Bon Jovi Death Hoax

Fortunately, this news is a confirmed hoax. The 49-year old Jon Bon Jovi shared a picture on his official facebook page that confirms to his fans that he is in fact, alive and well. Check out the photo here.

Axl Rose Runs Out Of Patience With Fan At Guns N' Roses Show

(hennemusic) Axl Rose ran out of patience Saturday night and had a fan ejected from the Guns N' Roses show in Vancouver. "Out, mother**ker!, Out!," yelled Axl from the stage, "Dumb-ass mother**ker, get the f*** out!."

"Ya, that guy," continued Axl, pointing the guy out to security. "'Oh, what did I do?'" he said mockingly. "The Asian little dips**t. See ya, ya dumb-ass mother**ker!"

Rose and DJ Ashba both waved at the fan, and then Axl broke into a version of "Happy Trials." "That's the first person I've had thrown out for 100 shows," said Axl from the stage. "Like the good old days." More details and video here.

Aerosmith's Joe Perry To Hold Online Chat

(hennemusic) Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is hosting a live Twitter chat next week. Perry tweeted the news to fans on Monday:

"Dec 29th at 9:00pm live Q&A with me on Twitter details to follow. Spread the word."

Aerosmith recently completed a Japanese tour, which came on the heels of a South and Central American run of shows. more on this story

Corgan Dropping Smashing Pumpkins Name?

(Audio Ink Radio) The Smashing Pumpkins are gearing up to release their latest full-length in 2012, Oceania, and frontman Billy Corgan says the set is getting such great reaction from his peers, that they're advising him to change the band's legendary name!

In a new interview with Sterogum, Corgan explained that, "some people who've known me a long time, people like 20+ years, people in the music business, people who've been around during the making of other albums, they've basically patted me on the back and said 'You've actually done it. You got off Planet Pumpkin onto something else.'

"What's so funny about it — I haven't told anybody this, you seem like a nice person so I'll tell you — the reaction to the record is so strong that people have said, 'OK, now's the time to change the name.' more on this story

Paul McCartney Sets New Album Release

42 West sent over big news for Paul McCartney fans. The Beatles legend has announced a BRAND NEW as yet untitled album to be released on February 7th 2012.

The album is a glimpse into "the songs which inspired the songs" with a tribute to his personal favourites- plus two new McCartney compositions.

Here is the official word: WHILE many a musician is often asked about the tunes that have influenced their songwriting, it is not a question Paul McCartney ordinarily gets to answer – until now. Paul is about to offer a glimpse into "the songs which inspired the songs" with the upcoming release of a brand new album of those standards he grew up listening to in his childhood—plus two brand new McCartney compositions: the album, which is currently untitled, will be released on Hear Music/Concord Records on February 7th 2012. more on this story

Godsmack Plan Live Album and Tour With Staind

(Banana 101.5) Godsmack frontman Sully Erna hit the interview circuit last week and detailed several plans the band has in the works including a live album, a spring co-headlining with Staind, and an unidentified release.

The singer/guitarist outlined the band's plans for the new year speaking with his hometown newspaper The Boston Herald, saying that they will tour with Staind in the spring and will mix a live album in January — they will also record a few cover songs that inspired them for the disc.

Erna also dropped by That Metal Show and hinted at what could be another album by teasing, "We have a couple of tricks up our sleeve and plan to release stuff for a special kind of retail piece." more on this story

Metallica Recap 30th Anniversary Show

(hennemusic) Metallica are playing catch-up with their recent 30th Anniversary shows. The band rocked four shows over a week-long series of fan club-only shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco earlier this month.

The December 5 show kicked off the week with special guests including former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, John Marshall (Metal Church), Sean Harris and Brian Tatler (Diamond Head), Biff Byford (Saxon) and Apocalyptica.

Now, Metallica have issued a video recap of the December 5 concert. Check it out here.

Dokken Stars Dump The Chump and Recruit Sebastian Bach and Doug Pinnick

(Gibson) Kings X bass player and vocalist Doug "dUg" Pinnick and former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach will contribute to the new album by Dokken alumni George Lynch, Jeff Pilson and Mick Brown.

Lynch, Pilson and Brown decided to team up again after plans for a fully-fledged Dokken reunion fell through. The band – called Tooth and Nail after a hit Dokken album – is now in the studio working on original songs and remakes of several Dokken classics. Bach sings on a new version of Dokken's "Alone Again," while Brown will sing "When Heaven Comes Down." Pilson also will handle vocal duties.

Brown plays on the remade Dokken tracks, while drums on the new original songs will be performed by Brian Tichy, who was a member of Zakk Wylde's first post-Ozzy band, Pride & Glory, as well as Whitesnake, Foreigner and Lynch's own band, Lynch Mob.

The album, previously rumored to be titled Dump The Chump, is tentatively scheduled for release in March. more on this story

New Shinedown Coming Soon

(Gibson) Shinedown will release a new single, "Bully," on January 3 in the lead-up to the spring release of their next album.

The album is being recorded at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, California, and the sessions are being produced by Rob Cavallo, who has manned the board for Kid Rock and Green Day releases and was previously in the producer's chair for Shinedown's The Sound of Madness album.

That album was released nearly four years ago to great success, but it received a further sales kick last year when it was re-released in a deluxe edition with the song "Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)," which Shinedown recorded for the film The Expendables. In an interview with Gannett Media earlier this year, Shinedown lead guitarist Zach Myers said the band had around 14 songs written for the new album. Recording sessions began in August, and mixing is underway now. Myers says the album's release date and title will be announced soon. more on this story

Peter Gabriel Calls On Fans For So 25th Anniversary

(Gibson) Peter Gabriel is preparing a special 25th anniversary edition of his classic solo album So, and he's thrown the door open for fans to participate.

Gabriel is asking fans and past colleagues to offer up any So-era memorabilia, photos and other paraphernalia they might have, for inclusion in the anniversary reissue's booklet or on his website. Gabriel says anything will be considered, from posters and tickets from the So concert tour to photos relating to the album's release or concerts, to even personal diary entries related to the album and its impact on fans' lives.

"We'd love to see what's out there and what people are willing to send in to add to stuff that's out there already," Gabriel said. "Give us some guidance as to what sort of package you'd like to see." more on this story

Jon Anderson Says Yes To Cancer Support Community For Christmas

Legendary Yes frontman Jon Anderson is providing the soundtrack for the Cancer Support Community of Philadelphia (CSCP)'s 2011 electronic holiday card.

The e-card, designed by Lauren Keswick and Scott Bluebond and produced by Keswick was distributed today to the cancer support organization's friends, supporters, members, donors and others and is available at www.cancersupport-phila.org.

The song used for the e-card is called "Give Hope" and was originally released as a bonus track on the 22nd anniversary reissue of Anderson's fourth solo album, the holiday-themed 3 Ships. This reissue contained five tracks not included on the original release from 1985 including this song. The original music for this song was by Narada Michael Walden and it was developed by Christophe Lebled. CSCP marketing and communications director Scott Bluebond was listening to the track recently and thought it would make an excellent accompaniment to his organization's holiday e-card this year. He approached Anderson's publicist, Billy James of Glass Onyon PR, who quickly was given the "OK" from Anderson. more on this story

Paul Rodgers Releases Charity Birthday Song

(hennemusic) Paul Rodgers has released a new single, "With Our Love," in honor of his 62nd birthday on Saturday (Dec 17), and for a good cause.

100% of the proceeds are earmarked for the charities The Racehorse Sanctuary & Rocking Horse Children's Charity and Seraphim 12 Foundation.

The song was co-written and performed by Perry Margouleff, whose friendship with Rodgers dates back to over twenty years ago when they met in the U.K. while Margouleff was performing with The Pretty Things. The two have collaborated over the years. more on this story

Mr. Big Releasing Unplugged Album

(Gibson) Mr. Big will release a new acoustic live album on February 28 in North America and February 24 in Europe.

The album, Live From The Living Room, features performances taken from a special broadcast in Japan at the end of a whirlwind 11-date tour in January 2011 in support of their reunion album, What If…

Captured at WOWOW TV Studios in Tokyo, the band was augmented for the performance by a string quintet playing arrangements written by Takashi Miyazaki. Although proficient acoustic instrumentalists, guitarist Paul Gilbert and bass player Billy Sheehan couldn't resist the allure of their electric instruments for too long though, so they plug in their axes at a few strategic points during the album. But for the most part the vibe is still very much acoustic, with drummer Pat Torpey playing various acoustic percussion instruments throughout. more on this story

Blur To Reunite Again Awards Show

(Gibson) Oasis rivals and Britpop legends Blur have announced that they will reunite again on stage at the upcoming BRIT Awards.

According to theDaily Express, bass player Alex James (now a leading U.K. food critic) told radio station XFM: "We're going to play, which is brilliant; it's like putting the Blues Brothers back together."

He even hinted at a future tour. "Well, let's hope – heritage year next year. [Would] be good wouldn't it?" more on this story

We Came As Romans Tap blessthefall, Woe, Is Me For Tour

We Came As Romans will hit the road next spring in North America for The Fire and Ice Tour.

We Came As Romans will headline the trek with support from Emmure, blessthefall, Woe, Is Me and The Color Morale.

They will be kicking 2012 with a European co-headlining tour with Alesana that also features Iwrestledabearonce and Glamour Of The Kill. more on this story

Dr. Acula Announce North American Tour Dates

Dr. Acula announced plans kick off 2012 with a North American headlining tour dubbed the F*** All Your Friends Tour with support from Design The Skyline, The Devastated and In Dying Arms.

The February tour begins in Illinois and hits Seattle, Las Vegas, Houston and more, ending in Poughkeepsie in early March.

Dr. Acula is also gearing up for the release of their new music video recently shot in Chicago for "Party 2.0" off of their 2011 release, Slander. more on this story

Elvis Presley Museum Opens in Europe

Dusseldorf Marketing & Tourism GmbH sent over word about the opening of the biggest Elvis Presley Museum Outside of the United States. Here is the official word:

A new museum housing one of the world's largest private collections of Elvis Presley memorabilia, and the largest outside of the US, is now open to the public and offers new insights into his professional and private life with pieces that have never before been shown in public.

The museum is a new attraction in Düsseldorf's center, the historic Old Town, home to several world-class museums and the "longest bar in the world" (260 bars, pubs, and breweries in under a mile). more on this story

Margot & The Nuclear So and So's Set New Release

Margot & The Nuclear So and So's have set a March 20th, 2012 release date for their fourth studio album Rot Gut, Domestic.

Margot & The Nuclear So and So's will perform a New Year's Eve show at Deluxe at Amber Room in Indianapolis, IN.

A limited edition (500 hand-numbered copies) 7-inch single of Prozac Rock, which includes non-album track B-side "Fingertips", will be available exclusively at the show. more on this story

The Haptones 20th Anniversary All-Star Jam Tonight

Los Angeles area readers should head down to The Roxy tonight for the 20th anniversary all-star jam of The Haptones!

antiMusic has been thrilled to sponsor Happenin Harry's weekly all-star Haptones jams for half of those twenty years featuring a who's who of rock, metal and hard rock jamming classics from AC/DC, Deep Purple, Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath and more.

Tonight's event is set to include members of Dio, Coal Chamber, Rainbow, The Rembrandts, Alanis Morissette Band, Phil Lynott Band, Pink, Life Sex & Death (Lsd), Smashmouth, Fishbone, Five For Fighting, Rockstar Supernova, Bangkok Five, Paul Stanley Band, Wild Horses, Brett Michaels Band, Ringo Star Band, Beautiful Creatures, Rik Emmett Band, Mariah Carey Band, Antiproduct, Dave Stewart Band, Bang Tango, Marky Ramone Band, Mich Jagger Band and more special guests. more on this story

Singled Out: Royal Hunt's Hard Rain Coming

Today Andre Anderson from Royal Hunt tells us about "Hard Rain Coming" from their recently released album "Show Me How to Live". Here is the story:

Some songs developing slowly, over a long period of time - they kind of creating themselves in your mind… days go by and you´ll be "revisiting" something what used to be a vague idea only to discover that it already grown a bit bigger, a bit more defined.

"Hard Rain´s Coming" came to life in that fashion: I wanted a song which will start up slow and "fragile" and develop into an "all-stops-pulled" anthem and yet with a middle part/verse – connecting the intro and a climax (chorus) – being somehow different, carrying a lazy, laid back vibe without losing a steady pulse. Lyrically I was imagining a feeling of a hesitated longing/searching and a bombastic, overpowering contra punctual punch line.

An intro came first: a harpsichord with its glass-like, lofty sound created a nice contrast to a melody line sung in a deep, airy voice suddenly pushed aside by a heavy pounding rhythm section. Verses became an odd combination of dragged, sleepy and behind the beat vocals over a steady, staccato beat with furious harpsichord arpeggios tying it all together.
An unexpected bonus arrived as the backing singers went with an exaggerated operatic approach in the chorus, creating a larger-than-life sound which – combined with the open and polyphonic sounding band – hit the listener with an impact of epic proportions.

The biggest challenge was the final mixing: it took two full days in the studio to get all these parts to fit together sonically; constantly moving faders to underline the ever-changing dynamics of the track, tweaking reverbs/delays between verses (tight and in-your-face) and choruses (huge and dominating).

By the end of the day it was all worth it: a song became the first single from Royal Hunt´s "Show Me How to Live" album available in US through EMI – check it out.

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