Today's Day in Rock Stories

Willy Wonka Star Gene Wilder Dead At 83

Chapman shot and killed the Beatles legend on December 8, 1980, and was sentenced to 20 years to life. No official reason for the parole denial was given.

Reportedly, the parole board received five letters in support of Chapman's release and two opposing parole since his last hearing in 2014. Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, wrote expressing fear for her safety and the safety of Lennon's children if Chapman were freed.

Hughes, who shared Deep Purple microphone duties with newcomer David Coverdale in the 1970s, explains that he didn't want to be part of a 21st-century lineup featuring relatively unknown singer Ronnie Romero.

Asked about Blackmore's three Rainbow appearances, which took place in June, Hughes tells Hard Rock Haven: "He asked me to do it with him. And I said 'no' because he wanted to, funny enough, he wanted to use an unknown singer.

"I said, 'It's not me. It's not me to do that.' I've done that with David, and it was good. I don't want to do it again. I said very eloquently, 'No thank you. I really would like to see you, but I can't do this at the point where I am right now.'"

A cause of death was not revealed by Killeen's brother-in-law, but Terry Fedirko, said the following (via Lambgoat), "With great sorrow and regret, Norman Killeen, my brother in-law, has tragically died yesterday at an age that is too young. As an ex-drummer for the heavy metal band Threat Signal, he lived his life in what he believed and loved.

"He left behind his sister Sherry, his father Norm, and his life long girl friend Nancy and his son Hayden. We will all sorely miss him. Now he belongs to the ages.... R.I.P.

Lombardo tells Rolling Stone: "The Misfits created the horror punk attitude and had a massive influence on modern rock, punk and metal. It was an easy decision for me to join them for these monumental shows. I was honoured to be asked, and am very excited to be playing with the band."

The band's 18-song performance at the front end of a European tour mixed classic tunes with tracks from their latest album, "The Getaway." The BBC have also issued individual clips of "Goodbye Angels" and "By The Way" from the weekend concerts.

He tells My Global Mind: "Because bands look like they are having a fun time up on stage, it seems like it's the easiest job in the world or not really a job at all.

"Most fans would say, 'Why can those guys just get it together and play. It looks like fun.' Obviously it's more than that - it's the time you spend together practicing and in negations making it all happen.

He tells CRR: "I want to play and I would love to tour. Hopefully that will happen. I've stopped telling anybody that Poison is going to tour because every time we say we will something comes along and screws it up.

Ulrich tells Star Tribune: "I'm pretty sure it sounds like Metallica. The songs are probably a little leaner and shorter than the last go-around, and slightly less progressive.

Frontman Austin Carlile recently said of the creative process: "It was scary. One of the first lines I wrote in my notebook was, 'Daunting task putting paper to pen, making myself vulnerable again'.

Hammerfall say: "It's an entire song from start to finish - despite it being more than 10 weeks to the release. This is our treat to you, the faithful Templars Of Steel, and we sincerely hope you enjoy it."

The band had been with Nuclear Blast for close to 20 years, but said they joined Napalm Records as they "needed a fresh challenge."

Guitarist Oscar Dronjak added: "This felt like a right and necessary step at this point in our careers, in order to keep moving forward and upward at a high speed.

Schmit says that Red Dirt Road is inspired by Hawaiian island Kaua'i. He tells Rolling Stone: "There's some rich, deep soil there. You have a good chance of growing a plumeria tree by just sticking a branch of a plumeria into the ground. It's unbelievable.

"That was the motivation. It's a song about trying to enjoy your life. You can go about your daily business and see it from sunup to sundown - and see it in the best light possible, too - and then just enjoy yourself."

Schmit also admits that he and his Eagles bandmates are "still processing" the death of Glenn Frey, who died earlier this year aged 67 after a battle with intestinal problems. They're set to perform at the Kennedy Center Honors show in Washington DC this December, after they were forced to cancel their 2015 appearance because of Frey's illness.

Kelliher tells the Mike James Rock Show: "With the eleven songs that we've recorded so far it's mostly been Brann Dailor and myself - he lives down the street from me, we grew up together and we wrote together.

He tells Kerrang: "We were so out of control onstage back then that it didn't even seem that crazy. That's the crazy thing. Every show we were playing back then, we were lighting our drums on fire, we were smashing our instruments, we were throwing gear into the crowd, we were knocking things over and breaking things that didn't belong to us.

"There was so much chaos happening at that time that sh*tting onstage and throwing it at people didn't even seem that great, like didn't seem out of the realm of possibility. So I was really shocked when it was such a huge deal which is silly because obviously it's insane."

He continues: "The crazy thing to me is that if someone did that now they'd probably get arrested as soon as they walked offstage. Now that I'm older I can't believe they didn't turn us off. Why wasn't I arrested the second I walked offstage?"

Taylor tells Ticketmaster: "It's a great set this time round. It's a little longer, and I think it represents all the different eras that we've gone through. We've been able to use our history and make it something new - instead of looking in a rearview mirror, we're looking out the windshield at what's to come.

It had been a difficult US tour for the band. On the one hand, audience screams overwhelmed the band's performances, and on the other the group faced incredible backlash over John Lennon's recent comments about the group being "Bigger than Jesus."

The band performed live just one more time, in January of 1969 on the roof of the Apple building, but Candlestick marked the end of their career as touring artists.

Guitarist and songwriter Eric Peterson admitted earlier this month that they had to record the album quickly to meet deadlines and fulfil touring commitments.

And Billy says the urgency to lay down the tracks left him worried about how it would all turn out. Billy tells Metal Wani: "You always want to top your last record - you always want the production to be better than your last record. We were a little nervous because we had been working so long on the record. We went into the studio, I would say, almost unprepared. It was the first time that we did it like that.

"There was so much time going by trying to get songs completed that just weren't complete, it just angered and frustrated everybody. When we went into the studio, drummer Gene Hoglan, guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist Steve DiGiorgio hadn't even heard any of the songs.

Vocalist Susie Bogdanowicz has also moved up to front the band, replacing Yes man Jon Davison, whose role has diminished since joining the prog giants in 2012.

Multi-instrumentalist Steve Babb told Prog: "Our fans have been begging for Susie to have a bigger role in our music for years. We're happy that she'll be fronting the band, with Fred and I in supporting roles."

And speaking exclusively to Metal Hammer, the singer says a similar undertaking could become reality as Obsolete nears its 20th birthday. Bell says: "It's too soon to start thinking about a new album as we're still touring Genexus. But following this Demanufacture tour we have discussed touring Obsolete in its entirety."

Rosfest say: "Anglagard was one of the driving forces behind the revival of progressive rock in the early 1990s, and it's a pleasure for us to welcome them back to the USA for Rosfest 2017.

He's rounded out by singer and guitarist Ike Willis, who appeared on a number of Zappa albums, and Enuff Z'nuff/ex-Steven Adler bassist Chip Z'Nuff.

McKee was originally commissioned to create a piece by XM radio co-founder Lee Abrams for the 20th anniversary of Zappa's death, but later decided to make it into a "proper song."

He says: "When I heard the news of Gail's passing last October, I was deeply saddened. She was very kind to me, and an incredibly smart woman who pioneered the concept of artists' retaining the rights to the master recordings.

The lyrics of this song came from a relationship that had gone completely sour. I think people seek each other out to try to feel young, interesting, sexy and lovable- at least when they first meet. This particular relationship had reached a point where all of the joy of spontaneity had gone, and all that were left were criticisms and demands. It occurred to me that this is what an unhappy marriage looks like- two bitter people, draining the youth out of each other.

It also occurred to me that there is a certain romantic notion that keeps people in situations like these- the idea of accepting each other through the hard times along with the good. The question is, of course, where do you draw the line between what is "accepting the hard times", and what is unhealthy, or even abusive?

Musically, I wanted the song to be somewhere between theatrical and hard rock- theatrical to represent the drama that such a couple would go through, and hard rock to represent the anger and depression that can come from abuse. The triplet feel keeps a sense of whimsy, while the pounding drums and guitar are extremely foreboding. I love writing songs with chords and melodies that don't stay in one key throughout, as I think it gives an interesting tension and allows for some very cool melodies, and I have to say this is one of my favorites- which is why I went as far as to have a guitar doubling the vocal melody in the second verse.

The idea of not knowing whether to stay in a disastrous marriage fits in perfectly with the theme of our band's name- "lovelesslust". If you read our name as two words, "loveless lust", it means the exact opposite as it would mean spelled out in three words "love less lust"- either sex without caring, or caring without sex. Devotion or youth? This is the drama we live.