Blog Posts by Andy Greene

Cheap Trick narrowly escaped death last month when the stage collapsed during their set at the Ottawa Bluesfest in Ontario, Canada. "It just blew everything back, cymbals are flying and everything," Cheap Trick manager Dave Frey told Rolling Stone. "And we're just like 'get off the stage!' and then I heard the rivets in the truss just starting to pop. BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! It was like the Titanic or something, and it just started coming down, the roof fell. It hit our truck, which was parked behind the stage and that kept it about five feet off of the deck, and that gave us room to run. We were running as fast as we could."

The band has now released a statement about the incident:

On July 17, 2011 Cheap Trick and its crew, along with other stage personnel, narrowly averted death when the MNBA Stage roof at the 2011 Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest fell on the stage during their evening performance. Several thousand fans were also lucky to escape basically unharmed. 

 While honored by the

According to a post on Pete Townshend's blog, The Who are going to stage another Quadrophenia tour next year. "The reason I am not on the road with Roger is that this is entirely Roger's adventure, one that is bringing him great joy," Townshend wrote.  "I don't belong on this Tommy tour. I wish him well, sincerely, and I look forward to playing with Roger again doing Quadrophenia next year."

Roger Daltrey Addresses Tensions Within The Who

In an interview with Rolling Stone just last month, Daltrey said that Townshend isn't touring with him this year because of his hearing problems. "Pete is having terrible hearing problems at the moment," he said. "I don't want to be on stage with him destroying the last bit of his hearing. That would be completely foolish. He's a composer."

Townshend completes disputes Daltrey's take on the matter. "My hearing is actually better than ever," he wrote on his blog. "Because after a feedback scare at the O2 Indigo in December 2008 I am taking good care of

The new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands and available through Rolling Stone All Access on July 22nd, contains an in-depth tribute to Clarence Clemons, who died on June 18th. In the piece, Clemons' widow Victoria shares her memories of life with the Big Man. Here is the complete e-mail interview with Victoria Clemons.

Remembering Clarence Clemons: His Life and Career in Photos

How did you meet Clarence?
We met in Mill Valley, California at the Piazza D' Angelo restaurant. He walked in, saw me and said: "Thank you for bringing beauty into my day," and handed me a flower. He never left. Clarence was old school. He sent white roses to me every day. Even after he left town, the roses never stopped coming in. He came back in about a month later. That is when our love story became reality. He brought beauty and meaning into my life. 

What initially drew you to him?
I saw his soul and his spirit deep inside his eyes. I knew then he came for me. He was real, he was humble and as sweet as any

In the seven years since the Pixies reformed for a series of highly successful series of reunion tours, they've managed to resist fans' pleas for a new album. But now, according to drummer David Lovering, the band is beginning to crack. "It's definitely a stronger possibility than it was a few years ago," he tells Rolling Stone. "It's going to be baby steps, though. We have the formula and we know we can do it. But we if put something out, it has to be good. Period. We don't want to break the legacy. It's much more of a free subject to talk about now though. We're gonna go slowly and see what will happen."

In the meantime, the group has been spent the last two years on the road playing their 1989 classic Doolittle in its entirety. They just announced a "Lost Cities" leg that will hit U.S. markets they missed during the initial go-rounds. "I didn't think it was going to last this long," says Lovering. "I thought it would be maybe a year in the United States, and then it just kept going

For the past 10 years Styx fans have been hoping and praying that former frontman Dennis DeYoung and the rest of the band will put aside their differences and reunite. According to Styx guitarist and vocalist Tommy Shaw - who hasn't performed with DeYoung since a highly acrimonious split in 1999 - that just isn't going to happen.

"I don't think [a reunion] is realistic," Shaw tells Rolling Stone. "We tried it in 1996 and we realized what was true in 1983 was only more true in 1996. We'd just gone our separate ways. Rather than having a positive effect on each other, we have a very negative effect on each other. You only live once and you should be happy."

Styx Crash White House Briefing Room, Field Obama Questions

When the group split they hammered out a deal in which DeYoung could tour solo under the banner "formerly of Styx," while everyone else retained the band's name. In the past decade, Styx (with new vocalist Lawrence Gowan) have toured at a relentless pace, often doing well

When Rolling Stone posted the new Yes song "We Can Fly" last month it didn't just provide fans of the legendary prog band the first glimpse into the band's new album - it also allowed former lead singer Jon Anderson to check out what his band has done in his absence. "I wasn't really convinced," he tells Rolling Stone. "The new singer is singing good, but it sounded a bit dated to me. Also, the production wasn't as good as I expected. They've got a great producer with Trevor Horn, so what the hell are you doing?"

Yes With 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart' Producer Trevor Horn

Anderson has reason to be bitter. He co-founded the band in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire, and with the exception of 1980's Drama he sang on every album. In 2008 - after illness kept him off the road for four years - Yes replaced him with Benoit David, an Anderson sound-alike who previously fronted the Yes tribute band Close to the Edge.

Nobody in the band called Anderson to tell him the news - he had to hear it from a

Click here to listen to Gene Clark's "Kansas City Southern"

Gene Clark is best remembered a founding member of the Byrds, but for the bulk of his recording career he was a solo artist. On August 30th his long out-of-print disc Two Sides To Every Store is hitting shelves again with bonus material, previously unseen photos and new liner notes. The disc features contributions from guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and backing vocals by Emmylou Harris. Here's an exclusive stream of "Kansas City Southern" from the album. 

Clark died in 1991, just one year after the original line-up of the Byrds reformed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Just two years later Byrds drummer Michael Clarke died, but David Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman are still alive and very active in music. Hillman and Crosby are extremely interested in a Byrds reunion, but McGuinn refuses to even consider it. 

Tom Petty has asked Michele Bachmann to stop playing "American Girl" at her events - but according to Politico, she did it again yesterday at a campaign stop in South Carolina. The song began playing at the end of her speech, but abruptly ended after a mere 29 seconds, leaving only enough time for the lyrics "Yeah, she was an American Girl - raised on promises." "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves then started blasting out as Bachmann greeted supporters. It's unclear why such a short segment of "American Girl" played. Petty's camp says they will not comment on the matter, and a rep for the Bachmann campaign has not yet responded to our request for a comment. 

Michelle Bachmann's Holy War

The trouble started on Monday evening when Bachman played "American Girl" at the end of a speech in Iowa where she officially announced her presidential campaign. The Petty camp immediately sent the candidate a cease and desist letter, but the legal rights of politicians to play music at