Classic Rock News

After photos showing Elton John in a wheelchair surfaced Wednesday, the legendary singer addressed them head-on in a lengthy Instagram post to assure fans he is in-tip top shape.

“I want to thank all my fans for reaching out to ask about my health, after the tabloids ran a silly story about [me] ‘looking frail’ in a wheelchair,” he started the post, which included several recent photos of him on his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tour. 

“The true story is that I’m in top health, loving my shows and playing and singing at my very best,” he continued. “I give 100% every night and never want to disappoint, especially after everyone has waited so long to get back to seeing shows. Your response to every show has been phenomenal and I’m loving every minute of it.”

Sir Elton then addressed the paparazzi photos directly, explaining, “After another rousing 2.5 hour show, we arrived at Leipzig airport just before curfew, to find part of the airport had closed. It was an extremely long walk to get to the plane, so my team kindly laid on a wheelchair so I could rest my hip after doing the show. That’s all folks.”

The “Cold Heart” singer announced in September he had to postpone some of his 2021 Europe and U.K. tour stops to undergo hip surgery after a fall in the summer that caused him “considerable pain and discomfort.”  

Now that he’s on the road to recovery, Elton signed off his post on a positive note that assured fans, “Last night was another blockbuster show in Bern and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at this weekend’s sold-out show in Milan.” He also thanked his followers for “all your kind words of support!”

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Last November, Graham Nash revealed that he was working on a new album with his childhood friend and fellow Hollies co-founder Allan Clarke, and now the folk-rock legend has shared more details about the project.

Nash tells ABC Audio that the record actually is a new Clarke solo album that’s due out in late July, and that he is singing on “maybe seven or eight tracks.”

Graham says he’s also written one tune for the album.

“[It’s] a song I had written very quickly. It’s a very simple song…about The Hollies’ love for Buddy Holly, and it’s called ‘Buddy’s Back,'” he explains. “And I think it’s a lovely recording. And…it might be his first single off the record.”

Nash, who like Clarke turned 80 earlier this year, says the remainder of the album is made up of new songs written by Allan.

“[H]e’s been writing incredibly well,” Graham raves. “And in a way, more importantly, he has been singing the s*** out of [the songs].”

Nash says he’s particularly happy that Clarke has been singing well, because he’d lost his voice about two decades ago, “which is why he left The Hollies.”

Graham adds, “I probably wouldn’t have done [the album] with such emotion and pleasure if he wasn’t singing quite right…But he’s singing his a** off.”

Nash also says he’ll be glad to perform some shows with Clarke to help promote the project.

“I told him I will do any press that he wants,” Graham notes. “Any way to point the fingers back to Allan Clarke is what I’ll do.”

Meanwhile, Nash continues to promote his recently released album Graham Nash: Live — Songs for Beginners/Wild Tales, and he’ll launch a U.S. solo tour on July 13 in Red Bank, New Jersey.

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Rod Stewart is a big fan of Great Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, so it’s no surprise that he’s going to be part of the all-star lineup performing in her honor Sunday in celebration of her Platinum Jubilee, which marks her 70th year on the throne.

Rod has posted behind-the-scenes footage of his rehearsals for the big moment on his Instagram Story: They’re literally sound checking in front of the gates of Buckingham Palace. There’s also video of Rod, looking dapper in a plaid jacket and a black face mask, watching his backup dancers rehearse their moves.

Finally, a 360-degree video of him at sound check is captioned, “3 days to go!”

Back in February, at the official start of the queen’s Platinum Jubilee year, Rod paid tribute to the queen in an Instagram post, writing, “She’s been a wonderful example of how to conduct yourself with integrity and grace for 70 years now (just like me!) and we should all look forward to acknowledging her magnificent service.”

As previously reported, Rod will part of the Platinum Party at the Palace, a massive concert set for June 4 in front of the palace. The lineup also includes Elton John, Queen + Adam Lambert, Duran Duran, Diana Ross and Alicia Keys, plus Lin Manuel-Miranda, Andrea Bocelli and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.

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The new Red Hot Chili Peppers album Unlimited Love includes 17 songs, but if that’s not enough for you, maybe one more will do the trick.

The “Under the Bridge” rockers have announced the release of a new tune called “Nerve Flip,” an Unlimited Love bonus track currently exclusive to the Japanese version of the album. The song will be available globally on digital platforms this Friday, June 3.

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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With Journey set to release its latest studio album, Freedom, in a little over a month, the band has debuted an official music video for one of the tracks, “You Got the Best of Me,” a melodic rock tune that was made available as an advance single in April.

The clip, which you can watch now on Journey’s YouTube channel, features color and black-and-white performance footage of the band’s current touring lineup — founding guitarist Neal Schon, longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain, lead singer Arnel Pineda, keyboardist/backing vocalist Jason Derlatka, drummer/singer Deen Castronovo and bassist Todd Jensen.

“You Got the Best of Me” showcases Schon’s fluid guitar riffs and Pineda’s soaring vocals.

As previously reported, Freedom will be released on July 8 and can be preordered now.

Two other advance tracks have also been released from Freedom, “The Way We Used to Be” and “Let It Rain,” which debuted in June 2021 and last month, respectively.

Shortly after Freedom arrives, Journey will play a series of four special symphonic concerts in Las Vegas — on July 15, 16, 22 and 23. The band has several other concerts lined up around the U.S. this summer. Visit JourneyMusic.com to check out their full schedule.

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Anthrax is releasing the band’s 40th anniversary streaming show as a live album and concert film titled Anthrax XL.

The performance, which premiered last July, featured two hours of ripping renditions of songs from throughout the thrash icons’ 40-year discography.

“Forty years doesn’t feel like 40 years,” says drummer Charlie Benante. “Sometimes, I have to remind myself about how long this strange trip has been. I enjoy playing these songs, they’re such a huge part of my life, and I know for a lot of our fans, they play a big part in theirs, as well.”

Anthrax XL will be released July 15. It includes the entirety of the streaming performance, as well as bonus footage of rehearsals and guitarist Scott Ian‘s “walking tour” of important Anthrax landmarks in New York City.

For a preview, you can watch the Anthrax XL rendition of the song “Aftershock” streaming now on YouTube.

If you want to see Anthrax in person, they’re launching a co-headlining U.S. tour with Black Label Society in July.

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The new series Pistol, which debuted Tuesday on Hulu, is all about explosive rise and tragic fall of pioneering punk band the Sex Pistols.

Based on founding member and guitarist Steve Jones‘ memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, the series follows “a band of spotty, noisy, working-class kids with ‘no future,’ who shook the boring, corrupt Establishment to its core, threatened to bring down the government and changed music and culture forever.”

The groundbreaking band — which also included vocalist John Lydon, a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Sid Vicious, who replaced original member Glen Matlock — was very close to director and executive producer Danny Boyle‘s heart, coming along at time when he felt all the anger and disenfranchisement the band was feeding off of.

Boyle tells ABC Audio that the punk rock movement “changed so much of Britain, which desperately needed changing. And it sustained a value that surprised everyone because it looked completely self-destructive, that it was going to burn itself out in a very short period of time. But it didn’t.”

And while the Pistols’ musical talents may have been questionable, Boyle thinks it’s their message that lives on today.

“Everybody went on about that they couldn’t play. They could play,” he insists. “More important than whether they could play or they couldn’t play, whether they were qualified or not, was that they had something to say. And that’s all you need.”

Boyle notes that in a misogynistic world, punk music “allowed women to surface and to make a big contribution.” Prime examples, he says, were fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, “Queen of Punk” Jordan and Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, who “went on to sell more records than all the rest of them put together.”

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The Rolling Stones launch their SIXTY tour tonight at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

The first leg of the trek, which celebrates the British rock legends 60th anniversary, will features 14 concerts in 13 European cities, including a pair of concerts in London’s Hyde Park on June 25 and July 3. The tour winds down on July 31 in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Stones also will visit France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands, and will play their first show in Liverpool, U.K., in over 50 years.

According to a press release that announced the outing, the SIXTY tour will feature “a spectacular new…production, including a massive stage, cutting edge lighting and state of the art video design.”

Steve Jordan, who stepped in for longtime Stones drummer Charlie Watts on the band’s 2021 No Filter tour of the U.S. after Watts’ death last August, will once again will be behind the kit for this trek.

The launch of the SIXTY tour also coincides with Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood‘s 75th birthday. The band posted a message on its social media sites that reads, “Happy birthday Ronnie Wood!! We’ll see you on stage tonight in Madrid to celebrate!”

The opening acts for tonight’s show are Sidonie and Vargas Blues Band. The latter act features John Byron Jagger, who is  Stones frontman Mick Jagger‘s nephew.

As they have done for the last several years, The Stones are offering fans the chance to choose one song that they play prior to each show on their tour via an online vote.

Yesterday, Mick posted a series of photos on his Facebook page capturing him visiting various sites around Madrid.

Visit RollingStones.com to check out the band’s full tour schedule.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Rolling Stones launch their SIXTY tour June 1 at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

The first leg of the trek, which celebrates the British rock legends’ 60th anniversary, will feature 14 concerts in 13 European cities, including a pair of concerts in London’s Hyde Park on June 25 and July 3. The tour winds down on July 31 in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Stones will also visit France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands, and will play their first show in Liverpool, England, in over 50 years.

According to a press release that announced the outing, the SIXTY tour will feature “a spectacular new … production, including a massive stage, cutting edge lighting and state of the art video design.”

Steve Jordan, who stepped in for longtime Stones drummer Charlie Watts on the band’s 2021 No Filter tour of the U.S. after Watts’ death last August, will once again will be behind the kit for this trek.

The launch of the SIXTY tour also coincides with Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood‘s 75th birthday. The band posted a message on its social media sites that reads, “Happy birthday Ronnie Wood!! We’ll see you on stage tonight in Madrid to celebrate!”

The opening acts for tonight’s show are Sidonie and Vargas Blues Band. The latter act features John Byron Jagger, who is Stones frontman Mick Jagger‘s nephew.

As they have done for the last several years, The Stones are offering fans the chance to choose one song that they play prior to each show on their tour via an online vote.

Yesterday, Mick posted a series of photos on his Facebook page capturing him visiting various sites around Madrid.

Visit RollingStones.com to check out the band’s full tour schedule.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Fifty years ago today, June 1, 1972, the Eagles soared into the music world with the release of their self-titled debut album.

The band’s country-rock sound, multiple-part harmonies and accomplished musicianship immediately were embraced by pop and rock fans.

The Eagles were formed in 1971 by a quartet of singing musicians — guitarist Glenn Frey, drummer Don Henley, guitarist Bernie Leadon and bassist Randy Meisner — all of whom were playing in Linda Ronstadt‘s backing band when the group came together.

Eagles yielded three hit singles — “Take It Easy,” “Witchy Woman” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” which peaked at #12, #9 and #22, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. The album reached #22 on the Billboard 200 and has sold over 1 million copies in the U.S.

“Take It Easy” was co-written by Frey and his friend Jackson Browne, “Witchy Woman” was co-written by Henley and Leadon, and “Peaceful Easy Feeling” was composed by Glenn’s friend Jack Tempchin.

The album was produced by Glyn Johns, whom Frey wanted to record with because Johns had previously worked with The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin. Johns initially turned the band down, but changed his mind after hearing the members performing the Meisner-penned song “Take the Devil” acoustically while singing harmonies together.

While the Eagles eventually were dominated by Frey and Henley, Johns told Uncut magazine in 2021 that at the time of the band’s debut album, all four members were “equally important.”

“Henley’s strongest contribution was his voice. The same with Frey,” Glyn said. “Bernie Leadon was great on banjo and guitar, and Randy Meisner was a fine bass player, with a voice of extraordinary range … Without any one of them, it wouldn’t have been the same.”

Here’s the Eagles album’s full track list:

“Take It Easy”
“Witchy Woman”
“Chug All Night”
“Most of Us Are Sad”
“Nightingale”
“Train Leaves Here This Morning”
“Take the Devil”
“Earlybird”
“Peaceful Easy Feeling”
“Tryin'”

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