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Founding member of Mott The Hoople and Bad Company, Mick Ralphs, has passed away at the age of 81.

The Hereford hard rocker had been bed-bound for almost a decade as a result of a stroke suffered back in 2016. It happened after his final-ever performance, a blowout Bad Company gig on 29 October at London’s O2 Arena.

“Our Mick has passed, my heart just hit the ground,” Ralphs’ former Bad Company bandmate, Paul Rodgers, shares in a statement. “He has left us with exceptional songs and memories. He was my friend, my songwriting partner, an amazing and versatile guitarist who had the greatest sense of humour.”

• READ MORE: “When you get to our age, things just go wrong. We’ll probably keel over after two songs!”: Ozzy Osbourne on Black Sabbath’s final show

“Our last conversation a few days ago we shared a laugh – but it won’t be our last,” he continues. “There are many memories of Mick that will create laughter. Condolences to everyone who loved him especially his one true love, [Ralphs’ wife] Susie. I will see you in heaven.”

Fellow Bad Company drummer, Simon Kirke, has also issued a statement: “He was a dear friend, a wonderful songwriter and an exceptional guitarist. We will miss him deeply.”

Ralphs’ impact on English rock music can be traced back to the ‘60s. After performing with a slew of acts through his teen years, he would eventually form Silence – a band that would later adopt the name Mott the Hoople after singer Ian Hunter joined the ranks in 1969.

Despite Ralphs embracing the newer injection of glam rock, there was a clear rift between himself and the new frontman. Eventually, he would part ways with the band in 1973 – a decision that would allow him to form Bad Company with drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell the following year.

“I used to always feel a part of Mott, but things have changed a lot since the old days,” Ralphs told Rolling Stone around his 1973 departure. “Ian has sort of taken the initiative now, which is great for the band as a whole but not very good for me as an individual. I should be singing and writing more than I am, but rather than fight with Ian all down the line, I thought it best that I just leave.”

Earlier this year, Ralphs contacted Billboard to acknowledge Bad Company’s planned induction to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame this November. “I am elated and think that Bad Company’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is fantastic!” he said.

Mick Ralphs leaves plenty of marvellous rock tunes in his wake, from Mott The Hoople’s Rock And Roll Queen to their David Bowie-produced 1972 record, All The Young Dudes. The entirety of Bad Company’s Billboard chart-topping 1974 debut, Can’t Get Enough, is also full of top tier rock anthems.

The post “Our Mick has passed, my heart just hit the ground”: Bad Company and Mott The Hoople’s Mick Ralphs has passed away appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While Guns N’ Roses have calmed down a bit nowadays, they had a reputation for debauchery in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. And manager Alan Niven has seen it all.

In his new book Sound N’ Fury, Niven charts some of the craziest stories from the rock juggernauts’ heyday, including the time Slash and Izzy Stradlin avoiding getting busted by airport security by taking their entire drug stash in one go. “That’s a fuckin’ waste of good smack,” Stradlin is quoted as saying.

• READ MORE: “It was so hot in Saudi Arabia that the wax in my pickups melted!”: Guns N’ Roses guitarist proves guitars and desert heat don’t match

Now, in a new interview with the LA Times, Niven recalls landing the GNR gig, and remembers his rather eventful first meeting with the band.

“Why was I managing Guns N’ Roses? Because nobody else would do it,” he asserts, adding that the firm previously managing the band “could not get away fast enough”.

“No one else would deal with them,” Niven goes on. “Literally, I was not bottom of the barrel, darling – I was underneath the barrel. It was desperation.”

Niven remembers his first meeting with the rockers, and what he now believes was a test by Slash to see if he could hack the job.

He explains how as he entered the house where the meeting was taking place, he walked past a broken toilet and “one of the better-known strippers from [the] Sunset Strip”, before encountering Slash and Stradlin. As the story supposedly goes, after the meeting began, Slash fed a “little white bunny rabbit” to his pet python.

“And I’m sitting there going, ‘Keep your cool. This may be a test. Just go with it and get through it.’ But that was my first GNR meeting,” he concludes.

The members of Guns N’ Roses have left that level of mayhem in the past, and nowadays Slash prefers to spend his time watching YouTube guitar tutorials, apparently – at least according to YouTube instructor Marty Schwartz.

“He said he had some of my instructional stuff saved on his computer and there were some really cool blues-style techniques that he learned from some of my stuff,” Schwartz said. “He was so nice and complimentary… That was one of [those] moments in my life where everything felt validated.”

Alan Niven’s new book Sound N’ Fury is out now.

The post “Keep your cool. This may be a test”: Guns N’ Roses manager claims Slash fed a “little white bunny rabbit” to his pet python during their first meeting appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

As acts like Sleep Token steadily grow in popularity – finding success by flavouring metal with a slew of external genre influences and experimental sounds – it’s clear many modern heavy bands no longer fit the classic rock mould. But Kenny Leckremo, frontman of Swedish unit H.E.A.T, believes there’s a charm to classic rock ‘n’ roll that the modern genre lacks.

Speaking to Classic Rock, Leckremo explains how, while he doesn’t disapprove of up-and-coming bands toying with genre, he believes old school rock should still have a place on the radio. “What matters is that we get the message to younger generations who don’t even know what rock ‘n’ roll music is,” he insists.

• READ MORE: Learn how Martin guitars are shaped by the iconic musicians who play them in the 2025 Martin Journal

“I’ll go to the gym and put some music on, and someone will come up to me and say: ‘What the hell is this?’” he explains. “And I’m like: ‘What are you talking about? It’s Survivor! How do you not know this?!’”

Asked whether rock bands have become too apologetic and lost their ability to write strong songs, Leckremo replies: “It’s not just in rock, it’s in every genre. I guess people associate it with a ‘retro’ style of music.”

But he says H.E.A.T have no shame in sticking to the tried and tested rock blueprint. “We’re not going to do some sort of hip-hop or EDM song for the sake of pushing boundaries,” he jokes. “All the old-school bands we looked up to knew exactly who they were.” He adds: “In H.E.A.T we’re not ‘apologetic’ or ‘retro’. We love that kind of music.”

Leckremo is of the opinion that “rock is definitely a little bit underground at this moment”. “It’s definitely not the centre of attention,” he says. “You’re always going to have AC/DC and Iron Maiden and Springsteen, but regular rock bands aren’t gonna have the same space in the media as your Taylor Swifts.”

However, there are bands waiting in the wings for their time to shine. “It’s exciting right now,” he adds. “There are a lot of great fucking bands just waiting to reach that big audience. And there is a big audience for rock music, it’s just about reaching through the noise.”

And, as Leckremo notes, “the more noise we can make as a community, the better.”

On the same note, Ozzy Osbourne recently discussed how he feels the mainstream is ignoring the massive popularity of metal music. The singer – who is set to perform alongside his original Black Sabbath bandmates at their final show, Back to the Beginning, next month – said: “As far as the media goes, heavy music isn’t popular.”

The post “People associate it with a ‘retro’ style of music”: H.E.A.T frontman on the state of the rock genre appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Since forming in 1975, Iron Maiden have performed quite literally thousands of shows to audiences across the world. But doing so hasn’t made them forget some of the hilarious stories from their earlier gigs.

And as the British metal juggernaut’s manager for the last 45 years, Rod Smallwood has pretty much seen it all. 

• READ MORE: “When you get to our age, things just go wrong. We’ll probably keel over after two songs!”: Ozzy Osbourne on Black Sabbath’s final show

In a new interview in the latest print issue of Classic Rock, he explains how he wanted Maiden to be a “hugely successful international band”, which is why they opted to tour in Japan before America, a country widely considered to be the golden ticket to mainstream success.

“Metal is a worldwide thing, and I always wanted Maiden to be a hugely successful international band,” he says. “I wanted parallel development across the world.”

But those early Japan shows revealed customs they weren’t expecting beforehand, like audiences being seated during heavier rock shows.

“We loved Japan. It was such a different culture to experience,” he goes on, recounting a show at Koseo Nenkin Hall in Tokyo on 21 May, 1981.

“One of the weirdest things for us was how the audiences were all seated. If a fan got too excited and stood up, a security guy would bang them on the head with rolled up newspapers. So the fan would sit down, but then another would stand up somewhere else, and then – bang! – they’d sit down. It was like Whac-A-Mole. Quite extraordinary.”

Of course, Iron Maiden went on to conquer America anyway, and Smallwood recalls the first time he felt that they’d made it.

Speaking on the band’s show at the Seattle Coliseum on 28 June, 1983, he remembers: “It was our first sell-out arena show in America. By this time we’d sold 380,000 albums there. I remember the exact figure.

“We’d done all of these support tours and now it was time to headline. So do we do theatres or do we go for arenas? If I knew then what I know now, then there’s no way I’d have done arenas. I mean, platinum albums don’t always sell out arenas. So I like to think it was inspiration, but looking back, it was more fucking madness that worked. 

“Seattle was the sixth show on that tour. Sold out, 13,000 people. And believe me, I was very, very grateful. On that same tour we also sold out [New York City’s] Madison Square Garden. We rode to the venue in stretch limos, and I’ll never forget that feeling of: ‘Fucking great, we’ve done it!’”

View a full list of Iron Maiden’s upcoming tour dates via their official website.

The post “If a fan got too excited and stood up, a security guy would bang them on the head with rolled up newspapers – it was like Whac-A-Mole”: Iron Maiden manager recounts band’s early Japan shows appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Time is ticking now with under two weeks until Black Sabbath’s monumental final show, Back to the Beginning.

The event will be the final time Sabbath’s original lineup – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – perform together, and they’ll be supported by a stacked lineup of support artists including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Lamb of God and many more.

• READ MORE: Sine is Verso Instruments’ latest and greatest experimental guitar

But while Ozzy Osbourne says he’s been following a strict training regimen in preparation for the show – walking and weight training, reportedly – he’s also aware that he and his bandmates are now all in their 70s, and so is expecting a few hiccups along the way.

Speaking to MOJO in its new print issue, he says: “I had an appointment in the hospital yesterday. I’ve also got a problem with a trapped nerve in my neck – nine months and it won’t shift. When you get to our age, things just go wrong. We’ll probably keel over after two songs!”

Indeed, Ozzy has already revealed that he’s not planning on doing a full set during the event, but will instead be doing “little bits and pieces”.

“I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable,” he said recently. The 76-year-old Prince of Darkness, who last performed a full set at 2018’s Ozzfest, adds: “I am trying to get back on my feet. When you get up in the morning, you just jump out of bed. I have to balance myself, but I’m not dead. I’m still actively doing things.”

According to Ozzy’s wife and manager Sharon Osbourne, the Back to the Beginning show has been in the works for about two years. The idea first came about when Ozzy expressed regret at not being able to say a proper goodbye to his fans.

“My one regret is I can’t say goodbye and thank you for the life I’ve been given,” he told her, to which she replied: “Well why don’t we just do one big show and you can thank everybody?”

Tickets for the event sold out pretty quickly – in 16 minutes, per some reports – but you’ll still be able to catch it on the official pay-per-view livestream. That costs £24.99, and you’ll be able to rewatch the show in its entirety for 48 hours following the end of the event.

For more information, head to backtothebeginning.com.

The post “When you get to our age, things just go wrong. We’ll probably keel over after two songs!”: Ozzy Osbourne on Black Sabbath’s final show appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Dire Straits very nearly gave up on making their smash hit Money For Nothing, with guitarist Mark Knopfler struggling to find the right guitar sound – until a microphone quite literally fell into place, that is.

The track – known for its iconic isolated guitar riff and guest vocal contributions from Sting – formed part of the band’s fifth album, 1985’s Brothers In Arms. At the time, Knopfler wanted to recreate the guitar tone of ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, but with technical issues amid the early years of digital recording technology and creative blocks arising, he was ready to give up on it.

• READ MORE: Sting’s guitarist explains why the Les Paul is the “perfect” instrument, and why it’s more “reliable” for tuning than a Fender

Speaking to Classic Rock in its new print edition, Knoplfer says, “It was an interesting period with the digital recording. An adventure as well. Neil [Dorfsman, producer/engineer] was chasing after what he ruefully refers to now as ‘perfection’, which is not something you can actually get, but he’d learnt his craft. He was a tremendous engineer. I used to just sit and watch him work, taking it all in, and he couldn’t tell me to clear me off because it was my record.”

However, following a fault with some digital tape machines, the band had to technically start things over for the record. Money For Nothing was becoming quite the slog to finish at this point, but after drums were completed by Omar Hakim, and keyboardist Guy Fletcher had put down a synth part, a new lease of life was given to the track.

It was just down to Knopfler to nail that guitar tone, and as Fletcher says, he was “always looking for something different, some other element that wasn’t in the room” – that later turned out to be a microphone which had drooped down from a speaker cabinet towards the floor, unlocking that Billy Gibbons tone.

“One of the assistants spotted the mic and went to move it,” Fletcher recalls, “and everybody shouted at once: ‘No! Don’t touch it!’ Once Mark had his guitar lick down, the whole song took off and became its own lifeform.”

Brothers In Arms celebrates its 40th anniversary this year – a special edition of the record is available to buy or stream now.

The post “Everybody shouted at once, ‘No! Don’t touch it!’”: How a microphone mishap led Mark Knopfler to finding the perfect guitar tone for Money For Nothing appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Ed Sheeran’s collaboration for the upcoming F1: The Movie with Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl and John Mayer has finally been released – and the track has seen him collaborating with with PRS Guitars, too.

Drive’s music video showcases Sheeran’s one-off PRS model. Suitably racing red, the guitar reimagines PRS’ SE Hollowbody Baritone, adopting a unique fretboard design of yellow birds and a gear stick icon on the 12th fret.

• READ MORE: The gear used by Dave Grohl on the Foo Fighters’ legendary debut album

Sheeran isn’t taking the collaboration lightly. He’s already road-tested it, and he’s keen to play it at even more shows down the line. “I wanted to create a bespoke guitar with PRS for F1: The Movie and song I did,” Sheeran explains.

Since 2018, Sheeran has been a firm PRS supported. The brand is his go-to for electric guitars, with his current favourite model being the Hollowbody II in a Prism Dragon’s Breath finish with cherries on the fretboard, a one-off purple Silver Sky gifted to him by his Drive collaborator, Mayer, and a stock Custom 22.

“This has been an exciting project to work on with Ed,” PRS Guitars Director of Artist and Community Relations, Bev Fowler, adds. “From his years of playing our electrics, he knew exactly what he wanted in terms of look, sound and feel. This unique creation will be incredibly memorable.”

Sheeran, Grohl and Mayer’s thumping rock tune sees Grohl on percussion like during his Nirvana days, with Mayer and Sheeran knocking out guitar. Sheeran takes vocal responsibilities.

The release of the music video comes days before F1: The Movie’s 25 June release in the UK, before releasing worldwide on 27 June. The full soundtrack will also be released on streaming services the same day.

Sheeran will be releasing his new album Play on 12 September, with singles Old Phone, Azizam and Sapphire already out. Alongside his new record, Sheeran is also embarking on a European tour at the end of this month.

Drummer Grohl will be continuing to embrace F1, with the Foo Fighters set to headline day two of the F1 Singapore Grand Prix this October.

The post Ed Sheeran’s track on the F1 movie soundtrack sees him collaborating with PRS for racing red exclusive guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Billy Idol has reflected on the volatile crowds that attended Generation X shows, noting that his manager would later pick up large shards of glass on stage that had nearly hit him mid-performance.

Generation X, which was fronted by Idol, formed during the 1970s in London. The punk band released three albums together before he moved to New York in 1981 to pursue his own solo project alongside Steve Stevens, and clashes among subcultures at some of their shows led to some brushes with danger for Idol.

• READ MORE: “That song bought you your house and got you your hot wife”: Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens says artists shouldn’t complain about having to play their biggest hits

Responding to a reader question in the print edition of Uncut regarding these hectic Generation X shows, and whether or not they influenced his decision to go solo and head over to the US, Idol responds, “It was par for the course, yeah.

“There were a few shows like that where people were throwing beer, pint glasses, and the road manager would show me great big shards that just missed my head. But it was really more that Derwood [Andrews, lead guitarist] and Mark [Laff, drummer] left the group. That’s what began the dissolution of Generation X.”

He adds, “Once a group’s not going in the same direction, it’s a nightmare – you might as well end it. So if I was going to start up on my own, it made sense to go somewhere else, because if you stayed in England you might end up propping up a bar – people feel that you’re over.

“I had an American manager by that time, and he was saying, ‘You should come to New York – this city’s bankrupt, anything goes. It’s a hell of a lot of fun at the moment.’ And it was,” Idol concludes.

Billy Idol is touring throughout June-September – you can grab tickets to see him live via his official website.

The post “The road manager would show me great big shards that just missed my head”: Billy Idol recalls the chaos of early Generation X shows appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Every year, the NAMM Show in California brings the music industry together under one very large roof to check out the newest and most interesting instruments. In 2025, one piece of gear that turned an inordinate number of heads was the latest creation from Verso Instruments. And with good reason: it looks less like a guitar than something yanked straight from the pages of a mid-century furniture catalogue.

A sleek mix of wood and metal, bold colours and minimalist approach, the new Sine is not of any mainstream guitar-design lineage – but one spawned by a one-man company in Germany that embraces the unexpected. What’s Verso’s design philosophy? “Building funky stuff and not rejecting the errors is a big part of what I’m interested in,” says founder Robin Stummvoll.

Stummvoll’s path to building his own instruments under the Verso name began as a deliberate leap away from tradition. A lifelong guitarist who started his first punk band at 13, he’d found himself neglecting the instrument while studying for his degree in industrial design. “I found it interesting to look at why I was abandoning it more and more, and how to make it more appealing to me again,” he explains. He decided to use his degree’s final project to re-enter the world of guitar – his own way.

“I started doing a lot of research, and I found that the guitar – the electric guitar especially – is carrying this burden of the iconography of big rock stars,” he explains. “And I totally get that. I’m a fanboy of many guitar heroes, Hendrix and so on. But on the other hand, I feel it’s a big difference to, say, the violin or piano, where you just have this archetypal instrument: people don’t really expect you to play any one specific thing.”

“Building funky stuff and not rejecting the errors is a big part of what I’m interested in” – Robin Stummvoll, founder of Verso Instruments

Stummvoll started to look at how that archetype might be expressed for the electric guitar. “A ridiculous thought,” he says, “as that’s basically what Leo Fender did with the Telecaster. But I thought it would be interesting to start with the most minimalist guitar that I could and go from there.”

The centerpiece of Verso Instruments’ first three guitars is a curved sheet of steel, which takes the place of a traditional body. The pickups, being magnetic, aren’t attached in any one place. Instead, you’re free to move them around underneath the strings as you see fit. Moveable pickups are not totally new, but this approach to achieving them certainly is.

This ever so slightly bouncy bent steel body was introduced with Verso’s first guitar, Cosmo, launched in 2020. Two variations came in the years following, the Gravis and Orbit, a bass and baritone respectively. But Sine redefines the formula once more with the Sine Pad, one of those rare genuine innovations on the electric guitar’s design.

Happy accident

Sine’s main body is now wood, and the steel plate with moveable pickups is now independent from the neck and bridge. And so when you press down on this pad, you increase the pickup-to-string distance for an interactive volume reduction. You can volume swell, you can do manual tremolo, and, thanks to a collaboration with renowned utility pedal manufacturer Lehle, you can output this bending motion as expression, CV or MIDI to control synths and pedals. The possibilities quickly start to boggle the mind.

The flexible pickup pad was inspired by the slight springiness of Cosmo’s body – something many would have considered a problem. “Maybe someone [else] would have screwed Cosmo together to keep it still,” Stummvoll adds. But after he seriously contemplated what use the springiness could bring, one man’s design flaw turned into Sine’s defining feature. “It was a quality you could dive into more. With Sine, that was the case – it was another happy accident.”

“I thought it would be interesting to start with the most minimalist guitar that I could” – Robin Stummvoll, founder of Verso Instruments

Stummvoll loved the idea for the Sine Pad from the beginning, but it wasn’t always going to be an actual Verso product. It was in 2024 when he actually decided to make Sine official. One of its most intriguing features also came about relatively late in the process: the electronics module, a collaboration with Lehle. Using a hall effect sensor, the Sine Pad’s motion is translated to your choice of CV, MIDI or expression – opening up endless control options for pedals, synths and more. “It is such a versatile and interesting instrument because of it,” Stummvoll says admiringly.

The result of using the expression outputs only get more complex when combined with the physical effects of using the Sine Pad. It is in some ways a volume control, but the effect it creates isn’t just a linear drop in signal. All sorts of tonal interactions happen as you move the pickups towards and away from the strings, including a slight signal created by the movement itself. Combine this with the MIDI and expression outputs and the guitar is perfect for tone-chasing far beyond the traditional.

Fittingly, then, one player who has been testing Sine out is Scott Harper, AKA Knobs, who you may know from his own excellent demos of outré pedals and his collaborative design work with Chase Bliss. “I think he’s the perfect person for it,” Stummvoll says. “He really dove deep into what’s possible – he’s still not figured out everything, but he definitely surprised me with certain combinations.”

Elements of surprise

An interesting consequence of attaching pickups to a big steel plate is that it ends up creating a pretty big microphone. “When you knock on the body, you really hear it,” Stummvoll says. “And if you record something and there’s a drummer in the same room, you can hear the drums in the guitar track.”

While this means that Sine isn’t technically recommended for high-gain, high-volume playing, Stummvoll doesn’t rule anything out. “People have proved me wrong before. I have players who use Cosmo for death metal. I don’t limit my guitars anymore, they’re really open for anything.”

The lively, microphonic sound was, like many other aspects of Sine, one more “happy little accident” that ended up informing a large part of the guitar’s personality. “It contributes to the sound of the guitar – the microphonic character is what I like about it,” says Stummvoll. “It’s funny, it sounds very wooden, ironically, and very open. And it’s really a shapeshifter in sound, of course, thanks to the moveable pickups.”

“It’s funny that we think of ‘play’ as something childish” – Robin Stummvoll, founder of Verso Instruments

But perhaps that woody, open sound isn’t so ironic. Despite the steel being a central element, Verso guitars feature wooden necks and, in the case of Sine, a mostly wooden body underneath that steel Sine Pad. “The warmth and feel of an instrument is very important,” Stummvoll says. “You don’t want to get rid of the heart of the guitar! If the body is sheet metal, you’ve got to be careful not to make it headless, or add an aluminium neck and make it too alien.”

And so Verso Instruments guitars do still display a lot of traditional guitar-making techniques, despite their out-there appearance. “The mixture of tradition and then something different is what’s appealing to me. That’s why I’m using very very traditional surface finishes for the necks, like oil and shellac polish.”

Time to play

Stummvoll had to deal with the odd cynical internet comment dismissing Sine as a “toy” or a “gimmick” – such is the lot of anyone who makes something new and weird, of course. But this sentiment can be particularly potent in the world of electric guitar, where 70-year-old designs are still broadly held up as the gold standard.

“It’s funny, as the electric guitar is a symbol of freedom and for breaking out of restrictions,” Stummvoll muses. “But in some ways it’s not that open. It can be conservative. Not all guitarists are conservative – but I find it very funny when I see some people comment on the work I do who are offended by certain guitars.”

Stummvoll isn’t insulted by comparisons to toys, either. “It’s funny that we think of ‘play’ as something childish,” he says. “Playing an instrument is a perfect example of how you can ‘play’ very seriously. I’m always wondering when we start to not play anymore and become adults. I try myself to keep that spark alive – and I think many artists do that.”

What will Verso do next to keep that spark alive, now that Sine is out? “I have an idea for a lap-steel guitar,” Stummvoll says. “I’m really not sure where it will lead me – maybe it’s more like a tabletop instrument for synthesiser geeks, maybe it’s more like a traditional lap steel. What I’m curious about is making something a bit more industrial, something I can assemble a bit more quickly and a bit more affordable. I haven’t built a prototype yet, so I’m curious if it will work!”

Whether it works or not is perhaps besides the point – instead, it’s Robin Stummvoll’s unending curiosity that remains the engine of Verso Instruments. Sine is a testament to what you can achieve when you turn tradition on its head and take that leap into the unknown.

This story appeared in the Guitar.com Magazine May/June 2025 issue.

Words: Cillian Breathnach
Photography: Rachel Billings

The post Sine is Verso Instruments’ latest and greatest experimental guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Ad feature with Martin Guitar

How do you pack the classic Martin tone into a smaller instrument better suited for portability? The answer lies in Martin’s Junior Series, which pairs a familiar 24.9” scale length with smaller bodies across the brand’s Dreadnought and 000 blueprints, meaning more portable instruments with the same iconic – and big – Martin sound.

The newly overhauled Junior Series arrives nine years after Martin made its beloved Dreadnought smaller with the Dreadnought Junior, and sits in the brand’s lineup as its most accessible range of acoustic guitars.

• READ MORE: Learn how Martin guitars are shaped by the iconic musicians who play them in the 2025 Martin Journal

The series comprises seven models in total, three 000s, three Dreadnoughts and even an acoustic bass. I’ve been fortunate enough to check out two of them – the D Jr E and 000 Jr E Sapele – and I can confirm that that ‘small guitar, big sound’ ethos certainly checks out.

Both guitars, like the rest of the Junior Series, feature 24.9-inch scale lengths for a familiar Martin acoustic feel, but with a slightly smaller-than-usual body which saves both space and weight, perfect if you’re someone who takes your guitar on the move regularly.

Elsewhere, every guitar in the Junior Series is crafted with a bevelled fingerboard edge, so whether you’re playing chords in the lower registers or intricate leads in the upper, this feature contributes to a truly comfortable playing experience.

In the interest of portability, each Junior Series acoustic comes with a built-in tuner, as part of a Martin-designed E1 electronics system. This also includes volume and tone controls, and an option to reverse the phase by 180 degrees, which can decrease feedback and increase bass response, if so desired.

First of the two guitars I’m demoing in the video above, the D Jr E offers the power and timeless aesthetic of a Martin Dreadnought in a more travel-friendly size, and one better suited to people with smaller frames. In terms of build, this guitar features a sapele back and sides for warmth, punchy mids and clear trebles, paired with a spruce top for crisp tone and superior dynamic range.

Meanwhile the other guitar you see here is the 000 Jr E Sapele, which sports an all-sapele build for a more vintage-inspired look. Further visual appointments include a sleek satin finish, as well as faux abalone inlays.

Of course, guitars marketed as travel guitars would be no good without a bag for safekeeping, so you’ll be glad to know that each Junior Series model comes with its own softshell case.

So whether you’re looking for the perfect acoustic guitar to take on the go, or simply an instrument with a smaller form factor to add to your collection, Martin’s Junior Series is certainly the way to go.

For more information on the Junior Series, head to Martin.

The post Meet the new Martin Junior Series: small guitars, big Martin sound appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Oasis engineer Nick Brine has revealed how he acquired the legendary Takamine Acoustic that Noel Gallagher wrote Wonderwall on. The fateful moment was back in the ’90s when Oasis were working on Be Here Now, and Brine was working closely with the band as a mix engineer at Abbey Road’s Studio Two.

According to the BBC, the incident that led to Brine acquiring the instrument was a fight that broke out between the two Gallagher brothers, allegedly over a comment that Noel had made about Liam in the news. Liam Gallagher was reportedly hungover from the night before: “I’m in Abbey Road’s Studio Two setting up equipment and hungover myself, then looking up I saw a guitar come flying over from the control room” Brine recalls.

• READ MORE: Matt Bellamy’s signature Manson Meta MBM-2H returns in Red Sparkle, adds Satin Olive Green and new hardware options
  

Nick had worked with Oasis on (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, and knew to leave Liam alone if such “flashpoints” occurred. However, chaos ensued well before Noel Gallagher had entered the building, and Liam was causing some real damage in the studio: “Noel’s Fender Jag [was] smashed to bits. I run to the control room and Liam also made a big dent in Abbey Road’s mixing desk.”

Oasis’s Abbey Road mix engineer says he also witnessed firsthand the moment when his own acoustic guitar went “flying over the top and [lay] in a thousand pieces on the floor…” It was shortly after that Noel Gallagher came in and asked “what the hell is going on?”

The two brothers argued over whose acoustic guitar was smashed, before Nick sheepishly admitted to Liam it was his. “Then there was a big argument about who was going to buy me a new one. I told them it’s not valuable but it has quite sentimental value as my mum gave it to me”, Nick says. Liam offered to take Nick to Denmark Street for a replacement, but Noel was not having any of it. “What do you know about guitars?” he quipped.

After some heated discussion, and even an apologetic phone call to Nick’s own mother, Noel handed him the Takamine Acoustic that he had not only played Wonderwall on, but had also played at the Knebworth and MTV Unplugged concerts. “I was gobsmacked, I said ‘it’s OK, it’s fine’ but Noel insisted I take it…”

Since then, Nick has had to insure the guitar, and according to the BBC, some auction houses estimate that it would command around £100,000 if he were to ever sell it.

Oasis will begin their highly anticipated 2025 run of shows in early July. For more info, head to their official website.

The post “That’s the one I played Wonderwall on!”: How a guitar-smashing bust-up between Liam and Noel Gallagher led to a studio engineer owning an iconic Oasis guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

An automatic tuner uses robotics to sense the pitch of a plucked guitar string and automatically tune it to the correct note. Several brands have developed their take on the technology, but Band Industries reckons its developed the best yet with its Roadie 4.

Designed with “completely re-engineered algorithms and upgraded audio circuitry”, the fourth generation of the brand’s Roadie tuner tunes up your strings with one pluck, no fuss.

• READ MORE: Matt Bellamy’s signature Manson Meta MBM-2H returns in Red Sparkle, adds Satin Olive Green and new hardware options
  

All you need to do is place the tuner on one of your tuning pegs, pluck a string, and the device will do the work for you, based on the tuning you tell it to set it to prior.

Using its built-in contact microphone, the Roadie 4 analyses pitch through vibrations, and is essentially noise-immune, allowing you to tune up without worrying about your environment’s noise levels.

A demo video shows the tuner in action, with Roadie’s CTO and co-founder Bassam Jalgha tuning up his guitar. After selecting an open D tuning, the Roadie 4 has him fully tuned up in around 30 seconds – and it probably would have taken less time were he not explaining the tech at the same time.

As well as the tuning precision improvements, the Roadie 4 also has an anti-slip backing and a bigger 1.9” LCD display screen. The new scroll wheel also allows users to navigate through features with ease, meaning you can quickly flick through the 150+ built-in tunings styles.

The Roadie 4 also has a wider selection of instrumental tuning options available, now able to tune acoustic, electric, mandolins, banjos, ukeleles, and lap guitars. This is possible thanks to the re-designed peg connector, now upgraded to grip both bigger and smaller pegs. However, it still can’t tune a bass – but the company does have a specialised Roadie Bass tuner for that.

The device also has a built-in metronome with optional beep and vibration modes, as well as a battery that should last for months at a time.

“Roadie 4 is our most powerful and user-friendly tuner to date, built to make tuning faster, more precise, and effortless,” Band Industries explains. “With cutting-edge vibration detection, completely revamped audio circuitry and algorithms, a high-torque motor, and improved resistance to background noise, Roadie 4 delivers flawless, reliable tuning, whether you’re at home, on stage, or in the studio.”

The Roadie Tuner app has also had a bit of an upgrade to help you log each string change. It’s a perfect way of keeping tabs on what strings and gauges you’ve been using, or just a good way of setting reminders for when you might need to swap your strings out for new ones.

While the product’s Kickstarter campaign has far exceeded its initial £7,458 goal, currently sitting at £118,480, you can still back the project. You can pledge $39 to simply back the project and receive Roadie T-shirt, but you’ll have to pay $109 to get a Roadie 4 – which is $30 cheaper than the retail value of the tuner.

For more information, head to the Roadie 4 Kickstarter campaign.

The post The automatic Roadie 4 makes tuning “faster, more precise and more effortless” than ever before appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably caught wind of The Who’s recent drummer drama: Zak Starkey was fired, briefly reinstated, then fired again for good, all in the span of a few chaotic weeks.

Now, in a new interview with The i Paper, Who guitarist Pete Townshend opens up about the whole saga involving the band’s longtime drummer, offering some candid (and carefully worded) thoughts on working with frontman Roger Daltrey.

• READ MORE: “Pete had to go along with it because he’s had 60 years of arguing with Roger”: Zak Starkey reveals why he was fired from The Who

“It’s been a mess,” Townshend says. Asked about the Albert Hall incident – where Daltrey publicly called out Starkey mid-show for allegedly overplaying during The Song Is Over – he admits, “I couldn’t see anything wrong. What you see is a band who haven’t played together for a long time. But I think it was probably to do with the sound. I’ve lost my sound man as a result.”

“I think Roger just got lost. Roger’s finding it difficult,” Townshend adds. “I have to be careful what I say about Roger because he gets angry if I say anything about him at all. He’ll be sacking me next. But that’s not to say that he sacked Zak. It’s a decision Roger and I tried to make together, but it kind of got out of hand.”

Pressed on whether it was a difficult decision to let Starkey go, Townshend pauses: “Well, I’ve never been a huge… I didn’t invite him in, right? Roger invited him. And at that time, I don’t know quite why he chose Zak, but Zak is another Keith Moon. He comes with real, real bonuses and real, real difficulties.”

That said, “I will miss Zak terribly,” says the guitarist. “But quite what the story is, I don’t fucking know. I really don’t know.”

As for what’s next, The Who are set to embark on what’s billed as their final tour in August. Though Townshend doesn’t sound entirely sold on that either.

“I don’t know whether I’ve been up for doing anything with The Who since 1973,” he laughs. “But I am looking forward to it. Not because it’s the end, but because I hope that we can continue to explore other things.”

In related news, Zak’s father, legendary Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, has also weighed in on the fallout. According to Starkey, Starr told him [via Rolling Stone]: “I’ve never liked the way that little man runs that band,” in what appears to be a thinly veiled jab at Roger Daltrey.

The post “I have to be careful what I say about Roger or he’ll be sacking me next”: Pete Townshend says he “couldn’t see anything wrong” with Albert Hall gig that caused Zak Starkey’s firing appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

[Editor’s Note: Meng Ru Kuok, Founder & CEO of Caldecott Music Group is a part owner of Manson Guitar Works. Guitar.com is part of Caldecott Music Group]

Fans of Muse frontman Matt Bellamy’s signature guitars are in luck: Manson Guitar Works and Cort have expanded the Meta Series MBM-2H range with fresh colourways, left-handed options and new hardware finishes.

• READ MORE: Manson Guitar Works launches the Verona MB, an exact recreation of Matt Bellamy’s stage-used Will Of The People guitar

Leading the 2025/26 updates is the return of the much-requested MBC-1 Red Sparkle finish, a glittering, high-gloss lacquer that pays homage to the iconic “Santa” guitars used extensively by Bellamy on stage and in the studio.

The release is available in two formats: a twin-humbucker version featuring Manson-designed pickups for powerful, versatile tones, as well as a Sustainiac-equipped variant for you to dial in infinite sustain.

In the Sustainiac model, the neck humbucker is swapped out for the same pickup system Bellamy uses in his instruments. The pickup can be switched to work as an active and detailed regular neck pickup or switched into Sustain mode where three alternative Sustainiac modes are available, each offering endless sustain.

Joining Red Sparkle is a brand-new Satin Olive Green finish, also available in both humbucker and Sustainiac-equipped versions. The new colourway is paired with black hardware – a first for the series – adding a stealthy, more aggressive look to the instrument.

Left-handed players can finally get in on the action as well. For the first time, the Meta Series MBM-2H will be available in southpaw versions (no extra charge required), so Bellamy fans of all stripes can get their hands on the celebrated instrument.

As with previous iterations, the Meta Series MBM-2H continues to deliver premium features including a sleek compound radius neck, a kill-button for stutter effects, and Manson’s signature design and playability – all at a remarkably accessible price point.

The MBM-2H is priced at £569, while the MBM-2H-Sustainiac will cost you £899. Both are available now via Cort and Manson dealers worldwide.

Learn more at Manson Guitar Works.

The post Matt Bellamy’s signature Manson Meta MBM-2H returns in Red Sparkle, adds Satin Olive Green and new hardware options appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

$629/£569, fender.com

At this point, you probably already know how you feel about the Fender Acoustasonic phenomenon. Since Fender’s hybrid acoustic-electric arrived in 2019, it’s probably been the most polarising concept the world’s biggest guitar brand has foisted on the guitar-buying public since the Katana.

• READ MORE: Taylor 314ce Studio review: “Forget where the neck is made, this is every bit the US-made instrument

In truth though, a lot of opprobrium that the Acoustasonic has inspired in the last half a decade has primarily been down to how it looks. For a not-insignificant proportion of the guitar-buying public, sticking a soundhole in the middle of a Tele is akin to doodling a toothbrush moustache on the Mona Lisa.

And if that is you, I’m sorry but this review is unlikely to either change your mind, or indeed confirm your preexisting negative feelings. Because despite being a little unconvinced by the concept when it was unveiled at NAMM back in January 2019, any misgivings I had about the aesthetics were soon sidelined by the experience of using one in practice.

It might not be the perfect middle-ground between acoustic and electric guitar that Fender’s most feverish press releases may claim, but as a guitar that can provide decent electric and acoustic sounds in a live or home environment, it’s pretty bloody effective.

What’s also been impressive over the last few years is that despite the online grumbling, Fender clearly believes in this concept. Not only has the concept been expanded to include both Jazzmaster and Strat body shapes, but it’s also made its way down the pyramid, with the Mexico-made Player versions being hugely impressive when I checked one out a few years back. It’s also correlated with seeing a fair few more of these guitars in the wild being used as they were intended. Unsurprisingly the more you drop the barrier of entry, the more likely people are to take a chance on something unusual – so what if they dropped that bar even lower?

Fender Standard Acoustasonic Telecaster – what is it?

You’ll have noticed that the ‘Standard’ designator has been revived by FMIC in 2025 to denote its latest attempt to blend Asian manufacture and prices with the Fender brand. Previously, this was only the outlet for leftfield Fender releases like the Starcaster or the Modern Player series, the gradual inflation of Fender’s Mexico range meant that there was a gap in the market that was filled with a new series of classic designs made by Cor-Tek in Indonesia.

The results of that were a mixture of ‘pretty good’ and ‘fine’, so the decision to add a pair of Acoustasonic guitars to that range did have me wincing a little. A bolt-on solidbody electric guitar is a damn sight easier to mass-produce than a hollowbody hybrid, and I’ve heard a few eyebrow-raising QC horror stories with the Mexico-made Player versions – would this be a bridge too far?

And what about that price? At less than $600 it’s basically half the price of the Player version. That can’t be entirely down to the reduced cost of Asian manufacturer – compromises will have to be made somewhere.

For starters, the body wood is not mahogany anymore, but nyatoh – a popular and common substitute for mahogany on budget guitars. As with the Standard Telecaster, the three-piece back isn’t the most artfully matched, and the grain patterns are distinct enough that they barely look like the same species of wood, let alone the same tree. But honestly, we’re dealing with a $600 guitar here, what else do you expect? Conversely, the top is actually quite a nice bit of solid Sitka spruce, considering – the grain is straight and pretty even, with some subtle figure that I think looks pretty good.

It’s an effect helped by the thinly-applied Aged Natural finish – it’s the most unadorned of the three options at launch, but I think it’s perhaps the best. The finish is nicely applied, letting you feel the texture of the wood under your fingertips, without being so delicate that fingerprints or scuffs feel like a pressing concern.

Another big change can be found under the hood – whereas the Player Acoustasonic paired an undersaddle piezo with a Noiseless single-coil pickup, here we have a new Shawbucker humbucker in the bridge position.

The electronics themselves have also been streamlined – gone is the pickup selector switch, replaced with a master blend switch that allows you to choose exactly how much of each pickup you want at any given time.

Fender Standard Acoustasonic Telecaster – build quality

Despite some of the material differences, and that huge price drop, I was pleasantly surprised with how this guitar played and felt out of the box. Body still feels nicely ergonomic in a way that a regular Tele isn’t, and the overall fit and finish of the purfling, joining and general build feels impressively solid.

The neck is a pleasingly chunky ‘Modern Deep C’ in Fender’s parlance, with a 12mm radius and 22 frets. In practice, that makes for a slightly chunkier feel than the regular Standard guitars, but still more than slinky enough for easy playing – in truth I wish they put this neck on the regular guitars. The enjoyable playing experience is further enhanced by Fender’s latest trick – rolling fingerboard edges. It’s subtle again here, but it really does make the playing experience feel more worn-in and enjoyable.

In truth, a lot of the differences between the Player and Standard Acoustasonics can be found in the neck, and not all of them are great. Gone is the lovely routed Fender logo on the Tele peghead, replaced with a slightly cheap looking mirrored affair, but the other end is more jarring.

A feature of Acoustasonics past has been a chamfered neck heel allowing easier access to the upper frets. Here however we have a standard chunky Tele-style four-bolt square heel with blank silver plate. It’s only a big deal if you are planning to spend a lot of time up the top end of the neck, and you could argue that the standard Tele arrangement hasn’t done much to put players off that. Still, it’s something that I missed when picking it up for the first time.

Fender Standard Acoustasonic Telecaster – build quality

When the Acoustasonic first launched it had all sorts of fancy sonic options under the hood – including various modelled acoustic sounds to choose from and blend them accordingly. It was a bit much, in all honesty, and it was no surprise to see the Player version simplify things a great deal. Here however, we’re stripping things back even further – with none of that modelling stuff at all, and not even a pickup selector to work with.

All the control is based around that blend knob – at one end it’s all piezo, at the other it’s all electric, and you can find your happy place somewhere in between. The only other control is a volume knob, which feels somewhat superfluous in this context, you have to say. It’s a somewhat frustrating layout, to be honest – the ability to switch between all-electric and all-acoustic at the flick of a selector switch was useful on the Player version, and sweeping a knob is nowhere near as immediate.

Mercifully, Fender abandoned the endlessly annoying built-in rechargeable battery of the American version long ago and as with the Player here you power the whole thing with a 9V battery accessed by a hatch in the back of the rear control cavity.

Fender Standard Acoustasonic Telecaster – sounds

In my review of the Acoustasonic Player Jazzmaster, I extolled the virtue of the guitar as the ultimate couch guitar – after all, it has the easy playability of an electric with the tonality of an acoustic, and the family-friendly volume of a semi.

It’s unlikely that anyone is buying an Acoustasonic purely to play on the sofa, but I’d be surprised if it hadn’t ended up in that role in a lot of homes that own one. That being said, the Standard continues the Acoustasonic’s impressive track record of sounding much bigger and fuller than its body shape should allow. It’s perhaps not as loud as the Jazzmaster I tested a few years ago, but the Stringed Instrument Resonance System (aka the soundhole) once again does an impressive job of making it sound like an acoustic, but just quieter.

Plugging in, and with no digital ‘images’ (Fishman’s term for models that aim to mix the mic’d sound of an acoustic with the piezo) colouring the tone here, the onus really is on that undersaddle transducer to sound decent, and mercifully it does – with a surprising amount of bottom-end and minimal piezo honk. It’s not going to go toe-to-toe with pickup systems that cost more than this guitar of course, but it sounds better than most entry-level pickup systems despite its diminutive size.

What is a little disappointing is what happens when you plug it into an electric amp. It’s perhaps not surprising that an acoustic pickup loses some of the pizazz when plugged into an amp set up for raucous electric guitar… but there is the small matter of that honkin’ great humbucker in the bridge. It seems weird to me that you wouldn’t try to voice the pickup to sound better with an electric amp given its stated purpose. Maybe the thinking is that you’ll always have an ABY switch or a modelling solution to cater to each sound… but it just seems weird to me.

The Shawbucker itself is punchy and fun, in a polite kinda way – this is a humbucker on an acoustic guitar don’t forget so expecting it to soak up endless lashings of gain is perhaps unrealistic. As with the other Acoustasonics, the sweet spot really is found in the blending – it adds real depth and presence to your sound that occupies neither the fully electric or fully acoustic world. This feeling is enhanced with the addition of some subtle time-based effects – these are genuinely sounds you don’t hear in a live context very often, and they’re hugely compelling in practice.

Fender Standard Acoustasonic Telecaster – should I buy one?

The more prescient question is probably, ‘Have you ever been intrigued by an Acoustasonic before?’ Because if the answer is any kind of yes, you no longer have any excuse not to dip your toe in and see what the fuss is about. I would never accuse a giant multinational corporation of having anything so human as ‘guts’, but it has taken a lot of organisational fortitude for Fender to ignore the naysayers and persist with the Acoustasonic programme for over half a decade now. And to gradually make it more and more accessible along the way. The Standard is probably the final word in that direction (it’s hard to see what else could be trimmed to make a Squier version), and it’s a definitive one. Try it.

Fender Standard Acoustasonic Telecaster – alternatives

A lot of the thinline acoustic guitars out there are more classical crossovers, which I think is a different ballgame entirely, and so many of the Standard’s rivals are found in Fender’s own stable. You have the Acoustasonic Player Telecaster ($1,199/£1,029), of course, but also if you want your guitar to be more acoustic-shaped the Highway Parlor ($999/£819) is a stage-ready option. If you want a small, stage-ready acoustic with no sonic compromises, LR Baggs’ AEG-1 ($1599/£2,099) is hugely impressive – but it’s acoustic only.

The post Fender Acoustasonic Standard Telecaster review: “these are sounds you don’t hear in a live context very often” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Black Sabbath’s final reunion show may be set in stone, but Geezer Butler isn’t ready to rule anything out just yet.

After countless shows, lineup changes, a farewell tour dubbed The End, and more “final” moments than most bands have riffs, Black Sabbath are gearing to bow out – supposedly for real this time.

• READ MORE: “My one regret is I can’t say goodbye and thank you for the life I’ve been given”: What Ozzy Osbourne told Sharon which led to Black Sabbath’s final show becoming a reality

The heavy metal pioneers will reunite on 5 July at Villa Park in Birmingham for what’s being billed as their last-ever performance. The one-day extravaganza, headlined by Sabbath, and preceded by Ozzy Osbourne’s own mini set, is supported by heavy hitters like  Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Gojira and more.

All four original members – Ozzy, Butler, Tony Iommi, and Bill Ward – have spoken publicly about the occasion, though not all are equally convinced it’s the end.

Iommi, for one, is done. “I won’t be doing it again,” he tells MOJO. “This will be the final show. I mean, can you imagine us trying to tour? No, this will be it.”

Ward, meanwhile, chuckles when prompted on Osbourne’s repeated promises to call it quits. “He says a lot of stuff,” the drummer reasons. “But the gist of it was, ‘I’m gonna do one last time.’”
Then there’s Geezer Butler, who shares in the same interview that he’s “given up talking about the end of Sabbath.”

“Every time I think or say it’s over, things like this show come along,” he says. “Someone will probably have our DNA and resurrect us in the distant future… Who knows?”

In Ozzy’s case, that may not be entirely hypothetical. The frontman recently partnered with canned water company Liquid Death on a limited run of iced tea cans supposedly infused with his actual DNA.

At 76 and amid significant health challenges – including Parkinson’s and spinal injuries – Osbourne has kept his role at the upcoming show modest. The Prince of Darkness previously revealed that he’s “not planning on doing a set”, even though he has been working out in preparation for the big night.

To be fair, Sabbath have ‘ended’ before. Their last farewell tour wrapped in 2017, also with a final performance in their hometown of Birmingham. But here they are again, plugging back in for one more glorious send-off. And as Butler reminds us, with Sabbath, you never really know.

The post Geezer Butler has “given up talking about the end of Sabbath”: “Every time I think it’s over, things like this show come along” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Hatebreed guitarist Wayne Lozinak has been diagnosed with a non-cancerous brain tumour following the band’s recent appearance at Download Festival.

According to a statement shared by the band, Lozinak began experiencing “mild symptoms that raised concerns of a possible stroke” on the night of 14 June while at Download Festival. When the band travelled to Lille, France the following day, Lozinak sought medical attention out of an “abundance of caution”.

• READ MORE: Korn think Sleep Token “shut everybody up” at Download with a set that “went bigger than a Slipknot stage”

A CT scan performed at a local ER revealed a brain tumour, prompting immediate hospital admission for further testing. After a 24-hour evaluation, including an MRI, doctors identified the mass as a benign meningioma – a slow-growing tumour that has “likely been present for years.”

“We are immensely relieved that Wayne’s diagnosis is the best possible outcome given the circumstances,” says the band. For now, Lozinak will be returning to the United States to prepare for surgery and focus on his recovery.

In the meantime, Hatebreed will continue their European and UK dates as planned, with touring bassist Matt Bachand stepping in on guitar, and Carl Schwartz of First Blood and Terror joining the group on bass duties.

The group closed their announcement with gratitude to fans, friends, and the wider music community for their support during this time. Lozinak, who has been a key part of Hatebreed’s hard-hitting sound since rejoining the band in 2009, is reportedly eager to return to the stage “as soon as he is able”.

Hatebreed’s UK and European tour is set to wrap up with a London show on 6 July, after which the band will head straight back to the US to headline the Summer Slaughter Tour, beginning 8 July in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Check out the full list of tour dates and get your tickets at Hatebreed.com. 

The post “His strength and resilience remain unwavering”: Hatebreed guitarist diagnosed with benign brain tumour after Download Festival appearance appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Carol Kaye, session veteran and one of the most prolific bassists of all time, is the latest musician to turn down the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s invitation this fall.

Kaye, who’s set to be inducted as part of the Hall’s Class of 2025, says she won’t be attending the ceremony because it “wasn’t something that reflects the work that studio musicians do and did in the golden era of the 1960s recording hits.”

• READ MORE: No plans to rename the Hall of Fame, says Rock Hall chairman John Sykes

The 90-year-old, estimated to have played on over 10,000 recording sessions, including works by the Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel and Frank Zappa, was part of a group of session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew during the Sixties and Seventies.

“People have been asking: NO I won’t be there,” Kaye writes of her decision in a now-deleted Facebook post. “I am declining the rrhof awards show and Denny Tedesco process [director of the 2008 documentary The Wrecking Crew]”.

Underlining the collaborative nature of studio musicians, the bassist explains, “You are always part of a team, not a solo artist at all. There were always 350-400 studio musicians (AFM Local 47 Hollywood) working in the busy 1960s, and called that only. Since the 1930s, I was never a ‘Wrecker’ at all…. that’s a terrible insulting name.”

Kaye also clarifies that she found her way to the bass not by choice, but by chance.

“Just so you know, as a working Jazz musician (soloing jazz guitar work) in the 1950s working since 1949, I was accidentally asked to record records by producer Bumps Blackwell in 1957, got into recording good music, with Sam Cooke, other artists and then accidentally placed on Fender Precision Bass mid 1963 when someone didn’t show.”

“I never played bass in my life,” she continues. “But being an experienced recording guitarist, it was plain to see that 3 bass players hired to play ‘dum-de-dum’ on record dates, wasn’t getting it…..it was easy for me to invent good bass lines…..as a Jazz musician, you invent every note you play……and they used a lot of Jazz musicians (and former big-band experienced musicians on all those rock and pop dates too).”

Kaye ends her note by declaring: “I refuse to be part of a process that is something else rather than what I believe in, for others’ benefit and not reflecting on the truth – we all enjoyed working with EACH OTHER.”

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Carol joins a growing list of musicians who’ve taken issue with the Rock Hall’s decisions and supposed credibility.

Duran Duran bassist John Taylor previously called their own induction a farce, saying, “It’s such a joke that Duran Duran are in anything with ‘rock and roll’ over the top of it.”

Liam Gallagher was even less diplomatic when Oasis was nominated in 2024. “Fuck the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – it’s full of bumbaclarts,” he posted on X. When a fan urged fellow supporters to vote, Gallagher replied, “Don’t waste your time… it’s all a load of bollox.”

Or as he put it most succinctly, “I don’t need some wank award by some geriatric in a cowboy hat.”

The post “You are always part of a team, not a solo artist at all”: Why Carol Kaye has declined her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction invitation appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Johnny Marr has always made his stance on a Smiths reunion crystal clear. In his own words, there’s “zero chance” of one ever happening – and no amount of money could change his mind.

In a recent appearance on Stick To Football, Marr admits that the group were promised an “eye-watering amount of money” for a reunion, but it didn’t tempt him. “We got made an offer recently, but I said no,” he reveals. “It was a little bit about principles, but I’m not an idiot. I just think the vibe’s not right.”

• READ MORE: The five guitar albums that could save the world, as chosen by Propagandhi

Frontman Morrissey alluded to the “eye-watering” deal last summer on his official website. “In June 2024 AEG Entertainment Group made a lucrative offer to both Morrissey and Marr to tour worldwide as The Smiths throughout 2025,” an update explained. “Morrissey said yes to the offer; Marr ignored the offer.”

The update goes on to take a dig at Marr; “Morrissey undertakes a largely sold out tour of the USA in November. Marr continues to tour as a special guest to New Order.”

To add insult to injury, Morrissey later posted another update on his website titled ‘The Plot Thickens’, claiming Marr had acquired “100%” of the The Smiths trademark rights without informing him.

However, Marr responded on Twitter/X in September, clarifying that he “didn’t ignore the offer – [he] said no,” and that he had only acquired the rights to The Smiths’ name to “prevent third parties from profiting from the band’s name”.

Marr’s statement also claimed that Morrissey “failed to respond” when Marr attempted to contact him in regards to registering The Smiths’ trademark.

“In 2018, following an attempt by a third party to use The Smiths’ name – and upon discovery that the trademark was not owned by the band – Marr reached out to Morrissey, via his representatives, to work together in protecting The Smiths’ name,” the statement said.

Marr allegedly attempted to assign joint ownership to Morrissey in January 2025 as a “gesture of goodwill”. However, “execution of this document still requires Morrissey to sign,” and no update has come to light just yet.

pic.twitter.com/78kD509vqZ

— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) September 17, 2024

Right now, Marr’s priority is his own music. While The Smiths played a huge role in his life, he’s happy to keep focusing on improving as a solo artist. “I really like what I’m doing now, which makes it a lot easier,” he explains on the Stick To Football podcast. “I like where I’m at. I still want to write the best song I’ve ever written. I want to be a better performer.”

Regardless of the circumstances, Marr doesn’t regret his time with The Smiths. “We were all dead young,” he reminisces. “We weren’t a bunch of mates from school… I wanted to put a band together, so I went and found the members… Five years later, when we’re playing to 10,000 people […] I was 23.”

“I was having a great time until I wasn’t,” he says. “I got miserable. I thought The Smiths were the best band in the world at the time. I was so proud of us and I loved the music we were making. I love the guys, but relationships break down and that’s life.”

In December, Morrissey told Medium he would have gladly embarked on a reunion tour. “I agreed because it felt like the last time such a thing would be possible,” he said. “We’ve all begun to grow old. I thought the tour that was offered would be a good way of saying thank you for those who have listened for what suddenly feels like a lifetime. It wasn’t because I had any emotional attachment to Marr. I have absolutely none.”

The post Johnny Marr reveals that he turned down an “eye-watering amount of money” for a Smiths reunion – despite Morrissey agreeing to it appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The hype surrounding Black Sabbath’s final show – Back to the Beginning – is unprecedented – but wholly justified.

The event, which takes place 5 July at Birmingham’s Villa Park, will see the final-ever performance from Sabbath’s original lineup (Ozzy Obsourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward), as well as support slots from heavyweights from the heavy metal pantheon, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Mastodon, Lamb of God and many more.

• READ MORE: “Clone me, you bastards!”: Iced tea with Ozzy Osbourne’s actual DNA now for sale at $450 a pop

Naturally, a show of this magnitude must have been in the works for some time: “nearly two years,” according to Ozzy’s wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne.

Besides the logistics of putting together a lineup filled to the brim with metal A-listers, Sharon says much of the preparation has come in the form of physical training by Ozzy.

“He’s working with his team of people that are getting him up and moving around, working on his breathing, doing weights to build muscle,” she tells MOJO in its new print issue.

“Ozzy’s had five back surgeries in six years, it’s hugely debilitating. So this is not something he undertook lightly. But he kept saying, ‘My one regret is I can’t say goodbye and thank you for the life I’ve been given.’ And I thought, well why don’t we just do one big show and you can thank everybody?

“So we’ve been working on it for nearly two years. You know, Birmingham has given Ozzy so much, he’s so proud of where he was born. He’s working his little old arse off to get there.”

Sharon’s comments echo those made by Andrew Watt – producer of Ozzy’s albums Ordinary Man (2020) and Patient Number 9 (2022) in February – when he revealed the Prince of Darkness has been hitting the gym in preparation for the final show dubbing him the “real-life Iron Man”

Due to Ozzy Obsourne’s series of health problems – which include Parkinson’s disease and spinal issues – it’s been revealed that he’s “not planning on doing a set” at the Back to the Beginning show, but will rather do “little bits and pieces”.

As you might expect, tickets for the show sold out very quickly – some reports claim in as little as 16 minutes – but the Sabbath camp recently announced the event will be livestreamed via pay-per-view, priced at £24.99. Fans who purchase will be able to rewatch the entire event for 48 hours after it finishes.

Learn more at backtothebeginning.com.

The post “My one regret is I can’t say goodbye and thank you for the life I’ve been given”: What Ozzy Osbourne told Sharon which led to Black Sabbath’s final show becoming a reality appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.