Classic Rock News

R.E.O. Speedwagon has a full schedule of touring ahead of them in 2023, but they will be without keyboardist and founding member Neal Doughty. The 76-year-old Doughty just announced his decision to retire from the road.

“I want everyone to know that it was all that traveling that finally got to me,” he shares. “I always enjoyed playing the shows and looking out to see all the loyal fans who allowed me to do this for so long.” 

While Doughty may join the band on select dates, singer Kevin Cronin notes, “It will be a big change to look around and not see Neal behind the keyboards.” He says they “will miss his quick wit and interesting conversation on those long bus rides. But this is what Neal needs, and we support him.” 

R.E.O. Speedwagon’s next show is set for January 11 in Thousand Oaks, California, with dates confirmed through August. Check out their tour schedule here.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Steven Tyler has pulled out of yet another event. The Aerosmith frontman was set to appear and be honored at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Power of Love Gala in Las Vegas next month, but his manager tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal he will no longer take part due to ongoing health issues.

“Steven’s doctors have instructed him to take care of himself, but he will be back this year,” manager Larry Rudolph tells the paper, which says he won’t be making any public appearances until at least the spring. 

Last month, Tyler’s undisclosed health issues forced Aerosmith to cancel the final five shows of their Las Vegas residency. The announcement of his Power of Love Gala departure comes just a week after a woman named Julia Holcomb came forward with a decades-old sexual assault claim. Holcomb, who Tyler allegedly had a relationship with in the ’70s when she was 16, sued him for sexual assault, assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 

The Power of Love Gala, taking place February 18 at the MGM Grand, raises money for Alzheimer’s research. So far there’s no word on who’ll replace Tyler.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Despite the recent public fighting between Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain, they are supposed to come together next month for Journey’s 50th anniversary tour. Now Schon says fans can expect one of the band’s former members to turn up, too.

On Wednesday Schon posted a graphic for the upcoming tour on Facebook. When a fan mentioned Journey co-founder Gregg Rollie in the comments, Schon shared that Rollie will be making an appearance on the trek.

“I am SO looking forward to this. Please tell me Gregg Rollie is coming along for the ride!” the fan commented. “He’s the better keyboard player and a co-founder it only seems right. Timing couldn’t be better either!!!!” Schon replied, “you’ll be seeing him.”

Rollie was Journey’s original lead singer and keyboardist when it formed in San Francisco in 1973 and appeared on their first six albums. In 1977 he was replaced as lead singer by Steve Perry; he left the group in 1980. 

As previously reported, Schon and Cain have been in the news a lot lately because of their legal battles. The most recent incident had Schon sending a cease-and-desist letter to Cain over a performance of “Don’t Stop Believin’” at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. 

Journey’s 50th anniversary tour, with openers Toto, kicks off February 4 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Music producer Steve Lillywhite, known for working with such artists as U2 and The Rolling Stones, has sold his royalty income stream to Round Hill Music Royalty Partners, according to Billboard.

According to the announcement, over the course of Lillywhite’s more than 40-year career, he has put his touch on more than 500 records, including classic albums like U2’s October and War, The Rolling Stones’ Dirty Work, and Dave Matthews Band’s Under the Table and Dreaming and Crash, all of which are part of the royalty deal. 

“Steve’s catalog includes royalties to some of the most sought-after songs and albums of all time,” Round Hill CEO Josh Gruss says in a statement. “We are thrilled to have reached this milestone transaction.” Lillywhite adds that Gruss and Round Hill are “the ideal partner for me and my family as I look to my next steps.” 

Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Thanks to Netflix’s Stranger Things, music fans couldn’t get enough of Kate Bush’s 1985 tune “Running Up That Hill” in 2022, and that was enough to make it one of the top songs in the United Kingdom last year.

The U.K.’s Official Charts is out with its list of the Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2022, with Kate’s hit landing at six. It also lands at seven on the list of the U.K.’s Most Streamed Songs of 2022.

Elton John’s collaboration with Dua Lipa, “Cold Heart (PNAU remix),” was also a big hit in the U.K. last year, landing at 13 on the Biggest Songs chart and 14 on the Most Streamed Songs list.

Overall, the biggest song of 2022 in the U.K. was Harry Styles’ “As It Was.” The entire Top 10 was made up of British artists, the first time that has happened in 50 years. 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Osbourne family has officially become even bigger now that Kelly Osbourne has welcomed her first baby with Slipknot‘s Sid Wilson.

Kelly’s mom, Sharon Osbourne, shared the news on the U.K. show The Talk this week, revealing that the child’s name is Sidney. Sharon added that mother and baby are doing “just so, so great.”

“[Kelly] won’t let a picture go out of him,” Sharon said. “And I’m so proud of her.”

Kelly announced that she was pregnant last May, writing that she was ecstatic. She had confirmed her relationship with Wilson a few months earlier.

In terms of inherited metal cred, it’ll be hard to beat Sidney, who not only has a Slipknot member as a dad but also Ozzy Osbourne as a grandfather. Maybe that baby who was born at a Metallica concert last year comes close.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

For years Beatles fans have blamed John Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono for breaking up the band, but a source close to the couple believes she was a scapegoat and Lennon is to blame for it.

Dan Richter, an 83-year-old artist and mime who lived with John and Yoko, working as their personal assistant from 1969 to 1973, reveals in a new interview with The Telegraph that he thinks John “used Yoko to help him break up The Beatles.”  

“At that point John wanted The Beatles over with … It was a big problem for him: how do you break up The Beatles?” he shares. “They were worth millions of dollars [and] Paul was going to go on forever.”

Richter first shared his thoughts on the subject in the new podcast British Scandal – The Ballad of Yoko and John, but elaborates on it in The Telegraph interview, giving a prime example of how Lennon allegedly used his wife. He says that during the recording of Abbey Road, while Yoko was recovering from a car crash, John placed her “in this gigantic brass bed, all covered in white in a white night dress, right in the middle of the studio” in order to anger his bandmates.

“So sitting at the [mixing] board all you’re looking at is Yoko in a bed. The rest of the band were just appalled,” Richter shares. “John had decided he wasn’t going anywhere or doing anything without Yoko. So there she was, in bed in the studio.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Bruce Springsteen fans can now relive his 1999 reunion with the E Street Band. The Boss just released a Reunion Tour performance from July 18, 1999, to nugs.net.

Bruce writes that the concert is “the earliest Reunion tour performance yet to appear in the Live Archive series,” noting it “captures Bruce and the E Street Band recommitting to their mission at the second show of a 15-night homecoming run.”

The night’s set opens with the outtake “I Wanna Be With You” and features such songs as “Sherry Darling,” “Jungleland,” “Trapped,” “Murder Incorporated” and “The River,” as well as hits like “Born To Run,” “Thunder Road” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.” It also features “Loose End” and “Stand On It,” from Tracks, as well the song “Freehold,” described as Bruce’s “hilariously candid confessional about growing up in New Jersey.”

The Reunion Tour was the first set of regular dates by Bruce and the E Street Band in 11 years. After launching it in Europe in April 1999, he brought it to the U.S. that July, opening with the 15-night stand at New Jersey’s Continental Airlines Arena.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lindsey Buckingham has revealed that he’s working on a new album. The news came in a New Year’s social media post in which Lindsey looked back on the past year, saying it “was certainly a positive year in many respects, it was also a year of loss and disappointment.”

He hinted at the passing of his Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie, noting the loss of “longtime soulmates has been profoundly heartbreaking.” He also mentioned his disappointment at a tour “unexpectedly cut short” because of “challenges with my health.”

“The year’s polarity of positives and negatives has only strengthened my resolve to remain in the moment and to continue to move forward,” he shared. “Happily, my health has returned, and I’ve begun work on a new album.”

Finally, he notes, “Thanks so much to everyone for your support. I’m looking forward to 2023 and beyond!”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi shared a special New Year’s message with fans on social media, revealing he is getting ready to work on a new solo record.

In the post, Tony says he’s almost done with a new studio he’s building, sharing, “In another couple of weeks, I think I’ll be ready to go in and start work in there,” adding he’s “really looking forward to writing another album.” 

He also notes that Black Sabbath fans can look forward to reissues of all five of their studio albums featuring vocalist Tony Martin in the coming year, with Iommi saying, “I’m looking forward to that, because a lot of people asked about that, which is great.”

Iommi also looked back on the highlights of his year, including playing the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with Ozzy Osbourne and being nominated for a Grammy for his work on Ozzy’s solo album, Patient Number 9.

As for 2023, Iommi notes, “It’s gonna be busy again. But it’s great. And it’s nice to be doing the interviews and talking about what we did and all the rest of stuff.” 

Finally he offers, “Happy New Year to you all, and I hope to see you sometime on tour, whether it’s playing or a talks thing. Thanks for all your support over the years. I really appreciate it.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.