Classic Rock News

While KISS retired from touring back in December, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons‘ former bandmate Ace Frehley doesn’t believe they’re actually calling it quits from the road.

“I’m the only game in town because KISS is supposedly retired — which I don’t believe is gonna happen,” Frehley tells Billboard. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they reformed.”

But until that happens, Frehley is embracing his KISS past on the road.

“We added ‘Shout It Out Loud’ and ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ because talking to people, they go … you gotta do those songs live — and I did and it went over fantastic,” he said. “We ended the night with three KISS songs … and everybody was singing along and it was great.” 

And while it’s often felt like Frehley and his former bandmates aren’t on good terms, he insists that’s not really the case.

“We’re still friends,” he says. “I know a lot of people think we hate each other, but that’s not true. We’re just like a family, but sometimes brothers and sisters have arguments and so on. But when the s*** hits the fan, we’re there for each other. I just wish them the best.”

Frehley just released his new solo album, 10,000 Volts. Fans can catch him performing songs from that album, as well as those KISS classics, on tour this year. His next show is happening March 28 in New York City. A complete list of dates can be found at acefrehley.com.

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Yes released their most recent album, Mirror To The Sky, in May 2023, and now they’re sharing a new video of an edited version of the album’s title track.

The video comes as the band — currently made up of Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison, Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen — is set to release a new limited two-CD+Blu-ray Digipak edition of the album on April 5. The set includes the original album, along with a Blu-ray featuring Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround sound and instrumental mixes of the record.

The new edition of Mirror To The Sky is available for preorder now.

After touring the U.S. in 2023, Yes is set to embark on the U.K. and European leg of their The Classic Tales of Yes Tour, which has them performing songs from the band’s more than 50-year career, including tracks from Mirror to the Sky. It also includes a celebration of the 50th anniversary of their sixth studio album, Tales from Topographic Oceans.

The tour kicks off April 30 in Lisbon, Portugal. A complete list of dates can be found at yesworld.com.

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Kansas has announced that original drummer Phil Ehart recently suffered a major heart attack, which is forcing the 73-year-old to take time away from touring with the band in order to recover.

A message on the band’s Facebook page says there’s currently “no timetable for his recovery.” It adds, “While not on the road, Phil is remaining in a prominent role with Kansas during his recovery, serving as band manager, as he has done for 40 years.”

Kansas is currently on their 50th anniversary tour, and drummer Eric Holmquist is set to fill in for Ehart. The post notes that Holmquist has been Ehart’s protégé for the past 20 years and filled in for him in 2016 when Phil was sick, and again from 2022 to 2023 as Phil was in rehabilitation for his arm.

Kansas’ next show is happening Friday, March 1, in Richmond, Virginia. A complete list of dates can be found at kansasband.com.

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NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers has become known for recruiting drummers from the rock world to play alongside its house 8G Band, including Pearl Jam‘s Matt Cameron, The Black Keys‘ Patrick Carney and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers. But there are still a few drummers producer Eric Leiderman is hoping to get on the show.

“I have tried everything I can to get Dave Grohl to come in for a week,” Leiderman tells Deadline.

Along with the Foo Fighters frontman/Nirvana drummer, Leiderman names Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich and Mötley Crüe‘s Tommy Lee as his other “white wales.”

“Those are big influences,” he says. “It just comes down to scheduling.”

The most recent guest drummer on Late Night was Avenged Sevenfold‘s Brooks Wackerman.

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E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Vandt is letting everyone know how much he appreciates the Kinks.

It all started when Kinks guitarist Dave Davies shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, about the band’s classic tune “You Really Got Me,” which was written by his brother and bandmate Ray Davies. 

“You Really Got Me really was a landmark record and everyone wanted to be a part of it,” Davies shared. “Next month is 60 years of YRGM anniversary. It was Ray’s song and my guitar sound that made the record.”

That prompted Van Zandt to comment, “Everything Dave is saying is historical fact. That record was the beginning of the modern Hard Rock world as we know it. Absolutely incredible that it was a top ten hit single! Unimaginable in today’s boring f****** world.

And Davies was honored by the compliment, replying to Van Zandt, “That means a lot Steve. Thank you.”

“You Really Got Me” was the third single the Kinks ever released and hit #1 in the U.K. It was the band’s breakthrough hit in the U.S., peaking at #7 on the chart. It was covered by Van Halen on their 1978 self-titled debut.

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Tom Petty’s music will be celebrated with an upcoming tribute album, and we’re getting our first taste of what to expect.  

Country star Dierks Bentley has shared his take on Petty’s classic “American Girl,” the first track released from the upcoming album Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty. The album will include some of today’s top country and Americana artists covering Petty’s tunes.

“Petty’s southern roots shined through across his songwriting and storytelling,” Bently shares. “He might not have ever been considered as Country but you can’t go into a bar in Nashville without hearing this song.”

Bentley calls “American Girl” “one of the greatest songs in a life’s work of great American songs.” He notes, “The spirit of this woman, the idea of such relentless hope – and disappointment – ignites such a spark. (Producer) Jon Randall and I were driven to make that feeling of American roots stand tall.”

You can listen to Bentley’s cover of “American Girl” via digital outlets and on YouTube.

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The documentary Kiss the Future features Irish rockers U2, but it’s not about the band — and that’s just the way they wanted it.

The film follows a group of underground musicians and creatives during the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from April 1992 to February 1996. Aid worker Bill Carter reached out to U2 to connect them with the locals, which eventually led to them playing a concert at Koševo Stadium in 1997 to celebrate the country’s liberation.

While having U2 be part of the film was important, Matt Damon, one of the film’s producers, tells Variety the rockers were concerned about taking the focus away from the story.

“They didn’t want it to be yet another U2 concert film. They didn’t want to be the primary focus,” Damon says, noting the film’s director, Nenad Cicin-Sain, was fine with that because he wanted the film to tell the story of Carter and the Sarajevans.

“He wanted to present their stories of what happened as a sort of collective memory of the time,” he says. “Once the band heard that, they came on board as quickly as we did.”

But while U2 wasn’t the focus of the film, Damon knew their contribution to it was important.

“To do this properly, we not only needed their sign off, but also their footage from the concerts where they did the satellite interviews with Bill Carter as well as footage from the concert they performed in Sarajevo — this had never been seen before, by anyone,” he says. “Without that, we simply couldn’t tell the story.”

Kiss the Future is set to open exclusively in AMC theaters in the U.S. starting February 23 and will stream on Paramount + later this year.

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The music of The Alan Parsons Project is being revisited with a new series of releases that kicked off Friday, February 23, with I, Robot (Sessions).

Out now via digital services, I, Robot (Sessions) serves as a companion to the band’s 1977 sophomore studio album, I, Robot, and features demos, early mixes, instrumentals and more. One of those tracks is an early take on the song “Don’t Let It Snow,” which gives fans some insight into songwriter Eric Woolfson‘s creation of the song, which was covered by Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Pat Benatar on her 1976 debut album.

I, Robot (Sessions) is the first in The Alan Parsons Project Sessions series, which will be released over the course of the next year, adding bonus material like demos, edits, alternative versions, backing tracks and more to APP albums. The bonus material has been discovered amongst more than 1,000 master tapes stored for over 40 years in Woolfson’s archives.

In addition to the Sessions series, the band’s catalog will be getting a spatial audio release over the next year.

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A classic Loverboy concert from the ’80s is being released in high definition for the very first time.

The Canadian rockers, best known for their classic track “Working for the Weekend,” are set to release Live in ‘82 as limited-edition CD + Blu-ray and LP + DVD sets on June 7. The footage has been restored from Loverboy guitarist Paul Dean‘s personal archive of 16mm film.

“The 1980s was an amazing time, but it’s still amazing now,” Dean shares. “The fact that Loverboy are still together and playing these same songs almost every night – Who’d have thought?”

And the band is giving fans a preview of the concert with the release of a live performance of their top 40 hit “Turn Me Loose,” which is available via digital outlets and on YouTube.

Loverboy’s Live in ’82 is available for preorder now.

Loverboy is set to hit the road this summer as a special guest on Sammy Hagar’s The Best of All Worlds tour, which kicks off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of Loverboy dates can be found at loverboyband.com.

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Santana’s album Supernatural won a record-breaking nine trophies at the 42nd annual Grammy Awards, which broke the record held by Michael Jackson’s Thriller for most Grammys won by a single album in one night.

Supernatural was named Album of the Year, making Carlos Santana the first Hispanic artist to win that award. 

The album’s hit track “Smooth,” featuring Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas, took home Song of the Year and Record of the Year, as well as Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, with Santana and Thomas teaming for a performance of the song during the telecast.

Another track, “Maria Maria,” won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
 

Released in June 1999, Supernatural had Santana collaborating with a variety of artists, including Thomas, Lauryn Hill, Eric Clapton and more. It reached #1 in 11 countries, and spent 12 weeks on top the Billboard 200 Albums chart.

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