Classic Hits

Queen is back with episode 21 of their weekly YouTube series, Queen The Greatest Live, and this week they are delving into what it takes to adapt their studio creations for the stage, turning them into live classics. 

“I think there’s various processes. Sometimes you’re in the middle of writing a song in the studio and you think, ‘How would that be live?’ And it actually informs your recording process because you’ve fashioned it towards being a sort of live-feeling kind of track,” Brian May shares. “Other songs not.”

For example, May discusses the process of rearranging the difficult piano ballad “Love Of My Life” into an acoustic number for the stage, which has become a highlight of Queen’s live show. He also reveals how the classic “We Will Rock You” transformed when performed live.

May notes that while the song doesn’t have any drums on the album, live it has “become a drum extravaganza.”

“The stamping and clapping thing has evolved into a completely incomprehensible situation because some people will go ‘bump bump punch,’ some people go ‘boom, boom, punch,’” he says. “But it doesn’t matter, because the physicality is there and they sing it, and obviously it’s a staple — it’s always going to be with us, same with ‘Champions.’”

He adds, “So yeah, it’s moments of discovery. I love waking up in the middle of the night and thinking, ‘Oh, we can do this. We could do this.’ And you go in, ‘Can we try this?’ And then you go, ‘Actually, yeah, that could work, that can pretty much work.’”

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On This Day, June 16, 1972 …

David Bowie released The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The album featured such future Bowie classics as “Starman” and “Suffragette City.”

The tale of a bisexual alien rock star sent to save mankind initially received mixed reviews, but was later hailed as one of the greatest, most influential albums of all time.

Bowie remained in character as Ziggy for his Ziggy Stardust Tour, with his final performance in character taking place July 3, 1973, at London’s Odeon Theater.

To mark the 50th anniversary of that final performance, a special world premiere screening of a restored version of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture is set to happen July 3 at London’s Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, which was formerly the Odeon. The event will be livestreamed in theaters in the U.K. and Europe, with worldwide screenings planned throughout July.

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The Songwriters Hall of Fame induction took place Thursday, June 15 in New York, with Gloria Estefan, and “Man in the Mirror” songwriter Glen Ballard among this year’s honorees.

Estefan was inducted by Valerie Simpson, who called her a “pop music force of nature, creating songs that touch fans of all backgrounds around the globe.” Gloria herself celebrated with a medley of some of her biggest hits, including “Words Get in the Way,” “Anything for You,” “Let’s Get Loud,” and more, ending the night with  “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” featuring her husband Emilio Estefan and grandson Sasha.

“This is one of the most special awards that I have ever received because other people’s music, other writers’ music got me through my toughest moments,” Gloria told ABC Audio on the red carpet, noting “it’s a blessing to be able to reach other people’s hearts and minds through music and my words and be able to make a heart connection, which is what music does.” 

Ballard, who’s known for his work with Alanis Morrissette, Michael Jackson and more, was celebrated with a performance of “Man in the Mirror,” from Siedah Garrett and Tony winner Myles Frost, and later performed a medley of his hits including “Ironic,” “Hold On” and more. 

Ballard told ABC Audio he’s “grateful for the honor,” sharing, “It’s also encouraging to know I’ve been writing songs for 50 years and now they’re telling me it wasn’t a waste of time.” Ballard said he’s most proud of “Man in the Mirror,” noting, “that’s a pretty good one.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

The night’s other honorees included ELO’s Jeff Lynne, Liz Rose, best known for her work with Taylor Swift, and Teddy Riley, with Post Malone receiving the Hal David Starlight Award and Broadway songwriter Tim Rice receiving the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award.

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June 17 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of The Police’s fifth studio album, Synchronicity.

The band’s most successful record, Synchronicity went to #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, and topped the chart in the U.K. and several other countries, as well. It went on to be certified eight-times Platinum by the RIAA.

Synchronicity contained several hit singles, including “Every Breath You Take,” which spent eight weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It wound up being the biggest hit of 1983 in both the U.S. and Canada. The song also topped the U.K. singles chart for four weeks, making it their fifth U.K. #1.

Other hit singles on the record include “King of Pain,” which peaked at #3 on the Hot 100, “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” which went to #8, and “Synchronicity II,” which peaked at #16.

The album turned out to be The Police’s final studio release, and frontman Sting tells ABC Audio he’s happy the band ended on a career high.

“I think that was a pretty good strategy because the legend still lives on, it hasn’t really been tarnished or diminished,” he says. “I’m very proud of the work we did. I think it was a fantastic seven-year adventure and we couldn’t have expected any better result.”

In 2009 Synchronicity was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2023 it was chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” It’s also ranked on several greatest albums lists, including Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, where it ranked at 159 as of 2020.

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It sounds like we may be getting another Bruce Springsteen album soon.

In November, The Boss released Only The Strong Survive, an album of soul and R&B covers. Now David Sancious, an early member of The E Street Band, has revealed in a new interview with Mojo that Springsteen’s getting ready to release another one. 

“I’ve just worked on Bruce’s sequel to Only The Strong Survive. He’s got 18 more covers of Motown and classic R&B,” Sancious tells the mag. “And next year, I should be touring the album with Bruce.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a sequel to Only The Strong Survive. Not long after the original’s release he told Rolling Stone that Volume 2 was “probably three-quarters recorded.” This is the first report of a tour in support of those albums, though.

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are currently on tour in Europe, playing Birmingham, England, on Friday, June 16. The tour returns to North America with a two-night stand at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on August 9 and 11. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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July will mark the 50th anniversary of David Bowie‘s final performance as Ziggy Stardust, and now fans will be able to relive the experience in theaters across the country.

A fully restored version of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture will screen in over 500 theaters across the U.S. throughout July, with tickets on sale now.

In addition, a 50th anniversary edition of the soundtrack is being released on August 11, with remastered audio and new mixes from Bowie producer Tony Visconti. It is available for preorder now.

As previously reported, the anniversary will also be marked with a special world premiere screening of the restored film on July 3 at London’s Eventim Apollo Hammersmith (formerly the Odeon), the actual site of Bowie’s last Ziggy show on July 3, 1973. The event will also include a live Q&A with some of Bowie’s famous friends. 

Bowie took on the fictional character of Ziggy Stardust, an androgynous alien rock star, throughout 1972 and 1973, performing as Ziggy for his concert tours of the U.K., Japan and North America.

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Carlos Santana revealed back in 2000 that he had been sexually abused as a young child, and in a new interview with People he describes how he learned to forgive his abuser. 

Sharing that “acceptance and forgiveness are really spiritual,” he says, “I learned to look at everyone who ever went out of their way to hurt me, demean me or make me feel like less, like they’re 5 or 6 years old, and I’m able to look at them with understanding and compassion.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer first opened up about his abuse in a 2000 interview with Rolling Stone, saying it happened “almost every day” between the ages of 10 and 12. 

The guitar great says of the man who abused him, “instead of sending him to hell forever, I visualized him like a child, and behind him there was a lot of light. So I can send him to the light or send him to hell knowing that if I send him to hell, I’m going to go with him. But if I send him to the light, then I’m going to go with him also.”

He adds, “There’s this saying, ‘Hurt people hurt people.’ It’s my pain. It did happen to me. But if you open your hands, and you let it go, then you don’t feel that anymore.”

Santana’s life is the subject of a new documentary, Carlos, which is premiering at the Tribeca Festival on Saturday, June 17.

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As previously reported, Queen’s Brian May is revisiting his 1983 all-star collaboration, Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project with a new box set. The project featured Eddie Van Halen, Alan Gratzer, Phil Chen and Fred Mandel, and now May’s sharing some insight into how the project came to be in the first place.

In a new mini documentary, May explains that in 1983, after years of recording and touring, the members of Queen had become “slightly, I think, irritated with each other,” noting, “We decided we needed a break.”

“What I remember most vividly was, waking up in LA, one of my favorite places, thinking, ‘I could do anything today. Sun is shining, I got some friends here. Why don’t I make some phone calls?’” he says. “That’s what happened. I got on the phone with Ed Van Halen.” 

May got Van Halen to come to the studio, along with all the others, and soon had an idea for what he wanted to record.

“The biggest idea was I wanted to bring this TV series thing into kind of a rock domain as I saw it. I wanted to experiment with it,” he explains, referring to “Star Fleet,” a tune from a Japanese kid’s science fiction series, noting he “wanted to explore making the song into some sort of rock anthem.”

He adds of the group’s time in the studio, “It was just charged with electricity, excitement and anticipation,” adding, “it was a great feeling just to go in there and have this completely new interaction with people, all of whom I really respected.”

Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project will be released July 14 and is available for preorder now.

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While in the past Bruce Springsteen has taken song requests from fans in the audience, that hasn’t been the case on his current tour with The E Street Band. Well, that all changed at his recent show at Letzigrund Stadion in Zurich, Switzerland.

For the first time this tour, and the first time since February 2017, The Boss played his Born in the U.S.A. track “My Hometown” after a group of fans in the audience held up signs requesting the song.

According to Jambase.com, the effort to get the song played was the brainchild of a Swiss radio personality named Judith Wernli, who got the word out on her show and on social media. That resulted in fans designing their own signs and bringing them to the concert, although huge banners were not allowed in the stadium.

And all that effort seemed to work, with fan-shot footage posted to YouTube showing Springsteen acknowledging the campaign during the show.  

“My first question is why?” Springsteen asks. “Why are there so many signs that say ‘My Hometown’? I’m puzzled! I’m slightly puzzled. But, the people have spoken,” and then he launched into the tune. 

Next up, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street hit Birmingham, England, on Friday, June 16. The tour returns to North America with a two-night stand at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on August 9 and 11. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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Another John Fogerty tune has joined Spotify’s Billions Club.

The singer’s Creedence Clearwater Revival hit “Fortunate Son” has now been streamed on the service 1 billion times. It is his second tune to achieve the milestone, following CCR’s “Have You Ever The Rain,” which reached 1 billion streams in March.

“I am humbled and honored to have my song ‘Fortunate Son’ achieve one billion streams [on Spotify],” Fogerty shares. “I wrote this song to express my outrage about the unequal treatment of people in our culture. These words came straight from my heart, and I still feel the same today. I am looking forward to celebrating this song with my fans.” 

Released in October 1969, “Fortunate Son” appeared on CCR’s album Willy and the Poor Boys. The track peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts and wound up becoming an anti-war movement anthem during the Vietnam War. In 2013 it was chosen by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.

And speaking of that celebration with fans, Fogerty is set to kick off a new leg of his North American tour on July 9 in Ravinia, Illinois. A complete list of tour dates can be found at Fogerty.com.

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