Sambora still part of Bon Jovi says Jon

Man down: Bon Jovi are touring without Sambora, second right

Jon Bon Jovi says Richie Sambora is still a member of Bon Jovi, despite his sudden departure from the band’s current North American tour.

The guitarist failed to appear when the band kicked off a new string of live dates on April 3, and was replaced at short notice by Phil X, who stood in for him in 2011 while he attended rehab.

Bon Jovi has said “personal issues” are behind Sambora’s absence, but won’t go into detail – although he previously slammed tabloid rumours that the pair had fallen out in a struggle over control of the band.

Speaking on Ellen Degeneres’ TV chat show this week, the singer said: “All I can say, honest to God, is that it’s a personal matter, but we love him very much. He’s absolutely still a member of the band.”

Just after his sudden departure Sambora tweeted that he “had to stay in LA to take care of a personal matter.” He later added: “Hey everybody, just want you all to know I’m all good. Thanks for the positive vibes.”

Bon Jovi said the secret of the band’s longevity is: “We like each other. We all have a lot of give and take.” Looking back over their career he reflected: “You had to love each other. You had to go through some ups and downs, but in the big picture, you had to really like each other.”

The band completed their US tour last night, then head to South Africa and Europe, reaching the UK in June.

Bon Jovi UK tour 2013

Jun 8: Manchester Etihad Stadium
Jun 9: Birmingham Villa Park
Jun 12: Cardiff City Stadium
Jun 13: Sunderland Stadium Of Light
Jun 15: Dublin Slaine Castle
Jun 16: Isle of Wight Festival
Jul 3: Glasgow Hampden Park
Jul 5: British Summer Time Festival, London

Classic Rock

Def Lep still aim to surprise in Vegas

Elvis on yo ass: Elliott

Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott has admitted the band have their work cut out trying to surprise fans during their Las Vegas residency.

The band is midway through a series of shows at the Hard Rock Hotel And Casino, where they’re performing classic album Hysteria in full.

And Elliott accepts that means most people think they know what they’re going to get during the evening.

In the video below, showing scenes from Def Lep’s final rehearsal, he tells Fuse: “Once we start Hysteria everyone knows what they’re going to get. So we have to make a conscious effort, knowing they don’t know what they’re going to get for the first half of the show.

“With eleven performances we can do literally eleven different sets. We’re going deep – the first album, which we don’t visit too often; a couple of tracks from High And Dry which haven’t been played in years, or have never been played.”

As guitarist Phil Collen proudly proclaims the show has come in under budget, Elliott hints at his costume plans: “I’m not going to have a mullet and ripped jeans. It’s Vegas – I’m going all Elvis on your ass…”

Classic Rock

DOES ANYONE STILL READ HERE????

Hello out there……….(I think I hear an echo).

Its been over a year since I wrote on this blog and I thought I’d never write here again.  But then I got a sweet comment from someone telling  me she missed it followed by a request to review Poco’s new recording.  Plus, one of my favorite artists has come out with a new album - the first in a decade (more on that later, and you probably know who I’m talking about).

And on top of all this, ….I am starting to regain some of my passions after five long years of dealing with my son’s drug addiction (he has 6 months clean today!)

So you’ve been warned:

I’M COMING BACK TO THIS BLOG!  If you read this, spread the word and look for a new post by tomorrow.

Peace, Love and Hope,

Barbara (aka Layla)
Layla’s Classic Rock

Black Thought Confirms “Talented Mr.Trotter” LP Still in Works

In a sit down with TheUberUrban.Com, Black Thought confirms he’s still working on his solo album, The Talented Mr.Trotter, writing a book and working on a movie. He also speaks on changes to his lifestyle.

HipHopSite.Com

Bon Jovi still gets stage fright

Job to be done: Jon Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi admits he still suffers from stage fright as his band gear up for their 2013 world tour.

He’s been playing to audiences of tens of thousands for decades and he knows when it comes to showtime he can deliver the goods.

But it’s in the weeks running up to hitting the road that nerves hit him.

The singer tells the Express: “You have those same old neuroses – a voice in one ear saying, ‘You can do it,’ and a voice in the other ear saying, ‘No you can’t.’”

Bon Jovi’s Because We Can tour backs the release of upcoming album What About Now, which the singer says contains more social commentary than their previous releases. The band will play a series of UK stadium and festival shows in June and July – dates below.

Meanwhile, the vocalist says he’s received several offers to appear on reality TV talent shows, but he always says no.

He tells Music News: “It’s hard for the talent – they’re thrust into a huge spotlight, they win these things then they’re expected to have a record that’s on a par with the greats. I had 23 years to write my first record.

“You see them there: they can hit the high note, then a year later they’re a trivia question. It’s a big ask of these kids.”

The 50-year-old’s family are still recovering from the shock of daughter Stephanie’s drugs overdose. But he says they’re strong enough to get through anything because of his relationship with wife Dorothea.

“I got very lucky,” says Bon Jovi. “I’ve got a great girl who still loves me. I got it right first time.”

Bon Jovi UK shows 2013

Jun 8: Manchester Etihad Stadium
Jun 9: Birmingham Villa Park
Jun 12: Cardiff City Stadium
Jun 13: Sunderland Stadium Of Light
Jun 15: Dublin Slaine Castle
Jun 16: Isle of Wight Festival
Jul 3: Glasgow Hampden Park
Jul 5: British Summer Time Festival, London

Classic Rock

Newsted still doesn’t regret quitting Metallica

When to say when: Newsted, right, with Metallica

Former Metallica man Jason Newsted has recounted the moment he chose to quit the thrash giants – almost exactly 12 years after he made his decision.

The bassist joined the band in 1986 soon after the death of Cliff Burton. His departure was announced in February 2001, but he’d called a meeting the previous month at which he explained why he thought they needed a year away. When James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett refused, he knew he had to go.

Speaking on Nikki Sixx’s radio show Newsted says: “One of the most important things in life – but especially when we do this kind of accelerated lifestyle – is when to say when.”

He’d become a Metallica member just 25 days after the bus crash that killed Burton, and seven days after that he embarked on his first world tour with them. Asked if it was a “massive amount of stress” he replies: “So much. On everybody: 22-23-year-old kids, metalheads, all dress the same, act the same, feel the same, drink the same. We didn’t know about the grieving process.”

From the moment they started that tour, he says, they “didn’t turn the faucet off until 2001.” He continues: “We went so hard and so long for 15 years. There was never an assessment of the mental deal. Nobody ever came to say, ‘How you doing, bro?’ in a compassionate, caring manner.

“It was like, ‘Keep rockin’, guys – you’re making the world go round for however many thousand people that get paid by what you’re doing.’

“When it came to it, 12 years ago tomorrow, I was addicted to painkillers, my neck was jacked, James was considerably drunk. They were having their first divorces, first children. Big stuff going on in their lives.

“I called the meeting. I said, ‘Dudes, look at us. My suggestion is: one year off, everybody recalibrate, get back to this and let’s go crush it again.’ That’s what I said. Those words.”

Newsted says he “blew himself out” when it took his bandmates less than 25 minutes to reject the idea. “Management comes in, ‘MTV, next thing, make us money,’ and I’m a puddle on the floor. I’m like, ‘There’s my answer.’”

He was replaced by Robert Trujillo in 2003 and later went on to settle his differences with his ex-colleagues, appearing at their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in 2009 and also at their 30th anniversary shows two years later. He recently admitted he knew he’d been “a dick” during parts of his Metallica career. He’s now working with his own band, Newsted, who recently released their debut EP, Metal.

Classic Rock

Meine: There’s still life in those bloody old Scorpions

Unfinished business: Scorpions (Klaus Meine centre)

Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine has explained why the veteran German band decided to abandon their retirement plans.

Three years ago the Scorps announced that they had decided to wind down their career; now they’ve changed their minds.

In an interview in the new issue of Classic Rock, Meine explained the volte-face as follows: “As the emotion built, it [not retiring] became a gradual decision. It’s one thing to say, ‘This is going to be the end of the Scorpions’ and another to do it. Our Sting In The Tail album [2010] was such a success that a whole new generation of fans joined the party. It was amazing. And you know that with all the best parties it’s sometimes hard to find the door?”

There are plans for a new Scorpions album, featuring leftovers from the early 1980s.

“We started that over a year ago,” Meine confirmed. “It will be material that was never finished; songs with pure Scorpions DNA from a very exciting time. Once we close the book on the crazy touring schedule that’s something we’ll pick up again.”

There may also be an album of all-new Scorpions material in the pipeline.

“At this point nothing is out of the question,” Meine said. “When we said adios with SITT, our label, Sony Music, cried: ‘No, no, no… what about this idea? What about that idea?’ There are some offers you just can’t refuse. I don’t want to say too much right now but I can reassure you there is still life in those bloody old Scorpions.”

He concluded: “We’ll just have to see what’s realistic. We’re working on a documentary movie about the band’s history. We filmed the tour’s big finale in Munich which was very emotional.”

Read the full interview with Klaus Meine in the new issue of Classic Rock, on sale now.

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Buy the print edition from all good newsagents or direct from www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk.

Subscribe to Classic Rock now and save up to 40% – just £10.79 by quarterly direct debit or £46.49 a year.

Classic Rock

Classic Rock Still A Hit With Advertisers

It’s hard to escape the sound of classic rock these days. Not that I want to. It’s not just us classic rock fans that still have respect for the sound of classic rock, however. We’ve heard various classic rock hits used through the years as soundtracks for television shows (think Sopranos) and for commercial advertising. [...]

Real Rock News

Music Still in My Soul….

It kills me that I have let this blog fall to the wayside.

If you would have told me I’d stop writing here my response would have been, “yeah, right!  why would I ever do that!?”

Life sometimes takes us on a journey we never wanted to take.  And the one I’m on* is still robbing me from the joy I used to find in writing about my passion:  music.  I still love it, listen to it constantly (Bowie’s Starman is in my ear right this minute, 100.3).  But – just can’t seem to get anything on “paper”.

Now I write about heroin addiction and how its affected my life, and continues to challenge me daily to stay strong, to realize I have no control over my son, and to just keeping hoping for the best and sending good thoughts out to the universe.

Layla’s Classic Rock

Snoop’s “Blast” Drink Still Causing Controversy

The text of this legislation should read “have you ever tasted this crap?” Milwaukee Youth Group Aims to Limit Sales of Snoop’s “Blast” A Milwaukee, Wisconsin Alderman is seeking to limit the sales of a controversial alcoholic beverage being marketed…
hip hop music