Today's report is being posted in two parts: an A.M. and a P.M. edition. Here are the stories for this morning and we will be back later today with more stories.

The Darkness Singer Falls Off Stage

(hennemusic) Justin Hawkins, lead singer of The Darkness, fell off the stage during the band's February 17 show in Stockholm, Sweden.

Video of the incident, which happened during the set's second song, "Black Shuck," has surfaced.

The Darkness are currently on the road for their 2013 Let Them Eat Cakes World Tour, in support of the reunited band's third studio album, "Hot Cakes." Check out video here.

Machine Head Lose Founding Member

Machine Head have begun work on their next album but they are short a member as they have announced cofounder Adam Duce has left the band.

The band didn't provide a reason for Duce's exit, but had this to say, "The split is amicable, and Machine Head would like to wish Adam the best with his current and future endeavors.

"The band will continue on for the time being as a three-piece and have begun the writing process for their follow-up to 2011's 'Unto The Locust'. A late 2013 release is projected."

Duce cofounded the band with Robb Flynn in 1991. Last year Duce gave an interview to the Dutch publication FaceCulture where he disclosed some dissatisfaction with the band and his level of involvement, according to this report.

"I had some issues with [the writing] process [for 'Unto The Locust']. I kind of took myself out of it until it was time to write my bass lines. I wrote a bunch of music, or riffs, that Robb [Flynn, guitar/vocals] didn't have any idea what to do with vocally, and so he didn't wanna use any of that. But more importantly, I wrote lyrics that meant a lot to me and I gave it to him. I've given him page after page after page of lyrics. And it usually comes back that way, [where] he'll use a verse or a part of it or whatever — 'I'm gonna take this part and put it down here.' . . . whatever works for the cadence. But I got kind of burned on putting my soul out on a piece of paper and giving it to him and when I see it next time, there's no remnants of what the original idea was. And I was just like, 'You know what, dude?! I'm not giving you any more f**king lyrics, because I'm f**king sick of looking at this, the way that it f**king turns out.' I said, 'I'll work on it with you at the same time, but I'm not giving you any more lyrics. I'm not giving you pages of lyrics.' He was f**king angry at me for a while, but you know… that's f**king what happens." more on this story

Led Zeppelin Top Queen and Black Sabbath As Most Influential

Led Zeppelin beat out Queen and Black Sabbath to be named the most influential rock band of all time by the listeners of Planet Rock.

The UK radio station polled fans for their picks during the first few weeks this month and Led Zeppelin reportedly received a fifth of all votes.

Queen came in second, followed the Godfathers of Heavy Metal Black Sabbath coming in third place.

Pink Floyd won a fourth place finish, while Deep Purple came in fifth. Jimi Hendrix landed in sixth followed by the Rolling Stones at 7th, The Who at 8th, AC/DC at 9th and David Bowie at 10th.

Surprisingly, the band considered by many to be the most influential of all time, The Beatles, didn't make the list.

Blink-182's Travis Barker Has Online Fight With Promoter

(Classic Rock) The promoter behind the Australian Soundwave touring festival blasted Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker at the weekend for taking a third of the band's appearance fee despite not taking part in the series of shows. But after Barker shouted him down on Twitter, he was forced to accept he'd got his facts wrong.

AJ Maddah was responding to a fan query on whether refunds would be available for fans who didn't want to see Blink playing with stand-in sticksman Brooks Wackerman, who was hired after Barker admitted he couldn't overcome his fear of flying in order to make the shows Down Under this week.

Mstarz reports that the promoter said: "I'm told we can't refund and there will be no discount on the $5m fee because Travis Barker insisted on being paid in full. What he has done is extortion – he thinks he's a f**king gangster."

The drummer, who has not boarded a plane since narrowly surviving a fatal crash in 2008, replied: "Where you getting your information from, man? None of this is true. This is all bullsh*t!" That was just the beginning.

Slayer's Kerry King Not Impressed With Today's Metal Bands

(Gibson) Thrash legends Slayer are still a big draw after 30 years, but in a new interview, Kerry King voiced his dissatisfaction with the current state of metal.

"It seems to me like it's just cruising along, status King says. "I'm yet to see anything new that's like a threat; not even a threat, like the next suitor to the throne.

"You've first got your Maiden, Sabbath and Priest and then you've got Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament and bands like that.

"After that, there's a lot of bands, but I don't think anybody's the chief, you know what I mean? People are making up good stuff; it's just nobody's… It's all kind of faceless. Nobody is saying, 'Notice me, this is where metal's gonna be'…" more on this story

Rob Zombie Reveals Album Details and Streams New Song

(hennemusic) Rob Zombie will release his new album, "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor," on April 23 and the project's lead single, "Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Super Town," is now available for fans to check out.

Zombie worked on the album with producer Bob Marlette; it's the first release on Rob's new label, Zodiac Swan, through T-Boy Records/UMe.

"I think for the first time this new album perfectly merges the old days of White Zombie with the future of what I am doing now," says Rob. "I think fans of both will agree that this is the perfect combo of both worlds." Stream the new song here.

Van Halen, Springsteen, Rush Among 2013 Top 40 Money Makers

(hennemusic) Van Halen and Rush have made Billboard magazine's "Music's Top 40 Money Makers 2013" list.

Bruce Springsteen landed in second spot with $33.4 million, followed by Roger Waters at $21.1 million. Van Halen came in at #4 at $20.1 million

Madonna topped the list with income of $34.5 million, thanks to her MDNA tour, the biggest of 2012. more on this story

Illness Sidelines Lynyrd Skynyrd Again

(hennemusic) Lynyrd Skynyrd postponed last Saturday's (February 23rd) show at Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder, LA. as guitarist Gary Rossington continues to recover from an abdominal infection.

The band posted the news, writing, "Gary is doing well, but will be unable to perform this weekend while he recovers from his illness. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused the fans and promoters. Lynyrd Skynyrd looks forward to touring and performing in the near future."

Earlier this month, Rossington was hospitalized in Wyoming for the condition, which forced the band to cancel two live dates on their current tour in support of "Last Of A Dyin' Breed." more on this story

Metallica Play 18-Song Set At Soundwave Kick Off

(hennemusic) Metallica kicked off the opening night of Australia's Soundwave festival on Saturday in Brisbane and video from the set has gone online.

The band performed an 18-song set spanning their 30-year recording career, opening with 1983's "Hit The Lights."

The day-long event features 6 stages; among those joining Metallica on the main stage were Linkin Park, A Perfect Circle, Slayer, Stone Sour and Anthrax. Read more and check out video here.

Shadows Fall Cancel Testament and Ill Nino Tours

Shadows Fall have announced that they have pulled the plug on their upcoming coheadlining tour with Ill Nino in the UK as well as a European tour with Testament.

The band had this to say, "Due to a number of circumstances beyond our control, Shadows Fall has been forced to cancel our upcoming European tour with Testament and our co-headlining UK run with Ill Niño.

"We tried everything we could to make this tour happen and exhausted all options we could think of but unfortunately we were not able to work it out.

"We sincerely apologize to all the fans, promoters and bands involved. Everyone in Shadows Fall thank you for understanding and we plan on making it up to our European fans as soon as possible."

Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Admits He Spent Millions on Cocaine

(hennemusic) Aerosmith's Steven Tyler was a featured guest on Australia's 60 Minutes this past weekend where he estimated that he used over $5 million dollars of cocaine.

Tyler sat down with Liz Hayes to discuss a variety of topics, including his infamous drug habit back in the day, where rumors were he'd spent about $20 million on cocaine.

The singer was more frank about the real number. "Realistically, 5 or 6 (million), easy," said Tyler. "But it doesn't matter. You also could say I snorted half of Peru but, you know, it's what we did." more on this story

Steel Panther Recording New Album

(hennemusic) Steel Panther are currently in the studio working on a new album. Drummer Stix Zadinia has been keeping fans updated on the band's progress via Twitter.

"NEWSFLASH: Rhythm guitars are DONE for new record," he posted on Friday. "Bass begging tomorrow! This sh*t is gettin handled!!!!!"

"7 songs done on bass. Lexxi's Foxx is on fiyah!" was the news on Saturday. The new project is the follow-up to 2011's "Balls Out" release, which debuted at #40 on the Billboard 200 with opening week sales of 12,000 copies. more on this story

Singled Out: Esper Scout

Today Sarah Statham, frontwoman of up-and-coming UK rockers Esper Scout, tells us about their new single and video "Shed Some Light". They have been compared to a mix of Mars Volta, Oceansize and Warpaint. Here is the story:

So writing this at the point of releasing 'Shed Some Light' we've known each other for almost ten years, well three out of four of us. Meeting in Manchester, Rebecca, Kirsty and myself formed our first band in my parents' garage, beginning our musical lives slap-bang in the middle of a rock n' roll cliché, except ours had a drum riser fashioned from cunningly acquired builders materials. Lou found her way to our newly inhabited Leeds base (Hut 57) in 2010, reassuring us with cymbal, snare and kick hits that we chose wisely to move to the city.

Most of our songs have been brought to life in the Hut's basement and Shed Some Light was no exception. After noticing a move away from the catchier, more youthful sounding songs which we'd learnt our instruments playing, in a sense becoming more musically contemplative and progressive, there was a silent communication between us to again have something a bit more 'instant'. The 'uppers' in the live set, the dessert to the main course of what would become our 7 minute long 'Gaps in the Border Fence'. At practice one night I tuned my low 'E' string down to a 'C' and the song's main riff instantly found itself, followed by the chord progression and driving beat which we cultured together as a band. The two releases (Shed and Gaps) could be said to draw from alternate parts of our musical personality, both of which are equally important to us for different reasons. It's been part of our set for over a year and is the song which gets the loudest reaction live. Our decision to re-record and give the track a proper release owes a lot to requests from people at gigs.

Like many, for me lyric writing is compulsive and often lines bounce into my head as if I'd just walked into them (mostly when I least expect it). As such it's not something I try to give much scrupulous thought to beyond phrasing and the usual tidying-up of lines, through concern that it'll get shy and run off (which it bloomin' does!) When thinking about it 'Shed Some Light' deals with identity and perceptions; that old meta-narrative of 'is who you think you are the same as what is projected to other people and how far can you take it before you lose yourself entirely to the beast?' Putting it into context, the year prior to and months after writing the song were heavily consumed with this subject. Typically it was easier to identify in the people around me rather than myself, 'picture yourself the falsely accused' points fingers at the denial in people but inevitably the hand turns back on itself with 'I have got to try, to get out from the inside'.

The song is a highlight for us in the live set and a welcome reminder of the benefits of putting a mirror up to yourself every once in a while.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself with a free download and a stream of the video right here!

Whitesnake's David Coverdale Learned Old Snakes Can Learn New Tricks

(Classic Rock) David Coverdale has recalled how he embraced a more commercial form of rock music as he made Whitesnake's 1984 album Slide It In.

He experienced a eureka moment after A&R icon John Kalodner determined the order of tracks on the A side of the record.

And put together with advice gleaned from producers Keith Olsen and Mutt Lange, it charted a course for Coverdale's career over the decades to come.

The first time he heard the album played on radio, he was sharing a hire car with drummer Cozy Powell. "We were blown away," says the vocalist. "I said to Cozy, 'You can teach an old snake new tricks.' And that was the beginning of me embracing compression." more on this story