Classic Rock News

Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh has announced the lineup for the 2024 edition of his benefit concert VetsAid, which is happening Nov. 11 at UBS Arena in Queens, New York, the first time it’s being held on the East Coast since it launched in Northern Virginia in 2017.

In addition to Walsh, the show will feature performances from Toto, country star Eric Church and Kool and The Gang.

The location is particularly close to Walsh, as his wife, VetsAid co-founder Marjorie Walsh, is from Rosedale, Queens. 

“VetsAid 2024 is all about family, friends and faith,” Walsh shares. “I honor my wife’s family and their legacy of service in her home borough of Queens. I honor our collective faith in the power of music to bring fans of diverse backgrounds together in celebration and our faith in the power of love to unite us all as Americans to support a population of veterans that has sacrificed so much and asked for so little in return.”

Finally, Walsh notes, “We’ve got something for everyone at VetsAid this year – country, pop, rock, funk and gospel – so all aboard!”

Tickets for VetsAid go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET. Proceeds from this year’s concert will benefit veterans services charities in the New York and New Jersey area.

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Journey’s Neal Schon appears to be responding to his bandmate Jonathan Cain’s recent lawsuit, in which he accused Schon of overspending.

In a post on social media, Schon shared a response to a fan who commented, “theres a lot of rumours about the band living its final days cus you and your wife can’t stop expending the bands money. Is this truth?” Schon called it “absolute rubbish.”

“I don’t know why people believe Media if anything [what] she’s done is make us a lot of money by attaining the Trade Mark,” which he said “cost quite a lot of money.”

He added that “both Jon Cain and Arnel Pineda are benefiting from that equally. It’s split in thirds.”

He then responded to claims he’s overspending by chartering private jets, saying they’re “approved in our budget.” Responding to claims he and his wife spend huge amounts on hotels, he insisted they pay for any upgrades they take.

“This is the second time JONATHAN CAIN has sued me for the same thing we’ve already been through in court – that case was dropped by both of us,” he said. “We both agreed to drop and move forward with prejudice. That means that you never open it again. Well here we are again.” 

He ends his post, “Don’t believe all you read in media it’s all manipulated and contrived as they wish it to be. I’m taking a higher road.” 

Cain filed his lawsuit against Schon on July 24, detailing what he claimed was Schon’s overspending, although in a statement he insisted the aim of the suit was to get the court to appoint a third, independent director to serve on the band’s Freedom 2020 board in order to deal with “growing issues” between him and Schon.

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On This Day, Aug. 12, 2012 … 

Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, The Who and The Kinks’ Ray Davies were among the artists who performed at the closing ceremony of the London Olympics, held at Olympic Stadium.

Queen’s May and Taylor were joined by Jessie J to perform “We Will Rock You” and Davies performed “Waterloo Sunset.” The Who closed the evening with a medley of three hits: “Baba O’Riley,” “See Me, Feel Me” and “My Generation.”

Dubbed A Symphony of British Music, the evening also featured Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason and Genesis’ Mike Rutherford, who performed Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” with Ed Sheeran. There were also  performances by Madness, One Direction, Spice Girls, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, Annie Lennox and Muse.

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Pearl Jam has premiered a new live video for “Wreckage,” a track off the band’s new album, Dark Matter.

The clip was filmed during one of Eddie Vedder and company’s concerts in Las Vegas in May during the first leg of their 2024 U.S. tour. You can watch it streaming now on YouTube.

“Wreckage” is the current Dark Matter single and hit #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

Dark Matter, the 12th Pearl Jam album, dropped in April. The band will resume their tour in support of it Aug. 22 in Missoula, Montana.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 



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Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour and Roger Waters have been in a feud for a while now, which has resulted in public name-calling and legal threats. It’s hard to believe that the two ever got along, but according to Alan Parsons, the famed producer, engineer and musician who was behind the desk for The Dark Side of the Moon, it used be a “joy” to work with them.

In a new interview, Parsons was asked by YouTuber Rick Beato whether Gilmour and Waters used to feud back in the day. On the contrary, Parsons said, “They all got on really well. I mean, making Dark Side was a joy. I mean, everybody was into what they were doing. Everybody was friendly.”

“It’s terribly sad that the rift exists between them now,” he added.

But while the band members were friendly, you’d never catch them actually saying nice things about each other, Parsons recalled.

“They were all critical of each other’s performances and not afraid to say,” he laughed. “If David Gilmour had produced an incredible guitar solo on something, Roger [Waters] might say, ‘I think that might be all right, David. Thank you.’ Pretty sort of low-key congratulations.”

When Gilmour heads out on tour later this year in support of his new solo album, Luck and Strange, he reportedly plans to avoid Pink Floyd songs from the band’s ’70s era, which includes much of the material he made with Waters, in favor of songs from the ’60s, ’80s and ’90s.

Keyboardist Nick Mason recently suggested, “It would be fascinating to see what AI could do with new music … the thing to do would be to have an AI situation where David and Roger become friends again.”

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Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Phoenix took part in Sunday’s 2024 Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony.

RCHP and Eilish performed in Los Angeles as part of the “handing over” of the Olympics from Paris to the City of Angels, which is hosting the 2028 Games. The Peppers’ “By the Way” soundtracked a video in which actor Tom Cruise delivered the Olympic flag from Paris to LA, and the group also performed “Can’t Stop” on a beach.

The camera then cut to Eilish on another pier, playing her song “BIRDS OF A FEATHER.” Snoop Dogg performed as well.

Back in Paris, Phoenix performed songs including “1901” and “Lisztomania,” as well as “Tonight” with Vampire Weekend‘s Ezra Koenig. The French outfit was also joined by artists including Angèle, Kaminsky, Air and VannDa.

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After canceling his big 200th residency performance at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Aug. 7 due to strep throat, Rod Stewart has now canceled two additional shows due to another illness.

A message on Rod’s Instagram on Aug. 9 said that the “Maggie May” rocker’s show in Stateline, Nevada was postponed, as is his Aug. 10 show in Lincoln, California, while he “recovers from a summer strain of Covid-19.”

The Lincoln show will now take place on August 18 and the Stateline show has been moved to August 20. All tickets will be honored for the new shows.  Rod’s next scheduled show is Aug. 13 in Saratoga, California.

As previously reported, Rod, 79, announced Aug. 7 that he’d be returning to Caesars Palace in 2025 with a new residency called The Encore Shows.

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The fact that many top artists — like Coldplay‘s Chris Martin and Beyonce — are available to hire for weddings and birthday parties if the price is right is one of the worst-kept secrets in the music industry. But some artists just flat-out refuse to do them, even if the money is insane. Case in point: U2.

Jay Siegan, whose company specializes in organizing private gigs by big stars, tells The Times of London, “We recently made an offer to U2 of $10 million to perform on an island in the Caribbean for a private client. They quickly declined.” Other acts who “never” do private shows include Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Taylor Swift, The Cure and Depeche Mode.

Of course, those acts don’t exactly need the money. Just think of how much U2 must have raked in during their recent residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, which grossed some $256 million.

In other U2 news, the group has just released the 10th edition of its ongoing digital playlist series, To Love and Only Love — Deep Dives and B-Sides. The remastered collection is comprised of songs that until now were only available on vinyl, CD or cassette.

The latest playlist is centered around “Elevation,” from their 2000 album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind. The 10 tracks include six different mixes of “Elevation,” including the “Tomb Raider Mix” from the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. There are also live versions of “New York,” “I Will Follow” and the Ramones cover “I Remember You,” plus a remake of Johnny Cash‘s “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” which was the original B-side of “Elevation.”

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Lenny Kravitz‘s 1998 Grammy-winning hit “Fly Away” has been reimagined by Lenny, producer Andrew Watt and rapper Quavo, best known as a member of the hip-hop trio Migos.

The new version, “Fly,” has its origins at a Grammy event earlier this year called the Black Music Collective’s Recording Academy Honors. An all-star band made up of Quavo, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Earth, Wind & Fire bassist Verdine White, P-Funk‘s George Clinton and super-producer Andrew Watt performed “Fly Away” as a tribute to Kravitz.

The song went over so well that Watt and Quavo decided to record an updated version with rapped verses by Quavo and a newly recorded vocal from Lenny. The song’s frenetic black-and-white video shows Lenny playing guitar and trading verses with Quavo, whose dreadlocks are nearly as impressive as Lenny’s.

“Put some feathers on my drip ’cause I’m fly,” they sing. “Diamonds twinkle every time I’m outside/ They almost brighter than the stars and the ice.”

The single is just the latest project for Watt, who most recently produced The Rolling Stones‘ Hackney Diamonds and Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter.

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When the “Crosstown Traffic” gets too heavy in New York City, drivers can now turn onto Jimi Hendrix Way.

A block in Greenwich Village that includes 52 West 8th St. — the address of Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios — was temporarily renamed after the iconic guitarist on Aug. 8. Attendees at the unveiling ceremony included E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt; Hendrix’s sister Janie; and Hendrix’s recording engineer Eddie Kramer, who helped conceptualize the studio and who worked with everyone from The Beatles to the Stones to Bowie to Zeppelin.

The renaming was done in conjunction with the new documentary Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, which tells the story of the legendary studio — the first recording studio ever owned by an artist. The film officially opens Aug. 9 in New York and will then hit theaters worldwide.

As previously reported, the doc includes previously unseen footage and photos, and includes interviews from recording engineer Eddie Kramer, Experience bassist Billy Cox, original Electric Lady staff members and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Steve Winwood, who took part in Hendrix’s first session at the studio.

The countdown is now on to see if someone steals the sign before it’s officially removed.

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