Steve Miller's longest-serving bandmate railed against accusations that low ticket sales, not extreme weather, caused their tour to be called off. Continue reading…

The final Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne show took place on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, their hometown. In addition to the fans who attended in person, millions around the world were able to watch the event via pay-per-view, with all proceeds donated to charity. Viewers had access to the full festival for 48 hours, but at the time, there was no information about a future release. Now, the band has announced that a 100-minute film of the festival will be released in theatres in 2026. Although it was Black Sabbath's final performance, the title of the upcoming movie unfortunately doesn’t reflect that as it should, since it will be called "Back to the Beginning: Ozzy's Final Bow." After its theatrical release, the film will also be available on home media. Black Sabbath's farewell success The RATM and Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello, who was the music producer of the celebration recently revealed that the festival grossed over 190 million dollars to charity. According to Billboard, it is more than any other major charity concert ever made. Besides the two headliners, many famous artists were part of the “tribute festival“, like Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, Guns N’ Roses, Steven Tyler, Papa V Perpetua, Sammy Hagar, Jake E. Lee, Billy Corgan and Nuno Bettencourt. The bands performed Black Sabbath and Ozzy covers, but also played some of their most famous songs in small sets, of 3 to 6 songs. Many covers from other bands were also performed, like the supergroup with Steven Tyler on vocals, which played, for example, Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. Ozzy Osbourne sang five songs of his solo career and four more with Black Sabbath. https://youtu.be/DivwM2EVro4 The post Black Sabbath’s final show will be released in theaters appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Ghost is currently on the road promoting their latest album "Skeletá" and the band's mastermind and frontman Tobias Forge decided to ban phones in all the shows they are playing. He explained his decision during a series of Q&A with fans. According to him, he was even considering ending his touring career because people were on their phones and not interacting with the band. Ghost’s Tobias Forge tells why phones were banned at their shows “(Management and his agent said he shouldn't do that) Because it adds a lot of baggage to the administration part and the practical bit of the concert, and anything that makes things harder is always frowned upon. We had to really vet that idea. What does it mean? Who has done this before? Oh, not many.” “It really hit me when we came to certain countries where they have generally been much more enthusiastic. You come out, there’s like 18,000 people there, and there’s like, 10,000 phones. And not even bouncing anymore. And you’re just like, ‘What is this – what has happened?’” “You come out on a stage and you’re expecting like, ‘Fucking people are gonna rage!’ … [but] the crowd … has just got less and less and less engaged in exchange for these phones. I came to a point where I’m like, ‘I don’t think I wanna do this. … If this is how it’s gonna be, I’d rather not do it.’ That that's how worthless it became.” “If you came into a dress rehearsal and saw us do the same thing, but without a crowd, it’s dramatically worse. But when you have an engaged crowd… it’s an exchange. And if someone in the act of doing it just takes a phone out?” "(It was) a fucking life-changer for the existence of the band. I think that there are a lot of bands that are looking at this and (thinking,) ‘Okay, so how do we do that too?’” he said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth). Ghost was formed in Sweden back in 2006 but only released their first album in 2011. Since then the group gained following and became one of the most influential "new" Metal bands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8g7DUarkKoThe post Ghost’s Tobias Forge tells why phones were banned at their shows appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

The drummer Nicko McBrain (72), who recently announced tour dates with his band Titanium Tart, praised in an interview with Eddie Trunk (Transcribed by Blabbermouth) the new Iron Maiden drummer Simon Dawson. Iron Maiden is currently touring in Europe to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Nicko McBrain praises the new Iron Maiden drummer "Well, I've known Simon for a number of years. He actually was a British Drum Company endorsee for a bit. I got him his deal, actually, probably six, seven years back. When I first went with British Drum Company back in 2018, yeah, about six years ago I got Simon a deal. He left British Drum Company. He went with Natal. But I knew Simon. And we were hanging out. Now obviously Steve took British Lion on tour with him on 'The Future Past Tour', and we discussed the possibility of… When we started the North American tour, we were down in San Diego, then we came out to L.A. and I sat with Steve and that was basically when I decided that it was time to let him know that I was gonna retire." "And we had a chat about it, and he said, 'Well, would you mind if we have a rehearsal with Simon?' And I went, 'Absolutely not. I mean, he's been on tour with us since Asia and Australia.' I said, 'He's bound to know the songs.' I said, 'Why not?' So they had a rehearsal with him in Portland. And it went really well. And it wasn't a question of, 'Well, let's replace you now, Nick.' The understanding was I was gonna finish the tour and that he was gonna replace me… This was a decision that Steve made, and I thought, well, fine. He's a great player… And so I had no issues with that whatsoever." "So, yeah, that was when I knew. We were in North America. I knew Simon was gonna rehearse with the band and that he was chosen one to replace me. So, yeah, I knew Simon. We had a relationship. We were sitting in Japan. We had a couple of nights together. We sat down, had a cup of tea, a couple of sandwiches in the clubhouse at the hotel… And he's a great guy, and he's doing a fantastic job. I mean, he's not me. And they didn't want somebody like me, like a Nicko clone or whatever. But he's got his own fingerprint, which is great. And the one thing I'm really happy about is I'm still the best-looking bloke in Iron Maiden. (Laughs)" Why he decided to retire from Maiden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrm5KavmvyU "Primarily, I was fed up with touring in terms of the travel and not having days to recoup my body. As of December, prior to December last year, I was a granddad of the band. I was four years older than Harry (Steve Harris) and five years older than Dave (Murray and Adrian (Smith). Bruce is a baby at 66. (Laughs) He's a baby at 66. (Laughs) Can you believe it?" "I wasn't so much slowing down, although we did play the songs that… I got told off at rehearsals last year because I was playing the songs too fast, 'cause I'd been playing with Titanium Tart before I went off and did the rehearsals in Australia with Maiden. And I actually got told off for playing too quick. So it wasn't a question of not being able to drive the band. It was just not being able to drive the band with the drum fills that I'd been used to playing for 42 years. So the question mark was raised about the performance side. And that's quite right…So that was part of the decision that I made," he said. Nicko McBrain’s Titanium Tart 2025 tour dates The drummer Nicko McBrain announced four tour dates with his project Titanium Tart which performs Iron Maiden songs. The shows will happen next July in Florida. Besides him, are also part of the group Rob Stokes (Bass), Eldad Kira (Keyboards), Mike Rivera (Guitar), Mich Tanne (Guitar) and Paolo Velazquez (Vocals). July 17 – Capt Hirams – Sebastian, FL 19 – Piper’s Pub – Pompano Beach, FL 25 – The Barn – Sanford, FL 26 – OCC Road House – Clearwater, FL The post Nicko McBrain praises the new Iron Maiden drummer appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Even though Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson grew up in England where many incredible bands were emerging in the late 60s and early 70s he did not have the chance to see many of them live. Over the years he talked about some of those groups and revealed three bands he wishes he had seen perform 3 bands Bruce Dickinson wished he had seen live Deep Purple https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDyO7jTIKDc&list=RDnDyO7jTIKDc&start_radio=1&pp=ygUKc3BlZWQga2luZ6AHAQ%3D%3D Bruce Dickinson had the chance to see many incredible bands over the years but he revealed during an interview at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood in 2025 which were three he really wanted to see but never had the chance when he was a teenager. The first one is Deep Purple, the band that influenced the most and that is his favorite one. (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) "I never saw any of the bands that I really, really wanted to see, like Purple. Never saw Purple," he said. Because of the kind of music they made, he used to believe that they would be quite active on stage and was surprised when he first had the chance to see a video of the band. "When I first saw like imagery of like Purple, I'm like 'they just stand there, what?' (But) I like Ritchie (Blackmore), Richie was always chucking his guitar. But everybody else was just standing there. I'm just like 'What's wrong with you?' So I decided that whatever music I was going to do was going to be kind of kinetic. Which is why to this day I still run around like a lunatic (on stage)," Bruce Dickinson said. Ian Gillan was a huge inspiration to the Iron Maiden frontman and later on he had the chance to meet the Deep Purple members face to face and become a good friend of his hero. During the past decades Bruce was featured in many special concerts with them, singing Purple songs and also on his own with other musicians, like when he toured with an Orchestra as a tribute to the late keyboardist Jon Lord. His favorite Deep Purple albums One of his favorite albums by the band is "In Rock" (1970), which according to him changed his life. “I was walking up and down the corridor at boarding school. I heard this racket coming from behind a door. (Then) I thought, ‘Oh my god, what is that?!’ I knocked on the door and this senior boy opened the door. (He) looked at me with a big sneer on his face. I asked, ‘Who was that?’. He went, ‘Oh, it’s Deep Purple if you must know, ‘Speed King’’ and shut the door.” “That was that. I was hooked. We used to have little auctions in the boarding house. People would be short of money and wouldn’t have enough money to have enough to pay their bill at the school shop. So they’d auction their stuff off.” “The second LP that I got was Deep Purple In Rock. Scratched to bits. So I paid 50 cents Australian for it. I loved it and played it absolutely to death. I think I might have blown up my parents’ stereogram with it,” Bruce Dickinson told h Double J in 2018. That record had famous tracks like "Speed King", "Black Night" and "Child in Time". Over the years he also revealed he loves the albums "Made In Japan" (1972) and "Fireball" (1971). Led Zeppelin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqF3J8DpEb4&list=RDKqF3J8DpEb4&start_radio=1&pp=ygUXY29tbXVuaWNhdGlvbiBicmVha2Rvd26gBwE%3D The second one mentioned by Bruce was Led Zeppelin, which he at least had the chance to cover with Iron Maiden when they recorded a version of "Communication Breakdown". The song was released as the b-side of "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" in 1990. Unlike many Led Zeppelin fans, what Bruce likes the most about the band is their English folk influence. “I was always a bigger Purple fan than Zeppelin. But I never saw either Zeppelin or Purple when I was a kid, when they were in their heyday. Zeppelin were adopted by American radio big-style.  But I’ve got to confess that the thing I loved most about Zeppelin was their English folk roots. Not their copies of American blues tracks. ‘Ramble On’ is one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs. But that’s just me,” Bruce Dickinson told Metal Hammer in 2016. During that conversation he revealed that "Ramble On", from their second album "Led Zeppelin II" (1969) was one of his favorite songs by them. That was the first album by Zeppelin that he had the chance to hear when he was young. Although his biggest influence has always been Ian Gillan,  Bruce already recognized Robert Plant's importance for the evolution of Heavy Metal singing. “There are basically 3 bases for the metal style of singing. If you join aspect of these 3 singers, you have everything. These 3 singers are Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Ian Gillan (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) and Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company). If you join them in various combinations you have everyone was always talking about well,” Dickinson told Metal Rules in 2000. Besides "Led Zeppelin II", another record he mentioned as a favorite over the years is "Led Zeppelin IV" (1971). Jethro Tull https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSUdlUmtg3Q&list=RDeSUdlUmtg3Q&start_radio=1&pp=ygULSmV0aHJvIFR1bGygBwE%3D "Never saw Tull. (...) I loved Ian Anderson because he didn't (stand still, he moved on stage). He was doing all these crazy stuff, throwing his flute around," Bruce Dickinson said during the appearance at the Musician's institute in Hollywood. Although he didn't have the chance to see Jethro Tull in the early days, he was lucky enough to share the stage with Ian Anderson. In 2011 the Progressive Rock musician invited him to be part of a special show at Canterbury Cathedral. His favorite album by the band is the classic "Aqualung" (1971). “Oh ‘Aqualung’, fantastic. The old overcoat and everything. I didn’t realize until I read the credits that his (Ian Anderson) wife, his first wife, wrote the lyrics to ‘Aqualung’.” “But yeah, it’s an amazing album. It’s almost, for me, it’s his most perfect album, you know. I love a lot of his records but ‘Aqualung’ for me, probably, because it was in a way my first (of the band),” Bruce Dickinson said in an interview with Qobuz (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). Besides the title-track, other famous songs on that record are “Locomotive Breath”, “Mother Goose” and “Cross-Eyed Mary”. The last one was even covered by Maiden in the 80s.The post 3 bands Bruce Dickinson wished he had seen live appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.