Billy Joel threw a curveball with “Allentown,” the second single from The Nylon Curtain. Offering a state-of-the-nation treatise amid the Ronald Reagan presidency, the song looked at the decline of the industrial northwest through the eastern Pennsylvania town that bears its name. More essentially, “Allentown” – a city on Joel’s touring circuit early in his […]
Four names come to mind when you think of Motley Crue: Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil and Mick Mars. But the group has undergone several lineup changes at various stages of its 40-plus-year career. Granted, half of the band’s lineups consisted of the twice-reunited famous original foursome, with Sixx and Mars always remaining on board […]
John Mellencamp is best known for his rugged heartland rock songs, but he can be found among paintbrushes and canvases in his spare time. For Mellencamp, making music and creating artwork have always gone hand in hand. “There’s nothing closer to heaven than painting,” Mellencamp told The Guardian in 2018. “That’s as close as you get. You’re […]
Warren Zevon‘s final appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman on Oct. 30, 2002 was memorable for a few reasons. One was how Zevon’s profound sense of courage came across — earlier that same year, he’d been unexpectedly given a grim diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma, a cancer often caused by exposure to asbestos. Zevon had been told he only had […]
Australia’s INXS might have been a household name across North America during the latter half of the ’80s, but the first portion of that decade decisively belonged to fellow Aussies Men at Work. Formed in Melbourne in 1979, the band quickly earned a loyal audience at home, leading the group to sign a record contract with CBS Records […]
Bob Dylan covered Jerry Lee Lewis‘ “I Can’t Seem to Say Goodbye” as the encore of his concert in England on Friday night, paying tribute to the recently departed rock ‘n’ roller. In the video, which you can watch below, Dylan introduces the song by telling the audience, “I don’t know how many of you know, but Jerry Lee’s gone. […]
There’s a chill in the air, the sun sets early and an icy wind blows through bare tree branches. Halloween looms. With spooky season upon us, now is the perfect time to consider some of rock’s most terror-inducing tracks — songs with spine-chilling lyrics that tell tall tales of ghosts and goblins, or, creepier still, […]
Jerry Lee Lewis received an outpouring of praise from other rockers on social media when his death at the age of 87 was announced on Oct. 28. The rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, nicknamed the Killer, led a topsy-turvy, multidecade career that was befitting of his wild live performances. Lewis made his recording debut in December 1956 with a […]
The Beach Boys have released a previously unreleased song titled “Carry Me Home,” which was recorded in 1972, ahead of its appearance on an upcoming box set. Sail on Sailor – 1972 is an in-depth exploration of that time in the band’s history as it embraced change. It will be released on Dec. 2 in six-CD and five-LP editions, […]
For the first time in more than 40 years, Motley Crue has a new guitarist. Just a day after Mick Mars announced he was retiring from touring, the band revealed his replacement: John 5. The name is likely familiar to ardent rock fans, while more passive listeners may be left scratching their heads. Still, there’s […]