Today, December 3, on Giving Tuesday Gibson, the iconic instrument brand, has announced a new release from the Gibson Band--a revolving collective of musicians who join together to make music and raise funds and awareness for worthy causes.. A hard-hitting rock song, the new benefit single "I Can Breathe" features rhythm guitars and piano from Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson, with special guests Duff McKagan on lead vocals and lyrics, and Slash on lead guitar and solos.
100% of the proceeds from the sale of the song "I Can Breathe" will benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), through Gibson Gives. NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots mental health resource organization that is dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. (continue)
Former Killswitch Engage frontman Howard Jones shared a new update about his project with his ex-KSE bandmate Adam Dutkiewicz, including the name of the group.
Jones shared the new via Instagram while posting a photo of himself with the guitarist. He captioned the photo "Thai food lunch date!" and followed that with an update about the new project. (continue)
Falling In Reverse have been forced to cancel the dates of their UK Tour this month after frontman Ronnie Radke was denied entry into the country. The band is hoping to sort out the visa issue and rescheduled the dates that they are currently listing as "postponed".
The issue related to Radke having served over 12 months in prison. The band shared the following updates, "We regret to announce that the Home Office has denied Ronnie's visa application for the remaining 2024 UK shows. (4 Dec - 16 Dec) The UK is currently refusing entry to visa applicants who served more than 12 months prison time, as Ronnie did in 2008. (continue)
Iconic Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe has suffered broken ribs and that has forced him to postpone two concerts that he has scheduled later this week, so that he has time to recover.
His camp shared, "we regret to announce that this weekend's Michael Monroe shows in Helsinki & Tampere have been postponed. Michael was injured this past weekend at Planet Rockstock, resulting in broken ribs. (continue)
Poison The Well have announced that they will celebrating their 25th anniversary by launching a tour this coming spring that will feature support from Glassjaw, Better Lovers, and Teenage Wrist.
Atom Splitter shared these details: Poison The Well released the definitive album The Opposite of December... A Season of Separation in December 1999 and it went on to become a benchmark of the genre that has inspired a generation of bands. (continue)
Breaking Benjamin and Staind announce their co-headlining Awaken The Fallen Tour. They will be joined by special guests Wage War and Lakeview. Produced by Live Nation, the 20-city tour kicks off on April 26 at Brandon Amphitheater in Brandon, MS making stops across the U.S. in Nashville, Tampa, Cincinnati, Green Bay, and more before wrapping up in Kansas City, MO at T-Mobile Center on June 1.
Breaking Benjamin are no strangers to the upper echelons of the rock charts. Since bursting onto the scene with 2002's Saturate, the band has amassed an impressive string of mainstream rock radio hits, with ten songs hitting #1, numerous platinum and multi-platinum songs and albums, 8.5 billion combined streams worldwide and a social imprint of over 6.5 million -- a testament to the band's global influence and loyal fan base. Their most recent release, AURORA, gave Breaking Benjamin their 10th #1 song at rock radio with "Far Away ft. Scooter Ward." Breaking Benjamin's last studio album, EMBER debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and marked the multiplatinum band's fourth Top 5 debut on the Billboard Top 200, following 2015's #1 debut for DARK BEFORE DAWN (Gold), 2009's DEAR AGONY (Platinum) at #4 and 2006's PHOBIA (Platinum) at #2. EMBER spun off two #1 hits at Active Rock Radio with "Red Cold River" and "Torn in Two." AURORA and EMBER charted Top 10 across numerous countries worldwide and topping #1 charts across multiple genres, including Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums and Top Digital Albums. (continue)
Wrapping up the successful European leg of their 40th Anniversary Tour 2024 - 2025 last week, GRAMMY-winning, progressive music titans Dream Theater are releasing the next piece of music from their sixteenth studio album, Parasomnia. The track "A Broken Man" is the latest track from the iconic reunited lineup of vocalist James LaBrie, guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and drummer Mike Portnoy.
The song opens with a driving musical barrage that subsides as LaBrie tells the story of a war vet who is experiencing sleep disturbances such as nightmares and insomnia, due to combat experience. The song contains audio from actual vets speaking about their personal horrors and replaying the traumatic events of wartime deployments. A visualizer for the song - created by longtime collaborator Wayne Joyner - that captures the essence of "A Broken Man" is now available. (continue)
FireRock Music Group has just announced the release of "The 1st Metal Christmas." The 2024 version of the Annual project is a "real" metal rendition of the Christmas favorite "Carol of the Bells," featuring guitarist Chris Poland (Megadeth), Metal Mike Chlasciak (Halford), and studio/touring drummer Pat Gesualdo.
The project calls for releasing a heavy metal cover version of an iconic Christmas song every year, and will include musicians from the Metal Hall of Fame All Star band. (continue)
Pierce The Veil is gearing up to take center stage with the announcement of a highly anticipated global headline run with their "I Can't Hear You Tour." Covering 46 dates across North America, Europe, and Latin America, this tour marks a bold new milestone for the band, following their standout summer as main support for blink-182 on the "One More Time" tour.
The Live Nation produced run, which kicks off with its North American leg on May 13, will mark the band's biggest headline tour to date and will include stops at renowned venues like Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, Kia Forum in Los Angeles, CA; OVO Arena Wembley in London, England; and Espaco Unimed in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (continue)
Jack Russell's longtime friends, iconic guitarist Lita Ford, Joey Allen (Warrant) and Jerry Dixon (Warrant) will perform with Jack's band, the Great White songs he made famous.
Comedian/actor Hal Sparks (Queer as Folk/ Dude Where's My Car) joins the line up to host the celebration of the life and music of Jack Russell. More friends and special guests to be announced in the coming weeks! (continue)
American Nightmare played their first show in February of 2000 and immediately redefined the hardcore scene musically, visually, and most of all, lyrically. They merged their scene's surroundings of the straight edge positive youth crew revival with the nihilism of bands like Blood For Blood and Sheer Terror and an unabashed love for Joy Division and The Smiths. In that, they were both harder albeit more emotive than what had come before.
To celebrate 25 years of the band's existence, American Nightmare are throwing an anniversary party at the Monarch in Brooklyn on February 15 with very special guests. Tickets are on sale Friday at 12pm EST. (continue)
Steely Dan's sophisticated jazz pop fourth album, 1975's Katy Lied, with such standouts as "Black Friday," "Bad Sneakers" and "Doctor Wu," will return to vinyl for the first time in more than forty years on January 31, 2025, via Geffen/UMe, continuing the extensive reissue program of the band's classic ABC and MCA Records catalog. The series, which began in November 2022 with the Dan's legendary debut LP, Can't Buy A Thrill, is being personally overseen by founding member Donald Fagen, and returns the group's first seven records to vinyl, most of which haven't been available since their original release. The series will close out with 1976's guitar-driven The Royal Scam ("Kid Charlemagne," "The Fez") in mid-2025.
Katy Lied has been meticulously remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes for release as a limited edition premium 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds. Analogue Productions is also releasing this series of titles on Super Audio CD (SACD). (continue)
With the holiday season in full swing, Venamoris - the husband-and-wife duo of Dave and Paula Lombardo - release "Winter's Whispers," a standalone, seasonal single out now via Ipecac Recordings.
"'Winter's Whispers' is a nod to our wavering, romantic love of the many vibes of the season," the pair shared. "Venamoris is such an intimate project for the two of us," Dave Lombardo said as the pair released "In The Shadows" last month. "To have our sophomore album in Ipecac's exceptionally skilled hands is a dream realized. We are ecstatic to be a part of this audacious label." (continue)
Two-time GRAMMY-nominated progressive metal band Spiritbox have announced their anticipated Tsunami Sea North American Tour. Kicking off April 3rd in Dallas, TX, produced by Live Nation, the 24-date tour will hit cities across the U.S. and Canada with Loathe, Dying Wish, and GEL as support.
Tickets will first be available through a Citi presale starting today, December 3. The official artist presale begins on December 4th and will include a special SPIRITBOXOFFICE pop-up event in LA at the Hollywood Palladium from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm where fans can purchase tickets and meet the band. Additional presales will follow on December 5, ahead of the general onsale and Citi Cardmember Preferred Tickets, beginning Friday, December 6, at 10 AM local time. (continue)
Navigator Games have shared the sad news that the Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast online interactive game will be ending at the end of this month. Here is the official announcement: Even the most incredible journeys come to an end. Today we announce that after 8 amazing years, Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast will finally be coming to a close.
As the band's 2023/24 The Future Past Tour concludes in Brazil this weekend, we're reminded of this games' incredible achievements - notably having a tour inspired by, and named after, it. Complete with multiple onstage worlds, the Iron Maiden Legacy of the Beast Tour played to over 3 million fans, running from 2018 to 2022, circumnavigating the globe - headlining some of the biggest festivals and stadiums including Rock In Rio, Hellfest, Download & Wacken to name but a few. It was by far the most exciting and ambitious way to promote a video game ever - contributing to its incredible longevity and popularity with over 6 million players as the greatest Heavy Metal Game ever. As far as the future goes, our team is continuing to work on new projects with Iron Maiden that we are excited to share with you somewhere down the line. We must, however, bid farewell to this chapter first and to do that we want to celebrate the incredible legacy that we've all built together with you. So now it's time to dust off those flight cases one last time and end with a bang and a momentous end of tour party! (continue)
After a wildly successful romp across North America in 2024, the world's most raucous rock/fusion instrumental trio is set to return to the United States in Spring of 2025. The Aristocrats - Guthrie Govan/guitar, Bryan Beller/bass, Marco Minnemann/drums - will bring their trademark musical virtuosity and inherent absurdity back to stages across North America, where they'll be playing a sizable chunk of their new concept album DUCK as well as classic cuts from their five-album catalogue. The tour will take the band to some favorite places missed on the first leg, as well as some brand new cities in Aristocrats touring history. The dates kick off with the band's debut on the high seas: the "Cruise To The Edge" progressive rock music cruise.
"We had a blast on the Duck tour across North America in 2024," the band said in a unified voice, "but sometimes you just can't get to everywhere you need to be in only eight weeks. So we're going to make sure we bring the DUCK show to everywhere we can in the States with these additional shows. Plus, we're incredibly excited to do "Cruise To The Edge" for the very first time! It's fitting that the DUCK tour sees some water, don't you think?" (continue)
Berlin Post-Rock powerhouse The Ocean (Collective) have shared a pulsing remix of 'Boreal', taken from their ambitious 9th studio album 'Holocene', by the critically-acclaimed Parisian electro and darkwave producer SIERRA.
The second of two collaborative, mutual remixes between The Ocean and SIERRA, 'Boreal (SIERRA REMIX)' follows The Ocean's creative full-band reimagining based on the original stems of 'Traum', taken from SIERRA's 2023 album, 'A Story of Anger'. (continue)
Swedish metal juggernauts Meshuggah will make their triumphant return to North American stages, bringing their genre-defying, mind-bending sound to fans across the U.S. and Canada.
Joining them on this monumental trek, produced by Live Nation, are the fellow legendary acts Cannibal Corpse and Carcass, making this THE tour of the year for metal fans. (continue)
Nonexister released a music video from their incendiary song "What A Lie" from their debut album "Demons", and to celebrate we asked vocalist Nik Leuthold to tell us a little bit about the track. Here is the story:
"'What A Lie' is on the first, direct layer a song about and against the robber barons of our time. It's about people who do everything for their own profit without any ethical boundaries. It's about people who exploit others and are even proud of it. So, at first glance and first listen, it talks about ruthless capitalists in high positions in the economy." (continue)
Rock legends AC/DC easily captured a top 24 story of February 2024 when their classic "Back In Black" video surpassed over a billion views on YouTube, giving the legendary band their second clip that is part of video streaming service's "One Billion Views Club".
The official 4K video for title track to the band's blockbuster 1980 album was far ahead of other tracks from the record, "You Shook Me All Night Long" had 317 million views (now 353), "Hells Bells" had 273 million (now 301), while "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" had 23 million views (now 25). (continue)
Tributes to country music icon Toby Keith not only landed a top 24 story of February 2024, but was also one of the 10 most popular stories of the year. Here it is again in our look back in the Year In Rock: A number of his friends and fellow music stars have paid tribute to Keith who passed away on February 5th at the age of 62. 2911 sent over the following: The "Shock'n Y'all" and "Red Solo Cup" singer had been diagnosed with stomach cancer and started treatments in fall 2021. He had surgery and received chemotherapy and radiation in the course of his cancer battle.
"Toby Keith has gone home. This is very sad news. We loved and respected him on every level and whispered many a prayer for him as he fought this illness. God must have needed a big-hearted Oklahoma singing boy for the great choir. Well, he got one. RIP Toby Keith." - The Oak Ridge Boys (continue)
The news of the tragic death of Legendary MC5 co-founder and guitarist Wayne Kramer on February 2, 2024 from pancreatic cancer was a top 24 story of February 2024. He was 75 years old.
Kramer's death was original revealed on his official Instagram which shared a black and white photo of the music icon along with the caption, "Wayne S. Kramer 'PEACE BE WITH YOU' April 30, 1948 - February 2, 2024." (continue)
The Grateful Dead not only earned a top 24 story of February 2024 but also made history when they claimed the No. 1 spot on Billboard Album Sales chart early in the month and also broke the record for the most top 40 charting albums on the Billboard 200 since its inception almost 68-years ago.
The band's limited-edition release, Dave's Picks, Volume 49, from their archival release series that is named after the band's archivist David Lemieux, had 21,000 equivalent album units sales in the U.S. that week. (continue)
Deep Purple scored a top 24 story of February 2024 when they announced an expanded reissue of their iconic "Machine Head" album and shared a Dweezil Zappa remix of their legendary song "Smoke On Water". Shore Fire Media shared the following details about the super deluxe reissue: Deep Purple unleashed one of the best guitar riffs since the invention of rock and roll with "Smoke On The Water," a song dubbed the Beethoven's 5th of hard rock. Since its 1972 debut on Machine Head, the song and the album have left an indelible mark on music, inspiring countless bands around the world.
Warner Records and Rhino Entertainment honored the album's enormous legacy with a comprehensive version that introduced new mixes and previously unreleased live recordings. MACHINE HEAD: SUPER DELUXE EDITION was released March 29 as a 3-CD/LP/Blu-ray. (continue)
Piano Man Billy Joel made big news early in the year when he released his first new single in decades entitled "Turn The Lights Back On", which easily landed him a top 24 story of February 2024.
The song was produced by GRAMMY-nominated songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler and written by Wexler, Arthur Bacon, Wayne Hector, and Joel, according to Columbia Records. (continue)
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