Classic Rock News

The Rolling Stones brought their SIXTY tour to Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium on Thursday, marking the first time the band played in the English city since 1971.

For their fifth song of the concert, The Rolling Stones appropriately played “I Wanna Be Your Man,” a tune written by two of Liverpool’s favorite sons — The Beatles‘ John Lennon and Paul McCartney — that also happened to be one of The Stones’ first singles.

Rolling Stone magazine reports that Mick Jagger introduced the tune during the Liverpool show by telling the crowd, “We had decided to rehearse a special version of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ [the Gerry and the Pacemakers hit adopted by Liverpool’s soccer team], but we decided instead to do a cover song written by other local lads, so we’ll do this especially for you.” RollingStone.com shared fan-shot footage of the performance.

Lennon and McCartney had given “I Wanna Be Your Man” to The Stones in 1963, and in November of that year it became the band’s second single and first top-20 hit in the U.K., reaching #12 on the chart. Later that same month, The Beatles released their own version of the tune, with drummer Ringo Starr on lead vocals, on their U.K. album With The Beatles.

The last time The Rolling Stones performed “I Wanna Be Your Man” in concert was in 2012, when they dusted the song off for three shows during their 50th anniversary tour.

You can check out the full set list of The Stones’ Liverpool concert at the band’s social media pages. The show was the fifth performance of the group’s 60th anniversary trek, which kicked off June 1 in Madrid. The European outing continues Monday, June 13, in Amsterdam and runs through a July 31 concert in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Bidding on Ringo Starr‘s first-ever collection of NFTs closes this Monday, June 13, at 11 a.m. PT.

The “Ringo Starr NFT Collection — The Creative Mind of a Beatle” includes five unique NFTs, each featuring an animated version of a painting created by the legendary drummer, and most soundtracked by a custom-made drum track played by Starr.

Those who purchase an NFT also will receive a 25-by-25-inch canvas print of the artwork signed by Ringo, and will be given access to a virtual gallery of Starr’s digital art called “RingoLand.”

The paintings that serve as the basis for the NFTs include self portraits and colorful spin art.

During a recent press event in Rama, Canada, promoting the launch of Ringo’s current tour with his All Starr Band, Starr talked about the virtual gallery created to display his digital art in conjunction with the NFT auction.

“It was just a great idea,” Ringo said. “And, you know, it’s not even there. It’s a fantasy just on your computer. And [an avatar of me is] walking around looking at my paintings, and you can do the same.”

A total of 20 NFT packages — four of each of the five pieces — will be auctioned as part of the sale, which is being hosted by Julien’s Auctions. Bids can be placed at JuliensLive.com. You also can check out videos of Ringo’s animated artwork at that website and on YouTube.

A portion of the proceeds raised by the auction will benefit Ringo’s Lotus Foundation, which funds and supports charitable projects that focus on various social welfare causes.

Ringo and his All Starr Band’s tour continues tonight in Red Bank, New Jersey. Since Tuesday, Edgar Winter has been sitting out the shows after testing positive for COVID-19.

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Grateful Dead spinoff group Dead & Company will make available livestreams of all 20 shows on their 2022 U.S. summer tour at the nugs.net concert-streaming service.

The trek kicks off this Saturday, June 11, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and runs through a July 15-16 stand at Citi Field in New York City. The tour also features several other two-show engagements — on June 13-14 in Mountain View, California; June 17-18 in Boulder, Colorado; and June 24-25 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

Streams of the concerts will be available in HD and 4K formats, priced at $29.99 and $44.99, respectively, per show. Those who subscribe to nugs.net will get a 15% discount on single-show purchases. Also available is the Summer 2022 Unlimited Devotion Pass, which gives fans access to livestreams of all 20 concerts. The shows can be watched live or on demand and will be available for replay viewing for 48 hours.

The livestreams can be watched on Apple and Android devices, or desktop browsers, and viewers will be able to interact with each other in nugs.net’s metaverse venue.

As previously reported, during the new trek Dead & Company will continue its sustainability partnership with the nonprofit organization REVERB. The band has committed to a comprehensive carbon offset program while also encouraging fans to take action to help the environment via the organization’s Music Climate Revolution campaign.

The summer outing will mark the band’s seventh tour since the its 2015 formation. The group’s lineup features Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, as well as singer/guitarist John Mayer, ex-Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti.

For more info on the tour and the livestreams, visit DeadandCompany.com and nugs.net.

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Ozzy Osbourne is set to undergo a “very major operation” on Monday, June 13.

The Black Sabbath frontman’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, shared the news this week during an episode of her U.K. talk show The Talk.

“It’s really gonna determine the rest of his life,” Sharon said of the procedure.

Sharon did not speak on the nature of the operation, but Ozzy, 73, told Classic Rock magazine in an interview published in May that he was “waiting on some more surgery” on his neck. Ozzy suffered a fall in 2019, which aggravated injuries he sustained in a 2003 ATV accident.

Beyond that, Ozzy has been battling a number of health issues over the past few years. Prior to the 2019 fall, he’d been hospitalized with a bad case of pneumonia, and in early 2020, he revealed he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

In April of this year, Ozzy tested positive for COVID-19.

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Once again, Porno for Pyros is subbing in for Jane’s Addiction at a festival.

The Pyros have joined the bill for Lollapalooza 2022, while Jane’s is no longer listed on the lineup.

Both the Pyros and Jane’s are, of course, fronted by Perry Farrell, who also founded Lollapalooza. Farrell confirmed the news by retweeting a PfP post reading, “The news is true. See you soon @lollapalooza.”

The Pyros previously reunited last month to play their first show in 26 years at the Welcome to Rockville festival in place of Jane’s, who dropped out due to guitarist Dave Navarro contending with a “long bout” of COVID-19. As for why Jane’s isn’t playing Lolla, no reason was announced.

Lollapalooza 2022 takes place July 28-31 in Chicago. The bill also includes Green Day, Metallica, Machine Gun Kelly and Måneskin.

Porno for Pyros will also be playing a Lollapalooza aftershow, as well as a headlining date in Los Angeles.

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Founding Toto keyboardist/singer David Paich will release his debut solo EP, Forgotten Toys, on August 19.

In advance of the record, Paich has released one of the tracks, the soaring, enigmatic “Spirit of the Moonrise,” as a digital single. He’s also debuted a lyric video for the song at Toto’s YouTube channel.

Forgotten Toys, which can be preordered now, features seven tracks co-produced by Paich and Toto frontman Joseph Williams. It features contributions from various well-known artists, including Williams, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder, Brian Eno, Elton John guitarist Davey Johnstone, Ray Parker Jr. and Rolling Stones touring drummer Steve Jordan.

Paich co-wrote “Spirit of the Moonrise” with Williams, who also contributes backing vocals to the track, along with McDonald. The song also features lead guitar from Lukather.

“This is a recurring dream about a distraught girl, riding neath the moonlight,” Paich says about the tune. “It has perplexed me over many a night.”

Forgotten Toys came together when Paich — who has written or co-written many of Toto’s biggest hits — decided to flesh out various songs ideas he’d held onto for many years.

“It seemed like it was time to put something together,” Paich says. “Some of these really are forgotten toys. It had been a while since I’ve been in my studio and I found myself listening to these little pieces continuously. I kept rediscovering them, hoping to fit the tracks together like a musical puzzle.”

Paich, who recently retired from full-time touring, still joins Toto at select shows. He tells ABC Audio that he’ll play at least one concert with the group during its upcoming European summer trek, which kicks off July 11 in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Here’s the full track list of Forgotten Toys:

“Forward”
“willibelongtoyou”
“Spirit of the Moonrise”
“First Time”
“Queen Charade”
“All the Tears That Shine”
“Lucy”

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Rod Stewart was one of the performers at the Platinum Party at the Palace, the star-studded concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee over the weekend. Rod was criticized for his performance of the Neil Diamond hit “Sweet Caroline” at the event, with some saying he sounded off-key. Now his wife, Penny Lancaster, is defending him, saying the rock legend was just recovering from COVID.

Appearing on the British TV show Loose Women Thursday, Penny explained that the BBC insisted that Rod sing “Sweet Caroline” — a British soccer anthem — by telling him it was the queen’s favorite. “So he didn’t have much of a choice there,” Penny noted. 

Rod said as much during the show, literally telling the crowd, “The BBC made me sing it, join in and make it comfortable for me.”

But in addition to Rod singing a song he wasn’t comfortable with, Penny said there were other extenuating circumstances.

“It was very, very touch and go and he was so nervous leading up to it,” she said. “He [had performed for] three weeks in Vegas and caught COVID just after the last show. He came home and was past the 10-day period of being contagious but he lost his voice. So the sound check on the Wednesday — he went along and wore a mask but had no voice.”

She added, “So he went for another rehearsal on the Friday … he wasn’t quite on, but he didn’t want to disappoint anybody. It wasn’t the Rod Stewart show; it was for the nation and for everybody to come together for the queen and he wanted to please the people, so that was the song.”

On Rod’s Instagram, he only posted the other song he performed: his hit “Baby Jane.”

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During a concert last week in Gateshead, U.K., Jeff Beck announced that he and actor/musician Johnny Depp would be releasing a collaborative album in July, and now official details of the project have been unveiled.

The album, titled 18, will be released on July 15 on CD and digital formats, while a 180-gram vinyl version will arrive September 30. The 13-track collection, which can be pre-ordered now, features two Depp originals and 11 covers, including songs by The Beach Boys, The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, The Velvet Underground and The Everly Brothers.

Beck and Depp performed several songs from 18 during Jeff’s recent U.K. tour, which featured guest appearances by Johnny at nearly every stop.

Beck and Depp began working on 18 in 2019 after becoming friends a few years earlier. Fans got a first taste of the collaboration in 2020 when the duo released a cover of John Lennon‘s “Isolation,” which also is included on the CD and digital versions of the album.

“When Johnny and I started playing together, it really ignited our youthful spirit and creativity,” Beck says. “We would joke about how we felt 18 again, so that just became the album title too.”

One of the Depp originals, “This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr,” has been released as an advance digital single, while a companion music video has debuted at Jeff’s official YouTube channel.

Beck says he “was blown away by” the song when Johnny asked him to play guitar on the track.

Meanwhile, Depp, who has played with the supergroup The Hollywood Vampires alongside Alice Cooper and Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry for the last decade, says, “It’s an extraordinary honor to play and write music with Jeff, one of the true greats.”

Here’s the full 18 track list:

“Midnight Walker” (Davy Spillane cover)
“Death and Resurrection Show” (Killing Joke cover)
“Time” (Dennis Wilson cover)
“Sad Motherf***in’ Parade” (Johnny Depp original)
“Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” (Beach Boys cover)
“This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr” (Johnny Depp original)
“Caroline, No” (Beach Boys cover)
“Ooo Baby Baby” (The Miracles cover)
“What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye cover)
“Venus in Furs” (The Velvet Underground cover)
“Let It Be Me” (The Everly Brothers cover)
“Stars” (Janis Ian cover)
“Isolation” (John Lennon cover)*
 
* = on digital and CD version only.

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Tenacious D has released a medley of three The Who songs in support of the anti-gun violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety.

The three-minute recording mashes together the tracks “Pinball Wizard,” “There’s a Doctor” and “Go To the Mirror!” While the D’s versions stay mostly true to the originals, a few vocal flourishes from Jack Black earn the track an “explicit” label.

“Who better to deliver a tribute to the greatest rock opera of all times? Who? The D! That’s Who!” Black and Kyle Gass say, channeling their inner Abbott and Costello. “We’ve been working on this medley for 20 years. It’s finally ready to be unleashed. Crank it. It’s a humdinger. Enjoy.”

The medley will be released on a vinyl single, the proceeds from which will be donated to Everytown. You can preorder your copy now via TenaciousD.com. You can also listen to the medley now via digital outlets, and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum‘s memoir, Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘n’ Roll Stories, was published last month.

In the book, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer opens up about his dramatic and dangerous early years as a drug dealer, and recounts his many adventures with GN’R during his 1990-1997 stint with the band, as well as his work and exploits with many other well-known rock artists, including the supergroups Velvet Revolver and Kings of Chaos, The Cult, and ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons.

Double Talkin’ Jive also finds Sorum writing candidly about his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, and reflecting on the pitfalls of rock stardom.

“[I]t was a wild ride through some emotional stuff,” Matt tells ABC Audio about his experience writing the book. “It was a lot of…growth in [doing] it. It was very cathartic. It gave me a really good opportunity to know that I’ve changed in a good way, thank God.”

As for his time with Guns N’ Roses, Sorum notes, “I traveled the world at the highest level, had so many amazing experiences all over the world….And to this day, I’m still recognized as the guy [from GN’R]…I’ve been out of the band [for about 25 years], but I still have that tagline, and people still respect that…I did that piece of work.”

He adds, “[The book is] a good read. I hope everyone enjoys it, just as a guy that sat up on the drum throne for a lot of cool bands and saw a lot of stuff.”

Double Talkin’ Jive is available now. Signed copies and a limited-edition version that includes a vinyl LP featuring audio of Sorum narrating the book, accompanied by music played by him, can be purchased at RareBirdLit.com.

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