Classic Hits

On This Day, Oct. 1, 1965…

Bob Dylan headlined Carnegie Hall in New York City backed by the five musicians who would eventually find fame as The Band.

The group, previously known as The Hawks, was made up of guitarist Robbie Robertson, organist Garth Hudson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manual and drummer Levon Helm.

The musicians went on to back up Dylan on his historic 1966 electric tour, which drew boos and abuse worldwide from fans who accused him of abandoning folk music.

The Band would go on to release their iconic debut album Music From Big Pink in 1968. Their farewell concert on Nov. 25, 1976, was filmed for the critically acclaimed concert movie The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese.

The Band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

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The Grateful Dead have teamed with global color authority Pantone to create two new colors inspired by their iconography.

The colors, Grateful Red and Stealie Blue, were created using scans of an original pressing of the band’s 1973 Bear’s Choice live album. It was also the first time The Dead used their iconic Stealie aka Steal Your Face skull and lightning bolt logo.

Both colors, which have been used throughout The Dead’s six-decade career, are part of a new merch collection that includes Grateful Red and Stealie Blue paint can-dles, as well as T-shirts, hoodies, mugs and more.

“The Grateful Dead’s visual iconography is unmatched in the music world,” David Lemieux, Grateful Dead legacy manager and archivist, says. “These shades of red and blue are uniquely and identifiably Grateful Dead icons on their own. To now have two Pantone colors immortalizing these shades of red and blue as the official colors of the Grateful Dead is a huge honor.”

“Just like the music of the iconic Grateful Dead, color can evoke emotions and feelings that can engulf you into a different world,” Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, adds. “Memorializing and standardizing the iconic colors that showcase the band’s originality and ensuring their legacy lives on through a visual language, is both meaningful and inspiring and we are proud to be a part of it.”

The Grateful Dead Pantone merch line is available now.

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Bonnie Raitt is set to perform at Big Blues Bender, a four-day music festival taking place Sept. 10-13, 2026, at the Westgate Las Vegas.

The blues festival, with a motto of “Everything, an elevator ride away,” will also feature performances by Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Booker T. Jones, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and more.

Tickets go on sale Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. PT. More info and a complete lineup can be found at bigbluesbender.com.

Raitt wrapped her most recent tour on Sept. 25 at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. The Big Blues Bender is currently the only show she has booked for 2026.

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Billy Idol and The Cars guitarist Elliot Easton are among the artists set to perform at the Above Ground benefit concert on Oct. 26 at The Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Other artists confirmed for this year’s show include Idol guitarist Steve Stevens, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor, Moby, Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, and former Foo Fighters and current Nine Inch Nails drummer Josh Freese, with a special guest appearance by rappers Cypress Hill. More artists are expected to be announced.

This year’s show was originally supposed to take place in January but was postponed due to the California wildfires. The concert will feature the artists performing songs off the self-titled debut albums from the New York Dolls and The Cars.

The yearly concert is put on by Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and guitarist Billy Morrison‘s Above Ground organization, which they founded in 2018. The concert raises money for MusiCares in support of mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

Tickets for the concert are on sale now.

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The members of Def Leppard are the latest rock stars to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The band will receive their star in the category of Recording at a ceremony on Oct. 9 in front of the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles.   

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi and Universal Music President and CEO Bruce Resnikoff will be hand to speak at the ceremony, which will stream on the Hollywood Walk of Fame’s website.

Def Leppard will be honored with the 2,825th star on the Walk of Fame.

After a busy 2025, Def Leppard has one more show on their touring schedule. They’ll play Gary, Indiana, on Oct. 11. In 2026, they are booked to play a residency at The Colosseum in Las Vegas starting in February, and will follow that with a tour of Europe and the U.K. starting in June.

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

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A new documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of Harry Chapin’s classic song “Cat’s in the Cradle” is coming to DVD and streaming on Nov. 4.

Harry Chapin – Cat’s in the Cradle: The Song That Changed Our Lives, directed by Rick Korn, delves into the lasting impact of the iconic tune. It features interviews with artists like Billy Joel, Pat Benatar, Chicago’s Robert Lamm, Judy Collins, Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider, Run-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels and more.

“What makes this song so amazing is the multi-generational and multi-cultural effect it has on people around the world even to this day,” says Korn.

“My father wrote many unforgettable story songs but ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ is by far his best known and it continues to have an impact on millions of people around the world,” says the singer’s son Jason Chapin, who’s a producer on the film. “I’m thrilled at how the film captures so many wonderful stories about the song and my father told by music legends, fans, family and others.”

On Nov. 1 the film will get a special benefit screening at the Cinema Arts Centre in Harry’s hometown of Huntington, Long Island, with proceeds going to Long Island Cares and the Cinema Arts Centre of Huntington.

Released in October 1974, “Cat’s in the Cradle” tells the story of the relationship between a father and a son. It written by Harry and his wife, Sandy Chapin, and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the singer/songwriter’s only chart-topper. The tune earned Chapin a Grammy nod for best male pop vocal performance in 1975. In 2011 the tune was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

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Styx has announced some new tour dates for 2026.

The band is set to play six shows in Florida, with dates kicking off Feb. 22 in Pompano Beach. They’ll also play Orlando, Estero and Clearwater, before wrapping their Sunshine State stint on Feb. 28 in St. Augustine.

Tickets for all shows are on sale now.

The Florida dates will follow the band’s already announced 2026 residency at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. The five-show stint, where they’ll be playing their 1978 album, Pieces of Eight, in its entirety, begins Jan 23.

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

And speaking of Florida … Styx’s three-day Florida festival, Rockin’ In Paradise with Styx + Friends, is set to launch Oct. 9 in Miramar Beach. The “friends” in the lineup include Cheap Trick, Loverboy, 38 Special, Collective Soul, John Waite and Edwin McCain.

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Rock & Roll Hall of Famer James Taylor is set to make his Grand Ole Opry debut on Nov. 11 in Nashville.

“The Opry has been built over the last 100 years in large part by songwriters and storytellers,” Opry executive producer Dan Rogers says. “To have one of the very best ever with us to celebrate 100 years is amazing to so many of us.”

While Taylor may not be a country star, he has collaborated with several of them over the years, including Chris Stapleton, and Opry members Vince Gill and Alison Krauss. His collaboration with Krauss on the song “How’s the World Treating You?” earned Taylor a Grammy for best country collaboration of the year.

The “Sweet Baby James” singer’s appearance is part of the Opry’s ongoing 100th anniversary celebration. He will be joined by Gill and Opry member Emmylou Harris.

More info can be found at opry.com.

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On This Day, Sept. 30, 1982 …

Bruce Springsteen released the solo album Nebraska.

The album featured 10 acoustic songs Springsteen originally recorded as demos on a four-track recorder. He’d planned to rerecord them with the E Street Band but instead released them as a solo acoustic record.

The album was a critical darling and peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart, with the album’s biggest hit being “Atlantic City,” which reached #10.

Some of the songs on the demo that didn’t make it on Nebraska were later rerecorded with the band and wound up on Springsteen’s multi-Platinum #1 record, Born in the U.S.A.

The film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, an adaptation of Warren Zanes‘ 2023 book about the making of the album, is set to open Oct. 24 starring The Bear star Jeremy Allen White as The Boss.

Springsteen is also releasing an expanded box set dedicated to the album. Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition drops Oct. 17.

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Paul McCartney officially kicked off his 2025 North American Got Back tour at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California, Monday night. He treated the crowd to a set filled with Beatles and Wings classics, as well as his solo material.

According to setlist.fm, Sir Paul kicked off his 35-song set with The Beatles’ “Help,” only the second time he’s played the tune since 1990.

Other Beatles songs in the set include classics like “Got to Get You Into My Life,” “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Blackbird,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Get Back,” “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude,” “Love Me Do” and “Helter Skelter,” as well as the band’s latest hit, “Now and Then.” He also played The Quarrymen tune “In Spite of All the Danger.”

Among the solo tracks performed were “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “My Valentine” and “Coming Up,” while Wings was represented with such songs as “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run” and “Jet.”

Next up, McCartney brings his tour to Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Saturday. A complete list of tour dates can be found at PaulMcCartney.com.

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