Jack White Covers Jay Z's '99 Problems'

White hasn't been shy about his interest in Jay. During an interview with Rolling Stone, White talked about working in the studio with HOV on a batch of still unreleased songs, which may stay unreleased since White didn't seem convinced that Jay even liked them.

Though, White might have just been in a complaining mood, since this was the same interview where he went off on his former White Stripes cohort, Meg White and the Black Keys.

Watch the performance here.

Bon Jovi, Chris Martin, Billie Joe Armstrong On Avicii's Next Album

According to Rolling Stone, Avicii is a good 70 tracks into the full-length, which will follow his blockbuster 2013 debut, True, which featured breakout hits "Wake Me Up" and "Hey Brother."

"It's going to be a lot more song-oriented," the DJ and producer explained. "True was an attempt at that, getting electronic music in a song format." The DJ/producer also revealed a reggae duet featuring Wyclef Jean and Matisyahu, saying, "I love it, but I don't know what to do with it yet."

Sleep Streaming First New Song in 18 Years

Fans will be pleased to note that, despite the addition of drummer Jason Roeder, who replaced Chris Hakius in 2010, not too much has changed with the group.

Asked if The Clarity is a lyrical follow-up to Dopesmoker, Al Cisneros and Matt Pike tell NPR: "The Clarity is a follow-up to a lifetime of marijuana enjoyment."

Stream the song here.

Weird Al Releases 'Lame Claim to Fame' Video

In the third straight video in which Yankovic is writing his own material while lampooning the style of a certain artist or band, "Lame Claim to Fame" presents a Weird Al song in the key of Southern Culture on the Skids, a alt rock/rockabilly act from Chapel Hill.

"Lame Claim to Fame" is about that person - and we all know at least one - who will stop at nothing to recount the vaguely close experience they had to a celebrity of some type. Whether it's throwing up in an elevator next to Christian Slater or standing in the same checkout line as Steven Seagal, the story is apparently so juicy that it just has to be told.

But instead of having just one claim to supposed fame, Al has a whole mess of them. Arguably the best one? He got an email from the prince of Nigeria!

"Lame Claim to Fame" follows Saturday's "First World Problems" and Friday's "Sports Song" in the realm of Yankovic's original material off Mandatory Fun. Before, he parodied a number of big-name artists in his video series, including Iggy Azalea, Lorde, Pharrell and Robin Thicke.

Check out the video here.

Beyonce Releases '50 Shades of Grey' Teaser

Simply an announcement that an announcement is coming, the teaser indicates the world should be on the look out this Thursday (July 24) for the first official film trailer.

Why did Bey garner this particular honor from Hollywood? It's not entirely clear, outside of a clear synergistic match up between a large swath of her audience and the audience for the book (females, ages 18-55, all races), but the music in the teaser does appear to be Beyonc� herself doing a little a cappella teaser of her hit single "Crazy In Love." Watch here.

Bob Ezrin Inspired Deep Purple To Record Again

Last year's Now What?! followed 2005's Rapture Of The Deep after a delay during which the band weren't sure they wanted to make any more records. But key knowledge came from producer Bob Ezrin, who helped them make sense of current conditions in the music industry.

Glover tells Ultimate Classic Rock: "Bob came to see us, and he met us the next day and he was very enthusiastic," Glover recalls. "He loved what he'd heard and he said some very astute things - 'Forget trying to make a big smash-hit single. Those days are gone. Really do what you do, and do it well.'"

Eric Clapton Premieres Cover of J.J. Cale's 'Cajun Moon'

Due July 29, "Eric Clapton & Friends: The Breeze, An Appreciation of JJ Cale", features a collection of 16 Cale tunes revisited by Clapton, Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Derek Trucks and Don White.

"Cajun Moon" originally appeared on Cale's third album, 1974's "Okie." Cale passed away from a heart attack in La Jolla, California on July 26, 2013 at the age of 74. Check out the preview here.

Ice-T Talks New Body Count Album

Over the course of our interview, Ice delved into topics such as the decline of manhood (hence the title of his metal band Body Count's new album, Manslaughter), his support of veteran's causes (he is, in fact, a vet), the importance of work (even if it's illegal) and why you have to watch out that you don't get "Oprahed."

We did eventually get on the topic of the police, to which Ice-T said, "Cops are human beings." It seems that at 56 years old, it's really the men of today whom Ice has beef with. He'd like to see them just stand up and express their opinions, but for now, he's going to attempt to do it all on his own. "I'm just trying to put balls back into music."

What inspired the song "Manslaughter"? I'm just looking at manhood now. People are afraid to have an opinion. If they have an opinion, they might lose some 'likes' on Facebook! It's the 'p-y-ification' of males. I'm not talking about gay men. I'm not talking about women. I'm talking about men not standing up, having some balls, and being about something. I just miss that aggression in the rock days when I was coming up, bands that were about something. I'm from the era of Rage Against the Machine, they opened for us here in New York. Punk, Black Flag. You couldn't just come on stage and yell, you had to push something. Maybe I'm just trying to put balls back into music.

Hip-hop also seems to have lost its aggression over the years. It's gone. Right now, hip-hop is basically materialistic bulls-t. A pop bubble full of bulls-t. You're creating this belief that everybody's drinking champagne and driving around in Maybachs. But the majority of them aren't. The [artists] who aren't, are faking it. They're basically turning into the people we hated when we started to rap. The people who flaunted their money and threw it at you. We're turning into that. In rap, there's room for songs about nonsense, there's room for songs about clubbin', but there's also room to make change. You've got to have something in the lyrics that is about something. Even on this album, Manslaughter, it isn't a political record, I don't even reference the government. Some of the songs have no meaning�but then there are songs that are about something. That's missing in hip-hop.

"I Will Always Love You" is about veterans. You've gotten involved with the organization Veterans Matter, and you're a vet, but that's not that well known. Yeah, I'm a vet, I always wanted to do a song about the military experience, and I wanted to do it with military jargon so the vets would feel it. Like, if you do a song about prison, and you can talk the lingo, then cats know you've been to the joint. So, when I'm talking about 'A.I.T.'-that's Advanced Individual Training-or 'downrange'-that's what they call it when you go to war-all the different terms that I use, it's my way of saying, 'I'm talking your language, guys.' My thing is, whether we're misdirected in our wars, or whether we're fighting for the wrong thing, you've still got to respect the kids going over there, they believe they're doing the right thing. They're nineteen, they're 20, they're 25, they're coming home with their legs blown off, now they can't even find a place to live, they're unemployed. It's a sad state. Our government will have you risk your life, and when you come home, there's no reward. They turn their back on you. It's like, if you're not gonna re-enlist, we don't care about you anymore.

You seem to champion a certain kind of traditional values on the song "Get a Job." I used to get up at five in the morning and drive to work. And then like, 12 in the afternoon, my friends would call me and be like, 'I need some money.' You slept 'til 12! The lyrics, 'Stop begging, get a job. Get a gun! Go rob somebody!' Go do something! At least make an effort! I remember one time, my daughter had a boyfriend and he wanted to borrow some money. And I was like, 'Get him a ski mask and a starter pistol! Tell him to call me from jail. Let me at least see some type of effort.' But that's the humor of Body Count. Body Count is grindhouse. It's over the top. It's ultraviolent. It's ultra-sexual. To the point that it can't be taken seriously. We're not a rock band that wants to convince you that we're dead serious about things. Even go back to the first record 'Smoked Pork.' 'Well, I'm just eating these donuts!' It's dark f-ked up Ice-T humor. But there's a point there. It's not meant to be taken literally. I had someone come up to me and say, "Well, how come on the 'Talk S-t, Get Shot' video, you only shot white people?" And I'm like, 'Well, the video director only brought white people to shoot.' I didn't tell him who to bring. My stuff has always been very based on humor.

You cover Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized," but you changed the lyrics to fit your life today, talking about your wife bugging you about playing too much XBox, having a vegan criticize what you're eating and trying to retrieve an online password. And getting "Oprahed." You gotta pay homage to Suicidal Tendencies. Suicidal was the first band to connect the gangster/skater thing. Mike Muir is a beast. We have the same look. 'Institutionalized' is a masterpiece! 'All I wanted was a Pepsi!' Small world - the guy who did a lot of my early album covers, Glen E. Friedman, used to manage Suicidal and produced their first album. So when we went to get the rights for the song, we're calling our buddy up! Who happens to be a vegan! 'God, Ice, why'd you go so hard on the vegans!' I just wanted to rant. So I picked some targets, like Oprah. We had a term, 'Getting Oprahed.' That's when you come home from work and your wife has been watching daytime television, and you get broadsided: 'You're eating too much celery, you're gonna get cancer!' 'What are you talking about?' 'I saw it on Oprah!'

'Getting Oprahed' is getting broadsided by daytime TV. The first rant about the XBox, that's not my real life. My wife doesn't have a problem with me playing XBox, her theory is, 'At least I know where he is.' Then I talk about the internet, who hasn't had a password problem? At the end of the record, we made sure to say, 'Suicidal!' We wanted to make sure no [younger] kids thought I invented that song. I want them to say: 'Suicidal? What did he mean when he said that? Oh, that's a band.' Maybe it will help them to sell some records.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Weezer Wanted To Go Retro With New Album

In the interview, frontman Rivers Cuomo touched on the band's decision to get back with Ric Ocasek of the Cars as a producer for the new record. Ocasek worked on the band's debut album, generally referred to as the Blue Album, and 2001′s Green Album; both are self-titled.

"We thought about it long and hard and talked to a lot of producers," Cuomo told KROQ's Kevin and Bean. "Ultimately we realized we wanted to make a record that had the sonic qualities of our first record and really, who could do a better job than Ric, who produced that first record. We started talking to him and it was starting to feel really exciting again. He came out to LA and brought his two Les Paul guitars, which we recorded the whole first album with, once we plugged in and got everything going the magic came back. It was very fun and exciting for all of us."

Metallica Release Live Master Of Puppets Video From Vienna Show

The footage also includes the pre-show fan meet and greet, as well as "Whiskey In The Jar" from the show. Metallica recently wrapped up their "By Request" European tour and will perform at Heavy Montreal on August 9.

1986's "Master Of Puppets" was the band's third album and final one with bassist Cliff Burton, who died tragically in a tour bus accident in Sweden in September of that year.

Check out the video here.

Online Petition Launched To Breakup Ghost

He's hoping to secure 10,000 signatures - although, to date, just over 400 have added their names. Armdacht says: "Ghost wish to destroy real metal with their carnival music nonsense. Seriously, is a song like If You Have Ghost actually something that a real metalhead would listen to? They are not metal.

"People make the erroneous claim that they are inspired by King Diamond/Mercyful Fate, which is just wrong. They are, in fact, a watered-down version of BOC.

"We the people oppose Ghost continuing as a band, and they should be split up as soon as possible. They have done so much damage to real metal."

Martina McBride Remembers Her First Time On Radio

Despite all this success, McBride says she will never forget the first time she heard one of her own recordings on the radio. The year was 1992, after she got her record deal with RCA Nashville, and the song was her debut single, "The Time Has Come."

"I was in Nashville," McBride told Radio.com recently. "I was living in a little suburb called Donelson, it's out by the airport. Somebody had told me that they have a [radio] show, that I believe originated in Kentucky, but we could hear it in Nashville, called Newest from Nashville. They said, 'We heard your song!' They played my first single, it was called 'The Time Has Come.'"

When McBride was told her music was being played on the station, she and her husband (Blackbird Studio owner John McBride) tuned in. "So John and I, we sit at our kitchen table. We had a little boombox, and we listened. And they played it about 7:30, and it was just like, 'Wow, that's really happening! I have an album out and a single and it's on the radio. It's amazing.'"

Stream the interview here.

The Evolution of Country Music's Tailgate Parties

Tailgate parties are a hallmark of so-called "bro country," a backward-baseball-cap-wearing trend in country defined by trucks, parties, women in tight jeans and a seemingly unlimited supply of beer. These tailgate parties are less about barbecues with friends at sporting events and more about raging down a dirt road or cutting loose in a farm field on a warm summer night.

In recent years, tailgates are seemingly everywhere in country, having been referenced in such hits as Luke Bryan's "That's My Kinda Night," Randy Houser's "Runnin' Outta Moonlight," Brantley Gilbert's "Kick It in the Sticks" and Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party," an anthem whose lyrics and powerhouse chords helped define the trend. "You can find me in the back of a jacked-up tailgate," Aldean sings, "chillin' with some Skynyrd and some old Hank."

Not everyone is happy about the trend, though. "If I hear one more tailgate in the moonlight, daisy duke song, I'm gonna throw up," Zac Brown famously said during a radio interview last year. He went on to call Bryan's song "That's My Kind of Night" (which was at that point rising fast on the charts) "one of the worst songs I've ever heard." Ouch.

Unlike other common tropes populating today's country music, though (trucks and beer, for instance, or even tributes to Hank Williams), tailgate parties are a recent phenomenon.

Ten years ago, such references were few and far between, and a generation ago, if a singer mentioned "tailgating," it was of the "following too close" variety. "I got a memory on my tailgate, and old Smokey's on my rear," sang Johnny Paycheck in "his 1980 hit "Drinkin' and Drivin'."

So who started the whole tailgate trend? Let's turn the dial back to the 1990s and start with the catalog of one of the era's biggest hitmakers: Joe Diffie.

Diffie's 1990 song "Almost Home" is one of the first country hits that mentions a "tailgate." Though to be honest, it's not quite in a "party all night" context. Instead of beer or BBQ, his truck bed is full of fishing equipment. "Cane poles on the tailgate bobbers blowin' in the wind," Diffie sang.

Three years later, though, Diffie brought up tailgating again in his hit "Pickup Man." And this time, the reference feels more in line with the trend in today's country:

You can set my truck on fire, and roll it down a hill
But I still wouldn't trade it for a Coupe DeVille
I've got an eight foot bed that never has to be made
You know if it weren't for trucks we wouldn't have tailgates
I met all my wives in traffic jams,
There's just something women like about a Pickup Man

While Diffie was on the right track, it's really Tim McGraw who took things a step further and sang about a full-blown country tailgate party. Read more here.

The Cadillac Three Wrote Country Radio Biggest Hits of 2014

"I'm pissed off that he gave 'Payback' to Rascal Flatts," Johnston confessed, pointing to Mason. "He never played it for us. I would have done that. But we'll talk about that later."

It's hard for Johnston to complain too much about his bandmate giving good songs away, since he's still kicking himself for giving Keith Urban the Eric Church-assisted track, "Raise 'Em Up."

"At the time, as soon as I got done with it I was like, 'I gotta send this to Keith,'" Johnston said. Urban immediately liked what he heard and cut it that week. It wasn't until months later, when Johnston took the stage with Urban at the ACM Party for a Cause event in April in front of 20,000 people that he realized what he had given away

"I took Eric's part and I was like, 'S-t,'" Johnston said. "It really clicked, I could sing that song every night."

Another song The Cadillac Three may wish they kept for themselves was "Tall Glass of Something," which made it onto Owen's latest album, Days of Gold. Owen is clearly a fan of the band, cutting five songs-including the album's title track-that were written by Johnston, who he considers his "buddy because I appreciated his songwriting and I love the band that he's playing with." A lot more.

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