Music

Ernie Ball has introduced a limited-edition set of custom-wound Slash signature Slinky strings. Slash‘s new signature string sets are the culmination of over three decades of Slash and Ernie Ball‘s ongoing pursuit to create strings that provide more durability and tuning stability without sacrificing tone or feel. These new sets consist of his preferred 11-48-gauge Slinkys wound with Paradigm core wire and plasma-enhanced nickel-plated steel wrap wire, while the Paradigm plain strings are constructed with a heavier brass wire reinforcement at each of the ball-ends for better tuning stability and strength. These limited-edition string sets are highly collectible and conveniently packaged in a three-pack embossed tin box for easy storage. Buy yours here. In the video below, watch...

Richie Kotzen has spoken out about his battle with COVID-19, saying the novel coronavirus is “not a joke.” The 50-year-old guitarist/vocalist took to his social media on Monday (December 28) to reveal that he and his wife Julia Lage “just kicked the living PISS out of Covid-19.” He also included a photo of him looking gaunt and disheveled, and added in a since-deleted message: “Self Quarantined, Chicken Soup, Hot Tea, … ALL THAT!….still can’t taste a fucking thing but I’ve never been much of a food guy! Today I feel 110%! Back to business as usual…Feeling refreshed, 15 lbs lighter and ready to grab 2021 by the fucking balls! Who’s in?” Earlier today, Kotzen returned to social media to share a new photo of him and his w...

Paul Stanley has praised Eddie Van Halen as a “real hero.” The KISS frontman spoke out about the legendary VAN HALEN guitarist after viewing a recently released video of a 1996 meeting between Eddie and Jason Becker, former axeman in David Lee Roth‘s band. At the time, Jason had been diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and was not in good shape. Van Halen came to Jason‘s house to give love and support — as well as a guitar — to his friend and to film an ALS awareness promotional video. During their time together, Eddie told stories, talked about his creative process, and played amazing music, instantly sounding exactly like Eddie Van Halen even when playing Jason‘s guitar through a small practice amp. Earlier today, Stanley tweeted out a link to...

Dee Snider and Sebastian Bach have engaged in a Twitter discussion over whether “heavy metal” was originally used as a derogatory term. No one knows exactly where the term “heavy metal” originated, but some say that various American critics began using it in 1969 or 1970 to describe music that sounded like “heavy metal falling from the sky.” While addressing the fact that the “hair metal” term was coined in the late 1990s as a way to disparage glam metal acts thought to have been all flash and no substance, Dee took it one step further, writing: “Punk, Grunge, Metal, Hair – all derogatory terms given to describe music forms by critics as a put down. And the bands HATED them. The bands inspired by those bands embraced the labels.&#...