It’s rare to go to a concert where everyone knows almost every song, but then John Fogerty is the rare singer-songwriter whose catalog, especially all those Creedence Clearwater Revival hits, can deliver that.
That kind of show leads to a lot of smiling faces, and at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, smiles filled the aisles, though the broadest was Fogerty’s as he sang and played guitar in a set that packed 24 songs, 18 of them Creedence Clearwater Revival classics, into almost two hours on stage.
“I am so frickin’ happy to be here at the Hollywood Bowl,” he hollered after kicking off this stop on the Celebration Tour with the swampadelic rock of “Bad Moon Rising” and the revved-up tempos of “Up Around the Bend.”
“You know I just got my songs back so I’m gonna sing every one of them,” Fogerty continued. “So let’s go!”
Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Show Caption1 of 19Singer-songwriter John Fogerty’s Celebration Tour arrived at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, July 6, 2025, with the 80-year-old rocker playing mostly hits which he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s but then avoided for years due to a dispute over their ownership. After regaining control of his work in 2023 he’s been playing more and more of these classics and having a blast doing so. (Photo by Timothy Norris / Los Angeles Philharmonic) Expand“Green River” and “Born on the Bayou” followed, and it bears repeating that nobody looked happy than Fogerty, who turned 80 in May, on stage playing songs he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late ’60s and early ’70s.
He’s a naturally cheerful fella, coming off like the oldest, most knowledgeable cowboy in the bunkhouse with his red bandana tied around his neck, his trademark blue plaid shirt, blue jeans and a denim jacket. But the 50-year battle over the publishing rights to the songs he wrote and unwittingly sold in a disadvantageous youthful deal is over now.
Two years ago he wrested control of his publishing rights back, giving him say over how they are used in media such as movies, television, and advertisements, and that’s clearly a weight lifted, judging from the cheerfulness with which Fogerty chatted with the crowd and shared stories all night.
Like this: In 1969, he bought his first Rickenbacker guitar, Fogerty noted as his guitar tech brought that instrument to him, and modified it with a Les Paul humbucker pickup “because I heard about these guys over in England called Jimmy, Eric and Jeff.
“This is the part of the show where I’ve got to say, ‘Go ask your grandpa!” he added before sharing what grandpa would: Jimmy, Eric and Jeff are the guitar heroes also known as Page, Clapton and Beck.
He played that guitar at Woodstock and on nearly every Creedence hit that followed in the next few years before life went south on him.
“By 1972, my girlfriend left me, my band broke up, and my dog bit me,” Fogerty continued. “I was really down. And this 12-year-old kid came up to me and said, ‘Hey John, can I have one of your guitars?’ And for some reason, I gave my most precious guitar to him, and I didn’t see my guitar for a long time.”
Unbeknownst to him, his wife Julie tracked the Rickenbacker down decades later and wrapped it up under the Christmas tree for him a few years back.
“The most beautiful thing is after 44 years I got my baby back,” he said, before launching into “Who’ll Stop the Rain” one of the songs he wrote on it, as clips of muddy rained-on hippies at Woodstock which inspired the tune flashed across the screen behind him.
The video screen underscored both the historical era in which these songs were born and the messages within their lyrics, many of which still feel particularly relevant today.
“Effigy,” a Creedence song off the album “Willie and the Poor Boys,” was the rarest track of the night. Written during the events of the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the Nixon administration, the song is one that Fogerty has added to his sets in recent years.
“Last night I saw a fire burning on the palace lawn,” the first verse begins. “O’er the land the humble subjects watched in mixed emotion. Who is burning? Who is burning? Effigy.”
After “Run Through the Jungle,” during which footage of American soldiers in Vietnam was screened, and “Lodi,” a country rocker about being stuck someplace you’d rather not be, Fogerty paused to praise his family, another source of his current, happy circumstances. Sons Shane and Tyler Fogerty are both in his band, Shane on lead guitar, Tyler on rhythm, and they’ve been there with him for years now.
“Matter of fact my whole family is here tonight,” he said. “Everybody is here somewhere but my dog Creedence. We left him at home tonight.”
Noting that he and Julie recently celebrated their 34 wedding anniversary – “I got the golden ticket when I married Julie,” he added – Fogerty played “Joy Of My Life,” a sweetly earnest ode to his missus, the refrain of which included repeated acknowledgment that “I am the luckiest man alive.”
The back half of the set included another relative rarity, “Fight Fire,” a garage rocker from the pre-Creedence days when the band was known as the Golliwogs, and a pair of lovely melodies, one fast, one slow, delivered via “Hey Tonight” and “As Long As I See the Light.”
The guitar boogie song “Keep on Chooglin’” opened with a long guitar solo and then rumbled through its bluesy grooves. “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” got maybe the biggest sing-along of a sing-along-filled night. And “Down On the Corner,” which opened with just the right amount of cowbell, got the crowd onto their feet and dancing.
After a pair of solo hits, the baseball anthem “Centerfield,” which featured vintage baseball clips, and “The Old Man Down the Road,” Fogerty ended the main set with “Fortunate Son,” perhaps his most pointed political song, an angry shout against privileged young men who were able to avoid the Vietnam War in which the poor and minorities made up a majority of those who served.
It’s become, like many Creedence songs, an anthem that evokes American wars, though not always as its author intended. In a recent interview before Fogerty played the Glastonbury Festival, he expressed astonishment that the song had been played during President Donald Trump’s military parade.
“The song could’ve literally been written about him,” Fogerty told the reporter for the Telegraph.
Here, it had the crowd standing and singing again as Fogerty raced through it at a pace that almost left him breathless.
Following a short break, the encore arrived with Fogerty on stage alone to thank the crowd and his wife Julie one more time for her hard work to get back control of his music.
“It’s a really big deal to any writer of course,” he said of that victory. “I had a plan. My plan was I outlived all those sons of bitches!”
Now he’s taken a page from Taylor Swift’s playbook and recorded a new album, “Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years,” on which he and his band have re-recorded new versions of classic hits, each of them with the words “John’s Version” added to the titles.
Then, with “Travelin’ Band” and “Proud Mary,” this night of songs, all of them John’s versions now, wrapped up, their creator still smiling as he left.
Related Articles
Young kids will rock Pike Restaurant in Long Beach during free grunge-influenced rock show The Broad unveils Native-focused summer concert series tied to Jeffrey Gibson Exhibit Yo Gabba Gabba! live tour coming to SoCal this August After 22 years of marriage, The Bangles’ Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill make sweet music From Shrek raves to disco proms: SoCal’s weirdest and most fun summer music parties Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( John Fogerty celebrates his Creedence Clearwater Revival songs at the Hollywood Bowl )
Also on site :