Classic Rock

Classic Rock

Classic Rock is the online home of the world's best rock'n'roll magazine. We bring you breaking news, exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes features, as well as unrivalled access to the biggest names in rock music; from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple, Guns N’ Roses to the Rolling Stones, AC/DC to the Sex Pistols, and everything in between. Our expert writers bring you the very best on established and emerging bands plus everything you need to know about the mightiest new music releases.

Articles by: Classic Rock

Photographs of Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward and Led Zeppelin”s John Bonham

“He was, without question, the best rock drummer in the world”: What Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward really thought of Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham

By Classic Rock published

Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward and Led Zeppelin”s John Bonham rose through the ranks together

Free sitting on some steps

"We were essentially a blues band with adventurous leanings": Every Free album ranked, from worst to best

By Classic Rock published

With their legacy defined by the tragic death of guitarist Paul Kossoff and the ubiquity of All Right Now, it’s often forgotten just how miraculous Free were

Photographs of The Darkness wearing suits and Stephen Dorff

“Justin Hawkins has got a crazy brain. He kept giving me all of these great lines”: How The Darkness persuaded a Hollywood A-lister to appear on their new album

By Classic Rock published

When The Darkness call, Hollywood picks up the phone

Rock Imperium Festival 2025 lineup

Heavy metal, classic rock, prog and beautiful Mediterranean sunshine collide at Spain’s Rock Imperium - one of the most stunning and unique festivals in the world

By Classic Rock published

Scorpions, The Cult, King Diamond, Till Lindemann, In Flames, Blind Guardian and Stryper are just some of the names confirmed for this year’s amazing lineup

Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore holding a guitar and Ian Gillan singing onstage

“Ritchie has firm ideas about how things should be, and there were things that we disagreed on”: Ritchie Blackmore once asked former Deep Purple bandmate Ian Gillan to join Rainbow

By Classic Rock published

Gillan responded by asking Blackmore to join his solo band

Joe Satriani holding a guitar and Kurt Cobain playing guitar onstage

“He was a great guitar player. He’s not looking at what he’s playing, he really knows the instrument”: Joe Satriani says Kurt Cobain was an underrated guitar hero

By Classic Rock published

Joe Satriani knows a thing or two about great guitarists – and he says the Nirvana frontman was one of them

A composite image of Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Led Zeppelin

“We jammed with Zeppelin. John Bonham said, ‘Let’s play that song of yours I like.’ That was Supernaut”: Tony Iommi on the rivalry between Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin – and their lost jam session

By Classic Rock published

Did the world miss out on a Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelin supergroup?

A composite image of Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan and late Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett

The people behind Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown are planning a Syd Barrett movie

By Classic Rock published

Could Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett and The Mamas & The Papa’s Cass Elliot be getting the big screen treatment?

Motley Crue posing for a photograph in the mid-2010s

“Bob Rock would say: ‘You could do better. You’re halfway there. More Springsteen! More Ian Hunter!’”: The major Mötley Crüe hit that took Nikki Sixx eight attempts to write

By Classic Rock published

It paid off by giving Mötley Crüe their biggest ever single

Body Count’s Ice-T posing for a photograph and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Roger Waters in 1973

“Roger asked, ‘Who’s singing it?’ ‘Ice-T.’ ‘Approved!’” How Ice-T got Roger Waters and David Gilmour to stop bickering with a cover of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb

By Classic Rock published

How David Gilmour ended up playing with Body Count

Queen posing for a photograph in 1978

“It always pulls something out of you. Even if the winds are blowing in the wrong direction, it still sounds good”: The Freddie Mercury song that Queen’s Brian May never gets tired of playing

By Classic Rock published

Spoiler: it’s not Bohemian Rhapsody!

Deep Purple classic line up and an inset of George Harrison

"I’d heard this one thing, Smoke On The Water or something. But I’d never actually seen them": the night an ex-Beatle gatecrashed a Deep Purple show for an impromptu jam

By Classic Rock last updated

At a gig in Sydney in 1984, Deep Purple were joined by surprise guest Arnold Grove – aka former Beatles guitarist George Harrison

Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris holding a bass guitar

“He’s one of the most gifted songwriters that ever lived. What can I say? I’m not worthy!”: The eccentric prog icon who blew Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris’s mind

By Classic Rock published

The greatest ever songwriter to stand on one leg!

Ozzy Osbourne, Freddie Mercury, Curt Cobain and Rush

The 50 best rock bands of all time

By Classic Rock last updated

A definitive guide to the very best rock bands to ever have bothered polite society

Phil Lesh of The Grateful Dead backstage at a show in 1977

Grateful Dead bassist and co-founder Phil Lesh dies at 84

By Classic Rock published

Phil Lesh, the bassist with The Grateful Dead, The Other Ones, The Dead and Phil Lesh And Friends has died

Myles Kennedy bundle

Order your limited edition Myles Kennedy x Classic Rock bundle – featuring an exclusive piece of show backdrop!

By Classic Rock published

There are only 200 worldwide, so get yours while you can!

A composite photo of Michael Schenker in 2020 and Pete Way playing live in 1979

“Pete was an open, innocent person. He suffered a lot in his life, but everybody loved him”: Michael Schenker’s new album features a tribute to late UFO bandmate Pete Way

By Classic Rock published

Michael Schenker’s new album features a cover of UFO’s Too Hot To Handle – and it’s dedicated to late bandmates Pete Way and Paul Raymond

A composite image of Jon Anderson and Yes guitarist Steve Howe

“I contacted Steve Howe and got very little back. Eventually you say, ‘OK, I’ve got to move on’”: Jon Anderson is finally over the idea of rejoining Yes

By Classic Rock published

Jon Anderson says he’s found the Yes he “always wanted” on his new solo album

Eddie and Alex Van Halen

Listen to Unfinished, the last song Eddie and Alex Van Halen ever recorded together

By Classic Rock published

Unfinished will be included in the audiobook of Brothers, Alex Van Halen's forthcoming memoir

Glenn Hughes posing for a photograph

“This will possibly be the last band that I’m in”: legendary ex-Deep Purple man Glenn Hughes says his current group could be his last

By Classic Rock published

Black Country Communion’s Glenn Hughes admits that his days of playing in bands could be coming to an end

Van Halen, 2004

"He did horrible things to people. He treated people so bad. He was a complete raving maniac." In 2016, Sammy Hagar talked candidly about his fears that Eddie Van Halen was going to die during Van Halen's 2004 reunion tour

By Classic Rock last updated

"When I saw those demons take over him it was pitiful." Sammy Hagar revisited his darkest days in Van Halen in a 2016 interview newly uploaded online

Jimi Hendrix studio portrait

The hits, the posthumous tracks, the interstellar space jams: These are the 20 greatest songs Jimi Hendrix ever recorded

By Classic Rock last updated

In four short years Jimi Hendrix created a rock'n'roll revolution, changing the way guitarists played their instruments and redefining what was possible in music itself

Jon Bon Jovi and Lzzy Hale

“Please, Lzzy, join Skid Row! Put the two bands together if you need to!”: even Jon Bon Jovi thinks Lzzy Hale should become Skid Row’s permanent new singer

By Classic Rock published

Who should be Skid Row’s new singer? Jon Bon Jovi has the answer

Grand Slam

40 years after their formation by Thin Lizzy icon Phil Lynott, Grand Slam are still rocking hard with their stirring new video Come Together (In Harlem)

By Classic Rock published

Grand Slam's brand new studio album, Wheel Of Fortune, arrives June 7

Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora in 2024

“I’ve spoken to him twice in the last 11 years”: Jon Bon Jovi shuts down talk of a reunion with Richie Sambora

By Classic Rock published

Don’t hold your breath for a Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora reunion any time soon