Classic Rock News

Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett has teamed up with Gibson to recreate his signature “Greeny” guitar.

“I am very honored and grateful for this opportunity with Gibson,” Hammett says. “To be able to share some of that mojo which ‘Greeny’ has means a lot to me. It’s exciting to know that anyone can experience some of that ‘Greeny’ magic. I truly think these models are just as inspiring as the original and hope you do too!”

“Greeny” is a 1959 Les Paul Standard and is named after its original owner, late Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green. It also at one time belonged to late Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore.

The Gibson Custom Shop edition of “Greeny” goes for $19,999. If that’s something you can afford — or something you’d like to wistfully dream about affording — visit Gibson.com for more info.

In other Metallica guitar news, frontman James Hetfield‘s personal guitar collection is being detailed in a new book. Titled Messengers: The Guitars of James Hetfield, the 400-page tome features photos of the instruments alongside passages on what each one means to Hetfield. It’s due out October 17.

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Humble Pie founding drummer Jerry Shirley is ready to celebrate the band’s legacy, launching a new incarnation of the late ’60s/early ’70s group.

Shirley’s announced a new tour, Jerry Shirley Presents: Humble Pie Legacy – 50 Years of Smokin’, which will feature a group of artists he’s handpicked to carry on the band’s name: band leader and guitarist Dave “Bucket” Colwell, bassist Ivan Bodley, drummer Bobby Marks and vocalist/guitarist Jim Stapley. 

Shirley shares, “Having spent a long time carefully putting together such a wonderful band of top-class players with the help of Dave ‘Bucket’ Colwell, my musical director and band leader using his recruiting skills, I am thrilled with the outcome and can’t wait to see and hear them light up the live stage later this year.”

And the new incarnation of Humble Pie has the blessing of at least one of its former members, with Peter Frampton sharing, “I wholeheartedly support this venture.”

The nine-date tour is set to kick off September 13 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, wrapping September 24 in Kent, Ohio, with additional dates to be announced. Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday. A complete list of tour dates can be found at humblepieofficial.com.

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Primary Wave Music has acquired the catalog of yet another classic rocker. Billboard reports the company’s purchased the royalty rights of the late Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Bob Burns in what’s being described as a multimillion dollar deal. 

Burns, a founding member of the band who died in a car accident in April 2015 at age 64, is credited on recordings from the group’s first two albums, 1973’s (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) and 1974’s Second Helping. That includes such Lynyrd Skynyrd classics as “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Simple Man.”

“Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first two albums are timeless and are celebrated to this day,” Primary Wave Music’s senior vice president of business & legal affairs, Samantha Rhulen, shares, noting it’s “an incredible honor” to have his catalog. She added they “will ensure that his legacy is recognized by generations to come.” 

Burns’ catalog is just one of many Primary Wave has acquired in recent months. Others include Joey Ramone, The Doors’ Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek and Steve Van Zandt.

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The Alarm is giving fans another taste of their upcoming album, Forwards. The band has released the third single from the record, “Whatever,” along with a video that was inspired by frontman Mike Peters’ second battle with cancer in 2022.

“I was inspired to write this song after hearing John Lennon sing ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’ on the hospital radio,” Peters tells The Big Takeover, which premiered the video. “I thought to myself, ‘Never mind the night … what am I going to do to get through life?’”

He adds, “The song ‘Whatever’ was born soon after and it’s really about the most simple, yet most important things like family, friends and loved ones who help you in the hours of need and an appreciation of life’s fundamental gifts such as being able to breathe, talk and to walk.” 

Forwards will be released June 2 on both CD and vinyl, with two vinyl options available, a classic green and white star white vinyl edition, plus a limited edition metallic green vinyl, available only at independent record stores. The album is available for preorder now.

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The Smashing Pumpkins are set to drain the U.S. on their upcoming The World Is a Vampire tour.

The headlining outing begins July 28 in Las Vegas and will conclude September 9 in Noblesville, Indiana. Stone Temple Pilots, Interpol and Rival Sons will provide support on select dates.

Tickets go on sale Friday, March 31, at 10 a.m. local time, with various presales throughout the week. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit SmashingPumpkins.com.

The Pumpkins previously headlined a World Is a Vampire festival in Mexico and are also bringing it to Australia in April.

“I grew up in a world where I needed to know bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure existed, it meant there was a place for people like me to hang out and belong,” says frontman Billy Corgan. “That’s what The World Is a Vampire is about. Bringing back that sense of community. If you don’t fit in, you belong here.”

“It’s about having a shared experience and respecting others, but ultimately having fun,” Corgan continues. “A true alternative festival, where all the self-proclaimed weirdos and outsiders of the world can get together and have a party.”

In related news, the Pumpkins have released a new song called “Spellbinding,” a track off their upcoming album, Atum. You can listen to “Spellbinding” now via digital outlets.

As previously reported, Atum is described as a “rock opera” divided into three acts. The first two acts are out now, while the third will arrive on May 5, a few weeks after its initially announced April 21 release date.

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COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on Stevie Nicks’ solo tour.

After postponing two shows earlier this month, she’s now postponing two more “due to continued Covid illness within the band.” She has not revealed who in the band is dealing with the virus.

The latest shows affected include Thursday’s scheduled concert in Oklahoma City and Sunday’s show in New Orleans. Both concerts have already been rescheduled, with Oklahoma City moved to April 11 and New Orleans moved to April 15.

Stevie’s next scheduled concert is set for April 5 in Birmingham, Alabama, followed by a co-headlining date with Billy Joel in Arlington, Texas, on April 8. A complete list of dates can be found at stevienicksofficial.com.

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Elvis Costello will be working during his summer vacation. The singer and his band The Imposters, featuring Charlie Sexton, just announced the 23-date We’re All Going On A Summer Holiday tour, named after a line in his song “The Beat” from the 1978 album This Year’s Model.

The tour, featuring Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, kicks off June 7 in Vancouver, British Columbia, hitting such cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Nashville, Boston and New York before wrapping July 14 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday, March 31. A complete list of dates can be found at elviscostello.com.

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Metallica has shared a second clip of the next 72 Seasons song to be released.

Like the first snippet, the latest teaser is just an instrumental, though it offers a longer preview of the tune’s thrash-y guitar riff. The clip’s caption also teases that the song will be the 72 Seasons title track.

You’ll be able to hear the song in full Thursday, March 30.

72 Seasons, the follow-up to 2016’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, drops April 14. It also includes the previously released songs “Lux Æterna,” “Screaming Suicide” and “If Darkness Had a Son.”

Metallica will be supporting 72 Seasons on a massive world tour, which begins in Europe in April before hitting the U.S. in August.

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On This Day, March 28, 1976 …

Phil Collins makes his U.S. live debut as Genesis’ lead singer on the band’s first tour since Peter Gabriel‘s departure.

Gabriel announced his departure from Genesis in August 1975, following the tour in support of their sixth studio album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The first tour without him was in support of The Trick of Tail, with Genesis performing across North America and Europe. 

Interestingly, on March 28, 1996, exactly 20 years after he made his live debut as frontman, Collins announced he too was leaving Genesis to focus on solo work and movie soundtracks.

That break lasted almost nine years, with Genesis launching a reunion tour in 2007.

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