Classic Rock News

Neil Young & Crazy Horse are hitting the road this spring, and they are releasing a new album, too.

Young and his longtime backing band just announced dates for the Love Earth Tour, and each ticket purchased will come with a physical CD of Young’s new album, FU##IN’ UP. 

The 15-city tour is set to kick off with two nights in San Diego, April 24 and 25, and will hit Arizona, Texas, New York, Georgia, Connecticut and more before wrapping May 23 in Chicago.

A Neil Young Archives ticket presale begins Tuesday, February 13, at 1 p.m. ET, followed by the general onsale on Friday, February 16, at 10 a.m. ET.

As for the album, few details about FU##IN’ UP have been revealed, although it is known to contain recordings of nine songs from Neil & Crazy Horse’s 50-year career. It will be released on limited-edition colored vinyl for Record Store Day, April 20, with a wider release in all formats set for April 26.

In addition to the Love Earth Tour, Young is set to headline the 2024 Bourbon & Beyond festival, taking place September 19-22 in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are reuniting for another tour this year.

The 30-date Can’t Let Go tour will kick off June 2 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a centennial celebration for the historic venue Cain’s Ballroom. The tour will see the pair playing amphitheaters, pavilions, opera houses and other historic venues, with the trek including multiple nights in Vienna, Virginia; Missoula, Montana; and Seattle, Washington. It is set to wrap September 1 in Vail, Colorado. 

JD McPherson, who plays lead guitar for Plant and Krauss, will open all dates.

A presale for tickets begins Wednesday, February 14, at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on sale to the general public on Friday, February 16. A complete list of dates can be found at plantkrauss.com. 

Plant and Krauss released their first collaborative album, Raising Sand, in 2007 and toured together in support of the release. The album went on to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, as well as Record of the Year for “Please Read The Letter.”

In 2021 they released their follow-up, Raise The Roof, and hit the road in support of the album in 2022 and 2023.

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After revealing the details of their new album, Dark Matter, Pearl Jam has now announced a full North American tour.

The first leg runs from May 4 in Vancouver to May 30 in Seattle, and the second spans from August 22 in Missoula, Montana, to September 17 in Boston. Along the way, PJ will play shows in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Tickets will first be available to paid members of Pearl Jam’s Ten Club active as of Monday, February 12. They will be available to the general public exclusively through Ticketmaster’s request program. Registration for a chance at the North American shows is open now through Sunday, February 18, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit PearlJam.com.

Dark Matter, the 12th Pearl Jam album and the follow-up to 2020’s Gigaton, is due out April 19. The title track is out now.

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Dave Grohl spent Super Bowl Sunday being a super help in the community.

During game day, the Foo Fighters frontman volunteered with the California organization Hope the Mission to cook barbecue for people experiencing homelessness.

Hope the Mission has shared multiple Instagram posts thanking Grohl and his Backbeat catering company for  their 24-hour cooking effort.

“There goes our hero!” one post’s caption reads. “#Davegrohl did it again, pulled a 24+ hour shift with the Backbeat Barbecue team to provide meals for our participants BUT this time he set a personal record of cooking 100 pork butts which equates to 1,800 meals.”

“We’re blown away by Dave and the Backbeat Barbecue Teams dedication to helping those in need,” the post continues. “We hope you are as inspired as us!”

Grohl previously collaborated with Hope the Mission to help feed people during the 2023 Southern California winter storm. He also brought his barbecue skills across the planet when he cooked for Australians in need in during Foo Fighters’ tour Down Under in December.

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Peter Frampton is one of the artists who was been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year — his first nomination, even though he’s been eligible since 1997. And while many feel it’s been a long time coming, he tells Vulture the recognition was quite a surprise.

“Throughout my life, I never really expected anything,” he says. “I know a lot of other people have expected this on my behalf, and I appreciate them, but if it wasn’t going to happen, it wasn’t going to happen.” 

Frampton says he never expected a nomination “because I’m a realist,” explaining, “I’ve had a storied career. I’ve been up and down and up and down more times than a yo-yo. The Rock Hall has never been something where I’ve said to myself, I deserve this. I expect this. I’m not that kind of a person.”

He adds, “I have nothing to complain about. If you don’t expect it, it’s all the nicer when it happens.”

Frampton says in the past he has criticized the Rock Hall for who has been nominated and suggests Jann Wenner‘s ouster from the board should improve things. “It’s for the better. Things will be more realistic,” he says.

And Frampton feels his nomination may not have happened had Sheryl Crow not invited him to perform with her at the 2023 ceremony.

“I’ll continue to thank her for stirring the pot. She was saying, Look, this guy isn’t in, what do you think about that?” he says. “That was her goal, I think.”

The Hall of Fame fan vote is open until April 26; fans can vote for up to seven artists daily. Inductees will be announced in April, and the 2024 induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland in the fall.

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Billy Joel‘s new single, “Turn the Lights Back On,” has returned him to the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time since 1997. One of the people who may be most surprised at this turn of events is, well, Billy Joel.

Freddy Wexler, who spearheaded the new single and Billy’s return to music, tells ABC Audio, “Part of what we all love about Billy is his humility. So yes, I think he’s surprised that — which boggles my mind — that people are still so interested in another song from him.”

Of course, the first new Billy Joel single in 17 years may lead fans to hope that more music’s coming.

“We have talked about it. We overcame the biggest hurdle, which was Billy feeling done,” Wexler says. “Now that that door has been opened, I think anything could happen.”

“[Billy’s] not looking to chase hits and neither am I. If it can stay fun, then the possibilities are endless.”

In fact, Wexler says he and Billy are currently working on creating new songs from Billy’s unfinished music, noting, “I’m excited to see what happens.”

Although Billy wrote 99% of his catalog alone, “Turn the Lights Back On” was co-written by Billy, Wexler, Arthur Bacon and Wayne Hector, with the concept of the song and lyrics coming from Wexler.

“I wanted to write the words I wished my dad would have said to my mom at a certain moment in their relationship,” he tells ABC Audio. “But as I started writing … I fully tried to channel Billy Joel.”

“And that’s why when he heard the idea, he said to me, ‘I would have written these words,'” Wexler adds. “And I said, ‘Oh, cool, because as I was writing it I was trying to think, ‘What would you have said there?'” 

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Pearl Jam has announced a new album called Dark Matter.

The 12th studio effort from the grunge rockers — and their first since 2020’s Gigaton — arrives April 19. It was produced by Andrew Watt, who also worked on Eddie Vedder‘s latest solo album, 2022’s Earthling.

“Writing and recording in a burst of inspiration, Dark Matter was born in just three weeks,” reads a post on PJ’s website. “As a result, Dark Matter channels the shared spirit of a group of lifelong creative confidants and brothers in one room playing as if their very lives depended on it.”

You can listen to the Dark Matter title track now via digital outlets.

A special vinyl edition of Dark Matter will be available on Record Store Day, taking place April 20.

Pearl Jam is also returning to the road in 2024. They currently have just one U.S. date on their schedule: a headlining set at the BottleRock Napa Valley festival.

Here’s the Dark Matter track list:

“Scared of Fear”
“React, Respond”
“Wreckage”
“Dark Matter”
“Won’t Tell”
“Upper Hand”
“Waiting for Stevie”
“Running”
“Something Special”
“Got to Give”
“Setting Sun”

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Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is thanking fans for their support of his single “10,000 Volts,” the title track from his upcoming album.

The video for the song just reached 1 million views on YouTube. Frehley celebrated the milestone on Instagram with the message, “Thank you to all the fans who’ve been with me for 50 years and to the new faces joining the party!”

Meanwhile, Ace is giving folks a sneak peek at the video for his next 10,000 Volts track, “Cherry Medicine.” He’s shared behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the clip, in which he seems obsessed about getting the right amount of balloons in the video.

Frehley’s 10,000 Volts, his first solo release since 2020’s Origins Vol. 2, comes out February 23. He has several performances on the calendar for 2024, including an appearance on the Monsters of Rock Cruise, which runs from May 2-6 out of Miami, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at acefrehley.com.

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Never underestimate the exposure an artist gets by being featured on Music’s Biggest Night. Thanks to his appearance on the Grammy Awards, Billy Joel is back on the Billboard Hot 100 as an artist for the first time in more than 25 years, thanks to “Turn the Lights Back On,” which debuts at #62. 

Billy performed “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new single in 17 years, during the Grammy telecast, before closing the show with his classic “You May Be Right.”

Billboard notes that Billy makes his return just one week shy of the 50th anniversary of his first appearance on the chart: On February 23, 1974, “Piano Man” debuted at #94; it would eventually peak at #25. His last appearance on the Hot 100 was with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love,” which charted in October 1997.

But while Billy’s been absent from the Hot 100 as an artist since 1997, he’s appeared as a writer several times since then. The Glee cast’s versions of “Only the Good Die Young” and “Uptown Girl” charted in 2010 and 2011, respectively, and last year, Fall Out Boy had a hit with their update of “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

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Ringo Starr is giving fans of The Beatles a chance to own prints of classic photos he took of his bandmates over the years.

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of The Beatles coming to America, Ringo has teamed with Genesis Publications to unveil 12 new prints, dubbed The Photograph Portfolio, which include black and white photos of John Lennon and Paul McCartney recording at Abbey Road Studios, the first photo of Ringo on drums at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, one of George Harrison smiling on a yacht in Cannes and more.

Each museum-quality print is reproduced from the original negative, and there are only 25 numbered copies available, each one signed by Ringo.

Prints are on sale now at ringostarrprints.com, with proceeds going to Ringo’s charity, The Lotus Foundation, which funds, supports and promotes charitable projects aimed at advancing social welfare in a variety of areas, including homelessness, cancer and substance abuse.

It looks like fans can look forward to a lot from Ringo in the coming year. He recently announced on Instagram that he’s working on a country album, noting it was originally going to be an EP but has now expanded to 10 or 12 tracks. He’s also set for more shows with his All-Starr Band, starting May 22 in Las Vegas. A complete list of dates can be found at ringostarr.com.

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