Rewind for the first half of 2002. As we come closer to the year 2010, we're going to be taking a quick look back at some of the biggest stories of the past decade. During the first half of 2002 we lost a lot of significant musicians as you'll see with the first few stories. The Associated Press is reporting that a body was found at the home of Layne Staley, lead singer of Alice in Chains. Although the authorities cannot confirm the identify of the deceased at press time, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer quoted unidentified law enforcement sources as saying the body was Staley's. Staley was 34 years-old. more
In a follow up story: Fans are upset at various media outlets especially Viacom's MTV and VH1 cable channels over the lack of tributary coverage of Layne Staley, which has only been exacerbated with the cable music channels widespread coverage of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of the R&B group TLC who was killed in a car accident last week. more
Legendary bass player for The Who John Entwistle died in Las Vegas of a heart attack today (June 27) at the age of 57. Just one day before The Who was to launch their latest North American tour. more
Another founding member of the Ramones has passed away. Dee Dee Ramone (real name Douglas Colvin) died Wednesday night in his home according to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Dee Dee was found apparently unconscious by his wife at around 8:40 PM last night (6-5). When she couldn't rouse him she called the police and paramedics pronounced him dead soon after they arrived at his Hollywood home. more
Exodus vocalist Paul Baloff passed away just before noon on Saturday February 2nd. The 41-year-old vocalist suffered a stroke last Thursday (1-31-02) that resulted in massive brain damage. Baloff lapsed into a coma following the stroke and according to reports never regained consciousness. more
Drummer Randy Castillo passed away Tuesday night at the age of 51. Castillo who was best known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne had been battling cancer since mid 2000. He had joined Motley Crue in 1999 to replace Tommy Lee and played drums on the group's 2000 release "New Tattoo" but was unable to tour in support of the album. more
Record Producer Tom Werman, the man behind the knobs on Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil", "Theater of Pain" and "Girls, Girls, Girls" albums is now suing the band and their record label for unpaid royalties. Werman filed a lawsuit against the band and their record label, Beyond Music, in the Los Angeles branch of the California Superior Court seeking damages of over $400,000, plus interest, attorney's fees, and court costs. more
Adam Ant best known as the frontman of the New Wave group "Adam and the Ants" and solo pop star who scored a hit in 1982 with "Goody Two Shoes," has been committed to an institution following an incident at a London area bar where he reportedly "snapped" and threatened an individual with a pistol. more
The President is about to receive an unusual guest. It is now confirmed that Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon have been invited to attend this year's White House Correspondents Association dinner. more
Fred Durst got more than he was expecting last Sunday (Jan 13th) in Clackamas, Oregon while Limp Bizkit was in town auditioning guitarists to replace Wes Borland. According to New Music Express, Durst was walking back from a lunch break with his bandmates when Richard Petrillo rushed past a line of fans and pied Durst in the back of the head with a coconut cream pie. more
It looks like former Van Halen frontman, David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar are contemplating being strange bedfellows for a possible co-headlining tour this summer. more
Former Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach was arrested after getting into an altercation with a bartender at a Middletown, New Jersey pub Wednesday night. According to witnesses, Bach, real name Sebastian Bierk, became agitated when he wanted to go outside to have a cigarette and the bartender wouldn't allow him to take his drink with him. Witnesses told police that Bach then proceeded to shove the bartender and other patrons pulled Bach to the back of the bar where he reportedly told those who were holding him that he wanted to go home, get a gun and return to the bar to shoot the bartender. He then reportedly asked the other bar patrons who were holding him, "Don't you know who I am?" more
There is a new documentary being filmed as you read this. The project will center on the band Metallica and the ups and downs of being a best selling rock band as well as the personal lives of the members. The film is being produced by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky who are best known for their two documentaries on the West Memphis Three--"Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills," and "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations". more
Rapper C-Murder looks to be living up to his name. The New Orleans rapper, real name Corey Miller, was arrested last Friday and is now facing charges for the murder of a 16 year-old at a nightclub. more
Dave Mustaine may have put an end to Megadeth but his bandmates refuse to call it quits. It appears that former Megadeth members Dave Ellefson (bass), Jimmy DeGrasso (drums), Al Pitrelli (guitar) and Marty Friedman (guitar) have formed a new band and are currently looking for a frontman. more
All four members of Alien Ant Farm were injured in an accident that claimed the life of their bus driver early Wednesday (5-22) morning in Spain. The band was traveling in their tour bus from Luxembourg to Lisbon when at approximately 2:20 a.m. local time their bus hit a parked truck on the highway just outside of Madrid. more
Widespread Panic's concert appearances in Pelham, Ala this past weekend will not soon before forgotten by area locals. One fan died from an Ecstasy overdose and over 200 other concertgoers were arrested on drug and alcohol related charges. more
Backstreet Boy Nick Carter was arrested Tuesday night at a Tampa, Florida nightclub for refusing to follow a police officers' order to leave. The 21-year-old singer was charged Wednesday morning with a misdemeanor count of resisting/opposing a law enforcement officer without violence. more
When Wes Scantlin included the "smack my ass" lyric in the song "Control", some thought it was just a line in a song designed to sell CDs, but it seems to hold some truth after all. Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin was arrested Sunday morning (3-10) on a highway near Piru, California and charged with domestic violence. more
For those who think that Boybands are a crime, you may be right. Lou Pearlman, the producer responsible for creating 'N Sync, The Backstreet Boys and O Town is under investigation for violating child labor laws. more
Fuel have asked Toyota to refrain from using the "Fuel The Music Tour" moniker in conjunction with a rock concert tour that the car manufacturer is sponsoring. more
The New York Post is reporting that Kurt Cobain's family is shopping a collection of the late singer's journals with publishing companies. Cobain's journals are said to include drawings, essays and other material by Cobain. more
Nickelback and fellow Canadian Matthew Good maybe the participants in the next round of rock feuds to fill the headlines. Matthew Good fired the first salvo in an interview last year in Chart Attack where Good called Nickelback little more than a carbon copy of Staind and Creed. Now Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger has kicked the feud up a notch. In an interview with Rolling Stone , journalist Mark Binelli asked Chad who he hated, without hesitation Chad answered Matthew Good. A puzzled Binelli asked "Who?" and here is what Chad had to say, "Exactly! 'Who?' He's a Canadian artist who sells hundreds of thousands of records in Canada but couldn't sell shit in America" more
Creed has cancelled the dates on their North American tour due to injuries lead singer Scott Stapp suffered from an auto accident. Not many details are known about the accident except that Stapp's car was hit by another car that was traveling at a reported sixty miles an hour. more
Former members of Guns N' Roses will reunite in Hollywood at a special benefit concert for former Ozzy Osbourne/Motley Crue drummer Randy Castillo. According to online reports Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum will take part in the tribute concert scheduled for April 29th at the Key Club in Hollywood. [This gig led to the founding of Velvet Revolver] more
Only in Hollywood could the actor who brought us Wayne Campbell and Austin Powers take on the role of legendary Who drummer Keith Moon. British tabloid, The Sun is reporting that Roger Daltrey , who worked with Moon in the Who, is considering Mike Meyers to play the part of Moon in a biopic he is developing on the life and times of the famed drummer. more
The battle between Courtney Love and former Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic just keeps getting weirder. Siteing a stipulation in the partnership agreement between the band members(Grohl and Novoselic) and the widow of the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain (Love), Grohl and Novoselic filed a motion on April 11th asking the court to order Courtney Love to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to see if she is mentally competent enough to exercise her side of the partnership. more
The criminal charges stemming from Marilyn Manson's crotch rubbing incident have been settled with a guilty plea from the shock rocker. more
Henry Rollins has put together a benefit concert to aid the West Memphis Three. The concert will be on March 8th at theTroubadour in Hollywood. Scheduled to appear Rollins Band, Wayne Kramer's Ship of Fools , and Exene Cervenka's Original Sinners. more
We'll be back after the holiday with a look at the biggest stories from second the half of 2002 as our end of the decade countdown continues.
