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Peter Frampton’s road to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a long one. The former Humble Pie guitarist has been eligible as a solo artist since 1997, but he wasn’t even nominated until this year. “It’s something I never expected,” he told Rolling Stone shortly after getting the good news earlier this year. “It’s because I keep working. I’ve never given up. I’ve kept coming back and doing more stuff, and I’ve kept touring. I’ve re-built a following that is now enormous.

The hands down funniest crucifixion scene in all of movie history came at the end of Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Just as the titular not-the-messiah has abandoned all hope, a fellow crucifixion victim, played by Eric Idle, suggests that he cheer up, and proceeds to belt out the now-iconic tune “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”

In the years since the movie came out, the ironically-peppy number has become a sort of anthem for Idle, who even performed it during the closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics.

But the song that’s made so many people so happy (and a whole lot of Christian fundamentalists very unhappy) was recorded just one day after Idle experienced a personal tragedy: the death of his good friend, legendary drummer Keith Moon. According to Idle, he hugged Moon the day he died, and had to record a Disney-esque ditty soon afterwards.

The internet is filled with facts, both true and otherwise. In Film Trivia Fact Check, we’ll browse the depths of the web’s most user-generated trivia boards and wikis and put them under the microscope. How true are the IMDb Trivia pages? You want the truth? Can you handle the truth?...

A trio of excellent performances drives this intelligent film from Levan Akin, in which a Georgian woman and her young sidekick head to the big city

The title wears its wan and melancholy significance a little heavily, and the trompe l’oeil ending is rather mannered, with the kind of flourish that I last saw in Florian Zeller’s film The Son. But Crossing is a thoroughly intelligent, emotionally engaging and robustly performed movie from Levan Akin, the Georgian-Swedish director who had an international breakthrough four years ago with the love story And Then We Danced.

Here, Georgian actor Mzia Arabuli plays Lia, a retired, unmarried history teacher and a person of dignity and high standards for herself and others. She is now on a mission to find her missing niece, a trans woman called Tekla who has crossed the border into Turkey and may now be in Istanbul; Lia...

In 1967, The Beatles and producer George Martin gathered in the studio to record the song “A Day in the Life.” They were far from the only people in the studio that day. In their typical fashion, the band invited many of their contemporaries to join them as they recorded the song. According to one of the many people present, Martin seemed embarrassed by the spectacle.

George Martin seemed embarrassed as The Beatles recorded a song

David Puttnam, who was a friend of The Beatles, was present at the “A Day in the Life” recording session. He admitted that many of his experiences with the band were chaotic.

“From the moment they started meeting to make the film [Magical Mystery Tour], there are fantastic stories of total lunacy,” Puttnam said in the book All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. “You hire a caterer,...

Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson, the founding MC5 drummer and the last surviving original member of the pioneering proto-punk group, died Wednesday, The Detroit Free Press reported. He was 75.

An exact cause of death was not given, though Thompson had reportedly suffered a series of medical issues in recent months, including a heart attack in April.

Thompson’s death comes just a few months after the February death of his MC5 bandmate, guitarist Wayne Kramer, and the April death of John Sinclair, the group’s manager. A few months after Sinclair’s death,...

Legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member and front man for the Who Roger Daltrey has a solo North American tour on June 10. So he stopped by Bill Maher’s Real Time on Friday to do some reminiscing on his long career and what comes next.

After thanking Daltrey “for all the entertainment over the years,” Maher got right to the point: “I don’t remember seeing you with a shirt,” he said, offering a brief montage of Daltrey in his prime, sans shirt.

“A little bit too much information,” Daltrey said, and then admitted, “I get incredibly hot when I sing. It’s like a furnace.” Still, he allowed, at 80 years old, he’s more likely to keep the shirt on this time around.

They tripped down memory lane, with Daltrey revealing the iconic cover of Who’s Next was a composite of an obelisk holding up a slag heap,...

The Who may have popularized guitar smashing, but John Lennon said The Beatles were tearing up the stage long before the other band. Before The Beatles wore neatly matching suits and sang behind gates and police barricades, they played sweaty, chaotic shows. Lennon described these early performances as violent.

John Lennon said The Beatles were tearing up the stage years before The Who did

In The Beatles’ early years, they played in cramped clubs to frenzied audiences. In order to keep up with their grueling performance schedule — it had them playing multiple shows a day — they began taking stimulants. As they combined these with alcohol, they were often as agitated as their audience.

“We were frothing at the mouth,” George Harrison said in The Beatles Anthology. “Because we had all these hours to play and the club owners were giving us Preludins, which were slimming tablets. I don’t think they were amphetamine,...

Drummer Charlie Benante breaks down the Pantera classic “Walk” in a new video for Drumeo (watch below).

Benante, the longtime and still current drummer for Anthrax, joined Pantera in 2022 as part of the legendary metal act’s revamped reunion lineup. He’s had the difficult task of filling the shoes of the band’s late drummer, Vinnie Paul.

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The veteran metal drummer begins his analysis of Vinnie Paul’s drum parts in “Walk” with the intro fill, which comes in after the first rounds of guitar riffs. The subtle complexities of the rhythm section become immediately apparent when Benante plays — for example — the opening fill slightly fast, showing that it doesn’t work.

“It sets up the groove a lot better, for me, if I don’t rush into it,” he said before playing it at the correct speed.

It’s one of the many wrinkles...

Certainly one definition of great music might include an ability to meet the present – and the future – head-on and come out unbruised, even triumphant. By that standard and many more, The Who’s Tommy, opening tonight on Broadway, is thrilling proof that the premiere concept album of 1969 is great music indeed.

Gloriously directed by Des McAnuff and updated by him and composer-lyricist Pete Townshend from their own 1993 original Broadway staging, The Who’s Tommy is a non-stop surge of electrified energy, a darting pinball of a production that syncs visual panache with 55-year-old songs that sound as vital today as they must have at Woodstock. Themes of enlightenment and connection, trauma and recovery, truth and lies and blinkered hero worship feel more relevant in the 21st Century than Townshend could possibly have imagined way back in the waning days of the ’60s.

With a...

The best classic rock artists influence other classic rock artists. For example, The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” inspired one of Donovan’s songs. Donovan also revealed that a member of Led Zeppelin was a fan of his drumming.

The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus’ inspired Donovan to make up a word for 1 of his songs

If you thought the lyrics of The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” had odd lyrics, just listen to Donovan’s “Barabajagal.” It’s so nonsensical it uses fake words. The BBC reports the word “barabajagal” was derived from the line “Goo goo g’joob” from “I Am the Walrus.”

During a 2016 interview with Best Classic Bands, Donovan discussed his heavier songs, such as “Barabajagal,” “Atlantis,” and “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” “I’m not really Buddy Holly or The Everly Brothers and I’m not really Elvis, and I’m not rhythm and blues, like Brian Jones,...

It was the fall of 1967. The Summer of Love had just drawn to a close. Teens and twentysomethings, when they weren't studying or punching the clock, were down for a revolution. They wanted to change the world, and, in the process, cheese off their parents. And there was no better way to accomplish the latter than to switch on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour."

Dick and Tom Smothers didn't look like troublemakers, but their CBS variety show had quickly become an annoyance for the so-called "Tiffany Network." They were a hit with their target demographic, which was, ironically, the problem. Their hip young writing staff was relentlessly satirizing the increasingly uneasy state of the world, which didn't sit well with advertisers or politically conservative executives. And while it was far from provocative to book edgy musical acts, the artists appearing on the Smothers' show were getting young folks to question...

The Monkees didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but two of them agreed on the identity of their favorite Beatle. The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork both referred to the same Beatle as their favorite. They both explained why one member of the band connected to them the most. Notably, the Beatle in question has a reputation for being charismatic.

1 of The Monkees was drinking buddies with 2 Beatles

The Monkees and The Beatles are often compared to one another and they followed similar career trajectories. Both groups started out making bubblegum pop before going psychedelic and breaking up in the early 1970s. Beyond that, the bands crossed paths interpersonally.

During a 2017 interview with Cleveland Scene, Dolenz discussed interacting with three of The Beatles. “I would say by far the person I spent the most time with probably would have been Ringo,” Dolenz shares. “He moved out to LA and spent...

Few things are as synonymous with rebellious, raucous, no-good rock ‘n’ roll as finishing a set by smashing a guitar — be it Kurt Cobain, Phoebe Bridgers, or Pete Townshend. When it comes to the latter, however, bandmate and The Who frontman Roger Daltrey might not have the same drive to use his axe like… well, an axe. In fact, Daltrey has compared smashing a guitar to breaking the neck of something (or someone) else he holds close to his heart: his wife.

During his recent appearance on Shaun Keaveny’s Daily Grind podcast, Daltrey described the one time he engaged in such destruction, as well as the guilt that followed. “The trouble is the guitar was worth 50 gigs,” Daltrey said. “I’ve only ever smashed one guitar and I’m really sorry I did it.”

To illustrate just how deep his feelings of shame ran, Daltrey turned to the surprisingly violent analogy.

As a musical unit, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr enjoyed the most unique experience in popular entertainment. While Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra similarly spent the most exciting periods of their careers circumnavigating hordes of rabid fans, persistent, compulsory photo-ops, and suitcases of ticket sales cash, they still broke through as solo song interpreters. The Beatles, by contrast, became a global phenomenon as a group, and a very busy one, in and out of the studio, mostly writing their own music. In keeping with the musical unit’s consistent commitment to innovation, Apple Corps. and Sony Pictures announced a truly revolutionary take on their cinematic biographies. Director Sam Mendes will helm four separate films on the Beatles’ story, each told from the perspective of the individual players.

All four features will roll out theatrically in 2027. This may appear excessive, but it is the only way to cover the narrative properly.

In 1967, The Beatles performed “All You Need Is Love” on a live broadcast. The song was a swift success for the band and became an anthem for the summer of its release. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. The band ran into copyright issues following the discovery that producer George Martin included a song that was not in the public domain.

The Beatles ran into trouble over ‘All You Need Is Love’

“All You Need Is Love” includes elements from several songs, including “La Marseillaise” and the 1939 song “In the Mood.” The latter eventually became a problem for the band.

“In arranging it, we shoved ‘La Marseillaise’ on the front, and a whole string of stuff on the end,” Martin said in The Beatles Anthology. “I fell into deep water over that. I’m afraid that amongst all the little bits and pieces I used in the play-out (which...

Green Day songs are some of the most essential classic rock tunes of the 1990s and 2000s. However, the band drew significant influence from The Who, one of the most iconic bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong revealed The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” was the inspiration for one of Green Day’s singles. He feels he made some major missteps on that song’s parent album.

How The Who’s ‘Pinball Wizard’ inspired Green Day’s ‘Minority’

During a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, Armstrong revealed the origin of Green Day’s “Minority.” After ‘Time of Your Life,’ I started getting into playing more acoustic guitar, and I really wanted to have more for [the album] Warning,” he said. “And there was also a lot of kind of bad pop-punk that was starting to happen, and I wanted to go against that genre.

“This felt like the next step,...

Tom Smothers, one-half of the famed Smothers Brothers comedy duo, who brought a revolutionary hit of music and political satire to late Sixties television, has died, The New York Times reports. He was 86.

Smothers died at his home in Santa Rosa, California, following a “recent battle with cancer,” according to a spokesman for the National Comedy Center, on behalf of the family. No additional details were shared.

Tom’s younger brother and comedic partner, Dick, said in a statement, “Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life,...

In a bombshell Rolling Stone article, Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin says she was sexually molested at age 15 by Rodney Bingenheimer, the SiriusXM radio host once dubbed “The Mayor of the Sunset Strip” in large part due to his ownership in the influential 1970s rock ‘n’ roll hotspot the English Disco.

Wiedlin is one of five women who tell Deadline’s sister publication they were sexually assaulted or molested by Bingenheimer when they were minors in the 1970s and ’80s. The allegations come about eight months after Kari Krome, the songwriter for the ’70s all-female band the Runaways, sued Bingenheimer and the estate of the late Runaways producer Kim Fowley for sexual assault when she was a minor.

Wiedlin details the alleged assault in the Rolling Stone feature, recalling how she and other high school friends — they called themselves the Hollywooders — would sneak out of their homes to visit...

Four years before she co-founded the beloved New Wave group the Go-Go’s, guitarist Jane Wiedlin was about 15 years old living with her parents in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. It was around 1974, and she was enamored with glam-rock titans like David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Looking to get as close to the music as possible, she went to the hottest club in L.A.: Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco.

The club — which opened its doors in 1972 — had built a reputation as a well-known haunt for Bowie, Bolan, Iggy Pop,...

Pure, unalloyed joy is harder to find in movies than you’d think. Heck, look at our big list of the best feelgood films ever_, which is re-released this week to celebrate its 20th birthday.

After weeks of increasingly elaborate deceptions and the kind of security operation the Stasi would be proud of, Jack Black’s Dewey Finn – the artist formerly known as Ned Schneebly (and even more formerly Schneeeebly) – has secretly used his fraudulent stint as a supply teacher to turn a gang of precocious-but-square kids into a crack team of rock ‘n’ roll delinquents. They’re discovered and Dewey goes back to being burnout loser Dewey – but the kids he’s fired up with a healthy disrespect for anyone over the age of 30 won’t let him drop out like that. They bundle him onto their bus, dash to the gig, and just about make their slot.

It helps that,...

Tl;Dr:

John Lennon noted that one of The Who’s songs was originally by an American artist. John felt The Beatles’ covers of songs by American artists weren’t always so good. The Who’s cover song had a major connection to a few Elvis Presley hits.

John Lennon didn’t like one of The Who’s songs. Despite this, he liked a version of the song by another artist. Notably, John didn’t think The Beatles always did a good job covering other artists’ songs.

John Lennon felt 1 of The Who’s songs was a subpar cover that was emblematic of the time

The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon features an interview from 1974. During the interview, John discussed Swinging London. “There was a discotheque scene in London, and the main club we all went to was the Ad Lib,” he said. “There was a couple more,...

Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham stood apart from his peers with a bag of tricks that made his sound impossible to copy. Yet he was like many other classic rock drummers in one way — he rarely received songwriting credits with his band. Still, Bonham wrote several Led Zeppelin songs, including one without any assistance at all.

John Bonham received writing credits for Led Zeppelin songs and revamped blues tunes

One of the traits that set Led Zeppelin apart from their contemporaries was the amount of democracy in the band. Founder Jimmy Page and ace multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones came to the band with songwriting chops, but in time Bonham and singer Robert Plant became key contributors to all of Led Zeppelin’s songs.

Many of Zep’s early tunes were reworkings of blues standards. Page said he divided songwriting credits evenly in those cases.

Bonham’s favorite drinking song inspired...

For as long as there’s been classic rock, there have been musicians more than willing to sing about their vices. Namely sex, booze, and drugs. As with so many other things they did, The Beatles turned songs about smoking pot into mainstream successes. Let’s look at their tune “Got to Get You Into My Life” and six more of the best classic rock songs about weed.

1. ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ Artist: The Beatles

The Fab Four incorporated marijuana into their creative process soon after Bob Dylan got them high and pranked them in 1964. Two years later, Paul McCartney wrote an ode to pot, “Got to Get You Into My Life,” disguised as a boy-girl love song. Which it was, if the boy was McCartney and the girl was nicknamed Mary Jane. Paul’s song appeared on The Beatles’ 1966 album Revolver, which many music fans considered the first psychedelic record.

Tl;Dr:

Ringo Starr’s “Back Off Boogaloo” was inspired by a 1970s rock star who was close friends with Ringo. Contrary to rumor, the 1970s rock star in question did not co-write the song. The tune was Ringo’s highest-charting single in the United Kingdom.

Ringo Starr‘s “Back Off Boogaloo” became one of the most famous songs by a former Beatle. Ringo revealed a rock star from the 1970s inspired the song. In addition, the “Photograph” singer said he had to use a child’s toy to complete the hit.

Ringo Starr’s ‘Back Off Boogaloo’ was inspired by T. Rex’s Marc Bolan

According to the 2015 book Ringo: With a Little Help, Ringo said Marc Bolan, the lead singer of the glam rock band T. Rex, inspired “Back Off Boogaloo. “Marc was a dear friend who used to come into the office when I was running Apple Movies,...

John Lennon and Harry Nilsson were good friends who often got drunk with one another, especially during Lennon’s “Lost Weekend” period. One person who the pair also spent time with was Alice Cooper. Cooper recalled hanging out with the two musicians and having to play referee between the two, as they loved getting into fights with each other.

Alice Cooper would break up fights between John Lennon and Harry Nilsson

During Lennon’s “Lost Weekend” in the early 1970s, the former Beatle had a few public outbursts with Nilsson. The pair would get drunk and cause a scene. One example of this occurred at a nightclub in Las Vegas where Lennon got ejected for asking singer Frankie Valli to perform a lewd act on stage.

Lennon and Nilsson often hung out with the Hollywood Vampires, a drinking club with several stars who stayed out in Hollywood after hours. One...

Rolling Stones lead guitarist Keith Richards has always spoken his mind. He said The Who singer Roger Daltry was all flash and that the band’s drummer Keith Moon was a hopeless performer with any other group. He has never cared if his words offend, even if they alienate his audience. Richards said a certain group of fans pissed him off when they criticized the Stones’ album Some Girls and the song “Miss You.”

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards | George Rose/Getty Images Keith Richards was pissed off with purists who called The Rolling Stones sellouts over ‘Some Girls’

The Rolling Stones practically created the blueprint for edgy, boozy, blues-based hard rock. They reached their apex between 1968 and 1973. Their five albums — Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St., and Goats Head Soup — produced a slew of glowing reviews and signature songs.

Understandably, the band’s pace slowed down after that.

Ringo Starr went through a rough patch when The Beatles broke up. Despite his hit solo songs giving him a career of his own, he missed the bandmates he called his brothers. When the drummer lived with John Lennon in California in the 1970s, John’s girlfriend called Ringo’s room the den of darkness. He refused to let in daylight as he recovered from the excessive drinking he and his roommates did, and he lived that way for years. Ringo knew he needed help, but his heavy drinking made him wait years to find it.

Beatles drummer Ringo Starr | John Pratt/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Ringo Starr knew he needed help to deal with his drinking, but he procrastinated for years

Ringo didn’t like the press covering The Beatles’ drug use in the 1960s. Still, he has become very candid about his reliance on alcohol in his post-Fab Four days.

Some of the songs Paul McCartney wrote for The Beatles White Album drove his bandmates crazy. The other three universally hated “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” with a passion, especially since Paul requested they keep working on it. The Fab Four did dozens of takes of the game-changing “Helter Skelter,” a song Paul wrote because he was jealous about The Who’s bragging.

Beatles bassist Paul McCartney | Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images Paul McCartney admits he was jealous of The Who when he wrote ‘Helter Skelter’

The Beatles’ self-titled 1968 record (commonly known as the White Album) had everything except the kitchen sink. Twisted blues/surf-rock/R&b hybrid on “Back in the U.S.S.R.” The Jamaican dancehall-esque tone of “Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da.” Gentle folk on “Julia” and “Blackbird.”

“Helter Skelter” was an uncharacteristically brutal song that Paul wrote out of jealousy, as he told GQ (via YouTube):

“How it came about was,...

Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham is considered one of the greatest drummers of all time, but Paul McCartney wouldn’t necessarily have wanted him in The Beatles. He believed Ringo Starr was a much better fit for the band. McCartney shared why he might have been wary of working with Bonham, even though he liked Led Zeppelin.

John Bonham | Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage Paul McCartney compared Ringo Starr to John Bonham

Starr and Bonham are both widely considered to be among the best drummers of all time. Starr was an expert timekeeper, but Bonham was adaptable, powerful, and lively with his drumming. Their respective bands played different types of music, and McCartney said he would rather have Starr. He gave his bandmates a sense of comfort that Bonham wouldn’t have been able to.

“The first few minutes that Ringo is playing, I look to the left at George [Harrison] and...

The Who's "Tommy" is one of the most groundbreaking concept albums in rock and roll history, and is considered by many to be one of the best albums ever written. After its debut in 1969, "Tommy" has been adapted in a variety of different mediums, including a ballet, an opera, a restructured work for the London Symphony Orchestra, a Broadway musical, and most notably, the cinematic rock and roll masterpiece by Ken Russell. Four years before directing "Tommy," Russell put out the controversial religious horror erotica, "The Devils," which /Film's Chris Evangelista rightfully described as "a punk rock freakshow disguised as a period piece." Considering the story of "Tommy," Russell was the perfect director for the job.

The story follows a young man named Tommy (Roger Daltrey) who after witnessing his mother's lover murder his father, disassociates from reality. He's surrounded by sadistic neighbors and relatives and is in desperate need of escapism,...

The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards has never been afraid to deliver some harsh critiques of his fellow musicians. Whether it’s The Beatles, Prince, or Elton John, Richards has created some rifts through his brutal opinions. One band with which the Stones had a rivalry was The Who, another band that emerged during the British Invasion. Keith Richards stirred the pot when he said one member of The Who is “all flash.”

Keith Richards called The Who’s Roger Daltrey Keith Richards, Roger Daltrey, and Pete Townshend | KMazur/WireImage

The Who rose to prominence during the 1960s British Invasion, when bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones took over rock n’ roll worldwide. While the band never had the same popularity as The Beatles or the Stones, they did have many successful albums and songs that have kept the band relevant.

The Who was formed in 1964 with lead singer Roger Daltrey,...

The new ten-episode Disney+ series"The Muppets Mayhem" sees the return of the psychedelic Muppet band The Electric Mayhem as they embark on a rip-roaring adventure to record their debut album. Their fearless bandleader Dr. Teeth is still behind the keys and Animal is still beating his drum kit into submission, with all the rest of the band getting back together to make magic happen once again. The long history of Muppets movies has always been filled with pop culture references and glorified celebrity cameos, but aside from "Muppets Haunted Mansion," they've largely avoided any direct nods to the horror genre. 

That all changed with the seventh episode of the series "Track 7: Eight Days a Week," where an uncredited appearance from director Peter Jackson confirmed one of the most unlikely puppet crossovers in film history. For the sake of your own sanity and to keep wholesome childhood memories intact,...

A songwriter for the influential 1970s punk group the Runaways has filed a lawsuit against the estate of deceased Runaways manager Kim Fowley and the former Kroq disc jockey and famed nightclub owner Rodney Bingenheimer, accusing them both of sexually assaulting her in the 1970s when she was a teenager. In the suit — filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by Rolling Stone — Kari Krome alleges that both Fowley and Bingenheimer groomed her before sexually abusing her.

The suit isn’t the first time Fowley has been accused of sexual assault.

Rock’n’roll musicians have a habit of thinking of themselves like secular gods, but the truth is they’re not infallible. No matter how successful a band may or may not have been in the past, there’s never any guarantee their next record will live up to the heights they’ve previously scaled. Sometimes, everything that once went right just all goes wrong.

There are often extenuating circumstances, of course. Band members may leave due to death, drugs or just good old-fashioned “musical differences”, or an ambitious new direction may turn out to be more like a swerve into oncoming traffic.

Whatever the cause, the fact remains that just because an album has the name of a classic band slapped across the cover, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the album itself will be a classic.

Featuring the likes of The Doors, The Clash and Duran Duran, here...

Ringo Starr has never shied away from getting a little help from his friends. The drummer’s close buddies for many years included his Beatles bandmates, who assisted him in his solo career. George Harrison helped Ringo with solo project days after injuring himself on a mountain hike, for instance. Yet Ringo’s musician friends extended beyond The Beatles.

(l-r) Ringo Starr and Joe Walsh | Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic 1. Ringo Starr had an ‘intimate relationship’ with Keith Moon of The Who

Ringo and Keith Moon had different drumming styles — understated elegance compared to bombastic bashing — yet their personalities meshed well. One of Ringo’s former girlfriends said he had an intimate relationship with Moon, meaning they could hold entire conversations without speaking.

The Who drummer once angled for his friend’s job in The Beatles, but that didn’t hurt their relationship. Moon babysat Ringo’s son Zak. In a full circle moment,...

Rock’n’roll musicians have a habit of thinking of themselves like secular gods, but the truth is they’re not infallible. No matter how successful a band may or may not have been in the past, there’s never any guarantee their next record will live up to the heights they’ve previously scaled. Sometimes, everything that once went right just all goes wrong.

There are often extenuating circumstances, of course. Band members may leave due to death, drugs or just good old-fashioned “musical differences”, or an ambitious new direction may turn out to be more like a swerve into oncoming traffic.

Whatever the cause, the fact remains that just because an album has the name of a classic band slapped across the cover, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the album itself will be a classic.

Featuring the likes of The Doors, The Clash and Duran Duran, here...

Rock’n’roll musicians have a habit of thinking of themselves like secular gods, but the truth is they’re not infallible. No matter how successful a band may or may not have been in the past, there’s never any guarantee their next record will live up to the heights they’ve previously scaled. Sometimes, everything that once went right just all goes wrong.

There are often extenuating circumstances, of course. Band members may leave due to death, drugs or just good old-fashioned “musical differences”, or an ambitious new direction may turn out to be more like a swerve into oncoming traffic.

Whatever the cause, the fact remains that just because an album has the name of a classic band slapped across the cover, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the album itself will be a classic.

Featuring the likes of The Doors, The Clash and Duran Duran, here...

Of all The Beatles, Ringo Starr was the most successful in his movie career. Each acted with the band and appeared in films afterward, but Starr has the most extensive filmography. Critics agree that he showed promise as an actor; he was natural and charming onscreen and could have had a successful career. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very selective in the films he agreed to appear in, which negatively impacted his career. Here are four of Starr’s films to avoid.

Ringo Starr | Michael Putland/Getty Images ‘Give My Regards to Broad Street’ is 1 of the movies Ringo Starr appeared in with another Beatle

Starr agreed to appear in the 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street because his former bandmate Paul McCartney wrote it.

Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach, Paul McCartney, and Linda McCartney | Bettmann/Contributor via Getty

“Ringo and I are good friends,” McCartney said, per the book Ringo:...

The Who frontman Roger Daltrey says the chances of the legendary rock band returning to the United States are “very doubtful” due to increasingly hefty costs and high financial risk.

In an interview with USA Today promoting the iconic British band’s latest live album, The Who with Orchestra: Live at Wembley, the 79-year-singer revealed that he and fellow founding member Pete Townshend have no plans for another trip across the pond. “I don’t know if we’ll ever come back to tour America,” he shared. “I never say never, but at the moment it’s very doubtful.”

Though he initially pointed to the group’s limited creative options aside from “an orchestrated Quadrophenia to round out the catalog,” the singer seemed more concerned with the expensive overhead of another tour. “We cannot get insured and most of the big bands doing arena shows, by the time they do...

Was Ringo Starr the glue that held The Beatles together? The world may never know, but it’s not far-fetched. After all, he was the only member of the Fab Four to play on solo albums from each of the other three Beatles. He proved to be the favorite Beatle among his bandmates several times. Ringo had a close relationship with John Lennon. They lived near each other and spent time together outside the band. Ringo and John channeled Ringo’s friend Keith Moon during a nearly disastrous holiday celebration that didn’t go as planned.

(l-r) John Lennon and Ringo Starr | Bettmann/Getty Images Ringo Starr and John Lennon survived a Keith Moon-like disaster during a holiday hangout

Ringo and John shared a close relationship. You could argue they shared the strongest bond in the band since John and Paul McCartney lost the chemistry that propelled the band in the early years.

Ringo Starr and his friends used to frequent the Playboy Club, but their long nights at the club came to an end in 1974. Starr and Keith Moon had thrown a party there that caused damage. The club ultimately rescinded their memberships for their behavior.

Ringo Starr | John Pratt/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Ringo Starr and his friends made a film about their nights out at places like the Playboy Club

In 1974, Starr and his friend Harry Nilsson decided to make a documentary called Harry and Ringo’s Night Out about their nights in Los Angeles clubs. The two friends spent a good deal of time out with musicians like Moon and John Lennon, and they wanted to capture it on film.

Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, and Keith Moon | Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty Images

Starr turned to Pride Records president Michael Viner to co-finance the film, which they budgeted at $1.5 million.

Pete Townshend has released “Can’t Outrun the Truth,” a charity single that The Who member created in collaboration with his wife Rachel Fuller under her nom de plume Charlie Pepper.

Marking Townshend’s first proper solo single in 29 years, “Can’t Outrun the Truth” was recorded at his home studio after Fuller composed the song on the piano and channeled her thoughts about the feelings of isolation caused by the pandemic into its lyrics. Then, with her singing days “long over,” Fuller asked Townshend to record the demo.

The final result features Townshend playing lap steel guitar and violin while singing universal lyrics like, “This lockdown is bringing me down/ My mind’s gone underground/ Though I crawl from room to room/ I can’t leave myself behind.” Watch the music video, directed by Michael Nunn and William Trevit, below.

“We’d just moved house and Pete was as...

During the 1960s, American music was taken over by artists from the U.K. This era became known as the British Invasion, with U.K. pop and rock artists dominating the American charts. Many of these artists came and went, but others were wildly successful and remain in the pop culture zeitgeist today.

Here are the 5 best rock bands during the British Invasion 1. The Yardbirds The Yardbirds | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The Yardbirds are arguably more famous for who was in the band than their music. The band started with Eric Clapton as its lead guitarist. Once Clapton departed, the band was joined by Jeff Beck and future Led Zeppelin member Jimmy Page. The Yardbirds had three legendary guitarists on their roster, and their songs always had impeccable instrumentals.

While The Yardbirds only lasted for five years, they did have a few hit songs, including “For Your Love”, “Heart...

The Who has been performing as a band for decades, and Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant once said that he found this sad. Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980 after the death of drummer John Bonham. While the band has sporadically collaborated, they have not toured since the 1970s. Plant likes it that way and wouldn’t want to continue on like The Who.

Robert Plant | Rita Barros/Getty Images Led Zeppelin broke up after John Bonham’s death

In 1980, Led Zeppelin was gearing up for a tour in the United States. On Sept. 25, however, all plans halted when Bonham died. He had been drinking heavily the day before and died of pulmonary aspiration in his sleep.

"Don't it make you feel bad

When you're tryin' to find your way home

You don't know which way to go?"

Listen to "When the Levee Breaks" on @AppleMusic https://t.co/3I8ZkSZ0X2 ?: Armando Gallo pic.

Most classic rock fans consider Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham one of the best. He didn’t get the credit he deserved at the time, and he was a specific target for one of the musicians who hated the band, but hindsight tells us his playing was almost impeccable. Far from being a hard hitter, Bonham used four tricks to achieve his drum sound in Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham sitting low at his kit, one of the tricks he used to achieve his sound | Dick Barnatt/Redferns John Bonham developed the tricks he used in Led Zeppelin as a self-taught drummer

Bonham never received formal drum lessons. He started banging away on items around the house as a child before graduating to a real kit. He played alongside other drummers, including a mentor who never thought he was good, and picked things along the way, but Bonham...

The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are two of the best bands in classic rock, and now they’re working together. The latter band invited Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney to play on their new album. Frankly, Ringo is the perfect choice to drum with The Rolling Stones. Hopefully, his contributions make the final cut.

(l-r) Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr | Dave Benett/Getty Images Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney are rumored to appear on The Rolling Stones’ new album

The Rolling Stones haven’t released an album since 2016’s Blue & Lonesome, but that album contained all cover songs. The last time they put out a record with new, original material was 2005’s A Bigger Bang.

It seems the Stones will receive a little help from their friends on their first album in nearly 20 years.

Paul’s collaboration with The Rolling Stones comes via...

Each of the Beatles had children, and, as with many celebrities, they found careers similar to their parents. While some have found success in other industries — notably fashion and photography — many of the Beatles’ children also became musicians. Here are the Beatles children who followed in their fathers’ footsteps.

The Beatles | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Julian Lennon

John Lennon’s first child, and the firstborn Beatles child, Julian Lennon, began his music career in 1984, not long after his father’s death. His debut album, Valotte, found great success and earned him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 1985.

Julian released several other albums, though Valotte remains his most successful. Like his father, he primarily sticks to the rock genre. He also tackled one of Lennon’s most famous songs in 2022. He had initially vowed to never cover “Imagine,” but with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, he...

Ringo Starr’s son, Zak Starkey, followed in his footsteps and became a drummer. He’s played with several bands, including Oasis and The Who, and he now says he considers his father one of the greatest drummers of all time. He didn’t always feel this way, though. Starkey once said that while he appreciated Starr’s timekeeping skills, he didn’t think he was actually that talented of a musician.

Zak Starkey and Ringo Starr | David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images Ringo Starr’s son is a drummer

Starkey became a drummer like his father, though he said one of his biggest influences was one of Starr’s friends.

“Keith Moon was my first big influence, definitely,” he told Modern Drummer in 2007. “I wanted to play the drums because of Keith. When I was very young there was music all around me in my parents’ house. You...

When Ringo Starr’s son, Zak Starkey, began to work professionally as a drummer, people understandably made comparisons between him and his father. Though Starr is one of the most successful drummers in the world, Starkey resented the comparison. He wanted to make it as a musician in his own right, and he also didn’t think Starr was that good of a drummer. He didn’t even want to be mentioned in the same sentence as his father.

Zak Starkey and Ringo Starr | David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images Ringo Starr’s son said having him for a dad was a ‘drag’

Starkey is the eldest of Starr’s three children and spent most of his childhood in Starr’s chaotic post-Beatles years. He said that being Starr’s son was a “drag.”

“To be perfectly honest, being Ringo’s son is the biggest drag in my life,...