Hard Rock

Founding Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars has retired from touring, according to an official statement released on Wednesday evening (October 26th). The veteran musician will still remain an official member of the band, but will no longer hit the road with the legendary rock act due to his ongoing battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.). After a two-year delay due to the pandemic, Mötley Crüe finally embarked on their co-headlining “Stadium Tour” with Def Leppard this past summer. The outing was an enormous success, grossing $173.5 million in ticket sales. Now, it appears that the tour marked Mars’ last with the Crüe. The full statement, issued by Mars’ representative to Variety, reads as follows: “Mick Mars, co-founder and lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe for the past 4...

AC/DC singer Brian Johnson has closed the book on long-running rumors suggesting his late predecessor Bon Scott penned lyrics for Back in Black. For years, hardcore AC/DC fans have wondered whether Scott wrote lyrics for the seminal 1980 album, being that he passed away only months before the album was recorded and released. Songs like “Hells Bells,” “Have a Drink on Me,” and of course the legendary title track certainly share some of the imagery and themes of Scott’s lyrics. But Johnson insists that it was he himself who penned the words. Johnson laid the rumors to rest in Chapter 22 of his new memoir, The Lives of Brian: “It was me at the end of the pen, writing every night and every morning, with only the title to work with. That’s what happened. That’s the truth and I really hope that ...

The original Alice Cooper group has been collaborating together in recent years, and more new music is on the way. In a new interview, Cooper revealed that he’s once again recording with guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith (all from the band’s ’60s and early ’70s heyday), and they have about a dozen new songs in the works. Previously, the three appeared on two songs on 2021’s Detroit Stories — “Social Debris” and “I Hate You” — and also on select tracks on 2017’s Paranormal. “We’re working pretty close right now,” Cooper told Ultimate Classic Rock during a Q&A session at the Motor City Comic Con this past weekend in Detroit. “We wrote, like, 12 songs together [for future projects].” Advertisement Related Video Cooper didn’t have an ETA for when the n...

Rock heroes AC/DC have inspired a new children’s alphabet book, The AC/DC AB/CD High-Voltage Alphabet, due for release on November 11th in the band’s native country of Australia. The book was designed and produced by Paul McNeil and is targeted at pre-schoolers who are learning their ABCs. Each letter features a reference to the band, and the viewable page samples on the publisher’s website are downright adorable. “A is for Angus [Young], who thinks it’s good luck, to wear a school uniform, and walk like a duck,” reads the page for the initial letter of the alphabet. The facing page features a cartoon caricature of the iconic guitarist. Meanwhile, bassist Cliff Williams gets the third letter of the alphabet: “C is for Cliff, who plays on the bass, likes only 4 notes and has a nice face.” A...