Today's Day in Rock Stories

Guns N' Roses Reunion Shows Booked 'Far Into Next Year'

Dimebag was shot dead on stage with his band Damageplan in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 2004. Four others died and seven were injured before the murderer was killed.

Winfield - who also worked with Damageplan - says via Facebook: "Is that the best you can do for news, cickbait from an almost 12-year-old murder? You people are most definitely part of the problem in this country. Drudging up the past and upsetting the family and friends of these people all over again must be incredibly rewarding and spiritually enlightening for you.

The vocalist, who was baptised earlier this month, also recalls the epiphany he had while he waited to be sedated. He exclusively tells Metal Hammer: "It was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. It's hard to go through something like that that's dangerous in general, and just to not know if you're gonna be there, four, five or six hours later. When I had my heart surgery, my heart was stopped.

Duncan confirmed Pearlman's death via his Facebook page, saying: "Sandy Pearlman, poet, writer, songwriter, producer, manager, professor, polymath, visionary, passed peacefully, surrounded by love, at 12:30am, July 26, 2016, in Marin County, California. A celebration of his exceptional life will be announced later."

"Someone called, and I said yes," Ozzy tells the New York Post. "The original had been a big film in our household, when the kids were younger. My children were probably more excited than I was about me being in the new film.

"Giant" was produced by John Hill and Kid Harpoon (Florence + The Machine and comes from the project's forthcoming album "Anything But Words", which is set to be released on August 28th.

The new video was directed by Wendy Morgan and can be streamed here. The track is also set to be featured in the trailer for the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands video game.

Robert Pollard had the following to say about Gillard's return. "We're all extremely excited to have Doug back in the band. He is one of the best guitar players in the world, if not the best."

Gillard adds, "The last time Bob and I were in the same studio together was for our Lifeguards LP Waving At The Astronauts in 2011, so I'm excited to reconnect and be in the band again. I'm also having a great time as a member of Nada Surf and look forward to continue my work with them. Both bands are family to me and am grateful for the efforts of both in making this possible."

Nada Surf's Matthew Caws also reacted to the reunion, "We can't say enough what an enormous contribution Doug makes to Nada Surf. He was my favorite guitar player around long before he started playing with us. We're thrilled for him that's he's going to be in Guided By Voices again.

"He wants to be in both bands and we absolutely support that. We'll have to play as a trio again some nights because of scheduling conflicts, but Doug's spot is always here for him."

The current lineup of Guided By Voices, which also features Kevin March (drums), Bobby Bare Jr. (guitar) and Mark Shue (bass), along with Pollard and Gillard, are gearing up to record a new album in September and will hit the road together for a North American trek next month.

And to do it, they've teamed up with engineer Kevin Carrico to design The Icarus Craft - a "space proof" turntable that'll be attached to a high-altitude balloon to send it into orbit.

The device will contain a gold-plated 12-inch master of astrophysicist Carl Sagan's Cosmos speech titled A Glorious Dawn which the label reissued as a 7-inch single in 2009 - they year Third Man Records was formed.

The 3-week run will begin in Destin, FL on September 22 and will wrap up just prior to the October 7 release of their fifth album. Tickets for the sghows will go on-sale July 29 and fans can get exclusive early access to the band's ticket pre-sale by pre-ordering any item from their official U.S store.

Frontman Koie Kenta says: "Welcome to the new era. It's time to get wild. We are the New Age Warriors, and you can see the future of Crossfaith with our new songs.

He said of the forthcoming follow-up to 2014's Pale Communion: "I find it difficult to understand that we've been going on for 26 years, let alone that we've made 12 records now, all of which I am very proud of. Sorceress is no exception. I love this album, as does the whole band. I wrote the music during five-six months and we spent only 12 days recording it."

Akerfeldt adds: "It's extremely diverse. And if I may say so myself, extremely good. I feel the right to say that since I like to think I know this band better than anyone on the planet. Also, I always manage to detach myself from the record and listen as a fan.

If you asked any followers of the white hot London music scene in 1969 to wager on who would emerge as the most innovative bandleader, the smart money would have been on Jimmy Page's Led Zeppelin, King Crimson's Robert Fripp, and the featured soloist fronting a three piece called The Nice, the impressive keyboard player Keith Emerson. So when Emerson surprised everybody by announcing his departure in order to team up with King Crimson bassist, singer, songwriter Greg Lake and Crazy World of Arthur Brown/ Atomic Rooster percussionist Carl Palmer, the stage was set for "the maximum amount of music by the fewest musicians", as Greg Lake tells us.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer elevated the progressive rock movement by taking the synthesizer out of the science lab and onto FM rock radio, where ultimately millions of listeners would respond in favor. "Lucky Man" from their debut may have been their most famous song, and their fourth album Brain Salad Surgery may have been their best seller, but 1972's Trilogy came at the high watermark of progressive rock's quality and popularity, and has remained a favorite over years of changes in rock music.

The final curtain did indeed come down on "the show that never ends, my friends..." in March of this year with the sudden death of Keith Emerson. The keyboard maestro had been struggling with a repetitive stress injury in his right hand for almost twenty years, according to Carl Palmer. "In July 2010 we played the High Voltage Festival, one of the first Prog Rock festivals�and I noticed that the standard we reached really wasn't where we'd left off�Keith understood immediately. He's a realist. He knew the game was up."

The trek will be kicking off with an appearance at this year's The Meadows Music & Arts Festival, which will be taking place in Queens, NY on October 1st and 2nd.

The tour will visit many cities across the U.S. and a few in Canada as it makes it way to the final stop of the journey in Dallas at the South Side Ballroom on November 26th.

Reuter says: "What's unusual about Prog Noir is that we spent years composing it. Usually we get the ideas and quickly turn them into an album or start playing them in on the road. The imperative of a band like ours, that's out on the road touring a lot of the time, is to have new material each year.

The tour is now set to include new shows in Chicago (House of Blues, Oct 13th), Los Angeles (The Wiltern, October 25th), Huntington, NY (The Paramount, Nov 9th), and Boston (House of Blues, November 12th).

The trek is scheduled to get underway on October 11th with a show at the House Of Blues in Cleveland, OH and will now conclude with the Boston appearance on November 12th.

Death From Above 1979 had the following to say, "Dear friends, fans, headbangers and shoe shakers, our fall tour with BRMC and Deap Vally is expanding! We've just added shows in Boston, Huntington NY, LA and Chicago.

"Be there, be square, be whatever, we don't care. Just come! Bring a friend or a lover. Bring your mother. Baby brother. Don't bring babies. No dogs. Bring a picture of your dog. Wear a shirt with a picture of your cousin on it.

The Grammy Foundation will honour King at Icon: The Life And Legacy Of B.B. King which will take place at the Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, on September 1.

Shawn Milke had the following to say about the book, "This story has been a work in progress for nearly seven years. It began when Dennis and I decided to tell our own story through the albums of Alesana. It eventually grew into an album trilogy and now, finally, a short novel.

"Creating this abstract universe and telling the story of Annabel has been, in every way possible, both challenging and rewarding. It is an accomplishment that still stuns me to this day. Thank you to everyone who has joined us on this journey."

Fans can catch the band on the road this fall when they launch a tour celebrating the 10th anniversary their debut album "On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax" by performing the effort in its entirety.

Englund reports he's leaving to pursue other projects and "follow the heart." He adds: "I have in recent years become more aware of what would make me feel real happiness and content, and that is to expand my own creativeness in combination with a somewhat stiller life, where I will not tour all year round at the speed of light.

The Blu-ray edition contains a complete alternate version of the album using live tracks and studio run-throughs and another full album, featuring sides one and three from the 2003 Rhino CD.

Both editions will also include unedited and extended version of track Dance Of The Dawn, five new single edits, updated liner notes from Sid Smith and new interviews with Jon Anderson, Alan White and Steve Howe - along with rare photos, memorabilia and expanded session notes.

Rolling Stone reports Slash stepped from the wings sidestage and joined the kids while they were practicing the group's 1988 hit, "Sweet Child o' Mine."

Slash played alongside Brandon Niederauer, who plays guitar prodigy Zack in the show. Niederarauer carefully watched the veteran rock star perform the song as they played the famous riff in unison.

Singer Bobbi MacKenzie, who plays the show's band's soulful lead singer Tomika, powered through her vocals on the song without noticing the surprise guest behind her and looked shocked as she saw him after the song wrapped.

The full band with Slash also gave a raucous take on "Paradise City" on the stage before he posed with the kids for photos and met with the musicians.

DuVall said of their upcoming debut album Broken Lines: "Writing lyrics for these songs was somewhat like writing for film - the mood shifts rapidly and drastically within a song.

Suicidal Tendencies recently confirmed their next album World Gone Mad will be released on September 30 - their first to feature former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Jeff Pogan, who replaced Nico Santora earlier this year.

Lombardo said of the follow-up to 2013's 13: "I think it's very typical and very traditional Suicidal Tendencies. Our frontman Mike Muir has a very special style in which he writes his music and his lyrics and his structures. And I love it.

"When I was a teenager I had it in my mind that I would be a creator of musicals for the West End and Broadway, and people would do my songs," he told K broadcaster, journalist and author Jeremy Paxman.

The live show, which opened in New York late last year, is based on Bowie's 1976 film The Man Who Fell To Earth, in which Bowie played the genius extra-terrestrial Thomas Newton.

Wreckless Soul is really an anthem of non-conformity. It was written years ago when my son Blaeklee was just a toddler. I have never seen a child so young, already so set out to do the opposite of what the world expects. We spend so many hours in our lives conforming to rules, driving, at work, at school, in sports, all the time. I always admired the freedom Blaek lives with, honestly living free of those chains. He really does what he wants, although sometimes I'm sure it's more to piss me off than it is because he likes something, lol, there is freedom in that. I know every one of us has had the urge to walk off the job with two middle fingers up at the world just because it would feel so good. The smart one's pass on that until their circumstances allow it. But we have all been there.

We recorded the song with legendary producer Jack Endino (of Nirvana and Soundgarden fame), which was a bucket list experience in and of itself, and we sent that off to NJ to be mastered Grammy Award nominated Joe Lambert at JLM Sound. We were super pleased at how it all turned out.

For the upcoming video we wanted to capture the way our band has been shipping one another back and forth across the country to allow for this thing to work. J Danger (guitar) has been flying back and forth from Austin, TX for rehearsals, recording, video shoots, and shows, and the Machine (Keys and Back-up Vocals) has been driving down from Bellingham, nearly 3 or 4 hours each way. So the video is essentially the world's most careless delivery driver, picking us up and shipping us to one another so we can play a concert. It turned out really funny you'll definitely want to check that out when it premiers.