Leon Wilkeson bassist and founding member of southern rock giants Lynyrd Skynyrd died Friday (July 27) at the age of 49. According to a statement released by the groups publicity company Chipster Entertainment, Wilkenson died in his sleep but the statement did not elaborate on cause of death. A statement on the bands official website said "more details concerning the circumstances surrounding Wilkeson's death will be revealed as they are known." more

Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland has had yet another run in with the police. Weiland was arrested early Monday morning at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and charged with battery/domestic violence. Police were called out to the scene by hotel security following an altercation Weiland had with his wife Mary over prescription drugs, according police reports. more

The Associated Press is reporting that George Harrison has died. The 58 year-old former Beatle lead guitarist and spiritual seeker had been undergoing treatment for cancer. Harrison passed away at 1:30 Thursday Afternoon at a friend's Los Angeles home, longtime friend Gavin De Becker told The Associated Press late Thursday. more The BBC is reporting that some of George Harrison's ashes were placed into the Ganges River on Monday during a private Hare Krishna service in Varanasi, India. more

Death and Control Denied founder Chuck Schuldiner lost his two-year battle with cancer at 4 PM EST last Thursday December 13, 2001 at the age of 33. Considered by many as the founder of "Death Metal", Schuldiner had been undergoing treatment for a cancerous tumor on his brainstem. The tumor was discovered on the vocalist/guitarist's 31st birthday in May of 1999, since then Schuldiner had spent the past two and half years being treated for the cancer and working on new material with his band Control Denied. more

According to a statement on the official Metallica website, vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield has entered a rehab to be treated for alcoholism and other addictions. more

Australian police are in the United States to question Limp Bizkit and their management about the death of a 15-year-old girl. The girl died during Limp Bizkit's performance at the Big Day Out festival in Sydney earlier this year. more

The Deftones were set to rock their hometown of Sacramento Sunday night (July 15) but were forced to cancel the appearance due to illness. Frontman, Chino Moreno was taken to a Sacramento emergency room on Sunday complaining of severe throat pain. more

Napster announced yesterday (July 12) that it had settled lawsuits brought against them by Metallica and Dr Dre back in April of 2000. The plaintiffs (Metallica and Dre.) agreed to drop their suits and will allow Napster to include some of their music in the companies music sharing service when Napster implements their new "pay" model where artists and publishers are paid a royalty when their music is traded on Napster. more

Eddie Van Halen spoke out in July 2001 about the ill-fated and short-lived original reunion with David Lee Roth and explained what killed it. "The last time I spoke to or saw Dave was back in September of last year. I played him a few new tunes, we bullsh-tted a bit, had some laughs," says Van Halen in Maximum Golf magazine. "Everything looked pretty positive about gettin' together. But before you know it, attorneys are involved. These cats had me so beat down and confused, it made the cancer seem like a tiny zit on my ass. Everything seemed to fall apart once these guys got involved. I mean...we used to do it on a handshake. At this point, I don't have a clue what is going on." more

A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys was recently admitted to a rehab. The 23 year-old will undergo a 30-day treatment program for alcoholism, depression, and anxiety. more

Weezer have decided that the show must go on. With their bass player Mikey Welsh currently residing in a psychiatric hospital, (see story) Weezer put the word out that they were looking for a temporary replacement. Earlier this week it was announced on the band's official site that Scott Shriner will fill the post on Weezer's upcoming tour. Shriner was the bass player for the Los Angeles "Punk and Roll" group Broken more

A lawsuit against Slayer and the music industry has been thrown out of court by a California Superior Court judge. The judge ruled that Slayer and the music industry could not be help liable for the 1995 murder of a 15-year-old girl. more

Anticipating trouble from retail outlets like Walmart and Kmart, Slayer wants to insure that their fans get the cover art to their forthcoming American Recordings release "God Hates Us All". According to a statement released by the band's publicist last week, "The CD will sport two different covers ¬ well, one cover, and then a 'cover of the cover,'" reads the statement. " more

Controversy continues to follow Marilyn Manson on and off the stage. The shock rocker is wanted on one felony count of criminal sexual conduct and a misdemeanor count of assault and battery. According to a statement by the prosecutor, Dave Gorcyca, Manson sexually assaulted a security guard during the concert . The prosecutor alleges the g-string wearing Manson attacked security guard Joshua Keasler from behind. "he began masturbating over the G-string, as he got closer he spit on the guard. He then placed him in a headlock with his legs, and began rubbing his genitals on his head and neck area," says Gorcyca. more

Poison has been forced to cancel the remaining 22 dates of the Glam Slam Metal Jam tour with Warrant, Quiet Riot and Enuff Z'nuff due to an injured member. According to an official statement from Poison, "bassist Bobby Dall was rushed by ambulance to Omaha's University of Nebraska Medical Center where he underwent emergency surgery on his back for an injury suffered while performing onstage more

Courtney Love filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court last week (September 28th) against Nirvana LLC, a company owned by Love, her child and former Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl , as well as Geffen Records and Universal Music Group. Grohl and Novoselic are also directly named in the suit. In the suit, Love is asking the court to declare the recording contract between Nirvana and Geffen Records void and that she be awarded all rights to Nirvana. She is also seeking damages for breach of contract. more

Nirvana's Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic are fighting fire with fire in their battle with Courtney Love over rights to Nirvana's music. The surviving members of the grunge supergroup filed a lawsuit against Love yesterday (Dec 12th) according to various press reports. more

Dick Clark has filed a $10 million against Michael Greene, president of the Recording Academy (the folks who bring us the Grammy Awards). In the suit filed Wednesday, Dec 19th, Clark accuses Greene of the unfair practice of banning artists who appear on Dick Clark's American Music Awards from later appearing on the more widely viewed Grammy broadcast. more

Some things never change. While Guns N' Roses has undergone vast roster changes over the year the group's frontman and only remaining founding member Axl Rose still seems prone to temper tantrums during concert performances. According to a live review of Guns 'N' Roses December 29th concert at the Hard Rock Hotel And Casino posted at MyGNR.com the temperamental singer stormed from stage twice during the concert after his microphone cut out. more