Classic Rock News

Billy Idol‘s hit 1983 album Rebel Yell is turning 40: It was released November 10, 1983.  Idol is planning to mark the milestone with a special release, but not until 2024.

He tells Yahoo Entertainment that the package will feature “quite a few extras on it,” including a version of the 1978 Rose Royce ballad “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” which you may know because Madonna recorded it on her 1984 album Like A Virgin.  In fact, that’s why Idol left it off his album: because he found out Madonna had done it.

“It’s not what you expect. My version is a kick-ass f****** rock song. I’m really singing it, and I sound like I mean it,” Idol tells Yahoo Entertainment.

“I don’t remember if something was happening in my life at the time, or why I even wanted to do the song … but if I do say so myself, actually we would’ve p***** all over Madonna’s version, because it’s a rock version.”

Idol also reveals that he didn’t like the cover art for Rebel Yell, and when his record company refused to change it, he stole the master tapes and gave them to his drug dealer. He then told his record company, “This guy’s on the street. He needs money. So, if you mess about too long, he’s just going to bootleg [the tapes]. He’s not going to sit on them forever!’”

Idol actually grabbed the wrong tapes, but his record company believed him and caved. “It was great, frightening them to death,” he says, adding, “And after that, they never f***** with me again!”

Rebel Yell, which features the hit title track, “Eyes Without a Face” and “Flesh for Fantasy,” went on to hit the top 10 and sell two million copies.

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Sammy Hagar is parting with one of his valuable and beloved possessions. No, it’s not a guitar — it’s a car.

The Red Rocker is putting his one-of-a-kind 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari on the block at the Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, which takes place January 20 to January 28. The car will be sold on January 27.

The car is one of only 499 produced and was custom designed by Hagar. Its cream color was inspired by a photo of a 1960s Ferrari that Hagar saw on the wall at the Ferrari factory in 2014. It only has about 1,100 miles on it, can go from zero to 60 in under three seconds and has a top speed of more than 217 mph.

“This is undoubtedly my favorite car I’ve ever owned,” Hagar says in a statement. “It’s an incredible machine and I’ve adored it since I took delivery of it in 2015, but the time has come to pass it on to someone else who will hopefully enjoy it as much as I have.”

If you’ve got the cash and want to take a crack at owning the car, you can register to bid at Barrett-Jackson.com.

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Joe Cocker is the latest rocker to have his life turned into a film.

Movie producer Lisa Saltzman has acquired the movie rights to a biography called Joe Cocker: With a Lot of Help from His Friends, written by Mark Bego. The book is due November 17 and is the first one that’s been written about the late rocker since his death in 2014.

“Joe Cocker’s story is one of ambition, talent, attainment, debilitating self-esteem, self-destruction, redemption, and finally joy, set in the most exciting and colorful era of popular music. Joe was a unique talent,” says Saltzman. 

She adds, “He lived a bigger-than-life existence, and the film … will show the high points, the low points, the frustrations, crippling battles with his demons, and finally the exhilaration of a life successfully lived.”

The movie is set to be called Joe Cocker: With a Little Help From My Friends, after his iconic cover of The Beatles song and his debut album. It’s not clear if Saltzman will get the rights to Cocker’s music, which also includes songs like “You Are So Beautiful,” “Up Where We Belong,” “You Can Leave Your Hat On,” “Delta Lady” and “Feeling Alright.”

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Elton John’s classic holiday tune “Step into Christmas” turns 50 this year: It was released on November 23, 1973. To celebrate the milestone, a new digital seven-track EP called Step into Christmas has just hit streaming services.

In addition to the 2017 remastered version of “Step into Christmas,” the EP also includes an alternate version of the song Elton sang on The Gilbert O’Sullivan Show in 1973, as well as the song’s original B-side, “Ho! Ho! Ho! (Who’d Be a Turkey at Christmas).”

Other holiday songs on the collection include Elton’s duet with Joss Stone, “Calling It Christmas,” from his 2005 Starbucks compilation album, Elton John’s Christmas Party, and a live version of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” recorded live on December 22, 1973, at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.

The final two tracks are songs that aren’t really about Christmas: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” from Elton’s 1982 album, Jump Up!, and “Cold As Christmas (In the Middle of the Year),” from 1983’s Too Low for Zero.

Elton’s online store also has a selection of holiday merch, including a “Step into Christmas” Christmas sweater and a variety of Christmas ornaments — plus lots of other merch for that Elton fan in your life.

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The upcoming auction of memorabilia, instruments, wardrobe and other items owned by the late ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill just got bigger.

A series of new, iconic items have been added to the sale, which is taking place December 7-9 online and in Dallas. The bass guitar Hill played in ZZ Top’s “Gimme All Your Lovin‘” and “Sharp Dressed Man” videos is now up for grabs and is estimated to bring $15,000 to $20,000. Hill’s custom bass shaped like ZZ Top’s Eliminator hot rod, previously displayed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, is expected to fetch $40,000 to $60,000.

A conceptual bass guitar made of found objects and parts that were scavenged, and featured in the videos for “Rough Boy” and “Give It Up,” is estimated sell for $10,000 to $15,000. Also up for grabs: animation cells from the 2007 episode of the animated series King of the Hill, in which Dusty played Hank Hill’s cousin.

As previously reported, the auction will feature nearly 1,200 lots, with the highlight being the famous fur-covered bass that Hill played in ZZ Top’s “Legs” video. That’s expected to sell for between $80,000 and $120,000.

A portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to the Recording Academy’s charitable foundation, MusiCares. Fans can check out the items up for bid during special Juliens’ exhibitions, happening at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York’s Times Square November 20-26 and in Dallas November 29-December 7.

More information on the items up for auction can be found at julienslive.com.

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The new trailer for Inside Out 2 is going off the rails with some help from Ozzy Osbourne.

The sequel to the 2015 animated Disney/Pixar film reintroduces us to the mind and emotions of Riley, led by Amy Poehler‘s Joy. However, as Riley enters her teen years, a demolition crew storms Riley’s internal “control room” as Ozzy’s solo classic “Crazy Train” blares in the background.

When the chaos is over, we meet a new emotion: Anxiety, voiced by Stranger Things star Maya Hawke.

Inside Out 2 opens in June.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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You oughta know that Alanis Morissette is going on tour, and she’s bringing along Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

Morissette’s Triple Moon tour, which also features rising country star Morgan Wade, will kick off June 9 in Phoenix, Arizona, and is right now set to wrap up August 10 in Inglewood, California. 

In a statement, Morissette says, “I am inspired and heartened and feel giddy inside to be going on this upcoming summer tour with Joan and Morgan and all our teams. Can’t wait to see you, can’t wait to perform!”

A Citi presale will start November 14 at 10 a.m. local time via citientertainment.com. Fans who sign up for Morissette’s mailing list at alanis.com by November 15 will be able to access additional presales ahead of the general onsale date: November 17 at 10 a.m. local time at Alanis.com.

Earlier this year, Joan and the Blackhearts opened for Bryan Adams and released a six-track digital EP, Mindsets. The band also appears on Dolly Parton‘s all-star rock album, Rockstar, performing a duet of their 1988 hit “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” That album’s out November 17.

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The final date of KISS‘ End of the Road tour — and supposedly their final concert ever — will be available to fans who can’t make the trek to New York’s Madison Square Garden on December 2.

KISS: END OF THE ROAD will stream live worldwide exclusively on PPV.COM starting at 8 p.m. ET. It’ll also be available on PPV via cable and satellite operators in the U.S. and Canada. 

Tickets for the stream cost $39.99 in the U.S. and Canada, and $14.99 outside North America.

The End of the Road tour started in January of 2019. In 2021, the band predicted it would end in early 2023, but in 2023, they kept on adding shows, finally extending the trek into December.

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On This Day, November 9, 1967 …

The first issue of Rolling Stone magazine was published. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was initially released every two weeks. 

The first cover featured The Beatles’ John Lennon in a costume for the film How I Won the War. Artists featured on early covers included Tina Turner, The Beatles, Janis Joplin and The Doors. 

Although it started as a magazine mostly about music, in the ’70s it expanded to include political coverage, hiring writers like Hunter S. Thompson.

The magazine publishes numerous international editions and is also online.

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During his lifetime, John Lennon said some nasty things about Paul McCartney and his songs, but according to Paul, he’s the one John would turn to when he needed reassurance that he was truly talented.

In a new episode of his McCartney: A Life In Lyrics podcast, Paul discusses writing his 1982 song “Here Today,” which he describes as “a love song” to Lennon. In the course of the conversation, he says John was sometimes very insecure.

“I remember him saying to me, ‘Paul, I worry about how people are gonna remember me when I die.’ And it kinda shocked me. I said, ‘O.K., hold on. Just hold it right there. People are going to think you were great. You’ve already done enough work to demonstrate that.'”

“So I was like his priest, often,” Paul continues. “I’d have to say, ‘My son. You’re great. Don’t worry about,’ or whatever. And he would take it! It’d make him feel better.”

Also in the episode, Paul recalls the “Here Today” line: “What about the night we cried,” which he says was specifically inspired by an incident with John that took place in Florida in the sixties.

“In Key West, there was a hurricane coming and we had to lay low for a couple of days and for some reason, they chose Key West,” Paul explains. “So we were in our little motel room, so we got very drunk and cried about, y’know, I dunno — how we loved each other, or something, I dunno.”

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