Classic Rock News

All aboard! New Ozzy Osbourne music is dropping this week.

The latest solo offering from the Prince of Darkness is a song called “Patient Number 9” and is scheduled to arrive this Friday, June 24. The song is set to feature guitar icon Jeff Beck.

You can check out a teaser video for the single via Ozzy’s Twitter. The post tags famed comic book artist Todd McFarlane, suggesting he might be involved in the track’s video.

Beck is one of many reported guests to be featured on Ozzy’s next solo album, the follow-up to 2020’s Ordinary Man. Others said to be appearing on the record include Black Sabbath‘s Tony Iommi, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Eric Clapton, Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready, Black Label Society‘s Zakk Wylde and Metallica‘s Robert Trujillo.

As exciting as it is for fans to hear new Ozzy music, it’s probably even more so for the man himself, who’s been battling a host of medical issues over the past few months. In addition to testing positive for COVID-19 in April, the 73-year-old rocker underwent surgery just last week, which his wife Sharon said would “determine the rest of his life.”

In a statement following the procedure, Ozzy shared that he was “home from the hospital recuperating comfortably.”

“I am definitely feeling the love and support from all my fans and send everyone a big thank you for their thoughts, prayers and well wishes during my recovery,” he said.

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It may not have been “Lightning,” but something has crashed through the original lineup of Live.

In an Instagram post Tuesday, frontman Ed Kowalczyk revealed that founding guitarist Chad Taylor had been let go from the band.

That announcement was preceded by a comment Kowalczyk made while responding to a fan asking about potential tour dates, in which the singer wrote, “I would love to perform, but it’s not possible in the current situation with the band.”

“The three other original members are not speaking to each other, and I am stuck in the middle,” Kowalczyk shared. “If I try to go solo, there is a good chance they will sue me again.”

Kowalczyk had previously faced legal proceedings from his bandmates after he left Live in 2009. He eventually returned to the band in 2016.

“I have to do what’s best for me and my family and try to stay out of litigation by not performing in public at all,” Kowalczyk added. “Hopefully things change but until then I have to law low.”

Kowalczyk didn’t get into the specifics of Live’s current disagreements, but his follow-up post suggests that the blame lies with Taylor.

“As of last evening, I control 55% of Live,” Kowalczyk wrote. “Chad Taylor is fired. He will never stop the music again.”

Kowalczyk also thanked the fans for their “amazing love and support.”

“I cried multiple times yesterday reading your comments and messages,” he wrote. “It really meant the world to me and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

Presumably, Live still includes fellow founding members Patrick Dahlheimer and Chad Gracey alongside Kowalcyzk.

Live’s most recent release is the 2018 EP, Local 717.

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ZZ Top has added three new shows to their 2022 Raw Whisky Tour, all taking place in their home state of Texas in late September and featuring Jeff Beck and Heart frontwoman Ann Wilson as special guests.

The concerts are scheduled for September 23 in Del Valle, September 24 in Dallas and September 25 in the Houston suburb of The Woodlands. Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday, June 24 at 10 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com. Pre-sale tickets for members of ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres fan club are available now.

ZZ Top launched the Raw Whisky Tour in late May, and with the addition of the three Texas shows, the band now has over 40 confirmed upcoming 40 dates. The trek celebrates ZZ Top’s new Tres Hombres whiskey brand as well as the group’s forthcoming album, Raw, which will be released July 22.

As previously reported, Raw was recorded at the historic Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, in conjunction with the famed blues-rock trio’s 2019 documentary, That Little Ol’ Band from Texas. It features ZZ Top’s classic lineup — singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and late bassist Dusty Hill — playing an intimate set of songs from their back catalog.

Meanwhile, the shows with ZZ Top are Beck’s first announced U.S. dates for 2022. He recently announced that he’ll be releasing a collaborative album with actor/rocker Johnny Depp titled 18 on July 15.

Wilson has been on tour supporting her latest solo studio album, Fierce Bliss, which was released in April, but she announced via Twitter on Tuesday that she had to postpone her remaining June concerts because four crew members tested positive for COVID-19. Her trek will resume in July.

Check out ZZ Top’s full tour schedule at ZZTop.com.

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A 50th anniversary vinyl reissue of Jethro Tull‘s classic 1972 concept album Thick as a Brick will be released on July 29.

The reissue will offer a recreation of the original album’s unique packaging, which featured a 12-page broadsheet newspaper that included fake news articles, a crossword puzzle, a connect-the-dots puzzle and more.

The half-speed-mastered LP, which features acclaimed prog-rock studio whiz Steven Wilson‘s 2012 mix of the album, can be preordered now.

Thick as a Brick, which featured one long, continuous song, was released in March 1972 and became Jethro Tull’s first album to top the Billboard 200 chart, spending two weeks at #1 in June of that year.

The concept behind Thick as a Brick is that the album’s lyrics came from an epic poem written by an 8-year-old boy named Gerald Bostock, a character created by front man Ian Anderson.

The newspaper, dubbed The St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser, was written by Anderson and two of his Tull bandmates — keyboardist John Evan and bassist Jeffrey Hammond — and includes a review of the album itself.

You can check out a video of Anderson showing off the vinyl reissue at Jethro Tull’s official Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the long-out-of-print deluxe 40th anniversary CD/DVD version of Thick as a Brick will be made available again on October 7 and can be preordered now.

The CD/DVD set includes stereo and 5.1 surround mixes of the album by Wilson, the original mix and a book featuring a recreation of the newspaper, an interview with Anderson, rare photos and more.

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The Beach Boys released an expanded and remastered version of their popular 2003 hits compilation Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys this past Friday.

The updated retrospective features a whopping 80 tracks, 50 more than the original version, and is part of a recently launched worldwide celebration marking The Beach Boys’ 60th anniversary.

Founding Beach Boys member Al Jardine marvels at his group’s long history and the deep, wide-ranging body of work they created — as exemplified by Sounds of Summer — thanks in great part to the compositional skills of his band mate Brian Wilson.

“Yeah, it’s fantastic, really. We were really lucky,” Jardine tells ABC Audio. “We were a tight-knit family for a long period of time. And the miracle of the songwriting part of it, being Brian’s forte, we just got lucky. And we got so many wonderful opportunities since that first recording to grow with the music. And here we are 60 years later.”

The deluxe Sounds of Summer reissue includes 24 new mixes, with stereo mixes of two tracks being made available for the first time.

Jardine says he thinks it’s cool when Beach Boys tunes get sonic updates, noting that “it’s nice to…have a little slightly different point of view each time you hear it all [again].”

Regarding the decision to release an expanded compilation, Al says, “[W]e’re capturing new generations every decade, so it kind of makes sense in a way. Our audience is expanding. We have more folks listening to us now, and enjoying the lesser-known stuff as well [as the summer-themed classic hits].”

As previously reported, the deluxe Sounds of Summer reissue is available now as a three-CD set, as a six-LP vinyl package and via digital formats.

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Founding Pink Floyd singer/bassist Roger Waters is getting ready to embark on his This Is Not a Drill tour of North America, and he gave us a little taste of what to expect during a surprise visit to CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday.

Amid a dazzling light show and video screens, Roger and his band performed a medley of “The Happiest Days of Our Lives” and “Another Brick in the Wall” Parts 2 and 3, from Floyd’s 1979 album, The Wall.

Waters’ This Is Not a Drill tour, which originally was supposed to kick off in July 2020 before being postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will get underway on July 6 in Pittsburgh runs through an October 8 show in Dallas.

In a statement, 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.”

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A new book that tells the story of the making of Pink Floyd‘s 1977 concept album Animals and the tours in support of the record will be released on August 1 and can be preordered now at MusicGlue.com.

Pink Floyd: The Animals Tour – A Visual History is available in three versions — a standard hardcover edition, a hardcover version signed by author Glenn Povey, and a Deluxe Edition that’s packaged in a box and features memorabilia reproductions, and a signed and numbered certificate.

Released in January 1977, Animals was Pink Floyd’s 10th studio effort. The album, which was loosely based on George Orwell‘s dystopian novel Animal Farm, included three extended themed pieces titled “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” “Dogs” and “Sheep” that represented humanity as three different classes — subservient sheep, despotic pigs and predatory dogs.

The album’s cover famously featured a giant inflatable pig tied by ropes to the smokestacks of London’s Battersea Power Station. Animals peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and has gone on to sell over 4 million copies in the U.S.

Pink Floyd’s tour in support of the album featured a multimedia show that incorporated inflatable structures, film projected on large screens, special effects and state-of-the-art audio.

During the final concert of the tour, which took place at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium in July ’77, singer/bassist Roger Waters‘ disillusionment over the band’s growing stature as rock stars and fans’ rowdy behavior led to an infamous confrontation with an audience member that ended up serving as an inspiration for Pink Floyd’s classic 1979 album The Wall.

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Judas Priest has added another U.S. leg to the band’s ongoing 50 Heavy Metal Years tour.

The newly announced fall outing will run from October 13 in Wallingford, Connecticut, to November 29 in Houston, Texas. Queensryche will also be on the bill.

“Defending the heavy metal faith for 50 years, the Priest is back!” says frontman Rob Halford.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 24, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit JudasPriest.com.

Priest first launched the 50 Heavy Metal Years tour, which celebrates the “Breaking the Law” icons’ 50th anniversary, in 2021 after being postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Halford and company are set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year with the Musical Excellence Award. The 2022 Induction Ceremony takes place November 5 in Los Angeles.

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A new four-part docuseries about The Rolling Stones titled My Life as a Rolling Stone will premiere on the EPIX network on August 7.

The series, produced to coincide with the British rock legends’ 60th anniversary, will trace the band’s journey from a young blues-inspired musicians act to one of the world’s all-time great musical acts.

Each episode of the series will offer an intimate look at one of the band’s four main members — singer Mick Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, and late drummer Charlie Watts — and will delve into their unique personalities, talents and impact on the culture. My Life as a Rolling Stone will also examine the band members’ inspirations, struggles and other personal aspects as they worked together to create their enduring catalog of songs.

My Life as a Rolling Stone was directed by Oliver Murray — director of the 2019 Bill Wyman documentary The Quiet One — and Clare Tavernor, whose credits include a Keith Richards-themed episode of the BBC TV newsmagazine The Culture Show. Mercury Studios is producing the docuseries.

“Compelling music docuseries have become a pillar of EPIX’s slate of premium original programming, and My Life as a Rolling Stone is a perfect addition to that mix,” says network president Michael Wright. “This distinctive documentary captures the raw and organic energy that defines The Rolling Stones, and tells the gripping, epic story of their journey. I am excited for viewers to experience this legendary band as few ever have before.”

Adds Mercury Studios CEO Alice Webb, “As they celebrate 60 years we couldn’t be prouder that EPIX viewers will enjoy exclusive access to The Rolling Stones through these special shows.”

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Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and acclaimed country-bluegrass artist Alison Krauss have added four new dates to the end of their forthcoming second U.S. tour leg in support of their 2021 album, Raise the Roof.

The trek, which kicks off with an August 15 concert in San Diego, California was originally plotted out through a September 4 performance in Austin, Texas. The new shows are scheduled for September 7 in Franklin, Tennessee; September 9 in Boston, Massachusetts; September 10 in Mashantucket, Connecticut; and September 12 at New York City’s famed Beacon Theatre.

In addition, an Atlanta concert that was to have taken place on June 16 but was postponed because of bad weather has been rescheduled for September 6.

Tickets for the Beacon Theatre show go on sale to the general public this Friday, June 24 at 9 a.m. ET, while tickets for the other three concerts will be available to the public that day at 10 a.m. local time. Pre-sale tickets for all four performances will go on sale starting tomorrow.

For more information, visit PlantKrauss.com/#tour.

The first leg of Plant and Krauss’ 2022 U.S. tour wrapped up on Friday, June 17 with a performance at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee. The duo will launch a series of European shows with an appearance this Friday, June 24 at U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival. The trek will run through a July 20 gig in Berlin.

Released in November 2021, Raise the Roof peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album is a follow-up to Plant and Krauss’ Grammy-winning 2007 collaborative record, Raising Sand.

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