Classic Rock News

Former Pink Floyd singer/bassist Roger Waters‘ This Is Not a Drill tour of North America gets underway Wednesday night with a concert in Pittsburgh.

The trek originally was scheduled to begin in July 2020, but was pushed back two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour features a total 40 shows in the U.S. and Canada, running through an October 8 performance in Dallas. The outing will wind down with a trio of concerts in Mexico — on October 11 in Monterrey and October 14 and 15 in Mexico City.

The tour also includes multiple-night stands in Toronto, Philadelphia, New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

As previously reported, the This Is Not a Drill concerts will be staged “in the round,” a first for Waters.

In a statement about the trek, Roger explained that his performances will offer “a stunning indictment of the corporate dystopia in which we all struggle to survive, and a call to action to LOVE, PROTECT and SHARE our precious and precarious planet home.”

He added, “The show includes a dozen great songs from PINK FLOYD’S GOLDEN ERA along side several new ones, words and music, same writer, same heart, same soul, same man.”

Leading up to the start of the tour, Waters has been posting a series of black-and-white video clips on his social media sites featuring footage of him rehearsing with his backing group, and sharing his excitement about the new show and its stage production.

The clips have included snippets of Roger and company playing such Pink Floyd classics as “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” “Eclipse” and “Another Brick in the Wall.”

Check out Waters’ full schedule at RogerWaters.com.

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When the star-packed lineup of the RockIsland Fest 2023 event was unveiled last week, one headliner wasn’t announced but has since been revealed — Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil.

As previously reported, next year’s RockIsland Fest will take place January 17-21 in Key West, Florida. The bill also includes Styx, Loverboy, Tesla, 38 Special, Queensrÿche, Quiet Riot, Extreme, Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy, Stryper, ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler, Enuff Z’Nuff, Honeymoon Suite and Autograph.

Tickets, passes and packages for the five-day rock extravaganza will go on sale to the general public Wednesday, July 6, at 10 a.m. ET. Presale passes are available now.

The main venue for the event is the 4,000-seat Truman Waterfront Park Amphitheater, located on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico.

The first edition of the festival was held earlier this year and included performances by Cheap Trick, Night Ranger, Poison‘s Bret Michaels, Twisted Sister‘s Dee Snider, Skid Row, Warrant, Winger, Dokken, Lita Ford and many others.

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When the star-packed lineup of the RokIsland Fest 2023 event was unveiled last week, one headliner wasn’t announced but has since been revealed — Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil.

As previously reported, next year’s RokIsland Fest will take place January 17-21 in Key West, Florida. The bill also includes Styx, Loverboy, Tesla, 38 Special, Queensrÿche, Quiet Riot, Extreme, Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy, Stryper, ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler, Enuff Z’Nuff, Honeymoon Suite and Autograph.

Tickets, passes and packages for the five-day rock extravaganza will go on sale to the general public Wednesday, July 6, at 10 a.m. ET. Presale passes are available now.

The main venue for the event is the 4,000-seat Truman Waterfront Park Amphitheater, located on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico.

The first edition of the festival was held earlier this year and included performances by Cheap Trick, Night Ranger, Poison‘s Bret Michaels, Twisted Sister‘s Dee Snider, Skid Row, Warrant, Winger, Dokken, Lita Ford and many others.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Richie Furay, the country-rock pioneer who co-founded both Buffalo Springfield and Poco, has debuted a new cover of the 1958 Ricky Nelson hit “Lonesome Town” from his forthcoming covers album, In the Country, which will be released Friday, July 8.

Furay’s rendition of the memorable song premiered Tuesday at TheBluegrassSituation.com and on his official YouTube channel.

“Ricky Nelson was an idol and musical hero of mine. This song (or any) by Ricky had to be included on this record because of his influence on me,” Furay explains. “I remember watching and waiting for him to play on the old Ozzie and Harriet TV show. One such performance was the one that prompted me — I want to do this; I want to be a musician. Ricky was singing ‘Be-Bop Baby,’ and that was the clincher; I never looked back.”

The track features harmony vocals from country star and current Eagles touring member Vince Gill. Richie notes that his former Poco bandmate and longtime Eagles bassist Timothy B. Schmit, who also sings on In the Country, suggested that Furay use Gill on the song.

“What a thrill it is to have one of the greatest singers/musicians of our day perform on that special song,” Furay says.

As previously reported, In the Country is made up mainly of Furay’s interpretations of various well-known country songs and also includes a few notable crossover hits, like Marc Cohn‘s “Walking in Memphis” and John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

In the Country can be preordered now, and Furay has already released a couple of advance tracks from the album — covers of “Walking in Memphis” and Keith Urban‘s “Somebody Like You.”

Richie currently has just a few upcoming concerts lined up. Visit RichieFuray.com to check out his full schedule.

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Iggy Pop has postponed a pair of upcoming European shows due to a “problem with his voice.”

In a statement posted to Facebook, the Godfather of Punk shares that he’d been dealing with vocal issues earlier on during the tour.

“If you were there, you know I croaked my way through my last show in Greece and my voice is still recovering,” Pop writes.

“I have not taken this decision lightly,” he adds of the postponement. “I love my fans. But I must protect my voice. I’m so sorry, but I’ll come back and make it up to you.”

The affected shows were set to take place in Italy on July 5 and Austria on July 7. They’ve already been rescheduled for August 30 and September 2, respectively.

Pop will be back in the U.S. to play California’s Desert Daze festival, taking place September 30 to October 2.

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The lineup has been unveiled for the 2023 Monsters of Rock Cruise, which is scheduled to set sail from Port Canaveral, Florida, on April 29 and run through May 4.

The 11th annual edition of the seagoing hard-rock festival, which has been dubbed “They Came from Outer Space,” will feature over 35 acts, including Tesla, ex-UFO/Scorpions guitarist Michael Schenker, Queensrÿche, Winger, Extreme, Vandenberg, Autograph, Great White, Saxon, Faster Pussycat, Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra, Kix, Loudness, Rose Tattoo, Stryper and former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi.

The cruise will make stops in Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic, and the private isle of Labadee in the Bahamas before returning to port.

In addition to the many performances, the cruise will feature Q&A sessions, karaoke, a “So You Think You Can Shred” contest, “Cooking with Rock Stars” and “Painting with Rock Stars” events, a basketball game where select rockers will face off against cruise attendees, comedy sets, theme nights, photo ops and the chance for fans to have dinner with some of the performers.

Other onboard activities include a surf simulator, a rock-climbing wall, hot tubs and pools, a world-class spa, a bungee trampoline experience called the SkyPad, waterslides, laser tag and an escape room.

Cabins can be reserved now, with prices stating at $1,699 per person, double occupancy. Visit MonstersofRockCruise.com for more details.

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Crosby, Stills & Nash‘s music can be streamed on Spotify again, five months after the legendary folk-rock trio requested their labels pull all their collective recordings off the streaming service. The move was made in solidarity with Neil Young over alleged COVID-19 misinformation hosted by Spotify.

CSN’s music returned to Spotify on Saturday, July 2; A source tells Billboard that David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash will be donating money brought in from the streams to charities focused on the COVID-19 crisis for at least one month.

In January, Young insisted that his music be removed from Spotify over alleged COVID-19 misinformation that was featured during the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which is hosted by the streaming service.

On February 2, CSN posted a joint Instagram statement that read, “We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast. While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences. Until real action is taken to show that a concern for humanity must be balanced with commerce, we don’t want our music — or the music we made together — to be on the same platform.”

In late January, Young had sent a letter to Spotify that basically gave them an ultimatum between keeping his music or continuing to host Rogan’s podcast, and the service ended up removing his music rather than cutting ties with the podcaster.

Meanwhile, Rogan responded to Young’s decision in late January, posting a video in which he denied he was “trying to promote misinformation.”

After Young exited Spotify, the company announced that it would be adding content advisories before podcasts that discuss COVID-19.

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Metallica has issued a statement commenting on the use of “Master of Puppets” in the new-premiered second volume of Stranger Things season four.

The ’80s thrash classic provides the soundtrack for a significant scene involving the Dungeons and Dragons-loving character Eddie Munson, played by Joseph Quinn. The character had already earned cred with the metal community thanks to the Dio patch he wears on the back of his denim jacket.

In an Instagram post Tuesday, Metallica writes, “The way [Stranger Things creators] The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into Stranger Things has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include ‘Master of Puppets’ in the show, but to have such a pivotal scene built around it.”

“We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away,” the metal legends add. “It’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?”

The post concludes, “It’s an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie’s journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show.”

Metallica’s comments echo the sentiments of Kate Bush, who issued several public statements amid the resurgence of her song “Running Up That Hill,” which was used in the first volume of season four. The renewed interest in the track was so massive that the normally press-shy Bush even gave a rare interview.

Both “Master of Puppets” and “Running Up That Hill” are featured on the Stranger Things 4 soundtrack, which is out now via digital outlets.

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Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary over the holiday weekend.

The heavy metal power couple first tied the knot on July 4, 1982. In a tweet Monday, Ozzy posted photos from the ceremony alongside the caption, “40 Years Ago Today! Happy Anniversary My Love.”

Meanwhile, Sharon took to Instagram to post a more recent photo of her and Ozzy, writing, “2022 is a special year for me. It marks 40 years of marriage to my darling Ozzy.”

“We first met when I was 18, over 52 years we have been friends, lovers, husband & wife, grandparents and soulmates,” she adds. “Always at each other’s side. I love you Ozzy.”

The milestone anniversary gives the Osbournes a reason to celebrate after a few difficult months for the family, which included Ozzy and Sharon testing positive for COVID-19 and Ozzy undergoing major surgery.

In other happier Osbourne happenings, Ozzy and Sharon’s daughter Kelly is expecting her first child, and Ozzy is releasing a new solo album, Patient Number 9, on September 9.

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Guns N’ Roses‘ current trip to the U.K. is going through some ups and downs.

Starting with the downs, the “Welcome to the Jungle” rockers have announced that their show in Glasgow, Scotland, scheduled for Monday, is being postponed due to “illness and medical advice.”

“We are working on rescheduling options for this show so please hold onto your tickets and wait for a further update,” GN’R writes in a statement. “We appreciate your understanding and patience.”

As for the ups, GN’R played two concerts at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Friday and Saturday, which each featured a surprise appearance by Carrie Underwood. The country star joined Axl Rose and company for renditions of the Guns classics “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

You may recall that Axl previously guested during Underwood’s performance at the Stagecoach festival in May, during which they also performed those hits together.

In an Instagram post following the London collaboration, Underwood wrote, “I am but a fan who somehow managed to find her way on stage to have a moment of magic with her heroes! How did I get so lucky?”

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