Classic Hits

Kate Bush’s classic tune “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)” has scored a new milestone. The song has just reached 1 billion streams on Spotify.

The feat is so amazing even the often reclusive Bush needed to recognize it, taking to her website to thank her fans. 

“A billion streams! I have an image of a river that suddenly floods and becomes many, many tributaries – a billion streams – on their way to the sea. Each one of these streams is one of you…,” she writes. “Thank you! Thank you so much for sending this song on such an impossibly astonishing journey. I’m blown away.”

Released in 1985, “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)” saw a new resurgence in 2022 thanks to its inclusion in season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things. The renewed interest in the song resulted in it reaching a new peak on the Billboard Hot 100, landing at #3.

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Dead & Company is currently on what they’re calling The Final Tour, but drummer Mickey Hart doesn’t seem so sure how “final” it is.

“Who knows what the next page is, we’re just turning the page,” he tells ABC Audio. “It’s not final anything. We never said we’ll never play again, but we’ll never tour again.” Not that he sees the end of this iteration of the Grateful Dead ending as bad: “Some things, good things, they come to an end and it’s really good to put a period on it and then move on.”

After almost 60 years of touring, Mickey says one of his favorite things about being a member of the Dead has been “raising [the] consciousness of millions of people, and helping them enjoy life and themselves and their families.” When it comes to his job, he says he’s “the luckiest guy in the world.”

As for why Dead music has had such a lasting appeal over generations of music fans, Mickey says it’s because “it’s a kind music. It’s a happy music,” adding it has “deep meaning for many people but it’s packaged in a rock ‘n’ roll band.” But, he shares, “This thing transcends rock ‘n’ roll. It stands for something wholly other than a rock ‘n’ roll band.”  

Dead & Company will play the second of two nights at New York’s Citi Field on June 22 before moving to Boston’s Fenway Park on June 24 and 25. The tour wraps with a two-night stand in San Francisco, July 15 and 16. A complete list of dates can be found at deadandcompany.com.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 50th anniversary concert, which was also their final show with guitarist and founding member Gary Rossington, is coming to the big screen.

The 50th Anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd: An Exclusive Concert Film Experience will have a weeklong run in movie theaters, drive-ins and outdoor venues from July 8 to 14.

The concert took place in November 2022 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. It featured a host of special guests, including Jelly Roll, Brothers Osborne‘s John Osborne, Marcus King, Shinedown‘s Brent Smith and 38 Special‘s Donnie Van Zant, brother of current Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant and their late frontman, Ronnie Van Zant.

Rossington had stopped regularly touring with the band in 2020 but showed up for the Ryman show, where he played most of the set. He passed away March 5, 2023. 

Tickets for the concert film are on sale now.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is set to hit the road this summer with ZZ Top on The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour. It kicks off Friday, July 21, in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.

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Another iconic piece of Van Halen memorabilia is up for sale.  

A mini replica of Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstrat guitar, used in the video for the hit “Hot For Teacher,” is currently up for grabs on eBay. The non-playing red guitar with black and white stripes is the one that “young” Eddie plays in the clip, and it is signed by the rocker. 

“You are looking at quite possibly the oldest piece of legitimate Van Halen memorabilia to ever go up for sale,” reads the description of the guitar. “This is maybe the most amazing piece of memorabilia I have ever owned with rock solid provenance.”

The guitar comes with a leather carrying case, as well as the outfit the young Eddie, played by Bryan Hitchcock, wore in the clip. Photos from the shoot, as well as photos from the 1985 American Video Awards, are also included. 

All of this will cost you a pretty penny. The guitar’s current asking price is over $219,000. But that is cheap compared to the original “Hot For Teacher” Frankenstrat, which was sold in April for almost $4 million.

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Nils Lofgren’s new solo album, Mountains, is due out in July, and he’s just shared another track from the record: a song inspired by the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, who passed away in August 2021.

“Won’t Cry No More (For Charlie Watts)” is described as “a song about loss and perseverance.” “Without the Beatles, Stones, (Jimi) Hendrix, this music of mine wouldn’t exist,” Lofgren shares. “I was so furious and hurt when Charlie Watts died, I turned to his music for solace, desperate for connection and inspiration through the grief.”

He adds, “Needed his musical spirit to cope and found it. One raw riff to sing for him. Miss you, Charlie.”

“Won’t Cry No More (For Charlie Watts)” is the third single Lofgren has released from the album, following “Nothin’s Easy” featuring Neil Young and “Ain’t The Truth Enough” with Ringo Starr on drums.

Mountains, due out July 21, is available for preorder now.

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Billy Idol is celebrating the album that started it all for him. The rocker is releasing an expanded edition of his 1982 self-titled debut, with lots of new goodies for fans.

The new release, dropping July 28, will feature a previously unreleased 12-minute Clubland Extended Remix of his classic tune “White Wedding.” In addition, the two-CD set will feature a separate album with a previously unreleased concert, recorded August 12, 1982, at The Roxy in West Hollywood, California. It features performances of such tracks as “Hot in the City,” “Mony Mony,” “White Wedding” and more.

Billy Idol Expanded Edition is available for preorder now.

Idol is set to perform at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, June 24, as part of the new supergroup Generation Sex, featuring Idol and Tony James from Generation X, along with Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols. He’ll also hit the road on a North American solo tour in late summer, kicking off August 27 in Vancouver, Canada. A complete list of dates can be found at BillyIdol.net.

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Rod Stewart is shooting down reports of his retirement. In recent interviews, Rod suggested that his upcoming concerts in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 6 and 7 would be “the last” of the rock ‘n’ roll shows, but in a letter posted to Instagram, Stewart insists that’s not the case.

“I’d like to clear up any confusion that I may have caused my dear fans and the media,” he writes. “I shall never retire. I was put on this earth to be a singer and will keep doing so for as long as the good Lord lets me.” He also assures fans he will be playing the hits at his upcoming U.K., U.S., South America and Vegas shows, which are set to run into 2024.

Stewart notes that he has said in interviews that his “newest passion is big bang/swing music,” and once he’s done touring the hits, he’s “eager to share” that with fans. But he’s not about to abandon his classics.

“I could never turn my back on the songs that I’ve written and sung over the last six decades,” he says. “They are like my children. I created them and I love them. I’ll always come back to them.” Finally he adds, “I look forward to seeing you on the road with all the hits and I can’t wait to introduce you to my new swing album next year.”

Rod is currently on a tour of the U.K. with Culture Club. His North American tour is set to kick off July 29 in Sparks, Nevada. A complete list of dates can be found at rodstewart.com.

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On This Day, June 21, 1944…

Raymond Douglas Davies, better known as Ray Davies, was born in Fortis Green, London. He and his brother Dave Davies, formed The Kinks in 1963, releasing their self-titled debut in 1964.

The band went on to release 24 albums, including 1966’s Face to Face, 1970’s Lola Versus Powerman and more, with hit songs like 1964’s “You Really Got Me,” which reached the Top 10 in the U.S, and 1970’s “Lola.” Their biggest chart hits included 1965’s “Tired of Waiting For You” and 1983’s “Come Dancing,” which both peaked at #6. 

In 1990, Ray Davies and the rest of The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He was knighted in 2017.

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There’s no doubt Pink Floyd fans would love to see the band members reunite and play the songs they love, but considering the strained relationship between Roger Waters and David Gilmour, drummer and founding member Nick Mason doesn’t suspect that’s going to happen anytime soon. In fact, he can think of only a few things that could possibly get everyone playing together again.

During an appearance on The Story Behind The Song podcast, Mason said “it’s highly unlikely” the band would reunite. But he does acknowledge, “I would’ve said that before Live 8 — 10 years ago or 12 years ago, whatever it was,” referring to their 2005 reunion at Live 8 in London’s Hyde Park.

“The one thing I could think would be possible would be if there was some … if by getting back together we could influence either saving the planet, world peace, or whatever,” Mason says. “Hopefully, we’d step up. But I don’t think otherwise. It would take a Nelson Mandela or someone like that to lead on it.”

Besides 2008, the only other time the three bandmates got back together since their split was in 2011, when Mason and Gilmour joined Waters at the London stop of his tour. 

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Aerosmith just announced a new 44-track Greatest Hits box set, but if fans are hoping for some new music from the band, they may not want to get their hopes up. 

In a new interview with Classic Rock, guitarist Joe Perry sounded pretty doubtful the band would be recording anything new, at least anytime soon.

Talking about whether he’d do another solo album, Perry says he doesn’t “see the time for it,” suggesting that if he did have the time, “I would put everything I have into doing another Aerosmith album,” but then adds, “if that’s even on the cards.”

The band hasn’t released a new studio album since 2012’s Music From Another Dimension, but Perry says right now the focus is to “tour as much as we can.”

“I want to get out and play to the fans,” he says. “That’s really the focus right now, to get out and play live.” 

He adds, “If we get time to work on some new music, that would be great, but knowing Steven [Tyler] and knowing our age and what it takes to do an album … I don’t know. I’m always playing, I’m always writing stuff, but at this stage, I can’t say. I just want to get through this next tour and play live and give something back to the fans.”

That next tour is the band’s Peace Out! tour, with special guests The Black Crowes, which they say will be their final trek. It kicks off September 2 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A complete list of dates can be found at aerosmith.com.

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