Classic Rock News

Sammy Hagar is fighting to close down an unauthorized franchise of his Cabo Wabo Cantina restaurant in Hollywood, California.

Lawyers for the former Van Halen frontman’s company, Red Head Inc., filed a lawsuit in January claiming franchisee Robert Azinian opened a new Cabo Wabo location in December 2023, despite having his licensee deal with the company terminated.  

“The Cabo Wabo brand is highly distinctive and has achieved recognition with the consuming public as being associated with premium quality goods and services,” read the original suit. “Every day that the Cabo Wabo Cantina at the new Hollywood location continues to operate under the ‘Cabo Wabo’ brand, it soils the name, reputation, and goodwill that Red Head has developed.”

In new documents filed earlier this month, the lawyers have asked the court to grant an injunction to stop Azinian from using the Cabo Wabo name, or Hagar’s name and likeness, for the restaurant.

Hagar’s lawyers argue that due to the unauthorized use of the name, the rocker’s company “has no oversight, control, or even visibility as to the quality” of the restaurant, in areas like staffing, décor and more, which is causing confusion with patrons.

Hagar opened the original Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 1990, and has gone on to open several other locations across the U.S.

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Bonnie Raitt has extended her 2024 tour into the fall.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just added over 30 new dates to her Just Like That… tour, with the fall leg kicking off September 6 in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The tour, featuring special guest James Hunter, includes multiple nights in Oakland, Portland and Seattle before wrapping November 25 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

A Bonnie Raitt fan club presale begins Wednesday, February 7, at 10 a.m, with tickets set to go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 9, at 10 a.m.

Bonnie will launch the spring leg of her Just Like That… tour on April 26 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A complete list of dates can be found at bonnieraitt.com.

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Deep Purple is celebrating their classic album Machine Head with the release of a new Super Deluxe Edition, dropping March 29.

The set features new stereo and Dolby Atmos mixes of the 1972 original album, courtesy of Dweezil Zappa. There’s also the 1974 quadrophonic mix and a new 2024 remaster of the original album.

The deluxe edition includes two live performances. The first was recorded on March 9, 1972, at the Paris Theatre in London. The second is a previously unreleased April 1971 concert at Montreux Casino in Switzerland, the same venue where Deep Purple had planned to record Machine Head before it burned down during a Frank Zappa concert. That fire inspired Deep Purple’s biggest hit, “Smoke on the Water,” which appeared on Machine Head.

To coincide with the new announcement, the first track from the new set has just been released: Zappa’s remix of “Smoke on the Water.” You can listen to it now via digital outlets and on YouTube.

Machine Head: Super Deluxe Edition will be released as a three-CD/LP/Blu-ray set. It is available for preorder now.

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The Beach Boys will be hitting the road this year on what they’re calling their Endless Summer Gold tour.

The trek kicks off with a two-night stand in Honolulu, Hawaii, with dates running through September 23 in Nashville, Tennessee. The trek also features several festival appearances, including shows at New Orleans Jazz Fest, Stagecoach and Bourbon & Beyond. 

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dave Mason, best known for his work with Traffic, will be the special guest on several of the tour dates, starting May 24 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Tickets for most shows go on sale Friday, February 9. More information and a complete list of dates can be found at thebeachboys.com.

In addition to the tour, the band is set to release their official book, The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys on April 2. Limited to only 500 copies, the book, complete with rare and iconic photographs, gives fans insight into the history of the band.

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If you still haven’t caught Carlos Santana‘s Las Vegas residency, he’s giving you more time to do so.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just extended the dates for An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live, which will keep him at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino through November.

In total, Santana has added 16 new shows to the schedule, starting September 25 and running through November 10.

Citi and fan presales kick off Wednesday, February 7, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday, February 9, at 10 a.m.

The residency is now in its 12th year. Santana’s next set of shows are set to begin May 10. A complete list of shows can be found at santana.com.

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Looks like AC/DC has some big news to share. 

The rockers just posted a huge tease on Instagram, sharing a video with an image of a lightning bolt and the tag line “Are You Ready” with their song of the same name playing in the background.

Most fans in the comments suspect the band is gearing up to announce a new tour, which will be AC/DC’s first tour since 2016.

AC/DC released their last album, Power Up, in 2020 but were unable to tour behind it due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They did return to the stage in October, headlining the Power Trip festival in Indio, California, alongside Metallica, Judas Priest and more.

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Fans now have a chance to win a private tour of all of Elton John‘s things — before they go under the hammer.

The auction selling off the contents of his Atlanta, Georgia, home starts February 21 at Christie’s Rockefeller Center in New York City and online, and will consist of eight separate sales because Elton had a lot of stuff in that home — including racks of Versace shirts, contemporary art and photography, furnishings, eyeglasses, sculpture and his black Bentley convertible.

But before that, members of Elton’s Rocket Club mailing list are being offered a chance to win an exclusive tour of the collection by a member of the Christie’s team while it’s on public display in New York City between February 9 and 21. 

You’ve got to enter by February 8 to have a chance to win, and you and a guest have to get yourself to New York City to check it out.

In a video discussing all the items you can get a glimpse of, Elton says, “It may not be everyone’s taste, but it’s certainly my taste. My apartment in Atlanta was like my man cave: full of things that I loved, mementos from everywhere in the world, and things that I got up every day and [saw and] they all gave me inspiration.”

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Pretenders have been added to the lineup of the U.K.’s Isle of Wight Festival, happening June 20-23 at Seaclose Park in Newport on the Isle of Wight.

Chrissie Hynde and the band are set to headline the Big Top stage, joining a lineup that includes headliners Green Day, Pet Shop Boys and The Prodigy, along with Simple Minds, Crowded House, Johnny Marr and more.

Tickets for the festival are on sale now. More information on Isle of Wight and the complete lineup can be found at isleofwightfestival.com.

The festival is the latest overseas date Pretenders have added to their schedule. They are set to kick off a U.K. tour in Gateshead, England, on February 24 and will kick off a European tour on March 9 in Stockholm, Sweden. A complete list of dates can be found at thepretenders.com.

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The Police guitarist Andy Summers has announced some new tour dates for 2024.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will be touring the U.S. again starting May 30 in Fairfield, Connecticut, with dates confirmed in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire, before wrapping June 12 in New York City. 

Tickets for all shows go on sale February 9 at 10 a.m. ET. 

Summers previously toured the U.S. and Canada in 2023 with his The Cracked Lens + A Missing String tour, which combined his music and his photography. In a post on Instagram, he describes the new trek as an “immersive experience” and a “spectacular multimedia concert tour.”

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Steven Tyler has shared an update on his health.

The rocker fractured his larynx back in September, forcing Aerosmith to postpone their Peace Out tour. During his fifth annual Jam for Janie Grammys viewing party on Sunday, February 4, he let attendees know how he’s been doing.  

“My throat’s been better, but it is on the mend,” he said, according to People. 

Tyler’s daughter Mia shared with the mag that while her dad’s doing “much better,” he seems to have a hard time doing what doctors have advised him to do in order to get better.

“He’s not supposed to be talking sometimes, so I have to literally yell at him and be like, ‘You can’t be on the phone with me right now, lets just text,'” she explained. “You can’t shut him up — he can’t close that mouth.” 

So far, there’s no word on when Aerosmith will reschedule the Peace Out tour, which was supposed to be the band’s final tour. In a December interview, guitarist Joe Perry said they hoped to return to the road in “late summer and fall of 24.”

The Jam for Janie viewing party is a benefit for Tyler’s Janie’s Fund, which supports young girls who have experienced abuse and neglect, and are ageing out of foster care. Since its launch in 2018, the party has raised more than $12.2 million for the organization.

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