Classic Hits

Queen continues the look at their encores in this week’s episode of their weekly YouTube series, Queen the Greatest Live.

While “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” became staples of Queen’s encores, early in their career, they tried out other songs to end their shows. Now, they are giving fans a look at one of those performances.

The clip features footage of their encore performance of the Elvis Presley classic “Jailhouse Rock,” shot December 24, 1975, at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The band sped up the Elvis tune to rock out with the crowd, and the performance featured balloons, blow up dolls and frontman Freddie Mercury throwing flowers to the audience.

It seems the members of the band, particularly Mercury, were big Elvis fans growing up. 

“I think it’s impossible to have been a kid at that time and not been influenced by Elvis,”  Brian May revealed in a 2021 interview. “Freddie in particular though, of course. He was one of Freddie’s great heroes.”

Next week on Queen the Greatest Live: “Friends Will Be Friends.”

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U2 is marking World AIDS Day on December 1 in Las Vegas, with the help of the Sphere, the location of their current residency, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere. 

The skin of the venue is being lit up in red to honor the lives saved by global HIV/AIDS programs, like the (RED) and The ONE Campaign, both of which were co-founded by U2 frontman Bono to fight AIDS and extreme poverty.

It also serves as a reminder that even though the (RED) campaign has raised over $750 million, there’s still more to be done. “Where you live shouldn’t decide whether you live,” (RED) notes in a post, ending with the hashtag #ENDAIDS.

(RED) is giving folks new ways to help this holiday season with The Red Edit, 25 days of one-of-a kind events and experiences that can be purchased to help save lives. More info can be found at red.org.

Meanwhile, after a few weeks off, U2 returns to Sphere for a new run of shows on Friday, December 1. A complete list of dates can be found at U2.com.

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On This Day, December 1, 1944…

John Paul Densmore, future drummer of the rock band The Doors, was born in Los Angeles, California.  

Densmore co-founded The Doors in 1965, along with frontman Jim Morrison, guitarist Robby Kreiger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek. They released their self-titled debut in 1967, which featured their breakthrough single “Light My Fire.” Both the album and the song were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

The Doors released six studio albums, and in addition to “Light My Fire,” are known for such classic tunes as “LA Woman,” “Riders on the Storm,” “Break on Through (To the Other Side),” “Hello I Love You” and more. 

Following the 1971 death of Morrison, Densmore has been the member of the band to veto any attempts to license The Doors’ music for commercial purposes, and even went to court to protect the use of the band’s name and music. Densmore also teamed with the Morrison estate to stop Kreiger and Manzarek from touring under The Doors’ name.

Densmore was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Doors in 1993.

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It’s been over three years in the making, but touring life is almost over for members of KISS. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers roll into New York’s Madison Square Garden on December 1 to wrap their End of the Road tour, which they insist will be their last one ever. 

KISS initially announced their intention to launch one final tour back in September 2018. It kicked off January 31, 2019, in Vancouver, hitting the U.S., Canada, Europe, Mexico, Japan, Latin America, Australia and more.

When it came to where they wanted to end things, KISS picked New York for purely sentimental reasons. 

“KISS was born in New York City. On 23rd Street. Half a century ago,” the band explained. “It will be a privilege and honor to finish touring at Madison Square Garden, 10 blocks and 50 years from where we first started.”

Of course, many fans are skeptical that this really is the final KISS tour, considering they previously went on their Farewell Tour in 2001, only to change their minds by 2002.

One person who does believe KISS isn’t lying about the end is songwriter Desmond Child, who helped pen their hit “I Was Made For Lovin’ You.” 

“I do believe them. They’re not going to come back with, you know, the 20th farewell tour because they have other interests,” he says, noting he could see KISS living on with a possible biopic or hologram show like ABBA’s Voyage.

“I hope they do that in the future,” he says. “This way KISS can be everywhere.” 

While the New York shows are certainly a hot ticket, fans who weren’t able to snag a seat will still be able to enjoy the final night on December 2. KISS is offering it as a pay-per-view event on PPV.com.

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The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are up for a second Grammy Award this year.

The band is already nominated for Best Rock Song for the Hackney Diamonds track “Angry,” but Billboard reports Mick and Keith have now been added to a nomination for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, for the arrangement of their hit “Paint it Black,” which was part of the Netflix series Wednesday.

When the nominations were initially announced in early November, only Esin Aydingoz, Chris Bacon and Alana Da Fonseca were listed as arrangers for the song.

“Paint it Black,” a #1 song for The Stones in 1966, was used in the premiere episode of the Netflix series, with the title character Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega, playing it on the cello.

It marks Jagger and Richards’ first nomination as arrangers. The Rolling Stones have been nominated for 12 Grammys, winning three. Including The Stones nods, Jagger has had 18 nominations, while Richards has had 16.

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Elton John ended his touring career in 2023 and did so with one of the top-grossing tours of the year.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour wrapped in July. Sir Elton’s 65 shows this year landed him at #7 on the Billboard Boxscore Top Tours of 2023 list, bringing in $210 million.

Dead & Company’s final tour also brought in the big bucks: $114.7 million, landing them at #15. The Eagles are at #25 with $76.4 million, Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks land at #39 with $56 million and Sting is at #40 with $55.7 mil. 

Other artists making the year-end Top 40 include Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

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Score one for Daryl Hall in his legal battle with John Oates.

Following a hearing Thursday morning in Nashville, a judge agreed with Hall’s request and issued a temporary injunction against Oates selling his shares of their joint venture, Whole Oates Enterprises LLP. Hall accused Oates of going “behind [his] back” to sell his shares to Primary Wave Music without obtaining Hall’s permission.

The sale is blocked until a private arbitrator resolves the dispute, or until February 17, 2024, whichever comes first. The judge said the injunction is provisional, meaning it will not allow any further movement on the matter until the arbitrator is able to rule.

Ahead of the judge’s ruling, Oates filed a document, obtained by ABC News, in which he stated he was “tremendously disappointed” that Hall made “inflammatory, outlandish and inaccurate statements” about him.

Oates also claimed that Hall as been “unwilling to work with me to try to protect the … intellectual property that we spent decades building.” Saying that he has “no idea who or what” is motivating Hall’s actions, Oates says he’s “deeply hurt.”

Oates adds that he can’t publicly discuss the details, but says Hall’s accusations that he breached their agreement and “acted in bad faith” are not true.

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Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson is helping fellow guitarists sound better. The rocker has just launched a new line of amplifiers handcrafted by Mojotone. 

The line, LERXST, features hand-built guitar amps and cabinets inspired by Lifeson’s five-decade career, offering players “a versatile tonal platform upon which to build their own sonic identity.”

Lifeson says he’s excited about the new line, noting, “It sounds incredible and it’s very handsome. … you’ll want to get one even if you don’t play guitar.”

The line is being launched with Lifeson’s signature amplifier, OMEGA, designed to the rocker’s specifications. It features power scaling and serial effects loops, footswitchable clean and lead channels, a switchable 50/25 watt power section and more. There’s also the CHI, a more compact 30-watt amplifier.  

“I’ve used more amps than Dr. Frankenstein did when breathing life into his creature, but the LERXST CHI is an awesome monster in its own right and one of the sweetest sounding amps I’ve ever heard,” Lifeson shares. “All the great character of the OMEGA in a cool, compact package that you don’t have to be a seven-foot monster to carry around.”

Both are available now, along with a range of guitar cabinets in multiple speaker configurations. More info can be found at lerxstamps.com.

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Richie Sambora and Chicago are among the artists taking part in the 2023 ASCAP Foundation Holiday Auction. 

Former Bon Jovi guitarist Sambora has donated a signed Fender guitar to the auction, while Chicago is offering up four VIP tickets to their 2024 tour, including a meet and greet with the band. 

Also up for auction is a guitar from the 2004 ASCAP Pop Music Awards signed by Jackson Browne, Metallica, Alice in Chains‘ Jerry Cantrell and others; posters signed by Tenacious D and Papa Roach; and a custom song written by Songwriter Hall of Fame members Desmond Child (“Livin’ on a Prayer”) and Paul Williams (“Rainbow Connection”).

The auction is open now through December 14. Proceeds will benefit the ASCAP Foundation, which is “dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education, talent development and humanitarian programs.” 

For more info, visit ASCAPFoundation.org/auction23.

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Music fans who didn’t snag tickets to Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas Jam will still be able to enjoy the show.  

The concert, with a lineup that features Haynes’ band Gov’t Mule, ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons, Slash & Myles Kennedy, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, Clutch and more, will be livestreamed on volume.com.

The 32nd annual Christmas Jam is happening Saturday, December 9, in Haynes’ hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. Proceeds from the concert will benefit Asheville Habitat for Humanity and BeLoved Asheville.

Haynes is also celebrating Christmas Jam this year with the December 8 release of The Benefit Concert Volume 20. Recorded live during 2018’s 30th annual Christmas Jam, it features performances by Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl, Gov’t Mule, Joe Bonamassa, Jim James, Grace Potter and others. It is available for preorder now.

And fans are about to get a preview of the album. Haynes is set to release a video of Grohl’s performance of “Play” on Friday, December 1, at 10 a.m. ET.

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