Classic Rock - December 2024

In this issue

Van Halen: 1984 -We investigate the full story surrounding the creation of VH’s legendary career peak and Alex Van Halen offers personal insight with an exclusive extract from his new autobiography.

The Rolling Stones - It’s Only Rock’N’Roll (But I Like It) and the Stones in 1974: how Ronnie made his mark as the new boy and brought his genial ramshackle brilliance with him.

George Murray - The man who brought the funk to Bowie by playing bass on Station To Station, the Berlin albums trilogy and on the road as part of Bowie’s D.A.M. Trio seventies rhythm section.

"I have come a very long way in the last two-and-a-bit years"

Back from the brink: the Thunder vocalist who survived major medical trauma returns.

4 mins

Kris Kristofferson: June 22, 1936 - September 28, 2024

Kris Kristofferson, the iconic, Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and actor who played a key role in advancing a strand of country music into a more raw and confessional direction now recognised as outlaw country, has died peacefully at his home in Maui, surrounded by family. He was 88 years old.

3 mins

Meat Loaf: I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)

It was the power ballad to end all power ballads, and 30 years later people still ponder what the it’ is that the singer wouldn't do.

5 mins

Joan Armatrading

The singer-songwriter on her new album, inspirations, being a 'band', what her key was about, meeting Nelson Mandela...

4 mins

WHAT'S THAT SOUND?

Welcome to 1984: it was the album that would see Van Halen straddle the planet like a rock colossus, but it would also mark the end of the original line-up featuring charismatic talisman Dave Lee Roth. This is its story.

10+ mins

YOU GOT TO ROLL WITH PUNCHES TO GET TO WHAT'S REAL

In an exclusive extract from his touching new autobiography Brothers - a tribute to Eddie (see p.88 for the review) - Alex Van Halen recalls the recording of 1984.

10 mins

High Rollers

When Ronnie Wood, the Stones and some A-list mates holed up at his house to help with his solo album, it sparked a days-long party, a Rolling Stones hit and the last album by arguably their finest line-up.

10+ mins

THE NAME OF THE GAM

When ABBA-mad Opeth leader Mikael Akerfeldt met one of their singers, he lost it”. She didn’t sing on their new concept album, but some other, perhaps unlikely, big names did.

8 mins

BASS-IC INSTINCT

Plucked from obscurity in 1975 to be in David Bowie's band, then unceremoniously out of the picture five years later, bassist George Murray looks back on his time with the Thin White Duke.

10+ mins

IN THE BEGINNING

With previously unseen photographs from their early days as featured in the new Queen | Collector's Edition, Sir Brian May talks us through sights of the band in the early seventies.

8 mins

"LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT HAVING FUN"

With their ninth studio album In Murmuration, Finnish rockers Von Hertzen Brothers have replaced their erstwhile prog epics for a more honest approach to songwriting reflecting their personal lives.

10 mins

EVER MEET LEMMY?

He's heard Lemmy's unreleased solo album, had dinner with Chris Holmes, told Paul McCartney to get a round in, been told gangster Reggie Kray wanted to have a word with him... He is Dogs D'Amour frontman Tyla 7 Pallas, and these are some of his stories.

7 mins

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Classic Rock Magazine Description:

The trusted voice of the rock community since 1998, Classic Rock is your all-access pass, taking you backstage with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes insights into rock's biggest names, from living legends to the new generation.