Month: December 2022

Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green is battling Stage 4 cancer. Green’s mom Carol Namatame broke the news in a Facebook post on Christmas (December 25), writing alongside a handful of photos of Green: “Please send healing vibes for my son, Jeremiah Green, who is battling stage 4 cancer. He’s is so strong and so brave and hanging in there!”

Seattle radio DJ Marco Collins and friend of Green’s also shared a post on Facebook about the drummer’s diagnosis. “Just found out my friend Jeremiah Green (Modest Mouse) has pulled off the band’s tour because he is currently undergoing chemo treatments to battle Stage 4 Cancer. Despite having a stage 4 diagnosis, his prognosis is good! Also his oncologist is a big MM fan (so he’s got that in his corner!) Sending him nothing but love & healing energy! Get well buddy. We’re all pulling for you!”

Green co-founded Modest Mouse with frontman Isaac Brock and bassist Eric Judy in 1993. He’s been part of the band’s lineup since then (with the exception of a brief departure from 2003-04) and the longest tenured member aside from Brock.  Modest Mouse recently wrapped up a special tour to commemorate the 25th anniversary of their sophomore album The Lonesome Crowded West. Green was able to play the earlier dates of the tour, but ended up pulling out early due to his diagnosis.

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Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler has been diagnosed with pneumonia. The bassist’s wife, Gloria Butler, confirmed the news on Instagram, sharing photos of her husband in the doctor’s office with the caption: “After day 1 at Dr with my husband & was told he was negative for flu, Covid, strep & tonsillitis; I said…well, he’s positive for being a pain in my arse. Day 2 at Dr, he was told he has pneumonia. Although, still positive for being a pain; I now feel guilty for thinking that.”

Butler himself has not yet addressed his illness, though he has been active online, sharing a Christmas message of his own on Instagram, writing: “Wishing everybody a very Merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.”

Butler has been keeping busy this year; in March he linked up with Apocalyptica to perform on their standalone single ‘I’ll Get Through It’. He later appeared at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in Los Angeles, performing two Sabbath tracks – ‘Supernaut’ and ‘Paranoid’ – with Sebastian Bach, Lars Ulrich and the surviving Foo Fighters.

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John 5 is back on social media for what he has dubbed ‘Mötley Monday’, this time performing along with the Crüe track “Looks That Kill.” The guitarist posted the clip on Instagram along with the caption: ‘Hope everybody had a great Christmas. It’s Motley Monday. Looks that kill. @motleycrue @rikirachtman @fender’

John 5 and Mötley Crüe will be out on the road together in 2023, kicking-off with an appearance in the U.S this February at the Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City, NJ.  As has been widely reported, John 5 is stepping in for Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars, who announced his retirement from touring due to his ongoing painful struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis.

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Iron Maiden launched their Legacy Of The Beast Tour in May 2018, which wrapped up four years later in October 2022. The worldwide tour included 140 shows in 33 countries, and now Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson is taking fans behind the scenes of the tour from his perspective, which you can view in two YouTube segments:  Part 1: (click here); and Part 2: (click here).

Iron Maiden will next be bringing a new tour to Europe in the summer of 2023, including arena shows in the UK & Ireland, dubbed the Future Past Tour. The new trek will feature previously unperformed songs from the band’s most recent studio album, Senjutsu along with other classic cuts.  The Future Past Tour is scheduled to kick-off in May in Slovenia in May 2023, and will wrap up in August in Germany.  For details, head here.

IRON MAIDEN’s BRUCE DICKINSON Takes You Behind The Scenes Of “Legacy Of The Beast” Tour in Part # 2 of New Video Series

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Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl brought out Jack Black to perform Rush’s “The Spirit of Radio” for the seventh night of Grohl’s and producer Greg Kurstin’s 2022 Hanukkah Sessions.  The Hanukkah Sessions celebrate the music of Jewish artists, including Rush’s Geddy Lee, whose family were Holocaust survivors. Lee’s mother Mary Weinrib, who appeared with him on an episode of Grohls From Cradle to Stage docuseries, died in July 2021 at the age of 95.

The 2022 Hanukkah Sessions ended on the eighth night of the Festival of Lights. Recorded live at Los Angeles’ Largo on Dec. 5, this year’s sessions have featured Grohl and Kurstin performing Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll” with Karen O, Beck’s “E-Pro” with Beck himself, Grohl’s daughter Violet covering Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen” and Inara George performing 10cc’s “The Things We Do For Love” alongside Tenacious D.

Grohl and Kurstin wrote in the YouTube caption of their performance: “Geddy Lee’s mother was so proud of her son that she put Rush posters up all over their family store and gave away Rush albums to kids who didn’t have money to buy them. In tribute to that proud Jewish mother, we give you — free of charge—’The Spirit Of Radio’ featuring Jack Black!”
Take a look at Grohl and Black’s performance – here.

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Metallica shared a new live video for “Lux Æterna,” the lead single off the band’s upcoming album, 72 Seasons. The performance was recorded during Metallica’s Helping Hands benefit show last week, and marked the first time the band played “Lux Æterna” in concert.

The Helping Hands concert helped raise money for Metallica’s All Within My Hands charity foundation. The show also featured a surprise appearance by St. Vincent during the band’s performance of “Nothing Else Matters.”

The studio version of “Lux Æterna” is currently #1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, having reached the top of the ranking in just two weeks.  Metallica’s upcoming LP 72 Seasons, the follow-up to 2016’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, will officially be released on April 14. The band will be hitting the road in support of the album on a giant worldwide tour in 2023-2024.

You can watch the performance of Lux Æterna streaming now on YouTube.

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