Twisted Sister Honors A.J. Pero with Tribute Concerts, Announces Farewell Tour in 2016
It was with heavy hearts that Twisted Sister said goodbye to their drummer A.J. Pero, who passed away on March 20.
This week, Twisted Sister members Dee Snider (vocals), Jay Jay French (guitar), Eddie Ojeda (guitar), and Mark “The Animal” Mendoza (bass), have announced that world renowned drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Adrenaline Mob, Winery Dogs) is the replacement for their brother A.J. Pero for all shows this year.
To honor Pero’s memory, two shows will take place on the east coast and west coast. The first, on May 30th at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, will be filmed for broadcast, DVD, and CD. The second, for the A.J. Pero family, is scheduled on Saturday, June 13 at The Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ.
Read the full article here.
Joan Jett on the Rock Hall of Fame: ‘There Should Be More Women’
Rock ‘n’ roll has always been kind of a sausage fest, but even if men have tended to hog the spotlight, plenty of brilliant female artists have made their own crucial contributions along the way — and Joan Jett would like to see more of them numbered among the inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Jett states her case plainly in an excerpt from a recent conversation with Billboard, saying, “There should be more women in the Hall of Fame, and more women in rock. They’re out there, they just don’t get the notice the pop girls do. Go to any city and there’s an all-girl rock band — it’s just a matter of society wanting to hear that kind of music. But people’s tastes change, so you have to just do what you love and hope other people love it too.”
Jett will be honored with her own Rock Hall induction on April 18.
Read More at UltimateClassicRock.com.
Sammy Hagar & James Hetfield to Headline All-Star Line-Up for “Acoustic-4-A-Cure” Benefit
Sammy Hagar and James Hetfield have announced the line-up for the second annual “Acoustic-4-A-Cure” concert benefiting the Pediatric Cancer Program at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Joining Hetfield and Hagar on Friday, May 15 at The Masonic in San Francisco are special guests (in alphabetical order): Jerry Cantrell, Pat Monahan, Linda Perry, Joe Satriani, Chad Smith and more. Each legendary artist will be performing acoustic sets – with once-in-a-lifetime musical moments, duets, jams and surprise guests planned.
Tickets will go on sale this Friday, April 10 at 10:00 AM at LiveNation.com, all Ticketmaster outlets, or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000. All proceeds from the concert will be donated to fund children’s brain tumor research at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, one of the nation’s leading children’s medical facilities.
“Acoustic-4-A-Cure” was created by Bay Area rock legends Sammy Hagar and James Hetfield, whose vision was to raise needed funds and awareness for the Pediatric Cancer Program at UCSF by bringing together some of their legendary friends and throwing a must-see concert for fans. Highlights from their inaugural sold-out concert last year included Hetfield’s acoustic rendition of The Beatles “In My Life,” Billie Joe Armstrong, Hetfield and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani bringing the house down with a medley of Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and the Hagar promised, “only-in-San Francisco moment” when Hetfield, Armstrong, Satriani, Pat Monahan and Nancy Wilson joined him on stage for an all-star jam of Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35″ to close the show.
For more info, go to www.acoustic4acure.org
Check out Justin Bieber Perfoming Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train
Justin Bieber goes metal in this performance of ’80s classic Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne. Tune in to “Lip Sync Battle” on Spike TV, the new karaoke series inspired by the segment on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”.
Check out the video at DailyHeadbanger.com.
Founding Lynyrd Skynyrd Drummer Bob Burns Dies in Car Crash
Bob Burns, a founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, has died at the age of 64. Burns was the band’s drummer on their first two albums and died in a car crash that took place in Cartersville, GA last Friday night. Burns was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the incident and was the only person in the car.
Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder Gary Rossington said on the Lynyrd Skynyrd facebook page, “Well, today I’m at a loss for words, but I just remember Bob being a funny guy. He was just so funny, he used to do skits for us and make us laugh all the time, he was hilarious! Ironically, since we played Jacksonville yesterday, Dale, my daughter and I, went by the cemetery to see some of the guys in the band and my parents grave sites. On the way back, we went by Bob Burns old house, it was there in the carport where we used to first start to practice with Skynyrd. My heart goes out to his family and God bless him and them in this sad time. He was a great great drummer.”
Artimus Pyle, the drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd after Burns said, “Fans we are absolutely devastated this morning after learning that our dear friend, band mate and original Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer, Bob Burns has passed away. Bob was one of the kindest, sweetest men you would ever want to know and a rock solid drummer.”
Eighties Metal All-Star Project HEAR ‘N AID To Be Resurrected & Record New Song For Charity
Ronnie James Dio’s widow/manager Wendy Dio has confirmed that a modern-day version of Hear ‘N Aid, the one-time collaboration of various individual heavy metal/hard rock artists in 1985 to raise money for famine relief in Africa, will be assembled to record a new song that will be released alongside the upcoming reissue of the “Stars” single and video documentary on the making of the original Hear ‘N Aid record.
On May 20 and May 21, 1985, 40 artists from the metal community gathered at A&M Records Studios in Hollywood, California to participate in the making of a record called “Stars” as a part of a very special fundraising project spearheaded by Ronnie James Dio known as Hear ‘N Aid. The “Stars” single and a video documentary on the making of the record was used to raise money for famine relief efforts in Africa and around the world. These 40 artists — including members of MÖTLEY CRÜE, JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, QUIET RIOT, TWISTED SISTER, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT and even SPINAL TAP — along with hundreds of other volunteers, donated their time and talent over four months to make Hear ‘N Aid a reality.
Due to contract differences with the labels, the “Stars” song and album weren’t released until New Year’s Day, 1986, and were only ever made available on vinyl and cassette. But Wendy Dio (pictured below) plans to fix that.
Read more at Blabbermouth.net
Drummer Nick Menza Cites ‘Unfair Deal’ as Reason for Not Returning to Megadeth
Megadeth have revealed their new lineup for the next album, but for those wondering, the possibility of reuniting with drummer Nick Menza was definitely something that was on the table. In fact, in a new statement, it’s revealed that Menza went so far as to play with the band back in December and laid down some drum tracks for Megadeth’s new music. But ultimately the reunion didn’t occur because Menza says he was not offered a fair deal.
Read the entire story at Loudwire.com.
How Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider Reinvented Himself After The Year He Made $0 (VIDEO)
In 1984, Twisted Sister hit it big with their rebel anthem, “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” It was the moment that lead singer Dee Snider had dreamed of since he was a kid listening to artists like David Bowie and Alice Cooper.
“I was an outcast,” Snider tells “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” “I was a kid who didn’t fit in with any particular clique.”
Just one year after releasing its smash album “Stay Hungry,” Twisted Sister began its swift downfall. The band’s next album, “Come Out and Play,” wasn’t nearly as successful. “The biggest thing that surprised me about fame was that it was fleeting,” Snider says. “You work so hard to get there and you just assume that it’s some sort of finish line, or you take a victory lap and maybe spike the ball, run around the field screaming ‘Goal,” I don’t know.”
Snider says the band’s image may have had something to do with it. Glam rock was out and grunge was on its way in, leaving Twisted Sister behind. “Wearing the makeup and the costumes was a blessing and a curse,” he says. “It helped define my band but it also limited us because it’s very difficult for people to take you seriously when you look as outlandish as we did and as I did.”
In 1987, Twisted Sister broke up and Snider hit rock bottom. “I was not prepared for my career to end as dramatically as it did and the ego that makes you believe that you’re going to succeed won’t allow you to believe it’s over,” he says. “So the big mistake I made and people make is you start borrowing against your future, because [you think] the next album will fix it, the next band, the next tour.”
Suddenly, Snider found himself with nothing. “I had a year where my income taxes said $0 on it and I’m married and have three kids,” he says.
Snider says his wife Suzette stood by him through everything, but it was time to give up the rock band dreams and reinvent himself. “So at that point I started pursuing a career in radio,” he says.
Today, Snider hosts the nationally syndicated radio show The House of Hair and has dabbled in screenplay writing with the musical, “Dee Snider’s Rock-n-Roll Christmas Tale.” Along with appearing on the big screen “Strangeland” and taking on TV hosting gigs, he joined the cast of the Broadway’s “Rock of Ages” in 2010. A devoted family man, he lives with his wife of 34 years in Las Vegas and is the father of four children.
“So I just wound up challenging myself and pursuing different avenues, helping me to re-emerge and once again be successful and provide for my family and be a winner,” Snider says.
Check out the videos and read more at HuffingtonPost.com