Features archive

June 2026

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17 articles

June 27
- “He had just played his heart out. None of it was recorded because the stupid tape ran out.” Ritchie Blackmore says a “brilliant” performance was lost during the making of Rainbow’s epic “Stargazer”
June 26
- “Angus is still wearing those stupid shorts. The band is definitely stuck in a rut.” Pete Townshend on the one thing that has kept Angus Young and AC/DC from evolving
- “George started freaking out. He said, ‘I feel like I’m dying.’ And then, Peter Fonda said, ‘Oh, I know what it’s like to be dead.’” Byrds founder Roger McGuinn on the origins of John Lennon’s trippiest Beatles track
June 22
- “This was one of the greatest guitar safaris of my life.” Joe Bonamassa on the missteps and dumb luck that led him to track down Terry Reid’s 1952 Telecaster
June 21
- “They said I couldn’t follow ‘American Pie.’ Then ‘Vincent’ was #1. I heard two years of this crap.” Don McLean on proving his critics wrong — and why there are 24 different vocal takes on “American Pie”
June 20
- “Henry was on the floor, laughing. He did it on purpose.” Suzi Quatro thought she’d blown her first big scene on the TV hit ‘Happy Days.’ Then she saw Henry Winkler backstage
June 19
- “My own son didn’t know who I was until he could turn 21 and get into the blues clubs. He said, ‘Dad, I didn’t know you could play like that!’” As he approaches 90, guitar legend Buddy Guy prepares to return to the road with the BG90 tour
June 16
- “He threw an ashtray against the wall and said, ‘That’s the drum solo, man!’” Gary Lucas on Captain Beefheart’s paranoia, Lou Reed’s hypocrisy, Jeff Buckley’s genius and Bruce Springsteen’s generosity
- “I was dealing cards at illegal blackjack games to make money.” How a guitar-playing bodybuilder with no musical experience helped Alice Cooper resurrect his career in the shred-metal '80s
June 14
- “If he was that tuned into me and missed that point, then he missed the whole point.” Eric Clapton on the one thing Eddie Van Halen didn’t understand about playing the blues
- “Oh my god — I ruined my guitar!” Brian Setzer on the night a stunt went wrong and destroyed the rockabilly star’s beloved ’59 Gretsch
June 13
- "It was tense... then he waved his magic wand." Andy Summers reveals the Beatles connection that saved the Police's biggest album
- “Every guitar that had been in Jamaica had to be pulled apart and rebuilt because of what the humidity there did to the electronics.” Pedal legend Roger Mayer reveals how he perfected Bob Marley's guitar tone for 'Exodus,' his global breakthrough
June 12
- “I had no idea what the phrase meant.” John Fogerty shares the origins of “Proud Mary” at the Songwriters Hall of Fame awards
- “I love my legacy, but I don’t want to live in it.” As he drops the latest Dirty Knobs album, Mike Campbell opens up about his studio secrets, channeling Jimmy Page, and what “terrifies” him about the Heartbreakers’ catalog
- “When I first heard Van Halen’s version of ‘You Really Got Me,’ I laughed. It really misses the point of the whole meaning of the song.” Dave Davies on Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page and the Kinks’ power revolution
June 5
- “Chris said, ‘See, you don’t need me at all.” Kim Thayil recalls Chris Cornell’s final hours