Classic Rock News

Dolly Parton is sharing some more behind-the-scenes tidbits about her upcoming rock album, Rockstar. While it’s filled with all-star guests like Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Elton John, she tells HitsDailyDouble she had the most fun recording with Stevie Nicks and Debbie Harry.

Dolly and Stevie duet on Nicks’ “What Has Rock ‘n’ Roll Ever Done for You,” which Dolly calls a “performance piece” that Stevie “had never put on a record but had always wanted to.”

“When we got in the studio, it was just fun, because we kinda ad-libbed at the front and on the end,” she says. “I like those kinda loose songs, because I’ve always been a performer and entertainer, and there’s a lot to be said when you can hear the fun.” 

Dolly recorded Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” with Harry, with Dolly noting it was “great fun.” “She came down, and we got to know each other quite a bit,” she says. “She is just the sweetest people, so good.”

Rockstar also includes Dolly covering Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic “Freebird,” which features Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle. Dolly also got permission from the late Ronnie Van Zant’s widow to include his vocals on the track, making the song extra special.

“That’s not going to be on the Lynyrd Skynyrd record, only the version we did. She allowed that, and I was so happy we got to use his real voice,” Dolly says. “It made it so special. I get chills every time I hear it.”

Dolly Parton’s Rockstar drops November 17. It is available for preorder now.

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Ringo Starr is turning 83 on Friday, July 7, and he celebrating with his annual Peace and Love birthday event. 

“As many of you know, since 2008, every year I use my birthday, July the 7th, to spread peace and love,” he shares in a new video featuring footage from past birthdays. He explains that the first one took place in Chicago with just 80 fans; he says now “it’s grown so much with a celebration in countries all over the world.”

“You have all helped create a wave of peace and love that goes over a whole planet. It’s a simple thing to do,” Ringo says. “So I’m giving you this reminder to join me if you want to at noon your local time on July the 7th to post, say or even just think peace and love.”

He adds, “That would be great. A great birthday gift for me and for the world. It helps the planet…and the new planets we’re going to.”

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Here’s some good news for Mötley Crüe fans. According to frontman Vince Neil, the band isn’t planning to stop touring once their tour with Def Leppard is over.

During an interview with The Music Universe podcast, Neil spilled the beans on the band’s future plans — and that includes more recording and more touring. 

“We have eight shows in the U.S. after (the U.K./European leg). Then we go to Australia and Japan, and then I think we’re gonna go back in the studio for a couple of more songs,” he shared. “And then we will announce a new stadium tour for next summer. We’re not sure who’s gonna be on it, but there’ll be another tour.”

Meanwhile, on June 30 Mötley Crüe took a break from stadiums to play a small club show at the Underworld in London under the name Dogs of War. The performance featured Crüe classics like “Shout at the Devil,” “Girls, Girls, Girls” and more, but the set also featured a surprise cover of the Beastie Boys classic “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!).” According to setlist.fm, it was the first time they’d ever played the Licensed to Ill track.

And finally, Crüe co-founder Nikki Sixx celebrated 22 years of sobriety on July 2, marking the occasion with a special message on social media. “It has been one hell of beautiful and sometimes difficult journey,” Sixx wrote. “For those still suffering there is hope. I am a work in progress. I still have work to do but I try to mitigate my life one day at a time. I love you. Love yourself back too.”

The Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard world tour hits Dublin, Ireland, on July 4. A complete list of dates can be found at motley.com.

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July 3 marks the 50th anniversary of David Bowie’s final performance as Ziggy Stardust at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, and his pianist Mike Garson says that while fans may not have been ready to say goodbye to the character, Bowie certainly was.

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Garson, a member of Bowie’s then-backing band at the time, The Spiders From Mars, says Ziggy was exactly what Bowie needed because he was able to “hide behind this character,” which helped with his nerves.  However, Garson says he stayed in the character “a little too long.”

“Yes, this show and this persona could have gone on for six months to a year longer than it did, but he cut it short at the Hammersmith in ‘73 because he’d had enough of it,” he says. “Fans didn’t get enough of it, because it was just warming up. But he knew it would screw him up if he stayed in it any longer. So, he dropped it.”

Garson, who continued to play with Bowie after the Ziggy era, says “part of me was happy” Ziggy came to an end “because I was bored,” but he notes he did miss his bandmates. 

 “This guy couldn’t help himself. He had to move on and move on and move on,” he says of Bowie. “He was always that way. He was impatient, because he couldn’t help wanting to create the next thing… He was the Miles Davis of the rock world, in that he had to change styles every few years.”

The 50th anniversary of Bowie’s final performance as Ziggy Stardust is being celebrated with screenings of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture in theaters across the country throughout July. Tickets are on sale now.

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Keith Emerson’s career is being celebrated with a brand new box set titled Variations, set to drop October 13.

The family of the late Emerson, Lake & Palmer keyboardist was directly involved in curating the set, which will be made up of 20 CDs, covering the prog rocker’s entire career. The set, housed in a special 10×10-inch box, is broken down into five parts: The Early Years/The Bands — covering both ELP and The Nice — The Solo Albums, The Soundtracks, Collaborations and Live Performances.

“It is with great excitement that we can share all of Dad’s great work, expanding throughout his long career,” Emerson’s son Aaron shares. “I hope it gives you as much joy as it has done for all of us.”

Among the live performances featured in the set is the Keith Emerson Trio‘s previously unreleased 2004 concert at BB Kings in New York City.

The set also includes a 48-page book with never-before-seen photos as well as sleeve notes written by Jerry Ewing, editor of PROG magazine.

Variations is available for preorder now.

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Dave Grohl may be getting another call from Axl Rose after the Guns N’ Roses frontman slipped and fell during the band’s show in London on Friday, June 30.

In fan-shot footage from the concert posted to YouTube, you can see Rose lose his footing while singing the Use Your Illusion I cut “Bad Obsession.”

Luckily, the fall seemed pretty minor, as Rose quickly got back up and even flashed a quick smile at the crowd before launching back into the song. That probably means he won’t have to borrow Grohl’s throne again, which he sat in during GN’R’s 2016 reunion tour after breaking his foot earlier that year.

Grohl famously debuted the giant, mechanized throne in 2015, which he had built after falling off the stage during show and breaking his leg.

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Call it the “Glastonbury Effect.” Appearances at the U.K.’s iconic Glastonbury Festival have paid off with big sales for most of the headliners, especially Elton John. 

Elton’s performance, billed as his last-ever show in the U.K., has sent his greatest hits collection Diamonds to number two on Britain’s Official Albums Chart. Plus, his Dua Lipa collab “Cold Heart” has reentered the chart at #30, while his classic “I’m Still Standing” has returned to the top 40 for the first time since it was released in 1983. 

In addition, “Since I Found You” singer Stephen Sanchez has benefited from joining Elton onstage at Glastonbury as one of his surprise guests. The retro-flavored ballad, Stephen’s breakthrough in the U.S., has now reentered the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart at #14, a new peak.

Glastonbury was one of Elton’s final shows before he says goodbye to the road for good. He’ll wrap his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour with a two-night stand in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 7-8.

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July’s full moon has brought us yet another new song from Peter Gabriel. “So Much” is the seventh single he’s released from his upcoming album i/o, which so far does not have a release date. 

“’So Much’ is about mortality, getting old, all the bright, cheerful subjects, but I think when you get to my sort of age, you either run away from mortality or you jump into it and try and live life to the full and that always seems to make a lot more sense to me,” Gabriel shares. “The countries that seem most alive are those that have death as part of their culture.”

As he’s done with all the other songs he’s released from i/o, Gabriel plans to release several different remixes of the song. The first one released is the Dark-Side Mix by Tchad Blake. It will be followed later this month by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent‘s Bright-Side Mix and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix).

Gabriel recently wrapped the U.K./European leg of his i/o tour. He’ll be bringing it to North America starting September 8 in Quebec City, Canada. A complete list of dates can be found at petergabriel.com.

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Foreigner released their fourth studio album, aptly title 4. The title was even more appropriate because the band went from six members to four —  Lou Gramm, Mick Jones, Rick Wills and Dennis Elliott.

The album was a massive hit, spending 10 weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart and selling over six million copies. It featured three hit singles, including one of their biggest hits “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” which peaked at #2 on the chart. Other hit singles included “Urgent,” which went to #4, and “Juke Box Hero,” which featured a young Thomas Dolby on keyboards. 

The album went on to be certified six-times Platinum by the RIAA.

Foreigner is currently on their final tour, though the only original member currently playing with the band is Mick Jones. They play Alpharetta, Georgia, on July 6. A complete list of dates can be found at Foreigneronline.com.

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Neil Young made his return to the road this weekend, kicking off his Coastal Tour at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California, his first tour since 2019. Young had promised fans he was going to be focusing on songs he rarely or hasn’t played live before, and he wasn’t kidding. 

Neil kicked off the show Friday, June 30, with the track “I’m The Ocean,” recorded with Pearl Jam for 1995’s Mirror Ball. According to setlist.fm, he hadn’t played that song since 1997 with his band Crazy Horse. 

Other rarities that were played for the first time in years include the Buffalo Springfield track “Burned,” which Neil hadn’t performed since 2009, “If You Got Love” for the first time since 1986 and “Song X,” which he last played in 1995 with Pearl Jam. Neil also performed “Prime of Life” for the first time since 1994, “Days That Used to Be” for the first time since 2014 and “When I Hold You In My Arms” for the first time since 2001.

There were also several songs that got their live debut, including “A Dream That Can Last,” “Don’t Forget Love,” and “Love Earth.”

The night wasn’t completely filled with rarities, with at leasts two classics making the set: “Heart of Gold” and the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tune “Ohio.”

Young has two more shows at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, July 3 and 5, before he heads to Santa Barbara on July 7. A complete list of dates can be found at NeilYoungarchives.com.

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