Classic Rock
8-Year-Old Boy’s Performance of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” Earns Him Spot in Finals of The Voice Kids Spain: Watch
After wowing the judges and viewers with his performance of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” during his blind audition on Spain’s edition of The Voice Kids, little Jesús del Río sang another hit by the legendary rock band for the semifinals. This time, he blazed through AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” earning a trip to the finals. Jesús, who was only 7 years old when the season began but has since celebrated his eighth birthday, went viral with his initial “Highway to Hell” audition. The judges/coaches went crazy for his performance and mobbed him onstage. He had to perform Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” alongside a couple of other contestants for the battle round, but looked completely uncomfortable singing the pop hit. However, he still made it to the next stage. It just might be that AC/DC is the...
De-Aged Paul McCartney Will Haunt Your Dreams in Video for Beck’s Cover of “Find My Way”: Watch
A de-aged Paul McCartney is here to dance through your nightmares in the new video for Beck’s version of “Find My Way.” The track appeared on McCartney III Imagined, a collection of heavy-hitting covers of tracks from the master’s latest album McCartney III. With “Find My Way,” Beck transformed a rock tune that could have come from any decade into a disco funk banger, with off-kilter percussion that transported Macca back to the groovy music of his youth. The new video, directed by Andrew Donoho, makes that metaphorical time travel literal. The clip opens in a hotel hallway painted in two once-popular shades of burnt orange. The door at the end experiences a few violent flashes of light, after which who should appear but Paul McCartney, looking less like the 79-year-old he currently is and...
The Rolling Stones Announce 2021 Tour Dates
The Rolling Stones are returning to the US this fall for a new leg of shows as part of their “No Filter Tour.” The 13-date outing includes stadium shows previously postponed due to the pandemic, as well as new dates in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New Orleans, where the band will play the New Orleans Jazz Fest for the very first time. Tickets go on sale starting Friday, July 30th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster. Tickets purchased for those shows that were postponed will be honored at the rescheduled dates — with the exception of Vancouver, Louisville, Cleveland, and Buffalo, as those dates will not be rescheduled. Advertisement Related Video The Rolling Stones kept their fans entertained over the pandemic by launching a weekly livestream series of archival concerts, and by d...
Dr. John’s Estate Claims They Didn’t Approve Dan Auerbach’s Upcoming Documentary
Especially considering the soulful inspirations that drive his work with The Black Keys, it should come as no surprise that Dan Auerbach is a massive fan of the late Dr. John. It seemed only natural that Auerbach’s directorial debut would be a documentary about the jazz and blues legend, with whom Auerbach even had the honor of collaborating a few years ago. But the project, which was announced only last week, has already been met with backlash from Dr. John’s estate. A statement issued by Dr. John’s estate claims that they hadn’t approved the making of the documentary, which was set to be released by the same company behind Questlove’s Summer of Soul. The film has yet to receive an official title or public release date. “The Official Estate of Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., p/k/a Dr. J...
Joni Mitchell Named 2021 Kennedy Center Honoree
Joni Mitchell will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Kennedy Center Honors. Presented by the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the annual accolade recognizes lifetime performing arts achievements in American culture. Along with Mitchell, this year’s class of honorees includes actress Bette Midler, Motown founder Berry Gordy, Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, and opera singer Justino Díaz. The Kennedy Center honorees are chosen on the recommendation of a committee that includes officials and past award recipients. Mitchell and her peers will formally receive their honors during an in-person ceremony held at the Kennedy Center on December 5th, which will later air on CBS. Advertisement Related Video Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie,...
Guns N’ Roses Have an Official Line of Bongs and Smoking Accessories
Axl Rose has hit some pretty amazing high notes during his career, but now Guns N’ Roses are offering up a new kind of high. The legendary band has its own line of bongs and smoking accessories. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have partnered with Famous Brandz for a collection that includes two bongs, a couple of grinders, and two hand pipes. The two glass bongs feature artwork from the band’s iconic debut album, Appetite for Destruction. The “Band 12-Inch Water Pipe” has a hexagonal shape at the bottom showing each of the skeletal images of the band members, while the “Appetite for Destruction 10-Inch Dab Rig” shows the group shot of the skeletons at the base, with the words “Guns N’ Roses Was Here” in the middle. Advertisement Related Video A description of the GN’R line from Famous B...
Eric Clapton Won’t Perform for “Discriminated” Audiences Where Vaccination Is Required
Eric Clapton had a brilliant run in the 1960s and ‘70s, but ever since that anti-immigrant screed in 1976, the famed guitarist has become less notable for the movement of his fingers and more infamous for the farts coming out of his mouth. In his latest gaseous expulsion, Mr. Slowbrainhand once again came to the defense of anti-vaxxers, saying he won’t play in front of “discriminated” audiences that have been fully inoculated against COVID-19. The pronouncement came after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that, by the end of September, “We are planning to make full [COVID-19] vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather.” He’s talking about a kind of vaccine passport, which doesn’t sound so bad if you’re a person who trusts the scienti...
Slash and Epiphone Launch New Collection of Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Slash and Epiphone have launched a new collection of electric and acoustic guitars, continuing the Guns N’ Roses guitarist’s ongoing partnership with Gibson Brands. Epiphone’s Slash Collection follows last year’s Gibson collection, but offers the guitars at a more accessible price point. Epiphone prides itself as being known as “the leading accessible guitar brand For Every Stage,” and the new axes are ideal for beginners or seasoned vets. The new line introduces two electric guitars and five variants: the Epiphone Slash Les Paul Standard (finished in Appetite Burst, November Burst, Anaconda Burst, and Vermillion Burst) and the Slash “Victoria” Les Paul Standard Goldtop in Gold. The acoustic Epiphone Slash J-45 (in Vermillion Burst and November Burst) rounds out the Epiphone collection. Al...
18 Most Commonly Misheard Song Lyrics
For 46 years now, Bruce Springsteen fans have disagreed over whether the opening lyric to 1975’s “Thunder Road” is “The screen door slams/ Mary’s dress sways” or “The screen door slams/ Mary’s dress waves.” On Springsteen’s official website and songbook, the word is “waves,” but as many have pointed out over the years, this doesn’t make much sense. (“Sways” rhymes better with “plays” than “waves,” and dresses don’t “wave in the wind,” they “sway in the wind.”) Either way, up until this point, the official record has mostly indicated that the dress waves. It would take nothing short of a thunderstorm to shake up the Springsteen status quo. Enter the Internet. After the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman tweeted a picture of an empty “Springsteen on Broadway” stage with the caption “The screen ...
Elvis Costello & The Imposters Announce 2021 Fall Tour
Elvis Costello & The Imposters are headed back on the road for a 2021 fall US tour. Entitled “Hello Again,” the trek takes place in October and November. The 20-date tour kicks off in Memphis, Tennessee at Graceland on October 10th. It will make stops in cities like New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles before wrapping up at Fox Theater in Oakland, California on November 14th. Tickets will go on sale at Ticketmaster on Friday, July 23rd at 10:00 a.m. local time, and look on the secondary market here for deals once they sell out. Check out the full tour schedule below. Advertisement Related Video Costello released his most recent album, the excellent Hey Clockface, in November before closing out last year with “Farewell, OK 2020.” On September 10th, Costello will release Spanish Mo...
R.I.P. Martin Kahan, Music Video Director (KISS, Rush, Mötley Crüe) Dead at 74
Martin Kahan, a prolific music video director, has died at age 74. He passed away this past Sunday (July 18th) in Lakewood, New Jersey, following a battle with cancer. Kahan directed numerous videos for hard rock acts in the 1980s. If you watched MTV during that era, you surely caught Kahan’s work. Some of his best known clips include KISS sans-makeup (“Lick It Up”, “All Hell’s Breakin Loose”), Mötley Crüe (“Too Young to Fall in Love”), Scorpions (“I’m Leaving You”), and Bon Jovi (“In and Out of Love,” “She Don’t Know Me”). Videos for Ian Hunter (the VMA-nomiated “All of the Good Ones Are Taken”), Loverboy (“Queen of the Broken Hearts”), and Michael Bolton (“Fool’s Game”) also garnered rotation on MTV. Advertisement Related Video Kahan got a break early in his career when he shot three vid...
Faces’ Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, and Kenney Jones Working on New Music
One of the great what-ifs in rock history may get a belated answer, as Faces, the British outfit that launched the careers of Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, and Kenney Jones, are reuniting to make new music. Faces formed out of the wreckage of Small Faces in 1969, when frontman Steve Marriot departed to form Humble Pie. The remaining members recruited Stewart and Wood from the Jeff Beck Group, dropping the ‘Small’ in the process without realizing how big they’d become. One of the most reliable touring draws of the early 1970s, Faces eventually buckled under the weight of their own success, especially Stewart’s skyrocketing solo career. In the aftermath of their breakup, guitarist Wood joined The Rolling Stones, drummer Jones linked up with The Who, and the more they all achieved separately, the...
