In a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Swedish drummer Mikkey Dee reflected on his 25-year run as a member of MOTÖRHEAD, which ended in 2015 with the death of the band's iconic frontman Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, it was great. We were such a team, very unique team and family, I have to say. Now all three of [the guys that were in MOTÖRHEAD when I first joined the band] are gone, Würzel [guitarist Michael Burston], [bassist/vocalist] Lemmyand [guitarist] Phil [Campbell]. It's unbelievable, when I'm thinking back how much fun we had. And then when Würzel left, I was very sad, and Lemmy [was] too. That was Lemmy's best buddy, but he just wasn't up for it anymore, so that was a big loss. But then again, we recovered and did amazing as a three-piece for most of the time there, and now they're all gone. It's fucking weird. Really weird."

After Meltdown noted that Lemmy had a reputation for sticking to his guns and not doing things that he didn't feel right about, Mikkey concurred. "Exactly," he said. "And as frustrating as that was sometimes, because he did not know everything best… We were a total democracy in this band. We voted him down many times, me and Phil. I was maybe a little bit more involved with the business as well. We all made decisions — that's not where I'm trying to get at — but I'm actually interested in numbers and the business side of it, and they were just, like, more, 'Oh, what the hell. You deal with it,' kind of. And then when it came to making decisions, of course we all sat down and did that. But because I was more involved with the business side, or more interested in it, I knew a lot more about certain things than maybe both of them together. Certain things that I really thought we had to do because it was good for us, and if Lemmy just was in that mood where he didn't wanna do it, either me and Phil had to vote him down — I mean, two against one, basically, and he didn't like that, of course — or I had to just give up because he made a point sometimes that, 'What's the point, Mikkey?' And he made me look in a different angle about it. And he was right a lot of times about this, not compromising the band or selling out. And I learned a lot from him there. We were so good together because me and Phil might be a little bit too modern sometimes for MOTÖRHEAD. And Lemmy was sometime too old-fashioned. So, he'd come with some stuff and, and me and Phil said, 'Look, we're not gonna write another Buddy Holly record,' 'cause he loved rock and roll. And he came to us and said, 'What the fuck have you guys been writing here? We're not RUSH.' 'Yeah, you're right, Lemmy. Maybe it's a little too much for MOTÖRHEAD.' So we met in the middle, and it was perfect."

Dee went on to say that Lemmy never took himself seriously as a rock legend. "He really didn't care much about this rock star thing at all," Mikkey explained. "Over all these years, and as many [musicians] as I met, he was the least rock star. And that made him so unique. I could see on his face sometimes, that he did enjoy the fact that we were gaining something maybe because of status, if you will. But he was always for the little guy. I mean, he stood up for us all the time because, obviously, a lot of times it was just, 'Oh, we want Lemmy for this TV thing or interview,' and he said, 'No, if the band isn't here, I ain't doing it.' And I remember he stood up for me when I joined the band, finally joined the band, a lot because there was a lot of hardcore MOTÖRHEAD fans, especially in U.K., they were, like, 'Who's this? Who's this guy? Is he from POISON or WARRANT or some hair band?' And they didn't know me from KING DIAMOND, obviously, and Lemmy just reamed them a new asshole, basically. 'You never seen this fucking guy play?' And later on, they accepted me immediately. He stood up for me all the time. And the first thing he said is that, 'In MOTÖRHEAD, all of us gotta be front persons. It's not me in the front; it's all of us.' So he always pushed us from behind, like, we have to step forward, we have to be front people on stage and equally on each way, and that is very, very unique — trust me — in this world, in this business because the more you can throw the drummer and the bass player offstage, the better singers and guitar players think it is. And I never accepted that. I take my space or I'm not playing with whatever band I played with. I am a front person on my drum kit."

Asked why he thinks the final lineup of MOTÖRHEAD lasted as long as it did, Mikkey said: "Well, I would've been there now if Lemmy was still alive, if we were still playing. I would never, ever quit a band like MOTÖRHEAD, because we had it all. We had the music... Oh, let's start with the friendship and the family. I'm never gonna get that ever again, I don't think, in that way. And we handpicked people — the whole crew and everyone around us were carefully handpicked over all these years. So each position of whatever people did was handpicked and perfect, fit in perfect with this band. So it was such a pleasure being on tour. And then we had the music, and we had everything. So I would never quit a band like MOTÖRHEAD."

Lemmy died on December 28, 2015 at the age of 70 shortly after learning he had been diagnosed with cancer.

Würzel died in 2011 at the age of 61 after a struggle with heart disease. Würzel was a member of MOTÖRHEAD between 1984 and 1996, and performed on seven of the group's albums including "Orgasmatron", "1916" and "March Ör Die".

Campbell died in March 2026 at the age of 64. In a statement on social media, Phil's family said he had died after a "long and courageous battle in intensive care following a complex major operation".

Campbell was a member of MOTÖRHEAD from 1984 through 2015, and for the last 20 years of the band's existence was its sole guitarist, appearing on classic releases such as "Orgasmatron", "1916" and "Bastards", among others.

MOTÖRHEAD had to cancel a number of shows in 2015 because of Lemmy's poor health, although the band did manage to complete the aforementioned European tour a couple of weeks before his death.

In June 2020, it was announced that Lemmy would get the biopic treatment. The upcoming film, "Lemmy", will be directed by Greg Olliver, who previously helmed the 2010 documentary of the same name, "Lemmy".

A custom-made urn containing Lemmy's ashes is on permanent display in a columbarium at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Back in May 2021, Dee told the "Waste Some Time With Jason Green" video podcast that Lemmy refused to quit touring in the weeks leading up to his death, even when his health was clearly deteriorating.

"We played the last show the 11th of December [of 2015] in Berlin, and he passed just [two] weeks later," Mikkey recalled. "And that tells you, the guy died with his boots on. And both me and Phil [Campbell, MOTÖRHEAD guitarist] were trying to talk him out of starting the second part of the European tour after Christmas. But there was no way in hell we could do that. And I said to Phil, 'Look, instead of arguing with Lemmy or pushing him not to do this,' because we said maybe we should break for a couple of months for him to catch his wind, basically. I said, 'Let's not push him anyway. Let him decide what he wants to do. He knows best what he wants to do.' And he wanted to be on stage. So we said, 'Let's just support him instead,' and that's what we did. But we never made it to the second leg of that European tour, unfortunately. It was the U.K. that was on the next part of it, I remember that."

Asked if he knew when he came home to Sweden that it would probably be the end for Lemmy, Mikkey said: "No. Not at all. Because I talked to Lemmy after that show in Berlin. We were all gonna go separate ways, obviously. I was gonna just fly out to Sweden, and Phil went back home to Wales. Lemmy was flying back to L.A., but I believe he was gonna fly to London and stay one night or two or so and say hi to friends and then fly back home. And I spoke to him right after the show. I went down to Lemmy's dressing room, and I said, 'All right. Go back to L.A. and figure out, maybe, another two songs from [MOTÖRHEAD's final album] 'Bad Magic' that you think that we should do. And we take out the two songs that we already played on this leg, and we put in two new songs from the record.' And he said, 'Yeah. All right. I'll check that out.' And I said, 'Let's hook up after Christmas.' Because it was the 11th of December at that time, and I figured we'd talk between Christmas and New Year's Eve and decide which two songs that we agreed on on playing on that next leg. And he said, 'Yeah, I'll go back and work on that.' And that was it. He had no intention of not coming back to Europe and touring. So we did a little finger hook, as we always did, and that was the last time I saw him, actually. Very sad."

Dee went on to say that Lemmy had made some changes in his life to improve his health after dealing with several issues over the last few years of his life, including heart trouble. "But my personal belief is that it was maybe a little too late," he said. "He should have maybe changed a little earlier. But knowing Lemmy, he was not for that. He was doing it his way or the highway, basically. And that made him to what he was. He never compromised with his music, he never compromised with friendship, he never compromised with what way he was gonna go for anyone else in that way, which is why MOTÖRHEAD was MOTÖRHEAD, and still is MOTÖRHEAD. But with that said, of course, the three of us were talking a lot about stuff, and it was not like he was some kind of a boss here. But we all worked so good together, and that's what created the magic, I would say."

In a new interview with Nik Nocturnal, vocalist Oli Sykes of British rockers BRING ME THE HORIZON spoke about the band's decision to release a 20th-anniversary re-recording of their debut album, "Count Your Blessings". Due on July 10, "Count Your Blessings | Repented" is described by the band as a "reactivation" and "recontextualization" of the 2006 LP, which included such singles as "Pray For Plagues", "Slow Dance" and "A Lot Like Vegas".

Oli said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think a lot of people think that we hate that record or are embarrassed about it, 'cause we don't play it and stuff, but really we were just always disappointed with how it sounded. I remember we weren't stoked on it at all when we came out of the studio. It was a small band. We didn't have much budget. We wanted to go with, like, Adam D [Dutkiewicz] or someone that could help us make this record cool. We ended up going with some guy. The only thing he'd done is — no disrespect to him; I'm sure he's a good producer in his own field, but he'd done SIMPLY RED. That was his previous credit. So SIMPLY RED to BRING ME deathcore album is just, like, 'All right.' And we had no idea what we were doing. We didn't know anything about click tracks, about panning guitars left and right. We had no idea about anything. It was our first time. And he didn't really either, in terms of a metal band. I think I got ill halfway through it, so around about track five, it just starts to sound like I've been singing through a sock. We were getting drunk all the time. No one even sat in with each other when we were recording. So everyone just went in and did their parts. No one was going, 'Wait a minute, Matt, that's a bit out of time.' And you can hear that."

Oli continued: "I remember putting the CD on in the car, and I had this huge subwoofer in the back of the car. We used to listen to ALL SHALL PERISH 'Wage Slaves'. I remember it just sounded insane on that. So we'd always get in my car and listen to stuff, and it would just be, like, sick. I'd put 'Count Your Blessings' on, and I was, like, 'Oh, it just doesn't sound good.' I remember just driving home going, 'This does not sound good.' And I don't think I ever listened to it ever again, 'cause I was just so unhappy with it. And I think over the years and stuff, I obviously just never really revisited it."

Regarding why BRING ME THE HORIZON hired Swedish musician, producer and audio engineer Buster Odeholm to mix "Count Your Blessings | Repented", Oli said: "We just wanted to go with who's doing that today. But actually, we also realized no one's doing that music today. So even Buster himself, I wouldn't say he struggled, but the first mix was, like, his classic mix. And the the snare huge, the kick huge. The riffs kind of so much gain, you can hardly hear them. And it sounded sick. Don't get me wrong, it sounded cool. But we were, like, 'We can't have this record sounding like what bands sound like today. It needs to be the best version of what it sounded like in 2006.' So the kick has to be clickier, more triggered. The snare needs to be nice and pingy. It can be fat on the breakdowns. The riffs have to actually be clear. 'Cause the whole album's just riffs. There's more riffs than vocals. So you need to hear them riffs, 'cause if you're not hearing them, it's pointless."

Sykes went on to say that reimagining "Count Your Blessings" for its 20th anniversary and making it sound modern was a trickier prospect than he and his bandmates had originally expected.

"It's crazy 'cause there's no reference," Oli said. "There's barely any references. I know there's the revival going on right now, and there's some bands, but for the most part, those bands are kind of — not parodying, but they are going super cliché classic style; it's not like a modern reinvention. From what I've heard — I'm sure there's other bands out there. But I was just trying to find something that was a reference that exists like in 2025 or [202]6. I was, like, 'There's no one. This music, it's an archaic style.'"

Sykes and guitarist Lee Malia worked on "Count Your Blessings | Repented" with Odeholm, resulting in an effort that is "reborn, sharper, heavier, and more vital than ever," according to the band. The song "Liquor & Lost Love" also appears under its original working title "Dragon Slaying".

BRING ME THE HORIZON will perform "Count Your Blessings" in its entirety on July 10 at Manchester, United Kingdom's B.E.C. Arena as part of Outbreak festival.

Dubbed "Outbreak Presents: Count Your Blessings | Repented", the event — co-curated between Outbreak and BRING ME THE HORIZON — will also feature Leeds post-hardcore act STATIC DRESS, who recently appeared on BRING ME THE HORIZON's "Post Human: Nex Gen" arena tour, Sheffield mathcore veterans ROLO TOMASSI, Portland metalcore five-piece DYING WISH, British metallers HERIOT, L.A. emo band CAR UNDERWATER (on their first U.K. trip),and hardcore supergroup STILL IN LOVE. The concert will "reactivate" the album rather than simply look back at it, and has been structured to feel like "a defining moment for a generation of fans — both those who were there at the beginning and those discovering it now."

"Possibly the most requested and mythologised single show of the last decade," the organizers say, the event offers "a chance to look back at [the band's] enduring influence on heavy music as the deathcore of 'Count Your Blessings' inspires an exciting new wave."

One of the world's most influential modern rock acts, BRING ME THE HORIZON has sold over 6.6 million albums worldwide and amassed more than 9.4 billion global streams.

BRING ME THE HORIZON's "L.I.V.E. In São Paulo (Live Immersive Virtual Experiment)" concert film was screened in theaters in late March. Filmed live at São Paulo, Brazil's Allianz Parque Stadium in late 2024, it captured BRING ME THE HORIZON as the band was traveling the world in support of that year's "Post Human: Nex Gen" LP. This was their biggest headline show to date. "L.I.V.E. In São Paulo" arrived on LP and CD on April 10.

Count Your Blessings | Repented

full album re-record. coming 10th july 2026

UK, pre-order before 3pm bst tomorrow for...

Posted by BRING ME THE HORIZON on Monday, April 13, 2026

Outbreak Fest Presents: Count Your Blessings | Repented

played in full, for the first time ever [manchester 10th july...

Posted by BRING ME THE HORIZON on Monday, April 13, 2026

ANTHRAX recruited acclaimed U.K.-based session drummer Darby Todd to sit behind the kit for the band's concert Saturday night (May 23) at the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (OAKA) in Athens, Greece as the support act for IRON MAIDEN. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

Longtime ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante was apparently unable to make the Athens gig due to his touring commitments with PANTERA, which is scheduled to play a show in Frankfurt, Germany on Sunday, May 24 as the support act for METALLICA.

In addition to touring the world with Devin Townsend, Darby has played with THE DARKNESS, Martin Barre, Alan Price, Gary Moore, Kee Marcello (EUROPE),Joe Lynn Turner (RAINBOW),Carl Verheyen, Robert Plant, Robben Ford, Paul Gilbert and many others. Darby is as comfortable playing jazz in a small jazz club as he is playing rock in an arena.

When not touring, Darby can found in his London-based studio remote recording for artists and bands around the world as well as doing a limited amount of teaching. He holds both U.K. and USA passports, which makes working in America simple.

ANTHRAX will release its long-awaited twelfth full-length studio album, "Cursum Perficio", 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.

Benante joined ANTHRAX in 1983, prior to the recording of the band's debut album, "Fistful Of Metal", and has been the band's drummer ever since. He is known for having a very fast double-kick technique and his work with the 1980s hardcore/metal project STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH (S.O.D.) is credited with having set the template for extreme metal and hardcore blast beats. He is also an accomplished guitarist, having written the majority of the music for ANTHRAX. Along with his musician duties, Benante is a graphic artist and has created many of ANTHRAX's album covers and T-shirt designs.

Dirty rock n' roll is alive and kicking, and BLACKLIST UNION has lit the fuse by releasing its blistering new version of "Jackson",, the iconic duet popularized by Johnny Cash and June Carter, featuring none other than rock icon Lorraine Lewis of FEMME FATALE. The track is already being hailed as a full-throttle "barn burner" destined to set radio stations ablaze worldwide. The official music video for the track, directed by Paul Crosby (formerly of SALIVA) and produced by Chris Johnson, known for his work with EVANESCENCE, Hans Zimmer and more, can be seen below.

On May 21 in Hollywood, BLACKLIST UNION stormed the stage at The Viper Room for "Tommy London Presents The $5 Rock Show", delivering one of Hollywood's wildest rock events of the year. The stacked lineup included BLACKLIST UNION, TEN TON MOJO, Chad Stewart's PARTY NINJAS, HONOR AMONG THIEVES and MURSIC. And in a moment fans won't forget, Lewis joined Tony West and BLACKLIST UNION live onstage for a scorching performance of "Jackson". Joining West for the night were Dee Hayes (rhythm guitar),Jimi Zolo (lead guitar),Nick Mason (drums),Cordell Crockett (bass) and Jacob Cohan (keyboards). The event also served as the official launchpad for BLACKLIST UNION's upcoming European tour this September as direct support for FASTER PUSSYCAT — a collision of legendary Hollywood sleaze and a dangerous new generation of dirty rock energy.

Tony West says: "Everything that is happening right now is like walking through the keyhole to my biggest dreams. I'm here to bring the wow factor and the fire to the firefight… so let's rock this shit."

Lewis adds: "Working with Tony has been icing on the cake for me. Having newly signed with Cleopatra Records, FEMME FATALE is slated to release our full album in August, produced by Steve Brown [of TRIXTER]. The timing couldn't be more perfect for the FASTER PUSSYCAT/BLACKLIST UNION tour.

"On tour I'll be kicking off the night with my own brand of rock n' roll," adds Lorraine, "but I'm honored and grateful to share the stage with these killer frontmen — Taime Downe and Tony West. FASTER PUSSYCAT is such a legit and iconic Hollywood band, and BLACKLIST UNION is a new breed of dirty Hollywood. Both bands have killer songs and hooks, and to be included with these bad boys… I'm over the moon."

With FEMME FATALE's upcoming Cleopatra Records release produced by Steve Brown — known for his work with TRIXTER and Ace Frehley — and BLACKLIST UNION gearing up for a massive European run, all signs point to a breakout moment for both camps.

Tony West formed BLACKLIST UNION because he wanted to play music that he wanted to hear. They put out the first BLACKLIST UNION record, "After The Mourning", in 2006. The band's name comes from getting the best musicians in town with the worst reputations. With a shamanistic blend of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, GUNS N' ROSES, WARRIOR SOUL, THE CULT and MOTHER LOVE BONE... BLACKLIST UNION was born.

BLACKLIST UNION has built a reputation on their explosive live shows and unapologetically bold sound. Their previous record, "Letters From The Psych Ward", racked up over two million streams, setting the stage for the band's new album. The band's latest release was "Slay The Dragon" that came out in September 2025.

Frontman Tony West, known for his larger-than-life presence, took time out to dive deep into several transformative ayahuasca journeys in the heart of the Amazon, preparing for this next era of music.

As West put it, "Ayahuasca isn't a drug — it's powerful spiritual medicine from another realm. It helped me heal in ways I never thought possible, releasing layers of trauma, heartache, and sorrow. I'm not perfect — not Gandhi or anything — but it changed everything. My entire view of myself, love, the world, people, and my children changed because of those experiences."

West was raised in the Bronx on THE RAMONES, BAD BRAINS and New York hardcore. Hearing the call of the wild west, he made his way to Los Angeles at 19 years old. West took a break from L.A. to try out Memphis in 1998. While he was there, he attended the first SALIVA gig with Paul Crosby on drums. This marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship between Crosby and West, leading to management, song collaborations, and guest video appearances. West collaborated with guitarist Todd Youth (MURPHY'S LAW, DANZIG) and MALFUNKSHUN, which was kept active by Andy Wood's brother Kevin Wood. Andy Wood is West's muse, and he was honored to sing in his hero's band.

Photo credit: @babysgotsauce (courtesy of SRO PR and O'Donnell Media Group)

DED — Joe Cotela (vocals); Alex Adamcik (guitar); Kyle Koelsch (bass); and Matt Reinhard (drums) — will release a deluxe version of its September 2025-released album "Resent" on July 3 via UNFD.

"Resent: Deluxe Edition" will feature previously unreleased tracks and demos, adding 11 new tracks to the original 12-track album and offering fans a deeper look into the creative sessions that ultimately shaped "Resent".

The band has shared the visualizer for "Weapon". Check it out below. The song is a crushing, high-energy opener that immediately re-establishes the band's signature, groove-centric sound while setting the tone for the expanded release. Lyrically, "Weapon" captures that cathartic spirit head-on: "Let it all out right now / Here in the sound / There is no gravity, there is no ground / Fly / Use the music as a weapon."

Blending aggression, atmosphere, and emotional urgency, "Weapon" is both a mission statement for the deluxe edition and a reminder of the connection DED continues to build between chaos, vulnerability, and release — and with their fans.

"This is a straight-up quintessential DED track, encompassing all of the things the band is known for sonically," offers Cotela. "Thematically, it's about how truly powerful music can be. It has the strength and capability to carry us through the trials and tribulations of life — through self-empowerment, reinforcement, or even escapism. Music can raise awareness, unify people, and serve as the safest place for both the artist and the listener to exist freely beyond the constraints of being in a body."

As for the deluxe edition as a whole, the first five songs are fully realized B-sides that could have easily earned their place on the original release. Produced by the band over the last three years, the tracks were finally mixed and mastered by bassist Kyle Koelsch at the band's own creative headquarters, Trash Island Studios in Phoenix.

As the track listing unfolds, the deluxe edition dives further into DED's vault — showcasing raw demos, experimental ideas, and stylistic departures that reveal a broader spectrum of the band's creative identity. Some tracks lean heavily into unexpected influences, others remain stripped-down and unpolished by design, while a few push into completely uncharted territory for the band altogether.

More than just a collection of extras, "Resent: Deluxe Edition" serves as a look behind the curtain — an honest snapshot of the risks, moods, and sonic possibilities explored throughout the making of the record.

"Resent: Deluxe Edition" track listing:

01. Wasted
02. You Want Honest? (feat. Chad Gray)
03. Purpose: Be Myself
04. Rockstar
05. Eraser
06. Never Belong
07. Dig Deep
08. Fuck With It
09. Point Of No Return
10. Rise Above It All (feat. UPON A BURNING BODY)
11. Fight Forever (2 Rot)
12. Until I Die (feat. Chris Motionless)
13. Weapon *
14. Denouncer *
15. Set The World On Fire *
16. Windbreaker *
17. I'm Here To Stay *
18. Become The Villain (Demo)*
19. Get Ready Stay Ready (Demo)*
20. Phantom Limb (Demo)*
21. Missed The Point (Demo)*
22. Colors (Demo)*
23. Wave And Watch (Demo)*

* Deluxe-edition tracks

DED will hit the road this July on a headline tour with support from DROPOUT KINGS and VRSTY.

Having burst on to the scene with their debut "Mis-An-Thrope" and its follow-up, "School Of Thought", Phoenix band DED takes no prisoners. The band embodies elements of nü metal, hardcore, punk, and rock with pop sensibilities, hooks, and choruses, cloaked in some of the most dense and guttural sounds you'll hear. DED's unexpectedly soulful music is about bringing hope, relief and self-awareness, often speaking to and about the young generations that are contending with many deeply embedded issues in today's society. Rather than the nihilistic, anarchical hellraisers DED might seem to be upon first glance, they're actually mythical heroes desperately trying to save society, not take it down. Joe Cotela (vocals),Alex Adamcik (guitar),Kyle Koelsch (bass),and Matt Reinhard (drums) are building a community by offering comfort in times of despair. With "Mis-An-Thrope", DED took the rock world by storm, generating over 25 million streams making several Billboard chart appearances including No. 1 on the Alternative New Artist chart and No. 3 on the Top New Artist Albums chart. Singles "Anti-Everything" and "Remember The Enemy" reached Top 20 at Active Rock Radio with SiriusXM's Octane naming DED "Artist Discovery Of The Year" and "Anti-Everything" landing in the station's Top 10 for 2017. The band were also nominated by Loudwire for "Best New Artist". "Anti-Everything" also made impressive strides at servicing appearing on Spotify's U.S. Viral 50 twice and various playlists across Apple Music, Amazon and Pandora. The band also toured with KORN and STONE SOUR.

They followed with "School Of Thought". Touring-wise, DED lit up festival stages including Aftershock, Louder Than Life, Rocklahoma, Carolina Rebellion, Rock On The Range and ShipRocked and have toured with IN THIS MOMENT, BLACK VEIL BRIDES, and more. They also enjoyed their highest-charting radio hit with "Kill Beautiful Things", which was Top 15 and the second longest-running song on the airplay charts in 2022, with four million stream and 1.7 million YouTube views.

Ultimately, DED blaze their own trail as they cathartically stare down various beasts — both existential and innate — proving that there's a way to live through the struggle and come out stronger, happier, and more aware of how we look after ourselves and each other. The band is now signed with UNFD, and "Resent", their first release for the label, is out now.

BEARTOOTH vocalist Caleb Shomo has publicly come out as gay following recent online speculation surrounding his personal life.

Shomo's announcement comes after the singer temporarily stepped away from social media amid backlash and homophobic comments related to his appearance in the music video that accompanied BEARTOOTH's recent "Free" single.

In a statement shared on social media earlier today (Saturday, May 23),Shomo wrote: "There's been a lot of speculation surrounding my personal life as of late and I feel compelled to set the record straight before it affects those I love any further.

"I am a proudly gay man.

"This is something I've been unpacking and reckoning with in my life for quite some time now. It's been difficult to navigate the feelings surrounding the subject and figure out what to do with this fact.

"When it comes to my art / BEARTOOTH, I have always strived to chase who I am in the deepest part of my soul from album to album. As you could gather if you've followed the band at all in the earlier years, there are 4 very self deprecating albums about exploring my religious upbringing, depression, self hatred, self loathing, and hopelessness. I am grateful for all these albums, yet feel embarrassed at times that I wouldn't allow myself to really dig up the roots for so long.

"I spent a decade burying feelings with alcohol, and honestly when I decided to put it down and focus on exploring why I felt this way for so long, it's been a direct path to me reconciling with my sexuality in hopes that it will eventually lead to me experiencing self love. One thing I decided before I wrote a single note of the upcoming album is that whatever happens, I will express myself whole heartedly and fully. Wherever it takes me I will follow and I refuse to water any part of it down, from the music, to the lyrical content, and way I portray myself. I will only do what makes me happy at the deepest level and what is the most honest depiction of who I am. I believe it's impossible to love every part of you when you won't face every part of you head on. I am trying to finally be proud of who I am and I think this is a massive part of that journey.

"To those who have shown me love, empowerment through living life freely and openly in my presence, supporting the queer community, or simply telling me you love me whoever I am, I am forever in your debt and I hope you know what you mean to me.

"I encourage anyone who's struggling with who they are to give yourself grace. Give yourself patience. Be honest with yourself. Do the hard work instead of burying it down as deep as you physically can thinking it will change like I did. Holding these things in only hurt you and those around you.

"Love you all, and hopefully this is a step in the right direction to loving myself one day."

BEARTOOTH's sixth album, "Pure Ecstasy", will arrive on August 28 through Fearless Records.

In 2013, Shomo locked himself in a basement studio in Ohio — screaming and singing, playing every instrument, self-producing a batch of furious but melodic songs with no intention of returning to the heavy music world that had burned him as a teen. What came out was BEARTOOTH: both bomb and balm, an outright refusal to suffer in silence, weaponizing radio-ready bombast and raw emotion against noise-rock chaos.

Over the course of six studio albums, BEARTOOTH has since "developed into a unique and dynamic beast" (Rolling Stone) with Forbes calling them a band "inching towards a tipping point of becoming the latest arena headliner." The catalog is anchored by intensity, honesty, and connection and they have topped the Rock and Alternative charts and landed on several Best Rock/Metal Albums of the Year lists. 2023's "The Surface" went further still, debuting at No. 1 on Billboard's Hard Rock Albums chart and delivering back-to-back No. 1 singles at Active Rock and Mainstream Rock radio.

In a new interview with LifeMinute editor-in-chief Joann Butler, guitarist Kim Thayil discussed the album he and the other surviving members of SOUNDGARDEN are working on featuring previously unreleased recordings they made with late frontman Chris Cornell before his 2017 death. Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd are collaborating with producer Terry Date, who previously helmed SOUNDGARDEN's "Louder Than Love" (1989) and "Badmotorfinger" (1991) LPs. Kim said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This material has been in existence for over 10 years in some cases, 14, 15 years. It was in various stages of writing, sharing, learning, recording. So what we need to do is finish that process, and most of the process, most of the writing had been complete. So it's mostly about recording. There were things that had been demoed by me, by Matt, by Chris, by Ben. But, again, demo. They're very rough. They're sketches. You start with a little pencil sketch, and you fill it in with whatever, chalks or oils or pastels. And that's what we have to do, is finish the sketches. And we're in that process. It is atypical in the way we approach it. There isn't a record label budgeting time and money, with a particular schedule. With everybody else's obligations, professionally or with family or whatever, we have to find the time and coordinate amongst ourselves to address the work. And it's being addressed."

He added: "It's very, very important to all of us. It's important for the legacy of SOUNDGARDEN. It's important for the legacy of Chris Cornell. It is doing right by our collective work. It is doing right by our partner and friend."

Asked about the possibility of performing again with Matt and Ben, Kim said:  "Well, we like playing together — Matt and Ben and I like playing together — and we know that if we want to enjoy the songs that we've played for decades, that that satisfaction of performing this material can only really happen with the three of us. It could only happen with the four of us. But since there's three of us remaining, then we know that that is that window of opportunity for us to share with each other material that we'd performed on and wrote on together."

Last November, Kim told Allison Hagendorf about working with Date again: "That's one of the cool things about Terry, is he never imposed his production style or sound on any bands. He would learn from the bands. And one of the things he would assert when he took a job was, 'I want this to be a co-production thing.' And it's, like, 'Well, that fits just perfect with the kind of band we are.' There are a lot of producers out there who have a particular style — for instance, you think about Phil Spector and the 'wall of sound'. It's, like, okay, well, that's his thing. But producers had that kind of role in the '60s and, to some degree, the '70s, but with the way bands are post-1977, they have a sense of what they're writing and what they wanna sound like, and the producers should simply facilitate that. And Terry's that guy. I mean, you listen to records he's done, and it's very different from certainly what he's done with us. There isn't a signature Terry Date thing. It is him helping the band be the band."

Asked by Hagendorf about his previous comment that some SOUNDGARDEN fans might even be surprised to hear that the songwriting was going in a little bit of a different direction from the group's previous efforts, Matt said: "There's very familiar elements in some of this new music, but, yeah, there was a couple songs that felt like it was kind of a new chapter or it could have been a new chapter. So it's really exciting to hear that. It's bittersweet, of course."

He continued: "But, yeah, I'm really excited for people to hear it, have our fans hear it. It's fun for us to be working on it. And sometimes listening to it, it's overpowering. But, yeah, I'm super proud of the music that we did put together. And we're pretty close [to finishing it]. And, yeah, it is nice having Terry on board with us, for sure."

Ben went on to say that when he first heard the demos, he didn't realize how powerful they were until he started laying down his tracks.

"I was going to get coffee down the hall from the control room, and Nate and Terry were playing it back — Nate's our assistant engineer on it," Ben recalled. "It was, like, 'Holy hell. That SOUNDGARDEN. It's so cool to hear it again.'"

Added Kim: "Yeah, it's like we had these various demos, and you had a particular quality. And it was, like, 'Okay, how do we flesh this out?' And then we start doing it, and it's, like, 'This sounds different.' It's almost like you can pinpoint before and after. It's, like, 'Now it's SOUNDGARDEN.'"

Earlier in November 2025, SOUNDGARDEN joined the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame class of 2025 in the Performer category. The Seattle grunge legends were first nominated for the Rock Hall in 2020, and were on the ballot again in 2023 before finally being chosen for induction last year.

Thayil, Cameron, Cornell and Shepherd were included in the induction, as was original bassist Hiro Yamamoto, who was with SOUNDGARDEN from 1984 to 1989 and played on the band's first two EPs and first two albums.

SOUNDGARDEN's three surviving members performed during the event, alongside guest vocalists Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlile in place of Cornell. The set also featured appearances by PEARL JAM's Mike McCready and ALICE IN CHAINS' Jerry Cantrell.

Last October, Cameron told The Seattle Times about the status of the recordings made before Cornell's death: "It's a massive emotional roller coaster. A lot of highs, a lot of lows. The highs are based on the fact that the music is seeing its light of day, it's coming to life. Some of it feels like it could have been a new chapter in songwriting for the group, so that's super bittersweet. But it's been challenging to work on some of this music, soloing up Chris's vocals and hearing that beautiful voice come through the speakers all on its own."

Referencing the years-long legal dispute with Vicky Cornell, the widow and personal representative of Chris's estate, over the release of the singer's final recordings, Thayil added: "The delay in the process was damaging in some ways to the emotive nature of the experience. Certainly, it's great that we're doing it now. I'm wondering — because you can't help but wonder — how that emotive and creative journey might have been undertaken six, seven, eight years ago. You will never know that, and there's something unfortunate (and) damaging about that. But there's something also beneficial about that because we're doing it now, and it's beautiful. It's a way to post tribute to our beloved brother. All of it just has that much more weight emotionally and creatively, and we don't take that lightly."

Asked if the surviving SOUNDGARDEN members could perform the new songs live one day, Cameron said: "We haven't really gotten there yet. We're just trying to get the music together. But I think there might be some situations where it would be really cool to do that. It's just a matter of getting the right people together, and we've got some amazing people that we've been working with, some singers that have expressed interest. So, we're really, really excited about what that could potentially look like."

In September 2025, Cameron was asked by Lyndsey Parker of Gold Derby and Lyndsanity! with Lyndsey Parker when the upcoming SOUNDGARDEN album was written and recorded with Chris. Matt said: "Well, gosh, we started songwriting together, trading demos back and forth around 2015, '16, something like that. And then we had some sessions in 2017 before we went out on tour, just rough rehearsal. We recorded some rehearsals. But the vocals that we're using are from the demos that we all recorded together. And so we're just sort of building our tracks around those vocal parts. But yeah, it sounds killer, and we're really excited to finish it."

After Parker noted that it "must be emotional and bittersweet to hear" Cornell's voice and to hear those tracks a decade after they were originally laid down, Cameron concurred. "It really is," he said. "But I think we're trying to stay focused on the overall sound of it and all the reasons for us doing it. But, yeah, it's been tough to solo up that voice and hear him loud and clear. But I think the fans will like it and it's gonna be a really nice way to finish the creative chapter in SOUNDGARDEN."

Cameron also confirmed that one of the songs that will appear on SOUNDGARDEN's new album is a track that he co-wrote, called "The Road Less Traveled". He said: "I wrote this music that I didn't really know if it would fit for SOUNDGARDEN, but I just sent Chris all these musical ideas around 2016 or so, '16, '15. And that's one that he really liked. He made an arrangement from my demo and then he added vocals to it, and it came out really, really good. The lyrics are mesmerizing, as always. But, yeah, that's gonna be a really great one for people to hear. It has all the trademark elements that SOUNDGARDEN fans might be familiar with, as well as a little bit of new territory. And there's two or three other songs that do sound like the band, but I think we were able to sort of stretch out a little bit creatively, and hopefully when people hear that song, they'll notice that as well. But, yeah, I guess it's hard rock. It's sort of bluesy, sort of psychedelic, sort of folky, I guess all the things that we were known for. So, I hope people like that one when they finally do hear it."

In May 2025, Thayil told Rolling Stone that he was optimistic SOUNDGARDEN's final album would see the light of day. "Our objective and goal was always to complete that," he said. "I probably have OCD enough to not want to leave something unfinished or incomplete like that, so I think the more we can attend to our body of work and our catalog…I think everyone in the band feels that way. I don't just to attend to my work, but the collective work, and in this case specifically, the work of Chris."

Thayil continued: "I have pride for what I did and I want to see that come out. It doesn't exist in the vacuum. It exists as a collaboration with Matt and Ben and Chris, but it takes on an entirely different weight when you think about what it is you're honoring, and the work that you're paying tribute to. It is us collectively. We want to do it proud. And that part of us is certainly one of the most intimate components of what SOUNDGARDEN has been since 1984."

He added: "It would be a great gift to the fans. And I do think about this, and I don't know how strange this sounds, but I feel like it's a gift to Chris too."

Back in April 2023, SOUNDGARDEN and Vicky Cornell announced that they had reached "an amicable out-of-court resolution" regarding the release of recordings made before the singer's death.

The resolution came less than two years after SOUNDGARDEN and Vicky came to a temporary agreement that would transfer the SOUNDGARDEN social media accounts and web site to the band's remaining members, Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd and their managers, Red Light Management. This included SOUNDGARDEN's web site, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

In March 2021, Thayil, Cameron, Shepherd and their business manager Rit Venerus filed papers in Washington state U.S. District Court claiming that Vicky Cornell had locked them out of their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, YouTube, Snapchat, Tumblr, Top Spin and Pinterest accounts, as well as SOUNDGARDEN's official web site, and changing all the passwords.

Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd claimed their socials were previously managed by their then-management company Patriot Management. They said they later learned that Patriot had handed over all the login information to Vicky after Patriot was terminated in October 2019.

The band asked a judge to order Vicky Cornell to hand over the passwords or include a final posting stating, "SOUNDGARDEN has temporarily suspended its official social media accounts due to pending litigation."

Cornell was found hanged in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit hotel in May 2017, following a SOUNDGARDEN show at the city's Fox Theatre. His body was found soon after he had spoken with a "slurred" voice to his wife by phone. The death was ruled a suicide.

In December 2019, Vicky filed a lawsuit against the surviving SOUNDGARDEN members, alleging the group owed Cornell's estate hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid royalties and the rights to seven unreleased recordings made before the singer's death. Cornell is credited as a writer on all seven songs, receiving sole credit on two, "Cancer" and "Stone Age Mind". He wrote "Road Less Traveled", "Orphans" and "At Ophians Door" with Matt Cameron; "Ahead Of The Dog" with Kim Thayil; and "Merrmas" with Ben Shepherd.

At the time, Vicky claimed that Chris made seven recordings at his personal studio in Florida in 2017, adding that there was no explicit agreement as to whether the recordings were meant for SOUNDGARDEN, which made Chris the exclusive owner. However, the surviving SOUNDGARDEN members responded by saying that the unreleased recordings were the result of writing and recording sessions going as far back as 2015. They also pointed to public interviews with Chris and Thayil that suggested that SOUNDGARDEN had been working on the material since 2015, and detailed recording sessions up until April 2017, just one month before Chris's death. SOUNDGARDEN also included several text exchanges from Vicky, in which she referred to the unreleased recordings as the "SG files". They also provided a March 2017 e-mail from Vicky which said that Chris was travelling for the "SG record". The band went on to refute Vicky's claim that Chris's recordings took place in his personal studio in Florida in 2017, insisting that most of the actual sound files "significantly predate 2017" and that the recording sessions took place in Seattle and New York while the band was touring.

Responding to Vicky's lawsuit, Thayil, Shepherd and Cameron claimed that they "don't have possession" of their "own creative work," and alleged that "Vicky Cornell has possession of the only existing multi-track recordings of the last SOUNDGARDEN tracks that include Chris Cornell's instrumental parts and vocals. All of the band members jointly worked on these final tracks, Vicky now claims ownership of the final SOUNDGARDEN album."

Thayil, Shepherd and Cameron initially accused Vicky Cornell of misusing funds from the January 2019 "I Am The Highway: A Tribute To Chris Cornell" concert. After being challenged by Cornell's attorneys with the threat of sanctions, SOUNDGARDEN withdrew that portion of its countersuit, while its lawyers wrote at the time that the band believes the claims "remain well-founded."

In February 2021, Vicky Cornell sued the surviving members of SOUNDGARDEN over the buyout price for her stake in the band. In the lawsuit, Vicky Cornell said Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd offered her just $300,000 for Chris's share. This amount, she said, is far lower than the real value of the Chris Cornell estate's interests in SOUNDGARDEN, especially considering the fact that the band got an offer of $16 million from an outside investor for SOUNDGARDEN's masters.

Thayil will release a memoir, "A Screaming Life: Into The Superunknown With Soundgarden And Beyond", on June 9, 2026 via HarperCollins imprint William Morrow.

Acclaimed Eastern European emotional metalcore band DRAG ME OUT, led by Denis "Stoff" Shaforostov, the charismatic frontman and former singer for MAKE ME FAMOUS and ASKING ALEXANDRIA, has released a brand new single, "Can't Keep On Running Away", via Life Or Death.

DRAG ME OUT continues to carve its own lane with a sound that blends modern metalcore intensity, massive melodic hooks, and emotionally charged songwriting. "Can't Keep On Running Away" captures the band at their most urgent, balancing crushing guitars and soaring vocals with a chorus built for repeat listens.

"Can't Keep On Running Away" is the first new music from DRAG ME OUT since the release of the band's second album, "Demons Away", which came out in May 2022 via DRAG ME OUT's own label imprint Lödereih Music. The track explores the breaking point that comes when avoidance is no longer an option. It is a song about confronting the things that follow you, the emotions you try to bury, and the realization that eventually you have to face yourself.

With "Can't Keep On Running Away", DRAG ME OUT delivers a powerful reminder of why it remains one of the most compelling names in the modern heavy scene. The single feels both explosive and deeply personal, pairing arena-sized melodies with the raw energy that fans have come to expect from the band.

"Can't Keep On Running Away" is available now on all major streaming platforms.

Shaforostov, who has had to work on new music while navigating the turmoil of war within his home country of Ukraine, told Australia's Wall Of Sound about the decision to release "Can't Keep On Running Away": "I've been working on new music all along and really got too much music in my bag right now. It just felt like I couldn't wait for much longer. I've got hundreds of demos that I've put in the drawer 'cause I constantly felt like I wanted to give people something bigger than what I had at the time. I can easily trace evolution throughout the experiments in all of those. But the absolute best are definitely going to be released sooner than later."

‍He added about "Can't Keep On Running Away": "This is a standalone single and it doesn't make a real emphasis on what's coming next. It's more of a 'I kissed goodbye to the old era' track. I felt like every fan that connected with [ASKING ALEXANDRIA's] 'I Won't Give In' from 'The Black' era would say that this song was written for them. To me it radiates the same energy and the same vibe."

Denis recorded one album with ASKING ALEXANDRIA, "The Black", before exiting the band in October 2016. Then-ASKING ALEXANDRIA guitarist Ben Bruce said in a video message that Shaforostov had "just stopped talking to us."

He added: "When Denis first joined the band, people within the music industry and fans alike, they all told us these different things about Denis's past, and we got many warnings, and we said, that's his past — forgive and forget; we don't know any of that side of things. So we gave him the benefit of the doubt, and, you know, there's no smoke without fire, and I guess we found that out the hard way."

Shaforostov had not spoken out about his departure from ASKING ALEXANDRIA, although he did tweet at one point that he "left AA because I can't be in a touring band at this point in my life. There's no drama and I don't want to be a part of it."

Singer Danny Worsnop rejoined ASKING ALEXANDRIA in the fall of 2016.

Denis addressed his departure from ASKING ALEXANDRIA in the Wall Of Sound interview, saying: "I don't really feel like I had to go through separation necessarily. My fans are always showing me support no matter which era, album or a song they prefer. In the end of the day it's just music and people chose to stick with it disregarding whatever happened in the past.

"Some people are going to complain even a decade later, you can't really please and make everyone understand what really happened back in the day," he continued. "But it's been forever since then and all I am grateful for today is for my plot of people who keep me afloat. They're all my foundation off which I'm going to build further on."

Denis Stoff press photo courtesy of Life Or Death

British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN kicked off the 2026 leg of their "Run For Your Lives" world tour Saturday night (May 23) at the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (OAKA) in Athens, Greece.

Although most of the setlist has remained the same as the one for the 2025 leg of "Run For Your Lives", one notable change was made for the Athens concert: the addition of "Infinite Dreams", a song from MAIDEN's seventh studio album, "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son", marking the first time the track had been performed in concert since 1988 when it was played during MAIDEN's tour in support of the LP.

Before launching into the sixth song of MAIDEN's set, singer Bruce Dickinson addressed the crowd. He said: "We couldn't think of a better place in Europe to start this tour… We know a few of you have seen some of this show before. We thought we'd just do a little bit of something different, just for this next song, because it's a song that we have not played for many, many years. No, it's not 'Alexander The Great'. But it will be when you go to bed tonight — your 'Infinite Dreams'."

The setlist for the Athens concert was as follows:

01. Murders In The Rue Morgue
02. Wrathchild
03. Killers
04. Phantom Of The Opera
05. The Number Of The Beast
06. Infinite Dreams (first time since 1988)
07. Powerslave
08. 2 Minutes To Midnight
09. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
10. Run To The Hills
11. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
12. The Trooper
13. Hallowed Be Thy Name
14. Iron Maiden
15. Aces High
16. Fear Of The Dark
17. Wasted Years

OAKA is Greece's largest stadium venue, which has hosted major international music acts and sporting events over the years.

Support for MAIDEN's show in Athens came from American thrash metal pioneers ANTHRAX.

Last October, MAIDEN announced the North American dates of their critically acclaimed "Run For Your Lives" world tour. In celebration of their 50th anniversary, the band will be performing at stadiums and major amphitheaters across the United States and Canada, allowing fans the chance to witness the brand new, state-of-the-art production, on the scale it is intended for — huge stages in outdoor venues, to accompany the setlist of songs from the band's groundbreaking first nine albums. They will also headline America's rock festival Louder Than Life at the Highland Festival Grounds in Kentucky on September 17, 2026.

The shows will mark 45 years since IRON MAIDEN first visited Canada and the USA on the 1981 "Killer" world tour, according to a press release, and "feature some of the biggest shows the band has ever played there."

Ahead of the "Run For Your Lives" tour's kick-off in May 2025, MAIDEN shared a message with fans, urging them to "severely limit the use of their phone cameras out of respect for the band and their fellow fans". MAIDEN has since announced that it will continue this policy for the 2026 legs of the tour.

Since forming in 1975, IRON MAIDEN has released classic albums like "The Number Of The Beast", "Powerslave" and "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son".

MAIDEN's most recent LP, the band's seventeenth, "Senjutsu", came out in 2021.

In December 2024, IRON MAIDEN played the final show of its "The Future Past Tour" at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil. That run of concerts was the last for longtime drummer Nicko McBrain, who has since been replaced by Simon Dawson, a former session drummer and MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris's rhythm section partner of the past 14 years with BRITISH LION.

DEF LEPPARD has shared professionally filmed video of the band's cover of DEPECHE MODE's "Personal Jesus", filmed during the group's third Las Vegas residency, "Def Leppard Live At Caesars Palace: The Las Vegas Residency", which was held this past February. The 12-show run followed sold-out residencies in 2013 and 2019, marking the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees' first time at the 4,300-seat capacity The Colosseum.

DEF LEPPARD originally recorded a version of "Personal Jesus" in 2018 at Spotify's recording studio for the streaming service's "Spotify Singles" series.

In a recent interview with Riff X's "Metal XS", DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott spoke about the band's latest single, "Rejoice". The track was released in late January ahead of DEF LEPPARD's return to Las Vegas for their "Def Leppard: Live at Caesars Palace The Las Vegas Residency" that kicked off on February 3. "Rejoice" is available via UMe now on all streaming platforms. Joe said: "It's an opening song, for sure. Basically, it's the first song that we've released from our upcoming new album, which will be out early next year. But because we had the residency in Vegas, we just thought it was a great opportunity to introduce some new music to that particular show. It was gonna be really spectacular.

"Caesars Palace is a fantastic place to showcase a band like us," Joe continued. "There's something about doing a residency that opens your mind to the setlist. It's different to touring. So as well as bringing back songs like 'White Lightning', which we haven't played for 33 years, and changing the set around and just rearranging it and making it more theatrical, because you are in Vegas, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to open with 'Rejoice', because the great thing about the gig at Caesars Palace is the stage sinks down, so you can come up like a boy band. [Laughs] And so dry ice and all that lot. And the drum loop, we can extend it at the front of the song so it gets the crowd going. It's very tribal. So it was a brilliant spot to play a new song. And it's one of the greatest places to do a new song as the opening tune because everybody's so excited that you're coming on. It's really not that important what you're playing as long as it's not an acoustic ballad or something. So 'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)' would have worked fine, but 'Rejoice' worked better because it's a new song. So it's a psychological thing of we're still a current band. We're not just a legacy artist that's just playing a greatest-hits set. We wanted to change it up. And the song itself is a very uplifting song. I mean, when I said to Phil [Collen, DEF LEPPARD guitarist], 'Look, I've written this lyric that starts off with 'I'm bored with boredom. I'm sick of all this flack.' It's very much somebody that's in a bad place that wants to go somewhere better, hence the chorus being 'I wanna go higher.' And I said, 'We need something that's got a really cool drum loop and it's got to be mid-tempo. You got anything?' And he said, 'Yeah, as it happens, I do.' And he sent me the backing track, and I went, 'This is perfect.' And we worked it, and we wrote that song probably in half a day, because all the parts were there. He'd already written his bit, unbeknownst to me, and I'd written the lyrics, unbeknownst to him. And when we told each other we had a song — boom. It doesn't always work that quick. You get one song per album [where] that works, and then the others are hard work."

Regarding what fans can expect from DEF LEPPARD's upcoming LP, Joe said: "It's a very varied album. It's a very eclectic record. I think it's gonna surprise a lot of people. But if I told you too much about it, it wouldn't be that much of a surprise. But I will say this much: it's like the direction that DEF LEPPARD has gone in over the last 15 years or so musically, from the 'Def Leppard' album through 'Diamond Star Halos' and even reworking the 'Drastic Symphony' stuff. People shouldn't be too surprised that our music works in those environments. When you listen to 'Drastic Symphonies', things like 'Switch 625' end up sounding like a James Bond car chase, which is how we always should have sounded. Doing the piano version of 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'. If you can do a song in a different way to the way it's normally done, you've normally got a good song. We always say that if you can campfire a song, the song's good, no matter which way you're trying to record it. So we are writing songs tailored to that way of thinking. So there's big bombastic — I'm not gonna say ballads, but slower tunes that are very in the vein of QUEEN or Elton John, because there's a piano involved. And then there's other stuff that's... I think we've written the fastest song that we've ever recorded, and things in between. So some of it will sound like what you expect, because that's what we do. But some of it we've gone off a tangent and, 'Okay, yeah, this is gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun to see how people react to this because it's not like anything we've ever done before.' And that's the fun of doing this. We don't wanna make 'Pyromania 2'. We don't wanna make 'Hysteria 2'. We've done that. We wanna make something different but equally as interesting."

Earlier this month, Elliott told Marjorie Hache of France 24 about the lyrical inspiration for "Rejoice": "Well, the title kind of sums it up, really. I wanted to write a really uplifting, positive-message song, and I said to Phil, 'I got this great idea. I need it to be mid-tempo. I want it to have a big intro drum loop so we can actually walk on stage to this and expand it and make it longer live.' But the whole idea of the song is, it starts off — I mean, it's a great opening line, is, 'I'm bored of boredom. I'm sick of all this.' And, 'I wanna be in a better place.' So it gets to the climax, you go through the bridge, and you get to the chorus, it's, 'I wanna go higher.' So it's just very uplifting. It's a joyous, uplifting song."

Joe continued: "That's what we are — we're an escapism band. We're not here to preach. We're not here to tell you who to vote for. Other people can do that. We like to take you away from that and just come and have a good time. It's not meaningless — there is a message there, and the message is, we need to share this moment together and make it a positive one. And 'Rejoice' just about sums that all up."

Asked if the release of "Rejoice" means that there is a whole new DEF LEPPARD album on the way, Joe said: "Absolutely. We're actually recording it. As I speak, somewhere in the world, people are adding their bits to some new songs.

"We've developed a whole new method of recording, which was brought on by COVID," Elliott explained. "I've got a studio at home, and everybody has always gracefully come to my house to record. We'd do a month at a time, and then everybody goes home. But they couldn't travel. So we ended up recording remotely, and we found it to be exhilarating. Everybody got to be at home with their families, yet still make a record. And we trusted each other that we were writing songs. And so everybody just played on everybody else's bits, and it's easy to do. We don't all record in one room when we are in the same studio — we do it, the drums and the bass and the guitars and the vocals; it's all layered. So we've been recording while we were in Vegas [for the latest residency]. On days off, we had the drums set up in the basement of the theater, and Rick [Allen, DEF LEPPARD drummer] played loads of drums on his days off, and they'd do guitars in their hotel rooms, stuff like that. And I sing when I get home. So we've got about 17 or 18 songs written. So we've actually almost got two albums recorded. So we're still deciding which songs are gonna go on album one, if you like. And then we're looking at an early '27 release."

In January 2025, DEF LEPPARD released a cover of Ben E. King's 1961 classic "Stand By Me". All proceeds from the song went to FireAid, which raises money for those impacted by the fires that swept through Los Angeles in January 2025.

DEF LEPPARD's version of the song is featured in the Netflix film "Bank Of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger", which was released in January 2025. The band can be seen performing the track before the credits.

DEF LEPPARD's "Just Like 73" single, featuring a guest guitar solo from RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello, was made available in June 2024.

DEF LEPPARD's 12th studio album, "Diamond Star Halos", came out in 2022. A year later, the band followed it up with "Drastic Symphonies", a collection of reimagining of some of DEF LEPPARD's greatest hits with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road. The album spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Current Classical chart.

DEF LEPPARD was finally inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2019 — 14 years after the British rockers first became eligible.

During a May 22 livestream on his YouTube channel, Ozzy Osbourne's son Jack addressed some of the negative feedback he and the rest of the Osbourne family have received to the recently announced Ozzy A.I. avatar, which is coming to life through a partnership between 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. Jack said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Here's the thing: it's gonna be so tasteful what we're doing. It's not gonna be fucking lame… And it's really complex what we're doing. This isn't just like hooking up an image of my dad to ChatGPT. This is going to be... Yeah. This is some high-level technology that we're gonna be working with, and it's gonna feel very real, and it's kind of wild how it will be utilized. But it's awesome. It's really cool, and it's something that I think my dad would be into. 'Cause we actually talked about it before he passed, about doing something like this. So, yeah. I know he would be into this."

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 Wednesday (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," 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".

During METALLICA's May 22 concert at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo performed a cover of "Schwarz-Weiß Wie Schnee" (English-language translation: "Black And White As Snow"),TANKARD's version of the anthem of the German football club Eintracht Frankfurt. 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."

During a May 20 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony once again talked about hypothetical plans to organize a tribute show in honor of legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who died in October 2020 after a long battle with cancer. Michael said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, any guitar player or musician could put together a tribute to Eddie, but it would be great, 'cause the rest of us are still here, if anything could happen with us all being involved too, being we were all in the band. But who knows? I mean, I'm not gonna sit there and knock on the door all day long, but if somebody knocks on my door and it's something that sounds like it could be very cool… Like I've said in interviews, not a tour, whatever, [but] a couple of giant shows maybe, or maybe one on the East Coast, one on the West Coast, whatever, and just a full-on tribute and thank you to the guy who fricking opened up guitar and took it to the next level."

Michael added: "I guarantee any guitar player who's any guitar player would wanna come and be a part of it, and I think that would really be the amazing thing right there. 'Cause I, obviously, know plenty of guitar players … and they all would be chomping at the bit to come up and jam, do a couple of songs."

After "Trunk Nation" host Eddie Trunk noted that a hypothetical Eddie Van Halen tribute concert "should happen sooner than later" but that there isn't "a timetable on it", Anthony concurred. "Obviously it can be done, but time's not running out yet, but it's getting thin for all of us other members to be involved actively in doing something," he said. "Because I definitely would love to be part of something like that."

No progress has been reported on a possible VAN HALEN tribute concert since April 2022 when former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted revealed to The Palm Beach Post that he was approached by VAN HALEN drummer Alex Van Halen about six months earlier about playing bass for the project. Newsted told the Florida newspaper that he agreed to go to California to jam with Alex and legendary guitarist Joe Satriani and see if it felt right, but he eventually realized that it would be impossible to do justice to VAN HALEN's legacy. Three months later, Wolfgang Van Halen told Rolling Stone magazine that the idea for the Eddie Van Halen tribute was ultimately nixed due to the personality clashes within VAN HALEN.

The son of Eddie Van Halen, who played three VAN HALEN songs — "On Fire", "Hot For Teacher" and "Panama" — over the course of two concerts in September 2022 alongside Dave Grohl on bass, Josh Freese on drums and THE DARKNESS's Justin Hawkins on vocals, told Classic Rock magazine in October 2022 that he was no longer actively interested in pursuing the idea of a standalone Eddie Van Halen tribute event. "I think I already did it with the Taylor Hawkins tributes," Wolfgang explained. "I feel a lot of closure because my part of the show was a tribute to my father."

"When it comes to VAN HALEN and entities surrounding the band it's unfortunate, certainly compared to FOO FIGHTERS who have their shit together with interpersonal relationships," Wolfgang added.

"I don't know what it is with some bands but certain personalities just can't get over themselves to work collectively for one purpose. That's been the curse of VAN HALEN for its entire career. So my playing at the Taylor shows delivered that catharsis without the stresses of dealing with the VAN HALEN camp, and the players involved. Their camp is very dysfunctional — everyone! Hell, it was difficult to make plans even when the band was active."

In June 2021, Wolfgang, who joined his father in VAN HALEN for the band's 2007 reunion tour with Roth, replacing Anthony, told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" it would be "great" to eventually organize an Eddie Van Halen tribute show. "It's not in the immediate plans, 'cause that's a lot of moving parts that you've gotta corral to get that to happen. But I definitely think it should happen. Absolutely," he said.

Asked how he envisioned the tribute concert taking place in terms of which musicians should be involved, Wolfgang said: "I have no idea. All I know is that the focus should a hundred percent be on Pop. While it could be a celebration of VAN HALEN and the band's history, I think more than anything, it should be focused on him… It's a tall ask and a big thing to figure out. But I do think it should happen at some point."

In November 2020, Wolfgang told Entertainment Tonight that proceeds from any tribute show in honor of his father would go toward Eddie's favorite charity, Mr. Holland's Opus, which helps underprivileged students access musical instruments. Proceeds from the debut solo single from Wolfgang's solo band MAMMOTH, "Distance", also benefited Mr. Holland's Opus.

A year ago, Anthony was asked by Get On The Bus if he had any career regrets. He responded:  "The only regret that I have is how things, unfortunately, turned out for VAN HALEN… It's a culmination of everything that happened or whatever, because when VAN HALEN was really firing on all 12 cylinders, we're living the dream, it's the fairy tale or whatever, and the first time it ended when [original VAN HALEN singer David Lee] Roth left the band, luckily Sammy [Hagar] joined the band and it was like a rebirth. And, obviously, the band was even bigger at that point or whatever.

"But the only regret I have is the way it all ended," he continued. "It should have gone out with a fricking bang that shook the world, and it was more like a whimper, the way everything ended.

"Unfortunately Eddie and I never [made amends] — we had some issues, and I'm sure that if he had not passed when he did that we would've reconciled or we would've really calmed all that stuff down, because I did hear, and I've talked to Wolfgang [Van Halen, Eddie's son and Anthony's replacement in VAN HALEN] about it, that they were planning on coming to all of us and putting together a big reunion tour with all of us," Anthony added. "And at that point in Ed's life, I think he was a little bit more, like, 'Hey, the past is the past. Let's all… Fricking water under the bridge,' that whole bit. But, unfortunately, it was not to be."

Back in May 2024, Anthony was asked by Sally Steele if he had a chance to speak to Eddie Van Halen before the legendary guitarist's passing in October 2020. He said: "No, unfortunately, Eddie and I never had a chance to really settle any differences that we had in the past or whatever. But at the end of 2023 here, Wolfgang, he played the House Of Blues out here [in Las Vegas] [with his new band MAMMOTH WVH] and I went to the show as his guest. And we talked, we sat and talked, and there was a lot of closure for me there. Valerie [Bertinelli, Wolfgang's mother and Eddie's ex-wife] was there. So it was a great night. Besides the fact that Wolf is a great guy, great musician, his band kicks ass. But, yeah. So at least we were able to do that."

When Sally noted that Michael is "friends now" with the guy "who took [his] job" in VAN HALEN, Anthony said: "Yeah. Oh, yeah, we've always been friends. I think in Wolfie's mind… And Eddie, he wanted to play with his son. The way I kind of feel is that Wolfgang probably wasn't excited, really, about being in VAN HALEN. That's why in his band, he doesn't play any VAN HALEN, 'cause he wants to carve out his own niche. But just to be able to get up and play with his father, I can totally understand that. But no, I love Wolfie, man. I hadn't seen him in, like, 20 years. I went to the show, it was great. We had a great time, great hangout."

Asked if he saw it coming that Eddie was "grooming" Wolfgang for the bassist gig in VAN HALEN, Michael said: "No, no. I didn't see him grooming him for my job. 'Cause [Wolfgang] played drums. That was his first instrument that he played. And he knew a couple of chords on guitar 'cause in 2004 when we did the VAN HALEN reunion tour, Wolfie came out and actually strummed a couple of chords with [Eddie] at some of the shows. But being Eddie Van Halen's kid, you're gonna be a multi-instrumental person anyway."

In January 2024, Wolfgang spoke to Loudwire about what it was like to reconnect with Michael at MAMMOTH WVH's December 8, 2023 concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. The MAMMOTH leader said: "He's family. It was long overdue. I think we had planned that at least since I've been touring and it just worked out and it was very wonderful to see him. [I] love that my mom [Valerie Bertinelli] was there [and] my uncle Patrick who is also part of the MAMMOTH team; he goes way back with them. It's really nice to have that little reunion."

More than five years ago, Wolfgang revealed that his father had contemplated a "kitchen-sink" VAN HALEN tour that would have included Anthony, as well as vocal turns from both Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth. There was even talk about bringing back Gary Cherone, who sang with the band on one poorly received album, 1998's "Van Halen III".

"It was my idea," Wolfgang told the Houston, Texas radio station 94.5 The Buzz. "Over the years, I'd been talking to Dad and introducing the idea of, like, 'Hey, hear me out. But this would be really cool. What if we had Mike come back and I could open?' And over the next year or so, he started to warm up to the idea, and he was into it. And then we started joking around with the idea of the kitchen-sink tour — everything but the kitchen sink — and just get everybody. Get Hagar, get Cherone, get Roth, Anthony, and we'd all get up on stage and just have a party. And we even spoke to Irving Azoff, the band's manager, and he got really excited about it, and hit up Anthony. I think that's how the rumors got out. But by that time, Dad's health was in such a decline that we were kind of waiting until we could over this hump to [where] we can get back to it, and we never got to that point, unfortunately."

According to Wolfgang, the original plan was for him to personally contact Michael and ask him to come back to VAN HALEN. "Unfortunately, Irving hit [Michael] up before I had a chance to," he said. "The plan was for me to [reach out to him]." Wolfgang went on to say that he was also the one who called Roth in 2007 to get him to return to VAN HALEN for a reunion tour.

In early 2019, a rumor surfaced that the classic VAN HALEN lineup would reunite that summer for a run of stadium shows. This would have been the first time that Michael, Eddie, David and Alex Van Halen performed together since 1984.

The rumors originally started with Roth, who hinted to Vulture that VAN HALEN would be playing stadiums with Anthony back in the lineup.

VAN HALEN and Anthony had not been on good terms for more than a decade, with Anthony not invited to join the reunion with Roth that began in 2007. The subsequent two tours and studio album, "A Different Kind Of Truth", featured Wolfgang on bass.

Anthony took a pay cut and signed away all of his rights to the band name and logo in order to participate in VAN HALEN's 2004 tour, which featured Hagar.

Eddie died in October 2020 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. The iconic VAN HALEN axeman died from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

Photo credit: Rob Shanahan

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In a new interview with Matt Wardlaw of Ultimate Classic Rock, legendary DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW guitarist Ritchie Blackmore discussed the health issues which led to the cancelation of the last four shows on the six-date tour of the U.S. East Coast by BLACKMORE'S NIGHT, the renaissance-inspired rock band he formed with his wife Candice Night. Last November's concerts in Newton, New Jersey; Wilmington, Delaware; Cohoes, New York; and Tarrytown, New York were called off "due to medical reasons".

The 81-year-old Ritchie told Ultimate Classic Rock about his health struggles: "I woke up one morning when we were on tour and I had what is called vertigo. I don't recommend it to anybody. It was the worst thing I've ever been involved with. I've had heart problems, gout problems and pain, but vertigo is the worst thing I've ever been involved with. You're very dizzy to the point of where you have no control over any part of your body, and you just fall down, basically and you can't even think properly. It's almost like a stroke, but you can speak and you can understand, which is different to a stroke and I had that in a hotel. I was taken off to the local hospital, where they kind of gave me the cure for vertigo. It's called epi movement [also known as the Epley Maneuver]. You have to move your head to the left and right and you have to take antihistamines, believe it or not. Taking those antihistamines is like taking something for seasickness. It's like seasickness when you're at sea. It was like I was in a fishing boat at sea in the biggest gale you could imagine. I had to grab hold of anything I could find, like a chair to stop from falling down. That scared the hell out of me."

Ritchie continued: "So we canceled the tour after that, came home and then it hit me again two days later, and it's not something I recommend for anybody to have. Because I always thought when people talk about vertigo, they're talking about, oh yeah, you feel a little bit dizzy. But it's not that. You think your whole world is ending right there. Every day now, I'm looking to the left and right and straining my neck, because that's where it's all coming from. But it's a bit of a mystery."

Regarding the possibility of performing live again, Blackmore said: "I've found that at my age, being 150, that you know, it's time to kind of pull back on touring. I do not like traveling anymore. I love playing to anybody on any stage, But to get to that place, sometimes the traveling makes me sick.

"When I was a child, and I would go with my mother on the Royal Blue to Bristol in England, to where most of our relatives lived, I would always throw up," he explained. "I would be the age of nine or 10 and maybe that is what made me have a phobia about traveling. Now I seem to have a phobia, almost about traveling too far, leaving the comfort zone of one's home. It's a very strange ailment to have. And so consequently, I want to do our next shows. I want to be on stage. I want to play. I'm still playing all the time, [But I] want to play within the radius of, like, 30 miles or 40 miles on the island. We live on Long Island and I don't want to go hundreds of miles. Because that seems to upset my equilibrium. It's funny, I had forgotten how I reacted when I was a child, when I was nine and 10, how I would always throw up when I was traveling. So therein lies a mystery, [But I know] that I do like to be at home. So what I'm trying to do now is do dates that are closer to home."

Last November, just days after the BLACKMORE'S NIGHT concerts were canceled, Ritchie released a statement in which he said that he had had "a long history of lumbar and neck herniated discs. Consequently, I would have back injections before a tour to help me over the pain," he explained. "Recently, I have acquired debilitating migraines. They come and go very quickly. When I see the visual disturbance of these ocular migraines, I know they are coming.

"When we did the long drive from Pennsylvania to Newton NJ we were booked into a hotel that had a wedding party going all night in the corridors. There was no heat in the room and the sheets were still damp. Which I assume culminated in me having a severe migraine attack. I couldn't stop vomiting. The room wouldn't stop spinning and I was extremely dizzy to the point of not being able to stand. Ambulance was called. I was taken to hospital and they gave me CAT scans and other tests. They were very gracious. The doctors came to the conclusion that my official diagnosis was severe vertigo. The results of this went on for days on end. I am now following up how serious these migraines are with various doctors.

"When one tours, you have a lot of people who have to be healthy. Unfortunately, I was the one who got hit this time.

"Hope to see you all one day again when I'm healthy.

"All the best, Ritchie, a guitarist".

In a 2025 interview with the Iron City Rocks podcast, Candice, who has been married to Ritchie for 18 years but has been together with the legendary DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW guitarist for 37, discussed the health status of her husband and BLACKMORE'S NIGHT bandmate. The conversation took place while Night was promoting her new solo album, "Sea Glass". Asked about the possibility of BLACKMORE'S NIGHT returning to the road in the coming months, Candice said: "One of the things that's so great about Ritchie is he can recognize — he's very in tune with his own body, and he stays on top of everything. Thank goodness. And when he doesn't, I nag him to stay on top of it, which he hates, but at least somebody's doing it — you know, like eating well and things like that.

"There's the three main issues with him that are going on," she explained. "He has a heart issue. He had a heart attack a couple of years ago, so we stay on top of that. He's got gout, so that's difficult. It's affecting his feet really badly. And it's starting in his forefinger, so it's hurting the mobility in that, so he just had an injection for that. And his back, of course, which has always been an issue. He hasn't taken any back injections since he had the heart issue. So everything kind of is working together. So, it's hard — it is hard for him. But he's at the point now where — he's very smart when it comes to things like that."

Elaborating on what makes touring so challenging for someone like Ritchie at this point in his life, Candice said: "It's not so much the travel on a plane. Honestly, it's the aggravation before you even get into the plane and after you get into the plane and it's all the sitting of traveling. So that'll affect his back and all the rest of it. And the jet lag that stresses your heart. All of these things. Waiting on those lines when you have to get to JFK [New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport] and you have to go transatlantic, and then coming off and going back through the security lines and the customs lines and all the rest of that stuff, and all of that stuff, it really does take a toll on a human — on a healthy human, so forget about someone who's 80 years old and going through these issues… Gone are the days where you do five shows in a row, including travel. That's just way too much. For anybody, it's difficult to do that. And we don't have a tour bus and we don't have private planes. If we go someplace, I'm driving. So it's like a mini road trip, but not really because we have to just get to the place, rest that night. Hopefully it's close enough to the venue. You get to the venue, you go back, you get a good night's sleep that night. Hopefully they're not doing construction or maintenance in the hotel or the maids don't wake you up at seven o'clock in the morning. and then you move on to the next place and have a day of travel. So it's a very slowed down way of doing it. But honestly, I'd much rather take something than nothing at all."

Earlier in 2025, Candice confirmed to Eonmusic that Ritchie had a heart attack in 2023 which resulted in six stents being implanted. "He's still got his back problem that he's had, so travel is difficult for him because of all that sitting," she explained. "And standing on stage, even standing with the guitar is tricky, although I do see a lot of people even younger than him at this point in the industry, showing up in wheelchairs. I don't think he wants to be thought of like that or remembered like that. I think it's great that people still get to see those people; I would still go hear them, just to be under the same roof and hear what they sound like, but we'll see. Maybe if we can get some of these medical issues under control, maybe I can get him back on a plane, but as for right now, they actually warned him not to fly. So, who knows?"

Coronary stents are primarily used to treat coronary artery disease, a condition where plaque buildup narrows or blocks the arteries supplying blood to the heart. By inserting stents for the heart, doctors can effectively restore blood flow and alleviate symptoms.

BLACKMORE'S NIGHT plays "Renaissance music," or "medieval music," with most of the tunes featuring lyrics conjured by Night and melodies crafted by Blackmore.

Ritchie, Candice and their two children reside on Long Island, New York, near Port Jefferson.

Blackmore is a co-founder of DEEP PURPLE and wrote many of their most memorable riffs, including "Smoke On The Water", but he has not played with the group since his 1993 departure.

During his time away from PURPLE, Blackmore established the neo-classical band called RAINBOW, which fused baroque music influences elements with hard rock before gradually progressing to catchy pop-style hard rock.

Blackmore stepped away from his Renaissance-inspired brand of music with BLACKMORE'S NIGHT in 2016 to perform a handful of shows with a brand-new lineup of RAINBOW.

In addition to Blackmore and Night (backing vocals),the most recent incarnation of RAINBOW included singer Ronnie Romero, STRATOVARIUS keyboardist Jens Johansson, BLACKMORE'S NIGHT drummer David Keith, bassist Bob Nouveau (a.k.a. Robert "Bob" Curiano, ex-BLACKMORE'S NIGHT) and backing singer Lady Lynn.

The two shows RAINBOW played in Germany in June 2016 were caught on camera to produce "Memories In Rock - Live In Germany", which was released in November 2016 via Eagle Rock Entertainment on DVD+2CD, Blu-ray+2CD, and digital formats.

After Ritchie left DEEP PURPLE for the final time in 1993, he reformed RAINBOW for one album (1995's "Stranger In Us All") and one tour, ending things in Denmark in 1997.

Blackmore didn't join his former DEEP PURPLE bandmates at the group's 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Blackmore previously suggested that PURPLE's manager had blocked him from attending the Rock Hall induction ceremony, and he used that as an excuse for not attending the event.

Despite Blackmore being a no-show at Rock Hall, he was given several shoutouts during the induction speeches of the DEEP PURPLE members in attendance. In addition, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich, who inducted DEEP PURPLE into the institution, praised "Ritchie fucking Blackmore" for one of the most memorable guitar riffs of all time on "Smoke On The Water".

In a new interview with Rob Cass of the  dopeYEAH talk podcast, DEEP PURPLE guitarist Simon McBride, who officially joined the band in 2022 as the replacement for Steve Morse, was asked about the rumor that it took him only 40 minutes to learn the PURPLE set before he first played with the group. He laughed and responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The thing is with the PURPLE stuff, it's not overly complicated, but that's the beauty of it, and that's why it was so successful. 'Smoke On The Water' is three chords, really. And all the great songs, even 'Perfect Strangers', it's two or three chords. So it is quite simple. And I remember learning this stuff, and I always remember hearing this rumor that the guitar [on the DEEP PURPLE albums] was always panned to the left, and the keys were always panned to the right. So I did that. I went on, and I just panned everything to the left, and it's true. All I could hear was Ritchie [Blackmore, original DEEP PURPLE guitarist]. And so it was dead easy for me to hear it and pick up. And ever since I was a kid, I've always learned how to play the guitar just by using my ear. So I am very quick at picking up stuff, just by listening to something. I can usually pick up something instantly, if it's not too complicated. But, yeah, it wasn't that comp[licated]. There were a few tricky bits, obviously, but as they said, they played those songs for — what? — 30, 40 years or whatever now, and so they've evolved a little bit. So when you go to a rehearsal and it's, like, I'm playing the way Ritchie played it, 'No, no. It's evolved since that. It's changed.' And I go, 'Okay, can you show me it?' And Don's [Airey, current DEEP PURPLE keyboardist] brilliant. Don will show me it. Say it's a fast run. He'll show me at full speed. I say, 'Can you slow it down?' And he goes, 'Okay.' And then he plays it at full speed again. I'm going, 'Oh, okay.' So it's always a bit of a challenge."

Asked what he feels is "the greatest challenge about joining a band like DEEP PURPLE", Simon said: "The greatest challenge is basically just being yourself and not worrying or trying to be what was before. There's such a history with PURPLE, the guitarists in that band. You had Ritchie Blackmore, Tommy Bolin, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse, and there's always this thing. You say to yourself, 'Do I try to sound like Ritchie or anybody else?' 'Cause I've seen guys getting up and playing, and they all try to sound like Ritchie. And I was going, 'Ah.' It's being comfortable with your own playing and your own technique and your own ability is just to go, 'Nope, that's great, but unfortunately, I sound like me.' No matter how much I try to sound like Ritchie or Steve, I will never be able to play like them. I can only play like me. And so that's the biggest challenge, is getting across that barrier of going, 'Just do your thing.' And the guys were amazing because that's what they wanted. They didn't want another Steve or Ritchie or Tommy. They wanted me for what I do. And they made it so much easier for me to play. 'Cause I remember I was talking to Don about it, 'cause I was getting a bit stressed the first few shows. 'Well, I don't know what to play. Should I do it like this, but more like Ritchie?' And Don just says, 'Stuff all that crap. Just be yourself. Forget about it.' Obviously you play the riffs and what's there. There's certain iconic things within 'Highway Star' — I can't play anything but the solo that Ritchie does, 'cause it's an iconic piece of music in itself. But everything else, just be myself and do what I want, 'cause that's what I'm here for. I'm not here to be a Steve Morse clone or a Ritchie Blackmore clone. I wouldn't know how to. You They're incredible players and incredibly musicians and creators in their own right. I just have to be myself. That's the biggest challenge, I find. But I overcame it pretty quickly, with the help from the guys. They're making me feel so comfortable."

After Cass noted that McBride obviously has "the right temperament" to be in a band like DEEP PURPLE, Simon concurred. "Yeah. Well, I'm very easygoing," he said. "I don't really stress about anything, which annoys the hell out of my wife. 'Cause I don't stress about nothing. 'Cause I'm just going, 'Life's too short. What's the point?' Stressing about something will only affect me, not affect anybody else. So I think that helped a lot with the band. I just come in and all I wanted to do was have fun and play music, and the guys really responded to that, and I think it brought back memories of the way it used to be for them. Okay, this is fresh blood in the band. I have no airs or graces about myself or my playing. I just play. I just play the guitar, and I think that's what they like. I think if I came in and I had an ego, I think DEEP PURPLE would be finished. It wouldn't work, 'cause they've been in the game too long. They're not interested in any of that nonsense. 'Cause at the end of the day, all I am is a guitar player. I'm not a rocket scientist or something special. I'm just a guitarist. And that's the way I always think about it. I just go in, do what I'm here to do, and that's it."

Reflecting on the first show he played with DEEP PURPLE in May 2022, McBride said: "It was in Tel Aviv. I don't normally get nervous for shows. I think when I was 13 when I did my first show, I was a bit nervous. But I'm not a nervous person because I believe nerves come from being unprepared for something. So I'm always 120 percent prepared for everything. But I remember in Tel Aviv sitting backstage, and it was about 15 minutes till showtime, and then, bam, I was, like, 'Oh, crap.' And bear in mind, I hadn't done a gig 'cause prior to this was COVID. So I hadn't done a gig in two, three years. So my first gig was with DEEP PURPLE in front of — I don't know — 10, 12,000 people in this huge arena, and I was going, 'Oh, no. Jesus. Oh, God. Oh, my God'."

Asked to name the most challenging song to play in the DEEP PURPLE set, Simon said: "The most challenging ones are... Generally, the most challenging ones are the simple ones, like 'Smoke On The Water'. People always say, 'Ah, it's easy.' It is easy technically, but it's not easy to play. It's like any of this stuff. It's the delivery, it's the force of how you play it, it's your timing. It's what not to play. A lot of guitar players, when they play the riff of 'Smoke On The Water', they play it like a guitarist. They wanna add stuff to it. They wanna vibrato it. They wanna do this. But the beauty of the riff of 'Smoke On The Water' is its simplicity. It's [hums 'Smoke On The Water' riff] bam, bam, bam. That's all you have to do. So being disciplined enough just to — don't play anything else, just what's there. 'Cause when you're standing there, and I start the riff, and then Don joins me, then Roger [Glover, DEEP PURPLE bassist] joins me, this explosion of power comes out, which you would not get if I was fiddling around with it, or Don was. It's the four of us just doing this riff, and it's, like, 'Oh, God, here we go.'

"Technical stuff, believe it or not, is easier to play than the simple stuff," McBride explained. "That's what I always find — it's the simple stuff that's the hardest stuff in the world to nail, because it's not about the technique; it's the delivery of how you do it. I've seen bands play RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE stuff, and technically it's amazing, but it sounds god-awful. Because the guys in RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, they just have this way of playing that nothing is perfect. And it's those inconsistencies which make these players great. Same with all those bands from the middle of '70s, PURPLE and that. Nobody was perfect, which gives them that feel, that drive. It's like if you look at drummers — look at the drummer from QUEEN, every time he hit a snare drum, he couldn't keep the hi-hat closed. But it became his thing. It became his sound. It's Charlie Watts from THE ROLLING STONES. He couldn't hit the hi-hat and snare at the same time. But you listen to it, and you hear a drummer play it correctly, and it doesn't sound the same. It's that inconsistency, that little mistake that makes them have their own sort of style, if you wanna call it."

DEEP PURPLE will release a new studio album, "Splat!", on July 3 via earMUSIC. The band once again teamed up with renowned producer Bob Ezrin (KISS, PINK FLOYD, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper) to create what has been described in a press release as "the heaviest DEEP PURPLE album in many years."

To celebrate the release, DEEP PURPLE will continue their extensive 2026 touring schedule with no fewer than 86 shows across 28 countries on three continents.

There simply aren't enough superlatives to properly acknowledge the contribution DEEP PURPLE has made to rock music. Having sold more than 120 million albums and filled global arenas for decades, there's little wonder that the respected British radio station Planet Rock named the group the "Fifth Most Influential Band Ever". The band were also presented the "Legend Award" at the 2008 World Music Awards and were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016.

Image credit: MusicJunkie422

Canada's progressive sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD will release "Symphonique", a special live collaboration with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra (Orchestre Symphonique De Québec),on June 5, 2026 worldwide via Century Media Records.

"Symphonique", which functions like an epic piece of cinema, showcases VOIVOD's pioneering futuristic metal with the strains of a symphony orchestra, and features a carefully curated VOIVOD best-of setlist composed of 12 songs across 73 minutes, recorded live on June 4, 2025, at the Grand Théâtre in Québec City, Canada.

Today, the next appetizer for "Symphonique" can now be heard online via DSPs with the launch of the second single "The End Of Dormancy (Symphonique)", alongside an official visualizer curated by Cloud Motion Design, available to view below.

Previously, the song "Forgotten In Space (Symphonique)" was launched and can also be streamed below.

VOIVOD guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain states about "The End Of Dormancy (Symphonique)": "This one is very special to me. I wrote the riffs imagining Roman naval battles with a full orchestra, like the movies from the '50s and '60s. It has a very dramatic vibe. Little did I know that what we synthesized for a four-piece band would eventually explode into its primary, original imagined form. It's one of the most orchestral pieces on the album, and I remember vividly the crowd's reaction after the grand finale. It was one of these rare life's perfect moments. I'm very grateful for that incredible experience."

VOIVOD drummer and founding member Michel "Away" Langevin comments on "Symphonique": "This live album with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra is a longtime dream turned reality. Thankfully, we will experience it again in 2027 with the Orchestre Symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, right in the region where VOIVOD formed back in 1983. We wish to take this show across the globe with local orchestras one day, but in the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this epic release. It's the closest we've ever come to sounding like a dystopian sci-fi movie soundtrack, another dream of ours!"

About the first single "Forgotten in Space (Symphonique)", VOIVOD bassist Dominic "Rocky" Laroche adds: "Taken from the album 'Killing Technology', 'Forgotten In Space' transports us to a 'Mad Max'-esque science-fiction universe. [Late VOIVOD guitarist] Denis 'Piggy' D'Amour was even inspired by it when composing parts of the original version. This incredible symphonic masterpiece, orchestrated by Hugo Begin, offers a powerful orchestral introduction that takes us on a musical journey where the fusion of metal and classical music invites us to imagine, for six minutes and 27 seconds, that humanity itself may have been forgotten in space…"

"Symphonique" track listing:

01. Experiment (Symphonique)
02. Holographic Thinking (Symphonique)
03. The Unknown Knows (Symphonique)
04. The End Of Dormancy (Symphonique)
05. Into My Hypercube (Symphonique)
06. Forgotten In Space (Symphonique)
07. Cosmic Drama (Symphonique)
08. Pre-Ignition (Symphonique)
09. Nuclear War (Symphonique)
10. Fall (Symphonique)
11. Tribal Convictions (Symphonique)
12. Astronomy Domine (Symphonique) (PINK FLOYD cover)

VOIVOD previously played two shows with the Orchestre Symphonique De Montréal on January 29, 2025 and January 30, 2025 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletie in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Regarding how the collaboration with the Orchestre Symphonique De Montréal came about, Langevin told The Metal Voice in a December 2024 interview: "Oh my God, I think we've been dreaming about that forever. But it came through a strange chain of circumstances, where I did an interview for the magazine L'Itinéraire, for homeless people selling magazines on the street, and then I did an interview with one of the journalists for the magazine, and it ended up being published online by La Presse. And then the people directing the orchestra, the organization, they were made aware of that by one of the musicians from the orchestra, which is a metal dude and he's a fan."

The drummer continued: "It's funny because since my cousin Richard Langevin is married to Diane Dufresne, a famous singer from Montreal, and she had done the orchestra before, so they got in touch with him, because I was mentioning him in the article because he showed me how to draw. [Laughs] And anyhow, they phoned Richard, my cousin, and he phoned my mother. [Laughs] And when I came back from touring with VOIVOD, I had a message on my answering machine saying that the orchestra were looking for us. So, quite amazing."

Langevin added: "We didn't approach [the orchestra], but we always talked about either doing symphonic shows or doing a soundtrack for a sci-fi movie or something like that. It's part of the dreams we have."

Mongrain, who previously wrote an eight-minute arrangement for the brass quintet that performed with VOIVOD at the Montreal International Jazz Festival (Festival International de Jazz de Montréal) in June 2019, went on to say that the collaboration with the Orchestre Symphonique De Montréal is "a dream come true."

"I never tried to write for a whole orchestra," he explained. "I know a little bit about it, studying orchestration at university and knowing my music theory and all that. But what happened is that my help with the project was to provide the music sheets to the arranger, Hugo Bégin. He did an amazing work. He took the music sheet that I wrote for guitar and bass. So he had a template to work on. And so he orchestrated it for the whole orchestra and added his own color to it. And it's very efficient. It's like a movie soundtrack, like the movie we used to watch, like 'Planet Of The Apes' and 'Ben-Hur' and 'Mad Max' and all that. VOIVOD has been influenced since the beginning by those movies, so you can hear it, but with the whole orchestra, it's very exciting. So I exchanged a lot of e-mails and messages with Hugo, the arranger, and we worked really hard on it and he was really, really fast and efficient. And until the last minute, the last day, there was little modifications here and there, but it's gonna be amazing. It's a dream come true, but it's so big that you only imagine something like that in your wildest dreams, but you know it's not gonna happen. So this is just a life-changing experience, a bonus in a career. It's gonna be grandiose."

Added Langevin: "We're also gonna put a lot of work into the visuals with a company called Noisy Head. They're really high tech. It's gonna be spectacular. They did stuff for Lizzo or CHEMICAL BROTHERS. And also they did a symphonic show with the music of Harmonium. And so, yeah, it's gonna be pretty sci-fi visually as well."

VOIVOD is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Québec. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s. Starting out as a speed metal band, VOIVOD have added a mix of progressive metal and thrash metal to create their own unique metal style, and are credited as one of the "big four" Canadian thrash metal bands, along with SACRIFICE, RAZOR and ANNIHILATOR. They are considered by many as one of the most influential metal bands from the '80s, influencing and gaining praise from multiple bands and across numerous genres.

VOIVOD found mainstream success in the late 1980s with their fifth studio album, "Nothingface" (1989),which is the band's only album to enter The Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 114.

VOIVOD's long-awaited official documentary, "We Are Connected", received its world premiere on July 29, 2024 at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Canada.

"We Are Connected" dives deep into the 40-plus-year legacy of one of the most original and influential metal bands in history. From their explosive beginnings in Jonquière to their groundbreaking global journey, VOIVOD's story is one of unparalleled creativity, resilience, and evolution. The film covers VOIVOD's history from unlikely origins in northern Québec at the height of the Cold War to underground success to sharing tours and stages with IRON MAIDEN, RUSH and METALLICA. Included in the documentary are high and lows throughout those 40 years, from major-label support and Billboard recognition to seismic lineup changes and an event many critics claimed to be the end of VOIVOD: the death of co-founding guitarist and composer Dennis "Piggy" D'Amour.

Directed by Felipe Belalcazar and produced with full access to the band's archives, this film features exclusive insights and appearances by metal icons like Tobias Forge (GHOST),Mikael Åkerfeldt (OPETH),Jason Newsted (METALLICA),Zach Blair (RISE AGAINST, GWAR),Tom G. Warrior (CELTIC FROST, TRIPTYKON) and Ivan Doroschuk (MEN WITHOUT HATS),among many others.

VOIVOD has been touring in support of its latest album, "Morgöth Tales", which was released via Century Media, The Orchard and Sony Music.

The band's 2022 release, "Synchro Anarchy", garnered significant acclaim, winning the 2023 Juno Award for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Album" in Canada.

Once more recorded and mixed by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio, mastered by Maor Appelbaum and produced by VOIVOD, "Morgöth Tales" includes fresh studio re-recordings by the band's current lineup of nine especially selected, not-so-obvious picks from the band's hyper-classy and extremely diverse back catalogue (between 1984 and 2003) as well as a brand-new song and the album's title track, "Morgöth Tales".

Press photo credit: Stéphane Bourgeois

In a new interview with producer and YouTuber Rick Beato, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of RUSH spoke about their decision to reunite for a tour in 2026 and 2027. The run of dates — Lee and Lifeson's first official shows under the RUSH banner in 11 years — will begin at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, site of the last RUSH concert on the legendary Canadian band's "R40" anniversary tour. Joining the duo on the trek will be German drummer Anika Nilles, who toured with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck in 2022 and has been rehearsing with Lee and Lifeson in preparation for the tour, dubbed "Fifty Something", which will celebrate RUSH's music, legacy, and the life of late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.

After confirming that RUSH will play, over the course of four shows in a particular city, 38 different songs from the band's vast catalog, Geddy was asked if there will be tracks from every RUSH record. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I haven't checked. I have not checked. I don't think every record is represented, and some are over-represented for kind of obvious reasons. And what's interesting, and one of the reasons I really wanted to go out on tour is there's so many fan letters and messages I get from fans that became young musicians after our last gig. And they really would love to hear some of those songs. And so that's an opportunity for them, and, of course, they're not fortunate enough to hear Neil play those songs, but we'll do our best to make them happy."

Regarding the preparation for the "Fifty Something" tour, Alex said: "Well, that's the difference. In the past, we would plan a couple of months maybe, six weeks, on our own. We'd have a list of about four hours' worth of music. Then we'd sort of whittle it down to what the show would probably be. And then we would have a month together. So you've already prepped, and then we're together for a month, and then we would go into full production somewhere in an arena somewhere for maybe 10 days, and then the tour would start. So we have the benefit of four months, basically, of prep. This time around, Anika had to learn all these songs."

Geddy chimed in: "And one important thing that goes unmentioned is when you're preparing for a tour, when we would prepare for a tour with Neil, we're working really on new material that we just recorded, because the old stuff we knew. For this tour, we're starting from scratch and we're really teaching an incredibly talented, exciting drummer that comes from a very different school of music how to understand 40 songs from this weird, idiosyncratic band. That's a horse of an entirely different color. And that was difficult, but also exciting because when all the tumblers fall into place and she gets the vibe and she's feeling it, and her and I are playing together, and we're smiling. And it's, like, 'Oh, this is gonna be so much fun.' And she's embraced it. She's an amazing talent, but she's such a great person. She's got the right attitude. She works hard. She's not afraid to work hard. And she loves to play the same way we love to play, so we have that in common. Maybe every musician has that — I don't know; I imagine so — but it's been good for us to be around… And she brings something fresh. She brings a different story to our story. And I think that's really nice. And I think our fans have responded to the fact that we didn't get someone from another famous band and all that, 'Well, you should've got this guy or that guy.' This is a whole different feeling. It's non-competitive. And we're very lucky, 'cause she's the only drummer we thought of. We tried out one drummer."

Alex continued: "And after this time together, we've really bonded. It's not just about playing the songs and learning the music and playing it; it's about really falling in love with each other. And there's such a strong feeling, a joyful feeling of working together, playing together, and it just gets better and better and better as we progress with the songs. Now that we're at the stage where we're just playing everything and starting to get our pacing, it's just so much fun. We just can't wait every day to get back in here and do it."

Geddy added: "We added one song, one extra song recently. And she freaked out. I knew she would freak out, but she freaked out. She said, 'My hard drive is full.' And this song has a lot of complicated time signature changes. And so we made a deal. We pulled two songs out in exchange for this one song. She said, 'Okay.' [Laughs] But she's up for it. And that's a very difficult seat to sit in. And some people will never forgive us for going on with somebody else. And she has the guts to sit in that seat, to accept that gig and take whatever fans are gonna dish out. And that's not a small thing. That's a huge thing. And it's not out of arrogance. It's out of confidence and respect for Neil. When you hear her talk about Neil, she really understands and appreciates his greatness. And none of this that happens is diminishing his greatness by one iota."

Peart died on January 7, 2020, after quietly battling brain cancer for three and a half years. RUSH waited three days to announce Peart's passing, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from fans and musicians all over the world.

In 2022, Geddy revealed that Neil wanted to keep his cancer diagnosis a secret prior to his death.

Lee went on to say that he and Lifeson had to be "dishonest" to fans in order to protect Peart's privacy.

RUSH will perform multiple shows in cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico, beginning June 7, 2026 at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles. These special "evening with" shows will find the band playing two sets each night. Each show will feature a distinct selection of songs and RUSH will build each night's setlist from a catalog of 40 songs, including their greatest hits and fan favorites.

After Lee and Lifeson announced RUSH's initial 2026 tour dates in early October 2025, they instantly sold out. They then doubled the tour's length due to increased demand before adding even more dates to the trek.

At the moment, the North American leg of the "Fifty Something" tour is scheduled to stretch into the fall and early winter, with sold-out shows in Chicago, Cleveland, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, as well as dates in Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., to name a few. Lee, Lifeson and Nilles will then take the tour to South America and Europe in 2027. They also announced that keyboard player Loren Gold will be joining them. South American dates run from January 15, 2027 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to February 4, 2027 in Brasília, Brazil. The trek will then head to Europe starting February 19 in Paris, with dates running until April 10 in Helsinki, Finland.

RUSH performed in public with Nilles for the first time at Canada's Juno Awards in Hamilton, Ontario in late March. They played "Finding My Way", the first song from RUSH's first album, the band's only LP not to feature Peart.

The Juno Awards performance was Lee and Lifeson's first as RUSH since they finished their 40th-anniversary tour in 2015, although they have performed under their own names on occasion, including tributes to legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot and Taylor Hawkins of the FOO FIGHTERS.

Nilles, who has more than 275,000 subscribers on YouTube, toured with English rocker Jeff Beck in 2022 and was praised in 2023 by Lee, who told The Guardian at the time: "She played on the last Jeff Beck tour, and I thought she was terrific."

Nilles's official Instagram account, which is filled with her drumming videos, boasts more than 485,000 followers.

In a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine, Anika stated about Neil: "His playing was very energetic, and I really like that. That's something I feel very comfortable with. I also love playing in a very energetic way. That's the first thing that comes to mind, and something I really appreciate about his playing. He also had an incredible range of tonal colors. He had a very melodic approach to drumming and used a wide variety of sounds to achieve that. That set him apart and made him stand out to many drummers, for whom he was — and still is — a role model. He had a very distinctive way of playing the ride cymbal. When you listen to the music, that cymbal always stands out prominently. He had a very distinctive snare sound as well. There are certain signature sounds that come directly from his playing — not from the equipment, but from him. You recognize him immediately. Adapting to his way of playing is a challenge."

"Neil rarely repeated himself," she continued. "He kept bringing something new into the song. Even if a section repeated in terms of songwriting, his drumming the second time was different from the first. That makes it exciting and is part of what gives the songs their identity. At the same time, it's a challenge to remember all those details, because they're important. It's a composition; you can't just ignore certain parts, they're all essential and have to be played. That's challenging."

RUSH 2026 press photo credit: Richard Sibbald