Classic Hits – Page 2

Melissa Etheridge releases new song, ‘Bein’ Alive,’ from upcoming album

February 13, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Melissa Etheridge has dropped a new single from her upcoming album, RISE.

The singer has released the album’s opening track, “Bein’ Alive.” According to the press release, the song “uplifts with themes of love and hope, offering an exuberant reflection on the ups and downs of life while celebrating resilience and survival.”

Etheridge notes that with the song, she “wanted people to feel what rock and roll feels like,” adding, “It’s the song that I dream of opening the show with.”

The video for the track was shot at Norman’s Rare Guitars in Los Angeles. It was directed by Etheridge’s wife, Linda Wallem, and edited by the singer. It features home movies, personal photos and footage of Etheridge’s career through the years, as well as appearances by the song’s co-producer, Shooter Jennings, his wife and their dog.

RISE, Etheridge’s first studio release in five years, will be released March 27. She will launch THE RISE TOUR on March 26 in Detroit. A complete list of dates can be found at MelissaEtheridge.com.

Cream releases ‘Stormy Monday’ video from 2005 Royal Albert Hall reunion

February 13, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Cream, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band made up of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, has released another performance video from their 2005 reunion concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The latest is a performance of the T-Bone Walker track “Stormy Monday.” It follows the release of the performance video of Cream’s iconic track “White Room.”

Both songs appear on the recently reissued live album Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005, which captured the band’s four-night reunion at the venue after 37 years apart. The shows were Cream’s first concerts together since their farewell concerts at the same venue in November 1968. The band did reunite one other time, in 1993, for their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The reissue is out now on triple blue and green splatter vinyl, and double blue and orange CD.

And Cream fans will soon be able to get their hands on another live Cream album. The band is releasing a three-LP expanded edition of Cream – Wheels of Fire: Live at Fillmore Auditorium & Winterland Ballroom for Record Store Day on April 18. The release includes four tracks originally released as Wheels of Fire: Live at the Fillmore, plus eight other live performances from the March 1968 concerts.

See it for the first time: Foreigner musical sets opening run

February 13, 2026 by WDNY Radio

A new musical using the music of Foreigner is set to open in April.

The previously announced production, Feels Like The First Time – The Foreigner Musical, will run April 17-26 at the Little Theatre on Long Island University’s Brookville campus.

The musical, featuring the band’s iconic hits like “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded” and “I Want to Know What Love Is,” is a collaboration between the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band, the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts and Long Island University’s Post Theatre Company.

Rent star Adam Pascal, who is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at LIU, is directing the production. Stephen Garvey is writing the book, choreography will be done by Lorna Ventura, and David Abbinanti will handle orchestrator and arranger duties.

The musical, set in 1985, will center around a suburban family who wins an MTV sweepstakes with a grand prize of a weekend visit from a popular rock star, including a private backyard concert.

“This new show represents everything I love about making theater—great music, fun storytelling, and meaningful collaboration,” says Pascal. “Partnering with Foreigner, Tilles Center, and LIU Post Theatre Company to develop a brand-new musical in an academic setting creates a rare and powerful environment where artists and students are building something together from the ground up.”

Tickets for Feels Like The First Time – The Foreigner Musical go on sale Friday at 12 p.m. ET at TiliesCenter.org.

James Taylor, The Doobie Brothers contribute signed guitars to Gibson Gives charity auction

February 13, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Guitars autographed by James Taylor and The Doobie Brothers are up for grabs as part of Gibson Gives’ upcoming benefit auction, hosted by Julien’s Auctions.

Other artists who’ve donated signed guitars include Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Willie Nelson, Halestorm, Live, Collective Soul and Daughtry.

“We are proud to help support the musicians of tomorrow, with help from the musicians of today,” says Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions. “This auction of nearly two dozen guitars features some incredible instruments, all signed by renowned artists and bands.”

The online-only auction will go live March 5 at 10 a.m. PT, with proceeds benefiting Gibson Gives & FirstBank Amphitheater Music Education Program, supporting music education for students in Williamson County Schools in Tennessee.

More info can be found at JuliensAuctions.com.

Gene Simmons defends use of word ‘ghetto’ while arguing hip-hop shouldn’t be in Rock Hall

February 12, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Gene Simmons recently made headlines for sharing his opinion about hip-hop artists being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and caught some flack over using the word “ghetto.” He’s now defending himself against the backlash.

In the original interview with the Legends N Leaders podcast, the KISS rocker, who was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2015, said of hip-hop, “It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language.”

“And as I said in print many times, hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, nor does opera, symphony orchestras,” he added. “How come the New York Philharmonic doesn’t get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Because it’s called the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

After folks online dubbed Simmons’ use of the word ghetto racist, he defended himself, telling People, “I stand by my words.”

“Let’s cut to the chase. The word ‘ghetto,’ it originated with Jews,” he continued. “It was borrowed by African Americans in particular and respectfully, not in a bad way.”

As for the suggestion that it’s a racist term, Simmons argued, “Ghetto is a Jewish term[.] … How could you be, when rock is Black music? It’s just a different Black music than hip-hop, which is also Black music.”

He added, “Rock ‘n’ roll owes everything to Black music, statement of fact, period. All the major forms of American music owe their roots to Black music.”

New York to co-name street after Jimi Hendrix

February 12, 2026 by WDNY Radio

New York City is set to honor the legacy of rocker Jimi Hendrix. It was just announced that the city plans to co-name West 8th Street in Greenwich Village Jimi Hendrix Way.

The street is where Hendrix’s legendary Electric Lady Studios is located. Opened in August 1970, Electric Lady was the first commercial studio owned by an artist. Hendrix died just three weeks after its opening.

The naming is set to take place Feb. 24 at 11 a.m., and was the result of a campaign led by Experience Hendrix LLC President and CEO Janie Hendrix, NYC District 2 council member Harvey Epstein, and guitarist and writer Jeff Slate.

The naming ceremony will coincide with the launch of a new education partnership with E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt’s TeachRock, which uses music and pop culture to expand learning in schools. The partnership will result in the addition of a Hendrix curriculum for middle and high school students.

“Jimi Hendrix didn’t just play guitar—he reimagined what art could be,” says Van Zandt. “I want TeachRock to transport students into that same sense of possibility and discovery I felt the first time I saw Jimi perform. His story, lyrics, and sound remind young people that creativity has no limits.”

Janie Hendrix, Van Zandt and Epstein will attend the street naming ceremony, along with group of local TeachRock teachers and students. It will take place on the corner of 8th Street and 6th Avenue.

This isn’t the first time the street has been named after Hendrix. In 2024, the same street in Greenwich Village was temporarily renamed after the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer in connection with the release of the documentary Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision.

Bee Gees announce new limited-edition box set

February 12, 2026 by WDNY Radio

The music of the Bee Gees will be celebrated in a new limited-edition box set.

You Should Be Dancing, a four-disc set limited to just 1,000 copies, will feature 12-inch versions of some of the group’s biggest hits disco hits, along with previously unreleased extended versions of tracks.

The set features ’70s-era classics like “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever,” “You Should Be Dancing” and “More Than a Woman,” as well as previously unreleased extended versions of “Jive Talkin,'” “Tragedy,” “Nights on Broadway” and “Love You Inside Out.”

There’s also their cover of Yvonne Elliman’s 1978 hit “If I Can’t Have You”; producer SG Lewis’ Paradise edit of “More Than a Woman,” getting its first-ever vinyl release; and “Decadance,” the Bee Gees’ own update of “You Should Be Dancing,” which was previously only available outside the U.S.

The Bee Gees’ You Should Be Dancing collection will be released Feb. 27 and is available for preorder now.

On This Day, Feb. 12, 2007: The Police announce reunion tour during Los Angeles press conference

February 12, 2026 by WDNY Radio

On This Day, Feb. 12, 2007 …

One day after reuniting for a performance at the 49th annual Grammy Awards, The Police held a press conference at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, where they confirmed rumors they would be reuniting for a world tour.

The band performed at the press conference, which was also billed as a rehearsal. They played such classic tunes as “Message in a Bottle,” “Roxanne,” “Can’t Stand Losing You” and more.

The tour would be The Police’s first tour together in over 20 years, and it marked the band’s 30th anniversary.

The reunion tour kicked off in Vancouver in May and featured four North American legs, as well as shows in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America.

It wrapped in August 2008 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Foreigner co-founder Al Greenwood hopes band ‘goes on forever’ despite lack of original members

February 12, 2026 by WDNY Radio

These days it’s not uncommon for classic rock bands to be out on tour despite having no original members still in the band. In fact, this summer Foreigner and Lynyrd Skynyrd are co-headlining the Double Trouble Double Vision tour, despite neither band containing any original members.

New York Magazine explores the idea of these tours in the new article “When Is a Band Not the Same Band Anymore?” in which Foreigner co-founder Al Greenwood argues in favor of such bands continuing.

Greenwood notes that despite a lack of original members in the current touring iteration of Foreigner, the band’s co-founder Mick Jones is still heavily involved in selecting new members for a tour.

“They’re very respectful of the band’s sound,” he says of the new players. “They ask a lot of questions: ‘How did we do this? How did you play that? What sounds did you get?’ They want to get it right.”

He notes, “We call it the Foreigner family.”

Greenwood, like original frontman Lou Gramm, turns up for occasional shows and says that there’s a good reason to “pass the baton” to new musicians: “We’re in our mid-70s or early 80s, so it’s hard for us to go out anymore.”

“I hope it goes on forever,” he says of the Foreigner name. “Let’s face it: The music really stood the test of time.”

And Greenwood is so behind the idea that he says he’d even want to see Mick Jagger and Keith Richards replaced rather than The Rolling Stones being gone for good.

“They have to go on forever,” Greenwood says. “If they could find people who can fill those shoes, that would be incredible because the music is brilliant. I wouldn’t like to not be able to see that music being played.”

MLS’ San Jose Earthquakes pay tribute to Grateful Dead with new kit

February 11, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes are paying tribute to the Grateful Dead with their brand-new kit.

The team has just debuted a new secondary jersey, which is purple and blue tie-dye with the Grateful Dead skeleton logo on a patch on the sleeve.

According to a post on Instagram, the new kit celebrates “the spirit of the Bay Area and the enduring connection between music, culture, and community.” It’s described as a “collaboration that bridges the gap between the Grateful Dead’s legendary counterculture and the relentless spirit of Soccer in San Jose.”

The kit is currently available for preorder and will officially be available starting Saturday.

And the Earthquakes aren’t the only team paying tribute to an artist with their new kit. The St. Louis City SC has debuted a secondary kit paying tribute to Tina Turner, featuring a patch with her portrait on the sleeve and her name embroidered on the back. It is available now.

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