Classic Rock News

U2 has a new number one album in the U.K. The Irish rockers’ latest release, Songs of Surrender, tops the U.K. Official Albums chart, outselling their closest competition, The Weeknd’s Highlights, two to one.

Songs of Surrender is the band’s first U.K. number one since 2009’s No Line on the Horizon and their 11th overall, tying David Bowie, who also had 11 number ones. (The Beatles still have the most with 15.)

U2’s Songs of Surrender, featuring 40 rerecorded and reimagined U2 classics, is also the most popular vinyl seller in the U.K., topping the Official Vinyl Albums chart this week.

The new album gave a bump to one of U2’s previous releases: 2006’s greatest hits compilation U218 Singles is back at 38 this week.

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For James Hetfield, Metallica really is greater than the sum of its parts.

In an interview with Cigar Aficionado, the “Enter Sandman” rocker says, “I know individually we’re all really average players.”

“But when you put us together something happens,” he continues. “Something really happens.”

Hetfield also shares that “jamming with people is like a nightmare for me” and admits to feeling “so inadequate” during Metallica’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2009, during which they played with legends like Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page.

“It’s a head game for me,” Hetfield explains. “I’m a perfectionist. And kind of a people pleaser. Most musicians are insecure.”

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Queen is back with episode 10 of their YouTube series Queen The Greatest Live, this time focusing on a classic performance of their iconic track “Tie Your Mother Down.”

Continuing last week’s look at the importance of lighting, this week’s episode features a performance of the 1976 track at the band’s famous concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in June 1982. 

At the time of the show, Milton Keynes Bowl was one of the U.K.’s largest open-air venues, which had the band a bit concerned. “It’s a big field,” Roger Taylor says in a backstage interview. “I hope it goes well.” Brian May adds, “Outdoor gigs are fraught with all kind of unexpected things.”

The Milton Keynes Bowl show turned out to be a classic Queen concert, with Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl, a DVD and CD of the concert, released in 2004.

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Elton John’s 50th anniversary release of the 1972 album Honky Château is out now, and to celebrate he’s sharing some rare live footage with fans.

The CD version of the release includes the original album, plus outtakes from the original session tapes, as well as eight live recordings from a concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Elton has also posted a video of his performance of “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” from that 1972 concert, which was his first performance of the album in its entirety. 

“This album, with ‘Mona Lisas’, ‘Honky Cat’ and ‘Rocket Man’ was a real game changer for me, Bernie (Taupin) and the band and I’m so proud to be celebrating 50 years since its release,” Elton shares.

Honky Château was the first of Elton’s six consecutive Billboard number-one albums. The 50th anniversary edition is available now.

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The Zombies have shared a new video for “Merry-Go-Round,” the third single off their upcoming album, Different Game.

The video features footage of their recent experience at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, including clips of their performances, meeting fans and more. 

And speaking of SXSW, The Zombies were awarded the Career Act Grulke Prize at the fest, which is given to an established artist who attends SXSW “to reinvent themselves or launch a new project.” The band decided to  donate the prize to Oxfam America to support their fight against world poverty and injustice. 

That new project is Different Game, the follow-up to 2015’s Still Got That Hunger. It will be released March 31 and is available for preorder now.

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James Taylor has shared another classic performance with fans. The latest release from Taylor’s vault is a “recently re-discovered and restored” performance of “Sunny Skies,” from his November 16, 1970, BBC concert special. He was just 22 when the performance was broadcast.

The clip is one of many Taylor has been sharing on his YouTube channel. He also posted a classic performance of “Sweet Baby James” from the same concert, as well as archival performances of “You’ve Got A Friend,” “Fire and Rain” and more.

And fans will be able to see the 75-year-old Taylor perform these classic songs and many others on the road this summer. He’s due to kick off a new tour on May 25 in Woodinville, Washington. A complete list of James Taylor tour dates can be found at jamestaylor.com.

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A Belgian rock band called Black Box Revelation has shared a cover of the Foo Fighters classic “My Hero” while accompanied by 100 drummers in honor of the late Taylor Hawkins.

The performance was filmed at Belgium’s Sportpaleis Antwerp arena and is streaming now on YouTube. Its release coincides with the one-year anniversary of Hawkins’ passing on March 25, 2022.

You may recall that the Rockin’1000 project also put out a performance of “My Hero” shortly after Hawkins died, featuring 1,000 musicians playing together simultaneously. Rockin’1000 previously convinced Foo Fighters to play a town in Italy with their viral cover of “Learn to Fly.”

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Night Ranger has postponed a trio of shows after bassist/vocalist Jack Blades had to be hospitalized for an undisclosed ailment. 

“First and foremost, we want to apologize to the fans,” the band shared in a statement posted to social media. “You guys know better than anyone we don’t take this lightly, earlier this afternoon Jack was admitted to the hospital. He is in good hands, but on the advice of medical staff we will not be able to perform any of our next 3 shows.”

They add, “We have to prioritise Jack’s health and safety, and we cannot thank you enough for your understanding. This is not the message we wanted to be sending and we cannot wait to rock with all of you again soon.”

The postponements began with Thursday’s scheduled show in Anaheim, California, and also include concerts Friday and Saturday in Ivens, Utah, and Stateline, Nevada, respectively. They have already been rescheduled to October. A complete list of Night Ranger dates can be found at nightranger.com.

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He’s been teasing it for weeks, and now The Who’s Pete Townshend has finally released his brand new solo single, “Can’t Outrun The Truth.” The new tune was composed and produced by his wife, Rachel Fuller, under her nom de plume, Charlie Pepper. 

Rachel previously shared that the song was inspired by the feelings of isolation many were dealing with during the beginning of the pandemic: “I really started to think about how unbelievably difficult this period of time was going to be for so many people.”

“Can’t Outrun The Truth,” which features cover art from renowned artist Damien Hirst, is Townshend’s first solo single in 29 years. He’s also released a video for the track, which is his first solo video in 40 years.

A portion of each “Can’t Outrun The Truth” download will be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

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On This Day, March 24, 1986…

Van Halen released their seventh studio album, 5150, which was their first record with new lead singer Sammy Hagar, following the departure of original frontman David Lee Roth.

5150, named after guitarist Eddie Van Halen‘s home studio, is a reference to the California law that allows a mentally disturbed person to be placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold. It went on to become the band’s first number-one album and contained three pop hits: “Dreams,” “Why Can’t This Be Love” and “Love Walks In.” 

5150 went on to be certified six-times Platinum by the RIAA.

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