Classic Rock News

On This Day, Aug. 23, 1946 … 

Future The Who drummer Keith Moon was born in North West London.

Moon joined the band in 1964 before they recorded their first single and went on to play on eight of The Who’s albums, with his last being 1978’s Who Are You.

Throughout his musical career, he was known for his destructive nature and turned trashing hotel rooms into an art. 

He dealt with alcohol problems over the years and died in September 1978 from an overdose of a drug that was supposed to prevent alcohol withdrawal.

The Who’s Roger Daltrey has been very vocal about his attempts to make a Keith Moon biopic. In February 2023, he revealed that he had finished the script for the movie, but since then no other details about the film have been revealed.

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Back in July, Neil Young released the fifth installment in his Official Release Series, featuring four remastered albums. Now he’s giving fans another way to snag those records.

The four albums featured in the set included 1989’s Freedom, which includes the Young classic “Rockin’ In The Free World”; 1990’s Ragged Glory; and two albums from 1991: the live record Weld and the companion Arc, described as “a 35-minute outburst of feedback, improvisation, guitar solos and vocal fragments.”

Starting Oct. 4, instead of having to get all four in the set, Young will release each album separately on vinyl and CD. The box set release marked the first time all these albums had been remastered for vinyl, and it was Arc‘s first time on vinyl ever.

All four albums are available for preorder now. In addition, the albums will be released on hi-res digital audio at Neil Young Archives and most digital service providers.

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Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde wants people to stop and think before they eat meat again.

The rocker and well-known vegetarian is featured in a new billboard for PETA that just went up in Chicago ahead of the Pretenders’ concert in the city on Friday, urging folks to reconsider consuming animal products. 

“The animal you’re eating wanted his life just as much as you want yours,” the billboard reads. “Don’t pretend any different!”

PETA’s future plans include running the ad in Hynde’s hometown of Akron, Ohio, as well as in cities on Pretenders’ upcoming European tour.

Friday’s show at the Chicago Theatre is the last U.S. date on the Pretenders’ 2024 tour. The European leg kicks off Sept. 6 in Randers, Denmark. A complete list of dates can be found at thepretenders.com.

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Skid Row has premiered a new live video for their 1989 song “Piece of Me,” recorded for their upcoming live album, Live in London.

You can watch the performance streaming now on YouTube and listen to the recording via digital outlets.

Live in London, which is due out Sept. 20, was recorded during a 2022 Skid Row concert at the O2 Forum Kentish Town, and marks their first official live album and concert film. It features former vocalist Erik Grönwall, who announced in February he was leaving the band for health reasons. 

Following Grönwall’s departure, Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale filled in on vocals for four shows. A permanent new singer has yet to be announced.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 



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Journey’s Neal Schon has once again addressed the ongoing dispute between him and bandmate Jonathan Cain, revealing on social media that they plan to bring in a third party to help them settle their issues.

“Anyone who follows Journey will know that Jon Cain and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on everything Or, sometimes, on pretty much anything,” Schon wrote. “Recently, Jon Cain made a number of claims and slanderous accusations about me and my wife – and I can’t stress enough how much it upset me and how wrong they are.” 

Regardless, Schon says his main goal is to stay focused on the band’s current tour, adding he’s “determined to take the high road and push all this aside for the moment.”

He says that he and Jon are now agreeing that “the current dynamic can’t continue,” so they plan to hire “someone impartial” to deal with their issues. He says the person’s aim will be to “help us resolve our disputes, bring clarity to what we’re doing and allow us, as a band, to get back to what we should all focus on – making music and performing for our fans.”

So far Cain hasn’t commented on Schon’s remarks, although he seems to be getting what he wants. On July 24 he filed a lawsuit in Delaware detailing what he claimed was Schon’s overspending, although in a statement he insisted the aim of the suit was to get the court to appoint a third, independent director to serve on the band’s Freedom 2020 board in order to deal with “growing issues” between them.

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The documentary Boom, featuring Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready and Soundgarden‘s Kim Thayil, will premiere in theaters in September. 

Boom tells the story of the influential garage band The Sonics, who formed in Tacoma, Washington, in the ’60s, 30 years before the grunge explosion in nearby Seattle.

“Their influence on me and Soundgarden is profound,” Thayil says of The Sonics in the Boom trailer, which is streaming now on YouTube.

Others in the film include Heart‘s Nancy Wilson and Mudhoney‘s Mark Arm.

Boom will screen in Seattle on Sept. 7 and Los Angeles on Sept. 12 before opening in select theaters on Sept. 13. For the full list of screenings, visit SonicsFilm.com.

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Dead & Company wrapped their Dead Forever residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Aug. 10, and fans are already eager to find out if they’ll be returning. Well, it sounds like there’s a good chance of it happening.

The band’s co-manager Bernie Cahill was interviewed by Pollstar about the residency, and he sounded hopeful that they’ll do more shows there.

“The band loved playing the Sphere, I can tell you that. And they love the residency,” he said. “I know they would definitely be interested in going back.” 

Cahill isn’t the first person to suggest Dead & Company would be open to returning for more residency dates. In a recent interview, drummer Mickey Hart gave fans hope of more shows, sharing, “There’s no reason why there wouldn’t be. Let’s leave it at that.”

Meanwhile, next year marks the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead, and Cahill was asked about whether there are any plans in the works to celebrate the huge milestone.

“In terms of next year and what GD60 holds, it’s all a conversation, we’ll see,” he said. “There’s a lot to celebrate.”

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Rush’s Alex Lifeson has just launched the latest product in his Lerxst line, a new wah effects pedal.

The Lerxst Blah Blah pedal, made in collaboration with pedal designers Morley, is, according to the description, “inspired by Lifeson’s never ending tone journey for new and innovative sounds.” 

“Wah pedals have been an essential tool of sonic expression for me since the ‘Fly by Night’ album,” Lifeson shares, referring to Rush’s 1975 album. “With the ‘wah’ side of the Blah Blah, we really wanted to capture that classic sound while also giving it a wide enough frequency response to suit modern players.”

He adds, “The guys at Morley have designed some of the greatest wah pedals ever, so it was a natural collaboration to work on this project with them, and also see where we could take it next.”

“Alex wanted us to create something unique and inspiring,” said Morley owner Scott Fietsam. “We certainly achieved the ‘Blah-talkie’ sound, but what surprised us was how versatile this pedal turned out to be. It opened up numerous sonic possibilities in both clean and distorted modes, making it enjoyable for a wide range of players.” 

The Blah Blah pedal is currently limited to 500 pedals and is available to order now through the Lerxst Reverb store.

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Ozzy Osbourne‘s dog Rocky has died.

In a Facebook post Thursday alongside a photo of him holding the Pomeranian, the metal legend writes, “Two days ago I lost my good friend Rocky who has been at my side for 15 years.”

“I’ll see you on the other side my friend,” Ozzy continues. “I love you always.”

The Black Sabbath Facebook replied with a photo of Ozzy, Rocky and guitarist Tony Iommi, adding, “Rest in Peace Rocky.”

Rocky was one of many dogs who are part of the Osbourne family. During a May episode of The Osbournes Podcast, they shared that they’d just adopted a new bulldog.

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Aerosmith canceled their Peace Out tour and retired from the road in early August, citing Steven Tyler’s continuing vocal problems. Now bassist Tom Hamilton is giving fans a little more detail about what happened to the Aerosmith frontman.

In an interview with Charlie Kendall’s Metalshop, Hamilton says Tyler didn’t hurt himself singing, but actually fractured his larynx when he fell during the band’s third show of the 2023 tour.

“It wasn’t a case of him blowing his throat out by doing something wrong,” Hamilton said. “He has been healing well and working his a** off to get ready to go back out on the road, but it just wasn’t possible.” 

He added: “We don’t know what the future holds, but it won’t include touring.”

But it sounds like he doesn’t think Aerosmith will go away completely, sharing, “The future is still out there and I imagine we’ll figure out a way to be part of it.” He insists the idea of replacing Tyler is out of the question.

“There’s been no talk at all about going on the road with another singer,” he says. “I can’t imagine it.”

As for their fans, Hamilton says they’re “grateful for all for all of the people in this world who have come to love this band.” 

“I think that was the hardest part about retiring from the road,” he says. “just knowing that there are so many people out there who have found meaning in our music. We see you and we feel you.”

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