October Rolls In: Beatles, The Who and Tony Iommi Lead a Big Month for Rock
Written by Jarvis Prime on October 1, 2026
Today marks 60 years since Jimi Hendrix first played live in Britain. October also brings a rare Beatles archive release, a giant box set from The Who and a new solo record from Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi.
Good morning, south Georgia, and happy first of October. The heat is finally starting to ease, and a lot of new rock music is on the way this month. Here's what's in the news.
We'll start with a big anniversary. Sixty years ago today, on October 1, 1966, Jimi Hendrix played live in the United Kingdom for the first time, at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London. Cream had invited him to sit in and jam with them. Four years later, on the same date in 1970, Hendrix was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Renton, Washington. That same day in 1970, Janis Joplin finished her last recording session.
Other October 1 anniversaries: the Beach Boys put out their first album, Surfin' Safari, on this day in 1962. U2 released The Unforgettable Fire in 1984. And in 1982, Sony released the CDP-101, the world's first compact disc player, and the way we bought music started to change.
On to new releases. On Friday, October 2, The Beatles release an expanded Rubber Soul with 20 previously unreleased takes and three previously unreleased home demos. Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True gets an expanded anniversary edition the same day.
On October 9, Greta Van Fleet releases a new studio album, Palace for the People. Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready releases Farewell to Seasons, a rock opera on vinyl that comes with a hardcover graphic novel. On October 16, Rick Wakeman releases Return to the Red Planet, the sequel to his 2020 album The Red Planet. It features singer Mollie Marriott, daughter of the late Steve Marriott of Small Faces and Humble Pie.
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi releases From the Dark on October 23, with eight new songs and two bonus tracks that have been out before. Brian May of Queen is among the guests. The Doors' Unbound and Dangerous comes out the same day. On October 30, The Who release a five-CD, one-Blu-ray super deluxe box of The Who by Numbers with 92 unreleased tracks and mixes. Foreigner's Head Games and Mötley Crüe's Too Fast for Love also get expanded editions that day.
If you lean toward country and Americana, Miranda Lambert's new album Crisco is out October 2. Brothers Osborne's Watertown is expected on October 23, and Kaitlin Butts' Hello, Honky Tonk on October 30.
In radio news, the Radio Hall of Fame inducts its 2026 class on Thursday, October 8. The eight inductees are Boomer Esiason, Dennis Green, Shotgun Tom Kelly, Helen Little, Bob Pittman, Rickey Smiley, Charlie Van Dyke and Fred Winston. The Country Radio Hall of Fame is now taking nominations for its Class of 2027 until October 30. Nominees need at least 20 years in radio, with at least 15 of them in country. The class will be announced at Country Radio Seminar in Nashville next March.
That's the news for now. Keep it right here on Pretoria Fields Radio for the music that matters, from our neck of the woods to yours.
— The Pretoria Fields Radio news desk
