Nickelback Conspiracy?

Turns out the guy who initiated the petition had an ulterior motive: to find a way to get his friend to play the gig, Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger told the CBC's George Stroumboulopoulos. "There is an individual, who is a local artist," Chad explains. "'Artist' wanted to play the halftime show. So the guy who started the petition has something to do with [this Artist], and thought to himself, 'how do I get my buddy to be able to play the halftime show. I will start a petition.'" more on this story

Rolling Stones Stars Discussing 50th Anniversary Options

The Rolling Stones may be celebrating their historic 50th anniversary after all. Rolling Stone magazine has learned from a top tour-industry source that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards will meet next month to discuss their options.

The report carried these quotes from Richards and Jagger: "I don't see why in the world the Stones can't put together some kind of show next year," says Richards according to the report. "I'd almost count on it. It doesn't have to be the whole spectacle bulls**t again, but we've got to find our own way through this."

"It is quite amazing when you think about it," Jagger adds. "Anything's possible." Read Rolling Stone's detailed article for a lot more here.

Jimi Hendrix Named Greatest Guitarist

(Gibson) An panel assembled by Rolling Stone has named Jimi Hendrix the greatest guitarist in history. The panel included some of rock's finest-ever players, including Brian May, Kirk Hammett and Ritchie Blackmore, among others.

Rounding out the top 10 selections were Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Eddie Van Halen, Duane Allman and Pete Townshend.

Members of the panel contributed comments about their choices. Pearl Jam's Mike McCready praised Eddie Van Halen as "a master of riffs," while Joe Perry hailed Jimmy Page for his "vision of how to transcend the stereotypes of what the guitar can do." The full list will be featured in a special issue, hitting stores on Friday, that's available in four different covers. The artists featured on the covers are Van Halen, Clapton, Hendrix and Page. more on this story

Biopic of The Clash Frontman Joe Strummer Coming

(Gibson) Hollywood actress and director Julie Delpy is set to direct a new movie about the life of The Clash frontman Joe Strummer.

According to Variety, the movie, titled The Right Profile, will focus on the guitarist and singer's Clash years as well as his planned disappearance from the public spotlight in 1982. The movie is named after a song on the classic album London Callingand will be produced by Simon Halfon.

Oddly, another biopic about the late Joe Strummer is apparently also in the works. UK production company Film4 is backing a project entitled Joe Public. Screenwriter Paul Viragh, who wrote Ian Dury biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, will be in charge of the script, according to Screendaily.com. more on this story

Metallica Announce More Vacation Tour Dates

(hennemusic) Following the recent confirmation of their headlining slot at Download next June, Metallica have announced more shows for their 2012 European Vacation.

Three more dates have been added, including festivals in Germany and Austria.

"As you may have picked up already, this year's European trek has a theme," posts Metallica. "Each night we will be playing 'The Black Album' in its entirety to celebrate the 20th (ish!!!) anniversary of its release in August of 1991. We know, we seem to be big on these anniversary things lately... any excuse to get out and play!" more on this story

David Bowie Camp Shoot Down Musical Reports

The UK press exploded this weekend with the big news that a new David Bowie musical based on the iconic singer's best known song characters, including Major Tom, was set to premiere in March at the IndigO2.

The Guardian ran a detail report which included discussion of how shocked the show's organizers were to obtain permission from Bowie to stage the musical (read that report here.

However, MSO sent out this statement on Sunday from the David Bowie Organization: ""Neither the David Bowie Organization, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for a Bowie musical at the O2, as has been reported in the U.K. There are no negotiations pending for a long-running musical featuring the music of Mr. Bowie."

We will have to wait and see how this one shakes out.

Gotthard Name Their New Singer

(Gibson) Gotthard have named Swiss-born multi-instrumentalist Nic Maeder as the successor to singer Steve Lee, who died in a motorcycle accident last year.

Maeder grew up dividing his time between Switzerland and Melbourne, Australia. The band began their singer search nine months ago, sifting through applications from all over the world. "Nic not only has a great voice and is a fantastic musician, but we also have a great person in our midst," guitarist Leo Leoni said. "We can rock again at last."

Drummer Hena Habegger said, "The search took a long time but it was clear to all of us when we met Nic that he was the right guy. With him we can enjoy the music again and celebrate new success. I'm really happy that we are continuing." more on this story

Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx Working On Two Books

(hennemusic) Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx has found ways to keep himself busy when he's off the road. An avid photographer and writer, Sixx has already published two books: "The Heroin Diaries" (2007) and "This Is Gonna Hurt" (2011).

Now, Sixx tells fans he has another two books in the works; he was asked "when is your next book coming?" on Facebook, and offered this response: "I am working on it now... I am hoping to release it somewhere between May-June 2012," writes Sixx. "I am writing two books as we speak actually. The 2nd book will be out in 2013."

"Neither book is like anything I have done before (I guess you can say the same thing about The Heroin Diaries and This Is Gonna Hurt too )," he continued. more on this story

All Star Buddy Holly Tribute To Air This Weekend

(Gibson) The all-star tribute concert, Buddy Holly: Listen to Me, will premiere on PBS stations beginning December 3, 2011 (check local listings).

The tribute saw a host of rock and roll stars and legends, including Stevie Nicks, Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett, Raul Malo, Paul Anka, Boz Scaggs, Shawn Colvin, Patrick Stump, Cobra Starship's Gabe Saporta, Victoria Asher, Graham Nash, Michelle Branch, and iconic guitarists James Burton and Albert Lee performing a set of Buddy Holly classics.

The show also includes live and video tributes from industry heavyweights like Keith Richards, Ringo Starr, Jackson Browne, Brian Wilson, Imelda May and Eric Idle. more on this story

Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather and Steve Vai G3 Tour

(Gibson) Initial dates have been announced for the 2012 version of Joe Satriani's G3 Tour project.

In addition to Satriani, the featured guitarists will be Steve Lukather and Steve Vai. Conceived by Satriani in 1996, the concerts feature individual performances by each guitarist, followed by a set in which the three players join forces.

Past participants have included Eric Johnson, John Petrucci, Adrian Legg and Michael Schenker, among many others. The 2012 shows are expected include two-and-half hours of dazzling guitar playing. more on this story

Sublime with Rome Deny Break Up After On Stage Drama

(TMZ) Sublime with Rome is NOT calling it quits, despite an on-stage blow up at a concert in Hawaii earlier this week ... TMZ has learned.

Fans were shocked when drummer Bud Gaugh stormed off the stage in Maui on Nov. 20 -- after hurling profanities at the band's manager, Mike "Cheez" Brown.

TMZ spoke with Cheez ... who tells us the drama began when he grabbed his guitar to play a song with the band at the end of the show, as he's often known to do.

But this time, Cheez says, Bud had an issue with the performance -- and screamed at Cheez to get off the stage. Bud then got the crowd to chant, "Go home Cheez."

Cheez, surprised by Bud's reaction, remained on the stage -- but Bud stormed off. The band, stunned by the outburst, completed the show without the drummer.

Now, sources close to the band tell TMZ ... the guys have buried the hatchet -- after laughing about the incident the following day.

As for Cheez, dude tells us he plans to stay off the stage for a while ... until Bud gives him the all-clear to play with the group again. more on this story

Eddie Kramer Opens His Archives

Legendary record producer and engineer Eddie Kramer shot photos of Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and Led zeppelin while working with these and other rock legends and has now launched eddiekramerarchives.com where fans can get their hands on 50 different original prints. Here is the official word:

This coming year marks the 50th anniversary of the start of Eddie Kramer's career in music. It was in 1962 that the 20 year-old native of Capetown, South Africa started working as a "tea-boy" (go-fer) at London's Advision Studios, prior to which he had been recording local jazz groups in his living room.

He went on to collaborate with some of the top names in rock, engineering and/or producing albums by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, KISS and recorded the entirety of the Woodstock Festival. In celebration of his 50th year in the business and his 70th birthday, eddiekramerarchives.com offers 50 different photographs, shot between 1967 - 1972, the period Eddie calls "The Golden Era of Rock n' Roll." more on this story

The Flaming Lips New Year's Freakout 5

The Flaming Lips plan to rock three shows to end the year. They will first place a special holiday show on December 27th before playing to New Years shows.

The Flaming Lips will perform the two shows to celebrate the New Year at the Bricktown Events Center in Oklahoma City on December 31st and January 1, 2012.

The band promises to pull out all the stops with MORE of everything! More confetti, more balloons, massive volume, and maximum weirdness for its New Year's Freakout 5, which also features very special Guests YOKO ONO PLASTIC ONO BAND. more on this story

Diversity Key To Mastodon's Appeal

(Banana 101.5) Mastodon are one of the few heavy music bands who can go from playing hard-hitting metal festivals, such as Ozzfest, to indie-flavored festivals, like Pitchfork.

What is it about the guys that draws such an assorted audience? According to singer and bass player Troy Sanders, that diversity has a lot to do with the band's random musical tastes.

"I think it stems from the four of us our in the band, our musical tastes and inspirations vary across the entire spectrum of musical history," he told Loudwire. "The four of us are heavily influenced by and love classical music, the whole spectrum of music across the past 300 years. So when it comes to songwriting, anything goes in our band, we don't feel like it's gotta sound like classic Mastodon or else we aren't going to write it. None of that ever comes into play." more on this story

Judas Priest Slowing Down Not Giving Up

(Gibson) Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford says the U.K. metal band's so-called "farewell tour" does not mean they won't play together again. In an interview with Creative Loafing, Halford says the band is not retiring.

"Is there another word besides 'farewell'? You can't say 'retired' because we're not retiring, and you can't really call it the 'you are slowing down a bit tour.' You've gotta give it a little bit of something.

"We thought long and hard and 'farewell' is really the way you can describe this particular world tour because we're not going to do all these big world tours anymore. They've just become too difficult in many, many ways." more on this story

Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson Has High Flying Hopes For Airline

(Gibson) Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson will soon be piloting again, the veteran rocker promises. As reported last week (Nov. 22), Dickinson's employer, the British airline Astraeus, has been ordered to cease operations.

Speaking to Blabbermouth, Dickinson said he plans to either revive Astraeus or start an airline company of his own. "I'm amused that the less well-informed seem to be portraying me as having to resort to busking on the streets following the closure of Astraeus," Dickinson said. "The more astute members of my circle are aware there's rather more going on in my world. I'm already working on a plan to try to save Astraeus, or at least create a new business with new jobs for my friends and former colleagues at Astraeus. This is a serious plan involving people who are very good at their jobs."

The singer went on to express hopes of starting another company that assists in the training of commercial airline pilots.
more on this story

Bret Michaels Releases Regis Song

(hennemusic) Last week, TV viewers saw the final "Live With Regis & Kelly" shows, the last episodes featuring Regis Philbin.

Many guests dropped in to offer Philbin their best during the final week, including Poison's Bret Michaels.

Bret reworked "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" into a goodbye song for the host, "Farewell To Regis." Now, Michaels is offering up a guitar/vocal demo version of the track for fans via iTunes. Check out the song here.

KISS Remember Eric Carr

(hennemusic) KISS paid tribute to their late drummer Eric Carr on Thursday to mark the anniversary of his death.

The band has updated their website: "Twenty years ago today, our friend Eric Carr passed away after losing his battle with cancer. Over the eleven years Eric spent with KISS, he played over 800 concerts to millions of fans around the world, and he brought joy to and touched the lives of so many people."

Here are some thoughts and memories that the band would like to share: "At a time when KISS was in the midst of upheaval and turmoil Eric brought calm, and an optimism that refocused our priorities so we could move forward. I can't overstate his contribution to our rebirth. His dedication to his music was only matched by his dedication to his fans. He was a kind soul who couldn't say an unkind word about anyone and I think of him all the time." - Paul Stanley Read more here.