Today's Top Stories

DEA Involved In Prince's Death Investigation

Completing the Saudade lineup are keyboardist John Medeski and Chuck Doom on bass. Doom is also a member of Moreno's other group Crosses, while Jayson also works with Cro-Mags.

"We would like to continue our Return to Forever tour with James, but we have to realize that his health is priority," says singer Klaus Meine. "We wish James a speedy recovery and he will be back to rock with us very soon! We look forward to seeing all our fans next month."

The pop-punk trio recently released Bored To Death, their first single with latest recruit, Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba. He replaced former guitarist and singer Tom DeLonge last year.

The AC/DC landmark will have its official unveiling this Saturday as part of the 10th annual BonFest, a three-day music festival celebrating the singer's roots.

"It's amazing how many people don't know that Bon Scott came from Kirriemuir," says BonFest chairman John Crawford. "People know about J.M. Barrie and Peter Pan, but they are both famous sons of the town and there is room for them both."

"In 2008, Bon's Australian home town, Fremantle, unveiled a statue of him. At that point we started thinking it might be good to have one here where he started his life," said DD8 Music development worker Graham Galloway. "The unveiling will take place on Saturday, 30th of April, and will be carried out by some very special guests: Mark Evans, bass player on four of the Bon-era albums; Tony Currenti, drummer on AC/DC's first album; and Mary Renshaw, Bon's seamstress and 'soulmate.'

The country's Ministry of Culture is well-known for requiring changes to musicians' performances, including the banning of songs that might be seen to criticise the government, or which are regarded as subversive.

That didn't stop Iron Maiden from visiting China for the first time on their The Book Of Souls world tour - but it meant their performances didn't include pyros, smoke effects, Dickinson's flag-waving antics during The Trooper, throwing merchandise into the crowd or using strong language.

A fan video shot in Shanghai earlier this week shows Dickinson joking with the crowd, saying: "They did say 'no cameras.' Do I care? Everybody take out your camera device - take a picture."

He goes on: "It's great to be in China tonight. We ripped it up in Beijing, and we thought, 'That was a bit serious.' They had a few rules, so we kind of stuck by the rules and we didn't do any swearing. There's another thing I can't do - see if you can guess what it is later on."

With each swearword mouthed instead of spoken, he says: "We don't really give a sh*t about all that, because the most important thing is the music. The most important thing is that we're here, and you're here, and we're going to have a great f***ing time."

Dickinson then refers to a TV interview with guitarist Janick Gers, saying: "They've got these great pictures of the show with flames everywhere, dry ice and smoke. I thought, 'That's a f***ing shame, because we can't do that - we got a little bit restricted.'"

In a recent interview Lawhon spoke about the bands' road trip together in 2010, telling RockSverige: "All of them, not just Lemmy, all of them, would offer us whisky and coke every day. Whisky and cocaine. Every day we'd tell them no."

That led to a rebuttal on Motorhead's Facebook page, where a post read: "Mikkey has never done drugs. The only coke Lemmy loved went in his Jack Daniels. Sad to see people the band helped lie. An apology would be the decent thing."

Lawhorn later posted: "I am deeply sorry for any harm that I may have caused the Motorhead camp. Let me make it crystal clear that we were never offered any substances by Lemmy, Mikkey, Phil or their stage crew. We were offered substances by now former employees of the band while on tour with them and I should have made that distinction in my interview." Read more

"People were calling me saying I should audition for AC/DC," Snider told the crowd. "I said 'I was too tall.'" Event host and son Jesse Snider joined his father on the AC/DC tune, and Dee took center stage for the Twisted Sister smash "We're Not Gonna Take It."

Launched by Quiet Riot bassist Chuck Wright more than a year ago, the Ultimate Jam Night recently moved its weekly home from the Lucky Strike to the famed Whisky.

Motley Crue played their last ever gig on New Year's Eve, and the performance at the Staples Center in Los Angeles was filmed for an upcoming DVD release.

Sixx tells One On One With Mitch Lafon: "We have a live DVD of our last performance ever that we've just finished mixing. It looks fantastic. It was a great show.

Van Halen were legendary for their post-show parties back in the day, as they built their own portable road gear to ensure the fun offstage matched the intensity of the on stage appearance wherever they were.

Roth hired a "Recreational Director" to organize post-show events, and when a specialist wasn't available, the road crew would step up. "Rudy the guitar tech invents 'The Later', kind of a fruity drink loaded with rum or vodka or something," explains Roth. "We called it 'Later' because you'd be later for the dance than you ever thought you'd be.

"We would have these parties, especially if you're playing multiple nights in a city - two, three nights at the local arena - and after the first night we'd have a big party. And then Rudy invented the "Super Laters", because they'd make you later for the dance than even 'the Laters' would make you late.

Pop and Homme are on the road together in support of their collaboration album Post Pop Depression, and dropped into the Los Angeles studio to perform the classic 1977 track along with Sunday from the new record.

The follow-up to 2009's In Search Of Solid Ground sees Anthony Green returning as vocalist for the first time since 2004's Translating The Name EP.

Bassist Chris Sorenson tells Billboard: "This was a song that we knew we had to see through. The demo started off very differently and we were unsure if it would fit into the way the record was shaping.

Frontman Dustin Kensrue tells NPR: "Lyrically, the song spawned from an image that popped into my head - someone continually swatting at a swarm of bees to get their honey, but somehow not understanding why they would sting back in return."

It'll be presented on 3CD and also features a booklet with photos and liner notes penned by David Fricke and Gail Zappa. It'll be released on May 27 via Universal.

Saxophonist Peter 'JR' Wasilewski said: "The London Astoria was always a special place for us. For a certain time it almost felt like a homecoming every time we played there.

Guitarist Michael Amott says: "We just completed a three week tour through Europe and it was a very cool experience. Lots of love from our supporters out there and so awesome to see the new songs off our Sunrise To Sundown album go down so well.

They'll make their first appearance with Robinson at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival this weekend, with guest appearances from Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Elvin Bishop, Dr John and others.

Tour manager Myron Johnson tells the Clarion Ledger: "When B.B. passed, of course, the band stopped playing. I decided to bring the guys back together because they wanted to continue, so that's what we're doing.

Bach hints at book tour plans, He tells Billboard:: "My stand on that is like, do a storytelling thing with a visual component with old videos and I have all the mastered tapes from the Oh Say Can You Scream Skid Row DVD, Roadkill and all that.

The former Joe Louis Walker vocalist and New York Blues Hall Of Fame inductee's band includes guitarist Innes Sibun, while the record features guest appearances by Walter Trout and others. It's been produced by Mike Vernon.

They'll join previously announced bands including Creeper, Sikth, Ginger Wildheart, Young Guns, InMe and New Years Day at the June 4 event which runs across a number of venues in Camden, London.

Frontman Ben Ringel explains: "We got to the point where what we were recording and playing had veered from what we were listening to and loving on our turntables, which can lead to discontent."

Bassist David Supica adds: "It was incredible to be able to write a song on the spot and immediately hear what it sounded like. Still, it was absolutely terrifying to sit in the studio watching the clock tick and waiting for a song to come out.

It's taken from former Orphaned Land guitarist Sassi's third album Roots And Roads, to be released on May 25, and also featuring a guest appearance by former Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal.

Award-winning vocalist and keyboardist Wayne says: "This recording has elements of the great jump blues and boogie-woogie era. You might hear some Louis Jordan, Amos Milburn, Ray Charles, Johnnie Johnson and Fats Domino, all mixed in like a blues stew."

Explaining that Take Control deals with bullying, drummer Jarad Dawkins says: "I remember when I used to be bullied in school for the music that I love to play, the jeans that I love to wear. I always told myself that everything is going to be alright. You are going to take control of the world one day."

For our entry in Singled out I want to share the story of how we wrote the song "Dead in the Water" off of our record Poisoned Youth. The song began the same way pretty much all of our songs start off- the riff. The intro riff was one that our guitarist, Jordan, had come up with years ago, and just never used it in a song. One night in the early stages of writing for the record, we were all pretty burnt out after a long practice/writing session. At this point we had two songs completed instrumentally, and were about halfway done with a third but struggling to find where to take the song next. We collectively decided we would call it a night and come back to it with fresh ears and ideas in a few days. So at this point I'm completely ready to go home, and then I hear Jordan playing this riff. I remember hearing and thinking "Holy sh*t, what's that?!" So Mike (Bassist) and I had him show us the riff some more, teach Mike how to play it, and then we got back to writing.

Now normally our writing process takes a bit of time for a song. We all pitch our ideas, butt our heads, and through the process come out with a final product we are all stoked on. That was not the case at all for this song. We finished the instrumentals in under an hour. It was like we were reading eachothers minds while we were just jamming ideas; Mike and I just naturally locking in kicks and cues, pulling back in parts to let Jordan shred some fret Olympics. The ending of the song was completely inspired by a part in a song by The Beautiful Ones that Mike had shown me earlier that week. Just a slow, heavy, straight forward breakdown or sorts. It was an amazing feeling to have been ready to call it a night and then just bang out a whole new song.

The song's lyrics are somewhat a synopsis of a reoccurring theme throughout a good deal of the records songs. It's basically about our generation being plagued, or poisoned if you will, by various vices. War, violence, racism, homophobia, religious prejudice, narcissism, and the list could go on. It's infuriating to me that all these wicked or immoral attributes are so prevalent, despite all the lessons history has taught us. For whatever reason our generation stands divided, fighting eachother and holding ourselves down under the weighted influence of those who came before us. Rather than learning anything from the atrocities of history that have carried us to this point; we keep our heads down and blaze down the same downward spiral.

Lyrically this song came together extremely fast as well. The guys usually put a lot of trust in me to come up with lyrics, while sending me ideas and pieces they have as well. At the time we were writing the record, I was working overnight shifts processing patient samples in a hospital chemistry lab. The hours were garbage, but the downtime between rushes of work was when I accomplished most of the lyric writing for the whole record. Our vocalist Colt helped me a ton with this particular song. I knew what direction I was going content wise, but hit a wall shortly after the first verse and the chorus type part. Colt sent me a bunch of lines and short phrases he'd think of, basically like poetry. There was one he sent me that said "We are chasing shadows in the dark with scissors in our hands, we are the successfully poisoned youth." Reading that was like a giant light bulb turning on, and I knew I had to use all of that in the song. I finished that song on a lunch break at 3am and immediately texted it to the guys. When I woke up the following afternoon I had texts from all the other dudes and they were really stoked on the lyrics. This song was also where we got the idea to title the record "Poisoned Youth". It's for sure one of my favorites off the record, and a blast to play.

Thank you for reading, and please check out Poisoned Youth. May the force be with you, always.