Rowland S. Howard, an important figure in Australia's underground rock scene who played guitar for the Boys Next Door and the Birthday Party, has lost his battle with liver cancer. He passed away this morning (Dec. 30) at the age of 50. moreUpdate on the missing Metallica fan: Virginia State Police say Morgan Harrington was drinking alcohol on the night she disappeared and was not acting normally. The 20-year-old Virginia Tech student disappeared October 17 while attending a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia. more
Myspace and Coke are giving away a free download of Breaking Benjamin's "Give Me A Sign" here
CoS had this choice quote: "Andrew WK was created, and this is a bit of a confession, by a large group of people, almost a conference of people, and we talked about how we could come up with something that would move people, that was done in the spirit of commerce, that was done in the spirit of entertainment… I am the next person who is playing Andrew WK." you have to read a lot deeper to get this one
U2 may have suffered disappointing sales for their new album, but the Irish rockers were easily the most popular draw on the North American concert circuit this year, according to data issued on Wednesday. more
Dropkick Murphys will be performing their popular song "Shipping Up To Boston" before the third annual NHL Winter Classic on January 1. The game between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers will take place at Fenway Park in Boston more
French guitar shredder Cyril Lepizzera (The Faceless God, Heavy Guitars) is the subject of 2009's final episode of Parlour to Parlour. Michael Fortes visited Cyril at his home in the south of France for this very special look at one of France's most gifted metal guitarists. more
Jughead's Revenge will reunite to play shows for their 20th anniversary in early 2010, likely in March. more
Celesty is sorry to announce that vocalist Antti Railio has decided to pursue a different path than the band. The remaining members of Celesty would like to take this moment to wish Antti success in his vocal career but they are ready to take the next step for the future of the band. more
Warship, the group formed by Francis Mark and Rob Lauritsen following the dissolution of From Autumn To Ashes, is likely done following one release with Vagrant Records. Mark has issued a statement here
Reunions are all the rage but reunion rumors were just as active in 2009. Here are some of the biggest reunion related stories from this past year for reunions that never happened! It is headed of course by Led Zeppelin. Seeing as it's from the UK's paragon of reliability The Sun, you might want to take this with a grain of salt, but they are reporting that music bosses hope Led Zeppelin will play some of Michael Jackson's O2 arena gigs. more
Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has explained further why he declined to take part in a reunion of Zeppelin with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham. Speaking to Absolute Radio's Ben Jones, Plant said:"The reason that it stopped was because we were incomplete, and we've been incomplete now for 28 years. And no matter what you do, you have to really guard the discretion of what you've done in the past and make sure that you have all the reasons in the right place to be able to do something with absolute, total conviction." more
Forget those reports that Swedish supergroup ABBA will be reuniting to cover Michael Jackson's sold-out concert dates . "No one has even asked us, and if they asked us they would have 'no' as an answer, because (Jackson's concerts were) going to happen in a week," said Benny Andersson. more
The Mars Volta have commented further on reunion rumors sparked by a reconciliation with their former At The Drive-In bandmates. Speaking to Gigwise at Mercury Records HQ in West London, Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala said they're happy to reconnect with their former bandmates but rumors of reunions are unlikely to come true more
In a recent interview, guitarist Johnny Marr revealed that the Smiths have been offered no less than a whopping $50 million to reform. "I think we were offered $50 million for three... possibly five shows. It's pretty obscene, it's pretty gross." more
Classic Rock Magazine is reporting that despite the imminent release of the Ronnie James Dio helmed Heaven & Hell's debut studio album 'The Devil You Know' on April 27th, Bill Ward has been speaking out about the possibility of another reunion from the original Black Sabbath . In a recent interview, the iconic drummer insisted that the door is very much "wide open" for a full-blown, original line up, Sabbath reunion tour. "I have an open mind when it comes to Sabbath" says Ward, adding: "We just haven't done anything for the last three years. But the door's wide open as far as Black Sabbath is concerned." more
The Faces are so desperate to tour they're not waiting for Rod Stewart to come back to the fold, says keyboardist Mac McLagan. And they could replace their frontman with Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall. more
2009 was a big year for reunions. Here are some of the most read stories about the reunions that took place this year. Let's kick off with Blink-182: They went away five years ago but a fatal plane crash brought the members of Blink-182 back together and today the band made that come back official with the announcement of their summer North American tour plans. According to Billboard, the tour will feature support on various dates from Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco , All-American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday, Asher Roth and Chester French. moreSome have wondered what it would take to get the members of Rage Against The Machine to perform together again. The answer: Simon Cowell . Or at least the Facebook based fan campaign to have a classic RATM song keep the X-Factor winner from the top of the UK charts. Antiquiet reports: The full band (including the elusive Zack De La Rocha) made an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Thursday morning to discuss the campaign, and perform the song… At least until the radio hosts made it back from their smoke breaks just in time to cut the live feed after the fourth "F**k you, I won't do what you tell me!" more including audio here
The heavily rumored Creed reunion has been officially confirmed, as all four original members are back together for a summer tour and new album. more
The original line-up of Fred Durst , Wes Borland, Sam Rivers, John Otto, and DJ Lethal are back from an eight year hiatus to bring their world back to ours. Fred Durst and Wes Borland said in a joint statement: "We decided we were more disgusted and bored with the state of heavy popular music than we were with each other. Regardless of where our separate paths have taken us, we recognize there is a powerful and unique energy with this particular group of people we have not found anywhere else. This is why Limp Bizkit is back." more
Agnostic Front has changed the face of music throughout their 25-year-long career and the Victim In Pain and United Blood records started it all. In celebration of these eminent re-releases, Agnostic Front will pay homage to where it all began with a headlining show on February 26th in NYC. more
For the first time in over 25 years, Tuesday night recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Jeff Beck was joined by former band mate and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Rod Stewart for a surprise two song performance at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. more
All the old dudes… Mott The Hoople have confirmed that they are to reunite and play together for the first time in 35 years, to celebrate their 40th anniversary this year. The group featuring all original members; Ian Hunter, Verden Allen, Dale Griffin, Overend Watts and Mick Ralphs
Faith No More have confirmed their reunion plans but one key member from their heyday is missing: guitarist Jim Martin. You want it all, but you can't have it. Sorry. The 2009 lineup has been reported as follows: Mike Bordin - Drums * Roddy Bottum - Keyboards * Bill Gould - Bass * Jon Hudson - Guitar * Mike Patton - Vocals. more
Carole King and James Taylor announced that they will embark on a "Troubadour Reunion" world tour. The world tour will kick off in Melbourne, Australia on March 27 and will travel to New Zealand and Japan before coming to North America and Europe. This once-in-a-lifetime event brings together two of the most beloved singer/songwriters for a rare concert experience. more
Randy Bachman and Fred Turner have announced they are currently in the studio recording a new album of original material to be released in 2010 through E1 Music Canada and embark on a world-wide tour, kicking off at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 12, 2010. more
Now that his gig with Queen is over, Paul Rodgers is returning to the band that brought him the most fame: Bad Company. The reunited band will hit the road in the UK next Spring for a run of eight shows. What makes this outing extra special is the fact that it will feature the original lineup of Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke more
Phish will kick off its first summer tour in five years with a concert at Boston's historic Fenway Park on May 31st. The band has also added a third date (June 2nd) at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY. more
Iggy Pop and the Stooges are planning to turn a one-off reunion into a full fledged tour, according to the iconic frontman. "The band have been rehearsing more without me than with me because I've been doing other things this year. But we have been rehearsing all together more recently," Iggy said in a BBC Report. "We're going to be doing a one-off show in Brazil in a few weeks but the real touring starts next year." more
Sublime, the chart-topping punk-reggae group that split up more than 13 years ago when its lead singer overdosed, is gearing up to play its first official gig with a new vocalist at a festival celebrating cannabis. more
FMQB reports that at Pearl Jam's Tuesday night show in Los Angeles, a Temple Of The Dog reunion broke out, as the Grunge supergroup returned to perform their classic "Hunger Strike" onstage. Chris Cornell joined Pearl Jam, whose entire current lineup made up the rest of Temple Of The Dog, for the first time since 2003. more
Renowned bassist Billy Sheehan tells MusicRadar that the original lineup of Mr. Big will reunite for a June tour of Japan. "We got together last fall" says Sheehan. "It was just one of those things, the timing was right. We played a gig at the House Of Blues in LA and we smoked the joint. Afterwards, we all kind of looked at one another and were like, 'OK, that was cool...Now what?" more
Former members of The Clash, Mick Jones and Nicky "Topper" Headon, have recorded together for the first time in almost 30 years by reworking a version of the punk rock band's 1978 song "Jail Guitar Doors." more
Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers will induct Metallica at the sold-out Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday, April 4, at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio. "It's cool that he's not in a heavy metal band but is a well-respected musician you might not expect," Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett told Billboard.com. Former bassist Jason Newsted will join the band that night and will "most likely" perform with the group," Hammett told About.com. more
August 2010 marks the ten-year anniversary of the release of The Juliana Theory's defining and influential sophomore album "Emotion is Dead." With this coming anniversary the band will put speculation to rest and reunite for two shows only to play the entire album from start to finish. more
Pioneering Seattle rock band Sunny Day Real Estate will return to the road with its four original members this fall and will reissue its first two Sub Pop albums on Sept. 15 more
In support of the upcoming November 24th reissue of their consummate release For Your Own Special Sweetheart, seminal DC post-punk band Jawbox will appear on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on December 8th. They will perform their single "Savory." The performance will be the band's first of any kind in 12 years. more
Dolores O'Riordan and the original members of The Cranberries have announced that they will reform for the first time in nearly seven years for a live tour. "I've decided to reunite with my former band members in The Cranberries and we will be writing new songs and performing tracks off my new album as well as our greatest hits during the shows. I'd love to see you out there." O'Riordan stated. more
Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante has told HeadbangerNYC.com that the band is "in the process of regrouping with" singer John Bush following the departure of Dan Nelson in late July. more
Hollywood '80s metal band London, best known for its hilarious appearance in the Penelope Spheeris documentary film "Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years" (and whose former members include Nikki Sixx, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Steven Adler, Blackie Lawless and Fred Coury), reunited for its first live show in 21 years back in Feb. more
