Slipknot Guitarist Sidelined By Serious Health Issue

Jim has been seriously sick for the past two weeks and went to the hospital last week where he was advised that his appendix burst a couple weeks before and that it could have been life threatening. more on this story

Several Van Halen Concerts Officially Canceled

Bad news for Van Halen fans hoping that the summer concerts were going to be rescheduled, several of the shows have now been officially canceled.

The band pulled the plug on their summer tour dates and many assumed that they were just postponed but now Ticket Master is showing that many of the dates are now canceled, according to Pollstar.

The site reports that Ticketmaster.com list shows in Uncasville, Conn.; Baltimore; Rochester, N.Y.; Detroit; Toledo, Ohio; Memphis, Tenn.; Sacramento, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; and Milwaukee are shown as canceled, however not all of the previously announced shows have changed to canceled status on the ticketing site. You can read the Pollstar report for more details.

Lamb of God Singer Freed On Bail for Manslaughter Charge

Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe has been freed from prison in the Czech Republic after posting $200,000 bail following his arrest for manslaughter.

He was released on license after stumping up the amount he says he earns in a year. Considered a flight risk, he'll have to remain in the former Soviet bloc nation pending further court action.

Police were waiting for Blythe when Lamb of God arrived in the Czech Republic last week. He was arrested at Prague airport in connection with the death of a 19-year-old fan known as Daniel N, who fell into a coma and passed away of internal bleeding in 2010. more on this story

Former Santana and Robert Cray Vocalist To Have Cancer Surgery

(American Blues Scene) Former Santana and Robert Cray vocalist Curtis Salgado will undergo surgery on July 18 in Portland, Oregon, to remove a cancerous growth from his lung, according to his manager Shane Tappendorf.

A partial lobectomy will be performed to remove a segment of Curtis's left lung where a metastasized mass was found. It is suspected to be the same type of cancerous mass that was removed from his lung in 2008.

Salgado will be hospitalized for a period of four to six days and will require a recovery time of up to four weeks. The acclaimed blues singer and his doctors anticipate a complete recovery. More details and how you can help

Former U2 Assistant Guilty of Stealing $3.5 Million

U2's Adam Clayton received justice on Friday when his formal assistant was found guilty of stealing $3.5 million dollars from the star.

A jury found Clayton's 48-year-old former assistant Carol Hawkins guilty following an 18-day trial at Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin, according to Reuters.

Hawkins was accused by prosecutors of stealing the money from two of U2 star's bank accounts and is set to be sentenced on July 6th.

Queen with Adam Lambert Concert Streaming Online

(hennemusic) Queen teamed up with Adam Lambert Saturday night to take part in the Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation charity concert at Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kiev, Ukraine.

The show was the largest social and cultural event of Euro 2012 and attracted hundreds of thousands of people on the main square of Ukraine and was seen by millions of viewers on TV screens throughout Ukraine and Poland.

In recognition of the importance and the charitable status of this project, the musicians who performed at the event waived their fees and you can watch the Queen set here.

KISS Set Monster Album Release

(Gibson) KISS will release their 20th studio album, Monster, in October. There are 12 tracks, all collaborations between co-founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, with guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer.

Today (July 2), KISS's "Hell or Hallelujah" will be available as a digital single. It gets a physical release the next day. Stanley says it is "a battle cry that encapsulates the entire record... one way or another, we're going to do it our way."

"There are no symphony orchestras, boy choirs, keyboards, outside producers or songwriters on this album," promises Gene Simmons. "The best thing we did was to turn inwards to ourselves. Tommy [Thayer] and Eric [Singer] have revitalized this band, with a work ethic and the talent to back it up. This is a real band effort. KISS has become a behemoth. We're going where no bands have gone before." more on this story

Alice Cooper Band Member Forced To Leave Tour

(Classic Rock) Alice Cooper drummer Glen Sobel has been forced off the road with a persistent neck injury, meaning he'll miss some of the band's support tour with Iron Maiden.

Sobel had been trying to deal with his condition using painkillers but finally realised he needed treatment. He says: "I've played the last several shows on pain meds. We've had some of the best shows with Iron Maiden so I wanted to do everything I could to stay in the game. I need to have this treated then return to finish our tour days.

"In the meantime my main man Jonathan Mover, an Alice band alumni himself, will be covering for me. I'll be back sooner than later." more on this story

Graham Nash Inks Seven Figure Memoir Deal

(Gibson) Graham Nash is to write his memoir for a huge sum of money. He has struck a deal with the Random House/Crown publishing group.

"They were all more than kind to me," Nash says. "But it was the people at Crown and Random House who gave me over seven figures."
Graham Nash Songs for Beginners

Nash plans to start his tale with his childhood in Salford, England, and will be totally open about his life and career. "I've been as honest as I can be. If they asked me a question about drugs, I answered them," he says of his meetings with the publishers. "You ask me a question, you're going to get an answer. Whether you like the answer or not is your problem, but you'll get an answer." more on this story

Rudy Sarzo Leaves Blue Oyster Cult

(Classic Rock) Veteran hard rock bassist Rudy Sarzo has confirmed that he is no longer a member of Blue Oyster Cult.

The bassist, who's previously played with Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Whitesnake and Quiet Riot, has departed on good terms after running out of time to commit to the band. He'd been with them for four years.

Sarzo tells Ultimate Classic Rock: "Due to my scheduling with other projects that I'm doing, it became a little bit hard for me to keep a really solid working schedule with BOC." more on this story

Static-X Returning With Summer Tour

Static-X have returned from hiatus and will be hitting the road later this month for a summer tour of North America and have announced the initial dates.

The summer tour is set to kick off on July 15 at the Ink Life Tattoo Convention at the El Paso Coliseum.

Wayne Static had this to say about the tour "I had a great time over the past few years doing my Pighammer album and solo tours, but it's time to get Static-X back on the road. I can't wait to tear it up with some old school Evil Disco!" The tour will be the first for the band since they announced a hiatus in 2009. more on this story

Metallica Recap Day Two of Orion Festival

(hennemusic) Metallica's inaugural Orion Music + More festival happened last weekend at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In addition to more than 30 artists on the bill, Metallica headlined both nights. On Saturday, they played their classic "Ride The Lightning" album in its entirety and, for the first time ever in the U.S., performed the "Black" album on Sunday.

The metal icons have put together a video recap of DAY 2 of the event, including "Hit The Lights" and "Master Of Puppets" from the show. Watch the recap here.

The Living End To Play Their Entire Album Catalog During Fall Tour

The Living End are planning a very special tour in their Australian homeland this fall.

Dubbed The Retrospective Tour, it is set to feature the band playing each of their six albums in full, back-to-back during 35 shows in five capital cities.

Crucial Music sent over these details: This will be the very FIRST TIME each album has been performed live from start to finish, and the feat will almost certainly be the first time any Australian band has undertaken such an inspired tour. The Retrospective Tour will not take in stadium-sized venues either. Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and of course Melbourne will get seven shows across seven nights in intimate club venues, each with a limited capacity. Seven shows and only six albums you ask? Well, eponymous Australian classic album 'The Living End' will get two airings in each city. more on this story

Big Country To Play Rewind Scotland

Big Country have been tapped to replace Ali Campbell at this year's Rewind Scotland - The 80s Festival.

The festival is set to take place between July 20th and 22nd at Scone Palace, Perthshire in Scotland.

Campbell has issued the following statement; "I am sorry not to be able to make Rewind in Scotland, but unfortunately due to an international TV commitment I have had to reschedule. I played Rewind Henley in 2011 and had a great time; hopefully I can make Scotland next year and hope you all have a great festival." more on this story

Lamb Of God Camp Deny Fight In Manslaughter Case

Lamb Of God management sent out word on Friday that they will be issuing an official statement later today, Monday July 2nd, regarding the charges made against singer Randy Blythe but they first wanted to shoot down something that has been widely reported about the case. Here is what they had to say on Friday:

As no formal charges have yet been made and the case is only in the investigation stages, it would be premature to make an official statement filled with false truths or innuendos.

Having said that, management wished to address today one false piece of information that has been included in many of the news stories released so far. Under no circumstances was there a fight of any kind involved. This incident deals with a fan that three times during the concert jumped the barricade and rushed Randy during the performance. It is alleged that the third time, security was not able to reach him and that Randy pushed him back into the audience where supposedly he fell and hit his head. more on this story

Fans Fund Gypsy Lee Pistolero Album

Gypsy Lee Pistolero sent over word that he has reached 100% on his Pledge album campaign, meaning that his new album 'The Good, The Mad and The Beautiful' will be made.

" Totally blown away by the reaction and support on this pledge album campaign. The record Industry has got to take note, this is the way forward," Gypsy Lee Pistolero.

"We exist only as artists because of the support, interest, demand of the amazing tribe of people that follow us. Through this mainline interaction with those people, the songs & releases are way more intimate, relevant and a total cooperative process. There is, and never should be a barrier between the artist and the real people that matter." Hear a FREE taster of things to come.

Stealing Axion Set Album Release

InsideOut Music will release Stealing Axion's debut full length album, Moments, on August 27th in Europe and August 28th in North America.

Moments was mixed and mastered by Acle Kahney (Tesseract guitarist and producer). Stealing Axion's Dan Forbrich (guitar, vocals) says of the album, "We feel this album is a culmination of the different compositional techniques that we've experimented with over the last few years.

"We like to take the basic song structures and let them ferment and slowly add layers to the mix until we are satisfied. Some of these songs have taken a while to fully mature." more on this story

B Sides

thenewno2 Giving Away New Song

thenewno2, featuring Beatles legend George Harrison's son Dhani, are offering fans a new song, "Make It Home," as a free download.

Vagrant sent over these details: "Make It Home" is the first track to be released from thenewno2's forthcoming album thefearofmissingout, which will be released on July 31st, 2012 via H.O.T. Records Ltd.

The album was produced by pHd, the moniker for band members and Grammy Award winners Dhani Harrison and Paul Hicks, and recorded in both Los Angeles and London. Check out the song here!

Linkin Park Return To Kimmel

(hennemusic) On Thursday, Linkin Park performed on the second of two back-to-back nights on Jimmy Kimmel's show.

Linkin Park appeared to promote their new album, "Living Things," was released this week.

The project is expected to debut atop the Billboard 200 album chart next week, according to the music industry trade magazine. Watch the Kimmel performances here.

The Darkness Release Everybody Have A Good Time Video

(hennemusic) The Darkness released a music video for their new single, "Everybody Have A Good Time," earlier this week.

The track will be featured on the band's third studio album, "Hot Cakes," which is due August 21.

The group have a full summer of live dates as they promote the new record. You can check out the new video here.

The 69 Eyes Plan Fall Release For 10th Album

The 69 Eyes are finishing up work on their forthcoming album, X, which is due in early October on Nuclear Blast Records.

Jyrki69 says of the album "We've never really celebrated anything, not that we've been playing 20 years or so (vampires don't count decades). Thus this time we thought to celebrate a bit: the new album is entitled as tenth in Roman numbers, it'll be called X."

X was recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, produced by "On The Verge" production team, with Stefan Boman (The Hellacopters, Bullet) handling mixing duties. more on this story