Guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen will release his album World On Fire on June 1st.
The Swedish guitarist says he spent two years working on the record between tours – which he says made the songwriting process “inspiring.”
Malmsteen says, “I spent two years working on it, touring, recording, touring, recording. And that’s actually much better in a way.
Back in the day I would write the songs then rehearse them with some musicians, then go and do a backing track and we’d record it, mix it, learn the songs to go play them on tour, then do it all again. That way isn’t necessarily conducive to making the best music.
So in a very backhanded way, this weird twist of fate in the music industry has actually made it a more inspiring environment. I can write anytime and record anytime.
My recording studio is always open, 24 hours. I can just record when I want and it’s a beautiful thing.”
Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler says he used to self-harm when he was younger and that he’d have killed himself if the band hadn’t made it.
Sabbath’s 1970 single Paranoid was written about the bass player’s mental state at the time, as he battled with depression. Also, he reveals the extent of his problems in a brand new interview with Classic Rock magazine.
Butler says, “I used to be a cutter. I’d cut my arms, stick pins in my fingers, that kind of thing. I used to get really depressed and it was the only thing that could bring me out from it. If Sabbath hadn’t made it, I’d have been long dead. I’d have killed myself.”
Sabbath are on what will be their last ever world tour and they insist their relationships with each other have mellowed.
Since guitarist Tony Iommi made a recovery from a cancer diagnosis in 2012, he’s become a much calmer person, according to frontman Ozzy Osbourne.
Ozzy says, “He’s changed so much. He used to be the Darth Vader of the band. What he said went, but he’s got really humble. When you get something like cancer, it fucking shakes your tree.”
Osbourne and Slipknot recently announced that their festivals Ozzfest and Knotfest have joined forces.
Sabbath are the cover stars of the latest issue of Classic Rock magazine, available now in print, digital and via TeamRock.
Two legends of rock music, Alice In Chains and Lenny Kravitz, are set to join Guns N’ Roses on their historic Not In This Lifetime Tour. Alice In Chains joins the tour from opening night, Thursday, June 23rd in Detroit, Mich. at Ford Field and will perform through the tour’s second Chicago date at Soldier Field on Sunday, July 3rd. Lenny Kravitz will then join the tour from Tuesday, July 19th starting at the first Boston, Mass. date at Foxboro Stadium and perform through the tour’s second date at East Rutherford, NJ on Sunday, July 24th. Demand for tickets to the Not In This Lifetime Tour continue at an unprecedented pace as additional shows were recently announced including Chicago (July 3rd), Boston (July 20th), New York City (July 24yj) and two brand new dates in Los Angeles (August 18th & 19th). A full list of tour dates is below.
One Million fans and counting will be part of the most celebrated music event of the past few decades when the tour of the summer kicks off on Thursday, June 23 in Detroit. Guns N’ Roses launched their return in spectacular fashion beginning with the Troubadour in Los Angeles on April 1st for their first live performance in more than 20 years followed by back-to-back arena shows in Vegas filling the house to the rafters, then Coachella for two weekends (April 16th and April 23rd) including a trip south of the border for two sold out stadium shows in Mexico on April 19th-20th. April saw almost a half million fans alone in North America! Guns N’ Roses’ are Axl Rose, Duff McKagan (bass), Slash (lead guitar), Dizzy Reed (keyboard), Richard Fortus (rhythm guitar), Frank Ferrer (drums), and Melissa Reese (keyboard).
Guns N’ Roses Not In This Lifetime Tour
All dates, cities and venues below subject to change.
* – with Alice In Chains
** – with Lenny Kravitz
June:
23 Detroit, MI Ford Field*
26 Washington, DC FedEx Field*
29 Kansas City, MO Arrowhead Stadium*
July:
1 Chicago, IL Soldier Field*
3 Chicago, IL Soldier Field*
6 Cincinnati, OH Paul Brown Stadium
9 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium
12 Pittsburgh, PA Heinz Field
14 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field
16 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre
19 Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium**
20 Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium**
23 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium**
24 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium**
27 Atlanta, GA Georgia Dome
29 Orlando, FL Camping World Stadium
31 New Orleans, LA Mercedes-Benz Superdome
August:
3 Arlington, TX AT&T Stadium
5 Houston, TX NRG Stadium
9 San Francisco, CA AT&T Park
12 Seattle, WA CenturyLink Field
15 Glendale, AZ University of Phoenix Stadium
18 Los Angeles, CA Dodger Stadium
19 Los Angeles, CA Dodger Stadium
22 San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium
Guitar icon Zakk Wylde has released a new custom emoji set available starting today via Emoji Fame, the go-to company specializing in making emoji sets for musicians. Thus far, the artist emoji space has been dominated by hip-hop and EDM acts, Zakk Wylde’s set is one of the first on the rock/metal side of things, and the first for a guitar god.
“Many members of the Emoji Fame team are secretly guitar nerds, so when Zakk Wylde agreed to do an emoji set with us we were beyond excited,” says Gavin Rhodes, co-founder of Emoji Fame. “Zakk is arguably one of the top-ten most influential guitar players of all time and we’re immensely proud of the set that we put together with him. His emojis are hilarious with a double dose of SHRED thrown in for good measure.”
Zakk Wylde recently announced new U.S. and Canadian tour dates in continued support of his new LP Book Of Shadows II. Wylde will hit over 40 cities spread out across the U.S. and Canada this summer including a performance at Heavy MTL Festival in Montreal on August 7th, a first for him as a solo artist. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday, May 12th. Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown and Jared James Nichols will serve as support.
Black Label Society will also be included as one of the marquee acts on Ozzfest Meets Knotfest.
Wylde, as always, has been on the road nonstop. He just wrapped up a buzzworthy stint on Steve Vai’s Generation Axe Tour and prior to that served as a marquee artist on The Hendrix Experience Tour with the likes of Billy Cox and Buddy Guy. This is the first time Zakk has toured as a headliner in the U.S. and Canada since last year’s Unblackened tour.
Zakk Wylde tour dates:
7/8: Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live
7/9: Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
7/10: Austin, TX @ Emo’s
7/12: Houston, TX @ House of Blues
7/13: New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
7/15: Orlando, FL @ The Plaza Live
7/16: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
7/18: Millvale, PA @ Mr.Smalls Theatre
7/19: New York, NY @ Webster Hall
7/20: Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa
7/22: Charlotte, NC @ Amos’ Southend
7/23: Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
7/24: Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall
7/26: Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theatre
7/28: Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre
7/29: Cleveland, OH @ The Agora Theatre
7/30: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre Of Living Arts
7/31: Boston, MA @ Royale
8/2: Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
8/4: Uncasville, CT @ Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino *no support
8/7: Montreal, QC @ HEAVY MTL
8/8: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
8/10: Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
8/11: Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
8/13: Sturgis, SD @ Full Throttle Saloon *no support
8/15: Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
8/16: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
8/18: Missoula, MT @The Wilma
8/19: Calgary, AB @Flames Central
8/20: Saskatoon, SK @ O’Brian’s Event Centre
8/21: Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick Centre
8/23: Edmonton, AB @ The Ranch Roadhouse
8/25: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
8/26: Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
8/27: Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Concert House
8/28: Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
8/30: San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
9/1: Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
9/2: Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee
9/3: Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
Comedian Jim Breuer along with backing band The Loud & Rowdy have just released their latest single Mr. Rock N’ Roll, which features vocals by Brian Johnson of AC/DC.
Breuer tells Rolling Stone of the collaboration, “To me, Brian is the most powerful voice in rock and roll. He is also the funniest and most generous man I have ever known. I am still in awe of how he recorded the song and forever thankful.”
Mr. Rock N’ Roll comes off Breuer’s forthcoming musical debut, Songs From The Garage, which is set for release next Friday, May 27th via Metal Blade Records. To pre-order the record in various formats, please visit metalblade.com/songsfromthegarage where the previous singles, Be a D**k 2Nite and Thrash, can also be heard.
In addition to special appearances from Brian Johnson, the album was also produced and features guitar by Rob Caggiano (Anthrax, Volbeat). Backing Breuer up is The Loud & Rowdy with Mike Tichy on drums and Joe Vigliotti on bass. The inspiration for all of this comes from Breuer’s adolescent immersion in the world of heavy music, falling in love with Judas Priest and AC/DC, alongside the likes of The Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, and Van Halen. The fire to start a band was soon lit under him, though he wouldn’t begin his musical career until he was older. Having finally made the album that has been burning to get out of him since his teens, Breuer couldn’t be happier with the result.
Songs From The Garage track-listing
1. Thrash
2. Raising Teenage Girls
3. Old School
4. Be a D**k 2nite
5. My Rock n Roll Dream *
6. Mr. Rock n Roll *
7. Who’s Better Than Us?!
8. Family Warrior
9. Sugar Rush
10. Wannabe
11. The Unexplained
* Vocals by Brian Johnson (AC/DC)
Jim Breuer and the Loud & Rowdy tour dates:
July 17 – Chicago Open Air at Toyota Park – Bridgeview, IL
July 18 – The Knitting Factory – Brooklyn, NY
July 20 – Gathering of the Juggalos – Thornville, OH
July 25 – The Knitting Factory – Brooklyn, NY
July 30 – Roverfest – Cleveland, OH
Aug. 1 – The Knitting Factory – Brooklyn, NY
Sept. 17 – Rock Allegiance – Chester, PA
Jim Breuer comedy tour dates
May 21 – Virginia Beach Funny Bone – Virginia Beach, VA
July 16 – Borgata Hotel & Casino – Atlantic City, NJ
Aug. 5 – Turning Stone Resort Casino – Verona, NY
Aug. 6 – Royal Oak Music Theatre – Royal Oak, MI
Aug. 11 – Rams Head On Stage – Annapolis, MD
Aug. 22 – Street Theatre – Sag Harbor, NY
Aug. 26 – Bearsville Theater – Woodstock, NY
Aug. 27 – Kiva Auditorium – Albuquerque, NM
Sept. 2-4 – South Point Hotel Casino & Spa – Las Vegas, NV
Sept. 16 – Troy Savings Bank Music Hall – Troy, NY
Sept. 17 – State Theatre – New Brunswick, NJ
Sept. 30 – Penn’s Peak – Jim Thorpe, PA
Oct. 1 – The Fillmore Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA
Nov. 4 – The Wellmont Theater – Montclair, NJ
Nov. 5 – Foxwoods Resort Casino – Mashantucket, CT
Nov. 10 – Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT
Nov. 12 – St. George Theatre – Staten Island, NY
Nov. 17 – Aztec Theater – San Antonio, TX
Nov. 18 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX
Nov. 19 – House of Blues – Houston, TX
KISS frontman Paul Stanley has told Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx to keep out of the war of words with Gene Simmons over his Prince comments.
Additionally, he’s described Sixx’s contribution to the argument as an “unimportant, but annoying squeak.”
Simmons last week branded Prince’s death as self-inflicted and “pathetic” – even though the facts surrounding his passing in April haven’t been confirmed.
That led Stanley to apologize for his bandmate’s “cold” and “clueless” words, hours before Simmons said sorry himself. His wife Shannon Tweed then slammed Stanley for getting involved.
Sixx later called Simmons a “bully,” adding, “We have no respect for Gene Simmons any more – nobody in rock does. I think Gene should call it a day.”
Now Stanley has retaliated, stating, “Jesus Christ Nikki Sixx! Would you please shut up, find another way to be in the news and get off your self-inflated pedestal?
Regardless of some things Gene has said that I may take issue with, his influence on musicians, you included, is undeniable and will continue.
More importantly, his work, generosity and monetary contributions to numerous causes and charities makes your ongoing rant the unimportant, but annoying squeak it truly is. Move on.”
Sixx has responded to Stanley’s words by saying, “I will give him a standing ovation for calling out Gene himself publicly, then trying to hold my feet to the same fire. But you can’t save him.
I have to admit calling the next KISS album Move On would be a clever idea, though. Love to the Starchild.
We all give to charities and support our troops because that’s the right thing to do with our success. Telling a depressed kid to kill themselves etc. is not, so don’t confuse issues.”
