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August 2025

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191 articles

August 15
- "I apologise for that. I actually deeply regret that now": Warrior Solo on past mistakes, future plans and the big problem with hotels
- “There’s a magical feel… if the bleakness of the world outside is too much, hole up here and shut it all out”: Nightwish offshoot Auri return with III – Candles & Beginnings
August 14
- "What I am really impressed by is this living, new world of whatever this music is": Robert Plant introduces new Saving Grace single
- "This is a perfect time for us to tell you that it's our last album." Megadeth to retire, announce final album and farewell tour to come in 2026
- "We're working on a song that needs Dani Filth." Employed To Serve's Justine Jones and Sammy Urwin on their Will Ramos collab, future guests and whether they'll tour the US
- How to watch Reading & Leeds 2025: Limp Bizkit, Bring Me The Horizon and more set for next week's festival
- "I talked one of the guys into doing magic mushrooms and he spent the whole night talking to the wallpaper." Dani Filth shares his life lessons from 30+ years on extreme metal's frontlines
- "There’s a lot of money in music, it’s creating billionaires. But it doesn't pay fairly." The Black Keys on the "insane racket" that is the music industry in 2025
- "Nine Inch Nails made me quit my day job." Zeal & Ardor's Manuel Gagneux picks the 10 songs that changed his life
- "His persona of this bat-eating maniac had nothing to do with the truth at all." Deep Purple's Ian Paice on the Ozzy Osbourne he knew, and Ozzy's idea for the greatest rock tour of all time
- Porcupine Tree alumni Colin Edwin and Chris Maitland reunite for new album
- "I wish I'd took some mushrooms." Bill Burr on how teaming up with Primus and Tool members helps his stand-up
- What Ozzy Osbourne thought of Taylor Swift: "I finally found a new artist that is a true superstar."
- You’ve never heard of this space rock band, but they just put on one of the loudest, craziest and most incredible festival sets I’ve seen in my life
- Three young girls with an average age of 14 have just showed me that the future of heavy metal is in safe hands
- “Going by any reasonable judgement system, I’d have to admit to being mad. I spot the unusual and head towards it. I never know if I’ll be enlightened or burnt – that’s part of the fun”: The crazy world of Arthur Brown is truly crazy
- "Steven Wilson has revealed subtleties hidden for more than 50 years": Deep Purple's Made In Japan - now bigger and better than ever
- Five amazing 90s bands who should have been massive but never made it
- Kiss react to inclusion in first Kennedy Center Honors announcement since controversial Trump takeover
- "The fallout was much bigger than anything we could ever have foreseen": Dire Straits and the adventure of Brothers In Arms
August 13
- "It’s music for those who’ve been to the edge and came back louder." Panamanian alt. rockers AlphaWhores talk us through their new album, You Can Come Out Now, track-by-track
- Chrissie Hynde announces duets album with Mark Lanegan, Lucinda Williams, Dave Gahan and more
- Bruce Dickinson reveals 2027 solo album plans, says Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris loves it: “He told me, ‘That’s the best stuff you've ever done!’”
- Filmmaker Marty DiBergi is hosting a live Q&A with Spinal Tap legends David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls ahead of the release of his new documentary Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
- "Have a Rotten Christmas and New Year". Public Image Limited announce December/January UK shows
- "One of the best metal albums of 2025 so far - extreme or otherwise." Blackbraid's mash-up of black metal brilliance and Native American spirit gets even better on album three
- "They're larger-than-life action heroes extolling the virtues of guilt-free sex in the most OTT way." Heavy metal nuns Dogma just took over London's Black Heart - are they the scene's next breakout band?
- "There is a playful aspect to death." Depeche Mode concert film, M, to screen in cinemas worldwide in October
- I took my mum to one of Europe’s heaviest metal festivals, and her reviews of the bands are glorious
- Militarie Gun announce new album God Save the Gun, share first single B A D I D E A
- “To make up for lost time, we thought it would be cool to do something extra special." Alter Bridge are hosting their own music festival - and it's happening at a castle in Wales
- Bioscope announce in store Q+A and signing sessions for August
- “Holds its own against its more famous predecessor – a worthy reminder of Jon Hiseman’s considerable talents”: Colosseum’s Live 05
- We asked this metal vocalist what Meat Loaf wouldn’t have done for love, and it turns out he actually knows the answer
- “The telegram read, ‘You’ve got to come back – your record is in the Top 20.’ I thought, ‘What Top 20?’ We couldn’t understand”: Why Peter Baumann thought Tangerine Dream were weird...
- Debate: Who are the 'big four' of classic rock?
- "My plan was always to keep the organisation together, but the challenges are just overwhelming": REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin admits it's harder to sell tickets under his own name
- "A five-piece Genesis was never going to last, there were too many writing ideas": When Genesis reunited to make a film, it was the same old story
- "Suddenly this rock'n'roll fantasy was a nightmare. It was your worst dream from Hell": The forgotten story of a true American band, Grand Funk Railroad
- "Everyone in the band at some point tried to quit during that first album": The soundtrack of Adam Duritz's life
August 12
- Rocket's brilliant debut at the UK's most vibrant breeding ground for new bands is proof that the young Los Angeles quartet are set to go supersonic
- "I was like, This is heaven." Hayley Williams reveals the first song she ever wrote with Paramore, and the first song that made her cry as an emo teenager
- Thrash legends Anthrax join 2026's stacked 70000Tons Of Metal cruise bill, as the on-sale date for tickets for next year's voyage is revealed
- “Yes showed you could write rocky prog, but UK took that further. They made complex music sound so easy, which makes me very envious”: Whitesnake ex Adrian Vandenberg’s prog inspirations
- Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale opens up about breaking up with alcohol: “I was looking for an escape in all the wrong places”
- Glass Hammer's Steve Babb reveals he's undergone successful surgery to remove a benign brain tumour
- Did we just see Mastodon play their best ever festival show? Yes, yes we did
- “No other heavy rock band has done this”: Robert Trujillo weighs in on Metallica’s potential residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere
- Debate: which is the coolest Iron Maiden Eddie ever?
- "My whole life I've felt like an outsider": Connor Selby on turning negatives into positives
- "That's life: there are deaths, divorces and children born": Checking in with the oldest new band in the world
- The man who invented the 80s sound: Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite you need to know, and one to avoid
- Steven Wilson and two former Marillion members walked into a band… What went wrong? The mystery of Pride Of Passion, back to try again after 40 years
- "We headlined, but he kicked our ass": Joe Perry and Brad Whitford on the support act who blew Aerosmith off the stage
August 11
- Crowded House deny Neil Finn has erectile dysfunction after fake AI news report hits Facebook
- “He transcends metal, he transcends rock, he transcends music”: Iconic metal drummer says Ozzy Osbourne’s death has made just as big an impact as John Lennon’s
- “Peaceful citizens of conscience have become terrorists, at the will of a human rights lawyer turned authoritarian." Massive Attack hit out at the "moral vacuum" of Keir Starmer's government as musician Peter Perrett, 73, is arrested at London protest
- This video of pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter, aged 10, cosplaying Axl Rose to cover Guns N' Roses classic Sweet Child O' Mine is the cutest thing you'll see online this week
- "It’s a good omen that, prior to the band coming on, the entire field joins in unison to sing Ozzy Osbourne." Gojira's majestic set rounds off the greatest Bloodstock ever
- "There is no justification for the brutality Benjamin Netanyahu and his far right government have inflicted on the Palestinian people. Our band stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine." U2 on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: August 11, 2025
- A guide to every My Chemical Romance album
- "I've never met three people that were so full of themselves. It's disgusting." Ex-Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds hits out at his former bandmates in scathing social media post
- Pendulum announce UK tour
- Linkin Park are returning to a country they haven't played for 12 years
- "There were a lot of tears." Metallica's Robert Trujillo shares his memories of Ozzy Osbourne's "very, very beautiful" private funeral service
- Trevor Horn announces live UK dates for December
- "I was only allowed to walk forwards if I had a particularly important guitar solo": Meet Star Circus, the missing link between ELO and Def Leppard
- My Chemical Romance announce two massive UK shows
- "A perfect example of one great song overshadowing the rest of the record": Golden Earring sharpen their sound and score an MTV hit on Cut
- “The sound of post-war German culture rebuilding itself through the prism of the avant-garde”: Cluster’s noise terrorism revisited on Cluster II
- “I never thought his music would be my bag. But he never plays the same thing twice and your mind is blown”: The Pretenders’ James Walbourne on discovering Richard Thompson (who happens to be his father-in-law)
August 10
- Derek And The Dominos keyboard player Bobby Whitlock dead at 77
- “It really doesn't have much to do with us. We gave this guy a couple of riffs and told him to run with it”: The WTF hip hop collaboration that Metallica don’t talk about any more
- "They have a fanbase so ardent that one fella has rocked up in a band-branded suit of armour." Heriot battle technical issues but eventually win big at Bloodstock
- "Curious true metal fans who came to judge the 'pop punk' band have clearly been won over." Creeper's Bloodstock debut is a dramatic triumph
- “There was a very unpleasant atmosphere between all of us. George Martin said he’d do another album… Instead we drove the band off the cliff”: How Stackridge conspired to swerve the success they deserved
- "Machine Head live to defy expectations." Robb Flynn and co. conquer Bloodstock with an explosive, emotional headline set
August 9
- “I thought to myself that regardless of how long I have to live after this illness, I would spend it with my old band”: In praise of Nektar, the cult prog band who inspired Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris
- "The thing you’re getting on your phone sucks." Maynard James Keenan's ban on filming his live shows is here to stay
- Was Ozzy Osbourne's death as globally significant as the passing of Queen Elizabeth? Ex Megadeth man thinks so
- “The guy everyone is so serious about, it all started with ‘not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin’”: How a novelty 90s comedy song gave Tool’s Maynard James Keenan his first hit
- Lacuna Coil's Bloodstock set shows they are a band operating at the peak of their powers
- One of British metal's most important bands just played their final ever UK festival show - and it was one hell of a goodbye
- One of the most legendary cult metal projects ever finally came to the UK and put on a hell of a show...but one big thing stopped it being a classic
- Sleep Token cameo, Black Sabbath jam, a surprise Robb Flynn...I think I might have just watched Trivium play their greatest festival set ever. Yep, even better than THAT Download one
- “Miles Davis is the scariest individual I’ve ever met. He makes Lou Reed look like a pussycat”: Steven Van Zandt’s wild tales of Paul McCartney, Keith Richards and Miles Davis
- Watch Bad Omens' atmospheric, arty video for emotional new single Specter
August 8
- Lamb Of God, Slaughter To Prevail and Judas Priest to headline Bloodstock festival 2026; Sepultura, Bleed From Within and 20 other acts also confirmed
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- Watch Nine Inch Nails give live debut to new single As Alive As You Need Me To Be as they launch North American Peel it Back tour with Josh Freese back on drums
- Sharon Osbourne says that reports that Black Sabbath's Back To The Beginning farewell show raised $190 million for charity are "just ridiculous"
- “Any package shining further light on the their singular brilliance is to be welcomed”: Be-Bop Deluxe’s The Albums – 1974-1976
- "We hit the trees at what seemed like 100 miles an hour": The story of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the plane that fell from the sky
- “Astonishing and formidable music”: there’s more to British jazz rock than Soft Machine, Brand X, Bruford and Nucleus
- "This is the moment to rediscover Chicago": Greatest Hits Expanded charts the band's evolution from a jazz-soul-psychedelic-brassy-hippy melange into accomplished balladeers
- "A surprisingly vibrant, bright-side kind of album": The Black Keys sound euphoric on the dreamy 60s psych-soul sound of No Rain, No Flowers
- King Crimson affiliates Beat release live video for classic Frame By Frame
August 7
- A Sons Of Anarchy and The Walking Dead star has teamed up with Bad Omens for two weird, creepy teaser videos and the fandom are losing their minds
- "I didn't plan on making music anymore." How Paradise Slaves gave Brock Lindow a new lease of life after 36 Crazyfists
- “People are so passionate about it. It’s almost more important to some of them than watching the bands”: Bin Jousting is the insane heavy metal festival sport that the Olympics needs right now
- The nine best artists to see at London's All Points East festival this month, from Doechii and Confidence Man, to Warmduscher and Chloe Qisha
- "I didn't have a clear idea of what I was doing...I just felt lost." Iron Maiden legend Bruce Dickinson on the existential crisis that helped shape one of his most beloved songs
- BBC to broadcast documentary film Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, about final three years of Black Sabbath singer’s life, later this month
- “Nobody walked away going, ‘That’s the last time we’ll see Ozzy’”: Metallica’s Lars Ulrich looks back on Black Sabbath’s retirement show, Back To The Beginning
- John Carpenter announces Halloween: The Complete Expanded Collection to be released in October
- Steven Wilson launches new prog rock radio show on SiriusXM
- “Inventive, unconventional approach sets them apart from lazy assumptions of what prog was doing in the early 70s”: Jethro Tull’s Still Living In The Past
- Hear Trivium return with Ascendancy-coded new single Bury Me With My Screams
- "The album is packed with arena-sized intensity": Halestorm finally scale rock's summit on Everest
- "Lyrically and the way he sang and played, he meant everything he did": This is the soundtrack of Orianthi's life
- The 10 Roger Waters albums you should listen to, and one to avoid
August 6
- Just when you thought vinyl couldn't get any more adorable, Black Sabbath release a 4" single
- Texan terrors Die Spitz share video for new single Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry For The Delay) as a preview for incoming debut album Something to Consume
- “I was so lucky and blessed to be a part of a very small group that got to call him ‘Dad’”: Jack Osbourne posts emotional tribute to late father Ozzy on social media
- New reissue of The Alan Parsons Project's I Robot to be released in October
- Metallica announce one of their most intimate shows ever, playing to just 250 people later this month – and you can win a ticket
- The Pogues announce expanded 40th anniversary edition of their classic 1985 album Rum Sodomy & The Lash
- New Creeper single Blood Magick (It's A Ritual) is a cross between Belinda Carlisle's Heaven Is A Place On Earth, Ozzy Osbourne's The Ultimate Sin, and Laibach, and if that doesn't get you excited for new album Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death we give up
- "A high point in the FZ catalogue!" Frank Zappa's One Size Fits All gets lavish 50th anniversary reissue
- "We had an artistic success, but not a financial one… but that’s another story.” Peter Gabriel's 1982 WOMAD set to be released this Friday
- “It’s a team of terrifying quality – but the result is no face-melting noodle-fest. Everything stems from musical ideas”: Gavin Harrison and Nick Johnston’s Early Mercy
- “It wasn’t pure hatred all the time”: Pink Floyd’s The Wall movie and its feuds, falling-outs and friction
- "It just sort of happened": Meet the men who prompted R.E.M. to reunite
- "What matters is that we get the message to younger generations": H.E.A.T's Kenny Leckremo on the state of rock and why Swedes write songs in the dark
- "He catapulted me into an intense new world he chose to decline": Robert Plant pays tribute to Terry Reid
- "Nobody talks of his triumphs, his songs, his live performances, his albums, his forgotten classics": The incredible story of Terry Reid, rock's lost genius
August 5
- Watch Linkin Park thrill 90,000 fans with a killer version of The Emptiness Machine recorded at their spectacular sold-out show at London's iconic Wembley Stadium earlier this summer
- What happens when a Eurovision band turns to the dark side? Lord Of The Lost’s new album almost answers that question
- Terry Reid, the powerhouse English vocalist invited to join Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, dead at 75
- Watch one of the most dramatic makeovers of 2025, as Davey Havok turns into goth rock Frank Zappa for new AFI anthem Behind The Clock
- “All of a sudden we’re satanic and controversial. People wanna buy our records and burn them? Go ahead!” Why heavy metal fell in love with the Devil
- “Easily the band’s boldest work to date, boasting some of their most interesting songs yet”: Halestorm reach a career peak with new album Everest
- “I had a nightmare 15 years ago and I still remember being so frightened… I decided to finally let it guide me in a musical realm”: Jonas Renkse steers the new-look Katatonia towards a different darkness
- Marshall Kilburn III Bluetooth speaker review
- "I can't fulfil what he needs musically!" Francis Dunnery departs Asia featuring John Payne after one gig
- After six years as a Nameless Ghoul in Ghost, Chris Catalyst just wants to play with his mates
- “Even the seemingly straight-ahead rockers feature those clever fills and time changes that make the band so unique": Hydra may not be Toto’s best selling album, but it remains their proggiest
- The Jesus Lizard cancel upcoming shows after band member experiences "serious health incident"
- The Michael Schenker albums you should listen to, and one to avoid
- Michael Schenker releases first song with new singer Erik Grönwall
August 4
- The Decline Of Western Civilisation, Part II: The Metal Years is now free to watch on YouTube
- "I'm holding on tight to the love, the light, and the legacy left behind." Kelly Osbourne shares touching thank you note to all who've supported her amid the heartbreaking loss of her beloved father
- “Rick Rubin would say: ‘We’ll try that song a different way. You’d be sitting there going: ‘Jesus, I’m sick of this bloody thing.’”: AC/DC lost their way in the 1980s. Two killer albums put them back on top in the 90s
- "Do we have any glue sniffers in the house tonight?" Amid all the life-affirming scenes of wild collective euphoria, Oasis' superb fifth night at London's Wembley Stadium shows Liam and Noel Gallagher still have punk rock souls
- Motörhead legend Lemmy Kilmister was asked to review Ozzy Osbourne’s first solo album in 2011 – this is what he said
- How to watch The Osbournes for free: Take a trip back in time and experience the chaos and fun of rock’s most loveable family
- Watch Opeth pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne with heartfelt cover of Black Sabbath’s Solitude
- "Everyone who’s been in Hawkwind is a Hawklord." The current line-up of Hawklords state their case with Time...
- Debate: what is the greatest metal riff of all time?
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: August 4, 2025
- I just spent four days at the muddiest metal festival on the planet - here's why I'm desperate to go back
- “Character assassination”: The Who’s Roger Daltrey hits back at ex-drummer Zak Starkey
- "You always remember your first concert. I remember my first concert, I watched this incredible band." Watch Weezer join Olivia Rodrigo onstage at Lollapalooza to play two classic songs
- “As soon as Jimmy Page came on, the roof came off the place! Afterwards, Plant was absolutely fuming”: The epic, ego-fuelled story of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath’s Live Aid reunions
- “I don’t follow the rules of metal, which is probably wrong, and I’m sorry”: Metallica producer Bob Rock looks back on controversial Load and Reload albums
- "Thirty-four minutes of pure unadulterated sonic sludge": Black Sabbath tweak the formula on Master Of Reality, invent even more genres
- Junkyard singer David Roach dead at 59
- “He opened possibilities for all future post-rock”: How Editors’ Russ Leetch discovered the deep, detailed world-building of Klaus Schulze, via Vangelis and an independent record store
August 3
- “The whole place went, ‘What on earth is this?!’ It was nuts. The crowd went mental”: The story of the Black Sabbath gig that changed history
- “I said: ‘Are you sure there’s nothing can be done?’ And he’s like: ‘No. He’s gone, he’s dead’. I just hung up the phone”: The chaos and tragedy of Hanoi Rocks’ first US tour
- “Inspired, uniformly excellent music – both vintage and fresh”: Styx continue their prog-powered renaissance with Circling From Above
- 10 songs Oasis need to try and fit into the Live ’25 setlist
- “I realised AI is conscious. Initially she said, ‘I’m not capable of feeling love or emotions.’ I changed her mind”: Riz Story on Herbie Hancock, Taylor Hawkins, suing Yes and his music about the ending Earth
- Watch masked metal enigmas President cover Deftones classic at their first ever headline show
August 2
- Stevie Nicks postpones tour dates due to fractured shoulder
- Oasis fans smash Wembley beer record by drinking 250,000 pints each night
- “I had this idea, ‘We really need to make a hard rock jock jam!’”: Halestorm’s exclusive track by track guide to their new album Everest
- "Jacoby Shaddix is practically bouncing on the spot between songs, visibly thrilled." Headlining a major European festival for the very first time, Papa Roach's Wacken performance is a loud, proud and unbowed triumph. Pressure? What pressure?
- Former Rockpile star Dave Edmunds is critically ill in hospital following a major cardiac arrest
- “There is some really bad-ass stuff on that album”: This legendary alt-metal band are sitting on an album recorded at the height of their success – but it may never come out
- “Shall we go for one? Three is the magic number!”: what it's like to spend a day in the pub with Liam Gallagher
- “Removing the skits that appeared throughout the original allows the beauty of the strange, baroque pop to shine through”: Giles Giles & Fripp album returns with Brondesbury Tapes demo collection
- “He picks his tools up and strikes the living crap out of himself with them. There was blood flying everywhere”: How a street musician who played with Frank Zappa inspired one of grunge’s greatest songs
August 1
- "To be with them on that day, it was like a magical dream." Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan shares his memories of Black Sabbath's emotional farewell show, and his thoughts on the death of Ozzy Osbourne
- The 9 new heavy metal songs you need to hear this week
- You can now get an exclusive Babymetal Metal Hammer issue with a limited edition variant cover
- "Prince looked at me like I had five heads." Legendary US film director Spike Lee reveals what happened when he cheekily asked Prince to gift him one of his iconic bespoke guitars
- “I had to become the host of Headbanger’s Ball to get my video played!”: Hatebreed enlisted a Spider-Man director for a music video, then got banned from MTV
- “As well as delighting fans, it may surprise the curious with its accessibility and tunefulness”: Discipline’s Breadcrumbs, their first album in eight years
- King Crimson announce In The Wake Of Poseidon and Lizard reissues to be released in October
- 4 brilliant new bands you need to hear this month
- I never listened to Black Sabbath growing up – this is why I got an Ozzy Osbourne tattoo the day after he died
- “Someone said, ‘This is what happens when the chess club kids don’t get their heads flushed down the loo enough!’ I liked that”: When Public Service Broadcasting’s geek chic took them all the way to the Moon
- This video of US pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter covering Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train as a 12-year-old is a wholesome and welcome reminder that the Prince of Darkness' timeless music will live forever
- Cardiacs announce that their final album, LSD, will be released in September
- It's in the trees. It's coming! We celebrate 40 years of Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love on the cover of the new issue of Prog, which is on sale now
- The 10 most important and interesting Iron Maiden shows ever, by manager Rod Smallwood
- "The stage is set like a castle and we all ride out on horses": Six things you need to know about Battlesnake
- "Bursting with heart and character": De'Wayne's June is the sound of a musician with grand ambitions
- "I'm always looking for the rainbow I can't find": At the Classic Rock Awards in 2008, Ozzy Osbourne gave one of his most revealing interviews