Rev Rock Report

On This Day, Dec. 29, 1985 …Billy Joel became a father when he and his wife, model Christie Brinkley, welcomed their only child together, daughter Alexa Ray Joel.Their daughter's middle name was a tribute to legendary musician Ray Charles, with whom Billy collaborated on the 1987 song “Baby Grand." Joel later wrote the 1993 song “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” for Alexa.Alexa followed in her father's footsteps as a musician and […]

Billy Idol and The Warning perform at the CBS and the Recording Academy® present A GRAMMY® CELEBRATION OF LATIN MUSIC, airing Sunday, Dec. 28. (Gustavo Caballero/CBS) The Warning performed alongside Billy Idol during a special called A Grammy Celebration of Latin Music, which aired Sunday.The set began with the sister trio rocking out the iconic Mexican folk song "La Bamba" before Idol joined the stage alongside his guitarist Steve Stevens. Together, […]

John Lydon of Public Image Ltd performs live on stage during their This Is Not The Last Tour at Parr Hall. (Andy Von Pip/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) John "Johnny Rotten" Lydon says his former Sex Pistols bandmates didn't reach out following the death of his wife, Nora Forster, in 2023."I expected some kind of connection when Nora died, but nothing," Lydon tells the U.K.'s The Times.Lydon has remained estranged from the […]

It’s always sad to say goodbye to our favorite musicians when they pass away, and 2025 was certainly a tough year.The music world lost a true legend on June 11 when Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson died in his sleep at the age of 82. He had been living with dementia at the time and had been placed under a conservatorship in early 2024 following the death of his wife, Melinda […]

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. (ABC) The new movie Song Sung Blue has an unexpected connection to Eddie Vedder.The film is a biopic about Lightning & Thunder, a Neil Diamond tribute duo made up of couple Mike Sardina and Claire Sardina, played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, respectively. In the movie, Lightning & Thunder get their big break when they're invited to open for Pearl Jam."This is true," Song Sung Blue director Craig Brewer tells […]

Elton John performs at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, November 8, 2025 (Kevin Kane/Getty Images for RRHOF) Elton John and Brandi Carlile released their Grammy-nominated joint album, Who Believe In Angels?, in 2025, but 2026 may bring us some Elton John solo music — and maybe even more than expected.In a holiday video message to members of his Rocket Club fan club, Elton said, "I'll be going […]

Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead performs live on stage during the third day of the Sonisphere Rock Festival at Knebworth House on July 10, 2011 in Stevenage, England. (Jim Dyson/Getty Images) Motörhead frontman Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister died on Dec. 28, 2015 — 10 years ago Sunday.Lemmy formed Motörhead in 1975 alongside guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox after playing in the band Hawkwind. Wallis and Fox were then replaced by guitarist "Fast" […]

Steve Harris of Iron Maiden performs at Co-op Live on June 22, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage) Iron Maiden celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2025, and founding bassist/songwriter Steve Harris reflects on the milestone in a statement to Kerrang!"It's pretty incredible when you think about it, but we don't think about it too much," Harris says. "The band don't really say, 'Wow, this is 50 years!' It's brought to us […]

On This Day, Dec. 26, 1970 ...George Harrison hit #1 with the song “My Sweet Lord,” which went on to spend four weeks in the top spot.The chart-topper, produced by Harrison and Phil Spector, made Harrison the first former member of The Beatles to score a solo #1 in the U.S. The track, which was released as a double A-side single with “Isn’t It a Pity,” also went to reach #1 […]