Rock legend Bruce Springsteen stayed true to his blue collar roots in his recent Berlin concert with the E Street Band, speaking out about the economic crisis around the world.
According to a Reuters report, Springsteen said form the stage of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium: “In America, a lot of people have lost their jobs. But also in Europe and in Berlin, times are tough. This song is for all those who are struggling.”
He then performed his anti-banker song, “Jack of All Trades,” off of his most recent album, Wrecking Ball.
The theatrical adaptation of Backbeat, the 1994 film that details The Beatles’ early days, will open in Los Angeles early next year before hitting Broadway, Billboard has reported. The production will be staged at L.A.’s Ahmanson Theater from January 16 through February 24, with January 23 being designated as the “official” opening night. The show premiered originally at Glasgow’s Citizens Theater in 2010, and its next run till take place in Toronto, from July 21 through September 2.
Set in 1960, Backbeat plays out against the backdrop of the relationship between The Beatles’ original bassist, Stu Sutcliffe, and German photographer Astrid Kirchherr. The show prominently features songs the band covered in the clubs of Liverpool and Hamburg – including “Long Tall Sally,” “Twist and Shout,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Please Mr. Postman” and “Rock ’n’ Roll Music.” The cast for the Los Angeles production has not been announced. A Broadway theater has yet to be booked, but Billboard speculates the show will likely open in New York before the end of April 2013.
ZZ Top fans have been patiently waiting for the Texas trio’s forthcoming album, produced by Rick Rubin. They’ll get a huge sample of the new record when ZZ Top release a four-song EP, titled Texicali, on June 5.
The EP will include the songs “I Gotsta Get Paid,” “Chartreuse,” “Over You” and “Consumption.” In addition, fans who buy the Texicali EP will receive a discount on ZZ Top’s full-length album, which does not yet have an official release date.
“We were itching to get some new music out before the full album release; making available these four tracks seems like a good way to accomplish that most expeditiously,” guitarist Billy Gibbons said in a press release (via Ultimate Classic Rock). “Dusty [Hill], Frank [Beard] and I are happy with what’s been accomplished in the studio so we figured we’d provide some hot and tasty ‘hors d’oeuvres’ before the main course is served this fall.”
Take note, musicians out there. It’s probably best not to punch a recording studio wall when frustration occurs. Thirty years ago, Tom Petty did just that and had to have pins placed in his fingers.
The Daily Express reports that the rock legend still suffers pain from injuring his hand back in the ’80s. Petty told Q magazine, “I didn’t notice it for the longest time, but in the last year it’s started to hurt. I guess that’s just down to getting old.”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will perform at the Isle of Wight Festival in England on June 22.
Jimmy Page closed the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics alongside a London double decker bus, crunching out Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” but nobody asked him to take part in the actual London Olympics this year.
According to British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the legendary guitarist is “upset” that he was not asked to be involved with the London games.
“Of course, I’m feeling rather hurt,” he told The Telegraph at the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the Arts at the Royal Academy. “We put so much into Beijing, but weren’t helped by the Chinese giving us next-to-no practice time.”
Slash just released his sophomore solo album, Apocalyptic Love, last week, and now, the famed Velvet Revolver and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist has a documentary on the horizon.
Slash – The Cat in the Hat: The Story So Far is set to arrive on Blu-ray on August 21 via Pride, according to Blabbermouth. Here’s the official description of what to expect from the 131-minute flick: “The most iconic rock guitarist since Keith Richards, Slash has achieved the status of ‘most interesting hard rock act in the world today.’ … This two-disc set includes a DVD documentary tracing the life and times of Slash, and a disc of audio interviews with the Cat himself during which he speaks candidly and honestly on almost everything he feels strongly about.”
Check out Slash’s famed Les Paul, here. “The weight of the guitar, the way the neck is, the humbuckers; all that stuff just appeals to me as a guitar player,” Slash told Gibson.com. “[The Les Paul] really is the best all-around guitar for me.”
Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and his wife Poly Samson found more than they bargained for when renovating their East Sussex house last week. Workmen discovered an unexploded World War II bomb, according to Music-News.com.
News of the discovery surfaced when Polly posted a series of tweets: “Well, this is exciting. We’ve all been evacuated because they’ve found a bomb under our building site!... We think it’s a bit of old pipe but MOD on their way… They’re here *sticks fingers in ears*… They’ve taken away *our* bomb. Incendiary but missing the bit that makes it go bang… Bomb disposal people now having an ice cream.”
Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has been talking to Metal Express Radio about the Canadian trio’s long-awaited new album, Clockwork Angels.
The legendary guitarist admits, “it’s been a long project. We released a couple of songs before the last tour and that’s the first time that we’ve done something like that where we’ve recorded a couple of songs from a record that hasn’t been released yet. It was kind of fun to get those songs out, to work them and play them and have a peek into what the project was going to be.”
Of Clockwork Angels’ ambition, Lifeson says: “I’m never sure what the plan is. We sort of start on the day and it takes its shape and we kind of go with it. I think probably with this record, we really wanted to play and wanted to stretch out a little bit. We wanted to have fun playing and also to strip things down a little. I think Snakes & Arrows, in retrospect, was a little bit dense, because it was written on acoustic guitar, which played a major role in the production. We layered a lot of acoustics and electrics and I think we got just a little cloudy at times. I really like the record, but with hindsight of living with it for a while, we realized that we kind of overcooked it a bit.”
Lifeson is pleased with the contribution of producer Nick Raskulinecz. Lifeson settled his own mind about the way Clockwork Angels was going when he hooked up with Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell on the fairway.
“I played golf with Jerry Cantrell recently and he said the same thing, [Nick] brings what’s in you, out. The thing that makes you what you are is what he hunts for.”
Lifeson also revels in using his recent Gibson Les Paul Axcess model: “they are such a sweet sounding guitar,” he says.
Slash has spoken many times about his past relationship with Axl Rose. He’s also spoken about how he’s made his previous solo records. Now, he seems happier working with singer Myles Kennedy.
In a forthcoming Guitar World interview Slash admits that he enjoys “just putting together guitar ideas on my own.” He also says, “I try not to overwork it. I’ll come up with two or three parts, and that’s it. Then I like to bounce things off other guys and see what they can come up with.”
Of the just-released Apocalyptic Love album, Slash adds. “Myles could do whatever he wanted when he was writing his parts. And sometimes that even changed my parts. For instance, there’s a song on the new album called ‘No More Heroes’ that is a classic example of a 50/50 kind of collaboration between us, where I had a riff and a whole arrangement that I put together, but it was all still open to interpretation.
“So Myles took the chorus idea that I had and just completely raped it, and came up with a new, insanely great chorus. And that was a moment where it was like, ‘Okay, we have a good thing going… it makes for better music overall.’”
And although Apocalyptic Love is billed as another Slash “solo” album, don’t expect him to sing any time soon.
“I have no aspirations to sing,” he says. “I don’t enjoy it. Occasionally I’ll have ideas for lyrics or vocals, but I’ve found that people who actually do those things for a living will always come up with something better.”
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich may be taking a few weeks off from hitting the skins to delve into acting, but that doesn’t mean he’s giving up music for good. Far from it. Ulrich says that although he thoroughly enjoyed his role in the new HBO movie Hemingway & Gellhorn, premiering Monday, May 28 (9 p.m. ET/PT), his first love is music.
“Music is my main thing, so heading away to a place like, say, Iceland for a shoot would never work for me,” Ulrich told USA Today, while he was taking a break from rehearsal for summer concerts in Europe and the U.S., including Metallica’s debut Orion Music + More festival. “But this was Phil [Kaufman, director], this was San Francisco, and this was six weeks total. No-brainer.”
As for his HBO acting role, Ulrich plays Dutch documentarian Joris Ivens, whose work chronicling the Spanish Civil War attracted Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn (played by Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman) to the Iberian Peninsula in the late the 1930s.
Ulrich says he put everything into the role. “I took it very seriously. I studied the difference between how a Dutch person would say things in English and the way I would as a Dane,” he said. “Most people couldn’t tell the difference, but I can. And it needed to be right.”
Check out Gibson.com’s feature on Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, here.
Born on this day:
1941, Bob Dylan, singer-songwriter (For more on Dylan, see This Day in Music Spotlight.)
1944, Patti LaBelle, R&B singer
1947, Waddy Wachtel, guitarist, producer
1955, Rosanne Cash, singer-songwriter
1956, Larry Blackmon, vocals, Cameo
1960, Guy Fletcher, keyboards, Dire Straits
1967, Steve McDonald, bass, Redd Kross
1969, Rich Robinson, guitar, The Black Crowes
1963, Elmore James, blues guitarist and singer, died of a heart attack at age 45. He wrote “Shake Your Money Maker,” covered by Fleetwood Mac in 1968. Known as “The King of the Slide Guitar,” James influenced Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Keith Richards, among others.
1969, Bob Dylan scored his fourth #1 U.K. album with Nashville Skyline.
1974, American composer, pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington died of lung cancer and pneumonia at age 75. The jazz legend worked with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday, among other greats. He was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. In 2009, the United States Mint launched a new coin featuring Duke Ellington on the reverse side of the coin.
1991, Founding member of The Byrds Gene Clark died of a heart attack at age 49. He wrote The Byrds’ hits “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” and “Eight Miles High” and was a member of McGuinn, Clark and Hillman.
1999, Freddie Mercury was featured on a new set of millennium stamps issued by the Royal Mail. The Queen frontman, who died in 1991, was featured on the 19p stamp. The singer was a keen stamp collector, and his collection was bought by the Post Office in 1993. The stamp marked his contribution to the Live Aid charity concert in 1985.
2000, Andrea and Sharon Corr from The Corrs both collapsed in the mid-day sun whilst shooting their new video in the Mojave Desert in California. The pair were treated in hospital for heat exhaustion and were back on the set within 24 hours.
Pink Floyd mastermind Roger Waters has been touring the world with performances of The Wall for the past couple of years, but all good things must come to an end. Waters has announced that following the final North American leg of the trek, he will play The Wall one more time at a special show in Quebec City, Canada on July 21.
In a video statement (via Ultimate Classic Rock), Waters declared that he will do “something I’ve wanted to do outdoors theatrically” – he will build the biggest wall yet. Waters plans for the giant stage prop – which will be constructed and torn down during the concert – to be more than 820 feet tall. The bassist, singer and songwriter said that everything about the show will be bigger, brighter and louder, with more pyrotechnics, lighting and a surround sound system that will “shake the entire site.”
The concert will take place at the Fields of Abraham. Tickets go on sale to the general public on June 5.
After Black Sabbath’s rousing reunion in their hometown of Birmingham, England, guitarist Tony Iommi has admitted to nerves.
He says on the band’s official website: “I was extremely nervous beforehand about playing a long set, not knowing whether I’d be able to last. It turned out to be no problem whatsoever because Ozzy [Osbourne], Geezer [Butler] and Tommy [Clufetos] were nailing everything, no chance to feel tired!
“I’m really pleased with how it turned out, fantastic crowd and I want to say thank you to all of them for giving me such an amazing reception.”
Sabbath’s next two reunion stops include a concert at the U.K.’s Download Festival on June 10 and at Lollapalooza in Chicago in August.
Van Halen quickly shot down rumors of an interpersonal split over the weekend, reassuring fans that the postponement of the recently announced second leg of their North American tour was prompted by a desire to head off burn-out rather than any infighting.
The band also revealed that they're looking at the possibility of touring Japan and Australia.
In a video address posted on Vimeo, David Lee Roth said; "The band is getting along famously, better than we have in quite some time, and I think the shows reveal that through the miracle of YouTube."
But Dave said the band had bitten off more than it could chew with regards to scheduling. "The band is winning but our schedule has been sidelined for unnecessary roughness," he said, adding that if the tour continued past July 4 and all the way into Japan and Australia, the band would go into 'robot-zombie' mode.
David Lee Roth added that the band is planning a "supersize monster truck rally Van Halen tractor pull sort of event" for the second North American leg of the tour, which would happen "as soon as we learn to speak Australian."
A Roth-fronted Van Halen has never performed in Australia, but the band were booked to play the cancelled Soundwave Revolution festival in late 2011. Those plans were shelved to put the finishing touches on Van Halen's #2 hit album A Different Kind Of Truth.
The 3/4 reunited Black Sabbath performed the first of three planned concerts for 2012 on the weekend with a historic homecoming show in Birmingham, England.
The show, at the 3,800 O2 Academy, served as a warm-up for the band's headlining set at the Download festival at Donington on Sunday June 10, and their headlining set at the Lollapalooza festival in the USA on Friday, August 3.
With original drummer Bill Ward absent due to a contract dispute, Ozzy Osbourne's solo band drummer Tommy Clufetos sat in.
Following the performance, bass player Geezer Butler wrote on Facebook, "Thank you, thank you, thank you Birmingham. Best fans ever — you brought out the best in us. It was a privilege playing for you tonight. Tony was a hero — you were the best medicine he has had. Proud to be a Brummie."
It appears that Van Halen will be rescheduling all of the dates on the second leg of their North American tour. Pollstar reports (via Blabbermouth) that the band has postponed all shows following June 26’s concert in New Orleans.
All dates between the reunited band’s July 7 stop in Uncasville, Connecticut, and their September 25 show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have been postponed. There has been no reason given for the change.
The news comes on the heels of a report that Van Halen was postponing their September 4 show in Salt Lake City, Utah. A press release from United Concerts said, that the show in question had been “temporarily postponed. Future dates to be announced.”
Check out the full list of scheduled and postponed Van Halen concerts below:
Scheduled dates:
May 19 - St. Paul, Minn., Xcel Energy Center
May 22 - Kansas City, Mo., Sprint Center
May 24 - Denver, Colo., Pepsi Center
May 27 - Las Vegas, Nev., MGM Grand Garden Arena
Jun. 1 - Los Angeles, Calif., Staples Center
Jun. 3 - Oakland, Calif., Oracle Arena
Jun. 5 - San Jose, Calif., HP Pavilion
Jun. 12 - Anaheim, Calif, Honda Center
Jun. 14 - San Diego, Calif – Viejas Arena
Jun. 16 - Phoenix, Ariz., US Airways Center
Jun. 20 - Dallas, Texas, American Airlines Center
Jun. 22 - San Antonio, Texas, AT&T Center
Jun. 24 - Houston, Texas, Toyota Center
Jun. 26 - New Orleans, La., New Orleans Arena
Postponed Van Halen dates:
Jul. 7 - Uncasville, Ct., Mohegan Sun Arena
Jul. 9 - Hampton, Va., Hampton Coliseum
Jul. 11 - Philadelphia, Pa., Wells Fargo Center
Jul. 13 - East Rutherford, N.J., Izod Center
Jul. 15 - Baltimore, Md., 1st Mariner Arena
Jul. 17 - Rochester N.Y., Blue Cross Arena
Jul. 19 - Detroit, Mich., Joe Louis Arena
Jul. 21 - London, Ontario, John Labatt Centre
Jul. 24 - Toledo, Ohio, Huntington Center
Jul. 26 - Grand Rapids, Mich., Van Andel Arena
Jul. 28 - Cleveland, Ohio, Quicken Loans Arena
Jul. 31 - Fort Wayne, Ind., Allen County Memorial Coliseum
Aug. 2 - Columbus, Ohio, Schottenstein Center
Aug. 4 - Knoxville, Tenn., Thompson-Boiling Arena
Aug. 6 - Memphis, Tenn., FedEx Forum
Aug. 8 - Birmingham, Ala., BJCC Arena
Aug. 10 - Greenville, S.C., BI-LO Center
Aug. 12 - Cincinnati, Ohio, US Bank Arena
Aug. 21 - Spokane, Wash., Spokane Arena
Aug. 23 - Portland, Ore., Rose Garden Aug. 25 - Sacramento, Calif.,Power Balance Pavilion
Aug. 28 - Fresno, Calif., Save Mart Center
Aug. 30 - Reno, Nev., Reno Events Center
Sep. 4 – Salt Lake City, Utah - EnergySolutions Arena
Sep. 8 - Albuquerque, N.M., Tingley Coliseum
Sep. 11 - El Paso, Texas, Don Haskins Center
Sep. 13 - Austin, Texas, Frank Erwin Center
Sep. 15 - Oklahoma City, Okla., Chesapeake Energy Arena
Sep. 17 - Wichita, Kan. – Intrust Bank Arena
Sep. 21 - Moline, Ill., Iwireless Center
Sep. 25 - Milwaukee, Wis., Bradley Center
Disco singer Donna Summer has died after a battle with cancer, according to TMZ. She was 63.
Known as the “Queen of Disco,” Summer had numerous hits in the late ’70s and ’80s, including “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” “Last Dance,” “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls” and “She Works Hard for the Money,” among many others.
Summer won five Grammy Awards and became a member of the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2004. She has been nominated for inclusion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, although she has not yet been chosen for induction.
When he’s not touring with his buddies in Pearl Jam, guitarist Mike McCready moonlights as a member of Flight to Mars, a UFO cover band. Recently, Mike and the boys deviated from their chosen tribute act when they were joined by guitar icon Ace Frehley, according to BraveWords.com.
During Flight to Mars’s May 15 gig as the Casbah in San Diego, Frehley stepped on stage to play lead on a version of his former band’s classic track, “Black Diamond.” Watch Ace and Mike wail on their Les Pauls (and see McCready literally bow down to the guitar hero) in the video below:
Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose was hurt in an accident in Russia.
The Daily Express reports that the rock legend has tweeted pictures of a possible
haematoma with the caption, “Can U say HemaToma?!”
The accident is thought to have happened after weekend shows in Moscow. The Sun newspaper quotes a source as saying, “Axl needed attention for a nasty leg injury after a suspected fall.”
Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott has been talking about his guilt at playing the hits. Classic Rock reports on an interview Elliott gave to KFAB-AM radio in Omaha, NE.
Elliott said: “People come to hear what they know. The only place people go psychologically prepared for an hour of brand-new music is an open mic night in some little bar.
“You don’t go to Madison Square Garden expecting to hear two hours of brand new Paul McCartney, Def Leppard, Roger Waters or The Who. You go to see Quadrophenia, something you’ve owned for 40 years. That’s what these gigs are.”
“There’s always a little thread on the website: ‘They never changed the set.’ But you change the set and 99% of the audience start to moan they didn’t hear the hits. You can’t cater to the minority. You just can’t. But occasionally you get these pangs of guilt where you do.”
An alternative photo of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album sleeve is up for auction. And guess what, it proves Paul McCartney is NOT dead.
For decades, the original Abbey Road picture has been cited as “proof” of a bizarre conspiracy theory by some Beatles obsessives – that Paul McCartney died in the 1960s.
On the cover of the band’s Abbey Road album, Macca is barefoot, supposedly indicating that he had died and been replaced by a body double. George Harrison, in denim, was (supposedly) dressed as the gravedigger, Ringo Starr as the undertaker and John Lennon as the preacher.
Now, however, a photograph has come to light which supports McCartney’s own explanation – that he had merely kicked off his sandals because it was a hot summer’s day.
In the soon-to-be-auctioned image, McCartney has sandals on and the band are crossing Abbey Road from right to left. The picture, one of less than 25 prints thought to have survived, will be sold later this month.
London-based auction house Bloomsbury has put a “conservative” estimate of £10,000 ($16,000) on the image. The photograph going up for auction measures 18” by 18”.
Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has hinted the legendary band will tour soon.
Earlier this year, it appeared they would be delaying the celebrations until 2013 after guitarist Keith Richards suggested the band weren’t ready to go back on the road yet.
Wood told The Sun, “It looks like we are going to be doing more stuff. I am keeping October/November free, that’s what I’ve been told. I’m just awaiting more information.”
A 2012 winter tour seems unlikely. It is more plausible that late 2012 will herald full Stones rehearsals for a 2013 tour – Keith Richards has already says that he considers 2013 as the band’s real 50th anniversary. “The Stones always considered ’63 to be 50 years, because Charlie [Watts] didn’t actually join until January,” Richards said. “We look upon 2012 as sort of the year of conception, but the birth is next year.”
But Wood laughed at suggestions the band would be recording new material, adding: “New ones? Are you joking? We are familiarising ourselves with our back catalogue and have only scratched the surface.”
Earlier this year, Wood suggested the band were “on the verge” of arranging a reunion and were simply “tying up loose ends.”
The Rolling Stones will release a new photo album to mark 50 years since their first-ever gig in July 2012. The Rolling Stones: 50 will feature 700 shots, plus words from the band on their history, and will hit bookshelves on July 12.
Stealing anything is bad. Stealing a guitar is extra-wrong. Stealing a guitar by putting it in your pants? That’s crazy.
Kansas police are asking for help identifying a thief who stole a guitar by shoving it down his pants and walking out of an Olathe music store with his accomplice. The theft occurred about 2:30 p.m. April 12 at Spencer’s Music Store, 1717 S. Mur-Len Road.
The two men entered the store, and surveillance photos show that as one man distracted an employee, the other grabbed a guitar and shoved it down his pants. The two men then left the store.
“We have reason to believe they are involved in similar thefts in other cities in the Midwest,” Allen said. “We are working with other agencies to see if they have had crimes with similar patterns.”
Allen encouraged music storeowners to check their surveillance tapes to see whether they have any missing merchandise.
AC/DC’s “schoolboy” Angus Young has topped his class. He has been voted the best Australian guitarist of all time in a poll conducted by Australian Guitar Magazine.
Young beat fingerpicker extraordinaire Tommy Emmanuel to the top spot in the editors’ poll for the magazine. Cold Chisel’s guitarist Ian Moss was third.
There was little good news for Australian guitarists who have started their careers in the past decade or so. Of the top 10, one cut his first record in the 1960s (Ross Hannaford of Daddy Cool), seven in the 1970s (Young, Emmanuel, Moss, Rick Brewster of The Angels, Deniz Tek of Radio Birdman, Jim Moginie of Midnight Oil and Lobby Loyde of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs) and two in the 1990s (Grigoryan and Chris Cheney of The Living End).
“Angus has the sort of skills that allow serious rock lovers to overlook the fact they’re being demonstrated by a tiny gurning man in his late-’50s, dressed as a schoolboy,” says Andrew P Street of Australian Guitar Magazine. Fellow Top 10 finalist Chris Cheney (The Living End) concurs. “Under the image is a supremely talented guitar player responsible for some of the most distinctive guitar riffs ever … he is one of the absolute all-time greats. To me it’s like Hendrix, Page, Keith Richards, you know he’s one of those guys.”
Oddly, it’s not mentioned that Angus Young is actually Scottish by birth. He and brother Malcolm’s family emigrated to Australia when the boys were infants.
We’re less than a week away from the release of Slash’s second solo album, Apocalyptic Love. If May 22 can’t come soon enough, you can check out a full stream of the deluxe version of the record (featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators) via Rolling Stone. Click here to hear all 13 rocking tracks.
Slash and pals have also premiered the video for the album’s lead single, “You’re a Lie.” Check out the clip below.
While vacationing in Scotland, AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young has been talking about a new album. He was quick to tell Classic Rock that he felt Brian Johnson was somewhat unrealistic in suggesting the band’s new album could be out next year.
“You know what Brian’s like,” Young said. “He just says things and then walks away. It’ll be a little while – a year or two anyway.
“I’ve been doing some jamming on some song ideas but I do that all the time, as do the rest of the band. We are still working. But we had a long rest between Stiff Upper Lip and Black Ice, so I think we need a couple of years to recuperate and work on it a bit more.”
A classic Alice Cooper concert depicting the makeup-ed rocker during his famed 1979 Madhouse Rock Tour is set to reach DVD on May 22. The Strange Case of Alice Cooper features footage of the shock rocker playing songs from his 1978 album, From the Inside, plus a selection of earlier hits. Highlights include Cooper singing “School’s Out,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “I’m Eighteen” and “I Never Cry” – all true Alice favorites.
Of course, this wasn’t a tame show. Cooper’s concert reportedly was inspired by his visit to a New York sanitarium and offers plenty of creepy allusions to the visit. The DVD also will offer an introduction by none other than late horror-film star Vincent Price.
Alice Cooper’s The Strange Case of Alice Cooper track list:
“From the Inside”
“Serious”
“Nurse Rozetta”
“The Quiet Room”
“I Never Cry”
“Devil's Food”
“Welcome to My Nightmare”
“Billion Dollar Babies”
“Only Women Bleed”
“No More Mr. Nice Guy”
“I’m Eighteen”
“The Black Widow”
“Wish I Was Born in Beverly Hills”
“Ballad of Dwight Fry”
“Go to Hell”
“How You Gonna See Me Now”
“Inmates (We’re All Crazy)”
“School’s Out”
Van Halen have added another batch of dates to the second leg of their current tour. The band is on the road to promote their newest release, A Different Kind of Truth.
The new shows include summer and fall stops in Portland, Austin and Milwaukee. The summer portion of the hard rockers’ trek begins July 7 in Uncasville, Connecticut.
New Van Halen tour dates:
Aug. 21 – Spokane Arena – Spokane, WA
Aug. 23 – Rose Garden – Portland, OR Aug. 25 – Power Balance Pavilion - Sacramento, CA
Aug. 28 – Save Mart Center - Fresno, CA
Aug. 30 – Reno Events Center - Reno, NV
Sept. 04 – Energy Solutions Center - Salt Lake City, UT
Sept. 08 – Tingley Coliseum – Albuquerque, NM
Sept. 11 – UTEP Don Haskins Center – El Paso, TX
Sept. 13 – Frank Irwin Center – Austin, TX
Sept. 15 – Chesapeake Energy Arena – Oklahoma City, OK
Sept. 17 – INTRUST Bank Arena - Wichita, KS
Sept. 21 – Iwireless Center – Moline, IL
Sept. 25 – Bradley Center – Milwaukee, WI
Legendary soul bass pioneer Donald “Duck” Dunn has died while on tour in Japan. He was 70.
The Grammy-winning Booker T. and the M.G.’s member is reported to have died in his sleep in a hotel room in Tokyo on Sunday after performing two shows at Blue Note Tokyo.
Dunn was a house bass player for the Stax label, performing on hits such as Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” and Otis Redding’s “Respect.” He later appeared in the film The Blues Brothers as himself.
Dunn’s M.G.’s bandmate Steve Cropper posted on Facebook, “Today I lost my best friend, the world has lost the best guy and bass player to ever live.”
Booker T. Jones wrote, “God is calling names in the music world. He gave us these treasures and now he is taking them back. I can’t imagine not being able to hear Duck laugh and curse, but I’m thankful I got to spend time and make music with him. His intensity was incomparable. Everyone loved him. None more than Otis Redding. Thank you all for your prayers and condolences, and just know that Duck is somewhere smiling down on all of us saying, ‘Got Damn!!!’”
Nothing is confirmed yet, but it’s possible that Sir Paul McCartney may complete a song that George Harrison left unfinished when he died.
Classic Rock reports that Harrison’s widow Olivia has several unfinished songs and has contemplated asking Macca for his help.
She told Spinner: “I had an idea of giving unfinished songs to different people – giving one to Paul, maybe, or giving one to somebody else and saying: ‘Here are the bones of a song, would you like to finished it?’ I think that would be a nice idea.”
Olivia also debunks the myth that Harrison’s creativity was stifled by John Lennon and McCartney. “Nobody can stifle you as a writer,” she said. “You can just keep writing. You might not get your song on an album. It seems to be history that he was suppressed or something – but really, he developed later as a songwriter.”
It doesn’t appear that The Rolling Stones will be backing up Mick Jagger during his May 19 appearance on Saturday Night Live. However, the rock legend will be joined by Foo Fighters and Arcade Fire on the episode, the comedy series’ season finale, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Jagger will serve as both host and musical guest, the first time he’s ever done so. He’s been a musical guest on SNL three times before.
EW points out that, when it comes to appearances, Dave Grohl has Jagger beat by a long shot. Between his work with Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures and as a guest drummer for Tom Petty, Grohl has been on the show 11 times. He’ll make it an even dozen on May 19.
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has confirmed that the band’s new album is almost finished. In an interview with Rolling Stone he says the band are working on mixing the new tracks this week.
Perry says: “It’s really close. We’ve started to mix. We’ve mixed a couple of the songs already, but I guess this week we’re really kind of rolling into mix mode. We have a couple of tracks left to finish up, just to put some overdubs on, but we're kind of going from the final, final recording tracks to mixing this week.”
Perry also confirmed that the band will release a new single “in three or four weeks.” It will be the first release from their 15th studio album – the follow-up to 2004’s Honkin’ on Bobo – which will be produced by Jack Douglas, the man behind 1975’s Toys in the Attic.
Speaking of the new material, Perry said: “The record’s gonna sound modern and hi-fi. We’re not sitting around going, ‘We’re gonna do Night in the Ruts again or Rocks again.’ We want to make a modern sounding record, but the main thing is the energy that the early records had.”
One track, “Legendary Child,” is due to be on the unnamed album and also appear on the G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie soundtrack.
There will be a new “best-of” collection from Black Sabbath, released to coincide with their Download 2012 performance. The band are not internationally touring, as originally planned, due to guitarist Tony Iommi’s battle with cancer.
But newer fans can get a pick of some of Sabbath’s finest songs on the new disc. The 14-song collection features classic tracks from across Black Sabbath’s first eight albums – including tunes from 1970’s debut Black Sabbath and follow-up Paranoid, 1971’s Master of Reality, 1972’s Volume 4, 1973’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and 1978’s Never Say Die.
The collection will be released on June 4, a few days ahead of the band’s headline show at Download. The tracklisting is:
“Paranoid” (from Paranoid)
“Iron Man” (from Paranoid)
“Changes” (from Volume 4)
“Fairies Wear Boots” (from Paranoid)
“War Pigs” (from Paranoid)
“Never Say Die” (from Never Say Die)
“Children of the Grave” (from Master of Reality)
“The Wizard” (from Black Sabbath)
“Snowblind” (from Volume 4)
“Sweet Leaf” (from Master of Reality)
“Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games)” (from Black Sabbath)
“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” (from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath)
“Black Sabbath” (from Black Sabbath)
“N.I.B.” (from Black Sabbath)
Of the original Ozzy Osbourne years, that means nothing off the Sabotage album, not even “Symptom of the Universe.” Good “best-of”? Comment below.
Aerosmith will play their new single on the season finale of American Idol, Joe Perry told Rolling Stone. On the May 23 edition of the series, the legendary rockers will perform “Legendary Child,” which is both the lead single from their forthcoming album and their contribution to the G.I. Joe: Retaliation soundtrack.
Steven Tyler and pals shot a video for the single last week. The movie hits theaters on June 29.
As for Aerosmith’s still-untitled album, Perry said: “It’s really close. We’ve started to mix. We’ve mixed a couple of the songs already, but I guess this week we’re really kind of rolling into mix mode. We have a couple of tracks left to finish up, just to put some overdubs on, but we’re kind of going from the final, final recording tracks to mixing this week.”
The album is due for a fall release, following Aerosmith’s summer tour with Cheap Trick, which begins June 16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Filmmaker Jonathan Demme’s third documentary on Neil Young will open next month after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.
Music-News.com reports that Journeys sees the Canadian rocker back in his hometown in North Ontario discussing his family and where he grew up. The inter-cut concert footage comes from a Young solo gig at Massey Hall in Toronto.
Journeys comes in the wake of Demme’s previous Neil Young films, Heart of Gold from 2006 and Neil Young Trunk Show from 2009.
A little rumor has hit the press that The Rolling Stones are currently in New York City, holding top-secret rehearsals. The Daily Mirror is reporting that the classic rockers have been practicing some of their most popular songs in the Big Apple, such as “Miss You,” “Jumping Jack Flash” and “Tumbling Dice.”
What could possibly be the reason for all the rehearsing? One thought is that since singer Mick Jagger is scheduled to appear as both host and musical guest on the season finale of Saturday Night Live on May 19, the Stones might join him on stage for the performance.
The Daily Mirror is also reporting that the band have been hard at work booking venues for a 2013 summer European tour, in conjunction with a larger tour commemorating the band’s 50th anniversary. Would you be game to see a Rolling Stones reunion show? Let us know in the conversation, below!
ZZ Top are back with a brand new ditty called “I Got to Get Paid,” and the song was written in conjunction with the Jeremiah Weed line of alcoholic drinks. “That Little Ol’ Band from Texas” can be seen rocking out to the song, which is their first new single in nine years, in the latest Jeremiah Weed commercial, below.
“I Got to Get Paid” is slated to arrive on the Texas trio’s forthcoming studio album, which is currently being produced by legendary knob-twiddler Rick Rubin. The album’s release date and title have yet to drop.
In other ZZ Top news, the guys are set to headline the Gang of Outlaws Tour, which will offer a rock and country-packed bill with Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and Dusty Hill playing alongside Mississippi rockers 3 Doors Down and country starlet Gretchen Wilson. The tour will kick off on May 25 in Manchester, New Hampshire, and continue through June 29 in Hinckley, Minnesota. ZZ Top are expected to play some new material on the tour, along with all the hits.
Wolfgang Van Halen, guitar wiz Eddie’s son and Van Halen’s driving bass player, has been talking about his role in the band. Classic Rock magazine reports on Wolfgang’s recent chat with Esquire magazine, where he explains that it’s he who designs the set lists for Van Halen, among other duties.
“I kind of come up with the set lists. When we’ve got a song that we haven’t done, it’s like, we should probably run through this before the show and figure out the count of it. Because Dad, for some reason, counts in odds. He’ll land on three instead of four. I have to look at him sometimes.”
Wolfgang also reveals that his father can be forgetful. He says: “He still, to this day, does not know the lyrics to ‘Beautiful Girls’ – he has it written down on his pedal board. On the last tour I used to have to mouth lyrics.”
As for the future, Wolfgang feels another album could be coming soon. “We have a lot of ideas that we wrote that never made it. And there’s so much material Dad wrote a long time ago that has never seen the light of day.”
Born on this day:
1935, Nokie Edwards, guitar, The Ventures
1937, Dave Prater, vocals, Sam & Dave
1944, Richie Furay, guitar, vocals, Buffalo Springfield, Poco
1945, Steve Katz, guitar, Blood, Sweat & Tears
1949, Billy Joel, singer-songwriter, pianist
1950, Tom Petersson, bass, Cheap Trick
1962, Dave Gahan, vocals, Depeche Mode
1970, Ghostface Killah (Dennis Coles), rapper, Wu-Tang Clan
1971, Paul McGuigan, bass, Oasis
1979, Andrew W.K., singer
1964, Chuck Berry began his first-ever U.K. tour at The Astoria Theatre, London, supported by The Animals, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Karl Denver and the Nashville Teens.
1966, The Doors played at the Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood, California, auditioning for the position of the venue’s house band.
1970, The Guess Who started a three-week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “American Woman.” It was the group’s sixth Top 30 hit and only chart topper. The song was born by accident when guitarist Randy Bachman was playing a heavy riff on stage after he had broken a string, the other members joined in on the jam. A fan in the audience who had recorded the gig on tape presented it to the group after the show and they developed it into a full song. For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight.
1973, Mick Jagger added $150,000 of his own money to the $350,000 raised by The Rolling Stones’ January benefit concert for victims of the Nicaraguan earthquake.
1974, Bonnie Raitt played two shows at Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The opening act was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Rolling Stone critic John Landau saw Springsteen and wrote “I have seen rock and roll’s future and his name is Bruce Springsteen.”
1978, Fee Waybill of The Tubes broke a leg after falling from the stage at the Hammersmith Odeon, London whilst wielding a chainsaw during the bands’ set.
1980, “I Don’t Like Mondays” by The Boomtown Rats won the best pop song and outstanding British lyric categories at the 25th Ivor Novello Awards. Supertramp’s “The Logical Song” won Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
1987, Starship started a four-week run at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with a song co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” At 48, Slick became the oldest female to reach #1 on the U.K. chart (the record was later broken by Cher’s “Believe” in 1999).
How many people can say they’ve released an album that included contributions from Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder and Dave Matthews? Not to mention Justin Timberlake, Big & Rich, fake newsman Stephen Colbert and real newsman Brian Williams?
Perhaps the only person who could pull together this impressive and eclectic lineup is Jimmy Fallon, who has performed with each of the stars on his NBC talk show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The comedian/musician is compiling those collaborations into a new album, Blow Your Pants Off, according to Rolling Stone.
In additions to team-ups with McCartney (on “Scrambled Eggs”) and Timberlake (“History of Rap”), the album will feature Fallon’s rock parodies, such as his version of “Charles in Charge” as Bob Dylan and his David Bowie/Tim Tebow mash-up “Tebowie.” The album will be released on June 12.
Jimmy Fallon, Blow Your Pants Off tracklist:
1. “Neil Young Sings ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’”
2. “History of Rap” (feat. Justin Timberlake)
3. “Tebowie”
4. “Scrambled Eggs” (feat. Paul McCartney)
5. “The Doors Sing ‘Reading Rainbow’”
6. “Balls in Your Mouth” (feat. Eddie Vedder)
7. “My Upstairs Neighbors are Having Sex (And Listening to the Black Eyed Peas)”
8. “Bob Dylan Sings ‘Charles in Charge’”
9. “Walk of Shame” (feat. Dave Matthews)
10. “Slow Jam the News” (feat. Brian Williams)
11. “New French Girlfriend”
12. “Cougar Huntin’” (feat. Big & Rich)
13. “You Spit When You Talk”
14. “Friday” (feat. Stephen Colbert)
15. “Neil Young Sings ‘Whip My Hair’” (feat. Bruce Springsteen)
If you’re one of the lucky few in attendance at Monday (May 7) night’s Dark Shadows premiere party in Los Angeles, you got to see a one-of-a-kind performance. Three rock legends and one rock star actor teamed up to play some rock classics for a VIP audience, according to a post on Alice Cooper’s website.
Alice Cooper (who has a small role in Dark Shadows) and pals served as the house band for the party, joined by Dark Shadows star Johnny Depp on his TV Yellow Les Paul Special. Before long the gang was playing Cooper’s biggest hits, with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry joining in on his Gibson Les Paul. As if that wasn’t enough star power, Perry’s pal Steven Tyler hit the stage to lead the whole group through “Come Together” and “Whole Lotta Love.” Check out fan-shot footage of the band playing the Led Zeppelin classic below.
It’s not the first time Cooper and Depp have shared a stage. The actor joined Alice last summer at London’s 100 Club. In addition, Depp loaned his guitar skills to Marilyn Manson for a performance at this year’s Golden Gods Awards.
Dark Shadows, directed by Tim Burton, hits theaters on Friday, May 11.
One day before his new album is released in North America, Slash (along with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators) will perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. To promote Apocalyptic Love, Slash and friends will play their new single, “Born to Lie,” on Fallon’s talk show on May 21, according to BraveWords.
On the day the album drops, the former Guns N’ Roses member will play a sold-out album release show at New York’s Irving Plaza. Slash and the band also have announced a new batch of North American tour dates, beginning July 12 in Portland and wrapping up August 4 in Huntington, New York.
Slash tour dates:
May
7 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
9 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
10 - Biloxi, MS - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hard Rock Live
12 - Kansas City, MO - Liberty Memorial Park (Rockfest)
13 - Boone, IA - Central Iowa Expo (Lazerfest)
14 - Minneapolis, MN - The Brick
16 - Madison, WI - Orpheum Theater
17 - Grand Rapids, MI - Orbit Room
19 - Columbus, OH - Crew Stadium (Rock on the Range)
20 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center (93.3 WMMR’s MMR BQ 2012)
22 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza (album release show)
25 - Pryor, OK - Fever Music Festival Grounds (Rocklahoma)
26 - Albuquerque, NM - Route 66 Casino
July
12 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
13 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
14 - Vancouver, BC - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
16 - Edmonton, AB - Northern Alberta Jubilee
17 - Calgary, AB - Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
20 - Saskatoon, SK - TCU Place
21 - Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre
23 - Thunder Bay, ON - Thunder Bay Community Auditorium
25 - Belleville, ON - Empire Square Live
26 - London, ON - Harris Park
27 - Montreal, QC - Olympia Theater
29 - Quebec City, QC - Salle Albert Rosseau
30 - Moncton, New Brunswick - Centre-Casino Moncton
31 - Halifax, NS - Cunard Events Centre
August
2 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
3 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre
4 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount
The rumor mill is churning with reports that The Rolling Stones are rehearsing this week in New York for an appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Noise11 reports that according to a posting on Rolling Stones forum iorr.org, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts rehearsed yesterday with keyboard player Chuck Leavell and producer Don Was on bass. The post claims that the band rehearsed “Fool to Cry,” “Jumping Jack Flash” and “Miss You.”
Jagger is the confirmed host of the season finale of Saturday Night Live on Saturday, May 19. Jagger has hosted SNL once before with the Stones, appeared as a musical guest three times, and has made several cameos throughout the years, including his famous “mirror sketch” with Jimmy Fallon.
Meanwhile, U.K. newspaper The Guardian is reported to have posted an advertisement for a Rolling Stones date in Berlin on September 1. The advertisement has since been removed, but it included an authentic Aerosmith date for July 3, seemingly adding strength to the possibility it might be real.
Mick Jagger will host the season finale of Saturday Night Live on May 19, NBC has announced. The appearance marks the first instance in which the Rolling Stones frontman has hosted the long-running comedy program.
Jagger will also perform musically, although it’s unclear whether he will choose material from the Stones catalog. Jagger has been a music guest three times on Saturday Night Live, including a 1978 appearance in which he and the rest of the Rolling Stones participated in several sketches. In 2001, he appeared in one of SNL’s most famous skits, showing considerable comedic skills in a classic sketch with Jimmy Fallon.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones formation. No activities have been announced to commemorate the occasion, but it’s quite possible another member – or members – of the Stones might join Jagger on SNL.
On his website, Sammy Hagar has announced an upcoming show in which he’ll perform material from every stage of his nearly 40-year career. The concert will take place September 1 at Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harvey’s in Stateline, Nevada.
The show will go like this: Hagar will begin the show with his current band the Wabos, then bassist Michael Anthony will join him for a set of Van Halen tunes (billed as “The Other Half”). After an intermission, Hagar will lead a tribute to Montrose, with Denny Carmassi and Bill Church, along with Joe Satriani filling in for the late Ronnie Montrose. Then, “if we get an encore,” Hagar writes that Anthony, Satriani and Carmassi will join him for some Chickenfoot tunes.
According to Hagar’s post, fans around the country might be seeing a show somewhat like this in 2013 – which officially marks the 40th anniversary of the singer-guitarist’s first album release (with Montrose). “This is a prototype to the type of thing I want to take on the road next year so I promise it to be the party of a lifetime,” he writes.
Tickets for the September 1 show will go on sale on Friday, May 5.
An unreleased track from Levon Helm, the legendary drummer/vocalist with The Band who passed away on April 19, is available for download today (May 3).
The Daily Express reports that “Toast to Freedom” was recorded shortly before his death. It’s available for download with all proceeds going to Amnesty International. The track was recorded at Helm’s studio in Woodstock and features vocals from Ewan McGregor, Kris Kristofferson and Carly Simon.
Read a Gibson.com exclusive interview with Levon Helm here.
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr is a big fan of the rhino, and he’s doing something to help save the animal. Starr currently has a photo of a rhinoceros plastered on the homepage of his official website, RingoStarr.com, plus the message “Save the Rhinos,” to help get the word out that the creature is on the endangered species tally. The site goes on to read, “Ringo Starr 2012: Peace & Love.”
“I’ve always loved rhinos,” Starr said in a statement. “They were close to my and [the late Who drummer] Keith Moon’s heart. In fact I had two huge ones made and gave one to Keith. Mine is still here out on the grass here in England.”
Starr, overall, is an animal lover. Before the rhino photo, he had a picture of his cat on the homepage of his website. For more information on the rhino cause, visit RingoStarr.com or SheldrickWildlifeTrust.org.
Born on this day:
1903, Bing Crosby, singer
1919, Pete Seeger, folk singer
1933, James Brown, R&B singer
1934, Frankie Valli, vocals, The Four Seasons
1944, Pete Staples, bass, The Troggs
1951, Christopher Cross, singer, songwriter
1953, Bruce Hall, bass, REO Speedwagon
1953, Gary Young, drums, Pavement
1971, Josey Scott, vocals, guitar, Saliva
1978, Paul Banks, vocals, guitar, Interpol
1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded “Voodoo Chile.” It was featured on the Electric Ladyland double album and became an U.K. #1 single on November 21, 1970 two months after the guitarist’s death.
1972, Les Harvey, guitarist with Stone the Crows, died after being electrocuted on stage during a gig at Swansea University, Wales. He was the brother of Scottish singer Alex Harvey and a member of the Alex Harvey Soul Band. For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight.
1976, Paul McCartney made his first concert appearance in America in almost 10 years when Wings kicked off their 31-date Wings Over America tour at the Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas.
1980, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band started a six-week run at #1 on the U.S. album chart with Against the Wind.
1986, Robert Palmer went to #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Addicted to Love,” it made #5 in the U.K. Palmer originally recorded the song as a duet with Chaka Khan but, due to contractual problems, her voice was removed.
2006, The first Bob Dylan radio program was aired on XM Satellite Radio. Tracks played on his show included songs by Blur, Prince, Billy Bragg, Wilco, Mary Gauthier, LL Cool J and The Streets.
2009, Bob Dylan went to #1 on the U.K. album chart with Together Through Life, his seventh U.K. #1 album. It was the singer-songwriter’s 33rd studio album. He last topped the U.K. chart with New Morning in 1970. His first #1, in 1964, was The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.
Lynyrd Skynyrd have announced that their new album, Last of a Dying Breed, will be released on August 21. It’s the band’s follow-up to 2009’s God & Guns, which debuted in the Top 20 on the Billboard charts, according to Blabbermouth. As with God & Guns, the album is being produced by Bob Marlette.
“It was great to get back in the studio with Bob for this new album,” guitarist Gary Rossington said. “We kind of went back old school this time. All of us playing together in the studio as a band, tracking songs and creating licks. We had a lot of fun and the music really flowed for us, so that’s when you know you are on to something good. We can’t wait to let the fans hear these songs and play ’em live.”
The current version of Skynyrd is led by Les Paul-playing legend Rossington, along with vocalist Johnny Van Zant and guitarist Rickey Medlocke.
Rock of Ages is the new movie coming to theaters soon, rich with guilty pleasures of ’80s metal and AOR. And leading man Tom Cruise does his own singing in the film and on the soundtrack album.
Cruise sings Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City,” Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive.” He also duets with actress Julianne Hough on Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
It gets weirder. U.K. comedian Russell Brand sings “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and duets with Catherine Zeta-Jones for a duet on Starship’s “We Built This City.”
Also confirmed for the soundtrack are covers of Poison's “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which will feature the whole cast.
The movie is due for release on June 15, but the soundtrack will be released 10 days earlier on June 5.
Journey’s Neal Schon has told Ultimate Classic Rock that he has a new guitar-centric album nearly ready. It reunites him with his former Journey bandmate, drummer Steve Smith. Schon describes the album as “one of the most rockin’ records I’ve made.”
He says: “I’m proud of the record, but I kind of winged it. I walked in and I didn’t have anything prepared at all. I just had an open slate with a bunch of paintbrushes [in the form of] guitars and amplifiers.”
Schon says that Smith would lay down some tracks, upon which he would then expand. “And then I’d say ‘can you go have lunch or something for half an hour and then come back and I’ll be done.’ So I’d map it out and put a rhythm guitar down, arrange the thing the way I heard it in my head and then Steve would come back and he’d listen to it.
“He’d write down my arrangement and then he’d go out and replay the drums to my new arrangement and a click and play it like it was a full band playing. He’s just amazing like that. And then I went back and I replayed some of the rhythm guitar [parts], some of them I kept. And then I’d start playing solos, even without bass, just freelance soloing and then I played the bass on it to go with the solos, so it came about in a different kind of way, but when you listen to it, it sounds like a really connected trio with keys here and there.”
And Schon has another album close to completion. He recently recorded with Journey bandmate Deen Castronovo and bassist Marco Mendoza for another album that he’s mixing currently.
Schon calls the recorded results “slammin’” and says “it’s a power trio, really tripped out like late ’60s/’70s, but modern too in some areas, with all of us singing. I’m singing lead on some tracks, Deen is singing lead and Marco is singing leads. [Night Ranger’s] Jack Blades helped write almost all of the lyrics on the record with myself, Marco and Deen.”
After the “appearance” of late rapper Tupac Shakur via hologram at the Coachella Festival, fans have been chatting about who they’d like to see resurrected for a live show.
According to Billboard.com, when asked at a press conference about the possibility of Freddie Mercury getting the same treatment with Queen, Roger Taylor said: “I don’t think I want to. Were somebody [else] to use a hologram of Freddie, I would have no objection... It just doesn’t sit too well with me. I don’t want to appear with a hologram of my dear friend. It’s the real one or no hologram for me. But I think it’s an amazing effect when used properly – obviously in darkness.”
Leighsa Montrose, widow of guitar great Ronnie Montrose, who committed suicide in March, showed fans at a recent tribute concert a message Ronnie wrote shortly before he died.
The message, titled Words of Musical Expression from Ronnie, said: “Music is one of the most powerful and precious gifts we all share.
“The best that any of us can do is try to connect with the core of what it is that drives us to express ourselves through any creative medium we choose, and bring as much of ourselves as we can to that process.
“I have chosen playing guitar and composing music (or have they chosen me?) as my principal means of creative expression. For me, the work of refining that process is always ongoing.
“My wish is that you find all of the pleasure and joy in listening to this music that I found in creating it.
“My deepest gratitude to the incredible gifted and talented musicians who helped me to bring this music to you. Ronnie.”
The tribute concert in San Francisco featured a host of rock luminaries including Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani and Neal Schon. Schon told UltimateClassicrock.comthat the entire show was recorded on video and audio.
Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse confirms that his band is about to begin work on a new studio album, and that the record will be helmed by veteran producer Bob Ezrin.
Morse told Glide magazine: “Deep Purple has a writing session and we’re producing an album with Bob Ezrin, who’s done KISS, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Alice Cooper, and he also worked on the last Kansasalbum, when I was with Kansas. So he’s one of my favorite producers and that’s going to be our studio album. It’s probably going to be more of an extravaganza.”
Deep Purple’s previous studio album was 2005’s Rapture of the Deep. Morse explained that the band feels like time is ticking on their recording career.
“Everybody realizes we’re not going to do this forever, so to me it feels like this is a really important album to do well,” he said. “So we’ve got that coming up and mixed in with that, and that is most of the summer with the album, and then I have to leave when they’re doing vocals on that to do the G3 tour.”
As previously reported, Morse will join Joe Satriani and John Petrucci when the G3 tour hits South America in the fall.
More than 750,000 people have seen Roger Waters in concert during his recent South American tour.
Music-News.comreports that the ex-Pink Foyd man played 15 dates in Chile, Brazil and Argentina, including a record-breaking nine-night stint at the
River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires.
Waters’ The Wall tour begins a North American leg this week, with a show in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday, May 1.
Roger Waters North American dates:
05/01 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
05/03 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center
05/05 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
05/07 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
05/11 - San Francisco, CA - AT&T Park
05/13 - San Diego, CA - Valley View Casino Center
05/15 - Phoenix, AZ - US Airways Center
05/19 - Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Coliseum
05/22 - Portland, OR - Rose Garden
05/24 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena
05/26 - Vancouver, BC - BC Place
05/28 - Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place
05/31 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
06/01 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
06/03 - St Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
06/05 - Detroit, MI - Joe Louis Arena
06/06 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena
06/08 - Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field
06/10 - Louisville, KY - KFC Yum! Center
06/11 - Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse
06/13 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
06/15 - Ft Lauderdale, FL - BankAtlantic Center
06/16 - Orlando, FL - Amway Center
06/19 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
06/21 - Buffalo, NY - First Niagara Center
06/23 - Toronto, ON - Rogers Centre
06/25 - Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place
06/26 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
06/28 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
06/29 - Hartford, CT - XL Center
07/01 - Boston, MA - Fenway Park
07/03 - Pittsburgh, PA - Consol Energy Center
07/06 - New York, NY - Yankee Stadium
07/07 - New York, NY - Yankee Stadium
07/09 - Raleigh, NC - RBC Center
07/10 - Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena
07/12 - Washington DC - Verizon Center
07/14 - Philadelphia, PA - Citizens Bank Park
While vacationing in Scotland, AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young has been talking about a new album. He was quick to tell 
A classic Alice Cooper concert depicting the makeup-ed rocker during his famed 1979 Madhouse Rock Tour is set to reach DVD on May 22. 
Van Halen have added another batch of dates to the second leg of their current tour. The band is on the road to promote their newest release, A Different Kind of Truth.
Legendary soul bass pioneer Donald “Duck” Dunn has died while on tour in Japan. He was 70.
