Classic Rock News

Neil Young and Crazy Horse have canceled the remaining dates on their Love Earth tour, due to illness. 

In a post on his Neil Young Archives site, Young describes the tour as “a great experience for us so far,” with “GREAT AUDIENCES AND MUSIC.”

He then reveals, “When a couple of us got sick after Detroit’s Pine Knob, we had to stop,” noting, “We are still not fully recovered so sadly our great tour will have a big unplanned break.”

While Young didn’t specifically say how long that break would be, Ticketmaster lists his remaining dates in the U.S. and Canada as canceled, while the Bourbon & Beyond festival, which Young was to headline, reposted the statement from his website, and Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival now lists TBA in the Saturday headlining spot Young was originally scheduled for.

“We will try to play some of the dates we miss as time passes when we are ready to rock again,” the statement continues. “Thank you for your understanding and patience. Health is #1.”

Young and Crazy Horse kicked off the Love Earth tour on April 24 in San Diego, California.

Young was one of the last artists to return to touring following the COVID pandemic. He headlined a short West Coast tour in summer 2023, which was his first trek since 2019.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sammy Hagar is the subject of a new A&E Biography special debuting June 30, and he’s giving fans a sneak peek of what to expect.

The former Van Halen frontman shared a preview of the episode on Instagram, and in the clip he discusses where the idea came from to write his hit song “I Can’t Drive 55.” 

“Before I wrote the song I Can’t Drive 55, I had 34 speeding tickets and my license taken away three times and was paying $135,000 a year for insurance – and that was in 1984!” Hagar writes in the caption of the post. “Since I wrote that song and made that video I have gotten only two speeding tickets! It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

In the preview, Hagar talks about being stopped at 2 a.m. on a deserted highway for driving 62 in a 55 mph zone. After being pulled over by the cop, he told his wife, “Man, I can’t drive 55, you know?”

“I swear it was like God struck me with lightning,” he shares. “I wrote the whole song like that night. And it was the biggest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“I Can’t Drive 55” was the lead single off Hagar’s album VOA and was a top-40 hit for the rocker. 

Sammy Hagar’s A&E Biography special will air Sunday at 10 p.m. ET.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The late AC/DC frontman Bon Scott will be celebrated in New York City in July on what would have been his 78th birthday. 

The Bon Scott Estate has announced a tribute concert happening on the big day, July 9, at Arlene’s Grocery on the Lower East Side. Although no artists have been announced for the concert, it is expected to feature 16 singers performing classic AC/DC tracks with a backing band. 

Tickets are on sale now.

And that’s not the only way Bon’s 78th birthday is being marked. There will also be some new and unique merchandise fans can get their hands on, including two new and registered Bon Scott tartans that will be used for signature flannel shirts from Dixxon Flannel Company and made-to-order kilts, vests, pants and more from Gordon Nicolson Kiltmakers.

Plus there will soon be new Bon Scott figurines from Knucklebonz and Super7, based on Bon’s look during AC/DC’s 1979 Highway to Hell tour.

More info on the Bon Scott birthday celebration can be found at bonscottofficial.com.

Scott was AC/DC’s frontman from 1974 until his death in 1980, appearing on the band’s first seven albums. He was replaced by Brian Johnson, who remains their frontman to this day.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Van Morrison is delving into his archives for another new album. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced he’ll release New Arrangements and Duets on Sept. 27.

“This album represents a small percentage of the huge amount of unreleased material we are hoping to roll out in the near future, rather than letting it gather dust in some archive,” Morrison shared on Instagram.

Morrison didn’t share many details about the songs on the record, although the description says big band tracks were recorded in 2014. It also includes songs with Willie Nelson, Joss Stone, Curtis Stigers and Kurt Elling, all recorded between 2018 and 2019.

And Morrison is giving fans their first preview of the record with the release of the song “Choppin Wood.” 

New Arrangements and Duets is available for preorder now in a variety of formats, including CD, vinyl and limited-edition orange vinyl. 

And that’s not the only new album coming from Morrison. He’s already set to release Be Just and Fear Not: Live at Orangefield on July 12. The live album was recorded during a series of concerts in August 2014 at his old high school in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Morrison has only a handful of shows booked for 2024, the next being July 4 in Dublin. His only U.S. shows are happening Oct. 19 and Oct. 20 in Los Angeles. A complete list of dates can be found at vanmorrison.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Who’s Tommy is ready to say goodbye to Broadway.

The musical, based on the Pete Townshend-penned rock opera, is set to play its final show at the Nederlander Theatre on July 21.

The production was a reimagining of the 1993 original staging of Tommy. It opened on March 28, and is closing after 132 performances and 20 previews. 

But there will still be chances for fans to catch the latest iteration of The Who’s Tommy. It’s set to launch a national tour at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, in the fall of 2025.

Based on The Who’s 1969 album and 1975 film, the original production of Tommy opened at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, on July 1, 1992. It opened on Broadway on April 22, 1993, and closed on June 17, 1995. It won five Tony Awards, including Best Direction for Des McAnuff and Best Original Score for Townshend.

The latest production was nominated for a Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White is expected to play Bruce Springsteen in the upcoming movie Deliver Me From Nowhere, and it sounds like fans may find out if he has any of his own singing chops.

When asked by Variety if he plans to do his own singing in the film, White shared, “We’re gonna try. We’re gonna try our best.”

White seemed to suggest that him playing Springsteen isn’t a done deal, and until then he doesn’t seem ready to meet The Boss.

“We’ve communicated a little bit through some other people, but I hope this still all comes together,” White said. “We’ve still got a few things, we’ve got some timing stuff to work out, and I’m trying to have a bit of my own process with it before meeting the man, too.” 

He adds, “I wanna try to have an understanding, so when I meet him, I’ll have a bit of confidence somewhere in me to stand there.”

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.

Released on Sept. 30, 1982, Nebraska featured 10 acoustic songs Springsteen originally recorded as demos on a four-track recorder. Springsteen had planned to rerecord the songs with The E Street Band but instead opted to release it as a solo acoustic record. It featured such songs as “Atlantic City,” “Johnny 99” and “State Trooper.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Eagles have decided to spend a little more time in Vegas.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just added four more shows to their Eagles Live In Concert At Sphere residency. The new dates will keep the Eagles in Sin City through December, with shows Dec. 6, Dec. 7, Dec. 13 and Dec. 14.

A presale for tickets begins July 9 at 10 a.m., with tickets going on sale to the general public starting July 12.

Eagles Live In Concert At Sphere will kick off Sept. 20. A complete list of dates can be found at eagles.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, June 26, 2021 …

After a 471-day closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Broadway theaters finally reopened in New York.

The first official show was a performance of Bruce Springsteen’s critically acclaimed Tony-winning show, Springsteen on Broadway, at the St. James Theatre. It featured The Boss telling his life story through his songs, sharing incidents featured in his 2016 autobiography, Born To Run.

This was the second Broadway run of Springsteen on Broadway. It initially opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Oct. 12, 2017.

Proceeds from the post-COVID opening night were donated to various charities, including the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Green Day isn’t waiting until September ends to wake you up.

The “American Idiot” trio will be performing bright and early as part of the 2024 Good Morning America Summer Concert Series. They’ll take the stage at New York City’s Central Park on July 26.

Ticket requests will open starting Wednesday at noon ET.

Other GMA Summer Concert Series performers include Carrie Underwood, Kane Brown and G-Eazy. For the full schedule, visit GoodMorningAmerica.com.

Good Morning America airs weekdays at 7 a.m. ET on ABC.

Following their GMA performance, Green Day will launch the U.S. leg of their 2024 world tour July 29 in Washington, D.C.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Smashing Pumpkins‘ (Rotten Apples) best-of compilation is being released on vinyl for the first time.

The collection will make its debut on wax on Aug. 9 as a two-LP set and is available now to preorder.

Originally released in 2001, a year after the band’s 2000 breakup, (Rotten Apples) includes Pumpkins classics such as “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “1979,” “Zero,” “Tonight, Tonight,” “Today” and “Cherub Rock.” It also features the song “Untitled,” which marked the final Pumpkins tune to feature members Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin until they reunited in 2018.

“Untitled” has never before been available on vinyl.

The Smashing Pumpkins are currently on tour in Europe. They’ll launch a U.S. tour, including headlining dates and shows with Green Day, in July.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.