Classic Hits

Guitars autographed by James Taylor and The Doobie Brothers are up for grabs as part of Gibson Gives’ upcoming benefit auction, hosted by Julien’s Auctions.

Other artists who’ve donated signed guitars include Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Willie Nelson, Halestorm, Live, Collective Soul and Daughtry.

“We are proud to help support the musicians of tomorrow, with help from the musicians of today,” says Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions. “This auction of nearly two dozen guitars features some incredible instruments, all signed by renowned artists and bands.”

The online-only auction will go live March 5 at 10 a.m. PT, with proceeds benefiting Gibson Gives & FirstBank Amphitheater Music Education Program, supporting music education for students in Williamson County Schools in Tennessee.

More info can be found at JuliensAuctions.com.

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Gene Simmons recently made headlines for sharing his opinion about hip-hop artists being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and caught some flack over using the word “ghetto.” He’s now defending himself against the backlash.

In the original interview with the Legends N Leaders podcast, the KISS rocker, who was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2015, said of hip-hop, “It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language.”

“And as I said in print many times, hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, nor does opera, symphony orchestras,” he added. “How come the New York Philharmonic doesn’t get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Because it’s called the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

After folks online dubbed Simmons’ use of the word ghetto racist, he defended himself, telling People, “I stand by my words.” 

“Let’s cut to the chase. The word ‘ghetto,’ it originated with Jews,” he continued. “It was borrowed by African Americans in particular and respectfully, not in a bad way.”

As for the suggestion that it’s a racist term, Simmons argued, “Ghetto is a Jewish term[.] … How could you be, when rock is Black music? It’s just a different Black music than hip-hop, which is also Black music.”

He added, “Rock ‘n’ roll owes everything to Black music, statement of fact, period. All the major forms of American music owe their roots to Black music.”

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New York City is set to honor the legacy of rocker Jimi Hendrix. It was just announced that the city plans to co-name West 8th Street in Greenwich Village Jimi Hendrix Way.

The street is where Hendrix’s legendary Electric Lady Studios is located. Opened in August 1970, Electric Lady was the first commercial studio owned by an artist. Hendrix died just three weeks after its opening.

The naming is set to take place Feb. 24 at 11 a.m., and was the result of a campaign led by Experience Hendrix LLC President and CEO Janie Hendrix, NYC District 2 council member Harvey Epstein, and guitarist and writer Jeff Slate.

The naming ceremony will coincide with the launch of a new education partnership with E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt’s TeachRock, which uses music and pop culture to expand learning in schools. The partnership will result in the addition of a Hendrix curriculum for middle and high school students.

“Jimi Hendrix didn’t just play guitar—he reimagined what art could be,” says Van Zandt. “I want TeachRock to transport students into that same sense of possibility and discovery I felt the first time I saw Jimi perform. His story, lyrics, and sound remind young people that creativity has no limits.”

Janie Hendrix, Van Zandt and Epstein will attend the street naming ceremony, along with group of local TeachRock teachers and students. It will take place on the corner of 8th Street and 6th Avenue.

This isn’t the first time the street has been named after Hendrix. In 2024, the same street in Greenwich Village was temporarily renamed after the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer in connection with the release of the documentary Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision.

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The music of the Bee Gees will be celebrated in a new limited-edition box set.

You Should Be Dancing, a four-disc set limited to just 1,000 copies, will feature 12-inch versions of some of the group’s biggest hits disco hits, along with previously unreleased extended versions of tracks.

The set features ’70s-era classics like “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever,” “You Should Be Dancing” and “More Than a Woman,” as well as previously unreleased extended versions of “Jive Talkin,'” “Tragedy,” “Nights on Broadway” and “Love You Inside Out.”

There’s also their cover of Yvonne Elliman’s 1978 hit “If I Can’t Have You”; producer SG Lewis’ Paradise edit of “More Than a Woman,” getting its first-ever vinyl release; and “Decadance,” the Bee Gees’ own update of “You Should Be Dancing,” which was previously only available outside the U.S.

The Bee Gees’ You Should Be Dancing collection will be released Feb. 27 and is available for preorder now.

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On This Day, Feb. 12, 2007 …

One day after reuniting for a performance at the 49th annual Grammy Awards, The Police held a press conference at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, where they confirmed rumors they would be reuniting for a world tour.

The band performed at the press conference, which was also billed as a rehearsal. They played such classic tunes as “Message in a Bottle,” “Roxanne,” “Can’t Stand Losing You” and more.

The tour would be The Police’s first tour together in over 20 years, and it marked the band’s 30th anniversary.

The reunion tour kicked off in Vancouver in May and featured four North American legs, as well as shows in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America.

It wrapped in August 2008 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

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These days it’s not uncommon for classic rock bands to be out on tour despite having no original members still in the band. In fact, this summer Foreigner and Lynyrd Skynyrd are co-headlining the Double Trouble Double Vision tour, despite neither band containing any original members.

New York Magazine explores the idea of these tours in the new article “When Is a Band Not the Same Band Anymore?” in which Foreigner co-founder Al Greenwood argues in favor of such bands continuing.

Greenwood notes that despite a lack of original members in the current touring iteration of Foreigner, the band’s co-founder Mick Jones is still heavily involved in selecting new members for a tour.

“They’re very respectful of the band’s sound,” he says of the new players. “They ask a lot of questions: ‘How did we do this? How did you play that? What sounds did you get?’ They want to get it right.”

He notes, “We call it the Foreigner family.”

Greenwood, like original frontman Lou Gramm, turns up for occasional shows and says that there’s a good reason to “pass the baton” to new musicians: “We’re in our mid-70s or early 80s, so it’s hard for us to go out anymore.”

“I hope it goes on forever,” he says of the Foreigner name. “Let’s face it: The music really stood the test of time.”

And Greenwood is so behind the idea that he says he’d even want to see Mick Jagger and Keith Richards replaced rather than The Rolling Stones being gone for good.

“They have to go on forever,” Greenwood says. “If they could find people who can fill those shoes, that would be incredible because the music is brilliant. I wouldn’t like to not be able to see that music being played.”

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Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes are paying tribute to the Grateful Dead with their brand-new kit.

The team has just debuted a new secondary jersey, which is purple and blue tie-dye with the Grateful Dead skeleton logo on a patch on the sleeve.

According to a post on Instagram, the new kit celebrates “the spirit of the Bay Area and the enduring connection between music, culture, and community.” It’s described as a “collaboration that bridges the gap between the Grateful Dead’s legendary counterculture and the relentless spirit of Soccer in San Jose.”

The kit is currently available for preorder and will officially be available starting Saturday.

And the Earthquakes aren’t the only team paying tribute to an artist with their new kit. The St. Louis City SC has debuted a secondary kit paying tribute to Tina Turner, featuring a patch with her portrait on the sleeve and her name embroidered on the back. It is available now.

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On This Day, Feb. 11, 1965…

The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, born Richard Starkey, married hairdresser Maureen Cox at Caxton Hall in London.

Beatles manager Brian Epstein served as Ringo’s best man, with John Lennon and George Harrison both acting as witnesses.

The couple had three children, future drummer Zak Starkey, born in 1965, Jason Starkey, born in 1967, and Lee Starkey, born in 1970.

The couple divorced in 1975. Cox died from leukemia in December of 1994.

Cox will be portrayed by British actress Mia McKenna-Bruce in Sam Mendes’ four Beatles films, The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, which will hit theaters in April 2028. Starr will be played by Barry Keoghan.

In April 1981, Starr married actress Barbara Bach, who he met on the set of the film Caveman. They are still married to this day.

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The Eagles have decided to extend their stay in Las Vegas yet again.

Although the band initially announced that their March dates at the Sphere would be their final shows at the venue for 2026, they have now added two new dates, April 10 and 11.

A presale for tickets begins Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. PT, with tickets going on sale to the general public Feb. 20 at 10 a.m. PT.

The new additions will bring the Eagles’ total Sphere shows to 58, extending their record for the longest-running residency at the venue. They launched the residency Sept. 20, 2024.

The Sphere extension comes just days after Don Henley told CBS Sunday Morning that he believes that 2026 “will probably be it” for the band.

“And I’ve said things like that before, but I feel like we’re getting toward the end,” he said.

The Eagles’ next show at the Sphere is set for Feb. 20. In addition to the Vegas dates, they will play New Orleans Jazz Fest on May 2. A complete list of dates can be found at Eagles.com.

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Heart’s debut album, Dreamboat Annie, is one of 14 recordings chosen this year for induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Inductees must be at least 25 years old and are chosen because they “exhibit qualitative or historical significance,” according to a release. Although Heart has never won a Grammy, Anne Wilson and Nancy Wilson were previously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

Released in September 1975, Dreamboat Annie was a top-10 hit for Heart, peaking at #7 on the Billboard 200. It features two songs that would go on to become Heart classics: “Magic Man,” which was their first top-10 single, and “Crazy on You,” a top-40 hit.

Overall, nine albums and five songs have been chosen for induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame this year. Other 2026 inductees include Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, Radiohead’s OK Computer, Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain, 2Pac’s All Eyez On Me and Lucinda Williams’ Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

“It’s a privilege to recognize these influential recordings as the 2026 Grammy Hall Of Fame inductees,” Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Each selection reflects the creativity, craft and cultural impact that recorded music can carry across decades.”

He adds, “We’re honored to help preserve these works and celebrate the artists and communities behind them, so their legacies continue to inspire generations to come.”

This year’s inductees will be honored at a gala taking place May 8 in Beverly Hills.

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