Good morning. Today we start out with this happy and sad news about everyone’s favorite frontman and sometimes drummer, Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. Pulse Of Radio reports Dave and his wife Jordyn Blum have welcomed a third daughter into the world, according to Us magazine. Ophelia Saint Grohl (must’ve been listening to some Simon & Garfunkel) born on Aug 1st, but the couple kept the birth quiet except for a single Aug 8th post on the Facebook page of The David Grohl Alley Scholarship Program . Sadly, on August 6th, just days after Ophelia’s birth, Grohl lost his father, James Grohl, to cancer at the age of 75. Grohl and Blum have been married for 11 years and are also the parents of eight-year-old Violet Maye and five-year-old Harper Willow. The new Foo Fighters album, Sonic Highways, will be released on Nov 10th. That’s also the title of the upcoming HBO documentary series that will chronicle the making of the record, which will premiere on the cable network on Oct 17th….WOW! FINALLY, news on Breaking Benjamin! Pulse also reporting Breaking Benjamin has posted a new video at the band’s Facebook page in which the group’s all-new lineup is revealed. Songwriter and frontman Ben Burnley is the only original member left in the band, which has been inactive for several years while Burnley battled health issues and was engaged in legal action against two former members. Joining Burnley in Breaking Benjamin 2.0 are drummer Shaun Foist, bassist Aaron Bruch, former Red guitarist/songwriter Jasen Rauch and ex-Adelitas Way guitarist Keith Wallen. Aside from the Facebook video, no further information about a new album, touring plans or record label has been revealed. The last Breaking Benjamin album, Dear Agony, came out in 2009. Jasen has been working with Ben for a long time, at least since Breaking Benjamin’s last album. Been trying to reach out to Ben, but no word back. Breaking Benjamin initially went on hiatus in 2010 while Burnley dealt with his illness. Following the release of a greatest hits album by the band’s label, Burnley accused former bassist Mark Klepaski and guitarist Aaron Fink of approving the set as well as a new remix of “Blow Me Away” without his permission. That touched off a legal fight in which Burnley went to court against Fink and Klepaski over who had the rights to the band’s name. Burnley declared himself the legal victor in April 2013 and announced plans to continue under the Breaking Benjamin name, playing a few acoustic performances later that year. Hopefully, we’ll be hearing new music in the not too distant future…Hellyeah frontman Chad Gray has told Revolver as well as this producer, in a new interview his other band, Mudvayne, is not dead yet despite a hiatus of more than four years and the recent dismissal of Mudvayne guitarist Greg Tribbett from the Hellyeah lineup. Asked if this meant Mudvayne was officially over, Gray replied, “I don’t think so. We all still talk. I’m not ready to put a headstone on anything yet.” Gray did admit that Tribbett’s firing from Hellyeah, shortly before the recording of the band’s new Blood For Blood album, was hard on him. He explained, “He has always been my right-hand man . . . When everything went sideways, it was like losing a great friend. I was filled with fear and I had mixed emotions. At first, I was like, G****mn, I don’t know if I’m ever gonna be able to do this without him.” There was a point where he left the writing and early stages of production in Las Vegas and drove home to Arizona. After some serious coaxing from the band and Kevin Churko, he made the decision to return to Vegas and get down to making what is the Blood For Blood album. Mudvayne posted a message on Facebook last March indicating the band was still in existence, writing, “With respect to all the bandmembers, we are all doing something in music that satisfies our appetite right now. When the time is right, Mudvayne WILL be back in action.”…..With headlines swirling about the NFL allegedly instituting a pay-to-play policy for the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show, British rock band You Me At Six has an offer for the league, which they outline in the following open letter:
Dear NFL:
We’re sorry to hear that you’re in such dire financial straits. While Coldplay and Rihanna mull your offer, we’re here to help with a multi-tiered proposal:
1. For $2 Million: We get to play the upcoming halftime show.
2. For $10 Million, one of us gets to quarterback a set of downs for the team of our choosing.
3. For $40 Million, the Super Bowl will be played with English football rules, where you must use your feet, and an actual ball.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts once you’ve had a chance to review. We welcome any of the Super Bowl committee to attend one of our upcoming American concerts. Our tour kicks off September 15th at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, CA.
Warmly,
You Me At Six
(Josh, Dan, Max Chris, Matt)
Celebrating birthdays today: Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple/Black Sabbath fame is 62. Serj Tankian is 47, Kristen Wiig is 41 and a rich dude named Sergey Brin is also 41 (co-founder of Google.)… And let’s leave you with this, ever wonder who the richest bass players in Rock are? This list is published by The Richest (dunno where/how they compile this info or why Geddy Lee of Rush isn’t on this list, but here ya go).
- The Beatles‘ Paul McCartney – $1.2 billion
- The Police‘s Sting – $300 million
- Kiss‘ Gene Simmons – $300 million
- Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters – $270 million
- U2‘s Adam Clayton – $150 million
- Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea – $115 million
- Led Zeppelin‘s John Paul Jones – $80 million
- Black Sabbath‘s Geezer Butler – $65 million
- No Doubt‘s Tony Kanal – $45 million
- Nirvana‘s Krist Novoselic – $40 million