Classic Hits

Cyndi Lauper is headed out on the road this fall on her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour, and she may have just given fans a tease of what to expect.

In a video shared by Live Nation, Cyndi reveals her five favorite songs to perform — one of which, of course, is her classic “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.”

“Because I never really know what’s going to happen,” she says. “Depends on the audience and it’s always fun.” 

Cyndi also loves to sing “All Through the Night,” noting she thinks of Edith Piaf when she sings it. “I know that’s really far-fetched but that’s me, pretty far-fetched,” she says. 

Her other favorite songs include “Sisters of Avalon,” which she says is an “underground thing”; “Shine,” with Cyndi noting “it makes people feel good”; and “She Bop,” “because let’s face it, sometimes we’re all just a bunch of w******.”

Cyndi’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour, which will be her first major tour in 10 years, will kick off Oct. 18 in Montreal and wrap in Chicago on Dec. 5. A complete list of dates can be found at cyndilauper.com.

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Sammy Hagar is set to kick off his The Best of All Worlds Tour on Saturday. The rocker and his band will be playing Van Halen songs during the show, and while he may have originally hoped that former Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen would stop by, he knows it isn’t about to happen.

Hagar tells Classic Rock that when he started planning the tour with Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony he “immediately reached out to Al” but heard nothing back.

“No response,” Hagar says. “I hit him again. No response. I called (manager) Irving Azoff; he goes, ‘Al doesn’t want to play with anybody. He’s still mourning his brother’s death… I don’t think he’s ready.’ And I said, ‘Well, get him to talk to me.’” 

Then in May, Alex announced he was selling off all his equipment at an auction that closed June 9. Hagar is taking that personally.

“I think that was his statement to me,” he says. “I think that was his way of saying, ‘I’m over. I’m done.’ It’s a shame.”

“There’s a time I was saying, ‘Oh, he’ll show up. You watch, he’ll f*****’ show up at the (Los Angeles) Forum or something,’” Sammy adds. “Mike and I had this running joke that we were gonna put him on the guest list every night of every show, just for fun. But, no, after selling his drums, he ain’t showing up nowhere, I can guarantee you that.” 

Hagar’s The Best of All Worlds tour kicks off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.

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Actress Daisy Edgar-Jones reveals in a new interview that she’s no longer attached to star in a biopic about singer/songwriter Carole King. 

Daisy, who stars in the new movie Twisters, was first attached to the Carole film back in 2022. She told Variety that the biopic is “no longer happening,” although sources tell the trade it’s still in development.

“I love Carole and I love that story, but it was a year ago that they decided [to no longer pursue it],” she said. “I think it’s a gorgeous story, and the script probably needs a little more time in the oven.”

Daisy says she learned to play piano for the film, and even met Carole on Zoom.

“I was like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever,’” she says of connecting with King. “She really enjoyed Normal People, so she was a fan of that and I was a fan of hers.”

Daisy adds, “I get so starstruck by musicians, much more than actors, and Carole was one where it was quite hard to keep my cool.”

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KISS is celebrating a new milestone. The band’s classic tune, “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” just hit 1 billion streams on Spotify. The tune is the first KISS song to join Spotify’s Billions club.

“Thank you #KISSARMY! You streamed “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” over 1 billion times on @spotify!,” the band shared on Instagram.

“I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” Paul Stanley’s first collaboration with songwriter Desmond Child, was featured on the band’s 1979 album Dynasty. It became KISS’ second Gold single, and has been a staple at KISS’ live shows throughout their career.

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On This Day, July 10, 1965… 

The Rolling Stones hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” which was their first #1 single. 

The track, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, appeared on the band’s third studio album Out of Our Heads. 

The tune went on to become a Stones classic, and to this day is a staple of their live shows. In 1998, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2006 it was chosen by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.

Throughout their career, The Stones have had eight #1 hits, their last being 1978’s “Miss You.”

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Condolences go out to Jon Bon Jovi and his family: His mother, Carol Bongiovi, passed away on July 9, three days short of her 84th birthday.

Mrs. Bongiovi, born Carol Sharkey, was born in Erie, Pennsylvania and joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1959, where she met her husband, John Biongiovi, Sr. The couple moved to New Jersey, where their sons John Jr. — later known as Jon Bon Jovi — Anthony and Matthew were born.  Described as an entrepreneur who operated several businesses, Carol also worked as a Playboy Bunny and founded the Bon Jovi fan club.

She’s survived by her husband, John Sr., her three sons and daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren.

In a statement, Jon Bon Jovi said, “Our mother was a force to be reckoned with, her spirit and can-do attitude shaped this family. She will be greatly missed.”

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Queen guitarist Brian May is opening up about his working relationship with the band’s late frontman, Freddie Mercury, in a new interview with Guitar World.

May was talking about how insecure he often felt when people first heard a new song from him, noting “it’s always nerve-racking for me, no matter who it is.”

But he said that wasn’t necessarily the case with Mercury. 

“Freddie was always great. I used to sing stuff to him, and he was always very encouraging,” he said. “Of course, I was generally writing for him. I was conscious that I had to write something that would work for him, not just for me. And generally, he would take hold of it very quickly.”

He added, “[Freddie] was always very upfront; he had an amazing amount of drive, optimism and energy. He was very helpful with my insecurities, and he kind of chose me as his guitarist in the early days.”

Talking about the encouragement he’d get from Mercury, May shared, “He always said, ‘You can do anything anyone can do, Brian. You can do this for me.'”

“That sounds like I’m making him out as big-headed, but he wasn’t,” May says, “it was just this enthusiasm of, ‘We can do this together. We can be the best thing in the world.’”

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The nominations for the 2024 Astra TV Awards have just been announced, and documentaries featuring Bon Jovi, Paul Simon and more have been recognized this year.

Simon’s Paramount+ doc In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon and Bon Jovi’s Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story are both up for Best Documentary. Also nominated in the category is The Greatest Night in Pop, the movie about the making of the 1985 all-star charity single “We Are the World.” 

The awards are handed out by the Hollywood Creative Alliance, which includes critics, journalists, content creators and other creatives. They will stream live from Hollywood on Aug. 18 on the official Astra Awards YouTube channel.

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A new live album from Melissa Etheridge is now available on all streaming platforms.

I’m Not Broken (Live From Topeka Correctional Facility) is the companion album to Melissa’s new Paramount+ docuseries, Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken, streaming now. It details how, after corresponding with five female residents of Topeka Correctional Facility in her home state of Kansas, she wrote an original song called “Burning Woman” and then did a concert at the facility.  

The album includes live renditions of Melissa’s biggest hits, including “Come to My Window,” “I’m the Only One,” “Bring Me Some Water,” “Like the Way I Do” and “I Want to Come Over.” Physical copies of the album will be in stores July 12.

Melissa will soon kick off a round of co-headlining dates with Jewel, followed by another round of shows with Indigo Girls.

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British blues rockers Ten Years After are revisiting their appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival with a first-ever standalone album of their performance.

Ten Years After Woodstock 1969 will be released Aug. 16 with newly restored and fresh mixes of their Aug. 17 Woodstock set. It includes their classic performance of “I’m Going Home,” which was featured in the documentary Woodstock: 3 Days Of Peace And Music and its soundtrack.

The album will be released on CD and as a two-LP black vinyl set. There will also be a two-LP tie-dye colored vinyl, sold exclusively at indie record stores.

Ten Years After Woodstock 1969 is available for preorder now.

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