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In one of the most unusual summer-tour pairings in recent memory, the Ozzfest Web site announced Monday night that there will be one final act added to this year’s second-stage lineup: actress Jada Pinkett Smith’s rock group, Wicked Wisdom. The addition of the Christian-leaning rock-and-soul hybrid to a summer touring package that boasts ferocious metal merchants like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Shadows Fall, Mudvayne, In Flames and the Black Dahlia Murder is unexpected, to say the least. Wicked Wisdom is an Evanescense-esque act that Pinkett Smith, the band’s frontperson and the wife of actor/rapper Will Smith, has said is influenced… Read more »

During an interview a few months back, Serena Pruyn – the enthusiastic frontwoman for Can-rockers Oliver Black – said her band were in no rush to get signed. The Welland, Ontario, quartet were taking their time perfecting a live set and building a loyal audience while several record companies courted the increasingly popular group. It seems Oliver Black are now ready and have announced details of their first record deal. Turns out they’ve signed to New York City label TVT Records and Universal Music will distribute them here in Canada. TVT is famous for introducing Nine Inch Nails to the… Read more »

Washington – Some people can’t understand why Butch Walker would give Avril Lavigne a hit like “My Happy Ending” instead of keeping it for his own album, but the songwriter-musician says it’s all part of his plan. Known for penning Lavigne’s recent single, as well as “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” by Bowling for Soup, Walker says he wants to be known for more than a throwaway hit song. “There’s a difference between a hit song and your best song and a lot of people don’t get that,” he recently told AP Radio. “The same people saying that are… Read more »

Anyone remember the ‘80s metal band Queensryche? They were a pretty popular band at the time, but tell that to the angry fans who basically shot down and pissed on the band night after night when they opened for Metallica. Playing with a variety of big name bands can help a smaller band raise their profile. But if they can’t deliver to the fans’ interest, then it’s like sending the proverbial lamb to the slaughter. Default have had the unenviable task of catering to different types of audiences ever since they broke on to the scene, but bass player Dave… Read more »

What will the White Stripes, the Strokes, Metallica and Phish be doing this New Year’s Eve? They’ll be doing what they do best – standing onstage with their instruments, playing music for their fans. Other major artists who have scheduled New Year’s Eve appearances include Jane’s Addiction, Marilyn Manson, the Used, 3 Doors Down, Andrew W.K., the Flaming Lips, Kings of Leon and David Lee Roth. Las Vegas will be the city that parties the hardest. It will offer 13 shows by artists such as the Strokes with Kings of Leon, Metallica, Goo Goo Dolls, Marky Ramone, REO Speedwagon with… Read more »

As the music world mourns the death of Johnny Cash-who passed away on the morning of Friday (September 12), at the age of 71-artists from every genre of music are paying their respects to the legendary Man In Black. Guitarist Danny Lohner, who has played with Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle, shared his thoughts with LAUNCH on Cash’s recent cover of the Nine Inch Nails tune “Hurt.” “Johnny Cash’s version blew me away,” Lohner said. “He has such a great character voice…that video is so moving and so well done, and with his wife watching him as he… Read more »

Maybe honesty really is the best policy… for placing high on a Billboard chart. The unabashedly sincere Dashboard Confessional’s third studio album, A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar, will come in at #2 on next week’s Billboard albums chart. Sales of more than 122,000 copies affords the follow-up to 2001’s The Places You Have Come to Fear Most a first runner-up slot, right behind Alan Jackson’s Greatest Hits Volume II. The most popular country singer of the last decade after Garth Brooks sold more than 328,000 copies of his third best-of set, according to SoundScan, to place above… Read more »

A day after the body of Drowning Pool frontman Dave Williams was discovered on the band’s tour bus, details remained scarce but memories of Williams as a fun-loving, kind-hearted character abounded. The 30-year-old singer was found in his bunk by members of Drowning Pool’s touring crew Wednesday afternoon, their publicist said. The band was in Manassas, Virginia, on its way to Thursday’s Ozzfest show in Bristow. An autopsy conducted Thursday morning proved inconclusive, according to a Prince William County police spokesperson. A cause of death is expected to be determined from toxicology tests, which generally take four to six weeks.… Read more »

Dave Williams, lead singer of Drowning Pool, was found dead on the band’s tour bus Wednesday afternoon (August 14), according to a spokesperson for the group. He was 30 years old. A cause of death has yet to be determined. The Dallas quartet was on tour with Ozzfest when Williams’ body was discovered. Ozzfest had played the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana, on Tuesday. Wednesday was an off day for the tour. Thursday’s Ozzfest at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia, will go on as scheduled, according to a manager for the outing. Bolstered by the hit single… Read more »

Many fans credit Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and his songs with helping them get through tough times. Tyler Connolly, frontman of Theory of a Deadman, has Kroeger to thank for just about everything. Before Nickelback were rock stars, Connolly was a struggling musician without a band, manager or record deal and with only a pipe dream of ever being recognized outside his hometown of Vancouver, Canada. Then one night at a party Connolly handed a demo tape to Kroeger, which led to an enthusiastic call from the burgeoning musician, who wanted to produce Theory. Kroeger’s contribution didn’t end there. When Alice… Read more »