SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser is celebrating the fifth anniversary of his getting sober.

On Saturday (March 1),the 56-year-old Brazilian-born musician took to his Instagram to write: "March 1st, today I celebrate 5 years without alcohol in my life! The best feeling ever! Much love to you all!"

Less than four years ago, Kisser told A&P Reacts that he "quit alcohol right before the pandemic hit. It was one of the best decisions I made in my life," he said. "Not that I was a fucking out-of-control alcoholic, but alcohol was a part of my life, of everything I did. In certain degrees less and more, but it was there. It was taking control of my life, of my choices, of how I dealt with people or with a special occasion or something. Alcohol was involved in everything. And I don't need that. And I proved now that I don't, because I'm having a better life. I'm doing exercises. I have the routine I never had touring."

According to Kisser, "it was very easy" for him to give up the bottle. "Once you have a clear idea in your mind, there's no discussion," he explained. "I didn't put the responsibility on a saint or, let's say, in a church, or 'I will stop for a year' or 'I promise you, my wife, I don't drink anymore.' No. It's not for them. It's a very personal attitude. It's me with me — not more. I don't have to put the responsibility away from myself, in a time period or in a certain religious belief or my family. They don't deserve that. This is my problem, and I resolve it with myself. So I'm in peace with myself with that. It's not something that bothers me. I can be around alcohol, I can be around parties, I can be around backstage, as I did with my KISSER CLAN band here and stuff. People drink around [me], [and] I don't care. I don't even feel the wish to drink, which is great. So I don't have a battle, let's put it that way. I'm not running away from anything. I just decided to stop. That's it."

Kisser is not the only member of SEPULTURA's classic lineup to have gotten sober. Back in 2016, former SEPULTURA frontman Max Cavalera told Metal Insider that he had been "straight edge" at that point for a decade. "I was kind of a mess 10 years ago, drinking and doing a lot of drugs, and it was affecting some of my touring," he stated at the time. "I'm a very extreme guy, so when I do something, I do it all the way. I quit drinking and doing drugs entirely, and when I did it, I realized my passion for metal grew even more. I became more into metal, into new bands and stuff."

Cavalera reflected on his 16-year battle with drug and alcohol addiction in a 2016 interview with Metal Hammer. He told the magazine that he became hooked on prescription drugs not long after his father's death. "I was taking too many of them on a daily basis and then drinking on top of it," he said. "It's a lethal combination, and then I added sleep medicines on top of all that. It's a miracle I am still alive.

"There's a lot of pressure that comes with fame. Record label pressure, fans pressure, and we don’t have a manual or a guide to surviving this shit."

Max continued: "I think for some musicians the pressure of fame gets to them. For me, it started with the death of my father. I became very sad and drinking was one way to deal with my sadness. The drugs — I just liked them. I liked the buzz of a painkiller. The energy it gave me."

Andreas's wife Patricia Perissinoto Kisser passed away on July 3, 2022 after a battle with colon cancer. She had just turned 52 years old one day earlier.

Andreas and the couple's three children, Giulia, Yohan and Enzo, announced Patricia's death in a social media post. They wrote: "It is with deep sadness that we have to share that Patricia Perissinoto Kisser passed away this morning. She will remain in our memories forever."

Andreas and Patricia had been together for 32 years after first getting together in 1990. They married in 1994.

In June 2022, Andreas left SEPULTURA's European tour due to what was described at the time as a "family emergency." He was temporarily replaced on the road by Jean Patton of fellow São Paulo, Brazil-based heavy metal act PROJECT46.

SEPULTURA's current lineup comprises Kisser, vocalist Derrick Green, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and drummer Greyson Nekrutman.

SEPULTURA kicked off its farewell tour on March 1, 2024 at Arena Hall in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The sold-out show marked the band's debut performance with Nekrutman, who previously played with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.

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During an appearance on the latest episode of "Talk Is Jericho", the podcast hosted by wrestling superstar and FOZZY frontman Chris Jericho, KISS guitarist Paul Stanley was asked why there weren't any guest appearances by former KISS members at the band's final shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden in New York City in December 2023. Paul responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "To be somewhat diplomatic, there were people who made unrealistic demands of what they required. And it's not about that. It wasn't, for example, a celebration of the beginning of the band; it was a celebration of 50 years of a band, as opposed to a tribute to the start. So, as far as Ace [Frehley, original KISS guitarist] and Peter [Criss, original KISS drummer], they weren't there for many reasons. And I've said it a hundred times and I'll say it another hundred times. We couldn't be here today without what those guys did, and we couldn't be here today with them."

Asked by Jericho about the lack of any mention of other former KISS members, such as Eric Carr, Bruce Kulick and Mark St. John, Stanley said: "What are you gonna do? I think the best way to honor everyone is to be the best we can be. What are we gonna have — videos up on the screen or draped photos? The fact that we were there, we were there because of everybody who participated, some more than others, but the tribute to everyone is us existing."

Regarding how he feels about KISS's legacy, especially in light of the fact that bands like THE ROLLING STONES are still continuing to play and record music, Paul said: "I think the legacy is only gonna grow. I think it's only gonna get bigger. THE STONES are an interesting one. At some point, what's it gonna be? THE STONE? 'I'm gonna see THE ROLLING STONE.' They have survived more decades than us, certainly, and are an institution. People go to see them because it's THE STONES. So, I think that over time we'll only get bigger because you become more powerful the longer you exist."

Paul added: "When we were doing the 'End Of The Road' tour, I think we became almost superheroes because we were timeless and we didn't change that greatly. People would come to see us and go, 'Wow, they look like they did 40 years ago.' You didn't get that close to us. But, yeah, I think KISS is timeless and that KISS will just transcend everything it's been."

Last year, ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick told Finland's Chaoszine that Stanley and fellow KISS founder Gene Simmons "missed a really huge opportunity" when they failed to acknowledge any of the band's former members during the final concert. "It's not just about me," Bruce clarified. "[They also didn't mention late KISS drummer] Eric Carr, Ace and Peter, and [late KISS manager] Bill Aucoin. Come on. Terrible. They really missed making a better feel-good evening for everyone when it was much closer to every night before. And those who say, 'Well, I saw you up on the screen.' They'd been doing that for years where they'd have little things. So they didn't feel it was important. I feel they missed an opportunity."

In January 2024, Frehley explained to Rock Candy magazine why he never made it on stage with KISS for their final show at Madison Square Garden after last leaving the band back in 2002.

"Fans would constantly reach out to me and say, 'Ace, please come back to the band,'" Frehley explained. "So the fans were and are my primary motivators, and I want them to know that I did try, but I couldn't make it happen. They never asked me."

Frehley dismissed the idea that his well-documented troubles with drugs and alcohol could ever have been a reason for Simmons and Stanley not reaching out to him.

"I'm sober, and all my friends and associates will tell you as much," he stated categorically. "I got to the point in life where drugs and alcohol had taken me over, and I'm just so happy to be away from all that."

Despite the much-reported rifts with Simmons and Stanley over many years, nevertheless Frehley insisted that he still had affection for both of them.

"I want people to know that I do love Paul and Gene," he said. "I wish things would have been different, but it wasn't to be…" Nor does Frehley hold any animosity towards his replacement Tommy Thayer. "He's a good guy and deserves a break," Ace said. "He's not me, but he was never going to be me. In a lot of ways, his task was impossible."

In November 2023, prior to KISS's final concert, Frehley told Mark Strigl of SiriusXM's Ozzy's Boneyard that he didn't hold a grudge against KISS, despite all the badmouthing that had gone on between him and some of the other original KISS members in recent years.

"I wish KISS the best, all the best on their final shows for the 'End Of The Road' tour," he said. "There's really no hard feelings. We say things sometimes in the heat of passion or sometimes our memory isn't… [we don't] recall things. But I love those guys. We're all getting old, our memory isn't what it used to be, so I just let it roll off my back."

Also in November 2023, Simmons lamented the absence of Frehley and Criss at KISS's final shows, telling 519 Magazine: "I feel sad. I feel sad and angry that both Ace and Peter aren't here. I mean, they're alive, but they're not here to enjoy this unbelievable journey with us. They were there at the beginning and deserve all the credit. And when they look in the mirror, the only reason they're not here with us is themselves.

"Inviting them was as much for the fans as it was for us. KISS has always been about the whole, not the individual. It would've been fitting to have all of us there, one last time."

In June 2023, Gene was asked by Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock about the possibility of Ace and Peter making guest appearances at the band's last-ever concerts in December 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He responded: "For the fans — the older, older fans — the ones who've been around for 50 years, they're old, and some of them wanna see Ace and Peter. The newer fans never saw them and they don't know. But the older fans wonder about Ace and Peter. Well, I asked both Ace and Peter a few times: 'Do you wanna come out for the encores? Do you wanna do some shows?' And they both said 'no.' So, I don't know what to say about that… But it's always welcome. But there are many other big stars, superstars, who wanna jump up onstage and play a song. But we're not sure about that. Maybe the best thing to do is to end the way we started: four guys with guitars. No keyboards, no synthesizers — nothing. Just playing."

In April 2023, Frehley told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he was still open to playing with KISS at the band's final shows in New York City. "Money motivates me, just like it motivates them, but I don't put money before God," he explained. "If I got a quarter of a million dollars a night, and I can make half a million dollars for playing three or four songs, five songs, I'd take the money. [I'd] buy a Ferrari… buy a Maserati. [Laughs] I don't really wanna play with those guys ever again after what they've done, but money can change my mind."

Frehley continued: "Look, I'm a capitalist. I grew up in America. But I'd never put money before people's feelings. I like money as much as the next guy does, but money isn't my God, like it is theirs. They're all atheists. Whatever they can do or say, whether it's true or false, as long as it makes them the most amount of money, they're gonna do [it]."

Ace also addressed the issue of whether he would perform with KISS at the band's final concerts while wearing his trademark "Spaceman" makeup — the same makeup his replacement Tommy Thayer had been sporting for more than two decades. "Sure. For a quarter of a million dollars," he said, explaining that "I'm a good-looking guy. I don't need the makeup."

When Trunk pressed Ace about what he thought the odds were of him playing with KISS at the final concerts in New York, Frehley said: "It all depends on money. If I get a formal invitation with a check, I'll be there. But they've gotta have deep pockets… If they don't wanna pay me, I won't be there, ladies and gentleman."

Ace also once again confirmed that he had never received a formal invitation to join his former bandmates at their last-ever shows. "Absolutely not," he said. "From what I understand, the shows are sold out. The only reason they sold out is they made innuendos that me and Peter were gonna be there, [that] they invited us. I wasn't invited. They lie all the time. Haven't they said, 'We're inviting Ace and Peter to come up and play?' Or at least me? Multiple times. So, people bought the tickets. But I haven't been given a formal invitation or given an offer monetarily. And I'm probably not gonna get one now after this interview. And guess what: I don't give a shit."

Despite everything that has been said between all the parties, Ace claimed that he still looked back fondly on his time with KISS and he didn't hate his former bandmates.

"Look, the bottom line is this: deep down in my heart, I love those guys, because we created something so special that it will be remembered for years," he said. "When we're all dead and buried, there will still be people listening to KISS music. And I'm overjoyed. But I want my legacy to be cleared of any of this bullshit and lies."

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but was later extended to late 2023. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band's classic song "Detroit Rock City" on "America's Got Talent".

In a June 2022 interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Simmons was asked if Frehley and Peter would have any involvement in KISS's final concerts. He responded: "We've tried. I keep trying. Paul and I met with Ace, trying to convince him to come back. He said, 'I want this. I want that.' Well, we can't do that. I asked Ace and Peter to be in the documentary ['Biography: KISStory', which premiered on A&E in June 2021]. They said no. They might do it if they have complete control of the edit. I said, 'We can't do that, because even we don't have that. But I won't control what you say; you can say whatever you want.' The answer is no — both of them. I asked Ace and Peter, 'Come out on tour. We'll get you your own room and everything. Come out on the encores.' Ace said, 'No. The only way I'll come out is if I'm the Spaceman and you ask Tommy [Thayer, KISS's current guitarist] to leave.' I go, 'Well, that's not gonna happen.' First of all, I care about Ace, but he's not in shape — he can't play that way and doesn't have the physical stamina to do that…

"Look, we care about them," Gene added. "We started this thing together and they were equally important to the beginning of the band with Paul and I — no question. But as time went on… Not everybody is designed to run a marathon. Some people are designed to be in a band for a year or two, or a few years, and then that's all they can do. And both of them have been in the band three different times. How many chances in life do you get? All I know is when I put my hand in fire the first time, I got burnt; I didn't get a second or third chance.

"So, the answer is the door's always open," Simmons said. "If they wanna jump on stage at any time and do the encores with us, terrific. But no, we're not gonna get rid of Tommy or Eric [Singer, current KISS drummer]. In fact, Tommy and Eric are the best things that happened to us. They gave us new life [and] new appreciation for what we do because they were fans first. And every once in a while, Eric or Tommy will turn around and say, 'Wow! Isn't this great?' And it makes us realize, 'Yeah! Wow! Isn't this great?'"

Gene was also asked if he saw any of the video footage from the May 2022 Creatures Fest in Nashville where Criss, Frehley and fellow former KISS members Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick all performed. He responded: "Somebody showed me about 30 seconds, yeah. It was very sad. I felt sad for Peter… When I called to invite Peter to be in the documentary, his health isn't what it should be. I don't wanna get too specific because it's part of his private life. But no, physically, he wouldn't be able to do it. Neither would Ace."

AEROSMITH bassist Tom Hamilton's new band CLOSE ENEMIES has released its second single, "Inside Out", via TLG|ROCK, distributed by Virgin Music Group. You can now stream the song, which will be available via all streaming services on Friday (February 28),in the YouTube clip below.

"Inside Out" is now available for free download to BLABBERMOUTH.NET users — for the next 24 hours only — at this location.

Joining the 73-year-old Hamilton in the new group his bass tech Trace Foster, who plays guitar in CLOSE ENEMIES alongside Peter Stroud, who has been playing with Sheryl Crow for 25 years. CLOSE ENEMIES' drummer is Tony Brock, who had a band called THE BABYS and then played with Rod Stewart for 12 years. Fronting CLOSE ENEMIES is Chasen Hampton, a performer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with a strong background in the country music scene. CLOSE ENEMIES is also working with "a great lyricist" named Gary Stier.

CLOSE ENEMIES said about the new single: "'Inside Out' puts the feeling of a whirlwind toxic relationship into three-plus glorious minutes. The speedball beginning, the narcotic-fueled middle, and the inevitably spectacular crash landing end — it's all there in the song."

CLOSE ENEMIES released its debut single, "Sound Of A Train", on January 17, garnering overwhelming praise from both fans and the press. They recently wrapped up a successful string of tour dates, met with enthusiastic crowds and glowing reviews.

In other news, CLOSE ENEMIES has signed with TKO (The Kirby Organization) booking agency. This marks a significant milestone as the band sets its sights on bringing their music to audiences worldwide.

Foster and Stroud recently spoke to the "Is Breakfast Included?" podcast about how the band came together two years ago. Peter said in part: "I'm sure each of us have our own perspective. It was sort of in layers. Trace and I had already been working on another band project, trying to get something off the ground, and then just out of the blue — I think it was at the when an AEROSMITH tour had to go on a hiatus — apparently Tom and Trace had been speaking where Tom said, 'Man, I got all these songs I would love to try to do something with,' and the light bulb goes off in Trace's head, and he goes, 'I know just the guy to come up, and maybe we can get together and help you with that.' So he asked if I'd be interested in going up there and just jamming around, and I said, 'Yeah, well, I think I know just the drummer who would be into it.' And that was Tony Brock, who's a longtime buddy of mine. And we had always been trying to figure out some way to play together. And I figured that Tony and Tom might find some common ground and a good comfort zone playing-wise. So that was sort of the initial get-together."

Trace added: "I had this other band, and I thought we're riding around in a van, doing shows and not making any money. And I'm, like, if I'm gonna do this, I need to up my game, because at our age to be driving around in a van, not to make any money… So I called Peter. Why not? Why not start there? I just thought we could add him to the band I was already in. And then we did it. And it started to work really well. And then, of course, like every other band that you've been in in your life, somebody does something wrong and they're out of the band. Me and Peter were, like, 'This isn't worth it. Let's just wait.' And then, like he said, we started putting this other project together, 'cause we did all kinds of writing and we got the guy from Atlanta, Gary Stier, that was in my original band in Atlanta. I started writing with him, and then I brought Peter in. Peter knows Gary, of course. So the band that I was in in Atlanta all knew Peter, but I didn't so that's the weird thing. And then it just kind of went from there. Everybody's schedule didn't always jibe, and we just tried to make it work, and then we were in Las Vegas with AEROSMITH and I literally went, 'Man, we really gotta do something.' And then I just looked at Tom, and it was one of those moments where you go, 'This is the guy. He's asking for some help,' and this and that. I just walked up and I said, 'Hey…' I didn't ask him. I basically told Tom, I said, 'Hey, we're gonna come to Boston and work on your songs.' And he was, like, 'Well, let me think about that.' And then like an hour later, he was, like, 'I think that's a really good idea.' So that's how it started. And once Tom and Tony played together, it was pretty much a given."

Peter continued: "That was a great five days. I loved it, too, where Trace suggested to Tom, 'Hey, why don't we come up for a couple days, two or three days?', and he goes, 'How about five?' First he was, like, 'Well, let me think about it.' He was like, 'How about five? You guys wanna move up here?' I was, like, 'Man, there you go. I said, 'That's a reflection of somebody who knows hard work right there.'"

CLOSE ENEMIES made its live debut on October 11, 2024 at Eastside Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee.

In a recent interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Tom said about CLOSE ENEMIES' debut gig: "I was a little bit nervous, you know. But that feeling, it energizes you. It doesn't hold you back. It makes you want to dive in deeper and deeper."

Speaking to AARP, Tom described Hampton as "a gifted singer who really made the songs come to life."

"When I joined, these guys had worked up a bunch of great songs, and I was able to contribute something I had," the bassist continued. "Hopefully, when the time comes, we'll work up some others I've had in my pocket for a while. All of these guys are great musicians, and it's an honor and a challenge to be part of it all. I'm looking forward to seeing how people like it. I think they'll be pleasantly amazed."

The members of AEROSMITH made the announcement that they were retiring from touring on August 2, 2024 — nearly one year after singer Steven Tyler fractured his larynx during a September 2023 show.

The "Peace Out" tour came to a halt after what turned out to be a final gig in Elmont, New York on September 9, 2023. That show came just three dates into the trek, which was supposed to last through February 2024. Tyler said in a statement at the time that the injury caused bleeding but that he hoped he and his AEROSMITH bandmates would be back on the road after postponing a few shows.

The rescheduled "Peace Out" tour was due to begin September 20, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with special guests THE BLACK CROWES.

Photo credit: Eduardo Andrade

GARBAGE will release its eighth studio album, "Let All That We Imagine Be The Light", on May 30. The LP was recorded at Red Razor Sounds in Los Angeles, Butch Vig's studio Grunge Is Dead, and Shirley Manson's bedroom. The record was produced by the band and longtime engineer Billy Bush.

"Let All That We Imagine Be The Light" is the follow-up to 2021's critically acclaimed "No Gods No Masters", which charted at No. 5 on the U.K. album charts and led to some of the best reviews of GARBAGE's career.

Speaking about GARBAGE's new album, singer Shirley Manson says: "Going into making this record, I was determined to find a more hopeful, uplifting world to immerse myself in. The title of the album, 'Let All That We Imagine Be The Light', is the perfect descriptor for this new record as a whole. When things feel dark it feels imperative to seek out forces that are light, positive and beautiful in the world. It almost feels like a matter of life and death. A strategy for survival."

She adds: "Our last album was extremely forthright. Born out of frustration and outrage — it had a kind of scorched-earth, pissed off quality to it. With this new record however, I felt a compulsion to reach for a different kind of energy. A more constructive one. I had this vision of us coming up out of the underground with searchlights as we moved towards the future. Searching for life, searching for love, searching for all the good things in the world that seem so thin on the ground right now. That was the over-riding idea during the making of this record for me — that when things feel dark, its best to try to seek out that which is light, that which feels loving and good.

"When I was young, I tended towards the destruction of things. Now that I'm older I believe it's vitally important to build and to create things instead. I still entertain very old romantic ideals about community, society and the world. I don't want to walk through the world creating havoc, damaging the land and people. I want to do good. I want to do no harm."

"Let All That We Imagine Be The Light" is unmistakably GARBAGE. All the hallmarks and signatures for which they are known are present here. Big angular guitars, precise, propulsive beats and cinematic soundscapes all lurk beneath Shirley Manson's unmistakable voice, her lyrics bristling with attitude. This is the sound of a group at the peak of their creative powers — characteristically harnessing sonic juxtapositions and moods to create an album that thrums equally with both light and shade.

Butch Vig says: "We used a lot of analogue synths and sound design on the album, as they seemed to fit the dystopian vibes we were all experiencing. We started recording the album with a clean slate, although given what's happening in the U.S. and the rest of the world, it's inevitable that the madness starts to infiltrate the songs. But we definitely wanted the record to have some hope, some light, to convey the feeling that people have the power."

Speaking about the album's opening track "There's No Future In Optimism", Shirley says: "I really wanted that song to open the album. It starts out with an anthemic call to arms, a clarion call. It's pretty much a rallying cry to all likeminded people. If you are interested in meeting this world with love, if you are willing to invest in tenderness and not violence or hate, then we are with you. You should come with us."

She adds: "I have to believe that music and art can still impact culture. I know it still impacts me — that mysterious power which no government on earth can co-opt or buy. Great music exists entirely within its own microcosm in a way — without any interference or corruptive influences. That's what always makes it so pure and precious. Even though all the pointers in our society say otherwise, I do feel music still has the power to shift atoms, shift thinking and shift positions."

Discussing the record's final track, "The Day That I Met God", Shirley adds: "This is the opus on the record and explores the grand theme of great love, something I haven't written about very much before now. The idea came to me when I was recovering from major surgery and I felt so raw, vulnerable and scared. I was on the treadmill for the first time following an operation when I suddenly felt this powerful sensation of healing love around me — it was a moment that uplifted me. It took me out from what had felt like hell. The vocal you hear is the writing demo, the first take. Just me sitting on the edge of my bed, in recovery, singing into a handheld microphone. I was feeling so vulnerable and I think that's what lends the song added poignancy. It's really a song about mortality but it's also an expression of gratitude. Gratitude for getting older, gratitude for the longevity of our band, for good health, for the great mystery and for the ongoing, creative adventure of life."

GARBAGE consists of all four original band members, Shirley Manson, Duke Erikson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig. Over the 30 years since their inception in 1995 they have sold over 20 million albums. Their unique sound, songwriting and electric live performances have inspired worldwide adoration, chart success and critical acclaim. They are considered one of the most influential bands of their generation.

"Let All That We Imagine Be The Light" track listing:

01. There's No Future In Optimism
02. Chinese Fire Horse
03. Hold
04. Have We Met (The Void)
05. Sisyphus
06. Radical
07. Love To Give
08. Get Out My Face AKA Bad Kitty
09. R U Happy Now
10. The Day That I Met God

In a recent interview with The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn, L.A. GUNS guitarist Tracii Guns spoke 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 how he thinks it would have been different for L.A. GUNS had grunge not come around, Tracii said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't think it would have been any different for us. Maybe that's why I don't have the same thing."

He continued: "I think the people that are pissed are the people that are doing music for the wrong reason. You're supposed to write and record and perform because you love what you do. The audience isn't important. The audience is a bonus. You're lucky if you have an audience. You know how many great musicians there are, and bands? So, all the whiny bitches out there, it's, like, 'Oh, sorry.'"

Guns added: "The way that I look at it, too, if you wanna look at it from a real practical point of view, is the '80s thing just turned into a wild party, basically; that was the perception. And then the grunge movement, or whatever you wanna call it, it was just a hangover. 'Okay, we're tired now. I've got bills and relationships.' And people relate to that — people relate to a good time and they relate to a bad time. And music really is that kind of emotional background sound. When we're 15 through 22 and we break up with a girlfriend or something and we're sad, whatever music's playing, when we're 35 and we hear that music, we're, like, [you're brought right back to that time again]."

Tracii said: "So, yes, NIRVANA and SOUNDGARDEN and ALICE IN CHAINS and PEARL JAM and all these things, it was musical expression. How can you go 'boo hoo' at something that… And more so than anything, those bands were not initially in it to be rock stars. So they were really doing it for all the right reasons, and boom — it happened. Same with PANTERA — they changed the landscape in a way that was so refreshing for me. Especially when I first met those guys, right in the beginning, they were these super-happy VAN HALEN-ish kind of dudes. And they were very open and transparent and they weren't snotty. They didn't have this kind of machismo kind of thing going on. Even Phil's like that, Anselmo, man — he's fun and he's funny. And I always appreciated the guys that are just really doing what they love 'cause it really shows. It shows that they love what they're doing."

Back in October 2021, L.A. GUNS singer Phil Lewis told The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn about how his band was affected by the rise of grunge in the early 1990s: "The whole thing, the whole L.A. music scene was becoming more about the hair and the silliness of it. We weren't really silly. I mean, we did some silly stuff, but we always fancied ourselves to be more of a biker, leathery, dirty band. We were quite happy being dirty.

"The trend towards — and this is definitely, I swear, it's not a knock — but when you get guys like Kip Winger; he's like a model, he's so fucking handsome [with] big hair and big teeth, and we're quite dirty and ugly, and we've got missing teeth.

"I didn't like the direction it was going," Phil admitted. "And I think it was probably about time to cull it. And these things have a two- or three-year cycle. And I felt like we'd run ours. We got lumped into what they call 'hair metal,' 'cause we were around at that time. But we never were."

Upon release in September 1991, NIRVANA's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" wreaked confusion upon the hair metal vanguard, putting an end to an era dominated by glamorous, androgynous and sparkly rock stars who absolutely saturated the radio waves and were almost exclusively what aired on MTV.

In 2020, TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider told Ultimate Guitar that he didn't blame grunge for the death of hair metal. "Hair metal did it to itself," he said. "It became too commercialized, and then it got unplugged and became nothing but power ballads and acoustic songs, and it wasn't metal anymore. It had to go; it had to change."

Snider's TWISTED SISTER bandmate Jay Jay French told Daniel Sarkissian of the "Rock Is Dead?" documentary about the death of hair metal and arrival of grunge: "The only band that leapfrogged and saved themselves was GUNS N' ROSES. And my theory is that GUNS N' ROSES was not perceived as a joke. They came out of L.A., but I think that Axl [Rose], first of all, had a great voice. I think that they were perceived as real, not fake. Like, they were real junkies, not pretend junkies. So there's an authenticity. It's all about authenticity, and grunge is all about authenticity. People wanted authenticity, so they got it with grunge. It wiped out the perceived frivolousness of hair metal, which is, 'Hey, man. Let's party. Let's get the girls and drink.' I think people just got sick of that, and they wanted [something more] authentic."

Former MÖTLEY CRÜE singer John Corabi told Newsday in a 2014 interview that the CRÜE album he sang on was a commercial disappointment because the music scene had changed, with hair metal brushed aside for grunge.

"Everybody was listening to ALICE IN CHAINS and SOUNDGARDEN," Corabi said. "At that point, we were considered passé."

According to Corabi, CRÜE's ill-fated 1994 American tour " was a nightmare. We weren't selling tickets. It was just horrible," he said.

In 2019, former TNT singer Tony Harnell said that the rise of the grunge movement, which symbolized the working-class spirit and focused on music over image, was ultimately a positive thing for the rock genre because it "shined a really harsh light on how boring and repetitive" the '80s glam metal scene had become. He explained: "It was the same look, the same songwriters, the same producers, and it just started to be… Nobody was offering anything… Don't get me wrong, there were a few that got in there that were interesting and different, but, for the most part, they were all just sort of rehashes, slightly, of other bands."

RILEY'S L.A. GUNS, the band originally formed in 2018 by Steve Riley, is "calling it quits", nearly a year and a half after the drummer's passing.

In addition to Riley, RILEY'S L.A. GUNS' most recent lineup featured Orlando, Florida-based guitarist/vocalist Kurt Frohlich, bassist Kelly Nickels (a member of L.A. GUNS' "classic" incarnation) and guitarist Scott Griffin, who played bass for L.A. GUNS from 2007 until 2009, and then again from 2011 to 2014.

Earlier today (Friday, February 28),Nickels released the following statement via social media: "What up everybody? So I just wanted to officially say that RILEY'S L.A. GUNS are calling it quits. For obvious reasons and some not so obvious reasons it's time to move on.

"We'd like to thank all of you that helped us along the way. All of you that kept an open mind and gave us a chance, for your support and positive vibes.

It was an amazing experience playing together and we all had a great time every time we got together. Meeting old friends and making new ones is all the inspiration you need to keep going but not when your heart isn't in it anymore, especially without Steve at the helm. Personally, I am not into this old rocker thing that's happening… Not digging seeing some of my heroes fat, bald, not being able to sing or play like they did or now looking like some f**ked up Santa Clause, nope… not digging it…!!! Doesn't mean you won't see me at some old Honky tonk joint jammin around, but for now...we'll have to wait and see what the future holds.

"Thank you again and have a great weekend."

RILEY'S L.A. GUNS played its first concert without Riley on January 20, 2024 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The performance was booked prior to Steve's tragic death.

In January 2024, RILEY'S L.A. GUNS released its sophomore album, "The Dark Horse", via Golden Robot Records. The effort arrived more than two months after the death of Riley who would have celebrated his 68th birthday on January 22, 2024, the day of "The Dark Horse"'s release.

In September 2023, RILEY'S L.A. GUNS released "The Dark Horse" title track via Golden Robot Records. The track came seven months after RILEY'S L.A. GUNS issued another new song, "Rewind", digitally via Golden Robot. In October 2022, RILEY'S L.A. GUNS released a single called "Overdrive".

Riley died on October 24, 2023 at the age of 67. Prior to his passing, Steve had been battling a severe case of pneumonia for several weeks. His wife Mary Louise and son Cole were by his side in his final moments.

Riley was the drummer for W.A.S.P. on the band's second and third albums — 1985's "The Last Command" and 1986's "Inside The Electric Circus" — and world tours from 1984 to 1987. After leaving W.A.S.P., Riley joined L.A. GUNS and played on that group's most commercially successful LPs.

In 2016, singer Phil Lewis and guitarist Tracii Guns reunited in a new version of L.A. GUNS that didn't include Riley. Steve later launched his own version of L.A. GUNS, which played its debut concert at the M3 Rock Festival in Maryland in May 2019.

In April 2021, an out-of-court resolution was reached between Riley and Guns and Lewis over the rights to the band's name. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Tracii and Phil continued to operate under the L.A. GUNS trademark, while Riley and his bandmates from the other version of L.A. GUNS carried on under the new name RILEY'S L.A. GUNS.

In January 2020, Riley was sued by Lewis and Guns in California District Court. Joining Riley as defendants in the case were the three musicians who performed in his rival version of L.A. GUNS; that group's manager, booking agent and merchandiser; and Golden Robot Records. The complaint, which requested a trial by jury, alleged that Riley's version of L.A. GUNS (referred to in the case docket as "the infringing L.A. GUNS") was creating "unfair competition" through its unauthorized usage of the L.A. GUNS trademark. In addition, Guns and Lewis were seeking relief from and/or against false advertising, breach of contract and unauthorized usage of their likenesses.

Photo credit: Mark Weiss (courtesy of Golden Robot Records)

What up everybody?

So I just wanted to officially say that Riley's L.A.Guns are calling it quits. For obvious reasons...

Posted by Riley's L.A. Guns on Friday, February 28, 2025

In a new interview with Kati Rausch of Music Interview Corner, QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton was asked what it was like for him and his bandmates to complete a couple of different U.S. tours as the support act for JUDAS PRIEST. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "As a fan, I love it because I grew up listening to JUDAS PRIEST. When I was 16, 17, 18 years old, I was listening to 'Sad Wings Of Destiny'. Those old JUDAS PRIEST albums, they were super cool, and, obviously, [PRIEST singer] Rob Halford had the most amazing voice. And then, in my future endeavor with QUEENSRŸCHE, to play with them, it's mind blowing. But in touring with them, they're professional, they're great guys, and we hope to do — I think we are doing a show with them [in April] down in South America, so we'll see them again… But it's great. They're still touring and we follow them on social media and really respect what they do… I mean, Rob Halford, he's like the definition of metal. He's awesome."

After QUEENSRŸCHE completed its first tour with JUDAS PRIEST in the fall of 2022, Wilton told Sea Of Tranquility about the trek: "JUDAS PRIEST was one of my influences when I was [in my] late teens, early 20s. So I was gravitated to the two-guitar hard rock/metal bands. I was listening to these guys — all their old albums, I still have 'em, the LPs. And for me, since we've been able to tour with them, they're just really nice guys; they're super easy to work with, and they bring it every night. They kick ass. Rob has still got it. And for me, it's a good package. And our music complements each other in some way. But for me, it's just, like, 'Yeah, I grew up listening to these guys, and now I'm on tour with them. It's pretty damn cool.'"

Added QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre: "Yeah, it's awesome. And thing is, too, anything can happen. We turn on the news or the Internet, and somebody's passed away, something tragic happened. And to see a band that's been around as long as JUDAS PRIEST has, to be on a tour with them, you're, like, 'How many more tours does anybody have?' You don't know. So to be able to get two tours with them was really awesome. And they changed the set up on both legs; it was totally different. And getting to know them, like Michael said… We'll be going to our dressing room and we'll hear them rehearsing in one of the little side rooms. Scott [Travis, PRIEST drummer] has a practice kit and they would all be in there and they'd be rehearsing a part to a song. And we're, like, 'Oh, yeah.'

"It was a lot of fun," he continued. "[We have] so much respect for them. And the organization treated us so well. It was a real treat, and we're very honored that they not only chose us one time, but I think that they saw we did deliver… And behind the scenes, our crew… There was a 10-minute changeover for us, so we had to have everything off — boom, boom, boom — and done. And adhering to that timeline and being professional and out of their way… We're a totally self-contained unit, so we don't rely on them for a bunch of stuff. We have all our own everything. And it was just a seamless thing. We couldn't have asked for a sweeter situation."

QUEENSRŸCHE kicked off the European leg of "The Origins Tour" on January 31 at Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki, Finland.

Although QUEENSRŸCHE would score multi-platinum albums and hit singles over their career, their fans have developed an undeniable love for the group's early releases, the 1983 EP and 1984's "The Warning" album, when they helped trailblaze a style of rock that combined elements of metal and prog. And for the first time ever, QUEENSRŸCHE is performing both classic releases in their entirety as part of "The Origins Tour".

Guitarist Mike Stone, who rejoined QUEENSRŸCHE in 2021, contributed guitar solos to the band's latest studio album.

Since late May 2021, Stone has been handling second-guitar duties in QUEENSRŸCHE, which announced in July 2021 that longtime guitarist Parker Lundgren was exiting the group to focus on "other business ventures."

Stone originally joined QUEENSRŸCHE for the 2003 album "Tribe" and stayed with the band for six years before leaving the group.

For the past eight years, drummer Casey Grillo has been filling in for original QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield, who stepped away from the band's touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son.

In October 2021, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against Wilton and bassist Eddie Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. A few months later, Wilton and Jackson filed a countersuit against Rockenfield, accusing him of abandoning his position as a member of the band and misappropriating the group's assets to his own personal benefit. That dispute has since been settled out of court.

Former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Mangini has formed a new band, MONOLITH, with Hernán "Motley" Rodríguez on bass and vocals, and Andy Barrow on guitar.

The official music video for the group's debut single, "Oligarchs", can be seen below.

Mangini released his debut solo album, "Invisible Signs", in November 2023. Accompanying Mangini on the LP were Tony Dickinson on bass, Ivan Keller on guitar, Gus G. (FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE) on lead guitar and former EVANESCENCE guitarist Jen Majura on vocals.

Mangini joined DREAM THEATER in late 2010 through a widely publicized audition following the departure of Mike Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER 40 years ago. Mangini beat out six other of the world's top drummers — Marco Minnemann, Virgil Donati, Aquiles Priester, Thomas Lang, Peter Wildoer and Derek Roddy — for the gig, a three-day process that was filmed for a documentary-style reality show called "The Spirit Carries On".

Mangini made his name in the hard rock world in the mid-1990s when he played with EXTREME, before landing the gig with guitar legend Steve Vai in 1996. Nearly a decade later, Mangini took up a full-time teaching position at the world-renowned Berklee College Of Music.

In a recent interview with Loaded Radio, DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie was asked how Mangini took the news in October 2023 when LaBrie and the rest of DREAM THEATER broke it to the drummer that Portnoy was coming back. James said: "Well, he was very professional about it. [It was] very admirable of him to have been… He took it in style and class. I mean, obviously, I think it would have been upsetting — it must have been upsetting — but he took it for what it's worth and even saying things like, 'It kind of makes sense, guys. I see why this should be happening and why this would maybe inevitably be happening. It just makes sense for the band and the amount of history that you all have together. It seems natural.' So, yeah, no, he was a class guy. Classy. Yeah."

In a January 2024 interview with Chris Akin Presents…, Mangini was asked if he had any "advance notice" that Portnoy would return to DREAM THEATER in the fall of 2023 or if it was "really immediate". He responded: "Immediate. But it's like… So the fish comes up out of the water, it's immediate, but the fish was swimming for a while. Where was the fish? Whatever."

He continued: "The reason it was easy for me to deal with — very easy, actually — I was, like, 'Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Original guy back in band.' I got I got it. And I didn't have to go do through a drop-down menu; I didn't have to do it. It was just I looked at it and went, 'Okay.' And plus I don't know whether it was intuitive, instinctual [or] intellectual… but I have left so many things on the table for so many years — the publishing of more books, the classes that I wanna teach, the interaction that my own self-development comes largely from me having to teach and talk about it to people. At some point, I mean, I see the whole picture, the grid, and I know what I can't do, and that inspires me.

"But anyway, the answer to your question is, I got a call and understood the call, and said, 'Okay, let's do a joint statement,'" he explained. "And then the next day, I'm, like, 'Okay.' I'm having coffee and quite literally, at my think tank, looking at my list and going, 'How am I gonna complete this job now? I've gotta fix this or do that. I've got a lot to do.' My studio facility had construction, there was stuff that had to be fixed. I was, like, 'Let me just let all of this stuff happen and breathe and just finish these things.' So that's what my mindset was. I can't tell you anything different because that's what it was."

Asked how he managed to avoid being angry over the fact that he was being pushed out of DREAM THEATER when Portnoy wanted to come back, even though Mangini was the drummer that helped the band win its first Grammy Award, Mangini said: "Well, a) because I don't know that that's what is the full picture. I don't know that that is what happened indeed. And I don't let myself even think about it. People decide things and I respect that. It's just it is what it is."

In early November 2023, Mangini told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about his exit from DREAM THEATER and the return of Portnoy: "All I know is the decision was made and when I heard it, all I pictured was, 'Oh, this is an original guy going back to his band. Uh, okay. All right. Let's go to the next thing.' It was nothing more. I was told. It was just nothing more than — it seemed so simple to me. And maybe intuitively it's, like, 'Oh yeah, I get it.' And that was that. That's really it… So that's really the crux of it all is it was an easy thing for me to understand. And then once the news hit and it became real, which is when it set in, because once I knew about it, I just got busy. I was, like, 'Okay, I've got all these videos to finish.'"

The 61-year-old Mangini, who joined DREAM THEATER in 2010, continued: "I'm actually doing like a lot of stuff for my [recently released solo] album. I'll do some drum playthroughs. Not to yap and yap and yap about it, but I have a lot on my cork board and my lists and things to do and things to accomplish and things to complete. There's so much there I haven't been able to do. But once it hit and it became real, it was real quick for me. I'm, like, 'Okay, I get it.'"

When host Eddie Trunk noted that everything about his exit from DREAM THEATER, from the way it was handled to the fans' response to Mike's attitude about it, was "about as good as it could be," Mangini concurred. "It is as good as it could be," Mike said. "I think people are where they need to be. It's, like, there's stuff to do, there's places to be, there's people to see, there are things to accomplish and roles to fulfill and tasks to do. And that's what it is. That's really what it is.

"How lucky am I, how fortunate am I to be just a part of that history, to have all this amazing stuff happen?" he continued. "It's positive, positive, positive.

"I know I've accomplished some things with my career, and I've had a lot of struggles and a lot of things that didn't work or whatever, but for my parents to be in their 90s, to see this happen, and I'm not talking about career stuff; I'm talking about how I've treated people and how they treat me. I mean, I think that's what I want for my kids — I wanna feel well about how they are with people and how people treat them at the end of the day. I think that's just awesome."

May we introduce you to the first stop of this story we’re about to tell you. 📠

‘Oligarchs’ out this Friday 28th.

#Oligarchs #TheyAreWatching #Monolith

Posted by Monolith Band on Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Former BON JOVI guitarist Richie Sambora and the man who replaced him in BON JOVI, Theofilos Xenidis, better known as Phil X, were among the performers at the Rock For Responders benefit concert, which was held on Thursday, February 27 at the Battleship IOWA Museum in San Pedro, California. Sambora and Phil X played a couple of songs together, including the BON JOVI smash hit "Livin' On A Prayer", with Orianthi on guitar and Matt Sorum (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER) on drums. Video of the performance, courtesy of the Phil X Official Fan Club, can be seen below.

The Rock For Responders benefit concert celebrated and supported firefighters, police, military, and disaster response agencies, highlighting their critical roles in ensuring community resilience and recovery.

Last May, Richie shared his thoughts on the BON JOVI docuseries "Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story", which dropped on April 26, 2024 via Hulu. During an appearance on the 50th episode of "The Allison Hagendorf Show", the now-65-year-old former BON JOVI guitarist stated said: "Hey, look, this obviously was [BON JOVI singer Jon Bon Jovi's] personal perception. And this documentary was his perception, his baby. I really had nothing to do with it. And there were some incongruencies about time periods and this and that, and it continues on. But, yeah, I think that… I disagree with a lot of stuff or whatever, but I'm not really shaken by it at that point. And it gave me a platform to go, 'Yeah, here's some new music now,' where now it's relevant because I think a guy that's been around a block like me in my age needed a platform."

When host Allison Hagendorf noted that the docuseries is a celebration of BON JOVI, Richie said: "It could have been more of a celebration. We could have cut that down to about two hours, because, to me, the celebration would have been the great songs that we wrote and how we sold all those millions of records and played for people for… I was in the band for 32 years, which is unbelievable anyway. [That] five guys could be married for 32 years, it's incredible. That celebration of those great songs that people really took into their lives, that's what I believed the 40-year celebration would be myself. But, like I said, it was his baby."

Hagendorf also spoke to Sambora about his quote in the documentary that he didn't regret his departure from BON JOVI but that he regretted how he did it. Asked what he would have done differently if he could go back, Richie said: "I probably would have left earlier. I might have left a couple of albums before because… I think Jon was moving into a place where he wanted to not really be a band.

"When we first met, he was thriving to be a kind of a solo artist in a Bruce [Springsteen] way or a Rick Springfield way," Sambora explained. "And quite frankly, it was an ultimatum for me when I just, before [BON JOVI's 1986 album] 'Slippery [When Wet]' [was made], I went, 'Come on, man. Let me in. We have to do this. We have to make this a band situation if we wanna invade the planet and have people accept it.'"

Asked what he feels isn't in the docuseries that not he really wishes people would know, Richie said: "Everything. There's one thing that's not in there, and it's everything. Like I said, to me, this is Jon's baby."

When asked by Hagendorf about the prospect of him rejoining BON JOVI, Sambora seemed to be open to the possibility. "The fans would just love it," he said. "It's not finance. It has nothing to do with that. The world could use it. But, as Jon said, he's been having problems with his voice. And now he had that operation with some plastic thing in his larynx. And it's an iffy thing at best. I don't know if there's anybody that has ever had that be successful. I'm not really sure about that. And I went to his house and we talked about it. I said, 'How is that now? What's going on?' Physiologically, it doesn't seem almost possible, where your brain teaches this plastic thing how to… almost like you've gotta relearn speech in a way, and things like that. So, like I said, first time I've ever really heard of that operation or something like that. So, I would definitely go. [My new solo single] 'I Pray' was earmarked almost for BON JOVI. It was almost gonna be that 'It's My Life' moment. So if he gets [his voice] back, I'll go play. I got songs."

The four-part "Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story" series was directed and executive produced by Gotham Chopra. Jon Bon Jovi is not credited as a producer on the project.

Before the premiere of "Thank You, Goodnight", Jon revealed to People that he and Richie watched some of it together. "He came over and watched three parts of the docuseries at my house," Jon said, adding, "There's never animosity."

The BON JOVI frontman also shared that "there was nothing but love" when Sambora left the band to focus on raising his daughter Ava, now 27, amid his divorce from ex Heather Locklear.

"There was never a fight," the singer said. "Ultimately being in a rock band is not a life sentence. He had to deal with his other issues."

Legendary LED ZEPPELIN guitarist Jimmy Page has a released a statement pushing back against U.K. government's proposal to expand the ways that developers can use copyright-protected works to train artificial intelligence models.

The British government recently said it was "consulting on a new approach that protects the interests of both AI developers and right holders and delivers a solution which allows both to thrive." The government added it was looking into how copyright law can "enable creators and right holders to exercise control over, and seek remuneration for, the use of their works for AI training" while also ensuring "AI developers have easy access to a broad range of high-quality creative content."

But the proposal for a plan that would allow tech companies to use copyrighted material to help train A.I. models unless content creators explicitly opt out has raised concern among musicians — including Kate Bush, Imogen Heap, Annie Lennox, Cat Stevens and Hans Zimmer — who released a silent album last month titled "Is This What We Want?" in response to the U.K. government's proposed changes to the copyright law.

Earlier today (Saturday, March 1),Page released the following statement via his social media: "In the disciplined studios of the early 1960s London, I honed my craft as a session musician, lending my guitar to a myriad of artists across genres. Those countless hours, often three three-hour sessions a day, were more than just work; they were a crucible of creativity, collaboration, and ceaseless inspiration.

"I was required to create and conjure riffs and lyrical figures immediately without slowing down the momentum of the work being recorded with the other musicians and the artist.

"This journey from the anonymity of session work to the global stages with LED ZEPPELIN was not a path paved by algorithms or data sets. It was a voyage marked by spontaneous improvisation and the unquantifiable spark of human ingenuity. The alchemy that transformed a unique riff into an anthem was etched into the collective soul of the band — a synergy that no machine can emulate.

"Today, as artificial intelligence seeks to mimic and monetise creativity, we stand at a crossroads. AI-generated art and music, synthesised from existing human works, lack the visceral essence that comes from lived experience. They are but hollow echoes, devoid of the struggles, triumphs, and soul that define true artistry.

"Moreover, the ethical implications are profound. When AI scrapes the vast tapestry of human creativity to generate content, it often does so without consent, attribution, or compensation. This is not innovation; it's exploitation.

"If, during my session days, someone had taken my riffs without acknowledgment or payment, it would have been deemed theft. The same standard must apply to AI.

"We must champion policies that protect artists, ensuring that their work isn't siphoned off into the void of machine learning without due regard. Let us celebrate and preserve the human touch in art — the imperfections, the emotions, the stories behind every note and cadence.

"In defending the sanctity of human creativity against the encroachment of AI, we safeguard not just the rights of artists, but the very soul of our cultural heritage. Yet, today, the UK government is proposing changes that would strip creators of this protection. Under the Data (Use and Access) Bill, AI companies would be allowed to take works, past and future, and use them as training data without consent or payment. These models digest vast amounts of human-created content and then generate imitations, bypassing the rights of the original creators.

"The government's proposed 'opt-out' system — the idea that artists will always be in a position to preemptively reserve their rights — is a sham. It is technically impossible for artists to opt out. The government's consultation ends today, but we should be clear: this is not regulation; it is a free pass for AI to exploit creativity without consequence. We must push for legislation that ensures AI cannot monetise human creativity without explicit consent and fair compensation. The government's preferred option in its current consultation does not do that.

"Music is not a product of data. It is an evocation, a defiance of logic, a collision of time and place and soul. If we allow AI to co-opt the heart of human creativity, we are not ushering in a bold new era — we are signing the death warrant of originality itself.

"The choice is ours. Will we let the machines take the stage, or will we fight for the irreplaceable magic of human artistry?"

Critics of the opt-out proposal have argued that individual artists and writers would struggle to notify thousands of A.I. service providers or monitor how their content is being used. But a spokesman for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said in a statement that the U.K.'s "current regime for copyright and AI is holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential — and that cannot continue. That's why we have been consulting on a new approach that protects the interests of both AI developers and right holders and delivers a solution which allows both to thrive. We have engaged extensively with these sectors throughout and will continue to do so."

Photo credit: Gibson

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In a new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked if the upcoming Nick Menza documentary, "This Was My Life: Nick Menza's Metal Memories With Megadeth And Beyond", which Ellefson co-produced, paints MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine in a negative light or if it's a "fair" depiction of how everything went down during Menza's time with the band. Ellefson responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET: "I think it's very fair, and I went to great lengths to make sure that Dave is viewed very fairly. He's held in high esteem. In fact, what Nick said about him, even in [Nick's] book ['Megalife: The Autobiography Of Nick Menza'] — I read his book. I was the first guy interviewed for his book. And I was nervous about it 'cause I was in MEGADETH at the time, and I didn't want this to be any kind of shit talking… No, I think it's very fair. There's absolutely nothing slanderous toward Dave at all in it. I made sure of that, because Dave was my partner during that time.

"Dave and I always had a saying: you praise in public, you criticize in private," Ellefson explained. "And with the Internet and all this bullshit now, people seem to have suddenly forgot that, that they just go on the Internet and talk shit about everybody. And that's not cool; it really isn't. Even Nick's comments about his relationship with Dave… I noticed in [Nick's] book, he would be upset about something and then he'd say, 'But I realized I needed to make amends,' or, 'I realized I was wrong about this,' or 'I realized it was Dave's band.' Nick would tell me that. He'd get in the car, we'd be going to the airport or something or we'd be traveling, and he'd say, 'I was talking to my dad', because Nick's dad's badass — Don Menza [American jazz saxophonist], he's fucking badass in his genre — and [Don would] always say, he goes, 'Goddamn it. It's Dave's band. Do it his way,' da da da. 'Cause Don worked under some pretty tough guys — Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson. He did a ton of studio work with the greats, and he played on records with TOTO. He played on Madonna records, I mean, Don's badass. So Don knew, when you're hired, suit up, show up, shut up, play your part, you know what I mean? Get your check and go home and don't cause trouble. I think probably Don was as hard on Nick as anybody."

Ellefson went on to talk about how certain bands share everything equally, regardless if some members never write lyrics or a melody, while others have one or two main songwriters who receive the lion's share of royalties. He said: "Look, being in a rock group, it was hard because one of the things that was successful about that 'Rust In Peace' lineup is we really did try to make it a team and a group, and that means that we're trying to work together yet everybody has a different role.

"[Then-MEGADETH manager] Ron Laffitte and I talked one day about songwriting, 'cause, look, songwriting, publishing, and how the money is split, that's a sure way to either make a band stay together or split up. [RUSH's] Geddy Lee talks very openly about it. He goes, 'Hey, at one point we just decided, let's just split it three ways. That just takes that argument off the table.' And that was always an issue in MEGADETH — always. Dave, from the very beginning, and it probably stems back to his days with METALLICA and his songs. And I read it in his book, he said those songs for him, that means everything to him, and boy, he protects that. So, look, at some point, it's an argument you're gonna lose. And we'd have many conversations about it. [MEGADETH's sixth album, 1994's] 'Youthanasia', we went into it — it was actually Nick's idea, he said, he goes, 'Let's just pre-decide upfront how much everybody's gonna get.' That way when we're showing up every day, whoever brings the best idea that day will get used and it won't have any agenda of, 'Well, he's gonna make more money than me' or 'How come he's got more songs on a record than me?' Just bring your best, and if it turns out they're all Dave and Marty [Friedman, then-MEGADETH guitarist] songs, then whatever — at least me and Nick will get paid too. And it turned out to be, I think, a pretty fair split of stuff. So that was Nick's idea. Now, it only worked on one album, and Dave didn't wanna do it anymore after that. But it was a great album and is one of the more esteemed, especially internationally, one of the greatest MEGADETH records that we made — 'cause it feels like a group; it feels like a team."

Ellefson continued: "I remember [famed producer] Mike Clink told me he told the GUNS N' ROSES guys that when they did 'Appetite For Destruction'. He said, 'Look, this is a long road ahead. If you guys have any success at all, and that's still to be determined, you guys have got a lot of years in the trenches, man. You've gotta split everything equally or else you'll never survive.' And that was coming from the producer.

"The more fair you can be on all of it, the better, at least in the beginning," Ellefson added. "And then, as often happens, one or two people try to grab the rest of it and take it for themselves and then bands fall apart. So, yeah, it's not often you see a group — RUSH is one of the very few where they somehow had a friendship in there and they made it work financially, they made it work creatively. And it's not often that that happens. I mean, we went through every version of that in and out of sobriety."

Ellefson was originally in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play.

Mustaine reformed MEGADETH 21 years ago. Originally setting out to record a solo album, Mustaine enlisted studio musicians to play on what ultimately became MEGADETH's 2004 "The System Has Failed" comeback album, subsequently recruiting former ICED EARTH bassist James MacDonough to take Ellefeson's place for the album's touring cycle.

Ellefson sued Mustaine in 2004 for $18.5 million, alleging that the MEGADETH guitarist/vocalist still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.

In his first book, Ellefson admitted that he became a salaried employee upon his return to MEGADETH 15 years ago. He told Metal-Rules.com in an interview: "Going from being a co-founding owner to just a sideman musician was initially why I didn't come back in 2004. I was not happy with the participations that were presented to me. In recent times, coming back, I found great joy in doing music with a lot of other people in other settings that helped me fall back in love with playing music. Now I can come back into or go into musical situations and be able to be there for a purpose and level of pay. Being a sideman absolves you from being involved in all the other stuff. At this point in my life, I would rather leave that stuff on the sidelines. Like American Express says, 'membership has its privileges,' being a sideman has its benefits. In my case, it helps retain a friendship too. In order to have a friendship, I had to give up some ownership."

During a February 2021 appearance on Mitch Joel's "Groove - The No Treble Podcast", Ellefson reflected on his legal battle with Mustaine, saying: "I firmly believe Dave and I ended up in that situation because he and I were not directly communicating. There was a new manager, a new lawyer, a new team of people, and they were all trying to impress the client, so they were just, 'Well, we're just doing whatever the boss tells us to do.' And it's, like, wait a minute — your job is to manage and counsel and direct your client, and — in my opinion — avoid litigation, avoid these things. Those people are no longer here — they've all been let go, thank God — and once most of them were let go was when Dave and I had an opportunity to come back and reconcile. And as soon as Dave and I get in a room, it's, like, 'What the hell are we fighting over? Get your guitar. Let's play. Let's jam.' And then it becomes about the music, and there it is. So when we keep it on that level, it goes well. When the business people and the lawyers and the people come in and they try to sort of put logic around it, that's when the trouble [begins].

"I've always said MEGADETH is completely illogical — there's no logic to it at all," he continued. "And there's not really supposed to be, because it's something of the heart — it's not of the head; it's of the heart. I always say the longest journey is the 15 inches from the head to the heart. To memorize it is one thing, but to know it by heart is another thing. And that's what we do as musicians — we don't just memorize it; we have to really [know] it by heart. And that's what a group is — a musical setting is about that. And, of course, there has to be some sort of business dynamic around it to kind of make it work, I guess — at least for the accountants."

In September 2020, Mustaine spoke about Ellefson's lawsuit during an appearance on Fox Sports 910's "Freak Nation". He said at the time: "I think forgiveness is a super-cool thing. When David Ellefson sued me for 18 and a half million dollars, and the judge dismissed it and then made him pay a bunch of money on top of that, he got his ass handed to him in public. And I was really, really, really hurt by the things that he said about me. And I thought, 'You know what? If I never see him again, I guess I'll be okay.' And I was sad, but I figured he was gone. One day, I was flying home from Dallas, and the flight stopped in [Ellefson's hometown of] Phoenix, and for some stupid reason, I called him up and I said, 'Hey, you wanna have dinner?' And he said, 'Yes.' So we went out. And the first thing he said was, 'I wanna tell you, it was the stupidest thing I ever did suing you, and I wanna apologize.' And I looked at him and I waited a beat, and I said, 'Dave, I forgive you. I completely forgive you. I love you.' And it was over like that. And I think that that's really something great that people should take with them today, anybody listening to this. There may be somebody you need to forgive or somebody you need to apologize to, but I'll tell you what — it makes [you feel] a lot better at the end of the day."

In his 2004 lawsuit against Mustaine, Ellefson claimed that he "attempted to resolve his differences with Mustaine on an amicable basis and offered to continue to perform with [MEGADETH]." However, his "offers were met with verbal abuse, threats, lies and continued invective from Mustaine." Ellefson also said that Mustaine — a veteran of at least 17 drug rehab stints, according to the bassist — resented Ellefson, a former drug addict, for having kicked his own habit. According to Ellefson's court papers, the battle of the band spread to the Internet when Mustaine posted on Megadeth.com that Ellefson was trying to extort him.

Mustaine gave his version of why the 2004 reunion with Ellefson didn't pan out in a message posted on the MEGADETH web site. In lengthy essay, Mustaine claimed that Ellefson missed several deadlines to accept his offer, which included 20% of the artist royalties on "The System Has Failed", none of the publishing royalties and a $2,500-a-week salary while the band was on the road.

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH nearly four years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

Photo credit: Maciej Pieloch (courtesy of Napalm Records)

David Johansen, legendary co-founder of the NEW YORK DOLLS, died yesterday at his home on Staten Island. He was 75.

Earlier today (Saturday, March 1),Johansen's representative released the following statement: "David Johansen died at home in New York City on Friday afternoon holding hands with his wife Mara Hennessey and daughter Leah, surrounded by music, flowers, and love. He was 75 years old and died of natural causes after nearly a decade of illness."

Johansen revealed last month that he had been living with stage 4 cancer and a brain tumor. Diagnosed in 2020, Johansen made the decision to keep his illness private, but due to the severe financial burden, he wanted to share it with his fans and supporters. In November 2024, he fell and broke his back in two places, which required surgery. Despite a successful procedure, David became bedridden and incapacitated.

In a statement at the time announcing a fundraising campaign through the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to assist with his medical bills, Johansen said : "We've been living with my illness for a long time, still having fun, seeing friends and family, carrying on, but this tumble the day after Thanksgiving really brought us to a whole new level of debilitation. This is the worst pain I've ever experienced in my entire life. I've never been one to ask for help, but this is an emergency. Thank you."

Johansen's daughter, Leah Hennessey, added in February: "David has been in intensive treatment for stage 4 cancer for most of the past decade. There have been complications ever since. He's never made his diagnosis public, as he and my mother Mara are generally very private people, but we feel compelled to share this now, due to the increasingly severe financial burden our family is facing."

Later speaking exclusively with People about her father, Leah said: "He's very, very sick, but he's reading all the messages, and he's getting in touch with people he hasn't talked to in many years. The connection is probably the best thing for him right now — as it is for all of us."

She continued: "He's totally with us — mentally, emotionally, [but] he's physically incapacitated."

David was recently the subject of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi's documentary "Personality Crisis: One Night Only" which brilliantly captures an evening of David's songs and storytelling, and gives a little context to the wild tapestry of David's life.

David was the lead singer and songwriter of the legendary NEW YORK DOLLS, widely acknowledged as one of the first (and coolest) punk bands. David started his own group, the DAVID JOHANSEN BAND, before reinventing himself yet again in the 1980s as Buster Poindexter. Inspired by his passion for the blues and arcane American folk music David formed the group THE HARRY SMITHS, and toured the world performing the songs of Howlin' Wolf with Hubert Sumlin and Levon Helm. Of all these incarnations, David is most often recognized for his work in a handful of beloved films, like the Christmas classic "Scrooged", and the race track comedy "Let it Ride". Before his passing, he hosted his weekly radio show "The Mansion Of Fun" on SiriusXM.

David had an exhibition of his paintings in New York last summer at Elliot Templeton Fine Arts gallery.

Joey Molland, best known for his work with the now-legendary Welsh band BADFINGER, has died at the age of 77.

The news of Joey's passing was announced via a post on the Original Badfinger Facebook page, which noted that Molland was surrounded by his longtime girlfriend Mary, his two sons and other family members.

No cause of death was provided, but Molland had faced health issues including pneumonia in recent months.

Signed to THE BEATLES' Apple label in the late '60s, BADFINGER would go on to score four consecutive worldwide hits from 1970 to 1972: "Come And Get It", "No Matter What", "Day After Day" and "Baby Blue". In 1971, a cover of the BADFINGER song "Without You" by Harry Nilsson became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard chart. Molland had continued to keep the BADFINGER flame alight through concerts and recordings over the past 40 years.

The members of BADFINGER interacted in various ways with each member of THE BEATLES, including their solo careers. Paul McCartney wrote and produced the band's first single, "Come And Get It". Joey and Tommy Evans played acoustic guitars on John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" and "I Don't Want To Be A Soldier, Momma" on his "Imagine" LP. Pete Ham and Tommy contributed backup vocals on Ringo Starr's "It Don't Come Easy". The entire original BADFINGER lineup contributed to George Harrison's landmark triple-LP set "All Things Must Pass" and the equally groundbreaking fundraising event The Concert For Bangladesh.

The story of BADFINGER is arguably rock's saddest and most tragic tale. But one thing is for certain, the group that practically invented "power pop" was abundantly filled with great talent. Three great songwriters in one band was reminiscent of the group's original label founders, THE BEATLES. Perhaps the most unheralded of the three in BADFINGER was Liverpudlian guitarist Joey Molland. His songwriting talent started to blossom with the group's finest album, 1971's "Straight Up". Molland contributed five songs to the group's fourth platter including "I'd Die Babe", "Sweet Tuesday Morning" and "Suitcase". Joey continued to play and write as BADFINGER motored through the '70s recording and touring. Great albums like 1974's "Wish You Were Here" were met with record company and personal mismanagement and in 1975, the group's leader, Ham, tragically passed away. Molland eventually left the group, returned, and left again to start his own solo career.

Joey had played in various groups and under the name JOEY MOLLAND’S BADFINGER since 1983.

Molland was the last surviving member of BADFINGER's core lineup.

Well, the day we never wanted to see has arrived.

Joey (Joseph Charles) Molland passed away last night, surrounded by...

Posted by Original Badfinger on Sunday, March 2, 2025

Influential Swedish metallers ENTOMBED have commenced work on new material — nearly 18 years after the release of their ninth studio album, "Serpent Saints: The Ten Amendments".

ENTOMBED's current lineup includes original members Alex Hellid (guitar),Uffe Cederlund (guitar) and Nicke Andersson (drums).

Earlier today (Saturday, March 1),ENTOMBED took to social media share a couple of photos from the studio and included the following message: "Back in the Studio – After All These Years! We started working on new material at Nicke's studio — digging into the riffs, tones, and everything in between. Even dusted off the Peavey Studio Pro 40, the same amp used on 'Left Hand Path', to see if it still had some magic left in it.

"Things are coming together, and we can't wait to share more with you all as soon as possible. Stay tuned!

"L-R: Nicke Andersson, Uffe Cederlund dialing in the sound, and Alex Hellid (partly visible in the reflection) capturing the moment."

Back in July 2022, Cronos (VENOM),Tomas Lindberg (AT THE GATES),Scott Carlson (REPULSION),Johnny Hedlund (UNLEASHED) and Urskogr (SERPENT OMEGA) were among the special guests who performed with ENTOMBED at the band's exclusive show at the Gefle Metal Festival in Gävle, Sweden.

ENTOMBED's core lineup for the Gefle Metal Festival concert included Hellid, Cederlund and Andersson plus former ENTOMBED bassist Jörgen Sandström, who previously played with the band between 1995 and 2004.

Toward the end of the set, ENTOMBED played with two drummer and two drum kits, with the band's former drummer Peter Stjärnvind joining in.

During a playback of late ENTOMBED frontman Lars-Göran "L.G." Petrov's piano instrumental "DCLXVI", Alex, Jörgen and Uffe stood still looking down as a tribute to L.G. during which a second drum kit was rolled out and then they played "Chief Rebel Angel" and "Stranger Aeons", with both Peter and Nicke on drums and Peter's wife Pia on vocals. Pia then left the stage, and Peter and Nicke continued playing with Johnny on vocals.

Petrov died on March 7, 2021 after a battle with bile duct cancer. He was 49 years old.

L.G. formed a similarly named new band called ENTOMBED A.D. in 2014 when he and other members of ENTOMBED decided to change the band's name in order to avoid a legal battle with Hellid who didn't want his former bandmates to use the ENTOMBED moniker.

In August 2020, Petrov told Metal Hammer about how he found out about his cancer: "A couple of months ago. I felt a lump in my solar plexus. And I was, like, 'Okay, I'll ignore it.' But then it started to hurt, so I went to the doctor, and they X-rayed it quickly and said, 'You have to go to the specialist.' That was weird. You can't imagine what it feels like. Your whole body goes warm. It's, like, 'Fucking hell.'"

Although Petrov revealed his cancer was "incurable," he said that the doctors were "hoping" they would be able to treat it. "Being young, the doctor said there's hopefully a way to control it so it doesn't spread, or maybe even make it smaller," he said.

In November 2016, Hellid, Cederlund and Andersson played ENTOMBED's groundbreaking 1991 album, "Clandestine", in its entirety at Malmö Live in Malmö, Sweden. Joining them at that show were Robert Andersson (vocals) and Nicke's half brother Edvin Aftonfalk (bass),both formerly of the Swedish death metal band MORBUS CHRON. Two weeks earlier, the Hellid-led lineup of ENTOMBED made its live debut on the Close-Up Båten cruise.

Hellid and Petrov had been embroiled in a legal battle over the ENTOMBED name for several years. In 2014, Petrov was reportedly awarded the right to use the band name in connection with future recording and touring activities, a decision which Hellid appealed without success. The guitarist then went on to register a trademark for spirits production under the "Entombed" name. This move did not sit well with Hellid's former bandmate, who filed a letter of protest against Alex's registration of the name, claiming that it could be confused with band activities. He also said that Hellid acted in "bad faith" when he registered name and that there was a desire to "deceive the public." Petrov's protest, however, found no favor with the Swedish Patent And Registration Office, which rejected his claims on the issue in a March 2016 ruling.

In an interview with Revolution-Music.dk, Petrov defended his group's decision to release albums and tour under the name ENTOMBED A.D. in order to avoid a legal battle with Hellid who didn't want his former bandmates to use the ENTOMBED moniker. "It had to be done, because without an album you can't tour," he explained. "I mean, you can tour, but if there's seven years between albums, it's ridiculously long. So we did the right thing, and we did what bands should do, and still do — release an album and go on tour and headbang and have a good time with friends, and that's what it's all about."

Photo credit: Alex Hellid (courtesy of ENTOMBED's Facebook)

Back in the Studio – After All These Years! 🤘🔥
We started working on new material at Nicke’s studio—digging into the...

Posted by Entombed Clandestine on Saturday, March 1, 2025

Fresh off the release of their new album "Antibloom", acclaimed Canadian rock band SILVERSTEIN has shared a brand new music video for the song "I Will Destroy This". The video features live footage from recent shows of SILVERSTEIN's "25 Years Of Noise" tour, putting the band's explosive performance style on full display.

"Antibloom", out now via UNFD, is the first part of SILVERSTEIN's double album "Antibloom" / "Pink Moon". Written in the deserts of Joshua Tree, these records represent the band’s most eclectic and creative body of work to date — drawing upon influences from across the band’s profound discography.

This year, fans around the world are invited to join the band in celebrating their "silver" anniversary with the "25 Years Of Noise" tour. These shows offer a discography-spanning performance and fans are able to vote for their favorite songs from each record to help decide the setlist. The band recently wrapped up the first leg of North American dates and has just kicked off a European tour alongside THURSDAY and THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS. Upon their return, SILVERSTEIN will continue their trek across North America, reaching new markets alongside REAL FRIENDS, BROADSIDE and GREYHAVEN.

SILVERSTEIN enters its 25th year with two full-length albums set for 2025. The band that NME calls "legendary" and Loudwire placed among the most prolific rock and metal artists of the 21st Century continues to innovate and inspire on forward-thinking records and at crowd-embracing live shows.

"Discovering The Waterfront" (2005) remains a touchstone classic. "A Beautiful Place To Drown" (2020) earned a "Rock Album Of The Year" nomination at the Juno Awards. "Antibloom" (arriving on February 21) and "Pink Moon" (arriving later in 2025) are stunning reminders of why the group is a vital subcultural force and why Alternative Press readers voted frontman Shane Told among the five best post-hardcore vocalists.

SILVERSTEIN songs like "My Heroine", "Smile in Your Sleep", "The Afterglow" and "Infinite" are postmodern anthems for a devoted following earned with passionate performances and authentic artistry. As recently as 2024, The Needle Drop called them "emo hardcore legends." While their 500-million-plus streams reflect that, SILVERSTEIN grew up in a scene where the music and message come first.

Audiences sing and scream along in packed theaters, at festivals, and on tours around the world with groups like SIMPLE PLAN, RISE AGAINST, GOOD CHARLOTTE, PIERCE THE VEIL, BEARTOOTH and UNDEROATH.

Sam Guaiana (NECK DEEP, HOLDING ABSENCE, BAYSIDE) produced and mixed "Antibloom" and "Pink Moon" at Fireside Sound in Joshua Tree, California. The band arrived with 25 demos and chose their 16 favorites. Drummer Paul Koehler suggested splitting the music into two albums and turning 2025 into a year-long celebration. This will allow listeners the space to absorb and connect with the songs, which embrace the band's storied past and postmodern leanings in equal measure, making for diverse experiences.

"We put everything we've learned/felt/experienced into this double album," the band said in a shared statement, declaring "Antibloom" and "Pink Moon" "the absolute collection of our musical style."

SILVERSTEIN is:

Shane Told - Vocals
Paul Koehler - Drums
Josh Bradford - Guitar
Billy Hamilton - Bass
Paul Marc Rousseau - Guitar

The riff raff YouTube channel has uploaded a collection of multi-camera video clips of all the songs AC/DC performed on the spring/summer 2024 European leg of the "Power Up" tour. The two-hour video can be seen below.

Featured songs:

00:00 Intro
00:35 If You Want Blood (May 29, Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla, Seville, Spain)
05:44 Back In Black (May 21, Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany)
09:54 Demon Fire (July 21, Vajnory Airport, Bratislava, Slovakia)
13:58 Shot Down In Flames (July 03, Wembley Stadium, London, England)
17:33 Thunderstruck (August 13, Hippodrome de Longchamp, Paris, France)
23:22 Have A Drink On Me (July 21, Vajnory Airport, Bratislava, Slovakia)
27:42 Hells Bells (May 25, RCF Arena Campovolo, Reggio Emilia, Italy)
33:17 Shot In The Dark (June 12, Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany)
36:41 Stiff Upper Lip (July 21, Vajnory Airport, Bratislava, Slovakia)
40:36 Shoot To Thrill (June 5, Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands)
46:25 Sin City (July 21, Vajnory Airport, Bratislava, Slovakia)
52:32 Rock 'N' Roll Train (May 25, RCF Arena Campovolo, Reggio Emilia, Italy)
57:02 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (May 25, RCF Arena Campovolo, Reggio Emilia, Italy)
01:01:53 High Voltage (August 13, Hippodrome de Longchamp, Paris, France)
01:08:30 Riff Raff (July 3, Wembley Stadium, London, England)
01:14:30 You Shook Me All Night Long (May 25, RCF Arena Campovolo, Reggio Emilia, Italy)
01:18:14 Highway To Hell (August 13, Hippodrome de Longchamp, Paris, France)
01:22:27 Whole Lotta Rosie (August 09, Festivalterrein Stenehei, Dessel, Belgium)
01:29:02 Let There Be Rock (May 25, RCF Arena Campovolo, Reggio Emilia, Italy)
01:48:36 TNT (July 21, Vajnory Airport, Bratislava, Slovakia)
01:53:03 For Those About To Rock (July 27, Zeppelinfeld, Nuremberg, Germany)

Earlier this month, AC/DC announced the summer 2025 European leg of the "Power Up" tour.

The new AC/DC dates kick off on June 26 at Letňany Airport in Prague, Czech Republic and wrap up at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on August 21. Along the way, AC/DC will make stops in Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Estonia, Sweden, Norway and France.

As previously reported, AC/DC will return to the road in the United States for the first time in nine years on the 2025 "Power Up" North American tour.

Much to the delight of millions of fans across North America, the legendary Grammy Award-winning Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame-inducted band will perform in 13 stadiums coast to coast next spring. This run kicks off on April 10 in Minneapolis, Minneapolis at US Bank Stadium, canvases the continent, and concludes on May 28 in Cleveland, Ohio at Huntington Bank Field. Along the way, they will play some of the most iconic and historic stadiums in the world, including the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on April 18 and Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois on May 24. Support on the trek will come from THE PRETTY RECKLESS.

AC/DC played the 24th and final concert of its 2024 "Power Up" European tour on August 17, 2024 at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland.

The "Power Up" European tour marked AC/DC's first with the band's new touring lineup consisting of guitarist Angus Young, vocalist Brian Johnson, rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, drummer Matt Laug and the latest addition to the group's touring lineup, bass player Chris Chaney.

The European tour was the first run of gigs since AC/DC's return to the stage at the 2023 Power Trip festival in Indio, California.

Prior to the 2024 run, AC/DC's last tour took place in 2015 and 2016 and had a $180 million gross, with 2,310,061 sold tickets reported to the Pollstar box office.

AC/DC postponed the last 10 dates of its spring 2016 North American trek after Johnson was advised to stop playing live or "risk total hearing loss." The band went on to complete the European and North American legs of its "Rock Or Bust" tour with GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose as a "guest vocalist." At the time, Johnson had been AC/DC's singer for 36 years, ever since replacing the late Bon Scott in 1980 and making his debut on the classic "Back In Black" album.

To enable him to perform live with AC/DC again, the now-77-year-old Johnson worked with audio expert Stephen Ambrose, who said he could help resolve the singer's hearing problems.

Bassist Cliff Williams announced his retirement at the end of AC/DC's 2015-2016 "Rock Or Bust" tour, which also saw Johnson leaving. However, Williams — and Johnson — took part in the recording sessions that resulted in the 2020 album "Power Up". Both of them were also part of the AC/DC lineup that performed at Power Trip.

The follow-up to 2014's "Rock Or Bust", "Power Up" was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also worked 2008's "Black Ice" and "Rock Or Bust".

In a new interview with Orange County Register, Nancy Wilson spoke about HEART's upcoming tour, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of HEART's 1975 debut album, "Dreamboat Annie". Regarding the group's longevity, the guitarist said: "I think me and Ann [Wilson, HEART singer], we represent what HEART is. The perception of HEART is the two of us. If we were still trying to be the original lineup, we would never still be there, you know what I mean? There was a lot of drama, and a lot of just growing up to do since the beginning of HEART, as far as who was in the band and who came through the band and all the different players.

"I think our relationship has always been really unique," she continued. "We're sisters, so we're blood. Our love is blood love and as different as we are, which we really are. And as crazy and divergent as our lives could be from each other, and the circumstantial stuff from the outside and all the static that happens around us, we just plow through.

"I always felt lucky to have another girl, not to mention a sister, inside of HEART. It's like being in the eye of the hurricane, the way it's felt over the years, because all the eras go by and the dramas go through, and there's cows flying around and tractors in the air, but at the nucleus of the story is the quiet center where me and Ann exist.

"We had our own lives and our husbands and our own choices and roads we took," Nancy added. "But [the band] is kind of like coming back to the good old oak tree called HEART. It exists there. The roots are deep and it's bigger than all the rest of it, because the music and the songs are there in the culture. It's a lovely, steady pillar of power that just exists on its own. Even without me and Ann, it'll still be there."

Last July, HEART postponed the remaining dates of its 2024 North American tour in order for Ann to undergo cancer treatments.

The rescheduled "Royal Flush" will now kick off on February 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada and wrap up on April 16 in New York City.

Previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new dates.

The current members of HEART feature Nancy Wilson (rhythm, lead and acoustic guitar, backing and lead vocals),Ann Wilson (lead vocals and flute),Ryan Wariner (lead and rhythm guitar),Ryan Waters (guitars),Paul Moak (guitars, keyboards and backing vocals),Tony Lucido (bass and backing vocals) and Sean Lane (drums and bike).

In December 2023, HEART played its first three concerts in more than four years — in Highland, California, at Greater Palm Springs in Palm Desert, California, and in Seattle, Washington.

Prior to HEART's December 27, 2023 show in Highland, the band's last performance took place in October 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 2024 leg of "Royal Flush" featured CHEAP TRICK as support on most of the North American leg. HEART was also scheduled to join DEF LEPPARD and JOURNEY for summer stadium shows in Cleveland, Toronto and Boston.

HEART toured North America in the summer of 2019 after a nasty split that kept the Wilson sisters estranged for three years.

Ann and Nancy had a falling out during HEART's 2016 tour, when Ann's husband Dean Welter was arrested for assaulting Nancy's then-16-year-old twin sons in a backstage altercation at a gig near their hometown of Seattle. He pleaded guilty to two lesser assault charges to avoid jail time.

HEART's 2013 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame saw Ann and Nancy reunited with the four musicians who helped HEART achieve its initial success in the mid-1970s — guitarist Roger Fisher, bassist Steve Fossen, drummer Michael DeRosier and longtime guitarist-keyboardist Howard Leese.

The Wilson sisters' reunion with HEART's original lineup at the Rock Hall ceremony marked the first time the group played together in 34 years.

When Ann and Nancy formed HEART, the idea of two women leading a rock band was still groundbreaking. From the moment 1975's "Dreamboat Annie" was released, they became stars. With hits like "Magic Man", "Crazy On You", "Barracuda", "Alone", "What About Love" and "These Dreams", the band became one of the biggest hit-makers in the Seventies and Eighties, selling more than 35 million records. In 2012, their memoir "Kicking & Dreaming: A Story Of Heart, Soul And Rock & Roll" became a New York Times bestseller.

Photo credit: Criss Cain

In a new interview with Stefs Rock Show, BUCKCHERRY guitarist Stevie Dacanay (a.k.a. Stevie D.) spoke about the band's upcoming eleventh album, "Roar Like Thunder", which will be released on June 13. The follow-up to 2023's "Vol. 10" was once again helmed by producer and songwriter-for-hire Marti Frederiksen, who has previously collaborated with AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, Jonny Lang and Sheryl Crow, among many others. Regarding how the BUCKCHERRY songwriting process works, Stevie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Josh [Todd, BUCKCHERRY singer] and I usually start a year before the recording process. We start demoing here [at my home studio in Los Angeles]. And we'll do it on the road. I have a road rig that I bring with [me], and we just start documenting ideas. And then what we do, we set aside a few weeks somewhere along the way and we get with our producer, Marti Frederiksen. He's become like the sixth member of the band… And when we write with Marti, he's in Nashville, so we fly out there in between tours. And what we do is we take all these ideas and we kind of flesh them out more. So from, let's say, 20 ideas, we'll kind of whittle those down to eight, nine, and we'll have songwriting sessions and come up with 10 songs for an album."

A video for the "Roar Like Thunder" title track was shot in Los Angeles in early February and will be released on March 13 along with information on the album preorder.

Last month, Josh told TalkShopLive about "Roar Like Thunder": "It's really great. It's a rocking record from beginning to end. You guys are gonna really love it. We labored over the songwriting for a long time, and it's a lot of fun from beginning to end."

In December, Todd told Indie Power TV about BUCKCHERRY's working relationship with Frederiksen: "Yeah, our relationship with Marti goes way back. We co-wrote 'Sorry' with Marti way back on [the] '15' [album], and then 'Black Butterfly' and 'Confessions'. Marti was all part of all that. It's just unfortunate that we didn't get to continue with him because of the politics in B.C. at the time. So, long story short, it's been great to be back with him. I don't ever wanna do a record without him, and he knows that. He understands this band for what's special about BUCKCHERRY, bringing out those elements in us. I think we bring out elements in him that he likes, and we work as a team. We do what's best for the song. We leave the egos at the door and we get to it and we always make great stuff. So it's been a lot of fun making records."

He added: "And [Marti's] got a mini-me. His son is Evan Frederiksen, and he's on this record too. And he was on the last record, and he's really so Marti-ish. And he's gonna be a big player down the line too. He's great. He's very talented. And just like Marti — Marti started on drums; that was his instrument. And then [Marti] eventually got into songwriting, and he can play guitar and he sings and he does it all. He's always writing with somebody at all times, so he's just a wealth of information. And I always learn so much doing records with him."

In November, Dacanay told Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic about BUCKCHERRY's working relationship with Marti: "We've known him for a very long time. About 20 years ago, he co-wrote [the song] 'Sorry' and then produced the 'Black Butterfly' album after that. So we've known him since then, but we got together with him for [2021's] 'Hellbound' album. We reconnected and, in my opinion, we've done some stuff, sonically and musically, that's been really great. And I love the process. I love coming here [to his studio in Nashville] and working with him. It's such an inspiring kind of environment. And there's a lot of history here at the studio and the vibe here just is real conducive to creating. But yeah, working with Marti, and his son now is an integral part of this camp, a lot gets done pretty quickly. And, yeah, I can't say enough good stuff about this place."

Dacanay went on to speak in more detail about the BUCKCHERRY songwriting process, saying: "There's a considerable amount of preparation before we actually get in here to track the album. So we'll spend the year writing and demoing songs, and then we'll pick out the songs we wanna focus on. And then I'll make a demo of the 10 songs and give 'em to the rest of the guys — Kelly [LeMieux, bass], Francis [Ruiz, drums] and Billy [Rowe, guitar]. They'll learn the songs in kind of what they wanna do their parts. And then we'll all fly in… What happened this time is we all flew in pretty early in the morning and just started cranking it out. And these guys are — they're crackerjacks. So they can get in and do their respective parts in a day, 10 songs, and then their second day would be about just touch-ups or revisions or something like that. But each guy knocks his parts out in a couple days. So they were in and out of here in four or five days, I believe. We had two studios going. There's four studios here. So at one point we'll have two rooms going — one with, let's say Billy's in one room and Kelly's in another tracking or Francis. Francis, at one point, was the only one… When he starts it off, there's nothing else to start recording, so Francis goes first and knocks out the majority of it, and then everyone else just starts jumping in."

"Vol. 10" came out in June 2023. The 11-song LP featured 10 new BUCKCHERRY originals and, as a bonus track, a cover of the Bryan Adams classic "Summer Of 69". The album was produced by Frederiksen and recorded at Sienna Studios in Nashville. The album was released in North America by Round Hill Records, in Japan by Sony Japan, and by Earache Records for the rest of the world.

In November 2023, BUCKCHERRY released a new holiday song called "Tell 'Em It's Christmas".

BUCKCHERRY previously released another holiday song, "Christmas Is Here", back in 2010.

In the summer of 2020, BUCKCHERRY recruited JETBOY's Rowe as its new guitarist. He joined the group as the replacement for Kevin Roentgen, who left BUCKCHERRY in July of that year.

In 2019, BUCKCHERRY enlisted Ruiz as its new drummer. He joined the group as the replacement for Sean Winchester, who exited BUCKCHERRY after laying down the drum tracks on "Warpaint".

The 20th-anniversary deluxe edition of the double-platinum BUCKCHERRY album "15" on physical and digital formats arrived on January 17 via Endurance Music Group. Originally released in 2005, the album featured the four-times-platinum single "Crazy Bitch" and the two-times-platinum single "Sorry". The deluxe edition was issued in North America on a two-vinyl-LP format featuring the album's 11 original songs as well as four bonus tracks recorded in 2005 and three newly recorded acoustic tracks by Todd and Dacanay.

BUCKCHERRY will perform the "15" album in its entirety on all 2025 tour dates which begin in March.

Photo credit: Tommy Sommers

In a recent interview with D'Addario And Co., veteran metal bassist Steve DiGiorgio spoke about what it was like to play and make music with late DEATH mastermind Chuck Schuldiner in the 1990s. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Working with Chuck, he established the song with his riff, and he would allow the players around him to take that and interpret it as they saw fit, as long as he still had that direction that he set out. He really pushed the players to add to that stuff. There was even times where I would write something a little counterpoint, something going crazy, and I'm thinking, like, 'Oh, he's gonna hear this and he's probably gonna want to tame it down because it's a little brave.' And he would just shake his head. And he'd be, like, 'Man, I know you could do more. I like your idea, but come on — go for it.' So he was a big factor for me to go for it. He was a try-anything kind of guy."

Steve continued: "In the old days, people would say, 'Is he a tyrant in the studio?' I'm, like, 'Man, are you kidding? This guy is the most open-minded free thinker.' And there was times where your ideas steered a little bit away from what he was looking for and he would rein you in and say, 'Can you save that for over here? Because maybe I have a harmony part that comes on. I don't want it to clash.' He wasn't just letting everything fly — it was a good quality control — but he had enough confidence in his own composition ability that he could allow players to be themselves, bring their personality in and decorate his riffs. And it's still his composition, it's stillDEATH, and more people enjoy it because now the drumming world is interested in this band, bass players are interested in this band. So he welcomed this kind of activity because it just drew people in. And then you see the catalog. It's this iconic band with brutal death metal with musicality in it.

"He came from a very brutal background, so the early stuff has this guttural, demonic vibe, but his interests were in power metal, classic metal, melodic singing — Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford, King Diamond," DiGiorgio added. "That was always trickling in and influencing his evolvement as a writer. These really major progressions and happy notes are getting thrown in in a brutal context. There's this hybrid in there, and I think that set him apart because he didn't have this really narrow margin of, 'This is death metal.' There were no margins. If it sounded a little happy, that's good. Well, maybe the next part will get dark again and we'd go back and forth, and I think that gives DEATH its distinct character — this kind of willingness to just break genres and let stuff seep in as it may."

For more than a decade, DiGiorgio has been touring with DEATH TO ALL (DTA),which features former members of DEATH celebrating the life and music of Schuldiner.

The current lineup of DEATH TO ALL includes DiGiorgio on bass, Gene Hoglan (also of DARK ANGEL and DETHKLOK) on drums and Bobby Koelble on guitar, with Max Phelps (CYNIC) handing the vocal and second-guitar duties.

Schuldiner died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

In recent years, DEATH's storied catalog has undergone a meticulous reissue campaign via Relapse Records.

Relapse released the first-ever fully authorized DEATH tab book, featuring 21 classic songs tabbed out for guitar from the band's entire discography. The book, which includes traditional notation as well as tablature, also comes with a digital download of all tracks.

In a 2011 interview with Bass Musician magazine, DiGiorgio stated about working with Schuldiner: "Sometimes people make good music together, and sometimes they vibe like yin and fucking yang. Chuck is credited with a lot of things in the music world (metal world, of course),but one thing a lot of people don't know much about is how aware he was. What I mean is that he was a good listener. If I thought of a wacky bassline to something he was writing, before I could even try to explain why it came to me, he was already ahead of it and looking for something on the next part. He had a good sense of when to hold me back and when to push me. It was great to have someone, especially the 'main man' of the band not only appreciate what I contributed but also help me find my inner demon to conjure even sicker and more abstract things to play. There really was some math going on in that roiling storm sometimes."

In a new interview with Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco Bay Area radio station 107.7 The Bone, LAMB OF GOD frontman D. Randall "Randy" Blythe, who is promoting his just-released second book, "Just Beyond The Light: Making Peace With The Wars Inside Our Head", was asked what the next year will look like for him and his bandmates. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "For me, sketching out the next year, that's kind of rough… We'll do some festivals, the band will, this year, and we have our [Headbangers Boat] cruise. And I suppose we will eventually start getting together and going through demo ideas." He then quickly clarified: "No, we're not in the studio right now. Our bass player [John Campbell] did an interview [recently] where he's, like, 'Well, it's time to start working on music again.' Everybody's, like, 'Are you going into the studio?' It's, like, no, dude, we're always working on music. It's just we're off the road for a minute. But for me right now, my main focus is promoting this book. And I've been doing a lot of press for it, a lot of podcasts and so forth. And that will continue on after the book's release, because I think books sell slower than records do. It takes a while sometimes for them to find their audience. So I'm gonna continue to promote this thing. And 'cause we have a pretty light touring year, I'd like to just kind of enjoy myself a little bit."

Elaborating on LAMB OF GOD's decision to play fewer shows in 2025, Randy said: "We do not have to tour forever. We're not slaves. It's okay. We can take time off and relax. We don't live in New York City or Los Angeles. We live in Virginia. It's not as expensive. You can be wise with your money and take a little time off and enjoy your life. We're getting old. Sometimes that's best for a band.

"There's always pressure to tour from everyone, not necessarily management or whatever," he continued. "I mean, they've offered us some gigs [for later this year], and we're, like, 'No. We're chilling for a little bit.' We're gonna do a few."

"A lot of my guys [in LAMB OF GOD] have young children," Blythe explained. "It's, like, you only get a chance to raise that kid once. And we've been doing this for almost 30 years — 30 years. It's not like we haven't paid our dues. So if we wanna kick back for a little bit and work a little smarter, not harder, then we will. We've played everywhere — everywhere — multiple times. It's okay if we don't come back the next month. And also I think absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. If you're playing somewhere three times a year, people are gonna be, like, 'Ah, I'll catch 'em next time.'"

Last summer, LAMB OF GOD completed its "Ashes Of Leviathan" co-headlining tour with MASTODON. The trek, dubbed "Ashes Of Leviathan", also featured openers KERRY KING and MALEVOLENCE.

"Ashes Of Leviathan" celebrated the 20th anniversary of LAMB OF GOD's "Ashes Of The Wake" and MASTODON's "Leviathan" albums, both of which were released on the same date in 2004 (August 31).

On August 30, 2024, Epic Records and Legacy Recordings marked the two-decade anniversary of "Ashes Of Leviathan" with "Ashes Of The Wake (20th Anniversary Edition)", featuring new mixes by Justin K Broadrick (GODFLESH, JESU),HEALTH and KUBLAI KHAN TX and MALEVOLENCE, as well as demo and live versions of the album's classic songs.

LAMB OF GOD is Randy Blythe (vocals),John Campbell (bass),Mark Morton (guitar),Willie Adler (guitar) and Art Cruz (drums). Formed in 1994, the Richmond, Virginia-based band have released nine critically acclaimed albums, received five Grammy Award nominations and are widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative forces in heavy music. The band's most recent collection, "Omens", arrived in late 2022, with Kerrang! noting that the album finds the band "as reliably heavy, violent, and pissed off as ever," and Consequence saying the "album will break you down to nihilistic pieces."