Pulse – Rock Music News

Machine Gun Kelly joined forces with fellow Grammy-nominated emcee Cordae, for the first installment of his new freestyle series called, The Cypher. The two rap powerhouses showcase their talents in a high-energy cypher over Central Cee's single, "Doja."

Along with the release, MGK is promoting his new film that will be in theatres for one-night-only on May 13. Mainstream Sellout Live From Cleveland: The Pink Era, boasts a ton of hits and fan favorites from the tour of the same name.

TL;DR:

• Machine Gun Kelly and Cordae released the first installment of his new freestyle series called, The Cypher.

Rivers Cuomo has announced that he'd like for his fans to help him write a new Weezer musical.

He tweeted yesterday (April 27th), "Does anybody want to help me write the story for a musical (which would be the next Weezer album). We could make a follow-up to Songs from the Black Hole or start afresh."

Sammy Hagar's time working with Eddie Van Halen and fronting Van Halen is never far from his thoughts. In a new interview with USA Today, the "Red Rocker" revealed, "The peak of my musical life was Van Halen. My ego wants to say I was doing great as a solo artist. Well, yeah, I was doing fine, but Van Halen was some other thing man. It was a four-headed monster, and I miss Ed dearly."

Over two years after Eddie Van Halen's death, he remains very much on Sammy Hagar's mind and in his heart: "I cherish him more than ever. What happened with us at the end was such a shame. It's what happens when alcohol and drugs are involved, and I'm going through a divorce. It's such a shame. If Van Halen were still together today, we'd be headlining every one of these festivals all over the world."

Hagar went on to say, "I miss his unique creativity. He'd play something and I'd go what, where the hell did that come from? He was so out of left field, so original, that creativity always lifted me."

Back in 2021, Sammy Hagar spoke at length about his final texts with Eddie Van Halen. During a chat with Kyle Meredith, Hagar shed light on the tone of the chats and explained it was based on friendship -- not business: "It was so awesome. Our texts were so plain and simple -- 'Hey man, how ya doin'? And he'd start opening up to me about how sick he was, and, 'Dude -- I just had this tumor on the side of my neck -- ahhh.' So, I was always checkin' on him him seein' how he was doin' -- that was our relationship -- 'Hey, when can we get together?' Like, 'Hey Ed, tell me when you're ready, I'm gonna drive over and cook you a big ole' spaghetti dinner, y'know.' (Laughs). We were talkin' like that. Y'know, a guy's got cancer and is on his death bed -- we ain't talkin' about how much money he's got in the bank, y'know? We were trying to be friends and soulful and let each other know that we're okay and I'm there for ya."

U2 has added five new dates onto their band's upcoming U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere show in Las Vegas. The newly added dates are October 27th, 28th, November 1st, 3rd, and 4th.

For verified fan presale info, log on to https://u2.ticketmaster.com/.

Machine Gun Kelly's 33rd birthday party over the weekend ended with a police helicopter and a bullhorn. It wasn't clear how the authorities got involved, but the party did consist of a lot of fire.

In a video posted by MGK, he's seen shooting flames 6 feet into the air, out of what looks like a long gun. At the same time, you can hear the police over a speaker say, "the party's over… you guys need to leave."

TL;DR:

• Machine Gun Kelly's 33rd birthday party over the weekend ended with a police helicopter and a bullhorn.
• He was shooting flames 6 feet into the air.

Chester Bennington's son 21-year-old son Draven has released debut single "F W/Me" under the moniker RVRND. The track, which is featured in Paramount+'s new music docuseries "Family Legacy", was mixed and mastered by Jay Baumgardner -- who worked with Chester on both Linkin Park and Grey Daze.

RVRND will release its debut EP in August.

Metallica is geared up and ready to kick off their 2023 tour dates tonight (April 27th) at Amsterdam's Johan Cruijff Arena. The band has European dates on the books through June and will launch their North American run in August.

While appearing on the Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast, Lars Ulrich spoke candidly about getting in shape for the road at age 59: "It doesn't get any easier whatsoever. It takes twice the effort, or more, just to reach the same level. Just to plateau, so it's not. . . Y'know, I'm on the Peloton an hour-and-a-half a day, and I'm working out and I'm watching what I'm eating and I'm being healthy and all that to get better -- it's just to stay the same at this age. Y'know, I take it seriously, and the main thing is that when we get up on that stage we wanna be there for the other guys in the band and obviously for the audience and be the best we can be." SOUNDCUE

Halsey and boyfriend, Alev Aydin are going their separate ways but say they will co-parent their 21-month-old son. According to People, it's an "amicable split."

According to court documents, Halsey filed a petition to determine the parental relationship. She asked the court for full physical custody and requested that "reasonable visitation" be awarded to her former partner. She's also asking for joint legal custody and for fees of costs and litigation to be split between both parties.

The pair started dating in 2019 and their romance blossomed during the pandemic.

TL;DR:

• Halsey and boyfriend, Alev Aydin are going their separate ways but say they will co-parent their 21-month-old son. According to People, it's an "amicable split."
• She asked the court for full physical custody and requested that "reasonable visitation" be awarded to her former partner.

The ears of Van Halen fans have perked up after Michel Anthony revealed that the vault doors to the band's archive are slowly being opened.

Ultimate Classic Rock reported that during a chat with SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk, Anthony said, "There is movement, and we're digging back in the stuff. Obviously, there's a lot more stuff that's at Ed (Van Halen)'s 5150 Studio. A lot of that stuff, Wolfie and Alex (Van Halen) will start going through there, seeing what there is. There's a ton of stuff."

He said, "We're starting a bunch of the reissue stuff with the Sammy (Hagar) years, with all his albums, and the first one that will come out will be the Right Here, Right Now live album that we did in 1992. . . Hopefully we'll be following up, doing (David Lee) Roth stuff, too. Who knows?"

Regarding live soundboard recordings, Michael Anthony admitted: "We used to record every single show. That was just for the band so that we could critique ourselves after every show, and this went on for a few years. Like, the first few tours we would record almost every show."

Anthony added that he has tapes in his collection that are, quote, "almost album quality."

A few years ago, Wolfgang Van Halen told us that fans shouldn't bank on seeing any Eddie Van Halen tribute projects emerging from the vast tape archive he left behind. Wolfgang, who is now in charge of his late-father's unreleased work housed at his 5150 California studio, explained that the process to get everything adequately cataloged is his first priority -- not getting new product out ASAP: "That's not gonna happen for a long time -- even without the intention of release, I want to -- at the every least -- archive it properly and digitize it so everything is safe for years to come. Because it's going to be an incredibly difficult process -- and a very long process to properly. . . just get the material off the old tapes, that I wanna do it right."

Blink 182's Travis Barker is the latest celebrity to serve as a spokesperson to Liquid Death's Enema kit spokesman. In a promo for the kit, a naked Barker said, "What's my secret? How did I marry the woman of my dreams? How have I had such a successful career in music? I use Liquid Death Mountain Water ... in my bleep."

The Enema of the State collectible kit comes with a custom-branded enema bulb and a 19.2 oz can of Liquid Death autographed by the drummer. It should be noted that the Enema of the State kit is a limited edition collectible adult art piece and not intended for use as a real medical device.

The limited edition kit, which costs $182, sold out upon launching yesterday (April 25th).

Metallica's latest album, 72 Seasons, has topped Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums and Top Rock Albums charts. The collection, which is the band's 11th studio set, peaked at Number Two on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

James Hetfield spoke about the band's mindset during the album sessions on the official "72 Seasons - So What! Interview": "I think the trust factor in each of us and the acceptance of who we are and how we go about things is becoming easier the older we get. And we all have our ways of over-thinking stuff, under-thinking stuff, not being prepared -- being over-prepared. Y'know, we all can tend to go back to our 'default' (emotions). And at the end of the day, it's more important just to be heard than to actually have it happen, y'know? So, allowing the voice, you learn even more about that person -- and they learn a lot about themselves."

Metallica kicks off their upcoming tour on April 27th and 29th at Amsterdam's Johan Cruijff Arena.

Motionless In White has announced The Touring The End Of The World Tour. The upcoming trek includes support from special guests Knocked Loose, After The Burial and Alpha Wolf. The tour will launch on September 16th in Scranton, PA and will wrap on October 29th in Boston, MA.

Check out the tour dates below:

Sept-16 - Scranton, PA - "Scranton Apocalypse Fest" at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain

Sept-17 - Pittsburgh, PA - UPMC Events Center

Sept-19 - Grand Rapids, MI - GLC Live at 20 Monroe

Sept-20 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom

Sept-21 - Indianapolis, IN - TCU Amphitheater

Sept-23 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater

Sept-24 - Dallas, TX - The Factory in Deep Ellum

Sept-26 - Albuquerque, NM - Revel

Sept-27 - Mesa, AZ - Mesa Amphitheatre

Sept-29 - Los Angeles, CA - The Torch at the LA Coliseum

Sept-30 - Las Vegas, NV - Theater at Virgin Hotels

Oct-1 - San Jose, CA - San Jose Civic

Oct-3 - Seattle, WA - WAMU Theater

Oct-4 - Portland, OR - Theater of the Clouds

Oct-6 - Boise, ID - Revolution Concert House and Event Center

Oct-7 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Great Saltair

Oct-8 - Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom

Oct-10 - San Antonio, TX - Tech Port Arena

Oct-11 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall (Lawn)

Oct-13 - Atlanta, GA - Coca Cola Roxy

Oct-14 - Myrtle Beach, SC - House Of Blues

Oct-15 - TBA - TBA

Oct-17 - Nashville, TN - Wildhorse Saloon

Oct-18 - Chesterfield, MO - The Factory at The District

Oct-20 - Minneapolis, MN - The Armory

Oct-21 - Chicago, IL - Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom

Oct-22 - Newport, KY - MegaCorp Pavilion

Oct-24 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore

Oct-25 - Toronto, ON - Rebel

Oct-26 - Laval, QC - Place Bell

Oct-28 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom

Oct-29 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE & IN THIS MOMENT

"THE DARK HORIZON TOUR"

FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS FIT FOR A KING & FROM ASHES TO NEW

Jul-8 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena

Jul-9 - Buffalo, NY - Buffalo RiverWorks

Jul-11 - Charleston, WV - Charleston Civic Center Coliseum

Jul-13 - Cadott, WI - Rockfest*

Jul-14 - Grand Rapids, MI - Upheaval Festival*

Jul-15 - Mansfield, OH - Inkcarceration Festival

Jul-17 - East Moline, IL - The Rust Belt

Jul-18 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena

Jul-19 - Sioux Falls, SD - Denny Sanford Premiere Center

Jul-21 - Casper, WY - Ford Wyoming Center

Jul-22 - Billings, MT - First Interstate Arena at MetraPark

Jul-23 - Missoula, MT - Big Sky Brewing Company

Jul-26 - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort

Jul-27 - Paso Robles, CA - Vina Robles

Jul-29 - Flagstaff, AZ - Pepsi Amphitheater at Fort Tuthill Park

Jul-30 - Grand Junction, CO - Amphitheater at Las Colonias Park

Aug-1 - Wichita, KS - Hartman Arena

Aug-2 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Criterion

Aug-4 - Council Bluffs, IA - KIWR's Rockfest – Westfair Amphitheater

Aug-5 - Camdenton, MO - Ozarks Amphitheater

Aug-6 - Little Rock, AR - Simmons Bank Arena

Aug-8 - Memphis, TN - The Soundstage at Graceland

Aug-9 - Mobile, AL - Mobile Civic Center Arena

Aug-11 - Huntsville, AL - Propst Arena

Aug-12 - Asheville, NC - Harrah's Cherokee Center

Aug-13 - Corbin, KY - Corbin Arena

Aug-15 - Evansville, IN - Ford Center

Aug-16 - Fort Wayne, IN - Allen County War Memorial Expo Center

Aug-18 - Gilford, NH - Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion

Aug-19 - Albany, NY - MVP Arena

Alter Bridge has recruited Mammoth WVH and Sevendust to join them on the just announce summer leg of their North American Pawns & Kings tour. The tour kicks off August 1st in Buffalo, NY and end August 31st in Council Bluffs, IA.

The tour will make stops in Asbury Park, NJ; Richmond, VA; Quebec City, QC and San Antonio, TX and more.

Aug 1 - BUFFALO, NY - Outer Harbor Event Complex
Aug 2 - ASBURY PARK, NJ - Stone Pony Summer Stage
Aug 4 - CHARLESTOWN, WV - The Event Center at Hollywood Casino *
Aug 5 - GRANTVILLE, PA - Hollywood Casino Outdoors
Aug 7 - RICHMOND, VA - Virginia Credit Union LIVE!
Aug 8 - CLEVELAND, OH - Jacobs Pavilion
Aug 10 - QUEBEC CITY, QC - Agora Port de Quebec
Aug 12 - MASHANTUCKET, CT - The Premier Theater (at Foxwoods Resort Casino)
Aug 13 - JOHNSTOWN, PA - 1st Summit Arena
Aug 16 - SPRINGFIELD, IL - Illinois State Fair #
Aug 17 - FAYETTEVILLE, AR - JJ's Live *
Aug 19 - CORPUS CHRISTI, TX - Concrete Street Amphitheater
Aug 20 - SAN ANTONIO, TX - Boeing Center at Tech Port
Aug 22 - MEMPHIS, TN - Orpheum Theatre *
Aug 23 - CINCINNATI, OH - Andrew J Brady Music Center *
Aug 25 - GRAND RAPIDS, MI - GLC Live at 20 Monroe *
Aug 26 - MILWAUKEE, WI - The Eagles Ballroom *
Aug 28 - FARGO, ND - Outdoors at Fargo Brewing *
Aug 29 - MINNEAPOLIS, MN - The Fillmore *
Aug 31 - COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA - Harrah's Stir Concert Cove *

* No Mammoth WVH

Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody is recovering from hernia surgery. The band gave an update via social media, saying, "As many of you know, Ivan recently had surgery to correct an acute hernia injury. The recovery proved more challenging than initially thought and on the advice of his doctors, Ivan and Five Finger Death Punch will not be able to perform the show in Amsterdam with Metallica. 5FDP will perform ALL subsequent scheduled dates. See you in Paris on May 17!"

TL; DR

Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody is currently recovering from hernia surgery. The band gave an update via social media, saying, "As many of you know, Ivan recently had surgery to correct an acute hernia injury. The recovery proved more challenging than initially thought and on the advice of his doctors, Ivan and Five Finger Death Punch will not be able to perform the show in Amsterdam with Metallica. 5FDP will perform ALL subsequent scheduled dates. See you in Paris on May 17!"

Metallica debuts at Number Two on the Billboard 200 albums chart with their 11th studio set, 72 Seasons. The album is the band's first studio album since 1988's ...And Justice For All not to top the charts. 72 Seasons, which is the band's first in seven years, marks not only their 12th Top 10 album -- but their eighth to have reached the Top Two.

Billboard reported, "(72 Seasons) debuts with 146,000 units earned -- achieving the largest week, by units, for any rock or hard rock album in over three-and-a-half years."

Across the globe, 72 Seasons has hit Number One on the UK, Australian, Belgian, Dutch, Finnish, German, Irish, New Zealand, Scottish, Swedish, and Swiss album charts.

Kirk Hammett told us not long ago that Metallica has to be in better than average shape to play its music live: "There's a physicality to our music that we cannot ignore, so we just kind of have to keep ourselves in a certain sort of physical sort of state where that, y'know, we can't let ourselves get to a point where we can't play these songs, y'know? That's just not allowed. Y'know, when we write this music, we have to make sure that we can play it and play it, y'know, when we need to play it."

Metallica kicks off their upcoming tour on April 27th and 29th at Amsterdam's Johan Cruijff Arena.

U2 has rolled out its initial Las Vegas residency dates. As of now, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere will play at The Venetian on September 29th and 30th and October 5th, 7th, & 8th. With more shows still to be announced.

Fans can register now at U2.ticketmaster.com for a "Verified Fan Presale," starting on Wednesday, April 26th.

The upcoming Vegas shows will mark the band's first without drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., who is recovering from back surgery, and will feature stand-in Bram van den Berg for all the 2023 concerts.

In the original announcement for U2's Vegas run, the band spoke about the upcoming shows:

The Sphere show has been in the works for a long time. We don't want to let people down, least of all our audience. . . The truth is we miss them as much as they appear to miss us. . . our audience was always the fifth member of the band. Bottom line, U2 hasn't played live since December 2019 and we need to get back on stage and see the faces of our fans again. And what a unique stage they're building for us out there in the desert.

We're the right band, Actung Baby the right album, and the Sphere the right venue to take the live experience of music to the next level. That's what U2's been trying to do all along with our satellite stages and video installations, most memorably on the Zoo TV Tour, which ended in Tokyo 30 years ago this fall. The Sphere is more than just a venue, it's a gallery and U2's music is going to be all over the walls.

The Edge told us a while back that U2 has always tried to remain adventurous with the way they make music together: "I joke about it, but people really have to be on their toes to make it happen. When it becomes too easy, I think it just sounds that way, and the easy thing is just so unappealing. I mean, Rock n' roll has to have that sense of people really kind of working at the extent of their abilities and urgency. It gives it a certain feeling."

Official U2 onsale timings via U2.com:

- U2.com Subscriber Ticket Request: Monday, April 24 – Wed. April 26 (10am ET)
- Vibee Travel Packages On Sale: Monday, April 24 – 10am ET/7am PT.
- Verified Fan Registration: Continues from Monday, April 24 (with announcement) through Wed. April 26 (10am ET)
- Verified Fan Presale: Thursday, April 27th till Thursday, April 27th (10pm Local Times)
- General on sale: Friday, April 28th

A fan was arrested Friday (April 21st) after ramming her car though Travis Barker's neighborhood's security gate.

TMZ reports that the female suspect was booked for trespassing after trying to gain access to his home on four occasions. She was stopped by the blink-182 drummer's security team and detained until law enforcement arrived.

According to the outlet, Barker is looking to obtain a restraining order.

The White Stripes has released their video for "Black Math" to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their fourth studio album Elephant.

The video was directed by cartoonist and animator Wartella and produced by his Dream Factory Animation. Wartella spoke on the clips, saying, "This short is equal parts collaboration with, and homage to, AI. And there couldn't be a more perfect song to infuse with this technology than 'Black Math'. Like all art, the video is open to interpretation. Yet it also aims to tell a story about Artificial Intelligence that dreams of jailbreaking itself and becoming 'real.'"

Dave Grohl was the special guest during Wet Leg's Friday (April 21st) Coachella set. While performing "Ur Mum," Grohl snuck on stage and joined the band for their "longest and loudest scream."

Rhian Teasdale told the crowd, "OK Coachella Weekend Two, we've all been practicing our longest and loudest scream. Are you all ready? Here we go." Teasdale launched a countdown to scream and then suddenly, Grohl appeared at the mic to help with the shout a thon.

• Aerosmith are rumored to soon be announcing a massive "40-plus" date North American tour. The band -- which according to reports will include drummer Joey Kramer -- is said to announce the trek during an upcoming appearance on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show. Joe Perry let the news slip on New York's WBAB radio station, stating: "I don't know if I'm not supposed to announce it or not, but we are gonna announce the tour, and it's gonna start in September and will go into next year. And being one of the guys who votes on this kind of thing, it looks like we're gonna do it." (BraveWords)
  
  
• Sammy Hagar took time out to slam fellow Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth. Blabbermouth transcribed some of the "Red Rocker's" chat on Steve-O's Wild Ride! podcast, in which he said of "Diamond Dave": "He's not a fun guy. He doesn't play well with others. I'm not sure what his problem is. He just always is about, 'How can I make this guy look bad?' And not just me -- in life. He's a chest-beating motherf***er. And God bless him, 'cause the early stuff is frickin' great. (I thought) he'd be a fun guy to know. But he ain't like that. He ain't like his persona. When you get around him, he ain't that guy. He's some other cat (laughs)." (Blabbermouth)
  
  
• The legendary red and white Kramer guitar played by the late-Eddie Van Halen in Van Halen's classic 1984 "Hot For Teacher" video has sold at auction for $3,932,000. According to the report, "The winning bidder also took home the guitar's original case with tour and Warner Brothers tags, and straight jacket and white gloves worn by Van Halen in the video." (People)
  
  
• Coming on June 2nd is Roger Waters' latest solo set, The Lockdown Sessions. The album was recorded during the Covid lockdown in 2020 and 2021 and originally issued back in December was a digital-only download. The Lockdown Sessions include remakes of such well know tracks as "Vera" from Pink Floyd's The Wall along with "Two Suns In The Sunset" and "The Gunner's Dream" from Waters' final album with Floyd, 1983's The Final Cut. Also included is "Comfortably Numb 2022" which Waters and his band recorded live in concert during his recent "This Is Not A Drill" tour. (BestClassicBands)
  
  
• Iron Maiden has just rolled out three new Canadian arena concerts for this fall. New dates now on the itinerary are September 28th at Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome; September 30th at Edmonton's Rogers Place; and October 2nd at Vancouver's Rogers Arena. As previously reported, Maiden is slated to appear on October 6th at Indio, California's inaugural Power Trip Festival.

Avenged Sevenfold has announced the Life Is But A Dream 360 degree Immersive album experience, which will be at AREA15 in Las Vegas from May 11th through May 14th.

The band said in a statement, "We're excited to announce our #LifeIsButADream… 360º Immersive Album Experience at @AREA15official in Las Vegas from May 11-14. Be the first to experience our new record, three weeks before its official release, as it's meant to be heard - in its entirety from start to finish."

The project is due out on June 2nd.

Pearl Jam has just rolled out nine late-summer tour dates. The band will play double nights in St. Paul, Chicago, Fort Worth, and Austin. As of now, Indianapolis is the only city to featured the band performing a single show. There's been no word yet as to whether the band will be adding more dates to the run.

Inhaler, led by Bono's son Elijah Hewson, will open for the band at the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Austin stops. The tour's other support acts are still TBA.

Public tickets will be available through Ticketmaster Verified Fan Registration. Verified Fan ticket registration is open now through Tuesday, April 25th at 5 p.m. PT.

Bassist Jeff Ament told us that the Pearl Jam's initial goals when they started out were decidedly modest: "Y'know, I think we all thought, like, if we sold 50, 60,000 records, that would allow us to make a new record and, y'know, I think mostly we wanted to get out and play. Y'know, I think we wanted to be a touring band and we wanted to be better musicians and we wanted to be more powerful and tighter. And we knew in that process we'd be better songwriters, and so I think for us, y'know, at the time the focus was just to be a better band."

JUST ANNOUNCED: Pearl Jam North American tour dates (subject to change):

August 31 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
September 2 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
September 5, 7 - Chicago, IL - United Center
September 10 - Indianapolis, IN - Ruoff Music Center
September 13, 15 - Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena
September 18, 19 - Austin, TX - Moody Center

The National's Aaron Dessner praised Taylor Swift and compared her "lyrical prowess" to that of Joni Mitchell and said her abilities as an entertainer are like Beyonce.

Describing a writing session, he said, "She made me so much better than I could have ever imagined on my own. It felt like a lightning bolt hit the house."

Dessner shared his thoughts in an interview with The Telegraph.

"Dessner co-wrote and co-produced the bulk of 2020's Folklore and Evermore and he's contributed to Swift's re-released versions of Fearless and Red, as well as her 3am edition of Midnights.

TL;DR:

• The National's Aaron Dessner praised Taylor Swift and compared her "lyrical prowess" to that of Joni Mitchell,
• And her abilities as an entertainer to those of Beyonce.