Classic Hits

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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Drummer Bram van den Berg, who sat in for Larry Mullen Jr. during U2’s Las Vegas residency, U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, is thanking U2 fans for the warm welcome he received throughout the residency run.

In a post on U2’s official forum, Zootopia, Bram calls the experience performing with the band an “adventure of a lifetime.”

“There was so much love going around during the shows and I felt incredibly supported by the U2 audience,” he adds. “You’ve all been so good to me.”

Bram shares that he felt “privileged” to be included in the shows and that Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Mullen trusted him “to represent their incredible legacy night after night.” 

“They say never meet your heroes. But I’m glad I did. Because they turned out to be the sweetest, genuine and hardest working people I’ve ever met,” he writes. “And I’m beyond humbled that I got to be part of all of your lives for those two hours and 10 minutes. What an honor!!!”

U2 wrapped up the residency on Saturday, March 2, after 40 shows at the state-of-the-art Vegas venue. As a thank you to fans, they shared a new video from the residency set to their classic “Beautiful Day,” focusing on the audience and all the fans that came to see them from around the world.

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On This Day, March 6, 2000…

Eric Clapton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, his third time being inducted into the prestigious institution. Clapton was the first and is still the only musician to be inducted into the Hall of Fame three times. 

Clapton was previously inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of The Yardbirds in 1992, and then again in 1993 as a member of Cream.

While Clapton is the only artist to be inducted three times, several have been inducted twice, including all four members of The Beatles, all four members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Stevie Nicks, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Jeff Beck, and Dave Grohl.

The nominees for the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were recently announced, with Peter Frampton, Foreigner and Lenny Kravitz among this year’s nominees. Inductees will be announced in April. 

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Billboards and projections appeared this week in different cities around the world with a message: “2024 is going to be LEGENDARY …,” followed by the URL BonJoviForever.com.

If you visit that website, you’ll find a countdown clock set to run out around Thursday of next week. You can also sign up for updates. 

So what is Bon Jovi teasing? Jon Bon Jovi has spoken about making a new album, so perhaps it’s a new song, an album announcement, a tour or both.

If it’s new music, it’ll be the band’s first release since the album 2020, which featured the hit “Do What You Can.” If it’s a tour, it’ll be the band’s first since 2022. Since then, Jon has had to have major reconstructive surgery on his vocal cords and has been doing rehab to get his voice back into shape.

2024 is a significant year for the band: It marks the 40th anniversary of their self-titled debut album. They also have a Hulu documentary, Thank You, Goodnight, streaming April 26. It will have its premiere at South by Southwest on March 14.

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Bruce Hornsby has had many highlights throughout his career, but in an interview with Music Radar he reveals one of his favorite things he’s ever done is join the Grateful Dead.

Discussing the artists he’s worked with in the past, he shared, “But the collaboration I had most fun with was joining the Grateful Dead.” 

“That whole scene … the fans, playing one song for a couple of hours, the people I met, the body of work that those guys created. OK, it might not be on a par with The Beatles, but it’s pretty darn close,” he said.

Hornsby initially performed with the Dead whenever he and The Range would open for them, but started filling in regularly when they were between keyboardists in the early ’90s.

“And the great thing was that they simply sat me down and said, ‘play whatever you want,’” he said. “There were no rules, no funny looks if you came in at the wrong place. There was no ‘wrong place!’ It was pure music and it was wonderful.” 

He added, “Man, I wouldn’t trade my time with the Dead for anything.” 

And while Hornsby had lots of fun touring with them, he didn’t have the kind of hallucinogenic fun some may associate with the band. 

“I knew the score. Bear Stanley [the Dead’s live sound engineer, who was known as The Acid King] was still with them and he was wandering around backstage, dropping a little of this and that into the Kool-Aid,” he said. “But I took Bear to one side and told him, ‘Look, this ain’t my thing. You dose me and I’m outta here.’”

He noted, “He was true to his word. Not that it stopped the rest of the guys having a ball up there!”

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Billy Idol is set to headline the Project Pabst festival, happening July 27-28 at Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon. Idol will headline opening night of the festival, with Big Thief confirmed for closing night. 

The festival, sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, also features Violent Femmes, T-Pain, Gossip, Manchester Orchestra and others.

Tickets for Project Pabst are on sale now. More info and a complete lineup can be found at projectpabst.com.

Project Pabst is one of several festivals Idol has on his schedule this year. He’s also set to play Sunfest in West Palm Beach, Florida, on May 3, and the Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 5. A complete list of Idol dates can be found at billyidol.net.

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Bob Dylan is currently on his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, but apparently, not all concertgoers are loving the experience. In fact, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer got heckled by a fan at his concert Friday, March 1, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

In fan-shot footage posted to YouTube, you can hear a member of the audience share their two cents, shouting to Dylan, “Play something we know.”

But Dylan didn’t seem to care too much about the heckler’s opinion. He actually ignored the comment and continued on with his next song, “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” which he performed to the tune of “Putting on the Ritz.” 

The fan never got their wish; the set list was absent of any Dylan hits, as has been customary on his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour.

Dylan is set to kick off a two-night stand in Clearwater, Florida, March 5 and 6. He has Rough and Rowdy Ways tour dates confirmed through September 17 in Buffalo, New York. A complete list of dates can be found at bobdylan.com.

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Fender is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Stratocaster with an all-star performance of “Voodoo Child” by Jimi Hendrix, who was known for playing the Stratocaster and was often seen performing with his signature off-white Strat.

Guitarists performing in the tribute include Chic’s Nile Rodgers, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Jimmie Vaughan and Biffy Clyro’s Sam Neil.

“One of the fascinating nuances about Jimi was that his guitars weren’t just instruments to him, but extensions of him…part of his persona,” Janie Hendrix, Hendrix’s sister and Experience Hendrix CEO, shares. “He communicated a different vibe through each guitar and that’s what made him select certain instruments for certain songs.” 

She adds, “If you listen to songs from Are You Experienced you feel the electricity of his Strat that he played in live performances, bringing that unmistakable surge created by Jimi through that extension of himself. It’s a thrilling thing to see and hear.” 

The video is part of a new 70th anniversary celebration campaign launch for the Stratocaster dubbed “Forever Ahead of Its Time.” It will include Strat Sessions, featuring performances and conversations with guitarists; Icons of the Strat, a portrait series honoring legendary Strat players; and more. There will also be a new line of 70th anniversary Stratocaster models.

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Madonna was forced to postpone the start of her Celebration Tour last year due to a bacterial infection that landed her in the hospital and she claimed nearly killed her. At her March 4 show in Los Angeles, she gave the audience some details about how sick she was.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Madonna said, “I would call in every other day and ask [my doctor] why I didn’t have any energy, when was my energy going to come back, when was I going to feel myself again, when can I go on tour again?’ All he would say is, ‘Go outside, in the sun.’”

“It was so hard for me to walk from my house to the backyard and sit in the sun. I know that sounds insane, but it was difficult … ” she continued. “It’s a strange thing to finally not feel like I was in control, and that was my lesson: to let go.”

She then thanked everyone who “took care me and listened to all of my endless complaining,” adding, “You’re patient and you’re kind. You still are.”

Madonna also revealed that when she was in bed hooked up to machines, her manager, Guy Oseary, asked her when she thought she might be ready to tour again.

“I took the oxygen out of my nose, I looked at him, and I said, ‘in two f****** months!’” Madonna stated. “I just said it. Sometimes you just have to say s***, put it out in the universe, and it happens.”

“My children are what really helped me pull through because they worked so hard …I didn’t want to let them down, so I just set a date, and that date became a reality,” she explained, adding, “I didn’t want to disappoint my fans. I never do.”

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The Black Crowes have dropped a new music video for “Wanting and Waiting,” the first single from their upcoming album, Happiness Bastards.

The clip, directed by Christopher Acosta, is the band’s first music video in 16 years, their last being 2008’s “Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution.”

The video features brothers Chris and Rich Robinson and the rest of the band performing in front of a large video screen that flashes various words and images, including skulls and crows. 

Happiness Bastards, The Black Crowes’ first album of new music in 15 years, drops March 15 and is available for preorder now. 

The band will also be heading out on the Happiness Bastards tour this spring, hitting 35 cities starting April 2 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. A complete list of dates can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

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