Reunited classic lineup of BIOHAZARD was joined by the American hip-hop group ONYX on stage Sunday night (February 23) at the Academy in Dublin, Ireland to perform the 1993 ONYX song "Slam". Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

"Slam" was originally released in May 1993 as the second single from ONYX's debut album, "Bacdafucup". An official remix, "Slam (Bionyx Remix)", was a collaboration with BIOHAZARD and was made available as a maxi-single titled "Slam: The Alternatives" in June 1993.

BIOHAZARD and ONYX also worked together on the song "Judgment Night" for the soundtrack to the 1993 film of the same name.

In December 2024, BIOHAZARD entered Shorefire Recording Studios in Long Branch, New Jersey to begin recording its new LP, due later in the year via Frontiers Label Group's new imprint BLKIIBLK.

In late November, BIOHAZARD guitarist Bobby Hambel confirmed to The Brooklyn Blast Furnace podcast that he and his bandmates would enter the studio "in a couple of weeks" to begin recording their long-awaited new album.

"After playing together — what is it? — fucking year and a half, I think we're ready to lay it down, to start puking out some more fucking stuff," Bobby said. "It's happening, too. It's heavy shit, too.

"A lot of people say — they give their opinions on what they think we should do," he continued. "And they're always asking questions like, 'Is it gonna be like this album or that album?', and I can't really answer any of that. I just can answer it's coming from the same place it always came from, and I think everybody's on point. Everybody wants it. So I think it's time. We've got a lot of shit to say."

In October, BIOHAZARD drummer Danny Schuler told Pod Scum about the group's songwriting process: "It's really all over the place in BIOHAZARD. Sometimes one guy brings in a couple of songs and we kind of go with that. Sometimes somebody has an idea and we're all together in the jam room and we kind of all work through it together. It kind of happens a lot of different ways, but all four guys are very creative, some more than others, but everybody creates and brings in stuff. So there's no one writer in BIOHAZARD. There's never really been. But we all write. And now we're getting ready to record a new record and we have so much new stuff. And it's been really cool lately — a very creative environment lately to be around with everybody writing new stuff and getting psyched for a new album. It's cool right now."

Asked why he thinks right now is the best time for a new BIOHAZARD album, Danny said: "Well, I don't know if right now is the best time. I don't think in terms of, like, 'Oh, well, let's do an album out now because now's the best time.' I don't know that stuff. I don't know when's a good time to do a record. I just know when I feel inspired and I know when I'm coming up with stuff that I feel is real strong and meaningful, and lately it's been a good time for that kind of creative process. So, for me, when the ideas are flowing and everything feels real natural, real strong, that's a good time to do a record. Business-wise, I don't know when's a good time to do a record. I'm not a businessman, in that regard with the music business."

In a separate interview with France's Loud TV, BIOHAZARD bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld confirmed that he and his bandmates were "making a new album". Evan said: "I'm really excited about it. I'm writing a lot of lyrics right now, working on some music. All the guys are writing. It's exciting."

Evan previously discussed BIOHAZARD's plans for new music in April 2024 in an interview with El Planeta Del Rock. At the time, he said: "We're working on our process on a couple of really cool songs, and when something is special enough and we are excited about it, I imagine we'll release a single before release an album, but there's a full-length album in the works. That's the mission… We wanna go into the studio and really lock ourselves down, like we used to do in the '90s, and spend some time really [making a strong album]. For us, it's not about one song, one song. Making an album is still something that we care about."

He continued: "I know it's not the popular [way of doing things]. How many people buy new albums by artists and listen to the whole album from beginning to end? Young people don't really ingest music like that so much. But BIOHAZARD is about authenticity. We do what we do, and we're gonna make the best album we can make in 2024."

The first reunion gig from Hambel, Schuler, Seinfeld and BIOHAZARD guitarist/vocalist Billy Graziadei took place on May 26, 2023 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest at The Rave/Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 2022, Graziadei said in an interview that there had been "talk" about putting BIOHAZARD back together.

The group, which is acknowledged as one of the earliest outfits to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal with elements of hip-hop, had been out of the public eye since Scott Roberts left the band nine years ago.

Roberts, who played guitar on BIOHAZARD's 2005 album "Means To An End", rejoined the group in June 2011 as the replacement for Seinfeld. Scott fronted BIOHAZARD for nearly five years before exiting the band in February 2016.

Biohazard & ONYX Live!

First time ever Biohazard and ONYX Slammed together Live on stage! Dublin Ireland was the place to be for this Judgement Night 😡☣️

Posted by Snowgoons on Sunday, February 23, 2025

During an appearance on Monday's (February 24) episode of SiriusXM's "The Howard Stern Show", producer Andrew Watt, who helmed Ozzy Osbourne's last two studio albums, 2020's "Ordinary Man" and 2022's "Patient Number 9", spoke about working with the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Ozzy, he could sing one vocal as a lead vocal, and you're, like, 'Okay, this is cool.' And maybe it's got so much emotion, but it's not perfect. Then he doubles it, his voice, where he literally sings over himself in the exact same way. And all of a sudden, it's, like Ozzy Osbourne. He's done it on every one of his vocals ever, and he's the best at it I've ever seen. Even where he's at now, and his health and everything, he steps up to a mic, sitting down, and sings and doubles his voice, and it's uncanny. It just sounds like Ozzy Osbourne."

Addressing Ozzy's health issues and how they might affect his ability to perform at what is being billed as his final concert at Villa Park in SABBATH's original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Andrew said: "He's okay. It's just his body is not doing what he wants it to do all the time. But I talked to him a couple days ago, and he's, like, starting to get in the gym again a little bit by little, get himself ready for this last concert. He is the real-life Iron Man. And nothing has happened to his voice — his voice is as good as it has ever been."

Ozzy announced his last-ever performance on February 5, revealing that the original members of BLACK SABBATH are reuniting for the first time in 20 years for the show. Joining them at the concert called "Back To The Beginning", which will take place on July 5, will be a host of metal bands SABBATH inspired, including METALLICA, SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD, MASTODON, PANTERA and ANTHRAX.

Ozzy — who hasn't played a full show since late 2018 — said on his SiriusXM show "Ozzy Speaks": "I'm not planning on doing a set with BLACK SABBATH but I am doing little bits and pieces with them. I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable."

The 76-year-old heavy metal singer, who revealed in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, added that he is doing what he can to get ready for the Villa Park concert.

"I am trying to get back on my feet," he said. "When you get up in the morning, you just jump out of bed. I have to balance myself, but I'm not dead. I'm still actively doing things."

Earlier in the month, Ozzy's wife and manager Sharon Osbourne told The Sun that her husband is struggling to walk amid his battle with Parkinsons disease, but that his singing voice is "as good as ever". She said: "[Ozzy's] very happy to be coming back and very emotional about this.

"Parkinson's is a progressive disease. It's not something you can stabilize. It affects different parts of the body and it's affected his legs. But his voice is as good as it's ever been."

Ozzy talked in more detail about his condition on his SiriusXM radio show. He said: "I have made it to 2025. I can't walk, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all my complaining, I'm still alive. I may be moaning that I can't walk but I look down the road and there's people that didn't do half as much as me and didn't make it."

Proceeds from the "Back To The Beginning" show will support Cure Parkinson's, the Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice, a Children's Hospice supported by Aston Villa.

The concert will mark the first time that Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward have played together in 20 years.

Sharon told BBC News about Ozzy: "He's doing great. He's doing really great. He's so excited about this, about being with the guys again and all his friends. It's exciting for everyone."

According to Sharon, Ozzy, who paused touring "for now" in 2023 after extensive spinal surgery and rescheduled his "No More Tours 2" shows from going ahead several times because of illness, the pandemic and logistical issues, will not play any more shows after the Villa Park event.

"Ozzy didn't have a chance to say goodbye to his friends, to his fans, and he feels there's no been no full stop," she explained. "This is his full stop."

In addition, there will be a performance by a "supergroup of musicians" including Duff McKagan and Slash (GUNS 'N' ROSES),Billy Corgan (THE SMASHING PUMPKINS),Fred Durst (LIMP BIZKIT),K.K. Downing (JUDAS PRIEST),Jake E. Lee (OZZY OSBOURNE),Wolfgang Van Halen (VAN HALEN, MAMMOTH WVH) and Tom Morello (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE).

"It's an endless amount of people," said Sharon. "They're going to be doing some SABBATH songs, some Ozzy songs, and they'll all mix together. Different little groups will be coming on, but they're all icons."

The original lineup of BLACK SABBATH last performed in 2005. Since then, SABBATH has played in partial reunions but never in its original lineup.

"For Ozzy right now, it's definitely: 'I love you and good night'," Sharon told Reuters.

She added that Ozzy was doing well and excited about the gig. "It's stimulated him," she said. "He's very, very excited and very thankful that he can do it."

The legendary BLACK SABBATH frontman was diagnosed in 2003 with Parkin 2 — a very rare genetic form of Parkinson's. During a TV appearance in January 2020, the singer disclosed that he was 'stricken" with the disease which occurs when the nerve cells of the body degenerate and levels of dopamine are reduced. Dopamine is an essential chemical that is produced by these nerve cells which send signals to different parts of the brain to control movements of the body.

Ozzy's health issues, including suffering a nasty fall and dislodging metal rods placed in his spine following a quad-bike accident in 2003, as well as catching COVID-19 three years ago, forced him to cancel some of his previously announced tours.

While Osbourne's health issues forced him to scrap most of his live appearances, the musician said he would return if his condition improved.

Osbourne's previously announced European tour with guests JUDAS PRIEST, originally set for 2019 and then rescheduled three times, was officially canceled in early February 2023.

Despite his health problems, Osbourne has performed a couple of times in the last three years, including at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August 2022 and at the NFL halftime show at the season opener Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills game in September 2022.

During a recent appearance on the "Off The Cupp With S.E. Cupp" podcast, KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley reflected on the completion of the band's farewell tour, "End Of The Road", in December 2023. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think in the last year, I've come to articulate it as life's a one-way street. And it gets narrower. And time is precious. Do I miss being on stage in front of 50,000 people, 100,000 people? Hell, yeah. Does [basketball legend] Michael Jordan miss what he did? Everybody who's attained that kind of success, sure, you miss it, but there's a difference between missing and yearning. I miss it, but there's no going back to it practically. I mean, you can't physically do as an athlete, and what I've done was athleticism, whether vocally or physically. You reach a point where you can't, and that's something you have to come to grips with. And, okay, now what?

"I'm blessed to have done what I've done, and it will go forever. We sold KISS, which is something that's unheard of, that doesn't even exist in the lexicon of music. We sold KISS [several] months ago — I mean, everything: the logo, the makeup, the music. And there'll be an incredible, immersive musical experience that'll debut in '27 that George Lucas is involved in, and those characters will live forever. And we're involved — Gene [Simmons, KISS bassist/vocalist] and I — are involved in that. So, yeah, that lives forever. But I can't. The Starchild can.

"If I had the luxury of going on stage in pseudo street clothes, yeah, I could be up there standing in front of a microphone and doing this forever. But that's not what KISS is. That's not what I created, what we created. So, I think that intellectually, I know why we stopped and that we had to stop. Emotionally, sure, it's got all kinds of pangs, but that's life."

Stanley previously spoke about adjusting to his new life after the completion of the "End Of The Road" tour during uring an appearance on the debut episode of the "Stories To Tell With Richard Marx" podcast. He said at the time: "There are people who are touring constantly because they're empty and because they need that audience positive response. Years ago for me, probably decades ago, that may have been the case. At this point, it's been incredibly gratifying. The last tour was just a chance to really take in how valuable and how much this meant to me. But I couldn't keep doing it any more than Michael Jordan could.

"I've always been more than a musician or performer — I've been an athlete — and you realize that you can only do that so long," he continued. "I've been blessed to do it into my 70s, which if you told me that 50 years ago, I'd say you're out of your mind. So, yeah, I miss it, but I don't crave it. I think the people who really crave it are the ones who don't find other means for gratification either from other people or self-gratification, whether it's, for me, painting or my family or friends.

"I think ultimately, hopefully, I would hope that most people find that in life, at some point, you start to narrow down what's really important," Stanley added. "And ultimately, what's important is family, friends and how you feel about yourself. You face yourself every day when those crowds aren't there. It doesn't matter whether there's 20,000 or 100,000 people, if you don't like who you see in the mirror, it's kind of meaningless.

"Dopamine and endorphins, that's human-produced heroin. And, sure, it's addicting. I think I've just come to some sort of terms with — I don't wanna say settling, but at least realizing that you can't do that forever. And I hate to draw the analogy, but people who are in AA or any of those groups, you realize that you need to stop, you need to put that behind you. And then it's a matter of how you fill your time. I've seen people who went from drugs to becoming workout junkies. So you need to find something. And you also need to understand that it's never going to match the high. It can't."

Elaborating on how he has dealt with the fact that he will never be in a touring band again, Stanley said: "To do shows where there's that kind of love and gratitude from an audience, well, guess what? It's love and gratitude from me. And that's that reciprocity takes it to a whole different level. And will anything ever replace that? No. I have the memories of it. And is there a void? Of course. That's life.

"It's actually been a year, December 2nd [of 2024, since we played the final KISS show]. So, I was actually in New York this [last] year on December 1st and 2nd and passed the [Madison Square] Garden on both of those nights we had been playing [the year before]. And, yeah, there's something almost feeling like a fantasy, like an out-of-body experience. You're looking at something and it's hard to relate to that you were there. I look at videos of me on stage a year and a half ago and I go, 'Wow.' And I also have to go, 'That's not gonna happen again.'"

Regarding when the decision was made for KISS to put an end to its touring career, Paul said: "I remember Gene [Simmons, KISS bassist/vocalist] and I talking about it years ago. You have to remember that COVID and the pandemic put a two-year break. We started the last tour before COVID. And then, all of a sudden, it's, like, 'Well, wait a minute. We're not done. And we're getting older. So the clock is ticking.'

"We just came to the decision quite naturally that we need to decide when it ends rather than just have it peter out," Stanley explained. "That wouldn't be KISS-like, to finish a tour and never go back out. For us, it was a matter of going around the world and sharing that one last night or nights with either the people who've known us for decades or new people. And hopefully what we did was left a memory that justified that connection and adulation that people had for us. And also kind of not only validated us to them, but also kind of became — once upon a time there was a band. And that's what KISS is. Like it or not, KISS is mythical. And that was the idea, was to leave it on a legendary note. But also to intellectually decide something is gonna come to an end and actually deal with that that day was years away because we had a worldwide tour.'

Reflecting on when the conversations first took place about announcing a farewell tour, Paul said: "I think it may well have taken place on the jet. [The discussions involved] me, Gene and Doc [McGhee], our manager, who's been with us for [decades]. It wasn't fatalistic and it wasn't in any way depressing. It was just a practicality that we just said, 'We can't do this forever. And we can see the end. Now what do we do? We can see that this needs to have a finite time. What do we do between now and then?' Doc and I have an acronym, which is QTR — Quality Time Remaining. At some point, that's what it comes down to. You have so much time in life. What do you wanna do with it? Because one thing you do precludes you from doing another. And at some point, the idea of being in hotels, when you're young and frisky and having a great time, that's the best time in your life. I remember going home between tours when I was single and much younger, going home was like a bummer. I sat on my sofa waiting for life to start again. I'm on my sofa. Life is out there. That slowly becomes not the case, hopefully."

KISS played its two final shows ever in December 2023 at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

The last show, held on December 2, 2023, streamed live on pay-per-view.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band's classic song "Detroit Rock City" on "America's Got Talent".

Early last year, KISS sold its entire music catalog, likeness and brand name to Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment, which is behind "ABBA Voyage". A biopic, an avatar show, and a KISS-themed experience are already in the works, with Simmons and Stanley playing key roles in the development of all these projects, working closely with Pophouse.

In a new interview with Samus Paulicelli of the 66Samus YouTube channel, DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy was asked how he deals with the physical pains of drumming as he gets older. Mike replied (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's a good question. For me, it's been accumulating through the years. I mean, I'm gonna be 58, and it definitely takes its toll playing a three-hour show of such demanding music — DREAM THEATER plays three hours. So it's a lot for the body to take.

"I started developing some physical pains kind of in my thirties," Mike continued. "If you look at the DREAM THEATER 'Live At Budokan' DVD, I had a brace on my right elbow at that time. I was really starting to get tendonitis problems then, and that was 20 years ago, 20-plus years ago. So I was in my thirties when I started to develop that. And I had to start getting massaged regularly. I would get masseuses at the venue before each show, whenever possible, or when I go home, I have a regular masseuse that I see, a therapist. So that's really helped, and also chiropractic work as well helps. 'Cause I've had times where it fucked with me on stage. I had one show back in '94 or '95 on the 'Awake' tour. We were playing Toronto, and all of a sudden my back just cramped up, and that was it. I couldn't move. So in between songs we had to ask if there was a chiropractor in the house and literally stopped the show for 15 minutes for a chiropractor to come snap me back into place."

Portnoy added: "So, yeah, it starts to take his toll. And like I said, I'm gonna be 58, and I try to warm up as best I can before a show. Usually about a half hour before showtime, I have a practice pad kit in the dressing room. And I don't have any specific routines — I'm not like a rudiment type of player — but I'll just get singles and doubles going, just to get the blood flowing and get the muscles kind of warmed up a little bit and try to not go on stage cold, if possible."

DREAM THEATER kicked off the North American leg of its 40th-anniversary tour on February 7 at The Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trek is "An Evening With Dream Theater" and is the first tour of North America since Portnoy's return to the lineup, joining guitarist John Petrucci, singer James LaBrie, bassist John Myung and keyboardist Jordan Rudess. The tour will conclude on March 22 in New York City.

DREAM THEATER's sixteenth studio album, "Parasomnia", came out on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP marks DREAM THEATER's first release with Portnoy since 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".

"Parasomnia" was produced by Petrucci, engineered by James "Jimmy T" Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returns once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.

Portnoy co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with Petrucci and Myung. Mike played on 10 DREAM THEATER albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010.

Mike Mangini joined DREAM THEATER in late 2010 through a widely publicized audition following the departure of Portnoy. Mangini beat out six other of the world's top drummers — Marco Minnemann, Virgil Donati, Aquiles Priester, Thomas Lang, Peter Wildoer and Derek Roddy — for the gig, a three-day process that was filmed for a documentary-style reality show called "The Spirit Carries On".

In a new interview with Andrew Slaidins of The Rockpit, KITTIE guitarist/vocalist Morgan Lander spoke about the 25th anniversary of the band's gold-certified 2000 debut album, "Spit". Asked about the lyrical and musical inspiration for the LP, Morgan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, well, it's tough, because — well, if you look at 'Brackish', for instance, it was the first song that we had written as a band together. And so I think at that time, I might have been 14 years old. What kind of life experience do you truly draw from? And so our bubble was small, our world was small, our experience was limited, but I think, as young people, you still have perspective, you still see things in a certain way, you still feel things. Especially being so young, you feel things very deeply. And I think that is what resonated a lot with people, hearing the emotion that was sort of put into it. But a lot of it was just our own life experiences."

She continued: "'Brackish' is about a friend in a toxic relationship. [Some of the other songs on the album are about] other experiences of just being a woman in a band and going out there in the world and sort of being judged or looked upon differently. Yeah, just a lot of those kinds of concepts were in it as well.

"We did have a lot of interesting experiences, being as young as we were, being women and playing out there in the world," Morgan added. "And even with the first album, the experiences that we wrote, they were about that stuff. It was very close to home, though. Not — I don't wanna say too deep, but I think the emotion and the seriousness was there."

Asked how she feels about "Spit" now, 25 years later, Morgan said: "It's interesting. For a really long time, I sort of felt like there was a real push sort of maybe in the mid-to-late 2000s to sort of get away from the idea of 'nu metal'. Our first album is a very nu metal-influenced sound and it truly is really the only album that we did that really kind of really harnessed those ideas and those influences. And for a long time, nu metal was a bad word. And while we did still play a lot of those songs live, we did musically gravitate away from that, and it had a lot to do with, I think, just trying to branch out and try different styles, but also prove ourselves as more than just a nu metal band or a one-trick-pony-type thing. And that's just the chip on our shoulder that we've always had. It's always like, well, we still have to feel… It's tough — the pressure to feel like you always have to prove yourself. But I think I've come to realize how important 'Spit' was, how influential it was, how much it did resonate with people and how the nu metal sound that we had was, it was fun. And it only lasted for one album, but the impact of that single album has lasted for the duration of our career. We are, 25 years later, still talking about the album. People are still listening to the album, a lot of them. And so it's really interesting to me that it has had the staying power."

In a 2002 interview with Ballbuster Music, KITTIE drummer Mercedes Lander stated about "Spit": "I think 'Spit' is probably the least polished record I've ever heard in my entire life. It was recorded in nine days on Fender Squires. It was a point in our lifetime, and it was like a snapshot of what we were like back in 1999."

She added: "We'd been a band for so long, we played over 200-some-odd shows before we got record label interest. We were playing every weekend that we could. Sometimes we were playing during the week. We traveled to Toronto, to Detroit; we played a lot of shows. A lot of bands that play 12 shows before they get signed, they sound like crap on their record; they're experimenting on their recording, and they don't know what they want to do. We were just lucky because we knew what we wanted to do."

KITTIE recently announced European headlining tour dates taking place in June 2025 alongside their summer festival run. The highly anticipated shows will be the band's first on that side of the world in over a decade, providing fans with an opportunity to celebrate their 2022 reunion and the release of last year's critically acclaimed album "Fire", their first new LP in 13 years.

KITTIE used 2024 to cement their iconic status, never pulling punches whilst boldly exploring the depths of their artistry. The campaign for the new album saw the band release a string of blistering singles as they reclaimed their metal crowns — "Eyes Wide Open" and "We Are Shadows", which blazed its way through the Active Rock Top 40, "Vultures", "One Foot In The Grave" and the album title track "Fire". Upon its release in June 2024, the record received widespread critical acclaim, with Kerrang! calling it "straight, relentless metal" and Metal Hammer declaring the band as having "completed one of modern metal's great comebacks."

Having sharpened their teeth on exclusive headline shows across the U.S. and Canada, a truly iconic set at Sick New World festival in Las Vegas and more show-stealing live performances at globally renowned U.S. festivals Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple, KITTIE has re-established itself as one of metal's finest live acts. This run of very special shows will mark a huge moment for the band, with their last European appearances taking place back in 2010.

In November 2023, it was revealed that KITTIE was working on a new studio LP with producer Nick Raskulinecz at Nashville's Sienna Studios.

Raskulinecz, who moved to Nashville from Los Angeles around 17 years ago, had previously worked with such acts as RUSH, ALICE IN CHAINS, KORN, RISE AGAINST, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, SKID ROW and the DEFTONES.

In April 2024, KITTIE announced an exclusive run of North American headline dates. The long-awaited shows saw the band perform in five cities across the U.S. and Canada in July and August 2024, giving fans a very special and rare chance to see the band play a full headline set that will include their recently released singles "We Are Shadows" and "Eyes Wide Open" as well as classic hits and some deep cuts not played live since the band's early days.

KITTIE played its first concert in five years in September 2022 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Joining Morgan and Mercedes in KITTIE's current lineup are guitarist Tara McLeod and bassist Ivana "Ivy" Vujic.

Prior to Blue Ridge, KITTIE had not performed since its reunion show at London Music Hall in the band's native London, Ontario in 2017, celebrating the group's documentary "Kittie: Origins/Evolutions".

Vujic joined KITTIE in 2008 and appeared on the band's fifth studio CD, 2009's "In The Black". She also wrote and recorded bass for KITTIE's sixth album, 2011's "I've Failed You".

After KITTIE completed the touring cycle for "I've Failed You" album, the band entered a long period of inactivity during which Morgan focused on a marketing job for a chain of fitness clubs while Mercedes worked in real estate and more recently at a software company. The group also began work on a career-spanning documentary, "Origins/Evolutions", which finally saw the light of day in 2018 via Lightyear Entertainment in North America.

"I've Failed You" sold 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Photo credit: Jim Louvau

DISTURBED kicked off the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" last night (Tuesday, February 25) at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho. The trek celebrates 25 years of DISTURBED's seminal debut album which launched the band into public consciousness and is one of the most important and influential heavy metal albums of all time. Each night will feature two sets of music, opening with DISTURBED playing the five-times-platinum "The Sickness" in full, followed by a full set of greatest hits. Openers on the U.S. shows include THREE DAYS GRACE, SEVENDUST, DAUGHTRY and NOTHING MORE, depending on the date.

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

"The Sickness" album

01. Voices
02. The Game
03. Stupify
04. Down With The Sickness
05. Violence Fetish (first time played since August 21, 2015)
06. Fear
07. Numb (first time played since November 16, 2005)
08. Want
09. Conflict (first time played since August 28, 2003)
10. Shout (TEARS FOR FEARS cover) (first time played since August 27, 2011)
11. Droppin' Plates
12. Meaning Of Life

Greatest Hits

13. Ten Thousand Fists
14. I Will Not Break (live debut)
15. Bad Man
16. Land Of Confusion (GENESIS cover)
17. Indestructible
18. The Sound Of Silence (SIMON & GARFUNKEL cover)
19. The Light
20. Inside The Fire

Last week, DISTURBED singer David Draiman told the 100.3 The X Rocks radio station about what he and his bandmates are putting into "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "A ton of work, a ton of preparation. Lots of little Easter eggs, so to speak, [are] part of the performance. Definitely dipping heavily into the nostalgia. So, getting into it, it's been a nice little trip down memory lane, it's been sort of a humbling experience kind of, 'cause we've never actually played the first record front to back before. This is gonna be our first time doing it. Some of these songs we haven't played in — I don't know — 15, 20 years. So it's been a while. It was nice running through everything with the guys last week. It's like revisiting old friends. It's really, really cool. I'm really looking forward to the whole entirety of it. There's definitely lots of production-element surprises that are complex and theatrical, definitely hearkening back to the whole 'Sickness' era, but done in a new and modern way. So it's definitely been a challenge, but one that we've been enjoying as we've been going along."

Asked how much fun he and his DISTURBED bandmates have in coming up with ideas and trying to push the limits of what they can make happen on the stage during a live show, Draiman said: "Well, that all depends. Unfortunately, things like that cost money [laughs], and a lot of it, and if we had an unlimited amount of money, it wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, we do have a limited amount of money. And if we were able to do everything we wanted to, we would be accomplishing all of my dear guitar player's wildest dreams and production fantasies coming to life. He's definitely the mad scientist when it comes to that kind of stuff. He's got a great vision for that sort of thing, and he's been working closely with our production staff, and I've been kind of hanging back, seeing what he's coming up with and what they're coming up with… But it's been challenging, because the environment is tough, and we wanna put on as big of a show as possible, but we don't wanna have to pay from out of our pockets to do it. We'd like to actually make some revenue on it. So it's been challenging, but I can pretty much guarantee everyone, from everything that I've seen over the course of the past couple of weeks, that it is going to be a huge-looking show. It's going to be impressive as hell. And I think that everyone's really going [to enjoy it]."

Earlier this week, DISTURBED announced the European leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" with support from MEGADETH.

Since "The Sickness" was released in 2000, the album was certified five times platinum by the RIAA, spent a total of 106 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart, and Revolver named it one of "Top 25 Debut Hard Rock Albums." Billboard said of the title track upon release: "'Down With The Sickness' is, of course, the quintessential DISTURBED song, harnessing all the band's seethe and its now-famous tribal beat and guitar chug into three and a half minutes of alt-metal mayhem. It's menacing, it's rhythmic, it's rebellious."

DISTURBED recently announced the 25th-anniversary edition release of "The Sickness". To commemorate the anniversary, the band will reissue the five-times-platinum-certified LP on March 7, exactly 25 years to the date of their original release, in editions including:

* A limited edition 1-LP (silver vinyl) and 3-CD box set. It includes the original album, B-sides, unreleased demos, and an unreleased 14-track concert from The Palladium in Los Angeles from April 2001 as well as songs recorded at Chicago's Metro in March 2000 and the London Astoria in February 2001. The box includes a poster, cloth patch, backstage pass, and a set of guitar picks. It also includes a book featuring rare photos and memorabilia, and an extensive essay with new interviews with the members of DISTURBED, and producer Johnny K. An exclusive lithograph signed by the band is included with the limited-edition D2C format.

* A 2-CD deluxe edition that includes the original album, plus a disc of B-sides, unreleased demos, and rarities. The booklet features an essay with new interviews with the members of DISTURBED and producer Johnny K.

* Vinyl editions, including variants in limited edition green vinyl, limited edition orange vinyl (Germany/Central Europe exclusive),and limited edition milky clear vinyl (Spotify Fans First).

* Digitally, which includes all 40 tracks included in the limited-edition box set.

"The Sickness" 25th-anniversary edition is available to pre-order on all formats. The deluxe box set will be available via the band's web site and digitally on March 7, and via all retailers in North American on March 21.

Last Friday (February 21),DISTURBED released a new single, "I Will Not Break", via the band's own label, Mother Culture Records.

DISTURBED has become one of the most celebrated and commercially successful metal acts of all time. To date, DISTURBED has seen record-breaking success with sales of over 17 million units and 14 billion streams. It all began with "The Sickness", which includes their songs "Down With The Sickness" (recently certified eight times platinum),"Stupify" (two times platinum),"Voices" (gold),and "The Game" (gold). The album peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 chart and spent a total of 106 weeks on the chart. To date, "The Sickness" has been streamed 2.5 billion times worldwide. It was included as No. 24 on Loudwire's "Top 25 Debut Hard Rock Albums" list, one of Metal Hammer's "20 Best Albums Of 2000," and was highlighted in Revolver magazine's "20 Essential Nu Metal Albums" list. Billboard said of the title track upon release: "'Down With The Sickness' is, of course, the quintessential DISTURBED song, harnessing all the band's seethe and its now-famous tribal beat and guitar chug into three and a half minutes of alt-metal mayhem. It's menacing, it's rhythmic, it's rebellious."

Emerging out of Chicago at the turn of the century with an insidious, infectious, and inimitable vision without comparison, DISTURBED have quietly dominated hard rock on their own terms. They make the kind of music that pushes you to hold on tighter, fight harder, and persevere forever. It's why they've claimed a place at the forefront of 21st century rock with record-breaking success, sales of over 17 million-plus units, nearly eight billion streams, and sold out shows around the globe. The band have six RIAA album certifications, and singles from all eight albums have reached the top ten of the Mainstream Rock chart.

The two-time Grammy Award-nominated quartet have notched five consecutive No. 1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200 for "Believe", "Ten Thousand Fists", "Indestructible" and "Asylum", occupying rarified air alongside METALLICA — the only other hard rock group to accomplish this feat. Since their influential five-times-platinum debut "The Sickness" in 2000, they have built a bulletproof catalog highlighted by a procession of smashes, including the platinum "Stupify", "Inside The Fire" and "Land Of Confusion", two-times-platinum "Stricken", six-times-platinum "Down With The Sickness" and seven-times-platinum "The Sound Of Silence" to name a few. The latter notably received a Grammy Award nomination in the category of "Best Rock Performance" as the band earned "Best Rock Artist" at the 2017 iHeartRadioMusic Awards. Still, DISTURBED never stop, and their most recent 2022 album "Divisive" featured their 17th No. 1 at Rock Radio "Hey You", "Unstoppable" and more.

Former OZZY OSBOURNE and DAVID LEE ROTH guitarist Joe Holmes has shared the official music video for his new single called "The Deadfall". The track, which was made available under the Joe Holmes name, once again features a recording lineup that is similar to the one that tracked the debut album from Joe's FARMIKOS project, with Holmes on guitar, Robert Locke on vocals, and Holmes's former OZZY OSBOURNE bandmates, bassist Robert Trujillo (now in METALLICA) and drummer Mike Bordin (also of FAITH NO MORE) on drums. Also contributing melodies and lyrics to the song was Brent Hoffort.

In December 2024, Holmes released a new song called "Cross Eyed Stare" featuring Locke, Trujillo and Bordin.

FARMIKOS's self-titled debut album was released in 2015 to critical acclaim. The disc contained ten original songs written by Holmes and Locke, with writing contributions on eight songs by Hoffort. Some of "Farmikos" featured Brooks Wackerman (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ex-BAD RELIGION) on drums.

FARMIKOS was Holmes's first venture under his own flag since first attaining local notoriety with TERRIFF, an L.A. band he formed after taking guitar lessons as a teenager from none other than original Ozzy axeman Randy Rhoads. Holmes eventually went on to replace ALS-stricken Jason Becker on the 1991 David Lee Roth "A Lil' Ain't Enough" world tour.

In 1995, Holmes was brought to the attention of Ozzy Osbourne who was looking for a new guitarist to take over Zakk Wylde's spot for the "Ozzmosis" album touring cycle. Holmes would go on to co-write three songs, "Facing Hell", "Junkie" and "That I Never Had", which appeared on Ozzy's 2001 album, "Down To Earth".

Holmes began collaborating and creating material with Hoffort and then joined forces with vocalist and Arkansas native Locke in 2011 to put together ideas for what would become FARMIKOS.