Classic Rock News

Pink Floyd’s 50th anniversary celebration of The Dark Side of the Moon continues, and Thursday it was marked with a special event that coincided with a rare total solar eclipse.

Eight fans won a trip to a secluded beach at Ningaloo (Nyinggulu) Marine Park in Exmouth, Western Australia, where they listened to the album in full — timed so that the closing line, “but the sun is eclipsed by the moon …,” would play at the exact moment of the eclipse. Not only that, on the beach was constructed a giant black pyramid, similar to the cover of the classic album. 

A clip of the experience can be seen on the band’s Instagram page. It was also livestreamed on the band’s website and was filmed for a short-form documentary on the sweepstakes winners, dubbed the Astronome Domine 8, coming at a later date.

Released on March 1, 1973, The Dark Side of the Moon was Pink Floyd’s eighth studio release and to this day is one of their most commercially successful releases ever.

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The Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys are just a couple of the artists being featured on Project Brazen and PRX’s new podcast Night of Show. 

The podcast features never-before-heard stories about A-list music stars from those in the industry. The show is hosted by New York Times best-selling author Tom Wright, and Adam Wilkes of concert promoter AEG, who along with AEG’s John Meglen and Paul Gongaware share stories from their years working with musicians, giving fans a backstage pass to what goes on show night. 

The Rolling Stones are the subject of the podcast’s second episode, where the group discusses the band’s history-making shows in Cuba, while the Beach Boys are featured in episode five, with a story of how Nancy Reagan helped the band when they got pulled from a July 4 celebration because of a moralizing politician.

The podcast launches Monday, April 24 with an episode about Prince, with future episodes featuring stories of Michael Jackson, Kenny G and more.

The Beach Boys are featured in episode five, with a story of how Nancy Reagan helped when the band was pulled from a July 4 celebration because of a moralizing politician.

Visit NightofShow.com to hear the trailer and find out more details.

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Tommy Lee is insisting he is not transphobic. According to Entertainment Weekly, the declaration came after he received backlash for sharing a 2017 OAN clip on social media in which host Liz Wheeler railed against transgender, “transracial” and “transabled” people.

After deleting the original post, the Mötley Crüe drummer took to Instagram to defend himself, writing, “I am in no way transphobic or against the LGBTQIA+ community or any f****** community,” adding, “I’m the gayest motherf***** around!”

But, he argues, “I just don’t agree with how far some things have been taken,” suggesting there are people who blind themselves “because they feel they should’ve been born blind.”

“I get being born female and identifying as male or being born male and identifying as female or whatever,” he continues, “But when [people] start identifying as babies or animals…WTF!”

And if that wasn’t enough, in the caption Lee also ranted about artificial intelligence, noting, “don’t even get me started with the AI s***… before you know it you’ll be wondering if anything in this world is real or what it seems.”

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John Fogerty was honored earlier this week at the BMI/NAB Dinner in Las Vegas with the BMI Board of Directors Award, which celebrated the impact of his five-decade career.

Mike O’Neill, President & CEO of BMI, shared that Fogerty is “what it means to be a living legend,” calling him a “groundbreaking singer, songwriter and guitarist responsible for some of the best known, most beloved and distinctive rock songs of the 20th century.”

In accepting the award, Fogerty showed off a notebook from 1967, with the first lines written in it being “Proud Mary,” which just eight months later was turned into a song that became a future classic.

The evening also featured a performance by the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who was joined by sons Tyler and Shane for “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” “Fortunate Son” and “Proud Mary.”

Next up, Fogerty is set to hit the road on his Celebration Tour, which kicks off April 27 in Uncasville, Connecticut. A complete list of dates can be found at JohnFogerty.com.

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Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen is paying tribute to Jeff Beck in a new interview with Guitar World.

“Jeff Beck has always been one of my idols because he’s unique. No-one sounds like him, no-one plays like him, and you’ve got to respect that more than anything else,” Cpllen says of Beck, who passed away in January. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. No-one was able to get anywhere close to that.” 

Collen goes on to praise the days of the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart singing, noting they “could have been a huge band.”

“They were supposed to play Woodstock, but Jeff had to fly home, so they never got to do it,” Collen says, noting that Beck went on to launch a successful solo career and Stewart went to Faces. Collen adds, “so everyone gained from them not doing Woodstock, even though if they’d done it they could’ve been as big as Led Zeppelin.”

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Mötley Crüe has been booked to perform during this year’s NFL Draft Concert Series. The three-day event takes place April 27-29 in Kansas City, Missouri, in conjunction with the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Crüe is booked to play on April 28, with the concert series lineup also featuring Fall Out Boy on April 27 and Thundercat on April 29. 

All the performances will stream via the NFL’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel. Additionally, clips from the shows will be televised as part of ESPN and NFL Network’s draft coverage.

For more info, visit NFL.com.

The news comes as Mötley Crüe recently revealed they in the studio with new guitarist John 5 and Dr. Feelgood producer Bob Rock. The band is also dealing with a very public lawsuit with ex-guitarist Mick Mars and is set to hit the road again with Def Leppard for a European and U.K. tour, kicking off May 22 in Sheffield, England. 

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Extreme has released two new songs, titled “Banshee” and “#Rebel.”

The tracks will appear on the “More Than Words” outfit’s upcoming album, Six, due out June 9.

You can listen to “Banshee” and “#Rebel” now via digital outlets, and watch their accompanying videos streaming now on YouTube.

Six, the aptly titled sixth Extreme studio effort, also includes the previously released single “Rise.”

Extreme will launch a U.S. tour in support of Six beginning August 2 in Portland, Maine. Living Colour will also be on the bill.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 21, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit Extreme-Band.com.

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Elton John testified remotely before the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday morning, urging the committee to continue to fund the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The plan, known as PEPFAR, was founded in 2003 by President George W. Bush. The Hill reports that in his testimony, Elton credited it with saving some 25 million lives and urged Congress to extend and fund the program for the next five years.

“I am boundlessly grateful for the bipartisan cooperation that has been the hallmark of PEPFAR for two decades now,” he told lawmakers, noting that the plan has been “enthusiastically supported by four presidents and 10 Congresses, and consistently championed by the generosity of the American people.”

“The PEPFAR platform has not only transformed HIV into a chronic disease for tens of millions, it has been leveraged to fight [COVID-19] and made countries far better prepared for whatever viral nightmare comes next,” Elton noted. “But we are not done yet.”

He continued, “We need to keep our foot on the accelerator,” adding, “By extending PEPFAR for another five years and fully funding it, together, we can continue the march toward ending AIDS for everyone everywhere and leave no one behind.”

The committee’s chairman, Bob Menéndez (D-N.J.) praised Elton as someone who “use[s] their fame in a way that saves the lives of others.”

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Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider is thinking about breaking out his old makeup case. In a response to a tweet about Montana’s recent drag ban, Snider shared his desire to get back to his old Twisted Sister look.

The amended ruling bans “obscene performances” of “male or female performers who adopt flamboyant or parodic feminine personas with glamorous makeup and exaggerated costumes.” 

“You know I haven’t worn the Twisted Sister Makeup in many years,” Snider responded to the post, “but now I’m tempted to put it back on!”

Snider has already said that he plans to reunite Twisted Sister in 2024 for political rallies, especially since politicians keep using “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” but not in the way it was intended. This could mean the makeup will be back for those performances.

After urging the “true majority” of Americans to “fight back, push back, take control,” regarding the push for these bans, Snider shared a John Wick meme that read “People keep asking if I’m back. I’m starting to think I’m back.” He then noted, “I took off the @TwistedSisterny makeup more than a decade ago, but in light of the current stupidity in the USA it just might be time to start wearing it again!” 

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Queen has reached another milestone on YouTube. Guitarist Brian May revealed on social media that the video for the band’s track “I Want It All” has reached 100 million views on YouTube.

He captioned the post, “Thanks, folks, for giving us it ALL !!!”

“I Want It All” isn’t the first Queen tune to reach at least 100 million YouTube views. “We Will Rock You” has over 500 million, while “We Are the Champions” has over 200 million views and “Bohemian Rhapsody” has over 1.6 billion.

“I Want It All” was the first single off Queen’s 1989 studio album The Miracle. It reached number three on the U.K. singles chart, as well as the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.

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