Today's Day in Rock Stories

Ronnie James Dio Hologram Tour Plans Moving Forward

As noted by NME.com, two ceremonies are being planned for the '80s star - a private service for friends and family, and a public ceremony for fans. John will reportedly perform "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," reprising the duet he sang with Michael at London's Wembley Arena in 1991. Released later that year, the track went on to reach #1 in both America and the U.K.

Kottak wrote, "I want to thank the a@$holes who broke in to my storage unit and stole a lifetime of leather/stage clothing, 13+ guitars, etc...also, all my gold & platinum album awards, etc.

"Thanx...karma is coming for you but I wish you no harm and forgive you for your sins. The peeps who stole this $50,000.00+ items will be judged...I forgive you.

"Mostly, my guitars are gone and I am heartbroken," he added. "It's just things but they are memorable things. If anyone has any info, pls contact me privately...thank you."

Rose will make his debut with the Australian rockers this Saturday, May 7 in Lisbon, Portugal after AC/DC postponed the remaining spring US tour show following news that Brian Johnson was advised by doctors to stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss.

"I called the day I read about it in the news, that there was a situation going on with Brian's hearing," explains Rose in an interview with BBC 6 Music. "I called a guy who's their production manager right now�because I knew there was going to be a problem with having dates on sale and dates sold and stuff like that.

"So if I could help, and if I was able to do it, and they were interested, I'd love to help. And that's how it started. I wasn't looking at it like, 'I'm singing for AC/DC.' I was looking at it like, 'y'know, if I can, and if they think I'm able to do it."

Rose wasn't sure if would be able to sing some of the songs in the set. "A lot of the Back In Black stuff is really challenging," he reveals. "I'm not here in any way out of any disrespect to Brian. I can't take anything away from his singing at all. He's a great singer and it's really challenging to sing it. I'm just trying to do it justice for the fans."

The Guns N' Roses leader is very aware of the unique situation that both he and AC/DC are experiencing as they prepare for the 12-date European spring run.

"I'm happy and excited in one sense, but I think it would be inappropriate to be celebrating, in a certain way, at someone else's expense," says Rose. "That's not what I'm here to do. It's an unfortunate situation."

AC/DC auditioned Rose and in Atlanta in March alongside tribute band singers from Texas and North Carolina. Guitarist and solo founding member Angus Young says he had spoken to Johnson extensively before he decided to leave the group.

"In his heart he wanted to finish [the tour] but because of that hearing factor he had to make the decision," he told the BBC. "It's a hard thing to do, and he'd had the problem since we kicked off touring. It was his call. It was a shock to us too. The last thing you want to do is walk away from something, but you don't want someone in a tragic situation; being deaf, or any other affliction." Read more here

AC/DC have also released a video inviting fans to their debut performance with Axl Rose in Lisbon, Portugal this Saturday, May 7. "Lisbon, here we come," says sole remaining founding member and guitarist Angus Young. "We're really excited to be here in Portugal. We're here to give you a great rock show, so we hope to all see you all there."

"Absolutely," agrees Rose. "We are very excited to be there."

"And we'll see you on Saturday," adds bassist Cliff Williams.

It's been well documented that frontman James Hetfield was nervous about his singing abilities in the early days of the band and the group considered brining in another singer, including Armored Saint and former Anthrax vocalist John Bush.

But one surprising person that the band considered was band cofounder Lars Ulrich. Zazula, who managed the band in 1982, tells Metal Hammer, "Lars and I planned a lot of stuff. But James wasn't the most confident of singers. I don't think he felt comfortable.

"I'm excited to be back out on the road and also been working on a new album with a new group of guys," Stapp said in the interview (via Radio.com). "Guys from some pretty well-known rock bands that you guys will know.

"I can't really share the details about it, but there's a lot of good things going on that I can't tell you till later in June when we'll be making the announcement. This other band I'm jamming with is it's own band with its own band name."

He was then asked if the band he was talking about was Stone Temple Pilots, who have been looking for a new singer, and Stapp replied, "I can't say man, I can't say ' I can't confirm or deny."

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine said (via Twitter): "Tell me this isn't true. I woke at 4am to hear Nick Menza passed away on May 21 playing his drums with Ohm at the Baked Potato. #nickmenzarip."

His death was confirmed in a post written by his friend Allen Hall, which was shared on Menza's official Facebook page. It says: "We lost an amazing talent and fantastic person yesterday. Nick Menza was the nicest and most sincere guy you should ever hope to meet.

Bass player Flea told the crowd at the annual event, "Anthony is on his way to the hospital right now and we're unable to play this evening. We are devastated about it. We're really sad. We love you so much. We live to rock.

"We live to f-ing dig deep into the depths of our hearts and rock. But unfortunately there's a medical thing that happened and he needed to deal with it."

The band revealed on Sunday (May 15th) that Kiedis was suffering from intestinal flu and they have also been forced to cancel their iHeart Radio performance on Tuesday, May 17th in Burbank, Ca.

The lineup went on to record 7 albums of classic material - including 4 platinum records - before splitting in 1975, following which Cooper launched a solo career with "Welcome To My Nightmare."

Now Cooper says he's been working with the surviving members (Buxton died in 1997 of complications from pneumonia at the age of 49) on new material that seems to have recaptured some of their old sonic magic.

"I've always liked the idea that Alice Cooper has always been a Detroit rock band," Alice tells The Weekender. "We've always been a hard rock band, guitar rock, and I'll never give that up. But every once in awhile, though, there's just a flavor of what album do we want to go to here to give it that flavor. And it seems to be going toward the 'Killer' album.

"And I kind of go, that album, let's revisit the sound of that album and what we were kind of thinking. You can never go back and totally recapture it, but you can certainly look at the elements that made that album work the way it did."

"I wrote three or four songs with Neil Smith and Mike Bruce," Cooper continues. "And so we worked together in Phoenix for about two weeks just writing songs and demoing songs. And you never know which ones are going to make the album, but I said let's do that.

A member of the crowd told Cross: "Some guys just got into a fight in front of us and the one guy bit off the other guy's ear. I am not joking - it was the most f***ed up thing I have ever seen."

A reddit user discovered that when you leave the gatefold of the Blackstar project in sunlight, the all-black cover has a starlight design. The user discovered the cover changed after sitting in the sun for a couple of hours. The star design only appears after being placed in sunlight. Exposing the cover to other lights, such as black lights or normal room lighting, doesn't reveal the hidden design.

Blackmore says in a new interview that he has no plans to continue the project beyond their three special concerts in June and he remains committed to his Renaissance-themed band Blackmore's Night.

His comments come after Rainbow bassist Bob Curiano said the band were ready to record any time they were asked, and former singer Joe Lynn Turner said the band's legacy would be tarnished if no studio work was undertaken.

The latest installment of the surprise hit series, "Sharknado: The 4th Awakens." will include returning stars Ian Ziering, Tara Reid and David Hasselhoff and Taylor reportedly plays a Shark World hotel security guard in the film, which is set five years after the previous film in the series.

Taylor confirmed his involvement in an interview with Loudwire but refused to share many details. He said, "I shot a weird cameo for Sharknado 4 which is awesome. The thing is, I don't get eaten by a shark. That's all I can tell you about it."

In a Facebook post earlier this week, DeLonge, who split with the band last year, insisted he still had a future with Blink and claimed he had spoken with Hoppus over the last few days.

But Hoppus says he actually hasn't had contact with DeLonge in 18 months. The bassist tells Kevin Kline Live (via Rolling Stone): "I haven't even spoken to Tom in a year and a half."

The campaign's description, reads, "I'm [Grohl's] biggest fan and figured I can round up enough scratch to purchase him so we can hang out and high five and s-. Heck, I may give him a bro-hug or two as well."

If you're wondering if Grohl is even for sale in the first place, fear not, the campaign addresses those concerns, stating, "I'm not 100% the amount I'm asking for will buy him.

McCartney gave his best rendition of "Let's Go Crazy" before a crowd in Minneapolis. "Minneapolis, Prince. Prince, Minneapolis. It goes together," he said in a nod to the musician's hometown.

"It's not like my career path is going to get altered," explains Roth. "I sort of know what the next ten summers are going to bring - Eddie Van Halen aside, those are ups and downs.

"I don't know when we're going to tour but I have a sense that we will; I don't know that we're going to record again - when that'll happen - but I have a sense that it's gonna happen."

Motley Crue completed their last tour on New Year's Eve after signing a legal document making it nearly impossible for them to ever stage a reunion.Lee tells Rolling Stone: "After the final night we had a big party backstage, and I never saw the other guys. We never even said goodbye. F***ing strange as hell.

"If you're getting divorced you still give your ex a hug, or flip her off or something. Give me a sign - let me know you're alive! I think f***ing Nikki unfollowed me on Twitter the next day. I was like, 'Wow, okay, dude.'"

The drummer believes his band ended their creative period during the making of 2008 album Saints Of Los Angeles. "Everybody did their part separately," he says.

He tells Metal Rules: "Absolutely, we have considered it - but whether it will happen I don't know. I think it would be great." Tyler's side-project has been a bone of contention amongst his Aerosmith bandmates, as it resulted in them cancelling most of their 2016 tour plans, according to the guitarist.