Classic Rock News

Condolences go out to Jon Bon Jovi and his family: His mother, Carol Bongiovi, passed away on July 9, three days short of her 84th birthday.

Mrs. Bongiovi, born Carol Sharkey, was born in Erie, Pennsylvania and joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1959, where she met her husband, John Biongiovi, Sr. The couple moved to New Jersey, where their sons John Jr. — later known as Jon Bon Jovi — Anthony and Matthew were born.  Described as an entrepreneur who operated several businesses, Carol also worked as a Playboy Bunny and founded the Bon Jovi fan club.

She’s survived by her husband, John Sr., her three sons and daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren.

In a statement, Jon Bon Jovi said, “Our mother was a force to be reckoned with, her spirit and can-do attitude shaped this family. She will be greatly missed.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Queen guitarist Brian May is opening up about his working relationship with the band’s late frontman, Freddie Mercury, in a new interview with Guitar World.

May was talking about how insecure he often felt when people first heard a new song from him, noting “it’s always nerve-racking for me, no matter who it is.”

But he said that wasn’t necessarily the case with Mercury. 

“Freddie was always great. I used to sing stuff to him, and he was always very encouraging,” he said. “Of course, I was generally writing for him. I was conscious that I had to write something that would work for him, not just for me. And generally, he would take hold of it very quickly.”

He added, “[Freddie] was always very upfront; he had an amazing amount of drive, optimism and energy. He was very helpful with my insecurities, and he kind of chose me as his guitarist in the early days.”

Talking about the encouragement he’d get from Mercury, May shared, “He always said, ‘You can do anything anyone can do, Brian. You can do this for me.'”

“That sounds like I’m making him out as big-headed, but he wasn’t,” May says, “it was just this enthusiasm of, ‘We can do this together. We can be the best thing in the world.’”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The nominations for the 2024 Astra TV Awards have just been announced, and documentaries featuring Bon Jovi, Paul Simon and more have been recognized this year.

Simon’s Paramount+ doc In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon and Bon Jovi’s Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story are both up for Best Documentary. Also nominated in the category is The Greatest Night in Pop, the movie about the making of the 1985 all-star charity single “We Are the World.” 

The awards are handed out by the Hollywood Creative Alliance, which includes critics, journalists, content creators and other creatives. They will stream live from Hollywood on Aug. 18 on the official Astra Awards YouTube channel.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

British blues rockers Ten Years After are revisiting their appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival with a first-ever standalone album of their performance.

Ten Years After Woodstock 1969 will be released Aug. 16 with newly restored and fresh mixes of their Aug. 17 Woodstock set. It includes their classic performance of “I’m Going Home,” which was featured in the documentary Woodstock: 3 Days Of Peace And Music and its soundtrack.

The album will be released on CD and as a two-LP black vinyl set. There will also be a two-LP tie-dye colored vinyl, sold exclusively at indie record stores.

Ten Years After Woodstock 1969 is available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

t’s no secret former couple and Fleetwood Mac bandmates Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham’s relationship has always been rocky. They haven’t performed together since Lindsey and Fleetwood Mac parted ways in 2018, and now Mick Fleetwood says he wishes things between them could be better.

In a recent MOJO interview Nicks indicated that her relationship with Buckingham still wasn’t good.  “Even if I thought I could work with Lindsey again, he’s had some health problem,” she said when talking about whether Fleetwood Mac could ever tour again, noting that since the death of Christine McVie it couldn’t happen.

Well, now Mick has reflected on those comments, telling MOJO he hopes they could settle their differences some day.

“It’s no secret, it’s no title-tattle that there is a brick wall there emotionally,” he says of the pair’s relationship. “Stevie’s able to speak clearly about how she feels and doesn’t feel, as does Lindsey.”

He adds, “But I’ll say, personally, I would love to see a healing between them – and that doesn’t have to take the shape of a tour, necessarily.”

But Mick’s relationship with Stevie seems to be okay, and he tells the mag he plans to check out her upcoming BST Hyde Park show in London on July 12, along with ZZ Top’s July 11 concert at Wembley Arena.

“I’m gonna get myself a vicarious fix,” he says. “For once, I get to be a punter in the audience and see them do all the work.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A previously unreleased song from late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence is getting the picture disc treatment. 

“One-Way,” which was released digitally in April, was put together by the rocker’s friend and producer/musician Danny Saber from previously unreleased material. It will now be released on August 9 on two limited edition, 10-inch picture disc variants; standard black and white, and red. Both will be paired with another previously unreleased song, “Save My Life.”

“The release of ‘One-Way’ has exceeded any expectations I dared to have,” says Saber. “If this release has accomplished anything, hopefully hearing ‘That Voice’ again on something fresh and in tune with the times will remind the world of his greatness. If so, then mission accomplished.”

INXS had a string of hits in the mid-’80s to early ’90s, including “Need You Tonight,” their only U.S. #1, “What You Need,” “Never Tear Us Apart,” “New Sensation” and “Suicide Blonde.” 

Hutchence was found dead on November 22, 1997. His death was later ruled a suicide. He was 37.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Bob Dylan is getting ready to drop a new box set featuring live recordings made with The Band.

The 1974 Live Recordings will be massive box set made up of 27 CDs. It will include 431 live tracks, 417 of which have never been released before. It also includes 133 newly mixed recordings from 16-track tape, plus all the surviving soundboard recordings. 

As a preview of the set, Dylan has shared a previously unreleased live recording of “Forever Young,” from a Seattle show on February 9, 1974. It’s available now via digital outlets.

The 1974 Live Recordings will drop September 20 and is available for preorder now.

In addition to the CD box set, Third Man Records will release The 1974 Live Recordings – The Missing Songs From Before the Flood, a three-LP colored vinyl set with highlights from the same recordings. It will feature live versions of tunes that did not appear on Dylan and The Band’s original 1974 live album Before the Flood.

The vinyl set will be available through Third Man’s The Vault mail order service only, and fans need to subscribe by July 31 in order to be eligible for it.

Both sets celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dylan’s historic tour with The Band, which was Dylan’s return to touring after an eight-year break. The tour, which kicked off January 4, 1974 in Chicago, saw the two acts playing arenas for the first time.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, July 9, 1983…

The Police landed their first and only #1 song with “Every Breath You Take,” from their #1 album Synchronicity.

The song spent eight weeks on top of the chart, and hit #1 in Canada and the U.K., spending four weeks at #1 in both countries.

“Every Breath You Take” earned The Police two Grammy Awards, Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

The tune was later sampled in Puff Daddy’s 1997 hit “I’ll Be Missing You,” a tribute to the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. That tune spent 11 weeks on top of the Hot 100 chart, and won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a duo or group. 

The Police are set to reissue Synchronicity on July 26, with a deluxe box set that includes 55 previously unreleased tracks, including alternate takes, instrumentals, demos and live recordings.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

After teasing news of an upcoming release, the estate of late Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan has announced a 20th anniversary reissue of his 2004 album, Bubblegum.

The set will be available as a four-LP and three-CD package, as well as digitally, on August 23. It includes remastered editions of the original album, done at London’s famed Abbey Road Studios, and its companion Here Comes That Weird Chill EP, as well as various bonus tracks, demos and unreleased recordings.

Among the unreleased material is a collaboration with Beck, and a collection of tracks newly uncovered and produced by Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen.

“When I heard the news of Mark’s passing, these memories started rushing back to me,” Van Leeuwen says. “I searched through my archive of drives and somehow magically was able to open up these sessions. I thought to myself, ‘That NEVER happens.’ These ideas couldn’t be more fresh out of the tap.”

The vinyl edition also includes a 64-page hardcover book featuring essays by Van Leeuwen and QotSA frontman Josh Homme, plus Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, The Afghan Whigs frontman and Lanegan’s Gutter Twins bandmate and frequent collaborator Alain Johannes.

Bubblegum was Lanegan’s sixth solo effort, and was recorded amid his tenure with Queens of the Stone Age, which greatly influenced its sound. Along with contributions from various QotSA members, Bubblegum includes two collaborations with PJ Harvey.

Lanegan died in February 2022 at age 57.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

There are few people who don’t know who Bruce Springsteen is but apparently two years ago, Cara Delevingne was one of them.

The model/actress tells the U.K. Times that in 2022 she and her girlfriend Leah Mason met The Boss at the Glastonbury Music Festival, but Cara was clueless about his identity. 

“We teach each other so many things. Two years ago we were backstage at Glastonbury and we took a photo with this guy,” Delevingne shared. “I said to Leah afterwards, ‘who was that?’ She was like, ‘What? That was Bruce Springsteen!'”

“I had no idea what he looked like,” Delevingne added. “She thinks that’s blasphemy.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.