Classic Hits

KISS is getting ready to hit New York for their final two concerts ever, and the occasion is being marked at one of the city’s historic locations: the Empire State Building.

At dusk on Thursday, November 30, until 2 a.m. ET on December 1, the landmark building will be lit up in silver in honor of the band’s logo and red, purple, blue and green, representing the colors of each band member’s character. 

Plus, starting at 7 p.m., the light show will be soundtracked by the KISS hit “Rock and Roll All Nite.” Fans will be able to check it out on both KISS’ and the Empire State Building’s social media sites.

This isn’t KISS’ first association with the Empire State Building. Almost 50 years ago, they took one of their most iconic photos on the building’s observation deck high above Manhattan.

KISS will wrap what they insist will be their final tour ever with two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden on December 1 and 2. For those who can’t make it to the final night, it will be available to stream live worldwide starting at 8 p.m. ET exclusively on PPV.COM.

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Queen is coming to IMAX for the very first time. The concert film Queen Rock Montreal is set to run in IMAX theaters around the world from January 18 to 21.

The film gives fans a chance to experience the band’s November 1981 stand at the Montreal Forum, the band’s fourth time playing the venue. The tour was in support of their album The Game and featured Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon performing songs from the album, along with classic Queen tunes like “We Will Rock You,” “Somebody to Love,” “Under Pressure,” Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “We Are the Champions” and more.

“I don’t think we quite realized it at the time, but this film has preserved one of the highest peaks in Queen’s touring life, on stage in the old glory days,” May shares. “The director was very much focused on Freddie, and this now stands as probably the most precious intimate capture ever of Mr. Mercury at his full awesome power.” Taylor adds, “Enjoy. We were young!”

Queen Rock Montreal will play in 450 theaters worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Australia and Brazil. A complete list of theaters and ticket information can be found at queeninimax.com.

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On This Day, November 29, 2001…

Legendary Beatles guitarist George Harrison lost his battle with lung cancer at the age of 58. The rocker passed away in Beverly Hills, California, at a home owned by his Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney.

Harrison’s death came two years after surviving a knife attack by an intruder at his home Friar Park in England.

Harrison’s funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California, and he was cremated at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. His family reportedly scattered his ashes in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India. 

In addition to his success with The Beatles, Harrison, known as “The Quiet Beatle,” had three #1 solo hits: “Got My Mind Set On You,” “Give Me Love – (Give Me Peace On Earth)” and “My Sweet Lord/Isn’t It A Pity.” He also had two solo #1 albums with 1970’s All Things Must Pass and 1973’s Living in the Material World.

Furthermore, he co-founded the supergroup Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison.

Harrison was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice. He was inducted as a member of The Beatles in 1988 and posthumously inducted for his solo career in 2004.

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U2’s Las Vegas residency, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, has been a huge success for the band and that’s pretty evident from the early box office numbers.

Billboard reports that the first set of 17 residency shows, which wrapped November 4, brought in $109.8 million from 281,000 tickets, or about $16.5 million per show. Those numbers make it the fastest grossing residency in the history of the Billboard Boxscore. 

Of course those numbers are high because the U2 tickets aren’t cheap, averaging $390.97 per show, which is way above the going rate for tickets to other Vegas residencies. For example, tickets to Lady Gaga’s residency average about $290.15 and Bruno Mars tickets are about $285.30.

And U2 stand to earn a whole lot more, with eight more residency shows in December, along with 11 recently announced dates scheduled for January and February. If the numbers keep up, the residency could bring in close to $330 million in total.

Those numbers are quite impressive when you consider Elton John’s Vegas residency, The Million Dollar Piano, brought in $131.2 million from 189 shows, while the highest-grossing residency, Celine Dion’s A New Day…, brought in $385.1 from 714 shows.

The next U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere residency at The Venetian Resort is happening Friday, December 1. A complete list of dates can be found at U2.com.

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While most people are dying to get their hands on tickets to The Rolling Stones’ upcoming Hackney Diamonds tour, future King of England Prince William needs a bit of an incentive. 

The British magazine Hello! reports that at the Tusk Conservation Awards in London on November 27, William got to chatting with Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. The rocker subsequently told the mag, “We were talking about the tour and I said ‘Come on, you’ve got to come out on tour!’ And we were talking about the new album and everything.” 

But Ronnie said the prince had a condition before he’d agree to attend, noting, “William said [he would] if we could get Taylor Swift there.”

Wood said that when he informed William that Taylor had previously duetted with Stones frontman Mick Jagger — she joined the Stones onstage in 2013 and he joined her onstage in 2015 — William replied, “I’m there, then.”

The Stones Tour ’24 Hackney Diamonds, sponsored by AARP, kicks off Sunday, April 28, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, and wraps Wednesday, July 17, at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California. A presale for AARP members runs from Wednesday, November 29, to Thursday, November 30, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday, December 1, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at therollingstones.com.

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Some of David Bowie’s handwritten lyrics have sold for big bucks at auction.

The BBC reports that a lyric sheet featuring the work-in-progress writings for the classic tracks “Rock n Roll Suicide” and “Suffragette City,” both from 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, sold at Omega Auctions for almost $113,000. 

The sheet came with a note explaining that the original owner received the pages from Bowie at Trident Studio. It had previously been on display at London’s Victoria & Albert museum.

This isn’t the first time Bowie’s handwritten lyrics have been auctioned off for a hefty sum. Omega previously sold the handwritten lyric sheet to the 1972 classic “Starman,” which went for almost $258,000.

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The ongoing debate about which of Aretha Franklin‘s multiple wills should be used to determine the handling of some of her estate has come to and end. 

The Associated Press reports that Michigan Judge Jennifer Callaghan awarded the late star’s real estate to her sons, citing a handwritten will from 2014 that was found between couch cushions. 

The more recent will overrides a handwritten will from 2010 that was found at Franklin’s suburban Detroit home in 2019, the judge said, per AP. 

Her son Kecalf Franklin will inherit that suburban property, valued at more than $1.1 million; her son Ted White II was awarded a different house in Detroit, although that home was sold for $300,000.

“Teddy is requesting the sale proceeds,” Charles McKelvie, an attorney for Kecalf, said.

Aretha’s son Edward Franklin will get another of the four homes she had at the time of her death in 2018. 

Learning of the two different wills months after she passed away led to a dispute between her sons over how their mother wanted to divvy up her assets. 

Though the real estate battle has been solved, it’s still unclear how Franklin’s music assets will be split, AP says, noting that it seems the sons would also share any funds.

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Amid his legal battle with his musical partner John Oates, Daryl Hall has been announced as a headliner for the first Montreux Jazz Festival Miami. 

The Montreux Jazz Festival, the second-largest annual jazz festival in the world, has been held in Montreux, Switzerland since 1967. This is the first time the festival, which welcomes all genres of music, is branching out to a U.S. city. In addition to Daryl, headliners include Grammy-winning artist Jon Batiste, who is the co-owner of and ambassador for the event.

The festival will take place March 1-2 at The Hangar in Coconut Grove, Florida. More details about the rest of the lineup will be announced in January.

Ticket presales are available now at MontreuxJazzFestivalMiami.com. The general onsale date is November 30.

Deep Purple fans may recall that the Montreux Jazz Festival inspired the band’s classic single “Smoke on the Water.” The song tells the true story of the events of December 4, 1971: During a concert at the festival’s original location — the Montreux Casino — an audience member set off a flare gun, which set fire to the venue’s ceiling and burned down the entire complex.

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Derek Smalls, former vocalist and bass player of the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap, has reissued his 2018 solo debut, Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing), with even more music for fans to enjoy. 

“As a rock’ n’ roller, I really never expected to make it past 27,” Smalls, better known as actor Harry Shearer, shares. “Here I am with all 10 fingers and all five strings, still ready to rock. Maybe my colleagues are getting older too. So, I’d say, it’s time to rock some more.”

Released in 2018, Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing) featured guest appearances by such A-list rockers as Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, Yes’ Rick Wakeman, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, the late Taylor Hawkins and more. 

The new deluxe edition features two previously unreleased live tracks: “She Puts the B**** in Obituary” featuring actress Jane Lynch and “Hell Toupee,” both of which were recorded at Los Angeles’ Palace Theatre in February 2019. Smalls has also released a new video for the track “MRI,” featuring a guest appearance by guitarist Dweezil Zappa. 

Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing) is available to stream and purchase now.

Released in 1984, This is Spinal Tap was a mockumentary about the fictional rock group Spinal Tap, made up of Shearer as Smalls, Christopher Guest as guitarist Nigel Tufnel and Michael McKean as guitarist David St. Hubbins. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film poked fun at the ridiculous behavior of pretentious rock stars.

Earlier this week, Reiner announced they will begin shooting a sequel to the film in February, featuring guest appearances by Paul McCartney, Elton John and more.

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Ace Frehley is back with new music. The former KISS guitarist just dropped the new single “10,000 Volts,” the title track to his upcoming solo album, due out February 23.

The album, produced by Frehley and Trixter’s Steve Brown, features 11 tracks of what’s described as “electrifying, hard-hitting, riff-heavy rock’n’ roll.”

You can listen to “10,000 Volts” now via streaming services and watch the video on YouTube. 

The album is Frehley’s first solo release since 2020’s Origins Vol. 2. Frehley previously talked about 10,000 Volts in an interview with Nuvo, calling it “probably the best record I’ve ever done.” 

Here is the track list for 10,000 Volts. The album is available for preorder now.

“10,000 Volts”
“Walkin’ on the Moon”
“Cosmic Heart”
“Cherry Medicine”
“Back Into My Arms Again”
“Fightin’ for Life”
“Blinded”
“Constantly Cute”
“Life of a Stranger”
“Up in the Sky”
“Stratosphere”

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