Classic Rock News

Chicago has paid tribute to founding member Walter Parazaider, who passed away Wednesday after living with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 81.

“Chicago is heartbroken to share the sad news of Walter Parazaider’s passing this morning,” the band writes on Instagram. “We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and countless Chicago fans who are all grieving his loss today.”

“A Rock & Roll band with horns was Walt’s idea. He put the band together and they rehearsed in the basement of his mother’s home,” the post continues. “He is also the one who did the hard work to book shows for the young, unknown band, performing top 40 covers at local bars in and around Chicago.”

“We are forever grateful for his contributions,” the post concludes. “Perhaps his greatest gift was bringing people together. This amazing music may have never been heard had it not been for Walt’s vision.”

Parazaider was part of the original lineup of Chicago, along with Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Danny Seraphine. The band formed in its namesake city in 1967.

Parazaider, Loughnane and Pankow made up the band’s brass/woodwind section, with Parazaider playing a variety of instruments, including saxophone, flute and clarinet.

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Rush was joined by special guest Aimee Mann during the four-night opening stint of their Fifty Something tour in Los Angeles, but it turns out Mann almost said no to the gig.

The singer joined the band to reprise her part on “Time Stand Still” from 1987’s Hold Your Fire. But she reveals in an Instagram post that she initially wasn’t keen on doing it.

Mann posted a hand-drawn comic with the caption “What I did last week,” where she explained how her guest appearance came about.

“Way back in March, I got an email from Geddy Lee, from the band Rush. But I was quite frankly in a s***** place and couldn’t imagine doing it,” she explains on top of the drawings. “I was in such a hole I couldn’t even answer one way or the other. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t try.”

Apparently she finally agreed, and goes on to say the band “were so kind and welcoming.” She writes, “I felt protected by their bubble of music and Canadian warmth, and buoyed aloft by their fans.”

Within the drawings, she reveals what was going on in her head after being asked, including her worry about the size of the KIA Forum, where Rush was playing, and her original plan, which was to “just apologize profusely and explain that I’m a crazy person.”

There are also drawings depicting Lee welcoming her, as well as one of the pair onstage together.

The Rush 50 Something tour heads to Mexico City for two nights, Thursday and Saturda. A complete list of dates can be found at Rush.com.

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Steve Miller has announced his first concerts of 2026.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is set to return to the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City on Oct. 9 and 10.

Miller first played the Rose Theater back in 2016 and has been performing at the venue for nearly a decade. According to a post on Instagram, the shows will have Miller honoring his “blues and jazz heroes.”

Tickets are on sale now.

The October dates are the only shows Miller has on his schedule for 2026. In July 2025 he abruptly canceled the planned Steve Miller Band tour, blaming the extreme weather conditions hitting the U.S.

“The combination of extreme heat, unpredictable flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and massive forest fires make these risks for you our audience, the band and the crew unacceptable,” read his post on Instagram. “So… You can blame it on the weather…The tour is cancelled.”

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Bon Jovi is set to launch their Forever Tour in July, their first tour since frontman Jon Bon Jovi underwent vocal cord surgery in 2022. In a new interview with People, the rocker is letting fans know he’s ready to get back onstage.

“I’m fully recovered,” he tells the mag in their latest issue, on newsstands Friday. “It was longer than I’d ever expected, but it had to be right. We never lost faith.”

Jon reveals he was a bit surprised when he found out he had a damaged vocal cord.

“I’d often joked and said the only thing that’s ever been up my nose was my finger. I never did anything to hurt the cords; I didn’t have any excesses. I’m a trained vocalist. I’ve practiced the craft,” he says. “So when a doctor had to explain to me that one of the cords was literally atrophying, it was confusing.”

While it took a lot of hard work to get him ready to tour again, Jon says his bandmates were confident it would happen.

“They never doubted [me] and never looked for work or decided to retire,” he says. “The sacrifices that each one of them have made to be there for me is on a whole ’nother level. They said, ‘No, we’re with you.’ Every day of every rehearsal they were there with me. My love for them has only deepened.”

As for getting back onstage again, Jon notes, “I think that this is a rebirth,” adding, “It is simply about the joy.”

Bon Jovi’s Forever Tour kicks off July 7 with a nine-show stand at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The tour is also headed to the U.K., wrapping in September with three shows at Wembley Stadium in London.

A complete list of dates can be found at BonJovi.com.

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Walter Parazaider, founding member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Chicago, died Wednesday at the age of 81.

His death was confirmed by his daughter Felicia Parazaider on Facebook, who wrote, “My father, my hero, is gone. He went peacefully about 20 minutes ago. There’s no more pain. No more struggle.”

Parazaider was part of the original lineup of Chicago, which was formed in its namesake city in 1967. Other original members included Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Danny Seraphine. He, Loughnane and Pankow made up the band’s brass/woodwind section, while Parazaider played a variety of instruments, including saxophone, flute and clarinet.

Chicago — best known for such hits as “Saturday In The Park,” “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day,” “If You Leave Me Now,” “25 or 6 to 4,” “You’re The Inspiration” and more — sold over 40 million units in the U.S. and had five consecutive #1 albums on the Billboard 200 between 1972 and 1975.

They were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

Parazaider retired from Chicago in 2017 and announced in 2021 he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“This was the worst six years. The hardest season of my life,” Felicia wrote in her post on Facebook. “And I’m so grateful that my dad is not suffering anymore.”

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On This Day, June 17, 1981…

Pink Floyd wrapped the 31-date The Wall Tour at London’s Earl’s Court, the final show of a five-night stand at the venue. It was Roger Waters’ last full concert with the band.

The tour launched in February 1980 in support of Pink Floyd’s concept album, The Wall, visiting the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. It featured pyrotechnics and elaborate staging, including an airplane that flew over the audience and crashed into a giant wall onstage. The wall also got torn down at the end of each show.

Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, two years before their next tour, 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour. He later reunited with his bandmates to perform at Live 8 in July 2005.

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While Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind, not everyone will get to attend Eddie Vedder’s 2026 Ohana Festival — three-day tickets are already sold out. However, here’s your chance to win a VIP experience to the festival.

Pearl Jam has announced a raffle offering two three-day VIP Ohana 2026 passes, along with round-trip travel to Los Angeles and four-night hotel stay. The winner will also receive a limited-edition poster signed by the PJ members, artist lounge passes, a backstage tour and even surfing lessons.

The raffle is being hosted by the platform Fandiem, and you can enter by donating to Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy Foundation. It’ll be open through Sept. 4.

For more info, visit Fandiem.com.

Ohana 2026 takes place Sept. 25-27 in Dana Point, California. Along with headlining sets from Pearl Jam and Vedder, the bill includes Bad Religion, Fontaines D.C., Alabama Shakes, Rilo Kiley, The Format and Billy Idol.

Pearl Jam’s performance is set to mark the debut of their new drummer. Matt Cameron, who manned the PJ kit for 27 years, announced his departure from the band in 2025.

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Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett has teamed with Steve Rothery, the original guitarist for progressive rock band Marillion, for a brand-new instrumental album, The Roaring Waves.

The album, being released Aug. 28, is made up of seven songs that are described in a statement as ranging “from the dexterously ridiculous to the brilliantly sublime, though with one common theme: the profundity of the sea.”

Hackett and Rothery first had the idea of making an album together about 11 years ago, although they’ve been working on it for the past eight, getting together for months at a time when their schedules allowed.

“It was a bit old school our approach, like the idea of mates getting together in the garage and playing and hanging out,” says Hackett.

They plan to release the first single from the record on June 26, which is also when the album will be available for preorder.

Hackett toured Europe in May and June, and has U.K. dates booked in October. A complete list of dates can be found at HackettSongs.com.

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Former President Barack Obama has confirmed the performance lineup for the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center.

In a post on Instagram that included a video of a proposed group chat with all the performers, Obama reveals that Bruce Springsteen, U2’s Bono and The Edge, and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder are among those confirmed for the event.

Other performers include Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Common, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Marc Anthony, The Roots and Tems.

In the video, Obama texts, “Thanks again for performing at the Grand Opening!” Springsteen replies, “Is this really happening??” And Vedder adds, “So it’s official then?”

Michelle Obama later chimes in “Thank you all for agreeing to perform!” Bono and The Edge text, “It’s an honor to stand with you!”

The Obama Presidential Center opens Friday in Chicago. The opening ceremony will take place Thursday starting at 11 a.m. CT and will stream live online.

For more info, visit Obama.org.

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A new documentary about The Police drummer Stewart Copeland is getting its world premiere in London.

The film, Copeland, will premiere as part of the Raindance Film Festival, with screenings on Friday and Saturday.

According to U.K. outlet The Independent, Copeland talks in the film of being “heartbroken” by what happened when The Police were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

While Copeland, Sting and Andy Summers did reunite to perform three songs together at the ceremony, afterward Sting and Summers simply walked off the stage, with Copeland noting, “I never saw The Police again that night.”

“I was heartbroken,” he says. “Does that mean nothing? Come on, guys. And I never saw them again.”

“It was strange that we came together and went apart, you know?” Copeland tells The Independent. “I hung out with The Clash instead … I felt more bonhomie with The Clash than I did [with] my own band.”

The trio did eventually get back together for a reunion tour in 2007, which lasted until 2008.

Copeland is currently on his Have I Said Too Much? – The Police, Hollywood, and Other Adventures spoken word tour. His next show is Tuesday in Phoenix. A complete list of dates can be found at StewartCopeland.net.

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