Classic Hits

Rod Stewart is setting the record straight about the state of his marriage to Penny Lancaster.

The rocker took to social media to respond to a recent Daily Mail article that claimed the couple had reached a “stalemate” in their marriage and that they were at odds over where they were going to live, with Penny wanting to be in the U.K. and Rod changing his mind about selling his Beverly Hills mansion.

Well, Rod is denying the claims.

“Despite erroneous articles in the Daily Mail and other tabloids that followed suit. We wanted to put the record straight,” Rod wrote in a note on social media. “There is absolutely no rift between Penny and I and no disagreement over where we should reside, in fact it’s the opposite.” 

Rod notes that they permanently moved back to Britain a year ago, but still own homes in different countries.

“Originally we did think it made sense to sell our house in LA, but having spent a wonderful time there in the summer with family and friends during my Vegas residency we realised that it makes sense to keep our house there,” he shared.

“Penny and I could not be more in love with each other after 27 glorious years,” Rod added. “Please trust me on this … there’s no disharmony in our marriage.”

He then signed the note, “Rod ‘a very lucky man’ Stewart.”

Rod and Penny began dating in 1999 and were married in 2007. They have two sons together, Alastair, born in 2005, and Aiden, born in 2011.

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On This Day, Aug. 29, 1966 …

The Beatles played what would be their last-ever full public concert, at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.

The band played an 11-song set, which didn’t include any songs from their recently released album, Revolver.

The public was unaware that it would be the band’s final concert, although The Beatles themselves knew and brought a camera onstage to capture the moment.

The Beatles’ final public performance of any kind was their iconic “rooftop concert” in London in January 1969. That concert was recorded for the documentary Let It Be, which was rereleased on Disney+ in May and was also part of the 2021 Disney+ documentary The Beatles: Get Back.

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The Apple TV+ Vince Vaughn series Bad Monkey features a soundtrack of Tom Petty covers, and the show’s music supervisor, Tony Von Pervieux, says it wasn’t hard to get artists to agree to take part in the project.

In an interview with Vulture, Von Pervieux says the original plan was to include 10 Petty covers in the Florida-set series, but that ballooned to 21, and all the artists they reached out to were quick to jump on board.

“It was the easiest sell to say, ‘Hey, we have this cool show and really cool experience to do a cover. This is the specific way I want this cover to be done based on the scene,’” he says. “And they were all like, ‘Yeah, of course. We’re huge Tom Petty fans. You don’t have to explain.’”

Van Pervieux says it was also important the Petty estate was happy, noting they kept the rocker’s daughter Adria in the loop as the songs progressed.

“I had a little bit of anxiety going through it because you don’t know what you’re going to get out of covers and I didn’t want to make any kind of mockery about the music,” he said, sharing he’d send Adria demos of the covers. “We would get comments like, ‘We really like this one, great job.’” Their only requirement was that no lyrics could be changed. 

The soundtrack, dropping Oct. 4, features covers from artists like Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Weezer, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Sharon Van Etten and more.

“Tom Petty is just a healthy diet for anyone,” Von Pervieux says. “What we did was bring together a family of artists whom we respected and loved and also respected and loved Tom Petty right back.”

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Def Leppard is set to headline the Harvest Nights Music Festival, happening Nov. 22-24 at the John Jimmie Rodeo Grounds in Immokalee, Florida.

The festival, put on by The Charity Pros, will also feature former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, Train and Tesla, along with country stars Brad Paisley, Tyler Hubbard and more. Def Leppard is set to headline Nov. 23.

Camping and ticketing information can be found at thecharitypros.org.

According to their website, The Charity Pros’ mission is to “advocate for children’s social causes and expand their opportunities to live their best lives.” Proceeds from the festival will go to Southwest Florida’s The Immokalee Foundation, Guadalupe Center and Cancer Alliance Network.

Def Leppard is currently on their Summer Stadium tour with Journey and plays San Francisco on Wednesday, with shows booked through Sept. 10 in West Valley City, Utah. The Harvest Nights Music Festival is their only show on the schedule once the tour wraps.

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Former Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry is out with his first new song in over a decade.

Ferry just released the new single “Star,” which will appear on his upcoming box set, Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023. A celebration of Ferry’s solo career, it will feature 81 tracks culled from his 16 solo albums.

The song is described in a press release as originating as a “sketch by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails,” then further developed by Ferry and the artist Amelia Barratt, who also sings on the track.

“’Star’ is a collaboration with the painter and writer Amelia Barratt,” Ferry shares. “A couple of years ago I helped her record an audiobook here in my studio. I was very impressed by her writing, and this is the first song we did together. I’m very excited about this new work – there’s a lot more to come.”

You can listen to “Star” now via digital outlets.

Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023 will be released Oct. 25 in a variety of formats. It’s available for preorder now.

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Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood and ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro have released another song from their upcoming album, Blues Experience, which comes out Oct. 18.

The latest is a cover of the Procol Harum classic “Whiter Shade Of Pale.” 

“This is a song I’ve always wanted to play… of course, the song recorded by Procol Harum was a world-renowned classic… with a melody so strong that it became a gift to us!” Mick shares. “And Jake totally commands the full need for dynamics and a passionate delivery. At last, I got to play and record this song!!!” 

“This was a song that Mick suggested. Such an iconic piece of music,” Jake adds. “It truly plays like an anthem. And Mickʻs drumming makes the track feel amazing. I was just transported through his drum sounds.” 

This is the second tune the pair has shared from the record, following their take on the blues classic “Rollin’ N Tumblin’.” 

Blues Experience also has the two artists covering songs like Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World” and the Christine McVie-penned Fleetwood Mac track “Songbird,” with Mick also adding a spoken word version of the song. Jake penned one original song, “Kula Blues,” about the area in Maui where Mick lives.

Blues Experience is available for preorder now.

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Bruce Springsteen is one of the many artists who recorded a song for the upcoming tribute album in honor of longtime New York City punk fixture Jesse Malin, and now his contribution to the record has been released. 

The track, “She Don’t Love Me Now,” features Jesse’s band backing Springsteen, along with E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons. The tune originally appeared on Malin’s 2015 album, New York Before The War. 

“Bruce gave it that Stax-soul-thing that we were dreaming of when we recorded the original. It’s so surreal to me,” Malin shares. “Bruce’s generosity, honesty and support are equally as powerful as his songwriting and performing.”

He adds, “Bruce is one of the guys. He walks it like he talks it. You spend some time with him, and it feels like you’ve known him for years.”

You can listen to “She Don’t Love Me Now” via digital outlets.

This isn’t the first time Springsteen and Malin have worked together; they previously collaborated in 2007 on Malin’s song “Broken Radio.”

The Malin tribute album, titled Silver Patron Saints, will be released Sept. 20. Proceeds will benefit Malin’s Sweet Relief artist fund. The rocker had a spinal stroke in 2023 that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Other artists on the album include Elvis Costello, Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong, Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello, Bleachers and the late MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer.

Silver Patron Saints is available for preorder now.

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On This Day, Aug. 28, 1993…

Billy Joel hit #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart with River of Dreams, his final pop/rock record.

The album, with a cover painted by Joel’s then-wife Christie Brinkley, was Billy’s fourth #1 and spent three weeks on top of the chart.

The album’s title track went on to become a top five hit, Joel’s last on the Billboard Hot 100.

The record also featured “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel),” which he wrote as a tribute to his daughter, Alexa Ray.

Although Joel hasn’t released a pop album since, he did release a new pop song in 2024. “Turn the Lights Back On” came out in February, and peaked at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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Looks like the disagreement between Journey’s Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain isn’t completely over. 

On Aug. 22, Schon announced on social media that he and Cain agreed to hire “someone impartial” to help settle any disputes that arose over their company, Freedom 2020, which basically manages the operations of the band. This was something Cain had been requesting when he filed a lawsuit against Schon in July over his excessive spending.

Well, in new legal documents Cain’s lawyer is claiming Schon is now going back on his agreement. 

According to Cain’s lawyer Kasey H. DeSantis, the two parties have been “unable to agree” when it comes to hiring that third party for their company, and they are blaming Schon.

“Mr. Schon is attempting to backtrack on his agreement for the Court to appoint a custodian to serve as a third, deadlock breaking director of Freedom 2020, Inc., and is now seeking to inappropriately limit the role of the custodian,” the documents claim. “This is inconsistent with Respondent’s counsel’s prior communications with the Court … explicitly agreeing to the appointment of a third, deadlock breaking director.”

Cain filed his lawsuit against Schon on July 24 detailing what he claimed was Schon’s overspending, including maxing out a $1 million limit on the company’s American Express credit card and charting private jets. Schon called the claims “absolute rubbish.”

Cain said in a statement the purpose of the lawsuit was to get a judge to appoint a third party to serve on the board of their company to help settle disagreements.

Despite their dispute, Journey is currently on their Summer Stadium tour with Def Leppard. They play San Francisco on Wednesday.

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The Swifties for Kamala coalition has no official ties to Taylor Swift, who has yet to endorse a candidate, but it was able to attract two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Carole King to its fundraising Zoom call on Aug. 27.

As Variety reports, King was introduced on the call as the “original cat lady” — having posed with a cat on the cover of her iconic 1971 album Tapestry — and told participants that Taylor was her “musical and songwriting granddaughter.”  Taylor inducted King into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 and called her “the greatest songwriter of all time.”  

Variety reports that King also rapped the chorus of “Shake It Off” during the call, which raised more than $100,000. But on a more serious note, King, who described herself as “a political activist for years” and “a volunteer … a door knocker, even as a famous person,” offered advice to the 27,000 participants on how to campaign effectively for your candidate of choice.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren was also on the call, and revealed “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” and “Karma” are her favorite Taylor Swift songs.  According to Variety, she also said, “We’ve got 70 days until the election, and … it is going to be a tough fight ahead. We have lots to do, and dang, there are only 24 hours in a day, or 144 ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Versions).’”

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