Sad news at my company’s offices yesterday when we received the news of the passing of our Chairman Emeritus, Dick Clark at the age of 82. Dick was the co-founder of our company and one of the guiding forces in our industry and will be sorely missed. He was one of my idols. I wanted to do what he did. Help new artists find an audience. Turn people on to music you feel passionate about. Be an entrepreneur in every sense of the word. Be the eternal teenager no matter how old you are. Dick, we, and countless others, will miss you, your humility and your humanity….Today marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley. From Pulse of Radio: He was found in his Seattle apartment. Police and medical authorities estimated Staley had died on or around April 5th — the same date on which Nirvana‘s Kurt Cobain took his own life in 1994. Staley, whose long and tragic descent into heroin addiction ultimately sidelined his career and that of his band , had all but disappeared from public view during the last few years of his life. It was only after his accountants notified his mother, Nancy McCallum, than no money had been withdrawn from his bank account for two weeks, that she and the police went to her son’s apartment where they found his remains on the living room couch. So sad, so tragic. And our thoughts and prayers go out to our friends Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez today as we think of Layne….OK, gotta get out of this sombre mood! Got a huge day of interviews today that starts at 11 AM with Gavin Rossdale of Bush. Heading down to his hotel ( !!!! ) to talk to him and then I head over to Madison Square Garden where I catch up with Seether and Nickelback, whose stage I hear is freaking amazing! Let’s get back to Gav for a moment. Bush performed the other night here in NYC for a benefit for the NY Food Bank! (Hey how come I didn’t know about that!??) Kevin Bacon introduced the band. Sounded like a great evening….Speaking of Seether, they just reached a career milestone by having three consecutive Number One hits at rock radio off one album. The latest, “No Resolution,” follows “Country Song” and “Tonight” as the third chart-topper from the band’s most recent effort, Holding Onto Stings Better Left to Fray. Drummer John Humphrey said, “We cannot tell you all how excited we are that ‘No Resolution’ has gone Number One! We couldn’t have done it without the endless support of our fans and champions at all of the radio stations. We are so grateful to them for helping us get there. Here’s to three Number Ones in a row!” Woo hoo! Good for them!….Halestorm‘s “A Strange Case of…” album debuted at Number 15 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart. Looking forward to seeing them live at Rock on the Range in May!…..Serj Tankian announced his album, “Harakiri,” will drop Jul 10th. The first single from it, “Figure It Out,” hits soon and Serj will be posting it on his website soon…..Hellyeah announced their tour with Volbeat. See the dates in Road Rage….Pulse of Radio also reports Rob Zombie is launching a new comedy series called My Name is Eugene on the new Nerdist Channel on YouTube. According to a press release from the channel, the series “follows the sad and hilarious life of Eugene S. Van Dekak, an angry, sex-starved television repairman living in Eagle Rock, California.” Zombie will co-write and direct the series, with production to start sometime this fall. A teaser clip for the show has been posted online. That man can NOT sit still, can he?….Today, producer and former Payolas member Bob Rock turns 58. And here is a video of Layne that was original shown during the last Alice in Chains tour. Rest in peace, man!
