Classic Rock News

Van Halen is celebrating the 40th anniversary of 5150, their first album featuring new frontman Sammy Hagar.

On March 27, just three days after the album’s actual 40th anniversary, the band will release an expanded edition of the album as a three-CD/LP/Blu-ray set.

The set features a remastered version of the 1986 release, as well as bonus 7-inch single edits and extended 12-inch tracks. There’s also a CD featuring unreleased live recordings from Van Halen’s Aug. 27, 1986, concert at New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut.

The Blu-ray features the band’s 1986 concert video Live Without A Net, recorded during the same New Haven show, upgraded to HD for the first time. There are also promotional videos for singles “Dreams” and “Why Can’t This Be Love.”

As a preview of the set, the live New Haven performance of the track “Summer Nights” has just been released to digital outlets.

Van Halen will also reissue 5150 in two-LP and three-CD formats, which include the remastered album, along with single edits and live recordings.

5150 (Expanded Edition) is available for preorder now.

Following the departure of original frontman David Lee Roth, Van Halen regrouped and recruited Hagar as their new frontman. Released March 24, 1986, 5150, named after guitarist Eddie Van Halen‘s home studio, is a reference to the California law that allows a mentally disturbed person to be placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold.

The album went on to become the band’s first #1 album and contained three pop hits: “Dreams,” “Why Can’t This Be Love” and “Love Walks In.”

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Bruce Springsteen’s new song “Streets of Minneapolis” is already making an impact on the charts.

Billboard reports that the protest song, which he released on Jan. 28, has debuted at #1 on the Digital Song Sales chart for the week ending Jan. 29. Luminate data shows the song had 16,000 downloads two days after being released.

The tune is now Springsteen’s first-ever #1 on the Digital Song Sales chart.

“Streets of Minneapolis” was written in response to what’s been happening in Minnesota, including the fatal shootings of two protesters, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Springsteen performed it live for the first time on Friday, when he was a special guest at Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello’s A Concert of Solidarity & Resistance to Defend Minnesota, which took place at the downtown Minneapolis venue First Ave.

“I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis,” Springsteen wrote on Instagram when he released the song. “It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.”

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Elton John has tapped newly minted Grammy winner Lola Young as the entertainment for his annual Oscar viewing party, which benefits his AIDS Foundation.

The 34th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party will take place March 15 in West Hollywood, California. The event will be co-hosted by Elton and his husband, David Furnish, and Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, David Burtka. Among those serving on the committee for the event are Sharon Stone, Patricia Arquette, Brandi Carlile, Keke Palmer, Eric McCormack, Tiffany Haddish, Jason Ritter and Melanie Lynskey.

“Over the years, this stage has welcomed extraordinary young artists I have championed … big voices that have gone on to shape culture and move the world,” Elton said in a statement. “This year, we’re thrilled to continue that tradition with Lola Young, a truly remarkable talent. It’s such an exciting time for new British artists, and Lola’s sheer brilliance has put her right at the forefront globally.”

Last year, Elton told Lola that he’d “bet his house” that her song “d£aler” would be a #1 hit. When it failed to top the chart, Lola posted an Instagram video showing Elton jokingly turning over the keys to his house to her. “Can we stay [over] the odd night?” he asked her. “No, sorry,” Lola responded. “It’s mine now.”

“It’s been incredible getting to know Elton and David, and I’m grateful for the support they’ve shown my music,” Lola said in a statement. “I’m proud to be part of a night that helps make a meaningful impact.”

On Sunday, Lola won the Grammy for best pop solo performance for her hit “Messy.”

Over the years, Elton’s party has raised nearly $124 million for the cause.

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Chuck Negron, founding member of Three Dog Night, has died at the age of 83. According to Negron’s representative, he passed away Monday at home in Studio City, California, “surrounded by his loving family.”

No cause of death was revealed, although the statement from his rep noted he battled chronic COPD for three decades and heart failure in his final months.

Negron, along with Danny Hutton and the late Cory Wells, formed Three Dog Night in 1967, with Michael Allsup, Jimmy Greenspoon, Joe Schermie and Floyd Sneed later joining the band. They went on to become one of the most successful bands of the ’60s and ’70s, landing 21 Billboard top-40 hits between 1969 and 1975.

Negron sang lead vocals on many of their iconic songs, including the #1 hit “Joy To the World (Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog),” and the top-five hits “One (Is the Loneliest Number)” and “Old Fashioned Love Song.”

After a decadeslong battle with drug abuse, Negron got clean in 1991 and launched a solo career, releasing seven albums, the last of which was 2017’s Negron Generations. He recounted his life story, as well as his battle with addiction, in the memoir Three Dog Nightmare, released in 1999.

Hutton and Allsup are the last two surviving original members of Three Dog Night. While Negron and Hutton had been estranged since Negron’s final departure from the band in the ’80s, they reunited last year.

“When Chuck left the band 40 years ago, we rarely spoke and lost touch for much of that time. Five months ago, his wife Ami called to tell me he was very sick, and I decided I should go see him,” Hutton wrote in a post on Three Dog Night’s Facebook page. “When I arrived at his house, we hugged, cried, reminisced, and shared many stories. In that moment, we realized how much time had been lost by not being in each other’s lives. It was a beautiful and deeply meaningful reunion.”

Paying tribute to Negron, he noted, “Besides being a phenomenal singer, Chuck was a good college basketball player and had a great sense of humor. I will always be grateful for the music we made together.”

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On This Day, Feb. 3, 1973…

Elton John landed his first #1 single with “Crocodile Rock,” from his sixth studio album, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player.

The song went on to spend three weeks in the top spot and earned a Platinum certification by the RIAA.

The song also topped the chart in Canada and Switzerland, and hit #5 in the U.K.

Elton went on to have nine #1 hits in the U.S. over the course of his career. His last #1 was “Candle In The Wind 1997,” a reimagined version of his 1987 single, which was released following the death of Princess Diana. The song was paired with the track “Something About The Way You Look Tonight.”

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Def Leppard launches Def Leppard: Live at Caesars Palace The Las Vegas Residency at The Colosseum on Tuesday and fans can expect quite a show. This will be the band’s third residency in Vegas, and frontman Joe Elliott tells ABC Audio “they keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

He says the beauty of Las Vegas is that it allows you to go big and “it just enthuses you to put on a show,” noting their latest residency is gonna be “next level.”

So what are they doing to make it bigger than ever?

“The production is massive. It’s the best we’ve ever had by a country mile,” Elliott says. “Visually it’s insanely different to anything we’ve ever done.”

And that includes the set list, with Elliott saying they’re planning to go “a lot deeper” in their catalog.

“We’re pulling out stuff we haven’t played in decades. Stuff we’ve never played before,” he says. Of course, they’ll still play hits like “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” but Elliott says if fans only know that song “they’re in for a shock.”

They also plan to play their recently released single “Rejoice.” Says Elliott, “It’s the reason we released it, so that we could play it.”

And with Def Leppard booked at the venue through Feb. 28, bassist Rick Savage says there will be plenty of time for them to enjoy what Vegas has to offer.

“Once you get settled in, and you’ve played two or three shows, you kinda, you become a little bit more of a tourist rather than concentrating on your proper job,” he says. “But it’s such a great town, even just to walk around, you know, whether it’s during the day or at night, all the lights and the buzz and the people.” 

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Gov’t Mule has announced some new spring tour dates.

The band, led by Warren Haynes, has announced 11 new shows, featuring Larkin Poe and Maggie Rose on select dates.

The new dates begin April 14 in Kansas City, Missouri, and wrap April 28 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The shows extend the band’s already announced tour, which begins March 27 in Denver.

An artist presale for tickets to the newly added shows begins Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET, followed by local presales starting Thursday at 12 p.m. ET. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday at 12 p.m. ET.

A complete list of dates can be found at Mule.net.

Ahead of the Gov’t Mule run, Haynes will headline a new solo tour that runs from Feb. 12 in Grass Valley, California, to Feb. 26 in Pelham, Tennessee. He’ll then go on tour with the Warren Haynes Band, starting Feb. 27 in Live Oak, Florida. A full schedule can be found at WarenHaynes.net.

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Queen’s Roger Taylor has something to get off his chest. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just dropped a new song, “Chumps,” letting fans know in the description why he did it: “Gotta say something.”

Although he offered no further info on the song, including who he may be singing about, the lyrics have him singing of “a man of no morality, of no real quality, a shallow man.”

The lyrics also call out “a man devoid of empathy, no trace of sympathy, of endless vanity,” and one with “no humanity” and “no trace of sanity.”

“We’re drowning in your self regard. We’re drowning in your lies. We drown in your pomposity, in your atrocities. We drown,” he sings. The song ends with, “You men of no morality. Your popularity, an endless mystery.”

The song drop comes just a week after Taylor posted a poem titled “Gangsters Are Running This World” on Instagram.

“Gangsters are running this world. You can shout but never be heard,” read the last lines of the poem. “Gangsters are running this world. All the while. Gangsters are running this world.”

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KISS fans apparently can’t get enough of their classic tune “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.” The video for the track has reached over 1 billion views on YouTube.

The band announced the milestone on social media, writing, “The numbers speak for themselves. This one still dominates. IWMFLY baby!!”

“I Was Made for Lovin’ You” was Paul Stanley’s first collaboration with songwriter Desmond Child and was featured on the band’s 1979 album, Dynasty. The tune, which was criticized by some for its disco influences, became KISS’ second Gold single and has been a staple at KISS’ live shows throughout their career.

In July 2024 the song reached another career milestone, hitting 1 billion streams on Spotify, to become the first KISS song to join Spotify’s Billions club.

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Pretenders played their last show in London in July, and it appears frontwoman Chrissie Hynde is missing life on the road.

The singer gave fans an update on what’s been happening with her via social media, writing that she’s finding not being on tour “quite challenging.”

“I understand completely why people follow bands around on tour,” she says. “If I wasn’t in a band, it’s probably exactly what I’d been doing myself. Because nothing beats moving and seeing new places. I just love it and I miss it.”

But, she notes, “you’ve gotta come off the road once in a while so you can remember how to live. Slow down a bit. Recharge the batteries.”

As for when her hiatus from the road may end, she offers, “we have no plans for touring at the moment, but you’ll be the 1st to know when we do.” 

“I’m wondering who Pretenders fans are following in our absence?” she adds. “Well, don’t get too cozy because we miss you.”

While Hynde has been off the road since the summer, she did release new music in the fall. She dropped the new solo album Duets Special in October, featuring collaborations with artists like Blondie’s Debbie Harry, The Killers‘ Brandon Flowers, Garbage’s Shirley Manson, Julian Lennon and more.

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