Classic Rock News

ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard is set to return to the road after taking a second leave of absence from the band.

According to the band’s management, Beard has been missing from the tour for a few weeks in order to “address a medical issue that necessitated his return to Texas.” After missing “a number of dates” on ZZ Top’s Elevation tour, management says the issue “has been resolved” and he’s been cleared to return.

“The doctors did what they did so now I’m able to do what I do,” says Beard. “Happy that It’s back to band business as usual.”

Beard’s return to the road will take place Thursday in Tulsa; he’s expected to complete the tour, which runs until November. 

A complete list of dates can be found at ZZTop.com.

This is the second time Beard has taken a break from touring due to health issues. Back in March, Beard “temporarily stepped away” from the tour to deal with some health problems. It was later revealed that he was suffering from “foot and ankle issues” and rejoined the tour in June.

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The reunited Sex Pistols, featuring vocalist Frank Carter, have postponed their upcoming North American tour dates due to guitarist Steve Jones breaking his wrist.

“I’ve got some good news and bad news,” Jones writes in an Instagram post Tuesday. “What do you want first? Okay, the bad news: I’ve broken my wrist, so unfortunately we won’t be doing any shows for a while.”

“The good news is the surgeon said I will be back playing guitar in the not-too-distant future,” he continues. “The other good news is I’ll be 70 tomorrow! God bless, and God save the wrist.”

The tour was scheduled to kick off Sept. 16 in Dallas. It was set to be the first extended Pistols live run in the U.S. since 2003.

Dates will be rescheduled once Jones “has fully recovered,” the post says.

The Sex Pistols announced their reunion in 2024. The lineup includes original members Jones, bassist Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook, along with Carter in place of frontman John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon.

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Def Leppard has revealed their 2026 summer plans.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have announced dates for a new U.K. and European tour, featuring special guest Extreme on select dates.

The tour is set to kick off June 13 in Rättvik, Sweden, with the U.K. portion beginning June 26 in Belfast, Ireland. The tour features a stop in their hometown of Sheffield, England, on June 30, as well as a show at The O2 in London on July 2. The trek wraps Aug. 2 with a show in Dubai.

Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday.

Def Leppard’s next gig will be a headlining spot at Radio 2 in Hylands Park in Writtle, Englad. They also have one more U.S. date booked for this year, Oct. 11 in Gary, Indiana. The rockers are set to headline a Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace starting Feb. 3.

A complete list of dates can be found at DefLeppard.com.

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Dave Grohl made a surprise appearance at the cover band Chevy Metal‘s concert in Agoura Hills, California, on Saturday.

Chevy Metal was cofounded by late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and currently features his son, Shane Hawkins.

Grohl joined Chevy Metal for a rendition of the song “Beef Bologna” by the punk band Fear. The performance also featured Fear vocalist Lee Ving.

The show’s other guests included KISS‘ Gene Simmons, Anthrax‘s Scott Ian, former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach and The Cars‘ Elliot Easton. 

Grohl is also gearing up for a tour of Asia with Foo Fighters, kicking off in October. The shows will mark the Foos’ first since Grohl’s 2024 infidelity scandal and since the firing of drummer Josh Freese.

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The Who’s rock opera Quadrophenia debuted as a ballet in the U.K. back in May, and now the production is coming to America.

Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia, A Rock Ballet is set to run at New York City Center from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16. Directed by Rob Ashford, the production features the orchestral version of the album by Townshend’s wife, Rachel Fuller, recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The ballet is choreographed by Paul Roberts, with rising star Paris Fitzpatrick playing the central character, Jimmy.

“Quadrophenia is the only Who album that I solely composed and produced, and the movie that followed in 1979 launched the careers of some of the finest young actors of the time,” says Pete, noting that after he heard Fuller’s orchestral score “my first thought was that it would make a powerfully rhythmic and emotionally engaging ballet.”

Pete adds that after the project was workshopped in 2023, “I knew we had something that would resonate with new audiences, and also bring joy, as it had in its other iterations for decades.”

The story, set in Brighton, England, in 1965, follows a young working-class mod named Jimmy on a journey of self-discovery. The album’s title was inspired by Jimmy’s four-way “split personality,” with each member of the band representing a different facet of that personality.

Tickets for Quadrophenia, A Rock Ballet go on sale Thursday for Friends of City Center; tickets go on sale to the general public Sept. 11. More info can be found at nycitycenter.org.

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David Byrne is releasing a new solo album, Who is the Sky?, on Friday, but that’s not the only reason he has to celebrate.

In August the Talking Heads frontman revealed in an interview with The Times that he was engaged to businesswoman and artist Mala Gaonkar. He revealed in an Instagram Story Monday that they’ll be getting married “this week,” and he shared the music that will be playing at the event.

“I’m getting married this week and made an almost entirely instrumental playlist while our guests eat an amazing and spicy dinner,” he shared in the Story. “My sense is that words & lyrics can be distracting – the ear goes to them, especially if it’s a song one knows.”

He adds, “So I opted for buoyant instrumentals that will create a hopeful and joyous atmosphere … and that folks can also ignore at the same time.”

Byrne shared a link to the playlist so fans can enjoy the music, as well.

Who is the Sky? is Byrne’s first solo album since 2018’s American Utopia. It features special guests St. Vincent, Paramore’s Hayley Williams and The Smile drummer Tom Skinner.

Byrne is set to kick off a new tour in support of the album on Sept. 14 in Providence, Rhode Island, wrapping with two nights in Miami, Dec. 5 and 6.

A complete list of dates can be found at DavidByrne.com.

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R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe took some time during the holiday weekend to make sure everyone knows the correct lyrics to the band’s song “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”

Stipe’s signature vocal style long made it hard to understand exactly what words he was singing. That issue is particularly exacerbated in “It’s the End of the World As We Know It,” which features Stipe singing so fast that you’d be forgiven if you could only discern the song’s title in the chorus and the part where he yells, “Leonard Bernstein.”

Nearly 40 years after “It’s the End of the World” dropped in 1987, Stipe has clarified two particular lines in the song’s first verse in posts to the social networking site Bluesky.

“It’s ‘Left of west and coming in a hurry with the Furies breathing down your neck,'” Stipe writes in one post. He then adds the correct version of the following line, “Team by team reporters, baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped, Look at that low playing, fine, then.”

The R.E.M. Instagram account has shared a screenshot of Stipe’s post in a Story alongside the caption, “Michael shares some lyrics on [Bluesky].”

“It’s the End of the World” appears on R.E.M.’s 1987 album, Document, which celebrated its 38th anniversary on Monday.

R.E.M. broke up in 2011, though the four members reunited for one-off performances in 2024 and 2025. Stipe performed a parody version of “It’s the End of the World” during a 2016 guest spot on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

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The Who is revisiting their classic album Who Are You with whole host of new reissues, including a massive super-deluxe edition.

Out Oct. 31, the seven-CD/Blu-ray super-deluxe edition includes a newly remastered version of the album, along with over 70 unreleased tracks. Bonus material includes the first mix of the album by producer Glyn Jones, which the band rejected, plus early run-throughs of songs, session outtakes, demos and live recordings.

Highlights include drummer Keith Moon singing “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Barbara Ann” from the 1977 Shepperton Studios rehearsals; an early live version of “Who Are You” from a Toronto show in 1976; previously unreleased demos of bassist John Entwistle‘s songs on the album; songs from the live concert at Shepperton Studios recorded for the filming of The Kids Are Alright documentary; and an alternative take of “Sister Disco” with a previously “lost” guitar solo.

The set also includes several live recordings from the band’s 1979 tour, which was their first with drummer Kenney Jones, as well as a 100-page hardcover book, and a Blu-ray featuring Dolby Atmos and Stereo mixes created by producer Steven Wilson.

In addition to the super-deluxe edition, there will be four-LP or two-CD deluxe editions, a limited-edition single LP and a limited-edition yellow colored vinyl.

All formats are available for preorder now.

Released in 1978, Who Are You was The Who’s eighth studio album and their last with drummer Keith Moon, who died three weeks after its release. The album peaked at #2 in the U.S. and has been certified double Platinum by the RIAA.

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On This Day, Sept. 2, 1988…

The Human Rights Now! World Tour kicked off at London’s Wembley Stadium, headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N’Dour.

The tour, benefiting Amnesty International, sought to raise awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1948 to enshrine the rights and freedoms of all human beings.

The tour hit 20 different countries, and the bill included local musicians in each city.

In addition to London, the tour stopped in Paris, Budapest, Barcelona, Toronto, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and more, wrapping Oct. 15 in Buenos Aires.

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A never-before-seen video of John Lennon and Yoko Ono performing during their One to One benefit concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden has been released.

The clip is a performance of Lennon’s solo hit “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On),” which he performed during the concerts on Aug. 30, 1972. It features newly restored and edited footage of the performance, with newly remixed and reengineered audio.

The performance of “Instant Karma! (We All Shine)” is one of the tracks featured in the new box set Power to the People (Super Deluxe Edition), produced by the couple’s son, Sean Ono Lennon. It will be released Oct. 10, on what would have been John’s 85th birthday.

The performance will also be featured in the upcoming film Power To The People, directed by Simon Hilton, which will be released next year.

Power to the People (Super Deluxe Edition) is a nine-CD/three-Blu-ray box set, featuring 123 tracks, 90 of which have either never been heard before or were previously unreleased. 

The set includes demos, outtakes, home recordings and more, along with a new version of John and Yoko’s 1972 album Sometime in New York City, plus the completely remixed One to One concerts, which were John’s only full-length concerts after leaving The Beatles.

The super deluxe edition will come with a 204-page hardcover book and more goodies. There will also be two-CD, four-LP and two-LP colored vinyl editions.

All formats are available for preorder now.’

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