The former touring festival is once again happening over one weekend at Chicago's Grant Park. This year it will take place on August 3, 4 and 5th. The Sabbath set is being billed as their only North American appearance this year.

"By now, the devastating truth of Ronnie's death is public knowledge. We hope you can understand why we wanted to keep this news a private family matter for as long as possible. We can only hope that you will choose to celebrate Ronnie's life, and what his music meant to you, rather than mourn his passing. Ronnie would have wanted it that way. He loved being a guitarist, a composer, a producer, and a creator of magic. He fully understood his gifts, and yet he constantly pushed himself to evolve, improve, and make better music. He did this for himself, and he did this for you, because he adored and appreciated his fans. Please keep his energy, his joy, and his love in your hearts.

Wood explained that the band needs to get back into the groove. "It's like working out for the Olympics or something," Wood said. "You've got to go into training. So we're going to go into training."

In a recent interview with The New York Times, White lamented the end of the White Stripes. "I'd make a White Stripes record right now," he said. "I'd be in the White Stripes for the rest of my life. That band is the most challenging, important, fulfilling thing ever to happen to me. I wish it was still here. It's something I really, really miss."

The band will appear on Gaga's European dates, starting August 14 in Bulgaria, with shows currently scheduled into October.

Clutch are on the road in support of their double vinyl edition of Blast Tyrant which is available via Weathermaker Music. This 180+ gram expanded vinyl contains 16 songs and includes six mini-posters taken straight from Blast Tyrant's "Atlas of the Invisible World". Each illustrated poster is sized (8.5" x 11") and depicts one of the various characters featured within the Blast Tyrant storyline.

Hellbound and Heartless was co-produced by the band and Mike Sarkisyan and Tommy Decker, both members of Spineshank.

A limited copy of the cover's 7" will be released on Record Store Day (April 21st) with exclusive artwork by world-renowned Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant Art/Studio Number One).

"Moonsorrow are thrilled to start working with Century Media, a label that is home to many fellow artists already! We never make our music half way or with compromises and we know our art is in good hands with people who have the same mentality in running a record label. Now, after a year since the release of our last album we are ready to begin creating something new. The new chapter in this epic journey of Moonsorrow!"

Opening for Brian Jonestown Massacre on the east coast dates only is the Minneapolis band, Magic Castles who released their eponymous double album on March 20th, 2012 through Anton Newcombe's own 'a' Records.

The special program, featuring a selection of digitally remastered promotional videos and rare performance footage, will air nationally on MC On Demand April 2-29, 2012.

They'll celebrate with a hometown show in Seattle at Darrell's Tavern with the Tripwires on Friday, June 8th. Each record is collectible limited edition colored vinyl (the first "Listen Up" was chocolate; the new one will resemble a refreshing glass of pilsner).

This song went through a few titles before I settled on "My Destiny." Some working titles were "Stab," "Blinded," and "They Carried Us Away." In the end, "My Destiny" just made the most sense.

Sometimes I'll toil away, trying to find the perfect word for a particular line. This was very true in regard to the first line of this chorus. For some reason I was having the hardest time filling in "We were blinded by the ______ light." When I finally stumbled upon "sacred," it was perfect. It's essentially the word I was looking for the whole time and I feel like it really brings life to that section.

I'm especially proud of the guitar melodies in the chorus. I really like the way that part moves- the way the lead repeats while the rhythm changes. It's little details like this that I get really stoked on.

The raspier, higher-pitched screaming vocals that you hear in the verses are something that I started playing with on "This Is The Line" from The World Is A Thorn. There are certain parts (usually to do with time signature, tempo and guitar melody) that to me, just beg for a more villainous sounding vocal. You'll notice the second half of the verses on "This Is The Line" have a similar feel to these verses. I don't think this vocal style is necessarily pre-determined, but it just feels right for certain parts.

This song wasn't an immediate choice for the first single/video from this record... but the more we discussed it, the more we were all really drawn to it. I think it's a unanimous favorite among the guys in the band- or at least in everyone's top three.

This is one of the only Demon Hunter songs that is heavy and aggressive pretty much all the way through, but tells a really uplifting story. I call it a "heritage" piece, because it's about growing up in the suburbs, spending most of my time skateboarding with friends, getting into trouble, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life... and the moment that I found music, and everything changed. I remember going to my first live show and just being enthralled by it all. That's what the song refers to when it says "but the fear, the blood, the sweat and sound." It was the passion and the honesty of it that drew me in. Ever since I was 15, I knew that I'd be doing music for the rest of my life. This is kind of a common thread between the guys in the band, though it happened long before we knew each other. It's awesome to see it bonding us so many years later.

I wanted the music video to tell this story. The idea of kids in the 'burbs... just skating and hanging out... getting psyched on killer music. There are five kids- which is supposed to give the vague idea that it might be the teenage versions of us. For the performance footage I wanted us to be playing in a small, junky old rehearsal space, to really convey that old punk work ethic that guys our age grew up with. There are a few inspirational posters on the wall, dirty carpets, bad fluorescent lighting, and a lot of sweat. I think the video really speaks to the concept of the song.

On Monday, the band opened the show's "Rock Week" theme with a bang, delivering their classic, "Rock And Roll All Nite".

Q: What separates the "Mad Mad World Tour" from other tours you've done? - Meat Loaf: We've got a new album, Hell In A Handbasket, and we're playing songs from that. We're doing a couple songs from other albums that we've never done live before. It's a Meat Loaf show. Meat Loaf shows are dramatic and funny. People who come to Meat Loaf shows know what to expect. They know they're going to get full-on energy with the best rock 'n' roll band in the world. That's not an opinion. That's the truth.

Q: How would you describe a Meat Loaf show to the uninitiated? Meat Loaf: It's high energy. We sing and play live. It's not on tape. I do my own choreography [laughs]. It's a rock 'n' roll show. If you've never been to a Meat Loaf concert, you should go because you've never seen anything like it.

Q: In your opinion, what makes a great show? Meat Loaf: Well, a great play can be done with a table, a light, and four chairs. Great shows are about people. You don't want to put up a wall with laser lights, production, and dancers. It's really about going out there and putting on the show of these people's lives without all of the bells and whistles. That's why I don't carry much production. I've never had more than five trucks. Some artists go out in 28 trucks. We don't camouflage anything. It's a show about the truth. The object of a show is not to high-five the guy in the front row, blow a kiss to the girl in side stand, or wave to the people in the back. The object is to give the crowd the true meaning and feeling of the songs you're singing or playing. It's about energy and tension. After my show, you're going to leave saying, "How the hell does he do that?" and "I'm tired." Anyone who attends will leave excited and worn out because of the amount of energy coming off that stage. It's not just from me either.

Later in the show, Satchel and Michael Starr of Steel Panther offered to help teach Cuban-born actor William Levy some style essentials to get him in the spirit of the night.

By most accounts, "Sweet Child o' Mine" was little more than a song born out of chance, boredom and no small amount of sheer luck. Slash, the creator of the song's signature riff, has even been quoted as having a smidge of loving disdain for the song, relegating that classic riff into little more than a "string skipping" exercise. During a VH-1 special, the Chapeaued Shredder admitted that the riff was joke, a "circus" melody he came up with while warming up with former GN'R drummer, Steven Adler. Co-guitarist Izzy Stradlin soon joined the jam with bassist Duff McKagan, while upstairs Axl Rose heard the boys and started writing lyrics, which he based on his girlfriend at the time, former Whilhelmina model (and daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers) Erin Everly. The song originally had three verses, but producer Mike Clink convinced the band to use only two, while also including Axl's "Where do we go? Where do we go now?" mid-song breakdown.

McKagan told Hit Parader, "It was written in five minutes. It was one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, 'What is this song? It's gonna be nothing. It'll be filler on the record.' Slash was just messing around when he first wrote that lick."