Classic Rock News

Funeral services for Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan took place Friday, December 8, in Tipperary, Ireland, and featured performances of the late rocker’s music, as well as readings by such famous names as U2‘s Bono and Johnny Depp. 

According to RTE, the service at Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh featured a recording of Bono delivering an emotional reading, while Depp, who acted as best man at MacGowan’s 2018 wedding, was there in person to read the prayers of the faithful.

The service featured performances of MacGowan’s “A Rainy Night in Soho,” sung by Nick Cave, and the classic “Fairytale of New York,” performed by Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill.  

MacGowan’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, said in her eulogy that MacGowan was not a fan of funerals. “He didn’t like the idea of death. He didn’t want to talk about his own death. He didn’t believe he was going to die,” she said. “He always assured me he would live to be at least 80.”

MacGowan passed away on November 30 at age 65 from pneumonia, although he had also been battling viral encephalitis at the time of his death. Ahead of the funeral, his coffin, draped in an Irish flag, traveled through the streets of Dublin in a horse-drawn carriage.

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More fans are discovering Tom Petty’s “Love Is A Long Road” thanks to Grand Theft Auto.

The song, from Petty’s 1989 solo album, Full Moon Fever, is featured in the trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI. Billboard reports that since the trailer first leaked on social media Monday, December 4, on-demand streams for the song increased from between 4,000 and 5,000 daily to 78,000. After the trailer’s official release on Tuesday, December 5, it was up to 376,000 streams.

That’s not all, almost 1,000 digital copies of the song were sold, compared to negligible amounts prior to the trailer’s debut.

“Love is a Long Road” isn’t actually the first Petty song to be used for Grand Theft Auto. As Petty’s official Instagram page pointed out, “Runnin’ Down A Dream,” also from Full Moon Fever, was used in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

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Billy Joel is headed overseas next year, but he’s not launching a full tour. In fact, he’s only playing one show.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced he’ll headline Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on August 9, with special guest Chris Isaak. This is the first time Billy has played Cardiff, and he’s billing the concert as his “only European show of 2024.” 

Tickets go on sale Friday, December 15, at 10 a.m. 

Billy only played one show overseas in 2023 as well. In July, he headlined British Summertime Hyde Park in London.

In the meantime, Billy still has some U.S. dates to wrap up in 2023. He and Stevie Nicks are set to play Phoenix, Arizona’s Chase Field on Friday, December 8. He has two more solo shows on the books as well: December 19 at New York’s Madison Square Garden and December 31, aka New Years Eve, at Long Island, New York’s UBS Arena. A complete list of Billy dates can be found at billyjoel.com.

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Queen continues their look at the encore in this week’s episode of Queen the Greatest Live, this time looking back at a surprise they had in store for their audience during 1986’s Magic Tour.

While Queen classics “We Will Rock You” into “We Are The Champions” became the standard encore for the band during 1977’s News of the World tour, during the Magic Tour, they tried something different.

Instead of going right from one song into the other, the band decided to follow up “We Will Rock You” with another song, “Friends Will Be Friends.” This week’s clip shows their performance of the track at Wembley Stadium in July 1986.

The new encore was such a success, the band kept it as part of their shows through August, their final shows with frontman Freddie Mercury. 

Next week on Queen the Greatest Live: “We Will Rock You.”

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Dave Grohl continues to live up to his “nicest guy in rock” title, even when he’s on the other side of the planet.

In between dates on Foo Fighters‘ current tour of Australia, Grohl volunteered with a charity called The Big Umbrella to help cook food for people in need.

According to the Australian news site News.com.au, the event took place on Friday in Melbourne. You can check out photos of Grohl volunteering via The Big Umbrella’s Instagram Stories.

Grohl is known for being a big barbecue enthusiast; he’s volunteered his cooking skills for good causes on multiple occasions. In February, he cooked meals for a shelter in Los Angeles during the Southern California winter storm.

Foo Fighters wrap their Australia tour in December 12. They’ll launch a U.S. stadium tour in July.

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Bruce Springsteen has just added a Las Vegas date to his 2024 tour. He and the E Street Band will play T-Mobile Arena on Friday, March 22.

This will be the first time Springsteen has played a show in Las Vegas in over 20 years. The last time he hit Sin City was in August 2002, when he played the Thomas & Mack Center.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, December 14, at 10 a.m. PT.

In September, Springsteen was forced to push the remaining dates of his U.S. tour to 2024 to give him time to recover from peptic ulcer disease. The rescheduled dates are due to kick off March 19 in Phoenix, Arizona. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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System of a Down‘s Serj Tankian and Black Sabbath‘s Tony Iommi play together on a new song called “Deconstruction.”

The track was co-written by Tankian and Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson. It also marks the debut of the guitar company’s Gibson Band, described as a “revolving collective of Gibson artists.”

Proceeds from “Deconstruction” will be donated to the Armenia Fund’s Artsakh Refugee Initiative, in support of Armenians affected by the country’s war with Azerbaijan. Both Tankian and Gueikian are of Armenian descent.

Additionally, Tankian will be auctioning off a painting that was used for the single cover of “Deconstruction,” while Gibson is offering a guitar customized with the artwork. Those sales will also benefit the Armenia Fund.

“It’s a dream come true to have collaborated with my good friend, Cesar Gueikian, and Tony Iommi, who I have collaborated with before,” Tankian says. “I am happy that we are using our platform to donate the music, my art, and Gibson’s incredibly unique guitar for such a great charity. Music with the right intentions can inspire and also create positive change.”

“It was great to hook up with Serj again and also to do a track with Cesar (I think that he’s trying to steal my job!!) ha-ha!!” Iommi adds. “The Armenian people are really lovely people, and it’s a great pleasure, a great cause, and I’m very happy to be involved in it.”

You can listen to “Deconstruction” now via digital outlets.

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An auction of the late ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill‘s instruments, wardrobe pieces, memorabilia and more kicked off Thursday, December 7, at Julien’s Auctions, with one of his bass guitars going for big bucks.

The late rocker’s signature 1953 Fender Precision bass sold for $393,700, more than three times the auction house’s highest estimate.  

The instrument, the most played of Hill’s guitar collection, is now the second-highest bass ever sold at auction. Only Beatle Paul McCartney’s Yamaha BB-1200 bass sold for more, back in 2021. A Fender Mustang, owned by The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman, is just behind Dusty’s bass at three. 

“Dusty would be so pleased to know his bass is between a Beatle and a Rolling Stone!,” Dusty’s wife commented. 

Other items sold include: Hill’s fur bass from ZZ Top’s “Legs” video, for $317,500; Hill’s MTV Moonman for Best Group Video for “Legs,” for $25,400; a custom sky-blue wool suit jacket, which Dusty wore on the cover of the album Fandango!, sold for $11,430; and a black leather motorcycle jacket with custom painted skeletons and silver spikes sold for $13,000.

The three-day auction continues Friday, December 8, and Saturday, December 9, in Dallas, Texas, and online at Julien’s Live. A portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to the Recording Academy’s charitable foundation, MusiCares.

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Guns N’ Roses have dropped a new single called “The General.”

The “Welcome to the Jungle” outfit previously previewed the track during a November concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It marks the second new GN’R tune of 2023, following the August premiere of “Perhaps.”

You can listen to “The General” now via digital outlets. It’s also being released alongside “Perhaps” on a seven-inch vinyl single.

“The General” and “Perhaps” follow GN’R’s two 2021 singles, “Hard Skool” and “Absurd,” which marked the group’s first new material since reuniting in 2016.

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On This Day, December 8, 1980…

Legendary Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York City apartment building, The Dakota. He was 40.

Earlier in the day, Lennon signed a copy of his album Double Fantasy for a fan as he and wife Yoko Ono were leaving for the recording studio. When he returned later that evening, the same fan, Mark David Chapman, shot him twice. The musician was rushed to the hospital where he died.

Chapman did not go on trial for Lennon’s murder, instead pleading guilty to second degree murder. He was sentenced to 20-years-to-life in prison and became eligible for parole in 2000, but he still remains in jail.

No funeral for Lennon was held, but his cremated remains were scattered in New York’s Central Park, not far from The Dakota. A memorial for Lennon, Strawberry Fields, was later created in the area.

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