Good morning Radicals! Here’s the latest news from the world of Rock and Roll:
Godsmack‘s Sully Erna appeared on the video series “The Needle And The Damage Done” to discuss his extensive tattoo work. Before he had any money, Erna used to get some free ink from a friend and also got girlfriends to pay for them. He explained, “I used to date strippers back then and they’d be like, ‘Hey, if you put my name on your arm, I’ll pay for some of your tattoos.’”
Erna added that he’s had several of the names covered up over the years, but would not subject himself to having them removed with a laser. He described the pain of laser removal, saying, “Imagine the world’s largest elastic band slapping the most sensitive parts of your skin at 1,000 beats a second.”
One of his major pieces is a portrait on his chest of his daughter at age seven. Erna said it’s the most important tattoo he has, adding, “I know she’s proud of it but whenever she starts to act up — she’s 17 now — I’ll literally let the hair on my chest grow in. I’ll shave everything, but I’ll leave her with a goatee and a fu manchu and then she gets really pissed off at me.”
Godsmack has just one date left on its most recent tour, this Saturday (October 26th) in Tucson, Arizona. The band has been on the road behind its recent When Legends Rise album.
Halestorm has shared video footage of the band performing an acoustic version of the song “Chemicals.” The original track was included as a B-side on the band’s Record Store Day release, “Buzz.”
Halestorm singer Lzzy Hale stated about the track, “Our song ‘Chemicals’ was written in homage to those we’ve lost and all of us struggling with mental illness. In this song, I dip into the personal insanity that goes on inside your head. Because sometimes you feel like you are drowning in the whisperings of your own mind, like you are the only one at war with your impending darkness.”
She added, “But, really, we are all in this together. We are all battling one day at a time. We, the fighters…We are the majority. So I made the chorus an anthem, an epiphany that we are all the same, and most everyone you meet has been touched by mental illness. Let’s lift each other up. Raise your horns!”
Halestorm’s latest album, Vicious, was released in July 2018 and the band has been touring behind it ever since. Hale recently told a New Jersey radio station that the band would record a “secret project” in late summer and get to work on a new full-length LP early next year.
Zakk Wylde says that he has no involvement with Ozzy Osbourne‘s upcoming album.
Ozzy recently provided guest vocals on Post Malone‘s song “Take What You Want”, a session overseen by producer Andrew Watt, and it led to Osbourne and Watt collaborating on the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer’s 12th solo LP.
During an appearance on the latest installment of “The Cassius Morris Show” (hear audio below), Ozzy‘s longtime guitarist was asked if he had any part in the recording sessions for Osbourne‘s next disc.
“No, no — we didn’t do anything on that,” Wylde said. “Ozz, he just jammed with some friends that he knows. He was just, like, ‘Hey, Zakk, I ended up tracking some of the stuff,’ or whatever, and I was, like, ‘Oh, great, Ozz.’ That Post Malone thing [‘Take What You Want’] I heard was awesome. Post came down to a BLACK LABEL [SOCIETY] show about maybe — I don’t know — almost half a year ago or something like that, before the Ozzy thing. But he just came down and he was, like, ‘Hey, Zakk, what’s happening?’ A really cool guy and everything like that. When I heard the track, Ozzy sounds great on it, man. But no, I didn’t have nothing to do with the stuff that Ozz just recorded.”
Zakk acknowledged that most people probably expect him to be featured on Ozzy‘s new album, but he reasoned: “The whole thing is we could always get together and record another thing. So it’s all good, man.”
GUNS N’ ROSES performed the song “Dead Horse” live for the first time since 1993 during last night’s (Wednesday, October 23) concert at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The track originally appeared on GN’R‘s “Use Your Illusion I” album in 1991 and was last played at the final show of the “Use Your Illusion” tour in Argentina 26 years ago.
GUNS N’ ROSES‘ current trek runs through November 2. This leg of the tour will close out with two shows at the The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
“Not in This Lifetime” launched more than three years ago and will continue through the U.S. and play major shows in Mexico including Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara and Estadio Caliente in Tijuana in late October.
In addition, the band is hitting up several festivals, including Austin City Limits, Louder Than Life, Exit 111 and Voodoo.
“Not In This Lifetime” is now believed to be the second-highest-grossing tour of all time, having generated more than $500 million since it began in April 2016.
That’s a wrap, make it a great day!
