Classic Rock News

Bonnie Raitt is showing her support for comedian Stephen Colbert, whose late night talk show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, was canceled by CBS.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer shared video on Instagram of some of her performances on The Late Show, writing, “In light of the shocking cancellation of @colbertlateshow with Stephen Colbert (set to end next May,) we want to send along our support and appreciation for what he means to us and the crucial right to have free expression in a healthy democracy.”

“We know his brilliant, beloved and important place in our culture will continue to evolve in some new, exciting way,” the post adds. “We wish him and his incredible team all the best and are so grateful for what they continue to give us all. He’s number 1 in the late night market for a reason. Unstoppable!”

Performances featured in the post include Raitt’s last appearance in June 2022, where she performed “Blame It On Me” from her album Just Like That…, as well as a 2019 performance of John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery,” which the post says was one of Colbert’s favorite tunes.

CBS announced in July that the network was canceling The Late Show saying it was a “financial decision.” The longtime franchise will end in May 2026 after more than 30 years on air. At the time of the announcement Paramount had been working to finalize a deal to sell Paramount to Skydance Media, which needed approval from the Trump administration to go through. The merger has since closed.

Raitt will kick off the next leg of her current tour on Aug. 20 in Port Chester, New York. A complete list of dates can be found at BonnieRaitt.com.

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The Beatles’ 1965 concert at New York’s Shea Stadium will be celebrated by the New York Mets at Citi Field.

According to the Associated Press, the team will mark the 60th anniversary of the historic concert with a special night at the stadium on Aug. 15 which will include a performance by cover band 1964 The Tribute in front of Shea Bridge, along with a special giveaway of a Shea Stadium replica to the first 15,000 fans who enter the stadium.

The Mets will be playing the Seattle Mariners that night, and the game will feature a first pitch thrown out by staff who worked the Beatles concert. There will also be special fireworks after the game.

Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr headlined Shea Stadium, home of the Mets from 1964-2008 and the New York Jets from 1964-1983, on Aug. 15, 1965. According to setlist.fm, they played a 12-song set that included such tunes as “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Ticket to Ride,” “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!” The show was turned into a 50-minute documentary, The Beatles at Shea Stadium.

Shea Stadium was demolished in 2009. Billy Joel performed the final concerts at the park on July 16 and 18, 2008, with the final show featuring a surprise guest appearance by McCartney.

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Aug. 12 is National Vinyl Record Day, and to celebrate The Rolling Stones are offering fans a unique collectible.

In connection with their Crossfire Hurricane Rum, The Stones have debuted what they’re calling a Pressed and Poured set, which includes a vinyl Stones record, a full-sized bottle of Crossfire Hurricane and a limited-edition Rolling Stones pourer, which features their iconic lips logo.

The set is described as “a collector’s dream that brings music and spirit together in one unforgettable drop.”

The sets are currently available to order at CrossfireHurricane.com and will ship at the end of August, early September.

The Rolling Stones debuted Crossfire Hurricane in 2023. It was described as a blend of rums from Jamaica, Barbados and the Dominican Republic that is aged in oak barrels. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards called it a “tribute to the islands that have inspired us for decades.”

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Director Amy Berg’s new documentary It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley is hitting theaters Friday, and it’s been a long time coming.

The director has been interested in making a doc about the late artist Jeff Buckley since 2006, telling ABC Audio that she was a fan of his critically acclaimed debut album, Grace.

“I just loved the album and I felt there was an enigma about Jeff that just kind of piqued my curiosity,” she says.

Buckley was the son of ’70s singer/songwriter Tim Buckley and was often compared to his father, although he didn’t really have a relationship him. He was raised by his mother, and Berg says that family dynamic was something she wanted to explore in the film. She notes she wanted to help explain “how that turned into Jeff Buckley, the voice and the album that we all know so well.”

Berg says that when it came to Jeff’s music, “there was so much personal intelligence in his lyrics and songs,” adding that one of the biggest misconceptions about him is “how he became who he was.”

“I think his music is on such a plateau,” she says. “He’s your favorite musician’s favorite musician.”

Buckley died in 1997 at age 30, as he was beginning to work on his sophomore album. But despite the sad end, Berg says she hopes Buckley’s story will inspire viewers.

“I would like for people to watch this film and find their own creative spirit,” she says. “That’s the best possible, you know, reaction to this film.”

“And I know it is sad, but it’s also uplifting if you look at it in that way,” she says. “So I think that’s the thing to embrace here.” 

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Another track has just been released from the upcoming album Beat Live, which captures a performance from the 2024 BEAT tour featuring former King Crimson members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin, guitar great Steve Vai and Tool drummer Danny Carey.

The tour had the four artists celebrating the ’80s-era music of King Crimson, reinterpreting three of the band’s albums – 1981’s Discipline, 1982’s Beat and 1984’s Three of a Perfect Pair – which were also the first three to feature Belew and Levin.

The latest preview of the live album is a performance of the track “Frame By Frame,” which appeared on Three of a Perfect Pair. 

“This is a miraculous piece of music,” Vai says of the song. “It contains unique, death-defying poly-metric intertwined guitar parts that seamlessly and elegantly support a most gorgeous lyric and vocal melody line. It’s a joy to perform every time. Did I mention that the guitar parts are death-defying?”

The Beat tour hit 65 North American cities in 2024 and Beat Live captures their performance at the United Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles. The album will be released in various formats on Sept. 26 and is available for preorder now.

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Songs by artists including Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and Green Day are featured on the soundtrack for Madden NFL 26, the latest edition in the long-running football video game series.

Among the included tracks are the Foos’ “The Pretender,” LP’s “The Emptiness Machine” and Green Day’s “Basket Case,” as well songs by Twenty One Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, 311, Beastie Boys, Bush, Blur, Franz Ferdinand, Judas Priest, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Mammoth, Megadeth, Shinedown, The Killers, The Warning, Weezer and Wolfmother.

Additionally, you’ll be able to hear snippets of such songs as The White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army,” Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ “Give It Away” and Metallica‘s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” in the virtual football stadiums while playing games.

Madden NFL 26 will be released Aug. 14.

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Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings have announced another show as The Guess Who.

The two original members of the band — responsible for writing some of their biggest hits, including “These Eyes” and “American Woman” — announced in June they were reuniting for the 2026 Rock Legends Cruise, and now Bachman has revealed that they’ve booked another gig.

“Excited to share this! Burton Cummings and I are bringing The Guess Who to Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, ON, on January 31,” Bachman announced on X. “We’ll be playing the songs that helped shape Canadian rock and roll, the way it was meant to be heard: live, loud, and from the heart! Hope to see you there.”

Tickets for the show go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Rock Legends Cruise XIII is scheduled for Feb. 23-27, 2026, departing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The two shows will be the pair’s first performances as The Guess Who in 23 years.

In September 2023, Bachman and Cummings reached a settlement with their former bandmates Jim Kale and Garry Peterson over the use of the band’s name. In the lawsuit, filed in October 2023, Cummings and Bachman accused Kale and Peterson of tricking fans into thinking Cummings and Bachman were still performing with The Guess Who, when they were actually getting a “cover band.”

The suit’s settlement resulted in Cummings and Bachman acquiring the trademark for the band’s name.

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In 1982, Peter Gabriel launched the WOMAD Festival, which stood for World of Music, Arts and Dance, and now he’s revisiting one of his performances for a new digital album.

The very first WOMAD Festival took place in Somerset, England, and featured 60 bands from over 20 countries. The new album, Live at WOMAD 1982, features a recording of Gabriel’s Friday night set. It included seven songs from his album 4, which was released two months after the event.

“I remember this gig well,” says Gabriel. “We played a mix of old and brand-new material. I would normally be very nervous about playing some of this stuff for the first time, however my mind was very preoccupied with the running of our very first WOMAD festival and the potential financial disaster that it was heading towards.”

It turned out the initial WOMAD Festival wasn’t a financial success and in October of that year Gabriel reunited with Genesis for a concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in Buckinghamshire, England — the money from that gig bailed him out financially. The WOMAD Festival was then able to continue, and since its inception, there have been more than 160 editions of the WOMAD Festival in 27 countries.

Live at WOMAD 1982 will be released to digital services on Friday. The first single, “The Rhythm of the Heat,” is now available.

Here is the track list for the album:
“San Jacinto”
“The Family and the Fishing Net”
“I Have the Touch”
“Lay Your Hands on Me”
“Shock the Monkey”
“I Go Swimming”
“The Rhythm of the Heat”
“Kiss of Life”
“Biko”

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The Beach Boys‘ Brian Wilson, who passed away in June at the age of 82, has been laid to rest, according to an Instagram post by one of his daughters, Wilson Phillips singer Carnie Wilson. 

“Today we laid my Daddy to rest,” she shared on Wednesday. “It was incredibly difficult to see that happen, but at the same time it gave more closure and more of a feeling of restful peace.”

“The last eight weeks have been extremely challenging and like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I love and miss him so much and I wish he could come back,” she added.

Carnie went on to say her dad keeps sending her signs “and I know he’s around,” adding, “I’m so grateful for this.”

“Today we had a couple of monarch butterflies that just would not leave the site. It was comforting and beautiful,” she shared. “I’m trying to deal with my emotions -they’re so up and down. I know that he would want everybody to feel happy and not sad. He didn’t like it when I cried.”

Carnie said she was reminded by her friend Gunner Nelson, son of the late Ricky Nelson, that her dad will be remembered every day through his music.

“This is a really special and a real heavy duty thought. It’s much bigger than I can wrap my head around,” she wrote. “For this I am grateful for though because I know it’s the truth.”

“So I just wanna say thank you… thank you Daddy for your beautiful contribution to so much happiness and real raw emotions that you have brought to people,” she concluded the post. “Thank you to all the beautiful loving and supportive fans out there for honoring him. We share this together. God knows what we’d be without him.”

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On This Day, Aug. 7, 1987 …

Lindsey Buckingham quit Fleetwood Mac, one day after a contentious group meeting at Christine McVie’s house led to a physical altercation between him and Stevie Nicks.

With a tour starting in a month, the band replaced Lindsey with Billy Burnette and Rick Vito and hit the road for the Shake the Cage Tour.

Buckingham would eventually return to Fleetwood Mac when they reunited in 1993 to perform “Don’t Stop” at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. They then reunited in 1997 for a live concert, which was recorded for the live album The Dance and followed by an arena tour.

Buckingham remained with Fleetwood Mac until 2018, when he was fired over a disagreement about touring. He was again replaced by two guitarists, Crowded House’s Neil Finn and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell.

The current future of Fleetwood Mac is uncertain, but Buckingham and Nicks recently announced the reissue of Buckingham Nicks, their only studio album as a duo. The album will be reissued on Sept. 19.

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