Classic Rock News

Billy Idol is giving fans a preview of the upcoming 40th anniversary deluxe expanded edition of his breakthrough album, Rebel Yell.

The rocker has just released a visualizer for his cover of Rose Royce’s “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” one of the previously unreleased tracks that will appear on the release.

The reissue will be available digitally, and as a two-LP and two-CD set on April 26. It will include the original album and an album of previously unreleased songs and demos. In addition to “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” it will include “Best Way Out Of Here,” a never-before-heard Idol/Steve Stevens track from the album’s original recording sessions, and a Poolside remix of “Eyes Without A Face.”

The Rebel Yell deluxe expanded edition is available for preorder now.

Released in November 1983, Rebel Yell was Idol’s sophomore studio album. It peaked at #6 in the U.S. and went on to be certified double Platinum by the RIAA. In addition to “Eyes Without A Face,” which was a top five hit for Idol, the album featured such classic tunes as the title track and “Flesh for Fantasy.”

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Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson is thrilled with the success of his latest solo album, The Mandrake Project.

The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart, and at #1 on the Rock Album Sales and Hard Rock Album Sales charts.  

In Canada, the album debuted at #1 on the Album Sales, Current Album Sales and Hard Music Album Sales charts. It also debuted at #1 in Germany and Sweden, #2 in Finland and Switzerland and #3 in the U.K., as well as in the top 10 in several other European countries, plus Brazil and Mexico.

“I’m delighted that so many people love the record,” Dickinson shares. “It’s been incredible to hear directly from so many fans in the countries I’ve visited over the last week or so, and the chart positions are just icing on the cake to be honest.” 

Dickinson is getting ready to hit the road on a new tour. He’s set to play a show in Santa Ana, California, on April 15 and will then head to Mexico City on April 20, with dates confirmed in Brazil, the U.K. and Europe. A complete list of dates can be found at themandrakeproject.com.

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The Black Crowes are giving fans another preview of their new album, Happiness Bastards, ahead of its release on Friday, March 15. The band just dropped the new track “Wilted Rose,” which features a guest appearance by country star Lainey Wilson.

This is the third track Chris and Rich Robinson have released from Happiness Bastards, their first album of new material in 15 years, following “Wanting and Waiting” and “Cross Your Fingers.” 

The band is set to celebrate the album with a special release day show in Brooklyn, New York, for Amazon Music’s City Sessions, in which they’ll play tunes from the new album as well as some classic hits.

They will then hit the road on the Happiness Bastards tour starting April 2 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. A complete list of dates can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

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Bon Jovi continues to get fans excited for new music. 

The band is set to drop the new song “Legendary” on Thursday, March 14, at 9 a.m., and in a new tease, they appear to be dropping hints about their upcoming album.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers shared a video of a couple driving in a car and surfing the radio dial, where you hear snippets of such Bon Jovi classics as “You Give Love A Bad Name,” “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “It’s My Life.” As the couple continue to flip channels, you hear three other Bon Jovi songs, which could possibly be tracks from the upcoming album.

The clip also features a snippet of Jon giving an interview in which he shares, “I’m really proud of this album, the sound, the songwriting. I actually think it’s the best record we’ve made in 20 years. I think the fan is gonna love it.” He ends with, “Bon Jovi forever baby.”

It sounds like Jon is hinting that the album will be called Forever. Not only does he end the interview by saying “Bon Jovi forever,” but the car in the clip has a license plate that reads “Forever” and the video ends with the website bonjoviforever.com flashing across the screen. When you go to it, it features a countdown to the debut of “Legendary.”

“Legendary” is set to arrive on the same day the band’s new documentary, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, premieres at South by Southwest. It’ll start streaming on Hulu April 26.

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AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson and Dire Straits‘ Mark Knopfler are teaming up for a new TV series for Sky Arts. 

Johnson and Knopfler’s Music Legends is described as “a joyous journey through decades of music” and will have the pair opening up about their careers, music that shaped their lives and more. They will also talk with a hand-picked selection of guests, including Carlos Santana, Sir Tom Jones, Nile Rodgers and Cyndi Lauper.

“When two rock and roll legends open up their address books it turns out they are full of other legends and we are thrilled to be bringing this revealing and utterly charming series to the small screen,” Phil Edgar Jones, director of Sky Arts, shares, calling the series “a very special treat.”

The six-part series premieres April 25 on Sky Arts, Freeview and NOW.

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On This Day, March 13, 1993…

Eric Clapton hit #1 with Unplugged, an album featuring performances from his MTV Unplugged episode, which was recorded live in front of a studio audience.

The album, which featured performances of such songs as “Tears in Heaven,” about the death of his four-year-old son, Conor, and an acoustic version of “Layla,” which spent three weeks in the top spot of the U.S. album chart.

Unplugged went on to win three Grammy Awards, including Record and Song of the Year for “Tears In Heaven.” It sold 26 million copies worldwide to become the bestselling live album of all time.

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Two years after he pulled all his music from Spotify, Neil Young has announced he’s putting his music back on the streaming service, although he’s not necessarily happy about it.

“Spotify, the #1 streamer of low res music in the world — Spotify, where you get less quality than we made, will now be home of my music again,” Young shared on his Archives website. “My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at SPOTIFY.”

Young demanded his music be pulled from Spotify back in January 2022, accusing the service of “spreading fake information” about the COVID-19 vaccine on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. At the time, he said they “can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.”

Neil said he can’t leave Apple and Amazon “because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all.” He added, “I hope all you millions of Spotify users enjoy my songs! They will now all be there for you except for the full sound we created.” 

He also expressed his hope Spotify would improve their sound quality so “people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it.”

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While Elton John has written original music for successful Broadway shows — and has even won a Tony Award for his trouble — there’s never been a so-called “jukebox musical” that features all of his classic hits. Elton’s husband and manager, David Furnish, says doing one is a possibility, but it would have to stand out from the others.

“Jukebox musicals” either tell an original story and incorporate an artist’s hits into the narrative — such as Movin’ Out, Mamma Mia!, Once Upon a One More Time, Jagged Little Pill and We Will Rock You — or tell the life story of an artist, such as Jersey Boys, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, The Cher Show, MJ the Musical and Tina.

Speaking to The Sun, Furnish said, “A catalog musical? We’re always looking at it … I think if we wanted to do it, we would want to do it in a way that was really innovative and really exciting and different. We’re open to any great ideas and it’s a wonderful catalog.”

Furnish pointed out, “But at the moment, with the two other musicals, we’re quite busy as it is.”

Elton’s musical The Devil Wears Prada, based on the Meryl Streep film of the same name, will debut in London’s West End in October, with Vanessa Williams as fearsome fashion editor Miranda Priestly. Later this year Elton’s other new musical, Tammy Faye, will open on Broadway.

Furnish also addressed the fact that Elton couldn’t walk the red carpet at his annual Oscar Viewing Party due to his recent knee replacement. “He’s doing amazing,” said Furnish. “He’s having another knee done in a couple of weeks and by the time the summer rolls around, he’ll have two brand-new spanking knees.”

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It was 40 years ago March 13 that The Cars released their fifth studio album, Heartbeat City, which was a blockbuster hit for the group.

Considered by many to be the band’s comeback album, Heartbeat City, produced by Mutt Lange, resulted in huge mainstream success for The Cars, with the album peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200 Album chart and hitting #1 on the Billboard Rock Album chart. It went on to be certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA. 

Much of the album’s popularity was due to singles like “You Might Think” and “Drive,” both of which reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 10.

They both benefited from videos that received huge airplay on MTV, especially “You Might Think,” which was known for being one of the first videos to use computer graphics. The video had frontman Ric Ocasek following a model around in various places, with the graphics turning him into, among other things, a fly.

“It was very striking for its time,” Craig Marks, co-author of I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, tells ABC Audio, although he notes Ocasek “famously didn’t like the video. He thought it made fun of the way he looked, cause he kind of did look like a fly.”

Considering not many artists were making videos at the time, MTV embraced “You Might Think” and the video went on to win the first-ever Video of the Year award at the MTV Video Music Awards.

“It was a great meeting of commerce and art for The Cars and for MTV,” Marks says of the clip, noting it “did wonders for The Cars’ career.” 

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Looks like Dolly Parton’s rock album was a rousing success.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s latest album, Rockstar, which featured guest appearances by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Sting, Steve Perry, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts and more, has been certified Gold by the RIAA. 

“When I set out to make my rock album, I always hoped it would be embraced by my fans as well as people who may not listen to my music,” Dolly shares. “I am thrilled to receive this Gold record! Thank you to everyone who was a part of this project. I guess I can now officially say I am a rockstar!” 

Released in November, Rockstar debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 Album chart. It was Dolly’s highest-charting album and her third career top 10, following 2014’s Blue Smoke and 1987’s Trio with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris; both albums debuted at #6.

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