KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, Tommy Green of HOLYNAME and Trevor Tyson of HEAL THE HURT joined FLYLEAF vocalist Lacey Sturm on stage on February 28 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Spirit Hall to perform a snippet of the KORN classic "Blind" as well as FLYLEAF's "I'm So Sick". Multi-camera video of their appearance — courtesy of Lacey's official YouTube channel — can be seen below.

Back in 2021, Welch's LOVE AND DEATH side project released the official music video for "Let Me Love You", a fan-favorite cover of DJ Snake and Justin Bieber's smash hit, featuring Sturm.

Lacey released her sophomore solo album, "Kenotic Metanoia", in November 2023.

FLYLEAF played its first concert with Sturm in 11 years on April 27, 2023 at Schoepf's BBQ in Belton, Texas.

Sturm left FLYLEAF in October 2012. She was replaced by Kristen May, who recorded one album with the group, 2014's "Between The Stars", before exiting.

FLYLEAF hadn't performed live since 2016 prior to the Belton concert.

In an interview with Ned of Iowa's Rock 108 radio station, Lacey spoke about how she ended up reuniting with FLYLEAF for their first live shows together in more than a decade. She said: "Well, actually, my assistant that was on tour with us from the very beginning of FLYLEAF; we were called PASSERBY at that time. We were touring in an '88 Ford Club Wagon van, and we had a bunch of gear in the back with a mattress on top, and you could climb in there and sleep. She actually came on tour with us to be a stylist or a merch person — whatever we needed. She was with us from the beginning. So she got married. And we hadn't seen each other in, like, ten years, nine years, and so we all ended up at the wedding together. And that's how it started."

Sturm went on to say that her reunion with FLYLEAF came together in a "more organic" way than has been the case with some of the other high-profile band reunions in recent years. "I think it had to be that way," she said. "There were some offers for us to get back together, to do reunion shows, but we hadn't seen each other, and everybody has different lives, lots of children. So it didn't really make sense in those times, but because we were already connecting, we figured it out."

San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD will release their eleventh studio album, "Unatoned", on April 25 via Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings.

The official Mike Sloat-directed music video for the LP's third single, "Bonescraper", can be seen below.

MACHINE HEAD comments: "This one is for those of us with darkness in our heart, a song about love lost, and a song for those who fail at love... but keep on trying… hence, we scrape our bones to numb the pain."

According to a press release, "Unatoned" is "a testament to momentum, an album honed to its sharpest edge, forged on creative discipline and the hunger to push forward. It drips with melancholy melodies, and yet hammers with bludgeoning riffs, soars with anthemic sing-alongs of love lost and sadness, to bellowing power and undeniable confidence. Eleven albums deep, MACHINE HEAD remain as fierce, relevant, and unstoppable as ever."

Written in motion — on the road, in hotel rooms, and across continents — "Unatoned" reflects the raw energy of their return to the global festival circuit after an 11-year hiatus. The LP was recorded at guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn's Jam Room, Sharkbite Studios and Drop Of Sun Recording between July 2023 and December 2024. The album was produced by Flynn, as well as Zack Ohren, who was also responsible for the engineering. The mixing and mastering was handled by Colin Richardson and Chris Clancy at Audioworks UK, and the mastering of the record was handled by Ted Jensen and his assistant Justin Shturtz. The only exception was the track "Landscape Of Thorns" which was produced by Flynn and Joel Wanasek who was also in charge of mixing the single alongside Zack Ohren. MACHINE HEAD once again tapped Seth Siro Anton to create the album artwork.

"Unatoned" track listing:

01. Landscape Of Thorns
02. Atomic Revelations
03. Unbound
04. Outsider
05. Not Long For This World
06. These Scars Won't Define Us
07. Dustmaker
08. Bonescraper
09. Addicted To Pain
10. Bleeding Me Dry
11. Shards Of Shattered Dreams
12. Scorn

MACHINE HEAD performed "These Scars Won't Define Us" and "Unbound" live for the first time during the kick-off concert of the band's North American tour on Tuesday, April 1 at Revolution Concert House And Event Center in Garden City, Idaho. MACHINE HEAD also played in Spokane, Washington on April 3 before teaming up with IN FLAMES, LACUNA COIL and UNEARTH for another 25 dates across the U.S. and Canada.

Flynn told "The Garza Podcast" about "Unatoned": "My last album was like a huge renaissance for the band. It just was fucking crazy. We headlined Hellfest [in France]. It was our tenth record. It was a concept record. It was the first time we ever did a concept record. Opening track was a 10-minute-long song. It's nuts.

"I'm fortunate enough to have been in this position a handful of times where I now have to follow up this record that is so beloved by fans, by people," he continued. "It's incredibly successful — elevates the band to another level. And everybody wants us to write another concept record. Everybody is just, like, 'You should just make another record like that one.' And I'm, like, 'You can't, because it's never gonna live up.' Nothing's ever gonna live up, because that moment for so many people... Lars [Ulrich of METALLICA] always talked about this — the reason so many people love [METALLICA's] Black Album, it's, like, they lost the virginity to the Black Album. Nothing is ever gonna top that. People lost their virginity to [MACHINE HEAD's] '[Unto] The Locust' or 'The Blackening' or whatever. Nothing's ever gonna top that. That's just life and stuff.

"So with this record, I set some pretty strict parameters around what I could do," Flynn explained. "And I'm not a big believer in talking about the direction of a record. I always feel like even if we have done it in the past, it never panned out. 'Oh, it's gonna be the heaviest or the thrashing' or the whatever, and you've just gotta follow it to wherever it goes… But I did want to put some structure around it. The last record had a bunch of long songs, so I was, like, 'I don't want any song longer than four minutes on this record.' So that was one structure. The other structure is — [I'm a] huge SLAYER fan to the death; [they're] one of my favorite bands, life-changing bands of all times. And one of the most underrated things about SLAYER is their genius use of chord changes — chord changes fucking galore all over every song. [They'd] have, like, three different chord changes in the lead section, and it the way it sets up the chorus or whatever. So I was, like, 'Every song has to have a chord change outside of the typical structure that you would expect.' … At some point it's gotta go to a key change that totally doesn't go with where the rest of the song went. Last thing is that the music in the last chorus had to be different from the music in the first chorus — maybe the drums drop out, maybe the guitars drop out, maybe that's where the key change happens, but something had to be [different]. The lyrics would always be the same. And at first it kind of took me a minute to kind of get into that mindset, like, 'Wow, this is a really challenging way to write,' but it always just became about trimming the fat, trimming the fat, trimming the fat. And in the end what we came up with was 10 songs plus two instrumentals. It's 41 minutes — the shortest album in MACHINE HEAD history. And I'm really proud of this thing. I really feel like we've got a fucking monster on our hands. It's just really unique."

Elaborating on the musical direction of "Unatoned", Robb said: "It's not our heaviest record; I would never say that it's our heaviest record. It's got a lot of melody. The last song on the record is a… I'm a total sucker for the Elton John piano ballad. I love Chris Stapleton… And that last song 'Scorn' is… It's, like, I've been trying to write a piano ballad for four albums in a row now, and I failed four albums in a row. And I finally nailed it with this album. I collaborated with this guy Joel Wanasek. I collaborated with Jordan [Fish], ex-BRING ME THE HORIZON, on the whole album. He actually got a piece on the record, which was really cool — added a really amazing element. I've got a few collaborators, like four guys that I work with, but me and this guy, Joel Wanasek, finally nailed down this piano thing… It was the last song I wrote on the record. And I know a lot of people think I'm super Mr. Libtard, social justice warrior guy and that's just not me, but that's kind of just what people think and the haters think. And I just started writing about — not that — but I just started writing about, I don't believe in Trump, but I think the fucking Democrats are a bunch of spineless fucking pussies. And I don't believe in anything anymore. I believe in myself. And I just wrote all of these lyrics kind of in that mindset. And the last line is, 'The wings of an angel, the heart of a king, the strength of a lion, the power I bring. I've lost faith in everyone, follow no more, my heroes have failed me, they look down on me with their scorn.' And so I took all of that. I was, like, 'I don't have any music, but I really like these lyrics.' So I came in with Zack [Ohren] — Zack's my engineer; he's my producer. He is fucking awesome; he's amazing… And I just picked up a guitar and I just said, 'I'm gonna play four chords here and I'm just gonna make this up as I go. I don't even know what I'm doing. I just wanna sing over this to something.' And I did, and I sang it, and I sang it in two takes. I laid out all the lyrics that I had written that morning. I pulled up some shit on my computer. I got two binders of lyrics. I wrote three and a half binders of lyrics from this record alone — just three and a half binders… And I literally sang the song in two takes, and when I was done, I was, like, 'That song's fucking done.' And it's the last song on the record. And I sent the chords to Joel and I was, like, 'Hey, like, can you make this into sad piano chords and put it together and kind of reverse engineer the rest of the song?' And I've gotta say, I'm so proud of this song. It's definitely kind of the outlier of the record, but I really just feel like it's a special song. And it's kind of something we've never done. And when you've been trying to do something for a long time — 15 years, I've been trying to write a fucking piano song — and it always just sounded too dorky… And it [finally] happened [on this album]."

Flynn also talked about his general approach to creating art with MACHINE HEAD, saying: "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just trying to write music. Alls I ever wanted to do was just play guitar and write songs and sing and make motherfuckers circle pit and make motherfuckers jump and sing and fucking headbang and go crazy. That's all I've ever wanted to do.

"I'm not a businessman. I don't know what the fucking right decision is," he continued. "I just know the music that I do and where it comes from, and I do know that I'm really, really, really good at that. I know that. I'm not one of these guys who's good at a million fucking things — I'm not — but I do know that I'm really, really good at that. And I just try and focus on that. And I've got a good team of people that help me make decisions now and I feel like we've all got a good head on our shoulders and what MACHINE HEAD needs to be.

"We're not the heaviest band in the world," he added. "We're heavy, but we've been around for 32 years, and motherfuckers like [SUICIDE SILENCE] came along and LORNA SHORE and SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL, and [those bands are] fucking 10 times heavier than we will ever, ever, ever be. I can't sing like that. I don't even wanna try to; it'd be fucking ridiculous to. It would sound stupid for my fucking heavy metal Gandalf ass to be fucking trying to sing like that. We found our lane and we're super lucky that we found our lane and we fucking made that lane a little bit wider and a little bit wider so we can kind of go over here and do this and go over here and do this. But at the end of the day, it's just MACHINE HEAD music. That's what it is to me. It's metal, for sure — a hundred percent."

Last November, MACHINE HEAD released "These Scars Won't Define Us" as the first single from "Unatoned".

MACHINE HEAD's current lineup includes former HAVOK guitarist Reece Alan Scruggs. Scruggs stepped in for MACHINE HEAD's previous guitarist Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka, who had been unable to make some of the group's dates due to his touring commitments with his longtime band DECAPITATED.

Reece made his live debut with MACHINE HEAD in November 2022 at Strummer's in Fresno, California at the opening show of the "Electric Happy Hour (Live)" tour.

Vogg joined MACHINE HEAD's touring lineup prior to the launch of the band's "Burn My Eyes" 25th-anniversary tour in late 2019.

The rest of MACHINE HEAD's lineup consists of guitarist/vocalist Flynn, bassist Jared MacEachern and British drummer Matt Alston (DEVILMENT, EASTERN FRONT).

Earlier last year, MACHINE HEAD completed the "Slaughter The Martour" North American tour with support from L.A.'s FEAR FACTORY, Sweden's ORBIT CULTURE and Louisville, Kentucky's GATES TO HELL.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

SLAYER has announced a one-night-only show just added to the band's handful of headline concerts set for this summer. Marking the band's only U.S. East Coast performance in 2025, SLAYER will headline Hershey, Pennsylvania's 30,000-seat Hersheypark Stadium on Saturday, September 20, 2025. Ticket pre-sales are available beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, April 8 at 10 a.m. ET, ahead of the general on-sale set for Friday, April 11 starting at 10 a.m. ET. All tickets can be purchased at www.slayer.net. Doors are at 3 p.m. ET and the show kicks off at 4 p.m. ET.

The concert will be hosted by WWE superstar Damian Priest, a well-known "metalhead" and a longtime SLAYER fan. Priest's signature "finisher" is SLAYER's "South Of Heaven", and SLAYER's Kerry King provided guitar for Priest's "Rise For The Night" theme.

This exclusive concert brings together a multi-generation, powerhouse lineup:

SLAYER
KNOCKED LOOSE
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
POWER TRIP
CAVALERA (exclusively performing SEPULTURA's "Chaos A.D." album)
EXODUS (performing "Bonded By Blood" album)

SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya said: "Slayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeerrrrrr!!!!!! One night only, stacked line up, it's going to be f*cking sick!!!! Hersheypark — be there… If not, you're either dead, in jail or a sissy!!!!!"

About SLAYER performing at the 30,000-seat Hersheypark Stadium, guitarist Kerry King commented: "Last year, SLAYER played only two shows, and those shows affected me like playing the 'Big Four' shows did. When we played our first show last year in Chicago, I figured it was going to be great for the fans; maybe there would be some people who had never seen us play before, but the reaction was just completely overwhelming. The fans reacted to us like I'd expect them to react to the biggest band on the planet. It was amazing. So for the Hershey concert, we'll play a SLAYER show, we'll have all of our big fire effects, and just burn everything like we used to."

Added King: "This will be the first time SLAYER has played with POWER TRIP or KNOCKED LOOSE, but I am well aware of them from word of mouth, and hearing their music on Liquid Metal. I'm looking forward to seeing them live."

POWER TRIP said: "Honored to share the stage with one of our all time favorite bands, SLAYER. See you sick f*cks at the riff clinic."

KNOCKED LOOSE said: "We're excited to play with some of the best heavy bands of all time, past and present."

SLAYER's 2025 concert dates are as follows:

July 3 - Blackweir Fields, Cardiff, Wales, UK

Lineup:

SLAYER with special guests AMON AMARTH
, ANTHRAX, MASTODON, HATEBREED and NECKBREAKKER

July - 5 - Villa Park, Birmingham, UK

"Back To The Beginning" with BLACK SABBATH

July 6 - Finsbury Park, London

Lineup:

SLAYER with special guests AMON AMARTH
, ANTHRAX, MASTODON, HATEBREED and NECKBREAKKER

July 11 - Quebec Festival d'été de, Québec City, Quebec

Direct support: MASTODON

September 18 - Louder Than Life @ Highland Festival Grounds, Louisville, KY

Lineup: SLAYER, ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON and more

September 20 - Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA

Lineup: SLAYER, KNOCKED LOOSE, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, POWER TRIP, CAVALERA, EXODUS

In a recent interview with Australia's Metal Roos, King spoke about SLAYER's future plans, following the band's two festival appearances in September and October after a five-year hiatus. He said: "We're never gonna tour again. We're never gonna make a record again. Mark my word: we're never gonna make a record again, we're never gonna tour again. Because that was the last thing. We said [back in 2018], 'This is our final tour.' It took five years for us to come and say, 'Hey, here's a couple of shows, five-year anniversary.'"

Elaborating on the significance of SLAYER's comeback live performances more than four decades after the band's formation, Kerry said: "I think it's really cool. A lot of fans are into it. There's gonna be haters who say, 'Oh, they retired.' Yeah. Whatever. This is all about celebration. Say a kid was 10 years old when we retired. Now he's 15, 16. [It's his] first opportunity to see us. I think that's important."

King also touched upon the fact that SLAYER's reunion shows were announced just a couple of weeks after he went public with the details of his new solo band and debut solo album. He said: "The [SLAYER] announcement timing was not my favorite, but my band was doing its thing. The festivals SLAYER agreed to play, they wanted to release [the information about us playing there], they wanted to announce [it]. So, the timing wasn't in my favor, but everything went [as it did], and here we are in Australia [with my new band] kicking ass."

Kerry reflected on SLAYER's two reunion performances last fall — on September 22, 2024 at the Riot Fest in Chicago, Illinois and on October 10, 2024 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California — during a recent interview with Brian Slagel, CEO of Metal Blade Records, for the recently launched "100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal" podcast. Regarding how he felt going into the Riot Fest gig, King said: "It's kind of like when we did the first 'Big Four' show, I said, 'This is gonna be really cool for the fans, and it'll be good to see the guys.' And that's about all I gave it. But then we actually played the show and a handful more shows, and I said, 'You know what? This is really cool for me.' And I didn't expect that. And I didn't expect that when we did the Chicago show [SLAYER at Riot Fest]. I went with the exact same idea. I'm, like, 'This is gonna be really cool for the fans, especially fans that were too young to see us.' And I hit the stage and I got goosebumps. I'm, like, 'This is way bigger than I ever gave it credit for.' … [And] we've got a lot of history in Chicago too, so for the reunion show to be there, it was pretty epic. And the response was over the top. It was way overwhelming."

At Riot Fest and Aftershock, SLAYER ran through a 20-song set that included opener "South Of Heaven", "Seasons In The Abyss", "Angel Of Death", "Hell Awaits", "Raining Blood" and the title track of SLAYER's final album, "Repentless".

SLAYER was also scheduled to play at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky on September 27, 2024, but that performance was canceled due to severe weather.

The lineup for SLAYER's comeback was the same as the one which last toured in 2019: King and drummer Paul Bostaph, along with Araya and guitarist Gary Holt.

King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music.

Photo credit: Ryan Segedi

Japanese pop metal band BABYMETAL recently signed to Capitol Records, which will release the group's new album, "Metal Forth", on June 13. Meaning "beyond metal," "Metal Forth" features collaborations with Poppy, SPIRITBOX, Tom Morello, BLOODYWOOD, POLYPHIA and SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL — artists that BABYMETAL has connected with over the years while touring the globe. Their massive track "Ratatata" with ELECTRIC CALLBOY, which has already attained millions of streams across all platforms, will also be included. The official music video for the LP's latest single, "From Me To U (Feat. Poppy)", can be seen below.

Poppy notes of the collaboration: "I have been a fan of BABYMETAL for years and I am so happy for this song to finally be here! They have inspired me so much. Enjoy 'From Me To U'!"

BABYMETAL adds: "A kawaii metal song was born from a collaboration between BABYMETAL and Poppy! Check out Poppy's shouts and BABYMETAL's dance in the Neo Tokyo setting! Kawaii is sprinkled throughout the intense sound! Kimi ni todoke!"

The song arrives with a video that erupts into a high-concept spectacle, pairing their signature choreography with a futuristic world teetering on the edge of destruction. The video builds toward a surreal climax as Poppy, who joins the trio in this chaotic vision, undergoes a dramatic transformation — emerging as a dragon amid the wreckage.

BABYMETAL celebrates its 15th anniversary this year and on their annual "Fox Day" (April 1) — a hugely important date in BABYMETAL lore — the band released the "Legend Map". Described as "a sign from the god of metal, the Fox God," the map unveils their plans for 2025, including the new album and an extensive world tour.

On May 10, the band will embark on its first-ever headline arena tour in Europe, playing 12 shows across eight countries, with support from Poppy and Bambie Thug. The May 30 tour finale will take place at the O2 Arena in London. BABYMETAL is the first Japanese group to headline a show at this iconic venue. The band will kick off its biggest North American tour yet in Houston on June 13 — the day of their album drop, with support from BLACK VEIL BRIDES, JINJER and BLOODYWOOD on select dates. The 24-date run will hit major cities including Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago and San Francisco before wrapping up on July 23 in Phoenix.

The band has also added arena shows in Japan and an Asia tour. In addition to its previous headline outings, BABYMETAL has opened for such artists as Lady Gaga, METALLICA, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and AVENGED SEVENFOLD.

Tom March, chairman and CEO of Capitol Records, said: "BABYMETAL's groundbreaking sound and compelling artistic vision have not only cultivated a worldwide following, but have also demonstrably shifted global music culture. We at Capitol Records are privileged to join them in this next chapter as we continue to amplify their international reach and influence with the upcoming release of 'Metal Forth'."

Key "Kobametal" Kobayashi, producer and manager of BABYMETAL and CEO of Babymetal World, LLC, added: "This year BABYMETAL celebrates its 15th anniversary and embarks on an exciting new chapter. With Capitol Records as our global partner, the sound of BABYMETAL will resonate across the world as we take on bolder, more dynamic endeavors than ever before. Stay tuned for what's to come."

"Metal Forth" track listing:

01. From Me To U (feat. Poppy)
02. Ratatata (BABYMETAL x ELECTRIC CALLBOY)
03. Song 3 (BABYMETAL x SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL)
04. Kon! Kon! (feat. BLOODYWOOD)
05. KxAxWxAxIxI
06. Sunset Kiss (feat. POLYPHIA)
07. My Queen (feat. SPIRITBOX)
08. Algorism
09. Metali!! (feat. Tom Morello)
10. White Flame

After two landmark performances at the Yokohama Arena, celebrating the birth of Momometal in a spectacular fashion, in March of 2023 BABYMETAL released its highly anticipated concept album "The Other One", which garnered widespread acclaim and introduced fans to a new era of BABYMETAL's sound. This new era was the start of a journey that has seen 2024 become watershed year for BABYMETAL, underscoring their evolution as a groundbreaking force in the music world.

They successfully completed a monumental world tour that started in 2023 and spanned 25 countries across 98 performances, including a slot as special guests to SABATON all around Europe, a co-headliner with DETHKLOK across North America, as well as their own headliners in Asia, Australia and their home of Japan.

Before embarking on a festival run in the summer of 2024, BABYMETAL released their collaboration with ELECTRIC CALLBOY on the hit single "Ratatata", which soared to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart. This collaboration not only highlighted their artistic versatility and ability to innovate, but also reinforced their position alongside other leaders in the metal genre.

Their collaboration with BRING ME THE HORIZON, "Kingslayer ft. BABYMETAL", released in October 2020, was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 25, 2024. Making waves at major music festivals including Download in the U.K., Hellfest in France, Rock Im Park in Germany, BABYMETAL delivered electrifying performances that left music fans across Europe in awe. Audiences at Resurrection Fest (Spain) and Rock Am Ring (Germany) were treated to an extra special live collaboration with ELECTRIC CALLBOY, who performed "Ratatata" alongside BABYMETAL.

In April 2023, BABYMETAL announced the addition of a new third member, Momoko Okazaki, who goes by the name of Momometal.

Okazaki had been a member of BABYMETAL's trio of backup dancers (along with Kano Fujihira and Riho Sayashi),known as "Avengers", since 2019, following the departure of one of BABYMETAL's original members, Yuimetal, in October 2018.

Momoko's addition to BABYMETAL was announced during the band's show at the Pia Arena MM in Okazaki, Japan.

Momoko was once a member of SAKURA GAKUIN and participated in South Korean reality TV show "Girls Planet 999" as a contestant. However, the singer left the series after the show's first elimination round.

In 2018, BABYMETAL announced the departure of Yuimetal, who was formerly one of the members of the Japanese group's core trio. She exited the band, explaining in a statement that she would go on to pursue a solo career as Mizuno Yu.

BABYMETAL was formed in 2010. Their mission was to unify the world through heavy metal by creating a fusion of heavy metal and the Japanese pop genre. Their music contains a stunning mix of electronic pop, a pinch of alternative and industrial rock, and is leveled up by fast-driven heavy metal. Their live shows are ground-breaking and epic visual as well as sound performances. BABYMETAL continued to travel the path of metal with the international release of their three albums, telling the story of the mighty Fox God and his brave metal warriors.

A book about the first ten years of BABYMETAL, "Bessatsu Kadokawa Souryoku Tokushuu", was released in Japan in October 2020. It contains a long interview with Su-metal and Moametal as well as never-before-heard stories from band producer Kobametal from BABYMETAL's decade-long history, photos taken from live shows, a discussion between Demon Kakka and Kobametal, and much more.

Candice Night, who has been married to Ritchie Blackmore for 17 years but has been together with the legendary DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW guitarist for 36, spoke to Dawn Osborne of TotalRock about the possibility of Ritchie returning to Europe in the not-too-distant future for live shows with their long-running project BLACKMORE'S NIGHT. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "As far as flying anywhere right now, Ritchie has actually been told by his cardiologist not to get in a plane. He had a heart attack about a year and a half ago. He's got six stents. And I can't believe he's gonna be 80 on April 14th, which is crazy, but he doesn't look it, still doesn't act it, but eventually medical things wind up catching up with you. So we've gotta make sure we keep him happy and healthy. And he's dealing with gout and some arthritic things. And, of course, his back has always been an issue for years. So it's getting harder for him — it's tricky — but, hey, I've seen people younger than him in wheelchairs on stage doing what they do. So I think he probably doesn't want people to see him that way. I see the other perspective — from a fan's perspective, I would think people would just be happy to be under the same roof with him and listen to him play whatever he comes up with. So, we kind of have this discussion, or argument — I'll say discussion — all the time. [Laughs] But he was just recently at his cardiologist and they said, 'Let's put traveling by plane on hold.' So, hopefully we'll get that all straightened out and that'll change. But I'll let you guys know if it does."

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

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

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

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

DEEP PURPLE drummer Ian Paice said in a 2017 interview that there was "no point" for the band to consider a reunion with Blackmore, explaining that he wouldn't be able to guarantee that every day with the notoriously moody guitarist would be fun.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reba Meyers — the Grammy-nominated vocalist and guitar player of CODE ORANGE and current touring guitarist for Marilyn Manson — who released her debut single, "Certain Uncertainty", in late 2024, has unveiled a second glimpse into her eagerly awaited debut album with the release of the dreamy "Got Your Hold On Me" and its accompanying video.

"Being human is painful. Being human and in love with anything or anyone is even more painful I hope we can all find what helps us cope without it killing us or turning us into emotionless robots. For me, writing songs helps," Meyers shares. "Thanks for listening and to all who have supported me so far in any band or project."

The five-minute song was produced by Meyers with mixing by Steve Evetts (THE CURE, THE WONDER YEARS) and mastering by Alan Douches.

Upon its release, "Certain Uncertainty" received widespread praise, with Consequence calling it "more subdued than CODE ORANGE, but still heavy," while Revolver described the track as an "anthemic" song featuring "distortion-graced chords and yowl-rasped vocals."

On her decision to focus on solo work, Meyers explained: "I'm finding that I have the space only now in my life to have a bird's eye view on my adolescence, and that perspective made it the perfect moment to begin to release solo material. A moment I've been sure would eventually come, thought I never knew exactly how it would look. With that, I get to experience the rewarding and nerve-wracking process of allowing myself the platform to be a more vulnerable person, and to explore that natural foundation proudly outside of how I've maybe been portrayed."

Meyers's full-length album is expected later this year, with more details to follow.

Reba is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter hailing from Pittsburgh. Best known as a founding member of the acclaimed band CODE ORANGE, she has earned a reputation as a fearless and innovative artist. In 2020 she became the first female signature artist in ESP guitar history with the arrival of her LTD RM-600.

Meyers has been playing concerts as part of Manson's band since he kicked off a summer tour last August.

Photo credit: Greg Puciato

On the heels of playing Los Angeles's Kia Forum, and releasing recent single "Nod" — "the anthem we need right now" (Vice) — RISE AGAINST has shared its second new single of 2025. Out now on Loma Vista Recordings, "Prizefighter" illustrates the internal battle between making art, maintaining autonomy and meeting the demands of the present day’s never-ending, rapidly shifting attention span.

RISE AGAINST vocalist and lyricist Tim McIlrath says: "'Prizefighter' is about a compulsion to create, that then creates an audience, and then your connection with that audience and your responsibilities to that audience, and how much an artist is obliged to that audience. It's trying to reconcile the shift from spectator to the public arena, and what you owe the people that are your fans versus what you owe your own mental health."

The "Prizefighter" music video showcases the symbolism behind the song, the roaring energy of RISE AGAINST's live shows and the deep devotion of the band's fans.

"Prizefighter" follows RISE AGAINST's blazing return with "Nod" — the band's first new single in three years — which arrived days after the U.S. presidential inauguration, and delivered "a particularly potent rallying cry for the moment" (Rolling Stone). Quickly uniting millions in its call for community and compassion, encouraging listeners to not sit idly by as world events, societal changes and technology shape our ways of life, rise against have since toured across three continents this year, and have made "Nod" a highlight of their live sets.

Produced by Catherine Marks (BOYGENIUS, FOALS, MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA, ST. VINCENT) and mixed by Alan Moulder (NINE INCH NAILS, PARAMORE, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, THE KILLERS),"Prizefighter" now marks a propulsive page-turn in RISE AGAINST's next chapter, revealing another side of the band’s outspoken perspective and prescient point of view.

Like the body of multi-gold and platinum hits that have come before, "Prizefighter" and "Nod" further amplify the type of invigorating music, defiant messages and bulletproof melodies that have earned billions of streams, filled arenas, topped charts, broken records, and, above all, joined fans in an embrace of vital issues. Just as the stakes could not be higher, the Chicago punk rock band is back bigger, louder and more progressive than ever.

Currently in the midst of their "Rise Of The Roach" tour, bandmembers Tim McIlrath (lead vocals/guitar),Joe Principe (bass/vocals),Zach Blair (guitar/vocals) and Brandon Barnes (drums) will be on the road all year long, with a slew of summer festivals, dozens of arena and amphitheater shows, and more on the horizon, all throughout the U.S. and abroad.

In a recent interview with Oran O'Beirne of Overdrive, McIlrath spoke about "Nod", which will appear on RISE AGAINST's upcoming follow-up to 2021's "Nowhere Generation" album, tentatively due later in the year. Regarding when the ideas for the new material came together, Tim said: "Let's see if I can remember. It came after the tour. We were really focused on 'Nowhere Generation' when we were touring. And then we wrapped that up. We took a break, which is pretty standard for us. The touring, it's intense and it takes a lot out of you. And that's kind of our moment where everyone can kind of go reconnect with home and then kind of recharge your batteries. And so we started writing probably a few months after we got off the road from 'Nowhere Gen'. We weren't really rushing or pressuring ourselves.

"This is our tenth record — we've been doing this for a long time — and so it's very organic in terms of timing," he explained. "We write when we feel that urgency to write. We record when we feel like it's ready. We don't do anything that's too rushed. And so that was this record, was when ideas started percolating and we started sharing them. We were, like, 'Okay, I think we have some songs here. Let's start putting them together.' And then we just took our time putting those songs together."

Asked if he and his bandmates still get nervous when they are about to release new music in terms of how it will be received by the RISE AGAINST fans, Tim said: "By the time we release it, by the time you hear it, it had to get through so many checks and balances just for the four of us — every single note, part, lyric, sound — and I'm really confident in the song at that point; we're all really confident. So it's, like, this is the best version of RISE AGAINST in 2025. And so, aside from that, there's nothing I can do about how people accept it. And that goes back to when you were first a band, and you took that leap of, like, 'I'm just gonna make music and put it out there.' And it was a surprise to see that anybody connected to it. And so, in that sense, I'm I'm always appreciative, because I don't expect people to love our band, I don't expect them to love our songs. I'm always consistently appreciative. There's a lot of gratitude when someone goes, 'Oh, I love this song.' Especially when you put out a song this late in our career, people are, like, 'Yo, this is a great song. That's awesome.' That's what you want. And if people don't like it, that's kind of okay too. We're not out here trying to shove anything down anybody's throat. But if you're hearing a new RISE AGAINST song, you're hearing what we think is the best version of ourselves right now."

As for whether "Nod" is a good representation of what fans can expect to hear on RISE AGAINST's upcoming album, Tim said: "Yeah, if I had to piece it in a group of songs that we've put together, 'Nod' is probably among the more traditional RISE AGAINST. I think that you hear it and you hear RISE AGAINST, you hear sort of what we've done and what we have been doing, but in a little bit of a new way. So I think it falls in the category of pretty like traditional RISE, which is a sound that we will always embrace. And there's stuff on the record, I think, that will be less traditional, for sure."

SHINEDOWN has released a music video for the band's No. 1 song "Dance, Kid, Dance". The clip, which was filmed in Brooklyn, New York, brings the viewer into a dark underground world of pure rock fervor and dance. The video opens up with concertgoers trying to break into a vending machine to take "the pills (that) will make you dance" and building into a nonstop crescendo of a mixture of rock and pure adrenaline. Not to mention, the video features the members of SHINEDOWN doing exactly what they do best — bringing the high energy with a killer live performance.

On the new music video and its creative vision, SHINEDOWN singer Brent Smith said: "For the video, we really wanted to focus on the dancers. Every one of them brought so much energy to the set, and it was amazing to watch and be a part of. The song doesn’t let up, so it was super important that our performance as a band matched the intensity of the choreography. When it came to the location, everyone agreed that NYC was the place. The backdrop of the city, and the authenticity of the dance culture was extremely important. One of the coolest things about the video for us as a band, is that every time you watch it you see something new, and exciting. We had an absolute blast making it and we hope the fans love it as much as we do."

The video was directed by Lewis Cater, choreographed by Julissa Bond, and edited by Samuel Halleen.

Up next SHINEDOWN will kick off the "Dance, Kid, Dance" tour on April 25 in Des Moines, Iowa. The 36-date run is one of the largest run of shows (and venues) the band has ever put on. It will be the first time the band has ever headlined some of the country's most legendary venues, including Madison Square Garden (July 20),Boston's TD Garden (July 19),Los Angeles's Kia Forum (August 3),New Orleans's Smoothie King (May 6) and more. Joining them on the tour are BEARTOOTH and BUSH (on select dates) and Morgan Wade for all shows.

Smith recently sat down with BEARTOOTH's own Caleb Shomo and talked about how excited they were to be going on tour in an "Off The Record" video series. Filmed at Henson Studios in Los Angeles, the two talked about the origins of each band, how the bands got to know about one another, growing into being an artist, and about what fans can expect on the new "Dance, Kid, Dance" tour. Not to mention they touch on some of rock's favorites, including SLIPKNOT, GWAR, PAPA ROACH, PARKWAY DRIVE, IRON MAIDEN and more.

This year has also come with some historic wins for SHINEDOWN as they recently took home two trophies at the iHeartRadio Music Awards where they won "Rock Artist Of The Year" and "Rock Song Of The Year" for "A Symptom Of Being Human".

"A Symptom Of Being Human" has hit nearly 125 million global streams and charted at five radio formats, including a No. 1 at Active, Top 10 at Alternative, Top 10 at AC, Top 15 at Hot AC and a Top 20 at Top 40. To date SHINEDOWN is the very first artist to get a song Top 10 at Active, Alternative and Hot AC Radio on Mediabase with one song. The song, off of their "Planet Zero" album, resonated with fans across the globe for the unifying message of its lyrics: that it is our human connections that matter the most.

The band has already had a packed 2025 as their latest single "Dance, Kid, Dance" has made history, reaching Np. 1 on the Mediabase Active Rock chart, which marks their 22nd song to reach No. 1 on the chart, and on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. SHINEDOWN has become the only band in the chart's history to reach 20 No. 1s on the chart. Not to mention when the song entered the Top 5 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, SHINEDOWN tied with the FOO FIGHTERS for the artists with the most songs to hit the top 10 in the chart's history, with 32 songs each. On Mediabase, SHINEDOWN holds the record for the most No. 1s, No. 5s and No. 10s on the Active Rock chart, with a total of 24 No. 1s on the Mediabase chart.

However, SHINEDOWN aren’t just a rock band. They are SHINEDOWN — a band for everyone — and just like they did with "A Symptom Of Being Human", they have already crossed over with their second 2025 single "Three Six Five". The track not only is already Top 15 at Alternative Radio and Hot AC but it continues to climb.

Smith and Eric Bass co-wrote "Three Six Five" and "Dance, Kid, Dance" was co-written by Brent Smith, Eric Bass and Dave Bassett. The songs were produced by Eric Bass at his own Big Animal Studio in Charleston, South Carolina.

In a new interview with Scott Itter of Dr. Music, L.A. GUNS guitarist Tracii Guns, who spent some of his early years as a member of GUNS N' ROSES, was asked if he would ever consider writing an autobiography. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No. And I was with Rich Bienstock last night. He's the guy that writes all the books. And I was at his book signing — him and Tom Beaujour, they have a new Lollapalooza book out ['Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story Of Alternative Rock's Wildest Festival']. And Rich is a really dear friend of mine. And he drops the hint once a year, 'Hey, are we doing this?'

"I did the math," he continued. "To make it worth it, I would want a lot of money. To make a lot of money, I've gotta tell all the true stories. I don't wanna do that.

"I love everybody I played with, regardless of how the relationships ended up. A couple guys I hate, but mostly everybody… I love [MÖTLEY CRÜE's] Nikki [Sixx], I love [GUNS N' ROSES singer] Axl [Rose] — I love everybody. I would hate to tell stories that are 40 years old, 30 years old, 20 years old of crazy shit I saw or was involved in, and then have it somehow make somebody sad or angry or something like that.

"The people that lived those stories were there," Tracii added. "And those are private moments and those are things that happened amongst friends during times of animosity, maybe, whatever you wanna call it. And I'm just not the guy. I'm not the guy. I don't need the money. And I told Rich last night I'm not gonna do it. And he is, like, 'Well, as long as there's a couple dead bodies in the book.' I'm, like, 'No.' And we laughed about it. But he gets it better than anybody 'cause he publishes a new book every three years. And it's all about the dirt. [Like in the] MÖTLEY CRÜE book 'The Dirt'. And even within 'The Dirt', there's a lot of dirt that's not in 'The Dirt'.

"But I'm not a famous enough person to get away with writing a story that's kind of a little dirty," Guns concluded. "I would really have to spill the fucking beans, and I'm not gonna do it."

Since being founded by guitarist Guns and drummer Rob Gardner in 1983, more than 50 musicians have performed under the L.A. GUNS moniker, including Axl Rose (who fronted the group prior to forming HOLLYWOOD ROSE, and then again for a brief period after that band's breakup),Ralph Saenz (better known as Michael Starr of STEEL PANTHER),Jizzy Pearl (LOVE/HATE, QUIET RIOT),Chuck Garric (ALICE COOPER),Chris Holmes (W.A.S.P.) and Keri Kelli (NIGHT RANGER, RATT).

For a number of years after Guns left L.A. GUNS in 2002 to focus on BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION — a group that also featured Sixx — there were two competing versions of L.A. GUNS: one featuring singer Phil Lewis and drummer Steve Riley, and another featuring Guns. After the latter incarnation disbanded in 2012, Guns and Lewis gradually began making amends, performing a full set of L.A. GUNS material together at a Las Vegas concert in 2015 before officially joining forces (while initially being billed as L.A. GUNS' PHIL LEWIS & TRACII GUNS) for a handful of concerts the following year. For the past nine years, the group has toured and recorded simply as L.A. GUNS.

Photo credit: Joe Schaeffer

In a recent interview with Elena Rozberg of Bulgaria's Z-Rock radio station, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna spoke about "I Stand Alone: The Sully Erna Story", a film based on his life story, which was made available in November 2023 via Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video. Based on Erna's memoir, "The Paths We Choose", which came out in 2007, the 98-minute documentary was written and produced by Sully, with additional writing, production and editing by Noah Berlow and writing, production and directing by Troy Smith.

Sully said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, for sure there'll be another book one day. There'll probably be another book about my life, a continuation of some of the things that I didn't get to talk about in the first book, and also a continuation of what happened from when that book ends to the next chapter of my life. The only reason I haven't wrote it yet is because I don't know how that chapter ends yet. I'm still living in it. So in the meantime, we were able to put out a feature documentary based on the book, which is called 'I Stand Alone: The Sully Erna Story'. And if anybody has read the book, you know that the book pretty much starts when I was born and it ends when I get a record deal. But when you have to put it to a movie, it only becomes a snapshot, a small piece of what the book was, and we had to figure out what were the most important stories that created the path of how important music became to me in my life."

Erna continued: "The movie, it was very interesting for me to watch it for the first time because in the early days — I was born in 1968 and through the '70s and the '80s, we didn't really have video cameras and cell phones back then, so we had very little video footage and we had to do a lot of reenactment, a lot of recreating some of the stories. Otherwise, the whole documentary just becomes about me in an interview, and you have to be able to show the visual. And then, of course, as they get into the '90s and so forth and then video cameras and everything were more available to us. But it was really interesting for me to watch my whole life story on film because I didn't know. Is this an interesting story? Are people gonna care about this? But it's done really well and I was really proud of it and I thought they did a great job making it. And I think if people love the book, they're gonna love this story."

During a December 2023 appearance on "The Mistress Carrie Podcast", Sully stated about "I Stand Alone: The Sully Erna Story": "The feature documentary that they've been working on, it's been six years in the making. And the reason why it took so long, first of all, is because as you know, we grew up in a similar era, back then, we're talking about '70s, '80s, even some of the '90s, we didn't have cameras on our cell phones and accessibility to cameras in general; they were this big. So a lot of the stories that were told from my life growing up in the streets of Lawrence [Massachusetts] from the time I was born until I got a record deal, a lot of those years just don't have footage to support the stories. So we had to really be careful about how we re-enacted these stories and whether you just find stuff online — generic scenes that match the theory of the story — or whether we actually had to shoot that content and make it believable enough so it wasn't cheesy, 'cause a lot of those things can really come off weak. So that was what took the most time, was just trying to have visuals to support the narrative."

He continued: "[The documentary is] basically a blip of my book, and the book is really a blip of my real life. 'Cause you can only fit so much information in 90 minutes. And so the documentary is 90 minutes, but it's based on 30 years of my life pre-GODSMACK. So, [it was] hard to do. And then you kind of have to find the thread that weaves through the whole story and that kind of thing, and, like, what is this story? What are we actually putting out on this documentary? And it became about perseverance, really. I think it's a story about perseverance. It's about one boy's journey growing up in some very challenging times in a very challenging city and going off through those obstacles to try to survive and then make something of yourself, and music really became the thread that saved my life so many times and got me to where I needed to be in life and with my career. But getting there is just a real motherfucker. I think people underestimate how hard it is to make it in this industry. I probably believe maybe actors and actresses go through the same thing when you're out there and you just have to starve yourself and sacrifice everything and focus with blinders on to get there. So it's about that. It's not the GODSMACK story. It's about my years from the time I was born until I got a deal, and it ends as things are starting to go in the direction of finding my record deal and my career."

Regarding the actor who plays him in the documentary's re-enactment scenes, Erna said: "He was very timid. It was his first time ever acting, first of all. So I called up a good friend of mine, Angela, who is the owner of Boston Casting, and she helped me assemble the cast for the people that I needed to support the main stories that we were talking about in the documentary. And I liked his look a lot. His hair looked just like mine when I was younger. It was all frizzy and curly and crazy. But he had never acted. So I was, like, 'Ah, man. This is gonna be tough.' But he really stepped up and he just kind of followed great direction and he did a good job. And I was really happy. And, of course, I'm gonna be the most critical about the re-enactment stuff, because it was my life. I remember the scenes. I know what they looked like. I know how they played out. I know the emotion. But to get these kids these days, because some of those really gnarly stories in the documentary were based on the '80s, for instance, and we were teenagers, so we had to find kids in that age group. But the difference is that when we were teenagers, we were fearless and we were tough. And to get kids today who are growing up in a much different generation that are not so confrontational and things like that… They couldn't even believe some of the stories when I was directing them: 'Okay, here's the deal. I pulled out a shotgun. I pointed it to this kid's face. This dude came down with me on a knife. And the kid's going, like, 'What the fuck? That happened? Are you serious? This is ridiculous.' I'm, like, 'This is all based on true shit.' And so we're trying to recreate these fight scenes and things like that. And these kids just, they weren't angry enough to deliver it. So we had to keep shooting it until we were, like, 'You've gotta think about a knife coming at you and the fear in your eyes.' And so it was interesting to kind of direct the new generation, but I've gotta tell you, I'm real proud of all of them. And they did a phenomenal job. And for me to be convinced of the recreation footage says a lot. It's about as close as to how I remember it in real life. So people will get a good perspective on that stuff."

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

Photo credit: Chris Bradshaw