STONE SOUR GUITARIST ENTERS 'TREATMENT,' WILL MISS TOUR
Stone Sour guitarist Josh Rand will sit out the band's new North American tour after having entered treatment for unspecified issues. The band said in a statement, "Unfortunately, Josh Rand has checked into a treatment center and will not be joining Stone Sour for the Canada/US tour. Though he will be back as soon as possible, we ask you all to keep him in your thoughts. Until then, the rest of Stone Sour will see you all on tour in Jan/Feb. Thank you.”
- Rand most recently performed with the band on last week's ShipRocked cruise. Stone Sour did not indicate who would play guitar on the new tour, which just started this past weekend in British Columbia.
- The trek includes dates with Halestorm, In This Moment and Red Sun Rising.
- Stone Sour is touring in support of its sixth studio effort, Hydrograd, which came out at the end of June and features the chart-topping rock radio hit "Song #3." The latest track issued from the disc is "Rose Red Violent Blue."
Story source: The PRP
DID YOU KNOW? Josh Rand is the longest-serving member of Stone Sour after singer Corey Taylor. Although Rand was not part of the band's initial five years together, from 1992 to 1997, he joined in 2001 when Taylor restarted the group in the wake of Slipknot's success.
BREAKING BENJAMIN SETS RELEASE DATE FOR NEW ALBUM
Breaking Benjamin has set April 13th as the release date for its sixth studio album, Ember. Speaking about the LP, founder and frontman Ben Burnley said, "People have always really liked the heavier side of the band. I think that's what they sort of gravitate towards. But we also make sure to explore our melodic and softer side too." He added, "We just tried to make it more extreme -- the softer side on this album is really soft, and the heavy side is really heavy. We decided to give everybody what they want to the furthest degree."
- A new song from the album, "Feed The Wolf," is now being streamed online.
- The first single from Ember, "Red Cold River," already has 2.5 million streams and is Number 13 at rock radio after three weeks. The video has over 600,000 views.
- Ember is the follow-up to 2015's Dark Before Dawn, which debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 chart and yielded three chart-topping singles with "Failure," "Angels Fall" and "Never Again."
- Breaking Benjamin is currently on a U.S. arena tour with Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet For My Valentine that pulls into Biloxi, Mississippi on Wednesday (January 31st).
Story source: press release
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE RETURN TO STAGE AFTER KICKING CONTROVERSY
Queens Of The Stone Age returned to the stage last week for the first time since frontman Josh Homme kicked a photographer during a show in Los Angeles last month. The band's first public appearances since the December 9th incident took place in Canada with Homme on his best behavior. He did not address the incident directly, but introduced one song in Victoria, British Columbia by saying, "Sometimes things go wrong, and when they’re wrong it’s too late."
- The band dusted off several rarities for its first couple of shows back, playing the 2005 track "Everybody Knows That You Are Insane" in Vancouver on Wednesday night (January 25th) for the first time in over 12 years.
- "How To Handle A Rope," another seldom-played cut from the Queens' 1998 debut, was performed for the first time in seven years during the Victoria gig.
- As previously reported, video footage of the Los Angeles incident showed Homme walking across the stage past photographer Chelsea Lauren in the photo pit, stopping briefly, then giving a direct kick to her camera and knocking it into her face.
- After a first apology in which he said he was "lost in performance" and hadn't noticed Lauren had been hurt, Homme posted a more extensive apology on video the next day, saying in part, "I don't have any excuse or reason to justify what I did. I was a total d**k, and I'm truly sorry, and I hope you're okay."
- Queens Of The Stone Age are touring in support of their latest album, Villains, and next play in Fresno, California on Monday night (January 29th).
Story source: Consequence Of Sound