Twisted Sister Drummer A.J. Pero Dies at Age 55
Twisted Sister drummer, A.J. Pero, has died at the age of 55. Pero died of a heart attack, according to the AP and other reports. A.J. was touring with Adrenaline Mob, a group he played with between Twisted Sister gigs. Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French says that Pero was found unresponsive last Friday, March 20 on the Adrenaline Mob tour bus. He was taken to a hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY and declared dead shortly after 11AM.
“He had been complaining of a sore arm all week and took a few days off from his tour with the band Adrenaline Mob,” says Dan Stanton, Pero’s agent.
“We are devastated. He was a great guy and one of the best drummers,” Jay Jay French said. “To lose someone you have depended on for 33 years … I don’t know what it is going to be like to be on stage without him. I can’t even think about what it will be like.”
Read our complete coverage here:
Twisted Sister Drummer A.J. Pero Dies at Age 55
Adrenaline Mob Play “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n Roll” – In Memory of A.J. Pero
Dee Snider speaks about the death of Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero
Adrenaline Mob at the Starland Ballroom – A TRIBUTE TO A.J.PERO
Robert Plant joined forces with Jack White and his band on Saturday night in Buenos Aires, Argentina at Lollapalooza Argentina, according to The Pulse Of Radio. Plant, who was on the bill with his Sensational Space Shifters, joined White for the “Led Zeppelin II” classic “The Lemon Song”. Plant had previously revealed his hope to team up with White during a September chat on Facebook, in which he said, “I love Jack White’s buccaneer spirit, and the way he dodges through the musical horizons. I’d be happy to make a single with him.” Plant noted that he wanted the pair to record the Phantom’s “Love Me”.
Check out the video on the DailyHeadbanger.com.
In celebration of a 2015 summer/fall North American tour, Van Halen will perform a special concert for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Monday, March 30. The concert will be broadcast over two nights, March 30 and March 31, and unbelievably marks the first time in the U.S. that Van Halen has performed on TV with original lead singer David Lee Roth. The concert will shut down Hollywood Boulevard in front of Kimmel’s theater and should prove to be the hottest ticket in LA for quite some time.
On March 31, Van Halen’s Tokyo Dome Live In Concert, recorded live in Tokyo on June 21, 2013 will be released. The 23-song concert will be available as a double CD or a four-LP set on 180-gram vinyl. The band is also releasing remastered versions of Van Halen and 1984. Remastered versions of Diver Down, Women and Children First, Van Halen II and Fair Warning are coming out later this year.
Van Halen is touring North America beginning July 5 in Seattle, Washington at the White River Amphitheatre, with concerts scheduled through October 2 in Los Angeles, California at the legendary Hollywood Bowl. Special guest Kenny Wayne Sheperd Band will support all dates along the tour. Tickets for the Live Nation-promoted tour go on sale beginning April 4 at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com, with special pre-sale information being announced locally. A complete list of tour dates can be found on the HOH website.
From the Metallica website: It’s been nearly 20 years since we’ve been lucky enough to take the stage at Lollapalooza, so we are over the top that we’ve been asked to play this year at the now annual extravaganza held at Grant Park in Chicago. We’ll be hitting the stage on Saturday, August 1st.
The three-day festival takes place this year July 31 – August 2. Get all the details at Lollapalooza.com.
Iron Maiden, reporting on their website and Facebook page, updated the status of Bruce Dickinson’s cancer battle.
Over the last few days, Bruce has been to see his specialists and following examinations, including visual, we’re delighted to update everyone that the situation remains extremely optimistic for a full recovery. We will still not have final confirmation that the cancer has been completely eradicated until Bruce can have an MRI scan in May, as previously advised in Rod’s recent message to the fans on this site, and the period to full recovery will continue for a few months yet.
Typically Bruce’s immediate reaction to the specialists’ good news was to be as active as feasibly possible, taking in a couple of visits to the Maiden office, one to the Hybrid Air Vehicle hangar to see latest progress, and a brief trip to his local pub, much to the surprise and delight of all his friends there!
We just wanted to share this latest piece of good news with all Maiden’s fans and, as usual, we’ll continue to keep you all updated officially on Bruce’s progress, here on the Iron Maiden website.
Former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno says he’s scheduled for knee surgery this June to repair a long overdue knee problem. During the Talking Metal podcast, the vocalist spoke in detail about his scheduled surgery and recovery time, as well as his new band Architects of Chaoz.
Di’Anno had this to say about his knee, (transcriptions via Blabbermouth) “I don’t wanna swear… [Laughs] but it’s f–ked. It’s actually f–ked. Because this has been [going on for] seven years. I should have done this seven years ago. And now all the ligament is gone and all it basically is, is bone rubbing against bone. And, oh my God, it’s so painful some days, it’s unbelievable. And through my mother, I caught osteoporosis [a progressive bone disease in which the bone density reduces over years] as well. When you get to a certain age. And [I can’t be] buggered with that. [I’m like], sod this; I can’t be dealing with it. So [fixing] the knee will make it a lot better.” Paul, did you really have to blame your mother??
Former Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy will release a new compilation, “Before & Laughter Part III (1977-2015)”, in the next couple of weeks via his Top Fuel Records label.
The collection will contain songs from Pearcy’s thirty-plus-year career, including never-before-heard live and studio versions of tracks from Mickey Ratt, Arcade, Vicious Delite, Vertex and early Ratt songs that were laid down before the the arrival of the band’s original members and the signing of Ratt’s first record contract.