Search Results for: extreme

BMG, the music division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, announced yesterday that it has agreed to take control of Zomba Music Group, the record label that revived the teen pop genre with the likes of Britney Spears and ‘N Sync. The deal, which is estimated to be worth $3 billion, will end Zomba’s status as the world’s largest independent label. It will also provide a huge payday to Zomba founder, Clive Calder, who industry insiders credit with being out in front of some of the biggest trends, including teen pop, rap and Christian rock. Spears and ‘N Sync have… Read more »

The Strokes have announced the five dates that they will open for Weezer. The band will open for Rivers Cuomo and crew starting July 15 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Opening all of Weezer’s dates are Dashboard Confessional and Sparta. While already extremely popular in the U.K., the Strokes’ success at home in the U.S. also continues to expand, if at a slower pace. Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture said, “We’re not looking to fit in and just the way things have been going now, it’s just getting people excited and into what we’re doing. That’s basically how it’s been from the… Read more »

The Australian rock trio Silverchair has canceled all their upcoming concerts because lead singer and guitarist Daniel Johns is suffering from a severe case of reactive arthritis. “I am truly sorry that I am not able to do the touring we had planned for so long,” the 23-year-old said in a statement released Friday. “I apologize for the inconvenience these cancellations will cause. I am doing everything humanly possible to try and get well, but lately things have just kept getting worse.” Johns contracted the disease late last year, and has had trouble recently fighting the virus that triggers this… Read more »

The world’s next would-be space tourist, Lance Bass of boy band ‘N Sync, said Friday that Russian space doctors have cleared him for a flight to the International Space Station aboard a Russian rocket, a journey he hopes to make this fall. Bass, 23, shrugged off questions about the dangers of space flight. “I like to be positive, I’m an optimist,” he told reporters in Moscow. “I know physically I can do it, I know mentally I can do it.” The Russian Aerospace Agency said earlier this week that it hadn’t yet received commercial proposals from Bass or his representatives… Read more »

Alien Ant Farm frontman Dryden Mitchell remains overseas recovering from serious back injuries suffered in a bus accident in Spain last week. The impact fractured his C2 vertebra, which is likely to require surgery, according to a DreamWorks Records spokesperson. Mitchell was transported to a London hospital Friday, where he was put in traction and outfitted with a metal halo that restricts movement in his upper body. There’s no word on when he may return home. “I’m just so grateful that my injuries aren’t worse,” Mitchell said in a statement. “There will be a lot of rehabilitation and physical therapy,… Read more »

Paul Westerberg is learning to live on the cheap. The musician is telling people he recorded his new album, “Stereo,” for about one thousand dollars. That’s because he owns his equipment and recorded the album in his basement with no engineer or producer. “I finally realized I can capture the essence of what I do best by myself with simple equipment and I don’t need the money right then.” Westerberg says if his toe taps and someone comes in and says, “Yeah!” then the album is done. However, he says when you’re by yourself, you’re somewhat dependent on yourself. “I’m… Read more »

Fred Durst is about to start “Rollin’,” for real. The Limp Bizkit frontman will direct “Lords of Dogtown,” a feature-film adaptation of the current big-screen documentary “Dogtown and Z-Boys” which details the origins of skateboarding. Production is scheduled to start in late summer, according to Durst representatives at the Firm. The nonfictional account tells the tale of a group of surfers who take their extreme moves to the street and then the world. What starts as a few dudes sliding around emptied, in-ground swimming pools evolves into a full-fledged sport worth millions of dollars in sponsorships and televised events such… Read more »

Swedish experimental extreme metal band Meshuggah have been praised by the mainstream music press and metal mags alike, and have cultivated a loyal underground following since their first LP, Contradictions Collapse, was released in 1991. But even the largest crowds at a European metal festival pale in comparison to the millions that heard Meshuggah on “The Osbournes” when Jack, in an effort to piss off the family’s obnoxious neighbors, blasted “Future Breed Machine” from the band’s 1995 album, Destroy, Erase, Improve. The young metal powerbroker also recruited the band to play the second stage of this year’s Ozzfest, and the… Read more »

Rocker Eddie Van Halen says he’s gotten a clean bill of health from his doctors, after a two-year battle with tongue cancer. In a statement on his band’s official Web site, www.van-halen.com, he said, “I wanted to let you all know that I’ve just gotten a 100 percent clean bill of health – from head to toe. I wanted to share the good news with you immediately. And of course, I thank you all for all your good wishes and prayers along the way. Now it’s time to really get back to the music and fun…..so party on and you’ll… Read more »

Anyone even remotely familiar with Blink-182 knows they’re one of the most animated bands in rock, and soon their funny fodder will be drawn from a place where groups such as Aerosmith, the Who, Spinal Tap and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have once touched down: Springfield. Blink-182 recorded their voice parts for the 300th episode of the animated Fox series on Wednesday, according to a network spokesperson. Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk is also set to appear in the same tricentennial show and will tape his vocals Monday. In the episode, scheduled for broadcast in February, Bart learns that he… Read more »