Tons of music news today, so we’ve split it up. All our Rock & Roll Hall of fame stuff is HERE.
Bruce Springsteen took a pretty big stand against North Carolina’s so-called “bathroom law,” which was passed last month and denies rights to the LGBT community. The Boss was due to perform in Greensboro last night, but canceled the show over the controversial law. “[This law] dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use,” Bruce wrote on his website. “Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress.” While Bruce apologized to his “dedicated fans in Greensboro,” he noted, “some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them.”
- At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, E Street Band member Steve Van Zandt elaborated on Bruce’s decision to cancel the show. “We just felt the issue was just too important,” he said. “This really vile and evil discrimination is starting to spread state to state and we thought we better take a stand right now and catch it early and maybe try and stop it. At least set some kind of example for others.”
- There’s more here from Entertainment Weekly.
Pearl Jam opened their 2016 tour in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Saturday and they certainly didn’t disappoint. In addition to performing staples like “Evenflow,” “Go,” “Betterman” and “Alive,” they sprinkled in a few deep cuts, and also some emotional tunes. A visibly emotional Eddie Vedder revealed to the crowd that the band had just lost a former member of their crew that day, Tim “Skully” Quinlan, who was a guitar tech during the band’s first ten years. They then dedicated the “Binural” song “Light Years” to him. The group also saluted Cheap Trick, who were being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that evening, performing a verse of the band’s classic “Surrender.” Another emotional moment came at the end of the show, when Eddie performed the Steve Van Zandt song “I Am A Patriot,” which was requested the father of a fallen veteran.
Brian May is calling Sacha Baron Cohen out. The actor publicly explained that he left the Queen biopic because he and the band had two very different ideas about what the movie “should be about,” but the rocker says that’s not the case. According to Cohen, he wanted to make a “truthful” movie about the “amazing stories” of Freddie Mercury‘s “extreme lifestyle” while the band wanted to focus on the resiliency of Queen and downplay the frontman’s death. In an interview with the Daily Mail, guitarist May has no problem being honest about his feelings toward the actor. “Sacha became an arse,” May explains. “We had some nice times with Sacha kicking around ideas, but he went off and told untruths about what happened.” He adds that Queen has never shied away from the truth or their history, so why would they start now? In some final partying shots, May took a dig a Cohen’s latest movie, “The Brothers Grimsby.” The rocker said the decision to part ways was “for very good reasons, which will become apparent if you watch what he’s done recently.” Ouch.
Axl Rose rocked a bit too hard at Guns N’ Roses’ first reunion show in Los Angeles last week and injured his foot. To be a bit more specific, the frontman fractured his fifth metatarsal bone, and according to a video explanation from his doctor, he underwent “an open reduction internal fixation, where we go in and we put the bone pieces back together and realign them and we placed plate and screws in order to hold them in place while it’s healing.” But the show must go on. So, Axl borrowed Dave Grohl‘s throne. The Foo Fighters rocker used the seat during the band’s 2015 tour after he broke his leg. The GNR frontman thanked Grohl for the throne during the band’s Las Vegas gig on Friday, saying, “I just want to thank Dave Grohl for this. He’s a very nice guy.” It looks like Grohl was at the show, according to Duff McKagan‘s daughter Grace‘s social media. Check out Axl’s medical diagnosis HERE and footage from his royal return below.
Gene Simmons and the members of N.W.A. have been in a war of words ever since the KISS bassist questioned the rap group’s induction in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During their induction Friday, N.W.A.’s MC Ren specifically called out Simmons sharing, “Hip-hop is here forever! Get used to it! Get used to it! We supposed to be here!” Ice Cube also added, “Rock and roll is not an instrument. Rock and roll isn’t even a style of music. Rock and roll is a spirit that’s been going since the blues, jazz, bebop, soul, R&B, heavy metal, punk rock and, yes, hip-hop. What connects us all is that spirit.” Well, Gene has now fired off his response via Twitter. “Let me know when @JimiHendrix gets into the hip hop hall of fame” he tweeted. “Then you’ll have a point.”
Is Nicolas Cage the only man who can calm Vince Neil down? The men were both at Aria Hotel when a woman came up and asked for the actor’s autograph. TMZ reports that’s when the Motley Crue frontman grabbed the woman’s hair and pulled her to the ground. The site has footage of the fight that apparently happened after. Cage and Neil were caught on camera in a screaming match. In the video you can hear Cage yelling at the rocker telling him to calm down and what sounds like the two men saying they love each other. Neil is now the subject of a criminal investigation and while he hasn’t been arrested, he was cited for battery. Check out the bizarre video HERE, but preview for content.
