Steven Tyler Promises Debauchery, Sex and Drugs- Evanescence Reuion Denied- Ozzy Legend Honor- Zakk Wylde Delay- Peter Steele Remembered- RX Bandits Breaking Up- more

On this day in 2008, producer and drummer Clifford Davies, who had worked with Ted Nugent from 1975 to 1982, was found dead (aged 59) from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home in Atlanta. It was reported that Davies was "extremely distraught" over outstanding medical bills. Find out what else happened on this date in music history here

Slipknot's Paul Gray Agreed To Seek Treatment Day Before Fatal Overdose

(Rock News Desk) Slipknot bassist Paul Gray's widow has told of her desperate attempts to save him – even though she only discovered he was using drugs again the day before he died.

Gray, who would have celebrated his 39th birthday this week, was found dead in an Iowa hotel room last May following an accidental overdose. And his wife Brenna, who was pregnant at the time, says she'd saved him from death once in the past – but couldn't manage it a second time.

"One Saturday I realised what was going on when I found things at home – then he passed away that Sunday. So I really had no time to make a move," She tells Revolver. "On the Saturday I said, 'Hey, we need to do something. We need to fix this.' He agreed . He was getting ready to go out on tour with Hail and he said, 'I'll go get help after this tour.' But I said, 'You're not going.' I called his manager and told him to cancel. But I think it was a little too late." more on this story

Nirvana and Metallica Fans Are Easy?

(Rock News Desk) A survey of single music fans suggests that those who follow Nirvana and Metallica are most likely to have sex on the first date – with fans of dull grey shoegazers Coldplay least likely to party.

The poll was carried out by dating site Tastebuds.fm, which matches people's love lives with their musical preference. Members were asked, "How far would you go on a first date?" and given one, two, or three points for choosing between "Only a chat," "Perhaps a kiss," or "All the way, if there was chemistry." They anonymous results were measured against the current top 20 acts listed on Last.fm.

When the results are collated a top-ten of rock ravers is topped by Nirvana fans, followed by Metallica, Linkin Park and Pink Floyd. more on this story

Syd Barrett Heist

(Rock News Desk) A self-portrait painted by Pink Floyd founding member Syd Barrett was been stolen from the first-ever exhibition of his artwork – then returned to the gallery anonymously.

Former girlfriend Libby Gausden lent the work to London's Idea Generation Gallery when they put together Syd Barrett: Art and Letters, which opened on March 18 and closed on Sunday. But the 12×9 inch painting was missing after the closure.

She told the Press Association: "I'm very upset. The painting has huge personal value for me. I'm appealing for its safe return." She offered a £2000 reward for information leading to its recovery – but event organisers now say: "The painting was mysteriously posted back to the gallery, undamaged and intact." more on this story

Tom Cruise Using Axl Rose Vocal Coach

(hennemusic) Show business can make for unusual bedfellows, sometimes. The Wrap reports Tom Cruise is working with Axl Rose's vocal coach as he prepares for his role in an upcoming film adaptation of the Broadway musical "Rock Of Ages."

The movie is a love story told through the music of Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi, Journey, Poison, Twisted Sister and other artists from the 1980s. Cruise will play the role of Stacee Jaxx, the biggest rock star in the world; in the film, he'll sing the Bon Jovi anthem "Wanted Dead or Alive."

"He's been studying with - seriously - Axl Rose's voice teacher like five hours a day," director Adam Shankman told The Wrap. "The prognosis is more than excellent." more on this story

Slayer Hope Guitarist Will Play Big Four Show

(Gibson) Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo said that he and the band are keeping their fingers crossed that ailing guitarist Jeff Hanneman rejoins the band in time for The Big Four's Indio, California, show on April 23. Lombardo recently spoke with Austrian website Stormbringer.at.

"I'm hoping he comes back for the Big Four show in California that's on the 23rd of April," he said. "But, you know... We don't know [yet if that will happen]."

Slayer have other Big Four dates (with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax) planned for the summer in Europe as well. While Hanneman has been on the sidelines with a flesh-eating virus caused by a spiderbite, other guitarists have stepped in, including Exodus' Gary Holt and, currently, Cannibal Corpse's Pat O'Brien. more on this story

Van Halen and Black Sabbath Classics Make Rock Bloopers List

In October Gibson published their look at some of the greatest rock and roll bloopers and today they continue with 10 More Great Rock and Roll Bloopers. Here are two classic songs which made the list:

Van Halen, "Eruption": "Eruption," with its blistering licks and innovative techniques, launched a million shredders, but the technique-redefining tapping section includes – by Eddie Van Halen's own admission – a little mistake. Van Halen told Guitar Player, "I took one pass at it and they put it on the record. I didn't even play it right. There's a mistake at the top end of it. To this day whenever I hear it I always think, 'Man, I could've played it better.'" But where is it? It sounds like a mistake can be heard at about 1:01 – listen for a tiny stutter which breaks up the flow of the tapping pattern. However, there are those of us who believe EVH's playing to be utterly infallible and will not accept that he can make mistakes, even by his own admission.

Black Sabbath, "Sweet Leaf": Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" is a heavy, lumbering ode to a particular extracurricular activity the band often engaged in at the time of recording 1971's Master of Reality. The track opens with a tape loop of somebody coughing. Ozzy Osbourne told Rolling Stone in 2004 that the source of the cough was guitarist Tony Iommi. Iommi confirmed, "I was outside recording an acoustic thing, and Ozzy brought me a [not suitable for publication]. I had a puff and nearly choked myself, and they were taping it!"

Check out the full list

Anthrax Offshoot Hits A Snag

(Rock News Desk) Former Anthrax guitarist Dan Spitz's new band DeuxMonkey has been shut down just hours after he said it was finally rolling into action. The project had been on the backburner for a few years while Spitz attended to the early years of his twin sons, who were born with autism.

At the weekend the axeman said the band was ready to go to work – but almost immediately singer Wade Black stated he'd left months ago because the songs weren't good enough, and that Spitz was lying over his involvement.

"I did a short stint with Dan for his DeuxMonkey project, thinking it might be the band that would be the answer to my quest for musicians who possessed the talent and shared vision to be a band like no other," Black tells Bravewords.. "I quickly realised it wasn't. I felt the songs were not up to my standards, and decided they were not to be released with my vocals. He agreed. Now, almost a year later, he's trying to release the songs with my vocals, and making misleading statements by saying I'm in the band. more on this story

Mastodon Aim For Super-Heavy Led Zeppelin Sound

(Gibson) The 2009 album, Crack the Skye, set the bar pretty high for Atlanta-based metal outfit Mastodon, but the group seem up to the task of repeating the feat. Currently, the members of Mastodon are hard at work writing a follow-up to their modern metal classic.

Drummer Brann Dailor told Noisecreep.com, "We've got a ProTools rig set up and [guitarist] Bill [Kelliher's] been learning how to use that. We're recording bits and pieces and stringing up three or four riffs together and testing them out. It's super-heavy and it sounds killer, so it's doing what it's supposed to do. It's doing what every other Mastodon song has done for us. We really just try to play music that we dig and that's bad-ass. Our approach has always been exactly the same, and we've learned that we need to do it that way. Otherwise, it's just not right."

Mastodon have earned a rep for being at the "prog" end of metal, but it sounds like their new material is more straight-ahead. "It seems more riff-oriented. It seems a little more stripped-down," said the drummer. "[2004 album] Leviathan was a little more stripped down, and it feels like that to me… At the moment it seems like a really super-heavy Led Zeppelin or something. It has a lot of that Bonham-esque groove to it, but really heavy and dark." more on this story

theScore Rocks To Feature Nickelback, Disturbed, Alice In Chains, Stone Sour, Shinedown and more

The world of sports and rock unite for Canadian music fans with theScore Rocks, a compilation featuring rock and rock leaning pop acts which will be released on April 19th. Here is the official word:

Warner Music Canada along with EMI Music Canada & Universal Music Canada, have announced the release of a new compilation project, theScore Rocks, in partnership with Score Media Inc.

Building on the growing popularity of theScore Music Series, a collection of interviews where some of the biggest rock stars in the world reveal their true colours as die hard sports fans, theScore Rocks features a wide array of top mainstream and modern rock artists including Nickelback, Alice In Chains, Disturbed, Billy Talent, Rise Against, Slash, Shinedown, Weezer, My Darkest Days, Stone Sour, Sick Puppies, Finger Eleven, The Reason, Metric, Saving Abel, Tokyo Police Club, Thirty Seconds To Mars and Art Of Dying. more on this story

Guns N' Roses Guitarist Says Bands Don't Need Labels

(Rock AAA) Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal reckons the balance of power has swung from record labels to artists and there has never been a better time to be a musician and he believes the secret to success lies in offering fans something different.

Thal admits he thinks carefully about the best way to release his own music but he says CD sales have plummeted as technology has advanced.

"I've been preaching that gospel since the 90s – labels can't survive without bands, but bands can survive without labels, so why would you want to sell your soul to the entity that needs you more than you need it?," Bumblefoot explained to RockAAA. "Especially now when anyone can have worldwide distribution. You can do it all as simple as with a Cdbaby.com account and a Facebook page. The internet has leveled the playing field, we've all been given the same size gun. The only that separates us now is how well you shoot." more on this story

Steven Tyler Helped Resurrect American Idol

(hennemusic) Many people wrote off American Idol at the end of last season, as the reality show lost viewers for the fourth year in a row.

The producers recognized the need for change, and did something about it: out with Simon Cowell, daytime TV show hosts and anonymous songwriters as judges, and in with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez to add some real music/celebrity cred to the proceedings.

Bloomberg reports the changes seem to have worked, so far, as the show is averaging 25 million viewers a night, matching last year's numbers. The program has lost viewers since 2007. more on this story

Queen's Brian May Records Tribute for Yuri Gagarin

(Gibson) Brian May of Queen has recorded a new song dedicated to Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The Soviet cosmonaut became the first human to fly into space 50 years ago today (April 12). May, who is famously a Doctor of Astrophysics, has recorded the song with electronic music pioneers Tangerine Dream.

The song, as yet unnamed, will debut at the Starmus Science And Music Festival on the Spanish island of Tenerife to be held June 20-25. They will also record a second song dedicated to cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who was the first man to carry out a space walk. Both songs will be based on "cosmic" sounds, a festival spokesman said.

May's love of astrophysics is no rock star whim. He delayed study for his Ph.D. (doctorate qualification) to pursue his career with rock band Queen. May completed his academic papers over 30 years on, in 2007. more on this story

Rush Hated Tom Sawyer

(Rock News Desk) Rush frontman Geddy Lee says the band hated the band's classic track Tom Sawyer when they first recorded it.

He explains: "I remember being disappointed in the studio, thinking we really didn't capture the spirit of the song. We thought it was the worst song on the record at the time – but it all came together in the mix.

"Sometimes you don't have the objectivity to know when you're doing your best work." more on this story

AC/DC World Premiere and Trailer

(hennemusic) AC/DC devotees from all over the globe will descend upon London's legendary HMV Hammersmith Apollo for the exclusive world premiere of AC/DC "Live At River Plate" on Friday May 6, 2011.

Shot entirely in HD with 32 cameras, fans will experience the thunderous excitement and intensity of AC/DC "Live At River Plate" on the UK's largest movie screen (roughly the equivalent of 4 double decker buses stacked).

AC/DC "Live At River Plate" definitively chronicles the band's massive Black Ice World Tour and the history of one of rock music's best live acts. Read more and check out the trailer

Def Leppard Undefeated Online

(hennemusic) Def Leppard debuted their new single, "Undefeated," yesterday on Planet Rock's Rob Birnie Show.

Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott stopped by the station to do the honors of introducing the song's world album premiere. Elliott has a Plant Rock connection: he hosts his own show each Saturday at 6 p.m. (UK time), on which he plays the music that has inspired him over the years.

"Undefeated" is one of three new tracks on the band's new live album, "Mirrorball," which hits stores June 6 (UK) / June 7 (internationally). Listen to the track here

TV on the Radio Regain Sanity From Hiatus

(Gibson) Three years after their album Dear Science cracked the U.S. Top 20, the experimental Brooklyn alt-rock group, TV on the Radio, have returned with a new album, Nine Types of Light, and a renewed energy – thanks to an uncharacteristic hiatus.

"The strangest thing about the hiatus is that I actually didn't realize that it was an official thing," singer Tunde Adebimpe told ClashMusic.com. "But we definitely did need to take a break, at least from touring, for everyone's individual sanities."

As for the layoff, Tunde doesn't think it will affect the group long-term: "I remember picking up two Breeders records that came out, and being shocked that the previous record had came out seven years beforehand. They didn't stop existing in my mind," he said. "Hopefully the interest is still there [for us] – and if it's not, there are other things to be done." more on this story

Grohl Owes Everything To Kurt Cobain And Krist Novoselic

(Gibson) With the recent release of the Foo Fighters' new album, Wasting Light, and a new career-spanning documentary of the band, Back and Forth, Dave Grohl has been spending a fair amount of time discussing his past. His conclusion?

"I owe everything to Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic," he told NME about his old bandmates, "but needed to find my own territory [with the Foos]."

Grohl talked about how his Nirvana legacy came full circle on Wasting Light, which was produced by Nevermind helmer Butch Vig and features Novoselic on a couple tracks. "It was necessary to have all those things come to the surface to break through with this record," he said. "I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now if it wasn't for Nirvana."

Star Spangled Chickenfoot

(hennemusic) Sammy Hagar and Joe Satriani performed the national anthem at the St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants game this past Saturday, April 9.

The event was Sammy's first time singing the anthem at a major sporting event and, while the guys sounded great, you can hear Hagar kind of flub his way through it, missing a few words here and there.

Chickenfoot recently hit the studio to get work done on their sophomore album, due out later this year. Hagar has been busy doing promotion for his new autobiography, "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock," which hit #1 on the New York Times best sellers list. Wanna see?

Neil Turbin's DeathRiders Stay Screamin Tour

The original voice of Anthrax Neil Turbin is taking his DeathRiders to Northern Europe for Stay Screamin 2011 Europe Tour.

The trek kicks off May 6th at the Highway to Dokkem Open Air show in Leeuwarden,Netherlands at Pop Podium Romein.

The 2011 line-up for Europe is Neil Turbin - Vocals, Mike Guerrero - Lead Guitar, Dave Chedrick - Drums, Melanie Sisneros - Bass and joining DeathRiders in Europe from the band Tragedian is Gabriele Palermo - Lead Guitar Ex-Stormwarrior and Ex-Metalium more on this story

T.S.O.L.'s Jack Grisham Announces Free Memoir Release Party

(Submitted) T.S.O.L. frontman Jack Grisham plans to celebrate the release of his memoir, An American Demon, on Sunday, May 1st, with bands and booze aboard the docked Grand Romance Riverboat in Long Beach, CA.

T.S.O.L. will play this FREE, open to the public event with special guests The Crowd, The Hated, The Yeastie Boys, and Love Canal.

Jack's hard-hitting memoir about growing up brazenly punk in 1980's southern California has been called "Unnervingly brilliant," "frightening," and "…the only piece of real literature to ever come out of the punk scene." more on this story

Punk Rock Bowling Tournament and Music Festival Expands

Organizers for the 13th Annual Punk Rock Bowling Tournament and Music Festival have announced plans for a string of late night shows that will take place at 4 venues throughout Downtown Las Vegas, Friday-Sunday night over Memorial Day Weekend.

Bands such as Fishbone, The Muffs, Ill Repute, Guttermouth, Buck O Nine, Swingin' Utters, Stephen Egerton of the Descendents, Old Man Markley, Manic Hispanic, Cadillac Tramps, Skatalites + Joe Sib's one man show, California Calling and many others will help extend the partying well into the wee hours, making this year's Punk Rock Bowling Tournament & Music Festival the best one yet!

Previously announced headliners for this year's daytime shows include Dropkick Murphys, Descendents, Cock Sparrer, Me First and The Gimme Gimmes, Bouncing Souls, Dwarves, Manic Hispanic & The Undertones. Other confirmed bands include Killing Joke, Stiff Little Fingers Leftover Crack, Aggrolites, Citizen Fish, Black Pacific, Krum Bums, Off With Their Heads, Larry and his Flask, Dirty Filthy Mugs and many more. more on this story

Good Charlotte and Yellowcard Tour

Good Charlotte are teaming up with Yellowcard for a co-headlining tour of the U.S.

The trek is set to kick off on June 6th at the House of Blues in San Diego, and will run until June 24th where they'll play in St. Petersburg, Fl.

Support of the tour will come from Runner Runner, the first band signed to Clear Entertainment/C.E. Music, a new label formed by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Inc. through a partnership with EMI's Capitol Records and music industry veteran Jack Ponti's MRV label. more on this story

Paramore, Darkest Hour and Middle Class Rut Track Packs For Guitar Hero

Activision has announced three new Guitar Hero Track Packs featuring Paramore, Middle Class Rut, Madina Lake and Darkest Hour. Here is the official 411:

Guitar Hero veterans Paramore join Madina Lake in their downloadable content debut with the four-song Emo Edge Track Pack. "Ignorance," the first single off of Paramore's 2009 record Brand New Eyes and "That's What You Get" the second single from the band's sophomore album Riot! coupled with "Hey Superstar" from Madina Lake's second EP The Dresden Codex and "Across 5 Oceans" from their upcoming record World War III, round out the offering.

Middle Class Rut make their Guitar Hero debut today with the Middle Class Rut Track Pack. Featuring their breakout single "New Low," "Sad to Know" and "Lifelong Dayshift" from their 2010 album No Name No Color, Middle Class Rut make a great addition to the Guitar Hero music library.
more on this story

Jeff Buckley Biopic Coming

(Gibson) Rumors of a Jeff Buckley biopic have been floating around for years. Only now does it appear that a film will be made about the late rock star, according to Deadline.com.

The forthcoming movie is being written by Ryan Jaffe (The Rocker) and directed by Jake Scott (Welcome to the Rileys). He's also the son of directing legend Ridley Scott and made a name for himself directing music videos, including R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts," U2's "Staring at the Sun" and Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm."

Buckley's mother, Mary Guibert, is one of the film's producers, who have optioned David Browne's book, Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley, which traces Jeff and his father's lives. There's no word yet on the actor who will play the singer, who died in a tragic drowning incident in 1997. Actors rumored to be interested in the role include James Franco, Jared Leto, James Marsden and Robert Pattinson.

Paul Stanley of KISS To Appear on The Doctors this Week

(hennemusic) Paul Stanley of KISS has teamed up with the non-profit House Research Institute on a major initiative called "IT'S HOW YOU LISTEN THAT COUNTS," to educate millions of teens around the world on preventing noise-induced hearing loss.

Paul will be drawing the attention of teens in NYC and LA to hearing health issues through an after-school event called SOUND RULES! The event, free for teens, will take place at the Director's Guilds in NYC on May 4 and Los Angeles on May 12.

Stanley will be spreading the word about the initiative with an appearance on the nationally-syndicated television show The Doctors on Thursday, April 14th. more on this story

Children Of Bodom Announce North American Leg of Ugly World Tour

Children Of Bodom have announced a North American headlining tour in support of their new album Relentless Reckless Forever.

The North American leg of Children Of Bodom's "Ugly World Tour" will kick off in Los Angeles on June 24 and run through July 24 in Montreal where COB will perform alongside KISS, Motörhead and more as part of the "Heavy MTL" hard rock festival.

"We are psyched to see all of our friends in North America and to play our new songs live for all of the Bodom maniacs," commented COB guitarist / vocalist Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho. "Get ready to throw it down!" more on this story

Anthony Kiedis, Marilyn Manson, Rob Pattinson Items For Auction For Japan

Yoshiki has announced a celebrity auction featuring items from Anthony Kiedis, Marilyn Manson, Rob Pattinson, James Franco, Reese Witherspoon, Stan Lee, and more to aide with Japanese relief. Here are details:

Japanese music and fashion icon Yoshiki, is spearheading the Japan Relief Fundraising Auction (JRFA), a major celebrity auction to benefit the survivors of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The JRFA is in conjunction with Yahoo! Japan, and is the company's first worldwide auction. Yahoo! Japan will have an internationally accessible web page with translations in English, Korean, Chinese, and also, through j-Grab, Russian, Italian and French.

The Foundation has also reached out to celebrities to donate auction items. To date, the Foundation has received items from Marilyn Manson, Anthony Kiedis, Stan Lee, and through members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, donations from Rob Pattinson, James Franco and Reese Witherspoon, and others. In addition, Yoshiki, leader of X Japan, the multi-Platinum Japanese rock band, is donating his beloved "crystal" piano, a see-through Plexiglas Kawai grand. The auction for Yoshiki's "crystal" piano runs in Japan from April 17 until April 24 through Yahoo! Japan in conjunction with Yoshiki Foundation America Japanese Relief Fundraising Auction ( http://bit.ly/ffEkFA ) or through the Yoshiki Foundation America Auction Page ( http://www.yoshikifoundation.org/?page_id=1252 ). Additional celebrity auction items will be added each week. more on this story

Hendrix, Iommi and Cobain Among Top 10 South Paw Guitarists

Gibson takes a look at 10 guitarists who turned their genetic trait into a technical advantage. We have 3 of the 10 listed below:

Jimi Hendrix: Arguably the finest guitarist of all time, Jimi Hendrix dazzled on a number of levels – as a performer, a musician and an innovator. Engel explains that Hendrix had a unique approach even to working around his left-handedness: "Jimi Hendrix strung his guitars left-handed; however most people who aren't really closely familiar with his work think that he plays upside down because he uses right-handed guitars for the most part. But he took a right-handed instrument and had them restrung left-handed."

Tony Iommi: Judas Priest's Rob Halford once introduced Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi as "the man who invented the heavy metal riff." With an SG perennially in hand, the English-born guitarist, now 63, overcame not only the hardship of being a left-handed guitarist in a right-handed world, but he also learned to operate a guitar having had the tips of two of his fingers sliced off in an factory accident.

Kurt Cobain: The late Nirvana frontman learned to play guitar during high school, picking out covers of songs like "Louie Louie" and "My Best Friend's Girl." In 1985, he and guitarist/classmate Krist Novoselic formed Nirvana in Aberdeen, Washington, and together with drummer Dave Grohl would go on to sell more than 50 million records worldwide. Cobain played mostly left-handed guitars, though he sometimes used right-handed guitars that were restrung and played upside down. Check out the full list

Robbie Robertson Rocks Jools Holland

(hennemusic) Music icon Robbie Robertson has just released his new album, "How To Become Clairvoyant."

Robbie is currently doing media interviews all around the world, and he stopped by Jools Holland's show to perform the lead single from the record, "He Don't Live Here No More."

Robertson co-produced the record, which features help from Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Robert Randolph, Tom Morello and others. Check out video of Robbie on Jools here

Therapy? Headed To Hard Rock Hell

(Rock AAA) Hard Rock Hell V have announced the latest addition to their lineup for Prestatyn in December.

Irish loudcore rockers Therapy? will grace the stage pleasing hundreds of fans who voted for them via the festival website.

The band has recently completed recording tracks for their 13th studio album, rumored to be entitled "A Brief Crack of Light" set for release later this year. more on this story