OLD GODS, ALMOST DEAD:
● Neil Young cancels tour of UK and Europe.
Neil Young has cancelled his planned summer tour of the UK and Europe with his band The Chrome Hearts, telling fans: “this is not the time”.
The 80-year-old singer-songwriter had been due to begin the run of concerts in June, with dates scheduled across Britain, including Manchester, Cork and Glasgow, before continuing through Europe and concluding in Italy in late July.
In a brief message on his website on Friday evening, he apologised to ticket-holders and confirmed he will no longer travel to Europe this year.
“Folks, I have decided to take a break and will not be touring Europe this time. Thanks to everyone who bought tickets. I’m sorry to let you down, but this is not the time. I do love playing live and being with you and the Chrome Hearts,” he said.
Ticket-holders will be contacted and fully refunded.
—The London Telegraph, yesterday.
● Dee Snider [70] quits Twisted Sister over health issues, forces band to cancel anniversary shows.
In a recent Instagram post, the band announced that all performances planned in celebration of the band’s 50th anniversary were canceled after lead singer Dee Snider’s resignation.
“Due to the sudden and unexpected resignation of Twisted Sister’s lead singer Dee Snider brought on by a series of health challenges, the band has been forced to cancel all shows scheduled, beginning April 25th in (São Paulo) Brazil and continuing through the summer,” the band’s statement said.
The statement continued by addressing the future of the band, saying it “will be determined in the next several weeks” and encouraged fans to “stay tuned for updates.”
—Fox News, yesterday.
And from Variety in December: Rolling Stones Call Off 2026 Tour.
The Rolling Stones have called off plans for a 2026 stadium tour of the United Kingdom and Europe, a source close to the band confirms to Variety, following reports that guitarist Keith Richards was unable to “commit” to it.
While never officially announced, the group’s touring pianist Chuck Leavell and a spokesperson recently told press in the U.K. that the band has nearly completed a new album — their second with 35-year-old producer Andrew Watt — and planned on touring the U.K. and Europe. However, Richards, who turns 82 on Thursday, is said to be unable to commit to the rigors of another tour. Live dates in recent years have shown that he has faced challenges due to a long battle with arthritis, which he has called “benign” and said has forced him to change his style of playing.
As Kyle Smith wrote in 2019 in “The Great Forgetting:”
As the Who suit up for what I suppose will be their final tour (“Who’s Left”?), Chuck Klosterman points out in his book But What if We’re Wrong? that whole forms die out. He compares rock to 19th-century marching music: nothing left of the latter except John Philip Sousa. That’s it. And Sousa himself is barely remembered. In 100 years rock might be gone too, Klosterman guesses. Maybe we’ll remember one rock act. Who will it be? Maybe none of the obvious answers. It certainly wasn’t obvious at the time of Fitzgerald’s death that The Great Gatsby would be the best-remembered novel he or anyone else wrote in the first half of the 20th century.
No wonder Paul McCartney allowed Beatles songs to be used in two commercials during the NFC/AFC championship games a couple of weeks ago. Starbucks and Airbnb likely paid a small(?) fortune for the rights, and it keeps the band at the top of the consciousness for millions of similarly aging fans:
Two original Beatles recordings popping up during the AFC championship. Used to be very rare….maybe McCartney thinking Beatles can stay in pop culture via this route?
— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) January 25, 2026