May 17th – May 23rd: Shinedown Rules, Static X Cancels & Springsteen and McCartney Close The Late Show

5/17 Metal Church Debuts New Line-Up

The new Metal Church lineup makes its live debut at the San Luis Metal Fest in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Metal Church’s lineup consists of founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof alongside longtime guitarist Rick Van Zandt with new members Brian Allen (vocals), David Ellefson (bass), Ken Mary (drums).

Shinedown

Safe And Sound

5/18 “Safe And Sound” Tops Mediabase Rock Chart

With “Safe And Sound,” Shinedown officially score their 25th #1 on the Mediabase Active Rock chart – extending their existing record.

The song is from Shinedown’s eighth album “Ei8ht,” which also features previous hits “Dance, Kid, Dance,” “Killing Fields” and “Searchlight.”

Regarding “Ei8ht,” frontman Brent Smith says, “without question as a band we pushed ourselves like never before.”

Mediabase charts the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio.

5/18 Static-X Cancels

Static-X cancels its remaining tour dates for 2026 “due to serious medical issues” affecting one or more undisclosed members of the band.

“The situation is unavoidable and requires immediate attention,” states the band, who plan to return in 2027.

Lindsey Buckingham

5/19 Lindsey Buckingham Stalker Charged

Michelle Dick is charged with battery of the Fleetwood Mac guitarist. A stalker, with a restraining order in place. Dick allegedly confronted Buckingham on March 25th in Santa Monica, CA throwing an unidentified substance at the musician before fleeing. She pleads not guilty in court.

5/19 Black Sabbath Guitarist Gets Hometown Award

Tony Iommi is a recipient of the Lord Mayor’s Award, celebrating his exceptional contributions to Birmingham.

Iommi is widely recognized as a creator of Heavy Metal music.

5/19 Avenged Sevenfold Is Now A Fully Indie Band

Avenged Sevenfold releases the following statement via social media: “We are excited to announce that we have purchased back the master recordings and rights to ‘The Stage’, ‘The Stage (Deluxe Edition)’ and ‘Live At The Grammy Museum’ from Capitol Records. After 26 years, Avenged is now a fully independent band.”

Avenged Sevenfold completed their deal with Warner Records in 2023.

5/20 Ozzy’s A.I. Avatar Coming

Sharon and Jack Osbourne (Ozzy Osbourne’s widow and son, respectively) announce the creation of an Ozzy A.I. avatar at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. The digital Ozzy is coming to life through a partnership between Hyperreal, and Proto Hologram. Together they will enable the avatar to have conversations with fans and move, speak and respond as Ozzy would.

5/20 Springsteen On “The Late Show”

On the eve of Stephen Colbert’s final Late Show, the host brings Bruce Springsteen to the stage for a fitting performance of his protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis.”

“I’m here in support tonight of Stephen, because you’re the first guy in America who lost his show because we’ve got a president who can’t take a joke,” Springsteen says.

5/21 Paul McCartney Closes Out “The Late Show”

Less than a week after his appearance on Saturday Night Live‘s season finale, Paul McCartney returns to the Ed Sullivan Theater, the stage where The Beatles made their U.S. television debut in ’64, for the last episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

McCartney sits for an interview with the host before delivering The Beatles’ “Hello Goodbye” backed by The Late Show band. In the end, McCartney flips the switch to turn off the studio lights… for the last time.

5/22 Neil Young Returns

After canceling all of his ’26 tour dates earlier this year, Young reemerges for a surprise acoustic set at David Suzuki’s 90th birthday benefit concert at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Young plays “After The Gold Rush” and “Heart of Gold.”

Suzuki is renowned for making science and nature accessible through his four-decade long CBC series The Nature Of Things.

5/22 Dick Parry, Pink Floyd Sax Player, Dies

“His feel and tone make his saxophone playing unmistakable,” Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour remembers – “a signature of enormous beauty that is known to millions and is such a big part of songs such as ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘Us And Them’ and ‘Money’.”

Caleb Shomo comes out as gay. He makes the announcement in a social media post.

“There’s been a lot of speculation surrounding my personal life as of late and I feel compelled to set the record straight before it affects those I love any further,” Shomo writes. “I am a proudly gay man. This is something I’ve been unpacking and reckoning with in my life for quite some time now. It’s been difficult to navigate the feelings surrounding the subject and figure out what to do with this fact.”