Classic Rock News

A pair of hospitalized Ukrainian soldiers got a surprise visit from James Hetfield.

The Metallica frontman recently made a stop at the Vail Health Hospital in his Colorado hometown, which, according to Vail Daily, has been caring for injured Ukrainians as part of the Limbs for Liberty program. He visited with injured soldiers Roman Denysiuk and Igor Voinyi, and “wished [them] luck and [to] get better soon.”

“It was unexpected,” Voinyi says. “I didn’t even believe it at the first moment that it was him. It was very short, but it was a very warm meeting. It would be nice to meet him at a campfire and have a drink, instead of the hospital.”

Following the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Metallica’s All Within My Hands foundation donated $500,000 to the World Central Kitchen Ukraine Relief Fund.

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Over the weekend, one of Eddie Van Halen‘s Charvel Art Series guitars was auctioned off for $114,000. If you missed out on that, you can pick up seven of his Charvel Art Series guitars for just $525,000.

Six of the seven guitars were played by the late Van Halen guitar virtuoso onstage over three tours — in 2004, 2007 and 2012 — and are signed by him, as well. The seventh is a custom-built replica of Eddie’s legendary “Frankenstrat” guitar, nicknamed “Frank 2.” It was owned by Eddie, though he didn’t play it onstage.

All seven guitars are being sold as part of one lot at an auction run by Analogr.com, and they all come with certificates of authenticity. At press time, the guitars had not yet reached the reserve price of $525,000 — so far, bidding is only up to $455,800.

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Paul Simon just released a critically acclaimed new album, Seven Psalms, but he says even if he really wanted to tour to promote it, he can’t — because he’s lost most of the hearing in his left year.

Speaking to the U.K.’s Sunday Times, Simon, 81, says the loss was “quite sudden,” adding, “Nobody has an explanation for it. So everything became more difficult. My reaction to that was frustration and annoyance; not quite anger yet, because I thought it would pass, it would repair itself.”

That doesn’t seem to be happening, which means that Simon can’t perform live, but he says he isn’t particularly eager to return to the stage. 

“The songs of mine that I don’t want to sing live, I don’t sing them,” he says. “Sometimes there are songs that I like and then at a certain point in a tour, I’ll say, ‘What the f*** are you doing, Paul?’ Quite often that would come during ‘You Can Call Me Al.’ I’d think, ‘What are you doing? You’re like a Paul Simon cover band. You should get off the road, go home.’”

Simon, who now lives on a ranch in Texas with his wife, Edie Brickell, wrote Seven Psalms after he had a dream on January 19, 2019 — the anniversary of his father’s death.

“The dream was specific,” he says. “‘You are writing, or are meant to write, a piece called Seven Psalms.’ It was a very insistent statement, so much so that I wrote it down.” 

The paper he wrote it down on is now framed in his studio, as is a copy of his and Art Garfunkel‘s first single, “Hey Schoolgirl,” which they recorded in 1957 under the name Tom & Jerry.

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Not long ago, Bruce Springsteen‘s YouTube channel posted an official lyric video for one of his classics, “Badlands.” As for what prompted a lyric video treatment for a song released in 1978, well, just look to your local movie theater.

“Badlands,” which first appeared on Darkness on the Edge of Town, just happens to play over the credits of the hit film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It’s not clear if the two things are connected, but in the comments, many fans indicate that’s why they’ve come to watch the lyric video.

“Found this song through Guardians of the Galaxy and I’m glad that I did,” one person wrote.

“Came here after seeing Guardians of the Galaxy and so glad to see this new lyric video released. Such a timeless song and hit the right notes for the film,” added another.

“Got such a huge smile when this started playing at the end of Guardians 3. Listening to one of my favorite songs by my favorite musician on the big screen was amazing,” read another comment.

“Badlands” didn’t get an official video when it was released, but there are numerous live videos of the song posted on Springsteen’s YouTube channel. It’s also part of the set list on Bruce’s current tour.

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On This Day, May 22, 1976 …

Paul McCartney & Wings hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Silly Love Songs,” which spent five weeks on top of the chart.

The tune, from the 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound, was McCartney’s answer to critics who suggested he only wrote lightweight love songs.

“Silly Love Songs” was McCartney’s fifth number one as a solo artist and his 27th number one as a songwriter, which was a new record. McCartney still holds the record for the most number ones by a songwriter with 32.

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This year’s Cruel World festival unexpectedly turned into a two-day event over the weekend.

Toward the end of the festival’s originally scheduled day on Saturday, the venue was evacuated on account of “unsafe weather conditions and lightning strikes in the area.” Iggy Pop‘s performance was cut short, while Siouxsie‘s headlining set, which was set to mark the Siouxsie and the Banshees frontwoman’s first U.S. performance in 15 years, was canceled.

Luckily, organizers were able to reschedule full Siouxsie and Iggy sets for Sunday at the same venue.

Prior to the evacuation, Cruel World featured sets from Love and Rockets, Echo & the Bunnymen and Billy Idol.

Those who bought Cruel World tickets but could not attend the Sunday makeup show can receive partial refunds.

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Tom Johnston will be able to listen — but not sing — to the music for a while: The Doobie Brothers‘ lead singer and guitarist is undergoing surgery to address his severe back pain.

This means Johnston will be sitting out the upcoming leg of the band’s 50th Anniversary Tour, which is set to kick off May 25 at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. The other band members — including Pat Simmons, Michael McDonald and John McFee — will continue the tour so as not to disappoint the fans. 

“I hope for a speedy recovery and can’t wait to get back on the road and continue doing what I love,” Johnston says in a statement. “I would like to thank Pat, Michael, John, and the entire Doobie Brothers band for covering for me while I recover from back surgery…I’m sure they will bring it every night as they always do.” 

The Doobie Brothers’ 50th anniversary tour is set to run through October. A complete list of dates can be found at thedoobiebrothers.com.

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A guitar smashed and signed by the late Kurt Cobain sold for $595,900 at a Julien’s Auctions sale over the weekend.

The black Fender Stratocaster features an inscription from the Nirvana icon to Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan reading “Hell-o Mark/Love, your Pal, Kurdt Kobain/Washed up rock star.” It was expected to sell for between $60,000 and $80,000, meaning it went for nearly 10 times its original estimate.

Last year, a Cobain-smashed guitar sold for over $480,000 at auction. Another Cobain guitar, the 1959 Martin D-18E guitar he played during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged special, holds the record for most expensive guitar sold at auction: it went for $6 million in 2020.

Along with the guitar, another historic Nirvana artifact sold during the auction: the 1991 handwritten set list from the band’s April 1991 show at Seattle’s OK Hotel, which notably featured the live debut of the then-unreleased “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” That went for $50,800, well above its $4,000-$6,000 estimate.

The auction also saw the sale of an Eddie Van Halen guitar from Van Halen‘s 2007-08 tour, which went for $114,300; a Bono-played Gretsch Irish Falcon Electric Guitar, which fetched $238,125; and John Lennon and Paul McCartney‘s handwritten lyrics for The Beatles‘ “Baby, You’re a Rich Man,” which brought in $65,000.

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Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen spoke to ABC’s Good Morning America about his recovery journey after he was assaulted after a show in Fort Lauderdale in March.

Allen, 59, told GMA that he was “totally blindsided” by the attack, explaining, “I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this [flash] and the next thing I knew was I was on the ground. I landed on my backside… hit my head on the pavement.”

Allen, who lost his left arm in a car crash in 1984, added, “I don’t think he knew who I was, but he must have seen that I wasn’t a threat because, you know, I’ve only got one arm.”

Police arrested Max Hartley, a 19-year-old from Ohio, shortly after he allegedly attacked the drummer and a woman who tried to interfere in the incident, nearby the site of the attack at the Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale, on March 13.  

Hartley was charged with two counts of battery and four counts of criminal mischief, according to a police report. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Allen’s wife, Lauren Monroe, to whom he’s been married since 2003, helped him recover. Allen told GMA, “I immediately just went to that place of just feeling grateful for the fact that I have an amazing wife and an incredible family and I just started thanking a higher power for the fact that I’m still here.”

Def Leppard kicks off the U.K./European leg of their Stadium tour on Monday, and Allen’s ready.

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Songwriter and poet Pete Brown, best known for co-writing “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room” for Cream in the 1960s, died of cancer on Friday, May 19 at the age of 82.

A post on Brown’s Facebook page read, “Pete was known to repeat the mantra ‘I come from a long line of worriers, not warriors.’ One of his other favorite expressions passed down from [British poet] Spike Hawkins was, ‘That’s life — up one minute, down the next twenty-five years.'”  

In continued, “Despite his tendency towards Jewish pessimism, he lived the life of a warrior poet. He was proudly anti-establishment, and dedicated his life to his creative endeavors, in an uncompromising way.”

Inspired by U.S. beat poets, Brown began writing poetry in 1955. He was approached by Cream drummer Ginger Baker to write lyrics for the supergroup, which also featured guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce.

Brown also helped write the group’s song “I Feel Free,” and continued to write songs with Bruce more than four decades after Cream broke up.

He continued working until the end, collaborating with Joe Bonamassa on the album Royal Tea and, most recently, on the final mixes of a new album, Shadow Club, featuring guest performances from Clapton and Bonamassa.

Brown was featured in two documentary films: White Rooms and Imaginary Westerns, a loose adaptation of his autobiography, and The Cream Acoustic Sessions, a documentary on the re-working of many Cream songs. An accompanying album, Heavenly Cream, is due for release later this year.

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