Classic Hits

Billy Idol and longtime collaborator Steve Stevens have been inducted into Guitar Center’s Hollywood Rockwalk.

The pair took part in a handprint ceremony outside Guitar Center’s flagship location on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood Tuesday night.

“I’ve had a fantastic time with Steve, he’s made a lot of my crazy ideas come true,” Idol said during the ceremony. “You can never really ask for anything more than that. It really is special and incredible, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It’s great to be honored together by Guitar Center on the Rockwalk.”

“It’s humbling to now be amongst this incredible group of musicians on Guitar Center’s Rockwalk,” Stevens added. “More than anything, this is a testament to over 45 years of great laughs, great songs that now belong to the world, and a great friendship.”

Idol and Stevens now join the more than 150 artists and innovators represented on the Rockwalk, which began in 1985. Others who’ve been honored on the Rockwalk include Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and The Ramones.

The honor comes ahead of Idol and Stevens’ induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November.

Next up, Idol will launch the next leg of his It’s A Nice Day To … Tour Again! tour on Aug. 7 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He will also headline the weeklong Hot in the City Las Vegas residency at the Fontainebleau from Aug. 28 to Sept. 5. A complete list of dates can be found at BillyIdol.net.

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Gerry Beckley is out with new music.

The America co-founder has just released the new track “Get It Right,” the first single off his upcoming solo album, Merciful. The album features a combination of previously unfinished material, along with newly written songs.

“‘Get It Right’ was one of those songs from the vaults that still really held up,” says Beckley. “It felt good to revisit it and finally bring it to life.”

“Get It Right” is out now via digital outlets.

Merciful, dropping Aug. 18, also includes a cover of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood,” featuring a guest appearance by two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Graham Nash.

The album is the follow-up to Beckley’s 2024 self-titled solo album. That same year he announced his retirement from touring with America.

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Rush has run into their first glitch on their Fifty Something tour.

The rockers were supposed to be headlining the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday. But according to a post on Instagram, the show has now been postponed “(d)ue to unforeseen travel and border-related delays impacting our touring production following our recent Mexico City tour dates.”

The Fort Worth show, the opening night of a four-night stand at the venue, has now been moved to July 2, with tickets for Wednesday’s show valid on the new date. Refunds will be provided to those who can’t make the new date.

The tour will resume on Friday in Fort Worth, with the band also scheduled to play there Sunday and Tuesday.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding,” they wrote. “[W]e look forward to seeing everyone starting this Friday!”

Rush launched their Fifty Something tour on June 7 in Los Angeles. It is the band’s first tour since August 2015, and also Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson’s first time on tour since the 2020 death of Neil Peart.

A complete list of tour dates can be found at Rush.com.

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Deep Purple has shared another preview of their upcoming album, SPLAT!

The band has released the new single “Guilt Trippin’,” which, according to a press release, “imagines God and Charles Darwin sharing a drink in a pub, reflecting on how things on earth have not exactly worked out according to plan.”

“The song starts, and I’m in the studio. I don’t have any words for it yet,” says frontman Ian Gillan of the track. “So I just start screaming. It was the pure joy of yelling it.”

The 80-year-old adds, “I vowed when I was 40 that I’d stop screaming by the time I was 60. Now I’m looking back and thinking, ‘Whatever happened to that?’ So we’ll give it a go.”

This is the third single Deep Purple has released from SPLAT!, following “Arrogant Boy” and “Diablo.” It is available now via digital outlets.

SPLAT!, Deep Purple’s first album since to 2024’s =1, will be released July 3. The album explores the idea of the end of humanity as a transformation rather than a destruction, with the album’s description noting it sees the end “not in any crude apocalyptic sense but as a metamorphosis beyond physical existence.”

Deep Purple will launch a North American tour Aug. 4 in Raleigh, North Carolina. A complete list of dates can be found at DeepPurple.com.

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The Rolling Stones have announced another collaboration in connection with their upcoming album, Foreign Tongues.

The latest has the band teaming with NASCAR for a line of officially licensed co-branded NASCAR merchandise, including T-shirts, a sweatshirt and a signature racing jacket. There will also be two limited-edition NASCAR-themed Foreign Tongues vinyl variants.

In addition, the campaign will include a fan experience at locations around Chicago leading up to NASCAR’s Chicagoland race weekend, July 4-5. It will feature a Rolling Stones listening lounge, where fans can enjoy Foreign Tongues inside a custom-designed Rolling Stone-inspired NASCAR show car.

The launch of the collaboration also includes a new video featuring NASCAR drivers Jesse Love, Connor Zilisch and Carson Hocevar, as well as YouTube creator and driver Cleetus McFarland, set to The Stones’ latest single “In the Stars.”

The NASCAR collab is one of many The Rolling Stones have announced in connection with Foreign Tongues, which comes out July 10. They previously revealed collabs with FIFA and Marvel.

More info can be found at Store.NASCAR.com and TheRollingStonesShop.com.

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Oprah Winfrey recently made headlines by telling an unflattering story about Whitney Houston, and now the late singer’s estate is hitting back, saying Oprah’s version of the story is inaccurate.

While speaking at the Cannes Lion festival in France, Variety and other outlets reported that Oprah illustrated the influence she and her talk show had by claiming that Whitney Houston once fell off the stage during a 2009 appearance on the show because “she had gone back on drugs.”

Variety quoted Oprah as saying, “I knew that if that story got out … [Whitney] would be destroyed by that. And so even though the audience was there and the audience had cameras, I begged them not to put those pictures out because it would ruin her life, and they did not. That would not happen today, I can tell you that.” 

The official Whitney Houston Instagram account posted a statement from the late singer’s estate on Wednesday, reading, “Whitney absolutely fell off stage, but it was during a sound check and it was due to the darkness of the area and her unfamiliarity with the stage. She was absolutely not high.”

“This story was picked up by several media outlets. Like many people, she faced personal battles, but it is inaccurate and unfair to attach that struggle to every performance or every chapter of her life,” the statement continued.

The statement concluded, “What the studio audience witnessed on stage was the result of discipline, talent, and commitment not the assumptions others project.  Whitney’s humanity included triumphs and struggles, but on that day, she showed up as the professional and gifted artist she always worked to be. We owe her the dignity of telling the truth not repeating myths.”

Whitney accidentally drowned in 2012. She was 48.

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We are getting our first look at the upcoming Wham! documentary, WHAM! 10 Days In China, which explores the duo’s 1985 concerts in China.

A trailer for the film has just been released, featuring archival photos and footage of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley becoming the first Western pop group to perform in China.

In addition to performance footage, the trailer shows the duo visiting sites, dealing with uncomfortable press conferences and more. It also delves into the impact the concerts had on fans, the political implications of the shows and touches upon the struggles Michael went through during the tour.

The film, which features restored, newly digitized and never-before-seen archival footage, is described in a press release as “the untold story of WHAM! at a singular moment in history, East meets West, pop meets politics, and two young stars coming of age on the world stage.”

WHAM! 10 Days In China will be screened in theaters on July 28. Tickets are on sale now.

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The Zombies frontman Colin Blunstone is returning to the U.S. this fall.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has announced dates for a 19-city tour with The Fixx and Peter Asher.

The trek will hit the Northeast and Midwest, starting Sept. 2 in Somerville, Massachusetts, with stops in New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Nashville and more. It wraps Sept. 30 in Troy, New York.

In a post on Instagram, Blunstone writes that he’s “thrilled” to be heading out on tour again, noting fans can expect to hear “songs from my solo career and some Zombies classic tunes.”

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Blunstone wrapped his Believe in Miracles U.K. solo tour on May 28 in London. In a post on Instagram he called it “one of the most enjoyable tours I’ve ever been on,” noting that he hopes he and his band can do another solo tour in the U.K. early next year.

In addition to the upcoming U.S. tour, Blunstone is scheduled to perform at The Zombies’ annual Begin Here festival, taking place Oct. 30- Nov. 1 in their hometown of St. Albans, England. More info can be found at TheZombiesmusic.com.

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Neil Young is giving fans a look at his 2025 Love Earth tour with The Chrome Hearts.

The rocker has posted an hourlong concert film, titled Corduroy Plants, to his Neil Young Archives website. The film, which is available for free, was directed by Young’s wife, Daryl Hannah, who also directed his 2025 documentary, Coastal.

The film comes just weeks after Young released the live album As Time Explodes, which features performances from his 2025 U.S. and European tour with The Chrome Hearts.

Young was supposed to launch a 2026 Europe and U.K. tour on June 19 in Manchester, England, but canceled the tour in February, citing the need to “take a break.”

In May he announced on his website that he has finished his second album with The Chrome Hearts, Second Song, although he has yet to reveal a release date. Their first album, Talking To The Trees, came out in 2025.

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AC/DC is giving fans another way to enjoy themselves during the upcoming North American leg of their PWR/UP tour.

The “Highway to Hell” rockers have announced that each stop of the tour will feature a PWR/UP Pop Up, where fans can gather ahead of shows and enjoy a slew of AC/DC-related activities.

Each pop-up will feature AC/DC-themed food and drinks, plus they will be filled with props and custom visuals. There will also be a mock stage for fans to take photos with a replica of Angus Young’s guitar, and an opportunity to win the guitar, which will be autographed by Angus once the tour is over.

The pop-ups will also sell a curated selection of exclusive merch and collectibles, including limited-edition items, and city-specific shirts and posters. There will also be exclusive giveaways of concert tickets, merch packages and other prizes, plus fans can enter a sweepstakes to win an AC/DC-themed pinball machine.

A limited number of fans will be able to experience a preview of the pop-up in their city before it’s open to the public. Registration is now open, with 100 fans selected in a random draw. Those fans will also receive a special gift created for the preview.

Details on the pop-up locations are online at pwruptour.acdc.com.

The new North American leg of AC/DC’s PWR/UP tour kicks off with a two-night stand in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 10-11. It wraps with two nights in Philadelphia, Sept. 28 and 29. A complete list of tour dates can be found at acdc.com.

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