Bill Haley’s New Comets are the successors of the fathers of rock’n’roll «Bill Haley & His Comets». The band keeps Bill Haley’s music alive in its original 1950s style with original instrumentation, stage outfits and stage acrobatics, since 1985 led by singer Joe «Bill» Clifton and supported by Bill Haley’s original lead-guitarist Bill Turner and Bill Haley’s youngest daughter Gina.
In 2004, the group was awarded Artists of the Year» by the German Artists Magazine appreciating their artistic merits for classic rock and roll.
Frontman Joe «Bill» Clifton, authorized by Haley’s family, is celebrated by the international media as the «best Haley since Haley». After a sold-out show at the Berlin Tempodrom, the Berlin Morningpost wrote: «He acted as a steam locomotive always running at full speed, powerfully driving the ‹Never Ending Rock ’n’ Roll Express› and representing his godfather with dignity.»
Bill Haley’s Comets take the audiences on a musical journey through Bill Haley’s life and show the most important stages of his career – and this world-wide unique with the original 1954 line-up. Starting with the first wild sounds of the «Comets» through to the mega-hit «Rock Around the Clock» and its triumphal march around the globe, the audiences will experience the true original rock ’n’ roll for the very first time in a fresh and powerful sound. The audience enjoys pure American entertainment: be it the wild stage acrobatics of the musicians, the original Fifties sound of the Haley hits and rarities or the entertaining moderation of the bandleader.
The most significant date for hardcore Haley fans will probably remain 5 November 1989: the original Comets return to stage after 30 years and give a joint concert with their musical ‹foster sons› in Bristol, England. Impressed by the musical and performing originality of the new Comets (bassist Marshall Lytle: «I saw Bill and myself on stage 40 years ago!»), the Americans declared the new musicians to be worthy successors so that Haley’s rock ’n‘ roll would not be forgotten and symbolically allowed their name to be used – an honor that no other successor band had ever been granted by their original musicians.
Until 2016, the last surviving original Haley musicians toured together with their successor generation. Following the deaths of Dick Richards (drums) in 2019 and Joey Ambrose (saxophone) in 2021, Haley’s original lead guitarist Bill Turner is still in top form and will of course be back on this special tour, in keeping with the Comets slogan: