Rock News: April
4/1 It’s “Punk Rock Day” in Las Vegas in celebration of The Punk Rock Museum’s first anniversary. The Museum is “the world’s most comprehensive attraction dedicated to the music, the culture and the absurdity of Punk Rock.”
4/1 Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Greta Van Fleet, R.E.M, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder and Jon Bon Jovi are among the 200 artists who sign a letter produced the Artist Rights Alliance expressing concerns that AI has devalued human creativity by the way art is used to train AI language models – amounting to an “assault on human creativity.”
4/1 Foo Fighters are named the Rock Artist of the Year at the twelfth annual iHeart Radio Music Awards at the Dolby Theater in L.A. Metallica receives the Rock Album of the Year honor. The Rock Song of the Year winner is Linkin Park for “Lost.”
4/2 Punk’s Scowl posts on social media that they will not play the ‘Welcome To Rockville Festival’ in Daytona Beach, due to the U.S. Army’s sponsorship of the event.
4/2 Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese sits behind the kit for A Perfect Circle during the latter band’s “Sessanta” tour. It’s the first time he performs with the Maynard James Keenan-fronted outfit in 13 years.
4/4 Kid Rock says former President Donald Trump’s music choices for rallies and other political events are “freakin’ the best” despite some media criticism over his preferences and artists (too numerous to list) demanding he stop the unauthorized use of their music. “He’s playing a lot of artists that probably don’t agree with his politics, to put it lightly, but what does that say about him as a man,” Rock asks rhetorically on Fox’s “The Ingraham Angle.”
4/5 “Ohio Players,” by The Black Keys (pictured above), arrives with the infectious lead single “Beautiful People (Stay High),” which was co-written by The Black Keys Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach along with Beck and producer Dan “The Automator” Nakamura.
4/5 Vampire Weekend deliver “Only God Was Above Us.” It is their first album since 2019. The band’s fifth album features the tracks “Gen-X Cops,” “Capricorn” and “Classical.”
4/5 Five Finger Death Punch present a digital deluxe edition of “AfterLife,” the band’s ninth studio album. The set contains has the album’s original tracks plus four bonus tracks: three acoustic versions of “The End,” “Judgement Day” and “Thanks For Asking” plus “This Is The Way,” featuring the late Rapper DMX.
4/5 Firehouse singer CJ Snare dies of cardiac arrest at age 64. At the time of his death, Snare had taken a hiatus from the band due to health concerns. 2024
4/7 Jelly Roll is the big winner at the 23nd CMT (Country Music Television) Music Awards from Austin’s Moody Center taking home Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year for “Need A Favor,” a song that previously topped the Mainstream Rock chart.
4/8 The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon goes on the NBC rooftop to perform Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” with musical guests Heart to mark the solar eclipse. Fallon, who is wearing “protective” eyewear removes his glasses at the song’s conclusion revealing glowing eyes.
4/10 Europe (“The Final Countdown”) is awarded the Music Export Prize for long-standing contributions to Swedish music exports by Johan Forssell, the Swedish minister for international development cooperation and foreign trade. “Swedish music exports bring in billions and the industry contributes to job opportunities, growth and spreading a positive image of Sweden abroad,” says Forssell.
4/10 “Orbit: Rush,” a comic book that reveals how the band came together to create their best-known songs, is released. Within days, it is the #1 new release on Amazon for biographies and history graphic novels.
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4/11 Paul McCartney backed by The Eagles perform “Let It Be” during the “Keep the Party Going: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett” concert at the Hollywood Bowl. The concert also features Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Sheryl Crow, Jon Bon Jovi and Buffett’s own Coral Reefer Band. Buffett passed away last September.
4/12 Linkin Park deliver a career-spanning ‘greatest hits’ compilation, “Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000–2023.” The set includes the power ballad “Friendly Fire.” Recorded in ’17, the song features lead vocals by the late Chester Bennington.
4/12 Prior to Bruce Dickinson’s last-minute solo shows at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood fans who line-up early for tickets are greeted by the Iron Maiden frontman in the box office selling tickets and meeting fans.
4/12 In the evening, Dickinson plays his first solo show in 22 years in support of “The Mandrake Project” album.
4/13 Foo Fighters top Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with “The Glass.” The band’s third consecutive #1 follows “Rescued” and “Under You” which topped the chart last year. All three songs are from the band’s eleventh studio album, “But Here We Are.” Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl pictured.
4/13 No Doubt end their nine-year hiatus with a main stage Coachella set. Frontwoman Gwen Stefani (pictured) and band roll out favorites including “Just A Girl,” “Don’t Speak” and “Hella Good,” backed by a brass ensemble.
4/13 Bassist Dan Lilker rejoins Anthrax for the first time in 40 years, appearing onstage at The Metal Fest in Mexico. He steps in for Frank Bello who is sitting out a short run of dates for “personal reasons.” An original Anthrax member, Lilker played on the band’s debut album, “Fistful Of Metal.”
4/16 Green Day’s third album “Dookie” is selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Viewed as one of the defining albums of the ’90s, it contains the tracks “Longview,” “Basket Case” and “When I Come Around.”
4/16 “Journey’s Greatest Hits” reaches the 800-week mark on the Billboard 200. It’s the third-longest-charting title on the survey, behind Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon” and Bob Marley’s “Legend.” Released November 15th, ’88, “Greatest Hits” made its debut on the Billboard 200 on December 3rd.
4/17 Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose launches his own official website – officialaxlrose.com.
4/18 Creed plays its first show in 12 years as the headliners of the sold-out Summer Of ’99 cruise. The fourteen-song set opens with “Are You Ready?,” from the “Human Clay” album and closes with “My Sacrifice,” off the band’s third studio effort, “Weathered.”
4/18 Dickey Betts, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band who defined the band and Southern Rock in general, dies at the age of 80.
4/19 Pearl Jam release “Dark Matter,” containing the title track (which topped Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock chart) and “Running.” “There’s the melody and energy of the first couple of records,” explained PJ guitarist Mike McCready of the band’s 12th studio album.
4/19 The ashes of Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister are enshrined at the Rainbow Bar & Grill on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Fans raise a very toast to Lemmy and Motörhead with the unveiling of brand new Motörhead Whiskey.” Lemmy, who passed away on 12/28/15, was a longtime regular at the Rainbow.
4/20 “Friendly Fire” is Linkin Park’s 10th #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
4/21 Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder (pictured) is quoted in U.K. based Sunday Times that the “Dark Matter” track “Wreckage” was inspired by former President and presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump. “The song is saying, let’s not be driven apart by one person, especially not a person without any worthy causes,” Vedder explains.
4/21 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces that Ozzy Osbourne, Foreigner, Peter Frampton and Dave Matthews Band will be inducted into Hall. The induction ceremony is slated for October 19th in Cleveland.
4/23 Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson is granted the title of “Honorary Citizen” by the city of Curitiba, Brazil.
4/23 Gene Simmons and his solo band perform during the opening of the Rock & Brews restaurant in Ridgefield, WA. The KISS bassist/vocalist is a part owner. It’s Simmons first live appearance since KISS concluded its farewell tour at New York’s Madison Square Garden the previous December.
4/24 Mike Pinder, co-founder of the Moody Blues, dies at the age of 82. The keyboardist/vocalist was the band’s last surviving original member.
4/25 Over 250 popular musicians — including Green Day and Dave Matthews — sign a letter urging the Senate Commerce Committee to support The Fans First Act that aims to reform the live-event ticketing system – providing ticket transparency, consumer protection and preventing bad actors from charging exorbitant resale prices.
4/25 Slipknot play an intimate show at Pappy + Harriet’s in Pioneertown, CA — near Joshua Tree National Park. It’s the warm-up for the band’s appearance at the Sick New World festival in Vegas and marks former Sepultura drummer Eloy Casagrande’s first appearance with the band.
4/26 “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story” is on Hulu. The four-part docuseries has the “full cooperation from all past and present members of Bon Jovi.”
4/27 Green Day’s “Dilemma” is # 1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. It’s the band’s ninth song to top the chart and their second in a row, following “The American Dream Is Killing Me.” Both tracks are from the band’s 14th studio album, “Saviors” which dropped in early February.
4/27 Ricky Bonazza (Butcher Babies) makes his debut with Fear Factory at the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas. He fills-in for the band’s regular bassist Tony Campos, who is touring with Static-X.
4/30 Slipknot reveal that drummer Eloy Casagrande, who has already performed two shows with the band, is officially a member. Casagrande was in Sepultura.
4/30 Sammy Hagar (Montrose, Solo & Van Halen) receives the 2,779th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is honored in the Recording category.
4/30 Duane Eddy, a pioneering Rock musician whose reverberating electric guitar sound on instrumentals such as “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn,” dies of cancer at age 86.
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