Day in Rock Report for 12/27/2021

Count former Journey frontman Steve Perry among those who is not a fan of the artificial vocals produced by Auto-Tune software, which has become widely popular since being introduced in the late 1990s.

The pitch correction software was designed to digitally alter recorded vocals to tune them into perfect pitch, but also produces a noticeable synthesized quality to vocals in many recordings. (read more)

Eric Clapton delivered a musical gift for fans on Christmas Eve with the release of his brand new single and accompanying music video entitled "Heart Of A Child".

As we previously reported, Clapton is joined on the song by drummer Sonny Emory, bassist Nathan East, Dirk Powell on mandolin, guitarists Daniel Santiago and Pedro Martins, Simon Climie on keyboards and percussion, Sharon White and Katie Kissoon on background vocals. (read more)

Ed Sheeran made music history last week after his blockbuster single "Shape of You," became the very first song to receive over 3 Billion streams on Spotify.

The track was the lead single from his Sheeran's 2017 album, "Divide", which has also been certified 5xPlatinum by the RIAA for sales of 5 million copies in the U.S. (read more)

Lee Greenwood and Paula Deen are hosting the Helping A Hero Telethon, which will premiere tonight, Monday, December 27, at 8e/7c PM on RFD-TV, The Cowboy Channel, and One America Network.

As Helping A Hero has already awarded over 150 homes to veterans across 24 states, Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops, issued the 100 Homes Challenge to help fund the next 100 homes. (read more)

KISS cofounder Gene Simmons had a top 21 story from August 2021 after he apologized for disparaging remarks that he made about Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and he believes those original comments were taken out of context.

Roth opened for KISS on the original North American leg of their End Of The Road Farewell Tour and Gene spoke to Rolling Stone about the band resuming the trek after it was postponed due to the pandemic. (read more)

Wolfgang Van Halen earned a top 21 story from August 2021 when he called out "rude" fans that have suggested that he should take over for his late father Eddie Van Halen in the acclaimed band.

The young musician appeared on Portland radio station KGON's Terry Boyd's World show to promote his debut Mammoth WVH solo album and current tour with KISS. (read more)

(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones Shared Video Tribute To Charlie Watts was a top 21 story from August 2021: The Rolling Stones are sharing a video tribute to their late bandmate Charlie Watts. The two-minute clip presents a montage of photos and footage of Watts through the years to the soundtrack of the group's 1974 classic, "If You Can't Rock Me", a track from the "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" album.

Watts died in a London hospital on August 24 at the age of 80 while recovering from a recent medical procedure that was set to have him sit out the band's rescheduled No Filter US Tour dates this fall. (read more)

Slipknot's Corey Taylor Was 'Very, Very Sick' With Covid-19 was a top 21 story from August 2021: Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor shared in a video message to fans that he is "very, very sick" and has tested positive for Covid-19.

Taylor was scheduled to appear at the Astronomican convention in Ann Arbor, Michigan back in August, but has been forced to pull out due to the illness. (read more)

Two former members of the Sex Pistols earned a top 21 story from August 2021 after they won a legal battle against singer Johnny Rotten over the right to use the band's songs in an upcoming television series about the iconic UK punk band.

The case brought by guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook took center stage in a London High Court last month as the pair sought to include the group's songs in the forthcoming F/X limited series "Pistol"; based on a 2017 memoir by Jones entitled "Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol", Rotten (John Lydon) refused to grant permission for the songs to be included. (read more)

Sleep Signals Were Involved in Serious Accident On P.O.D. Tour was a top 21 story from August 2021: Sleep Signals shared the bad news that they were involved in a serious accident on August 18th, while on tour with P.O.D., From Ashes to New and All Good Things.

They said, "As we continue to process the events from Wednesday morning, we are reminded how fortunate we all are to be alive. Without going into too many details at this time, the band and crew did suffer some devastatingly extensive injuries and our vehicle/gear are a complete loss. (read more)

Late KISS Star Eric Carr Documentary In The Works was a top 21 story from August 2021: Music promoter David Snowden revealed in a recent interview with Metal Mike for the 80's Glam Metalcast podcast that he is currently working on a new documentary about late KISS drummer Eric Carr.

The drummer, born Paul Charles Caravello, took over for original KISS member Peter Criss in 1980 and played with the band until his untimely passing of cancer at the age of 41 in November of 1991. (read more)

Former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar had a top 21 story from August 2021 after he shared in an interview that there is some unreleased material in the vault from his time with the band, but "not that much".

Hagar spoke to Ultimate Classic Rock about his upcoming Las Vegas Residency and during the chat he was asked about a 5150 era demo called "I Want Some Action" that he and bandmate Michael Anthony recently teased via social media. (read more)

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker scored a top 21 story from August 2021 after reportedly flew on an airplane for the first time this since he survived a fatal crash in 2008, according to the Daily Mail.

The outlet reports that Travis was spotted with his girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian at an airfield in Camarillo, California, preparing to board an airplane. (read more)

Ozzy Osbourne Tributed Randy Rhoads In The Studio was a top 21 story from August 2021: The honoring of Randy Rhoads by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was celebrated with a special Ozzy Osbourne interview for the radio show In The Studio With Redbeard's Medium Rare series.

Host Redbeard had this to say, "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is honoring posthumously guitarist Randy Rhoads during this year's annual induction ceremony October 30. (read more)

The estate of late legendary Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott had a top 21 story from August 2021 after they announced that they have filed a lawsuit against Dead Guitars over the term of an endorsement deal. Both sides have issued statements about the move.

Dimebag's estate is led by his longtime girlfriend Rita Haney and she issued the following statement about the legal action, "After much consideration, it is with great sadness that I announce the longstanding relationship between Dimebag and Dean Guitars is over. (read more)

(hennemusic) Soundgarden Members Reunited With Brandi Carlile At The Gorge was a top 21 story from August 2021: The surviving members of Soundgarden reunited to perform a pair of songs with Brandi Carlile during the singer's August 14 concert at The Gorge in George, Washington.

Guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron joined Carlile for versions of their classic tracks "Black Hole Sun" and "Searching With My Good Eye Closed" during the event. (read more)

Crown The Empire earned a top 21 story from August 2021 when they released a music video for their single "In Another Life", that featured guest vocalist from Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox.

Frontman Andy Leo had the following to say about the new track, "In Another Life was the first song we wrote while working on our new album in the studio. (read more)

Dark Tranquillity had a top 21 story from August 2021 after announcing that founding drummer Anders Jivarp and bass player Anders Iwers have departed the group and Joakim Strandberg Nilsson and Christian Jansson will be taking their place at upcoming shows.

Vocalist Mikael Stanne had this to say, "Times have truly changed. This last year and a half has been challenging to say the least, and we've all had time to think over our decisions and motivations in all aspects of life. When removed from what you take for granted, it becomes clear that you realize what is truly important in life. And this is different for everybody. (read more)

NYC rocker Lorne Behrman (The Dimestore Haloes, L.E.S. Stitches, The Dead Tricks and The Sweet Things) scored a top 21 story from August 2021 when he told us about the video for his debut solo single "When I Hit The Floor". Here is the story:

The song: In January 2020, I was kicked out of my previous band, The Sweet Things. I was really depressed. I had played music for 30 years, and for the first time ever, I felt like it was over for me. Up until then, I had been a lead guitar player, and an occasional songwriter. All those years my focus was really just on playing solos and being a gunslinger-playing fast and showing off. This song changed everything. (read more)