Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Blasted For National Anthem Performance

Early reviews of the performance were not much better, with one football fan taking to Twitter with this post: "Steven Tyler's national anthem before the Patriots/Ravens game couldn't have been any worse if John Madden farted it through a harmonica." Read more and watch the performance and judge for yourself

Van Halen's David Lee Roth Explains Tattoo

(hennemusic) Van Halen's David Lee Roth has issued a new video as the singer shares his inspiration for the lyrics to "Tattoo."

Released last week, the song is the first single off VH's forthcoming album, "A Different Kind Of Truth", due February 7.

"'You best believe that needle hurts you'," quotes Roth from the song, "And depending on where you get it…whoa! ...that's a rite of passage. And it should cuz it really forces you to consider what's permanent to you. What is it you really want to remember and what is it that you really want to say to folks around you." more on this story

Megadeth Legend Studying To Become A Pastor

(Gibson) Megadeth's David Ellefson is studying to become a Lutheran minister. In a lengthy profile by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the thrash-metal bassist revealed that he's an online student at suburban St. Louis's Concordia Seminary, studying under the school's Specific Ministry Program.

Long-term friends of Ellefson are not surprised by the news, given that Ellefson took his faith very seriously while attending his local Lutheran church as he was growing up in Minnesota. "I came from a good family, not a broken home," Ellefson told the Post-Dispatch. "That became a model for me, and I saw church at center of it."

Ellefson has even written songs for the Lutheran church he currently attends, using lyrics from the Old Testament. "For a Christmas service, I remixed some classics, not quite in a Megadeth fashion, but in a pretty heavy rock fashion," he said. more on this story

Nickelback Fight Online Critics With Sarcasm

Nickelback apparently can take criticism and give it right back. Loudwire reports: As music fans hit Nickelback with insults on Twitter, they responded back with their own smarmy responses, quickly getting people to notice and comment on the entertainment value of it all.

Even rocker Chris Daughtry weighed in, saying to the band, "Your replies to the haters are killing me! Hilarious!"

In addition, the band doled out some constructive criticism in response to some of the insults, replying directly to people with comments like, "that one's a little stale, try harder next time." See Nickelback's greatest twitter war hits here

Red Hot Chili Peppers Add Over A Dozen New Tour Dates

Red Hot Chili Peppers continue to roll out dates for their North American I'm With You World Tour, with the latest batch added for April, May and June.

Due to multiple foot injuries sustained by lead singer Anthony Kiedis, and subsequent surgery, the tour will now kick off on March 29th in St. Petersburg, FL, and crisscross the continent throughout 2012.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are touring in support of their current album I'm With You, which has received a Grammy nomination for "Rock Album of the Year." In addition, the band will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April. more on this story

Etta James Loses Fight With Cancer

(Gibson) Singing great Etta James, famous for "At Last" and many other hits, has died, CNN reports. She was 73.

Her long-running friend and manager Lupe De Leon said she died from complications from leukemia and had her husband and sons by her side in Riverside, California. She would have turned 74 next Wednesday. The singer had been battling a number of health issues in recent years, including dementia and hepatitis C.

"This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and fans around the world, De Leon said. "She was a true original who could sing it all – her music defied category. I worked with Etta for over 30 years. She was my friend and I will miss her always." more on this story

Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood For CMT Crossroads TV Special

(hennemusic) Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood will share the stage in a CMT Crossroads special airing live from Indianapolis on February 4, the night before Super Bowl XLVI.

CMT Crossroads: Steven Tyler & Carrie Underwood From the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam will take place at the Pepsi Coliseum at the Indiana State Fair Grounds.

Tyler and Underwood previously performed together in 2011 at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. more on this story

Hard To Find Jimi Hendrix Recording Being Released

(BM) Sundazed Music and Experience Hendrix, L.L.C are teaming up to release a series of new 7" picture-sleeve vinyl singles featuring unique and hard-to-find vintage performances by Jimi Hendrix.

The ongoing series launches in April with an initial release that combines a pair of historically significant recordings from two different Hendrix 1967 BBC sessions. One is a raucous reading of Bob Dylan's "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?".

Hendrix recorded his version on October 17 for BBC Radio's Rhythm and Blues show. Dylan's original version, one of history's most notable and enduring musical enigmas, wasn't released on a legitimate album for more than 10 years after its first issue. This Jimi Hendrix Experience version was a highlight of the BBC Sessions double album issued by Experience Hendrix/Sony Legacy in October 2010. more on this story

Motley Crue's Mick Mars Rocks On Despite Debilitating Disease

Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars hasn't let a debilitating disease keep him from performing and recently addressed the topic of how he handles it in a recent interview.

Loadwire reports: Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis, an inflammatory condition that mainly affects the joints of the spine, making life increasingly difficult and incredibly painful for the person afflicted with it.

"I am able to keep touring," Mars told Classic Rock Revisited in a recent chat. "It is one of those things that I call an inconvenience. Of course I have days that are worse than others and there is always some amount of pain with my hips. There are good days and bad days but it is more of an inconvenience than anything else. I don't feel sick." more on this story

Chickenfoot TV

(hennemusic) Chickenfoot wrapped up their week-long European tour on Thursday at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The trip was part 2 of the band's Road Test Tour, as they break in new drummer Kenny Aronoff while Chad Smith has returned to his regular gig with new Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The Düsseldorf gig – in support of "Chickenfoot III" - was filmed for German TV by WDR's (German public TV) series "Rockpalast"; the episode will premiere on February 27. more on this story

The Doors Would Have Changed Had Morrison Lived

(Gibson) The Doors would likely have taken a theatrical turn – and perhaps focused on film work – had Jim Morrison survived, keyboardist Ray Manzarek has revealed.

In an interview with M – Music and Musicians, Manzarek said, "My guess is we would have done more theater venues, playing smaller places for a week at a time, preparing the theater with laser lights and speakers under the seats so that we could swirl the sound throughout the auditorium. We would probably have done theatrical presentations that included dancers and actors with recitations. We would have combined film and music. We all had big ambitions. I wanted to make movies starring the band."

Manzarek also lamented the fact that the public has a skewed perception of Morrison. "People don't want to hear about how smart he was, how he was a real poet," Manzarek said. "They just want dirty stories." more on this story

Abigail Williams Extend North American Tour

Abigail Williams have decided to extend their North American headline tour following news that Dark Funeral pulled the plug on their trek last week where the band was set to act as direct support.

Their camp sent over these details and dates on Friday: On top of the run of eight headlining dates the band already announced, which kicked off Friday in Las Vegas, thirteen newly-booked shows across the East Coast and all the way through the Midwest were just confirmed this week.

Additional tour dates are likely to be confirmed so stay tuned for further developments. For now check out the band's full tour itinerary as it stands, including the monstrous twenty-seven city March Of Death this March when death metal legends Deicide will tour the entire continent with support from ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, Jungle Rot and Lecherous Nocturne. more on this story

Glenn Five Speaks Out On Leaving Anvil

(Rock News Desk) Departed Anvil bassist Glenn Five says Robb Reiner never stopped reminding him he wasn't a real member of the band – and while frontman Lips Kudlow didn't say as much, he agreed with the drummer's viewpoint.

Five announced his departure this week after sixteen years in the outfit who spent decades in the doldrums before the movie Anvil: The Story of Anvil helped propel them back towards the big-time.

Kudlow responded by accusing him of trying to sabotage their plans by leaving at the worst possible moment, while adding he and Reiner had been expecting the move for some time. But the bassist says he wanted to remain a musician rather than be a film star, and felt he had to get out of the band before a proposed movie sequel begins shooting. more on this story

Enuff Z'Nuff Releasing Anthology and Album With Jake E. Lee Stateside

(superLOUD) Enuff Z'Nuff founding bassist Chip Z'Nuff entered the WXAV 88.3 FM radio studios for an interview where he revealed upcoming plans for a massive 4-disc anthology release of his band.

Featuring 44 songs, including 22 previously unreleased, Chip appears to be raiding his extensive vaults to give fans a lot of material in the upcoming year.

Z'Nuff also revealed that the band has inked a deal with Cleopatra Records for the release of Dissonance, their 12th studio album. Dissonance has so far only been put out in Europe and Japan, but should finally come out in their home country of the US this April or May. The album features guitar work on several songs from legendary Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee, including a solo on the emotional ballad "Joni Lynn," which can be heard here.

Godfather of Rhythm and Blues Johnny Otis Dies

(Gibson) Songwriter and bandleader Johnny Otis, whose 1958 hit, "Willie and the Hand Jive," was covered by Eric Clapton on the latter's 461 Ocean Boulevard album, has died at age 90.

Dubbed "The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues," Otis formed his first band in the mid-'40s and scored his first big hit with the song, "Harlem Nocturne." In addition to having his own chart successes, he composed Etta James' first hit, a song titled "The Wallflower," which charted in 1955.

He also penned the 1961 Gladys Knight and the Pips hit, "Every Bit of My Heart," and produced the original version of "Hound Dog" in 1952, four years before Elvis Presley made the song famous. Otis also served as a talent scout for vintage rhythm and blues labels, an occupation that saw him discover or advance the careers of such figures as Little Esther, Big Mama Thornton and Jackie Wilson. Otis continued to tour well into his 70s, even as he become an ordained minister and opened a church in Los Angeles. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. more on this story

Dying Fetus Set For Headlining Tour

Dying Fetus have mapped out a series of headlining and co-headlining North American tour dates which kick off next month.

The tour stars February 26th and runs through March 14th. The first leg of the tour will see DYING Fetus headlining with support coming from: Job For a Cowboy, Volumes and Last Chance to Reason.

The second leg will feature a co-headlining bill with Dying Fetus and The Faceless. Support will come from Goatwhore, Volumes and Last Chance to Reason. more on this story

Emmure Announce New Album and Tour

Victory Records have set an April 10 released date for Emmure's fifth full-length album, Slave To The Game.

The group is currently recording with producer Joey Sturgis, who previously worked with the band on 2011's Speaker of the Dead. On the personnel front, the band have added drummer Mark Castillo (ex-Between The Buried And Me and Bury Your Dead).

Emmure will support Slave To The Game with a full North American tour this spring, hitting 31 cities with We Came As Romans and more beginning in March. The band was recently announced to this year's Bamboozle line-up for the May 19th date. more on this story

Roger Waters Marries Longtime Girlfriend

(hennemusic) Roger Waters has married longtime girlfriend Laurie Durning. It's Waters' fourth time down the aisle; the couple have been together since 2004.

NME reports Waters confirmed the couple's January 14 wedding during an interview with Howard Stern last week.

"Well, actually, I need to bring you up to date because I just got married on Saturday to Laurie, she's gorgeous," Roger told Stern. "Yeah, I couldn't be happier. We did [the pre-nup]. We've been living together for 10 years, I think we sort of know now that we like getting up together in the morning and going to bed at night." more on this story

Archer Black To Deliver Forgiveness Is A Weapon Next Month

(Sub) Archer Black have set a February 7th release date for their debut album, Forgiveness Is A Weapon, the first full-length release for the newly formed Post Planetary record label.

Archer Black is led by Dustin Morgan, the longtime bass player of The Autumns, who brings a wealth of musical experiences to this new project.

Morgan has previously toured the U.S. and Europe (where he met Archer Black band mates, Drummer Steve Elkins and Guitarist Madison Megna) with The Autumns, travelled to Central America to play in composer Eldad Tarmu's Middle Eastern jazz ensemble, recorded in Los Angeles with noted jazz saxophonist Benny Golbin, and most recently appeared on stage in New York and Los Angeles with French cult icon SoKo. more on this story

Singled Out: Royal Bliss' Crazy

Today Neal Middleton of Royal Bliss tells us about their song "Crazy" that comes from their brand new album "Waiting Out The Storm," which is being released this week. Here is the story:

"Crazy" - Guitarist Chris Harding had a cool little riff he was working on one day a rehearsal. I loved it; I have never been one to write down lyrics, they just kind of happen.

My son was 2 at the time and he was changing daily, we were about to go back on the road and the thought of me missing more of my sons life was weighing heavy. He was starting to understand what it meant when daddy was leaving to play concerts. He is my baby boy and it tore me up to leave him. So the majority of the lyrics come from that.

But it's also about leaving my family, my wife, and now we have a second little boy that's months old. It is very hard on her when I leave, its a hard life to lead, but music is all I have known and I think this is the best shot to give my boys a good future and to show them that you can follow your dreams. I also dedicate this song to the troops who have to be away for 6 months at a time, I can't even imagine that. It's Crazy.

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