Classic Rock News

New York’s Madison Square Garden is sometimes called the “world’s greatest arena,” but it’s definitely the world’s highest-earning arena, thanks in no small part to Billy Joel.

Over the past year, the Garden grossed $241.4 million and sold 1.8 million tickets, according to Billboard. That’s more than any other venue this year, including stadiums. It’s also the highest gross for any venue ever in a single year. 

Billy alone was responsible for $29.6 million of that total, and 205,000 of those tickets, thanks to his ongoing monthly residency at the famed arena. In 2022, he did 11 shows at the Garden: one each month, except for January, which was canceled due to a resurgence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Pop superstar Harry Styles also contributed to the gross: He played 15 shows at the venue, taking in just over $63 million and selling 277,000 tickets. That means Billy and Harry together accounted for 39% of the total haul.

The other top-grossing shows that helped the Garden set a new record included Phish, Rage Against the Machine, Elton John and Genesis.

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One of the best-known covers of Rolling Stone shows a naked John Lennon curled up next to his wife, Yoko Ono. The photo was taken by Annie Leibowitz on December 8, 1980 — just hours before Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman — and appeared on the cover of the magazine’s January 22, 1981, edition. Now, a rare copy of that issue is being sold for a good cause.

That issue is generally hard to find, but according to Rolling Stone, a stack of copies was recently discovered in the archives of the magazine’s parent company. One of them, signed by Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, is being auctioned off, with a starting bid of $1,000. 

The auction runs through Friday, December 16, at 5 p.m. ET. The magazine says 100% of all proceeds will go to “gun violence prevention efforts,” though the exact charities aren’t detailed.

Lennon also appeared on the cover of the very first issue of Rolling Stone in 1967.

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Guns N’ Roses is welcoming a Texas gun store to the legal jungle, where the fun and games have been replaced by lawsuits and alleged trademark infringement.

According to documents obtained by People, Axl Rose and company are suing Texas Guns and Roses, alleging that the firearms and ammo proprietor is copying the band’s name “for the purpose of confusing consumers into believing that it was connected or associated with, or licensed by, GNR.” 

“This is particularly damaging to GNR given the nature of defendant’s business,” the suit reads. “GNR, quite reasonably, does not want to be associated with defendant, a firearms and weapons retailer.”

Neither Guns N’ Roses nor Texas Guns and Roses have responded to People‘s request for comment.

In 2019 Guns N’ Roses filed a trademark lawsuit against a brewery that was selling a beer called Guns ‘N’ Rosé.

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Poison‘s Bret Michaels is planning a touring music festival for next summer that promises nothin’ but a good time.

Scheduled for a limited run of 12 cities, Michaels’ 2023 Parti-Gras Tour is described as “a celebration of fans, bands, music and an all killer no filler night of hit songs.” Joining him on the road will be Jefferson Starship and Night Ranger, along with special appearances by ex-Journey singer Steve Augeri and Sugar Ray‘s Mark McGrath. On top of that, he’s promising “a nightly surprise guest to rock your world.”

The tour kicks off July 13 in Clarkston, Michigan, and is set to wrap up August 6 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Presale tickets will be available starting December 6 at 10 a.m. local time via LiveNation.com. The public on-sale date is December 9 at 10 a.m. local time.

In a statement, Michaels says of the tour, “I created Parti-Gras as a sincere and grateful thank you to the fans, friends, and family who have rocked with me over the years.”

He adds, “I promise to deliver positive energy, live, raw, real music, and all the bands will deliver sing-a-long hit after hit songs. Your voice will be hoarse after an epic, big, fun stage show.”

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The journey of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young will be detailed in an upcoming coffee table book called CSN&Y: Love the One You’re With.

Due for publication in June 2023, the book features 1,000 photographs and 34,000 words from 20 different contributors, plus an introduction penned by Graham Nash. Those contributors include Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Judy Collins, the late Glenn Frey, Grace Slick, Arlo Guthrie and notable behind-the-scenes music business figures.

The photos are courtesy of famed rock photographer Henry Diltz, who says in a statement, “I have known these guys my entire life as a photographer, way before they even formed a group, and so I have photographed them all separately and together for the past almost 60 years.”

Indeed, the book starts with Diltz’s photos of all four band members while they were in their previous bands: The Hollies, The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. What follows is decades’ worth of photos of the artists at recording studios, concerts, album covers, benefit concerts and more.

In an excerpt from the book, Neil Young is quoted as saying, “People believe in CSN&Y. When they see CSN&Y, even if it is a nostalgia trip, I want them to believe that life is worth living, and that the rest of their life is going to be better than the first part. I want people to feel an energy from the band that makes you feel great.”

The book is available for preorder now via Genesis Publications: “Collector” copies are bound in vegan leather, signed by both Diltz and Nash, and are available in limited quantities.

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Over the weekend, President Joe Biden welcomed the members of U2 to a White House reception honoring this year’s Kennedy Center Honorees, noting their shared heritage in his praise of them and their music.

“From this Irish American president, in the White House designed by Irish hands who built this … I want to thank U2 for all you’ve done and the way you lift people up,” Biden said. “You really make a difference.” 

He added, “For more than 40 years U2 has changed the world. Anthems about civil rights, solidarity of workers and the struggle for peace. Ballads about love and family. Concerts dedicated to ending poverty and disease.” 

Biden quoted the band’s hit “One,” saying, “At a moment when there’s too much hate, too much anger, too much division here in America, and quite frankly, around the world, we have to remember today, as their song goes, ‘We’re one, but we’re not the same. We get to carry each other.'”

According to the BBC, U2 guitarist The Edge then noted that the ceremony took place almost 42 years to the day that the band played its first U.S. concert: December 6, 1980.

“We had big dreams and like so many people in Ireland, America was the focus of those dreams,” he said. “There is such a close bond between U2 and this country, and we can’t fully explain it but since that very first gig, we’ve always felt warmth and love, but this tonight goes way above and beyond.”

At the gala following the ceremony, U2 was saluted by Sacha Baron Cohen who, in his guise as Kazakhstan journalist Borat, made numerous inappropriate jokes. According to the Washington Post, Eddie Vedder then sang U2’s “Elevation” and “One”; Hozier and Brandi Carlile, joined by Sheryl Crow and others, sang “Walk On.”

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Christine McVie‘s untimely death last week seems to have led to some impressive sales figures at the auction of Fleetwood Mac instruments and memorabilia, held over the weekend by Julien’s Auctions.

According to the auction house, McVie’s maxi dress, which she wore on the back cover of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest album, Rumours, sold for $56,250 — five times its original estimate of $10,000. A dress she wore to the 1976 Rock Music Awards went for $31,250, while her two American Music Awards dresses from 1978 went for $16,000 and $12,800. Her piano accordion, which she used to perform “Tusk” live onstage, sold for just over $11,500.

In addition, McVie’s speaker and microphones sold for $37,500 — some 37 times their original estimate. Her two Hammond B3 Organs went for $28,125 and $18,750.

Items from John McVie and Mick Fleetwood were sold, as well. John’s custom fretless bass guitar, which he used to record the classic song “The Chain” and played live onstage from 1976 to 1980, sold for $100,000.

The star of the auction, though, was the set of wooden balls that Mick Fleetwood wore on the cover of Rumours. The balls were originally part of the pull chains on the toilets in a club the band played early on in his career, and Fleetwood stole them and took to wearing them onstage. The balls brought in $128,000.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers have not one but two albums’ worth of new material, so they’ll have plenty of songs to perform on their just-announced 2023 tour.

The tour, which comes in support of the band’s two number one 2022 albums — Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen — will start March 29 in Vancouver and run through July 23 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Glasgow show is a rescheduled date that was originally going to take place this past summer; existing tickets will be valid, but will be reissued for the new date.

The tour includes stadium dates and stops at music festivals, and the rotating slot of opening acts include The Strokes, Iggy Pop, The Roots, The Mars Volta, St. Vincent, Thundercat, King Princess and City and Colour.

Prior to the tour kicking off, RCHP will play eight shows in Australia and New Zealand in January, with opening act Post Malone.

Tickets go on sale Friday, December 9 at 10 a.m. local time via redhotchilipeppers.com.

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Sorry Aerosmith fans, the band has cancelled another Las Vegas show. 

The band was set to take the stage as part of their Deuces Are Wild residency at the city’s Dolby Live at Park MGM Monday, but backed out due to their lead singer Steven Tyler needing “more time to rest.” 

“Unfortunately tomorrow’s show, Monday December 5th, in Las Vegas has to be cancelled,” a statement posted to Twitter reads. “Steven Tyler said ‘on the advice of my doctor, I’m taking more time to rest… There is nowhere we’d rather be than on stage surrounded by the greatest fans in the world.'”

“We sincerely apologize,” the band concluded. 

Refunds will be automatically refunded for those who purchased through Ticketmaster.com, with all other refunds processed at point of purchase. 

This is the second show that the “Dream On” artists have cancelled in the last four days. They cancelled their Friday, Dec. 2 show last minute telling fans at the time, “It is with great disappointment that we are forced to cancel tonight’s show in Las Vegas due to Steven feeling unwell and and unable to perform.”

There was no mention on whether Aerosmith will make-up the dates. Their final two performances for the Deuces Are Wild residency are scheduled for Dec. 8 and Dec. 11.

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Now that Pat Benatar and her husband and musical partner Neil Giraldo have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they’re focusing on their pet project: Invincible, a musical featuring their songs. But if you see the show, don’t expect to hear much of Benatar’s signature hit.

The show, Invincible, had its official premiere Friday night in Beverly Hills, where it will run through December 18.  It’s a reimagining of Romeo & Juliet, and in addition to hits like “Heartbreaker,” “We Belong,” “Love Is a Battlefield” and “Shadows of the Night,” it also features some lesser-known songs, all of which have been, Giraldo tells Variety, “twisted…a little bit, to have more fun with it.”

“We didn’t wanna do a jukebox musical with the exact same songs the way they were,” he tells Variety.

As for “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” probably Benatar’s best-known song, she tells Variety, “We have one chorus of that that comes in the middle of another song, only as an homage to everyone who’s gonna go crazy if we don’t have it, but it’s literally in there for, like, 10 seconds.”

As previously reported, Benatar has stopped performing the song at her concerts as well, out of respect to the families of mass shooting victims.

Benatar, Giraldo and their collaborator Bradley Bredeweg hope to eventually bring their musical to Broadway. For a former musical theater kid like Benatar, the show is a “full-circle” moment, while Bredeweg says it’s fitting that these songs are retelling Shakespeare‘s famous tale of star-crossed lovers.

“Everyone used to say they were considered the Romeo and Juliet of the rock ’n’ roll industry,” he tells the New York Times of Benatar and Giraldo. “Everyone tried to break them up at every step along the way.”

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