Classic Rock News

Queen is back with episode 29 of their weekly YouTube series Queen The Greatest Live, as they continue to show the many ways they’ve surprised their audiences over the years.

The new clip focuses on their historic concert in Hungary during 1986’s Magic Tour, the first time a Western European rock band played a concert behind the Iron Curtain.

To make the crowd feel at home, the band added a personal touch to their acoustic mini set — a performance of the traditional Hungarian folk song “Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt,” which roughly translates to “Spring Wind Floods Water.” During the performance, frontman Freddie Mercury can be seen reading the lyrics that were written phonetically on the palm of his hand. The crowd, naturally, goes wild and eventually sings along with the band.

The Hungarian concert was later released as a film, Queen: Live In Budapest (later renamed Hungarian Rhapsody), and was certainly a memorable one for the group.

“That night was amazing, with the Hungarian folk song and the whole atmosphere,” guitarist Brian May shared. “It may sound like an exaggeration, but it was like we took a step into infinity that night.”

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Another Seattle sports team has announced a Pearl Jam Night.

The OL Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League will celebrate the grunge icons during their October 6 game against D.C.’s Washington Spirit. In addition to the Pearl Jam-related festivities, the game will mark the final home match for Reign player and World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe before her retirement.

Given the team’s name, we hope that the stadium plays Pearl Jam’s cover of The Who‘s “Love, Reign o’er Me” during the game.

A portion of ticket proceeds will benefit PJ’s charity organization, the Vitalogy Foundation. Ticket buyers can also receive a limited-edition Pearl Jam-themed OL Reign scarf.

The Seattle Mariners baseball team has also held many Pearl Jam nights, and guitarist Mike McCready often performs the national anthem at Mariners and Seattle Seahawks football games.

Meanwhile, Eddie Vedder‘s favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs, have created a signature jersey for their Pearl Jam Day on September 6.

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August 13 marks 50 years since the release of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album, (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd), which features some of the band’s most well-known songs.

Recorded in Jacksonville, Florida, in a rehearsal space Skynyrd called Hell House, the album launched the Southern rockers to superstardom, thanks to tracks like “Simple Man,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “Tuesday’s Gone” and their iconic track “Free Bird.”

Most of those songs are as popular today as they were in the ’70s, and current Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke believes it all comes down to the lyrics, co-written by the band’s original frontman, Ronnie Van Zant. 

“Ronnie was a genius,” Medlocke tells ABC Audio of Ronnie’s lyrics, which he says “people could relate to.”

Ronnie’s younger brother, and Skynyrd’s current frontman, Johnny Van Zant, agrees. “I think it was the lyrics, it’s the music, you know, I think it just touches generations,” he says. “And Ronnie was a poet and a writer for the common people of the world.” 

(Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) went on to be certified double Platinum by the RIAA and peaked at #27 on the Billboard album chart.

Sadly, every Skynyrd member who played on the album has now died; Ronnie and vocalist Steve Gaines died along with four others in a 1977 plane crash following a concert in South Carolina. The last surviving original member of Skynyrd, guitarist Gary Rossington, passed away in March 2023.

But the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd lives on. The current lineup, which features Johnny and Rickey, is currently on their Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour with ZZ Top. It hits Wheatland, California, on Friday, August 11. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.

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Bon Jovi appears to be thoroughly impressed by music fans in Belfast, Ireland.

Video circulating on social media shows thousands of fans at the Féile [FAY-la] Dance Night in Belfast singing along to the New Jersey rockers’ classic hit “Livin’ on a Prayer,” with the whole crowd loudly belting out the song’s chorus.

The band caught wind of the clip and shared it on their social media account, calling the performance “epic!”

“Livin’ On A Prayer,” written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Desmond Child, was the second single off Bon Jovi’s third album, Slippery When Wet. It was the band’s second consecutive #1, following “You Give Love A Bad Name.” It went on to become a signature tune for the group.

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A new book may just be the perfect gift for any Beatles fan who also loves to travel.

Beatles Blackouts: Trips Around the World in Search of Beatles Monuments is written by Jack Marriott, a Beatles fan who embarks on a two-year journey through 23 countries to find tributes and monuments to the legendary band all over the world. 

Described as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas meets a drunken Eat, Pray, Love,” Marriott set off on his quest after dealing with some personal problems, including alcohol issues and a girlfriend who left him. The trip leads him to discoveries of Beatles monuments in Kazakhstan, Brazil, Mongolia, Peru, Japan and more. 

Beatles Blackouts: Trips Around the World in Search of Beatles Monuments is available to order now and will be in stores September 26.

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Mick Fleetwood’s business has been affected by the wildfires raging in Hawaii. He shared on social media that his restaurant in Maui, Fleetwoods on Front Street, has been destroyed.

“MAUl and The Lahaina community have been my home for several decades. This is a devastating moment for MAUl and many are suffering unimaginable loss,” the Fleetwood Mac rocker writes. “Fleetwoods on front Street has been lost and while we are heartbroken our main priority is the safety of our dear staff and team members.”

He adds, “On behalf of myself and my family I share my heartfelt thoughts and prayers for the people of MAUI. We are committed to supporting the community and those affected by this disaster in the days month and years to come.”

An earlier post on the restaurant’s Facebook page indicated that their area had “taken the brunt” of the fires, yet they “didn’t have enough information” about the status of the restaurant. The post continued, “Mahalo for your continued thoughts and prayers for our community and our first responders.”

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Fleetwood Mac is sharing another track off their upcoming Rumours Live double album, set for release September 8. 

The latest is the live version of the classic “Say You Love Me,” which the late Christine McVie wrote for the band’s 1975 self-titled release. This is the second track they’ve released from the record. They previously shared the live version of “Dreams.”

Rumours Live features performances from the band’s August 29, 1977, concert at the Forum in Los Angeles. The 90-minute concert, the opening night of a three-night stand, features live versions of most of the songs on the album, including “You Make Loving Fun,” “Songbird” and “The Chain,” as well as “Landslide,” “Rhiannon” and others from 1975’s Fleetwood Mac.

Rumors Live is being released digitally and as a two-CD or two-LP set. It is available for preorder now. There will also be a crystal clear-vinyl edition sold exclusively through Walmart.

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On This Day, August 10, 1968…

Cream hit #1 with their double album, Wheels of Fire. The album was made up of an LP of studio recordings and another LP of live tracks, recorded at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

The album, the band’s third studio release, also went to #1 in Australia and Canada; it only made it to #3 in the U.K.

Wheels of Fire featured such tracks as “White Room,” “Spoonful” and “Crossroads. It went on to become Cream’s best-selling album, and was their first Platinum certified double album.

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Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band kicked off the second leg of their North American tour on Wednesday, August 9, at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. During the show, The Boss took a moment to remember the late Robbie Robertson, who passed away earlier in the day at the age of 80.

According to the Asbury Park Press, Bruce dedicated the last song of the night, “I’ll See You In My Dreams,” to The Band guitarist and chief songwriter, letting the crowd know he was singing the song for “my good friend Robbie Robertson.”

“I’ll See You In My Dreams,” from The Boss’ 2020 album, Letter To You, is a reflection on mortality and death that features the closing lyric, “For death is not the end. And I’ll see you in my dreams.”

Bruce and The E Street Band return to Chicago for a second show on August 11. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net. 

Robertson was also remembered on social media by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who wrote, “Guitarist. Songwriter. Storyteller. Robbie Robertson was a big part of Canada’s outsized contributions to the arts,” adding, “I’m thinking of his family, friends, and fans who are mourning his loss. Thank you for the music and the memories, Robbie.”

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While Billy Joel has been touring stadiums and doing his Madison Square Garden residency for years now, he hasn’t released a new pop/rock album in three decades.  It was August 10, 1993 — 30 years ago — that that final album, River of Dreams, arrived.

River of Dreams featured more serious songs than usual Billy, covering topics like the overdevelopment of suburbia, depression, pessimism and a lack of trust in one’s fellow man. The gospel-influenced title track, however, was a major hit and Billy’s last top 10 to date, while “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” was a touching tribute to his daughter, Alexa Ray.  Billy’s then-wife, Christie Brinkley, painted the album’s cover.

While it wasn’t clear at the time, the album’s final track, “Famous Last Words,” was a deliberate statement by Billy indicating that he was done with working in the pop/rock idiom.

As he explained in an interview about the album on his website, “I felt like I had reached a point where I wasn’t going to write songs anymore. It was sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy… it just seemed like ‘This is the time to write that song and I can close the book.'”

Since then, Billy has released a few live albums, as well as Fantasies & Delusions, an 2001 album of classical music composed by him, but played by pianist Richard Joo. 

Singles-wise, he released the Bob Dylan cover “To Make You Feel My Love” and the Freddie Scott cover “Hey Girl,” both in 1997. But since River of Dreams, he’s only put out two new original pop/rock songs with lyrics both in 2007: “All My Life,” dedicated to his then-wife Katie Lee, and “Christmas In Fallujah,” which was written by him but performed by Cass Dillon.

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