Classic Hits

Def Leppard‘s new album, Drastic Symphonies, is out now, featuring 15 of the band’s songs reworked with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are known for putting on a great live show, so would they ever be interested in teaming up with an orchestra to play these interpretations live? If guitarist Phil Collen had his way, the answer would be yes.

Collen tells ABC Audio he’d love to “go around the world” and play live versions of these songs in great venues like the Sydney Opera House or London’s Royal Albert Hall. He adds, “And obviously the states we could do New York, Carnegie Hall, you know, Hollywood Bowl, Berlin Symphony Orchestra. So yeah, I’d love that.”

Collen realizes the logistics and the cost may make such a tour difficult, but he’s still game, noting, “We’re just waiting for the invite.” 

Up next for Def Leppard, they’ll kick off the U.K./European leg of their Stadium tour with Mötley Crüe on Monday, May 22, in Sheffield, England. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com.

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Ringo Starr has certainly had a memorable life, but music fans will likely never read a first-person account of it, because Starr says he has no desire to pen a memoir. 

He tells USA Today that he’s been offered “lots of money over the last many years” to write a book about his life but he “got fed up” with the idea because folks only want to know about The Beatles. He said “it’d be three volumes before I get to that year,” referring to 1962, when he joined the legendary band.  

“I have just never found interest in it,” he says. “I don’t want to do Ringo the drummer, because we’re all a bit more than that.”

Instead, fans are just going to have to settle for seeing Ringo on the road. He and his All-Starr Band, which includes Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Edgar Winter, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette, kick of their 2023 tour Friday, May 19, in Temecula, California, and Ringo seems raring to go. 

“I love playing, it’s just part of me now, and it was then, at 13,” he says. “I had the dream to play drums, and I ended up being that person, and I’m still that person,” noting, “There’s nothing like it. You’re onstage, with the audience, there’s the band, it’s magical nights. You can’t explain it, it’s just wow.” 

A complete list of Ringo dates can be found at ringostarr.com.

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The 2023 Ivors took place in London Thursday night, and it was a big night for Sting, who received the Fellowship of the Ivors Academy, which is the group’s highest honor. It was previously given to such artists as Sir Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. 

According to the BBC, Sting admitted during his acceptance speech that he isn’t always so confident when it comes to songwriting. “Every time I look at a blank page, I’m filled with a mortal terror,” he said. “I don’t quite know how I write songs, but I do. It’s a mystery.” 

Sting also performed at the event, treating the crowd to The Police classic “Message in a Bottle.”

Also honored at the ceremony were Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, who were recognized with the organization’s Special International Award.

The Ivors, which have been handed out since 1956, are the most prestigious music honor in the United Kingdom, celebrating excellence in British and Irish songwriting. This year’s winners included Harry Styles, RAYE, and Florence Welch and Jack Antonoff.

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Sting is very proud of his songwriting, and he worries that one day artificial intelligence will try to replace songwriters like him.

“The building blocks of music belong to us, to human beings,” he tells BBC News. “That’s going to be a battle we all have to fight in the next couple of years: Defending our human capital against AI.”

While songs using AI to mimic famous voices have been turning up on the internet lately, Sting doesn’t think much of it.

“It’s similar to the way I watch a movie with CGI. It doesn’t impress me at all,” he says. “I get immediately bored when I see a computer-generated image. I imagine I will feel the same way about AI making music.” 

He adds, “Maybe for electronic dance music, it works. But for songs, you know, expressing emotions, I don’t think I will be moved by it.”

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Def Leppard is playing a very special hometown show Friday, May 19, and now fans who couldn’t snag tickets will be able to experience the event.

The band is playing an intimate club show at The Leadmill in Sheffield, England, to celebrate the release of their new album, Drastic Symphonies, which drops Friday. They just announced they are making the performance available to livestream on Veeps.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers promise the concert will feature “a unique set list,” with portions of the proceeds going to Music Venue Trust, a charity that aids grassroots music venues. 

Tickets to the livestream are available now. 

And Def Leppard will be sticking around their hometown after the gig. The European leg of their Stadium tour with Mötley Crüe kicks off May 22 at Sheffield’s Bramall Lane. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com.

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On This Day, May 18, 1978 … 

The life of future Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Buddy Holly hit the big screen when The Buddy Holly Story opened in theaters in the U.S., including a special premiere in Holly’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas. 

The film starred a 33-year-old Gary Busey as Holly, a role that earned him an Oscar nomination.

The movie followed Holly’s story from age 20 until his death in a plane crash at age 22. Also on the plane were Holly’s tour mates, The Big Bopper and Richie Valens, all of whom also perished.

The film, which had a budget of $1.2 million, opened to mostly good reviews and wound up earning $14.3 million in the box office.

While Busey lost the Oscar for Best Leading Actor, the film took home the Academy Award for Best Adaption Score.

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KISS is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their album Alive III with a new vinyl release set to come out June 2. 

Alive III was the first live album from the band during their non-makeup era. It captures performances from the November 1992 “Revenge” tour shows in Detroit, Cleveland and Indianapolis. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1994.

The limited-edition 30th anniversary set is being released in a variety of formats, including an already sold-out deluxe anniversary edition, which was limited to only 500 copies. It included two picture discs with a die-cut cover, along with new picture sleeves featuring unreleased tour photos and a King of Live T-shirt.

There’s also a premium two-LP colored vinyl version pressed on yellow and orange pyro vinyl, which can be purchased with the King of Live T-shirt. Only 2,500 copies of this version are being made available worldwide. It is available for preorder now.

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Sting fans may be disappointed when they see him in concert, because he’s no longer playing one of his classic tunes live.

In an interview with People, Sting looks back at some of his hit songs and discusses the Police tune “Don’t Stand So Close To Me,” which is about the relationship between a male teacher and a female student, and why you won’t hear it in his set list.  

“It’s certainly not biographical, but people having relationships with teachers, it definitely happens,” Sting, who was a teacher before becoming a rock star, says. “And in the song’s defense, nothing happens. It’s just the danger of, something happens and the teacher is aware of it, which is why he’s saying, ‘Don’t stand so close to me.'”

Sting says the song could be interpreted in “many, many different ways,” which can become an issue.

“In the current climate, I don’t sing that live,” he says. “People with a sort of puerile sensibility will say, ‘Oh it’s about you.’ And of course it’s not, but it’s an interesting situation.”

Sting will be honored as a Fellow of the Ivors Academy at the Ivor Awards on May 18 in London, and he’s certainly proud of the honor.

“If you ask me my profession, I would say I’m a songwriter, so to receive this honor is very special,” he shares. “I get people coming up to me saying, ‘Oh, I got married to your song,’ or ‘We buried Uncle Charlie to your song’ or ‘I fell out of love to this’ … People mark their lives with the songs of their era, as do I.”

As for seeing Sting live, his My Songs tour comes to North America starting September 1 and 2 in Vienna, Virginia. A complete list of dates can be found at sting.com.

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Def Leppard’s new album, Drastic Symphonies, is out Friday, May 19, and the band has just released yet another track from the record.

The album features 15 Def Leppard tunes recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Fans are now getting to hear the new take on “When Love and Hate Collide,” a song that was recorded for the band’s 1992 album, Adrenalize, but didn’t make the record. 

“When Love and Hate Collide” eventually appeared on the band’s 1995 anthology collection, Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits 1980-1995. The original demo version contained the final recorded guitar solo from Steve Clark, who passed away in January 1991.

Drastic Symphonies is available for preorder now.

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Queen’s Brian May and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi had a chance to hang out together this week, but it looks like it may have been more than just a social call.

“Joy ! A rare and special afternoon with my dear pal Tony Iommi,” May shared on social media, noting they got together for a “documentary on RIFFS!!!!”

Iommi added on his page, “It was so lovely to see my dear friend Brian yesterday and to spend some time together catching up. Brilliant!”

So far no other information about the documentary is known.

In other Queen news, a Queen The Greatest Pop-Up Store is set to open this weekend in Kyoto, Japan. This is the third such Queen pop-up to open; the first opening was in 2021 on Carnaby Street in London, followed by one in Tokyo in 2022. The Kyoto shop, which will feature a photo exhibit, plus a line of merch, including some new products, will be open from May 20 to June 4.

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