Classic Hits

A lawyer for Don Henley claims the Eagles rocker has been “victimized” by the dismissal of the case against three men accused of stealing his handwritten notes, including the lyrics to well-known Eagles songs.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office requested the dismissal after Henley delayed handing over some 6,000 pages of material, using attorney-client privilege as his excuse. This made it impossible for the defense to cross-examine him about the documents, and the judge accused the rocker and his legal team of trying “to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging to their position that the lyric sheets were stolen.” 

But Henley’s newly hired attorney Dan Petrocelli tells Entertainment Weekly that Henley did nothing wrong.

“The attorney-client privilege is a foundational guardrail in our justice system, and rarely, if ever, should you have to forsake it to prosecute or defend a case,” Petrocelli tells the mag. “As the victim in this case, Mr. Henley has once again been victimized by this unjust outcome.”

He adds, “He will pursue all his rights in the civil courts.” 

Glen Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinki were charged with trying to sell manuscripts of Henley’s lyrics, which they knew to be stolen. They were allegedly taken in the late 1970s by an author who’d been hired to write an Eagles biography. In 2005, he sold the manuscripts to Horowitz, a rare books dealer, who then sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski.

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Little Feat is set to release their first new album in 12 years, Sam’s Place, on May 17. The record is the group’s first blues album, and the first to feature percussionist Sam Clayton on lead vocals.

The nine-track album is made up of a mixture of blues covers and one new song, “Milk Man,” which Sam wrote. The album also features a guest appearance by Bonnie Raitt on a cover of Muddy Waters’ “Long Distance Call.”

“I’m very happy because I was never expecting anything like that,” Clayton says of singing on the album. “I mean, I have wanted to, but I just wasn’t expecting it to come to fruition. It was a long wait, but it’s satisfying.”

To give fans a little preview of the record, Little Feat has just released the track “You’ll Be Mine,” a cover of a Willie Dixon-penned tune made famous by Howlin’ Wolf.  

You can listen to “You’ll be Mine” now via digital outlets and on YouTube. 

Sam’s Place is available for preorder now.

Little Feat is set to hit the road on their Can’t Be Satisfied tour starting May 31 in Berkley, California. A complete list of dates can be found at littlefeat.net.

Here is the track list for Sam’s Place:

“Milk Man”
“You’ll Be Mine”
“Long Distance Call”
“Don’t Go No Further”
“I Can’t Be Satisfied”
“Last Night”
“Why People Like That”
“Mellow Down Easy”
“Got My Mojo Working (Live)”

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Wolfgang Van Halen has responded to David Lee Roth‘s multiple shots at him, telling Billboard, “I’m honored he thinks about me as much as he does, I guess.”

As previously reported, the former Van Halen vocalist has released multiple videos aimed at the Mammoth WVH frontman, who, of course, is the son of the late Eddie Van Halen and started playing bass in the “Panama” outfit in 2006. In one, Roth refers to Wolf as “this f****** kid” as he tells multiple stories about how the younger Van Halen apparently had some of his backstage guests kicked out. In another, he appears to make fun of the last Van Halen album, 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth, which featured both Wolf and Roth.

“I would sure love to not have to be part of some sort of Van Halen drama at all,” Wolf now says. “I think I’m just gonna continue to sit in my no-comment zone … ’cause at the end of the day it’s just not worth it.”

“It’s one thing when there’s some [person] on Twitter saying a lie about me,” he continues. “But when there’s other people trying to lie about me and make me look bad? It’s just like, you can believe whatever you want, I guess. The people who hate me are gonna continue to hate me, and I’m just gonna be over here doing my thing.”

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KISS surprised fans during their final show at Madison Square Garden in December when they revealed they were working on an avatar show, which they later announced would be coming in 2027. 

While fans still have lots of questions about what to expect from the show, KISS’ Gene Simmons isn’t willing to spill any details. 

“Part of the fun of Christmas is when you open your present, you’re shocked and surprised and hopefully delighted,” he shared on Artists On Record starring ADIKA LIVE. “So why would I tell you in February what you’re gonna get for Christmas?”

Still, Simmons is confident fans will be impressed.

“There’s so much hard work being done behind the scenes, and what I’ve seen will blow your mind,” he added. “So in a very real way, our end is really like the caterpillar becoming the butterfly. The end is the beginning.”

Simmons is getting ready to take the stage for his first post-KISS shows with the Gene Simmons Band. They’ll play Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 26 and then kick off a European tour in Finland on July 27. A complete list of dates can be found at genesimmons.com.

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There’s no doubt Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison had huge success as The Beatles, but their careers certainly didn’t end once the band broke up in 1970.

All four members went on to have successful solo careers, and now Rolling Stone is taking a deep dive into their solo material with its just-released list of the 100 best Beatles solo songs.

The list is compiled by music journalist Rob Sheffield, who knows a thing or two about The Beatles, having written the 2017 book Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World. In a post on social media he said compiling the list was a “true labor of love.”

Topping the list is McCartney’s 1970 classic “Maybe I’m Amazed,” which he wrote for wife Linda McCartney. Sheffield writes that McCartney “wrote his most soulful, passionate, unforgettable love song for Linda, in the aftermath of The Beatles break-up,” adding the tune “captures the moment when their romance was just beginning.”

The couple married in 1969 and were together for 29 years until Linda’s death in 1998.

Coming in at #2 is Lennon’s 1970 track “God,” which is described as the “most ferocious performance of his lifetime, or practically anyone’s.”

Harrison’s “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” comes in at #3, followed by Ringo’s “It Don’t Come Easy” at #4 and Lennon’s “Mind Games” at #5. 

Rounding out the top 10 are: McCartney & Wings’ “Band on the Run” at #6, Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity” at #7, McCartney’s “Too Many People” at #8, Lennon’s “Imagine” at #9 and Harrison’s “Pure Smokey” at #10.

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Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown will soon have Jon Bon Jovi as a father-in-law, as she’s been engaged to his son Jake Bongiovi since April 2023. So, does she have a favorite Bon Jovi tune?

“I would say ‘Runaway,’” Brown tells The Mary Sue, referring to Bon Jovi’s debut single, which was released in 1984, 20 years before she was born. 

But it’s not her favorite simply because it’s a catchy tune. The track actually appeared in Stranger Things and she sees that as some sort of sign.

“Because in Stranger Things, ‘Runaway’ plays over one of my scenes. So it was foreshadowing my engagement,” the 20-year-old explains. “I was like, ‘They knew, Stranger Things knew. Like Netflix always knows.’”

She adds, “If you’re ever in doubt, Netflix will solve it. Don’t worry. But yeah, I think ‘Runaway’ is such a good song.”

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Annie Lennox, Graham Nash and Jackson Browne are among the artists who’ve signed an open letter published in the Los Angeles Times that uses the Oscar-nominated film Oppenheimer to remind the public that nuclear weapons are not a thing of the past.

“Oppenheimer depicts the origin story of nuclear weapons, the history of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Oppenheimer’s subsequent warnings against an arms race and the development of even more powerful weapons,” reads the letter, which is also posted to the website makenukeshistory.org. “Oppenheimer was right to warn us.” 

They add, “As artists and advocates, we want to raise our voices to remind people that while Oppenheimer is history, nuclear weapons are not.” 

The letter was published as Oppenheimer is in the running for 13 Oscars on Sunday, March 10. It’s part of a campaign started by the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative, which is “focused on reducing nuclear and biological threats imperiling humanity.” 

Other artists signing the letter include Jane Fonda, Emma Thompson, Lily Tomlin, Michael Douglas, Julianne Moore and Viggo Mortensen, as well as Oppenheimer’s own grandson, Charles Oppenheimer.

The letter concludes, “To protect our families, our communities, and our world, we must demand that global leaders work to make nuclear weapons history—and build a brighter future. Please join us—before our luck runs out.”

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America co-founder Gerry Beckley is back with new music.

The artist will release his self-titled 10th studio album on June 28 and has just dropped the album’s debut single “Crazy,” a tune he wrote over 10 years ago. 

Beckley says the track, which he finished with producer and collaborator Jeff Larson Beckley, was one he had forgotten about. 

“Jeff and I found it on a hard drive, and I thought, ‘That’s pretty good. Gimme some time,’” he says, “So, I went in and just did a bunch of extra stuff, layered it up, and it came out great.”

Comparing the tune to America’s “Sister Golden Hair” he notes, “it’s not about anybody in particular. There’s not a relationship I’m dancing around. But it’s just themes that I’ve had in my head.”

Beckley says he really likes his new album, sharing, “I think the sum of all the parts is really great. And I can’t wait to do more.”

Here is the track list for Gerry Beckley:

“My Life”
“Amnesia”
“Well Worn Shoes”
“Crazy”
“Everybody’s Talkin”
“Simone”
“Arrow”
“Folly”
“Where There’s A Will”
“Even If Tomorrow”
“Red And Blue”
“One Lit Window”

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Fans of The Doobie Brothers can look forward to some new music soon.

In an interview with Billboard, co-founders Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston reveal they’re finishing up a new album that will feature Michael McDonald.

The album will be their first with McDonald since 1980’s One Step Closer and the first to feature Simmons, Johnston and McDonald since 1975’s Takin’ It To the Streets, the band’s first record with McDonald.

“It’s very exciting,” Simmons shares about the album. “At one point I said, ‘Hey, we’re doing all these dates… As long as we’re doing this it would make sense to do a record. I think people would really get a kick out of that.’” 

He adds, “We have yet to find out whether they’ll get a kick out of it or whether we’ll get kicked for it.”

Simmons says they hope to have the album finished before they head out on the latest leg of their 50th anniversary tour this summer.

“I would put it half, maybe 60 percent where we’re at now as far as completion,” Simmons says. “The songs are done. The arrangements are pretty close.” 

The Doobie Brothers will hit the road on the latest leg of their 50th anniversary tour starting June 15 in Seattle, Washington. Special guests on the tour include Steve Winwood and The Robert Cray Band. A complete list of dates can be found at thedoobiebrothers.com.

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Billy Idol’s sophomore album, Rebel Yell, turned 40 in November, and now, he’s celebrating the milestone with a new deluxe expanded edition of the record. 

The reissue will be available digitally and as a two-LP and two-CD set on April 26. In addition to the original album, it will feature an album of previously unreleased songs and demos, including “Best Way Out Of Here,” a never-before-heard Idol/Steve Stevens track from the album’s original recording sessions and a Poolside remix of “Eyes Without A Face.”

The deluxe will also feature a cover of Rose Royce’s “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” which will be released on Friday, March 8, the same day the expanded edition is available for preorder.

Aside from “Eyes Without A Face,” which was a top five hit for Idol, Rebel Yell featured such classic tunes as the title track and “Flesh for Fantasy.” Videos for all three tracks got regular play on MTV. The album peaked at #6 in the U.S. and went on to be certified double Platinum by the RIAA.

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