The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood doesn’t need drugs or alcohol for a tour high

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

While The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood may have been a big partier back in the day, these days, he gets his high in totally different ways.

He tells The Sun that getting to play in front of thousands of fans each night is all the high he needs now.

“The adrenalin high is stronger than any drug or alcohol,” Wood shared. “The natural high is the best one you can have, it exceeds drugs or alcohol.”

The Rolling Stones just kicked off their ’24 Hackney Diamonds tour in Houston on Sunday, April 28, and Wood says it’s important for him to keep a much healthier routine while on the road.

“I like to have my green juices now and I do workouts with my trainer just light workouts and stretches to keep my circulation going, which is what you need when you’re older,” the 76-year-old says.

Wood says being on tour is still “a big party,” but he makes sure to enjoy some “quiet time,” which apparently includes catching up on Netflix. “I’m addicted to Ripley,” he notes, referring to the series based on Patricia Highsmith’s book The Talented Mr. Ripley, which was turned into a movie in 1999.

In the same interview, Wood reveals that Sir Paul McCartney helped the Stones out with the tour, sharing that he came to rehearsals in Los Angeles and “gave us some really nice input.”

“Paul is so great and really supportive. Paul threw me and (my wife) Sally a going away party from L.A. He invited Neil Young as my surprise guest at the dinner,” he says, adding, “It was so lovely.”

The Rolling Stones will play Jazz Fest in New Orleans on May 2. A complete list of tour dates can be found at RollingStones.com.

Squeeze announces summer dates with Boy George

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Squeeze is returning to the U.S. this summer for a new tour, where they’ll be joined by Boy George.

The tour kicks off August 14 in Eugene, Oregon, hitting such cities as Phoenix, Austin, Houston, Boston, Atlantic City and New York, before wrapping September 22 in Orlando, Florida.

A ticket presale will launch Thursday, May 2, at 10 a.m., with tickets going on sale to the general public starting Friday, May 3, at 10 a.m.

Squeeze previously toured the States in summer 2023 with The Psychedelic Furs.

Squeeze has a pretty busy 2024 ahead of them. Their next show is happening May 30 in Horsham, England, and then they’ll open for Heart in the U.K. starting July 1 in London. They’re also set to launch a U.K. leg of their 50th anniversary tour starting October 4 in Sheffield, England.

A complete list of all Squeeze dates can be found at squeezeofficial.com.

Tribeca announces Storytellers Series talk with Michael Stipe

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

New York City’s Tribeca Festival has announced a talk with R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, which will be part of their 2024 Storytellers Series.

Stipe is set to appear at the SVA Theatre on June 12. As for what he’ll be talking about, you’ll have to attend to find out, but he has been working on his debut solo album.

The Tribeca event is set to take place one day before Stipe and his R.E.M. bandmates — Mike Mills, Peter Buck and Bill Berry — will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 13 during a ceremony that will also take place in New York City.

For more info, visit TribecaFilm.com.

Deep Purple releases “Portable Door,” the first single from upcoming album ‘=1’

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Deep Purple has shared the first preview of their upcoming album, =1.

The band just dropped the new single “Portable Door,” along with a video that has them performing the track in front of a backdrop of the album’s artwork.

“The new album will reflect what the five of us create in the rehearsal room. Many of the songs, like ‘Portable Door’, were written in the first sessions and literally came together in five or 10 minutes,” guitarist Simon McBride, who joined the band in 2022, shared in a recent interview. “It all was so easy and natural.”

Ian Gillan added, “Throughout Deep Purple’s history, our best songs have always been those that were written in no time at all. We’ve played what felt good and developed songs as we have always done.”

You can listen to “Portable Doors” now via digital outlets.

=1, Deep Purple’s first album of new material since 2020’s Whoosh!, will be released July 19. It is available for preorder now.

Slash & Wolfgang Van Halen reunite onstage for “Highway to Hell” cover

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Following their acclaimed performance of “I’m Just Ken” during the Oscars, Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen have reunited onstage.

The Mammoth WVH frontman joined the Guns N’ Roses shredder and his solo band, Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators, for a rendition of AC/DC‘s “Highway to Hell” during a show in Paris on Monday, April 29.

Wolf posted a photo from the live collaboration on his Instagram Story. A full fan video of the performance is streaming now on YouTube.

The Paris show marked the final date of Slash and the Conspirators’ European tour, which Mammoth WVH opened. Slash will launch a U.S. tour in July in support of his upcoming solo blues album, Orgy of the Damned, due out May 17.

Joni Mitchell’s ‘The Asylum Albums (1976-1980)’ to be released in June

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Joni Mitchell is once again revisiting her archives for a new collection coming in June.

The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) will feature remastered versions of four albums: 1976’s Hejira, 1977’s Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, 1979’s Mingus and the 1980 double live album Shadows and Light.

Fans are getting the first preview of the set with a remastered version of the Hejira track “Coyote,” which is available now via digital outlets.

The collection will feature cover art of a Mitchell landscape painting and include an essay written by lifelong Mitchell fan, Oscar-winner Meryl Streep.

“It’s not just the artifact – music and lyrics – that Joni gives us. Her artistry leaves us, ourselves, changed,” writes Streep. “She has shifted things around inside us. And that’s how artists change the world.”

The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) will be released June 21 in a variety of formats, including digitally, as a five-CD set and as a limited edition six-LP set with only 5,000 copies available. All formats are available for preorder now.

Joni previously released The Asylum Years (1972-1975) in September 2022, which focused on her first four albums with the label. Then in October 2023, she released Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975), featuring never-before-heard demos, performances, and early and alternative versions of songs from three of her albums: 1972’s For the Roses, 1974’s Court and Spark and 1975’s The Hissing Of Summer Lawns.

Joni’s Archives series is set to continue with the next installment, Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 4, which will focus on unreleased and live Joni recordings. More info on the set is expected later this year.

‘The Who’s Tommy’, David Byrne earn Tony Award nominations

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Nominees for the 2024 Tony Awards were announced on Tuesday, April 30, with The Who’s Tommy and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne both earning nominations.

The Who’s Tommy is nominated in the Best Revival of a Musical category. The 1993 original run won five Tony Awards, including Best Direction for Des McAnuff and Best Original Score for The Who‘s Pete Townshend.

Byrne and Fatboy Slim earned a nomination in the category of Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre for Here Lies Love, about the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines. Also nominated in that category is former Arcade Fire member Will Butler for the Stereophonic.

This isn’t Byrne’s first time being recognized by the Tonys. In 2021, he won an honorary Tony Award for his production American Utopia.

The Tony Awards, hosted by Ariana DeBose, will air live on CBS on Sunday, June 16, at 8 p.m. ET and stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

On This Day, April 30, 1977: Led Zeppelin set new attendance record at the Pontiac Silverdome

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, April 30, 1977…

Led Zeppelin set a new attendance record when 76,229 fans came out to see them perform at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.

According to Guinness Book of Records, it was the largest attendance to that date for a single act show. It surpassed previous record holder The Who, who set a record with an audience of 75,962 people at the same venue.

The night’s set list featured performances of such Zeppelin classics as “The Song Remains the Same,” “The Battle of Evermore,” “Going to California,” “Kashmir,” “Stairway to Heaven” and more.

Sean Ono Lennon, Elvis Costello attend special screening of The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ in New York

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

The restored version of The Beatles 1970 documentary, Let It Be, was shown at a special screening in New York City on Monday, April 29, with stars like Sean Ono Lennon, Elvis Costello and Paul Shaffer in attendance.

The evening included a special Q&A with the film’s original director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and Apple Corps Ltd.’s Jonathan Clyde.

The film, restored from the original 16mm negative by Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production, premieres May 8 on Disney+, marking first time the film has been available in over 50 years. The audience at the screening also got to see the premiere of the new trailer for the film, which is out now.

Originally released in April 1970, Let It Be takes Beatles fans inside the studio as they recorded their album Let It Be and includes footage from their January 1969 Apple Corps rooftop concert. It was released one month after the Beatles officially broke up.

Footage from the film was used in Jackson’s 2021 Emmy-winning docuseries, The Beatles: Get Back, which also aired on Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

This house is not for sale: Jon Bon Jovi has no interest in cashing in on his catalog

April 30, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Back in 2016, Bon Jovi released an album called This House Is Not For Sale, and that’s currently where Jon Bon Jovi stands when it comes to cashing in on his catalog, as so many other artists have done recently.

While artists ranging from Bob Dylan and Justin Bieber to Sting and Bruce Springsteen have made multimillion deals to sell the rights to their music over the past few years, Jon tells Yahoo Entertainment, “I have no desire.”

“Our catalog has done nothing but go up [in value] exponentially. I know matter of factly, it’s really exploded to, like, 15-year highs, and [our new] record is not even out yet,” he continues. “So I have no need to or desire to. Those are my babies.”

Another thing Jon has turned down is the chance to do a residency at the Sphere Las Vegas, where U2 recently completed an acclaimed run of shows. However, Jon notes there “are some benefits” to playing in one place for an extended period of time: “You’re doing 10, 15 nights in one venue and it gets nice. You can leave your shoes there at night. That’s not bad.”

However, he tells Yahoo, “For me personally, the desert isn’t all that appealing — to be out in Vegas for a long period of time. And the Sphere is otherworldly. That’s a serious commitment. So, for me, not at this time.”

The four-part docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, documenting the band’s 40-year history, is now streaming on Hulu and their new single, “Legendary,” is climbing the charts.

He says, “That we can sit here and talk … 40 years later, and we’ve got a hit record out … it’s nothing short of a miracle.”

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