Classic Rock News

The Jimi Hendrix documentary Music, Money, Madness … Jimi Hendrix In Maui is getting a special screening in New York City.

The special event will take place October 25 at the LOOK Dine-In Cinemas W57 in Manhattan and will feature a Q&A with the film’s producers: Janie Hendrix, Hendrix’s sister and Experience Hendrix CEO, and John McDermott, who also directed the film. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix’s original audio engineer, will also take part in the Q&A. 

Music, Money, Madness … Jimi Hendrix In Maui follows the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 1970 visit to Maui and their participation in the critically panned counterculture film Rainbow Bridge, produced by their controversial manager Michael Jeffery. It features never-before-seen original footage, along with new interviews and more.

Tickets for the screening are on sale now.

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John Fogerty has found a new California home.

According to the Robb Report, the Creedence Clearwater Revival rocker recently purchased Sylvester Stallone’s 2.2-acre ranch in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. 

Fogerty reportedly paid $17.2 million for the property, which was a bargain considering Stallone was asking for $22.5 million. The sale price was also less than what Stallone initially paid for it in 2022. 

The home is located in the gated community of Hidden Hills, home to several other stars. In addition to the main house, a guest house and a large cabana, it features a horse barn and arena for horse riding. There’s also a vegetable garden and fruit-bearing trees, a private swimming pool, fire pit area and more.

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Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx, drummer Matt Sorum and Styx are among the artists donating items to a new auction benefiting Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen’s Raven Drum Foundation. 

The 12 Drummers Drumming auction helps raise money for Raven Drum Foundation’s mission to help veterans, first responders and others dealing with trauma. Now in its third year, the auction is open for bidding through November 11 at 12 p.m. PT.  

Items available this year include a signed bass by Sixx; a drumhead signed by Lee and Allen; a Sorum package that includes three pairs of signature drumsticks, one set each from his time with Guns N’ Roses, The Cult and Velvet Revolver; and a Rick Allen handprint on a canvas.

There is also a custom Dave Matthews guitar with hand-drawn artwork, part of a partnership with Musicians on Call to bring music to VA hospitals throughout the country.

Previous auctions have raised over $120,000.

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KISS is playing one less show on their End of the Road tour.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers were supposed to headline Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Friday, October 13, but according to a message on the venue’s website, the show has been canceled. 

“KISS has today confirmed that they have cancelled their show due to unforeseen circumstances and will be releasing more information imminently,” read the post. “We share the KISS Army and regional rock fans’ disappointment and wish the band members all the best.” 

Fans with tickets will receive immediate refunds. 

The show was supposed to be the band’s final concert in Dubai. Up next, they will kick off the final leg of their tour on October 19 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The tour ends with two shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden, December 1 and 2. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.

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Elton John and husband David Furnish are trying to help artists get paid.

According to Sky News, the pair is part of a new group of investors in Audoo, a music technology company trying to improve the way artists are compensated when their music is played in public venues. The company’s Audio Meter monitoring device is able to recognize when songs are played in public spaces like cafes, hair salons, gyms and more.

“Working as a musician can be seen as all glitz and glamour but for the vast majority of artists, especially new and emerging acts, this isn’t the case. It’s often brutally unfair and this sadly extends into being paid correctly,” Elton shares. “Right now, artists are not being paid accurately for their plays because the data simply doesn’t exist.”

He adds, “That’s why we’ve invested in Audoo and their world-class technology, to help create a more transparent system for everyone, and ultimately to keep the music alive.”

Elton and David are part of a new injection of funds to the company, said to be around $5 million. They aren’t the only famous names to put their money behind Audoo: ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus and Paul McCartney’s investment company, MPL Ventures, have also backed Audoo. The company has raised $22 million since it first launched in 2018.

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There was a Heart reunion onstage in Santa Rosa, California, on Tuesday, October 10.

Ann Wilson was headlining a show with her Tripsitter band at Luther Burbank Center For The Arts when she invited her sister Nancy Wilson out for the encore. Fan-shot footage posted to YouTube shows the Heart sisters rocking out to their classic tune “Barracuda.”

Nancy had actually teased her appearance earlier in the evening, sharing a picture of one of her picks on top of a setlist and tagging both the venue and her sister. 

The last time Heart toured together was in 2019. This year marks the band’s 50th anniversary. In a 2022 Grammy.com interview, Nancy suggested they were going to be doing something to mark the milestone, but so far nothing’s been announced.

Ann Wilson & Tripsitter have tour dates booked through December 11. Their next show is happening Wednesday, October 11, at the State Theatre in Red Bluff, California. A complete list of dates can be found at annwilson.com.

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As much fun as Metallica had playing the Power Trip festival, frontman James Hetfield might’ve had an even better time watching fellow headliner Judas Priest take the stage.

You may have seen viral footage of Hetfield shredding air guitar during Priest’s performance of “Living After Midnight,” or Metallica’s Instagram post of him and guitarist Kirk Hammett rocking out while standing between the crowd barricade and the stage.

In the latest episode of the weekly Metallica Report podcast, Hetfield reflects on his Power Trip experience.

“I just kind of realized that we’re down in the very front looking up, you got Rob Halford riding out on a motorcycle, and there’s fans behind us looking at us,” Hetfield shares. “They’re watching us enjoy that. How cool?”

“We’re fans, at the end of the day,” he adds. “We wanted to be in the mix and see it.”

Power Trip also featured Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, Tool and AC/DC, who played their first live show in seven years at the festival.

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Van Morrison will be celebrating his upcoming album, Accentuate the Positive, with two hometown shows.

He just announced a pair of album release concerts taking place November 4 and 5 at the Limelight in Belfast, Ireland, and urged concertgoers to “bring your dancing shoes.” 

Tickets for both shows go on sale Friday, October 13, at 10 a.m. local time.

Accentuate the Positive, Morrison’s 45th studio album, has him covering some of his personal rock ‘n’ roll favorites, like the already released singles “Shakin’ All Over,” originally recorded by Johnny Kidd, and “Problems,” made famous by The Everly Brothers in 1958.

Accentuate the Positive, dropping November 3, is available for preorder now.

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On This Day, October 11, 1997…

Elton John landed at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Candle in the Wind ’97,” a tribute to his close friend, the late Princess Diana.  

Elton first performed the song, a reworking of his 1974 single, at Diana’s funeral that September. He then recorded the track, with proceeds going to the Diana, Princess of Wales Fund. The song was released as a double A-side single with “Something About the Way You Look Tonight,” from Elton’s album The Big Picture.

The track spent 14 weeks at #1 in the U.S, and topped the charts in 20 different countries, including the U.K., Japan, Australia and more. It went on to become the first single to earn Diamond certification by the RIAA for sales of 10 million copies. 

“Candle in the Wind ’97” is also the second highest-selling physical single of all time, behind Bing Crosby‘s 1942 classic “White Christmas,” according to the Guinness Book of World Records, and has sold more than 33 million copies worldwide.

The track also earned Elton a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

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ZZ Top guitarist Billy F Gibbons is throwing himself a birthday party this December. 

The rocker announced a trio of Birthday Jam concerts taking place December 19, 20 and 21 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. All shows, billed as “3 Nights of Rock and Blues,” will feature the LA AllStars Band and promises unnamed special guests.

The December 19 and 21 shows are already sold out, but tickets for the 20th are still available.

Gibbons’ actual birthday is December 16; he’ll be turning 74.

In the meantime, Gibbons is currently on tour with ZZ Top. They’ll hit Calgary, Canada, on Wednesday, October 11. A complete list of dates can be found at zztop.com.

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