Classic Hits

A new documentary focuses on the 50-year search for Paul McCartney’s long-lost Höfner bass, and the first teaser has just been released.

McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass, directed by Arthur Cary, is set to hit theaters in the U.K on April 2 and 4. According to the film’s description, the doc “tells the extraordinary story of this iconic instrument, and the fan powered quest to find it.”

McCartney purchased the bass in Hamburg, Germany, in 1961 and used it to write such Beatles classics as “Love Me Do” and “She Loves You.” It was initially believed to have last been seen in 1969 following the filming of Get Back. It was later revealed that it had actually been stolen in 1972 from a truck parked in Notting Hill, West London.

The Lost Bass Project launched a campaign to find McCartney’s bass in 2018, and the Beatle announced in February 2024 that he had it back in his possession.

The documentary features interviews with McCartney, his brother Mike McCartney, Elvis Costello and Klaus Voormann, along with journalists and fans who set out to find and restore the bass.

“It’s a story about fandom, creativity, love, loss, memory and the transformative power of music,” the description adds.

There’s no word on whether the documentary will be released in the U.S.

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George Thorogood & The Destroyers have been performing live for over 50 years, and now a new compilation album is highlighting some of their iconic performances. 

The Baddest Show on Earth: Greatest Hits Live, dropping June 12, will feature live performances that span from 1978 to 2024, many of which have never been released before.

The collection includes performances of such classic Thorogood tracks as “Who Do You Love,” “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” “Bad to the Bone” and “Move It on Over.” As a preview of the album, a previously unreleased performance of “Who Do You Love” from a 1980 concert in Atlanta is now available via digital outlets.

The Baddest Show on Earth: Greatest Hits Live will be released in a variety of formats, with the LP release featuring four previously unreleased tracks, and the CD and digital releases featuring eight previously unreleased performances. There will also be a yellow vinyl pressing, sold exclusively at Barnes & Noble, and a blazing Red Smoke vinyl, available on Thorogood’s website.

The Baddest Show on Earth: Greatest Hits Live is available for preorder now.

George Thorogood & The Destroyers are currently on a Canadian tour and will play Enoch on Thursday. Their next U.S. show is March 25 in Duluth, Minnesota.

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After having to postpone their Island Exodus 16 this year due to hurricane damage, Gov’t Mule has announced dates for the rescheduled festival, happening in 2027.

Island Exodus 16 will now take place Jan. 17-21, 2027, at Hideaway at Royalton Blue Waters Montego Bay in Trelawny, Jamaica.

The lineup for the 2027 edition will be exactly the same as the planned lineup for 2026. It will include three two-set shows from Gov’t Mule, with guitarist John Scofield sitting in with the band as a special guest. It will also feature Mule frontman Warren Haynes headlining a special afternoon solo show.

Other artists on the bill include moe. and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country doing two shows each.

The festival will include a whole host of events, including a Q&A with Haynes, a cornhole tournament, yoga, beach tie-dye and more.

Presale for previous Island Exodus attendees opens March 30, with reservations open to the general public April 1 at 10 a.m. ET.

More details can be found at islandexodus.com.

Gov’t Mule launched the annual Island Exodus back in 2010. The 2025 festival also featured three two-set beachfront concerts from Gov’t Mule, plus a headlining afternoon solo set from Haynes. Other artists on the bill included Drive-By Truckers, Karina Rykman, Big Sugar and Ron Holloway.

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Get ready to sail the seas of smooth at the 2026 installment of the Yacht Rock Detroit Festival.

The two-day event is set for July 17-18 at Detroit’s Roostertail on the banks of the Detroit River. In addition to music, it’ll feature themed cocktails, a yacht rock costume contest, VIP lounges, nautical-themed photo ops, DJs and more.

The lineup includes Three Dog Night, Ambrosia and Pablo Cruise, as well as members of some popular yacht rock groups: Peter Beckett of “Baby Come Back” act Player; Elliott Lurie, the voice of Looking Glass’ “Brandy”; John Ford Coley of England Dan & John Ford Coley fame; and Water Egan, known for his hit “Magnet and Steel.”

The bill also includes Yacht Rock Revue, the popular band that performs the biggest yacht rock hits of the ’70s and early ’80s, as well as original songs.

Tickets are on sale now at yachtrockdetroit.com.

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Paul McCartney is the latest artist to take part in Audible’s Words + Music series.

The latest episode, The Man on The Run, expands on the recent McCartney documentary Man on the Run, which covers his post-Beatles career, including the formation of Wings. The Audible episode is centered around interviews between McCartney and the film’s director, Morgan Neville. It also features musical performances.

“I don’t normally spend a lot of time looking back but I was flattered when Morgan said he was interested in this period,” says McCartney. “The first bit of Wings was quite hard work and not very rewarding, but eventually we got some songs under our belts that were hits.”

He adds, “Morgan got me to think about stuff I hadn’t thought about for a long time. He was asking all the right questions and I was happy to be transported back.”

In a clip posted on Instagram, McCartney talks about rekindling his relationship with John Lennon following the breakup of The Beatles, noting they started talking again after Lennon welcomed son Sean Lennon, with the conversations centered around every day things like kids and even baking bread.

“The things that we had in common were just ordinary, little domestic things,” McCartney says. “So, somehow that was peaceful. It was nice that we had that in common. And we weren’t fighting anymore.”

The three-hour The Man on the Run installment is available now. The Man on the Run documentary is currently streaming on Prime Video.

Previous installments of the Words + Music series featured such artists as James Taylor, Elvis Costello, Eddie Vedder, Alanis Morissette and Sting.

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On This Day, March 19, 2005 …

Queen and Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers performed together at Nelson Mandela’s 46664 charity concert in George, South Africa.

While the two acts had previously collaborated for Queen’s October 2004 induction into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame, the Mandela concert marked the public debut of what was dubbed Queen + Paul Rodgers.

They performed Queen classics “We Are The Champions,” “We Will Rock You,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love and “Radio Gaga,” as well as the Bad Company tracks “Can’t Get Enough,” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” as well as “All Right Now,” by Rodgers’ former band, Free.

That same year, Queen + Paul Rodgers launched a world tour, which hit North America in 2006.

Queen released one album with Rodgers, The Cosmos Rocks, in 2008, followed by the Rock The Cosmos tour.

The collaboration between Queen and Rodgers ended in 2009, when Rodgers left to reunite with Bad Company.

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Back in September, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks reissued their only studio album as a duo, 1973’s Buckingham Nicks. In a new video, Buckingham explains why he felt the time was right for the rerelease.

In a video posted to Buckingham’s social media accounts, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer calls the reissue “a pleasant surprise on a number of levels.”

“We had talked about releasing it a couple of times earlier in maybe the 10 or so years previous and couldn’t really agree on anything,” he says. “But I think you have to look at the timing of it as something that perhaps was meant to be. That now, as we sort of have evolved into this point in our respective careers and lives, I think both Stevie and I are able to appreciate the arcs that we’ve both experienced individually and together for 50-something years.”

He says the reaction to it “was just a completion of the circle, a completion of the karma.”

“And there’s just a lot of good energy flying around anyway in both our lives, and even the way we’re beginning to interact again,” he says, referring to his previous estrangement from Nicks. “And so I think the timing of the release of Buckingham Nicks was right and seems to be resonant with what’s going on in our lives.”

While Buckingham Nicks wasn’t a commercial success, shortly after the release Mick Fleetwood heard a track from the album and was so impressed he invited Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham insisted his then-girlfriend Nicks come with him, and the pair officially joined the band on New Year’s Eve 1974.

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Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and The Zombies are among the nominees for the 2026 Libera Awards, which celebrate the best in independent music.

Byrne is recognized in the best pop record category for his 2025 solo album, Who Is the Sky? The Zombies have earned a nomination in the best reissue category for Odessey and Oracle: Mono Remastered, the 2025 reissue of their 1967 sophomore album, which includes their iconic track “Time of the Season.”

“We’re truly honoured to be part of this year’s celebration,” The Zombies wrote on Instagram. The band is also releasing a mono remaster of their 1965 debut album, Begin Here, on April 17.

The 2026 Libera Awards will take place June 8 in New York City.

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Joe Jackson is sharing another track off his upcoming album, Hope and Fury.

Following the release of “Welcome to Burning-By-Sea” and “Fabulous People,” Jackson has released the track “After All This Time.” According to a press release, the song finds the “Is She Really Going Out With Him” singer in a “classic bittersweet melodic mode as he reflects on relationships.”

Hope and Fury, dropping April 10, features nine new Jackson tunes. It is the singer’s first album since 2023’s What a Racket!

Hope and Fury is available for preorder now.

Jackson is set to hit the road in support of the album, with North American dates kicking off May 11 in Poughkeepsie, New York, and wrapping July 18 in New York City. The tour will have Jackson playing more than 80 shows and visiting 14 countries.

A complete list of dates can be found at JoeJackson.com.

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Bob Dylan has extended his 2026 tour into July.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has added three new dates to the latest leg of his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, including two nights, June 6 and 7, at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville, Washington, and a July 2 show at the WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

Tickets for all three shows go on sale Monday.

The 84-year-old Dylan is set to kick off the latest leg of the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour on Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska. He launched the tour in November 2021, in support of his 39th studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, which was released in 2020.

He wrapped a European and U.K. leg of the tour on Nov. 25 in Dublin, Ireland.

A complete list of dates can be found at BobDylan.com.

In other Dylan news … the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has earned a co-writing credit on Willie Nelson’s upcoming album, Dream Chaser, which drops May 29. Dylan is credited on the song “I Can’t Read Your Mind” because, as Nelson explained in a 2025 GQ interview, he gave Willie the idea for the song.

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