Classic Rock News

Tom Petty was a proud son of Gainesville, Florida, and the city’s university plans to honor the late rocker with Tom Petty Day.

The University of Florida has announced that this year’s UF/Louisiana State University game on October 15 will be the inaugural Tom Petty Day, with plans to continue celebrating it well into the future. The Tom Petty Estate is collaborating with UF on a capsule collection, with proceeds going to two local Gainesville charities: Kids Count and Family Promise. The collection is for sale on Petty’s online merch store.

Since his death in 2017, it’s been a tradition at UF games to sing Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” at the end of the third quarter. 

While Petty didn’t attend UF, he did work on the school’s grounds crew. In fact, there’s a lime tree on campus called the Tom Petty tree, in honor of the fact that he supposedly planted it during his stint on the crew — although in 2011, Petty said he didn’t remember doing so.

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Among the many highlights of the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts last month was Wolfgang Van Halen playing the riffs of his late father, Eddie Van Halen, as he ripped classic Van Halen tunes, including “Hot for Teacher” and “Panama.” However, if you thought that performance might be a catalyst toward getting that much-discussed Van Halen tribute off the ground, you probably shouldn’t hold your breath.

“I think I already did it with the Taylor Hawkins tributes,” Wolf tells Classic Rock magazine. “I feel a lot of closure because my part of the show was a tribute to my father.”

As previously reported, rumors of a Van Halen tribute to Eddie began earlier this year after ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted revealed he was approached by VH drummer Alex Van Halen and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani for a jam session that ultimately “fizzled.” Satriani then confirmed that he’d been speaking with Alex and VH vocalist David Lee Roth about a potential tribute.

Wolf later told Rolling Stone that there was an “attempt” at some kind of tribute, but it ultimately never got off the ground. “We made an attempt, and some people can be hard to work with, and made it not happen.”

Wolf reiterates as much speaking now with Classic Rock.

“When it comes to Van Halen and entities surrounding the band, it’s unfortunate, certainly compared to Foo Fighters who have their s*** together with interpersonal relationships,” Wolf says. “I don’t know what it is with some bands but certain personalities just can’t get over themselves to work collectively for one purpose — that’s been the curse of Van Halen for its entire career.”

He adds, “My playing at the Taylor shows delivered that catharsis without the stresses of dealing with the Van Halen camp, and the players involved.”

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October 13 marks Sammy Hagar‘s 75th birthday, and in honor of the occasion, AXS TV is devoting 24 hours of programming to the Red Rocker.

Starting Wednesday, October 12 at 8 p.m. ET, AXS TV is going all-Hagar, starting with his appearance on Daryl Hall’s music series Live from Daryl’s House. That’ll be followed by 41 episodes of Hagar’s show Rock & Roll Road Trip, in which the singer travels around the country interviewing famous pals like Dave Grohl, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Alice Cooper, John Mellencamp, Metallica’s James Hetfield, Roger Daltrey, Mick Fleetwood and more.

In between episodes, AXS TV will air special content from Sammy’s friends wishing him a happy birthday. Those friends include Sebastian Bach, former Hole drummer Scott Lipps and Dokken and Foreigner bass player Jeff Pilson.

In a statement AXS TV VP of Programming Katie Daryl says, “We are honored to celebrate [Sammy] with this ultimate birthday block, and we hope he enjoys the special shoutouts we have planned. Here’s to 75 more rockin’ years!”

Hagar and his band The Circle just released their new album Crazy Times.

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Alice in Chains‘ Dirt is back in the top 10 on the Billboard 200.

The grunge rockers’ 1992 breakout record re-enters the all-genre album chart this week at #9, moving a total of 26,000 equivalent album units. The resurgence was spurred by AiC’s new Dirt reissue, which dropped September 23 ahead of its 30th anniversary last week.

Upon its original release, Dirt debuted #6 on the Billboard 200. It marked the first new album from one of the “big four” grunge bands — Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice — since Nirvana’s Nevermind hit #1 on the Billboard 200 earlier in 1992, which is now seen as a flashpoint in the grunge explosion of the early ’90s.

Dirt, the sophomore Alice in Chains album, spawned the singles “Rooster,” “Them Bones,” “Down in a Hole,” “Would?” and “Angry Chair.” It’s now certified five-times Platinum by the RIAA.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers are releasing a Los Angeles Rams-themed vinyl version of their upcoming album, Return of the Dream Canteen.

The two-LP set will be printed on the NFL team’s blue and white colors. The record’s shrink wrap will also feature a Rams sticker. You can preorder it now via RedHotChiliPeppers.com.

If you’ve heard, well, any Red Hot Chili Peppers song, then you know that the band hails from California –specifically, the City of Angels. The Peps have been longtime supporters of their local teams and performed at the Rams’ home opener during the 2016 season, which marked the team’s first game back in LA after spending the previous 20 years in St. Louis

Return of the Dream will arrive in all formats, football-themed or not, on October 14. It’s the second RHCP album of 2022, following April’s Unlimited Love.

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Ringo Starr has put his current tour with his All Starr Band on hold because he’s contracted COVID-19.

The Beatles legend was forced to cancel his shows this past Saturday in New Buffalo, Michigan, and Sunday in Prior Lake, Minnesota. Now, he’s canceled another five concerts, all in Canada, that were scheduled from October 4 through October 9.

A statement from his rep notes that Ringo “hopes to resume as soon as possible and is recovering at home.” The statement continues, “As always, he and the All Starrs send peace and love to their fans and hope to see them back out on the road soon.”

After the canceled dates, the next All Starr Band date is October 11 in Seattle, WA. It’s not clear if Ringo will be recovered by then.

Ringo’s most recent release is an EP titled EP3, which came out last month.

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Las Vegas is definitely in Rod Stewart‘s heart and in his soul: He’s just renewed his residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace for a 12th year.

Dates for Rod Stewart: The Hits have been announced for 2023 and go on sale Friday, Oct. 7 at 10 a.m. PT via ticketmaster.com/rodstewartvegas. A fan club presale starts Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT. Citi cardmembers have a presale starting Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT as do members of Caesars Entertainment’s loyalty program and Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers.

The 2023 concerts going on sale are on:

May: 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 15

November: 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 22

Sir Rod will be touring his native U.K. in November and December. In 2023, he has a number of North American tour dates booked in addition to the Vegas shows.

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Lindsey Buckingham has scrapped the remainder of his current European tour for medical reasons.

A statement on his Instagram feed reads, “Due to ongoing health issues, Lindsey Buckingham is regrettably having to cancel the remaining shows on his current European tour. Refunds will be available from the point of purchase. Lindsey sends his deepest apologies to all his fans who were planning to attend and hopes to return to Europe in the future.”

It’s not clear what those health issues are. Buckingham, 73, was originally supposed to do the shows in question earlier this year, but they were postponed after he and some of his touring party got COVID-19.

In 2019, the former Fleetwood Mac guitarist had a heart attack and underwent triple-bypass surgery. That procedure required the insertion of a breathing tube that damaged his vocal cords, but luckily, it was only temporary.

Buckingham’s tour was in support of his 2021 self-titled solo album.

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U2‘s Bono will support his forthcoming memoir with a 14-city world tour that kicks off November in New York City.

Bono’s memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story will be released November 1. The first date of the tour is November 2 at New York’s Beacon Theatre. He’ll then visit Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Nashville, San Francisco and Los Angeles before heading overseas for appearances in the U.K., Ireland, Germany and France, and wrapping things up in Madrid, Spain on November 28.

The tour is described as “an evening of words, music and some mischief,” which means Bono won’t only be talking about his life, he’ll be singing about it too. In a statement, he says, “I miss being on stage and the closeness of U2’s audience. In these shows, I’ve got some stories to sing, and some songs to tell.”

He adds, “Plus, I want to have some fun presenting my ME-moir, Surrender, which is really more of a WE-moir, if I think of all the people who helped me get from there to here.”

Tickets for the book tour go on sale this Friday, October 7 at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster, and each ticket comes with a copy of Bono’s book. There’s a two-ticket limit per person.

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story has 40 chapters, each named after a U2 song. They tell Bono’s story from his days as a child growing up in Dublin, to the loss of his mother when he was 14, to the founding of U2 and their rise to global stardom. It also covers Bono’s activism, working to fight AIDS and extreme poverty. The singer’s also created 40 original drawings for the book.

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Last month, Talking Heads released new Dolby Atmos mixes of all eight of their studio album — Talking Heads: 77, More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, Remain in Light, Speaking in Tongues, Little Creatures, True Stories and Naked.

Overseeing the project was Talking Heads guitarist/keyboardist Jerry Harrison, who tells ABC Audio that all of the band’s other members — frontman David Byrne, drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth — okayed the mixes.

Harrison says his main collaborator on the Dolby Atmos mixes was engineer Eric Thorngren, who also worked on the original Little Creatures and True Stories sessions. Ed Stasium, who engineered Talking Heads’ 1977 debut album, also contributed to the updated mixes.

The Dolby Atmos format offers a three-dimensional audio experience, and Jerry notes that while listening to the mixes with high-tech Apple headphones is great, he prefers listening them on traditional speakers.

“[W]hen you’re in a really good room that has an Atmos system, then that’s really quite fabulous sounding,” he maintains.

Meanwhile, Harrison teamed up with ex-King Crimson singer/guitarist Adrian Belew and other musicians this past Thursday at Los Angeles’ Wiltern theater and Saturday at San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival for their latest in a series of gigs celebrating the music of Talking Heads.

As previously reported, the shows were inspired by a 1980 concert Talking Heads played in Rome during the Remain in Light tour, when the band featured an expanded lineup that included Belew.

Harrison says he and Belew have plans to play more of these shows, but they probably won’t be until next year because of Adrian’s other touring commitments. Belew is taking part in the Celebrating David Bowie tribute trek, which runs from October 6 through November 13.

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