Classic Rock News

Billy Joel will end his residency at Madison Square Garden on July 25, with what will be his 150th career performance at the legendary venue. Now, he can boast that all 150 of those shows are sold out.

Billy’s first appearance at the Garden was December 14, 1978. In January of 2015, with the 13th show of his residency, he set a new record of most consecutive performances by an artist at the Garden. In July of 2015, when he played his 65th show at the Garden, he set another record: most lifetime performances there by any artist.

Banners in the rafters of the venue commemorate both of those records and are replaced each month with new numbers, as he continues to rack up additional performances.

Billy’s residency, which started in January of 2014, has sold close to two million tickets. The final dates of the run include November 22, December 19, January 11, February 9, March 28, April 26, May 9, June 8 and July 25.

Billy, however, is continuing to perform at other venues: He and Stevie Nicks will co-headline a show December 8 in Phoenix, and he’ll ring in the New Year at UBS Arena in Belmont, New York. He’ll travel to Tokyo for a one-off show next year, and he’ll also co-headline several shows with Sting.

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Bryan Adams is spending some more time on the road. The singer just announced new 2024 dates for his So Happy It Hurts tour, this time featuring special guests Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics Songbook.

The new leg features 31 dates, kicking off Saturday, January 20, in Billings, Montana. The trek will hit such cities as Austin, Anaheim, Milwaukee, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Newark and more, before wrapping March 20 in Syracuse, New York.

Adams will also be headlining two shows in Mexico — February 6 in Monterrey and February 8 in Mexico City — without Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics Songbook. 

A ticket presale for all U.S. dates kicks off Tuesday, November 14, at 10 a.m., with the general onsale launching Friday, November 17, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at bryanadams.com.

The tour news comes as Bryan is getting ready to release Live at The Royal Albert Hall, a box set featuring recordings of his three-night stand at the famed London venue in 2022, where he performed one of his classic albums in its entirety each night. The set drops December 8 and is available for preorder now.

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Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire are joining forces once again to bring back their Heart & Soul tour in 2024.

The trek, an encore of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame bands onstage together, will hit 30 cities, starting July 10 in St. Louis, Missouri. It will stop in St. Paul, Charlotte, Tampa, Nashville, Seattle, Los Angeles and more, before wrapping September 7 in Palm Desert, California.

A Citi presale kicks off Tuesday, November 14, at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on sale to the general public starting Friday, November 17, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at earthwindandfire.com and chicagotheband.com.

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Dave Grohl rocked with his daughter Violet onstage for a joint rendition of Nirvana‘s “Heart-Shaped Box” during a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday, November 11.

The Foo Fighters frontman reprised his Nirvana role on drums while Violet handled lead vocals. Footage of the father-daughter jam was posted to Instagram by rock TV personality Matt Pinfield, who was in attendance.

According to setlist.fm, the show, which featured longtime David Bowie pianist Mike Garson, saw Dave and Violet performing a variety of Bowie covers, including “The Man Who Sold the World,” which Nirvana famously covered on MTV Unplugged. They also sang the Foos song “Show Me How.”

Garson shared photo from the concert in a social media post. “What a wonderful night together!” the caption reads.

Dave and Violet previously performed “Heart-Shaped Box” in 2020.

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On This Day, November 13, 2016…

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell died in his sleep at age 74.

His songs, including “Superstar,” “A Song for You,” “Delta Lady” and “This Masquerade,” were big hits for other artists, and he worked with everyone from Bob Dylan and Joe Cocker to George Harrison and The Rolling Stones.

In 2010, Elton John, who called Russell a “mentor,” helped revive Russell’s career with their joint album, The Union, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for the song “If It Wasn’t for Bad.” 

In 2011, Russell was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

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The late Robbie Robertson will be celebrated this week with a memorial hosted by his friend and longtime collaborator, director Martin Scorsese. 

Robbie Robertson: A Celebration of His Life and Music is taking place Wednesday, November 15, at The Village Studios in Los Angeles, California.

Scorsese is expected to speak at the memorial tribute concert, which will be attended by Killers of the Flower Moon actress Lily Gladstone and Robertson’s longtime manager, Jared Levine. It will also feature performances by Jackson Browne, Citizen Cope, Rocco DeLuca, Angela McCluskey and Blake Mills Group.

Robertson, the guitarist and main songwriter for Rock & Roll Hall of Famers The Band, died August 9 at the age of 80. He and Scorsese collaborated several times on such films as Gangs of New York, The Wolf of Wall Street, the recent release Killers of the Flower Moon and more. Scorsese also directed The Band’s legendary final concert film, The Last Waltz.

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U2 has been amazing concertgoers since launching their Las Vegas residency, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere. A lot of work went into making sure it was an experience like none other. In fact, U2’s creative director, Gavin Friday, tells ABC Audio it was quite a task putting the whole thing together. 

“We were working with technology we’ve never used before, the world has never used before, [a] sound system that’s going to change the face of live music,” he says. “It was otherworldly.”

The show premiered in September to rave reviews, and even Friday is amazed by what they pulled off.

“On the opening day, we all sighed a breath of relief because it was a huge success,” he shares. “And it’s like, you know, when you’re in the mine mining for that gold, you have your helmet on and your light [on] and you see nothing but the show — and we were knocked out. We knocked ourselves out, actually.”

Friday was also involved in setting up the Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience pop-up shop at The Venetian hotel. While it’s basically a place for fans to buy souvenirs of the show, Friday says it was important to the band that it was much more than that.

“We made it quite an ambient, away from the hustle and bustle and glitz of Vegas,” he says. “We made it very much its own space because fans of U2 go back a long time and they tend to push the boat out on all levels, even if it’s selling merch.” 

U2 recently added new dates to U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere, with the residency now running through February 18. A complete list of dates can be found at U2.com.

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Sting, Carlos Santana and Stevie Wonder have come together to contribute to one song.

It’s called “The More I Love My Life,” and it’s by musician and producer Narada Michael Walden. In addition to producing songs for the likes of Whitney Houston, Steve Winwood, Elton John, Gladys Knight, Mariah Carey, Santana and Aretha Franklin, Walden was the drummer in Journey from 2021 to 2022.

On “The More I Love My Life,” Santana plays guitar, Stevie plays harmonica and Sting trades vocals with Walden, who says the song was “a real joy to put together.”

“After I recorded the main parts I asked Carlos to play guitar on it,” says Walden in a statement. “That’s when I got the idea for harmonica, so I asked Stevie Wonder if he would like to play on it.” He adds that he got Sting to sing on the song when he served as musical director for one of the ongoing rainforest benefits concerts Sting organized alongside his wife, Trudie Styler.

The song is included on Walden’s solo album Euphoria, out November 17.

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Warren Haynes‘ album The Benefit Concert Volume 20 is coming out December 8, but we’ve got the first taste of the live album.

The album was recorded at Haynes’ 30th annual Christmas Jam in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, back in December 2018. He’s now released one of the songs: a cover of Fleetwood Mac‘s classic “Gold Dust Woman,” featuring two of the guest artists who were on the bill: My Morning Jacket‘s Jim James and Grace Potter.

In addition to James and Potter, the album features performances by Haynes‘ Gov’t Mule, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Church, Edwin McCain, Mike Gordon of Phish and more. It’s available for preorder now.

Since launching the annual Christmas Jam shows in 1988, Hayne has raised close to $3 million for Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, which has seen the construction of over 50 homes in the region.

This year’s Christmas Jam, featuring Slash, ZZ Top‘s Billy F Gibbons and Jason Bonham, takes place December 9; you can visit xmasjam.com for ticket info.

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