Classic Hits

The Rolling Stones just announced their new album, Hackney Diamonds, is coming out October 20, and there’s no doubt fans are excited. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will be touring to support the record, and it sounds like those fans won’t be disappointed.

When asked by ABC News whether they’re planning a new tour, Ronnie Wood confirmed it will be happening. “Oh, America we have penciled in for next year,” he shared. “And we really hope we can finish off what we started last time.” 

Ronnie says it’s frustrating they have to wait a month for the album to come out, though he’s sure fans will love it.

“It’s a really rewarding thing for me to hear the tracks and it’s a heartwarming feeling,” he says.

Frontman Mick Jagger echoes that sentiment, sharing that they’re “really pleased with the record.”

“It’s got a lot of styles. It’s very eclectic,” he says, calling it rock based but not a classic rock album.

And if fans weren’t excited enough by Hackney Diamonds, they’ll be happy to know it won’t be the last new music we hear from The Stones. Jagger revealed, “We cut a lot of songs, so we got almost like two-thirds of the next album as well. … We got a good jump in on that one.” 

Hackney Diamonds, The Stones’ first album of new songs in 18 years, is available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Whitesnake is sharing another preview of their upcoming reissue of 2015’s The Purple Album, celebrating the 50th anniversary of frontman David Coverdale’s three years in the band Deep Purple.

The band’s just released “Lay Down, Stay Down (2023 Remix),” the second song they’ve shared from the record, following a live recording of the 1974 track “Burn.”

“‘Lay Down, Stay Down’ was one of the first songs I wrote with Ritchie Blackmore at his house in Camberley, Surrey,” Coverdale shares. “It’s a lyric about dealing with bullies … an aspect of the human condition I despise.”

He added, “I can’t tell you the original ‘working’ title I had, as it’s quite disgusting … It’s about fighting back & not taking any s*** from anybody.”

You can listen to “Lay Down, Stay Down (2023 Remix)” now via digital outlets and watch its new video streaming on YouTube.

The Purple Album: Special Gold Edition will be released October 13 as a two-CD/Blu-ray set, which includes concert videos from The Purple Tour, official music videos and more, including commentary from Coverdale. It’s also being released on two-LP gold vinyl.

All formats are available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir is featured on Stephen Marley’s new track, “Winding Roads.” It also features Jack Johnson and Weir’s backing band, Wolf Brothers, made up of Don Was, and Dead & Company members Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane.

The song will be featured on Marley’s new album, Old Soul, which drops Friday, September 15. It also features a guest appearance by Eric Clapton on Stephen’s acoustic cover of dad Bob Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff,” which Clapton also covered in 1974 for his album 461 Ocean Boulevard.

Other guests on the album include Ziggy Marley, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Buju Banton and Slightly Stoopid.

Old Soul, Marley’s first full-length album since 2016, will be released digitally, on CD and as a limited-edition double vinyl; it’s available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ringo Starr wants to help folks celebrate their special day. The Beatles legend is on a new song, “Happy Birthday Beautiful,” written by award-winning songwriter Diane Warren and featuring vocals by Pentatonix.

Ringo plays drums on the track, which will be featured on a new American Greetings collection of birthday e-cards. The cards will be available starting Saturday, September 9, and includes options for people turning a year older that day; according to 20 years of real birth data, September 9 is the day more people are born than any other day of the year.

“I wanted to write a song that breathed new life into the classic birthday songs we know and love,” says Warren, who celebrated her 67th birthday on September 7. “Collaborating with such talented artists as Ringo Starr and Pentatonix, as well as the designers at American Greetings, allowed us to blend musical and design elements together to add new excitement to birthday celebrations.”

Ringo adds, “I was happy to play drums on this song when my friend Diane asked, and I think it’s great it is coming out around the time of her birthday – Happy Birthday beautiful! Peace and love, Ringo.”

You can now listen to “Happy Birthday Beautiful” via digital outlets and on YouTube. The e-cards will be available on americangreetings.com and bluemountain.com.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Music fans are getting their first look at a new documentary about legendary folk singer and activist Joan Baez.

A trailer has just been released for Joan Baez: I Am Noise, which follows the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer on her final tour. It also gives fans an intimate portrait of her life and career with the use of her archives, which consists of newly discovered home movies, diaries, audio recordings, therapy tapes and more. 

In the clip, which is filled with archival photos and videos, Baez talks about her decision to do a final tour, what she thinks about being famous, suffering from panic attacks, her activism, her relationship with Bob Dylan and more.

The documentary, directed by Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle and Karen O’Connor, opens in New York on October 6 and will expand to Los Angeles and other markets on October 13.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Eagles kicked off their The Long Goodbye final tour at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Thursday, September 7, and they took a moment out of their show to pay tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett, who passed away September 1 at the age of 76.

As seen in fan-shot footage posted to YouTube, Don Henley told the crowd, “Last weekend we lost a deer friend and the world lost a musical icon. Our dear friend Jimmy Buffett is now sailing on that cosmic ocean having that cheeseburger with Glenn and Randy,” referring to the late Eagles members Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner.

He added, “We always laughed and said we survived the ’70s together and the ’80s were pretty rough too, come to think of it.” 

Henley called Buffett “one of the hardest working men I ever saw,” but noted, “he made work look like play and he brought joy to everything he did, including the work.”

Finally, he shared, “One of his final wishes was that we keep the party going … responsibly.”

The band then dedicated their next two songs to Buffett. The “Margaritaville” singer’s classic “Come Monday” was sung by Timothy B. Schmit, who was once a member of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band, while Joe Walsh, who was wearing a parrot hat on his head, sung “Fins” and joked, “Jimmy and I got thrown out of some of the finest hotels in the world.” 

Eagles’ The Long Goodbye tour returns to Madison Square Garden on Friday, September 8. A complete list of dates can be found at eagles.com.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Queen continues to highlight their connection to their fans in the latest episode of their weekly YouTube series, Queen The Greatest Live, titled “Vocal Games.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are known for having loads of songs their audience can sing along to, and frontman Freddie Mercury was known for his ability to challenge the crowd to match his vocal prowess. Well, in this episode, we get to see a prime example of that.

It features a clip from the band’s 1982 show at the U.K. Milton Keynes Bowl in England, with Freddie getting the audience to join him for some vocal challenges.  

“I’m gonna make you sing like Aretha Franklin!” he tells the crowd as he sits at the end of the stage. They then aptly match him note for note before he finally lets them know, “Alright, you can join the band.”

Next week on Queen The Greatest Live: “Radio Ga Ga.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, September 8, 1990…

Bon Jovi frontman Jon Bon Jovi landed his first and only solo #1 single with “Blaze of Glory” from the soundtrack to the hit movie Young Guns II, starring Emilio Estevez.

Emilio originally wanted to use the Bon Jovi track “Wanted Dead or Alive” for the movie, but the rocker instead opted to write an original tune with lyrics he felt were more appropriate for a Western about famed outlaw Billy the Kid.

The track, which featured Jeff Beck on guitar, went on to win a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award; it lost to “Sooner Or Later (I Always Get My Man)” from the movie Dick Tracy.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Barbra Streisand fans have a lot to look forward to this fall: The legendary entertainer will be releasing not one but two special releases.

October 27 sees the release of Evergreens: Celebrating Six Decades on Columbia Records as well as Yentl: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. Both of the releases will be out a week before Barbs’ highly anticipated memoir, My Name Is Barbra, due November 7. 

A preview of Evergreens is available now: It’s a 2023 mix of “Evergreen (Love Theme from ‘A Star Is Born’),” featuring Barbra’s original vocals with a new arrangement. October 6 will bring an unreleased song from the Yentl soundtrack: an alternate version of the Oscar-nominated song “Papa, Can You Hear Me?”

Evergreens includes 22 songs personally selected by Barbra as some of her favorites. None of them have previously appeared on compilations before; they each “hold a special place in her heart and memory,” according to a press release.

The Yentl 40th anniversary album features a bonus disc of 15 previously unreleased songs as well as songs from the original album. The unreleased tracks include 10 demos that Barbra recorded in her living room on a cassette deck with only piano accompaniment. The package will be available on vinyl as a Barnes & Noble exclusive on two discs.

Here’s the track list for Evergreens:

“I’ll Tell The Man In The Street”
“Bewitched (Bothered And Bewildered)”
“Absent Minded Me”
“The Shadow Of Your Smile”
“Where Or When”
“Ma Première Chanson”
“I Don’t Know Where I Stand”
“I Never Meant To Hurt You”
“Letters That Cross In The Mail”
“Answer Me”
“Tomorrow”
“Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man”
“Two People”
“Some Enchanted Evening”
“I Believe”
“Isn’t It A Pity?”
“Moon River”
“Here’s To Life (Orchestra version)”
“The Windmills Of Your Mind”
“Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) with Anthony Newley”
“Lady Liberty”
“Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born) (2023)”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Rod Stewart recently launched his own brand of Scotch whisky, Wolfie’s, in the U.K. and Europe, and he’s about to bring it to his American fans, as well. And while it’s not surprising Rod would have his own Scotch — he’s very proud of his Scottish heritage, after all — it is surprising Rod would have a product he doesn’t actually like.

“I was very ill on [whisky] it when I was 15 so I find it hard to drink,” Rod tells Forbes. “Although this one it has a special taste to it. It’s almost like ice cream and custard — it’s just gorgeous. But I still prefer to drink mine as a martini.”

In fact, Rod’s favorite is an appletini, but he’ll only drink after he gets offstage. “I can’t [drink] whisky martinis before [a show],” he says. “Alcohol is not great for the voice … Usually, I’ll drink the whisky on a night off. “

And Rod says that while some women might think they don’t like whisky, Wolfie’s will change their minds.

“Obviously, everything in moderation but this … is made for the gentle sex,” Rod says. “I like it, so they might like it! That ice cream, custard, apple pie [taste] … you don’t screw your face up when you swallow it.”

Asked to share his best drinking memory, Rod mentions his tenure with Faces, a band that was notorious for their drunken antics.

“When I was in the Faces we used to have a bar on stage and a barman and a couple of women dressed up as schoolgirls going around serving,” he recalls. “Wouldn’t get away with that anymore.”

But, “I’d like to have a bar on stage one day again.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.