Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil is now part owner of Las Vegas-based Arena Football League team, the Jacksonville Sharks. “It’s a great action sport growing in popularity with every game. There are some incredible players. I love the game,” said Neil to the Las Vegas Sun. “I sense the city would love it. I know that I will because it’s on my home turf.”
Another band who has a stake in an AFL team: Kiss, who are part owners of Los Angeles’s LA Kiss.
Robert Plant opening for Dee Snider..at a wedding? It actually happened back in 1998. Dee attended the wedding of his manager’s son; also invited was Robert Plant. When Dee asked him if he had any intention at all of getting dragged up on stage to perform at the reception, the former Led Zeppelin frontman said no way. In fact, Dee and Robert planned to slip out of the reception just so the guests wouldn’t be tempted to get them on stage. Next thing Dee knew, Plant was belting out “Jailhouse Rock” with the wedding band! Dee decided to poke back at Plant for reneging on the deal to escape the dreaded wedding cover tune homage by taking the stage to perform Led Zep’s classic “Rock ‘N’ Roll.” Read the rest of the story here.
The legal kerfluffle between singer Geoff Tate and his former band of 30 years over the Queensrÿche name has been resolved. Both sides have reached a settlement, but for now, they’re not saying which side will retain use of the name. “That’s coming up,” said founding guitarist Michael Wilton. “What I can say is that both sides have reached an amicable settlement and it’s now just a matter of time. There will be an official press release, but for now, you’ll have to wait.”
Check out AC/DC ftrontman Brian Johnson joining Billy Joel on stage during one of Billy’s Madison Square Garden gigs last month.
Johnson swaggered his way through “You Shook Me All Night Long” and it sounded freakin’ awesome!
Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward was recently interviewed by DCHeavyMetal.com and asked if he’d listened to any of the band’s recent reunion album.
“No and I probably won’t,” said Ward. “Maybe if I reach a point of serenity where I’m able to give it a listen but no there’s nothing of value in there for me to listen to. I love the guys. I really hope that they receive blessings and wonderful things in their life. [I’m] communicating with Terry [“Geezer” Butler, bassist], I’m communicating with Tony [Iommi, guitarist], privately. We always send our very, very best wishes to each other and our love to each other. But no, I’m not interested in the album. It was something that I wanted to play on. I was completely able to play on it. There’s no question in my heart at all. So, you know, it’s still something that I don’t care, I don’t care to listen to it. Even if it was the most brilliant album in the world, I don’t care to listen to it.”
When asked if he’d ever see himself playing in Sabbath again, he responded (in part), “I’ll always have an open mind to playing with Black Sabbath. I love the band. I miss them terribly. And so my answer would be leaning towards if something could be worked out…I miss playing with Terry “Geezer” just horribly. I absolutely miss him to death. And I miss playing with Tony just… every day. I mean every single day I — it just blows me away, man. And obviously I miss Oz [Ozzy Osbourne, singer]. I’ve had to… With Ozzy, I… I’ve lost a friend, as far as I’m concerned. A man that I dearly loved, and I still dearly love, but I’ve had to really now readjust just how much I’m going to trust and love him. He fired back on some pretty mean stuff in the press, so… And I’ve gone OK. Like with any of us, when we get hurt, we’re going to pull back our love and our considerations for another human being when they kick out at you and you know. So that’s been a big loss.”
Kix is getting ready to release its first studio album in nearly two decades. The official release date is July 22 on Loud & Proud Records (album name hasn’t been released yet), and it will feature the band’s original lineup of singer Steve Whiteman, drummer Jimmy Chalfant, and guitarists Ronnie Younkins and Brian Forsythe, plus bassist Mark Schenker, who replaced founding member Donnie Parnell in 2003.
“The boys and I are so happy that our old friend, Tom Lipsky, has invited us to join the Loud & Proud family,” says Whiteman. “We worked with Tom and Madelyn Scarpulla on our last studio album, Show Business, and we’re looking forward to working with them again with the release of the first new Kix album in almost 19 years! We’ll still be coming to a dump near you very soon!”
Lillian Axe is gearing up for the release of One Night In The Temple, its new acoustic live album recorded in a Masonic Temple in the Bayou of their home state of Louisiana. Due date is May 27th.
Here’s your first look at influential British hard rockers Uriah Heep’s new album, Outsider, due out in the U.S. on June 10.
Check out the brand-new video for Sebastian Bach’s “All My Friends Are Dead” off his new album, Give ‘Em Hell, which came out this past Tuesday.
I love your website and am a Dee Snider fan from back in his first days with Twisted Sister. But your article on Vince Neil is inaccurate. He is not yet any part of the Sharks and if he does become a part owner it will be a minority stake only. He has been running his mouth about owning the team and moving it to Vegas. Both are untrue. Even if he becomes a minority owner he doesn’t have the power to move the team and the majority owner wants it to stay put. Just wanted to let you know. Look it up. It’s all public knowledge and has been quite the controversy.