Classic Rock News

Metallica has announced a new signature cigar.

The S84 Shade to Black was created in collaboration with vocalist James Hetfield alongside Jonathan Drew of the cigar company Drew Estate and distiller Rob Dietrich, who also works with Metallica on their Blackened Whiskey. The trio previously worked together on Metallica’s first cigar, 2022’s M81.

A description for S84 Shade to Black reads, “Wrapped in a luxurious Connecticut Ecuador cover leaf, this expression is distinctly different from the original while still retaining core qualities of M81 through the Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf Maduro binder and Nicaraguan Maduro and Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro filler leaves.”

Metallica, meanwhile, is preparing to return to the road for the 2024 leg of their world M72 tour, which comes to the U.S. in July.

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Pearl Jam‘s new album, Dark Matter, was recorded at the famed Shangri-La recording studio in Malibu, California, which was famously shown in The Band documentary The Last Waltz. Speaking with MOJO, frontman Eddie Vedder shares he felt he was “tapping into a sacred space” while writing there.

“I can’t tell you how much it meant to be in that spot,” says Vedder, who refers to The Last Waltz as his “introduction to so much music.”

“It was like mining energy in a safe place,” he adds. “It was a huge part of being able to go deep.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Vedder opens up about a number of Dark Matter songs. He describes the cut “Waiting for Stevie” as being about “a young girl not feeling appreciated by her peers, who finds relief and connection in music at a show.”

That leads him to a discussion of Taylor Swift. You might recall that Vedder attended the pop superstar’s Eras Tour over the summer, though he was misidentified by one Swiftie as Pedro Pascal.

“The craziest thing was it reminded me of punk rock crowds, of being aligned with all of the misfits in our town, back in the day,” Vedder says of his Eras experience. “It was galvanizing and powerful.”

Dark Matter is due out April 19, which is actually the same day that Swift’s upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, drops.

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Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry is featured on the latest single released by rockers The Dandy Warhols. 

Harry is featured on the track “I Will Never Stop Loving You” from the band’s just-released new album Rockmaker. 

“’I Will Never Stop Loving You’ is the only true ‘love song’ I have ever written,” The Dandy Warhols’ Courtney Taylor-Taylor shares. “Debbie’s voice elevated this song to a level that nothing else could possibly have done.”

He adds, “Upon hearing it, I think I learned more about singers in that moment than I have learned in the last 15 years… I don’t know… Maybe ever.”

The song and album are available now via digital outlets.

Next up, Blondie has several shows booked for 2024, including dates in Australia, the U.K. and Spain. They’ll also play a handful of U.S. shows, their first happening May 8 in Denver, Colorado. A complete list of dates can be found at blondie.net.

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Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan has announced a deluxe version of his latest solo album, Lighthouse.

The expanded set is due out March 22 and features a total of 19 tracks, including previously unreleased studio and live recordings.

McKagan’s also released live video for the Lighthouse song “Longfeather,” recorded at Easy Street Records in Seattle, which you can watch streaming now on YouTube. A full live recording of that show will be also released March 22.

The original Lighthouse was released in October and includes collaborations with McKagan’s GN’R bandmate Slash as well as Iggy Pop and Alice in Chains‘ Jerry Cantrell.

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Paul Simon appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday, March 14, and revealed there’s one Simon & Garfunkel tune he doesn’t particularly care for.

Colbert brought up “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy),” from the pair’s 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, and discussed how much people love it, but Simon said he doesn’t. In fact, he said, “I loathe that song.”

“Sometimes in shows, if a made an error in some other song, I would sing that song as punishment,” he said. “No, here’s what it is. I come up to the line and I just don’t want to sing, ‘Life, I love you. All is groovy.’” 

Simon, however, certainly does love plenty of his songs. Colbert asked him which of his songs he’d pick if he had to do a five-song set of tracks he himself wants to play, and he had a hard time sticking to just five. 

At first, he mentioned “Graceland,” “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” “Late in the Evening” and “Mother and Child Reunion,” before adding a few ballads, including, “The Sound Of Silence,” “The Boxer” and “Still Crazy After All These Years.”

Simon also performed on the episode, treating the audience to “Your Forgiveness” from his latest album, Seven Psalms, which was released in May. 

Simon stopped by Colbert to promote his upcoming two-part Alex Gibney-directed docuseries, In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, which premieres March 17 and 24 on MGM+. The series follows Simon’s career journey and goes into the studio with him as he records Seven Psalms.

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Sebastian Bach is back with his first solo album in 10 years.

The former Skid Row frontman will release Child Within the Man on May 10, his first solo record since 2014’s Give Em Hell. It features 11 new songs, all co-written by Bach, with guest appearances by Mötley Crüe‘s John 5, Billy Idol‘s longtime guitarist Steve Stevens and Orianthi, who all co-wrote the tunes they appear on. Myles Kennedy also co-wrote two songs on the record.

“If you like the records I have put out in the past, I can GUARANTEE that you will enjoy the new album. THIS is the kind of Rock N’ Roll that keeps you young!” the rocker shares. “Can’t wait for you all to crank up Child Within the Man—a magical elixir to the Fountain of Youth! Gone Wild! Forever! It’s all one big song! TURN IT UP!”

Bach’s last single, “What Do I Have To Do?”, appears on the Child Within the Man, and he just shared another track from the album, “Everybody Bleeds.”  You can listen to it now via digital outlets and watch the lyric video on YouTube.

Bach is set to promote the new album with the What Do I Got To Lose? tour, launching in the U.S. on May 10 in Jefferson, Louisiana. A complete list of dates can be found at sebastianbach.com.

Here is the track list for Child Within the Man. It is available for preorder now.

“Everybody Bleeds”
“Freedom” (featuring John 5)
“(Hold On) To The Dream”
“What Do I Got to Lose?”
“Hard Darkness”
“Future of Youth” (featuring Orianthi)
“Vendetta”
“F.U.” (featuring Steve Stevens)
“Crucify Me”
“About To Break”
“To Live Again”

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Bruce Springsteen is about to hit the road again, so he’s giving fans a way to celebrate with him.

The Boss just dropped the latest entry into his live series, a playlist dubbed Songs of Celebration. It’s made up of songs recorded live between 1978 and 2023 and is the first time these performances have been available to stream.

Songs on the 15-track playlist include “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, on September 20, 1978; “Out in the Street,” at New Jersey’s Brendan Byrne Arena, on August 6, 1984; “Dancing in the Dark,” at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, on March 28, 1988; “Having a Party” featuring Southside Johnny, at Brendan Byrne Arena, on June 24, 1993; and “Mary’s Place,” at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, on April 28, 2008.

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will return to the road on Tuesday, March 19, in Phoenix. They are the first shows Springsteen has played since postponing his 2023 tour to recover from peptic ulcer disease. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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U2 guitarist The Edge and his wife, artist Morleigh Steinberg, are set to be honored with the inaugural HEART Award, handed out by the Venice Family Clinic, a nonprofit community health center that provides quality health care to people in need. 

The couple are longtime supporters of the clinic’s HEART (Health + Art) initiative and will be celebrated at the inaugural HEART gala, taking place Sunday, May 11, at 3Labs in Los Angeles. 

“It’s a privilege to accept the first-ever HEART Award from Venice Family Clinic, an organization that resonates with us,” the couple shares, “we are looking forward to an unforgettable evening to honor what we can all accomplish together.”

The Edge and Morleigh have been huge supporters of Venice Family Clinic’s Art Walk + Auction, which has been going on since 1979. The gala is happening during the 45th anniversary of the Venice Art Walk, which is scheduled for May 10-19, with auction proceeds going to the organization.

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Earlier this year, Queen debuted the classic concert Queen Rock Montreal in IMAX theaters and now the band is giving music fans another chance to experience it.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are set to release Queen Rock Montreal as a double Blu-ray or double 4K Ultra High Definition package. Disc one features the concert in full frame along with the band’s legendary Live Aid performance, while disc two has the concert in widescreen format and also includes behind-the-scenes footage from Live Aid rehearsals. The 4K Ultra High Definition package includes both discs, with the performance in 4K with Dolby Atmos sound.

Queen Rock Montreal will also be released as a two-CD or three-LP set, featuring a 28-track set list, including songs like ”We Will Rock You,” “We Are The Champions,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” It will also come out on three-LP colored transparent blue vinyl exclusively via the Queen online store.

And Queen has just shared a preview of the release with a new video for the performance of “Let Me Entertain You,” a track from their 1978 album, Jazz.

All formats are set to drop May 10 and are available for preorder now.

Queen Rock Montreal is a recording of the band’s November 1981 stand at the Montreal Forum, which was their fourth time playing the venue. The IMAX screening brought in $4.1 million globally in its first weekend, making it the biggest IMAX exclusive event opening ever.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd will be heading to Nashville this summer for CMA Fest, which is happening June 6-9. 

The Southern rockers are booked to play Nissan Stadium on June 6, joining a bill that also includes country stars Thomas Rhett, Jordan Davis and Ashley McBryde.

This marks a return to CMA Fest for Skynyrd. They previously performed at the festival in 2006. 

Tickets for the CMA Fest are on sale now. A portion of the proceeds will go to music education programs through the CMA Foundation. A complete lineup can be found at cmafest.com.

Lynyrd Skynyrd recently kicked off the second leg of their Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top. The tour hits Greenville, South Carolina, on March 14. A complete list of dates can be found at skynyrd.com.

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