Guns N’ Roses are returning to the site of one of their favourite concerts and will ask the venue to change its name for the show. On February 15, GNR will play Webster Hall in New York, which used to be called The Ritz. That’s where they filmed their MTV concert “Live At The Ritz” 24 years ago, which is still being bootlegged. Webster Hall will rename itself The Ritz for that one night. GNR will also play two other New York clubs in February, as well as clubs in Chicago, Washington and Atlantic City.

—-

Anthrax are back on the road but the lineup is still not at full strength. Guitarist Scott Ian and drummer Charlie Benante (beh-NAHN’-tay) both had to drop out of shows last week. Ian was hospitalized with a viral infection but he appears to be better now, although a little bit weak. Benante is taking a leave of absence to be with his mother, who is terminally ill. It’s uncertain how long he’ll be out. Testament drummer Gene Hoglan is filling in while Benante is away.

—-

Chris Isaak isn’t very good at the sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll lifestyle. Isaak says he likes the rock and roll, but he’s never been into drugs. He doesn’t even drink beer. As for the sex part, Isaak says he always heard about the wild things people were going to offer to do for him and to him, but he never encountered that. He says he looks too much like a cop. Even if he had been propositioned, Isaak says his response would have been, “I gotta get on a bus and go to Kankakee tonight.” Isaak will tape a PBS special with Wanda Jackson in Austin, Texas, on February 13.

—-

After time in The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and Dead Weather, Jack White is finally stepping out as a solo artist. His debut, Blunderbuss, will be released on April 24th, and the single “Love Interruption” is streaming now at JackWhiteIII.com.
White says, “I’ve put off making records under my own name for a long time, but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name. These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas.”

—-

Van Halen have released snippets of two more songs from their new album A Different Kind of Truth — “She’s the Woman” and “The Trouble With Never.” This brings the total of sneak peeks to six. “The Trouble With Never” — like “Stay Frosty” and “China Town” — is new and not taken from earlier songs, as was the case with “Tattoo” and “Blood and Fire.” A version of “She’s the Woman” was recorded as a demo in the ’70s but never released.

David Lee Roth says the re-worked songs are “material that Eddie Van Halen and I generated, literally, in 1975, 1976 and 1977. Usually fellas in our weight division will kind of gamely — or ironically, wink, wink — try to hail back to it [but] keep a safe, mature distance from it.”

But the new album isn’t doing anything for former VH singer Sammy Hagar, who says, “What I’ve heard so far, I wasn’t impressed with at all… I think in [my band] Chickenfoot, we’ve raised the bar a little bit on what a four-piece rock band can do, and I think they chose to take the easy route and take some of their old stuff and re-record it instead of writing new songs… I don’t think the fans are going to be happy with it… To me, it…kind of says, ‘We don’t have anything, we’re not a band anymore, we’re not creative.’”

A Different Kind of Truth will be in stores next Tuesday.

—-

Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony continues to take the high road when it comes to talking about his former bandmates. With the band going back to older unreleased songs for their new album, A Different Kind of Truth, Anthony was asked if he would seek songwriting credits, since the songwriting used to be split four ways.

Being the nice guy that he is, Anthony says, “I don’t want to do anything. I just let it be.” However, he adds that, “It’ll be nice to hear some of those old songs again that I haven’t played in a long time.” The one song from those days that Anthony did not have a hand in writing was “She’s the Woman,” which he says they wrote before he joined.

Anthony was booted from the band in 2007 due to his friendship with former singer Sammy Hagar and replaced with Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang. At the time, all images of Anthony were wiped from the covers of the albums he played on, on the band’s website, but were quickly put back after fans protested. His name was also removed from the writing credits for the 1984 album on the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) database. Anthony, along with Hagar, is now in Chickenfoot.

—-

Queens of the Stone Age are working on their sixth album. Guitarist Troy van Leeuwen recently told Australia’s Faster and Louder magazine that the songs they’ve written so far are inspired by blues and boogie, and will “definitely [make you] wanna shake some arse.”

As soon as he finishes with Queens, frontman Josh Homme will move on to recording with his other project, Eagles of Death Metal, according to that band’s live frontman, Jesse Hughes. Homme and Hughes make the Eagles albums together as a duo, but Homme isn’t part of the touring quartet.

—-

If you happen to fly into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (a.k.a. Sea-Tac) anytime soon, you might hear the voice of Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell or Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard. The Sea-Tac Airport Music Initiative features the musicians giving passengers safety instructions throughout the concourse. (Cantrell talks about the no smoking policy.) The initiative also features Seattle music playing throughout the airport and video screens featuring footage of local bands as well.

—-

Urinals in the shape of The Rolling Stones mouth and tongue logo — based on Mick Jagger’s mouth — are popping up in Europe. You can now do number-one in Mick’s mouth at the Goldman Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, the Rolling Stones Fan Museum in Luechow, Germany and the Rosenmeer restaurant in Rosheim, France. When asked if the urinals were licensed by the band, their spokeswoman told us, “Don’t know anything about this one.”

And, of course the urinals are not without controversy, from, believe it not, women. A report out of Germany says upwards of 12 women have demanded that the urinals be removed from the museum because they are not accurate recreations of the famous logo as the tongue is missing. “If it had been based on the emblem of the Stones with the tongue, it would have been okay,” says one protestor. “But the tongue’s been left out and they really look like women’s mouths.” The museum owner says he has no plans to remove them. “They were damned expensive and they’re staying where they are … That’s final.”

In 2004, Virgin Airlines announced that they would install two of the urinals in New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, but those plans were scrapped — or flushed.

The Stones are not the first rock act you can take a leak on. In 2009, Gene Simmons, the master of everything merchandise, licensed his image for use on urinal cakes promoting his reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels. At the time he said, “For all of you who have always wanted to pee on my face, now you can.” And, if you were an accurate shot, the cake spoke back to you.

—-

Ex-Korn drummer David Silveria has restarted his music career. He’s joined a band called Infinka and the group has posted a teaser for their album Echoes and Traces on YouTube. No release date for the project has been announced.

Silveria went on hiatus from Korn in 2006, with the band saying he had officially left a year later. The drummer dropped out of the music scene altogether, instead working on two restaurants he owned in the Bakersfield, California area. Silveria even sold his set of drums on eBay.

—-

Neil Young said last week he was playing again with Crazy Horse, and now he’s got proof. The front page of Neil Young.com has a 37-minute video called “Horse Back” where the camera moves through Young’s rehearsal space with audio of Young and Crazy Horse doing an instrumental jam on “F–in’ Up” and “Cortez the Killer” that was recorded on January 6th. Young and Crazy Horse reportedly have a new album in the can that’s due out in the late spring.

—-

Guns n’ Roses will go on a brief run of small venues next month. They’ll play three shows in New York to coincide with Fashion Week — February 10th at Roseland Ballroom, February 12th at Terminal 5 and February 15th at Webster Hall, which will reclaim its original name, The Ritz, for the show. The original GNR lineup recorded a 1988 show at the venue that was shown repeatedly on MTV.
The other three dates on the tour have Axl Rose and company playing the House of Blues in Chicago on 19th; The Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland on February 23rd; and the House of Blues in Atlantic City, New Jersey on February 24th.

—-

Although it wasn’t reported at the time, Eric Clapton played Buckingham Palace in December. Along with Andy Fairweather-Low on guitar, Chris Stainton on keyboards, Dave Bronze on bass and Henry Spinetti on drums, Clapton turned in an acoustic set to celebrate the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip. The show was a benefit for two youth charities — The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and the Outward Bound Trust.

Clapton is no stranger to the Royal Family. He’s performed at concerts for the Prince’s Trust, was part of Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee celebration in 2002, was made a Commander of the British Empire in 2004, and in 2005, joined Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Roger Daltrey, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Phil Collins and others in meeting the Queen when she hosted a reception for members of the U.K. music community at Buckingham Palace. When Clapton was presented to Her Majesty, she asked if he’d been “playing a long time,” to which he replied, “It must be 45 years now.”

—-

Shinedown will return to the road this spring as the headliners on the Avalanche Tour. They’ll be joined by Adelita’s Way on the tour, with The Art of Dying opening up the second half. It starts March 27th in Anaheim, California and hits 21 cities before wrapping up April 25th in Baltimore.

Shinedown’s new album, Amaryllis, is due out March 27th.

—-

Garbage’s first album in seven years is titled Not Your Kind of People. It’s due out May 15th on the band’s own label Stunvolume. The band has announced May and June dates in Europe, with U.S dates expected to follow soon after.

Bruce Springsteen fans brought Ticketmaster to its knees Friday morning, as the five New York-area dates that went on sale brought the site to a virtual standstill. Some fans waited more than 30 minutes before the purchase screen would load. All five shows did eventually sell out.

This isn’t the first time Springsteen fans have dealt with Ticketmaster glitches. In 2009, many fans attempting to get seats for shows on Long Island and in New Jersey were greeted with error messages when the tickets went on sale and were re-directed to Ticketmaster’s TicketsNow subsidiary, which specializes in after-market re-sale. The snafu caused tension between Springsteen’s management and Ticketmaster, and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs even got involved.

The tour, in support of his new album, Wrecking Ball, starts on March 18th in Atlanta. The album is out March 6th.

—-

Aerosmith’s Joe Perry will perform his cover of Bob Dylan’s “Man of Peace” tonight on NBC’s Tonight Show With Jay Leno. He’s promoting the new Dylan tribute album Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. Perry is a Leno supporter, Tweeting, “Jay is a hometown Boston guy just like us guys in Aerosmith.”
Perry will be backed tonight by two members of The Joe Perry Project, guitarist Paul Santo and bassist Dave Hull.

—-

Longtime Rush photographer Andrew MacNaughtan died Wednesday of a heart attack while on assignment for the trio in Los Angeles. He was 47. MacNaughtan had taken photos for the band for every album since 1989′s Presto.
Rush has issued a statement saying, “We’re deeply shocked and heartbroken to learn of the sudden passing of our close friend. He was a sweet person and a very talented artist. Words cannot describe how much he will be missed.”

—-

Van Halen have posted yet another lengthy preview clip from A Different Kind of Truth on YouTube. The song “China Town” is the fourth track on the album. And unlike four out of the five other songs they’ve previewed so far, it looks like this is actually a new song, not an old one they’ve re-worked. (But stay tuned.)

A Different Kind of Truth is due out next Tuesday.

—-

Guns n’ Roses are returning to Dublin, Ireland on May 17th, less than two years after Axl Rose infuriated fans there by leaving the stage 20 minutes into their show. On September 1st, 2010, Rose pulled the band from the stage after fans threw plastic cups at them. They returned 30 minutes later, but the delay prompted many fans to demand refunds and even got the attention of local politicians.
The European gambling outfit Paddy Power doesn’t expect this show to happen at all and is giving odds on the following:

4 to 1 – Axl Rose to cut the set short by storming offstage
9 to 2 – GNR to cancel gig and not re-schedule before the end of 2013
10 to 1 – GNR to have to cancel gig due to lack of sales
You can also bet on how late will Axl Rose walk on stage:

3 to 1 – On time
9 to 2 – 1 to 15 minutes late
3 to 1 – 16 to 30 minutes late
9 to 2 – 31 to 45 minutes late
5 to 1 – 46 to 60 minutes late
2 to 1 – More than one hour late

—-

Maybe wresting and reality TV star Hulk Hogan has taken too many hits to the head. Hogan tells London’s Sun that before his wrestling career, he was an in-demand session bassist. He says, “I was big pals with Lars Ulrich, and he asked me if I wanted to play bass with Metallica in their early days, but it didn’t work out… Jerry Hall also asked Mick Jagger if I could play bass with The Rolling Stones. Mick never got back to me.”

—-

Allman Brothers Band guitarist Warren Haynes has announced that Steve Winwood will join Hayes’s other band, Gov’t Mule, as a headliner at the eighth annual Mountain Jam. This year’s fest will run from May 31st through June 3rd at Hunter Mountain, New York. The rest of the lineup includes Michael Franti and Spearhead, Dawes and Ben Folds Five.

This is the reunited Gov’t Mule’s first announced show.

—-

IN STORES TOMORROW:

Metallica: Beyond Magnetic (Warner Bros.)
The digital EP of Death Magnetic outtakes comes to CD.

Underworld Awakening (Lakeshore)
This soundtrack to the hit film includes re-mixes of tracks by Linkin Park, Evanescence, The Cure, Lacey Sturm, Lacuna Coil and others

Radiohead: The King of Limbs – Live From the Basement (DVD/Blu-ray) (Junketboy Inc.)
This concert film includes two previously unreleased tracks.

The actor best known for playing Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on “Welcome Back Kotter” has died. Robert Hegyes was 60. A hospital spokesman tells the New Jersey Star-Ledger newspaper that Hegyes arrived in the morning in full cardiac arrest and died. Hegyes was appearing on Broadway in 1975 when he auditioned for “Kotter.” He also appeared on many other TV series, including “Cagney and Lacey.”

—-

The star for the group America will be unveiled Monday on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. John Stamos and Billy Bob Thornton will be guest speakers at the ceremony.

—-

Singer Reg Presley of The Troggs acknowledges he has lung cancer. Presley writes on the band’s website he learned of it after becoming sick at a concert in Germany late last year. Presley says he is receiving chemotherapy and is “at the moment not feeling too bad.” Presley, who’s 70, says his illness means he must retire. The Troggs are probably best known for their songs “Wild Thing” and “Love Is All Around.”

—-

Tom Morello says he wanted to challenge himself when covering Bob Dylan’s “Blind Willie McTell” for a benefit album for Amnesty International. He wanted to be out of his element so he recorded the guitar solo left-handed. Joe Perry remakes “Man of Peace,” and he says Dylan’s songs are not just iconic, but so are his performances. Ziggy Marley remade “Blowin’ In The Wind,” and he says his mindset was to keep it simple and respectful. The album “Chimes of Freedom” is out this week. It also contains remakes of Dylan songs by Miley Cyrus, Pete Seeger, Pete Townshend, Airborne Toxic Event, Elvis Costello, Queens of the Stone Age and many more.

—-

It seems as though the second “new” song Van Halen posted Wednesday, “Blood and Fire,” isn’t so new. Diehard VH fans say it’s based on the 1984 song “Ripley,” which Eddie Van Halen wrote for the Cameron Crowe film The Wild Life. That would mean that at least four songs on their new album, A Different Kind of Truth, might be re-workings of older tracks. The others are “She’s the Woman,” which they demoed in the mid-’70s; “Tattoo,” which fans say is a re-working of “Down in Flames,” a song they also performed in the ’70s; and “Bullethead,” is also reportedly an older song. No word on if “Stay Frosty,” which debuted Wednesday night on the CBS show CSI, is new or old.

A Different Kind of Truth will be out on February 7th.

—-

Queen guitarist Brian May wants you to know that his friend, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, is in “great spirits,” despite his recent lymphoma diagnosis. May writes on BrianMay.com that he spent time with Iommi last week and that they “had a lot of fun playing with stuff and listening to music — we even made some plans…got some ideas, laughed a lot… Good medicine for both of us… He will go into battle very strong in spirit and with the knowledge that, all around the world, his appreciators are with him.” May also posted photos of his visit with Iommi on his website.

Iommi is being treated in his hometown of Birmingham, England, where he and the rest of the original members of Sabbath are working on their first studio album in 33 years. -

—-

Motley Crue will star in a Super Bowl ad. They’re featured playing “Kickstart Your Heart” in a spot for Kia that will air during the fourth quarter. The commercial, titled “Drive the Dream,” will also feature Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima and MMA fighter Chuck Liddell. A teaser is on YouTube now, and the ad will also debut in theaters on February 2nd.

—-

A New York psychiatrist says songs by Metallica can soothe your soul, and U2 can make you more alert. In her book Your Playlist Can Change Your Life: 10 Proven Ways Your Favorite Music Can Revolutionize Your Health, Memory, Organization, Alertness and More, Columbia University professor Galina Mindlin and her co-authors say that listening to songs with a certain number of beats per minute can trigger specific mental states, such as productivity and relaxation. Metallica can chase your blues away, and U2′s “Pride (In the Name of Love)” can make you more alert. If you want to calm down, give a listen to John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

—-

Add Bruce Springsteen to the ever growing list of artists with their own apps. For $4.99, BRUCEfanatic allows fans of The Boss to scroll through historical and real-time set list data and manipulate it to come up with all kinds of interesting statistics. It’s available for the iPhone, iPod, iTouch and iPad.

Springsteen starts his next tour on March 18th in Atlanta. His new album, Wrecking Ball, is out on March 6th.

—-

Coldplay’s first charity gig of this year — at the Club Nokia in Los Angeles on February 8th — sold out almost instantly, so they’re allowing fans to check it out on the Web. It will be streamed live at Facebook.com/iHeartRadio.

Proceeds from the concert will go to the L.A.-based youth charities A Place Called Home and Youth Mentoring Connection.

—-

Sublime with Rome haven’t announced who will be replacing drummer Bud Gaugh as he takes a hiatus from the band, but they have revealed that they’ll be doing a brief U.S tour with Everlast after their appearance at the Cypress Hill Smokeout March 3rd in San Bernardino, California. The jaunt starts March 4th in Tucson, Arizona and hits eight cities before wrapping up March 14th in Bakersfield, California.

—-

Bret Michaels will go from being one of the performers today (Friday) at the NFL’s Super Bowl Village in Indianapolis to being part of the Grammy Week celebrations next month in Los Angeles. He will headline One Night Only: A Celebration of the Live Music Experience on February 9th at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. It’s part of the Grammy Foundation Music Preservation Project. The show is being co-hosted by Sharon Osbourne and Steve Vai and features performances by Robert Cray, Jonny Lang, Mavis Staples, Shelby Lynne, Marc Martel, the Queen Extravaganza contest winner, and others.

—-

Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell will be one of the performers at Muhammad Ali’s 70th birthday celebration. The Power of Love gala will be held on February 18th in Las Vegas and raise funds for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the Muhammad Ali Center. ABC will televise the event on February 25th.

Calgary’s Rock Guitar Shelter is looking for homeless instruments.

The shelter takes unwanted guitars and other musical devices, restores them and then passes them on to budding musicians.

The volunteer organization operates from a garage in the northwest part of the city.

The facility also teaches up-and-comers about the ins and outs of the music industry and helps them with their songwriting skills.

Sixteen-year-old Julian Gagnon says he wouldn’t be a musician if it wasn’t for the Rock Guitar Shelter.

He says it’s a good place to get more familiar with music and begin to make a name for yourself.

—-

Coldplay and Mumford and Sons are teaming up for an Amnesty International benefit. The Secret Policeman’s Ball will be held March 4th at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, with comedians Jon Stewart, Russell Brand, Stephen Colbert and Reggie Watts also taking part.

Monty Python’s John Cleese launched the Secret Policeman’s Ball concerts in 1976 in England.

—-

Slipknot have signed on to headline this summer’s Rockstar Mayhem Festival. Also on the tour are Slayer, Anthrax, As I Lay Dying, Asking Alexandria and “a very special guest to be announced on March 5th.” The festival starts on June 30th in San Bernardino, California and hits 26 cities before wrapping up on August 5th in Hartford, Connecticut.

—-

Van Halen have put out a 90-second sample of another song off their new album, A Different Kind of Truth. “Blood and Fire” is track number-five and follows the release of the first single, “Tattoo,” which came out earlier this month.

“Tattoo” and another new song, “Stay Frosty,” were heard last night on CSI on CBS. A Different Kind of Truth will be out on February 7th.

—-

The saga of the Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, with music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge, could be headed to theaters, TV or DVD, or all three. All the missteps of this troubled musical were captured by filmmaker Jacob Cohl, who is the son of one of the show’s lead producers, Michael Cohl, known for promoting many tours, especially those by The Rolling Stones.

The younger Cohl was given unlimited behind-the-scenes access to the making of Spider-Man, with the hopes that his film could be used as a promotional vehicle to sell tickets. What he captured tells a different story — there were the many production accidents and fights over the script, both of which led to numerous delays. While he is currently editing the film, the show’s original director, Julie Taymor, who was fired, is trying to make sure she is left on the editing room floor. Her lawsuit against the producers seeks to prevent them from using footage of her in the movie. The suit says the film “would cause Taymor to suffer irreparable harm… to [her] future business prospects and commercial reputation.” The producers have countersued, saying, “Taymor’s attempt to stop the documentary apparently because she is fearful that it may portray her in an unflattering light is a classic prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment.” Stay tuned.

—-

This seems to be a week for bands to unveil new videos:

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ new clip for “Look Around,” which is on Spinner, features Flea stripping down to his underwear and, well, getting messy.

Jane’s Addiction new clip for “Underground” is on Vevo now, but an uncensored version will debut on Playboy.com on Friday.

Mastodon’s “Dry Bone valley” video is an animated clip done by artist Tim Biskip.

—-

Radiohead are throwing their support behind a new documentary called The Island President. The film is about Mohamed Nasheed, the president of the Maldives. It chronicles his struggle to have his voice heard in the climate-change debate, and save his country from being overtaken by the ocean.

Fourteen songs from Radiohead’s catalog are used in the film. It won Best Documentary at the Toronto Film Festival and is being shown this week at the Sundance Film Festival.

—-

Black Sabbath have moved to their hometown of Birmingham, England to finish the writing and recording sessions for their first studio album in 33 years. A post on their Facebook page says, “Sabbath has gone back to where it all started, and it’s been just amazing… Funny how it all goes full circle sometimes.”

Sabbath moved the sessions to the U.K. from Los Angeles to accommodate guitarist Tony Iommi and his treatments for lymphoma. The album should be out in the fall.

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne have teamed up with CBS for the second annual CBS Cares Colonoscopy Sweepstakes, in which one lucky viewer will win a free colon cancer screening. Sharon, a colon cancer survivor, says, “My life was saved by a colonoscopy that Ozzy urged me to have, and I hope everyone who sees the campaign will enter the sweepstakes and talk to their doctor about the importance of screenings.”

—-

Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton have come to the defense of Steven Tyler after critics and fans ripped his rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. Perry says, “That song is a bitch… Why can’t somebody interpret it the way that they want? He’s got a one-in-a-million voice, and people are lucky to hear it. Give me a break, he’s a rock singer. He’s using the tools that he’s got.” And Hamilton tweets, “Hey, quit ragging on Steven. He did it for the team!”

Also voicing her support for Tyler is Bebe Buell, his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his daughter, actress Liv Tyler. Bebe says, “Stop picking on my Baby Daddy for his rendition of the national anthem. He did a great rock and roll version and he did his best. It’s only the hardest song on earth to sing.” She also put in a plug for his role as judge on American Idol, saying, “Watch Idol because he is wonderful and it’s good to let loose and have some fun.”

Joe Perry will be on NBC’s Tonight Show on Monday, performing Bob Dylan’s “Man of Peace.”

—-

Jimmy Page posted another performance video on his website yesterday. This one was a January 25th, 1996 clip of him and Robert Plant doing Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” in Buenos Aires. Page wrote, “The capital of Argentina is the most cultured and wonderful city, and the people really love their music. Quick to respond, the audience always sings and chants their way through concerts with extraordinary gusto and enthusiasm.”

—-

The celebrity divorce parade might be getting a little longer — Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale’s relationship is reportedly on the rocks. A source close to the couple tells Star magazine that they’ve been through couples’ therapy, but it hasn’t been working, because Gavin “just hasn’t been honest about his past. Gwen often wonders what secrets Gavin is hiding. It’s getting harder and harder for her to go through the motions with a man she sometimes feels like she doesn’t even know.”

—-

One of the members of AC/DC is “a little sick” according to singer Brian Johnson. He’s not saying who, but he does say it has been “bad,” but that he is expected to make a “full recovery.”

As for Johnson, he is racing in the Highway to Help car at the Rolex 24 — the 24-hour race at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida this weekend. Not only does he want to cross the finish line first, but he is also trying to raise $1 million for families affected by pediatric cancer. Johnson says, “This is real, this is going to happen, and we’re all happy to have the opportunity to do this.”

If you want to help, text 2232 to 501501 to donate $10 or visit HatcherFoundation.org to make a contribution.

—-

Theory of a Deadman will kick off a U.S. spring tour on April 9th in Tallahassee, Florida with Pop Evil as the opening act. The two bands will hit 21 cities, including Atlanta on April 15th; Allentown, Pennsylvania on April 20th; Buffalo, New York on April 28th; and Chicago on May 4th. They’ll wrap things up on May 11th in Metropolis, Illinois. Tickets for most shows go on sale February 3rd.

—-

The Giagantour, with Megadeth, Motorhead, Lacuna Coil and Volbeat, starts today in Camden, New Jersey. Lacuna Coil singer Cristina Scabbia feels this tour has something for every type of metal fan and that there’s no chance of anyone getting bored at the shows.

Gigantour hits 27 cities before wrapping up March 3rd in Austin, Texas.

—-

Bret Michaels has written and recorded a new song that will serve as the intro theme to all Speed Channel supercross coverage this year. “Get Your Ride On” features guest lead and rhythm guitar and backing vocals by Def Leppard’s Phil Collen. My Darkest Days’ Sal Costa and Pete Evick from Michaels’ band also contribute guitars, with Michaels handling everything else.

Michaels will attend today’s Monster Energy Supercross event at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, which is airing live on The Speed Channel

—-

The Madden brothers of Good Charlotte are forming a band called The Madden Brothers. Joel and Benji Madden tell Rolling Stone they will put out an album this summer that’s produced by Pharrell. Benji Madden describes it as a rock-based record that sounds nothing like Good Charlotte.

—-

Regardless of the outcome of the presidential primaries, Ice-T already has his mind made up about the forthcoming election.

The rapper and actor, who is making his directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival with the documentary “Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap,” says he expects President Barack Obama to be re-elected. After that, he predicts Hillary Clinton will be the next president.

The 53-year-old entertainer said, “She did the Secretary of State job, she was a G, she held it down, she didn’t cry,” referring to the former New York Senator with the hip-hop term for gangster (a positive thing).

“Obama will support her,” he said, “and she’ll be the first woman president.”

Ice-T’s documentary premiered at the Sundance festival, which continues through Sunday in Park City, Utah.

The Secret Policeman’s Ball is letting America in on the party: The British-based music and comedy festival is coming to New York City in March.

Coldplay, John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Mumford Sons and Russell Brand are among the acts who have signed on for the event at Radio City Music Hall on March 4. The concert will benefit Amnesty International, as it has since it started back in 1976 with celebrities like John Cleese. Over the years, Bono, Sting and others have participated.

This will mark the first time it’s being held in New York City.

Amnesty International spokesman Andy Hackman says the organization wanted to do something really special for its 50th anniversary.

—-

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains will soon be giving safety and informational announcements at Seattle-Tacoma Airport. The airport is promoting the local music scene with an initiative that begins Saturday. Sir Mix-A-Lot and “X Factor” finalist LeRoy Bell will also lend their voices for announcements. The music of Ray Charles, Heart, Nirvana and other local musicians will play in the terminals.

—-

Bruce Springsteen has announced the first leg of his American “Wrecking Ball” tour. It will start March 18 in Atlanta. The album, “Wrecking Ball,” goes on sale March 6.  Nothing in Canada…yet.

—-

Halestorm have titled their new album The Strange Case of… and will release it on April 10th. A new digital EP called Hello, It’s Mz Hyde is available now and includes the first single, “Love Bites (So Do I),” as well as three other album tracks.

—-

Whitesnake drummer Brian Tichy is a big John Bonham fan and each day this week he is posting videos teaching how to play like the late Led Zeppelin beat keeper. His first lesson was “Rock and Roll,” which, ironically, is one of the hardest songs for John’s son, Jason Bonham, to play. Jason tells us, “It’s a two-handed shuffle all the way through and not many people who play ‘Rock and Roll’ do that.” He adds that he finally figured out how his father was playing it when the Zeppelin at Knebworth festival video was released. The drum beat is same one used on Little Richard’s “Keep A-Knocking (But You Can’t Come In).”

Tichy replaced Jason Bonham in Foreigner in 2009 before leaving for Whitesnake in 2010.

One of John Bonham’s drumsticks recently sold for more than $1,600 on eBay. Bonham’s name is embossed in scripted silver print across the stick.

—-

Pete Townshend has sold his song catalog to independent music publisher Spirit Music Group. Among the songs included are “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” “Pinball Wizard,” “Baba O’Riley,” “Who Are You,” “You Better You Bet” and “Let My Love Open the Door,” as well as the rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia and his future work, both for The Who and solo.

Townshend says, “The deal provides me with the resources to start all over again in my creative career — most songwriters don’t get this kind of opportunity.” A series of retrospectives for The Who’s biggest albums are expected over the next two years leading up to their 50th anniversary in 2014.

Spirit’s roster also includes songs by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Santana, The Beach Boys, Barbra Streisand, Lou Reed, T. Rex, The Grateful Dead, Alice Cooper, Chicago, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z and many others.

—-

The AC/DC Family Jewels exhibit is headed to the Experience Music Project in Seattle from April 28th through September 29th. Developed in conjunction with the band, it features more than 400 artifacts, including photos, instruments, show posters, letters, lyrics and costumes — including an extremely rare Angus Young home-sewn schoolboy outfit from 1975, complete with a gold and red satin cape.

—-

A film based on the 1981 KISS album (Music From) The Elder is in the works, which was the original plan before it got shelved when the album tanked. U.K.-based independent filmmaker Seb Hunter says production on the film, a “post-apocalyptic road movie,” will begin this summer. “The only way to do this is to do it properly… Not to completely copy the ideas that KISS had… It basically tells the same story.”

He says KISS fans are underwriting the film, but the band hasn’t acknowledged it. “The big worry is that…Gene Simmons likes to wield his lawyers and…that he’ll come down on us like a ton of bricks.”

The Elder was the last KISS album to feature Ace Frehley, prior to the 1998 reunion album Psycho Circus, and it was the first for drummer Eric Carr, who replaced Peter Criss. But it sold so poorly that it was the first release they didn’t tour behind.

In 2010, Spinner voted (Music From) The Elder one of the worst rock operas ever.

—-

Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing has been keeping busy developing his 320-acre estate in Shropshire, England, and now he’s looking to add a 63-room hotel, spa and restaurant to the golf course he’s already built. He says, “I am speaking to various corporations about investment, and I’m optimistic we can start pushing through with the plans for development this year… I’m 60 years old now, so I really want to get things completed.”

Downing left Priest last April.

—-

Neil Young is working again with his longtime backing band Crazy Horse. He let the news slip during a private meet-and-greet with him and director Jonathan Demme Sunday evening at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The Young fansite Thrasher’s Wheat reports that one album with Crazy Horse is done and that another one is in the works — and that one of them will be out in the late spring.

Young and Crazy Horse last recorded and toured together in 2003 and 2004, when they did the concept album Greendale.

—-

Neil Young has worked with trains and electric cars, and now he’s apparently branching out into sound systems — or maybe he’s leading an audio revolution. Young posted a note on his Facebook page early Tuesday morning saying, “I support Occupy Audio. Thanks for listening.” The Facebook page that Young links to features a video of musicians such as David Crosby, Kid Rock and Mumford and Sons listening to music in an El Dorado owned by Young and exclaiming how great it sounds. The page says, “Occupy Audio and get the sound back to the people. Musicians, hear this. This is the 21st century. We need to take our tones back.”

—-

Eric Clapton’s company Marshbrook, which looks after his music and touring interests, as well as the leasing of his luxury yacht, took in $18 million last year. From that, Clapton gave himself a salary of $6 million.

By the way, if you want to lease the 157-foot yacht, the Va Bene, it goes for $279,000 a week.

—-

Slipknot percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan has added acting to his resume. He recently filmed a role as The Tamer in a new horror flick called The Devil’s Carnival. It’s billed as companion piece to director Darren Lynn Bousman last project, Repo! The Genetic Opera. Crahan says, “It’s always been a dream and a goal for me to try and act in something that is filmed besides music videos.” The movie is due out this year.

—-

Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti is getting closer to releasing his first solo album. He’s named it All I Was and has launched a site for it called TremontiProject.com. The album, which features Tremonti on lead vocals, is due out in the late spring.

Tremonti likely won’t be touring behind the album, since Alter Bridge have shows in February and March, and Creed returns to the road in April.

Bono doesn’t care much for “Achtung, Baby,” the album that almost broke up the band. The documentary “From the Sky Down” shows the band recording the album and the tensions it caused. Bono says when he hears the album, all he hears is “what’s wrong with it.” But when he hears other artists doing covers of the songs, he thinks they’re “really good.” From The Sky Down“ comes out on DVD and BluRay today.

—-

Director Cameron Crowe has created a film about Elton John’s collaboration with Leon Russell that resulted in the 2010 album “The Union.” John had considered Russell a major influence but realized Russell had fallen off the music scene. John contacted him and they bonded after watching a Mahalia Jackson video. The film, also called “The Union,” will premiere on HBO on February 2nd.

—-

It may be 2012, but Spike Lee says among the suits in Hollywood, “It’s 1950. It’s Eisenhower.” The filmmaker says he is still pushing for a higher level of diversity in the movie industry. He notes that whites will be a minority in the U.S. by 2045 or even sooner but you wouldn’t know it by what you see on the screen. Lee says it would make “good business sense” for all American companies not just the entertainment industry to be more diversified. Lee spoke with reporters at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where he unveiled his latest movie project, “Red Hook Summer” on Sunday. Among the guests who filled the screening room were Chris Rock, Alfre Woodard and Cuba Gooding Junior.

—-

Garbage have formed their own label to release their own record. The band say on their Facebook page they’ve had their fill of “greedy corporate interest” and they’re going to do it their own way with their label, Stunvolume. They will release their first album in seven years in the spring. It was recorded in Los Angeles, the first Garbage album not to be recorded in their hometown of Madison, Wisconsin.

—-

Iggy Pop will be the official ambassador for Record Store Day. That’s the day when independent record stores sell exclusive releases from big-name artists. Pop says he got his name, his musical education and his personality from working at a record store. He says being the Record Store Day ambassador makes him “feel like a representative from some exotic jungle full of life and death and sex and anger, called upon to wear a leopard skin and translate joy to the world of the dead.” This year’s Record Store Day is April 21.

—-

Alice Cooper will be dropping the puck when the Phoenix Coyotes host the Dallas Stars on February 18. The first 10,000 fans will also get Alice Cooper bobbleheads for military appreciation night. The bobblehead wears Alice makeup, a snake and a Coyotes shirt.

—-

The fans of Staind, Godsmack and Halestorm have picked Mass Chaos as the name of their upcoming tour. It kicks off April 13th in August, Georgia and hits 19 cities before wrapping up May 18th in Bangor, Maine.

Fans can enter a contest to design a poster for the tour. Visit CreativeAllies.com for info on the contest.

—-

Bruce Springsteen will announce his U.S. tour this morning at approximately 10 ET. It has been rumored that it will start in Denver on March 2nd. The tour, with the E Street Band, is in support of his new album, Wrecking Ball, in stores March 6th. We will have the dates as soon as they are announced.

We already knew that the E Street Band isn’t featured prominently on Wrecking Ball, but they’re actually nowhere to be found on the first single, “We Take Care of Our Own.” In addition to the vocals, Springsteen handles guitar, banjo, piano, organ, drums, percussion and loops. His producer Ron Aniello is on guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and loops. Two latter-day or minor E Street members, Soozie Tyrell and Springsteen’s wife Patti Scialfa, handle backing vocals, and strings come from The New York String Section.

—-

The first single from Halestorm’s still-untitled second album is “Love Bites (But So Do I).” Appropriately, it’ll be available at digital retailers on Valentine’s Day, February 14th.

Halestorm will be on the road in Europe next month with Shinedown before they return to the U.S. in April for the Staind – Godsmack tour. Their new album is expected out in mid-April.

—-

Add Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen to the list of artists that Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl is interviewing for his movie about Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, where Nirvana recorded Nevermind. A series of photos with Nielsen are posted on the Foos Twitter feed.

In addition to Nielsen, Grohl has also spoken to REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin, RATT’s Stephen Percy and Warren DeMartini, and Nevermind producer Butch Vig.

—-

Lacuna Coil’s album Dark Adrenaline hits stores today, and you have plenty of options to pick it up. There are eight different versions available between North America and Europe, including separate box sets and vinyl versions for each territory.

Singer Cristina Scabbia says their label has done a great job of giving fans choices about how involved they want to get with Dark Adrenaline. But she admits, “I’m getting confused when the fans are asking me like, ‘Which one is the edition with the DVD?’”

—-

Rise Against are one of the over 70 acts on the new compilation Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. Rise Against singer-guitarist Tim McIlrath admits that he didn’t get into Dylan’s catalog until the past few years. McIlrath tells Spinner, “I think that happened for a combination of reasons. I was trying to trace back the roots of counterculture music, and seeing where Rise Against fit into that. Dylan was obviously part of an important generation of songwriters, but I didn’t give his music a chance till I was older.”

Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International, featuring Rise Against’s take on “The Ballad of Hollis Brown,” is out today.

—–

While there has been no official announcement, among the acts reported to be paying tribute to Paul McCartney on February 10th in Los Angeles when he is honored as the MusiCares’s Person of the Year are James Taylor, who is said to be singing “Yesterday,” as well as Coldplay, Norah Jones and the Foo Fighters. As for who else is rumored, that list includes Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder and Kanye West. An official announcement is expected shortly.

—-

Gene Simmons will be speaking at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah this afternoon with one of his heroes, former Marvel Comics head Stan Lee. The question-and-answer session will be streamed live on Ortsbo.com at 2:45 ET. It will be available in more than 50 languages, as Ortsbo, one of Simmons’s companies, is a social media chat language translator.

Simmons says, “Stan Lee is one of today’s most iconic creators. The characters and comic books he has been involved with are known around the world and have had a huge impact on society.” While at Marvel, Lee published two KISS comic books — in 1977 and ’79.

—-

Steven Tyler is reportedly upset with FOX Sports columnist Jason Whitlock over his criticism of his performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” at Sunday’s AFC Championship game between the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots. Whitlock tweeted, “Steven Tyler [was] far more obscene than Janet Jackson’s titty,” a reference to Janet’s wardrobe malfunction during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Tyler’s rep is demanding an apology but Whitlock says he won’t be issuing one. Yesterday, Whitlock went on the FOX Sports radio show Loose Cannons and said Tyler looked like, “[CBS sports reporter] Lesley Visser with a wig on.” A spokesman for Tyler was unavailable for comment.

—-

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder will be back out on the road this spring. His tour starts April 11th in Las Vegas and hits 13 cities — including Jazzfest in New Orleans on May 3rd — before wrapping up on May 16th in Orlando, Florida. Tickets for all the shows go on sale February 3rd.

—-

The Doors are back in stores today with two releases — a 40th anniversary edition of L.A. Woman, their last studio album with Jim Morrison, and the documentary Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman, on DVD and Blu-ray.

This latest version of L.A. Woman has been re-mastered and will include outtakes and separate takes of most of the songs. Among the bonus tracks is a recently discovered unreleased song, “She Smells So Nice,” along with “Orange County Suite” and covers of Willie Dixon’s “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” and Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want).”

—-

Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has another album on the way. The self-titled collaboration between Greenwood and Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki [pr: KRISH-toff pen-dur-WRECK-eee] is due out March 13th. The album features two pieces from each composer performed by the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra. One of Greenwood’s works, “Popcorn Superhet Receiver,” includes elements from his score for There Will Be Blood.

—-

Garbage have named their new label Stunvolume. The band’s new album will be released on the label in the spring.

—-

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo tweeted about the band’s cruise — “Impromptu hootenanny in the ship’s library last night. I was surprised so many people knew all the lyrics to ‘Ice Ice Baby.’”

—-

Steven Tyler tweets that he hosted an American Idol season premiere party last week at his rented L.A.home and that he ended up in the pool with four naked women.

The Beatles, Pink Floyd and The Who are included on a list compiled by Gibson.com of artists who’ve recorded albums that never officially saw the light of day.

The Beatles – Get Back:
“Paul McCartney’s idea for 1968 was that they should ‘get back’ to their roots and make an album free of studio refinement and overdubs… In the end, tensions prevailed and the sessions grinded to a halt. Producer Phil Spector eventually pieced together the Let It Be album from those sessions, but that string-laden LP was a far different animal from what Macca intended.”

Pink Floyd – Household Objects:
“In 1974, in the wake of Dark Side of the Moon’s monumental success, Pink Floyd came up with the idea to create music using nothing but household objects. Rubber bands, cardboard boxes and water-filled crystal wine glasses were among the tools employed in the effort, but the challenges proved insurmountable. ‘It just got too difficult and pointless,’ said David Gilmour.”

The Who – Lifehouse:
“Simply put, Lifehouse was a project toppled by the weight of Pete Townshend’s grand ambitions. Conceptually, in the wake of Tommy, Townshend wanted to construct a multimedia extravaganza that would incorporate music that reflected the personalities and state of mind of Who fans. The complications involved in the undertaking precipitated a nervous breakdown in Townshend, but not before he wrote some of his finest songs. Fortunately, although Lifehouse was abandoned, much of the material found its way onto Who’s Next.

Bruce Springsteen – electric Nebraska:
“Springsteen’s original intent was that the disc be a full-on rock and roll effort. To that end, he recorded Nebraska’s songs with his E Street Band before deciding his homemade demos would better serve the message he wanted to convey. Drummer Max Weinberg later described the electric versions of the songs as ‘hard-edged’ and ‘killing.’”

Neil Young – Homegrown:
“This mostly acoustic country-rock album — recorded in 1974 — was so close to being released, the cover art already had been designed. Young has described the album as ‘the missing link between Harvest, Comes a Time, Old Ways and Harvest Moon.’ Many of the songs centered on his deteriorating relationship with his girlfriend, actress Carrie Snodgrass, and Young felt they were too personal and opted to release Tonight’s the Night instead.”

The Kinks – Four More Respected Gentlemen:
“The songs for this never-released Kinks album, recorded in 1968, were originally intended for a U.S.-only LP to be released in tandem with a Europe-only version of their Village Green Preservation Society disc. Instead, record executives opted to shelve the former album, and instead released a longer version of the latter disc in both the U.K. and U.S.

—-

One of the previously unreleased songs on next month’s release of the Immersion and Experience editions of Pink Floyd’s The Wall is an early band demo of “Young Lust,” complete with different lyrics. This joins David Gilmour’s unheard original demos of “Comfortably Numb” and “Run Like Hell.”

When the new version of The Wall is released on February 28th it will bring to an end the Why Pink Floyd? reissue campaign.

—-

Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst is trying out one of those 60-day juice diets and blogging about the experience. Log onto Fred60.tumblr.com to see pictures of his scale and to read his complaints about how difficult it is coming up with different juice recipes and his admission that he’s cheated twice with an oatmeal cookie and M&Ms.

One of Durst’s more recent posts says, “I am about two pounds lighter and definitely feeling better internally. My thoughts are clear and inspired, but I’m discouraged in some ways. I guess it’s my own personal baggage that’s lugging around behind me.”

—-

Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl has confirmed he’s making a movie about the studio where Nirvana recorded Nevermind. REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin let slip news about the project last fall, and in the new issue of Rolling Stone Grohl talks about the still-to-be-titled Sound City Studios documentary. Grohl says, “That funky old place had the best drum room in world. The drum sound at the beginning of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ — that’s Sound City. I decided to make a film about that feeling you get when you put five guys in a room, hit ‘record’ and the hair on the back of your neck stands up.”
Besides Cronin, Ratt’s Stephen Percy and Warren DeMartini revealed they had been in the studio in recent weeks recording songs with Grohl for a secret project.

—-

Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor and percussionist Shawn Crahan have started their own film production company called Living Breathing Films. The duo will be at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah this week promoting the new venture. Taylor tells Rolling Stone that they already have an idea for their first project. He says, “Right now we’ve got a story and we’re getting together a working script. We’re looking to basically break ground on it this year. We’re obviously going to make sure that it doesn’t conflict with the future Slipknot touring stuff. But it’s important for us to learn first before we just kind of jump in.”

—-

Kid Rock has apologized — sort of — after a man complained that the musician smoked a cigar at a nonsmoking venue in the Detroit area.
Randy Snell tells The Detroit News that Rock lit the cigar while attending Travis Tritt’s show January 6th at the Andiamo Celebrity Showroom in Warren, Michigan. Snell has asthma and says he plans to file a complaint with the health department. Michigan law prohibits smoking at workplaces including bars and restaurants. Rock told TheDetroit News via email that he received special treatment in being allowed to smoke, but blamed all the free drinks fans gave him. Rock said, “I doubt I’m the first one to ever make a bad decision while being intoxicated, so he without fault please cast the first stone. My most sincere apologies to the patrons I may have offended, and a big middle finger in advance to all the haters and attorneys who will somehow try to find an easy paycheck in all this.”

—-

Chevelle got to spend a lot of time in an unexpected place working on Hats Off to the Bull — right at home. Drummer Sam Loeffler had a small studio built at his house so the trio could work on songs. He says that being able to be home for such a long time was weird, but that except for a migraine that laid him up for a week, making the album was “very relaxing.”

—-

Jon Bon Jovi is keeping busy close to home in New Jersey in 2012. He writes on BonJovi.com, “The Circle tour was beyond our wildest dreams… It’s only fair we let some of the other bands have some of your attention in 2012, but don’t worry, we are writing up a storm and have a really good record coming together.” Meanwhile, he’s working on his charitable restaurant, the Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, New Jersey, and getting ready for his one-off show at the Bamboozle festival in nearby Asbury Park in May.

Bon Jovi adds that the death hoax last month was “a wild 60 minutes. Fortunately my family was all together when the calls came in and we quickly dispelled the rumors. Besides all the well wishes ‘dying’ is soooo overrated. We all have so much to live for, so make the best of each day.”

—-

Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde becomes the first rocker to be roasted on Thursday — and he has no one to blame but himself. Wylde tells us the idea came out of a conversation he had with Guitar World magazine editor-in-chief Brad Tolinski about the old Dean Martin roasts on TV. Zakk said he’d love to have a roast for Black Label Society and their friends — Tolinski took the idea, ran with it and made Zakk the first victim.

The event takes place at the Grove in Anaheim, California on the kickoff day the annual NAMM music merchants convention, so there are plenty of musicians around to give Mr. Wylde his comeuppance. Sharon Osbourne, who Zakk calls “mom,” is hosting.

—-

Alice In Chains singer William DuVall won his fantasy football league, so he got to pick the charity. Besides bandmates Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez and Sean Kinney, the league also included HellYeah drummer Vinnie Paul, Ann Wilson of Heart, Duff McKagan, former Queensryche guitarist Chris DeGarmo, Meat Loaf, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Randy Wolf and Jay Ferguson of “Mad Men.” Each year they donate items to be auctioned and the league winner chooses the charity. DuVall chose Boys and Girls Clubs of America. You can view the items at http://myworld.ebay.com/aliceinchainsfootball. Auction ends next Monday.

Bruce Springsteen has played his new album for execs at Columbia Records, and insiders describe it as the “angriest he’s ever made,” but “very rock and roll… He gets into economic justice quite a bit… Bear in mind, though, that he wrote and recorded the majority of the album before the Occupy movements started, so he’s not just setting headlines to music.” The source adds that there are “unexpected textures — loops, electronic percussion…an amazing sweep of influences and rhythms, from hip-hop to Irish folk rhythms.”

The album is being produced by Ron Aniello, who has worked with Springsteen’s wife, Patti Scialfa. There’s no title or release date yet, although it is expected around the reported start of his tour, March 2nd in Denver.

—-

Bruce Springsteen had a busy and productive weekend in Asbury Park, New Jersey where he filmed a video on Friday and then gave a two-hour performance on Saturday.

Starting with Saturday, Springsteen was once again a surprise guest at the annual Light of Day concert, which raises money for Parkinson’s disease research. His first appearance of the night at the Paramount Theatre was when he joined his friend Garland Jeffreys on “Wild in the Streets,” and then came back with another friend, Willie Nile, on “One Guitar.”

But he wasn’t done there. He did only his second-ever acoustic version of “Incident on 57th Street” before being joined by Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers for a 15-song set that included “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “Adam Raised a Cain,” “Atlantic City,” “Because the Night,” “Light of Day” with E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, “Promised Land,” and he ended the night with an acoustic performance of “Thunder Road.”

The show started at 6:30 and ran until 2 a.m. with Springsteen telling the audience, “I’m up late. I gotta get up at 7 tomorrow — I still have one at home — gotta make pancakes. Yeah, mostly I’m just a chauffeur and short order cook who plays guitar.”

On Friday, Springsteen was in Asbury Park filming a video to one of the songs off his upcoming and as yet unnamed album. He was joined by Willie Nile, who reportedly sings background on the song, the name of which is not known.

—-

Styx guitarist James “JY” Young, our football analyst, was right when he said the Denver Broncos didn’t “have a prayer” against the New England Patriots Saturday night. Denver’s religious quarterback Tim Tebow and his run of last minute comebacks ended in a 45-10 trouncing in the Division Series as the Patriots advance to the AFC Championship on Sunday at home against the Baltimore Ravens. JY was two-for-two in picking the AFC games as he predicted the Ravens would defeat the Houston Texans by a touchdown and they did, 20-13.

The NFC was a different story for JY as both underdogs pulled upsets. On Saturday, the San Francisco 49ers hosted the New Orleans Saints and, in the weekend’s most exciting game, came away with a 36-32 win as the lead changed four times in the final four minutes. The 49ers, in the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, advance to their first championship game in a decade.

The weekend’s last game, the New York Giants in Green Bay yesterday to take on the Packers, saw Giants quarterback Eli Manning pick apart the 15-and-one defending Super Bowl champs to advance to the NFC Championship, 37-20 for the first time in four years. It was also the second time in four years that “Big Blue” knocked the Packers out of the playoffs.

So this Sunday it will be the Baltimore Ravens visiting New England in the AFC Championship and the New York Giants in San Francisco against the 49ers in the NFC with the winners going onto Super Bowl 46 on February 5th in Indianapolis.

JY is now five-for-eight in picking this year’s playoff games. He will be back on Friday to break down the Championship Series.

—-

After releasing soundtrack music under his own name and collaborating with his wife in How to Destroy Angels, Trent Reznor is getting back to the name that made him famous, Nine Inch Nails. Reznor tells Billboard, “My voice as a songwriter feels like it needs to speak up or at least work out a little bit to not atrophy. I think I have something to say that feels unique to who I am right now, and that’s when it tells me it’s time to do something.”

Reznor adds that he thought about ditching the NIN name, but decided to keep using it because “I enjoy the challenge of moving that kind of brand forward, that identity, shaping it to who I am now instead of who I was a few years ago when I last left off.”

—-

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi is thanking fans for their support as he undergoes treatment for lymphoma. He writes at TonyIommi.com, “I just want to say how overwhelmed I am with all your messages of support, thank you so much. Well, it’s not what I wanted for Christmas, that’s for sure, but now I can’t wait for the test results to come in and get going with the treatment.”

Iommi is also excited about working on the new Sabbath album in the U.K., where he’s undergoing the treatment. “It’s really good that the guys are coming over so that we can continue working on the album, as things are going great in the studio.”

—-

Being in Guns n’ Roses doesn’t get you out of jury duty, as Axl Rose discovered this week. Rose served as a juror for four days in Santa Monica, California and wrapped up his service last Tuesday. He issued a statement saying, “It was relatively painless. I was fortunate that everyone in the courthouse and jurors were all really great, plus I got to see daylight from a different prospect.”

—-

Velvet Revolver’s brief reunion with former singer Scott Weiland went off without a hitch Thursday night at Love You Madly: A Concert for John O’Brien at the House of Blues in Hollywood. The band played “Sucker Train Blues,” “She Builds Quick Machines,” “Slither” and a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” which they covered frequently during their time on the road.

—-

Twisted Sister singer, radio host and reality TV star Dee Snider will publish his autobiography in May. He says he’s been “going over final draft of Shut Up and Give Me the Mic [and] still [has] hundreds of pages to go.” Snider adds that what sets his apart from other artist memoirs is that he can “remember what happened. I wasn’t so out of it that I have to rely on what others tell me. This is the truth, not BS.”

In the meantime, you can catch Snider on the new season of Celebrity Apprentice, which premieres on NBC February 12th.

—-

IN STORES TOMORROW:

Cage the Elephant: Live from the Vic in Chicago (Blu-Ray) (RCA)
This Blu-ray release — which was originally available only at Best Buy — is now available at all retailers.

The Duke Spirit: Bruiser (Shangri-La Music)
The English band’s third album, which was available digitally in November, is finally released in physical form.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are postponing their tour because singer Anthony Kiedis is recovering from foot surgery. He had a crushed bone removed and a tendon repaired. He’s expected to make a full recovery. The tour was to begin January 20 in Sunrise, Florida, but it will now start March 29 in Tampa.

—-

It’s been a while since Bob Dylan performed on TV. He’s taking out his guitar and doing it tonight. Dylan is performing live on VH1. He’s doing a musical tribute to director Martin Scorsese. Also honoring Scorsese are George Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison, and Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s part of the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards airing live from the Palladium in Hollywood. Each year the awards also has a house band. Tonight it’s Fitz and the Tantrums.

—-

A specialty car manufacturer has donated a SUV to Leslie West of Mountain so that he can tour again. West’s right leg was amputated above the knee in June, and he canceled his fall tour because his mobility was limited. The Vehicle Production Group gave West an SUV that’s designed to accommodate a wheelchair and runs on natural gas. West says it’s nicer than any guitar he’s ever owned. He will return to touring beginning January 31 in New York.

—-

The Velvet Underground say it’s THEIR banana. The band is suing the Andy Warhol Foundation over the banana design Warhol created for their first album cover in 1967. Their lawsuit says the foundation should not have licensed the design for use on iPhones and iPads. The Velvet Underground want a judge to declare the foundation has no rights to the design and the band should be awarded any profits the foundation has received. A representative for the foundation could not be reached for comment.

—-

Bryan Ferry has married a woman who’s as old as his oldest son. His spokesman confirms Ferry, who’s 66, married 29-year-old Amanda Sheppard at a luxury resort on the Turks and Caicos Islands on January 4. It’s Ferry’s second marriage. He was married to Lucy Helmore for 21 years before they divorced in 2003. She was 14 years younger than him.

—-

Velvet Revolver will reunite with Scott Weiland for a three-song set tonight at Love You Madly: A Concert for John O’Brien at the House of Blues in Hollywood. The show will also feature performances by Stephen Stills and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello. The concert, which will raise funds for O’Brien’s family, was organized by Velvet Revolver guitarist Dave Kushner.

Weiland and Velvet Revolver last performed together in April 2008. O’Brien, a close friend of Kushner’s, died last summer at age 45.

—-

Eddie Van Halen has donated 75 of his own guitars to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation for distribution to music programs in Los Angeles-area public schools. He says, “Music kept me off the streets and out of trouble… If I can help a kid discover a liking, or even a passion for music in their life, then that’s a wonderful thing.”

Eddie is getting ready for the February 7th release of the new Van Halen album, A Different Kind of Truth, and their tour starting on February 18th in Louisville, Kentucky.

—-

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason is headed Down Under next week to be the guest of honor at a vintage car rally in New Zealand. He’ll drive a rare 1934 Alfa Romeo GT and a V8 Gulf-GT40 Ford in two races starting on January 21st.

If Mason should decide to quit racing, he can always give acting a try — he looks similar to the Great Gazoo from The Flintstones when he’s wearing his racing helmet.

—-

Neil Peart has updated his website with another lengthy post and in it he discusses the recording of the new Rush album, and, he touches upon something he has rarely ever shared with the public — the death of his daughter Selena in 1997 followed by his first wife Jackie. He brings this up in explaining a letter he wrote to his late drum teacher, Freddie Gruber, in 1998.

“The letter was written at the darkest point of my life — though I didn’t know then that just a week or two later, we would get the diagnosis about Jackie’s terminal cancer. So I was between deaths, as it were. (The gate of that year opened on a prison cell — what seemed to be an eternal sentence of grief, confusion and emptiness. There was no light.)”

In the letter he wrote: “I miss everything. Not only Selena, but ourselves, our friends, and our lives together. It’s all been blasted into such a howling chaos of sorrow and meaninglessness, and we’re only now beginning to grope for a path ahead. It sure won’t be easy, but I hope we’ll find some kind of peace — if never the joy we knew before…”

As for the new Rush album, Clockwork Angels, he says, “As we prepare to start mixing in the New Year, it is too early to say anything about the results… I recorded my drum parts in a way that, for me, was completely different than ever before… I have been working deliberately to become more improvisational and these sessions were an opportunity to attempt that… I am working at a whole new level of both funky, dirty, greasy groove and fancy show-off technique-a combination I have been seeking my entire drumming life.” The album will be out later this year.

Read more from Peart at NeilPeart.net.

—-

Chickenfoot start a five-city tour of Europe tonight in Manchester, England. As with their U.S. dates in November, they’re calling it their Road Test tour. Sammy Hagar tells us, “It’s really about promoting the record,” Chickenfoot Three, which they released in September.

The European dates run through the 19th in Dusseldorf, Germany, with London, Paris and Tilburg, Netherlands in between. Following this tour, Michael Anthony tells us they’ll start working on production for a more extensive summer outing.

—-

The folks behind the KISS Monster Mini Golf course in Las Vegas are looking for a woman to wear the first-ever custom designed $10,000 Gene Simmons Lady Demon black leather wedding dress at the grand opening on March 15th. Simmons designed the dress himself. An open casting call is being held tomorrow from noon to 4 p.m. and again from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Peacock Lounge at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The top 10 finalists will be featured on KISSOnline.com and KISS by Monster Mini Golf social media for fans to vote for their favorite Lady Demon between January 15th and the 23rd. The top six will then attend the Lady Demon finale at the Hard Rock on January 29th. The gown is being made for the “Hotter Than Hell” wedding chapel at the course.

For more details log onto MonsterMiniGolf.com/KIS/index.html.

—-

Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has teamed up with Mike Lull Guitar Works on a new bass called the JAX T4. It’s the first time anyone in Pearl Jam has put his name on an instrument. The handmade basses will be available later this month,

Ament has hand painted two of the basses to auction off to raise funds for the non-profit writing and tutoring center 826 Seattle. You can bid now at CharityBuzz.com.

—-

The 2012 Grammy Nominees compilation will be released on January 24th. It features nominated tracks from Adele (“Rolling in the Deep”), Foster the People (“Pumped Up Kicks”), Coldplay (“Paradise”), Foo Fighters (“Walk”), Mumford and Sons (“The Cave”) and The Black Keys (“Dearest”). A portion of the proceeds from the album go to MusiCares and the Grammy Foundation.

Despite having to be bleeped a few times on American Idol, Steven Tyler doesn’t want the Supreme Court to reshape the Federal Communications Commission’s rules affecting what can and can’t be said on TV. He says, “There’s a certain charm and passion and magic in not showing full-frontal nudity” or using constant profanity… “It’s really hot when you only show a little.”

The court heard the case yesterday in which it will determine the FCC’s authority in setting indecency standards. The broadcasters are hoping to overturn a 1978 decision that upheld the FCC’s authority to regulate radio and television content, particularly during the hours when children are likely to be watching or listening — prime-time before 10 p.m. A decision is expected by the end of June.

—-

The new Aerosmith record is still a work in progress, and it looks like Steven Tyler is holding things up. Tyler says they’ve written about half the album — but not his half. He says he’s got to write lyrics and he hasn’t had a lot of time. He says he’s not pretentious enough to say the songs are hits, but he thinks they’ve got something. He says it will sound like the Aerosmith everyone knows with some new sounds, because as he puts it, “How do you hide from my big mouth?”

—-

Some Rolling Stones fans have banded together and are demanding changes to the way the group tours. The Rolling Stones Liberation Front is threatening non-violent, disruptive action to get across their demands, which are:

1) WE WANT SMALLER VENUES: We believe the time has passed for gargantuan mega-arena spectaculars; hardly anything good comes from these soulless shows… The introduction of the considerably smaller B-stage set up in the middle of the venue at the end of 1994′s Voodoo Lounge tour was a perfect step toward this philosophy.

2) WE WANT LOWER TICKET PRICES: We believe it is unacceptable to charge up to $350 for a single ticket… We believe a band needing to charge $85 — $100 for upper balcony seats is a band no longer in touch with their fan base. We demand the ticket price for the next tour to be no more than $30 and without any and all service charges.

3) WE WANT A SET LIST OVERHAUL: With an immense back catalog of songs to choose from, there is no reason why The Rolling Stones need to stick to roughly the same 30 songs for every tour… We demand the following songs not to be played on the next tour: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Brown Sugar,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Start Me Up,” “Sympathy for the Devil.”

4) WE WANT THE ELIMINATION OF THE HORN SECTION AND BACK-UP SINGERS: We believe The Rolling Stones have drifted too far from the true and basic rock and roll aesthetic. It’s time to bring it back, back at least to the hugely successful 1978 Some Girls tour.

5) WE WANT THE EXPULSION OF ALL OPENING ACTS: We believe The Rolling Stones have stopped challenging themselves. There was a time when they would bring an opening band talented enough to challenge the Stones themselves, who, in turn, would have to step it up even further… How challenging can it be to follow Third Eye Blind? How challenging can it be to follow Jonny Lang or the god damn Spin Doctors?

6) WE WANT ALL FANS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEMSELVES: We believe the fault also lies with fans willing to do the bidding of their favorite band, no matter the cost. How many suckers does it take to fill an auditorium? Ask The Rolling Stones… We urge all self-respecting Rolling Stones fans to heed our warnings and join our ranks. Don’t be taken for granted… Why give them more of our money and then settle for the usual? We won’t.

The Stones still haven’t announced their plans for their 50th anniversary. As for the demands, a spokeswoman for the Stones was unavailable for comment.

—-

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi’s acknowledgment that he has lymphoma has reportedly caused at least one cancellation on the band’s schedule. Billboard cites “multiple industry sources” as saying the band was set to headline one of the days at Indio, California’s Coachella Festival, which is running April 13th through the 15th and April 20th through the 22nd with the same lineup both weekends. The headlining acts announced Monday are Radiohead, The Black Keys and rappers Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, and Billboard admits that it doesn’t know which act — if any — replaced Sabbath at the last minute.

Sabbath’s spokesperson tells us, “We have no information on this,” and there’s been no comment yet from Coachella’s promoters.

—-

Radiohead have added three pre-Coachella shows to their U.S tour. They’ll hit Seattle on April 9th; San Jose, California on April 11th; and Santa Barbara, California on April 12th. They’ll headline at Coachella, in Indio, California, on April 14th and 21st.

Radiohead’s U.S tour starts February 27th in Miami.

—-

Sevendust are taking most of the year off, so guitarist Clint Lowery and drummer Morgan Rose have started a side project called Call Me No One. They plan to enter the studio at the end of this month to record their debut album and hope to release it in the late spring.

Sevendust plan on regrouping at the end of the year to start what they hope will be a double album.

—-

Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery has teamed up with drummer Morgan Rose for a new side project called Call Me No One, but first he plans to release a new album from an older side project. Dark New Day — comprising Lowery and his bass playing brother Corey, Evanescence drummer Will Hunt and guitarist Troy McLawhorn, and singer Brett Hestla — will release New Tradition on February 28th. The group’s second album features songs from an abandoned 2007 project as well as new material recorded last year.

—-

A copy of AC/DC’s debut single, “Can I Sit Next to You, Girl,” recently sold on eBay for more than $1,200. The song, released only in Australia, features original vocalist Dave Evans. The B-side was “Rockin’ in the Parlour.” They were the only two songs AC/DC recorded with Evans, who was replaced by Bon Scott in 1974. They re-recorded “Can I Sit Next to You, Girl” with Scott for their second album, TNT.

AC/DC shot a performance video for the song at The Last Picture Show theatre, near Sydney, Australia. Evans says, “That is the only video of me with AC/DC that I know of… The venue was closed to visitors at the time so that we could shoot it.”

In addition to Evans and AC/DC founders Malcolm and Angus Young, this third incarnation of the band also featured Rob Bailey on bass and Peter Clack on drums.

—-

Gene Simmons is excited about the revamped version of CBS This Morning, thanks to the hiring of veteran TV journalist Charlie Rose. Simmons says Rose is “a great addition to CBS. I’m a fan.” Joining Rose is Oprah Winfrey’s best friend, Gayle King.

Simmons is also a fan of ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos, but he watches it with the sound turned off because he doesn’t care for host Tom Bergeron’s jokes. He says he “just wants to see people fall down.”

—-

Is there a message in the title of Van Halen’s forthcoming album, A Different Kind of Truth? Sammy Hagar said he heard they were re-recording old material for their first album with David Lee Roth in 28 years. And last week they proved he was right with at least one “new” track, “She’s the Woman,” which they demoed in 1976. Now there is talk amongst diehard VH fans that their first single, “Tattoo,” could be a reworking of “Down in Flames,” which they performed live in 1977, but never recorded. A Different Kind of Truth hits stores and digital retailers on February 7th. The tour starts February 18th in Louisville, Kentucky.

—-

Jane’s Addiction will return to the road next month on their Theatre of the Escapists tour. They’ll be playing mostly classic theaters, starting February 22nd at The Pageant in St. Louis. They’ll visit 17 cities, including Detroit on February 24th; Portland, Maine on March 3rd; Richmond, Virginia on March 9th; and Atlanta on March 13th. The last date is March 24th in Milwaukee. Tickets go on sale on Friday.

—-

Do you think you can fill Howard Jones’s shoes as the singer in Killswitch Engage? Then get your demo ready. They’ve posted a note on their website saying, “If you are interested, please send an MP3 or a song link, a photo and a brief description of yourself to [our] management E-mail address: StrongManagement@StrongHQ.com.”

Jones, who was let go from the band last week, writes on their website that his battles with diabetes took a lot out of him the past two years and that “somehow I couldn’t get excited about the new album and all the touring that would go with it. The guys saw it before I did. In hindsight, I now realize that my heart wasn’t in it.”

—-

Nils Lofgren is a little reluctant about starting the next tour with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It will be the first one without Clarence Clemons, who died in June. Lofgren says he’s “emotionally dreading the journey to get up to speed without Clarence.” The tour begins in Spain in May. Today would have been Clemons’ 70th birthday. Lofgren also has a new solo album out called “Old School.”

—-

At The Drive-In will reunite for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April. It will be their first performance in 11 years. The headliners are the Black Keys, Radiohead and Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Other performers include Bon Iver, Madness, David Guetta, AWOLNATION, Florence and the Machine, Fitz and the Tantrums and Feist.