Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe and Judas Priest are among the hard rockers confirmed for 2024 Aftershock festival.
Maiden is set to headline the four-day event, held October 10-13 in Sacramento, California, marking their only U.S. festival set of 2024. Mötley Crüe is also set to headline, with Slipknot and a reunited Slayer rounding out the headlining slots.
Aftershock will feature over 130 bands, the festival’s biggest lineup yet, with Priest performing the same night as Maiden. Other artists on the bill include Pantera, Five Finger Death Punch, Evanescence, Breaking Benjamin, Seether, Tom Morello, Marky Ramone, Halestrom and more.
John Fogerty says he’s “bewildered” by the recent announcement that his appearance at Queensland’s Country Fest in March had been canceled.
“I still remain able and ready and willing to do this show,” he tells Billboard. “I take the commitment of playing for the fans very seriously. Throughout my career, practically my whole life, there’s hardly ever been a cancelation.”
Country Fest is scheduled to happen March 30-31. Organizers blamed “unforeseen circumstances” for Fogerty’s cancellation, but he insists he doesn’t know why it happened.
“I was happy to be coming down to Australia to play. It sounded like a really fun event,” he says.
After the cancellation was announced, Fogerty took to social media to address the issue, insisting he was “blindsided” by the news. Country Fest later posted a clarification regarding the situation, explaining they had been in negotiations with Fogerty’s team for months but they “did not reach a final outcome” and talks stopped as of Friday, February 23.
“The matter is now subject to court proceedings in the Supreme Court of Queensland,” the statement continued, adding the case will be heard in March and they “do not intend to comment further.”
Fogerty also addressed his Australian fans in a separate social media post, performing “Bad Moon Rising” for them. He captioned the clip, “To all my loving fans in Australia… I hope to be back there soon!”
E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt stopped by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on Tuesday, where he played teacher using his TeachRock learning curriculum, which uses music history to teach students important lessons.
According to the Asbury Park Press, Van Zandt sat in on teacher Allison Hoffman’s class, where she taught her students about segregation using The Beatles’ refusal to play to the segregated South in the 1960s as an example.
Students were also taught about Van Zandt’s 1985 protest song “Sun City,” which featured such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne and Bob Dylan, and helped draw attention to apartheid in South Africa.
“It’s a lazy way to have your identity to be based on hatred or hate, you know?” the rocker told the class. “It’s a lazy way of going through life and we have a lot of examples of that going on right now.”
As for the students, Van Zandt told the paper, “They’re just smarter than us and faster than us. … It just confirmed for us the reason we started this curriculum was because we need to create a new methodology of teaching for this generation. We got to do it. The old methods are not going to work for these kids.”
Van Zandt will soon be a little too busy to play teacher, as he and the E Street Band are due to join Springsteen on the latest leg of his tour, which kicks off March 19 in Phoenix, Arizona. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.
Sebastian Bach is set to hit the road this spring on a new tour.
The former Skid Row frontman just announced dates for the What Do I Got To Lose Tour, named after his latest solo single.
The trek will kick off in April in Latin America before launching in the U.S. on May 10 in Jefferson, Louisiana. It will hit cities like Baltimore, Indianapolis, Denver, Houston and Dallas before wrapping June 29 in San Diego, California.
“Can’t wait to play live for all of you this summer no tapes no fakes all real all the time that is how we roll!” Bach shares. “See you on the road mothertruckers!”
Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday, March 1, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at sebastianbach.com.
Bach released the new single “What Do I Got To Lose?” co-written by Myles Kennedy back in December following his appearance on Fox’s The Masked Singer. He was revealed to be thecelebrity inside the Tiki costume.
L-R: Carlos Santana, Clive Davis/Photo credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival
The New York Pops orchestra will honor legendary record executive Clive Davis at its 41st Birthday Gala in April, and many of the artists who’ve worked with Davis over the years will gather to perform at the event at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
John Mellencamp and Carlos Santana are both set to perform, with Santana’s “Smooth” collaborator Rob Thomas also on the bill.
Other artists confirmed for the event include Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Toni Braxton, Melissa Manchester,Fantasia Barrino Taylor,Kenny G, Babyface and even “Ghostbusters” singer Ray Parker Jr.
The concert takes place on April 29, with proceeds going to support the orchestra and its music education programs. You can get tickets via CarnegieHall.org or by calling 212-247-7800.
Over his more than 50-year career, Davis worked at Columbia Records, founded Arista Records and later formed the influential LaFace Records, Bad Boy Records and J Records. He’s been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and has won four Grammys, plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
In addition to the artists who are performing at the concert, the musicians Davis has worked with include Billy Joel, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand and Aretha Franklin.
Bernie Taupin and Elton John, the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song 2024 honorees; Photo Credit: Gavin Bond
Elton John and Bernie Taupin are being honored with the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song this year, and now, we know who’ll be on hand to help them celebrate.
Performers confirmed for the event include Eurythmics’ Annie Lennox, Brandi Carlile, Garth Brooks, Maren Morris, Charlie Puth, Jacob Lusk of Gabriels and hard rockers Metallica.
While Metallica may seem like an odd choice for an Elton and Bernie celebration, the artists have worked together in the past. In fact, Elton covered Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” for their Metallica Blacklist tribute album.
Metallica isn’t the only artist with a past connection to Elton and Bernie. Brandi, a well known friend of Elton, joined him onstage for “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” at his final U.S. show at Dodger’s Stadium in 2022, while Maren covered Elton’s “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” for the 2018 country compilation Restoration: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
Garth has covered Elton songs in concert and recorded his own version of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me,” while Jacob joined Elton onstage at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival in 2023; he’s also set to perform at Elton’s annual Academy Awards viewing party on March 10.
Elton John & Bernie Taupin: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song will air Monday, April 8, at 8 p.m. on PBS.
The Gershwin Prize, established in 2007, recognizes artists “whose career reflects the influence, impact and achievement in promoting song as a vehicle of musical expression and cultural understanding.” Previous winners include Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Lionel Richie and Carole King.
Jon Bon Jovi is getting ready to strap in. He will be a special guest at the NTT IndyCar Series season opener: the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida, which starts on March 9.
That means Jon gets to take what’s called the Fastest Seat In Sports. He will be driven at high speed in a two-seat car around the 1.8 mile temporary street circuit that leads to the starting line for the first race of the 2024 season. His driver will be four-time Indy 500 winner and former Dancing with the Stars champ Hélio Castroneves.
Jon is no stranger to auto racing: He performed at the 2006 Daytona 500 with Bon Jovi.
The new documentary Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story will stream April 26 on Hulu.
Jimmy Fallon first began his role as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show 10 years ago in February 2014. In an interview with Variety, he picks some of his favorite Tonight Show moments over the past decade, including a performance with Metallica.
Fallon specifically recalls when the metal legends joined him and The Tonight Show house band, The Roots, for a rendition of “Enter Sandman” played on classroom instruments, including a xylophone, toy clarinet and kazoo.
“They come off as such a tough band with a tough-guy vibe, and really they are just kind of sweethearts, and really, they just wanted to have fun,” Fallon says.
Metallica will be playing their regular instruments on the upcoming 2024 leg of their M72 tour, which comes to the U.S. in August.
Def Leppard has announced a deluxe edition of their classic album Pyromania, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year.
Frontman Joe Elliott executive produced the new reissue, which drops April 26, and went deep into the band’s archives to uncover unheard demos that are featured on the release.
“A labor of love and I loved every minute of it !!” Elliott shares, noting combing through the vaults to find old demos was a “journey only few of us are lucky enough to take.”
The 40th anniversary edition of Pyromania will be released as a four-CD + Blu-Ray box set featuring the original album and a full disc of those unheard demos, including “Photograph – Rough Mix Version (Unfinished Vocal),” which will be released March 1.
Additionally, the box set includes two live shows, one recorded in Los Angeles and another in Dortmund, Germany, as well as a Blu-Ray featuring an Atmos mix of the album, 5.1/Stereo and instrumental mixes and five promo videos. There’s also a book delving into the history of the album and a collection of photos taken by famed photographer Ross Halfin.
In addition to the box set, the Pyromania reissue will be released digitally, as a one-LP half-speed master and on two-LP black vinyl and two-LP colored vinyl. All formats are available for preorder now.
Released January 1983, Pyromania featured such hit songs as “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages” and “Foolin,” and reached number #2 on the U.S. Album charts. It sold 6 million copies in 1983 and went on to be certified Diamond by the RIAA for selling over 10 million copies.
The Kinks’ Dave Davies is taking issue with Guitar World magazine after they posted an article claiming rock producer Eddie Kramer confirmed the long-held rumor that Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page played guitar on the band’s hit “You Really Got Me.”
“I met Jimmy while he was working with the Kinks in the early ’60s when they were doing ‘You Really Got Me,’” he reportedly said. “I know the Davies brothers will say otherwise, but I recall seeing Jimmy coming in and doing an overdub on that song. There’s some contention about that, but that’s how I remember it.”
Davies later took to social media to shoot down the suggestion, noting Kramer insists he never made those comments.
“I demand an immediate retraction from @GuitarWorld and @guitar I spoke to @EdKramerTweets yesterday and he denies ever saying that @JimmyPage played on @theKinks YRGM,” he wrote. “I played all the guitar parts on YRGM Ed Kramer told me yesterday he was misquoted.”
He added, “I’m so tired of reporters getting it wrong.”
Rumors that Page appeared on the song have been circulating for years, but both Davies and Page himself have denied them.
“You Really Got Me,” the third single The Kinks ever released, hit #1 in the U.K. It was the band’s breakthrough hit in the U.S., peaking at #7 on the chart. It was covered by Van Halen on their 1978 self-titled debut.
