Jani Lane of Warrant Found Dead

He'd struggled with alcoholism for many years – a problem which he recently admitted was beginning to affect his health. more on this story

Lynyrd Skynyrd's Johnny Van Zant Hospitalized

(Gibson) Health issues involving Lynyrd Skynyrd's Johnny Van Zant have forced the band to postpone or cancel a number of shows. According to the group's website, the 51-year-old singer was hospitalized over the weekend due to complications from a previous surgery.

Specifically, the site reports that "Johnny Van Zant was admitted to the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN on August 6, with a surgical site infected cellulitis which required hospitalization with IV antibiotic treatment. Van Zant has a severe Staph infection and multiple symptoms related to infection. Johnny Van Zant is to remain out of work and recover until cleared by his primary physician."

Lynyrd Skynyrd plans to resume their regular tour schedule with the Doobie Brothers on Friday, August 19, in Bethel, New York, at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. more on this story

Saves The Day and Bayside Fall Tour

Saves The Day and Bayside are teaming up for co-headlining tour of North America this fall that will include support from I Am The Avalanche and Transit.

The tour kicks off on October 6th in Philadelphia, making stops in 31 cities across the United States.

"We are thrilled to be touring this fall with our good friends in Bayside," commented Saves The Day lead singer Chris Conley. "We'll be playing a bunch of new songs in support of our new album, Daybreak, as well as all the old songs you're dying to hear." more on this story

Ozzy Hitting The Silver Screen

God Bless Ozzy Osbourne will be broadcast to more than 400 movie theaters nationwide on Wednesday, August 24 and Monday, August 29 at 7:30 p.m. (local time).

Shot over the course of three years, audiences will experience the life story of Ozzy, as seen through the eyes of his youngest child, producer/filmmaker, Jack Osbourne, who worked alongside directors Mike Fleiss and Mike Piscitelli.

During the documentary, Ozzy will recount his troubled youth, his early career with Black Sabbath and the impact of fame and addictions on his first marriage. Viewers will also witness the second chapter of his life as a family man with Sharon, during which his addictions grew to a frightening level, as well as hear Ozzy and his children explain his attempts at staying clean, ultimately resulting in more than five years of sobriety. Music fans will also see live performances from around the world, including rare behind the scenes clips of Ozzy on and off stage, in his dressing rooms pre-show, to his nights in a series of hotel rooms. Throughout God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, audiences are given an inside look into the life of a rock star, from the good times to the bad. more on this story

Funeral Pyre Singer Joins Early Graves- Bret Michaels Cruise Troubles- Ryan Adams Returns- Mick Jagger's Super Heavy Video- The Bled Break Up- Anathema Unplugged- more

(LG) The Funeral Pyre frontman John Strachan has revealed via a blog post that he's now joined Early Graves on vocals. Strachan replaces Early Graves singer Makh Daniels, who was killed in a van crash last summer. more

(Billboard) Ryan Adams will release a new full-length, "Ashes & Fire," on Oct. 11. The album features guest spots by Norah Jones and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench. more

(BW&BK) According to Thewrap.com, Poison frontman Bret Michaels filed suit against Shoreline Tours on Monday, alleging that the cruise-ship company participated in "a fraudulent scheme" intended to get Michaels to drastically drop his agreed-upon fee for two performances on one of its cruises. more

The music video for Super Heavy's song "Miracle Worker" premieres today on VEVO.com. Super Heavy is a rock supergroup consisting of Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Marley, and A. R. Rahman. Check it out here (sorry there was no direct link at the time of publishing).

(CR) Anathema are headlining a special night in London on Friday, September 30. Anathema will be doing an acoustic set more

(LG) Atheist has cancelled the European tour they had planned to embark upon this month. The band has issued the following explanation: "Unfortunately, Atheist drummer Steve Flynn was forced to remain in the U.S. for an unavoidable personal commitment." more

(The 1st Five) Seemingly out of the blue, metalcore quintet The Bled have announced that they are breaking up. A tweet from the band confirmed rumors of the breakup more

(The 1st Five) Banner Pilot have announced their new album Heart Beats Pacific will be released on October 25th. more

(MU) Katatonia are forced to cancel their September 9th appearance at the Unirock Festival in Istanbul, Turkey. "Due to a conflict with the festival's promoter who were not able to fulfil their contractual obligations, our agent and management decided to pull out as we can't afford to risk financial loss." more

(PNO) Angels and Airwaves have unveiled yet another music video from their album LOVE. "Epic Holiday" is the fourth and final extended story of characters that make brief appearances in the feature film LOVE. more

On this day in 1968, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together for the first time when they rehearsed in a small basement room on Gerrard Street just south of London's Soho district. The first song they played was a version of "Train Kept A-Rollin'."

On this day in 1972, Alice Cooper was at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with "School's Out."

On this day in 1977, Henry Padovani, guitarist with The Police, quit the group after nine months. The band replaced him with Andy Summers, who had previously played with Eric Burdon and the New Animals and Zoot Money's Big Roll Band.

On this day in 1989, The two-day Moscow Music Peace Festival was held at The Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Western Acts who appeared included Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Skid Row and Scorpions. This was the first time that an audience had been allowed to stand up and dance at a stadium rock concert in the Soviet Union. Previous to this, all concerts had to be seated. Find out what else happened on this date in music history here

Coldplay Set New Album Release

Capitol Records have announced a October 25th North American release date for Coldplay's fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto (pronounced my-lo zy-letoe). Here are the details they sent over:

Produced by Markus Dravs, Daniel Green and Rik Simpson, with enoxification and additional composition by Brian Eno, Mylo Xyloto follows 2008'sViva La Vida, which charted at No. 1 in 36 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

Mylo Xyloto will be released in digital, CD and vinyl formats. The 180-gram vinyl edition will include a 12" x 36" poster. A special limited edition Pop-Up Album version will also be available, which will include a 12" x 12" hardback book containing graffiti pop-up art designed by David A. Carter, vinyl, CD and exclusive content including photographs, excerpts from the studio diary and the band's personal notebooks. more on this story

Alice Cooper Ponders Double Nightmare Shows

(Gibson) Alice Cooper says that while making his forthcoming "Nightmare sequel" album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, he and producer Bob Ezrin took special care to create strong connections to the disc's 1975 predecessor. "We made sure that some of the musical tentacles from the 1975 album got into this album," the veteran shock-rocker said in an interview with RollingStone.com. "If you're a real Alice aficionado it'll send a chill up your spine, because it happens at the right spots."

Released 35 years ago, Welcome to My Nightmare was Cooper's solo album debut, following the breakup of the much-heralded original Alice Cooper band. The idea for a sequel took hold when he and Ezrin began contemplating what form the "Alice" character's nightmare might take in today's world. "The first nightmare was a seven-year old's, with 'what's in my closet' and 'my toys are coming to life,'" Cooper explained. "Now, his nightmare would be hip-hop and technology and working 9 to 5 in a cubicle."

At age 63, Cooper continues to tour relentlessly. His current set list consists mostly of hits, but he's considering a more ambitious approach to showcase the new album, which hits record stores on September 13. "I would love to do both [Nightmare] albums back-to-back in a 3,000 seat theater for three weeks at a time," he said. "We could do it in New York, Los Angeles... every major city. There's been talk of Broadway. It would be a great Broadway show." more on this story

Yankees Derek Jeter Joins Aerosmith In The Studio

(hennemusic) Aerosmith had a surprise visitor to their studio last Friday night: New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter.

Considering Boston is Red Sox central, this could have been a tense situation, but all was cool, reports the gang at Aerosmith fan club AeroForceOne.

Turns out Jeter is a good friend of producer Jack Douglas. Small world, but Derek became pals with Jack when he was producing Aerosmith's 1982 album, "Rock In A Hard Place." With Brad Whitford out of the fold, the band hired guitarist Rick Dufay to try to take over Brad's duties. Rick and Jeter have a close personal tie, and Jack and Rick became lifelong friends. more on this story

Download Butch Walker's Summer of 89

(GE) Butch Walker will release The Spade, his debut album for Dangerbird Records on August 30, 2011 and is giving fans a free download of the first single.

The Spade features 10 new tracks written by Walker and recorded with his longtime bandmates The Black Widows and Patrick Keeler (of The Raconteurs) in Venice, CA.

From first single "Summer of 89" (where he sings " Nobody really knew Bryan Adams wasn't cool / The TV just told me he was") to "Synthesizers" ("I don't have a synthesizer / I can still get down like Duran Duran in 1985"), the album is full of knowing winks, half-cocked smiles, and sing-alongs. Download Summer of 89 here

Def Leppard Star Says Tom Cruise Rocks in Rock of Ages

(Gibson) Already adrenalized by the success of the Broadway play, Rock of Ages, which features his band's "Pour Some Sugar on Me," Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen sounded practically hysterical about Tom Cruise's performance in Rock's movie adaptation.

In the film, which also features the music of Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Styx, Pat Benatar and other '80s staples, Cruise plays Stacee Jaxx, an aging rocker looking to recapture his glory days. Collen and the rest of the Leps recently met Cruise, whom the oft-shirtless guitarist described as "a super-lovely guy."

Collen told VH1 Classic Rock Nights: "I was so impressed because he hadn't sung before and he had vocal lessons. He was literally doing five hours a day, five days a week, like truly real, getting in there and doing it. And we saw him and he was amazing; it was like Iggy Pop meets someone else and he's in great shape and it was like, 'What!?' It was surreal, but he really pulls it off and it was like he's a total rock star." more on this story

Slash Working With Mary J. Blige

(Gibson) Slash announced he is working with R&B diva Mary J. Blige on a new track. The former Guns N' Roses axeman revealed the news via his Twitter account.

"Just finished a session with Mike Clink engineering on a track with Mary J. Blige. Sounds killer!" he tweeted.

As NME reminds us, it's hardly the only recent instance in which the guitarist teamed up with a R&B/pop star. He played on Rihanna's "Rockstar 101" in 2009 and collaborated with Black Eyed Peas chantreuse Fergie on "Beautiful Dangerous" on his 2010 solo album. It's not the only time Blige has crossed over either. She sang with Aerosmith at a Super Bowl halftime show and recorded a new version of "One" with U2. more on this story

Yes' Symphonic Live Going HD

Eagle Rock have set a September 13th release date for Yes/Symphonic Live on Blu-Ray. Here is the synopsis:

No band in the history of rock'n'roll can rock with a symphonic orchestra like Yes. It's what their music was practically made for. In 2001, with keyboardist Rick Wakeman no longer in the band, Yes hired a full orchestra to back them, resulting in a lush synthesis of melodic invention and arrangements.

It would be the last tour with vocalist Jon Anderson yet still with the nucleus of bassist Chris Squire, lead guitarist Steve Howe and drummer Alan White. Fourteen songs. Three hours and fourteen minutes (which includes the video for "Don't Go" and a 30-minute "Dreamtime" documentary). more on this story

Full Story Of Hypocrisy Coming To DVD

Hypocrisy's new DVD Hell Over Sofia: 20 Years of Chaos and Confusion will be released on October 14th in Europe and October 18th in North America.

Bassist Mikael Hedlund stated about the group's upcoming DVD: "Finally after 20 years a DVD will be released to tell you the truth about Hypocrisy. It will contain a full concert from our last tour, 'Long Time No Death 2010' at Blue Box Club in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was a show that had everything! The crowd was helping us do one of our best shows in our history and it was recorded with several cameras.

"The DVD will also contain a one and a half hour documentary that will show you our 20 years of chaos and confusion. We would like to give our fans the true story of the past and give them all the details on what has happened on our journey over the years. There are secrets that have never been told, plus pictures and clips that never has been showed. This DVD will give you the full story of Hypocrisy!"

Lou Gramm Slams Current Foreigner Lineup As Misleading

(hennemusic) Original Foreigner singer Lou Gramm isn't a big fan of the current version of the band. Like Journey, when Foreigner lost its original voice they eventually replaced it with a virtual sound-alike; exit Gramm, enter Kelly Hansen.

In a new interview with Spinner, Gramm sounds off on the subject of having his voice, and vocal style, replicated. "It is [strange]. It totally is," says Gramm. "But what's stranger to me is that, as I've learned talking to people who see those shows, is that in many cases the audience, especially if they're younger, don't even know it's not the original lead singer."

"In Foreigner's case," continues Lou, "as I understand it, the singer was actually trained to deliver pretty much exactly everything as I did it, note for note. If I were in the audience and learned that while I was there, I'd get up and leave. I think when the band name remains the exact same, but something as important as the lead vocal is different, it's misleading. It's like false advertising." more on this story

Ian Hunter and Dennis Dunaway Appear On New Rick Tedesco Album

Rick Tedesco has released a new solo CD, 'A Light In The Attic," which features Ian Hunter and Dennis Dunaway. Here is the official word:

Known for his guitar and studio work with Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee and original Alice Cooper Group founding member Dennis Dunaway's group the Dennis Dunaway Project, as well as Mott the Hoople legend Ian Hunter, Rick Tedesco's new CD promises to deliver a heavy dose of hard driving rock and roll!

"I met Dennis through Ian Hunter actually," Rick explains. "Ian was helping BDS with their album 'Back From Hell' and Ian pulled me in to help get their sound together. I met Ian years ago while working in a music store and ended up setting up a studio in his house and then started working with him. I have been on every record since 'Rant' in one capacity or another: engineer, producer, background vocals, guitars, piano...comedian." more on this story

Five Finger Death Punch Hits The Top of the Charts

(RockAAA) Five Finger Death Punch's 'Under and Over It' made a huge impact on the first week of release selling 31,018 units putting it top of Amazons Hard Rock & Metal Chart and iTunes Rock Chart. It also made the top 40 of iTunes singles chart – the only hard rock/metal song in the top 100

The track is the first single taken from their forthcoming album 'American Capitalist' which is due for release October 11

It Talking of the new album drummer Jeremy Spencer told Banana 1015: "[Under and Over It] was pretty much a tongue-in-cheek response to the haters that post stuff online…it's just a response, a little back-handed slap to what we deal with daily…reading stuff about us and the way people perceive us and things like that." more on this story

David Bowie Saved Marc Bolan's Family

(Rock News Desk) Marc Bolan's son has revealed how David Bowie stepped in to save him and his mother from poverty after the glam star's death.

But Rolan, 35, has never seen his godfather since he was a baby. And the star has never wanted thanks for providing emotional and financial help.

Glam icon Bolan died in a car crash in 1977 just as he was on the cusp of rebuilding his career after years in the doldrums. His girlfriend Gloria Jones, who was driving the purple Mini in London, was seriously injured in the accident. more on this story

Michael Sweet Leaves Boston

(RockAAA) Boston are now without a lead vocalist as singer Michael Sweet has announced his full-time return to Stryper.

Michael co-founded Christian rockers Stryper in 1983, leading them to sales of more than 8 million albums worldwide.

Sweet's first performance with Boston was as one of several singers who played with the band at a tribute concert to former vocalist Brad Delp in the summer of 2007, following Delp's suicide in the spring of that year. more on this story

Queen Radio Special

(Gibson) England's Absolute Radio station is broadcasting an exclusive Queen documentary series called Killer Queen. According to Music-news.com, the two-part series will feature interviews and commentary from the band's Brian May and Roger Taylor.

May and Taylor will give in-depth accounts of the genesis of 20 of the band's top songs as well as offer memories, opinions and reflections on the music they made. The programs include contributions from Keane's Tom Chaplin, Dave Stewart and comedian Rhys Thomas.

The series will be broadcast in the U.K. on Absolute Radio, Absolute '80s and Absolute Classic Rock beginning on August 22, with part two on August 23. more on this story

Remembering Les Paul

(Gibson) On this day in 2009, Les Paul, the Wizard of Waukesha, passed away at the age of 94. In addition to being an innovative guitarist and beloved entertainer (along with his wife, Mary Ford), Paul was a trailblazing inventor whose accomplishments include pioneering developments in multitrack recording and the solid-body electric guitar. To this day, Gibson proudly honors Les Paul with the guitar that bears his name. Gibson takes a look back:

Les Paul was a tinkerer. The Wizard of Waukesha's hands were always busy and his mind was, too. Busy with ideas, busy with inventions, busy with improvements. And Les Paul's hands and mind stayed in near-constant motion from the day he was given his first harmonica until his final Monday night performance at New York's Iridium Jazz Club in June of 2009, before dying from complications related to pneumonia on this day in '09.

Jazz players, rock players, blues players, pop players and musicians of any genre all revere the man and his work. It's astounding, and at the same time, it makes perfect sense. After all, this is the guy who invented the Les Paul guitar.

Born Lester William Polsfuss in 1915, Les became enamored with music at an early age. As a teenager, he began performing as a country-western musician, and then dropped out of high school to join a radio band in St. Louis. He spent his early 20s in Chicago, dividing his time between hillbilly music, blues and jazz, and became an accomplished player via Django Reinhardt's influence. He adopted the stage name of Les Paul and released his first records. more on this story

Paul Stanley Denies That KISS Is Just A Schlock House

(RockAAA) KISS guitarist Paul Stanley has launched a stern defence of the band's fondness for attaching the bands name and image to merchandise and insisted the band themselves take a keen interest in every product they are attached to.

The rock legends have promoted Kiss Kaskets and crematorium urns among a host of items but Stanley reckons the band are 'great listeners' and are 'not great merchandisers.'

"It's misleading because of the volume of things we have, that KISS is just a schlock house," Stanley tells Spinner.com. "The truth of the matter is, we have pride in everything we do. At the core this is a rock 'n' roll band, but we don't put our name on anything that we don't believe in, or that the fans don't believe in." more on this story

Kaiser Chiefs and Kate Nash Help With Riot Clean Up

(Gibson) British music stars including members of Kaiser Chiefs and Kate Nash have been helping London's cleanup efforts in the wake of this week's riots.

According to NME.com, Ricky Wilson, lead singer of Kaiser Chiefs, tweeted "Camden Chalk Farm. Me and [bassist] Simon [Rix] will there in a bit with our brooms. Get to one near you today if you're about."

Nash tweeted: "At the Bethnal Green clean up, nice to see so many people ready to help in the community!" Nash and Wilson also ended up helping out at Clapham, later on in the day. more on this story

Steven Tyler Entering The Rag Trade

(Gibson) American Idol judge and Aerosmith rock star Steven Tyler will bring his fashion sense to the stores this season.

Tyler has teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger's brother Andy, says the Daily Express, to release a "rocker-inspired" clothing range called Andrew Charles. Tyler and his daughter Chelsea will be featured in the clothing line's advertising campaign.

The Andrew Charles line will be available at Macy's in September. In the meantime, Tyler is working with his bandmates on Aerosmith's first album of original material since 2001's Just Push Play. more on this story

Rancid's Tim Armstrong Produces New Jimmy Cliff EP

Jimmy Cliff will release an EP, his first studio effort in seven years, in November.

The EP, produced by Tim Armstrong (Operation Ivy, Rancid, The Transplants) will be released on Collective Sounds and features a combination of originals and covers, including a cover of The Clash's seminal "Guns of Brixton."

For the EP and full-length, Cliff teamed up with Armstrong - a lifelong admirer of his work and a known purveyor of reggae music's lasting influence and cultural impact. "Tim has such a great foothold in the tradition. He woke me up to a lot of the things I had forgotten," said Cliff. "I enjoy the creative spontaneity of collaborating with other people. I always want to try new things. It's the type of creative energy I have". Armstrong adds, "Jimmy is one of my musical heroes and I've been responding to his music my entire life." more on this story

Bruce Bouillet Joins Asia Featuring John Payne

Guitarist Bruce Bouillet has joined ASIA Featuring John Payne for their summer tour dates.

Bouillet made his name playing explosive, yet precise melodic guitar with Racer X and The Scream. Later he formed Epidemic, touring with acts including Nickelback and Seether. In 2005, Bouillet won a Grammy award for his production work with Motorhead. He also works with Paul Gilbert, with whom he recently toured as part of G3, along with with Joe Satriani and John Petrucci. He has just finished his third solo instrumental album.

Bruce is now working with the band in the studio on their upcoming album "Americana". "The band and myself are excited to welcome our good friend Bruce and look forward to a new chapter for us all," remarked John Payne. more on this story

Dirtfest is Tomorrow

Dirtfest will be taking place tomorrow, Saturday, August 13 in Birch Run, MI at the Birch Run Expo Center.

The Mainstage lineup includes All That Remains -Times Of Grace -Alien Ant Farm -Silverstein -Hawthorne Heights -Evans Blue -Burn Halo -Pop Evil -Danko Jones -Janus -Egypt Central.

Dirtfest started in 1997 as an outlet for promoters Matt Dalton and Kurt Gust to showcase their bands at the time. Locals would refer to Birch Run as "Dirt Run" since there was little more to do than play in the dirt of the small town. more on this story

Quest For Fire's Chad Ross Releasing New Nordic Nomadic Album

Tee Pee Records have set a October 25 release date for Nordic Nomadic's new album Worldwide Skyline.

Nordic Nomadic is the solo project of Chad Ross, singer and guitarist for Toronto, Canada's most beloved psych rockers, Quest For Fire.

The follow up to the band's self-titled 2009 debut, Worldwide Skyline was written, performed, recorded and mixed by Ross with additional recording and vibraphone by Paul Aucoin (Arcade Fire, Sloan) at Toronto's Hallamusic (F*ucked Up, The Deadly Snakes). more on this story

Empire Of The Sun Fall Tour

Empire Of The Sun have announced brand new U.S. headline and festival tour dates for September.

They are hitting road in support of their debut album, Walking On A Dream. The tour is set to kick off on September 8th in Boston.

Support will come from Miami Horror on four dates and Mayer Hawthorne & The County on one. more on this story

Adrenaline Mob Singled Out Week: Down To The Floor

Adrenaline Mob (Symphony X's Russell Allen, Sonic Stomp's Mike Orlando, Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy Fozzy's Rich Ward and Nena's Paul DiLeo) released their self-titled debut EP this week. To celebrate we asked Mike Orlando to tell us about some of the songs. Today he tells us about "Down To The Floor":

Down To The Floor was inspired purely by my love of drag racing & is something I have done for years & years. I had wanted to go for an anthem type of track which conveyed the excitement of everything drag racing is about. From the moment you fire up the engine & burn up the tires to pulling up to the staging lights & taking off down the track, to hitting the finish line & all the excitement in between. I brought the track to Russell in our usual work method & we proceed to pick apart lyrics & prior content & melodies to see what would work best. Verses are kinda gettin you pumped and explain what goes on in & about the car & the anticipation. While the pre chorus is purely count down & staging lights ready to hit that green.. Russ & myself kept the original chorus that was throughout the song for the end as it was more anthem like & climactic, while Russ belted out the main chorus which just was like, boom there you go. We write extremely well together & always talk out the subject we are writing about. This track was real fun bc we basically just re enacted a Drag Race scenario! What a blast.. The solo maintains the energy of the track as well & the track ends with a nice melodic solo outro reminiscent of the chorus but some cool shreddin on its way out. This one was a real blast to do indeed!

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