VAN HALEN frontman David Lee Roth has released his solo song titled "Wash And Fold" via YouTube. The track, which can be streamed below, was reportedly recorded in 2007 with guitarist John 5 for an album that has yet to see the light of day. Other songs recorded during the same sessions include "Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar And Grill", "Low-Rez Sunset", "Giddy-Up!", "Alligator Pants", "Pointing At The Moon", "Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then", "Manda Bala", "The Shit That Killed Elvis" and "Hi-Fashion Girl".

During a recent appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", John 5 stated about his 2007 collaboration with Roth: "I think what's magical about those songs is it's just me and Dave — it's just me and Dave playing and recording live," John 5 continued. "And I think that's what you don't really hear a lot today.

"Whenever I hear this stuff, I can visualize it. And it's pretty magical that way, 'cause it's, like, 'Okay.' It reminds me of back in the day when they were recording and the records were spinning and they were making the record as it was recording because you can't mess up. And especially you don't wanna mess up around David Lee Roth. So it's really cool that way. I could just visualize just me and Dave going through these songs and recording 'em that way."

Asked if Dave notifies him every time he releases one of the songs from the 2007 album or if he just finds out about it once they have already been made available, John 5 said: "I just find out. And I'm, like, 'Oh, rad.' But I really think the greatest song that just broke my heart, too, was 'Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway'. And that is the one with the video, with the VAN HALEN video, and it's about Dave and the band and Eddie [Van Halen] and things like that. That one really is something special to me."

John 5 went on to say that he would like to rework some of the songs from the 2007 sessions "'Fair Warning' style — heavy, distorted guitars and riffs and solos and all that cool stuff. But I don't know. We'll see."

Roth mentioned "The Shit That Killed Elvis" when he discussed his unreleased John 5 album in a Rolling Stone interview back in 2013. Asked if he wanted to take those songs with John 5 to the stage, Roth said: "Absolutely. That's what it's aimed at. It's autobiographic. 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar And Grill' is the opening theme song, and it's about an Indiana kid who goes to sleep — think the Wizard Of Oz — and the characters in his life, the butcher, the baker and the newspaper guy, pop out of posters and sing him a song called 'Giddy-Up!' And he finds his way to all the good things in life, having discovered rock in the '60s, and there's a song titled 'Alligator Pants' — yes, I own a pair, I wore them for the last two tours. And things go horribly left-of-center wrong, of course, when you sell your soul to the devil, and one of the tunes is called 'The Shit That Killed Elvis'. So yeah, it's pretty stellar material."

In 2020, Roth included five previously unreleased songs in The Roth Project, an online comic narrated by the legendary VAN HALEN singer, with music from John 5 on guitar and bass, Gregg Bissonette on drums, Brett Tuggle on keyboards, and Luis Conte on percussion. "Manda Bala", "Giddy-Up!", "Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar And Grill", "Alligator Pants" and "Lo-Rez Sunset" — were recorded at Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood, California.

John 5 previously spoke about the recording sessions for the unreleased Roth record in an interview with the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz", saying: "We had a great time. We had a blast — a lot of laughs, a lot of fun. I'm just so happy that I had that cool working vibe with Dave that we can just jump into the studio anytime and knock out some songs. And I'm very lucky 'cause not a lot of people get a chance to do that with Dave.

He added: "We were all in there together — I remember we were just all in there together. And that's how it was. We were all just doing it together — kind of like the old days, and he wanted to do it like that. And it really was a lot of fun. We had so much fun doing it. And it's one of my fondest memories."

In August 2021, John 5 told AL.com that the rest of the unreleased Roth record is in the same vein as the songs that have come out, which have a singer/songwriter sound. "[Dave] wanted to do this kind of a more California sessions type of thing," the guitarist explained. "And he's such an artist, I was, like, 'Whatever you want to do, I'm there for you.' So it is that kind of vibe. But there's a lot of multi tracks and different acoustic parts that all work together. It's kind of orchestrated, if you will."

John 5 got his first big break playing on Roth's solo album, "DLR Band", before landing stints with Marilyn Manson and now Rob Zombie. His latest sessions with the iconic VAN HALEN frontman apparently took place a decade and a half ago, with John 5 unveiling a snippet of the album during an interview with Masters Of Shred back in May 2019.

Four years ago, Roth was asked by Meltdown of the Detroit radio station WRIF if his LP with John 5 will be made available at some point. He responded: "It will. There's been a revision of things, and I can start making real plans and start marching into the future. And, of course, you'll start hearing that material. This is material that we wrote variously for me solo and for VAN HALEN, and it's quite a bank of stuff."

Back in 2015, John 5 told Guitar Player magazine that the sessions for his unreleased Roth album were remarkably relaxed. "I would just go to his house and I'd write these songs with him, and he would say, 'Let's go into the studio,'" John 5 explained. "So he would go to Henson studio and record these songs. They came out… They're so good. They're so good. And we've got Gregg Bissonette playing drums on it, and I played the bass, and they're really great songs."

The guitarist said that Roth's vocals on the album sound "like nothing you've ever heard. It's old VAN HALEN — sounds like 'Could This Be Magic?' or anything like that. It's just that sound, that tone."

In a 2014 interview, John 5 described the LP as "11 of the greatest songs you'll ever hear, and it's just me and Dave, and we had Gregg Bissonette play drums on it. And it's unbelievable," he said. "You know, just great, great songs."

The reunited expanded classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN has announced plans to take the next few months off from the road to make another album to follow up 2021's acclaimed self-titled effort.

After playing 60 extremely emotional shows in support of their chart-topping album "Helloween", returning singer Michael Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen along with vocalist Andi Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble are now going directly into the songwriting process.

HELLOWEEN's recent "United Forces" world tour took the band to 26 countries on three continents, bringing together more than 800,000 fans. The trek included sold-out headline shows in Los Angeles, New York and São Paulo, as well as highlights like the show at the Prague O2 Arena, the Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, or in front of 14,000 metalheads in Santiago de Chile and HELLOWEEN's first-ever sold-out concert at the iconic Budokan in Tokyo, Japan — the Holy Grail and the ultimate accolade for every rock band. Without a doubt, there were tears in everyone's eyes at the bombastic Hell & Heaven festival in Mexico City, which closed the tour.

Deris, Kiske, Weikath, Hansen, Grosskopf, Gerstner and Löble send their thanks to all their fans in Europe, the United States, Canada, Central and South America and Asia and are incredibly grateful that everyone kept their tickets even with all the ongoing postponements and, that they stayed true fans, waiting patiently to see HELLOWEEN live. As well, the band would like to thank their friends in HAMMERFALL supporting the tour for most of the dates and spicing things up with their pure Swedish metal, ensuring a sweaty, energetic and bombastic package.

Andi says: "What a ride! This world tour was something special for all of us — to get together with all our fans after the long waiting, a feeling we all missed so much! We enjoyed all the shows: our fans were superb and gave us only strikingly happy moments that led to an even stronger cohesion of the band! Personally, I can't even imagine doing this without Michi and Kai anymore! And now we are looking very much forward to our next studio album with the crazy pumpgang we've got!"

Markus adds: "Hi HELLOWEEN folks all over the globe: you were the ones who welcomed us with open arms and hearts all over the world and you turned our world tour into an unique, euphoric party! We love you all and we are very much looking forward to continue this party with you, our HELLOWEEN family in 2024 — right after we are done with the new record."

Sascha states: "Wow, what an incredible tour once again! I've met so many wonderful people, and the atmosphere during our concerts has been filled with love and energy. Each tour gives me a steady growing and fulfilling experience! Much love to all the fans out there, our hard-working crew, dedicated management, and my talented bandmates!"

This past March, Kiske told Canada's The Metal Voice that Kai had already sent him a demo of a song that he was working on that "I was very happy about, because it's not what you would expect; the song was a bit outside of the box, which I am always grateful for," Michael said. "I always thought that was exciting about HELLOWEEN. When you check out the 'Keeper [Of The Seven Keys: Part] I' and 'Keeper [Of The Seven Keys: Part] II' records, now they're classics, but when they came out, it was very different to what the 'Walls Of Jericho' record sounded like. But we had the balls to do it. And I think that's why I'm still here, because those records had an impact because of being pretty fearless. And it is always the benefit of the youth; most of the time, the younger people are very fearless.

"What I like about WeikiandKai, they can't fool themselves. They just write songs. They don't function in any other way but just making the song, and whatever it is, that's what it is. And that song was a bit QUEEN-like. It had a lot of piano parts in it — very operatic, with big choirs. And then it gets rocking again and stuff like that. It's another Kai Hansen sort of symphony. But I really liked it. And I'm glad that he does something like that. I just hope the rest of the band has the balls to do it. I would do it."

Asked if he will be contributing any musical ideas to HELLOWEEN's next effort, since he didn't write anything on "Helloween", Kiske said: "I don't know. I'm not so much of a metal songwriter. I was when I was a teenager. But these days I just don't write metal songs; I just write songs on acoustic guitar somehow. And if I have something where I feel like the band could make a HELLOWEEN song out of it, of course I will present it to them, and then if they get a kick out of it, something's gonna happen. But we have so many songwriters in this band now. And they're all really capable of writing that sort of material that everybody loves, and that's mainly Andi, Sascha, Weiki and Hansen. And I think that's more than enough. If I have an idea, I sneak it in. But I don't really push myself."

As for whether the rest of HELLOWEEN has also begun composing music for the band's next LP, Kiske said: "I know that Andi has songs, and I know that Kai has a whole bunch of songs. He was a bit lazy last time; he only had that one great song, [the 12-minute] 'Skyfall', which was maybe good for three songs, and that's why it's justified, but I would have wished for even more from him. And I think this time he will be presenting a whole bunch of songs more. At least that's my impression, the feeling that I have — there might be more coming from him this time. Andi is always in the game. Andi has this gift; he can just sit down and write 10 songs. He can just do it. I don't know how he does it."

In August 2022, Kiske told Chile's Radio Futuro that the overwhelmingly positive response to "Helloween" "was pretty unexpected. I was expected it to do good, but it was, like, perfect.

"It is very difficult for you, when you're involved in an album, to have an objective view at what you're doing," he explained. "You just do what you do. You always try to make the best out of every song. And obviously the spirit within the band is very good, which helps, but you never know how people hear it. So the best thing you can do is fade it all out, not think about it, and just try to make every song exciting for yourself; that's the best thing you can do. The less you think about success or how critics might see it, the better for the album. It's not easy, but you've gotta have that discipline to kind of fade it out and not let it get to you.

"I was surprised how well it was received, but, of course, it was a very welcome motivation, especially [in 2021]," Kiske added. "We released it right in the middle of the whole pandemic crap, and that was a positive lift, doing the interviews and seeing how people reacted to it."

Regarding how HELLOWEEN had managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by splitting vocals on the album between returning singer Kiske and longtime frontman Deris, with added contributions from Hansen, Michael said: "It was actually great. It was very easy. I was kind of expecting it to be difficult, but it wasn't, because there was no ego fights going on between me and Andi. We were just there on Tenerife meeting up almost every day.

"Before we started recording, we had Dennis Ward making a rough draft of what he thinks could work in terms of splitting: 'This sounds like Andi. This sounds a bit like Michael.' And that was how we approached it. It was some kind of pre-draft of how we could do it, but was nothing written in stone.

"One day I came to the studio and the evening before Andi was recording something, or had recorded something, and he wasn't feeling so happy with it. He came and said, 'I was trying this and that. And maybe you should give it a try too.' And then we figured out what sounds the best for the song.

"There are a whole bunch of songs where you can hear right away, 'That's an Andi Deris song. He should sing that.' Or, 'That's a typical Kiske song. That sounds great [with Kiske vocals].' It's like 'Angels', for instance, it was very clear that that was mostly a Kiske song, and Sascha [Gerstner, guitar] had written it with my voice in his head. But there are other songs, especially when Andi writes his own songs, usually it sounds best when he does it unless he wrote it with my voice in his head, like he did with 'Fear Of The Fallen'. 'Fear Of The Fallen', he was writing it with both singers in his mind, and that works out.

"But it was very easy," Kiske repeated. "Because you just try it out, and you very quickly hear what works best. And I would say, like, 70 percent of the time we knew before that that would be sounding better with him or that would be sounding better with me. Or even with Kai — there were even spots where we thought he should do it."

Upon its release in June 2021, "Helloween" landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, the latest HELLOWEEN LP was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" was utilized to record the band's new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).

"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analog and Daniel Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings.

The "Pumpkins United" tour marked the first time Kiske had played live with HELLOWEEN since 1993. Hansen, who departed HELLOWEEN in 1988, had been joining the band onstage on various tours and festival appearances throughout the years. The set featured several duets with Kiske and his replacement, Deris, along with many rarely played songs, including "Kids Of The Century", "Rise And Fall" and "Livin' Ain't No Crime". Hansen — who fronted HELLOWEEN until late 1986 — sang a medley of several early HELLOWEEN classics, including "Ride The Sky", "Judas", "Starlight" and "Heavy Metal (Is The Law)".

In 2022, Deris told the "Metal Command" podcast that he "strongly" hoped the reunited expanded classic lineup of HELLOWEEN would eventually make another album to follow up "Helloween". "I mean, as long as the vibe is great, chemistry is great and everybody's having fun with each other, it would be a crime not to do so and not to plan for a future together," he said.

"'Pumpkins United' is not only the name for the last tour, I think that's something like a brand," he continued. "HELLOWEEN 'Pumpkins United', that's something like a band — a new or something like [that] growing from the old band."

On the topic of how HELLOWEEN has managed to maintain internal harmony with so many members involved, Andi said: "I just can tell you getting along with each other, I think it's rooted in the matter of fact that we're finally too old for the other shit. [Laughs] From a certain age on, you let other people live and you don't take everything personal. Talking for [myself], whenever somebody told me something that could be looked at in a negative way, I took it the negative way. Even though when you look at it from the positive side of you, you could say, 'Well, man, maybe it was even a compliment, because have you seen it from that side?' 'No.' That's what happens when you're getting older — you don't take everything on the negative side: 'Oh, he's attacking me' or 'he's meaning bad' or 'he's meaning to annihilate you or intimidate you' or whatever. Everybody in the band, even together now with seven people, I have to say everybody is old enough to not always look at it from the negative [point of view] but also try to realize who's talking. So I cannot imagine that the boys are meaning bad if they speak about me in a sense that I could take negatively, but because I like everybody, I personally think, 'Well, I don't think they're talking negatively.' So I try to find the sense in a positive way, and most of the time — 99.9 percent [of the time] — it's exactly that. It's nothing negative; it's positive. But back in the day, everything I took was negative — when I was in my 20s and 30s. Then when you get [to] 40, it's getting better. [Laughs] Or maybe it's just you don't give a shit anymore."

🎃 The world tour everyone longed-for since over two years took us to 26 countries on 3 continents. After several...

Posted by Helloween on Wednesday, November 22, 2023

In a new interview with USA Today, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was asked how he feels about looking into a sea of phones during the band's concerts. He responded: "I'm not a fan of cellphones. If I had my druthers, I'd take them all away.

"I risk my life every time I get on that stage," he continued. "There is no net. Paul [Stanley, KISS frontman] flies out all the way to the back of the arena and the entire band extends from the ceiling 80 feet high and there are no nets.

"During the show I see people texting, taking videos and we spend a lot of time, effort and money," Simmons added. "You're coming there for the show and we'd like you to watch it, but it's tough to turn back time. It's the new culture and there's an addiction part of that technology."

Back in May 2018, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna spoke out against cell-phone use at concerts, saying that there's "something really magical that happens when" you are not experiencing live performances through a "little four-inch screen."

A number of other musicians have come out in recent years to say that mobile technology is ruining the concert experience, including SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor. He told "Loudwire Nights" that "it's fine" if people want to take pictures of his bands' shows, but not so much if they are videotaping entire performances. "It's one thing to film it, it's another thing to just be staring at your screen while you're filming it," he said. "It's right there. Are you so terrified of real life that you can't do anything unless it's on that little four-by-four screen? Ugggh. It's very weird."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach in 2015 urged fans to keep their cell phones at the bottom of their pockets and just watch his performances. "Be in the moment," he said. "You're distracted and it's distracting to the performer as well. Like, put your fuckin' cell phone away, dammit! You're never even going to watch that footage."

The overuse of cellphones to capture grainy, blurry photos and videos at concerts has for years vexed and enraged artists like Bach, who lamented the fact that every one of his performances could be recorded and shared on YouTube almost immediately.

"If I go to a wedding and sing a song, it's on Blabbermouth the next day and everybody analyzes it," said Bach. "It's a really backwards way to watch a band. It's a drag sometimes when I go up there and the first thing I see is everybody getting their phones out and holding them toward my face. It makes you feel intimidated."

Back in 2012, Bruce Dickinson chastised a fan for texting during an IRON MAIDEN concert, calling him a "wanker."

When Axl Rose reunited with his former GUNS N' ROSES bandmates, Duff McKagan and Slash, for the first time in 23 years at the Troubadour in Los Angeles in April 2016, the concert was phone-free.

GHOST's two shows in September 2023 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles were device-free experiences. Use of phones and smart watches was not permitted in the performance space. Upon arrival at the venue, devices were secured in individual Yondr pouches that were opened at the end of the event.

Last month, IN FLAMES frontman Anders Fridén was asked by Jaimunji of Australia's Metal Roos for his opinion on concertgoers using cell phones to take photos and videos of performances and sometimes filming entire shows instead of enjoying the moment. He responded: "For me personally, being on stage, I'm not bothered anymore. It's up to you. Sorry to say, but if you're that stupid to go to a live show and then you watch your little screen instead of experience what's going on, I feel that's a missed opportunity. But who am I to judge? You do whatever you want. It's your money, it's your experience, and I can't change that. But I wish people put the phones in their pockets. 'Cause when they look back at this, it will be a shitty sound on your phone or you watch something on YouTube or you upload it — whatever you do. And then you were in that room and you could have had that experience, which is way greater than watch your little screen. But people can do whatever they want."

He continued: "I will never lock up their phones and say anything. Once in a while, I say stuff on stage where I go, 'Put that phone in your pocket and go into the circle pit.' But I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just a recommendation. It is what it is, and you can't change people. It's the way we live now. I mean, my kids are on the phone constantly watching — whatever they do, they are consuming, consuming, consuming. So I don't know."

During the question-and-answer portion of his November 15 "My Effin' Life In Conversation" appearance at Théâtre Maisonneuve in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, RUSH bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee was asked to name the RUSH song that was the hardest to play for him while singing. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The hardest song to play and sing that I've ever written was 'The Anarchist' from [2012's] 'Clockwork Angels' [album]. Because I wrote that song on bass first, obviously, and when we put the kind of bed track together in the demo stage, I wrote this melody without thinking about what the bass part was. And it wasn't till after we finished production of the record and I was in rehearsal where I realized they're so completely different rhythmically — there was no meeting in the middle. Usually my bass part would follow a pattern and the voice sort of slips into it, but that one was just impossible. So I spent weeks, literally, playing the one song, just on bass, didn't try singing it, until I didn't have to think about the bass part at all. And then I would have to really concentrate, and then I could do it. I figured out a way I could do it. So when I started playing it live, it's the one song I have to sort of split myself like a drummer does. Drummers have independence. Bass players not always have independence, so it was a real challenge."

See video of Lee's response below, courtesy of The Metal Voice.

Lee previously talked about "The Anarchist" in a 2012 interview with Premier Guitar. At the time, he said: "In some moments in the song 'The Anarchist', that bass melody holds that chorus together. So that was driving the chorus, and when I wrote the vocal melody it really had more to do with how those lyrics needed to be expressed, and I found to my dismay [laughs] when I came to rehearse them, that they were very difficult to do at the same time. I feared that bass line, and I made sure I went into rehearsal extra early. I'm a big believer in the 10,000-hour series — I put a lot of hours into that.

"In the past, I wrote bass patterns that were connected to the vocals in a way that allowed me to do it live without killing myself or tying my brain into a pretzel, but this time I kind of let that go because I just felt it was better for the music to go where it needed to, and worry about the best possible vocal melody for the song afterwards," he explained. "So that's how it came together — as two separate players: Me, as a bass player on this album, was a separate guy than me as a singer…. It's the syncopation [in 'The Anarchist'] — or the lack of syncopation. Rhythmically, the way the bass drives and the way the vocal sits on it are really quite different."

Released on November 14 through HarperCollins, Lee's memoir, "My Effin' Life", includes stories of Geddy's parents' traumatic experiences as teenagers in concentration camps in World War II as well as "intimate stories of his lifelong friendships with bandmates Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart — deeply mourning Peart's recent passing," according to the book's synopsis.

The idea for Lee's memoir came about after he wrote his previous book, 2018's "Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book Of Bass". He found the time to write "My Effin' Life" while locked down at home in Toronto during the pandemic.

The 70-year-old Lee is currently taking "My Effin' Life" on the road to venues all over North America up until December 7.

Geddy kicked off his "My Effin' Life In Conversation" tour on November 13 at The Beacon Theatre in New York. Produced by Live Nation, the 14-city tour is making additional stops across North America in Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and more before wrapping up in Toronto at Massey Hall.

Peart died in January 2020 after a three-year battle with glioblastoma.

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.

RUSH's final tour concluded on August 1, 2015 at the Forum in Los Angeles. Peart indicated at the time that he wanted to retire while he was still able to play well, along with a desire to spend more time at home with his young daughter.

Peart joined RUSH in 1974. He was considered one of the best rock drummers of all time, alongside John Bonham of LED ZEPPELIN; Keith Moon of THE WHO; and Ginger Baker of CREAM. Peart was also RUSH's primary lyricist, drawing inspiration from everything from sci-fi to Ayn Rand.

During a new appearance on BBC Radio 4's "Loose Ends" program, BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi was asked if he remembered writing the guitar riff to the band's classic song "Paranoid". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I can remember that one for sure. We were in the studio doing 'Paranoid' album, and the producer said… The other guys went out for something to eat, and I sat in the studio, and he said, 'We need another song. We haven't got enough songs on the album. Can you put one together?' I went, 'Well, no.' We were only in there for a couple of days, you see. And I said, 'Well, I don't know. I've never written a three-minute song.' SABBATH's always [written songs that were] five minutes or six minutes [long]. So I came up with this idea and waited till the others came back from the pub. And then I played them the idea. And, basically, we'd done it there and then."

Two years ago, Iommi told Planet Rock that "Paranoid" was "done as a filler. We had never done a three-minute song before … and it's amazing what it did."

Widely regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time, "Paranoid" reached No. 4 on the U.K. singles chart and number 61 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

"The only thing in them days for us with 'Paranoid' was it attracted a different audience to what we were used to," Iommi told Planet Rock. "We saw a lot of screaming girls and things, which we weren't used to at the gigs. And we were doing [the U.K. TV show] 'Top Of The Pops' and stuff like that. It was attracting a different audience to what we were expecting, and people would come in to hear the band play, who didn't know us. They only heard 'Paranoid' on TV and thought, 'Well, let's go and see them.' And of course, they ended hearing 'Iron Man' and all of the rest and thought, 'Oh my God. What's all of this?'"

In a 2004 interview with Guitar World magazine, BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler said that the "Paranoid" album was recorded "in about two or three days, live in the studio. The song 'Paranoid' was written as an afterthought. We basically needed a three-minute filler for the album, and Tony came up with the riff. I quickly did the lyrics, and Ozzy [Osbourne] was reading them as he was singing.

In the liner notes to SABBATH's "Reunion" album, Butler said that the music to the "Paranoid" title track was written "in five minutes, then I sat down and wrote the lyrics as quickly as I could. It was all done in about two hours."

Regarding the lyrical inspiration for "Paranoid", Butler said: "['Paranoid' is] about depression, because I didn't really know the difference between depression and paranoia. It's a drug thing; when you're smoking a joint, you get totally paranoid about people. You can't relate to people. There's that crossover between the paranoia you get when you're smoking dope and the depression afterwards."

In February 2017, SABBATH finished "The End" tour in Birmingham, closing out the quartet's groundbreaking 49-year career.

"The End" was SABBATH's last tour because Iommi — who was diagnosed with lymphoma in late 2011 — can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.

Iommi revealed his cancer diagnosis in early 2012, shortly after SABBATH announced a reunion tour and album. He underwent treatment throughout the recording of the disc, titled "13", and the subsequent tour to promote it.

The BLACK SABBATH guitarist successfully underwent an operation in January 2017 to remove a noncancerous lump from his throat.

"13" was the first album in 35 years to feature Iommi, Osbourne and Butler all playing together.

Bill Ward was on board for the SABBATH reunion when it was first announced 11 years ago, but backed out soon after. The drummer later claimed that he sat out the recording and touring sessions because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn't physically up to the task.

All four original members of SABBATH were present when the band announced its final reunion in late 2011. But Ward split from the group in 2012, citing an "unsignable" contract, and Osbourne, Iommi and Butler carried on with their Rick Rubin–produced "13" LP and extensive international touring without him.

In a recent interview with My Weekly Mixtape, TESLA guitarist Frank Hannon was asked if he and his bandmates received any pressure from their record company, Geffen, in the 1980s to compete with the so-called "hair metal" bands that were popular at the time or if Geffen was "100 percent" in TESLA's corner during that period. Frank responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I would say it was both. There was some songs that we had to fight for, but we were always being directed by the people that we worked with to write the best songs we could possibly write and not have any filler material or cheesy garbage material on an album. They always insisted that the entire album be good, not just have one song on it that was good and the rest of it be junk. And when I'm talking about [Q Prime management's] Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch and [Geffen A&R executive] Tom Zutaut, they were directing us at the time and they were responsible for RUSH, DEF LEPPARD, METALLICA, AC/DC and DOKKEN, and so they were involved with some really high-caliber kick-ass bands that had integrity. So we were very lucky to be getting advice from them to try to write real songs that were gritty and from the heart and not cheesy. And they put a lot of high expectations on us because we were, again, in the company of bands like METALLICA and RUSH and AC/DC, SCORPIONS, DEF LEPPARD. We weren't trying to compete with the glam bands and the trendy stuff. We were trying to be ourselves. And luckily we weren't having pressure put on us to be glam metal We were having more pressure on us to be ourselves and to write the best songs that we could for ourselves."

Last month, Frank weighed in on the never-ending debate about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting. Asked in an interview with Real Music With Gary Stuckey how he and his bandmates were affected by the downfall of the 1980s glam metal scene, Frank said: "Well, the '90s were definitely a harder period for us. But really, it wasn't grunge; it was our own fault. [TESLA's fourth studio album, 1994's] 'Bust A Nut' is a great album, but we were already internally having problems. So the external stuff you're talking about — grunge — it didn't really matter for us and our fans, 'cause we were never really the poster child [for '80s rock] anyway. Even during the glam days, we weren't on the cover of all the magazines as being a glam band. So, when grunge came out, and NIRVANA and PEARL JAM and all the style changed, it didn't matter, because we weren't really affected by those trends anyway."

He added: "So, I don't blame grunge — for us. [For bands that] were really cheesy or whatever, then maybe grunge kind of killed those bands. But for us, it was more our own fault. We were burnt out and partying too much and had problems."

In a 2015 interview with Southeast Of Heaven, TESLA singer Jeff Keith said that he and his bandmates "never really relied on image which is probably why we survived when grunge came along. Our fans knew we didn't rely on image so they had no problem keeping us around," he explained. "A lot of bands who were heavily reliant on image just didn't make it and they were out unless they were so huge. Bands that were at our level that relied more on image than anything just didn't make it. I mean, we had a stylist putting Aqua Net in our hair for our first video but we didn't know what we were doing. [Laughs] We didn't stick with that and we didn't rely on image. We relied on the music and our fans know that."

TESLA hasn't released a studio album since 2019's "Shock", which was produced and co-written by DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen.

In August 2022, TESLA released a standalone single, "Time To Rock!" A year earlier, the band issued another new track called "Cold Blue Steel".

In September, TESLA released the official music video for its cover of AEROSMITH's "S.O.S. (Too Bad)". The song is a bonus track on TESLA's live album, "Full Throttle Live!", which arrived this past May. The LP includes the band's "Time To Rock!" single, plus other songs, all recorded in August 2022 at Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis, South Dakota.

In September 2021, TESLA drummer Troy Luccketta announced that he would "take a little time from the road" to spend with family and friends. He has since been replaced at TESLA's gigs by Steve Brown, the younger brother of former DOKKEN drummer Mick Brown.

THE BLACK CROWES frontman Chris Robinson joined DIRTY HONEY on stage this past Monday (November 20) at the band's concert at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles, California to perform a cover of AC/DC's "Rock N' Roll Damnation". Professionally filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

The DIRTY HONEY concert at the Belasco was streamed live as a pay-per-view event on Veeps.

DIRTY HONEY's latest album, "Can't Find The Brakes", was released on November 3. Both the album's title track, "Can't Find The Brakes", and "Won't Take Me Alive" were made available as instant-grat tracks when you pre-saved/pre-add/pre-ordered the album.

With lyrics by vocalist Marc LaBelle, "Won't Take Me Alive" draws a non-negotiable line in the sand of integrity and self-determination on one side, and potentially dire consequences on the other. Lyrically, inspiration was taken from the bravery and defiance found today in the people of Ukraine, as well as from a conversation LaBelle had with a fellow traveler he met while visiting the Berlin Wall. The gentleman had grown up in Cold War Germany, so he resonated with those forced to live under autocratic rule. Musically, the song is a literal, take-no-prisoners-balls-out-rocker. The music video for "Won't Take Me Alive", released today, follows suit.

Written and directed by George Gallardo Kattah, the video centers on Ava, a private school student who is told by Helga, the school's principal, that she has to conform to the rules, wear the school uniform, no tongue piercing, no listening to rock music. But Ava is defiant; she won't submit, and instead, she continues to break down the walls of conformity that are important to establishing who she is and will be for the rest of her life. She finds solace in her attic bedroom, where she can listen to and play the music that releases her frustrations. She keeps track on a chalkboard of every day that she's in school, another day in prison. And she is desperately looking for an exit, any exit, which she finds as the story unfolds. This is "Won't Take Me Alive".

"This song made me feel like a teenager, and we had lots of fun channeling our frustrations from back in the day by doing this video," said Gallardo. "Bringing Ava and Helga to life was quite a process and a highlight of this year so far."

This past April, DIRTY HONEY — Marc LaBelle (vocals),John Notto (guitar),Justin Smolian (bass),and new drummer Jaydon Bean — headed to Australia to record the new album with longtime producer Nick DiDia. Unlike the band's self-titled, full-length 2019 debut, which, due to the pandemic, had to be recorded via Zoom with the band in Los Angeles and DiDia in Australia, DIRTY HONEY spent an entire month in the studio with DiDia.

LaBelle said: "Just physically being together in the studio with our producer made for a very creative environment; we got into such a groove, we were very focused, and not rushed, so it was great for all of us.

"We decided to call the album 'Can't Find The Brakes' because the title was almost a time capsule of our lives right now. We're constantly on the move and living each day city by city. Sometimes being a touring musician can feel like you're on a train going full speed, and even if you could find the brakes, would you really want to?"

"Having Jayden in the band has made a huge difference," said Justin. "He's an a capella singer with a background in vocal harmonies. So having him contribute, especially to the harmonies, has really added to our sound and has helped us grow a lot.

Marc added: "Jaydon's got a great approach to songwriting, and he's willing to take the ride with a song without judgment. There's a great Ed Sheeran quote that I love: 'Dare to suck. You never know what's going to happen, so just dare to suck.' Or, as Jayden puts it, 'You've just got to be open to infinity, man, you're a vessel for infinity!'"

"'Coming Home', 'Don't Put Out The Fire', 'You Make It Alright' and 'Rebel Son' are all standouts," said John. "'Won't Take Me Alive' is the most kick-ass, aggressive, badass rock song we've ever written. All of these songs widen our lane in a real energetic way."

The album cover art for "Can't Find The Brakes" was hand-painted by the world-renowned, Los Angeles-based graffiti artist Kelly "RISK" Gravel, who has been synonymous with the L.A. art scene for over 30 years. He was the first on the west coast to paint freight trains, freeway overpasses and signs, and the first artist in 400 years invited to paint in Michelangelo's studio.

"There really hasn't been a good band out of L.A. that got me pumped up," said RISK, "but DIRTY HONEY did. Their rock vibe, kind of like organized chaos, I wanted the artwork to say that."

After a busy period of numerous shows in South America, promoting "Antichrist Reborn" (2022),THE TROOPS OF DOOM, the Brazilian band featuring former SEPULTURA guitarist Jairo "Tormentor" Guedz, took a break for a great reason: the preparation for the highly anticipated second full-length album of the group, which has been confirmed as one of the attractions at the Summer Breeze Open Air Brasil festival in 2024.

Since the release of "Antichrist Reborn", Guedz, Alex Kafer (vocals and bass),Marcelo Vasco (guitar) and Alexandre Oliveira (drums) have performed shows throughout Brazil and the rest of South America. "These were very important shows, such as the Abril Pro Rock festival in Recife, Sesc Belenzinho (SP),which was actually our first complete show and sold out," commented Jairo. "We played alongside CAVALERA, which were historic shows, and we toured various cities in Brazil and countries like Argentina, Chile, and Peru alongside I AM MORBID, featuring David Vincent (ex-MORBID ANGEL). It was a tumultuous period, in a good way, and I already miss that life on the road, but we decided to take a break for a very plausible reason, which is our new album."

Recently, THE TROOPS OF DOOM renewed its contract with the Portuguese label Alma Mater Records, co-owned by Fernando Ribeiro (MOONSPELL). There is no release date yet, but the plans are for the first semester of 2024.

"Fernando and Pedro from Alma Mater Records are not sparing any effort and truly believe in our potential," stated Oliveira. "They are incredible people, very professional, and support us in all decisions, working in the right way to make everything happen smoothly. We are happy to have renewed the contract with them."

Regarding the new compositions, Vasco reveals that "things are taking shape". "Jairo and I were together in October where I live, in the Serra Gaúcha, working on the pre-production of the album, which is practically ready," he said. "We are now working on the lyrics and vocal arrangements. The album title has already been chosen, and there is a lot of awesome stuff being planned. We are preparing something truly special. You can trust us!"

Check out the first report below.

The chosen producer, André Moraes, is a musician, composer of soundtracks for cinema, theater, and television, as well as a director of films and music videos. He has been nominated for a Latin Grammy and an MTV Video Music Brazil. He worked as the producer of SEPULTURA's album "Dante XXI" and was responsible for the soundtrack of the film "Lisbela e o Prisioneiro".

"Marcelo, André, and I have been friends for a long time and haven't seen each other in person for over 20 years. This reunion, and for the reason it is, will be fantastic for all of us," said Kafer.

"The new album further captures the essence of old-school death metal from the '80s and early '90s. It will have meticulous care in production, recording, mixing, and mastering, emphasizing the return of that true organic and 'vintage' sound of the time, not to mention the aesthetic aspect. In short, everything is being carefully chosen so that the result is impressive," he added.

Guedz concluded: "We are giving birth to material that makes us very proud! The work is intense, and we are focused on every detail, so that the experience this album conveys is unforgettable, especially for fans of old-school metal, fans of the first SEPULTURA albums in which I participated, as well as other influences of the time, which are part of THE TROOPS' sound, like SLAYER, CELTIC FROST, KREATOR... But, of course, all of this with our own special touch."

SEPULTURA was formed in 1984 in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of Minas Gerais. Jairo joined the group the following year and played on the band's first two releases, 1985's "Bestial Devastation" EP and their 1986 full-length debut, "Morbid Visions". He also participated in the early songwriting sessions for 1987's "Schizophrenia".

In early 1987, Jairo quit SEPULTURA and was replaced by São Paulo-based guitarist Andreas Kisser.

"I Stand Alone: The Sully Erna Story", a film based on GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna's life story, has been made available via Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video.

The 98-minute documentary was written and produced by Erna, with additional writing, production and editing by Noah Berlow and writing, production and directing by Troy Smith.

Earlier today (Tuesday, November 21),Erna shared a poster for the film on his social media and he wrote in an accompanying message: "I am so excited to FINALLY announce the release of my new feature Documentary, 'I Stand Alone'.

"Based on my memoir 'The Paths We Choose', Myself, along with Director @troysmith323 and lead Editor @noahberlow have been working on this for almost 6 years now. So I won't babble long here.

"I just want to say thank you to my family, friends and loved ones that have helped shape me to be the man I've become today. For always believing in me and my vision to become the best I can be. And for your love and support along the way.
Thank you for being a part of my incredible journey. I wouldn't change a thing even if I could.

"For the rest of you, I hope you all enjoy this film and it inspires you to always find that inner strength to push you forward when life seems to knock you down.

"Get early access now on AppleTV and Amazon Prime and of course links available on Godsmack.com by searching the title 'I Stand Alone, The Sully Erna Story'.

"More networks coming soon!"

A trailer for "I Stand Alone: The Sully Erna Story" can be seen at this location.

For more information, visit thesullyernastory.com.

Back in May 2019, Erna confirmed to the "TODDCast Podcast" that while a documentary about GODSMACK was on the back burner, he was prepping a film based on his own life story. Erna explained: "I am fan of rock documentaries, and just recently I've been getting into 'em. I though the FOO FIGHTERS did a great job. I've watched a bunch of them. It's not even rock — sometimes it's just real documentaries on artists. The Amy Winehouse one was great; Whitney Houston's newest one was really good. I got into the story of Kurt Cobain, and then the FOO FIGHTERS was great. METALLICA's 'Some Kind Of Monster' was amazing. I like a lot of that stuff too."

Erna continued: "As far as us, we're not doing a proper GODSMACK documentary right now — we think it's just a little bit early for that — but I am releasing a documentary on my life story, from zero until we get a record deal, to show people the path that I took and the struggles I faced and things like that. So we're working on that now."

Erna previously told Tampa, Florida radio station WXTB/98 Rock that his documentary would be "kind of based on my book that has a lot of GODSMACK elements in it as it gets toward the tail end of it, because it goes from the time I was born and it's all the struggles I went through up until I got a record deal and it kind of ends there."

Erna's memoir, "The Paths We Choose", came out in 2007. At the time, he described it as "a snapshot of the first 30 years of my life." He told The Pulse Of Radio back then that it happened almost accidentally. "I never planned on writing a book," he said. "It was one of those things that just became a hobby. When I was on the road, I would be writing stories out as I talked to my friends on the phone and realized that some of these stories were so insane, I'm not sure if I would have believed some of them unless they had happened to me. And then the more I wrote out these stories, I started organizing them in the order of dates, and the more I did that, I started realizing I was writing a book."

Photo credit: Chris Bradshaw

I am so excited to FINALLY announce the release of my new feature Documentary, “I Stand Alone”. Based on my memoir “The...

Posted by Sully Erna on Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Sammy Hagar says that there is "no fucking way" David Lee Roth will take part in all of his upcoming summer 2024 tour with bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Jason Bonham that will focus largely on the music of VAN HALEN.

During an appearance on the November 14 episode of "The Howard Stern Show", Hagar discussed his decision to embark on "The Best Of All Worlds" trek, saying: "It's time. Nobody else is gonna do it. If Dave [Lee Roth] goes out, he can't sing my stuff. [But] we can do a few of the early VAN HALEN songs. I have no problem with that; I did it when I was in VAN HALEN. This is really a celebration of all that, and we are the only ones who can do it."

Sammy continued: "We're gonna invite every musician in every town. First of all, whenever you play, if there's a guitar player in town, no matter what city it is, they come out to see Joe, just like they used to for Eddie [Van Halen]. So if we've got other guitar players, we'll get them involved, other singers, get them involved. If [VAN HALEN drummer] Alex Van Halen wants to jump up, if David Lee Roth wants to come out and join us, come on, motherfucker. You are welcome. This is about VAN HALEN."

Roth responded in a statement to Van Halen News Desk, apparently accepting the invitation. "I'm ready to go. Let's do this," he wrote.

But Hagar has now seemingly shot down the possibility of Roth joining him on the entire "The Best Of All Worlds" tour. When asked by a fan on social media about Roth's response, Sammy said: "He can come out and sing a song on a show or two, if he can remember the words. He's not invited on the tour NOOO F;()$(.g way. It was to sing a song with us somewhere like a lot of singers guitarist ect are going to do on this tour. I know better than to have him on tour again. Been there done that." Hagar added in a separate comment: "He ain't coming out with me again. Maybe 1 show a song or 2 if he remembers the words".

Hagar and Anthony previously worked with Satriani in the supergroup CHICKENFOOT. They recorded two albums between 2009 and 2011 and toured across America but never performed any VAN HALEN material. More recently, Hagar and Anthony have played some of the VAN HALEN catalog with guitarist Vic Johnson and Bonham in SAMMY HAGAR AND THE CIRCLE.

Hagar mended his relationship with Eddie Van Halen months prior to the legendary VAN HALEN guitarist's October 2020 passing.

Sammy, Eddie, Alex and Michael last teamed up in 2004 for a U.S. summer tour. In exchange for taking part in the tour, Anthony reportedly had to agree to take a pay cut and sign away his rights to the band name and logo.

Produced by Live Nation, the 28-date "The Best Of All Worlds" tour will commence on July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida and will conclude on August 31 in St. Louis, Missouri.

"We're gonna go deep into the VAN HALEN catalog," Hagar told "The Howard Stern Show". "If you're gonna go deep into the VAN HALEN catalog, you need Joe Satriani."

Although Hagar and Anthony normally play five or six VAN HALEN songs" on the road with THE CIRCLE, Sammy told Stern they are planning to only play "five or six of my songs" alongside VAN HALEN classics and deep cuts.

"When we go out next year in July, it will be almost exactly 20 years since Mike and I did a reunion with Ed and Al in '04," Hagar said. "Mike and I just said, 'We can't wait another 20 years. How long can I even sing these songs? How long can I do this stuff? I just thought it's time to serve the fans."

"There's stuff we're going to do on this next tour that we haven't played since that tour in 2004," Anthony added.

Regarding the challenge of learning legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen's parts, Satriani said: "There are things that are so iconic, you have to nail it. But if you go deep with what he did live, he never played the same thing twice. He kept evolving; he kept pushing. He'd do the recorded version a little bit, but then he moved on.

"It's a daunting task when you do the deep dive into what he did," he continued. "But it's good to start at the beginning, and then you just learn all his little improvs and you get the idea of what he was trying to do. It's thrilling; it's fun."

This past April, Hagar, who, along with Roth, spent the summer of 2002 co-headlining the laboriously titled "Sammy Hagar And David Lee Roth Tour 2002: Song For Song, The Heavyweight Champs Of Rock And Roll", once again dissed Diamond Dave's oversize ego and deteriorating singing voice.

Hagar reflected on the 2002 run of shows during an appearance on Steve-O's "Wild Ride!" podcast. He said: "At that time [Roth] didn't have a solo career, really. I mean, he did, but he wasn't selling out. I was selling out arenas. I was selling out amphitheaters as Sammy Hagar with the WABOS. And I had a solo career.

"Ask Mick Jagger. Ask Robert Plant. You can be the biggest band in the world and you can't necessarily have a solo career," he continued. "But I had a solo career. So when I joined the big band, I went back to my solo career, I'm good. I still sell a lot of tickets. Dave, he had that sort of a big album, one kind of a big album, but he didn't have a solo career. He was playing small places. So when he came in with me, he was making, like, 25 grand a night, I was making 150 grand a night, and they said, 'Oh, you guys are gonna make the same money. Dave gets to make 150.' I said, 'He ain't fucking made 150 in his life except in VAN HALEN.' But I said, 'I've gotta do this.' So I bent over backwards. And he still always tried to fuck with the rules. He's not a fun guy. He doesn't play well with others. I'm not sure what his problem is… He just always is about, 'How can I make this guy look bad?' And not just me — in life. He's a chest-beating motherfucker. And God bless him, 'cause the early stuff is frickin' great. I personally, I've tried to say… [I thought] he'd be a fun guy to know. But he ain't like that. He ain't like his persona. When you get around him, he ain't that guy. He's some other cat. [Laughs]"

Hagar went on to praise Roth's skills as an entertainer, saying: "He's a showman. Hey, listen, I'm a showman too. But that's his gig. He doesn't care about singing. If he did, he'd take care of his voice or he'd take voice lessons and get warmed up and do something. 'Cause the guy sang so bad last time he was doing shows, it was embarrassing… But he's a showman. Everything's show, show, show, show, show, show, show. And he doesn't care about his voice, which drives me nuts, man. I care more about my voice than I do my dick. If my dick didn't work a couple of times, I'd be okay with it — I'd be bummed out — but if my voice fucks up onstage, I'm fucking bummed, man."

Hagar replaced Roth in VAN HALEN in 1985 and recorded four studio albums with the band — "5150", "OU812", "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" and "Balance" — all of which topped the U.S. chart. The highest-charting Roth-led VAN HALEN album was a No. 2, and it took until "1984" to achieve that. (2012's "A Different Kind Of Truth" also landed at No. 2.)

Back in October 2021, Hagar said that he had "no problem" with Roth, telling "The Mike & Carla Morning Show" on the 96.3 KKLZ radio station: "Him and I don't even have a feud. To be honest with you, I have no problem with Dave. I don't know what he's got going with me, but I think he always feels competitive. I think he feels like he has to raise his flag, like, 'I'm VAN HALEN.' 'Cause I had a solo career before VAN HALEN. I was in MONTROSE before VAN HALEN. I've had CHICKENFOOT. Dave has got VAN HALEN, so I think he has to hold on to that kind of tight. But I don't care about that. If someone said, 'Oh, I never knew you [were] in VAN HALEN,' I'd say, 'Eh…'"

In June 2021, Hagar blasted Roth, saying his voice "hasn't aged well" and describing the original VAN HALEN singer's onstage persona as "totally bullshit." He told Brazil's "Inside With Paulo Baron" Internet show: "[David is] a real character. He's a showman. He's all show. I enjoy him. But you talk about cringing. I can't imagine how he feels when he looks at some of them old videos, the way he was dancing and moving, and the way he was singing live sometimes. I don't know how he feels about all that, but I don't think he cares. The difference between him and I [is] I sincerely care — I care about everything I do and I care how it affects people and I care what they think. I care that it touches them and it makes them happy. And what is important to me is enlightening and elevating people spiritually and making them happy and making them have big dreams, making them want to be better themselves. And that's my goal with everything I do — is to bring that to people and change their life, if I can. I don't think he cares about anything like that. And that's the difference between our presence. He's very much into himself, very much into being a showman and doesn't really care. I don't know what he cares about; I really don't. I don't know him. I have no idea who that guy is; I don't think anyone does. But he entertains me. I enjoy watching him do stupid shit."

Asked what he thinks when he sees the way David presents himself to the public, Sammy said: "Well, the first thing I'd say is I look at him and I think, 'Wow. He's a strange person. He's a strange character.' He's not what he's saying he is; he's pretending. He's totally bullshit. Everything he does is thought up and it's an image. It's nothing to do with who he is; he's not exposing who and what he is. And I know this for a fact. I knew that the first time I saw him. I said, 'This guy, he's putting on an image, putting on a show.' He goes back home and goes in his house, and he's a whole different guy — nothing to do with that guy [you see on stage]. He's not honest about his image and his performance. That's what I see when I see him; that's how I feel. But I tried to be friends."

Referring to the time when he and Roth teamed up for the co-headlining tour in 2002, Sammy continued: "When we did our together, I thought it was gonna be so much fun. I thought, 'If he's anything like he claims to be, we're gonna have a good time.' But he wasn't. He was the worst guy to be around. He wasn't ever around. He hides out. You never see him. He puts on this whole big front and comes out, 'I'm here. David Lee Roth is here,' and then he goes and hides again. I don't think he's happy. He's never been married; never had a relationship; never had children. It's, like, man, how do you live like that? I don't know. I'm a family man. And I love women — I love women and children… He hasn't aged well — his voice. [Laughs] I don't know. It's hard."

According to Hagar, he has tried a number of times to be respectful to Roth, particularly because of David's immeasurable contribution to VAN HALEN's legacy.

"I used to not wanna cause trouble," he said. "First, in the old days, before I was in VAN HALEN, I ripped him through the fucking coals when I [did] the press, before I ever was in that band. And then when I joined the band, I tried to be nice. And then when I left the band, I tried to be nice about him. And then we did our together, and then I fucking said, 'Fuck this guy. He's an asshole. You can't get along with him. He's no fun. He's full of shit.' And then now, after [VAN HALEN guitarist] Eddie's [Van Halen] death, I feel, once again, he's part of the VAN HALEN legacy and he's important. So I wouldn't wanna ruin anything to do with what he brought to that legacy. I want VAN HALEN to go down as one of the greatest rock bands of all time — but not just my [era]; Dave's era [as well]. I want Eddie to be the legend and get the respect that he deserves, and the only way to preserve that is by being kind about the past. And, like in my [2011's autobiography, 'Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock'], like I said, that's the only thing I would probably [change in the book if I was writing it now is I would] soften it up [as it relates to Eddie]. But it's too late — it is what it is. And it's honest. So I'm not lying, I'm not backpedaling — nope, nope. It's all true. But God rest his soul. He brought a lot to this planet, to this business of rock and roll, Eddie Van Halen did. And Dave was a part of it. It's too bad what he's become. [Laughs] But that's different. It's not VAN HALEN anymore."

In November 2020, Eddie's son Wolfgang revealed that his father had contemplated a "kitchen-sink tour" that would have included classic-era bassist Michael Anthony, as well as vocal turns from both Hagar and Roth. There was even talk about bringing back Gary Cherone, who sang with VAN HALEN on one poorly received album, 1998's "Van Halen III".

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

Sammy Hagar photo credit: Leah Steiger
Sammy Hagar was asked by fans today in the comments of his latest IG post about DLR’s interest in participating in the 2024 Tour. Here’s what he wrote … 🤨 pic.twitter.com/8QMNdkzgvk

— Greg Renoff (@GregRenoff) November 22, 2023

David Lee Roth says that he is "ready" to take part in Sammy Hagar's upcoming summer 2024 tour with bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Jason Bonham that will focus largely on the music of VAN HALEN. Support on "The Best Of All Worlds" trek will come from LOVERBOY.

During an appearance on the November 14 episode of "The Howard Stern Show", Hagar discussed his decision to embark on "The Best Of All Worlds" trek, saying: "It's time. Nobody else is gonna do it. If Dave [Lee Roth] goes out, he can't sing my stuff. [But] we can do a few of the early VAN HALEN songs. I have no problem with that; I did it when I was in VAN HALEN. This is really a celebration of all that, and we are the only ones who can do it."

Sammy continued: "We're gonna invite every musician in every town. First of all, whenever you play, if there's a guitar player in town, no matter what city it is, they come out to see Joe, just like they used to for Eddie [Van Halen]. So if we've got other guitar players, we'll get them involved, other singers, get them involved. If [VAN HALEN drummer] Alex Van Halen wants to jump up, if David Lee Roth wants to come out and join us, come on, motherfucker. You are welcome. This is about VAN HALEN."

In a new statement provided to Van Halen News Desk about Hagar's invite, Roth said simply: "I'm ready to go. Let's do this."

Hagar and Anthony previously worked with Satriani in the supergroup CHICKENFOOT. They recorded two albums between 2009 and 2011 and toured across America but never performed any VAN HALEN material. More recently, Hagar and Anthony have played some of the VAN HALEN catalog with guitarist Vic Johnson and Bonham in SAMMY HAGAR AND THE CIRCLE.

Hagar mended his relationship with Eddie Van Halen months prior to the legendary VAN HALEN guitarist's October 2020 passing.

Sammy, Eddie, Alex and Michael last teamed up in 2004 for a U.S. summer tour. In exchange for taking part in the tour, Anthony reportedly had to agree to take a pay cut and sign away his rights to the band name and logo.

Produced by Live Nation, the 28-date "The Best Of All Worlds" tour will commence on July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida and will conclude on August 31 in St. Louis, Missouri.

"We're gonna go deep into the VAN HALEN catalog," Hagar told "The Howard Stern Show". "If you're gonna go deep into the VAN HALEN catalog, you need Joe Satriani."

Although Hagar and Anthony normally play five or six VAN HALEN songs" on the road with THE CIRCLE, Sammy told Stern they are planning to only play "five or six of my songs" alongside VAN HALEN classics and deep cuts.

"When we go out next year in July, it will be almost exactly 20 years since Mike and I did a reunion with Ed and Al in '04," Hagar said. "Mike and I just said, 'We can't wait another 20 years. How long can I even sing these songs? How long can I do this stuff? I just thought it's time to serve the fans."

"There's stuff we're going to do on this next tour that we haven't played since that tour in 2004," Anthony added.

Regarding the challenge of learning legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen's parts, Satriani said: "There are things that are so iconic, you have to nail it. But if you go deep with what he did live, he never played the same thing twice. He kept evolving; he kept pushing. He'd do the recorded version a little bit, but then he moved on.

"It's a daunting task when you do the deep dive into what he did," he continued. "But it's good to start at the beginning, and then you just learn all his little improvs and you get the idea of what he was trying to do. It's thrilling; it's fun."

This past April, Hagar, who, along with Roth, spent the summer of 2002 co-headlining the laboriously titled "Sammy Hagar And David Lee Roth Tour 2002: Song For Song, The Heavyweight Champs Of Rock And Roll", once again dissed Diamond Dave's oversize ego and deteriorating singing voice.

Hagar reflected on the 2002 run of shows during an appearance on Steve-O's "Wild Ride!" podcast. He said: "At that time [Roth] didn't have a solo career, really. I mean, he did, but he wasn't selling out. I was selling out arenas. I was selling out amphitheaters as Sammy Hagar with the WABOS. And I had a solo career.

"Ask Mick Jagger. Ask Robert Plant. You can be the biggest band in the world and you can't necessarily have a solo career," he continued. "But I had a solo career. So when I joined the big band, I went back to my solo career, I'm good. I still sell a lot of tickets. Dave, he had that sort of a big album, one kind of a big album, but he didn't have a solo career. He was playing small places. So when he came in with me, he was making, like, 25 grand a night, I was making 150 grand a night, and they said, 'Oh, you guys are gonna make the same money. Dave gets to make 150.' I said, 'He ain't fucking made 150 in his life except in VAN HALEN.' But I said, 'I've gotta do this.' So I bent over backwards. And he still always tried to fuck with the rules. He's not a fun guy. He doesn't play well with others. I'm not sure what his problem is… He just always is about, 'How can I make this guy look bad?' And not just me — in life. He's a chest-beating motherfucker. And God bless him, 'cause the early stuff is frickin' great. I personally, I've tried to say… [I thought] he'd be a fun guy to know. But he ain't like that. He ain't like his persona. When you get around him, he ain't that guy. He's some other cat. [Laughs]"

Hagar went on to praise Roth's skills as an entertainer, saying: "He's a showman. Hey, listen, I'm a showman too. But that's his gig. He doesn't care about singing. If he did, he'd take care of his voice or he'd take voice lessons and get warmed up and do something. 'Cause the guy sang so bad last time he was doing shows, it was embarrassing… But he's a showman. Everything's show, show, show, show, show, show, show. And he doesn't care about his voice, which drives me nuts, man. I care more about my voice than I do my dick. If my dick didn't work a couple of times, I'd be okay with it — I'd be bummed out — but if my voice fucks up onstage, I'm fucking bummed, man."

Hagar replaced Roth in VAN HALEN in 1985 and recorded four studio albums with the band — "5150", "OU812", "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" and "Balance" — all of which topped the U.S. chart. The highest-charting Roth-led VAN HALEN album was a No. 2, and it took until "1984" to achieve that. (2012's "A Different Kind Of Truth" also landed at No. 2.)

Back in October 2021, Hagar said that he had "no problem" with Roth, telling "The Mike & Carla Morning Show" on the 96.3 KKLZ radio station: "Him and I don't even have a feud. To be honest with you, I have no problem with Dave. I don't know what he's got going with me, but I think he always feels competitive. I think he feels like he has to raise his flag, like, 'I'm VAN HALEN.' 'Cause I had a solo career before VAN HALEN. I was in MONTROSE before VAN HALEN. I've had CHICKENFOOT. Dave has got VAN HALEN, so I think he has to hold on to that kind of tight. But I don't care about that. If someone said, 'Oh, I never knew you [were] in VAN HALEN,' I'd say, 'Eh…'"

In June 2021, Hagar blasted Roth, saying his voice "hasn't aged well" and describing the original VAN HALEN singer's onstage persona as "totally bullshit." He told Brazil's "Inside With Paulo Baron" Internet show: "[David is] a real character. He's a showman. He's all show. I enjoy him. But you talk about cringing. I can't imagine how he feels when he looks at some of them old videos, the way he was dancing and moving, and the way he was singing live sometimes. I don't know how he feels about all that, but I don't think he cares. The difference between him and I [is] I sincerely care — I care about everything I do and I care how it affects people and I care what they think. I care that it touches them and it makes them happy. And what is important to me is enlightening and elevating people spiritually and making them happy and making them have big dreams, making them want to be better themselves. And that's my goal with everything I do — is to bring that to people and change their life, if I can. I don't think he cares about anything like that. And that's the difference between our presence. He's very much into himself, very much into being a showman and doesn't really care. I don't know what he cares about; I really don't. I don't know him. I have no idea who that guy is; I don't think anyone does. But he entertains me. I enjoy watching him do stupid shit."

Asked what he thinks when he sees the way David presents himself to the public, Sammy said: "Well, the first thing I'd say is I look at him and I think, 'Wow. He's a strange person. He's a strange character.' He's not what he's saying he is; he's pretending. He's totally bullshit. Everything he does is thought up and it's an image. It's nothing to do with who he is; he's not exposing who and what he is. And I know this for a fact. I knew that the first time I saw him. I said, 'This guy, he's putting on an image, putting on a show.' He goes back home and goes in his house, and he's a whole different guy — nothing to do with that guy [you see on stage]. He's not honest about his image and his performance. That's what I see when I see him; that's how I feel. But I tried to be friends."

Referring to the time when he and Roth teamed up for the co-headlining tour in 2002, Sammy continued: "When we did our together, I thought it was gonna be so much fun. I thought, 'If he's anything like he claims to be, we're gonna have a good time.' But he wasn't. He was the worst guy to be around. He wasn't ever around. He hides out. You never see him. He puts on this whole big front and comes out, 'I'm here. David Lee Roth is here,' and then he goes and hides again. I don't think he's happy. He's never been married; never had a relationship; never had children. It's, like, man, how do you live like that? I don't know. I'm a family man. And I love women — I love women and children… He hasn't aged well — his voice. [Laughs] I don't know. It's hard."

According to Hagar, he has tried a number of times to be respectful to Roth, particularly because of David's immeasurable contribution to VAN HALEN's legacy.

"I used to not wanna cause trouble," he said. "First, in the old days, before I was in VAN HALEN, I ripped him through the fucking coals when I [did] the press, before I ever was in that band. And then when I joined the band, I tried to be nice. And then when I left the band, I tried to be nice about him. And then we did our together, and then I fucking said, 'Fuck this guy. He's an asshole. You can't get along with him. He's no fun. He's full of shit.' And then now, after [VAN HALEN guitarist] Eddie's [Van Halen] death, I feel, once again, he's part of the VAN HALEN legacy and he's important. So I wouldn't wanna ruin anything to do with what he brought to that legacy. I want VAN HALEN to go down as one of the greatest rock bands of all time — but not just my [era]; Dave's era [as well]. I want Eddie to be the legend and get the respect that he deserves, and the only way to preserve that is by being kind about the past. And, like in my [2011's autobiography, 'Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock'], like I said, that's the only thing I would probably [change in the book if I was writing it now is I would] soften it up [as it relates to Eddie]. But it's too late — it is what it is. And it's honest. So I'm not lying, I'm not backpedaling — nope, nope. It's all true. But God rest his soul. He brought a lot to this planet, to this business of rock and roll, Eddie Van Halen did. And Dave was a part of it. It's too bad what he's become. [Laughs] But that's different. It's not VAN HALEN anymore."

In November 2020, Eddie's son Wolfgang revealed that his father had contemplated a "kitchen-sink tour" that would have included classic-era bassist Michael Anthony, as well as vocal turns from both Hagar and Roth. There was even talk about bringing back Gary Cherone, who sang with VAN HALEN on one poorly received album, 1998's "Van Halen III".

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

Sammy Hagar photo credit: Leah Steiger

In a new interview with SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk to promote Dolly Parton's rock album "Rockstar", the country icon discussed her duet with JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford on a song called "Bygones".

On "Bygones", Dolly and Rob sing about apologizing to an unnamed party who refuses to forgive them and "let bygones be bygones." Along with vocals from the JUDAS PRIEST frontman, the song features contributions from MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx and guitarist John 5.

After Trunk jokingly asked Dolly if we might get a metal record from her next, she laughed and said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't think so." Trunk then said, "You came close on that [song]," to which she replied: "Did I? I didn't realize, but I did love Rob Halford. We got to talk a lot 'cause he went in the [Rock And Roll] Hall Of Fame when I did. And so I got to visit a lot of these people that are on the record … that were put in the Hall Of Fame at the same time I was. And so when I talked to Rob, I asked him if he would be willing to sing on my record if I called on him. He said, 'I sure would, 'cause my mom, my grandma, my kids, we've all loved you through the years.' And so when I got ready to do that, as you mentioned, [Nashville producer] Kent [Wells] and I wrote that one — it's another original — and then we got the boys on it, 'cause Kent got the musicians on it. And so, it just turned out to be something really, really special, I thought. It was a really a good piece of music, I thought."

Trunk also asked Parton about Halford joining her as part of a climactic, all-star performance of her classic song "Jolene" at last year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony. The "super jam" performance also featured P!nk (who inducted Dolly into the Hall Of Fame),Brandi Carlile, Simon Lebon of DURAN DURAN, Sheryl Crow, Annie Lennox of EURYTHMICS, and Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. Describing Parton and Halford sharing the microphone at Rock Hall as "one of the most mindblowing metal moments ever," Trunk said that Rob was clearly "so happy and excited," to which Dolly replied: "He was loving it. He was loving it. He was so nice. I just loved him. But anyway, he said that, kind of like some of the others, they had watched me since they were kids growing up. I had heard they'd been listening to my music. So that made me feel good."

In a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine, Halford said that he had been a Parton fan for as long as he can remember. "My first recollections of Dolly go all the way back," he said. "I think everybody on the planet knew of this remarkable woman. I remember her being on British television and just being so engaging. When she performs, even if you're not a country fan, there's something about her personality that draws you in. Not only as a musician, but as a humanitarian, a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ people, right from day one — even when you didn't talk about that. And visually she's as unique as Lemmy."

Asked what he thought when he first heard "Bygones", Halford said: "When they sent me the demo, it was just immediate. It was in my world — it wasn't metal, but it was a tough song, and when you crank it up, it's roaring. And it's a wonderful lyric. She's talking about overcoming the past and how love is stronger than yelling at each other — although I think people that are in love do yell at each other, and that's a healthy relationship. It's this great message that love always rises and wins. But the words of her songs have a tremendous reach beyond the initial subject matter. You could also put that song on the world stage — y'know, it could be about politics, government, war, anything."

Back in November 2022, just a couple of weeks after the Rock Hall ceremony, Halford spoke to the San Antonio Current about what it was like to briefly share the microphone with Dolly. He said: "I knew that there was going to be an opportunity a few weeks before the event. Again, it was just kind of floating around that she was going to do this song at the end of the show and bring all of her friends onstage with her. And I didn't realize that we were going to be so connected. I sang one chorus with Dolly Parton and the world's gone nuts. And I can appreciate that now. I didn't understand it at first. And now these days have gone by, and people are going, 'Where's the album with Dolly and The Metal God?'

"I'll tell you something about her: she's been here forever, a bit like Her Majesty the Queen, who left us recently," he continued. "What I mean by that is when Dolly walks into the room, you feel this regal presence. She's just got this aura about her personality. She's a genuinely beautiful light of love and caring and philanthropy and humanity. It's all real, man. It's all very real. There are some people who are very different on and off stage. Well, no, not with Dolly. That's Dolly's thing. So, for me to have that opportunity, I was just blessed and honored and thrilled. I know her work because I've lived as long as Dolly, and I was aware of Dolly as a young person growing up and seeing her on British television. She'd come over and do these British variety shows. And here I am, this kid from a public housing estate in the West Midlands in England, and I'm standing next to Dolly fucking Parton, who is now a rock chick."

Halford had previously revealed he was a huge fan of Dolly, and had planned to take a photo with her at the ceremony.

"I'm going to force her to, even if she doesn't know who I am," he told Metal Crypt in June 2022. "I'm going to see what table she is sitting at. I'm just going to run to the table and do the devil's horns thing. Tongue out, horns up, behind Dolly Parton's head. It's the only way to do it. I can't smile sweetly. I've got to stick my tongue out and my horns up."

Halford told Rolling Stone last year that he had no issues with Dolly being inducted into the Rock Hall.

"If you look at everyone in the Hall, it makes perfect sense to have Dolly Parton in there," he said. "I think it's just this 'rock and roll' thing. Should it be called the Music Hall Of Fame? I don't know. It started out with rock and roll, and roll and roll is everything and anything. It's just a phraseology."

PRIEST received the Musical Excellence Award at the Rock Hall event, which honored Eminem, Parton, DURAN DURAN, Richie, Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

The JUDAS PRIEST members that got inducted include current members Halford, Ian Hill (bass),Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums),along with former members K.K. Downing (guitar),Les Binks (drums) and late drummer Dave Holland.

Earlier in the evening, Halford, Hill, Tipton and Travis were joined by Binks, Downing and current guitarist Richie Faulkner for three-song medley consisting of "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight".

Judas Priest frontman, Rob Halford, performed alongside Dolly Parton when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame last year.


When approached with the offer to perform alongside her during the ceremony, Halford was stunned, reports Woman's World. “I’m like, ‘Let me sit down for a minute,’” he told Total Rock’s Dawn Osborne of the unforgettable moment that led to him being asked to contribute to the country queen’s Rockstar album, which dropped on November 17.


“I was over the top, cause I was all over [her] like a rash. I was, like, a total fanboy,” Halford shared of his heady state following their group performance, which also featured Pat Benatar, Sheryl Crow, P!nk and Annie Lennox.




Things got even more surreal for the rocker when he was approached to collaborate on Rockstar, which was just in its planning stages at that point. He, of course, jumped at the offer and “Bygones,” one of the CD’s nine original tracks, was born.


Read more at Woman's World, and check out the above-mentioned "Bygones" below:

In a recent interview with Bobby Dee Presents, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES frontman Mike Muir was asked if fans can expect to hear new music from him and his bandmates soon. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, I think we go about it differently than a lot of people. Especially, I think, when the COVID happened, you realize — as my dad would call it, he called it the panicky people. And you don't do things because you're panicking; you do things because it's something you feel in your heart. And so when that happened, [some] people [said], 'Oh, we're recording all these songs. We're doing this. Ain't got nothing else to do.' And I go, 'That's not what music's about. It's not about, you got nothing better to do.' You should have things better. If you don't, then you better spend some time trying to figure out what you need to be doing. But there's a lot of music that we've always recorded that we love, that means stuff to us. And then there's stuff you realize that, like — I go back to the first record. One of my best friends said, he goes, 'Man, Mike, listen to radio. You can do that. What you're doing ain't music.' And I go, 'I don't like what's on the radio, so I don't wanna do that. I just wanna do my thing, whether people like it or not.' He goes, 'You don't think people like it?' I go, 'I don't care if people like it. It's what I wanna do.'"

He added: "And so I think right now we've been recording a lot of stuff and [it's] completely different and to the point where I go, 'Yeah, people won't like this. So it's probably what I should do.'"

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' latest album, "Still Cyco Punk After All These Years", was released in 2018 via Suicidal Records. A reworking of Muir's 1996 solo outing "Lost My Brain! (Once Again)", "Still Cyco Punk" featured founding SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of their debut album on a number of shows in the fall, including in New York City (October 15 at Terminal 5),Silver Spring, Maryland (October 12 at The Fillmore),Worcester, Massachusetts (October 13 at The Palladium),and Berkeley, California (October 19 and 20 at The UC Theatre). SUICIDAL TENDENCIES also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the LP on a tour of Australia.

The 2023 lineup of SUICIDAL TENDENCIES includes founding member Muir alongside guitarists Ben Weinman (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) and Dean Pleasants, bassist Tye Trujillo (son of Robert Trujillo),as well as the band's latest addition, drummer Greyson Nekrutman.