In an interview with Eric Broadbent of Rock Shop LIVE, FILTER frontman Richard Patrick discussed A PLACE TO KILL, his new industrial trap metal project in which he is collaborating with vocalist Jim Louvau. A PLACE TO KILL released its debut track, "The Killing Field", in early 2023 as the B-side of FILTER's "For The Beaten" limited-edition vinyl single.

Asked if there is a collaboration of his that is one of his favorites that he has done, Richard told Rock Shop LIVE (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm collaborating with a guy named Jim Louvau. We are doing a new band called A PLACE TO KILL, and it's gonna come out in June. And it is a wild industrial trip, and really heavy, really fun. It's called A PLACE TO KILL, and I want my fans to start hearing about it, 'cause he sings and I just sing backup [vocals]. And he sings, and it's just super heavy, in-your-face industrial music for the apocalypse, basically. It's all inspired by the recent political events of the United States and the craziness that's going on down here… So it's inspired by just the nuttiness of this world. And it's heavy and fun, and I'm looking forward to releasing it. I think it comes out either June 4th or June 3rd."

Elaborating on the musical direction of A PLACE TO KILL, Patrick said: "This is absolutely music for fast driving and destroying a television set, and craziness and anger. It's the angriest thing I've ever done, so it's cool.

"The funny thing is you'd think that I'd mellow with age or something, but I'm not mellowing," he explained. "I'm getting more and more bitter and crazy and harder. I still write the occasional beautiful acoustic song, 'cause I'm not just a heavy guy all the time. It would be hard to be in a band and, like, that's all you do, is just dark, heavy. But A PLACE TO KILL is definitely the heaviest thing I've ever done, and I'm really looking forward to people hearing it. We're just gonna release the whole thing, an EP, on either June 3rd or June 4th, whatever it is. I think it's June 4th."

Richard went on to describe Jim as "the jet engine of 'fuck you'. That's who he is."

Patrick has been very vocal with his political views in recent years as an outspoken opponent of the Republican party's hard-line stance on social issues.

Last August, FILTER released "The Algorithm: Ultra Edition" via the band's No Pulse Records. The collection featured re-imagined cuts from FILTER's latest album, "The Algorithm", with nine additional tracks.

Patrick, the creative mastermind behind FILTER, has spent over 30 years pushing the boundaries of musical expression. His tenure as NINE INCH NAILS' touring guitarist and involvement in the band's iconic music videos cemented his place in rock history. Patrick left NINE INCH NAILS in 1993 to form FILTER. Their explosive debut album, "Short Bus", achieved platinum status, propelled by the breakout single "Hey Man Nice Shot". The success continued with their follow-up release, "Title Of Record", also going platinum thanks to the crossover hit "Take A Picture". Despite struggles with addiction and a stint in rehab, Patrick's determination led to the formation of the supergroup ARMY OF ANYONE in 2006 alongside Dean and Robert DeLeo of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and Ray Luzier of KORN, before refocusing on FILTER's output of later lauded albums, "Anthems For The Damned" (2008),"The Trouble With Angels" (2010),"The Sun Comes Out Tonight" (2013),"Crazy Eyes" (2016) and "The Algorithm" (2023).

2023 "The Algorithm" press photo credit: Chapman Baehler

Quiet Riot’s landmark third album, Metal Health, was released 43 years ago today (March 11th, 1983). Led by the Slade cover of “Cum On Feel The Noize”, the album is notable for being the very first heavy metal album to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard 200, knocking The Police’s Synchronicity out of #1 in the US.

“Yeah, we’re doing great,” says Quiet Riot guitarist Alex Grossi during a recent interview with BraveWords. “From a live performance standpoint, the band is doing better business than it ever has – other than when they were peaking in 1983 and Metal Health was #1. In some ways, this current lineup is probably the most successful version of the band since then. And it’s the most stable. I believe, within another year or so, this will be the longest running lineup of the band without a member change, in the history of the band’s existence, going back to Randy Rhoads. There’s not been a member change since 2021 now. As far as guitar players, I’m proud to say… there was Randy Rhoads, there was Carlos Cavazo, and then there’s me. There’s a couple of guys that played a show here or there, or maybe jumped in as a sub. But as far as official members, there’s only been three official guitar players in this band. I’m one guy away from Randy Rhoads – and that is a pinch myself moment!”

In a new interview with Walt of the Chicago radio station Rock 95.5, THE PRETTY RECKLESS singer Taylor Momsen spoke about the band's upcoming fifth studio album, "Dear God", which will arrive on June 26 via Fearless Records. Asked how she feels now that the first details of THE PRETTY RECKLESS's new LP have been announced, Taylor said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's always a bizarre feeling. 'Cause it's not out yet, so it's not fully not mine yet, if that makes sense. But I know that I'm about to be giving it away, so it's always a very bizarre feeling, but it's mostly just incredible excitement. I'm so proud of this album and I'm so happy that people know it's coming now. 'Cause that's been a secret that I've been holding on to, so it feels nice to let that go. Because I know all the inner workings of everything, but the world doesn't, so it feels great that it is finally out in the world and there's an definitive date where you guys can all listen to it."

Taylor also talked about the lyrical inspiration for THE PRETTY RECKLESS's latest single, "When I Wake Up", which came out on Friday (March 13). She said: "'When I Wake Up' is kind of… I think we all know the story, right? Don't we all know the story of what 'When I Wake Up' is trying to say here? I have no idea where I was last night. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you haven't lived it. It's a song that kind of goes through a series of nights and time of kind of waking up and not knowing exactly what happened. And I think it's a lot of fun, on a grander, deeper scale. It's kind of telling I may or may not have lived this life at some point. Sometimes it can get glamorized, but it also can be quite dark at times. And sometimes it's a good time, sometimes not so much. And I think that's kind of what this is saying. It's trying to escape by using something, something outside of yourself that not necessarily is — it maybe isn't the greatest decision."

She added: "I'm really psyched on it, and I can't wait to start playing it live. It's very exciting releasing new music, especially when you've had it in your pocket for so long. We've been out with AC/DC for a long time now and continually playing old material, which I love and it's fantastic. But when you have all these new songs that are living inside my own head, you just wanna get 'em out. And so it's very exciting that we can finally start adding new stuff to the set."

Marking the beginning of a new creative chapter, "Dear God" embraces vulnerability, intensity and artistic freedom, inviting listeners into one of the band's most raw and uncompromising records yet. The band approached the album with a renewed commitment to raw diaristic songwriting. The high-octane new single "When I Wake Up" leans into a punk-driven sound while staying true to what has become the band's signature: explosive guitars and Momsen's unmistakable powerhouse vocal. The album will also include THE PRETTY RECKLESS's chart-topping single "For I Am Death", which hit No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart last November, marking their fourth consecutive No. 1 and the second time the band has achieved this impressive feat.

Speaking about the song and new album, Momsen said in a press release: "'When I Wake Up' is the story of a dream becoming a nightmare. When a life of excess leads you on a rollercoaster that is doomed to crash but you just can't see it. It's a good time…"

THE PRETTY RECKLESS will bring its stage performance to fans across the world with an all-new headlining "Dear God" tour. The trek will kick off in North America, making stops in New Orleans, Dallas, and Los Angeles before wrapping in Europe. This tour follows their incredible two-year long trek across the globe alongside AC/DC on the "Power Up" tour.

Tickets will first be on sale via the artist presale starting Tuesday, March 17 at 10 a.m. local time. VIP packages will go onsite to the public starting Tuesday, March 17 at 10 a.m. local time. The band has partnered with Sound Rink to offer fans VIP package experiences including the Early Entry VIP Package, which includes a concert ticket, a pre-signed foil poster, early entry to the venue, crowd-free merchandise shopping, exclusive merchandise and a Commemorative VIP Laminate. In addition, each market will offer just two Ultimate VIP Packages, which include all Early Entry VIP Package benefits along with a signed Fender Squier guitar and a signed setlist.

Tickets will go on sale to the public starting Friday, March 20 at 10 a.m. local time.

This upcoming marquee year follows a remarkable 12 months for THE PRETTY RECKLESS, which included an acclaimed performance at the prestigious 2026 MusiCares Person Of The Year Gala, where Taylor honored the legendary Mariah Carey alongside the FOO FIGHTERS, as well as a performance at the 2025 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame where Taylor performed with SOUNDGARDEN for their induction. Additionally, the band released their holiday EP "Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas", which features the revamped "Where Are You Christmas?" — the lead single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, reigniting over two decades of global fandom and nostalgia.

"Dear God" track listing:

01. Life Evermore Pt. 2
02. For I Am Death
03. When I Wake Up
04. Love Me
05. Dragonfire
06. Dear God
07. Life Evermore Pt. 3
08. About You
09. Spell On You
10. Rollercoaster Of Life
11. Eye Of The Storm
12. Devil In Disguise (Michelle's Song)
13. Dark Days
14. Life Evermore Pt. 1

In a new interview with Chris Booker and Ted Stryker of "ALT Afternoons With Booker And Stryker" on the Los Angeles radio station ALT 98.7, SHINEDOWN singer Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers spoke about the band's upcoming eighth studio album, "Ei8ht", which will arrive on May 29 via Atlantic Records. Brent said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " It's essentially a double album, 'cause it's 18 songs. I think a lot of people felt like when we were releasing the singles last year that, 'Hey, when they announce the record, it'll probably be 10 songs, maybe 12.' But it's 18 in total.

"It took a long time," Smith explained. "This particular record was a year and a half in the making. The songwriting — we really pushed ourselves this time around. I say that — we do that on every album, but there was a lot going on in the band's life, and there was a lot to talk about. But, again, it's a record where Eric Bass, our bass player, was at the helm. This is the third full-length record that he's done. Having a bandmember that has this kind of a skillset is not the norm, which we're very blessed that we have him. But he went to the wall on this one. He worked really, really hard."

Asked if there is "a full theme to the album" or if it's just a collection of "18 great songs", Zach responded: "The latter. We just did two cinematically themed concept records, so it was, like, 'How do we get away from doing another concept?' But it is a group of songs that belong together on a one body of work, which feels great. And, again, it didn't feel like we had to thematically stick to anything. And when you don't have a lane you have to stay in, that's always kind of nice."

Earlier this month, Smith told Audacy Music's "Katie & Company" about SHINEDOWN's new LP: "The record's called 'Ei8ht'. Yes, it's the eighth studio album. It made sense to call it 'Ei8ht'. It asked to be called 'Ei8ht'. We tried all these other ethereal names and put them in and we were trying to be clever, and we were, like, 'No, let's just call it 'Ei8ht'."

Regarding the four-year gap between 2022's "Planet Zero" and "Ei8ht", Brent said: "I had a really good friend of mine, who recently passed away — he was one of my closest friends in the industry, Brad Arnold from 3 DOORS DOWN, when I met him in the beginning with our first record that came out in 2003, I remember he told me, he goes, 'Son, you're going to have your entire life to do your first record, and if it's successful, you're gonna have six months to do your next one.' And he was a hundred percent right. So what I mean by that too is this record is a year and a half in the making. From the time that we kind of started on it, writing it, to getting it produced, getting it ready, the journey that it's taken has been quite extraordinary for us."

Smith continued: "The last two SHINEDOWN records are conceptual pieces, so this album, none of the songs are related to each other, but they exist on the same body of work, but they all are their own entity. So it's a traditional record, and I love saying that, because sometimes people are, like, 'Well, are you a concept band now?' It's, like, no, those records were conceptual because that's what they asked to be. This is something where there's such a broad array of styles on this record — it's very much us, but it's a rollercoaster ride."

SHINEDOWN recently announced a massive "Dance, Kid, Dance Act II" world tour, taking the band to 11 countries across 54 dates, including stops throughout North America and Europe at some of the world's biggest venues.

Joining SHINEDOWN on the massive worldwide tour will be COHEED AND CAMBRIA, BLACK STONE CHERRY, FROM ASHES TO NEW, DJ Rock Feed and THOSE DAMN CROWS on various dates.

The world tour adds to the band's recently announced first-ever curated festival event — Shinedown's Lunatic Ball Beach Weekend, taking place October 23-25, 2026 in Miramar Beach, Florida. The three-day destination experience will feature performances from SHINEDOWN (two unique headlining sets),BUSH, HANSON, FLYLEAF (with Lacey Sturm),LIVING COLOUR, FROM ASHES TO NEW, GUARDIANS OF THE JUKEBOX, NEON MOONERS and more.

Over the past year, SHINEDOWN released four major songs, "Dance, Kid, Dance", "Killing Fields", "Three Six Five" and "Searchlight", each reinforcing the band's position as one of the most powerful forces in modern music. "Dance, Kid, Dance" and "Killing Fields" both reached No. 1 at rock radio, while "Three Six Five" became a global crossover hit, topping No. 1 at Alternative radio, landing Top 10 at Hot AC and AC, and breaking into the Top 20 at Top 40. In the process, SHINEDOWN extended their record with the most No. 1 songs on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart history (with 21 No. 1's) and Mediabase's Active Rock chart (with 23 No. 1's),continuing a legacy built on consistency, ambition, and emotional connection.

SHINEDOWN is nominated at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards for "Rock Artist Of The Year", "Duo/Group Of The Year" and "Rock Song Of The Year" for "Dance, Kid, Dance". These nominations follow a landmark showing at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards, where the band won both "Rock Artist Of The Year" and "Rock Song Of The Year" for "A Symptom Of Being Human", marking the second consecutive year SHINEDOWN has been recognized among the genre's top honors.

In a new interview with Moshville Times, Gary Holt was asked what has kept him so focused on EXODUS since he joined the band four and a half decades ago. The 61-year-old guitarist responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a way of life, being in EXODUS. Even in the years I spent [touring] with SLAYER, I missed this. I missed it. And when SLAYER played their final show, I went from two nights sold out at the L.A. Forum [with SLAYER] to two months later, I was showering in some really sketchy German venue shower [on tour with EXODUS], and I loved it. It was awesome. You go through extremes of — from the highest level to comfort to, 'Do I wanna step there?' And it's okay. I love it. I love doing this. This is the band I joined when I was 17 years old. And I'll be 62 in May, and I'm still here. What's not the love. I'm not rich, but I make a living playing guitar, and that's a gift in itself. I can't retire — I gotta keep working — but I love my job. So working isn't a problem."

Asked where he gets his inspiration from for his "creative flow", Gary said: "I have no idea. I don't know. I mean, it'd be easy for some people to say, 'Well, I listen to a lot of modern metal and I take a lot of influence from that,' but I don't. I listen to Adele. The only album I listen to is everything by Adele. I'm obsessed. I love Adele. And my radio in my car is either on sports talk radio or soft rock. Maybe I'm getting some influence by Christopher Cross. I don't know. And Prince — Prince is my musical hero. I probably subconsciously take as much influence from him as I do anyone else. But I still listen to the same rock I did in high school — NAZARETH and THIN LIZZY and Ted Nugent and AC/DC and SCORPIONS and all that stuff. And I still write the same way I always did. I just sit down and jam and play until something sticks."

EXODUS's twelfth studio album, "Goliath", is due on March 20 via Napalm Records. The LP was produced by EXODUS, and was mixed and mastered by Mark Lewis (WHITECHAPEL, NILE, UNDEATH).

This past December, EXODUS filmed music videos for three songs from "Goliath", including "3111" and "Goliath". The clips were helmed by Jim Louvau, a musical and visual creative artist based in Phoenix, Arizona, who previously worked on EXODUS's music video for the song "The Fires Of Division" from the band's 2021 LP "Persona Non Grata".

"Goliath" marks the first time in nearly three decades that an EXODUS album hasn't been mixed by Andy Sneap, who has acted as JUDAS PRIEST's producer and touring guitarist for eight years.

Singer Steve "Zetro" Souza was fired from EXODUS in January 2025 and was replaced by a returning Rob Dukes.

Souza joined EXODUS in 1986 after previously fronting the band LEGACY (which later became TESTAMENT). He remained in the band until their hiatus in 1993, but rejoined them for two years from 2002 to 2004. Dukes had joined EXODUS in 2005 (following Souza's departure) and remained until 2014, when Souza rejoined.

Dukes previously joined EXODUS in January 2005 and appeared on four of the band's studio albums — "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" (2005),"The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" (2007),"Let There Be Blood" (2008, a re-recording of EXODUS's classic 1985 LP, "Bonded By Blood") and "Exhibit B: The Human Condition" (2010).

EXODUS played its first concert with Dukes in nearly 11 years on April 5, 2025 at the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philly at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Although EXODUS rarely gets mentioned alongside the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — the aforementioned "Bonded By Blood" LP inspired the likes of TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, VIO-LENCE and many others to launch their careers and is considered one of the most influential thrash metal albums of all time.

In a new interview with Super Cool Radio, NONPOINT frontman Elias Soriano spoke about the musical direction of the band's upcoming full-length album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The overall vibe of the record is very, very heavy, very, very new feeling, especially with the addition of Jason [Zeilstra, guitar], addition of some of the textures and layers that we're playing with sonically just in the general mix of our music, keys and strings and stuff that we played with on our [2018] 'X' record that we fooled around with a little bit during the 'Heartless' [2023] and 'Ruthless' [2021] era. So, we're really gonna bring all those in the fold. But I think I took steps way, way back and really started to pay attention to what people were asking of me of the collabs that I was doing with them and having that epiphany of, 'Hey, maybe this is what people wanna see me do more on my record. So let me lean in that direction' and go really back to basics and go back to a lot of my cadence play, a lot of my lyric play, a lot of metaphors and double and triple entendres and things that make people hopefully want to re-listen and dig in and find a meaning in there somewhere."

He added: "It's all fun and games and great in the pit, and I love to excite people with trigger words, but at the end of the day, I want them to read further and have their own epiphanies."

Elias also talked about the NONPOINT songwriting process, explaining: "Well, from what the guys usually send, there's a song in there within the song. Sometimes it's just there. When it comes to what I see and what I translate into a song and lyrics and meaning, [it] usually comes from how the music paints itself in the room mood-wise — [how] aggressive [it is], how much of a rollercoaster it is. If it's more linear, then that's where I have to be the rollercoaster. If I can't find something that's more, maybe it rests on me to do that. So I like to allow the players and the other guys in the band to play and write stuff that they like themselves… That way they spend all the time, beat their heads against the wall, rewrite the riff a dozen times, and then finally get to this point. And then sometimes what they feel like might be a verse, may feel like a chorus to me, and I write a vocal line over top of it that, [which] now has them flipping their thinking on what they wrote because they expected it to be a chorus. There's this dance that comes with, 'Hey, write whatever you wanna write. But at the end of the day, it's my turn next to then be inspired by it enough to then lay something down that feels even exciting for me to wanna present.' And sometimes in its first incarnation, it doesn't always present itself that way. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it's just, like, 'Yeah, that's a verse. Yeah, that's a chorus.' It's really letting the current kind of take things where they're gonna go, and then me just steer to the most beautiful shore I can find."

Soriano also revealed that NONPOINT's upcoming album will include "a couple" of collaborations, including one with SUMO CYCO frontwoman Skye Sweetnam.

Earlier this month, Elias told Rev. Tom Brice of Sportzwire Radio about his expectations for NONPOINT's upcoming full-length album: "I think people are gonna have fun with it. It's different than what's on the radio. It's different than what people are dropping right now. It's not what anybody else is doing. That's the best way I can describe it. It's NONPOINT. It's NONPOINT and it's only NONPOINT."

Soriano also talked about how he feels about the supposed nu metal resurgence in recent years, partly thanks to a whole new wave of exciting revivalists. He said: "I think people remember how fun it was back then. The music right now leans — it's decorating a time that's kind of sad. There's a lot of struggle and a lot of money problems in the world and war problems in the world, and mental health because of post-pandemic generation, and that is what paints new inspiration. So music, I think people are starting to remember, is for getting away from all that. So when you go to the playlist to find something, a lot of it doesn't inspire you to get creative, to get out of your funk, all that stuff. And sometimes you just wanna do it all for the nookie, you know what I'm saying? Gimme something to break. Put that fucking finger up your ass. That kind of whole time of music in the early 2000s was a spectrum of power and excess. I think fans and everybody, we all miss that. So, we definitely are trying to bring that back to this new music."

Elias added: "I think people are gonna hear our new record and they're gonna have fun. I really feel like they're gonna have fun again, in the way that we intend it to be, I feel, which is empowering, which is retrospective, which is painted with a little bit of self-awareness, a little self-growth and then some initiative and drive and motivation peppered throughout."

Last September, NONPOINT drummer Robb Rivera told Thunder Underground that he and his bandmates had "16 [or] 17 songs" ready for their upcoming LP. "We've got quite a few, and a lot in the can that we haven't gotten to yet," he explained. "We've taken our time with it. It's been two years we've been writing this thing, maybe even more. We just got a bunch of ideas. And next year it's gonna come out."

Asked if NONPOINT's next release would be a full-length album or if it will be another EP, as was the case with 2021's "Ruthless" and 2023's "Heartless", Robb said: "Full album this time. At least that's the plan. Right now I'm looking at maybe 10 songs, which is, that's a full album these days, I guess. The EP idea was a great experiment. We just wanted to try things out. It worked. Some people liked it, some people didn't. Me, I personally just like doing the singles. I just think you can focus on the one song. But I think we're so happy with this new music that we wanna put out 10 [songs]."

After the interviewer noted that NONPOINT used to release albums more frequently, Robb concurred. "Yeah, we were actually just talking about that," he said. "Every two years we had an album out. [It was a cycle of] record, tour, write, record, tour, write. It became too much. We never really took a breather. We did 10 albums that way. And so we took our time — well, we had to take our time with 'Ruthless' because of the pandemic. We were gonna release everything in 2020, and everything shut down. The EP was already recorded. We recorded in February [of 2020], and then the pandemic happened. So we shut down all plans. We had actually gone dark online. We were not gonna say nothing for a while. And then, so then when we decided to do [new versions of] 'Alive And Kicking' and 'Frontlines', quarantine version, just to be visible and stuff. And then we started putting merch, we did the masks and all this other stuff.

"But a full album, I think it's time," he added. "Since 2018 — it's eight years without a full album. But it's not like we haven't had new music. We put out two EPs, we put out [the 2024 single] 'Underdog', so we put out 11 songs, which is really, if you look at it, it's a full album. It's just done in parts."

As previously reported, NONPOINT will headline "The Outta Control Tour" this spring, with support from SOIL and SUMO CYCO. The U.S. trek will kick off on April 25 in Tampa, Florida and wrap up on May 14 in Chicago, Illinois.

NONPOINT is:

Elias Soriano (Lead Vocals)
Robb Rivera (Drums)
Rasheed Thomas (Guitar, Backing Vocals)
Adam Woloszyn (Bass)
Jason Zeilstra (Lead Guitar)

In an interview with Australia's The Rockpit, TRIXTER guitarist/vocalist Steve Brown once again confirmed that a new studio album from the band is in the works. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We are probably 75% done with it. We've probably got about 14 or 15 songs. The problem with me making a record is that every time I get sort of moving, I get called to do something else. And I gotta go, when I'm getting paid. But, yeah, it's phenomenal. We are also working on a documentary. It's not a TRIXTER documentary, but it's a documentary about [TRIXTER bassist] P.J. [Farley] and I, our journey together and playing in all different bands and how we always come back together. So I'm thinking early 2027 is when we're gonna probably release everything together. And all I can say is you won't be disappointed."

Regarding the fact that Brown and Farley are the only members of the classic TRIXTER lineup who are still actively touring with the band — which features Ben Hans on percussion — Steve said: "Luckily, we all sing. And I'm pretty much the lead singer. P.J. is singing a couple of songs. It's one of those things to where, look, it's not the perfect situation. I wish the original band was still together, but as we get older, man, people have different ideas how they wanna live their life. And if someone doesn't wanna get on a plane and play rock and roll, hey, I can't make 'em do it. So when P.J. and I made a decision — we looked at each other and said, 'Hey, man, I wanna keep TRIXTER going,' and this is the way we decided to do it."

Looking ahead to what's coming next from TRIXTER, Brown added:  "We are a classic rock band now. We are heading into our 36th year as a national act, 42 years since our first show in 1984. And, look, I think the best is yet to come. I'm telling you, when people hear, when you hear the new music and the new record, everybody is gonna be blown away, because I know I'm so proud of it. I know P.J. is. And it's just a matter of finding the time, getting that window of time to finish it all, because nothing we do, whether it's the documentary or the record… We just finished doing a song for a tribute record for a great, great band who I think might even be Australian, a '70s soft rock band, we did a tribute record. And I think that's gonna blow people away. And it's gonna show everybody we where we're headed. And at the end of the day, it's all about doing the best we can do to be the best TRIXTER that we are right now, right in this moment."

Last June, Steve told The Hair Metal Guru about TRIXTER's new music: "I have about 15 songs worked up and I'm really, really excited. I think when we do get around to making the record, it is gonna blow people away, I can honestly say, because I know I'm excited about it. So I know when I'm excited, by the time you hear it and the fans all around the world, they're gonna be blown away."

Brown continued: "The problem is that I always get booked to do other stuff. And it's, like, I've gotta make money. But also, P.J. and I, we started filming a documentary that's gonna be a partner with the record. And it's not a TRIXTER documentary, though it has a lot of TRIXTER in it. It's about the story of P.J. and I, of our musical journey together, that we've been playing together close to 40 years now. And though we still are in TRIXTER, he's done so many different things — he was in the band RA, he was in Lita Ford, he's in FOZZY, he's in this, he's in that. And likewise with me, whether it's playing with DEF LEPPARD, Dennis DeYoung, Eric Martin, all the stuff that we do. But we always come back together and that brotherhood and that bond that we have. So that's also the other thing. So there's a lot of great stuff happening. I tell all the fans, you've just gotta be patient."

In March 2025, Steve told Youngstown Studio's B.J. Lisko about the progress of the songwriting sessions for a new TRIXTER album: "Yeah, I'm actively working on songs right now. P.J. has got some ideas. We have some stuff in the works. We started shooting some documentary footage — not for a TRIXTER documentary, but something about P.J. and I, our journey together. It's gonna be really unique. And hopefully we're gonna have that done for next year or maybe the year after. And we're definitely gonna have a new TRIXTER record that accompanies that."

He continued: "I could easily put out another TRIXTER record in another couple of weeks, if I had to. It needs to be something that has more special meaning. And especially because it's sort of a different configuration now. So it needs to be that much more extra special for me to wanna commit to do that. But it's definitely in motion. And I will say I probably have 15 new songs that are that I'm extremely excited about and I can't wait for the world to hear it. Because, like everything that I do, I try to make it the best thing that I've ever done. So I'm really happy with this, where it's coming. And P.J. has come up with some great ideas, and I actually had him sing on a song that I wrote that I thought would be perfect. And it came out a hundred percent better than I thought it was gonna be."

Asked what, in his opinion, makes a good TRIXTER song, Brown said:"I think all the classic stuff. What I love is I love pop music that's got great guitars, of course. It's what I always tell people — it's like if you took VAN HALEN, KISS, CHEAP TRICK, BON JOVI and DEF LEPPARD, put it all together, those are probably my biggest influences as far as making records and what I envisioned TRIXTER to be when I was a little kid. That was the concoction that I put in the cauldron. And over the years, that's really it. So I think for me, it's always about melody, a great vocal hook melody, a lyric that you can get behind. I definitely think I took a strong influence from BON JOVI. And I remember when I started getting TRIXTER going, Jon's [Bon Jovi] advice was always, 'Make sure you have a good lyric and something that's powerful.'"

The original TRIXTER lineup — also featuring drummer Mark "Gus" Scott and singer Pete Loran — reunited in 2008 and lasted until 2017, during which time the band released two studio albums via Frontiers Music Srl — 2012's "New Audio Machine" and 2015's "Human Era".

TRIXTER toured extensively in the United States, Canada and Japan in support of its five major label releases. They have performed live in arenas and amphitheaters with crowds up to 35,000 people, appearing with such rock superstars as KISS, SCORPIONS, POISON, TED NUGENT, NIGHT RANGER, CINDERELLA, TWISTED SISTER, DOKKEN, WARRANT, GREAT WHITE and FIREHOUSE.

Long-running Virginia Beach thrash metal trio AT WAR has announced the next chapter of its 43-year legacy with the impending release of a new studio album, 40th-anniversary celebration of the release of its debut album, "Ordered To Kill", and worldwide festival dates for 2026.

AT WAR's upcoming studio LP will once again bring the band back together with legendary producer and engineer Alex Perialas (ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL, S.O.D.),overlord and owner of Pyramid Sound Studios in Ithaca, New York.

Founding vocalist/bassist Paul Arnold recently praised the level of energy the new songs put forth on this new album as nothing short of astonishing. He also noted the combination of Perialas's history with AT WAR (2009's "Infidel" and 1987's "Retaliatory Strike"),his uncompromising dedication to metal and the addition of guitarist Rick Gress have revitalized the band's songcraft that brings this album to a degree unseen in the band's history.

Arnold, Gress and returning drummer Brian Schroeder have finished tracking for what promises to be the band's most sonically crushing work to date.

The pairing of AT WAR's own distinctive brand of "war metal" along with Perialas's iconic production style indeed makes for a highly anticipated collaboration sure to devastate the metal world in 2026.

2026 also marks the 40th anniversary of the release of AT WAR's debut album, "Ordered To Kill", and in celebration they will be performing the album in its entirety throughout the year.

AT WAR will bring its signature assault to fans across North America and Europe, including high-profile festival appearances:

March 21 - Hell's Heroes Festival - Houston, TX
September 11 - Rage of Armageddon Festival - Brooklyn, NY
October 8 - Old Grave Fest - Bucharest, Romania
October 10 - Thrash Nightmare Fest - Písek, Czech Republic
November 14 - Metal & Hell Festival - Oberhausen, Germany
December 11 - Eindhoven Metal Meeting - Eindhoven, Netherlands

AT WAR was formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1983 by guitarist Shawn Helsel, bassist and vocalist Paul Arnold and drummer Dave Stone. June of 1985 saw the release of AT WAR's first demo titled "Eat Lead". The two-song demo consisted of the songs "Rapechase" and what has turned out to be AT WAR's anthem, "Eat Lead", dubbed by Spin magazine as "America's answer to MOTÖRHEAD." This demo garnered AT WAR much attention and an appearance on the now-legendary compilations on New Renaissance Records, "Speed Metal Hell I" and "Speed Metal Hell II". This compilation is the holy grail among metal collectors all over the world. This led to their first full-length release, "Ordered To Kill", in 1986, also on New Renaissance. AT WAR immediately booked studio time with the great Alex Perialas at Pyramid Sound in Ithaca, New York to produce the 1987 release "Retaliatory Strike", with Rob "Wacko" Hunter co-engineering.

AT WAR toured relentlessly through the 1980s and early 1990s while planning the recording of its next album, tentatively titled "Calculated Risk". After negotiations began to break down with New Renaissance, the album was never recorded. The band played its last show in 1994 and a decade-long hiatus began, though AT WAR never called it quits.

It was in 2006 that saw the return of AT WAR as a result of direct intense fan pressure along with a new resurgence of the thrash metal movement. AT WAR felt the time was right to get moving again and take care of unfinished business with the original lineup of Helsel, Arnold and Stone. 2009 saw the recording and release of "Infidel", once again with Alex Perialas producing, on Heavy Artillery Records to critical acclaim, followed by touring and festival appearances. Stone retired in 2011 and Schroeder has since taken the mantle on the drums. In 2024, after a European tour, Helsel retired and Rick Gress rejoined the band on guitar.

During an appearance on the March 14 episode of "The Card King Sports And Variety Show", which airs on the ABC news affiliate KMET 1490 AM, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal spoke about how he landed the guitarist gig with GUNS N' ROSES more than 20 years ago. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Joe Satriani hit me up and said, 'Hey, I just recommended you for the GUNS gig. They're looking for a new guitar player.' Just so if someone reaches out, you know it's legit. And they reached out. That was in the summer of 2004 — 22 years ago, my God. And then a year and a half later, two years later, they had a tour, and we got together in New York. We jammed seven times and hit the road and finished the 'Chinese Democracy' album, and [it was] just eight solid years of a lot of touring and putting stuff out. We put out 'Chinese Democracy'. We put out this DVD/Blu-ray 'Appetite For Democracy'; it was this live show. And then, after that long, it was 2014, and I just missed everything else I was doing."

Reflecting on his decision to leave GUNS N' ROSES, Thal said: "The GUNS gig wasn't gonna become more than it was. And I missed being creative with a band, writing and recording and doing more. And I missed teaching, I missed producing, I missed everything else I was doing. So I went back to all of that, and had ART OF ANARCHY and then eventually did SONS OF APOLLO, which did pretty well, that band."

After the interviewer noted that Slash is "more of a blues-based melodic, hard rock-style performer" while Bumblefoot is more technically precise, Ron said: "Well there's this old joke. It's a joke making fun of jazz people. It's rock versus jazz — you can play three chords for 3,000 people, or 3,000 chords for three people. And the thing about Slash is he's just an icon. He's a legend. If you were gonna say, what is a rock guitar player? It's Slash. And he came up with the things that every little kid — one of the first things they wanna learn on guitar is something that he came up with. He is the top. Absolutely. And it's not about technicality. It's not about any of that stuff. That's the 3,000 — you could say 3,000 notes for three people. Slash, he made things that you can sing and that you recognize within a second. And that is a talent and a skill that is rare. And it's fantastic. I mean, I do what I do, he does what he does, and the world is complete with everybody doing what they do."

Thal added: "We all have to be true to who we are. We gotta be genuine, we gotta be authentic. And for me, I'm a weird dude, so I play some weird stuff. And that's just how it is. Is it gonna appeal to the masses? No. It has its place. It's not gonna be on radio, but it's gonna be on TV and video games and things like that. And that's what I'm happy doing. And if I didn't do that, there would be a little hole in the universe that I was meant to fill and I didn't. And that goes for every human being. That's everybody. It's not about being famous or any of that crap. It's about being true to yourself. That's the most important thing. That's it."

Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 and appeared on 2008's "Chinese Democracy", an effort which contained music that had been written before he came into the group. The disc took 13 years to make and was only a modest seller, moving just around half a million copies. Thal worked with singer Axl Rose on the LP, and is credited for playing on every one of that album's 14 tracks.

Thal never officially announced his departure from the GN'R, but a source confirmed to Detroit music writer Gary Graff back in 2015 that the guitarist had been out since the end of the band's second Las Vegas residency in 2014.

Thal spent a few years recording and touring with SONS OF APOLLO, which also featured drummer Mike Portnoy, keyboardist Derek Sherinian and bassist Billy Sheehan. SONS OF APOLLO released its second studio album, "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20),in January 2020 via InsideOut Music/Sony.

ART OF ANARCHY's third studio album, "Let There Be Anarchy", was released in February 2024 via Pavement Music. Thal was joined in the group's most recent lineup by founding ART OF ANARCHY members Jon Votta (guitar) and Vince Votta (drums),vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JOURNEY, SONS OF APOLLO) and bassist Tony Dickinson (SOTO, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA).

Thal's latest instrumental album, "Bumblefoot ...Returns!", came out in January 2025.

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal press photo credit: Andre Tedim

ABC News Affiliate KMET Streaming TV & AM/FM · The Card King Sports and Variety Show Mar 14 2026 Guest Ron Bumblefoot Thal Guitarist

In a new interview with Charlie Kendall's Metalshop, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner spoke about his ELEGANT WEAPONS side project, which will release its sophomore album "Evolution", on April 24, 2026 via Exciter Records. Regarding the fact that he previously described ELEGANT WEAPONS as "a mix of Jimi Hendrix, PRIEST, [BLACK] SABBATH, solo Ozzy [Osbourne] and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY," Richie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm not alone in saying that I've been influenced by Hendrix and SABBATH in a big way. But there's a lot of people out there that aren't guitar players that are influenced by Hendrix, and a lot of guitar players that are, obviously. I'm one of them. And I think ELEGANT WEAPONS' music is a little bit more tuned into Hendrix's style than PRIEST is. It's got a few more obvious Hendrix links to it. So I'm fortunate that I can explore those avenues outside of PRIEST in ELEGANT WEAPONS. I get a free rein to go and do some other stuff and explore that part of my DNA as well."

ELEGANT WEAPONS features a formidable lineup: Richie,vocalist Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW, MSG),bassist Dave Rimmer (URIAH HEEP) and drummer Christopher Williams (ACCEPT). Asked if the term "supergroup", which has been used to describe ELEGANT WEAPONS' lineup, is "a burden or an asset", Richie said: "I think it's lucky, really, that anyone's referring to us with any kind of name. We're fortunate that we're playing music and people are listening and calling it anything. I'll take supergroup. I'll take whatever people wanna call it. If people are listening and giving us the time of day, and if people wanna call it a supergroup, then so be it."

Faulkner went on to say that ELEGANT WEAPONS is a real band and not a short-lived project.

"The first record, I put the album together and got the band together, and it was never intended to be a one-off," he explained. "It was meant to be the start of a journey, so to speak. There was meant to be more albums, some tours, live playing. I wanted to start a band like PRIEST that starts from nothing and grows into something and hopefully continues into the future. We are on the second record now, so it's not a one-and-done deal. We're on our way now, and this one is an evolution in many senses of the word of the band and of the music that we create.

"Obviously, PRIEST is the mothership — that's the behemoth that we've gotta work around," he continued. "And the other guys are in their respective bands as well. Dave's in URIAH HEEP, Christopher's in ACCEPT, and Ronnie's doing a lot of things as well. So we've gotta plan it around other bands, and that's just the nature of the beast. We've got a window of opportunity now to release the record. I'm always looking for opportunities to write stuff and record stuff, and that's just the nature of it. We've done another record, and we're lucky enough to put it out. And then we've got a PRIEST tour later on in the year. That's just the way it is, man. And we are lucky to be that busy at the moment."

Faulkner also talked about working with Romero, who is originally from Chile but is now settled in Romania after living in Madrid, Spain for a number of years.

"He's amazing," Richie said. "I say this a lot: Ronnie's a great singer. There's great singers in the world, but Ronnie's not just a great singer. He's a performer. He's a frontman. He's great in the studio. He's professional, and he's a joy to work with. We produced him a bit more on this record. The first record he sung, we had the vocals there already and he just sang them, and it was a quick process. On this one, our producer, Andy Sneap, wanted to produce him a lot more. We had the vocal ideas and we started from the ground up. We were on a three-way Zoom like this, and Ronnie was in the studio in Europe, and we produced him from start to finish — different mics, different techniques, different words, change this, different melodies, different backing vocals. Let's make this more Ronnie Romero and technically better produced, better recorded and better performances for the best result that we could get. And I think it was a really good thing we did that. It is more Ronnie Romero than the first record. He's amazing. I can't say enough about him."

"Evolution" will be released digitally and on CD on April 24, 2026, with a special edition vinyl pressing to follow later in the year. The album was co-produced by Faulkner alongside Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST's touring guitarist, who also produced PRIEST's "Invincible Shield" and "Firepower" albums),with the recording spanning Nashville, Europe, and France — a truly global effort reflecting the band's international pedigree.

The lead single "Bridges Burn" is available now on all streaming platforms. Watch the official lyric video below.

Exciter Records and its publishing affiliate Reach Music, recently acquired JUDAS PRIEST's landmark early albums "Rocka Rolla" and "Sad Wings Of Destiny", making the partnership with Richie Faulkner and ELEGANT WEAPONS a natural continuation of that legacy into a new era.

"Evolution" track listing:

01. Evil Eyes
02. Generation Me
03. Bridges Burn
04. Holy Roller
05. Come Back To Me
06. The Devil Calls
07. Thrown To The Wolves
08. Shooting Shadows
09. Rupture
10. Mercy Of The Fallen
11. Keeper Of The Keys

Last October, Romero told Tim Caple of Rock 'N' Blues Experience about ELEGANT WEAPONS's sophomore album: "I think it's gonna be fantastic. Also, I feel like it's really a step forward from the first one, because when I recorded the first album, the album actually was already recorded by another singer. So what I did, it was just going to the studio and trying to fit my vocals on what it was already done. And it took me two or three days doing that recording. But this time we took the time, going to the studio, being all together with Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap and just working on the songs: 'This kind of lyrics works.' 'This doesn't work.' 'We need to change the vocal line.' 'We need to change the key.' 'We need to change this.' 'We need to add some backing vocals here.' And we spent a lot of time together, so this is more ELEGANT WEAPONS than the first one."

Ronnie previously discussed the upcoming ELEGANT WEAPONS effort in May 2025 in an interview with J.J. Caithcart of Different Stages Radio. He said at the time: "When I joined the band, the [first] album was recorded already. They had a different singer, so the songs were there. I just needed to listen to the songs and the previous singer and then try to record on my own way, but [there was] still a lack of personality of my voice in that way. But this time we were working together with Andy Sneap and with Richie Faulkner, the three of us, working on the lyrics, working on the vocal lines, working on the harmonies, working all together. We spent a lot of time in the studio together doing all this work, the vocal production."

Regarding the musical direction of the new ELEGANT WEAPONS material, Ronnie said: "It is an evolution of the band. We have this stable lineup with Christopher Williams from ACCEPT and Dave Rimmer from URIAH HEEP. So, it is more ELEGANT WEAPONS than the first one, I would say. The songs are great. There is a few great songs that — I was talking with Richie yesterday and I said, 'Every day I like a different one.' It's, like, today I like this one very much, and then I listen to the album again and now I like this other one because it's a different thing. But, yeah, I think it's a great album. And it's gonna sound like an evolution of the band, for sure."

In October 2024, Faulkner told Clint Switzer of On The Road To Rock about ELEGANT WEAPONS:  "Ronnie's fantastic. Again, he's one of those guys, he's not only a singer, he's a frontman. He fronts the band. There's a lot of people I know, they've got great voices, but it takes a frontman or frontwoman, front person to do that job. So Ronnie's definitely got that.

"We did some dates [in 2023] in Europe, which was fantastic," he continued. "We did some dates with PANTERA, which was nuts. You can imagine opening up for them."

Richie went on to say that he never intended ELEGANT WEAPONS to just be a one-album project. "That's what it was about, really. It wasn't about the one record recorded during COVID; it was about a band that goes on," he explained. "We've all got our different things, obviously — PRIEST, ACCEPT, Ronnie's got his stuff — but we wanted it to be a proper band with multiple records doing live dates, which we've done. But it's just, obviously, when PRIEST are out, ACCEPT are out, URIAH HEEP are out at the moment as well, when we find a window in between for that, then we'll look at releasing the second record. So, that's an exciting thing to think about, too."

In 2023, Richie told Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global that he planned on focusing on ELEGANT WEAPONS full-time once PRIEST has officially called it a day.

"PRIEST music is gonna be around a lot longer than we are," he said. "It's legendary music. They're genre-defining musicians and it's a genre-defining band. It will be around for a long time. But none of us gets out of this alive. That's just the reality of it. So if one day that call comes in and that's the last tour or the last album, whatever it is… I mean, I joined the band on what was the farewell tour. Luckily it wasn't, and we're still here 12 years later. [It's] fantastic. But at the time, I think I would have been silly not to consider what I was gonna do after the band, because of the circumstances of the tour. It was a farewell tour — it was [supposed to be] the last tour — so what am I gonna do after? So it's always been in the back of my mind. And this is a band that seems natural to me to continue with if that call ever came in."

ELEGANT WEAPONS made its first two festival appearances in June 2023 at Hellfest in Clisson, France and at Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium.

ELEGANT WEAPONS' debut album, "Horns For A Halo", was released in May 2023 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was recorded with bassist Rex Brown (PANTERA, DOWN) and drummer Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST) and was helmed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with JUDAS PRIEST, ACCEPT, EXODUS and MEGADETH, among many others.

ELEGANT WEAPONS played additional shows in Europe through July 2023. The trek included performances with PANTERA, festival appearances and headlining shows.

Ex-QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate will release the third and final chapter in the band's classic "Operation: Mindcrime" album series, on May 3. The LP's first single, "Power", will be made available on Friday, March 20.

"Power" was written by Geoff and his guitarist/producer Kieran Robertson. It features vocals by Tate, drums by Rich Baur, bass by DISTURBED bassist and "Operation: Mindcrime III" co-producer John Moyer, guitar by Dario Parente and Amaury Altmayer, and synths and strings by Tate and Robertson. It was mixed and mastered by Juan Urteaga at Trident Studios in Pacheco, California.

In a new interview with the "Let There Be Talk" podcast, hosted by rock and roll comedian Dean Delray, Tate stated about "Power" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a cool track. 'Power' is the first — I don't know — we call 'em singles nowadays. It's the first release on the album. And, yeah, it's a really cool song — very, very energetic, very up, and kind of says a lot in a very short time, which I like."

Regarding the writing process for "Operation: Mindcrime III", which follows 1988's "Operation: Mindcrime" and 2006's "Operation: Mindcrime II", Geoff said:  "I think you use whatever sort of way you can in order to get what you want. And, for me, I sort of look at it as a story, and I write the story out first of what is happening, and then I kind of dissect it and create chapters, and those chapters turn into songs. And then I kind of work to link them all together and follow a storyline that makes sense. And then you gotta kind of factor in musically how you're gonna tie it together. Does it make sense musically and melodically to put this song before this song, before this song, before this song? 'Cause that's a big thing too, is making it flow, so it doesn't seem obtrusive and people don't have to turn the page back to find out what happened, and they're kind of following along in a chronological order."

After Delray noted that "Power" "sounds like QUEENSRŸCHE", Geoff said: "Yeah. Well, part of the whole writing process was keeping the music in the universe of 'Mindcrime', writing within that style, I guess you'd say."

As for how "Operation: Mindcrime III" was recorded, Geoff said: "There's 13 songs on the record, and it was recorded all over the world. And the beauty of modern recording is that if you have the right equipment, the quality gear, we just take it with us wherever we go. And we set up in hotel rooms backstage at shows, venues. I think one track was recorded in a church. Just wherever we have the right kind of room for the sound, we can record there. We recorded one of the songs, parts of it, in this castle in Italy. Do you remember that character Casanova? Well, he was imprisoned in this castle way back when. And the place is just an amazing ruin, of course, but it had this one room that was just incredible. It [had] big, high ceilings, open environment, big stone walls and that kind of thing. But it added a really unique sound to the song. So anyway, we just kind of took advantage of that wherever we could and wrote the album as we were touring around the world, really. And I wrote music for the album and lyrics for the album. And Kieran Robertson, my writing partner for this project, contributed so much to this record, playing guitar and also writing music and lyrics too."

Earlier this month, Tate was asked by Canada's The Metal Voice why he wanted to make another LP in the "Operation: Mindcrime" series. Tate said: "I'm interested in it. It's a subject I've always been interested in, the 'Mindcrime' saga, the story of these three characters, really: Nikki, Dr. X and Sister Mary. A fascinating triangle there of… Oh, it's an interesting relationship between all three of them. And Nikki's story has really been kind of chronicled on 'Mindcrime I' and 'Mindcrime II', and nothing has really been written about Dr. X. Like, who is he? What's he all about? Why is he the way he is? What got him to this place he's at? And I just found the subject to be interesting. And especially at the age I'm at now, where I'm probably very close to Dr. X's age, I'm looking at life differently now, and [I have] different goals, [and I have] a different reason to be, really, which I think probably happens with people as they age and get older. You've had past accomplishments, you've had things that you've done that you've really been interested, and you've followed your dreams, you followed your muse, and now you're at a different place where those wants and needs kind of change. So Dr. X is a character study, really, of where he is at and how he got to where he is."

Asked if "Operation: Mindcrime III' is "a prequel" to the first two albums or if it is a continuation of the story, Geoff said: "It's kind of a — hmm, I'd say it's in the same universe, but a different perspective. It's X's perspective. It's happening in time at the same time as 'Mindcrime I'."

On the topic of whether "Operation: Mindcrime III" is musically as heavy as the original "Operation: Mindcrime" album, Tate said: "Oh, yes. The new one is probably, I guess in the same realm. It's heavier than 'Mindcrime I'. I don't know. I'd have to go back and listen to it again, 'Mindcrime II', to see where it compared in the heaviness [laughs] scale."

As for his expectations for the "Operation: Mindcrime III" album, Tate said: "I just hope everybody can give it a spin, check it out. And especially with headphones. It's a wonderful headphone album. Absolutely. We spent a lot of time dialing all the details in that I find to be very important with the record, is it's gotta sound good on headphones. And it really sounds great with the mixing and the engineering on it. John [Moyer, DISTURBED bassist, who produced the album] did an amazing job putting it all together, and the sound, especially of the rhythm section — oh, it's phenomenal. It's really, really crunchy, punchy, big… I think it's miles above 'Mindcrime I' — absolutely. Especially the bottom end — the bass and drums, rhythm section. It's so modern, so huge. If you listen back to the 'Mindcrime I' album, it sounds like… I think it was one of the three first digital recordings made, and so it has a brittleness to it that you just don't hear anymore, 'cause the technology has gotten so much better now. The analog-to-digital converters are so much more sophisticated now. So, yeah, it sounds miles about that. I'm very happy, very happy with it."

This past January, Geoff confirmed to Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station that "Operation: Mindcrime III" will once again be a concept album with a storyline following Nikki, a drug addict-turned-assassin manipulated by a shadowy figure known as Dr. X. However, unlike the first two installments, "Operation: Mindcrime III" will tell the tale from "the perspective of Dr. X, how the story happened from his point of view. Which is kind of interesting, I think, because we've only heard it from Nikki's point of view, and he's been sort of this victim throughout the whole story. And Dr. X's perspective is completely different, 'cause he's not the victim at all. So it's very aggressive, and, yeah, I'm looking forward for people to hear it."

Asked if he always had it in his mind to write three chapters to the "Operation: Mindcrime" story or if it's something that just happened over time, Tate said: "No, it's kind of an ongoing story. I am fascinated by social science — why human beings do what we do, and groups of people that seem to have patterns over time, following in the footsteps of their generation. That kind of stuff just is fascinating to me. And so that was the basis for the story of 'Operation: Mindcrime'. And so I just kind of explored that — human nature and what happens to a guy who gets convicted of murder and sent to an insane asylum and then graduates to a prison and then finally gets out after 20 years in prison. Does he still have the motivation for revenge against the people that put him there? That's kind of the focus of 'Mindcrime II', the revenge aspect of it."

Regarding whether it's fair to say that "Operation: Mindcrime III" is a musical throwback to some of the earlier QUEENSRŸCHE material, Geoff said: "Yeah, I guess so. It's got some complex arrangements, which QUEENSRŸCHE was pretty into during our writing. It's just very aggressive sound-wise. And stylistically, I would say, it's very QUEENSRŸCHE."

In January 2025, Tate told 96.1 KLPX afternoon jock Larry Mac about how he comes up with the musical and lyrical ideas for his albums: "It's all different, really. Sometimes it's a musical figure that you're fiddling around with in the studio that leads to a complete song or a few songs. And sometimes it's the lyrical idea. Sometimes it's a sentence that just sparks your imagination and gets you rolling on something. With the 'Operation: Mindcrime' albums, it was a story that came about really quickly, actually — I wrote it very quickly — and then expanded on it over the years to explain a little bit more in depth as to what was happening within the story. 'Cause the first album is a little bit vague in what it's talking about in it. The second album explains even more as to what the characters are going through. And the third album, again, will be even more explanation, but taken from a number of different viewpoints, which kind of is interesting, I think."

Originally released in May 1988, QUEENSRŸCHE's third studio album, "Operation: Mindcrime" took the quintet to an entirely new level. The concept, revealed through the songs, revolves around the character of Nikki, a recovering drug addict disillusioned with a corrupt society. Drawn into a cult-like revolutionary group headed by Dr. X (voiced by the late and beloved British actor Anthony Valentine),Nikki is manipulated to assassinate political leaders until his friendship with nun Sister Mary finally opens his eyes to the truth. Regarded as one of the greatest concept metal albums of all time, "Operation: Mindcrime" was certified platinum in 1991 in the U.S. and was ranked in the "Top 100 Metal Albums Of All Time" by both Kerrang! and Billboard magazines. Rolling Stone included it on a similar list, noting that "nearly 30 years after its initial release, 'Mindcrime' feels eerily relevant."

The original "Operation: Mindcrime" album weaved themes of religion, drug abuse and underground, radical politics. By contrast, 2006's "Operation: Mindcrime II" was regarded as an unnecessary sequel that many felt cheapened the original album, despite being a decent record in its own right.

Tate previously discussed his plans for "Operation: Mindcrime III" in a November 2024 interview with "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern". Speaking about the musical direction of his new solo material, Geoff said: "I would say it has more of an early QUEENSRŸCHE feel. [The new songs are] super heavy, and some of 'em are incredibly technical. They're like algebra. [Laughs] You need a calculator when you're listening to the song. [Laughs] And, of course, some of them are very emotional. It's the last chapter in the 'Mindcrime' series. So it's following the exploits of Dr. X and Nikki and Sister Mary, and picks up at a particular point in their story and kind of does the microscope of what is happening at that particular time with them. And I am just in love with it. I am so happy with everything so far, and I can't wait for people to hear it."

In a 2016 interview with East Valley Tribune, Tate said that he looked back fondly on "Operation: Mindcrime II". "I haven't listened to that album since I recorded it," he admitted. "However, it was a new story. Overall, it went down well live with the audience. I have no complaints or regrets about it."

During QUEENSRŸCHE's 2012 legal battle with Tate over the rights to the band's name, guitarist Michael Wilton submitted a sworn declaration in which he said the idea to make "Operation: Mindcrime II" was first brought to the table by Geoff's wife and QUEENSRŸCHE's then-manager Susan Tate. "The band was hesitant and did not want to lessen the original," the guitarist claimed. "But Susan Tate and Geoff Tate hired a budget producer and took control without really any other input. Scott Rockenfield [drums], Eddie Jackson [bass] and I were squeezed out of having any input in the musical direction or business decisions, thus the project suffered. During the initial writing phase, I would show up to bring my input to the creative process only to find that the producer, the new guitar player (who were both staying with the Tates at the time),along with Geoff Tate had been up late the night before or up early that morning and had written the songs without me. I was then told my ideas were not needed as the songs were now done. I could, however, 'bring my own style' in during the recording after learning to play what they wrote for me. In frustration, I gave up on the writing process knowing that I would at least get to make changes in the studio to bring back the QUEENSRŸCHE sound into these songs that we were known for. The final straw was when they refused to let me to be a part of the final recordings and mixes. I was shut out and they had the nerve to replace some of my parts on my songs. They denied me flying to San Francisco to be a part of my band, telling me that everything was ready to go and I was not needed. Had the communication been better, and had I been aware that parts needed to be recorded or rewritten, I would have been there. It was not until years later that I even became aware of the issues during the final recording and mixing of 'Operation: Mindcrime II'. It was all under the control of Geoff and Susan Tate. Call it delusions of grandeur, but they were convinced that this was going to sell three times more than the original, and to date (six years later) this album has sold fewer than 150,000 copies. The original album sold over 500,000 copies within a year."

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. 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 "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

Tate's replacement, Todd La Torre, has released four albums thus far with QUEENSRŸCHE: 2013's "Queensrÿche", 2015's "Condition Hüman", 2019's "The Verdict" and 2022's "Digital Noise Alliance".

Sammy Hagar and his "Best Of All Worlds" band kicked off their 2026 Las Vegas residency on March 11 at Dolby Live at Park MGM. Fan-filmed video of the entire show can be seen below (courtesy of Fake Fan).

The 2026 "The Best Of All Worlds" residency reunites Hagar with the powerhouse "Best Of All Worlds" band featuring fellow Hall Of Famer and original VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony, 15-time Grammy nominee and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, powerhouse drummer Kenny Aronoff, and keyboardist Greg Phillinganes (stepping in for Rai Thistlethwayte).

Hagar's 19-song set on March 11 included three songs he and the "Best Of All Worlds" band had never played together before: "Soap On A Rope", from CHICKENFOOT's 2009 debut album, a song Hagar hadn't performed since 2018; "Mine All Mine", from VAN HALEN's "OU812", which hadn't been played live since 2016; and the title track to Satriani's 1987 breakthrough "Surfing With The Alien".

The setlist was as follows:

01. Soap On A Rope (CHICKENFOOT song) (first performance since 2018)
02. Mine All Mine (VAN HALEN song) (first full performance since 2016)
03. Poundcake (VAN HALEN song)
04. Panama (VAN HALEN song)
05. There's Only One Way To Rock
06. Runaround (VAN HALEN song)
07. Top Of The World (VAN HALEN song)
08. When It's Love (VAN HALEN song)
09. Cabo Wabo (VAN HALEN song) (shortened)
10. Mas Tequila (SAMMY HAGAR AND THE WABOS song)
11. Why Can't This Be Love (VAN HALEN song)
12. Right Now (VAN HALEN song)
13. Somebody Get Me A Doctor (VAN HALEN song) (Michael Anthony on lead vocals)
14. Surfing With The Alien (Joe Satriani song)
15. Good Enough (VAN HALEN song)
16. Heavy Metal
17. I Can't Drive 55
18. Eagles Fly
19. Encore, Thank You, Goodnight.

Hagar's Las Vegas residency continued on March 14, with additional shows scheduled for March 18, March 20 and March 21. Sammy and the "Best Of All Worlds" band will embark on an eight-date North American tour in June (mostly with support from Rick Springfield),and play four shows in the U.K. in July, before returning to Vegas for five more gigs in September.

Hagar released "Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band - The Residency", a 19-track live album recorded during his first Dolby Live run, last October via Big Machine Rock.

Custom-built for Dolby Live's intimate and electric atmosphere, "The Best Of All Worlds" delivers an unfiltered connection to the music that defined a generation. With fresh setlists each night, Hagar dusts off VAN HALEN deep cuts, solo anthems, and fan favorites not heard live in decades. The residency was a critical and box office hit, with fans and media alike calling it one of the strongest rock residencies in Las Vegas history.

For more than four decades, Grammy Award winner and Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Sammy Hagar has been one of rock music's most dynamic and prolific artists. From his breakthrough with MONTROSE to a multiplatinum solo career and his years fronting VAN HALEN, CHICKENFOOT, THE CIRCLE, and now "The Best Of All Worlds" band, Hagar has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and delivered anthems like "I Can't Drive 55", "Right Now" and "Why Can't This Be Love". In 2024–'25, his "Best Of All Worlds" tour became one of the year's top-grossing rock runs, leading into a hit Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM and the upcoming live album, "Sammy Hagar & The Best of All Worlds Band - The Residency" (October 10, 2025 via Big Machine Rock).

Beyond music, Hagar is a pioneer in the spirits and lifestyle space, founding Cabo Wabo Tequila and leading award-winning brands including Sammy's Beach Bar Rum, Santo Spirits with Guy Fieri, and Red Rocker Brewing Co. His restaurant ventures include Sammy's Beach Bar & Grill locations at airports in Honolulu, Hawaii; Maui, Hawaii; Las Vegas, Nevada; Cleveland, Ohio; and Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as Cabo Wabo Cantinas in Cabo San Lucas and Las Vegas, and the Cabo Wabo Beach Club in Huntington Beach.

A No. 1 The New York Times bestselling author, TV and radio host, and philanthropist, Hagar has also earned numerous honors, including a Grammy Award (1992),induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (2007),recognition as the first Honorary Ambassador To Los Cabos (2022) and a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame (2024).

Hey Red Rockers! 🎸

Get ready for Sammy Hagar: The Best of All Worlds Las Vegas Residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

Tickets are now on sale 🎟 https://mgm.parkmgm.com/h90pgd5k

Posted by Park MGM on Friday, September 19, 2025

In a new interview with Chile's Sonar FM, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello discussed his directorial debut, "The Ballad Of Judas Priest", a new documentary about JUDAS PRIEST and the legendary Grammy-winning English heavy metal band's epic journey to the top of rock and roll. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The one thing I really love about JUDAS PRIEST — the guitar playing is fantastic; that's to be taken for granted — but one of the things I loved about that band… So they were like the first metal band that — mostly heavy metal bands were about 'worship me' on stage, 'Here I am, I'm a God, worship me.' JUDAS PRIEST was, like, 'We are a metal community together,' and that's something that really resonated with me. It made me feel, like, oh, I'm not just going there to like praise somebody, but, like, he's metal, I'm metal, we are metal. And heavy metal music is the music that made me love music, and I wouldn't be here today without it."

As for why he got involved in the making of "The Ballad Of Judas Priest", Morello said: "I just do it for love. I just do it for the love of it. I love JUDAS PRIEST and I wanted to help tell their story."

"The Ballad Of Judas Priest" received its world premiere at the 76th Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival, in February.

Co-directed by documentary filmmaker Sam Dunn and Morello, the documentary celebrates JUDAS PRIEST's lasting impact on music and culture, with their influence reaching far beyond metal.

At the press conference for the Berlinale world premiere of "The Ballad Of Judas Priest" on February 15, a journalist for a Spanish radio outlet asked Morello about political content in the film. Morello responded: "What a time to be alive where you can both make a documentary about one of your favorite bands and fight fascism at the same time. But one of the things that while the lyrical content — maybe 'Breaking The Law' and a few songs — are explicitly political in JUDAS PRIEST, the band's existence is very political. When I've seen JUDAS PRIEST over the course of the last decade or so in Los Angeles, the audience is maybe more than 50% Latino. It's a lot of gay couples — nothing that has anything to do with the stereotypical… And yes, there are some older dudes like myself and leather jackets proudly bringing their kids to the show as well, but that community and the unity and the harmony that exists at a JUDAS PRIEST show is in some ways a model for how we might all do better."

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford joined Morello and Dunn at the Berlinale press conference and noted he doesn't steer clear of politics in his music.

"It's been impossible for me as a lyricist to not avoid seeing things in the world that affect me, that get me pissed off and thinking, is there a way I can put this into a song?" Rob explained. "And I've been doing that forever, whether it was 'Raw Deal' from 'Sin After Sin', which was a really explicit gay song, going to Fire Island and trying to hook up with somebody and the freedom that that gives you as a person to be with your own people, to a song called 'Savage', which is about climate change from the — what album was 'Savage' on? 'Stained Class'? So that's a ways back. The last album [2024's 'Invincible Shield'], I talk about — I'm not gonna say his name, but I talk about that person, and it's a bit of a smokescreen, but if you understand, if you really listen, the message is there, the expression, the feeling is there. And it's a very difficult tight rope to walk because I just wanna give people a good time."

Halford — who famously become the first heavy metal icon to announce he is gay in 1998 during an MTV interview, despite knowing about his sexuality since he was 10 — continued: "RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE gives people a great time. When you see everybody bouncing up and down, they're lost. They're in ecstasy, but the message isn't lost on them. The message is probably more relevant when they're home alone, lying in bed or sitting, having a coffee and listening to the music. That's a whole different experience in the way the message can reach you. So, I really have to temper myself, because as I've gotten older, I've gotten angrier with the world. I've gotten angrier with the injustice, particularly for my own people who are still suffering and are not given the human rights that they absolutely deserve. I'm not talking about Germany, — I'm talking about Saudi Arabia, Iran, other parts of the world where people like myself are just used and abused in horrible ways. So, I try my best to avoid that type of explicit message, but it's there. It's there. And that gives me some comfort that I'm not letting myself down consciously on subjects that mean a lot to me and piss me off."

Dunn also chimed in, saying: "For me, going into the film, there was probably four or five main moments I know we needed to hit in the story of this band. And one of them was the song 'Breaking The Law' and the brilliant and fun video for 'Breaking The Law'. And the reason why that is is 'cause — this ties back to our first film, which is, I think, we've been on a journey to debunk stereotypes about heavy metal for over two decades now. And I think there still lingers that stereotype of heavy metal [that] it's just about sex, drugs and hedonism and all of that. So a song like 'Breaking The Law' was very important to illustrate that JUDAS PRIEST, in 1980, had something very important and timely to say about the lives of working class people in England at that time. And when I did the last interview with Rob and he said the line, 'It's a revolution song' — thank you for delivering that line — that was a very important beat in the story for me."

Rising from humble, working-class roots in Birmingham, U.K., to become global rock legends, JUDAS PRIEST didn't just help shape heavy metal culture — they forged it. Widely credited as being one of the pioneers of the heavy metal genre in the 1970s, JUDAS PRIEST has sold more than 50 million records and released 19 studio albums for their legion of dedicated fans around the world. In 2022, they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. With their 2024 album "Invincible Shield", the band became the first heavy metal act to release studio albums 50 years apart. The album drew widespread acclaim, receiving a Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance".

The documentary is a production of Banger Films and directed by Sam Dunn and Tom Morello. Producers include Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn. It is executive produced by Tom Morello, Rick Krim, Sheila Stepanek and Jayne Andrews. Tom Mackay, Krista Wegener and Abby Davis serve as executive producers for Sony Music Vision. Sylvia Rhone is executive producer for Epic Records. The film is presented and distributed by Sony Music Vision.

JUDAS PRIEST's current touring lineup consists of singer Rob Halford, bassist Ian Hill, guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap and drummer Scott Travis.

PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease more than 15 years ago but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of PRIEST's "Firepower" album. He was replaced by "Firepower" and "Invincible Shield" producer Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT.

Fan-filmed video of Sebastian Bach performing a cover of TWISTED SISTER's "I Wanna Rock" at two of his recent shows — on March 8 at The Newberry in Great Falls, Montana and March 13 at Des Plaines Theatre in Des Plaines, Illinois — can be seen below.

In a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, the former SKID ROW singer spoke about being chosen to front TWISTED SISTER for the latter band's fall 2026 shows after iconic vocalist Dee Snider resigned from TWISTED SISTER due to "health challenges". Sebastian said: "I am a fan of TWISTED SISTER. And I'll tell you right now, I'm probably a bigger fan of TWISTED SISTER than anybody watching this. I love that band. I used to go see them whenever I could. And I really love the album 'You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll' with songs like 'The Kids Are Back', 'Ride To Live, Live To Ride'. I love the 'Under The Blade' album. I love 'Shoot 'Em Down', 'Destroyer', 'Tear It Loose'. I mean, I love 'I Wanna Rock', I love 'We're Not Gonna Take It', but there's an earlier period of that band where they were one of the most ferocious rock bands that you will ever see. And if you saw them back then, you know what I'm talking about."

Bach continued: "When they were a club band, they would come out there like a punk rock band or a total thrash metal band. I mean, if you listen to their version of 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)' by THE ROLLING STONES, it's like a speed metal tempo… Well, that's the kind of energy that I'm gonna bring. I mean, I'm not no spring chicken, but I still have a lot of energy when I get on the stage. And I'm going to give you guys fun and energy in TWISTED SISTER.

"I'm the lead singer of TWISTED SISTER," Sebastian added. "How much fun is that to say? I love saying that, so I'm really looking forward to it. I will also say that I'll never stop singing the [classic SKID ROW] songs '18 And Life', 'I Remember You', 'Youth Gone Wild', 'Monkey Business', 'Slave To The Grind' — I'll never stop doing that. So I'm not stopping my solo band. I'm continuing my solo band, but I'm doing shows with TWISTED SISTER that are bigger than my solo band. So it's a step up for me. I'll have a nicer dressing room and stuff. [Laughs]

"So … I'm looking forward to rocking out with TWISTED SISTER, because I love the music. And you cannot even challenge me on do I love the [music]. I really do love the music. So you can't fake love — and I love TWISTED SISTER."

During an appearance on the March 3 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Bach stated about how he was recruited to front TWISTED SISTER: "Well, I have tears in my eyes right now. I am SMF Number Two. I was named that by Dee Snider. And I just have to say, I just got off the phone with Dee Snider. We talked for about 45 minutes, and we were both kind of getting teary eyed.

"I just put out a [solo] record called 'Child Within The Man', and one of my favorite all-time bands is TWISTED SISTER," Bach explained. "And the music of TWISTED SISTER makes me feel like a child within the man. This is what I was talking about on my new record, how rock and roll music, it has a life of its own. You're talking to a guy here — I used to go to school and I used to paint the TWISTED SISTER logo on the back of my jacket in liquid paper thinking that looked cool [laughs] — whiteout. [Laughs] So I am a real fan — I am a fan of this music, and that is really, number one, why I'm doing it. And also to honor the legacy of these songs. And I look at it like when Paul Rodgers came in [to sing] for QUEEN, or when [GUNS N' ROSES frontman] Axl [Rose] came in for Brian Johnson [in AC/DC]. I am a fan of TWISTED SISTER and I always have been, and I love this music. I love it. I love 'Tear it Loose'. I love 'Destroyer'. I love 'The Price'. I mean, you talk about [classic SKID ROW songs like] '18 And Life' and 'I Remember You'. Well, you know what? I locked myself in a room rehearsing to 'The Price'. And these songs are how I learned how to rock."

Asked for more details of his conversation with Snider, Bach said: "I said, 'I'm calling you in 10 minutes.' He goes, 'Okay.' And I called him and he goes, 'SMF Number Two.' 'Cause he's always called me that. I'm a sick motherfucker. I'm a sick motherfucking fan of TWISTED SISTER. And he's always called me Number Two. Of course, he's number one. And so I go, 'Well, I guess I really am SMF Number Two.' And then I asked him, what did the doctor say to him? And he's, like, 'No problem. I'll tell you.' He says that he has arthritis, that his knees are going out, and he has bone on bone. And the doctor said that he should not be jumping around. And he goes, 'Well, that's not an option,' 'cause he wants to do the full show moving around and stuff, and the doctor said, 'You can't do it.' So he said, 'You have my full blessing.' He goes, 'I love you.' I told him I loved him, and we were, like, teary eyed. And he told me that his family was crying when he said he couldn't do the tour. I asked him, 'Hey, you wanna come out and jam with us?' He goes, 'Yeah.' He goes, 'Yeah.' So maybe he'll be at some of these gigs on stage with us. Who knows? I don't know if that's gonna happen or not. But it's tough getting older — it's tough for everybody getting older, and I'm a lot younger. [Laughs]"

Sebastian went on to say that it was important to him to get Dee's stamp of approval before proceeding. "That's a sign of respect," he said. "I respect Dee Snider, I respect Jay Jay French, I respect Eddie Ojeda, I respect [former TWISTED SISTER members] A.J. Pero, Mark Mendoza, the whole team. And I've always been a serious fan — like, really serious. I don't just like the hits of TWISTED SISTER. I like 'Like A Knife In The Back'. I like the heavy TWISTED SISTER. And I love 'I Wanna Rock'. I love 'The Price'. 'The Price' is one of my favorite TWISTED SISTER songs. I love 'We're Not Gonna Take It'. But the album 'You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll', I would probably say, is my favorite one."

TWISTED SISTER's 2026 shows will feature Bach, French and Ojeda. Russell Pzütto, who has toured with Snider's solo projects, will replace bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza on bass. Joe Franco, who briefly played with the group in the mid-1980s, was supposed to sit behind the drum kit, stepping in for A.J. Pero, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 55. However, Franco is not available to play the fall 2026 shows and will be replaced by Joey Cassata, who played drums on Ace Frehley's final original solo album, "10,000 Volts".

Speaking to "Trunk Nation" about TWISTED SISTER's current touring lineup, Jay Jay said: "In the 53-year history of the band, we've had 20 people who've been in and out of TWISTED SISTER. We've had five singers, we've had three bass players, we've had four guitar players and we've had nine drummers. Half of them are dead. It's a very tough business to be a drummer with TWISTED SISTER. But we had an amazing history of the band, and this is just a continuation of the history. And the thing is the music always survives. They said Steve Perry could never have been replaced in JOURNEY. And he was. That Freddie Mercury could never be replaced [in QUEEN]. And he was. And guess what? Baz is gonna be an unbelievable replacement.

"So it's me, Eddie Ojeda and Baz," French continued. "Joe Franco had signed on for the summer, and he wasn't available in the fall. And so Joey Cassata is gonna be on drums filling in for Joe, but if Joe Franco can make it, he definitely will. And Russ Pzütto, who has been our bass tech and has filled in for Mark in the past, will be playing bass. So Russ has been with the organization for years and years and years. He also played on Dee's solo projects. So that's basically the lineup."

At press time TWISTED SISTER has not announced the full list of shows it plans to play with Bach outside of a September 4 stop at the Alaska State Fair.

Snider and Bach had publicly praised each other in 2020 after they had a disagreement on social media about whether the term "hair metal" was derogatory.

"I love Sebastian Bach!" Snider wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "During the darkest period of my career, he stood tall as a Dee Snider fan when few would. I will always be grateful to him for not caring what was 'cool' at the moment and speaking our proudly for the things he loved. Thank you SMF#2!"

Bach wrote in response: "I love Dee Snider. I will always love the music he has made. No matter how much Dee sees himself as 'hair metal,' I will always see him on a much higher level than that implies. He is one of the greatest frontmen and vocalists of all time. Any corny label less than that is an insult."

Three years ago, TWISTED SISTER staged a one-off reunion at the Metal Hall Of Fame in Agoura Hills, California. On hand to be inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame were Snider, French, Mendoza and drummer Mike Portnoy. Ojeda was absent from the event after contracting COVID-19; filling in for him was Keith Robert War. TWISTED SISTER played a highly charged three-song set consisting of the staples "You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll" and "Under The Blade", as well as the anthem "We're Not Gonna To Take It".

TWISTED SISTER's original run ended in the late '80s. After more than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to top the bill of New York Steel, a hard-rock benefit concert to raise money for the New York Police And Fire Widows' And Children's Benefit Fund.

CHICAGO ! DES PLAINES! cya tomorrow night w @stitchedupheart & @blazecisco ! THANK YOU Billings Montana & Minot North...

Posted by Sebastian Bach on Thursday, March 12, 2026

In a new interview with Leona Graham of U.K.'s Absolute Radio, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of RUSH spoke about their decision to reunite for a tour in 2026 and 2027. The run of dates — Lee and Lifeson's first official shows under the RUSH banner in 11 years — will begin at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, site of the last RUSH concert on the legendary Canadian band's "R40" anniversary tour. Joining the duo on the trek will be German drummer Anika Nilles, who toured with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck in 2022 and has been rehearsing with Lee and Lifeson in preparation for the tour, dubbed "Fifty Something", which will celebrate RUSH's music, legacy, and the life of late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.

Reflecting on the first rehearsals with Anika, which took place in March 2025, Alex said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "She's a wonderful person. So that was half of the quest, can we find somebody that's gonna be really fun to be with? She's really a lovely person. She laughs easily. She felt immediately comfortable. I think she was quite nervous in those first few days… But she worked really hard. She prepped for it. She had five songs, and we went through those songs. But by the fourth day, Ged and I, we talked and we were quite sold on it. There was something that just wasn't there quite. And we talked to her about the importance of the feel that Neil had in his drum arrangements. And then on the fifth day, which was the final day that we rehearsed — bang! — she just nailed all those songs. And that turned everything around. And we again got together at the studio and thought, 'Okay, this is really gonna be worth doing. Let's talk to her about it.' And we brought her in and asked her if she'd be willing to continue. And she was really enthusiastic about it. And then we just continued throughout the year. That was in March. And then we got together in June and August and November, and [we went through] more material. And she was feeling more settled."

Added Geddy: "But that was the moment that the final tumbler clicked into place. On that day he's describing, it was very much like that. We had all these questions, and that day those questions were erased. And we knew we had someone that would be fun to travel with us down this road. That's when we had to get serious — 'cause we were starting from scratch. We had no crew, really. We had no management. We had to learn about the modern state of touring: how are we gonna put this show back on the road? So, it's been a lot of work, but we've surrounded ourselves with some great people. And now we're on that road."

RUSH will perform multiple shows cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico, beginning June 7, 2026 at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles. These special "evening with" shows will find the band playing two sets each night. Each show will feature a distinct selection of songs and RUSH will build each night's setlist from a catalog of 40 songs including their greatest hits and fan favorites.

Speaking about the setlist for RUSH's upcoming tour, Alex said: "Yeah. [There will be] two sets each night. And our intention is to mix it up from one night to the next in a cycle of about five nights, so that every set will have other songs in them. So that we can really service the fans that like to come to our shows multiple times, give them the opportunity to hear other music. And it's not just the same show over and over. It's a lot more pressure [on us], but it's good. It's a challenge. It keeps you on your toes."

Added Geddy: "Last night we were talking to Anika. We saw her in Berlin. We were doing press there, and we were rehearsing together a few days ago. And there was this one song that we thought, 'Oh, we should add that to the set.' We're up to 39 songs. And so I said, 'Anika, we're adding one more song.' She said, 'Noooo. I'm just getting comfortable with the first 25.' So it's a lot of pressure on her, obviously. I think she has the constitution and the mental capacity to handle it, 'cause she's gonna be under scrutiny."

Asked what tracks they are most excited about playing, Geddy said: "Oh, we're not gonna talk about setlists yet, because there are very few secrets in the world of the Internet now. And we know it'll only be a secret for one week, and then everyone will know. So, obviously there are the big songs that people know and love that we will have to play regularly and we want to play regularly. But there's gonna be a turnover — about 40% of the set will be different night to night to night. I think we have five different days' worth of sets."

Earlier this week, Alex and Geddy were asked by U.K.'s Planet Rock what the "challenges" are of putting the "Fifty Something" tour together. Alex responded: "We always rehearsed a lot, and in the past we would rehearse on our own individually for maybe a month, and then we would get together and rehearse for a month, and then we'd do a couple of weeks, full-production rehearsals in a venue. So by the time you hit the stage on the first show, you're seasoned; it's like the 20th show. The difference this time around is that we're rehearsing for about a year — seriously — before the [first] show. We just really wanna be at our absolute peak by the time we start the tour in earnest."

Geddy added: "And it's a lot for Anika to take on. Even though we're rusty on some songs, they're lying in the grooves in the brain somewhere, and it comes back. But she's starting from scratch. And she's starting from scratch trying to fill the shoes of a guy whose shoes are impossible to fill. So she has her work cut out for her. But she's incredibly, deeply talented, both technically and from a musical knowledge standpoint. She's got a fantastic work ethic. She's easy to be around. She's a great person, and she's ready to take on the inevitable scrutiny of RUSH fans. And so far they've been very welcoming, they've been very warm, and she's really appreciative of that."

Geddy went on to say that the overwhelmingly positive response from RUSH fans to the tour announcement took him and Alex by surprise.

"Originally the tour we wanted to do was just going to be six or seven cities and we would thought we'd do these small residencies," Lee explained. "And when we announced it, people went crazy, and we were taken aback. Our new management was very heartened and very bullish. They thought the shows would do well, obviously, but we didn't expect them to sell out in a few days. It was insanity. And so we had not been prepared for anything beyond that. But management always thinks ahead. And we had hoped that we could come to the U.K. in the fall of 2026, but we couldn't get the dates. So we added an American leg, which is also selling incredibly well. And so finally we can organize coming over to Europe and the U.K. [in 2027].

"So it's a lot to take on," Geddy admitted. "We haven't done a tour that big in many years, so we're just gonna make sure that it is effing note perfect."

The 2026 leg of the "Fifty Something" tour, which will cover Canada, USA and Mexico, initially consisted of 22 dates, which sold out immediately, prompting the addition of more shows. The tour now totals 58 shows across 24 cities, with over half a million tickets sold for 2026.

Earlier this week, RUSH announced the addition of South America and Europe tour dates to the "Fifty Something" tour, in early 2027. The dates will be the first time the band has played in Europe since 2013 and 17 years since visiting South America.

For "Fifty Something", Lee and Lifeson will be accompanied by Nilles and keyboard player Loren Gold (THE WHO, Roger Daltrey).

RUSH invites fans to get closer than ever with elevated ways to experience the tour: a special VIP program with the 2112 Platform Experience, and curated travel packages for those journeying in to see the show.

VIP packages could include meet-and-greet access, an autograph signing session and production tour, entry to the Xanadu pre-show VIP lounge, exclusive merch gifts, and more.

Each travel package includes a two-night stay at a curated hotel, premium tickets to the show, a limited-edition gift, a Rush Welcome Pack, Transportation Pass and more exclusive goodies.

On October 6, 2025, fans got the news via a RUSH newsletter from a home video that announced the celebration of upcoming dates with Lee and Lifeson at Geddy's home studio.

Peart died in January 2020 after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 67 years old.

RUSH waited three days to announce Peart's passing, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from fans and musicians all over the world.

Since Peart's death, Lifeson and Lee have not recorded any new music or performed live under the RUSH name, although both of them confirmed that several drummers reached out to them in the days after the legendary drummer's passing about the possibility of stepping in for Neil.

In a new interview with Tony Webster of the Metal Command podcast, guitarist Nige Rockett of U.K. thrash metal veterans ONSLAUGHT was asked if he and his bandmates have commenced work on fresh material since last year's return of vocalist Sy Keeler. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, yeah. It's kind of underway with writing. I've got the album title, I've got all the track titles, lots and lots of riffs in the bag. At the moment, it's kind of — because [2025's] 'Origins Of Aggression' album's not been out too long, we've got plenty of touring to do. So our kind of headspace is in touring at the moment and getting Sy back working in the band and our new guitarist, Nik [Sampson], also. So our headspace isn't really in writing mode at the moment, but every time I sit down in my studio, it's lining stuff up and just putting little ideas together. But no complete songs as yet. But it's all kind of in the process of how we work anyway of working on the new record. Nik's sending me over a load of riffs, but, yeah, it's all in place. We need to sort of do the American [tour]. We've got some shows coming up after that, and then it's kind of get a bit more focused over the summer on the new record. So, yeah, that's very important. Obviously, now Sy's back in the band, we need to concentrate and get some brand new studio material out."

Rockett also talked about the possibility of ONSLAUGHT re-recording the material from the band's 1989 album "In Search of Sanity", which was originally written for Keeler but which ended up featuring vocals by GRIM REAPER frontman Steve Grimmett.

"We've done 'Shellshock' with Sy as a bonus track. I think it was on [2013's] 'VI' [album], maybe. And obviously we did the 'In Search Of Sanity' [title track] re-record with [then-ONSLAUGHT singer] Dave Garnett also, which, for me, sounded amazing. But, yeah, the plan is still there — I've discussed it already with the label; they wanna do it — is to redo the whole of 'In Search Of Sanity' with Sy. Now that Sy's back, the plan is back on track again, because that was always the plan with Sy, to re-record the 'Sanity' album. So, yeah, [it's] still a hundred percent gonna happen. The label are completely behind it. Sy obviously wants to do that as well. So, yeah, it's definitely gonna happen."

Nige added: "I love the ['In Search of Sanity'] album, or I love the songs on the album. It's not one of my top ONSLAUGHT albums, for obvious reasons. So, yeah, I'm desperate to do it myself, and, obviously, with Sy being back, it's something he really wants to do because it's the one album [from] kind of middle ONSLAUGHT catalog that he didn't sing on. And I think it's very important to him, 'cause, obviously, everything was written with Sy in mind on 'In Search Of Sanity'. And he wants to fulfill that role in it."

ONSLAUGHT will hit the North American soil starting in March for the first time in well over a decade with a "Force From Hell" set, drawing heavily from "Power From Hell" and "The Force", the band's seminal first two 1980s albums. These are records that helped define extreme thrash metal, and they will be complemented by a neck-breaking selection of classic Keeler-era fan favorites to celebrate the vocalist's triumphant return to the band. Co-headlining the tour will be cult metal heroes WARLORD, who, despite being based in Los Angeles, have never toured North America in over their 45-plus-year career. WARLORD will play its seminal album "Deliver Us" in its entirety plus more classic-era material. The two bands will embark on this tour de force after a special set at Hell's Heroes festival in Houston, Texas.

ONSLAUGHT is a pioneering U.K. thrash metal band formed in Bristol in 1982. Emerging from a hardcore punk background, they helped shape the British thrash scene with their aggressive sound, politically charged lyrics, and relentless speed. Their early albums "Power From Hell" (1985) and "The Force" (1986) are regarded as genre classics, influencing countless extreme metal bands worldwide. After a hiatus and later reformation, ONSLAUGHT continued to release acclaimed material, cementing their legacy as one of the most important and enduring forces in world of thrash metal.

ONSLAUGHT played its first concert with returning vocalist Keeler on November 9, 2025 at the U.K.'s Damnation Festival at the BEC Arena in Manchester.

In a new interview with the Nik Nocturnal Podcast, AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Zacky Vengeance (real name Zachary Baker) spoke about the band's musical evolution leading up to the group's latest album, 2023's "Life Is But A Dream...". He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We always lean into heavy music, 'cause that's just what we love; it's in our DNA. But being huge fun fans of bands like [MR.] BUNGLE —I mean, just anything, really, anything. I love Western music. Matt [singer M. Shadows; real name Matthew Sanders] loves DAFT PUNK. Brian [guitarist Synyster Gates, real name Brian Haner Jr.] loves different pop bands. We love everything, and everyone's different. And so we just incorporate kind of everything, but our core DNA, from when we were 14 years old, it's METALLICA, PANTERA, BAD RELIGION, MISFITS, punk rock stuff, AFI, all the stuff we grew up really loving. That's always gonna be there. So we always kind of go back to that. And then we push the limits, we expand, we incorporate all sorts of shit — basically, anything that's gonna piss off fans and get their minds working in no matter what direction it is."

He added later during the chat: "We still try and push the boundaries, and people are, like, 'Fuck this. Fuck this band.' And it's been like that every single album ever. And the funniest part is we did not have a blueprint. We wanted to be a hardcore band. I wanted to be a punk band. Then we wanted to be a metal band. Then we wanted to do GUNS N' ROSES rock shit. And then we wanted to be MR. BUNGLE. We wanted to be influenced by DREAM THEATER. It was just like anything and everything. Whoever was driving the van [in the band's early days] had control of the tape deck, and they would put the cassette tape in of what they wanted to listen to and torture us for the next 10 hours of a drive. And that's literally what shaped our sound. It was everyone adding their influence of what they wanted AVENGED to be and what they thought it should be, and respecting everyone else's opinions, and we put it all together. We didn't know what we were doing. And we just took it and ran with it, and people would love it, they would hate it. And all of a sudden it became kind of accepted as its own genre, because people that liked THE USED or liked MY CHEM[ICAL ROMANCE], it was okay to like us, or [people that] liked THRICE or AFI, it was okay to like us. And then the hardcore bands like EIGHTEEN VISIONS and BLEEDING THROUGH, they were kind, like, taking us under their wing too, and, like, 'Hey, it's okay for us to like you guys. We don't wanna beat you up anymore. This shit's cool.' And then, all of a sudden, it was just, like, off to the races. It was a weird thing. You went on Warped Tour, you played the best shows you could, the shows started getting bigger, you went from clubs to bigger clubs. And before you knew it, it was, like, MTV [picked up on it]."

"Life Is But A Dream…" was written and recorded over the span of four years. It was produced by Joe Barresi and AVENGED SEVENFOLD in Los Angeles and mixed by Andy Wallace in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. The album is a journey through an existential crisis; a very personal exploration into the meaning, purpose and value of human existence with the anxiety of death always looming.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD and GOOD CHARLOTTE will join together this summer for a North American tour. Promoted by Live Nation, the 16-city trek will kick off July 25 in Ridgedale, Missouri, with additional stops in Shakopee, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, New York, Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, and more before wrapping August 27 at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre in Phoenix, Arizona.

Last September, AVENGED SEVENFOLD postponed its fall 2025 Latin American tour due to M. Shadows's vocal injury. The band was scheduled to to kick off the tour on September 25, 2025 in Buenos Aires, Argentina but ended up calling off the trek after M. Shadows was diagnosed with vocal fold hematoma, a condition where a blood vessel in the vocal cord ruptures and leaks blood under the lining of the vocal cord.

"Life Is But A Dream…" reportedly sold 36,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart. AVENGED SEVENFOLD's previous LP, "The Stage", debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 album chart in November 2016. The surprise release of "The Stage" earned the lowest sales of an AVENGED SEVENFOLD album in eleven years. It sold 76,000 copies in its first week, less than half the tally of its previous two efforts.

Last December AVENGED SEVENFOLD released a new song, "Magic". AVENGED SEVENFOLD debuted the song in a season of "Call Of Duty" Black Ops 7, and released the track fully independently, continuing the ambition of the band's current work. The band once again partnered with the world-renowned fine artist Wes Lang for the single artwork. "Magic" was the first new AVENGED SEVENFOLD release since "Life Is But A Dream…"

Zacky will release a solo album, "Dark Horse", under his real name, Zachary Baker, on April 3 via his label Vngnz Records.

Photo credit: Silken Weinberg (courtesy of Big Hassle Media)

In a new interview with Graham and Kato of "The Pit", which airs on the Minneapolis radio station 93X, TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy spoke about the band's creative process, particularly the songwriting chemistry between TESTAMENT's founding guitarist Eric Peterson and TESTAMENT's latest addition, drummer Chris Dovas. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Chris and Eric are actually working on the next record already. They've already got, like, six or eight tunes already almost ready to go for the next record. So we're hoping maybe get out in '27 to pop into the studio and make another record. We don't know yet, but we're not waiting four or five years. We're ready to pop 'em out now."

After one of the interviewers noted that four or five years is "almost a quick turnaround compared to some other bands", Chuck said: "Yeah, but when you're 63 years old, five years, man, that's a fucking long time. [Laughs] You know what I'm saying?"

He continued: "I don't have no plans on retiring ever in the future, but I think the time is now. Hey, we've got a good strong band. Everybody's into writing. Man, we get along well. Things are going well. Let's just keep going, man, keep writing. That's the end of it. Even if we don't tour anymore, because maybe physically we might not be able to, I think we'll always be songwriters and make records, 'cause we enjoy that."

TESTAMENT's latest album, "Para Bellum", came out in October 2025 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was recorded with Juan Urteaga and mixed for the first time by Jens Bogren. The cover art was once again painted by Eliran Kantor.

When "Para Bellum" was first announced in August, it was accompanied by the official music video for the LP's first single, "Infanticide A.I.", directed by Joey Durango.

A major evolution on "Para Bellum" was the addition of powerhouse drummer Chris Dovas, whose precision, speed, and instinctive dynamics infuse the album with fresh energy. Working closely with Peterson throughout the writing process, Dovas helped shape song structures, accelerated the workflow, and injected a level of versatility that amplifies the album's modern edge without straying from the TESTAMENT sound.

Dovas officially joined TESTAMENT in 2023 as the replacement for Dave Lombardo (ex-SLAYER).

Prior to joining TESTAMENT as a full-time member, Dovas previously filled in for Lombardo on the first six dates of TESTAMENT's summer/fall 2022 leg of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour". Lombardo was unable to make those gigs due to a scheduling conflict with the MISFITS.

This past December, TESTAMENT announced the U.S. leg of their "Thrash Of The Titans" world tour. The trek, which will launch later this month, unites the band with fellow thrash legends OVERKILL and DESTRUCTION for one of the fiercest tours of the year.

Alice Cooper has announced the release of his definitive autobiography, "Devil On My Shoulder", published by Ebury Spotlight on October 8, 2026. This long-awaited autobiography finally lifts the lid on one of the greatest lives in music.

Building on over sixty years of rock folklore, Cooper will support the book's launch with an intimate eight-date U.K. speaking tour. Each evening will feature the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee in conversation with a special guest moderator, followed by an audience question-and-answer session, offering fans a rare glimpse behind the greasepaint and guillotines.

There are two seemingly irreconcilable Alice Coopers — the murderous, morally corrupt theatrical character who threatened the moral fibre of the western world… and the man who plays him, a sober pastor's son who has been happily married for 50 years. Along the way, the two became schizophrenically intertwined. And in a haze of pioneering rock and roll, alcohol, drugs, iconic songs and wild gigs, guillotines, slaughtered chickens, legendary friends, rumors, snakes, Ouija boards, surrealism, house fires and car crashes — they nearly killed each other.

Cooper says: "Alice is still on tour around the world today, a proper senile delinquent playing hundreds of gigs every year, while I myself am reformed. And with the benefit of hindsight and a certain maturity, I'd like to describe our journey to Hell and back together, because it's not only rock stars who can lose their way."

In the Sixties and early Seventies, Alice Cooper was simply a rock group, but as their lead singer, Vincent Damon Furnier, developed his modern-day Grand Guignol character, Alice Cooper became his stage name. Then, on a wave of global success, he legally changed it to his own.

Cooper says: "I was born Vincent Damon Furnier but, seduced by my character's reputation, changed my name legally to Alice Cooper, and in the process lost sight of who I really was. The mild-mannered, all-American boy I'd once been became a monster and a mortal danger to himself."

With a career spanning six decades, Alice's story features witty, intimate anecdotes featuring Salvador Dalí, Bob Hope, John Lennon, Groucho Marx, Vincent Price, Frank Sinatra, Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Gerald Ford, Andy Warhol, Tiger Woods, to name a few, but he's also an acute observer of dysfunction and despair, wildness and criminality, urges and addictions, transgressions and human goodness. And so he tells his story from both perspectives: angel on one shoulder, devil on the other.

Cooper says: "Me and Alice were getting creative with the truth long before the age of 'fake news'. Now, after over thirty records and sixty-plus years of fibs and fabrications, I think it's time to sort the truth from the rumors and lies."

"Devil On My Shoulder" is the definitive memoir from one of the most iconic music artists of our generation.

"Devil On My Shoulder" U.K. book tour dates:

Oct. 11 - Cardiff New Theatre
Oct. 12 - Cambridge Corn Exchange
Oct. 13 - London Palladium
Oct. 14 - Brighton Dome
Oct. 16 - Manchester Opera House
Oct. 17 - Stockton Globe
Oct. 19 - Glasgow Pavilion Theatre
Oct. 20 - Wolverhampton Civic Hall

No stranger to doing things his own way, Alice Cooper has cast a long shadow over rock music with an unrivaled live show and timeless anthems like "School's Out", "No Mr. Nice Guy" and "Poison". Selling over 50 million albums worldwide, he earned a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2003, and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inducted him as part of its class of 2011. Boasting one of the most influential catalogues in history, Rolling Stone cited 1971's platinum-certified "Love It To Death" among the "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time", while other platinum releases spanned the seminal "Killer" (1971),"School's Out" (1972),the Billboard 200 No. 1 "Billion Dollar Babies" (1973),"Welcome To My Nightmare" (1975) and "Trash" (1989),to name a few. The latter even graced Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums Of All Time."

He's so embedded in generations of popular culture that he not only made a cult-classic appearance in "Wayne's World" during 1992, but he also starred alongside John Legend and Sara Bareilles in NBC's 2018 production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's "Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert" — and also memorably appeared on both "The Muppets" and "That 70s Show!" as well as in Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows" film. Beyond hundreds of syncs, everyone from Etta James, THE SMASHING PUMPKINS, MEGADETH and THE FLAMING LIPS has covered his tunes. THE BEASTIE BOYS, DISTURBED, and countless others have sampled him. His collaborators have notably included the late Vincent Price, AEROSMITH, GUNS N' ROSES and Jon Bon Jovi, to name just a few. Plus, he co-founded HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES alongside AEROSMITH's Joe Perry and Johnny Depp. Most recently, 2025's "The Revenge Of Alice Cooper" reunited the surviving members of the original ALICE COOPER band to widespread critical acclaim. After thousands upon thousands of gigs and easily a million miles traveled, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee continues ever onwards into rock n roll folklore.

On the latest episode of the Podcast Rock City KISS podcast, Joey Cassata, who played drums on Ace Frehley's final original solo album, "10,000 Volts", spoke about how he landed the gig as the drummer for TWISTED SISTER's upcoming fall 2026 featuring Sebastian Bach on lead vocals. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "To give you a little history before I give you how this kind of transpired, I've known the TWISTED camp forever. First of all, let's even go back further. I'm a crazy TWISTED SISTER fan from back — maybe starting as early as seven or eight years old, I remember seeing the 'You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll' video on what we used to have, U68 [a short-lived music channel that originated in Newark New Jersey and broadcast into New York City]… We didn't have cable yet in '82 or '83. And I remember seeing that and falling in love with them. And then, of course, 'Stay Hungry' hits, and they basically become the biggest band in the world for that next year, with 'We're Not Gonna Take It' and 'I Wanna Rock'. And I was a major, major TWISTED SISTER fan. I always loved them. I even sent pictures to you guys of my old binder from sixth grade with all the logos — TWISTED SISTER big on the cover, with 'SMF' written on it. But again, I was always a big TWISTED fan."

He continued: "So fast forward, ZO2 [Joey's former band] had gotten the opportunity to play with TWISTED on many occasions. So we opened for TWISTED when they did a private show as BENT BROTHER. That's kind of their alter ego when they do hidden shows just to kind of warm up a tour. And ZO2 got to do a show with them as BENT BROTHER [at] Starland Ballroom in New Jersey. And we just became really close with the guys. Obviously, musically. I just love them all, but just personally, they're all great guys. They're all New York guys. So we got along really well. We busted each other's balls and [Mark] Mendoza [TWISTED SISTER bassist] would threaten Paulie [ZO2 singer Paul Zablidowsky] all the time and Dee [Snider, TWISTED SISTER singer] would make fun of us. And it was just a really good camaraderie that we had with TWISTED over the handful of shows that we got to play with them. And we got to play a couple of more shows with them, opening up for them, when they did their Christmas run in '08 and '07. So we've been back and forth in the TWISTED camp. And then when 'Z Rock' aired [the television series created by the Independent Film Channel focusing on ZO2] — and again, I don't know if everyone knows this, so 'Z Rock' was my old TV show that was on IFC — almost all of the guys from TWISTED were on 'Z Rock' at one point or another. So, like I said, the camp is really tight knit. Jay Jay [French, TWISTED SISTER guitarist] was the first guy that was ever on 'Z Rock'. He was on our original pilot that never aired… So like I said, TWISTED and ZO2, the camps are really intertwined over the years. I love those guys beyond belief. So fast forward, I get a call in the beginning of January from their manager Danny [Stanton], and he left me a message. And I think it was a day or two after Peter [Criss, original KISS drummer] was at our house. And I know Danny loves KISS and he was a big Peter fan and he knows Peter. And I thought he was just calling me to talk about Peter coming over. So when I called him back, I was expecting to kind of talk about the Peter experience with him. And he asked me if I was interested in playing with the guys, I think, if I remember the exact way he said it. And I was, like, 'Well, what guys? What are you talking about?' Again, 'cause I'm thinking we're gonna talk about Peter. And he's, like, 'TWISTED.' And my mind is going, 'Wait a second.' 'Well, first of all, oh my God. Of course. I'm humbled and honored that you had even asked me this. What, are you serious? Give me the details.' So after a little bit of details, Joe Franco, who they got on board to do the run with them, was unable to do it for a little bit of health reasons — all minor, minor stuff, but he just wasn't able to do the run with them. And Joe actually told Danny, 'Hey, what about Joey?' Joe knows me as well, and Danny, of course, knows me. They all knew me. So it turned out to be an easy call to call me, 'cause I know all those guys already. They know me, they know my playing, they know my personality. So, of course, I was immediately in."

TWISTED SISTER's 2026 shows were originally supposed to feature the band's three core members: singer Dee Snider, along with guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda. Bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza was not going to be joining the celebration. Russell Pzütto, who has toured with Snider's solo projects, was slated to replace Mendoza on bass. Joe Franco, who briefly played with the group in the mid-1980s, was supposed to sit behind the drum kit, stepping in for A.J. Pero, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 55.

On March 3, Jay Jay and Eddie announced that Bach will front TWISTED SISTER for a handful of select dates this fall. These appearances do not affect or conflict with Sebastian's current or future solo touring schedule, which remains fully intact.

On February 5, TWISTED SISTER announced it had scrapped its 2026 reunion shows after Snider resigned, citing health issues.

The band posted on social media that Dee's "sudden and unexpected resignation" forced the group to cancel all dates starting in April through the beginning of the summer.

Joey's musical journey started when he was just five years old seeing KISS at Madison Square Garden. He later went on to open for KISS with his band ZO2 in 2004 for 50 shows. ZO2 then starred in its own TV show, "Z Rock", with guest stars Joan Rivers, Gilbert Gottfried, Dave Navarro, Daryl Hall and Sebastian Bach. After "Z Rock", Joey went on to perform with the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical "Natasha Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812", starring Grammy Award winner Josh Groban.

DREAM THEATER's Mike Portnoy played drums for TWISTED SISTER when the band reunited to perform at the sixth annual Metal Hall Of Fame charity gala in January 2023 at The Canyon club in Agoura Hills, California.

In 2016, TWISTED SISTER embarked on one final trek, titled "Forty And Fuck It", in celebration of its 40th anniversary. These shows featured the band's "core lineup" of Snider, French, Ojeda and Mendoza, along with Portnoy. The band's last concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of Pero.