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March 2026

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223 articles

March 31
- “I just wanted to punch that dude in the face." How Linkin Park pushed themselves to the limit on Hybrid Theory and changed the face of metal
- "There'd be guys in full Kiss make-up just standing there flipping us off for the whole set." After the release of Adrenaline, Deftones faced hostile audiences and were forced to hone their chops the hard way
- "Parents come up to me and instead of going, ‘Oh you’re not a good role model because you talk about sex’, they say the opposite!" How Halestorm's breakthrough anthem smashed some silly taboos in rock 'n' roll
- “Greg Lake was a bit of a cabaret singer. Jon Anderson, whatever you think of his lyrics, bloody meant it”: The prog stars who influenced a comedy musician’s career – and made him become a milkman for a while
- "Hanoi Rocks could've been one of the biggest bands in the world. The potential was there, but fate had other plans." Michael Monroe looks back at a career packed with thrills, spills, triumph and tragedy
- "You can borrow the luggage of the past, you can amalgamate it with things that you've conceived could be in the future, and you can set it in the now." How David Bowie conquered time to write the song that gave him an audience
- "There's no denying that Gong has changed me." Kavus Torabi on the new adventures of psychedelic rock, jazz, space-rock and more collective Gong
March 30
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: March 30, 2026
- “First I’d go, ‘That’s amazing – I played that?’ Then I’d say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna have to play that live!’” Just two examples of when Rush took being Rush too far
- “He switched people on to jazz in the same way we made classical music available to young people”: ELP drummer Carl Palmer’s musical icon is a trumpeter
March 29
- "He was screaming about being in Vietnam and running in front of cars." How a childhood encounter with an absconded psychiatric inpatient inspired a song that would change the face of metal
- “A 15-year-old girl came up and said, ‘I have a formal request from my family that you marry me.’ Her brother looked like he’d murder me if I said no”: King Crimson’s rock star moments include a food fight and an adult movie soundtrack
- “There was definitely some butting of heads – between Kerry King and Dave Mustaine, myself and Dave Mustaine, Dave Mustaine and Dave Mustaine”: The chaotic early 90s mega-tour that put thrash metal in arenas – and invented ‘The Big 4’
- “They perceived it to be blasphemous. It was not pornographic. It was serious. It was my first experience of the gulf between a record company and an artist”: Vangelis’ disgust at the treatment of Aphrodite’s Child masterpiece 666
- “I became carried away with my playing and when I turned around this hard-as-nails guy had a tear streaming down his cheek”: How a million-selling hair metal band made one of the most epic ballads of the 80s – with help from the Rolling Stones’ producer
March 28
- “We soaked up all of this great music and that song has bits of all of that – that open-stringed riff that Sepultura, Machine Head and Slipknot were famous for”: How a group of Florida teenagers wrote the anthem that gave mid-2000s metal a shot in the arm
- “People would stampede like wildebeest towards the stage. They’d go wild. We’d think: ‘This is what it’s about.’ It was like the Stones, The Doors, Zeppelin”: The rise, fall and many resurrections of the goth pioneers who hated being called a goth band
- “I said, ‘Inform Mr Jagger that the fee is a million dollars.’ He just about choked on that. But he knew the Stones needed us”: Twelve months of chaos, carnage and controversy that turned Guns N’ Roses into rock’s biggest band – and nearly killed them
- “It’s magic. You really enter into it when you listen to it – the concept, the way they played it. It still has a huge impact even now”: The epic 70s prog album Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia wishes she had made – and the album that broke her heart
- "There’s been a constant tension that’s been an enormous challenge for us all over the years – he did what he had to do.” Did a televised protest against Limp Bizkit really force Zack de la Rocha to quit Rage Against The Machine?
- “Freddie sounded like a rather powerful bleating sheep”: How the very first song Queen ever played live went on to become a 70s rock classic covered by the world’s biggest metal band
March 27
- "The success we enjoyed with Pearl Jam was a little bittersweet because our friend didn’t get to come along." Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament on Ten, Temple Of The Dog, Mother Love Bone, touring America for the first time, and working with Neil Young
- "He really didn’t like it the first time we played it, so he tried spoiling it." The story behind the song that made, and nearly broke up, Radiohead
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear this week
- Excellent proggy sounds you must hear from Bruce Soord, Exploring Birdsong, The Claypool Lennon Delirium and more in Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week
- “We loved being pretentious, in the best possible sense of the word”: The bloody-minded duo who dared to delete a Robert Fripp solo in front of him
- "Am I guilty by association, or the innocent receiver of stolen goods?" The surprisingly contentious origins of one of the greatest singles of the 60s
March 26
- Slamdancing with John Belushi, supporting Guns N' Roses, duetting with Bruce Springsteen, and entertaining Elton John: the fabulous adventures of one of America's greatest and most under-rated cult artists
- “It's unbelievable we survived.” How a gang of OC punks changed the face of metalcore - and ultimately became one of 21st Century metal's true stadium acts
- "Guaranteed to turn any club, field or arena into a writhing mass of sweating, crashing bodies." Every Lamb Of God album ranked from worst to best
- "They sounded like Hanoi Rocks after somebody hit them in the head with a frying pan." 40 years ago The Babysitters were the best-worst band in the World. Perhaps they still are
- “Over the years there have been people claiming I nudged Peter Gabriel out. That’s complete rubbish”: Phil Collins’ first show as Genesis singer, 50 years ago
- "The Island record came out the same time as Bob Marley, and the Epic one at the same time as Boston. We were buried, and both became Frisbees." The story of the southern rock legends who took ten years to become an overnight success
March 25
- "He’s a judge! What do I say? I’m 26, I don’t know **** about the legal system!" How a fake murder story, a lawsuit and one extremely weird phone call got this classic Slipknot song removed from the world and hidden for a decade
- "I did some crazy s**t, you know!" Remembering Ozzy Osbourne's bizarre '90s collaboration with Miss Piggy
- "By writing obsessively in my diary I was admitting, This is madness, you are in danger, be careful." Hole, Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Maur on surviving the '90s, love, loss, and her brilliant memoir Even The Good Girls Will Cry
- “Somebody said I was the ice queen, because I just didn’t move on stage – I was terrified!” The woman who became a prog star after being asked to lead the singing at anti-nuke marches
- The 30 best metal albums of the decade (so far)
- “I’d never heard of them before I got the request. But my assistant said they were very good, so I agreed”: The ambition behind Nightwish’s collaboration with Richard Dawkins
- "In pursuing my own fake band I stumbled upon something that had real potential." The miraculous rise of the modern prog superstars who started out as a joke
- "Determined to expand beyond the restrictive confines of goth, they were victims of their own ambition." Nine albums by The Mission to listen and one to ignore
- "Yo, Jim. This is Sylvester Stallone. Gimme a call. We need to talk." How one of Hollywood's great action heroes turned Survivor from no-hopers to heavyweight champions of AOR
- Hotel bombings, car crashes, conspiracy theories, towering infernos and more: The A to Z of B.B. King
March 24
- "I took my scooter up the lift and rode it through the corridors naked in drag make-up with just a tie on." A brilliant and bonkers interview with Motorhead's late, great Phil Campbell
- They were bottled off stage by Alice Cooper's audience, derailed by a death in The Pretenders and made U2's producer cry: How Big Country made one of the biggest albums of the 80s
- How to watch Prime Video from anywhere: Stream award-winning music documentaries, live performances and more
- "He bought a retired police sniffer dog because he kept forgetting where he'd hidden his drugs." Quireboys frontman Spike is currently on an unplugged tour - and he's telling some wild stories
- “I said, ‘It’s more interesting to just hint. We don’t want to give the game away”: The unloved movie script that soundtracked Porcupine Tree’s Deadwing
- "There's no reason why you can't get better as you get older." Nine Thunder albums to listen to and one to avoid
- “Marrying the idea of death to an upbeat, singalong chorus has always been interesting”: This band love sneaking prog into record collections
March 23
- "If it were made today, it would sound like Green Day or a metal band." How a neurotic 19-year-old and a guitarist with a razor created the blueprint for metal and punk
- "I was kicked out of the Deftones show 'cos I was being too aggressive in the pit. I was like, 'I used to be in this band!'" What it was like being in one of the world's biggest metal bands in their earliest days
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: March 23, 2026
- "It touched something inside me the moment I heard it, and I’ve never been able to step away from it." The two-woman band from Istanbul bringing the Turkish black metal scene roaring into life
- “A lot of fans and the press didn’t like it. I agreed with them for a while”: The British blues boom band who went prog, with help from John Lennon, heatstroke and weed
- Aftershock is the West Coast's biggest rock, punk and metal festival. Here's why you can't afford to miss it
- "I don’t want my son disrespecting women, but he always says to me, 'Mom! You have a song called Whore!'" The misunderstood singer who became a 21st century metal icon
- “He stopped the proceedings and said, ‘What you’re playing is crap!’” Bill Bruford’s first and best drum lesson as King Crimson recorded Larks’ Tongues In Aspic
- "We were playing the first slot at noon. Nobody comes to the stage at noon but it was full of people. They were waiting for us and chanting!" How four Mongolian pals playing folk metal became their country's biggest ever rock band
- "Open your mind. Wear what you want, sing what you want to sing, be what you want to be. Be happy." Ana Popovic on fixing the craziness in the world, getting Bruce Springsteen's approval and turning funky
- "He said: 'Hold it! Keep playing that, don't stop!' He comes down in his undershorts and grabs his guitar, then completes the riff." How London’s famous clock tower and a flirtatious groupie inspired Jimi Hendrix's last great song
March 22
- “When people dismiss it as Spinal Tap, I find that offensive, because these guys were brave and honest and dealt with issues that all creative people go through”: How metal’s biggest band went to the edge and made one of the greatest documentaries ever
- “The Genesis guys said they liked the track, which was ironic. It was one of the reasons I’d left. I thought there was no chance of getting them to do it”: How Steve Hackett’s risky solo move paid off
- “Something had changed. The music was becoming more commercial. We’d lost something of our punk-type edge. It was getting a bit too arty-farty”: How Iron Maiden fought back against a press backlash and accusations of “hype” to deliver a classic album
- “We heralded a change that culminated with everyone buying Appetite For Destruction. We were treated badly for saying there’s nothing wrong with rock music”: How a group of AC/DC-loving ex-goths helped make hard rock cool again – with help from Rick Rubin
- "This is a song about one of Ben’s friends that has multiple sclerosis. I am that friend with MS." How one Canadian punk band turned a life-altering diagnosis into an anthem of resilience
- “The Eagles were recording next door, but we were too loud for them. It kept coming through the wall into their sessions”: How Black Sabbath nearly ruined one of the most famous American rock songs in history
- “Melodic death metal didn’t exist when we wrote it. We were just a death metal band and we wanted to incorporate more classic songwriting into our sound”: The Swedish extreme metal anthem that sparked a whole new genre into life
March 21
- “I was working with Pete Townshend just after Moon died. I said: ‘Have you got anybody? I’ll leave Genesis’”: Phil Collins comes clean about wanting to join The Who, Led Zeppelin at Live Aid and the young rock legend who sent him a letter of support
- “I said, ‘To be honest, our first single was a fast, punky version of your song.’ They all chorused, ‘Yes, we know!’”: How Kraftwerk influenced a band who influenced a whole era of British music
- “Some bands wouldn’t function without each other, like Led Zeppelin. I was never like that. I was thought of as an egomaniac”: The Swedish shredder who compares himself to Beethoven, hates the blues and loves being rock’s most divisive guitarist
- “We were musicians and we knew how to play. We weren’t just a bunch of hippies running around playing three chords”: This rock icon broke away from her band to launch a solo career with an album that divided the critics. A year later she was dead
- Bloody Well Right! Breakfast In America might have had the bangers, but it was Crime Of The Century that truly saved Supertramp's bacon
- “To my shame, I did have big hair when I was a teenager – the full Mötley Crüe. But I could never get with Poison”: The 80s thrash classic Korn guitarist Head calls “the ultimate metal album” – and the record he thinks should be thrown in the trash
- “I was feeling a bit despondent because Free had broken up. I met a lady who was Brazilian and she said: ‘Come down and stay with me’”: How a supergroup formed from the ashes of one of the UK’s greatest bands wrote one of rock’s ultimate outlaw anthems
March 20
- "If you ask me what it's like to be a woman in rock, I'll scream." Slipknot, snow fights and sexism: the summer that changed everything for Italy's biggest metal band
- "I started shooting up heroin when I was 13. I didn't want to be left out of all the fun." How a damaged teenage drug dealer channelled black days into platinum records
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear this week
- "I remember getting the award from Aerosmith and I went to an afterparty with Bono. It was all mad." How a comedy song about a posh lady getting her kicks from the homeless community became an impossible hit
- "We jokingly called the album Commercial Suicide while we were making it." Why one of the world's biggest rock bands had to go back to "ground zero" on their riskiest and darkest record
- Cool new prog you must hear from Crown Lands, Tarja, Ed O'Brien and more in Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week
- "I had women with babies they said were his, women stripping their clothes off on the doorstep." My chaotic life as Phil Lynott's girlfriend
- "Bringing the bass and drums down so you can't hear them makes the lead guitar sound fantastic. Jack White made a career out of it." The story of the ferocious classic that was inspired by Vietnam and set a template for punk
- "He communicates at a very deep emotional level with the electric guitar." Dr. Who actor Peter Capaldi on the music that has soundtracked his life
- "It was like something from Mad Max, with all the fires and steaming bodies." Meet the rock'n'roll Forrest Gump, who turned down Jimi Hendrix, butted heads with Lemmy, and was saved from a bad trip by Pete Townshend
March 19
- "I'm not quite sure what the song is about, but there's a lot of anger, a lot of despair and a lot of frustration." The story behind the global Phil Collins hit that Genesis wish they'd recorded
- “There’ve been times where I’ve come back from a tour and my kids don’t know who I am”: Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt on 25 years of Blackwater Park, another Steven Wilson team-up, hating the road and why he might stop growling again
- “A triumph in prog, and a masterclass in storytelling”: Members of Dream Theater, Nightwish, Gentle Giant and others on the power of Jethro Tull’s Aqualung
- "I never thought someone would actually run with that song title. I suppose it's all my fault." The story of the extremely silly but surprisingly poignant Limp Bizkit anthem that made them the biggest (and most hated) metal band of their generation
- “If he knew karate, he would have broken the table with how hard he hit it. He said, ‘That has to be on the album!’”: Can you imagine Pink Floyd’s The Wall without Comfortably Numb? Roger Waters once did
- "He had to talk down a gun-toting S.W.A.T. team after Ace Frehley accidentally shot himself." For 40 years, Danny Francis kept rock stars out of trouble - and his stories prove it
- From child prodigy to platinum star: Nine Steve Winwood albums you should listen to and one to avoid
March 18
- “My life was going down the toilet. I was trying to stay out of everybody’s way, just to finish what I’d started." The story behind the troubled birth of Foo Fighters' second album, The Colour And The Shape
- "I always came home with my head full of blood. They were punching holes in my head with umbrellas." Head wounds, hardcore gigs and homophobes: Paleface Swiss are changing what it means to be masculine in metal
- "We had friends film us and then went to bed. Imagine our surprise the next morning: we woke up and it was already viral." How one powerful video turned a group of outcasts who'd escaped war into Ukraine's biggest metal band
- "When we played Chicago it was like Led Zeppelin. It was all there for us to take." The frazzled story of the stoner rock supergroup who should have been massive - but were crushed by the music business
- "We had expected empty rooms, possibly even bottles of urine, but from the first night everyone knew the words." The sudden rise, spectacular fall and slow road to recovery of America's great lost AOR band
- “It was like, ‘Are we going to work on Peter Gabriel’s stuff or our stuff?’ Everybody said, ‘Our stuff! We just like it better’”: The American band who decided to stick to their own course… and ran aground
- "It was like pulling teeth. Which is among the reasons why we stopped writing together." The story of the Status Quo song that ended a partnership and became a roller-coaster live classic
March 17
- "She dumped the baby on me and Joe Strummer and f***ed off for three days." That time a world famous rock star got shocked members of The Clash and The Damned to babysit her daughter while she went out partying
- "She looks happy, but you see a little fear and uncertainty behind her eyes." How a wedding, a shocked Simon Cowell and an iconic horror movie helped a viral pandemic metal video become a modern classic
- "I’m not indoctrinated anymore." How weird masks, wild rallies and big choruses helped President became one of metal's hottest new bands
- "So there I was slinging names about and accusing them of all sorts of things – dastardly deeds and vile occurrences!" Feuding and in crisis, Deep Purple combined two high-profile figures to create an anti-censorship classic
- “Some fans preferred it to Genesis… I had record labels asking for my next album, and half a band forbidding me from doing it”: The unexpected consequences of Steve Hackett’s Voyage Of The Acolyte
- "They told me to change my name. They also told me to sing other people's songs." How Joan Armatrading refused to compromise, baffled session pros, and made the album that set her on the path to stardom
- "You can hide behind it, but all my favourites play guitar and I wanna be the whole package." James Bruner was drawn into rock by the greats: Now he's ready to become one
- The man who inspired the British blues boom: Nine Muddy Waters albums you should listen to and one to avoid
March 16
- "I don’t know Katy Perry the diva. I know Katy Perry the tomboy who came in picking her nose." How a future pop megastar ended up as a singer for a famous Christian nu metal band
- "I put the mask on and I immediately understood what it was like to disappear. I was gone and the real me had just shown up." How Slipknot's Clown was born in a shopping mall in the mid '80s
- "I was like, 'Wow, I'm about the same size as this huge animal!'" How a close encounter with wolves, a rough break-up and a Spider-Man director helped Evanescence produce one of their most important singles
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: March 16, 2026
- “After all the choirs, orchestras and 700 tracks I’m just like, ‘Guys, it’s been a rough few years. I’m a confused 15-year-old’”: Devin Townsend had to abandon King Crimson, Yes and Gentle Giant for AC/DC and Bon Jovi
- "They told us we couldn't say anything to Paul about the Beatles. We were bummed out." The day that Toto guitarist Steve Lukather defied orders and jammed Beatles songs with Paul McCartney
- "One day I came back from delivering the chickens and there was a message. I had to learn 18 songs by Friday." Phil Campbell interview: My life in Motörhead
March 15
- "They asked if I knew who Johnny Cash was. I was like, ‘Of course I f**king know who he is!" How a punk legend helped resurrect the career of an American icon in less than half an hour
- “There’s a thinking that, to be progressive, every song has to have 14 minutes of musical intellectualism. We don’t agree”: Some say Soen’s new album isn’t prog enough. But they cite Genesis in their defence
- “I have always been interested in the mystery about our existence. I kept my eyes opened during the night to see in the darkness. My imagination went from Heaven to Hell”: The blasphemous Brazilian black metal band who made Sepultura look like Bon Jovi
- “We never really fitted in at all. Most heavy metal bands were riff-based. A thousand bands were copying Judas Priest and Iron Maiden”: The chaotic story of Spider, the unluckiest boogie rock band of the 80s
- “When you’re ahead of your time, it’s a real problem. You can have something extremely unique and labels won’t sign it because they don’t understand it”: The turbulent story of the band who claim to have brought heavy metal to North America
- “We never took advantage of a death. Other bands did it. People tried to make us do the same, but we just wouldn’t”: The southern rock classic covered by Waylon Jennings and Poison that deserves to be up there with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama
March 14
- I had cassette tapes of Muddy’s Chess songs made. “I’d bring them to the studio and he would decide if he wanted to record a song again”: How a blues legend made a stunning return to form in the twllight of his career - with help from a young guitar hero
- "It's our most emotional and moving song." In 1986, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder taped something off the TV. Years later, that recording would leave fans wondering what in the name of grunge was going on
- “He listened to the first two tunes, picked up the album and smashed it against the wall. It was the only one we had!” This 1968 hit made a prog pioneer into a global star – but even he didn’t like it at first
- “Lars called and said, ‘What did you do to our song? You covered up the solos, you covered up the drums, you filled every moment with dialogue!’”: How a bleak anti-war song and a massive u-turn pushed the “biggest cult band in the world” to a new level
- “Rory was approached with the suggestion he join Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in a new version of Cream”: John Lennon, Eric Clapton and Brian May loved them - but this trailblazing Irish blues rock trio lasted just two albums before imploding
- "I could be talking to you from my Burger King castle. That's my biggest regret." The beloved hardcore band that turned down a big pile of money to wear chicken masks for a Slipknot-aping fast food advert
- “There was a speed-breaking incident. We weren’t even doing anything cool, just coming back from the store. Blame Judas Priest!”: The album that Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale wants played at her funeral – and the pop record that became a drunken karaoke favourite
- “There was something romantic about splitting up when we did. But we couldn’t have gone on anyway. We were killing each other”: How rock’s most volatile band wrote the song that invented the 1990s – and then imploded
March 13
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "It turned out so good that Depeche Mode liked it!" The bold, gothic cover of a 90s classic that helped establish one of Europe's most beloved metal bands - and why it got a seal of approval from some British legends
- Great new prog you must hear from Devin Townsend, Green Carnation, Midge Ure, Teramaze and more in Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week
- “What can you say? It’s definitely earned its keep”: David Gilmour on the guitar he sold for $4m – that’s just sold again for $14.5m
- "There’s a guy here who you can pay five dollars to kick in the crotch.” A wild and weird weekend in Las Vegas with metal's most colourful band
- "At one point I felt like soaking myself in vodka, setting myself alight and flinging my body from a balcony in protest." The explosive story of the little-known band who inspired The Who and influenced punk
- "Looking at these things gave me some feelings I wasn't sure about. So I took these things outside and I burned all of them." Why Rival Sons' Jay Buchanan destroyed his past
March 12
- "When we recorded that song, Jim was on a huge dose of acid." How a simple break-up song evolved into The Doors' darkest, weirdest and most disturbing freak-out
- "I wanted to be able to say we are the next big thing.” Army drills, TikTok hits and nu metal: Sleep Theory are metalcore's fastest rising stars
- "A load of old characters came out to see us and one of them got arrested. It was a full-moon vibe." Weird and wonderful alt.rock Brits Marmozets fizz back with a new album after a seven-year absence
- "One guy brought a homemade metal blade to a fight. It lasted about 25 seconds. Phil completely laid the fella out. Phil was tough. You didn't mess." From teenage fan to first-name pals - The Phil Lynott I knew
- "We took a break and made some tea. Within 20 minutes Steve had written the words." How Humble Pie made the ultimate whiplash boogie white boy blues
March 11
- "It was construed as being about a sex worker." The story behind the Blondie classic that everyone misunderstood
- "I love the sleazy, lustful side of Motorhead." Severed heads, strip clubs and baptism by whisky: Why the metal world loved Lemmy Kilmister, the ultimate rock'n'roll rebel
- With up to 33% off vinyl storage in Amazon's Spring Deal Days sale, there's never been a better time to organise your wax. Here's 9 of my top picks for record collectors
- "To create something from nothing is one of the greatest feelings. It's heaven." Why Prince turned down a partnership deal with Guitar Hero, while Metallica considered it a "no-brainer"
- “I always try to be professional and respectful about people’s decisions. It was their band, so I had to go along with it”: When Yes told Oliver Wakeman not to come back
- “In the 70s the support band had to blow the main act offstage. I thought it was distasteful. There’s room for everybody”: Jethro Tull ex Martin Barre insists he’s not underrated, and explains why he has no time for egos
- “I was naked in a shower, they held me upside-down by my legs and they poured bourbon into my mouth”: How this thrash singer became the new frontman of 21st-century metal stars Children Of Bodom
- Ghostly keychains, vinyl box sets & classic tees: Ditch the chocolates and discover an alternative take on Mother's Day gifts
- "Sangria can make you do a lot of things…" How a drunken night, and the support of Samuel L. Jackson, changed the life of Kashus Culpepper
- "I know people don't want to hear me saying such things, but they're true." Francis Rossi comes clean on Status Quo, Rick Parfitt and new solo album The Accidental
- "It wouldn’t be my first choice of nickname now": Gluecifer's Captain Poon on touring with Lemmy, fun with chickens and the origins of that stage name
- "One of the most colourful, fascinating, exciting and unusual rock'n'roll albums we've ever heard." The story of the pioneering rockers whose career was scuttled by the Six-Day War
March 10
- “There was a lot of pain. My love for music was beginning to die”: He’d learned to let his brother be lead guitarist, and that many musicians lose hope. Then he changed his life, wrote a 15-minute prog epic and got signed
- "I remember thinking, Who in their right mind would want this to go out?" AC/DC's Angus Young on the song he wishes the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band had never released
- "Are you a guitarist too?" The day that rock legends Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Brian May and Jeff Beck met the Queen of England
- "A raging maniac with a head full of noise, romance and death." Nine Jim Steinman albums you should listen to and one to avoid
- "Into this void of hopelessness and lack of understanding came this perfect amoral act": How a controversial song inspired by a tragic school shooting in the US became a UK No.1
- "The crowd seemed more concerned with the long lines at the beer taps." In 1984 Huey Lewis invited Stevie Ray Vaughan on tour - and he tanked
March 9
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: March 9, 2026
- "I was walking down the street and I saw this junkie washing out his needle with wine." How one of the most hyped metal bands of the 90s bounced back from firings, studio disasters and, erm, constipation
- “Anyone who tells you it’s not a Genesis album isn’t a real fan. Come at me!”: Camel’s Peter Jones stands up for two records that others love to hate
- "Now I know that there's an audience for my voice and my songs, I want to present that to as many people as possible." Dan Byrne is ready for the world - but is the world ready for him?
- "I always took a flagon of cider on stage with me. When I'd finished drinking it I played the jug." The extraordinary story of the debut single that sold 73,000 copies before lunch and became a hit all over the world
- “He came on stage in a witch’s hat and cape, carrying a sword. In the second song he attacked me with the sword! What’s wrong with this picture, you know?” The flawed genius who even kept Lemmy on his toes
March 8
- "Hearing Prince covered it or Taylor Swift hand-picked it for an Apple commercial? What is that?" How an email rant inspired a song worth a billion streams and picked up some iconic fans along the way
- “Slamming started with us because of the speed. When we added reggae, and they started skanking like they’d come to see The Specials”: The cult punk icons who smashed together rock and reggae and influenced Slayer, Guns N’ Roses and Dave Grohl
- “I was in an airport and these people went: ‘Hey Steve! Thumbs up, man! Tony Soprano loves Journey!’ It was amazing”: This multi-million selling rock singer disappeared from music for more than 20 years. It took a personal tragedy to bring him back
- “There was a lot of violence. We were fighting off stage moshers, people were running in and crashing into us. Those were violent times”: How a “desperate” band dived into Egyptian myth and made the album that reinvented death metal in the 21st century
- “The label said, ‘We find the cover a bit dark, the logo is ugly and, frankly, we don’t hear a single’”: Amazingly, a prog supergroup soundtracked the summer of 1982. The secret of their success? English church music
- “Oh look, we’re rich. We set out to achieve what we set out to achieve. What do we do now?” How a freak meeting with a lost friend shocked one of rock’s biggest bands to tears - and inspired one of their greatest ever songs
March 7
- “I met Billy Corgan at a funeral. I said: ‘Are you aware of my band?’ He goes: ‘You kidding? I got your album in my car’”: The cult hair metal band with links to Styx, Smashing Pumpkins and Kanye West who had the world in their hands – but threw it away
- “You could barely drive down Sunset Strip because of the drunk people. A couple of my friends got hit. Luciky, they lived and partied on, like good headbangers”: The outrageous movie which captured the debauched 80s scene that “made Caligula look tame”
- "That number-one hit poses the gentle question: 'Should I just kill myself?'" How a "throwaway" lyric written during a dark time helped turn some punk misfits into one of the biggest rock bands of the 2000s
- “Our first logo was a couple of witches throwing stuff into a cauldron. It was mystical – hobbits and the Bible and the Koran. We didn’t know what we were doing”: The cult band who made one of the greatest albums of the 70s – but struggled to match it
- “That bloke’s right – we are crap!” The insult and the instrument that turned a failing pop act into prog giants
- “Lady Gaga is awesome. Have you seen her play piano? She’ll sit down and throw down something. Aside from all the crazy outfits, she’s a great musician”: The classic 1983 album that Zakk Wylde says defines metal – and the unlikely pop megastar he loves
- "I had a lovely chat with Princess Anne about my career and touring. She was quite genned up." Graham Gouldman on royal approval and the chances of 10cc's original lineup reuniting
- "She steps in the room with us, a rock'n'roll band that's fronted by a guy she adores": How a song from Tom Petty's reject pile unwittingly became the massive hit single that launched a Fleetwood Mac icon's solo career
- “Jim could write a song that was so passionate you felt like you were being disembowelled, but he never had that love in his own life”: The epic power ballad that propelled an unlikely singer to stardom – and nearly provoked a “chick fight” in the process
March 6
- Reggae-rock, Southern ballads and the sound of black metal melting: the 9 heavy new tracks that everyone needs to hear this week
- "If you don't really get the concept of wanting to sing sad songs in the dark, you are never going to be a fan of this band, ever." The story behind the "nursery rhyme" 90s alt. rock classic covered by Metallica for one night only
- "The LAPD chased down some of the miscreants and beat them to the ground with their nightsticks." How one of the worst riots in the history of music got a legendary metal band banned from a major Hollywood venue
- Cool new proggy sounds you need to hear from Long Distance Calling, VLMV, Lorenzo Bedini and Amanda Lehmann and more in Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week
- "To us, this was a decent album track, no more. We certainly did not think it could be a single!" Without the support of two American DJs, one of rock's classic singles might never have been released
- "Why have Kiss lasted in a town like Detroit? 'Cos we appeal to the real masses, the great unwashed of America." In 2003, Kiss fans coughed up $1,000 for front-row seats on their 2003 US tour with Aerosmith, and we joined the throng
- “I drove a different Ferrari to the studio every day. David Gilmour and Nick Mason would wait outside to see which one”: How Sammy Hagar tried and failed to become a prog star after falling for Pink Floyd
March 5
- "If you’re getting compared to bands like Genesis, who’s going to complain?” Why UK prog rockers Ghost Of The Machine's 'difficult' second album, Empires Must Fall, wasn't so difficult after all
- "We were like, ‘What if we take speed? Maybe we can play even faster!’ We were definitely better without the drugs." How Europe's biggest thrash band went from getting their mum to sign deals to satanic metal mastery
- Heavy metal, hard rock, guaranteed sunshine and a setting like no other – Spain’s Rock Imperium is the one amazing festival you can’t afford to miss in 2026
- "I'd love to hang upside down in a stadium." How Avenged Sevenfold, Bring Me The Horizon and Robbie Williams inspired these rising British rockers to reinvent themselves
- “In three years we went from folk clubs to the LA Forum. I mean, we fought and got drunk and all that, but it was still a great time”: Approaching six decades in music, these prog heroes never operated as a democracy
- "You are not what you own." Why you still can't buy an official T-shirt from one of the greatest American rock bands ever
- “I was like, ‘I think it’d be cool if I die and spit up blood but I need to play another show the next night.’” How Black Sabbath and ‘major death anxiety’ inspired metal’s new fantasy sensation, Castle Rat
- "I remember listening to it and freaking out – I couldn't believe how authentic it sounded." How The Darkness created the ultimate modern power ballad
- “It’s fortuitous that Viv Stanshall was there – and what a good idea to put the tubular bells in”: 19-year-old Mike Oldfield was planning to defect to Russia before fate intervened
- "He wanted my shotgun – he'd just have these total freakouts. There were so many wonderful moments and terrible mayhem with him." Fuelled by bipolar disorder, the 70s' most outlandish concept album predicted a political meltdown
March 4
- "I was angry at them for writing that song. I thought, You don’t know. You weren’t there." The tragic and horrifying true story behind one of the biggest rock anthems of the 90s
- “I said, ‘Just start again. It would be good for you.’ He persuaded me to stay. I never felt good about it”: Martin Barre tried to quit Jethro Tull in 1980, but Ian Anderson wouldn’t have it
- “Armour-plated anthems about guns, battles and dudes shooting other dudes”: Every Sabaton album ranked from worst to best
- "I made my bed by leaving the band in 2010." The prog metal master who links Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold and The Beatles (but not Rush)
- "I'm on a pyre, a monk sentences me to death, and I will burn. Burn, burn, burn." Why you should probably go and see Powerwolf this week
- "There were a lot of 'folk musicians' who'd seen A Hard Day's Night and wanted to be pop stars, but they couldn't earn twenty-five dollars in Texas." Nine Steve Miller albums you should listen to and one to avoid
- “Of course, none of us agreed on any of it. Not one idea was liked by us all. So then it was, ‘Which idea do four of us like, which idea do three of us like?’” The story of Marillion’s upbeat lockdown album An Hour Before It's Dark
- "If we were legendary for anything, it was for bringing Jello to a show and getting it all over the monitors." The story of the hate song that kick-started the entire grunge movement
March 3
- "We saw the end coming." How the 90s' last big rock band reinvented after their frontman went off the rails - courtesy of one of the best singers in the game
- “I was always sure we were going to come back. My friends said, ‘You’re still waiting? Are you stupid?’” With Mike Portnoy’s help, Bigelf battled back from tragedy to make Into The Maelstrom
- "I remember finishing the lyrics and literally feeling sick to my stomach." How Alter Bridge regrouped, faced the dark side, put their foot on the gas and recorded a brilliant album
- "Nothing Is What It Seems was written about Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. They're the liar and the thief in the song": Brinsley Schwarz on his state-of-the-world album Shouting At The Moon
- “I interviewed him and he denied ever hearing the album. I find that somewhat hard to believe”: Did Jethro Tull inspire a character in Spinal Tap? The actor says no. Ian Anderson’s not so sure
- "It's not something I'd like us to be remembered for. It was a thorn in our side but I'm stuck with it." After lacing their neighbour's water supply with LSD, the Small Faces wrote the hit that ended their career
March 2
- "The jams that turned into songs on the album began with us playing out in the woods at night. Crazy spirit." Meet Ever Age: The 21st-century power trio whose debut album might just be a once-in-a-generation record
- "Alanis Morrisette inspired me to express how I was feeling." One of 2000s metal's early stars on being a teenage rockstar, breaking up nu metal's boys club and the art of failure
- “It’s inherent in the fanbase. You’re always measured against this yardstick. People comment, ‘This isn’t Yes!’ Where did we say this was Yes?”: Arc Of Life’s struggle to self-identify
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: March 2, 2026
- "I said, 'This is our last show.' He said OK. We never, ever talked about why it was so easy to break up the band." The curious story of the thinking man's hair metal band, and where it all went wrong
- "Future generations will consider it one of the most important recordings of all time." Rising Southern rock star Marcus King picks the soundtrack of his life
- "Those teenage kids could be kind of wild. It could be downright frightening at times." The story of the tongue-in-cheek classic that slammed manufactured pop music, aided by a pair of South African legends
March 1
- “I woke up in a panic – a door in my mind had opened which I couldn’t close”: How a psychotic reaction triggered the cult 70s album that fused progressive rock and the blues – and influenced Queens Of The Stone Age, The Damned and Nirvana’s producer
- “We couldn’t have really fitted in with grunge, because we were a different type of a band. We were Irish and from Limerick, and we had our own ideas”: The tragedy that inspired an iconic grunge-era anti-war anthem – and reinvented the band that wrote it
- “Everyone goes, ‘We pour our hearts into these things.’ But this genuinely was us, tears down our cheeks, trying to be manly”: How Big Big Train survived the death of David Longdon
- “What Keith Moon did on drums, he did on keyboards. Without him the genre would be much poorer”: When Geoff Downes saw Keith Emerson live, he found immediate inspiration
- “He was seeing the devil in everything. To him, his whole life had been in service to Satan...” This LA band had the world at their feet. Then their guitarist joined a religious cult while their bassist faced 11 years in jail for trying to rescue him
- "Tyler The Creator made me realise that I don’t need to scream for a song to be heavy.” Freedom-fighting hardcore punk, Victorian doom metal and 'angry dance music': the best new metal bands you need to hear this month