Queen continues the new video series, “Queen The Greatest: Live”, a year-long celebration of Queen Live. It's a 50-week YouTube series going behind the scenes to reveal what goes into creating a Queen show featuring moments from iconic performances and demonstrating why the band is regarded as the ultimate live act. The latest episode can be found below.


A message states: "From the very beginning, Queen were determined their live shows would be a visual spectacular - and pushed the technology of the time to the limit to deliver just that. In this episode, Brian May and Roger Taylor reveal some of their favourite moments under the lights."







Queen guitarist Brian May’s investiture as a Knight of The Realm took place on Tuesday, March 14, at Buckinghamshire Palace. The knighthood was presented to Brian by His Royal Highness, King Charles.


BBC reports: Less than a year after the late Queen appeared on screen tapping out the beat of "We Will Rock You" over tea with Paddington Bear, the man who wrote the song - and whose band shared her moniker - has attended Buckingham Palace to receive a knighthood.


Guitarist Brian May was given the honour on Tuesday for services to music and charity, with pictures showing him chatting with King Charles and posing with his medallion after the ceremony."


View photos at BBC.com.


Brian’s Honours List citation recognizes Brian as:


Dr Brian Harold May CBE - “Musician, Astrophysicist and Animal Welfare Advocate. For services to Music and to Charity.”


Already carrying the title of Dr. as well as previously receiving a CBE, the Queen musician now receives the award of a Knighthood, adding the honorific title Sir to his name, hereafter to be recognized with the full title Sir Brian Harold May CBE.  Brian’s wife of 22 years, Anita Dobson, may use the title of Lady May.


In receiving his recognition, Sir Brian responded by saying: “I’m happy and grateful to receive this honour. I will regard the knighthood not so much as a reward, but more as a charge – a commission – for me to continue to fight for justice – to be a voice for those who have no voice.  I will endeavour to be worthy – to be that Knight in Shining Armour.”


The Full Citation reads as follows:


Brian May is an acclaimed musician and songwriter, founding member of the rock group Queen. In 2020 he was named Greatest Guitarist of All Time by Total Guitar Magazine. Queen’s performance at Live Aid in 1985 is acknowledged as the greatest live set in history. Brian famously opened the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002 performing live on Buckingham Palace roof – and 20 years later returned to open the Platinum Jubilee concert atop the Victoria Monument. He is also an accomplished astrophysicist, now attached as stereoscopist to many NASA Space exploration teams. He re-established the London Stereoscopic Company in 2008, was co-founder of Asteroid Day in 2015, for the protection of Earth from Asteroid strikes, and was Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 2008-2013. His work defending Britain’s wild animals led him to found the Save-Me Trust in 2009, which is his continuing passion, campaigning for the rights of foxes and badgers, and hosting an active wild-life rescue operation.

From Ashes To New are ready to break boundaries with their hybrid, high-energy mix of hard rock, nu-metal/hip-hop, electronic and alternative that’s underlined throughout their new album, Blackout, due July 28 via Better Noise Music.


Blackout’s concept is that it’s a prequel to their 2016 debut album Day One. Blackout encapsulates the distress of a pre-apocalyptic world mirroring the frame of mind the world felt during the 2020 pandemic during which time the album was written. It marks a return to From Ashes To New’s roots with a sound that’s a fresh spin on the sound that broke them onto the scene.


Filled with heavy driven music - including previously released singles “Nightmare” and “Heartache” - and angsty lyrics that all walks of people can find common ground with, the band teamed up with longtime collaborators and producers Grant McFarland and Carson Slovak to hone in on the original music that led the smalltown-based group to breaking their way into top of the 21st century rock vanguard. With four Top 10 Billboard singles, over 600 million all-time streams across Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Pandora and Deezer, more than 75 million YouTube views, and sold-out shows across the country, From Ashes To New are poised to make 2023 the biggest year of their career to date.




Get ready for Blackout and pre-order a copy on CD, cassette and/or vinyl here.


From Ashes To New have released another sample of Blackout with their latest single, “Hate Me Too”, out today across all digital platforms. The anthemic track is paired with a dark comedy music video which contains an over-the-top American Psycho Christian Bale style representation of an internal struggle and mental anguish of erupting emotions and fantasies when relationships fall apart. Watch it streaming below.


“So many of us fall victim to the classic toxic relationship,” says vocalist Matt Brandyberry. “Feeling like you can’t live without someone but knowing you’d be better off if you could. Oftentimes these feelings are mutual, but neither of you can see it. Sometimes we just need an anthem to remind us that being stuck isn’t always the only option and violence never is."





Tracklisting:


"Heartache"
"Nightmare"
"Hate Me Too"
"Hope Youre Happy"
"Barely Breathing"
"Dead To Me"
"Monster In Me"
"Echoes"
"Armageddon"
"Legacy"
"Until We Break" (feat. Matty Mullins of Memphis Mayfire)
"Broken By Design"


"Hate Me Too" video:





"Nightmare" video:





"Heartache" video:





(Photo - Jeremy Saffer)

Revolution Saints, the band centred around vocalist/drummer Deen Castronovo, have returned with a new lineup and a new album, Eagle Flight, scheduled for release on April 21. Castronovo is joined by new companions, guitarist Joel Hoekstra and bassist Jeff Pilson for Revolution Saints, MK II.


A new single and music video, "Crime Of The Century", is out today. Watch below.


Revolution Saints was initially put together by Serafino Perugino, President and Head of A&R for Frontiers Records, to showcase the stunning voice of Deen Castronovo (Journey, Bad English, Hardline).




Castronovo has always been a well respected drummer, but fans who took note of his background vocals over his career and who attended Journey shows and saw him take lead vocals on "Mother, Father" during the band's set, came to realize he also had an amazing voice. Revolution Saints was, and always has been, a vehicle to show the world Deen's incredible singing talents.


For the first three Revolution Saints albums, Revolution Saints, Light In The Dark, and Rise, Deen was joined by bassist/vocalist Jack Blades (Night Ranger) and guitarist Doug Aldrich (ex-Whitesnake, DIO). Produced by Alessandro Del Vecchio, those three albums brought back the classic melodic rock style that thrilled and delighted legions of fans in the ‘80s and ‘90s and still does today! Inspiring, uplifting vocals, soaring melodies, and hooks for days is what you get in spades across those three albums.


While Revolution Saints, MK I left an indelible mark on the melodic rock world, it was time for MK II to be born. Deen, having recently rejoined Journey, was feeling invigorated and inspired and ready to sing his ass off. Filling Blades and Aldrich's shoes would be no easy feat, but, mercifully, the exact right guys were found for the job!


Joel Hoekstra is a current member of Whitesnake, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Iconic, as well as having his own solo project, Joel Hoekstra's 13 and is an absolutely stunning guitar player, able to play multiple styles. Jeff Pilson, currently a member of Foreigner, Black Swan, and The End Machine, is also known for his time in Dokken and of course, his more recent production work. Two stellar musicians to compliment Deen's singing and drumming is exactly what was needed for Revolution Saints, MK II and that's what we've got here. As with the first three albums, Alessandro Del Vecchio handles production as well as contributing keyboards and background vocals.


Fans of Revolution Saints' first three releases are going to find much to be delighted with here with the new, rejuvenated Rev Saints and their brand new album, Eagle Flight. Pre-order/save the album here. Due to ongoing wait times at pressing plants, the LP version will be released on July 14.





Eagle Flight tracklisting:


"Eagle Flight"
"Talking Like Strangers"
"Need Each Other"
"Kids Will Be Kids"
"I’ll Cry For You Tonight"
"Crime Of The Century"
"Set Yourself Free"
"Sacred"
"Once More"
"Save It All"


"Crime Of The Century" video:





"Talking Like Strangers" video:





"Need Each Other" video:





"Eagle Flight" video:





Revolution Saints are:


Deen Castronovo - lead vocals, drums
Joel Hoekstra - guitars
Jeff Pilson - bass


(Photo - Enzo Mazzeo)

2022 saw the unholy return of the German extreme metal band Mystic Circle, releasing their self-titled new studio-album and marking a furious return, which even made them enter the official German album charts on a sensational #78.


The inspiration kept flowing and the two main members Beelzebub and A. Blackwarcreated nine new tracks for their ninth studio album, which is called Erzdämon and released today on their new label, Fireflash Records.


To celebrate the album release, the band reveal their new single and video for the title-track, "Erzdämon (Part 1)".




“If we summon demons, we only communicate with the highest creatures of hell. Erzdämon (English: arch demon) is a supreme majestic figure of darkness and it represents all the songs of the album”, comments the band.


Watch the video below.


"This new album is a logical continuation and further development of the previous album, more detailed and leading more into the world of horror. The satanic, demonic themes got combined with mystical legends of old stories that will make your blood run cold. Musically this is evoked with new and darker sounds and samples as well as classic heavy metal parts“, comments the band and describes their new journey as a mixture of Drachenblut, Infernal Satanic Verses and Mystic Circle. "We gave the the album a German title, because we wanna close a circle and go back to our early days. "Erzdämon" sounds powerful and sublime and represents the album 100%."


For the album cover, Mystic Circle worked with Rafael Tavares again, who came up with the perfect artwork. The production with Nils Lesser continues seamlessly from the previous album: bombastic, brutal and massive! "The new record contains the fastest, but also the most doomy songs in the band's history", the band sums up.


Erzdämon is available on CD and a limited colored Gatefold Vinyl. On top, you can also order the limited (500 copies) blue Gatefold Vinyl version of their classic Drachenblut.  


Exclusively available at the Atomic Fire Records Mailorder: The - limited to 100 - Erzdämon deluxe bundle incl. CD, coloured vinyl and Mystic Circle tote bag incl. patch, two stickers, button and signed photo card.


Order here.





The tracklist is as follows:


"Erzdämon (Part 1)"
"From Hell"
"Unholy Trinity"
"The Scarecrow"
"Asmodeus And The Temple Of God"
"Welcome To The Midnight Mass"
"The Mothman"
"Skinwalker"
"The Princess Of The Deadly Sins (Erzdämon Part 2)"











(Photo - TRINAMICS Creative Media / Sascha Kutzke)

During an appearance on the latest episode of the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast, WINGER frontman Kip Winger spoke about METALLICA's "Nothing Else Matters" video, which is perhaps best remembered for a scene where METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich throws darts at a poster of Kip. Asked if he ever found out why Lars did that, Kip responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Nah, man, you can see a video on 'Howard Stern' where he's going, 'Man, I threw darts at Kip, but it was nothing personal.' He's never apologized, but [METALLICA frontman] James Hetfield called me about a year and a half ago and apologized for the incident. James was really cool. James is the kind of guy I can totally be friends with. And he was very sincere; it wasn't like he just called to apologize and then blow me off. He's actually texted me a few times; we text every now and then. I don't think Lars would ever call me to apologize.

"I think everybody was just young kids, and they were thinking it was funny," Kip continued. "To me, it's not funny to slag off a fellow musician. But who knows? They were just doing what they were doing. I don't know. I can't answer to that."

Referencing the unprovoked ridicule on MTV's popular "Beavis And Butt-Head" show, which, compounded with the change in musical climate of the mid-'90s, ultimately led WINGER to go on hiatus in 1994, Kip said: "'Beavis And Butt-Head' was hysterical; it was really funny. I ended up on the wrong end of it.

"I think that's just gang mentality," he added. "Gang mentality — people wanna hide behind… And especially on the Internet, they can hide behind their keyboard and go, 'That guy sucks.' But if I was in the room with the guy, he'd be, like, 'Hey, man, how's it going?'"

Circling back to the dartboard scene in METALLICA's "Nothing Else Matters" video, Kip said: "I just don't think it's a great practice to slag your fellow artists. Everybody has their opinion. There's bands that I don't like necessarily. But the point is that the older I get, the more I realize what goes into this stuff. So there isn't any band that I don't like where I can't appreciate what work they put into it. Because I don't care who you are, if you've taken the time to get your song on a record and put it out there and made a video, you worked hard on that. I don't care if it's good or bad to me — whatever; it doesn't matter — you put a lot of work into that, and I can respect that on every level."

Lars touched upon the Kip scene in the "Nothing Else Matters" video during a 2020 appearance on "The Howard Stern Show". At the time he said: "In the 'Nothing Else Matters' video, which was filmed at the studio while we were recording the Black Album, we had a dartboard... We'd get Creem magazine, Circus magazine, and we'd take posters of people who look particularly obnoxious and put them up on the board and throw darts at them. There's a shot in that video of me throwing darts at Kip Winger. To this day I apologize when it's brought up in interviews; it was nothing against Kip Winger personally."

WINGER's seventh studio album, "Seven", is due on May 5 via Frontiers Music Srl. The 12-track album was produced by Kip and recorded in Nashville.

The Michael Thompson Band is back with a brand new album, The Love Goes On, on May 12th.


A new MTB album is, of course, always cause for celebration among AOR fans, but The Love Goes On is a particularly exciting entry as it sees the return of original vocalist Moon Calhoun (The Strand, Moon Over Paris, Western Front ft. Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy) to the fold. Calhoun sang on the band's legendary debut album, How Long, which is generally regarded as one of the all-time great West Coast AOR albums.


Fans can get their first preview of the album with the release of the title track today. Watch a lyric video for the track below, and pre-order/save The Love Goes On here.




Calhoun, Thompson, and bassist Tom Croucier (ex-Life By Night, and yes, brother of Ratt's Juan Croucier) wrote all the songs on the album, delivering another high quality serving of classic AOR that the Michael Thompson Band has come to be known for. Drummer Annas Aliaf rounds out the line-up.


Amongst musician circles, Michael Thompson is considered one of the leading guitar players in the world. He was awarded the "Distinguished Alumni" award from his alma mater Berklee College of Music to commemorate his contributions to the music industry. Berklee's program for the event noted that "he is widely regarded as being among the elite studio session players, and his amazing list of credits includes such prominent names as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, 'N Sync, Toni Braxton, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, the Scorpions, Vince Neil, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, Madonna, Babyface, En Vogue, Gloria Estefan, Stanley Clarke and Ricky Martin.


Originally from New York, Michael moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to begin a studio musician career. In 1988, after working to try and get a deal with his band Slang, he finally got signed by Geffen Records to release one album entitled How Long, under the Michael Thompson Band (M.T.B.) monicker. On How Long, more great studio musicians appeared as guests, in particular drummer-maestro Terry Bozzio, singer Moon Calhoun (ex The Strand), Pat Torpey (Mr Big), bassist Jimmy Haslip, John Elefante (Kansas), Toto's Bobby Kimball, and Great White associates Michael Lardie and Wyn Davis (who also produced the album). Songwriters would include, among others, AOR luminaries such as Jeff Paris, Mark Spiro, Billy Trudel and Brett Walker. As of today, How Long is still regarded as one of the highest examples of hi-tech AOR / West Coast, with superb production and immaculate songwriting.


Frontiers Music Srl began their relationship with Thompson in 2007, when they reissued the classic album How Long. Subsequently, the label would go on to release new music from MTB in the form of Future Past (2012), Love & Beyond (2019), and the live release High Times - Live In Italy (2020).





The Love Goes On tracklisting:


"The Love Goes On"
"Whispers And Dreams"
"War Of The Hearts"
"In Your Arms"
"All Of It"
"Just What It Takes"
"My Forever June"
"Higher"
"Out Of Nowhere"
"What Keeps You Alive"
"A Picture Of You"
"Wheelchair" (Bonus Track)


"The Love Goes On" lyric video:





Lineup:


Moon Calhoun - Vocals
Michael Thompson - Guitars
Tom Croucier - Bass
Annas Allaf - Drums

SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo spoke to Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station about the fact that their band will support KISS on select European tour dates this spring and summer. Rachel said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When we got these new KISS dates, the 12-year-old me was kind of freaking out pretty hard — again. I think we're one of, or probably the only band that could say we're playing both their farewell tours. [Laughs] But it's so exciting to go out with the band, especially just zeroing in on Gene Simmons. He's the reason I even picked up a bass in the first place; he's the reason why I learned what a bass was. I had no idea. It's a pretty great feeling to be asked to do something like this. Now that they're down to their final 50 shows and to know we will be doing a decent amount of 'em, a big chunk of 'em, it's hard to kind of process. It's really cool."

Snake added that the very first rock show he ever saw as a kid was KISS at Madison Square Garden in New York City in December 1977. "And that's the day that my life was completely changed," he said. "I walked in there as one person and I walked out a completely different person. I was absolutely blown away by what I had just witnessed. It was the most insane experience of my life. Especially being 13 years old, to sit there and to be able to experience something like that, the enormity of it, how bombastic it was, it was incomprehensible. And so when I got home, I knew that I was going to do something in the music business. I didn't know what it was gonna be — I didn't play an instrument; I had no clue — but a year later I picked up the guitar and nothing's changed since then. I knew exactly what I wanted to do from the seventh grade in high school."

Four years ago, Bolan said that he was not convinced KISS's "End Of The Road" tour will actually mark retirement for the 1970s theatrical rock behemoths.

The New Jersey rockers go back a long way with KISS, with a dispute over whether to tour with the New York icons said to have played a part in the departure of classic-era SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach in 1996.

At the time "End Of The Road" was first announced, KISS claimed each show on the tour would be the band's final visit to that city.

"Man, I have the feeling it's not gonna be their farewell tour," Bolan told the "White Line Fever" podcast in a 2019 interview. "If you remember, in 2000, we played [KISS's first] farewell tour. We opened up for them on the farewell tour, and we were out with them for about nine months. So I have a feeling, as long as they can keep doing it… Maybe it'll take a break, maybe it'll be a decent hiatus, but I have a feeling we're not gonna see the last of KISS."

Offering his feelings upon learning that the band was planning to stop touring, Bolan said: "Being such a huge KISS fan, it's sad in a way, but they've been doing it a long time."

SKID ROW released its sixth studio album, "The Gang's All Here", in October 2022. Helmed by Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz, the album reached Top 20 chart positions in nine countries worldwide. The band also completed a tour of Europe this fall, as well as a Las Vegas residency with rock icons SCORPIONS last spring.

"The Gang's All Here" marked the introduction of SKID ROW's latest addition, Swedish-born singer Erik Grönwall, who famously went from auditioning for the competition show "Swedish Idol" back in 2009 by singing a cover of SKID ROW's "18 And Life" to now fronting the band.

Grönwall joined SKID ROW as the replacement for ZP Theart, who had been in the group for more than six years.

Warmen started as a solo project of Janne "Warman" Wirman and when the keyboardist wasn't traveling the world with Children Of Bodom, he was regularly recording albums with his brother Antti Wirman (guitar), Jyri Helko (bass) and Mirka Rantanen (drums, Kotipelto, ex-Hevisaurus).


After the much too early end of Children Of Bodom and the tragic death of Alexi Laiho, Janne together with his brother Antti found their way back to music through Warmen. The band recently signed a worldwide record deal with Reaper Entertainment.


Janne comments: "After the abrupt ending of Children Of Bodom I wasn’t sure if I'd ever make music again. We did a couple of songwriting sessions last year with my brother and Jyri and I realized that I still have a lot of desire for music and together we wrote an album of exiting new stuff. We teamed up with Flori and Greg from the Reaper Entertainment as I had worked with them before with great results and knew they understood my past with Bodom and where we wanted to go next with Warmen."




The last official album, First Of The Five Elements, was initially released in 2014 via the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic, which however ceased operations shortly thereafter. Since very few copies of the album hit the market, Reaper Entertainment is now re-releasing the album today (March 17th) to shorten the wait for the new album. The direction of the material is classically inspired power metal, but similar to Children Of Bodom, the focus of Warmen is on the interplay of guitar and keyboard perfected by the Wirman brothers.


In addition to ten original songs, cover versions of Madonna and Alice Cooper provide surprises and for the vocals on First Of The Five Elements the quartet was able to win Pasi Rantanen (Thunderstone), Jonna Kosonen and the too early deceased Alexi Laiho (Children Of Bodom) as guest musicians.


Check out the new visualizer for "Suck My Attitutde" featuring Alexi Laiho.





The new Warmen album is planned for a later 2023 release. Stay tuned.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone En Español, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen spoke about what goes through his mind when he first hits the stage with his bandmates. He said: "Everyone in the band has a different approach. I always say I never get stage fright — never… I enjoy it — absolutely — but it's almost like an avatar goes on stage. If I've rehearsed and my voice is good and the guitar playing is enough and I'm in shape enough, there's a confidence that the avatar just takes over. So I can actually enjoy it in a different way.

"Everyone in the band is very different," Collen reiterated. "And it comes down to the confidence thing. So I can really appreciate it and I can see the whole audience and really get energy off of that, is when it just makes it even more profound, the experience."

DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE's co-headline "The World Tour" is hitting Latin America and Europe before it comes to the U.S. in August. Produced by Live Nation, the U.S. leg of the world tour kicks off on August 5 in Syracuse, New York.

Last month, MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD played two shows at the 7,000-capacity Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Atlantic City gigs marked MÖTLEY CRÜE's first U.S. live appearances since the announcement that founding guitarist Mick Mars would no longer tour with the legendary rock act. He is being replaced on the road by former ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5.

DEF LEPPARD is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "Diamond Star Halos", which sold 34,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release in May 2022 to land at position No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked the band's eighth top 10 LP.

Of "Diamond Star Halos"' 34,000 units earned for the week, album sales comprised 32,000, SEA units comprised 2,000 (equaling 2.7 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprised less than 500 units.

DEF LEPPARD's previous Top 10 albums included "Pyromania" (which peaked at No. 2 in 1983),"Hysteria" (No. 1 for six weeks in 1988),"Adrenalize" (No. 1 for five weeks in 1992),"Retro Active" (No. 9; 1983),"Rock Of Ages: The Definitive Collection" (No. 10; 2005),"Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" (No. 5; 2008) and "Def Leppard" (No. 10; 2015).

Last summer, DEF LEPPARD completed "The Stadium Tour" with MÖTLEY CRÜE and guests POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS. The 36-date trek was originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020 but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus crisis.

British heavy metal legends SAXON have canceled the remaining four shows on their March 2023 European tour after vocalist Biff Byford was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Earlier today (Friday, March 17),SAXON released the following statement via social media: "We are very sorry, but due to Biff Byford catching Covid whilst on tour, the remaining European dates in Dresden, Linz and Ulm are cancelled and we are looking to reschedule them as soon as possible. Again we are very sorry for all the inconvenience this causes but is way beyond anyone's control."

SAXON previously scrapped its March 16 concert in Rostock, apparently for the same reason.

SAXON drummer Nigel Glockler added in a separate message: "It's a real blow — the gigs were going great and we were having such a great time. Most important thing is for Biff to recover!"

Back in December 2021, Biff told Full In Bloom in an interview that he had made modest dietary changes in the two years after he suffered a heart attack and underwent an emergency triple bypass surgery. "A little bit," he said. "I don't eat dairy anymore. I suppose I'll eat an occasional piece of cheese, but I don't eat dairy anymore because of the cholesterol level thing. But pretty much [everything] else, I haven't really changed. We'll have a veggie week some weeks where my wife will just put vegetarian food all week, which is a bit of a change, really, and it gets rid of toxic things in your body. But I haven't really changed that much, to tell you the truth."

The now-72-year-old singer went on to say that he has added 16:8 intermittent fasting to his lifestyle, a type of dieting where people fast during a portion of the week and then eat on the other days. The 16:8 type of intermittent fasting involves eating only during a specific right-hour period each day.

"I will do that," Biff said. "I mean, I did do that today, actually. I didn't have lunch until 2 o'clock and I'll eat dinner at 7:30 and then I try not to have anything else until the next day. So most of your fasting is done while you're asleep; that's how it's supposed to work. What you try and do is eat all your meals in the eight hours. Don't go stupid. And then if you go to bed at, say, 11 o'clock and get up at eight or seven, then you had nearly eight hours in bed. A lot of people do it. It's quite positive. I think it's a bit easier than some diets.

"If you don't eat until the morning until quite late, you definitely feel a hit of energy," he explained. "And you're also quite hungry, so you appreciate the food [that you are eating]. Keeping to it is difficult sometimes, obviously. You want a glass of wine or you want a beer or something; you're always being tempted with these things."

According to Biff, he still drinks alcohol occasionally. "Oh, yeah," he said. "A couple of glasses of wine some nights, it's no problem. As long as you're not drinking two bottles of wine, it's fine."

Three years ago, Byford described his heart attack to Planet Rock, saying "it wasn't like a Hollywood heart attack, [where] you drop on the floor with your legs up in the air. I was biking, I was on my bike — I do a lot of biking and walking. And I was getting a bit breathless. And I went to the doctor. They sent me in to the hospital straight away. One of my arteries was getting blocked. They couldn't get to it easily; it was risky. So they gave me a heart bypass. And so while they were in there, they did all three… So, yeah, they did all three. And then I came to, and that was it. I was really ill."

A heart bypass surgery, or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, is used to improve blood flow to the heart. A surgeon uses blood vessels taken from another area of the body to bypass the damaged arteries.

The term triple bypass refers to the number of coronary arteries bypassed in the procedure. In other words, a triple bypass means three coronary arteries are bypassed.

We are very sorry, but due to Biff Byford catching Covid whilst on tour, the remaining European dates in Dresden, Linz...

Posted by Saxon on Friday, March 17, 2023

Due to unforeseen circumstances the Saxon shows in Rostock tonight and Dresden tomorrow will not take place. We are...

Posted by Saxon on Thursday, March 16, 2023

We are very pleased to announce some more tour dates in Europe for March 2023!

Wednesday 8th – LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg...

Posted by Saxon on Friday, December 23, 2022

During an appearance on this past Tuesday's (March 14) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton was asked about ex-QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate's claim that the original lineup of the group was offered an "obscene" amount of money for one reunion tour but that "a couple of people in the band turned it down." He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't know. I didn't hear about it. I never saw any offers. I know our management never saw any offers. So I have no idea about that."

Michael also briefly touched upon original QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield, who in October 2021 filed a lawsuit against Wilton and bassist Eddie Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. A few months later, Wilton and Jackson filed a countersuit against Rockenfield, accusing him of abandoning his position as a member of the band and misappropriating the group's assets to his own personal benefit.

Asked if he has been in contact with Scott, Michael said: "It's a touchy subject. And that's something that we will have to talk to you about in the future."

When host Eddie Trunk said that it sounds like there is "some drama" between Rockenfield and QUEENSRŸCHE, Wilton said: "Yup. Current real-time drama. Whatever."

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012. Fellow original QUEENSRŸCHE members Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform the albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

During a January 2022 appearance on "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Tate was asked if he is hopeful that a QUEENSRŸCHE reunion will happen someday. He responded: "I'm honestly not really expecting that to happen, basically because we've been offered just obscene amounts of money to get back together and do one tour — one tour and we'd never have to tour again. And a couple of people in the band turned it down; they're not interested in doing it. So that would really be, I think, the only motivation that would get everybody together was an obscene amount of money. But that didn't work, so [laughs] there's really no hope for it after that, I think… Money is not the motivator, and getting together for an artistic dream isn't a motivator either, so what do you have? You have nothing. Obviously, both camps are happy in the position they're at. I know for myself, I love my life — I love what I'm doing and I love traveling and playing music for people. And so far, I'm still kicking it, still happy and healthy."

Geoff went on to say that he is fine with the prospect of never returning to QUEENSRŸCHE and continuing to pursue his solo career and other projects for the rest of his time as a performing artist.

"We did hold it together for years and years and years," he said. "It was a really, really tightly run ship and it was very lucrative and we had a lot of great records and did a lot of world touring and made a lot of friends and played a lot of music together. And we had our time, and I'll aways be grateful for that time that we had. That was a time, and it doesn't mean that that time has to go on forever. There's new times to be had and there's more music to be made, there's more songs to be sung and more audiences to play music for."

Tate has gone back and forth on the subject of a reunion with QUEENSRŸCHE, telling The Rock Vault in November 2019 about the possibility of rejoining his former bandmates: "I think that would be something that makes sense, and I think it would be an interesting thing to do, if everybody could get in the same room and actually talk to each other." However, just eight months earlier, he dismissed the chances of a QUEENSRŸCHE reunion, telling Greece's "TV War" that he had "no interest in that. No. Not at all. [I have] absolutely no reason to," he said. "I don't need the money. That'd be the only reason to do it. Maybe if they paid me, like, 10 million dollars or something like that. [Laughs]"

He continued: "It was a good thing for a long time, and then it went really bad. And I just don't want that kind of negativity in my life. My life is so good, and I have such great friends and family. I travel the world and sing songs for a living. I mean, it's lovely. I have wonderful, positive people in my life, and to go back and be in that negative land again… aargh, I just couldn't do it. It's not worth it."

Tate previously described his time in QUEENSRŸCHE as "a strange, strange sort of relationship." He told The Metal Gods Meltdown: "We weren't really friends, you know — we were business associates. We had a wonderful entity that we shared called QUEENSRŸCHE, but it wasn't an equal sort of partnership as far as involvement goes. You know, so there wasn't a real camaraderie amongst everybody in the band… From my perspective and my involvement, it wasn't an emotional sort of brotherhood kind of thing that some people might think existed. That wasn't my reality with them."

In 2021, current QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre told "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" about the chances of Tate's return to QUEENSRŸCHE: "It's funny. I always hear, 'There'll definitely be an all-original lineup reunion. Every band does it.' And I'm thinking, if you knew what I know, I don't think that's gonna happen. And other than the optics of it, why? What's the point? We saw for 15 years what it sounded like."

QUEENSRŸCHE has used former KAMELOT drummer Casey Grillo for touring and recording purposes since April 2017.

Drummer Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, ANTHRAX) has uploaded the latest in his "Big Four" drum-cover series: METALLICA's "Fight Fire With Fire". The clip, which can be seen below, follows his previously released videos for METALLICA's "Damage, Inc.", SLAYER's "Killing Fields", METALLICA's "Blackened", ANTHRAX's "A.I.R." and MEGADETH's "Wake Up Dead" and SLAYER's "Postmortem".

Says Jon: "Summer of 1984! 'Ride The Lightning' dropped and METALLICA immediately became my favorite BIG 4 band! The opening track was, and still is the track off 'Ride The Lightning' that stands out for me as the ultimate demonstration of the bands amazing songwriting and musicianship combined perfectly with raw speed, power and aggression. Plus, being a 14 year old self taught drummer, I now had my new drum lesson material for the rest of summer (and the rest of the year) with 'Fight' and all the other amazing tracks off the record!"

The 52-year-old Dette played as a full-time member of SLAYER from 1996 to 1997 and as a touring member in 2013.

In a 2013 interview with Metal Rules, Dette revealed that he collaborated with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King on some of the early ideas for what became the band's final studio album, 2015's "Repentless", before he was replaced by a returning Paul Bostaph. "I actually started working with SLAYER after we had gotten back from Australia [in early 2013]," he said. "We started working for demo and music for their new record. And then obviously what happened with Jeff [Hanneman, guitar] passing away, that changed some things. But it was definitely moving in that direction for me to be working with SLAYER [again]. But as I said there are just some things that changed with that once Jeff passed away, and I think, ultimately, they felt more comfortable with ‎Paul Bostaph, just because Paul had been in the band for longer. I think it was not going to be as much of a shock to their fans, because first Dave is gone, and now Jeff is gone, the band, it's now down to two original members. So if Paul makes them feel more comfortable and at home, then more respect to him and I wish them the best with that."

King confirmed that he worked with Dette early on in the songwriting process for "Repentless" before deciding to re-hire Bostaph instead. "We pursued it," Kerry said in a 2015 interview. "We got back from Australia. I did demos with Jon Dette, I did demos with Paul — the same two songs, under the same circumstances; they each had, like, 24 to 36 hours to learn 'em — and just see where it went. And Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] and Jeff [Hanneman, SLAYER guitarist] both decided Paul, and in hindsight, that was the right choice."

Dette originally joined SLAYER in 1996 when Paul Bostaph left to work on his side project THE TRUTH ABOUT SEAFOOD. Dette performed with SLAYER at the 1996 Ozzfest to promote the band's covers album, "Undisputed Attitude".

Prior to joining SLAYER, Dette appeared on TESTAMENT's "Live At The Fillmore" album, which came out in 1995.

In recent years, Dette had played sporadic shows with ANTHRAX as a temporary replacement for Charlie Benante, who had been undergoing physical therapy in his battle with carpal tunnel syndrome.