Author: fgt

In 2010 Hawkwind leader Dave Brock was forced to admit to Prog that the inspiration behind the band’s name wasn’t spiritual in the least, and there were two stories he’d have preferred to go with rather than the truth.

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While many believe that space rock pioneers Hawkwind must have taken their name from something intrinsically psychedelic, the reality behind the moniker is a little more down to earth.

“I was in a band called Famous Cure at the end of the 60s,” says band mainman Dave Brock. “But then I met a few other guys like Nik Turner, Terry Ollis and Dik Mik, and we started up this new project.”

So swiftly did they come together that they gatecrashed a gig at All Saints Hall in Notting Hill Gate, London, with no name and no songs.  “We called ourselves Group X on the spot, just as a one-off, and then jammed on The Byrds’ Eight Miles High for what seemed like ages and ages.”

Despite this inauspicious beginning, the band got a deal with Liberty Records. Having to take themselves slightly more seriously, they became Hawkwind Zoo.

We added in the ‘zoo’ bit because it was the perfect description of our behaviour

“It’s a name with three definite parts – none of them particularly edifying,” laughs Brock. “Nik Turner had a habit of spitting snot out of his mouth, and that was commonly known as hawking at the time. He also farted a lot – so you put ‘hawk’ and ‘wind’ together and you get Hawkwind.

“We added in the ‘zoo’ bit because all of us acted like animals, and that was the perfect description of our behaviour. So anyone who thinks it’s a deep and meaningful space rock term – forget it!”

The fledgling band released one single under that name. It featured Hurry On Sundown on the A-side with Sweet Mistress Of Pain and Kings Of Speed on the B-side. However, they quickly dropped the ‘zoo’part to become the more streamlined Hawkwind. “We stopped acting like maniacs, so having any allusions to a zoo would have been inaccurate.”

There are two more possible origins of the name. Firstly, there’s a science fiction story titled Hawkwind Zoo by future band collabator Michael Moorcock. Secondly there’s a wise and ancient Japanese proverb.

“By the latter I assume you mean: ‘I’d rather be a hawk flying over the forest than an eagle flying over the mountains,’” says Brock. “Yes, both might have influenced our decision to go with the name ‘Hawkwind’ – but it really is down to Nik Turner’s habits in the end. In a way I wish it wasn’t, because it would be nice if it were more spiritual. But that’s the truth.”

When 40-year-old Ronnie James Dio stormed out of Black Sabbath in 1982, finally defeated by the rampant drug abuse of guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, the world’s greatest heavy metal singer had an ace up his billowing wizard’s sleeve. 

Ronnie had recently begun working on a new song, originally with Sabbath in mind, but by the time he finished it he wasn’t in Sabbath any more. Instead he recorded it with his new band – defiantly named Dio. Using his own name was a statement of personal and professional intent. Ronnie had co-created Rainbow with Ritchie Blackmore but remained essentially an employee in the band, as underlined when Blackmore fired him. He’d single-handedly resurrected Sabbath, gifting them the monumental Heaven And Hell album, but again came last in the pecking order when the shit went down. 

The song was Holy Diver. And not only did it transform Ronnie’s life and career, it also helped define the sound of classic 80s metal. Instantly hailed as an all-time classic, Holy Diver was both rock anthem and personal mission statement. 

He later claimed the lyrics were about a Christ-like figure from another world – a rock star, perhaps? – who sacrifices himself to save the people of another world when they throw him into the sea to prevent him leaving to save other people from other worlds. 

But it’s not the letter of the lyric that really translates. It’s the more obvious message that comes through loud and clear in that marching-to-war rhythm as Dio unleashes a mighty roar: ‘Holy Diver! You’ve been down too long in the midnight sea!’ 

It was Dio talking to himself, willing himself back up from the underworld he had been left to die in by those he had once saved. Urging himself on to victory and revenge: ‘Like the eyes of a cat in the black and blue! Something is coming for you – look out!’

It also spoke of the tremendous new band he had put together to record the song, starting with Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice. 

“I looked at him as a brother,” Appice says now. “I loved Tony and Geezer. They asked me to stay, but it was a different atmosphere and mood. It was just a lot easier to go with Ronnie and start something new.” 

The two spent the next few weeks jamming in a small wooden shack at the back of Dio’s house. Dio cast around for a guitarist. LA then was full of six-string heroes, and almost all of them auditioned. Most outstanding was 25-year old Jake E Lee, who after being rejected by Dio would join Ozzy Osbourne’s band. 

“He was a great guitar player,” Appice recalls. “But Ronnie wanted to make the band more international, not just another American band.” 

Dio’s wife and manager, Wendy Dio, points to the fact that both Rainbow and Sabbath were British bands with American members. “He liked the way British musicians thought more than the flashy American kind. It was more melodic.” 

He also loved British humour – Fawlty Towers was his favourite show – and he had a taste for strong English ale and Indian curry houses. “It was like he’d been a Brit in a previous life.” 

Returning with Appice from a headhunting trip to London, they were joined by former Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain, and a 20-year-old unknown hotshot guitarist from Northern Ireland named Vivian Campbell. Bain, then coming up to his 35th birthday, was a hard-living Scotsman. Appice recalls their first rehearsal: “Jimmy’s laying down on the stage, playing. I said: ‘Ronnie, is he okay?’ He said: ‘Don’t worry about it. That’s just the way he is.’”

By contrast, Campbell still had stars in his eyes: “I was a big Rainbow fan. To me, Dio was a big star and it was weird just being in the same room as him.” 

Working at the Sound City duplex in Van Nuys, the first song they worked on was Holy Diver, followed by the other eight tracks that would complete the debut Dio (the band) album, also titled Holy Diver. 

“We were smoking a lot of pot, friends would come down,” Campbell recalls. “It was a great atmosphere.” 

The accusation later on that Holy Diver had been unduly ‘inspired’ by Survivor’s Eye of The Tiger, a huge summer hit in 1982, was dismissed out of hand in Ronnie’s posthumous autobiography Rainbow in The Dark, in which he wrote: “That anthemic marching beat has been the backbone of many a monumental musical moment. It’s not the size, it’s what you do with it. Survivor had a huge pop hit. I had a new heavy metal classic for the ages.” 

For Ronnie, the track Holy Diver “was one of the proudest things I’ve ever done,” he told me years later. “Rock but not just noise. Great song, great playing.” And some great singing too. 

“To my ears it was a classic-sounding record,” says Campbell. “A lot of things were changing in rock, bands like Ratt and Dokken. But Ronnie wanted a very classic-sounding record and he was very, very adamant about that.” 

The first single from the album, Holy Diver heralded the arrival of an album now acclaimed as one of three all-time classics the singer would helm. But where the first two – Rainbow’s Rising and Sabbath’s Heaven And Hell – had made Ronnie the most celebrated career rejuvenator in rock, Holy Diver heralded a new career vista for him. 

Ronnie’s aim, he told me just before he died in 2010, was “to finally do things the way I wanted to, without compromise”. One listen to the blood-oath battle cry of Holy Diver and you’d have to conclude that he succeeded in doing just that.

Black Smoke Trigger might come from a small city in New Zealand, Napier, but their outlook is vast. Everything about them screams ‘ambition’. They work with A-listers. They trained for cold exposure and breath-holding, freediver-style, for their 2020 breakout video Caught In The Undertow. And their music is refreshingly fearless, marrying muscular hard rock with rich, grungy grit on soaring debut album Horizons. 

“The idea with this band is to push it as far as we possibly can,” says guitarist Charlie Wallace, having just wrapped up a UK support tour with Bruce Dickinson. “We are all extremely passionate about music, we want to play as many shows as we possibly can, write as many songs as we possibly can, and record as many albums as we possibly can.” 

A hard worker by nature, Wallace grew up playing basketball and working in his stepfather’s Chinese restaurant. After school he’d shoot hoops in the alleyway, wash dishes and wait tables. “My mum and my dad always instilled the necessity of hard work,” he says, “and as much as I was provided for, we had to kind of earn everything that we got.” 

In school he befriended future BST frontman Josh ‘Baldrick’ Rasmussen (so named by a teacher for his class-clown personality), a budding guitarist yet to discover the thunderous, Layne Staley-meets-James Hetfield voice you hear on Horizons. But it was Black Sabbath’s Paranoid riff that really steered Wallace into music: “It was one of those things that, instantly, I just liked the way it made me feel.” 

At 15 he quit school to work in a music shop, teaching guitar and playing in bands by night. Still in his early 20s, he developed the highly successful online training platform Guitar Mastery Method. It was via this that he found himself in Nashville in 2018, just as Black Smoke Trigger were forming, where he met rock production big cheese Michael Wagener (Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Alice Cooper…). Impressed by early demos, Wagener produced their EP Set It Off. 

From there it all grew quickly. Back home they toured with national metal stars Devilskin. Mid-pandemic they teamed up with Nick Raskulinecz to record Horizons in Nashville and New Zealand. It was a tough album to make, beset by visa issues and family illness, including Wallace’s mother’s cancer diagnosis – the latter captured in cathartic album closer The Promise. She passed away in late 2023. 

Talking to Wallace now, there’s a sense that her support and work-hard legacy has stayed with him. That calm, quietly fierce ambition that emanates through Black Smoke Trigger’s music. “I just think I may as well just reach for the biggest and best,” he shrugs, “in everything in life. I don’t want to settle for anything.”

The self-released Horizons is out now.

Ulver keyboardist Tore Ylwizaker has died at the age of 54.

The Norwegian experimental collective, whom Ylwizaker joined in 1997, announced his passing in a social media post today (August 19).

“It is with black holes in our hearts we have to inform you that our brother for over nearly thirty years, Tore Ylvisaker (Ylwizaker), is dead. He passed on in the night of 16 August, his 54th birthday.

“It is all too much to take in at the moment. We will return as soon as we have collected ourselves. Rest in peace, dearest friend. We love you, forever. ULVER”

No cause of death has yet been given.

Ylwizaker joined Ulver shortly before the making of their 1998 album Themes From William Blake’s The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell. The album marked the band’s transition from a folk/black metal sound to more avant-garde territory, rooted in prog and industrial music. Ulver would later also experiment with the post-rock, jazz, ambient and synthpop genres, among others.

Ylwizaker stayed with Ulver until his death, making him their second longest-serving member behind frontman and co-founder Kristoffer Rygg. His most recent full-length album with the group was 2021’s Scary Muzak: a collection of synthpop works inspired by and directly covering pieces by filmmaker/musician John Carpenter.

The keyboardist appeared on Ulver’s recent singles Ghost Entry, A City In The Skies, Nocturne #1, Forgive Us and Hollywood Babylon. The songs will eventually be part of the band’s 14th studio album, which is being released track by track.

As well as a keyboard player, Ylwizaker was a producer and mixer. He co-produced multiple Ulver albums, Star Of Ash’s Iter.Viator. (2002) and When’s You Are Silent (2008), among others. He also engineered the vocals on the Ihsahn song Homecoming, taken from the black metal musician’s 2006 debut solo album, The Adversary.

Rush Day 2024 is scheduled for August 25 (12 – 10 PM) at Henderson Brewing Co. in Toronto, Ontario. Organizers have checked in with the following update:

“Rush Day 2024 is just 1 week away! Check out the merch drop, or read on for a taste of what you’ll be able to buy or bid on exclusively at the event.

From Geddy’s touring bass strap, to a track sheet from the Counterparts studio sessions, to a Neil Peart stage-worn t-shirt, there will be a plethora of fascinating Rush-related artifacts for you to peruse at our Rush Day Museum.

Join our silent auction and place a bid on Alex’s used and autographed guitar strings, Neil’s concert-used drum sticks, tour itineraries, signed event passes, and more!”

Go to this location for a detailed look at the merch on offer.

Following is the Rush Day 2024 itinerary:

Noon – 1pm – Welcome to Rush Day!
1pm – 6pm – Something for Nothing Podcast Pop-Up
1pm – 6pm – Beer Genuis* Guided Tastings (ticketed)
2:00pm – Howard Ungerleider Q&A
2:30pm – Rush Karaoke
3:00pm – Hugh Syme Q&A
3:30pm – Rush ‘Game Show’
4:30pm – Rush Karaoke
5:15pm – Rush Trivia
6:00pm – Winners Announced (Trivia / Game Show / Crossword)
6:45pm – Brewery screening of ‘Beyond the Lighted Stage’ with an introduction by Banger Films.

Go to this location for more details and to get tickets.

The Rush camp recently checked in with the following announcement:

“We are thrilled to announce that registration has now opened for guided Rush Beer tastings at Rush Day 2024.

In these limited availability sessions, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy all of our currently available Limited Edition Rush beers – Moving Pictures (2024 Vintage), X-1, Xanabrew, and Signals – paired with tasting notes and stories from our in-house team of beer sommeliers.

All attendees will receive a personalized Beer Genuis Certificate upon completion of the tasting!

Reserve your spot now here. Just 125 seats available!”

Your Rush Day ticket includes:

– a day of Rush music and stories by very special guests.
– a pop-up gallery of works by album cover artist Hugh Syme, who will be present to share stories and sign autographs.
– a unique Rush Day 2024 souvenir
– the launch of a new Rush beer
– the chance to hang out with Rush fans from around the world!
– viewing of official Rush Artifacts
– Rush Beer Tastings
– exclusive Rush merchandise
– Rush karaoke
– Rush Trivia
– a brewery screening of Beyond The Lighted Stage  introduced by co-director Sam Dunn.
– and more…

This is a family friendly event – kids under 12 are free.

Rob Halford of Judas Priest and YouTuber Metal Pilgrim are currently conducting a joint fundraiser campaign to raise funds for medical equipment for Ukrainian civilians in the remote deoccupied areas of the country. And for a small donation of just $10, metal fans have a chance of winning Metal God’s glasses Rob Halford has won on Judas Priest’s 50 Heavy Metal Years tour, as well as other metal memorabilia.

The fundraiser campaign, titled “Invincible Shield Of Europe”, started in June when Judas Priest and the promoters MadnessLive! invited Metal Pilgrim to visit the Spanish leg of the Judas Priest Invincible Shield Tour, during which the fans had a chance to donate to the cause at the sight of each Judas Priest show in the country, including the Rock Imperium Festival in Cartagena, Spain. The next stage of the campaign, which involves the giveaway prizes, such as Rob Halford’s glasses, signed Invincible Shield vinyl, and Metal God picks kicked off in July and will go on until Rob Halford’s birthday on August 25th,  when the winner of the giveaway will be announced.

Yet this will not be the end of the “Invincible Shield Of Europe” fundraiser, as after Judas Priest, metal queen Doro Pesch has also joined the campaign, and more giveaway items will be raffled among those who donate in the coming weeks.

Head to this location to participate in the raffle, or visit metalpilgrim.net for more information and other ways to donate.

Metal Pilgrim: “Let’s together show that the heavy metal community is one of the most loving and caring ones out there, no matter what anyone says!”

Pantera – comprised of original members vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown, along with guitarist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Sabbath) and drummer Charlie Benante (Anthrax) – have spent 2023 and 2024 touring arenas, amphitheatres, and stadiums in tribute to the late Abbott brothers, guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul.

Guesting on Boston’s 100.7 WZLX, Wylde was asked if the line-up has considered releasing new music under the Pantera name.

Wylde: “No, we haven’t talked about anything like that… That’s up to the fellas (Anselmo and Brown); whatever they want to do. Me and Charlie, we’re basically just allied forces and they’re brothers. So it’s just, whatever the guys want to do right now. But as far as right now, I think we’re gonna be — we’re just rolling right now. After this (leg of the tour), I think we go out in February, over in Europe. Six weeks over in Europe.”

Pantera recently announced an early 2025 European tour.

Links to purchase tickets are live on Pantera.com/tour.

Dates:

January
21 – Helsinki, Finland – Ice Hall
23 – Stockholm, Sweden – Hovet
24 – Oslo, Norway – Spektrum
26 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena
28 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
31 – Ljubljana, Slovenia – Arena Stožice

February
1 – Ostrava, Czech Republic – Ostravar Aréna
3 – Budapest, Hungary – Budapest Arena
4 – Kraków, Poland – Tauron Arena
6 – Hamburg, Germany – Sporthalle
7 – Berlin, Germany – Max-Schmeling-Halle
9 – Düsseldorf, Germany – Mitsubishi Electric Halle
10 – Brussels, Belgium – Forest National
12 – Bologna, Italy – Unipol Arena
13 – Zürich, Switzerland – Hallenstadion
15 – Paris, France – Adidas Arena

The band previously announced a string of UK / Ireland dates in February 2025.

Dates:

February 2025
18 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
19 – Leeds, UK – First Direct Arena
21 – Dublin, IE – 3Arena
23 – Birmingham, UK – Resorts World Arena
25 – London, UK – OVO Arena Wembley

2024 Pantera dates:

July
6 – Rock Fest – Barcelona, Spain

August
2 – Gilette Stadium – Foxborough, MA (with Metallica)
9 – Soldier Field – Chicago, IL (with Metallica)
16 – US Bank Stadium – Minneapolis, MN (with Metallica)
23 – Commonweath Stadium – Edmonton, AB (with Metallica)
30 – Lumen Field – Seattle, WA (with Metallica)

October
10 – Aftershock Festival – Sacramento, CA

Our Oldest Classic Bands & Artists Still Releasing New Albums article was purposely written without putting a number in front of the title. The reason behind this is that we wanted to keep this one open-ended and add bands and artists that our readers thought should be on this list. After all, this classic rock site is written by music fans, not critics. It was started by myself, who spent my entire life as a musician and wanted to write about rock and roll music in the most respectful and loving way possible. Without the readers, without the people who comment on the site and on our Facebook page, this site would have never been successful. So, we want this article to be shared by all of us. We hope that the readers will add their own artists to this list in the comments.

This article is a special tribute to musical artists who have been with us for a very long time. The only criteria we had was that any artist on this list should have released a new album within the past five years. We think that’s fair. We could probably make a few exceptions, and maybe we will, and that’s why this list is open-ended. But the twelve that are featured here first are artists who have been constantly putting out new music over a very long period of time, have become true musical legends, and have continued to tour and bring us all joy and happiness. This one was really fun to write.

Willie Nelson

We wanted to ensure we paid our respects to the legendary Willie Nelson, one of the longest-running artists in musical history. Thats whay we opened this list with Willie.  At the age of 91, Willie Nelson is releasing his newest studio album on November 1, 2024, titled Last Leaf on the Tree. The album’s title is inspired by the Tom Waits song “Last Leaf,” which appeared on Bad as Me. Willie Nelson has long been associated with rock and roll through the Outlaw Country movement. He has collaborated with many rock musicians throughout the years and remains a giant in music history. Nelson released his first album in 1962, entitled …And Then I Wrote on Liberty Records. Since then, he has put out 101 studio albums, 14 live albums, and 51 compilation albums.

Read More: Top 10 Willie Nelson Songs

Bob Dylan

I remember when Bob Dylan released his Time Out of Mind album in 1997, and in the song “Not Dark Yet,” he sang the words, “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.” It seemed like the end was near for Dylan, but that was almost twenty years ago, and he’s still putting out new music. At 83 years old, Bob Dylan’s most recent album, Shadow Kingdom, was released on June 2, 2023. It features brand new studio recordings of songs from the early part of his career.

In 2020, he released Rough and Rowdy Ways, a studio album of all-new material. Dylan first appeared on the scene in 1962 with the release of his debut album, simply titled Bob Dylan. Since then, he has released 40 studio albums, 21 live albums, and 44 compilation albums. He has won many awards throughout his career, including the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. Bob Dylan stands as one of the most influential musical artists and poets of all time.

Read More: Top 10 Bob Dylan Songs Of The 1970s

8 – Jethro Tull

We thought for sure that we had seen the last of Jethro Tull. The band’s last album was released in 2003, titled The Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Of course, Ian Anderson had been releasing solo albums, but in 2022, Anderson reformed Jethro Tull with new members under the legendary name and released the album The Zealot Gene. Just one year later, in 2023, Jethro Tull released another new studio album, RökFlöte. These are truly good records, and although Anderson is the only remaining original member of the band, the music is very representative of Tull’s earlier years.

Jethro Tull’s debut album, This Was, was released in 1968. Since then, Jethro Tull has released 23 studio albums, nine live albums, and 15 compilation albums. Led by the brilliant songwriting of Ian Anderson and featuring his spectacular flute playing, Jethro Tull stands as one of the most unique and original bands of all time, blending rock and roll with classical and folk influences.

Read More: 10 Most Underrated Jethro Tull Songs

Nazareth

While most rock fans in the United States know Nazareth from their very popular Hair of the Dog album and their huge hit single “Love Hurts,” the band’s popularity overseas is far more extensive and legendary than they are known for in the U.S. Nazareth’s most recent album, Surviving the Law, was released in 2022. The album features original band member Pete Agnew, who has been with the band on every album. Original singer Dan McCafferty left the band in 2013. Nazareth has released 25 studio albums, eight live albums, and seven compilation albums. Their debut album, titled Nazareth, was released in 1971.

Read More: Top 10 Nazareth Songs

6 – The Zombies

The Zombies are a band from the eastern side of the Atlantic, first formed in the early 1960s. The band became a household name in 1964 with their massive hit single “She’s Not There,” followed by other big-time hits, including “Tell Her No” and, in 1968, “Time of the Season.” Their debut album was released in 1965, titled The Zombies in the U.S. and Begin Here in the U.K. However, it was their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle that truly cemented their place in classic rock history.

The band took a long break after their second album but returned in 1990 with their third album, New World. Most recently, they released the album Different Game in 2023. The album featured original members, including Colin Blumstone on lead vocals and  Rod Argent on keyboards, though he has since retired from touring.

Read More: 10 Best Songs Of The Zombies

Neil Young

Neil Young has been one of the most consistent musical artists in classic rock history. As most people know, his career began as a member of the group Buffalo Springfield. After leaving Buffalo Springfield, he became a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. With both groups, he composed some of the most extraordinary rock songs of all time. However, his contributions as a solo artist far exceeded what he released with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Buffalo Springfield.

As a solo artist, and with his band Crazy Horse, who are a legendary group themselves, Neil Young has released 44 solo studio albums. These records have been released almost year by year since his debut album, Neil Young, was released in 1968. He has rarely gone more than three years between albums. His latest album of new music, World Record, was released in 2022. Additionally, he has released two other albums, Chrome Dreams (2023) and Early Daze (2024), which were recorded in the late 1960s and 1970s with Crazy Horse.

Read More: Complete List Of Neil Young Albums And Discography

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., was released in 1973. Later that same year, he released The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. However, it was in 1975, with the release of Born to Run, that he became a household name, especially in the United States. Nearly ten years later, when Born in the U.S.A. was released in 1984, Springsteen became one of the biggest musical stars in the world.

Throughout his career, Bruce Springsteen has released 21 studio albums. His most recent album of new material, Letter to You, was released in 2020. In 2022, he released another album, Only the Strong Survive, which featured covers of Motown classics. Despite being 74 years old, Springsteen continues to tour constantly and shows no signs of slowing down..

Read More: Top 10 Bruce Springsteen Songs Loved By His Older Fans

Foghat

Even though Foghat has only one remaining original member, the band’s heart and soul, driven by the phenomenal Roger Earl, is still alive, still touring, and still putting out new music. Foghat was originally formed in 1971 when Dave Peverett, Tony Stevens, and Roger Earl left the group Savoy Brown to form their own band. With the addition of Rod Price on guitar, the group went on to release some of the greatest rock and roll records of the 1970s.

Throughout the years, the band went through many lineup changes, including the additions of Tony Stevens, “Lonesome” Dave Peverett, Craig MacGregor, Kenny Aaronson, Charlie Huhn, and, most recently, Bryan Bassett (who has been with the band since 1999), Rodney O’Quinn (since 2015), and Scott Holt, who joined in 2022. Foghat’s most recent album, Sonic Mojo, was released in 2023—and it still rocks hard.

Read More: Roger Earl of Foghat: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

Elton John

For many of us here at ClassicRockHistory.com, Elton John was one of the first musical artists we fell in love with. For me, my first Elton John album was Elton John’s Greatest Hits, which I bought in 1974. We all grew up with Elton John, who has brought us so much joy throughout our lives. I think it’s fair to say that many people in their 60s probably share a similar experience, with their first album purchase being an Elton John record.

Elton John’s debut album, Empty Sky, was released in the United Kingdom in 1969. Since then, Elton John has released 31 studio albums. His most recent album, The Lockdown Sessions, was released in 2022. It was a collaborative project recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown, featuring younger artists as well as longtime legends.

Read More: Complete List Of Elton John Articles

Deep Purple

This band continues to amaze all of us. Deep Purple has a reputation as one of the greatest and hardest rock bands of all time, constantly putting out great material since their debut album, Shades of Deep Purple, was released in 1968. The band has gone through many lineup changes, with the only consistent member being drummer Ian Paice. However, Roger Glover has also been a crucial part of much of the band’s history.

Deep Purple is well-known for showcasing some of the greatest guitar players in rock and roll, including the original guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, Tommy Bolin, Joe Satriani, and, for a long time, Steve Morse. Their newest guitarist, Simon McBride, brings his own unique style that blends seamlessly with the rest of the band. On vocals, Ian Gillan is still delivering electrifying performances.

The band’s newest album, =1, was just released a few months ago in 2024. I spoke with Ian Paice recently about the new record and his love of touring. His passion defines what rock and roll is all about, and his attitude toward keeping rock music alive while enjoying every moment he can is truly inspiring.

Read More: Ian Paice of Deep Purple: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

Paul McCartney

What is there to say about Paul McCartney that hasn’t already been said many times before? We all know how his legacy began with The Beatles and the wonderful songs he wrote with John Lennon that have shaped the soundtrack of our lives. Of course, he has also had a tremendously long solo career, constantly putting out new material—first as a solo artist, then with his band Wings, and later simply as Paul McCartney.

As a solo artist, McCartney has released 26 studio albums. His most recent album of new material, McCartney III Imagined, was released in 2021. It was a remix of McCartney III, which came out in 2020. He has been very consistent in releasing new music, rarely going long without putting out something new.

Read More: Complete List Of Paul McCartney Albums In Order

The Rolling Stones

While The Rolling Stones haven’t put out much new music in the past 20 years, they recently released a brand new studio album that stands as one of the best they’ve produced since Some Girls in 1978. Released in 2023, Hackney Diamonds is a true Rolling Stones rock album, filled with great songs and incredible performances. Watching Mick Jagger perform at 80 years old on stage is inspiring to all of us who are getting up there in age.

The Rolling Stones were formed long ago, in 1962. Their debut album was released in 1964 in the United Kingdom, titled The Rolling Stones. In the U.S., a variation of that album was released as England’s Newest Hitmakers. Since then, The Rolling Stones have released 31 studio albums.

Read More: Complete List Of The Rolling Stones Albums And Discography

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Oldest And Best Classic Bands & Artists Still Releasing New Albums article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2024