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February 2026

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309 articles

February 28
- Watch star-studded BRIT Awards tribute to Ozzy Osbourne
- "You make money touring and you give your music away for free, which is why tickets cost so much." Twisted Sister's Jay Jay French on making a living in music
- "It didn’t hurt or anything. It was just ****ing scary.” We threw one of metal's most promising bands off a bridge
- “A 15-minute discussion with the Hells Angels ensued, prior to me being hit in the mouth with the end of a pool cue and having my front teeth knocked out”: In 1969, the world’s most dangerous band toured America – and changed rock’n’roll forever
- “It’s brutal. Energy and power and speed… without that album, there would be no Metallica or Slayer or Sepultura”: Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera names the greatest riff in heavy metal – and the controversial 80s album he thinks is a “joke”
- "If I didn’t have songs, we wouldn’t make an album. I didn’t do anything, and nobody asked!” How Everon returned after 16 years with a new studio album, Shells
- "I could feel the power behind me and it was like being in front of a locomotive." The Swedish metal icons whose biggest hit was so confusing even Metallica's Kirk Hammett struggled to keep up
- “I was in the mountains during a thunderstorm. It was so heavy I had to pull aside and park. That’s when ‘heavy metal thunder’ came to me”: The biker rock anthem that soundtracked a classic movie – and gave a whole genre its name
February 27
- “David Gilmour says, ‘I will never play with Roger Waters again’, and I know what he means. I feel that way about Alex Van Halen. They’re negative people”: The two iconic musicians who left Sammy Hagar starstruck – and the guitarist he calls “an asshole”
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now!
- Cool new proggy sounds you'll want to hear from Anneke Van Giersbergen, Gazpacho, Einar Solberg, The Claypool Lennon Delirium and more in Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week
- Sleep Token, Wet Leg, Wolf Alice, Pulp & Turnstile among this year's Brit nominees - here's how you can watch the 2026 Brit Awards... no matter where you are
- “There was a tremendous amount of friction between the two of them. There were stories about how they used to get drunk and abuse each other”: The doomed singer who helped invent folk-rock and sang with Led Zeppelin – but couldn’t escape her demons
- "Ozzy has been a mighty force in modern music." The BRIT Awards are to honour the late Black Sabbath's contribution to music with Lifetime Achievement accolade and all-star tribute handpicked by his wife Sharon
- "I was looking to retire. It's not gonna happen if this keeps happening." One of modern metal's most influential bands just reunited, just over five years after the death of their beloved frontman
- RUSHfest Scotland is the world's best Rush celebration festival, and from its brilliant lineup to its exciting special guests, you can't afford to miss this year's event
- "We beat Britney Spears!" The song that turned a group of Dutch goths living with their parents into one of Europe's biggest bands
- “Mike got back with Dream Theater and I started praying about what I should do”: Neal Morse Band’s L.I.F.T. is steeped in mystery – as he says all concept albums should be
- “It an unbelievable. Crosby, Stills and Young shoved us aside and grabbed the helicopter before us, so we caught the next one”: The blues-rock epic that turned an unknown British band into US superstars – with a little help from a legendary Woodstock set
February 26
- “Stripped of Beatles myth, it reveals an artist rebuilding confidence during the post-60s cultural hangover”: The “moving” Paul McCartney documentary that shows the failures between the triumphs
- “They say time heals all wounds, but not completely. Even 40 years later, I often find myself thinking about him”: The electrifying life and dark times of iconic Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, by one of the people who knew him best
- "This is what it felt like 30 years ago!" Watch Foo Fighters perform unreleased new song Of All People at intimate London show
- "Bands are really weird animals." How one of the world's biggest rock groups got their lives and friendships back on track following a bitter break-up and a near-death experience
- "We’ve actually worked together on a bunch of stuff over the years that hasn’t even come out." Why Willow Smith is the only guest vocalist on Sean Lennon and Les Claypool's wild new concept album about AI destroying everything
- "The Beatles had been my whole life… when we split up I thought: ‘I’ll never write another note of music ever’": New Paul McCartney film explores his post-Beatles life and career with Wings - here’s how to watch Man On The Run from anywhere
- “We hope the combination of Roger Dean’s artwork and these musicians really makes for something special”: Steve Howe on Yes’ new album, his solo career, and his honest take on those massive box sets
- "The guys from Guns N’ Roses split down the middle politically." Melania Trump documentary producer names the artists who refused to give permission for their music to be used in the film
- Iron Maiden announce final two gigs before stepping away from the live stage until 2028
- "I drank a shot of vodka to brace myself, pulled my flaccid penis out of my pants, and casually walked past Trump." The night that a world-famous musician decided to "knob-touch" the future President of the USA, and why he has no regrets about it
- Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Evanescence and more: The 50 metal albums coming in 2026 that you should be excited about
- "I'm like, 'Guys, help me!' And my first day sober, I played in front of 14,000 people, weeping my eyes out." How Metallica helped modern metal icon and Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe quit alcohol for good
- Give World Book Day a rock'n'roll edge with my pick of 12 must-read publications: Ozzy, Lemmy, Bowie, Slash, The Boss & more
- "We’re jamming, so it’s possible..." Rush discuss the possibility of new music as they announce second shows in Manchester and Glasgow
- “We spent the night in a BDSM dungeon and our tour manager slept in a coffin”: Endorsed by Megadeth and influenced by their genre’s most evil-sounding bands, Worm are a wild new force in black metal
- “It was impeccable timing by George Lucas to be so considerate to bring out Star Wars at the same time as our album”: How a sci-fi icon inspired Pink Floyd’s engineer to make a wild concept album that predicted the AI revolution nearly 50 years ago
- "Snatches of movie dialogue and trailers mixed with a musical wall of screaming guitars and stabs of distorted synth." Rob Zombie goes full bore, full gore on blood-soaked eighth album The Great Satan
February 25
- “I put a twist on it – as if there was a crazed brother who was like Clint Eastwood coming back to murder whoever had defiled his sister”: How an unexpected pregnancy and a cheap video inspired the song that turned a British punk into an MTV superstar
- "I was very narrow-minded. I thought they were just an annoying pop band!" One of America's greatest punk rock frontmen has come out as a huge fan of Oasis after years of "contempt" for the Gallagher brothers
- Iron Maiden have been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, 22 years after they first became eligible to enter, with Oasis, Wu-Tang Clan, Phil Collins, Billy Idol and more also on the ballot
- “My wife says, ‘You write nice songs then you spoil them.’ I’ve always thought they’d have been quite successful if somebody else had done them”: Van der Graaf Generator’s Peter Hammill has calmed down, but not entirely
- "It was super duper heavy!" The story behind the Dave Grohl song that Ozzy Osbourne rejected, which found a home on one of the most unexpected heavy metal albums ever released
- “Unmistakably the work of metal’s mouthiest frontman”: Every Megadeth album ranked from worst to best
- Primus announce first UK and European tour in almost a decade
- “Pulp Fiction was something we badly needed. But we wouldn’t have chosen a Neil Diamond cover that was made as an in-joke for our most notable single”: The Quentin Tarantino-approved trio who were set to be huge – until drugs and acrimony derailed them
- “I really wanted the first record to be different from what I’d done with Genesis”: How Peter Gabriel made his solo debut with a group of musical misfits
February 24
- “Being on one of the best live albums of all time gave the song a boost. Then Iron Maiden fell in love with it and made it even bigger”: The flop 70s single inspired by a pair of naughty nurses which became one of rock’s all-time greatest live anthems
- "Ya think it’s all poetry and clovers, when it’s raincoats and police Land Rovers. Salt of the earth, looking over their shoulder." Kneecap share moody and intense new single Smugglers & Scholars
- Paul Weller announces 48-track Weller At The BBC Vol. 2 album, adds Irish gigs
- Iron Maiden announce cinema release for their career-spanning documentary Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition
- Louder Than Life has just launched one of the biggest rock festival lineups in history. Here's why you can't afford to miss it
- “I rode him so hard he threatened to take me apart piece by piece if I didn’t back off”: How an ex-punk band delivered one of the greatest albums of the late 70s – with a little help from Suzi Quatro’s producer and a prog legend
- “I have two film projects that I’m working on … I was recording another album with another thing”: Ghost’s Tobias Forge is taking a big break from touring the world, but he’s by no means idle
- "Maybe it’s time." Dave Grohl might finally be ready to let Foo Fighters do something they've never done in their 30 year career
- The guitar Kurt Cobain played in Nirvana's iconic video for Smells Like Teen Spirit is coming up for auction next month
- “I don’t see it as a sad thing”: Last Faith No More tour had “unspoken” sense of closure, says Mike Patton
- “Paul Simon did it better. It’s the usual thing with me – take a good idea and dilute it”: South African prog hitmaker tried to tackle apartheid, but admits he failed
- “When Geddy Lee said he’d heard this drummer the other day and her name was Anika, we should have been paying more attention”: One Rush fan’s journey from the last aftershow party of 2015 to the big comeback of 2026
- "In the spirit of the Olympics, Team Tomahawk has decided to rise up and go for the gold once again." Mike Patton's alt. rock supergroup Tomahawk announce first tour since 2013
February 23
- “I spent seven months trying to make it with him. He had lost his voice, he had lost his house and he was pretty much losing his mind”: How following up one of the biggest albums of the 70s nearly broke the legendary singer who made it
- Iron Maiden, My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit, Tool, Babymetal, Alice Cooper, Halestorm and almost 200 more bands to play huge Louder Than Life 2026 lineup
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: February 23, 2026
- “All of a sudden there were guns under the control board. It was like living in hell’s domain”: How a 60s R&B queen fought through personal darkness to make one of the greatest rock’n’roll singles of the 1970s
- "If it ain’t fun, I ain’t doing it. I’m too old for bulls**t.” Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter announce Anarchy In The UK tour
- One of the most celebrated metal bands of the last decade have just announced their biggest headline shows ever, including a stop-off at London's iconic Wembley Arena
- Metal, pop punk, Final Fantasy and Miss World Chile: the list of new bands joining Limp Bizkit, Guns N' Roses, Linkin Park and more at Download this year has a lot going on
- "We can’t wait to get back to all these cities we haven’t played in so long." Prog legends Rush announce first European and UK live dates for 13 years
- “My mantra for this record is, ‘Could AI have come up with it?’ If the answer is yes, then I ditch it”: Why Steven Wilson’s new album is designed to be slightly shambolic
- "He wanted to do it so bad. And he did. He went like a rock star." Sharon Osbourne on dying Ozzy's determination to perform one last time
February 22
- “It’s like our Free Bird – something we always have to do. But Free Bird is thirteen minutes long,and Taillights Fade is just three and a half”: The cult college rock band from Boston behind one of the most emotional anthems of the early 90s
- “I can’t think of anyone like her. Joni Mitchell was also a one-off, an original, but she is nothing like that”: From David Gilmour to Stranger Things – how Kate Bush became one of the most influential artists of the last 50 years
- Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith brought a mega-famous friend to guest on a classic Maiden anthem at a gig in London last night
- “At that one period in time, when something really significant and important happened to the band, we weren’t there to enjoy it”: Martin Barre was as surprised as Metallica when Jethro Tull won a Grammy
- “I have an audio recording of a Black Mass from San Francisco. I’ve never played it all the way through”: The legendary album Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt wishes he had made – and the rock band he thinks are a “joke”
- “I knew it was a hit, but I didn’t really like the song. It was difficult to imagine what kind of touch we could put on it”: How Aerosmith scored their very first No.1 single – with help from a hit songwriter, Bruce Willis and a giant killer asteroid
February 21
- “He wanted me to introduce him as the biggest rock star on the planet." Comedian Jack Whitehall says Jared Leto tried to alter his Brit Awards script
- “He was just lying there, howling on his guitar with blood pouring down his face. It was a very dramatic moment”: How Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne and half a million insane Brazilians introduced metal to an entire continent
- “People have this image of David Lee Roth as being this rock star with a crazy of personality, and he is that. But he listens”: The second solo album from rock’s greatest entertainer divided fans. Forty years on, it sounds like an underrated masterpiece
- “When we got back from the pub they presented us with this six-part piece of music. We were like, ‘We can’t record this! Oh, wait a minute…’”: The Stranglers’ Golden Brown started as a prog suite
- “He was a titan, a giant. He could have been as famous as any songwriter in the world, but chose not to be”: The doomed singer who played with a world-famous comedian and had one of the most famous hit singles in history - but couldn’t escape his demons
- “Everyone said we would never get signed if we didn’t drop the witchcraft. But I refused”: They had a song called Black Sabbath and a bassist named Oz Osborne – but this pioneering US occult rock band aren’t who you think they are
- “I think I have 11 counts of breaking and entering on my criminal record": How Nickelback's nostalgic Photograph spawned a flood of memes and the unwanted attention from a soon-to-be-impeached American President
- “I completely understand why people would hope for that. The music we created together means a great deal to me too”: Journey fans think legendary singer Steve Perry is going to rejoin his former band on their farewell tour – but he’s having none of it
February 20
- "Honestly, I didn’t want it on the record. It was unfinished." The surprising story behind the Deftones song the band hate, the fans weren't sure about and yet became one of their biggest hits
- "He's singing and screaming his guts out in the middle of the field. I can't understand a word he's saying but I feel every syllable of it." This is what it's like at Thailand's biggest metal festival, Rock Alarm
- "It has that outlaw quality, that dangerous quality…they’re incredible songs." Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy on the modern indie greats he loves so much that he's basically "just a groupie" for them at this point
- "This album is his legacy." Following the devastating death of their frontman, friend and beloved figurehead of extreme metal, Tomas Lindberg, At The Gates have released an emotional new video and details of new album The Ghost of a Future Dead
- "The whole thing was such a shock...everything was shaking and we were crying for two weeks." The inspiring, sad and triumphant story of the 'girl next door' opera singer who'd become a heavy metal icon
- “Instead of confronting him and making an intervention, I thought, ‘I can’t allow this person to control me.’ I wish we’d had the skills to help him”: The tragedy of Spirit prodigy Randy California
- "It was just women and bottles of Jack Daniel's everywhere." The story of the Next Big Thing whose career was killed by a soppy power ballad
- "It makes me very optimistic for a release at some point this year..." Marilllion update fans on progress on the new album
- Great new prog you need to hear from Neal Morse Band, I Built The Sky, worriedaboutsatan and more in Prog's new Tracks Of The Week
- How to watch BBC iPlayer from anywhere – stream music documentaries, Glastonbury festival and more
- "Would Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin have been as cool if the internet was around to expose everything?" Black Stone Cherry's Chris Robertson on social media, the creative inspiration of dogs and battling Darth Vader
- The vibrant, violent sounds of youth, rebellion and volume: 10 garage rock albums you absolutely need to hear
February 19
- "The fans want to hear it, so we still play it every night. For myself, I've had enough of that song." Recorded while intoxicated, lyrics written in the back of a van - the story of one of the all-time heavy rock classics
- "We wake up in the morning and everybody just texts about how much we miss him." As Foo Fighters launch new album Your Favorite Toy, Dave Grohl reflects on life without Taylor Hawkins
- "Make no mistake - this song is a reckoning." After much anticipation (and some bogus rumours), the new singer for metal veterans Arch Enemy has been revealed - alongside pulverising new single To The Last Breath
- "I am so inspired by Amy Lee’s vocals and we all wanted to channel Scream." Watch Scream star Mckenna Grace go metal in the video for killer new Ice Nine Kills single Twisting The Knife - with a cool bonus cameo
- Star Trek actor William Shatner is releasing an all-star heavy metal album featuring Zakk Wylde, Ritchie Blackmore and more, because you try and tell him not to
- "We had the desire to create something extraordinary. And we did." Queen announce remixed, remastered and expanded Queen II Collector’s Edition
- "It's the fuse to the powder keg of songs." Foo Fighters announce new album Your Favorite Toy, share explosive title track
- AFI, Mannequin Pussy, Ecca Vandal join Deftones, Deafheaven, Amyl and the Sniffers and more on stacked Outbreak / All Points East bill
- “A search for spiritual redemption”: Hear new President single Angel Wings – the masked band’s first song after signing with major label Atlantic Records
- “We were bringing in all kinds of influences that other people in metal were scared of”: Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson re-releases his debut solo album – and his most controversial one
- “I’m not exaggerating – everybody had it. We felt it would be cheating to make them buy it again”: It’s one of the biggest-selling singles of all time, but this proto-prog band left it off their debut album
- "There were weapons tests and the windows would shake in school. I wondered, ‘What would happen if that hit here?’” Bombings, depression and Oppenheimer: Sweden's Allt are writing a soundtrack to the end of the world
- "In 2026, there's no better celebration of all that's heroic and daft and delightful about hard rock than The Darkness." The Darkness in Auckland, New Zealand - live review
- "The brutality was still shocking, especially the violence towards families." The story of the social justice anthem inspired by a police raid on a Stonehenge beanfield
- "I don't like the jock atmosphere of the travelling rock'n'roll band. It's corny, it's boring and it's silly." The story of the rock'n'roll band who aren't really a band and don't like rock'n'roll but have sold 50 million records to people who do
- "Bon was the kind of person that every guy in rock'n'roll loves." Sammy Hagar, Rob Halford, Lars Ulrich, Josh Homme and more pay tribute to AC/DC's Bon Scott
February 18
- "I have confidence the righteous will rise up against this aberration": U2 slam ICE, Putin, Netanyahu and more on surprise-released EP Days Of Ash
- "I couldn’t really join in the conversation because I was having an out-of-body experience." How a comedy legend ended up singing on a Kate Bush and Prince collaboration
- “The last thing you want is people just deferring to you”: He may have been around for nearly 60 years, but David Gilmour’s return to form was inevitable. Here’s why
- "People falling on top of each other, beer flying everywhere, somebody jumped off the balcony. I get kicked, I fall to the ground, someone picks me up. It was beautiful chaos." Ho99o9 vocalist Yeti Bones picks the albums that changed his life
- Slipknot, Papa Roach, The Offspring and more have been added to the Battlefield 6 videogame soundtrack
- “There were times we were just checking in on him to see if he was alive”: this grunge band did everything they could to try and keep their singer on the straight and narrow whilst making their third album, but it wasn’t enough
- "He walked into my bedroom, and he says, Darling, I think this is a hit." How a disco legend and a hotshot Texan blues guitarist helped resurrect David Bowie's career
- "When I listen to bands like BMTH and Architects it’s very powerful, but everything is focused on the vocals, like boy bands!" A synthwave pioneer has written a Sci-Fi concept album fighting back against "the boy band-ification" of metal... and Elon Musk
- “Something groundbreaking for our fans”: Iron Maiden turn only 2026 UK show into its own festival, including acts featuring band’s former members
- “I actually died in her arms. You look back and say, ‘Well, that was supposed to happen’”: Jon Anderson on the song he wrote for his wife – although it’s about the time before he’d met her
February 17
- "We are living through dark, disturbing and dangerous times, but do not despair – the cavalry is coming!" Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band announce Land Of Hope And Dreams American Tour
- "We have been talking about a Thor’s hammer that shoots fire or flashes." Viking metal's biggest band are taking cues from Iron Maiden for their next album
- Paramore’s Hayley Williams will appear on the new album by Failure, the best alt-rock band who never got their dues
- “It’s not cute and it’s not nice. I was afflicted. I never conquered it, but I dealt with it”: Prog guitar icon’s struggle with shyness brought him to music and made him a success
- Songwriter Billy Steinberg, who wrote monster hits for Heart, Pat Benatar, The Bangles, Madonna, The Pretenders and more, dead at 75
- Thurston Moore and underground rock legend Kramer announce album They Came Like Swallows – Seven Requiems for the Children of Gaza, "a prayer to the war-torn souls of the families of Palestine continually decimated by the brutality of genocide"
- “That’s my Porsche 911 at the beginning…”: the synth-rock anthem that kicked off with the sound of the singer’s sports car, sampled fireworks and inspired Trent Reznor to start writing Nine Inch Nails’ debut album
- "I was once in a room with Kate Bush. I was too frightened to say anything." Doctor Who and The Thick Of It star Peter Capaldi on his love for Kate Bush and the Sex Pistols
- Tool hope to release a new album and put on a residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere in 2027: “I think we’re the perfect band for that”
- "I knew what each of my friends was capable of, but I didn't know how that would blend together." How John Lydon left the trainwreck of the Sex Pistols behind with a trailblazing statement of intent
- “With his despair and her hope, the fact that its roots are in tragedy only adds to its poignancy”: The story of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush’s duet Don’t Give Up
February 16
- "I was so shocked I just fell on the floor, gasping for air." Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist Flea pays tribute to the "beautiful boy" who changed his life and broke his heart
- “Pretentious, perhaps. But let’s call it pioneering instead”: Peter Gabriel called it “knock and knowall” – but five decades on, here’s why we still like Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
- Jon Anderson announces September UK tour dates
- "It's not me! But thank you for all the love!" Angela Gossow shoots down rumour that she's rejoining Arch Enemy
- "His spirit will be around." A beloved, long-lost cult prog metal band have announced their first shows in 16 years - and you can hear their first rehearsals together
- "Breaking the Law is a revolution song." Watch Rob Halford discuss conflict, rioting and rage in trailer for forthcoming documentary The Ballad of Judas Priest, starring Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Grohl, Billy Corgan, Kirk Hammett and more
- “He said, ‘It’s not going to happen.’ He gave me that tough-guy New York thing. I said, ‘How about something that is going to happen?’ It was career suicide, but it felt really good”: How Steve Morse took on a media mogul and got away with it
- "I wish that people’s lives weren’t political. I wish that our rights over our bodies weren’t political. I wish that feeding children wasn’t political. But it is." Texan doom punks Die Spitz are fighting for their rights
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: February 16, 2026
- "The very first thought that came into my head was, ‘This band are going to get ripped off’." Corrupt police, crumbling dictatorships and amateur translators: The 80s metal classic that smashed borders and helped launch one of metal's most iconic labels
- "My main memory is thinking if I stood still for too long, I’d get hit with a beer can." R&B superstar Thundercat looks back on his nine years in hardcore punk legends Suicidal Tendencies
- "Hey, everybody. It's me, Dee Snider, and I'm not dying!" Twisted Sister frontman "still rocking, ain't stopping", despite reunion tour cancellation
- Steven Wilson announces two Royal Albert Hall dates in October, his only live shows this year
- "This is going to be a long tour, and at the end of it, I want some time to live life.” Heavy metal legend and ever-controversial icon Dave Mustaine on the end of Megadeth, making peace with Metallica and what's next
- "From the light to the dark, the sacred to the profane, Cash's songbook is all-embracing." Nine Johnny Cash albums you should listen to and one to avoid
- "I get choked singing that one. I lose the rhythm, lose the riff, and I think to myself: 'Oh, don't do that.' It's stupid." The story of the pub rock classic that journeyed from paradise to paradise lost
- "It's not big, it's not clever, but it is a lot of twelve-bar fun with that Keith Richards' twist": Faster Pussycat's debut is a middle-finger-in-the-air collection of songs about sex, drugs and rock'n'roll
February 15
- “We have an identity crisis. People say, ‘I knew every one of those songs, but I had no idea they were yours’”: Mike + The Mechanics’ history is a bit more rock’n’roll than Genesis’
- “The studio had a rancid swimming pool. We bet our drummer £50 that he wouldn’t jump in. He did”: Skin disease, an unhinged producer and weird bets around the swimming pool – the story of the one of British metal’s greatest albums
- “There was a sweet side to him when he came out of one of these weeks of debauchery. There were some good times. But not many”: Fleetwood Mac made an album that sold five million copies but no one talks about it – not even the band
- "When it ended, I asked, “Do you hate it?” How an old rap-rock demo, a Chris Farley skit and an all-star jam helped turn one Canadian pop-punk band into megastars
- “I was surprised that it was the one everybody knows about. Metallica must have thought it was a decent song. We got some street cred from that”: The cult 70s anthem that Metallica turned into one of metal’s most famous cover songs
February 14
- “Who else other than Mortiis can make sense of the lyrics? I still can’t, but there’s an energy behind them that just fits”: The enigmatic Norwegian anthem that became black metal’s first ‘hit’ – and even the band that made it don’t understand
- Lamb of God changed their logo because the old one looked like "a falafel restaurant menu"
- “Of all the entertainment businesses, the music business is the worst of all them. It attracts the lowest form of life”: The maverick ‘mad scientist’ who created an entire genre in his basement – and stuck it to the music industry
- “I would’ve loved to sing like Ozzy. But these horrible noises came out of my throat instead!”: The trailblazing German thrash queen who inspired a generation of female metal singers
- “Whenever someone’s said to me, ‘Oh, didn’t you write this about the superhero?’, I’d just say: ‘Sorry, never heard of him’”: The misunderstood metal classic that gave an iconic Marvel movie character his theme song
- "He would blow a fuse and get p**sed off at us and scream!" How an irate producer and 'Chris Rock' convinced Beastie Boys to finish what would be their biggest-ever song
- “I was talking to Kerry King, and that Slayer album – Jesus Christ, did you see that cover?! That stuff is pretty vivid”: The classic metal album wrestling legend Stone Cold Steve Austin wishes he’d made – and the band he thinks should have been huge
February 13
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "Under any authoritarian government, bad laws are there to be broken." Massive Attack react to High Court ruling that the UK government acted unlawfully when classifying Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation
- "It's as if overnight the world decided Deftones were the most culturally important band since Nirvana." Alternative metal's original baddies get hot and heavy as they kick off their UK tour in Birmingham
- “I’m not in any way afraid of death." The triumph and tragedy of Nirvana's final album
- The Dillinger Escape Plan announce first UK show since 2017, alongside only European shows of 2026
- "I and so many others have experienced gaslighting, vilification, monitoring and covert manipulation." Sister Ghost shares raging punk single Not Your Toy, lines up special Valentine's Day show
- Cool new proggy sounds you need to hear from Crown Lands, System 7, Major Parkinson in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- "The tribe explained to us that the only way they wrote music was if someone dreamed of it." How a cult band headed deep into the Brazilian jungle, got help from an indigenous tribe and emerged with one of the 90s' defining metal songs
- “It would be interesting to revisit some of the songs, but it’s never going to happen. I don’t know who isn’t talking to who these days”: Judy Dyble was always amazed at the quality of her collaborators
- "The pursuit of immortality? I'll chase that as hard and fast as the next guy": Why the world is seeing a lot of Bruce Springsteen
February 12
- "I've got to be careful about what I say about it. But I've got a lot to say." Superstar drummer Josh Freese on his enforced "mystery" exit from Foo Fighters
- "We’re in the lab, we’re woodshedding, excited." Eddie Vedder says that Pearl Jam are preparing for a new era
- Alanis Morissette and Skunk Anansie added to inaugural State Fayre Festival line-up following the cancellation of Neil Young's European tour
- “We’re selling out shows, we’re climbing the bills, but there’s so much pressure to reach more success”: As one of the UK’s leading bands stop touring, we need to talk about the toxic effect a ruined music industry is having on heavy metal
- "This is a much more insular record." Steven Wilson reveals details of his upcoming studio album
- "Fuelled by booze and pills, they cut their teeth delivering approximations of Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran." Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson on why the early Beatles were so dangerous
- "He locked himself in the studio and threatened to burn the tapes. It was a stand-off for almost a day." How Sammy Hagar helped Van Halen win the war against David Lee Roth
- "I was intubated, put in a coma for seventeen days. I had to relearn how to walk and talk – and my voice was completely different." Elles Bailey talks fame, vanity, mental health and the childhood trauma behind her smoke’n’honey battle cry
- “It was just weird. It wasn’t working, whatever we tried. I think it created a negative association”: Tom Sawyer started out as Rush’s least favourite track on Moving Pictures. It later made them big in Brazil
- "I looked over my shoulder, saw Ronnie Wood and thought: 'That's nice!' I didn't meet the Rolling Stones, but I waved at them from a golf cart." Samantha Fish on playing with the Stones and her complicated relationship with the blues
- "After all those days in the cotton fields, the dreams came true on a gold record." The story of the mongrel mix of blues, country and pop that sold a million and became the original rock’n’roll anthem
February 11
- "My brother died a year and a half ago...he got me into Iron Maiden when I was eight years old." How a tragedy, heavy metal and a cult 90s classic inspired one of 2026's best horror movies, Whistle
- “Everything’s changed. We’re going to be rich.” How a song about gang wars helped a Ph.D. student and a school janitor become the '90s most unlikely rock stars
- Marillion share new remix of Go! as they announce 25th anniversary reissue of marillion.com
- The Pogues drummer Andrew Ranken dead at 72
- “I think we met with his approval. If I find him haunting me, I’ll know I did something wrong”: Tim Smith left an unfinished Cardiacs album when he died. Five years on, his bandmates released the finished version of LSD
- "I was sitting near Judas Priest, Sharon and Ozzy, Joey from Slipknot was there...three surreal days." The cult Italian band that broke boundaries and became household names in metal thanks to this classic 00s album
- "Gandalf is rocking out to dwarven metal while the guitarist from Anthrax commandeers soft serve ice cream." Mosh pits in hot tubs and stage dives over the sea: what it's like on the world's biggest heavy metal cruise
- Want a killer lineup, a celebration of tattoo culture and one of the coolest festival locations on planet Earth? You need to be at Inkcarceration 2026
- "He says, 'Everyone knows what ****er means there. You can't show that in England. They'll edit it out.'" A wrestling legend shares how Ozzy Osbourne was "the voice of reason" when he appeared on WWE RAW
- "Anyone that wants to succeed in anything knows that it comes at a sacrifice." One of the UK's best metal bands announce that they won't be touring for the foreseeable future, fiercely criticise the cynical grind of the modern music industry
- "There was about 380 people in the hall, sold out. There wasn’t a woman in sight." Carl Palmer looks back on the earliest Emerson, Lake & Palmer shows
- “I got three whacks with the cane for lying and skipping school. So I blame The Beatles for me being in the music business. I also blame them for getting a whacking!” Derek Shulman’s path to Gentle Giant
- "I didn't even realise. I was like: 'Why are you doing a big cock-rock move?' But he was getting electrocuted!" Prog-metallers Karnivool are back to reclaim their crown – if they don't die on stage first
- “It’s no good saying, ‘I’ll be dead by the time this becomes a crisis.’ We are the generation who created the problem. We owe it to the generations to come to clear it up. If it hasn’t gone too far”: Jethro Tull – a warning from history
- "How would anyone feel when one is the principal songwriter in the band and along comes this upstart and spoils everything?" What happens when your bass player accidentally writes your first big hit
- "He thinks so far ahead you can only marvel." Nine Jack White albums you should listen to and one to avoid
February 10
- "Everything I've done in my life so far seems to have led up to this moment." Dee Snider details the emotional mushroom ceremony he participated in to resolve health issues
- "How is it possible we've given this evil man so much power?" Jack White calls for US President Donald Trump to be arrested, impeached and jailed
- "This is something we've talked about doing for a long time." One of the most exciting bands on Earth has teamed up with one of the most innovative rappers in the game for an explosive new single you need to hear
- "I don’t really know what I’m talking about, I’m just doing it. There’s no art to it." How a meaningless French silent movie inspired the surreal alt. rock anthem that helped launch a musical revolution
- “You have no idea how many walk out of the room every time we do that. Obviously, I’m glad that they leave”: Paleface Swiss vocalist is happy he offends people by kissing his bandmates
- Paramount+ review: A well-priced streaming service with a host of huge IPs, but not enough music content
- "Pat Smear left me a voicemail and said, 'I have the weirdest request and it involves Mariah Carey'." How Taylor Momsen and Foo Fighters thrilled Mariah Carey by performing two songs from her secret alt. rock album for the very first time
- “I was like, ‘I think it’d be cool if I die and spit up blood and yada yada yada’”: You’ve probably seen their larger-than-life sword’n’sorcery concerts on social media, but Castle Rat’s fantasy shows are rooted in very real death anxieties
- "I'd like to see more of the world before it all gets vaporized." One of the biggest rock bands in history are set to bring the curtain down on their storied career this year
- "I just wanna know when Led Zeppelin's gonna be in the Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame." Kiss legend Gene Simmons rants about hip-hop being in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, EDM being "easy" and more
- “I felt like the John Lennon of Israel – like I could change the government. But this is a ‘failure’ album. We admit we won’t be massive. Not Steven Wilson, not me”: The story of Blackfield V
- “Every time it seems their direction is clear, the rug is swiftly pulled away”: Open your mind and embrace Biffy Clyro’s Infinity Land as a prog album
- "We were seen as a band that wouldn't last, so I think they wanted to milk us for everything we were worth." How an off-the-cuff cover of a 60s song became an era-defining hit and an albatross around the neck of the band that recorded it
- "They got signed on their talent, on their original material, but also on their looks. They looked like Robert Plant and Jimmy Page." The story of the album that rescued rock'n'roll from the darkness and built a brighter future
February 9
- "It crushes me not to be able to play guitar": Manowar founder Ross 'The Boss' Friedman diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease
- "We have the best fans in the world": Much-loved Brit rockers Little Angels announce first shows in over a decade
- Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood wants his music removed from the much-mocked Melania Trump documentary
- "She’d be talking about a song with a really good guitar solo and demand we change it, make it heavier." The trailblazing metal singer who saved an influential band's career and inspired a generation of women in the process
- “We honestly thought that it couldn’t harm us. How wrong we were.” One of the biggest albums of the 1970s would have carried a 'thank you' credit for the band's drug dealer if he hadn't been murdered before the record was released
- The Black Crowes announce UK and Europe summer shows
- Rick Wakeman launches new weekly podcast with comedian Griff Rhys Jones
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: February 9, 2026
- "What the heck were you thinking, dude? I would fall to my death." Maynard James Keenan has thoughts on Tool soundtracking that terrifying climb up one of the tallest buildings on Earth
- Disney+ review: An all-singing, all-dancing family streaming service with music docs and more
- "When you listen to The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Sabbath, Zeppelin...it would have ruined them!" The one thing from today's music that would have screwed up countless classic albums, according to legendary metal guitarist Zakk Wylde
- “As soon as I heard it, I thought, Yes, that's us, that’s Ozzy's voice." Listen to Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley play the blues on a rehearsal tape lost for 46 years
- "All of us are excited to return...with a few surprises in store." One of the biggest bands of the nu metal era just announced their biggest UK shows ever
- "It reminded me of the politics of fear, like we're doing today": How the LA club scene in the 1960s shaped American rock then sparked a revolution
- “The real 10 best albums in the world are lying on cassettes in someone’s drawer. They didn’t get released. It’s all luck”: How to beat fate by scrapping an album over a movie, relating to a suicidal joyriding pilot and feeling for flat Earthers
- "This is not their most exhilarating release, nor probably their absolute finest, but creativity is at an all-time high": Scorpions mix hard rock, pop and metal on the pre-stardom classic Taken By Force
February 8
- Immigrant Song, a lost cymbal and a suitcase full of cash: Rare footage of Led Zeppelin on tour in 1972 has surfaced online
- “I heard that Dylan came to hear us in London. I went, ‘Oh, no. Not now – you’re seeing me at my absolute worst’”: The overlooked blues-boogie icon who hung out with Bonnie Raitt, played with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan and appeared at Live Aid
- “I originally picked the guitar because it was the most obnoxious instrument, but after a while I was like, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of power in this thing’”: Steve Vai gave Devin Townsend his big break in the early 1990s. Decades later they got back together
- “I didn’t realise just how prog Genesis were. I’m pleased I got to see them on their last tour”: When Rivers Meet’s Aaron Bond came late to the prog party
- “The idea came from The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows. I just played it in a more violent way”: How Ringo Starr, Isaac Asimov and The Devil inspired one of rock’s greatest ever drum solos
February 7
- "It was an intense place to be for a gay man in that world." Faith No More's Roddy Bottum on hair metal
- 3 Doors Down frontman Brad Arnold dead at 47
- “It was amazing to hear keyboards with that kind of power. He really changed my life”: Jordan Rudess would have been a classical pianist if he hadn’t discovered this prog icon
- “Ronnie Van Zant ruled with an iron hand, but he and I never had a moment of confrontation. He let me take over the mic when a song suited my voice”: The Southern Rock legend who quit Lynyrd Skynyrd before they became famous – then rejoined 25 years later
- Here's how to watch Green Day's high voltage (and possibly controversial) Super Bowl 2026 opener from anywhere in the world: Times, streaming options, setlist predictions & more
- “Lars played me the whole song down the phone. He said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘Are you kidding?!’”: The inside story of the greatest Metallica album Metallica didn’t write
- “He told me, ‘I bet you don’t remember being escorted out last night in a bulletproof bus, do you?’ And no, I didn’t”: The drunken onstage outburst that nearly sparked a riot – and inspired a thrash metal classic
- "I was on my own, out in one of the gnarliest neighbourhoods. You’re scared, thinking, 'How do I get out of here?'" How a song about living in a rat-infested squat helped turn Green Day into one of the world's biggest bands
- “It’s really eerie and mellow and it has pagan poetry on it. There are a couple of songs on there that are so beautiful in a kinda sad way”: The cult album that Evanescence singer Amy Lee wishes she had made – and the one that broke her heart
- "I have decided to take a break." Neil Young cancels upcoming European tour, saying "This is not the time"
February 6
- "There are no plans for any physical release of this recording." Steven Wilson announces new live album Impossible Tightrope and launches hi-res audiophile resource
- "This isn’t a contest. This isn’t a gimmick. This is your chance to join." Here's everything you need to do if you want to become the new vocalist for multi-platinum rockers Skid Row
- Ghost’s Tobias Forge says it was a relief when he lost his anonymity: “I can’t eclipse what Ghost is. I’m not interesting enough.”
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "I have this memory of killing myself, blasting my head off, and then throwing the guitar at the amp over and over." The story behind the most intense song on the most ambitious rock album of the '90s
- “The BBC showed one minute and 10 seconds of it!” Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter: How a banned, censored and divisive single became Iron Maiden’s only UK number one
- “I guess people just don’t think like we do”: Maynard James Keenan thinks Puscifer are in the “third side-project category” but is happy on the side of the underdog
- "James says, 'Kill him!' This guy looks at the two of us and says, 'Who’s gonna kill me?' And James pointed at me." Dave Mustaine looks back on Metallica's wild early days
- "The idea of slowing down is unacceptable to me. I’d rather walk away than be a shadow of my former self." Twisted Sister cancel 50th anniversary reunion tour as Dee Snider quits due to health issues
- A lounge cover of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was “the creepiest thing” Ozzy Osbourne ever heard: “Which coming from him is the biggest compliment”
- Great new prog you must hear from Green Carnation, Magenta, Exploring Birdsong, A.A. Williams and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- “I asked my mum to make me a costume, which I wore all around London. It tapped into the British sense of humour. There’s nothing more ridiculous”: If Death is a rabbit and you're on TV as a Womble, you’re probably Mike Batt
- Steve Hackett's on the front cover of the new issue of Prog, on sale now!
- "The title track features a blistering, grandstanding, once-in-a-lifetime vocal." Jay Buchanan is captivating and contrary on Weapons Of Beauty
- "It was a nightmare to mix, but we got it sounding raw and filthy." The Black Keys announce "primal" new album Peaches!, launch first single
February 5
- "I go onstage, I battle death, I die and I come back to life." From sword-waving rat queens to alpha bro-baiting metal singers, the new issue of Metal Hammer has four exclusive covers: Castle Rat, Sleep Theory, President and Paleface Swiss
- "If there was another way around this, I would swallow my pride and say, 'I was able to find some miracle cure.'" Heavy metal legend and Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine on why now is the right time to say goodbye
- "We are watching people be pushed out of their homes here in America, in Palestine, in Sudan, in Iran, everywhere." Turnstile reflect on their historic Grammy Awards triumph and vow to keep making music in solidarity with "voices that are buried"
- "Queen's music doesn't belong to Freddie. It doesn't even belong to Queen any more." Writer/comedian Ben Elton reveals why Robert DeNiro's dream of making a musical about Freddie Mercury's life was vetoed by Brian May and Roger Taylor
- "I was being bombarded with Madonna's image on TV." How a beloved rock band took aim at a pop megastar, sampled Simon & Garfunkel and ushered in a genre-mashing masterpiece with a 90s classic
- "It was this dream song that just turned up as I was waking up one morning. It came to me fully formed." The story of the cinematic classic that kick-started Bob Mould's second life
- "I'm a grownass woman. I’m a female in the world taking care of myself. I can do whatever I want." Femme Fatale singer Lorraine Lewis on relaunching the band, skydiving in a bodysuit and joining OnlyFans
- "It's intense back there. Everybody is nervous. And everybody's really emotional because we know it's the last time." Halestorm's Lzzy Hale on Back To The Beginning: The build-up, the show and the aftershow... and the loss of Ozzy Osbourne
February 4
- "There were no rules; ideas could come from anywhere: subtle drum loops, bits of organ or abstract guitar noise, even samples of frogs or crickets." Long-awaited Slipknot project Look Outside Your Window is finally being released
- "He looked at the lyrics and goes, ‘Rock ’n’ roll cocktail – I think I invented that!'" How Queens of the Stone Age got a metal legend to sing on a single US radio would not touch
- “We have the same management, and we both wear masks. Is that it?!” President vocalist blasts comparisons to Sleep Token as “lazy”
- "I started meeting all these really warm, nurturing moms in school…and that wasn’t what I was experiencing at home." The heartbreaking tragedies behind the rise of metal's latest sensations
- “They all chimed in, ‘We want some crazy Spanish guitar. Improvise!’ I thought, ‘I’ve bitten off more than I can chew’”: When Queen pressganged Steve Howe into appearing on Innuendo
- "If they ever approached me, of course I would have done it...but I'm kind of relieved they didn't." Mike Portnoy responds to rumours he was in the frame to join Rush following the death of Neil Peart
- Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson’s next album features Sepultura members and is being recorded at Dave Grohl’s studio
- “The email said, ‘John Cale is looking for you.’ It absolutely terrified me. I thought I was in trouble!” How the Velvet Underground icon voiced a powerful song on Cate Le Bon’s new album
- "When people hear my versions of pop songs, they're shocked. They never expect to hear Adele sound like that." Meet Solomon Hicks, the New York guitarist bringing the blues to a new audience
- “The lyrics were for people on the fringes”: He made a prog album to inspire positivity. Tragically, one song inspired the man who killed John Lennon
- "When Robert Plant introduced me I achieved closure. I had my song back for the first time since 1961." How Bonnie Dobson's post-apocalyptic first song finally found its way home via the Grateful Dead, Nazareth, Jeff Beck, the Allman Brothers and more
- "Not just a world-class guitar player but an all-around creative force." Nine Joe Bonamassa albums you should listen to, and one to avoid
February 3
- "This is far and away the best live version of Paradise City I've ever seen": Rare footage of Guns N' Roses playing live in 1987 surfaces online
- "Iʼm not doing it out of guilt. Even if I didnʼt do it, the poverty would still be there." How getting stuck in a "rut", some tempting by Bob Geldof and the most A-list bill in history helped Queen pull off the greatest rock set of all time
- "Having to resort to writing something like this is so embarrassing." The story behind the extremely controversial Nirvana song that almost got them banned and made a US President smash up his own daughter's CD
- "I shifted from Garbage, Radiohead and Silverchair to black metal." The classic 90s album that changed the life of the singer who'd go on to front one of her country's biggest bands
- "I miss Ukraine very much. I missed it even more when I realised that I cannot go back there." The Soviet-born heavy metal singer who had to flee war to make her rock star dreams come true
- "He was a big, burly dude who would go to the beach in a Speedo at 65 years old and hit on women with the most confidence you’ve ever seen." How the death of a loved one, pig squeals and TikTok helped crown a modern metal classic
- No rules. No limits. No quarter. Led Zeppelin: 18 months on the road with the biggest band in the world - only in the new issue of Classic Rock
- Deep Purple announce one-off show at London's iconic Royal Albert Hall
- "We have no use for a standalone singer who doesn't play an instrument, preening themselves like a rock god": Atomic Rooster guitarist Steve Bolton on reviving the band, changing frontmen, and John Entwistle's phallic number plate
- “The school would kick everybody out with hair that touched their ears. Someone on the board found out we were wearing short-haired wigs!” Steve Morse endured educational woes, dodgy gear and jazz snobbery, but knew he could make it as a guitarist
- "The aspects of America that are really magical to us are the things it seems to reject, like black music or the Beat poets": The story of the multi-version David Bowie song that captured his revulsion of American corporate dominance
February 2
- "Once you're comfortable in this space, don't overthink it, just enjoy it." A new recording studio at a historic English school has been named after Justin Hawkins
- "A one-man calamity, catastrophe. No trace of sanity, an empty shell": Queen's Roger Taylor releases surprise protest song Chumps and doesn't pull his punches
- "They're lining up six hours before the show. They just scream when you go out on stage as if it's Beatlemania." Nine Inch Nails and Korn love them and they might have invented metal's sleaziest subgenre. This is the story of Health
- New Metallica x Dr. Martens collection are Hardwired to impress… wherever you may roam
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: February 2, 2026
- What the 2026 Grammys got right about rock and metal this year - and what they got very wrong
- "We've experienced the biggest loss we will ever go through." Kelly Osbourne reveals why the Osbourne family are "closer than ever" following Ozzy's death - and has an emotional reaction to the epic Grammys tribute starring Post Malone and Slash
- “We’re not flower children and we’re not yuppies. We’re somewhere in between – the Van Der Graaf Generation”: They had links to Jethro Tull, Voivod and The Cure. Did you really think Men Without Hats were all new wave and no prog?
- "There was no real sign that it was a big protest song, so most people listened to it and didn’t realise": The story of the anti-war commentary disguised as a four-minute pop song that set R.E.M. on the path to global success and stardom
- "Highly listenable background music." The Alan Parsons Project bake up the ear candy on Eye In The Sky like punk, NWOBHM and new wave pop rock never happened
- “We knew costumes wouldn’t be part of it. Phil wouldn’t have been good in a flower mask”: Peter Gabriel’s exit could have finished Genesis. Instead Phil Collins stepped up and they delivered prog classic A Trick Of The Tail
February 1
- "The community we found through punk and hardcore music has given us a safe place to swing in the dark." Turnstile win big in the rock and metal categories at the 2026 Grammys, Yungblud and Nine Inch Nails also winners
- "I was trying to make a butt sex joke and it was dumb." Maynard James Keenan regrets some of the lyrics he wrote on those early Tool records
- “We ended up getting really, really hammered and commanding the stage. We were terrible, but we knew there was something magical about it”: The US band who stepped out of Bon Jovi’s shadow to become hair metal’s last superstars
- "He asked me 'Do you have long hair? Are you willing to wear a dress and high heels? Are you willing to wear lipstick?' Those questions fascinated me." Peter Criss recalls his first conversation with Gene Simmons and the birth of Kiss
- “I had a conversation once with William Burroughs about trance music and riff music, and repetition”: Jimmy Page on the secrets behind his most iconic guitar solo – and the solo he found hardest to play live
- “I wrote it on a piece of paper somewhere on tour, and I thought, ‘That’s an album!’” A glimpse of how Ian Anderson creates Jethro Tull lyrics
- "The ‘bucket’ is all the crap that goes around our head all the time." Peter Gabriel shares new single Put The Bucket Down
- “We played at a punk club in Germany and this guy was pointing a gun at me the whole time. That was uncomfortable!”: The pioneering European metal queen loved by Dio, Lemmy and Gene Simmons
- “The two Johns very began to hate doing TV shows that wanted us to mime. For a band that worshipped Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy and UFO, it became a really big problem”: The huge 80s hard rock hit that drove a wedge between the band that made it
- “The economy of 80s synthpop made it so attractive. Within us were the seeds of something much more musicianly – whether you like it or not”: Tears For Fears sneaked prog into a run of hit singles in 1984 and 85. So why weren’t they at Live Aid?