Classic Rock News

Ozzy Osbourne is distancing himself from Kanye West. The rock superstar took to social media to let fans know that he is not OK with Kanye’s use of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” at the listening party held for Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign‘s Vultures album in Chicago on February 8.

“@kanyewest ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF ‘WAR PIG’ FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS & WAS REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY,” Osbourne wrote.

Ozzy says Kanye still used the sample despite not getting permission — and he is not happy about it. 

Ozzy writes, “I WANT NO ASSOCIATION WITH THIS MAN!”

Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign are due to hold another Vultures listening party on Friday, February 9, at UBS Arena in Long Island, New York. So far there’s no word on whether Kanye plans to use the sample.

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Is David Lee Roth a Swfitie? There’s no way to know for sure, but the former Van Halen frontman has apparently felt inspired by Taylor Swift‘s song “Lavender Haze” and has shared his take on the track.

The rocker posted a video, titled “Lavender Forgiveness,” which has him dancing to the the Midnights song while rapping his own lyrics over the track.

“I took a long trip south on that that whiskey train. I took Jesus Christ’s name in vain. I blew a fortune on cocaine and I caused my own family heartbreak and shame,” he raps, adding the chant “found forgiveness” throughout the song.

Apparently Roth is hoping to grab some attention from big-name stars. Not only did he add a Swift hashtag to his Instagram post, he also tags Foo Fighters, Metallica, The Rolling Stones, Queens of the Stone Age, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and more.

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A new trailer has been released for the documentary Kiss the Future, which features Irish rockers U2. 

The film, directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain and produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Sarah Anthony, follows a group of underground musicians and creatives during the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from April 1992 to February 1996, and shows how they used music and art to affect change. Their commitment prompted an aid worker to reach out to U2, and the doc includes footage of the band’s memorable 1997 concert at Koševo Stadium celebrating the country’s liberation.

The film features interviews with U2’s Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton, as well as former President Bill Clinton, journalist Christiane Amanpour and others.

“Poets, writers, filmmakers musicians can inspire people to find the strength and courage to resist,” The Edge says in the trailer, which features the band’s song “One.” Bono adds, “Somebody said courage is grace under pressure, that’s a good definition of the people of Sarajevo.”

Kiss The Future is set to open exclusively in AMC theaters in the U.S. starting February 23. AMC will also host an early screening of the film on February 21, which will include a a prerecorded conversation with The Edge and Clayton. Tickets are on sale now at amctheatres.com.

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Bon Jovi is giving fans a first look at their upcoming Hulu docuseries, Thank You Good Night – The Bon Jovi Story.

The New Jersey rockers shared a short 30-second teaser of the four-part series, featuring archival photos and video of the band throughout their career.

At one point in the clip, alongside footage of an annoyed Richie Sambora and an image of an article about Richie leaving the band, keyboardist Dave Bryan is heard saying, “Every night was a war.” There’s also video of Jon Bon Jovi in a hospital bed holding a sign that reads, “I’m Good.” Then, Jon is heard saying, “It almost killed us”; there’s no context regarding what exactly he’s talking about. 

The clip ends with Jon looking right at the camera and sharing, “I got a story to tell” as their hit “Livin’ On A Prayer” begins to play.

Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, directed by Gotham Chopra, debuts Friday, April 26, on Hulu. It will have its premiere at South by Southwest on March 14.

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It’s been a while since the members of R.E.M. have been out together publicly, but that all changed on Thursday, February 8.

Photos and videos posted to social media show Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Bill Berry and Peter Buck at the 40 Watt Club in their home city of Athens, Georgia, where they made a surprise appearance at a concert celebrating the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s debut album, Murmur.

The show was part of actor Michael Shannon and musician Jason Narducy‘s tour, in which they play Murmur in full along with other R.E.M. tracks. According to Stereogum, Buck, Berry and Mills joined Shannon and Narducy for various songs.

Stipe didn’t perform, but he did come out onstage to address the crowd. “Speaking on behalf of Bill and Mike and Peter, we are so f***** thrilled to be here tonight,” he said, prompting cheers from the crowd. 

This isn’t the first time members of R.E.M. turned up at the 40 Watt Club for a celebration of one of their albums. In 2022, Mills and Buck were surprise guests at a concert celebrating the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s debut EP, Chronic Town.

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Go get your flannel: Pearl Jam season is upon us.

In an Instagram post on Friday, February 9, the grunge rockers shared a video compiling various fan inquiries about new music on social media. In the caption, PJ posts an emoji with word “soon” and an arrow.

Pearl Jam’s most recent album is 2020’s Gigaton. In 2022, they revealed they’d started working on a follow-up with producer Andrew Watt, who previously collaborated with Eddie Vedder on his 2022 solo effort, Earthling.

According to Spin, Pearl Jam previewed the upcoming record during a Los Angeles listening party in January.

“I think this is our best work,” Vedder reportedly said.

Meanwhile, Pearl Jam is also set to return to the road in 2024. So far, the only U.S. date scheduled is a headlining set at the BottleRock Napa Valley festival in May.

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Queen is wrapping up the second season of their weekly YouTube series, Queen the Greatest Live, with a montage of footage from the band’s legendary career.

Queen launched the series back in 2021, and for this season’s 50th episode, the 100th overall, they are sharing a five-minute video highlighting 100 memorable images and moments, set to their track “One Vision.”

The video features lots of performance footage of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, including clips from the Rainbow Theatre in 1974 and 1985’s Live Aid at Wembley Stadium. There’s also a helicopter view of Knebworth Park in 1986, which was Mercury’s last live show, as well as lesser known moments, like the band enjoying tea on their first trip to Japan in 1975 and Freddie on the shoulders of Superman.

The montage also includes some post-Freddie highlights featuring Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert, and ends with footage of Freddie wearing his infamous red crown and cloak. 

But this isn’t where things end for Queen. It sounds like fans have a lot to look forward to in the year to come, as the band has promised “big plans afoot for 2024 and beyond.”

Queen is currently on a tour of Japan. They play Sapporo on Saturday, February 10. A complete list of dates can be found at queenonline.com.

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Deep Purple is set to release a new animated video for their classic tune “Smoke on the Water” on March 1, and they’re sharing a preview of what to expect.

In a sneak peek of the clip, co-directors Dan Gibling and Luke McDonnell share their inspiration for the video, describing the tune as “one of the most iconic rock songs of all time.”

“Beyond the scope for people that like rock music, people know this song,” Gibling says. “So the story is contained within the lyrics, is about them making the record, and the time is running out. So all these lyrics start conjuring up ideas of a race and a chase to make this record.”

As for the decision to animate the video, McDonnell notes, “The beauty of animation, it completely opens up your world, you know, you’re not limited by anything.” He adds, “There’s a really interesting integration between our fictional world and honoring the real story that actually happened.”

“Smoke on the Water” was inspired by the events that surrounded the recording of Deep Purple’s 1972 album, Machine Head. In 1971 the band planned to record at Montreux Casino, but the venue caught fire during a concert by Frank Zappa. The title is a reference to smoke from the fire spreading over Lake Geneva.

Deep Purple recently released a 2024 remix of “Smoke on the Water” as part of a preview of their super deluxe edition of Machine Head, which is due out March 29. It is available for preorder now.

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Jon Bon Jovi is getting real about some of the vocal issues he’s been dealing with over the past few years.

The rocker, who was criticized for the sound of his voice during Bon Jovi‘s 2022 tour, appeared at the Pollstar Live conference in Los Angeles on February 7. Fan-shot footage posted to YouTube shows him opening up about the work he’s had done to fix the issues.

“It’ll become public knowledge now, but I’ve had major reconstructive surgery in my vocal cords, and I never had anything like this, ever,” he says. “So it’s been a difficult road, but I found a doctor in Philadelphia who did something called a medialization, because one of my cords was literally atrophied.”

Suggesting that some artists have vocal problems due to the rock star lifestyle, Jon insists that wasn’t the case with him, noting, “The only thing that’s ever been up my nose has been my finger. So it was very difficult this last decade to have to contend with something that was out of my control.”

Jon says over the past two years he’s been working in rehab to get his voice back to what it once was, sharing, “But I’m getting very close.” He notes his recent performance at his MusiCares celebration was his first live performance in two years.

“So now I just want to get back to 2 1/2 hours a night, four nights a week, before I’m gonna go out there on the road for real,” he adds. “But I’m confident in my doctor.”

Jon and the band’s past few years will be covered in the upcoming docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, debuting April 26 on Hulu. It will have its premiere at South by Southwest on March 14.

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Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin released his latest album, Rio, back in October, and now, he’s giving fans some more music.

The rocker is out with a deluxe edition of the album featuring three new songs: “Spek & Polly,” “Georgia” and the just released demo version of song called “Fragile.”

“I’m particularly pleased with the space, in terms of production, and happy with the simplicity of the lyric,” Rabin says of “Fragile.” “Life is harsh, fickle and Fragile. My intention regarding the guitar solo was for it to drip onto the ‘page’ so to speak.”

You can listen to “Fragile (Demo)” now via digital outlets or on YouTube.

Rio is Rabin’s first solo album of vocal material in 34 years, his last being 1989’s Can’t Look Away. The deluxe edition is available as a limited edition CD+Blu-ray set and as a red two-LP + Blu-ray set. Both are available to order now.

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