Classic Rock News

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee — 70 years on the throne — this weekend.  Throughout her reign, the queen has conferred knighthoods and other honors on many musicians, from Ed Sheeran, Elton John and Paul McCartney to Mick Jagger, Annie Lennox and Bono. Sting, who was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, says he admires the queen’s dedication.

“I think she’s had a very difficult job and she’s done it with a great deal of grace and detachment,” Sting told ABC Audio on Friday. “In many ways, she’s … y’know, she has no political power. She’s just a symbol. And I think she’s been a pretty good example.”

Sting, however, is aware that the British Empire’s past sins have made some countries in the Commonwealth want independence. Most recently, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the country wants to remove the queen as the head of state.

“I know there’s some controversy in Jamaica for good reason. You know, the British Empire was not the most salubrious of things. So [my feelings about it are] a mixture of both. I’m not really a monarchist, but I respect the queen.”

He laughs, “She gave me a medal, so I’m grateful!”

Sting’s friend and musical collaborator Shaggy, who was born in Jamaica, says he has no problem with the queen.

“I’m about hard work,” he tells ABC Audio. “And when I look at her age and she’s still making these appearances and still owning up to her duties. I mean, I tip my hat off to her. That is amazing!”

Sting and Shaggy recently teamed up to make an album called Come Fly Wid Mi, featuring Shaggy singing Frank Sinatra classics, with Sting producing and contributing vocals.

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Jackson Browne has debuted an official video for “Minutes to Downtown,” an introspective track from his latest studio album, 2021’s Downhill from Everywhere.

The clip, which you can watch at Browne’s YouTube channel, features the 73-year-old singer/songwriter driving around Los Angeles during the day and evening while wearing mirrored sunglasses. The video was directed by Jackson’s son Ryan Browne.

“The song is about wanting to be somewhere else, but for whatever reasons, you’re tied to the place where you live and the things you do,” Jackson says about the tune. “So I wanted it to be me driving around. To me, the video has a distinctive feature, which is that nothing happens. You don’t arrive anywhere, right?”

Coinciding with the clip’s premiere, Jackson will kick off a new U.S. leg of his “An Evening With” tour Friday night with a show in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The summer trek, which features the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer performing with his full backing band, is plotted out through a four-show stand — July 26, 27, 29 and 30 — at New York City’s Beacon Theatre.

Jackson also has another leg of the tour lined up for later this year, which runs from an August 31 performance in San Diego through a September 25 concert at the famed Red Rock Park & Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

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Jeff Beck has been joined by a very famous special guest on his current U.K. tour — guitarist Johnny Depp. At the British blues-rock guitarist’s latest concert, in Gateshead on Tuesday, he revealed that he and the Pirates of the Caribbean star will be releasing a collaborative album soon.

Stereogum reports that during the concert, Beck said to the audience, “I met this guy five years ago, and we’ve never stopped laughing since. We actually made an album. I don’t know how it happened. It will be out in July.”

According to Setlist.fm, Depp joined Beck at his last four U.K. concerts to perform several songs, including an original called “Hedy Lamarr.” They also covered John Lennon‘s “Isolation,” late Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson‘s “Time,” Marvin Gaye‘s “What’s Going On,” Jimi Hendrix‘s “Little Wing,” Killing Joke‘s “The Death and Resurrection Show” and The Beatles‘ “A Day in the Life.”

Beck and Depp actually released a collaborative studio version of “Isolation” as a digital single in 2020.

Depp’s latest performance with Beck came a day after Johnny scored a major legal victory against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, as jurors agreed that she defamed him with an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018.

Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in the defamation suit, although the judge clarified that Virginia law caps the latter at $350,000. 

Depp, 58, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million, claiming the article obliquely — and falsely — accused him of abuse, which, he maintained, devastated his film career.

Beck has four concerts left on his U.K. trek, but it’s not known if Depp will perform at the upcoming shows.

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After being presented an honorary doctorate by Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music virtually last month during the school’s 2022 commencement festivities, Ringo Starr got to accept the degree in person on Thursday at an intimate event held at Berklee’s David Friend Recital Hall.

The Boston Herald reports that the ceremony began with performances from Berklee students, followed by introductory remarks from the school’s president, Erica Muhl, and drummer Gregg Bissonette, a longtime member of Ringo’s All Starr Band.

Ringo then took the stage to accept the honor. During his speech, video of which has been posted on Berklee’s official YouTube channel, the former Beatles drummer thanked the school and declared, “The idea that I’m a doctor blows me away.”

He then commented, “I just hit the buggers, and it seems to be I hit them in the right place.” Ringo went over to a drum kit set up on stage and demonstrated a couple of simple lessons he’s given to fledgling drummers, including his son Zak Starkey.

Ringo also recalled how he developed a passion for drumming after he was given a little drum to play in a hospital while he was recuperating from an illness as a teenager.

“I just wanted to be a drummer from that moment on. It was my big dream,” Ringo said. “And it’s still unfolding.”

Ringo and the All Starr Band also played a concert in Boston Thursday night at the Wang Theatre. Their current North American tour continues Friday night in Worcester, Massachusetts.

At the May commencement, Ringo sent a prerecorded video featuring another acceptance speech that you can also watch at Berklee’s YouTube channel.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers have premiered a new song called “Nerve Flip.”

The grungy track was previously an exclusive to the Japanese version of the new Chili Peppers album Unlimited Love, but is now available globally via digital platforms.

Unlimited Love, the first RHCP album in six years and the first with guitarist John Frusciante back in the band since 2006’s Stadium Arcadium, was released in April. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with the biggest week for a rock album in over a year.

The Chili Peppers will launch a world tour in support of Unlimited Love this Saturday, June 4, in Spain. The trek comes to the U.S. in July.

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Mike Levine, bassist for the Canadian power trio Triumph, says a tribute album celebrating his band’s music is being overseen by producer Mike Clink, best known for his work on most of Guns N’ Roses‘ albums.

Levine tells ABC Audio that Clink, who also produced Triumph’s 1986 album Sport of Kings, is working on the project in Los Angeles, and that it’s “close to being finished.”

“[The album] got delayed like everything else during COVID because nobody wanted to go to the studio, but everybody seems to want to play again,” Mike notes. “So he’s getting near the finish line with it. So we’re hoping to see that early next year.”

Levine reveals that among the guest artists who have contributed to the record are Starship singer Mickey Thomas and ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach.

Levine says he thinks Thomas “is one of the greatest singers in rock ‘n’ roll,” while Bach is a huge Triumph fan who discussed his love of the band in the 2021 documentary Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine. Bach also briefly toured with Triumph in 1993 just before the band broke up that year.

Mike says with a laugh that Sebastian “wanted to sing every song, and we [told him], ‘No, you can’t do that.'”

Levine reports that a number of “top-draw players” also have contributed to the album, including longtime John Fogerty touring drummer Kenny Aronoff and Bon Jovi guitarist Phil X. Phil played with Triumph in 1992 and ’93 after founding singer/guitarist Rik Emmett left the band.

Triumph hasn’t played together since a surprise reunion at a special 2019 fan event, as documented in Rock & Roll Machine, although the trio of Levine, Emmett and singer/drummer Gil Moore have participated in a number of events promoting the film.

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With today marking the 70th anniversary of the coronation of the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Paul McCartney posted a message on his social media sites congratulating the 96-year-old monarch on her long reign.

“70 beautiful years of Queen Elizabeth the second. Congrats ma’ am! And thanks,” Paul writes. Accompanying the caption is a photo of McCartney with the queen in 1996 at the opening of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, which the former Beatles legend co-founded.

A variety of Platinum Jubilee events commemorating Queen Elizabeth’s 70th anniversary have been scheduled over the next few days, including the Platinum Party at the Palace concert this Saturday, June 4, which will feature performances from Rod Stewart, Elton John, Queen + Adam Lambert, Duran Duran, Diana Ross and many other stars.

Meanwhile, McCartney, who is currently touring the U.S., has revealed his preconcert ritual in a new installment of his “You Gave Me the Answer” Q&A feature.

McCartney says he begins his routine about an hour before he has to hit the stage.

“I have a gargle with salt water, then I do my teeth, then I figure out what I’m going to wear, and then I have a kind of Chinese syrup solution you put hot water in. It’s supposed to be good for your throat,” McCartney says.

After that, he usually gets some makeup put on his face, then gets together with his band to do a quick warmup by running through “a bit of ‘Let It Be’ and a little bit of ‘Hey Jude.'”

Then, before hitting the stage, he and the band “come together and do a little confidence boost huddle!”

McCartney’s next show is this Saturday, June 4, in Syracuse, New York.

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Steve Nicks often posts heartfelt essays in response to world events, and the mass shooting in Uvalde, TX that left 19 children and two adults dead has inspired her latest missive.

On Facebook, Stevie writes, “My hope for this country is that the lawmakers just find a way to make buying an assault rifle more difficult.”

The Fleetwood Mac frontwoman continues, “When those guns go into the hands of obviously disturbed people, it gives them a sense of unbelievable power that they have never felt before. Power, used in a bad way, is the opposite of ‘power’ used in a good way. Once people have felt the power of those guns…they are addicted…So don’t give them that power. Make it really hard for them to get that gun.”

She emphasizes, “No one is trying to take away guns from people who get them for a good reason. Guns are not toys. Background checks are not that hard.”

Stevie then poses this question: “So, I ask you; do you want to go down in the history books as being responsible for these school shootings that will inevitably continue, or do you want to be remembered as the people who finally gathered together in unity and empathy as the people who stopped it[?]”

Saying she’s “dying inside for the loss of those children in Texas and their parents,” Stevie writes, “If I had gone to school one day when I was ten and been shot; my little body destroyed, I think my father would have done the same thing that that lovely teacher’s husband did. Gone home, sat down in a chair and died…of a broken heart.”

Two days after teacher Irma Garcia died in the shooting, her husband Joe suffered a fatal heart attack.

Steve ends by saying, “I am just so sad.”

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The Rolling Stones kicked off their SIXTY tour in fine form last night with a two-hour show in front of a sold-out crowd of 53,000 at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

The Stones’ 19-song set included their first live performance of the 1966 gem “Out of Time.” The show also featured renditions of such classic as “Street Fighting Man,” “19th Nervous Breakdown,” “Tumblin’ Dice,” “Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Miss You,” “Start Me Up,” “Paint It Black,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

The British rock legends also played their most recent single, 2020’s “Living in a Ghost Town,” as well as their 1978 hit “Beast of Burden,” the latter of which was chosen by an online fan vote.

During the concert, the band celebrated guitarist Ronnie Wood‘s 75th birthday, singing “Happy Birthday” to Wood with help from the audience.

According to NME, the concert began with a video tribute to late Stones drummer Charlie Watts, who died last August at age 80. Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine was also addressed, with footage of the war-torn country shown during the group’s performance of “Gimme Shelter.”

Meanwhile, as he’s done for many years, Wood is creating illustrated set lists for each concert The Stones play on tour, and limited-edition prints of the painted lists are available at his online art store. The set list for the Madrid show is available now, priced at $100.

The next concert on The Stones’ 60th anniversary European trek is scheduled for this Sunday, June 5, in Munich, Germany.

Here’s the full set list of the Madrid show:

“Street Fighting Man”
“19th Nervous Breakdown”
“Sad Sad Sad”
“Tumblin’ Dice”
“Out of Time”
“Beast of Burden” (vote)
“Can’t Always Get What You Want”
“Living in a Ghost Town”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“Happy”
“Slipping Away”
“Miss You”
“Midnight Rambler”
“Start Me Up”
“Paint It Black”
“Sympathy for the Devil”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“Gimme Shelter”
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

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Wolfgang Van Halen is speaking out against Reelz cable network and Autopsy: The Last Hours of… for the show’s upcoming episode about Wolf’s father, the late Van Halen icon Eddie Van Halen.

The controversial show, which has previously profiled other late rockers, including Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie, purports to uncover “the truth behind the controversial deaths of global icons and people whose untimely deaths were surrounded by scandal and intense media attention.”

A description for the Van Halen episode, which is set to premiere this Sunday, June 5, reads, “Eddie died at the age of 65 from cancer. But if caught early, Eddie’s disease had reasonable survival rates. So what happened?”

It continues, “World renowned forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Hunter needs to analyze every detail of Eddie Van Halen’s life in order to piece together what else may have been going on in his body, ultimately leading to his untimely death.”

In response to an article announcing the episode, Wolf tweeted, “F*** @ReelzChannel, f*** everyone that works on this show, and f*** you if you watch it.”

“F***ing disgusting trying to glamorize someone’s death from cancer,” he added. “Pathetic and heartless.”

Valerie Bertinelli, Wolf’s mother and Eddie’s ex-wife, had a similar response, replying to her son’s tweet with “Good Christ this is disgusting.”

Reelz has not yet publicly responded to Wolf’s comments.

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