Classic Rock
Robert Fripp and Toyah Take on Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave” for Halloween: Watch
King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and singer wife Toyah Willcox tackle the Black Sabbath classic “Children of the Grave” for the Halloween edition of their “Sunday Lunch” series. To enhance the Halloween vibe, Fripp dresses up as what we think is Lawrence of Arabia with large spiders on his head and shoulder, while Toyah sports a sheer top with a giant spider leg strategically placed across her chest. “Children of the Grave” is not the first time the married couple has taken on a Sabbath song. Back in the early stages of their “Sunday Lunch” series, they covered “Paranoid” with Toyah dancing wildly behind bars. It led to Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi telling Heavy Consequence, “They’ve gone mad, actually. I think this lockdown has drove them mental.” Advertisement Related Video In a recen...
Patti Smith’s “Rock and Roll N*****” Yanked from Streaming
“Rock and Roll N*****,” the closing A-side track of the Patti Smith Group’s 1978 album Easter, has quietly disappeared from streaming services, Rolling Stone was first to report, including the platforms Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music. “Rock and Roll N*****” attempted to move the epithet away from its racial context to describe anyone who is an outsider, including Jimi Hendrix, Jackson Pollack, Jesus Christ, and even “grandma.” “I was lost and the cost, and the cost didn’t matter to me,” Smith sings. “I was lost and the cost was to be outside society.” Neither Smith nor the song’s co-writer, guitarist Lenny Kaye, have offered comment on the decision. But Smith has been defending her use of the slur since the song’s release, writing in the Ea...
Jerry Lee Lewis, Rock Music Pioneer, Dead at 87
Jerry Lee Lewis, the rock and roll innovator whose career stumbled after his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown, is dead at the age of 87. Lewis’ passing was announced on Friday, October 28th by his publicist, Zach Farnum of 117 Group. His death had previously been erroneously reported by TMZ and other outlets on October 26th. According to an accompanying obituary written by Rick Bragg, the musician “suffered through the last years of his life from various illnesses and injuries that, his physicians have often said, should have taken him decades ago.” Advertisement Related Video “He is ready to leave,” his seventh wife Judith was quoted as saying before his death in his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, just south of Memphis. A trailblazing pianist, Lewis helped popu...
Dolly Parton Is Trying to Reunite Robert Plant and Jimmy Page for Her Rock Record
Dolly Parton is attempting to reunite former bandmates Robert Plant and Jimmy Page to work on her cover of “Stairway to Heaven.” The former Led Zeppelin stars came together as Page and Plant in the 1990s, and last reunited in 2007. But in a new interview with Pollstar, Parton expressed a hope that she could get both of them on the same track for that rock and roll record she’s been talking about ever since her nomination for the Rock Hall of Fame. “When I got nominated, I thought, ‘Why not just go ahead and do it while the iron’s hot?’” Parton said of the album. “Maybe have some of the greats, the legends of rock ’n’ roll sing along with me. I’m gathering all that stuff and notifying a few people.” Advertisement Related Video Asked about her past covers of rock songs, she said, “...
The Beach Boys Share Unreleased Track “Carry Me Home” with Dennis Wilson on Vocals: Stream
The Beach Boys have today shared “Carry Me Home,” a longtime fan favorite written and sung by the late Dennis Wilson. Fifty years after it didn’t make the cut for the band’s album Holland, it’ll be included in their upcoming box set Sail On Sailor – 1972. “Carry Me Home” is a slow, piano-driven ballad, embellished with a pedal steel to give it a country flair. The tune holds an even heavier weight in the wake of Wilson’s passing in 1983: “Life/ Is meant to live/ And I’m afraid/ I’m afraid to die,” he sings along with short-time Beach Bot Blondie Chaplin. “It’s eerie listening back to this song after all these years,” Chaplin told Rolling Stone. “It’s how Dennis felt at the time. I see him struggling with his own worries. The voice is really sensitive, and you can feel the emotion...
Mötley Crüe Officially Name John 5 as Mick Mars’ Replacement in Touring Lineup
Mötley Crüe have officially named Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 as a new member of their touring lineup. He replaces founding member Mick Mars, who retired from touring on Wednesday (October 26th) due to his ongoing battle with the degenerative disease Ankylosing Spondylitis. John 5 had been rumored to take Mars’ place, even before the latter officially announced his retirement. In recent days, John 5 posted pictures of himself hanging out with Mötley Crüe members Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, and Vince Neil during a celebration of Lee’s 60th birthday. In the statement that Mars’ representative issued on Wednesday night, it was made clear that Mars would still “continue as a member of the band,” but would no longer play shows with them. However, the Crüe’s statement on Thursday (October 27th) reads...
Top 5 Mötley Crüe Guitarist Candidates Following Mick Mars’ Retirement from Touring
With Mick Mars stepping away from touring, one of the highest profile guitar gigs in rock music is now on the job market. Mötley Crüe’s founding axeman will still remain a member of the band, but will no longer play live shows due to his ongoing battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a crippling degenerative disease that affects the spine. In addition to his health issues, Mars is the elder statesman of the Crüe, roughly a decade older than everyone else in the band. In the infamous Crüe biography The Dirt, Mars described how he often caught flak for his age, as he was already established as a journeyman guitarist in the years prior to Mötley Crüe’s formation. Given Mars’ experience, it’s only fitting that Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, and Vince Neil tap someone who not only fits the part but has al...
Mötley Crüe Guitarist Mick Mars Retires from Touring
Founding Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars has retired from touring, according to an official statement released on Wednesday evening (October 26th). The veteran musician will still remain an official member of the band, but will no longer hit the road with the legendary rock act due to his ongoing battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.). After a two-year delay due to the pandemic, Mötley Crüe finally embarked on their co-headlining “Stadium Tour” with Def Leppard this past summer. The outing was an enormous success, grossing $173.5 million in ticket sales. Now, it appears that the tour marked Mars’ last with the Crüe. The full statement, issued by Mars’ representative to Variety, reads as follows: “Mick Mars, co-founder and lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe for the past 4...
Rick Rubin Picks His Desert Island Discs
What items would you bring with you to a deserted island? It’s a classic question, and now we have Rick Rubin’s answer: the super-producer appeared on a new episode of the BBC show Desert Island Discs, and he chose tracks by The Beatles, LCD Soundsystem, Simon & Garfunkel, and more to tide him over in complete isolation. For track number one, Rubin pointed to The Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” which he said not only taught him the basics of songwriting, but inspired him to learn how to meditate. “From three years old to seven years old, The Beatles was everywhere, and everywhere in my home,” he recalled. “And it somehow imprinted what a great song is, in a very deep level, before I knew that I was looking for what that was.” Skipping ahead a few decades, Rubin chose LCD Soundsystem’s ...
AC/DC’s Brian Johnson Quashes Rumor That Bon Scott Wrote Lyrics for Back in Black
AC/DC singer Brian Johnson has closed the book on long-running rumors suggesting his late predecessor Bon Scott penned lyrics for Back in Black. For years, hardcore AC/DC fans have wondered whether Scott wrote lyrics for the seminal 1980 album, being that he passed away only months before the album was recorded and released. Songs like “Hells Bells,” “Have a Drink on Me,” and of course the legendary title track certainly share some of the imagery and themes of Scott’s lyrics. But Johnson insists that it was he himself who penned the words. Johnson laid the rumors to rest in Chapter 22 of his new memoir, The Lives of Brian: “It was me at the end of the pen, writing every night and every morning, with only the title to work with. That’s what happened. That’s the truth and I really hope that ...
Ozzy Osbourne to Perform Virtually as Part of “Ozzfest” at Metaverse Music Festival
Ozzy Osbourne is set to perform virtually for the “Ozzfest” portion of the second annual Metaverse Music Festival, which takes place online November 10th through the 13th. The Metaverse Music Festival (MVMF) will be hosted in Decentraland, the largest user-owned and operated virtual social world. Presented by digital asset platform Kraken, this year’s MVMF will feature 100-plus artists virtually performing across curated community genre stages that utilize new, Web3-enabled immersive virtual concert experiences. That said, the festival is free for all and can be attended even if you have don’t have a VR headset. As an example, the main attraction for this year’s MVMF is the “Tower of Babel” stage, which is set in a futuristic cyberpunk city. Here, attendees can watch headliners such as Uni...
Iron Maiden Bring the “Beast” to Newark, New Jersey: Recap, Photos + Video
Iron Maiden are set to wrap up their extensive “Legacy of the Beast World Tour,” with the latest North American leg having kicked off last month in El Paso, Texas. The ongoing run made a stop in Newark, New Jersey, at a packed Prudential Center on Friday (October 21st), featuring support from Within Temptation. The worldwide outing, which began in 2018, comes to an end at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, on October 27th, with tickets available here for the last couple shows. Iron Maiden are on the road in support of their 17th studio album, Senjutsu, and the UK heavy metal legends made sure to bring a few new tunes to Jersey, kicking off their 15-song set with the album’s title track, while also showcasing “Stratego” and “The Writing on the Wall.” Fans pumped their fists in the air as the b...
