Heavy Music News
Ronnie James Dio’s Autobiography to Be Posthumously Released in July
Ronnie James Dio had been working on his autobiography, Rainbow in the Dark, prior to his passing in 2010. Now, the book has been completed by music writer Mick Wall and is set for release on July 27th. Dio and Wall, a longtime friend, had been working on the autobiography before the iconic metal singer passed from stomach cancer on May 16th, 2010. According to a press release from publisher Permuted Press, the book is a frank and humorous telling of Dio’s legendary career and life as a rock singer. Readers can expect “coming-of-age tales, glorious stories of excess, and candid recollections of what really happened backstage, at the hotel, in the studio, and back home behind closed doors far away from the road.” His fallout with Deep Purple/Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, the drugs th...
10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell Honors Keith Moon with Rousing Drum Cover of The Who’s “My Generation”: Watch
Having owned 2020 and conquered Dave Grohl in an epic drum battle, 10-year-old Nandi Bushell has now set her sights on the Mount Rushmore of rock drummers. Her latest YouTube video sees her dedicating a drum cover of The Who classic “My Generation” to the late, great Keith Moon. Moon is in the pantheon of drumming gods along with the likes of Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham and Rush’s Neil Peart, among others, but that didn’t stop young Nandi from tackling the iconic Who song. As she’s shown us in her previous videos, she’s incredibly talented. What’s more, she’s a bundle of energy and joy behind the kit. “My Generation” is a fitting choice for Nandi, as she represents a new generation of young rockers. It was also, in many ways, one of the first punk songs before punk rock was even a thing — w...
Robert Fripp and Toyah Celebrate Valentine’s Day with “Tainted Love”: Watch
With Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday, King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his singer wife, Toyah Willcox, brought a little romance to their “Sunday Lunch” quarantine series. The pair performed the Soft Cell hit “Tainted Love” from their own bed, with a little sexual innuendo thrown into the visual. By Robert and Toyah standards, the performance itself was a bit tame, compared to their previous editions of “Sunday Lunch”. As Robert played “Tainted Love” on guitar while sitting against the headboard, Toyah popped up from out of the frame with her own guitar at the foot of the bed to begin singing the tune — which was made popular by Soft Cell as a synth-pop hit in 1981 after originally being recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. Fripp’s face was covered in lipstick kisses, and his usual fo...
Wolfgang Van Halen Performs “Distance” on Kimmel as Tribute to Eddie Van Halen: Watch
Wolfgang Van Halen paid tribute to his late father, the legendary Eddie Van Halen, with a performance of his debut solo single, “Distance”, on Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. The song, which was released in November, appears as a bonus track on Wolfgang’s upcoming debut solo album under the moniker Mammoth WVH. While Wolfgang played all of the instruments on the album, he debuted his backing band for the Kimmel gig. The group includes Ronnie Ficarro (bass/vocals), Jon Jourdan (guitars/vocals), Frank Sidoris (guitars), and Garret Whitlock (drums). During the Kimmel performance, Wolfgang sang and played guitar as home videos of him and Eddie were projected behind him. The footage was similar to the music video he unveiled upon the single’s initial release. Editors’ Picks The late-night T...
Ozzy Osbourne Gets COVID Vaccine After Asserting That Contracting the Virus Would Likely Kill Him
Ozzy Osbourne has received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The legendary metal singer got the shot this week after previously stating that if he didn’t, contracting the virus would likely kill him. The Black Sabbath frontman revealed the good news during an appearance on UK talk show Loose Women. Taking a page out of the John Lennon and Yoko Ono handbook, Ozzy laid in bed next to his wife, Sharon, and the family dogs. When asked if he’d received the vaccine, Ozzy replied in the affirmative: “Of course!” Sharon chimed in, “He says, ‘Of course’ — he only had it yesterday.” “It felt like I was being stabbed,” Ozzy said of the shot. “My arm was hurting yesterday, but I’m glad I got it, you know?” Ozzy said he feels “relieved” after getting the first dose, and for good reason. At 72 yea...
Game of Thrones’ Esmé Bianco Calls Marilyn Manson a “Monster Who Almost Destroyed Me”
Esmé Bianco, who played the character of Ros on Game of Thrones, has accused Marilyn Manson of abuse, going as far to describe him as a “monster who almost destroyed me.” The British actress’ claims come a week after Manson’s former fiancée Evan Rachel Wood and four other women alleged that too they were abused by the shock rocker. In a tell-all interview with New York magazine’s The Cut, Bianco details a tumultuous relationship with Manson. While she had already known him platonically for a few years, things got physical in 2009 on a video shoot for his song “I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies”. The actress says Manson’s violence against her began during the making of the video, when he told her, “You are gonna have to pretend to like being manhandled by me.” As Bianco rec...
Ranking Every Van Halen Album From Worst to Best
It took the death of their iconic guitarist to finally stop Van Halen. For four decades, the band seemed like it could adapt to and survive anything. The arrival and departure of multiple lead singers. The rise of MTV. The births of heavier styles of rock that overtook the hearts and t-shirt collections of fans worldwide. Drugs and alcohol. Health problems. A constant clashing of egos and personalities. Even if they weren’t releasing music. Van Halen seemed destined to limp forward like a rusting muscle car for eternity. But on October 6th, 2020, the linchpin of the band’s sound, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, passed away and closed the book on one of the greatest rock groups of all time. As Wolfgang, Eddie’s son and the band’s latter-day bassist, put it to Howard Stern a month after his dad’s...
Primus’ Les Claypool Shares Western Short Film Featuring Metallica’s Robert Trujilio: Watch
Primus mastermind Les Claypool has shared a western short film that he stars in alongside Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo. Entitled Precious Metals, it was directed by Claypool’s son, Cage Claypool, and is essentially an avant-garde ad for Claypool’s EMG pickups. The five-and-a-half-minute video begins with shots of the 57-year-old funk metal icon rooting around in the desert with a metal detector while dressed as a cowboy. After digging up some old bullet shells, he gleefully finds what he’s looking for: his shiny, Pachyderm Gold EMG bass pickups. However, like all old-school Westerns, an outlaw always shows up at an inconvenient time. Just as Claypool finds his treasure, Trujilio appears behind him, decked out in quintessential bad-guy gear and with a gun in hand. S...
This Guy Turned His Dead Uncle’s Skeleton Into a Fully Functional Guitar: Watch
An inventive gentleman has paid the ultimate tribute to his deceased uncle, turning the late metalhead’s skeletal remains into a fully functional guitar. It may seem morbid, but there’s actually a really endearing story behind the “Skelecaster”. As MetalSucks reports, a man who goes by the moniker Prince Midnight (already we’re off to a cool start) has just finished constructing a guitar out of his uncle Filip’s bones. Definitely a bit freaky, but it has been quite some time since Filip passed. Tragically, he died more than 20 years ago as the result of a car accident. Filip’s skeleton had been donated to a local college in Greece, where it was used for educational purposes for two decades. When the school no longer needed the skeleton, it was returned to his family. With Orthodox Greeks f...
New Movie Long Live Rock Features Members of Metallica, RATM, Slipknot, GN’R, and More: Watch Trailer
Long Live Rock … Celebrate the Chaos A new movie documenting the culture of hard rock music, titled Long Live Rock … Celebrate the Chaos, is set to premiere on March 11th. Among the many artists appearing in the film are members of Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, and Guns N’ Roses. The documentary was filmed at various U.S. rock festivals, and boasts interviews with Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, RATM’s Tom Morello, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Rob Zombie, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Body Count’s Ice-T, Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, and more. The movie is directed by film/TV producer and music supervisor Jonathan McHugh (Saw franchise), and produced by Gary Spivak (Danny Wimmer Presents) and Jonathan Platt (Saw franchise music pr...
Faith No More, Stone Sour, Lagwagon Members Form Dirty O’Keeffe, Unleash “Brick or Bullet”: Stream
Members of Faith No More, Stone Sour, Lagwagon, and Trash N’ Privilege have started a quarantine band called Dirty O’Keeffe, introducing themselves with the single “Brick or Bullet”. The group features bassist Billy Gould (Faith No More), Christian Martucci (guitarist for Stone Sour and Corey Taylor’s solo band), drummer Dave Raun (Lagwagon), and guitarist Steve Shephard (Trash N’ Privilege). “Brick or Bullet” is a riff-heavy rocker that features lead vocals by Martucci, who also delivers a blistering guitar solo around the two-minute mark. There’s no word yet on whether it’s a one-off song or if the new outfit has more music on the way. Gould had time to work on the new project after Faith No More’s summer tour with Korn was canceled due to the pandemic. Other Faith No More members have a...
Lars Ulrich’s Father Has Released a New Album at Age 92
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich’s father, Torben Ulrich, has released a new album at age 92. The spoken-word collaboration with cellist Lori Goldston is titled Oakland moments: cello, voice, reuniting (rejoicing) and arrived on Bandcamp and limited cassette tape on February 5th. The album features Torben reciting text and poetry over Goldston’s cello. If that triggers a Lulu flashback, don’t worry: Goldston’s playing quite pleasant, and Torben’s narration has a relaxing ASMR vibe to it. Lars took to Instagram to congratulate his father: “92 years old and just getting started…Today, as one does at his age, he’s putting out another record… This one being a collaboration with his dear friend @legoldston.” The fact that Torben is releasing new music at age 92 shouldn’t be too surprising. He’s ma...
