Classic Rock News

Music fans are about to learn a lot more about Carlos Santana. Sony Pictures Classics has just landed the worldwide rights to the new feature-length documentary Carlos, chronicling the life and career of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. 

The film, directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Rudy Valdez, is described as “an intimate and exhilarating look inside the mind of an elemental force of contemporary music,” featuring archival footage and music that has never been seen or heard before.

“I am honored and humbled to tell Carlos Santana’s story as a director,” Valdez shares. “Carlos is a true trailblazer who has meant so much to so many people. My hope is that this film is a celebration of a life defined by humanity. I’m thrilled to be putting this story out into the world.”

So far there’s no word on when Carlos will be released.

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Queen + Adam Lambert have added another performance to their busy schedule. The group is set to perform at the 2023 Formula 1 Lenovo United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

Queen is set to close out the Germania Insurance Super Stage on Saturday, October 21, following the F1Sprint, while The Killers will open the festival, headlining Friday, October 20, following the F1 qualifying.

The show is one of many Queen + Adam Lambert have planned for 2023. Their North American Rhapsody tour kicks off October 4 in Baltimore, Maryland. A complete list of dates can be found at queenonline.com.

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When you’re a kid and you’re not allowed to listen to “forbidden” music, you get creative — which is how Pete Davidson says he inadvertently became a Rod Stewart fan.

The comedian and Edie Falco, the co-star of his new Peacock series Bupkis, appear on the cover of a limited-edition Mother’s Day issue of Good Housekeeping. Inside, Pete interviews Falco and his wisecracking mother, Amy, who jokes that what she does on Mother’s Day is “usually, Pete’s laundry.” Pete also shares a story about how he tried to hide his favorite album from his mom.

“When I was younger, I bought the uncensored Eminem Show CD, which of course I wasn’t allowed to have,” Pete recalls. “So I kept it in a Rod Stewart jewel case.”

“My mom noticed, and for years she’d play Rod Stewart to have something we could bond over,” he continues. “I’d be sitting in the car and suddenly she’d say ‘It’s Rod!’ and start singing along to ‘Maggie May.’ I had to learn the songs just to keep the lie going.”

As a result, Pete admits, “I kinda learned to like Rod Stewart.”

Bupkis, described as a “fictionalized account of Pete Davidson’s real life,” starts streaming May 4.

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Is Aerosmith getting ready to say goodbye to the road?

That’s the speculation after the band’s logo started popping up at venues, along with the words “Peace Out.” 

As previously reported, Aerosmith is counting down to a big announcement that is coming Monday at 10 a.m. ET, with much of the speculation being that they’re about to announce a tour. Well, some now believe it’s going to be their last one.

Rock journalist Mitch Lafon was the first to share a photo of a banner displaying the “Peace Out” logo from Boston’s TD Garden, with fans then sharing similar photos from Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena and more, leading many to believe the announcement will be for the band’s farewell tour. 

It has been a while since Aerosmith has gone on a big tour. They’ve been mostly focused on their Deuces Wild residency in Las Vegas since 2019, although last September they played two shows, one in Maine and one at Boston’s Fenway Park.

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Music fans are getting their first look at a new documentary about Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett. A new trailer has just dropped for the film, Have You Got It Yet?, directed by award-winning filmmaker Roddy Bogawa and the late album cover designer Storm Thorgerson, known for his work with Floyd, Led Zeppelin and others.

The doc is narrated by Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs and features interviews with Pink Floyd members David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Nick Mason, along with original band managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King. Also contributing to the film are The Who’s Pete Townshend and Blur’s Graham Coxon.

The feature-length doc promises to delve into the relationship between Pink Floyd and Barrett, who was responsible for giving the band its name. He left the group in 1968 before they hit it big. The doc is described as “a chronicle and a mosaic of Barrett’s creative and destructive impulses, his captivating presence and absence – a portrait of the complex puzzle that was his life.”

Have You Got It Yet? is set to open in the U.K. May 15 and will be released in the U.S. in late June.

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Over the weekend, Willie Nelson performed at Stephen Stills’ Light Up The Blues autism benefit in Los Angeles, and now it seems Stills is returning the favor. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is one of several artists added to this weekend’s two-night concert event celebrating Nelson’s 90th birthday.  

Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 is happening April 29 (Willie’s actual birthday) and 30 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Other new additions to the celebration include Kris Kristofferson, Dave Matthews, Gary Clark Jr., Jack Johnson, Emmylou Harris and George Strait.

Willie is expected to perform each night, along with previously announced performers Neil Young, Warren Haynes and Bob Weir, as well as Tom Jones, Lyle Lovett, Sheryl Crow, Beck, The Chicks, Chris Stapleton, Edie Brickell, Snoop Dogg, Kacey Musgraves, Nelson’s son Lukas Nelson and more.

Complete show details can be found at willienelson90.com.

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Alice Cooper is getting ready to reissue two of his classic albums. Rhino will release new deluxe editions of 1971’s Killer and 1972’s School’s Out on June 9.

Killer (Deluxe Edition) will feature a newly remastered version of the record, along with alternative takes of songs like “You Drive Me Nervous,” “Under My Wheels” and “Dead Babies.” There will also be a previously unreleased live recording of an April 1972 show at the Mar Y Sol Pop Festival in Puerto Rico.

The School’s Out (Deluxe Edition) will also feature a newly remastered version of the album, along with two previously unreleased tracks: an alternate version of “Alma Mater” and an early demo of the Billion Dollar Babies tune “Elected.” It also includes single versions of “School’s Out” and “Gutter Cat vs. The Jets,” a Miami concert recorded on May 27, 1972, and a previously unreleased live version of “Be My Lover,” which is out now.

Both deluxe editions will be released in two-CD and three-LP sets. The vinyl editions will feature recreations of the original album sleeves, including a detachable 1972 calendar for Killer, and the LP wrapped in a pair of lacy panties for School’s Out. 

Both are available for preorder now.

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Billy Joel likes to have fun with the set lists for his Madison Square Garden residency, and he pulled out a deep cut at his show April 25, performing the track “Los Angelenos” for the first time in 42 years.

“We never do this song,” Joel told the New York audience, according to Rolling Stone. “We haven’t done this since the ’80s I think. We’ll give it a shot.”

“Los Angelenos” was featured on Joel’s 1974 album Streetlife Serenade, with a live version appearing on 1981’s Songs in the Attic. The last time he played it was in July 1981 in Huntington, New York.

Joel’s next MSG show is scheduled for May 5. For a complete list of Joel dates, check out billyjoel.com.

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The public is about to get a good look at Freddie Mercury’s London home, Garden Lodge, which has remained practically unchanged in the past 30 years. Sotheby’s is hosting a series of exhibitions, dubbed Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own, giving fans a peek inside the Queen frontman’s estate.

Highlights of the auction, which was curated by Mercury’s good friend Mary Austin, will be on display at Sotheby’s galleries this summer, hitting New York June 1-8, followed by Los Angeles June 14-18 and Hong Kong June 26-30. It will then move to London for a monthlong exhibit that will display almost 1,500 items. That exhibit will run from August 4 to September 5, which would have been Mercury’s 77th birthday.

Among the items up for grabs: the replica St Edward’s Crown and robe Freddie wore to perform “God Save The Queen” during Queen’s 1986 The Magic Tour; handwritten working lyrics to “We Are The Champions” and “Killer Queen”; a military-style jacket Mercury wore for his 39th birthday party drag ball in 1985; a Tiffany & Co. silver mustache comb; and the silk waistcoat Mercury wore in his final video for “These Are The Days Of Our Lives.”

All together there will be six dedicated Mercury auctions, according to a release, including a live Evening Sale on September 6. There will also be an auction dedicated to Mercury On Stage on September 7, and an At Home auction on September 8. Plus, there will be three online auctions: one dedicated to his love of Japan and two “Crazy Little Things” auctions, featuring some of Mercury’s more eclectic items. 

A portion of the proceeds from the auctions will be donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John Aids Foundation. More details can be found at Sothebys.com.

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Yes is giving fans another taste of their upcoming album. The band, currently made up of Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison, Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen, just released the new tune “All Connected,” the second single they’ve shared from their upcoming album, Mirror To The Sky, which drops May 19.

“The initial idea came from a musical sketch I’d created using the idea of our ‘connectivity’ in regard to communications in the modern age,” Sherwood shares. “It’s very exciting to know Yes are maintaining that edge and energy we all know and love.”

He added, “This track is firing on all cylinders. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did creating it.” 

Mirror to the Sky is available for preorder now and comes in a variety of formats, including a limited deluxe box set, featuring transparent electric blue double vinyl, two CDs and a Blu-ray, with a 36-page hardcover book, a poster and more.

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