This Week’s SHAZAM Winner!!
Congrats to Michelle Eisenhower in Beavertown, PA who listens to WCHX 105.5 FM, and is this week’s Shazam contest winner, scoring a House of Hair t-shirt!
Be sure to Shazam the House of Hair Request of the Week when you hear it each week. Whip out your cell phone and open the Shazam app to get info on the song and register to win an official House of Hair t-shirt, too! One winner will be chosen randomly each week.
METAL NEWS
Megadeth’s David Ellefson Says Band is “Over The Moon” About Grammy Win
Ellefson said in an interview with Maggie Meadows this week, “You always go knowing there’s a chance. I think the fact you get invited, that’s huge, because out of all the people who put out music, they narrow it down pretty selectively to four, five, six people/artists that even get invited. I think probably the biggest thing, there’s this moment when you’re sitting in your seat and they go, ‘And the Grammy goes to…’ That moment right there, which is very euphoric, and you go, ‘Oh my God. They may actually call our name right now.’ In past years, which I’ve gone four times now, and they say ‘And the Grammy goes to… not you.’ [Laughs]
It’s a moment that you go ‘Wow! All of that build-up and coming here and the excitement, and the press releases and the travel, getting the suit, tux, and the limo… it’s all gone in that moment.’ This is one where it was nice where it just got better when they said ‘And the Grammy goes to ‘”Dystopia” Megadeth.’ We are over the moon about this.”
Listen to the full interview here.
Stagehand Dies at Avenged Sevenfold Concert in Stuttgart, Germany
Avenged Sevenfold released a statement regarding the February 21 tragic accident at their show in Germany:
“We have some very sad news to report. Last night after our show in Stuttgart, Germany, a 26-year-old stagehand fell from the rafters while breaking down our stage. He fell a very far distance onto a 19-year-old man on the local crew. Tragically, the 19-year-old died from his injuries. The other man is now in critical condition at the hospital.
“This is beyond heartbreaking to everyone in the band and on our crew.
“We all send our thoughts and prayers to the man in the hospital, both families involved, all of the local Live Nation crew and everyone else whose lives have been affected by this terrible accident.
“We love our crew so much as well as the many local staff who are essential to our show every night wherever we are around the world.
“This is such a stark reminder of how quickly an accident can happen and lives shattered in the process.”
Jörg Klopfer, a spokesperson for the concert venue, told Bild: “We have never had a fatal accident since the opening of the Schleyer-Halle in 1983. It is a terrible tragic event. We mourn with the family and friends of the young man.”
It is not clear why the 26-year-old stagehand fell from a height of about 20 meters [~ 60 feet} onto the younger man. Police at the venue said that: “An expert will try to reconstruct the accident.”
Former GNR Drummer Steven Adler and Mom Appear on “Good Day LA”
Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler and his mother, Deanna Adler recently appeared on “Good Day LA”, morning TV in Los Angeles, to talk about Deanna’s long-awaited tell-all book, “Sweet Child Of Mine: How I Lost My Son To Guns N’ Roses”, which came out on January 24.
Deanna watched her son endure continuing addiction, legal battles, financial ruin, two heart attacks, multiple suicide attempts, a debilitating stroke, and numerous stints in rehab after being kicked out of Guns N’ Roses in 1990. She appeared on the second season of the reality TV show, “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew”, on which Steven was a cast member. Steven reportedly started doing drugs when he was 11.
Speaking about the difficult time his mother had controlling him during his childhood years, Steven said: “She didn’t lose me to rock and roll. She lost me because I was a drug addict, and I was a rebel, and anything that… Most kids are this way — if your parents tell you to do something, you do the complete opposite. So, when she would tell to go to bed at nine o’clock, I’d go to bed, but I’d open my window and I’d go out and I’d go to the arcade and I’d hang out with my friends and with girls. I always did what I wanted to do.”
Steven Adler’s own autobiography, “My Appetite For Destruction: Sex, And Drugs, And Guns N’ Roses”, came out in July 2010.
See video of the interview, here.
Geoff Tate Says Queensrÿche Reunion Would Happen “If Everybody Really Needed Money”
In a recent interview with Noize In The Attic, Tate was asked whether he would reunite with his former Queensrÿche bandmates ever again.
He said: “I suppose so. I suppose that if everybody got in a room… The only reason to get together is for the money. That’s the only reason. So, if everybody really needed money and wanted to get together and bury the hatchet, so to speak, and sit in one room and say, [adopts faux tearful tone] ‘Gosh, I’m really sorry I treated you that way.’ You know, maybe then we could work toward some sort of resolution, but I haven’t seen any attempt by anybody to do that, so I’m not holding out… holding my breath. [But] I’d never say never. I might get to a point where I really need the money. It’s nice to have that little back-up plan. [Laughs]”
Listen to the full interview here.
Eddie Van Halen Helps Bring Music Back to Schools
Eddie Van Halen was interviewed on CNN this week, about his charity work with Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, which supports music education.
“Music is such a necessity. It touches people’s souls,” he said. “Music is the universal language to me. It transcends everything. My whole life has been music. I could not imagine anything else.”
“It really hit me when I graduated high school, you sign everybody’s yearbook and everybody asks you, ‘So what college are you going to?’ Uh… ‘Hey Al [Eddie’s brother, Van Halen drummerAlex Van Halen], I think we better stick to what we know.'”
Van Halen said music helped him survive and pay the rent ever since. Several years ago, Van Halen donated 75 of his personal guitars to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” the charity’s president and CEO Felice Mancini told CNN. “The kids share the guitars, they learn, they graduate and then the instruments stay in the school.”
The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation donates 1,800 new and refurbished musical instruments each year to low-income schools, providing more than 10,000 children with a musical education.
ON TOUR
KISS Gives Surprise Makeup-Free Performance At “All-Star Salute To The Oregon Military”
KISS gave a surprise make-up-free performance February 18 at the “All-Star Salute To The Oregon Military” charity event. The event raised $1.4 million toward completing the construction of the $20 million Oregon Military Museum named after KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer’s father, Brigadier General James B. Thayer.
The event also featured music from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Band, which included Alice Cooper, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Danny Seraphine from Chicago, Will Lee from “The Late Show With David Letterman” and others.
Check out some fan-filmed video, here.
Black Sabbath, Megadeth, More Featured in Ozzfest Meets Knotfest 2016 Recap
Check out this video recap of the first day of Ozzfest Meets Knotfest that was released this week.
About 37,000 people attended the first day of the event, held on September 24-25, 2016 at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore, California. The Ozzfest lineup was headlined by Black Sabbath, while Slipknot closed out the Knotfest bill.
Prior to the concert, Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler were asked what they thought such a massive show said about the state of rock music. “I don’t know about the state of rock music, but I’m just gonna go up there and have some fun, you know,”Ozzy said. “We’re not trying to make a statement to the industry, we’re just gonna have some fun.” Geezer added: “It’s good that we’re still going and this kind of music’s still going. To do something this big proves that it’s still as popular as ever.”
Both days featured three stages, with one of them named after late Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. The Ozzfest show was the last ever for Black Sabbath in California.
NEW RELEASES
Slipknot’s Corey Taylor to Release New Book “America 51” in August
Slipknot and Stone Sour singer Corey Taylor will release his next book called “America 51: A Probe Into The Realities That Are Hiding Inside The Greatest Country In The World”, on August 15. The book, whose title is a play on Area 51, the most famous US military institution in the world that doesn’t officially exist, will deal with “just how bat-shit crazy my country is right now, in good ways and in bad ways,” says Taylor.
Corey told The Guardian that “America 51” is “going to deal with everything from politics to social commentary. It’s going to piss off a lot of people in my country, but everyone else will love it.”
Billy Idol Guitarist Steve Stevens Confirms Working with Ozzy on New Music
Stevens told All That Shreds, “Yes. I did a session. The rhythm guitar player in Billy Idol isBilly Morrison, one of Ozzy’s best friends so he asked me to do some writing with Ozzy. We spent about a week working on some tunes and I haven’t heard anything so I guess he’s really happy with them – so yes, I did some writing and recording with him.”
Stevens also noted that he’s just in it for the recording sessions, “Well, that’s what it’s for, for his next solo record, so yes, of course! If it’s recording I would – as far as touring I’m really dedicated to Billy Idol.”
Vixen Drummer, Slaughter Singer Pay Tribute To Lemmy With “Kilmister” Video
VIP Aftershow, featuring the metal sister team Roxy Petrucci (drums) and Maxine Petrucci (guitar), have released a lyric video for its debut song, “Kilmister”, a tribute to iconic Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. The track features a guest appearance by Slaughter vocalist Mark Slaughter and Michael Pisculli on bass.
ODDS N’ SODS
Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Sold His 1968 Jaguar on eBay
Rock Stars – they’re just like us – they sell their stuff on eBay! This week, Metallicaguitarist Kirk Hammett put his black (of course) 1968 Jaguar XKE Series 1.5 2+2 up for sale on eBay. The car fetched 51 bids and sold for $40,200.
Metalheads Say The Damnedest Things
““You have to figure out that the person next to you isn’t you. So sometimes you don’t understand why I might have a different appetite than him [Paul Stanley]. I make no excuses for having a record company and now a film company. Our first film was just finished and it starsAnne Heche, Wesley Snipes; it’s a good movie and I’ll be doling lots of them. I wanted to act and produce records and have a record company because I’m unapologetically insatiable. If I have an appetite for something I want it! But it is true, as other things take more time you don’t do your other stuff in KISS as well. So we do have a better relationship today because you live and you learn.”
“You understand that despite it all we both share a great work ethic, we show up on time and do the work and we never ‘Axl Rose‘ our way out of anything. I think the same way a ‘Kardashian’ became a 72-day long time reference, I think Axl deserves that thing that could become a verb, ‘Don’t Axl your way out of this thing.’ I think that’s appropriate.””
~ KISS Frontman Gene Simmons on his long partnership with bandmate Paul Stanley, and GNR’s Axl Rose’s reputation for tardiness at gigs.