Jan. 24, 2012

Pete Townshend, Sting, Mark Knopfler and Jackson Browne are among the 80 artists who've recorded Bob Dylan songs for Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International, a four-disc set out that's today. Others taking part include Lenny Kravitz, Sting, Elvis Costello, Joe Perry, Paul Rodgers and Nils Lofgren, Jeff Beck, Patti Smith and Kris Kristofferson. Dylan himself provided the title track, "Chimes of Freedom."

Jan. 20, 2012

Roger Waters has gotten married for a fourth time. He said "I do" last Saturday to filmmaker Laurie Durning, his girlfriend of seven years, in front of six guests at his home in Southampton, New York. But there won't be much time for a honeymoon, as the couple is off to Australia for Waters to start the next leg of his Wall tour in Perth on January 27th.

Jan. 20, 2012

Billy Joel has taken his oceanfront home in the ritzy Hamptons enclave on Long Island, New York, off the market. There apparently were no takers at $16.75 million, down from $22.5 million. His agent at The Corcoran Group says it is no longer for sale because of "personal use."

Jan. 19, 2012

The long-delayed autobiography of late Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone will finally be published on April 2nd. Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone includes a foreword from original drummer Tommy Ramone. His widow, Linda Ramone, says the book was delayed for so long because of lawsuits involving the band after Ramone died and other projects she was doing for fans.

Jan. 19, 2012

Red Hot Chili Peppers have rolled out a new mobile app this week. It's available for iPhone and Android and it features updated news from the band as well as tour dates and videos. The app is the only place to see a preview of the band's new video, "Look Around."

Jan. 19, 2012

Paul McCartney will be doing a series of interviews today in London in support of the release of his new album, Kisses on the Bottom. Tonight between 9 and 10 (ET), 30 minutes of the day's highlights will be streamed on PaulMcCartney.com

Jan. 19, 2012

Ex-Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann says Jerry Garcia would have probably quit the Grateful Dead if he hadn't died in 1995. "I think that Jerry had gotten kind of bored with the Grateful Dead, and it was sort of like a marriage that had maybe gone on too long. And other people in the band wanted to start to express themselves in their bands and so forth and so on, that I'm pretty sure Jerry would've stopped playing in the Grateful Dead. I think a lot of it, I hate to say, was really a financial obligation. He needed to earn the money for some things and that's too bad."

Jan. 13, 2012

Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins will host the 23rd annual Guitar Center Drum Off at Club Nokia in Los Angeles Saturday night. The event, which features all-star jams as well as five amateur drummers competing for a $50,000 prize, will be hosted by Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins. Peter Criss will receive the Drum Legend award as part of the night.

Jan. 10, 2012

The Doors' newly discovered song is now streaming on their Facebook page. "She Smells So Nice" is their first new, completely unreleased song in 40 years. Their co-producer Bruce Botnick found it while reviewing tapes for the 40th anniversary deluxe version of L.A. Woman, their last studio album with Jim Morrison. The album will be out on January 24th, as will the documentary Mojo Risin': The Story of L.A. Woman on DVD and Blu-ray.

Jan. 10, 2012

Charlie Watts, the one member of The Rolling Stones who said it wouldn't "bother" him if they called it quits, says he'd like to see them do something this year in celebration of their 50th anniversary. "It would be great if we did. We are just getting to an age where it's getting a bit difficult to get it together and it's such a bloody performance getting us together... I think no one wants to quit because the other one will say you quit." The Stones' last tour ended in 2007.

Jan. 4, 2012

Like a good hoax that comes around every couple of years, it's time for another "revelation" about Sting's supposed marathon tantric sex sessions with his wife Trudie. Repeating a story that ran in 2003 ("Sting said, 'I think I mentioned to Bob I could make love for eight hours. What I didn't say was that this included four hours of begging and then dinner and a movie") and then again in 2009 (when Sting's daughter Coco said, "Bob Geldof made up this thing and it stuck -- and it's an international joke!"), media outlets this week leaped to quote the latest rendition of the story, this time by Trudie.

Jan. 4, 2012

The 1954 Gibson Les Paul Peter Frampton is seen playing on the cover of his Frampton Comes Alive album has been found, 32 years after it was believed lost in a plane crash. In 1980, a cargo plane carrying Frampton's equipment for a show in Panama crashed, supposedly destroying all of the instruments on board. But two Frampton fans -- one in Holland and one on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao [pr: CURE-uh-sou], along with the CEO of the Curacao Tourist Board -- returned the guitar to Frampton last month in Nashville. Experts from Gibson Guitar have confirmed that it's the original, but there's no word on where it's been all these years.

Jan. 3, 2012

Chickenfoot plans on doing a lengthy tour behind their second album starting in the spring. Bassist Michael Anthony says fans will get a different show than they've seen before. Anthony says on their first tour Chickenfoot "wanted to earn [fans] respect as a band" so they decided not to do any old Van Halen or Sammy Hagar songs. "It might be different this time," Anthony says.

Jan. 3, 2012

Jason Bonham says there's no chance Led Zeppelin will play the opening ceremony for the Olympics in London next summer -- but he says he would never count out another reunion gig happening. Bonham tells The Sun , "I haven't spoken to Robert [Plant] for about six months, but he is really enjoying himself. For me, you can never say never. If you ask me today is it going to happen immediately, well no, there is no talk of it. But if you said to me in 2007 I would play with Led Zeppelin in December that year I would say you're nuts, so you never know."

Dec. 28, 2011

Queensryche frontman Geoff Tate is hitting the road for a brief acoustic tour next month. The Geoff Tate and Friends Show will start January 26th in San Diego and then hit six other cities in California before wrapping up February 4th in Snoqualmie, Washington

Dec. 22, 2011

Vince Neil is thinking about leaving Motley Crue after their Las Vegas residency in February. He tells the Las Vegas Sun "It's not definite, but I am thinking seriously about it ... This is all about me thinking about the second half of my life, thinking about my future ... There are so many opportunities that are in front of me that I'm really excited about. I just don't want to look back later in life and regret that I didn't pursue them."
Neil left the Crue in 1992 but reunited with them in 1997.

Dec. 19, 2011

Neal Schon is preparing for legal action after a website posted a nude self-portrait of the Journey guitarist. TheDirty.com published the photo and claimed Schon had sent it via Facebook to a married woman, but her husband intercepted it. Schon's reps have issued a statement saying that he has hired counsel and is "taking immediate legal action against all parties involved in this matter."

Dec. 19, 2011

A former Florida sheriff's deputy faces 10 years in jail after being convicted of grand theft and filing a fraudulent insurance claim to pay for Def Leppard tickets. Shawn Barber planned to attend a Leppard show in Hollywood, Florida, in March 2008, but couldn't go because he didn't have a babysitter. The tickets were a birthday gift from his wife, who paid $626.05 for them. Barber used his position as a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy to obtain auto

Dec. 16, 2011

Kansas will be going back out on the road next year to do shows with symphonies. The special series of shows starts March 16th in Springfield, Missouri and will bring the band to 10 cities -- including Portland, Oregon on April 11th and Los Angeles on April 13th -- before wrapping April 29th in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Dec. 15, 2011

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will go on a brief run through North America before embarking on their first tour of Europe in 20 years. The North American tour starts on April 19th in Broomfield, Colorado; hits Little Rock, Arkansas, on April 21st; Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the 24th; Wichita, Kansas, on the 26th; New Orleans' Jazzfest on the 28th; Alpharetta, Georgia, on the 29th; Estero, Florida, on May 1st; and Orlando on May 3rd. It will wrap up May 5th in Austin, Texas. Petty and the Heartbreakers will play a couple of Canadian dates in early June before starting the European jaunt.

Dec. 15, 2011

Rush fans can learn how to play the band's "2112" and "Limelight" with the iPad app called Jammit. The app "gives you access to the original Rush multi-track masters, with instrument-specific versions available for drums, bass, guitar and vocals with the precise notation and tablature."

Dec. 15, 2011

Bruce Springsteen won't be the only veteran artist speaking at the South by Southwest Music Festival in March. The organizers have announced that Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson will be featured speakers on March 16th. Heart will also be one of the over a thousand acts performing during the festival.

Dec. 15, 2011

Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters and Blink-182 will headline the 10th edition of the Bamboozle Festival , which will run May 18th through the 20th on the boardwalk of Asbury Park, New Jersey. Tickets go on sale Saturday, with more bands to be announced in January. The festival is returning to Asbury Park for the first time since 2006.

Dec. 13, 2011

A guitar that Pearl Jam once autographed for a Make-a-Wish recipient has been recovered by police -- but all the signatures were stripped from it. Jeffrey Leduc and Timothy Crews allegedly stole the Telecaster from a Burlington, Vermont, man last week, but Burlington police caught up to them and have charged them with felony possession of stolen property.

Dec. 13, 2011

Carlos Santana's Casa Noble was voted the best celebrity tequila in a taste test conducted by Businessweek magazine. It received five stars for taste and cost, and four for the hangover it will give you and for the packaging. Sammy Hagar's successful Cabo Wabo brand received only two stars across the board -- taste, cost, packaging and hangover.

Dec. 12, 2011

Ringo Starr marked last Thursday's anniversary of the killing of John Lennon by calling on governments around the world to implement tougher gun laws. Speaking in London at an event held by the Non-Violence Project Foundation, Ringo unveiled a statue he designed of a pistol with its barrel tied in a knot, emblazoned with the word Imagine in honor of perhaps Lennon's most famous song. He said, "If you are caught with a gun it should be a higher sentence. Guns are just becoming more and more [prevalent]. They're like the death of choice."

Dec. 12, 2011

Last week's announcement that The Faces and their predecessor, The Small Faces, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April has raised speculation about a reunion tour of the group's surviving members and Rod Stewart. The Faces are expected to perform at the induction ceremony on April 14th in Cleveland.

Dec. 7, 2011

Zakk Wylde will be honored at the Guitar World Rock and Roll Roast on January 19th at The Grove in Anaheim, California. The event, which will raise funds for MusiCares, will kick off the annual NAMM convention. Sharon Osbourne will be the host, and Ozzy Osbourne, Anthrax's Scott Ian, Slipknot's Corey Taylor and comedians Jim Norton, Brian Posehn and Jim Florentine will be on hand to roast Wylde

Dec. 5, 2011

Video-sharing websites are now flooded with footage of Bruce Springsteen joining Bob Seger on stage Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York. In introducing his longtime friend, Seger said, "We've got a little treat for you, a little Christmas treat: Mr. Bruce Springsteen!" With guitar in hand, Springsteen joined in and sang on "Old Time Rock and Roll." This isn't the first time they've performed together. Springsteen started his River tour in Seger's native Michigan on October 3rd, 1980, and Seger joined in on "Thunder Road." And when Springsteen and his E Street Band played Detroit in 2009, they did Seger's "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man."

Nov. 28, 2011

Alice Cooper may be the last person brave enough to say he's curious about Lulu, the joint album by Metallica and Lou Reed, the commercial flop which has been savaged by critics. "It's such an odd combination that I really wanna hear it," says Cooper. "It's like Iggy Pop making a record with ABBA. You're sitting there going, 'Where's the connection here?'" Cooper started the last leg of his No More Mister Nice Guy tour Saturday in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. He is in Albany, New York Wednesday and will be out through December 15th in Hollywood, Florida.

Nov. 23, 2011

Bob Seger tells us he's thinking of calling his next album Ride Out after one of the songs on the project. He says, "It's a song I really, really like." Six songs are written with another six to come when he resumes writing in February. He hopes to release it next fall. Seger will turn 67 in May and he thinks this could be his last studio album. He says it all depends on whether or not his voice holds out.

Nov. 23, 2011

Walmart is using AC/DC's "Back in Black" in its Black Friday commercials. That shouldn't surprise you. The Aussie band has teamed up with the mega-retailer for three exclusive releases -- the Black Ice album, No Bull - The Director's Cut DVD and The Sight and Sound Collection. That last one contains the albums Back in Black and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, along with a DVD of their 1992 concert in Donington, England.

Nov. 17, 2011

Despite having been knocked out by Roger Daltrey over a disagreement, Pete Townshend says The Who had a "good time" recording Quadrophenia. "Keith Moon's drumming on that album is spectacular ... John Entwistle was at the height of his powers... Roger's singing is just off the map. He was just a giant on that record. And my writing has never been better." Quadrophenia, The Who's second concept album following Tommy, was re-released this week.

Nov. 17, 2011

David Crosby and Graham Nash, who performed at the Occupy Wall Street demonstration last week in New York, are both offended by the New York City Police's removal of the demonstrators from Zuccotti Park Tuesday and the decision not to allow them to camp there overnight. Graham Nash tells us, "This movement is much bigger than 'the park' ... How the police handled the evacuation was a deliberate affront to the constitutional rights of the people who were peacefully protesting ... It does appear that the police are only working for the one percent, protecting an immoral and illegal elite ..."

Nov. 16, 2011

Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley and Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi are the latest artists to achieve success with their memoirs, following best-sellers by Ozzy Osbourne, Keith Richards and Sammy Hagar. Frehley's No Regrets and Iommi's Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell With Black Sabbath, both published on November 1st, are on the New York Times' Hardcover Nonfiction Best-Sellers list. Frehley's debuts at number-10 and Iommi's is at number 35.

Nov. 14, 2011

Mick Jones will play songs from The Clash on tour for the first time in 30 years when he hits the road next month. He's lined up a six-date solo jaunt in the U.K. for the Hillsborough Justice Campaign charity.

Nov. 3, 2011

Queen drummer Roger Taylor is set to announce the semi-finalists for slots in The Queen Extravaganza, a tour celebrating the band's music and legacy. Taylor announced the contest six weeks ago, and since then, hundreds of musicians have submitted videos of themselves performing "Killer Queen," "Somebody to Love," "Seven Seas of Rhye" or "I Want to Break Free." Taylor says they've "unlocked an amazing storehouse of talent. The standard is mind-blowingly high, and it's really a thrill getting to discover some of them." The semi-finalists will be asked to perform a specific song and will have between November 9th and 13th to submit their auditions, which will be judged by the public between November 14th and 28th.

Nov. 2, 2011

Judas Priest is making progress on a new album. Singer Rob Halford tells us, "Some days we're very productive [and] some days [it's] a bit of a struggle... [It's] in bits and pieces but looking good, sounding strong." Priest hopes to release the album next year. The band is currently on its Epitaph tour with a stop in Calgary tonight.

Oct. 25, 2011

Meat Loaf has run into a little controversy while touring Down Under. He was criticized over his recent performance at the Australian Football League's Grand Final, with reports that he was off key and mumbling. Well Meat took exception, saying he wasn't given enough time to soundcheck, was refused permission to have a piano on stage, and the backline wasn't working properly. "I'm sorry, they're jerks," says Meat, referring to organizers of the show. "I do not like them. And I'll tell you what, anybody that I hear announces that they're going to play for them I'm going to write that particular artist a letter and tell them not to. And I hope the Australian Football League hears this and I want this everywhere. Because I will go out of my way to tell any artist: 'Do not play for them.'"

Oct. 20, 2011

Ted Nugent places the blame for the exotic animal situation in Ohio on Governor John Kasich. Pointing out that Kasich had rescinded an executive order by the previous Ohio governor which banned the ownership of exotics, the rocker and avid outdoorsman explains that the situation on a farm east of Columbus was a tragedy which should never have happened. Nugent says that his 12-hundred acre Jackson County farm contains only one dangerous animal, and added that Mrs. Nugent keeps that one under control.

Oct. 7, 2011

Kurt Cobain conspiracy theorists will get a kick out of an interview with Courtney Love in the new issue of Vanity Fair. When asked if she's still angry with the late Nirvana frontman for killing himself 17 years ago, Love responds, "Mad? Ya think?! If he came back right now I'd have to kill him, for what he did to us. I'd [bleeping] kill him. I'd [bleep] him, and then I'd kill him." Love also complains about her daughter Frances Bean's getting herself emancipated two years ago and about how she's trying to figure out how many people defrauded her out of money from Nirvana.

Oct. 6, 2011

The Los Angeles Coroner's Office has ruled that former Warrant singer Jani Lane died from "acute ethanol poisoning." His body was found in an L.A.-area hotel on August 11th.

Sept. 27, 2011

We now know who INXS's mystery frontman is -- 35-year-old Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Gribbin. The band gave J.D. Fortune the boot for the second time by posting a demo of a song called "Tiny Summer" featuring an unnamed singer -- who turned out to be Gribbin -- on their website. Gribbin and INXS will hit the road in South America on November 3rd, and they're working on new material.