Author: wamdines

Members of Aerosmith will reunite for a performance at Steven Tyler‘s sixth annual Jam for Janie Grammy Awards Viewing Party next month, Billboard reports.

The high-profile charity event will take place on Feb. 2 at the Hollywood Palladium, with comedian Tiffany Haddish hosting. The party will feature performances from several rock heavyweights, including Billy Idol, Joan Jett, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Linda Perry, Matt Sorum and Nuno Bettencourt.

Details of the reported Aerosmith reunion are unclear, but Billboard singles out Perry, Hamilton and Tyler, with no mention of guitarist Brad Whitford or drummer Joey Kramer. The latter had not performed with Aerosmith full-time since 2019, with John Douglas filling in during the band’s Las Vegas residency and short-lived farewell tour.

READ MORE: Aerosmith’s 10 Most Memorable Concerts

This Year’s ‘Jam for Janie’ Will Benefit Those Affected by Los Angeles Wildfires

Tyler launched Janie’s Fund — named after Aerosmith’s hit song “Janie’s Got a Gun” — in 2015 to provide care to girls and young women who have suffered abuse. In addition to its primary goal, this year’s Jam for Janie will also benefit the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and the Widows, Orphans, and Disabled Firefighter’s Fund in the wake of the Southern California wildfires, with more than 100 firefighters welcomed to the event.

“What the Los Angeles community has endured with these wildfires is unthinkable. Music has healing powers and we hope to bring a moment of joy and levity to our first-responder firefighters and those most affected by the fires,” Tyler said. “The trauma experienced by the girls we work with is also unthinkable and we will continue to shed light and support the amazing work of Janie’s Fund.”

When Did Aerosmith Retire?

Aerosmith announced their retirement from touring last summer, citing Tyler’s insurmountable vocal injury, which initially forced them to postpone their Peace Out farewell tour after just three dates in 2023. The trek was ultimately canceled before the band could relaunch it. Hamilton recently offered an update on Tyler’s recovery, saying it was “going really, really well,” albeit “at its own pace.”

“Maybe Aerosmith will do something in the future, but it’s a big ‘if’, and the last thing I want to be doing is to try and push Steven in that direction,” added Hamilton, who’s been busy with his new band, Close Enemies. “If we do anything in the future, it would come from him.”

2025 has seen the loss of a number of key figures in both rock ‘n’ roll, and the greater tapestry of entertainment history.

On the musical side of things, guitarist John Sykes, a former member of both Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake, died at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer. “I’m shocked about his passing,” drummer Carmine Appice, who played with Sykes in the ’90s group Blue Murder, said following his passing. “We played such great music and had such great times together. John’s playing, writing and singing were amazing. … I loved him like a brother. We lived close to each other when we were in Blue Murder, we hung out everyday. He was an amazing guitarist and together with Tony Franklin on bass we had a great rock trio. He will be missed.”

Garth Hudson also passed way, meaning there are no longer any living members of the Band. Elsewhere, we lost Peter Yarrow of the influential folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary, and Sam Moore, acclaimed soul singer and one half of the duo Sam and Dave.

In the world of film and television, director David Lynch died at the age of 78. He was responsible for classics such as Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks and he also recorded several albums of music. “There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us,” his family wrote on social media. “But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.'”

In the below gallery, you’ll find a collection of those we’ve lost in 2025.

In Memoriam: 2025 Deaths

A look at those we’ve lost.

Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

10cc will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their huge hit I’m Not In Love with the release of a new seven-inch single through Universal Music on February 14.

The classic weepie will be backed by Don’t Want To Go To Heaven, the first new song from Graham Gouldman and Kevin Godley in nearly 20 years. The pair will also reunite for a performance on BBC Radio 2’s Piano Room on Thursday February 13 where they will perform I’m Not In Love live, as well as a very special cover and Don’t Want To Go To Heaven.

I’m Not In Love featured on 10cc’s third studio album, Original Soundtrack, which was released in March 1975. It was the second single to be released from the album, following Life Is A Minestrone, and reached No. 1 in the UK, the second of the band’s three number-one singles, and No. 2 in the US charts.

The song was largely written by Eric Stewart as a response to his wife asking why he didn’t tell her he loved her very often, and is notable for its use of extensive stacked backing vocals, which form the bulk of the track. The song nearly never made the final cut of the album, having originally been conceived as a bossa nova-style piece which the band members abandoned as none of them really liked it. It was only when Stewart noticed employees at the band’s Strawberry Studios in Stockport were still humming the refrain that forced the band to reconsider.

Pre-order I’m Not In Love.

The weather, at least in the UK at the moment, is pretty awful. Wind, rain, and freezing temperatures are getting a lot of us down this January. Thankfully, EMP are holding a winter sale with up to 60% off a massive range of jackets and coats which are guaranteed to keep the chill at bay in the early months of 2025.

Almost 300 items have been discounted, with a wide variety of styles, sizes and colours up for grabs and below you’ll find my top picks you can grab right now.

My first pick from the EMP sale is the Slayer winter jacket which has been reduced from £120.99 to £82.99. It features the Slayer logo on the upper left-hand side, while the zip puller also has the band logo. The back includes a striking skull design which looks the business.

If metal isn’t quite your thing, then perhaps this olive Marsh Lake Teddyparka is more in-tune with your musical tastes. It’s down from £95.99 to £69.74 and could be just the ticket for the upcoming Oasis tour.

This next pick is for fans of The Lord Of The Rings and the awesome black and brown Elven Warriors winter jacket which is down from £149.99 to £111.19.

Other favourites include the Saving The Best For Last jacket by Rock Rebel (down from £129.99, now £92.79. With its casual look and rugged styling, this zip-up hoodie would look equally cool at the skate park or inside a concert venue.

There’s even more money to be saved on the I Am Groot winter coat, down from £120, now £71.99 – a saving of 40%. Inspired by the iconic Marvel movie series Guardians Of The Galaxy, this beige coat features a detachable sweatshirt hood, decorative chest pockets and a patch on the right sleeve.

And it’s not just coats and jackets that are available in this winter sale – a quick browse reveals that there’s everything from band t-shirts to badges up for grabs at a bargain price.

The latest news, features and interviews direct to your inbox, from the global home of alternative music.

A 40th-anniversary edition of Tina Turner‘s Grammy-winning comeback album Private Dancer will be released on March 21.

The five CD and one Blu-ray set will include B-sides, live tracks and previously unreleased songs from the era.

One of those unreleased cuts, “Hot for You Baby,” has been issued with the box’s announcement. You can listen to the song, originally recorded for the album but left off, below.

In addition to the music included on the upcoming set, Private Dancer (40th Anniversary Edtion) features a Blu-ray with 4K versions of the album’s videos for the hit singles “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “Better Be Good to Me,” the title track and more.

READ MORE: Top 50 Songs of 1984

Private Dancer was Turner’s fifth solo album after leaving husband and musical partner Ike Turner in the late ’70s. Her abuse during the marriage led to one of music’s greatest comeback stories, as Turner remade her career and became one of the ’80s’ biggest acts.

After a five-year break from recording an album, Turner scored a U.K. hit in 1983 with a cover of Al Green‘s “Let’s Stay Together.” That led to work on Private Dancer, released in May 1984 and which went to No. 1 worldwide, won several Grammy Awards and turned the singer, now in her mid-’40s, into one of the era’s hugest stars.

The multiplatinum record was followed by sold-out world tours and other hit albums over the next couple of decades. Turner died in 2023 at age 83.

What’s on Tina Turner’s ‘Private Dancer’ Box Set?

The upcoming box set edition of Private Dancer features the 2015 remaster of the original album – which included the hit singles “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” a No. 1 song, “Better Be Good to Me” and the title track, all U.S. Top 10 hits.

There are also discs of B-sides, single edits and extended versions of the singles, and previously unreleased tracks and non-album singles, such as Turner’s cover of the Temptations‘ “Ball of Confusion” that helped launch her comeback.

Two CDs of live performances – from Chicago and Birmingham in 1984 – round out the music sets. The track listing for Turner’s Private Dancer (40th Anniversary Edition) is below.

Tina Turner, ‘Private Dancer (40th Anniversary Edition)’ Track Listing
CD1 – Private Dancer (2015 Remaster)
I Might Have Been Queen
What’s Love Got To Do With It
Show Some Respect
I Can’t Stand The Rain
Private Dancer
Let’s Stay Together
Better Be Good To Me
Steel Claw
Help
1984

CD2 – B-Sides, Single Edits And Extended Versions
B-sides:
I Wrote A Letter
Rock ‘n’ Roll Widow
Don’t Rush the Good Things
When I Was Young
Keep Your Hands Off My Baby
Single edits:
Let’s Stay Together
Help
Better Be Good To Me
Private Dancer
Extended versions:
What’s Love Got to Do With It
Better Be Good To Me
I Can’t Stand the Rain
Show Some Respect

CD3 – Previously Unreleased & Rare Tracks Plus Other Singles
Previously unreleased & Rare Tracks:
Hot For You Baby*
Let’s Stay Together (Alternative Radio Mix, 1983)
Let’s Stay Together (TV Instrumental)*
What’s Love Got to Do With It (Dub Mix)*
Private Dancer (Sterling Version)
Total Control
Non-Album singles:
Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today) (with B.E.F.) – Remix
We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) (Single Edit)
One of the Living (Single Remix)
We Don’t Need Another Hero (Extended Mix)
One of the Living (Special Club Mix)
We Don’t Need Another Hero (Dub Version)
One of the Living (Dub version)

CD4 – World Tour ‘84 – Live At Park West, Chicago – August 2nd 1984*
Let’s Pretend We’re Married
Show Some Respect
I Might Have Been Queen
River Deep, Mountain High
Nutbush City Limits
What’s Love Got to Do With It
I Can’t Stand the Rain
Better Be Good to Me
Private Dancer
Let’s Stay Together
Help
Proud Mary
Legs

CD5 – Private Dancer Tour – Live From Nec, Birmingham 1984
Show Some Respect
I Might Have Been Queen
What’s Love Got To Do With It
I Can’t Stand The Rain
Better Be Good To Me
Private Dancer
Let’s Stay Together
Help
It’s Only Love (Feat. Bryan Adams)
Tonight (Feat. David Bowie)
Let’s Dance (Feat. David Bowie)

Blu-ray – Promo videos
Let’s Stay Together (Restored from original 16mm film)
Help
What’s Love Got to Do With It (Colour version)
What’s Love Got to Do With It (B/W version)
Better Be Good to Me
Private Dancer (Full-length version) (Restored from original 35mm film)
Private Dancer (Restored from original 35mm film)
Show Some Respect

*previously unreleased

Blues musician Barry Goldberg, who played keyboards for Bob Dylan‘s infamous 1965 Newport Folk Festival concert, died on Wednesday at the age of 82.

The news was confirmed via his publicist Bob Merlis, who noted in a press release that Goldberg died in hospice care after a decade-long battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Goldberg’s family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations in his name be made to the Bear League through savebears.org.

Goldberg was born in Chicago in 1942. As a teenager, he rubbed shoulders with blues legends like Muddy Waters, Otis Rush and Howlin’ Wolf, and also befriended a guitar player by the name of Mike Bloomfield.

Newport 1965

Both Goldberg and Bloomfield appeared with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, backing Dylan in an electric set that would go on to be one of the most controversial performances in rock history. Goldberg was thrown into the mix unexpectedly.

READ MORE: Top 10 Bob Dylan Protest Songs

“When I got to Newport the producer, Paul Rothchild, was really obstinate and rude, and said, ‘Absolutely no organ,'” Goldberg recalled in a 1996 interview. “He didn’t want that element, he just wanted the five pieces. Paul and Michael tried to talk to him but he was just really against it.

“So I had nowhere to go. I was stuck there, a long way from Chicago. One night we were just sitting around and Bob showed up and said, ‘The keyboard player isn’t here yet,’ and Michael said, ‘There’s a great keyboard player here in Barry,’ and Bob said, ‘You want to come to the sound check?’ and I said, ‘Sure,’ and that’s how I got to do it, and it worked out great. And then we went on that night.”

Watch Bob Dylan Perform ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival

Not long after that, Goldberg formed Goldberg-Miller Blues Band with Steve Miller. They released a single called “The Mother Song” before Miller left for San Fransisco. He also formed the Electric Flag with Bloomfield in 1967, as well as the Barry Goldberg Reunion in 1968.

As a songwriter, Goldberg’s work (some of which was co-written with Gerry Goffin) was recorded by the likes of Rod Stewart, Gladys Knight, Joe Cocker, Gram Parsons, B. J. Thomas and more. He also contributed to albums by the Ramones, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Leonard Cohen and others.

In 1974, Goldberg’s released his self-titled album, produced by Dylan and Jerry Wexler. It marked the one and only time Dylan produced an album for another artist. Goldberg later returned the favor by producing Dylan’s 1989 version of “People Get Ready.”

Listen to Bob Dylan’s ‘People Get Ready’

In more recent years, he performed and recorded with a band called the Rides, which featured Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Chris Layton. The band landed two No. 1 blues albums.

“When I’m playing with great musicians, it just opens up my history to when I started playing as a teenager,” Goldberg said to Blues Rock Review in 2016, “when we would go out to the south side or the west side of Chicago and play with Muddy Waters – that was another high point of my life, of my career: playing with Muddy, playing with [Howlin’] Wolf, playing with Mike Bloomfield, playing with the Chicago Blues Reunion. I’m spoiled. I’ve had a wonderful career, and now to be playing with a band I love…at this time and place at my age, to be getting off the way I am with the Rides…that’s it for me. I couldn’t want anything more than this.”

It doesn’t matter how many platinum albums they have or how many decades they’ve spent selling out venues — even the biggest and best rockers lose their way sometimes.

Some of the examples on our list of 10 Times Rockers Totally Lost the Plot might surprise you. There are some classic and well-documented duds on here, of course, but we’re not just focusing on traditionally bad albums. (If you want that, you can check out our much more extensive list of Rock’s Most Disappointing Albums.) We’re also looking at musicians who had the world by the tail, but still just couldn’t stop themselves from making head-scratchingly bad decisions that damaged their reputation for years.

That includes bungled album rollouts, disastrous PR campaigns, onstage meltdowns and desperate trend-hopping attempts that fooled absolutely nobody. We’ll revisit Metallica‘s misguided war against their fans, U2‘s unprecedented invasion of privacy and Aerosmith‘s ghastly foray into rap-rock — for the second time.

Some of these artists’ “missteps” still proved to be commercially successful, but it was in spite of their choices, not because of them. Others were flat-out flops, critically and commercially. The good news is that in the music business, you’re only as good (or bad) as your last release. So while some of these tailspins lasted upwards of a decade, in other cases, the artists bounced back fairly quickly.

Steel yourself against the secondhand embarrassment and read on to see 10 Times Rockers Totally Lost the Plot.

10 Times Rockers Totally Lost the Plot

Even the biggest and best lose their way sometimes.

Gallery Credit: Bryan Rolli

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown has been nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture. Here’s a category-by-category breakdown:

Best Picture
A Complete Unknown is one of 10 movies nominated for Best Picture, along with Anora, The Brutalist, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Perez, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys, The Substance and Wicked.

Actor in a Leading Role
Timothee Chalamet, who played Dylan in the movie, has been nominated for Actor in a Leading Role. He’s up against Adrien Brody for The Brutalist, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, Ralph Fiennes for Conclave and Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro is nominated for Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Joan Baez. Joining her: Ariana Grande for Wicked, Felicity Jones for The Brutalist, Isabella Rossellini for Conclave and Zoe Saldana for Emilia Perez.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Edward Norton is nominated for his role as Pete Seeger. Also nominated: Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain, Yura Borisov for Anora, Guy Pearce for The Brutalist and Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice.

Director
James Mangold is up for Directing, where he will compete with Anora‘s Sean Baker, The Brutalist’s Brady Corbet, Emilia Perez‘s Jacques Audiard and The Substance‘s Coralie Fargeat.

Adapted Screenplay
Mangold and Jay Cocks are nominated for Adapted Screenplay, alongside the writers of Conclave, Emilia Perez, Nickel Boys and Sing Sing.

Sound
A Complete Unknown‘s Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco will compete against the teams behind Dune: Part Two, Emilia Perez, Wicked and The Wild Robot.

Costume Design
Arianne Phillips is nominated for Costume Design for A Complete Unknown, joined by the teams for Conclave, Gladiator II, Nosferatu and Wicked.

A Complete Unknown was nominated for three Golden Globe awards, but came home empty handed. Chalamet lost to Adrien Brody, star of The Brutalist in the Best Actor – Drama category Norton lost to Kieran Culkin of A Real Pain in the Best Supporting Actor – Drama race, and The Brutalist took Best Picture – Drama honors instead of A Complete Unknown.

Read More: ‘A Complete Unknown’: Movie Review

Released on Christmas Day, A Complete Unknown has so far earned over $62 million at the box office. Streaming and home video release plans for the movie have yet to be revealed. Chalamet will serve as both host and musical guest on this weekend’s edition of Saturday Night Live, where he is expected to perform Dylan songs.

The Oscar ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 2 at 7PM ET, and be televised on ABC.

January 23, 2025, an hour ago

news electric callboy heavy metal

German techno-metallers Electric Callboy will drop their new single, “Elevator Operator”, on January 24. They have released an official video trailer, which can be viewed below.

In June 2024, Electric Callboy and Japan’s Babymetal teamed up for a new song, “Ratatata”, which is now available on all digital platforms.

They have released an official live video for the song, which can be viewed below. It was shot on May 25th at Fox Fest 2024 in Saitama, Japan, and was the first time Electric Callboy and Babymetal performed together live.

Testimony Records have announced Dutch death metal veterans AntropomorphiA have signed a multi-album deal with the label. Welcome to our choice roster. AntropomorphiA will release their sixth full-length via Testimony Records in 2025.

“We stand at the gates of a new dawn”, guitarist and vocalist Ferry Damen writes. “With venomous energy and fanatical determination, we enter this new chapter of AntropomorphiA. Partnering with Testimony Records, we are set to unleash our dark creativity upon this decaying world, ready to devour flesh and souls.”

“We’re thrilled to announce the signing of AntropomorphiA”, label manager Thomas Strater enthuses. “This band has been a driving force of the Dutch death metal scene for the past 35 years and especially over the last decade where they refined their sound to the hybrid monster that it is today. Their unique creation of uncompromising blackened death metal will drag you to hell once it got a hold of you!”

AntropomporhiA were spawned from the foul stench of death in the Dutch city of Tilburg in 1990, which makes them a corner stone of the brutal scene of the Netherlands. 

After releasing their first official demo Bowel Mutilation (1992) the band immediately captured a record deal and recorded the EP Necromantic Love Songs” (1993) only a few months later, which became a cult classic.

Despite the occasional hiatus, AntropomporhiA continuously cemented their status as underground icons with a string of acclaimed releases. The debut full-length Pure (1998) was followed by the albums Evangelivm Nekromantia (2012), Rites ov Perversion (2014), Sermon ov Wrath (2017), and Merciless Savagery (2019).

Lineup:
Ferry Damen – vocals, guitar
Jeroen Pleunis – bass
Marco Stubbe – drums
Jos van den Brand – guitar