Today's Day in Rock Stories

Bob Seger Halts Tour To Address Urgent Medical Issue

Petty toured for most of 2017 and finished with a three-night mini-residency at the Hollywood Bowl. The band played 16 classics songs then returned for a two-song encore, reported Billboard. The second to last song he played was "You Wreck Me" from his 1994 solo album Wildflowers. The final song he performed in his life was the popular set-closer "American Girl."

"I wanna thank all of you for coming out tonight. We love you dearly. I want to thank you for 40 years of a really great time," he said moments before he started the opening guitar lines.

Created by fan Nicola Drilling, the clip sees more than 40 Linkin Park supporters displaying the song's lyrics in a variety of ways - from carving them in the sand on a beach to writing them on paper - with all acknowledged in the closing credits.

The footage comes on the heels of an official band video honoring late singer Chester Bennington following his July 20 suicide at the age of 41. "One More Light was written with the intention of sending love to those who lost someone," said Mike Shinoda recently. "We now find ourselves on the receiving end. In memorial events, art, videos, and images, fans all over the world have gravitated towards this song as their declaration of love and support for the band and the memory of our dear friend, Chester. We are so very grateful and can't wait to see you again"

In the original statement, Tyler assured fans he was "not in life-threatening condition," and said the shouldn't worry about him. Media outlets reported that Tyler suffered a seizure on tour.

Ave Maria is the first song I ever recorded using my trumpet as the lead voice. One thing is for sure, making the transition from a Trixter rock 'n' roll maniac to refined pop-classical trumpeter is something that makes people's heads twist! I laugh about it, but from the perspective of fans that I've interacted with, the response I get is most puzzling. I don't think anyone's ever done something like this. It's funny, I actually played trumpet long before I started playing drums. My mother was a classical musician and wanted to instill those qualities in me as a young child. I started on piano when I was about seven years old. I really wasn't into it back then but I'm glad she started me off on piano. Today it helps me immensely when it comes to songwriting and having a visual reference for music in general. It really is the best way to start when you're becoming a musician. But try telling that to a 7-year-old kid.

After piano I started trumpet when I was approximately 11 years old. I really don't know why I chose trumpet. I was in the backseat of my parent's car on my way to my first drum lesson and something called out to me about the horn. To this day I really don't know what the hell it was. As I went to high school I guess I got pretty good. I was in the NJ All-State Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra. I received a Certificate of Excellence from the National Association of Jazz Educators and attended the University of Hartford HARTT School of Music when I was just a sophomore in high school. Truly amazing experiences! I recorded three double live records of classical music at HARTT. Playing with some of the best musicians in the country. Particularly considering that everyone was a high school kid, it truly was an amazing experience that I treasure to this day.

Pete Loran, the singer of Trixter and I were doing some sound effects work for a video game based on a big movie out of China called the monkey king. Now, coming up with unique sounds all day can get pretty monotonous. It certainly can be very draining on your creative juices. At one point in time, Pete looked over at me and said, "Hey, go get that trumpet out of your car and let's see what it sounds like." He threw up a couple of Mike's and I played for about 15 minutes. We went to the control room to listen back. After tinkering with it for about five minutes, we looked at each other and said, "Holy crap! That sounds pretty good!"

Being classically trained, I was always familiar with the song Ave Maria, but it was only later in life that something really touched me about it. I was a big fan of the TV series "The West Wing". There was one episode that they featured the song and it really made a very big impact. Those guys know how to make a show! Additionally, even more recently, the "Hitman" franchise (wildly popular video games that spawned a couple of big Hollywood movies) utilized the song as a promo juxtaposition employing slow-motion action sequences of killing scenes from the movie over the beautiful song's melody. There was an angelic voice that did the singing. They really did a great job. I wanted to bring a feeling like that to people. This song really started to speak to me but Lord knows, I couldn't sing like that! But what would it sound like with trumpet? This was the big test - to see if my playing could come anywhere close to delivering that feeling that I had inside. After assembling the backing track, Peter and I went into the studio again to lay down the lead trumpet part. We both were not sure that this was going to work. I just recorded the first half of the song in one take and I immediately wanted to listen back to it. After two minutes of a quick EQ and rough mix, Peter and I both looked at each other... yeah, we did something right. It sounded so beautiful. Something that we have never produced before. Certainly a hell of a lot different in the rock 'n' roll lunacy that we are used to recording. I know, it sounds like a revelation or religious experience. There really is something special about that song. I really like the way it came out on the CD and it has been so very well received that I cant believe it! I am also honored to donate all the proceeds from that song to Hope 4 Kids International and the wonderful work they do for children all around the world. Check them out @ www.H4KI.org.

I take all of these experiences and education and utilize it in creating my new album, "Christmas Miracle". The idea that I actually got to use all the stuff after years of collecting it in my head is such an amazing experience for me now. I'm so happy and proud with the way everything was performed and produced on this latest effort� and with trumpet as the lead voice! There's actually a lot of chamber music oriented stuff. Things you might hear from the Empire Brass or Canadian Brass. I think one thing that makes Christmas Miracle stand out is the harmonies that you hear. I did a lot of
layering trumpet parts, violins, cellos, etc. to create a wall of sound and some real Angelic tones. I can't tell you how much it really floods my soul with joy to hear all those harmonies come out. Certainly apropos for Christmas time. Lots of countermelodies and contrary motion. I really hope people enjoys it as much as I do.

The newly announced trek is scheduled to kick off on January 31st in Leeds at the Brudenell Social Club and will be wrapping up on February 8th in London at the 02 Academy Islington.

The clip features live performance footage of the song which comes from their recently released album "Dear Desolation", which was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Will Putney. Watch the video here.

Among the new songs Corgan performed including "Zowie," a tribute to David Bowie. He also rolled out "Processional," a song he co-wrote with original Smashing Pumpkins guitarist, James Iha.

Not that he was unfazed by the tragedies. The Detroit Free Press reports that McCartney seemed "rattled" during soundcheck, while conflicting reports of Tom Petty's death and news of the massacre continued to develop. During one of the evening's more emotional moments, McCartney led the audience in a sing-along of "Give Peace a Chance," the evergreen anti-violence song by John Lennon.

During the show, Macca presented himself as the consummate showman, leading the crowd through a festive set that helped the audience temporarily escape the horrors of the day. At one point, he paid tribute to Jimi Hendrix with a cover of "Foxey Lady" and told a story about his experiences with the late guitar legend.

"I was very lucky to hang out with him in the '60s when he came to London because he kind of launched his career from London even though he was an American guy," he said. "I think the greatest tribute he ever paid us as a band was, after we released Sgt. Pepper's on a Friday night, he learned the opening track and opened his show with it two days later."

The original trek kicked off this summer and the new leg launched last Thursday in Winchester, VA and will be concluding on October 14th at The Cure Lounge in Louisville, KY

The album will be available beginning on October 20th via CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, and all other online stores, with a portion of the sales going to the Clean Getaway non-profit 501(c)(3).

Ricky Byrd has devoted himself to spreading the message of hope and possibilities through Rock and Roll. The mission of the Clean Getaway non-profit is to bring awareness, education, prevention and addiction resources to those suffering from drug and alcohol addiction through the healing power of music. It does this through Concert Events, Music Outreach Sessions and Early Education and Prevention programs.

"Down here on E Street, we're devastated and heartbroken over the death of Tom Petty. Our hearts go out to his family and bandmates," Springsteen wrote.

"I've always felt a deep kinship with his music," he added. "A great songwriter and performer, whenever we saw each other, it was like running into a long lost brother. Our world will be a sadder place without him."

They had this to say about the track, "Midnight Rain, is a bluesy ballad shouted from the very depths of singer, Alan Jones' soul. It's a song about moving on from a love lost by knife-twisting betrayal. Midnight Rain showcases the band's earnest songwriting as well as their technical chops. - Fifth Freedom

The band also had this to say about the album, "Heartbreak & Hellfire delivers a full breadth of songs that range from heavy rock anthems like the albums opener 'Battle Cry' to earnest bluesy ballads like 'Midnight Rain' that shout from the depths of front man Alan Jones' soul.

"Jared is an old friend," Ratner said. "When he heard I got the rights to Hef's story, he told me, 'I want to play him. I want to understand him.' And I really believe Jared can do it. He's one of the great actors of today."