Classic Rock News

The New York Pops orchestra will honor legendary record executive Clive Davis at its 41st Birthday Gala in April, and many of the artists who’ve worked with Davis over the years will gather to perform at the event at New York’s Carnegie Hall. 

John Mellencamp and Carlos Santana are both set to perform, with Santana’s “Smooth” collaborator Rob Thomas also on the bill.

Other artists confirmed for the event include Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Toni Braxton, Melissa Manchester, Fantasia Barrino Taylor, Kenny G, Babyface and even “Ghostbusters” singer Ray Parker Jr.

The concert takes place on April 29, with proceeds going to support the orchestra and its music education programs. You can get tickets via CarnegieHall.org or by calling 212-247-7800.

Over his more than 50-year career, Davis worked at Columbia Records, founded Arista Records and later formed the influential LaFace Records, Bad Boy Records and J Records. He’s been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and has won four Grammys, plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition to the artists who are performing at the concert, the musicians Davis has worked with include Billy Joel, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand and Aretha Franklin.

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Elton John and Bernie Taupin are being honored with the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song this year, and now, we know who’ll be on hand to help them celebrate.

Performers confirmed for the event include Eurythmics’ Annie Lennox, Brandi Carlile, Garth Brooks, Maren Morris, Charlie Puth, Jacob Lusk of Gabriels and hard rockers Metallica. 

While Metallica may seem like an odd choice for an Elton and Bernie celebration, the artists have worked together in the past. In fact, Elton covered Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” for their Metallica Blacklist tribute album. 

Metallica isn’t the only artist with a past connection to Elton and Bernie. Brandi, a well known friend of Elton, joined him onstage for “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” at his final U.S. show at Dodger’s Stadium in 2022, while Maren covered Elton’s “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” for the 2018 country compilation Restoration: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. 

Garth has covered Elton songs in concert and recorded his own version of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me,” while Jacob joined Elton onstage at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival in 2023; he’s also set to perform at Elton’s annual Academy Awards viewing party on March 10.

Elton John & Bernie Taupin: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song will air Monday, April 8, at 8 p.m. on PBS.

The Gershwin Prize, established in 2007, recognizes artists “whose career reflects the influence, impact and achievement in promoting song as a vehicle of musical expression and cultural understanding.” Previous winners include Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Lionel Richie and Carole King.

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Jon Bon Jovi is getting ready to strap in. He will be a special guest at the NTT IndyCar Series season opener: the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida, which starts on March 9. 

That means Jon gets to take what’s called the Fastest Seat In Sports. He will be driven at high speed in a two-seat car around the 1.8 mile temporary street circuit that leads to the starting line for the first race of the 2024 season. His driver will be four-time Indy 500 winner and former Dancing with the Stars champ Hélio Castroneves.

Jon is no stranger to auto racing: He performed at the 2006 Daytona 500 with Bon Jovi.

The new documentary Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story will stream April 26 on Hulu.

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Jimmy Fallon first began his role as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show 10 years ago in February 2014. In an interview with Variety, he picks some of his favorite Tonight Show moments over the past decade, including a performance with Metallica.

Fallon specifically recalls when the metal legends joined him and The Tonight Show house band, The Roots, for a rendition of “Enter Sandman” played on classroom instruments, including a xylophone, toy clarinet and kazoo.

“They come off as such a tough band with a tough-guy vibe, and really they are just kind of sweethearts, and really, they just wanted to have fun,” Fallon says.

Metallica will be playing their regular instruments on the upcoming 2024 leg of their M72 tour, which comes to the U.S. in August.

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Def Leppard has announced a deluxe edition of their classic album Pyromania, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year.

Frontman Joe Elliott executive produced the new reissue, which drops April 26, and went deep into the band’s archives to uncover unheard demos that are featured on the release.

“A labor of love and I loved every minute of it !!” Elliott shares, noting combing through the vaults to find old demos was a “journey only few of us are lucky enough to take.”

The 40th anniversary edition of Pyromania will be released as a four-CD + Blu-Ray box set featuring the original album and a full disc of those unheard demos, including “Photograph – Rough Mix Version (Unfinished Vocal),” which will be released March 1.

Additionally, the box set includes two live shows, one recorded in Los Angeles and another in Dortmund, Germany, as well as a Blu-Ray featuring an Atmos mix of the album, 5.1/Stereo and instrumental mixes and five promo videos. There’s also a book delving into the history of the album and a collection of photos taken by famed photographer Ross Halfin.

In addition to the box set, the Pyromania reissue will be released digitally, as a one-LP half-speed master and on two-LP black vinyl and two-LP colored vinyl. All formats are available for preorder now.

Released January 1983, Pyromania featured such hit songs as “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages” and “Foolin,” and reached number #2 on the U.S. Album charts. It sold 6 million copies in 1983 and went on to be certified Diamond by the RIAA for selling over 10 million copies.  

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The Kinks’ Dave Davies is taking issue with Guitar World magazine after they posted an article claiming rock producer Eddie Kramer confirmed the long-held rumor that Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page played guitar on the band’s hit “You Really Got Me.”

“I met Jimmy while he was working with the Kinks in the early ’60s when they were doing ‘You Really Got Me,’” he reportedly said. “I know the Davies brothers will say otherwise, but I recall seeing Jimmy coming in and doing an overdub on that song. There’s some contention about that, but that’s how I remember it.” 

Davies later took to social media to shoot down the suggestion, noting Kramer insists he never made those comments.

“I demand an immediate retraction from @GuitarWorld and @guitar I spoke to @EdKramerTweets yesterday and he denies ever saying that @JimmyPage played on @theKinks YRGM,” he wrote. “I played all the guitar parts on YRGM Ed Kramer told me yesterday he was misquoted.”

He added, “I’m so tired of reporters getting it wrong.” 

Rumors that Page appeared on the song have been circulating for years, but both Davies and Page himself have denied them.

“You Really Got Me,” the third single The Kinks ever released, 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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R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has donated some handwritten lyrics to help raise money for a good cause.

The rocker has contributed a signed lyric sheet for the track “Nightswimming” to the Art for Gaza auction. The money raised is going to Doctors Without Borders.

The auction is set to run until March 2 at 12 p.m. ET. The initial estimate for the sale was between $1,000 and $1,200, but the current bid has already surpassed that. Bids can be placed at bid.whytes.ie.

“Nightswimming” was the fifth single off R.E.M.’s eighth studio album, 1992’s Automatic for the People. It featured a string arrangement by Led Zeppelin‘s John Paul Jones.

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ZZ Top‘s Billy F Gibbons has recruited some musician friends for a cover of blues legend Jimmy Reed‘s classic track “Baby What You Want Me To Do.”

The performance teams up Gibbons with the BFG’s — Haim’s Danielle Haim on drums, guitarist Matt Sweeny and Tim Montana on maracas — to help show off Fender’s Vintera II Series.

The clip features Gibbons on the Vintera II ’70s telecaster in Vintage White, with Sweeney on the Vintera II ’60s telecaster in Fiesta Red.

Fender’s Ventiera II Series is available at fender.com.

In other Gibbons news, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced a trio of shows in Hawaii this May. The rocker will headline The Blue Note Hawaii in Honolulu May 17-19, with tickets set to go on sale Friday, March 1, at 10 a.m.

Gibbons and ZZ Top have a busy 2024 ahead of them. They are set to play West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 2 and kick off a new leg of the Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd starting March 8 in Savannah, Georgia. A complete list of shows can be found at ZZtop.com.

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John Fogerty wants his fans in Australia to know that he did not cancel a planned appearance at Country Fest Queensland.

The festival is scheduled to happen March 30-31, with the promoter announcing Fogerty’s cancellation on Tuesday, February 27, due to “unforeseen circumstances” and offering refunds to fans who didn’t want to attend due to the lineup change.

But in a post on Instagram, Fogerty says his cancellation was news to him. 

“I was ready to celebrate with you all for my one and only show this year in Australia when the Country Fest Queensland blindsided me yesterday by canceling my appearance,” he shared. “It was posted that I would not be appearing due to unforeseen circumstances. Well, I can tell you, my friends, I was not the reason for the ‘unforeseen circumstances.’”

Fogerty insists, “I was ready to come down there and excited to celebrate getting my songs back with all of you.”

Country Fest Queensland was the only show Fogerty had scheduled for March. He still has a handful of European festival dates scheduled during the month of July. A complete list of shows can be found at johnfogerty.com.

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Paul McCartney is one of the many artists who feel that Foreigner should be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year.

As previously reported, producer Mark Ronson, who is the stepson of Foreigner’s Mick Jones, recently shared a star-studded video featuring Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Guns N’ Roses‘ Slash, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme explaining why they think Foreigner should be inducted this year. Apparently McCartney shares their opinion on the subject.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Ronson debuted a video that McCartney sent to him for use in a for-your-consideration video, with Sir Paul saying, “Foreigner not in the Hall of Fame? What the f***?”

“I’ve never heard Paul McCartney curse,” Ronson noted. “He’s a knight! I don’t want to be the first person to ever post a video of Paul McCartney dropping the f-bomb.” 

But Foreigner apparently doesn’t have a problem with it because they shared the clip on social media with the caption, “A man of many words… @paulmccartney. All of your votes matter!” They also shared a link to the Rock Hall fan vote. They are currently in second place behind Ozzy Osbourne.

Fan voting is open until April 26, with inductees to be announced later that month. The ceremony, happening this fall in Cleveland, will stream live on Disney+, followed by a highlights special airing later on ABC.

McCartney is a two-time member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1988 with The Beatles and again in 1999 as a solo artist.

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