Classic Rock News

If you were one of the many people who attended the original Woodstock Festival, it’s time to tell your story. Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the historic site of the 1969 festival, is expanding its Oral Histories Project across the U.S. to document the memories of fans who attended the historic musical event. 

Curators from The Museum at Bethel Woods are set to hit such cities as Columbus, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City to allow those who attended the concert to record their stories. 

“Realizing the average age of Woodstock attendees is 75 years old, now is the time to find the lost stories of the festival and save their place in history,” said Neal V. Hitch, senior curator of The Museum at Bethel Woods. “In order for the impact of Woodstock to be felt 100 years from now, collecting oral histories of this iconic festival is critical.”

He adds, “It is our goal to find as many attendees as possible and document their firsthand experiences, which will also inspire the next generation of young artists, musicians, and music lovers.”

The Oral Histories Project began in October 2020; as of now over 18,00 stories have been documented. The museum is hoping to get about 4,500 more, which will represent only about 1% of concert attendees.

The pop-ups kick off April 4 in Columbus, followed by San Diego April 25-26, Los Angeles April 27-30 and San Francisco May 8-12, with New York City scheduled for sometime in August. More information can be found at Bethelwoodscenter.org.

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John Fogerty is in a romantic mood this Valentine’s Day. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just dropped a live version of the love song “Joy Of My Life,” which originally appeared on his 1997 Grammy Award-winning album, Blue Moon Swamp.

“’Joy of My Life’ is the first love song that I wrote and is a love letter to my wife Julie,” the Creedence Clearwater Revival rocker shares. “It’s about that emotion when you meet someone and fall in love, and how joyful and special that is.”

He adds, “It’s one of my favorite songs that I’ve written, and I am so thrilled to know what my song has meant to so many.”

Up next, Fogerty’s set to play the BeachLife Festival, taking place May 5 to 7 in Redondo Beach, California. He’s featured on the bill as playing “music of Creedence Clearwater Revival.”

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Richie Sambora is getting Bon Jovi fans’ hopes up for a possible reunion. The guitarist was appearing on Britain’s Absolute Radio to discuss his recent appearance on The Masked Singer UK when he seemed to confirm that he’ll be returning to the band at some point.

When host Leona Graham asked him about getting back together with his former bandmates, Sambora replied, “We’re talking about it. I don’t think there’s any reason not to at this point.”

But Sambora didn’t give a time frame for this possible reunion. “Jon (Bon Jovi) was having a hard time with his voice a little bit there and he needed to take a little bit of a breather,” he said. “I don’t know when Jon’s going to get his voice together and (when the Bon Jovi reunion is) going to happen, but we have to get out there and do it for the fans, really. I feel a second obligation.”

The last time Sambora played with his former bandmates was back in 2018 at Bon Jovi’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.

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Stephen Stills is opening up about his relationship with his former Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate the late David Crosby, telling Rolling Stone they were on good terms at the time of Crosby’s death in January.

“When you’re young, if you’re not fighting, someone doesn’t care enough about the music,” Stills shares about their relationship. “When you get middle-aged, you should be able to do it without fighting. Later on, you turn into a curmudgeon, especially if you’re as clever as David was.” He adds, “But it’s a cyclical thing, these relationships. And this was a lifetime relationship. That’s hard to let anybody else inside of.”

Stills says he was “shocked but not surprised” by Crosby’s death, adding, “I love the guy. He was a big force in my life and a towering musician.” As for Crosby’s death, Stills says, “He just went to take a nap and didn’t come back. When you think about it, it beats the hell out of being in a hospital with people beating on your chest or something.”

In the same article, Stills reveals he and his former bandmate Neil Young are still close and jam together every Wednesday. “We hang out in the studio. We play old songs. We play other people’s songs. We just play together, the two of us,” he says, noting he and Young “have always gotten along great.”

Finally, while Stills will play occasional shows, including his upcoming Light Up the Blues Autism benefit on April 22, fans shouldn’t expect him to tour anytime soon. “The idea of touring absolutely appalls me,” he says. “I can’t imagine being on the bus for 14 hours. You can’t take drugs anymore. It’s no longer fun.”

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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have extended their North American tour. The Boss has just added 18 shows to the trek, including multiple nights in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Toronto and Los Angeles.

The new dates are made up of a mix of stadium and arena shows, kicking off August 19 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and wrapping December 8 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California. A full list of tour dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

Tickets for most shows will be sold using Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan, with registration open now through Sunday at 11:59 p.m. ET. Tickets for the Wrigley Field and Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park will be sold through the stadiums.

Springsteen and the E Street band are currently on the first leg of their 2023 tour. They play Houston, Texas, on Tuesday.

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Marty Friedman has shared a video statement commenting on his reunion with Megadeth at the thrash band’s upcoming concert at Tokyo’s famed Budokan venue.

As previously reported, Friedman will be performing alongside Dave Mustaine and company for the first time in 23 years at the show, which takes place February 27 and will stream live online.

“It’s been a real long time since I’ve been on the same stage with Dave Mustaine making music, and we’ve both taken severely different paths in our life since then,” Friedman says. “That doesn’t change the fact that I am so extremely proud of the part that I played in Megadeth’s history, Megadeth’s legacy. And I’m also very, very proud of the achievements that the band has done in my absence.”

He adds, “But for right now at this moment, I just feel immense joy and serious adrenaline to look forward to playing together at this very, very cool place.”

Friedman joined Megadeth in 1990, and played on albums including Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction. Following his departure from the band in 2000, Friedman moved to Tokyo in 2003, where he’s continued to live.

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On This Day, February 14, 1984…

Rocker Elton John married German-born sound engineer Renate Blauel in an extravagant wedding in Australia.  The marriage didn’t last long and they split in 1988.

Elton has said he realized he was “living a lie” and later said he believed that “being married would cure me of everything wrong in my life.”

Elton’s love life took a turn for the better when he started a relationship with David Furnish in 1993. In 2005 they entered into a civil partnership in the U.K., and after same-sex marriage became legal there they married in December of 2014. They have two sons together: Zachary Jackson Levon, who was born in 2010, and Elijah Joseph Daniel, who was born in 2013. 

In 2020, Blauel sued Elton for writing about their relationship in his 2019 autobiography, Me, but the suit was quickly settled out of court.

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Roger Daltrey left fans in Clearwater, Florida, disappointed when he cut short his show Saturday night in order to protect his voice.

Planet Rock reports that earlier in the show, The Who star complained he was suffering from indigestion, as well as being unable to hear the band, and finally gave up about 12 songs in.

“I’m going to do myself some serious damage here and I’m not going to do it because I’ll never sing again,” he told fans. 

Daltrey wound up stopping for good during The Who song “Naked Eye,” telling the audience, “I’ll try and make it up to you. I’m really, really sorry. I am not a robot! I am definitely not a robot! I’m not doing this to myself anymore. Thank you so much for coming.” 

Daltrey did not make an official statement after the show was canceled, but he did mention onstage that fans could request refunds.

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U2 is set to headline a new Las Vegas residency, U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere, this fall. But many fans are unhappy the band will be performing without drummer Larry Mullen Jr.

Larry will be sitting out the shows in order to recuperate from surgery, with drummer Bram van den Berg filling in for him. And while the band said in a press release that “Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg, who is a force in his own right,” fans don’t appear to be as welcoming. 

“The magic that is left in the band has been the longevity of the four original members always doing it together,” one fan commented on the band’s Instagram announcement about the residency. “I can’t say how disappointing it is to see the band abandon that for the glam of Las Vegas’ new toy.”

Another added, “No Larry? U2 is not a 3 legged table with a spare leg. I’ll skip this one.” Another wrote, “No Larry, no go.” And one commented, “They should of waited until Larry was 100%. It will not be the same without him no matter how flashy this tour will be.”

So far no dates for the residency have been announced, but fans who want to go — despite the drummer controversy — can sign up at u2xsphere.com to be the first to get details.

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The Black Crowes and Modern English are among the artists booked for the first-ever Evolution Festival, taking place August 26 and 27 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Headliners for the festival include The Black Keys on Saturday and Brandi Carlile on Sunday, with the bill also including Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Brittany Howard, Ice Cube, Morgan Wade and Sugar Hill Gang.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit EvolutionFestival.com. 

And this isn’t the only new festival The Black Crowes’ Chris and Rich Robinson have booked. They just announced their acoustic project, Brothers of a Feather, will be playing MerleFest, which is happening April 27 in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Their complete list of dates can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

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