Some changes in the OzzFest lineup: MINISTRY is no longer on the bill, and SOULFLY is the replacement as headliner of the second stage. Schedule conflicts mean that Soulfly will not be on the Tattoo the Earth tour with SLIPKNOT, COAL CHAMBER, SEVENDUST and NASHVILLE PUSSY. We also hear that TOMMY LEE's METHODS OF MAYHEM has been dropped from the tour.
It has been confirmed that CARMINE APPICE will appear as drummer for legendary rockers THIN LIZZY on their upcoming European tour. I initially ran this story May 6 and ran a correction after one of Carmine's PR people mail me to deny he was doing this gig. Well it turns out that story was correct. More Carmine news is available at his website: www.carmineappice.com...What I'd like to see is a REAL Thin LIzzy reunion tour... you know, one where they dig up Phil Lynott, hook a car battery to him and...oh, what the hell am I saying, that's just going to smell awful...fried corpse... Mmmmm.
Will there ever be a new DAMN YANKEES disc? Oh, who the hell cares? More lineup changes have occurred since Tommy Shaw has announced that he will NOT be taking place in the writing and recording sessions. Damon Johnson's role seems likely to be cut back a little, he will still sing on the tracks that he collaborated on with Jack Blades & Ted Nugent. Johnson will supposedly also tour, but without any press release of any sort from Portrait, who knows what the new album will consist of? Most recently Kelly Keagy was unofficially announced as the drummer for the band, only to be cut back to a guest star after Michael Cartellone expressed his desire to return as the band's permanent drummer. The album will be recorded on and off over the US summer, as all members have tour commitments . Release is still planned before the end of 2000, but early next year is a more likely.
The BLACK CROWES will celebrate 10 years of music on June 20 with the release of A Tribute to a Work in Progress ... Greatest Hits 1990-1999, featuring 16 tracks culled from their five albums. The band will spend the summer on the road with JIMMY PAGE, starting on June 24 in Chicago, Illinois and running through October 1 in Cleveland, Ohio.
An amendment to Monday's item on SAMANTHA 7: Bassist KRYS BARATTO says that the venue for the band's June 1 release party is the Los Angeles' Key Club, not the Whisky. The event follows a signing at Tower Records on the Sunset Strip.
LIMP BIZKIT, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, CREED, GODSMACK, DEFTONES, and SEVENDUST will be on the bill at New York radio station KROCK's annual Dysfunctional Family Picnic at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey on June 23.
And lastly, a piece of information that wouldn't normally be here, but who the hell cares... PRINCE has finally decided to change his name back to PRINCE. . "On December 31, 1999, my publishing contract with Warner/Chappell expired, thus emancipating the name I was given before birth, Prince, from all long-term restrictive documents," Prince explained to the press. "I will now go back to using my name instead of the symbol I adopted as a means to free myself from all undesirable relationships." [RealVideo] As for the suddenly available symbol that used to be his name, Prince joked, "Well, it's an internationally known logo now, so... I haven't really given it much thought." Prince did attend to more weighty issues at his press conference, including his announcement that he has broken off relations with Arista Records, which inked the artist last August and released his "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic" shortly thereafter. Prince also noted that he won't deal with Arista's new president, L.A. Reid, under the old Arista agreement. (Prince had signed a one-album deal with former Arista head Clive Davis.) As for the gold-certified "Rave," which has slid off the charts, Prince has recorded an updated version of the disc, slightly renamed "Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic," which he'll sell online at 1800newfunk.com.
