Dave Lifton

Here at Ultimate Classic Rock we always root for the underdog, and we love it when artists who have gone under-appreciated for years finally get their due, especially when it occurs in their lifetime. Today we learned of one such case when we saw the news that the French government has awarded the Legion of Honor to a little-known singer from Liverpool, England, Sir Paul McCartney.

It’s known that before he was Eddie Money, Rock Star, he was Eddie Mahoney, New York Police Officer. Apparently things have gotten so bad in his singing career that he’s had to go back to a day job, running his own travel agency — and he’s loving it.

Back in February, Paul McCartney pulled his entire solo and Wings catalog from streaming services such as Rhapsody and Spotify. However, he appears to have had a change of heart. Seattle Weekly is reporting that several of his albums are currently available to subscribers at two of the most popular sites around.

Yesterday (Aug. 31) Eddie Van Halen took some time out from his recuperation to issue an update on his health. Van Halen recently spent three weeks in the hospital after needing emergency surgery for diverticulitis.

Last year, the Rolling Stones offered the first official release of ‘The Brussels Affair,’ a much-bootlegged performance from their 1973 European tour, as a digital download. Yesterday (Aug. 29), the band announced that they are issuing the concert on vinyl in the form of three limited-edition box sets.

Many therapists have gotten rich hearing stories about how their patients, at an impressionable age, caught their parents in the throes of passion. Of course, it’s only natural that Slash can pretty much top everybody’s own story of seeing their parents in flagrante delicto, because he’s Slash. In a new interview, he reveals that he once walked in on his mother and David Bowie.

This fall, British metal legends Iron Maiden will reissue the first eight albums of their career on limited edition vinyl, the band announced on its website.  As befits a band known for their visual element, the records will released as picture discs.

The success of Eric Church‘s country single ‘Springsteen‘ has not gone unnoticed by its namesake. It was recently revealed that Church got a handwritten note from Bruce Springsteen telling how pleased he was with the song.

We’ve been looking forward to ‘Wrote a Song for Everyone,’ the upcoming album from former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a little bit longer, because the record has been postponed from its original Oct. 9 release date until an unspecified day in early 2013.

Artists are rarely the best judges of their own material. How many times have we cringed when a classic group we love releases a new album they claim is among their best ever? And how often are we privileged to hear outtakes that cause us to smack our heads, in disbelief that they were left off the original record?

With music festival cruises being all the rage these days, it makes sense that there would be a cruise dedicated to the most popular group of all-time. In March 2013, the Cruise for Beatles Fans will sail from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on the sea of green for a week-long floating celebration of all things John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Being an opening act is rarely fun for an up-and-coming band. Bruce Springsteen‘s experiences opening up for Chicago and Black Oak Arkansas in the early days of his career is why he’s never toured with a support act.