Good morning to all! Got some good vibes in the news today, so let’s begin with the feel-good story from the biggest band in rock and roll…
Thank you to all the fans attending #MetInManchester tonight for joining @Metallica in supporting @Coffee4Craig, as they support vulnerable people in their community. #MetallicaGivesBack #AWMH pic.twitter.com/HDnUUoozmX
— All Within My Hands Foundation (@AWMHFoundation) June 18, 2019
Metallica made a substantial donation to a homeless charity in Manchester, England ahead of the band’s show at the city’s Etihad Stadium.
Before the sold-out performance, the quartet gifted just over $50,000 to Coffee4Craig, an organization that works to provide shelter, food and resources for the homeless. The charity’s head, Hendrix Lancaster, said that the large sum will fund the six-year-old foundation’s work for the next 12 months.
Metallica’s own foundation, All Within My Hands, tweeted an image of the band handing over a giant check, along with the message: “Thank you to all the fans attending #MetInManchester tonight for joining Metallica in supporting Coffee4Craig, as they support vulnerable people in their community.”
Last year, Metallica used All Within My Hands to donate $100,000 to help the California wildfire relief efforts. The foundation made a $50,000 donation to both the North Valley Community Foundation and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.
The band has also donated to food banks and other charities in many of the cities on its ongoing “WorldWired” tour itinerary.
Muse frontman Matt Bellamy recently became the proud owner of Manson Guitar Works, the company that has been making his signature custom axes for years. Now he has discussed some of his plans for the company in a new interview with Total Guitar.
Bellamy explained, “I’m very excited to be working with the team at Manson Guitar Works. We have plans in the coming months and years to launch a lower cost M-series guitar based on some of my favorite instruments (and) investigate new product in the heavier music genre including seven-string versions.”
Bellamy continued, “As we will shortly be celebrating my 20-year relationship with Manson’s, we are in discussions about some high-end limited-edition guitars that really accurately detail my stage instruments. The future? We’ll certainly be exploring enhanced electronic features to further evolve the guitar into the modern era.”
Muse is on the road in Europe behind its eighth studio album, Simulation Theory, which features the Top Five single “Pressure.”
Ozzy Osbourne has joined the cast of Trolls World Tour, a sequel to the 2016 hit animated musical comedy Trolls. Ozzy will play the movie’s villain, King Thrash, who is the leader of a tribe of rock trolls.
Trolls World Tour picks up where the first film left off, as Troll Town’s Queen Poppy and Branch make the surprising discovery that there are other Troll worlds beyond their own, each defined by a different genre of music. When a mysterious threat puts all the Trolls across the land in danger, Poppy, Branch, and their band of friends must embark on an epic quest to unite all the Trolls against certain doom.
Ozzy has lent his voice to animated films and TV show before such as Bubble Guppies, Fish Hooks and Gnomeo And Juliet, while playing himself in live-action movies like Ghostbusters, Austin Powers In Goldmember and others.
Despite all that plus starring in the legendary reality series The Osbournes, Ozzy told us some time ago that he doesn’t like being onscreen: “The Osbournes was like an experiment that went way over what I ever expected it to do. Sharon and I have been offered so much TV stuff, but I can’t stand it, you know. I mean, I don’t like to see me on TV, I don’t like to see me on film or anything, you know.”
Trolls World Tour also stars returning cast members Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Corden and others, plus new additions Sam Rockwell, Chance The Rapper, Anthony Ramosand more. The movie is set to open on April 17th, 2020.
Static-X kicked off its reunion tour on Tuesday night (June 18th) in Tempe, Arizona. The North American trek was launched to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band’s platinum-certified 1999 debut, Wisconsin Death Trip, and pay homage to late Static-X frontman Wayne Static.
While the identity of Static-X’s current touring singer has not been officially revealed, strong rumors suggest that Dope frontman Edsel Dope, whose band is along as support on the tour, is pulling double duty and performing behind a Wayne Static mask with Static-X.
Static-X plans to release a new album titled Project Regeneration later this year, featuring the last recordings made by Wayne Static. The rest of the group’s original lineup — bassist Tony Campos, drummer Ken Jay and guitarist Koichi Fukuda — will also be featured on the album and in the music videos.
Wayne Static died in November 2014 after mixing Xanax and other powerful prescription drugs with alcohol, according to the coroner’s report. The 48-year-old, whose real name was Wayne Richard Wells, was found dead in his Landers, California home.
The tour continues this Friday night (June 21st) in Dallas.
Finally, we want to wish a Happy Birthday to Chino Moreno of Deftones, former Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez, and former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony! Have a wonderful day!
