Classic Hits

Neil Young hasn’t been on tour since before the pandemic, and while he has no immediate plans to hit the road, when he does, he hopes to do so in a more environmentally friendly way. In fact, in a new interview with The New Yorker, Young says he already has a plan for a more sustainable tour.

“I’ve been working on it with a couple of my friends for about seven or eight months. We’re trying to figure out how to do a self-sustaining, renewable tour,” he shares. “Everything that moves our vehicles around, the stage, the lights, the sound, everything that powers it is clean. Nothing dirty with us. We set it up; we do this everywhere we go.”

He adds, “This is something that’s very important to me, if I’m ever going to go out again… and I’m not sure I want to, I’m still feeling that out. But if I’m ever going to do it, I want to make sure that everything is clean.”

Young’s plan also includes the food people eat at shows. He notes, “I’ve been working on this idea of bringing the food and the drink and the merch into the realm where it’s all clean. I will make sure that the food comes from real farmers.” He insists, “It’s about sustainability and renewability in the future, loving Earth for what it is. We want to do the right thing. That’s kind of the idea.”

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Engelbert Humperdinck is ready to drop some new music. The singer will release his new EP, All About Love, on Friday.

The EP features a cover of the Bee Gees’ classic “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart,” which Humperdinck first premiered back in October during his YouTube Live special. Also on the album is Humperdinck’s take on Barry White’s “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything,” Lou Rawls’ “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine,” the Mel & Tim classic “Starting All Over Again” and his own “Take Me Back Again.”

This is the third EP Humperdinck has released since 2019. He is planning to drop a full-length album early next year.

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Brian May is working hard on a reissue of his 1983 solo EP, Star Fleet Project. The Queen guitarist shared on Instagram that it will be his next Gold Series reissue box set, and he’s expecting it will be out summer 2023.

“It won’t be just a remaster- we’re remixing everything from highest definition transfers from the original multitracks,” he writes. “You’ll still be able to hear the old mixes, but I’m excited about what we’re cooking up now,” noting, “All the original material – every detail rescued – magnificently remixed – and much more !!!”

The EP featured the late Eddie Van Halen, who May says fans will hear “in his prime that nobody ever heard before.” 

May notes, “Wish I could unleash it all now – but such is the state of record production now it will take until meet Summer to turn it around. It WILL Be worth the wait – I promise !!!”

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Few artists make all the right decisions when it comes to their career, but there are some who make spectacularly bad decisions, and Rolling Stone is taking a long hard look at them. The mag has just come out with a list they’ve dubbed “The 50 Worst Decisions in Music History,” created by artists like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Eric Clapton and more.

Coming in at number one is The Rolling Stones’ decision to hire Hells Angels for security at their 1969 free concert at Altamont Speedway, which ended with the death of concertgoer Meredith Hunter. Others making the top five include: Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his underage cousin at two, Decca Records passing on The Beatles in 1962 at three, Eric Clapton and his anti-vax conspiracy theories at four and the 1999 Woodstock festival at five.

Other bad decisions making the list include: U2 giving away their album Songs of Innocence for free on iTunes in 2015, Billy Squier’s cheesy music video for “Rock Me Tonight,” Steve Van Zandt quitting the E Street Band ahead of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour in 1984, John Lennon saying The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus” in 1966 and lots more.

Check out the complete list here.

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The B-52s will wrap their farewell tour in Georgia in January, but that doesn’t mean they are saying goodbye to performing altogether. In fact, they just announced a new set of Las Vegas dates.

The band is set for a new 10-night residency at The Venetian Resort, with dates in May, August and September. The shows kick off May 5 and run through September 3. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. local time.

The new dates follow a series of sold-out performances in Sin City in October.

As for those final farewell tour dates, The B-52s will play Atlanta’s Fox Theatre on January 6, 7 and 8, and Athens’ Classic Center on January 10.

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Rick Wakeman is ready to release some new music. The Yes keyboardist just announced his brand-new concept album, A Gallery of the Imagination. He says it was inspired by his first piano teacher, Mrs. Symes, who taught him a lesson he never forgot: “when you play, you are painting pictures through music.” 

Wakeman says the songs on the album are presented “as if they were pictures in a gallery,” noting, “just as there are many different styles in an art gallery, so there are many different musical styles on A Gallery of the Imagination.” 

“One of my great loves is going to museums and art galleries and seeing all the different types of art, so I thought, why not a music gallery… the Gallery of the Imagination?” he says. “People can paint their own mind pictures to the different types of music that are on the album. It is very diverse and for me, it works very well because the concept holds it all together.”

Fans can pre-order the album now, and it will be shipped before Christmas. Vinyl and deluxe editions will be out in February.

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U2 fans are always anxiously awaiting tour news, but they just got some that may not make them happy. In a Washington Post piece celebrating the band’s upcoming lifetime achievement award from the Kennedy Center, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. revealed that any tour U2 may do next year will be without him. 

Although not directly quoted, writer Geoff Edgers says Mullen shared that “if the band plays live in 2023 it will probably be without him, as he needs surgery to continue playing.” What type of surgery he needs wasn’t revealed, but on Twitter, Edgers writes he “has issues with his neck and elbows,” sharing that Larry said, “I have lots of bits falling off, elbows, knees, necks, and so during Covid, when we weren’t playing, I got a chance to have a look at some of these things. So there’s some damage along the way.”

On a happier note, U2 does reveal they have two albums described as either completed or almost completed. They include Songs of Ascent, which is said to be “nearly finished.” The article notes, “Bono and the Edge aren’t sure when to release it.” There’s also Surrender, featuring stripped-down versions of the 40 songs Bono writes about in his recent memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story.

The 2022 Kennedy Center Honors goes down Sunday in the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. and airs December 28 on CBS.

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The holiday season is here, and AXS TV is getting into the spirit with a slew of holiday programming that kicks off this weekend with the premiere of a Sting special.

Sting: A Winter’s Night… Live From Durham Cathedral features the former Police frontman’s special intimate performance at the famous London landmark. It features Sting performing his classic tunes as well as songs from his 2009 album, If On A Winter’s Night. The special premieres Saturday, December 3, at 8 p.m. ET.

Heart is also subject of another holiday special, Heart & Friends: Home For The Holidays From Benaroya Hall, which also airs Saturday, starting at 3 p.m. ET. It features Ann and Nancy Wilson‘s performance of such holiday tunes as “Santa’s Going South,” “Ring Them Bells” and “Remember Christmas.” The concert, shot in their hometown of Seattle, features special guests Sammy Hagar, Shawn Colvin, Pat Monahan and Richard Marx. 

And on Christmas day, the network will air three classic concerts: Fleetwood Mac – The Dance at 8:30 p.m. ET; Tom Petty – Live from Gatorville at 11 p.m. ET; and Tomorrow is a Long Time: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan, at 1:45 a.m. ET.

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Eurythmics‘ Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart recently reunited for their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, and now, a new report claims they may get together again for a new tour. According to The Mirror, the pair has been offered big bucks to reunite for a world tour, which would be their first in over 20 years.

“Eurythmics have been offered a huge amount to reform for a world tour,” a source tells the paper. “Seeing them perform together again at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has really stirred the interests of promoters who are throwing money at the band to hit the road again.”

While they have yet to accept any offers, the insider adds, “Nothing is off the table, including a brand new studio album,” noting, “It is very early days but everyone is excited to bring the project to life.”

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While most musicians dream of becoming a huge success, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck says it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. 

Louder Sound reports that in the latest Classic Rock magazine, Buck says the band’s huge success in the 1990s, thanks to songs like “Losing My Religion,” “Man on the Moon” and more, “took away some of the pleasure” of being in the band, noting, “when it got really big, I don’t know if anyone really enjoys that.”

Buck blames his unhappiness on the “non-musical stuff,” explaining, “It’s just the stuff where you kind of wake up and go: ‘God, I don’t really want to have my picture taken today. And I don’t really want to pretend to be an actor in some video where I can’t act.’”

R.E.M. mutually decided to call in quits in September 2011. While the band got to play in front of large crowds and sell millions of records, Buck says, “it was never the reason I did it,” sharing, “And when we got to the point where we decided that it was the end, it felt like a great shared experience. I wouldn’t change it, but I’m not gonna go back to it.”

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