Classic Rock News

Metallica‘s debut album, Kill ‘Em All, is now 40 years old.

Released July 25, 1983, the RIAA triple-Platinum Kill ‘Em All proved to be the first chapter in the career of what would become the biggest band in metal.

Metallica was formed in 1981 by frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. After a few personnel changes, including a stint with future Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine on guitar, Metallica solidified the lineup for Kill ‘Em All with guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Cliff Burton joining Hetfield and Ulrich.

Kill ‘Em All showcased Metallica’s early thrash style and would prove to be a seminal album for the metal sub-genre as it expanded in the ’80s with bands including Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. It also spawned future ‘Tallica classics including “Seek & Destroy” and “Whiplash.”

Metallica would continue to build on their thrash sound with 1984’s Ride the Lightning and 1986’s Master of Puppets. After Burton died in a bus accident later in 1986, Metallica recruited bassist Jason Newsted and released the more proggy …And Justice for All in 1988. They then officially brought metal into the mainstream with the massive Black Album in 1991.

Throughout the ’90s, Metallica’s sound dipped more into hard rock territory with the polarizing Load and Reload, before Newsted left the band in 2001. Leading up to the release of the notorious St. Anger in 2003, which was documented in the 2004 movie Some Kind of Monster, Metallica welcomed new bassist Robert Trujillo.

The foursome of Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett and Trujillo has stayed intact ever since, producing 2008’s Death Magnetic, 2016’s Hardwired … to Self-Destruct and this year’s 72 Seasons. Metallica will launch a U.S. tour in support of 72 Seasons August 4 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

After recently wrapping the European and U.K. leg of their Stadium Tour with Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard is giving fans another behind-the-scenes video from the trek, this time sharing a look at what went down at their show in Switzerland and their massive concert at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Guitarist Phil Collen says the show at Wembley was a “really big deal” for the band because it was their first time headlining the stadium.

“In a way, it’s a journey that’s lasted 45 years ‘Cause when we were growing up and forming the band, we had little goals, but we always knew at the back of our minds, there was the big goal,” bassist Rick Savage adds of the show. “And here we are — this was the big goal, Wembley Stadium. In England, to English people, it doesn’t come much bigger than Wembley Stadium.”

Savage said getting to play Wembley was an “emotional” experience for the band, sharing, “it proves something to us, to ourselves, that we’ve actually made it this far for this long.” 

Drummer Rick Allen also recalls the first time the band was onstage at Wembley, when they were guests at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992. He called it one of his “most incredible mind-blowing experiences,” adding, “it was just friggin’ awesome.”

The Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe Stadium Tour returns to North America on Saturday, August 6, in Syracuse, New York. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com. 

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Foo Fighters have premiered a live performance video for “Under You,” a track off their new album, But Here We Are.

The clip was taken from Dave Grohl and company’s May streaming concert, during which they introduced new drummer Josh Freese, who joined the band following the March 2022 death of Taylor Hawkins.

You can watch the “Under You” performance streaming now on YouTube.

But Here We Are, the first Foo Fighters album since Hawkins’ passing, was released in June. It also includes the lead single “Rescued.”

Foo Fighters’ U.S. tour in support of But Here We Are will pick back up August 4 in Spokane, Washington.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

If you’re going to insult Bruce Springsteen, you better be ready for the consequences, as one person on social media recently found out when they dared to question The Boss’ “mental state.”

It all started when someone on Twitter posed a question to E Street Band members Garry Tallent, Steve Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren, which was basically a complaint about Springsteen playing very similar sets each night on tour.

“This is a serious question. Is Bruce’s mental state in decline? Is he just unable to perform other songs?” the user wrote. “These rinse and repeat shows are such the opposite of greatness.” 

Tallent was quick to shut the Twitter troll down, and it was clear he wasn’t happy, writing, “You are f****** kidding, right??”

And he wasn’t the only one who clapped back. Kathi Van Zandt, sister of Steve Van Zandt, responded, “Why don’t you stay home and let some real fans take your ticket? Decline? This man and this band play for three hours—performing from an extraordinary songbook most artists only dream about.” 

Fans still have plenty of chances to see just how mentally fit Bruce Springsteen is. He wraps his European tour in Monza, Italy, on Tuesday, July 25, and kicks off a new North American leg with two shows, August 9 and 11 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Another long-lost Steely Dan song has hit the internet.

The tune was posted by the Expanding Dan website, although it’s not actually a song, but a jingle Donald Fagen wrote for the Milwaukee beer company Schlitz.

According to Vulture, “The Schlitz Jingle” was recorded before the band began making 1973’s Countdown To Ecstasy, but the commercial never saw the light of day because it includes the Spanish word for “grab,” which apparently sounded an awful lot like a Spanish curse. 

The release of the jingle comes about a month after Expanding Dan released the “The Second Arrangement,” a 1979 Steely Dan song thought to be lost after a studio technician erased it. Like “The Second Arrangement,” the jingle was released by the daughter of the band’s late longtime engineer Roger Nichols.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It’s never too early or too late to introduce your family to the spotlight. That seems to be Rod Stewart‘s motto anyway.

A few weeks after he brought his 94-year-old sister Mary onstage for one of his shows in Scotland, People reports that during his concert in Spain on Saturday, July 22, Rod brought out his baby grandsons Louie and Otis. The boys, who were born three days apart in May, came onstage with their moms: Rod’s daughter Ruby Stewart and Nicole Artukovich, fiancée of Rod’s son Liam Stewart.

Ruby is Rod’s daughter with Kelly Emberg, who was his partner from 1983 to 1990. Liam is Rod’s son from his marriage to Rachel Hunter, which lasted from 1990 to 2006. 

People reports that Ruby later posted a photo on her Instagram Story of Otis wearing noise-canceling headphones, with his hand over his face. “Grandads production was a little too bright and loud for my liking,” she captioned the photo.

On his own Instagram Story on July 23, Rod posted an adorable photo of himself holding Louie and Otis on his lap, one in each arm. The soccer-loving singer captioned the pic, “Louie on the right wing — Otis on the left wing —Grandad down the middle.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The latest edition of Classic Rock magazine celebrates the 50th anniversary of AC/DC, with members of Def Leppard, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick and more sharing stories of the band and their favorite albums. One of those sharing is KISS’ Paul Stanley, who reveals why 1980’s Back in Black is his favorite AC/DC record.

“When Brian Johnson joined AC/DC, I was curious – like everyone was – about how that would impact the band and the chemistry they had with Bon Scott,” Stanley says about the band’s first album following Scott’s February 1980 death. “But what they created with Back In Black was just monumental.” 

He adds, “They were building on what they’d done before, moving forward. That kind of bare-bones grit they had in the early days was replaced with this driving sonic overload. But it was so brilliant. I thought what was gained overrode what was lost.”

Stanley says he knew AC/DC were “the real deal” after the first time he saw them perform at the Whisky A Go Go in the seventies. He notes, “They were so gritty, and the adrenaline level was just crazy. The amount of energy that Angus [Young] was expending on stage was mind boggling.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt has caused a bit of controversy after suggesting in a recent interview that not many of his fellow guitarists could handle working with Rihanna like he has.

It all started when Bettencourt gave an interview with Planet Rock in which he commented about working with Rihanna. “Most of the guitar players who I admire could not in their lifetime play that gig” because of all her different musical styles, he said. He specifically mentioned Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, saying that while he was “one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time,” even he would say, “it ain’t happening.” 

The comments seemed to upset Guns N’ Roses guitarist Richard Fortus, who responded by writing, “there is very little @slash couldn’t do on guitar (if he wanted to). This gig wouldn’t be a struggle for him.”

That prompted Nuno to defend himself via social media “because I’d hate to think my few words offended a hero of mine, @slash and possibly f*** up my relationship with him.”

After calling Fortus a “replacement player in GUNS,” Nuno went on to explain himself.

“As if I’d ever think Slash isn’t capable of playing any Rihanna song in his sleep,” he insisted, writing he only meant most guitarists would feel “like a fish out of water as a player” onstage with Rihanna.

He did acknowledge he used a “poor word choice” when suggesting Slash would “struggle” playing for the pop superstar, noting he hoped Slash “would be more mature enough to understand what I truly meant as a guitarist by that comment.”

“I’ve had NOTHING but respect and admiration for @gunsnroses and @slash,” he concluded, adding, “Apologies if I’ve unintentionally offended anyone.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

R.E.M. has put together a best-of playlist to celebrate the renewed interest in their music thanks to the recently premiered second season of The Bear.

The playlist, which was made exclusively for NME, consists of 40 songs, with each member — frontman Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry — hand-picking their 10 favorite songs from their entire discography.

Stipe leads off the playlist with his picks and is followed by Buck, Mills and Berry.

The Bear season 2, which dropped in June, prominently features the R.E.M. song “Strange Currencies” on its soundtrack. Since its premiere, R.E.M. has shared a new video for a remixed version of  the track.

The Bear is streaming now on Hulu, which is partnered with Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour arrived in the land of grunge over the weekend with shows at Seattle’s Lumen Field on Saturday, July 22, and Sunday, July 23.

Eddie Vedder was in attendance alongside his family, but not everyone recognized the Pearl Jam frontman as the grunge royalty that he is. One Swiftie on TikTok shared a photo of Vedder in the crowd, only to identify him as The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal.

Many took to the TikTok’s comment to correctly name Vedder, including his own daughter Olivia, who wrote, “That’s fully my dad.”

For what it’s worth, both Vedder and Pascal have a connection to The Last of Us. Pascal, of course, plays main character Joel in the HBO series, while Pearl Jam’s music is featured both in the show and in the video game series on which it’s based.

Meanwhile, you can see more of the Vedder family’s adventures at the Swift show via Eddie’s wife Jill‘s Instagram.

In addition to welcoming the Vedders, Swift’s trip to Seattle also included a surprise appearance by HAIM, who joined Taylor onstage during the Saturday show for the live debut of their collaborative song “no body no crime.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.