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January 2026

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251 articles

January 25
- “I’d put it up there with any of the greatest ballads that have ever been written. You can’t replicate it”: How one of rock’s most moving ballads was written in 15 minutes with a little help from the Bible
- “I had such dreams that people would see what I saw in them, but it was not to be”: When this prog metal singer had his band’s logo tattooed on his arm, they were already planning to fire him
- "She understands the history of music, but she’s also pushing it forward. She is the future." Record company execs expect big things of Dave Grohl's daughter Violet
January 24
- "If we manage to survive the tour, go back to Canada and have a rest, who knows what'll happen. I suspect some music will eventually come out." Geddy Lee on the chances of recording new Rush material
- “A taxi knocked KK over. Glenn became an instant medic: ‘He needs hot water!’ He later told me: ‘Worst part is, I was tripping on acid at the time’”: How Judas Priest “danced with death” to make the album that turned them into superstars
- “When our agent heard the song live for the first time, he called me and said, ‘This is a hit!’ And he was right!”: The 80s metal anthem that turned the band who wrote it into global superstars – and the X-rated title it nearly had
- Debate: What was the best prog album of 1976?
- “There was a wishing well, a three-legged black cat, and the live room overlooked the mist-covered countryside.” Meet Cwfen, the Scottish doom witches giving Macbeth a run for his money
- “It fitted with the nastiness of the human condition and war and stuff. I wanted the words to sound violent and aggressive”: The apocalyptic anthem that sowed the seeds for prog – and became “the first heavy metal song” in the process
January 23
- “I’ve got fame, I’ve got adulation, but I was still in the mental prison." One of heavy metal's most iconic stars reflects on the day he knew that he had to choose between sobriety or annihilation
- "I heard that Metallica needed a bass player and brother, I was writing letters, made a tape of myself playing and sent it. Never heard a word back." The 80s pop culture icon who made an unlikely bid to join the world's biggest metal band
- "The lift stops. The doors open. And this bloke gets in. And it's Peter ****ing Gabriel!" What happened when Ozzy Osbourne bumped into the prog legend who made the album he was "obsessed" with
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "It doesn’t feel like anything we’ve done before": Tedeschi Trucks Band announces new studio album and mammoth tour - listen to first single I Got You now
- “I said, ‘There are no vocals. It’s an instrumental album.’ The lawyer said, ‘Do you mean we’ve just paid $12,000 for a piano player?’” Rick Wakeman relives the moment he delivered The Six Wives Of Henry VIII to a horrified record label
- "I’m scared I’ll get in trouble." How the teenage son of a Canadian punk rocker sampled Beabadoobee without her knowledge on a song about a young man's dying words, and racked up two billion streams without leaving his bedroom
- Prog's Tracks Of The Week! Awesome new proggy sounds from Opeth, NMB, Myrkur and more...
- "I went from touring to working behind a bar in Manhattan, busting my butt to pay bills." How one of metal's most beloved bands reunited with an old friend to get a much-needed new lease of life
- Former Scorpions / Michael Schenker bassist Francis Buchholz dead at 71
- "We thought we made really good records, but we never envisaged hanging out and playing boules at Elton's house": How Therapy? ram-raided the mainstream with an ode to the soap opera of teenage existence
- "A man was beheaded there and sometimes you can hear his head rolling down": The historic Loch Ness manor once home to Jimmy Page and Aleister Crowley is opening to the public for the first time in 260 years
- Debate: Who is the greatest drummer of all time?
January 22
- "It's hard rock for us. It's got a bit more of an 'oomph' than stuff we've been doing for a while": Def Leppard launch new single Rejoice ahead of Las Vegas residency
- “He was praying to the sun and making loud noises. I asked, ‘Do you want to sing at our concert tonight? No rehearsal’”: Radiohead and Primal Scream influencers found their new vocalist on the street, after the previous one went mad on stage
- "He figured we were gonna get knifed...some guys were swinging pool cues!" From Peaky Blinders bar fights to being Slipknot-endorsed, how four Swedish hillbillies became one of metal's most exciting bands
- "Guns in the house means it becomes a hostage situation." This is what happened when a Los Angeles SWAT team swooped on ex-Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri - and the stand-off that followed
- "We’re gonna come back – it’s gonna be bigger than Oasis." Kyle Gass reflects on the "highly inappropriate, dangerous" joke that forced Tenacious D to go on hiatus, and reveals his horror over the "tsunami of s**t" that followed
- "They got all these Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne albums and burned them…then ran away because they were scared." Car crashes, Satanism and 28 Years Later: the story behind Iron Maiden's classic anthem The Number Of The Beast
- "I've loved it and hated it, loved it and hated it": The story of the breakthrough hit its writer doesn't want to talk about ever again
- "We all had that feeling that nobody had ever heard anything like this before": How Iron Maiden got their man and made the album that sent them stratospheric
- "Like a fantastic beast sprung from Dante's Inferno": Meet the 67-million-year-old Triceratops skull named after Ozzy Osbourne
January 21
- "We are monitoring Mick's progress daily": Uriah Heep founder Mick Box to miss dates on farewell tour after falling ill
- "Dementia? What is? NO! Trump smart, pass brain test, name giraffe!" Jack White mercilessly mocks Donald Trump over "365 wins in 365 days" claims
- “It might be the most words I’ve ever had to sing, which is why you see me reading them off a cheat sheet”: That time Steven Wilson covered a Taylor Swift song, proving he’ll always do what he likes
- "There was a lot of tension throughout. I’m surprised they didn‘t fire me early on!" Producer Michael Beinhorn reflects on the "difficult" challenges he faced recording Soundgarden masterpiece Superunknown, and how Frank Sinatra helped
- "We expected a few hundred people to be there and it was several thousand. We were terrified!" Deftones, Sleep Token, Bad Omens...The Pretty Wild? Meet the viral metal duo officially embracing that controversial 'baddiecore' tag
- "I felt like I’d fallen into the bowels of the earth." Fears that witches under the spell of Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page had targeted him to help birth the Antichrist led a paranoid David Bowie to store his bodily fluids in the fridge
- Wired headphones are back! Here's my pick of 9 rock-solid companions for your MP3 player, portable CD player or cassette player
- "Whoosh! A big flame goes right up under me. My arm, my hand, burnt down to the bone. Hair's gone." Inside the night Metallica's James Hetfield caught fire - and Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose caused a riot
- "It sounded like the way ice cream on a hot summer day tastes." How a Marquis de Sade biography, Willy Wonka's Oompa-Loompas and a bum note helped "a metal girl from Ohio" write a rock anthem that wowed Nirvana and changed Olivia Rodrigo's life
- "We’re broke. We can't get jobs – and we just did two months in arenas and stadiums." One of the UK's best young bands have revealed the depressing reality of playing rock music in 2026
- "Ireland's greatest, man-of-the-people guitar hero": Nine Rory Gallagher albums you should definitely listen to and one to avoid
- “I thought, ‘I can’t hear guitar. This isn’t right.’ I pushed that fader up. He turned to me, smiling, and pulled it back down. I haven’t forgotten that”: How Alex Lifeson survived the challenge of Rush’s 80s synth obsession
- "They took a record that I'd made and erased all my songs, all my vocals. I thought, 'I won’t let you get away with this'": From goth glory to bad blood - the Gene Loves Jezebel story
- "It was a long year with many rewards. A couple of us developed expensive hobbies involving white powder and noses": The song that turned an English blues outfit into globe-trotting rock stars with high-maintenance habits
- "I just wish that Rage Against The Machine would make a new record!": Buckcherry's Josh Todd on the state of the nation, managing old habits, and going back to school
January 20
- "People worried about their brain should always wear a helmet": Watch Geddy Lee give celebrity tobogganing advice
- "We pulled off the impossible. We wanted to do something fun and screw with people's heads." How Korn, Snoop Dogg, Lil Jon, Xzibit and David Banner teamed up to make one of the funniest music videos ever
- "The impact he left on art is truly magical." Dave Grohl's daughter Violet, and Gary Numan's daughter Persia, team up to salute one of America's greatest film-makers on what would have been his 80th birthday
- “They wanted to get us away from the clubs, bars and dark influences. We were going to be good little boys and write an album. And it was just awful”: How Clutching At Straws broke Marillion and Fish apart
- “Suddenly I was popular with the record company again – people going, ‘Hello! Where have you been?’” How Mike Oldfield made Maggie Reilly sing in an odd style to make Moonlight Shadow
- Rush to release Super Deluxe box set of 1984's Grace Under Pressure in March
- "People said it was something they’ve never heard before." A camel, a wedding, the streets of India and seven million views: how one song and a crazy video turned an unknown Indian metal band into internet superstars
- "We don't let many people use our music but we felt it was a calculated risk." Iron Maiden respond to the jaw-dropping 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple scene that might have already produced 2026's best needle drop
- "I did my last school exam and played Glastonbury two days later. Two weeks after that we went into the chart at number 11": The story of the joyous breakthrough hit inspired by Thin Lizzy, Star Wars and Dutch cigars
- "They used to describe us as the Rush of thrash metal": Coroner invented a genre. Decades on, they know how to write less complicated songs but they won't
- "All of a sudden, she started biting my tongue and wouldn't let go. There was blood everywhere. Then she went for my forehead": How Thin Lizzy made the albums that saved them, only to be plunged into chaos
- "This footage is absolutely unbelievable, and nobody can deny it": Ten minutes of previously unseen live film of Pink Floyd has escaped onto the internet
January 19
- Seven classic metal albums you forgot came out in 2016
- "I gave away all my records, I started giving away my guitars, I was fantasising about my own death." The horrifying origin story behind one of the most uplifting rock songs of the '90s
- "We invited our families along, not thinking how it would be for them. When we came off, my sister was crying." How a teen pop duo earned the respect of Slipknot and Rage Against The Machine by getting bottled off stage by furious rock fans
- "Mike is a complicated person, but he is not a thief." NOFX reveal that guitarist Eric Melvin is suing band leader Fat Mike, accusing him of "financial malfeasance" after 42 years together
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: January 19, 2026
- Still to watch The Beatles Anthology or Tron: Ares? Now’s the perfect time with a Disney+ subscription up for grabs from only £3.99 a month
- "He could send masked men around to shoot me in the head." Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters says that his vocal opposition to "evil" US President Trump could get him killed
- "It's not a well-written song by any means but it worked and became what it is...nostalgia." How one "stupid" song helped put one of the biggest metal bands of the 21st century on the map
- “Birmingham has always been embarrassed about its heavy metal heritage - and that’s unacceptable.” The story behind the petition to get Birmingham Airport named after Ozzy Osbourne - and why its founder is refusing to give up
- "I used to sleep with my guitar next to the bed": Born in a dream, the guitar solos in one of classic rock's greatest songs were out of key, but band superstition kept them in
- “The producer is looking at me across the room, eyebrow askew. Finally he says, ‘I don’t think so’”: The story of how Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess didn’t play on Pink Floyd’s The Wall
- "If The White Album had been whittled down to 45 minutes, it would have gone down as one of The Beatles' definitive statements": Decades on, The Beatles' White Album is still igniting pub arguments
- "Our state is the best place in the country to bring dreams to life": A second Sphere venue is coming to the US
January 18
- "I was literally dumbfounded and shocked that it had happened": John Fogerty sprinkles rock'n'roll magic with songs and stories at intimate Tiny Desk Concert
- "We're looking forward to incredible crowds, massive energy and more unforgettable nights!" Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp announce Hollywood Vampires tour
- “I was 100 per cent sure I was going to die. They were slamming my head against a railway track”: Leprous’ Einar Solberg faced his teenage demons on his solo debut 16 – and enjoyed the experience
- “We did it all ourselves. We used vinyl instead of leather, and our bondage outfits were held together with Velcro and glue”: The 70s art-rock provocateurs who stole Alice Cooper’s crown as America’s most deviant band
- “One of the guy’s friends came at Joacim from behind and smashed a glass in his face. Then they all ran away like scared rats”: The violence and defiance behind the 2000s metal anthem that accidentally inspired an Olympic gold medal
- “Here was a song I’d written, and it sounded absolutely magnificent. If I was to fall down a hole and never play again, I’d have that”: The legendary punk single that beat the Sex Pistols out of the gate by a month
- “When I look back, there’s never been any one thing that’s been normal about this band. I’m used to strangeness in my world!”: The controversial dance band who lit a fire under the 90s metal scene
- “Dream Theater have been completely unchallenged until now. There’s only so much room at the top of prog metal. We intend to have our thrones put in there”: How supergroup Sons Of Apollo flew before they fell
- “He hit me and he started crying and I remember thinking, ‘Weak as I am, I’ve got no tears for you, I’ve got tears for myself’”: The harrowing moment from a toxic relationship that this singer turned into a 90s rock classic
January 17
- “He was recovering from a broken jaw and was suffering chronic pain, but he was determined to endure”: How an ailing country icon made one of music’s greatest comebacks – with help from Rick Rubin, Tom Waits and Glenn Danzig
- “Kurt was a mess, drug-wise. I didn’t feel it was anybody’s business, I just wanted him off the project”: Kurt Cobain was supposed to produce these underground metal icons’ major label album – but they still made a classic without him
- “As we were leaving, Keith handed me this 1964 Gibson Hummingbird acoustic. ‘That’s not mine,’ I said. He said, ‘It is now. It’s yours’”: The incredible story of the cult British rock’n’rollers who happen to be one of Keith Richards’ favourite bands
- “After scrapping two albums I went to the accountant to find out how many pennies were left in the piggy bank. The answer was not many”: How Bruce Dickinson gambled everything on his second solo album – and ended up leaving Iron Maiden because of it
- “He phoned me up at seven in the morning and played about ten seconds of the EP over the phone. That was the moment”: Twenty-five years ago, five rowdy New Yorkers released a three-song EP that changed the course of rock’n’roll
- “My mother was a witch’ was a great opening line. His mum probably took offence, but she’s probably forgiven him now”: The lost NWOBHM classic that Metallica turned into one of metal’s most famous songs
January 16
- Metal Hammer reader's poll - the best metal albums of 2025
- "What’s the last thing a drummer says before getting kicked out of the band? 'Hey guys, I have a song that I think we should play!'" The story behind the forgotten Nirvana song that Dave Grohl was too nervous to include on their final album
- "I started listening to what the gym guys were listening to. When I first heard Metallica, I was like, 'Right, this is speaking to me.'" WWE Champion Drew McIntyre reveals what's on his workout mix - and the huge role music plays in his life
- "I wouldn’t do Glastonbury because of the politics of the people who run it." Brian May rules out Queen performing at Glastonbury festival for the foreseeable future
- "We were brothers and I was trying so hard that I was choking him. That’s how I was taught to control things: intimidation and rage." Inside the depressing night Metallica split with Jason Newsted
- "The police and the army were all carrying guns. There was a real edginess to it all." How a "feral" Ozzy Osbourne crowd, an onstage meltdown, and some ill-advised nudity on live TV sparked a police manhunt for a British rock star in South America
- “There’s a lot to love – but those longing for the more involved songwriting and lengthier compositions will be disappointed”: Soen continue to become more metal and less prog with Reliance
- "I heard something on an ABBA record and it inspired the riff I needed. I said, ‘Guys, I’ve got it!'" The Sex Pistols, pop legends, Danny Boyle and the Olympics: the unlikely story of one of the most important punk songs of all time
- Pink Floyd's legendary Pompeii concert film to get 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray release
- Ghost, Lamb Of God and Black Label Society: the best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "Playing a full set of Motörhead songs with Phil Campbell stood next to me is a bit nerve-racking": With a new deal and friends in the right places, Fury are ready to move up a level
- "This record will make every other record in 2026 look like dimwitted hippie bulls***": Gluecifer's first album in two decades is sleazy, slinky, snotty and packed with blood-guzzling scorchers
- The Beatles Quiz: How much do you know about Help!?
- “It felt like the best thing we’d ever done. I was shocked when it wasn’t received well. The record company definitely didn’t like it”: Inspired by King Crimson, this 80s band pioneered a new kind of rock – and paid the price
- “Metal has always been a very tribal thing - some felt we were provocative merely for existing": The story of the Living Colour song that namechecked Stalin and Mussolini and inspired Tom Morello to form a band
January 15
- Limp Bizkit, Bad Omens, Papa Roach, Gojira, Poppy, plus more than 50 other bands announced for Inkcarceration Festival 2026
- Prog's Tracks Of The Week is back with cool new proggy sounds from Big Big Train, Soen, Charlotte Wessels and more
- "The Minotaur has the face of his father. He has to decide whether or not to kill it." The true story behind Minotaur, the mythical Tom Jones/Black Sabbath concept album that shook the world of rock
- "Some of the people we lost have really affected me. Lemmy, Dio, Ozzy… you hear about them going and you think, ‘No!’" Metal legend and Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine on losing his friends and peers
- "We’re heading into oblivion...particularly here in America. Things are acceptable now that would’ve horrified people 20 years ago." One of the 21st century's best metal bands is back with a new album – listen to the ferocious new Lamb Of God single here
- Debate: Will the return of Rush be the biggest prog event of 2026?
- "We went to his place, had a jam, and then he asked if I’d ever played with a Ouija board." Ball lightning, a freak house fire and the occult: how one classic 80s anthem officially crowned the queen of heavy metal
- One of the world's best and most diverse metal lineups in the heart of one of Europe's coolest cities? Here's why you need to be at Mystic Festival 2026
- "Eric Clapton wrote Wonderful Tonight at ours, sitting on a wheelbarrow": What happened when the bassist with one of the UK's biggest bands quit rock'n'roll for life on the farm and a travelling musical carnival
- “You probably wouldn’t think of us sounding like Pink Floyd. But we’ve got a lot of stuff live that’s quite trippy, influenced by them”: Feeder’s Grant Nicholas on having dinner with Alex Lifeson and trying to sing like Jon Anderson
- "If you break the song down, it's really not that original. But I thank God every day that I wrote it": How one radio play turned the Undertones' intended final release into a brand new beginning
- “Somebody threw a toilet roll at Peter Gabriel. He threw it back and it landed just below me. I had that bog roll on my windowsill for years!” Marc Riley’s prog world
- "He might not rank alongside Kiss, Aerosmith or Van Halen, but he was arguably more influential": Nine albums you need to listen to by Ronnie Montrose and one to avoid
- "We've lasted so long because we were never friends": Fifty years in, Cheap Trick might not hang out with each other, but musical glue binds them together
January 14
- Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea announces first North American, UK and European solo shows in support of his debut solo album, Honora
- "The thing that influenced me most was the news. We are in some kind of ‘post empire’ now, where people just disappear." Sonic Youth legend Kim Gordon announces new album Play Me, shares new single Not Today
- “I said, ‘Listen, I don't think you should die!’” How Dave Grohl realised that the end was near for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana
- "Calvin Klein asked us to do an advert. We were like, 'f-you, no way!' That would have been huge." From touring with Slipknot to turning down iconic fashion designers, the story behind Kittie's classic nu metal anthem, Brackish
- "The only reason you look in the rearview mirror is to see how cool you look going forward." This is what happened when Metallica's Lars Ulrich interviewed one of his heroes, Iron Maiden legend Steve Harris
- Peter Gabriel announces physical release of live albums In The Big Room and Live At WOMAD 82
- "I nearly died at Download Festival. When I took that mask off it was like upturning a bucket." From a panic attack in a Rolls-Royce to being metal's hottest new masked band: an interview with President
- “It’s the worst thing you can imagine – a song written by the rhythm section. I have to fit a guitar part over this?” How Rush made Grammy-nominated instrumental YYZ
- "The song means as much today as it did then - kids trying to break out of their town to find something to do": Influenced by Aleister Crowley and toothache, the song that introduced new wave still strikes a chord
January 13
- “I’m so glad he got to hear what happened. His son told us it made it easier for him to let go”: The last message of a prog giant who hoped his band would outlive him, 48 years after it began
- "My god, we were such impatient boys." How a David Bowie screw-up and some dramatic miming on British TV helped Queen secure their first hit single
- “If it leads to success we don’t have anything against it. We still have the death metal vocals, after all – those put a lot of people off”: Amorphis steered surprisingly close to pop-rock on their latest album. But they’re not selling out
- Get the new issue of Metal Hammer with an exclusive Megadeth cover and a copy of the band’s self-titled final album
- "We get off stage and I haven’t seen him like that in 20 years. He was livid." How Metallica's crazy team-up with Lady Gaga started with an A-list dinner party and almost ended in total chaos
- “I said I’d sing it on the condition that I could record a song of my choice as well. That song flopped and theirs was a big hit!” How a future Mike Oldfield collaborator wound up with a glam rock chart-topper
- “It was a strange time. We didn’t have a manager and the base of the band had fallen out”: How Sepultura came back to life with Choke
- "When I'm peeling the sprouts, it's nice to hear Cannibal Corpse or Obituary just to maintain a bit of edge": Justin Hawkins on Christmas, being back in arenas, supporting Iron Maiden, brother Dan being a rock star, Yungblud and more
- "There was a rocky section with an avant‑garde solo, then some brass, and of course a complete piss-take of 50s doo‑wop": How a 40-year-old Glaswegian out-weirded David Bowie to become the most unlikely pop star of 1973
- "I was on top of the world... and then I'm back where I started, on the ground": The man who became Boston's singer but wasn't allowed to tell anyone has finally broken his silence
January 12
- "We're celebrating the legacy of the music and bringing it to a whole new generation of fans": Sammy Hagar promises "deep dive into the Van Halen years" on Best Of All Worlds tour dates with Rick Springfield
- "It was like sleeping with your ex-wife." Why a one-off reunion convinced one of the world's best-loved bands to turn down a $250 million offer to tour again
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: January 12, 2026
- "He was trying to get his life off the ground, and he's handed this $100,000 check." The story of the unknown musician who helped Axl Rose write a Guns N' Roses classic
- “We are still getting compared to artists that have nothing to do with us. And not always good or talented artists”: Jinjer’s Tatiana Shmayluk takes aim at the term “female-fronted band”
- “What happens when a guy can decide everything when he owns everything?”: Elon Musk inspired the bad guy on the new album by synthwave maestro Carpenter Brut
- "Every time I opened Rolling Stone there was a picture of him in his underpants." How Mariah Carey, Cher, Whitney Houston, Courtney Love, Michael Stipe and more got savaged by one of the 90s' most brutal diss tracks
- "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
- "We're faking it until we make it, and that seems to be working for us so far!" Blending Fleetwood Mac’s bluesy etherealness with Led Zeppelin’s grit, multi-national rockers Luna Marble are just getting started
- "Sprawling. Atmospheric. Cinematic. Enthralling": Chris Rea finds friends among fans of Mark Knopfler and J.J. Cale on The Road To Hell
January 11
- “AC/DC started calling me ‘Batgirl’. Every day I’d go into my dressing room and there’d be a little bat rubber ducky”: AC/DC threw Taylor Momsen a bat-themed birthday party, after she got bit halfway through a show
- "I had to stick my head in the low bins - it got blown off when Bill Ward was hammering the kick drum." Alex Van Halen praises the impact of seeing Black Sabbath for the first time
- “I was about to sign the form when the recruiting inspector asked a question”: Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson was once seconds away from becoming a cop instead of a prog star
- Grateful Dead founding guitarist and singer Bob Weir dead at 78
January 10
- Renaissance drummer Terry Sullivan has died
- "A profoundly modern album - puzzling, but endearingly so." Dry Cleaning continue to charm and confuse with excellent, expansive third album, Secret Love
- "We’ve not got too many years left so every gig is sacred...you appreciate it more." Iron Maiden legend Steve Harris on 50 years of heavy metal - and what comes next
- "This is the end, my friends. To balance out the bad news, they've kindly made one of their strongest albums of the 21st century." Heavy metal legends Megadeth are going out on a high with a killer final album
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "He sang it to me and I thought it was beautiful. But he was emphatic: 'No, this isn't what we do!'" The story of the classic song Red Hot Chili Peppers didn't want to record and its unexpected impact on Middle America
- “Thank you for the good times. They will never rot”: David Bowie’s final message to Brian Eno – which he didn’t understand at first
January 9
- "Something has to change this. We know what to do. Rise up." One of rock music's most respected voices says that Donald Trump is "destroying America" with the support of "idiots with no conscience"
- Rick Wakeman, Steve Hackett, Asia, Caravan, Focus and more lined up for huge new prog cruise taking place this summer
- “It was Michael Jackson’s label. The people that worked there mostly thought that alternative, heavy music was garbage”: How cult fixtures Prong found their brief mainstream moment
- “We were supposed to sign our contract, but we had so much champagne celebrating that we forgot”: The story of Human Waste Project, the lost nu metal band who should have been huge
- “He was grateful just to play some music rather than just dwell on death”: When two members of Yes and one member of Led Zeppelin got together, anything could have happened. Sadly, very little did
- “People were saying that the style we were playing would mean we never got signed”: Sounding nothing like anyone else, how System Of A Down overcame the odds and started their climb to dominance
- "Nazis popped out of a U-Haul van, walking around the city." The craziest break-up ever, political black metal and Zakk Wylde's wingman: the best new metal bands you need to hear this month
- "Towering riffs come to them as easily as dreaming does to the rest of us": Alter Bridge are at their most Alter Bridge on the unwaveringly confident Alter Bridge
- "I was naked in the vocal booth. At first, I did it as an experiment to see if it would help, then it became a tradition": The story of the spandex-clad classic that launched its creators into the stratosphere
- “If you’re talking dazzling sleight of mind, radical ideas and a willingness to create shock-art for the masses, there was no one more brilliant”: Revisiting David Bowie’s career from a prog perspective
- "I was Catholic when I put the album on. Midway through, I became a full-blown Satanist": Watch the first episode of the eagerly-awaited series Tony Iommi - The Godfather of Heavy Metal, starring Rob Halford, Zakk Wylde, Brian May, Tom Morello and more
- "Rich brought a spontaneity to the record that I can't describe, but it's the best s*** he's ever done": The Black Crowes announce new album - listen to the first two tracks now
January 8
- "In the mid-80s, to get your record played, you had to take the guitar solo out." Radio stations tried to cut Eddie Van Halen's solo from one of his most iconic songs
- "Any money I will make I will happily give away to others. Print that, because I will stand by that!" He said it would be "counter-productive" if his band's debut album was a huge success. Then it sold 20 million copies
- “Playing in space would be a fitting climax!” Megadeth are on the cover of the new Metal Hammer
- Arena singer Damian Wilson to leave the band at the end of this year. Paul Manzi to return...
- "Sweat was dripping off the walls!" Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood looks back on the '60s, shares memories of The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple's Jon Lord
- "I remember us saying, ‘Well, if the band doesn’t make it, we’ll join the Marines.’" The story of the song that gave thrash metal its name
- Halsey, Iron Maiden, Gorillaz, Limp Bizkit and Bring Me The Horizon to play Rock For People 2026 – day splits announced
- Queen Quiz: How much do you know about A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races?
- "The beauty of it is that it's two minutes long. It's not like it's Free Bird where you have to suffer through 10 minutes of playing it every night": The story of the psychotic debut single that kick-started the grunge revolution
- "Wildest night out? I'd have to say Lemmy. I don't think we got much sleep": Danko Jones on meeting AC/DC, playing with Marty Friedman and a wild night out in London
January 7
- Pat Smear to miss upcoming Foo Fighters shows after "bizarre gardening accident"
- "After he died, his body was dug up and moved seven times because people thought his fingers were possessed by the Devil": Bruce Dickinson's unreleased rock opera may be the greatest untold story of them all
- How Pope John Paul II forced Queen to cancel a planned appearance at Manchester United's 'Theatre Of Dreams'
- "Metallica seek raw, rowdy 'n' gutsy frontman." That time Metallica launched a worldwide search to find a new vocalist via an ad in a British music magazine
- "At school I did a presentation about Black Sabbath! I knew I wanted to move to the UK." Jack Black, angry nuns and Duolingo: the strange story of metal's weirdest new stars, Calva Louise
- "It did surprise us. People started calling us sell-outs." How Metallica wrote the metal power ballad that saved Miley Cyrus - and that Elton John called 'one of the best songs ever written'
- "I looked around and nobody was happy. And I was thinking: 'This is going to be rough'": What happened when Bruce Dickinson made the decision that changed his life
- “Originally a career-staller, this version really is essential”: Ultravox’s The Collection – Deluxe Edition
- “We started each day by doing yoga and breathing exercises. Then we took mushrooms and it got a little too psychedelic!” The prog duo who lost their label for being too weird, and decided to get even weirder
- "The record company barely even knew who we were. When we took the demos into them, they said: 'You're Super-Who?'": The story of the Supertramp classic the band eventually found too difficult to play
- "Purple Rain is like Stairway To Heaven. It's non-religious, but people feel reverent about it": The story of Prince's Purple Rain, this year's viral Stranger Things needle drop
January 6
- “War is senseless, it’s stupid, and in the end you could end up dead… but in some ways it is glorious”: From the Crimean War to the Stranger Things finale, the story of Iron Maiden’s The Trooper
- “I feel despondent about the world of humans.” Queen legend Brian May reveals the fears that keep him awake at night
- "We'd like to discuss a chart position." How a secret $70,000 cash payment to Italian gangsters secured a British rock band their first US hit single
- “I lost a lot of hair when Lemmy blasted his bass. You’d see big bikers at the front of the house throwing up”: Watch Motörhead drummer react to fans’ stories about the heavy metal trailblazers
- Gong kick off the New Year with video for blissed out new single The Wonderment
- "The band started that album cycle as ones to watch and emerged as one of rock’s new leaders." Every Halestorm album ranked from worst to best
- Steve Harris reveals the song he wants to bring back to Iron Maiden’s setlist: “It’s difficult to do a set from any part of our career and not miss things out”
- “I hope they get sued. It’s a shameless ripoff. They should be slapped on the wrist for that”: How Tool attracted mainstream attention – and the ire of one of rock’s greatest frontmen
- "We weren't seen as enigmatic as some bands. I do feel that we were kind of under-appreciated": Ben Ward looks back on three decades in the Orange Goblin trenches
- “I’d never played a professional gig. To suddenly be aboard a cruise ship surrounded by real prog legends was just surreal”: How Haken’s last line-up change powered seventh album Fauna
- "I see them as the greatest ever rock'n'roll band. How can it be a bad thing to be compared to the best there is?" Airbourne on AC/DC, non-annoying Christmas songs, and why their new album had to be exactly right
- "We set out to make the ultimate Priest album. It could be the most successful failure we'll ever have!" A classic encounter with Judas Priest as they prepare to unleash the album that saves them
January 5
- David Lee Roth announces extensive North American tour
- "The collective mood is influenced by the combination of loud, fast music, synchronized with bright flashing lights, and frequent intoxication." What the science behind mosh pits can tell us about human behaviour
- "It is unlikely that extreme metal musicians are trying to increase mating success through their music." A study suggested that men who play guitar in extreme metal bands mainly do it to impress other men
- "A powerful tribute to the unbreakable connection between music, tradition and the human spirit." Depeche Mode’s acclaimed concert film M to premiere on Netflix this week
- The day that one of BritPop's biggest and best-loved stars shocked Glastonbury festival by joining hard rock legends Spinal Tap for a controversial celebration of plus-sized female buttocks
- Haken part ways with Charlie Griffiths and Conner Green
- "I probably should have retired years ago but I really love keeping the band alive": Ten Years After are down to one original member but there's still gas in the tank
- "I live in my childhood home, so the studio's right there. It's what I need to watch and protect, for the rest of my life": Wolfgang Van Halen on 5150, battling demons and the good ship Mammoth
- “I say, not entirely jokingly, we’re mapping out the architecture of eternity”: Every year the most unlikely prog supergroup spend three days shaping weirdo music. Their third album proves it’s working for them
- "Frequently melancholy and austere, this is music that rewards active listening rather than offering up easily consumed hooks or sing-alongs": Steven Wilson seeks the sweet spot between pop precision and progressive wizardry on Hand. Cannot. Erase.
January 4
- Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones is auctioning off a load of studio equipment including a bass amp with speakers that were blown after being left at Dave Grohl's house
- “She said, ‘Mick wants to speak to you.’ It was Jagger asking if I was free to tour with the Stones”: He produced the Sex Pistols, played with Bryan Ferry and Tom Waits, and turned down the Rolling Stones. But he remains one of rock’s best kept secrets
- “We identified with bands like Metallica because they came in with this punk rock energy. But back then the biggest songs were Love In An Elevator and Still Of The Night”: The unexpected rap metal hit that saved a band’s career and ushered in the 1990s
- “An immersive emotional ride, showing that music makes us feel whole again”: Airbag’s Dysphoria Live
- “If you lived in LA, in the trenches, you could relate to it. And knowing Axl, I could relate to exactly where it was coming from”: The electrifying early Guns N’ Roses song written in a basement that signposted how huge they would become
- “They combine emotional intensity with rapidly evolving progressive chops”: EBB’s The Mirror
- "I'll never forget it. It still brings goosebumps." System Of A Down's Daron Malakian on being asked to fill in for injured James Hetfield on Metallica's Summer Sanitarium tour in 2000
- Watch Billy Joel perform live for first time since being diagnosed with rare brain condition – as he surprises tribute band and audience in Florida
January 3
- "If he had survived that period, he would be one of the biggest stars in rock now, making records with Bono and Bon Jovi": The 12-month struggle for the life of Phil Lynott
- “With strange chords and enigmatic lyrics, it fed the metal mainstream with some of its most prog-friendly material in years”: In the desperate moments before grunge, this British band offered an ambitious alternative direction
- “I was living on my own. Things had gone off the rails a bit, drinking too much”: It was in a weird time signature and their old singer struggled to play it, but this huge hit helped turn a 70s prog band into 80s pop stars
- “If anything makes me regret not pursuing more of an artistic career, it’s looking at Brian Eno”: Still, BJ Cole didn’t do too badly with David Gilmour, The Orb, Bill Nelson, Scott Walker and others
January 2
- "They did okay without me." Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith looks back on his unsuccessful 1991 audition for one of the biggest bands in the world
- "To watch one of my idols work on something that I had written was one of the greatest honours of my life. " Watch Yungblud team up with Smashing Pumpkins for a reworking of 2025 single Zombie
- Our pick of the best band t-shirts you can get your hands on right now
- “I spent four days arguing about what could be done with an orchestra.” The story of a Smashing Pumpkins classic, aided by The Who, the cast of Titanic and SpongeBob SquarePants
- The return of the Prog Magazine Progcast, discussing the Prog writers' Albums Of The Year lists
- "I have been thinking about the future and how we might respond to it." Peter Gabriel announces surprise new album and single
- "It felt nice to infiltrate things our way. We haven't gone begging to any ****er ever. People have always come round to our way of thinking." How Simon Cowell and a Christmas Number One helped turn a Scottish rock trio into household names
- Phil Lynott, 40 years gone: A celebration by his bandmates and friends - only in the new issue of Classic Rock
- "People say it's a masterpiece now but at the time, we all thought: 'Jeez, this could be the thing that finishes us!'" Steve Hogarth on creative risks, bad advice, and his first 30 years with Marillion
- "Van Halen were opening for us and they were killing us every night. But they made us a better band!" How Journey found Steve Perry and made Infinity, the album that set them on the road to superstardom
- Iron Maiden, Metallica, Rush, Bon Jovi and more: 26 things we're looking forward to in 2026
- "All of our relations, our uncles, dads, granddads, they've banged on about this place for years": What happened when Massive Wagons played the first rock shows at a historic venue in 40 years
- “Working with him would have been a dream. If I could go back in time, I know exactly how it would go”: Perturbator aka James Kent on why Vangelis’ music endures
- “I told Kurt Cobain that I was going to write a song that had more 'yeahs' in it than anything he’d written.” How a joke between R.E.M. and Nirvana's mercurial frontmen resulted in a 90s classic
- “Kate Bush gave me a copy of Aerial at a party. I knew it was a gentle, emotional record. She said, ‘Don’t fall asleep while listening!’” Simon Drake’s career as a magician was inspired by prog
January 1
- Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley gives "major health update" and reveals his body is operating at level of someone 8 years younger
- Guitar God Nita Strauss announces 'miracle' pregnancy as she and husband look forward to welcoming their first child
- "I said, 'I think we should write the best song in the world.' Jack Black said, ‘You can’t do that!'" How Dave Grohl, Ben Stiller, Bob Odenkirk and Maynard James Keenan helped Tenacious D bring the greatest tribute song ever to the world
- “I don’t think Janis was living a life with the inevitability of death. She was getting cleaner and stronger”: The turbulent story of how Janis Joplin tried and failed to get off the rock’n’roll rollercoaster
- "I'm not a punk rocker. I don't make punk music. I don't walk around calling myself punk." How Shania Twain, Christina Aguilera's songwriters and an iconic neck tie helped Avril Lavigne launch her career-defining song
- “We didn’t make music for radio. But I thought: ‘Why not try it this time?’”: Sampled by Michael Jackson and namechecked in The Simpsons – the surprise hit that transformed a washed-up 70s prog group into 80s superstars
- “Once James Hetfield said he liked it, that was it. He said that it kicked his ass”: Nineteen years ago, this US metal band released their sixth album. Today it sounds like a Master Of Puppets for the 21st century
- Radiohead, Pulp, Alice Cooper, Johnny Cash and Lana Del Rey: the surprising list of artist who made James Bond themes only to have them rejected
- "Really, the whole scene was very Spinal Tap. It was almost beyond parody": The true story of Hear 'n Aid, the heavy metal Band Aid
- "We'd stay up all night drinking, chasing girls, partying – and our pilot was with us. The next morning, he was flying the plane!" The rise, fall and rehabilitation of REO Speedwagon
- "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
- The 20 best prog reissues of 2025
- The 31 best rock reissues and deluxe editions of 2025
- "In 2026 I shall have definitely, definitely have my solo album out": Tony Iommi films New Year message, reflects on the "Summer of Sabbath"