Classic Rock
The Rolling Stones Threaten to Sue Donald Trump Over Unauthorized Use of Their Music
The Rolling Stones have no sympathy for the devil. The legendary rock band is threatening to sue Donald Trump and his campaign over the continued unauthorized use of the band’s music. According to a statement released on Saturday, The Rolling Stones and the performing rights organization BMI have served Trump with a final warning to cease playing the band’s music at official campaign events and rallies. “If Donald Trump disregards the exclusion and persists then he would face a lawsuit for breaking the embargo and playing music that has not been licensed,” the statement reads. As BMI explained to Deadline, the Trump campaign has a Political Entities License which provides them with access to more than 15 million musical works in BMI’s repertoire. However, the license includes a provision t...
Sammy Hagar Clarifies Comments About Going Back on Tour: Only When It’s “Safe and Responsible”
Sammy Hagar made headlines recently when he said he’d “rather personally get sick and even die, if that’s what it takes” to get the concert industry going again amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the veteran rocker is clarifying the extreme portion of his comments, while also saying he does want to get back on the road this year, if possible. For more context, Hagar’s longer quote in Rolling Stone read, “This is hard to say without stirring somebody up, but truthfully, I’d rather personally get sick and even die, if that’s what it takes. We have to save the world and this country from this economic thing that’s going to kill more people in the long run. I would rather see everyone go back to work. If some of us have to sacrifice on that, OK. I will die for my children and my grandchildr...
Roger Waters Under Fire for Anti-Semitic Comments
Roger Waters has come under fire for recent comments in which he described Jewish-American billionaire Sheldon Adelson as a “puppet master,” blamed Israel for the death of George Floyd, and called Zionism an “ugly stain” that “needs to be gently removed by us.” Waters made the remarks in a new interview with the Middle East Media Research Institute. Discussing the relationship between the US and Israel, Waters singled out Adelson, the American business magnate and GOP political donor whose net worth is approaching $40 billion. Adelson is “the puppet master pulling the strings of Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, and what’s his name… the Ambassador [to Israel]…,” Waters commented, before wrongly identifying Ambassador David Friedman as “Greenberg.” “And Sheldon Adelson is a right-wing fa...
Sammy Hagar Is Willing to “Get Sick and Even Die” to Kickstart the Concert Industry Again
While most music acts have acknowledged that public health comes first when it comes to touring in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sammy Hagar would “rather personally get sick and even die” if it means kickstarting the concert industry again. The Red Rocker was one of several veteran artists polled by Rolling Stone as to when they would feel safe returning to the road. Most of the artists remarked that they would want to wait until there’s a COVID-19 vaccine or safe measures in place, but the former Van Halen singer is willing to put his life on the line. “I’ll be comfortable playing a show before there’s a vaccine, if it’s declining and seems to be going away,” remarked Hagar. “I’m going to make a radical statement here. This is hard to say without stirring somebody up, but truth...
Whitesnake on Restoring Old Art and Writing New Endings
Kyle Meredith With… Whitesnake Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public Whitesnake singer David Coverdale speaks with Kyle Meredith about the band’s trilogy of new compilations called Red, White, and Blues, and how the series was inspired by restoring old art. Coverdale dives into being influenced by Marc Bolan, The Who, and early Pink Floyd for the 2000 song “She Give Me”, how knee surgery led to the new song “Always The Same”, and what we can expect from the series, particularly a new ending for “Is This Love”. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Meredith digs deep into the artist’s work...
Roger Waters Performs “Two Suns in the Sunset” in Quarantine: Watch
Roger Waters has uploaded another socially-distant performance of a Pink Floyd classic. The time around, Waters and his touring band connect virtually to play “Two Suns in the Sunset”, the closing song off Pink Floyd’s 1983 album, The Final Cut. Watch below. The performance is prefaced by a screen of text warning viewers that “We’re at one hundred seconds to midnight on the doomsday clock. This is the the closest the Human Race has ever been to nuclear catastrophe.” In a corresponding video caption, Waters spoke about the dangers of nuclear weapons: “That we allow [them] to exist in a world controlled by deranged sociopaths is, in itself, a deranged arrangement. We are many they are few. We could just say no, to the whole MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) insanity. It makes zero...
Tom Petty’s Family Issues Cease and Desist to Trump Over Use of “I Won’t Back Down”
The family of Tom Petty has issued a cease and desist to Donald Trump over the unauthorized usage of Petty’s song “I Won’t Back Down” during a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday. Trump took the stage as “I Won’t Back Down” played over the speakers. According to a statement released by Petty’s family, “Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind.” “Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind,” the statement continued. “Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together.” The family said it was issuing a cease and desist notice to Trump’s campaign. “We would hate for fans that are marginalized by the...
Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Arcade Fire to Play on Preservation Hall Jazz Band Livestream
Dave Grohl (photo by Philip Cosores), Preservation Hall Jazz Band (photo by Paul R. Giunta), and Paul McCartney (photo by Joshua Mellin) Summer music festivals may be canceling left and right due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but that won’t stop Newport Folk Festival staple the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from playing loud and proud anyway. On Saturday night, the famed group will perform a livestream from their respective homes alongside some special guests, including Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, and Arcade Fire. The livestream, dubbed “Round Midnight Preserves”, will take place on June 20th from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET. In addition to the Foo Fighters frontman, The Beatles bassist, and Arcade Fire, Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews, Beck, Irma Thomas, My Morning J...
Black Sabbath Selling Black Lives Matter T-Shirt in Style of Band’s Classic Logo
Black Sabbath are showing support for Black Lives Matter by selling a t-shirt with the activist movement’s name spelled out in the style of the iconic metal band’s logo. All net proceeds from the sale of the shirts will be donated to support Black Lives Matter. The godfathers of heavy metal played their last show in 2017, but they continue to have legions of fans throughout the world. The reaction to the t-shirt on the band’s Facebook page has been mostly positive, with some dissenters renouncing their fandom over its political nature. Those naysayers have been called out by supportive fans, who cite the band’s political anthems like “War Pigs” and “Wicked World” as examples of the heavy metal legends taking a stance on social issues in the past. The shirt plays off the purple band logo ma...
Roger Waters Announces US + Them Live Album
Today brings the digital home release of Roger Waters’ latest concert film, US + Them, chronicling his 2017-2018 world tour of the same name. Come October 2nd, the Pink Floyd legend will release a companion live album, as well as a physical version of the film on Blu-ray and DVD. The concert film follows Waters as he embarked on a massive 156-date tour around the world. Waters co-directed the film with Sam Evans, using footage from his dates in Amsterdam and the UK. It captures the spectacle of the “Us + Them” tour, with its dizzying image projections and trippy rainbow laser pyramid. The setlists, too, were something to behold, chock-full of Pink Floyd’s greatest hits from The Wall, Wish You Were Here, and Dark Side of the Moon, as well as rarely performed tracks ...
Penny Lane from The Beatles Song “in Danger of Being Renamed” over Possible Slavery Ties
As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to surge worldwide, citizens and governments alike are being forced to reconsider monuments to heritages of racism. In America, everyone from GWAR to Taylor Swift is calling for the removal of confederate statues, with one petition proposing they be replaced with ones of Dolly Parton. Meanwhile, over in Liverpool, England, folks are seeking to rename the famed Penny Lane — immortalized in the classic song by The Beatles — over its purported connection to the slave trade. It seems many believe the road was named for James Penny, a slave merchant who spoke against abolition in Parliament. Last week, as protests over racial injustice and inequality gripped the country, signs for the street were defaced and graffitied, with “racist” being sprayed ab...
Paul McCartney’s Birthday Wish Is for People to Stop Eating Meat
It’s pretty wild to realize Paul McCartney, the guy who throws cathartic multi-hour-long concerts with ease, will turn 78 years old this year. To preface his birthday on June 18th, he’s written a blog post for PETA in which he details his sole wish for the big day: that people will finally stop eating meat and, ideally, go vegetarian. “All I’ve ever wanted for my birthday is peace on Earth — including for animals,” The Beatles bassist wrote in the blog post. “That’s why this year, I’m urging fans to watch a video I hosted for PETA, titled ‘Glass Walls.’ We called it that because if slaughterhouses had glass walls, who would want to eat meat?” “Whether you’re worried about diseases that spring from slaughterhouses, the animals who suffer terribly and needlessly, or the catastrophic impact o...
