Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Expect A New U2 Record Says Manager
(Gibson) Will 2013 be the year U2 release their follow-up to 2009's "No Line on the Horizon?" Maybe, if you believe longtime U2 manager Paul McGuinness.
When asked about the status of a new U2 album during an interview with The Independent, McGuinness stated, "There's always activity, so certainly expect a new record." Sounds promising.

In other U2 news, for the fourth consecutive year, U2 frontman Bono and some of his famous friends walked the streets of Dublin, Ireland, on Christmas Eve, singing festive songs while collecting donations for charity. more on this story






Geoff Tate's Band Member Suffers Heart Attack
Randy Gane, the keyboard player in Geoff Tate's version of Queensryche suffered a heart attack last Wednesday (Dec. 26).

Tate informed fans with the following Facebook posting, "Please send your prayers and positive thoughts to my good friend and keyboard player; Randy Gane who is currently recovering from suffering a heart attack last night – GT."

Tate's version of Queensryche also features Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot), Bobby Blotzer (Ratt), former Queensryche guitarist Kelly Gray along with Gane (Candlebox).






Rolling Stones and Beatles Considered For British Currency
(Gibson) The Bank of England have revealed that the Rolling Stones are among a handful of notable Brits that are being considered for a new £10 bill.

The Beatles are also up for consideration, along with David Beckham, and Winston Churchill. The new bill is meant to replace the current one featuring Charles Darwin.

The Stones were criticized for charging outrageous ticket prices during their recent 50th anniversary tour, with some seats going for as much as $800. If Jagger and Co. get picked for the new bill, the next time the Stones tour you might literally be paying for the tickets with the band's own money. There seems to be a possibility of more Stones dates in the future judging by comments made by former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, who was one of the guests on the anniversary tour. Guitarist Ronnie Wood, who got married this past weekend told the Telegraph that the band will never retire: "I think of Howlin' Wolf plugging in to his kidney machine, however old he was, 80 or something, and still playing. You just rock till you drop." more on this story





Daughtry Donating Song Proceeds To Sandy Hook Shootings Families
(Gibson) Rocker Chris Daughtry is donating the proceeds of the sales from one of his band's latest songs to the families of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting victims.

The emotional track, called "Gone Too Soon," arrived on Daughtry's latest album, Break the Spell. As Daughtry explains in a video clip, the track was "originally was written about someone losing a child before he or she is born, and we've gotten so many amazing comments from people from everywhere about how it's helped them through similar situations. And I just felt very strongly that this song could be used to help benefit the families."

Fans may purchase the songs via Monkeybars.net/Daughtry. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of the songs will go towards the Connecticut School Shooting Victims Fund, which was established by fellow pop-rockers OneRepublic. Fans may also make additional donations via the site. So far, the fund has raised $100,000.

"I feel so blessed that I can be a part of bringing some sort of relief to the families right now, and I hope that you'll join me," Daughtry added. more on this story






Corner Confirms Mike Scaccia Cause of Death
(Gibson) A medical examiner has determined that guitarist Mike Scaccia died of a sudden heart attack. As reported previously, the beloved guitarist, who played with the bands Ministry and Rigor Mortis, died after collapsing onstage during a performance celebrating Rigor Mortis frontman Bruce Corbitt's 50th birthday.

This past Thursday, on his Facebook page, Corbitt posted a touching remembrance of his time with Scaccia. "You know I keep thinking about all of this," Corbitt wrote. "Why this happened the way it did. Why it happened at all. What if I wouldn't have asked them to play for my birthday show? But mainly, I keep thinking of the conversations I had with Mike in recent years. Each close friendship is different... you cherish them all. I talked about things with Mike that I couldn't with some other close friends.

"So what I do know is how happy Mike was at this point in his life," Corbitt added. "He loved his wife and kids so much. He talked about them all the time. He loved his bandmates from his different bands. He loved his friends... past and present. He loved his job working for Gibson Guitars. So that gives me some kind of comfort just knowing he was enjoying his time on earth until the very end." more on this story






Nightvision's Dean Hocking Killed In Car Accident
Nightvision bassist Dean Hocking was killed in a car accident last Thursday morning (December 27th) in England.

The band issued the following via Facebook: "There is nothing we can say that hasn't been said already other than to confirm the devastating and crushing loss of our incredible bass player, Dean Hocking, tragically taken from us as a passenger in a road accident during the early hours. Needless to say he was an incredible bass player — one of the best — and an incredible bloke.

"We obviously need the time to get this round our heads but in the meantime … wherever you are … get a drink and raise it high as a toast to a fine, young, talented guy gone too soon. Turn it up to 11 and rumble the heavens our brother. We love you dude and we are gonna miss you like you'll never know. — Daryl, Dave and Bolda. X." more on this story




Pink Floyd Star Helps Save Music Shop
(Gibson) Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason has stepped in to help save Foote's music store in London. Mason bought his first drum kit from the store. The drum shop was going to be forced to close when they were denied a business loan.

Says Mason to mi-pro.co.uk: "After 40 something years of playing, I still have great affection for a real drum shop. And Foote's has a special significance for me. In 1958, I headed down to the West End of London to a basement in Denman Street where a kindly man called Sid, in a white coat (maybe that's significant as well) sold me my original kit for £7.50."

Nick is buying the shop along with Rob Wilson, who has been the sales-director for Foote's for a long time. Wilson also commented on Mason's help: "At the eleventh hour, our business loan was turned down by our bank... It was a major blow to our plans, but Nick came to our rescue. Without him, and our collective of generous investors, Foote's would be no more." more on this story





Why Def Leppard Are Going Vegas
(hennemusic) Def Leppard will host their first-ever Las Vegas residency in the spring of 2013. The band will be taking over the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for an exclusive nine-show run entitled "VIVA Hysteria!", and will perform their iconic album, "Hysteria," in full, in addition to a greatest hits segment.

The shows will run from March 22 through April 10, 2013 at the Hard Rock Casino's venue The Joint.

In a new interview with Vegas.com, Leppard guitarist Phil Collen was asked what prompted the group to do the Vegas residency.

"A lot of other bands do this stuff, but I think it's a little bit more special because 'Hysteria' was one of the diamond albums, especially in this day and age there are not that many albums that achieve that kind of status," said Collen. "That's why it's so important to us, it's such a big selling album. It's a challenge as well. We've never actually done that before. We've always said, yeah, we could do 'High 'n' Dry.' 'Hysteria,' that's a lot more challenging. A lot of the songs on there are hard to sing and play at the same time." more on this story




Preview of Sammy Hagar United States Of Cabo Documentary Released
(hennemusic) A new preview has been posted online for "United States Of Cabo," an independent documentary about Sammy Hagar fans (aka Redheads) which will be released in early 2014.

The film captures intimate fan stories and experiences in an attempt to showcase the essence of what it means to be a Redhead.

The idea was born in Vancouver during the Chickenfoot Road Test Tour of 2009, with the journey beginning shortly after in Lake Tahoe, quickly spreading to St. Louis, Atlantic City, Portland and of course, Cabo San Lucas – home to Sammy's Cabo Wabo Cantina.

Featuring live performance footage by Sammy, the Wabos and Chickenfoot, the documentary is directed by Murray Wasylnuk via Vancouver's Murmer Films. Watch the preview here.




Former Ozzy Guitarist Joe Holmes Returns With New Band
(Gibson) Former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Joe Holmes has released the first music by his new band, Farmikos.

Holmes was Ozzy's guitarist during for a five-year period, beginning when Zakk Wylde departed the band in the mid '90s and ending when Zakk returned. At the beginning of Holmes's time in Ozzy's band, Zakk was on the verge of becoming Slash's co-guitarist in Guns N' Roses. You can read Zakk's side of that story here.

As for Holmes, he's had quite the interesting career. Aside from several Ozzfest tours with Ozzy - and participation in the writing sessions for the Ozzman's Down To Earth album - he played with Lizzy Borden and also replaced Jason Becker in David Lee Roth's band for the A Little Ain't Enough tour, when Becker had to bow out due to his diagnosis with ALS.

Holmes's Ozzy link stretches back to his guitar teacher: one Mr. Randy Rhoads. "Not only was Randy my favorite guitar player, but he was also a really cool person," Holmes told Guitar School magazine's Jeff Kitts in 1995. "I'm not into idolizing people, but Randy was the perfect guy to look up to and want to take after." So what was it like to learn from one of metal's guiding lights? "Learning from Randy was an incredible experience," Holmes said. "At one time I stopped going to school so I could stay home all day and practice what he taught me." more on this story





Geoff Downes and Chris Braide Team Up For New Album
(Glass Onyon) Geoff Downes and Chris Braide have just released their debut collaborative album and digital single, 'Pictures of You', under the name of the Downes Braide Association (DBA).

'Pictures of You' was recorded alongside their respective commitments in 2011-12, and the song writing chemistry between Downes and Braide became immediately apparent and ultimately led to the development of 9 titles, one of which is an elaborate four-piece epic musical suite. Braide comments: "I'd wanted to work with Geoff since hearing The Age Of Plastic as a kid. The album was just great fun to make," whilst Downes added working together with Chris was " a major inspiration of monumental proportions." The album's leadoff track, 'Pictures of You', is also available as a digital only single and is accompanied by a non-album remix of the title 'Songs That Can Heal' as an exclusive bonus track.

For the uninitiated, Downes and Braide's respective song writing careers have generated multi-millions of album sales and numerous hit singles worldwide over the last 30 years for a variety of artists. more on this story




Jungle Rot Releasing Remastered Skin The Living
Jungle Rot have two releases coming out early next year. First the band will be reissuing their newly remastered 1996 classic album, Skin The Living, coming February 19th, 2013.

Front man Dave Matrise comments "We've wanted to re-issue Skin The Living for some time now and are happy that we have that opportunity. I still feel this album stands up to the test of times. Night after night on the road we hear fans screaming out the songs from the release, asking us to play and constantly asking us where they can pick up Skin The Living. This will give everyone a chance to see where it all started for J-Rot and they will have a chance to own a rare piece."

Jungle Rot will follow the reissue with the release of their eighth full length studio album on March 5th.




David Coverdale Tributes Deep Purple Bandmate Jon Lord
(hennemusic) Whitesnake leader and former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale has released a new video eulogy tribute to keyboardist Jon Lord.

The pair were Purple bandmates from 1973-76 in versions known as "Mark III" and "Mark IV" of the group's lineup.

Lord passed away July 16 at the age of 71 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Coverdale speaks fondly of his friend and remembers his first meetings with Jon - supporting Purple, joining Purple and rehearsing for the "Burn" album.

The legendary keyboard player co-wrote many of the band's legendary songs, including "Smoke On The Water," and played with many bands and musicians throughout his career. Watch the tribute here.




Heart's Ann Wilson Reacts To Led Zeppelin Tribute Reaction
(hennemusic) Heart vocalist Ann Wilson is sharing her thoughts about performing for Led Zeppelin at the band's recent Kennedy Center Honors tribute.

"I am so happy you all liked our performance of 'Stairway to Heaven' at The Kennedy Center Honors event," posted Ann. "It was our honor to be asked to do it before an audience like that. My main goal though was to please Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones...especially Plant, since all these many years he has taught me so much about singing from the soul and has given me such pleasure in his lyrics. What a high that night was. Never to be forgotten!"

Heart were joined by Jason Bonham, the son of late Zeppelin drummer John; Jason played with the group at their 2007 reunion show in London, released recently as "Celebration Day."