Classic Rock News

Billy Corgan and Chloé Mendel have smashing good news.

In an interview with People, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman and his wife announce that they’re expecting a new baby.

“We are overjoyed to announce that our family is growing!” Mendel says. “It’s an exciting time for us, although unexpected!” 

The new addition will be Corgan and Mendel’s third child, following son Augustus and daughter Philomena Clementine.

“While Augustus was overjoyed [about the news], Clementine, the younger of the two, asked if the baby was made already and shed a few tears of concern, which was honestly adorable,” Corgan says. “Now, both kids are beaming, and it makes it so much fun to share the joy of bringing more love into our family. We are truly blessed.”

Corgan and Mendel have long been partners, and they finally tied the knot in 2023. Their wedding is documented in the Billy Corgan’s Adventures in Carnyland reality series, which premiered in May.

The Smashing Pumpkins are currently on tour with Green Day.

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Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood and ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro have released another song from their upcoming album, Blues Experience, which comes out Oct. 18.

The latest is a cover of the Procol Harum classic “Whiter Shade Of Pale.” 

“This is a song I’ve always wanted to play… of course, the song recorded by Procol Harum was a world-renowned classic… with a melody so strong that it became a gift to us!” Mick shares. “And Jake totally commands the full need for dynamics and a passionate delivery. At last, I got to play and record this song!!!” 

“This was a song that Mick suggested. Such an iconic piece of music,” Jake adds. “It truly plays like an anthem. And Mickʻs drumming makes the track feel amazing. I was just transported through his drum sounds.” 

This is the second tune the pair has shared from the record, following their take on the blues classic “Rollin’ N Tumblin’.” 

Blues Experience also has the two artists covering songs like Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World” and the Christine McVie-penned Fleetwood Mac track “Songbird,” with Mick also adding a spoken word version of the song. Jake penned one original song, “Kula Blues,” about the area in Maui where Mick lives.

Blues Experience is available for preorder now.

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Bruce Springsteen is one of the many artists who recorded a song for the upcoming tribute album in honor of longtime New York City punk fixture Jesse Malin, and now his contribution to the record has been released. 

The track, “She Don’t Love Me Now,” features Jesse’s band backing Springsteen, along with E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons. The tune originally appeared on Malin’s 2015 album, New York Before The War. 

“Bruce gave it that Stax-soul-thing that we were dreaming of when we recorded the original. It’s so surreal to me,” Malin shares. “Bruce’s generosity, honesty and support are equally as powerful as his songwriting and performing.”

He adds, “Bruce is one of the guys. He walks it like he talks it. You spend some time with him, and it feels like you’ve known him for years.”

You can listen to “She Don’t Love Me Now” via digital outlets.

This isn’t the first time Springsteen and Malin have worked together; they previously collaborated in 2007 on Malin’s song “Broken Radio.”

The Malin tribute album, titled Silver Patron Saints, will be released Sept. 20. Proceeds will benefit Malin’s Sweet Relief artist fund. The rocker had a spinal stroke in 2023 that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Other artists on the album include Elvis Costello, Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong, Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello, Bleachers and the late MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer.

Silver Patron Saints is available for preorder now.

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On This Day, Aug. 28, 1993…

Billy Joel hit #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart with River of Dreams, his final pop/rock record.

The album, with a cover painted by Joel’s then-wife Christie Brinkley, was Billy’s fourth #1 and spent three weeks on top of the chart.

The album’s title track went on to become a top five hit, Joel’s last on the Billboard Hot 100.

The record also featured “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel),” which he wrote as a tribute to his daughter, Alexa Ray.

Although Joel hasn’t released a pop album since, he did release a new pop song in 2024. “Turn the Lights Back On” came out in February, and peaked at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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Looks like the disagreement between Journey’s Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain isn’t completely over. 

On Aug. 22, Schon announced on social media that he and Cain agreed to hire “someone impartial” to help settle any disputes that arose over their company, Freedom 2020, which basically manages the operations of the band. This was something Cain had been requesting when he filed a lawsuit against Schon in July over his excessive spending.

Well, in new legal documents Cain’s lawyer is claiming Schon is now going back on his agreement. 

According to Cain’s lawyer Kasey H. DeSantis, the two parties have been “unable to agree” when it comes to hiring that third party for their company, and they are blaming Schon.

“Mr. Schon is attempting to backtrack on his agreement for the Court to appoint a custodian to serve as a third, deadlock breaking director of Freedom 2020, Inc., and is now seeking to inappropriately limit the role of the custodian,” the documents claim. “This is inconsistent with Respondent’s counsel’s prior communications with the Court … explicitly agreeing to the appointment of a third, deadlock breaking director.”

Cain filed his lawsuit against Schon on July 24 detailing what he claimed was Schon’s overspending, including maxing out a $1 million limit on the company’s American Express credit card and charting private jets. Schon called the claims “absolute rubbish.”

Cain said in a statement the purpose of the lawsuit was to get a judge to appoint a third party to serve on the board of their company to help settle disagreements.

Despite their dispute, Journey is currently on their Summer Stadium tour with Def Leppard. They play San Francisco on Wednesday.

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While there will always be debate over who’s the greatest guitarist of all time, Billboard has decided to instead look at their instruments.

The publication has just come out with its list of the 100 most iconic guitars of all time. It was decided on by a panel of journalists, experts and guitarists across all musical genres, with fans getting to submit suggestions. Among the well-known guitarists who helped decide the list are ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, Joe Satriani, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Jack White and more.

So, which famous axe was dubbed the most iconic? The #1 spot goes to Jimi Hendrix’s 1965 Fender Stratocaster “Monterey,” which he infamously set on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.

Landing at #2 is Willie Nelson’s 1969 Martin N-20 “Trigger,” followed by Eddie Van Halen’s legendary homemade “Frankenstein” guitar, known for its red, black and white design, at #3.

Rounding out the top five are B.B. King’s signature “Lucille,” which was a variety of Gibson guitars, and Chuck Berry’s 1955 Gibson ES-350T.

Some of the other guitars making the list include: Angus Young of AC/DC’s Gibson SG at #6; David Gilmour’s 1969 Fender Stratocaster “The Black Strat” at #7; Jeff Beck’s 1954 Les Paul, known as “Oxblood,” at #12; and Queen guitarist Brian May’s The Red Special, which he and his father constructed themselves, at #14.

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The Grateful Dead is offering fans some more wine options to enjoy.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have announced a third set of limited-edition wines through their collaboration with Gnarly Head, including new vintages of their Old Vine Zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon, as well as a first-ever white option, a chardonnay.

All three bottles feature holographic labels with iconic Grateful Dead imagery. The Gnarly Head x Grateful Dead Chardonnay features the “Steal Your Face” logo, with a hologram skull on the front, while the Gnarly Head x Grateful Dead Cabernet Sauvignon has the same label but on a darker bottle. Finally, the Gnarly Head x Grateful Dead Old Vine Zinfandel is decorated with a skull and roses figure that comes out of the trunk of a tree. 

“Those who love the Grateful Dead love and appreciate a unique experience and, like the sound of the Dead, Gnarly Head wines offer a distinct wine experience with its high-quality,California-grown varietals,” Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux shares. “We hope the third release of this fantastic Limited-Edition collection continues to give wine and music fans a unique sipping experience.”

The new Gnarly Head x Grateful Dead vintages will be available nationwide starting in September.

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We are now getting our first look at the upcoming documentary Daytime Revolution, which looks at the week in February 1972 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono produced and co-hosted the popular daytime talk show The Mike Douglas Show.

The trailer features footage of the couple’s takeover of the show, with clips of their guests including Chuck Berry, George Carlin and activist Ralph Nader, the latter of whom is interviewed for the film. There’s also a clip of Lennon performing his classic tune “Imagine.” 

According to the description, the doc “takes us back in time, as we observe John and Yoko interacting with a transfixed studio audience in revealing Q and A sessions where John Lennon was astonishingly candid about his life after the Beatles.”

Daytime Revolution, directed by Erik Nelson, is set to open in theaters on Oct. 9, which would have been Lennon’s 84th birthday. It is also set to premiere at the Hamptons Film Festival, which runs from Oct. 4 to Oct. 14.

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Dead & Company wowed fans with their recent Dead Forever residency at the Sphere Las Vegas, but it turns out the 30-show run was more than just a good time. 

Like most Dead & Company shows, the band had a Participation Row at the residency, promoting causes that are important to them, like Reverb.org and HeadCount.org, and it produced some pretty positive returns.

The band revealed on Instagram that the Dead Forever Participation Row resulted in $2.2 million raised for Dead Family charities. In addition, there were over 39,000 positive activations from over 11,900 fans, including over 11,700 voter actions and over 13,800 environmental actions.

“What happens in Vegas! Thank you to all of the fans who took positive actions on #ParticipationRow at every #DeadForever show to support @HeadCountOrg, @REVERB_org, and all the Dead Family Nonprofits,” they shared on social media. “Plus a very special thank you to our boots on the ground team, the reps and wonderful volunteers that made Participation Row and our Charity Auction happen all summer long.” 

Dead & Company’s Dead Forever – Live at Sphere residency kicked off in May and wrapped in August. So far there’s no word on whether the band plans to return to the venue.

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The Bear star Jeremy Allen White is getting ready to play The Boss.

The actor, who has been cast to play Bruce Springsteen in the new movie Deliver Me From Nowhere, reveals in the latest issue of GQ that he’s working on getting the voice right to play the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. 

“I’m really lucky that there’s sort of a team of folks now in place to help young actors portray rock stars,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve got a really talented group of people helping me train vocally, musically, to get ready for this thing.”

He also notes how fortunate he feels that Springsteen supports the film, sharing, “I’ve had some access to him and he’s just the greatest guy.” 

White’s also been looking at old footage of Springsteen in preparation for the role. 

“It’s really great to go down a YouTube rabbit hole and find him at all these different periods in his life and be able to listen to his speaking voice as well as his singing voice,” he says. “That’s kind of been the deal, just listening to him a lot and watching him a lot. It’s been really fun preparing.”

Deliver Me From Nowhere, based on Warren Zanes‘ book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, follows Springsteen’s efforts to make his solo album, Nebraska.

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