Classic Rock News

Tributes to legendary crooner Tony Bennett flooded social media following the news that he passed away Friday, July 21, at age 96.

A post on the singer’s official social media accounts revealed that music was part of Bennett’s life even at the end. “Tony left us today but he was still singing the other day at his piano and his last song was, ‘Because of You,’ his first #1 hit,” the post read. “Tony, because of you we have your songs in our heart forever.”

As for the tributes, Billy Joel, who duetted with Bennett on “New York State Of Mind” at Joel’s Last Play At Shea concerts in 2008, and appeared on Bennett’s collaborative albums Playin’ with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues and Duets: An American Classic, honored the singer on his website. He called Bennett “one of the most important interpreters of American popular song during the mid to late 20th century.” 

“He was a joy to work with. His energy and enthusiasm for the material he was performing was infectious,” he continued. “He was also one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever known.”

Former President Barack Obama also paid tribute to Bennett, calling him “an iconic songwriter and entertainer who charmed generations of fans.” He added, “He was also a good man—Michelle and I will always be honored that he performed at my inauguration.” 

And former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also praised Bennett, sharing that they “loved and admired” him. They said they “marveled at the breadth of his talent and depth of his commitment to creating a better world.” 

Elton John also shared his condolences, writing, “So sad to hear of Tony’s passing. Without doubt the classiest singer, man, and performer you will ever see. He’s irreplaceable. I loved and adored him.” 

Among the other tributes:

The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards shared a photo of him and Tony from 2015, writing, “May you Rest in Peace, Tony Bennett!”

David Letterman shared a clip of Bennett performing on his late night talk show, writing, “The great Tony Bennett sings ‘Everybody Has The Blues.’ RIP, Tony.”

Mariah Carey: “Rest in Peace Tony Bennett. It was such an honor to work with one of the world’s most beloved, respected and legendary singers of the past century. We will miss you.”

Steven Van Zandt: “RIP Tony Bennett. The best of the best. The last of the legends. A man whose heart was as big as his voice. The world’s foremost practitioner of the ‘Art Of Excellence.’ Deepest love and condolences to my friend Danny and the family.”

Ozzy Osbourne: “Very sad to hear about Tony Bennett’s passing. Rest in Peace.”

Harry Connick, Jr.: “rest in peace, tony… you changed the world with your voice… thank you for always being so kind to me… i love you and i’ll miss you very much…@itstonybennett.”

Michael Bublé: “Tony Bennett is one of the greatest vocalists, storytellers and interpreters of all time. To say he was an important part of who I became is an understatement. … it was the honor of a lifetime to learn from him. Having my hero take me under his wing was one of the greatest moments of my life and my career.”

Nile Rodgers: “My most heartfelt condolences go out to Tony Bennett’s family and friends. They’re also my emotional family and friends.”

Carole King: “RIP Tony Bennett. Such a big loss. Deepest sympathy to his family and the world.”

KISS‘ Gene Simmons: “Today we lost an icon of icons. Kind, considerate and as Sinatra was quoted as saying, the best singer of them all. Rest In Peace, Tony Bennett.”

KISS‘ Paul Stanley: “RIP Tony Bennett. His gift for melody and his depth of grasping a lyric was without compare. To the end the master.”

Richie Sambora: “We’ve just lost one of the greats of all time.. Tony Bennett.. I’m profoundly sad. God bless you brother and thank you.. for all you have shown us and bestowed upon us.”

Flea: “i love the immortal Tony Bennett, what a dude, what a class act, what a singer. so grateful to have shared a stage with him. a beautiful human being.”

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Dolly Parton has released another track from her upcoming rock album, Rockstar. Her latest is a cover of the Queen classic “We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You.”

Rockstar, dropping November 17, features Dolly collaborating with a whole host of A-list artists, including The Beatles‘ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Steven Tyler, Steve Perry, Sting, Stevie Nicks, Richie Sambora, Elton John, Peter Frampton and more.

In addition to “We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You,” the album has Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dolly covering such classic tunes as “Let It Be,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me,” “Freebird” and more, along with some Dolly originals.

Rockstar will be released a four-LP or two-CD set. It is available for preorder now.

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The second season of the Showtime series Yellowjackets is getting an appropriately ’90s-tastic soundtrack.

The compilation, due out September 1, includes Nirvana‘s “Something in the Way,” Garbage‘s “#1 Crush,” The Cranberries‘ “Zombie,” Live‘s “Lightning Crashes,” 4 Non Blondes‘ “What’s Up?” and Veruca Salt‘s “Seether” as well as the previously released Florence + the Machine‘s cover of No Doubt‘s “Just a Girl” and Alanis Morissette‘s version of the Yellowjackets theme song.

You’ll also get a taste of the 2000s thanks to the inclusion of Papa Roach‘s “Last Resort.”

Yellowjackets jumps between the ’90s and the present day as it tells the story of a group of teenagers involved in a plane crash, and how the experience continues to affect them as adults. Its season 2 finale aired in May.

Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” was also memorably used in 2022’s The Batman film.

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Joni Mitchell’s upcoming live album, Joni Mitchell At Newport, is set to drop July 28, and now, fans are getting to hear another track from the record.

The latest is Joni’s performance of the George Gershwin classic “Summertime,” which was actually the first song she sang during the Joni Jam at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival, her first live performance in 20 years.

Joni Mitchell At Newport, produced by Joni and Brandi Carlile, features all the performances from the onstage Joni Jam. In addition to Carlile, Joni was joined by a host of guests, including Carlile’s bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Wynonna Judd, Celisse, Lucius’ Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig and Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith.

Joni Mitchell At Newport is available for preorder now.

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Neil Young’s classic live album Odeon Budokan is being released on vinyl for the very first time.

The 10-track album was recorded in 1976 at two different venues: London’s Hammersmith Odeon and Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan Hall. Young’s acoustic performance in London on March 31 of that year is highlighted on side one of the release, while side two features an electric set with Crazy Horse, recorded March 11 in Tokyo. The album features performances of such songs as  “Cortez the Killer,” “Old Man,” “After the Gold Rush” and more.

While this is the album’s first vinyl release, its contents aren’t completely unknown to fans. Odeon Budokan was previously released on CD as part of Young’s 2020 Archives Volume II box set.

Odeon Budokan will be released September 1 and is available for preorder now at the Greedy Hand Store at Neil Young Archives as well as all other retailers.

Here is the Odeon Budokan track list:

Side 1

“The Old Laughing Lady”
“After The Gold Rush”
“Too Far Gone”
“Old Man”
“Stringman”

Side 2

“Don’t Cry No Tears”
“Cowgirl In The Sand”
“Lotta Love”
“Drive Back”
“Cortez The Killer”

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New Jersey’s native son Bruce Springsteen has teamed with fellow Garden State rockers The Gaslight Anthem on a new song. The Boss is featured on the New Brunswick band’s latest single, “History Books,” which is the title track from their new album, due out October 27. 

“When Bruce Springsteen said I should write a duet for us, I think my head exploded,” says Gaslight frontman Brian Fallon. “It will never get old to me that one of the greatest songwriters in the world, and one of my hero’s voices, will forever be captured in a song I wrote at a small wooden desk, in October, in New Jersey.”

You can listen to “History Books” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

Springsteen is still in Europe with the E Street Band and will play Hockenheim, Germany, on July 21. The tour returns to the U.S. with a two-night stand at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, August 9 and 11. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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Queen loves to keep their audience guessing at their live shows; that’s the subject of “Expect the Unexpected,” episode 26 of their weekly YouTube series Queen the Greatest Live.

In the episode, Brian May and Roger Taylor discuss their desire to throw in surprises in order to keep the audience engaged and keep things fresh for themselves on long tours. 

Some of the ways they’ve done that is with acoustic sets, medleys of their hits and surprise covers of other people’s tunes. An example of the last approach is shown in the clip via a medley of Elvis Presley’s “(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care,” Ricky Nelson’s “Hello Mary Lou” and the Little Richard classic “Tutti Frutti,” from their shows at London’s Wembley Stadium on their 1986 Magic Tour. 

“Why cover other people’s songs? It’s just an instinct. Sometimes you just want to give it that thing which you loved when you were a kid,” May shares. “I suppose it refreshes us and sometimes it’s quite refreshing for the audience. It’s out of the blue. They don’t expect it. It just brings something out of you, you can be a bit more reckless with other people’s material than with your own sometimes. Fun. It’s just fun, I guess.” 

Taylor adds, “It’s kind of telling people this is why we love rock and roll, because these songs really influenced us. It’s nice to do those. It keeps our interest up and kind of broadens the show a bit.”

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Eight months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters hosted a star-studded concert version of the band’s classic album The Wall at the site of its former location.

The concert featured a host of A-list musicians, including Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Scorpions, Sinead O’Connor, Cyndi Lauper and more. It did not include Waters’ former Pink Floyd bandmates David Gilmour, Nick Mason or Rick Wright, prompting controversy over whether they were ever asked to join.

A month after the concert, Waters released the live album and video, The Wall — Live in Berlin.

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Roger Waters has finally stopped teasing fans about his reimagined The Dark Side of the Moon.

The rocker just announced that the album, The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, will be released October 6 and shared the first track from it, his reimagined take on “Money.” 

“He’s gone and done it. He’s reimagined it,” Waters is heard saying in a video post on Instagram, adding, “He must be mad.” 

Waters first revealed he was rerecording the 1973 album back in February ahead of the album’s 50th anniversary. He shared a tease of his new take on “Us and Them” back in March, explaining his rerecorded album was “a way for me to honor a recording that Nick [Mason] and Rick [Wright] and Dave [Gilmour] and I have every right to be very proud of.”

The Dark Side of the Moon Redux is available for preorder now.

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E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren is ready to share his latest solo project, Mountains, which was recorded during the pandemic.

Lofgren tells ABC Audio that while he loved being home with his wife, Amy, and their dogs, “it was the first time in my life that I didn’t do anything kind of professionally,” and he knew he needed to change that.

“So I just really hunkered down and I was kind of excited to write a record, just write what I was feeling,” he shares. “And it really was kind of a great adventure when I got into it.” 

Lofgren says the title of the album is reflective of the hard times the world was going through with the pandemic and the divisive political climate.

“Mountains was obvious to me because I felt all of us climbing new mountains, new challenges. Everybody had surprising stuff going on that was very challenging,” he says.

The album features special guests like Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Ron Carter and the late David Crosby, who Lofgren says had wanted to work with him for a while.

“David Crosby, God rest his soul, friend of 55 years, had told me at the end of the last record, Blue with Lou, ‘Let me sing on your record,’” Nils says. Unfortunately, he had already finished that record, which was released in 2019. But then a new opportunity came with the Mountains track “I Remember Her Name.”

Nils says, “I called and said, ‘Look, I got an idea for a song, give me a little bit, I’ll send it to you,’” and Crosby simply replied, “Great. Count me in.”  

Mountains will be released Friday, July 21. It is available for preorder now.

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