RIP: All Bad Things Must Come To An End is the name of Mötley Crue’s upcoming event to announce the details of its farewell tour. The press conference will take place in Los Angeles on January 28.
In an interview with Billboard last year, singer Vince Neil said, “I think we’ll start the tour around May — I’m just kind of guessing on that, but in the spring of ’14, and we’ll do one more time around the world and kinda call it quits. It’s just that time. We’re going out on top. We don’t want to be some band that people are like, ‘Oh, they’re playing a club now,’ that kind of band. We still sell out arenas, have stadium stuff and things like that, so let’s go out when it’s a big deal.”
Last October, bandmate Nikki Sixx told RollingStone.com, “Someone said to me the other day, ‘Won’t you be sad?’ I go, ‘No, I’d be sad if we were playing half-full theaters and only two band members were in the band.’ That would be sad. Sad is not taking your final bow in Los Angeles all together as four brothers. I talked to a friend the other day and they were talking about a friend of theirs who passed away. And after the funeral, they had this huge party and everybody was celebrating, drinking and telling stories about this guy and how fun he was and how much joy he gave everybody in life. That’s how I feel about Mötley Crue. When that day comes, that’s what I want: one big f***ing huge party to celebrate what we’ve done, all the good, all the bad, all the in-between. There it is, one big party, one final bow. It’s gonna be f***ing rad….”
The new ad campaign for menswear designer John Varvatos features the one and only KISS…in full makeup, no less. The footage was shot in black in white in Brooklyn and was reportedly inspired by the band’s Dressed To Kill album. Around 200 special guests were recently invited to the Varvatos boutique, which now takes up the space that once housed the legendary club CBGB; they were not told what band was going to perform. The three-minute video was then shot.
Said a Varvatos agency rep, “Throughout the years, John and I have always tried to work with musicians who are iconic, but not necessarily on the tip of your tongue or someone you would expect in a men’s fashion campaign. Kiss was known for a specific style as a band. Not only were they innovative and breakthrough with their music at the time, they were also style icons. Kiss’s sense of style not only inspired future musicians, but John and creative people of all types. And it’s been important that every person we’ve shot over the years represents both a breakthrough figure in the music industry and, style-wise, has created a point of view for themselves. KISS’s look wasn’t something you could wear to a bar mitzvah, but if you asked people what the band looked like, they would certainly be able to tell you. They created this spectacle in music and had an overpowering sound and sense of showmanship, but at the same time were really well-educated, smart men with successes outside of music.”
And more KISS news – check out the official teaser poster for the upcoming KISS documentary, You Wanted The Best You Got The Best. The film is due out later this year.
Okay, so Judas Priest is definitely not death metal. Duh! Long-running TV show The Simpsons corrected the mistake made last week when Judas Priest, who appeared on the show, were called a “death metal” band. In the episode, Homer is targeted in an anti-piracy investigation; Priest’s Rob Halford sings a parody of “Breaking The Law” in order to help nab Homer. “There’s only one surefire way to get fugitives out of a foreign building,” said an FBI agent. “Blasting death metal.” Added a Swedish consulate member (Homer pays a visit to the embassy of “piracy loving” Sweden), “Swedes love death metal, it reminds us of death!”
Metalheads were quick to chime in on the internet, pointing out the blunder. The Simpsons writers obviously heard and corrected their mistake in the following week’s intro by having Bart write on the chalkboard, “Judas Priest is not death metal.”
Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing isn’t sitting around twiddling his thumbs during his retirement…he’s building resorts. On his own estate, in fact. He’s teamed up with a property development company to build luxury holiday cabins on his own golf course in Shropshire, England. K.K. also plans to develop a spa, hotel and restaurant on the property. Video footage of K.K. announcing the deal is here.
In the works: a new album from Tesla. Wrote guitarist Frank Hannon on Facebook, “Tesla is starting rehearsals Monday for this year’s shows AND making a new album.”
Also heading back into the studio is Skid Row, who will start recording United World Rebellion – Chapter Two next month (Chapter One was released in May 2013).
Ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach has a new album coming out this March; the title is Give ‘Em Hell.
Last In Line, the band featuring ex-Dio members Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain, Claude Schnell and Vivian Campbell (now with Def Leppard), in addition to singer Andrew Freeman, is planning on recording an album of original material sometime this year.
Wrote Vivian on Facebook, “We got together in a rehearsal room this week to kick around ideas for some new songs. It’s so much fun to play with these guys and we soon came up with a bunch of great starting points. Will keep you all posted as to how things develop.” Up till now, Last In Line has mainly played live, performing music from Dio albums that included Vivian on guitar.
Ex-Runaways bandmates Cherie Currie and Lita Ford teamed up yet again recently at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood to bust out a killer performance of “Cherry Bomb.” Joining the lineup: guitar great Slash. Check out fan-filmed footage of the gig.
There’s big money in metal tours! Black Sabbath, Mötley Crüe, Kiss, Iron Maiden and more made Pollstar’s Top 200 North American Tours chart for 2013. Hard rockin’ bands (and their gross tour earnings) on the list include:
#56 Black Sabbath – $19.7 million (21 shows)
#64 Rush – $14.9 million (25 shows)
#77 Mötley Crüe – $12.3 million (43 shows)
#79 Kiss – $12.2 million (26 Shows)
#143 Iron Maiden – $6.0 million
#191 Alice Cooper – $4.2 million
#200 Def Leppard – $3.6 million