Along with Eddie Van Halen, Kiss' Ace Frehley inspired numerous up-and-coming rockers to pick up the guitar in the 1970s -- and come the '90s, he was listed by just about every contemporary rock guitarist (Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, Pantera's Dimebag Darrell, etc.) as an important influence. Born Paul Frehley on April 27, 1951, in the Bronx, New York, Frehley began playing guitar when he received an electric six-string for his 14th birthday in 1965. Already a big fan of the Rolling Stones, Frehley was blown away when he caught a multi-band live show in N.Y.C. in early 1967, featuring both the Who and Cream, among others, which solidified his desire to pursue rock guitar more seriously (and put a p ... Read more »

Ace were one of the few pub rock groups to enjoy success on the pop charts, largely due to the warm, soulful vocals of Paul Carrack. While Carrack's voice certainly had crossover appeal -- as he would later prove with his own records, as well as his work with Squeeze and Roxy Music -- the band was also less devoted to the three-chord boogie and country-rock that marked most pub rock bands, favoring soulful R&B. And while they did have hits, their time in the spotlight was brief, and they fell apart shortly after Carrack left for a solo career.

Phil Harris (guitar) and Alan "Bam" King (guitar, vocal) formed Ace in 1972, recruiting Paul Carrack (keyboards, vocals), Terry "Tex" Comer (bass), and Steve Witherington (drums) ove ... Read more »

A Taste of Honey had two huge hits that were very dissimilar from each other -- "Boogie Oogie Oogie" and a cover of Kyu Sakamoto's 1963 gold hit "Sukiyaki." The former was foot-stomping disco and the latter was languid and lush.

Around 1971, singer/bassist/guitarist Janice Marie Johnson and keyboardist Perry Kimble decided to start a band after meeting at an audition for vacation cruise gigs for Princess Cruises. Taking their group name from one of their favorite songs, the band added several friends to the lineup and began playing Southern California bars and military bases in the U.S. and abroad. Their lead singer, Greg Walker, quit to join Santana and guitarist Hazel Payne was added. After meeting with producer Fonce Mizell and his ... Read more »

We were rooting for you, Macklemore. 

After busting onto the scene in 2012 with Thrift Shop, the Seattle rapper seemed poised to become more than just a novelty success. With the help of producer Ryan Lewis, he scored other hits (Can't Hold Us, Same Love) and picked up four Grammy Awards, including best new artist and rap album (debut The Heist). 

With the acclaim has also come inevitable backlash, mostly stemming from the fact that Macklemore is a white rapper with a pop-leaning sound — seen by many as unworthy of winning Grammys over black hip-hop heavyweights Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West. It's a topic that he has since addressed, telling radio station Hot 97 that, as a white rapper, "You need to know your place in the culture."  ... Read more »

Former drummer Steven Adler says he’s thrilled a truce has been called between Axl Rose and Slash. Now, he says it’s time for Guns N’ Roses to do the right thing.

“I wanna end it on a good note,” Adler tells Jamey Jasta. “I wanna end it great and be a part of that. We owe it to the fans to do it.”

Slash revealed in late August that he and Rose had buried the hatchet, sparking inevitable rumors about a possible new musical collaboration.

“I think that’s great, ’cause it’s been too long,” says Adler, who was with Guns N&rs ... Read more »

The number of rockers who were taken from us too early in life — whether by accident, violence or misadventure — is obviously far too large. The fact that so many of the biggest and most influential talents in rock history died at the age of 27 is even more bizarre, and when you think about it, downright creepy. Over the years, the stories behind the deaths of the members of this so called “27 club” have grown more and more inflated and outrageous, with everything from legal cover-ups to elaborate hoaxes and even deals with the devil trotted out to try and make some sense of these tragic losses. Together with our friends at Loudwire, we try to distinguish fact from fiction regarding these sad stories on the following list of Rockers Who Died at Age 27.

Jimi Hendrix – Rockers Who Died at Age 27

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A pair of Deep Purple‘s biggest recent live performances are being commemorated with two new concert recordings from the band.

The new releases, both scheduled to arrive Aug. 28, are titled From the Setting Sun … (In Wacken) and …To the Rising Sun (In Tokyo). Both titles will be available as two-CD/DVD or three-LP sets, and both are also accompanied by hi-def video options: From the Setting Sun … (In Wacken) was filmed using nine HD cameras and will be released on Blu-ray 3D, while …To the Rising Sun (In Tokyo) was filmed with 12 HD cameras, and will be released on Blu-ray. Pricing, track listings and pre-order information will be made available shortly.

The band has posted notes regarding both releases at its Facebook pa ... Read more »

The Winery Dogs will return to the road later this year for the first leg of what promises to be a lengthy tour.
As previously reported, the band has been at work on the follow-up to its 2013 self-titled debut — and it looks like its’ getting ready to deliver on promises of “a release sometime later in the year (and a world tour to follow).” Even though a title or release date have yet to be announced, the timing of the new dates seems to indicate a late summer or early fall arrival for the new LP.

Whenever they arrive, the Winery Dogs’ new songs should show the benefits of the band’s tour in support of the first album, which bassist Billy Sh ... Read more »

Taylor Swift isn’t ready to make a new record yet, but when she is, she may be calling on new friend Kanye West.

The two recently patched things up after that whole interrupting her 2009 VMA acceptance speech thing, went out for dinner and, according to Mr. West, were “definitely going to go” in the studio.

“We’ve never been in the studio together, but he’s got a lot of amazing ideas,” Taylor told “Entertainment Tonight.” “He’s one of those people who is just like idea, idea, like, ’What do you think of this?’ ’What do you think of that?’ He’s very creative and I think we&rsquo ... Read more »

Jennifer Lopez paid emotional tribute to Selena at the Billboard Latin Music Awards last night.

In 1997 the singer-and-actress had her big break playing the late singer Selena Quintanilla in the critically acclaimed biopic.

Yesterday she performed at the event in Miami, belting out some of Selena's biggest hits, including I Could Fall in Love, Como La Flor and No Me Queda Mas.

A montage of the star, who was murdered at the age of 23 in 1995, played in the background and Selena's former band, Los Dinos, joined Jennifer on stage.

At the end of the performance, the 45-year-old expressed her love for Selena to a standing ovation. ... Read more »