The Hu premieres second part of “Black Thunder” video

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Josh Johnson

The Hu has premiered the second part of the band’s “Black Thunder” video.

The clip picks up where the first part left off, in the middle of an epic battle. You can watch it streaming now on YouTube.

“The music video is split into two parts and conveys the core values of men through visuals,” says vocalist Gala. “Our producer Dashka chose a unique location in Mongolia to shoot the video, where we had a great time riding the horses in the vast grassland of our countryside. We hope that our pride in our culture shines through, as we aimed to bring viewers joy and a piece of our culture through this video.”

The first “Black Thunder” video premiered in July and has over 1.5 million YouTube views.

“Black Thunder” appears on The Hu’s upcoming album, Rumble of Thunder, due out September 2. You can catch them on tour alongside Five Finger Death Punch, Megadeth and Fire from the Gods.

Eddie Vedder celebrates Joe Strummer’s 70th birthday with The Mescaleros cover

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Josh Johnson

Eddie Vedder has released a cover of “Long Shadow,” a song by late The Clash icon Joe Strummer and his backing band, The Mescaleros.

The Pearl Jam frontman recorded the track in honor of what would have been Strummer’s 70th birthday this Sunday, August 21.

The original “Long Shadow” was included on the 2003 Mescaleros album Streetcore, which was released a year after Strummer’s death in 2002.

“I just think that what Joe did with the Mescaleros and those records, and those songs, and those words, it was a very communal sound,” Vedder says. “I think when you have a communal sound, the listener feels like they can be part of that community.”

You can watch Vedder’s “Long Shadow” performance streaming now on YouTube.

Mark Hoppus performs during live, in-person show for first time post-cancer

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Josh Johnson

Mark Hoppus is returning to performing live following his battle with cancer.

The Blink-182 bassist/vocalist joined the up-and-coming rock outfit Beauty School Dropout for a performance of their song “Almost Famous.” Hoppus also guests on the studio version of the track, which is out now.

You can watch footage of the onstage collaboration posted to BSD’s Instagram Story.

Hoppus shared that he’d been diagnosed with cancer in June 2021. After a few months of chemotherapy treatment, he was declared “cancer free” in September 2021.

Hoppus technically played his first post-cancer performance during his Blink bandmate Travis Barker‘s Halloween streaming concert last October. However, the Beauty School Dropout show marked his first live and in-person performance since his diagnosis.

Beauty School Dropout, by the way, is signed to Hoppus’ new Verswire project, a “venture capital music startup” that also features Fall Out Boy‘s Pete Wentz as strategic adviser. In addition to collaborating with them on “Almost Famous,” Hoppus also appears in the video for the BSD song “Assassin,” as does Wentz.

Five Finger Death Punch hits the road in video for ’AfterLife’ single “Times Like These”

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Josh Johnson

Five Finger Death Punch has premiered the video for “Times Like These,” the current single off the band’s new album, AfterLife.

The clip follows the Las Vegas metallers as they travel on their recent European tour. It features footage filmed in 26 cities and 19 countries.

You can watch the “Times Like These” video streaming now on YouTube.

AfterLife, the ninth FFDP album, is out now. Its title track, which also served as the record’s lead single, hit #1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

Five Finger Death Punch will launch a U.S. tour in support of AfterLife Friday in Ridgefield, Washington. The bill also includes Megadeth, The Hu and Fire from the Gods.

You can also catch FFDP on their fall tour alongside country star Brantley Gilbert, which kicks off in November.

Red Hot Chili Peppers to receive 2022 Global Icon Award VMA, release new single “Tippa My Tongue”

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Josh Johnson

Red Hot Chili Peppers will receive the Global Icon Award at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.

The honor, which was given to Foo Fighters in 2021, “celebrates an artist or band whose unparalleled career and continued impact and influence has maintained a unique level of global success in music and beyond, leaving an indelible mark on the music landscape.”

In addition to being named Global Icons, RHCP will perform at the VMA ceremony, joining a lineup that already includes Måneskin and Panic! at the Disco. The last time the “Californication” outfit performed on the VMAs was all the way back in 2000, when they won the Video Vanguard Award.

The Chili Peppers are also VMA nominees this year. They’re up for the Best Rock prize with their video for “Black Summer.”

The 2022 MTV VMAs take place next Sunday, August 28.

In other Peps news, the band has released a new song called “Tippa My Tongue.” The track is the first single off RHCP’s upcoming album Return of the Dream Canteen, due out October 14.

You can listen to “Tippa My Tongue” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

Return of the Dream Canteen is the second Red Hot Chili Peppers album of 2022, following April’s Unlimited Love.

RHCP’s current U.S. tour continues Friday in Chicago. The headlining outing is scheduled into mid-September.

Here’s the Return of the Dream Canteen track list:

“Tippa My Tongue”
“Peace and Love”
“Reach Out”
“Eddie”
“Fake as Fu@k”
“Bella”
“Roulette”
“My Cigarette”
“Afterlife”
“Shoot Me a Smile”
“Handful”
“The Drummer”
“Bag of Grins”
“La La La La La La La La”
“Copperbelly”
“Carry Me Home”
“In the Snow”

Travis Barker reveals he has COVID-19 two months after hospitalization

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Danielle Long

Travis Barker can’t seem to catch a break.

Taking to Instagram Thursday, August 18, the drummer revealed that he’s tested positive for COVID-19.

“Covid sucks I’d rather be playing drums,” he wrote next to a photo of him playing with drumsticks.

The news comes just two months after Barker, 46, suffered from a “severe life-threatening” case of pancreatitis. Days after the musician was spotted in a stretcher with wife, Kourtney Kardashian, by his side, he took to Twitter then to explain what happened.

“I went in for an endoscopy Monday feeling great. But After dinner, I developed excruciating pain and have been hospitalized ever since,” Barker said in a July 2 tweet.

“During the endoscopy, I had a very small polyp removed right in a very sensitive area, usually handled by specialists, which unfortunately damaged a critical pancreatic drainage tube,” he continued. “This resulted in severe life-threatening pancreatitis.”

“I am so very very grateful that with intensive treatment I am currently much better,” Barker wrote.

Fried and salty: Twenty One Pilots react to “honor” of being named Five Guys Featured Artist

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Josh Johnson

Twenty One Pilots have won everything from a Grammy and a Billboard Music Award to a VMA and a Kids’ Choice Award throughout their career. They’re even the first band to have every song on an album be RIAA certified. But now, they’ve finally achieved perhaps the most prestigious accolade in all of music.

We’re, of course, talking about being the Five Guys Featured Artist. Each month, the burger chain picks a musician to spotlight by playing their music in its restaurants. To celebrate the launch of the “Stressed Out” duo’s Icy tour, Five Guys named Twenty One Pilots the Featured Artist of August 2022.

The news reached the ears — and, presumably, taste buds — of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, who understandably tweeted, “What an honor.”

By the way, this isn’t the first time Twenty One Pilots have crossed paths with the culinary world. Last year, they teamed up with Chipotle to create a signature burrito.

Twenty One Pilots’ Icy tour launched Thursday in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is currently scheduled into September. The outing supports the new Twenty One Pilots album Scaled and Icy, which was released in May 2021.

David Ellefson announces collaborative album with Jeff Scott Soto

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Josh Johnson

Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has announced a collaborative album with Sons of Apollo frontman and onetime Journey vocalist Jeff Scott Soto.

The record is titled Vacation in the Underworld and will arrive October 7.

Vacation in the Underworld is the first joint album from Ellefson and Soto under their Ellefson-Soto monkier. The duo launched first launched the project in March 2021, when Ellefson was still in Megadeth. Ellefson was fired from the thrash outfit two months later, in May 2021, after sexually explicit video of him leaked online.

Since his dismissal from Megadeth, Ellefson has started a number of different bands, including The Lucid and Dieth. He’ll also be playing Megadeth songs this fall on tour with his band Kings of Thrash.

Here’s the Vacation in the Underworld track list:

“Vacation in the Underworld”
“Like a Bullet”
“Sharpen the Sword”
“The Reason”
“S.T.N.”
“The Revolution”
“Celebrity Trash”
“Live to Die Another Day”
“The Day Before Tomorrow”
“Hercules”
“Rise to Win”
“Out of the Blue”*
“Lone Star*
“Writing on the Wall”*

*Bonus track

Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds reveals what he learned from Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Megan Stone

Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Tyler Robinson Foundation)

Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds has a tremendous amount of respect for Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and revealed he sat down with the leader to discuss how he can help the war-torn country.

Speaking with People, Dan spoke about barring his band’s music from being sold in Russia after the country invaded Ukraine. Since then, he has worked to bring relief to Ukraine as an ambassador for UNITED24.

“We got in touch with people over there and had the honor of sitting down with President Zelenskyy on Zoom,” he recalled. “[We were] able to ask him how we could actually help more than just words and thoughts and all the things that come with social media.”

Reynolds continued, “The interesting thing he said was, ‘First of all, thoughts, words, those things actually do matter. So get on our social media, and don’t forget about us. Keep talking about us. That’s how it gets in the news.'”

The “Enemy” singer said that advice can help bring change by pressuring those in power to do more. “Ukraine is being bullied, and children are being killed,” he rallied.

Elsewhere in the interview, the singer opened up about making the albums Mercury – Act 1 and Mercury – Act 2. He said the albums were born from a period of loss, adding, “It’s been incredibly cathartic.” He lost several people over the past five years — including a manager, an ex-girlfriend, one of his best friends and his sister-in-law — to cancer.

“When you lose that many people close to you, or even one person, it makes you rethink life,” Reynolds said. “I couldn’t help but write about that.”

He said making music is “a therapy session for me” and he writes “a song almost every day, and it’s like a journal entry.”

I Prevail shares final preview of upcoming ‘True Power’ album with “Self-Destruction”

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Josh Johnson

I Prevail is offering one final preview of the band’s upcoming True Power album before it arrives this Friday.

The latest track is called “Self-Destruction,” which a press release proclaims to be a “straight-up banger.” You can listen to “Self-Destruction” and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

True Power is the follow-up to 2019’s Grammy-nominated Trauma. It also includes the previously released songs “Body Bag” and “Bad things.”

I Prevail will launch a U.S. tour in support of True Power September 9 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Pierce the Veil will also be on the bill.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)