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October 2025

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October 28
- "A naturally downbeat portrait of a breakdown, albeit one soundtracked by some terrific tunes": Jeremy Allen White shines in the Boss's breakdown biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
- "It was quite a dramatic scene": A brass bat has been attached to the birthplace of heavy metal in unauthorised Ozzy-themed guerrilla protest
- Tool, Bring Me The Horizon, My Chemical Romance, Shinedown, Halestorm, Megadeth, Alter Bridge and over 130 more bands will play next year's Sonic Temple festival in Ohio
- 2005 is calling, and it wants you back: Why the return of the MP3 player is a mini vinyl revival in the making
- A new Tony Banks biography is to be published in February
- “It twists their carnival metal into a set of huge, sticky choruses”: Avatar’s Don’t Go In The Forest is the Halloween metal album for people who like their massive 80s tunes with a side order of creepiness
- "She was so ****ed off that she tried to get us chucked out of the hotel." The wild night Green Day trashed their hotel room, rang a Rolling Stone and did something unspeakable over an Oscar-winning actress' balcony
- Porcupine Tree offshoot Voyage 35 announce European and UK tour dates
- Wolfgang Van Halen reacts to the term ‘nepo baby’: “I’m not going to name names, but in some cases it does apply”
- “People deserve to hear that music. And I wouldn’t play it if we didn’t do it justice”: Sammy Hagar announces a UK arena tour – and he’s bringing the Van Halen songs
- Pink Floyd commemorated in new poem from Poet Laureate Simon Armitage
- Saxon, The Temperance Movement, The Wildhearts and more confirmed for 2026 Maid Of Stone festival
- "For months and months, I was the only one who ever heard the song. I kept it in my back pocket": The true story of the Aerosmith classic built from a riff its writer almost didn't share
- “As anniversary editions go, this one is exhaustively thorough”: Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention’s One Size Fits All, five decades on
- Watch Wolfgang Van Halen demonstrate finger-tapping on promising new music show Song Cake
- "Ace's is easily the best of the solo albums, although the bar is set pretty low": In which Ace Frehley annoys Gene and Paul by releasing the best and most successful of the Kiss solos
October 27
- “We were being told that we were going to be the new Nine Inch Nails, the new Nirvana, even though we don’t sound remotely like them”: The story of Godflesh – the cult metal duo worshipped by Metallica, Korn and Type O Negative
- "I think the more metal people are, the nicer they are." Alter Bridge on the huge impact one wrestling star has had on their career - and why metalheads are the nicest people going
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: October 27, 2025
- We asked Metallica’s Kirk Hammett to name the best Motörhead song and this is what he told us
- “They can write an arena-ready anthem with their eyes closed”: Goth’n’roll vampires Creeper are dead and loving it on brilliantly bloody new album Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death
- Mastodon’s Brent Hinds had an “entire album” of unreleased solo songs, according to former bandmate
- “We miss you. It’s been far too long. We found a solution.” A Perfect Circle announce first European tour for seven years
- “I have a history of reacting badly to music initially and developing a love later!” The singer who didn’t want to sing, and the change of approach that gave his band a second lease of life
- “For the few brave souls who invested, it was no easy listen. It was the most extreme music the young rock epoch had yet produced”: This 1969 album was a prog leap too far – and it wasn’t even by a prog band
- "That song had a primal power, like it was about to come off the rails": The story of the speed-freak anthem that was the most important song Lemmy ever wrote
- Robert Fripp dons Satanic nun costume as Toyah sings an AC/DC classic and we may never sleep again
October 26
- Radiohead open up on "witch hunt" over their Israel stance
- "When we would align, it was powerful." Billy Corgan praises estranged bassist D’arcy Wretzky's contributions to the Smashing Pumpkins
- "Even though he's dead, I believe that in a hundred years' time from now people will still be listening to him": Steve Vai on the wild genius of Frank Zappa – and the two words that made him want to join his band
- Aerosmith and Yungblud team up with Steve Martin for banjo-boosted version of My Only Angel
- “There’s no other band that drew me in like them. It was the mood and atmosphere – and the aggression”: Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti on the visionary extreme metal band who changed his life as a teenager – and got him fanboying out as an adult
- “He heard it and had this massive smile on his face!”: Ozzy Osbourne was a big fan of Judas Priest’s War Pigs cover, according to Rob Halford
- “There were three hundred people there, and two hundred of those sang along to it, even though they’d never heard it before”: How a pre-fame Whitesnake made an overlooked R&B song their own – and finally got the blessing of the cult soul icon who wrote it
- “When the band played, we sold out to 14,000 people a night. If I play, I’m not sure 14 people will turn up”: He's fought off a crisis of confidence, but the frontman of one of prog’s greatest groups still doesn’t know who he is
- "A record was made to reward close listening": Elton John - Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy (50th Anniversary Edition)
October 25
- "It got so blown out of proportion." Slash on Axl's latest outburst and "killer" new Guns N' Roses drummer Isaac Carpenter
- Jon Bon Jovi hangs with fans on the tube as he prepares for long-awaited return to touring
- “It was an additional, surprise, out-of-nowhere track and it went to No.1”: Ghost’s Tobias Forge on the Ozzy Osbourne-inspired anthem that turned his band from occult sensations into bona fide stars
- “Completely spontaneously, I started yodelling. It came from nowhere”: How an eccentric Dutch progressive rock group made the strangest hit single of 1973
- Trivium’s Matt Heafy thinks it’s “silly” that their co-headline tour with Bullet For My Valentine only lasted three months: “We had to completely uproot our entire year”
- “She had scratches on the side of her face. I said, ‘What happened?’ She said, ‘Oh nothing, Keith threw the cat at me’”: Bill Wyman on Jimi Hendrix’s brilliance, Keith Moon’s madness and Mick Jagger’s brutal reaction to him leaving the Rolling Stones
- “Thumping remixes might test many listeners’ patience, but there are also treasures to be found”: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds in Deluxe and Ultimate editions
- “My wife brought the phone out and thought it was a prank call from Maynard from Tool! Nope – it was actually Lars!”: This is what it’s like to audition for Metallica – and not get the job
- "She was not a Rush fan." Geddy Lee on Anika Nilles, who will attempt to fill the very big shoes of Neil Peart
- "I don't think it would be the right environment for a proper rock and roll show." Guns N' Roses man Slash on Las Vegas Sphere
October 24
- “I feel like I got jerked at the Grammys. I don’t understand how they get best new artist." From 50 Cent invading the stage to Eminem still grumbling about it years later, the story behind Evanescence's chaotic first big awards win
- “I had no idea it would be such a catastrophic event in people’s lives!" How leaving Iron Maiden, A Nightmare On Elm Street and the acoustic album that never was led Bruce Dickinson to write Tears Of The Dragon
- Cool new proggy sounds you must hear from Charlotte Wessels, Leprous, Hällas and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- “I told him, ‘This is only a small town, we don’t have the infrastructure for an artist like you!’”: Why Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris was turned down after asking to play power metal stars Sabaton’s hometown festival
- Martin Barre announces UK book tour dates for November and December
- Deftones’ Chino Moreno once helped Max Cavalera bury Soulfly’s debut album on Native American ground to give it “Indigenous power”
- "Love Chant is a wonderful and surprisingly vital return to the fray": The Lemonheads' first album of original songs in 20 years is up there with their best
- "The source material may be way past prime Bon Jovi, but that's almost irrelevant": Jon Bon Jovi gets by with a little help from his friends on revised version of Forever album
- “A fascinating opportunity to look under the hood of the songs and reimagine the strangeness they could conjure”: King Crimson’s In The Wake Of Poseidon and Lizard ultimate editions
- "Proud to call this infinitely modest and generous genius my friend": Brian May shares video of surprise Tony Iommi appearance at Black Sabbath ballet
- "I was in a cosy thing that went on too long... and I made a great escape": Robert Plant on musical freedom, unfinished business, and getting confused with Robert Palmer
October 23
- "They're really serious this time": Spinal Tap announce Stonehenge concert film of "final" show with Eric Clapton and Shania Twain
- “We thought, ‘Wow, that’s really cool – this was the guy that did all those crazy, terrible things’”: How Slayer made Angel Of Death – the fastest, freakiest and most controversial song in thrash metal history
- Swedish prog rockers Wolverine announce first new album for a decade
- Iron Maiden announce Run For Your Lives North American tour for 2026 including Louder Than Life festival - and they'd like you to keep your phones away
- Calling all moshers! Get the new Metal Hammer with an exclusive Malevolence cover and cross-body bag
- "Take cover." Foo Fighters announce 2026 stadium tour with Queens Of The Stone Age - listen to new Foos song Asking For A Friend now
- 10cc drummer Paul Burgess announces departure from the band
- “I once had a flirtation with heavy metal, and I regretted it very much. It didn’t seem to have any sense”: The British hellraisers who put legendary Beatles producer George Martin off working with hard rock bands
- Watch Parkway Drive’s Winston McCall drop out of a helicopter onto the Sydney Opera House, because he’s cooler than you in every way
- Disturbed’s David Draiman is beefing with John Cusack, after the Hollywood star called the singer “psychotic” for signing an IDF bomb
- "He just couldn’t do it. He had asthma, then he got a throat infection. The whole thing was downhill for him." The bizarre story of how two beloved extreme metal bands suddenly swapped singers...only to swap them straight back again
- “There was a real sense of excitement. We had a point to prove: this is the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world." How Iron Maiden went from East End outcasts to the world's most loved heavy metal band
- "It certainly rubbed some people up the wrong way": The story of the sexually ambiguous anthem that got Placebo a tour with David Bowie
- “It doesn’t just begin and end; it unfolds, then folds in on itself, and reconfigures with every subsequent play”: The Utopia Strong’s Doperider is an epic psychonaut’s journey
- Wolfgang Van Halen comes of age on Mammoth's thundering third album The End
October 22
- "Oh good lord, we brought the banjo!" Larkin Poe bring southern sugar and smarts to London on their biggest ever UK headline show
- Rush add even more dates to the tour they added more dates to earlier
- Bon Jovi announce return to the road for 2026, with shows in London, Edinburgh, Dublin and New York confirmed
- The story of the terrible 90s horror film with the trailblazing soundtrack that mixed Metallica and Korn with Orbital, Moby and The Prodigy
- This folk metal band from Inner Mongolia have just made one of the most unique and effortlessly enjoyable albums of 2025
- "It shouldn’t be a luxury to be able to afford to go and see live music." The Anchoress offers concessionary tickets to November London show
- "Part supernatural, part primal, part aggressive adolescent, he’s a super anti-hero." How Iron Maiden's Eddie went from a blood-spewing mask on a drumkit to metal's most iconic mascot
- You’ve probably never heard of this band, but their new album is a devastating space-metal odyssey for fans of Pink Floyd, Tool and great music in general
- “I was just getting my sound when David shouted: ‘OK, done!’ I was like: ‘But I haven’t actually started yet!’”: The future Motörhead guitarist who recorded a last-minute guitar solo for David Bowie
- “Security will think that you’re either the wife or the girlfriend of someone, or a groupie”: Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia explains how women are “treated differently” in the heavy metal scene
- "Hearing them was like hearing Bowie for the first time…" The 10 best songs by AFI, as chosen by Creeper's Will Gould
- The Pineapple Thief's early years on Kscope celebrated with new box set
- “Some of the police were dealing dope! They’re knocking at the door and we stop rolling joints, but the promoter says, ‘They have marijuana for us!’” When America fell in love with an eccentric British prog band
- "Getting a pair of nunchucks. That was such a part of my childhood": After 10 years, American sleaze merchants Zig Zags still want to steal your motorbike
- "It's the first time ever you can see me without make up!": See Michael Monroe as you've never seen him before in new Rockin' Horse video
- “It’s a toxic environment. Somebody is going to tell us what we’re not doing right”: American prog metal giants blasted back at being trolled for sounding like themselves
- "I'd argue that it was the single most important thing that happened in the history of MTV": The story of the song that found 21 missing children
October 21
- The new Japanese Prime Minister appeared on Babymetal's podcast and talked about her love of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Deep Purple
- "I can't imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us": Even Kenny Loggins is angry with Donald Trump over viral poop video
- System Of A Down, Korn, Deftones, Slayer, Evanescence and more to play insanely stacked Sick New World 2026 events in Las Vegas and Texas
- Slaughter To Prevail guitarist denies that the band have Nazi beliefs, but admits the controversy around them is their “own fault”
- “I know that my dad was shining down on us from Heaven with pride”: Kelly Osbourne thanks fans after accepting award for her father Ozzy
- Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows defends sending video message to Israeli hostages freed by Hamas: “It really is about two human beings that have been through hell”
- “Some might wonder why Steven Wilson was brought in. But the art-rock credentials are never in doubt and its songs are progressive in an anarchic way”: XTC’s Drums And Wires returns
- Best MP3 players 2025: Regain control of your music library with these high-powered portable players
- “This tour is us connecting with the cities and songs that help build us”: Scotland’s best metal band announce intimate UK/Ireland shows with rarities-stacked setlist
- "I get a message from my sister: 'Hey, I’m getting chased down the street by the riot patrol. They have the K9 unit.'" From getting the police called on their rabid crowds to becoming Australia's best live band, the incredible rise of Parkway Drive
- "The guitar tone could flay skin, and his lacerated barks have never sounded so raw." 40 years into his career, Max Cavalera is still finding ways to freshen up his formula with new Soulfly album Chama
- With roots in the Peruvian jungle and influenced by an apocalyptic screenplay, Neil Young's most mysterious song became one of his most enduring
- "Are they gonna think I'm Beelzebub taking their precious baby away, breaking their hearts and defiling him?": What happened when Greta Van Fleet's guitarist got himself a new band
- “A forensic foray into an album that changed how many thought about recorded music”: The Alan Parsons Project’s I Robot: Super Deluxe Box Set
- "For a song about facing death it's remarkably joyous": Former world snooker champion and modular synth player Steve Davis picks 10 favourite experimental music songs
- “Gloriously original, its power to intrigue, disturb and seduce remains undiminished three decades on”: This 1995 album contains hip hop, dub, soul, industrial and ambient music. And it’s very, very prog
- Watch Axl Rose kick drumkit and fling microphone before storming offstage in Argentina
October 20
- "While we were playing, a vehicle drove into the middle of the venue. I think the guy was trying to kill his girlfriend." We asked Ice Nine Kills' Spencer Charnas to give us some life lessons and man does he have stories
- Farewell to music on MTV: it's the end of an era (even if that era really finished a long time ago)
- "We are blown away!" Rush share new video as they add 17 more US and Canadian cities to Fifty Something tour
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: October 20, 2025
- "It’s about an ex-girlfriend who'd moved to Ecuador. I tried to be level-headed about her leaving...I was completely ****ed off." How one cosy but spiteful ballad helped fast-track the rise of the world's biggest punk band
- "That means start jumping and singing. It doesn’t mean start burning the place down. That’s not what I meant." How a smash hit from some nu metal icons became intertwined with the most controversial music festival of the 90s
- "One guy brought his mom’s ashes in an envelope and asked me to help him spread them after the show." Mortuary science, late night chats with Lemmy and a Butcher Babies exit led Carla Harvey to realise her true calling with The Violent Hour
- "All of a sudden I was like, 'I need to know where the door is...stop! Get the mask off!'" Tobias Forge reveals the moment he had a terrifying panic attack live on stage that'd change the way he approaches Ghost shows (and the mask he wears)
- "Seven years after they burst onto the scene, much is riding on this new album." Much hyped UK metal hopefuls Conjurer are back to their very best on Unself
- "You can't dance or clap along to it. When we play it live, you can always see the audience getting caught out": How Genesis wrote the career-changing song that confused their fans - and Peter Gabriel
- "The realisation that life is not for ever made me very sad": Coheed and Cambria's Claudio Sanchez on why songs become more personal with the passing of time
- "The 'lost chord' they were searching for may have been a power chord": The Moody Blues attain peak psychedelic whimsy on In Search Of The Lost Chord
- “I said, ‘If you want a great film, watch this.’ We watched it together on the tour bus, then our singer went out and bought the entire back catalogue!” Rush inspired a collective moment for an enduring Britrock band
October 19
- "He had this ability to pull this beautiful sadness out of the bass": Watch Fred Durst pay tribute to late Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers
- “It’s something I say in one of the songs – ‘The separation starts here’”: How ‘the Radiohead of metal’ broke free from nu metal to blaze their own unique trail
- “It’s almost cooler that we never did release it. It’s become this mythical thing now”: The lost Nine Inch Nails supergroup that could have united two of rock’s most iconic singers
- "Before she’s shot, she was eating an ice cream." From Scottish pride to writing songs for a Hollyoaks shootout, we spent five fun, chaotic minutes with Vukovi's Janine Shilstone
- “People have a hard time understanding how unsurprising Bohemian Rhapsody was to us”: These are the two early Queen songs that Brian May says paved the way for Bohemian Rhapsody
- “If it gets a bit tense we chill out with a joke. He’s good at that. Most of our messages are in a West Country dialect!” Thom Yorke isn’t the very serious character you may have thought, says one collaborator
- Intellectual, cynical, logical: The hit song about divorce and disillusionment that was Paul McCartney's favourite single of 1979
- Limp Bizkit bass player Sam Rivers dead at 48
- Slipknot are suing anonymous owner of the slipknot.com domain name
October 18
- "They were ripping the whole place down. The bar was used as a battering ram to storm the stage." How a long wait for a metal singer's dealer to deliver the goods almost caused disaster at an iconic UK music venue
- "He was doing something that was light years away from all of my other heroes": The five albums that changed Ace Frehley's life
- “I’m gonna play it with you and I’m gonna stay out of your way as much as I can”: The A-list comedy superstar who teamed up with two nu metal bands for the weirdest collaboration of the early 2000s
- “The anthems are unloaded with the speed of a machine gun but the accuracy of a sniper”: What happened when Killswitch Engage brought one of the year’s biggest metal lineups to Wembley Arena
- “I was already a loony tune before I joined Kiss”: Ace Frehley on what went wrong with Kiss – plus his relationship with Gene and Paul… and the biggest mistakes he made
- “Every time we played it, a circle-pit would open up – hip hop kids spinning with punks and heavy metal guys”: The weed-fueled 90s rap song that became a huge hit after it was adopted by metal fans
- “He sounds like he just smoked a big fat doobie”: Comedy fan Geddy Lee on the stand-up comedians he loves
- "I was blown away!" The greatest prog albums, as chosen by prog legend Geoff Downes
- “Vanilla Fudge had covered a Supremes hit and turned it into something else. That’s what the band tried to do – put their own spin on it”: The iconic cover version that launched a legendary hard rock band – but nearly turned them into one-hit-wonders
- “He sent back a really beautiful letter, allowing us the usage of one of his most famous and brilliant songs ever”: the 90s alt-rock anthem that stuck a Beach Boys chorus in the middle of the track and got the seal of approval from Brian Wilson himself
- “Overwhelming to the uninitiated… it’s progressive as hell, of course, but also utterly unique”: Peter Hammill’s The Charisma & Virgin Recordings 1971 – 1986
- I'm bored to death of bands telling us they're "bringing rock back". Rock never left: it just evolved
October 17
- Great new prog you need to hear from Gazpacho, Airbag, Pure Reason Revolution, Alex Henry Foster and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "It would be amazing": Sharon Osbourne gets behind campaign to change the name of Birmingham Airport to Ozzy Osbourne International
- “We played the song and then the earthquake alarms started ringing! They had to move the festival the next year because of that.” How a death metal band ended up writing a song so catchy and bouncy it rocked a 1,600-ton bridge
- “Like watching a molecular physicist beat up everyone in the pit”: This thrash metal band just released their first album since 1993 – and it’s the smartest thing to come from the genre all year
- The Last Dinner Party - From The Pyre review: an arthouse horror film, a masterclass in raw emotion and irresistible atmosphere
- “No one expected it to sell, but it did sell, didn’t it?”: the crazy story of an era-defining 80s classic that shifted millions but had such an expensive sleeve it sold at a loss
- Sabaton Legends review: If you've ever found the biggest power metal band on Earth too war-obsessed, they've got something new for you
- “There’s zero attempt to update their sound. This album won’t stun, but will stir”: John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest end 12-year silence with Relativity
- We pay tribute to Supertramp and founding member Rick Davies in the new issue of Prog, which is on sale now!
- “We miss you incredibly”: At The Gates urge fans to donate to Swedish cancer charity following death of frontman Tomas Lindberg
- "From hippie-dippy noodling via crunching heavy rock and chart-bothering ballads to grandiose orchestral collaborations": Sixty years of the Scorpions celebrated on From The First Sting
- “A peerless catalogue; a breathtaking, ancient setting; a definitive latterday performance by a band of all the talents”: David Gilmour’s Live At The Circus Maximus is a maxed-out experience
- Farewell to The Spaceman: The world of rock pays tribute to Ace Frehley
October 16
- Kiss legend Ace Frehley dead at 74
- Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley reportedly on life support suffering from brain bleed
- Somewhere there's a recording of Ozzy Osbourne duetting with Madonna
- “It was the most amazing thing. I couldn’t have written it better myself because it was just so perfectly me!" How Ozzy Osbourne produced his most emotional anthem with some inspiration from his wife Sharon - and a stunning assist from Lemmy
- "It's my 'I love you' to Joey." The story of Joey Jordison's post-Slipknot bands Vimic and Sinsaenum
- “Our town has been polluted by heavy metal!” Sabaton storm the cover of the new Metal Hammer
- Black Friday MP3 player deals 2025: The MP3 revival is real - and we have the best early deals
- Pure Reason Revolution will play Midwinter Prog Festival as part of their The Dark Third 20th anniversary shows
- Former Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre to release autobiography in November
- “Everyone was out of their minds. Alcoholic drug addicts. I just remember all the excess”: In a haze of substance use and record label conflicts, Korn made the defining anthem of nu metal’s heyday
- “We’re Indigenous people fighting for our culture”: Endorsed by Slipknot, collaborating with Gojira and battling colonialism – how Mawiza became the most important new metal band of 2025
- Watch Disturbed call for “unity” onstage as David Draiman continues to weather backlash for signing an Israeli bomb
- "We’ve decided not to count drummers anymore, it got depressing when we got to two figures." An audience with Spinal Tap legend David St. Hubbins
- "An alternate reality where Springsteen abandons his mainstream success in favour of a major cult career": Bruce Springsteen strips things back on expanded Nebraska '82
- "One of the great rock voices of her era in her element": Chrissie Hynde & Pals' Duets Special is a quiet, low-key joy to behold
- "I've heard it's responsible for a whole generation being conceived": The epic story of rock's ultimate aphrodisiac anthem
- "We were by no means an overnight success. It took years of struggle and suffering": After 50 years, 38 Special have learned a thing or two about keeping a band together
- “The bassist’s kids were waiting with autograph books because we were pop stars. But some of the fans were pissed off. I would have been too!” This duo were never meant to be a real band, but their hit single had a massive impact on prog
- Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows records video message for freed Israeli hostages
- No Doubt add 6 dates to Las Vegas Sphere residency after "incredible" response from fans
October 15
- "The long pause is over...see you in 2026!" One of the best alt rock bands of the 90s have reunited for the first time in 30 years
- So Poppy has gone and made a metal cover of Wham’s Last Christmas and it sounds pretty crazy
- “It’s such a beautiful album cos she wore her pain.” Yungblud picks his favourite albums ever, including some punk, rock and Britpop classics
- How to watch the Mercury Prize album of the year 2025... from anywhere
- "We went on straight after Chappell Roan." From a platinum-selling Taylor Swift cover to hanging out with Post Malone, I Prevail have quietly become one of metal's hottest bands
- “People talk to me on the street about it and say, ‘That song was really there for me when I needed it’”: the stirring 90s anthem inspired by Nazareth and featuring strings arranged by a member of Led Zeppelin that made this band absolutely massive
- Watch Nickelback's Chad Kroeger serenade Sammy Hagar with Metallica's Enter Sandman for his birthday
- "The more the value goes up, the more they're gonna hound us." An iconic 90s metal band are in talks about a possible tribute show in honour of their much missed frontman
- "Yorkshire lads shouldn’t marry American actresses": How MTV and David Coverdale's wife made Whitesnake into megastars
- "We are cooking." New Slipknot music is on the way, according to the band's drummer Eloy Casagrande
- "That experience in Vietnam changed him forever. It certainly had an effect on our family, so it was a defining moment in my life, too." How a devastating 90s war song brought its writer and his estranged father closer together
- Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe to broadcast new album, Liminal, into space!
- "Sabbath will not do it, they won't take a chance": How Ozzy Osbourne predicted the future and saved Motörhead's Heavy Metal Holocaust
- "It changed everything. After that it was never the same. I had to adjust my life": The story of the career-defining song with a lyric scribbled on a takeaway bag while stoned
- "I turned a hockey stick into a scythe": Introducing Castle Rat, your new favourite medieval-themed doom-rocking New Yorkers
- “Robert Fripp is a really diddly-diddly man, all the riff stuff, and that works to an extent. But you need to put that in a context to make it accessible”: The secret to making King Crimson work by Peter Giles, the bassist who helped make it happen
October 14
- Watch Gene Simmons officiate at 2025's most rock'n'roll wedding
- How big a Ghost fan are you? Take our devilishly hard Ghost quiz to find out!
- “It’s light-hearted, sexually ambiguous – I love it!” Justin Hawkins chooses the 10 best Queen songs you might have missed
- Debate: What’s the best live prog album of all time?
- Marillion/Tangerine Dream offshoot Bioscope cancel December tour plans
- “We had to pay the families of Charles Manson’s victims royalties from the song. And we’ve been doing that ever since”: With the inadvertent help of a notorious cult leader, one band became the kings of 90s goth metal
- Yes guitarist Steve Howe to release limited edition vinyl 10 inch EP of Bob Dylan covers
- "I split my forehead open. He said, 'Can you squeeze it and make it bleed some more? It looks great on the telly.'" Crazed fans, blood, burnout and mummies: the story of Iron Maiden's epic World Slavery tour
- Disturbed say they want their music to “heal” people after their singer signed a bomb and caused their Belgium gig to be cancelled
- "The guys from the record company were jumping up and down and screaming": The beer-soaked, chart-topping anthem that saved a career and became an all-time classic
- “It’s heraldic. It’s funny. It’s virtuoso and also really stupid! I wouldn’t change a note”: Simple ideas and happy accidents propelled a Dutch band’s second album to the pinnacle of prog. And yodelling.
- “There was a small fish that was aggressively following me and poking me… it freaked me out”: the high-school scuba trip that inspired an all-time alt-rock anthem
- “It was just a song that fitted the story. I didn’t choose the singer. Luck was on my side”: A science-fiction concept album has enjoyed nearly 50 years of popularity with help from a song written for a Lego advert
- "A bond exists now and forevermore among Hard-Ons and their fans": Australian punk legends launch vinyl record containing their actual blood
- "Fear is what motivates ignorant people to put words in my mouth": Carlos Santana refutes viral hoax claiming he opposed Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show
October 13
- Glenn Hughes announces 2026 US tour
- "We asked him if he wanted to wear a zombie mask and sweat onstage and he was like, 'Sure, let’s do it!'" Don't panic, but it looks like zombie metal is a thing (luckily, Dominum are really good at it)
- "Lady Gaga passes this bottle of Jameson to me, and I just tip the whole bottle over my face. That was a formative moment." Wargasm's Milkie Way makes us a playlist and takes us inside her world of Sabbath, Gaga, Bowie and more
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: October 13, 2025
- Caligula's Horse share previously unreleased cover of The Beatles' Across The Universe as they announce Bloom tenth anniversary release
- “M***********, you stole my guitar sound!”: the classic Nirvana song that another major 90s artist says ripped him off
- “I’d been living in a dark room, drinking and taking drugs, and I was done with music. My heart was too broken to think about it”: This frontman overcame death and the loss of his band to make one of the 90s’ essential metal songs
- Watch Billie Joe Armstrong join Dua Lipa onstage in San Francisco to duet on a Green Day classic
- "When they heard it, everybody's eyebrows raised - and of course it changed everything": How divine inspiration and a last-minute song propelled a band to the brink of stardom
- "More relatable than Mötley Crüe or Ratt and hipper than Foreigner or Journey": Night Ranger's place in rock history settled by first album Dawn Patrol
- “We thought it would be hard to replace her, so we didn’t. There had always been changes and this was a big one, but our attitude was to soldier on”: The prog pioneers who evaded disaster and reinvented themselves in 1970
October 12
- Two men arrested on suspicion of murder after Lostprophets singer and convicted paedophile Ian Watkins killed in prison
- Watch unmasked Ghost frontman Tobias Forge perform with Swedish star Lars Winnerbäck
October 11
- Mayor of Belgian municipality reportedly cancels Disturbed show over singer David Draiman's stance on Gaza conflict
- Watch unmasked Slipknot in soundcheck ahead of year 2000 show in South Dakota
- Ex-Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins dead at 48 following prison attack
- Joan Jett and the Blackhearts drummer Thommy Price dead at 68
- Tattoo designer says Sleep Token's record label had her Instagram shut down over alleged copyright infringement
- "A significant song of hope!" In 2010, with Yes forging on without him, Jon Anderson teamed up with old pal Rick Wakeman for The Living Tree album
- "I play these songs because my soul and heart are in there..." Former Focus guitarist Jan Akkerman will release a new live album in December
- Metal’s hardest-working band just played the biggest show of their lives – naturally, they pulled out all the stops
- “I attended a Rush show and met this thing called merchandising! My work was everywhere – on jackets, T-shirts, tattoos, Neil’s drum heads…” Hugh Syme was shocked when his 2112 art exploded. But it’s not the piece that most resonates with him
- “One of my favourite things about Robert Smith is his ability to really convey the sadness”: the eight best Robert Smith guest spots
- Watch video for new Rob Zombie single Punks and Demons taken from upcoming album The Great Satan
- "He had all the best qualities you’d want in somebody." Zakk Wylde speaks about Ozzy Osbourne for the first time since his death
October 10
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- “It feels like going back in time to relive our history”: No Doubt announce Las Vegas shows for 2026
- Moody Blues bassist and vocalist John Lodge dead at 82
- “I left my car with all the instruments in but I’d left the handbrake off and it rolled onto the motorway”: the tearaway Britpop teenagers whose knack of getting into trouble had Steven Spielberg on the phone wanting to make a TV show with them
- “Before we had a chance to stop, four officers jumped me. One tried to break my arm, the other put a choke hold on my neck”: With one music video, this rap metal band almost brought the financial heart of America to its knees
- “The funniest, most talented bloke. And he was trying so hard to stay on the right path.” Friends star Matthew Perry attended Alcoholics Anonymous at Ozzy Osbourne’s house
- “If you see him live, it’s insane! He’s just ripping his heart out in front of you”: King Crimson’s Jakko Jakszyk on his favourite prog vocalist – also loved by David Bowie, Johnny Rotten and the guy who did The Sooty Show
- "He's with that meth lab that he designed, his baby - the lyrics back that up and he is at peace with himself": The story of the minor seventies hit that soundtracked the bloody finale of Breaking Bad
- "Some Time In New York City is an album that suffers from being terrible": John & Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band compiled on Power To The People
- "It showed me what music can do." Eight surprising artists you never knew were inspired by the brilliance of Talking Heads' Remain In Light
- A Night At The Opera: 50 years on, Brian May and Roger Taylor on Queen's operatic masterpiece - only in the new issue of Classic Rock
- Every Rush album ranked from worst to best
October 9
- "The past few days have been quite overwhelming": New Rush drummer Anika Nilles reacts to sudden spotlight
- Cool new proggy sounds from L.O.E., EF, Circu5 and more in Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week
- "There’s still time to come to the States to catch this show..." Dream Theater cancel 2026 UK and European Parasomnia tour plans
- TesseracT announce new concert movie and live album, RADAR
- "He said, ‘Kid, it’s a smash! You gotta trust me!’ I thought he was crazy." The Smashing Pumpkins classic Billy Corgan thought was "stupid" - and that his own label boss had to talk him round on
- JBL Flip 7 portable Bluetooth speaker review
- “There was some mild terrorism going on. They were exploding cars and banks and real estate. There was an ongoing war”: From a climate of violence, this band made one of modern metal’s most conscious, powerful anthems
- Ultravox will release a Deluxe Edition of The Collection in December, featuring new Steven Wilson remixes
- 15 of the best Prime Day deals for music fans are still available - grab them before they're gone
- Everyone thinks this is one of Iron Maiden's worst albums. Here's why you're all wrong
- "He didn’t ask for a receipt or nothing, just sent a cheque for ten grand and said, 'Sorry about that'". The grunge icons who ripped off an 80s classic - only to get busted when they hit the studio with the guy who wrote the original
- “For the whole of this tour, we haven’t played this song”: Bruce Dickinson’s solo band performed another classic Iron Maiden track at the end of their North American tour last week
- Glenn Hughes has played with Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Black Country Communion and more - but he should never have left his first band
- “I wish things had panned out differently. The lyrics were a message saying, ‘Meet us in the middle.’ It didn’t work out that way”: An armed robbery, a returning drummer and a new label brought this American band back from near oblivion
October 8
- "A decadent yet functional take on wellness": Smashing Pumpkins launch $20 charity smoothie
- Bruce Dickinson gives the US national anthem the air-raid siren treatment again
- "I had a slight fender bender": Gene Simmons recovering at home after reportedly passing out while driving
- Rush add additional dates to Fifty Something 2026 tour
- “We’ve seen this movie before: boost ticket sales, go away, then the bigger offers come”: Former Megadeth member isn’t fully convinced the band are retiring
- “I spotted them and I thought they were a really terrific band.” How David Bowie took one of the 90s' big breakout rock bands under his wing - right before they blew up
- It's your last chance to get Louder's no.1 live music earplugs for less this Prime Day - save up to 25% on the 4.5 star-rated Loop Experience 2
- "We got on with Slipknot like a house on fire. We were like their naughty little brothers!" The story of the underground metal band helped by Charli XCX's future manager that almost became a household name
- This Amazon Prime Video sale is a killer with up to 50% off classic horror flicks - grab yours for an early Halloween treat
- The story of every metal album to hit number one in the UK
- “They jammed Cream and Jimi Hendrix at their earliest concerts, and critics compared the thunder of their debut album to Led Zeppelin”: Why Rush are secretly the coolest band on the planet
- The house that Slipknot trashed in their most infamous music video is going to auction
- Marshall turn up the volume on Prime Day with their own Louder For Less sale - save up to $100 on home audio gear
- “I picked up a CD with a quivering lip and was like, ‘When’s grandad coming home?’”: up until the age of 11, Yungblud thought Rod Stewart was his grandfather
- This is the best Prime Day deal I've seen this year - save 56% on the five-star Sony PS-LX310BT turntable
- The Pineapple Thief announce 20th anniversary vinyl reissue of fourth album 10 Stories Down
- Over a decade since their debut, Falling Leaves are back with a new album all fans of death-doom simply need to hear
- I find your lack of Lego disturbing - fix it with up to 30% off Lego Star Wars sets this Prime Day
- "The voice of Ayreon is not here anymore!" Ayreon contributor and former Kayak singer Edward Reekers has died, aged 68
- The 10 most played rock acts on UK radio and TV in the 21st century have been announced: Only two are from the 21st century
- “People say Genesis ended when Peter Gabriel left, or when Steve Hackett left. But he was the anchor that everything else revolved around”: An appreciation of Tony Banks, by John Boegehold
- “A miracle that silenced their harshest critics, even within the band, and opened many minds”: The prog credentials of Talking Heads’ Remain In Light
- "People found out we weren't The Beatles and that came back to haunt us": The curious case of the band whose career was derailed by a rumour
- Watch Anika Nilles demonstrate exactly why Rush have chosen her as their new drummer
October 7
- "They're trying to insert themselves into a conversation to obtain some kind of relevancy": Yungblud slams critics of his Ozzy Osbourne tribute
- Preorder Megadeth’s final album on limited copper/emerald vinyl, plus an art card signed by the band only available through Metal Hammer
- Watch: we asked a bunch of fans at Parkway Drive's Wembley show to name the best ever metalcore band
- Amazon still has hundreds of rock & metal t-shirts on sale for Prime Day - but you'll have to be quick to get one
- “There’s a weird sexual energy with a lot of it”: Country star Hardy loves Sleep Token, urges the haters to look past genre tags
- There's still time to tie up the Loose Ends in your Springsteen collection this Prime Day with 27% off this epic 9LP vinyl box set - but the clock is ticking
- Hear Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante sing electro-metal banger Ties That Bind, from the soundtrack of new fighting game 2XKO
- “We knocked out ten songs and that ended up being the bulk of the first record, so that first week was pretty good!”: it’s 35 years since Pearl Jam had their very first rehearsal and a generational rock band was born
- The odds of finding a better Lego Star Wars deal this Prime Day? Approximately 3,720 to 1 - save 30% on this C-3PO lego set
- “The further I got away from it, the more I thought, ‘It’s OK. We had 40 years. I’m tired of hanging around a hotel, being away from family’”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee explain why now is the time to reunite Rush
- “Although I won’t be performing again, I’ve already got an idea for a new album”: 11 things we learned from Ozzy Osbourne’s new memoir, Last Rites
- "It's pretty amazing that rock lasted for seventy-five years": Todd Rundgren on the demise of rock, fighting hate and why listeners don't like albums
- "We’re fortunate that people now appreciate what we do. It hasn’t always been that way. Nothing polarises people quite like we do, for some reason”: The mindset behind Rush’s final album, Clockwork Angels
- The 10 best double albums in rock music history
- "I wish I wrote it - I would’ve made a lot more cash!" The story of the English song that was minor hit in Europe before becoming an all-American classic
October 6
- "I think her name is Anika": Geddy Lee was telling people about Rush's new drummer two years ago
- I've been a metal guitarist for almost two decades and not enough people talk about these incredible guitar-shredding albums
- How to watch new Paramount documentary Ozzy: No Escape From Now - no matter where you are
- "Life is full of surprises!" Rush announce first live shows in eleven years, reveal new live drummer
- "War On Drugs, suck my ****": Six classic indie diss tracks you never knew about
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: October 6, 2025
- "While younger generations fanny around with cynical pop compromises, they're here to break necks." Looking for the best thrash metal album of 2025? Testament have your back with Para Bellum
- Ozzy Osbourne admitted that he had a “life-or-death” heart problem days before he died of a heart attack
- Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds announce new European dates for next summer
- “Only if it really stinks will we redo it”: Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson to record his next solo album in January
- "Carl McCoy's voice sounds like that of a man who dug himself out of an unmarked grave": Fields Of The Nephilim take 80s goth to its logical extreme on The Nephilim
- “I strive to get away from the Genesis vibe. But it’s so deeply ingrained… I’ve been doing it longer than Peter Gabriel was in the band!” Nad Sylvan is more himself than ever on solo album Monumentata
- “There was one troll who slagged it off, but I think he was a fan from the Fish years!” Marillion’s Steve Rothery and Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning took six years to make Gentō, an album that sounds like neither of their bands
- "Taylor Swift said that was the best song ever written": Goo Goo Dolls launch video of Taylor Swift duetting with frontman John Rzeznik
October 5
- Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's inaugural Future Ruins film festival cancelled
- "I want to try your clothes on!" Toyah and Robert Fripp explore uncharted musical territory in new Sunday Lunch video
- “He tried to stab Dio with a fork!”: The first time Ozzy Osbourne met Ronnie James Dio it nearly ended in bloodshed
- "They might just be the most essential live show in metal right now." We're not entirely sure we can do justice to just how epic Parkway Drive's Wembley show was
- “I don’t know too many people that could have handled that pressure coming at you at such speed. It can be a deadly thing”: How grunge’s ‘worst’ band wrote the hit song that silenced the critics
- “If you strip away the images you could put us beside King Crimson. The musicality and ambition would fit. But for us it’s 50 per cent about music, 50 per cent about hair”: Sparks’ commitment to silliness is very prog indeed
October 4
- Watch video for new Megadeth single Tipping Point
- "While this chapter has come to a close, this is by no means the end of my path as a musician." Modern metal heavyweights Trivium abruptly part ways with drummer Alex Bent
- “Let me just put this record on and clear the room! Or play it to a girlfriend and then wonder why she threw herself out the window”: Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson on the cult prog rock mavericks who inspired him – but were too out-there to be successful
- Kraftwerk announce their first UK and Ireland tour for eight years
- “It’s Sharon’s song. One of her favourites. Lemmy wrote it with the two of us in mind”: Just before he died, Ozzy Osbourne revealed the song that made him cry during the Back To The Beginning gig
- “He thought: ‘I’m just going to do an over-the-top pop song’ – a heavy metal pop song”: The flop single that became a power-pop classic thanks to one of the greatest live albums of the 70s
- “It was a moment to reassess everything we were trying to do as a band”: the song that saved U2 when it looked like they were on a downward spiral
- “There was a sense of humour. We were taken very seriously by the world at large, but there was always an edge of fun”: The grimness of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here may have been overstated
October 3
- "Like a double bill of April Wine and Lynyrd Skynyrd": The Sheepdogs conjure up breezy classic rock vibes on Nobody But You single
- Ozzy: No Escape From Now review – an imperfect but essential look at Ozzy Osbourne’s final years
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- One of rock music’s most underrated bands played Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, and they’re still cooler than a fridge after 40-plus years
- “I think we’re all being pushed to the edge right now”: Listen to Megadeth’s thrash-adocious new single Tipping Point, the first taste of Dave Mustaine and co.’s final album
- Opeth announce one-off UK show for 2026
- “Me and Taylor sat down, and she says, ‘I can’t sing that line’, cos it was a bit too risqué”: Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott on duetting with the teenage Taylor Swift on an 80s rock classic - and the raunchy lyric they had to change
- Foo Fighters just surprise-released a new EP - here's where you can hear it
- "I'm not sure I could have been the flashy guitarist he wanted me to be": Y&T's Dave Meniketti on turning down Ozzy and improving your chances of survival
- AFI Silver Bleeds the Black Sun... review: Davey Havok and his crue have gone full goth, and it's resulted in their best album in over a decade
- “Once we blew apart in 1996, we were never quite the same”: Smashing Pumpkins announce 30th anniversary edition of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
- "He was a guy who would chop the bedroom door down with an axe, like Jack Nicholson": A decade on from the disease that nearly killed him, Walter Trout is on a roll, looking at a world gone wrong
- Review: Still mixing futuristic rock brilliance with Brit-Weezer ballast, Ash venture into space on Ad Astra
- “Five decades on, it’s still a bewildering but rewarding experience”: Faust’s self-titled debut album returns
- From problem child to golden child: The story behind every song on Radiohead’s Kid A
- Review: Michael Schenker lets rip on new MSG album Don’t Sell Your Soul
- “Largely ignored – but formidable, masterly and substantial”: Darryl Way’s Wolf released three albums in two years. The Cadenza box set proves they should never have been out of the spotlight
October 2
- Founding Yardbirds guitarist Chris Dreja dead at 79
- Order your exclusive Iron Maiden bundle featuring an Eddie T-shirt you won't find in shops
- I say, 'It is an honour to meet you, you are one of my biggest inspirations.' And he says 'kneel' and asks for the cane..." What happened when a goth icon had a surprise encounter with a punk rock hero
- "The most unsubtle, one-dimensional noise": the chart-topping indie anthem that prompted an ex-member of Depeche Mode to write a letter of complaint
- 11 sublimely mellow Smashing Pumpkins cuts
- “I’m never not ready to scream about racial issues.” Hayley Williams on the importance of using her platform and why she’s pulling no punches when it comes to a certain country star
- I'm an Iron Maiden fanatic and decided to rank every single one of their live albums from worst to best
- “It’s shocking, it’s disheartening, it’s insulting – most importantly – it’s a wake up call”: Rock band speak out as AI-generated ‘artist’ modelled on their music gets more Spotify listeners
- "He was like a blubbering baby. He was crying. He was devastated": The Who's Roger Daltrey on drugs, fights, death and the music that defined a generation
- I saw Black Sabbath play three days after their debut album was released - and tickets cost 30 pence
- "The place was full of chickens, pigs and goats. The whole thing was fascinating": How an acid-tinged account of a North African adventure became the sound of the counterculture
- “They’re portrayed as unhip, exploitative capitalist men of the rock world. But it’s entirely down to them that the movement can move. And they didn’t get anything out of it”: When Peter Gabriel received death threats, Genesis reunited to help him
- "You forgot the bass!" Metallica's ...And Justice For All producer recalls his shock at hearing album's final mixes
- AC/DC smashed "permitted noise level" during Edinburgh show
October 1
- "It's a band I think I have a lot in common with": Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard is working on a movie about The Replacements
- New book puts Canadian prog metal pioneers Voivod in the spotlight
- Lunatic Soul reveal softer side with album cycle-closing video for The New End
- Debate: who are the greatest metalcore band of all time?
- Nine Inch Nails announce new North American tour dates for 2026
- How to watch new BBC documentary Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, from anywhere
- "In Brazil, especially in the early 80s, it was all about Samba – nobody would talk about metal." Five minutes with Sepultura legend Iggor Cavalera
- TesseracT celebrate tenth anniversary of Polaris with new clear vinly remastered reissue
- The long lost album from Joey Jordison's post-Slipknot project Vimic is finally here. But does it live up to his legacy?
- “I stand with the world, in its goodness and beauty”: Nick Cave has just delivered another stirring sermon on the state of the world in 2025
- "The whole day felt bigger than music or sport; it was about women showing strength, power and unity on a global stage." Watch Sophie Lloyd shred Bon Jovi, Black Eyed Peas and more at the Women’s Rugby World Cup final
- New film exploring David Bowie’s Berlin years announced
- 4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month
- “We’re looking back at the good ol’ days”: New Found Glory announce details of forthcoming new album
- Watch the wholesome trailer for new BBC documentary Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, which airs later this week
- That acclaimed movie about the Mars Volta and At The Drive-In is coming to UK cinemas
- “You tour for so long. You’ve got a family, a mortgage, and you come home from America after eight weeks with £100. That’s unsustainable”: Dan Tompkins had to leave Tesseract – so what brought him back for third album Polaris?
- “The music needed to be paced differently and we needed a bit more going for us, thematically. We very much realised we needed a new identity to rise above the fray”: Wishbone Ash laid a plan for Argus, and surprised themselves when it worked
- The pride of New York City: A beginner's guide to White Lion in five essential albums
- Ozzy Osbourne's face appears on the side of New Zealand's tallest building