In a new interview with The Chuck Shute Podcast, former VIXEN and current FEMME FATALE frontwoman Lorraine Lewis stood by her decision to join OnlyFans. The 66-year-old current senior casting producer at the production company Renegade 83 said she joined the subscription-only site last fall after being interested in diversifying into various digital platforms, highlighting the fluidity and evolving nature of online content creation.

"I am stoked about the OnlyFans," she said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "The response has been amazing.

"I have wanted to join OnlyFans for a very, very long time," Lorraine admitted. "I just think it's a cool platform. It can be whatever you want it to be. I think a lot of people think it's really just porn. It's not. It doesn't have to be. But it's sexy, I'll tell you that. Like, I'm hella sexy.

"The honest truth of this is I started it back in October, and I just kind of wanted to figure out the platform for myself," Lewis revealed. "So I was only inviting certain people from my Instagram that I felt safe with, or that they would keep the secret. And they did. I mean, they did. And so I had it up to about 20 subscribers… And then I knew that I wanted to announce it, because I just didn't want it to come from somebody else, like, oh, somebody found out and then they go to Blabbermouth or they go to you, you know what I mean? I wanted to be in control of my announcement. So I hired Mitch Schneider Organization. Mitch and I go way back to back in the day. He was my publicist when I was signed to Frontline Management and MCA. And I contacted him and I told him what was going on with my music and this and that and OnlyFans. And I said, 'I want to announce my OnlyFans.' And so he said, 'Great.' So we did a press release. It went everywhere. And so I am so proud of myself that I was the one to be able to announce it."

Lorraine went on to say that she currently has 560 subscribers who pay around $20 a month to view her content.

"It's been amazing," Lewis repeated. "And the cool thing about it — look, bottom line is my theme song for 35 years has been [FEMME FATALE's 1988 hit] 'Waiting For The Big One', for goodness's sake, so it just makes sense that a girl like me, a rock star like me, would take this to the next level. I've always been a rebel. I'm always full of surprises. And this is just another level of, like, doing what I wanna do and living life to the fullest.

"If I'm lucky, I've got 30 more years on the planet," Lorraine continued. "I can talk about this when I'm sipping tea when I'm 100. This is just another phase of my life. I'm owning it. I'm embracing it. I'm in control of whatever I wanna do, and I'm just having so much fun. I have so many fans that have come on and they're, like, 'I've had a crush on you since I was 15 years old and first saw your video.' I mean, it's a chance for people to have a one-on-one with me, get to know me on a more intimate one-on-one level, have fun with it. And, yeah, I'm just having fun."

Lewis added: "I saw something on Instagram with Cher recently, and I mentioned this in the press release, that she says, 'I wish I would have been badder.' She said, 'I was pretty bad,' meaning she was — I mean, she has quite a repertoire of suitors that she's been with. And she just looked at that camera. She said, 'I was pretty bad.' She said, 'I wish I would have been badder.' And I was, like, hells yes. So it's my 'bad' period. [Laughs]"

FEMME FATALE's 1988 self-titled MCA album produced two big rock singles and MTV videos, "Waiting For The Big One" and "Falling In And Out of Love".

Coming off a nearly six-year run as the lead vocalist of VIXEN, whom she was invited to join in 2019, Lewis is now doubling down on her legacy with a new FEMME FATALE lineup. Notably, Lorraine has also been recording with Lou Gramm, the original FOREIGNER lead singer and Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer. They have recorded an interpretation of David Bowie's "Heroes" for release this June (exact date to be announced).

Lewis was fired from VIXEN last May and was replaced by Rosa Laricchiuta.

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

Photo credit: Ute Ville Photography @utevillephotography (courtesy of Schneider Rondan Organization)

In a new interview with The Adventures Of Pipeman, BUTCHER BABIES frontwoman Heidi Shepherd spoke about her predominantly "clean" singing approach in the band's latest single, "Sincerity", which came out last November. When the interviewer noted that some people think that because she growls, she can't sing, Heidi said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a weird misconception. I was a singer before I was a screamer. I was classically trained. But that is a misconception. When people will actually hear my clean vocals, they're, like, 'Oh my gosh. What? Oh, you can sing.' I'm, like, 'Well, I am in a band.' [Laughs]"

Heidi also noted that without proper training, "growl singing" can damage your vocal cords beyond repair.

"There's a technique that we learned along the way, and, yeah, if you don't do it correctly, you could damage yourself permanently," she said. "And so I do take it very seriously. And especially being on tour, going back and forth between the cleans and the screams, but I've always done that — our whole career for 15 years, I've always gone back and forth between the cleans and the screams. I think before it hasn't been as highlighted as it was with 'Sincerity'."

Last November, BUTCHER BABIES shared a music video for "Sincerity", directed by Shepherd and guitarist Henry Flury.

"Sincerity" marked BUTCHER BABIES's first release since the departure of co-founding co-vocalist Carla Harvey.

When "Sincerity" was first released, Shepherd said in a statement: "Over the last decade and a half, BUTCHER BABIES has become known for our aggression and soaring melodies. This new release is no different. Diving into real-life experiences and expectations while exposing the rawest part of our souls, this single is bound to invoke an emotional rollercoaster between looking toward the future with hope while reminiscing of past losses."

Future BUTCHER BABIES releases will be available via Judge & Jury Records, a powerhouse record label and production company founded by multi-platinum producer Howard Benson (MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, SEETHER, SKILLET, OF MICE & MEN) and Neil Sanderson of THREE DAYS GRACE.

The instrumentation for "Sincerity" was meticulously crafted by Benson and Sanderson at West Valley Recording Studios, Benson's studio in Woodland Hills.

BUTCHER BABIES is Heidi Shepherd on vocals, Henry Flury on guitar, Ricky Bonazza on bass and Devin Nickles on drums.

BUTCHER BABIES played their first concert since the official departure of Harvey on July 27, 2024 at the Stonehenge festival in Steenwijk, The Netherlands.

In the fall of 2023, BUTCHER BABIES completed a European tour without Carla, who sat out the trek in order to undergo emergency surgery on her left eye.

In January 2024, Harvey and ANTHRAX and PANTERA drummer Charlie Benante announced that they were officially engaged.

BUTCHER BABIES released a double album "Eye For An Eye..." and "…'Til The World's Blind", in July 2023. The double album celebrated the tenth anniversary of BUTCHER BABIES' critically acclaimed debut, "Goliath", released on July 9, 2013 via Century Media Records.

BUTCHER BABIES' previous album, 2017's "Lilith" was produced by Steve Evetts (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SEPULTURA, SUICIDE SILENCE) and marked the band's recording debut with drummer Chase Brickenden, who replaced Chris Warner in 2016.

In a new interview with the Appetite For Distortion podcast, bassist/vocalist Schmier of German thrash metal veterans DESTRUCTION was asked about the physical challenges of singing in a thrash metal band for more than four decades. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I know how to take care of my voice nowadays much better. When you were young, you didn't give a fuck — it just came out. But actually, when I was young, I kind of lost my voice a couple of times. It was actually one American tour, [with] the CRO-MAGS, we toured like two and a half months, and once we hit upstate New York, I lost my voice. It was gone. I had to take a huge penicillin shot at the doctor. But this actually never happened to me again in the last 20 years, because I take better care.

"The good thing about when you grow older with music is you learn from the mistakes, you learn from the past," he explained. "And, yeah, I live more healthy nowadays. And for me, I have to be functional on stage, so my whole routine is about being fit for the show. So I try to eat healthy, do some sports, not dehydrate. Those things are super important. And, of course, also, you know how to control your voice better when you get older. I sing a little bit different than I used to sing — a little deeper here and there. The range is still there, but I just have more voice control. And I think that comes with the experience of — I don't know how many live shows we played, but it must be more than a thousand something. So I think that's the good thing about growing older with music."

Asked if there are any other singers, whether they are in the same genre or not, that he looks up to and admire in terms of how they've been able to perform throughout their career, Schmier said: "Yeah, there's of course a few people like that. I mean, when I was young, I looked up to Rob Halford [of JUDAS PRIEST], and I'm a huge PRIEST fan still. And I saw them live on the last tour, and Rob is more than 72, I think, now, and he still performs fantastic for his age. So I have a lot of respect for that. Also, I used to be a big fan of Lemmy [of MOTÖRHEAD, because he was the first one with the scratchy vocals, with the extreme vocals in rock and roll, basically. In the early '80s, the first time I heard MOTÖRHEAD, [it was] life changing. And from the thrash point of view, of course, I always loved Tom Araya's [SLAYER] voice, because he was the first guy who did this perfect phrasing, the thrash phrasing — a lot of fast words going together into cool, yeah, phrases. I think those three guys were super important. And, of course, there's more. But I think Rob Halford, from all of them, he kind of, for his age, he does the most outstanding job. Also, if you look at the last PRIEST, the hook lines he wrote. I think it's a big gift if you can write good hook lines. It's not just about singing good; it's also about how good can you write, especially when you get older. There's a lot of good examples for bands when they grow older, they don't write so good anymore. The songs get a little bit more slower and more boring and more bluesy, most of them. But not Halford. He managed [on] the last two [PRIEST] albums to write so many amazing melodies and hook lines. That's, wow."

Earlier this month, DESTRUCTION announced a new documentary "The Art Of Destruction", to be released in German cinemas in March 2025.

DESTRUCTION will release its 16th studio album, "Birth Of Malice", on March 7, 2025 via Napalm Records.

Schmier once again combines his dual vocal/bass attack with crashing riffs from dual battle axe masters Martin Furia and Damir Eskić, while Randy Black blasts his drums to new heights. The LP's cover artwork was designed by talented Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsák, known for his works for bands like ACCEPT, KREATOR and BLIND GUARDIAN.

"Birth Of Malice" was recorded at Switzerland's Little Creek Studio by V.O. Pulver. Guitarist Martin Furia mixed and mastered the masterpiece at The Black Mancave in Hannover, Germany.

DESTRUCTION's massive career has seen many successes, with the band hitting stages at the world's biggest festivals around the world like Hellfest, Wacken Open Air, Graspop Metal Meeting and México Metal Fest.

DESTRUCTION, known as one of the "Teutonic Four", alongside KREATOR, SODOM and TANKARD, were reunited with the other three acts at the "Klash Of The Ruhrpott" concert on July 20, 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

In August 2021, DESTRUCTION officially parted ways with founding guitarist Michael "Mike" Sifringer and replaced him with Martin Furia. The Argentinian-born, Belgian-based Furia is best known for his work as sound engineer and producer for such bands as NERVOSA and EVIL INVADERS.

Sifringer was the only member of DESTRUCTION to have remained constant throughout the band's career. Schmier appeared on DESTRUCTION's first three albums before exiting the band and being replaced by POLTERGEIST vocalist André Grieder. André's sole recorded appearance with DESTRUCTION was on the "Cracked Brain" album, which came out in 1990. Schmier rejoined DESTRUCTION in 1999.

In a new interview with Finland's Chaoszine, IRON MAIDEN's longtime drummer Nicko McBrain opened up about his recent announcement that he was retiring from touring with the band, calling it "the best decision" he could have made.

The 72-year-old British musician, whose real name is Michael Henry McBrain, announced his retirement on December 7, 2024 in a statement on MAIDEN's web site and social media. He also said that night's concert at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil would mark his final show with the legendary rock band.

Regarding how he is feeling, less than two months after playing his final gig with MAIDEN, Nicko told Chaoszine (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Mixed emotions, obviously. Making the decision to step back from touring has been — it was easy at the time, going towards the end of the tour. I kind of made my mind up when we got to North America and talked to the boys about it, mainly Steve [Harris, MAIDEN bassist] and then the management. And everybody went, 'Okay. If that's what you wanna do, we understand,' having my handicap, since my stroke and stuff like that. So having said that, I get up some days and I'm, like, 'I'm gonna miss the next tour and I'm not gonna be able to go out on the road.'

"It was an easy decision, but I wish I could still play with the guys," he added. "I wish I had my full fitness."

Asked if MAIDEN's "The Future Past" tour was a rough tour for him to do overall, Nicko said: "It was. This one, we kept the kind of same schedule, like gig, travel day, gig, travel day, gig, two days off or a day off, travel day, that sort of thing. And it was just — it just got to me.

"It was good the year before last, in '23. And it was still good [in 2024], but I felt that I couldn't give it a hundred percent, certainly on 'Trooper' and other songs. And we made do, we got through it okay, but I felt that I was not being able to drive the band like I wanted to, although I had a personal trainer out on the road towards the end of the North American tour… We didn't have any rest days. If we did two shows in a row, we'd have a travel day and then a full day off. It was working out nice for me. I was enjoying getting that physical side of training. I wasn't doing so much weight; it was a lot of kind of yoga stretches, a lot of things like that, trying to get my mental agility back with coordinating. There were a lot of things that we did together to improve the synapses in the brain to get working again. And it was coming on nice, but it was just a struggle for me. And I thought, 'You know, at my age, I'm gonna step back and let somebody else take a the reins.'"

Asked if it was difficult for him to get through the tour because of that, Nicko, who converted to Christianity in 1999, said: "No, not at all. Well, just from the point — when you get used to being able to do something for, like, 50 years of your career, and then God gave me a stroke, but I'm still here. I'm still standing two years later. But I was very fortunate in the fact that I had great therapists that helped me through this in the beginning. I basically felt that… The feeling I had was I was frustrated because I know I could do stuff, but I couldn't actually do it physically or mentally, 'cause there's a lot of mental stuff going on."

Elaborating on when he exactly made the decision to retire from touring with MAIDEN, Nicko said: "It was something that I had thought of in '23. I was thinking after the end of that tour, I was going, 'Well, should I announce it to the band then?' But I thought, 'No, I'll get through 'The Future Past' tour and then we'll see. And let's get that one out of the way first.' And as we got to the North American tour, I thought, 'It's time to hang it up, Nick.'

"It wasn't an easy decision by any means, but it was the best one — it was the best decision at the end of the day," McBrain explained. "Admittedly, I get good days and bad days, and the bad days are when I feel, 'Oh, I'm not gonna be out on those stages anymore looking at these wonderful fans of ours for all these years,' but at the end of the day, that's why I'm not doing it. That's not why I'm doing it, actually — I'm not doing it because it was just too much for me."

McBrain also confirmed that there are tentative plans for him to write an autobiography which will delve more deeply into his life, including his retirement from MAIDEN. "Yeah, we're on the cusp of that," he said. "Yeah, it's been talked about. Yeah. Watch this space."

In his statement announcing his retirement, McBrain said: "After much consideration, it is with both sorrow and joy, I announce my decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle. I wish the band much success moving forward."

"What can I say? Touring with MAIDEN the last 42 years has been an incredible journey! To my devoted fan base, you made it all worthwhile and I love you!" McBrain added.

Despite the fact that he is stepping away from touring, McBrain said that he will remain closely connected to IRON MAIDEN and continue to be involved in "a variety of projects" with the band, while also focusing on personal ventures and his existing businesses.

"I look into the future with much excitement and great hope! I'll be seeing you soon, may God bless you all, and, of course, 'Up the Irons!'" he wrote.

MAIDEN's longtime manager Rod Smallwood of Phantom Music Management expressed his gratitude to McBrain, writing in a separate statement: "Thank you for being an irrepressible force behind the drum kit for MAIDEN for 42 years and my friend for even longer. I speak on behalf of all the band when I say we will miss you immensely!"

Smallwood also referenced MAIDEN's deep connection with Brazil, where they have been performing to massive crowds since appearing at the 1985 edition of the Rock In Rio festival. "To bow out of touring in front of 90,000 fans here in São Paulo over two nights is poetic," Rod continued. "Nicko is and will always be part of the MAIDEN family."

On December 8, 2024, IRON MAIDEN announced Simon Dawson as its new touring drummer. Dawson is a former session drummer and MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris's longtime bandmate in BRITISH LION.

The December 7, 2024 performance marked the the final show of IRON MAIDEN's "The Future Past" world tour, which began in May 2023.

MAIDEN will return to the road in 2025 for the "Run For Your Lives" world tour, which is scheduled to launch in May.

In January 2023, Nicko was at his home in Boca Raton when he suffered a stroke with partial paralysis.

When Nicko first went public with his stroke in August 2023, the drummer said in a statement that the episode left him "paralyzed" down one side of his body and "worried" that his career with the band was over.

FIve years ago, McBrain was diagnosed with stage 1 laryngeal cancer and opened up about it in a single interview in 2021 but otherwise kept it mostly under wraps. The musician received his cancer diagnosis after undergoing an endoscopy at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University Of Miami Health System and the Miller School of Medicine. Within a week, McBrain's cancer was surgically removed and he now gets check-ups every few months to make sure the cancer hasn't returned.

Tapped to replace Clive Burr in 1982 after touring activities for "Number Of The Beast" concluded, McBrain brought a degree of finesse and technicality that was largely missing from IRON MAIDEN's early output. Whereas Burr was often lauded for his heavy-handed, punk-oriented style, McBrain was largely the opposite, playing with a degree of dexterity and flair that helped primary songwriter Steve Harris take MAIDEN down more adventurous paths. He eventually became the third longest-tenured member of MAIDEN, behind Harris and guitarist Dave Murray.

McBrain spent his early drumming years playing for the likes of Pat Travers and French rockers TRUST, eventually falling onto the radar of Harris and MAIDEN during the group's initial European tour.

Swedish progressive metal pioneers MESHUGGAH have released the official music video for the song "Ligature Marks". The clip has debuted as part of the celebration around the reissue of the band's critically acclaimed album "Immutable", which is now presented in the remastered "Indelible Edition", due on April 4, 2025 via Reigning Phoenix Music.

Following the critical acclaim of the original 2022 release of "Immutable", the "Indelible Edition" arrives with a sonic enhancement, redefining the album's depth and clarity, and includes three riveting live tracks recorded during MESHUGGAH's world tours in 2023 and 2024. These additions not only showcase the band's raw live energy but also underline their commitment to pushing musical boundaries.

The video for "Ligature Marks" is directed by Anthony Dubois, known for his visionary approach that complements MESHUGGAH's complex musical landscapes. The video captures live performance footage that brings the intensity of their stage presence directly to fans.

The "Indelible Edition" of "Immutable" transcends a typical reissue, offering a fully immersive experience that extends over an hour of MESHUGGAH's meticulously crafted music. This special edition will be available in two exquisite formats: a two-LP gatefold vinyl and a single-disc digipak. Each format boasts a remastered audio experience, enriched by breathtaking new artwork and layout. Notably, the inclusion of distinctive gold foil accents enhances both the tactile and visual appeal, making it a collector's gem.

Coinciding with the album reissue, MESHUGGAH is set to electrify stages across the U.S. and Canada with a massive tour starting this March. The tour showcases the band's complex themes and intricate soundscapes, bringing their creative evolution to life.

MESHUGGAH will headline the run with full support from the iconic and equally legendary CANNIBAL CORPSE and CARCASS, both of whom are renowned for their visceral and compelling musical styles. This lineup creates a powerhouse of intense performances, blending MESHUGGAH's innovative metal fusion with the brutal death metal of CANNIBAL CORPSE and the melodic engagements of CARCASS.

"Immutable - The Indelible Edition" track listing:

01. Broken Cog
02. The Abysmal Eye
03. Light The Shortening Fuse
04. Phantoms
05. Ligature Marks
06. God He Sees In Mirrors
07. They Move Below (instrumental)
08. Kaleidoscope
09. Black Cathedral (instrumental)
10. I Am That Thirst
11. The Faultless
12. Armies Of The Preposterous
13. Past Tense (instrumental)
14. Kaleidoscope (Live)
15. Ligature Marks (Live)
16. God He Sees In Mirrors (Live)

"Immutable" was released in May 2022 via Atomic Fire. The follow-up to 2016's "The Violent Sleep Of Reason" was recorded at Sweetspot Studios in Halmstad, Sweden; mixed by Rickard Bengtsson and Staffan Karlsson; and mastered by multiple Grammy Award winner Vlado Meller (METALLICA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, SYSTEM OF A DOWN). Visionary artist Luminokaya once again created the stunning cover artwork.

MESHUGGAH guitarist Mårten Hagström discussed "Immutable" during an appearance on MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn's "No Fuckin' Regrets With Robb Flynn" podcast. He said: "It's a double album, if this was a vinyl. It's 13 tracks; 66 or 67 minutes of music. It's the longest album we've put out so far, to this date. And it's a bit funny, 'cause when we started writing, I was really adamant that, 'Let's try to make a 'Reign In Blood' album' — like the MESHUGGAH 'Reign In Blood' album; just short but sweet. Not maybe 27 minutes, but keep it just over half an hour. 'Cause albums aren't what they used to be anyways; it's singles. So, obviously, we went the opposite direction and made a double album and just built it as an album and thought of it as, like back in the day, very important with the track listing and all that shit.

"For us, it was, like we always do, trying to find the… What's the MESHUGGAH sound? How do we keep it but make it interesting to us?" he continued. "'Cause that's been our modus operandi all along: if we please ourselves, we please our fans. That's how it's been. So that's what we need to take care of.

"We started writing it when we came off that COVID truncated touring cycle, and then, after that, it was just all systems go. We've been working our asses off for almost three years now. And we're really happy with the result. We may have tried out a few things that we haven't done before — not anything mindblowing. But from the reactions we've been getting so far, I think it's pretty much what we hoped for. 'Cause people are saying that it's an unexpected album. And that might sometimes be a bad thing, but in our minds, it can never be. And nobody said that it was surprising in a bad way; only positive so far. So we'll see.

"You know what it's like. When you work on an album, you really don't know. When you're done with it, everything's so jumbled up in your head, you don't know how to feel about it. It's just, like, 'Okay. Good enough. Let it go.'

"But we're really fired up about it," Mårten added. "It's a lot of music. It's by far the most dynamic we've been on an album. And that's something we've been going for. And I look forward to see how it comes across."

Hagström previously stated about the "Immutable" title: "The title fits perfectly for where we are as a band. We're older now. Most of us are in our fifties now, and we've settled into who we are. Even though we've been experimenting all along, I also think we've been the same since day one. The way we approach things and why we still make new albums, and why we still sound the way we do, it's immutable. Humanity is immutable, too. We commit the same mistakes over and over. And we are immutable. We do what we do, and we don't change."

MESHUGGAH completed its first pandemic-era U.S. tour in September and October 2022.

In a new interview with Joshua Toomey of the Talk Toomey podcast, ex-TYPE O NEGATIVE guitarist Kenny Hickey was asked if he would be open to teaming up with the other surviving members of TYPE O NEGATIVE to stage a Peter Steele tribute concert with various guest musicians. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think so. I would do something like that, absolutely. Because at this point, the band seemed to transcend into a whole new generation and stuff. And I think it would be really cool to get a couple of key singers, real guys, or maybe one guy or whatever, to come and do it as a tribute. Absolutely. Maybe four or five shows, something like that. If we can get Josh [Silver, former TYPE O NEGATIVE keyboardist] to do it, yeah, [I'd be up for it]."

Asked if Josh is "the sticking point with stuff like that", Kenny replied: "Josh is just, like, he's done with music. He feels like he's moved on, but I don't know. We'll see.

"You get nostalgic after a time, you know what I mean?" Hickey added. "So you never know. You can never say never."

Back in June 2023, Hickey was asked by Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio if he was surprised by the enduring popularity of his former band, now nearly 15 years after the passing of the TYPE O NEGATIVE frontman. He responded: "Yeah. It's surprising, and I'm very grateful for it. I mean, the band has transcended, which is amazing. It's reached a whole new generation. We're doing better than we were doing before Peter passed. [Laughs] [There's] a whole resurgence on it. Which is good. It's a testament to the work we put into it and the honesty we put into it and the years of sweat. There was realism to the music."

Hickey also once again talked about the possibility of him and the other surviving members of TYPE O NEGATIVE staging a Peter Steele tribute concert with various guest musicians. He said: "People have approached us to try and reform the band with a singer and go on the road. 'Cause everybody wants a money grab. We personally don't think Peter is replaceable by anybody, and it just wouldn't work."

He continued: "A tribute I'd love to do. I'm sure Johnny [Kelly, drums] would love to do it. I know Josh wouldn't do it, because Josh is picking up body parts in East New York [during his work as a paramedic]. He's not gonna stop that to start rehearsing. But yeah, we would do it with guest musicians and stuff. If somebody had the idea and got it together and got the logistics together, sure — I would be into it."

When Penfold noted that Kelly previously picked HEART's Ann Wilson as a singer he would like to tackle Steele's parts during a hypothetical tribute concert, Hickey said: "Ann Wilson would be great, but she probably never heard of us."

As for whom he would choose to sing at such an event, Kenny said: "Axl Rose [of GUNS N' ROSES]." He added that "it would be very fucking cool" to hear Axl sing a song like TYPE O's "Love You To Death".

Steele passed away in April 2010 from heart failure at the age of 48. Born Petrus T. Ratajczyk on January 4, 1962 in Brooklyn, New York, he stood 6' 7" (201 cm) tall, and had a low, bass-heavy voice, which was one of the most recognizable features in TYPE O NEGATIVE's music.

Before forming TYPE O NEGATIVE, Steele played for the metal group FALLOUT and the thrash band CARNIVORE.

In a February 2022 interview with Loaded Radio, Kelly was asked if there has ever been any talk of staging a concert in honor of the band's late frontman Peter Steele. He responded: "Coffee talk. There was never any serious consideration, like, should we do something? Is there even a point of doing it? Or also, is it just a blatant cash grab? So all these things go through your head.

"People celebrate [Peter] all the time," he continued. "They do it daily. I see it online all the time and the impact that he had.

"Maybe somewhere down the road there may be something that's… I don't know. But I know that for me, it would have to include Kenny and Josh as well. Anything that we do, it would have to be the three of us. And there's no way you're getting Josh to do anything like that. [Laughs]"

Asked who would handle Peter's vocal parts if they ever did end up doing a tribute concert, Johnny said: "I don't know. I'd want a girl to do it. I'd want a female vocalist — like Ann Wilson or something like that. [Laughs] But even so, that's the first thing. When you think about doing some kind of tribute show, you're just gonna get all these people… Yes, Peter was very highly regarded by our peers and stuff like that, and you'll just get a bunch of dudes up there just trying to sound like Peter. And you can't do that. And it's, like, all right, so what's the most remote thing from Peter? You'd have to do something completely abstract. And I would say get a female vocalist. I think Peter would get a kick out of… He would get off on seeing a girl sing his songs, seeing a female sing them. And it would really stress the point of doing something as a tribute instead of trying to recreate something."

Five years ago, Kelly told Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station about Steele: "Peter, for the most part, he was a clown. He was always joking around — sarcastic, very self-deprecating humor. Just the opposite of what the music portrayed. When we were working on music and stuff, the end result, he was very serious about what he wanted, how he wanted something to sound. Other times, he was a clown.

"I always said that he wanted to be a normal person, but because he was Peter, that was just not in the cards for him; it was completely impossible," he continued. "I bet he would love to just be able to hang out, go to the bar, have a few drinks. And we would try to do that, and the minute he would come out to the bar, everybody gravitated towards him. He couldn't go to the store by his house without something happening to him."

Asked if that was because of Peter's size, Johnny said: "I think so. He just had this very striking look. He didn't look normal. And he had fangs. [Laughs] He was six and a half feet tall, [had] long black hair and fangs. You're not gonna get the normal response when you're going grocery shopping."

TYPE O NEGATIVE 1996 promotional photo courtesy of Roadrunner Records (photo credit: Bela Borsodi)

Celebrated guitarist and singer Orianthi spoke to Guitar Interactive magazine about her upcoming album, "Some Kind Of Feeling", due later in the year via Woodward Avenue Records. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm really excited. Yeah, this record came together really organically with my band. We recorded it at Robby Krieger's [THE DOORS] studio out here in L.A. So we went down to Love Street Sound. And Robby's such a legend and him letting us use his space was such a sweet thing and I'm really grateful for that. And I produced half the record myself and then had legend Kevin Shirley produce the rest of it. So it was really cool. And I got my band in there, and it was, honestly, really easy — really fast, really easy. Most of the tracks have a really live feel to them, because they are pretty much live. We probably cut them three or four times and then chose the best one, and then added some backgrounds and whatnot and a few fixes and whatnot, but ultimately what you're hearing is very live, and I wanted to keep it that way."

Regarding the decision to title the album "Some Kind Of Feeling", Orianthi said: "Everything was kind of going on a feeling. Every song is sort of a little different, like from 'Ghost' to 'First Time Blues' to 'Some Kind Of Feeling'. They're kind of a little different-sounding — not style-wise, but sort of in a way. Like 'Some Kind Of Feeling' sounds Motown — it's sort of like blues, country, pop — and then 'Ghost' sounds like a pop ballad, and then you've got 'First Time Blues', which is like kind of rock blues. So I don't know. It's kind of like every song is going on a feeling. And I think that that kind of title sums it up somewhat."

Asked if she enjoys working with outside producers, like Kevin Shirley, or if she prefers doing everything on her own, Orianthi said: "I produced my first record, so I learned how to produce and engineer when I was really young. So, I kind of wanted to do it again. And I love doing a lot of stuff here myself. And even when I'm in the studio working with different producers, I kind of do sort of co-produce; I'm very hands-on, like, 'No, I want my tone like this. No, I wanna re-sing it like this.' I'm kind of bossy in a way, so it has to be the right producer to work with me, because, unless I really respect them, I'm not gonna trust them, if that makes sense, to really make a record. [I don't wanna] waste my time or their time, us going in together, because otherwise it just feels like… If it's not gonna be the right fit, I kind of know straight off the bat, like when I meet them for dinner or drinks or whatever, and we chat about what we're gonna do, I know if that person is the right one to produce my record — not only from their body of work [from what they've done] before, but as a person, their personality, they've got to be very alpha because I am. They have to be really opinionated in the sense of what they're looking for, and that way there's no wavering. It's, like, [I want them to tell me] … 'We need to do this. We need to get this miked this way. This drum sound needs to sound like this.' I love that in a producer. I need that sort of situation."

Orianthi's recording lineup includes keyboardist Ed Roth, bassist Justin Andres, guitarist Nick Maybury and drummer Jimmy Paxson, with those sublime background vocals provided by Jade MacRae, Justin Andres and Orianthi herself.

Orianthi (Orianthi Panagaris) looks as much like a rock star as she does a supermodel. But it's her extraordinary guitar chops that turn the most heads. She began playing professionally when she was thirteen years old before going on to perform and/or tour with Carlos Santana, Steve Vai, Alice Cooper, Richie Sambora and Dave Stewart. She was hired by Michael Jackson for his "This Is It" tour before his untimely death and performed with the supergroup HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES (Cooper, Joe Perry, Johnny Depp and Tommy Henriksen). Orianthi's debut album, "Violet Journey", was released in 2005 and she has issued five solo albums to date. She was featured accompanying Carrie Underwood during a Grammy Awards telecast, performed on "American Idol" and appears in Jackson's documentary concert film "This Is It". Elle magazine named Orianthi one of the "12 Greatest Female Electric Guitarists" and she won the 2010 "Breakthrough Guitarist Of The Year" award from Guitar International magazine.

Photography by Alex Brown