Classic Rock News

U2 frontman Bono received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Saturday, and in honor of the occasion he’s penned a new essay for The Atlantic, titled The Gorgeous, Unglamorous Work of Freedom.

“Freedom is a word that turns up with embarrassing frequency in rock-and-roll songs,” he writes. “How we love to free-associate about freedom. On occasion, we’re good for a ‘Chimes of Freedom’ (at least Bob Dylan is), but if we’re honest, the freedom musicians are most interested in is our own.”

“Rock and roll promised a freedom that could not be contained or silenced, an international language of liberation,” he adds. “The freedom songs of the folk singers went electric, the coded messages of gospel music burst into the full flower of funk and soul.”

Bono writes about the activist work he’s done over the years and ponders the state of freedom now, in particular in the U.S. after the recent election, in Ukraine, in the Israel/Gaza conflict and more. 

“Is the Medal of Freedom a nostalgia act? Is freedom itself a nostalgia act?” he asks. “Maybe the idea of freedom as a guarantee. But not freedom as a mighty, worthy struggle.”

Bono also writes of working with then-senator Joe Biden 25 years ago on canceling developing-world debt, noting, “That’s the kind of fighter you want on your side.” He adds the fight for freedom needs “faithful, stubborn, unselfish effort.”

“Lincoln spoke of a ‘new birth of freedom,'” he concludes. “I think he meant that freedom must be re-won by each generation. That is a fine call to action for a new year.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Rush launched their final tour in 2015, which hit only the U.S. and Canada, and surviving band members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson reveal they regret they couldn’t bring their show to other countries.

“I’d pushed really hard to get more gigs so that we could do those extra shows and I was unsuccessful,” Lee tells Classic Rock in a new interview. “I really felt like I let our British and European fans down.”

He adds, “It felt to me incorrect that we didn’t do it, but Neil (Peart) was adamant that he would only do thirty shows and that was it. That to him was a huge compromise because he didn’t want to do any shows. He didn’t want to do one show.”

“Ged and I were disappointed that Neil demanded playing only a limited number of dates which precluded a U.K. and European run,” Lifeson adds. “I think a dozen or so more dates would have made us a bit more accepting.”

He says Neil almost agreed to do more shows but his health got in the way, sharing, “[H]e got a painful infection in one of his feet.”

“I mean, he could barely walk to the stage at one point,” Lifeson says. “They got him a golf cart to drive him to the stage. And he played a three-hour show, at the intensity he played every single show.” 

He adds, “That was amazing, but I think that was the point where he decided that the tour was only going to go on until that final show in LA.”

The R40 Live Tour wrapped Aug. 1, 2015, and Peart announced his retirement that December. He passed away Jan. 7, 2020, following a battle with brain cancer. He was 67.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jerry Cantrell‘s new solo album, I Want Blood, features contributions from Metallica‘s Robert Trujillo. In an interview with Metal Hammer, the Alice in Chains vocalist/guitarist raises the possibility of collaborating with another ‘Tallica member.

“[Frontman] James [Hetfield] and I have talked about it, kind of,” Cantrell shares. “We never had a formal conversation but I’ve jammed with him at [guitarist] Kirk [Hammett]’s place. I’ve even spent a night or two at his house, and we’ve ended up with guitars in the kitchen and on the porch.”

“It’s something I’d be really curious about, even to just write a song with [Hetfield],” the grunge rocker adds. “As for whether it’d turn into something more than that, he’s got a pretty demanding day job. … So I’d understand if it never comes to be.”

If Cantrell and Hetfield do find the time to jam together in the future, maybe they could record a mashup called “(Enter Sand)Man in the Box.”

In the meantime, Cantrell is getting ready to launch a solo tour in support of I Want Blood, kicking off Jan. 31 on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, Jan. 6, 1987 …

Eric Clapton kicked off a six-night residency at London’s Royal Albert Hall, treating the crowd to such classic songs as “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Wonderful Tonight,” “Cocaine” and more, including Cream tracks “White Room” and “Sunshine of Your Love.”

The residency soon became an almost yearly event for Clapton. In 1991 he played a whopping 24 shows at Royal Albert Hall, which broke his own record for the longest run of concerts at the venue.

During that run, Clapton performed with three lineups — a rock band, a blues band and an orchestra. In June he released a box set, The Definitive 24 Nights, featuring performances from that run.

Clapton’s most recent Royal Albert Hall residency took place in May 2024, playing four nights at the venue. He’s set to return for three nights in May 2025.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

While The Beatles broke up in 1970, they’re still very much part of popular culture, with the past few years seeing the release of Peter Jackson’s Got Back docuseries, the recent documentary Beatles ’64, their final new song, “Now and Then,” and more. And while Julian Lennon may be Beatle John Lennon’s son, he says he’s usually out of the loop when it comes to new projects associated with the band. 

“It’s news to me half the time. I’m not part of the inner circle – I never have been,” he tells The Guardian in a new interview. “You have to realize that when Dad left, when I was between three and five (it was a bit of a process), it was just mum and me, and we had nothing to do with the Beatles or Dad. I visited him on the odd occasion but we were very much on the outside.”

He adds that what inside info he does get, he gets from his younger brother Sean Ono Lennon, noting, “I’m thankful that Sean and I get on like a house on fire – we’re best buddies and he tells me what he can, but things are pretty secret on the Beatles front.”

Julian says that while it may be “extraordinarily strange,” he isn’t “upset about it.”

“I’d rather be excited and impressed by what they did and continue to do,” he says. “As a fan, I’m just as curious as anybody else, although I do find myself going, ‘how is it possible that there’s another Beatles film?’”

And he’ll have to get used to that because not only is there another Beatles film coming up, there are going to be four of them. Sam Mendes is planning to direct four new films on the band, one for each member of the group.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It sounds like we may be getting new music from U2 this year.

Guitarist The Edge appeared on the Sodajerker on Songwriting podcast to talk about the band’s recent 20th anniversary reissue of How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and its accompanying shadow album. While talking about how the band works together in the studio, he let it slip that a new song may be on the way.

Edge noted that he and his bandmates — Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. — are “lucky” because they still enjoy being together in the studio.

“We never turned it into work. We’ve always had fun,” he said. “I just love making music and it’s still a thrill being around Adam and Larry and Bono when we’re working together.”

“And I have to tell you, we’re working on a lot of new songs,” he then shared. “There might be a new U2 song happening very soon, which you’ll hear about.”

The Edge didn’t offer any details though, noting, “Can’t say any more than that, but we’re in a great place creatively.”

If we do get a new song from U2 this year, it will be their first new track since they released “Atomic City” in 2023, ahead of their Las Vegas residency at the Sphere. Their last album of new material, Songs of Experience, came out in 2017.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Bono has added another honor to his list of achievements. The U2 frontman was at the White House Saturday, where he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, considered the nation’s highest civilian honor.

According to the White House, the honor is given to people who’ve made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”

“President Biden believes great leaders keep the faith, give everyone a fair shot, and put decency above all else,” read a statement from the White House, noting that Bono and the other 18 individuals honored “are great leaders who have made America and the world a better place. They are great leaders because they are good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world.”

Bono was recognized for his work fighting against AIDS and poverty, including co-founding the ONE and (RED) organizations, as well as his work bringing politicians together to create the United States PEPFAR AIDS program.

“The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to Bono. As lead singer of U2, one of the most successful rock bands in history, Bono changes the world through his art and activism,” read the citation for Bono, which was read by the military as he received his honor. “The common beat of his life’s work is the power of freedom, a tie that also binds Ireland and America as beloved friends.” 

Other recipients of this year’s Presidential Medal of Freedom include Denzel Washington, Michael J. Fox, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Magic Johnson, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, chef José Andrés and designer Ralph Lauren.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Neil Young has announced his latest Analog Original Series release, the “lost” album Oceanside Countryside.

The previously unreleased album was recorded before 1978’s Comes A Time and includes three songs that wound up appearing on that album, “Goin’ Back,” “Human Highway” and “Field of Opportunity.”

While some of the tracks from the album appear on a CD version of Oceanside Countryside that was part of Young’s Archives Vol. III release, the new version, being released in analog on vinyl for the first time, features the originally planned track list.

“This analog original album was recorded in 1977 and unreleased,” Young shares. “These songs are the original mixes done at the time of the recordings in the order I planned for the album.” He adds, “I hope you enjoy this treasure of an Analog Original recording … as much as I do. Listening to it now, I think I should have put it out back then.”

Oceanside Countryside will be released Feb. 14 and is available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Carlos Santana has been forced to postpone the start of his 2025 Las Vegas residency after being injured in a fall at his home in Hawaii. 

“I am sorry to say that Carlos was out taking a walk at his vacation home in Kauai. He took a hard fall, and he broke his little finger on his left hand,” Michael Vrionis, president of Universal Tone Management, announced. “He had to have pins inserted in the finger. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to play guitar for approximately six weeks. Doctors do say that he will recuperate fully.”

The 77-year-old Santana was due to return to the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Jan. 22 for the latest dates of his An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live residency. He has been headlining his House of Blues residency for 13 years.

“Carlos is doing well and is anxious to be back on stage soon. He just needs to heal,” Vrionis added. “Santana profoundly regrets these postponements of his upcoming performances, but accidents happen, and his health is our number one concern. He is looking forward to seeing all of his fans very soon.”

Affected shows will be rescheduled and tickets will be honored on the new dates.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

R.E.M.’s Peter Buck has recorded a cover in celebration of one of his favorite music films of the 1960s.

Buck revealed the news on R.E.M.’s Instagram account. He explained that after he appeared on the Revolutions Per Movie podcast, where he discussed the 1968 rock ‘n’ roll movie Wild in the Streets, he recorded a cover of the movie’s theme song, “Shape of Things To Come,” featuring Vanessa Briscoe Hay from the Athens, Georgia, band Pylon and Camper Van Beethoven’s Victor Krummenacher.

The song is available on limited-edition flexi disc to those who join the Revolutions Per Movie club.

Wild in the Streets, based on the Robert Thom short story The Day It All Happened, Baby!, starred Christopher Jones, Hal Holbrook and Shelley Winters. The song, “Shape of Things To Come,” was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, and was performed by the movie’s fictional band, Max Frost and the Troopers.

While Buck is no longer making music with R.E.M., he is still making music. In 2024 he teamed with The Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson, Screaming Trees/Mad Season drummer Barrett Martin and singer Joseph Arthur to form the supergroup Silverlites, which released their debut album in November.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.