Classic Rock News

Ed Sheeran‘s Divide tour was the highest-grossing tour of all time — until now. Billboard reports that Ed’s pal Elton John has just taken over the world record.

Billboard reports that Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road has taken in $817.9 million across 278 shows — and the tour isn’t done yet. Billboard says it’s the first tour in its archives to earn more than $800 million. By comparison, Ed’s tour took in $776.4 million.

According to Billboard, it was Elton’s run of shows from January 8 through January 24 in Australia and New Zealand that allowed him to cross the finish line to the record-breaking milestone. Billboard notes that by the time the entire tour wraps up this summer in Europe, he’ll likely cross the $900 million mark.

Right now, Elton’s career total when it comes to concerts stands at $1.863 billion grossed and 19.9 million tickets sold. That’s the highest for any solo artist in Billboard Boxscore history.

The one record Elton doesn’t currently hold is most tickets sold for one tour. That record is still held by Ed’s Divide tour, with 8.9 million tickets, followed by tours by The Rolling Stones, Coldplay and Guns N’ Roses. Elton’s tour has sold 5.3 million tickets so far. While he probably won’t catch up to Ed by the time the tour is done, Elton might end up passing Coldplay and Guns N’ Roses.

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Bon Jovi has reached a new milestone on YouTube. The video for the band’s classic track “Livin’ On A Prayer” has surpassed 1 billion views.

“Livin’ On A Prayer” was released in October 1986 and was the second hit single from their third album, Slippery When Wet.

The video, directed by Wayne Isham, was shot September 17, 1986, at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. It features the band rehearsing and performing; at one point, frontman Jon Bon Jovi flies over the crowd with the help of a harness.

“Livin’ On A Prayer” is one of many videos that predate the existence of YouTube to have landed 1 billion views. Others include Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain,” which reached 1 billion in July 2018, and their track “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” which reached the milestone in October 2019. In addition, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” reached 1 billion views in July 2019.

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Bonnie Raitt has announced some new tour dates for 2023, including her first Canadian shows since 2017. 

The new leg of the Just Like That… tour, featuring special guest Royal Wood on select dates, kicks off September 2 in Victoria, British Columbia. Bonnie will play 11 shows in Canada, including dates in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto. 

The tour also includes some U.S. shows, with the tour wrapping October 11 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Presale tickets go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time, with the public sale set for February 3. A complete list of tour dates can be found at BonnieRaitt.com. 

Meanwhile, Raitt has a chance to add to her already huge Grammy hall this weekend. The singer, who has already won 10 Grammys, is up for four awards, including Song of the Year for her tune “Just Like That.” The 2023 Grammy Awards air Sunday on CBS live from Los Angeles.

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On this day, January 30, 1969 …

The Beatles gave their final public performance on Apple Records’ rooftop in London. In 42 minutes, the band, which was joined by guest keyboardist Billy Preston, did nine takes of five songs — “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “I’ve Got A Feeling,” “One After 909” and “Dig A Pony” — before the police pulled the plug.

The concert happened while the band was recording what would become their album Let It Be. It was released May 8, 1970, almost a month after the band’s breakup. 

Footage from the concert was used in the 1970 documentary Let It Be. In 2021, the entire performance was shown in the Disney+ documentary The Beatles: Get Back, directed by Peter Jackson.

The nearly eight-hour docuseries, which was co-produced by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon and George Harrison’s widows, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, used footage from the original 1970 documentary. The series went on to win five Emmys, including Best Limited Documentary Series.

In January 2022 the full rooftop concert was released to streaming services as a standalone album, Get Back- The Rooftop Performance.

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Producer Rick Rubin thinks Paul McCartney doesn’t get enough credit when it comes to his bass playing. In fact, in a new interview he claims Sir Paul is the best bass player out there.

“I thought about how everything I’ve seen, Beatles-related, is either about the songwriting or Beatlemania,” Rubin said in an interview with MOJO, according to NME. “Paul McCartney the bass player, or Paul McCartney the musician, because he plays everything – that’s a little story told.” He adds, “You just think of him as Beatle Paul, yet in my opinion, he is the best of all bass players, he’s number one.”

Rubin, who worked with McCartney on the 2021 Hulu mini series McCartney 3, 2, 1, adds that he also admires McCartney’s simple songwriting style. 

“What blew my mind was when he sat at the piano and he started showing me how to write a song. He was saying, ‘See, you could [do] it like this,'” Rubin says, “and what he was showing me was the simplest thing, but then he starts moving his fingers around slightly, and all of a sudden it evolves into ‘Hey Jude’ or ‘Let It Be.’”

He notes, “He’s using this technique that any child could do, then it morphs into one of the greatest songs of all time!”

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Taylor Hawkins‘ teenage son, Shane, was among the winners at the Drumeo Awards, handed out by the drum introduction platform Drumeo.

The younger Hawkins earned the Drum Performance of the Year prize for his memorable rendition of “My Hero” alongside Foo Fighters during the band’s tribute concerts to Taylor, who died in March 2022.

Video of Shane’s performance during the London show has over 18 million views on YouTube.

Other Drumeo winners include Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith for Drummer of the Year, Slipknot‘s Jay Weinberg for Drum Recording of the Year, Tool‘s Danny Carey for Progressive Drummer of the Year, Blink-182‘s Travis Barker for Rock Drummer of the Year and Phil Collins for the Buddy Rich Award.

For the full list of winners, visit Drumeo.com.

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Dolly Parton continues to share bits of information on her upcoming rock album, which is due out in the late spring/early fall. She tells USA Today it will feature 28 tracks, with a mix of covers and originals. She’s also revealed a bit more on who will be joining her on what songs. 

Among the originals on the album will be a song called “What Has Rock ‘n Roll Ever Done For Me” with Stevie Nicks, which Dolly describes as “a cute little song.” There’s also an unnamed original with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

She’s also rerecorded the Dolly classic “My Blue Tears” with Duran Duran’s Simon LeBon. 

“I was so excited because I could just hear his voice on it. He has that beautiful high voice and it’s an Irish-sounding love song with bagpipes,” she says. “It’s a love song about when a fella goes off to war and leaves his sweetheart behind and she cries her lonely blue tears and he’s on the other side crying his lonely blue tears. It’s a big range that Simon will be great at.” 

In addition to the already announced “Let It Be” cover with Paul McCartney, Dolly will be covering the Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Long As I Can See the Light” with John Fogerty and Journey’s “Open Arms” with Steve Perry. She’s still hoping to get Annie Lennox and Cher on a cover of the Eurythmics‘ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” 

Dolly’s also trying to get Mick Jagger to join her, joking that if it doesn’t happen, “I’ll kick his bony a** when I see him!”

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Paul McCartney has shared some never-before-heard music by the late guitarist Jeff Beck, who died earlier this month. The music was part of a pro-vegetarian campaign the pair worked on back in 1994. 

“With the sad passing of Jeff Beck – a good friend of mine, and a great, great guitar player – it reminded me of the time we worked together many years ago on a campaign for vegetarianism,” McCartney shares. “It’s great guitar playing, cause it’s Jeff!”

Beck’s message was previously used in a 13-part radio series called Oobu Joobu, which gave fans a glimpse of Paul’s world, including his vegetarianism campaigns. In the clip, Beck can be heard questioning why the rainforest is being cut down for cattle grazing, warning that since tropical plants are used for medicines and pharmaceutical needs, we could be risking missing out on a “possible discovery of a miracle cure just for a dollar fifth hamburger.”

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In 2019, The Who returned to London’s Wembley Stadium for the first time in 40 years, and now fans who weren’t there can experience the concert. The band is set to release The Who with Orchestra Live At Wembley on March 31, recorded during their July 6, 2019, headlining show at the famed London venue.

The concert has them performing classic tunes from albums like Quadrophenia, Tommy, Who’s Next and Who Are You, backed by a 50-piece orchestra. And to give fans a taste of what to expect, they’ve just released the live recording of their classic “Baba O’Riley.” 

“Just because it is The Who with an orchestra, in no way does it compromise the way Pete and I deliver our music,” Roger Daltrey shares. “It is full throttle Who with horns and bells on.” Pete Townshend adds, “Roger christened this tour Moving On! I love it. It is what both of us want to do. Move on, with new music, classic Who music, all performed in new and exciting ways. Taking risks, nothing to lose.”

The album will be released in a variety of formats, including a limited edition yellow, orange and red three-LP set, triple black vinyl and a two-CD/Blu-ray set with the audio remixed in Dolby Atmos. The album is available for preorder now.

And that’s not all. The Who also announced dates for their United Kingdom summer tour, featuring special guest UB40 featuring Ali Campbell at all shows except those in London and Edinburgh, Scotland. The trek, which includes their first dates in Edinburgh in more than 40 years, kicks off July 6 in Hull, England, and wraps July 23 in Brighton, England. A complete list of dates can be found at TheWho.com.

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