Classic Rock News

As previously reported, Roger Waters’ May 28 show in Frankfurt, Germany, was canceled by the local city council, which called Waters out for allegedly being “one of the world’s most well-known antisemites” and noted his support for boycotting Israel. 

In a statement to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the Pink Floyd star’s management in London says he plans to take action, and has “directed his attorneys to immediately take all necessary steps to overturn this unjustified decision and ensure that his fundamental human right to freedom of expression is protected.” 

A concert in Munich has reportedly been canceled, as well, and the statement adds, “if left unchallenged, this blatant attempt to silence him could have serious and far-reaching consequences for artists and activists around the world.” 

They add the cancelations were “unconstitutional,” “unjustified” and based “on the false accusation that Roger Waters was anti-Semitic, which he is not.”

Waters’ This Is Not A Drill tour is set to hit Lisbon, Portugal, on Friday. A complete list of Waters’ dates can be found at rogerwaters.com.

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Creedence Clearwater Revival fans may want to make a stop at Los Angeles’ Rockaway Records. The store has just acquired what they say is the “world’s largest collection” of CCR memorabilia. 

The items in the collection include more than 500 concert posters and hundreds of concert tickets, as well as thousands of LPs, 45s, autographed items and more. There’s also a 1967 yellow label 45 under the band’s previous name, The Golliwogs — one of only six known copies. 

There’s also a John Fogerty-signed Fender Stratocaster, as well as RIAA Platinum and Gold plaques.

“What an amazing collection,” Rockaway Records’ Wayne Jonson shares, “especially the pre-Creedence stuff like a 1966 Golliwogs concert flyer and a Tom Fogerty & the Blue Velvets 45 from 1961!”

More information on the CCR collection can be found at rockaway.com.

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The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund has announced the Rock for Ronnie benefit concert in memory of the late Dio frontman.

The event will take place May 7 at Los Encinos State Historic Park in Los Angeles. It will include performances by bands including Dio Disciples, which features former Dio members; Steamroller, featuring former Whitesnake members; and the Van Halen cover band The Atomic Punks, before ending with an “all star band jam full of surprise appearances.”

For ticket info, visit DioCancerFund.org.

Dio passed away in 2010 from stomach cancer at age 67. The Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund was founded in his honor and also raises money for cancer research through the annual Bowl for Ronnie charity bowling tournament.

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Little Richard is the subject of a new documentary, and now we’re getting a first look at the film. 

A trailer has just been released for Little Richard: I Am Everything, which was directed by Lisa Cortés. The trailer features archival footage of the music icon, along with interview snippets from the likes of Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Billy Porter and director John Waters.

Not only does the film delve into Little Richard’s music history, the trailer makes it clear that it also touches upon Richard’s struggle to embrace his queerness, with the film interviewing several black and queer scholars. As the description notes, the film “tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman” aka Little Richard.

Little Richard: I Am Everything, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, opens April 21.

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Blondie‘s Debbie Harry is revisiting her 1981 debut solo album, KooKoo, with a brand new reissue.

The 2023 deluxe edition of the album will be released May 5 on double 180g crystal clear vinyl, and will include a bonus 12-inch disc with extended versions and remixes of tunes. Only 6,000 copies of the reissue will be available worldwide, and they will include a reproduction Chris Stein art print and will come in a special lenticular-effect sleeve.

KooKoo, produced by Chic’s Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards, was originally released July 27, 1981. It peaked at 25 on the Billboard 200 Album chart and was certified Gold by the RIAA.

The KooKoo 2023 deluxe edition is available for preorder now.

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Foo Fighters have added another music festival to their 2023 schedule. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are set to headline the Louder Than Life festival, set for September 21 to 24 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Other artists on the four-day bill include Green Day, Queens of the Stone Age, Megadeth, Weezer, Pantera, Tool, Rancid, Limp Bizkit and more. 

Tickets are on sale now. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit LouderthanLifeFestival.com.

This is just one of many festivals Foo Fighters have booked for 2023, which will be their first shows since last year’s death of drummer Taylor Hawkins. Their first confirmed show is happening May 24 in Gilford, New Hampshire, followed by Massachusetts’ Boston Calling Music Festival on May 26. They are also playing Bonnaroo, Outside Lands and Sonic Temple.

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Bret Michaels turned 60 on Wednesday, and considering his health struggles over the years, he’s embracing the milestone. 

“I am grateful to be on this crazy roller coaster ride and to be here with some of my good decisions and some of my less-than-reputable decisions,” the Poison frontman told USA Today when asked if he’s bummed about turning 60. “But I’ve got to be honest. When people ask I say, No. 1, what is my alternative? The alternative is not good. And two, I get no choice in the matter. My choice will be how I deal with it.” 

He adds, “No one says, ‘Man, I want to be old.’ I feel blessed that I got to get old because I know so many of my friends never got the chance. I live also for them.” 

And Michaels hasn’t had it easy over the years. He’s lived with Type 1 diabetes since he was a child, suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2010, and also underwent heart and kidney surgery. But he says he’s learned to “adapt and change with what my body can do.”

“There is no magic pill,” he adds. “I am like a true muscle car – still fast, still fun to ride, but I just need a little more maintenance.”

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It seems like a lot of folks are worried about artificial intelligence replacing humans in various areas, including making music, but Peter Gabriel isn’t one of them. 

Gabriel, who contributes the forward to the new music guidebook Reverberation: Do Everything Better With Music, has always embraced technology. While he tells Yahoo! Entertainment, “I’m probably just as scared (of AI) as everybody else,” he says he’d prefer to “jump in the river rather than talk about it.”

“I do think about it quite a lot, and I think not enough people are thinking about it. And it would be great to get ahead [of it],” he says. “You know, this is something that’s going [to] have way more impact than the Industrial Revolution and the nuclear bomb. So, if we don’t start anticipating what it might do, it’s going to be too late, because it’s very fast.”

And while some may suggest that it would never be possible for AI to take the place of great musicians and make great music, Gabriel doesn’t seem so sure.

“Most people argue no; I would say they just need better algorithms,” he shares. “So, we might as well just grab the algorithms and dance with them, rather than fight them. … Unfortunately, I don’t think my job or anyone’s job is safe from AI.”

He noted, “It’s coming whether we like it or not, so we might as well try and work with it rather than work against it, and make sure that there are programs in there that protect ethics and some sort of morality.”

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Elton John needs an Emmy for the EGOT, and his concert special Farewell from Dodger Stadium could be his winning ticket.

Variety reports the singer received an EGOT push at a recent event for Television Academy members, which screened his Disney+ special at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Elton then spoke about his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour and why performing at Dodger Stadium was a full-circle moment.

“I’m so critical of myself … I’ve never played and sang so well in my life, for so long. And I really mean that sincerely,” he said.

“[It] was so important to leave on a really high note,” added Elton, stressing he “didn’t want to go out when I was going down.” 

Choosing Dodger Stadium to be his final North American performance was also symbolic, as it was where he played two career-making shows back in 1975. Elton said he “was so unhappy and so ill” back then, revealing he’d “taken an overdose two days before.”

“I’m at a different stage in my life. I have never been so happy,” Elton said, reminding the audience he turns 76 next week.

Speaking about his age, the singer admitted he is slowing down despite having “the energy of a 20-year-old.” Noting that turning the big 9-0 is 14 years away for him, Elton said, “Your mortality hits you. And that’s one of the reasons I wanted to stop [touring].”

The singer expressed he now wants to spend time with his sons — Elijah, 10, and Zachary, 12, whom he shares with David Furnish — and see them get married.

Elton then reflected, “To finish at Dodger Stadium in three nights, while I’m 75 at the end of my career, it was everything I could have dreamed of and more.”

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On This Day, March 15, 1976…

KISS released their fourth album, Destroyer, which included such future classics as “Detroit Rock City,” “Shout It Out Loud,” “God of Thunder” and the ballad “Beth,” which became their first top-10 single. 

The album peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Album chart, making it the third consecutive KISS record to make the top 40. 

Within a year, Destroyer was certified Platinum by the RIAA, making it the band’s first Platinum record, and was eventually certified Double Platinum.

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