Classic Rock News

Paul McCartney appears to be teasing some big news on his social media accounts. 

The Beatle shared a tease on social media suggesting fans sign up for his mailing list “for news coming soon.” He captioned the post, “Got to get you into my life” along with a guitar emoji.

Although there’s no clear message as to what he’s teasing, Billboard suggests it’s likely a new world tour, noting that Australian concert promoter Frontier Touring, which produced McCartney’s 2017 tour of Australia and New Zealand, reposted the tease.

McCartney last hit the road in 2022 on the Got Back tour, which included shows in North America and a headlining spot at U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival.

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The Boomtown Rats rocker Bob Geldof is giving folks a little insight into singer Sinéad O’Connor’s state of mind at the time of her death.

During the band’s set at the Cavan Calling festival in Cavan, Ireland, Geldof revealed to the audience that he had been texting the singer in the weeks before her death at the age of 56.

“She was a very good friend of mine,” Geldof said, according to the Irish Independent. “We were talking right up to a couple of weeks ago.” He added, “Some of the texts were laden with desperation and despair and sorrow and some were ecstatically happy,” noting, “She was like that.”

Earlier in the day, Geldof talked to Irish Web TV and revealed that Sinéad actually “lived down the road” from him and the band’s late guitar player Garry Roberts. He said the group was “all very sad” about her death.

“So we’ve known that girl most of her life, really. She was a big Rats fan,” he said. “So, to be honest with you, that’s why we’re doing very early stuff and we dedicate this gig to her, it’s the only thing we can do as musicians.”

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The ashes of late Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister will be enshrined at Germany’s upcoming Wacken Open Air festival.

The ceremony, taking place August 2, will be led by surviving Motörhead members Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee.

“Wacken was one of Lemmy’s dearest homes and we’re delighted he has a place here forever,” says Motörhead manager Todd Singerman. “He was a man of the people, and as such, he ‘lived’ in many places worldwide.”

Singerman adds, “It’s our aim to allow him to rest permanently in all his ‘homes’ globally, and allow his fans worldwide to have a place close to them where they can both pay respects and celebrate his enormous continuing legacy and influence.”

In 2022, France’s Hellfest unveiled a giant statue of Lemmy, which also had a portion of his ashes enshrined in it.

Lemmy died in 2015 at age 70. While Motörhead effectively ended upon Lemmy’s passing, a number of archival pieces have been released over the past few years, the most recent being Live at Montreux Jazz Festival ’07, which dropped in June.

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On This Day, July 31, 1980…

During a benefit gig in Long Beach, California, Eagles members Glenn Frey and Don Felder spent the show detailing how they planned to beat each other up after it was over.  

The show – now known as the “Long Night at Wrong Beach” – was a benefit for California Senator Alan Cranston’s re-election campaign, and the band basically split up after the gig, although they did go on to release a live album of the tour, Eagles Live, in order to fulfill their commitment to Elektra Records. 

The band eventually reconvened in 1994, although Felder was kicked out of the group in 1999. Frey passed away in 2016, but the band continued on with Glenn’s son Deacon Frey and Vince Gill joining the group.

The Eagles recently announced their Long Goodbye Farewell tour, which kicks off September 7 in New York City.

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Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is writing an introduction to a new edition of Screwjack, a collection of short stories written by the late Hunter S. Thompson.

In an Instagram post, Ulrich shares that he’s “beyond psyched” to be a part of the project.

“Reading these stories remind me what a treasure — and mindf*** — Hunter S. Thompson’s immortal words continue to be,” Ulrich says. “Thanx to [publisher Simon & Schuster] for encouraging me to put pen to paper for this. Check it out if you like things wild, salacious and unsettling.”

Thompson was known as a pioneer of gonzo journalism and for his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which, among many other things, inspired Avenged Sevenfold‘s song “Bat Country.” Screwjack was originally published in 1991 and then again in 2000.

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The musical legacy of Asia cofounder, singer and bassist John Wetton will be celebrated with a new eight-CD box set dropping November 24.

John Wetton: An Extraordinary Life will feature remastered versions of Wetton’s six solo albums, with each containing bonus tracks and two bonus discs featuring live and unreleased recordings curated by Wetton archivist Rick Nelson.

The six solo albums in the box set include 1980’s Caught in the Crossfire, 1994’s Battle Lines, 1997’s Arkangel, 2000’s Welcome to Heaven, 2003’s Rock of Faith and 2011’s Raised in Captivity. 

The set, which has the blessing of Wetton’s wife Lisa and son Dylan, also includes a 64-page book featuring an intro by artist Roger Dean and sleeve notes by Nick Shilton, who wrote the Wetton biography, An Extraordinary Life, which came out earlier this year.

John Wetton: An Extraordinary Life is available for preorder now. 

The box set news comes ahead of the all-star John Wetton memorial concert taking place August 3 at Trading Boundaries in East Sussex, England. It will feature performances by Wetton’s Asia bandmate Geoff Downes, Yes’ Rick Wakeman, former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, Squeeze’s Chris Difford and more.

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The new documentary Kiss the Future, featuring Irish rockers U2, is set to open the 2023 Sarajevo Film Festival this August.

Screen Daily reports that the film, which received its world premiere in February at the Berlin Film Festival and also opened New York’s Tribeca Festival in June, will be part of Sarajevo Film Festival’s Open Air program on August 11.

Kiss the Future, 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. The doc includes footage of U2’s memorable 1997 concert at Koševo Stadium celebrating the country’s liberation, along with interviews with Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton.

The film also features interviews with Sarajevo Film Festival founder Mirsad Purivatra. He started the festival during the conflict in 1995, and only stepped down as director last year.

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Foo Fighters paid tribute to the late Sinéad O’Connor during their set Saturday, July 29, at Japan’s Fuji Rock festival with some help from Alanis Morissette.

The “You Oughta Know” artist joined Dave Grohl and company for a rendition of O’Connor’s song “Mandinka,” a track off her 1987 debut album, The Lion and the Cobra.

You can watch footage of collaborative cover posted to Foo Fighters’ Instagram Story.

O’Connor’s death was announced Wednesday, July 26. She was 56.

Along with their mutual love for O’Connor, Foo Fighters and Morissette share another connection: late drummer Taylor Hawkins played in Morissette’s band before he joined the Foos. She played “You Oughta Know” alongside Foo Fighters during their Los Angeles tribute concert to Hawkins in September 2022.

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A new documentary about the legendary session musicians of the 1970s has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures, with plans for a December release, The Wrap reports.

The documentary, Immediate Family, is the follow-up to director Denny Tedesco’s 2008 documentary, The Wrecking Crew, which focused on session musicians of the 1960s.

Immediate Family tells the story of session musicians Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel and Waddy Wachtel, and features interviews with a host of A-list stars, including James Taylor, Keith Richards, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Carole King and Linda Ronstadt.

“I’m so happy to be working with the Magnolia team again for my follow-up to The Wrecking Crew,” said Tedesco. “When The Wrecking Crew was released, it went beyond all of our expectations and continues to find new fans even today. I look forward to the same experience with Immediate Family.”

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Billy Idol released the expanded edition of his self-titled album debut on July 28, and to coincide with the release, he’s dropped a video for a previously unreleased 12-minute Clubland Extended Remix of his classic tune “White Wedding.”

The clip reworks the song’s original video and even comes with a warning about strobe effects that may be sensitive to some viewers.

In addition to the remix of “White Wedding,” the two-CD Billy Idol Expanded Edition features a separate album with a previously unreleased concert, recorded August 12, 1982, at The Roxy in West Hollywood, California. It features performances of such tracks as “Hot in the City,” “Mony Mony,” “White Wedding” and more.

Billy Idol Expanded Edition is available now.

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