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Korn think Sleep Token “shut everybody up” at Download with a set that “went bigger than a Slipknot stage”
2025’s Download Festival lineup boasted a trio of new headliners: iconic punk rockers Green Day, legendary nu-metallers Korn and alt-metal’s latest buzz band, Sleep Token. With their divisive pop-heavy sound and relative newcomer status, Sleep Token’s inclusion was met with criticism – but Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer are firmly in Sleep Token’s corner.
Speaking on BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show With Daniel P Carter, Welch and Shaffer reflect on the mysterious band’s Download set. “I love it because all these people – I don’t know how many – [were like] ‘Sleep Token… headlining?’ Some people were saying they’re to young to be able to headline so quick,” Welch says. “And they came with that stage? Shut everybody up. They went bigger than a Slipknot stage, man.”
Host Carter is also in agreement with the sentiment, recalling a time he watched Sleep Token back in 2023 at Aftershock festival alongside Shaffer. During the set, Carter recalls Shaffer even commenting: “These guys are gonna be headlining this thing in two years time.”
“I did say that,” Shaffer boasts. “I called it!”
Korn have grinded their way up Download line-ups for 30 years to earn their headline spot, while Sleep Token only formed in 2016. The comparison has been a major point of critique, so Welch and Shaffer’s eager support of Sleep Token is sure to shut down that argument.
Sleep Token’s set has also been praised by the likes of Metal Hammer and Kerrang!, with the masked unit transforming the stage into an intricate cliff face set. Some attendees have commented on them having the smallest crowd of the three headliners, but take that with a pinch of salt – Korn and Green Day have been around for decades, after all.
During the interview, Shaffer even voices his love of Sleep Token’s music. He notes the gang’s 2025 release, Even In Arcadia. “The new record is incredible,” he insists. “So it’s not only the stage – you can do that all day long – but they got the songs to back it up.”
Last month, Even In Arcadia was released to a full spectrum of reviews. While NME awarded it a dazzling five stars, Pitchfork gave it a cold 2.3, coining the term ‘djentrification’ due to the record’s watered down and marketable use of djent textures.
Andy Copping, the founder of Download Festival and Director of Sleep Token’s management company, Future History Management, defended the decision to have Sleep Token headline earlier this year. “When Wembley went on sale and sold out in 10 minutes I was like, ‘This is beyond anything that anyone could have thought in terms of their popularity explosion,’” he told Kerrang!
“This is their moment, this is their time,” he continued. “We, as a festival, have to be bringing bands through and believe in what we’re doing, but we don’t do it in a haphazard way… I think that any detractors, when they see it, will get it. They’ll understand what it’s all about. It’s a lightning-in-a-bottle moment for our scene where a band has come in and done that.”
“I think they’ll win over non-fans at Download with how dynamic the show is. Out of curiosity people will watch, and mark my words, they’ll say after they play, ‘I was not familiar, but they’re now my new favourite band.’ They have something about them that’s going to win people over. People will become part of the gathering, part of the Worship.”
He goes on to note that, despite it being early on in Sleep Token’s career, lots of bands gained traction after one or two records. He points to Guns N’ Roses “exploding on album number one” and Nirvana “exploding on album number two”.
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The inventor of the Klon Centaur is suing Behringer over its $69 clone – now owners are listing them for up to $2,000
In the wake of a lawsuit filed earlier this month – which saw Klon Centaur creator Bill Finnegan accusing Behringer of “blatant counterfeiting” over its $69 Centaur Overdrive – owners of the Behringer clone are listing it for as high as $2,000, as it faces risk of discontinuation.
Original Klon Centaur units regularly command four-figure prices online, so now Behringer’s clone may soon be off the market, those who have bought are attempting to capitalise.
So far, we’ve seen some eBay listings going for as high as £1,500 (approx. $2,014). On another listing – priced lower at $500, but still nearly 10 times the price of a new Centaur Overdrive – the seller notes: “Listings are getting taken down everywhere, so grab it before it disappears.”
The wave of Centaur Drive listings has no doubt been triggered by Finnegan sharing news of the lawsuit on his Instagram. “I have filed a federal lawsuit against a well-known pedal manufacturer that is currently marketing and mass-producing a pedal that we believe blatantly infringes upon specific intellectual property owned by my company Klon LLC,” he wrote.
“For the record, I have never been consulted in any way about this pedal, it has never been authorized by me, and I have never had any involvement whatsoever in its design, production, or marketing. You may have questions about this pedal, so I encourage you to read the filed Complaint, which you can access via the hyperlink that has now been added to the bio of this Klon LLC Instagram.”
In the lawsuit court documents, it reads: “consumers expressed extensive actual confusion (that went deliberately unabated by Defendants), with many rushing to purchase Defendants’ counterfeit pedal believing Defendants are delivering on a mass scale a discounted product licensed or endorsed by Plaintiffs”.
In the comments, one user points out one reason why people might have flocked to the Behringer clone; the original Klon Centaur was discontinued, with only a limited run available. “Why don’t you produce enough pedals so that the average consumer can afford it?” the commenter suggested.
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Mclusky’s Andrew Falkous picks the best sub-45-minute punk albums of all time
“I’ll be back” said the Terminator once, before embarking on a dervish of violence. Mclusky made no such promise when they broke up in their pomp two decades ago, but the lacerating evisceration of Mclusky’s return still comfortably lays waste to 20 years of distance between their third and fourth albums.
Since the Cardiff-borne band called it a day back in 2005, their legend as one of THE great lost bands of the first wave of post-hardcore has only grown, even as frontman and guitarist Andrew Falkous took his gleeful menace and knack for obliterating dickheads with coal-black humour into other projects.
For a decade now, Falco has also performed various benefit and festival gigs as ‘Mclusky’ or Mclusky* in the UK – with the added punctuation a reference to the fact that original bassist John Chapple was not involved, as he’d emigrated to Australia. Beyond that, it seemed that Falco was minded to leave things be. That was, until 2020 when he officially announced that himself, drummer Jack Egglestone (a member since 2003) and bassist Damien Sayell would be making a new album as Mclusky – no punctuation required.
Image: Damien Sayell
Short Sharp Shock
Now, five years later we finally have the fruits of that promise: the typically pithily titled The World Is Still Here And So Are We. It’s very fitting that a band who made their name with ferocious, intelligent skewerings of the ridiculousness of early 2000s society on their Steve Albini-produced masterpiece Mclusky Do Dallas to return at the exact moment that it feels like the world is once again circling the drain.
The World Is Still Here… injects an acerbic dose of grim laughs and cathartic squalls of distorted electric guitar into your veins and doesn’t hang around doing so. The album’s 13 tracks are blitzed through in just 33 minutes – a record even for a band that has never once made an album longer than 45 minutes.
“In terms of the kind of basic rock music that we play, there was an ideal length that comes between 28 and 36 minutes,” Falco explains of the brevity of their songs. “That gives you enough time to kind of exist in this very real, visceral thing, but it also leaves you wanting more. There’s this finality to it but your first instinct should be to play it again immediately.”
Image: Keira Anee
In this era of bloated albums calibrated to maximise streaming success, then, who better to choose the antidote to that – the best punk albums that get in, get out, and don’t hang around for you to ask questions. To hear Falco tell it, pretty much anyone but him.
“I find it really tough to choose albums because I’ve spent so long in my own musical mania,” Falkous admits. “I’m not good with lists generally. I feel as if it’s all about making a statement of personality, rather than of intent, then getting the fuck out of there before everybody realises you’ve done the same three things over and over again.”
Politely, we disagree that he’s not good with lists, and we’re here now so we’re going to make him do it anyway…
The Jesus Lizard – Goat (30 mins, 24 seconds)
“Goat is the ultimate example of four ridiculous men in a room for a bit. I love Mouth Breather, but that album is all about Nub. That song has the confidence to do one of the best bits of music in the history of rock music, the first slide guitar bit with the bass pounding away… it even has the fucking cheek to do that once. In terms of songwriting, that’s just rude. It’s like showing you the greatest shoes you’ve ever seen on a first date, then you never see them again. It’s beyond cheeky, it’s war. The war is going on around you, humanity is happening, I think. When I really like an album, it washes over me in one go, so I don’t really pay attention to song titles. That album is so complete in around 30 minutes.”
Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (34 minutes, 24 seconds)
“I only really got into Devo only five years ago. It’s one of those bands where I didn’t get into it because people tell you how much you should like them, and there’s nothing more tedious than people telling you that you should like something. I’ll decide for myself, thank you very much! If you’re lucky enough to get into Devo later in life, you can draw a line through every band you’ve ever liked all the way back to them. That’s true of Jesus Lizard, XTC and Gang of Four. You can hear Gang of Four in Big Black and Shellac, the clank and the slide of the guitars.”
“The best way to describe Devo is like a club for very odd people, but they’re not ashamed of being odd. By odd, I don’t mean peculiar. You don’t need to get a criminal record check to work with young children, just a bit odd. This gang of people making this crazy pop music, but it’s music you can run off singing into the night, and all the instruments are doing mad things but it’s still pop music.”
Gang of Four – Entertainment (39 minutes, 53 seconds)
“That’s singularly the greatest album ever made by people. Mostly because it is incredibly singular. It doesn’t sound like anything else. If you broke it down, it would sound like the rhythm section are playing a completely different set of songs from what the guitarist is playing or the singer is singing, but… there’s this moment where everything seems to happen, and everything goes in the same direction. Everything hitting in the same moment. The rhythm, the drums, and the guitar playing is like nothing that ever came before.”
“I don’t know anybody’s name. I’m not a historian of rock music, but I know who Andy Gill was. The guitar playing on that album is so nasty, but it’s got so much soul as well. It’s quite an incredible achievement, so many great songs on that album, and it’s way, way ahead of its time. This is a record that shows you can approach an instrument as an extension of personality.”
USA Nails – Life Cinema (12 minutes)
“They’re definitely one of the best British bands. They’ve been playing with us for years, and supported Future of the Left [Falco’s post-Mclusky band] at Heaven nightclub in 2012… They’ve done a few records, and every one of them is great, but my favourite is Life Cinema.”
“If we ever have the option, and sales, they’re a band we always look to take on tour with us. USA Nails are incredibly talented guys, a little bit contrary – they’d hate to be seen as ambitious in any way – but they’re great.”
Editor’s note: As we end our call Falco also says that he wants to shout out Leeds rockers and fellow touring mates, Thank – whose 2024 album I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed comfortably fits under the 45-minute limit.
Mission of Burma – Vs (41 mins, 30 seconds)
“In 2001, we were completing the mixing of Mclusky Do Dallas. Bob Weston, bassist of Shellac [along with Steve Albini], came in and played us some of what he’d just recorded with Mission of Burma.
“You can tell that it’s made by a band in a silo. Mclusky was like that in the beginning. DIY scenes can be supportive in your day-to-day life, but in my experience, I’m yet to see a situation where it happens in music. The best music is made in a vacuum, happening out of nowhere.
“As I’m a bit of a pop song guy, myself, That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate is the perfect pop song with a rawness to it that, so that when it finishes, you go, ‘What the fuck was that’? On the whole, ‘vs’ is a bit more off-beat, post-punk I suppose. I don’t like busy music, and this is a bit busy at times, but it’s more primal.”
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Slapocalypse Reborn: The musicians who had their compositions copied by Giacomo Turra have teamed up on a track
A group of musicians who were allegedly plagiarised by Giacomo Turra have teamed up on a new collaborative track.
The new song, called Slapocalypse Reborn, is led by bassist Charles Berthoud, who collaborated with Turra on an earlier, original version Slapocalypse. His collaboration with the guitarist was deleted from his channel following the scandal, which unfolded earlier this year.
Turra, known for his popular Instagram guitar videos, was accused by multiple musicians of plagiarising their musical compositions and passing them off as his own. In a video put together by YouTuber Danny Sapko, he claimed that Turra would only occasionally claim to be ‘inspired’ by a particular artist within his content, rather than simply saying that he was covering their composition note for note.
Brands such as Andertons, Ernie Ball, and Fender also removed any videos featuring Turra from their YouTube channels following the backlash, and his presence was removed from the D’Angelico Guitars website, including his signature guitar and artist page.
Turra did respond to the allegations, and said he could have swore that the artists who came forward were credited in his videos, though he did note that his credits “must not have been evident enough”: “I really want to apologise to the guitar community for this behaviour,” he said.
Now, on Slapocalypse Reborn, Berthoud teams up with the musicians affected: Jack Gardiner, Alex Hutchings, Danny Sapko, Kahil Ferraris, Marco Baldi, Ben Romano, Tom Quayle, and Peter Luha. In another video, he has also summarised his own experience with Turra, sharing how their original collaboration did not quite go as planned. You can watch both videos below:
Slapocalypse Reborn is now available to stream via Spotify. Giacomo Turra has returned to Instagram but has kept comments turned off.
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“Oppression fears artistic expression”: Johnny Marr speaks out against calls to remove Kneecap from Glastonbury lineup
![[L-R] Mo Chara of Kneecap and Johnny Marr](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Johnny-Marr-Kneecap@2000x1500.jpg)
Johnny Marr has announced both his support for Irish rappers Kneecap and Palestine, amid calls for the Irish rap group to be axed from this year’s Glastonbury lineup. They are currently set to play on 28 June.
The Irish trio are facing calls for their performance at this year’s Glastonbury festival to be axed, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews pointing to the group’s history of inflammatory comments, including the time, in 2023, they urged fans to “Kill your local MP” at a gig. They also point to the trio’s historical comments seemingly supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, two groups labelled terrorist organisations by the UK government.
Meanwhile, others, including the band’s producer Toddla T say calls to remove them from the bill are about their open and staunch support of the citizens of Palestine, who are facing ongoing bombardment in Gaza by the Israeli military.
According to Toddla T, a “private and confidential” letter was sent to those in charge of booking for Glastonbury festival, asking them to remove Kneecap over their support for Palestine.
He says, “It was headed by a very systemically powerful music agent and signed by 30 individuals from within the music industry.” He goes on: “What we’re seeing is a coordinated attempt by 30 members of the musical elite, people with systemic influence, to silence the voices of three working-class artists from Belfast…
“…At the heart of this is not just a dispute over a festival slot… It’s about Palestine, and the ongoing genocide we are witnessing.”
Now, Johnny Marr says that removing Kneecap from the lineup for their support of Palestine goes against the ethos of the festival.
“Glastonbury has always had a political aspect. It was founded as a place of free expression and political activism,” he explains in an Instagram post. He also confirms that “it’s a fact that I agreed to play there with The Smiths in 1984 purely because to do so at the time was a political act.”
The former Smiths guitarist also says his political stance has not changed: “We are living through very troubling times, but for anyone who’s been interested in me or my music over the last 40 years, I feel like my political stance has been very clear.”
“Oppression fears artistic expression,” he goes on. “I respect all musicians who use their platform to speak out against injustice, who promote compassion and equality and give a voice to the voiceless.”
Marr stands by “fellow musicians who call for an immediate end to the atrocities and a free Palestine.”
Kneecap member Mo Chara was recently granted unconditional bail after being charged with a terror offence following his display of the Hezbollah flag at a gig.
As it currently stands, Kneecap’s Glastonbury performance on 28 June will go ahead. You can also see the full Glastonbury lineup at glastonburyfestivals.co.uk.
Johnny Marr is no stranger to commenting on political issues. He previously slammed Donald Trump for using The Smiths’ Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want during his political rallies. “Consider this shit shut down right now”, he said.
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“There is no magical increase in sales from patriotic Americans willing to rescue us” – how Trump’s tariffs are stretching US amp and pedal companies to breaking point
As pedal makers told us last week, the tariffs that have been implemented by the current US administration are posing a real existential threat to the US boutique pedal industry. These choices seem to ignore the reality of the global supply chain many industries rely on, and as a result many of your favourite pedal brands are considering layoffs and closure thanks to spiralling costs and tanking sales.
Since the potential fallout of the tariffs became clear, EarthQuaker Devices CEO Julie Robbins has been raising awareness about how destructive they could be, and has also rallied a support group of concerned builders, in the absence of any official guidance.
With her help we’ve surveyed major figures from over 30 pedal, amp, guitar and pickup brands. Last week we explored how all of these figures reported negative impacts of the tariffs, from tanking sales to spiralling costs, and logistical nightmares thanks to the rapidly-fluctuating rates. This week I want to dive further into some figures to put their anxiety into a firmer context.
The cost of the tariffs
We’ve already given one direct example of a price that’s increased – JHS’ Footswitches went from around $1.10 each to around $3 per switch at their peak. Given that JHS uses around 100,000 footswitches a year, that’s potentially an extra $200,000 annually for just that single part.
Let’s put some more numbers on things. Mission Engineering’s James Lebihan gives us the example of a PCB order, which went from $199.06 PCB in March of this year to a $314.91 order in May. That’s a pretty sizable increase by itself – however, it’s pennies compared to sourcing the same part domestically: Lebihan says Mission was quoted $9,000 for an equivalent part from a US supplier.
A few more examples: Jon Cusack of Cusack Music gives an example of a parts order that cost $5,400. The tariff charge for it was an almost 200% addition of $10,500 for a total of $15,900. Similarly, Robert Keeley reports a circuit board order for $2,000 that received a 180% tariff of $3,600. Summer School Electronics’ Mark Turley gives us an example of a parts order that went from $2,577 to $3,877. Mr Black Pedals’ Jack Deville told us of a standard footswitch that went up by $3, from $2.35 to $5.35 – and that’s a per-pedal cost increase for just a single part.
At time of writing, the tariff rate has come down since these more extreme examples were given, and are roughly 30%. This is about how much more expensive Robbins has told us EarthQuaker’s PCBs have become since March, and similar to Mission’s issues, sourcing PCBs domestically just isn’t viable.
“The quality [of US-made PCBs] is not as high, and the cost is nearly 15 to 25 times what we are currently paying,” Robbins says. “That would raise the retail price on all of our products well above a competitive range anyone would be willing to pay.”
A rock and a hard place
Even avoiding the drastic price increases that come from domestic sourcing, an increase of 30% per PCB thanks to tariffs is a significant cut into a product’s profit margin. Smaller companies with slimmer margins cannot really afford to just eat these extra costs – nor are prices of pedals flexible enough to bear price increases without seeing sales drops. There’s already an idea of what a US-made ‘boutique’ pedal in a given niche should cost, and below the likes of the $500+ workstation reverbs, these price brackets are pretty firmly-defined.
EarthQuaker’s Julie Robbins gives us the example of the FlexiLoops pedal. Launched 2024 at $129, its price includes a 15% net profit for EarthQuaker. “With the tariffs, we would need to raise the price to $159 in order to maintain a profit margin. This would overprice this product for its function.” Julie’s point is that $129 is pretty affordable compared to the rest of the EQD lineup – but the FlexiLoops is ultimately a loop-switcher. The tariffs could push this utility pedal up to the kind of price people are used to paying for fully-featured effects pedals.
These makers are also acutely aware of the wider economy at the moment – people are being squeezed on the cost of everyday items across the board, leaving everyone with less disposable income. If boutique pedal makers were to increase their prices significantly to cover the tariff costs, many of them feared that this would lead to a drastic sales drop – which could lead to layoffs or outright closure.
And this is on top of the fact that many have already seen sales collapse since the tariffs came in. Export sales in particular have fallen the worst for many companies – one maker even lost a European dealer who didn’t want to risk products getting caught up in an escalating trade war.
EveAnna Manley of Manley Laboratories described the impact of the tariffs being coupled with an “anti-American poisoning of the customer sentiment in other countries,” thanks to the measures themselves and the confrontational tone with which they’ve been implemented. “The destruction of our heretofore healthy export business is much more of a problem than increased tariffs on incoming parts for my particular company,” she says, adding that “there is no magical 100% increase in domestic sales relief coming from patriotic Americans willing to rescue us boutique, made-in-USA companies, either.”
The future
We asked brands what the impact of the tariffs might be in the next six to 12 months if things don’t change. The outlooks they set out here are universally negative, with many emphasising the inevitable outcome of falling sales from increased prices – leading to anything from fully outsourcing manufacturing, mass layoffs and closure – a number of companies’ answers here are simply ‘failure’ or ‘closure’.
JHS’s Josh Scott tells us that “prices will rise, sales will drop due to that – and we may be facing mass layoffs by 2026 in a worst case scenario.” Robert Keeley similarly states that “the current tariff level will zero out my chance for a profitable year. A 55% tariff on half of my cost going into producing a product is not sustainable.”
Mission Engineering’s James Lebihan states: “We have frozen hiring and expansion plans. We are looking into outsourcing our product assembly. If the situation does not improve we will begin laying off US staff and look to relocate to a small factory or shut down our manufacturing completely and outsource everything. It’s possible we may not be able to continue and the business may close completely.”
Jon Cusack writes of the unique challenges that his company faces thanks to Cusack Music’s business model. “Since I manufacture for many other brands in the industry, I fear that this may force some of them into outsourcing their entire builds to China… we could lose between five and perhaps all 30 of my employees if it gets bad enough.”
One other potential impact that Death By Audio’s Oliver Ackermann raises is a shift away from the experimental pedals to focus on the mass-appeal stuff with guaranteed sales. This is one of those more intangible things that still ultimately undermines the industry, given that up until now, the US boutique pedal market has been one that allowed fiercely creative and experimental products to find a niche.
Phone home
Electronics are, of course, one of the central issues of the tariff debate – so amp and pedal companies are going to be locked into this fight no matter what. Trump’s attention is focused on threatening the larger smartphone makers and trying to prove that a USA-made phone is totally possible, and so even if guitar-makers avoid the full force of the tariffs on wood imports, the electronic components that are 90% of a pedal’s bill of materials are going to remain in the crossfire.
Last week we explored how the tariffs are ostensibly trying to bolster a domestic electronics industry that does not exist. The furore about the Trump Phone has become the most high-profile facet of this – with experts casting huge doubts on the claim that an entirely US-made phone is going to be launched in August for $499.
The global supply chain has been an essential cog of American manufacturing and commerce for decades now. Even the President himself leverages it for his own business interests – be that red hats, Trump Guitars or indeed a phone.
As we’ve discussed, there simply aren’t viable sources of US-made resistors or capacitors in 2025. Even the biggest companies in the world cannot just create a US electronics industry out of whole cloth. Apple cannot instantly magic a component factory out of the ground in Ohio – and the tariffs are in force and strangling small businesses in America right now. Without some sort of exemption, what hope is there for this industry in the short to medium term, even if every resource is moved in the next few years to make all-American electronics possible someday?
Until this nebulous and entirely speculative future comes to pass, sales are down, costs are up, the future is uncertain. What viable paths out from this situation are there? Makers are trapped between these ever-increasing costs, decreasing margins and the impossibility of domestic sourcing.
Tooling up to make the parts needed, according to multiple makers that we surveyed, comes with an estimated cost ranging from hundreds of millions of dollars to several billion and a time scale of, at the very least, five years, but most likely more.
Will the American pedal industry exist by then? We all hope so, but the situation is looking increasingly dire.
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Gibson wants to start selling artist-owned vintage guitars to get them “back out into the world to be played and enjoyed forever”
Gibson may well be teaming up with artists in the future to release their vintage guitars through its Certified Vintage programme.
This is according to Gibson’s Certified Vintage Manager, Mitch Conrad, who thinks doing so could be a great opportunity to release rare, vintage gems back out into the world to be played and enjoyed. Plus, artists who have amassed a rather large collection and may want to let a few things go can be assured their instruments are being handled with care.
Speaking to the Gibson Gazette regarding an incredibly rare 1959 Flying V, which is one of just 17, Conrad says the programme helps to provide “peace of mind and clarity” among the world of vintage guitars, “which can be a murky place”.
He says, “This is a situation where we’re able to provide an opportunity for someone to purchase one of the rarest and most collectable instruments – one of 17 made in 1959 – with complete confidence that it is exactly what we’re saying it is.
“This also gives people a chance to be close to something, see something, and be inspired by something that most people won’t get the opportunity to see. Maybe there’s an eight-year-old kid who walks through the Gibson Garage and sees this Flying V behind the glass case, and their eyes just light up. Maybe that kid goes home with an Epiphone Flying V. That might be the person in 40 years who has worked hard, made great money, and now they are the preservationist with the opportunity to buy this guitar and be its next custodian.”
Asked if Certified Vintage artist collabs could become a thing in the future, Conrad states, “I would love to be able to work with artists who have already built up beautiful collections of instruments and are ready to let a few things go, and be able to have those collaborative releases through Certified Vintage.
“I think that would be a really, really great opportunity… I think there’s space for Gibson Certified Vintage to be something that, as a company, allows us to learn more about ourselves and our history, implementing the information we learn from these guitars in the pursuit of even greater historical accuracy and expanding that to Gibson USA and Epiphone. But then also being able to push that out further into working with artists collaboratively, and giving these guitars back out into the world to be played and enjoyed forever.”
You can find out more about the Certified Vintage programme via the official Gibson website.
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What kind of maniac brings a Dumble to a guitar retreat – and lets everyone play it? Robben Ford, apparently
What would you do if you were one of the few lucky souls in the world who owned a Dumble amp? Probably not take it to a guitar retreat and let a bunch of strangers plug into it.
Though that’s exactly what Robben Ford did, as session ace Andy Wood reveals in a recent conversation with Rick Beato.
In their chat, Wood recalls the time Ford attended his Woodshed Guitar Experience: a four-day retreat in Crossville, Tennessee that brings together top-tier players and gear-loving guitarists for an immersive, no-frills hangout.
“It’s a four-day weekend. We hard-limit it to a hundred people, and we bring in five or six of the best guitar players on earth,” says Wood [via Guitar World]. Previous guests have included Eric Johnson, Joe Bonamassa, and Andy Timmons, with Paul Gilbert and Mark Lettieri on the upcoming September lineup.
The vibe is intentionally relaxed. Think: late-night jams by the lake and live bands instead of backing tracks (“no iPad garbage,” Wood quips). Just “bad dudes from Tennessee” and 100-watt amps roaring into the night.
Still, nothing quite prepared Wood for what happened in the retreat’s second year, when Robben Ford rolled in.
“He’s a sweetheart and a monster player,” says Wood. “He comes in and I was like, ‘Hey, Robben, what kind of amp do you want me to have backline for you?’ And he goes, ‘I’ll bring an amp.’ He shows up with Dumble #102.”
For the uninitiated, Ford’s Dumble #102 isn’t just rare – it’s the stuff of tone legend. Built by the late Alexander “Howard” Dumble, these mythical tube amps were revered for their rich harmonic character and tight dynamic response. Ford’s own unit ranks among the most iconic, alongside those played by Larry Carlton and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
That said, what truly made the moment unforgettable wasn’t the amp itself but rather, Ford’s willingness to share it.
“I’m teaching a class and I have my phone in my pocket and it buzzes like, ‘Hey man, Andy, come down to the stage three and see about Robben’s amp,’” he recalls. “I was like, ‘Oh, somebody poured a beer in it!’ I’m stressing out.”
“I get down there, and Robben’s sitting laidback, chill, smiling, and the campers are playing his amp. And I come over to him like, ‘Brother, you don’t have to do this.’ And he’s so sweet. He’s like, ‘No, man. They were all asking about what it felt like, and what it sounded like, so I figured it’d be best to let them play.’”
“That can never happen with 600 people,” Wood continues. “[But] you put 30 people in a room, that can happen. And that’s what it’s all about.”
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“F**k ICE” guitar pedal launched by Resistor Head to raise funds for immigrant legal aid
Boutique pedal maker Resistor Head has never exactly played it safe when it comes to design, but their new limited-edition drop is as loud politically as it is sonically.
Meet the FUCK ICE overdrive pedal, a fully functional stompbox that doubles as a middle finger to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The release was announced in an Instagram post this week, and the pedal is now available for pre-order via the company’s website. While the guts of the unit are identical to Resistor Head’s existing ACAB pedal (no points for guessing that acronym), this version arrives with new graphics and a clear message.
Priced at $150, or $5 more than the original ACAB, the difference in cost goes to the National Immigrant Justice Center, an organisation that provides immigrants with vital legal assistance.
“That $5 will be donated… to provide immigrants with legal help,” says the brand.
As with the ACAB pedal, FUCK ICE is a clone of the Fulltone OCD, minus the association with Fulltone founder Mike Fuller, who’s been widely criticised for his public comments online. In the words of Resistor Head: “It’s a Fulltone OCD clone, offered for people who don’t want to support Mike Fuller of Fulltone for any of his documented offenses.”
The design blends elements of various OCD iterations (particularly versions 1.4 and 1.7), with some modern upgrades. Those include an internally bypassable output buffer with a trim pot to dial back the high end frequencies to deliver a warmer sound, if desired.
“The original Fulltone OCDs had output impedance issues that caused the tone of the pedal and output volume to change depending on the input impedance of the next activated pedal in the chain. My update eliminates this issue but still enables you to dial in the warmth that buffers can remove,” says the firm.
Visually, the pedal features professionally UV-printed graphics, topped off with a glossy, raised finish for a premium feel – in case you want a pedal that screams “FUCK ICE” in big bold letters to also look sharp on your board.
Learn more at Resistor Head.
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guitarguitar is welcoming applications from those made redundant from PMT
UK music retailer guitarguitar says it is welcoming applications from employees who have been made redundant from PMT, following the chain’s entry into administration last week.
In a new post on social media, the retailer writes: “We were saddened to hear about the recent job losses at PMT. At guitarguitar, we understand how challenging redundancy can be, and we want to offer our support to the hardworking staff affected.”
- READ MORE: “Clone me, you bastards!”: Iced tea with Ozzy Osbourne’s actual DNA now for sale at $450 a pop
It goes on: “If you have recently been made redundant from PMT are are passionate about music, retail or customer service, we encourage you to apply for opportunities with guitarguitar.”
It explains that those affected by redundancy should send an application “whether we have an open role which currently matches your skills and experience or not”.
The retailer says prospective employees should visit the vacancies page on its website, or email a CV to jobs@guitarguitar.co.uk.
“Join our team of employee-owners and continue to share your passion for music,” the statement concludes.
The closure of PMT was a significant loss for the UK music retail industry, as it was the largest brick-and-mortar musical instrument chain in the UK with 11 stores, as well as the fourth largest in terms of revenue. PMT explained that the current retail climate presented challenges that “proved too difficult to overcome”.
The announcement of PMT’s entry into administration was sudden, and all of its stores were closed with immediate effect, with 96 employees being made redundant. 48 people were retained to assist administrators. The retailer’s remaining stock was sold to another UK-based musical instrument operation, Gear4music, to the tune of around £2.4 million.
In the wake of the news, which follows the similar recent closures of GAK and Bax Music, YouTuber KDH offered his opinion that UK musical instrument retail was “heading towards a monopoly”.
“Small retailers close down, and now even the bigger retailers close down because they can’t compete with online prices, well, what’s gonna happen?” He asks. “You’re gonna be left with one or two who might have started out cheap, but then when there’s no competition, raise the prices up.”
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“Clone me, you bastards!”: Iced tea with Ozzy Osbourne’s actual DNA now for sale at $450 a pop
The Ozzy Osbourne merch machine has entered a truly bizarre phase. Hot on the heels of his upcoming Where’s Ozzy? seek-and-find book, the Black Sabbath icon is now offering fans the chance to own cans of iced tea infused with his actual DNA.
That’s right. In collaboration with canned water brand Liquid Death, Osbourne has unveiled a limited edition run of ten cans dubbed “Infinite Ozzy”. Each one has reportedly been sipped and lovingly contaminated by the Prince of Darkness, before being lab-sealed and signed for good measure.
The price? A modest $450 per can, because nothing says rock ‘n’ roll like highly collectible, semi-hydrated human essence.
“Clone me, you bastards,” Osbourne commands in a statement. And apparently, that’s more than just a punchline.
“Yes, we really got the Prince of Darkness to drink from 10 cans of our low-calorie Iced Tea,” Liquid Death confirms. “And yes, he actually crushed each can himself. In the process, he left behind trace DNA from his saliva that you can now own. He even hand-signed each packaging label.”
The company also declares that “once technology and federal law permit, fans can use this DNA to try to clone Ozzy in the future and enjoy him for hundreds of years to come.”
The release is, of course, timed perfectly – just ahead of Ozzy’s final show with Black Sabbath, which takes place 5 July in Birmingham, England. Whether you drink it, frame it, or cryogenically store it in your garage lab, one thing’s clear: rock memorabilia may never get weirder than this.
Learn more at Liquid Death.
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Could you be the next Paul McCartney? The Bootleg Beatles need a new bassist
Do you play bass? Can you rock a bowl cut and nail every note of Come Together? Well, you may want to audition to be the next Paul McCartney for the popular tribute band, The Bootleg Beatles.
Having formed back in 1980, the tribute to the Fab Four have played over 4,500 gigs, and are due to play at Glastonbury festival this June. They’ve even formerly supported Oasis, notably during their famous Knebworth show on 10 August 1996.
The band consists of Stephen Hill as George Harrison, Gordon Elsmore as Ringo Starr, and Paul Canning as John Lennon. Steve White, who has played as McCartney for over 10 years, is due to retire later this year.
On Instagram, they write, “We’re very sad to announce that Steve White, our fab Macca for over 10 years, is retiring from full-time touring with BB’s this autumn. He has been an outstanding contributor to this wonderful BB ‘institution’ and we all wish him well with his future musical projects.”
If you manage to land the role, you’ll be touring with the band from autumn. Anyone with the right skills can apply, but you must have “the look, the voice, bass guitar and keyboard skills”. You’ll also need to be prepared to commit to full-time touring.
In other Macca news, he recently joined Bruce Springsteen at his Liverpool show on 7 June to play The Beatles’ Can’t Buy Me Love. The appearance marked the first time that McCartney has played live in Liverpool since 2018.
If you’d like to apply to The Bootleg Beatles, you’ll need to send a CV, photos, and video/audio clips to auditions@bootlegbeatles.com – you can also find out more about the band via their official website.
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Marcus King and Gibson reunite on a stripped-back ES-345 in Sixties Cherry
Blues-rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Marcus King has teamed up with Gibson on his second signature guitar, the Marcus King ES-345 Sixties Cherry.
Inspired by his treasured 1962 ES-345, affectionately known as Big Red, this latest model is a tribute to the iconic six-string passed down through three generations of King’s family.
Originally introduced as a Custom Shop-only release in 2021, the new ES-345 now joins Gibson’s core Artist model lineup in a streamlined version that reflects King’s personal playing preferences.
Finished in a bold Sixties Cherry, the guitar keeps things simple and focused. Notably absent are a whammy bar and Varitone switch – features found on the original – which were deliberately omitted in favour of “only the features that Marcus finds essential”.
That includes mono wiring, two Custombucker humbuckers, and a fixed Vibrola tailpiece to enhance tuning stability while maintaining the vintage aesthetic. Other classic ES-345 appointments remain, such as the 3-ply maple/poplar/maple body, a solid maple center block for sustain and feedback resistance, and gold hardware throughout – including an ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge and Grover Rotomatic tuners with kidney buttons.
Credit: Gibson
The guitar’s mahogany neck features a rounded profile that averages .875” at the first fret and .975” at the 12th fret, while its Indian rosewood fretboard features acrylic split parallelogram inlays and 22 medium jumbo frets.
A Graph Tech nut and a custom stud anchor cover round out the build. Each guitar also comes shipped in a Gibson hardshell case.
For King, the connection to this model is deeply personal: “The guitar for me as a kid was a release, an escape, a best friend, and a babysitter,” he tells Gibson. “I don’t really like talking about myself, but it being my grandfather’s guitar really helps me feel like I’m able to carry on his legacy. I want to share with everyone else what he shared with me.”
The Gibson Marcus King ES-345 Sixties Cherry is now available for $9,499.
Learn more at Gibson.
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Jason Isbell: “Barre chords are the biggest pain in the ass of all guitar playing”
Every guitar player has been there. No matter how easily we may be able to play them now, learning barre chords in the beginning seems an impossible task, simply by virtue of the fact you don’t yet have the strength to properly fret all six strings with one finger.
If it’s a struggle you resonate with – or have in the past – you’ll be pleased to know Americana and Southern rock guitarist Jason Isbell is also of the same opinion.
In a new conversation with Matt Sweeney of Guitar Moves, Isbell recalls his grandfather and uncle being “really serious” about barre chords and insisting he was able to play them the length of the fretboard.
“It’s tough to learn. Barre chords are the biggest pain in the ass of all guitar playing,” he says. “The number one pain in the ass. And if you can get past that hump, congratulations, you can be a guitar player forever now. That’s really the one thing that it takes. Can you play barre chords without stopping and going off and doing something different?
While barre chords are a must-learn, one alternative until you build the finger strength is to alter the E-shape barre, so instead of your index finger acting as the nut – and your ring finger and pinky fretting two frets higher on the A and D strings with your middle finger one fret higher on the G string – you fret the E string with your thumb over the top of the board, leave your middle, ring finger and pinky where they are and fret only the top two strings with your index finger. Give it a go…
Elsewhere, Jason Isbell imparts in the same interview the one piece of advice he would give to any aspiring guitar player looking to purchase their first instrument.
“Get it set up,” he insists. “Spend the 50, or 80, or 100 bucks, and before you leave the music store let them set it up for you… [Let them] set the action right, make sure the frets are level, make sure it’ll stay in tune.
“That is so huge and I wish somebody would have told me that when I was a kid, because of course you’re not gonna be able to afford an incredible instrument when you’re that age. If you spend the extra time, the extra money, you get home and you can play it. It makes all the difference in the world.”
Watch the full conversation below:
And check out more from Guitar Moves via the official YouTube channel.
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Remember Where’s Wally? This book’s the same, except you have to find Ozzy Osbourne
As Black Sabbath gear up to bow out at their monumental final show, a new Where’s Wally?-style seek-and-find book featuring Ozzy Osbourne is also set for release next month.
Arriving 29 July, the book, produced by Fantoons – the animation studio which brought to life Motörhead: Where Is Lemmy? and Rush: Where’s Geddy, Alex, and Neil?, the latest in the series asks readers to find Ozzy Osbourne in a Where’s Wally? fashion among “Easter eggs for hardcore and casual fans alike”.
Readers can expect “to find Ozzy as he rises from the depths of darkness, transforms and eats some bat-snacks”.
Where Is Ozzy? author and Fantoons Creative Director David Calcano adds: “A book like this only works when it’s built around a legend who rewrote the rules – with thunderous music, iconic style, and wicked humour. Fans will lose themselves in a world packed with Ozzy Easter Eggs and the raw energy our team poured into every page. All abooooooard!”
Credit: Fantoons
Calcano has worked extensively “for page and screen” and previously directed animated videos for artists like Rush, Nat King Cole, Frank Zappa, and The Beach Boys. In collaboration with the rest of the Fantoons creative team, Calcano has put together a puzzle book worthy of an official endorsement from the Prince of Darkness himself.
Inspired by Ozzy songs, albums and major solo career milestones, readers can also discover the meticulous metal-inspired illustrations of the Fantoons creative team, who combined have decades’ worth of experience bringing to life illustrated media. They are part of an award-winning LA animation studio and publishing house, having worked with Universal Studios, Nickelodeon and Warner Bros on cartoon animations for music videos and other collaborative projects.
About Fantoons, Calcano enthuses: “This studio started out of the love of animation and music. Every brushstroke is geared to bring stories to life that celebrate diverse walks of life with relatable, and unique points of view. We work directly with artists, ensuring that all our publications are authorised, thus maintaining authenticity and integrity in our storytelling.”
Where is Ozzy? is priced at $22.99. You can pre-order now via Hello Merch.
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“Never intended for political use”: Heart’s Nancy Wilson calls out Donald Trump for playing Barracuda without permission during military parade
![Nancy Wilson with Donald Trump [inset]](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Nancy-Wilson-Donald-Trump@2000x1500.jpg)
Heart’s Nancy Wilson has condemned Donald Trump’s use of Barracuda during a military parade at the weekend, which marked both the president’s 79th birthday and the US Army’s 250th anniversary.
According to Blabbermouth, instrumental version of Barracuda and Journey’s Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) were played during the procession. In a new post on Instagram, Wilson describes Barracuda as a “powerful piece of music that was never intended for political use”
Wilson goes on: “As daughters of a US Marine Corps major, we hold a deep and abiding respect for the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces. On a day meant to honour that service, it’s important that music used in such settings reflects not only the tone of the event but also the wishes of the artists who created it.”
Wilson’s statement is accompanied by a photo of her wearing a hat which reads “NO KINGS BUT US” – a reference to the anti-authoritarian No Kings protests which took place across the country and coincided with the military parade.
In an interview with the Millwaukee Journal Sentinel (sourced in Hollywood Reporter), Wilson called Barracuda as “even more relevant in the salacious billionaire culture with the grab-them-by-the-(expletive) mentality”.
While Trump’s military parade in Washington DC was notable – and cost $45 million, according to The Hill – attendance was far surpassed by the millions who showed up for around 2,000 No Kings protests nationwide.
This isn’t the first time Trump has drawn the criticism of musicians for using their songs at his events. Last year, Johnny Marr called out the use of The Smiths’ songs at Trump rallies, saying: “Consider this shit shut down right now.”
In other news, Nancy Wilson recently took to social media to confirm that a man had been arrested after following the theft of two one-of-a-kind Heart instruments, including her custom baritone Telecaster.
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“We are heading towards a monopoly”: YouTuber predicts the future of UK music retail following PMT closure
There’s no dancing around it. The future of brick-and-mortar musical instrument retail looks bleak. In the past few months, we’ve seen the closure of several revered brands, like GAK and Bax Music, which shut up shop in March and April, respectively.
Hell, last week alone, PMT – the fourth largest UK music retailer by revenue – entered administration, and Hobgoblin, a family-run music retail chain, launched a crowdfunding round to help secure its future on UK high streets.
So with all these closures – in some cases of decades old musical institutions – what do they mean for the future of the industry?
YouTuber KDH reckons the closure of all these businesses could lead to a “monopoly”, as fewer retailers gain larger market shares. These remaining retailers are often those with larger online businesses and warehouse locations.
“Physical stores will always have more overheads than a warehouse that can buy in in bulk and ship out,” KDH says.
“I said it two months ago back when GAK went under, and I believe it,” he continues. “I remember one comment was laughing at it. But every day it’s getting truer and truer. We are heading towards a monopoly, which is not good for the end consumer.
KDH goes on to note the distribution model of Behringer – a brand whose parent company is valued at over $2 billion – which sells synths, guitar pedals and loads of other musical gear cheaply.
He notes how Behringer has a list of “Super Partners” – retailers which order in larger quantities that it can subsequently offer lower rates to.
KDH says for these Super Partners, “the price is more competitive than for anybody who is buying in smaller quantities, which means people are going to buy from them because it’s less money”.
This effectively means larger retailers are able to offer lower prices to their customers by virtue of their ability to order in bulk in the first place, compounding the problem.
“And as small retailers close down, and now even the bigger retailers close down because they can’t compete with online prices, well, what’s gonna happen?” he adds. “You’re gonna be left with one or two who might have started out cheap, but then when there’s no competition, raise the prices up.
“That probably will happen. It’s not gonna happen immediately, but it’s gonna happen in, I don’t know, 10 years.
“A store like PMT whose annual turnover is tens of millions is not closing because kids don’t want to play music or people aren’t buying music gear. It’s closing because it can’t compete against online.”
Watch KDH’s full analysis of PMT’s closure below:
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This insane Jackson Kelly guitar is inspired by World of Warcraft
In one of the more out-there collaborations of the year so far, Jackson and Malevolence guitarist Konan Hall have partnered with Blizzard Entertainment for a limited-edition World of Warcraft-themed Kelly model.
Fans lucky enough to have attended Malevolence’s secret set on the Avalanche Stage on Sunday at Download will have seen the guitar’s grand unveiling.
The guitar – a Jackson Pro Plus XT Limited Edition Kelly KE HT6 Baritone – is adorned across its body and headstock with WoW-inspired artwork, but this is no gimmick. Hall is quite the self-confessed Warcraft enthusiast, and the artwork is inspired by his in-game character, a Dwarf Paladin named Thraiin.
Credit: Bethan Miller Co
“World of Warcraft and music are two of my favourite things’’, says Hall. “Playing with the Jackson guitar on stage will remind me of the hours I spent in the taverns of Azeroth.”
Azeroth, for the uninitiated, is the fictional world in which World of Warcraft is set.
Alongside the depiction of Hall’s in-game character, the guitar also features Warcraft’s legendary “W” emblem, as well as an Easter egg on the back, in the form of Hall’s favourite weapon type in the game, the Battle Axe.
Under the hood, the guitar arrives as an extension of the Pro Plus Series, and features a Nyatoh body with a three-piece maple thru-neck – graphite reinforced for “superior stability”, a 27-inch baritone scale length, 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard with cloaked Sharkfins, 24 stainless steel frets, Luminlay side dots and Seymour Duncan Nazgul and Sentient pickups.
Konan Hall promises that fans will get to see the guitar if they come and see Malevolence at their upcoming live dates…
For more information, head to the band’s official website.
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“As far as the media goes, heavy music isn’t popular”: Ozzy Osbourne thinks the mainstream press is ignoring the massive popularity of metal
Despite record-breaking sales and sold-out stadiums, Ozzy Osbourne says heavy music is still being sidelined by the media – just as it was when Black Sabbath first started.
“As far as the media goes, heavy music isn’t popular,” laments the Price of Darkness in the new issue of MusicWeek. “It’s never been that popular with the media, though I think the 1980s was the closest it ever got. The media doesn’t write that there’s an absolute resurgence for this music right now, with bands headlining stadiums all over the world.”
And he may have a point. In recent years, acts like Sleep Token and Ghost have topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic, pulling millions of monthly listeners and packing out arenas. Ozzy himself has sold over 100 million albums, won multiple Grammys (including one as recently as 2023), and was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ivors Academy in 2015.
Still, metal rarely makes front-page news.
“They never get written about because it’s not in vogue right now,” Osbourne says. “They focus on all the girls [pop stars] out there. I’m not taking anything away from them, as they’re there for a totally different audience and great at what they do, but it’s just like a box of dolls, very cookie cutter. Meanwhile, these bands – heavy bands – have always been the bastards of the music industry.”
Osbourne’s wife and longtime manager Sharon echoes the sentiment, noting that Black Sabbath’s musical efforts were rarely appreciated by critics, even back in 1970.
“You’ve got to remember, this is a band that started in the ‘60s – and they’re still here,” she says. “A lot of the bands who started in the ‘60s are no longer alive, or operating as they used to.”
She points to Rolling Stone’s infamous review of the band’s 1970 self-titled debut, written by music critic Lester Bangs, who dismissed the record as “a shuck”.
“And that was just the first album!” She laughs. “[Sabbath] stood up to everything that was thrown at them for being different. They just kept their mouths shut and just toured and toured and toured, and never gave up.”
Their perseverance has clearly paid off: Black Sabbath’s farewell show, Back To The Beginning, sold out in under 16 minutes earlier this year, with more than 150,000 fans scrambling in the virtual queue on Valentine’s Day. But fans hoping for more dates will be disappointed.
“It’s impossible,” says Osbourne. “Putting this show on in the summer, the busiest time with everybody everywhere in Europe doing festivals. The number of artists we were able to get for that one day was incredible, but you just don’t get that for two days.”
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“There are a lot of good people out there”: Vivian Campbell announces his cancer is in remission thanks to stem cell donor
Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell has confirmed his cancer is now in remission thanks to a stem cell donor. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma back in 2013.
Confirming the news in an interview on Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk [via Louder], Campbell explains: “I did a PET scan in the middle of April, and I’m 100% clean, completely in remission for the first time in 12 or 13 years. And I’m obviously overjoyed. You couldn’t ask for more than that.”
The donor was said to be a perfect match with 10 out of 10 genetic markers, after several unsuccessful stem cell transplants. Campbell has said he’d love to thank the donor – a 21-year-old man – and “buy him a beer or two or three”. “After two years, they give you the option to contact your donor, so you can reach out to them,” Campbell says.
The generous donor “put his name on the donor registry, for no reason other than he’s a good person”. “There are a lot of good people out there, I’m glad to say,” he says.
Campbell also explains that his recovery was not initially smooth, and finding such a clear match was difficult to begin with: “I lost my donor 10 days beforehand, so that was a kick in the nuts. But I was very fortunate that they found me another one in December. And on New Year’s Eve, I went into hospital. I was in for about three and a half weeks, and I did what has turned out to be a really, really successful transplant.”
Back in April, Rick Allen expressed his hopes to Eddie Trunk that Campbell would be able to join them on tour. The success of the operation means, according to Louder, he will be joining Def Leppard on their summer tour this year, including headliner dates in both the US and Canada. Bret Michael and Extreme will also be joining Def Leppard on select tour dates.
For tickets and a full list of dates, head to Def Leppard’s official website.
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