Classic Rock News

With Halloween taking place this Sunday, we checked in with shock rocker Alice Cooper to find out what his plans are for the scary, spooky holiday, and found out some exciting news.

Cooper, who wrapped up his 2021 U.S. tour in support of his latest studio album, Detroit Stories, last week, tells ABC Audio, “I would love to be home with my grandkids, taking ’em trick or treating, except I’m gonna be in the studio in Nashville recording the next album.”

The 73-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer reveals he’s actually “already working on three different albums,” although he doesn’t share any specifics about the projects.

He adds, “I mean, to me, that’s what I was put on Earth to do, is to make records and entertain audiences, you know, and do my shows.”

Cooper says he has no plans to retire because he still feels he hasn’t come up with his best material, and he still loves performing for his fans.

Alice shares a story about how Bob Dylan responded when someone asked him when he was going to retire.

“[H]e goes, ‘I write songs, I sing songs for an audience. That’s what I do,'” Cooper says with a laugh. “It doesn’t matter how much money or anything like that…It has everything to do with, I haven’t written my best songs yet.”

Cooper adds, “Paul McCartney would tell you the same thing. He’d say, ‘I haven’t written my best songs yet, so I’m gonna go do another album.’ And as long as the audience is still there for me, I will keep going until they don’t show up anymore.”

Alice’s next scheduled performance will be in February 2022 on the Monsters of Rock Cruise, followed by a European tour kicking off in May.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Foo Fighters are headlining the 2022 editions of Lollapalooza Argentina and Brazil.

Dave Grohl and company will be joined on the lineups for both festivals by artists including Jane’s Addiction, The Strokes, Machine Gun Kelly and many others.

Lolla Argentina will be held March 18-20 in Buenos Aires, while Lolla Brazil takes place March 25-27 in São Paulo. For the full lineups and all ticket info, visit LollapaloozaAR.com and LollapaloozaBR.com.

Foo Fighters headlined the U.S. Lollapalooza in Chicago this past summer. The 2022 edition of that festival is set for July 28-31.

In other news, Foo Fighters are among the nominees for the 2021 American Music Awards.

The band, who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this Saturday, will compete in the Favorite Rock Artists category against Machine Gun Kelly, All Time Low, Glass Animals and AJR.

The 2021 American Music Awards will take place Sunday, November 21 at 8 p.m. ET. The ceremony will broadcast live on ABC.

For the full list of nominees, visit TheAMAs.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

With The Go-Go’s being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 30, AXS TV will launch a three-day celebration of the all-female group at the AXS.tv website and the network’s app, kicking off on Friday, the 29th.

“The Go-Go’s Weekend Giveaway” streaming event will include exclusive interviews, performances and more, as well as offering fans the chance to win a prize pack. Among the programs that will stream during the weekend are two episodes of At Home and Social featuring, respectively, singer Belinda Carlisle and drummer Gina Schock.

Carlisle’s episode is a brand-new installment that will feature her reminiscing about The Go-Go’s being part of Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip scene and revealing how she found out about the group’s Rock Hall induction.

Schock will be featured chatting about her new photo book, Made in Hollywood: All Access with The Go-Go’s, sharing some of her favorite pics from the book and discussing how she’s getting ready for the induction ceremony.

The weekend special also will include an episode of Rock & Tell featuring Gina displaying some of her favorite pieces of memorabilia. In addition, a Go-Go’s-themed edition of Nothing but Videos will highlight six of the group’s classic music videos, as well as the clip for their 2020 single, “Club Zero.”

As for the giveaway, five winners will be chosen to receive a prize pack that includes Schock’s Made in Hollywood book and a copy of the 2020 documentary The Go-Go’s. To enter, you can visit AXS.tv through Sunday, October 31.

In other news, The Go-Go’s will take part in a Q&A event at the Rock Hall museum in Cleveland on Friday that will stream live online at 12 p.m. ET on YouTube and Facebook.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

U.K. officials have announced plans to create an “immersive, world class” attraction focusing on The Beatles in the band’s hometown of Liverpool, the Liverpool Echo reports.

In a speech on Wednesday, U.K. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that two million pounds, equivalent to about $2.8 million, would be allocated for a Fab Four-themed attraction that would be located on Liverpool’s waterfront.

According to the Echo, the plans, which are in the very early stages, may feature hologram technology similar to what will be used for the upcoming virtual ABBA concert experience that’s opening in London in spring 2022.

Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram tells the newspaper that the plans for the Beatles attraction are “the culmination of many years of hard work to help develop this exciting project for our region,” adding, “This would be a truly world-class, cutting-edge immersive Beatles experience.

Rotheram noted that the attraction “would bring even more visitors from across the globe to build on our unique position as home to the single most influential musicians to walk the planet.”

Reflecting on the band’s impact on the city’s economy and cultural significance, the Mayor said, “The Beatles helped to firmly cement Liverpool on the map in the ’60s. Their legacy still draws millions of visitors over half a century later, which adds millions of pounds to our economy every year.”

The Echo pointed out, however, that the announcement about the monetary allotment did draw criticism from some local residents, who argued that the funds could be better spent to address such issues as poverty and deprivation.

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Billy Joel has debuted two songs from his previously unreleased concert album Live at The Great American Music Hall – 1975, which will be available as part of his upcoming box set Billy Joel – The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1, due out November 5.

The performances, renditions of “New York State of Mind,” and “Everybody Loves You Now,” have been released as a two-track bundle available now via digital formats.

As previously reported, The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1 is a nine-LP set featuring the famed singer/songwriter’s first six studio efforts — 1971’s Cold Spring Harbor, 1973’s Piano Man, 1974’s Streetlife Serenade, 1976’s Turnstiles, 1977’s The Stranger and 1978’s 52nd Street — plus his first live album, 1981’s Songs in the Attic, and the aforementioned Live at The Great American Music Hall. The latter album, which will appear as a two-LP set, was recorded in June 1975 in San Francisco.

Joel’s studio versions of “New York State of Mind” and “Everybody Loves You Now” appeared, respectively, on Turnstiles and Cold Spring Harbor, and the San Francisco performance of the former tune came months before Billy recorded the song.

“We rehearsed the song and played it at the show one of the first times it was ever performed live,” Joel’s Turnstiles-era live sound producer Brian Ruggles told Rolling Stone. “Billy liked the arrangement, so they recorded it that way on the album.”

Ruggles also recalled that the concert was taped using a recording truck owned by Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford that was parked outside the Great American Music Hall.

“It was old school recording, but we were able to put together a pretty good recording for this special release,” Ruggles noted.

You can pre-order the box set now.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Forget never never land, Metallica is off to the classroom.

The metal legends are launching their own Masterclass series, in which they will teach “being a band,” including everything from making an album to “navigating egos” and “giving criticism.”

“We have sustained our bond for more than 40 years because we’ve learned a lot about each other and ourselves over time,” says frontman James Hetfield. “In our class we not only teach MasterClass members how we write songs and find inspiration for our music, but how the experiences we’ve had together have contributed to successful creative collaboration.”

All four Metallica members will take part, and will be breaking down the making of classics including “Enter Sandman,” “One” and “Master of Puppets.”

For a preview of what you can expect, you can check out a trailer for the Masterclass streaming now on YouTube. Additional info can be found at MasterClass.com.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Here’s your chance to show your love for Motörhead and compassion for men’s health issues at the same time.

Each November, the organization Movember launches a campaign in an effort to raise funds and awareness for men’s mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer by asking people to grow — or otherwise wear — a mustache for the month. This year, the project includes a special Motörhead twist.

In partnership with the “Ace of Spades” rockers, Movember is inviting participants to grow a mustache modeled after the late Lemmy Kilmister‘s signature facial hair. Not only will your Lemmy ‘stache benefit an important cause, but, with enough money raised, you may be entered to win special Motörhead-related prizes.

If you’re unsure whether the Kilmister look is right for you, you can check out a preview thanks to a Lemmy mustache filter.

For more info, visit Movember.com.

Lemmy died in 2015 at age 70 of prostate cancer, cardiac arrhythmia and congestive heart failure.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Elton John made a virtual appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night and shared a couple of stories about fellow musical icons.

In one of the stories, he talked about performing with John Lennon at Madison Square Garden in 1974, which turned out to be Lennon’s last live public performance before his death in 1980.

“It was one of the most magical moments of my life,” Elton said. “Probably for me, the memory of him coming onstage and getting so much applause. I think all the band, and myself, were moved to tears. And it was such a wonderful occasion.”

At the time, Elton and Lennon had scored a #1 hit with their duet “Whatever Gets You thru the Night,” which was one of the songs they performed together at Madison Square Garden.

He also recalled the not-so-magical moment when he almost rejected a birthday surprise from Stevie Wonder. Elton was on board a private plane called the Starship and was bummed out about a performance he had.

“I went up front and sat on my own and they said, ‘Come up to the bow. We want to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to you,’ and I went, ‘I’m not interested in my birthday,'” he recalled. “And this happened about three or four times until my publicist burst into tears and said, ‘You have to come up there. Stevie Wonder is at the organ’ — of course the plane had an organ on it — ‘and he wants to sing “Happy Birthday” to you.'”

Elton finally got to collaborate with Stevie on the song “Finish Line,” which appears on his new album, The Lockdown Sessions.

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This weekend in Cleveland, it’s the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.  And each year, there’s always a story about an artist who doesn’t want to go because they either don’t like Rock Hall, or they’re feuding with their former band mates.  Back in 2017, Steve Perry was one of those artists who wasn’t going to show up for his induction as a member of Journey…but now, looking back, he’s really glad he did.

“Yeah, it turned out to be one of the most fun things I’ve ever done,” Perry told ABC Audio. In his case, he said he was concerned because “it had been so many years and the band’s moved on.”  In addition, he didn’t want to make Journey’s current lead singer, Arnel Pineda, feel uncomfortable.

“I love Arnel and I thought, y’know, out of respect for him and just where they’d gone, I thought I would just leave it alone,” he says. “Then I had a friend of mine telling me, ‘Look, you deserve to be there — you should be there too.'”

“One thing led to another, and I went,” he recalls. “And backstage, it became clear to me what I was doing there, and what I needed to say. I sketched some stuff on a paper, and when I got out there, I pulled the paper out and said, ‘I got some things to say!'”

He laughs, “They gave us all about five to six minutes…and I thought, ‘That’s not going to cut it for me!’ So I went ahead and took the moment, and thanked everybody.”

The first person Perry thanked was ex-Journey manager Herbie Herbert, who was responsible for him joining the band.  Herbert passed away Monday at age 73.

Perry’s first Christmas album, The Season, is out November 5.

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Doors guitarist Robby Krieger has been quite busy since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did the 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer finish and recently publish a new memoir, Set the Night on Fire, he tells ABC Audio that he’s also completed two album projects.

“Since the pandemic, that’s all I’ve been doing is recording,” Robby reports. “I’ve got two records ready to come out, both instrumental.”

The first is a reggae-flavored covers album titled Rocks Meets Dub that he says will include renditions of The Bee Gees‘ “Stayin’ Alive” and songs by Bob Dylan and The Beatles.

Krieger says he played a lot of slide guitar on the album, which he recorded with bassist Phil Chen, who for many years was a member of the bands that Robby co-led with late Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek.

“[Phil’s] been down with mesothelioma lately, so we wanted to do something that would make him happy,” Krieger explains. “And it just turned out really good.”

Keyboardist Ed Roth, who’s collaborated with Krieger frequently in recent years, also contributed to the album.

As for the other album, Krieger recorded that with his side project The New Experience, and is planning to release it after Rocks Meets Dub.

That group features Roth, as well as longtime Aretha Franklin bassist Kevin “Brandino” Brandon and drummer Franklin Vanderbilt, who also plays with Lenny Kravitz.

“[W]e don’t have a name for [that album] yet, but these guys are just amazing players,” Robby notes, adding that “it’s jazz, but it’s R&B as well.”

Krieger’s most recent album was another instrumental project, The Ritual Begins at Sundown, which was released in August 2020.

Meanwhile, Robby has three U.S. concerts scheduled this weekend in the Northeast with his Robby Krieger Band.

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