Good morning Radicals! We’re one day away from the weekend, so let’s get cracking on some music news this morning:
Bad Wolves have presented a check for $250,000 to the family of late Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan. The band scored a massive hit with its cover of the Cranberries hit “Zombie,” for which O’Riordan was slated to record vocals on the day that she died in a London hotel this past January. The band decided to release the song in her honor with all proceeds going to her children.
Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext told us that donating the money to O’Riordan’s family was an easy decision: “If we didn’t do that, we were shelving the song and it would never have seen the light of day. It’s not like some cash grab. We’re not here to capitalize on something. It was a tragic thing. What better way to pay tribute to her, you know, and then try to give back.”
The band made good on its promise by inviting O’Riordan’s family onstage Tuesday night (June 19th) at New York’s Gramercy Theatre and presenting them with the quarter-million-dollar check. O’Riordan’s two sons, Donny Jr. and Taylor Burton, alongside their father Don Burton, were on hand to receive the gift, which O’Riordan’s accepted on behalf of their younger sisters, Molly and Dakota Burton.
Bad Wolves singer Tommy Vext said, “The ultimate goal is to present them with a $1,000,000 check — and the fact we’re a quarter of the way there is beyond incredible.” He added, “It’s a true testament to the timelessness of their mother’s songwriting that will live on forever, and we are so grateful to be able to do this for them.”
“Zombie” can be found on Bad Wolves’ debut album, Disobey, which arrived earlier this spring.
Ghost frontman Tobias Forge told Oklahoma radio station and hardDrive affiliate Rock 100.5 The KATT that he already has an idea in mind for the band’s next studio album, saying, “I know what we’re gonna next time, yes. It will be a work in progress up until the day that I master the album. But I know where the story sort of goes. And with simple mathematics of how a tour cycle usually pans out . . . I think we have a five-year plan.”
Forge added, “Then I have another project at the end of that tunnel that might or might not materialize. It’s a little bit of a side thing that takes a ton of collaboration and many stars aligning. And that’s been in the works for years. So we will see if that happens.”
The singer, who performs as Cardinal Copia, told us that when he started Ghost in 2006 he never imagined getting this far: “Originally there was just one album. I started writing the first album in 2006, and then I was done in early 2010 with it. And at that point, I knew the image and I knew what the show was gonna be like. But I didn’t know that we would achieve some sort of success. I never in my wildest dreams thought we were gonna come this far.”
Ghost’s fourth studio LP, Prequelle, arrived earlier this month and debuted at Number Three on the Billboard 200 album chart. The disc features the Top Five rock radio track “Rats.”
— blink-182 (@blink182) June 19, 2018
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker was readmitted to a Los Angeles area hospital on Tuesday morning (June 19th), after being released on Monday night (June 18th). According to TMZ, Barker is now battling a staph infection and cellulitis — an infection of the skin — in addition to blood clots in his arms that were the original reason for his first trip to the hospital.
Doctors are said to be monitoring Barker to see how he responds to blood thinners, and to make sure the clots don’t travel to his heart or lungs. Sources say the drummer is keeping a positive attitude.
It was revealed last week that Barker had been diagnosed with clots in each of his arms. Blink-182 subsequently postponed last weekend’s Las Vegas residency shows and have now shelved several upcoming dates there as well.
The band issued a statement on Tuesday in which it said, “(Barker) has been ordered by the doctors to refrain from any activity that may cause further damage or cause the clots to travel. As it stands now, he will be prevented from playing until the beginning of July when everything will be re-evaluated.”
Nine Inch Nails main man Trent Reznor told the New York Times in a new interview that he feels an obligation to speak out about politics, saying, “I was doing press with somebody in the mid-90s, and they made an argument that stayed with me: that I have influence, and that it’s my job to call out whatever needs to be called out, because there are people who feel the same way but need someone to articulate it.”
He continued, “It seemed like it was a lot easier to just keep your mouth shut and let it go back then (in the mid-’90s). You don’t hear a lot from the Taylor Swifts of the world, and top-tier, needle-moving cultural youth, because they are concerned about their brand, their demographic and their success and career and whatnot.”
Reznor, who has made no secret of his distaste for Donald Trump, added, “What Donald Trump is doing is concerning and infuriating — and it’s not the conservative agenda, it’s not a question of religious preference, it’s not a question of should government be big or small. I don’t have any problem with those topics. But the disregard for decency and truth and civility is what’s really disheartening.”
Nine Inch Nails will release a new EP called Bad Witch on Friday, June 22nd. Like its two recent predecessors, 2016’s Not The Actual Events and 2017’s Add Violence, the disc is politically charged. Nine Inch Nails will embark this fall on a North American tour in support of the disc that will launch on September 13th in Phoenix.
Linkin Park‘s Mike Shinoda made his solo TV debut on Tuesday night’s (June 19th) edition of The Tonight Show, performing his new single “Crossing A Line” alongside house band the Roots. The song appears on Shinoda’s new solo album, Post Traumatic, which arrived last Friday (June 15th). Shinoda is touring throughout the summer.
Foo Fighters are scheduled to perform on CBS-TV’s The Late Late Show with James Corden on Thursday night (June 21st). The episode — which will also feature a new edition of Carpool Karaoke with Paul McCartney — comes during a week of programs that see Corden hosting the show at Central Hall Westminster in London.
Finally, we’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger, Flyleaf drummer James Culpepper and Like A Storm guitarist & singer Matt Brooks!
