LATE SLIPKNOT BASSIST'S FAMILY GETS SETTLEMENT IN OVERDOSE CASE
The wife and daughter of late Slipknot bassist Paul Gray have won a settlement from health care providers who they blamed for the musician's death, according to the Des Moines Register. The Gray family sued pain relief specialist Dr. Daniel Baldi and his former employers, including hospital company UnityPoint-Des Moines, alleging that Paul was not properly monitored during his treatment for drug abuse. Baldi had reportedly been treating Gray for years for pain issues and addiction. The bassist was found dead in a suburban Des Moines hotel room on May 24th, 2010 at the age of 38.
The case was scheduled to go to trial in Polk County District Court, but was settled over the weekend. Baldi's lawyer declined to name the settlement amount, or name the parties that agreed to pay to settle the case. The Gray family filed the lawsuit on behalf of their daughter, October, who was born three months after the bassist overdosed on a variety of drugs, including Fentanyl and morphine.
- Baldi denied he was at fault, and his attorney said that the doctor did not prescribe the drugs that caused Gray's death.
- But in 2012, Baldi was charged with multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter related to the deaths of nine patients, including Gray. Prosecutors argued that Baldi had recklessly written prescriptions to patients who clearly struggled with drug abuse.
- Gray's widow, Brenna Gray, testified at the trial, saying Baldi continued to prescribe her husband Xanax, even though he knew the musician had a history of abusing the drug. However, a jury acquitted Baldi, and in 2016 Iowa reinstated his license to practice medicine.
Story source: Des Moines Register
METALLICA HOLDING 'GARAGE SALE' AT ONLINE STORE THIS THURSDAY
Metallica is holding its annual "Met Store Garage Sale" on Thursday (January 25th), starting at 1:00 p.m. PT. The band posted at its official website, "Our New Year’s resolution was to scour the back rooms of HQ for every last exclusive item previously listed as sold-out yet somehow still hiding from us in that one dark corner."
Among the items being offered up for sale are the last copies of the deluxe box set of the 1986 album Master Of Puppets, the red vinyl edition of the recent Hardwired...To Self-Destruct LP, rare tour T-shirts, limited edition tour posters and more, including some mystery goods and clearance items at "rock bottom prices."
- Proceeds from the sale of posters for Metallica's shows in Mexico City last year will benefit the band's All Within My Hands Foundation.
- Randomly selected orders will receive prizes including guitar strings and sticks used by the band, commemorative picks, Live Metallica download cards, and Met Store gift certificates, while two orders will receive a pair of tickets to an upcoming Metallica concert.
- Hardwired...To Self-Destruct topped Billboard magazine's year-end Top Rock Albums and Hard Rock Albums charts. The disc, which came out in November 2016, sold 1.1 million copies in the 2017 chart year, the only rock album to top 800,000 units.
- Metallica also recently made Forbes magazine's list of the highest paid musicians of 2017, earning $66.5 million. The band will resume touring in February.
Story source: Brave Words
STARSET FRONTMAN LAUNCHING SIDE PROJECT THIS YEAR
Starset frontman Dustin Bates plans to launch a musical side project called Mannequin later this year. Bates described the project to Billboard, saying, "It's sort of '80s retro, a lot of '80s synths and things like that, with some rap beats and also, I guess, a lot more modern melody, dark-pop aspects to it." Bates has been working on the first Mannequin album for the past year and should be finished within a month, with hopes to get it out in 2018.
The singer added, "It started out as a prog-rock thing. At first it was a side project, a way to keep my skills honed without eternally working on Starset. But then I started adding in electronics, so then I split it off into two projects. So there's also a lot of prog-rock songs out there I'm eventually going to release, too."
- Bates isn't sure if he'll try to take Mannequin on the road, saying, "It's hard to say because of the sound . . . It'd be fun, but it would certainly be an undertaking."
- As for Bates' day job, Starset is currently out at sea this week on the ShipRocked music cruise, and after it returns will kick off a headlining tour on Sunday (January 28th) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- The band is still touring behind last year's sophomore album Vessels, which features the Number Two hit "Monster" and the Top 15 rock track "Satellite."
Story source: Billboard