In a new interview with the Heavy Metal Mayhem radio show, former MEGADETH guitarist Chris Poland discussed the evolution of his relationship with the band's leader Dave Mustaine. Poland said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Me and Dave lived together in a rehearsal studio [in the early days of MEGADETH]. We took 'bird baths' with cold water in a sink for a year. And then we toured repeatedly. We were together all the time. We were a real band when MEGADETH first started. And once that happens, everybody kind of becomes brothers. And I know Dave said terrible shit about me [in the later years], but I don't hold a grudge. And I understand. I know how Dave is. I know Dave. That's how he is. He says stuff off the top of his head, and I'm sure regrets it later."

Poland was a member of MEGADETH from 1984 to 1987, during which time he performed on the band's classic albums "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" and "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" He is also a featured soloist on the group's 2004 album, "The System Has Failed".

"When [Dave] asked me to play on 'The System Has Failed', I was, like, 'Yeah, I'll play on that. Of course I will,'" Poland told Heavy Metal Mayhem. "And then the funny thing was, [it was] the same vibe that I got from the first two records. There's something about when he writes riffs and I play over 'em — there's some kind of weird magic, man."

Asked about the freedom he had to contribute his ideas to MEGADETH's music in the band's early days, Poland said: "The way it was with Dave was if you played something and he didn't tell you not to play it, then you could play it. So when I did the descending harmonies on 'Peace Sells' or I added some kind of minor note in a chord here or there, and he didn't say, 'Hey, don't play that,' then I'd play it. But as far as writing, Dave wrote everything. All I did was play with a note here and there, or a harmony. But that's the thing about Mustaine — I mean, he's still writing riffs today that are fucking good. [Laughs] He's the riff master."

Reflecting on how he joined MEGADETH in the first place, Chris said: "It was kind of [early MEGADETH drummer] Gar [Samuelson] that asked me to join MEGADETH. He was, like, 'You should join, man. This is awesome.' And we had just come out of a fusion band with a pretty high difficulty factor. And Mustaine's music I didn't feel was metal. There was something about it that didn't strike me as it — I know it was heavy, but it wasn't just banging out three-chord metal songs. It was really articulate and really well thought-out. And the arrangements were — I mean, the first two records, that's serious music, man. That's not just metal. So I was totally intrigued. And then, of course, I had to go where Gar went, man, 'cause I had been playing with Gar my whole life."

Poland added: "The way I looked at [MEGADETH's music] was, 'This is fast LED ZEPPELIN.' And that's the way I looked at it. I had a decent idea of how to get a good distorted sound, and so when the pedaling got involved, I just adapted to it. And then, of course, his spider chord thing. I learned a lot from Dave."

Poland previously looked back on his time with MEGADETH during a May 2025 appearance on "The David Ellefson Show" video podcast, hosted by former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. Chris said at the time:  "I have no regrets about everything that's happened — except one. I regret that Mustaine for years would go on stage and call me a liar. I never really thought much about it, but then I did the math and I realized that's why things were so hard for me to try and get deals. I walked into Carvin [guitars] one day and I thought, 'You know what? These guitars aren't bad. I wanna talk to their A&R guy.' So I spoke to the guy and he goes, 'Dude, we don't use people like you on our roster.' So, I was, like, 'Oh, okay.' So I have a feeling that Dave's anger with me about what it was really was like dragging around a fucking 50-pound ball all the time — back then."

Ellefson chimed in: "Well, look, he did it to [another former MEGADETH guitarist] Jeff Young. There was some derogatory comment [Dave made] that kept [Jeff] from getting work for a long time. I could say the same was attempted at me. Fortunately, I just kept moving. I just kept going and was, like, 'All right, I'm just gonna ignore that comment and keep moving.'"

David continued: "It's interesting. There's always been a lot of these 'former MEGADETH members unite' [situations]. And it's not an intentional thing. It's not. In fact, when I was going back to MEGADETH [16 years ago], Jeff was really taking an issue over Dave [saying in interviews that Mustaine was] whistling or singing guitar solos to him [while Jeff was in the band] or something, and it was a public thing. And he is going, 'Come on, we gotta unite.' And I said, 'Hey, Jeff. I just got home from San Diego. I literally just rejoined MEGADETH.' And this was 2010. And I remember Dave came to me about it, and I said, 'I'll handle it. I'll take care of it.' And I made it go away — as I do. Because that's just part of — I don't know — part of the gift I've been given on this planet. It's, like, we're gonna come to peaceful terms, we're gonna make that go away, and we're all gonna just move on."

Added Chris: "It's not sour grapes or anything. It's just it finally dawned on me just how much damage that really did."

Four years ago, Poland confirmed to Sofa King Cool that the song "Liar" from MEGADETH's 1988 album "So Far, So Good... So What?" was written by Mustaine about him. He said: "Oh, yeah. Obviously, Dave was very upset with me when I left the band — when he fired me, basically."

Asked if he was angry when he first heard he was the lyrical inspiration for the song, Poland said: "No, man. It's like the pot calling the kettle black, man. When you point your finger, man, there's three pointing back at you. I just rolled my eyes and was, like, 'Really?'"

Back in 2004, Poland and/or his management and attorney filed a lawsuit against Mustaine regarding the use of the three "Rust In Peace" demos on the album's reissue without Chris's permission. According to MEGADETH's webmaster, Mustaine included the demos because he thought Chris would be "thankful for the promotion, the tipping of the hat, and showing the fans how Marty [Friedman, MEGADETH's guitarist during some of the post-Poland years] had actually been influenced by some of Chris's solo selections for those songs." Chris also allegedly tried to sue Dave for defamation of character because Dave called him a "thief," but Chris's attorney "dropped that after he found out that Chris had actually taken the band's gear and sold it for drugs," according to MEGADETH's webmaster. "Remember, there is a confession in the VH1 'Behind the Music' on MEGADETH," the webmaster said. Chris eventually settled for $9,500 and thereby ended a professional relationship with Dave and MEGADETH.

In a September 2020 interview with Darren Paltrowitz (host of the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" podcast),Mustaine singled out Poland, saying: "Chris Poland, as much as I don't really like the guy, he was a great guitar player, and I wanted to give him a shot when we did the 2004 reissues for 'Peace Sells' and 'Rust In Peace', and I wanted to put that song out on the 'Rust In Peace' reissue. He got involved in a nuisance lawsuit, I think it was, and we just ended our friendship. And I thought, 'God, that was such a waste.'

"There was a little teeny mountain that was right out by where we live, and I said I could have just as soon bought that piece of dirt there than sell Chris's friendship, and I'm so bummed that this happened," Mustaine added. "'Cause I thought it would have been terrific to have him on the record. [When] people say, 'Hey, this sounds like Marty Friedman.' No, Marty Friedman sounded like this, because Chris played it first."

Poland previously discussed the legal issues surrounding the 2004 reissue of "Rust In Peace" in a 2018 interview with the As The Story Grows podcast. He said: "When I did 'The System Has Failed', [Dave] was working on adding the demos to a re-release of 'Rust In Peace'. And I wasn't going to get paid, but I didn't realize that until it came out. I was like, 'Wait a minute — I'm not getting paid for this.' And I tried to call Dave at least a dozen times, and I never heard back from him. Then I called Dave's manager a dozen times, and he wouldn't get back to me. The last time I called him, I said, 'Hey, man. If you don't call me back, I'm going to call [my lawyer], and we're going to have to get into it.' [The manager] calls me back and totally insults me, saying, 'You played a couple solos. So what?' And I'm like, 'What do you mean, 'So what?'' 'Well, Dave thought that you would do it for the fans.' I said, 'Okay. Is everybody else that played on that demo doing it for the fans? Are they getting paid?' He said, 'Chris, that's not the point.' I said, 'Listen, man, we have to do something here. I'm not just going to walk away. I love the fans, but I'm just not going to do it. If everybody else is getting a performance royalty for this, I want one.' I want everybody to know that it wasn't a nuisance suit, it wasn't anything like that. I made every attempt to work it out, and they just ignored me."

Photo credit: Melody Myers (courtesy of O'Donnell Media Group)

Rock 'n' roll legend Suzi Quatro will release her new album, "Freedom", on March 27. The LP's second single, "Little Miss Lovely", can be heard below.

In a recent interview with Dawn Osborne of TotalRock, Quatro stated about how she chose "Freedom" to be the first single and title of the upcoming album: "I was going through the master mixes, and the album was gonna be called 'Choose Yourself', which was the top song for a long time. So I'm going through the mixes to approve, and this 'Freedom', it just kept coming out and smacking me in the face. And I went, 'Okay, this is the first single, this is the title of the album.' And have you ever seen and heard a picture and a song, and a title that all says exactly the same thing? Doesn't it scream it to you freedom?"

Suzi also talked about the "Freedom" album cover, saying: "Once I decided on that track for the single, I actually had a vision — [it was] so strange — a vision of this album cover and the single cover. And I couldn't get it out of my mind. So I put out little notes to all my people who photographed me for years. I said, 'Here's what I'm looking for.' And so I have a girl in Australia who's done me for — I don't know — since the '80s. And she had a photograph of me from the back with my bass on, on stage. And the art team then got together and created the image around it. And it's exactly the way I saw it in my mind's eye. And it's important."

Elaborating on the lyrical inspiration for "Freedom", Suzi said: "I'm 75. I have achieved freedom in myself, in my attitude. I've dropped my excess baggage. I don't have that anymore. I don't have anything to prove. I'm comfortable in my skin. So it's a very important personal thing. Also, in this world we live in, I say freedom — what is more precious than freedom? Nothing."

After Osborne noted that Quatro still looks "about 35, 40", Suzi concurred. "I'm 75. And you know what? I've always been lucky, to be honest, that I've always looked 10 years, at least, younger than what I am, always my whole life," she said. "So when I was first having hits in 1973, I was 23, but I looked like I was 13. That's just the way it's always been. They always told me, 'Your kind of face' — I've got a fleshy face and I've got a childish face, and I always wanted cheekbones, and I was always told, 'When you get older, you're gonna appreciate that so much because you're gonna age really, really well.' [Laughs] Okay, I appreciate it now. But I never lie about my age. I say it on stage. I'm not chasing 25. And I don't care. My secret is, I honestly don't care. I'm 75 and I don't care."

Suzi was also asked about her retirement quote, which was included in the press materials for "Freedom": "I will retire when I go on stage, shake my ass, and there is silence." She said: "Well, I gotta tell you, though. That's funny. I gave that quote when I was 35. And it was a journalist that said to me, 'Oh, when are you gonna retire?' And I went, 'What?' So I gave him that glib answer: 'When I turn my back on the audience and shake my ass, and there's silence.' That followed me my whole career. Everybody picks up on that quote. It's a good quote, but then at 65, I gave a nod to 65 and I slightly altered it: 'When I turn my back on the audience and my ass shakes by itself, then I'll stop.' And now, at 75, here's my serious quote, and I stand by this one. I won't change it. Now when I go on stage and I don't deliver to my standard… I will know it, even if the audience isn't aware, 'cause I'm a pro, so they probably wouldn't know, but I would know. And then I say, 'Okay.' But I'm nowhere near that yet. You can't get rid of me yet. [Laughs]"

Since first bursting on to the scene with her classic No. 1 hit singles "Can The Can" and "Devil Gate Drive", Quatro has sold over 55 million records worldwide and is recognised as a true rock 'n' roll legend and pioneering icon who never did "gender".She is also renowned for her acclaimed acting career, including theatre and TV series, most notably her three-season iconic role as Leather Tuscadero in "Happy Days" (for which she received second most fan mail after The Fonz).

Her extraordinary catalog of hits includes "48 Crash", "Can The Can", "Devil Gate Drive", "Daytona Demon", "The Wild One", "If You Can't Give Me Love", "She's In Love With You", "Rock Hard", and the U.S. million-seller "Stumblin' In", her duet with Chris Norman, which became a worldwide million seller again in 2024.

In 2019, she began collaborating with her son, L.R. Tuckey (producer, co-writer, guitarist),and their creative partnership now reaches its third chapter with the release of "Freedom", their third album together.

Suzi said in a statement: "It's all about getting back to who you are, and it applies universally. We all wear masks to get by in this world. For me it's all about being comfortable in your own skin, having nothing to prove to anyone, and not accepting any B.S.! This is the journey this album takes you on. Here I am, warts and all. Take it or leave it. Choose yourself…and finally FREEDOM. Which also applies to the world we live in today. A very important word, a very important attitude and very important reality… 'FREEDOM'!"

Along with the single "Freedom", the new album includes a duet with fellow Detroit native Alice Cooper, on a rocking duet of the MC5 classic "Kick Out The Jams".

"Freedom" was produced by L.R. Tuckey and mastered by Christian Wright at Abbey Road Studios.

Track listing:

01. Freedom (single version)
02. Little Miss Lovely
03. Choose Yourself
04. Going Down
05. Hanging Over Me
06. Here's Ya Boots
07. Can't Let It Go
08. Nobody Held My Hand
09. Shakedown
10. Take It Or Leave It
11. Womans' Song
12. Kick Out The Jams (feat. Alice Cooper)
13. It All Comes Down To You (bonus track)

Welsh ragga metal legends SKINDRED have released their brand-new single "Can I Get A". It's the third track to be taken from the band's upcoming album, "You Got This", which is due on April 17.

With a jaunty electro-honky-tonk intro leading straight into a infectiously singalong pop chorus, complete with "woop-woops", "Can I Get A" is an inspiring song of resilience and defiance, with playful sonic nods to the '80s, including a Phil Collins-style drum break and a soaring gospel backing vocal.

However, dig deep into the lyrics of "Can I Get A" and you'll uncover a mini autobiography in song, addressing issues of childhood poverty and family hardship, made bearable through the love and support of those closest to you. It takes SKINDRED lead singer Benji Webbe back to being orphaned as a child, and how he was raised by his older brother who was little more than a kid himself.

"It's me as a child seeing my friends with all these amazing things that people take for granted that I never had," he explains. "I was eleven years old and was worried what my life would become. A lot of kids where I lived got into trouble and ended up in prison. I was just gonna grab that microphone and see where it would take me. I want to empower people to know that you can be what you want to be. Don't spend your life worrying about what you haven't got. Live your life because now is the time."

The track is accompanied by a brilliant, tongue-in-cheek video, featuring the band performing alongside male and female dancers inside whirling graphics. Watch the video below.

"You Got This" is SKINDRED's ninth album and is an all-killer-no-filler set which features everything that people love about the band – hard-hitting slammers, mega addictive hooks, earwormy soundclash elements, and dancehall vibes destined to ignite venues across the globe. The title track was released as the first single from the album late last year, accompanied by a brilliantly entertaining video.

Production came from the Grammy-winning Jay Ruston, who drummer Arya Goggin admires for having the songwriting chops to work with 1980s power ballad master Desmond Child, while also producing SLIPKNOT's Corey Taylor and Mike Patton's MR. BUNGLE.

The inspiration for the title track came when gym devotee Benji saw a man struggling to complete his exercises as he started his rehabilitation after a stroke. The personal trainer told him, "You got this," and the mood completely lifted.

"I was watching from a distance, and I could see the struggle and the pain, but in that moment, I knew he had got this," recalls Benji. "It's such an empowering statement and it applies to so many battles that everybody faces: it could be a recovery from a stroke, or it could be studying for your exams at school. For me, having songs that lift people who are going through tough times is the most important thing. I feel like that's what I'm put on this planet to do."

"You Got This" track listing:

01. You Got This
02. Can I Get A
03. Born Fe Dis
04. This Is The Sound
05. Broke
06. Glass
07. Big ‘Em Up
08. Do It Like This
09. My People
10. Give Thanks
11. Dred Or Alive

The new album finds the Newport trio — completed by guitarist Mikey Demus — embarking on a thrilling journey to follow the mainstream breakthrough that came with 2023's critically-acclaimed album "Smile". That album shot straight into the U.K. official album chart at No. 2, and SKINDRED went on to receive the "Best Alternative Music Act" award at the MOBOs, also winning "Best UK Act" at the Heavy Music Awards.

Long revered as one of the best live bands on the planet, they played their largest headline show to date at Wembley Arena and toured the world, smashing every festival and headline performance and winning tens of thousands of new fans in the process. Those new fans will join SKINDRED's long-established rabid fanbase in lapping up every note and lyric of "You Got This".

Last November, SKINDRED's founding bassist Dan Pugsley announced his departure from the band, writing in a social media post: "I've been getting a lot of concerned messages, so I just wanted to let you all know that I'm okay but I am no longer a member of SKINDRED.

"I want to thank my family, my friends, and especially all the SKINDRED fans for the incredible love and support you've shown me over the years. I'll always be deeply grateful for it.

"This band has been such a huge part of my life, and now I'm taking some time to figure out what's next for me. I'm really looking forward to new creative opportunities ahead."

Photo credit: Dean Chalkley

In a new interview with Justin Schlegel and Josh Spiegel of the Baltimore radio station 98 Rock, THREE DAYS GRACE singer Adam Gontier spoke about the band's ongoing tour in support of its latest album, "Alienation", which arrived in August via RCA Records. For the first time in over a decade, original THREE DAYS GRACE frontman Adam is back, joining Matt Walst on vocals along with Neil Sanderson (drums),Brad Walst (bass) and Barry Stock (guitars). Regarding how his return came to be, Adam said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Yeah, first, there was never a moment where I wanted to come in and take back [the position as the sole lead singer]. No way.

"We were all friends from a small town before we got signed as a band and stuff, so we grew up together," he explained. "So the foundation that we have is really strong. And aside from all the stuff that we went through over the last bunch of years, and when I left and that sort of thing, there was a lot going on for me. But no — coming back, it was Matt and Brad had been talking about it for a while, and Barry had put it out there, like, we really thought it was something that the THREE DAYS GRACE fans would enjoy hearing both of us — me up there doing most of the older stuff and Matt doing the newer stuff and maybe we can do parts together, and can this work? And because of that foundation, just growing up together, I think was really easy — it was pretty seamless."

Adam added: "We got in a room together, sat down with guitars, and it was like we hadn't missed a beat. It was super natural. And it's cool, because there's parts now that we write that we can write where, let's say if it's a little heavier and needs more of a screamy-type thing, Matt's really good at that kind of thing too. And I'm not good at these weird kind of open screams and stuff, but Matt can do them. So there's parts where it's just natural it's for him. And there's other parts that are natural for me. So it works — it just works amazing."

2025 was a big year for THREE DAYS GRACE with the release of "Alienation", with No. 1 songs "Mayday" and "Apologies" along with sold-out shows in Canada (co-headline with VOLBEAT) and the U.S. (co-headline with BREAKING BENJAMIN) and a sold-out European tour (with BADFLOWER).

Last November, THREE DAYS GRACE announced the 2026 "Alienation" tour, which kicked off in Fort Wayne, Indiana in February, before hitting Canada and Europe and wrapping up the tour in November for the final show in Los Angeles, California. The U.S. tour dates are receiving support from I PREVAIL and THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT, and Canada is seeing support from FINGER ELEVEN and ROYAL TUSK on select dates.

THREE DAYS GRACE played its first full show with Gontier in 12 years on February 25, 2025 as the support act for DISTURBED on the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho.

In a recent interview with Nik Nocturnal, Adam stated about sharing lead vocals with Matt in THREE DAYS GRACE's new lineup: "We got sort of — not lucky, but our voices do blend really well together. And we've noticed it obviously way more now with making the record and recording and all this stuff that, yeah, our voices really blend well. Yeah, so we're fortunate for that, that it's working out the way we had hoped."

Gontier added: "It's been great, man. It's cool. Matt grew up with the band. He's Brad's little brother, and I knew Matt from when he was just a little guy. So I think for them it was a natural fit to get him to take my spot there. And, yeah, now [we're just, like] — let's do it together."

In a December 2024 interview with "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, Matt talked about how the idea for having two singers in THREE DAYS GRACE came about. He said: "I think one day I just talked to my brother Brad about it and was, like, 'It'd be sick if Adam came back. And we could both sing, and I can sing the songs of the past 10 years and Adam can even sing a few of those too.' And yeah, it just seems like a new life to breathe into THREE DAYS GRACE and to make it exciting, like the early days or just to freshen it up and, yeah, make it exciting."

In a separate interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Neil stated about Adam's return to THREE DAYS GRACE: "We had been talking and we've kept in touch. And the band was just talking about, like, how great would this be for us and for the fans and for the nostalgia of THREE DAYS GRACE. And then he got up on stage with us [for a guest appearance], and then we just thought, 'Let's make something new. Let's sit down and write a song.' And once we kind of got into that songwriting process, it just felt really natural and it felt right. And I think for the fans, we're giving them something that we haven't done before and hasn't really been done much in the past."

In April 2023, Gontier reunited with THREE DAYS GRACE onstage during the band's concert in Huntsville, Alabama. Gontier rejoined his former bandmates when they opened for SHINEDOWN at the Probst Arena At The Von Braun Center to perform two classic songs from THREE DAYS GRACE's 2006 album "One-X": "Never Too Late" and "Riot".

THREE DAYS GRACE later shared a post-performance photo with Gontier on social media and wrote in an accompanying message: "Soooo we did a thing."

In 1992, Gontier, Brad Walst, Phil Crowe, Neil Sanderson and Joe Grant formed GROUNDSWELL while most of the members were still in high school. That band broke up in 1995, but two years later Gontier, Sanderson and Walst reformed as THREE DAYS GRACE. Gontier left the band in 2013 and was replaced by Matt, the vocalist from another Norwood band, MY DARKEST DAYS.

Gontier initially went into rehab in 2005 in Toronto after admitting an addiction to Oxycontin. The rehab stint influenced some material which would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's "One-X" album, including the songs "Pain" and "Over And Over".

Gontier left THREE DAYS GRACE in the spring of 2013. At the time, the Canadian rockers cited unspecified "health issues" when his departure was announced. Adam later released a statement explaining he exited THREE DAYS GRACE to pursue new projects, and not to deal with addiction.

The four musicians Ace Frehley handpicked for his Australian tour in 2018 — Philip Shouse on bass, Ryan Spencer Cook on guitar/vocals, Jeremy Asbrock on guitar/vocals, and Christopher Williams on drums. — are returning to the country where it all began, this time to honor the legendary original KISS guitarist himself. They will perform Frehley's 1978 solo album in full, along with KISS classics, FREHLEY'S COMET anthems, other Ace solo songs and the deep cuts for the diehards. Support on the trek will come from KISS KLASSIC, Adelaide's elite collective, assembled only for occasions of this scale with deep-rooted connections to the KISS universe (they have played with both Bruce Kulick and Paul Stanley),playing a carefully curated set of Ace deep cuts. Also appearing on the bill will be KISSIT, one of Australia's most respected KISS tributes from Brisbane, playing a 1982-1992 set.

Australian tour dates:

Sep. 11 - Perth - Rosemount
Sep. 12 - Adelaide - Lion Arts Factory
Sep. 17 - Brisbane - Crowbar
Sep. 18 - Sydney - Crowbar
Sep. 19 - Melbourne - Max Watts

Shouse, Cook, Asbrock and Williams will also play a Frehley tribute set on April 17 at Eastside Bowl in Madison, Tennessee.

In 2018, Asbrock, Cook, Shouse and Williams performed with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons as the GENE SIMMONS BAND. The foursome were then invited to join Ace's band as Simmons was scheduled to return to KISS to prepare for the "End Of The Road" tour. Asbrock, Cook and Shouse accepted the invitation, but Willams could not do so due to a prior commitment with the German metal band ACCEPT.

"Gene [told Ace], 'If it's okay with them, it's okay with me,'" Asbrock, who played with Frehley for seven years, recalled in an October 2025 interview with Rolling Stone. "Later on, Gene pulled me into his dressing room, and the KISS Kruise was coming up, and he told us that Ace was going to ask us to do the cruise. Then we went to Japan from there with Ace and he asked us to be the band. I joined in September of 2018, so I've held the guitar-player position longer than any musician he's had, consecutively."

Shouse, who played bass in Frehley's solo band from 2018 to 2022 until he took a full-time gig as the guitar player in ACCEPT, told Rolling Stone about the KISS guitar legend: "Ace taught me how to play lead guitar. I was taking guitar lessons and learning the scales, but nothing sounded like music to me. It never made sense until I heard Ace, and that was in 10th grade. When I heard his solos, it all clicked."

Frehley passed away last October at the age of 74. The founding KISS guitarist died of blunt-trauma injuries to his head due to a fall, the Morris County Medical Examiner confirmed in a report. The manner of death was ruled an accident.

According to the report, a CT scan of Frehley's head revealed multiple contusions, bone fractures to the back of his skull, hemorrhages, and a subdural hematoma (the type of bleeding that occurs in a person's brain after a head injury). Additional bruises were found on the musician's hip, thigh, and abdomen. The report also noted that Frehley had suffered a stroke.

A separate toxicology report on Frehley's blood at the time of his death has not yet been released.

Frehley's longtime manager John Ostrosky confirmed to the New York Post that the late KISS icon was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York.

The legendary musician was buried on October 22 following a private memorial on October 21 at Sinatra Memorial Home in Yonkers, New York.

Frehley, whose real name was Paul Daniel Frehley, passed away peacefully surrounded by family in Morristown, New Jersey. He reportedly died nearly two weeks after a second fall at his home, which led to him being placed on life support after a brain bleed. The musician's family made the heartbreaking decision to take him off the ventilator.

Frehley's family confirmed his death, writing in a statement: "We are completely devastated and heartbroken. In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth.

"We cherish all of his finest memories, his laughter, and celebrate his strengths and kindness that he bestowed upon others. The magnitude of his passing is of epic proportions, and beyond comprehension. Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace's memory will continue to live on forever!"

Ace co-founded KISS with guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley, Gene and drummer Peter Criss in New York City in 1973. Frehley appeared on KISS's first nine albums, and returned for the band's 1998 reunion album, "Psycho Circus", only to leave again. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with the rest of KISS's original lineup in 2014.

Frehley first left KISS in 1982. He rejoined in 1996 and parted ways with the band once again in 2002 after the conclusion of KISS's first "farewell tour." Since his departure, guitarist Tommy Thayer had assumed the role of the Spaceman.

Earlier in October, Frehley scrapped the remainder of his previously announced 2025 tour dates due to unspecified "medical issues".

The legendary rocker announced the cancelation two weeks after he pulled out of the Antelope Valley Fair in Lancaster, California after sustaining minor injuries in a fall at his home.

Frehley had a rocky relationship with Simmons and Stanley whom he blamed for exacerbating his abuse of drugs and alcohol because they allegedly minimized his contributions to KISS.

In 2019, Simmons told Guitar World that Frehley and Criss had exited KISS three times, in part because they "weren't carrying their load" and weren't dependable onstage. In response, Frehley called Simmons and Stanley "control freaks, untrustworthy and… too difficult to work with."

Ace said in a 2024 interview that he got sober in 2006 after "10 car accidents" and credited his daughter Monique with inspiring him to give up drinking in 2006.

"My daughter calls me up and goes, 'Dad, I'm not hearing good things about you.' I looked in the mirror and just said, 'Shit — she's right,'" he said. "That evening, I called my sponsor and he took me to an AA meeting, and I've been sober ever since."

Frehley married Jeanette Trerotola in 1978 before they legally separated seven years later but remained married. She survives him, along with their daughter Monique, brother Charles, sister Nancy Salvner, and a number of nieces, nephews and extended family members.

🚀⚡ 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗔 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗟. ⚡🚀

𝗔 𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗬
𝗔 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘆'𝘀 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗱

👉🏻 𝗢𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲: 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟰 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵...

Posted by Silverback Touring on Sunday, March 1, 2026

Professionally filmed video of BEHEMOTH's February 15 concert at Mr.FOX Live House in Bangkok, Thailand has been uploaded to the venue's official YouTube channel and can be seen below. The show was part of the Polish extreme metallers' "Chant Of The Eastern Lands" 2026 tour.

The setlist for the Bangkok concert was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. The Shadow Elite
02. Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
03. Thy Becoming Eternal
04. Conquer All
05. The Shit Ov God
06. Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica
07. Cursed Angel Of Doom
08. Nomen Barbarvm
09. Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
10. Bartzabel
11. Ov Fire And The Void
12. The Return Of Darkness And Evil (BATHORY cover)
13. Decade Of Therion
14. Chant For Eschaton 2000
15. O Father O Satan O Sun!

Last month BEHEMOTH canceled the band's scheduled performance on March 3 in Bangalore, India, citing credible threats from religious Christian groups and concerns over safety, legal consequences and security. BEHEMOTH was slated to stop by India as part of the "Chant Of The Eastern Lands" tour. The band was set to take the stage alongside metallers NIDHOGG at Phoenix Marketcity in Bengaluru, with BEHEMOTH's India return presented by SkillBox and their festival and gig series BigHorn.

BEHEMOTH announced the decision to call off the show on social media, confirming that the gig in India would not go ahead. The Bengaluru date marked the third cancelation on the run, following the abrupt scrapping of shows in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey, on February 11 and 12, 2026, due to similar complaints.

Back in February 2021, BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski was convicted for offending religious feelings by a court in Warsaw. The charges stemmed from an image the Polish musician posted on social media showing a foot stamping on a picture of the Virgin Mary. At the time, Darski was ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 złoty (approximately $4,000) and court costs of almost 3,500 zloty (approximately $942). Darski later contested the judgement and the case was eventually dismissed.

This wasn't the first time Nergal had encountered legal problems in Poland related to his social media activities. Back in January 2018, it was announced that Nergal was being formally charged by Polish authorities in a case involving BEHEMOTH's "Republic Of The Unfaithful" tour artwork and merchandise, which was said to be "insulting" to the national coat of arms of Poland, a stylized white eagle with a golden beak and talons, and wearing a golden crown, in a red shield. Seven years earlier, Nergal was acquitted in Poland on charges he insulted religious sentiment when he called the Catholic Church "the most murderous cult on the planet" during the band's September 2007 performance in Gdynia and tore up a copy of the Bible, calling it "a book of lies."

🔥BEHEMOTH "CHANT OF THE EASTERN LANDS 2026" LIVE IN BANGKOK"

👉 Slamman Booking Asia นำเสนอ Behemoth live in Bangkok ที่...

Posted by Mr.FOX LIVE HOUSE on Wednesday, February 11, 2026

In a new interview with Doc Rock's Metal Shop 101 on Ragebreed Radio, TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. Chuck said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's not really a creative… I guess it could be a creative tool, to help you write and work. You should use it to produce and then release something like that. But A.I. is in all our lives these days. I mean, I drove [around] San Francisco, Texas, New York, [and I was being driven in] driverless taxis. I was in L.A. last week where there's carts all up and down the streets delivering food, robots. And even in — I went to Sweetwater, which is a music distributor, back East, I went to their warehouse and their whole warehouse is robotic. So it's just pulling orders and selling and shipping stuff out all robotically."

Chuck continued: "So, it's here, man. It's taken jobs. But in the creative part of evolution of it, I ain't into it, because… Maybe if you're a young kid, you're trying to make a t-shirt, yeah, go ahead, make some A.I. But if you're gonna put it on your album and sell it to the public, I ain't down for that. Or try to make a song and sell it that way..."

He added: "It's like anything — you find a new tool to help your way get through something [and you] use it. So being an artist that's an artist, that's not being an artist, to me, really."

Chuck previously discussed A.I. last October in an interview with WOUB. He stated at the time: "A.I. is a big part of everybody’s life. A few months back, I rode a taxi in San Francisco and Texas that didn't have a driver. I went to a restaurant, and the busboy was a robot taking the plates off the tables and taking them to the dishwasher. The scary part, I thought, lyric-wise, is that this A.I. technology is about gathering as much information as you can. So what happens when it gathers so much information that it can almost decide for itself? Or have enough to retain it, where they think they know the answer?"

TESTAMENT recently announced the U.S. leg of its "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 new year.

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.

During a January 28 question-and-answer session at the HMV store on Oxford Street in London, United Kingdom, Zakk Wylde weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. The BLACK LABEL SOCIETY frontman and longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "A.I. is fine. It would almost kind of be like if me and you were sitting around going, 'Hey, guys, can you write a song you think BLACK SABBATH would write?' So it's no different than that. But you're never gonna be able to replace what is coming out of Ozzy's [Osbourne, SABBATH singer] mind, what's coming out of Tony Iommi's [SABBATH guitarist] mind, what Geezer's [Butler, SABBATH bassist/lyricist] thinking when he's gonna write lyrics, and how Bill's [Ward, SABBATH drummer] gonna approach the drums on a riff, what kind of drum beat he's gonna play. 'Cause when you get a record from whatever your favorite artist or your favorite band [is], you're getting a piece of them. So you can't ever replace that. It's just like saying you're gonna write A.I. PANTERA. You can't replace what was going on in Dime's [PANTERA guitarist Darrell Abbott] mind and what Vinnie's [Paul Abbott, PANTERA drummer] gonna play. PANTERA is those four guys — so it's Philip [Anselmo, PANTERA singer], Rex [Brown, PANTERA bassist], Dime and Vinnie. And that's that. I mean, that's PANTERA. So, just like any other band is… That's who it is. You can't replace what's coming out of Elton John's mind, what he wants to sit down and play on a piano and what Bernie Taupin's gonna write lyrically. That's the beauty of the human element of music."

Wylde continued: "But, I mean, A.I. is fine. It's fun, in regards, though, if it's gonna write something that sounds like what LED ZEPPELIN would write or what BLACK SABBATH would write. And it's just, like, 'Oh, wow. This came out pretty cool.' I mean, with BLACK LABEL, we always start with the ZEPPELIN-SABBATH mashup. And I think it's great. I remember when Ozzy heard it the first time, he was, like, 'Oh my god. Zakk, have you heard this thing?' I'm, like, 'Yeah, I think it's great.' It's 'Whole Lotta Love', and then you stick in Ozzy singing 'War Pigs' over the riff, and then Robert Plant comes in on the solo. I'm, like, 'Dude, this is the coolest thing ever.' So, it's having fun with it. But you're never gonna replace Ozzy coming up with that melody, Tony coming up with that music, and Geezer coming up with those lyrics. And then 'Whole Lotta Love', Jimmy Page playing that riff and then Robert Plant singing the 'Whole Lotta Love' scream over the top of it. 'Cause that's the real thing. You can never replace the real thing." He then quipped: "My wife has no problem replacing me with various other people and things, but as long as she's happy, that's all that matters."

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's new album, "Engines Of Demolition", will be released on March 27 via MNRK Heavy. The follow-up to 2021's "Doom Crew Inc." contains 15 tracks, including the four previously released singles, "Name In Blood", "Broken And Blind", "The Gallows" and "Lord Humungus", as well as a tune titled "Ozzy's Song", which is a tribute to the BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist/vocalist's longtime bandmate, the iconic BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne.

Wylde formed BLACK LABEL SOCIETY in 1998 and has kept the band busy in between touring and recording with Ozzy Osbourne, whose backing group he first joined nearly four decades ago.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's "Order Of The Black" (2010) and "Catacombs Of The Black Vatican" (2014) both broke into the Top Five on the hard rock album charts.

Since first joining Ozzy, Zakk had played on all of the BLACK SABBATH singer's solo albums except for 2020's "Ordinary Man", including such classic efforts as "No More Tears" (1991),"Ozzmosis" (1995) and "Black Rain" (2007).

In a new interview with El Cuartel Del Metal, vocalist Mike Muir of U.S. thrash/hardcore punk legends SUICIDAL TENDENCIES weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. Mike said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "My problem, I guess, on a humanistic level is I think when it comes down to choices, if you put someone in a room and you give 'em a choice of, 'Hey, you are gonna have to run over this, climb over this, go three miles over here and turn around, swim through the crocodiles, and then come back and you could have this, or you can push this button right here, and you could have three of 'em,' people are gonna push that button to get three of 'em.

"I think sometimes the journey is more important than the end result, and I think people are losing the journey," Muir continued. "And in that journey, you find out whether things are actually worth it. And then you have to adapt and you test yourself and it creates creativity and things like that. When you give up all power and creativity, I think that that would eliminate a lot of the greatest things that humans have done. And then you just become idol worshippers. Not to sound all theatrical, but that scares me more than anything, because I think there's nothing greater than when people are at their best, and whether they overcome whatever obstacles they have, this and that, I think that's amazing. And I think it carries over into other things. So that's my concern. And then, of course, people can get into the philosophical or the technology taking over, but we've had that debate for a long time too. So I just hope that people don't lose themselves before they find themselves."

After the interviewer noted that SUICIDAL TENDENCIES have always expanded their sound over the years and didn't simply rehash what was previously done, Muir concurred. "Yeah. I think for us, we've always kind of taken the approach, like, doing records are like chapters in a book, and you don't just rewrite the same chapter," he said. "And there's certain bands that are very successful, but every record, it's, like, you couldn't tell if it was 10 years, 20 years, you know who that is. That's cool. But for us, I think we want everything to be different. We're not doing it for people to like it. It's, like, if you are a cook and you just want people to like things, you add more sugar. But we're not the sugar band. We like spices, we like some heat, we like some challenges, and sometimes that's not gonna be what people like."

Mike continued: "Over the years I've had so many people saying that, 'Wow, I apologize. When that record came out, I thought it sucked. And 10 years later, someone was playing it. So I was, like, 'Whoa, what's that?' And I listened to it. And it's, like, I absolutely love it.' Or they say, 'Hey, I knew this song. And it was, like, 'Ah, it's all right.' And then something happened and the lyrics just sat out, and it was, like, they go, 'It's a completely different song.' And it's where people are at in life too. You break an arm, you can't give somebody penicillin. Penicillin saves a lot of lives, but it's not gonna fix a broken arm, it's not gonna get rid of cancer. it's not gonna take away people's mental difficulties and stuff. So I think there's no one-size-fits-all, treat-everybody-the-same kind of a thing."

Last April, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES released a new single called "Adrenaline Addict". SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' first new song in seven years featured Muir alongside longtime guitarist Dean Pleasants, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Tye Trujillo (son of METALLICA's Robert Trujillo) and former SLIPKNOT drummer Jay Weinberg. The track also included guest vocals from singer Nisha Star.

Under the CYCO MIKO moniker, Muir has released three albums so far, 1995's "Lost My Brain! (Once Again)", 2011's "The Mad Mad Muir Musical Tour (Part One)" and 1999's "Schizophrenic Born Again Problem Child", which was a split record that also included tracks from SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, NO MERCY and INFECTIOUS GROOVES.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES supported METALLICA on the 2025 North American leg of the latter band's "M72" world tour.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' latest album, "Still Cyco Punk After All These Years", was released in 2018 via Suicidal Records. A reworking of Muir's 1996 solo outing "Lost My Brain! (Once Again)", "Still Cyco Punk" featured founding SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo.

In 2023, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES celebrated the 40th anniversary of their debut album on a number of shows in the fall, including in New York City; Silver Spring, Maryland; Worcester, Massachusetts; and Berkeley, California. SUICIDAL TENDENCIES also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the LP on a tour of Australia.

Danish metal band RAUNCHY has returned after years of silence and announced it has re-signed with Mighty Music. The group will release its first studio album in 12 years this summer. The LP was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios.

RAUNCHY 2026 lineup is:

Jesper Andreas Tilsted - Guitars, Keyboards (1992–present)
Lars Christensen - Guitars (1992–present)
Jesper Kvist - Bass (1992–present)
Morten Toft Hansen - Drums (1992–present)
Jeppe Christensen - Keyboards, Vocals (2001–present)
Mike Semensky - Vocals (2013–present)

RAUNCHY comments: "12 years of silence end right here. We've officially signed with Mighty Music. A new chapter begins. New album out this summer."

Mighty Music released the first two RAUNCHY albums, "Velvet Noise" (2001) and "Confusion Bay" (2003).

More information about the new album, singles, videos and touring will be announced shortly.

Formed in 1992, RAUNCHY has released six albums, including the band's latest, 2014's "Vices.Virtues.Visions". The follow-up to 2010's "A Discord Electric" was RAUNCHY's first album to feature vocalist Mike Semesky, who replaced Kasper Thomsen.

Photo credit: Martin Paldan / Lars Christensen

TWISTED SISTER members Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda have announced that former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach will front the band 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.

A short clip of Sebastian rehearsing with TWISTED SISTER for the upcoming shows can be heard below.

On February 5, TWISTED SISTER announced it had scrapped its 2026 reunion shows after singer Dee 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.

Snider discussed the prospect of somebody stepping in for him as TWISTED SISTER's lead singer during a recent episode of the "Beardo & Weirdo" podcast, hosted by FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH bassist Chris Kael and comedian Craig Gass. Asked if he thought TWISTED SISTER could carry on without him, Dee said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I  hope so. I believe there's gotta be somebody out there who can kick ass."

Asked if he had anybody in mind that he would recommend to take that role, Dee said: "All right. Okay. Back it up. Back it up. So cut back to, we're still reunited — it's, like, 2014, something like that, and we only do, like, 20 shows a year, and they're headlining festivals, whatever. And we realized that if somebody got sick or had a problem at home and they couldn't do a show, it would be a great loss since it was one of 20 shows for the year. So we said, 'Listen, let's all find a stand-in guy who will do the job in case we can't make a show.' I was trying to get someone to replace me, in case we can't make a show. I was trying to get someone to replace me, and nobody would take the job. And I called him Sebastian Bach. I was, like, dude, 'Will you be the fill-in?' And he goes, 'No way.' I'm like, 'What do you mean no way?' 'Dude, that's a thankless job. No, I'm not standing in for you. Never.' I'm, like, you're my student. You studied me. You're a great singer. You can do it. People will love it.' 'Nah, nah, no way.' So him, Michael Monroe from HANOI ROCKS. No way. I hear rumors that the band is actually trying to find someone, and I say, God bless 'em."

After Gass noted that he has heard that TWISTED SISTER was rehearsing with one of the singers that were already mentioned by Dee in his previous response, an apparent reference to Bach, Snider said: "Yeah, I know there's been rehearsals with him. And he hasn't reached out to me. I think he knows he has my blessing. And I would never begrudge anybody continuing to rock."

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."

TWISTED SISTER's 2026 shows were supposed to feature the band's three core members: 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 February 7, Jay Jay shared a video message on social media commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dee joining TWISTED SISTER. He said:  "Today is the actual 50th anniversary of the day that Dee auditioned in the band. 1976. Here's the diary entry. 'Danny Snider' — he wasn't Dee yet — 'auditions for TWISTED SISTER', February 7th, 1976.

"For the last 50 years, me and [TWISTED SISTER guitarist] Eddie [Ojeda] have stood side by side with Dee, not with hundreds of shows, but with thousands of shows.

"You know the cliché in sports, when a great sportsman retires, they say he left it on the field," Jay Jay continued. "Well, I can tell you when it comes to Dee, he left it on the stage. He gave everything his all, and his body is now telling him, 'I can't give you anymore.' And when someone tells you that, you have to accept it and you have to move on. So please understand this was a tough decision, but we had no other choice but to cancel these dates.

"As far as the future of TWISTED SISTER is concerned, Eddie Ojeda and I will have conversations in the next couple of weeks to discuss what, if any, options exist for us to continue.

"Until then, just know that the SMFs [an abbreviation for 'Sick Mother Fucker', which is what TWISTED SISTER fans are affectionately called] around the world are the thing that kept us alive and kept us going, and we love you guys and we will do everything we can to always live up to your expectations as fans, 'cause nobody understands fandom more than us. We appreciate everything that you've ever done for us and hopefully we'll see you again in the future. Thank you."

In a separate announcement on February 5, the 70-year-old Snider revealed that he had been diagnosed with degenerative arthritis and had undergone several surgeries for the condition "just to keep going, able to only perform a few songs at a time in pain."

"A lifetime of legendarily aggressive performing has taken its toll on Dee Snider's body and soul," the statement read. "Adding insult to injury, Dee has recently found out the level of intensity he has dedicated to his life's work has taken its toll on his heart as well. He can no longer push the boundaries of rock 'n' roll fury like he has done for decades."

Snider added that he doesn't "know of any other way to rock.

"The idea of slowing down is unacceptable to me. I'd rather walk away than be a shadow of my former self," he said.

"In the immortal words of Dirty Harry, 'A man's got to know his limitations.' Sadly, Dee Snider now knows his," the statement concluded.

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.

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Fan-filmed video of HEART's entire February 27 concert at Lucas Oil Live at WinStar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma can be seen below (courtesy of Fake Fan channel on YouTube).

Featured songs:

00:00 Opening Video
02:58 Bebe Le Strange
06:37 Never
10:47 Love Alive
16:13 Little Queen
22:43 These Dreams
27:12 Crazy On You
33:44 Dog & Butterfly
38:30 The Rain Song (LED ZEPPELIN cover)
46:00 Edward (Nancy Wilson song)
51:30 Drum Solo
54:30 Magic Man
1:08:00 Won't Get Fooled Again (THE WHO cover)
1:07:10 Mistral Wind
1:14:20 Band Introductions
1:15:22 Straight On / Let's Dance
1:22:01 Alone / What About Love
1:28:53 The Ocean (LED ZEPPELIN cover)
1:36:36 Barracuda

In a recent interview with Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast, HEART guitarist Nancy Wilson discussed a possible follow-up to the band's latest album, 2016's "Beautiful Broken". She said: "I go  through these phases. Like right now I'm in a phase of really feeling like creating some new songs. And I've got songs going on. But I feel like this is the perfect time for HEART — like this year, next year — to make a victory lap out of our legacy. So I figure we need to make one more HEART album. And especially with these players that we have in the lineup right now in this band. We're just really excited to play together, and there's no kind of limits on what we could kind of pull off as musicians. So I've got a few songs, and Ann's [Wilson, HEART singer and Nancy's sister] working with those guys in her side band right now writing other songs. But I think I'm gonna want to make the last HEART album and do the victory lap and make 2027 mainly about the HEART film, the HEART documentary."

Nancy also offered an update on the previously announced HEART biopic. The movie about the Seattle rock greats is being written and directed by Carrie Brownstein, of SLEATER-KINNEY and "Portlandia" fame, and is being produced for Amazon by Lynda Obst, who has produced more than 20 movies and TV shows, including "Interstellar", "Contact", "Sleepless In Seattle", "The Fisher King", "Flashdance"; Amazon's "Good Girls Revolt", TVLand's "Hot In Cleveland", SyFy's "Helix" and NBC's miniseries "The '60s".

"We've got a big movie, and we've got a final draft soon to read that Carrie Brownstein, actually, [is working on] — she did 'Portlandia', of SLEATER-KINNEY fame — she's a buddy and she's a good writer too," Nancy said. "And we've been working mainly with her… And it's so weird too, 'cause you kind of have to go, well, okay, who would be the actor that plays you?"Asked which actress she would like, in a perfect world, to play her, Nancy said: "For me, I mean, somebody like Elle Fanning. She's great. Florence Pugh would make an incredible Ann Wilson, I think. I don't know. It's just fun to think about anyway."

Asked if it is "weird" to "think of a victory lap", Nancy said: "Kind of, but then as the grandchildren start arriving, [it's] not as crazy to think about doing less of the big rock tour. I mean, it's entirely exhausting to do that travel. And when you're not quite as young and rubbery as you always were, going through almost 50 years-ish of doing that, you really get paid for the travel on those rock tours. The show itself is the thrill — the million thrills and the glory and that magic thing — and I would do that for free, and I probably will end up doing music somehow for as long as I can live. But the tour part, it's really rough on you."

Back in October 2023, Ann told the "Totally 80s" podcast about the HEART biopic: "I've seen a couple of drafts of the script. It's good. [Carrie's] a great writer. If anybody can capture the story of a couple of women in rock, it's probably Carrie, 'cause she's been there herself. And Lynda Obst is one of the producers."

Asked if she knows yet who is playing her and/or her sister Nancy, Ann said: "There've been a few things bandied about, but nothing solid yet."

Pressed about whom she would like to play her, and if she wants it be someone "who can sing," Ann said: "I'd like somebody who could sing, and then they could sing some, I could sing some. I think that my preference would be somebody young and brand new and fresh — somebody who's really got their shit together in terms of being into the script."

One actress who was interested in playing Ann in the film is Anne Hathaway, "but I don't think she's exactly right for it," Ann said in a November 2020 interview with the SiriusXM show "Volume West".

The movie will begin in the Wilson sisters' childhood and end in the '90s.

After taking a break from HEART for a couple of years after a family fallout in 2016, Nancy and Ann mended their complicated relationship and returned to touring.

The North American leg of HEART's "Royal Flush" tour was initially postponed in July 2024 after Ann went public with her cancer diagnosis. She later underwent surgery and got through a course of preventive chemotherapy before returning to the road.

The current members of HEART feature Nancy Wilson (rhythm, lead and acoustic guitar, backing and lead vocals),Ann Wilson (lead vocals and flute),Ryan Wariner (lead and rhythm guitar),Ryan Waters (guitars),Paul Moak (guitars, keyboards and backing vocals),Tony Lucido (bass and backing vocals) and Sean Lane (drums and bike).

HEART's 2013 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame saw Ann and Nancy reunited with the four musicians who helped HEART achieve its initial success in the mid-1970s — guitarist Roger Fisher, bassist Steve Fossen, drummer Michael DeRosier and longtime guitarist-keyboardist Howard Leese.

The Wilson sisters' reunion with HEART's original lineup at the Rock Hall ceremony marked the first time the group played together in 34 years.

When Ann and Nancy formed HEART, the idea of two women leading a rock band was still groundbreaking. From the moment 1975's "Dreamboat Annie" was released, they became stars. With hits like "Magic Man", "Crazy On You", "Barracuda", "Alone", "What About Love" and "These Dreams", the band became one of the biggest hit-makers in the '70s and '80s, selling more than 35 million records. In 2012, their memoir "Kicking & Dreaming: A Story Of Heart, Soul And Rock & Roll" became a New York Times bestseller.

In a new interview with Seb Di Gatto of The Metal Gods Meltdown, GREAT WHITE singer Brett Carlisle spoke about his songwriting chemistry with GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall and rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Lardie. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Me and Mark, we write really well together. I live in Alabama, he lives in California, so there's a bunch of space between us, but he has sent me stuff and we've sent some things back and forth. We have finished three songs in, like, a matter of a few hours before, just writing. We clicked so well. And same with Michael. We work really well together. Me and Michael are better on harmonies. And we've had some really cool ideas as far as layers and feel kind of things. But Mark, he'll come up with a riff and he'll start scat singing over it and just kind of showing me what he's thinking about it. And so I'll take the syllables that he's saying and then turn it into a couple of words and then turn it into a chorus or something like that. And I'm, like, 'Okay, now I gotta make the rest of the song make sense. I've gotta make verses out of this, 'cause we have a chorus, we know what the song's about, so I need to write a song around whatever it is now.' And he just gets so stoked about it. It's cool."

Asked if fans can expect to get a new studio album from GREAT WHITE in 2026, Brett said: "We've recorded a couple of demos, but we haven't been to the 'studio studio' to lay down tracks. We have some songs to do it, and yes, that is the plan, but I can't say confidently any dates or when we will be doing it. But we have the stuff. And I think the hardest part of it is, because we all live so far apart and we play a lot of weekend shows, so we're usually home three or four days at a time, and so it's a lot to coordinate. But, yeah, we all wanna make it happen."

As previously reported, Carlisle auditioned for "American Idol" on the episode broadcast February 9.

Carlisle, who joined GREAT WHITE in late 2022, sang GREAT WHITE's classic ballad "House Of Broken Love", backed by his bandmates Kendall on guitar and Lardie on piano.

The 28-year-old Carlisle impressed "Idol" judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan at the audition — which took place at Nashville's Belmont University — enough to earn him a golden ticket to the long-running TV singing competition's Hollywood round. Richie gushed, telling Carlisle: "Especially when you rock, you're going to be the poster child for this."

Underwood also asked Carlisle, Kendall and Lardie to play a bit of GREAT WHITE's 1989 hit version of "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", a cover of a 1975 song written and originally performed by former MOTT THE HOOPLE frontman Ian Hunter.

With his golden ticket secured, the Alabama native now advances to Hollywood, where he will compete alongside other hopefuls for a chance to continue on the nationally televised singing competition. There the contestants will face more rigorous challenges in hopes of advancing further in the season.

Carlisle was officially named GREAT WHITE's new vocalist in October 2022. Brett joined the group as the replacement for Andrew Freeman (LAST IN LINE),who sang for GREAT WHITE for only five months.

In an October 2025 interview with the Melissa & Roger's Wild Life podcast, Carlisle was asked to name the "proudest moment" of his career so far. He responded:  "Probably how happy these [other] guys [in GREAT WHITE] are [with the current lineup], and seeing how happy Mark is specifically, because he comes up to me and he's, like, 'Dude, there's nothing on the setlist we can't play now. You can sing whatever. We can do whatever we want.' And he'll pull me aside after we do soundcheck, we'll do 'Stick It', or a couple of times throughout the night where I hit higher notes, and he's, like, 'Dude, you were right on the top of that note.' I'm, like, it's cool.

"I like seeing everybody just excited and having a good time," Brett explained. "It seemed like for a little while before, when I was watching videos of them on stage, it looked like there was some separation and everybody was kind of in their own bubble. And I just like making sure everybody's okay, having a good time and asking questions to where we're openly talking about things."

Asked if he and his bandmates were "a little bit apprehensive" about the fact that Carlisle is only 28 years old while GREAT WHITE, as a group, has been in existence more than four decades, Mark told George Dionne of KNAC.COM in an April 2024 interview: "He's in his late 20s, but, believe it or not, he's kind of an old soul in a way. Nothing overwhelms the guy. He just goes out and just totally handles it every night, engages the crowd. He's real good with the interaction. He sings perfect all the time. And he's got really good song sense for a young man. I'm used to feeding people melody ideas when I write a song because that's the way I do it. Everybody has their own way to do it, but I always know that there's a lot of melody available, and he sometimes comes up with something way better than I had. So that's a good sign. And the way he delivers the new stuff, he really has a good handle on the music. And I don't know — I think he was born in the wrong time or something. In other words, we can stand together. It's not like he's standing next to his grandpa or something. It's not like we're CROSBY, STILLS & NASH, and, 'What's that 13-year-old doing there?' When we stand together, it just looks like a band. It doesn't look like we're with a little kid or anything. He's a little better-looking than us, but apart from that…"

Regarding what it has been like working with a singer who wasn't even born when some of GREAT WHITE's classic songs were written, Lardie told Robert Miguel of Uvalde Radio Rocks: "Well, I think he gets what we're trying to do. It's been a godsend to have someone with his youth, but at the same time he has what a lot of people would deem as an older soul. His parents did a great job bringing him up on '70s and '80s rock, so he's pretty well versed in that. And he comes from the South, so he's got a little bit of that blues and gospel edge to him."

Carlisle made his live debut with GREAT WHITE on September 24, 2022 at the Cannery Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to Brett, he felt welcomed by his new bandmates and the GREAT WHITE fans from the get-go.

"After meeting [the GREAT WHITE guys], they're all super-cool dudes," he told Kevin McKay of the 99 Rock WKSM FM radio station. "In Vegas, we had a rehearsal the day before, and I already knew half the songs well enough to be able to do it. So I wanted to do the best that I could on 'em. But after we hung out, everybody was cool and stuff. I mean, it's a big crowd. I love big crowds; they're fun."

Carlisle has been playing guitar and singing since the age of eight and counts bands like VAN HALEN, SKID ROW and METALLICA as his main influences.

In May 2022, GREAT WHITE announced that it had parted ways with singer Mitch Malloy and had replaced him with Freeman. Malloy had been in GREAT WHITE for nearly four years, having joined the group in 2018 following the departure of Terry Ilous.

Ilous, frontman of '80s L.A. hard rockers XYZ, joined GREAT WHITE in 2010 after stepping in for touring vocalist Jani Lane (WARRANT).

The Ilous-led GREAT WHITE released two albums, 2012's "Elation" and 2017's "Full Circle", before Terry was dismissed from the group.

In January 2023, Kendall told the "Mark 2.0" podcast that he was surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response to Carlisle's addition to GREAT WHITE. "It was world news," he said. "I'm seeing stuff on the Internet from Italy, Germany, the U.K. And even some of the more online dirt-seeking-type entities that normally are just huntin' for the headline to say, 'He said his singer sucks'. That's the article. That's the way it starts. These guys actually said good things and posted some of the [fan-filmed videos]. They're cellphone cameras, so the quality probably isn't… But you can hear it. You need to sing great."

In October 2022, Carlisle was asked in an interview with AL.com about his approach to singing GREAT WHITE's classic songs. He said: "I just want to do the songs justice, because that's what people expect to hear. They want to go to the shows and hear the songs the way they remember them, the way they know them. It's not about me and how many high notes I can hit or anything like that. I just want to do the give the people, and the band, what they want."

Brett went on to say that he is honored to be singing for a band whose songs — including "Save Your Love", "Rock Me" and "Lady Red Light" — he had previously covered with his other band ALL OR NOTHING.

"I just want to learn from them," Carlisle said of his new bandmates. "It's just really cool to be included in what I've grown up listening to, like looking at the CDs and everything. And then now people are coming up after the shows asking me to sign like original GREAT WHITE cassettes and stuff. And I'm sitting here feeling like I'm not worthy. Because I didn't record that. But I'm, like, 'I just sang with them, so, sure, if you want me to.'"