Classic Hits

This year’s edition of the ’70s Rock & Romance Cruise took place last month, and now details about the 2023 installment of the the star-studded seagoing music festival have been announced.

Among the veteran pop and rock acts slated to perform on next year’s cruise are former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, ex-Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, The Hollies, Foghat, Jefferson Starship, Bay City Rollers, Exile, Climax Blues Band and one-time Journey singer Steve Augeri.

The week-long event is scheduled to set sail from Miami on March 16 and will stop at Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic, on March 18; at San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 19; and on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands on March 20, before returning to port on the March 23.

Other performers include Electric Light Orchestra spinoff group The Orchestra, and cover bands that play the music of Queen, The Bee Gees and more. Additional artists will be joining the bill in the coming months as well.

In addition to the many performances, the ’70s Rock & Romance Cruise will feature Q&A sessions and panel discussions with some of the artists, themed parties, wine tastings, trivia contests, game shows, karaoke, pool parties and more. Married couples also will have the opportunity to renew their wedding vows.

To book a cabin on the cruise, and to find out more information, visit RockandRomanceCruise.com or call 844-466-7625.

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Following their successful 2021 No Filter tour, The Rolling Stones are heading to Europe this year.

The SIXTY tour — in celebration of their 60th anniversary — will find the band playing stadiums in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands.  They’ll also perform two shows in the U.K.: Their first show in Liverpool in more than 50 years, and two shows in London’s Hyde Park. 

Hyde Park, of course, has figured prominently in the Stones’ history ever since the free festival they played there in 1969, just two days after the death of founding member Brian Jones.

The tour, with Steve Jordan once again filling in for the late Charlie Watts on drums, gets underway June 1 in Madrid and wraps up July 31 in Stockholm.  It’ll boast “a spectacular new…production, including a massive stage, cutting edge lighting and state of the art video design,” according to a press release.

Last year’s No Filter tour, the band’s first one ever without Watts, who died in August of 2021. It was a huge success, filling stadiums across the U.S.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd has confirmed a new series of dates for the 2022 edition of the band’s Big Wheels Keep On Turnin’ Tour, which kicks off April 9 with a previously announced performance in Scottsdale, Arizona, as part of the 25th anniversary Arizona Bike Week event.

According to their official website, the Southern rock legends currently have 15 shows on their schedule, spanning through a September 23 concert in Reno, Nevada.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ will be joined by various support acts at select shows, including The Outlaws, ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder, The Marshall Tucker Band and The Devon Allman Project.

The Outlaws will be supporting Lynyrd Skynyrd on June 3 in Crownsville, Maryland; June 4 in Wantagh, New York; July 1 in Gilford, New Hampshire; July 2 in Bridgeport, Connecticut; and July 3 in Bangor, Maine.

Felder will perform at the Gilford concert as well, and also will open Skynyrd on May 14 in Fresno, California, and July 9 in Syracuse, New York. The Marshall Tucker Band will support Skynyrd at a June 10 concert in Middletown, New York, and at the Bangor show along with The Outlaws. The Devon Allman Projct, a group led by the late Gregg Allman‘s oldest son, also will perform at the Wantagh concert.

Lynyrd Skynyrd launched its Big Wheels Keep On Turnin’ Tour in June of 2021. Last July, founding guitarist Gary Rossington underwent an emergency heart operation and has sat out most of the band’s concerts since then. Former Alice Cooper guitarist Damon Johnson has been standing in for Rossington; it’s not known if Gary will be playing with the band this year.

Check out Skynyrd’s full schedule at LynyrdSkynyrd.com.

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Cher has got a lot going on at the moment, but when she apologized to her fans for being absent from social media on Friday, it was her personal life that she blamed, not her work schedule.

“Sorry I’ve Been MIA. Been having Personal Problems,” the legendary star tweeted on Friday. When a fan inquired, “You okay, gal?” Cher replied, “YA KNOW…NO. WE ALL [CRY], BUT SOMETIMES, WE [CRY] A DIFFERENT KIND OF TEARS. TEARS THAT HURT. WE BECOME OVERWHELMED, REACH A LIMIT…THEN ARE FORCED 2 PUSH THAT LIMIT.”

She continued, “I’VE BEEN ALIVE SINCE THE YEAR DOT, & THESE YRS ARE THE WORST IVE EVER SEEN…ADD FAMILY TO THAT & ITS [A] RECIPE FOR DISASTER CAKE.”

When a fan shared that they, too, are depressed due to personal issues, Cher ran down a litany of things that are making all of us feel uneasy.  “MANY PPL R In DEEP DEPRESSION. 2 Yrs of Covid, Fear, Isolation, trump & Capital Insanity,” she wrote. “Ppl Not Going Back 2 Work, Inflation Because Of Supply Chains, Issues & PRICE GOUGING BY…OIL COMPANIES, LANDLORDS, ETC. THESE PPL ARE STARVING [THEIR] OWN PPL. THERE R SOME THINGS U CANT DO 4 [money].”

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Cher noted, “I’M BETTER 2DAY. SOMETIMES I REACH WHAT I THINK IS MY LIMIT, THEN REALIZE, [I’VE] GOT MILES MORE ‘LIMIT’ IN ME.”

She concluded, “SOMETIMES I GET ON WHAT I ‘THINK’ IS MY LAST NERVE, THEN FIND LOTS MORE ‘LAST NERVES’ TO GET ON. SOMETIMES I NEED 2 REGROUP, REBOOT GIVE ‘ME’ A TIME OUT, THEN SAY FK THIS. I WONT STOP.”

Lately, Cher has starred in a M.A.C. cosmetics campaign, and is working on a new album, as well as a biopic about her amazing life.

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Def Leppard recently filmed a scene for an upcoming movie titled Bank of Dave, which is expected to eventually premiere in the U.K. on Netflix, the Lancashire Telegraph reports.

The band recently posted a message on its social media sites that reads, “Fun time this past weekend!” along with three hashtags — “#Tempo_productions #NetflixUK #bankofdavefilm” — and a photo of what looks like a concert stage featuring a large backdrop with the “Def Leppard” logo on it.

According to the Tempo Productions website, Bank of Dave tells the true story of Dave Fishwick, a self-made millionaire from Burnley, U.K., who set up a community bank to aid local businesses in his hometown area, and wound up in a conflict with established banking institutions.

The Lancashire Telegraph reports that Def Leppard were in Burnley to film their scene, although details of their appearance aren’t known. The band hails from Sheffield, U.K., which is not far from Burnley.

Fishwick himself posted a tweet in response to Def Leppard social media post about their participation in the movie, writing, “This was Amazing, Thank-you so much @DefLeppard You were Brilliant!! It was great to meet you all! #BankofDave The Movie!”

Meanwhile, Def Leppard is gearing up for The Stadium Tour, the major U.S. summer trek with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett that kicks off June 16 in Atlanta.

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Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will release their first-ever acoustic album, Changeup, on March 25.

The album is a 25-track collection featuring new, unplugged versions of songs spanning Joan Jett‘s entire career, from her work with the trailblazing 1970s all-female group The Runaways through to some of her most recent songs with The Blackhearts.

In advance of Changeup, Jett and the Blackhearts have released the lead track, a rendition of “(I’m Gonna) Run Away,” a song from Jett’s third album, 1981’s I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, the first featuring The Blackhearts.  It’s available now via streaming services, and you also can check out a lyric video on YouTube.

Among the other tracks are acoustic versions of Jett’s early hit “Bad Reputation” and “Androgynous,” her cover of Tommy James and the Shondells‘ “Crimson and Clover,” the Runaways classic “Cherry Bomb,” the Bruce Springsteen-penned “Light of Day,” and a wide variety of deeper cuts.

Fans got their first taste of Changeup last year, when the unplugged rendition of “Bad Reputation” was released via digital outlets.

Changeup initially will be avaiable as a digital download, at streaming services and in the immersive audio formats Sony 360 RA and Dolby Atmos. A vinyl version will be released at a later date.

Meanwhile, Jett and the Blackhearts have a series of spring U.S. headlining dates scheduled lading up to the group’s stint on the major summer trek dubbed The Stadium Tour, which also features Def Leppard, Motley Crue and Poison. That outing kicks off June 16 in Atlanta. Visit JoanJett.com for her full itinerary.

Here’s the complete track list of Changeup:

“(I’m Gonna) Run Away”
“You’re Too Possessive”
“Long Time”
“Victim of Circumstance”
“Coney Island Whitefish”
“Love Is Pain”
“Oh Woe Is Me”
“You Drive Me Wild”
“Frustrated “
“Bad Reputation”
“Fake Friends”
“Fresh Start”
“Soulmates to Strangers”
“Make It Back”
“Fragile”
“I Love Playin’ with Fire”
“Cherry Bomb “
“I Want You”
“Crimson and Clover”
“A 100 Feet Away”
“Androgynous”
“You Don’t Know What You’ve Got”
“School Days”
“Good Music”
“Light of Day”

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Bryan Adams‘ new album So Happy It Hurts, released today, was created during the pandemic lockdown of 2020. But unlike some artists who made records during that time because they didn’t have anything else to do, Bryan says this particular album was always on his “to-do” list.

“I was going to make a record, but once the lockdown kicked in, I just completely immersed myself in it,” Bryan tells ABC Audio. “And it didn’t take very long ’cause I had a fair amount of ideas.”

“I finally got to clear all the pieces of paper out of my coat pockets that had all these things written on them, and put them all on a big board in the studio,” he adds. “And just one by one, [I] went through them to see which ones were working.”

But due to the pandemic, Bryan says he had to do all the recording himself.

“I decided to live my lifelong dream of being a drummer,” he explains. “Every day I would go in and mess around with the songs and put down rough drum tracks. And if in the next morning it didn’t sound great, I would just record it again.”

The album’s sole guest is Monty Python legend John Cleese, who delivers a dramatic yet comedic intro to the song “Kick A**.”  Bryan first met Cleese when he photographed him for a charity project, and then unexpectedly ran into him again.

“We were [seated] together at a lunch and I had this song…,” Bryan recalls. “I’d put my voice at the beginning, and I didn’t really like it. So when I was talking to him, I was just noticing how well he spoke. And I said, ‘John, would you be interested in doing the narration for a song?’ And he went, ‘Well, of course!'” 

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Hall & Oates member John Oates will launch a brief solo acoustic tour next Wednesday, March 16, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, but fans can an advance online look at his show by checking out a livestream of a recent Nashville-area concert he played that will premiere this Sunday at Mandolin.com at 8 p.m. ET.

The streaming event and the upcoming concerts are dubbed “An Evening of Songs & Stories with John Oates featuring Guthrie Trapp,” and will feature John performing as a duo with acclaimed Nashville session guitarist Trapp, who also is a longtime member of John’s solo group The Good Road Band.

Oates tells ABC Audio that he’s “really excited” about the livestreamed show, which was filmed at the Franklin Theatre at the Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tennessee.

The concept behind the performance is John presenting his songs with Guthrie in an intimate way, playing and sharing anecdotes about the various tunes that have made an impact on his life and musical journey. Oates’ show features songs by other artists that influenced and inspired him, versions of tunes from his solo catalog and, of course, a few classic Hall & Oates hits.

John says of the recorded concert, “It’s actually the second show we ever played…and it was basically a work in progress. It was like, ‘Hey, let’s try this thing out and see if it works.’ And luckily…we did have a great night.”

Tickets for the virtual concert costs $18, and those who purchase one will be able to view the event on demand for 48 hours. VIP tickets also can be purchased for $55, and they include a virtual meet-and-greet with Oates that begins at 6 p.m. ET.

Visit JohnOates.com to check out the full list of John’s solo dates.

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Here’s some exciting news for KISS fans: According to the promoter of the Creatures Fest event, taking place May 27-29 in Nashville, founding guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss will reunite to perform a few songs together during the first night of the festival.

Frehley and Criss, as well as two other surviving former KISS members — guitarists Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick — already had been announced as part of the Creatures Fest lineup, but promoter Neil Davis announced in a video message posted on Facebook that Peter had just agreed to join Ace during the latter musician’s previously scheduled May 27 headlining performance.

“They both spoke, said they were excited about being at Creatures Fest, they were excited about seeing you, the fans,” Davis says in the clip. “And they just thought that what would be great for the fans, for all of us, is if they got together and played some songs during Ace’s set.”

Neil continued, “I don’t know about you, but I’m speechless about this…It’s gonna be very, very cool. I know talking to them that they are both really excited about doing this together, about playing some songs.

Davis added, “I don’t know what they’re gonna play. I don’t know if they’re going to let us know. It’ll probably a secret, but whatever it is. How cool!”

Creatures Fest also will feature performances by Vincent and Kulick on May 28 and May 29, respectively. Also performing at the festival will be Quiet Riot, Vixen, Enuff Z’Nuff, ex-Motley Crue singer John Corabi and others.

The event, which will be held at the Sonesta Nashville Airport Hotel, also will feature ticketed meet-and-greets with the various performers, a pool party, expos and more.

Visit CreaturesFest.com for more info.

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On his recent collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions, Elton John teamed up with a lot of famous artists, perhaps none more legendary than his old friend Stevie Wonder, with whom he recorded the song “Finish Line.” Now, an emotional and heartwarming music video for the tune has premiered on Elton’s official YouTube channel.

The clip, which was directed by Zack Sekuler, features a montage of vintage home movies, other footage and photos depicting or capturing pivotal moments in people’s lives, including couples with their babies, weddings, family gatherings, retirement parties and more.

The video also includes recent footage of scenes from the pandemic, including nurses and other front-line workers, and people going about their everyday lives while wearing masks. In addition, the clip boasts film clips and photos of Elton and Stevie together at various events throughout their lives, including concert performances, as well as in the music video for “That’s What Friends Are For,” their 1985 chart-topping hit that also featured Dionne Warwick and Gladys Knight.

On his official website, Elton explains that after almost 50 years of friendship, “Finish Line” marked his first-ever vocal duet with Stevie, who also played harmonica and acoustic piano on the track.

“It sounds simply incredible. Stevie sounds like he’s 19 again,” Elton says. “It was a special experience making this record with Stevie.”

Released in October 2021, The Lockdown Sessions peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 and topped the U.K. albums chart.

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