Classic Rock News

Billy Joel has announced a handful of co-headlining dates for 2025.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is set to play four shows with Sting: Feb. 8 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, April 11 at JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York, May 10 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and May 23 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

But that’s not all. Joel and Stevie Nicks have also booked a co-headlining date, March 29 at Detroit’s Ford Field. 

Citi presales for all shows begin Monday at 10 a.m. ET, with tickets going on sale to the general public starting Oct. 4 at 9 a.m. ET.

In addition to these co-headlining shows, Billy has a few solo gigs on his schedule for 2025, including New Year’s Eve at the UBS Arena in New York for the second year in a row and a Jan. 17 show in Seminole, Florida.

Joel’s next show is a co-headlining date with Sting on Friday in St. Louis. A complete list of dates can be found at billyjoel.com.

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Duff McKagan has released a cover of the David Bowie classic “Heroes” and a new original solo song called “True to the Death Rock N’ Roll Ballad.”

The tracks follow the Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver bassist’s latest solo album, 2023’s Lighthouse.

“We thought it was good idea to put out a couple of fresh songs right here on the eve of the Lighthouse tour,” McKagan says. “Choosing David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ seemed to be a natural subject matter for me (I am of course, a massive history nerd)…star-crossed lovers in the shadow of the mid-’70s cold-war era Berlin Wall.”

He adds, “To try and compliment this era, I chose a sort of ’70s glam-rock song that I wrote some time last year, ‘True to the Death Rock N’ Roll Ballad,’ another lyric where love and lust and time are the central figures.”

You can listen to both songs now via digital outlets.

McKagan’s tour launches with a European leg beginning Sept. 30 in Dublin. A U.S. leg kicks off in November.
 

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Actress Shailene Woodley recently revealed that she’s been working with songwriter Linda Perry to develop her voice for the upcoming Janis Joplin biopic, and now Perry is sharing some more details on the film.

Perry tells Entertainment Weekly she’s “been waiting decades for this movie to be made” and is honored to be a part of it. She describes the movie as “a raw and honest look into Janis Joplin’s last days.”

”Shailene Woodley’s emotional commitment and dedication to Janis is inspiring,” Perry adds. “I believe her! Shailene lives for the art and I can’t think of a better person to portray such a powerful, emotional, and complex artist.”

Joplin died Oct. 4, 1970, at the age of 27. 

Woodley’s plan to produce and star in a Joplin biopic was revealed in early September. During an interview Wednesday on Live with Kelly and Mark she said she’s been putting the film together for six years.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd has canceled four more shows following the news of Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant’s family emergency.

The band originally canceled their Sept. 24 concert in Anchorage, sharing that Van Zant’s daughter had to “undergo emergency surgery.” Now they’ve canceled their shows Thursday in West Valley, Utah; Friday in Loveland, Colorado; Saturday in Colorado Springs; and Sunday in Albuquerque.

In a post on social media, Skynyrd says Van Zant has left the tour to be with his daughter “while they continue testing, diagnosis and treatment.” Refunds will be given to all ticketholders.

The canceled dates where the last four shows on Skynyrd’s Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top. Their next scheduled show is at the Field & Stream Festival in Winnsboro Mills, South Carolina, taking place Oct. 4-6.

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Foo Fighters have pulled out of the 2024 Soundside Music Festival, set to take place Sept. 28-29 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. 

A statement to the “Everlong” band’s Facebook simply reads, “Foo Fighters will no longer be appearing at this weekend’s Soundside Music Festival.”

Notably, Soundside was set to be the first Foo Fighters show following the news that frontman Dave Grohl had fathered a child outside of his marriage. Grohl and his wife, Jordyn Blum, have been married since 2003, and they share three daughters.

“I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness,” Grohl wrote in a Sept. 10 Instagram post. “We’re grateful for your consideration toward all the children involved, as we move forward together.”

Meanwhile, Soundside has announced that Jack White and Greta Van Fleet have joined the bill in the Foos’ place. The festival had previously replaced Queens of the Stone Age with Bleachers after the former dropped out due to frontman Josh Homme‘s health.

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U2 is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 11th studio album, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, with what they’re calling a “shadow album,” featuring songs from the original album’s recording sessions. 

Dubbed How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb, the album features 10 previously unreleased tracks from the band’s archive, including two newly released songs, “Country Mile” and “Picture of You (X+Y),” which are available now via digital outlets.

“The sessions for How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb were such a creative period for the band, we were exploring so many song ideas in the studio,” guitarist The Edge shares. “For this anniversary edition I went into my personal archive to see if there were any unreleased gems and I hit the jackpot.” 

He adds, “What you’re getting on this shadow album is that raw energy of discovery, the visceral impact of the music, a sonic narrative, a moment in time, the exploration and interaction of four musicians playing together in a room… this is the pure U2 drop.” 

The standalone How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb will be released Nov. 29 as an exclusive for Record Store Day Black Friday, along with a digital release. 

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

The track listing for How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb is:
“Picture Of You (X+W)”
“Evidence Of Life”
“Luckiest Man In The World”
“Treason”
“I Don’t Wanna See You Smile”
“Country Mile”
“Happiness”
“Are We Gonna Wait Forever?”
“Theme From The Batman”
“All Because Of You 2”

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The 2013 Pearl Jam song “Future Days” soundtracks the new trailer for the upcoming second season of The Last of Us.

“Future Days” is featured prominently in The Last of Us Part II, the sequel to the original video game that inspired the HBO series. In the game, the character Joel performs “Future Days” for Ellie, played in the show by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, respectively.

Frontman Eddie Vedder also performed “Future Days” during the 2020 Game Awards, during which The Last of Us Part II won Game of the Year.

The Last of Us season 2 will premiere in 2025. The trailer premiere arrived on Outbreak Day, the in-universe term for Sept. 26, the day that the fungal infection that turns people into zombies took hold.

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Green Day is performing during an upcoming special celebrating the 50th anniversary of the American Music Awards.

The show will air Oct. 6 on CBS and will stream on Paramount+. Green Day’s set will feature a rendition of “Dilemma,” the current single off their new album, Saviors.

The performer lineup also includes Gladys Knight, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Chaka Khan, Brad Paisley, Kane Brown, RAYE and Stray Kids.

Green Day is currently finishing up their U.S. stadium tour in support of Saviors, during which they’ve also been playing their albums Dookie and American Idiot in full to celebrate their respective 30th and 20th anniversaries. The outing concludes Saturday in San Diego.

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On This Day, Sept. 26, 1979 …

U2 made their recording debut with the release of a three-song EP, aptly titled Three.

The release featured the songs “Out of Control” and “Stories for Boys,” which were both later rerecorded for their debut album, Boy. The other song on the release was the B-side “Boy/Girl.” 

U2, of course, went on to huge success, releasing 14 studio albums and selling over 150 million records worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

Three was later reissued in November 2019 as part of Record Store Day Black Friday, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its original release.

U2’s last release was 2023’s Songs of Surrender, which featured reworked versions of previously released songs. They have reportedly been working on a new album, which frontman Bono has described as a “an unreasonable guitar record.”

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Patti Smith will be celebrated with an upcoming tribute concert in New York City.

People Have the Power – A Celebration of Patti Smith is set to take place March 26 at Carnegie Hall. The show is the latest in a series of charity concerts put on by New York City entrepreneur Michael Dorf, with each one celebrating a different artist. 

The concert, which marks the 20th anniversary of Dorf’s Carnegie Hall series, is happening the same year Smith will celebrate the 50th anniversary of her debut album, Horses.

Proceeds from the concert go toward music education for underserved youth.

“Celebrating two decades of the Music Of series at Carnegie Hall with the songbook of the iconic Patti Smith fills me with immense pride and gratitude,” Dorf shares. “Over the years, this series has not only honored the legends of music but has also played a crucial role in supporting music education for countless young people.”

A lineup for the concert has yet to be announced. VIP tickets are on sale at musicof.org.

Since the series launch in 2004, the concerts have raised over $2 million for charity. Other artists who’ve received such tributes include Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, R.E.M. and last year, Crosby Stills & Nash.

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