Classic Rock News

Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is thanking fans for their support of his single “10,000 Volts,” the title track from his upcoming album.

The video for the song just reached 1 million views on YouTube. Frehley celebrated the milestone on Instagram with the message, “Thank you to all the fans who’ve been with me for 50 years and to the new faces joining the party!”

Meanwhile, Ace is giving folks a sneak peek at the video for his next 10,000 Volts track, “Cherry Medicine.” He’s shared behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the clip, in which he seems obsessed about getting the right amount of balloons in the video.

Frehley’s 10,000 Volts, his first solo release since 2020’s Origins Vol. 2, comes out February 23. He has several performances on the calendar for 2024, including an appearance on the Monsters of Rock Cruise, which runs from May 2-6 out of Miami, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at acefrehley.com.

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Never underestimate the exposure an artist gets by being featured on Music’s Biggest Night. Thanks to his appearance on the Grammy Awards, Billy Joel is back on the Billboard Hot 100 as an artist for the first time in more than 25 years, thanks to “Turn the Lights Back On,” which debuts at #62. 

Billy performed “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new single in 17 years, during the Grammy telecast, before closing the show with his classic “You May Be Right.”

Billboard notes that Billy makes his return just one week shy of the 50th anniversary of his first appearance on the chart: On February 23, 1974, “Piano Man” debuted at #94; it would eventually peak at #25. His last appearance on the Hot 100 was with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love,” which charted in October 1997.

But while Billy’s been absent from the Hot 100 as an artist since 1997, he’s appeared as a writer several times since then. The Glee cast’s versions of “Only the Good Die Young” and “Uptown Girl” charted in 2010 and 2011, respectively, and last year, Fall Out Boy had a hit with their update of “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

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Ringo Starr is giving fans of The Beatles a chance to own prints of classic photos he took of his bandmates over the years.

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of The Beatles coming to America, Ringo has teamed with Genesis Publications to unveil 12 new prints, dubbed The Photograph Portfolio, which include black and white photos of John Lennon and Paul McCartney recording at Abbey Road Studios, the first photo of Ringo on drums at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, one of George Harrison smiling on a yacht in Cannes and more.

Each museum-quality print is reproduced from the original negative, and there are only 25 numbered copies available, each one signed by Ringo.

Prints are on sale now at ringostarrprints.com, with proceeds going to Ringo’s charity, The Lotus Foundation, which funds, supports and promotes charitable projects aimed at advancing social welfare in a variety of areas, including homelessness, cancer and substance abuse.

It looks like fans can look forward to a lot from Ringo in the coming year. He recently announced on Instagram that he’s working on a country album, noting it was originally going to be an EP but has now expanded to 10 or 12 tracks. He’s also set for more shows with his All-Starr Band, starting May 22 in Las Vegas. A complete list of dates can be found at ringostarr.com.

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Bret Michaels is ready for another summer Parti. The Poison frontman has announced the second edition of his Parti-Gras tour, which he launched in 2023. 

Michaels is set to headline Parti-Gras 2.0 and will be joined by an all-star lineup that includes former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm, Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider and country star Chris Janson.

“I guarantee these festivals are a modern-day throwback to those epic tailgate bashes, overflowing with good vibes and nothing but positive energy,” Bret shares. “I created the Parti-Gras festivals first and foremost as a fan of music, bringing along friends, bands and hit songs.”

He adds, “I love it as a celebration of the music – no ego, just nothing but a good time.” 

This specific lineup is confirmed for six shows, starting July 12 in Noblesville, Indiana, and hitting Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and New Jersey, before wrapping August 31 in Gilford, New Hampshire.

A ticket presale kicks off Tuesday, February 13, at 10 a.m., with the general onsale happening Friday, February 16, at 10 a.m. A complete list of dates can be found at bretmichaels.com.

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New Pearl Jam music appears imminent.

After hinting last week that an announcement was coming “soon,” the grunge rockers have shared a new post on Monday, February 12, captioned, “Midnight ET.”

The post also includes a photo of a drum kit sitting in a darkened room in front of a swirling image reminiscent of the Superunknown color palette.

Pearl Jam’s most recent album is 2020’s Gigaton. They’ve been working on a follow-up since at least 2022 with producer Andrew Watt, who also produced Eddie Vedder‘s latest solo album, 2022’s Earthling.

Meanwhile, Pearl Jam is also set to return to the road in 2024. So far, the only U.S. date scheduled is a headlining set at the BottleRock Napa Valley festival in May.

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Jackson Browne and Michael McDonald are among the artists who’ve signed on to help gospel and soul legend Mavis Staples celebrate her 85th birthday. 

Mavis Staples 85th: All-Star Birthday Concert will take place Thursday, April 18, at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. Mavis, who actually turns 85 in July, will be performing at the concert, joined by an all-star lineup that also features Jeff Tweedy, Chris Stapleton, Grace Potter, Black Pumas, Hozier and more.

“At the end of last year, I was talking about retiring,” Mavis shares. “But after sitting with it for a while, I stopped myself and thought, ‘Well, what would I do?’ I asked the Lord, ‘Why am I still here? What do you want of me? Have you kept me around for a reason?’” 

She adds, “And the only reason I could see is to sing my songs. That’s why I’m still here, and I’m looking forward to this show with my friends singing my songs, too!”

Tickets for the concert go on sale Friday, February 16, at 10 a.m. PT. A complete lineup can be found at mavisstsaples85.com.

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Nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were announced on Saturday, February 10, and several of this year’s contenders have taken to social media to share their reactions to the news.

Mick Jones, the only original member of Foreigner still touring with the band, shared, “I deeply appreciate the recognition from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame committee. It is wonderful that FOREIGNER has maintained its presence all these years and brought the music to our fans.”  

He added, “Getting this news today is an incredible endorsement of what we have achieved over time.”

Peter Frampton first joked, “Wait, you mean I’m not already in the @rockhall ?!” He then shared that he was “thrilled” with the nomination. 

 “For a long time you, my friends, have been telling me I should be in it,” he wrote. ” So now that I’m nominated, I’m going to ask you a huge favour.” He then asked fans to vote for him, noting, “Then I’ll see you in Cleveland this Fall. Thank you all!” 

Ozzy Osbourne, who’s already in the Hall as a member of Black Sabbath, said he’s “deeply honored” to be considered as a solo artist, noting it’s “something I could never have imagined.” He added, “After 44 years as a solo artist the fact that I can continue to record music and receive this recognition is something I am incredibly proud of.”

Finally, Lenny Kravitz shared, “Woke up to this! Grateful to be nominated for this prestigious honor, @rockhall.”

The Hall of Fame fan vote is open until April 26; fans can vote for up to seven artists daily. Ozzy is currently in the lead, followed by Frampton and Foreigner.

Inductees will be announced in April, and the 2024 induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland in the fall. 

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On This Day, February 12, 1997…

During a press conference in the lingerie department of a K-Mart in Greenwich Village, New York, U2 announced they would be heading out on what they were calling the Pop Mart world tour. 

The band performed one song during the press conference, “Holy Joe,” a B-side of their recently released single “Discothèque” from the album Pop.

The Pop Mart world tour kicked off April 25 in Las Vegas, and featured an elaborate stage setup that included a 165-foot-wide LED screen, a 100-foot-high golden arch and a large mirror-ball lemon.

In all, the tour consisted of five legs and 93 shows. In addition to North America, Europe and Asia, the tour brought U2 to South America, South Africa and Israel for the first time.

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After teasing some big news for the past week, AC/DC has finally spilled the beans and as many suspected, they’re hitting the road. 

The rockers just announced dates for the Power Up tour, which will feature Angus Young, Brian Johnson and Steve Young, joined by Matt Laug behind the drum kit in place of Phil Rudd, and Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney filling in on bass for Cliff Williams.

The tour is set to kick off with a two-night stand in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, May 17 and 21, with the trek hitting Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, England, Slovakia, Belgium and France, before wrapping with an August 17 show at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland.

So far no U.S. dates have been announced. Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday, February 16. A complete schedule can be found at acdc.com.

AC/DC released their most recent album, Power Up, in 2020, but were unable to tour behind it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new tour is their first trek since 2016, although 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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Even though Ed Sheeran has written some of the most inescapable hits of the past 10 years — and is good pals with his old friend Elton John, to boot — Rod Stewart claims to be unfamiliar with the chart-topping, multi-Platinum artist’s work.

In an interview with The Times, Rod is asked whether he believes that “timeless” songs are still being made. “I’m sure they are,” he says. “Like ‘Maggie May’? Classics that will be played in 50 years?” When the interviewer says yes, that’s what he means, Rod declares that he likes “Whatshisname … he’s British, really talented and his songs will be around.” 

When the interviewer tries to help by suggesting that perhaps Rod means Ed Sheeran, Rod replies, “No, not Ed, I don’t know any of his songs.” He then refers to Ed as “old ginger bollocks.”

Turns out Rod was thinking of George Ezra, a singer/songwriter who in the U.S. is best known for his 2013 song “Budapest.” “I think he writes really tremendous songs. He’ll be around for quite a while,” says Rod. 

But Sir Rod questions the motivation of other young artists these days.

“The people I came up with — the Stones, Elton — we all came into it because we loved the music,” he says. “Money and fame didn’t factor — it was a burning ambition to sing. That may have changed. Now it’s more, ‘Ooh, let’s have a go at music. I don’t even have to play well. Maybe I’ll get rich.’ Fame comes before everything. All kids want is fame.”

Rod’s new album, Swing Fever, is out February 23. He’s set to perform a co-headlining show with Billy Joel in Cleveland on September 13. He tells The Times, “I’m knocked out by that!”

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