Classic Hits

Grateful Dead fans will soon have a new opportunity to get their hands on some one-of-a-kind band memorabilia.

Relix Marketplace and ANALOGr.com have teamed up to offer some rare and unique music collectables, starting with the sale of 19 Grateful Dead items from the band’s career post 1960. 

Items up for grabs include a variety of posters, like a “New on Warner Bros” promo poster for their 1971 Skull and Roses album, owned by Grateful Dead roadie Ram Rod, which is priced at $500, and a rare first print “Quick & The Dead” glow poster, priced at $22,500. 

One of the larger items is a half-scale working model of The Dead’s Wall of Sound PA speaker system, which is being offered for $300,000.

There’s also a signed contract from the Grateful Dead’s 1985 Twilight Zone TV appearance, priced at $15,000; a 1995 “Northbound Train” Summer tour T-shirt for $200; a contact sheet with photos of The Dead and Bob Dylan for $2,500; and a Grateful Dead logo pressing by Bob Thomas and Owsley Stanley for $27,500. 

The Relix Marketplace/ANALOGr.com Grateful Dead sale will happen online starting Thursday at 1 p.m. More info can be found at relix.com.

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The Zombies’ Rod Argent is expressing his gratitude to fans for all the support he’s received since his announcement Thursday that he’s currently recovering from a stroke and, because of his health, has decided to retire from touring. 

“I am absolutely overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support that has happened in response to the news of my having suffered a stroke three weeks ago,” he shared on Instagram. “I have read every post, and have to thank you so much.”

He adds, “I do feel so lucky that physically l’ve escaped the worst possible effects, and while I’m still frustrated by not finding all my words easily, I feel really hopeful that eventually I will make a full recovery.” 

With his decision to retire, The Zombies have now canceled all shows planned for 2024, although their second annual Begin Here Festival in St Albans, England, set for November, will still happen.

Argent notes, “It is with a heavy heart that I can’t carry on with the live playing that I love so much,” adding that he does plan to “carry on in the studio with writing and recording” with his Zombie bandmates.

The Zombies played their last U.S. shows in March and April. Their 2023 North American tour was cut short after Argent became ill with migraines, fatigue and exhaustion.

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Blue Öyster Cult is giving fans another preview of their upcoming live album, 50th Anniversary Live – Second Night.

The band just released a live performance video of “Hot Rails to Hell (Live),” the second track they’ve released from the album following “7 Screaming Diz-Busters.”

50th Anniversary Live – Second Night, dropping Aug. 9, features a concert recorded during the band’s 2022 three-night stand at Sony Hall in New York. It has the band performing their sophomore album, Tyranny and Mutation, in its entirety, along with such classic tracks as “Burnin’ For You” and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”

The residency had the band playing their first three albums in their entirety, one each night; Frontiers Music is releasing each night separately. The first release, 50th Anniversary Live – First Night, featuring the band performing their self-titled debut album, was released in October.

50th Anniversary Live – Second Night is available for preorder now.

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The Black Crowes are spending some more time on the road.

The band is already set to open for Aerosmith on their upcoming Peace Out tour, but now The Crowes have announced a new set of dates for what they’re calling the Happiness Bastards Tour (The Reprise). 

The new 22-date trek is set to kick off Sept. 28 in Cleveland and wrap Feb. 28 in Uncasville, Connecticut. It will run alongside the Aerosmith tour, which kicks off Sept. 20 in Pittsburgh, with The Black Crowes’ first date on the trek being Sept. 23 in Philadelphia.

Tickets for new dates go on sale July 19 at 10 a.m. A complete schedule can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

The Black Crowes are touring in support of their recent album, Happiness Bastards, which was their first album of new material in 15 years.

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Sting has added a new festival to his 2024 schedule.

The rocker is set to headline Bourbon & Beyond, happening at the Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Sept. 19-22.

Sting, who’ll headline Sept. 19, is replacing original headliner Neil Young, who in June canceled the remainder of his tour due to health reasons. Sting will be taking the stage with guitarist and longtime collaborator Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas.

“While we will miss Neil Young at Bourbon this year, we’re excited to welcome a music legend, Sting, to the Bourbon & Beyond lineup,” Danny Wimmer, founder of Danny Wimmer Presents, shares. “We’ve been trying to bring Sting to Bourbon for you since 2018 and it’s an incredible honor to have him join us for what will undoubtedly be our biggest and most unforgettable year ever.”

In addition to Sting, the Bourbon & Beyond lineup includes Beck, Dave Matthews Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, My Morning Jacket, Matchbox Twenty, The Beach Boys and Melissa Etheridge. A complete lineup can be found at bourbonandbeyond.com.

Sting is set to kick off the U.S. leg of his Sting 3.0 tour on Sept. 17 in Detroit, with the tour wrapping with a four-night stand in Los Angeles, Nov. 12, Nov. 13, Nov. 15 and Nov. 16. A complete list of dates can be found at sting.com.

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Sammy Hagar kicked off his The Best of All Worlds tour in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, and as promised treated fans to a set filled with Van Halen classics.

According to setlist.fm, Sammy opened the show with 5150’s “Good Enough,” followed by the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge track “Poundcake.”

The set also included plenty of other songs from the Sammy era of Van Halen, including “Judgement Day,” “5150,” “Summer Nights,” “Top of the World,” “The Seventh Seal,” “Right Now,” “Why Can’t This Be Love” and “When It’s Love.”

But Sammy and his band – Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani, drummer Jason Bonham and keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte – also played at least two Van Halen tracks from the David Lee Roth era. First, they tackled the 1984 classic “Panama,” then later performed “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love,” with Anthony handling the vocals on the latter. They also performed a little bit of the #1 hit “Jump” as part of a medley. 

But it wasn’t all Van Halen all the time. Sammy also played some of his solo tracks, including “There’s Only One Way to Rock,” “Heavy Metal,” “Mas Tequila” and his classic “I Can’t Drive 55.”

Sammy Hagar’s The Best of All Worlds tour next hits the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia, on Tuesday. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.

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Elton John topped the Billboard 200 Album chart with his fifth studio album, Honky Château.

The album, named after Château d’Hérouville, the 18th century French chateau where it was recorded, was Elton’s first #1 album, spending five weeks on top the chart. 

Honky Château featured future Elton classics “Rocket Man” and “Honky Cat,” which were both top 10 hits.

The album was the first of seven consecutive #1 albums from Elton, his last being Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy in 1975.

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Foreigner’s Lou Gramm is about to become a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, but before he gets the honor, he’ll impart some rock ‘n’ roll wisdom to campers at the next edition of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, taking place in New York City. 

Gramm tells ABC Audio that he enjoys getting to interact with the participants, sharing, “I recognize the same obsession that I had when I was their age, and I gravitate towards that right away.”

While some campers are there to learn more about music, others are just there to have fun, but Gramm says they are all usually “very intelligent and they ask great questions.”

“It’s a real positive experience,” he says. 

Part of that camp experience is that participants get to perform with the musician counselors, and Gramm says it’s fun to play songs like “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero” with them.

“I get the impression that the young rockers really want to cut loose,” he says, “and those songs are perfect for that.” 

Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp’s Rock The Apple is happening July 18-21. In addition to Gramm, counselors include Bad Company’s Simon Kirke, and Cheap Trick’s Rick and Daxx Nielsen. More info can be found at rockcamp.com.

Gramm and the members of Foreigner are set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 19 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. The ceremony will stream live on Disney+, followed by a special airing on ABC at a later date.

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Stevie Nicks performed at the BST Hyde Park summer festival in London on July 12, and her old pal Harry Styles showed up to sing a few songs with her.

Stevie and Harry have been friends for years; he inducted her into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and has performed with her onstage several times. On Friday he joined Stevie to sing the late Tom Petty‘s part on the duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” then stuck around to help Stevie perform her Fleetwood Mac favorite, “Landslide.” You can watch fan-shot clips of the performances on social media.

Stevie’s set concluded with a version of her late bandmate Christine McVie‘s hit “Got a Hold on Me.” McVie,  who died in 2022, was born on July 12.

Harry’s last actual concert was his tour-ending show in Italy in July 2023.

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While The Police may have put out some legendary albums throughout their career, drummer Stewart Copeland says that making those albums wasn’t necessarily a pleasant experience.

“We had a great bond, which wasn’t strong enough to make recording together very easy,” Copeland tells The Guardian when asked about his relationship with bandmates Sting and Andy Summers. “We tore each other’s throats out in the studio but those two motherf****** came up with incredible stuff and we got on really well on stage, in the van, on the plane.”

As for their current relationship, Copeland shares, “To this day we still send each other dumb Instagram clips. It’s a myth that Sting and I fought all the time. I broke his rib once, but we were play-fighting.”

The Police are set to reissue their final and most successful album, Synchronicity, on July 26, and Copeland describes recording the album as “very dark.” 

“We beat the crap out of each other,” he says. “We’ve laughed about it since, but going back into that black hole isn’t something we tended towards.” 

The super deluxe edition of the reissue includes 55 previously unreleased tracks — alternate takes, instrumentals, demos and live recordings — and Copeland is hinting at that other albums may get similar treatment. 

He notes, “But it was such fun listening to the demos and songs that didn’t make it, so there will be more reissues. We’re starting at the end and working backwards.”

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