Month: March 2021

In a recent interview the Arizona radio station 98 KUPD, SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor revealed that he is planning to embark on a “social-distanced” tour with his solo band “in the next couple of months.” He stated (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “[It will be a] short tour — probably about three weeks. Some of the places we’ll be doing two nights in one city. It’ll be completely social-distanced, which means there’ll be pods with space around it, and the only people allowed in the pod are the people who came with that group. [There will be] temp checks at the door, and you have to have proof of a negative test within 48 hours [of the show], or you won’t be let in at all.

“So, I’m looking at ways to kind of get the cobs going — not only for myself but for people I care about,” he continued. “My crew needs work; my wife [Alicia Taylor, a professional dancer and a member of the all-girl dance group CHERRY BOMBS], her dancers, they wanna get back out there. So this is the test to see if we can start to kind of inch back towards reality with these in place — at least until the vaccine has had a chance to kind of do its thing.”

According to Taylor, the tour will kick off in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. “The bulk of [the dates are] in the Midwest and then kind of working our way back to Vegas,” he said. “It’ll be April-May. And we’re actually hammering the details out right now.”

Corey also stressed the importance of finding ways to return to live performances while also prioritizing safety for everyone involved. “The only way this happens is if we learn to do it,” he said. “We have to get on with it. President Biden was talking about the fact that it’s a national emergency that there’s been no school — real school — and a real plan in place, because there was really nobody running the boat for God knows how long, and that’s been a national emergency. And a lot of people feel like that about what they do for a living. I’m not gonna put what I do as important as education. However, what I do is responsible for a lot of people’s livelihoods. And the faster I can find a way to get us all back doing that in a way that doesn’t endanger people, the better. Instead of just kind of using it as a crutch and waiting for it to go away… Guess what? This may never go away. We need to learn to adapt — we need to adapt and move on and find ways to do this. Like I said, once the vaccine’s had a chance to really kind of do its thing, we will really start to have those tentative steps back towards normalcy as best we can.”

Taylor also expressed his optimism that large gatherings as we knew them will most likely return in the not-too-distant future.

“This isn’t forever,” he said. “I know a lot of doomsayers out there who are, like, ‘Oh, this is it.’ I’m, like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ You can’t even keep people from storming into the Super Bowl. You’re telling me that people are gonna stay behind closed doors forever? We can’t, as a species, do that. We cannot do that; we are not built for that. And people are going to encourage each other to find ways to get together and have fun. It’s just a matter of time. And the more positive we can be about it, the better it’s gonna be, man. Especially now that we have people who are actually looking around, going, ‘Okay, we’re not ignoring this. We’re not denying this. This isn’t a political thing. This is a safety thing. Let’s just get rid of that. And now, this is how we’re gonna reopen things. But we’re gonna get this going.’ And that should be encouraging people.”

Taylor’s debut solo album, “CMFT”, was released in October. Corey recorded the effort with his band consisting of Jason Christopher on bass, Dustin Schoenhofer on drums, and Zach Throne and Christian Martucci (STONE SOUR) on guitar. The LP was completed at Kevin Churko’s The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas with producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER and STONE SOUR, among others.

Taylor recently made history as he reached No. 1 at Active Rock Radio with his powerful single “Black Eyes Blue”. The achievement put Taylor in a class all his own, making him the first artist in the history of the format to reach No. 1 with three separate projects, following chart-topping efforts from SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR.

“CMFT” made impressive debuts on charts around the world in October, entering at No. 1 on Billboard’s Current Hard Rock Albums chart, while claiming No. 2 on Current Rock Albums, No. 6 on Vinyl Albums, and No. 9 on the Top Albums charts. Furthermore, “CMFT” landed Top 10 on the official album charts in Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with Top 20 debuts in the United Kingdom, Finland and Japan (international chart).

SMITH/KOTZEN, the collaboration between guitarists and vocalists Adrian Smith (IRON MAIDEN) and Richie Kotzen (THE WINERY DOGS), will release its self-titled debut album on March 26 via BMG.

Recorded on the Turks & Caicos Islands in February 2020, produced by Richie and Adrian and mixed by Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, this nine-track opus is a consummate collaboration between these two highly respected musicians who co-wrote all the songs and also share lead vocals and trade off on guitar and bass duties throughout the record.

Exploding with powerful melodies and harmonies, the album embodies the spirited attitude of 1970s classic rock with a melting-pot of influences ranging from blues, hard rock, traditional R&B and more, blending the pair’s backgrounds and life experiences to result in a thoroughly contemporary sound.

Speaking to Australia’s Subculture Entertainment, Kotzen stated about the songwriting process for the LP (hear audio below): “Both of us come from a point of, ‘The song is the most important thing’… So, in other words, different guys have different ideas on how to approach things, but for us, it was all about the song, ’cause without a song, you’ve got nothing to play. So that was our focus. And that kind of went through every thread of what we were doing. We never got into a thing of worrying about who’s gonna play what, or that sort of thing, unless there was a reason for it, as far as, ‘Hey, we’ve got a song that exists. Now let’s figure out what we’re gonna do with it.’ But oftentimes, it would just be dictated by casually saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let me try something.’ Or, ‘Hey, I’ve got this idea for a melody for a verse. What do you think?’ And then I can remember Adrian wrote a verse for one of the songs, and that led me to an idea for a pre-chorus, playing off of his words. So then I would go with that, and then we’d maybe get stuck somewhere in the middle of the chorus and then throw ideas back and forth and work our way out. So it was almost like a tennis match, like a volley — back and forth, back and forth.”

Track listing:

01. Taking My Chances
02. Running
03. Scars
04. Some People
05. Glory Road
06. Solar Fire
07. You Don’t Know Me
08. I Wanna Stay
09. ‘Til Tomorrow

The record features special guest performances by Adrian’s IRON MAIDEN bandmate Nicko McBrain on drums for the track “Solar Fire”, and Richie’s longstanding friend and touring partner Tal Bergman on drums for “You Don’t Know Me”, “I Wanna Stay” and “‘Til Tomorrow”, with Richie picking up the sticks on the other five songs.

The album will be available in these formats:

* Digipack CD
* 12″ black vinyl with embossed sleeve
* Digital (streaming and download)
* Limited-edition 12″ red-and-black-smoke-effect-colored vinyl

Smith is best known as one of IRON MAIDEN’s principal guitarists, having also enjoyed success as a solo artist. Kotzen is the frontman for THE WINERY DOGS as well as having been the guitarist for both MR. BIG and POISON during his long and acclaimed career, which has to date seen him release more than 20 solo albums. Both artists are also prolific songwriters.

Heavy metal legends and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nominees IRON MAIDEN have teamed up with Pull The Plug Patches to bring you a series of exclusive woven patches, backpatches, and enamel pins arriving this spring.

Starting with a backpatch for their acclaimed album “The Number Of The Beast”, which will be available from March 15, standard-size patches for the eponymous debut album “Iron Maiden” and enamel pins for “Powerslave” will follow in early April. New patch designs featuring IRON MAIDEN’s iconic album art will be introduced throughout the coming year.

Founded in 2018 in Newcastle, Australia, Pull The Plug Patches has taken battle vest culture by storm. By introducing unique shapes and colorways into the global patch community, Pull The Plug Patches have given battle vests in every nook and cranny of the planet a shot of adrenaline. With sales extending to all of the word’s inhabited continents, a worldwide community of metalheads have been called to arms!

Dedicated to bringing the highest-quality and most unique woven patches to market, over 300 artists have joined the Pull The Plug Patches roster to date, including ARCH ENEMY, ATHEIST, BLOOD INCANTATION, BELPHEGOR, CARCASS, CRADLE OF FILTH, CRYPTOPSY, DEMILICH, DISMEMBER, ENSLAVED, ENTOMBED A.D., EXODUS, GORGUTS, GRAVE, GRUESOME, HAIL OF BULLETS, HATE ETERNAL, INCANTATION, KATATONIA, MASSACRE, MEGADETH, MESHUGGAH, NAPALM DEATH, NECROPHAGIA, NEVERMORE, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, SANCTUARY, SLAYER, SPIRITUAL BEGGARS, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, UNDERGANG, UNLEASHED and many, many more.

Pull The Plug Patches is featured prominently in Banger TV’s new series “The Fabric Of Metal”, which takes viewers on a cultural tour of the mainstays of metal style — from battle vests to bullet belts.

For more information, visit the Pull The Plug Patches web site at www.pulltheplugpatches.com.

MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars has just received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The 69-year-old rocker took to his Instagram to share a photo of him getting the shot, and he wrote in an accompanying message: “One down one to go!!! F**k covid”.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll showed almost a third of U.S. adults are undecided on whether they’ll get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The poll, released last month, found that 31 percent of adults are going to “wait until it has been available for a while to see how it is working for other people” before receiving the coronavirus vaccine.

America’s two main vaccines have shown 95% efficacy against the coronavirus.

As of late January, the CDC discovered that only 11 per 1 million people experienced severe reactions from the Pfizer vaccine, and only 2.5 per 1 million people who received the Moderna dose.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, which became available in the United States earlier this month after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave it emergency use authorization, was tested with new variants of COVID-19, and has shown to be effective against them; Pfizer and Moderna were tested prior to the emergence of these variants.

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Former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Matt Sorum’s long-awaited autobiography, “Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘N’ Roll Stories From The Drummer Of Guns N’ Roses, The Cult, And Velvet Revolver”, will now arrive on September 7, 2021 via Rare Bird Books after being delayed several times due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In “Double Talkin’ Jive”, Sorum takes music lovers behind the scenes of a remarkable life in rock. Sorum, whose albums have sold tens of millions of copies around the world, provides an honest, engaging account of the highs and lows of superstardom. Sorum recounts his childhood years idolizing Ringo Starr and surviving an abusive stepfather. After leaving high school, Sorum sold pot to get by. Over time, his drug dealing escalated to smuggling large quantities of cocaine, a career that came to a halt following a dramatic shoot-out. Sorum fled his old life and settled in Hollywood, where he’d enjoy a rapid ascension to rock ‘n’ roll immortality. He caught his big break drumming for THE CULT, and only a year later was invited to join GUNS N’ ROSES, with whom he’d record two of rock’s most iconic albums: “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II”.

Sorum opens up with forthright honesty, sharing anecdotes from his time touring the globe, battling drug and alcohol addiction, and navigating volatile relationships with Axl Rose, Slash and the rest of the GN’R team. His career with THE CULT, GUNS N’ ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER, MOTÖRHEAD, the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES and KINGS OF CHAOS co-stars an ensemble of rock royalty, from Gene Simmons and Billy Idol to Steven Tyler and Alice Cooper.

“Double Talkin’ Jive” goes beyond the clichés of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, telling the very human story of what it takes to make it in music, and the toll stardom exacts from those who achieve success. Sorum invites fans to revel in the debauchery of the good times, but also paints a stark portrait of life after the party. Music fans of any generation will find value in the pages of this evocative, thoughtful, and candid autobiography.

Sorum’s co-authors Leif Erickson and Martin Svensson previously co-wrote Samantha Fox’s “Forever”.

During a recent appearance on the “Stop! Drop & Talk” podcast, Sorum stated about “Double Talkin’ Jive”: “I named it after a GUNS N’ ROSES song, ‘Double Talkin’ Jive’. [Then-GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist] Izzy Stradlin wrote that song. We played it together — on the [‘Use Your Illusion I’] album, me and Izzy tracked that in one take. And the premise of the lyric was based around the kind of pitfalls of the music business and success. There’s this undercurrent that’s not pretty. And I talk very truthfully about things that I went through, from my perspective.

“I didn’t wanna come off jaded,” Matt continued. “I have to tell the story the way it went for me, and I hope that people don’t take it as I sound jaded or something. I just wanted to be as truthful and honest as possible, from my perspective, if that makes sense.

“I think there’s a misconception that maybe, as musicians, we’re a bit elitist or privileged, or things are handed to us, and we just automatically appear, and now, all of a sudden, we’re famous. So I just look at it, I’m, like, well, yeah, I have a great job. I’ve got a great life. I’m super grateful for all the things I’ve been able to do. But in the book, you can see that it was a lot of hard work. It was a lot of bruises along the way. And then, as the career goes and you get successful, stuff happens. There’s, of course, the famous drug-and-alcohol shit that is kind of like ‘Behind The Music’ VH1 — I mean, that all happened to me. You know, the pitfalls of rock and roll stardom and all that shit.

“For me, when I was doing it,” referring to the rock-star lifestyle, “and when I was at the height [of GUNS N’ ROSES’ success], I’m, like, ‘If I don’t do this now, I’ll regret it later.’ So I just tried to live my life as I thought I would wanna live it as a kid dreaming to be in a rock and roll band.”

Sorum, who replaced Steven Adler in GUNS N’ ROSES, recorded “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II” (both 1991) and “The Spaghetti Incident” (1994). He also supported the group on the “Use Your Illusion” tour and can be heard on GUNS N’ ROSES’ “Live Era: ’87-’93” (1999) and “Greatest Hits” (2004).

Photo credit: Michael Segal

Clois Odell Wharton, father of MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil, died on Friday, March 5 at the age of 83.

Neil announced his father’s passing in an Instagram post earlier today (Saturday, March 6). He wrote: “With a broken heart I’m sad to say, we lost a beautiful man last night, my Father Clois Odell Wharton, our beloved ‘Odie’. He died peacefully surrounded by loved ones. He was 83 years young.

“We are going to miss you, Dad. Have fun with Mom and Cali in heaven, RIP 3-5-2021”.

Wharton’s death comes two and a half years after the passing of Vince’s mother. A month before her death, the singer revealed that she was in the hospital “battling stage four cancer.”

Last June, Vince said that his five-year-old Yorkshire terrier California Wolf Neil was “brutally murdered” on his front door by “two evil neighbor dogs.”

MÖTLEY CRÜE’s “The Stadium Tour” with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS was originally scheduled to take place last summer but ended up being pushed back to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.

When it happens, “The Stadium Tour” will mark the CRÜE’s first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. CRÜE toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017 — but the upcoming jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.

MÖTLEY CRÜE’s 2019 biopic “The Dirt” depicts his 1984 drunk-driving accident that killed HANOI ROCKS drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley and seriously injured two others. It also shows Neil’s firing from MÖTLEY CRÜE in 1992, only for his bandmates to rally behind him in 1995 when his four-year-old daughter, Skylar, died of cancer. (He rejoined the group in 1997.)

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Morgan Lander says that it “may not be the right time” for KITTIE to return with new music.

After the London, Ontario, Canada-based metallers completed the touring cycle for 2011’s “I’ve Failed You” album, KITTIE entered a long period of inactivity during which the guitarist/vocalist focused on a marketing job for a chain of fitness clubs, while her sister, drummer Mercedes Lander, worked in real estate and more recently at a software company. The group also began work on a career-spanning documentary, “Origins/Evolutions”, which finally saw the light of day in 2018 via Lightyear Entertainment in North America.

Asked in a new interview with Consequence Of Sound if there are any plans for KITTIE to make new music, Morgan said: “Our bass player and great friend of ours, Trish Doan, passed away a couple of years ago, and so that’s made it really difficult to try to feel like it’s right to do more when she would have wanted to be the one to be there. So, that’s also a tough thing that we grapple with. But, individually, we’re all working on new music. Mercedes is in THE WHITE SWAN, which is a band that she actually fronts. She sings and plays guitar. Tara McLeod is playing full-time in an awesome country band. So, that’s really cool. I’m fronting a kind of melodic death metal band called KARKAOS. So, we’re still all very close as friends and musicians, but it may not be the right time. But we’ve always said, never say never.”

Regarding what kind of legacy she hopes KITTIE leaves behind, Morgan said: “To start off with, the word ‘KITTIE’ and ‘legacy’ in the same sentence is mindblowing. It’s vindicating, in a way, because after all that people said back in the day, there are so many people that love the band and look back and say, ‘Wow. You might’ve paved the way,’ or, ‘You guys have a legacy,’ or, ‘You guys were a legendary band.’ These are all things that I’ve heard recently that I don’t think we would have ever equated to KITTIE 15 or 20 years ago. So, I think our legacy is that we were the underdogs, and as a band, we didn’t think that there were any rules that were made that weren’t meant to be broken. There were things that we decided we wanted to accomplish, and just because we were young and women didn’t mean that we weren’t allowed to do things that people didn’t think that young women should do. And, the music still resonates with people today, 21 years later. I think it’s a testament to the true heart and soul behind the band.”

Last October, Mercedes told the “Thunder Underground” podcast that there were no plans for KITTIE to reunite anytime soon. “I know that we’re lucky to have the experiences that we have had,” she said. And we had a really amazing time when we did that ‘Live In London’ show a couple of years, where we brought everybody back that wanted to come back. And we did like a ‘travel through time’ with all the different members and stuff like that. So that was really cool. We had a lot of fun doing that. But at this point, unless we got a really good offer… I don’t think we would do anything unless it was a really great offer and we could include everyone, in one fashion or another. And I think because at this point, we’re kind of one of those legacy bands, I feel like it would probably really help, or it would be really cool, if we could something with some of the past members as well. ‘Cause right now, we don’t necessarily have… I mean, besides my sister, myself and Tara, it’s just the three of us, technically, in the band.

“It’s kind of hard for us to continue on without Trish, because it would feel kind of weird not to have her there,” she continued. “So there’s a lot of stuff going on with that. But you never know what might happen. If somebody decides that they wanna give us a good offer, and it works out for us, and it’s feasible for us and we’re able to do it, I don’t see why not. But at the same time, we wanna make sure that things are good for the fans as well. We wanna make sure that the people that are coming to the show are getting a good experience, ’cause it might be the last time. [Laughs] We don’t wanna shortchange anybody and have a ‘lesser than’ experience, if that makes sense — we wanna make sure that everybody that comes to a show gets blown away. So we kind of have to outdo ourselves. But we’ll see what happens. You never know.”

Doan passed away in February 2017. The KITTIE bassist was only 31 years old at the time of her death.

Born in Gwangju, South Korea (about 270 kilometers from the capital Seoul), Doan joined KITTIE in 2005 and was in the band for two years before leaving in 2007 and then rejoining in 2012. She can be heard on KITTIE’s 2006 EP “Never Again” and the 2007 full-length album “Funeral For Yesterday”.

In early 2008, it was reported that Doan originally left KITTIE due to the eating disorder anorexia-athletica-nervosa, which she had been struggling with for almost two years.

Doan relocated to Australia in 2009 to get a degree and try to surf before returning to Canada in 2011. She apparently moved back to Australia in 2013 and kept an active Twitter account and Facebook page where she frequently posted about her life struggles and battles with depression.

“I’ve Failed You” sold 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200 chart.

METALLICA was nominated for the very first “Hard Rock/Metal Performance” Grammy in 1989, but famously lost to JETHRO TULL, a band distinguished mainly by its heavy use of flute. Fans — and even some audience members — were rightly outraged, though TULL’s record label tried to make light of the faux pas by placing a Billboard ad that read, “The flute is a heavy, metal instrument.”

Award presenter Alice Cooper, who — along with Lita Ford — announced TULL’s win, recalled the experience in a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station. He said (hear audio below): “Well, first of all, when we did the rehearsal, you opened up the thing and they just said, ‘Name any band’ — you were just practicing naming the band. And it was METALLICA and all these great heavy metal bands, and JETHRO TULL, who’s so far away from metal. And I opened up the thing and I went, ‘And the winner is JETHRO TULL.’ And everybody laughed. And I looked around. I was looking for somebody to say, ‘Did you hand me the wrong envelope?’ I thought they handed me the rehearsal envelope. And they said, ‘No.’ And then I realized what it was. In that day and age, at that time, the people that were voting, the judges, METALLICA was a brand new thing, metal was a brand new thing, and the only band they recognized was JETHRO TULL. And even JETHRO TULL went, ‘What?'”

JETHRO TULL did not attend the event, and Cooper ended up accepting the award on the band’s behalf. “I said, ‘I’m accept this for [JETHRO TULL], but I think they’re gonna probably send it back,'” Alice told WRIF.

After METALLICA lost the 1989 “Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Recording” Grammy to JETHRO TULL, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), parent company of the Grammys, separated the two genres in 1990 by creating categories for “Best Hard Rock Performance” and “Best Metal Performance”. METALLICA won the “Best Metal Performance” award the next year, for “One”, and has earned nearly a dozen so far.

When METALLICA’s “Black” album won another “Best Metal Performance” Grammy in 1992, drummer Lars Ulrich “thanked” JETHRO TULL for not releasing an album in that year.

In a 2012 interview with Powerline, JETHRO TULL vocalist Ian Anderson recounted that historic day when his band was given the award for best hard rock/metal performer.

“I probably get [the question] a lot more when I’m talking to American writers than I do [at home in England],” Anderson said. “It’s not really a big deal over here. It was in a year where it was a new category for ‘hard rock’ forward slash ‘metal’ and that category still exists today … and we were, for some strange reason, nominated. And at the time, no one paid any attention to the fact that we were nominated. There was not a peep out of anyone. Because they thought there’s no way JETHRO TULL are gonna win it. Nor IGGY POP, nor JANE’S ADDICTION. It’s going to be METALLICA because they were the huge, new, straight-out-of-the-box, enormous, hit talent that year and everybody took it for granted that METALLICA were gonna win the Grammy, including METALLICA themselves. And when it was ordered to JETHRO TULL, to a barrage of boos and hisses and gasps of disbelief, I’d like to think that it wasn’t that the six thousand voting members of the National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences were voting for JETHRO TULL as a heavy rock band or a heavy metal band. They gave us the award because we were a bunch of nice guys who never won a Grammy before. And sad to relate, even after all these years, there is still no category for best one-legged flute player. Otherwise, I’d be winning it every year.”

He continued: “And as we said at the time, METALLICA were an exciting new band. and they will be sure to win the Grammy next year and indeed they did. And to prove the point that heavy metal bands do have a sense of humor, they took out a full page ad in Billboard when they won the Grammy, thanking their record producer, their record company, their mums, their dads, their brothers, the family dog and JETHRO TULL for not bringing out a new album that year.”

Two years ago, on the 30th anniversary of that fateful day, Ulrich took to his Instagram to reflect on his band’s first Grammy loss, writing: “Today 30 years ago, February 22 ’89, we played the Grammys for the first time and that was quite a mindfuck!! First time we were in front of a mainstream TV audience. First time mainstream America was exposed to whatever the hell it is we do. First time they had a hard rock/metal category on the Grammys. First time we were Grammy losers, since JETHRO TULL, somewhat unexpectedly to most people, walked away with the win.

“But all was not lost. The expressions of disgust from most members of the audience (other than Iggy!) is something I will treasure for the rest of my life. And I was rocking some pretty crazy hair that was edging dangerously close to a mullet! Happy days indeed!!”

During a March 4 Twitch live chat with “Talkulture”, MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson discussed the band’s plans for the coming months. He said: “There’s a new MEGADETH album being finished up. We have a big tour this summer — MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES. Live Nation just put out an announcement, I think [on] Tuesday, saying all concerts are a go, ‘We’re gonna stay open,’ ‘Everything’s gonna be great.’ So, per that, hopefully we’ll see everybody on tour this summer. So let’s hope that happens. [We’re staying] optimistic, and hopefully it keeps things going. It was rescheduled from last summer, so it’d be great if we could just get out and get rocking. So, [I’m] looking forward to seeing everybody out there.”

MEGADETH’s North American tour with LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES, dubbed “The Metal Tour Of The Year”, is now scheduled to kick off on July 9 in Detroit, Michigan and end on September 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

MEGADETH’s follow-up to 2016’s “Dystopia” album is likely to arrive in late 2021 or early 2022.

The early sessions for the LP took place in 2019 with co-producer Chris Rakestraw, who previously worked on “Dystopia”.

In addition to Ellefson, MEGADETH’s current lineup includes founding guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, former SOILWORK drummer Dirk Verbeuren and Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who was previously best known for his work with ANGRA.

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band’s inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play. After Mustaine reformed MEGADETH with an all-new lineup in 2004, Ellefson sued his former bandmate for $18.5 million, alleging that Mustaine still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.