Classic Rock News

(Note Language) When it comes to guitar players, Scott Ian thinks Metallica’s Kirk Hammett doesn’t get the credit he deserves. During an interview with Revolver, the Anthrax guitarist shares that while he considers Metallica frontman James Hetfield the best rhythm guitarist, Hammett is the most underrated.

“For me, in the world of metal, I think the most underrated rhythm player is Kirk Hammett,” he said. “He’s in a band with James Hetfield, who, when it comes to metal, is the best. There’s no better right hand [than Hetfield’s] … He’s the f****** god.”

Ian explains that because Hammett is the band’s lead guitarist, folks don’t recognize his strengths as a rhythm player. “He’s gotta go f****** note for note with James,” Ian says. “And he can’t cheat. There’s no f****** cheating, he’s down-picking all those f****** parts. Nobody talks about that,” adding, “So Kirk, to me, is the most underrated.”

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New Order‘s Bernard Sumner and The Patti Smith Band will perform during the 2023 Tibet House US Benefit Concert, taking place March 1 at New York City’s Carnegie Hall.

The annual event, which will return to an in-person celebration in 2023 after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to go virtual the past two years, raises money for Tibet House US, a nonprofit organization founded in 1987 that works to preserve Tibetan culture.

Other artists on the lineup include Laurie Anderson, Gogol Bordello, Allison Russell and artistic director Philip Glass.

For more info, visit the Tibet House US website, THUS.org.

A previous version of this story published on 12/13/2022 erroneously stated Patti Smith was confirmed to perform instead of The Patti Smith Band. The text above has been updated to correct the error.

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The new Abbey Road documentary If These Walls Could Sing was incredibly important to its director, Mary McCartney, daughter of Paul McCartney. Paul recorded many of the Beatles’ albums at the studio, including Abbey Road, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

“Some of my earliest memories as a young child come from time spent at Abbey Road,” she tells Far Out. “I’ve long wanted to tell the story of this historic place.” 

Mary says when she started the process she didn’t know the studio was over 90 years old, so she spent time researching its history and the artists who had recorded there. She wanted to show the studio was more than just where the Beatles made records, although she wasn’t able to cover all the artists who recorded there.

“I picked the famous names, like the Beatles and Pink Floyd when they did Dark Side of the Moon,” she says. “I was also really happy to explore the lesser-known artists … and peppered it with stories that I think will surprise and entertain the viewer.”

The doc features appearances by Paul, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Liam Gallagher and more. Mary ends the film with a performance by Celeste, noting it was important to her to show that to this day “Abbey Road is a really active studio.”

If These Walls Could Sing debuts Friday, December 16, on Disney+.

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Earlier this year, 16-time Grammy winner Paul Simon was honored with a special Grammy tribute concert in Los Angeles, and now the public is finally going see what went down. Homeward Bound: A GRAMMY Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon is set to air Wednesday, December 21, at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.

The two-hour concert, filmed back in April at the Hollywood Pantages Theater, has a whole host of artists performing Simon’s tunes, including Sting, Dave Matthews, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Stevie Wonder, The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, Jonas Brothers, Brad Paisley, Eric Church and Billy Porter. Simon also performed at the tribute and was introduced to the crowd by Oprah Winfrey.

In addition to Oprah, the two-hour concert features special appearances by Elton John, Sofia Carson, Herbie Hancock, Woody Harrelson and Dustin Hoffman.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) David Bowie’s wife, supermodel Iman, graces the cover of January’s British Vogue and while the rocker died of cancer in 2016, Iman cautions anyone from referring to him as her late husband.

“He is not my ‘late husband.’ He is my husband,” she tells the mag. “I don’t mind at all being referred to as ‘David Bowie’s wife.’” But, Iman says she and the rocker made it a point to remind people she was more than just married to him. “He never introduced me by saying, ‘Meet my wife.’ He’d always say, ‘Meet Iman, my wife,'” she says. “So we both already had our own identity. We were separate but together.” 

Iman shares that it was hard to grieve the loss of her husband because of all the media attention surrounding Bowie’s death. She noted she and her daughter were very private and it all got to be “too much,” so they eventually had to leave their New York home “because the public were always at the front door.”

She says that while she understood all the attention his death received, “there was a point where it was like: ‘OK, go home now.’” Iman explains, “You had people who would take your picture, sell it and then come to you and say, ‘I feel your pain,’” adding, “And, I’m like, ‘No, b****, you don’t feel my pain, get away from me.’”

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After conquering the Upside Down, Metallica‘s “Master of Puppets” is headed to the world of video games.

The metal legends have teamed up with the online game Fortnite to add a ‘Tallica-themed emote, which are actions players can perform with their avatars to communicate with one another. Using the emote, you can get four players together to jam along to “Master of Puppets.”

“Master of Puppets” saw a resurgence this year thanks to its placement in Netflix’s Stranger Things. The show propelled the 1986 thrash classic to chart on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.

Meanwhile, Metallica premiered a new song called “Lux Æterna” last month. It’s the lead single off the band’s upcoming album, 72 Seasons, due out April 14. Metallica will launch a world stadium tour in support of the record in 2023.

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Well, there’s no doubt Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour is one of the hottest shows out there, and it’s earned Elton yet another honor.

StubHub is out with its 2022 Year In Live Experiences report and, thanks to the tour, which wrapped in the U.S. in November, Elton earns the honor of Top Global Touring Artist of the Year. He beats out Harry Styles for the top spot, with a third British act, Coldplay, landing at three. The rankings are based on cumulative ticket sales on StubHub North America and Viagogo international marketplaces over the past year.

Bad Bunny lands in the number four spot, with veteran rockers Mötley Crüe rounding out the top 5, thanks to their big stadium tour with Def Leppard.

StubHub’s Top Global Touring Artists of 2022

1. Elton John
2. Harry Styles
3. Coldplay
4. Bad Bunny
5. Mötley Crüe
6. Morgan Wallen
7. Billie Eilish
8. Garth Brooks
9. Adele
10. Justin Bieber

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The Beach Boys recently released the new six-CD box set Sail on Sailor -1972, which focuses on their early ’70s releases, Carl and the Passions and Holland. At the time, the band was moving away from their customary sound and image to blend in more with the music of the day. They were so committed to the new direction they actually contemplated a name change.

“At that time, we felt we needed to get away from the California culture and just start over,” Al Jardine tells Variety. “We were in the process of even changing our name. I had an idea to call ourselves ‘the Beach,’ you know? Take the ‘Boys’ out, because we were branded with that.”

He adds that the band was in the midst of an “identity crisis” and were questioning, “Who are they? What is this all about? This is another direction.” 

They of course opted against the name change.

Sail on Sailor – 1972, which can be ordered here, contains newly remastered versions of both albums, along with 80 previously unreleased recordings, including unreleased outtakes, alternate versions and mixes and isolated backing tracks.

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The annual M3 Rock Festival is out with the lineup for their 14th edition, and they’ve landed some heavy hitters. 

The festival, set for May 6th and 7th at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, opens with Styx, Extreme, Winger, Slaughter, Lita Ford and Quiet Riot on Saturday, with Warrant, Great White, Loudness, former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler, FireHouse, Riley’s L.A. Guns, Vixen, White Lion’s Mike Tramp, and Maryland’s own KIX wrapping the weekend on Sunday.

Two-day tickets and VIP packages go on sale Friday at 12 p.m. ET via Ticketmaster and at the 9:30 Club, The Anthem and Lincoln Theatre box office. The Merriweather Post Pavilion box office will begin selling tickets Monday at 10 a.m. Single-day tickets will go on sale at a later date.

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Night Ranger and Ace Frehley are set to headline this summer’s Gettysburg Bike Week motorcycle rally, scheduled for July 6 to 9 at the Allstar Events Complex in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Former KISS guitarist Frehley is set to headline the Gettysburg Bike Week Main Stage on Friday night, with Night Ranger headlining Saturday and more live acts to be announced at a later date.

“We just keep rolling,” GBW event coordinator Kelly Shue shares. “We’re always trying to top the year before, and we’re giving it a run with this year’s Friday and Saturday headliners, Ace Frehley and Night Ranger!” 

In addition to the performances, the Bike Show, now in its 23rd year, features rides around the historic Gettysburg battlegrounds, along with a huge vendor village and swap meet, fun bike games, a cornhole tournament, memorial rides, the Moto Motion Stunt Show and more. Tickets can be purchased here.

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