Day in Rock Report for 12/10/2021

The Monkees' Michael Nesmith passed away on Friday, December 10th, of natural causes, according to a statement from his family. He was 78 years old.

His family shared, "With Infinite Love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes. We ask that you respect our privacy at this time and we thank you for the love and light that all of you have shown him and us." (read more)

Mariah Carey's hit holiday song "All I Want For Christmas Is You" has just received a hard rock makeover courtesy of the Buffalo band Until I Wake (Fearless Records).

Vocalist Cody Johnson had this to say about the cover, "We wanted to take what is probably the most well-known, overplayed, and cheerful Christmas song, and twist it into something a little more dark and sinister-sounding. (read more)

(hennemusic) The Band are sharing a stream of the expanded 50th Anniversary Edition of their 1971 album, "Cahoots", as part of its arrival in stores on December 10.

The iconic group's fourth studio record - which contains a number of their best-loved and most enduring songs, including "Life Is A Carnival" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece" - features a guest vocal from Van Morrison on "4% Pantomime", a tune he co-wrote with Robbie Robertson; the set also saw an uncredited appearance by drummer Levon Helm's wife, Libby Titus, on "The River Hymn." (read more)

(hennemusic) Neil Young and Crazy Horse are streaming their new album, "Barn", in sync with its December 10 release. "Barn" is the follow-up to the band's 2019 album, "Colorado."

Co-produced by Young and Niko Bolas, the rocker is joined by bassist Billy Talbot, drummer Ralph Molina and multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren for the project, which was recorded in the Rockies this past June with the Le Mobile Recording Studio. (read more)

(hennemusic) Green Day are streaming their new live album, "BBC Sessions", in sync with its release on December 10th. The package delivers 16-tracks from four of the band's appearances at the BBC's legendary Maida Vale Studios between 1994 and 2001.

Each of the performances were to promote the latest releases from the California outfit, including 1994's "Dookie", 1995's "Insomniac", 1997's "Nimrod" and 2000's "Warning." (read more)

VRSTY have premiered their new single, entitled "Closer". The track comes from the group's forthcoming studio album, "Welcome Home", which is due to arrive on the recently rescheduled release date of January 21st.

Vocalist Joey Varela had this to say about the track, "'Closer' literally came out of nowhere. It started as just a fun idea to get our creative juices flowing in the studio and ended up becoming its own thing. It's definitely one of the more different songs on the record. Lyrics-wise, it's also one of the easiest songs to connect to - if you're an adult, that is!" (read more)

Oceans have released a brand new single and music video called "The Awakening". The track comes from their forthcoming "Hell Is Where The Heart Is - Part I: Love", digital EP that will be released on January 14th.

Timo Rotten had this to say about the brand new track, "'The Awakening' is a love letter to the people who are here for us at our darkest. At that moment when you hit rock bottom and fall into the void of nothingness. (read more)

Fozzy have announced that they will release their new studio album, which was produced by Johnny Andrews and will be entitled "Boombox," on April 15th.

Frontman Chris Jericho had this to say, "Judas...both the album & the song...was a HUGE breakthrough for Fozzy. It took us to the next level and positioned us as legit players at rock radio and as a live draw. As a result, we knew that we had to follow up with the album of a lifetime....Boombox is that album!! (read more)

(hennemusic) Metallica are streaming video footage of their 1997 track, "The Memory Remains", from a November 12th performance at the Welcome To Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, FL.

The tune was the lead single from the band's seventh record, "Reload", which was a Top 5 album around the world while also debuting at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and going on to sell more than 3 million copies in the region. (read more)

(hennemusic) Heart singer Ann Wilson is sharing live video of a pair of Led Zeppelin classics from her summer US tour. Wilson and her band The Amazing Dawgs can be seen delivering "Going To California" and "Black Dog" during the encore from an August 18 show at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in Hampton Beach, NH.

The summer shows coincided with the release of "Howlen Live", an EP Wilson and the group recorded during a series of June 2021 shows in Florida. (read more)

The Wrens' Kevin Whelan just released "Observatory", the debut album from his new project Aeon Station, and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the song "Fade". Here is the story:

Secretly, this might be one of my favorite songs I've done to date. The first fave to be dead honest is the song Leaves which is also on the album. But for FADE, I wanted to have a song that was big in scope, dynamic and had a cinematic like quality to it. I'm so proud of my humble record but I do feel that FADE hits a button somewhere in my heart that gets to that "bigger than what you are" aspect. (continue)

AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson had a top 21 story from March 2021 after he revealed that he was "heartbroken" after being told by the guitarist in his former band Geordie that his singing with AC/DC would never fly after hearing a track from their first album together, "Back In Black".

The album, released in 1980, would go on to be certified 25 times platinum by the RIAA (for 25 millions copies sold in the U.S.). Brian reflected on the album during an interview with Pierre Robert of WWMR radio. (read more)

Wolfgang Van Halen earned a top 21 story from March 2021 after his tribute song to his father "Distance" has claimed the No. 1 spot on the MediaBase and BDS Active Rock Radio Charts, following two television performances of the track.

Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang's solo band, performed the song during their television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and then unplugged for an acoustic performance on the Today show. (read more)

Rick Astley Explained His Love Of Slipknot was a top 21 story from March 2021: 1980s pop hit maker Rick Astley gave fans a special gift around Christmas of a video of himself rocking out to the Slipknot track "Duality" and Louder reached to him to ask about his love for the masked metal band.

He told them, "This is a bit of a weird one, because obviously a lot of people's perception of Slipknot if you're not really aware of them is 'Oh, it's those guys who wear the masks. (read more)

Stryper guitarist Oz Fox was the subject of a top 21 story from March 2021 after he underwent brain surgery on March 4th to remove one of tumors that were discovered in 2018.

His wife, Annie Lobert, took to social media to update fans. She wrote, "He is out of surgery & in ICU! I'm getting ready to see Oz. LIGHT at end of the tunnel! (read more)

Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler had a top 21 story from March 2021 when he shared some details about the unreleased Ronnie James Dio era song "Slapback", which was shared online by Geoff Nicholls estate.

The stepson of late longtime Black Sabbath keyboardist Geoff Nicholls shared the song on YouTube and Geezer was asked about during an appearance on SiriusXM. (read more)

The classic Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac) duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" scored a top 21 story from March 2021 after it received a new quarantine cover from members of Anthrax, Testament, Trans-Siberia Orchestra and more.

The quarantine video features Anthrax's Charlie Bentante, Testament's Alex Skolnick, Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Jennifer Cella, Minnemann's Randy McStine Metal Allegiance's Mark Menghi and Harry Waters covering the classic hit. (read more)

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder scored a top 21 story from March 2021 after he discussed his love of baseball during an appearance on the brand new podcast The Artist and The Athlete.

The podcast series is hosted by Lindsay Czarniak (FOX NFL, NASCAR, formerly ESPN), and it pairs a music artist with a sports figure to discuss a variety of topics. (read more)