French progressive metallers GOJIRA kicked off a tour of their home country Thursday night (November 27) at Reims Arena in Reims, France. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

GOJIRA guitarist/vocalist Joseph Duplantier recently underwent "minor surgery" on his right hand, rendering him unable to play guitar on the trek. As a result of his injury, he and his bandmates have hired Greg Kubacki of the New York-based mathcore act CAR BOMB to play guitar for GOJIRA on the tour, which is scheduled to conclude on December 12 in Strasbourg.

The setlist for the Reims concert was as follows:

01. Only Pain
02. The Axe
03. Backbone
04. Stranded
05. The Cell
06. Wisdom Comes (first performance since 2017)
07. Flying Whales
08. From The Sky
09. Another World
10. Silvera
11. Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!) ([traditional] cover)
12. Born In Winter (live debut)
13. Born For One Thing
14. The Chant
15. Amazonia

Encore:

16. L'enfant Sauvage
17. Where Dragons Dwell / To Sirius / Ocean Planet / In The Wilderness ("From Mars to Sirius" medley)
18. Global Warming (live debut)

When Duplantier first went public with his injury on November 23, he shared X-ray images of his broken hand and he included the following message: "Hey! I hurt my hand a few weeks ago. After getting minor surgery, I'm on the mend but unfortunately I won't be able to play all my guitar parts on the next tour in France… No worries though, we hired our good friend [Greg Kubacki] of the incredible [CAR BOMB] to 'Give us a hand'. The mood in our camp is up there though, as we're embarking for an interesting experience on our own turf. Show must go ooooon".

This past February, GOJIRA was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 67th annual Grammy Awards, which was held at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center) in Los Angeles, California. GOJIRA was nominated for "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!)" — a version of the French Revolution-era standard "Ah! Ça Ira!" — which the band performed at last year's Olympic Games opening ceremony.

In July 2024, GOJIRA performed a surprise rendition of "Ah! Ça Ira" alongside opera singer Marina Viotti as well as a number of beheaded figures representing the slain Queen Marie Antoinette. The performance took place outside the Conciergerie, a former prison and residence of French kings during the French Revolution where Antoinette was held before she was beheaded in 1793.

GOJIRA made history as the first metal band to ever perform at the Olympic Games. The performance made international headlines and was widely regarded as one of the most talked about moments from the 2024 summer Olympics.

Prior to winning this year's Grammy, GOJIRA had been nominated for a Grammy Award three times — twice in 2017, for "Best Metal Performance" and "Best Rock Album" ("Magma") and once in 2022 for "Best Metal Performance".

GOJIRA is considered a standard-bearer for French rock and bringing French rock to an international audience. Metal Hammer declared GOJIRA "metal's most important band" in 2016.

GOJIRA's latest album, "Fortitude", entered Billboard's Top Albums chart at No. 1 in May 2021, while also claiming the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top Current Albums, Current Rock Albums and Current Hard Music Albums tallies. The release also marked a career high debut on the Billboard 200 for GOJIRA, arriving at No. 12, with several career high chart positions and Top 10 debuts in countries around the globe including: France (No. 2),United Kingdom (No. 6),Australia (No. 3),Germany (No. 8),Belgium (No. 2),Netherlands (No. 4),Denmark (No. 3),Portugal (No. 4),Finland (No. 2) and Norway (No. 10).

Furthermore, GOJIRA concluded a month-long fundraising initiative in support of the indigenous-owned NGO The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon. Working with the social good-focused digital platform Propeller, the charitable campaign raised over $300,000 through an auction and raffle of one-of-a-kind items from the band and their friends in METALLICA, TOOL, SLIPKNOT, SLAYER, Slash and more. All proceeds were donated to APIB to support their work aiding the indigenous tribes of the Amazon who have suffered immensely — victims of deforestation, land loss, forced labor, violence, and harassment.

Recorded and produced by Joseph Duplantier at Silver Cord Studio — GOJIRA's Ridgewood, Queens, New York headquarters — and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE),"Fortitude" is GOJIRA's first album in five years and the follow-up to 2016's Grammy-nominated LP "Magma". A collection of songs urging humanity to imagine a new world and then make it happen, "Fortitude" has been earning widespread critical praise with Rolling Stone naming it one of their best albums of April 2021 and remarking "It's all the rage of death metal mixed with the conscience of punk rock and the musicality of progressive rock." NPR hailed "Another World" as "an apocalyptic banger," and Paste called "Into The Storm" a "much-needed revolutionary anthem." Stereogum declared, "hearing this band operating at their peak is a life-affirming thing," while Revolver attested "Fortitude" "could spark a revolution."

🎁 JEU CONCOURS - GOJIRA 🎁

🤘 Tentez de remporter 2 places pour le concert de Gojira à #ReimsArena le 27 novembre 2025...

Posted by REIMS ARENA on Tuesday, October 28, 2025

British metallers WOLFSBANE have released an official music video for "All Or Nothing", a blast of raw power from their new album "Live Faster". The LP is a full-throttle reinvention of WOLFSBANE's iconic debut, "Live Fast, Die Fast", which was originally produced by Rick Rubin and released on Def American Recordings in 1989.

Over 35 years since its release and following years of requests from fans, WOLFSBANE's all-original lineup from the "Live Fast, Die Fast" recording re-recorded the album in its entirety.

"Live Faster" is a completely new recording — not a remix or remaster of the original — featuring reimagined versions of all ten songs from "Live Fast, Die Fast".

Track listing:

01. Manhunt
02. Shakin'
03. Killing Machine
04. Fell Out Of Heaven
05. Money To Burn
06. Greasy
07. I Like It Hot
08. All Or Nothing
09. Tears From A Fool
10. Pretty Baby

"Live Faster" features the lineup from the original 1989 recording:

Blaze Bayley - Vocals
Jase Edwards - Guitar
Jeff Hateley - Bass
Steve Danger - Drums

Edwards said: "You asked, we listened. None of us know how long we'll be here on this earth, especially me, so it felt like the right time to remake the album in the way the band first envisioned it. It's splendidly in your face and everything we hoped it would be."

Bayley added: "It's great to be able to go back to the vibe of these songs and use the experience we have now to re-record and reimagine them with Jase producing it all. It's been one of the most exciting things we've done and we didn't expect it to be so much fun."

Danger commented: "BLACK LEATHER JACKET! A new one, because old faithful no longer zips up due to a life full of experiences. Experiences equals cake!"

Hateley summed it up: "People have asked us to do this for years. We've always said no. But then we realized we still play most of these songs live and they've evolved over the years. Now seemed like a good time to do it all again, our way. The same but different, different but the same."

WOLFSBANE burst out of the Midlands in the mid-1980s, signed to Rick Rubin's Def American label in 1989, built up a massive following of (self-titled) "howling mad shitheads" (HMS) and released three raucous albums before imploding in 1994, when Bayley joined IRON MAIDEN.

WOLFSBANE reformed in 2011 to record its first studio album for 17 years, "Wolfsbane Save The World", released in January 2012 to huge acclaim.

WOLFSBANE's first album in a decade, "Genius", was released in June 2022. The artwork for the LP was designed by Simon "Mackie" Piasecki, who also created the covers for WOLFSBANE's 1990 EP "All Hell's Breaking Loose Down At Little Kathy Wilson's Place" and 1991's album "Down Fall The Good Guys".

🔥 LIVE FASTER - THE DEBUT ALBUM RE-IMAGINED & RE-RECORDED!...

Posted by Wolfsbane on Friday, March 28, 2025

Bassist Jørn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud of Norwegian black metallers MAYHEM spoke to Mexico's Metal Memes Mx about the band's just-launched 40th-anniversary tour of Latin America. Asked if he thought, when MAYHEM was first formed in 1984, that the band would still be around 40 years later, Stubberud replied: (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yes. And the reason why I can say that very quickly, without even thinking about it, is that I think, as in most things, to put it in perspective so people understand that, if you find something that you believe a lot in, and so you think this is it. And then just with that, you already believe that this is gonna be so great that it's gonna last forever. So, I think that you even need this kind of way of thinking to be able to succeed. You tell yourself, 'This is fucking great. This is gonna go fucking straight up there. We're gonna make it. This is good music.'"

He continued: "I told in many interviews over the years that me and Manheim, the guy I started the band with, we had different bands before we met Øystein [Aarseth, a.k.a. Euronymous]. And I think Øystein was our fifth guitarist at that time, when he came along in 1984. And so when he plugged in and we started jamming with us, he knew some of the same cover songs. We did some VENOM covers. We did some MOTÖRHEAD covers. I think we did a JUDAS PRIEST cover, and we knew some BLACK SABBATH. So we kind of knew the same cover tracks. So when we started to jam on that, I immediately felt — and I never forgot it — the feeling of euphoria. It was, like, This is it. This is what we were looking for.' And I always felt that, and I felt so strongly for this project my whole life. This is my life's work. This is the essence of all my work, my whole life. So, I always believed in it."

Necrobutcher went on to clarify that MAYHEM has never achieved the kind of commercial success that would allow him and his bandmates to stop working. "We are not METALLICA — we are still an underground band — so it's not like achieved everything and now I can retire," he explained. "It's not that kind of achievement. It's more like we made it and we are doing what we are supposed to do. We are now playing live concerts 'cause we are live musicians. We are not studio musicians. We are that, too, but most and foremost, we are a live band and we have been since 1984. And I don't see any reason to stop."

Asked if he would like to see MAYHEM continue as a band even after he is no longer involved in the group, Necrobutcher said: "I think, personally, that there should at least be one original member. Otherwise, it could be watered out, and then maybe it will lose the essence of it.

"I don't see us continuing without, let's say, the old members that are in the band today, and I don't think, let's say, if anything would happen to me, Hellhammer [MAYHEM drummer Jan Axel Blomberg] or Attila [Csihar, MAYHEM singer], we might say, 'Okay, we'll call it quits.' But here's the thing. We're still able to do it. And I'm 57 now. I'm the oldest in the band, so everybody was born two years or more, younger than me, but they are getting there at some point. But here is my philosophy. We go on as long as we can because you never know when you're forced to stop… You never know what's gonna happen. And this is my perspective, and I haven't thought about it, but since you just asked the question, I would think if the core members, something happened to them that they were not able to do it anymore, maybe then we will say that we have met the end of the line. Now, MAYHEM will live on anyway, but there wouldn't be any touring, there wouldn't be any recording of new albums. But the will be there as long as people are interested in listening."

MAYHEM will release its seventh studio album, "Liturgy Of Death", on February 6, 2026 via Century Media.

"Liturgy Of Death" is the follow-up to MAYHEM's sixth studio album, "Daemon", which came out in October 2019 via Century Media. A live album, "Daemonic Rites", arrived in September 2023.

MAYHEM's current lineup consists of Necrobutcher (bass),Hellhammer (drums),Attila Csihar (vocals),Teloch (guitars) and Ghul (guitars).

MAYHEM will embark on the "Death Over Europe" European headlining tour in February 2026. Support on the trek will come from MARDUK and IMMOLATION.

In the fall of 2024, MAYHEM canceled its previously announced North American 40th-anniversary tour "due to a member of the band having a medical emergency that requires immediate surgery."

The North American dates were scheduled to kick off on November 12, 2024 in Montreal, with stops in Toronto; Queens, New York; Chicago; and Los Angeles before and wrapping up November 23, 2024 in Denver.

MAYHEM launched a short European tour on December 4, 2024 in Paris, France. An Australian tour followed in January.

When MAYHEM's North American tour was first announced in August 2024, the band said that its 40th-anniversary show would be "a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans, featuring a setlist that spans their illustrious career, from their groundbreaking debut album, 'Deathcrush', to present day."

In a new interview with the That Metal Interview podcast, DEATH ANGEL singer Mark Osegueda spoke about his involvement with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King's solo band. Joining Kerry and Mark in the group are Phil Demmel (guitar; MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE),Kyle Sanders (bass; HELLYEAH) and drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER, TESTAMENT, EXODUS). Osegueda said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, it's doing great. We just got back from Japan about three weeks ago, our first shows in Japan. So those were amazing. And, yeah, for [King's debut solo] record [2024's 'From Hell I Rise'], we toured everywhere. And I guess in a certain way, the touring cycle for that record has been completed. We did North America a couple of times, Europe a couple of times, South America, Japan, Australia. So we've worked that record pretty good. And now we're busy writing, getting the material together for the second record. And it's coming, it's coming along. And we're gonna probably record the second record sometime in the first quarter of this upcoming year. As far as when it'll be released, I'm not quite sure. But we're definitely in the process of getting the songs together for it."

Commenting on what it has been like to record and tour with King, Demmel and Bostaph, Osegueda said: "They're good guys. I love the guys. It's a great band to be a part of. Touring with them's amazing. They're all solid dudes that I've known for years, decades. And I'm very proud to be a part of it and I look forward to much more to come, for sure."

When the interviewer noted that Mark does a "great job of emulating Tom Araya's" vocal parts when King and his solo band perform SLAYER material live, Osegueda said: "Well, Tom, he's an icon. I admire him; I have for many years. I'm a SLAYER fan, so he's got a very distinct voice and one that I've admired for many, many years. So when we do those songs, I just get out there and do my best to do the songs justice and his voice justice, because I think he's fantastic."

Last December, Mark was asked by Australia's May The Rock Be With You what he thinks he can do vocally with Kerry's solo band that he can't do with DEATH ANGEL. He responded: "I don't know if that is anything that I'm not allowed to do that I can't do with DEATH ANGEL because I kind of have carte blanche with DEATH ANGEL to do what I want, in a way. But what I think it's just brought out another character in my voice. And it's much more aggressive — probably the most aggressive thing that I've done vocally. The closest thing we'd have in it from DEATH ANGEL is a song called 'Divine Defector'. [That] is the closest one that we have to that intensity level. But this whole album is even more so. If anything, it just allows me to just really get out all frustrations the whole way through the set. [Laughs] And, as I said, it gives more variety in my voice."

"From Hell I Rise" came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. Working with producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, BAD RELIGION),the vast bulk of King's solo album was recorded at Henson Recording Studios (formerly A&M Studios) in Los Angeles, California, a location that birthed classics from THE DOORS, PINK FLOYD, RAMONES and SOUNDGARDEN, among others.

Last year, Mark told Uruguay's The Dark Melody about how he feels about being part of Kerry's band: "I'm thrilled about it. That's how I feel about it. I'm excited as hell. I worked hard to get that gig — very hard to get that gig — and since I did, I worked very hard in the studio. And then the recording experience of the record was incredible. We went to the studio with Josh Wilbur and the recording went great. It went great. And I think Kerry assembled a band of people he knew could pull off the vision and what he heard in his head… And the album, it's a beast. It's a savage. It is."

Regarding how he landed the gig in Kerry's band, Mark told El Planeta Del Rock: "It wasn't an overnight thing. It was a long process. Me and Kerry are friends, for sure, but that's not the reason I got the gig. By no means did I get the gig because we're friends; it was definitely a lot of hard work.

"He's an institution unto himself as his, as is SLAYER, and when SLAYER announced that they weren't gonna go any longer, he made it known to everyone that he was far from done," Mark continued. "And when that was announced, it was quite a few years ago. It was probably during the pandemic that I just gave him a cold call out of the blue, or a cold text rather, just saying, 'Just so you know, I heard you're doing this, and I'm just throwing my name into the hat, into the ring, or throwing my throat into the ring rather.' And he was, like, 'Hmm.' He's a very to-the-point guy, and he said, 'Okay.' And I know he's very serious about everything he does musically.

"It was a lot of hard work, I'll tell you that — a lot of going back and forth," Mark repeated. "I did quite a bit of demoing with him, and nothing was a sure thing ever. I know he had other people in mind for every for every position in the band. I think Paul was the shoo-in right off the bat, and then after that… Kerry knew his vision. He knew what he wanted. He knew what he heard in his head, and he wanted a lineup that could deliver it. And after a lot of hard work, one day me and him were out together — and it was plain simple as that. But quite some time had gone by and a lot of work was put into it, and he just said, 'If you want the gig, it's yours.' And I, of course, I just looked at him, like, 'Ah.' Pretty much, 'Fuck yeah.' And I gave him a huge hug, and from then on it was just even more hard work. As hard as I worked to get the gig, once I got the gig, it was even more hard work just concentrating on the songs and getting what I was gonna do to deliver in the studio. Once we got in the studio, we went in with Josh Wilbur, who produced it, at Henson Studios in Hollywood, and we didn't mess around. We got in — I think loaded in, two weeks later loaded out. It was work every day, but one of the most amazing studio experiences I've had and very fulfilling."

Kerry told Rolling Stone about Osegueda's addition to the band: "With Mark, he was on board early on. I just didn't pull that trigger. I was like, 'Let's see what happens.' Say for instance, [JUDAS PRIEST's] Rob Halford calls me and says, 'Hey, I would love to be your singer,' I'd have to go that way."

King also confirmed that PANTERA's Philip Anselmo was "considered" as a possible singer for his new project. "My management, my promoter, my record label all wanted Phil," Kerry said. "Phil's a good friend of mine, but I always thought he's not the right guy. That has nothing to do with his ability; I just knew he wasn't the right guy. When you hear Mark on this record, you know that's the guy.

"I had to do due diligence, because at the end of the day, had Philip been the guy, we'd be in arenas immediately because we could play new stuff, we could play PANTERA, we could play SLAYER, and fans would've been happy. It ended when the PANTERA thing came up.

"I saw Mark a few years back singing covers of MINOR THREAT and cameo in THE WEDDING BAND with members of METALLICA," King added. "It was different from what he does in DEATH ANGEL, and he sounded great. He's super versatile. He took steps to make this different than DEATH ANGEL. I don't touch on probably 50 percent of what he can do on the album.

"Mark knew how I expected the songs to be performed. On my demos, I sing with very good conviction, but I don't have pipes; that's why I don't sing. With 'Residue', he sounded so good I had to ask him, 'Is this sustainable? I don't want you to blow your load on this record and then blow your voice out every third show.' And he swore up and down he could do it. He went on to some of the harder ones and did the same thing on those, so I went, 'Okay.'"

Following a tour with LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON and his first European headline tour in 2024, King and his new band hit the road for the 28-date North American headline tour in early 2025. With MUNICIPAL WASTE as special guest and ALIEN WEAPONRY supporting, the tour launched in San Francisco on January 15, 2025, and wrapped at House of Blues in Las Vegas on February 22, 2025.

In early May 2024, the KERRY KING band performed its first live show at Reggies in Chicago. In the days following, the band went from playing an intimate venue to performing at the huge U.S. festivals Welcome To Rockville (Florida) and Sonic Temple (Ohio).

KERRY KING launched a European tour on June 3, 2024 — King's 60th birthday – in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The trek combined headline shows in the U.K., The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain but also festival appearances such as Rock Am Ring, Hellfest, Tuska, Download, Sweden Rock Festival and many more.

The SLAYER guitarist's solo band played its first concert as the support act for LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON on July 19, 2024 at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas. The six-week "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour wrapped on August 31, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Photo credit: Andrew Stuart

In a new interview with Robert Edwards of Talkin' Bout Rock, legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB) spoke about the 1989 breakup of the classic DOKKEN lineup. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The truth of the matter is, and I said this many, many times, and I'm not saying it in any kind of disparaging way, but the fact is that Don [Dokken, DOKKEN frontman] really wanted to control everything and have the lion's share of the money. And that's really what it all came down to. When you boil it down to its foundational element, most basic thing, that's what he was trying to accomplish. And he let us know that. And he got his own separate management and then he had his own separate record deal and he was trying to fire us, but we couldn't do that — he couldn't do that because we all owned the band. So, he disbanded the band, or whatever, or left or whatever. He tried to fire us, but he couldn't do that, so he just started his own thing and then sued us. So we countersued, and the end result was nothing. Everybody just went their own way, I guess. But, really, everybody lost. We all did."

George continued: "We've all done wonderful things [since then] and very satisfying and gratifying musically. But what we all gave up was the sure thing, which was what we had all worked for, which was we did the build. We did it the right way with the help of our incredible management, Q Prime — Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch at Q Prime, who managed QUEENSRŸCHE, METALLICA, even THE ROLLING STONES and other huge bands at the time. And we had that power of that whole machine guiding us. And we did the right records all at the right time. The timing was perfect. And on a wonky business level, everything was primed for us to pretty much turn the corner."

Lynch added: "So that's what every professional musician wants, at our level, is to get to that point where you have this negotiating power with the labels and promoters and others, but especially the labels, to have leverage to where you get the deal. And those deals last for many, many years. And then you go to another level — financially, security, music security. You have a home and you're gonna be established and it's gonna carry you through the rest of your life. And that's the point we worked towards, and we were on the cusp of signing that deal with Warner Brothers/Elektra."

Elaborating on the reason he didn't see eye to eye with Don when it came to DOKKEN's business affairs, George said: "I had insisted that all throughout the band's career, when we were intact, I was insisting that we be four for one, one for all, quarter splits on everything, regardless of who wrote what, regardless of anything. I wrote the most music and I suffered the most for that, if you wanna call it suffering, but I gave up the most. And I still believed in that, 'cause I thought you get the best results that way because you're letting the people that are contributing the most important music, you're letting them do that and you're not forcing people that are contributing inferior music to feel compelled to insist on their contribution musically to the album because they wanna make more money. This way you're paying the weaker writers to stay home, and they get just as much money. And I thought that was a good idea. And plus it was just fair. We'd all been out there for 10 years busting our ass. We all came up from the same place. We all played together in the garages and the kegger parties and the sock hops, and we all did our time. So, just because one of us has got the last name or one of us has more talent or identifiable style or something, the other person shouldn't suffer for that. So I was very comfortable with that, and Don was not. And that was our problem. That was his problem with me. I didn't have any problem with him other than the fact that he wasn't comfortable us with being fair and sticking to the plan and the agreement that we all worked under for those 10 years. And then when it came down time for the big payday that we all worked for, he wanted to take it all and pretty much kick us to the side, off to the side. And it's not what good people do. You know what I'm saying? So I lost a lot of respect for him, and I fought him on that. And here we are today."

Lynch concluded: "DOKKEN could have been a much bigger band — could have been on the MÖTLEY CRÜE level [or] BON JOVI level, which is a whole other level. We all would've been pretty set for life. And that got stolen from us, because he took the gamble to take it all."

Back in March 2024, George was asked by The Hook Rocks! podcast if he was still holding out hope for a new classic-lineup DOKKEN album happening somewhere down the line, featuring him, Don and bassist Jeff Pilson. He responded: "I wouldn't say I would say no out of hand to it, because I'm usually the guy that's trying to put it together and make it happen. We've had a couple, a few instances where we had big opportunities approach us and avail themselves to us that if we had taken advantage of them, would have been good deals for us to do, but obviously it didn't happen. So, on a practical level, I would probably want to do one, but it would be very challenging. Jeff and I could write the music — that would be beautiful — like we always have. I wouldn't have any qualms about that. We get Don involved and he does his thing and Don has a kind of a poetic — or at least did; I think he still does to some extent — a poetic sensibility. That's his kind of narrow little thing that he does that's cool. But his voice is not — I don't know if it's up to snuff to where we can even pull off a record; that's the problem. And on another note, on the personal side, when a guy just bashes you in the press, as he has, he does constantly with me and the other guys in the band, but especially me, when he pulls his character assassination stuff and just pulls a Trump and just lies about everything [laughs], trying to relitigate history and say that he did everything and we're all a bunch of fuck-ups. I mean, Jesus Christ. Okay, sure. Whatever. He just keeps pounding the table with these lies and hopes people buy into it. Very Trumpian. It's hard to go back to somebody like that and work with them. It's pretty awful and shitty thing to do. And I haven't called him out on it 'cause I really don't wanna even say anything, 'cause what good does it do at this point? But, anyways, I think that's the more difficult proposition, is working with somebody like that."

After the interviewer noted that it must be challenging working with someone who "maybe doesn't create the best environment" and takes credit for everything, George said: "Well, here's how records have always gone down with DOKKEN. Jeff and I, and to a lesser extent Mick [Brown, former DOKKEN drummer], get in a room — mostly Jeff and I — whether it was on the road or at home, and we woodshed, literally. We'd nail the doors shut. We ended up calling it Scrotum Sound because we wouldn't shower and it would end up smelling like a fucking sweaty scrotum in there. And we would just go for days and days and days and come up with these records — the bulk of the records. And Don had some input here and there — on good songs, important songs. Him and Jeff wrote 'In My Dreams', I think without input from me. Don had 'Alone Again'; I don't know where he sourced that out from, but that was his song. But 90 percent of the material was Jeff and I. And on later records, Don would come in and do melodies and lyrics, sometimes on his own, sometimes with Jeff's help, sometimes with all of our help, but 'Tooth And Nail' was — I was involved a lot with 'Tooth And Nail' lyrically and melodically. I came up with most of those titles, I think, if not all of them, and the lyrics… And then Jeff would sing. All these records that we did with DOKKEN, Jeff would sing all the guide vocals — most of them. And then we'd bring it in and Don would just ghost what Jeff did. But what we did was we raised the bar so high that Don really had to step up. We had vocal coaches and we had a lot of people looking at us and we had a lot on the line with the label and the management and the record deals and the public. So Don would step up, with our help, and we would support him. We said, 'It's gotta be this quality.' And Jeff's a great singer. So Jeff would lay down the vocal, which was our guide vocal, and Don would go in and match it, with Jeff's help. And that's how we got these records to be as good as they could be, as far as the performances and so forth. And so to go relitigate that and try to explain that some other way is absolutely ridiculous and untrue. But whatever."

Lynch continued: "But, yeah, to go work with somebody like that, it would be very difficult, very painful. And at the end of the day, yeah, you make a little bit of money and it might be a nice end cap for the whole DOKKEN story, for us all to come together again and do a viable record. But that's the question — how do you guarantee it's gonna be a viable record with the challenge of having a singer that can't sing anymore and who's very difficult to work and takes credit for everything at the same time? It's just absolutely insane. So, I don't know. 'Cause the worst thing would be to come out with a record that everybody just goes, 'Ugh. Why'd they do that? Why didn't you just leave the good DOKKEN in our memory? Why'd you have to pollute it with that piece-of-shit album?' So there's that scary. I don't know how you get around that. If somebody can't sing, they can't sing."

Circling back to Don's claim that he wrote most of DOKKEN's biggest hit songs without much input from other members of the band, George said: "Don is very good at one thing, and that's self-promotion, lying and using other people's abilities to further his agenda and then taking the credit for it. And he has a gift for it, and I will say, in all deference and honesty, that because he has that gift, I've been able to do things that I wouldn't have been able to do — have a music career — because he's the kind of person that's willing to do things I would never be willing to do: lie, cheat and steal. I'm not saying that I haven't probably cheated a little bit here and there, but Don does it on a whole other level. And he can sleep at night, because he's just wired that way. He can fuck you over and lie and know he's lying and you know that he knows you know he's lying and he doesn't care and he'll just keep lying all the way to the bank and be able to sleep at night. And I don't understand that, but it has benefited me. It's also hurt me in some ways. But it was the reason that we got a record deal initially and it's the reason that we got our foot in the door in a lot of different ways along our path of rock success in the '80s, which got us to where we are now. I've been able to support my family and make a pretty consistent living being a musician, and that's a very, very rare thing. And when I was growing up as a kid, my parents worried about that incessantly. They said, 'Nobody is really gonna be a rock star. That doesn't happen in the real world.' And it happened, on a certain level anyway. So I'm very proud of that. And I'm very proud of the consistency of it more than just… Maybe I never had a huge hit song, maybe I don't have a billion dollars, but I've been able to support my family and consistently work and do healthy, honest work and make some people happy over the whole span of my working life. And I think that's a gift and a beautiful thing. And grudgingly, I have to give Don a little bit of credit there — none of this would have happened [without him]. I'd probably be a district manager for a Payless shoe store or working in the fast-food industry or driving a truck or working in a warehouse if it wasn't for [Don] 'cause I have no education. And I'm not really good at holding down a job because I'm an insomniac and I can't get up in the morning and go to work. I've had every job on the planet — probably had 50 different jobs in my life. I'm a hard worker. I'm willing to work, but I can't hold down a job and I don't have any skills other than my inherent kind of musical aptitude. So, I have to acknowledge that, I think, just to be fair and balanced."

DOKKEN's current lineup consists of Don alongside bassist Chris McCarvill, guitarist Jon Levin and drummer BJ Zampa (HOUSE OF LORDS).

DOKKEN's 13th studio album, "Heaven Comes Down", came out in October 2023 via Silver Lining Music. The follow-up to "Broken Bones" was produced by Bill Palmer and Don Dokken and was mixed by Kevin Shirley (AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN).

In an interview with the "On The Road To Rock With Clint Switzer" podcast, Don explained why he and his DOKKEN bandmates decided in the beginning to split their songwriting royalties equally between the four members of the group. He said: "DOKKEN was a very unusual band. When I formed the band, even though I'd been DOKKEN for years and years before I met George and Jeff and Mick — I'd already toured Germany twice — but when we finally came together, I said, 'Let's make it simple. You write a hit, you write a hit, you write a hit, we'll just split it four ways. It doesn't matter who writes what. May the best songs win.' And that's how it was. Now, looking back, I could say it was a stupid thing to do, because I wrote a lot of the hits and I gave up 75 percent to the three of them. So instead of me getting four bucks, I got a dollar and Mick got a dollar and George got a dollar and Jeff got a dollar and the management took theirs and the accountants took theirs, and I thought, 'Jesus.' I go, 'I lost millions' writing 'In My Dreams' and 'Just Got Lucky' or 'Alone Again'. I mean, I can name a bazillion songs that I wrote by myself on the guitar and wrote all the music. But that's the deal we made. We were nobody. We weren't famous. Hey, if George wrote a hit, I get money. Jeff writes a hit, I get money. Mick's the one that scored. He didn't write. We rehearsed the songs for a week, go into a rehearsal studio, flesh it all out, pick the 12 best songs, Mick comes in the studio for four or five days, knocks out his drums and he goes to the drug dealer and then he heads off for the Rainbow [Bar & Grill in West Hollywood]. I said, 'Mick, you scored. You made millions of dollars and all you had to do was spend a couple of weeks playing drums.'"

Nuno Bettencourt (EXTREME),Sully Erna (GODSMACK) and Kevin Figueiredo (EXTREME) took part in this year's "Turkey Jam" on Wednesday, November 26 at the Hudson Portuguese Club in Hudson, Massachusetts. Among the tracks which were performed was a cover of ALICE IN CHAINS' "Man In The Box", with Erna on lead vocals, and a rendition of LED ZEPPELIN's "Immigrant Song", with Sully on drums. Fan-filmed video of the concert — courtesy of the Bill Curran channel on YouTube — can be seen below. (Note: After each song, the YouTube player automatically jumps to the next song in the playlist.)

"Turkey Jam" is an annual, family-run rock concert tradition hosted by Bettencourt and his family during Thanksgiving week in Hudson, Massachusetts. The event features the "Bettencourt Clan" performing rock classics for friends and family, celebrating music and togetherness. Tickets often sell out quickly, and the event has been running for several years.

Bettencourt rose to rock superstardom as lead guitarist of the legendary rock band EXTREME. He has parlayed that success into an acclaimed career as a Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum artist, songwriter, and producer, working alongside industry titans such as Sir Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, Kanye West, Robert Palmer, Rihanna, Janet Jackson and Perry Farrell, among others.

EXTREME's latest studio album, "Six", was released in June 2023 via earMUSIC.

Born and raised in the suburbs of Boston, Erna has been a musical force since age three, beginning as a drummer before evolving into one of rock's most distinctive vocalists. As frontman of GODSMACK, he has achieved over 20 million albums sold worldwide, three consecutive No. 1 Billboard 200 debuts, and countless sold-out arenas. Beyond music, Erna is a successful producer, actor, and multi-instrumentalist committed to using his platform for positive change.

GODSMACK's "final" album, "Lighting Up The Sky", arrived in February 2023 via BMG.

This past April, GODSMACK announced the departure of longtime guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin. The news was shared in a lengthy statement revealing that both men had decided to retire from the band in order "to fulfill their desire to live a more simple and quiet life away from touring."

Our hometown peeps have spoken !

2nd show added on the Eve of Thanksgiving!

Get a night of Rock & Roll into you and...

Posted by Nuno Bettencourt on Thursday, September 11, 2025

During an appearance on the November 25 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx spoke about the band's upcoming "The Return Of Carnival Of Sins" tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of CRÜE's groundbreaking 2005-2006 "Carnival Of Sins" tour and the 45th anniversary of the band. The 33-city Live Nation-produced trek will kick off on July 17, 2026 in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania at the Pavilion at Star Lake and will feature support acts EXTREME and TESLA. Regarding how the tour came together, Nikki said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We were looking for the right time slot and the right venues to play and also the right support. It's not as easy as fans might think when you're a specific genre of music that our fans are gonna like. So the fact that TESLA and EXTREME both wanted to sign on… I really like this package too, because from the very beginning to the very end, it's just a lot of great songs."

Sixx continued: "We talk about songwriting a lot and about how important songs are, and they really make a difference in a band. You could have a band that's a killer band, killer musicians, killer stage show, but they don't have those great songs or a lot of those great songs. And that was always super important to MÖTLEY CRÜE, whether it was stuff like 'Red Hot' off the 'Shout At The Devil', or songs like 'Generation Swine' off of that album. Anything we've done in our career, it was about how good the song was. It didn't matter how it was played. So TESLA and EXTREME, look at the songs they have. We're both fans of both of their bands."

Asked by host Eddie Trunk if MÖTLEY CRÜE reached out to some other bands from the same era or even tried to broker some reunions in order to team up with them for a possible tour, Nikki said: "You look at who's available. You look at who's alive, and then you're, like, 'Well, which bands are still drawing?' I don't wanna name names, but there's a lot of bands that I really like that only have maybe two members and they're playing to 200-to-500-seat clubs, and it's, like, I love 'em, but you're playing an amphitheater that can go up to 40,000 people. You wanna be sure that you got someone that's pulling in people. If you're an EXTREME fan or a TESLA fan and you like some MÖTLEY CRÜE songs, you may get really turned on to more MÖTLEY CRÜE songs or vice versa. MÖTLEY CRÜE fans may know one or two TESLA songs, and then they go see 'em live and they become a bigger fan of their bigger catalog. So it's not as easy as, like I said, as you would think. We go round and round and round. And there might've been a couple bands that agencies talked to their agent and said, 'Hey, why don't you guys just kind of pull it together and it'd be a great summertime for everybody?' And some people are just resistant to that. And I have to respect that."

As for what MÖTLEY CRÜE's setlist for "The Return Of Carnival Of Sins" tour might look like, Nikki said: "We wanna get into some songs that we either haven't played or haven't played the long time. And it's hard, because you have the hits., and you have a lot of hits up there, and then what are you gonna do? Take 'Dr. Feelgood' out and play 'Knock 'Em Dead, Kid' from 'Shout Out The Devil'? I think some people are gonna be disappointed. So how do you get some of those deeper tracks — 'Too Young To Fall In Love', 'Piece Of Your Action' — how do you get those in there and not obliterate the fact that people are there to hear also those big hits. [Those songs were] a big part of them growing up and workout playlists, the whole thing. We hear everything about how our music has been infiltrated into people's lives over the years, whether they were teenagers or young adults. So it's always a balancing act. And it's hard because you have a contract. And fans don't know this, but we have a contract that says we can only play a certain amount of time. And that's because TESLA has this contract, 'cause they have to play, and then EXTREME, and then there's the changeover, and the whole thing is, like, it can't run late. As you know, you run past curfew and then it starts to get into all kinds of problems with stage hands. So it takes a lot of real conversations to be, like, 'Well, how many songs can we take in there?' We've been doing this really fun medley for years, and that's an easy one, to take that medley out and add two really cool tracks in there and people haven't heard in a long time. So we're starting to talk about it. We are, like — what? — eight months away till opening night. So it's nice to have the time."

Sixx also talked about Vince Neil's performance during CRÜE's recent return to the stage in Las Vegas. The residency shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM had initially been set for spring but were rescheduled after the singer revealed he had suffered a stroke last Christmas. Nikki said: "I'm proud of him, the fact that he had the courage to get up there. And when the whole thing went down and he had the stroke and we had to cancel the first residency, there was doubt. We didn't know, like, is he going to recover from this? And I know he had fear. But you put the time in, and there's a lot of stuff that you can do.

"Your health is everything," Sixx explained. "I don't care how big your band is. I don't care how big of a star you are. I don't care how wealthy you tell people you are. If you don't have your health, you've really got nothing.

"We've worked all these years, 40 years together, and been touring the world, and now it's something that could literally make it so he could never get on stage again," Nikki added. "So the fact that he did get on stage… And I'm appreciative that he went out and talked about [his health scare in a couple of interviews recently], because there's a lot of people that when stuff goes wrong in their life — and I could just speak about myself with addiction — people either write them off or they can't survive it. They can't survive it. And we were there, and we were there the whole time along, talking to him and him focusing on doctors and health and stuff. And we spent a lot of time in rehearsal to give him that opportunity to really get that muscle in shape, the vocal cords. And I was so happy. It just sounded so good. And it felt good."

Nikki wasn't the only member of CRÜE who was full of praise for Vince's vocal performances at the Las Vegas residency. During a September 15 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist John 5 was asked how he, drummer Tommy Lee and Sixx felt Neil would perform less than a year after his health scare, John 5 said: "Well, we didn't really know, but when we got into rehearsal, we were, like, 'Oh. He's moving good.' And then he started singing, and we were, like, 'Oh my God, he's singing great, actually.' So I don't know what happened, but he is — I've been in the band for three years now, and he's singing so well. I'm, like, 'Wow, this is incredible.' And he looks great. And I just go into his room all the time and tell him how proud I am of him. Because in the [Las Vegas Review-Journal] interview [where Vince first revealed his stroke], he said, yeah, he had to learn how to walk again and all that stuff. I mean, that's serious stuff. So maybe he was just, like, 'Oh, okay, and then just everything clicked. I mean, he's killing it. And there's no tracks or anything like that. He's just singing great… When I heard 'Home Sweet Home', I was, like, 'Holy shit. This is really, really great.' So I'm just so proud of him. And the guys in the band were, like, 'This is some of the best shows we've ever done.' So, we're super, super excited."

In a separate interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, John 5 stated about CRÜE's latest Vegas residency: "The real magic was Vince Neil. What he went through and his struggles and how he performed and how he sang, I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. He did such a great job, and I was so proud of him because I knew what hell he went through, and I was so happy for the guy. What he said — he even said it — he was in a wheelchair and then he had to learn how to walk again. And I was, like, 'Oh my God.' The struggle and how terrifying that must have been. So that was the real magic of that residency. And I'm telling you right now — every single show was amazing. There wasn't a bad show. And I listen and I read those comments and I listen and I'm so focused in on every show. And every show was awesome. I was so proud of him."

Asked if there was a point, in his mind, when he found out what happened to Vince, that he thought he might never be able to play with MÖTLEY CRÜE again, John 5 said: "Well, I wasn't sure. Nobody really knew anything. And I would text with Vince, and he would say, 'Oh, I'm doing good, I'm doing good,' and things like that. But no one really knew what was going on. You heard rumblings. So it was wild."

A couple of months after Vince's health scare, MÖTLEY CRÜE announced that its residency at Sin City's Dolby Live at Park MGM — originally set to run March 28 through April 19 — had been delayed until September. At the time, MÖTLEY CRÜE's statement said only that the singer required a "medical procedure." The CRÜE also canceled May's planned performance at Maryland's Boardwalk Rock festival.

Two months ago, Vince revealed that he had actually had a series of strokes before he suffered the "big one" in his sleep last Christmas night, rendering him unable to get out of bed when he woke up the next day. Speaking to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" on September 24, Neil said he'd had "four strokes throughout the years. Two of 'em I didn't even know I had. One of 'em was a mini stroke that happened and I just lost feeling in my hand. And that was it. And I got over that pretty quickly. But then this last one, it was a big one."

When Trunk asked how doctors could tell that Neil had had previous strokes, the singer explained, "because they could see it in your brain. It's scarred right around the same spot. I had four scars in my brain, and the neurologist said those are all strokes." Neil added that you can have a small stroke and not even realize it.

When MÖTLEY CRÜE originally postponed the Las Vegas residency, the band said it was because Neil needed a "medical procedure," but offered no further details. Neil told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he went to sleep on Christmas night and then woke up and couldn't get out of bed.

"I'm, like, 'What's going on?' And my left leg wouldn't work, and my left arm wouldn't work. So I had to get help out of bed. I couldn't push myself up to get myself comfortable in bed. And I had to have help," he said. "And slowly but surely, the sensation came back in my legs. And I had to learn to walk again. I went from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane to — I can walk now, but for five months it was just off and on, not knowing what's gonna happen. And the doctor said that I probably wouldn't be on stage again. And I was, like, 'No, man. I can't do that.' And so I just tried. I worked my butt off to get back in shape to go on stage. And I was really sad to have to cancel those shows, but I just wasn't ready yet. I wasn't ready to be back on stage yet. It was really sad, but it's really worth it now, 'cause I can get on stage and sing and all that good stuff."

The deluxe box set version of the 40th anniversary of MÖTLEY CRÜE's "Theatre Of Pain" album is out now, featuring reimagined artwork, the newly remastered album on color vinyl and bonus material including a 1985 Long Beach live concert, rare demos and a 76-page hardcover book with never-before-seen photos and memories from that era.

In a new interview with Rad Jet, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman elaborated on his previous comment that "the problem with paying your dues is it never ends, even when you achieve your ultimate goals." Asked if he sometimes still feels that he is paying his dues right now, Marty replied (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Every single day. And that can be in all caps. It just never, never really ends. I'm not complaining about it, but I think it's interesting that you picked up on that because it's an important thing because, myself included, and most people in their teens think once you've made it and you've made a record, you're done, you're set on a trajectory that's just all rocking the whole time. But to maintain things and to continue to do new things and to continue to create new, exciting, influential things, it's constantly, constantly paying your dues and giving up things that would be possibly more fun. It never changes. It's constant. So, yeah, it never, ever ends. [I'm] always paying dues, always being disappointed — disappointed, but not always with everything, but every time something great happens, it only happens because you've been disappointed before it. You know what I mean? If all things good happened all the time, you wouldn't have anything to compare it to. So there's a lot of hardships that go into every good thing that happens, and it's always worth it, but you just can't be surprised that every single thing that comes your way is not always good. It's, like, bad things paved the way for good things, and it's a very manly thing to be able to overcome those things. And I've been very lucky with that, and I haven't had too many streaks of bad luck or anything, but nothing has come terribly easy."

Friedman defined modern guitar playing with Jason Becker in CACOPHONY, was a key element in the wildly successful rise of thrash pioneers MEGADETH, and with his "Marty-esque" improvisations and exotic fusion of Eastern and Western music, has achieved global success with his 15 solo albums.

Friedman left MEGADETH in 2000 due to creative differences and pursued a solo career, having released his most recent album, "Drama", in 2024.

Friedman first visited Japan in the late 1980s with CACOPHONY, and came to Japan regularly with MEGADETH, all the while studying the Japanese language. After he quit the Dave Mustaine-fronted outfit, he moved to Tokyo.

Since also embracing Japanese music and eventually relocating to Japan, Friedman has cemented his image as a unique and unpredictable solo artist while further solidifying his celebrity rock star status. He has earned several top 10 spots on the Japanese charts and has performed in Japan's largest venues — from the Tokyo Dome to Budokan. He has also guested on over 700 television programs, acted in four motion pictures, and appeared in several commercials and TV ad campaigns. On November 4, 2016, the Japanese government named Friedman an "Ambassador Of Japanese Heritage."

Friedman's autobiography "Dreaming Japanese", was made available last December. Written with veteran music journalist Jon Wiederhorn ("Louder Than Hell", "Raising Hell"),"Dreaming Japanese" debuted at No. 1 on Amazon's Heavy Metal Books chart and has received praise from major outlets including Rolling Stone, Guitar World, Decibel and Publishers Marketplace. The autobiography shares Friedman's inspiring journey from landing a gig as the lead guitarist for legendary thrash metal outfit MEGADETH during their peak years to his emigration from the U.S. to Japan, where he became a prominent television figure and Japanese pop culture household name as well as being appointed an official "Ambassador Of Japan Heritage".

In a new interview with Argentina's Rock & Pop 95.9, legendary bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION) was asked what it feels like to be called "the voice of rock." He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Well, it's a very special thing to be called. I've been called this for so long. I'm very honored to be the voice of rock. It's fantastic. But it's something that I'm very thankful and grateful that I have been given this recognition, and so I'm really happy to be here with you again so I can perform."

Regarding how he takes care of his singing voice, Glenn said: "I do a lot of warmup exercises. I do yoga, I do breathing exercises. I get a lot of sleep. I drink a lot of water."

Hughes also talked about his musical influences, saying: "I've been doing it all my life, from [when I was] a teenager. The music I listened to when I was very young is a cross between American and English. And black American music and British hard rock music, when you combine these genres together, you have the soup that is Glenn Hughes. So it's a mixture, again, of American R&B and British blues music. That's who I am."

On the topic of how his music has evolved over the course of the last few decades, Glenn said:  "I think there's a difference in who I am, really. With each year I grow, there's a new version of me that's being created. When I look back at my life, I look back at the whole thing and realize, as a very young man, I had the success I had as a young man. And all through my life I've had things happen to me — good, bad, weird, wonderful, crazy. But I embrace all of it. I'm not ashamed of anything that I've ever done because I am here now talking to you about what is happening now. It's really important."

Asked if there are any new artists that he listens to, Glenn said: "With the new music, I don't hear a new Prince. I don't hear a new Jeff Buckley. I don't hear a new LED ZEPPELIN. I don't hear a new ROLLING STONES. I don't hear anything. So, for me, I'm waiting to hear something special — I mean, really something special. I'm hoping that happens."

He explained: "Today, with A.I., I think it's very fake. I don't think it's organic. I think behind the scenes, it's not real. It's not the way it should be. What I would like to hear is someone with a piano and a vocal or a guitar and a vocal, and nothing else. Just something very simple, three minutes long, something very organic and something that grabs you immediately, like it used to be. Look, I don't talk about 'like it used to be' for me; I'm thinking it would be better if we could just have something really original and very melodic."

Hughes recently announced a 2026 spring tour across the USA. The trek will kick off on March 27 at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, California and wrap up on May 10 at The Marquee in Tempe, Arizona.

"The Chosen Years" show promises to be a dynamic, turn-back-the-clocks, two-hour live extravaganza paying homage to Glenn's illustrious career spanning five decades in music — featuring songs from TRAPEZE, DEEP PURPLE, HUGHES/THRALL, IOMMI/HUGHES and BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, some of music history's most seminal and influential rock and roll groups. Not only that, the shows will also feature brand new music from Glenn's latest solo album, "Chosen".

Joining Glenn on lead vocals and bass guitar will be Søren Andersen on guitar and Ash Sheehan on drums.

"Chosen" came out on September 5 via Frontiers Music Srl.

This year will also saw Hughes busy touring across Europe and South America, with "The Chosen Years" tour starting in Zoetermeer, Netherlands, on September 2 and ending on November 29 in Bogota, Colombia.

Glenn, a native of Cannock, England, absorbed all kinds of influences, including early British hard rock, THE BEATLES and, most importantly, American soul and R&B. The sleek Motown sound from Detroit and the gritty Stax/Volt sound from Memphis left their mark on him.

Hughes first found success in the early '70s with the band TRAPEZE before joining DEEP PURPLE in 1973 during a pivotal lineup change that introduced him and David Coverdale to the group. Despite initial skepticism, the revamped band silenced critics with the release of "Burn" (1974),a powerful album that revitalized PURPLE's sound and remains a classic. During this era, the band headlined the iconic California Jam in front of over 300,000 fans, toured the world aboard their private jet The Starship, and released two more studio albums, "Stormbringer" and "Come Taste The Band", before disbanding in 1976.

Glenn's first solo album "Play Me Out" was released in 1977. He joined former Pat Travers guitarist Pat Thrall to form HUGHES/THRALL, which released an acclaimed self-titled album in 1982. Throughout the '80s and '90s, Glenn Hughes made countless guest appearances (both credited and un-credited) as a vocalist, bass guitarist or songwriter on other artists' albums. The endless list includes — among others — Gary Moore, John Norum and Tony Iommi of BLACK SABBATH.

Since 1992, Glenn has started a prolific solo career with a dozen studio albums where he explored all the different sides of his songwriting and influences: from hard rock to funk and more contemporary sounds. He collaborated — among others — with such musicians as Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),Dave Navarro, John Frusciante and many others. He also founded or took part in some amazing musical alliances such as CALIFORNIA BREED (with Jason Bonham and Andrew Watt),BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION (with Joe Bonamassa and Jason Bonham) and THE DEAD DAISIES.

Glenn has collaborated with Robbie Williams on his new single "Rocket", which was released on May 22, 2025. The track also features a collaboration from Iommi and will be the first time Glenn has been featured on a record with Tony since 2005, when they released "Fused" together.

Glenn also recently joined forces with SATCHVAI, a new collaboration by legendary guitar icons Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, by writing and singing on their new single "I Wanna Play My Guitar".