Good morning America! Here’s what’s happening in the rock world.
The Pulse Of Radio says Godsmack singer Sully Erna has partnered with the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation and Recovery Centers Of America to raise awareness about the growing opioid crisis in America. Erna and the Foundation have teamed up to create a brand new video featuring the song “Different Kind Of Tears,” the first single off Erna’s recent solo album, Hometown Life.
The video for the song, which deals with teenage angst from the heartbreaking perspective of a parent, features actual footage from parents who have lost their children to opioid addiction via overdose.
Erna said, “When Jim Wahlberg approached me to get involved with the Foundation to combat the out-of-control opioid epidemic sweeping this country, it was an easy decision . . . especially since the opioid problem is now so severe in my hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts.”
Godsmack is currently at work on its seventh studio album, which the band intends to release in 2018 to coincide with the group’s 20th anniversary. Erna explained in an interview earlier this year why the original idea of releasing a new LP in 2017 changed, saying, “We were just, like, ‘You know, let’s just wait another second,’ because if we release this at the top of 2018, it will be our 20th-year anniversary of the first record, and we wanna do something special.”
Godsmack will perform this Saturday (Jul 15th) at Chicago Open Air, alongside Seether, Korn, Avatar and others.
Must be nice! Metallica’s Kirk Hammett is selling yet another amazing home. And he’s dropped the asking price by 2 MILLION. Check it out here. The house is in Sea Cliff, a neighborhood in northwestern San Francisco, CA. Hammett put the home on the market last Dec for $16 million, but that price recently came down to $14 million. Hammett’s name apparently does not appear on the deed for the Spanish Colonial-style home, which last sold in 2010 for $8 million. The four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom, three-story house is said to be the fourth most expensive publicly listed home in the entire city.
Hammett sold a home in Pacific Heights for $7.6 million in 2009 after owning it for 16 years. He bought that eight-bedroom, four-story mansion in 1993 for just $2.56 million.
The guitarist was asked in a recent interview with Atlanta radio station Rock 100.5 if being a millionaire ever gets old. Hammett replied, “It just comes with a whole bunch of different problems, bro. And you know what? I’m not very good with saving money. (I spend it on) comic books and movie posters and horror stuff and guitars. I live my life. I just f**king live my life. And I’m generous. The people who are around me experience what I’m experiencing while I’m experiencing it.” I gotta go hang with him!
Wow! This is insane! The Pulse Of Radio reporting My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way‘s award-winning comic book series The Umbrella Academy is getting a 10-episode order from Netflix for 2018, according to Deadline. The book, written by Way and illustrated by Gabriel Ba, follows the estranged members of a dysfunctional family of superheroes called the Umbrella Academy as they work together to solve their father’s mysterious death while coming apart due to their divergent personalities and abilities.
The characters in the story are known as the Monocle, Spaceboy, the Kraken, the Rumor, the Séance, Number Five, the Horror and the White Violin. Published by Dark Horse Comics, the comic series garnered praise from fans and critics for its alternate and twisted take on the superhero genre. In 2008 it won the prestigious Eisner Award, the highest honor in the comic book industry.
Way said, “I am thrilled that The Umbrella Academy has found a home at Netflix. I couldn’t think of a better place for the vision Gabriel Bá and myself had when creating the comic and cannot wait for people to experience that world as a live-action show.”
A film version of the book was put into development by Universal Pictures back in 2010, but never surfaced. The studio then began work on a TV version in 2015, selling the property to Netflix earlier this year.
My Chemical Romance was active from 2001 through 2013, releasing four studio albums. The band’s biggest success was the 2006 effort The Black Parade, which sold more than 1.6 million copies and yielded the hit singles “Welcome To The Black Parade,” “Famous Last Words” and “Teenagers.”
Huh. Chad never mentioned this, but ok, Nickelback has released a lyric video for its new single “Must Be Nice.” The song is the latest track released from the quartet’s new album, Feed The Machine, following the title tune and “Song On Fire.” The new LP became the seventh of the Canadian act’s career to debut in the Top 10 on the Billboard album chart. The group is currently playing dates on a North American tour, with shows this week in Darien Lake, NY (Jul 12th) and Uncasville, CT (Jul 13th).
I just can’t bring myself to post the story on the 911 call the night Chris Cornell died, photos from the scene or the aftermath. Just makes me bummed out. But you can read the story and listen here if you want. Just makes me too damn sad.
Later today I will be interviewing Ed Kowalcyzk of Live. It will be one of the first interviews he’s done for American radio. I am stoked!
Laters taters!