Classic Rock News

Yusuf/Cat Stevens is paying tribute to George Harrison, who would have turned 80 this coming Saturday, with a new cover of the late Beatle‘s classic “Here Comes the Sun.” 

“George Harrison has been an immense influence on me, spiritually, from the very beginning,” Yusuf/Stevens says. “He pioneered certain thoughts and ideas, which stretched way east, and that was very important.” He adds, “I’m happy to sing one of his songs, especially as it represents the returning of light and hope to a seriously dark and broken world.” 

The new release coincides with the news that Stevens has signed with Dark Horse Records, a record label founded by Harrison, that is currently operated by his son Dhani and David Zonshine, with a brand new album on the way.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Yusuf/Cat Stevens to the Dark Horse Records family,” Dhani Harrison shares. “Not only is Yusuf a great musical legend but his songs could not fit the Dark Horse mythos any better,” adding, “….Yusuf is without question one of the most influential singer-songwriters of all time, it is a great honor to be able to give his music a home on our humble yet historic label.”

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If you’re a David Bowie fan, start making plans now to visit London in 2025. The city’s Victoria and Albert museum has acquired the late rocker’s entire archive, in the largest donation of its kind in the museum’s history, reports The Telegraph.  Comprising 80,000 objects, the archive is so vast that it’ll take two years to catalog.

Among the items given to the museum from Bowie’s estate include his most famous stage outfits — including his Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane ensembles — as well as  handwritten lyrics to songs like “‘Heroes'” and “Ashes to Ashes,” and notebooks filled with ideas for projects that were never realized, such as his fabled musical adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, which was nixed by Orwell’s widow.

In addition, there are some 70,000 photos, as well as letters, sheet music, awards, album artwork, set designs and instruments, like the synthesizer used by Brian Eno on such Bowie albums as Low, “Heroes” and Lodger, and the Stylophone that was gifted to Bowie by Marc Bolan and used in the recording of “Space Oddity.”

The archive will be housed in the V&A’s new site at East London’s Olympic Park, in The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts, set to open in 2025.

The Telegraph quotes a spokesman for the estate as saying, “With David’s life’s work becoming a part of the U.K.’s national collections, he takes his rightful place amongst many other cultural icons and artistic geniuses. We’re so pleased to be working closely with the V&A to continue to commemorate David’s enduring cultural influence.”

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The Joe Perry Project is getting back on the road.

The Aerosmith guitarist’s solo band has announced a spring U.S. tour, running from April 15 in Mashantucket, Connecticut, to April 26 in Los Angeles, California.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit JoePerry.com.

The Joe Perry Project first began after Perry left Aerosmith in 1979, and went on to release three records. When Perry rejoined the “Dream On” outfit in 1984, the JPP went on hiatus and eventually reformed in 2009.

Perry also has touring plans with The Hollywood Vampires, which also features Alice Cooper and actor Johnny Depp. The group launches a European trek in June.

Aerosmith, meanwhile, hasn’t performed live since last year, when they were forced to cancel the remaining dates on their Las Vegas residency due to health issues affecting frontman Steven Tyler.

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Since February 22 is National Margarita Day, how about celebrating by watching one of the popular cocktails get mixed by a guy you always associate with tequila: Paul McCartney?

Believe or not, the ex-Beatle is apparently famous for his “Maccarita,” his version of a Margarita that’s made with the juice of one orange or two Clementines, various orange liqueurs, lime juice, salt and of course, tequila.

A clip of Paul making his signature cocktail has been posted on his Twitter to mark National Margarita Day: It’s from his daughter’s cooking show Mary McCartney Serves It Up, which streams on Discovery+. And yes, Paul does sing as he’s shaking up the ingredients in a cocktail shaker.

“This is hands down my favorite cocktail in the whole world, and even better when it’s lovingly made by my dad,” says Mary. “Cheers, everyone,” adds Paul.

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Earlier this year, KISS‘ Paul Stanley told ABC Audio that he’s sometimes confused by the things that his bandmate Gene Simmons tells the press. But in a new interview, Stanley says he’s able to look past what he calls Simmons’ “schtick” to see the real person, who he loves and respects.

Speaking to the U.K. publication Louder, Stanley says what he loves about Simmons is his selflessness.

“Gene is a team player, and he loves the band, and wants what’s best for it, even if it’s not always what’s best for him,” says Paul.

“I love Gene’s ability to put his own advantages and possibilities within the band by the side to do whatever is best for the collective,” he adds. “I admire that quality, because it’s you don’t find it that often in people.”

What’s more, Stanley points out, “Underneath all the bravado and all the ‘Gene Simmons’ schtick is a very caring, and very kind and giving person, who takes care of a lot of people, far outside and beyond his family. I respect that very much.”

KISS have a festival date coming up in April in Brazil, and in June, they’ll kick off a European tour which is set to run through July. Meanwhile, the fifth installment in their Off The Soundboard live bootleg series arrives April 7.  As previously reported, it documents a November 28, 1984, concert recorded live in Poughkeepsie, NY during the band’s Animalize World Tour.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is hosting a new podcast.

According to Rolling Stone, the upcoming series is titled This Little Light and will premiere March 30. Over its 15-episode run, Flea will be talking with guests including Patti Smith, producer Rick Rubin, actor and musician Cynthia Erivo and bass virtuoso Thundercat about how music factored into their early lives.

“I wanted to do This Little Light to benefit my music school, the Silverlake Conservatory of Music,” Flea says. “The idea behind it being music education, falling in love with music and embarking on a musical journey for your life. Everybody’s path is so different, and it’s fascinating to learn how every musician came to music and developed their study of it over time.”

In addition to hearing Flea on the podcast platform of your choice, you can also see him live on RHCP’s upcoming U.S. tour, launching in April. The group will be supporting their two 2022 albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.

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Roger Waters‘ recent comments about the war in Ukraine and his alleged antisemitism haven’t just raised the ire of fans and his former bandmate David Gilmour: Germany isn’t too thrilled with him either.

The German news site DW.com reports that local politicians in Cologne, Germany, want to cancel a Waters concert scheduled to take place May 9. The city council’s members have sent an open letter to the manager of the venue where Waters is set to play, asking them to “do everything they can to prevent the concert” and questioning why the concert’s organizers would give Waters a platform.

It’s worth noting, though, that since the venue is private, the city council has no say in whether or not the concert takes place.

In addition, DW.com reports that an alliance of Jewish groups are calling for the cancellation of a Waters concert scheduled for Frankfurt in late May. In a statement, the alliance accuses Waters of antisemitic propaganda and of expressing “hostility toward Jews” at events. 

The alliance refers to Waters as an “antisemitic conspiracy theorist and Israel-hater” and argues that “protecting human dignity in the public sphere” outweighs “freedom of expression.”

The Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media told a local paper that she can’t ban Waters’ concerts, but she’d like to see concert promoters stop booking him — and if they can’t do that, she’d like to see him “play to empty halls.”

Waters has said, among other things, that Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine was “provoked.” He has actively called on musicians not to perform in Israel.

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U2 is busy prepping a new album and a Las Vegas residency, but on Tuesday, Bono took time out from their busy schedule to present director Steven Spielberg with a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival.

According to Deadline, Bono gave Spielberg the festival’s Honorary Golden Bear and then launched into a detailed explanation of why he loves the director’s work so much.

He started by praising Spielberg’s 1974 film, The Sugarland Express, which stars Goldie Hawn as a mother who, desperate to reunite with her son, takes a policeman hostage.

“I watch the mother’s face and it’s projected 30 feet tall. The mother is played by the great Goldie Hawn, but all I see is my own mother, as I saw her as a child, gigantic, imperfect,” Bono recalled of watching the film. “I cry though my heart is full of joy because I know that my own mother will always come looking for me. That is pure cinema. No, that is pure Spielberg.”

The singer also professed his love for Spielberg’s film A.I., about a child robot who’s programmed to love the woman to whom he’s given.

“In A.I., the boy is a machine who develops a soul, so he can love his mother back to life. In the machine that is Hollywood. Steven Spielberg is the soul in the machine,” he noted.

Bono then said of Spielberg, “He’s kind of out of this world. He’s not really a celebrity, is he? Thank God for that. We know he’s one of the biggest of the big shots in Hollywood, but we get the sense he doesn’t quite belong there and we’re kind of relieved.”

Bono was at the film festival for the premiere of Kiss the Future, about U2’s 1997 concert in Sarajevo.

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As previously reported, Peter Gabriel is the executive editor of a new book called Reverberation: Do Everything Better with Music, for which he’s also penned a foreward. Now we have a release date for the project: March 14.

The book’s concept is that if you incorporate the right music into your life, you can sleep better, become more creative, be more productive and even have better sex. In fact, it promises to share “specific songs and techniques” to make this happen.

“Reverberation unlocks a world where we can all actively leverage the power of music to improve and enhance every aspect of your life,” according to the book’s website.

Reverberation is based on interviews with neuroscientists who are making “exciting breakthroughs” at the “intersection of music, science, technology and medicine.” Also included are interviews with musicians like David Byrne, Mick Fleetwood, Branford Marsalis and Sheila E.

You can check out some excerpts from the book at Reverberation.co, while you listen to Gabriel’s song “Lead a Normal Life” from his 1980 self-titled album aka Melt.

Gabriel is also prepping for the release his long-awaited new album i/o, though he has yet to reveal its release date. So far, he’s put out two songs from it: “The Court (Dark-Side Mix)” and “Panopticom.” When it arrives, i/o will be his first album of new original music in 20 years.

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Loaded, one of the most acclaimed Velvet Underground albums — and the band’s last with Lou Reed — has been repackaged into a massive nine-LP box set featuring demos, outtakes and live recordings, including some coming to vinyl for the first time.

The box set, due March 24, includes almost all the material from the 45th anniversary edition CD Loaded: Re-Loaded, released in 2015. Called LOADED (FULLY RELOADED), it’s limited to only 1,970 numbered copies available exclusively via Rhino.com.

Weighing in at a hefty $250, the package comes in a foil-wrapped slipcase containing the nine albums, a poster of the album’s cover art and an illustrated booklet with liner notes by writer and Patti Smith Group member Lenny Kaye. There are also four 7-inch singles that reproduce the official singles released from Loaded, including the classics “Rock & Roll” and “Sweet Jane.”

Among the nine LPs are three different versions of the original album: remastered stereo and mono mixes, plus a version that includes extended versions of “Sweet Jane,” “Rock & Roll” and “New Age.” The demos and alternate mixes include some songs that eventually appeared on Reed’s 1972 self-titled solo debut album.

The live tracks come from two different shows. One of them, recorded six months before Loaded‘s November 1970 release, features the band performing as a trio, as drummer Moe Tucker was pregnant. Those tracks include early versions of “Rock & Roll” and “New Age.”

The second batch of live tracks come from a show at New York’s Max’s Kansas City on August 23, 1970, the day Reed left the band. It includes live versions of Velvets staples like “White Light/White Heat,” “Pale Blue Eyes” and “I’m Waiting for The Man” as well as “Sweet Jane.”

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