Classic Rock News

As he recently teased, Sammy Hagar is doing more The Best of All Worlds shows, and this time he’s heading  to Las Vegas.

The rocker just announced dates for The Best of All Worlds Tour – The Residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM. The Vegas residency consists of nine shows, running from April 30 to May 17.

Joining Sammy will once again be Michael Anthony and Joe Satriani, with Kenny Aaronoff handling drums in place of Jason Bonham. In fact, Bonham recently confirmed he wouldn’t be back, after he announced his own shows and a fan asked him if he’d be back with Sammy. He replied in the comments, “Sammy has decided to carry on with Kenny so Sadly no.”

“I’m so looking forward to this residency and being able to stay in one place so we can get the sound and production completely dialed in,” said Sammy. “It also allows the band to experiment with the setlist every night – that’s why it’s going to be exclusive to Las Vegas.”

He adds, “I plan on digging deeper into the Van Halen catalog, and my solo career, Montrose and Chickenfoot, as well. The fans are in for a lot of surprises.” 

Various presales kick off Tuesday, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. PT. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.

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On This Day, Nov. 18, 1991 …

U2 released their seventh studio album, Achtung Baby, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, making it the band’s third #1 album.

Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, the band began recording the album in Germany, although the sessions were marred by tension within the band. The record was eventually finished in Dublin.

The album took influences from alternative rock, electronic dance and industrial music, and featured such hits as “One,” “The Fly” and “Mysterious Ways.”

Achtung Baby was a huge success for U2, selling over 18 million copies worldwide. It also earned them a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.

U2 celebrated Achtung Baby’s 30th anniversary, albeit a bit late, by playing the album in its entirety during their U2: UV Achtung Baby residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, which kicked off in September 2023.
 

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The Moody Blues’ John Lodge is hoping to get everyone in the holiday spirit.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer released the new Christmas single “Love Will Conquer All,” which he wrote just after suffering a stroke, which he calls a “Christmas present he didn’t want.”

“We all have our challenges in life, mine happened last Christmas … but like a phoenix this song appeared and helped me work through some of those difficult days,” Lodge shares. “As I look forward to Christmas this year, I know it was love that got me through, and my Christmas wish for everyone is that they are surrounded with love (and great music) this year.”

The song, now available via digital outlets, is a bit of a family affair, with Lodge’s son-in-law, current Yes frontman Jon Davison, providing background vocals, drums and rhythms, and Lodge’s wife of 56 years, Kirsten, also joining the song on backing vocals.

The song will appear on an upcoming extended EP, Love Conquers All, which will be released Feb. 14 digitally, on CD and as a limited-edition 180g violet vinyl. It is available for preorder now.

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Def Leppard is getting ready to go country … in Canada.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are set to headline the Saskatchewan edition of the Country Thunder festival, taking place July 10-13. 

Def Leppard is the only rock band on the bill; country stars Bailey Zimmerman and Jason Aldean are the other two headliners, with Nate Smith, Tyler Hubbard and Kip Moore also part of the lineup.

A full lineup and ticket information can be found at countrythunder.com.

Country Thunder is one of only a few shows Def Leppard currently has booked for 2025. They’re also headlining the Harvest Nights Festival in January and playing the Illinois State Fair in August. They also have their own headlining show in Puerto Rico in May. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com. 

Meanwhile, Def Leppard is also helping fans get into the holiday spirit this year. They just launched a new holiday merch collection, which includes a Def Leppard snow globe, a logo tree topper, a duffel bag and more.

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While KISS may have said goodbye to the road in 2023, Paul Stanley says it doesn’t necessarily mean we will never see the band play live again.

In a new interview with the Daily Times, Stanley says he’d be open to playing with his bandmates again for some kind of one-off performance.

“Anything’s possible,” he says. “KISS is so far from over, though KISS as we know it is done. But, having our hands and our ideas and our fingers in what KISS continues as makes all the sense in the world.”

He adds, “So, I look forward to whatever comes next without knowing what comes next. But I’m open to it all.”

In the meantime, Stanley is focusing on his art; he’ll be making appearances at Wentworth Gallery locations in Atlantic City and Short Hills,  New Jersey, on Friday and Saturday, respectively. He’s also getting ready to play again with his soul/oldies side project Soul Station. 

“We’re just lining up shows and tours now nationally and internationally,” he says. “It’s financially daunting to take a band of that size out, but selfishly, it’s so rewarding for me because those songs mean so much to me.”

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Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach is getting ready to show off his lack of cooking skills. 

The rocker is one of the celebrities booked for the Food Network competition series Worst Cooks in America Celebrity Edition: Heroes vs. Villains, debuting Jan. 5.

“Hey i can make one thing perfectly in a restaurant! That would be a reservation,” Bach shared on Instagram. “i had a hilarious time filming this show and it should be very entertaining to watch!”

The heroes vs. villains labels come from the contestants’ previous reputations during their reality show days, with Bach, who appeared on reality shows like Sing Your Face Off and The Masked Singer, landing in the heroes category. 

Bach and his fellow contestants, including Cheryl Burke, Adam Rippon, Frankie Grande and Tiffany “New York” Pollard, will be mentored this year by chefs Jeff Mauro and Antonia Lofaso, with the two most-improved contestants facing off in the season finale, airing Feb. 2. The winner gets $25,000 for the charity of their choice.

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An animated video for the previously unreleased Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers song “Never Be You” has just been released.

The clip, directed and animated by Jeff Scher, features hand-drawn images of Petty and the band, cut with similarly drawn visuals of couples kissing, various women and even an alligator. 

Petty and the Heartbreakers’ version of “Never Be You” appears on the recently released Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition) reissue. The song was originally recorded by Rosanne Cash, appearing on her 1985 album, Rhythm & Romance.

Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition) was released in October and featured the remastered original album, plus 12 bonus tracks, including “Never Be You” and “Ways to Be Wicked,” as well as tracks taken from sessions for French TV. 

Originally released in 1982, Long After Dark featured the Petty classic “You Got Lucky,” along with “Change of Heart” and “Straight Into Darkness.” It was the first to feature new Heartbreaker Howie Epstein on bass and was a top-10 record for the band.

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Former Hole bandmates Courtney Love and Melissa Auf der Maur reunite on the new album from hip-hop artist 070 Shake.

The record, titled Petrichor, includes a cover of Tim Buckley‘s “Song to the Siren,” which features vocals from both Love and Auf der Maur.

Both “Song to the Siren” and Petrichor are out now.

Love and Auf der Maur last performed live together in 2018. While talk of a Hole reunion followed, Love declared in a 2021 interview one would “absolutely not” happen.

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King Crimson songwriter and lyricist Peter Sinfield passed away Thursday at the age of 80. The news was announced on social media by King Crimson founder, and longest lasting member, Robert Fripp.

Sinfield co-founded King Crimson with Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake and Ian McDonald, and came up with the band’s name. He was the principal lyricist for the group, responsible for songs on their first four albums, including their hugely successful debut In The Court of the Crimson King, which featured the song “21st Century Schizoid Man.”

Sinfield left the group in January 1972, following a request from Fripp, who said he could no longer work with him.

In addition to King Crimson, Sinfield wrote for Emerson Lake & Palmer and had songs on four of their albums. He also wrote lyrics for songs recorded by Cher, Celine Dion, Chris Squire and Alan White, Leo Sayer and more, and produced the 1972 self-titled debut of Brian Ferry’s English rock band Roxy Music.

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A court in Switzerland has ruled that a watch Yoko Ono gave John Lennon shortly before his 1980 death does in fact belong to Ono, and not a watch collector who claimed he legitimately purchased the item.

According to Bloomberg, the Patek Philippe watch in question was stolen by Ono’s chauffeur, and the collector purchased it in Germany in 2014. The collector argued the watch was his because of the purchase, but the Swiss Federal Court just ruled the sale wasn’t legitimate because the chauffeur wasn’t the watch’s actual owner. 

According to the ruling, “[T]here was no evidence to show that Yoko Ono intended to donate to the driver something as special as the watch, engraved with an inscription, that she had given to John Lennon two months before his death.”

Rolling Stone reports the watch included the inscription “(Just Like)/Starting Over/Love Yoko/ 10·9·1980/N.Y.C.,” a reference to the song “(Just Like) Starting Over,” from Lennon’s album Double Fantasy, which he was released just a month before his death.

Ono has been battling the collector over the watch for quite some time. According to lawyers, the watch could be worth $4.5 million, but the fact that it was owned by Lennon means it could be worth even more.

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