Classic Rock News

KISS is still on their End of the Road tour, which doesn’t seem to have an end in sight, but Paul Stanley admits they can’t continue the tour forever —and there’s a practical reason why.

“At this point, it really comes down to what’s possible at certain ages,” he tells the New York Post. “If we were wearing sneakers and T-shirts and jeans, we could do this into our 90s. But we’re carrying around 30, 40, 50 pounds of gear on stage, and making it look easy.” He adds, “And at some point, you realize that you can’t do that indefinitely.”

But even when they do stop touring, Stanley doesn’t think KISS will just go away. “We couldn’t kill KISS if we wanted to. It’s a part of Americana,” he says. “It’s part of world consciousness, and even if we stop, the band continues, in essence.” He adds, “But should it diversify and spread in terms of what KISS is? Sure, the idea, the limitations of other bands, that’s their problem. We’re not those bands.”

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U2’s Bono and The Edge played an Irish pub this week: Ireland’s Daily World reports they took part in a St. Patrick’s Day special David Letterman was filming in Dublin Thursday.

The rockers were spotted entering the Westbury hotel through the back and were brought to the nearby McDaids pub for a jam session that also included Irish musicians Glen Hansard, Imelda May and Brian Kennedy. Letterman’s crew also reportedly filmed the U2 rockers performing for select guests at the Ambassador Theater Wednesday.

The paper reports the pub was closed down for production and that Letterman had been spotted in Dublin all week filming the Irish-themed show. While the paper didn’t say the filming was for Letterman’s Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, it did say it was expected to run on St. Patrick’s Day on “an American based streaming service.”

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Dino Danelli, drummer for the ’60s group The Rascals, died Thursday at the age of 78. Guitarist Gene Cornish confirmed the news on social media.

“It is with a broken heart that I must tell you of the passing of Dino Danelli,” Cornish shared. “He was my brother and the greatest drummer I’ve ever seen. I am devastated at this moment.”

Cornish said that in recent years Danelli’s health had been failing, and he suffered from coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. He added Danelli went into a rehab facility this year, where his “condition incrementally grew worse,” noting, “He’d spend every day there until his passing.”

As for his legacy, Cornish write Danelli “has been and continues to be a major influence to generations of drummers who are mesmerized with his original style, impeccable, tasteful playing and heart-stopping showmanship.”

Danelli and Cornish, along with Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, founded the Young Rascals in 1965. They were known for such hits as “Good Lovin,’” “Groovin’” and “People Got to Be Free.” They changed their name to The Rascals in the late ’60s, with “A Beautiful Morning” their first release under their new name. The tune went to number three on the charts.

Although they broke up in the early ’70s, The Rascals did reunite several times over the years. The last time was in 2012 for a combination concert/theatrical event about the band, The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream, which was produced and directed by E Street band member Steven Van Zandt and his wife, Maureen.

The Rascals were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, with Van Zandt on hand to induct them.

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A judge has ruled in favor of the insurer in Metallica‘s lawsuit over postponed tour dates, Billboard reports.

The metal legends previously sued Lloyd’s of London for losses sustained after their 2020 South American tour was postponed. The outing was scheduled to kick off in April, just a month after COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic in March 2020.

According to Billboard, Metallica’s policy with Lloyd’s of London did not cover shows affected by “communicable diseases.” Despite the ‘Tallica legal team’s efforts to argue otherwise, the judge found that COVID-19 was indeed “the efficient proximate cause of the concerts’ cancellations.”

“The travel restrictions which caused the concert cancellations were a direct response to the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic,” the ruling reportedly reads. “The evidence … demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic spurred the travel restrictions to South America and restrictions on public gatherings.”

The South American dates finally took place over April and May of this year. Greta Van Fleet was also on the bill.

Luckily for Metallica, the band has a lot going on right now to distract from the legal defeat. They just announced a new album, 72 Seasons, set to drop April 14, and lead single “Lux Æterna” is the #1 hit on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. Metallica will also launch a giant world tour in support of 72 Seasons in 2023.

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Tom Petty’s Malibu beach home can be yours, if you have $10 million to spare. The home, which the late rocker owned until his death in 2017, is now on the market.

“When Tom first walked into the home, he just loved the essence and the spirit,” listing agent Chris Cortazzo of Compass tells People. “He loved its originality — it was unpretentious which was very much his spirit. What a luxury for a massive celebrity to walk on the beach and not be bothered.”

The 16,000-square-foot home, which reportedly inspired Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ 2010 song “Something Good Coming,” comes with two bedrooms and a guest house, with direct access to Escondido Beach, 66 feet of beach frontage and views of the Pacific Ocean from the terrace off the living room. 

The whole house has a rustic feel, as does the guest house, which is set up as a music studio.

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Dave Grohl made a surprise appearance during Billie Eilish‘s concert at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles Thursday and joined the “bad guy” star for an acoustic rendition of the Foo Fighters classic “My Hero.”

The onstage collaboration was a long time coming for Grohl and Eilish, who’ve shared their love for the other’s music over the years. Prior to the performance, Grohl told the crowd about watching Eilish perform on the Grammys while wearing a Taylor Hawkins shirt in honor of the late Foo Fighters drummer, who’d just passed away the week before.

“Earlier this year, all of the Foo Fighters and our families gathered together at my house to watch the Grammys,” Grohl shared. “When Billie came out for her performance in the Taylor Hawkins T-shirt, the room was filled with real tears of love and gratitude.”

You can watch footage of Grohl’s comments and his performance with Eilish now via the Forum’s Twitter.

Eilish’s concert also featured a guest appearance by Phoebe Bridgers. The two performed a collaborative version of Bridgers’ song “Motion Sickness.”

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This Saturday, KISS‘ Paul Stanley will be making an appearance at the Wentworth Gallery in Short Hills, New Jersey, to unveil his latest series of paintings and mixed-media works. Stanley, who’s been painting for a decade, wants fans to know that you don’t need a degree to appreciate art.

“I want people to not be intimidated by the arts,” he tells ABC Audio. He notes, “When somebody says, ‘Well, I like that painting, but I don’t know anything about art,’ it’s like, ‘What do you need to know? You like it or you don’t like it.'”

Some of Stanley’s paintings are part of his new “Black Series,” in which he starts out with, not a white canvas, but a black canvas. “[It’s] really interesting because everything comes out from it,” he says. “Whereas most of us are taught to paint on a white canvas, to do it on black means it comes from darkness. And I think that’s great.”

The KISS frontman says his art gives him something that being a rock star doesn’t: less structure.

“A song has to have a key. It has to have lyrics that rhyme,” he explains. “And in terms of art, my sense of color … is based purely upon … aesthetically what pleases me. I like the freedom.”

The day after his appearance, Sunday, is the start of Hanukkah; Stanley, who’s Jewish, says he and his wife, who’s not, celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. He considers it very necessary, especially since he “grew up around people with [concentration camp] tattoos on their arms.”

“My duty and obligation as a Jew is the obligation I have to 6 million who were exterminated. So whether my children choose to practice Judaism in their own lives, knowing their heritage and knowing what my background is, is very, very important.” 

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The Music Center has rescheduled its tribute to record executive and A&M co-founder Jerry Moss, which was supposed to happen back in February but was postponed, with a new star-studded lineup now confirmed.

Peter Frampton, Amy Grant and Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers are confirmed for Live at The Music Center: Concert Celebrating Jerry Moss, Co-Founder of A&M Records, now happening January 14 at The Music Center’s Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

Other artists on the bill include Dionne Warwick and Joe Sumner (Sting‘s son), with special appearances by Herb Alpert, Burt Bacharach and Misty Copeland and prerecorded appearances by Sheryl Crow, Yusuf/Cat Stevens and Sting.

Limited tickets are currently available. They can be purchased here.

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Fans who attended Wednesday night’s concert celebrating the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s debut EP, Chronic Town, got quite the surprise. Consequence reports R.E.M.’s Mike Mills and Peter Buck made an appearance at the gig. 

The show took place in R.E.M.’s hometown of Athens, Georgia, and while Mills and Buck were not initially on the bill, they wound up playing with the house band, which featured Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson and Sven Pipien, and Screaming Trees’ Barrett Martin. Songs played include “So. Central Rain” and “Fall on Me.”

The concert was hosted by comedian David Cross and also had several artists, including Darius Rucker, Fred Armisen, Indigo Girls, Patti Smith Group’s Lenny Kaye and Drivin N Cryin’s Kevin Kinney, paying tribute to the band with their own performances of R.E.M. songs.

Another Chronic Town tribute concert happens Thursday in Atlanta. Proceeds from the concerts will be donated to Planned Parenthood.

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