Classic Hits

Sammy Hagar is set to auction off his custom 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari at the Barrett-Jackson 2024 Scottsdale Auction, beginning Saturday at WestWorld in Arizona. And while he has had second thoughts about his decision, he tells ABC Audio that passing it on is the right thing to do. 

“I don’t deserve to own it anymore because it’s too much car for me,” the 76-year-old says. “I mean, at my age, that car is so fast. You have to recalibrate your brain when you get in.”  

Sammy believes that holding onto it is like keeping a classic piece of artwork.  

“Things like that you shouldn’t own. You shouldn’t die with that in your possession,” he says. “You should pass it on to someone else that can appreciate it. That’s kind of the way I feel about this car. It’s that special.” 

Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co. premium sparkling rum canned cocktails will be making their Arizona debut as the “presenting sponsor” of the auction. Sammy’s confident fans will love them, because he does.

Sammy insists he’s very involved in the development of all his liquor and cocktails, noting, “The look and feel, how it’s going to taste, 100% comes from my tongue, my palate, my stomach, what I like.”

In fact, that’s Sammy’s motto when it comes to any of his business ventures. “You please yourself, you say, ‘This is what I like,’” rather than creating something because you think others will like it. He notes, “To go into business like that to me would be ludicrous.”  

The Barrett-Jackson 2024 Scottsdale Auction, featuring about 1,900 collectible cars, trucks and SUVs, is happening January 20-28. More info can be found at scottsdale.barrett-jackson.com.

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U2 is asking their fans for some help. The Irish rockers are set to return to Las Vegas later this month, and to mark the occasion they are launching a new broadcast channel on Instagram. The issue? They don’t know what to name it.

The band has asked their fans to chime in with suggestions for a name; once they’ve narrowed it down to their favorite four, they’ll hold a poll to pick a winner.

“Please feel free to be as clever as you’d like,” they write, “puns are welcome!” They’ve already received several suggestions, including “Atomic Zoo,” “U2:LV,” “U2LovesUtoo” and “U2ube.”

The new channel’s launch will coincide with the January 26 return of U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, following a break of more than a month. The show is set to run through March 2. A complete list of dates can be found at u2.com.

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Talking Heads’ iconic concert film Stop Making Sense is headed back to theaters.

Variety reports that in celebration of the movie’s 40th anniversary this summer, A24 is set to rerelease its 4K restoration of the film to theaters in the U.S. and Canada starting January 27. The movie will have residencies in several cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and London.

To coincide with the rerelease, A24 will also launch a new Stop Making Sense merch collection in theaters, and it will release a collector’s edition 4K and Blu-ray edition of the flick, which will be available for preorder staring January 27.

The news follows the announcement earlier this month that a Stop Making Sense tribute album is on the way, featuring 16 artists covering Talking Heads tunes, including Paramore’s take on “Burning Down the House.”

A24’s 4K restoration of Stop Making Sense debuted at the Toronto Film Festival last September, which included a Q&A with the reunited band. It livestreamed at IMAX theaters across the country, selling out 25 theaters to become IMAX’s highest-grossing live event.

Considered by many to be the greatest concert film of all time, Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme, was recorded over three shows at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre in December 1983; the documentary came out the following October.

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One of Madonna‘s most iconic costumes is the gold cone bra corset by Jean Paul Gaultier that she wore on her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour. While you can’t own the original, you can now buy a replica of sorts — for a good cause.

Madonna and Gaultier have teamed up to create a T-shirt that features a large image of the corset printed on the front. All proceeds from the shirt will go to Madonna’s charity, Raising Malawi.

“Who doesn’t remember My iconic Gold corset designed by the one and only Jean Paul Gaultier…?” Madonna writes on Instagram. “Now you can have an exclusive T-shirt created by the man who designed it, and the woman who wore it —M.E.”

“All proceeds from this Special collaboration will benefit @RaisingMalawi and help provide critical medical interventions to orphans and vulnerable children at the Mercy James Center for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care,” she continues, referring to the center that’s named after her daughter.

“Thanks to @RaisingMalawi and the support that the Mercy James Center has been able to provide for over 11,000 surgeries since it opened in 2017,” she writes. “Funds from these T-shirts will ensure that thousands more children will receive the surgical care they need to thrive and survive.”

You can buy the T-shirt now at Madonna’s online store … for $150.

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The Allman Betts Band is hitting the road this spring.

The group, led by Devon Allman and Duane Betts, sons of the Allman Brothers Band’s Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts, respectively, have announced dates for the King Crawler American Tour, which is set to kick off May 16 in Charleston, South Carolina, and wrap June 9 in Newton, New Jersey.

A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at allmanbettsband.com.

While this is the Allman Betts Band’s first U.S. tour since 2021, the two artists did hit the road together last year for the 2023 Allman Betts Family Revival, a 16-date tour that also featured Anders Osborne, North Mississippi Allstars’ Luther and Cody Dickinson, and special guests in select cities.

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Ross Valory, bassist and original member of Journey, is set to release his debut solo album, All of the Above, in April, and he’s giving fans their first taste of the record.

Valory, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Journey, has just dropped the video for the new instrumental single “Tomland,” which features guitarist Miles Schon, son of Journey’s Neal Schon, drummer Prairie Prince and keyboardist Eric Levy.

“I have been revisiting material that has been accumulating, and I am sharing some of my favorite songs for the first time!” Valory shares of the record, noting on YouTube that fans should be “unprepared for a very eclectic album.” 

Here’s the track list for All of the Above:

“Wild Kingdom”
“Nightflower”
“Tomland”
“Touched, Part II”
“Windmill”
“Incident at Neshabur”
“Low Rider”
“No One Wins a War”

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On This Day, January 17, 1996…

David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane and The Velvet Underground were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.

Talking Heads’ David Byrne did the honors of inducting Bowie, while Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman Billy Corgan inducted Pink Floyd. Patti Smith inducted The Velvet Underground, and Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart and Phil Lesh inducted Jefferson Airplane.

The night’s other inductees included Gladys Knight & the Pips, Little Willie John, The Shirelles and Pete Seeger.

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The members of R.E.M. and Steely Dan are among the artists chosen for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year. 

R.E.M.’s Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, and Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker will be inducted into the 2024 class in the performers category.

Non-performing songwriters set for induction this year include Timbaland, best known for his work with Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott and others, Hillary Lindsey, writer of such popular country songs as “Jesus Take the Wheel” and “Girl Crush,” and Dean Pitchford, writer of songs like “Footloose” and “Fame.”

“I’ve said it before, but the music industry does not exist without songwriters delivering great songs first. Without them there is no recorded music, no concert business, no merch . . . nothing, it all starts with the song and the songwriter,” SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said. “We are therefore very proud that we are continually recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2024 slate represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and literally enriched music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.” 

Artists who were nominated, but not chosen this year, include Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and Michael McDonald; Blondie‘s Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke; Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson; Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, founding members of The Guess Who; Bryan Adams, George Clinton, Tracy Chapman, Kenny Loggins, David Gates of Bread and the members of rap group Public Enemy.

The 2024 class will be celebrated at the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala, taking place Thursday, June 13, in New York City.

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Director Martin Scorsese is reflecting on his relationship with the late Robbie Robertson in a new interview with Variety.

“I just miss Robbie, period,” Scorsese tells the trade. “The friendship, the work, the tales he told — all of it.”

The pair had been friends for 47 years and collaborated on 14 projects, including the Scorsese-directed concert documentary The Last Waltz, featuring Robbie’s group The Band. Their final project was Scorsese’s most recent release, Killers of the Flower Moon, which Robertson completed before his death in August 2023.

“It meant a lot to both of us that we did this project together,” he says. “He saw it through to the end, and that was nice.” 

So what was it that brought these two artists together in the first place? Scorsese says he and Robertson bonded over the love of their preferred craft. 

“He lived his music. I lived my movies,” he shares. “And when Robbie and I shared a house in Hollywood, he played me music, I showed him movies and we never stopped sharing our suggestions and thoughts and impressions and passions and pouring it all into the work.” 

He adds, “It wasn’t really a conscious thing. Looking back on it now, I realize that it just happened spontaneously between us. It could have been as simple as each of us looking for inspiration.”

Scorsese already has plans for his next project, which means he’s going to have to find a new person to collaborate with on the music, but he knows it will never be the same.

“I’ll work with people who bring something different,” he says, “but I would never imagine that someone could replace Robbie.”

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The Zombies continue to expand their North American Different Game tour.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just added two new shows to their schedule: April 11 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and April 12 in Clearwater, Florida.

The latest additions follow recently announced shows in Annapolis, Maryland, on March 26, and Alexandria, Virginia, on March 27. They will also set sail on the On The Blue Cruise from April 5 to April 10, departing from Miami. 

A fan club presale starts Wednesday, January 17, at 10 a.m. ET, with the public onsale kicking off Friday, January 19, at 10 a.m. ET. A complete list of dates can be found at thezombies.com.

The Zombies previously toured the U.S. in 2023. Unfortunately, in October they were forced to cut their Different Game tour short after founding member Rod Argent was hospitalized after suffering migraines, fatigue and exhaustion.

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