The untimely demise of Paul Gray, a well-liked member of the Des-Moines metal band, on Monday has left fans in shock, and the remaining eight members in mourning.
Investigations are still underway into the circumstances surrounding Gray’s death, after he was found dead in his Iowa hotel room, but police have confirmed that they do not suspect foul play was involved.
The band is symbolised by their masks and well known for their extreme behaviour when on stage.
Tributes have been pouring in on fan sites and the official Slipknot site (http://www.slipknot1.com/) for “maggots” which has put up an image of Paul with his bass doing what he loved best.
This has been another big week in the history of the Rolling Stones. At the weekend, the ageing rockers went straight to number one (again) with the re-release of their 1972 album Exile on Main Street, which has proved to be a hit once more with a new generation of rock fans.
However, the band has today had to deny rumours emanating from Down Under that Charlie Watts has decided to quit the band. This is not the first time however that the drummer’s status has been questioned.
Despite these denials it has generally been a good few days for the band. The album stormed to the top of this week’s charts and beat Faithless to number one.
The Rolling Stones have proved once again that their music is timeless and are back where they belong.
The US mobile tech company Hands-On Mobile is all set to finally bring the popular Guitar Hero series to their mobile devices.
The good news for those with a BlackBerry or Android handset is that the games will be released on their platforms and the latest instalment entitled “Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile: Backstage Pass” will have you rocking out on your mobile phone.
The popularity of instrument-playing games on mobile phones has already been seen in the Tap Tap Revenge series and the Rock Band game apps available on Apple’s iPhone. There are already plenty of apps out there to keep rockers rocking!
All has been quiet with the band for a few years (since Stadium Arcadium) as they have all gone off and done their own thing. When it was revealed last October that John Frusciante was to depart the rockers for the second time, it was unclear what was going to happen.
Fans of the funk / alternative rock outfit needn’t worry though, as the RHCP are due to start work on a new album produced by Rick Rubin in July, along with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, and hope to release it at the end of the year or early 2011.
Other good news includes a strong rumour that the band are all set for their own version of the Guitar Hero video game, complete with old tracks and songs from the new album.
For now, you will have to watch this space…
Rock has always traditionally been the rebellious younger brother when it comes to music in Britain. It may not always be celebrated by the masses, yet - until last year - it was still the genre of choice when it came to the charts.
Recent results published by the Official Charts Company (OCC) would suggest that the trend is now turning towards bland, generic pop music.
All thanks to headline-grabbing celebrities like Cheryl Cole, La Roux and Lady GaGa pop music is indeed becoming more popular.
The figures showed that 33.5 percent of singles sold in 2009 were classified as pop compared to 28 percent the previous year. Rock music sales fell from 31 percent to 24.5 percent over the same period, with Kings of Leon, Kasabian and Rage Against the Machine leading the charge.
Despite these grim statistics (which don’t really surprise me), I’ll stick to my rock music, thank you very much.