Estranged THE QUIREBOYS singer Spike (real name Jonathan Gray) has apologized to his fans, just hours after his bandmates released a statement saying that he was no longer in the group.

Earlier today, the long-running U.K. rockers announced that they had parted ways with Spike and revealed their intention to continue as a five-piece, with longtime guitarist Guy Griffin handling the vocals.

A short time later, Spike took to his Twitter to write: “Just to clarify, I have received a letter from 3 of MY band members informing me that my services are no longer required to sing or perform with them.

“I will release an official statement shortly but for now, my sincere apologies go out to you all and I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all my fans who are supporting me through this difficult time. Many of you I have known for years and consider my friends. Thank you for your love and support.

“Rest assured I will see you at the bar very soon.

“THE QUIREBOYS founder, only original member and singer, God bless, Spike x”

THE QUIREBOYS most recently performed without Spike aboard this year’s Monsters Of Rock cruise, which departed out of Miami, Florida on February 9.

THE QUIREBOYS put out their most recent album, the well-received “Amazing Disgrace”, in 2019.

The band’s debut LP, “A Bit of What You Fancy”, was released in 1990 and included the song “Hey You”, which was THE QUIREBOYS’ biggest hit, reaching No. 14 in the U.K. singles chart and No. 5 in the U.S. Billboard Rock chart.

In 2020, THE QUIREBOYS were scheduled to celebrate their 35th anniversary with a tour. The trek, which ended up getting canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, would also have marked 30 years since the release of “A Bit Of What You Fancy”.

Following the band’s inception in London in 1984 — originally as THE CHOIRBOYS, then THE QUEERBOYS, before settling on the less controversial name of THE QUIREBOYS — there followed six years of hard graft and personnel changes.

THE QUIREBOYS played to 72,000 people at 1990’s Monsters Of Rock at Donington with the likes of WHITESNAKE, AEROSMITH and POISON. They supported THE ROLLING STONES that same year in Newcastle, and opened for GUNS N’ ROSES at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1987 and again a couple of years later on their “Use Your Illusion” tour.

The public’s appetite for THE QUIREBOYS had returned and hasn’t waned since — three further studio releases (“Well Oiled”, “Homewreckers & Heartbreakers”, “Halfpenny Dancer”) were released on various labels from 2004 to 2009 before the band found their new, and permanent, home on Off Yer Rocka, the label of the renowned festival brand Hard Rock Hell.

An anniversary edition — fully re-recorded — of “A Bit Of What You Fancy” drew much acclaim in 2021.

pic.twitter.com/Pk7XwVKn6S
— The Quireboys Spike Official (@SpikeQuireboys) March 29, 2022

The Quireboys have parted company with Spike and will continue as a 5 piece with all other current members.

Posted by The Quireboys – This Is Rock And Roll on Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Nuclear Assault bassist/legend Danny Lilker talks Metal & Beer Fest beer collaboration with KCBC, a special guest stage-dive performance at the event, and the black metal bedspreads.
The post Watch: Dan Lilker Talks Possible Final NUCLEAR ASSAULT U.S. Performace, ‘Game Over’ Set at Metal & Beer Fest: Philly appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

James Corden has paid tribute to late FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins, calling him a “bright light” who “lit up every room he ever walked into.”

The 43-year-old host of “The Late Late Show With James Corden” made his comments during last night’s episode of the late-night show which he has been hosting since 2015.

“We were all shocked and saddened on Friday when we heard the tragic news that Taylor Hawkins had passed away,” James said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “You have read things about Taylor and everything you read was true. He was a bright light. He lit up every room he ever walked into. He was so joyous and full of light and love and all the things that you want in a human being. I have such fond memories of any of the times that I got to spend with him.

“We just wanted to say that our thoughts go out to his family, his friends, his bandmates, the FOO FIGHTERS fans who are all around the world,” he continued. “And Taylor, thank you for everything you gave us while you were here.”

Corden then played an old “Carpool Karaoke” clip of him and the band crashing a Guitar Center in Los Angeles, where Corden, Hawkins and FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl compared their percussion skills and Corden laughing after failing to emulate Hawkins’s drum solo.

Hawkins died at a hotel in Bogota, Colombia on Friday (March 25). Local officials said an ambulance was sent to the hotel after a man reported having chest pains. The 50-year-old FOO FIGHTERS drummer did not respond to resuscitation efforts and was declared dead, the city’s health department said.

On Saturday, the Colombian attorney general’s office announced that Hawkins had opioids, marijuana and other drugs in his system before he died. A toxicology report showed traces of 10 substances in his body, including anti-depressants, the office said. The statement added that the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences “will conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death” and that it “will continue the investigation and will report the results obtained within the framework thereof in a timely manner.”

FOO FIGHTERS announced Hawkins’s death on their Instagram account. “The FOO FIGHTERS family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the announcement read. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”

The FOO FIGHTERS were scheduled to perform Friday at the Picnic Stereo festival in Bogota but their performance was canceled.

The band played Lollapalooza Chile on March 18 and Lollapalooza Argentina on March 20. They were scheduled to headline Lollapalooza Brasil on Sunday (March 27).

Hawkins has been open about his history of drug use. He overdosed on heroin in 2001 and spent a week in a coma, just four years after joining the FOO FIGHTERS.

Gibson and Adam Jones have announced their third guitar collaboration with the Adam Jones Les Paul Standard from Gibson USA.

Multi-platinum selling and four-time-Grammy Award-winning guitarist Adam Jones from the band TOOL is one of rock’s most talented and sonically innovative guitarists. The new Adam Jones Les Paul Standard from Gibson USA is a new take on Adam’s No. 1 guitar, his prized original Silverburst 1979 Gibson Les Paul.

The new Adam Jones Les Paul Standard from Gibson USA pays tribute to what Adam calls “one of my top favorite guitars of all time.” Fans can see Adam and his Les Paul Standard on stage during the world tour for TOOL’s blockbuster “Fear Inoculum” album. Finished in Antique Silverburst, Adam’s new Les Paul Standard has an ebony fretboard with mother-of-pearl trapezoid inlays and Grover Rotomatic tuners with contemporary style buttons. It comes equipped with a chrome-covered Burstbucker one in the neck position and an uncovered DC High Gain Humbucker in the bridge position. The controls are hand-wired with Orange Drop capacitors. The Adam Jones Les Paul Standard features Adam’s signature on the truss rod cover and custom Adam Jones artwork on the back of the headstock and comes with a modern hardshell case.

One of the rock’s most talented artists, Jones is also known for his work as a visual artist sculptor, videographer, producer, and special effects designer (“Jurassic Park”, “Terminator 2”, “Edward Scissorhands”, “Ghostbusters 2”, “Batman 2”, “A Nightmare On Elm Street”). Adam was heavily involved in recreating the new guitar, working with Gibson’s luthiers in Nashville, Tennessee. Utilizing his extensive experience in visual art, special effects and design, Adam Jones is both the director of the majority of TOOL’s music videos and creates the visual experience on stage for the band. For the world premiere of the recent Gibson Custom Shop Adam Jones Les Paul Custom, Adam composed and scored a new song “The Witness” and created a special animated short film to the song.

TOOL recently announced the arrival of “Fear Inoculum” on vinyl, with the Ultra Deluxe set arriving April 8. The collection features 5 x 180g vinyl discs emblazoned with a unique etching on the album’s B-side, and accompanied by an elaborate pictorial booklet including never-before-seen artwork. The limited-edition collection, which also features a new cover, is housed in a hard shell box.

TOOL kicked off its 2022 tour in support of “Fear Inoculum” on January 10 at the Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. It marked the band’s first live appearance since March 2020 when TOOL’s trek was cut short following a gig in Portland, Oregon due to the burgeoning pandemic.

TOOL was honored with a Grammy in the “Best Metal Performance” category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards in January 2020 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. TOOL was nominated for “7empest”, a track from “Fear Inoculum”.

TOOL already had three previous Grammy Awards under its belt: “Best Metal Performance” in 1997 and 2001 for “Ænima” and “Schism”, respectively, and “Best Recording Package” in 2006 for “10,000 Days”.

TOOL formed in 1990 and has released five studio albums thus far: “Undertow” (1993), “Ænima” (1996), “Lateralus” (2001), “10,000 Days” (2006) and “Fear Inoculum”; two EPs: “72826” (1991) and “Opiate” (1992); and the limited-edition boxset, “Salival” (2000). The band has won four Grammy Awards: Best Metal Performance (1998, “Ænima”), “Best Metal Performance” (2002, “Schism”), “Best Recording Package” (2007, “10,000 Days”) and “Best Metal Performance” (2020, “7empest”).

World-renowned guitarist Joe Satriani will embark on a 44-date North American tour in the fall. The trek will kick off on September 21 in Riverside, California and conclude on November 19 in Dallas, Texas. Joining Satriani on the tour will be drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Bryan Beller and keyboardist Rai Thistlewayte.

Tickets go on sale on April 1 at Satriani.com.

Tour dates:

Sep. 21 – Riverside, CA @ Fox Performing Arts Center
Sep. 22 – San Diego, CA @ Balboa Theatre
Sep. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
Sep. 24 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort
Sep. 25 – Reno, NV @ Grand Theatre @ Grand Sierra Resort
Sep. 26 – Stockton, CA @ Bob Hope Theater
Sep. 28 – Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theatre
Sep. 29 – Spokane, WA @ Bing Crosby Theater
Sep. 30 – Salem, OR @ Elsinore Theatre
Oct. 02 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Oct. 04 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
Oct. 06 – Salina, KS @ Stiefel Theatre
Oct. 07 – Des Moines, IA @ Hoyt Sherman Theatre
Oct. 08 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
Oct. 09 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre
Oct. 12 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
Oct. 13 – Peoria, IL @ Peoria Civic Center Theatre
Oct. 14 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Kalamazoo State Theatre
Oct. 15 – Wabash, IN @ Honeywell Center
Oct. 16 – Canton, OH @ Canton Palace Theatre
Oct. 17 – Red Bank, NJ @ Count Basie Center for the Arts
Oct. 19 – Durham, NC @ Carolina Theatre
Oct. 20 – Greensburg, PA @ Palace Theatre
Oct. 21 – Northfield, OH @ MGM Northfield Park
Oct. 22 – Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre
Oct. 23 – Nashville, TN @ Brown County Music Center
Oct. 24 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
Oct. 26 – Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
Oct. 27 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
Oct. 29 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
Nov. 02 – Ridgefield, CT @ Ridgefield Playhouse
Nov. 03 – Ridgefield, CT @ Ridgefield Playhouse
Nov. 04 – Collingswood, NJ @ Scottish Rite Auditorium
Nov. 05 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
Nov. 07 – Atlanta, GA @ Atlanta Symphony Hall
Nov. 09 – Ponte Vedra, FL @ Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
Nov. 10 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
Nov. 11 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ The Parker
Nov. 12 – Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall
Nov. 14 – Huntsville, AL @ Mars Music Hall
Nov. 16 – San Antonio, TX @ Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
Nov. 17 – Austin, TX @ Paramount Theatre
Nov. 18 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
Nov. 19 – Dallas, TX @ Majestic Theatre

Satriani will release his 19th studio album, “The Elephants Of Mars”, on April 8.

Pre-orders for the new album are available for fans and include a special limited digipack CD release featuring seven double-sided cards of original artwork by Satriani representing each song from the album. In addition, several colored vinyl options will be available as well to pre-order including orange, pink and a special purple version.

“The Elephants Of Mars” has received critical acclaim, with Guitarist magazine calling the album “a multi-layered delight from start to finish.” The video for first single, “Sahara”, has been viewed over one million times since its release just a few weeks ago.

Written in 2020 with all time constraints removed, “The Elephants Of Mars” truly represents the album that Satriani himself hoped he could deliver with his band. “We did everything,” he said. “We tried the craziest ideas. And we entertained every notion we had about turning something backwards, upside down, seeing what could happen.” Similarly, the creative gates were wide open for all of the musicians to take liberties on the songs for “The Elephants Of Mars” and share a side of themselves they hadn’t previously been able to.

Satriani had an admirably productive workingman’s holiday, with pandemic forced time away from the road, that ultimately gave him and his touring band, all recording remotely in separate areas of the world during lockdown, the ability to deliver an album length journey that never dulls. “The Elephants Of Mars” crackles with an exciting new energy, briskly traveling through stylistic roads that feel freshly updated, viewed through new eyes.

The guitarist challenged himself to create a “new standard” for instrumental guitar albums to be measured against, one which would work from “a new platform of his own design,” as he terms it. “I want to show people that an instrumental guitar album can contain far more creative and entertaining elements than I think people are using right now.”

When you consider that they are almost certainly the last metal band to create something genuinely unprecedented and groundbreaking from scratch, MESHUGGAH should really have nothing to prove at this point. Just about everything the Swedes have released since 1995’s “Destroy Erase Improve” has been lauded to the heavens by fans and critics alike: a testament to how unique and unassailable their music has long been. But if one were to play devil’s advocate, one might observe that the last three MESHUGGAH albums — as brilliant and crushing as “ObZen”, “Koloss” and “The Violent Sleep of Reason” — amounted to a succession of variations on the same, streamlined theme, albeit with clear shifts in production and guitar tone from record to record. Modern classics all, of course, but none as jaw-dropping or revelatory as 2002’s sound-defining “Nothing” or 2005’s tech-psych odyssey “Catch Thirtythree”. No one could credibly accuse MESHUGGAH of treading water in recent times, but it may be no coincidence that “Immutable” is easily the band’s most adventurous, progressive, diverse and downright peculiar album to date. It is also their longest, at a generous and mind-expanding 67 minutes, and (as if to reassure the sizeable chunk of MESHUGGAH’s audience that just wants riffs, and lots of them) frequently the heaviest and most brutal thing to ever bear their name. They may have nothing to prove, but MESHUGGAH are proving it anyway, possibly just because they can.

The opening “Broken Cog” is exactly the kind of obtuse and confounding starting point that an album of this magnitude deserves. It could hardly be anyone other than MESHUGGAH, of course, but from its mathematically perverse, staccato opening riff to its mid-song mutation into something entirely different and climactic, fidgeting coda, it feels evolved and ingenious to a degree that recent albums have merely hinted at. Superficially, “The Abysmal Eye” comes across as a classic chunk of MESHUGGAH bombast, but “Immutable” exists in a markedly different sonic world, with multiple subtle layers of ghostly synth and other alien ambience gently woven around the core of churning polyriffs and Tomas Haake’s virtuoso drumming. Both “Light The Shortening Fuse” and “Phantoms” are comparably succinct and brutish, but where previous albums often reveled in the claustrophobia of repetition, these songs are exercises in perpetual change and nothing is ever quite heading in the expected direction.

Events really begin to veer off conformist course with the lurching syncopations and bug-eyed threats of “Ligature Marks”, with its eerie, Moog-like lead motif and militant thudding, before “God He Sees In Mirrors” ups the tempo and the complexity, stuttering through five minutes of pitch-black aggro and white-knuckle tension. “They Move Below” is simply extraordinary: gliding in on waves of elegant acoustic guitar, it morphs into the mother of all lumbering, angular grooves, ebbing and flowing with utmost menace across nearly ten minutes of grotesque, unpredictable anti-funk. In contrast, “Kaleidoscope” is a ruthlessly precise, four-minute assault that perfectly sets up the abrasive but drum-less, death metal squall of “Black Cathedral” and, most satisfyingly, “I Am That Thirst”, an instant classic and perhaps the neatest encapsulation of this album’s imperious refinement and expansion of MESHUGGAH’s trademarks. And the quality control remains resolute until the last. “The Faultless” and “Armies Of The Preposterous” each adhere to the inspirational brief, offering ferociously fresh takes on mid-paced and flat-out tempos alike. The closer, “Past Tense”, ends this wildest of rides with hazy, echo-drenched guitars in fractious harmony, a melancholy footnote to an album that spends most of its time in a state of creative reverie.

Let’s be honest. MESHUGGAH nearly always get great reviews, and they nearly always deserve them. But even by their own lofty standards, “Immutable” feels special. This is the real sound of progress, but with all the riffs you could possibly need. Beat that, everybody else.



SiriusXM announced today that the iconic rock band RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS will launch their own exclusive SiriusXM music channel, Whole Lotta Red Hot, on Friday, April 1 on channel 315. The launch coincides with RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS’ new album “Unlimited Love”, which is scheduled to be released on Friday, April 1. The new channel will launch with exclusive track-by-track commentary from the band.

The Whole Lotta Red Hot channel will showcase music from the band’s lengthy career, including their vast catalog of energetic live performances, genre-blending studio tracks, and a vast selection of music personally curated by the band. Listeners will also hear the CHILI PEPPERS’ unique array of musical influences, with music selections ranging from rockers such as FUGAZI, Iggy Pop and DEAD KENNEDYS to funk and R&B from Prince, Stevie Wonder and PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC.

The new channel will feature the band sharing insight and stories from four decades of albums and songs. Additionally, Whole Lotta Red Hot listeners will hear a classic live concert from the band’s archives each month, beginning with a never-before aired 2006 concert from The Forum in Inglewood, California — exclusively shared with SiriusXM. The concert will broadcast on Friday, April 1 at 6:00 pm ET and PT.

Whole Lotta Red Hot will launch on Friday, April 1 at 12:00 am ET on SiriusXM channel 315 and on the SiriusXM app.

In celebration of the channel and the band’s new album, the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS will perform at the world-famous Apollo Theater in New York later this year as part of SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series. The special invitation-only concert for SiriusXM subscribers and Pandora listeners will mark the first time that the band has performed at the iconic venue. The concert will air nationwide on the Whole Lotta Red Hot channel.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS said in a statement: “Our only goal is to get lost in the music. We (John, Anthony, Chad and Flea) spent thousands of hours, collectively and individually, honing our craft and showing up for one another, to make the best album we could. Our antennae attuned to the divine cosmos, we were just so damn grateful for the opportunity to be in a room together, and, once again, try to get better. Days, weeks and months spent listening to each other, composing, jamming freely, and arranging the fruit of those jams with great care and purpose. The sounds, rhythms, vibrations, words and melodies had us enrapt.

“We yearn to shine a light in the world, to uplift, connect, and bring people together. Each of the songs on our new album ‘Unlimited Love’ is a facet of us, reflecting our view of the universe. This is our life’s mission. We work, focus, and prepare, so that when the biggest wave comes, we are ready to ride it. The ocean has gifted us a mighty wave and this record is the ride that is the sum of our lives. Thank you for listening, we hope you enjoy it and tune in to our new SiriusXM channel Whole Lotta Red Hot.”

Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s president and chief content officer, added: “Through the decades, the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS have been the rarest of rock bands, blending multiple musical genres and artistically pushing well beyond their early days of alternative rock, to reach a worldwide audience. We are excited to bring our subscribers this special channel, created with the band and delivering a unique audio experience for all RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS fans.”