Chris M. Junior

James Hetfield wasn’t joking when he said Metallica had some “awesome, different surprises” in store for the fourth night of his band’s 30th anniversary celebration last month in San Francisco. The guests on Dec. 10 at the Fillmore included Black Sabbath‘s Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, and their performance of “Paranoid” with Metallica is part of an authorized 44-minute video that recently hit

Ed Roman, a guitar maker and luthier whose famous clientele included Ace Frehley of Kiss as well as Ted Nugent, has died, according to a recent post on his company’s Web site. Roman’s age, as well as the cause and location of his death, were not disclosed.

It’s a fact that Guns N’ Roses spent an extraordinary amount of time recording ‘Chinese Democracy.’ But according to GNR bassist Tommy Stinson, the bulk of the blame for the drawn-out process really falls on the band’s label for failing to understand what the musicians needed.

As 1976 came to a close, Styx was a moderately successful band still breaking in a new guitarist/singer. Two years (and two albums) later, the band — fueled by the fresh songwriting and six-string contributions of Tommy Shaw — was among the best-selling acts in America. Styx recently revisited its platinum-selling one-two punch of 1977′s ‘The Grand Illusion’ and 1978′s ‘Pieces of Eight’ on tour, a

Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers can belt it out with the best of them. And given the opportunity, E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren certainly has the chops to play a lengthy, everybody-look-at-me solo if Bruce Springsteen really needed one.

As a high-profile rock star for 30 years, Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx knows how to work it for photographers when the cameras are focused on him.

He sings just one line, and he doesn’t even appear onscreen. But former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant certainly makes his presence felt in the video for English opera star Alfie Boe’s new version of the Tim Buckley tune ‘Song to the Siren.’

As John Fogerty gears up to perform entire classic Creedence Clearwater Revival albums from start to finish at select solo concerts in November, he continues to ponder the possibility of someday reuniting with surviving CCR members Stu Cook and Doug Clifford.

To mark the 20th anniversary of U2‘s ‘Achtung Baby,’ The Killers, Depeche Mode, The Fray and other notable artists have contributed to a start-to-finish reinterpretation of the classic album. ‘AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered,’ also featuring a remix of U2′s original version of ‘Even Better Than the Real Thing,’ will be included in Q magazine‘s 25th anniversary issue, which hits newsstands October 26. Rea

Loud and heavy music defines Zakk Wylde. He works out to Ministry, loves Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, and was Ozzy Osbourne‘s longtime guitarist. He also serves as the leader of Black Label Society. But during those long stretches of travel while on tour, Wylde likes to dial it down and listen to mellower tunes by some notable old-school artists.

Maybe Hole singer Courtney Love should just stay away from Vanity Fair writers. Love, who in a 1992 VF story apparently gave the impression she used illegal drugs while pregnant, has now raised an entirely different kind of ruckus. When asked recently by the magazine whether she’s still angry about late husband and Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain committing suicide in 1994, Love was candid and specific

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office announced Wednesday that ex-Warrant singer Jani Lane died as a result of “acute ethanol intoxication,” otherwise known as alcohol poisoning.