Good morning Radicals! Here’s what’s shakin’ today in the world of rock:
Late singer Chris Cornell‘s widow Vicky has sued the surviving members of Soundgarden over royalties and the rights to unreleased recordings. In the lawsuit, Vicky claims the musicians are withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties owed to her and Chris’s minor children.
She claims that the royalties are being withheld as part of an “unlawful attempt to strong-arm Chris’ estate into turning over certain audio recordings created by Chris before he passed away.” Vicky claims the seven unreleased songs were “solely authored by Chris; contain Chris’ own vocal tracks; and were bequeathed to Chris’ estate” for the benefit of her and their kids.
Vicky alleges that she has offered to share the recordings with Soundgarden, so they can be released in a way that respects Chris’s wishes — but that the band refused. She also accuses Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil of putting her family in harm’s way by suggesting in interviews that she is the main obstacle to the band putting out another album.
Thayil has said in several interviews that the band has been unable to get access to the audio files Chris was working on before his death in order to complete what would have been the group’s seventh studio album, telling Music Radar, “There seems to be some confusion amongst various parties as to what that would entail and how that works, and who that would benefit.”
A letter from an attorney representing Soundgarden claims that Cornell had been working on the songs “in a collaborative effort” with the rest of the band, and that various members are listed as co-songwriters on five of the seven recordings. The letter notes, “The entire band was feeling very positive about their rekindled artistic energy and creativity” before Cornell took his own life in May 2017.
The letter claims that “any music content (instrumental and/or vocals, demos or rough recordings) stored on the hard drive by any or all members of Soundgarden (including any recordings containing only the performances of Chris Cornell intended for Soundgarden) constitutes Soundgarden partnership property.”
Vicky claims that Soundgarden has not produced any documents to counter her argument that the recordings are her late husband’s “sole and exclusive property.” She posted a lengthy statement on Instagram about the matter, saying in part, “This was not the way I would have chosen to move forward. But I will not be pushed aside for someone else’s convenience or gain . . . I will do justice by my husband’s work and memory; for our children and for everything we stood for.”
Several items belonging to late Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads and his family were recovered over the weekend after being stolen from Musonia School Of Music in North Hollywood, California, the institute founded more than 70 years ago by Randy’s mother, Delores Rhoads, where her son learned and taught guitar.
According to ABC7 News, a local resident named Bobbi Fredriksz says she spotted a guitar and photos in a dumpster as she was walking her dog early Sunday morning (December 8th). She initially didn’t think anything of it until she later saw a report about the theft on TV. She went back to the dumpster to confirm that the items were still there while another resident called the police.
Still missing are the first electric guitar Randy ever played, a Harmony Rocket from 1963, along with two horns that belonged to his late mother. All three instruments and more artifacts were stolen during the Thanksgiving night burglary at the school, which also serves as an unofficial Randy Rhoads museum.
A few days after the theft, Ozzy personally offered a $25,000 reward for the return of his late bandmate’s guitars. Back in 2004, Ozzy spoke emotionally about the guitar prodigy at the latter’s induction into the Hollywood Rockwalk: “It seems such a long time ago that I played with Randy Rhoads, and yet it seems so like yesterday I knew him. But about all I can say about my memory of Randy Rhoads is that I will never forget as long as I live that he was a small guy with such an enormous, giant talent, and he is so sorely missed in my family, and there’s not a day goes by without us thinking of him. He’ll never die in my heart. He’s there forever. God bless Randy Rhoads.”
AC/DC‘s classic 1980 album Back In Black has been certified 25 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) for U.S. shipments of 25 million copies.
Back in Black first went platinum in October 1980 and had previously been certified 22 times platinum in December 2007. The RIAA lists the LP as the fourth biggest-selling album of all time.
The record was originally released on July 25th, 1980 and was the band’s first without lead singer Bon Scott, who had died the previous February after drinking, passing out and choking on his own vomit. The band quickly decided to carry on and enlisted Brian Johnson as lead vocalist, a position he held until 2016.
Johnson told us a while back about his audition for the group: [“I just went down and sang a couple of songs with the lads, but I remember I never thought I’d ever gonna get the job, you know, it was just a big thrill to go down. And I remember turning to the boys and saying, ‘Hey, well, lads, I’ve got to get off’ — it was like 9:30 at night and I had to drive about 270 miles back home and start work the next morning, you know. So off I went, and Mal (Malcolm Young, guitarist) phoned us the next day and asked us if I fancied coming down and having another shot.”] SOUNDCUE (:22 OC: . . . having another shot.)
Back In Black made AC/DC into superstars in the U.S. and around the world, although it never got higher than Number Four on the album charts. The band’s next album, 1981’s For Those About To Rock…We Salute You, reached Number One.
Many of the songs from Back In Black became staples both on rock radio and in the band’s set list, including “Hell’s Bells,” “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Shoot To Thrill” and the title track.
Korn has launched the first episode of a documentary series chronicling their 2019 touring — in particular their summer trek with Alice In Chains and others. Shot by the band’s longtime videographer Sebastien Paquet, the doc will continue on through further episodes to be released over the coming weeks. Korn continues to tour behind its 13th studio LP, The Nothing, with a new North American run featuring Breaking Benjamin starting up on January 23rd in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Stone Sour has released the official live video for the song “Whiplash Pants,” taken from the band’s upcoming live album, Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno, due on December 13th. The set features 16 of the band’s most popular tracks, all recorded live in Reno on October 5th, 2018. The album will be available on CD, digitally, and as a numbered 180-gram double vinyl package.
The Columbus, Ohio club where Pantera and Damageplan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was shot to death onstage just over 15 years ago is up for sale. The Alrosa Villa is currently on the market, with a list price of $1,295,000. The venue, built in 1970, was known for years as one of Ohio’s top rock and metal venues, until December 8th, 2004, when a deranged gunman entered the club and killed four people, including Abbott. Alrosa Villa continues to host concerts, with a couple of January dates currently on the books.
That’s a wrap, have a great day!
