Classic Rock News

At her father’s iconic estate Graceland in Tennessee Sunday morning, friends and family members gathered for a memorial service to honor Lisa Marie Presley, who passed away at 54 on January 12.

Presley was laid to rest on Thursday next to her son, Benjamin Keough, in Graceland’s Meditation Garden.

Joel Weinshanker, film producer and managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, opened the service by passing along Presley’s wishes for her own service: “Don’t make it sad.”

The former Mayor of Memphis, AC Wharton, explained, “Before Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan had Jack, before Goldie [Hawn] and Kurt [Russell] had Wyatt, before Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet had Zoe, before Jay Z and Beyonce had Blue Ivy, and long before Harry and Meghan had Archie, in this city, our own royal couple, Elvis and Priscilla had our own princess, Lisa Marie.”

He called her the “keeper of the flame,” and “this city’s precious jewel.”

Lisa Marie’s friend and former musical collaborator, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan took the stage, clad in a dark shirt and black suit to perform on an acoustic guitar, his song “To Sheila.”

Following the performance, Presley’s close friend Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, explained they called each other “Sissy,” calling it a “great honor” to celebrate this “extraordinary” woman. Ferguson added of Queen Elizabeth II, “My late mother-in-law used to say, ‘Nothing could take away these moments, because grief is the price we pay for love.'”

Alanis Morissette then took the stage in a long, black coat, and performed “Rest,” accompanied by a piano.

Priscilla Presley chose to let her granddaughter’s written words speak for her, reading a poem her granddaughter wrote, called “The Old Soul.” It touched on the heartbreak Presley endured when her son Benjamin took his own life in 2020. “…Survivor’s guilt some would say, but a broken heart was the doing of her death,” Priscilla said.

Axl Rose then addressed the assembled mourners next, commenting in part, “I feel like I’m supposed to be texting her like right now saying I’m here, telling her how wonderful everyone is. I never in a million years expected to be singing here, especially not in these circumstances.”

Rose went on to express how much Presley loved Baz Lurhmann‘s Elvis movie and Austin Butler‘s performance. “Lisa’s loved and missed by many, and will continue to be loved and missed by all those whose lives she touched,” Rose said, before performing the Guns N’ Roses song “November Rain” on piano.

The Blackwood Brothers Quartet then followed with “How Great Thou Art,” and Jason Clark and the Tennessee Mass Choir closed out the ceremony.

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The battle over the Journey American Express card isn’t over. In new court documents filed in California, Jonathan Cain is accusing bandmate Neal Schon of charging over $1 million on the card, which is causing problems for the band.

“Schon’s use of the [shared] AMEX card for personal expenses created serious liquidity problems for the band as the AMEX balance had to be paid every month, and there were insufficient revenues to pay for other expenses as Schon saddled Journey with over $1 million of his personal expenses,” the court documents state. 

And Cain specifically calls out just how Schon has been using that credit card, including spending over $100,000 on personal expenses in one billing cycle ending in January of last year, and $400,000 for the billing period ending March 16, which included $104,000 to a jewelry store and $31,000 to Bergdorf Goodman.

Plus, Cain argues that even when they put a $30,000 limit on Schon’s card, he still somehow spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses, like demanding a $5,000/night suite in Hawaii, when the maximum amount allocated was $1,500 a night. To add to that, he stayed a week longer than he should have.

As for Schon, his attorney tells Billboard Cain’s claims are ridiculous and “as phony as a three dollar bill.”

As previously reported, last year Schon sued Cain over the company AmEx card, claiming Cain refused to allow him access to it. Cain countered the suit was just Schon’s way of covering up his “excessive spending and extravagant lifestyle.”

Regardless of all of this, Journey is set to kick off their 50th anniversary tour on February 5 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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Anthrax is going to be without their drummer for a few shows. The band announced on Instagram that Charlie Benante is taking a break from their tour in order to have surgery. 

“Our man who beats the beat – Charlie Benante – has stepped away from the tour for a few days to have a minor procedure done and will not be at the next few shows,” read a social media post from the band. “Never fear, the formidable Derek Roddy is filling in while Charlie is away – and no worries, Charlie will be back soon.”

They add, “In the meantime, the metal is still heavy and the show must go on. We’ll see you there!”

Anthrax’s next show is happening Friday in Vancouver, British Columbia, followed by a show Saturday in Penticton, British Columbia, and another Sunday in Calgary, Alberta.

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Musician James Raymond has paid tribute to his late father, two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer David Crosby, who passed away Thursday at the age of 81. 

“I am deeply saddened at the passing of my birth father David Crosby,” Raymond shares. “He was a monumental talent and a force of nature. The musical gifts he gave us all will be cherished for generations.” 

Raymond is Crosby’s son with Celia Crawford Ferguson; he was given up for adoption in 1962. Raymond and Crosby later reunited and formed the trio CPR with guitarist Jeff Pevar, releasing two studio albums and two live albums.

“I feel very fortunate that we found each other and that he so graciously invited me to experience that rarified air of creativity that surrounded him,” Raymond adds. “I’ll miss him immensely.”

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On Thursday, two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer David Crosby, solo artist and founding member of the Byrds; Crosby, Stills and Nash; and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young died at the age of 81. John Mayer, who was hugely influenced by Crosby, has shared several tributes to the late legend on Instagram.

John was not only influenced by Crosby as a guitarist, he also had Crosby and his bandmate Graham Nash sing on the title track of his album Born & Raised. On his Instagram Story, he writes, “If you want to honor the memory of David Crosby, pick up your instrument and sing the truth as you feel it. Don’t listen with anyone else’s ears but your own. Don’t concern yourself with formula or wonder what someone else might think.”

He continues, “Just sing how you feel, what you see, your pain and your joy, and sing so as to know yourself better, and so that others might know what it’s like to be you in this world.”

On his Story, John also posted an Apple Music screenshot of Crosby’s song “Music Is Love” from his first solo album, as well as a photo of Crosby holding a guitar. He captioned that one, “Acoustic guitar hero.”

On his regular feed, John posted a photo of Crosby playing acoustic guitar in the ’70s and wrote, “A life of songs, and now a life in songs. There aren’t many people who moved the world as deeply and for as long as David Crosby did. The music he made will inspire songwriters until the end of time. An absolute purist.”

In other John Mayer news, he’s got something new coming on January 26, though whether it’s a new song, album or tour announcement remains to be seen.

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Jethro Tull is back with new music. The band just announced that their 23rd studio album, RökFlöte, will drop April 21. The record is Ian Anderson and the band’s follow-up to 2022’s The Zealot Gene, which was their first new release in two decades.

A post on Instagram reveals that the 12-track record is “based on the characters and roles of some of the principle gods of the old Norse paganism,” noting it also explores “‘RökFlöte’ – rock flute – which Jethro Tull has made iconic.”

The album is being released in a variety of formats, including two limited deluxe editions featuring bonus material, an in-depth interview with Anderson and more. All formats are now available for preorder.

The band has also shared the first single from the album, “Ginnungagap,” which is inspired by the god Ymir, “who was born from venom that dripped from the icy rivers called the Élivágar and lived in the grassless void of Ginnungagap.”

Here’s the RökFlöte track list:

“Voluspo”
“Ginnungagap”
“Allfather”
“The Feathered Consort”
“Hammer On Hammer”
“Wolf Unchained”
“The Perfect One”
“Trickster (And The Mistletoe)”
“Cornucopia”
“The Navigators”
“Guardian’s Watch”
“Ithavoll”

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Ian Hunter is getting ready to release a new album, and he’s lined up some big-name artists to join him on it.

The Mott The Hoople frontman will release the new album Defiance Part 1 on April 21, featuring a star-studded list of guests, including the late Jeff Beck, the late Foo Fighers drummer Taylor Hawkins, ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, Stone Temple Pilots’ Dean and Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz, Johnny Depp and Billy Bob Thornton. The album is available for preorder now. 

“It was a fluke,” Hunter says of his A-list guests. “This was not planned. Really, I’m serious. I really couldn’t believe some of them. I mean, it’s amazing what’s happened. It’s been such a buzz.”

Ian is giving fans the first taste of the record with the new single “Bed of Roses,” which features two other pretty huge names in the rock world: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell and Beatle Ringo Starr on drums.

And fans can look forward to even more music and more guests. As the title suggests, Defiance Part 1 will be followed by Defiance Part 2, which will also feature some big-name collaborators. 

As for the title of the record, the 83-year-old Hunter notes, “There are a lot of reasons for calling this album Defiance. It’s like, people my age shouldn’t be making records, blah, blah, blah. But we’ve still got a bit left.”

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As previously reported, Crosby, Stills & Nash’s Graham Nash and Stephen Stills have already paid tribute to their bandmate David Crosby, who died Thursday at the age of 81. Now Neil Young, who joined the trio in 1969, has taken to his Archives site to pay respects to his former bandmate. 

“David is gone, but his music lives on,” Young shares. “The soul of CSNY, David’s voice and energy were at the heart of our band. His great songs stood for what we believed in and it was always fun and exciting when we got to play together.”

His tribute continued, “‘Almost Cut My Hair’ ‘Deja Vu,’ and so many other great songs he wrote were wonderful to jam on and [Stephen] Stills and I had a blast as he kept going on and on. His singing with Graham [Nash] was memorable, their duo spot a highlight of so many of our shows.” 

Young adds, “We had so many great times, especially in the early years. Crosby was a very supportive friend in my early life, as we bit off big pieces of our experience together. David was the catalyst of many things.” 

Finally he offers, “My heart goes out to Jan and Django, his wife and son. Lots of love to you. Thanks David for your spirit and songs, Love you man. I remember the best times!”

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Friday marked the 40th anniversary of the release of Def Leppard’s third album, Pyromania, and the band celebrated by sharing a special message to fans on social media.

“So 40 years ago today, 20 of January 1983, we released Pyromania,” frontman Joe Elliott shares. “It was a breakthrough album for us in the U.S. and Canada, and a little bit in Japan,” adding it was a “hugely important record for our career and in America, it broke us wide open. It became one of the biggest records of the year, only behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller in sales.”

Rick Savage adds, “Wow, 40 years of Pyromania. I can hardly believe it, so many great memories in the making of that record … even back then we kinda knew we were really trying hard to make a groundbreaking metal album. I honestly think we succeeded. It still sounds great to my ears, even 40 years later.”

Phil Collen noted Pyromania was his first album with the band and he was amazed at how it exploded, sharing it was “probably the most exciting period that I can remember of the career … everything about it was amazing.” And drummer Rick Allen said he “learned more about playing drums doing that record working with (producer) Mutt Lange.”

Vivian Campbell, who joined the band in 1992, says of the record, “I was a fan. I bought it way before I was in the band. Now I get to play it onstage and that is terrific.” 

Pyromania featured such hit songs as “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages” and “Foolin,” with the album reaching number two on the U.S. Album charts. It sold 6 million copies in 1983 and went on to be certified Diamond by the RIAA for selling over 10 million copies.

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Rick Wakeman is sharing some more info about his upcoming new album, A Gallery of the Imagination. The Yes keyboardist just announced the record will drop February 24, and he’s also shared the 12-song track list.

Wakeman describes A Gallery of the Imagination as a concept album inspired by his first piano teacher, Mrs. Symes, who taught him a lesson he never forgot: “When you play, you are painting pictures through music.” 

“It is a very tactile album,” Rick explains. “I’d like to feel that people can actually touch the music.”

The album is available for preorder now and will come out in a variety of formats, including CD, two-disc CD+ DVD set with surround sound audio and hi-res stereo, two-LP on black vinyl, two-LP on colored vinyl and a super deluxe limited edition set that includes a 24-page book.

A Gallery of the Imagination track list:

“Hidden Depths”
“The Man In The Moon”
“A Mirage in the Clouds”
“The Creek”
“My Moonlight Dream”
“Only When I Cry”
“Cuban Carnival”
“Just A Memory”
“The Dinner Party”
“A Day Spent On The Pier”
“The Visitation”
“The Eyes of a Child”

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