Rock News Review: March 2024
3/1 “Half Black Heart,” the fifth album from New Years Day, drops. The album features the previously released tracks “Half Black Heart,” “Vampyre,” “Hurts Like Hell,” “Secrets” and “I Still Believe.”
3/1 Bruce Dickinson‘s “The Mandrake Project” arrives. It is the Iron Maiden frontman’s seventh solo album and his first since “Tyranny Of Souls“ in ’05.
3/1 Mercyful Fate bassist Becky Baldwin takes to social media to say she is battling prosopagnosia, a condition where the brain can’t recognize faces or facial expressions making it hard to recognize familiar faces, despite having normal vision. She joined Mercyful Fate in January.
3/2 Pearl Jam is #1 on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart for the first time with “Dark Matter.” The song, which earns 5.6 million airplay audience impressions in its second week on the survey, is the title track of the band’s 12th studio album.
3/2 U2 close out their Las Vegas Sphere residency. It’s the band’s 40th show at the Sphere since they opened the $2 billion venue last September.
3/2 Bring Me The Horizon takes home the Alternative/Rock Act honor at the BRIT Awards in London. “It’s bloody insane this,” says frontman Oli Sykes (pictured) during an expletive-filled speech.
3/3 Black Sabbath joins Spotify’s “Billions Club” with “Paranoid.” The title track from the band’s second studio album is their first song to break the one-billion threshold.
3/4 Sinead O’Connor‘s estate demands the removal of the late singer’s music from Donald Trump‘s political campaign rallies. During recent stops in Maryland and North Carolina, her defining single “Nothing Compares 2 U” was played. The song was written by Prince.
3/5 Former Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg officially signs on with Suicidal Tendencies.
3/5 Iconic Artists Group announce a deal with Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry to acquire half of his sound recording, publishing and name, image and likeness rights. Financial details are not disclosed but the company says it will “develop and expand the renowned artist’s musical legacy to new generations of fans.”
3/5 Linkin Park’s lawyers file a motion to dismiss Kyle Christner’s lawsuit against the band seeking credit and unpaid royalties. The bassist claims he collaborated on and recorded numerous songs with Linkin Park in ‘99. However, Linkin’ Park’s legal team cites a number of “defects” with Christner’s lawsuit, most notably that the statute of limitations to file a suit had expired.
3/6 Prosecutors drop charges against three men accused of stealing handwritten Eagles lyrics composed by bandleader Don Henley (pictured center) after he reportedly failed to disclose thousands of pages of evidence on time.
A New York judge rules that Henley “manipulated” prosecutors while newly uncovered evidence casts doubt on whether Henley’s notes had been stolen in the first place.
3/7 Wolfgang Van Halen announces his family is kick-starting the Adopt A School campaign with a $1,000 donation to each of the first 100 participating schools. The campaign is under auspices of Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports music programs in schools across the country through instrument donations.
3/8 Judas Priest‘s nineteenth studio album “Invincible Sheild,” drops. The album’s lead single was “Panic Attack” followed by “Trial By Fire,” “Crown Of Horns” and “The Serpent And The King.”
3/8 In recognition of International Women’s Day, Carhartt is donating proceeds from women’s apparel sales on Carhartt.com to support Metallica’s Scholars Initiative, which operates under the auspices of the band’s All Within My Hands foundation, to fund scholarships through the Scholars Initiative for women seeking careers in the skilled trades.
3/8 Singer-songwriter Eric Carmen dies at the age of 74. He’s known for singing on The Raspberries “Go All The Way,” which peaked at #5 in the U.S., and the “Dirty Dancing” song “Hungry Eyes.” 2024
3/10 Guns N’ Roses guitarist, Slash, joins actor Ryan Gosling (pictured) for a version of “I’m Just Ken” from the film “Barbie” at the 96th Academy Awards in Hollywood. Gosling played ‘Ken’ in the film.
But despite a killer performance, the Original Song Oscar went to Billie Eilish for “What Was I Made For,” also from “Barbie.”
3/12 Lenny Kravitz, known for the hits “American Woman,” “Are You Gonna Go My Way” and “Fly Away” receives the 2,774th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – it’s in front of the historic Capitol Records Tower.
3/14 Former Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg plays his first show as a member of Suicidal Tendencies at Yogibo Meta Valley in Osaka, Japan.
3/15 The Black Crowes release “Happiness Bastards” via the band’s Silver Arrow Records. “‘Happiness Bastards’ is our love letter to Rock ‘n’ Roll,” noted lead vocalist Chris Robinson.
3/16 Pearl Jam returns to #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart for the first time in 26 years with “Dark Matter.” The band last reached the top spot with “Given To Fly” in early ’98.
3/18 A California appeals court rejects Metallica’s lawsuit demanding that Lloyd’s of London cover more than $3 million in losses stemming from cancelled 2020 South American concerts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
3/20 Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder makes a surprise appearance onstage with The Who at the second of the band’s two sold-out Teenage Cancer Trust charity gigs at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Introduced by The Who’s Roger Daltrey as a “stand-up guy,” Vedder joins the band to perform “The Punks And The Godfather,” from the band’s ’73 band’s “Quadrophenia” album.
3/20 Elton John and Bernie Taupin receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in Washington D.C. “Their careers stand out for the quality and broad appeal of their music and their influence on their fellow artists,” says Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress.
3/20 Metallica are one of many acts honoring John and Taupin during the tribute concert at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
Metallica opens the show with a rendition of “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” from John’s ’73 double album “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”
3/22 As singer Eric Martin deals with an unspecified vocal issue, Mr. Big has recruits Whitesnake’s Michele Luppi to assist with the lead vocals during the band’s current U.K. tour.
3/27 Skid Row part ways with singer Erik Grönwall, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in ’21 and decided that the travel and rigors of the road were not conducive to his overall health and recovery.
3/28 Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is onstage to honor Billy Joel during the Piano Man’s 100th concert in his Madison Square Garden residency. “There’s three things that make Billy a genius of music: The voice, the music, the writing of the most beautiful songs,” Seinfeld tells the sold-out crowd. 2024
3/28 Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) sings the National Anthem at the Seattle Mariners (baseball) home opener. “If they can make it through April without shitting the bed… then maybe (they’ll) squeak in the playoffs,” predicts Gibbard, a Mariners fan. 2024
3/29 Sheryl Crow’s 11th album “Evolution” drops. Produced by Mike Elizondohe, the set contains the single “Alarm Clock,” which Crow co-wrote with Grammy winning songwriter/performer Emily Weisband.
3/29 Linkin Park and former bassist Kyle Christner settle their lawsuit over royalties. “Kyle is a very talented musician who made valuable contributions to Linkin Park at a pivotal time in 1999,” said a spokesperson for Linkin Park. “He performed with the band in several shows and many record label showcases. Kyle helped write and performed on many songs from that era, including some of the songs on the ‘Hybrid Theory’ EP.”
3/31 Bruce Springsteen makes a guest appearance “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” The Boss wants to meet Larry David, the show’s star, because he admires Larry’s political activities.
However, Larry gives Bruce COVID resulting in the cancellation of the L.A. stop on his farewell tour. This makes Larry persona non grata among Springsteen fans.
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