Good morning friends! Let’s see what’s happening in the world of rock:
A new public service announcement video has arrived for “The Promise” campaign, in which the children of late Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell and a bevy of musicians, actors and other celebrities pledge their dedication to speak out against genocide and other human rights violations.
Variety premiered the video on yesterday, January 10th. It features Cornell’s song “The Promise,” which he wrote and recorded for the 2017 film of the same name that addressed the Armenian genocide during World War One. Cornell donated all proceeds from the song to the International Rescue Committee, a charity that responds to humanitarian crises and aids people stricken by conflict.
The clip opens with his kids Toni and Christopher as Toni says, “From basic human rights to women’s rights, my dad believed that if we each vow to keep one promise, we could make the world a better place.” Cornell himself says in the clip, “I vow to keep the promise to fight for the world’s most vulnerable children.” His appearance is followed by a montage that includes Ozzy Osbourne, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello and System Of A Down‘s Serj Tankian, in addition to Christian Bale, Josh Brolin, Oscar Isaac, Elton John, Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand, George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, Snoop Dogg, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Lopez, Pharrell Williams and many more.
Cornell committed suicide on May 18th in Detroit, shortly after finishing a Soundgarden concert and not long after the movie The Promise and his song for the film were released. You can watch the full video below:
Phil Campbell has confirmed that there are plans for the surviving members of MOTÖRHEAD to perform several concerts with as-yet-undisclosed special guests as a tribute to the band’s late leader Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister. “It’s on the cards, but it’s just gonna be a few select shows,” the guitarist told “Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon.”.”We’re not gonna be touring with it. We’re gonna get these people involved and [we have to be mindful of] their schedules as well. We’ll just do some special shows worldwide, which will be good — a tribute to Lem and to the band maybe, yeah. But it wouldn’t be an ongoing thing; everyone’s too busy. But [we want to] do something special. We’re still trying to work on that now.”
Campbell also talked about the status of his long-in-the-works solo album, which will feature guest appearances by Rob Halford (JUDAS PRIEST), Whitfield Crane (UGLY KID JOE), Chris Fehn (SLIPKNOT), Matt Sorum (GUNS N’ ROSES), Dee Snider (TWISTED SISTER), Joe Satriani and Benji Webbe (SKINDRED).
“I’m gonna try to get my solo record out in 2018,” he said. “It’s like 60, 70 percent done. I had to put that on the shelf to get [the debut PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS album] ‘The Age Of Absurdity’ finished. So I’m gonna do that. I’ve just gotta do a bit more stuff on it now in the new year. I’d like to think, in a perfect world, I can get it out sometime this year, ’cause it’s taken me 20 years from inception to do this, and I think that’s long enough. And if not, early 2019. But I’m gonna try for this year. There’s a few different instruments on it. Hopefully it will surprise people.”
As for his previously announced collection of funny anecdotes and stories that happened during his time with MOTÖRHEAD, Phil said: “I stopped the book. I put an end to the book, because I had too much going on this year. The guys that were gonna do it with me, they said, ‘When you’re ready,’ and I just panicked [’cause] I had too much going on this year. I need things to calm down a bit. But it’s not gonna be an autobiography, if I do do it. I’m not sure if I wanna do it anymore. I think some things should remain private. I can’t really decide at the moment. But there’s a lot of funny stuff which people would enjoy, so I’m torn at the moment. Part of me says, ‘No.’ I want privacy in my life as well; I don’t want everyone knowing… I don’t even have Facebook. I don’t want people knowing exactly what I’ve done. But on the other hand, there’s a lot of funny stuff.”
Lemmy, who celebrated his 70th birthday on December 24, 2015, learned two days later that he was afflicted with an aggressive form of cancer. He died two days later, on December 28, 2015, at his home in Los Angeles.
The MOTÖRHEAD frontman had dealt with several health issues over the past few years, including heart trouble, forcing him to cut back on his famous smoking and Jack Daniels habits.
The band canceled a number of shows two years ago, although they did manage to complete one final European tour on December 11, 2015. MOTÖRHEAD released a covers compilation album, “Under Cöver” — a collection of some of the band’s best covers — on September 1.
According to Birmingham Mail, BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler will be the next celebrity honored on the Broad Street Walk Of Stars in Birmingham, England.
He will be awarded during the half-time break in the Aston Villa vs. Burton Albion match on February 3.
The date marks 50 years year since SABBATH played its first gig together in the city of Birmingham and comes exactly 12 months since the band’s last-ever show in the city.
The Broad Street Walk Of Stars is a walk of fame-style installation on the pedestrian pavement of Broad Street in Birmingham, which honors those people who have made a significant contribution in the categories of music, television, film, radio, theatre, sport, business and literacy.
The criteria for nomination is that the living star(s) must have made a recognizable impact in their specialist category and performed at one of Birmingham’s major venues, including the International Convention Centre (ICC), National Indoor Arena (NIA), Symphony Hall and The REP theatre, or be originally from the area or have prominent links with Birmingham and the Midlands.
Both singer Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Tony Iommi were previously honored with a star. Ozzy got the nod on July 6, 2007, while Tony became the eighth recipient on November 23, 2008.
Walk Of Stars chairman Jasper Carrott said: “Lots of people have been invited [to the ceremony], including Tony and Ozzy, but I can’t confirm who is definitely coming yet. But hopefully there will be a good showing from the rock fraternity.
“Geezer is a very good guy, very principled and someone who cares about people who are not well off. His heart in the right place.”
A founding member of BLACK SABBATH, Butler is also the lyricist of such SABBATH classics as “War Pigs”, “Iron Man”, “Paranoid” and others.
Butler, Osbourne and Iommi reunited in late 2011 and released a comeback album, “13”, in June 2013.
We’ll have visits from DOROTHY and AVATAR in our studios today, so off to work we go!
