Category : LATEST NEWS

GEORGE YOUNG, AC/DC SONGWRITER, PRODUCER, AND BROTHER TO ANGUS AND MALCOLM, PASSES AT AGE 70

Chris Morris of Variety, via Page Six, reports:

Australian musician and songwriter George Young, who notched a long and distinguished career as a key creative force in the influential rock band the Easybeats and as co-producer of the career-defining albums of his brothers’ hard rock group AC/DC, died early Monday at 70.

AC/DC acknowledged Young’s passing on their Twitter account, saying, “Without his help and guidance there would not have been an AC/DC.”

No location or cause of death were reported.

Young was born Nov. 6, 1946, in Glasgow, Scotland. After emigrating with his family to Sydney in 1963, Young made a splash as guitarist and principal songwriter for the Easybeats, a wildly popular Beatles-styled unit. They enjoyed several top-10 singles in their home country, including She’s So Fine, Wedding Ring and Sorry. They burst into international prominence with the smash Friday On My Mind, co-written with bandmate Harry Vanda, which reached No. 16 in the U.S. in early 1967…

…During the early ‘70s, Vanda and Young became Australia’s most prominent producing duo, helming the first five studio albums by AC/DC, which featured Young’s siblings, lead guitarist Angus and rhythm guitarist Malcolm, behind lead vocalist Bon Scott. They produced the band’s 1975 debut set High Voltage and its four successors, which featured such early staples of the band’s repertoire as Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Whole Lotta Rosie and Let There Be Rock. They also worked with contemporaneous Aussie hard rock acts like Rose Tattoo and the Angels…

…Young retired from the music business in the late ‘90s, but returned to the studio in 2000 to produce AC/DC’s album Stiff Upper Lip, which reached number three in Australia and number seven in the U.S.

Young was inducted twice into ARIA, Australia’s pop music hall of fame: with Vanda in its inaugural year of 1988 and as a member of the Easybeats in 2005. Young’s survivors include his brothers.

additional source: pagesix.com

BLACK STAR RIDERS ANNOUNCE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH JUDAS PRIEST & SAXON

U.S./Irish hard rock band Black Star Riders has announced today, the band will be joining metal legends Judas Priest and Saxon for a spring North American tour, Firepower 2018. The tour will kick off on March 13th in Wilkes Barre, PA and will wrap on May 1st in San Antonio, TX.

“Delighted and honored to be touring the USA with our friends and legends Judas Priest and Saxon. Black Star Riders cannot wait to bring some “Heavy Fire” to your town in 2018!” – Ricky Warwick (vocalist)

Black Star Riders is made up of Warwick (Thin Lizzy), guitarist Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy), guitarist Damon Johnson (Brother Cane, Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy), bassist Robert Crane (Ratt) and drummer Chad Szeliga (Breaking Benjamin, Black Label Society). The band is currently on tour in support of their 3rd studio album, Heavy Fire, which was released earlier this year with Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

JUDAS PRIEST SET TO LAUNCH “FIREPOWER 2018” NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

One of heavy metal’s most legendary acts will be hitting the road in 2018 in support of their new studio album, Firepower. The Judas Priest: Firepower 2018 Tour will kick off on March 13th in Pennsylvania, and wrap up on May 1st in Texas. The new album (which was produced by Andy Sneap and Tom Allom) is due in early 2018 and the tour will feature the line-up of singer Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis.

All dates will be running a “Judas Priest Fan Presale” starting Wednesday, October 25th, 2017 at 10:00 A.M local time with the password: FIREPOWER that fans can use to purchase tickets in advance. Check the local venue for additional information.

The North American headbangers will get the opportunity to experience the mighty Priest on a nearby concert stage.

Confirmed tour dates:

March:

13 Wilkes Barre, PA Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
15 Youngstown, OH Covelli Centre
17 Uniondale, NY NYCB Live, Home of The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
18 Washington, DC The Anthem
20 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
22 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
25 Ottawa, ON The Arena at TD Place
27 London, ON Budweiser Gardens
28 Oshawa, ON Tribute Communities Centre
30 Orillia, ON Casino Rama
31 Detroit, MI Detroit Masonic Temple

March:

3 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theater
5 Green Bay, WI Resch Center
8 Bloomington, IL Grossinger Motors Arena
10 Casper, WY Casper Events Center
11 Loveland, CO Budweiser Events Center
15 Kent, WA ShoWare Center
17 Portland, OR Veterans Memorial Coliseum
19 San Francisco The Warfield
22 Los Angeles, CA Microsoft Theater
24 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theatre
26 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
28 Dallas, TX The Bomb Factory
29 Sugarland, TX Smart Financial Centre

May:

1 San Antonio, TX Freeman Coliseum

There are few heavy metal bands that have managed to scale the heights that Judas Priest have during their 40 year career – originally formed during the early ’70s in Birmingham, England, Judas Priest is responsible for some of the genre’s most influential and landmark albums (1980’s British Steel, 1982’s Screaming for Vengeance, 1990’s Painkiller, etc.) and for decades have been one of the greatest live bands in the entire heavy metal genre including an iconic performance at Live Aid in 1985 – they also brought metal to the masses by their appearance on American Idol in 2011 – plus Judas Priest were one of the first metal bands to exclusively wear leather and studs-a look that began during this era and was eventually embraced by metal fans throughout the world! And in 2017, the band was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

ACE FREHLEY TELLS EDDIE TRUNK THAT A KISS REUNION “COULD BE REALLY SPECIAL FOR THE FANS”

On October 9th, Ace Frehley was guest on Eddie’s radio show. Quotes from the interview appear below (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net.

On whether he thinks his renewed friendship with Stanley and Simmons will eventually lead to his return to KISS:

“”Well, Paul and Gene haven’t really talked to me about that. So until I get the phone call, as far as I’m concerned, we’re just having fun and reconnecting for old times’ sake. And if that happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too. I have my own career at this juncture, and those guys… well, they’re working with half a cover band, actually. [Laughs]” He added, that he would be willing to play a one off reunion, stating, “Yeah. I mean, I think it could be great. If it was handled correctly and presented in the right way, I think it could be really special for the fans. It’s a wait-and-see kind of situation, but I’m not holding my breath. I stay busy working on my new studio album in the studio, leaving for Australia this Friday. And we have some shows booked in Texas in December, which will be probably wrapped around some other shows, so I stay busy.”

Gene Simmons told the The Cassius Morris Show, a month ago, that a reunion is “not gonna happen.” He added, “Ace has been in and out of the band three different times. That’s enough…

TWISTED SISTER FRONTMAN DEE SNIDER THINKS VINTAGE T-SHIRTS ARE FOR TRUE METAL FANS, NOT A FASHION TREND

The New York Post reports:

Think twice before taking on the vintage band T-shirt trend — at least, if you’re anywhere in the vicinity of Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider.

The rocker took to Twitter earlier this week to vent about nonmetal fans wearing vintage metal band T-shirts.

For Snider, it’s “sickening” and disrespectful to wear band merch unless you’re a true fan of the group.

His tweets stated:

“Gotta say, this new trend of non-metal fans wearing vintage metal T’s if pretty sickening. Metal is not ironic! Dicks.”

“It’s not just the wearing of our metal T’s, it’s their cherry picking of our style #skulls #metalhorns These are OUR symbols; OUR image.”

“And does it? At least @ladygaga talks about being a fan of metal i n interviews – is seen at concerts. Does Kim & Kanyea?”

Evidently, Snider doesn’t appreciate how awesome vintage band tees look on fashion heavy hitters, including the likes of Kendall Jenner, Alessandra Ambrosio and Hailey Baldwin.

Related stories:

Kendall And Kylie Jenner Use Iconic Rock Images To Sell T-Shirts, Get Blasted, And Then Apologize

James Hetfield Discusses The Band’s Grammy Appearance, Celebrities Wearing Metallica Shirts And His Hobby Os Beekeeping

WHITESNAKE BOOK, “THE PURPLE TOUR-A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY,” TO BE RELEASED IN DECEMBER

Rufus Stone Limited Editions has announced the publication of the first-ever official Whitesnake book, The Purple Tour-A Photographic Journey.

In 2015, Whitesnake took its newest release, The Purple Album, around the world on “The Purple Tour”. Featuring epic reworkings of David Coverdale’s Deep Purple songs and a raft of Whitesnake classics, the tour was one of the band’s most successful and talked about in years.

Now this new, official limited-edition release from Rufus Publications documents that groundbreaking tour. At three hundred pages long and packed with exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, notes from the band and a song-by-song breakdown of the tour’s epic setlist, this incredible tour is captured and documented with hundreds of amazing shots, taken mostly on the sold-out U.K. leg of the tour.

Printed and bound in the U.K., this LP-sized, casebound photographic book will be released in two amazing limited editions and is the first official Whitesnake book.

The deluxe signed edition is individually numbered and signed by all the band members and features a 3D lenticular image on the front of the slipcase.

The standard edition is the same size, softcover bound and comes in a slipcase.

Both editions will be unique, casebound coffee table books, perfect for fans and collectors.

Order before November 9th to get your name in the book and for free worldwide delivery before Christmas 2017.

Says Coverdale, “It’s a f–king huge coffee table book about the size of a f–king huge encyclopedia, a historical photographic journey from the beginning of The Purple Album to the end of the last show in the U.K. in Sheffield. The book’s f–king beautiful to have.”

For more information, visit whitesnakepurpletour.com.