Classic Rock News

Bob Dylan has come out in defense of Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner, who earlier this year was removed from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame board in response to comments he made in a New York Times interview that were deemed racist and sexist.

The rocker gave a shout-out to Wenner during his show Thursday, November 16, at the Beacon Theatre in New York, saying hello to him in the audience and telling the crowd, “Jann Wenner, surely everybody’s heard of him. Anyway, he just got booted out of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and we don’t think that’s right. We’re trying to get him back in.”

Wenner drew backlash while out promoting his recent book, The Masters. He tried to explain why it didn’t include interviews with any Black or female artists, saying there were no women “articulate enough on this intellectual level.” Regarding Black artists, he acknowledged the genius of Stevie Wonder but noted, “I suppose when you use a word as broad as ‘masters,’ the fault is using that word. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn’t articulate at that level.” 

Wenner did eventually apologize, noting the artists featured in the book — Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Jerry Garcia, Bono and Bruce Springsteen — “were not meant to represent the whole of music and its diverse and important originators but to reflect the high points of my career and interviews.”

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Judas Priest is giving fans another preview of their upcoming album, Invincible Shield. The rockers just dropped the track “Trial By Fire,” the second song from the album following “Panic Attack,” which was released in October.

You can listen to “Trial By Fire” now via streaming services and on YouTube.

Invincible Shield, Judas Priest’s first new album since 2018’s Firepower, is due out March 8 and is available for preorder now.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers plan to hit the road in support of the record starting March 11 in Glasgow, Scotland. They’re bringing the tour to the U.S. starting April 18 in Wallingford, Connecticut. A complete list of dates can be found at judaspriest.com.

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Since lots of folks can’t get enough of holiday music, Bon Jovi has given them a new tune to enjoy this season.

The band just released the new Christmas song, “Christmas Isn’t Christmas,” on which frontman Jon Bon Jovi  laments how the holidays are not the same if a loved one isn’t there.

“’Christmas Isn’t Christmas’ is a song that I wrote about family,” the rocker shares. “The sentiment that Christmas really isn’t Christmas without YOU which can bring up a lot of memories for people. I also liked to turn it around and know that because of you Christmas IS Christmas.”

In a post on Instagram, Jon explains that he wrote the song two years ago on a “tough” day when both his father and mother had taken ill. He notes, “I wrote this as a gift to my parents and my children.”

You can listen to “Christmas Isn’t Christmas” now via streaming services and watch the lyric video on YouTube. 

Bon Jovi has plenty of experience getting fans into the holiday spirit. They previously released the original Christmas track “I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas,” as well as covers of “Please Come Home For Christmas” and “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”

Plus, in 2020, Jon released a Christmas EP aptly titled A Jon Bon Jovi Christmas, which featured three songs: “Christmas All Over Again,” “Fairytale of New York” and “If I Get Home on Christmas Day.”

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On This Day, November 17, 2007…

Eagles topped the Billboard album chart with their seventh studio album Long Road Out of Eden, which was their sixth, and so far last, #1.

The record was their first since 1979’s The Long Run, and was also their first since firing Don Felder in 2001. It also turned out to be their last studio album with Glenn Fry, who passed away in 2016.

The album featured such singles as “How Long” and “Busy Being Fabulous,” which were hits on both the Hot Adult Contemporary and Hot Country Songs charts. Other singles include “What Do I Do With My Heart,” “No More Cloudy Days,” and “I Don’t Want to Hear Any More.”

Long Road Out of Eden went on to become the best-selling album of the year and has gone on to be certified seven-times Platinum by the RIAA.

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After earning rave reviews in London, Elton John‘s latest musical, Tammy Faye, will hit Broadway for the 2024-2025 season. 

As the title suggests, the show is inspired by the life of late Tammy Faye Messner, who pioneered televangelism by co-founding the TV show The PTL Club with her then-husband, Jim Bakker. After Bakker was sent to prison for fraud and conspiracy in 1989, Tammy Faye divorced him and married megachurch builder Roe Messner.

Known for her glamorous image and layers of makeup, Tammy Faye, who died in 2007, became a gay icon by preaching compassion for HIV/AIDS patients and support for the LGBTQ community. Jessica Chastain won the Oscar for playing her in the 2021 movie The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

Elton wrote the music for the show, while Jake Shears of the group Scissor Sisters wrote the lyrics. The musical, which premiered last fall in London, was nominated for four Olivier Awards, the U.K. equivalent of the Tony Awards.

Details of the show will be announced later.

Meanwhile, a “substantially reworked” version of Elton’s other musical, The Devil Wears Prada, is opening on London’s West End next year. The original was savaged by critics when it ran last year in Chicago.

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Seems like The Rolling Stones are looking to land a dance hit. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just released a remix of their Hackney Diamonds single “Mess It Up,” courtesy of Grammy-winning producer Purple Disco Machine.

Purple Disco Machine previously worked with such artists as Elton John, Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga and more, and even earned a 2023 Grammy for Best Remixed Recording for his work on Lizzo’s “It’s About Damn Time.”

You can listen to “Mess It Up (Purple Disco Machine Remix)” now via streaming services or on YouTube.

“Mess It Up,” which features The Stones’ late drummer Charlie Watts, is the current single off Hackney Diamonds, The Rolling Stones’ first album of new material in 18 years. The album has gone to #1 in 19 countries, debuting at #3 in the U.S.

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H.E.R. has released a cover of the Foo Fighters song “The Glass.”

As previously reported, the Grammy-winning R&B artist’s version of the But Here We Are track is included on a new single from Dave Grohl and company, alongside the original tune.

“Thank you [H.E.R.] for this stunning take on ‘The Glass,'” the Foos say. “We’re so honored.”

You can listen to the cover now via digital outlets. The joint single will be available on vinyl on December 29.

Foo Fighters and H.E.R. previously performed “The Glass” on Saturday Night Live in October.

In other Foo Fighters news, the band has been booked to headline Poland’s 2024 Open’er Festival, taking place July 3-6.

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The Doobie Brothers are using their music to help those affected by the wildfires that hit the Hawaiian island of Maui this summer.

The band just released the new track “Lahaina,” co-written by Doobie Brothers Pat Simmons and Michael McDonald, both of whom have homes in Maui, along with collaborator John Shanks. It also features fellow Maui resident Mick Fleetwood on drums, as well as Hawaii natives Jake Shimabukuro and Henry Kapono.

You can listen to “Lahaina” on streaming services and watch the video on YouTube.

Proceeds from “Lahaina” will go to the People’s Fund of Maui, which was launched by Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to give financial support to those displaced by the fires. The band is also donating $100,000 of their own money to the fund.

The cause is a particularly personal one for Simmons, who has lived in Maui for almost 30 years and raised his family there. 

“I’ve been a resident of Maui for 28 years now and I wanted to make a tribute to the place I’ve called home for so long and help bring awareness and donations for the recovery and relief efforts there,” Simmons says. “This song is a look back at what Lahaina has meant to all of us. So many people have walked the streets of Lahaina and have felt that aloha spirit and we hope that one day we will walk those streets again.”

And Johnson is thankful for the support, sharing, “As our people of Maui piece their lives and homes back together, we’re grateful to have the genuine support and beautiful music of The Doobie Brothers.” He adds, “‘Lahaina’ is a song that both captures our aloha spirit and will help to make a real difference in the recovery.”

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Peter Frampton is one of the many superstar special guests on Dolly Parton’s first rock album, Rockstar. He appears on two tracks, including Dolly’s take on his classic “Baby, I Love Your Way.”

Frampton tells ABC Audio he was actually the one who reached out to Dolly’s producer about the project, asking if there was anything he could play guitar on. Dolly’s producer was surprised that Frampton would want to just play on any old song and offered another suggestion.

“He said, ‘Wait a sec, would you be interested if Dolly wanted to do one of your songs?’ And I said, ‘Let me think for a minute. Yes,’” Frampton explains. “He said, ‘I’ll call you back in five minutes.’ He called me back in three minutes, and he said, ‘Dolly’s jumping up and down. She wants to do “Baby, I Love Your Way.”‘”

But Frampton was still interested in contributing his guitar to a song that wasn’t necessarily his. Dolly’s producer eventually asked him if he’d be interested in playing the solo on Dolly’s cover of The Beatles’ “Let It Be,” which also features Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Mick Fleetwood. Frampton couldn’t refuse.

“I said, ‘I think I can do that, yes,’” Frampton shares. “So yeah, I’m the only person that played on two tracks.” 

Dolly Parton’s Rockstar, which also features special guests Steven Tyler, Steve Perry, Sting, Stevie Nicks, Richie Sambora, Elton John, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, John Fogerty and more, is out now.

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Sammy Hagar just announced dates for The Best of All Worlds Tour, where he’ll joined by Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Joe Satriani to perform songs from the Van Halen catalog.

Satriani will be taking over the guitar parts made famous by the late Eddie Van Halen — and he realizes that’s no easy task.  

“You can’t fill them. You can put them on, but you can’t fill them,” he tells Forbes about stepping into Eddie’s shoes. “But you’ve got to enjoy it. You have to respect the genius of the architecture of his guitar parts and how he built the songs and you’ve got to get in there and just enjoy what he was building cause he would weave in and out of his original composition every time he played it live and bring new amazing little nuggets to each little section.”

And while Satriani is certainly an accomplished guitar player in his own right, he notes, “It is really frightening because I don’t play like him and I’ve had to learn to anticipate all his quirky accents where he likes to push things and turn things upside down.”  

“Just when you think they’re going to go left, they go right or up or down. So, it’s exciting,” he adds.

The Best of All Worlds Tour, featuring special guest Loverboy, kicks off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Tickets go on sale Friday, November 17, at 10 a.m. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.

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