Classic Rock News

Def Leppard currently is rocking the U.S. on The Stadium Tour with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, but after that trek wraps up on September 9, guitarist Vivian Campbell will hit the road with his side group Last in Line for another stateside outing.

Last in Line’s tour kicks off September 23 in Laconia, New Hampshire, and currently is mapped out through a November 23 show in Huntington, New York. So far, 18 dates have been confirmed, but more are expected to be added.

The trek will support Last in Line’s A Day in the Life EP, which is due out on November 11 and will feature the band’s recently released cover of the famous Beatles song of the same name.

Last in Line was formed in 2012 as a tribute to the band Dio after frontman Ronnie James Dio‘s death from cancer in 2010. The group features two Dio alums — Campbell and ex-Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice — as well as singer Andrew Freedman and one-time Ozzy Osbourne bassist Phil Soussan.

Prior to joining Def Leppard in 1992, Campbell played with Dio from 1982 to 1986, while Appice was a member of Dio from ’82 until 1998.

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A performance stage at a new park in Pasadena, California, the city where Alex Van Halen and the late Eddie Van Halen grew up, will be named after the brothers’ famous band at a dedication ceremony Saturday, September 10.

According to Pasadena Now, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Playhouse Village Park and Van Halen Stage will be held at 9 a.m. PT, followed by a two-hour community celebration.

The Pasadena City Council voted to name the stage after Van Halen following a citywide survey in 2021.

The Van Halen family moved to Pasadena from the Netherlands in 1962, and the siblings formed their famous namesake band in the city in 1972. Eddie died in October 2020 from complications of cancer. He was 65.

Eddie Van Halen Park was the most popular name considered for the park, but the City Council eventually decided that Playhouse District Village Park would be more appropriate. The performance stage was then set to be named Eddie Van Halen Stage, but the Van Halen family requested that the area be named for the whole band rather than just for the late guitarist. The plans then were amended to honor the family’s wishes.

The park, which sits on 1.04 acres of land, also features a children’s play area and a dog run. 

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The fourth and final episode of the new Rolling Stones docuseries My Life as a Rolling Stone premieres on EPIX this Sunday, August 28.

The new installment focuses specifically on Charlie Watts, and features archival interviews with the late Stones drummer — who died last year at age 80 — as well as new commentary from his Stones bandmates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood.

The episode looks at how Watts’ low-key and humble persona helped counterbalance some of the group’s more volatile personalities, while his swinging backbeat helped keep the band grooving for six decades.

A preview clip from the episode features audio of Watts sharing how he felt about audiences’ over-the-top reaction to The Stones when they first achieved fame.

“I loved it. As far as the excitement and the crowd, it was fantastic,” Charlie said. “And, you know, when you see a balcony in one of these beautiful old theaters in the north of England bouncing up and down, it’s incredible.”

Watts also noted that during the mania that followed their initial success, the band never got to play more than a few songs before a show would be halted.

“[T]he curtains would open, the whole place would go mad, and within about three songs, they’d break the whole thing up and you’d have to get off,” he recalled. “Apart from going in studios, we didn’t play a great deal, ’cause we actually never got through a set.”

Charlie added that he could’ve done without the post-show attention he got from fans.

“[W]hen the music stopped, I wished I could have turned it off,” he admitted. “I hated it. I hated being chased by girls and all that.”

My Life as a Rolling Stone: Charlie Watts airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

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Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars has lent his talents to a new song by rap rocker Hyro the Hero called “Who’s That Playing on the Radio?” that got its premiere today.

The track, which also features singer Danny Worsnop of the British heavy metal band Asking Alexandria, was recorded for the soundtrack to the upcoming thriller film The Retaliators.

In a statement, Hyro calls “Who’s That Playing on the Radio?” a “perfect example of when worlds collide.”

“Not only do you hear the epic vocals of Danny Worsnop of Asking Alexandria, but you also get the legendary guitar skills of Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe,” he says. “It’s the perfect mix to bring about my description of two opposing sides ready to go to war and creating noise among the masses.”

You can listen to “Who’s That Playing on the Radio?” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

The Retaliators will hit theaters on September 14. The film’s soundtrack drops on September 16. The album includes the Retaliators theme “21 Bullets” featuring Mötley Crüe, Asking Alexandria, Ice Nine Kills and From Ashes to New, as well as contributions from Crüe members Vince Neil and Tommy Lee, Papa Roach, Five Finger Death Punch and The Hu.

(Video contains uncensored profanity) 

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Looks like the legal battle between Phil Collins and his third wife, Orianne Cevey, is over for now: Page Six reports that a judge has dismissed Orianne’s $20 million lawsuit against the superstar singer.

On Friday morning, Judge Alan Fine tossed the case, noting that Orianne had violated court orders 10 different times, and writing, “I’m done with this…I feel comfortable that enough is enough.”

Orianne, the mother of Phil’s two youngest children, was suing him for half the proceeds from the sale of his Miami mansion, which he sold last year for $40 million. She claimed that he’d promised to split the proceeds if she moved back in with him.

But Phil’s lawyer told Page Six, “Before she filed this case, Orianne…threatened to make disparaging remarks about Phil Collins unless he caved in to her demands for 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale.” 

The lawyer noted, “Phil Collins has steadfastly maintained that Orianne’s lawsuit claiming an interest in his home was baseless because he never made [such] an agreement with her.”

Phil and Orianne were married from 1999 to 2007. She was legally married to another man from 2008 to 2017, but reunited with Phil in 2015 because, she claimed, he said he’d give her half the proceeds from the house if she moved back in with him — which he denied. 

But then in 2020, while she was still living with Phil, she secretly married another man she’d selected from a male escort site, court papers said. Phil sued to eject the couple from the mansion so he could sell it.

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Stone Temple Pilots have announced a vinyl reissue of the band’s 1992 debut album, Core, in honor of its 30th anniversary.

The four-LP package is due out September 23, ahead of the exact Core anniversary on September 29. Along with the original album, the reissue includes a collection of bonus demos, as well as live recordings from a July 1993 concert.

Neither the demos nor the live tracks have previously been available on vinyl.

Core introduced the world to STP and frontman Scott Weiland with singles including “Plush,” “Creep” and “Sex Type Thing.” The album’s been certified eight-times Platinum by the RIAA and was previously reissued in 2017 to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

STP followed Core with the equally successful Purple and released three more albums before breaking up in 2003. They reunited in 2008 before Weiland was fired in 2013 and replaced by Linkin Park‘s Chester Bennington. Weiland died in 2015, and Bennington passed in 2017.

The current singer in STP is Jeff Gut, who has released two albums with the band.

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An official music video for The Rolling Stones‘ 1967 U.K. single “We Love You” got its premiere Friday on the ABKCO label’s YouTube channel.

The visual is a restored 4K version of a promotional film that was directed by Peter Whitehead, the filmmaker who directed the 1965 Rolling Stones documentary Charlie Is My Darling Ireland 1965.

The clip features references to the legal troubles The Rolling Stones were experiencing at the time, particularly the February ’67 arrest of Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Jagger’s then-girlfriend, singer/actress Marianne Faithfull, on drug-related charges at Richards’ Redlands residence in Sussex.

During the incident, Faithfull had just come out of a bath and covered herself with an animal fur when the police arrested her. The video includes scenes of a mock trial where Richards portrays a judge who’s wearing a wig made out of rolled-up tabloid newspapers, and Faithfull approaches the bench and presents Keith with an animal fur as evidence.

The film also includes a glimpse at a newspaper headline reporting that Stones guitarist Brian Jones had also been arrested for drug possession in a separate incident. The video is made up mainly of scenes of The Stones working on music in a studio, but it also features footage of the band being mobbed by fans while performing.

“We Love You” was recorded during the summer of 1967 at London’s Olympic Studios and featured guest backing vocals by The Beatles‘ John Lennon and Paul McCartney, as well as piano by lauded session musician Nicky Hopkins. The single reached #8 on the U.K. chart. In the U.S., “We Love You” initially appeared as the B-side of the single “Dandelion,” which peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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The fifth and final installment of Aerosmith‘s five-week archival streaming concert series, 50 Years Live!: From the Aerosmith Vaults, premieres Friday at 3 p.m. ET on the band’s official YouTube channel.

The flick captures the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers performing at Mexico City’s Arena Ciudad de Mexico on October 27, 2016, during their Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble Tour.

The show features a rendition of Aerosmith’s chart-topping 1998 power ballad “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” as well as such classics as “Walk This Way,” “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Love in an Elevator,” “Cryin'” and “Rag Doll.” The band also played some select covers, including The Beatles‘ “Come Together” and Rufus Thomas‘ “Walking the Dog.”

As previously reported, the five-part series has been offering a new archival “official bootleg” concert film featuring never-before-seen footage debuting weekly on the band’s YouTube channel. Each flick captures Aerosmith during a different decade.

Meanwhile, Aerosmith is set to begin its 50th anniversary tour next month. The band’s schedule kicks off with a September 4 concert in Bangor, Maine, followed by a September 8 show at Boston’s Fenway Park and two eight-date Las Vegas residencies at the Dolby Live at Park MGM venue. The Vegas engagements run from September 14 to October 5 and November 19 to December 11.

A few weeks back, Aerosmith launched a contest at Tunespeak.com offering fans who watch the 50 Years Live! concert films each week a chance to win two tickets to the band’s Fenway Park show. Those who enter will also have the opportunity to win an Aerosmith T-shirt.

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When Elton John decided he wanted to follow up his global hit “Cold Heart,” featuring Dua Lipa, with something similar, he tapped his friend, producer Andrew Watt — who produced Elton’s 2021 album The Lockdown Sessions — to create it. The result, “Hold Me Closer,” is “a celebration,” Watt tells Variety.

Watt says he and Elton decided to do a dance remix of “Tiny Dancer,” so the producer was provided with the original audio material from the 1972 classic. He called in his fellow producer Cirkut to work on the track, which Elton loved. But then, Watt says, Elton came up with the idea to throw another one of his songs in there.

According to Watt, he and Elton were in Toronto when Elton’s husband and manager, David Furnish, started showing Elton some new merchandise based on the imagery of his 1992 album The One. 

Watt says, “We’re staring at this hoodie while sitting on the couch, and it hits Elton: What about ‘The One'” — the album’s top-10 title track — “for the verses? He starts singing it, but he’s singing it a little different…We took the vocal from that and tweaked it. ‘Tiny Dancer’ and ‘The One’ are 20-something years apart, but they worked together unbelievably.”

Then Elton decided that he wanted another artist on the track and thought Britney would be perfect.

“The fact that it came together and she wanted to do it and how she sounded on the record — you couldn’t have made it up,” raves Watt. “It’s amazing. It’s a moment in time.”

Noting that “everyone is on edge these days,” Watt says, “This song is just a celebration. It hopefully keeps the summer going for another couple of months…you can just leave everything off to the side and enjoy.”

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KISS‘ 10th studio album, Creatures of the Night, was released 40 years ago this October. To commemorate the milestone, the rock legends will reissue the record on November 18 in multiple formats and configurations.

Among the available versions of the Creatures of the Night 40 reissue is a Super Deluxe box set featuring five CDs, a Blu-ray audio disc, a bevy of collectible items and an 80-page hardcover book.

The first CD features a remastered version of the original album. Disc two and three boast various demos, outtakes and other rarities, most of which are previously unreleased. The fourth and fifth CDs include previously unreleased live performances recorded in 1982 and ’83, as well as bonus sound effects from the Creatures of the Night tour.

The Blu-ray offers up the first Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes of Creatures of the Night, as well as the remastered stereo mix.

The box set’s memorabilia include posters, photos, an iron-on, stickers, trading cards, a replica tour program, guitar picks and buttons.

Creatures of the Night peaked at #45 on the Billboard 200, and included one minor chart hit, “I Love It Loud.” It was KISS’ last studio album to feature Ace Frehley as a full credited member of the group, although he didn’t play on the record. His replacement, Vinnie Vincent, played guitar on most tracks, although he wasn’t initially credited. Vincent also co-wrote three songs.

Creatures also features two songs that Gene Simmons co-wrote with Bryan Adams — “Rock and Roll Hell” and “War Machine.”

The Creatures of the Night reissue, which can be preordered now, will be available as a two-CD set, a three-LP colored-vinyl package, a single CD, a black-vinyl LP and digitally.

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