Classic Rock News

Rockers Tesla are getting ready to release a new covers album, Homage, and they’re previewing it with the release of their take on Queen’s 1977 track “Spread Your Wings,” which originally appeared on Queen’s sixth studio album, News of the World.

“‘Spread Your Wings’ for me was the song I always wanted to record by Queen,” says Tesla’s Brian Wheat. “I always felt it was the one song they had in their catalog that should’ve been a massive hit, but wasn’t because it was overshadowed by ‘We Are the Champions’ and ‘We Will Rock You’ on the News of the World album.”

“It was also a song written by John Deacon, who was the band’s secret weapon and whom not many people talk about, the quiet one, shall we say,” he adds.

Homage, dropping July 17, has the band covering songs by such artists as Bob Seger, Supertramp, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creedence Clearwater Revival, James Brown, Elvis Presley and more. It also includes one original song, “Never Alone.”

The album is available for preorder now.

Next up, Tesla is set to join Mötley Crüe on their The Return of the Carnival of Sins Tour, which begins July 17 in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. A complete list of dates can be found at Teslatheband.com.

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Original AC/DC frontman Bon Scott would have turned 80 this year, and one of the ways the milestone is being marked is with the third annual Bon’s Birthday Bash.

The bash, the only U.S. tribute event authorized by the Bon Scott Estate, is set to take plaice July 9 at The Cutting Room in New York City. It will feature performances by Living Colour’s Corey Glover, Trixter’s Steve Brown, former American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis and more.

In addition to performances, the bash will include a Morrison Hotel Gallery pop-up, filled with never-before-seen images of Bon Scott by rock photographer Steve Joester.

Tickets for the bash are on sale now.

Bon’s birthday was also celebrated earlier in May at the 20th anniversary Bonfest: The International Bon Scott Rock Festival, which took place May 1-2 in Kirriemuir, Scotland.

Scott was born July 6, 1946. He died Feb. 19, 1980, at age 33.

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Paul McCartney was the musical guest on May 16’s Saturday Night Live, but ahead of the performance, the show finally gave fans a chance to relive one of his more iconic SNL appearances from the past.

Although it happened back in 1993, the show recently posted video to YouTube of McCartney’s appearance during The Chris Farley Show sketch, which basically had Farley geek out over the chance to interview the Beatles legend.

During the sketch, Farley peppers McCartney with questions like, “Remember when you were with The Beatles?” followed by a bunch of other “remember when” questions about his Beatles career, including the time he got arrested in Japan for pot, the hoax that claimed he had died and whether he meant it when he sang “the love you take is equal to the love you make” from The Beatles song “The End.”

The 1993 appearance was McCartney’s second time as musical guest on the late-night sketch show, and he performed three songs on the show: “Get Out of My Way” and “Biker Like an Icon” from the album Off the Ground, along with the Beatles classic “Hey Jude.”

McCartney’s Saturday appearance on SNL was his fifth time as musical guest on the show. He performed three songs on the episode, as well: The Boys of Dungeon Lane track “Days We Left Behind,” the Wings classic “Band on the Run” and his solo single “Coming Up.”

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The Smashing Pumpkins have announced a U.S. tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1995 album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

The trek, dubbed The Rats in a Cage tour after the lyric from the song “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” will kick off Sept. 30 in Columbus, Ohio, and concludes Nov. 12 in Los Angeles.

Each show will consist of two sets. The first will feature a full-album performance of Mellon Collin and the Infinite Sadness, and the second will include songs from throughout the Pumpkins’ four-decade career.

“Staging a Mellon Collie-themed show is something we’ve discussed for over a decade, and finally the stars have aligned and exactly on the terms I’d set: which was to build a special night around its most enduring aspirations and ideas,” frontman Billy Corgan says in a statement.

Presales begin Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit SmashingPumpkins.com.

Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness marked the third Pumpkins album and spawned the singles “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “1979,” “Tonight, Tonight” and “Zero.” It’s been certified Diamond by the RIAA, signifying 10 million units certified.

The Pumpkins teased the tour announcement with a livestreamed concert Sunday, which served as a “funeral” for Corgan’s “Zero” character.

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On This Day, May 18, 1991…

R.E.M. hit #1 with their seventh studio album, Out of Time. The record, their first-ever #1, spent two weeks atop the Billboard 200 Albums chart, and 109 weeks on the chart overall.

Out of Time’s success was aided by two hit singles: “Losing My Religion,” which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the band’s highest charting single, and “Shiny Happy People,” featuring The B-52’s Kate Pierson, which peaked at #10.

Out of Time would go on to sell over four million copies in the U.S. and earn R.E.M. three Grammys, including best alternative music album, and two for “Losing My Religion.”

In 2017, “Losing My Religion” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2020, it became the first R.E.M. video to reach one billion views on YouTube.

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Foo Fighters will be turning on the heat on Hot Ones Versus.

Dave Grohl and company are making an appearance on the Hot Ones spinoff, in which participants compete against each other by answering questions or taking part in challenges, with the loser forced to eat a spicy hot wing.

The full episode will air Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET on the First We Feast YouTube channel, but you can check out a preview now on the channel’s Instagram.

You may recall that Grohl previously appeared on Hot Ones proper back in 2022. He called being on the show a bucket-list moment, comparing the experience to when he first performed on Saturday Night Live and David Letterman’s show.

Assuming they all get through Hot Ones Versus OK, Foo Fighters will launch a North American stadium tour in support of their new album, Your Favorite Toy, in August.

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Queen’s Brian May has lent his guitar chops to a new song that will be featured in the upcoming movie Masters of the Universe.

The rocker appears on the track “Eternia” from British composer Daniel Pemberton, who has previously scored such films as Project Hail Mary and Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.

“We Have The Power !!! HE-MAN rocks !!” May wrote on Instagram.

Masters of the Universe stars Red, White & Royal Blue star Nicholas Galitzine as Adam Glen/He-Man, the former prince of Eternia. The film, which also stars Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Jared Leto and Alison Brie, hits theaters June 5.

This isn’t the first action film May has been associated with. In 1980, Queen recorded the soundtrack to the movie Flash Gordon, which featured the song “Flash,” a top-10 hit in the U.K. The band also recorded several songs for the 1986 film Highlander, including their classic “Who Wants to Live Forever.”

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Paul McCartney was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live where he performed a new song, two classics and even got to show off his comedy chops.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer gave fans a preview of his upcoming album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, dropping May 29, by performing the album’s first single, “Days We Left Behind.” He then broke out the classic Wings track “Band on the Run” for his second performance. He returned for a third song, performing “Coming Up” over the closing credits, with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith backing him on the drum kit for all three songs.

Smith, who many people think looks awfully similar to the night’s host Will Ferrell, also played a part in McCartney’s first comedic moment. He came out to start the monologue pretending to be Ferrell, before Ferrell kicked him off the stage. The real host then took questions from the audience, going right to McCartney who asked Ferrell, “What do you think you’re doing, Chad?”

Ferrell then called McCartney up to the stage where he listed all the great songs he has written, all the while the former Beatle continued to think he was Smith, at one point telling him, “Get back behind the drums where you belong,” an obvious nod to The Beatles song “Get Back.”

McCartney later returned for another sketch, Mechanics, which poked fun at how it feels to talk to a mechanic. McCartney played the chief mechanic alongside Ferrell and Marcello Hernandez, who all badly explain to a couple what’s wrong with their car and how much it costs. 

(Videos includes uncensored profanity.)

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A North American release has been announced for a new documentary about late former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno.

The film, titled Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer, will be available on DVD/Blu-ray and digital VOD on June 9. 

That same day, the doc will screen at the Lumiere Music Hall Theater in Beverly Hills, California, and will be followed by a Q&A with director Wes Orshoski.

Di’Anno sang on Maiden’s first two albums, 1980’s self-titled debut and 1981’s Killers, before parting ways with the band and being replaced by current-day Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson. 

The documentary will feature appearance by Maiden bassist Steve Harris, Metallica’s James Hetfield and KISS’ Gene Simmons.

Di’Anno died in 2024 at age 66. He’ll be posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Maiden as part of its 2026 class.

Meanwhile, a documentary about Iron Maiden called Burning Ambition is currently in theaters.

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Classic albums by Joni Mitchell, Dusty Springfield and Cher are the latest to get an audio upgrade as part of Rhino’s High Fidelity audiophile series.

The reissues include Mitchell’s album Court and Spark, Springfield’s Dusty in Memphis and Cher’s 3614 Jackson Highway.

Originally released in 1974, Court and Spark was Mitchell’s biggest commercial hit, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Albums chart, thanks in part to her highest-charting single, “Help Me.” Meanwhile, 1969’s Dusty in Memphis, a fusion of pop and R&B, would go on to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry. Cher’s 3614 Jackson Highway had the superstar covering several well known songs, and while it wasn’t a commercial hit when it was released in 1969, it did receive positive reviews from critics.

All three reissues have been cut from the original master tapes and pressed on 180-gram black vinyl. Each are limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies.

All are available now at Rhino.com.

These albums are just the latest in a string of releases that have been part of the Rhino High Fidelity audiophile series. Others include Stevie Nicks’ Bella Donna, The Cars’ 1978 self-titled debut, INXS’ Kick, The Velvet Underground’s Loaded and The Stooges’ Fun House.

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