There’s a fine line between “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “there’s always room for improvement”, and more often than not the re-recording of old albums usually falls snugly into the former category. No matter how much more accomplished the revised version might sound from a technical standpoint, the overall results rarely change. Lightning in a bottle cannot be captured twice.
Rock music legend and guitar innovator Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen died one year ago today, October 6th, 2020 from complications with his long battle with cancer and related illnesses. In the years since his death we have seen countless tributes to his greatness, especially by Eddie’s son Wolf Van Halen, and his new band Mammoth WVH. Both Wolf and Eddie’s widow – Janie Van Halen, bands and other luminaries are also paying tribute today. We highly reccoment picking up ERUPTION: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen (10/5/21; Hachette Books; 9780306826658; $28) is a major biography by two music journalists who knew him best, authors Brad Tolinski and Chris Gil available for order now.
Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello paid tribute to Eddie Van Halen at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees virtual ceremony last night, November 7th, 2020. The program aired on HBO and to stream on HBO Max November 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will replace the live 35th annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony that was originally scheduled for May 2 of this year. Eddie died on October 6 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. The tribute was announced within days of his passing. The band was founded in 1974 and Van Halen was inducted into the Hall of Fame with his band in 2007. The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame 2020 inductee class included Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T. Rex, and Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees Jon Landau and Irving Azoff. Continue reading
Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Kirk Hammett of Metallica and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello will pay tribute to Eddie Van Halen at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees ceremony, now a livestream instead of a live concert and induction event. The program will be available on HBO and to stream on HBO Max November 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will replace the live 35th annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony that was originally scheduled for May 2 of this year. Eddie died on October 6 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. The tribute was announced within days of his passing. The band was founded in 1974 and Van Halen was inducted into the Hall of Fame with his band in 2007. The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame 2020 inductee class includes Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T. Rex, and Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees Jon Landau and Irving Azoff. Continue reading
Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen was honored last night at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards in Los Angeles last night (October 14) held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood without an audience in attendance and livestreamed to fans around. The show played a clip of Van Halen performing the smash hit “Panama” at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, followed by a single shot of the world-famous and iconic Frankenstrat guitar on stage in the spotlight. Kelly Clarkson, who hosted the program, paid tribute to Eddie at the ceremony, saying: “Just a few days ago, a true giant was taken from us: Eddie Van Halen. He was a legendary guitarist, an amazing musician and an incredible songwriter.” After the performance of “Panama”, she added: “That moment is one that all who saw will always remember.”
Sad news to report as music legend and guitar innovator Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen has died. He was 65. The news was broken by Eddie’s son Wolfgang (Wolfie) on social media. Eddie battled tongue and throat cancer for years, the more recent struggles kept mostly a secret, and the musician rarely appeared in public or discussed his ongoing battle. We’ll continue to track this story as news becomes available, and we send our condolences to the Van Halen family, friends, peers, and millions of fans everywhere.
South of Eden, a classic rock-esq band from Ohio, release an EP, The Talk (LAVA Music), to eager supporters, new admirers, and all-around music connoisseurs. The Talk presents listeners with a wonderful classic rock era sound. Think the mid to late seventies through the early nineties; when rock was fun, light, airy, and full of awesome guitar riffs and harmonies that sweep you off your feet and float you away to rock and roll heaven. It may sound like an over-exaggeration, but pick up The Talk and you will smile in understanding.
Ghost Cult is bringing you the premiere of a brand new song from Shawn Perry – “Six Feet Apart”. This ode to love in the time of the pandemic is a funny and fun summertime jam. Check out the single and the visualizer here!
KISS has announced the rescheduled dates for the latest U.S. leg of its “End Of The Road” tour. The shows, which will have support from David Lee Roth (Van Halen), will kick off on August 18, 2021 in Mansfield, Massachusetts and will conclude on October 6, 2021 in Lafayette, Louisiana.Continue reading
For our 100th Episode of the Ghost Cult Podcast, Keefy interviewed Bobby Blitz (Overkill) and Mark Menghi (Metal Allegiance, also interviewed in podcast #2) about their new band BPMD, and their debut album of covers American Made out now on Napalm Records. We talked to the guys about how the new supergroup, also featuring Mike Portnoy and Phil Demmel came together, why they chose to cover only American bands, how they chose deep cuts over popular songs, how BPMD is different than other bands that come together to create covers, what the music industry might look like after the coronavirus, whether the band will ever perform live or not and more! You can buy American Made at this link and hear our chat right now!