Pulse – Rock Music News

Billie Eilish turned 21this week (Dec. 18) and some of music's biggest stars showed up to celebrate with her. She posted several photos on Instagram with her boyfriend, Jesse Rutherford. And one was of the couple, squeezed tightly in a photo booth along with Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey.

Dressed for the holiday, she wore a red and white, off-the-shoulder Santa-inspired short dress. Trimmed in white fur just like St. Nick, she also sported long gloves and candy cane earrings.

TL;DR:

• She posted photos on Instagram with her boyfriend, Jesse Rutherford in a photo booth with Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey.

Coldplay is giving back during the holidays. They encouraged their fans to drop by their Choose Love pop-up shop to buy essential supplies like warm coats, hot food and heating fuel for refugees and anyone who is displaced and needs help. You purchase and they deliver all over the world,

They posted: "Everything you buy will go directly to the people who need them the most. This year shop with love."

If you'd like to help, you'll find the online pop up shop on their website. They posted a video of a long line of people waiting outside the real store front in London. It showed shelves inside stocked with such things as toys for children, soccer balls, children's backpacks, coats and school supplies.

In other Coldplay news… Earlier this month, singer Chris Martin revealed that the band was in the studio. So next year should bring new music.

TL;DR:

The drama surrounding Journey will stretch into 2023 with guitarist Neal Schon filing a cease-and-desist order against Jonathan Cain for performing the group's music at a Donald Trump rally.

The pair, who share partnership of the band, are currently embroiled in a legal battle over group's American Express account, which Schon claims he has been denied access to. Now, Variety reports, Schon is taking umbrage with Cain appearing last month at Mar-A-Lago and performing Journey's signature tune, "Don't Stop Believin'" with a "backing chorus" featuring Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, conservative journalist and Donald Trump Jr.'s fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, and failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

Schon's complaint against Cain reads in part:

Although Mr. Cain is free to express his personal beliefs and associations, when he does that on behalf of Journey or for the band, such conduct is extremely deleterious to the Journey brand as it polarizes the band's fans and outreach. Journey is not, and should not be, political.

Mr. Cain has no right to use Journey for politics. His politics should be his own personal business. He should not be capitalizing on Journey's brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band (and is) harmful use of the brand.

Earlier this month, Journey released Live In Concert At Lollapalooza. The new live collection follows their Freedom studio set released last summer and features the band's July 31st, 2021 performance at Chicago's Lollapalooza.

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe is currently recording his first solo album due out in 2023. Coming on the heels of his two solo singles, Stipe told Departures.com, "I'm collaborating with a bunch of different musicians, and each of those songs, if I get my way -- which I think I will because I'm paying for it -- will be very different. I have no management. I have no label. For the first time in my adult life, I don't have a contract with anyone except myself. So I get to do whatever I want. . . There will be a visual representation for each of the songs. . . I'm hoping to build slowly."

Stipe, who has keep a low profile since R.E.M.'s 2011 split, explained being slow to come back around to music: "When the band disbanded, I couldn't imagine continuing with music, and it took five years before I could come back to the idea of it."

When asked if he felt vulnerable upon first making music outside the confines of R.E.M., he admitted: "Extremely vulnerable. But that's my superpower. I fall on my face very well. And then sometimes it's quite beautiful. Also, the idea of vulnerability, humanness, humanity. That's something that people, including myself, usually respond to."

Michael Stipe told us he believes in the power to reach people on an emotional level: "I go to music for certain things. I go to the Internet and newspapers and television for other things. I don't go to music to receive political ideas or messages or to be hectored or lectured. I go to music for something more emotional and more personal and something that's about me and that's the beauty of the medium."

Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl continues to post videos of his Hanukkah Sessions cover series.

A clip from Pink performing "Get the Party Started" has been a favorite this week among his fans.

Each year he teams with friend/musician/producer Greg Kurstin to put on a concert to celebrate the life and work of Jewish musicians and cover their music. The two of them also backed Kurstin's bandmate Inara George to perform a 70's classic from 10cc called "The Things We Do For Love." As a bonus, Tenacious D's Jack Black added background harmony. Earlier this week they did a version of Blood, Sweat & Tears' "Spinning Wheel."

The performances were recently taped in front of a small live audience in Los Angeles. More are expected to be released this week. You can find them on the Foo Fighters Twitter page.

On the first day of Winter, December 21, Weezer released another EP from their project based on seasons of the year. The new one is simply called SZNZ: Winter.

Rivers Cuomo described it in comparison to the others in the collection and called it, "The most meditative of the bunch."

He explained and said, "For each of the four seasons, I set myself the goal of focusing on a specific emotion. And for winter, it was sadness. And so I just kept meditating on sadness. And I guess that manifested as loneliness and a need for companionship and understanding."

In the interview with Consequence of Sound, he also announced that the band is getting ready to make a big tour announcement sometime soon. No other details were revealed.

TL;DR:

• On the first day of Winter, December 21, Weezer released another EP from their project based on seasons of the year.
• The new one is simply called SZNZ: Winter.
• The band is getting ready to make a big tour announcement sometime soon.

Wolfgang Van Halen is looking to wrap up sessions for Mammoth WVH's second album sometime next month. The guitarist spoke with Metal Talk and offered up an update on the band's sophmore release: "I'm probably about halfway through it, recorded. I got a bunch of stuff recorded before we started on this tour, and then once I go home, I have a little holiday break. But then in January, I'm going to finish it. So it'll be ready to be released sometime next year."

Although Mammoth WVH is a bonafide band while on the road -- Van Halen explained it's a different story once in the confines of the studio: "In the studio, I do everything. Nine Inch Nails is its own thing in the studio and then live, it's separate. I think I've found a comfortable way how I record albums now, so I'm having a good time doing that."

He went on to say, "I've been in bands before, where it's like a collective experience, and this is something that's separate from that. It's something that's fully my own, and it's very exciting to be able to have that sort of creative outlet."

He added that 2023 is already looking to be a major year for Mammoth WVH: "I'm grateful to be touring in any capacity. Recently, we announced that we're going to be opening for Metallica next year and the year after, which is really crazy. So I'm just honored to be out there and that people are willing to come to see us and from the bands have us open for them. I am very grateful for the opportunity."

While his biggest influence was undoubtedly his legendary father -- the late-Eddie Van Halen -- Wolfgang told us a while back about some of the other artists who inspired him: "The first band that I actually really dug a lot was Blink-182, because I think Travis Barker is an awesome drummer and I loved how the two singers harmonized -- it really got me into, like, harmonizing and drums and stuff. But the big change that got me into like heavier music was probably Tool. I liked the weird time signatures and just how heavy it got -- like, Danny Carey is a huge drum influence of mine, and so is Justin Chancellor on the bass."

Available now for pre-order is the new book, Alice Cooper @ 75, by famed rock journalist Gary Graff. The career-spanning tome will be published on January 31st -- just ahead of Alice's 75th birthday on February 4th and is described as "a lavish illustrated biography of the original 'shock rocker,' examining an extraordinary career through the lens of 75 key events, releases, and collaborations." The 208-page Alice Cooper @ 75 includes a whopping 350 color and black and white photos and sells for -- you guessed it -- $75.

According to the book's official announcement, "Every page is illustrated with stunning concert and candid offstage photography, as well as gig posters, album covers, period ads, and more. Bonus material includes a sturdy slipcase, a gatefold timeline, two pullout posters, and a previously unpublished 8-inch-by10-inch. This book (chronicles) Cooper's career from teenage garage rocker to international star and celebrity."

We asked author Gary Graff, who's known Alice for decades and covered every aspect of his incredible career, why year-after-year, Alice Cooper continues to excite a thriving, ever-growing fanbase: "Alice has stood the proverbial test of time for a lot of reasons. One is, while he doesn't necessarily have a mountain of hits -- he has enough that still sound contemporary here in 2022/2023. 'School's Out' is permanent. There is a place for that song in the permanent calendar every year. The show itself never gets old. Y'know, people know if they haven't bought an Alice Cooper album in 25 or 30 years they'll still go see an Alice Cooper show, because they love it. They love the theatrics and he usually puts together a pretty rockin' band."

Unlike so many '60s and '70s hard rockers, the old school entertainment establishment took to Alice Cooper immediately -- welcoming him into a club who's doors had seemingly been shut for decades. Gary Graff explained how and why Alice Cooper was able to transcend the boundaries that usually kept rock confined to the kids: "Basically what happened is, Hollywood got Alice Cooper and Alice himself is very articulate in talking about this; that those guys in the Friars Club looked at Alice as a younger guy doing a modern version of what they were doing. They saw in Alice the vaudeville. They saw the schtick -- they did not see the demon. They did not see the devil. They saw a performer younger than them but the 1970's version of the pie in your face."

Bullet For My Valentine just released a new music video for their song, "No More Tears To Cry."

The band describes it as a "dark but colorful story about dealing with mental health struggles." They also acknowledged that musically it's very different from the rest of the album, and said, "It has a lot of surprises on there, including slide guitar."

The song is from the deluxe version of their latest, self-titled album which was released in August.

TL;DR:

• Bullet For My Valentine just released a new music video for their song, "No More Tears To Cry."
• The band describes it as a "dark but colorful story about dealing with mental health struggles."

Machine Gun Kelly and The Chainsmokers will co-headline the Sports Illustrated Super Bowl pre-party in Scottsdale, Arizona. The event takes place on February 11, one day before the big game.

The Sports Illustrated party is known as the week's most exclusive and VIP-attended event.

Tickets and VIP tables will pre-sale beginning December 21, with prices ranging from $500 dollars to $100,000 dollars.

TL;DR:

• Machine Gun Kelly will co-headline the show with The Chainsmokers.
• Ticket prices range from $500 dollars to $100,000 dollars.

A rough timeline for a new Blink-182 album has emerged from guitarist Tom DeLonge. He posted that it's "coming in a few months." Other member have dropped hints, as we reported this week, drummer Travis Barker also posted a video from the studio.

DeLonge's comeback to Blink was announced in October and "Edging," their first single with him in over a decade, has now been at the top of the charts for seven weeks.

The band will kick off a world tour beginning March 11 in Tijuana, Mexico.

TL;DR:

• Tom DeLonge posted that new music it's "coming in a few months."

Sammy Hagar said that if David Lee Roth didn't want to join in for a Van Halen reunion at a prospective Eddie Van Halen tribute show -- he'd sing his songs. Rockcelebrities.net transcribed some of Hagar's interview with GrowthTV, in which he was asked about a possible Van Halen reunion: "I would be involved, and I would insist that Dave come along somehow. He's not so friendly. He doesn't play well with others and never has and never will, but if he didn't want to do it, then, of course, I can always sing those songs. Those songs are easy. I sing those songs, lying on my back, smoking a cigarette, even though I don't smoke."

He went on to say, "That would be awesome. I would say that if Alex (Van Halen) and Mike (Anthony) are in, Mike and I are really tight; Alex is a little quirky, and I don't know what he wants to do. He probably doesn't want to ever tour again without his brother. I wouldn't blame him if he did."

Regarding Wolfgang Han Halen -- the late-Eddie Van Halen's son and heir apparent to play guitar at any type of official band get-together, Hagar said, "Wolfie is the guy, but I don't think Wolfie wants to do that. I don't communicate with Wolfie that much. I'm not really that close with Wolfie anymore since I was not in the band. When he was little, I was really close to Wolfie."

Greta Van Fleet says the band is almost finished with their next album.

In an interview with Heavy Consequence over the weekend, drummer Danny Wagner said, "We are wrapping it up as we speak. It's nearing completion, and we're very excited about it.

Bassist Sam Kiszka described it as "conceptually going back to almost the days in the garage with the raw energy of the sound. But expanding on that, because we're the best musicians we've ever been."

When released, it will become Greta Van Fleet's third full-length, studio album.

TL;DR:

• Greta Van Fleet says they're almost finished with the next album.
• Danny Wagner said, "We are wrapping it up as we speak. It's nearing completion, and we're very excited about it.

Travis Barker surprised fans with a video from the studio playing his part on a song called "Anthem Part 3." Blink-182 fans were posting their excitement that Blink was back in the studio.

The first "Anthem was released in 1999 and "Anthem Part 2" was released in 2001.

The clip shows Barker furiously hitting a drum kit and the official Blink-182 Instagram account commented with the wide eyes emoji.

In October, Tom DeLonge confirmed that he was returning to the group, but until now they had not revealed what they were working on. However, DeLonge did say that the band was working on what he called "the best album of our career."

Blink-182 will kick off a nearly year-long world tour in March with stops in Australia, New Zealand, London, and Manchester.

TL;DR:

• Travis Barker posted a video from the studio playing his part on a song called "Anthem Part 3."
• The clip shows Barker furiously hitting a drum kit.

For the third year Dave Grohl celebrated Hanukkah by teaming up with friend and producer Greg Kurstin to cover songs made famous by Jewish artists.

As posted on Foo Fighters Twitter account, this time they took on a classic from Blood, Sweat & Tears and recorded "Spinning Wheel," with director/comedian Judd Apatow singing lead.

At the end of the song, Apatow jokingly turned to Grohl and said, "Dave I know you do five hour concerts, but that's all I can do. I need a month off."

So far, they've revealed only one song. But according to Variety, other performers included Dave's daughter Violet Grohl, PINK, Beck, Jack Black, Karen O, and Kyle Gass.

Launched in 2020, the Hanukkah Sessions benefits the Anti-Defamation League.

TL;DR:

• Dave Grohl celebrating Hanukkah by teaming up with friend and producer Greg Kurstin to cover songs made famous by Jewish artists.
• They took on a classic from Blood, Sweat & Tears and recorded "Spinning Wheel."

Dave Grohl joined Billie Eilish onstage on Thursday night (December 15th) at L.A.'s Kia Forum. Variety reported before Grohl led the pair through an acoustic reading of Foo Fighters' 1998 classic "My Hero," he touched on how Eilish helped soothe the band's emotions during a dark time, recalling, "Earlier this year, all of the Foo Fighters and our families gathered together at my house to watch the Grammys. And when Billie came out for her performance in the Taylor Hawkins T-shirt, the room was filled with real tears of love and gratitude."

During the Foo Fighters' 2021 Rock Hall induction, Dave Grohl explained that the Foos' band connection goes way beyond recording and touring together: "I would like to say that the best thing about being here tonight is being surrounded by our family. And when I say that, I mean, if anybody knows how the Foo Fighters work, the people that we are with and we worked with, it's been 20, 25, 30 years, and we stick together like a family. And I think that's important, because then, you're doing it together -- not just because it's work -- but because you love each other."

At both the London and L.A. Taylor Hawkins memorial concerts, the late-drummer's 16-year-old son Shane joined the Foos onstage filling in for his father during "My Hero."

Over the weekend, Metallica served up an early Christmas gift to fans that attended their Helping Hands Concert And Auction, by performing their new single to a live audience for the first time.

James Hetfield told the crowd, "Since this is such a special gig here, we thought we'd play ‘Lux Æterna' for you."

As another surprise, they welcomed St. Vincent to the stage to share vocals and guitar duties for "Nothing Else Matters." Other celebs included Jimmy Kimmel, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Morello, and Tony Hawk.

Consequence of Sound reported that the set was all acoustic and the band wrapped up the evening with "Seek & Destroy."

The event was for Metallica's non-profit, All Within My Hands Foundation which they started 5 years ago. They raise funds at the annual fundraiser for various reasons of need, including to help their community fight hunger, support education, and disaster relief.

TL;DR:

• Metallica served up an early Christmas gift to fans that attended their Helping Hands Concert And Auction, by performing their new single to a live audience for the first time.
• The event was for their non-profit, All Within My Hands Foundation which they started 5 years ago.

Rage Against The Machine's guitarist Tom Morello is making a guest performance on the next Maneskin single called "Gossip."

The song originated from a riff that guitarist Thomas Raggi had written and has been holding onto for a long time.

Raggi said: "Tom is one of the greatest musicians that I've always listened to and learned from. Playing with him is a dream come true. It's an enormous gift and a personal highlight of this incredible year"

Although the song won't be released until January 13^th, Maneskin did share a track online called "La Fine." Both songs will be on their upcoming album, Rush.

TL;DR:

• Rage Against The Machine's guitarist Tom Morello is making a guest performance on the next Maneskin single called "Gossip."
• It will be released January 13^th.

Barry Kerch of Shinedown says that an injury to his elbow nearly ended his drumming career.

Blabbermouth.net shared a testimonial video where he said, "As a band, we work out a lot. We work out every single show day pretty heavily to keep ourselves in shape because it's a pretty high-energy show."

Even though he was in good shape, the problem came while he was off tour and sharing some family time. He and his daughter were dancing and he kept lifting her up. The next morning he woke up in a lot of pain. He ended up having to take physical therapy 3 times a week due to severe tennis and golfer's elbow.

Kerch says that he has now recovered fully and that's how he was able to go back on Shinedown's world tour.

He said, "It's been an awesome journey, to have such a scary injury for my career, to be able to come back and feel like new again. Life is good."

Shinedown's latest album, Planet Zero debuted in the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 and went to #1 on 6 other Billboard charts.

TL;DR:

• Barry Kerch of Shinedown says that an injury to his elbow nearly ended his drumming career.
• He took physical therapy 3 times a week due to severe tennis and golfer's elbow and has not recovered fully.
• He said, "It's been an awesome journey, to have such a scary injury for my career, to be able to come back and feel like new again.

It's looking as though Pearl Jam will soon resume sessions for their followup album to 2020's Gigaton. Blabbermouth transcribed some of guitarist Stone Gossard's chat with Detroit's WRIF, where he explained, "The plan is that we're gonna do some more recording, and we're gonna try to finish a record here pretty soon. There's songs that are getting close to being done and there's a bunch that aren't. And we're gonna do something here pretty soon."

Gossard shed light on how the band develops their material: "We do it all the different ways. Sometimes we go in and somebody just brings a riff and we just work it up from the very -- 'I've got this and this part,' and everyone just jams on it. Usually that's the best formula for us, where everyone's kind of in the same room. But we all bring in fully realized demos."

He added, "We've got demos for days. Everybody writes in the band, so now it's really just trying to figure out, really, what's something different for us and what's something exciting. And we're working on that. I think we've got a good start on another record that will be hopefully good."

Stone Gossard told us a while back that the band never sets out with a predetermined goal for a new LP: "It's very difficult to set out to do something and achieve it, as opposed to just each song, try to make it as good as you can. We set out more like, we're gonna make a record and we know we're gonna -- everyone's gonna write some songs, and we're gonna try to do the best for each of those songs and then we're gonna see what we've got at the end and figure out how to put 'em together, y'know? It's much less planned than you would imagine."

Pearl Jam will next perform on February 26th in Tempe, Arizona at the Innings Festival at Tempe Beach Park & Arts Park.

Billie Eilish surprised fans at a Los Angeles concert this week when she brought Labrinth out on stage to sing with her.

He performed a couple of songs, but most noted was a duet they did for an upcoming release called, "I've Never Felt So Alone." He also sang one of the songs he composed for the HBO series Euphoria, called "Mount Everest."

Playing in front of her hometown audience, Eilish had 32 songs on her set list, including "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."

TL;DR:

• The did a duet for an upcoming release called, "I've Never Felt So Alone."

Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland has reportedly been in the studio. On December 14th, Borland was spotted at Rancho de la Luna Studios in Joshua Tree, CA.

No word on if the band is working on a new project. But back in April, Borland revealed in an interview that a new Limp Bizkit album could be underway late this year.

During a recent radio interview, Paramore's Hayley Williams revealed that Billie Eilish reminds her of herself. She explained, "We've spoken throughout the years since she kind of came onto the scene. The first thing I experienced or I witnessed of her was ‘When the Party's Over,' that video."

She continued, "And then I watched an interview with her and I felt like there was something inside of me that was watching me — slash us — as teenagers doing interviews and navigating this world."

She added, "I just feel such a love towards her and her family and I think they're so special."

• While appearing on SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk Podcast, Slash dispelled the long rumored tale that the intro to Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" was actually just a warm-up exercise: "Somebody else said that and it just became one of those things. It wasn't a warm-up exercise. I was sitting around the house where Guns used to live at one point in '86 I guess it was and I just came up with this riff. It was just me messing around and putting notes together like any riff you do. You're like, 'This is cool,' and then you put the third note and find a melody like that. So it was a real riff, it wasn't a warm-up exercise."
  • He went on to say, "That's how it started, and then Izzy (Stradlin) started playing the chords behind it and then Axl (Rose) heard it and it started from there." (Loudwire)
    
    
• Regarding Kiss' future beyond its ongoing final tour, Paul Stanley told Ultimate Classic Rock, "Kiss is like an army or a sports team. When the MVP is no longer playing or retired, the team doesn't call it quits. On a battlefield, an army, when they lose soldiers, doesn't wave the white flag. Somebody else picks up the weapon and runs forward. So in one form or another, I believe there will always be a Kiss." (UltimateClassicRock)