During an appearance on the December 5 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine was asked about the possibility of his band playing the final show of its upcoming farewell tour with a lineup that could include all surviving former members of the group. Mustaine responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I can't really do that, because of the behavior of one of the bandmembers in the past. I just can't — I can't. Because, first off, it would be unfair to the other bandmembers if I didn't play with them as well. But the thing about what we did with [former MEGADETH guitarist] Marty [Friedman] in Japan [in early 2024], that was a no-brainer. That was brilliant. And I love Marty. We had our separation, and he went his way and we went our way. But it was a very, very intense relationship I had with Marty, because that was the first relationship I had with a guitar player. My relationship with [former MEGADETH guitarist] Chris [Poland] was really great, but it wasn't as good as it was with Marty. My relationship with [former MEGADETH guitarist] Jeff [Young] was good, but it wasn't as good as it was with Marty. And I probably wouldn't have a problem playing with any of the members of those two lineups, except the fact that [former MEGADETH drummer] Gar's [Samuelson] deceased, and [I'm] just not gonna do anything that is gonna, in any way, seem unfair to the other bandmembers."

Asked if he thinks the final MEGADETH show will be announced as the band's last-ever gig or if MEGADETH will "quietly end" its touring career without an official announcement of one final performance, Mustaine said: "I don't know. I was joking around with our management and said, 'You guys should probably book some fake dates at the end of the tour that I don't know about so I won't go out there on the last date and just blubber like a fucking 175-pound wuss."

Two months ago, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked by AlternativeNation.net for his reaction to the band's announcement that its upcoming LP and tour will be the band's last. He said at the time: "Honestly, I don't think about it that much. I think probably everybody else thinks about it more for me than I do for me.

"It's been a rocky road, for sure, obviously, and there have been moments sublime and there have been moments that I just scratch my head over, but at the end of the day… Look, Dave said four and a half years ago he doesn't wanna play music with me anymore, so I just left it there and just moved on. I'm not sitting around waiting for a call. I've already offered, if it should come my way, I'd be happy to participate on some level.

"What we saw in Birmingham [at BLACK SABBATH's 'Back To The Beginning' event], in my opinion, was 100% on point the right way to say goodbye," Ellefson continued. "You bring back the O.G.s — Geezer [Butler], Tony [Iommi], Bill [Ward] and Ozzy [Osbourne]; the four O.G.s — 'cause, obviously, they went through their… Look, they fired Bill [at some point earlier in their career], they fired Ozzy, and at some point they're back together. The four guys that started it all get to say goodbye together, to each other, to the fans, the fans say goodbye to them. So, to me, that is the model of how it's done. I mean, that is a hundred percent the right way to do it."

Circling back to MEGADETH, Ellefson said: "If it really is a farewell, if it really is, and it's not just an attempt to boost ticket sales, 'cause we've seen this movie before — boost ticket sales, go away, then the bigger offers come after everybody's gone away for a couple years; I mean, we've seen how this works — but, look, if Dave needs to shut it down and call it quits because he is just had enough and he's been through it all, then hey, you know what? As a still friend to him, even we haven't spoken almost five years — you know what? God bless you, brother. Put it away with grace and go enjoy the rest of your life. So if he really is shutting it down and he's really gonna put it away, then please do so with dignity and grace and do what you say and mean what you say. 'Cause I think that farewell thing has been thrown around so much by so many people that it doesn't have much weight to it. We've just seen it over and over again. So, if you've really gotta shut it down, shut it down and put it away and go enjoy the rest of your life."

Ellefson previously discussed his reaction to MEGADETH's farewell tour in September during an appearance on the Rock 'N' Blues Experience podcast with host Tim Caple. Asked if it was a shock to him to hear that MEGADETH was ending, Ellefson said: "I knew about it. Obviously, I'm in the business, so I knew about it, which — it was a little shocking. I've known Dave as a workhorse. All things good, bad or indifferent about Dave, he's a pretty fucking tough mule, man. I mean, he's gotten out there and sang and played despite all the odds. And I will give him that. He definitely never backed down to a challenge."

Ellefson continued: "I remember there was a comment some years ago — we were playing a festival in Mexico, and his wife, Pam, had looked over at me, and with him sitting right next to me, [she] goes, 'The old horse is slowing down.' [Laughs] And that was a big gig. It was [with] JUDAS PRIEST and SCORPIONS… And I remember when she said it, it was kind of, like, we are getting up there a little bit, but then I look at the SCORPIONS, and fucking Rudolf Schenker, that guy comes up and hugs you like a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot. You're, like, 'What the fuck did they put in the water in his house?' This guy's well into his 70s, and it's, like, 'Aargh.' Like, Jesus, man. The SCORPIONS are impenetrable; they're strong, like Iron Man."

David added: "I haven't talked to Dave now in four years, so I have no idea the reason or anything about it other than they made their announcement."

Asked what he thinks would happen if he just picked up the phone and called Mustaine, Ellefson said: "Well, even if I had his number — I don't know; he might have changed his number since I [last] talked [to him]. No, but I know what you mean.

"Look, he removed me from the group, so it's not my place to call him to go back," David continued. "I put it out there — I did something on my podcast, I floated it out there and said, hey, look, if it were to be, I'd be up for it. I think it'd be cool. Having just watched what happened in Birmingham [at the 'Back To The Beginning' event] where everybody got together —not only did we get to say goodbye to [BLACK SABBATH], they got to say goodbye to us. And I think that's just as important.

"Dave's closing up shop on MEGADETH, and he's doing it for him, obviously, for his reasons. I think in a perfect world there would be at least a moment where maybe some of, if not all of, the rest of us got a chance to say goodbye as well," Ellefson added. "I think that's a takeaway from Birmingham, is that there's a moment for everybody to just put everything aside and go, 'You know what? That was a fucking good run, man.' And take the final bow together on some level."

Ellefson's ELLEFSON-SOTO bandmate Jeff Scott Soto, who was also part of the interview, chimed in: "I'm sorry, I have to interject here. I absolutely agree with you, David, that it would be a lovely way for it to end or go out is to have the surviving members of this legendary band all together, at least for one more hurrah. But as far as I'm concerned, MEGADETH, you guys [Ellefson and Mustaine] are the Joe Perry and Steven Tyler of this band. And to end this whole legacy without one or the other, to me, is wrong. And I'll put it right here. You can clickbait and Blabbermouth it all you want, Dave Mustaine, you need to call David Ellefson and you need to put him as part of the end — if this is truly the end and you're calling it a wrap, you need to include David at some point, even if it's one show, one song, something like that. To me, that's the true closure. That's the real way to actually close the book on MEGADETH. They have to at least include David, to include Chris Poland and all the others, Jeff Young, all the others that have been involved. That, to me, would be the ultimate farewell, sayonara, all of the above. That needs to happen, as far as I'm concerned. You need to get the Lennon and McCartney, the Joe Perry and the Steven Tyler of this band together for one final hurrah. That's how I see it."

Ellefson also discussed his reaction to MEGADETH's farewell tour in August in a special episode of his video podcast "The David Ellefson Show". Asked for his "thoughts" on MEGADETH "calling it quits", Ellefson said: "There's a lot, 'cause, of course, it brings up years and years of thoughts, feelings, emotions, some great, some not so great. I always say these gold records on the wall — which, the only reason I have 'em up is 'cause we have a podcast [laughs]; it just makes for a good backdrop — but I look at 'em, 'Countdown [To Extinction]', 'Peace Sells', 'Beavis And Butt-Head', 'Rust In Peace', they all have a story in 'em. And some of the stuff in the '90s were better stories — the band was cohesive, the management was consistent, the music, I think, was collaborative. We went to new heights, we explored new territory that you could only dream of doing, Grammy nominations, festivals, the world for touring was really opening up everywhere. So, really great stuff. In the middle of it, of course, and around it was addictions, rehabs, canceled tours, lost finances in the millions. And so for things to sort of flush out the way that they did with now me not being part of the final farewell of something I started, as one can imagine, [it's] probably not something I'm super happy about. And saying that while still being grateful for all that it was, because I think at some point you have to find a path through it because this is reality."

Referencing Mustaine's debilitating injury in 2002 that caused severe nerve damage to his left arm and hand, and rendered him unable to play the guitar for a while, Ellefson continued: "Look, I feel like Dave Mustaine ended our friendship in 2001, and that was it. And he ended it very loudly, very publicly. He personally signed his name to it. He said we would never play music together again. And that's it. That is it. So from there on, I, I moved on. And I learned from 2002, with the career-ending nerve damage to his arm, and then two years later there's a new album with a new band and new financial terms and I'm not part of it and lawsuits to settle business matters, and just all the things go, there's a whole story there of a lot of this stuff. I was out, then suddenly I was back, and it was great. And he and I tried to mend fences, as I think we did. He was generous to me. Things were good.

"Clearly MEGADETH is a Mustaine family-run business," Ellefson added. "And it started that way, I think, probably a little while after I came back to the band [in 2010]. 'Cause when I came back to the band, it was not — it was Dave. And I kind of became the good friend to Dave. I knew him and he knew me in a way that no one else could. Dave had his friends before me growing up in California, but I've certainly known him one of the longest of most anybody on the planet, at least from inner workings of a band kind of thing. So, as bands go though, there can be tensions, there are all those things. Certainly what was made clear to me in 2004 is, 'Hey, it's a new day. It's a new way. Dave's in charge. It's not gonna be what it was. It's not gonna be collaborative.' [Former MEGADETH drummer] Shawn Drover always used to remind me of that. He goes, 'Dude, those days when of us all getting in a room and writing a record, dude, those days are long gone.' In fact, I remember when I came back and we were doing the 'Th1rt3en' album after about a year on the road, Dave asked me, he said, 'Oh, I'd like to have you write.' I said, 'You know what? No. Why don't you write the songs? I'll play bass for you. Let's just keep it clean. Keep it simple. Let's not even blur the lines.' And that's why I did other musical things. I did the ELLEFSON solo records and various other things to just have a little… I [thought], 'Let me take my creative stuff over there.' I knew in no way was that ever gonna sort of trump the brand, if you will, be bigger than the MEGADETH brand, yet it was a way to have a little creative outlet on the side, kind of get my yayas without interfering with MEGADETH. 'Cause I knew — look, we got it back together. Let's keep it clean, let's keep it simple. Let's just do that. And I think every time we tried to write, it was always a sore spot. It was problematic. And I was, like, 'Oh, I wish we weren't even going down this road.' Now, of course, everybody wants their name on the record, everybody wants to feel some of the financial windfall. And how things are split financially doesn't always have to how they're split with the credits and stuff like that.

"There's a weird thing in bands that how things are financially split… If you're a founding member of a band, to some degree you should be entitled to a piece of every everything and all of it, basically, 'cause it wouldn't exist if you weren't there," David noted. "And that deal got changed in 2004. That immediately changed the landscape. It changed my feelings about it. It drew us into a legal dispute — rightfully so. And no one wins in lawsuits, to some degree, yet sometimes they have to happen because things need to be done the way they need to be done. And I guess the good news for me is financially it landed certainly much better for me, and getting paid directly for my sources rather than… 'Cause sometimes that's what happens, is money goes through the channels of the organization and sometimes people don't get paid. So that needed to happen, and I'm glad I went through the process. It's not a fun process — I didn't sleep for nine months because of it — but that's when I had my little band F5 and I was trying to at least kind of keep my nose creatively involved in some stuff.

"So, there's a lot of history here with this band. This band started with a resentment. It started with a 'fuck you', Dave's sort of revenge against [his former band] METALLICA. And it wasn't entirely that. I mean, that gets a little blown out of proportion. To some degree, Dave was his own artist away from METALLICA. He had 'Mechanix' and some songs before METALLICA, and he certainly wrote songs after. So I think that that's a little unfair to paint that entirely on Dave that MEGADETH was just this revenge toward METALLICA. It may have been often fueled by it, but how could it not be? He was not a founding member of METALLICA. He was there for, as I always call it, a year and a half in the life of METALLICA. And [he] certainly changed the course of what they did. But they went on and had their own successes.

"But, look, for Dave to call it quits or to retire, I should say… Farewell… I don't even know if he's retiring. He's just basically saying MEGADETH's over… Would I like to be a part of it? Yeah, of course. Who wouldn't?" he admitted. "I'm a founding member of it. I'm a 30-plus-year member of it. Is that gonna happen? Who knows? It's too early to tell. I don't know what they have planned. I have no idea what it is. They just made an announcement about it. Do I think there should be some sort of farewell that everybody gets to participate in? I mean, look, [the] 'Back To The Beginning' [concert in Birmingham] with BLACK SABBATH. Look, they made nice. They brought all four of BLACK SABBATH['s original members]. They brought everybody back. You had [former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist] Jake [E. Lee]. Now, was everybody there? No. There were some key people — Bob Daisley — some people that weren't there. But for the most part, they brought a lot of the people back. And just speaking of BLACK SABBATH, they brought the original, the core four back, and they said goodbye. Not only did they say goodbye, everybody got to say goodbye to them. And I think when you're doing a farewell, that's important, that you get to say goodbye and everybody gets to say goodbye to you. I think that that's an important part of it. But that's me. I'm not in the band anymore. I have no say in it. So that's just me. That's just one guy with an opinion, quite honestly."

After podcast co-host Joshua Toomey opined that "everyone that was ever in MEGADETH should also be able to say their farewell too" and be part of the celebrations in some way, Ellefson said: "Well, I strongly stand against the notion that MEGADETH was only Dave Mustaine, 'cause it wasn't. And everybody knows that. So, if Dave needs to retire, wants to retire, I get it. I understand. He's given a lot. It's taken a lot out of him. It's taken certainly a toll on him, as anyone can imagine. So, look, God bless you, brother. If you're done, this is it, you wanna go do something else with your life, spend time with your family, just not play guitar, I get it. I mean, dude, believe me, I'm 60. There's some days I just kind of go, 'God, really? Should I write another album, another song? Do I really wanna go on stage?' And the answer always comes back to yes, I do. So I do. So I can't speak for him, and I'm not gonna speak for him. But, look, again, I haven't talked to the guy now in four and a half years, so I have no idea what his reasoning is, what the thinking is behind it.

"Someone made a point, they said we're all fans of MEGADETH music, even if we're not maybe fans of a particular lineup of the band, or we're not fans of certain members of the band, we still all love MEGADETH music," he continued. "And I thought, okay, I'm down with that. I can get behind that."

Referencing Mustaine's decision to fire Ellefson in May 2021 after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter, David said: "It's unfortunate that things landed between me and Dave where they did, because as I said right from the beginning, they didn't have to. And I made it very clear on the phone call when they were firing me that they didn't have to do that. It was unnecessary. Whatever those circumstances are were nothing to be feared. We can move on. But whatever. They made their decision, so let the chips fall where they may. I don't really even like going back to that period of time, because I felt like there was a lot leading up to that stuff behind the scenes, conversations that Dave and I were having about things that maybe we just weren't agreeing on. And that's okay. You can agree to disagree. You don't have to agree on everything.

"[OVERKILL singer] Bobby Blitz said something really good to me when I was touring with OVERKILL," Ellefson added. "'Cause he said he and D.D. [Verni, OVERKILL bassist], they're the boss. They run OVERKILL, they run the band. And he said, 'No matter how we go into the room with separate ideas, we come out as one voice.' And I thought, 'Man, that's a great way to put it.' And I always felt like Dave and I did that. No matter what we felt like when we got in the room, we leave this room as one voice. And Dave being the leader, Dave being the self-appointed voice of the group, let him have that voice. So I always felt like I stood behind that. I was unified with him. Whether I agreed with it or not, you get on board with it and that's what it is, and you go with that. And look, for the most part, Dave's way worked pretty good. I wasn't there to defy that."

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play. After Mustaine reformed MEGADETH with an all-new lineup in 2004, Ellefson sued his former bandmate for $18.5 million, alleging that Mustaine still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.

Press photo credit: Ross Halfin

Perris Records will release HELIX's new full-length album, "Scrap Metal", on January 23, 2026. This will be the 14th HELIX release on the label.

"Scrap Metal" features five previously unreleased tracks that retain the "classic" 1980s HELIX sound. The remaining five songs were previously made available on other releases such as "Old School", "half-ALIVE" and "B-Sides".

The new LP's first single, "Stuck In The 80s", features Sean Kelly (Gilby Clarke, CONEY HATCH, Lee Aaron) on guitar.

The digital singles release dates are December 12, 2025 for "Stuck In The 80's" and December 19, 2025 for "Fast & Furious".

HELIX just finished playing shows with NAZARETH as part of the "Bending The Rules" tour, the latter band's farewell trek of Canada.

Most iconic 1980s bands only tour on their back catalog, but that is not the case with HELIX, which continues to record new music staying true to the band's 80s rock roots.

HELIX frontman Brian Vollmer comments: "'Scrap Metal' started out as an afterthought and morphed into a full-fledged album.

"During the '80s HELIX had written several very good songs that were never ever released. I decided to finish them, and also add a song I had written with Sean Kelly entitled 'Stuck In The 80's', which, ironically, seemed to sum up the project. I chose Aaron Murray and HELIX bassist Daryl Gray to produce, as they had both worked on previous HELIX projects. Aaron is on the cutting edge of where production is going, being the protégé of Danny Broadbeck (Delores O'Reardon) who was the protégé of Jack Richardson (THE GUESS WHO, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger) so it was a fantastic lineage of producers. As for Daryl, he's not only the music director for HELIX, but he produced 'Old School', which came out just as COVID hit. Sean Kelly, who I've written several albums with over the years, also became heavily involved in the recording of this disc, as did HELIX guitar players Mark Chichkan and Chritopher Julke. We even had former HELIX guitarists Kaleb Duck and Brent 'The Doctor' Doerner to come in and play on a couple of tracks. As the songs started to take shape, we realized we had something very special here. 'Stuck In The 80's' indeed!"

Track listing

01. Stuck In The 80's (3:33)
02. Fast & Furious (3:40)
03. Pretty Poison (3:55)
04. Hot Heavy & Wild (3:50)
05. Money (Goes With Everything) (3:27)
06. Jaws Of The Tiger (3:39)
07. Coming Back With Bigger Gus (3:43)
08. Danger Zone (4:25)
09. Tie Me Down (4:00)
10. Closer (3:48)
11. The Same Room (4:38)
12. The Pusher (4:49)

HELIX was formed in 1974 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. In 1976, the twin-guitar attack of Brent "The Doctor" Doerner and Paul Hackman joined the band, helping shape the group's signature sound. After releasing two independent albums, HELIX signed with Capitol Records, launching their major-label career with "No Rest For The Wicked" (1983),featuring the breakout hit "Heavy Metal Love". The band gained further international success with "Walkin' The Razor's Edge" (1984),driven by their iconic anthem "Rock You", which received major MTV airplay, along with a controversial X-rated version of the video.

Throughout the 1980s, HELIX continued to release acclaimed albums and tour worldwide, sharing stages with KISS, ALICE COOPER, MOTÖRHEAD and Ian Gillan. Despite the tragic loss of guitarist Paul Hackman in 1992, Brian Vollmer carried the HELIX torch forward, working with various top-tier musicians, including members of BRIGHTON ROCK, KILLER DWARFS, HAREM SCAREM and CRASH KELLY.

HELIX's legacy was further cemented in 2003 when they were humorously featured in an episode of the "Trailer Park Boys" television show sparking renewed interest in their music. In 2005, Vollmer released the book "Gimme An R!", documenting his life on the road and in the studio. In 2010, Vollmer released "Smash Hits…Unplugged", an acoustic reimagining of HELIX classics.

Images courtesy of Michael Brandvold Marketing for HELIX and Perris Records

San Diego hard-rock/nu metal veterans P.O.D. have released the official music video for their cover of THE BEATLES classic "Don't Let Me Down". The clip, which was recorded, mixed and filmed by J.T. Ibanez, can be seen below.

P.O.D. released its rendition of "Don't Let Me Down" as a single in late September. At the time, P.O.D. guitarist Marcos Curiel stated about the band's decision to cover the Fab Four: "As cliché as it may sound, we've always admired THE BEATLES from the very beginning of our songwriting journey. Their melodies, the hooks, and fearless experimentation inspired us to craft our own take on the classic 'Don't Let Me Down', with nothing but the utmost respect. Thank you for helping lay the foundation of what we all know today as rock 'n' roll, pop and metal."

P.O.D.'s fall 2025 North America tour with DAUGHTRY and SEETHER kicked off October 1 in Virginia Beach and ran through mid-November, hitting major cities across the U.S.

P.O.D. joined U.S. hard rockers GODSMACK as special guests on their March/April 2025 European tour. The trek kicked off on March 22 with a sold-out show at the Sofia Arena in Bulgaria and then made stops in Romania (Bucharest),Hungary (Budapest),Poland (Gliwice),Austria (Vienna),Croatia (Zagreb),Czech Republic (Prague),Germany (Munich, Berlin, Offenbach),U.K. (London),Belgium (Brussels),before finishing with two shows in Germany, Hamburg, and finally April 12 at the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen.

In May last year, P.O.D. released its 11th album, "Veritas", via Mascot Records. The album was a Top 10 hit across the U.S. Billboard Current Hard Rock, Current Rock, and Current Alternative album charts, and has already surpassed 48 million streams.

P.O.D. has released several singles from the album including "Drop", "Afraid To Die", "I Got That" and "I Won't Bow Down".

"Drop" features a vicious vocal feature from LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe, while the equally eruptive single "Afraid To Die" features JINJER vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk.

As well as releasing "Veritas", P.O.D. has toured with SKINDRED, who between them brought the party in a major way to the U.K. They bulldozed through Europe with euphoric festival sets at Graspop Metal Meeting, Summerside and Rock For People. They supported MUDVAYNE, took on their blistering U.S. "I Got That" headline tour with special guests BAD WOLVES and NORMA JEAN, and festival stops at Louder Than Life, Aftershock, Sonic Temple, Welcome To Rockville and made waves on the ShipRocked cruise. They spent October 2024 touring Latin America, playing Knotfest and headline shows in Brazil as well as shows in Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

Image credit: DeadMike.com

Former URIAH HEEP singer Peter Goalby has announced the release of his "long-lost" solo album "Don't Think This Is Over", out now.

Goalby was the lead singer of URIAH HEEP during the band's classic "Abominog" (1982) era and also wrote URIAH HEEP's 1980s hit "Blood Red Roses". He also sang on the band's albums "Head First" (1983) and "Equator" (1985).

In addition to URIAH HEEP, Goalby was the lead singer of TRAPEZE and FABLE but has now retired from the music industry after an illustrious career.

Peter had been living with the knowledge he'd recorded a solo album just after leaving URIAH HEEP but it was only when a poorly labeled DAT was spotted, at a storage facility over 30 years later, that the lost album was found.

The album was finished when his URIAH HEEP bandmates Mick Box (guitar) and John Sinclair (keys) added the final overdubs to the tracks in 2025. The nine-track album was personally overseen (from tape transfer, mastering and artwork) by Goalby.

Goalby explained the background to the release: "In 1987 I was offered a recording and publishing contract with RAK Records just after I'd left URIAH HEEP. I thought these songs would be very commercial in the 1980s and SMOKIE recorded 'Fallin' Apart'. I later found out the master tapes had been lost and I silently carried the disappointment that music I'd put my heart and soul into was gone forever. Never say never!"

The lost album's release follows the successful release of "Easy With The Heartaches" and then "I Will Come Runnin'".

All Peter Goalby solo albums are also available from Cherry Red.

Gene Simmons, legendary bassist, co-founder, and co-lead singer of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame band KISS, will testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Intellectual Property Subcommittee next Tuesday, December 9, during a hearing on the American Music Fairness Act (S.326/H.R.861),legislation to close the radio loophole and compel radio corporations to pay performers for playing their music.

"Having spent my career in the music and entertainment industry, I understand the vital importance of this issue," said Simmons, who is receiving the Kennedy Center Honors with KISS this Sunday. "The American Music Fairness Act represents sound public policy. Artists must be properly compensated for their creative work. I look forward to meeting with both Republican and Democratic Senators to discuss why this legislation is crucial for thousands of present and future American recording artists."

Simmons will testify next Tuesday alongside Michael Huppe, president and CEO of SoundExchange, the non-profit designated by Congress to collect and distribute digital streaming royalties to artists. Huppe has helped lead the fight in recent years to build support for the American Music Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill that ensures radio corporations play by the same rules as every other music delivery platform that pays performers royalties.

"I'm pleased for the opportunity to testify before the Senate next week," added Huppe. "Recording artists are an essential part of our culture. It's outrageous that, in 2025, they still are not paid fairly for the work they do. I hope that the Senate will remedy this inequity and act swiftly to pass this important legislation."

AM/FM radio remains the only major music delivery platform in the United States that still refuses to pay performers for their work. Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, YouTube and TikTok all pay performers, while the corporate radio industry earns billions of dollars each year without paying artists fairly. The United States stands as the world's only democracy that still refuses to pay artists, putting it in the same league as North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. Even Russia and China pay performers royalties.

Simmons, who started his career as a small-venue musician and will be honored at the Kennedy Center on December 7, was one of more than 300 major artists who sent a letter to Congressional leaders earlier this year urging them to pass the American Music Fairness Act. His support has helped breathe new life into this effort — next Tuesday's hearing will mark the first time in more than a decade that the Senate has held a hearing on the American Music Fairness Act.

The American Music Fairness Act is sponsored by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA). The bill takes a balanced approach to ensure artists are fairly compensated when their songs are played on AM/FM radio, require big radio corporations to finally pay their fair share, and help small independent broadcasters thrive. The legislation is supported by a diverse coalition of artists, broadcasters, labels, and music lovers:

Broadcasters, such as the Alliance for Community Media, Common Frequency, Media Alliance, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB),Prometheus Radio Project and REC Networks — which represent a broad coalition of community broadcasters — also support AMFA.

Last month, more than a dozen major artists asked Congress not to pass legislation requiring AM radio in new vehicles without also closing the radio loophole for artists.

More than 300 artists sent a letter to Congressional leaders in February urging them to pass the American Music Fairness Act.

Country music icon Randy Travis memorably testified before the House last year urging adoption of the legislation.

For over a decade, NEAL MORSE BAND, now known simply as NMB, has stood as one of progressive rock's most enduring and unified collectives. With their latest studio album "L.I.F.T." set for release on February 27, 2026, Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Eric Gillette, Bill Hubauer and Randy George return with a work that embodies vision, passion and inspiration . Written and recorded during a period of major transition, "L.I.F.T." captures the band's creative chemistry at its most instinctive and inspired.

To coincide with this announcement, the band has launched the first single from the album, and you can watch the video for "Fully Alive" below.

Conceptually, "L.I.F.T." stands toe to toe with NMB's greatest works like their much-acclaimed concept album "Similitude Of A Dream", combining emotional depth with the band's trademark progressive rock grandeur.

"In short, 'L.I.F.T.' is a prog concept album that follows the journey of someone seeking to belong to something greater than themselves" Morse explains. "It starts with feeling connected to the world and life, then there is a break in belonging, after which comes the turmoil and desperate cry, leading to a return to that place of profound connection."

The album title came late, though its meaning remains intentionally vague.

"We thought it could stand for different things," says Randy. "It's kind of whatever the listener wants it to be."

True to the band's collaborative spirit, "L.I.F.T." began with the usual whiteboard full of ideas, with columns under each member's name filled with riffs and snippets. However, few of them made it on to the final album.

"We hardly used any of the ideas on the board," says George. "Most of it was written right there in the room, more so than in the past." While Bill Hubauer contributed a few early sketches, and Morse improvised piano pieces that evolved into key themes, much of the music took shape spontaneously.

The sessions were engineered by longtime collaborator Jerry Guidroz, with all drum tracks recorded on-site before each member continued working individually from home studios. For the first time, NMB worked entirely outside their familiar recording environment, at Eric Gillette's studio in Tulsa, adding a layer of uncertainty to the process.

"It was strange not being in the usual studio," George admits. "But hearing the final mixes, it all came together beautifully."

Mixing once again fell to longtime collaborator Rich Mouser, who has been refining NMB's complex sound for years. As George explains, the band sends him the tracks and lets him work independently: "We just let him do his thing." Despite the enormous amount of detail in the arrangements, Mouser once again delivered a mix where "everything lives." The drums, in particular, stand out. Mouser will experiment by removing or combining elements "to see what it sounds like if this isn't there." The result is another brilliant showcase of the band's trademark sound.

With artwork created by longtime collaborator Thomas Ewerhard, the "L.I.F.T." will be available as a limited 2CD digipak (including instrumental versions),standard CD jewelcase, gatefold 2LP and as digital download.

The full track listing is as follows:

01. Beginning (06:48)
02. Fully Alive (05:02)
03. I Still Belong (03:32)
04. Gravity's Grip (02:03)
05. Hurt People (08:05)
06. The Great Withdrawal (05:08)
07. Contemplation (02:20)
08. Shame About My Shame (05:50)
09. Reaching (07:32)
10. Carry You Again (05:02)
11. Shattered Barricade (01:25)
12. Fully Alive Part 2 (06:18)
13. Love All Along (11:18)

AVENGED SEVENFOLD has released the official Black Ops interrogation room VR 360° video for a new song, "Magic", which is included as part of Black Ops 7 Season 1 biggest seasonal content drop in "Call Of Duty" history. The huge update adds new and remastered maps, modes, weapons, scorestreaks, limited time events, perks, gameplay mechanics, skins, bundles and more, with one of the highlights being the new Astra Malorum Zombies map. Completing the main easter egg of Astral Malorum and reaching Mars is necessary if you're looking to unlock the aforementioned track from AVENGED SEVENFOLD.

Says AVENGED SEVENFOLD about the "Magic" video, which was created by Ryan McKinnon using Unreal Engine: "Use the official YouTube VR app and 8K headset for the best viewing experience. You can also explore the full scene interactively on your phone or desktop by dragging your finger or mouse to look around."

"Magic" will be out everywhere December 6.

Back in 2018, AVENGED SEVENFOLD released a new EP containing four songs the band has written and recorded for the "Call Of Duty: Black Ops" franchise.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. Shadows told Kerrang! magazine about the decision to make the tracks available on a separate EP: "We just felt these songs needed a place to live, instead of being scattered all over streaming services. We will also be releasing 'Jade Helm', which is the multiplayer score we did for 'Black Ops 3'. Until now, that has only been available on YouTube and in the game."

The EP included a new AVENGED SEVENFOLD song which was teased in a leaked trailer for the "Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4" video game. M. Shadows stated about the track: "The song is dark and brooding. We wanted to capture a difference feeling than a straight-ahead 'zombie killer' track. These songs are good places for us to experiment with our sound. I would put this in the category of 'dark alternative.'"

AVENGED SEVENFOLD contributed music to several previous installments of the game series, and even appeared (virtually) in the second chapter, where they could be seen performing the song "Carry On" in an epilogue after the closing credits.

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

THE AVETT BROTHERS and Mike Patton played a three-song set on "CBS Saturday Morning" on December 6 as part of the program's "Saturday Sessions" segment. Watch performances of "Received", "Eternal Love" and "Dark Night Of My Soul" below.

"Received", "Eternal Love" and "Dark Night Of My Soul" are all taken from THE AVETT BROTHERS and Mike Patton's new collaborative album, "AVTT/PTTN", which came out on November 14 via Thirty Tigers in association with Ramseur Records and Ipecac Recordings.

"AVTT/PTTN" is composed of eight original songs written by the three artists together (plus one folk traditional) and produced by Mike, Scott Avett and Grammy-winning engineer Dana Nielsen (METALLICA, Rihanna).

For the Avetts, working with the legendary frontman of FAITH NO MORE and MR. BUNGLE was more than just a new collaboration — it was a full-circle moment.

"Mike's part of our DNA, like the fabric of our youth," says Scott. "Literally, we studied him. He's a dear friend now, but when we were younger, I was imitating him."

Patton adds, "My peculiar challenge in this was to become a long distant cousin. A brother that was orphaned. Maybe they kept him in the chicken coop or some shit. They brought him out years and years later."

"AVTT/PTTN" opens with the gentle acoustic guitar of "Dark Night Of My Soul", where Patton's seasoned croon merges with the Avetts' voices for a rich three-part harmony. Elsewhere, the driving fuzz of "Heaven's Breath" and the scuzzy stomp of the folk classic "The Ox Driver's Song" push the Avetts into new sonic terrain, while showcasing Patton's trademark dynamic range. Each track reflects the unusual way the record was built — songs sketched by Scott, reshaped by Patton, and then reimagined again with Seth — a process that gave the music its distinct character and balance.

What emerged from this partnership is a collision of worlds. "AVTT/PTTN" is Scott, Seth and Mike at their most adventurous, writing and singing together without boundaries, and carving out a space that's entirely their own.

"AVTT/PTTN" track listing:

01. Dark Night Of My Soul
02. To Be Known
03. Heaven's Breath
04. Too Awesome
05. Disappearing
06. Eternal Love
07. The Ox Driver's Song
08. The Things I Do
09. Received

Four-time Grammy Award nominees THE AVETT BROTHERS made mainstream waves with their critically acclaimed 2009 major label debut, "I And Love And You". In 2012, "The Carpenter" hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200, followed by "Magpie And The Dandelion" in 2013, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The 2017 documentary "May It Last: A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers" (co-directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio) chronicles the process of writing 2016's "True Sadness", which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Albums, No. 1 on Rock Albums, No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and scored two Grammy nominations. The film was released theatrically and on HBO to rave reviews and is available on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD. In 2019, the band released their tenth studio album "Closer Than Together" featuring the single "High Steppin'" which reached No. 1 on the Americana Radio Singles chart. "The Third Gleam" came out amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Americana/Folk Albums, No. 1 Rock Albums, No. 1 Vinyl Albums, and the single "Victory" hit No. 1 on the Americana Radio Singles chart. This year saw the release of "The Avett Brothers", an album that is as much untitled as it is self-titled: a collection of songs that revealed themselves naturally over time. "Swept Away" — a musical inspired by and featuring the music of THE AVETT BROTHERS — recently debuted on Broadway. THE AVETT BROTHERS have been inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall Of Fame and have earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. They are currently on tour throughout the U.S.

Patton is a Renaissance man in the truest sense of the word. From his time spent with genre-defying alternatives acts like FAITH NO MORE and MR. BUNGLE to his multitude of collaborations including the deconstructed-pop of PEEPING TOM, the rock-centric TOMAHAWK, and the Italian language orchestral classics he covered with MONDO CANE, his career has also ventured in film composing for movies such as "Crank: High Voltage" and "A Place Beyond The Pines", voice acting in "I Am Legend" and multiple video games, and starting his own record label, Ipecac Recordings, showing there is no limit to what Patton can do.

Photo credit: Crackerfarm

The surviving members of the original lineup of KISS were among the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees who were presented with their medals by U.S. president Donald Trump during a ceremony in the Oval Office on Saturday, December 6.

Other recipients this year are actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait and actor-singer Michael Crawford.

Trump praised this year's honorees as "perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center honorees ever assembled."

Before presenting KISS members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss, along with the late guitarist Ace Frehley's daughter Monique, with their medals, Trump called KISS an "incredible rock band" and acknowledged Ace, "who now is resting in peace", adding that the guitarist's "beautiful daughter is here to accept the award."

According to Billboard, Ace became only the third person to receive a Kennedy Center Honor posthumously, following two other group members who likewise died after the groups' awards were first announced: Glenn Frey of EAGLES and Phil Lesh of GRATEFUL DEAD.

The day of Frehley's passing, Ace's former bandmate in KISS, Gene Simmons, shared a touching statement reflecting on the guitarist's impact and the Kennedy Center Honor.

"Our hearts are broken. Ace has passed on," Gene wrote. "No one can touch Ace's legacy. I know he loved the fans. He told me many times. Sadder still, Ace didn't live long enough to be honored at the Kennedy Ctr Honors event in Dec. Ace was the eternal rock soldier. Long may his legacy live on!"

U.S. president Donald Trump announced the honorees in August during a press conference at the performing arts center.

When KISS's Kennedy Center Honor was first announced, Simmons told TMZ: "KISS is the embodiment of the American Dream. We are deeply honored to receive the Kennedy Center Honor."

Stanley added: "From our earliest days, KISS has embodied the American ideal that all things are possible and that hard work pays off. The prestige of the Kennedy Center Honors cannot be overstated and I accept this on behalf of the long legacy of kiss and all of the band members who helped create our iconic band."

Frehley, meanwhile, called the Kennedy Center Honor "a dream come true that I never thought would materialize."

Criss kept his statement simple, saying: "I feel so blessed. This is the greatest honor of our career."

During his first term, Trump seemingly paid no attention to the Kennedy Center, often skipping the honors ceremony. He has since vowed to transform the marquee arts center, first ousting its leadership board, then filling the board of trustees with his loyalists.

In September 2020, Frehley called Trump "the strongest leader that we've got." Two years earlier, the original KISS guitarist also expressed his support for America's 45th president during an appearance on the "Juliet: Unexpected" podcast. At the time, he said about Trump: "Whether you love him or hate him, if you're an American and you're a patriot, you should get behind your president. He was elected. We live under the Constitution of the United States, and you're supposed to support your president. Love him or hate him, you're supposed to support him, or go move to another country.

"Being American, we have the right to free speech, and I'm all for everybody putting their two cents in on everything," he added. "But when musicians or actors get really verbal and jump on a bandwagon against our government, I don't agree with that."

Throughout its 47-year history, the annual Kennedy Center Honors Gala has become the highlight of the Washington cultural and society calendar. On Sunday, December 7, in a star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, the 48th class of Kennedy Center honorees will be saluted by today's leading performers from New York, Hollywood and the arts capitals of the world. Seated in the Box Tier of the iconic Kennedy Center Opera House, the honorees will accept the recognition and gratitude of their peers through performances and tributes. The 48th Kennedy Center Honors Gala concludes with a post-performance party in the Grand Foyer.

The Kennedy Center Honors recognizes and celebrates individuals whose unique artistic contributions have shaped our world. Recipients have each had an impact on the rich tapestry of American life and culture through the performing arts. Whether in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television, each Kennedy Center honoree has a unique place in the fabric of our nation and their influence has inspired audiences from all walks of life.

The honoree selection process includes solicitation of recommendations from former honorees, the artistic community, the Kennedy Center board of trustees, and the general public. This year's selected honorees were chosen based on the recommendation of the Center's special honors advisory committee.

Video below courtesy of the official The White House channel on YouTube

During an appearance on the December 5 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Dave Mustaine spoke about his decision to include his version of "Ride The Lightning", the title track of METALLICA's 1984 album for which he got a co-writing credit following his 1983 departure from the band, on the final MEGADETH album, simply titled "Megadeth". Regarding how the new recording came about, Dave said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're managed by three men — Danny Nozell, Steve Ross and Justis Mustaine. And we were talking with management, and we were just kind of yacking about what the cover song was gonna be on the record, 'cause we always did cover songs on our records. But this wasn't a cover song, because I wrote it with James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman]. And it just became clear that I should do this, because if I'm going to ride off into the sunset, I wanna pay tribute to the band that I started in, and I wanted to make mention about what I think about James."

Mustaine continued: "I think [James is] an exceptional guitar player. I remember the day that I saw him play guitar for the first time. We were playing at the Whisky [A Go Go in West Hollywood, California]. And we had a guitar player with us, and his name was Brad Parker. And the night of the show he changed it to Damian Phillips. And he showed up at the Whisky in mid-1980s Rudy Sarzo garb. And I thought, 'Wow, that's not gonna go down.' And I looked at him and he had a giant feather earring. And I thought to myself, 'This guy's not gonna be here very long.' So I go to rehearsal, after the show, the next rehearsal I go and there's no Brad, there's no Damian, nobody. It was just James playing guitar — like a motherfucker. And I thought, 'How did this happen? How did this guy go from singer to a great guitar player like this?' And I was excited for me. I was excited for the band. And we started playing then."

As for how "Ride The Lightning" was chosen as the song for MEGADETH to record this time around, Mustaine said: "With the track, choosing that, I figured it should be something that I had something to do with, but I didn't know it was going to turn out like that. Something off of [METALLICA's debut album] 'Kill 'Em All' would've been obvious, and we already did that [with 'Mechanix']. And so I was thinking about 'Ride The Lightning', and there's only a couple songs on there that I wrote. And I didn't think that 'The Call Of Ktulu' would be the right move, 'cause that's not even how the song was when I was in the band; they changed it so much, so it's not the way that I remember it. So we started doing 'Ride', and it just felt so great, listening to the tracks, listening to James's singing, listening to how the song structure was. It was just great. I loved it. And I've always believed when you do a song from somebody, you've gotta do it as good or better — you've got to. So we sped it up a little bit and we beefed up a couple parts, just to make them a little bit more modern. And there you have it."

Mustaine previously talked about MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lightning" this past October in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. He said at the time: "It wasn't really that I wanted to do my version. I think that we all wanted it to turn out a certain way, and for me, this was about something so much more than how a song turns out. It was about respect."

Speaking specifically about Hetfield, Mustaine added: "No one ever talks to me about that. One day he's a singer, the next day he's this fucking powerhouse and I've always respected him as a guitar player. So I wanted to do something to close the circle on my career right now, since it started off with [Mustaine's band before METALLICA] PANIC and several of the songs that ended up in the METALLICA repertoire, I wanted to do something that I felt would be a good song."

Elaborating on his reasons for recording "Ride The Lightning" for MEGADETH's final album, Mustaine said: "Our intentions were pure. I didn't have any reason I was going to say, 'Oh, hey man, this thing that we've had for 40 years where you guys will never tour with me, me doing the song is going to change things.' That wasn't it at all. It was more about: This is my life going forward. I want to do things that are respectable. And I think doing something where we can pay honor to the guy that … I mean, I hate to say this, because it's just so fucking arrogant, but the guitar playing in METALLICA changed the world."

In a separate video message, Mustaine said: "So on the new album we recorded 'Ride The Lightning', and the reason we did that was, obviously, it's a song that I had a lot to do with writing it. And James and I, when we were working on the song, it became clear to me, when James first started playing guitar, how good of a guitar player he was. And I thought it would be really cool to close the circle to show respect, to play the songs that I've written with METALLICA and to honor our friendship, even though it's been strained and ruined from emotions over the years when we were not necessarily friendly. But one thing I've always had is I've always had a tremendous respect for James's guitar playing and [METALLICA drummer] Lars's [Ulrich] songwriting. So, it was cool to do this and add it to the record. We sped it up just a little teeny bit, and we kind of played around a little bit with the solo and Teemu [Mäntysaari, MEGADETH guitarist] and I both tossed it back and forth to each other. So, you might hear a little bit of some differences with the tempos and, of course, I sing different from James too. But once again, it was about completing the circle and just showing what James and I, as guitar players, did to change the world."

"Megadeth" will be released on January 23, 2026 via Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint in partnership with Frontiers Label Group's new BLKIIBLK label.

Mustaine co-wrote the song "Ride The Lightning" with Hetfield, Ulrich and then-METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton.

"Megadeth" track listing:

01. Tipping Point
02. I Don't Care
03. Hey, God?!
04. Let There Be Shred
05. Puppet Parade
06. Another Bad Day
07. Made To Kill
08. Obey The Call
09. I Am War
10. The Last Note
11. Ride The Lightning (bonus track)

This past May, Mustaine gave a three-hour interview to Shawn Ryan, a former Navy SEAL and CIA contractor, and host of the Shawn Ryan Show, in which he spoke about his brief stint as a member of METALLICA in the early 1980s. Asked how he ended up joining METALLICA, Dave responded: "I was done with [my previous band] PANIC and I said, 'I'm gonna find something else to do.' So I got a newspaper called The Recycler, and it's just a rag from Los Angeles, Orange County. It's like a county classified ad magazine. And I'm looking in the classified ad magazine. Go figure. The biggest band in the world would advertise in this newspaper. So I look at it and it says, 'Wanted lead guitar player' and mentioned a couple bands. So I called up and I got Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] on the phone, and I said, 'Yeah, well, I like MOTÖRHEAD and I like BUDGIE. And he goes, 'You like fucking BUDGIE, man?' And I went, 'Yeah, I do.' And that was the icebreaker because BUDGIE is a Welsh band. It's a three-piece. It's very obscure. And by me listening to them showed that I had credibility in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal world because of the bands I was listening to. They were not a band like a white metal band or a progressive metal band. They were a three-piece from Wales that kicked ass. They didn't have to have all those silly names in front of it."

Mustaine continued: " So, [Lars and I] were on the phone, and he made that comment that I know them, and I said, 'Yeah.' So we talked about meeting face to face. And I drove down from Huntington Beach to Newport Beach where he lived in a place called — I think it was called Park Newport. And the funny thing was my mom was a maid and she had actually worked a event for catering in his complex he was in. And I'm thinking, 'Go figure. My mom was a maid here and your mom has a place here. What a story that is, two different sides of the same coin.' And so I went into his place and started talking to him. And he played this song called 'Hit The Lights' that was written by a guy named Lloyd Grant. METALLICA didn't write that song. Lloyd Grant wrote it, and then he was friends with Lars, and then Lars introduced him to James [Hetfield, METALLICA guitarist/vocalist] and then they started playing 'Hit The Lights'. That's a song that I heard from them first and I said, 'Wow, this song needs way more lead solos in it.' It was just me being cocky, being me: 'It needs more lead solos in it.' And he was trying to figure out if I was for real. And so we went to rehearsal. He said, 'We're gonna try you out.' I said, okay. I mean, I knew how good I played. I have been gifted, and I know it's not by my own doing, so I don't try to take any credit for it. So I don't care how good I am or not, or what people say or anything like that. So I just knew what I knew, what I knew. And I went to [then-METALLICA bassist] Ron McGovney's parents' fourplex. They had this place that James was living with Ron. And I went up there with Lars and I set up my amps and I plugged my guitar in and I just started warming up. [And] they wouldn't come in. They wouldn't come into the rehearsal room. So I put my guitar down and I thought, 'This is really strange.' And I walked out and I said, 'Guys, are we gonna do the audition?' They said, 'You got the gig.'"

Mustaine went on to say that he "knew" he would get the METALLICA gig when he first went to audition for the band. "'Cause I could play that stuff," he explained. "I mean, there weren't very many guitar players like me around at the time. Who were they? Randy Rhoads. There were people like that. The guy from RATT — Warren DeMartini was really great. But real shredders? There wasn't a lot of us around at the time."

Asked what it felt like being in METALLICA in those early days, Mustaine said: "Well, again, it's kind of like it seemed like this was what my destiny was. And when it came time for us to do our first concert, we played at a high school, or maybe it was a junior high school Lars might've gone to. I know he went to it, but I can't remember if it was elementary or junior or high school, whatever. And from that point on, it was just clear that whenever there was any kind of altercation that was going down, I would be the one that would take care of it. James was very peaceful, and Lars, he was a little bit of a devil; he liked to have fun. But, yeah, if there was ever any stuff going down, I had to take care of it. When we went up to San Francisco and did our first couple shows up there at a place called The Stone, I was the one who had to go and collect the money. And there's a million ways to embezzle or to be corrupt when it comes down to running a club or a bar when it involves a band getting paid. They can say all kinds of stuff. And if you don't know, you don't know. And most kids my age at that time don't know. And they try and get money and they'll say, 'Well, you sold 200 tickets and you have a bar tab here, and so we're gonna give you 150 bucks.' And you know that they made a killing on their booze. You know that they made money on the food and snacks that they have there and the ticket prices. Plus they take a giant whack of your merchandise. And that was my gig. I would go do that."

Reflecting on METALLICA's ill-fated cross-country trip in the spring of 1983 that resulted in his firing from the band, Mustaine said: "When we decided we were gonna move out to New York, that was because Lars had found somebody he wanted to manage us, this guy Jonny Zazula, who had Megaforce Records. And [Jonny] heard our demo tape, the 'No Life 'Til Leather' demo tape. And he lost his mind, just like everybody else in the world. And they wanted to get the band to come out and record a record. And while we were on the way out there, we got in a car crash. We were driving through the snow. None of us knew how to drive through snow except for Lars, because he was from Denmark. And I'm driving this Ryder truck. It's a 24-foot truck, and it had a tow bar and it had James's pickup on the back. So when we were driving, we hit black ice and the whole thing spun around while I was driving. And I managed to keep it upright in the middle of the freeway, but the truck stopped and oncoming traffic was coming towards us. And the events that happened at that location… The guy that had produced — I think he produced the first [METALLICA] record; his name's Mark Whitaker. He was the guy that was doing our sound and stuff. He almost died. I had to push him out of the way, and a truck was to the right or right where he was standing. So if I wouldn't have seen that truck coming and saved his life, he'd be dead right now. And when we went to the U-Haul place to get our truck, we placed and moved all of our gear into the new truck. James and Lars had made a decision to replace me because they tried to pin that driving thing on me as the last straw."

Addressing the allegations that his excessive drinking was the main reason he was fired from METALLICA, Mustaine said: "We all drank. That's why they called it ALCOHOLICA. I mean, they didn't call it DAVE-ALCOHOLICA. We all drank. And they continued to drink like that even after I was gone. But that was, I think, the beginning of the end. And when we got out to New York, I had a reel of tape, this quarter-inch tape, that had probably two days' worth of guitar riffs on it, just me playing and playing and playing. And we took that tape player and the reel of tape with us out to New York. We did two shows out there, and after those two shows, they woke me up one morning and said, 'Look, you're out of the band.' And I said, 'What are you talking about?' 'You're out of the band.' I said, 'No warning? No second chance? You're not gonna give me a warning? You're just gonna kick me out?' And I thought that was unfair. And it showed a grotesque lack of character. And so that pissed me off and was a huge part of the fuel. But at the time, I was really mad and I didn't wanna forgive them for what they did. And I told them when I left, 'Do not use my music. And of course they used it. [The] 'Ride The Lightning' [title track] I wrote. 'The Call Of Ktulu' I wrote. Let's see, what else? There's 'Phantom Lord', 'Metal Militia', 'Jump In The Fire', 'The Four Horsemen'. And I wrote a bunch of 'Leper Messiah' [on METALLICA's third album, 'Master Of Puppets'] too. They didn't give me credit on that. You listen to the riffs, you know they're my riffs. It's, like, you think I'm gonna all of a sudden hear my riff and say, 'That's not me.' So, yeah, I wrote a lot of their music that made them, and all the solos on that first record were mine — the best Kirk [Hammett, Mustaine's replacement in METALLICA] could try and copy them."

Asked why he was singled out and fired from METALLICA when everybody in the band drank heavily at that point, Dave said: "Because when I got drunk, I got violent. James and I had gone out to a club one time. It was the old Mabuhay [Gardens in San Francisco]. It was across the street from The Stone. And we were out front, and some guy came out of the alleyway and he said, 'There's a guy beating some girl up in the alleyway.' And, of course, I being the champion for justice, did not want to hear that and not do anything. So I went down the alleyway with James, and, of course, James not being a fighter, started yelling out, 'Kill him, kill him, kill him.' And the guy comes out from behind a van and he was much bigger than James, and he said, 'Who's gonna kill me?' And James goes — points to me. So I immediately grabbed a guy and put him down in a submission and started rabbit punching him until he stopped moving. And then we ran out of the alleyway and we stood out front until the paramedics came. And that was it. So I imagine he saw that and he figured, 'I don't wanna be part of this. Dave's already beat me up back down in Los Angeles, and he's just too violent.' 'Cause James did get a punch in the mouth from me. He kicked my puppy."

Elaborating on the punch-up that occurred between him and Hetfield, Mustaine said: "I was selling pot for a living, so one time I did a concert and people knew I was on stage, so they just shimmied the window. There was nobody there. They took all my pot, and I was pissed. So I got two dogs. My nephew took one and I took the other one, and I had taken her up with me to rehearsal. And she was playing and she's looking up at me. I'm standing over here. Ron McGovney's got this really nice GTO and she leans up against the car and puts her paws on the front quarter panel and [James] goes bang and kicked the dog. And I went, 'What did you just do? What did you just do?' And it went from the front yard into the house, and there was still stuff being said. And I said, 'You better shut up or I'm gonna punch you in the mouth. And then Ron McGovney says, 'If you hit him, you're gonna have to hit me first.' And I said, 'You stay out of it.' And then James said the same thing: 'If you hit him, you're gonna have to hit me first.' And I said, 'Okay, you win.' And bang, I hit James in the mouth, and then I hip-tossed Ron into his television set-up. And that was it. Two strikes and it was over. And Lars was pulling his hair going, 'I don't want it to end this way.' And I thought, 'You know what? I've already told you, it's either me or James.' And we did that a bunch of times, 'cause James was doing stupid stuff. And I told James the same thing. I said, 'Man, it's either me or Lars, 'cause Lars sucks.' And I got the ax in the end. So it's good. Fine."

Asked what he did after he got "axed" from METALLICA, Mustaine said: "I went home and I contacted a friend of mine and I said, 'I quit.' She said, 'No, you didn't. You got fired.' And I said, 'Yeah, I got fired. I quit. I got fired, whatever. I'm back home. Wrong word. [it's] not changing the outcome.' And I made sure not to ever say that I quit, 'cause I wanted people to know that I was unfairly dismissed and that I didn't give a shit. 'Cause we [MEGADETH] may not be as big as they [METALLICA] are. Hell, their biggest song, 'Enter Sandman', go look up the band EXCEL right now. Look up their song — I think it's something 'Into The Unknown'. [Editor's note: The track is actually called 'Tapping Into The Emotional Void'.] Pretty similar."

A decade ago, Grant told the "Rockzone Legends" show that he first heard "Hit The Lights" when Ulrich played it for him before their first rehearsal with Hetfield. "James was playing bass and I was playing guitar and Lars was playing drums," Lloyd recalled. "And we rehearsed that 'Hit The Lights' song. But way before that, Lars let me hear that song. We were hanging out watching soccer, and he says, 'Hey, I met this guy,' blah blah blah, 'and he's exactly what we wanna jam with.' And he played this one song, and it was great, and that's how I first was introduced to 'Hit The Lights'. And after that, I went over and jammed a few times. Then he called me and said they were gonna be on this compilation album ['Metal Massacre'] and he brought over a tape of 'Hit The Lights' recorded on a four-track and asked me to make some solos for that, and they were gonna bring the four-track down and they were just gonna put it out an dump it on the compilation album."

In a November 2022 interview with Greg Prato of Songfacts, Mustaine was asked to elaborate on his comment that he would like to collaborate again with Hetfield. Asked if he actually discussed that with James, Dave said: "The last time we talked it didn't end very well because we have some memory of a couple of things that took place when I was in the band. I remember it one way and he is saying that it happened another. But it's about somebody else — it's not even him. He's talking to me on behalf of 'you know who'," apparently referring to Ulrich. "They wanted to release 'No Life 'Til Leather' [the early METALLICA demo Mustaine was on] — 27 songs, posters, flyers, pictures, everything. I said I would love to do this thing, and James said, 'Look, we fucked up. The last three things we've done failed abysmally.' He said it was 'Lulu' [METALLICA's collaboration with Lou Reed, released in 2011], something called Orion [a festival called Orion Music + More that took place in 2012 and 2013], and there was one other thing... I think it was a film about a fan or something [the 2013 film 'Metallica: Through The Never']. I don't know. I don't see them as a failure. But I had said, 'Yeah, I'd be interested.' And he said, 'We'd like to get everything right with all the history, the publishing and stuff.' And I said, 'Good.' Because part of the reason why we haven't been able to really reconcile is because I had songs that when I left I didn't want them to record, and they went ahead and recorded them but they didn't pay me what my share of the songs were.

"James and I wrote 'Metal Militia' and 'Phantom Lord' — every note," Dave continued. "And somehow, on the record ['Kill 'Em All'] it says Lars gets 10%. And on 'Metal Militia' that Kirk gets some of it, and he wasn't even in the band.

"So I've come to terms with it, and when he said, 'We'd like to get this right,' I said, 'Great. Let's do it. I have no problem.' And when I said, 'This is what it is,' he said, 'No. It's kind of what it was, and that's how it is.' And I thought to myself, you know what? When you guys did that to me before, it was not cool. I said, 'Don't use my stuff' and you did it, and then didn't give me my fair share. So why would I want to willingly enter into something like that? I wouldn't. So that's where we stand right now.

"I would love to work with James. I'd like to work with Lars again, too, but I think the real talent in METALLICA has always been around the guitar — everybody makes fun of the drums.

"Lars is a really great song arranger. And believe it or not, I watched him on a piece-of-shit acoustic guitar write the opening riff to 'Master Of Puppets'. You know what that was? It was a guy with a guitar that doesn't know how to play, and he's going [mimics playing a chromatic run] on the neck. It wasn't anything really mind-blowing by any means. The way James played it made it mind-blowing."

Seven years ago, Mustaine said that he didn't want to "perpetuate false information" by giving Ulrich songwriting credit on the previously announced expanded version of "No Life 'Til Leather".

"No Life 'Til Leather" was released as a limited-edition cassette for Record Store Day in April 2015, available exclusively in independent record stores. It featured artwork copies from drummer Ulrich's own personal copy of the original demo, as well as his handwriting. At the time, the band also promised that expanded editions of the demo, which had never before been commercially available, would arrive on CD, vinyl and in a collector's set.

The seven-song tape was recorded with the first lineup of the band that appeared live as METALLICA, including Ulrich, Hetfield, lead guitarist Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney. The original recordings were paid for by High Velocity record label owner Kenny Kane, with a view of making them available as an EP in 1982.

Mustaine discussed the proposed expanded edition of "No Life 'Til Leather" during a June 2018 interview with U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine. Saying that the last time he spoke to Hetfield was when the METALLICA guitarist/vocalist called him to talk about the "No Life 'Til Leather" re-release, Mustaine recalled: "He was trying to get me to give publishing over to Lars, despite James and I being the sole songwriters. Lars wanted a percentage and I just said no. I love James, he's a terrific guitar player, but yeah, I can't do that. The songs are already out there. I'm not going to release something just to have a product to sell — especially if they are perpetuating false information. Lars did not write the songs. It was just me and James. Period."

Ulrich told Metal Forces in 2016 that "some unexpected difficulties on the legal side… prevented the 'No Life 'Til Leather' box set and our vision for how we were going to kick this whole reissue series off. We spent some time doing that dance, but then James and I decided that it wasn't worth it getting bogged down in all the unpleasantries, because this was supposed to be a celebration and not end up being a tug of war, so we thought, 'You know what? Fuck it. We'll just move on to 'Kill 'Em All'," he said.

Ulrich did not want to get into the details of the exact issues that were preventing the demo tape from being released. "It's a little more complicated than that," he said. "There's no reason to go deeper into it. It was just something that we hadn't expected."

Back in November 2017, Mustaine tweeted that he was contacted by Hetfield two years earlier about "officially" releasing "No Life Till Leather" with "27 tracks, pics, the whole enchilada," but, he said, "the talks broke down because Lars wanted credit on two songs I wrote every note and word to. I have the texts. I passed."

When Ulrich spoke to Metal Forces in 2016, he made it clear that METALLICA was still hopeful that the expanded version "No Life 'Til Leather" would arrive at a later date. "As you know, I am the eternal optimist, and I am the eternal 'glass is well fucking half full,' so who knows?" he said. "I think some of those parties have circled back around now that they've seen that this is real and so we'll have to see. It would be great to share 'No Life 'Til Leather' in a year or two with our fans and with the people that care. We haven't shut the door on it."

"No Life 'Til Leather" was recorded on July 6, 1982 at Chateau East Studio in Tustin, California. All the songs on the tape later appeared on the band's 1983 debut album, "Kill 'Em All", including "Hit The Lights", "Motorbreath", "Jump In The Fire", "Seek And Destroy", "Metal Militia", "Phantom Lord" and "The Mechanix", which was renamed "The Four Horsemen" on the album.

Mustaine was a member of METALLICA for less than two years, from 1981 to 1983, before being dismissed and replaced by Hammett.

Mustaine was not inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with METALLICA during the April 2009 ceremony at Cleveland, Ohio's Public Auditorium. Ulrich later explained to The Plain Dealer that Mustaine "never played on any METALLICA records. No disrespect to him. But there [were] half a dozen other people that were in the lineup in the early days. We thought... the fair thing to do would be to include anybody that played on a METALLICA record." He added: "Dave Mustaine was in the band for eleven months, predominantly in 1982... I'm not trying to play it down. I have nothing but respect and admiration for his accomplishments since."

In a new interview with Dustin Grove, a news anchor and reporter at WTHR-TV, Channel 13, in Indianapolis, Indiana, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx spoke about how his creative process has changed over the course of the band's four-and-a-half-decade existence. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You evolve as a person, as a lyricist. My evolution as a lyricist, it goes from the rawest of the raw to the most heartfelt. And that's just as I grew as a man and my interests evolved. That changes the lyrics, but then that changes the idea of the song. The lyrics to 'Home Sweet Home' is way different than the lyrics to 'Shout At The Devil'. And so as we go, we just keep evolving. And you might stumble upon some different ways of writing. I guess you just keep kind of chipping away at the stone, so to speak."

When it comes to making music and hitting the road, "We're not in a rush ever," Sixx said. "We don't have to be in a rush. In my case, I've got a six-and-a-half-year-old [daughter] who's amazing. And so I wanna not be in a rush to work constantly so I can enjoy that part of it and then go out there and play for the fans. It's about balance.

"Life changes, man," Nikki continued. "It's cool that it changes. The thing that I don't like is when I see artists that are still trying to act 25 and they're 65. I don't think that's cool for the fans. Evolution is evolution. We all age, we all change, we have different interests, and MÖTLEY CRÜE seems to have ridden that wave pretty good, just letting it be real.

"Like us or hate us, one thing about MÖTLEY CRÜE is we have so many people that we just really piss them off, and other people that they say we've changed their lives," Sixx added. "So I guess if you're gonna operate the way we operate and say it and do it the way you wanna do it, not like anybody else, you're gonna probably draw both extremes of types of reactions. And that's kind of also been accidentally the magic of MÖTLEY CRÜE. We put out 'Shout At The Devil' and it was, like, 'I keep saying, 'But it said 'Shout At The Devil', not 'With The Devil'.' [There were] Christian groups outside the concerts, [accusing us of being] devil worshipers. And at the same time, the arenas were full. So there are bands out there like that, that are polarizing. And I think that's kind of exciting. All genres have that — we've got our hip-hop guys, our country guys, our rock guys. So it's about being authentic and being able to take some bricks in the face if you have to."

MÖTLEY CRÜE's upcoming "The Return Of Carnival Of Sins" tour will celebrate the 20th anniversary of CRÜE's groundbreaking 2005-2006 "Carnival Of Sins" tour and the 45th anniversary of the band. The 33-city Live Nation-produced trek will kick off on July 17, 2026 in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania at the Pavilion at Star Lake and will feature support acts EXTREME and TESLA.

MÖTLEY CRÜE said that $1 from every ticket sold for "The Return Of Carnival Of Sins" tour will be donated to ASAP! (After School Arts Program) through the Mötley Crüe Giveback Initiative to fund hands-on arts programs for young people.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's Las Vegas residency launched on September 12 and at Dolby Live at Park MGM and ran through October 3. The shows had initially been set for spring but were rescheduled after frontman Vince Neil revealed he had suffered a stroke last Christmas.

In September, Vince revealed that he had actually had a series of strokes before he suffered the "big one" in his sleep last Christmas night, rendering him unable to get out of bed when he woke up the next day.

When MÖTLEY CRÜE originally postponed the Las Vegas residency, the band said it was because Neil needed a "medical procedure," but offered no further details.

Kris Schwartz, an ESPN feature producer, has filed a six-minute video report for "ACC Huddle" on how METALLICA's "Enter Sandman" became the Virginia Tech Hokies football team's entrance song more than a quarter century ago.

Regarded among college football's most powerful entrances, "Enter Sandman" is a tradition that dates to August 27, 2000 when Virginia Tech installed its first video scoreboard in Lane Stadium and needed a new walkout song.

After testing a few contenders — like GUNS N' ROSES' "Welcome To The Jungle" and THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT's "Sirius" — the Hokies landed on "Enter Sandman". The heavy riff hit, the crowd roared, and a tradition was born.

Brian Walls, senior associate athletics director at Virginia Tech, explained: "1999 was obviously a magical year for Virginia Tech. We went 11 and 0 in the regular season, and Michael Vick was our quarterback. We fell just a little bit short of the national championship, but that afforded us the opportunity to buy a video board for the very first time. And so in 2000, we got our first video board here in Blacksburg [Virginia]."

He continued: "We were throwing out ideas of just buildup songs, pump-you-up songs. [Other contenders were] AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck', GUNS N ROSES' 'Welcome To The Jungle'. But, obviously, there was only one choice for us to make."

Walls added: "The first 10 years that we edited this video, we would get to the crescendo of 'Enter Sandman'. The team runs out, and we would fade out the music, and the [Virginia Tech] band would start in with our fight song, 'Tech Triumph'. And we got so many complaints about that. The fans were, like, 'We don't wanna hear that stuff. We just wanna hear METALLICA.'"

For 25 years, Hokie Nation has jumped, screamed, and shaken Lane Stadium to the sound of "Enter Sandman". On May 7, 2025, METALLICA finally returned the favor.

Under the lights of Blacksburg, METALLICA brought its "M72" world tour, alongside SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and PANTERA, to a packed Lane Stadium. The setup started days in advance, the buzz building with each passing hour. By showtime, more than 66,000 fans filled the stands, ready for a moment decades in the making.

When those unmistakable opening notes of "Enter Sandman" ripped through the night, the dream became real. The crowd erupted, jumping in unison for the band itself, live on the very turf that made the song a Hokie legend. The Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory, located a mile away, detected tremors during the set and later confirmed that the crowd had, quite literally, shaken the earth. The low but prolonged METALLICA quake — which didn't even register a 1 on the Richter scale — wasn't dangerous for concertgoers, according to the local Fox News station and made for a memorable encore.

"The magnitude would have been less than 1.0," said Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory research associate Martin Chapman. "Too small to be felt even a mile away."

METALLICA has spent the last two and a half years touring in support of its latest album, "72 Seasons", which entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 2 upon its release in April 2023. The set debuted with 146,000 units earned. It marked METALLICA's 12th Top 10-charting album, of which nine have reached the Top 2.