Yauch helped form the Beastie Boys in 1981, and they were initially a hardcore punk band. Soon, the group � including Mike Diamond (Mike D) and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) � became a hip-hop act, releasing their landmark debut, License to Ill, in 1986. It was the first hip-hop album to top the Billboard charts.

During their career, the Beasties became known for pushing hip-hop's boundaries: taking sampling to new heights (with the help of the Dust Brothers) on Paul's Boutique and merging rock and rap in a groundbreaking way on Check Your Head and Ill Communication. In addition to rapping and playing bass on Beasties hits such as "Sabotage," Yauch directed many of the band's videos under the name Nathaniel Hornblower. He also ran an independent film production company and organized the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.

"When you think about rock at its origin, and you think of The Beatles and millions of kids screaming as loud as they can and running as fast as they can towards The Beatles, there's no one who is that kind of lightning rod, who commands that kind of power and has that kind of creative magma," he said. "I contend that the last band to really have that kind of power, I'm gonna say, was Nirvana. Who since Nirvana has been as big as Nirvana, in that way?"

Sixx says he can sense an emotional reaction from his listeners when he's on the air. "Radio is an opportunity to say something into a microphone, and whether you play a song or say something provocative or funny, it makes people have an emotional reaction," Sixx told Gibson.com. "They feel something. They feel good. They feel bad. They feel angry. They feel disappointed. You have an opportunity to change something, and for me, that's where radio has always been a bit like magic.

Pistols frontman John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) tells Billboard the reason they passed was due to censorship.

Each artist honored receives a cash award of $25,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and a commemorative medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Billboard reports Jagger's appearance will mark the rocker's first time leading the late-night NBC comedy show and will be his third time as the musical guest.

Joe did some advance press for the show on when he visited KCAL9 Wednesday to talk about the experience.

The Daily Express reports that "Toast to Freedom" was recorded shortly before his death. It's available for download with all proceeds going to charity.

Slash's band � Myles Kennedy, Todd Kerns and Brent Fitz - have formed a cohesive unit and are now going by the handle "Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators." The guitarist tells the Orlando Sentinel about the vibe and experience of working on the project. "This has been really liberating for me," says Slash. "The first solo album was the first time, really, that I was on my own to stretch my wings without the democratic, diplomatic situation you have to have in a band. That went right into working with these guys."

So, what should fans expect this time around? "This record, as always, is a snapshot of what I currently obsess about, care about, and what strikes me at four in the morning in my most introspective moments," Morissette said of the new disc in a statement. "It is my emotional, psychological, social and philosophical commentary through song."

In this long form discussion, the veteran guitar maestro reflects on what it's been like being on the inside of rock history for 40+years. Appearing on more than 200 albums and garnering more than 35 Gold and Platinum albums, Wagner has quite a story (or in this case, many stories) to tell as he gives us a glimpse of the fantastic historical essays that await you in his recently released (and soon to be hardcover-released) e-book entitled Not Only Women Bleed: Vignettes from the Heart of a Rock and Roll Musician.

Wagner gives us the inside story on Alice Cooper's (and his own) substance abuse trouble in the 1970's and early 1980's. You'll hear about Alice's state of mind during the recording of 1983's bizarre DaDa album as well as the strange fitness routine Cooper incorporated into his daily life when the two first met.

From Aerosmith's Get Your Wings to KISS' Destroyer & Revenge albums, Wagner has appeared on some very well-loved tracks without receiving credit for his playing. Does he harbor any ill-will for not receiving his just desserts? You'll hear his unfiltered take in this interview.

Dick also shares his take on what he and the Alice Cooper band thought of a young upstart named KISS surpassing them on the charts.

This episode features some stories from Wagner's personal archive that must be heard to be believed. Stories of all facets of pop culture colliding at specific times. Strange bedfellows indeed.

These shows mark the first time Schenker's touring band will feature two ex-Scorpions members � Herman Rarebill (drums) and Francis Buchholz (bass).

The tour is in support of the forthcoming full-length album Life Will Write The Words, out Tuesday, June 5.

The band will play a string of European Festival and headlining dates throughout the summer that will see them hit 13 countries in 4 weeks before returning stateside to support the Refused at Philadelphia's Riot Fest, followed by a return to South America.

The book, the authorized biography of Rick Wakeman, who is arguably the world's greatest rock keyboardist, is lavishly illustrated with dozens of photos from Wakeman's extraordinary career which includes the time his career took off when he joined the folk group, Strawbs, in 1969, and played on three of their albums.

Hot Cakes was produced by the band's Justin and Dan Hawkins with long-time collaborator Nick Brine and mixed by Bob Ezrin.

Our second album, The Devil's Resolve, has been out for about 6 weeks now. Many questions have been asked about the album as a whole, but many questions have also popped up concerning a certain individual song, namely 'As It Is Written'. This particular track stands out for a number of reasons. Firstly, with its 7:30 length it is the longest track on the album. Secondly, with its lengthy prog interlude it is arguably the album's most adventurous song. And thirdly, with its inclusion of a bag pipe it manages to add unexpected colours to the album's sonic palette.

The main theme of As It Is Written was written long before Barren Earth was even in existence. I actually remember playing the melody to our bass player Olli-Pekka Laine already back in 2003 saying that I'd like to do something with it. But it wasn't until 2010 that I actually got serious with it and started writing the rest of the piece.

The first part of the song has a relatively normal structure in terms of having a verse, a pre-chorus and a chorus. But once the first part was completed, I decided to take the track into a completely unknown territory. I felt the opening half was strong, and knew I wanted to return to those same themes towards the end of the song, but in between I wanted something totally different.

At this point I stopped thinking in terms of riffs or sequences, and concentrated more on the melody itself. With conscious avoidance of repetition it was a question of seeing how long a melody could be carried. I didn't quite succeed in relinquishing all repetition, since there clearly are certain repetitive fragments, but by and large it starts at point A and ends about 50 seconds later at point B, after which it is then repeated with full force by the whole band, as opposed to the solo piano the first time around. Call it prog, if you like.

After the middle part is over, the song returns to the familiar territory of the opening section. But in an attempt to keep things interesting, I decided that instead of overtly repeating the main melody in the end, I'd rather put a keyboard solo there. And so I did, although much to my chagrin many people seem to think that it's a guitar solo. No it bloody isn't! It's a freaking Mini-moog!! The confusion is probably due to me using a pitch-bending technique usually more associated with guitarists than synthetists. Nevertheless, a synthesizer solo it is. And certainly the longest that I've ever played, at least on record.

I had a vision on what kind of vocals I wanted. Originally I wanted growling on the verse, clean singing on the pre-chorus, and then growling again for the chorus. But presenting this idea to Sami Yli-Sirni� he said: 'You can't be serious.' He had a totally opposing view on how the vocals should go, and proceeded to give a demonstration. Over the years I've come to trust Sami's vision, so I decided to try it his way. And it bloody worked! Thanks Sami, you were right.

Because the main theme of the song has a pretty strong Scottish folk feel to it, the song's working title was 'Scotland'. Actually, we still refer to it as Scotland, not as 'As It Is Written'. While rehearsing it, it wasn't long before somebody suggested, tongue in cheek, that we get a bag pipe player. But when the song was reaching its final stages we came more serious about the pipes, and sure enough decided to get hold of a bag pipist.

With the inclusion of the bag pipes I knew there was a risk of sounding cheesy. But now I find it safe to say, that we managed to avoid the realm of the cheesiness, and the bag pipe is just the right addition for the piece.

The song is dedicated to Scotland. Hawp ye lik' oor tribute!

Eddie Van Halen was spotted in New York a couple of months ago with his traveling companion, a Pomeranian named Kody.

The video also features cameos from members of the band Hundredth and Casey Jones.

The video was directed by George Salisbury, the principal art director and video director for the Flaming Lips. Watch it here.

The tracks comes off the band's latest release, Demonocracy, released in North America on April 10. Watch it here.