Guns N’ Roses Didn’t Steal ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ Says McKagan
(Radio.com) A few days ago, Australian website Max TV asked whether Guns N’ Roses plagiarized their 1987 classic “Sweet Child O’ Mine” from an earlier song by an Australian band called Australian Crawl, “Unpublished Critics,” from 1981. Radio.com spoke with former Guns bassist Duff McKagan–currently of a band called Walking Papers–and asked him about the controversy. He’s denying it. Completely. “A friend of mine just sent me that video,” he says, which plays excerpts of both songs. “It is pretty stunning,” he admits. However, he is quick to add, “But we didn’t steal it from them! I swear [puts his hand on his heart], I never heard that song until a couple of days ago.” But, McKagan says, he’s kind of puzzled as to why, two-and-a-half decades later, the allegations are just coming to light: “How is that [information] just coming out now?”
Scott Stapp Says Meltdown From Psychotic Break and Bipolar Disorder
(Radio.com) Scott Stapp is ready to talk about the cause of his erratic behavior that made headlines last year. In a new interview with People, the Creed frontman talks openly for the first time about the “psychotic break” he suffered, telling the magazine he has bi-polar that was made worse by alcohol and drug abuse. “I was hallucinating,” he said. “I drove around the United States for a month, following an angel that I saw on the hood of my car.” Stapp made headlines back in November when he released a YouTube video saying he was broke and homeless, living out of his car, which led his wife to have him institutionalized. A month later, a call to 911 from his wife was released, in which she claims Stapp believed he was part of the CIA and had made potential threats to assassinate President Obama. Stapp says, “In my delusional thinking, I thought my family was involved in ISIS, and that millions of dollars had been taken from me to support terrorism. All of it was nonsense. I was out of my mind.” Stapp says he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after hitting rock bottom, and though it was hard to process, he says it finally gave him an answer to what was going on. Read more here.
Eddie Vedder Jams With The Who In Chicago
On Wednesday evening in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, The Who performed as part of their ‘The Who Hits 50’ tour. The 135-minute show featured close to two-dozen who classics encompassing their five-decade career, but the evening’s biggest surprise came in the form of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, who grew up in the near suburb of Evanston. Vedder joined the band for a roaring rendition of “The Real Me”. The performance served as a teaser for a charity show on Thursday night that Vedder and Who guitarist Pete Townshend are putting on entitled “AN Evening Celebrating The Who with Pete Townshend and Eddie Vedder”. The show will take place at the Rosemont Theatre and will feature special guests Joan Jett, Joe Walsh and Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick.
Foo Fighters Played Surprise Show As Chevy Metal
(Radio.com) Over the weekend, a fair in Thousand Oaks, Ca had a very special musical guest no one was expecting: Foo Fighters. Billed as Chevy Metal, the group took the stage to blaze through a handful of covers, Consequence of Sound reports. In their 18 track-deep set, the band put their stamp on iconic songs ranging from AC/DC’s “Let There Be Rock” to Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69,” The Knack’s “My Sharona,” The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You,” Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” and Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” to name a handful. If the event sounds like something that could only happen in the Los Angeles area, that’s probably because it’s true: Grohl has been living in the West Coast city while the band takes a break from their Sonic Highways world tour.
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler Premieres New Solo Song ‘Love Is Your Name’
(hennemusic) Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is premiering his first country single, “Love Is Your Name.” Tyler has been in Nashville since January working with songwriters on material for his debut solo album on Big Machine Records’ affiliated label Dot Records. “The first day in the studio I recorded a song that became my first single,” says the singer, “and if ‘Love is Your Name’, then Nashville’s my new girlfriend. I guess you could call that Beginner’s Luck.” The rocker announced his intent to record a country album during a Twitter Q&A last October. “Country, to me, has always been oversimplified, by an accent, a truck, cowboy boots, a dirt road, a back porch,” Tyler tells USA Today. “But I think it’s more about freedom and pride and hard work and the girl. And knowing everybody’s first name in town, you know? There were 1,200 people in my town when I grew up. That, to me, is country.” Tyler will join Aerosmith for the Blue Army Tour, with summer dates set to start June 13 in Glendale, Arizona….after that, he’ll return to Nashville to work on his debut solo album. “I’ve got to find time to come back and record these songs after the Aerosmith tour,” he adds. “But I flit from flower to flower, country to country, looking for good times and singing about the last time. That’s what I’m putting into the country songs.”
3 Doors Down Reveal Summer Tour Plans
(Gibson) 3 Doors Down have announced a crop of new 2015 summer tour dates which will include Seether also performing at most stops, with Theory of a Deadman and Collective Soul appearing on select dates. The tour is scheduled to kick off on July 7th in Laredo, TX at the Laredo Energy Center and will conclude on August 22nd in Kettering, OH at the Fraze Pavilion. 3 Doors Down are also working on their follow-up to 2011’s Time of My Life. “We can’t wait to get some of these new songs we’ve been playing live put to tape,” frontman Brad Arnold said in a statement. “This is shaping up to be our best album yet!”
Bruce Springsteen Releases 1984 Show From Born In The USA Tour
(hennemusic) Bruce Springsteen has released a classic 1984 show from his “Born In The USA” tour as the latest offering in his archival concert series. The package features the first night of a 10-night stand at Brendan Byrne Arena at The Meadowlands in New Jersey. The August 5, 1984 show presents the full 3-hour, 29-song set, which mixes material from his catalog alongside tracks from “Born In The USA.” This was the E Street Band’s first tour with Nils Lofgren on guitar (Stevie Van Zandt had left the band) and Patti Scialfa on vocals and percussion. The complete concert is now available for download in high resolution 24 bit / 192 kHz and DSD formats, as well as CD-quality and MP3 downloads; it is also available for pre-order as a 3 CD set to begin shipping in June.
Queensryche Almost Finished With New Album
(Classic Rock) Queensryche have confirmed that their upcoming album is almost finished. Frontman Todd La Torre recently said the follow-up to their 2013 self-titled release was a “raging animal.” And guitarist Michael Wilton reveals they’ve recorded over an hour’s worth of material for their 15th studio outing. He tells Pop Culture Madness: “In between touring we managed to put out recordings and we have a new album that is almost finished. We’re going to finish all the overdubs, get it mixed, mastered and sent off to our label. “A lot of the music has the flavour of the first six albums – and there’s a lot of it. We’ve recorded well over and hour’s worth of music. We’re really excited and I think Queensryche fans are going to eat it up.”
Steven Adler Added To Ronnie James Dio Memorial Weekend
(Classic Rock) Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler will take part in this weekend’s Ronnie James Dio memorial, it has been confirmed. Adler is among the latest stars to be added to the list of celebrities taking part, along with Theory Of A Deadman vocalist Tyler Connolly and Lita Ford. To mark the fifth anniversary of the passing of the former Black Sabbath and Rainbow singer, three days of events are planned. The weekend includes including a Bowl For Ronnie Celebrity Bowling tournament on Friday, a public Memorial Service on Saturday and the inaugural Ride For Ronnie motorcycle ride and BBQ on Sunday. Artists previously confirmed for the weekend include Stone Sour’s Christian Martucci and Roy Mayorga, Tenacious D’s Jack Black and Kyle Gass, former Megadeth and current Act Of Defiance guitarist Chris Broderick, Eddie Money, Oni Logan, Sean McNabb, Bjorn Englen and John Payne.
Yes, Marillion, Anathema, Bigelf Lead Cruise To The Edge Lineup
(Classic Rock) Yes have confirmed the lineup for this year’s edition of their Cruise To The Edge festival at sea. They’ll be joined by Marillion, Anathema, Bigelf, Caravan, Spock’s Beard, Lifesigns and others aboard the Norwegian Pearl in the Caribbean from November 15 to 19. An additional event has been added this year – a pre-cruise party in Florida on November 14, featuring Martin Barre, Three Friends and Lifesigns. Additional attractions include shows with spoken-word elements, Q&A panels, craft beer tasting sessions and “a surprise or two along the way.” Organizers On The Blue Cruises say: “Cruise To The Edge has been carefully designed to meet the discriminating requirements of the most avid music fan, producing a true fan and artist experience in a surreal and relaxing setting.”
Styx In No Rush For New Music, May Do More Symphony Shows
(Classic Rock) Styx mainman Tommy Shaw insists they won’t be rushed into recording a new album. And although he says the band have “stuff in the works” they currently have no plans to record their first collection of original studio material since 2003’s Cyclorama. Shaw tells Ultimate Classic Rock: “I’m writing some stuff for what will be more like an Americana solo album. We’re also working on some new Styx music – just taking our time with it. We’ve always been creating a little stuff. We don’t really have any plans to release an album, but there’s stuff in the works.” They recently played a series of symphonic shows in Nashville where they teamed up again with conductor Liza Grossman. She was involved with the band’s One With Everything: Styx And The Contemporary Youth Orchestra in 2006. And they were “mind-blowing” experiences Shaw hopes to repeat. He continues: “We’ve gotten a bunch of offers already to do some more symphony shows, so maybe next year and 2017 we’ll do some special event symphony shows.”
Bret Michaels and BobbleBret Star In New Nissan Ad Campaign
(hennemusic) Bret Michaels and BobbleBret (a bobblehead version of the Poison singer) are featured in a new series of commercials for Nissan’s Tough Love campaign. It’s the latest promotional tie-in for Michaels, who covered Lionel Richie’s 1981 US chart-topper with Diana Ross, “Endless Love”, in a viral video for Nissan last year. Billed as “Tough Love”, the original ad campaign highlighted the durability and ruggedness of Nissan’s line of commercial vans. The 2015 video series sees Michaels and BobbleBret in variety of scenes under the Tough Love banner. Michaels is selling a limited edition run of BobbleBret dolls via his website.
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