Hard Rock
Queen’s Brian May “Grateful” to Be Alive After Suffering Heart Attack
Queen’s Brian May revealed Monday that he recently suffered a small heart attack earlier this month, and was rushed to the hospital by his doctor. The incident came amidst other notable health concerns for the legendary guitarist. A few weeks ago, May revealed on Instagram that he had torn his gluteus maximus muscle in his buttocks during a “moment of over-enthusiastic gardening”. In his new video message, the guitarist admitted he was “pissed off” by the “Brian May Is a Pain in the Bum”-type headlines. While May did indeed tear his gluteus maximus, he said that he found out later, after another MRI, that the excruciating pain he described at the time actually came from a severely compressed sciatic nerve. “That’s why I had a feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back,” he e...
Faith No More Reschedule European Comeback Tour for 2021 Due to Coronavirus
Faith No More were due to embark on a European tour this summer, their first such outing in four years. However, due to the ongoing outbreak, the band has rescheduled all of those dates for 2021. The new itinerary sees their overseas concerts pushed back almost exactly 12 months. Now set for June and July 2021, these gigs include Berlin, Oslo, Amsterdam, and two-night stints in both London and Manchester. All currently held tickets will remain valid for next year, and refunds will also be available upon request. According to a statement, an announcement regarding Faith No More’s imminent North American tour with Korn, set to launch this August, is forthcoming. Editors’ Picks Last week, it was announced that Faith No More’s shows with System of a Down and Korn, previously marked for t...
Shinedown Cancel Summer Tour After Singer Previously Hoped to Stick With Timeline
Shinedown singer Brent Smith recently made headlines when he said that the band was “not afraid” to play for fans amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, he insisted that Shinedown were “not backing off” their summer “Deep Dive Tour”, but now the band has officially canceled the outing. In an interview with Jose Mangin for Zippo Live earlier this month, Smith said, “You can’t stay inside forever … if you shelter at home for too long, it’s going to deplete your immune system.” He continued, “Don’t be paralyzed by fear. You can’t allow that to happen, because then this invisible virus, however you wanna put it, then it begins to win.” Regarding the U.S. summer tour, Smith added, “As of right now, that’s all a go. So we’re not backing off of that rescheduled timeline.” While the singer did...
Mastodon Working on New Album, Recording Song for New “Bill & Ted” Movie
Mastodon were making significant progress on their highly anticipated new album, until the coronavirus pandemic delayed production. In a new interview, guitarist Bill Kelliher revealed the metal band had laid down 20 rough songs when the recording process came to a halt. “We were kind of right in the middle of it and we had about, I don’t know, 20 rough songs recorded right before this [pandemic] hit. And it just totally put the brakes on it,” Kelliher told RocknRoll Beer Guy. However, it appears the band feels like it’s safe enough to reconvene and continue work on the new record. “I’m actually leaving tomorrow for Atlanta,” added Kelliher. “We’re gonna get back together and have our first kinda… try to get back into finishing a few things that we started and seeing where we get.” The gui...
A Perfect Circle’s Mer de Noms Escaped Tool’s Shadow 20 Years Ago
Outside of a few major examples — such as Dashboard Confessional, Audioslave, CSNY, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, The Mars Volta, Cream, and Led Zeppelin — side projects, supergroups, and spin-offs are rarely as triumphant as the bands from which they originate. Of course, Californian troupe A Perfect Circle — founded by Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan and former Tool guitar tech Billy Howerdel — must be added to that list. Over the past 20 years, and through four studio albums and numerous major tours, they’ve amassed a following that rivals those of any of the members’ outside endeavors. (Some fans even prefer APC to Tool, and for understandable reasons.) True, their subsequent records offer stronger hooks, more decorative instrumentation, and a greater emphasis on overtly political and/or ...
Sleigh Bells, High on Fire, Poison the Well Members Perform Guns N’ Roses’ “Rocket Queen”: Watch
Sleigh Bells singer Alexis Krauss has joined forces with members of High on Fire, Poison the Well, and more for a quarantine cover of the Guns N’ Roses classic “Rocket Queen”. It’s the latest installment of the “Bedroom Covers” series from the Two Minutes to Late Night YouTube channel. In addition to Krauss, the full lineup includes Two Minutes to Late Night host Jordan Olds (aka Gwarsenio Hall) on vocals and guitar; Cloak’s Billy C. Robinson on bass; High on Fire’s Chris Maggio on drums; and Poison the Well’s Ryan Primack on guitar. Olds handles lead vocals for the first part of the Appetite for Destruction song, with Krauss providing backup on the chorus. At the 4:15 mark, Krauss (sporting an Axl Rose-like bandana on her head) takes over lead vocals, shining in the spotlight as she ...
My Chemical Romance, The Darkness, Gogol Bordello Members and More Cover The Ramones for Charity: Watch
Members of My Chemical Romance, The Darkness, Gogol Bordello, and more have teamed up to cover the Ramones classic “I Believe in Miracles” to raise funds for COVID-19 relief efforts. The socially distant performance was organized by Gogol Bordello guitarist Boris Pelekh, and features his bandmate Eugene Hutz as one of the vocalists. Also singing are Justin Hawkins (The Darkness), Walter Schreifels (Quicksand), Tom Higgenson (Plain White T’s), Brett Anderson (The Donnas), and Frank Turner. The collective, dubbed #rockforhopeproject, is rounded out by Pelekh, guitarist Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance), drummer Michael Miley (Rival Sons), bassist Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas (MuteMath), and bassist Nathen Maxwell (Flogging Molly). Along with the video of the performance, which premiered today (May 2...
Mail Carrier Dresses Up as KISS’ Gene Simmons to Lift Spirits During Pandemic
A mail carrier in the UK has found a unique way to lift up the spirits of people on his route during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of late, Gary Underdown has been dressing up as Gene Simmons’ “Demon” persona in KISS, and he’s even caught the attention of Simmons himself. Underdown has donned the KISS makeup and wig at least four times while delivering packages and letters during his route on the Isle of Sheppey. A photo of the postman was shared on KISS’ Twitter account, and then retweeted by Simmons with the comment, “Wow.” The 32-year-old postal worker told Kent Online, “I have been a KISS fan since I came out of the womb,” adding that he first decided to sport the makeup on his route about a month ago and “got a good reaction.” He continued, “You get a few who are like, ‘Oh my God, that’s ...
System of Down, Faith No More, and Korn Announce Rescheduled Dates for Joint Shows
System of a Down (photo by Raymond Ahner), Faith No More (publicity), Korn (photo by Jon Hadusek) System of a Down, Faith No More, and Korn were set to join forces for a couple of the most anticipated concerts of the year, but were forced to postpone the shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they’ve just announced rescheduled dates for the concerts. The shows would have taken place tonight (May 22nd) and tomorrow (May 23rd) at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, but now they’ll happen on May 21st and May 22nd of 2021. Original support acts Helmet and Russian Circles will also be on board for the rescheduled concerts, billed as “Five Bands, Two Nights of Galactic Proportions.” A full statement from System of a Down on Instagram reads, “We’re excited to announce that the reschedule...
Billy Idol Joins Jimmy Fallon and The Roots for “Dancing With Myself” in Quarantine: Watch
When it comes to tunes that capture the vibe of social distancing, Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself” is one that immediately comes to mind. On Thursday night’s Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots performed the song with “at-home instruments,” and got the man himself to join them. While in isolation, Fallon and the members of The Roots have been tackling a number of songs with makeshift instruments from their respective homes, in the vein of their regular “Classroom Instruments” sessions. The “Dancing With Myself” performance started out with just Fallon and The Roots on the first verse and chorus, before Idol joined in for the rest of the song. Among the unique at-home instruments, The Roots’ Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter banged a spatula against a blender, while Questlove used a foo...
Guns N’ Roses Launch “Not in This Lifetime Selects” Concert Streaming Series: Watch
Having just postponed their summer North American tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Guns N’ Roses are offering an alternative “live experience” for fans. The band has launched a new streaming series, dubbed “Not in This Lifetime Selects”, showing pro-shot footage from their mega-successful tour. The “Not in This Lifetime Tour” kicked off in 2016, with Slash and Duff McKagan rejoining Axl Rose in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band. Over a four-year period, the extensive trek has earned $563 million, making it one of the highest-grossing tours of all time. The streaming series starts Thursday (May 21st) with select highlights from the band’s October 29th, 2019 show at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. That gig saw GN’R play 25 songs, including seven from their iconic d...
Stabbing Westward Announce New Album Wasteland, First Full-Length Since 2001
Stabbing Westward have inked a new record deal and will release a new album titled Wasteland, the industrial rock act’s first full-length LP in nearly 20 years. The news follows the early 2020 release of the band’s comeback EP, Dead & Gone. So far, there’s no release date or tracklist, but Stabbing Westward plan to unveil the album and at least one single in 2020. They’ve signed a recording deal with COP International, and have welcomed back producer John Fryer (Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode), who helmed Stabbing Westward’s early albums Ungod and Wither Blister Burn & Peel. “It’s grand to be working with Stabbing Westward again,” said Fryer in a press release. “The first two albums we made together were some of my finest work as a producer.” Stabbing Westward frontman Christopher H...
