Rock
Ahead of their reunion tour slated for this fall, Minus The Bear will reissue their sophomore album, 2005’s Menos el Oso, to commemorate the album’s 20th anniversary. The beloved Seattle indie band unveiled the deluxe vinyl release, as well as the demo version of the track “Hooray,” on Tuesday (May 20), with the reissue scheduled […]
Guns N’ Roses are having a laugh at their own expense. On Monday (May 19), the band shared a tongue-in-cheek video compilation on Instagram titled “Guns N’ Roses Greatest Hits!”
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Instead of featuring career-spanning songs, the clip highlights 14 onstage wipeouts from frontman Axl Rose. Set to their 1987 classic “Welcome to the Jungle,” the video includes archival footage of Rose slipping, tripping and toppling over onstage across the decades, concluding with a clip from Saturday’s (May 17) show in Mumbai, India, where the rocker stumbled on the stairs while performing “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
The post arrives as Guns N’ Roses hit the road on their Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things world tour, which kicked off May 1 in Incheon, South Korea. The stadium run will continue across Asia, the Middle East and Europe through the end of July, with support from Public Enemy, Rival Sons and Sex Pistols members on select dates.
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The band’s current lineup includes Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus and Melissa Reese. This marks the first tour since longtime drummer Frank Ferrer announced his departure from the group in March. His final show was Nov. 5, 2023, in Mexico.
The group has since welcomed Isaac Carpenter as their new drummer for the 2025 tour.
Guns N’ Roses continue to be one of the most enduring acts in rock. Their 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction, remains one of the best-selling rock albums of all time. The band’s iconic single “Sweet Child O’ Mine” became their first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 when it topped the chart dated Sept. 10, 1988.
Their Not in This Lifetime… reunion tour in 2019 grossed over $584 million, making it the third-highest-grossing tour of all time. The shows reunited Guns N’ Roses members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan, who, before reconvening in 2016, hadn’t played a show together since 1993.
Eddie Vedder paid tribute to Bruce Springsteen during Pearl Jam’s concert in Pittsburgh on Friday night (May 17), performing a solo acoustic rendition of “My City of Ruins” in what appeared to be a quiet but powerful response to Donald Trump’s recent public criticism of Springsteen.
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Vedder did not reference Trump directly and did not mention Springsteen by name before performing the song. But the choice was likely intentional, as Springsteen has been performing the 2002 track during his tour alongside fiery speeches condemning what he describes as attacks on civil liberties by Trump and his allies.
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During the kickoff of his European tour on May 14, Springsteen told the audience, “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.”
Trump responded on Truth Social on May 16, calling Springsteen “highly overrated,” “dumb as a rock,” and “a dried out prune of a rocker.” He also threatened to bar the musician from returning to the U.S. after his tour, writing, “Springsteen ought to keep his mouth shut until he gets back into the country. Then we’ll all see how it goes for him.”
Springsteen did not back down. “Things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of our country’s democracy, and they’re too important to ignore,” the rocker said to the crowd in a three-minute speech on Manchester’s Co-op Live stage on Saturday, as heard in a video posted by the L.A. Times.
“In my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now,” Springsteen said, echoing what he’d spoken about at his May 14 show. “In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. That’s happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.”
Springsteen continued, “They are removing residents off American streets without due process of law and deploying them to foreign detention centers as prisoners. That’s happening now…They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American.”
Josh Freese announced on social media Friday (May 16) that he’s been abruptly removed from the Foo Fighters‘ lineup after two years drumming for the band.
“The Foo Fighters called me Monday night to let me know they’ve decided ‘to go in a different direction with their drummer.’ No reason was given,” he wrote, punctuating the news with an old-fashioned sad-faced emoticon. “Regardless, I enjoyed the past two years with them, both on and off stage, and I support whatever they feel is best for the band.
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“In my 40 years of drummer of drumming professionally, I’ve never been let go from a band,” Freese continued, adding that he’s “not angry—just a bit shocked and disappointed” by the decision.
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Still, his message ended on a cheerful note that showed the musician seems to be taking the cryptic dismissal in stride. “I’ve always worked freelance and bounced between bands so, I’m fine,” he concluded before promising, “Stay tuned for my ‘Top 10 possible reasons Josh got booted from the Foo Fighters’ list.”
Before taking up the mantle left by Taylor Hawkins’ tragic and sudden passing in 2022, Freese spent his decades-long career drumming with everyone from The Zappas, The Vandals and Devo to Guns N’ Roses, Sting, Nine Inch Nails and Weezer.
He’s also worked extensively as a studio musician for the likes of The Offspring, Lostprophets and the Replacements, and contributed drums to hit albums like Avril Lavigne’s Let Go, Kelly Clarkson’s Thankful, Good Charlotte’s The Young and The Hopeless, Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream and Lana Del Rey’s Norman F–king Rockwell.
Meanwhile, the Foo Fighters booked their very first show of 2025 earlier this week by announcing they’ll be performing at the Singapore F1 Grand Prix in October — just months after frontman Dave Grohl hit the stage at Coachella with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Representatives for the Foo Fighters declined Billboard’s request for comment. Read Freese’s full statement about his firing here.
Forever yours, faithfully. Steve Perry and Willie Nelson unveiled their new duet version of Journey‘s “Faithfully” for charity on Wednesday (May 14). The former Journey frontman and the country icon turn the band’s classic 1983 single into a wistful, meditative ballad as Nelson warbles, “Highway run in the midnight sun/ Wheels go round and round/ […]
Amyl and The Sniffers delivered a characteristically unhinged performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week, taking the late-night stage for a rowdy rendition of their latest single, “Tiny Bikini.”
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Frontwoman Amy Taylor brought her statement punk flair to the late-night stage, pairing her explosive vocals and fearless energy with a cheeky fashion statement – thong sandals repurposed as a top. Styled in leather lace-up shorts, knee-high boots, bold blue eyeshadow and her unmistakable mullet, Taylor delivered the kind of explosive presence that’s become a hallmark of the band’s live performances.
“Tiny Bikini” features on the band’s third studio album Cartoon Darkness, released in March via Rough Trade. The album marks a new high point in their trajectory, blending their snarling pub-rock energy with a sharper sense of songwriting and production. It follows 2021’s Comfort to Me, which landed in the top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart and earned international acclaim.
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Their Fallon appearance comes at a peak moment for the Melbourne punk outfit. Earlier this week, Amyl and The Sniffers scored three nominations at the 2024 AIR Awards, including Independent Album of the Year and Best Independent Rock Album or EP for Cartoon Darkness, as well as Independent Song of the Year for “U Should Not Be Doing That.” The latter already took out Song of the Year at the recent APRA Music Awards, and have won three ARIA Awards, including Best Group in 2022.
The band also performed at Coachella last month, earned a Brit Award nomination for Best International Group, and graced the cover of Rolling Stone AUNZ in March after picking up two trophies at the 2024 RSA Awards.
Known for pushing the envelope, Amyl and The Sniffers previously made headlines with the uncensored version of their music video for “Jerkin’,” which featured full-frontal nudity and a disclaimer emphasizing body positivity over titillation.
From raucous club gigs to mainstream U.S. television, the Aussie band continues to prove that they’re not here to tone things down. In fact, they’re just getting started.
The Doors’ story, strange days and otherwise, has been told many times to date — by writers, by filmmakers, by the band members themselves in their respective memoirs. But the new Night Divides The Day: The Doors Anthology book puts all of their accounts (and more) alongside each other for the first time ever.
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The opulent, coffee-table sized 344-page book was created by England’s Genesis Publications, in partnership with the Doors camp, as part of the group’s 60th anniversary celebration. Featuring about 800 photos and other illustrations (many never before seen), the tome includes new interviews with surviving members Robby Krieger and John Densmore, along with material from the autobiographies and archival comments from Krieger, Densmore and late members Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek. Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic wrote the foreword, while Van Morrison, Alice Cooper, Patti Smith and others join members of the Doors’ camp in offering commentary throughout the book.
Key events in the band’s history are recounted in depth — including the making of each album, the legendary Hollywood Bowl concert in July 1968 and the March 1, 1969, Dinner Key Auditorium show in Miami, after which Morrison was arrested for profanity and indecent exposure. And for gear aficionados, Night Divides The Day is awash in images of guitars, keyboards, drums and even Morrison’s microphones and harmonicas.
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“It really shows you a lot of the hidden Doors stuff that a lot of people don’t know about,” Krieger, who published Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar With the Doors in 2021, tells Billboard. “Just seeing the old pictures — a lot of pictures I’ve never seen, which is pretty cool. And reading a lot of interviews, stuff that I’ve forgotten all about…To go back in time and read the original stuff that you might have forgotten about or had the wrong idea of, it is nice to have everything in one (book) like this. I think it’s really done well.”
Krieger is also happy that in addition to the limited edition — 2,000 copies signed by the guitarist and Densmore, with a 7-inch vinyl single featuring rare demo versions of “Hello, I Love You” and “Moonlight Drive” and other memorabilia for $495 — there’s also a standard book store edition, which weighs in at $75.
“I think over the past sort of 10 years Genesis has been doing this more and more with selected titles,” the company’s Nick Roylance explains. “With the amount of work that goes into a book like this it’s nice to share it with a broader audience and…share their story more widely. It’s really lovely to do the limited edition that’s so special for those fans that can afford it; it’s a different experience of the book. But it’s genuinely meaningful to make it more widely available.”
The Doors
Genesis was introduced to the Doors’ world via A Guide to the Labyrinth: The Collected Works of Jim Morrison, featuring poetry, lyrics, essays and unpublished notes that the company published in May 2022. “We started there and got to know the archives and what we were working with photo-wise,” recalls Night Divides The Day editor Megan Lily Large. “So we had an idea of what we wanted with the design, and then it was just what (the Doors) wanted to tell with the text…We wanted to present their stories as authentically as we could, through their own words, through their own archives and give readers an insight they might not have been afforded until now.”
Lily Large considers the gear photos to be among the book’s holy grail content; some of the instruments had to be tracked down in private collections. And getting Van Morrison’s fresh remembrance of Jim Morrison joining him and his band Them during the last night of a 1966 stand at the Whisky A Go Go for “Gloria” and “The Midnight Hour,” filled with praise for Morrison’s performing chops, was a particularly rare get.
“I think he was quite excited to see the photos” from the performance by Whisky photographer George Rodriguez, Roylance says. Lily Large adds that, “We had these great photos of both of them, so we reached out to Van — ‘Have you seen these? We would love to get a couple of words from you, if we can, even a quote.’ And he came back with a full piece. My favorite part is when he describes Jim as ‘a brother from another mother.’ Which is quite a shock.”
Night Divides The Day is one of a number of projects for the Doors’ 60th celebration, which began last November with Rhino’s High Fidelity audiophile vinyl The Doors 1967-1971 and a Record Store Black Friday vinyl edition of The Doors — Live in Detroit. That show is also part of a series of concert releases from the Doors’ own Bright Midnight label from 1967-1970 streaming for the first time. The group acquired a recently discovered two-channel stereo recording of the final show with Jim Morrison — albeit a disappointing night on Dec. 12, 1970, at the Warehouse in New Orleans — that it’s working to turn into an official release.
“That’s gonna be coming out one of these days,” says Krieger, who was joined by Densmore on stage May 3 at during his monthly Doors album show at the Whisky. “We’re trying to get that together. We know there’s a tape that exists; that’s half the battle right there. I haven’t actually heard it, but I heard it’s pretty damn good, quality-wise.”
Krieger is staying busy with his own work as well these days. He’s planning a second album by the Soul Savages to follow up its 2024 debut, and he’s already recorded a rock-reggae album, featuring the late Phil Chen on bass, that he hopes to release this year. Krieger also guests on “Black Mamba,” the first single from The Revenge of Alice Cooper — a reunion of original band members who became tight with Krieger and the Doors during the late ‘60s in Los Angeles. “That was fun,” he says. “We would hang out together quite a bit back in the day. That (song) was right up my alley.”
Meanwhile, Krieger says he plans to keep enjoying the Doors anniversary celebration – and see what may transpire in the future.
“It’s amazing,” he says. “Even 20 years ago, the 40th anniversary, I was telling people I couldn’t imagine this happening. The only ones that have beaten us are the Stones and the Beatles, pretty much. There’s plenty of groups out there who were formed around the same time as we did, and they don’t have the (continuing) interest that we do. It’s definitely (because of) the songs, the words and the music. It was just an amazing combination of people, the four of us, who came together, and it probably happens once every 60 years. We don’t take it for granted.”
The Foo Fighters have booked their first gig of 2025. The veteran rockers announced on Tuesday night (May 13) that they will headline day two (October 4) of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix concerts as part of a three-day roster of all-star shows supporting the race. “Singapore. See you soon!!!” the band wrote in the […]
While rumors about the upcoming Oasis reunion tour continue to swirl, one of the band’s co-managers has put one to bed: There will be no new music from the Gallagher brothers.
Speaking to Music Week, Alec McKinlay, who heads the band’s Ignition Management and Big Brother Recordings, Oasis’ U.K. label, revealed that there were no plans for Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher to get back in the studio together for a new record. The band released their most recent album, Dig Out Your Soul, in 2008.
“This is very much the last time around, as Noel’s made clear in the press,” McKinlay said in the interview published Tuesday (May 13). “It’s a chance for fans who haven’t seen the band to see them, or at least for some of them to. But no, there’s no plan for any new music.”
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The confirmation arrives after months of rumors, including some teasing by frontman Liam on his social platforms. In September, Liam responded to a fan to say that a new record was “already finished,” and in November he said he was “blown away” by the songs Noel had allegedly written for a new album.
The band’s reunion tour kicks off in the U.K. at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on July 4. The run of dates will continue through Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin before hitting North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia across the 41 planned shows.
Elsewhere in the interview, McKinsley discussed the response to the shows globally. “We’d obviously been planning it for a while and the moment when it went live was a little bit of a step into the unknown in terms of how big the reaction would be,” McKinlay said. “When it all hit home, it was just phenomenal. The reaction was very much one of, ‘Finally, some good news after all the nonsense that’s been going on in the world.’
“Probably the biggest and most pleasing surprise of the reunion announcement is how huge it was internationally,” he added. “Honestly, we knew it would be big here, and that doesn’t take much intuition. But looking outside the U.K., we knew they had a strong fanbase, we did all the stats. We were quite cautious about what that would mean when it came to people actually buying tickets, but we were just bowled over by how huge it was.
“We could have sold out half-a-dozen Rose Bowls in Pasadena and probably eight MetLife Stadiums in New York in a day,” McKinsley shared. “We saw the ticket stats, we were watching what was happening and the demand was way beyond our expectations.”
The clamor for Oasis tickets in the U.K. sparked a debate about on-sale practices. In March, the Competition and Markets Authority said that Ticketmaster may have “misled” fans about ticket prices for the events.
The band has yet to officially confirm who will be performing in the live group alongside Noel and Liam, but the latter has denied reports that “Hello” will be dropped from the setlist due to its connection to convicted pedophile Gary Glitter.
If you’ve ever been to a Twenty One Pilots show you are well aware that the bond between the group and their fans is beyond tight. Aside from the sing-alongs, the costumes and the overall loving, supportive spirit, there is the trusting act on their current world tour of singer Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh […]