During METALLICA's May 30 concert at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo played a cover of the RAMMSTEIN classic "Sonne". Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

METALLICA launched the "M72" world tour in Amsterdam in April 2023 and has since performed for an estimated four million fans worldwide. As with all tour dates, the band is donating a portion of ticket sales to local charities through METALLICA's All Within My Hands foundation. Established in 2017, the foundation has raised more than $20 million, supporting vocational and technical education, food insecurity relief and disaster response initiatives.

METALLICA added one unusual feature to its shows on the band's recent tours: at each stop, Hammett and Trujillo have been covering songs from some of their musical heroes — often choosing songs that are far removed from the band's traditional metal sound. The "doodles," as the band refers to them in their setlists, are pared-down interpretations — just bass and guitar and sometimes Trujillo singing.

During a 2020 appearance on "Drinks With Johnny", the Internet TV show hosted by AVENGED SEVENFOLD bassist Johnny Christ, Trujillo stated about how the idea for the "doodle" came about: "We were in Europe — this wasn't the last European tour, but the tour before that. We were in Amsterdam, and we had tried a couple of... There was a duet moment, where we were supposed to play a METALLICA song that's maybe, like, a deep cut, so we'd play 'I Disappear' or something, and we started noticing that we weren't getting the result we wanted. It was, like, we'd go up there and we'd start playing, like, 'Eye Of The Beholder' or something, and then the crowd's expecting James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] to come out and sing, and it's, like, 'Man, this ain't working.' They were feeling like it was a prelude moment, and I started thinking, 'We've gotta do something different.' So Kirk came out this one night, and he started playing that song by CHIC ['Le Freak'], and it totally caught me off guard. And I'm, like, 'Oh, damn. Okay, I see where he's going.' He's walking out to the front of the snake pit playing this funk jam. He got me the first night, 'cause I didn't exactly know the bass line, so I improvised it. And then the second night, I got it."

He continued: "So it kind of started there for a split second, though we were still doing the METALLICA deep cuts. And then we got to Europe, and we were in Amsterdam, and one of our management team members suggested, 'Why don't you play [a song by the Dutch rock band] GOLDEN EARRING, 'Radar Love'? Check that out.' And we were, like, 'Really?' So I started played the bass line, and then the crowd started singing, and it was, like, 'Hold on a minute. There's something here.' So then we started to kind of formulate some local bands from each city. Like, one of the highlight moments was in Prague [Czech Republic — we played a country song called 'Jožin Z Bažin' [by Ivan Mládek], which was huge. And then we played, in Barcelona, a gypsy kind of flamenco acoustic song, by an artist called Peret — it's called 'El Muerto Vivo', And I'm singing in Spanish, I'm doing my best, and the people went nuts. And we go, 'Hold on. We've got something here.' So what we ended up doing… We came out of that tour — we scraped through it; it wasn't perfect, but we scraped through it. And then when we got home, we did some U.S. dates, we did all that, but we knew we were going back to Europe where it really worked. I said, 'I'm going deep.' So I did a bunch of research, and I researched every single city, even Estonia, and I found out what cool either punk, alternative, country — it didn't matter the style — and I learned the fucking language, and I did the phonetic with the lyric, and we went out and did full arrangements. I'm talking about if there was an accordion solo, Kirk was playing it. So we did our homework, and we really, really went into it. I was going to [Kirk's house in] Hawaii to work with him on the arrangements. I spent, like, five days there strictly on the [songs]. We weren't even surfing, we were just 'boom.' So we put a lot of hard work in it. I mean, we were surfing a little bit, but that wasn't the priority. We were actually really spending time on this.

"So I would say on that last tour run, 'cause we were in these massive stadiums, sold-out shows… And every night was great, but there was a handful of grand slams where people were crying and it was this heavy… Like, you're paying tribute to somebody in, like, Moscow, who is like the David Bowie of Moscow, and people are just, like, 'Oh my god.' They don't know what they're gonna get. All of a sudden, we surprise them, and they get what they didn't expect. [Playing a song by] Johnny Hallyday in Paris, at Stade De France, [in front of] 85,000 people. So to be up there and to feel that energy and emotionally connect with the crowd on that level was special. But it was such hard work. I don't know how we [pulled it off].

"I was meeting with people, like, I would even sometimes do it by phone, and I'd be there for two hours getting the language pronunciation right. So it was a lot of work… And sometimes you'll take some beatings," he admitted. "I remember a couple of the shows when we first started doing it, man — beatings, bro; beatings… I remember, there was a couple of 'em, but there was one… It was in Pennsylvania. It was like college — it was over where Penn State is. And holy cow, man. I thought we would play like the fight song for Penn State. Man, we got, like, 10 seconds into that thing, and nobody cared. It was, like, 'Oh my god.' And I stopped playing — I literally stopped playing. I was so embarrassed. And Kirk kept playing. And then, luckily, we kind of went into a METALLICA… Like, in the U.S., we would parlay it with a local song — these are U.S songs — and then we would always kind of justify it by going into a METALLICA [track], like 'Dyers Eve' or something. Just like, 'Okay, we screwed that up, but we got this.' So it was kind of our savior in the States."

In 2019, Hammett told Cosmo Music about his live "doodles" with Trujillo: "We never really know what the response is going to be. You have to understand, we're going into a country; we're picking some song that's seemingly random and abstract to us, and we're learning this song that we've never heard before from this artist that we've never heard before, and we're taking a chance and playing it in a stadium in front of 60,000 people, and we're hoping that we make the right choice. The last, I would say, three legs [of the tour], we've been hitting it out of the park, but before that, there were some growing pains. There have been a few times we've picked the wrong song and played it and people go, 'Huh?' We'll go into a place like Indianapolis, and we'll play a song by an obscure punk band called THE ZERO BOYS, because we think they're cool... We played the hell out of it, and it was really cool, but we looked out at the audience, and they were just like, 'Huh?' Rob and I always tell each other and people don't recognize it, it's not the end of the world as long as we play it well, and they're entertaining in the way we play it, so we have that to fall back on... We were in Nashville, and we played a Loretta Lynn song... The next day, we got a message from Loretta Lynn, who said she was actually at the show with her family and was so tickled when we broke into her song. She said she might think about covering one of our songs sometime, but in the meantime, we should do more of her songs."

Not every artist that has been spotlighted in the "doodle" has been flattered by the Trujillo/Hammett version of their music. Former CELTIC FROST frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer (a.k.a. Tom G. Warrior) was not impressed with the rendition of the group's "The Usurper" that Hammett and Trujillo performed during METALLICA's May 2019 concert in Zurich, Switzerland. "They butchered it, and it was humiliating," Fischer told Rolling Stone. "Why don't they leave their millionaire fingers off it? They've long lost the ability to play true metal in my opinion. Maybe I should go onstage and do a really miserable version of [METALLICA's] 'Hit The Lights' with, like, 200 mistakes to set the balance."

In a new interview with Damian FitzGerald of Ampocalypse, SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose spoke about the band's upcoming first European headline tour in eight years. Fresh off an arena support slot with ALTER BRIDGE in March, the Atlanta quintet will return this winter for an extensive 16-date run across Europe in November/December 2026. Asked why now was the right time for SEVENDUST to return to Europe, Morgan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, we'd been trying to get back, and we had multiple opportunities to come back. I think the most... Well, other than COVID destroying one of them, the one prior to that was the end of 2019, and I ended up getting gravely ill the night before we were leaving.

"A lot of people don't really know or care or understand how those things happen," he continued. "So when you have multiple cancelations — we went through many years of going into Europe or the U.K. and midway through the tour being told, 'Hey, you guys have lost, like, 70 or 80 thousand dollars, and you're gonna lose another 70 or 80 if you stay for the rest of the tour.' And we're, like, 'This is gonna end up destroying us over here. These people will give up. They will grow tired of us telling them we're coming and then leaving or not coming.' And it happened. So we really wanted to come. And we had kind of, I think, accepted the fact that we were gonna be a predominantly American, U.S. touring band, and that we had missed the opportunity. And that was where there's this big quote going around [from a recent interview] where I said that we were gonna retire after the next record, or after this record that we've just done, and that's just a fact. It was discussed. It was absolutely discussed. I don't have to go back into it again and rehash it, but the reason behind it was that we really don't have anywhere to go. Who in their right mind do you think would go on their fifteenth record and say, 'Let's commit to trying to open up the rest of the world'? And it was us. We decided that was it. We were, like, 'Okay, there's another option here. Instead of wrapping it up and just doing a farewell run in the United States, let's just bag that and put that in the back for a while, and let's see what happens if we go and try to see if there's people that care about us around the rest of the world.' And the first stop was Europe and the U.K. And it was massive. And we were, like, 'Shit. Looks like we're gonna park it in the U.K. and Europe for the next few years.' So now that's being set up for us to do multiple trips back over the next few years… I know that there's definitely talk of two or three more trips over to Europe before the end of '27."

This past March, Rose admitted to Stan Bicknell that he and his bandmates were discussing the possibility of calling it quits less than two years ago, prior to beginning work on the band's fifteenth studio album, "One". He explained: "We went through this period of time where we just weren't touring as much. We were kind of thinking that we were gonna land the plane a little bit, like, 'Let's slow it down to a farewell thing,' which we had discussed, for sure. And then some other things happened, and we decided, 'You know what? Instead of parking the car here, why don't we just put it all the way into drive, like all the way in, and let's tour like harder than we've ever toured and just burn the car out. Like, 'Let's tackle things that we haven't done.' So that happened. Just overnight, it was a decision that went from 'We're gonna retire' to 'No, no, no. We're gonna actually put the afterburner on now instead.'"

Asked by Bicknell "what year" it was that these discussions took place, Morgan said: "It was recently. It was, like, a year and a half ago. This was gonna be our last record. We had a blueprint for it and everything. We actually had like a whole layout. It was that thick, of going through everything that we were gonna do and how we were gonna do it. And, I mean, I cried a few times thinking about it."

Rose continued: "We've had so many people that we've met. The SEVENDUST community is a very close thing. We did not have the luxury of a major label or the major label money, so we grinded it from the beginning and then got really mistreated in the middle of our career, like horribly mistreated. And the people stood there long enough for us to get our legs back, and then when we finally found somebody that really knew that we could trust that knew the game and knew how to make it work, we were so beat up. And the people started coming back a little more and more and more, and it just became this thing where it's, like, 'Oh, man. I've known these people from being out there so much.' And when you overtour yourself, you see these people a lot. And they become people you're going to dinner with or going to lunch with, or having coffee with, or whatever it might be. And you're doing it consistently. And then one day you're just, like, 'We're gonna wrap it all up.' And I'm, like, 'That means they died.' Because I never see them outside of this. So that means it'll be like every gig will be another death in the family. It'll be another group of people that I know from that, and I also know from being around them, and it's, like, there's thousands of them. So that's like a thousand people that you care about dying in a year and a half. So I got really emotional about it, and then when it was decided we're not gonna do that, I got just rejuvenated. [I didn't have to] face that now. It got really exciting. I hadn't felt that kind of, like, 'I'm ready to break some shit now. I wanna tear something up.' And we just got back from a two-month run in Europe, and I felt like it was '97 again."

"One" arrived on May 1 via Napalm Records.SEVENDUST once again worked with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida. Baskette had previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and Slash, among others.

In a July 2023 interview with Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio, SEVENDUST guitarist John Connolly was asked if he and his bandmates had given any thought to eventually retiring from the road. He responded: "I mean, here's the thing: I don't know if we ever really wanna retire, but we also sort of want people to, you know… Don't expect us to show up in the year 2025 and play 250 shows. The only way something like that would happen is if, for some freak reason METALLICA just, nobody likes METALLICA anymore and all of a sudden SEVENDUST is playing stadiums. We'd probably show up to play a few more of those gigs [laughs], 'cause I'm sure the way METALLICA is rolling is pretty sweet."

He continued: "But yeah, I think for us, it's just finding that balance and just being able to spend — I don't wanna say spend less time on tour, but I think the goal is to spend more time with our families, whether that be at home or on tour or wherever. I mean, a lot of our kids are going off to school; some of our kids are going off to school out of the country. So the family time has to have a big part in all of our lives. And when we started SEVENDUST, you don't have families, you don't have mortgages, you don't have kids, you don't have any of that stuff, there's no responsibility. So it's super easy to just go 100 percent and figure out what is SEVENDUST? We didn't know what we were when we first started. I mean, it took us four or five records and we were still scratching our head going, 'Well, you know…' [Laughs]"

Back in June 2022, BLABBERMOUTH.NET published an interview Morgan gave to "The Jasta Show" in which he revealed that there wouldn't be many SEVENDUST tours left. "I'm gonna be the one to let all the cats out of the bag, but I can just tell you that we're not gonna be around, full-fledged, forever, that's for sure," he added cryptically. Just a couple of weeks later, Witherspoon told 99 Rock WKSM that he was taken aback by reports of SEVENDUST's impending retirement. "I got a phone call early in the morning about, 'What's going on?' My kids are crying. They're, like, 'Daddy, you didn't tell us.' I'm, like, 'What are you talking about?'" Witherspoon recalled.

"I love Blabbermouth, but, yeah, that was kind of taken out of context. We're still here. We're kicking, man."

In Rose's 2022 interview with "The Jasta Show", host Jamey Jasta urged the drummer to stage a "four-year farewell" tour "like SLAYER" did, to which Morgan said: "There probably will be something like that. The funny thing is SLAYER is a legendary… They're SLAYER, you know. But regardless, relatively speaking, we have such close relationships. I started thinking about it. I mean, we did discuss this — the band has discussed, like, when's the end date? 'Cause it'd be nice to do it on our own terms and it'd be nice to be able to say goodbye to everybody properly. And I got emotional when we were talking about it, 'cause I was, like, there are so many people that we're friends and really consider very close that I don't hang out with. You have these, for sure — people that you've met on the road that you see 'em wherever it might be and you've seen 'em so many times that you know them absolutely by name and maybe you even have a drink or food or something when you go through town, but you don't hang with them other than that. And we've been [touring for] 26 years, and there's a lot of those people. And it's, like, shit, dude — that's gonna be, like, 'Bye.' We don't talk. We only talk when I come here. And we've been talking, for some of these people, for 25 years. And it's, like, damn. There's a lot of those people. And it fucked me up a little bit. I was, like, that's gonna be interesting to wave the stage that night and be, like, 'Damn,' and fuck off forever. 'Cause it obviously has been a gigantic part of our lives — more than half of it has been spent out on the road building those relationships. So it'll be a trip."

After Jasta told Rose not to sign a contract with his bandmates saying that they are not allowed to come back for a reunion tour a few years after their first farewell run of shows, Morgan said: "We're pretty fucking old to begin with. Somehow or another we've kept it together enough to be able to still do it at a respectable level. But it's gonna happen. I would be lying to you if I told you I didn't know when. It is gonna happen. But we're not saying anything."

Morgan went on to clarify: "It never means that we'll never play again. Anybody that says that, it's, like, you're insulting the intelligence of the public. I mean, look, MÖTLEY CRÜE is getting ready to go out [after previously saying they wouldn't]. They said they burned the book… I don't ever [say], 'Never, never, never. I swear to God.' ... The plan is that we've done it long enough. The body has taken a fucking beating. I've personally been to the doctor six straight days. I'm going for am MRI tomorrow. It's breaking down. I was in the gym, actually, right before we did this [podcast] just trying to do something to help [with my pain]. Twenty-six years of car accidents — that's how you've gotta look at it. I asked my doctor, 'Why is happening now? I'm in better shape now — way better than I was back then.' I was a fucking mess back then. And he goes, 'You're a hundred years old, dude.' [Laughs] I'm, like, 'Fuck!' Could I have done anything? He goes, 'You could have avoided some car accidents.' It's 26 years of beatin' the fuck out of yourself. It's all good until it's not. That was what he told me. He goes, 'The body is all good until it's not.' … I'm going tomorrow to see what this deal is, 'cause it's fucking debilitating."

In July 2022, Connolly addressed Rose's comments in an interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM. Connolly said: "It's funny. Any time that we talk about this stuff, people are, like, 'Oh, that's it. They're quittin'. It's the end.' It's really not that at all. I mean, we're realists. We ask ourselves, are we gonna be jumping off trampolines and drum risers and stuff when we're 80? Are we gonna wanna do 300 shows a year when we're 80? Probably not. But I look a band like THE [ROLLING] STONES and I go, but you can still go out and do something whenever you wanna do it. So that's sort of what we've… I think what we're doing is we're looking at making records — at some point in time making records and doing a big tour to support the record. I don't think it's gonna be something that we're gonna wanna do like we're doing it now. I think we'll always make music in some way, shape or form or another, even if it's small doses, and I think we'll always tour — in small doses," he explained. "Pick and choose those moments, not grind it out. Do it enough to where it keeps you wantin' to do it.

"As you get older, the family time starts to weight down on the scale, as it should. And we've all got families and we've all got kids of different ages, going through different points — some are in elementary school; some are getting ready to go to college; some [are] drivin', which is crazy. There's more to life, and I think we've all appreciated the fact that we wanna nurture SEVENDUST to the point where we could perpetually do it forever. But you're not gonna see us three times coming through New York City on a tour. If we come through once, okay.

"But, yeah, you've gotta look at the age thing; you've gotta look at the motivation; you've gotta look at the family thing — you've gotta look at all of it and weigh it out," John added. "And instead of saying, 'That's it. We're wrapping it up,' we're just saying, I think we're gonna move into something different; we're just gonna move into a different model.

"It's funny, 'cause it's, like, okay, how many bands have said that they're gonna retire from touring and then all of a sudden [they are back]? That'll be us," Connolly admitted. "We could come in and say, 'There's not a chance that we're gonna play another show. We hate each other.' Two years later, we're gonna be out back out there going, 'You know what, man? We really didn't mean it. We probably shouldn't have reacted so quickly. We're down. We're gonna do it again.'

"MÖTLEY [CRÜE], they had contracts, and they're out doing a stadium tour. I'm, like, they should. You know what I mean? If you wanna play, play. And that's sort of what we're gonna do. I think we're just gonna move from the point of having to do it and having that be something that people have expectations on.

"The thing about it is to make a full-length record these days, I know people are into it, but people just want music," Connolly said. "They don't really care whether they get 10 songs every two years or whether they get a song or two every month, two months, which I think would be a more interesting model to go down anyways, because you can just — as you create, you'll know your moments. There's always gonna be those two or three songs that are, like, 'Oh, wow. I can't wait to play this for the guys.' And then you go, 'Let's go hop in the studio for two days. Let's go sit with Elvis [producer Michael Baskette] for two days, punch two or three songs out, stick 'em in a can, and then do that two or three times. And then if you wanna release a record, release a record. If not, EPs are super popular right now… Those kind of moves are the moves that, I think, are gonna keep the business… I think it's gonna keep fans engaged because you're not giving them the playbook, going, 'Okay, on this day here, here's the EPK. Here's the bio.' We've done it the traditional way. Sometimes that whole, 'Let's just drop it. Let's go record it and just drop it — drop the video, drop whatever.' So that, I think, is more interesting to all of us as we get a little older. Just any way that we can kind of keep it fresh.

"We're in a really good headspace in the SEVENDUST world… So that's why we're not saying 'never,' but we are saying at some point it's gonna get different. So you all don't be thinking you're gonna take a three-week vacation and follow SEVENDUST around on tour. You might take a week and follow us on tour, but I don't know if three weeks is gonna be necessary anymore."

In a new interview with Mike Hsu of 100 FM The Pike radio station, former WHITE LION singer Mike Tramp spoke about the fact that he has released around sixteen solo albums since the band's split three and a half decades ago. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's just one of those things that it's a long time since [WHITE LION's] 'Wait' and 'When The Children Cry' [singles] hit the airwaves. And the band broke up in '91. And it's a long time since '91, and I'm an active songwriter, artist, et cetera, et cetera. That's what I do. People that build houses build houses. So, yeah, I got a lot of albums out there. Of course, things changed along the way, and radio and MTV ended up changing, so when an artist from the '80s comes out with solo albums in 2000 and ongoing, not a lot of people in the world knows it. And so for many, many years, I ended up traveling from the corners of the world to the other corners of the world with a bag, with a suitcase full of CDs and T-shirts, and an acoustic guitar in my other hand, and just brought my music out there. It's just the way it is. It's sort of the movie with Jeff Bridges, '[Crazy] Heart'. It's just one of those — you don't stop because the platform that you used to depend on, it doesn't invite you in anymore. You gotta go on. I mean, I have [my] 50th anniversary this year [of being a musician], and it's what I've been doing for 50 years — rock and roll."

Asked if he thought, fifty years ago, that he would still be doing this five decades later, the 65-year-old Tramp said: "Well, when I walked into my first band at age 15 and a half, left high school without a diploma and moved out of my mom's little apartment was in '76. WHITE LION released 'Pride' 11 years later on. I traveled from Denmark through Europe, and eventually ended up in New York in 1982 and started WHITE LION at that time. And I think just basically from day to day, you just moved on without ever...

"I was at a concert the other day, and this young guy came up to me," Mike continued. "He was with his dad, and his dad recognized me. So, the kid came over there and asked, 'You got any advice for a young musician?' And I just went for a second and says, 'Oh, boy.' And I says, 'Don't put an expiration date.' Rock and roll does not have an expiration date. If you go in there and tell yourself that you have to make it within the first three and a half years, you're already toast. So when I went into it, I went into it as a one-way ticket that just would keep going forward, regardless of how many times I went in a circle. But no, I had no idea. I had no idea when somebody played [AC/DC's] 'It's A Long Way To The Top If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll' in '76, that in 1988 I would be touring with AC/DC for three months. No, I didn't know anything. I just woke up every day and just started by saying, 'Okay, what's gonna happen today?'"

Tramp added: "When that's said and done, there was definitely a time during the '80s — we always refer to the '80s because it was the big days and it was very colorful, it was very loud, it was everywhere — that we maybe had lost a little bit of the thought that we actually were artists and not just sort of like jet fighter pilots at the speed of light. When the smoke comes down and you wake up and you're sitting in that room and there's silence and you start thinking — now this is, of course, a period over 10, 15 years that I ended up really thinking about it — you get back to the conclusion and the fact that you are an artist and this is what you do. Regardless if you're playing for five people or 50,000 people, you are basically doing the same. You might raise your hands and be on a bigger stage when you're in the bigger things, but you're still the same person. And when you don't have a record deal anymore and you're not selling a lot of T-shirts and so on, you're still an artist that sits with a guitar or a piano. And now these days we sit in our home studios and we just go… Before I started talking to you, I was thinking about, man, I just miss the thing about that at 4:00, I'm meeting the boys at the rehearsal room. We might start with a cold beer, and then we start playing some music and stuff like that. It doesn't exist anymore. I meet my band out there in the airport, and then we go on and we know the songs, and we go playing, and then we go home. And some mow the lawn, and somebody fixes a pipe and somebody don't know how to use a wrench, but all that great stuff that I call the chase was better than the catch is G-O-N-E. It's way gone. And that is the part I miss more. I don't miss not getting the platinum records. Of course, that doesn't mean that a little bit of more cash in the bank wouldn't hurt. But the chase was what it was all about for us, and I'm positive that I would be able to get most of my comrades in rock 'n' roll to say the same thing, because what we got now is not very special. We're just clinging on to something. I hit the stage and I wanna give the audience that came that night the best I can give, of course."

Joining Tramp in the current touring lineup of WHITE LION are guitarist Marcus Nand, bassist Jerry Best and drummer Troy Patrick Farrell.

"Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III", the third album in a series where Tramp reinterprets songs from WHITE LION, arrived last September via Frontiers Music Srl.

Mike released "Songs Of White Lion", in April 2023 via Frontiers Music Srl. "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. II" followed in August 2024.

Back in 2019, Tramp revealed in an interview that he had apologized to his former bandmate, guitarist Vito Bratta, for trying to resurrect his former band without his onetime songwriting partner and bandmate.

The Danish-born singer hasn't played with Bratta since WHITE LION performed its last concert in Boston in September 1991.

In the 35 years since WHITE LION broke up, Bratta's public profile has been virtually nonexistent, while Tramp has remained active, recording and touring as a solo artist and with the bands FREAK OF NATURE, THE ROCK 'N' ROLL CIRCUZ and, more recently, BAND OF BROTHERS. Tramp also attempted to revive WHITE LION with the 2008 album "Return Of The Pride", featuring new members. Two years later, Tramp ceded ownership of the name WHITE LION to Bratta in an out-of-court settlement.

Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, WHITE LION released its debut album, "Fight To Survive", in 1985. The band had its breakthrough with the double-platinum-selling "Pride" album, which produced two Top 10 hits: "Wait" and "When The Children Cry". The band continued its success with the third album, "Big Game", which achieved gold status.

By the time WHITE LION released its final album, 1991's "Mane Attraction", alternative rock was in the ascendancy, leading to a swift decline of the so-called "hair metal" scene in terms of sales, popularity, radio play, and most importantly, relevance.

POISON drummer Rikki Rockett says that he "supports" Bret Michaels's decision to drop out of the "Great American State Fair" celebrating America's 250th anniversary, set to take place later this month.

On Thursday (May 28),the POISON singer announced he would no longer perform at the celebration on the National Lawn in Washington, saying what was initially pitched as a patriotic music festival had become increasingly divisive and raised safety concerns.

"I support Bret's decision to pull out of the Freedom 250 event," Rikki wrote in a social media post on Friday (May 29). "What I don't support are all the nasty remarks about Bret's talent thrown in to the discussion. While Bret and I disagree on many fronts, we respect each other's artistic abilities and accomplishments as a band and individually. Bret is doing what is right for this situation for many reasons, none of which make him a coward."

Michaels became the fifth artist to withdraw from "The Great American State Fair" series of concerts, exhibits, tributes and other programs scheduled to take place June 25 to July 10 on Washington's National Mall. It was organized by Freedom 250, which claims to be nonpartisan and promises to "unite and showcase all 56 U.S. states and territories in a single World's Fair-scale event."

Freedom 250 was launched last year by President Donald Trump and is headed by a Trump State Department appointee from his first term, the businessman-philanthropist Keith Krach.

Krach shared his goals for Freedom 250 in a statement on his web site, writing: "I am grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to execute his vision for Freedom 250. At its core, Freedom 250 is a national movement — bringing states, businesses, organizations, and citizens together to honor our history, cherish our God-given freedoms, and help build a golden age of opportunity for the next 250 years."

When Freedom 250 announced its musical lineup for "The Great American State Fair" festival on Wednesday, May 27, nine artists were scheduled to perform, including Martina McBride, Young MC, C+C MUSIC FACTORY, Vanilla Ice, MILLI VANILLI, THE COMMODORES, MORRIS DAY & THE TIME, Flo Rida and Bret Michaels. McBride, Young MC, C+C MUSIC FACTORY, THE COMMODORES, MORRIS DAY & THE TIME and Michaels have all since pulled out of the event.

Michaels announced his withdrawal from the event in a statement on his web site. He explained "The Great American State Fair" "was originally presented to my team" as "a celebration of our country through music and a chance to honor our veterans, active military, first responders, teachers and hardworking Americans from all walks of life."

Bret noted that "as the son of a veteran, and coming from a family that has proudly served, that is something I have always been honored to support." He explained that his career's always been focused on "bringing people together through music, positivity and good vibes" and not "about politics."

"Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of," Michaels continued. "Concerns have also been raised regarding the safety of my fans, band, crew, family and myself, including threats that are completely unfounded and unforgivable."

Michaels added that he made "the difficult decision" to pull out of the event, noting that the choice is "not about politics" but rather "staying true to what I've always believed in" and letting people have their own opinions. "But as a father, friend and bandmate, I have to take threats and safety concerns seriously," he wrote.

"I will continue to proudly support our veterans, active military members, teachers, first responders and the organizations that serve them, just as I always have," Michaels concluded.

POISON frontman Bret Michaels is one of the latest artists to have publicly backed out of their involvement with the Freedom 250 festival in Washington, D.C.

Earlier this week, Michaels was announced as one of the performers in a series of concerts on the National Mall during the Great American State Fair, which is billed as "a World Fair-style celebration of America's 250th birthday." Since then, several of the artists have said they would not take part, with some claiming that that were not aware the event was part of the initiative planned by the Trump administration celebrating the nation's milestone anniversary and others raising concerns about political ties, misleading event descriptions or unauthorized use of their names.

Echoing the sentiments of many other musicians who have bowed out of the event, Michaels wrote in a statement posted Thursday night (May 28) to his web site: "When this opportunity was originally presented to my team, it was described as a celebration of our country through music and a chance to honor our veterans, active military, first responders, teachers and hardworking Americans from all walks of life. As the son of a veteran, and coming from a family that has proudly served, that is something I have always been honored to support.

"As many of you know, I've spent my entire career bringing people together through music, positivity and good vibes. My shows have never been about politics. They're about giving people a place to come together, have a great time and forget about life's stresses for a few hours.

"Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of. Concerns have also been raised regarding the safety of my fans, band, crew, family and myself, including threats that are completely unfounded and unforgivable. Because of that, I have made the difficult decision to step away from this performance.

"This isn't about politics. It's about staying true to what I've always believed in. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. That's one of the freedoms our veterans fought for and something I've always respected. But as a father, friend and bandmate, I have to take threats and safety concerns seriously.

"I believe in our country, in the freedoms we're afforded, and in the idea that for over 250 years we have gone through both highs and lows together and remained resilient. Music is a universal language that unites us, not divides us. Just like it did when I entertained a record-breaking crowd of over 100,000 at the St. Louis Arch for an Independence Day celebration with people from across the country who came together to honor our freedoms through music. The focus was on the music, the fans and celebrating together.

"I will continue to proudly support our veterans, active military members, teachers, first responders and the organizations that serve them, just as I always have.

"I also want my amazing fans in Washington, D.C. to know that I love you all, and I fully intend to come back and perform in our nation's capital under circumstances where the focus can remain on what it should be — the music and the fans. In the meantime, we'll keep the 'Live & Amplified' tour rocking, and I look forward to seeing all of you out on the road soon.

"This is said with much love, gratitude, and respect."

The Freedom 250 festival is being organized by Keith Krach, an appointee of President Trump.

Krach shared his goals for Freedom 250 in a statement on his web site, writing: "I am grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to execute his vision for Freedom 250. At its core, Freedom 250 is a national movement — bringing states, businesses, organizations, and citizens together to honor our history, cherish our God-given freedoms, and help build a golden age of opportunity for the next 250 years."

Back in July 2017, Michaels, who won Season 3 of Donald Trump's reality competition "The Celebrity Apprentice", was asked by Entrepreneur.com if he was surprised Trump won his first U.S. presidency. Bret said: "No. America is built on capitalism. Trump is all about capitalism and he is patriotic. You have to put money back into the pockets of people to make democracy work. Hopefully, Trump can make America a better place and I think he can do that if he starts with the entrepreneurial spirit."

Michaels added at the time that he had nothing against the Obama administration.

"They were handed a rough economy, they were handed a rough situation, and I think he did good," he said. "Obama did a good job getting it to here, and now we've got to say, Trump is going to take it from here and take it up a notch for his term — or terms."

In a new video on his YouTube channel Justin Hawkins Rides Again, THE DARKNESS frontman Justin Hawkins addressed the recently announced Ozzy Osbourne A.I. avatar, which is coming to life through a partnership between the Osbourne family, Hyperreal, the digital human technology company behind the patented Digital DNA process, and Proto Hologram. Together they will enable the avatar to have conversations with fans and move, speak and respond as Ozzy would. Justin said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "I think an interactive Ozzy A.I. is a bit of fun for fans. There's no problem with it, really. I think the thing that sort of reeked of cynical kind of activities or anything sort of nefarious would be, like, there was brief mention in some of the literature surrounding this announcement that the Ozzy avatar might be used for things like adverts and stuff, and then clearly that's just… It's using A.I.'s kind of brain-simulating predictive response nature and mechanisms to continue to monetize Ozzy's existence. And I think at a certain point, in an entertainer's career, they almost become a caricature of themselves. And in this instance, the only thing that remains is the caricature itself, and the person has, unfortunately, passed away and is no longer with us. So it is a little bit like ghosty stuff in some ways, because I think what the A.I. is gonna create is an echo of Ozzy, as it were. And it's not just Ozzy, of course. There'll probably be a Freddie [Mercury] one… But I think to have your picture taken with it and have some fun, there's no problem. I think it's a bit of a bloody cheek if they you suddenly see an avatar of a rock star that's passed away appearing in a movie for a film, for a fee. That is a bloody cheek, isn't it?"

Digital Ozzy will appear in Proto Luma units — described as life-size, patented holoportation devices that can display live or pre-recorded content with its 86-inch multi-touch volumetric display, 4K resolution, high fidelity speakers, and spatial computing / conversational A.I. capabilities — in the U.K. and U.S. beginning late summer.

Proto is the original hologram and A.I. spatial compute platform used globally in entertainment, healthcare, education, finance, retail and more. Hyperreal's Digital DNA technology is the only patented end-to-end system for capturing and performing an authenticated avatar across likeness, voice, motion, and performance character.

"Every element of this avatar was built exclusively from authenticated, approved source material: curated, consented, and controlled by the people who love him most," Hyperreal CEO Remington Scott said in a statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "This is a living performance, not a rendering; and it draws from nothing that wasn't given willingly. We have the enthusiastic participation of Ozzy's family, and that changes everything about what this can be."

"It's an honor to be trusted to bring one of true gods of rock back to the world to continue to connect with fans — thank you, Sharon and Jack!" added David Nussbaum, founder of Proto Hologram. "We wouldn't do it if we didn't know both of our company's technologies will create an experience that truly extends Ozzy's presence, his heart and soul, into the future."

"The things that you can do with that are just endless," Ozzy's wife and manager Sharon Obourne said on May 20 during a talk called "The Enduring Legacy Of A Rock Icon And His Family: Ozzy Osbourne And The Osbournes" on the License Global main stage at Licensing Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Hyperreal previously created a life-sized, A.I.-powered avatar of late comic book legend Stan Lee that interacted with attendees at last year's Los Angeles Comic Con. Comic Con visitors were able to pay $15 to speak to the holographic Lee, who responded in what appeared to be accurate A.I.-generated responses in Lee's familiar voice. Hyperreal had also developed digital avatars of Paul McCartney, the Notorious B.I.G. and Mike Tyson.

"It's kind of scary how it's really very accurate," Ozzy's son Jack said at Licensing Expo. "He will exist digitally as himself for as long as we have computers. Technology has come such a long way to where it's almost drag and drop. You could shoot a template for a commercial ... literally prompt what you want digital Ozzy to do in that commercial and you just drop it in. It's that simple now."

"You can ask Ozzy anything, and he will answer you in his own voice — and the answers will be what Ozzy would have said," Sharon added. "We're going to take it all around the world. People can talk to him and he will talk back."

Back in December 2023, Ozzy was asked during an episode of "The Osbournes" podcast if he would ever consider possibly making a song with a artificial intelligence-generated version of his late guitarist Randy Rhoads, and if not Randy, maybe another rock star like John Lennon (THE BEATLES),or somebody that Ozzy's always looked up to. Ozzy replied: "I haven't considered it yet, but as far as me doing something like what the remaining BEATLES did with the John Lennon thing," referencing the recently released "Now And Then", featuring the voices of all four original BEATLES performers, with surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr essentially finishing what was initially an old demo recording by John Lennon, "that was a partial song and they cleaned the track up. I don't think I have anything left of Randy Rhoads."

When Jack asked if Ozzy would be open to using A.I. to study the way Randy Rhoads played and make a new song in a similar style, Ozzy said: "Well, you know what? I'm open for anything, if it was good quality. 'Cause, let's face it, that BEATLES thing, 'Now And Then', wasn't a BEATLES song; it was a John Lennon song."

"The thing with A.I., you can go, 'Make me a new album.' … But that's the future," Ozzy said. "The music scene's gonna be completely different."

Asked if it makes him nervous, Ozzy said simply: "No."

Ozzy added: "The cat's out of the bag. You can't undo it. The danger is people will misuse it. Because I'll get like a formula for a song and I'll put that formula in and I'll keep on doing that."

"The Enduring Legacy Of A Rock Icon And His Family: Ozzy Osbourne And The Osbournes" was moderated by Jens Drinkwater, head of licensing at Global Merchandising Services, and Lisa Streff, senior vice president of licensing and brand development at Global Merchandising Services. Global Merchandising Services continues to expand the Ozzy Osbourne licensing program through new collections, collaborations, products, and fan experiences designed to connect with both longtime fans and new audiences.

Ozzy Osbourne, known globally as the Prince Of Darkness, remains one of the most influential figures in music, entertainment, and popular culture. From redefining heavy metal with BLACK SABBATH to building a solo career that became a global phenomenon, Ozzy's influence has reached across generations, geographies, and cultures.

That impact expanded even further with "The Osbournes", the groundbreaking reality series that helped redefine celebrity television and brought an unfiltered, deeply human portrait of rock and roll family life into homes around the world. As the show approaches its 25th anniversary in 2027, the Osbourne family brand is entering a new phase of growth, with renewed focus on storytelling, fan engagement, licensing, and strategic partnerships.

Interest in Ozzy's legacy continues to build across multiple major projects, including the upcoming Ozzy Osbourne biopic, a highly anticipated screen project exploring his extraordinary life and career. Additional fan moments, including the upcoming "Back To The Beginning" Ozzy and BLACK SABBATH theatrical project and the return of Ozzfest in 2027, are further driving global excitement around one of music's most enduring cultural icons.

Ozzy's licensing program continues to expand across fashion collaborations, collectibles, accessories, lifestyle products, and emerging digital opportunities, all rooted in the authenticity, edge, humor, and rebellious spirit that define the brand. At the same time, the Osbournes family brand is being developed for new categories and partnerships that reflect the family's signature voice, humor, and cultural relevance.

Ozzy died on July 22, 2025 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate also reportedly said the 76-year-old musician suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease.

Ten months ago, Osbourne reunited with the rest of the original BLACK SABBATH lineup — guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — for what was his final performance at the "Back To The Beginning" charity concert in their original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

In June 2025, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery unveiled a special exhibition dedicated to the life and career of Ozzy. Titled "Ozzy Osbourne: Working Class Hero", the pop-up has received over 450,000 visitors since it opened and has now been extended to September 2026.

"Ozzy Osbourne: Working Class Hero" showcases Ozzy's most prestigious international honors, including Grammy Awards, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame accolades, MTV awards, Hollywood Walk Of Fame, Birmingham Walk Of Stars honors and a selection of his platinum and gold discs.

Earlier this year, Sharon confirmed that the Ozzfest traveling festival would return in 2027 as a two-day event in Birmingham, United Kingdom. She also shared plans to take the festival for another two days in the U.S., adding: "We've got to find a lot of young, new talent".

Roger Daltrey has made the claim that THE WHO was "the first heavy metal band", having laid the groundwork for the genre more than six decades ago.

The 82-year-old rock legend made the comments during a new interview with Rolling Stone. Asked how he sees THE WHO's legacy and what he and his bandmates did better than everybody else, Roger said: "We were just different than everybody else. Americans don't really know THE WHO from the early '60s, but as the drummer of DEEP PURPLE [Ian Paice] said recently in a magazine, 'THE WHO started it all.' We were the first heavy metal band."

He continued: "Jim Marshall invented the 4×12 [speaker cabinet], 100-watt stack for [THE WHO guitarist] Pete Townshend. All the guitar smashing that Jimi Hendrix became famous for, in his style, was basically copied from Pete Townshend, first of all. And the first rock opera, of course, we elevated rock to be maybe up its own ass in a way, you could say it. We were doing it before anyone, but it's not important in the long run."

Back in 2019, Townshend told the Toronto Sun that THE WHO "sort of invented heavy metal" with the band's first live album, 1970's "Live At Leeds". "We were copied by so many bands, principally by LED ZEPPELIN — you know, heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar and some of those bands, like Jimi Hendrix for example, did it far better than we did," he said. "CREAM, with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, they came along in '67, same year as Jimi Hendrix, and they kind of stole our mantle in a sense. So people who want to hear that old heavy metal sound, there are plenty of bands that can provide it. So it's not really what we can actually do today. Even if we wanted to, it was never high on my list of wishes."

Daltrey recently announced a run of U.S. solo tour dates, celebrating his return two years after his widely praised semi-acoustic 2024 summer outing and the acclaimed THE WHO farewell tour. The 2026 solo trek has been dubbed "A Great Night Out".

The tour will kick off August 23 at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona and run through September, including a rare Daltrey performance at New York City's The Town Hall on September 27 and wrapping up in Medford, Massachusetts at the Chevalier Theatre on September 29.

Daltrey was honored with a knighthood by The Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle this past December for his contribution to charity and music. Daltrey launched and curated the Teenage Cancer Trust concerts initiative at the Royal Albert Hall which has raised millions for the charity over the past 25 years.

Inducted into the Rock And Hall Of Fame with THE WHO in 1990, Daltrey received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Grammy Foundation along with the band in 2001. Daltrey and THE WHO co-founder Pete Townshend received Kennedy Center Honors in 2008. Considered to have one of the most recognizable singing voices of all time, Planet Rock listeners voted Daltrey rock's fifth-greatest voice in music history. He also received stellar reviews for his unique 2018 autobiography, "Thanks A Lot Mr. Kibblewhite", with one critic describing it as how "the punk became rock's Godfather…" Known for his magnetic presence and rebellious creative spirit, Daltrey has also been an actor and film producer, with multiple roles in films, theatre, and television.

He's released ten solo studio albums, including the acclaimed discs "Daltrey", "Ride A Rock Horse", "One Of The Boys" and the 2018 release "As Long As I Have You", and such hit singles as "I'm Free", "Giving It All Away", "Without Your Love", "Free Me" and "After The Fire". His solo work has been compiled into two anthologies, "Martyrs And Madmen" (1997) and "Moonlighting" (2005). Queen Elizabeth awarded him a CBE for his service to music and charity in 2004.

Image credit: Heritage Live Festivals

In a new interview with Talk Is Jericho, the podcast hosted by wrestling superstar and FOZZY frontman Chris Jericho, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante spoke about the band's long-awaited twelfth full-length studio album, "Cursum Perficio", which will be released on September 18 via Megaforce in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast in Europe. It marks the band's first record in ten years since 2016's "For All Kings", which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. The phrase "Cursum Perficio" is Latin for "My journey has come to an end," "My journey is over," or "I complete my journey."

Asked about the response to the first single from the upcoming LP, "It's For The Kids", which was made available earlier in the month, Charlie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, for me, I've been waiting so long for this moment because I've lived with this song for so long. And I knew once people heard it… You know how it is, man. It's like when you have a song and you think it's really good, but you can't really… How do you know how good it is until people hear it and then you get that feedback? And it's so important, for me at least, to hear that feedback.

"The first song, we wanted to release something that really represents the band and shows that we're not slowing down," Charlie explained. "We're hitting as hard as we feel we are. So it was definitely a statement.

"Someone said this was a love letter to our fans, and when they said that to me, I was, like, 'You're right.' That's exactly what this is."

On the topic of why it took a decade for ANTHRAX to release the follow-up to "For All Kings", Charlie, who writes the majority of the band's music, said: "The honest answer I can give is, me personally, I didn't have it to write. I didn't feel it. It just wasn't the right time. I was, like, 'Well, I don't have anything to say right now. I don't think the band has anything to say.' And then the whole pandemic happened, which we started to actually write before the pandemic, and then that happened, and then that set us back — what? — two years. But a lot of these songs on this record — there's a song called 'Target On My Back' ['T.O.M.B.']; that's from 2015. There's a lot of stuff that was old that I had, and then there's some new songs that I felt, 'This is too good to hold back and wait. I want this out.'"

Benante continued: "A song like 'It's For The Kids' — I would do these demos and I would put them in a Dropbox, and then Scott [Ian, ANTHRAX guitarist] would listen to them, and then he'd write me. He's, like, 'I didn't even know about this song.' And I'm, like, 'Oh yeah.' I would just do the demo and throw it in there. So all of a sudden, we started to get an abundance of these songs, and then we would get together — me, Scott and Frankie [Bello, ANTHRAX bassist] — and kind of play them live. And it was such a great feeling to be back with them and just playing some new songs. If you're in a band, you kind of know what that feels like. It's almost like spring training. You're getting together with the guys again, and you're doing the thing that you love, but yet there's this new vibe happening. There's these new songs that are being created. Man, it's just a great feeling. And it took a while, but I guess it had to take a while."

Charlie added: "I even know Scott at some point was having a little bit of a writer's block, too, as far as the lyrics goes, because Scott writes the lyrics for the band. And Scott's such a great lyricist. His lyrics, to me — we'll talk about things, and we talk about certain aspects of life or whatever, and sometimes we'll just be talking, and he'll use that in a lyric. Like the song 'The Long Goodbye', for me, it's a very personal and emotional song. It's about Scott's dad, who had Alzheimer's. And it's called 'The Long Goodbye', and that, to me, even when I talk about it, I think about his dad, 'cause I loved his dad. His dad was one of the greatest — just such a great person. And it makes me sad just to think about that whole thing that happened because it brings me back to my parents and stuff like that. But 'The Long Goodbye' was one of those songs that, for me, the music was very emotional, and I remember Scott saying, 'Dude, that melody in there is one of the best ones that we ever had.' Same with 'The Edge Of Perfection'. Scott thought that was the best ever. And the funny thing about that song, 'The Edge Of Perfection', is every time I do a demo, man, I do, like, an eight-minute demo, but the reason why I do that is because I like to put a different variation of the riff. If I'm doing, like, a minute and a half of the riff, well, then maybe at five minutes, the riff changes a little bit, because I want everybody to hear it as, like, 'Well, we can do that part first and then bring...' You know, just arrange it differently. And Scott and Frank are really good with arranging the song."

Charlie also talked about the inspiration for the "Cursum Perficio", album title, saying: "I'd been looking for a title for this record that pretty much summarized where we were and where I was at this point. And I'm not saying this is the last album, but the album title translates to 'my journey has come to an end', 'my journey is over'.

"Two times this happened to me, and it was very strange, the way some things come to me without me even knowing it," he continued. "I was watching this documentary on Marilyn Monroe, and in her home in L.A., in Beverly Hills, she had this tile, this plaque, and it said 'Cursum Perficio'. And when I was watching it and the narrator was saying what it was and what it meant, dude, a light just went off in my head. I'm, like, 'That's it. That's the title right there.' So when I brought it to the guys, they thought it was strange too, and they liked it. But everybody liked it. And that's the one thing — if everybody likes it, that means it's right. So we went with that title. And then the artwork for the cover, I was looking for an artist who did... I don't know if you remember those old Harry Houdini posters, the way they looked, like a Coney Island type of art. It just had this look and this vibe to it. And I was watching this magician, David Blaine. He was doing this docuseries, and it was, like, a six-part series, and after every episode, there was a piece of art that would basically summarize the episode. And when I saw the art, I'm, like, 'That's it. That's exactly the style that I want.' So I went to the credits, and I found the artist's name, and we contacted him, and he was, like, 'Yes, I would love to do this cover for you guys.' And I worked with him about it. And it's a very strange kind of Salvador Dalí-esque type of piece of art. And there's a a couple of Easter eggs in the art. I see fans trying to pick it out, 'Oh, here's something from this album', 'Here's something from that album,' which I love that they're doing that. But each character on the cover has a backstory too, which will come out later."

"Cursum Perficio" will be available as a standard CD; Target-exclusive CD with a fabric patch of the album cover; standard black double LP with pop-up gatefold; Target-exclusive double LP, red zoetrope with pop-up gatefold; Amazon-exclusive double LP, purple zoetrope LP with pop-up gatefold; merch-exclusive lilac vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Metal Injection-exclusive white vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Talk Shop Live-exclusive signed with red ripple vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Indie-exclusive red, orange yellow vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold.

The band dove into recording "Cursum Perficio" in earnest during 2022, working out of Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Los Angeles. They carefully pieced together what would be this magnum opus, mining their history with reverence, delivering on fan expectations tenfold, and broadening the scope of their signature sound. Produced by Jay Ruston and ANTHRAX, the result is an album that's as angry, aggressive, and alive as their most celebrated fare.

ANTHRAX celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021 with a number of special activities and events. Formed by Ian and bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, New York on July 18, 1981, ANTHRAX was one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.

Active over the past five decades, ANTHRAX has released 11 studio albums, been awarded multiple gold and platinum certifications, received six Grammy nominations, toured the world since 1984 playing thousands of shows, including headlining Madison Square Garden and playing Yankee Stadium with the "Big Four".

"For All Kings" was called by some critics ANTHRAX's strongest album to date. Its arrival followed a five-year period during which the group experienced a rebirth of sorts, beginning with ANTHRAX's inclusion on the "Big Four" tour, and continuing with the release of comeback LP "Worship Music".

STRYPER has returned with a powerful new single, "I'm Alright (I'm Okay)" reaffirming why they remain one of the most influential and enduring bands in Christian metal. Decades into their career, the band continues to balance their unmistakable message with a sound that is every bit as commanding, melodic, and relevant as ever.

On the new single, STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet comments: "This one is for the old-school metalheads. It's a little 1985 mixed with a little 1991, with a little 2026 sprinkled on top. It has all the qualities that you've come to expect from STRYPER, yet it also blends in perfectly with the times we live in. It's a battle cry to stand strong and persevere no matter what, while believing that you will be alright, you will be okay."

"I'm Alright (I'm Okay)" is the first single from STRYPER's upcoming album, due later in the year via Frontiers Music Srl.

Michael is joined in STRYPER by Oz Fox (guitar),Robert Sweet (drums) and Perry Richardson (bass).

Sweet stated about STRYPER's follow-up to 2024's "When We Were Kings": "I do believe that we've somehow figured out a way to merge the past with the present. To combine the classic sound with a bit of a modern twist. That's not always an easy thing to do. Actually, it's almost impossible. I think we've somehow structured each album in a way that showcases who we once were, and who we are now. I'm very happy about that.

"This new album is a very unique album for us. An evolution from 1984 to 2026. 42 years and counting.

"We've been through a lot. We broke up. We got back together (barely). We've parted ways with a few members over the years yet somehow we're still here. Why? Because STRYPER isn't just one individual. It's a legacy that God ordained and called together back in 1983. It's a one-of-a-kind ministry that was formed to reach the lost. To encourage the hurting. To inspire the uninspired. To save the dying. That's God. Not me, not Rob, not Oz, not Perry. God would and could use anyone. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

"So, get ready for another album, and I'll say it again and again — it's our best one yet. That's because God is limitless. He can do anything. Believe it. I do."

STRYPER released its long-awaited Christmas album, "The Greatest Gift Of All", in November 2025 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Sweet's latest solo album, "The Master Plan", his most personal and spiritually resonant solo LP yet, was made available in April 2026 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Formed 43 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

STRYPER's other albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen", "God Damn Evil", "Even The Devil Believes" and "The Final Battle".

Photo credit: Manuel Moggio, Hainecch (courtesy of Frontiers Music Srl)

THE STOOGES' self-titled and "Fun House" albums have been reimagined for audiophiles on new reel-to-reel and Dolby Atmos editions arriving today. "Fun House"'s open-reel debut and self-titled and "Fun House"'s immersive audio mix offer fans two fresh ways to experience its chaotic brilliance.

"Fun House" (Rhino High Fidelity R2R) was duplicated in real time from a 1:1 copy of the original flat analog master tape. The result is a master-quality listening experience that captures the full dynamics of the recording without the surface noise or groove wear of vinyl. The 15 i.p.s. half-track 1/4" tape is produced to the IEC equalization standard on premium RTM LPR90 tape stock and housed on a 10.5" metal reel. The Reel-to-Reel edition is limited to 350 copies available exclusively at Rhino.com.

"The Stooges & Fun House" (Atmos) brings together Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) and Hi-Res Stereo (DTS-HD MA) mixes of both albums on Blu-ray, newly created by legendary producer Ed Stasium from the original multi-track tapes. Stasium's immersive Atmos mix elevates the album's primal energy, placing the listener in the center of the studio floor as the band deconstructs rock music in real time.

Rhino will exclusively offer a bundle of all three audiophile titles from THE STOOGES for $354.98

Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Don Gallucci, "Fun House" arrived on July 7, 1970, as THE STOOGES — Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton, Dave Alexander and Scott Asheton — doubled down on everything that made their debut a year earlier so confrontational.

In the album liners, Pop notes that it was a deliberate escalation — testing how far the music could be pushed without coming apart. "Something about this record that I like is the way it begins with a couple of very short, fully structured numbers, and then slips farther and farther out of control… yet it never loses a structure of its own," he writes.

Rhino High Fidelity continues to tap into Warner Music's vast catalog, introducing reissues of seminal albums across genres—from rock and pop to jazz, soul, and beyond. Each title pairs uncompromising audio with archival-grade packaging, honoring the album's original intent in both sound and design.

"Fun House" (Rhino High Fidelity R2R) track listing

01. Down On The Street
02. Loose
03. T.V. Eye
04. Dirt
05. 1970
06. Fun House
07. L.A. Blues

"The Stooges & Fun House" (Atmos) track listing

"The Stooges"

01. 1969
02. I Wanna Be Your Dog
03. We Will Fall
04. No Fun
05. Real Cool Time
06. Ann
07. Not Right
08. Little Doll

"Fun House"

01. Down On The Street
02. Loose
03. T.V. Eye
04. Dirt
05. 1970
06. Fun House
07. L.A. Blues

Swedish extreme metal architects MESHUGGAH have announced the release of newly remastered anniversary editions of two of the band's most important works: "Destroy Erase Improve: 30th Anniversary Edition" and "Catch Thirtythree: 20th Anniversary Edition". Both titles will be available on vinyl, CD digipack, and digitally, featuring the original album artwork and newly remastered audio. Both editions will be released on July 24, 2026 via Reigning Phoenix Music.

The releases follow their limited Record Store Day editions, which arrived this April with alternate/reimagined cover art. For these wider anniversary editions, MESHUGGAH return both albums to their original visual identities while preserving the enhanced, remastered sound created for this milestone campaign.

Originally released in 1995, "Destroy Erase Improve" marked a decisive turning point not only for MESHUGGAH, but for the future of heavy music itself. The album introduced a sharpened and unmistakable version of the band's evolving language: machine-like rhythmic precision, dissonant riff architecture, jazz-fusion flashes, and a level of technical control that would become foundational to progressive, extreme, math, and djent-adjacent metal in the decades that followed. Widely regarded as one of the defining metal albums of the 1990s, "Destroy Erase Improve" remains a blueprint for the sound MESHUGGAH would make entirely their own.

To accompany "Destroy Erase Improve: 30th Anniversary Edition", the remastered single "Future Breed Machine" has been released, spotlighting one of the album's most iconic and enduring tracks.

A decade later, MESHUGGAH pushed their vision even further with "Catch Thirtythree". Released in 2005, the album stands as one of the band's most singular statements: a continuous 47-minute composition divided into 13 movements, built around hypnotic repetition, shifting rhythmic illusions, crushing eight-string guitar work, and an atmosphere that remains uniquely immersive within the band's catalog. Produced by MESHUGGAH, "Catch Thirtythree" also marked the band's only full-length album built with programmed drums, using Toontrack's Drumkit From Hell technology as part of its stark, futuristic design.

In celebration of "Catch Thirtythree: 20th Anniversary Edition", the remastered track "Shed" has been released on all streaming platforms.

Both anniversary editions reaffirm the lasting impact of MESHUGGAH's work across generations of heavy music. From the genre-redefining force of "Destroy Erase Improve" to the monolithic conceptual scope of "Catch Thirtythree", these remastered releases offer longtime followers and new listeners alike the chance to experience two essential chapters in the band's history with renewed clarity and weight.

"Destroy Erase Improve: 30th Anniversary Edition" and "Catch Thirtythree: 20th Anniversary Edition" will be available on vinyl, CD digipack, and digital formats on July 24.

Formed in Umeå, Sweden in 1987, MESHUGGAH have spent more than three decades redefining the outer limits of heavy music. Known for their groundbreaking use of complex polyrhythms, down-tuned guitars, dissonant atmospheres, and surgically precise execution, the band has become one of the most influential forces in extreme and progressive metal.

Across their catalog, MESHUGGAH have continually pushed their sound forward, from the technical thrash foundations of their earliest work to the genre-altering breakthroughs of "Destroy Erase Improve", "Chaosphere", "Nothing", "Catch Thirtythree", "obZen" and beyond. Their music has had a profound impact on modern metal, inspiring generations of artists and helping shape the rhythmic vocabulary later associated with the djent movement, while remaining unmistakably singular in vision and execution.

Rather than following trends, MESHUGGAH have built an entire language of their own: mechanical yet human, cerebral yet crushing, and as hypnotic as it is devastating. With a reputation for uncompromising innovation and formidable live performances, MESHUGGAH continue to stand as one of the most original, challenging, and revered bands in heavy music.

Legendary guitarist Dave Hill has announced the release of his long-awaited solo album, "Dirty Foot Lane", due in October through JCPL Records. He is also working with worldwide music publisher Notting Hill Music.

"Dirty Foot Lane" is a rich, autobiographical collection of songs reflecting a lifetime of music, creativity, and personal discovery.

Best known as a founding member of SLADE, Hill steps into a new artistic space with a record that blends rock, blues, folk, and atmospheric soundscapes. The album captures both the energy of his live-performance roots and a more reflective emotional depth shaped by recent years.

"Dirty Foot Lane" is deeply rooted in Hill's personal history. The title itself refers to a real place not far from where he grew up and still lives today, underscoring his identity as a true local lad. More than just a location, Dirty Foot Lane serves as the emotional and symbolic heart of the album, representing the center of Hill's family memories and formative experiences.

This is an intensely personal body of work, tracing Hill's journey from childhood to global success. The album explores his upbringing, the influence of his parents and family, his early ambition to become a musician, and his rise to international fame. It also addresses more challenging chapters, including struggles with mental health and the profound impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns, ultimately arriving at a place of reflection and appreciation for life.

Leading the production is Django Holder, who also plays a key role in engineering and shaping the album's sound. As the son of Noddy Holder, his involvement adds a meaningful generational connection to Hill's musical legacy.

A key contributor to the album is Hill's long-time collaborator John Berry, whose career includes work with MUD and THE SWEET.

"I've known John for over twenty years," says Hill. "He's incredibly talented, honest, and always gives you his very best. That's invaluable." Berry plays a particularly important role on some of the album's heavier tracks, while Hill performs the majority of the lead vocals. Producer and musician Rob Childs also contributes to the project.

Songs like "Play It To The Crowd" and "Back In The Air Again" capture the exhilaration of live performance, written during lockdown as a response to the absence of touring.

"I wanted to recreate that feeling of walking into a packed arena — the energy, the buzz, the connection with the audience," Hill explains.

In contrast, "Dirty Foot Lane" also explores more personal and complex themes. "She Had A Troubled Heart" stands out as a deeply moving track addressing love, loss, and mental health, inspired by real-life experiences. "It's about what happens when love becomes one-sided," says Hill. "And the impact that can have on people's lives."

The album draws on every stage of Hill's journey. "Thanks For The Good Times" serves as a tribute to fans, collaborators, and shared success, while "Reasons To Succeed" reflects his lifelong ambition. "Only Fools And Horses" revisits the unpredictable early days of the music industry, and "Fast Train" captures the intensity of SLADE's rapid rise. Elsewhere, "Dust My Axe" channels a blues-driven response to modern life, while "Sweet And Tender" offers a heartfelt tribute to his mother.

The title track, "Dirty Foot Lane", stands as the emotional centerpiece of the record. Reimagined with Django Holder, it blends folk and ambient elements into an intimate, atmospheric soundscape.

"It's my story — my family, my home, my journey," Hill says. "Everything connects back to that."

Stripped back and deeply expressive, the track encapsulates both the personal and artistic essence of the album. Together, the songs form a narrative that is both intimate and universal, grounded in memory, resilience, and a lifelong passion for music.

"Dirty Foot Lane" marks a significant step forward for Dave Hill — an artist still driven by creativity and curiosity after decades in the industry.

"I've always been driven," he says. "And I'm still looking for the next challenge. This album is part of that journey."

Hill is best known as the lead guitarist of SLADE, one of the U.K.'s most iconic rock bands. With a career spanning over five decades, he continues to record, perform, and connect with audiences worldwide.

"Dirty Foot Lane" track listing:

01. Thanks For The Good Times
02. Back In The Air Again
03. Dust My Axe
04. She Had A Troubled Heart
05. Sweet And Tender
06. Fast Train
07. Only Fools And Horses
08. Play It To The Crowd
09. Reasons To Succeed
10. Dirty Foot Lane

On May 24, Irish singer and three-time Eurovision Song Contest winner Johnny Logan and Finnish hard rockers LORDI, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2006, performed the band's metal rock anthem "Hard Rock Hallelujah" on the long-running German television show "ZDF Fernsehgarten". Official video of the performance, as shared by the ZDF channel on YouTube, can be seen below.

Logan, LORDI and former BATTLE BEAST singer Noora Louhimo recently surprised their fans around the world by making history with an amazing collaboration.

Logan released his own pop-rock version of "Hard Rock Hallelujah". Meanwhile, LORDI joined forces with Louhimo and released a metal version of Logan's legendary classic power ballad "Hold Me Now".

LORDI and Louhimo also performed their version of "Hold Me Now" on "ZDF Fernsehgarten". You can see video of their rendition below.

The idea emerged during a spontaneous phone call. "The meeting was scheduled for 15 minutes and then lasted over an hour. We immediately hit it off," said Logan. The original idea of a duet for the twentieth anniversary of LORDI's ESC victory was quickly discarded in favor of a song swap. "When I heard LORDI's demo of their winning song tailored to me, I knew right away that I wanted to do it."

LORDI leader Mr. Lordi stated: "We really wanted to do something special to celebrate LORDI's twentieth anniversary of Eurovision victory as well as the seventieth anniversary of the whole Eurovision itself. So the outcome are the two Eurovision winning songs as new arrangements, and jumping bravely into other genres while doing so. I rearranged, and also recomposed, 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' in the style of what I thought would fit Johnny Logan."

LORDI invited Noora Louhimo to join "Hold Me Now". "I knew we needed some extra kick to the song," said Mr. Lordi. "Well, that extra kick is 'The Motherbeast' with her mind-blowing voice that lifts this version to a completely new height."

Louhimo said: "I am so excited about our collaboration and this new friendship we have created with LORDI in the past few months. In this project I get to fulfill many of my dreams — working with LORDI, working with the legend Johnny Logan, singing a Eurovision winner song, and singing in heavy metal style. I love ESC, I love our version and I'm so happy this will be my first release continuing my career as a full-time solo artist."

This year, due to the ESC boycott supported by Ireland, Johnny Logan could not appear at the Eurovision Song Contest. "I would have loved to present the project live as well, but under the current circumstances that's not possible," Logan explained. LORDI, on the other hand, was on stage at this year's competition.

"I'm very happy for LORDI that they are taking part in this special year concerning their anniversary," Logan said, delighted for the Finnish hard rockers.

Logan, who made music history with "What's Another Year" (1980),"Hold Me Now" (1987) and "Why Me" (1992),recorded his vocals in Copenhagen.

"'Hard Rock Hallelujah' had incredible energy from the very first moment," said the singer. He was also impressed by the reinterpretation of his own classic: "LORDI and Noora Louhimo have completely made 'Hold Me Now' their own."

Noora Louhimo is a Finnish award-winning singer best known for her big raspy powerful voice and striking stage outfits as the former lead vocalist of the metal band BATTLE BEAST, and for the character "Motherbeast" she created during her 13 years with the band. She departed the band in December 2025 to pursue her career as a solo artist. Since then her career has taken off with arena shows, touring around Finland, and performing on primetime TV shows.

Louhimo is a powerful, unapologetic artist making her music in different styles, using fashion as her armor and her voice to empower and entertain people. She is currently working on her second solo album, set for release in 2027, with a tour to follow celebrating both the album and her twentieth anniversary as an artist.

LORDI, whose ESC victory in 2006 brought Finland its first win in the competition and took "Hard Rock Hallelujah" into charts across Europe, took over the creative direction.

"The driving force behind the project is clearly [Mr.] Lordi — his idea, his production, his vision," Logan emphasized. The collaboration developed into a personal connection. "We share the same dark humour and the same passion for music. This project was simply a unique pleasure."

Mr. Lordi added: "I know I am speaking on behalf of our whole band when I say that we're both humbled and proud of having both of these iconic voices of their respective genres collaborate with us. Having Logan and Louhimo joining LORDI on this little anniversary celebration is truly an honor for us."

Following their electrifying and intimate underplay performance at New York City's legendary Bowery Ballroom earlier this week, Grammy Award-winning rock band GRETA VAN FLEET officially returns today with an explosive new single and music video, "Play Your Games" — the first taste of what signals a powerful new age for the band.

Recorded and co-produced in Tennessee by the band alongside acclaimed producer Mike Elizondo (Fiona Apple, TURNSTILE, Sheryl Crow),"Play Your Games" captures GRETA VAN FLEET at their most raw, irreverent and instinctive. Inspired by one of their oldest demos from the band's revisited archives, the track channels the spirit of their earliest days — loud, fearless and untamed.

Written by the band, "Play Your Games" leads the charge with swagger, chaos and sharp-edged charm, feeling like a nod to the band's formative years performing in small clubs in their hometown of Frankenmuth, Michigan. Guitarist Jake Kiszka explains. "It's this beautiful nature of seizing a moment."

Accompanied by an official music video produced and directed by Moonbase, the visual further expands the band's evolving world, marking GRETA VAN FLEET's first new music since stepping away from the limelight, offering fans an exciting glimpse into where they are headed next.

The release arrives just days after the band stunned fans and critics with a sweat-drenched, sold-out underplay show at Bowery Ballroom, reigniting anticipation around their return and reminding audiences why GRETA VAN FLEET remain one of rock music's most compelling live forces. Vocalist Josh Kiszka shares, "to take the stage again and share new music feels profoundly emotional and exciting. To see people singing and celebrating in this moment is a reminder of the power of music, and there's so much more to come."

Prior to the Bowery Ballroom concert, GRETA VAN FLEET — brothers Josh (vocals),Jake (guitar) and Sam Kiszka (bass, keyboards) and Daniel Wagner (drums) — hadn't played a live show since September 2024. In the meantime, Sam Kiszka and Danny Wagner played on "The Dreamin' Kind", the 2026 album from Pennsylvania singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim. Jake Kiszka appeared in last year's Bruce Springsteen biopic "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere" as a guitarist in a band in a New Jersey club. Meanwhile MIRADOR, the band founded by Jake Kiszka and Chris Turpin from IDA MAE, recently released a new EP, "The Gathering At Badon Hill".

GRETA VAN FLEET's most recent album was 2023's "Starcatcher".

Since emerging from Michigan and exploding on to the global stage, GRETA VAN FLEET have become one of the defining rock bands of their generation: a group equally embraced by lifelong rock purists and a younger audience rediscovering the power, freedom, and spectacle of the genre. Their ascent has been marked by platinum-selling records, Grammy wins, huge international arena and stadium tours, and a reputation for delivering live performances with the kind of musicianship and emotional release that plays into the history books and cultural mythology of the legendary bands before them.

In an era increasingly dominated by algorithms and disposable culture, GRETA VAN FLEET continue to stand apart as a band committed to the timeless ideals, transcendence, theatricality, musicianship, rebellion, and human connection that comes hand in hand with rock and roll.

Photo credit: Lewis Evans