Hey! It’s my birthday! WOO HOO!…As previously reported, Stone Sour guitarist Jim Root has chosen to sit out the band’s early 2014 North American tour so that he can concentrate on writing music for the next Slipknot album. Lou Brutus spoke with Root and asked him to explain his decision in a little more depth: “You know, unfortunately I’m only one person. I can’t really be in two places at one time and the amount of focus that I need to put into Slipknot makes it really difficult for me to be on tour with Stone Sour. It’s crushing and it’s heartbreaking and I really don’t like the idea of not being out there, but I don’t really see any other way to really do it without — I mean, this is like the best way that we could come up with for a compromise.” I just know this next Slipknot record is gonna be off the hook!…Metallica added more European dates. Europe 14 USA 0. See Metallica’s site for complete list….Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell was forced to cancel his solo acoustic concerts in Miami, Florida on Thursday (December 5th, my birthday) and St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday (December 6th) after a shoulder injury he sustained last week got worse. Cornell scrapped a show in Delaware on November 27th after injuring himself, but returned to the tour in Atlanta on Tuesday (December 3rd). However, the injury worsened and on Wednesday (December 4th) doctors advised complete rest for the singer. There is no word on how exactly Cornell sustained his injury…Pearl Jam will offer a selection of rare items for sale this Saturday (December 7th) at a one-day pop-up store that will be set up at Seattle’s Showbox Market, right after the band wraps up its current tour on Friday (December 6th) with a hometown show at Seattle’s Key Arena. Proceeds will benefit The Vitalogy Foundation and a number of local charities. The shop will include rare, limited-edition Pearl Jam and Ten Club collectable items, as well as an on-site raffle for a Gibson bass signed by all members of the band. Other items up for sale include: the original out-of-print deluxe editions of the documentary Pearl Jam Twenty on Blu-ray and DVD; a boxed set of vinyl recordings of Pearl Jam’s historic 2003 concert at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall; a limited edition 2011 Pearl Jam backpack from Patagonia; and various Pearl Jam or band-related albums on colored and limited edition vinyl. Four pieces of original artwork are also being auctioned off online, with the winners to be announced at the pop-up shop…Consequence of Sound reports the streaming music service, Beats Music, announced in December 2012 as a partnership between Nine Inch Nails main man Trent Reznor, rap mogul Dr. Dre and others, will finally launch in January 2014. Originally called Daisy, the service has been renamed. According to CEO Ian Rodgers, a select group of artists and other guests are currently testing the service in beta mode and providing feedback, although visitors to the site can now pre-register and claim their username. Reznor, whose title at the company is Creative Chief, is in charge of curating the music. Check it out at https://beatsmusic.com/ I’m interested in checking it out as a former WRIF jock, Suzy Cole, works there and she gave me a rad Beats Pill at SXSW last year and I love it!..Rob Zombie joins Kiss, Alice Cooper, members of Twisted Sister, Cinderella, Ratt and many others on tonight (December 5th, my birthday) at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for a concert that will benefit the Brennan Rock & Roll Academy. The school’s mission is to offer “children of the Boys and Girls Club a unique opportunity to not only learn about musical instruments, but to also grow and gain confidence by performing and working in groups.” Nice!….Besides my birthday today, Little Richard is 81! Johnny Rezeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls and Margaret Cho are 48. And Walt Disney, well, he’s dead. See ya tomorrow!
