Classic Rock News

Metallica has announced the return of the Weekend Takeover events for the upcoming U.S. leg of their M72 world tour.

Various ‘Tallica-related festivities will take place around each city on the outing, including pop-up shops, film festivals, and performances by the bands Bastardane and OTTTO, which feature the children of frontman James Hetfield and bassist Robert Trujillo, respectively.

Additionally, acclaimed rock photographer Ross Halfin will be speaking about his Metallica photo book in select cities.

For the full list of Weekend Takeover events, visit Metallica.com.

The M72 tour returns to the U.S. starting in August. As with the first leg, which launched in 2023, Metallica will be playing two shows with unique set lists in each city.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist and current Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer is named in a wrongful death lawsuit, TMZ reports. 

The suit alleges that a 47-year-old pedestrian died after Klinghoffer hit him while driving a car in Alhambra, California, in March. TMZ obtained video purporting to show footage of the incident.

In a statement to TMZ, Klinghoffer’s attorney calls what happened a “tragic accident.”

“After Josh struck this pedestrian in the intersection, he immediately pulled over, stopped the car, called 911 and waited until police and the ambulance arrived,” the statement continues. “Obviously, he’s cooperating with the police throughout the traffic investigation. This was purely a tragic accident.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sammy Hagar is set to kick off his The Best of All Worlds Tour on Saturday. The rocker and his band will be playing Van Halen songs during the show, and while he may have originally hoped that former Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen would stop by, he knows it isn’t about to happen.

Hagar tells Classic Rock that when he started planning the tour with Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony he “immediately reached out to Al” but heard nothing back.

“No response,” Hagar says. “I hit him again. No response. I called (manager) Irving Azoff; he goes, ‘Al doesn’t want to play with anybody. He’s still mourning his brother’s death… I don’t think he’s ready.’ And I said, ‘Well, get him to talk to me.’” 

Then in May, Alex announced he was selling off all his equipment at an auction that closed June 9. Hagar is taking that personally.

“I think that was his statement to me,” he says. “I think that was his way of saying, ‘I’m over. I’m done.’ It’s a shame.”

“There’s a time I was saying, ‘Oh, he’ll show up. You watch, he’ll f*****’ show up at the (Los Angeles) Forum or something,’” Sammy adds. “Mike and I had this running joke that we were gonna put him on the guest list every night of every show, just for fun. But, no, after selling his drums, he ain’t showing up nowhere, I can guarantee you that.” 

Hagar’s The Best of All Worlds tour kicks off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

KISS is celebrating a new milestone. The band’s classic tune, “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” just hit 1 billion streams on Spotify. The tune is the first KISS song to join Spotify’s Billions club.

“Thank you #KISSARMY! You streamed “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” over 1 billion times on @spotify!,” the band shared on Instagram.

“I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” Paul Stanley’s first collaboration with songwriter Desmond Child, was featured on the band’s 1979 album Dynasty. It became KISS’ second Gold single, and has been a staple at KISS’ live shows throughout their career.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, July 10, 1965… 

The Rolling Stones hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” which was their first #1 single. 

The track, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, appeared on the band’s third studio album Out of Our Heads. 

The tune went on to become a Stones classic, and to this day is a staple of their live shows. In 1998, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2006 it was chosen by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.

Throughout their career, The Stones have had eight #1 hits, their last being 1978’s “Miss You.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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.