In a new interview with Yahoo!, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx spoke about the backlash he and some of his peers, like Axl Rose or Sebastian Bach or Dee Snider, have gotten for expressing liberal or anti-Donald Trump views in the past.

"We could do a whole interview where I would tell you my opinion on this administration, and other administrations, but I'm not a politician, I’m a rock star, and people don't want me to talk about stuff like that," he said. "They tell me to 'stay in my lane' and just stick to playing bass. I don't really want to just stick to playing bass, but I don't want to alienate and have a mudslinging contest."

Asked if he would ever go into politics, Sixx, who is considered to be one of music's leading recovery spokespersons and advocates, said: "I would be too worried if my checkered past — but then, look at our president. [Laughs] But seriously, I consider myself to be the worm on the hook for a lot of what we're doing right now. I don't think it's my job to be political about it, but I will definitely help push the wagon up the hill for as long as I've got it in me — and that's forever. I care, and I want to make a difference because without my own recovery, without my own sobriety, I would be dead. And what a shame that would be that I never got help or I never had anybody around to support me and I missed all these beautiful opportunities — those beautiful children that I've had, the music that I've gotten to written, the photography and painting and books. And so, I think that the most important thing for me is if there's anybody out there dealing with what I was dealing with, or some version of it, if we can help them see there's a door and give them a key, that's enough for me. I don't need to be paid for my services or patted on the back or given an award."

Back in 2017, Sixx slammed Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris climate agreement, saying the president is "threatening our future" by making decisions that "are based on money" and "refusing to work together with others for a better America." Last year, he called on lawmakers to enact tougher guns laws following mass shootings across the United States that killed at least 35 in August 2019.

Sixx's CRÜE bandmate Tommy Lee has repeatedly voiced his displeasure with Trump, including in December 2018 when he referred to the 45th U.S. president as an "asshole" and labeled his supporters "dumbasses." A year earlier, he called the president "a fucking idiot" and said the people who voted for him are "dickheads."

SYSTEM OF A DOWN singer Serj Tankian has shared two new songs called "Entitled" and "Film Piano" from his next release "Cinematique". Described as an assemblage of 25 cinematic compositions that roam through classical ("Illuminate") and modern ("Violent Violins") soundscapes, it is split up into two collections that will be made available at the same time on August 6. "Entitled" and "Film Piano" are taken from the "Illuminate" portion of "Cinematique".

Earlier this month, Tankian released "Cool Gardens Poetry Suite", a rich collection of four elegant cinematic works layered with intimate recital of poetry performed by Tankian. The Suite is available now on all major streaming platforms.

Before the end of year, listeners can also expect two film soundtrack releases from Tankian, for "Truth To Power" and "I Am Not Alone", both being documentaries that the composer produced and scored.

A singer, poet, songwriter, visual artist, film producer, activist, and composer, Tankian has always created music as an outlet to express his thoughts and feelings with a level of passion and consciousness that few in today's world of music can rival. An Armenian born in Lebanon and re-rooted in Los Angeles, Tankian was introduced to the melding of cultures, ideas, and ideals from a very young age. The principles learned from this integration and adaptation have led to his understanding of the oneness of all things and have since maneuvered and transfigured into the music and art that he lives to create. As the lead singer and songwriter for SYSTEM OF A DOWN, Serj has released five studio albums, winning a Grammy Award in 2006 for "B.Y.O.B." and selling over 40 million albums worldwide. Despite this success, Serj has never grown complacent with his art, always striving to open up new channels of sound and arrangement to articulate his artistic expressions. He has released five albums of solo material, beginning with 2007's chart-topping hard rock album "Elect The Dead". His sophomore solo album, "Imperfect Harmonies", was released in 2010, followed by "Harakiri" in 2012. 2013 saw two distinct releases from Serj, the first being the critically acclaimed "Orca Symphony No. 1", released in June of that year, followed up with the very unique "Jazz-Iz Christ" one month later.

Over the past few years, his time spent in the recording studio has been focused on creating musical scores and compositions for film and video game projects. Serj recently lent his vocals to a modern-day cover of BLUE ÖYSTER CULT's rock classic "Godzilla" for the blockbuster Michael Dougherty film "Godzilla: King Of The Monsters". He also recorded a modern version of the Armenian folk song "Sari Siroun Yar" along with the Authentic Light Orchestra for the film "The Promise", directed by Terry George and starring Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac. Serj was also brought on by Survival Pictures, the producers of the film, to serve as an executive music consultant.

More recently, Tankian composed the full musical score for award-winning documentary "I Am Not Alone" directed by Garin Hovannisian and the Live Nation Productions film "Truth To Power", which chronicles Serj's own journey through the crossroads of music and activism. In 2017, Serj composed music for Emmy-nominated "Intent To Destroy", a gripping film directed by award winning documentarian Joe Berlinger. That same year he created an intense score for the epic Russian action film "Furious - The Legend of Kolovrat", followed by his 2018 musical score for award-winning film "Spitak", directed by Alexander Kott. Additionally, Tankian composed the full musical score for independent films "1915" and "The Last Inhabitant", an original composition for Ilya Naishuller's "Hardcore Henry" and video game musical scores for "Midnight Star" and its sequel, "Renegade", which were created by one of the chief architects of the famed "Halo" game franchise.

Serj's resume also includes the formation of a record label, Serjical Strike Records (established in 2001), which has released albums from many critically acclaimed artists, including FAIR TO MIDLAND, Buckethead and DEATH BY STEREO.

Along with fellow musician Tom Morello (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, AUDIOSLAVE), Serj co-founded the non-profit organization Axis Of Justice in 2002, which strives to bring together musicians, music fans and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. He has also dabbled in the world of broadcasting as co-host of the Axis Of Justice Radio Network, which can be heard via SiriusXM and KPFK in Los Angeles. With a mission of spreading diversity and understanding through music, poetry and activism, Serj will continue to surprise and enlighten those who listen to his music and hear his words.

In recent years, Tankian has split his time between holding a mic and a paintbrush, having feverishly created over 60 pieces of art since 2013. His journey into the world of fine art began with his "Disarming Time Musical Paintings", which were exhibited at Project Gallery in Los Angeles. Since then, he has had multiple exhibitions at galleries in both the United States and New Zealand. In 2015, his artwork was exhibited at the grand opening of New Museum Los Gatos in Northern California as part of a group exhibit that ran from May through September of that year. Most recently, Serj's artwork was exhibited at two notable galleries in New Zealand during February and March of 2019.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN hasn't released a full-length album since the "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" LPs, which came out in 2005.


























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Dee Snider says that people need to realize that celebrities are flawed human beings who are capable of doing bad things. The TWISTED SISTER frontman told "The MetalSucks Podcast"in a new interview (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Creatives are damaged goods by definition. We choose to be actors, performers, writers, artists, painters, comedians, all those things, because we're damaged. And that's driven us to find these outlets. I don't know why people are so shocked when the evidence of that damage shows itself. When Dave [Ellefson] from MEGADETH gets caught masturbating [on video], well… First of all, you know a lot of you are doing the same thing. But second of all, he's a musician. He's not a priest. You can't expect him to be priest-like; hell, you can't expect a priest to be priest-like. But people are so shocked. And I don't get why the art is thrown away with the artist. If we found out that Michelangelo [the Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet] was a pedophile, would we stop going to the Sistine Chapel [in Rome]. Would we paint it over? It's no longer good art because the painter turned out to be a pedophile? I'm saying it hypothetically."

He continued: "All arists and creatives have got some skeletons in their closets, and suddenly the skeleton is shown and we're, like, 'Well, he's not funny anymore.' 'He's not a good actor anymore.' 'Kevin Spacey, we can't watch his movies anymore.' He's one of the great actors of his time, but he's dead because he was… And I'm not saying he was right. But he's a damaged, broken person — he always was. It's what made him a great artist. I just don't get that we throw away the baby with the bathwater, as the saying goes.

"I'm not saying making excuses or whatever. I'm [just talking] about the art being dismissed, thrown out, devalued and disqualified because the artist turned out to be a fallible human being. And people should be very careful. Most of us live in glass houses.

"When I went to [testify before] the Senate back in the '80s [against the proposition to have warning labels be placed on albums deemed 'offensive' to listeners], they talked to me like I was the scum of the earth. Well, cut to all these years later, I'm still married and the Gores [Al and Tipper] are divorced. One of their kids was busted for possession. None of my kids have been busted. Maybe they just got lucky. But the fact of the matter is — judge not, lest ye be judged."

In 1985, the Parents' Music Resource Center (PMRC), led by Tipper Gore, was trying to introduce a parental warning system that would label all albums containing "offensive material." The system was to include letters identifying the type of objectionable content to be found in each album (e.g. O for occult themes, S for sex, D for drugs, V for violence, etc.), which resulted in the "Parental Advisory" sticker now found on new album releases with "questionable content." The incongruous trio of Snider, Frank Zappa and John Denver were called before Congress to testify in defense of music.

In 2015, Snider wrote an Op-Ed story for HuffingtonPost.com about his experience, saying: "Thirty years later, everything and nothing has changed. The ultra-conservatives still want to dictate to the masses what they deem acceptable for the general public to see and hear. The record industry is a mere shadow of its former self (apt punishment for its cowardice), and CDs and vinyl albums have almost become 'novelties’ in a world driven by downloads. Yet, the warning labels still adorn individual track listings and albums online.

"While initially my appearance at those Senate hearings was damaging to my career and reputation, long term it was beneficial, showing people for the first time that I was much more than a screaming 'Raggedy Ann on acid' and a fairly intelligent, sentient human being. Fortunately, I have gone on to better things."

Ellefson was dismissed from MEGADETH in late May, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter. The longtime MEGADETH member later 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 Ellefson by unknown offenders. In the report, Ellefson 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.)

David, who studied for a year at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis nearly a decade ago, and his wife Julie Ellefson have been married for 27 years. They have two children.

METALLICA will play an "intimate" concert on November 4 at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Tickets for the 7,000-seat-theater show go on sale Friday, July 30 at 10 a.m. EDT, but members of METALLICA's fan club (also known as Fifth Members) can get theirs early with a special presale starting Wednesday, July 28 at 10 a.m. EDT.

Says METALLICA: "We're excited to add one more night to the tour calendar this fall.

"It feels so great to be making plans to hit the road and we can't wait to see all of you out there. Keep watching this space… we have a few more shows in the works!!!"

Earlier in the month, METALLICA announced details of its massive 40th-birthday celebration: The band will mark this milestone by inviting the worldwide METALLICA family to join them in their hometown of San Francisco for two unique live shows featuring two different setlists December 17 and 19 at Chase Center. Tickets for these shows will be available only to registered members of METALLICA's Fifth Member fan club.

The 40th-anniversary shows see METALLICA return to Chase Center for the first time since the September 2019 "S&M²" concerts that also served as the venue's grand opening. It was impossible not to notice that fans from more than 60 countries traveled to the City by the Bay and completely took over San Francisco for "S&M²" weekend. That outpouring of positive vibes from around the world inspired METALLICA to invite those Fifth Members back — and this time, in addition to the two shows at Chase Center, METALLICA will be curating other live music and comedy events, Blackened Whiskey tastings, and so much more all around the city during the long four-day weekend of celebrations starting on Thursday, December 16.

Formed in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, METALLICA has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, having sold nearly 120 million albums worldwide and generating more than 2.5 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on literally all seven continents. The band's several multi-platinum albums include "Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning", "Master Of Puppets", "… And Justice For All", "Metallica" (commonly referred to as The Black Album), "Load", "Reload", "St. Anger", "Death Magnetic" and "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", released in November 2016 and charting at No. 1 in 32 countries.

METALLICA's awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and its 2009 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In June of 2018, the band was awarded one of the most prestigious musical honors in the world: Sweden's Polar Music Prize. METALLICA's newest release, the "S&M²" album and film, arrived last August on the band's own Blackened Recordings label. "S&M²" chronicles METALLICA and San Francisco Symphony's September 6 and September 8, 2019 "S&M²" concerts that served as the grand opening of San Francisco's Chase Center and reunited the band and Symphony for the first time in 20 years. "S&M²" brings those historic shows back to life, capturing more than two and a half hours of James, Lars, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo joining forces with the nearly 80-strong San Francisco Symphony, legendary music director of the orchestra Michael Tilson Thomas and conductor Edwin Outwater.

In a recent interview with Long & McQuade, RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson was asked whether he strove to recreate his recorded guitar solos live as accurately as possible or he tried to find room to improvise and do something different. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think traditionally we always tried to recreate what our albums were. So, certainly in the earlier days, what you heard on the record was what you were gonna hear live except that it's amplified and it's live. As things progressed, we became more complicated in our arrangements and our music, but we always tried to recreate what we did on a record live. Now, a lot of players or a lot of bands like to be quite loose in their arrangements, and certainly we loved to improvise, but for RUSH, we'd decide, 'Okay, this is where we're gonna improvise for two minutes or three minutes in the middle of this song,' and then the next time we played that song, it would be that same thing. So it was improvised for the first time. But that was the nature of the way we worked. We were very anal about being pretty accurate in whatever we did. We loosened up in the later years. But I think it was always more important to try to recreate something that people had been listening to and were used to. And certainly with solos, that's very much the case. If you play a song pretty faithfully and then you come to the solo, which can be a high point of the song, and it's not really related to the actual solo you've been listening to a million times, it's very, very disappointing, I think. So I always tried to be as close as I could to the solos that I originally did."

To mark the occasion of his collaboration with Epiphone and the release of the new Alex Lifeson Epiphone Les Paul Standard Axcess guitar, Lifeson recently debuted two brand new songs titled "Kabul Blues" and "Spy House". Fans can get a listen to "Kabul Blues" and "Spy House" in their entirety exclusively at AlexLifeson.com. These two instrumental songs mark the first new music from Lifeson in close to a decade.

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

RUSH's final show took place at the Forum in Los Angeles on August 1, 2015. Peart indicated at the time that he wanted to retire while he was still able to play well, along with a desire to spend more time at home with his young daughter.

Lifeson and bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee have repeatedly said that RUSH will never do a show unless all three musicians agree to take part. They haven't performed as RUSH without Peart since he joined the band in 1974.

WHITESNAKE has announced the addition of Croatian singer/multi-instrumentalist Dino Jelusick to the group's ranks. Jelusick is a member of multi-platinum selling band TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA and was previously part of DIRTY SHIRLEY (with George Lynch), ANIMAL DRIVE and recorded with many others. Dino has been singing, touring and recording since the age of five. Other than being a frontman, his main instrument are keyboards but he also plays bass, guitar and drums. He finished music academy and did theatre work.

WHITESNAKE's David Coverdale says: "I am absolutely delighted to welcome the extremely gifted Dino Jelusick to WHITESNAKE. We've had our eyes and ears on him since we played Zagreb together two years ago. You're going to love him!"

Dino says he has been influenced by WHITESNAKE and Coverdale from an early age.

"I am beyond honored to be part of one of my favourite bands of all time," he said. "To get the phone call from David Coverdale is something every singer and musician of my generation can only dream of; it still feels completely surreal. I cannot wait to start hitting the road with WHITESNAKE and, as the great DC said to me himself, to give a piece of my identity to the sound of this iconic band."

In other news, WHITESNAKE and FOREIGNER will hit the road across the U.K. and Ireland next spring alongside very special guests EUROPE. The trek will kick off in Dublin on May 10, 2022 before hitting Glasgow, Newcastle, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Birmingham, and closing in Cardiff. Tickets go on public sale this Friday, July 30 from 9 a.m. (U.K.).

Together WHITESNAKE and FOREIGNER boast a catalogue that spans the decades with seminal and anthemic hits such as "Here I Go Again", "Still Of The Night" and "Is This Love" (WHITESNAKE), "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Juke Box Hero" and "Cold As Ice" (FOREIGNER), to name a few. Very special guests EUROPE will bring their electrifying 'The Final Countdown" and more to this six-date U.K. arena tour.

Says Coverdale: "After all the extraordinary challenges we've been through together over the last year and a half, I am beyond excited to be able to announce our 2022 U.K. dates. I pray every day we can all make this happen and once again share unforgettable evenings together and celebrate the amazing journey we have been on for almost 50 years. Boys and girls… WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER and EUROPE… It doesn't get any better! Let's make this night to remember… and let's make some [email protected]' noise!!!

FOREIGNER's Mick Jones says: "We can't wait to kick off the summer in the U.K. and Ireland with a massive tour alongside our friends WHITESNAKE and EUROPE. We're looking forward to playing all our biggest hits for our fans, and rocking across the country."

EUROPE's Joey Tempest says: "What an explosive start to the summer of 2022 for us! A U.K. and Ireland arena tour with our friends in WHITESNAKE and FOREIGNER! YEAH! An evening of some of the biggest anthems in classic rock! We are truly honored to be invited as special guests."

On October 29 2021, WHITESNAKE will release newly remastered and remixed CD and LP deluxe editions of "Restless Heart", along with unreleased demos and studio outtakes and a DVD. The DVD includes music videos and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the album with new interviews from Coverdale. The set comes with a hardbound book filled with rare and unseen photos from the era.

WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER and EUROPE 2022 tour dates:

May 10 - 3Arena, Dublin

May 12 - SEC (SSE Hydro Arena), Glasgow

May 14 - Utilita Arena, Newcastle

May 16 - The O2 Arena, London

May 18 - AO Arena, Manchester

May 20 - Motorpoint Arena Nottingham

May 22 - Utilita Arena Birmingham

May 25 - Motorpoint Arena Cardiff

EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting is now "cancer free," more than two weeks after he underwent a successful total gastrectomy in his battle with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach.

Earlier today (Monday, July 26), Hunting's EXODUS bandmate Gary Holt took to his Instagram to write: "Update of Tom! Tom has been home for around a week now, is doing very well despite the pain, is eating real food but also adjusting to a new relationship with food and a new way of having to eat. But he's a rock in all this, strong as hell and he's gonna crush this. And he is CANCER FREE. They got it all. Fuck yes!

"I know if he was on social media he would thank each and every one of you for all the well wishes, donations, tickets for the benefit show that were purchased as well as the raffle items. Only a matter of time before he is crushing the drums again! He's got some real healing to do but he is on his way to recovery".

According to Cancer.org, a total gastrectomy is done if the cancer has spread widely in the stomach. It is also often advised if the cancer is in the upper part of the stomach, near the esophagus.

On July 5, Hunting said that he had four rounds of chemotherapy and that "the mass [had] shrunk to less than half the size it was in March… After recovery [from gastrectomy], I get four more treatments, then I can resume my life cancer-free."

He added: "I can't wait to travel the world, playing music, enjoying every moment of this crazy journey!! I'll check in soon again and share how thing's are going. THANKS AND MUCH LOVE TO EVERYONE!!! CHEERS!!!!"

According to Cancer.org, a total gastrectomy involves the surgeon removing the entire stomach, nearby lymph nodes, and the omentum, and possibly removing the spleen and parts of the esophagus, intestines, pancreas, or other nearby organs if the cancer has reached them. The end of the esophagus is then attached to part of the small intestine. This allows food to move down the intestinal tract. But people who have had their stomach removed can only eat a small amount of food at a time. Because of this, they will need to eat more often.

A GoFundMe campaign to help Hunting with medical expenses had previously raised more than $108,000 — including $5,000 from Tom's former EXODUS bandmate, current METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, and $1,500 from FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho.

After Hunting went public with his diagnosis, Holt said that EXODUS will "delay" the release of its recently completed new album, "Persona Non Grata", "so that when Tom has defeated this, he will be back to full strength to hit the road and pummel his drums like only he can! When he has kicked cancer's ass like we know he will, we will resume kicking YOUR asses with the sickest record yet!" he said.

The squamous cell carcinoma of the stomach is a very uncommon entity, with worldwide incidence of 0.04% to 0.07% of all gastric cancers.

"Persona Non Grata" will be the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' first release since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

"Persona Non Grata" was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap.
























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Former SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison has died at the age of 46.

The news of his passing was broken in a statement from his family.

The statement reads: "We are heartbroken to share the news that Joey Jordison, prolific drummer, musician and artist passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 26th, 2021. He was 46.

"Joey's death has left us with empty hearts and feelings of indescribable sorrow.

"To those that knew Joey, understood his quick wit, his gentle personality, giant heart and his love for all things family and music.

"The family of Joey have asked that friends, fans and media understandably respect our need for privacy and peace at this incredibly difficult time.

"The family will hold a private funeral service and asks the media and public to respect their wish