Good morning Radicals, and happy Monday! I hope you’ve had an amazing weekend. We’ve got a great week of rock and roll lined up for you, so let’ get into it with the first round of music news in Dirt:
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Red Hot Chili Peppers have parted ways with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and have been rejoined by John Frusciante, whose two previous stints in the group were marked by some of their biggest commercial successes.
Klinghoffer was in the Chili Peppers for a decade, playing on the band’s last two studio albums, 2011’s I’m With You and 2016’s The Getaway.
In a statement, the group wrote, “The Red Hot Chili Peppers announce that we are parting ways with our guitarist of the past ten years, Josh Klinghoffer. Josh is a beautiful musician who we respect and love. We are deeply grateful for our time with him, and the countless gifts he shared with us. We also announce, with great excitement and full hearts, that John Frusciante is rejoining our group.”
Frusciante joined the Chili Peppers following the death of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988. He first played on 1989’s Mother’s Milk and 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the two albums that marked the band’s transition from struggling act to breakout stars.
A heroin addiction took Frusciante out of action in 1993, but he rejoined the Peppers six years later, playing on 1999’s massively successful Californication and 2002’s By The Way. He left again after 2009’s Stadium Arcadium, making some 14 studio LPs during an eclectic solo career.
Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith spoke fondly to us a while back about Frusciante’s contributions to the band: “He really would come in with ideas and they were very definitive parts and like big riffs, and when John would come in with something, he’d be like, ‘Here it is,’ and bam! And he’d play it like he was playing it in front of 100,000 people — it was awesome. He’s such a fantastic musician. I love the guy to death, just a great guy, and what an amazing musician.”
The Chili Peppers have reportedly been at work on a new album, due out in 2020, although whether or not the band has been working with Frusciante already or will start fresh is not known at this time.
Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Jason Hook had to undergo surgery to have his gall bladder removed, forcing the band to postpone the last few dates of its current North American tour.
According to TMZ, Hook had been experiencing pain that sent him to the emergency room twice. It was during a third visit to the ER that doctors determined he needed his gall bladder removed due to a blockage.
Hook’s operation took place Thursday night (December 12th), just hours after the band was forced to postpone a show in Duluth, Minnesota. Five Finger Death Punch also postponed the final two dates of its current tour, on Saturday (December 14th) in Omaha, Nebraska and Sunday (December 15th) in Des Moines, Iowa.
The band issued a statement saying that Hook “will have to remain in the hospital until his doctors determine he is fit to be discharged and travel home . . . Jason very much appreciates all the well wishes and, rest assured, we will see you back out on the road very soon!”
Five Finger Death Punch will release its eighth album, F8, on February 28th, to be followed in May by a new spring tour.
Halestorm guitarist Joe Hottinger has revealed in an interview with Guitar Bonedo that the band has finished recording a new EP, although he did not want to divulge details about the disc.
Hottinger explained, “There’ll be more information on that coming up. It’s just getting mixed now, and it sounds awesome. It’s something we’ve never really done before. Everyone’s expecting a cover EP, but . . . we’re about to shake it up a little. Technically, it is a cover EP (laughs). You’ll find out. It’s cool.”
Singer Lzzy Hale added, “It’s nothing like what you think. We can’t really talk about it.”
The new EP will be the band’s first since the band’s third covers EP, ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs eP, which came out in January 2017. The quartet issued its fourth full-length studio album, Vicious, last year.
Halestorm has announced a string of U.S. live performances in the spring of 2020. The dates kick off on April 17th at a radio festival in Tampa, Florida.
Stone Sour guitarist Josh Rand says that he has “no idea” when the band will release a new studio album. Asked in an interview with Guitar World if the band has started working yet on a follow-up to 2017’s Hydrograd, Rand replied, “To be honest, the band is on hiatus right now with no timetable on a return. It’s a mixture of needing a break, plus Corey (Taylor, singer) wants to do a solo album, so I don’t know when there will be new Stone Sour music.”
Rand hinted that the band will release something next summer which he can’t talk about yet, but also told us he’s working on another project to keep fans happy during the hiatus: “I archive like everything that we’ve done, so starting at the top of the year, next year, every week I’m going to release a demo or an alternate version of a song, starting from the very beginning. And then throughout the entire year will get us up to Hydrograd. So I’m pretty excited about that.”
Stone Sour has been off the road and out of sight since completing the touring cycle for its 2017 LP Hydrograd. Taylor has been working with Slipknot since then, recording and currently touring behind that group’s sixth effort, We Are Not Your Kind. Rand is currently promoting Stone Sour’s new live album, Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno, which came out on Friday (December 13th).
Taylor also recently told WhatCulture that he has already written 26 songs for his long-in-the-works solo album, which he has hinted at recording over the years.
Green Day performed the classic “Welcome To Paradise” and the brand new “Father Of All…” on Thursday night (December 12th) at the 2019 Game Awards in Los Angeles. The band appeared alongside artists like Chvrches and Grimes. Following the performance, it was announced that a special DLC pack for the VR game Beat Saber was to be released featuring six Green Day tracks.
Tool has shared an unboxing video for the “expanded book edition” of Fear Inoculum, the band’s new LP. The “book edition” includes five 3D lenticular cards with exclusive graphics, an expanded 56-page booklet with additional never-before-seen art, a download of the “Recusant Ad Infinitum” video and a CD. Fans, however, have expressed displeasure at the release of this edition so soon on the heels of the first limited edition of the LP.
Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose underwent surgery for an undisclosed ailment on Friday (December 13th). The issue led to the cancellation of the band’s U.K. shows with Alter Bridge and Shinedown. Rose posted a photo and message on Instagram that said in part, “First of all, thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers. I’m humbled by all the attention. A little uncomfortable to be be honest. Lol. I’ll be on my way into surgery any minute. Honestly I’m a little scared, but I’m ready to figure out what’s wrong. Hopefully this will give us some answers.”
Mongolian rockers The Hu have released a music video for a new version of their track “Wolf Totem,” which features a guest turn from Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix. The singer said about his appearance in the clip, “I’m honored to be part of such a powerful new blend of rock n roll. The Hu are the real deal. Don’t sleep on this.” The Hu will tour in 2020 behind their latest LP, The Gereg, and the current single “Yuve Yuve Yu.”
Gone Is Gone, a supergroup featuring members of Mastodon, Queens Of The Stone Age and At The Drive-In, has returned. The band has released a new single and video, “No One Ever Walked on Water,” marking its first new material in a couple of years. Gone Is Gone are made up of Mastodon’s Troy Sanders, Queens Of The Stone Age’s Troy Van Leeuwen, At The Drive-In’s Tony Hajjar and Mike Zarin. The band last released an album called Echolocation in 2017. It’s not known yet whether the new song is from a forthcoming LP.
Ok, that’s a wrap! Have a wonderful day!
