Classic Rock News

Eurythmics are among the artists who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this Saturday, November 5, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

The duo of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart are reuniting to perform at the ceremony and recently revealed they will be playing three songs at the big event.

While Eurythmics have only performed sporadically since their last tour ended in 2000, Stewart tells ABC Audio he’d love to hit the road with Lennox again, although he doesn’t think Annie is open to the idea.

“I think Annie always casts her mind back to touring … in the ’80s or even at the end of the ’90s,” Dave notes. “And [she thinks], ‘Oh, it’s flying every day and … masses of press all day.’ And I personally know that we don’t need to do that anymore.”

He continues, “[Annie also] worries that, ‘Oh, I used to run around the stage for two hours,’ but you don’t need to do that either … Her voice is so distinct and chilling and beautiful, and she could sit down all the time if she wanted to.”

For his part, Stewart says, “I love playing live … After all that work, it’s the one thing where you get some kind of freedom in expression … and being able to play this stuff that you’ve been hanging around your neck for 40 years or, you know, 35 years. And it’s very therapeutic to me.”

As for whether he thinks Eurythmics will play more concerts, Dave says, “One can only wait and see, but I hope we do,” while noting, “I know that the fans … would really appreciate it.”

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U2 frontman Bono was Stephen Colbert‘s guest on Thursday’s edition of CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert promoting his new book, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, and revealed the clever, if not so honest way they got their big break.

“When we were kids…we had a big TV producer…come into our high school, cause he heard we wrote our own songs. And it was a break, gonna get our big break, on the national [television]. And we were arguing about how the song was going, it wasn’t going anywhere, none of the songs,” Bono told Colbert.

As they were arguing back and forth, Bono said, they heard a knock on the door, which turned out to be the TV exec.

“What are we gonna do? What are we gonna tell him? What are we gonna say,?” Bono recalls the band saying to each other. “And he walks in and [he says] ‘You write your own songs?…Could you play me one?'” Bono adds that he and bandmates Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. “improvised” by playing The Ramones‘ “Glad to See You Go,” claiming it was theirs.

That deception got U2 a TV appearance, though Bono was quick to explain that they did actually perform one of their own songs on the show.

Bono also performed a partly spoken-word, down-tempo orchestral version of the U2 The Joshua Tree classic “With or Without You.”

Surrender, out now, follows Bono from his childhood in Dublin, to the loss of his mother when he was 14, to the founding of U2 and their rise to global stardom. It also covers his activism, including his work to fight AIDS and extreme poverty.

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It’s been over 20 years since Peter Gabriel released an album of new, original songs, but the acclaimed singer/songwriter has hinted that his next record will likely be arriving soon.

During a recent gallery event in New York City promoting his daughter Anna‘s new photo book, Eye-D, Gabriel told ABC Audio, “It’s reaching completion. I’m just finishing things up. So, there should be … some news about it soon.”

Gabriel’s last studio album of new music, Up, was released in September 2002. The new album is tentatively titled I/O.

Meanwhile, Peter and his daughter also shared some details about a new multimedia project they’re involved with, called Reverberation. The project, as Anna explained to ABC Audio, focuses on “how music can affect your brain and sort of the power of music and how to use it in your daily life.”

In conjunction with the project, a book called Reverberation: Do Everything Better with Music, featuring a foreword by Peter, was recently published. Anna also noted that the book will be followed by a TV show, a podcast and more.

Peter also discussed some of the interesting scientific studies tied in with Reverberation about the positive effect music and sound can have on people.

As he pointed out, “Some older folk that had lost the capacity to talk, when they were played music that was significant in their teens to them, they were able to talk again … not permanently, but it just shows the power [music has] to activate certain switches in the brain.”

Visit AbramsBooks.com for more info about Reverberation: Do Everything Better with Music.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Another day, another ‘will-they-or-won’t they?’ story about a Van Halen tribute concert to Eddie Van Halen featuring past and present members.

The answer remains no, with the latest update coming from former frontman Sammy Hagar, who says he and drummer Alex Van Halen aren’t even on speaking terms right now.

Appearing recently on Sirius/XM’s Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk show, Hagar was asked if there had been any progress on a rumored tribute show to the band’s late guitarist that’d feature guitarist Joe Satriani and Metallica bassist Jason Newsted joining Alex for a show. According to Blabbermouth, Hagar revealed he was approached and was up for it, but under one condition.

“I’ll do anything with Al and Mike and play music with people, but it’s not gonna be Van Halen,” Hagar shared. “There is no Van Halen, I don’t care what anyone says. Wolfie is Van Halen, okay?”

Hagar of course was referring to Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang, who replaced estranged bassist Michael Anthony in Van Halen some 15 years ago before achieving Grammy-nominated success with his own band, Mammoth WVH.

But what to call the band apparently isn’t the issue. Asked if original frontman David Lee Roth was the holdout, as rumored, Hagar replied, “It ain’t just one guy. Alex Van Halen and I don’t talk,” adding that he “reached out” to the drummer after Anthony “had a sad thing happen in his family…and [Alex] wouldn’t return my call or my e-mail. And so I said, ‘You know what? F*** it. It’s not on the top of my list, my agenda.”

Hagar’s still up for it, though. “I think Eddie deserves, definitely, a tribute,” he says, adding “the whole world would show up and the whole world would do it.”

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Eddie and Jill Vedder have announced the details of their 2022 Venture into Cures benefit concert stream.

The annual event, now in its third year, supports EB Research Partnership, an organization co-founded by the Pearl Jam frontman and his wife to raise funds and awareness in an effort to cure epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic disorder that causes painful skin blisters.

Performers include Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Legend and Broken Social Scene. Additionally, musicians, celebrities and athletes, including Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Will Ferrell, Jack Harlow, Tom Holland, Joe Jonas, Chris Pratt and Venus Williams, will be making appearances.

Venture into Cures 2022 will take place November 20 at 4 p.m. ET. You can watch via 2022.VentureintoCures.org or via Eddie and Pearl Jam’s Facebook and YouTube.

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A number of instruments played and signed by artists who performed at the two tribute concerts to late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins are going up for auction.

Among the items available include a Gibson Trini Lopez guitar signed by Foo frontman Dave Grohl and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic; the bass Led Zeppelin‘s John Paul Jones played with signatures from Jones, Novoselic and The Cars‘ Elliot Easton; an Eddie Van Halen “Frankenstein” guitar signed by Grohl, Novoselic, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, Joan Jett and Kesha; the guitar Queen‘s Brian May played signed by Grohl, Copeland, AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson and Kesha; and a Nile Rodgers-signed Hitmaker Fender Stratocaster.

The Gibson Trini Lopez and the Rodger-signed Strat are the highest-priced and are expected to fetch between $6,000 and $8,000.

Auction house Julien’s Auctions will be putting the instruments up for sale via its upcoming Icons & Idols: Rock ‘n’ Roll event, taking place November 11-13. As with the concerts, proceeds from the auction will benefit the organizations MusiCares and Music Support.

“MusiCares was honored to be the U.S. non-profit beneficiary for the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts and we are proud to partner with Julien’s Auctions on this incredible collection,” says Laura Segura, executive director of MusiCares. “We are dedicated to helping the humans behind the music because music gives so much to the world, and this auction continues the beautiful celebration of Taylor’s life, and his immense contribution to the music industry.”

For more info, visit JuliensAuctions.com.

Hawkins died on March 25 at age 50. The tribute concerts took place in London on September 3 and in Los Angeles on September 27.

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December’s a big month for Neil Young fans. Not only is the rock legend releasing a box set commemorating the 50th anniversary of his landmark Harvest album, we’re also getting a film documentary to go along with it.

Neil Young: Harvest Time “takes viewers on an intimate journey to Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California for the ‘Harvest Barn’ sessions, to London for an iconic performance with the London Symphony Orchestra, and to Nashville where the then 20-something Neil Young worked on various tracks of this signature album,” according to the distributor, Trafalgar Releasing.

The film, shot between January and September 1971, includes footage of Young creating and recording Harvest classics like “Old Man” and “Heart of Gold,” as well as other songs from the RIAA-certified four-times Platinum album. You can watch a clip from the film now.

“I was 24, maybe 23 and this album made a big difference in my life,” Young says of Harvest. “I had a great time and now when I listen to it, I think I was really just lucky to be there. I hope you enjoy this story, which is Harvest Time, and which talks about everything that happened.”

Neil Young: Harvest Time will debut December 1 in select theaters worldwide, with an encore presentation on December 4. Tickets go on sale November 10 at NeilYoungHarvestTime.com.

The Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition box set drops on December 1, just 24 hours before Neil Young: Harvest Time opens. You can order it now in two physical versions offering the same content — a three-CD/two-DVD set and a collection featuring two vinyl LPs, a vinyl seven-inch disc and two DVDs.

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Santana‘s fourth studio album, 1972’s Caravanserai, celebrated its 50th anniversary last month, and to mark the milestone, Carlos Santana and the band’s founding drummer, Michael Shrieve, reflected on the jazz fusion-influenced project with ABC Audio.

Caravanserai, which peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200, was heavily inspired by the then-contemporary improvisational jazz sounds that artists such as Miles Davis, Return to Forever and Pharaoh Sanders were creating.

“What was really important about Caravanserai [was that it] gave birth to multidimensional music,” Carlos said.

The album, which yielded no hit singles, was considered a commercial failure, but has become a fan favorite.

Carlos said he and Shrieve were driving creative forces behind the album, along with bassist Dougie Rauch, one of several musicians who had recently joined Santana.

“It just fell naturally normal for Michael and I to grab hold of the reins and lead the horses to another path,” Carlos explained.

Carlos also noted that although there was a backlash to Santana’s new direction on the album, he and Shrieve remained undeterred.

“Everybody left and right were telling us, ‘You’re committing career suicide. This is not gonna work,'” Santana said. “And we were like, the more they say that to us, the more we were determined, not necessarily to prove them wrong, but to see to fruition that this music needed to be birthed.”

Meanwhile, Shrieve told ABC Audio that because of Santana’s new direction, he and Carlos were inadvertently responsible for the creation of Journey.

According to Shrieve, Santana members Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon were unhappy with Caravanserai, so they decided to form a new group that showcased a more mainstream rock sound. Soon, Journey was born.

A special 50th anniversary Caravanserai T-shirt is available now at Santana.com.

Here’s Caravanserai‘s track list:

“Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation”
“Waves Within”
“Look Up (To See What’s Coming Down)”
“Just in Time to See the Sun”
“Song of the Wind”
“All the Love of the Universe”
“Future Primitive”
“Stone Flower”
“La Fuente del Ritmo”
“Every Step of the Way”

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Ever since he stopped doing joint tours with Elton John a while back, Billy Joel has rarely shared the stage with anyone: It’s unusual for him to even have an opening act.  But next year, he plans to team up for a double bill with a performer as equally legendary as he is.

Billy will perform a show on April 8, 2023 with none other than Stevie Nicks. The pairing will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.  The show is appropriately billed as “Two Icons, One Night.”  Tickets will go on sale November 11 at 10 a.m. LiveNation.com or SeatGeek.com.

On Instagram, Stevie wrote, “excited to hit the road with the amazing @billyjoel in 2023.”  Her use of the phrase “hit the road” makes it sound as though they might perform together at additional dates, but so far, this is the only one that’s been announced.

The show is Stevie’s first announced performance for 2023; she’ll complete her fall tour this weekend. As for Billy, he’ll continue his Madison Square Garden residency, and next year, he has additional dates booked in Atlanta, Florida, London, New Zealand and Australia.

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