Dave Grohl Explains Josh Freese Firing
Dave Grohl has explained why Foo Fighters parted ways with drummer Josh Freese in May. In a new interview on Apple Music 1, Grohl said the whole band made the decision together during a touring break in 2024, and that it didn't happen overnight. Freese, who joined after the death of Taylor Hawkins, later said the band's music never really resonated with him. Grohl acknowledged that finding a replacement for Hawkins, who had been the band's drummer for 25 years, has been incredibly difficult. Former Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin has since taken over the role.
FOO FIGHTERS: Watch "Toy" Debut
Foo Fighters gave the title track to their new album, Your Favorite Toy, its live debut Friday night on the BBC's Graham Norton Show. The band once again had Jason Falkner filling in on guitar due to Pat Smear's foot inury. But Smear was there in spirit as his face was on the Ilan Rubin's kick drum. The performance also featured Jake Shears and Babydaddy from Scissor Sisters on backing vocals. Check it out on YouTube. Your Favorite Toy is due out April 21st.
Paul Rodgers Explains Why He Turned Down Alex Van Halen, And It's Not His Health Last week we told you that Alex Van Halen was one vocalist away from completing a new album using previously unreleased Van Halen instrumental tracks. We also told you that Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer Paul Rodgers was asked to sing on the project, but declined...with Van Halen citing the singer's poor health as the reason he passed on the offer. Now Rodgers is responding to the report. On social media, Rodgers said, "To squash the rumors...My health is good. I feel fit and strong and I am rehearsing to perform March 2nd at the Adopt The Arts Sound And Vision Awards in Palm Springs. Thanks to Van Halen for inviting me to work on a track with them, but I am in my acoustic zen phase of life." Rodgers has suffered numerous
health issues over the last several years, which notably had him missing out on his own induction to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame last year.
VAN HALEN: Leave Well Enough Alone
Original Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony has shared his opinion on this week's news that the album Alex Van Halen is working on with Toto's Steve Lukather will include unreleased material he recorded with his late brother Eddie. Admitting he knows nothing more than what's been reported, Anthony feels they should leave well enough alone. "The way I personally feel is if they want to do it justice, is to just finish it up as a great instrumental nod to Eddie. You know, because getting a new singer in there, we're not forming a new band and then you got to work on lyrics and all that stuff and who knows when anything would be put out at that point." To be clear, Anthony is not featured on the leftover recordings, as they were done by Eddie, his son Wolfgang and Alex, nor is he involved with this project. Alex and Luke are looking for a singer after Paul Rodgers politely declined their offer, and when completed, it will be Alex Van Halen's first new music since releasing the song "Unfinished" that he recorded with Eddie in conjunction with the audiobook version of 2024 memoir, Brothers.
OZZY: Bio-Pic Is Taking Shape
The Ozzy Osbourne bio-pic is in production. His son Jack, one of the producers, tells Billy Corgan on The Smashing Pumpkins' frontman's podcast, The Magnificent Others, "We're doing it at Sony Studios [in Culver City, California]. And I'm really kind of in the trenches with that. And it's funny. Out of all the team assembled on it, with these amazing producers and directors and actors, I'm the least qualified, but everyone just comes to me. I'm the middleman for everyone because if they need questions for my mom or if my mom needs questions for them. So I've found myself in this position ... and I'm really enjoying the experience and just learning about it. "Movies, they're different. It's a different animal."
Asked about the cast, Jack said they "haven't settled [on all of it]. "Initially it was gonna go from kind of my dad as a young man to the kind of mid-'90s, but we're shrinking it down. We're doing a rewrite right now. In my perfect vision of it, it would be kind of tail end of Black Sabbath, him going solo. [Because] you gotta have the love story. And that's kind of the main focus of the film, and all the craziness that happened in the early '80s and Randy's [Rhoads] tragic death. But, yeah, it's an origin story." No word on a timeline of when they hope to finish the movie and release it. Ozzy died last July 22nd from a heart attack at 76.
Ozzy Osbourne Was Told He'd Probably Die Weeks Before Last Show
Ozzy Osbourne knew his days were numbered when he performed at his last concert. His "Back to the Beginning" show took place on July 5th in Birmingham, England, just three weeks before he passed away. During an appearance on "The Dumb Blonde" podcast, Sharon Osbourne noted that her husband was told he didn't have long to live before the performance and he would "probably die." She also revealed that he said "whether I die in two weeks or I
die in six months, I'm still dying," and he insisted on performing. Sharon said Ozzy ended his life the way he lived it - on his own terms, and "he went out like a rock star."
PETER GABRIEL: New Moon, New Mix With February's new moon comes Peter Gabriel's second mix of "Put the Bucket Down," the second song he released earlier this month off his new album, o/i, which is the opposite of his last one, 2023's i/o. This one is the "Dark-Side Mix" by Tchad [pr: Chad] Blake. Gabriel says, "I'm working on a show with the brain as the central theme, and there are a number of songs…that will be part of that project, and this is one of those… "About 40 years ago, Stephen R. Johnson, the brilliant director of the 'Sledgehammer' video, introduced me to Mary Lou Jepsen. She was then trying to project images onto the moon…but it never came to fruition …and she went on to an illustrious career. "I reconnected with Mary Lou, who said, 'I'm looking at things that will read thoughts and …potentially…write thoughts.' I became fascinated with the idea of the brain–computer interface and what consequences that might bring…which is one of the reasons the brain show came up…so people can see some realization of these ideas and consider where we should be leading things. "I'm interested in the human-rights implications… The danger is that you can either imprint ideas into people's heads or take them out, so there's no privacy…which is dangerous for anyone active against the authoritarian state." The next song off o/i will be released in conjunction with the next full moon on March 3rd. o/i will be released later this year.
Jerry Garcia’s Tiger Guitar Hits Auction Block
If you’re a Grateful Dead fan with an overabundance of expendable cash at your disposal, you might want to head over to Christie’s auction website. Through March 12th, they’ll be taking bids for Jerry Garcia’s iconic “Tiger” guitar. This hippie masterpiece took 2,000 hours to create by Doug Irwin in San Francisco in 1979. It was the almost exclusively chosen axe of Garcia until 1989. The final purchase price, including buyer’s premium, is expected to be between $1 million and $2 million.
LOU GRAMM: Vintage Vocals
Lou Gramm has released a second song off his long-awaited forthcoming album, Released. “Long Hard Look” was written by Gramm and his longtime collaborator and former Black Sheep bandmate Bruce Turgon, and features Tony Franklin on bass, known for his work with
Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers in The Firm, David Gilmour, Whitesnake and many others. Released contains 10 songs, which he says is "a collection of unreleased songs that were recorded in the 1980s during the production of my three previous solo albums. "These are powerful, heartfelt songs with a great vintage sound taken right from my old multi-track tapes. This new album was a long time coming and it’s a real nostalgia trip. When I pulled these songs out of the vault, I knew I had to finish them for my fans around the world, so they can experience what I did when I first heard them after all these years. "It means a lot to me to finally see this album released, to be taken back in time when I hear this music again
Live Members Battle Over Band Name
The members of Live are headed to court...again. The four band members have been battling for years, off and on, over the use of the band's name. On Thursday, two former Live members, guitarist Chad Taylor and drummer Chad Gracey, claimed that they've removed singer Ed Kowalczyk from the board of Action Front Unlimited, Inc., the company that controls Live's intellectual property. The complete details can be found here; the short version is that Kowalczyk dumped the other three members of the band a few years back, touring as Live with three new musicians...and the other three original members were touring with a new singer. The battle is to determine who gets to tour and record as Live.
IN OTHER NEWS The 13th Rock Legends Cruise sets sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida this Monday with performances from Gene Simmons, Kevin Cronin, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings
as The Guess Who, John Oates, Art Garfunkel, Rick Springfield, Jefferson Starship, Blue Oyster Cult, Soul Asylum, and many others. It makes a stop in Turks & Caicos on Wednesday before pulling back into port in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. The cruise benefits the Native American Heritage Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting hunger and providing basic life necessities to families living on Reservations in South Dakota.
On his way to the Rock Legends Cruise, this Monday out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Gene Simmons played two KISS songs written by the late Ace Frehley for the first time ever Friday in Lake Charles, Louisiana -- “Rocket Ride” and “Strange Ways,” both of which are on YouTube.
Rush have shared a visualizer for "Distant Early Warning (2025 Terry Brown Mix)" from Grace Under Pressure: Super Deluxe Edition, which is due out March 13th. Check it out on YouTube. In Rush-related news, Anika Nilles, their new drummer, has released a video for her song "Fou Fou" off her latest album, False Truth. You can watch it on YouTube.
Jon Bon Jovi is opening another of his Soul Kitchen restaurants, this one in a former Walgreens on Main Street in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The first Soul Kitchen, which opened in 2011 in Red Bank, New Jersey, is a non-profit community restaurant that operates under a “pay-it-forward” model.
Billy Joel has released a performance video of “Prelude/Angry Young Man” from his June 1984 show at London’s Wembley Arena as part of his Archives Series. You can watch it on YouTube.
Bryan Adams has posted the fourth installment in his Acoustic Friday YouTube series. Like the previous three, “Never Ever Let You Go,” off his latest album, Roll With the Punches, was filmed at his Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. It features just Adams on acoustic guitar.
Founding Styx keyboardist and singer Dennis DeYoung turned 79 this past Wednesday, and he writes on Facebook, “DON’T LOOK NOW BUT HERE COME THE 80’S… It’s true when you reach a certain age your thoughts turn more to the past than the future. It’s only natural. So for those of you reading who see more in the rearview mirror than through the windshield, I say let’s raise a glass and toast to the best of times, past, present and to whatever lies ahead.”
Sammy Hagar and Toto have swapped keyboardists. Rai Thistlethwayte from Hagar’s Best of All Worlds Band joins Steve Lukather and his band, and Greg Phillinganes, whose resume includes Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, David Gilmour and many others, leaves Toto for Hagar’s band after 20 years.
Tedeschi Trucks Band have shared another track from their new album, Future Soul, which is due out March 20th. Check out "Who Am I" on YouTube.
On This Day
· in 1972,Elvis Presley and Priscilla separated. They had married in May of 1967 – their daughter, Lisa Marie, was his only child. While the divorce was final the following year, rumors abounded that Elvis never got over his “Cilla.”
· In 1978 - Fleetwood Mac's Rumours won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
· In 1979 - Dire Straits began their first North American tour.
· In 1980 - Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" reached No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and held that position for four consecutive weeks. The song was Queen's first No. 1 single in the US. Queen frontman Freddy Mercury wrote the song as a tribute to Elvis Presley, and although Mercury typically composed music on the piano, he wrote "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on guitar — and he did it in about five to 10 minutes. "It was quite a good thing because I was restricted, knowing only a few chords," Mercury told
the press. "I couldn't work through too many chords and because of that restriction, I wrote a good song, I think."
· In 1983 - Toto won six Grammys, including Album of the Year for Toto IV, a record that included the hit singles "Africa" and "Rosanna."
· In 2000 - Santana won nine Grammys, breaking Michael Jackson's record for number of Grammys taken in one night. Santana's awards included Album of the Year for Supernatural, while "Smooth" won the Song of the Year and Record of the Year prizes.
· In 2003 - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers bassist Howie Epstein died of complications due to drug use at St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, NM. He was 47 years old.