Classic Rock News

When Green Day first announced the details of their 2024 tour, they said the outing will celebrate the 30th and 20th anniversaries of their albums Dookie and American Idiot, respectively. Now, bassist Mike Dirnt has confirmed that the band will be playing both records in full during each show.

“What a f****** moment it’s going to be,” Dirnt tells Rolling Stone. “We’ve never done anything like this before. And there’s a really good chance we’ll never do it again.”

Playing two full albums, as well as material off Green Day’s upcoming Saviors record, certainly seems like a lot, but Dirnt contends that the math checks out. Dookie lasts about 40 minutes, while American Idiot is close to an hour.

“We’ll then have about 35 to 45 minutes to throw down on other stuff,” Dirnt says. “And production-wise, doing these albums lends itself to some amazing possibilities.”

Green Day’s tour will come to the U.S. in July and also includes The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and The Linda Lindas on the bill. Saviors drops Friday, January 19.

In other Green Day news, fans spotted the band filming a segment for NBC’s The Tonight Show with host Jimmy Fallon in the New York City subway. An air date for their appearance has yet to be announced.

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Earlier in January, The Smashing Pumpkins announced an open call for applications to become a guitarist in the band. Turns out, a whole lot of people are interested in the gig.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, January 16, the Pumpkins share that they’ve received over 10,000 submissions.

“Currently, there are 8 people working full-time to review each and every one,” the post reads.

The position will presumably fill the absence of departing guitarist Jeff Schroeder, who’d been with the Pumpkins since 2006 before leaving in 2023. The band currently includes original members Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin.

The Pumpkins’ 2024 touring schedule includes dates in Europe and U.S. stadium shows with Green Day.

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On This Day, January 17, 1996…

David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane and The Velvet Underground were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.

Talking Heads’ David Byrne did the honors of inducting Bowie, while Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman Billy Corgan inducted Pink Floyd. Patti Smith inducted The Velvet Underground, and Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart and Phil Lesh inducted Jefferson Airplane.

The night’s other inductees included Gladys Knight & the Pips, Little Willie John, The Shirelles and Pete Seeger.

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The members of R.E.M. and Steely Dan are among the artists chosen for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year. 

R.E.M.’s Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, and Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker will be inducted into the 2024 class in the performers category.

Non-performing songwriters set for induction this year include Timbaland, best known for his work with Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott and others, Hillary Lindsey, writer of such popular country songs as “Jesus Take the Wheel” and “Girl Crush,” and Dean Pitchford, writer of songs like “Footloose” and “Fame.”

“I’ve said it before, but the music industry does not exist without songwriters delivering great songs first. Without them there is no recorded music, no concert business, no merch . . . nothing, it all starts with the song and the songwriter,” SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said. “We are therefore very proud that we are continually recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2024 slate represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and literally enriched music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.” 

Artists who were nominated, but not chosen this year, include Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and Michael McDonald; Blondie‘s Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke; Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson; Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, founding members of The Guess Who; Bryan Adams, George Clinton, Tracy Chapman, Kenny Loggins, David Gates of Bread and the members of rap group Public Enemy.

The 2024 class will be celebrated at the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala, taking place Thursday, June 13, in New York City.

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Director Martin Scorsese is reflecting on his relationship with the late Robbie Robertson in a new interview with Variety.

“I just miss Robbie, period,” Scorsese tells the trade. “The friendship, the work, the tales he told — all of it.”

The pair had been friends for 47 years and collaborated on 14 projects, including the Scorsese-directed concert documentary The Last Waltz, featuring Robbie’s group The Band. Their final project was Scorsese’s most recent release, Killers of the Flower Moon, which Robertson completed before his death in August 2023.

“It meant a lot to both of us that we did this project together,” he says. “He saw it through to the end, and that was nice.” 

So what was it that brought these two artists together in the first place? Scorsese says he and Robertson bonded over the love of their preferred craft. 

“He lived his music. I lived my movies,” he shares. “And when Robbie and I shared a house in Hollywood, he played me music, I showed him movies and we never stopped sharing our suggestions and thoughts and impressions and passions and pouring it all into the work.” 

He adds, “It wasn’t really a conscious thing. Looking back on it now, I realize that it just happened spontaneously between us. It could have been as simple as each of us looking for inspiration.”

Scorsese already has plans for his next project, which means he’s going to have to find a new person to collaborate with on the music, but he knows it will never be the same.

“I’ll work with people who bring something different,” he says, “but I would never imagine that someone could replace Robbie.”

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The Zombies continue to expand their North American Different Game tour.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just added two new shows to their schedule: April 11 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and April 12 in Clearwater, Florida.

The latest additions follow recently announced shows in Annapolis, Maryland, on March 26, and Alexandria, Virginia, on March 27. They will also set sail on the On The Blue Cruise from April 5 to April 10, departing from Miami. 

A fan club presale starts Wednesday, January 17, at 10 a.m. ET, with the public onsale kicking off Friday, January 19, at 10 a.m. ET. A complete list of dates can be found at thezombies.com.

The Zombies previously toured the U.S. in 2023. Unfortunately, in October they were forced to cut their Different Game tour short after founding member Rod Argent was hospitalized after suffering migraines, fatigue and exhaustion.

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Ace Frehley is about to release his new solo album, 10,000 Volts, on February 23, but his fans overseas may have to wait a bit before they get to see him play any of the songs live.

In an interview with chaoszine, the former KISS guitarist reveals that he hopes to tour Europe this summer, although he has some problems to fix first. 

“Well, there’s a good chance I can make it to Europe in late summer if I get my passport renewed,” he said. “I’ve been having issues with renewing my passport because I have some problems with the IRS, and it’s not really the passport bureau but the IRS.” 

Frehley says he owes the IRS more than $50,000 and until he pays he won’t be able to renew his passport. He has attorneys working on the issue, but if they can’t fix things he’s hoping to head overseas next summer. He adds, “But I’d love it to be this summer because it’s been too long since I did all the festivals there.”

But while European fans will have to wait, folks in the U.S. will have several chances to see Frehley live. He’ll be hitting the road starting January 25 in Frankfort, Kentucky. A complete list of dates can be found at acefrehley.com. 

Meanwhile, Ace continues to take shots at his former band KISS. In the interview he notes that while he still has a decent relationship with Gene Simmons, the same can’t be said for Paul Stanley, noting he doesn’t think much about Stanley’s abilities.

“You know, I can play rings around Paul Stanley on guitar,” he shared. “I can even sing better than him and don’t have to use backing tracks.”

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James Taylor is spending yet another July 4 holiday in the Berkshire area of Massachusetts.

Taylor and his All-Star Band just announced they’ll play the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts, on July 3 and 4; the Fourth of July show will end with a fireworks display for the holiday.

This certainly isn’t the first time Taylor has played Tanglewood. He’s taken the stage several times over the years, many during the July 4 holiday, and this will be his 51st performance at the venue. It will also mark 50 years since Taylor’s very first Tanglewood performance on July 30, 1974.

Proceeds from the July 4 show will be donated to support Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937.

Taylor will be holding an artist presale that kicks off Wednesday, January 17, at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the public onsale on Friday, January 26, at 3 p.m. ET.

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Another Guns N’ Roses tune has reached a billion streams on Spotify. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s top five hit “Paradise City” is the band’s latest track to join Spotify’s Billions Club, one of three GNR tunes to reach the milestone.

All three of the band’s Billions Club entries come from their 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was the first to join the club in June; “Welcome to the Jungle” joined in August.

Released in January 1989, “Paradise City” peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band’s third top 10 hit from Appetite for Destruction, following “Sweet Child O’ Mine” — the band’s only #1 — and “Welcome to the Jungle,” which went to #7.

And it looks like GNR is close to having one more Billions entry. Their Use Your Illusion I track “November Rain,” currently has over 875 million streams. 

Another new addition to the Billions Club is blink-182’s “All The Small Things” from their third album, Enema of the State, which was released in 1999. The tune, a top 10 hit for the rockers, is their first song to reach the prestigious milestone.

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