Classic Hits

On This Day, April 3, 2015…

Bob Burns, the original drummer for Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died in a car crash near his home in Cartersville, Georgia. 

Burns helped to form Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964 with Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Larry Junstrom, but left the group in 1974.

He is credited on recordings from the group’s first two albums, 1973’s (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) and 1974’s Second Helping. That includes such Lynyrd Skynyrd classics as “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Simple Man.”

In 1996, after years out of the public eye, he joined the band for a performance in conjunction with the film Freebird: The Movie. Then, in March of 2006 he returned to perform alongside the band at their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.

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Tears For Fears is returning to North America this summer. The band has announced dates for The Tipping Point Tour Part II. 

The trek, featuring special guest Cold War Kids, kicks off June 23 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, making stops in New York, Austin, Houston, Denver, Seattle and more, before wrapping August 2 in Los Angeles, California. 

Presale tickets go on sale Tuesday, April 4, at 10 a.m. local time, with the general sale set for Friday, April 7, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at TearsForFears.com.

The tour is named after their most recent album, The Tipping Point, which Tears for Fears released in February 2022. It was their first album of new material in almost 18 years. 

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Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein, who was responsible for launching the careers of such artists as Madonna, The Talking Heads, and more, passed away Sunday at the age of 80 after a long battle with cancer.

Stein co-founded Sire Productions with record producer Richard Gottehrer in 1966, which later became Sire Records. In addition to Madonna and Talking Heads, Stein is known for signing such future stars as the Ramones, the Pretenders, Ice-T and more, along with a slew of new wave acts like Depeche Mode, The Smiths, The Cure, Echo & The Bunnyman, and others. 

Stein was also vice president of Warner Bros. Records until his retirement in July, 2018. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March of 2005, and was honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016 with the Richmond Hitmaker Award.

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The 2023 CMT Music Awards went down in Austin, Texas Sunday night, and while the night celebrated country music’s biggest stars, rock was also well-represented.

The show featured a once-in-a-lifetime tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd and their late guitarist Gary Rossington, who passed away last month. The performance, which was introduced by Peter Frampton, featured a trio of guitar greats – Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, and Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes – along with Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers and country star Cody Johnson on vocals, Rolling Stones’ keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and Wynonna Judd and LeAnn Rimes filling in for Skynyrd’s backup singers, The Honkettes.

The all-star lineup treated the crowd to performances of Skynyrd classics “Simple Man” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” with current Skynyrd members Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlocke watching on from the audience,  along with Rossington’s widow, Dale Krantz Rossington and daughter Dale, and the late Ronnie Van Zant’s widow Judy and his granddaughter.

The show also featured a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan from Gary Clark, Jr., who performed a rousing rendition “The House Is Rockin’.” 

And if that wasn’t enough, The Black Crowes also performed on the telecast, joining Darius Rucker for a collaboration on the Crowes’ classic “She Talks to Angels.” Plus, Alanis Morissette teamed with Lainey Wilson, Ingrid Andress, Madeline Edwards and Morgan Wade for a performance of her classic “You Oughta Know,” and Wynonna and Ashley McBryde performed a cover of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

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Simply Red is back with new music. The band just shared the new track “Shades 22,” which is the second single off their upcoming new album, Time, which drops May 26.

“When we were in lockdown, I went, well, jeez, who am I actually? What makes me tick?” Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall shares. “And I realized: you are a songwriter. So why don’t you write some songs about who you are? That’s really the essence of this album.”

“Shades 22” follows the band’s previously released single, “Better With You,” which came out earlier this month. The album is the follow-up to Blue Eyed Soul, which was released in 2019. 

Here is the Time track list: 

“Better With You”
“Just Like You”
“Let Your Hair Down”
“Shades 22”
“It Wouldn’t Be Me”
“Never Be Gone”
“Too Long At The Fair”
“Slapbang”
“Hey Mister”
“Just Like You (Pt. 2)”
“Butterflies”
“Earth In A Lonely Space”

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In December, a woman named Julia Holcomb filed a lawsuit in California accusing Steven Tyler of sexual assault, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Well, now Tyler is seeking to have the suit dismissed. 

Deadline reports that in legal documents seeking the dismissal, the Aerosmith frontman’s lawyers argue Holcolmb’s claims shouldn’t be allowed, either in whole or in part, because she consented to the relationship, which occurred in 1973 when she was 16 and he was in his 20s. They also argue he has qualified immunity from her claims because of his previous status as her onetime legal guardian.

They say Holcomb hasn’t “sustained any injury or loss by reason of any act or omission on the part of (Tyler),” adding the rocker’s “actions were legitimate, good-faith, justified, nondiscriminatory and/or non-retaliatory.”

In her suit, Holcomb claimed she and Tyler were together for three years starting in 1973, saying the rocker got her mother to grant him guardianship over her, which allowed her to live and travel with him. Holcomb claims she “was powerless to resist” the rock star’s “power, fame and substantial financial ability,” and that he “coerced and persuaded” her into believing their relationship was a “romantic love affair.”

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Queen + Adam Lambert have added more dates to their North American Rhapsody Tour.

The band has added eight new dates “due to overwhelming fan demand,” including second shows in Baltimore, New York, Boston, St. Paul, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

The tour now features 22 shows overall, opening October 4 in Baltimore, Maryland, and now wrapping November 12 in Los Angeles. 

Tickets for the new dates go on sale Friday, April 7, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of shows can be found at queenonline.com.

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Neil Diamond announced in 2018 that he’d be retiring from performing live due to a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, but on this weekend’s episode of CBS Sunday Morning, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer admits he only recently came to terms with his medical condition.

Asked by Anthony Mason if there was a moment when he finally “accepted” his diagnosis, Diamond replies, “I think this has just been in the last few weeks.” 

He adds, “Somehow, a calm has moved in and [in] the hurricane of my life … things have gotten very quiet … And, I like it. I find that I like myself better. I’m easier on people. I’m easier on myself. And the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I’m gone.”

Diamond, 82, also tells Mason that while he doesn’t “like” it, “This is me; this is what I have to accept. And I’m willing to do it … and OK, so this is the hand that God’s given me, and I have to make the best of it, and so I am. I am.”

However, Diamond says it’s difficult for him to sit back and watch his life performed in front of him in the current Broadway musical A Beautiful Noise, which tells his story and incorporates all his best-known songs.

“It was all pretty hard. I was a little embarrassed. I was flattered and I was scared,” Diamond says of seeing the show. 

Asked what he was scared of, Diamond explains, “Being found out is the scariest thing you can hope, because we all have a façade. And the truth be known to all of ‘em: I’m not some big star. I’m just me.”

The full interview airs this Sunday at 9 a.m. ET on CBS.

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As Robert Smith‘s battle with Ticketmaster continues, the Cure frontman now says that the company has canceled 7,000 tickets purchased for the band’s upcoming North American tour.

In a tweet published Friday, which deviated from his usual all-caps style, Smith writes, “Approx 7k tickets across approx 2200 orders have been cancelled.”

“These are tickets acquired with fake accounts/listed on secondary resale sites,” the tweet continues. “[Ticketmaster] have identified specific locations from secondary postings.”

In a follow-up tweet, Smith adds, “If you believe you have been wrongly cancelled contact @TMFanSupport.”

Smith previously criticized Ticketmaster for what many fans felt were exorbitant fees added onto ticket prices for the tour, writing that he was “sickened” by the situation. As a result, Ticketmaster eventually issued a partial refund for the fees that had been charged.

The Cure’s tour, which marks their first full U.S. headlining run in seven years, begins May 10 in New Orleans.

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If you think you’ve been hearing a lot of Fleetwood Mac songs on TV lately, you aren’t imagining things.

AdAge reports that since the beginning of 2022, music by the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers has been featured across 16 different TV shows and commercials — and that doesn’t include clips played during reports of singer Christine McVie’s November 2022 death.

According to licensing platform Songtradr, the track that got the most exposure was 1987’s “Everywhere,” which was featured in a Chevy electric vehicle commercial, as well as a recent Kohl’s campaign. In addition, Fleetwood Mac’s “I’m Coming Home to Stay” was featured in the standout third episode of HBO’s The Last of Us, which featured Nick Offerman.

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