Classic Rock News

Tina Turner will be the focus of an exclusive BET special that will delve into her life and yearslong career. BET & ET Present Tina Turner: Life and Legacy will air May 25, featuring archival footage from ET, which includes over 30 Tina interviews throughout the course of her career. It will see her discussing her acting aspirations, never giving up on true love, her hit “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” and other definitive moments of her journey.

“Tina Turner was a global powerhouse, humanitarian, and undisputable Queen of Rock & Roll. We are deeply saddened by the news of her passing,” said Scott Mills, president and CEO of BET Media Group. “Tina Turner’s gritty vocals, high-octane performances and award-winning platinum hits are unforgettable. Her rise from humble beginnings to overcoming professional and personal adversity led her to become one of the most successful recording artists of all time. We join so many in celebration of her life, legacy, and immeasurable contributions to the arts. She was simply the best.”

BET & ET Present Tina Turner: Life and Legacy will air on BET at 9 p.m. ET/PT. On May 26, BET HER will air an encore at 10 a.m. ET/PT; VH1 will replay the special at 6 p.m. ET/PT.

Tina died on Wednesday, May 24, according to a statement on her social media pages. She was 83 years old.

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The Doobie Brothers have added another gig to their touring schedule. The band is set to headline the BeachLife Ranch Festival, taking place September 22-24 at the Seaside Lagoon in Redondo Beach, California.  

The festival features a mixture of country and Americana acts, with The Doobie Brothers headlining the bill on Saturday, September 23. Other headliners include Jack Johnson and Brad Paisley, with the lineup also featuring The Avett Brothers, Shakey Graves, Wynonna, Chris Isaak and more.

Tickets for the festival are on sale now. More info and a full lineup can be found at beachliferanch.com.

The festival is one of many shows The Doobie Brothers have planned for 2023. They kick off their 50th anniversary tour on Thursday, May 25, in Hollywood, Florida. A complete list of tour dates can be found at thedoobiebrothers.com.

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Aerosmith’s Peace Out tour doesn’t start until September, but guitarist Brad Whitford isn’t sitting at home waiting to take the stage. 

The rocker made a surprise appearance at Godsmack’s show at the Firstbank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tennessee, on Wednesday, joining the band for a rendition of the Aerosmith classic “Dream On.” A snippet of the performance can be seen on Aerosmith’s Instagram account.

“Such an incredible honor to have shared the stage with the one and only Mr. Brad Whitford of @aerosmith,” Godsmack frontman Sully Erna shared on Facebook. “We are still living out our childhood dreams and humbled every day! Thank you Brad!”

The appearance comes just a few weeks after Aerosmith announced their final tour. It’s set to kick off September 2 in Philadelphia, with dates confirmed through January 26, 2024, in Montreal. A complete list of dates can be found at aerosmith.com.

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Dio‘s debut album, Holy Diver, was released May 25, 1983 — 40 years ago Thursday.

Ronnie James Dio founded his namesake band after his stint in Black Sabbath replacing Ozzy Osbourne. He brought along then-Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice, and they began working on a riff that would become the main guitar part of the song “Holy Diver.”

“That was the first inkling of a song,” Appice tells ABC Audio. “I think we auditioned some guitar players with that riff, just because we didn’t know much more.”

Eventually, the Dio lineup was completed by guitarist Vivian Campbell and bassist Jimmy Bain. With the creation of a new band outside of Sabbath, Appice says Dio felt a lot of creative freedom recording Holy Diver.

“With a first album, you don’t have to worry about repeating the way you played or songs sounding similar to the album you did before that,” Appice explains. “It was, like, anything goes, ’cause it’s a new band, it’s not Sabbath, and let it rip. So it was easy to have crazy ideas, and we did it.”

Holy Diver spawned metal classics including the title track and “Rainbow in the Dark,” and is now certified double Platinum by the RIAA. In addition to its musical impact, Holy Diver was also famous for its album cover, featuring a giant demon — later known as Murray — swinging a chain over a terrified priest.

“That is an absolute brilliant album cover,” Appice says. “If you see it and you don’t know anything about Dio, you’d wanna buy the record and check it out. What a brilliant cover.”

Dio would become Ronnie’s longest-running project. The group released a total of 10 albums before disbanding in 2010 following Ronnie’s death from stomach cancer. He was 67.

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On This Day, May 25, 1968 …

Simon & Garfunkel landed at number one on the Billboard 200 Album chart with Bookends.

The album spent seven weeks on top of the chart and included the number one song “Mrs. Robinson,” which was featured in the movie The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross and Anne Bancroft.

Other singles from the record included “A Hazy Shade of Winter,” which was later covered by The Bangles, “At the Zoo” and “Fakin’ It.” Also featured on the album was the future classic “America.”

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The Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are the latest artists to pay tribute to Tina Turner, who passed away Wednesday at 83.

Tina appeared in the 1975 film adaptation of the band’s rock opera Tommy, and in a post on Instagram Townshend called Tina, “An astonishing performer, and astounding singer, she was also an R&B groundbreaker.”

Townshend called Tina’s music with abusive ex-husband Ike Turner “simply out of this world,” but noted, “When she was finally free of him her work ascended to new, even higher heights. It didn’t seem possible.”

Regarding her role as Acid Queen in Tommy, Townshend shares his amazement at her performance. “The song is about abuse at the hands of an evil woman,” he writes. “How she turned that song on its head! All the anger of her years as a victim exploded into fire and bluster and a magnificent and crazy cameo role that will always stay with me.” 

Finally, Townshend offers, “She has been in my mind for the last ten years, I kept meaning to track her down, and see how she was. I truly thought she would live forever.”

Daltrey also added a short tribute to Turner, writing, “What a singer! What a performer! What a life! A true original artist and simply the best.”

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Following their introduction of new drummer Josh Freese during a concert stream over the weekend, Foo Fighters kicked off their tour Wednesday in Gilford, New Hampshire, their first since the death of Taylor Hawkins in March 2022.

According to Setlist.fm, the concert featured renditions of several songs off the upcoming Foos album But Here We Are, including “Rescued” and “Under You,” as well as classics including “Everlong,” “My Hero,” “The Pretender” and “Best of You.”

Dave Grohl also took a moment during the show to remember his late bandmate with a performance of “Cold Day in the Sun,” which was written and sung by Hawkins. Fan-shot footage of the tribute was posted to YouTube by the channel jennifer nardi.

“This is something I never thought I had to do,” Grohl said in introducing the song. “Taylor wrote this song. We used to sing it together. So I’m gonna do it for him tonight.”

“Thank you so much for coming,” the Foos added in a post-show Facebook post. “We’ve missed you.”

Meanwhile, Foo Fighters have released another But Here We Are song called “Show Me How.” The track, which features backing vocals by Grohl’s daughter Violet Grohl, is available now via digital outlets. You can watch its accompanying visualizer streaming now on YouTube.

But Here We Are is due out June 2.

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For a guy who’s as proud of his Scottish heritage as Rod Stewart is, it’s amazing that he hasn’t thought of this before: He’s officially launching his own brand of Scotch whisky.

Rod’s announced that “after almost two years of development and dozens of whisky tastings,” he ready to unviel what he calls his “latest venture” — Wolfie’s Whisky.

Starting June 6, fans who signed up for Rod’s mailing list will get special access to purchase the spirits 72 hours before anyone else.  Wolfie’s is going on sale first in the U.K. and select European countries, and it’ll launch in the U.S. in July.

“The rest of the world…..we’re working on it!” he adds.

In other Rod news, he’s paid tribute to the late Tina Turner, with whom he performed and recorded over the years. In fact, he invited her to perform with him on Saturday Night Live in 1981, when her career was at a low point. In 1990, they had a hit with their duet “It Takes Two.”

“I’m devastated, what a women!” he wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of himself, Tina and his former Faces band mate, Ron Wood. “‘It takes two’ – but there was only one Tina Turner.”

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Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale has certainly had an interesting life and career, but fans shouldn’t expect to read about it anytime soon. The singer recently appeared on the Paltrocast podcast, where he put an end to any thought of him telling his life story in a memoir. 

Coverdale had previously suggested on Twitter that he was thinking about working on a memoir, jokingly calling it How White Was My Snake? But when asked about it, he denied it was going to happen. 

“The problem is I can’t do it, because I can’t not be honest about this, that and the other, who’s the inspiration (for) this song, who was that,” he said. “It would be a spilling of the beans, which I’m not interested in hurting anybody, and particularly my family.” 

He also said his wife was totally against his suggested title, noting she thought it was “too diminishing to my legacy.”

But even if there’s no book, Coverdale does have something in store that fans may love. He notes, “I’ve been working now with my head of video on another concept which I think could be significantly more interesting and not as f****** boring as a biography.”

He went on to explain that they are going to start a “QT with DC” in which he’ll answer questions from fans, although he says he won’t talk about his ex Tawny Kitaen, who he calls “an amazing memory.” “I think it’s just respectful to people I’ve worked with,” he says. “Some of the aspects were unsavory. That’s for me to know, really, and to clear it from my space.”

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Tom Petty’s family is suing a Boston-area auction house that they claim is selling Petty items they believe to be stolen. 

RR Auction recently announced an auction of Petty’s personal property, but the family is asking fans and collectors not to shell out any money until the legal dispute is resolved. The family believes the auction items, which include jackets, hats, vests, autographed memorabilia and other exclusive items, were taken from a secure storage archive. 

“We believe RR Auction, headquartered in Boston, is offering stolen Tom Petty memorabilia with a completely false provenance inaccurate to fact and in complete denial of clear evidence they have been presented,” reads a statement from the family. “They will not disclose the cosigner who has provided these items or how they were acquired. But they are clearly stolen, there is no other word for it.”

They add, “These items have irreplaceable sentimental and educational value for the family and legacy of Tom Petty and we look forward to their safe return.”

The RR Auction site still lists several Petty items, with the sale running through June 22.

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