Classic Rock

Every month Classic Rock is packed with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes features on rock’s biggest names, from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple, from Guns N’ Roses to the Rolling Stones, from the Sex Pistols to AC/DC and beyond. Each issue plays host to the heftiest rock reviews section on the planet. In an average issue, you’ll find over 150 albums reviewed, all from the ever-varied, multi-faceted world of rock - whether it’s hard rock or heavy metal, prog or punk, goth rock or southern rock, we’ve got it covered.

WELCOME

This month’s contributors

Classic Rock

ORIGINAL SABBATH TO PLAY ONE-OFF GOODBYE • Drummer Bill Ward back on board when the band sign off in Birmingham.

MARIANNE FAITHFULL • December 29, 1946–January 30, 2025

STARS PAY TRIBUTE

RIP • Thank you… and good night.

Sam Moore • October 12, 1935–January 10, 2025

Garth Hudson • August 2, 1937–January 21, 2025

Teddy Osei • December 1, 1937–January 14, 2025

David Lynch • January 20, 1946–January 15, 2025

For Those About To… Collect • Royal Mail issues AC/DC postage stamps.

Musicians Help LA Fire Victims • Nirvana ‘reunite’ as part of the fundraiser.

NEWS

Avantasia • With some big names in the studio and on the tour bus, they have a new album out and play a UK one-off.

Morganway • They’re a family affair named after a street, and hope it will be one paved with gold albums.

Sammy Hagar Quits The Road • And Leppard and Scorpions endure medical woes.

Aerosmith No-Show • Band fail to return at Steven Tyler’s charity event.

Spiders • The Swedish rockers on their CBGB-inspired new album, the opioid crisis, and why age cannot wither Iggy Pop.

Bonnie Trash • Meet the twin sisters who deliver cinematic gothic rock’n’roll inspired by grief and love.

JOHN SYKES • Dave Ling looks back at the life and music of the guitarist who played with Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Tygers Of Pan Tang and more.

THE SUN GOES DOWN… • STARS PAY TRIBUTE

Twisted Sister We’re Not Gonna Take It • It had a long and difficult birth, but the song that its writer, TS frontman Dee Snider, predicted would become a “monster” is reportedly now the most licensed song in heavy-metal history.

Bob Mould • The man with many hats on getting back to basics on his new album, life’s changes, LGBTQ+, addictions…

UNLOCKING THE DOORS • Sixty years after The Doors opened for business, then took audiences–and themselves–on a destination-unknown thrill ride, we talk with surviving members Robby Krieger and John Densmore to find out what the key was that unlocked the magic. “Maybe it was luck, or maybe it was meant to be,” says Krieger.

FANTASTIC BEATS [AND WHERE TO FIND THEM] • Gold even before its release, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy was worth the hard work. But the album marked the end of Elton John’s imperial period–and his band.

WILD WORLD • With a new album, a new Wildhearts, a new countryside home and a new head-space, Ginger is enjoying a new lease of life. “This is all I wanted ten years ago,” he says.

HERE BE SPIDERS • Almost 20 years into a career littered with hurdles and drawbacks that have failed to halt them, Black Spiders are back. And this time they’re doing it all on their own terms.

THE POWER OF CURIOSITY • Well over half a century down the Jethro Tull road, on their new album Ian Anderson is still observing life and the world and not shying away from social or political commentary.

“WITH LED ZEPPELIN ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE” • As the new film takes the world by storm, we talk to the makers of Becoming Led Zeppelin.

THE HOT LIST • THE ESSENTIAL NEW TRACKS YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS MONTH...