After the 2018 release of their latest album, 1991.Bloodstained, and after overcoming a 2-year pandemic of Covid-19, Gory Blister return in 2022 with new music and new energy.


The band's new single, "Unexpected Livings", is an appetizer for new material that will be part of the new album the band is working on, which will be released in 2023.







"Unexpected Livings" is about the last human survivors approaching the promised planet… very similar to what once was Earth, now destroyed. Believed uninhabited, the planet is alive. This time humans are the invaders. The locals perceive them as hostile and want to exterminate the intruders.


"Unexpected Livings" is available for streaming on all known streaming platforms - Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Pandora etc. Watch a lyric video below:

Born during the initial lockdowns of Rome and New York City, and incubated as the seasons passed, doom metal band MMXX represent the sound of global pandemic isolation. Joining Candlelight Records for the release, the band has debuted an ethereal new single with "This Breath Is Not My Breath", which features guest vocalist Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow The Sun). Watch the lyric video below.


On the new single, the band comments, "Essentially 'This Breath Is Not My Breath' is trying to tell the story of the hellscape that was January to March 2020 from the perspective of someone who first viewed COVID as a disease that is only really an abstraction and has zero impact and poses zero threat. [He] then gets sick and spreads the disease to everyone around him. The idea in the chorus is that your breath literally and metaphorically is owned by and only shared at the discretion of the disease. Your blood (body) is now a harbinger of other's suffering."







MMXX is Andrea Chiodetti (ex-The Foreshadowing) on guitars and keys, Jesse Haff on drums (Daylight Dies and Gökböri), and Egan O'Rourke (Daylight Dies) on bass. Together, they channeled inspiration for composition after composition to collaborate with a geographically, culturally, and stylistically diverse collection of celebrated vocalists and musicians from around the world. The end result is a dynamic and diverse sound, simultaneously densely heavy while retaining elements of etherealness and light, with each guest vocalist layering in their own perspective to culminate in this eclectic compendium of music reflecting an experience sadly understood by all.


Guest vocalists appearing on the forthcoming album include Dan Swanö of Edge Of Sanity and of Nightingale (Sweden), Yann Ligner of Klone (France), Mick Moss of Antimatter and of Sleeping Pulse (UK), Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride (UK), Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow the Sun (Finland), Carmelo Orlando of Novembre (Italy), Marco Benevento of The Foreshadowing (Italy), Chris Cannella of Autumns End (USA), and Egan O'Rourke of Daylight Dies (USA).


Full album details will be released shortly. Stay tuned for more news.





MMXX:


Andrea Chiodetti — Guitar + Keys
Jesse Haff — Drums
Egan O'Rourke — Bass

In a new interview with the "Metal From The Inside" podcast, current QUEENSRŸCHE vocalist Todd La Torre spoke about the criticism he and his bandmates have faced in the decade since he stepped into the group as the replacement for original frontman Geoff Tate. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "First of all, people have to remember: I was a big fan of this band too. So I get it. People are, like, 'Oh, no [Chris] DeGarmo [original QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist]. Oh, no Geoff. And now Scott's [Rockenfield, original QUEENSRŸCHE drummer] not playing with them,' and blah blah blah. I understand that purist mentality. At the same time, if people aren't getting along, or if people just don't wanna do it anymore for whatever reasons… Some people say, 'Oh, they should have just stopped the name and continued under RISING WEST,'" he said, referring to the name he and the other members of QUEENSRŸCHE briefly performed under before Tate was officially fired from the band. "You say, wait a minute — you still have Michael Wilton [guitar] and Eddie Jackson [bass], who are very much, they're founding members of this band. They're supposed to just throw away their legacy and the name that they've spent their whole lives building up to, because a percentage of the original guys aren't in the band anymore? Like, fuck you! They have every right [to carry on as QUEENSRŸCHE]. They own the name. It's their band.

"When I came in, obviously I felt, 'Oh my God. This is a lot to live up to,'" La Torre admitted. "But I already kind of went through that when I was in CRIMSON GLORY. From day one, there were people saying how awful I sound, how I don't have the stage presence, how I don't have the richness in my voice or whatever. And it's been 13 years that I've had [people making hateful comments about me].

"I've read the most godawful comments you can imagine. When my dad passed away — he committed suicide back in 2014 — I remember somebody saying, 'I'd shoot myself if my kid sang like that too.' But you know what? It's not a reflection of me, how I am as a singer; it's just purely a reflection of them. Maybe they're musician that didn't get that opportunity. Or whatever the case is — maybe it's envy; maybe it's jealousy. People take stuff so personally that they're, like, 'That's my band.' I mean, you look at the 'Dimebag' Darrell thing" — referring to the late PANTERA guitarist who was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts — "where it's, like, 'This isn't PANTERA.' And whatever the case is, some nutjob. And there have been instances where I've had death threats made on me: 'You're gonna eat an effin' bullet if you're at this next show,' to where we've had to notify all the authorities and security with photographs of people and say, 'This person, they're not allowed in.' Blah blah blah. I mean, there's wackos out there. And at the end of the day, we're just, like, 'Wow. This is just music. We're just playing songs. What the fuck is your problem?' People are so fanatically, obsessively fixated on certain things, and it's creepy."

Todd went on to say: "I knew that I was gonna subject [to that kind of online hate] again, even more so, 'cause QUEENSRŸCHE was a much bigger band than CRIMSON GLORY, and [Geoff] was always the original singer, so it's, like, 'Who's this guy?' So I just said, 'I don't care. I'm just gonna sing to the best of my ability on this day.' Never mind I have my dad's sinus problems or I've been talking and my throat's tired and I've been in airplanes and I'm not acclimated to altitudes. Like, whatever. And they want this exact, perfect replication of what they heard on the record, which they weren't getting before anyway. It's not realistic.

"There are people that have come up to me at shows and said, 'Hey, I owe you an apology.' And I'm, like, 'I don't even know you. What are you talking about?' And they'll say, 'For years, I was, like, 'No Geoff Tate, no QUEENSRŸCHE. No this. No that.' And I didn't like you. But I figured I'd come out and see it, and I'll be damned. You won me over. And everything I said I take back and I'm sorry that I ever said that.' And, of course, I wouldn't know that they said that, but they feel compelled to tell me, 'Wow! The band sounds awesome. You're doing a great job. You do have those similarities of what we expect to hear, but it's not this perfect clone. You still are who you are, but you have those nuances and subtleties that the songs need.'

"I think that there are a lot more people that appreciate what the band is doing and have accepted me in the band than there are the opposite of that," La Torre said. "But when I hear… Like, there was something the other day. I forgot we were putting a little teaser, a 15-second teaser, of something on the new record, and it was out. And all the trolls come out, and they're, like, 'This doesn't sound anything like QUEENSRŸCHE.' It's, like, you literally heard 15 seconds. And it totally sounds like QUEENSRŸCHE.

"I think people, they just don't have any reservation anymore. And everyone is so quick to just react and say whatever they want online. Those people would never say that shit to my face. And now I don't care. I mean, I'm still a human being. I have really thick skin when it comes to this kind of stuff. But there are times occasionally where it's, like, 'Wow. That kind of hurt a little bit.' And that lasts about three seconds. And then I go, 'It's just another sad individual.' If you were given the opportunity I was afforded, you would take it. You would have to be an idiot not to take it. If I never accepted this gig and there was somebody else, I would always be thinking to myself, 'Maybe I'm better than that guy.' Maybe I think I could have done a better job. Or, 'Damn, that guy does great, but that could have been me.'"

La Torre was the lead singer for CRIMSON GLORY from late 2010 until resigned from the band in early 2013. In 2012, Todd became a household name in the metal world when he officially became the new lead vocalist of QUEENSRŸCHE. The band immediately began touring globally and started writing new material for the self-titled 2013 album "Queensrÿche". To date, QUEENSRŸCHE has released three studio albums with La Torre: "Queensrÿche", "Condition Hüman" (2015) and "The Verdict" (2019). The band recently completed work on its fourth release for Century Media Records, "Digital Noise Alliance", due on October 7.

HATEBREED frontman and multi-media innovator Jamey Jasta has purchased the rights to the Milwaukee Metalfest and has big plans for the iconic Midwestern multi-day event's 2023 reboot.

"I am so grateful and thrilled that [founder] Jack Koshick has passed the Milwaukee Metalfest torch off to me," Jasta states. "He is a visionary and we will carry on the Milwaukee Metalfest legacy for years to come.

"So many of us have great memories from Milwaukee Metalfest, and the time is right for it to return."

Jasta said there was an even more personal reason for wanting to take the brand into the future.

"On a recent podcast I did with the late [THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER singer] Trevor Strnad, I fantasized about bringing the fest back and even wanted Trevor to curate it with me," he said. "In light of his death, I feel the need to see it through and relaunch the festival in 2023."

Koshick expressed his excitement at passing the torch to Jasta, saying: "Milwaukee Metalfest has been a labor of love for me. I started working on it when I was 29; I am now 66. I want to thank all those living and dead for making this dream come true. Most of all, I want to thank the bands, fans, and crews that made this happen. The time has come to move on. I feel Jamey Jasta and his partners will do a fine job representing the brand. Until we meet again, I love you all."

As founder and frontman for Grammy-nominated monoliths HATEBREED alongside his countless collaborations, Jasta's reputation extends worldwide and well beyond music. From stints as the three-year host of MTV's "Headbangers Ball" to his own popular podcast, the 2016-launched "The Jasta Show", he has become synonymous with both heavy music and hardcore culture. He remains the leading voice of the scene and amongst his peers.

Universal Music Group (UMG),the world leader in music-based entertainment, today announced an agreement between Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva Zappa (the Zappa Trust) to acquire Frank Zappa's estate, including his expansive recordings, publishing catalog of iconic songs, film archive, and the complete contents of The Vault, the near mythic storage facility that houses the late Zappa's life's work. The content spans the prolific four-decade career of the legendary, boundary-pushing musician, acclaimed composer, virtuoso guitarist, and prominent activist.

With the acquisition, which additionally includes Frank Zappa's name and likeness, Universal Music Enterprises (UMe),UMG's global catalog company, and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG),the company's leading music publisher, will build on the company's already successful track record of working with the Zappa Trust to amplify Frank Zappa's career as a trailblazer, iconoclast, brilliant musician and fearless artist who challenged music and culture with his unconventional and uncompromising vision and advocacy.

Under the new agreement, UMPG acquires Zappa's complete publishing catalog including "Watermelon In Easter Hay", "Cosmik Debris", "Peaches En Regalia", "Uncle Remus", "Joe's Garage" and hundreds more. Described by American Songwriter as a "compositional genius," Zappa is known for writing songs offering sage advice ("Don't Eat The Yellow Snow") to astute cultural critiques ("Valley Girl" and "Trouble Every Day"),disco satire ("Dancin' Fool") to serious orchestral compositions ("The Perfect Stranger" and "Strictly Genteel").

The Zappa Trust said: "Ten years ago, Gail Zappa partnered with UMe to bring Frank Zappa's music into the digital era and help expand the Frank Zappa business around the world, setting in motion a fruitful partnership that has resulted in exponential growth. Together over the last decade we made Frank's vast catalog of music available for streaming and download, reissued many of his pivotal albums on vinyl, created a slew of exciting archival releases and expansive box sets, including a series celebrating FZ's legendary Halloween concerts, and were nominated for a Grammy for the '200 Motels (The Suites)' orchestral album.

"UMG have more than proven their passion for Frank's art and so the entire Zappa family — Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva — is thrilled to pass the baton to the new forever stewards for all things Frank Zappa. Old and new fans will get more of what they want — more Frank Zappa music for years to come.

"Frank released his first album with Verve Records in 1966 with THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION's debut album, 'Freak Out!', so this is a very full-circle moment more than five decades later and we know that his music and legacy will be in the best possible hands for generations to come."

UMe president and CEO Bruce Resnikoff said: "It has been a privilege to work with the Zappa family to release Frank Zappa's music around the world, grow his audience, and protect his legacy for the past decade. Zappa was a pioneering, visionary artist who created an incredible body of work and we are incredibly proud that Gail, and now his children, have entrusted us with his important legacy. We will continue to develop innovative ways to celebrate his vast and influential catalog for both longtime fans and those just discovering his genius. As a prolific artist well ahead of his time, Frank Zappa was constantly creating and recording and he left behind a treasure trove of extraordinary still-unreleased music and video in his Vault that will help us usher in the next era of Frank Zappa fans."

Marc Cimino, chief operating officer of Universal Music Publishing Group, said: "A powerful voice in music and culture, Frank Zappa was one of the most brilliant artists of his time. We are honored to welcome Zappa's influential song catalog and that his estate has chosen UMG to uphold his artistry and to grow his immense legacy throughout the world."

Over the last decade working closely together, the Zappa Trust and UMe have revitalized Frank Zappa's catalog through a steady stream of thrilling archival releases, vinyl reissues of his classic albums, streaming initiatives, and by making his music more widely available around the globe than ever before. UMG has grown streams of Zappa's music by double-digit percentages each year and recently much of Zappa's catalog was made available in Hi-Res Audio for download and streaming for the first time. On the heels of UMe and the Zappa Trust's multipronged efforts, and Alex Winter's acclaimed 2020 feature documentary "Zappa", of which UMe provided the soundtrack, Zappa and his music have experienced a newfound popularity that only continues to grow nearly two decades after his death.

In 2012, Zappa Records and the Zappa Trust — headed by his widow, Gail Zappa — made Zappa's entire recorded catalog available digitally for the first time through a partnership with UMe, with half of the albums remastered from the original analog sources and the remaining albums retransferred and prepared from the original digital tapes for CD and streaming and download. Many albums were also remastered for reissue on vinyl. Shortly after, the Zappa Trust entered into an agreement with UMe for a global license and distribution deal that saw the release of 60 of Zappa's recordings. In 2015, they partnered on a long-term, global licensing agreement for Zappa's entire recorded catalog, as well as rights management participation across the rest of the cultural icon's creative canon. The partnership grew into an expansive license with Resnikoff and UMe that also includes new product releases, trademark licensing, film, and theatrical production.

To date, there have been 122 official Zappa releases, however, that only scratches the surface of what the future holds as it represents a small fraction of the recordings in Zappa's expansive and exhaustive Vault that have been made publicly available. An obsessive documenter, Zappa recorded nearly every session, rehearsal, live performance, and even casual jam in a variety of audio and video formats across nearly his entire life. UMG plans to dive into The Vault for new archival projects for decades to come. Additionally, with Zappa's name and likeness, UMG will engage existing fans and new audiences around the world with merchandise, feature films, interactive experiences, as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other next-generation Web3 projects.

From his early psychedelic rock beginnings to his avant-garde experimentation, jazz-rock explorations, symphonic suites and satirical sendups to his conceptual, compositional and technological innovations, Zappa, who was named Czechoslovakia's "Special Ambassador to the West on Trade, Culture and Tourism" in 1990 by Vaclav Havel, shattered the norms every step of the way and his influence and ethos continues to reverberate as strongly today as ever.

In his unprecedented and incredibly prolific career, Zappa released more than 60 groundbreaking albums during his lifetime, as a solo artist and with his bands, THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION and THE MOTHERS. From the early primal psychedelic rock of THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION's 1966 debut album, "Freak Out!", one of the earliest double albums in rock, to the jazz-rock fusion of 1969's's "Hot Rats", to the experimental, envelope pushing of 1969's "Uncle Meat" and 1971's surrealistic film and soundtrack, "200 Motels", to the orchestral compositions of his later years, Zappa's unrelentless artistic drive, pushed him into a dizzying array of musical worlds, never content to stay in one lane for very long.

In addition to those albums, some of the many highlights of his voluminous discography of studio and live albums include "We're Only In It For The Money" (1968),"Burnt Weeny Sandwich" (1970),"Chunga's Revenge" (1970),"Apostrophe (')" (1974),"Zoot Allures" (1976),"Zappa In New York" (1978),"Joe's Garage" (1979),"Sheik Yerbouti" (1979),"Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch" (1982),"Jazz From Hell" (1986) and the final album to be released in his lifetime, "The Yellow Shark" (1993).

Following Zappa's passing in 1993, there have been more than 60 posthumous releases, beginning with 1994's "Cilvization Phaze III" and spanning from Zappa's last album completed before his death, "Dance Me This", released in 2015 as his 100th album, to elaborate and expanded multi-disc box sets for such albums as "200 Motels", "Hot Rats", "Orchestral Favorites", "Zappa In New York", as well as super deluxe editions of his legendary Halloween concerts, complete with costumes, and other live favorites like "The Roxy Performances". Recent releases include "Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show", a box set titled "The Mothers 1971", which celebrates Zappa's 1971 lineups, and "Zappa/Erie", a six-disc collection that brings together an exciting trio of previously unreleased concerts that the Maestro performed in Erie, Pennsylvania and the surrounding area between 1974 and 1976.

Zappa, who died of prostate cancer when he was 52, was a composer, virtuoso guitarist, songwriter, artist's rights champion, provocateur, anti-censorship advocate, a musical pioneer, and one-time cultural ambassador to Czechoslovakia. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1995 and awarded the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1997.

Australia's Victoria K returns in 2022 for the release of the sophomore album Kore this coming October via Rockshots Records to follow the 2020 debut album Essentia.


Offering up progressive symphonic sound, Kore was specifically written to provide a full orchestral experience that drives people through a sonic journey of growth and grandeur.


A concept record, Kore explores modern-day issues through the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (the story of Persephone). Victoria K conceptualized the idea for the album with her producer Lee Bradshaw and then spent many months researching and analyzing the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, even meeting with experts of the Homeric Hymns from Greece. The story was then broken up into its different parts where Victoria Knight wrote the lyrics and developed the melodies for each section of the tale, exploring the myth from a modern perspective.







The tracks were written specifically to encapsulate the various sections of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and tell the story chronologically through each song and the music grows in intensity throughout the record capturing the emotional state of Persephone and other characters as the story progresses.


The various instruments were then written by Victoria around the lyrics and further enhanced and developed through the production process. Lee Bradshaw then finalized the songs by writing orchestral scores for each song, which were recorded live in Europe, before the final mixing and mastering.


Recommended for fans of Lacuna Coil, Rammstein, Within Temptation, Spirit Box, and Delain, singles, and videos from Victoria K's forthcoming Kore will be shared in the coming months in lead up to its release on October 14, 2022. First single, “Persephone”, is available to pre-save here.

ABBA's Benny Andersson has shared a piano cover of FOO FIGHTERS' "Learn To Fly" in response to Dave Grohl wearing an ABBA shirt on stage at Glastonbury over the weekend.

The FOO FIGHTERS frontman sported a black top that had the gold ABBA logo printed on it when he joined Paul McCartney during the latter's headline set at the U.K. festival on Saturday (June 25).

Now, Andersson has acknowledged Grohl's appreciation for his band by sharing a short video of him playing "Learn To Fly", a song from the FOO FIGHTERS' third album, 1999's "There Is Nothing Left To Lose". At the end of the clip, Andersson can be seen turning toward the camera to reveal that he's wearing a FOO FIGHTERS t-shirt.

Grohl has been vocal about his love for ABBA over the years, saying last year that he was open to the idea of playing drums for the legendary Swedish pop band.

In an interview with BBC News after ABBA released its first two singles, "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", from its first album in 39 years, "Voyage", Grohl said that he shed tears when he first heard the new material from original members Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

"Oh my god. I'm such a big ABBA fan," he said. "When I saw that they were coming back and they had a record, I shot that link to 100 people I knew, then listened to the new song and wept like a baby. I cried like a baby. Oh, man. It almost sounded like time hadn't passed. Plus it was such a beautiful, romantic, melancholy, bitter-sweet retrospective. It's amazing. ABBA can do no wrong."

Grohl then expressed his interest in playing drums for the Eurovision-winning pop band, saying: "Listen, I will get up and play drums at the opening of an envelope. Show me a drum set and I will sit down to it. So yes, I would play with ABBA."
After Dave Grohl’s most recent display of ABBA fandom, Benny from @ABBAVoyage plays ‘Learn To Fly’ pic.twitter.com/t55426QepD

— Foo Fighters Archive (@FooArchive) June 29, 2022



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KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has dropped another $2.5 million from the asking price of his Southern Nevada estate.

Simmons put the home on the market in October 2021 for $14.95 million, but that price came down on November 17, 2021 to $13.5 million and again on May 19 to $11 million. Gene paid a combined $10.8 million for the home and a lot adjacent to it back in May 2021. Among the improvements Simmons made to the Las Vegas house is installing all new floors and ripping up wall-to-wall carpeting in some of the rooms.

As of this past February, Simmons's mansion, when it still had a listing price of $13.5 million, was listed as under contract on the real estate site Zillow. The web site was updated with the pending sale on February 16. However, the sale appears to have since fallen through.

Speaking to TMZ about his decision to sell the home only five months after buying it, Gene said: "First I bought it because Mr. Biden [U.S. president Joe Biden] and Mr. Newsom [California governor Gavin Newsom] are looking to raise taxes to the point where if I work really hard to earn a legal dollar, I may get to keep 35 cents. So, California has become untenable. So I'd rather leave the money to my family and to charity and so on, so I wanted to move to Las Vegas. No income tax, no state tax, no local tax, no inheritance tax, beautiful place, great. Except for one thing — my family doesn't wanna go there. They're not gonna put up with the heat, and down the street, there's strippers and stuff like that. They don't wanna deal with any of that."

He continued: "I bought [the house] for 8.6 [million], then I bought the property next door for 2.4 [million] and planted 137 trees. So, guys, I can this for 25 or 30 million, but I'm blessed. I'd like to meet the person that's gonna wind up buying the place because I don't wanna just hand it over to some knucklehead. I want you to enjoy it and have a good life."

According to Gene, his wife and their two adult children prefer to stay at the family's other homes, an extensive portfolio which includes a modern lake house in Whistler, British Columbia, a home in Malibu and two houses in L.A. that Gene bought for the Simmons kids, Nick and Sophie.

"They're not fans of 115-degree weather," Simmons told The Wall Street Journal.

Because of KISS's touring schedule and his business travel, Gene said he never spent more than a few weeks total in Las Vegas. He went on to say that he had no regrets about selling the property so soon after the purchase, adding: "How many houses do you need anyway?"

According to TMZ, Simmons purchased a mansion in Beverly Hills, California in October for $10.5 million. The home occupies more than 7,000 square feet of living apace and an additional 1800 square feet of "sleek deck space." The sophisticated design allows for scenic views from the expansive kitchen, dining, living room, four bedrooms and five bathrooms, upstairs library/gallery space and a sliver of glass in the home theater. The home is one half solar powered, using roof panels to heat the pool and radiant heated floors.

In September, Simmons sold his Los Angeles mansion for $16 million, almost a year after he first put it on the market for $22 million. He later relisted it for $25 million after it never sold and he reportedly invested a lot of money in making improvements.

Gene bought the Los Angeles property back in October 1986 for $1,337,500.

Simmons has been very vocal about his desire to leave California for some time due to wanting a quieter lifestyle and to get away from being listed on celebrity maps or having to deal with Beverly Hills tour buses. He also said that part of the reason he and his wife listed the two-acre property in Benedict Canyon because the home had become too big for the both of them since their children had grown up.

"It's a big property, and the kids were literally raised here," he said about the Beverly Hills house. "Now they've moved on, and they both have their own homes next to each other in the Hollywood Hills. They borrow a cup of sugar and all that. They love each other and support each other like the best kids you could imagine."

"They've got their own lives, and now we've got this big house. And if I want to talk to [my wife] Shannon, I've got to hit an intercom because she's at the other end of the house," he continued. "It's happy and it's also sad. When you're a kid and you live at home, you love your mom and dad, but at some point you've got to move out. It's sad because you're moving from home, but you're also looking forward to the future, and we really hope the next family that lives here is going to get as much joy as we have from this place."

Gene and Shannon were married in 2011 after dating since 1975.

Gene, Shannon and their kids all appeared on the reality TV series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" from 2006 until 2012.

Photo credit: courtesy of Stetson Ybarra Photography

Los Angeles rockers CLASSLESS ACT is currently opening all dates on the current "The Stadium Tour" featuring MÖTLEY CRÜE, DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS. Formed in 2019, the band's "Welcome To The Show" debut studio album was released on June 24 and features guest spots from MÖTLEY CRÜE's Vince Neil and THE DARKNESS's Justin Hawkins.

In a new interview with BLABBERMOUTH.NET, frontman Derek Day talked about the tour and how CLASSLESS ACT is being received during a timeslot where many concert-goers are just making their way into the stadiums.

"It's only great vibes," said Derek. "The stage crew, Live Nation has been super-nice, treating us like family. Performing onstage is euphoric and watching Joan Jett, MÖTLEY CRÜE, POISON and DEF LEPPARD every night is amazing. You can see why they need stadiums to do shows. They're fantastic and captivate an entire stadium in the palm of their hands. Everyone is super-inspiring."

"It's been a trip," he continued. "It's nice because we're still getting our feet ready and planted. We're getting our sound dialed in. Other times, there's been some weather delays and it causes the doors to open a little later, so we'll get onstage a little later. We've played for about four or five thousand, one time we played in front of seven-thousand eight-hundred and one show we played in front of twenty-one thousand for our first song, right from the get-go. It's been this crazy whirlwind of emotions and electricity. Regardless, we can't believe we get to be on this stage. It's a giant playground. We get to have fun and let loose."

Day then discussed the transition from playing clubs to cavernous stadiums where CLASSLESS ACT has had to learn how to perform on large, outdoor stages while on the fly. "In the club shows, we're stepping on each other's toes — literally, bumping into each other and hitting each other's headstocks," he said. "We've been dying to get more space to move around. Now that we have it, we don't know what to do with it. We do know, but we're still learning. It's incredible. I know stadiums are notorious for having weird live mixes, but it's the best sound we've had so far. It's exactly what we want our songs to sound like, which is big, lots of kick, lots of vocals, lots of electricity going on. It's been everything we've ever dreamed of. It's enhancing our playing and sound ten-fold."

The frontman was also asked whether CLASSLESS ACT had the opportunity to interact with the headliners — bands that are more than twice their age.

"The first day, Bret Michaels [POISON] greeted us with the warmest greeting," said Derek. "He gave us great advice on keeping our composure up there in case we feel lost. He kept saying over and over, 'If you need anything, please, come to my team or me. We'll take care of you.' The guitar and drum techs for MÖTLEY CRÜE have constantly been reminding us, 'If you need anything, let us know.' We've been treated like family. We've spoken to Joan for a moment and C.C. DeVille [POISON] in catering. We talked to these people; they're really sweet and have wished us good luck and complimented on our performance. We've bumped into Nikki Sixx [MÖTLEY CRÜE]. He's been nothing but really sweet and offered to help us out. It's been lovely talking to those people."

Day then offered his thoughts on the ongoing debate over whether rock and roll music is "dead," a quote attributed to KISS bassist Gene Simmons, who has long insisted that fans have "killed" rock music because of file-sharing and downloading.

"I come from Los Angeles," said Derek. "There are so many rock and roll bands. I always joke, 'The population of L.A. is about three million. Two-point-five million are in a rock and roll band.' [Laughs] Rock and roll isn't anywhere near dead. It's trying to come to the light. We're one of those bands who are fortunate enough and in the right place and time. But, if you think it's dead, it's a beautiful, zombified monster that is stronger than ever and can't be stopped."

The long-delayed "The Stadium Tour" was originally planned for 2020 and later moved to 2021 and then to 2022. The tour will conclude on September 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dave Mustaine says that "there had been enough stuff that had led up to" his decision to fire bassist David Ellefson from MEGADETH last year.

Ellefson's exit from the band came in May 2021, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving him were posted on Twitter. At the time, Ellefson released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of him by unknown offenders.

Mustaine ended up hiring TESTAMENT's Steve DiGiorgio to re-record Ellefson's bass parts on MEGADETH's upcoming album, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!", before inviting MEGADETH alumnus James LoMenzo to rejoin the group as permanent bass player.

Speaking to Kerrang! Radio at this month's Download festival in the United Kingdom, Mustaine stated about LoMenzo's return to MEGADETH: "The bass is important, and James LoMenzo is by far, I think, one of the deepest bass players that I've had a chance to play with, including [late METALLICA bassist] Cliff [Burton]. Cliff was fantastic, and he was a very deep bass player as far as talent goes. And James has a wealth of knowledge — he's played with a lot of people: Ozzy [Osbourne]; he's played with me before — and he's not a slouch by any means. He's been to the top of the mountain. And the one thing that he has that we really haven't experienced a lot of is superb singing."

Regarding the decision to re-record Ellefson's bass parts on "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" and LoMenzo's absence from the LP, Mustaine said: "It's really unfortunate that [James] wasn't on the record, but at the time when everything happened, all I wanted to do was just move on. The time had come. And there had been enough stuff that had led up to where it just was time."

Dave previously touched upon his decision to fire Ellefson in a recent interview with Metal Hammer magazine. Asked whether dismissing the bassist from MEGADETH was a difficult move, given the longtime friendship between the two men, Mustaine replied: "I have made mistakes myself and so I know what it feels like to have people gunning for you. But what we had to remember is that MEGADETH has a lot of moving parts to it. There are four bandmembers; you've got their families, their management companies, the agencies, all of their technicians and on and on and on.

"I can tell you I've made decisions in the past that were detrimental to the security of the band and I know what harm that caused," he continued. "But I don't want to be saying anything about anyone who is unable to defend themselves."

"God, it's so hard to tap-dance around this...

"Let me just say this — it was a hard decision that had to be made," Mustaine added. "There were a lot of people involved and I had to make a decision, because unfortunately, when you're the leader, you're the one that has to suck it up and face the music.

"All I wanted to do was make a clean break, and not hurt anyone, not hurt the fans and not hurt him. I just wanted to move on, and I hope the gentleman concerned is doing okay. I imagine there was some adjustment that had to take place when it happened.

"It was hard for me when I lost my job," Mustaine said, apparently referring to getting kicked out of METALLICA in 1983. "But I've forgiven him before when he sued me and I'll forgive him a thousand times. I just won't play music with him anymore."

In the police report that Ellefson filed in May 2021, he admitted that he had been exchanging sexual text messages with a Dutch teenager, who captured a video of several of their virtual "masturbating encounters" without his consent and shared them with friends. (According to Ellefson, the woman was 19 at the time of their first virtual sexual encounter.) Ellefson, who lives in Scottsdale, first became aware of the video on May 9, 2021, when the claim "David Ellefson of MEGADETH is a pedophile" appeared on Instagram. Ellefson told police he was notified on May 14, 2021 by MEGADETH that the band would be parting ways with him. Three days later, he was fired.

During an October 2021 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Ellefson opened up about the circumstances that led to his dismissal from MEGADETH, saying: "I ran toward the bullets and dealt with it right away. The night [the messages and video were leaked online], a couple of people said, 'Hey, don't say anything.' In particular, the MEGADETH camp didn't want me to say anything. But my legal [advisers] said, 'Hey, I think you should say something. I think some people have done some really shitty things here and made some false allegations about you, and you have every right to defend yourself.' And I did. Ultimately, that led to my dismissal from MEGADETH. But I have every right, as anyone does, to defend yourself, especially when somebody is making false allegations about you like that. So I dealt with it that night, and quite honestly, that was it — it was over, and it was really kind of done. But then, as the MEGADETH camp in particular jumped in and had addressed it — and not that they shouldn't, but they did. That pretty quickly led to them making the decision to part ways with me and to move away from it.

"We had originally talked about doing a joint statement of sorts, and, of course, that was not what happened," David continued. "So I was disappointed in probably the way it went down.

"Ironically, things are fine between [me and MEGADETH]. We parted ways, and they took their road. And there's not ill will between us, believe it or not. And I think any fights and those things, that was 20 years go — lawsuits and all that crap.

"Look, they moved forward [with 'The Metal Tour Of The Year']," Ellefson added. "I wished them well in my [original] statement to them, and I mean it. It's a group I helped form almost 40 years coming up here for the band. And the songs that are on the radio that I see come up are songs that I had a participation in, and we built a big legacy. I still consider them family, and my DNA is all over that. I don't think you build something of that size together and then suddenly you're just out and that's it."

Ellefson also talked about the statement Mustaine — who formed MEGADETH with Ellefson in 1983 — released on May 24, 2021 announcing the bassist's departure from the band. In the statement, Dave said: "We do not take this decision lightly. While we do not know every detail of what occurred, with an already strained relationship, what has already been revealed now is enough to make working together impossible moving forward." Asked if he was aware of any tension between him and Mustaine and whether he "felt like the ice was getting ready to break again," Ellefson said: "I did not. I think one of the things — and this probably started 20 years ago, when MEGADETH was disbanded in 2002 and then put back together in 2004, it was very clear in 2004 that it was gonna be reframed around Dave unilaterally, one hundred percent being the boss and running the show. Gone were the days of the partnership, the '90s, where it was me, Nick [Menza], Marty [Friedman], Dave — kind of 'the four horsemen ride again' kind of mentality… That day was done; it was not gonna be that anymore. And that's where we fell apart in 2004 and I wasn't with the group through those years. Coming back to it in 2010, now we're a few years older, [with] a little more maturity in the situation, realizing that we're better together, that even though it's not, on paper, a partnership, there's a kind of visual partnership — the optics of it are kind of, like, 'Yeah, this looks better as MEGADETH with me and Dave together. We're one of those bands that, although Dave is the quarterback and the quarterback still plays, the overall feeling and likability and I think everything about it just feels better when it's Dave and Dave together, because we've been together from the beginning for so many years. And I think that worked really well for the last decade. At the same time, Dave and I are grown men, and we have opinions. It's not the thing where it's just Dave and three side guys when it's me and the band. And apparently, they didn't want that anymore — they wanted it to not be that. And I can't speak for them, 'cause I don't know. I'm not trying to put words in anybody's mouth about that. But it just seemed like 'there's just too much history here, and let's just part ways now and let MEGADETH move forward on a new day with kind of a new marching order.' So rather than fight it, which is what happened 20 years ago, 'cause we were dissolving a partnership at that point, we're not dissolving a partnership [this time]. It's, like, 'Hey, we don't want you here. There's the door. Don't come to work on Monday.' So, it's, like, 'Okay. Fine.' And that's just how I viewed it, and that's how I view it today. I don't have any sour grapes over it, and I'm not bitter about it."

Ellefson told "Trunk Nation" host Eddie Trunk that he initially "didn't even know what" the word "grooming" was, adding that he "had no idea" about the meaning of the term experts use to refer to the actions that sexual abusers take to get close to and gain the trust of those they are interested in. "And any allegations of anything being illegal [are false]," he said. "There was nothing. And that's why I immediately hired a criminal lawyer. I went right to the police department. And just for the record, the bad guy doesn't go to the police department. Okay? So, just to be clear. The guy who didn't do anything wrong, he goes to the police department. That's why I went to the police department and filed a police report and let them deal with it.

"I think there was a big fear of — there's always this talk of cancel culture and all this stuff," he continued. "And I was, like, 'Listen, that was not me.' And I had every right to stand up against that and defend myself against it. And I just turned that over to the lawyers and police department and let them deal with it, and they did."

David also addressed his decision to step away from social media and stop doing interviews for a few months while things settled, both personally and professionally.

"Look, certainly time heals wounds in these things, which is good," he said. "And that was the thing — I was, like, look, I didn't do anything wrong; there was nothing illegal here; and you let it go. And for me to just kind of take some time away and go dark. I got off all social media. I have one Facebook account that I don't even run, just for kind of professional purposes and everything, but I'm off of that. And I think that helps."

When Trunk brought up the point that the only apparent "illegality" in this case lies with the person who actually leaked the above-mentioned video, Ellefson said: "A hundred percent. That's why I didn't hire a civil lawyer to sue people for a million bucks. I hired a criminal lawyer, and what they do is prosecute to put people in jail. 'Cause those were the crimes. You can't just go do shit like that — put stuff out there, content — and not have a penalty. That is the crime. And I think people just think they can — and not everybody; I'm not saying all people — but there is a faction that they just think that that could be just done as a joke and for fun, and it can't. Of course, it's the Internet, so people live in foreign countries; there's all this stuff. That's why the best thing, I think, is to, first of all, just get away from those platforms because that is a breeding ground for that society to do that."

Asked by Trunk if there are still ongoing legal proceedings in the case, Ellefson said: "It's been resolved. We took the steps necessary, walked through that process, which was necessary to do, and that's all landed and, as of now, that's fine."

David, who studied for a year at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis a decade ago, also wanted to address one specific "misconception" about him that has been repeatedly raised in the months since his masturbation videos were posted online. He said: "There's a misconception that I'm a pastor. I am not a pastor. I did a year of seminary, and they made it real clear, 'If you are gonna continue at seminary, you need to quit MEGADETH,' so I quit seminary to be in MEGADETH. And I remember telling my mom that, when she was still alive — God rest her soul. I said, 'Hey, I withdrew out of seminary,' in good standing, to continue being in MEGADETH. And she was actually very disappointed. She was, like, 'You know what? MEGADETH is holding you back. That's too bad. You should have stayed in seminary.' Turns out maybe I should have listened to my mom; I don't know. [Laughs] Of course, mom wants the best for you.

"Who knows? Whatever," he continued. "I'm a rock and roller, man. I'm a founding member of MEGADETH. It's who I am. It's what I do. It's part of my life. It's part of my existence. So I have no regrets about any of that. But I think that was a misconception. People started throwing that around. And so I've never been an ordained pastor. Yes. I did explore that world for a time."

David went on to say that there is a perception that people of faith must set a higher standard of how they live with and treat others. "It's almost like you're this entity that's floating up toward the heavens: 'Oh, he's such a wonderful man. He's a man of faith. He's got his family. And then this happens.' It's, like, 'What the hell is this?'

"I mean, look, admittedly I've sort of trained the public to think that I'm one of the more well-behaved rock stars out there, and for the most part I have been," he continued. "But at the same time, and this isn't to claim anything other than just, oops, shit happens. That is what it is.

"In the season that I was away from MEGADETH, in the 2000s, I got involved in other things in church, and raising my family, and blah blah blah, these things, and so by nature, I kind of became more of a suburban homebody — the dad guy," David added. "And then I went back to MEGADETH in 2010. And the thing is to try to reconcile that you're not one guy at home and another guy on the road, that you're the same guy. And I think for anybody who spent any time on the road — whether you're a rock star, a traveling salesman or whoever you may be — that is the challenge, and it's a real challenge, to keep your life in order when every day your toothbrush is in a new zip code."

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Mustaine, alleging the frontman shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

The eagerly awaited sophomore album, Fearsick, from Florida death metal vets Inhuman Condition, will be released on July 14th. They have a released an official video for the new song “Caustic Vomit Reveries”. Check it out below.





Tracklisting:




“The Mold Testament”
“Recycled Hate”
“Caustic Vomit Reveries”
“I’m Now The Monster”
“King Con”
“Hellucid”
“Wound Collector”
“Fencewalker”
“Where Pain Is Infinity”


“Caustic Vomit Reveries” video:





“Recycled Hate” video:





Inhuman Condition is:


Jeramie Kling - vocals/drums
Terry Butler - bass
Taylor Nordberg – guitars


(Photo - Deidra Kling - Art)

Warner Music [Sony Music outside Europe] today announced the upcoming release of Pink Floyd’s Animals on Deluxe Gatefold, CD, LP, Blu-ray and SACD. The individual versions will be available on September 16, with the Deluxe version available from October 7. This is the first time the album will have been available on 5.1 Surround Sound.


Animals is the tenth studio album by Pink Floyd, originally released in January 1977.. It was recorded at the band's Britannia Row Studios in London throughout 1976 and early 1977, and was produced by the band themselves. The successful album peaked at number 2 in the UK and number 3 in the US, and is considered as one of the band's best works. The album was recorded by band members David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright.


Animals 2018 Remix will be released on CD, LP (with gatefold artwork), Blu-ray, SACD and Deluxe Gatefold formats. The Deluxe Gatefold version includes LP, CD, audio Blu-ray, audio DVD and a 32-page book. The Blu-ray and DVD audio include the 2018 remix in Stereo, 5.1 Surround (both by James Guthrie) and the original 1977 Stereo mix. The 32-page booklet features rarely seen behind the scenes photographs of the album sleeve shoot along with live images and memorabilia. The album artwork has been reimagined for this release.




Animals is a concept album, focusing on the social-political conditions of mid-1970s Britain, and was a change from the style of the band’s earlier work. The album was developed from a collection of unrelated songs into a concept which describes the apparent social and moral decay of society, likening the human condition to that of animals. Taking inspiration from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the album depicts the different classes of people as animals with pigs being at the top of the social chain, dropping down to the sheep as the mindless herd following what they are told, with dogs as the business bosses getting fat on the money and power they hold over the other. Although it’s been a long time since 1977, the narrative of the album still resonates today as our social and economical situation mirrors that of the time.


The album's iconic cover shows an inflatable pig (now known as Algie) floating between two chimneys of the Battersea Power Station, conceived by Roger Waters, and designed by long-time collaborator Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis Studios. For this new release, the artwork has been re-designed for the modern era by Storm’s Hipgnosis partner Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell. Taking new shots of the building as it appeared during the recent conversion work, Po experimented with new angles and produce some striking new takes on the classic original. Po elaborates: “With the original 1977 album cover being such an iconic piece of stand-alone art, I had the chance to update it, which was a rather daunting task, but Hipgnosis took the opportunity to re photograph the image to reflect a changing world, and by using modern digital colouring techniques I kept Pink Floyd’s rather bleak message of moral decay using the Orwellian themes of animals, the pig ‘Algie’, faithful to the message of the album.”





Tracklisting:


"Pigs On The Wing (Part One)"
"Dogs"
"Pigs (Three Different Ones)"
"Sheep"
"Pigs On The Wing (Part Two)"


Formats:


Deluxe Limited Edition 4 Disc Package
- 1LP/1CD/1DVD/1BLU-RAY
- 180 Gram black heavyweight vinyl
- 32-page booklet
- all housed in a hardcover book style cover    


1 LP Vinyl
- 1LP 180gram black heavyweight vinyl
- 28 page booklet
- gatefold vinyl sleeve


1 CD
- CD in card gatefold cd size sleeve
- 28-page booklet


1 Blu-Ray
- Special Blu-Ray gatefold card sleeve
- 16-page booklet


Blu-Ray - Audio Mixes
- 2018 Remix - Stereo: 24-bit/192kHz Uncompressed, dts-HD MA
- 2018 Remix - 5.1 Surround: 24-bit/96kHz Uncompressed, dts-HD MA
- 1977 Original Stereo: 24-bit/192kHz Uncompressed, dts-HD MA


DVD – Audio Mixes
- 2018 Remix: 5.1 Surround Mix (Dolby Digital @ 640 kbps, 448kbps), Stereo (LPCM 24-bit/48 kHz Uncompressed)
- 1977 Original Stereo Mix: (24-bit/48 kHz Uncompressed)


1 SACD
- Hardback book package with 28-page book, in slipcase.


Includes:


- 2018 New Stereo Mix (High-resolution DSD)
- 2018 New 5.1 Surround Mix (High-resolution DSD)
- 2018 New Stereo Mix (standard CD

Swedish heavy metal band, Lion’s Share, has made a new song, "Infernal Soul", available on streaming services and digital service providers, here. A lyric video for the song can be found below.





Lion’s Share singer Nils Patrik Johansson commented: "Our last three singles are all pure heavy metal. You can look at it as a trilogy in a way where they all belong together. This one has some furious riffing and some heavy lyrics about being an artist."







In late 2018, Lion's Share released a new five-track EP, plus its complete catalog - remastered with new artwork - on streaming services and digital service providers for the first time. The band have since released a few more digital singles, some of which will and some of which won't end up on the forthcoming full-length album.


Guitarist Lars Chriss added: "I just got back from playing in the support act (Johan Kihlberg's Impera) to KISS in Gothenburg – so I’m super charged to get on the road again with Lion's Share and to put the finishing touched to our new album that will be totally awesome."


Both Johansson and Chriss remark that they have always worked very well together, and at this point it feels the most natural to keep Lion's Share as a duo, with friends helping out wherever needed.


"We are aware our fans want a new album and the plan was to release one in 2020, but we all know what happened then. We had just started playing live again with a couple of headline shows in Germany in March and were gearing up towards a new album and tour. Since we think it's very important to tour behind a new album, we just have to wait until things go back to “normal” again". Until then, we plan to release a new single every 2-3 months and keep building our fan base."


The Lion’s Share catalog features appearances by members and ex-members of KISS, Megadeth, King Diamond, Hammerfall, Symphony X, Chimaira, Therion, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Candlemass. Mixers include top engineers such as Jens Bogren (Arch Enemy, Opeth, Symphony X, Amon Amarth) - Niklas Flyckt (one-time Grammy Award winner and four-time nominee) and Ronny Lahti (Roxette, Europe, Glenn Hughes).


Lion’s Share has toured with bands like Motörhead, Manowar, Dio, Saxon, Iced Earth, Nevermore, U.D.O. (ex-Accept), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and has played many of the major rock and metal festivals.


Lineup:


Nils Patrik Johansson – vocals
Lars Chriss – guitar
Andy Loos – bass
Nils Fredrik Johansson – drums
Anuviel – keyboards

RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS have canceled their show in Glasgow due to an unspecified "illness."

The band, which consists of singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante, was set to play at Bellahouston Park on Friday (July 1) as part of its world tour.

Early Friday morning, RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS released the following statement via social media: "Due to illness RHCP will not be able to perform in Glasgow tonight July 1st. We are working on ways to reschedule this show. Please hold onto your tickets and wait for an update soon. RHCP love Scotland and are deeply disappointed not to be able to perform the show. Thank you for your patience and understanding."

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS have been touring in support of their 12th studio album, "Unlimited Love", which was released on April 1.

The band launched the trek on June 4 at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville.

"Unlimited Love" sold 97,500 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marks the band's first chart-topping effort since 2006's "Stadium Arcadium".

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS's first new LP with Frusciante since "Stadium Arcadium" was once again produced by Rick Rubin who previously worked on "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" (1991),"Californication" (1999),"By The Way" (2002) and the aforementioned "Stadium Arcadium".

Frusciante originally joined RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS following the death of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988. This lineup recorded two highly successful albums that brought the group mainstream popularity: "Mother's Milk" and "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". Sadly, Frusciante fell into a deep heroin addiction that caused him to leave the band while touring to support "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". Frusciante rejoined CHILI PEPPERS six years later, playing on 1999 album "Californication", 2002's "By The Way" and 2006's "Stadium Arcadium" before quitting the band again in September 2009.

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POISON frontman Bret Michaels says that "an unforeseen medical complication" forced him and his bandmates to cancel their concert in Nashville, Tennessee Thursday night (June 30).

The 59-year-old singer was hospitalized just before POISON was set to perform at Nissan Stadium as part of "The Stadium Tour" with DEF LEPPARD, MÖTLEY CRÜE and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS.

As seen in the video below, the members of the band came onstage to let concertgoers know that Michaels had suffered a "bad reaction to medication" and that they wouldn't be able to do the show without him.

Late Thursday night, Bret released the following statement via his social media: "To the incredible fans in Nashville, thank you for all your well wishes!! I was truly fired up to get on stage in the Music City and perform, but due to an unforeseen medical complication & following hospitalization, it was not possible. I send my deepest apologies for being unable to rock the stage tonight!!! I'm working on being back 100% very soon & hope you rocked hard with my friends Motley/Leppard/ Joan and Classless Act!!!"

Earlier in the day, POISON announced that it was canceling the VIP meet-and-greet with members of the band in Nashville "due to COVID positive cases within the POISON touring party". Not long after, it was announced that POISON was scrapping its appearance at the concert altogether.

POISON has two more shows scheduled for the weekend — in Florida and Mississippi. It is not presently clear if those performances will go ahead.

POISON's long-delayed North American trek with DEF LEPPARD, MÖTLEY CRÜE and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS was originally planned for 2020 and later moved to 2021 and then to 2022. "The Stadium Tour" will conclude on September 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"The Stadium Tour" marks the CRÜE's first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. CRÜE toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017, but this jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.

Michaels, who is a father to two daughters, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was just six years old. He has lived a very busy and full life despite the diabetes but has battled some additional health issues in recent years. In 2009, Michaels was injured while performing on the Tony Awards. The following year, he had a brain hemorrhage and also underwent an emergency appendectomy. In 2014, Michaels had kidney surgery. In January 2020, Bret underwent two separate surgeries — one to repair a torn rotator cuff and another to have a patch of skin cancer removed.

Bret continues to raise funds and awareness for not only diabetic causes, but St. Jude Children's Hospital, PetSmart charities and more.

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