Slash will get a star on the  Hollywood Walk of Fame next month. The 2,473rd Star will be dedicated on Tuesday, July 10 at 11:30 am  in front of  the Hard Rock Cafe, 6901  Hollywood Blvd. One of the guest speakers will  be Charlie Sheen.  Slash will perform a private acoustic show after the event.

     The class of 2012 is set.  Guns ‘N Roses, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Faces / Small Faces will be Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.  Joining them in this year’s class are New York hip-hop icons the Beastie Boys, late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro, and Sunshine Superman Donovan.  Blues legend Freddie King will be inducted in the Early Influence category.

     Left out of the hall this year were nominees Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, War, the Cure, the Spinners, Eric B. & Rakim, Donna Summer, and Rufus & Chaka Khan.

     The induction ceremony will take place April 14th in Cleveland.  Until then, there will undoubtedly be wild speculation and unfounded rumours aplenty about which lineup of Guns ‘N Roses will show up, whether they will perform at all, and how sulky they will be about it.  Meanwhile, this might be the first time Rod Stewart has performed as an inductee.  He will likely share the stage with his Faces band mates Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones.  Stewart missed his own induction as a solo artist in 1994 because of an earthquake in Los Angeles.

The Faces – Maybe I’m Amazed

The Small Faces – Itchycoo Park

Guns ‘N Roses – Don’t Cry

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication

Donovan – Hurdy Gurdy Man

Beastie Boys – Intergalactic

Laura Nyro – Poverty Train

Freddie King – Goin’ Down

“How I Won The War” is about to be released on DVD. Within days of wrapping up the Beatles’s last tour together, John Lennon started filming this black comedy with “Hard Day’s Night” director Richard Lester. It didn’t bring in overwhelming praise from reviewers but gave Lennon’s fans a chance to see him in a different light. Around the same time, he ditched the Beatle hairstyle and  started wearing his trademark glasses.

“How I Won the War” first came out in 1967 The remastered version will be out on DVD March 20.

Rush will celebrate its 30th anniversary of “Moving Pictures” by releasing the Deluxe Edition. We’ll get the original album and three bonus music videos in both 5.1 surround sound using the original multi-tracks and in newly remastered stereo using the original analog master tapes. Special artwork along with new liner notes and photos will also be included.
The package will arrive on April 5 in two different formats: a digitally remastered CD and DVD combo and a digitally remastered CD and Blu-ray combo.

Slash may be on the road right now, but it doesn’t stop him from working on his next album. In a recent interview Slash confirmed he’s touring with some sort of mobile studio and working on new material for a solo album he hopes to release in 2012.

According to guitarist Tommy Thayer, KISS are set to enter the studio this month to begin the work on a follow up to 2009’s “Sonic Boom,” with guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley as producer.  This may have something to do with the recent announcement that Kiss would postpone a tour of Japan until the fall and would add more dates.

A little more AC/DC news: The “Black Ice” World Tour live CD/DVD will arrive on May 10. Amazon lists the title as “AC/DC Live At River Plate”. The release covers shows at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires December 2, 4 and 6, 2009 and was directed by David Mallet who’s worked with the band for years and years.

It appears that Mick Jagger is In L.A. working on a new solo album with producer Dave Stewart. If that’s true, it doesn’t bode well for a Rolling Stones album or tour, but would be Jagger’s first solo album since 2001. Mick’s own brother Chris let the information slip out during an interview in Portugal recently.

Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw is about to release his debut Bluegrass album, “The Great Divide” on March 22nd.
He’s joined by a number of talented  guest musicians, including Alison Krauss, Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Douglas and many more.