Former HIM frontman Ville Valo spoke to Germany's Sonic Seducer about the band's decision to call it quits in 2017 after completing a farewell tour, closing the final chapter on the "love metal" group's 26-year career. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It took quite a long time for us to realize that the story of HIM had ended. After [HIM's 2013 album] 'Tears On Tape', Gas [Lipstick, a.k.a. Mika Kristian Karppinen], the drummer, left the band. Then we found a new guy. We toured a bit. We tried to get everything to work. But it just didn't sound as good as we wanted to. I think that we lost the spark, so to speak. And we tried to be adult about it and realized that maybe it's just not our time, because you couldn't blame us for not trying. We really tried to figure out… We didn't go to any therapy sessions — we didn't go down the METALLICA road — but we sat down long and hard and tried to figure out if there's anything we could give the world musically and decided that it's the perfect time to end it."

When HIM announced its farewell tour six years ago, Ville explained to Kerrang! magazine why the band decided to call it a day. "We were tired of the same shit," he said. "When you've done it for a long time, at some point it doesn't taste good anymore. We started working on some stuff, it didn't sound good enough, and we didn't get the teenage buzz you're supposed get."

Formed in 1991 by Valo, guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström and bassist Mikko "Migé" Paananen, HIM offered the world a new take on the metal genre, which became known as "love metal" (also the title of their fourth album).

HIM in 2015 parted ways with Gas and replaced him with Jukka "Kosmo" Kröger (formerly of HERRA YLPPÖ & IHMISET).

Four years ago, Valo teamed up with guitar legend Esa Pulliainen to record an album based on songs by the late, legendary Finnish singer Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki. The self-titled album by VILLE VALO & AGENTS was released in February 2019 and was followed by a short tour.

Ville will release his debut solo album, "Neon Noir", on January 13 via Heartagram Records, distributed by UMG/Spinefarm. The LP will arrive four months after Ville released "Echolocate Your Love", the second single from "Neon Noir". Five months earlier, Valo issued "Loveletting", which marked Ville's first new music in over two years, following the release of the three-track "Gothica Fennica Vol. 1" EP, also released under the VV banner, in March 2020.

Iggy Pop has once again explained his decision to retire from stage diving.

The legendary 75-year-old rocker, who popularized the move during his time as frontman of THE STOOGES, told Billboard about his stage-diving antics: "I'm not doing that right now. I hit my limit. I did about 40 shows last year and I crossed over [into the audience] a few times, but not with a full dive. A couple of times I sorta fell in and a couple of times I walked around, but if I don't have to, I prefer to stay on the stage. It's too much wear and tear at this point. I would get hurt. So I prefer to stay on the stage, but now at some of the shows people do it themselves; they leap up, touch toe, do a grab and dive off. That's cool with me."

Pop previously spoke about his decision to swear off stage diving last year in an interview with NME. At the time, he said: "I've left the proscenium a few times if the crowds were too dull, just to whip 'em up, but mostly I didn't have to.

"I won't do the dives again," he said. "I've managed to survive it mostly and I'm too rickety for that now."

Iggy had floated around the possibility of his retirement from stage diving back in 2010 after he was injured at a New York City concert. Pop had jumped into the crowd halfway through a performance of "I Want To Be Your Dog", but nobody in the audience caught him, leaving the singer with severe bruises.

"When I landed, it hurt and I made a mental note that Carnegie Hall would be a good place for my last stage dive," he told Jam! Showbiz at the time. "The audience were just like, 'What are you doing?'"

Pop's most recent stage dive reportedly came as recently as last June during a show in The Netherlands.

Iggy's new album, "Every Loser", will arrive on January 6. Pop's 19th solo LP will be his first to be released via the recently announced partnership between Atlantic Records and Gold Tooth Records, the new label founded by the album's Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum executive producer Andrew Watt.

In a new episode of SiriusXM's "Reverse The Verse", NICKELBACK's Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake and Daniel Adair attempt to identify the band's songs after hearing just ten seconds played backwards. Check out the results below.

During a recent appearance on the "Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged" podcast, NICKELBACK bassist Mike Kroeger called his brother, NICKELBACK frontman Chad Kroeger, "one of the great rock songwriters of our time. I think he belongs in the conversation of the greats of this moment in history and of the last 20 years," he added. "And it's okay [if some people don't give him enough credit]. History will be the ultimate judge. And it's all right.

"We never got into this thing for accolades of our contemporaries or communities or award shows or any stuff like that; that's never really been the motivator for us, to, 'Oh, we've just gotta get out there and win a Grammy,'" he explained.

"This is another opinion. Art is an opinion. We create opinions to put out there and then people have their own opinions about that.

"Every person, I think, interprets a song in a different way, and I think that's kind of the magic of it," Mike added. "You can throw the same song at 10 different people, and you might get 10 different answers about what is it about to them, what does it mean to them, what does it make them feel. I think that's the great part about music."

NICKELBACK's history dates back to 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, where they got their start playing covers in a band called VILLAGE IDIOT, a nod to the small-town nature where they played and grew up. In 1996, Chad, alongside Ryan Peake, made the 10-hour trek west to follow Mike to Vancouver, British Columbia, where the band still resides and continues to make music today.

The band's numerous smash hits, coupled with worldwide sales of over 50 million albums sold, seals their status as one of the top-selling acts of all time and the second best-selling foreign act of the 2000s in the U.S., behind only THE BEATLES. The wildly popular smash hit "How You Remind Me" was named Billboard's "Top Rock Song Of The Decade", which was a contributing factor in the publication's decision to crown NICKELBACK "Top Rock Group Of The Decade" shortly after.

Beyond their Juno Awards, the group has received nine Grammy Award nominations, three American Music Awards, a World Music Award, a People's Choice Award and seven MuchMusic Video Awards. They were inducted into Canada's Walk Of Fame in 2007.

NICKELBACK's tenth studio album, titled "Get Rollin'", was released in November.

Veteran Arizona thrashers FLOTSAM AND JETSAM are hard at work on their 15th album.

The band offered an update on the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the follow-up to 2021's "Blood In The Water" while sharing a performance clip of the song "Hammerhead", shot at last summer's Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Blgium.
FLOTSAM AND JETSAM wrote: "Metalheads! Here's another live clip from our Summer of 2022 European performances. And yes, before you start asking, we are knee deep into the process for what would be the follow up to 'Blood In The Water'. Are you are bracing for that impact? Because we can assure you it'll shake your core! Meanwhile enjoy this clip and remember, Flotz til Death!"

In June 2022, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson stated about the band's plans for the next LP: "My guitar players, for ['Blood In The Water'], I think they wrote 40 songs and we only put 12 on the record. So we have a lot to choose from. Most of them will be taken apart, pieces stolen out of 'em and stuff like that. But we have enough music to keep going for a long time.

"We're about halfway written with the new record," he stated at the time. "We have a formula going on right now that's really working for us, and we're gonna probably stick to the same formula this time. The last three records have really done some good for us."

"Blood In The Water" was once again mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen (U.D.O., VOLBEAT, AMARANTHE, POWERWOLF).

It's been 37 years since FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, formed in Phoenix, Arizona, released its landmark debut, "Doomsday For The Deceiver", the only album to ever receive a 6K rating from the influential British magazine Kerrang! Bassist Jason Newsted would jump ship to METALLICA while the band released "No Place For Disgrace" in 1988. "Cuatro" (1992),"Drift" (1995),"High" (1997) and "My God" (2001) all still rank extremely high in heavy metal circles. But it was the first part of this unofficial trilogy in 2016's self-titled "Flotsam And Jetsam", followed by the crushing 2019 successor "The End Of Chaos" that a certain rejuvenation and reset was clearly felt.

Metalheads! Here's another live clip from our Summer of 2022 European performances. And yes, before you start asking, we...

Posted by Flotsam and Jetsam on Thursday, January 5, 2023

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen spoke to Ireland's Overdrive about what it has been like for him and his bandmates to return to the road just weeks after singer Floor Jansen revealed her breast cancer diagnosis. "The first show of this [European tour] leg in Antwerp [Belgium on November 20] was just so emotional for all of us, but especially for Floor," he said. "It all came out during the song 'Sleeping Sun'. She couldn't sing the song towards the end, and she just broke down. It was a positive breakdown, if you know what I mean. It was just a huge release of so much anxiety and pressure that had been building up inside her. It was a culmination of beating cancer, finally do[ing] this tour, and [the fact] that her voice was good enough to do what she loves to do. All of that came out at the same time, and it's been wonderful ever since."

On November 18, Floor revealed that she was "cancer free" after undergoing surgery to have a tumor removed following a breast cancer diagnosis. At the time, she wrote on social media that "the surgery took everything cancerous out and it hasn't spread!"

Jansen went public with her diagnosis in October. At the time, she wrote: "The word cancer is a shocker. All that you found important in life before this diagnosis changes radically within minutes. Now I just want to be healthy again. I want to see my daughter grow into a woman; I want to live! And the scariest part of this diagnosis is that I thought I was healthy! I didn't feel the cancer, I didn't know it was there until I, as a 40+ woman, went to a standard mammogram checkup. Something many countries offer, for free even for the lucky ones. Had I not gone there, the tumor would have gone undetected. In a year from now this could have grown much bigger. The thought of that makes me share this story with you. A mammogram is lifesaving! It's uncomfortable and you might think that you won't have something in your breasts anyway but GO! And for the men reading this: remind your wife, girlfriend, mother, sister to go and get checked. Even without the luxury I as a western woman experience with free mammogram checkups: GO! Luckily, there are many organizations that offer information about self-detection if you do not have access or funds for a mammogram.
If I might inspire you to take good care of yourself, then something good will come out of this cancer diagnosis."

Jansen made her live debut as the frontwoman of NIGHTWISH on October 1, 2012 at Showbox Sodo in Seattle, Washington following the abrupt departure of the band's lead singer of five years, Anette Olzon. Jansen officially joined NIGHTWISH in 2013.

As part of NIGHTWISH, Jansen landed two number one albums in Finland, and Top Five albums in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Born in the Netherlands, Jansen joined her first band, one of the world's first symphonic metal bands, AFTER FOREVER, when she was only 16 years old. The group went on to release five albums from 2000 to 2007, before they broke up in 2009.

Jansen's next band, REVAMP, released two albums in 2010 and 2013, before she joined NIGHTWISH as a full-time member. NIGHTWISH's first album with Jansen as the lead singer was 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful", which landed in Top 10s around the world. This was followed by 2020's "Human. :II: Nature." , which was also an international success.

Jansen has toured extensively with the band and appeared on three of NIGHTWISH's live albums "Showtime, Storytime", "Vehicle Of Spirit" and "Decades: Live In Buenos Aires".

In 2019, Jansen participated in the popular Dutch TV show "Beste Zangers" where she scored a big hit with "Phantom Of The Opera" together with Henk Poort. She was recognized with a Dutch Popprijs award — a prestigious accolade for artists that has made important contributions to Dutch music. In the same year, her first solo tour sold out in less than 24 hours.

Floor will release her debut solo album, "Paragon", on March 24. The LP contains "a diverse collection of pop-infused tracks and emotional ballads influenced by the sounds of her career," according to a press release.

NIRVANA and HEART's Ann and Nancy Wilson will be honored with the Recording Academy's 2023 lifetime achievement award. Other honorees include Bobby McFerrin, Ma Rainey, Nile Rodgers and Slick Rick.

The awards will be presented at the Special Merit Awards ceremony, which will return for the first time since 2020 during Grammy Week on February 4, 2023, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.

The lifetime achievement award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's national trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.

"The Academy is proud to celebrate this diverse slate of influential music people spanning numerous genres and crafts as our 2023 Special Merit Awards honorees," said Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. "Each creator on this list has made an impact on our industry — from technical to creative achievements — representing the breadth of music's diverse community. We're excited to celebrate this group of legends next month that continues to inspire and shape the music world."

Formed in 1987 by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, NIRVANA emerged from the Pacific Northwest onto the world stage with the 1989 release of its debut album "Bleach". Two years later, NIRVANA's sophomore album "Nevermind" would spark a seismic shift in global youth culture. Rising to No. 1 worldwide and featuring Grammy Hall Of Fame single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Nevermind"'s impact would transform Cobain, Novoselic and Dave Grohl into one of the most successful and influential musical entities of all time. NIRVANA's third and ultimately final studio album, "In Utero", was released in 1993, completing an indelible run that returned rock 'n' roll integrity and passion to the top of the charts. With a 2014 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and more than 75 million records sold, NIRVANA continues to be a singular inspiration for generations of fans and musicians the world over.

Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson are being recognized as lifetime achievement award honorees for their creative work with the rock band HEART. HEART was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, sold over 35 million records, garnered four Grammy Award nominations, landed 10 Top 10 albums, received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, had several No. 1 hits, and achieved "the longest span of top 10 albums on the Billboard charts by a female-led band." HEART's influence can be palpably felt everywhere from rock and heavy metal to hip-hop and pop. As a result, their music resonates in nearly every corner of pop culture.

The Recording Academy represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals. Dedicated to ensuring the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Academy honors music's history while investing in its future through the Grammy Museum, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares, and celebrates artistic excellence through the Grammy Awards — music's only peer-recognized accolade and highest achievement. As the world's leading society of music professionals, we work year-round to foster a more inspiring world for creators.

Finnish one-man dark acoustic prog folk rock band Nobody has released a new EP, Father Of Lies. This four track EP is once again released in cooperation with Inverse Records.


Listen to "Father Of Lies" on steaming services here. 


The man behind Nobody, Tuomas Kauppinen, comments the EP and tracks:




"The Father of Lies violates us every day of our lives, feeding us with hatred and fear, rewarding acquiescence with even more brutality. The further we give in to his reckless demands, the further he will tear our souls apart. He is a psychopathic god who will never stop, unless we say 'no.' And we will say 'no', eventually. It will not be a revolution of guns and bloodshed that will liberate us from his grip, but a revolution of our hearts."


"The Divine Marquis"


Kauppinen: "The marquis de Sade was a deranged bastard, without doubt. He bound up sex workers, whipped them bloody and imprisoned them in his chateau, forcing them to watch as he masturbated on religious icons. But this was not the reason why the status quo locked him up for the greater part of his life. The reason was that de Sade wrote about what the upper classes did in their free time, how they raped and tortured vulnerable people for their pleasure. Napoleon Bonaparte, that pitiful midget who thought he would grow bigger by enslaving Europe, saw de Sade as a threat because he wrote what he saw. And if you think that times have changed, that no longer truth-speakers are persecuted for speaking out, you are fatally mistaken."


"Chain Of Events"


Kauppinen: "Karma means reaction. For every action there is a reaction. Bear that in mind the next time you bitch at a clerk in the supermarket, just because your boss made you feel like shit at work. What are you doing in a workplace that makes you feel like shit anyway?"


"Alliance"


Kauppinen: "Love is impossible to describe. We all want it, but it takes sacrifices beyond what most of us are willing to make. Love easily destroys you, too, if you make too many sacrifices, in the wrong ways. Then love will rot and turn to hate. Every goddamn poet writes about love, but have they taught you anything about it, in the truest sense of the word? If they have, let me know. I still can't describe love."


"House Uphill"


Kauppinen: "My home country is filled with depressed, suicidal and even murderous souls who can't have access to help except in the form of pills that numb their minds, make them fat, deprive them of their sleep, make them impotent, psychotic, incoherent and disagreeable in infinite ways. No real help is available, unless you kill someone or almost kill yourself, at which point it's too little, too late. We are nothing but cattle to the Father of Lies, and he doesn't care about our well-being as long as we keep making him profit. This is the story of one of those animals who never had a chance, was never given a chance, and who was buried among the rest of the discarded livestock, without a flower on their grave to ease their decomposition."



 
Tracklist:


"The Divine Marquis"
"Chain of Events"
"Alliance"
"House Uphill"





Photo - Mikke Strandberg

In a new interview with Belgian Jasper, former HIM frontman Ville Valo spoke about his penchant for writing music that is simultaneously dark and uplifting. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It comes from the heart. It's stuff I'm still questioning. It's about trying to figure out when to hold on and when to let go, and when letting go is less of an egocentric decision to make and more based out of love. But once you have let go, there's no going back. And it's not talking about life and death all the time; it's about important things, the things that you feel in your tummy, that pang or whatever you wanna call it. It's always there and I'm still questioning that stuff.

"I love being able to send mixed messages and to have one sense and say the other and the other and the other, because that's how we are as people — I think," he explained. "People are quite indecisive, especially when it concerns the matters of the heart. But it is crazy how music can work in such a cathartic fashion and how it is that when we are sad, we want to listen to even sadder music, and that makes us happier. It's funny how it works in that fashion. But that's how music has always been for me. And I think music is also an easier way to deal with very, very deep and even dark emotions. It's like a viral thing — it travels so easy, you don't have to think about it when you're singing and when you're emoting. The music has a way of infiltrating your — at least subconscious, but conscious as well, and taking over for that wee bit. And I think that through that, the catharsis might happen. And that is an unbelievable power in music. I am a bit of a drama king, and I am a self-confessed romantic, so for me, that is the stuff that makes the most sense."

Valo's debut solo album, "Neon Noir", will arrive on January 13 via Heartagram Records, distributed by UMG/Spinefarm.

Ville has released three singles so far from "Neon Noir": "The Foreverlost", "Echolocate Your Love", and "Loveletting". The latter marked Ville's first new music in over two years, following the release of the three-track "Gothica Fennica Vol. 1" EP, also released under the VV banner, in March 2020.

Like "Echolocate Your Love" and "Loveletting", "Gothica Fennica Vol. 1" bore a strong musical resemblance to HIM and featured the tracks "Salute The Sanguine", "Run Away From The Sun" and "Saturnine Saturnalia".

HIM completed a farewell tour in 2017, closing the final chapter on the band's 26-year career.

Formed in 1991 by Valo, guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström and bassist Mikko "Migé" Paananen, HIM offered the world a new take on the metal genre, which became known as "love metal" (also the title of their fourth album).

HIM in 2015 parted ways with its longtime drummer, Mika Kristian Karppinen (a.k.a. Gas Lipstick),and replaced him with Jukka "Kosmo" Kröger (formerly of HERRA YLPPÖ & IHMISET).

Three years ago, Valo teamed up with guitar legend Esa Pulliainen to record an album based on songs by the late, legendary Finnish singer Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki. The self-titled album by VILLE VALO & AGENTS was released in February 2019 and was followed by a short tour.

Photo credit: Juha Mustonen

Orgy will release their new single, "Empty", on Friday, January 13. A new EP from the band is due this summer.


"I'm excited to finally start getting these tracks out for Orgy again. As we move toward a new direction musically speaking, I wanted to put a track out that has a bit of that signature Orgy sound, and hint at what's coming next. Hope everyone will see the big picture and enjoy this track called 'Empty' about being drained from always trying to make everyone happy." - Jay Gordon


Watch a teaser clip below:







Jay Gordon adds: "The band is excited about a few up & coming dates; The Whisky a Go Go on March 24, and most notably Live Nation’s “Sick New World” music festival on May 13. We will be adding a few select dates along the way, in support of the new music we have coming out soon!"





(Photo - Whiskey Shotz Photography)

Gene Simmons has blasted Rolling Stone magazine for placing Ozzy Osbourne at No. 112 on its list of the 200 greatest singers of all time.

The updated list, which began in 2008, ranges from Aretha Franklin to Rosalía and other artists known for standout singing. This time around, the list excludes powerhouses like Celine Dion, Pink, Jennifer Hudson, Nat King Cole, Dionne Warwick and more.

Simmons weighed in on the list after being asked about it by a TMZ reporter. When the reporter noted that KISS was excluded from the list, Gene said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, that's okay. I was thinking of buyingRolling Stone."

The KISS bassist/vocalist added: "Well, it's skewed. You have to consider who's popular and who's not. But if you really think about it, how good somebody sings may be part and parcel of what they do. For instance, if Jimi Hendrix, who had a long — well, actually a short career, but he was very famous, would he make it on 'American Idol'? How about Bob Dylan... And I wrote songs with Bob Dylan; I know the guy. Would he make it on 'American Idol'?

Gene continued: "How well you sing is not the most important thing. It's, do you have style? Do you have a fingerprint that says, 'I know that voice immediately'?"

Pressed about the fact that Ozzy made the list at No. 112, Gene said: "That's a crime. Look, somebody sits in a backroom — Jann Wenner [Rolling Stone co-founder] and those guys — they sit in a backroom and they decide things. Nobody asked me. Did they ask you? Apparently not."

Asked where he would have been on the list if it had been compiled properly, Simmons replied: "Oh, I don't give a fuck. Really."

As for whether any of the artists should care about such a list, Gene said: "No, they shouldn't. If you've got success, that's enough. Accolades and all that, you get that when you do a concert or when fans come up. That's the best thing. To be on a poll by a magazine by people in the backroom, I don't know how much that means."

Rolling Stone's list also includes artists like Freddie Mercury, Robert Plant, Chris Cornell, Steve Perry, Eddie Vedder, Rob Halford, Axl Rose, Ronnie James Dio, Iggy Pop and Glenn Danzig.

The list was compiled by Rolling Stone staff members and contributors, unlike its 2008 list that used an "elaborate voting process".

The publication anticipated complaints from fans who disagreed with Rolling Stone's choices, writing in the introduction: "Before you start scrolling (and commenting),keep in mind that this is the Greatest Singers list, not the Greatest Voices List. Talent is impressive; genius is transcendent. Sure, many of the people here were born with massive pipes, perfect pitch, and boundless range. Others have rougher, stranger, or more delicate instruments… In all cases, what mattered most to us was originality, influence, the depth of an artist's catalog, and the breadth of their musical legacy."

Longtime PANTERA producer Sterling Winfield, reportedly one of the people who control PANTERA drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott's estate, spoke to Reckless Rock Radio 89.3 KNON FM about the reformation of PANTERA, featuring surviving members Rex Brown (bass) and Philip Anselmo (vocals) along with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX).

Winfield, who was one of the people who attended a PANTERA dress rehearsal in New Orleans on November 21, less than two weeks before the reconfigured band played its first show, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When I was in New Orleans, I knew it was gonna be huge because I got to see how serious they are taking this, how to heart they are taking this. Phil and Rex are different people now; they are not the same people from 20-something years ago. You mature, you grow up, you own your mistakes, you move forward in your life and you hope to make a better way for yourself. And that's exactly what I see here."

Winfield went on to say that "this is not a reunion", despite the fact that Brown, Anselmo, Wylde and Benante are touring under the PANTERA banner. "It is not PANTERA 2.0, at least not at this point," he said. "Whatever you wanna think, that's fine; go ahead and make your assumptions. But it was the media that called this a reunion; it was the media that called this the reformation of PANTERA — not them. They never put this out there as that; they put this strictly out there as a tribute to the brothers [Vinnie Paul and PANTERA guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott] and for the fans and for the music and for the legacy of this music, to bring it to another generation of people."

He added: "There's little kids out there wearing PANTERA shirts, and it's amazing to watch, because, yes, since Dime got killed, there's a whole generation of people that have been born on this earth."

According to Sterling, Wylde and Benante are absolutely the right people to perform the PANTERA material with the kind of respect and attention to detail that it deserves. "I cannot think of anyone better to handle the duties of Dime and Vinnie than Zakk and Charlie," he said. "I've known both of those dudes for a very long time. And Charlie is just a model human being himself and a monster drummer and loved the brothers like you wouldn't believe. And same goes for Zakk.

"They're not trying to be Dime and Vinnie, guys; they're not trying to be that," he explained. "That would be disrespectful. But they are being themselves and they are having fun. And I think you should come out and do it too. Even just watch some of the videos. You've seen 'em on YouTube. These crowds are insane, and I think you're gonna be missing out if you don't come check it out."

Addressing the question of whether other musicians were considered for the drummer and guitarist position in the new PANTERA lineup, Winfield said: "There was no doubt in my mind that he would be the one to take over for Vinnie. [It was a] no-brainer — absolute no-brainer. Now, there were some other guitar folks that were brought up. I'll just say this — that it would not have been a good fit, and quite honestly, they would not have been able to pull it off. But it always kept circling back around to Zakk. And after a couple of times, it was, like, again another no-brainer. Because he knew Dime better than most any other guitar player on the planet knew him. Is it gonna be Dimebag Darrell's exact notes and riffs and everything? No. It's Zakk Wylde, you idiots. It's Zakk."

Regarding the possibility of the reformed PANTERA recording new music, Winfield said: "It's not unheard of, it's not blasphemous. I will say that it is entirely plausible, it is entirely possible, but at this point in time, I don't know that anybody's looking that far down the road. They've got a world tour to tackle, man, for the next two years, and they are gonna be busy doing that. Now, could it happen? Yes."

Asked if he "would be cool" with Brown, Anselmo, Wylde and Benante making new music together, Sterling said: "It depends, man. Again, it has to be done right, like this whole thing; the whole tour that's happening has to be done properly. And I don't really feel comfortable — if it were to happen, I would not feel comfortable calling it PANTERA. I don't think that would be classy. I'll put it that way. And I'll just leave it at that for now. [But] this lineup could make some very badass music. And the music is all that matters."

In a recent interview with Overdrive, ALTER BRIDGE and CREED guitarist Mark Tremonti said that he spoke with Brown "a number of years ago" about PANTERA's then-hypothetical return, and Rex suggested that he "put [his] name in the hat" of potential guitarists who might fill the shoes of Dimebag. According to Tremonti, he responded to Brown's suggestion with an emphatic "Hell no!", explaining that "you have to be a certain type of personality to take on that role." BLABBERMOUTH.NET has also heard rumors that SLAYER guitarist Kerry King was approached to take part in the PANTERA comeback, but this has never been publicly corroborated by anyone associated with Anselmo, Brown and the Abbott brothers' respective estates.

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.

According to TMZ, Vinnie Paul left the bulk of his estate to his longtime girlfriend Chelsey Yeager and his best friend; Charles Jones got 38% while Chelsey walked away with 37%. The rest was split between Vinnie's tour manager (10%),drum tech (5%),producer (5%) and friend (5%). In addition, Vinnie gave his interest in Dimebag's estate to the guitarist's longtime girlfriend Rita Haney.

While he was alive, Vinnie Paul had repeatedly dismissed talks of a PANTERA reunion, telling Germany's EMP Rock Invasion in 2014: "People are selfish, man. They want what they want; they don't care what you want. And it's unfortunate that people go, 'Oh, wow, man, they can get Zakk Wylde to jump up there on stage and it's PANTERA again.' No, it's not, you know. It's not that simple. If Eddie Van Halen was to get shot in the head four times next week, would everybody be going, 'Hey, man, Zakk, go play for VAN HALEN. Just call it VAN HALEN.' You see what I'm saying? I mean, it's really selfish for people to think that, and it's stupid. It's not right at all."

He continued: "They call it a reunion for a reason. It's called bringing the original members back to what it was. So there's a lot of these things that they call reunions that aren't really reunions. They've got one dude from the band floating around in them, you know. That's not a true reunion. With PANTERA, it'll never be possible."

He repeated those same sentiments a few months later, telling PlanetMosh in a separate interview: "Without Dimebag Darrell, there is no [PANTERA] reunion. And that's all there is to it. We were a very influential band, and we touched millions and millions of people with that band, but it's over. People really have to come to grips with that, and that's all there is to it. If all of us were still here, then the possibility would truly be there, but since it's not, you know… It's selfish of the fans to want something that they can't have. And they don't ever understand that, and I get it. There's things I want in this world too. You know, people in fucking hell want ice water, but they're not gonna get it. So… Anyways, I'm glad that the people who have decided to follow me in HELLYEAH do, and hopefully more of them will. And the ones that wanna live in the past are gonna live in the past."

Up until his passing in June 2018, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Haney in 2011 called on Vinnie and Philip to settle their differences in honor of Dimebag.

Vinnie, who is Dimebag's brother, and Anselmo had not spoken since PANTERA split in 2003. But the relationship got even more acrimonious when Vinnie suggested that some remarks the vocalist had made about Dimebag in print just weeks earlier might have incited Dimebag's killer.

Haney told the producers of "Behind The Music Remastered: Pantera" that she forgave the singer after they found themselves unexpectedly face to face at a concert in California.

PANTERA played its first show in over 20 years on December 2, a co-headlining slot at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest.

SLIPKNOT's Jay Weinberg has once again reflected on being asked to fill in for his dad as the touring drummer for BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND a decade and a half ago.

The now-32-year-old musician looked back on the experience while expressing his excitement over the fact that BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND are preparing to embark on their first tour in six years.

Earlier today (Monday, January 2),Jay shared a throwback photo of him onstage with Bruce, and he included the following message: "I'm so stoked that it's only ONE MONTH until I see my E STREET family play for the first time in six years!

"I've said it often, but I'm eternally grateful to @springsteen, @mightymaxweinberg, and the entire E STREET BAND for taking a shot in the dark on me when I was 18 years old — to undertake the no-times-in-a-lifetime opportunity of filling in for my father.

"Far more than learning several hundred songs and performing for close to four hours every night, it was the E STREET work ethic that made an indelible impression on me. A vertical learning curve that left me with life lessons and a skill set I've applied to everything I've ever done since.

"Each day on tour, Bruce would hand me a list of five new songs to learn on the way to the venue to rehearse at soundcheck. Two or three of them would likely make their way into the set that night. Rock the house, head to the next city, and repeat.

"Always in the right place at the right time, the amazing @dannybones64 caught this moment about 14 years ago in the thick of that process. A powerful reminder that the work of growing and pushing ourselves as musicians and artists is never done.

"Observing how these titans of rock and roll dedicate themselves to their craft — constantly refining, sharpening, and growing after almost 50 years — is still so inspiring, and will stay with me for the rest of my life.

"Thrilled to watch them resume throwing down onstage in a month".

Three years ago, Jay told the "Spittin' Chiclets" podcast that being asked to fill in for his dad with BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND "was completely insane. And I didn't expect for that to happen, but the stars aligned in that way that just like it was one of those 'right places at the right time' kind of things," he said.

"I was the last kid of all the people in [THE E STREET BAND]," he continued. "After the band had kind of split up in '88, all the guys in the band had kids and went on to do other things. Then they got back together in '99, and the kids in the band — my sister, actually, included; she got up a couple of times and played keyboards with them — and all the kids had kind of gotten up and played the guitar and stuff like that. I was the last one who had never gotten on stage to do anything, 'cause I was deathly afraid of it. If I was messing up on the drums, you can't just pull me down in the mix and stuff; it'd be catastrophic.

"I had finished high school, and that summer [of 2008], they were playing some shows at Giants Stadium in New Jersey," Jay said. "It was the old Giants Stadium, before they tore it down and built a new one. And so my dad was, like, 'Oh, you should play a song with us at soundcheck.' And so I did. And Bruce was, like, 'Hey, that was pretty good. Why don't you play that tonight during the show?' And so I was just so nervous, but I wanted to do it and wanted to kind of rise to that occasion and be, like, 'All right. You can do it once and then you never have to do it again. You can say you did it.' So I played the song 'Born To Run' with them that night, and it went great. So I could just rest my cap on that, and that was it. But then, a couple of months later, they had this scheduling conflict where the late-night 'Conan' program [where Max served as the bandleader], everybody was moving out to California and it was gonna become 'The Tonight Show'. And the show was gonna be an hour earlier, and they were gonna taping in California. It was a really big change for the show, and so my dad had to be there for the start of that show — I think the first show was gonna be, like, June 1st of that year. Bruce had coincidentally booked a European tour to start May 31st, so my dad, all of a sudden, had to be in two places at once. And so they kind of got together and said, 'Hey, we've gotta figure out what we're gonna do when you have to go to the TV show and we need somebody onstage.'

"I've known all these people since I was a child — these are all my uncles: Steve and Garry and Clarence [and] Danny, of course. Now Danny passed. But this is like my extended my family, and I think Bruce asked my dad more as a dad and not necessarily of BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND Bruce. Like, 'Do you think Jay would wanna do that? Do you think he'd crack under that pressure?' And I think my dad was, like, 'I don't know. We're gonna find out.'

"So, yeah, I remember Bruce called me and asked if I would like to. And I couldn't believe it, but he basically then just kind of sent me a list of, like, 'All right. Get started on learning these couple of hundred songs, and we'll go from there, and we'll add on to it from there.' And that's what we did. For about a year, I was filling in for my dad in that way."

Jay also reflected in more detail on his first performance with Springsteen, which took place in August 2008 at Giants Stadium.

"That was like total 'fight or flight' kind of moment — everything just goes numb," he said. "You just have to turn off and let your subconscious roll with it. And I had only been playing drums for three years at that point, too. So it was a huge, huge pressure, but I kind of just blacked out and played it, and then, at the end, when it was over, I couldn't believe that that had happened. And it went well. I could have believed it if it had been total shit. But it did go well. We played the song, and I think people enjoyed it. But, yeah, it was like 70 thousand people or something like that. It didn't look real — it looked like I was looking into a TV screen or something like that. I think that kind of helped — it was so ridiculous to look at that I don't think I could even process that it was a thing that was actually happening."

Jay discovered SLIPKNOT when he was a pre-teen, through his father. He was hooked immediately and was a huge fan of SLIPKNOT by the time he was invited to Los Angeles to try out as replacement for Joey Jordison in 2014.

SLIPKNOT announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group.

SLIPKNOT's latest studio album, "The End, So Far", was released last September.

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QUEENSRŸCHE's Todd La Torre has publicly disagreed with TWISTED SISTER's Dee Snider on the issue of what makes great "frontmen" in rock.

Snider ignited the debate late last month on Twitter, after a fan's reply to a tweet that praised Ronnie James Dio as the second greatest frontman in rock following Freddie Mercury.

"You are confusing singing with performing. There is a huge difference between a great frontman & a great singer," Snider wrote in response to the fan. "Ronnie was one of the greatest singers of all time, but as a frontman, he pretty much just stood on stage & sang. Freddie was an amazing singer AND frontman."

Snider expressed similar sentiments about Plant, saying: "I'm a HUGE Plant fan vocally…but he showed me nothing as a performer. Looked amazing, great hair…stood on stage with one hand raised and sang his ass off. Not a frontman in my opinion. And FYI many great frontmen are not great singers."

Snider later doubled down on his opinion of Dio, referencing his first-hand experiences with the legendary heavy metal singer. He explained: "I toured with him. … He is one of my vocal heroes, but… My frontmen are all over the stage and interact with the crowd. Showmen. Think David Lee Roth, Paul Stanley, Mick Jagger, Freddy Mercury, Axl Rose…the list goes on."

Snider then supported his position by making the distinction between performance and "stage presence". He said: "I knew this would upset people. I am NOT saying that Dio, Plant etc, don't have stage presence. They have it in SPADES! But they are not performers."

Snider also mentioned other singers he calls great frontmen, including IRON MAIDEN's Bruce Dickinson, Bono, JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford and James Brown. He also included Kid Rock in his list, explaining: "Love him or hate him, @KidRock is one of the best I've ever seen. … Facts are facts. The guy is a killer in concert. Period. (and I am REALLY critical)."

One day after BLABBERMOUTH.NET published a story about Snider's comments, La Torre took to this site's Facebook's page to weigh in on the debate. He wrote: "Dio and Plant didn't have to run around doing jumps, spinning mic stands, or anything else, unless one's subjective opinion requires that as a prerequisite. They commanded the stage with their sheer presence and voice, and that alone was all anyone wanted, needed, and more. I'd say that makes them great frontmen."

**UPDATE**: BLABBERMOUTH.NET initially published this article under the headline "TODD LA TORRE To DEE SNIDER: 'DIO And PLANT Didn't Have To Run Around Doing Jumps, Spinning Mic Stands, Or Anything Else'", prompting La Torre to clarify in a separate post: "This was not 'to' Dee. This was merely a reply to the subject. I have much respect for Dee and his work, so I would have appreciated the headline not be framed as my comment being directed TO Dee. I stand by my statement, but with all due respect, this headline is a little inflammatory and misleading."
How amazing was Cozy Powell? Listen to the 1st 11 seconds of this Rainbow song & you will know...https://t.co/EqMu4hd7rU

Then listen to the rest of "Stargazer" with the incomparable Ronnie Dio on vocals & you will know why many consider it to be the greatest metal song ever! https://t.co/ozjPk5yfvO

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


You are confusing singing with performing.

There is a huge difference between a great frontman & a great singer.

Ronnie was one of the greatest singers of all time, but as a frontman, he pretty much just stood on stage & sang.

Freddie was an amazing singer AND frontman. https://t.co/akrNVaoI49

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


I'm a HUGE Plant fan vocally...but he showed me nothing as a performer. Looked amazing, great hair...stood on stage with one hand raised and sang his ass off. Not a frontman in my opinion.

And FYI many great frontmen are not great singers. https://t.co/621U1fnBdM

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


I knew this would upset people.

I am NOT saying that Dio, Plant etc, don't have stage presence. They have it in SPADES!

But they are not performers. https://t.co/kcrujhlZ0e

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


I pride myself in my abilities, but many don't know me for it because I didn't tour as extensively as others. If you ask me what I do best I will tell you "front a band". https://t.co/BGYmFycpPO

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


True. But in fairness, some aren't willing to sacrifice vocal quality for performing on stage. Like I said, it's tough to execute studio vocal perfection when you are running around. https://t.co/Q1so98Cyw1

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


I learned the importance of the performance over vocals one night in the 70's in a club with @TwistedSisterNY. We did our opening song & my voice was completely gone. So I just started going crazy on stage. It was the BEST reaction the band had gotten to date. Changed my game. https://t.co/Q9stDwP3Ft

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022

Dee Snider says that Robert Plant and Ronnie James Dio are great singers but are "not performers".

The TWISTED SISTER vocalist broached the subject while commemorating what would have been late drummer Cozy Powell's (RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH) 75th birthday late last month. After calling Powell a "rock god", Snider urged his Twitter followers to listen to the first 11 seconds of RAINBOW's classic song "Stargazer" and "then listen to the rest of" the track "with the incomparable Ronnie Dio on vocals & you will know why many consider it to be the greatest metal song ever!" This prompted a fan to opine that the late singer was the second-best frontman in rock history, with QUEEN's Freddie Mercury taking the top spot. In response, Dee argued that "singer" and "frontman" are terms that mean different things.

"You are confusing singing with performing," Dee tweeted. "There is a huge difference between a great frontman & a great singer. Ronnie was one of the greatest singers of all time, but as a frontman, he pretty much just stood on stage & sang. Freddie was an amazing singer AND frontman."

After another fan chimed in that Robert Plant should "definitely" be on that list since he was the "quintessential frontman" at his prime in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dee said that while he was a "huge" fan of the LED ZEPPELIN legend's singing, he didn't think much of Plant as a "frontman". "I'm a HUGE Plant fan vocally...but he showed me nothing as a performer," Snider wrote. "Looked amazing, great hair...stood on stage with one hand raised and sang his ass off. Not a frontman in my opinion. And FYI many great frontmen are not great singers."

Snider later added: "My frontmen are all over the stage and interact with the crowd. Showmen. Think David Lee Roth, Paul Stanley, Mick Jagger… Axl Rose… the list goes on." After getting more pushback from other Twitter users, Dee noted, "I knew this would upset people," before trying to explain: "I am NOT saying that Dio, Plant etc, don't have stage presence. They have it in SPADES! But they are not performers."

Dee added: "I pride myself in my abilities, but many don't know me for it because I didn't tour as extensively as others. If you ask me what I do best I will tell you 'front a band.'"

He later recounted: "I learned the importance of the performance over vocals one night in the '70s in a club with TWISTED SISTER. We did our opening song and my voice was completely gone. So I just started going crazy on stage. It was the BEST reaction the band had gotten to date. Changed my game."

When another Twitter user said he thought a singer like SOUNDGARDEN's Chris Cornell had delivered amazing vocal performances but "behaved like a mannequin" on stage, Snider replied: "True. But in fairness, some aren't willing to sacrifice vocal quality for performing on stage… it's tough to execute studio vocal perfection when you are running around." He added: "My feeling always was if you want to hear the album played perfectly, stay home and listen. Live should be… live!"
How amazing was Cozy Powell? Listen to the 1st 11 seconds of this Rainbow song & you will know...https://t.co/EqMu4hd7rU

Then listen to the rest of "Stargazer" with the incomparable Ronnie Dio on vocals & you will know why many consider it to be the greatest metal song ever! https://t.co/ozjPk5yfvO

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


You are confusing singing with performing.

There is a huge difference between a great frontman & a great singer.

Ronnie was one of the greatest singers of all time, but as a frontman, he pretty much just stood on stage & sang.

Freddie was an amazing singer AND frontman. https://t.co/akrNVaoI49

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


I'm a HUGE Plant fan vocally...but he showed me nothing as a performer. Looked amazing, great hair...stood on stage with one hand raised and sang his ass off. Not a frontman in my opinion.

And FYI many great frontmen are not great singers. https://t.co/621U1fnBdM

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


I knew this would upset people.

I am NOT saying that Dio, Plant etc, don't have stage presence. They have it in SPADES!

But they are not performers. https://t.co/kcrujhlZ0e

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


I pride myself in my abilities, but many don't know me for it because I didn't tour as extensively as others. If you ask me what I do best I will tell you "front a band". https://t.co/BGYmFycpPO

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


True. But in fairness, some aren't willing to sacrifice vocal quality for performing on stage. Like I said, it's tough to execute studio vocal perfection when you are running around. https://t.co/Q1so98Cyw1

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022


I learned the importance of the performance over vocals one night in the 70's in a club with @TwistedSisterNY. We did our opening song & my voice was completely gone. So I just started going crazy on stage. It was the BEST reaction the band had gotten to date. Changed my game. https://t.co/Q9stDwP3Ft

— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 30, 2022

Sharon Osbourne has opened up about her recent hospital visit.

The incident occurred on December 16 when the 70-year-old wife and manager of legendary heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne was filming at the Glen Tavern Inn, a location once featured on the Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventurers", in Santa Paula, California.

Sharon and Ozzy's son Jack later confirmed she had been released from hospital and a representative has since revealed Sharon had fainted.

Sharon made her first appearance on her TalkTV show since the incident on Tuesday (January 3) after telling fans earlier this week she would be returning.

Asked by journalist JJ Anisiobi what caused her to be transported to the hospital, Sharon said: "I wish I could [tell you], but I can't. It was the weirdest thing. I was doing some filming, and suddenly, they tell me that I [passed out] for 20 minutes. And I was in hospital. I went to one hospital. They took me to another hospital, and I did every test over two days, and nobody knows why [I passed out]."

The Ventura County Fire Dept. confirmed the incident to TMZ, saying it happened around 6:30 p.m. Santa Paula Police Chief Don Aguilar confirmed Sharon was the patient.

A manager at the Glen Tavern Inn disclosed there was an "emergency," but declined to share more information with TMZ.

Sharon first publicly addressed her accident late last month, writing on social media: "Back home and doing great! Thank you for all the [love]."

Osbourne has had past health issues. She underwent a series of more than 20 chemotherapy treatments for colon cancer in 2002. Those treatments were covered in the second season of MTV's reality show "The Osbournes" — after she was declared cancer-free.

In April 2022, Osbourne revealed she had a facelift last year that left her with a "horrendous" outcome. "It hurt like hell. You have no idea," she added of the cosmetic surgery.

Sharon and Ozzy celebrated their 40th anniversary in July 2022. The couple also shares two daughters, Kelly and Aimee. Additionally, they're grandparents to Jack's four children and Kelly's first baby.

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After 55 years with REO SPEEDWAGON and having spent his entire adult life on the road, keyboardist and founding member Neal Doughty has decided the time was right to retire from touring and begin enjoying the fruits of his years of hard work.

"I want everyone to know that it was all that traveling that finally got to me," the 76-year-old Neal explains in a statement. "I always enjoyed playing the shows and looking out to see all the loyal fans who allowed me to do this for so long."

"Neal will always be a member of the REO brotherhood," says bassist Bruce Hall, "and we all wish him well as he enters this exciting phase of his life."

REO SPEEDWAGON will continue as the unstoppable touring machine the fans have come to expect, with 50-plus shows already on the books for 2023. Doughty may join them on select concert stops.

"It will be a big change to look around and not see Neal behind the keyboards," says singer Kevin Cronin, "and we will miss his quick wit and interesting conversation on those long bus rides. But this is what Neal needs, and we support him."

Formed in 1967, signed in 1971, and fronted by Cronin since 1972, REO SPEEDWAGON's unrelenting drive, as well as non-stop touring and recording jump-started the burgeoning rock movement in the Midwest. Platinum albums and radio staples soon followed, setting the stage for the release of the band's explosive "Hi Infidelity" in 1980, which contained the massive hit singles "Keep On Loving You" and "Take It On the Run". That landmark album spent 15 weeks in the No. 1 slot and has since earned the RIAA's coveted diamond award for surpassing sales of 10 million units in the United States.

From 1977 to 1989, REO SPEEDWAGON released nine consecutive albums all certified platinum or higher. REO SPEEDWAGON has sold more than 40 million albums around the globe, and Cronin and bandmates Bruce Hall (bass),Neal Doughty (keyboards),Dave Amato (guitar),and Bryan Hitt (drums) are still electrifying audiences worldwide in concert with hits and fan-favorites such as "Ridin' The Storm Out", "Can't Fight This Feeling", "Time For Me To Fly", "Roll With The Changes", "Keep On Loving You", "Take It On the Run" and many, many more.

REO SPEEDWAGON remained busy throughout the pandemic before the band was able to return to the road. Beginning in April 2020, Cronin began a series of webisodes from his home titled "Songs & Stories From Camp Cronin". Consisting of anecdotes and acoustic performances from him and his family, the series posted 24 episodes. Cronin and members of REO gave back over the past 16 months by participating in charity events for St. Jude Children's Hospital, Marilou and Mark Hamill's USC McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative, John Oates's "Oates Song Fest", "Stars To The Rescue," Acoustic-4-A-Cure, and more. Additionally, while Cronin began keeping a journal of the band's 2016 U.K. tour, he never stopped writing and recently submitted what turned out to be his life story, as well as his telling of REO SPEEDWAGON's history. He says, "Putting out an autobiography is risky. Once it's out there's nowhere to hide!"

Photo credit: Randee St. Nicholas

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In a recent interview with Chaotic Riffs magazine, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann spoke about how he has managed to keep the band going for more than four decades despite all the personnel shuffles and changes in the music industry. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think if you're loyal to the heritage of ACCEPT, and that's what we're trying to do… We're not trying to reinvent the wheel; we're trying to write songs that we could have written all these years ago. And that's usually my motto when I site there and I… As a matter of fact, I was sitting here two minutes ago working on a new song… And I always ask myself: does it really sound like ACCEPT that people know? It should be new and exciting for us and all that, but it shouldn't be anything different necessarily. We've got our niche, we've got our market, and that's what people appreciate about us."

Hoffmann went on to say that "it's super important" for ACCEPT to continue to make new music. "I think the fans appreciate that," he said. "And it's a good challenge for ourselves. I vividly remember when we relaunched the band and we found [current ACCEPT singer] Mark Tornillo, we said, 'Hey, if we're gonna do this, let's do it properly and let's do proper albums and not just play the old stuff.' Because we could have done that; we could have said, 'It's not even worth bothering… Why bother? Nobody wants to hear new songs. They all wanna just hear 'Balls To The Wall' and 'Princess Of The Dawn'. Which is true to an extent, but at the same time it's kind of lame that you become your own cover band in a way. So we said, 'Hey, we did it back then. We wrote meaningful songs. Why can't we do it now?'"

Hoffmann is the sole remaining original member of ACCEPT, which he formed in 1976 in the town of Solingen, Germany with singer Udo Dirkschneider and bassist Peter Baltes.

ACCEPT's latest studio album, "Too Mean To Die", was released in January 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the group's first without Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

In a 2022 interview with the
"Sally Steele Rocks! Show", Wolf was asked why there have been so many personnel changes in ACCEPT over the years. "I'm the big bad wolf. I kick people out just when I feel like it," he quipped. "Well, actually, to be halfway serious for a second, it's just the way it goes sometimes. We started off as teenagers in a sort of garage-type band. And people grow up and they get married, they have different interests, and before you know it, one guy leaves the band and a replacement comes, and then the replacement leaves after a while. It's just the way it goes; it's a natural progression. I wish it wasn't that way. People develop different interests and life changes, so people leave. I'm the only guy who's never left. I'm like the last man standing."