Classic Rock

Every month Classic Rock is packed with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes features on rock’s biggest names, from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple, from Guns N’ Roses to the Rolling Stones, from the Sex Pistols to AC/DC and beyond. Each issue plays host to the heftiest rock reviews section on the planet. In an average issue, you’ll find over 150 albums reviewed, all from the ever-varied, multi-faceted world of rock - whether it’s hard rock or heavy metal, prog or punk, goth rock or southern rock, we’ve got it covered.

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This month’s contributors

Classic Rock

The Hologram Man • New book offers stunning portraits of the stars.

RIP • Thank you… and good night.

Rick Davies • July 22, 1944 – September 6, 2025

Brent Hinds • January 16, 1974 – August 20, 2025

“Cynical” and “nauseating” • The Darkness brothers slam MTV VMA’s Ozzy tribute.

Radiohead Confirm Shows • Four London dates part of 20-show European run.

The Lemonheads • After almost two decades they return with a new album, with Evan Dando now straight and “in heaven”.

Hollow Souls • Kris Barras launches a new group informed by his time in Supersonic Blues Machine.

“Foo Fighters Assemble!” • Looks like the rebooted band have returned to the studio.

Twisted Sister To Hit The Road • Dee Snider and co. to reunite for a world tour in 2026.

Paradise Lost • The goth-metal progenitors and all-round prophets of doom cast a cautiously optimistic eye on the future.

Margarita Witch Cult • Meet the big-riffing Brummie rockers keeping Black Sabbath’s traditions alive.

Counting Crows Mr. Jones • A song that the band’s still-sozzled singer Adam Duritz wrote immediately after (and about) a wild night out, it became radio staple, a huge hit and their signature song.

Eric Gales • The blues-scene guitarist on his record for his late brother, cutting heads with Bonamassa, surviving time behind bars…

A Royal Command Performance • Fifty years on, Brian May and Roger Taylor reveal the vision, precision and daring behind Queen’s A Night At The Opera, the album that rewrote rock’s rules.

ROCKIN’ ALL OVER THE WORLD • With Scorpions’ 60th-anniversary celebrations in full swing, guitarist Rudolph Schenker and vocalist Klaus Meine look back at how the band went from being called ‘the worst German import since the V2 bomb’ in the UK to being their country’s officially lauded rock icons.

Heart Breaker • Fifty years ago, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson gatecrashed a male-dominated, payola-fuelled rock scene with with Dreamboat Annie, a platinum debut album powered by passionate vocals, guitar heroics and unshakeable self-belief. “We were young people on fire!”

HOUSE OF HORRORS • Creeper’s new album is a rich, lascivious feast of vampires and rock’n’roll theatre, Jim Steinman-style. But the real Creeper story starts with shoestring punk gigs, DIY video shoots, community spirit, hard work and… er, sales work.

Give Me Shelter • At a time when many aspects of Tom Petty’s world were falling apart, he took refuge in the studio. The deeply personal Wildflowers album was the result, and despite all the chaos and confusion that fed into it, it’s the one he regarded as his best.

LOVING THE ALIEN • By 1972, glam rock was kicking in, but David Bowie was still waiting for his big break. Then he hit on the character that would redefine him for ever. Band members, friends and associates tell the story of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

Trouble In Paradise • Just as UFO seemed poised to take the next step up, their ace-card guitarist Michael Schenker quit. But instead of going to the pub to sulk, the hellraisers took off to the Caribbean and recorded belter No...