All content archive
June 2026
Filter
133 articles
- June 9
-
- "You can’t save everything you love." Soundgarden's Kim Thayil on the loss of his friend and bandmate Chris Cornell
- “I heard Lars Ulrich jumped out of a helicopter as it was landing and disappeared”: What happened the night Metallica’s drummer went missing – and Slipknot and Slayer saved the day
- "We were young men, living hard and out of control, and we lost our heart and soul." The story behind the John Frusciante song which saved the Red Hot Chili Peppers in their darkest hour
- "The horror-obsessed metalcore mob stand out like a sore thumb." Bloody cadavers, dancing deadites and some of the catchiest tunes you'll hear all summer: Ice Nine Kills triumph in their first audition for future festival headliners
- “Screens and fake news and artificial intelligence… we don’t need that in the way of our connections”: How Sepultura made their technophobic final statement, The Cloud Of Unknowing
- King Crimson announce listening sessions in conjunction with London's Polygon Portal
- "It's gotta have some kind of sexuality and alcohol abuse and some kind of looseness to it": The story of Queens Of The Stone Age's signature tune, a still-mysterious banger powered by Dave Grohl and a truly whacked-out video
- “I was in my boxers and my mother caught me in this heightened creative moment. It was pretty embarrassing”: Inspired by Tool, Led Zeppelin and classic sci-fi, Coheed And Cambria turned a tumultuous break-up into Welcome Home
- “Between girls, drugs and an entourage he’d bring everywhere, Pete was out of his mind more than at any other point”: How I Don’t Wanna Be Me gave gothic metal icons Type O Negative their last big anthem, but spelled the start of the end
- “We did 57 festivals. They assumed I trashed my guitar at every one, and at every other gig. But Pete Townshend would have the edge over me”: Did Muse’s Matt Bellamy really earn his Guinness world record?
- “You don’t know my husband, OK? I know my husband”: Sharon and Jack Osbourne defend AI Ozzy avatar amidst “cash grab” allegations
- “It was strange to have all these boys adoring me, gazing at me almost in worship. It wasn’t me trying to be sexy – but just being myself”: Sonja Kristina’s highs and lows with prog groundbreakers Curved Air
- "He thought that the band should be a democracy, and it was more like a brutal dictatorship": The tangled story of Dire Straits, the million-selling band who quit at the height of their fame
- "This old lady really freaked out and said: 'Turn the backing track down!'" How Jimi Hendrix recorded the song that established his otherworldly abilities
- "A lot of modern rock has lost the fun factor – like, whatever happened to grandiosity?" Meet Brass Camel, your new favourite chaotic Canadian prog-funk melting pot rockers
- "Everyone has the right to be furious right now. And if that comes out in your music, I celebrate that." Why Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi are dancing and playing through the fury
- The fumble and the fill: Two moments of genius from Anika Nilles' emotional first show with Rush
- June 8
-
- "I told our producer, If Slash calls back, tell him I'm not there." Why Detroit rappers Insane Clown Posse blew off superfan Slash after getting him to play on their break-through album
- “I tried it for a while, and I was like, ‘This is boring! This is exhausting!’”: OG black metal mask-wearer Mortiis never wanted to be anonymous like Ghost and Sleep Token
- “This is a redefining evolution of rhythm games”: Songs by Ghost, Babymetal, Red Hot Chili Peppers and more to appear in new title from company behind Guitar Hero
- "I'm releasing this music into a very strange and dark and power-fixated world that really devalues art and feelings and compassion and empathy and equality." Beastie Boys legend Mike D announces debut solo album Thank You
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: June 8, 2026
- “We miss him and we love him, also”: Watch Mastodon give new single Your Ghost Again its live debut and dedicate it to late guitarist Brent Hinds
- "Anthony Kiedis and Flea showed up wearing dildos." The night Jane's Addiction played a freaky private Halloween party for a debauched Hollywood legend
- “Another band said they were going to shave all our hair off and beat us up”: Bring Me The Horizon cancelled a 2006 festival appearance for fear of being attacked
- "It must be hard for him when people write, 'How could you leave Gwen, she’s so great'." Gwen Stefani wrote a whole album about her bandmate dumping her, and it made No Doubt huge
- "Some of my first TV interviews were explaining that the band was more to do with the heart than burning down a church." The rise, fall and demise of HIM - Finland's goth metal princes
- "I could feel his heart through his chest and he passed away right there." Childhood tragedy, unlikely success and emotional reunions: Max Cavalera on how he reshaped metal with Sepultura and Soulfly
- "It was a beautiful scar on the metal world." How Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Korn and the rest took nu metal from hated subgenre to the biggest thing on Planet Earth
- “Fans say, ‘You were part of the band.’ I was never part of the band… I was an employee. And all things come to an end”: Chester Thompson’s career in and out of Genesis
- Watch 90 minutes of previously unreleased, high-quality, pro-shot footage from Marillion's Clutching At Straws tour
- "We think we played for eight hours. I can't say for sure, because everyone was tripping." The acid-fried story of Man, the Welsh jam band with its heart in San Francisco
- We have liftoff! Watch Rush return to the stage in Los Angeles - includes full setlist
- “He asked, ‘Will you guys ever tour again?’ We said, ‘We’re going out in 2026.’ The crowd laughed – then realised we weren’t kidding”: How Rush transformed from political pariahs to comeback kings
- "Avalon sits easily alongside ABC's Lexicon Of Love or Duran Duran's Rio." The album that consolidated Roxy Music's shift from weirdo art-rockers to gossamer smooth purveyors of sultry adult pop
- June 7
-
- "I've got some ideas." Glen Matlock open to writing new Sex Pistols material with Frank Carter
- “We said we’d only do it if it only came out in Japan. Then when we listened back, we thought, ‘Hang on, we’ve got something here’”: In 1972, Deep Purple were falling apart. And then they made the album that accidentally changed rock music
- “Certain people I knew from the scene wouldn’t speak to me after I got a hit. But it’s all music… I just had a great time”: Brian Auger warned Jimi Hendrix off drugs and learned what prog was from Keith Emerson
- “The guitar tone ripped my face off!” When Machine Head's Robb Flynn met Meshuggah
- “They said a four-minute single containing lyrics about Jesus would never get played on pop radio”: The US singer loved by John Lennon and hated by right-wing Christian groups who wrote the last great hippie anthem – and then vanished into obscurity
- “It was the first time I smoked pot and saw a naked girl. The next day I bought a guitar and swore to do this for a living”: How cult AOR hotshot Paul Laine made the greatest Bon Jovi album Bon Jovi never made
- “A few others were singing about the underside of life, but we had the heaviness to hammer the subjects home.” The inside story of Black Sabbath’s stoned masterpiece Master Of Reality
- “I was still sending him music. He was saying, ‘That sounds great, but you should use it for your solo album.’ I thought, ‘OK, I’m getting the message’”: Richard Barbieri on the much-needed Porcupine Tree hiatus
- "The tours were getting longer and crazier, and the expectations around us were astronomical." How Powerslave cemented Iron Maiden as the biggest metal band on the planet in 1984
- June 6
-
- “Are you trying to get us killed?” The explosive story behind System Of A Down’s Toxicity album
- "I don’t think I have to forgive them. They replaced me when I was sick and said I ruined the band": Styx fired Dennis DeYoung in 1999, but he still wants a reunion for the fans
- “Bowie’s a hell of a fast guy. I had to be quicker than him. The band and David would leave the studio to go to sleep, but not me”: How David Bowie came back from the abyss and made four albums in one year that changed music forever
- “Derek Shulman took me to a Bon Jovi show. The whole audience was freaking out, and Derek said to me: ‘Are you ready for this? It’s going to happen to you.’ And I fully believed in it.”: The unlikely rebirth of Dan Reed Network, funk rock’s nearly men
- “They had become genuine rock stars, with all the excess and trappings that go with it”: Why Korn’s most divisive album is way better than everybody thinks
- “I lost my virginity to a member of Legs & Co…” From the Bar-L to the Barrowlands, a day out with the Skids
- “I’m not a Satanist, I’m an atheist, but I write the best Satanic lyrics on the planet” How Slayer went from thrash provocateurs to metal’s unlikeliest elder statesmen
- “I loved what Hendrix did with it. Jimi took the song one step further with this really amazing, sweaty strum”: How The Troggs and Hendrix turned a flop ’60s single into one of the most famous songs in history
- June 5
-
- “The word goth is stupid. I hate that word”: Evanescence’s Amy Lee has strong feelings about being called ‘goth’ – and they’re not positive
- The 25 best goth metal albums
- Linkin Park tease details of a new Unshatter movie inside European tour t-shirts
- "Football unites us." Blur's Alex James to host Britpop party nights in London's Trafalgar Square ahead of England's World Cup group stage games
- “They were defensive about keyboards. Everything I played, they had to have a band meeting about. Then they suddenly wanted wall-to-wall keys. It was quite silly”: Deep Purple’s Don Airey recalls the one album he regrets
- "In many ways that entire album feels like we were rebelling against ourselves." How Mastodon overcame moments of self-doubt and rebuilt themselves from the ground up on The Hunter
- "Freddie said, ‘Write me stuff, I know I don’t have very long. I will sing it. And then you do what you like with it afterwards." The tragedy and triumph of Queen’s final album and Freddie Mercury’s last goodbye
- Phoebe Bridgers announces UK and European dates for The Lost Tour, with every ticket sold benefitting organisations supporting those impacted by sexual assault and violence
- The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "People went, 'That's woke.' Well, go f*** yourself." Elvis Costello explains why he's rewritten the most controversial lyric in his provocative 1979 single Oliver's Army and is playing it live again
- "Steve Harris was a road sweeper when I met him." What it was like following metal icons Iron Maiden from their very first gig
- "We smoked so much weed that we set off the fire alarms and almost killed everybody with the gas that was going to be released." The story of Machine Head’s Burn My Eyes, the debut album that revitalised 90s metal
- "He glared out into the audience like he wanted to kill each and every one of us, one at a time." The story behind the gig which inspired the birth of Joy Division
- Cool new proggy sounds from Gentle Giant, Voyage 35, Mastodon and more in Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week
- "Are you a guitarist too?" The day that rock legends Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Brian May and Jeff Beck met Queen Elizabeth II
- “Metal needs a good f**king kick up the ass”: the story of Metallica’s Load
- Goat announce 2027 UK tour including biggest-ever headline show at London's Royal Albert Hall
- "I was introverted and just wanted to hide in my bedroom." Laura Cox learned everything by copying others on YouTube - but now she's writing her own script
- "He had a cast of a human skull, because he was interested in the occult." The Life and legacy of At The Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg: the godfather of melodic death metal
- “If I’d been sacked, or left over musical differences, I’d have felt a right flunker”: Genesis ex Anthony Phillips on why he really quit – and why he’s not their version of The Beatles’ Pete Best
- Watch the video for Deep Purple's frisky new single Diablo
- "This man said, ‘I’ve brought my wife for a night out and you’re the worst band I’ve seen in my life. You’re crap.’” How the Moody Blues finally came good with Days Of Future Passed
- Bob Dylan introduced him to The Beatles, he married the girlfriend of a Rolling Stone, and he played with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page and meditated with David Lynch. Donovan looks back...
- "I finished the melody in five minutes, but I was so jacked I couldn’t stop playing." The story of the Neil Young classic written on a piece of newspaper in the back of a car
- June 4
-
- "I would rather cut my hands off than be that miserable again." Ginger Wildheart responds to CJ Wildheart's reunion olive branch
- "Everyone agreed it was the perfect song." The story behind the Bruce Springsteen classic that's set to go viral thanks to the new Netflix show that Stranger Things fans will love
- "I knew something was wrong. I went to the bar and my girlfriend was there with another guy." The dagger-through-the-heart memory which inspired the biggest rock song of its generation
- "They commenced to destroy, slaughter and wipe the stage with our blood." How a hip hop powerhouse and a heavy metal institution united to create a whole new genre - and spark one of the rowdiest tours in history
- "I and everybody else were old farts in her opinion." Roger Waters on the night Sinéad O'Connor sang her spellbinding version of Pink Floyd's Mother
- "I don't always feel good at confronting people, especially people that I love. Sometimes, it takes songs to get the point across." This is the story of the vitriolic single that saved Paramore from splitting up
- "She’d be talking about a song with a really good guitar solo and demand we change it, make it heavier." The trailblazing metal singer who saved an influential band's career and inspired a generation of women in the process
- "The people that turned up to my concerts were psychos. But I've never experienced anything like Kylie Minogue's audience. They were terrifying." Nick Cave on the joy of working with Kylie, and the horrified reaction of her "monstrous" fans
- Peter Hammill and Carl Palmer return to the Royal Albert Hall for the prog prom - Prog Rock: A Fanfare for the Common Man
- "A 42-piece orchestra, mellotron, and a string thing all playing this half-Turkish scale." The story of Ritchie Blackmore's most epic Rainbow song
- "I sent him an honest and open message." After three years of silence, CJ Wildheart is building bridges with Ginger Wildheart
- "Drinking too much, too many drugs... and then a car accident!": Watch the trailer for the new Peter Frampton documentary, featuring Ringo Starr, Alice Cooper, Nancy Wilson and more
- Hold up your phone, hang on to your tissues, we're going in: The 40 greatest power ballads of all time
- June 3
-
- "A kick in the arse and a smack in the face, this album does what politicians don't - tell the truth." Irish punk Meryl Streek announces new album Stories They Don’t Teach You At School, shares single Rotten Fruit featuring Steve Ignorant from Crass
- "I have this memory of killing myself, blasting my head off, and then throwing the guitar at the amp over and over." The story behind the most intense song on the most ambitious rock album of the '90s
- “We wanted this record to sound like it was from outer space.” How LA’s freakiest band Jane's Addiction kickstarted a rock revolution with the game-changing Nothing's Shocking
- “I laid that song down in four takes, but I was hammered when I recorded it”: How a deteriorating DevilDriver made immortal New Wave Of American Heavy Metal hit Clouds Over California
- “They expect you to fly about like a lunatic because they’re paying what they think is good money. What they get is heart and soul, and total dedication”: Why Kate Bush, David Sylvian, Tim Buckley and John Martyn all loved Danny Thompson
- Voyage 35 share new reworking of Porcupine Tree classic Even Less
- “I was enthralled by the way they swapped instruments, and also the music they played. I was hooked”: The British thrash metal icon who adores prog eccentrics Gentle Giant (and he’s not the only one)
- "We were just tired, so we were like, 'Let's go live together in a cabin and take psychedelics', because that'll help." How The Beatles inspired one of emo's breakout bands to completely reinvent themselves
- 10 amazing covers by massive metal bands that you’ve (probably) never heard
- “I’m out here owning my weird because of Alice Cooper. He gave me the permission”: Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale reveals the 10 albums that shaped her career
- Two kids made their own Metallica video in 1989 and thinking about it, we're grateful we didn't have a camcorder then
- "You have to go and live in London for seven years. You'll be rejected 99 times out of a hundred." Watch Robert Fripp give a hopeful young musician some unflinching truth in 1985
- 10 bands who peaked with the first song on their first album
- "It reminds me of monkeys wanking in full view of the people standing around their enclosure." Chrissie Hynde slams fans who film concerts on their phones
- "I don't know what you have to be so proud of right now!" Chris Robinson scolds crowd after "U.S.A.! U.S.A!" chant breaks out at Black Crowes concert
- June 2
-
- "Together, we expand and defend The Realm!" Fantasy-themed rising stars Castle Rat announce biggest headline tour to date
- “Expect their already-soaring career to rocket even further after this”: Rising space rockers Slift aren’t just one of the scene’s best live bands – they’ve also made an immediate, dizzying master-stroke with new album Fantasia
- Bulgarian president touts Iron Maiden as “remarkably down-to-earth people” after meeting metal veterans at Sofia stadium show
- "We were pushing ourselves musically and creatively in every direction..." Gentle Giant announce remixed and remastered reissue of In A Glass House
- “It was like a crazy film about what happens to serious musicians if they take a step to the left”: Fame and fortune called when prog stalwarts Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin released a pop cover. Did they sell out?
- “I was struck by the way he told the audience he wanted to die”: Al Stewart on a suicidal comedian, ignoring Robert Fripp, and the resulting hit single
- Watch Metallica tear through Creeping Death and King Nothing during first concert of 2026 in Athens, Greece
- "People heard it and found it deeply offensive because they didn’t have the brain capacity to realise what it’s about." The story behind Ghost's most famous song - and what it really means
- 10 terrible metal albums with one classic song
- “My portion of the song is all about Brent, and for Brent”: Mastodon return with trippy single Your Ghost Again, a tribute to late founding guitarist Brent Hinds
- "Pat's Dogs! The cook is never tired! Pat's Dogs! The steam is always fired!" Celebrating that time Cinderella filmed a chili dog commercial before they were famous
- "It's the silliest, most oddball song in our entire catalogue, but it truly hit a nerve." How Toto used a synthesised flute riff and a drum loop to concoct a classic and a cultural phenomenon
- June 1
-
- Roman legionaries! Lederhosen-clad dancers! Axl interviewed! Mythical Guns N' Roses documentary Perfect Crime leaked online
- "He thinks he's so tough, but afraid of a girl? Let's see." After 14 years of protest, Pussy Riot announce debut album, launch single with Avenged Sevenfold and challenge Vladimir Putin to a cage fight
- "When I see him in my dreams, he hasn't changed a bit. He is still my best friend." How Dave Grohl channelled his heartbreak over a devastating personal loss into one of Foo Fighters' most raw, emotional songs
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: June 1, 2026
- Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love spent New Year's Eve 1992 trying to save the life of an unconscious rock star who was turning blue on their hotel room floor
- "The day we played, there were bears seen right across the river from the festival." Inside the fascinating new documentary that lifts the lid on enigmatic Nordic folk leaders Wardruna
- “My wife is gonna die of it one day. They don’t know when. What do we want to do with our time here? Who do we want to throw out of our lives?”: Norwegian proggers Green Carnation’s second Dark Poem explores loved ones in crisis
- "We leaned into it when we realised it p***ed people off, because I was a little s***head." Black Veil Brides frontman Andi Biersack on being hated by metal fans, getting beaten up as Batman and chasing his dreams
- “It’s a veritable smorgasbord of musicality for the curious and a buffet of favourites for the fans.” Career-spanning Frank Zappa collection to be released on vinyl for the very first time
- New Evanescence album Sanctuary is the most vital thing Amy Lee has made in decades - and it's arrived at the perfect time
- "She was looking at her pill bottles. I knew she was going to die so I was like, 'Put it down. Live right now.'" Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher wrote songs for Emperor Of Sand at his mum’s deathbed
- "We often felt like the strange duck on the festival bill because there was a woman in the band." How two modern metal icons united for a collaboration over a decade in the making
- "I walked through it all and felt like spitting on the lot of them". How Pete Townshend's disgust with the hippies inspired The Who's most epic song
- "Half brooding romantic, half back-of-the-class smart-ass." Type O Negative do both doom and gloom on October Rust
- The nation rejoices as a corpse-painted Robert Fripp sings in the latest edition of Robert and Toyah's Sunday Lunch
- “People no longer wanted to see a band all dressed up with a big show. They wanted four blokes onstage with one light bulb”: When eccentric proggers Gryphon acquired Sex Pistols connections, they knew their time was up
- Billy Gibbons and Keith Urban join forces on fuzz-friendly new single Brown Paper Bag
