Good morning Radicals, but of sad news today in dirt…
Korn singer Jonathan Davis‘ estranged wife, Deven Davis, died on Friday, August 17th at the age of 39. The cause of death was not immediately made public. A statement issued by a Davis family representative said, “The Davis family is brokenhearted over the devastating loss of Deven Davis. We ask that you respect their privacy — and the privacy of those close to the family — and allow them the space to mourn in private. We thank you for your love, understanding and prayers of support during this difficult time.”
A former girl-on-girl porn star, Deven married Jonathan in 2004 and had two sons with him, Pirate and Zeppelin. Jonathan also has a son from a previous marriage, Nathan, who will turn 23 this fall. The vocalist filed for divorce from Deven in October 2016, citing irreconcilable differences.
Jonathan filed for a domestic violence restraining order on Friday, with a judge issuing a temporary order blocking any child custody or visitation by Deven. The restraining order also prohibited her from having contact with the family dog, Chaos. In his court declaration, Jonathan alleged Deven was deeply involved with drugs, which she had struggled with for more than 20 years, and that her drug use was causing emotional harm to the kids through neglect.
According to the singer, Deven had been to rehab six times and “is constantly under the influence of the nitrous oxide, cocaine and Norco.” He said that he found both Deven and her drug dealer boyfriend passed out in her house when he brought the children to visit her, and had found a heroin pipe and cocaine in the toilet bowl.
According to the documents, Deven had been in a sober home but went missing last Friday and hadn’t been seen for a week. Sources said she had not been aware of the restraining order before her death.
Korn guitarists James “Munky” Shaffer and Brian “Head” Welch commented on the passing of Deven. Shaffer wrote, “Jonathan, your wife will no longer suffer all of the demons. She is now with God. May she rest in peace and may you trust that me, your band, our families are here for you and will together help you and your boys to heal.”
Welch shared an image which read, “Love, prayers for my bro, my homie Jonathan Davis and his family.” He later shared another picture of a heart shattering into pieces and captioned it with a broken heart emoji.
Also commenting on Deven’s passing was former Korn manager Jeff Kwatinetz, who wrote on Twitter, “My thoughts and prayers go out to one of my closest friends and a truly great human who I love, Jonathan Davis, on the death of his wife from an OD. I pray for his kids and family. I knew Deven and no one deserves to struggle (with) addiction and die. Too often, too much!”
Alice In Chains will perform on Tuesday, August 21st atop the iconic Space Needle in Seattle to commemorate this week’s release of the band’s sixth studio album, Rainier Fog. The quartet will be the first band ever to perform on the Space Needle’s brand-new “Loupe,” the world’s first and only revolving glass floor located 500 feet in the air. Part of the Space Needle’s recent $100 million renovation. the Loupe is powered by 12 motors and offers 360-degree views over the city.
Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell said, “I’ve visited the Space Needle many times in my life and it’s going to be a real honor and a total trip for us to play there. We’re so proud of this album and to be able to celebrate its release with a performance at one of our town’s most iconic landmarks is really special.”
The Space Needle performance will be part of a week of Alice In Chains-themed events in Seattle to celebrate Friday’s ,August 24th release of Rainier Fog. On Monday night, August 20th, the Seattle Mariners will host “Alice In Chains Night” at Safeco Field, while a pop-up shop and retrospective exhibit will open on Thursday, August 23rd and Friday at the Crocodile, featuring limited edition merchandise, rare photos, memorabilia, music gear and more. Alice In Chains is also the featured artist this week on hardDrive XL!
Cantrell told us a while back that Alice In Chains didn’t initially fit in with the Seattle music scene, which centered around the Sub Pop label: “We definitely didn’t fit into the Sub Pop scene. We were non-existent in that. I guess we were too rock (laughs). We kind of just did our own thing, and we were always kind of outside that whole vibe of what later turned into what was going on with the Seattle sound or whatever. Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, they were all associated at one point, you know, with Sub Pop and that whole scene.”
Rainier Fog follows up Alice In Chains’ 2013 studio effort, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. The band has already previewed the tracks “The One You Know,” “So Far Under” and “Never Fade.”
Slash and his solo band, Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, have shared a new song called “Mind Your Manners.” The track is taken from Slash’s new album, Living The Dream, which will be released on September 21st via Slash’s own label Snakepit Records.
Slash said about the song, “I wrote this song on the spot to help the band get up and running once we got back in the studio this past January. It’s just a go-for-it type of song. Pretty straightforward rock and fun to play.”
Singer Myles Kennedy, who penned the lyrics, added, “Lyrically, it’s about how when things are going well there always tends to be someone who tries to rain on your parade and knock you down. You have to keep people like that in check and not let them get to you.”
Slash told us a while back that his partnership with Kennedy has been easy from the start: “We work really well together. I never really thought about how that’s progressing. It’s real natural. So it’s like any kind of sort of close relationship, where I think we established it really, really early on and now we’re just sort of doing our thing, you know. Yeah, I don’t know what else to say — it’s just a really cool kind of synergy that we’ve got.”
Living The Dream is Slash’s fourth solo album and third since putting together the Conspirators, which also features drummer Brent Fitz, bassist Todd Kerns and guitarist Frank Sidoris. The group’s North American headlining tour begins September 13th in Los Angeles, visiting 20 major cities before ending on October 14th in Sacramento.
Marilyn Manson cut short his performance on Saturday night, August 18th in The Woodlands, Texas due to a reported case of “food poisoning.” According to HoustonPress, Manson’s tour manager escorted photographers from the pit prior to the start of Manson’s set, explaining that the singer was ill and did not want his picture taken. Manson played four songs and was reported to be “visibly shaking at times” before he collapsed on a monitor, ending the show. Manson’s tourmate Rob Zombie played his usual set, although their planned duet didn’t materialize. Late last month, Manson canceled a show in Toronto minutes before showtime because he was suffering from “the flu.”
Actually we said no and Michael Austin from Dreamworks kept calling. That went on for over a month. We assume multiple bands we’re asked. If it feeds Billy’s ego to think they we’re first let him think that. Def would have been a darker approach. @THE_EELS are on it & others.
— Smash Mouth (@smashmouth) August 16, 2018
Smashing Pumpkins frontman William Corgan allegedly claimed on Instagram last week that the Pumpkins were initially offered the closing credits song slot in the first Shrek movie, which eventually went to Smash Mouth‘s “All Star.” When asked by a fan about Corgan’s claim, however, Smash Mouth responded on Twitter, “Actually we said no and Michael Ostin from Dreamworks kept calling. That went on for over a month. We assume multiple bands we’re [sic] asked. If it feeds Billy’s ego to think they we’re [sic] first let him think that.” (Loudwire)
Foo Fighters have announced a special pop-up event ahead of their CalJam festival later this year. The free event will be held on August 26th at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Performing at the event will be drummer Taylor Hawkins‘ cover act, Chevy Metal, as well as the Holy S**ts, who may or may not be the Foos themselves. Fans will be able to purchase tickets at the pop-up event for CalJam, which takes place October 5th and 6th in San Bernardino, California and will feature Greta Van Fleet, Garbage, Iggy Pop, Billy Idol, Silversun Pickups and others in addition to the Holy S**ts — sorry, we mean the Foos. (NME)
Mastodon guitarist/singer Brent Hinds is selling off items from his personal collection of musical instruments, including guitars, organs and more used in the recording of the band’s albums. Hinds is putting the equipment up for sale through Reverb.com, the online marketplace for buying and selling musical gear.
Hinds said in a statement, “There comes a time in your life when you have to get rid of everything and for me, that time is now. The music gear I’m selling in my Reverb shop is legitimate s**t. All of it was heavily used — all over the world on tour, in the studio, and beyond. A lot of early Mastodon work was created on this gear.”
Among the highlights from Hinds’ collection is a trio of V-shaped guitars and a one-of-its-kind double-neck electric guitar that Hinds himself helped design. Other instruments include “a full-sized Hammond Colonnade church organ that can be heard on every Mastodon record before Crack the Skye and a one-of-a-kind Robert Randolph Custom Sierra 13-string pedal steel guitar.”
The Official Brent Hinds Reverb Shop opens on Thursday (August 23rd). In recent months, other artists who have used Reverb.com to unload instruments include Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett and Linkin Park, while Moby sold his personal record collection there.
Papa Roach will lead the lineup of ShipRocked 2019, marking the hard rock cruise’s 10th anniversary on the high seas. Other acts confirmed for the trip include I Prevail, Bullet For My Valentine, Nothing More, Sevendust, Motionless In White, 10 Years, Tremonti, Badflower, Atreyu, Suicidal Tendencies, Nonpoint, Islander and more.
Papa Roach singer Jacoby Shaddix said, “We are so excited to join the 10th anniversary cruise. It’s our third time on the bill and our first time headlining! You can expect a few surprises and a real rock show on the open sea — we can’t wait to see everyone taking part next year!”
The cruise’s musical entertainment will also feature the Stowaways, a revolving all-star act whose members this time will include Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch, Bad Wolves guitarist Doc Coyle, ex-Guns N’ Roses axeman Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, guitarist C.J. Pierce of Drowning Pool, plus members of P.O.D., Fuel, Otherwise and many others, including the bands playing the cruise.
The Carnival Valor cruise ship will set sail from Galveston, Texas for five days from January 26th through the 31st, stopping in Cozumel and the Yucatán in Mexico. Staterooms for ShipRocked 2019 are sold out, but a wait list is available at ShipRocked.com.
Finally, we’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Michael Shuman of Queens of the Stone Age, and the legendary “Dimebag” Darrell, we miss you man.
