Disturbed has been forced to cancel the remaining European tour dates due to David Draiman being diagnosed with severe inflammation of the vocal chords. He has been advised by a specialist in London to completely rest his voice until he receives a clean bill of health. A statement from the band said, "Please note that all cancelled shows will be re-scheduled and the new dates will be announced as soon as they're confirmed. Fans are asked to keep hold of their tickets as the dates are likely to be set for next March." There is no word on whether this will effect Disturbed's headlining tour stint on the Jagermeister Music Tour, which is scheduled to start November 4 in Minneapolis.

SLIPKNOT guitarist Jim Root will sit out the early part of the band's "Subliminal Verses Tour: The Final Volume" after breaking his wrist a couple of days prior to the tour's kick-off on Friday, October 14 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Singer Corey Taylor explained the reason for Root's absence before adding, "We had two options, so we have decided to go on playing without Jim... because there is no fucking way we are going to cancel the tour!" According to one attendee, SLIPKNOT, minus one, again proved they are one of the greatest live acts ever, ripping through classics like "Spit It Out", "Disasterpieces", "People=Shit", and "The Blister Exists". No details were given on when Root would return.

Tom Petty will receive the Century Award, Billboard's highest honor for creative achievement, at this year's Billboard Music Awards. The show will air live on the Fox network from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 6. "This award comes at a particularly nice time as the Heartbreakers and I go into the 30th year of our career," the 54-year-old rocker said in a statement Thursday. "I'm very honored that Billboard has acknowledged me." Petty introduced Harrison, the first Century Award honoree, at the 1992 Billboard Music Awards.

Tommy Lee suffered burns on his arms and face during a pyrotechnic explosion at a Motley Crue concert in Casper, WY on October 12. He was treated at a local hospital and released; no shows are expected to be cancelled. The Motley Crue tour has been the unexpected success story of the live concert year. After six years apart, the band reunited earlier this year for a tour that has been one of the biggest box office attractions of 2005. Following the end of their own U.S. tour later this month, the Crue will join the Rolling Stones for shows in Portland and Seattle before touring in Japan and Australia.

Two upcoming U2 concerts will be the site for political fundraiser's of two disparate U.S. senators, but the band isn't endorsing the candidates or the events. "It is not uncommon for politicians, from both parties, to organize events at all kinds of music concerts and other entertainment events," said a statement issued by Jamie Drummond, executive director of Data, the African advocacy group co-founded by U2 frontman Bono. "If any political fundraising events take place at a U2 concert, it is without the involvement or knowledge of Data, U2 or Bono". Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican, reportedly plans to host a $1,000-per-person event at U2's Sunday (10/16) concert at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center to raise money for his re-election campaign. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, reportedly will be on hand for U2's Oct. 19 show at Washington, DC's MCI Center. She is hosting a $2,500-per-person fundraiser for one of her Political Action Committees.

How would a perfume mixed by Marilyn Manson smell like? We are just about to find out. The rocker told WWD at the John Galliano show Saturday that he was planning to launch his own fragrance early next year. "I'm in the final stages with this Dali-Schiaparelli inspiration", said Manson as he continues "Perhaps this will be the precursor to a full cosmetics line". Between formula mixing he continues to work on a movie about author Lewis Carroll.

This audio interview with Eddie Van Halen was recorded and conducted by a US radio station. I have had mixed reader e-mails ... one say he is drunk; other say he's tired ... I stay out of it .. you decide. Enjoy. 

http://www.2dorks.com/

Rumor has it that Van Halen will follow the path of INXS and do their own reality show search for a new frontman beginning mid 2006. Mike Bell of the Calgary Sun reasons, "Van Halen have already used reunions when things dry up and considering that their former frontmen are all still, even if only somewhat, alive, doing a talent search seems to be the fab of the season". We're all anxiously holding out breath ...

The movie based on Motley Crue biography The Dirt has been left in limbo after director David Fincher was forced to pull out. The band have been considering other directors for the "gritty" tale of the flamboyant rockers' rags to riches rock 'n' roll story. Bassist Nikki Sixx says, "We had David Fincher to be the director, but Paramount needed him to do a very huge movie and wanted us to wait. In the meantime, we are now meeting with other directors" and he adds "It will get made and it will get made right. The project has to be gritty. It's going to be like Goodfellas. It's going to have an underbelly to it."

In a recent interview with Lynn Saxberg of The Ottawa Citizen, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing revealed that they're considering putting together a multi-act metal package to tour North America next summer, but they also want to make another album. "I think things have turned full circle and for bands like ourselves and [BLACK] SABBATH, there's not too many of us standing these days, still intact from the '70s. Bands like that basically got the ball rolling with this heavy metal thing all those years ago and I think it's one reason we're here today. Obviously, with Rob [Halford] back in the band, things are much bigger and better and more the way they used to be."

Thirteen bags of cocaine were allegedly found in Boy George's New York home. The singer was charged with possession of drugs early today, Friday and faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. His lawyer, Lou Freeman, said in a released statement that the singer, who must attend a Manhattan court in December, did not know who owned the cocaine. "He's a very social person. He has a lot of people over to his apartment," Mr Freeman added. It all started when Boy George, whose real name is George O'Dowd, called police to report a burglary. Officers seized 13 plastic bags weighed more than one-eighth of an ounce (3.5g) in total. "That is a sizeable amount of drugs," said Maggie Gandasegui from Manhattan's Special Narcotics Prosecutors office. O'Dowd, 44, faces one charge of drug possession and a charge of falsely reporting an incident.

Apple Computer Inc. introduced an iPod capable of playing videos Wednesday, evolving the portable music player of choice into a multimedia platform for everything from TV shows to music videos. Videos will now be sold online alongside songs on Apple's iTunes store. Citing a groundbreaking deal with ABC Television Group, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said video offerings via iTunes will include episodes for $1.99 each of the hit shows "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," which will be available the day after they air on television. The purchased video can be watched on a computer or taken on the road for viewing on the new iPod's 2.5-inch color screen. The much-anticipated new iPods, available starting next week, will replace Apple's current 20-gigabyte and 60-gigabyte models. A 30 GB version will sell for $299 and a 60 GB version will cost $399. A 30 GB model can hold about 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos, or 75 hours of video.

About 3 months ago we reported about a rumor in our news section that Diamond Dave is taking over Howard Stern's microphone. Well, boys and girls; the rumors were true. Infinity Broadcasting will announce some time next month that David Lee Roth is taking over for Howard Stern. Still not decided is where Adam Carolla, former co-host of "The Man Show," will be placed in the lineup; most likely not together with Roth. The president of programming for Infinity Broadcasting, which owns Stern's show, said last winter that there would not be one person replacing the notorious shock jock...let's see.

DANZIG's main man and namesake Glenn Danzig recently spoke about the band's current "Blackest of the Black" tour, which features a lineup handpicked by Glenn himself: CHIMAIRA, BEHEMOTH, HIMSA, MORTIIS and THE AGONY SCENE, with DANZIG headlining. Former MISFITS guitarist Doyle Von Frankenstein is joining him onstage each night for a special 30-minute set of MISFITS classics. The 22-date trek runs through October 29 in Los Angeles. "It's something I've been working on for a long time", said Danzig."But I don't want it to be like Ozzfest. It's for bands that get ignored by radio and television. It's just like when DANZIG and SLAYER came up. No one would play us, but we sold out venues and everyone was shocked. The Ozzfest is nothing but a corporate buy-on." Danzig also confirmed that "Blackest of the Black" will be his last tour. "I'm done. I don't want to tour anymore. I'm just burned out on it. I don't enjoy it anymore. I love being onstage. But the other 22 hours of the day, spent bouncing around on a bus — I don't know anymore. I'll still be doing music, because that's my first love."

Forget Bing Crosby this holiday season as the folks at WARCON Enterprises bring the songs of Christmas into 2005 with the introduction of "Taste of Christmas", an 18-track compilation that features such acts as The Used, Skindred, Funeral for a Friend, My American Heart, Emery and more. The hardcore/ screamo disk will be available October 25th and includes new versions of classics such as a special rendition of John Lennon's "Happy Christmas" by the Street Drum Corp and TheUsed's Bert McKracken. "We wanted to give today's generation its own seasonal soundtrack," said Bob Chiappardi, producer and owner of WARCON.

Track listing includes:
Street Drum Corp w/ Bert McKracken (The Used)- Happy Christmas
Funeral for a Friend - Miracle of Christmas
Skindred - Jungle Bells
The Used - Alone This Holiday
Roses Are Red - Last Christmas
The Smashup - Coventry Carol
Opiate for the Masses - Christmas Evil
Amped - We Three Kings
Emery - The Last Christmas
My American Heart - The First Noel
Like Yesterday - We Might Be Alone
Bleed the Dream - No Smiles on Christmas
Versus the World - Blue and Cold
Bedlight for Blue Eyes - Christmas Song
Gatsby’s American Dream - Saint Nicholas
From First to Last - Christmasmassacre
Black Halos - Homeless for Christmas
Plain White T’s - Season of a Lifetime

Anybody remember HEAVY METAL the movie. I discovered it over 20 years ago as one of the best animated features, ever. The animation is not sophisticated as it was made in 1981 but the 2000 release is not bad. HEAVY METAL still has a killer sound track 20 years after its release, with powerful songs by Devo, Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Journey, Nazareth, and other top bands of the time. Not only does the music not detract from the stories, but it adds to their raw passion and exuberance. One can accurately describe HEAVY METAL as bawdy, violent, horrifying, imaginative, shocking, and creative, without beginning to list its many other robust qualities. Watch it sometimes if you haven't recently ...

The Flaming Lips have completed shooting their feature film "Christmas on Mars," which has been in the works for several years. The movie centers around scientists preparing to celebrate their first Christmas in space. "We transferred it all down to computer", said Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, "now I just have to remember what it is that we were trying to say!". Over the course of the next few months, Coyne will offer teaser clips on the Internet to gauge fan response. He is hoping that "Christmas on Mars" would be ready for consumption by the end of next summer, by which time the Lips will be touring in support of their nearly finished next Warner Bros. album, "At War With the Mystics."

Rob Zombie's upcoming re-release of 'Hellbilly Deluxe' has been pushed up and will now hit stores on November 22nd. The CD/DVD set dubbed 'Hellbilly Super Deluxe' includes the original album plus a DVD containing videos for every song on the album plus eight never before seen videos. Rob's Spookshow International will return from the grave on October 25th; this trade will contain a compilation of all the Spookshow stories, a cover gallery, a pin-up gallery and both the Voodoo Heartbeat and Ghoularama comic shorts. Call 888 Comicbook to preorder this 288 page comic bliss.

Pink Floyd have confirmed details of their eagerly-highly anticipated DVD ‘Pulse’ capturing the band’s 1994 Earls Court shows. The double disc is scheduled for release on December 5, includes a full concert performance as well as with rare backstage footage and previously unseen extras. Also included on the three hour DVD are the original screen films used during the 1970’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ tours, promo videos, screen films and a feature called Bootlegging the Bootleggers. The DVD graphics are designed by long-term band collaborator Storm Thorgerson.

Motorhead frontman Lemmy received a Living Legend award at the inaugural Classic Rock 'n' Roll Of Honor awards. Lemmy's award coincided with his 60th birthday and Motorhead's 30th anniversary and a host of stars paid tribute. Deep Purple were honored with the Classic Album award for their seminal 1970 album Deep Purple In Rock. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was also at the awards at London's Café De Paris.

Hinder, the rockers from Oklahoma City released their debut album last Tuesday. "Extreme Behavior" which was produced by Brian Howes (Closure, DDT) and engineered by Mike Fraser (Aerosmith, AC/DC) in Vancouver, BC’s Armoury Studios, is just about as straight-up as you can get! Sex, drugs, and rock n roll! You can listen to some sound bites at their official website http://www.hinderonline.com/. The album’s first single, “Get Stoned,” is already tallying up airplay at Rock radio 102.1 The Edge in Dallas/Fort Worth and CFOX Vancouver.