Classic Hits

John Mellencamp is set to join Steve Earle at Earle’s ninth annual John Henry’s Friends Benefit, taking place December 3 at Town Hall in New York City.

The event will feature performances by Mellencamp and Earle, as well as other special guests. Proceeds from the evening will benefit The Keswell School, an educational program for children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder. 

“The John Henry’s Friends concerts are obviously a labor of love for myself as well as an expression of the generosity of all the performers who have suited up and showed up over the years,” says Earle. “I’m especially grateful for this year’s new friend, John Mellencamp and our other guests which we will announce shortly.”

Tickets for the concert are on sale now.

Previous editions of the John Henry’s Friends Benefit featured performances by Bruce Springsteen, David Byrne, Graham Nash and Lucinda Williams.

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Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler is featured on the just-released live covers album from Zac Brown Band.

From the Road, Vol. 1: Covers features 13 performances recorded in various iconic venues over the past 10 years, including the band’s August 9, 2015, show at Boston’s Fenway Park, where they were joined by Tyler for the Aerosmith classic “Sweet Emotion.” 

The album also features Zac Brown Band’s takes on such classics as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” The Who’s “Baba O’Reily,” Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” and The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and “With a Little Help From My Friends,” although the latter is Joe Cocker‘s take on the song.

Zac Brown Band’s From the Road, Vol. 1: Covers is available now.

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Melissa Etheridge‘s Broadway show My Window is ending on November 19, but fans who didn’t make the trek to see her in New York will have plenty of opportunity to catch her live next  year.

Melissa will be kicking off her I’m Not Broken tour March 14 in Santa Cruz, California; it’s set to wrap up April 20 in Tunica, Mississippi. Etheridge Nation fan club members can grab tickets starting November 14 at 10 a.m. local time; the general sale begins November 17 at 10 a.m. local time. VIP packages will also be available — check out the details on melissaetheridge.com.

In addition to bringing her autobiographical show My Window to Broadway, Melissa recently released a new memoir called Talking to My Angels, which was a top 10 New York Times bestseller.

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Bon Jovi is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, and fans can now join in the celebration by playing a game of Monopoly. 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are releasing a 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition of the popular board game, which features highlights from the New Jersey rockers’ career, including legendary concerts all over the world.

The game comes with unique collectable tokens representing the band, including a 40th anniversary Heart & Dagger, the state of New Jersey, the Bon Jovi Skull logo, Jon Bon Jovi’s acoustic guitar, their Diamond Superman logo and the “Have A Nice Day” smirk.

Fans can also celebrate Bon Jovi’s anniversary with their 40th anniversary 2024 calendar featuring over 50 rarely seen or used images of the band, and a centerfold that covers highlights of Bon Jovi’s four-decade career.

Both items are available for preorder now. The Monopoly game is set to ship November 17, while the calendar will ship December 22.

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Billy Joel will end his residency at Madison Square Garden on July 25, with what will be his 150th career performance at the legendary venue. Now, he can boast that all 150 of those shows are sold out.

Billy’s first appearance at the Garden was December 14, 1978. In January of 2015, with the 13th show of his residency, he set a new record of most consecutive performances by an artist at the Garden. In July of 2015, when he played his 65th show at the Garden, he set another record: most lifetime performances there by any artist.

Banners in the rafters of the venue commemorate both of those records and are replaced each month with new numbers, as he continues to rack up additional performances.

Billy’s residency, which started in January of 2014, has sold close to two million tickets. The final dates of the run include November 22, December 19, January 11, February 9, March 28, April 26, May 9, June 8 and July 25.

Billy, however, is continuing to perform at other venues: He and Stevie Nicks will co-headline a show December 8 in Phoenix, and he’ll ring in the New Year at UBS Arena in Belmont, New York. He’ll travel to Tokyo for a one-off show next year, and he’ll also co-headline several shows with Sting.

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Bryan Adams is spending some more time on the road. The singer just announced new 2024 dates for his So Happy It Hurts tour, this time featuring special guests Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics Songbook.

The new leg features 31 dates, kicking off Saturday, January 20, in Billings, Montana. The trek will hit such cities as Austin, Anaheim, Milwaukee, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Newark and more, before wrapping March 20 in Syracuse, New York.

Adams will also be headlining two shows in Mexico — February 6 in Monterrey and February 8 in Mexico City — without Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics Songbook. 

A ticket presale for all U.S. dates kicks off Tuesday, November 14, at 10 a.m., with the general onsale launching Friday, November 17, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at bryanadams.com.

The tour news comes as Bryan is getting ready to release Live at The Royal Albert Hall, a box set featuring recordings of his three-night stand at the famed London venue in 2022, where he performed one of his classic albums in its entirety each night. The set drops December 8 and is available for preorder now.

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Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire are joining forces once again to bring back their Heart & Soul tour in 2024.

The trek, an encore of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame bands onstage together, will hit 30 cities, starting July 10 in St. Louis, Missouri. It will stop in St. Paul, Charlotte, Tampa, Nashville, Seattle, Los Angeles and more, before wrapping September 7 in Palm Desert, California.

A Citi presale kicks off Tuesday, November 14, at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on sale to the general public starting Friday, November 17, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at earthwindandfire.com and chicagotheband.com.

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On This Day, November 13, 2016…

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell died in his sleep at age 74.

His songs, including “Superstar,” “A Song for You,” “Delta Lady” and “This Masquerade,” were big hits for other artists, and he worked with everyone from Bob Dylan and Joe Cocker to George Harrison and The Rolling Stones.

In 2010, Elton John, who called Russell a “mentor,” helped revive Russell’s career with their joint album, The Union, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for the song “If It Wasn’t for Bad.” 

In 2011, Russell was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

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The late Robbie Robertson will be celebrated this week with a memorial hosted by his friend and longtime collaborator, director Martin Scorsese. 

Robbie Robertson: A Celebration of His Life and Music is taking place Wednesday, November 15, at The Village Studios in Los Angeles, California.

Scorsese is expected to speak at the memorial tribute concert, which will be attended by Killers of the Flower Moon actress Lily Gladstone and Robertson’s longtime manager, Jared Levine. It will also feature performances by Jackson Browne, Citizen Cope, Rocco DeLuca, Angela McCluskey and Blake Mills Group.

Robertson, the guitarist and main songwriter for Rock & Roll Hall of Famers The Band, died August 9 at the age of 80. He and Scorsese collaborated several times on such films as Gangs of New York, The Wolf of Wall Street, the recent release Killers of the Flower Moon and more. Scorsese also directed The Band’s legendary final concert film, The Last Waltz.

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U2 has been amazing concertgoers since launching their Las Vegas residency, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere. A lot of work went into making sure it was an experience like none other. In fact, U2’s creative director, Gavin Friday, tells ABC Audio it was quite a task putting the whole thing together. 

“We were working with technology we’ve never used before, the world has never used before, [a] sound system that’s going to change the face of live music,” he says. “It was otherworldly.”

The show premiered in September to rave reviews, and even Friday is amazed by what they pulled off.

“On the opening day, we all sighed a breath of relief because it was a huge success,” he shares. “And it’s like, you know, when you’re in the mine mining for that gold, you have your helmet on and your light [on] and you see nothing but the show — and we were knocked out. We knocked ourselves out, actually.”

Friday was also involved in setting up the Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience pop-up shop at The Venetian hotel. While it’s basically a place for fans to buy souvenirs of the show, Friday says it was important to the band that it was much more than that.

“We made it quite an ambient, away from the hustle and bustle and glitz of Vegas,” he says. “We made it very much its own space because fans of U2 go back a long time and they tend to push the boat out on all levels, even if it’s selling merch.” 

U2 recently added new dates to U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere, with the residency now running through February 18. A complete list of dates can be found at U2.com.

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