Classic Rock News

Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour is crediting his wife, Polly Samson, for helping him clean up his act.

In an interview with The Independent, Gilmour reveals that it was an ultimatum from Samson that prompted him to give up his hard-partying lifestyle in the ’80s.

“There was a time when I was letting things go, drinking too much, too much cocaine, all those sorts of things,” he said. “And in my life, that stopped when we [Polly and I] started, pretty much dead on at that time.”

Gilmour said that during the early ’80s he was having trouble dealing with “my pop group, my relationships and all those sorts of things,” noting, “I hit a really torturous time; I didn’t really notice if I was out of control, but I probably was.”

Turning to his wife of 30 years, he said, “I won’t call you a gift, Polly, but something came along into my life that was real, and she wouldn’t stand for it [drugs]. I just needed a little kick, really, in order to put it behind me.”

“I couldn’t do otherwise,” Samson added. “I was a single mother. It was, for me, non-negotiable, and I made that clear.”

Asked if his wife was his savior, Gilmour relied, “Yes, exactly that, and I haven’t been near any of those things for over 30 years. There aren’t many women who would have the strength that Polly had to deal with it.”

Polly then noted, “We saved each other’s lives.”

Gilmour’s new solo album, Luck and Strange, which features songs he co-wrote with Samson, comes out Friday. He has a series of live dates scheduled for this fall in Rome, London, LA and New York. A complete list of dates can be found at davidgilmour.com.

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Scorpions recently canceled a series of September shows in Germany due to an injury suffered by guitarist Matthias Jabs. Jabs is now revealing what happened to him.

A post on social media features a photo of Jabs in a wheelchair with his foot and hand in casts. In the caption he explains that the injury occurred at his rented summer house, sharing, “I fell down the stairs with 16 steps and broke my left pinky twice and I also broke my left heel.”

“I had surgeries on both, hand and foot, by the best specialists I could find in Hamburg,” he said. “Now it is time to heal and start the physical rehabilitation for a speedy recovery.”

Jabs said he’s working on being able to play guitar again “as soon as possible,” but the September shows won’t be happening. 

On a positive note, he wrote, “I am very optimistic that we will see us again very soon.”

As of now Scorpions don’t have any other shows booked for 2024. Back in April and May they headlined a Las Vegas residency, Scorpions – Love at First Sting, at the Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

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Def Leppard is giving fans some insight into how they create their set list for each of their shows with a new video posted to social media.

In the clip, frontman Joe Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen discuss adding another Pyromania track to their concert in Cleveland, with Joe noting they are performing eight songs from the album, leaving out only “Stagefright” and “Action! Not Words.” At one point drummer Rick Allen chimes in, approving of the decision to add a song, noting, “I dig doing all those Pyromania songs.”

But the scene is way more chaotic than it seems, because the discussion is happening as guitarist Vivian Campbell is loudly warming up his vocals in the background, although it doesn’t seem to bother any of his bandmates.

Fans still have a chance to see Def Leppard perform that set list on their Summer Stadium tour with Journey. The tour hits Seattle, Washington, on Wednesday. A complete list of the remaining dates can be found at defleppard.com.

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Green Day is raffling off the car from the band’s videos for “Holiday” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

The 1968 Mercury Monterey Convertible will go to the winner of a sweepstakes hosted by the platform Propeller. It will raise money for the program Wheels for Wishes in support of Make-a-Wish.

The raffle is open through Nov. 6. For more info, visit Propeller.la.

Green Day is currently on the road touring in support of their new album, Saviors, while also playing Dookie and American Idiot in full to celebrate their respective 30th and 20th anniversaries. 

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Epiphone is giving Jimi Hendrix fans a chance to get their hands on a replica of one of his classic guitars.

The company has teamed with Gibson Custom for a new Jimi Hendrix “Love Drops” Flying V guitar, a recreation of the guitar Hendrix customized and played between 1967 and 1969. 

The guitar is part of the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom Collection and features the psychedelic design originally hand painted by Hendrix, with high-quality electronics and design upgrades.

“Jimi’s artistic expression was all-encompassing. It went far beyond creating magical music and expanded into another dimension of art that allowed us to see the beauty of his music,” Janie Hendrix, sister of Jimi and president and CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC & Authentic Hendrix LLC, shares, noting that his hand painting of the guitar “was an expression of love for his instrument and his music.”

She adds, “With the Epiphone series, Gibson has recreated Jimi’s artwork beautifully! We are excited to partner with them! Seeing Jimi’s handiwork come alive in this spectacular collection is extremely gratifying.”

The Epiphone Jimi Hendrix “Love Drops” Flying V is available now. More info can be found at epiphone.com.

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Members of The Guess Who have settled their long dispute over the band’s name.

The band’s founding singer Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman sued fellow original members Jim Kale and Garry Peterson last October, accusing them of tricking fans into thinking Cummings and Bachman were still performing with the group, when they were actually getting a “cover band.”

Cummings and Bachman have now announced that the suit is settled, which has resulted in them acquiring the trademark for the name The Guess Who.

Cummings tells Rolling Stone he is relieved the suit is now behind them. 

“There’s been a fake band out there for a long time using the real records to promote their shows, and it handcuffed me in many ways,” he says. “We’re trying to preserve the history and the legacy of The Guess Who for our fans all over the place have who have followed the real band and the real songs.”

Bachman adds, “To be able to come back together as partners and shut down the bad reputation being formed by the false advertising and fraudulent band is really good, and I look forward to what’s ahead.”

Other than the fact they have now retained the Guess Who trademark, Cummings and Bachman didn’t offer any details about the settlement.

Peterson had been the only original member of The Guess Who still performing as part of the band, albeit infrequently. In an attempt to stop his incarnation of the group, Cummings — who wrote the band’s classic hits like “American Woman” and “These Eyes” and owns the publishing for them — canceled the performing rights agreements for the songs in April. That meant no band, including Peterson’s, was allowed to play those songs live, forcing The Guess Who to cancel shows.

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Neil Young and Stephen Stills are set to headline a new benefit concert in October.

Harvest Moon is a daytime concert that will take place Oct. 5 at The Painted Turtle camp in Lake Hughes, California. Proceeds will benefit both The Painted Turtle, which offers the camp experience to children with serious medical conditions, and The Bridge School, an educational institution for children with severe speech and physical disabilities.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the community to Harvest Moon at The Painted Turtle,” said April Tani, executive director of The Painted Turtle. “This event not only brings together amazing musicians and families but also raises vital funds for two organizations committed to changing lives. It’s a day of music, fun, and philanthropy—what could be better?”

In addition to the former Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmates, the marimba ensemble Masanga will perform, with more artists to be announced.

A limited number of tickets will go on sale Friday at harvestmoongathering.com.

The performance is one of only two shows Young has confirmed since canceling his tour with Crazy Horse due to health issues. The other is Farm Aid, which is happening Sept. 21 in Saratoga, New York. 

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Pearl Jam brought their Dark Matter tour to New York’s Madison Square Garden Tuesday, and fans witnessed frontman Eddie Vedder getting very emotional while dedicating a song to a young fan in the audience.

Before performing “Given to Fly,” Eddie said he wanted to dedicate the song to a teen named Adam, who was going to his second show, and his father, Jesse, noting that since their last Pearl Jam show they suffered the great loss of Adam’s mom and Jesse’s wife.

Eddie then shared that Adam is autistic and had been bullied so badly he needed to change schools; you could see Eddie get visibly angry. He then went off on an expletive-filled rant against the parent whose child bullied Adam and the school that did nothing about it. 

He ended it by telling Adam to let those people know Pearl Jam and Madison Square Garden told them to “f*** off.”

As for the rest of the concert, Pearl Jam mixed their set with tracks from their new album, Dark Matter, deep cuts and hits like “Alive,” “Even Flow,” “Betterman” and “Black,” which included an epic guitar solo from Mike McCready. 

Eddie also did a solo cover of John Lennon‘s “Imagine,” and the band broke out the rarity “Out of My Mind,” which they’ve only played live seven times. 

They ended the show with a cover of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” followed by the Vs. track “Indifference,” which was the first time they performed it on this tour.

Tuesday’s show also featured a special guest appearance by guitarist Lenny Kaye, who joined opener Glen Hansard for a performance of the classic track “Gloria.”

Pearl Jam returns to MSG Wednesday, which Vedder said will be the band’s 50th show in the state of New York.

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The Who released It’s Hard, their last album to feature bassist John Entwistle and drummer Kenney Jones. Entwistle passed away in 2002.

The release, their 10th studio album, featured the classic “Eminence Front,” as well as the single “Athena,” a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1994, The Who’s Roger Daltrey said It’s Hard “never should have been released,” and revealed that he and Pete Townshend argued over doing so.

The Who have only released two albums since then: 2006’s Endless Wire and 2019’s WHO.

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Queen guitarist Brian May revealed in a post on social media that he recently suffered a minor stroke that left his ability to play guitar in doubt. 

“I’m here to bring you first of all some good news, I think,” May said in a video. “The good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days and I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup that I mentioned happened about a week ago and what they called it was a minor stroke and all of a sudden — out of the blue – I didn’t have any control over [my left arm].”

May said the health incident was “a little scary” but noted, “I had the most fantastic care and attention from Frimley Hospital, where I went. Blue lights flashing, the lot.”

May explained that he didn’t post anything when it happened because he wasn’t looking for sympathy, adding, “good news is I’m okay.”

As for what he needs to do to get better, he says doctors have advised him to do “basically nothing.”

“I’m grounded. I’m not allowed to go out. I’m not allowed to drive, not allowed to get on a plane, not allowed to raise the heart rate too high,” he explained.

This isn’t May’s first health scare in recent years. In May of 2020 he revealed he suffered a heart attack that required three stents to clear blocked arteries.

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