Category : LATEST NEWS

EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER’S, GREG LAKE, PASSES AT AGE 69

Rock singer/bassist/lyricist Greg Lake, has died at age 69 following a battle with cancer. Best known as the bassist for King Crimson and guitarist/singer for Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Lake scored one of his biggest solo hits in 1975 with I Believe in Father Christmas.

In a statement, Lake’s former bandmate, Carl Palmer, paid tribute to his friend and collaborator. “It is with great sadness that I must now say goodbye to my friend and fellow band-mate, Greg Lake,” wrote Palmer. “Greg’s soaring voice and skill as a musician will be remembered by all who knew his music and recordings he made with ELP and King Crimson. I have fond memories of those great years we had in the 1970s and many memorable shows we performed together. Having lost Keith this year as well, has made this particularly hard for all of us. As Greg sang at the end of Pictures At An Exhibition, “death is life.” His music can now live forever in the hearts of all who loved him.”

As alluded by Palmer, it has been a difficult year for the fans of the pioneering band, as their third member, Keith Emerson, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in March of this year. Lake’s manager told the BBC that Lake died on Wednesday (December 7th) after fighting a “long and stubborn battle with cancer.”

source: Billboard

DEE SNIDER SHOWS SUPPORT FOR PROTESTORS AT STANDING ROCK IN NEW VIDEO FOR “SO WHAT”

Not one to shy away from any political or social cause that he wholeheartedly believes in, legendary rocker Dee Snider is now showing his support for the thousands of men and women at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota who are protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

In a video for So What that premiered earlier today exclusively on Noisey.com, Dee and son/director Cody Snider beautifully exhibits the faces of the courageous men, women and children that are fighting for their land and offers a glimpse at the resistance and tribulation they are faced with as they stand their ground. The song can be found on Dee’s new solo album, We Are The Ones, which was released October 28th on Red River Records (distributed by BFD/RED). Watch the video below.

As Snider recently told The New York Post’s Page Six, “To see U.S. government state and local authorities, along with hired private security, use this type of extreme violent force against unarmed American citizens in peaceful prayer is the saddest, most disturbing thing I have ever experienced. I’m glad we were there to capture the truth for all to see.”

Earlier this summer, Dee Snider took part in the unveiling of the new Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit, Louder Than Words: Rock, Power And Politics, featuring memorabilia related to his 1985 Senate hearing regarding the PMRC. To commemorate the Hall of Fame exhibit, Dee performed a new acoustic version of Twisted Sister’s legendary song, We’re Not Gonna Take It. This moving new version of Dee’s epic anthem is also currently available on his new album.

In September, superstar magician Criss Angel joined forces with Snider for the first time ever to release a music video featuring the new acoustic version of We’re Not Gonna Take It. Directed by Angel, the video aims to raise awareness of pediatric cancer. It sent a powerful message to viewers as Snider belts out the iconic lyrics, while the mother of a young girl—who is a cancer survivor—allows her head to be shaved in solidarity with her daughter and in support of the fight all of these children must endure. The video also features heart-wrenching footage of Criss Angel’s son, Johnny Crisstopher, going through treatments after being diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in 2015.

While in April 2016, he was called to Capitol Hill for the second time—the first at the infamous 1985 Senate hearing instigated by Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)–to speak on behalf of The Recording Academy’s Fair Play Fair Pay initiative.

In 2014, Snider was the recipient of the prestigious Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award for his charitable work spanning several decades. Most notably, he spent twelve years as the national spokesman and Grand Marshal of the March of Dimes Bikers for Babies initiative (for whom he raised $325,000 with his Celebrity Apprentice win), established his annual Ride to Fight Hunger for Long Island Cares, and donated his Gold and Platinum album awards to Broadway Cares for auction.

Dee Snider online:

Official Website
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube

FORMER AC/DC DRUMMER PHIL RUDD RELEASES “HEAD JOB” VIDEO

Former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has relaunched his 2014 solo album Head Job with a video for the title track, watch it below.

His disappointment with its original release fuelled the criminal activity that landed him with house arrest in New Zealand, and contributed to his departure from the Aussie giants in 2015.

Rudd this year announced his “hellraising days are over” and revealed he’d suffered a heart attack while he tried to clean up his act.

He added, “I made mistakes – but I’m really good now. I really appreciate the support of the fans around the world, which kept me going through some of the dark times. I cannot wait to play music for them. It’s going to rock.”

He’s also confirmed a European tour beginning in March and ending in May, which includes a visit to next year’s Bonfest, the annual event that celebrates late AC/DC singer Bon Scott in Kirriemuir, the Scottish town of his birth.

additional source: Classic Rock via teamrock.com

QUEENSRYCHE SHARE VIDEO FOR “HELLFIRE”

Queensryche have released a video for their song Hellfire from their 2015 album Condition Human. Watch it below.

Vocalist Todd La Torre explains, “Hellfire is a depiction primarily based on the tragic events surrounding the Malaysian airline flight MH17. Despite the storyline’s foundation, the lyrical and visual narrative transcends into other pertinent, global subject matters. Civil unrest, guerrilla warfare, media propaganda, and social inequalities are just some examples of the multifaceted issues marbled throughout Hellfire. A poignant illustration of an unfortunate, yet timeless reality.”

The clip follows previous videos for the tracks Eye9 and Guardian from the record.

Queensryche have a number of tour dates scheduled over the coming months, see the tour dates below.

Queensryche on the road:

Dec 6: New York Irving Plaza, NY
Dec 7: Pittsburgh Rex Theater, PA
Dec 8: New Baltimore Diesel Concert Lounge, MI
Dec 9: Chicago Concord Music Hall, IL
Dec 10: Sioux City Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City, IA
Dec 11: Peoria Limelight Eventplex, IL
Dec 13: Omaha Waiting Room Lounge, NE
Dec 14: Overland Park Kanza Hall, KS
Dec 15: Colorado Springs Black Sheep, CO
Dec 16: West Wendover Peppermill Hotel & Casino, NV

Jan 20: Verona Turning Stone Resort & Casino, NY
Jan 27: Snoqualmie Casino, WA

Feb 2: Tampa Port Tampa Bay, FL

Jun 16: Clisson Hellfest, France

additional source: Prog via teamrock.com

RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S RAINBOW ANNOUNCE 2017 UK TOUR DATES

Christopher Scapelliti of Guitar Player reports:

Ritchie Blackmore has announced he will tour with Rainbow in 2017, with four dates planned for the U.K (see the dates below).

The tour follows on the guitarist’s sold-out shows in Germany and Birmingham, England, earlier this year. Those were Blackmore’s first rock performances since 1997, when he launched his folk-rock ensemble Blackmore’s Night.

…Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow features Lords of Black singer Ronnie Romero, Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson, and drummer David Keith and bassist Bob Nouveau, both of whom perform in Blackmore’s Night.

Though the band’s previous shows featured a selection of songs by Rainbow and Deep Purple, Blackmore said recently that the Rainbow songs were better received.

“I noticed when they clapped, they weren’t clapping so hard for Deep Purple,” Blackmore told Radio Veronica last July. “They said, ‘We hear that every year’—’cause Purple goes around [on tour]. So the next time, if we go out, I would probably do 95 percent Rainbow songs. That’s what they seem to want to hear.”


In the same interview, Blackmore admitted that his vision was deteriorating and hinted at other age-related issues that were slowing him down.

“Optically, I’m deteriorating very fast, as we all are,” he said. “All my friends are passing away. Some of my enemies are passing away too. But we try and keep up with it. What I do is I limit how many times a week we play…And normally, our agent would tell us, ‘To make money, you have to be playing five days a week.’ And I refuse to do that. I used to, with Deep Purple…and it gets very tiring…”

Read more at Guitar Player.

Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow Live in the U.K:

June
 17 – London, U.K. – The O2 (Stone Free Festival)

June
 22 – Manchester, U.K. – Manchester Arena

June
 25 – Glasgow, Scotland – The SSE Hydro

June
 28 – Birmingham, U.K. – Genting Arena
 



Watch a performance of Man on the Silver Mountain from the band’s Memories in Rock—Live in Germany, which was released on November 18th. A deluxe version (DVD, Blu-ray and 2CD in a 48-page hardback photobook), along with a 3LP version (180-gram vinyl), was released as an import on December 2nd.

[Dana’s note: Thanks to T, as always, for passing this along]

METALLICA’S JAMES HETFIELD DISCUSSES WHY HE LEFT INSTAGRAM

Metallica frontman James Hatfield spoke with Canada’s The Globe and Mail explaining why he has ditched instagram, and how social media can be both a blessing and a curse. Watch the video below.

In other Metallica news, their new album, Hardwired … to Self-Destruct, is on track to sell in the neighborhood of 300,000 units — more than 280,000 of which appear to be physical sales — which puts them on course for a Number one debut on next week’s chart. Hardwired‘s chart-topping act will mark Metallica’s sixth Number one album.