Guitarist Tony Iommi was diagnosed with cancer (lymphoma), drummer Bill Ward remains an unconfirmed participant after going public over a contract dispute, and then the tour was cancelled and replaced with an "Ozzy & Friends" series of shows due to Iommi's illness and treatment schedule. The lone confirmed Sabbath gig on the schedule remains a June 10 headlining slot at the UK's Download festival.

antiMusic's Anthony Kuzminski was at the show and in his review of the concert, Tony includes details about the difficulties the band were forced to overcome. He writes:

The only snag to the concert was that portions were plagued with sound problems. I mention this only because several other reviews have pointed out David Lee Roth's antics as a result of the issues. Roth had performed the first three shows of the tour with a head-microphone which proved to be unusable after three songs in Chicago. He went to get a wireless microphone only to have it handed to him without any sound. He surged to the front of the stage, picked up a wired microphone at the tip of the stage and made sure the show proceeded without missing a beat. As someone who had a front row seat to the side of the stage, Roth was upset because there appeared to be virtually no urgency to fix the issue. As a result, Roth's performance was impaired by the old school wired microphone he had to carry with him for the remainder of the evening which often tripped up Eddie in the process. If I were in Roth's shoes, I would have had the same reaction, especially the incapability of the crew to fix the issue for nineteen songs. Roth soldiered on in typical "Diamond Dave" fashion proving to be the ultimate showman with a rock solid voice. Roth never receives the credit he deserves as many in the audience long to see the voracious comic book hero from their youth enshrined in YouTube videos, but he's a legendary front man for many reasons, but is rarely given the props for his commanding voice and how well it solidifies with Van Halen. In Chicago, despite the handicaps placed in front of him, he largely went above and beyond attempting to give the crowd everything he had.

"Officially started writing my biography this week. More info. to come soon re: publisher, tentative release date, etc�" tweeted Aerosmith guitar hero Joe Perry.

In summer 2012, Spectrum Road will perform at the Bonnaroo festival on June 9. The band's self-titled debut album will be out on June 5 on Palmetto Records.

The group is: Jack Bruce on bass and vocals, Vernon Reid on guitar, John Medeski on keyboards and Cindy Blackman-Santana on drums. "To be able to play and record in this band alongside three of the most creative and stellar musicians in the world is a longtime dream come true," Vernon Reid said in a release. "The idea for Spectrum Road first came about in 2001, and it was the ongoing belief in the kind of record we knew we could make together that made it come to fruition."

Bruce & The E Street Band will perform on Monday and Friday, and the week will be filled out with music guests like Kenny Chesney (Tue) and Elvis Costello (Thu); the Wednesday night music artist has not been announced yet.

"Writing lyrics right now for new Motley Crue," posted bassist Nikki Sixx on Wednesday. "We are cutting drums ,bass and guitars this weekend at Tommy's Studio. This one is a panty dropper for sure......I was just thinking, I've been writing music for most of my life and it still feels fresh every time I pick up the pen, guitar or bass....."

Rolling Stone reports the event was a tribute to guitarist Hubert Sumlin, who played in Howlin' Wolf's band for decades and passed away on December 4th due to heart failure.

The two joined forced last spring for the Heart & Soul Tour and they will reunite for another Heart & Soul Tour this summer.

"The Wall" remains Pink Floyd's biggest-selling release after 1973's legendary "The Dark Side Of The Moon." "The Wall" Immersion 7-disc edition includes a DVD featuring a film clip from the 1980 tour and a Behind The Wall documentary, plus, for the first time, CDs of excerpts from Roger Waters' original demos and work-in-progress versions of songs on the final album. Among these previously unheard versions are David Gilmour's original demos of "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell." The Immersion set also includes The Wall Live, compiled from the 1980-1981 original tour.

Originally set for this coming Monday, February 27, the Aerosmith frontman and American Idol judge will now appear on Tuesday night's/Wednesday morning's (February 28) program.

Said Meat Loaf: "Slipknot has amazing arrangements, and musically, they're like a metal Beethoven." The 'Loaf has never shied away from the bombastic, of course, so that is praise indeed. But is he being serious?

Last year's Sony Radio Personality of the Year said: "They rang up once when I was rehearsing with the Faces in Bermondsey, and Ronnie Lane picked up the phone and said, 'No, Ronnie's quite happy where he is.'"

Redlight King are currently on the rise with their new single 'Bullet in My Hand,' which just cracked the top ten at active rock stations.

According to The Sun, Alan McGee, who signed Oasis to his hugely influential Creation Records contemporary music is "rubbish."

The band hit the studio on Valentine's Day and are now into their second week on the project.

On this day in 1971, Janis Joplin's swan song, Pearl, hit the top of the charts � nearly five months to the day after she passed away in a lonely Los Angeles motel room. It would stay at #1 for nine weeks, but the record's success only served to underscore the cruel irony of her death. Had she lived, Joplin would have been free. Free from her label. Free from the nagging feeling that she shouldn't have abandoned Big Brother and the Holding Company. Free to tell all those doubters � all the way back to Port Arthur, Texas � where to go. Free to do whatever the hell she wanted. Instead, she found a different kind of freedom.

To trace the origins of Pearl, you have to go back to the other great album of Joplin's all-too-brief career, Cheap Thrills. This sophomore effort by Joplin and the group, Big Brother and the Holding Company, gave the band their breakthrough single, "Piece of My Heart." The heart-rending, soul-bearing Erma Franklin cover went to #12 on the U.S. charts and sent the album soaring to #1 for eight weeks. But somewhere inside the pressure-cooker of success, Joplin decided she had to drop Big Brother and form her own band, having been convinced by management that this was the right move for her career. Big Brother had existed before she ever arrived. They had a sound. They had a direction. Janis needed her own band.