August 9, 1986 – Queen perform their final concert with Freddie Mercury at the Knebworth Park Festival in England. An audience of 120,000 sees them close out the set with “We Will Rock You”/”We Are The Champions” and “God Save The Queen.” Mercury dies in 1991 of complications related to AIDS. August 9, 2005 – Marc Cohn is shot in … Continue reading CDJ Today: August 9 in Classic Rock →

August 3, 1968 – The Newport Pop Festival begins in Costa Mesa, CA.  It is the first concert with more than 100,000 paid attendees.  Performers include The Grateful Dead, Alice Cooper, Canned Heat, Electric Flag, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sonny & Cher, Steppenwolf and Tiny Tim.  Admission was $5.50 per day for the … Continue reading CDJ Today: August 3 in Classic Rock →

July 26, 2003 – Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden is arrested after hitting a parking attendant with his car at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, N.Y., where the band is performing that night. McBrain was asked for his backstage credentials by the parking attendant, and when the attendant couldn’t see them clearly he asked to view them again.  Instead, … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 26 in Classic Rock →

July 2, 2005 – Live 8 is a string of concerts in 10 cities taking place in the G8 states and in South Africa.  The concerts also coincide with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid.  A TV audience of several hundred million watches the shows which include Pink Floyd, The Who, Deep Purple, Mötley Crüe, U2, Coldplay, Sting, Elton John, Paul … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 2 in Classic Rock →

June 27, 1994 – Aerosmith become the first major band to release a song, “Head First” (an unused cut from the Get A Grip Sessions), as a free download on the internet.  Download speeds at the time were so slow it took between 60 and 90 minutes to download the track, but ten thousand CompuServe subscribers still … Continue reading CDJ Today: June 27 in Classic Rock →

July 19, 1986 – Van Halen headline the Texxas Jam at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, preceeded by Dio, Loverboy, Krokus, Keel and Bachman-Turner Overdrive who are joined by Leslie West on “Mississippi Queen. July 19, 1976 – Deep Purple disband at the end of their UK tour. David Coverdale goes on to form Whitesnake, and the classic line up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 19 in Classic Rock →

When Queen took a break for the first part of 1983, Brian May put his time to good use. Waking up one morning in Los Angeles, he decided to phone a few friends and invite them to collaborate on some tracks in California’s famous Record Plant studios. The resulting collaboration was a great success, and Brian would later mould the recordings … Continue reading Brian May & Friends Star Fleet Project Gets 40th Anniversary Treatment →

Queen guitarist Brian May has teamed up with 10cc co-founder Graham Gouldman on a new space-themed song. The track was released this week to celebrate NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. You can hear “Floating In Heaven” and watch the video in the player below. “The sky’s the limit for what we could find out,” May … Continue reading Hear Brian May’s New Space-Themed Song “Floating In Heaven” →

Queen will release a new song featuring the vocals of late frontman Freddie Mercury, according to Brian May and Roger Taylor’s recent interview with the BBC. The previously unreleased track is titled “Face It Alone” and was recorded during the band’s 1989 sessions for The Miracle. “It was kind of hiding in plain sight,” Brian … Continue reading Queen To Debut Previously Unreleased Freddie Mercury Song →

When it comes to the holidays, older really is better.  Aside from Twisted Sister’s 2006 version of “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” all of the songs on of list of the top 15 classic rock Christmas songs have been out for at least two decades, and in the case of Chuck Berry, six decades!  But … Continue reading Top 15 Classic Rock Christmas Songs →

Roger Taylor may be a member of one of the most legendary bands of all time, but he isn’t above a bit of a challenge. The 72-year-old Queen drummer accepted an invitation from 11-year-old prodigy and social media star Nandi Bushell to take part in a drum battle posted on her social media channels this … Continue reading Watch Queen’s Roger Taylor Take on 11-Year-Old Prodigy in Drum-Off →

Queen drummer Roger Taylor has released a new solo single. “We’re All Just Trying To Get By” features guest vocals by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall and is accompanied by a new lyric video. You can watch and listen to the song in the player below. “I love what she did, I think it really adds … Continue reading Hear Roger Taylor’s New Solo Single “We’re All Just Trying To Get By” →