Today's Day in Rock Stories

Stone Temple Pilots May Reveal New Singer At Special Show

In a new interview with Loudwire, Iommi says he remains on the defensive with cancer and it's "never gonna go away." Nevertheless, the rocker is trying to balance taking care of himself with living life to the fullest.

"Since I was diagnosed, I have to sort of be careful and not stay up too late and get some rest, which I wasn't, because we were traveling after the show," Iommi told the site. "So by the time you get to the hotel, [it's] three or four o'clock in the morning. And I normally wake up early -- I wake up when it's light -- so you don't get many hours sleep."

The companion to 2014's "Songs Of Innocence" was completed earlier this year with a series of producers - including Jacknife Lee and Ryan Tedder, Steve Lillywhite, Andy Barlow and Jolyon Thomas - following recording sessions in Dublin, New York and Los Angeles.

The two projects draw inspiration from a collection of poems, "Songs Of Innocence And Experience", by the 18th century English mystic and poet William Blake.

"Songs Of Experience" has been previewed with "The Little Things That Give You Away", "The Blackout", and "You're The Best Thing About Me." The album's cover features a photograph of Bono's son Eli Hewson and The Edge's daughter Sian Evans, taken by U2's longtime visual collaborator Anton Corbijn.

Grohl sat in during to join a week of guest hosts in place of Kimmel, who is off with his family as they prepare for a second heart surgey on his infant son Billy, who famously underwent his first operation just three days following his birth in April after being diagnosed with a rare congenital heart defect.

The rocker opened the show in Kimmel's office as himself before appearing for the show's opening monologue in full Letterman regalia - from the Late Night jacket to the grey hair and full beard the broadcasting legend now sports.

"I'm Dave Grohl dressed as Dave Letterman sitting in for Jimmy Kimmel," explained Grohl. "It's confusing, I get it, especially if you're home watching right now stoned to the bone."

Grohl oversaw the program's 12th Annual Half & Half Halloween Costume Pageant before sitting down to chat with actress Kristen Bell; the pair's conversation led to a rocking live performance mashup of Bell's song, "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?", from "Frozen" with Metallica's "Enter Sandman."

The first single from the group's 1988 album helped the project peak at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 on its way to US sales of more than 8 million copies. The Glasgow appearance is part of the fall European leg of Metallica's WorldWired tour in support of "Hardwired�To Self-Destruct."

After the run wraps up in Antwerp, Belgium on November 3, the band will return home to headline a November 9 benefit concert at San Francisco's AT&T Park for those affected by the recent wildfires in California.

Frontman John Corabi had the following to say about the new anime-styled visual, "In lieu of some of the psychotic and crazy women that I somehow managed to find and get involved with, writing the lyrics for this was quite easy!

The video follows a group of high school students dealing with the drama of being different. "We are so proud of this video, of (director) Pat (Tracy) who helped us bring it to life, the small glimpses into amazing lives we see within, and the beautiful, diverse people it represents," said singer Alex Gaskarth in a press statement.

This is the sort of thing the music industry does regularly, of course, but a legendary bluesman such as John Lee Hooker really does warrant such a treatment. In the blues, where even aficionados will admit there's a lot of music and artists that sounds similar, John Lee was a truly remarkable one-off. King Of The Boogie boxset producer Mason Williams says, "Even at 100 songs, this set is just a snapshot of John Lee Hooker's incredible and influential career."

Other acts scheduled to perform on the cruise include blues man Buddy Guy, the Outlaws and, appropriately, the Foghat side project Earl & the Agitators. The Rock Legends Cruise VII will take off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and embark to Costa Maya, Mexico, before returning to port.

Joe Grah: We were in the early stages of recording Epic Tales Of Human Nature. I live in Los Angeles and Toby lives in Dallas, so he was sending me riffs to write to. One of the files he sent had absolutely killer riffs and a stellar five-minute arrangement. Late one night, I literally became entranced by the overwhelming intention of Toby's guitar and effortlessly wrote, arranged, and recorded all of the lyrics and melodies in one session. I sent Toby the demo and we both felt heavily impacted by the end result. Once we were at Orb Recording Studios in Austin, with Producer Matt Noveskey, were able to really bring the song to life. Lyrically it's a very personal song that deals with the hurdles we each face in our life's path. The endless struggle and pursuit of overcoming the things that press down on us all. I find great inner strength when performing it live.

Toby Bittenbender: I remember the day I wrote the music for Release. It all came out at once and I quickly hit record so as not to lose it. When I pressed play to listen back I immediately heard some of my favorite all-time musical influences, Led Zeppelin, Alice In Chains, STP. I think as songwriters we are like vessels, listening to music as it flows through us and filters out in our own unique way.