas on drums. If that lineup sounds familiar, it should: Sting’s former band The Police was also a bass/guitar/drums combo. Sting says touring with a trio now is all part of his ongoing effort to keep things interesting.

“I’m playing songs that I may have written 40 years ago … so I have to keep my curiosity about them intact. And I do that by putting myself out of my comfort zone,” he explains. “I think it’s a very creative place to be. It’s a little scary.”

He notes wryly, “I’ve had some experience with a three-piece band before, quite successfully, so it’s not entirely unknown territory. What’s very heartening is that the songs are sturdy enough to withstand a lot of stripping away … you just have the bare bones of the structure of the song, and it still gets over.”

Sting also stays on his toes by letting his guitarist choose a song in the middle of the performance.

“Dominic, who has a fantastic memory, will challenge me with with a song that I only half know,” he chuckles. “And I have my heart in my mouth, I’m wondering, ‘Is he going to ask for something that I don’t really know?’ But so far, it’s proved okay.”

In between the trio’s theater shows, they’re also co-headlining stadiums with Billy Joel, which will continue into 2025, along with a European tour. And Sting says he has no intention of slowing down.

“No, I don’t really want to stop. I mean, I walk out in front of 15, 20,000 people most nights and they’re pleased to see me,” he says. “You don’t want to give that up!” 

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Alex Van Halen‘s given his first interview since the death of his brother Eddie Van Halen, talking to Rolling Stone ahead of the Oct. 22 release of his memoir, Brothers.

In the interview, Alex talks about his reaction to his brother’s 2020 death, telling the mag it led to a diagnosis of PTSD.

“I shut down,” he says. “I was yelling and screaming. I was beside myself.”

Alex also dishes a little dirt, blaming David Lee Roth for the collapse of a planned Van Halen tour following Eddie’s death. 

“The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex says, “was I said, ‘Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgment of Ed in the gig.’ …  And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave f*****’ popped a fuse. … The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”

Roth did not comment on the accusation, although the mag notes Alex and David are still in touch.

Alex says looking at it now he can’t imagine touring without Eddie. As for former frontman Sammy Hagar playing Van Halen songs on tour with guitarist Joe Satriani, the mag says Alex wouldn’t even say Sammy’s name.

“The heart and the soul and the creativity and the magic was Dave, Ed, Mike (Anthony), and me,” he says. Rolling Stone notes the only mention of the Van Hagar years in the book was Alex writing, “We had a lot of other singers over the years.”

Also in the article, Alex tells Rolling Stone that in 2001 they almost got Ozzy Osbourne to front the band, but it didn’t happen because he was in negotiations for the MTV reality show The Osbournes. 

Finally, talking about Eddie, Alex says, “I just miss him. I miss the arguments. I live with it every day. And I can’t bring him back. I can’t make things right.” 

But he says he feels his brother’s presence.

“He was there this morning,” he says. “He’s fine. Wherever he is — he’s fine.”

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On This Day, Oct. 15, 2006 …

New York’s famed punk rock club CBGB closed following a dispute over money between owner Hilly Kristal and the venue’s landlord, Bowery Residents Committee.

Opened on Dec. 10, 1973, CBGB — which stood for country, bluegrass and blues — helped launch the careers of such artists as the Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie and Patti Smith, among others.

Smith performed at the closing night concert, with guest appearances by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Television‘s Richard Lloyd.

The club’s second awning, which was out front when CBGB closed in 2006, is now featured in the lobby of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

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Bruce Springsteen will sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos ahead of the premiere of his new documentary, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street, and we’re now getting our first look at their chat. 

A trailer for the primetime special, Bruce Springsteen: Backstage and Backstreets, debuted on Good Morning America, opening with shots of Bruce onstage and George asking, “Do you remember what it was like not to be famous?” to which he replies, “Yeah, I do.”

The clip includes concert footage, has Bruce talking about creating set lists and more, with the rocker sharing, “Music brings with it a certain sort of inner peace. That’s why people come.”

The trailer also has Springsteen and Stephanopoulos at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, where Bruce talks about first meeting his future wife, Patti Scialfa. In Road Diary, Patti reveals that she’s been battling blood cancer since 2018 and Bruce gives fans an update on how she’s doing.

“She’s doing good. We caught it early, which was important,” he shares. “It’s a tough disease, it’s very fatiguing.” 

He also reveals why she decided to disclose her illness now.  

“She hadn’t played in the band for a long time and people I don’t think knew why,” he said, noting fans kept asking, “Where’s Patti?” 

The clip ends with Bruce walking off stage and Stephanopoulos saying to him, “You have the best job in the world,” to which Bruce agrees, responding, “Hell yes I do.”

Bruce Springsteen: Backstage and Backstreets airs Oct. 20 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street debuts Oct. 25 on Hulu and Disney+.

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Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro has teamed with Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood for the new album Blues Experience, and he tells ABC Audio he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to embrace the blues with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.

“You know, he’s one of my favorite drummers,” Jake says. “He kind of just pioneered that style,” noting that early Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green was a blues band. He adds, “I mean, who better to kind of explore this genre of music than with him?”

Jake shares that recording the album with Mick “was just a blast,” describing it as “so inspiring to play” with him.

“He’s just got this incredible, like, intensity and you know, he’s so present when he plays,” Jake says. “He’s just always listening and he’s watching you and elevates everyone around him.”

“He just looks at you and somehow, telepathically, you just kind of know what to do,” he adds.

The album features covers of tunes like Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade of Pale,” Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World,” and more. The last song on the album is a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird,” which was recorded as a tribute to its songwriter, the late Christine McVie.

Jake calls their version of the tune “a beautiful tribute” to McVie and says when they were recording it, Mick got lost in the song. 

“At the end, I remember, like, we all kind of faded out and Mick just kept the drums going,” he said. “And then he opened his eyes and he told us that he felt Christine’s presence with us in the studio.”  

Blues Experience will be released Friday. It is available for preorder now.

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A classic Buster Keaton movie is getting an update thanks to R.E.M.

The 1924 silent film Sherlock Jr. is being re-released in theaters on Feb. 4, soundtracked by two R.E.M. albums: 1994’s Monster and 1996’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

The screening is part of the Silents Synched series, which pairs classic films with contemporary albums. A previous screening paired Nosferatu with two Radiohead albums.

“Buster Keaton is one of my favorite actor/director/writers in movie history,” R.E.M.’s Peter Buck said in a statement, according to Rolling Stone. “I’m honored that in some small way R.E.M. is collaborating with him from beyond the grave!”

A trailer for the new version of the film has just been released, featuring clips from the movie soundtracked to the Monster tune “Star 69.”

Fun facts that pop up during the trailer reveal that New Adventures in Hi-Fi is R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe’s favorite R.E.M. album. It also notes that Sherlock Jr., released 100 years ago, is “considered one of the greatest silent comedies” and in 1991 was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

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A graphic designer from Sunderland, England, has created a very unique portrait of The Beatles.

The BBC reports that Darren Timby has created the portrait of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr using 24,000 screws.

He says the work pays tribute to his hometown, noting, “Ship building and coal mining are all part of our history and the screw art is almost like a nod to where I’m from.” 

Timby spent 120 hours completing the portrait, which is 6 feet wide, 3 feet tall and uses black, silver and gold screws on a white canvas. 

This isn’t the first time Timby has captured iconic figures with his screw art. Previous subjects include Elvis Presley, Oasis‘ Liam and Noel Gallagher, Amy Winehouse and Queen Elizabeth.

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Sammy Hagar has finally sold his prized 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari.

The rocker was initially planning to sell the car, which originally cost him $1.4 million, at the Barrett-Jackson 2024 Scottsdale Auction back in January, but the auction had to be postponed after it was discovered the car needed a new battery. 

Well, the car finally went on the auction block at Saturday’s Barrett-Jackson Auction, also in Scottsdale, and USA Today reports it sold for $4.25 million. There’s no word on the identity of the new owner.

“Quite honestly, it was exhausting being part of the bidding war,” Hagar told the paper. “I’m thinking the whole time, do I really want to do this? Seller’s remorse and all. When that gavel came down and they said ‘Sold!,’ I wasn’t sure if I was heartbroken or relieved. What an experience.” 

Hagar did get a chance to meet the car’s new owner, and says he and the buyer look at it as though they are “caretakers of something special” who eventually pass it on to someone else.

“So you’re just looking in each case for someone who will preserve and take care of the legacy of a car that has this level of perfection,” he said.

According to Barrett-Jackson, the sale of Hagar’s Ferrari set a new record, noting that before Saturday the highest price paid for a 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari was a little over $3.9 million.

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Pearl Jam has shared a new video for their song “Dark Matter” in support of SeaLegacy, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the ocean.

The clip features various shots of how humans are impacting the ocean — including one that looks very similar to the cover of PJ’s 2020 album, Gigaton — as well as the various creatures that live around and inhabit it.

“We are on the front lines of a new climate era: a world built on stolen lands, waters, and futures,” the video’s description reads. “Without our voices for the oceans and the Earth, our fellow species will vanish in silence.  Change begins with awareness and the courage to act.”

You can watch it now on YouTube.

“Dark Matter” is the title track off Pearl Jam’s latest album, which was released in April.

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Bruce Springsteen recently revealed that he’s often mistaken for being Jewish.

According to People, Springsteen made the comments during an appearance at the USC Shoah Foundation 30th Anniversary Ambassadors for Humanity gala on Sunday, where he performed two songs: “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and “Dancing in the Dark.”

“I actually was Bruce Springstein for the first year or two of my career,” he said. “Everywhere I went — I pull up to the club. ‘Welcome Bruce Springstein.’”

He added, “This happened as late as a month ago. I’m not joking.”

The Shoah Foundation, which was founded by director Steven Spielberg, collects and preserves testimonials of Holocaust survivors, and Springsteen sees similarities in what they do and his job as a songwriter.

“The work of collecting the personal testimony and the voices of those who’ve witnessed history has just something in common with the work that songwriters, filmmakers, all artists do to understand and to create our real and imagined worlds,” he said. “We follow the ghosts of history. We listen for the voices of the past to take us into the future, and we lean into their stories and we listen to them.”

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