Slash has purchased a new home in Encino, CA for $6.25 million, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. The 9,400-square-foot residence is located in a suburban enclave where many celebrities have houses. The house is completely walled and gated, with two driveways, a wraparound motorcourt and three-car garage. The home contains 10 bathrooms and six bedrooms, including a master suite with an outdoor balcony, a living room with high ceilings and fireplace, a family room, a screening room, a game room, a home office and library, and a covered area for outdoor lounging. Check it out here. Slash picked up the place shortly after selling his old home, in which he lived with ex-wife Perla Hudson, to rapper Big Sean for $8.7 million. The Guns N’ Roses guitarist had originally put the Beverly Hills estate on the market for $11 million in 2015, cutting the price to $9.5 million in 2016 and again this year. He bought it for $7.3 million in 2009. Perla Hudson, meanwhile, has moved into her own $3.5 million, 6,113-square-foot mansion, also in Encino. Slash reportedly purchased that one as well, perhaps to make sure his two sons with Perla were nearby. Guns N’ Roses just finished an 18-month world tour that begin in April 2016 and ended last month, earning the reunited band more than $400 million. The group will return to Europe next summer, although the rest of its future plans are shrouded in secrecy for now. (Thanks The Pulse Of Radio.)
Speaking of Guns, Blabbermouth reports they and Metallica have made Pollstar‘s top 20 worldwide tours of 2017. GNR’s “Not In This Lifetime” trek finished at No. 2 with 2.68 million tickets sold, behind U2’s “Joshua Tree” tour, which topped the list with 2.71 million tickets sold. Metallica’s “WorldWired” trek was the fifth-highest grossing tour, with 1.5 million tickets sold. For all of the Americas in 2017, which included a leg in North American stadiums earlier this year as well as a few big outdoor plays in South America with THE WHO in support, GN’R sold 993,765 tickets and grossed a total of more than $109 million, as submitted to Pollstar.
Five Finger Death Punch bassist Chris Kael has defended A Perfect Circle‘s strict no-phone and no-camera policy at all concerts, telling Finland’s Radio Rock, “If it says on the wall that the artist doesn’t want you to use the cell phone on there . . . A lot of the reason that (APC singer Maynard James Keenan)’s able to do what he does is he comes out and will play brand new songs that have not been released yet.” Kael added, “You also don’t want the fans’ first experience of a brand new song to be on an iPhone with crap, garbage sound.” Kael said that Five Finger Death Punch never plays new material live before its released, so as a result his band is more relaxed about fans recording the show with their phones. Kael himself admitted to recording concerts on his phone in the past, saying, “There’ll be times when a friend or whatever, if I’m at a show and I know their favorite song, I’ll film that song for ’em . . . Does anybody ever go home and watch the full thing? No way! Absolutely not.” Guitarist Zoltan Bathory told us a while back that Five Finger Death Punch works hard to create a live show that fans will want to see: “You have to come up with something different. You have to come up with something more. You have to push the envelope in order to (get) people to actually really react. Everybody did everything already, there is no new things under the sun, so to speak, you know. So I think you really have to go out of your way. You have to think creatively and you have to think from the perspective of the fans. I’m a fan of music, I’m a fan of these events, you know, so if I’m in the audience, what would I want to see? And that’s what I want to create.” It was reported in early November that more than 60 concertgoers were ejected from an APC show for taking photos in violation of the band’s stated policy. A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel later said that it’s “rude” for anyone to be “sticking your phone up in front of the face of the person behind you.” Maynard James Keenan has also enacted a strict ban on photos with his other groups, Tool and Puscifer. Acts such as Disturbed, Stone Sour and Red Hot Chili Peppers have also spoken out against fans using phones to record their shows. (Thanks The Pulse Of Radio.)
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl reached out on Tuesday (Dec 26th) to the Sweet Charity Choir U.K. to acknowledge their performance of the Foos song “Come Alive.” The tune, originally an album track on the 2007 Foo Fighters album Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, was chosen as a fitting theme for the choir’s message of suicide prevention. After seeing the video of the choir singing the song, Grohl wrote on Facebook, “Thank you Sweet Charity Choir & Music Support for such a beautiful rendition of ‘Come Alive’…and for making this song of hope even more hopeful. Perfect way to ring in the new year.” The choir said in a statement, “We were moved by the beauty of ‘Come Alive’ by Foo Fighters and wanted to promote the physical and mental health benefits of singing as well as encouraging those in need to reach out. You have a voice; we are all here to listen.” The choir explained in an additional statement, “Every year we lose incredible artists in the music industry to suicide. Over 50% of roadies or other music industry professionals have attempted or considered suicide, and most of them have not sought help . . . We want to raise awareness of Music Support: a charity in the U.K. run by volunteers within the music industry who provide a confidential help line for anyone in the music profession who needs help.” The clip ends with links to the Music Support and Samaritans USA organizations as well as a Wikipedia link to Suicide Crisis Lines in a number of countries. Foo Fighters will play in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve (Dec 31st) and will launch a spring 2018 North American tour next April. 
I knew it was a matter of time. In This Moment vocalist Maria Brink has told Metal Hammer she is mulling the possibility of doing her first solo album. Asked about her musical plans for 2018, Brink told the magazine, “I’m actually thinking, for the first time, of doing a solo album. I’m starting to slowly write, no hard plans. I’m not exactly sure when I’m gonna do it, but it’ll be more of the obscure, intimate, quiet side of me.“ Brink added, “Probably the only drums in it would be tribal drums and probably no distorted guitars. Just the softer side of me. That’s who I am. Chris (Howorth, In This Moment guitarist) would not want to do an obscure, artistic, dreamscaping album. That’s not who he is.” Maria Brink was asked by Metal Hammer whether she’s a spiritual person and what spirituality means to her, with Brink replying, “I am really spiritual. I pray and meditate a lot, and I believe in love and God and the universe and energy. I’m a total hippie.” Brink added, “I’m not one specific religion. As long as it’s about good vibrations and love, and I feel like it’s elevating my psyche more and my heart, then I love it.” In This Moment recently released a music video for the song “Roots,” the latest track taken from the band’s recently issued sixth studio album Ritual. In addition to the singles “Roots” and “Oh Lord,” Ritual includes a cover of Phil Collins‘ “In The Air Tonight” and a duet with Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford called “Black Wedding.” In This Moment will headline the Witching Hour Tour early next year with P.O.D., New Years Day and Ded appearing on select dates. The trek kicks off on Jan 16th in Charleston, SC and closes on Feb 18th in St. Paul, MN. (Thanks The Pulse Of Radio.)
Celebrating life today is Stan Lee (Marvel Comics co-founder; co-creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men and other characters) who turns 95!
