Classic Rock News

Co-founding Guess Who members Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings were preparing to finally launch the often-postponed U.S. leg of their reunion tour in September, but unfortunately the Canadian duo has canceled the trek because of travel issues.

A message on the official Bachman Cummings Facebook page reads, “While Randy and Burton have been looking forward to reuniting for their fans throughout the United States, they extend their love and appreciation to all of the fans that were planning to come to these shows, and they cannot wait to see you all again when things are more predictable in terms of travel in and out of Canada.”

The stateside leg of the “Bachman Cummings: Together Again, Live in Concert” tour was to have featured 12 shows in the Midwest that spanned from a September 1 date in Fort Wayne, Indiana, through a September 18 performance at the Deadwood Jam 2021 in Deadwood, South Dakota.

As previously reported, the concerts would have featured Bachman and Cummings performing Guess Who songs, as well as material from Randy’s other famous band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and from Burton’s solo career.

Here’s the full list of Bachman Cummings’ canceled U.S. shows:

9/1 — Fort Wayne, IN, Foellinger Theatre
9/2 — Akron, OH, The Goodyear Theater
9/4 — Prior Lake, MN, Mystic Lake Casino Hotel
9/5 — Milwaukee, WI, The Riverside Theater
9/7 — Cincinnati, OH, PNC Pavilion
9/8 — Huber Heights, OH, The Rose Music Center at The Heights
9/10 — Rosemont, IL, Rosemont Theatre
9/11 — Green Bay, WI, Resch Center
9/13 — Kansas City, MO, Muriel Kauffman Theatre
9/15 — Omaha, NE, Orpheum Theater
9/16 — St. Charles, MO, The Family Arena
9/18 — Deadwood, SD, Deadwood Jam 2021

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The widow of ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill has penned a heartfelt message about the passing of her husband, including what happened during his final moments.  The band has shared it on their official website.

Charlene “Chuck” Hill begins the note, titled “My Sweet Dusty,” by saying, “After 19 wonderful years of marriage that ended too soon, I’ve decided to step out into Dusty’s spotlight to thank all of his fans, colleagues and friends for the overwhelming outpouring of love for The Dust.”

She continues, “He was the kindest, most gentle and caring man a woman could ever Hope to find in a lifetime. Many don’t believe in fairy tale marriages but Dusty and I truly lived one! We were inseparable.”

Charlene then notes that after Dusty was forced to leave ZZ Top’s trek because of his health issues, “[t]he plan was for another round of physical therapy, with a different approach, to help his chronic bursitis. The plan was he would return to the second leg of the tour in September.”

Describing Dusty’s passing early in the morning on July 28, Charlene notes, “He woke me up and we talked and as he was sweetly chatting with me he suddenly stopped and he was gone in an instant.”

She also points out that Hill greatly loved and appreciated all of his fans.

Charlene finishes her message by paraphrasing a quote from the TV series This Is Us, which she calls her “last love letter” to her husband: “The single most extraordinary thing I have ever done in my life is fall in love with you. The single most extraordinary gift I have ever received in my life was for you to ask me to marry you…I will be with you again. Love you to infinity and back.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

In news that we’re shocked hadn’t happened already, Metallica now has an official podcast.

The series, simply titled The Metallica Podcast, begins with an eight-episode exploration of the metal legends’ legendary 1991 self-titled record, aka The Black Album. The first episode is set to premiere later this month, presumably to coincide with The Black Album‘s upcoming 30th anniversary on August 12.

Frontman James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist Kirk Hammett will all be taking part in the podcast.

Meanwhile, Metallica has also been prepping a 30th anniversary deluxe reissue of The Black Album, as well as the 53-track Metallica Blacklist tribute compilation. Both releases are due out September 10.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, a rock music journalist, author and one-time romantic partner of Doors frontman Jim Morrison, died on July 23 at the age of 75.

Kennealy-Morrison’s passing was reported on the Facebook page of Lizard Queen Press, a publishing brand she founded.

“To say we are all reeling from the news is an understatement,” the message about Kennealy-Morrison reads. “We will miss our friend very very much. She was a beautiful soul, a talented writer, and a loving and wonderful friend.” No cause of death was mentioned.

According to The New York Times, Kennealy-Morrison met Jim Morrison in 1969 when she interviewed him for Jazz & Pop magazine, for which she was editor-in-chief. She and the singer soon began a romantic relationship. In 1970, Patricia, who practiced Celtic paganism, took part in a matrimonial “hand-fasting ceremony” with Morrison that involved drops of their blood.

Their relationship remained a long-distance one until Jim’s death in 1971.

In 1979, Patricia added “Morrison” to her last name, and she served as a technical adviser on the 1991 Oliver Stone-directed biopic The Doors. She was portrayed by Kathleen Quinlan in the film, in which she also had a cameo, appearing as the priestess who performed the hand-fasting ceremony.

Kennealy-Morrison later criticized the movie, according to The New York Times, feeling it didn’t feature her prominently enough and that it trivialized the ceremony.  In 1992, she published a memoir titled Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison, which she said was a response to The Doors movie.

Kennealy-Morrison later wrote fantasy novels and rock-music-themed mystery books.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A star-studded concert celebrating the career and philanthropic work of ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons that was held in May at Nashville’s famous Grand Ole Opry House will premiere on various U.S. television stations on different dates in August and September.

Gibbons himself took part in the benefit event, which was presented by America Salutes You and raised money for several charities that aid military members, veterans and first responders.

The show’s lineup included country stars Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Ronnie Milsap and Travis Tritt, ex-Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, lauded singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams, and actor/musician Dennis Quaid.

The show featured a house band led by keyboardist Martin Guigui, who played in Gibbons’ solo backing band The BFG’s, and also included ex-Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed, as well as trombonist Richie “La Bamba” Rosenberg and trumpet player Mike Pender of The Max Weinberg 7 and Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes.

Fans who want to view the concert are encouraged to donate to America Salutes You via the organization’s website.

“A sold out audience at the Grand Ole Opry House enjoyed an amazing show honoring Mr. Gibbons,” says America Salutes You executive producer Bob Okun. “Now a national TV audience can enjoy the same dynamic concert special while supporting charities assisting our veterans and first responders with their generous on-line donations.”

Gibbons recently released his third solo album, Hardware, and he’s currently on tour with ZZ Top, whose longtime bassist, Dusty Hill, sadly passed away on July 28 at age 72.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts may have to sit out the band’s rescheduled U.S. leg of their No Filter Tour this fall.

A spokesman for Watts, 80, confirmed that it is “unlikely” the drummer will be able to join the 13-date tour. Watts, who joined the Stones in 1963, is recovering from an unspecified medical procedure.

“Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation,” his rep said in a statement. “With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.”

Watts wasn’t thrilled by the decision, but explained that this is what’s best for his health and the band.

“For once my timing has been a little off. I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while,” he explained in a statement. “After all the fans’ suffering caused by Covid I really do not want the many RS fans who have been holding tickets for this Tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation.”

Watts said his “great friend” Steve Jordan will be his No Filter Tour understudy. Jordan says that, while he’s looking forward to rehearsing with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood — he is more excited about the possibility of Watts recovering in time to join the trek.

“No one will be happier than me to give up my seat on the drum-riser as soon as Charlie tells me he is good to go,” he said.

The No Filter Tour starts September 26 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A remastered edition of Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe‘s acclaimed 2000 film inspired by his experiences as a teenage Rolling Stone journalist during the 1970s, was released last month on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD.

In addition, expanded box-set versions of the film’s classic-rock-packed soundtrack are due out on August 20. Heart‘s Nancy Wilson, who was married to Crowe during the making of Almost Famous, composed the film’s score, co-wrote the original songs for Stillwater — the fictional band at the center of the movie — and served as a technical consultant and mentor to the actors.

Wilson tells ABC Audio that the movie “was a really, really great project to be part of.”

One of her interesting tasks was coaching Billy Crudup, who portrayed Stillwater guitarist Russell Hammond, on how to fake like he knew how to play the instrument.

“[M]ost of [what] I tried to show him…was all about the body language,” Nancy notes. “It was all about slouching…You gotta, like, lean on one foot, and you’ve got to have your guitar super low-slung.”

Wilson also remembers doing “a rock school thing,” where the actors were shown “video after video of The Who and [Led] Zeppelin and everybody from that era.”

As for creating Stillwater’s songs, Wilson says she and Crowe envisioned “a [meat-and-potatoes] band that would be a conglomerate of Bad Company and The Allman Brothers and maybe a little bit of R.E.M.,” whose tunes had “basic, bluesy chords [and] simple changes.”

To record the original tunes, Nancy enlisted such notable musicians as Peter Frampton, Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready and ex-Heart drummer Ben Smith.

Wilson’s complete score and various versions of the songs she co-wrote for the film will be featured on the Almost Famous box sets.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Images from Chris Cornell‘s final photo shoot are being auctioned off as NFTs.

The pictures were taken in 2017 by Randall Slavin, photographer and friend of the late Soundgarden frontman. They’ve been authenticated by Chris’ widow, Vicky Cornell.

You can bid on the NFTs starting Thursday, August 5, via the platform Cryptograph.co. Proceeds will benefit Phoenix House, which assists those struggling with substance use disorder.

Previously, images from Kurt Cobain‘s final photo shoot were also sold as NFTs.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Besides being the godmother of punk, Patti Smith also is an acclaimed poet and an award-winning author. So it’s no surprise Smith is the singer with the biggest vocabulary, according to a new study that ranks 200 different music artists based on their song lyrics.

Word.Tips, which conducted the study, found that Smith uses 217 unique words per 1,000 words appearing in her songs.

At #2 is legendary singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, with 199. Other veteran artists ranked in the top 20 include late Doors frontman Jim Morrison at #4, with 177; Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers at #12, with 151; The Eagles‘ Don Henley at #17, with 149; Freddie Mercury at #18, with 148; and Gregg Allman at #20, with 144.

Perhaps surprisingly, Bob Dylan, the singer/songwriter considered by many to be one of the music world’s greatest wordsmiths, was at #44 on the list with 130 unique words per 1,000 — tied with David Bowie.

However, Dylan does top a separate list ranking the artists who have used the most unique words over the course of their entire career.  According to the study, he has 12,285 different words in his songs. Prince is second on the tally, with 11,430; Elton John is third, with 9,467; Lou Reed‘s fourth, with 8,979; and Bruce Springsteen is fifth, with 8,862.

The artists that are part of the study came from Rolling Stone‘s list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time,” and a list of Spotify’s 100 most-listened-to modern stars as determined by Kworb.net.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Life is ours, we live it our way. And that includes watching Metallica‘s “Nothing Else Matters” video many, many times.

The visual for the Black Album hit single has officially passed one billion views on YouTube, making it the first-ever Metallica video to reach the milestone.

“Nothing Else Matters” is also the just the sixth ’90s music video to join the billion-views club, following Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Guns N’ Roses‘ “November Rain,” The Cranberries‘ “Zombie,” 4 Non Blondes‘ “What’s Up,” and Whitney Houston‘s “I Will Always Love You.”

Originally released in 1992 before being uploaded to YouTube in 2009, the “Nothing Else Matters” video shows Metallica working and hanging out the studio while recording their massive 1991 self-titled record, aka The Black Album.

Fittingly, “Nothing Else Matters” hit the billion-views mark just ahead of The Black Album‘s 30th anniversary, August 12. Metallica will be celebrating the occasion with a massive deluxe reissue and the 53-track Metallica Blacklist tribute album, both of which drop on September 10.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.