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December 2023
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183 articles
- December 31
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- The man who holds the world record for most drumstick hits in one minute has now played the guitar solo from Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird on a stand-up kit
- Robert Fripp and Toyah have covered Lick It Up by Kiss and we may never sleep again
- Arch Enemy split with guitarist Jeff Loomis
- Lawsuit accuses Slipknot of using Joey Jordison's death for profit
- December 30
- December 29
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- "Dave Grohl is coming out of the Christmas tree for the drums": watch Miley Cyrus cover Journey classic Faithfully at intimate Los Angeles show
- We celebrate the 80s prog revival on the cover of the new issue of Prog, which is on sale now!
- Watch Indian politician Conrad Sangma rip through guitar solo from Iron Maiden's Wasted Years
- Metallica release official footage of Master of Puppets performance from Saudi Arabia show
- The Best 50 Albums of 2023: as voted by the readers of Classic Rock
- December 28
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- Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman pays tribute to late guitarist Geordie Walker: “When the going got tough and the money ran out, others left – you never.”
- A Kreator documentary is coming in 2025
- Metallica’s James Hetfield looks ahead to 2024: “I’m continuing to try and improve myself, get better, have a better attitude”
- Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong loves the "gritty, pissed off underdog" that is Millwall FC
- Dave Grohl raises thousands for charity with drawings that help fans get wasted and sneak hash into gigs
- December 27
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- Metallica launch official pro-shot video of The Unforgiven from Saudi Arabian show
- "It would’ve been nice to have done more with Keith": Jimmy Page recalls 1974 jam with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards which stayed in the vaults for 45 years
- Paramore fans have questions after band's social accounts are wiped clean and website is pulled
- Ozzy slams clickbait death hoax video: "I'm not dead. I'm not going any-f***ing-where."
- December 26
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- Dirty Deeds Around The Christmas Tree? Hear an AC/DC classic transformed into a feel-good festive cracker
- "We'll embark on a sonic journey through the band's diverse and ever-evolving music": Stanford University is offering a course studying the music and culture of the Grateful Dead
- “I don’t think Van Halen would put that on the B-side of their worst record”: Desmond Child on his initial reaction to Aerosmith's Dude (Looks Like A Lady), and how he helped turn it from a dud into a huge hit
- Robert Fripp broadcasts 23-second Christmas message of love and creativity
- December 25
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- "The record is a guitar extravaganza": Heavy Lifting, the first MC5 album since 1971, will feature Slash, Tom Morello, Alice In Chains' William DuVall, Vernon Reid, and more
- Watch Doro, Nervosa and Burning Witches in new documentary How Women Are Conquering Metal
- Beartooth promise big things for upcoming North American tour: "We're putting on an arena show in clubs."
- December 24
- December 23
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- “We thought it would be clever to open the show with an instrumental but it sits much better in the middle”: Rob Trujillo on the setlist tweaks Metallica made as they embarked on the M72 World Tour
- John Dexter Jones discusses Jump's return to live action
- Motley Crue cancel New Year's Eve show citing issues beyond their control
- First Kiss avatar shows set to take place in 2027
- December 22
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- "It’s Christmas and we’re all lying, to make up for the chasm between us": Listen to Du Blonde's fabulously cynical Christmas single It's Christmas and I'm Crying
- "The melodies are mega... the songs'll blow your mind": Liam Gallagher and John Squire announce collaborative album, with debut single Just Another Rainbow coming next month
- "Every viewing of child pornography is a repetition of the victim’s abuse": US court reinstates right of 'Nevermind baby' Spencer Elden to sue Nirvana over iconic album sleeve
- Bring Me The Horizon have parted ways with Jordan Fish: "We want to thank him for the musical journey he took with us"
- December 21
- December 20
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- "He used to do it all the time": Noddy Holder reckons Ozzy Osbourne started the tradition of shaving a sleeping drunk's eyebrows
- There’s a brewery that gives you free beer if you’re good at guitar: “It’s essentially a souped-up Guitar Hero for adults.”
- Watch Killswitch Engage’s full headline set at Bloodstock festival 2023
- “On this last tour, you can tell that something has happened." Tobias Forge discusses Ghost's impressive levelling-up during their most recent North American tour
- "I've taken a lot of inspiration from the UK dance music scene." Watch Sleep Token drummer II give the band's first ever recorded interview
- Roger Waters pays tribute to "The Last DJ" Jim Ladd, takes potshot at his bosses at Sirius XM
- December 19
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- Hollywood star Nicholas Hoult embarks on an epic journey in new Rolling Stones video
- Metallica snuck the Batman theme song into one of their riffs, Kirk Hammett admits
- “John Squire, without a doubt the best guitarist of his generation and in the world in my opinion”: Liam Gallagher drops hints that his collaboration with Stone Roses' John Squire is incoming
- Vended announce extensive UK and European tour schedule for spring/summer '24
- Bill Nelson discusses the concept behind new album Starlight Stories
- Save up to 47% in Marshall’s epic Christmas sale - speakers and headphones reduced
- Per Wiberg shares lyric video for new song The Serpent's Here
- Synyster Gates on the reactions to Life Is But A Dream: "I think, for a lot of people, this is the death of Avenged Sevenfold."
- "I was just trying to channel Ozzy." Metallica's Rob Trujillo reveals the 72 Seasons song he'd take to a desert island
- Temic share video for live acoustic version of Acts of Violence
- Watch The Darkness record a special 20th anniversary performance of their 2003 single Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) with an "angelic" 12-piece choir
- Former member of Mr Bungle named by police as a "person of interest" in missing person/homicide investigation
- December 18
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- "This is not gonna be the end of Magnum, but the future might have to be a bit different": Magnum cancel upcoming dates as Tony Clarkin is diagnosed with a rare spinal condition
- "Hardcore fans always talk to us about the first five albums, the cooler, blurrier, druggy art school ones that no-one bought": why Simple Minds tired of cult status and went for broke
- Watch U2 perform Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) live for the first time since 1987
- Christmas comes early to Paramount+: Get a year’s subscription with 50% off - now just £34.95
- EBB announce new EP The Management Of Consequences
- “He would do crazy things like take 100 tabs of acid in a day then jump out of the window of a moving taxi, or paint himself blue": Shane MacGowan's wife Victoria Clarke on the unorthodox, unbreakable love she shared with The Pogues' late frontman
- Tommy Lee accused of sexual assault in a helicopter
- December 17
- December 16
- December 15
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- "We went to this crazy burlesque show, took off our shirts, and put these nipple tassels on. I've got the photos to prove it!": Green Day reveal how recording 'Saviors' in London threw up some new life experiences
- Watch fan-filmed footage of Metallica’s first-ever Saudi Arabia show
- Sunn O))) announce spring '24 shows in the UK, Ireland and continental Europe
- Slipknot’s Shawn “Clown” Crahan teases new music and a documentary about the band: “Look Outside Your Window is definitely arriving next year. You have my word.”
- David Jackson and René van Commenée share new Christmas single Gateway
- The Emerald Dawn and Solstice to headline Soundle Festival
- "Thank you to all of you for the music." Elton John reveals his 15 favourite songs of 2023
- "I didn’t think I had it in me": Steven Wilson has released a surprise Christmas song after an unlikely challenge from a friend
- Outbreak festival unveils Basement as first 2024 headline act, with Thursday, Joyce Manor, Nothing, JPEGMAFIA among stacked supporting bill
- December 14
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- Phil Manzanera announces Revolución to Roxy memoir
- Simon Godfrey announces plans to tour the UK for first time in a decade
- Skindred, Arlo Parks and Young Fathers among nominees for Best Alternative Music Act at the 2024 MOBO Awards
- Marilyn Manson's former assistant wins the right to sue the singer for sexual assault, abuse and harassment during a "horrific" year working for him
- "You better calm down": Watch a furious Shirley Manson drop 36 'f-bombs' in under 2 minutes while breaking up a fight at a Garbage show in Los Angeles
- Ihsahn shares dynamic video for new single Twice Born
- Korn announce European shows for 2024, with Spiritbox as support for one of them
- December 13
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- Ace Frehley thinks that the Kiss avatars are "not rock and roll" and "geared towards children"
- "I'm really trying to be what I am, which is a little off": Watch the creepy video for ex-Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars' dark, grungy new single Right Side of Wrong
- Jonathan Hulten shares poignant and reflective stand-alone single The Well
- "I’ve never felt comfortable about that title" Ozzy Osbourne explains why he doesn't like being called metal
- "It’s everything from super-organic to super-symphonic, to super-poppy, to super-harsh." We get in the studio with Amaranthe to find out why the Swedish pop-metallers have gone "a little bit crazy" for new album The Catalyst
- December 12
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- "This is something I wouldn’t have believed if you’d told me 20 years ago": Chino Moreno couldn't be more thrilled that The Cure's Robert Smith appears on the new Crosses album
- "You expect white supremacy, but not from your own people": Living Colour claim they've been shunned by black entertainment outlets for playing "white people" music
- ZZ Top announce first European tour in five years
- The Dillinger Escape Plan to reunite with their original vocalist for a 25th-anniversary show
- Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam D and ex-singer Howard Jones have nearly finished making an album together: “More to come.”
- Derek Sherinian and Bumblefoot unveil new band Whom Gods Destroy
- Save 34% on a complete vinyl setup with this amazing Bluetooth turntable and bookshelf speaker bundle at Amazon
- Rob Reed and Les Penning release new Christmas song The Lonely Goatherd
- "The memories and experiences...I wouldn't trade for the world." Jay Weinberg shares new statement following departure from Slipknot on what would have been his ten year anniversary with the band
- Jane Getter to release new studio album Division World
- Five Finger Death Punch announce Europe and UK tour for summer '24
- Classic Rock Magazine's 50 best rock albums of 2023
- A brewery in New Zealand has invented a vending machine that dispenses free beer to good guitarists
- Watch Nancy Wilson and Sammy Hagar join forces for a stellar cover of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb
- December 11
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- LA music industry legend Rodney Bingenheimer accused of sexually assaulting six women when they were minors
- Cast your votes in the 2023 Prog Magazine Readers' Poll
- "The big corporations took everything over, and they're interested in making money." Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson reveals his theory on why rock music is struggling to produce new festival headliners
- Mr. Bungle announce first shows in Europe since 2000 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Mike Patton's Ipecac label
- Franck Carducci & The Fantastic Squad announce Spring UK live dates
- "They had drawings of me as the T-1000": Billy Idol explains why he missed out on android assassin role in Terminator 2
- Watch Slash, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Myles Kennedy join Gov’t Mule onstage for an epic cover of Lynynrd Skynyrd classic Simple Man
- Rick Wakeman, Trevor Horn, Focus and Big Big Train announced for 45th annual Cropredy Festival
- Slipknot announce UK and European 25th Anniversary shows
- In a big week for Sebastian Bach, he's unveiled his first new song in 10 years and been revealed as Tiki on The Masked Singer
- December 10
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- "The grunge scene had a lot of that moody stuff going on, but when we had come about, it had been years since the grunge thing really popped.” Mark Tremonti explains what set Creed apart from the rest
- Metallica's Rob Trujillo: “Most people that I talk to have found a place in their heart for St. Anger"
- Watch Ed Sheeran join The Darkness onstage in London to sing Love Is Only A Feeling
- Blur's Damon Albarn takes swipe at Rolling Stones and their new album Hackney Diamonds
- ZZ Top icon Dusty Hill's famous Fender Precision bass guitar sells at auction for $393,700
- December 9
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- "They’re fearless. Their ability to just be themselves and their confidence, it’s mind-blowing." Synyster Gates reveals the young artist that reminds him the most of Avenged Sevenfold - and it might surprise you
- Tobias Forge reveals he's started writing a new Ghost album, explains why he's happy to work with outside writers: “What they all have in common is that they all come from a rock background.”
- Einar Solberg reworks Leprous's The Congregation for voice and piano
- December 8
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- Evanescence’s Amy Lee is a big Sleep Token fan: “How do they go so many different directions and call it one song?”
- "How can anybody stand up and say ‘save the planet’? Artists are awful for hypocritical bandwagonery": Music exec hits out at musicians for continuing to make physical records during the climate crisis
- Sepultura announce farewell tour: “It will be a celebration of the past and the present for one final time.”
- Foo Fighters’ Everlong just reached one billion streams on Spotify
- Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst just collaborated with a German rapper and it sounds weirdly awesome
- System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian and Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi have teamed up for a brand new single, Deconstruction
- Francis Dunnery's It Bites will release new studio album Return To Natural early next year
- Caligula's Horse stream ten-minute new single The World Breathes With Me
- Def Leppard and Journey announce 2024 co-headline US tour
- Creeper's Sanguivore is Metal Hammer's album of the year
- Slipknot, Disturbed, Misfits, Limp Bizkit, Evanescence and many more for Sonic Temple 2024, tickets on sale today
- Big Big Train announce brand new album The Likes Of Us
- Classic Rock Magazine: our unmissable end-of-year issue is on sale now
- Guns N' Roses release anguished yet epic new recording of The General
- December 7
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- Bloodstock festival adds Carcass, Sylosis, Satyricon and more to 2024 lineup
- Skindred and Mr Big confirmed for Steelhouse Festival
- Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain reflects on ministroke: “I thought, ‘This is it, I’m not going to be able to play.’”
- First bands announced for 2024 Maid Of Stone Festival
- "I won't go on stage until I've slaughtered 15 puppy dogs": Ozzy Osbourne on the most ridiculous rumour he's heard about himself
- "We’ve seen so many of our peers struggle with addiction and mental illness." Listen to Green Day's deeply "personal" new single, Dilemma
- The new issue of Metal Hammer is a massive celebration of 2023 starring Metallica, Iron Maiden, Ghost, Babymetal, Avenged Sevenfold and more – and it comes with five exclusive gifts!
- Watch Godsticks' brand new video for Throne
- "If I look back at all the records, I see a songwriter and a soundsmith working on his craft." Prog meets Peter Gabriel
- "People that mostly know Skynyrd from Free Bird or Sweet Home Alabama: there's this heavier, less mainstream side to them." Metallica's Lars Ulrich reveals the five Lynyrd Skynyrd deep cuts that everyone needs to hear
- Rick Wakeman announces Live At The London Palladium release
- December 6
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- Sleep Token just played Take Me Back To Eden’s title track live for the first time
- Bruce Dickinson on mortality and whether he'd pay to live for another 50 years: "Technology is advancing to the point for many things where we are all living longer, more effective lives. Which is great – as long as you do something with it"
- Ozzy Osbourne ponders making new music with A.I. Randy Rhoads riffs: “I’m open for anything, if it was good quality.”
- IQ announce vinyl reissues programme, starting with The Wake
- "This is a road that I can’t walk down." Funeral For A Friend frontman Matthew Davies-Kreye has left the band after 20 years
- Creeper announce surprise bonus UK tour - and this time it's featuring some seriously intimate venues
- "Go take a look at some real rock and roll fans - not a bunch of posers who wanna go down the front." Why Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson wasn't a fan of the crowd at Power Trip festival
- "It has been far too long." Jane's Addiction announce 2024 UK and Europe tour
- Classic Tales Of Yes European and UK tour dates announced for 2024
- Geddy Lee releases two previously unheard solo tracks
- December 5
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- Much-loved Bath venue Moles to close immediately after 45 years as cost of living crisis continues to bite
- Wings and Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine dead at 79
- Billie Eilish is a fan of American metalcore band Darkest Hour and shared one of their songs to over 110 million people
- Order your limited edition Sleep Token bundle – featuring a hand-stamped art print and exclusive cover variant
- Limp Bizkit just announced a huge North American tour with support from, amongst other people, Corey Feldman
- Watch Slash cover Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC hits at Las Vegas bar re-opening
- Neal Morse shares video for new single I Hate My Brothers
- Jean-Michel Jarre announces Xmas day Versailles 400 concert event
- The first GTA 6 trailer has launched - and Tom Petty is all over it
- In 1974 Aerosmith were struggling to break through: then they flew to LA to appear on The Midnight Special and it all changed
- December 4
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- 100 schoolkids in New Zealand go viral after prize day performance of Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven
- John Mellencamp had his head cut off when he was six weeks old
- Red Hot Chili Peppers announce 2024 Unlimited Love US tour
- "I like chatting up younger, handsome men": Watch the amusing moment a journalist tries to find out whether classical music fans are "naughtier" than metalheads
- "It was pretty miserable": Roger Waters fired his son from his touring band, so now he's joined a Pink Floyd tribute group
- April Wine frontman Myles Goodwyn dead at 75
- Limp Bizkit added to Download 2024 lineup
- December 3
- December 2
- December 1
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- Ghost just quietly released a greatest hits album with one very, very rare track
- Prog meets Marillion on their Marillion Monthly show
- Bruce Dickinson reveals The Mandrake Project release date, track listing and album art
- Ozric Tentacles announced for Desertfest 2024
- Steve Hackett shares first new music from The Circus And The Nightwhale