Classic Rock News

It feels like Elton John‘s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour has been going on forever, and it kind of has: It started back in 2018 and right now, it’s set to conclude in July 2023. Then, Elton swears, it’ll be over for good.

“I can tell you now that this is it,” he tells the British publication MusicWeek. “I will not be devoid of music, but as far as schlepping around the world doing shows, I don’t want to do it anymore. I’ve done it since I was 17.”

While Elton wants to wind things down touring-wise, his music career has had a big resurgence over the past few years. His set list includes both his first number-one hit — 1970’s “Your Song” — and his most recent number-one hit, which came last year with the Dua Lipa duet “Cold Heart.”

“I’m a 75-year-old heritage musician with a great catalog of songs and a great track record, but that doesn’t mean to say you stay relevant,” Elton points out. He thanks his management — which includes his husband David Furnish — for keeping him that way, and of course, Dua helped, too.

“She’s got everything there is to have as a female artist,” Elton says. “She’s bright, modest and not carried away by her own success.”

In fact, Elton feels young female artists like Dua and the bands HAIM and Wet Leg are “making the best music” these days. “It comes from innocence and pure joy and that, for me, is what music is about,” he says of those acts.

As for young male artists, Elton says he just got a listen to Lewis Capaldi’s eagerly anticipated sophomore album. While he reveals that Lewis has “apprehensions” about it, in his opinion, he says, “it’s a no-brainer.”

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The new documentary The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s “American Pie” gets its television premiere today on the Paramount+ streaming service.

The film, which focuses on Don McLean‘s enduring 1971 anthem “American Pie” and its legacy, features new interviews with the singer/songwriter, as well as with country star Garth Brooks, Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson, actor Peter Gallagher, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and others.

The film also tells the story of the 1959 plane crash that killed rock ‘n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper — the incident that serves as a launching point for the tune — and features McLean, for the first time ever, sharing details about the tune’s creation and the meaning behind its lyrics.

McLean had previously been reluctant to discuss the song’s enigmatic lyrics, but he tells ABC Audio that he recently had a change of heart, noting, “I’m at the last portion of my life, and I feel if people want to know, I’ll tell them everything I can tell them.”

Don recalls that as he was shooting his last interview for the film, “I said, ‘You know what? We’re missing the most important thing. I’ve got to talk about the lyrics of this song and how I did this, and what I was thinking.'”

Among the revelations McLean offers up are whether some of the enigmatic characters he mentions in “American Pie” actually were intended to represent such legendary music figures as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and The Byrds.

The documentary also includes segments about the recording of “American Pie,” and about McLean’s performance this year at the Surf Ballroom — the Iowa venue where Holly, Valens and The Big Bopper played the night they were killed — on the 63rd anniversary of the tragedy.

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Peter Frampton and Toto‘s Steve Lukather are among the talented guitarists who will participate in a new edition of Joe Satriani‘s G4 Experience guitar camp and concert series, taking place January 3-7, 2023, at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa in Henderson, Nevada.

Other musicians who will be jamming and sharing their musical expertise at the four-day event include Deep Purple‘s Steve Morse, Testament‘s Alex Skolnick, longtime Rob Zombie guitarist John 5, Five Finger Death Punch‘s Andy James and blues rocker Eric Gales.

The G4 Experience, which is returning for the first time since 2019, offers guitar workshops, jam sessions, nightly concerts, meet-and-greets, photo opportunities, autograph-signing sessions, recreational activities and more.

The nightly concerts will feature Satriani performing with his longtime backing band — drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Bryan Beller and keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte. It also will include appearances by special guests and faculty members.

In a message about the event, Satriani says about the diverse list of guest instructors, “We bring together this eclectic mix to show all the different sides of playing guitar. They’re all brilliant musicians with styles that are all over the map.”

He adds, “They all have such different jobs, they’ve made millions of people happy with their playing, and yet they do it so differently. Every one of these players comes with fantastic new insights and innovations on playing guitar.”

Visit G4Experience.com for more information and to reserve your place at the camp. Those who register now will receive a 10% discount.

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Police drummer Stewart Copeland has collaborated on a new rock opera with The Pretenders‘ Chrissie Hynde and others called The Witches Seed that will get its world premiere on July 22 at the Tones Teatro Natura venue near Oira, Italy.

Copeland composed the music for the production, which was inspired by the history of the witch hunts in Europe during the bloodiest years of the Inquisition.

The Witches Seed includes some songs written by Hynde and features a libretto by award-winning British playwright Jonathan Moore, who has worked with Copeland on several previous opera projects.

The production features innovative video sets created by Edvige Faini, an acclaimed concept artist who has a long history working with Hollywood production studios, as well as with noteworthy video game producers.

The opera tells the tale of three women who are falsely accused of being witches during a time when the plague and other crises were causing great upheaval across Europe.

Irene Grandi, an Italian singer/songwriter who has scored many chart hits in her home country, has a starring role in the production.

The premiere of The Witches Seed is part of the 2022 Tones on the Stones Festival.

Meanwhile, Copeland has several of his “Police Deranged for Orchestra” concerts lined up for this year in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. The shows feature performances of reimagined orchestral versions of songs by his old band. Visit StewartCopeland.net for his full schedule.

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A new photo exhibition focusing on pictures of The Rolling Stones taken by rock photographer Norman Seeff in 1972 to promote the band’s album Exile on Main St. will open at Modern Rocks Gallery in East Austin, Texas, on August 19.

The exhibit, titled “Norman Seeff: Fifty Years in Exile,” will feature rare, unseen and vintage photos of The Stones that Seeff took during a late night session in ’72, some of which were used for a set of postcards that were included with the original Exile on Main St. packaging.

In addition, the exhibit will include a collection of prints of other noteworthy photos taken by Seeff, who also created a number of new prints especially for the show.

“I’ve always wanted to use my photography as source material for creating art pieces,” says Seeff. “The photos serve as a jumping off point. I decided to use the exhibition as an opportunity to experiment. People have been very pleased with the results I think.”

Adds Modern Rocks Gallery owner Steven Walker, “We’re absolutely thrilled to be hosting ‘Fifty Years in Exile.’ These original darkroom prints are testament to Norman Seeff’s greatness as both a photographer and an artist.”

An opening reception will take place August 19 starting at 7 p.m. local time. The event will feature a special Rolling Stones-themed cocktail called “Soul Survivor,” while Tumblin’ Dice bourbon also will be poured.

The exhibit will run until September 20.

Exile on Main St. was released in May 1972. The double album spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 and yielded two hit singles, “Tumbling Dice” and the Keith Richards-sung “Happy.”

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As ZZ Top prepares to release its latest album, Raw, this Friday, the Texas trio has announced plans for a new Las Vegas residency at The Venetian Theatre.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ latest engagement at the venue inside The Venetian Las Resort is a five-show stand scheduled for December 3, 4, 7, 9 and 10.

Tickets for the new concerts will go on sale to the general public this Friday, July 22 at 10 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster.com, VenetianLasVegas.com, box offices at the resort or by calling 866-641-7469.

Pre-sale tickets will be available to ZZ Top fan club members starting Tuesday, July 19 at 10 a.m. PT; Ticketmaster customers and the resorts’ Grazie loyalty members will have access to the pre-sale beginning Wednesday, July 20 at 10 a.m. PT.

ZZ Top has played several residencies at The Venetian over the years, with the most recent taking place in October 2021.

Leading up to the Vegas performances, the band has over 30 other concerts lined up around the U.S., including a trio of shows in Texas this September that will feature Jeff Beck and Heart‘s Ann Wilson.

Visit ZZTop.com to check out their full itinerary.

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Wolfgang Van Halen has commented on the rumored Van Halen tour that would pay tribute to his late father, the iconic Eddie Van Halen.

Reports of the tour first surfaced when former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted revealed that he was approached by VH drummer Alex Van Halen and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani for a jam session that ultimately “fizzled.” Satriani then confirmed that he’d been speaking with Alex and VH vocalist David Lee Roth about a potential tribute while admitting the whole thing was “complicated.”

Now, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Wolf reaffirmed that there were talks of a tribute to Eddie, sharing, “There was an attempt at doing something.” He added, “It was not a tour” but rather a single tribute concert.

“I don’t like to speak negatively about people, but there are some people that make it very difficult to do anything when it comes to Van Halen,” Wolf said. “We made an attempt, and some people can be hard to work with, and made it not happen.”

When asked to clarify his involvement in the project, Wolf explained, “When it comes to Van Halen, and decision-making overall and what Van Halen does, it’s Al, and then I’m there and supportive.”

As for whether he gave his “blessing,” he said, “It didn’t even get to that point.”

“It was in such an early stage that it never even got off the ground,” Wolf added, explaining that by the time Newsted had made his comments, “It was already not happening.”

The interviewer then asked if a certain “singer with three initials” is to blame, and Wolf replied, “I would say, ‘Do your research on the history of Van Halen, and come to your conclusions.'”

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Axl Rose has dedicated Guns N’ Roses‘ recently concluded European tour to late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Over the weekend, in a tweet following the tour’s closing show in Germany, Rose wrote, “It’s just a simple gesture n’ it’s awkward dealing with the gravity of something like this but in an effort to pay [our] respects we’d like to dedicated this tour to our friend Taylor Hawkins.”

“Taylor was a really great guy and it was always great to see him!” the “Welcome to the Jungle” singer continued. “He was a great n’ always welcome part of touring these last few years! This is such a horrible thing and [our] hearts go out to his family, friends, band manes and everyone who love him.”

Hawkins passed away unexpectedly on March 25 in Bogotá, Colombia, ahead of a Foo Fighters show scheduled there for later that night. He was 50 years old.

Foo Fighters will be holding a pair of tribute shows to Hawkins taking place September 3 in London and September 27 in Los Angeles.

Also in his note, Rose thanked Carrie Underwood, who joined GN’R for two shows in London to sing “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”

“She’s AMAZING!!” Rose wrote of the country star. He added that Underwood was also a “real lifesaver,” alluding to the vocal issues he was battling during the second London show, which forced GN’R to postpone their next show in Scotland.

“At least someone could sing!!” Rose wrote.

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The Boss is a grandpa.

Bruce Springsteen‘s wife and band mate, Patti Scialfa, took to Instagram over the weekend to announce the arrival of the latest addition to the Springsteen clan: Lily Harper Springsteen, the daughter of their youngest son, Sam.

Scialfa posted a pair of photos: the first, a black-and-white shot of Sam, who’s a New Jersey firefighter, with his fiancée wheeling a baby carriage; the second, a color pic of Lily wearing a pink hat and pink mittens.

The photos, captioned “walking the baby” followed by a yellow flower emoji, drew congratulatory messages from Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Eddie Vedder‘s wife Jill and Sting‘s daughter Mickey Sumner, among others.

The baby is Bruce and Patti’s first grandchild.

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Chicago‘s 38th studio album, Born for This Moment, was released on Friday.

The 14-track collection features the lead single “If This Is Goodbye,” which recently broke into the top 20 of Billboard‘s Adult Contemporary chart.

“‘If This Is Goodbye’ was one of the first songs I heard as a possibility to be on the album, and immediately I knew that this definitely should be a contender,” founding Chicago trumpet player Lee Loughnane tells ABC Audio. “And I think 15, 20, maybe even 30 songs came in, [but when I heard that one, I thought,] ‘Yeah, this has got…some legs on it.’ And turns out it does.”

The song is a showcase for Chicago singer Neil Donell, who joined the group in 2018.

“He is the latest tenor voice in the band. And he sings as well or better than [former member Peter] Cetera ever did…and Cetera was at the top of his game when he ended up leaving us,” Loughnane maintains. “So…it’s really good to have him in, and he’s enjoying it, we’re enjoying having him…The band is smokin’ right now.”

Lougnane says recording Born for This Moment was challenging, since most of the project was done remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We couldn’t even get into the same rooms together to speak with each other,” notes Lee. “[W]e missed being able to have that camaraderie, but I think it came out pretty good, despite not seeing each other all that much.”

Loughnane reveals that the entire band did record one song on the album together, a tune he co-wrote called “If This Isn’t Love.”

“We were on tour and I had us set up before the show,” Lee explains, “and we ran the song down…three or four times.”

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