Good morning Radicals! Hope all the Dads out there had a lovely Fathers Day! Here’s some music news to get you going:
Toni Cornell, the daughter of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, has shared a recording of her and her father covering Prince‘s “Nothing Compares 2 U” to mark Father’s Day, June 17th. Toni posted the song at her father’s YouTube page, writing, “Daddy, I love you and miss you so much. You were the best father anyone could ask for. Our relationship was so special, and you were always there for me. You gave me courage when I didn’t have any.”
The 13-year-old continued, “You believed in me when I didn’t. I miss your love everyday. Recording this song with you was a special and amazing experience I wish I could repeat 100 times over and I know you would too. Happy Father’s Day daddy, nothing compares to you.”
Chris began playing the song in his solo acoustic shows back in September 2015 and shared a studio version of it following Prince’s death in April 2016. Chris ultimately performed the song live nearly 100 times before his own death in May 2017.
Toni’s mother, Vicky Cornell, retweeted her daughter’s tribute and wrote in an accompanying message: “I’m so proud of my baby girl for having the courage to share this. July 19, last year she found it in her daddy’s studio files — they recorded it a few months before he died. You never know what life brings and how we live each day is what’s most important #FathersDay #chriscornell.”
— blink-182 (@blink182) June 15, 2018
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has been diagnosed with blood clots in both arms, according to a statement issued by the band. As a result, the trio’s shows scheduled for this weekend in Las Vegas as part of their residency have been postponed.
The band’s statement said that Barker’s situation was being “closely monitored,” while Barker himself added, “Drumming is my life and It kills me that I can’t perform for you guys this weekend. I hope to be back as soon as I can.”
Barker has endured tough times before, including a 2008 plane crash in which four people died and he was just one of two survivors. Barker received serious burns over a large portion of his body in the crash and underwent multiple skin graft surgeries.
He told us a while back that he’s worked hard to overcome the after-effects of his tragic experience: “Sure, I have obstacles and stuff that slow me down, but nothing can slow me down the way I think or whatever, because I am here and I am healthy and I’m — you know, I have my life and I have music, so any obstacles I do have, I ignore and I conquer. I don’t let them get to me.”
Linkin Park singer Mike Shinoda revealed in a new interview with Rolling Stone that he had late bandmate Chester Bennington‘s voice in his in-ear monitors during some of the songs the surviving members of the group performed at its Bennington tribute concert last October.
Shinoda explained, “I’m used to hearing the songs in a certain way, so we’ve started making practice tracks. So if anybody’s missing, we can turn on the album version of their track and practice as if they were there. When you think about some of my parts, we would go back and forth, so I would want to hear that other voice.”
Shinoda also said that while performing at the show with guest vocalists like Bush‘s Gavin Rossdale, Korn‘s Jonathan Davis, Avenged Sevenfold‘s M. Shadows and others, the band came to a realization. He admitted, “The week after the show, I was listening back and going, ‘God, these people were all really great singers and none of them were Chester’ . . . It became obvious that you can’t just hire some schmuck to get up there and sing with us, ’cause they won’t be able to hit half the stuff.”
Shinoda said on a recent podcast that he didn’t know whether Linkin Park would continue, adding, “That’s the million dollar question…there aren’t any answers to that at this point.” Shinoda released a new solo album, Post Traumatic, this past Friday, June 15th.
A contingent of Foo Fighters fans are growing concerned for Dave Grohl‘s voice, fearing that he may have done permanent damage to his vocal cords. After the band played last Monday night, June 11th in Antwerp, Belgium, one fan wrote at the Foos’ Reddit page following the show that he was worried about Grohl’s voice.
The fan wrote, “I was at the Antwerp gig last night, and I thought the state of Dave’s voice was kind of worrying — towards the final third it began cutting out entirely (noticeably on ‘Breakout’).” He added, “I know it’s been an issue since the start of the tour, but it’s clear that it’s not a ‘cold’ any more. And it can’t be any good long-term.”
Another fan replied, writing, “I don’t think it’s shot just yet, but he does seem to have “off” days more often . . . It’s a miracle it’s held up this long tbh, given that he’s a smoker who doesn’t seem to take particular care of his voice and screams all night long on a regular basis.”
Grohl, who started as a drummer, told us a while back that he was nervous about becoming a frontman with Foo Fighters: “When the Foo Fighters started playing, it was scary, because singing upfront with a guitar in your hand and having everyone stare at you as the lead vocalist is a lot different than just chiming in backup vocals when you’re behind the drums. So I was nervous, and actually when recording the first Foo Fighters record, I had never belted it out in the studio before, so I didn’t know what my voice sounded like.”
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi says that he agrees with Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne that the band should play the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England — the city where the group formed in 1968. Iommi told the Birmingham Mail, “I think that it would be a great thing to do to help represent Birmingham. I’m up for it. Let’s see what happens.”
Ozzy recently told ITV News that he would definitely consider playing the opening ceremony of the Games after his farewell world tour ends. He said: “Yeah, that would be fantastic. With Black Sabbath or on my own.”
Sabbath completed its last major tour in February 2017 with two shows in Birmingham, closing out the quartet’s groundbreaking 49-year career.
The trek was the band’s last because Iommi, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and is currently in remission, can no longer travel for extended amounts of time. But he has said he would not rule out special events or one-off shows.
Nine Inch Nails played a trio of shows at The Joint In Las Vegas, where the band was joined by Gary Numan onstage and debuted a new song called “Ahead Of Ourselves.” The track will be included on the new NIN disc Bad Witch, which is out this Friday, June 22nd. The band also gave what may be its first live performance of Joy Division‘s “Digital.” Nine Inch Nails will tour North America this fall.
Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell has a featured role in a new short film called Dad Band, written by and starring W. Earl Brown of Deadwood and Preacher fame. Cantrell plays a plumber who was once in a band that was signed and later dropped. His previous acting roles include bit parts in Singles and Jerry Maguire.
Marilyn Manson has released a cover version of Gerard McMahon‘s “Cry Little Sister,” which is best known as the theme to the 1987 cult classic horror movie The Lost Boys. The shock rocker recorded the song for the soundtrack of the forthcoming X-Men movie New Mutants, which is now due in August 2019 after originally being scheduled to open this past spring. Manson has reportedly already filmed a video for his version of “Cry Little Sister.”
Finally, we’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to the legendary Paul McCartney and Guns N’ Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed!
