Nudedragons, an alias previously used by Soundgarden, are set to perform at an upcoming Seattle benefit concert.
The show, dubbed SMooCH, takes place Dec. 14 and raises money for the Seattle Children’s Hospital. The SMooCH website teases that “Nudedragons will be returning to the stage … for the first time in 14+ years” for a “brief encore performance,” which will feature guest vocals from Seattle musician Shaina Shepherd.
Soundgarden last performed as Nudedragons in 2010, which marked their first reunion show since breaking up in 1997.
Presumably, the lineup for the SMooCH performance will include surviving members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd. Frontman Chris Cornell died in 2017.
Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan is also on the bill.
Alex Van Halen opened up about coping with the death of his brother, Eddie Van Halen, in an interview with Anderson Cooper for his CNN podcast, All There Is With Anderson Cooper.
“I’m grieving all the time. I’m not running from it, because that doesn’t solve the problem,” Alex shared. “At times, it can be overwhelming, and the more I dwell on it, the more complicated it becomes.”
Although Eddie had been battling cancer for years, Alex said, “None of us really thought he was going to die.”
“He’d always bounced back. He had the most incredible DNA that I’ve ever seen in anybody,” he said. “He could do more and more drugs than anybody, and still wake up the next day and perform.”
He noted, “I don’t think anybody really thought he was gonna die. So when he passed, it was really a shock.”
Alex says even Eddie didn’t think he was going to die.
“Being human, you think you’re gonna go on one more day, one more day. You keep going forward,” he said. “But then one day you don’t. So up to the very end, we were still making music and we talked about, what are we gonna do next year? But it was clear that he was going downhill.”
Alex also talked about his final moments with Eddie in the hospital.
“All I know is that when he stopped breathing, I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t see anything. There were no bells. There were no angels,” he says, noting that because of the COVID-19 pandemic Eddie’s body was immediately taken away. “[It was] a very uneventful ending to an eventful life. But you know what? He fought it till the very end. I wanna think of Ed’s life in terms of that he never gave up.”
It sounds like Bob Dylan is confident that the upcoming movie A Complete Unknown is going to be a good one. He took to social media platform X Wednesday to share his thoughts on the film, which is set to open Dec. 25.
“There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!),” he tweeted. “Timothee Chalamet is starring in the lead role. Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me.”
Dylan went on to recommend the book on which the movie is based, 2015’s Dylan Goes Electric, by Elijah Wald.
“It’s a fantastic retelling of events from the early ‘60s that led up to the fiasco at Newport,” he shared. “After you’ve seen the movie read the book.”
A Complete Unknown follows a 19-year-old Dylan as he arrives in New York from Minnesota and tracks his rise as a folk singer during the ’60s, ending with his electric rock ‘n’ roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
This isn’t the first time Dylan has shared his thoughts on the project. A Complete Unknowndirector James Mangold has said that Dylan had some input during the making of the film. In fact, in a recent Rolling Stone interview Ed Norton, who plays Pete Seeger in the movie, shared that Mangold revealed Dylan made him put what’s described as “one totally inaccurate moment” into the flick, although Mangold didn’t say what it was.
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has settled the lawsuit filed in November 2023 by former Penthouse Pet of the Year Sheila Kennedy, who claimed that back in 1989 the rocker sexually assaulted her in his hotel room after they met at a New York nightclub.
“Mr. Rose has suffered greatly from this lawsuit, and I am pleased that he will now be able to move on with his life,” Rose’s attorney, E. Danya Perry, said in a statement provided to ABC Audio.
The rocker added in his own statement, “As I have from the beginning, I deny the allegations. There was no assault.”
Kennedy claimed in her suit that she “suffered severe emotional, physical, financial and psychological distress” from the encounter with Rose and had “issues with physical and emotional intimacy.”
Rose’s lawyers filed his response to the suit in March, arguing that Kennedy’s suit was an attempt to “rewrite history” and implying she filed it for financial gain.
They argued that she had previously acknowledged in her 2016 memoir, No One’s Pet, that her encounter with Rose was consensual, adding that she only changed her story after New York passed the Adult Survivor’s Act, which allowed victims of sexual abuse to sue in cases that would have otherwise fallen outside the usual statute of limitations.
Gene Simmons may no longer be touring with KISS but he hasn’t given up playing live.
The rocker has announced a set of spring dates with the Gene Simmons Band, including shows in Florida, New Jersey and Texas.
Simmons is set to play Tallahassee on April 28, followed by a previously announced show in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, on May 3. He’ll then play Red Bank, New Jersey, on May 5, followed by Dallas on May 22 and Houston on May 25.
A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at GeneSimmons.com.
Following KISS’ final show at New York’s Madison Square Garden last December, Simmons has played several dates with the Gene Simmons Band. His first post-KISS show took place in April 2024 at the grand opening of the Rock & Brews Restaurant and Concert Bar within the ilani Casino Resort in Ridgefield, Washington. The band then went on to play shows in Brazil and Europe.
If you just can’t wait until Christmas Day to see the Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown, there’s now a chance to catch it earlier … and bigger.
The film, starring Timothée Chalamet as the iconic singer, is set to play in IMAX theaters starting Dec. 18, a week earlier than its Dec. 25 official release day.
A Complete Unknown: IMAX Early Access will screen in select AMC, Regal, Cineplex and Cinemark theaters in 19 major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Nashville, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
All screenings will be followed by a prerecorded Q&A with the cast, and attendees will get a commemorative mini poster and lanyard with their ticket.
A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold, follows a 19-year-old Dylan as he arrives in New York from Minnesota and tracks his rise as a folk singer during the ’60s to the top of the charts, ending with his electric rock ‘n’ roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
The film also stars Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Elle Fanning as a character named Sylvie Russo, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash and Nick Offerman as Alan Lomax.
Roy Orbison performed what would be his final concert at the Front Row Theater in Highland Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
The concert featured performances of such Orbison classics as “Crying,” “In Dreams,” “Only the Lonely,” “Oh, Pretty Woman” and more.
After the show, Orbison returned home to Hendersonville, Tennessee, where he died from a heart attack on Dec. 6. He was 52.
Orbison’s many accolades include being a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Musicians Hall of Fame. He won five Grammy Awards and was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dead & Company are once again set to take up residency at the Las Vegas Sphere.
The band just announced a set of 18 new spring dates for their Dead Forever – Live at Sphere residency, kicking off March 20 and wrapping May 17. The shows will be in celebration of Dead & Company’s 10th anniversary and will be the only Dead & Company Sphere dates for 2025.
Presale sign-up is open now, with the artist presale kicking off Dec. 10 at 10 a.m. PT, followed by other presale opportunities that begin Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. PT. Travel and VIP packages go on sale Thursday at 7 a.m. PT.
Dead & Company launched their Dead Forever – Live at Sphere residency in May, treating fans to a four-hour show that combined the iconic Dead music with visuals that helped celebrate the 60-year legacy of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group.
The Rolling Stones want to make sure you smell good.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have just unveiled their first-ever fragrance, RS No. 9, described as “a unique scent that summons the spirit of a scene that made history, the place where it all began.”
The scent, released in partnership with The Stones, fragrance company Nirvana Brands and Bravado, is designed to recall the feeling of London’s Soho area in 1962, which is when The Stones played their first live show at London’s Marquee Club.
As for what it smells like, the scent is described as having “bourbon-infused notes of velvet swagger onto centre stage, as warm leather brawls under electric musk while tempting patchouli and sultry oud seductively linger.”
“It’s the perfect fragrance for those who dare to be different,” The Stones share, “and we hope it will bring some joy to our fans.”
The fragrance will be limited to 999 numbered bottles and will cost $99.99 for a 100ml bottle. They’ll be available at The Stones’ RS No.9 stores in London and Tokyo, and are also available to preorder online, with bottles shipping on Jan. 31.
Gibson has unveiled the newest addition to its Jimmy Page guitar collection.
The latest is a new replica of the Led Zeppelin rocker’s most recognized guitar, his 1969 EDS-1275 Doubleneck, which he used on such songs as “Stairway to Haven,” “The Song Remains The Same” and “Celebration.”
The new Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS ’69 Cherry is described as an “effective clone” of the original, with Gibson using 3D scanning technology while crafting the instrument. It also got “significant input” from Page while crafting the guitar.
Gibson first announced its collaborative partnership with Page back in February, and in March released a limited collector’s edition of the 1969 EDS-1275 Doubleneck guitar, at a cost of $50,000. The new model comes at a more reasonable price of $9,999 and is available to order now.
Gibson also released the Jimmy Page 1964 SJ-200 and 1964 SJ-200 Collector’s Edition guitars in October, which were inspired by Page’s own mid-’60s Gibson SJ-200 acoustic, which he used to record Led Zeppelin’s debut album.
