Classic Rock News

The U.K. Glastonbury Festival’s already huge lineup just got a little bigger. The Pretenders announced they will be performing at the fest, which takes place June 23-25. 

The band made the surprise announcement on Instagram, sharing video from the festival grounds, along with a program that shows they’ll be playing The Park Stage at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday, June 24. They post says they’ll be bringing along some “special friends.”

“It’s always been there for most of our lifetimes,” frontwoman Chrissie Hynde shared about the concert. “There has never been a festival like it anywhere else.”

The surprise appearance comes ahead of Pretenders joining Guns N’ Roses’ U.K. tour as special guests. (GNR just happens to be headlining Glastonbury on June 24). The tour kicks off June 27 in Glasgow, Scotland. A complete list of dates can be found at thepretenders.com.

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The lineup for the inaugural Darker Waves Festival in Huntington Beach, California, has just been announced and it’s jam-packed with some of the most popular new wave artists of the ’80s.

The festival, happening on the beach November 18, features headliners Tears for Fears and New Order, with The B-52’s, OMD, Devo, Echo and the Bunnymen, Soft Cell, The Human League, Violent Femmes and more also on the bill.

Presale tickets go on sale Friday, June 23, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete lineup and more ticket information can be found at darkerwavesfest.com.

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KISS is currently on the European leg of their End of the Road Tour, and while you may think it’s hard for the band members to get around in their elaborate stage wear and platform boots, it looks like at least one member of the band has figured out a way to get around that.

The British band The Wild Things is currently opening for KISS on the trek and shared a hilarious video of bassist Gene Simmons, all made up in his outfit, having some fun backstage riding around in a motorized yellow cart. A second clip has Simmons in the same cart waving at those around him like he’s the queen.

The Wild Things captioned the videos, “He’s still very threatening in that tiny car,” with the voiceover adding, “Things we didn’t expect to see backstage whilst on tour with KISS.”

They then added another clip that combines the two videos, set to Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’.”

KISS’ End of the World tour hits Dresden, Germany, on June 21. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.

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The Zombies are returning to North America this fall for a brand new tour. The band just announced dates for their Different Game tour, named after their latest album, which dropped in March. 

The tour kicks off in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, on October 1, hitting such U.S. cities as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Nashville, New York and more, before wrapping October 29 in Glenside Park, Pennsylvania. 

A fan club presale kicks off Wednesday, June 21, at 10 a.m. local time, with the general on-sale happening Friday, June 23, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at thezombiesmusic.com.

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Aerosmith is ready to start their goodbye to the road later this year, and now they are looking back at their career with a new compilation of their biggest hits.

The band just announced they’ll be releasing an “ultimate” Greatest Hits collection, which will be released in a variety of formats, including a super deluxe limited edition set to be sold exclusively through the Aerosmith store. It will feature 44 tracks, including such classics as “Dream On,” “Walk This Way,” “Sweet Emotion” and “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing.” It will also include some rarely seen photos, book-style sleeves, four black-and-white lithographs and more.

The set, dropping August 18, will also be released in a standard CD and LP format, as well as three-CD, two-LP and three-LP deluxe editions. All formats are currently available for preorder at the Aerosmith store and will be available for preorder at all other retailers on Thursday, June 22. 

Aerosmith will hit the road this September on their Peace Out! tour. It kicks off September 2 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A complete list of dates can be found at aerosmith.com.

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On This Day, June 20, 1942 … 

Brian Wilson was born in Inglewood, California.

In 1961, he co-founded The Beach Boys and changed the face of popular music with his gift for musical harmonies and vocal arrangements. The band had a string of top 40 hits, including “I Get Around,” “Help Me Rhonda” and “Good Vibrations,” which all went to number one.

After a nervous breakdown in 1964, Wilson stopped touring with the band, but did go on to record what he considered “probably the best album I ever did”: 1966’s Pet Sounds.

Wilson is a two-time Grammy winner and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Beach Boys in 1988. In 2000 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

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James Taylor has been forced to postpone a trio of shows after coming down with a case of laryngitis.

“I really hate to have to postpone these shows and it’s not something I take lightly,” Taylor shares on Instagram. “I thought I could push through but I’m at the point now if I don’t take these days off I risk doing permanent damage.”

The affected shows were due to take place in Huntsville, Alabama, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Mt. Pleasant, Michigan; they’ve been moved to August 22, 24 and 26, respectively.

“So very sorry to everyone who has tickets this week, I hope you’re able to hold onto your tickets for the new dates,” Taylor adds. “I look forward to picking the tour back up in Milwaukee on Saturday.”

Those unable to attend the rescheduled dates will be able to get refunds for their tickets. 

Taylor’s tour is set to run until September, wrapping with a three-night stand in Vienna, Virginia, September 7, 8 and 10. A complete list of dates can be found at jamestaylor.com.

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Elton John is winding down his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which he promises will be his last tour ever. But fans shouldn’t worry, it won’t be the last we’ll be hearing from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. In fact, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Elton reveals he’s already thinking about making more music.

“I’ll be recording a new album very soon,” he shares, “and I can’t wait because I haven’t really recorded a proper record for a long time, so I’m looking forward to doing that.” 

Elton has earned a lot of accolades over the course of his career and is just an Emmy away from getting his EGOT. That could happen this year, with his Disney+ special Farewell From Dodger Stadium getting a big Emmy push. But Elton insists earning an EGOT “has never been a goal.”

“If it gets nominated for an Emmy, that’d be wonderful,” he says. “I’m so pleased about the quality of this thing. The sound and what they did is incredible, and I’m so proud of it. I couldn’t find anything wrong with it, and I’m usually so critical.” He adds, “So if it is nominated for an Emmy, we’ll just celebrate that.”

Elton’s next tour stop is Paris, France, where he’ll play June 21, 27 and 28. In the middle of that he’ll play the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, June 25. The tour is set to end July 8 in Stockholm, Sweden. A complete list of Elton dates can be found at EltonJohn.com.

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Blondie‘s Debbie Harry infamously revealed in her 2019 autobiography, Face It, that during a 1977 tour, after she offered David Bowie and Iggy Pop some cocaine, Bowie thanked her by dropping his pants and flashing her. While some people may be offended by that, she scoffs at the idea that it was something she was upset about. 

“I think you should rethink that. Most women would really die to be in that room,” she tells The U.K. Times, agreeing that it could be true about some men, too. She notes, “You have to consider the context — I was a consenting adult, shall we say. I believe that that is really the borderline.”

In the book, Harry wrote of the experience, “David’s size was notorious, of course, and he loved to pull it out with both men and women. It was so adorable, funny and sexy.”

Harry was talking to the paper ahead of the band’s appearance at the Glastonbury Festival on June 25. The show is part of the band’s current U.K. tour, which runs through July 1. A complete list of dates can be found at blondie.net.

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Paul McCartney’s recently released photography book, 1964: Eyes of the Storm, features pictures from the early days of Beatlemania, and putting it together was a great walk down memory lane for the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.

“Well, I mainly see it as a ‘behind the scenes’ publication. After all these years, it was lovely for me to be taken backstage again,” he reveals in a Q&A on his website. “I love just looking at old pictures of the guys.”

One such picture is of John Lennon with his glasses. McCartney writes, “… obviously it’s hugely sad, because I miss him so much. But this just reminds me of growing up with him and all the pleasant memories.”

He adds, “Whenever I see John with these sorts of glasses, it reminds me of the way he would take him off when there were girls around. For some reason people think they look better without their glasses! And now, whenever other people do that it always reminds me of John.”

He says the book “just brings back all those little memories which make up a life.”

As for whether he’s still taking pictures, McCartney shares, “I am a keen photographer, and now of course it’s all iPhone. It’s just too easy!” 

He says, “The iPhone quality is really pretty good, but having a daughter, Mary, who is a professional photographer, she tells me she always takes the precaution of taking a nice picture on a what she calls her ‘real’ camera, just because, you can do pretty much anything with that.”

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