Classic Rock News

Personal items belonging to Queen’s Freddie Mercury are set to go up for auction at Sotheby’s in September, and a preview exhibit in New York has revealed some interesting info about the band’s classic hit tune “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

The exhibit will feature some of Mercury’s previously unseen handwritten working drafts of songs, including that of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which spans 15 pages. The draft shows that Mercury originally planned to call it “Mongolian Rhapsody,” before crossing it out and replacing it with “Bohemian.”

The sheets also reveal possible alternative lyrics to the second verse, which begins “Mama, just killed a man.” The lyric sheet reveals Mercury originally intended to sing, “Mama, There’s a war began, I’ve got to leave tonight.” And, in addition to the well-known chants “Galileo,” “Fandango,” “Scaramouche” and “Thunderbolts and lightning,” the pages reveal the words “Matador” and “Belladonna” were almost included, as well.

The estimated value of those lyrics is between about $1 million and $1.5 million.

Also on display will be lyrics for such Queen classics as “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Somebody to Love,” which spans 19 pages, “We Are the Champions” and more. Many are autographed by Mercury. 

The lyric sheets, along with early notebooks of lyrics, costumes and more, will be on display at Sotheby’s New York June 1-8, before moving to Los Angeles June 14-18 and Hong Kong from June 26-20. The full collection will be on display in London from August 4 to September 5.

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Brian May is revisiting his 1983 all-star collaboration, Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project, which featured Eddie Van Halen, Alan Gratzer, Phil Chen and Fred Mandel.

Recorded during a break from Queen, the mini album featured just three tracks: May’s reimagining of “Star Fleet,” a tune from a Japanese kid’s science fiction series; the tune “Let Me Out,” featuring guitar solos from May and Van Halen; and “Blues Breaker,” featuring 13 minutes of May and Van Halen trading guitar licks. 

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the project, a new deluxe box set will be released on July 14, featuring 23 tracks of previously unreleased material, including multiple takes of “Star Fleet” and “Let Me Out.” There are also newly remixed versions of all the songs, with “Star Fleet” out now. The set is made up of two CDs, one vinyl LP and a vinyl single, along with a badge and a booklet with extensive liner notes.

There will also be a separate 7-inch, double A-side single, which will also be released on CD, with the newly mixed versions of the two songs, as well as a red vinyl version exclusive to the Queen online store. 

“We are going to give you everything … every take of every song, the things that went wrong, the laughing, the finding new things to do,” May shares on the set’s sleeve notes. “But it won’t be just a remaster – we’ve rescued everything from the original multitracks, every detail magnificently remixed, and more! You’ll hear every take from the historic 1983 sessions plus fragments of conversations, outtakes and musical experimentation.”

Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project is available for preorder now.

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Billy Joel‘s historic monthly residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden will come to an end next year.

It was announced Thursday that Billy’s Garden show in July 2024, the 150th MSG show of his career, will be his final residency performance. Joel’s September show at MSG will be his 140th lifetime performance at the Garden; the first of the final 10 concerts is October 20, 2023. 

Since he started the residency 10 years ago, Billy has sold more than 1.6 million tickets.

Billy told reporters on Thursday, “It is an honor to be here. I’m kinda flabbergasted that it did last as long as it did.” He joked that his team told him he could keep on going if he wanted, but he said with 150 shows, “It’s ‘Alright, already!'” He also addressed the fact that he’s selling his home in Long Island, but noted, “I’m not leaving New York: I’m just spending a little more time in Florida like old Jewish guys from New York do.”

Variety reports that Citicard members can access tickets for the October 20 show in a presale June 5 at 10 a.m. ET. Verizon’s presale starts June 6 at 10 a.m. ET. The general on-sale begins June 9 at 10 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster. Tickets will also be available at the Madison Square Garden box office on Saturday, June 10.

Billy hit 100 performances at the Garden in 2018; Bruce Springsteen joined him onstage for that show and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared it to be Billy Joel Day in New York State.

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On This Day, June 1, 1947 …

Guitarist Ronnie Wood was born in Hillingdon, England. 

The rocker is known for his work in several bands, including the Birds, Jeff Beck Group and Faces, before joining The Rolling Stones in 1975 after the departure of Mick Taylor. He became an official member of the group in 1976. 

In addition to his work with the Stones, Wood has released several solo records, his most recent being the 2010 release I Feel Like Playing.

Wood was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 as a member of the Stones and again in 2012 as a member of Faces.

In addition to music, Wood is an artist, and his paintings, drawings and prints have been shown in galleries.

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It sounds like Judas Priest has a reason to get excited. In an interview with My Planet Rocks with Ian Danter, guitarist Richie Faulkner revealed that the band has finished recording what will be their 19th studio album.

“I think, if I’m not mistaken, I think we’ve finished tracking,” Faulkner said. “We’ve got to mix it, we’ve got to master it and then we’ve got to manufacture the thing. It’s actually got to physically be made.” He adds, “The vocals were the last thing we needed to do and I think Rob’s (Halford) done them.”

And if that didn’t already get fans pumped, Faulkner shares, “It’s sounding fantastic. It’s sounding great.”

He admits, “Obviously I’m gonna say that, but if it didn’t sound great, we wouldn’t be bothering. You’ve gotta do something that we think is better than the last one, so to speak. And if it wasn’t, Priest don’t need to do that.”

Judas Priest released their last album, Firepower, in March 2018. Four years later, in 2022, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

So far a title and release date for the album have not been announced.

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Bicyclists who love The Beatles can now show off their fandom thanks to a new capsule collection from State Bicycles.

State Bicycles X The Beatles, available now, features a host of Beatles-inspired bike gear, including jerseys, tech tees and even two limited edition bikes, with images from the band’s album covers and lyrics. 

The bikes include a limited edition Klunker with a “Yellow Submarine” theme, which sells for $450, and a 4130 Road Bike with Abbey Road-inspired paint, which sells for $649.

The jerseys feature “Yellow Submarine,” Abbey Road and Magical Mystery Tour-themed designs, which range in price from just under $60 to just under $80.

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June 1 marks the 40th anniversary of Talking Heads‘ fifth studio album, Speaking in Tongues, which went on to become a commercial breakthrough for band members David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison. 

The record featured the band’s one and only U.S. top 10 hit, “Burning Down The House” (it peaked at #9), along with future classics “Girlfriend Is Better,” “Swamp,” “Slippery People” and “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody).” 

The album peaked at 15 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, which made it their highest charting record. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Talking Heads’ tour in support of the album was turned into the critically acclaimed concert documentary Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme. Released in 1984, it was filmed over three nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre in December 1983.

Considered one of the best concert documentaries, in 2021 Stop Making Sense was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. 

The upcoming 40th anniversary of the documentary is being marked by a new theatrical release, with the studio A24 releasing a newly restored 4K version of the concert film to theaters later this year. In addition, on August 18 a deluxe edition of the soundtrack will be released, containing the complete Stop Making Sense concert, including previously unreleased songs “Cities” and “Big Business/I Zimbra.”

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Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe are extending their The World Tour once again. The bands just announced they will be bringing the trek to Australia in November.

“After getting back on the road this past summer, we’re beyond thrilled to bring this massive tour to a global audience including some special dates in Australia!” Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott shares.

The two bands will head Down Under for three shows: November 8 in Brisbane, November 11 in Sydney and November 14 in Melbourne. Tickets go on sale Thursday, June 8.

The Def Leppard/Mötley Crüe stadium tour is currently in Europe. It returns to the U.S. on August 8 in Columbus, Ohio. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com and motley.com.

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A new Queen photo exhibit is set to open in London this week.

Queen Will Rock You in 3D will open at London’s Proud Galleries on June 2 to coincide with the return of the band’s musical We Will Rock You, playing at the London Coliseum.

The exhibit, which runs through September 23, tells the band’s history using photos taken by guitarist Brian May with his own stereoscopic (3D) camera lenses.

The exhibit features photos taken onstage, on the road and more, some of which are being shared with the public for the first time. Many of them show the rarely seen private side of the band’s late frontman, Freddie Mercury, as viewed by his close friend and bandmate May. It also features fan-shot footage of the current Queen lineup with Adam Lambert, as well as the musical.

Tickets for the exhibit are on sale now. 

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Dire Straits fans are going to have a chance to enjoy their music live this fall.

DSL Dire Straits Legacy has announced a new tour that will kick off in September. DSL is made up of original Dire Straits band member Alan Clark; former Dire Straits musicians Danny Cummings, Mel Collins, Phil Palmer and Jack Sonni; and Italian musicians Marco Caviglia, Primiano Di Biase and Cristiano Micalizzi.

Clark shares, “We do this, we play the music of Dire Straits because we love it … and we made it!”

The tour is set to launch in Snoqualmie, Washington, on September 15, with dates confirmed through September 30 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at dslegacy.com.

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