Pulse – Rock Music News

• During a recent chat on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, Sammy Hagar commented on Wolfgang Van Halen's remark that Van Halen was too dysfunctional to play a tribute show for Eddie Van Halen. Blabbermouth transcribed Hagar explaining, "Alex Van Halen and I don't talk. . . I reached out to Alex again recently. Mikey (Anthony) had a sad thing happen in his family, and I reached out to Al, and he wouldn't return my call or my e-mail. And so I said, 'You know what? F*** it.' It's not on the top of my list, my agenda. I think Eddie deserves, definitely, a tribute. . . And the whole world would show up and the whole world would do it. I don't know why people put it on (David Lee) Roth. I don't talk to Dave. And if he did it, he'd wanna do it without me. I'm sure that's part of the dysfunction that Wolfie's talking about."
  • Hagar went on to say: "I'll make a statement that I don't know is true or not, but what do you wanna bet that he goes, 'I will only do it if Hagar's not there.' And if that were the case, that's typical Roth, and that's part of the dysfunction. It's not like he controls it; it's just (that) he doesn't play well with others. And like I said, if Alex came to me and wanted to do it, I'm in. Absolutely -- let's go (and) do it somehow. But Alex has got a stick up his ass about something with me still, and he's gonna take it to his grave, I guess. (I made peace with Eddie before he died but) I don't think I made peace with Al. And I don't think I'm going to unless he reaches back out to me. I've done it about five times now." (Blabbermouth)
    
    
• Donovan joined Robert Plant and his band Saving Grace on stage on November 3rd to perform his 1966 autumnal classic "Season Of The Witch." Donovan, who enlisted the help of a pre-Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page during his legendary '60s sessions, hopped on stage at Ireland's Wexford Spiegeltent Festival to perform the Sunshine Superman favorite. Plant and his band have been also performing the Donovan standard, "Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)" during their recent shows. (Ultimate Classic Rock)
  
  
• Bono kicked off his musical and aural "Stories Of Surrender" book tour on November 3rd at Manhattan's Beacon Theatre. The 14-city trek is in support of his new memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story.
• The U2 frontman, who interspersed a handful of songs between his chat, was backed by cellist Kate Ellis, harpist Gemma Doherty and producer Jacknife Lee. He joked, "I'm never without my band. But I have their permission for one night." Among the notables in the audience were audience that included former President Bill Clinton, Tom Hanks, Katie Holmes, Ed Burns and Christy Turlington. (USA Today)
  • Bono's North American 'Surrender' book tour dates (subject to change):
    November 4 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
    November 6 - Toronto, ON - Meridian Hall
    November 8 - Chicago, IL - The Chicago Theatre
    November 9 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
    November 12 - San Francisco, CA - Orpheum Theatre
    November 13 - Los Angeles, CA - The Orpheum Theatre

Avril Lavigne released her latest single "I'm A Mess (with Yungblud)" via Travis Barker's DTA Records on Thursday (November 3rd).

The official music video for "I'm A Mess (with Yungblud)," written by Lavigne, Barker, Yungblud, and John Feldmann, also dropped Thursday.

The visual, directed by P Tracy, was filmed in both London and Los Angeles.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will induct it's 2022 members on Saturday night (November 5th) at L.A.'s Microsoft Theater, with an edited version of the event airing on November 19th on HBO.

This year's Rock Hall inductees are Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Eurythmics, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, and Eminem. 2022's Musical Excellence Award will go to Judas Priest along with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Early Influence Awards will go to Harry Belafonte and Elizabeth Cotten, with Ahmet Ertegun Awards going to recording engineer, producer, and executive Jimmy Iovine, R&B singer and Sugar Hill Records founder Sylvia Robinson, and attorney, Allen Grubman.

During a recent chat with Forbes, Rock Hall Chairman John Sykes revealed the event will include appearances and inductions by Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, The Edge, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Pink, Olivia Rodrigo, Maren Morris, and Zac Brown.

The 2022 Rock Hall nominees that did not make the final cut are Beck, Kate Bush, Devo, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls, A Tribe Called Quest, and Dionne Warwick.

Artists are eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after their debut release. For every handful of acts that enter the Hall each year, there are dozens that never make it past the final ballot and hundreds more who aren't even in the running.

We recently asked singer Kate Pierson how she felt about the B-52's being passed over for induction every year since 2003: "I think we should be in it -- that's how I feel (laughs). I mean, I really kind of think it should be more inclusive and they should include everyone (laughs). I don't know, it just seems kind of silly to me to have this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, y'know, they only -- it's like a little club, or something. And I guess you have to lobby to get in and, yeah, it'd be great, but I'm not saying I don't wanna be in that club (laughs) but (laughs), y'know, I don't know what it takes to get in there."

With Styx still a top live concert draw -- not to mention having their name now gracing moons on neighboring planets -- we asked guitarist J.Y. Young how he feels about the band's chances in finally getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in view of hard rockers Journey, Yes, Rush, and Heart recently getting the nod: "Rush is something I wouldn't have expected. But because they're sort of non-traditional. They're a little more arty than the rest of us it seems. But Heart, the fact that the one sister was married to Cameron Crowe, who was obviously. . . wrote for (Rolling Stone publisher) Jann Wenner. Jann Wenner plays such a very big role in the selection process, that Heart makes sense in being the first act -- and it's women, so it's unique. Yeah, Heart and Rush have now opened the door for the possibility in the future. But really, at this point (laughs), Tommy (Shaw) and I really don't care."

J. Geils Band frontman Peter Wolf is closely associated to the Rock Hall and in recent years has made it onto the Hall's shortlist a few times: "I'm someone that, y'know, appreciates what the Hall of Fame does, so, I'm honored. Also, for me, what I think the Geils Band has accomplished -- besides putting on the 'hellified' shows we tried to do night after night -- we really tried hard to give an awareness to artists that we worshiped and adored. I really think at the end of the day, we turned a lot of people on to John Lee Hooker, to Smokey Robinson. We turned a lot of people on to, y'know, so many artists that have gone unrecognized."

Judas Priest will finally see induction this year, albeit in the "Musical Excellence Award" category -- as opposed to a straight on rank and file vote, which is how Ringo Starr was able to gain entry as a solo artist. Lead singer Rob Halford -- told us even getting on the preliminary list made him proud to have the band considered part of the fabric that connects the best of rock: "It's just fantastic to be in the same category of all the other extraordinary talent is a thrill. And it just re-emphasizes the broad spectrum of what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame represents. It's a little bit of everybody, again."

Backstage at their 2014 Rock Hall induction, Daryl Hall -- who has been openly critical of Hall & Oates being ignored by the Hall of Fame for so long -- was asked about how he felt to finally be inducted: "Y'know what I think? I think it's all about the past and we're about the present, if you want to know the truth. I got so much going on personally — and I know John does, too. I actually had to take time off to do this, ‘cause I got so many other projects going on. I mean, that's not blowing smoke, it's really true. I got two television shows (laughs), touring (growls) -- on and on and on."

Despite "The Twist" being one of the biggest and most influential hits of the rock era, Chubby Checker, who has been eligible since the Rock Hall's inaugural in 1986, is resigned to the fact that he won't be inducted: "It's not a big deal. I mean, it's not completed without me anyway. I just like to talk about what we've done in the music business and what is still being done as a result of our being in the music industry and that will just put the Hall of Fame to shame. We don't need to talk about them. It's no sense. The Hall is not completed without Chubby Checker. What we've done is so incredible. It's okay."

Three Dog Night has been eligible for induction since 1993. Co-founder Chuck Negron says they've consistently been passed over simply because the group didn't write their biggest hits: "It's a very strange thing. For some reason Three Dog Night has been stuck with this stigma that we weren't innovative and that's mind-boggling. Based all on the fact that we didn't write (our own material). We changed the music . . . the landscape of the touring business, we created stadium tours. And, y'know, if you're going to talk about writing, Elvis Presley didn't write a song."

A while back, Eric Carmen said that although the Raspberries have long been cited as "power pop" innovators and have been eligible for induction since 1997, they simply lack the political clout to get into the Rock Hall: "Having been in the music business now for 35 years, or whatever it is, and having had situations where I've bumped into Jann Wenner and some of the powers that be over there, there is so much politics involved in anybody actually getting into the Rock Hall."

Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently ran an exhibit on Graham Nash, titled, Touching The Flame. We asked Nash, who has been inducted twice as a member of both the Holies and Crosby, Stills, & Nash, about the possibility of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young being inducted anytime soon: "Not only that -- what about me? I'd like to see me in there! I'm a pretty historical figure regardless of my relationship with the Hollies or CSN or CSNY. And I definitely think CSNY is a completely different band than Crosby, Stills, & Nash -- and why shouldn't they be in there?"

Back in 2013, 11 long years after becoming eligible, Heart was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Lead singer Ann Wilson shed some light on the fine line between being consistently passed over and finally being accepted into the Hall: "We've had occasions to go in when we're in Cleveland and do various little things at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, y'know, little musical events and stuff like that. I've been there a few times and seen all the cool items they have there. I know people tend to do go, when they don't get inducted into the Rock Hall, they're like, 'Oh, well it doesn't mean anything' -- and then when they do, all of a sudden: 'Yeah! It's great!' It's such a hard thing for a musician, because the thing that makes you do it is the music itself."

Elvis Costello, who was inducted with the Attractions into the Rock Hall back in 2003, remains adamant that the event and honor really means very little in the grand scheme of things: "It's a box with some old things in, let's get it straight. It's a trip to the fun fair, that's all it is. It was great to sit around and see, y'know, the guys in my band's families have a night out where we celebrated that we, y'know, we've lived long enough to, y'know, have joined this crazy club. But really, in the long run, the people who put us in there I don't have any respect for."

Steve Miller, who had been critical of the Hall before he was picked for inclusion in 2016, was asked by the press what he would change about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- and even lashed out at a publicist trying to stymie his tirade: "Uh, yeah. Everything. The whole process is unpleasant. The whole process needs to be changed, from the top to the bottom. 'Doesn't need to be this hard, there's nothing fancy going on out there that requires all of this stuff. They need to get their legal work straight, they need to respect the artists they say they're honoring, which they don't -- I don't have any of my paper work. . . is signed. I have no licensing agreements with these people, they're trying to steal my footage, they're tying to make me indemnify them. When they told me I was inducted, they said 'You can have two tickets; one for your wife and one for yourself. Want another one? It's $10,000 dollars. Sorry, that's the way it goes.' I said, 'I'm playing here, what about my band? What about their wives?' What about. . . They make this so unpleasant that they came this close. . . (to publicist) No, we're not going to wrap this one up! I'm going to wrap you up. You're going to sit over there and learn something. So, here's what you need to know. . . This is how close this whole show came to not happening because of the way the artists are actually being treated right now. So, I'll wrap it up right now (applause)." (1:31 OC: . . . up right now)

Back in 2016, Rock Hall favorite Steve Van Zandt was asked backstage about the long and slow process for classic artists to finally gain entry into the Hall: "But, it's tough, man. It's tough to get in. Y'know, it's not easy to get in. (Laughs) That's why when people don't show up at this thing, man, I get crazy! because it's so hard to get in. It's a pretty big list -- J.Geils Band, y'know, high on my list. There's quite a few, still."

There have been several times during the Rock Hall's induction ceremonies that band members have been inducted but due to politics and bad blood between group members are forced to sit on the sidelines during the inductees' performances.

The first occurrence took place in 1993 when John Fogerty refused to share the stage with Creedence Clearwater Revival members Stu Cook and Doug Clifford: "(Doug Clifford): That was our night too. For the band. The band was inducted. And to have that happen, all of our children were there, including Tom's son who was going to fill in for his dad (Tom Fogerty). And then when we called John on it, he says, 'I don't like you. I won't play with you. You didn't help me get out of my contract 25 years ago.' What?! (Stu Cook): You're the guy who signed it without a lawyer! (Doug Clifford): Yeah, well."

In 2006 ousted Blondie guitarist Frank Infante tried to embarrass Debbie Harry and the other members into letting him and former bassist Nigel Harrison perform with the group, Harry made it clear they weren't welcome and afterwards said it was a tense situation: "I actually sort of expected much worse, if the truth must be known. I don't know if there's any way to really handle a situation like that. There's been, y'know, some bad feeling for a long time -- there's been lawsuits -- and, y'know, it's a bad feeling, really."

Stu Cook believes bad scenes between former bandmates will probably continue to happen as long as the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame forces estranged musicians back together under the spotlight: "Creedence (Clearwater Revival), Blondie, Sly (& The Family Stone), you know all these misadventures that the Hall has had trying to push their agenda. . . Somebody's going to get hurt, y'know, their feelings hurt or there's going to be some kind of a scene. I guess they always thought that they could control it. I don't know, our induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame wasn't very satisfying, needless to say."

Shortly before his 2004 death, Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone told us he was confused by a few of some of the inductees to the Hall over the years. "I'm not sure what they consider. . . It's the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but you have Isaac Hayes, and Isaac Hayes is not rock 'n' roll. You have Paul Simon in and he's not rock 'n' roll. I don't really get it right at all times because I see people that are not rock n' roll."

THE FOLLOWING ARTISTS ARE NOT IN THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

Peter Frampton, Jethro Tull, Foreigner, Bad Company, Boston, the Monkees, Joe Cocker, Sonny & Cher, Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, Gram Parsons, Grand Funk Railroad, Frankie Avalon, Squeeze, Todd Rundgren, Badfinger, Big Star, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Sting, Humble Pie, Eddie Money, Harry Nilsson, Beatles recording engineers Norman Smith and Geoff Emerick, Styx, Free, Billy Idol, Duran Duran, Rockpile, Culture Club, Lenny Kravitz, the Runaways, rock photographers Jim Marshall, Ethan Russell, Gered Mankowitz, Dezo Hoffman, Astrid Kirchherr, Annie Leibovitz, Henry Diltz, and Bob Gruen; Chubby Checker, the Guess Who, rock journalist Lester Bangs, the Turtles, Phil Collins, Rolling Stones pianist and co-founder Ian Stewart, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, Kansas, Ronnie Lane, Thin Lizzy, Joe Walsh, Delaney & Bonnie, Poco, the Dictators, Brian Eno, Television, Phil Ramone, Meat Loaf, America, XTC, the Searchers, Leslie Gore, the Raspberries, the B-52s, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Herman's Hermits, Mountain, Blue Oyster Cult, Chic, the New York Dolls, and many more.

Taylor Momsen recently told NME that "it was an absolute honor" to sing at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in September.

At the event, The Pretty Reckless frontwoman sang Soundgarden's "The Day I Tried To Live" and "Black Hole Sun" as part of a band made up of Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novosellc and Soundgarden's Matt Cameron and Kim Thayll.

Momsen said in an interview published Wednesday (November 3rd), "It was an absolute honor to be asked to sing at that. I loved Taylor dearly. What an incredible musician and one of the best people I've ever met in my life. It was just an extraordinarily moving night. The energy in the room was beautiful. Everyone who was there was there for the right reason; egos were checked at the door. And then, obviously, to play with some of my heroes of music was just unbelievable. I have to mention Dave and the FOOs as well; the way they went about the show was so well done and so beautiful. It was a very moving evening, very emotional. I feel like Taylor would have really loved it. Dave did a wonderful job honoring his friend."

The singer had previously performed with Thayll and Cameron at a show honoring Soundgarden's Chris Cornell.

The Pretty Reckless will release a new album, Other Worlds, a collection of acoustic recordings, covers and other reimaginings, on Friday (November 4th).

Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has opened up about getting sober. During an interview on The Moon Under Water podcast, Taylor, who has been sober since 2010, said, "The first few years is weird, because you realize quickly how much a part of your personality booze has become, and you kind of have to sort out who you are, what you're comfortable with and largely just the habit of it. I was never a big beer drinker, so non-alcoholic brew, that wasn't the key. So I started with sodas and then just kind of went to water. And now that's just what I do."

He continued, "To me, going out and hanging out in a pub or a bar or whatever is more about the company you keep. And you realize at some point the golden moment is going to go away. So you try to time your departure right around that time where you're just, like, 'Okay, we've got about 10 minutes before he becomes a super mess. So I'm gonna split, and I'll talk to you guys later.'"

He added, "I try not to 'Irish goodbye' everybody, where you just split. I only did that, really, when I was drinking. Laughs But I make sure that everybody's good; I make sure that everybody's… Okay, if anybody needs a ride home, I'm the first one to do it. 'Cause it's usually just me and my wife. My wife still drinks, but she's very social. She's way better at it than I was. Usually right about the time she's starting to kind of… She's just, like, 'I'm tired. We need to split.' I'm, like, 'Ah. You had me at 'I'm ready to go.'' So we're out the door and heading for home."

Halestorm's Lzzy Hale has opened up about the possibility of a solo album. During an interview with Sweden's RockSverige, when asked if she thought there'd ever be a solo album for her, she said, "There might. She added, "My guys in the band are actually begging me to do that. They're the ones going, 'Hey, you can do a solo album so we can have some time off?"

She continued, "I have a lot of songs that are very much… If you're thinking of Stevie Nicks's 'Bella Donna'… You can hear when you're listening to FLEETWOOD MAC and when you're listening to Stevie Nicks's solo records where her voice is in the band," she explained. "FLEETWOOD MAC would not be the same without her, but you can really accentuate that corner of the world of the band."

Lzzy added, "I feel like if I were to do a solo record, which I have plenty of songs that have never seen the light of day that I could choose from, you would definitely be able to hear what my specific influence is on the band."

Lizzy went on, "Yeah, absolutely, I think it most likely will be in the future. Whether it's my decision or the guys are, like, 'You just go!' Either way, it's gonna happen."

Paul Stanley shed light on his 50-year-friendship with Gene Simmons. During a fans Q&A while on board the latest Kiss Kruise, Stanley spoke frankly, with Blabbermouth transcribing portions of the chat, in which he said of his creative partner, "We're very different, but we certainly share a pride in what we do, a work ethic. Maybe because our parents came from Europe where I think that that's important stuff, is that pride in the work you do and to work hard for your money. Other than that, I think one of the things that took me a long time to learn -- and I think Gene, by the way… I mean, he's family to me; he's a brother. I remember there were things about him that used to drive me crazy. Then I realized that that's not his issue; that's my issue."

Stanley went on to say, "When people do things and it bothers you, you need to figure out why it bothers you, not expect them to change. It's not about them. And things that used to bother me about Gene, I just had to kind of figure out, 'Wait a minute. That's my issue that bothers me. And why does it bother me?' Because he can only be the best he that he can be; he's never gonna be me, and I'm never gonna be him. So it's just a matter of putting a lot of that stuff aside. We're not gonna change anybody else, so we need to figure out why it bothers us."

When we last caught up to Paul Stanley, he admitted to us that it's taken a lot of work to keep the pair moving forward and on the same page: "Oh, sure. That over the years that's been an ongoing t heme in our relationship. But time is the ultimate judge, and there have been times where I've been very angry and resentful -- and I'm not saying momentarily -- I'm saying for long periods of time. But, again, over time, everything falls in place and you get a better perspective -- hopefully. If you don't expect from someone what's not possible, then you won't be disappointed."

Kiss will next perform on November 30th in Japan at the Tokyo Dome.

During a cross-generational chat with alternative rocker Yungblood, Roger Daltrey proved he's still a died-in-the-wool, old school rocker. Daltrey, who's now 78, revealed, "I don't do the internet at all. I have a very bad opinion of social media, I'm afraid. It kind of turned bad once they put the 'likes' in on Facebook. And then people start to play for the 'likes,' which is their ego, and egos destroy you. So, I don't even go there. I don't care what you say about me, do what you like."

While discussing the changing trends in rock fashion, the Who frontman let it slip: "I've got to tell you, when Axl (Rose) first appeared with shorts and T-shirts onstage, we all f***ing laughed."

Daltrey took time out to critique the sound of the Who's last album, 2019's Top Two WHO collection, by asking, "What is it with American producers? The last album we did, we had an American producer, I won't mention his name (Dave Sardy), but I couldn't work with him because he wanted everything in the pocket. Music's not like that. Music comes from inside. If it straddles the beat, it don't matter."

Roger Daltrey has been adamant that his main purpose for being on stage has always been to help the audience lighten its collective load: "There's enough people having a miserable time out there, and live music -- 'great way to lift your spirits. I want to give people a good time and if we have fun, they'll have fun."

The Who closes out its North American tour on Friday and Saturday (November 4th and 5th) at Las Vegas' Dolby Live.

Metallica's James Hetfield posted a photo on the band's social media platforms showing him dressed as Stranger Things' "Eddie Munson" for Halloween.

Back in July, Metallica met up with and jammed with actor Joseph Quinn, who portrays "Eddie" and had performed the band's 1986 song "Master Of Puppets" during show's season four finale. Stranger Things' use of the classic track spurred the song to hit the charts again after a new generation of fans discovered the tune.

Jane's Addiction reflected on a time when Smashing Pumpkins showed up to one of their shows in Denver back in 1992. During a video conversation, Billy Corgan said, "There was almost nobody there. It was like a 100 people. So when you guys came in, about halfway through the show, we were like, ‘God, they're here!'" He continued, "We all freaked out, because now we were just playing for you guys."

Meanwhile, Perry Farrell also discussed why Jane's Addiction decided to release a live recording as a debut. Farrell said, "The idea being, I don't know if they'll ever get to hear us as raw and as energized as we are right now. I wanted them to hear us and know of us in our most honest, innocent… I wanted to capture that before anyone could ruin that."

Lamb of God's first ever "Headbangers Boat" heavy metal cruise will be aboard the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship in the Fall of 2023. The cruise, whch will be from October 31st through November 4th, 2023, will set sail from Miami, Florida to Nassau, Bahamas. Lamb of God will be joined by Mastodon, Hatebreed, GWAR, Shadows Fall, God Forbid, Fit for an Autopsy and more.

Lamb of God will perform two unique sets, including a full performance of their influential 2004 album, Ashes of the Wake. Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton will also play a solo set.

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt played a 36-song set with their side project, The Coverups, at the Moroccan Lounge in Los Angeles Friday (October 28th) night.

Spin reports that the cover band promoted the gig as a "costume party" and dressed as different characters while playing songs like Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead" and the Misfits' "Where Eagles Dare, in addition to tracks from The Cure, Ramones, Cheap Trick Veruca Salt, Nirvana and David Bowie.

The band also included a tribute to the late Jerry Lee Lewis with a cover of "Great Balls of Fire."

Halestorm will release the deluxe version of Back From The Dead on December 9th.

According to the band's Instagram, the updated tracklist will include seven new songs, most of which were created in the early days of writing the band's fifth studio album.

They wrote Friday (October 28th), "We are incredibly stoked to be able to give you these songs. And one of the seven is out now!! It's called 'Mine' and you can listen wherever you stream music."

Coldplay's broadcast of Friday (October 28th) night's show at Buenos Aires River Plate Stadium reached a record-breaking number of countries for a live cinema event.

According to a press release, the band's performance was seen by 81 countries around the world.

In addition to playing classic hits from their careers, Coldplay were joined on stage by Jin of BTS for the debut live performance of "The Astronaut" – Jin's new solo single, co-written by Coldplay.

The band previously collaborated with BTS on "My Universe."

Iggy Pop has dropped a new single, titled "Frenzy" featuring Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. The new track from Pop's still-unnamed next album, was produced by Andrew Watt -- who's recently been behind the boards for Ozzy Osbourne, Eddie Vedder, and Elton John. Watt, whose label Gold Tooth will release Pop's new album, also contributes guitar to "Frenzy."

Iggy Pop said of the hard-driving new track: "Being stalked by a socio is a great way to fire up the blood. I'm the guy with no shirt who rocks; Andrew and Gold Tooth get that, and we made a record together the old-fashioned way. The players are guys I've known since they were kids and the music will beat the s*** out of you. Have a great day."

Not too long ago, Iggy Pop told us that he still thinks of himself as an artist -- and is always trying to break new ground while staying true to who and what he is: "It makes you think about what you're doing the whole thing for. . . I did start out to be a musician. I heard a guy in Poison the other day say 'I never wanted to be a musician. I wanted to be a rock star. That's what I became,' which is fine, but not me. I started out to be a musician. I'll stick with that, thank you very much."

AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson maintains that none of the lyrics to the band's 1980 Back In Black album were written by his predecessor, late co-founder, Bon Scott. Rolling Stone reported for years there's been a persistent rumor that Scott actually wrote the album's lyrics, which were supposedly found in notebooks left behind -- but instead credited to Johnson.

In his new memoir, The Lives Of Brian, Brian Johnson tries to finally set the record straight: "The conspiracy theories are legion -- usually started by people who think they know what happened but weren't there. It was me at the end of the pen, writing every night and every morning, with only the title to work with. That's what happened. That's the truth and I really hope that settles it."

A highlight of AC/DC's 2003 Rock Hall acceptance speech was when Brian Johnson quoted the band's 1977 song "Let There Be Rock," written by late-cofounder Bon Scott: "'In the beginning, back in 1955, man, didn't know about the rock n' roll show and all that jive. The white man had the schmaltz, the black man had the blues, but no one knew what they was gonna do, but Tchaikovsky had the news -- he said, 'Let there be rock.'' Bon Scott wrote that, and it's a real privilege to accept these awards tonight."

Green Day and Eddie Vedder are set to headline Arizona Innings Festival. Other performers include Marcus Mumford, Weezer, The Black Crowes & more. The two-day festival will take place February 25th and 26th, 2023, at Tempe Beach and Tempe Arts Park.

Other confirmed acts include The Offspring, The Pretty Reckless, The Revivalists, Mt. Joy, The Head and the Heart, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, The Glorious Sons, Paris Jackson, Annie DiRusso, Umphrey's McGee, Magic City Hippies and Heartless Bastards and Hazel English.

Papa Roach's Jacoby Shaddix has opened up about being sober for a decade. According to Spin, he said, ""When I first quit drinking I was kind of ashamed of myself in a weird way, because I was like, not the real deal."

He continued, "I had a real rough time of it for some years, trying to stay sober and going on the road and touring. I was trying to hide it and that wasn't working out for me, so finally in 2012 was when I had my last sip of alcohol. I'm super grateful, that's something that I can honestly say. I don't ever want to f*ck with booze again."

• Due to a recent injury, Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction will be sitting out of this week's shows on their joint "Spirit On Fire" tour with Smashing Pumpkins. Farrell and the band are hoping to be back on stage this Saturday (October 29th) at Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
  • Farrell posted a message to fans on social media, which reads in part: "After Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, I suffered an injury that resulted in my inability to perform. I have since been in pain and discomfort and have been receiving rigorous physio therapy that has done wonders. Due to doctors (sic) orders, we regrettably and forcibly have to cancel the following shows, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, as well as Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. Our friends, Our Lady Of Peace will be covering the next three shows as we aim to rejoin the tour this Saturday in Cleveland. I am filled with sadness and frustration to have to announce this, but I have to mend in order to continue the tour and get back on stage."
    
    
• Red Hot Chili Peppers have scored a pair of back-to-back chart toppers on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart. The placings mark the first time a band has enjoyed two chart-toppers in a row since 2005 when System Of A Down hit the top spot with both Mezmerize and then Hypnotize.
• The band's new set, Return Of The Dream Canteen returns the band to Number One after Unlimited Love held down the top spot earlier this year.
  • Unlimited Love has fared better on Billboard 200, which snagged the band Number One honors, with Return Of The Dream Canteen having to settle for Top Three status. (Ultimate-Guitar.com)
    
    
• Last Saturday night (October 22nd), Kiss performed an ultra-private gig for tobacco's biggest company, Philip Morris International. According to reports, the band played a small club in Austin, Texas called the Vulcan Gas Company for only about 100 guests. The entire performance has since found its way online. (MichaelCavacini.com)
  
  
• Wolfgang Van Halen posted a photo of his father's 1962 Gibson SG Jr., which he's used on Mammoth WVH's second album currently in production. The guitar, which had its lower horn sawed off by Eddie Van Halen in the early-1980's, was used by the late-guitar legend for the slide guitar part on 1982's "Dirty Movies" from Van Halen's classic Diver Down collection.

LIMP BIZKIT TO RELEASE 'CHOCOLATE STARFISH AND THE HOT DOT FLAVORED WATER' ON VINYL: Limp Bizkit's Chocolate Starfish and The Hot Dog Flavored Water is set for its first vinyl release in two decades. According to The PRP, sales of the six times multi-platinum 2000 album will launch this Friday (October 28th).

OZZY OSBOURNE TO PERFORM AT THE SECOND ANNUAL METAVERSE MUSIC FESTIVAL: Ozzy Osbourne is set to perform virtually for the Ozzfest portion of the second annual Metaverse Music Festival. Consequence reports that the event will be hosted in Decentraland from November 10th through the 13th. The free festival will feature more than 100 artists virtually performing against community genre stages.

Bono has revealed that U2 has a new album ready for release that the band will hold off on issuing. The legendary singer spoke to The New York Times ahead of the November 1st publication of his memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, and shed light on the new album -- which will not be the band's next release.

Bono explained, "We have almost finished this album called Songs Of Ascent, which we're not putting out. We're going to put out a rock 'n' roll album. So we're not putting this out, but I'm telling you it's awesome . . . The feeling of The Edge's and my songwriting together is at a very high level. My phone here is packed with new songs. We were tempted to put them out -- out of competition. But we felt that the material was so strong that it deserved time to make sure people heard about them as well as heard them. When we're in the room together with Larry (Mullen, Jr.) and Adam (Clayton), it's great. I'm excited. . . There's about 20 of them finished."

Bono characterized what he wants the next U2 album to sound like instead: "A noisy, uncompromising, unreasonable guitar album. In among that unreasonableness, it is likely that I will put the part of me, the anger that hasn't been managed, to good use."

Bono went on to say, "I would not be surprised if U2 makes the best album of its life in the next (few) years. Not because the world needs it, but because the band might. That's a great reason to go into the studio."

Bono explained that U2 has always gone into the studio with a certain amount of reverence and respect for the creative process: "It is a big deal, and it's a very, very big deal for us. When we go into a studio, it's kind of like -- it's a temple, y'know, it's a place where we really have to give ourselves and get the music. And we don't do it lightly."

Just recently, Billie Eilish and rumored boyfriend, Jesse Rutherford confirmed their relationship by kissing in public. Now, Hollywood Life reports that her brother Finneas approves of him as well.

The source told the publication that his sister and Rutherford go way back. He went on to say that the couple gets along "flawlessly."

Not only does Finneas approve of their romance, but he also loves seeing his sister so happy and giddy.

Rutherford is a successful artist and sings with the band, The Neighborhood.

TL;DR:

• Just recently, Billie Eilish and rumored boyfriend, Jesse Rutherford confirmed their relationship by kissing in public. Now, Hollywood Life reports that her brother Finneas approves of him as well.
• He says he loves seeing his sister so happy and giddy. Rutherford is a successful artist and sings with the band, The Neighborhood.

Greta Van Fleet has postponed two more concerts in order to allow frontman Josh Kiszka more time to recover from a ruptured eardrum. The band has scrapped this week's shows in Hollywood, Florida and Tampa, Florida just days after they postponed shows in Raleigh, North Carolina, Greenville, South Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida.

Kiszka said in a video message to fans, "Myself, the band and our entire team thought that perhaps — we were hoping that my ear would be ready to fly, so to speak, and to get on stage and to perform and do all those things, which, unfortunately, that's just not the case. As a result, we're going to need to reschedule the Hollywood show and the Tampa show. And I realize it's probably really hard timing for a lot of you and really, really frustrating. And it is — it's extraordinarily frustrating and disappointing for us to have to do that."

He continued, "Sometimes things like this come about and you don't expect that you're gonna have to make some kind of extreme decision, and that's the case here."

He added, "I have to say that I'm extremely sorry to all of you for this situation. It's been a difficult year for a lot of people, no doubt, and we're no different, I suppose. With Jake getting pneumonia and myself getting COVID and now a ruptured eardrum, it definitely hasn't gone entirely as planned.