Classic Hits

Freddie Mercury’s lyrics will be the subject of a new book coming out in the fall of 2026.

A Life in Lyrics: The Official Creative Legacy of Freddy Mercury, being released by Harper Collins, is described as “the definitive creative record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time.” It features unseen material the Queen frontman left his good friend Mary Austin when he passed away in 1991.

According to the description, the book features material from Mercury’s notebooks, some of which has never been published before. That includes some of his earliest works, doodles and songs that have never been recorded, as well as alternative lyrics and abandoned verses to Queen’s iconic tune “Bohemian Rhapsody” and multiple drafts of “Don’t Stop me Now.”

The book also contains some previously unseen illustrated photographs taken from Mercury’s personal collection, with Austin also contributing stories, memories and anecdotes about the singer.

A Life in Lyrics: The Official Creative Legacy of Freddy Mercury is scheduled to be released on Sept. 1, four days ahead of what would have been Mercury’s 80th birthday. 

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Hot on the heels of announcing a new Las Vegas residency, Boy George & Culture Club have announced dates for a new U.S. tour.

The trek, Culture Club’s first U.S. tour since 2023, was revealed on the group’s Instagram page. Dates kick off Feb. 18 in Tampa, Florida, and wrap March 29 in Lemoore, California.

The dates include the already announced six-show Vegas residency at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, running March 18-28.

A ticket presale is open now, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday.

A complete list of dates can be found at BoyGeorgeandCultureClub.com.

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Bruce Springsteen may make it look easy to sing “Born in the U.S.A.” in concert, but Jeremy Allen White learned that it’s anything but.

The Bear star, who plays Springsteen in the film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, had to record the song for the movie. During an appearance on Hot Ones, he revealed that it had an adverse effect on his health.

“It’s a hard song to sing cause he’s not really singing it, you know. It’s shouting in key,” he said. “It’s like, you know, in order to get the sound that I was after, I was singing from my chest and I was singing from my throat. And I wasn’t breathing properly. I wasn’t singing from my stomach, which I should have been.”

“And I got knocked out. I got a migraine. I was on my back. I was sweating,” he added.

White says he saw Bruce at a party not long after recording the tune, and went up to him and said hello with barely any voice, which was apparently something Springsteen could relate to.

“He said, ‘What have you been doing?’ And I said, ‘I just recorded “Born in the U.S.A.”‘ And he said, ‘That sounds about right,'” White explained. “I couldn’t believe this man, even at the age of 75, 76 now, he’s performing this song for 90,000 people and then, you know, 19 other songs. It’s incredible.”

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere opens in theaters Oct. 24.

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Looking for some music to soundtrack your Halloween? A new playlist may just help set the mood.

Concord Records has released a digital collection of Creedence Clearwater Revival classics with titles that seem perfect for Halloween. Bad Moon Rising: Shadows on the Bayou includes such songs as “Bad Moon Rising” and “Born on the Bayou,” as well as “Tombstone Shadow,” “Pagan Baby,” “Graveyard Train,” “Sinister Purpose” and more.

Bad Moon Rising: Shadows on the Bayou is now available on all digital outlets and on YouTube.

In August, Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty released the album Legacy, featuring a track list made up of newly recorded versions of his classic CCR tunes. He returns to the road on Oct. 31 with a show in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A complete list of dates can be found at JohnFogerty.com.

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Tom Petty is the latest artist getting immortalized as a Funko Pop! figure. The company just unveiled two new Petty collectables, inspired by the rocker’s famous looks.

The new additions are the Full Moon Fever Pop!, featuring the pink, yellow and blue coloring of Petty’s 1989 solo album, Full Moon Fever, along with the cover art. It is packaged in a protective hard case. There’s also one inspired by Petty’s look in the “Don’t Come Around Here No More” video, including his oversized red hat and sunglasses, with the figure holding a teacup.

Both Petty collectables are available for preorder now for shipping in December.

In other Tom Petty news … the rocker’s estate continues to share archival clips of Petty’s Wildflowers era on Instagram. The latest is a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performance of the album’s single “You Wreck Me” from a 1994 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.

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Bon Jovi is getting ready to release another track off their upcoming collaborations album, Forever (Legendary Edition).

The New Jersey rockers are set to drop “We Made It Look Easy,” featuring U.K. pop star Robbie Williams, on Friday.

The band announced the news by sharing an archival clip of Jon Bon Jovi praising Williams during a talk show appearance. He said at the time, “I’ve loved this guy’s music for a lot of years, he’s an incredibly talented guy.” He added, “He’s one of the great entertainers period.”

Forever (Legendary Edition) has Bon Jovi teaming with a whole host of artists to reimagine songs from their 2024 album, Forever.

This is the fourth and final single they are releasing from the album ahead of its Oct. 24 release. They previously released the album’s one new song, “Red, White and Jersey,” as well as “Hollow Man,” a collaboration with Bruce Springsteen, and “Living Proof,” featuring Jelly Roll.

In other Bon Jovi news … Jon made a guest appearance on the podcast Let Me Ask My Dad, hosted by his bandmate David Bryan and Bryan’s daughter Gabby Bryan.

In the episode, Gabby asks Jon what his hair care routine is today compared to the ’80s. Jon replied, “Well, I just pray to the gods that I have it, even though it’s gone ridiculously gray and I’ve had to embrace that.” He noted, “I’m not happy about it.”

He does say he no longer uses all the hairspray he used back in the day. After Bryan joked that their band was responsible for the hole in the ozone, Jon noted, “It was bad.”

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Def Leppard has had a lot of highlights over the course of their career, but for frontman Joe Elliott one stands out above the rest.

In a video post on Instagram, Elliott reflects on some of his most memorable moments with the band, including concerts in 1993 and 2023 in their hometown of Sheffield, England. 

But Elliott says the overall best moment for him was the band’s 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, noting, “Only because even to this day I’m still shocked that we’re actually in it.”

“I’d been talking to Jon Bon Jovi, I said, ‘Ah, I don’t care if we’re in there.’ He goes, ‘Nah, dude, you’re gonna love it, you’re gonna love it,’ and he was absolutely right,” he says. Elliott notes that having Sir Brian May from Queen induct them was “pretty special.”

Elliott called the induction a “brilliant night,” adding that it was particularly great that they got to perform with Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter, with The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, The Zombies’ Colin Blunstone, and Rod Argent and E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt on backing vocals for the all-star finale of “All The Young Dudes.”

Elliott, a well-known Mott the Hoople fan, says getting to play with Hunter “really did bring it full circle. It was pretty cool.”

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Bette Midler infamously serenaded Johnny Carson before he signed off The Tonight Show in 1992 and now she’s done the same for The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, whose show was canceled by CBS in July.

Midler appeared on The Late Show Tuesday night to talk about her New York Restoration Project’s annual Hulaween benefit, but used the appearance to sing a song dedicated to Colbert, set to her classic tune “Wind Beneath My Wings.”

Midler told Colbert she wrote the song because she “wanted to thank you personally and publicly for all you did for me these last 9 1/2 years,” noting, “I mean this from the bottom of my heart … I would not have made it through without you.”

“You were a voice of sanity and honesty, and most important, honor,” she added.

Being that Colbert is a huge Lord of the Rings fan, Midler sang, “Did you ever know that you’re my Frodo? You stand for what’s right with wit and class.”

She also got in a few digs at President Donald Trump in the song.

“I hold you high as the great eagles, because you never kissed the orange a**,” she sang, repeating the last line a few times and even getting the audience to sing along with her.

The New York Restoration Project’s annual Hulaween benefit is Oct. 24. Tickets are available at nyrp.org/hulaween.

(Video includes uncensored profanity.)

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Grateful Dead has announced details of the next release in their Dave’s Picks bootleg series.

Dave’s Picks Vol. 56, the fourth and final Dave’s Pick of 2025, will feature two nearly complete shows recorded March 20, 1981, and March, 21, 1981, at the Rainbow Theatre in London. The shows were the opening two nights of a four-night stand at the venue.

The concerts, which were the first time The Dead returned to Europe in seven years, feature performances of such Dead classics as “Friend of the Devil,” “Scarlet Begonias,” “Fire on the Mountain,” “Althea,” “Truckin’” and “Alabama Getaway.”

“These London shows are right up there with the best,” Dead archivist David Lemieux says in a video shot in front of Big Ben. “Some really, really wonderful, wonderful music to end the year.”

Only 25,000 numbered copies of Dave’s Picks Vol. 56 will be available and are available for preorder now.

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