Rock Music News
Josh Homme Performs a Queens of the Stone Age Song in His Bathroom: Watch
Musicians are staying busy during the coronavirus pandemic by doing everything from reading children’s books to hosting interviews in a shower. Now, Josh Homme has served up his own slice of quarantine-induced creativity by playing Queens of the Stone Age song “Villains of Circumstance” in his bathroom. In the clip below, Homme can be seen playing a small acoustic guitar in his bathroom at home in Los Angeles. The original version of “Villains of Circumstance”, as heard on 2017’s Villains, is a six-minute-long sprawler full of eerie backing reverb and trickling guitar parts. It’s ominous and sinister, as if hiding a tender heart at its core. Homme reels things back for his quarantine rendition, taking the emphasis off the instrumentation and putting it onto his warbling vocal par...
David Gilmour Covers Syd Barrett Songs in Quarantine: Watch
During quarantine, David Gilmour, his wife Polly Samson, and their family have gathered for a weekly “Von Trapped Family” livestream. Originally set up to promote Samson’s new book Theater for Dreamers, the livestreams have evolved to become a sort-of virtual hangout during which the family sings songs, reads poetry, answers fan-submitted questions, and drinks wine. During the latest episode, Gilmour covered two songs composed by former Pink Floyd bandmate Syd Barrett: “Octopus” and “Dominoes”. Gilmour also shared some personal andecdotes about Barrett and their time working together, in addition to revealing that he was asked to proofread a forthcoming book of Barrett’s lyrics. Watch video of the livestream below. Gilmour’s covers of “Octopus” and “Dominoes” can be heard at the times...
Paul McCartney: Little Richard Taught Me Everything I Know
There’s no hyperbole in stating that Little Richard changed rock & roll as we knew it when he broke into the music scene. Look no further than the countless artists who’ve paid tribute to Richard after learning of his passing on Saturday, including Bob Dylan himself. Now, arguably the biggest pioneer of pop-rock music, Paul McCartney, has gone on the record to claim Little Richard taught him “everything he knows” and more. McCartney memorialized Richard with a lengthy tribute on Twitter, essentially crediting Richard for paving the way for The Beatles. When the Fab Four were busy playing residencies at small, McCartney looked to him for inspiration and guidance. “I owe a lot of what I do to Little Richard and his style,” he wrote. “From ‘Tutti Frutti’ to ‘Long Tall Sally’ to ‘Good...
Dave Grohl Says Foo Fighters’ New Album Is Their Version of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance
Whenever this pandemic finally comes to an end, Foo Fighters’ fans have a lot to look forward to. Not only is the band planning to hit the road in celebration of their 25th anniversary, but a new album is in the can and ready to be released. This week, Dave joined his mother, Virgina Grohl, for a Mother’s Day-themed interview with Los Angeles’ ALT 98.7 FM. They primarily spoke about Virginia’s recent book, From Cradle to Stage, in which she interviews fellow mothers of famous rock stars. Virginia also revealed that she and her son are working on a docu-series inspired by the book. Toward the end of the interview, however, mom and son discussed how they were spending their time in quarantine. Dave noted that he was supposed to be out on tour right now, and was bummed to have postponed ...
Bob Dylan Memorializes Little Richard: “I’m So Grieved”
The influence of Little Richard can be felt across the entire spectrum of modern music: just look at the countless number of artists, many of whom are legends in their own right, who took time to memorialize Richard following news of his passing on Saturday. Even the notoriously private Bob Dylan issued a rare statement to honor the rock music pioneer. “I just heard the news about Little Richard and I’m so grieved,” Dylan wrote in a message posted to his social media channels. “He was my shining star and guiding light back when I was only a little boy. His was the original spirit that moved me to do everything I would do.” “I played some shows with him in Europe in the early nineties and got to hang out in his dressing room a lot. He was always generous, kind and humble,” Dylan went on to ...
R.I.P. Little Richard, Rock & Roll Pioneer Dies at 87
Rock and roll pioneer Little Richard has died at the age of 87. Richard passed away Saturday, May 9th, following a battle with cancer, his son Danny Penniman told Rolling Stone. Born in 1932 in Macon, Georgia, Richard Wayne Penniman was the third of 12 children of Charles “Bud” Penniman and Leva Mae. His father was a deacon, and it was at church that Richard first discovered his love for singing. He became particularly enthralled by gospel singers such as Brother Joe May and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, as well as the animated nature of his preacher’s sermons. After overhearing him sing during a concert, Tharpe invited Richard, then age 14, to open one of her concerts, and his professional career was born. In his early teens, Richard began experimenting sexually with boys and...
Foo Fighters Share 2006 Skin and Bones Concert Film for Free: Watch
In 2006, the Foo Fighters performed an acoustic concert at Los Angeles’ Pantages Theatre. The show was packaged as a CD and film, both called Skin and Bones, and as a charity fundraiser the Foos have now released that iconic footage for free. Watch it below. The movie was directed by Danny Clinch, who appears on-stage during “Another Round” to play harmonica. In addition to the usual Foo crew of Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, and Chris Shiflett, frontman Dave Grohl was joined by the tour team of Petra Harden, Drew Hester, Rami Jeffee, and Pat Smear, the latter two of whom subsequently joined the band as full-time members. The performance at the Pantages Theatre had been proceeded by a lengthy acoustic tour. Before a rendition of “Next Year”, Grohl explained how that experience had chang...
Reignwolf Fights “Cabin Fever” with New Song Recorded in His Garage: Stream
Jordan Cook of Reignwolf has been isolating like the rest of us, and like the rest of us he’s going a bit crazy. He’s channeled those emotions into the new quarantine banger “Cabin Fever”. Cook recorded the song in his garage using one mic and a a 4-track recorder. He pounded out that violent drum beat himself, while attacking the guitar riffs with nervous, almost jittery fingers. The lyrics are urgent and wild. “I go insane! Insane! Insane! Insane!/ Wait for tomorrow to be yesterday.” In a statement, he explained how the song came together with “tension” baked in. “The song came together quickly and I didn’t want to wait to record it so I used what was available. I dusted off the 4-track, set up a single mic in the garage and went to work. It felt like old times when I used to r...
Lollapalooza Opens the Vault on Foo Fighters’ Classic 2011 Concert
Lollapalooza is hoping to wait out the coronavirus pandemic, delaying the lineup announcement but not cancelling just yet. In the meantime, the Chicago institution has begun releasing classic performances from the vault. First up was The Strokes 2010 comeback concert, and now today, Thursday May 7th, the festival has shared the Foo Fighters’ legendary show from 2011. Tune in below beginning at 8:00 p.m. EDT. That 20-song gig was notable for bad weather and a great performance to overcome it. “I don’t give a fuck if it’s raining tonight!” frontman Dave Grohl howled into the audience. The torrential downpour reached its zenith during “My Hero”, as the audience shouted along in one wild and muddy mass. At the end of the show, Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction joined Grohl on stage for a ...
Grateful Dead Announce 50th Anniversary Reissue of Workingman’s Dead
Mark those calendars, Deadheads. This summer, the Grateful Dead will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Workingman’s Dead with a special reissue featuring a bonus live album. Pre-orders are now ongoing Due out July 10th, the reissue will be available as a CD and on vinyl, with the latter format limited to just 10,000 picture discs. Both come with a newly remastered version of the original album, but the CD edition boasts a little something extra. Fans who purchase the CD reissue will also receive a live album capturing the iconic rock group’s February 21st, 1971 concert at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. Altogether there are 24 recordings on this collection, the setlist pulled from Workingman’s Dead as well as its follow-up, American Beauty. One of those tracks is a live...
