Classic Rock News

Saturday marks 10 years since David Bowie’s death and his longtime pianist Mike Garson is opening up about the last time he spoke with the rock legend.

Garson tells Gold Derby that their last conversation was quite hopeful, despite the fact that Bowie was secretly battling cancer.

“It was only a few weeks before. He reached out to me, talking about continuing the trilogy of the Outside album,” Garson says, referring to Bowie’s 1995 album, and planned sequels that never happened. “He never gave up hope. … He was dying, and yet he was saying, ‘Let’s do this.’ So, of course, I got excited.”

Garson also recalls the last message he got from Bowie, noting he knew it was the end even though he was unaware of Bowie’s illness.

He says he had just listened to Bowie’s discography which left him “awestruck,” prompting him to send Bowie an email. Garson says, “And within three seconds, he emailed me back, saying, ‘Mike, we did a great body of work together.’”

Garson said the “finality” of that statement had him telling his wife “that’s the last time I’m going to hear form him.” “I don’t know if it was just my intuition,” he explained. “I did not know he was dying then, because he kept [his illness] secret from everyone. … But we had a very special connection.”

Garson is set to headline a trio of shows, Bowie’s Piano Man: A Decade in the Stars, at the Sun Rose West Hollywood in Los Angeles Jan. 8-10. The shows will celebrate Bowie’s birthday and the 10th anniversary of his death, and will feature guest appearances by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Bowie touring bassist Carmine Rojas and others.

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Studio equipment previously owned by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones is currently up for auction.

The equipment comes from Jones’ private studio, and has no Led Zeppelin connection. Gear up for grabs includes amps, digital samplers, equalizers, processors and more.

“John is still very active musically – writing, recording and performing – but no longer requires so much studio equipment – most of which he has owned from new,” Soundgas writes on its website. “He feels it should be in the hands of people who will put it to good use, so it is offered here without formal provenance, with the intention that it continues to be used as intended.”

The John Paul Jones auction runs until Jan. 18. More info can be found at Soundgas.com

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Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson has taken to social media to blast AI-generated content that has apparently been fooling the band’s fans.

“It has come to our attention that fake fan websites and social media accounts are displaying AI-generated content purporting to be by me – whether lyrics, music or social commentary,” he wrote in a post on Instagram. “If you see this insidious, childish and dishonest material, please ignore it as it will not be genuine. If you haven’t read or seen it on our official social media platforms then it is most likely fake or, at best, copied and pasted from our legitimate sources.”

Anderson notes that Jethro Tull isn’t the only band to experience “their public personae tampered with and faked for the amusement of the perpetrators or even financial gain in some cases.”

“This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of a future where AI at its worst is accepted and tolerated in society,” he added. “As the AI algorithms become more sophisticated, it will be harder and harder to spot the fakes and we will all be reduced to simply not trusting ANY source of information or entertainment.”

He concluded the post by writing, “Sad world and sadder times…”

Jethro Tull is set to kick off a European tour on Feb. 11 in Munich, Germany. A complete list of dates can be found at JethroTull.com.

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David Lee Roth is going on tour this year.

The former Van Halen frontman just announced dates for a new trek that kicks off April 16 near Spokane, Washington. The tour hits such cities as Tucson, Memphis, Orlando, Nashville, Boston and more, before wrapping June 20 in Milwaukee, with the latter show being part of Milwaukee Summerfest.

Roth’s 2026 schedule also includes a concert at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on Aug. 7 in Sturgis, South Dakota.

A ticket presale begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on sale to the general public starting Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

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

Roth returned to performing in 2025, which marked his first time on stage in five years. His first show back was a headlining spot at the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland, where he treated fans to a set filled with Van Halen tunes.

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Peter Gabriel has dropped his first new song of the new year.

The rocker released “Been Undone,” the lead single off his upcoming album o/i, the follow up to 2023’s i/o.

As he did with i/o, Gabriel plans to release a new song from the album with each full moon of the year. The entire album will be released by the end of 2026, along with Dark-Side and Bright-Side mixes, handled by Tchad Blake and Mark “Spike” Stent, respectively.

“Been Undone (Dark-Side Remix)” is available now via digital outlets.

Like i/o, each new song release will be accompanied by a piece of art. The artwork for “Been Undone,” titled Ciclotrama 156 (Palindrome), comes from São Paulo–based artist Janaina Mello Landini.

“The first artwork is a special piece from Janaina Mello Landini. The way she takes the rope and moves it out, unravelling it, is almost like fractals or tree trunks and looks like the brain in some ways too, so I see a lot of entry points,” Gabriel shares. “I am delighted that Janaina is willing to participate and be part of the process.”

He adds, “We are using one of her existing images for this month to open the whole proceedings but I’m excited that she’s now going to create a piece, especially for the song.”

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On This Day Jan. 5, 1976…

Fifty years ago, Bob Dylan released his 17th studio album, Desire, which went to #1 on the Billboard chart, and remained there for five weeks.

The album, the follow up to 1975’s Blood on the Tracks, had Dylan backed by the musicians he used for his Rolling Thunder Revue tours, with Emmylou Harris and Ronee Blakley providing backup vocals.

Notable songs on the album include “Hurricane,” which he wrote about the murder case against boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, as well as “Isis” and “Sara,” the latter of which was written about his wife.

Many of the tunes on the album were co-written by Jacques Levy, and in 2020 Levy’s estate sued Dylan and Universal Music Group claiming they were entitled to compensation from the sale of Dylan’s catalog. Dylan’s lawyers claimed Levy was hired under a “work for hire” arrangement, and Dylan won the suit.

Desire went on to become one of Dylan’s best-selling studio albums, and has been certified double platinum by the RIAA.

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Fans of The Rolling Stones are going to want to get their hands on a unique collectible that will be available for Record Store Day this spring.

Crosley Radio, a founding sponsor of Record Store Day, is set to release The Rolling Stones RSD3 Mini Turntable, a limited-edition, fully functioning turntable dedicated to the legendary band. The collectible is decorated with exclusive Rolling Stones artwork and comes with a matching storage crate that can hold up to 16 3-inch records.

The turntable also includes six 3-inch singles — “Get Off of My Cloud,” “Play With Fire,” “Heart of Stone,” “Mother’s Little Helper” “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby Standing in the Shadow?” and “Honky Tonk Woman” –- all featuring reproductions of their original picture sleeves.

“We’re thrilled to add this Rolling Stones product to our exclusive Record Store Day releases,” said Crosley Radio President Keith Starr. “Combining Crosley’s passion for records with the band’s legendary legacy creates a collectible we know fans will be excited to spin.”

The mini turntable has regular turntable features like a headphone jack, adjustable pitch control and more, and also gives music fans the ability to stream vinyl using external speakers with a Bluetooth transmitter.

It will be available at independent record stores on April 18.

This isn’t the first mini-turntable Crosley has released for Record Store Day. In 2024, they released a Beatles mini-turntable in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the band touching down in America.

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Imagine playing in a tribute band, and the artist whose music you’re paying tribute to joins you onstage. That’s what happened to the Billy Joel tribute band Turnstiles Friday.

According to the Palm Beach Post, Billy, who owns a home in the Palm Beach area, attended a Turnstiles concert at an amphitheater in Wellington, Florida, and ended up joining them for two songs. He took the stage wearing a jacket and a black knit cap, walking with the help of a cane.

As he sat at the piano, he laughed, “I wasn’t planning on working tonight,” before playing “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “Big Shot.” His two youngest daughters — Della, 10, and Remy, 8 — sang and danced alongside him onstage.

The show marked the Piano Man’s first live appearance since he’d announced in May that he’d been diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain condition that can cause balance, vision and hearing problems. At the time, a statement noted that he was receiving “specific physical therapy.” 

As a result of the diagnosis, Billy was forced to cancel all his scheduled performances, as well as a planned appearance at the New York City premiere of the HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes.

In a statement to People in July, Billy reassured fans, “I know a lot of people are worried about me and my health, but I’m okay. What I have is something very few people know about, including me, no matter how much you try to research it. I’m doing my best to work with it and to recover from it.”

He added, “I just wanted to let people know, don’t worry about me being deathly ill or anything.”

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Bryan Adams released a new album called Roll With the Punches in 2025, and in 2026 he’s going to keep on rolling out new music. Well, sort of.

In a New Year’s Day video on Instagram, Bryan said, “In April, we have a new album coming out called Tough Town.” 

But Tough Town isn’t exactly new: It’s a 10-track bonus disc that was included with the deluxe box set version of Roll With the Punches. So the April release Bryan is referring to is likely a stand-alone version of that disc, for those who didn’t buy the box set.

In his message, Bryan also flagged that acoustic versions of many of the songs from Roll With the Punches are now available on all streaming platforms.  

Bryan will spend most of 2026 touring the world, starting in Japan at the end of January. His only U.S. shows are three dates in June at the Encore Theatre at Wynn Las Vegas.

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Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi has given fans an update on his next solo project.

In a New Year’s message, Iommi discussed the highlights of his 2025, including his reunion with his Black Sabbath bandmates Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler for the Back to the Beginning show in July. He also referenced the band getting the Freedom of the City honor from their hometown of Birmingham, England, where the concert took place.

Of course 2025 wasn’t all happy, with Tony noting the “unfortunate” and “sad” passing of Ozzy a couple of weeks after the concert.

Tony detailed what fans can expect in the coming year, offering, “Of course in 2026 I shall have definitely, definitely my solo album out and I’m really looking forward to that.” He added, “I’m enjoying doing it and it’s been great fun and I really hope you enjoy it.”

In other Sabbath-related news, Geezer recently revealed how artificial intelligence is helping him with his music.

Video posted from a Q&A at the 2025 Steel City Con in December shows Geezer responding to an inquiry about whether he has any more albums “in the tank.” He says he’s got “tons of stuff,” noting AI has been helping him update music he wrote in the ’80s and beyond.

“And what held me back before, I didn’t have a singer when I’m at home, but AI came along. So all my songs now, I’ve updated them all and I’m using an AI singer to bring all the lyrics out,” Geezer said. “So now I can take it to singers that I’m gonna be working with and go, ‘This is what I want on the album,’ so they’ve got a better idea. It’s really helped me. A lot of people think it’s cheating.”

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