The Clash

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Topper Headon in 1978

"Lemmy was a creature of habit; he'd have a huge line of speed and then a big fry-up for breakfast": Topper Headon's wild tales of Johnny Thunders, Keith Moon, Keith Richards and more

By Peter Makowski published

Living with Lemmy, Sharing a tour bus with Bo Diddley, refusing to get out of bed for Martin Scorsese – these are the stories of Topper Headon, legendary drummer with The Clash

Dylan, Simonon, Jones

"There was a bit of a clash of cultures." The night that Hollywood star Mickey Rourke and a gang of bikers gatecrashed Bob Dylan's recording session with members of The Clash and Sex Pistols

By Paul Brannigan published

In March 1987, Bob Dylan booked LA's Sunset Sound studios for a recording session with two English punk 'faces'. Then Mickey Rourke showed up uninvited, with 30 bikers in tow

The Clash, 1980

“The chief of police came up to me in the cell and went, Is this the Englander who’s accused of beating up punks? Then he bent down and said, Good for you, mate.” Joe Strummer on the night a Clash gig turned into a bloody band versus audience riot

By Paul Brannigan published

For The Clash, gigs in Hamburg, Germany in the early '80s were challenging, scary and violent

The Fabulous Stains

“We were going to be The Fabulous Stains for real.” How a cult movie featuring Diane Lane, Ray Winstone, and members of The Sex Pistols and The Clash inspired a new generation of women to play punk rock

By Paul Brannigan published

The impact of Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains was felt long after the film died a death at the cinema, particularly among riot grrrl punks

Dave Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen onstage at the US Festival

"He was so drunk, slurring and forgetting lyrics and everything": The story of the historic day heavy metal killed new wave

By Joe Daly published

It's memorial weekend in 1983, and the US Festival is about to change the musical landscape forever, with a little help from Van Halen

A montage of Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, David Bowie and Jim Morrison

The first and last lyrics sung on record by 20 legendary bands

By Dave Everley published

From The Beatles and Bowie to Freddie Mercury and Kurt Cobain and, these are the first and last lines sung on record by rock’s biggest bands

Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins

"Minor Threat were like The Beatles. I saw Ian MacKaye write Straight Edge on his mother's piano": Henry Rollins on Black Flag, Minor Threat, The Stooges, Green Day, Beyoncé and the meaning of punk

By Simon Young published

Former SOA, Black Flag, Rollins Band frontman Henry Rollins knows a thing or three about punk rock, so pay attention please

The Clash in 1979

“I don’t think Joe would’ve been happy retreading any steps he’d made already”: Paul Simonon on why The Clash never reunited

By Niall Doherty published

The Clash bassist added that he still keeps in touch with his old bandmates

The Clash pose outside a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles in 1982

Tension, ego, heroin: How The Clash's epic unreleased double album Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg all but finished them off

By Kris Needs published

Combat Rock would gave The Clash their biggest singles, but it was only part of a bigger, more ambitious mothership

The Clash

"I'll never forgive myself for shutting my mouth. From that day on it was never any good": Joe Strummer on the day he knew that The Clash had lost their soul

By Paul Brannigan published

Joe Strummer knew that The Clash's days were numbered long before he fired Mick Jones from the band

The Clash onstage in America, 1979

"I'd seen Led Zeppelin, loved it, but you can't touch them: they fly away on a jet plane that says 'Led Zeppelin' on it. The Clash pulled up in a station wagon": Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan on the gig that changed his life forever

By Paul Brannigan published

In October 1979, 15-year-old Michael 'Duff' McKagan attended a punk rock show in Seattle which turned his world upside down

Joe Strummer onstage

"If you stormed in here and said the new record was rubbish, I would probably quit": Joe Strummer's struggle after The Clash

By Stephen Dalton published

Before his death, Joe Strummer could hardly get arrested. After, he was feted as a rock icon. This is the inside story of the solo years of a punk rock warlord

A montage of photos of Jimi Hendrix, Ace Frehley, James Hetfield and Kurt Cobain

10 cover versions that are way more popular than the originals (according to Spotify)

By Paul Travers published

The Beatles, Bowie, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder have all seen covers of their songs become more popular than the original version

The Clash in 1982

“I don’t think they envisaged the madness and chaos...”: How The Clash started falling apart while shooting their Rock The Casbah video

By Niall Doherty published

In the wake of Combat Rock, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones were at loggerheads: The Clash would not survive

The Clash in 1979

“I gave the lyrics to Joe to sing. He said, No, you’ve gotta sing it, they're your lyrics”: The Clash's Paul Simonon on how he wrote the punk icons' defiant classic The Guns Of Brixton

By Niall Doherty published

London Calling classic The Guns Of Brixton was Clash bassist's Paul Simonon's first-ever composition

"It was the punk gig of dreams": what happened when The Clash brought Buzzcocks, The Slits and Subway Sect to Manchester

By Mick Middles published

On May 1, 1977, The Clash started their first ever UK tour. A week later they played at the Electric Circus in Manchester, a night that changed the lives of those lucky enough to be there

The Clash, Green Day, Ramones, Black Flag

10 terrible punk albums with one classic song

By Paul Brannigan published

These punk albums are stinkers that only a mother could truly love, but each features one redeeming, gleaming diamond in the dirt

A group portrait of UK punk rock band The Clash, New York, September 1978

How The Clash made history by visiting some of Belfast's most divided and violent streets

By Niall Doherty published

Punk pioneers The Clash were captured visiting a war-torn, troops-heavy Belfast at the height of the Troubles and it cemented their reputation as a result

English punk rock group The Clash, New York, 1978. Left to right: singer Joe Strummer (1952 - 2002), bassist Paul Simonon, guitarist Mick Jones and drummer Nicky 'Topper' Headon

Remembering the time The Clash turned up in Northern Ireland for a gig, but instead ended up causing a riot

By Niall Doherty published

As well as being mistaken for paramilitaries, The Clash's slated 1977 Belfast gig ended up in a kerfuffle that saw punks rioting and the band banned from performing

Galen And Paul

Kevin Ayers' daughter Galen proves to be a chip off the old block!

By Jerry Ewing published

Galen Ayers, daughter of Kevin, and Paul Simonon, of The Clash, will release Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day? in May