This Week's Top stories

Here are the top stories from this week's Day in Rock and the top Day in Rock digest stories

New Led Zeppelin Songs Written- Stone Stoned Temple Trouble- Dave Matthews Bomb Plot- Slash and Ozzy Tour?- My Chemical Weezer- Zuton Guilty- Battle for INXS- more

Jason Bonham says that the never fully off the ground regrouping of Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant did produce some new music: "I was in a band for a year after the O2 reunion, with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones writing material," Bonham tells Nightwatcher. "It didn't come out, but that was a very good time in my life, just jamming with them and coming up with material. Even though nothing came out, it felt like a band." Read the full interview here.

Stone Temple Pilots have scrapped a trio of Texas shows, sparking rumors of trouble on tour. Jam! reports that the news, announced by the El Paso Times newspaper on Tuesday, comes less than two days after the rockers hit the stage in Houston, Texas an hour late and frontman Scott Weiland rambled on about his drug addiction and marriage breakdown. more - see a digest entry from the next day later in this report.

A man has been arrested in Chicago, Illinois after allegedly plotting to blow up a baseball stadium where the Dave Matthews Band was performing on Saturday night. According to Jam! Sami Samir Hassoun was ambushed by a team of police and federal agents moments after dropping what he thought was a bomb into a trash can more

According to BraveWords.com sources, Slash (Velvet Revolver, ex-Guns N' Roses) is rumored to be taking part in the second leg of Ozzy Osbourne's North American Scream tour more

Madball has apparently dismissed drummer Jay Weinberg amidst the band's Canadian tour. As you may recall, Weinberg joined the band a few months ago. Frontman Freddy Cricien had the following to say: "I'm letting Jay go in Canada because I just feel he doesn't represent this band well on a character level. It would go against my own code of ethics to keep him around" more

Iron Maiden set for Roskilde festival 2011. The legendary metal band is the first to be confirmed to play the Dannish event next summer more

Keanu Reeves has suggested that work has begun on a third Bill and Ted movie. Reeves played Ted Theodore Logan in 1989's Excellent Adventure, and its 1992 sequel Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey. Reeves has told MTV News that he is excited to reprise his time-travelling role nearly 20 years after the pair's first outing. more

Skarhead will touring briefly in California and Mexico next month. more

(Hed)P.E. has revealed the tracklisting to it's forthcoming studio album. The album, titled 'Truth Rising,' is set for release on October 26, 2010 through Suburban Noize Records. more

Yellowcard have entered the studio to begin work on their Hopeless Records debut. The album will be their first since 2007's Paper Walls more

Guitarists Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction) and Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver) have joined forces to record a cover of The Kinks' classic 'You Really Got Me' for an upcoming Hyundai Central Region Dealer commercial. more

Rotting Christ has announced the second cancellation of a South American tour in just 3 months. more

Manowar have cancelled their performance at the Parque Metropolitano Simón Bolívar in Bogotá, Colombia on November 26th. more

Stone Temple Pilots have postponed 12 dates on their tour in the wake of singer Scott Weiland's rambling speech onstage during the trek's Houston stop. Billboard reports, the group has taken a "short break" beginning with the show scheduled for Tuesday in El Paso, according to its announcement, and will return to the road on October 8 in Tampa. more

Weezer and My Chemical Romance teamed up onstage for a one-off fan-only show in Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 21. The two bands performed "My Name Is Jonas" at the AXE Music One Night event in Hollywood. more

INXS are facing a legal battle over the rights to the songs and images of late frontman Michael Hutchence. The band has been sued by executives at Chardonnay Investments, a company based in the Virgin Islands which bought the rights to collect royalties from the airplay of Hutchence's songs and the use of his image more

While Lars Ulrich says that bass player Robert Trujillo has been amazing for Metallica, the drummer admits former bassist Jason Newsted copped a raw deal when he left the band. "Jason was an incredibly dedicated musician but I don't think we took advantage of everything he had to give," Lars admitted. more

The lead singer of The Zutons, who broke a man's nose after his girlfriend was insulted, has been found guilty of assault. BBC reports that Dave McCabe, 29, headbutted Peter Appleby during a row outside a nightclub, Liverpool Crown Court heard. more

"Animal (F**k Like A Beast)" was clearly the filthiest of the PMRC's "Filthy Fifteen" list, and while it certainly caused a stir at the time, W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless now regrets it, especially as he has renewed his religious faith. He says in part " I renounce, denounce and pronounce that I will never play that song ['Animal'] live again. Actually, I've not played it live for several years." For the full context of that rejection, go here

According to Seattlepi.com, Converse is longer selling a pair of Chuck Taylors that depicted guitar legend Jimi Hendrix as a colorful, multi-armed Hindu deity. more

Culture Brats recently interviewed Laurie Everton, who takes old Ken and Barbie dolls and transforms them into dolls that look just like Jon Bon Jovi, Bret Michaels, Adam Lambert, Tom Keifer, Ashton Kutcher, and other rock stars and celebrities. Check it out here

Underoath has posted the track listing for their next album, Ø (Disambiguation). It's due out November 9, 2010 and follows Lost in the Sound of Separation which was released in 2008. The record is the first from the band since the departure of longtime drummer Aaron Gillespie. more

Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Billy Idol, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, and Jason Segel are among the star who have signed up for a star-studded rock-of-all-ages tribute and Costume Ball inspired by 35 Years of The Rocky Horror Picture Show more

Corey Glover, lead singer of Living Colour, will be lending his talents to Sekond Skyn, for two shows September 24th and 25th. more

Justin Townes Earle has put his tour on hold to go to rehab following his Sept. 16 arrest in Indianapolis for battery, public intoxication and resisting law enforcement. more

The members of the rock band Parmalee were robbed at gunpoint following a show in Rock Hill South Carolina on September 20th. The band had just finished playing at The Money, a local bar directly across from Winthrop University, and were in their RV when two suspects, Dytavis Hinton and Demario Burris, entered the vehicle with a handgun demanding money. more

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has finally been confirmed as a judge on US TV gameshow American Idol – and he says his bandmates are jealous of his new role. "At first they were jealous. They heard it through the press and not me, but I said to them: 'Four months ago you were looking for another lead singer.' more

Court records show Heart's Nancy Wilson has filed for divorce from writer-director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous/Fast Times) after more than 20 years of marriage. more

Bono's AIDS charity has come under fire Jam! reports that a representative for Bono's AIDS charity has spoken out after the organization came under fire for spending more money on wages than on good causes more

Yahoo has an exclusive stripped down Michael Franti performance of a few tracks from his new album, The Sound of Sunshine. Check it out here

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian maintains the departure of Dan Nelson was entirely the singer's own choice – despite Nelson's insistence the band threw him out. And he says there are no hard feelings with returned member Joey Belladonna, even though Ian publicly stated he'd prefer John Bush to front the band. more

Billy Idol and his current 2010 band, consisting of Steve Stevens (lead guitar), Billy Morrison (rhythm guitar), Stephen McGrath (bass guitar), Jeremy Colson (drums) and Derek Sherinian (keyboards) will be playing a few select shows in California in December to close out a successful year. more

Arsis has announced plans to headline a December tour with support from Powerglove and Conducting From The Grave. more

The Who's Roger Daltrey answers some of the hundreds of questions submitted by fans in a new audio interview. Check it out here. Sadly, he skipped our question "Who are you? Who? who?" It's Friday cut some slack.

Paul Stanley, Slash and Mark Slaugher ares set to appear in "Turn It Up!", a feature-length celebration of the electric guitar. more

Devin Townsend will be performing a free acoustic show at Scrape Records in Vancouver, BC (323 East Broadway) on Friday, October 8th more -

Unreleased Van Halen Song Now Online

The Van Halen News Desk has posted a never before 'circulated' Van Halen song. Here is their description followed by the link to check it out: "The Wild Life" movie score is legendary to Van Halen fans, as Eddie Van Halen wrote the score for the movie (Universal Pictures, 1984). "The Wild Life" stars Chris Penn and was the first script Cameron Crowe wrote after the success of "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" and is a typical '80′s comedy and is somewhat of a "Fast Times" clone. The movie was only released on VHS – never on DVD, unfortunately.

The film has an official soundtrack, but it contains only one song by Eddie Van Halen, "Donut City" (3:57). So "Donut City" is the only officially released complete track for the movie that was written by Edward Van Halen. But sharp-eared VH fans will recognize unreleased music from Eddie interspersed several times throughout the film. Portions of early versions of "Right Now," "Good Enough," "Feels So Good," "A.F.U. (Naturally Wired)," and "Strung Out" can be heard throughout the film. In addition, the synthesized backdrop music for David Lee Roth's "Tai Chi Solo" on the 1984 tour also made its debut in this film. Die hard VH fans have re-watched the movie for years just to hear the bits of EVH genius throughout. The movie's score is one of the best kept secrets in rock music. The songs were recorded and mixed at 5150 by Donn Landee and Ken Deane. Ed played all the instruments on the songs.

Presented here is a compete song from the movie score which has never circulated before now. Eddie played it on a Ripley guitar and the song is rumored to be called "Ripley." It's a wonderful piece of music and is about the closest thing to "new" Van Halen music that we've had in a long time. - check it out here

Unearth Star Killed

Original Unearth bassist Chris R. Rybicki died from injuries suffered when he was struck by an alleged drunk driver last month in Salem, Massachusetts. The 39-year-old was riding a scooter when he was hit.

The band broke the sad news to fans on Tuesday: Yesterday we lost our long time friend and original bass player Chris 'Rover' Rybicki. He lost his life from injuries sustained three weeks ago at the hands of an alleged drunk driver.

Rover hadn't been in the band since 2001, but he remained a good friend to us all throughout the years and this tragedy has hit us hard. Not only was Rover a talented musician, but he was also one of the funniest dudes you would ever know. His wit, dark humor and don't give a f*** attitude made him a unique person that we all loved having in our lives. His memory will live on amongst his family and friends with the countless stories of Rover being Rover. He will be sorely and forever missed. - more on this story

Blink-182's Travis Barker Cool Kids Jump Down

Blink-182's Travis Barker has teamed up with Chicago's The Cool Kids to release the song "Jump Down".

The release includes a special embeddable widget that allows fans to enter their email address, download the track, and get a pair of 3D glasses mailed to their house, if they share the widget with friends. The 3D glasses will come in handy for the video premiere of the "Jump Down", slated for October 11th. Done strictly for the fans, the entire "Jump Down" project is completely free.

Itching to see the video before it hits the web? Catch it at the "Jump Down" video launch party, Thursday, Oct. 7th at the Music Box in LA. The party features live performances by Travis Barker and The Cool Kids, themselves. - Get the song here

Primus Working on First Album in 11 Years

(Gibson) Primus is "accumulating material on a daily basis" for a new album, according to an interview with bassist/frontman Les Claypool on Billboard.com. The release will be the group's first album since 1999's Antipop and the first new material of any sort since 2003.

"Right now it's throwing pasta at the wall and seeing which noodles are sticking, recording musical ideas from sound checks and whatnot, even live shows," Claypool said. "We've been branching off on various tangents, and I have notebooks full of various writings. And now with the advent of the iPhone I've got my little recorder and can record things as I'm driving down the street, at a whim."

To make the new album, Claypool is working with some "new old blood." Jay Lane was the band's drummer in 1988, but left before Primus released their debut album, Frizzle Fry. Lane rejoined Claypool and guitarist Larry LaLonde when the group ended a four-year hiatus. Claypool said Lane will definitely have an effect on the new album. - more on this story

Controversial Book About Manic Street Preachers Star's Disappearance

(Gibson) At 7 a.m. on the morning of February 1, 1995, guitarist Richey Edwards checked out of his London hotel and walked away from his life as guitarist of the popular indie band Manic Street Preachers. Over the next week, he was reportedly spotted on occasion back home in Wales, the last time being a taxi ride past Edwards' childhood home, ending at a service station. A week later, the car was ticketed and, a few days after that, it was declared abandoned. Edwards had apparently been living in it. It was assumed that he jumped off the nearby Severn Bridge, but no one knows. His family had him declared dead in 2008. But the mystery of his fate has never been solved.

Now, more than 15 years after Edwards' disappearance, a new novel purports to unlock the secrets of his final days. The book, Richard, was written by Ben Ayers, and has sparked a bit of controversy. Preachers bassist Nicky Wire told the Guardian, "I found it too upsetting to read the whole thing. The notion that somebody thinks they knew who he was… I mean, I thought I knew Richey, but maybe I didn't."

Ayers has responded to his growing number of critics by citing literary precedent: "I completely respect and understand how upsetting a book about a real person can be, though the concept rather than the content is perhaps the controversial aspect of Richard. But it is not setting any literary precedents. Half of Shakespeare's output took real people as starting points, and then dramatized their lives. Writers such as Norman Mailer or Truman Capote have done it in the true crime genre, so have hundreds of filmmakers. Mailer can't have possibly known what was going on in Gary Gilmore's head, but that didn't make The Executioner's Song any less valid. - more on this story

Slash Narrates New Jimi Hendrix DVD

Slash narrates the new Jimi Hendrix: The Guitar Hero DVD which also features interviews with Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Crosby, Stills, Nash and more.

Synopsis: Classic Artists could not claim to have a complete series on rock legends and their mark on the world of music without this film, the final word on guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix. Rather than drudging up scandal and outworn hypothesis about Jimi's lifestyle and ultimate death, this Classic Artists film looks at Hendrix the master of electric guitar, as told by a selection of the world's greatest musicians. Jimi Hendrix: The Guitar Hero includes all new and exclusive interviews with Dave Mason (Traffic), Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones),Eric Burdon (The Animals), Paul Rodgers (Bad Company), Ginger Baker (Cream), Bev Bevan (ELO), Crosby, Stills and Nash and others. Some of these musicians were his mentors, some his contemporaries and some admirers of his incredible talent. Countless musicians have emerged as new talent as a result of his influence, explaining why Hendrix's work remains at the zenith of rock music to this day.

Moving beyond the icon and the myth, Classic Artists brings alive the image and music that Jimi Hendrix evoked from his very soul, using the instrument, as, he put it, as his "personal diary." This style evoked a home-grown and raw, uncensored sensuality, which indeed was his nature and that of his music, as if he were his own muse. - more on this story

Staind's Aaron Lewis Solo Unplugged Tour

Staind frontman Aaron Lewis has announced details of his upcoming solo acoustic tour.

The dates begin October 7th at Boston's House of Blues and then continue through early November .

Lewis is also poised to embark on his first overseas USO tour for US troops stationed in the Persian Gulf. The as-yet-undisclosed itinerary will see Lewis traveling alongside members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including such gridiron greats as Lynn Swann, Michael Haynes, and Paul Krause. - more on this story

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine Discusses New Tour with Slayer and Anthrax

(PR) Megadeth hits the road again this week for the 20-city U.S. Jagermeister Fall Music Tour.

The tour features 1991's original American "Clash of the Titans" lineup: Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax.

Megadeth's lead vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine has posted a new video where he talks about what you can expect from the band on the tour, including details about what is sure to be an epic set list. - more on this story

Singled Out: Mumiy Troll's Polar Bear

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Mumiy Troll frontman Ilya tells us about the title track from their new "Polar Bear" EP. Mumiy Troll are one of the biggest band in Eastern Europe and they are catching on in a big way in the U.S. with this English language EP. We now turn it over to Ilya for the story:

Some time ago, a couple of friends asked me if I could donate a song that did not sound like a Mumiy Troll song for their use in a lo-fi movie they were making. I had the chorus for the song in mind already, which I thought would be quite infectious –"meres***za oh polar bear" - but we needed a verse too. I decided to make it about a not so faithful girlfriend and their sobbing boyfriend. We asked a blonde receptionist in the studio to sing the verse so that the story would make sense. At some point the song was heard by another Friend, Romane Korovine, who had been trying hard to establish himself as an artist in NYC and needed a break. He asked if he could shoot the video for the song. I suggested that we make the theme for the video a little teddy bear party, like a theater made of dolls. He liked the idea – he went to one of the Baltic States to get the teddy bears because he needed a really big one for the video and he thought they might be cheaper there. I guess he ended up spending a lot of time in a quite unusual toy shop, which is partly why we ended up with such a hilarious video. No one seems keen on broadcasting it because it's a bit off color. Either way, the song found its home in Russian clubs and we use it often as an encore song. A lot of times we go into the audience and ask girls to sing the solo. So far we have Russian and English version - the Spanish and Chinese versions are on their way.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album - right here!

Steven Tyler and J.Lo Confirmed As Judges for American Idol

(Gibson) It's official: Steven Tyler will be a judge on the next season of American Idol. The rumors that have been circulating for months about the Aerosmith frontman and the network TV singing contest were confirmed by host Ryan Seacrest today, according to CNN.com.

Tyler and fellow new judge Jennifer Lopez will join Randy Jackson, who's been with the series for each of its nine seasons. Music industry exec Jimmy Iovine also is being added to the show as a mentor to the contestants.

"I want to bring some rock to this roller coaster," Tyler said, after jumping onstage at the Los Angeles Forum. - more on this story

Metallica Announce Another Release This Year

Metallica had this bit of news about what they are calling another Metallica related release this year: About a year ago, we had the honor of playing with Ray Davies at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert in New York . . . it was the first time we had ever met Ray and was definitely one of the highlights of our night. Fast forward a few months to the tuning room before the show in Oslo on April 14 and there we were recording with Ray!!! How cool is that?

Turns out that Ray has been planning to put out a record of collaborations on classic Kinks songs with a wide variety of today's musicians and low and behold we were actually asked to be included in this stellar group spanning many genres and styles. The result is coming to your favorite place to purchase music around the world on November 1, 2010.

Titled "See My Friends," our version of "You Really Got Me" appears on disc, or in bits and bites, along side of Ray with Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Lucinda Williams, Jackson Browne, Alex Chilton, Spoon, Frank Black, Billy Corgan and many others - more on this story

Zakk Wylde Plans To Break Guns N' Roses Record

(Gibson) Guitar god and Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde has a goal – to beat the length of time Guns N' Roses spent between The Spaghetti Incident? and Chinese Democracy.

"I want to break Axl Rose's Chinese Democracy record. It took him what, 14 years? I plan on going away for 20 years," Wylde said in an interview with The Toronto Sun. "That's because I went away for four years and won a Golden God award. So I figure if I go away for 20 years, I'll win a Nobel Peace Prize. The sad part is, I spend the majority of my nights thinking about this stuff. That's pathetic."

Wylde, who has a new BLS album out called Order of the Black and is currently on The Black Label Berzerkus 2010 fall tour, also praised his former boss, Ozzy Osbourne, in the interview. "When I do interviews, people want me to say something bad about [Ozzy]," he said. "But without him, there'd be no Zakk Wylde. There'd be no Black Label. I wouldn't have my own brand of coffee and hot sauces and beef jerky. These wouldn't be any Doom Crew pubs, which is this new sports-bar venture I'm working on. I wouldn't be starting my own record label. I wouldn't be writing the Black Label Guitar Bible or this coffee table book I'm writing or the movie script I'm working on. I wouldn't have my Black Label Bunker or my studio. I wouldn't have any of that without him. So yeah, I really hate the guy [laughs]." - more on this story

Charlatans Star Has Brain Tumor

(Gibson) As previously reported, Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes collapsed on stage in Philadelphia last week. The band subsequently cancelled the remainder of their U.S. tour so that Brookes could return to the U.K. for treatment. Now, it has been revealed that Brookes has been diagnosed as having a brain tumor.

The band has released the following statement: "The Charlatans' drummer, Jon Brookes, is currently undergoing treatment in the U.K. for a brain tumor following the postponement of the remaining dates of [The] Charlatans' North American tour.

"The Charlatans' touring schedule remains unaltered whilst the band arrange for a short-term replacement. The band and Jon would like to thank all well-wishers for their kind messages of support." - more on this story

Dio HD

Eagle Rock will commemorate the legacy of Ronnie James Dio with the high definition release of Holy Diver Live on Blu-Ray October 12. Here is what they have to say about it:

Ronnie and his band whipped the crowd into a frenzy at London's Astoria Theatre on October 22, 2005. Treating the audience to a blazing presentation tog the classic Holy Diver album in its entirely, this concert, originally released on standard DVD in 2006, is the first ever live recording of this album.

Sprinkled with Sabbath and Rainbow tracks "Heaven and Hell," "Tarot Woman," and "Long Live Rock and Roll," this Blu-ray is a shining statement of Dio's commanding, compassionate, and behemoth performances. An interview with the band is included as a bonus feature. - more on this story

Slash To Continue Solo Tour Into 2011 As Velvet Revolver Look for New Singer

(Gibson) Slash has said singer Myles Kennedy will be touring with him well through 2011. However, Kennedy will be alternating between touring with his band Alter Bridge, who are releasing a new album in October, and spending time with Slash on the road.

We have it set up so that he does Alter Bridge from October 'til January," he said. "And then we start up January through May or April. And then he does Alter Bridge from May through – into July, and then we do July through August, September. And so we're just juggling.

"And then during those periods that we're off, I'm doing Velvet Revolver and hopefully we'll find a singer and get that together." - more on this story

Rob Zombie Announces New Film

Rob Zombie is set to write and direct The Lords Of Salem. Set in modern-day Salem, the film involves the demonic return of a 300-year-old coven of witches.

This is the third entry in a new horror slate deal between Haunted Movies and Alliance Films. The first picture to come out of this partnership is Insidious, written and directed by the original Saw team of James Wan and Leigh Whannel, and starring Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Insidious recently premiered in the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto Film Festival on September 14 and immediately was the subject of a bidding war, which was won by Sony Pictures Worldwide, who will handle the release of the film later this year. The second picture is The Bay, helmed by Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson and currently shooting in South Carolina.

Zombie is about to embark on a three week tour of debauchery with Alice Cooper on The Halloween Hootenanny Tour with special guests Murderdolls. The tour kicks off in Los Angeles at the Gibson Amphitheatre on Thursday, September 30th and will criss-cross the USA - more on this story

Bret Michaels Heart Surgery

Bret Michaels' health troubles are not over. Gibson has the story: It's already been a rough year from Poison frontman and reality star Bret Michaels – and it just got worse. The singer will be heading back into the hospital in January for heart surgery, according to RadarOnline.com. The operation will repair a hole in his heart that he's unknowingly had since birth.

The rock star was in the hospital a few times earlier this year – once in intensive care. Michaels suffered a brain hemorrhage in April, but was able to recover.

A month later, he suffered a "warning stroke" that put him back in the hospital. However, he was well enough to show up at the Celebrity Apprentice finale in May, where he won $250,000 for the American Diabetes Association. - more on this story

Metallica Considering Massive Scale Show and Tour With Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax

Metallica are just wrapping up their epic world tour behind "Death Magnetic" but Lars is already looking at ahead at what they should do next. Gibson reports: Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has confirmed what the band's co-manager Peter Mensch hinted at back in March, that the band has been circling the idea of putting on a massive show on par with Pink Floyd's The Wall production. The show could potentially be so massive that it might be limited to just 10 dates.

Ulrich told New Zealand radio station The Rock FM, "We have been kicking some ideas around about doing some stuff that – how shall I say it – is pretty theatrical. We might incorporate a lot of different ideas instead of it being one particular thing. It would be a multitude of theatrical elements, maybe as an idea for a one-off tour or something."

Ulrich also confirmed that more "Big Four" (Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth) shows, including tours of both Europe and North America, could take place in the next year or two. "The vibe on this thing is so big, we'd be stupid to ignore it," he recently told Classic Rock magazine. "I would champion trying to do [the "Big Four" tour] in 2011 or 2012, obviously in England and the United States. It's just a matter of logistics." -

Duff Left Jane's Addiction For Velvet Revolver Reformation

Slash isn't the only one indicating that Velvet Revolver is planning to regroup and find a new singer. Dave Navarro says in an in interview he believes Duff McKagan recent departure Jane's Addiction was due to Velvet Revolver getting it back in gear.

Navarro tells Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, "Duff was with us for a little while. We wrote some songs with him, did a handful of shows... It was great; he's an amazing writer and an amazing player.

"At the end of the day, I think his band, Velvet Revolver, is trying to get their thing back together and they're auditioning singers (again)." - Jam! has more here

Bad Company RIP?

(Gibson) In a new interview with the Southwest Times Record, Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers hinted that the band he helped found in 1973 might be nearing the end of the road.

"After this Tulsa show, there will be no further plans for Bad Company beyond dates in Japan," said Rodgers. "I'm working on new solo material in the studio, and I've got a solo U.K. tour planned later, so I'm just seeing how it goes."

"We aren't saying never - we never want to say never," the 60-year-old singer continued. "We aren't putting Bad Company to bed, as they say, but the band definitely is something that will be placed onto the back burner." - more on this story

Slipknot Announce Free Clown's Director's Cut of (sic)nesses Screenings

Slipknot had some big news for their maggots (a.k.a. fans) on Thursday. They have just confirmed three special screenings of Clown's Director's Cut of (sic)nesses! There will be screenings taking place in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Clown himself will be attending the NYC showing making it a very special event definitely not to be missed. New York and Chicago will take place on September 27th while LA will be happening on release day the 28th.

All three screenings will be free to the public, but space is limited so make sure to get there early to ensure that you won't miss out! - more on this story

Weezer Announce Initial Blinkerton Dates

Weezer have announced the first official dates of their Blinkerton Tour (the band is calling it the Memories Tour), in which each city on the tour gets 2 nights of shows: a complete Blue Album set + greatest hits set, and a complete Pinkerton set + Greatest Hits set.

The band's Epitaph Records debut, Hurley, entered the Billboard 200 at #6 this week.

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo said, "I'm super-pleasantly-surprised and stoked that Hurley charted at #6 this week. 'Thanks' to all the Weezer fans who are spreading the word via Twitter and Facebook." - more on this story