Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


B.B. King Suffers Heart Attack
(Classic Rock) B.B. King has suffered a minor heart attack and he's recovering at home after an emergency trip to hospital. The 89-year-old was admitted to medical facilities in Las Vegas after falling ill on Thursday.

The blues icon updated fans via Facebook the following Facebook post, "I am in home hospice care at my residence in Las Vegas. Thanks to all for your well wishes and prayers."

Las Vegas Police report that an ambulance was called for after a "domestic dispute" over medical care. The disagreement is thought to have involved manager Laverne Toney and King's daughter Patty. No arrests were made and no criminal complaint was filed. Read more here.




Five Finger Death Punch Singer Denies On Stage Break Up Rumors
Five Finger Death Punch singer Ivan Moody has denied speculation that the band broke up after an onstage meltdown during their performance at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, TN on Friday night (May 1st).

One fan's account of what happened during the show has been published by thenewfury.com: "Ivan held up Jeremy's book and asked the fans if they had this FFDP book. Then, still mic'd seemingly unknowingly, said "That I had nothing to do with", directed at Jeremy. Jeremy then threw his sticks and walked off stage, and the band shortly followed. Ivan talked for a minute, threw his mic, and marched off. A few minutes later, Ivan came back, rambled and talked to the fans, and attempted to play around on Jeremy's drumkit, trying to lead a song rather weakly. Jeremy and the rest of the band came back and played a song while sounding completely out of step with each other, while Ivan stayed really close to Jeremy, seeming to talk sh*t to him. Everyone left again, Ivan threw the mic again. This routine repeated a couple more times until they just ran out of stage time and walked off stage, not to return."

Moody released the following statement of Saturday (via Lambgoat) to give his account of what happened, "There were a lot of technical problems last night that were seemingly unsolvable. We had to make a decision whether to hit the stage crippled, without being able to hear ourselves; or, delay the start of the show - possibly for hours.

"We decided to proceed, but not being able to hear if I was in key, and just guessing where we were in the song frustrated me to the point that I lost my cool.

"I'm not saying I handled it appropriately. Matter of fact I've never been so embarrassed before. I apologize for taking out my anger on stage. You guys know me and you know how I pride myself on my live performances. I'd never want this to boil over in to something that epically wrong ever again.

"To some of our crew, good luck in your future endeavors we wish you the best - we also welcome our new monitor engineer Paul Weber.

"To our fans in Memphis - we'll make it up to you I promise, Houston we we will see you tonight. The rest of the world - yes we are coming.

"And to the haters... wipe that smirk off your face ...We are not going anywhere ... This "ain't my last dance!"

"We GOT YOUR SIX"






Kurt Cobain Solo Album With Unreleased Music Coming
(Radio.com) With Kurt Cobain and Nirvana making headlines thanks to the new documentary Montage of Heck, the film's director has dropped a bombshell of information.

According to Brett Morgen, the man who culled Montage of Heck from hours of archival footage, he was able to unearth enough unheard Cobain home recordings for a brand new full-length album.

"We're going to be putting out an amazing album this summer that I think will answer that question," Morgen told Bedford + Bowery during a recent interview when asked if he'd found any particularly notable music while creating the film.

Morgen went on to say that music will make the listener "feel like you're kind of hanging out with Kurt Cobain on a hot summer day in Olympia, Wash., as he fiddles about. It's going to really surprise people." Read more here.




Van Halen Rock More Rarities In Tour Rehearsal Videos
(hennemusic) Wolfgang Van Halen is sharing more video from rehearsals as Van Halen prepare for their summer tour of North America. The bassist has posted footage of the never-before performed "1984" album track "Drop Dead Legs", as well as "Little Guitars" from 1982's "Diver Down" and "Light Up The Sky" from 1979's "Van Halen II."

The new clips follow recently posted video of rarely-played, deep tracks from their catalog including "Dirty Movies" from 1981's "Fair Warning" and "In A Simple Rhyme" from 1980's "Women And Children First."

Van Halen will launch a North American tour in Seattle on July 5 in support of "Tokyo Dome Live In Concert", their first live release with David Lee Roth. See the videos here.



Pearl Jam Not Receptive To Crowdfunded Concerts
(Radio.com) Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters don't share a whole lot in common other than having roots in Seattle's grunge scene--and now they share one less thing in common: their reaction to crowdfunded concerts.

While the Foos embraced the post-millennial show approach, playing a show in Richmond last summer after it was crowdfunded, Pearl Jam have decided against going down the same route.

After one Pearl Jam fan, Daniel Sheffer, pushed to get the band to play the newly renovated Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, locking down 578 backers and raising over $140,000 in the process, management responded with a soft but firm no.

"We love the passion and enthusiasm of the fans who have spearheaded Pearl Jam crowdfund efforts," Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis told the Village Voice. "However, with more and more of these crowdfunded show proposals cropping up, we want to be clear before fans invest their hard-earned money into these efforts that they are unlikely to happen." Read more here.




Lars Ulrich Leads Giants Fans In Baseball Anthem At Metallica Night
(hennemusic) Metallica teamed up with the Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants for the 3rd annual Metallica Night on Saturday, May 2nd and video of drummer Lars Ulrich leading the crowd in "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" has been posted online.

"We're having a great time down here at AT&T Park for Metallica Day with the San Francisco Giants!," posted the band, as the home team took on the Los Angeles Angels.

As with previous Metallica Nights, guitarists James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to the game. Drummer Lars Ulrich threw out the first pitch and bassist Robert Trujillo called for the players to "Play Ball."





The Who's Pete Townshend Doesn't Like Live Shows
(Radio.com) Living legend Pete Townshend belongs to what many consider to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time, The Who, yet the 69-year-old songwriter wouldn't say he's exactly satisfied by his current job.

In his words, 'The shows? I don't like them. I don't find them fulfilling," Townshend said to Uncut while promoting the band's 50th anniversary tour. "But I'm brilliant at it. I find it incredibly easy. I drift through it."

It's hard not to empathize with him: 50 years into any project, most likely anyone would have a hard time still seeing the thrill of it. That goes double for when you're doing the same thing over and over again, performing the same songs in Townshend's instance.

'It's like being able to make a pair of shoes and knowing that you've got to a point that whenever you make a pair of shoes for somebody they're going to last them for life," he continued. Read more here.




Grateful Dead Unreleased 1989 'Sugaree' Live Video Revealed
(Radio.com) The Grateful Dead will release their concert film Meet-Up At the Movies 2015 nationwide on May 4. But before their fans hit the theaters, they can watch a new unreleased performance video of the band playing Jerry Garcia's solo track "Sugaree."

Garcia recorded the song for his solo album Garcia in 1972, but the performance video of the song is from a 1989 concert by the Grateful Dead in Wisconsin. The 11-minute jam features Garcia's familiar vocals as well as an impressive guitar interlude from the late singer.

"Sugaree" is just a glimpse into the concert which will be available to watch in theaters nationwide on May 4. The show will include covers from Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan and Bobby "Blue" Band as well as Grateful Dead classics "Box of Rain," "Althea" and "Terrapin Station." Read more here.




Metal Church Reunite With Singer Mike Howe
(Classic Rock) Metal Church have got back together with singer Mike Howe - and former frontman Ronny Munroe says he couldn't be happier. Munroe left the veteran metal outfit last year after a decade. Now he's been replaced by the man who first fronted them between 1988 and 1994.

Howe says: "I didn't want to come back to just for nostalgia - it had to be for the right reasons. It had to be the best stuff we've ever written, or it wouldn't be worth it to anyone, especially the fans."

Guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof described their upcoming material as "classic Mike-era Metal Church" and adds: "It's both heavy and melodic. This is going to be truly epic." Read more here.




Gary Holt Won't Try To Copy Slayer's Jeff Hanneman
(Classic Rock) Slayer stand-in guitarist Gary Holt resists pressure to play just like Jeff Hanneman would have done - because he doesn't believe it's the best way to respect his memory.

Hanneman died two years ago this week (May 2) after Exodus leader Holt had already spent two years covering for him due to illness. He'll make his first album appearance when the thrash icons release their 11th album later this year.

Holt tells Loudwire: "Some people say I should play Jeff's solos the way Jeff did. But I don't think that's doing him justice, trying to copy him. From the riffs to the solos, they were uniquely him.

"I keep little signatures and melodies, particularly in their early songs. But I always say, if you want someone to play them exactly, there's a million guys in Slayer tribute bands who'd do a better job than I am."


Slayer and Exodus became friends during the thrash movement's formative days - and Holt recalls the night the bands met in the early 1980s. "We just destroyed their hotel room," he says."With their permission, of course. The cops came in and we scattered like cockroaches.

"We told them they couldn't wear the eyeliner. It wouldn't go over well with the hardcore people who came to all our shows. They never wore it again and they've been friends ever since." Read more and watch the video here.




Rival Sons Release 'Electric Man' Video
(Classic Rock) Long Beach, California rockers Rival Sons have released a new music video for the track "Electric Man," which is taken from the band's award-winning Great Western Valkyrie album.

"We were recently asked to be an experiment in a laboratory study," says bassist Dave Beste. "The people behind the study evidently wanted to measure our rock'n'roll power, and so we played Electric Man and in the process we broke all their equipment. Somebody taped it and we made a special video out of it. So watch it, and enjoy it. We love science."

Rival Sons are currently on tour in the US supporting the album, which was voted 2014's album of the year by both Classic Rock writers and readers. Last month, the band released a video for their recent Record Store Day single, a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's classic Long As I Can See The Light. Watch the video here.





Bob Dylan Announces UK Tour
(Classic Rock) Bob Dylan will play six shows in the UK in October, he's announced. The short tour includes three appearances at London's Royal Albert Hall followed by two in Manchester's O2 Apollo and one in Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena.

He released 36th album Shadows In The Night in February, featuring his take on songs made famous by Frank Sinatra. He received the MusiCares Person Of The Year award the same month.

The 73-year-old said in January: "Look, you get older. Passion is a young man's game. Young people can be passionate. Older people have got to be more wise.

"You're around a while, you leave certain things to the young. Don't try to act like you're young - you could really hurt yourself." See the tour dates here.




Slipknot's Jim Root Writing Music For Next Album
(TeamRock Radio) Slipknot guitarist Jim Root wants the band to make their sixth album soon - and he's already started writing for it. He believes they should get back into the studio while they're at their best following the derailment of their career with the death of Paul Gray in 2010, and their return to studio action with last year's .5: The Gray Chapter.

Root tells the Des Moines Register: "We haven't been able to do two albums back-to-back since our first one and Iowa. We're at a point in our career where the band is on top of its game. If we take two years or however long away, who knows if we could come back? Someone might decide they want direct or write, or other bands' projects might take priority."

He adds: "I plan for the best and expect the worst. I started writing again - hopefully the songs will be on a new Slipknot record. If not, I'll find something else to do with them." Read more here.





Faces Reunion Held Up By Financial Concerns
(Classic Rock) Ron Wood says the highly-anticipated Faces reunion is being held up by Rod Stewart's management and their financial concerns. And the Rolling Stones man insists he doesn't want a gathering of the surviving members to be about money.

Wood made the comments about the possible reunion during a Q&A to promote his book How Can It Be? A Rock And Roll Diary: "I think that would be brilliant."

But he added: "They make everything about money, and we're trying not to do that. Why can't the three surviving guys just get together and play for people?" Read more here.




Kataklysm Reveal New Album Details
(TeamRock Radio) Kataklysm have revealed the tracklist and cover art for their upcoming album Of Ghosts And Gods. The follow-up to 2013's Waiting For The End To Come will launch on July 31st via Nuclear Blast and they've revealed the cover was designed by Art By Surtsey.

The band say: "The cover echoes a sinister artwork depicting the reality of humanity's beautifully disturbing existence and its impending death through the mortal and the everlasting. The background shows an ancient incantation written in Aramaic."

The Canadian outfit have also announced plans to release 10 video clips from the album ahead of its July launch and have issued a teaser of their track Thy Serpent's Tongue.

The group previously reported they felt rejuvenated working on Of Ghosts And Gods and that the record would secure their legacy as pioneers of death metal. See the tracklist, cover art and a teaser video here.





Metallica Wasn't John Bush's Destiny
(Classic Rock) Ex Anthrax singer John Bush doesn't regret saying no when Metallica asked him to join them in the early 1980s - because he believes the pressure would have been too great.

The thrash giants invited him to become their frontman after the release of debut album Kill 'Em All, because James Hetfield wasn't happy with the vocal role alongside his guitar duties.

But the only other man in the frame preferred to remain with Armored Saint, who release seventh album Win Hands Down in June. Bush tells National Rock Review: "It's something that always resurfaces in my life, and I find it funny.

"I felt complimented when the band was proposing the ides to me. But it just wasn't my destiny to be in Metallica. I would have changed the face of heavy metal - and I don't need that pressure."

He adds: "James is an incredible vocalist. He really developed through the years and I can't imagine anyone else there." Read more here.




Dez Fafara Reveals DevilDriver New Album Plans
(TeamRock Radio) DevilDriver mainman Dez Fafara says he's excited with the 12 tracks he's written for the band's next album. It's expected early next year after he completes duties related to Coal Chamber's comeback Rivals, out next month.

Fafara tells The Rockpit: "In sitting on 12 blistering songs and I'm recording those in October, November. Sometime next year I'm going to get right back in a DevilDriver cycle."

The band took some time off following 2013 album Winter Kills, and since then they've replaced guitarist Jeff Kendrick and drummer Jon Boecklin with Neal Tiemann and Austin D'Amond. Read more here.




Iron Maiden Plan Trooper Beer Anniversary Celebration
(hennemusic) Iron Maiden are teaming up with 50 UK pubs to ce1ebrate their 2nd anniversary on Saturday, May 9. Trooper Beer sold more than 5 million pints in its first year.

"We're having 50 birthday parties on May 9th, hope you can join us!," says the band. "Join the #trooperparty online and send us photos, the best pubs will be rewarded!"

Customers will receive a free Trooper button badge with every pint, while supplies last. Named after one of Iron Maiden's most popular songs, the beverage was personally designed and developed as a top quality Premium British Beer by singer Bruce Dickinson in tandem with Robinsons Brewery Head Brewer Martyn Weeks. Read more here.




Yes Release Teaser Video For Upcoming Box Set
(Classic Rock) Yes have premiered a teaser for their upcoming Progeny 14-disc box set with TeamRock. The clip features a short section from their track Roundabout and artwork by Roger Dean.

Yes recently discovered seven complete concerts in their archives, which had been taped at the end of 1972 during drummer Alan White's first tour with Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Rick Wakeman. White had just three days to learn the set after Bill Bruford departed to join King Crimson.

The set contains every track recorded across North America during October and November of that year in Toronto, Ottawa, Durham, Greensboro, Athena, Knoxville and Uniondale. The restored audio from three months into the tour is described as "open" and "immediate" and "drops listeners right into the front row."

Progeny: Seven Shows From Seventy-Two is packaged in a cigarette-case style box, with new artwork and refreshed band logo by Dean. Read more and watch the video here.




Sex Pistols Frontman Knew Sid Vicious Lacked Talent When Hiring Him
(Classic Rock) John Lydon says he knew Sid Vicious had no musical talent when he joined the Sex Pistols - but the vocalist thought it would develop the same way his own had.

He invited Vicious to become the band's bassist in 1977 - kickstarting a chain of events that led to his death of a heroin overdose two years later, while under suspicion of having murdered girlfriend Nancy Spungen.

Lydon tells Rolling Stone: "Sid was very, very lazy. He had no work ethic - he never learned anything, and by all accounts he had no aptitude for music at all.

"It's curious why I brought him in. It must have been some kind of self-destructive element. But I never had any aptitude until I started. I thought, 'That's how it will work. You'll find your way.'

"He got all the postures dead right - he could stare into a mirror for ever." Read more here.




Van Halen To Perform At Billboard Awards
(hennemusic) Van Halen will perform at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 17. Hosted by Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen, the 2015 awards are based on the reporting period of March 10, 2014 through March 8, 2015.

The band's first-ever performance on an awards show will promote their latest release, "Tokyo Dome Live In Concert", as well as their summer tour of North America, which begins in Seattle on July 5.

Van Halen join a list of previously announced musical performers that includes Kelly Clarkson, Hozier, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and others. Read more here.




Rush Frontman Geddy Lee Talks New Signature Bass In Online Video
(hennemusic) Earlier this year, Rush frontman Geddy Lee teamed with Fender to issue the Fender USA Geddy Lee Jazz Bass, an updated version of his longstanding Geddy Lee Jazz Bass line.

In a new video, Lee discusses the new signature instrument, which combines the specs and features of his three favorite Fender basses - two Fender Custom Shop versions of his signature model and the original sleek black '72 Jazz Bass that he used for years.

The USA line has a thicker custom neck, topped by a maple fingerboard with elegant white binding and white pearloid block inlays. Its two vintage-style single-coil Jazz Bass pickups are specially wound and voiced to sound like those on Lee's prized 1972 original, and a Geddy Lee signature High-Mass bridge provides solid intonation.