Classic Rock News

Queen is revisiting their 1979 album, Live Killers.

The band is set to reissue the live album on two-LP black vinyl on Jan. 30, marking the first time it’s been available on vinyl in years.

The double live album was originally released in June 1979 and featured songs recorded during the European leg of their Jazz Tour, which ran from January 1979 to March 1979.

The album includes performances of “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen,” “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “You’re My Best Friend.”

Live Killers is available for preorder now.

But Live Killers isn’t the only Queen album getting a vinyl rerelease. The band also recently announced they will be releasing their box set The Platinum Collection on black vinyl for the first time. The six-LP set features all three of the band’s Greatest Hits albums in one collection.

It will also be released Jan. 30 and is available for preorder now.

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The members of R.E.M. — Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Bill Berry and Peter Buck — along with Bonnie Raitt, Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran‘s Simon LeBon and others, have signed their names to a new campaign targeting artificial intelligence.

The Stealing Isn’t Innovation campaign, backed by the Human Artistry Campaign, blasts big-tech companies that use copyrighted works for AI without authorization.

“Artists, writers, and creators of all kinds are banding together with a simple message: Stealing our work is not innovation. It’s not progress. It’s theft – plain and simple,” reads the statement on the campaign’s website. “A better way exists – through licensing deals and partnerships, some AI companies have taken the responsible, ethical route to obtaining the content and materials they wish to use.”

It adds, “It is possible to have it all. We can have advanced, rapidly developing AI and ensure creators’ rights are respected.”

Other musicians supporting the Stealing Isn’t Innovation campaign include Chaka Khan,  Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan, OK Go, MGMT, CAKE, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, and The Zombies.

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Joe Walsh has revealed that the 2025 edition of his annual VetsAid benefit concert, which took place in his hometown of Wichita, Kansas, resulted in $600,000 in grants being disbursed to national and community veterans organizations.

“I always say each year that VetsAid is the greatest night of my life but Wichita in ‘25 was above and beyond… because it’s where I was born, where my parents are resting in peace and where my entire family hails from,” the Eagles guitarist wrote on Instagram. “It was a celebration of the America we strive to be and a celebration of the veterans and their families who bring us ever closer to that American dream.”

According to the post, all the money distributed will be “spent on the ground in Kansas.”

“Thanks to our team, crew and wonderful supporting artists – you’re part of my family now whether you like it or not!” he added.

The post included video from the 2025 show and events surrounding it, with Walsh adding, “stay tuned as we get to work on VetsAid ‘26. It’s gonna be a big one!”

The 2025 edition of VetsAid featured performances by Vince Gill; Ryan Bingham and The Texas Gentlemen; and a “super-set” from Walsh, joined by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks of Tedeschi Trucks Band, Nathaniel Rateliff and others.

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Bret Michaels has made his first comments since his Poison bandmate Rikki Rockett revealed in a New York Post interview that a 40th anniversary Poison tour was derailed when Michaels asked for too much money.

Rockett said the band, which also includes C.C. DeVille and Bobby Dall, got a “great offer” for a tour, but Michaels wanted six-times what everyone else was getting, which nixed the deal.

Michaels touched on the subject in a post on Facebook, although first he congratulated Green Day and Bad Bunny for their upcoming Super Bowl appearances, writing, “I cannot wait to watch it and I cannot wait to announce a Bucket List NFL dream come true (stay tuned…).”

He then addressed Rockett, who on Wednesday was inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame, telling him to have fun at the ceremony. He offered, “As always, I consider Poison to be Bobby, C.C., Rikki and myself. I also make no bones about loving the BMB (Bret Michaels Band) and will always have both in my life.”

He added, “Bottom line – I love music, I love the fans and I’m always forever grateful. Onward & upward and let’s all focus on the positive in 2026, and the potential of a future reunion.”

As for how he feels about a possible reunion, Rockett told People, “I’d love for that to happen.”

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Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has helped raise money for a cancer charity in his hometown of Birmingham, England.

The BBC reports that a guitar he donated to Birmingham-based Heartlands Hospital Charity helped raise over $60,000 toward the organization’s campaign to open a new hematology and oncology center at the hospital. The winner of the guitar resides in the U.S.

Charlotte Schofield, director of fundraising for Heartlands Hospital Charity, thanked the rocker for his “generosity and support.”

“Thanks to this incredible donation we are well on our way to our fundraising goal of £150,000 (about $170,000) and creating a beautiful space for patients to be comfortable while they receive their treatment,” she said.

Iommi, 77, is a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012. In August 2016 he announced he was cancer-free.

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The Eagles are celebrating a new musical milestone.

The band revealed on Instagram that their compilation album Their Greatest Hits 1971-75 has just been awarded a quadruple Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 40 million units.

The album is the first-ever record to land such a feat, securing its standing as the bestselling album of all time in the United States.

Their Greatest Hits 1971-75, featuring such classic Eagles tunes as “Take It Easy,” “Desperado” and “Take it To the Limit,” was released Feb. 17, 1976. In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Eagles are set to reissue the album on crystal clear 180-gram vinyl on Feb. 13. It will be available exclusively at Eagles.com and is available for preorder now.

But that’s not the Eagles’ only news. Their iconic album Hotel California, which is also turning 50 this year, has just been re-certified 28-times Platinum by the RIAA, making it the third bestselling album of all time.

Eagles are set to return to the Sphere Las Vegas for their residency on Friday. They have dates confirmed at the venue until March 28. They will also headline New Orleans Jazz Fest on May 2. A complete list of dates can be found at Eagles.com.

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On This Day, Jan. 22, 1977 …

Paul McCartney and Wings hit #1 in the U.S. with the triple live album Wings Over America.

The album was recorded during the U.S. leg of the Wings Over the World Tour, which ran from 1975 to 1976.

The album included live performances of Wings tracks like “Band on the Run,” “Live and Let Die,” “Let ‘em In” and “Silly Love Songs,” as well as five Beatles songs, “Yesterday,” “Lady Madonna,” “I’ve just Seen a Face,” “Blackbird” and “The Long and Winding Road.”

The album was one of four number ones for McCartney and his post-Beatles band Wings. The others were 1973’s Band on the Run and Red Rose Speedway, and 1976’s At the Speed of Sound.

McCartney’s post-Beatles career, including his time with Wings, is the subject of the new documentary Man on the Run, which will debut Feb. 27 on Prime Video.

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Def Leppard is back with new music.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band has just debuted the new single “Rejoice.” It’s their first new track since releasing the single “Just Like 73,” featuring Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, in 2024.

“This song’s been an amazing journey from concept to conclusion,” says frontman Joe Elliott. “I said to Phil [Collen] one day, ‘I’ve got this idea for a lyric where the narrator is at absolute rock bottom and wants to rise up to a higher level. Do you have a musical piece that might match with that?’ And he said, ‘As it happens, yes I do.’”

“I had this riff, this idea for a song a while ago actually, so when Joe came to me I created this drum loop based with a tribal sound and it fit perfectly with this other arrangement I had,” Collen says. “I sent it to Joe and it was like magic – he sang straight over the top of it. And that’s how the song was formed.”

“We love it. It’s hard rock for us,” Collen adds. “It’s got a bit more of an ‘oomph’ than stuff we’ve been doing for a while. It’s kind of magical.”

Def Leppard fans can expect to hear them play “Rejoice” live for the first time when they launch Def Leppard: Live at Caesars Palace The Las Vegas Residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Feb. 3. The residency runs through Feb. 28.

A complete list of Def Leppard dates can be found at DefLeppard.com.

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Phil Collins has given fans an update about his health in a new interview for the BBC.

Collins has been dealing with nerve damage from a spinal injury in 2007. His condition was so bad he had to perform shows seated during Genesis’ 2022 The Last Domino farewell tour, and he’s said it has left him unable to play drums. 

In recent years, Collin has been dealing with even more health problems. During the interview with Zoe Ball, Collins described his health issues as “an ongoing thing,” noting, “You know, I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do.”

“I’ve had challenges with my knee, I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me,” he continued. “I got COVID in hospital – my kidneys started to back up, you know, everything that started that could, all seemed to converge at the same time.”

When it comes to his knee, he said he’s had five surgeries before getting one “that works,” revealing “I can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever.”

As for his kidney issues, he said, “I’d probably been drinking too much,” although he said he was 
“never drunk, although I fell over a couple of times.” He added, “It is just one of those things that happened and it all caught up with me and I spent months in hospital.”

Collins’ interview will debut as part of the fifth and final installment of the Eras: Phil Collins podcast, which debuts Jan. 26. Parts one to four are available now. The interview will also be broadcast on TV on BBC Two and iPlayer as a special, Phil Collins Eras: In Conversation, debuting Jan. 31.

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Actor Michael Shannon and his musical partner Jason Narducy have added some fall U.S. dates to their tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s fourth studio album, Lifes Rich Pageant.

The duo has added three news shows to their schedule: Sept. 24 in Maquoketa, Iowa; Sept. 25 in Chicago; and Sept. 26 in Detroit.

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday.

The first leg of the tour is set to kick off Feb. 11 in Denver and wrap March 16 in Bloomington, Indiana. The duo plan to play the album in full, along with select R.E.M. classics. They will also bring the trek to the U.K. starting Sept. 1.

Shannon and Narducy have been celebrating the music of R.E.M. for years now. They previously toured in celebration of the 40th anniversaries of R.E.M.’s Murmur and Fables of the Reconstruction.

Their 2025 Fables of the Reconstruction tour included an onstage reunion of all four members of R.E.M. — Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Peter Buck and Bill Berry — during their stop in Athens, Georgia, birthplace of the band. Their upcoming tour hits Athens on Feb. 26 and 27.

Released in July 1986, Lifes Rich Pageant peaked at #21 on the Billboard album chart. It featured such songs as “Fall on Me,” “Begin the Begin” and a cover of “Superman,” which was sung by Mills.

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