Classic Rock News

Def Leppard recently announced plans for a massive 2023 trek with Mötley Crüe dubbed The World Tour, but the British hard rockers aren’t quite finished performing in 2022 yet.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have joined the lineup of the Yasalam After-Race Concerts, which are held November 17 to November 20 in conjunction with the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race, the final event of the Formula 1 season.

Def Leppard will perform on the final night of the event, Sunday, November 20. The concert series, which will also feature electronic music group Swedish House Mafia and rapper Kendrick Lamar, will be held at Etihad Park in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Earlier this year, Def Leppard teamed up with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts for the expansive North American trek, The Stadium Tour. The Abu Dhabi concert is the band’s final show scheduled for 2022.

The World Tour kicks off February 18, 2023 in Mexico City and includes shows throughout Latin America and Europe.

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Iggy Pop and Red Hot Chili Peppers members Flea and Chad Smith will guest on the next album from Morrissey.

According to a post from The Smiths‘ former frontman’s Morrissey Central website, the upcoming record is titled Bonfire of Teenagers and will arrive in February 2023. Flea and Smith are among those who play on the album along with ex-RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. Pop will provide guest vocals, as will pop star Miley Cyrus. Andrew Watt will produce.

Morrissey’s most recent album is 2020’s I Am Not a Dog on a Chain.

Meanwhile, you can also hear Smith, Klinghoffer, Watt and Iggy together on the Godfather of Punk’s upcoming album, which Watt produced.

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Bob Dylan ended his show in Nottingham, U.K. on Friday night by paying homage to rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, who died earlier that day at age 87.

According to a recap posted at MaximumVolumeMusic.com and shared by Dylan’s Facebook page, the legendary singer/songwriter announced to the audience at the near of the gig, “Jerry Lee is gone, but he’s in all our hearts, so we are going to play one of his songs.”

Dylan and his band then proceeded to play “I Can’t Seem to Say Goodbye,” a song written by Don Robertson and first recorded by Lewis in 1969. Jerry Lee’s version appeared on his 1970 album A Taste of Country and was released as a single that peaked at #7 on the Billboard country chart.

As Variety points out, Lewis previously recorded a Dylan song called “Rita May” and released it on his self-titled 1979 album. “Rita May” was a rarity that Bob co-wrote with lyricist Jacques Levy during the sessions for his 1976 album Desire.

Dylan continues his U.K. tour with a show Monday night in Glasgow, Scotland.

Meanwhile, Bob is set to release his new book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, on Tuesday. The book, which can be preordered now, features essays about over 60 different tunes by various artists and songwriters that have impacted Dylan over the years.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers channeled their anarchist cheerleader energy over the weekend for a live cover of Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

The “Californication” outfit rocked the grunge classic Saturday during a benefit concert supporting bassist Flea‘s music education organization, Silverlake Conservatory of Music.

As seen in YouTube footage posted by user RHCPtv1, the Peppers only played the first verse and chorus of the song, with frontman Anthony Kiedis handling vocals on the verse before guitarist John Frusciante came in to take on the chorus.

In a tweet following the performance, Flea shared, “Was so fun. Deep thanks to all who have supported The Silverlake Conservatory Of Music through the years.”

RHCP just got off the road after touring the U.S. in support of their two 2022 albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen. Next year, they’ll launch a tour of Australia and New Zealand with Post Malone.

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John Mellencamp has released a rare track called “Smart Guys” from the sessions for his classic 1985 album Scarecrow as an advance track from the upcoming deluxe reissue of the record.

“Smart Guys” is available now via digital formats, while a lyric video for the tune has been posted at Mellencamp’s official YouTube channel. The clip features the same tattoo-covered young woman who appears in the video for “Carolina Shag,” another bonus song from the Scarecrow sessions that was previously released as an advance track from the expanded reissue.

In the “Smart Guys” clip, the woman appears as a school teacher wearing horn-rimmed glasses, as she reads a book, grades papers, spins a globe, and writes the song’s lyrics in marker on a white board.

“Smart Guys” and “Carolina Shag” are two of 11 bonus tracks featured on the deluxe versions of the Scarecrow reissue, which is due out this Friday, November 4. As previously reported, the expanded reissue, which can be preordered now, will boast a remixed and remastered version of the original album, as well as demos, outtakes and rough mixes of tracks.

Scarecrow, Mellencamp’s eighth studio album, was released in August 1985, and peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200. The album yielded features five top-40 hits — “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to ’60s Rock),” “Lonely Ol’ Night,” “Small Town,” “Rain on the Scarecrow” and “Rumbleseat.”

Meanwhile, next year, Mellencamp will embark on a 76-date North American trek dubbed the Live and In Person 2023 tour. The outing is scheduled  to kick off with a February 5-6 engagement in Bloomington, Indiana, through a June 23-24 stand in South Bend, Indiana.

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Robin Sylvester, longtime bassist of Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Bob Weir‘s side group RatDog, died Saturday.

Sylvester’s passing was first announced by ex-RatDog guitarist Mark Karan on his Facebook page and later confirmed by Jambands.com and Relix.

“I can’t believe what I just heard. Our dear, sweet Robin Sylvester has passed & left us all with a big ol’ hole in our hearts,” Karan wrote. “I’m speechless & gutted.”

No cause of death has been announced, although Sylvester had experienced some serious health issues over the last decade or so, and in 2012, it was announced that he needed a kidney transplant.

The London-born Sylvester joined RatDog in 2003 after founding bassist Rob Wasserman exited the band, and continued to play with the group until they became inactive around 2014.

Weir and his current band Wolf Bros dedicated their concert in Las Vegas on Saturday to Sylvester.

Robin, who was a multi-instrumentalist, started his professional music career during the 1960s with the a cappella chorus the London Boy Singers. During the early 1970s, he played keyboards with the psychedelic band Byzantium.

Sylvester relocated to the U.S. in the mid-1970s, and for a time was a member of a folk-rock band called The Movies that Clive Davis signed to Arista Records.

He also worked with a variety of well-known artists as a session and/or touring musician, including founding Jefferson Airplane singer Marty Balin, Mary Wells, The Shirelles, The Drifters, Billy Preston, Christine McVie, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Freddy Fender and Del Shannon.

In the late 1990s, Sylvester was among the musicians who took part in ex-Grateful Dead keyboardist Vince Welnick‘s Missing Man Formation project.

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Let There Be Drums!, a new documentary starring various famous rock drummers, opened in theaters and was released digitally and on-demand on Friday.

The film was directed by Justin Kreutzmann, son founding Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, who’s featured in the movie and was one of its executive producers.

Justin tells ABC Audio that besides featuring various musicians sharing their stories about how they developed their passion for drumming, the doc examines the experiences of several children of well-known drummers, some of whom followed in their dad’s footsteps and others, like himself, who didn’t.

Justin says the idea to feature stories about drummers’ families came together while he was interviewing late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins for the film.

“[Taylor] said, ‘I don’t know if this is for this documentary, but, like, how stable was your home life growing up?'” Justin notes. “And we started a dialogue, and everybody did that with me.”

Besides such famous musicians as Justin’s father, Ringo Starr, Hawkins, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, The Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith, the movie features John Bonham‘s son Jason, Keith Moon‘s daughter Mandy, Ginger Baker‘s son Kofi and Phil Collins‘ son Nic.

In talking to the various drummers’ children, Justin notes, “I was really interested in people’s … home life and growing up on the road or not growing up on the road or what happens when you have issues maybe from childhood because you feel like your dad’s fan base gets more of his time than you do.”

Justin adds that he hopes that the documentary “works on both levels,” for music fans interested in famous drummers’ stories and for people who will appreciate the emotional family aspect.

Let There Be Drums! also will be released on DVD this Tuesday.

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Following the passing of Jerry Lee Lewis on Friday at age 87, a variety of well-known musicians and other celebrities have taken to social media to post message paying homage to the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer.

Among the famous artists who have paid tribute to Lewis are Elton John, The Rolling Stones‘ Mick Jagger and former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty.

“Without Jerry Lee Lewis, I wouldn’t have become who I am today,” Elton writes. “He was groundbreaking and exciting, and he pulverized the piano. A brilliant singer too. Thank you for your trailblazing inspiration and all the rock ‘n’ roll memories.”

Jagger’s tribute reads, “God bless you Jerry Lee … Your songs lit up my life!”

As for Fogerty, he posted a message that reads, “Sad to hear of the passing of Jerry Lee Lewis. I love his music and I was hugely influenced by his records and live performances which were always full of fire and inspiration! No one could touch him! God Bless you, Jerry Lee.”

John accompanied the note with a video clip of him performing with Lewis, as well as audio of a duet the two did on the CCR classic “Bad Moon Rising.”

Here are some more celebrity tributes to Lewis:

Ringo Starr: “God bless Jerry lee Lewis peace and love to all his family.”

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood: “R.I.P. JLL the KILLER -What a man.”

KISS‘ Gene Simmons: “Sadly, One of the pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll has passed. A rebel to the end. RIP, Jerry Lee Lewis.”

George Thorogood and the Destroyers: “We are saddened to hear about the passing of the great Jerry Lee Lewis, your music and influence will shine on forever.”

Slash: “RIP #JerryLeeLewis”

Dennis Quaid, who portrayed Lewis in the 1989 biopic Great Balls of Fire: “Jerry Lee was a Christian, an American icon and the greatest piano player in the world. People will be listening to ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and ‘Whole Lot of Shakin” 500 years from now. I will miss him. God bless you Jerry Lee.”

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Bryan Adams is the guest on the latest episode of Chic guitarist and famed producer Nile Rogers‘ Apple Music 1 podcast Deep Hidden Meaning Radio, which premieres Saturday, October 29, at 11 a.m. ET.

During the interview, Adams reveals that he’d considered contacting Rodgers about producing what became his chart-topping 1984 album, Reckless, and says Nile’s music inspired one of the album’s big hits.

Bryan explains that Bob Clearmountain was lined up to produce Reckless, but then got very busy and it looked like he wouldn’t be available.

“There was a moment there where I was like, ‘Wow, who do I want to work with?’ And I thought of you,” he tells Rodgers. “And so I put together a song which I thought you would dig and it’s called ‘Somebody.’ You could have produced the album. So I had this riff … And I thought, ‘That’s Nile, that’s my interpretation of Nile.'”

As it turned out Clearmountain was available to work on the album. “Somebody” went on to reach #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Adams also tells Rodgers the story of how he was struggling to get the right sound while working on his hit “Summer of ’69.” He wound up using a young, unknown drummer named Pat Seward, who he saw playing in a bar and realized could deliver the energy that the track had been lacking.

“Pat came in, we cut the track and it was just, like, bang,” Bryan recalls.

Meanwhile, the two-CD deluxe version of Adams’ latest studio album, So Happy It Hurts, was released on Friday. The expanded collection includes a 12-track bonus disc featuring tracks that appeared on Adams’ 2022 Classic and Classic Pt. 2 digital albums, which boasted newly recorded versions of many of Bryan’s best-known tunes.

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The Beach Boys have released the rare 1972 song “Carry Me Home” as an advance track from their upcoming archival box set, Sail On Sailor – 1972, which focuses on two of the band’s albums — 1972’s Carl and the Passions – “So Tough” and 1973’s Holland.

“Carry Me Home,” which was written and produced by late Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, was recorded during the Holland sessions. The haunting ballad, which features vocals by Dennis and Blondie Chaplin, is about a soldier dying in the Vietnam War. The track, which was frequently bootlegged over the years, will get its first official release as part of the box set.

Sail On Sailor – 1972 will be released on November 18 and can be preordered now. It will be available as a five-CD set, as a vinyl package featuring seven LPs and one EP, and via digital formats.

The 105-track collection features newly remastered versions of the two albums, as well as 80 previously unreleased recordings.

Among the latter are unreleased outtakes, radio promos, alternate versions and mixes, isolated backing tracks and more from the recordings sessions, as well as live performances from the era.

The collection includes the Mount Vernon and Fairway (A Fairytale) EP, which was originally included as a bonus disc with Holland, and a full previously unreleased concert The Beach Boys played at Carnegie Hall in November 1972.

Carl and the Passions and Holland peaked at #50 and #36, respectively, on the Billboard 200. The highest-charting single released from the albums was Holland‘s “Sailor On Sailor,” which reached #49 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a popular radio track.

The Sail On Sailor – 1972 collection also be released in abbreviated versions, including a two-CD set and a two-LP/one-EP package.

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