Rock Daypop Archives

After revealing last year that he’d been diagnosed with lung cancer, The Rolling Stone’s Ronnie Wood has confirmed that the doctors have given him a clean bill of health. “I had three months of check-ups and it was all clear and they said go and enjoy life,” Wood said in a statement. Last August, Wood went under the knife to have half part of his lung removed before the cancer had the chance to spread to other parts of his body. “If your body is riddled with cancer, it’s a losing cause. Luckily, all mine was contained within the left lung and I was fortunate enough to get shot of it, bang. There was none in the rest of my body so I didn’t require chemo.” Wood is already up and ready to hit the road with the Stones once again this Summer for a new tour through England. It’ll be the band’s first tour back home in five years. The band has also said that they’re currently working on some new music, in an attempt to put out another new album.

Twister Sister frontman Dee Snider is making his way to Broadway to join the Broadway concert production of “Rocktopia” as a special guest vocalist during the fourth week of the show’s engagement, April 9 through 15. “Rocktopia” began its run at the Broadway Theatre on March 27, and is a special concert event that blends the works of classic artists, such as Mozart and Beethoven, with the rock ‘n’ roll music of bands such as Journey, Queen, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and U2. During his run on “Rocktopia,” Snider will be backed by a five-piece rock band, a 30-person choir and a 20-piece orchestra. Vocalists appearing in “Rocktopia” comes from everywhere from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra to Green Day’s “American Idiot” to the Metropolitan Opera. For information on the run, visit Rocktopia.com.

Jethro Tull’s founder, singer and flautist, Ian Anderson, has hand-picked a 50-song track list from the band’s 21 studio albums to compile a 3-disc box set to celebrate the band’s 50th Anniversary. 50 for 50 will be out May 25th and is loosely arranged in chronological order to capture the band’s various musical phases. In addition to 50 for 50, Jethro Tull will also release 50th Anniversary Hits, a condensed, 15-track collection that will be available on CD and vinyl. The CD version will be released May 25th, alongside 50 for 50, while the vinyl version will arrive August 31st.

Def Leppard just announced a career-spanning box set series, with the first of four packages to be launched on June 1. Volume One contains the band’s first four studio albums — On Through the Night (1980), High ’n’ Dry (1981), Pyromania (1983) and Hysteria (1987), to be presented in eight-LP and seven-CD editions. The set is presented in a brand new sleeve, complete with a hardback book, a replica of the band’s self-titled 1979 EP and written introductions by singer Joe Elliott, guitarist Phil Collen, bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen. Def Leppard’s Volume One is now available for pre-order on vinyl and CD; details on the next three sets will be revealed later. Def Leppard will also be touring with Journey this summer throughout the U.S.

Metallica’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct debuted a few years ago, but the legendary rockers have almost managed to repeat history as the record has climbed back into the Top 10, ascending to No. 2 last week. Hardwired… To Self-Destruct was topped only by rapper XXXTentacion’s sophomore album, ?, which moved 131,000 units. In late February, Metallica announced the second North American leg of their ‘WorldWired’ tour and ticket sales helped to lift the album to the No. 2 chart position. Ticket purchases included an album redemption offer where fans had the choice of receiving a copy of the album. Metallica will be playing only select North American appearances between September 02 and March 13 of next year.  You can see the full list of dates here.