Classic Rock News

Ozzy Osbourne is “doing well” and “on the road to recovery” after undergoing surgery Monday.

That’s according to the metal legend’s wife, Sharon, who shared an update on her husband’s condition in a tweet Tuesday afternoon.

“Our family would like to express so much gratitude for the overwhelming amount of love and support leading up to Ozzy’s surgery!” Sharon wrote. “Your love means the world to him.”

Last week, Sharon revealed during an episode of her U.K. talk show The Talk that Ozzy was set to have a “very major operation.” She added that procedure was going to “really gonna determine the rest of [Ozzy’s] life.”

Sharon didn’t speak on the exact nature of the operation, but Ozzy, 73, told Classic Rock magazine in an interview published in May that he was “waiting on some more surgery” on his neck. Ozzy suffered a fall in 2019, which aggravated injuries he sustained in a 2003 ATV accident.

Beyond that, Ozzy has been battling a number of health issues over the past few years. Prior to the 2019 fall, he’d been hospitalized with a bad case of pneumonia, and in early 2020, he revealed he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

In April of this year, Ozzy tested positive for COVID-19.

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Metallica has announced a collaboration with the guitar instruction platform Yousician. 

The course allows you to jam alongside ‘Tallica members James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett as they take a deep dive into their approach and technique.

“So, you want to play like Metallica?” Hetfield asks in a trailer for the program. “The best way to play like us is to play with us.”

“The Metallica x Yousician courses get guitar players up close and personal with the master musicians they idolize,” says Hadley Spanier, Yousician’s Head of Artist Partnerships. “Players will have the opportunity to learn how to play like Metallica straight from Metallica!”

“The unique course pairs unmatched access to the band with Yousician’s AI technology so that guitarists-in-training not only get to learn from the masters, but also get the feedback they need to improve,” Spanier explains. “Players will feel like they are part of the band, playing alongside their idols as they try to master some of the greatest guitar-driven songs of all time.”

The course offers lessons on 10 Metallica songs including “Enter Sandman,” “Nothing Else Matters” and “Master of Puppets,” which, as Hetfield quips, you’ll learn to play “the real way.”

For more info, visit Yousician.com.

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Elton John‘s collaboration with Dua Lipa, “Cold Heart,” which combines four of his previous songs into one track, has become his biggest hit in years. Now, there’s a report that he’s working on a follow-up.

Showbiz411 reports that Elton is going to re-team with PNAU, the Australian trio who created “Cold Heart,” for another such mashup, and he’ll be joined by “a secret superstar” — likely “someone contemporary and young.”

The website reports that the song will arrive next month with an eye towards summer airplay. The report notes that this will not be a track from Elton’s star-studded duets album The Lockdown Sessions — it’ll be a completely new song.

The Lockdown Sessions featured Elton singing with everyone from Lil Nas X and Nicki Minaj to Eddie Vedder, Stevie Wonder and Stevie Nicks.

Also next month, Elton’s latest theatrical work, The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical, premieres at Chicago’s James M. Nederlander Theatre. Elton wrote the music, and Shaina Taub wrote the lyrics for the show, which launches July 19 and is based on the hit movie of the same name. Showbiz411 notes that this marks the first time Elton has collaborated with a female songwriter.

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My Songs, Sting‘s Las Vegas residency show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, first launched last November and is running this week. Sting just announced that he’s expanding the show in 2023, which proves he’s really changed his attitude toward Vegas. As he tells ABC Audio, initially he wasn’t sure he wanted to do a residency at all.

Sting admits, “I was kind of apprehensive at first but it’s really wonderful; the audiences are great.”

It turns out the thing that concerned the former Police front man the most about playing Las Vegas was just that: the audiences. Specifically, he wasn’t exactly sure who’d be filling the seats in the Colosseum.

“I wasn’t sure who the audience would be. I thought just a bunch of tourists,” he explains. “But no. People come from all over the world, all over America, to see my show, and … they’re determined to have a great time.”

“We’re at the best venue in Vegas at Caesars Palace,” he adds. “And we’re just having a ball. It’s fantastic!”

As for how Sting manages to keep the set list — which includes his solo hits and songs by The Police — fresh for these shows, he tells People, “It’s my job to find something new every night in a song that I may have been performing for decades, and I always do. It’s something incremental. It may not be noticed by anyone but me.”

The 2023 dates for Sting’s My Songs  — April 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9 — go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. PT. Fan club members can access tickets starting Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT. Visit Sting.com for more information on how to join.

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The Rolling Stones have now postponed a second show following frontman Mick Jagger‘s positive COVID-19 test.

After calling off their show in Amsterdam on Monday, the band has announced on their socials that this Friday’s show in Bern, Switzerland, is also postponed.

The statement adds, “The Rolling Stones are deeply sorry for tonight’s postponement, but the safety of the audience, fellow musicians and the touring crew has to take priority.”

As of now, The Stones will perform at their next scheduled date in Milan, Italy, on June 21. Details on the rescheduling of the Friday show will be announced soon, the band says, and tickets that have already been purchased for the Bern concert will be honored for the new date.

So far, Jagger hasn’t made any public comment about this latest postponement, nor has guitarist Keith Richards. Both of them took to social media to comment on the Amsterdam postponement.

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Pat Benatar and her husband, guitarist Neil Giraldo, have added a September 3 concert in Las Vegas at the Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort to the end of the upcoming summer leg of their De Novo 2022 Tour.

The couple’s 39-date North American trek kicks off this Saturday, June 18, in Cincinnati.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Benatar and Giraldo’s show is the first new performance to be confirmed for the venue, which last hosted a concert in March 2020.

Tickets for the Vegas show go on sale to the general public this Friday, June 17 at 10 a.m. PT at Ticketmaster.com.

Citi cardmembers will be able to purchase presale tickets starting today, June 14 at 10 a.m. PT via the Citi Entertainment program; vist CitiEntertainment.com for more information.

Members of the Palms resorts Club Serrano, as well as Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers, will be able to buy presale tickets beginning this Thursday, June 16, at 10 a.m. PT.

As previously reported, Benatar and Giraldo are among the artists who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year at a ceremony held November 5 in Los Angeles.

In other Benatar-related news, Invincible — The Musical, a new stage production featuring the music of Pat and Neil, will gets its world premiere this fall at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, according to Playbill.com.

The musical, which offers a modern-day reimagination of William Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet, will open on November 22 and run through December 17. The production includes orchestrations and arrangements by Giraldo.

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Def Leppard is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, and to commemorate the milestone, the award-winning Swedish spirits producer Brands for Fans has released two premium gin products inspired by the veteran British hard rockers.

The new gins are named after two songs from Def Leppard’s chart-topping 1987 album Hysteria, “Animal” and “Rocket,” both of which reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Def Leppard “Animal” gin is a London Dry Gin with intense flavors that include juniper, lemon peel and botanicals.

Def Leppard “Rocket” gin is a premium distilled liquor with bold flavors that include juniper and herbaceous tones, as well as lavender and lemon. Lavender is included in the flavor profile as a nod to the lavender labyrinths in the band’s hometown of Sheffield, England. “Rocket” gin also contains no added sweeteners.

Both gins were created by Brands for Fans’ in-house master blender Daniel Henriksson.

The liquor was produced for Def Leppard by Brands for Fans in partnership with the Epic Rights licensing company.

The gins are available now in the U.S., the U.K. and mainland Europe. They can be ordered by visiting BrandsforFans.com.

As previously reported, Def Leppard recently released a new studio album titled Diamond Star Halos, and the band is set to launch a 36-date North American trek dubbed The Stadium Tour with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts this Thursday, June 16, in Atlanta.

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With Aerosmith temporarily sidelined as frontman Steven Tyler addresses sobriety issues, guitarist Joe Perry has lined up a trio of shows next month with his side group, The Joe Perry Project, while also announcing plans to release a new solo album this year.

The concerts are scheduled for July 21 in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire; July 22 in Boston; and July 23 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Boston show will feature Perry and his group opening for ZZ Top. Tickets for the July 21 and July 23 concerts will go on sale this Friday, June 17.

Perry’s band for these performances will include Extreme frontman Gary Cherone and original Joe Perry Project drummer Joe Pet, as well as keyboardist Buck Johnson and bassist Chris Wyse. Johnson and Wyse have previously played with Perry in the Hollywood Vampires.

The guitar legend says that his set lists at the shows “will have a couple of new songs, a couple of my other solo songs, and a couple of Aerosmith songs that Aerosmith usually doesn’t play, and everything in between.”

As for the upcoming solo album, Perry says it will be titled Sweetzerland Manifesto MKII and will be released on vinyl “later this year.”

P says the new album — a follow-up to 2018’s Sweetzerland Manifesto — will include a song called “Quake” that he recorded with his sons Tony and Roman and that features Cherone on vocals, and a tune titled “Fortunate One” that’s sung by Chris Robinson, of The Black Crowes.

Perry adds that Aerosmith will return to the road this year in celebration of their 50th anniversary. The band’s 2022 itinerary includes a September 4 concert in Bangor, Maine; a September 8 show at Boston’s Fenway Park; and a new Las Vegas residency that kicks off September 14.

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The Rolling Stones famously sang “you can’t always get what you want,” but sometimes you get what you don’t want. The British rock legends have announced that they’ve had to postpone their concert Monday night in Amsterdam because frontman Mick Jagger has tested positive for COVID-19.

A message posted on the band’s social media pages reports that the show, which was scheduled to take place at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff [crowf] Arena, was called off when Jagger tested positive for the virus “after experiencing symptoms of COVID upon arrival at the stadium.”

The note adds, “The Rolling Stones are deeply sorry for tonight’s postponement, but the safety of the audience, fellow musicians and the touring crew has to take priority. The show will be rescheduled for a later date. Tickets for tonight’s show will be honored for the reschedule date. [Stand by] for details.”

The 78-year-old Stones singer, meanwhile, posted a note of his own on his social media sites that reads, “I’m so sorry that we’ve had to postpone the Amsterdam show with such short notice tonight. I have unfortunately just tested positive for COVID. We aim to reschedule the date ASAP and get back as soon as we can. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.”

Guitarist Keith Richards also assured the band’s fans in Amsterdam in a Facebook post, “We’ll be back. Stay tuned.”

The next date on The Stones’ current SIXTY tour is scheduled for this Friday, June 17, in Bern, Switzerland. It’s not clear if Jagger’s illness will affect that concert.

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Elvis Costello and Rod Stewart got into an online tiff over the weekend after U.K. tabloid The Mirror reported that during a recent show in Scotland, Costello had criticized Stewart’s performance of Neil Diamond‘s “Sweet Caroline” at the star-studded London concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II‘s Platinum Jubilee.

According to The Mirror, Costello told the crowd, “I know you all love him and he’s one of yours…but Rod. What the f***?…[W]e all have bad nights vocally, but for f*** sake, ‘Sweet f***ng Caroline,’ are you f***ing kidding me?…How is it that nobody suggested Rod sing ‘You Wear It Well?'”

In response, Stewart posted a Twitter message that included a dig at Costello’s receding hairline.

“Dear Elvis…yes my voice was rough cos of Covid. I apologise, I though it better…to make an appearance rather than let everyone down so sorry,” Rod wrote. “By the way where’s your hair gone mate?????”

Costello took Stewart’s dig in stride, responding with good-humored tweet that referenced the respective honors they received from Queen Elizabeth — Rod has been knighted, while Elvis holds the less-prestigious O.B.E. title.

“Dear Lord Stewart. You know I love you. Think the Queen would have loved ‘You Wear It Well’ or even ‘Hot Legs,'” Costello wrote. “As to gigs, I had a stinker the other night in Liverpool. They come and go, like hair, which I keep sewn in my hat. Up The Republic. Elvis O.rrible B.loody E.erbet.”

Meanwhile, Elvis addressed the spat in a separate Twitter thread in which he claimed The Mirror had taken his comments out of context.

“If you read my actual remark, [it’s] about the wrong-headed idea of asking Sir Rod [to] pass up ‘You Wear It Well’ to lead a f***ing singalong,” Costello maintained.

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